Hong Kong: FS joins talks on global economy

Financial Secretary Paul Chan yesterday attended the Informal Gathering of World Economic Leaders and two thematic discussion sessions on the fourth day of his visit to Davos, Switzerland, for the World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting.



At the informal gathering, held yesterday morning, Mr Chan and other participating leaders discussed the challenges posed by economic fracture and how to rebuild a more mutually beneficial and inclusive global economy.



He then met WEF Founder & Executive Chairman Prof Klaus Schwab and briefed him on Hong Kongs latest economic and social developments.



In the afternoon, the Financial Secretary participated in two thematic discussion sessions, one of which was focused on community development. Speakers shared their views on how to build consensus in communities and promote more inclusive and people-centred development.



Mr Chan spoke about Hong Kongs experience in urban renewal and public housing development, as well as the citys infrastructure-driven development strategy.



In another thematic session, on the development opportunities of digital assets, Mr Chan shared Hong Kong's approach and practices in the area, in particular its establishment of a regulatory framework to actively encourage innovation on the premise of ensuring that financial stability is not affected and investors are effectively protected.



He highlighted that as part of the citys efforts to promote digital asset development, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government is consulting the public on stablecoin development.



Mr Chan also met Prime Minister of Mongolia Oyun-Erdene Luvsannamsrai, with whom he exchanged views on mutual co-operation.



He also made use of breakfast and afternoon tea meetings to brief international financial institutions and business leaders on Hong Kongs latest economic and financial developments, and to discuss ways of further enhancing Hong Kongs status as an international financial centre.



Joining Mr Chan in Davos, Secretary for Commerce & Economic Development Algernon Yau met Bahrains Minister of Industry & Commerce Abdulla Adel Fakhro for an exchange of views.



Hong Kong is in active negotiation with Bahrain on an investment promotion and protection agreement. Mr Yau said he hoped the relevant work can be completed soon.



Mr Yau also took part in a World Trade Organization informal ministerial working dinner and held candid exchanges with participating ministers.

This story has been published on: 2024-01-19. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Trade, investment crucial for continued recovery: WEF

Xinhua) 08:52, January 19, 2024

People walk past the logo of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, Jan. 15, 2024. (Xinhua/Lian Yi)

"Without a free flow of trade, I don't think we can recover," said WTO's Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.

DAVOS, Switzerland, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- Trade and investment remain essential for the continued recovery of the global economy, participants said at the 54th World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting here this week.

"Without a free flow of trade, I don't think we can recover," Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, director-general of the World Trade Organization (WTO), said in a session exploring the role of trade and investment as a driver of economic growth.

Stressing a two-way relationship between growth and trade, she said the WTO is negotiating an investment facilitation agreement with 110 countries, in an effort to help developing countries "sweep away barriers" for investment to flow in and revitalize trade and growth.

According to Okonjo-Iweala, the WTO was "slightly less optimistic" about its projected 3.3 percent growth in commodity trade this year due to the tensions in the Red Sea and the downgrade of global growth.

"We are revising it, but I do not have the new numbers," she said.

Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala speaks during the 14th Annual Meeting of the New Champions, also known as the Summer Davos, in Tianjin, north China, June 27, 2023. (Xinhua/Li Xin)

In October, the WTO more than halved last year's global commodity trade forecast to 0.8 percent, compared to 1.7 percent estimated in April, but maintained its 3.3 percent growth forecast for 2024.

Global trade leaders at the WEF see significant opportunities for investment in growth across global supply chains, such as digital trade, services and green trade.

A mindset shift is needed, where trade and globalization are "embraced politically," said Khaldoon Khalifa Al Mubarak, chief executive officer and managing director at Mubadala Investment Company of the United Arab Emirates. "With economic development comes prosperity, with prosperity comes stability, with stability, ultimately, you have peace."

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said that geopolitical instability also poses risks to supply chains and international trade.

Talking about the European Union's (EU) role in securing trade that would recover global growth, EU Commissioner for Trade Valdis Dombrovskis said the 27-member bloc is committed to preserving a rules-based multilateral trading system.

He said the geopolitical context is changing and becoming much more conflictual, posing the risk of economic fragmentation.

A drone photo taken on Jan. 10, 2024 shows the container terminal of Rizhao Port in Rizhao, east China's Shandong Province. (Xinhua/Guo Xulei)

As the largest trading block in the world with the most comprehensive network of free trade agreements, the EU has a lot at stake when discussing the global trading system, he added.

"We really need to revive growth and investment, to see an inclusive job creating, and sustainable recovery," WEF President Borge Brende said.

Under the theme "Rebuilding Trust," the WEF annual meeting, scheduled for Jan. 15-19, focuses on four priorities: achieving security and cooperation in a fractured world; creating growth and jobs for a new era; harnessing artificial intelligence as a driving force for the economy and society, and formulating a long-term strategy for climate, nature, and energy.

(Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Liang Jun)
Our nation has been working to get public education right for nearly 200 years. Its a multifaceted and storied system, marred by our countrys history and socioeconomic disparities.

As the CEO of the largest public charter network in Illinois, I understand how easy it is to be daunted by the task at hand. However, when I look students and families in the eye, I also see that the truth is incredibly plain and simple: Our nation is failing children, and we must provide every possible option to stop this cycle of failure. Period.

According to the U.S. Department of Education, 54% of Americans read at or below a sixth grade level. To think that across all states, districts and demographics, half of our country cannot access a world more complex than a middle school text sends a loud and clear message that we must do better.

When examining data city by city and across demographics, the gaps are more harrowing: The 2023 Illinois Assessment of Readiness showed nearly 8% of Black students passed the math exam compared with 48% of their white peers.

I know firsthand that public education is dynamic and complicated; there is no one structure to blame or a one-size-fits-all solution. I share these figures to acknowledge the undeniable reality that there are stark gaps in educational equity in our country. These gaps are not mere points on a graph. Behind each number is a child with limitless potential. When these gaps persist, parents deserve the right to look for different options for their childs future.

Yet when it comes to the educational options families have, mainly public charter schools, systems are put in place to keep them under higher accountability standards and constant scrutiny compared with district schools. Recently, these accountability systems have taken a new turn in Chicago after the Chicago Board of Education announced a resolution in December to phase out school choice weeks before charter schools began their final renewal hearings.

When given the choice to enroll in a school outside their neighborhood, Chicago parents have seized the opportunity: 76% of Chicago high school students and 45% of elementary students are enrolled in a school not assigned to them by location. The charter school community in Chicago is strong, with 15% of all children in the public school system attending a charter school. This is because parents know what is best for their children, and they know that charter schools offer proven results.

Noble Schools serves 12,000 students in 17 high schools, 13% of all high school students in CPS. A recent study led by researchers at Stanford University showed that Noble students received the equivalent of 168 additional days of instruction in math and 86 additional days of instruction in reading as compared with the traditional public school they would have been assigned to attend.

Our students engage in rich and diverse academic programs that affirm their identities and empower them to pursue their passions and develop the skills they need to succeed in college and beyond. Nobles class of 2023 had a 98% graduation rate and earned $624 million in scholarships  30% of the total scholarship funds earned by all CPS seniors. Over the past few decades, Noble has shown lasting results, with 42% of all alumni earning a college degree. In comparison, only 13% of Americans in the lowest-income quartile do the same. This success is proof that Chicago families want charter schools. Its proof that charter schools work.

However, contrary to popular belief, charter schools operate under a stringent system of accountability that most public school districts wouldnt pass. In addition to receiving less funding than district schools, we must undergo a frequent and arduous evaluation process in which the terms of our charter  our authorization to operate  are voted on for renewal. A renewal term could be 10 years; however, the system is allowed to offer terms as short as one to three years as determined by a rating of our finances, operations and academics. For example, Nobles finances meet or exceed standards in all of eight measurable categories, yet Chicagos school board determines our fate.

This same board voted on a resolution to phase out school choice altogether. Let me be very clear: Todays system is not designed to improve accountability; it is a system designed to shut us down.

This system demands even more time and energy from our families, staff, students and alumni, who must plead with the city to keep open the school they believe in. We have to fight for the longest renewal possible so our students can feel confident they are in a school they know will be open by the time they graduate. We can tell our teachers they have a secure career. We can tell our families they can plan to send their youngest to follow in their siblings footsteps. Imagine how much more we could achieve if the thousands of collective hours we spend pleading to remain open were redirected toward the teaching of our students.

Its clear that charter schools are not just beneficial but also critical to the vitality of the city of Chicago. Its clear that families want and need charter schools. We are here to stay, not just as contributors and innovators but also as advocates for a fair and equitable educational system. It is one that should respect the wishes of families, the success of educators and the future of Chicagos children.

Constance Jones is CEO of Noble Schools.

Submit a letter, of no more than 400 words, to the editor here or email letters@chicagotribune.com.
(Bloomberg) -- The African Development Bank said it will normalize relations with Ethiopia after a dispute arose because government agents severely assaulted two of its international staff.

Most Read from Bloomberg

AfDB President Akinwumi Adesina met Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed in late December and received a commitment that Horn of Africa nation will share a report on an investigation into the incident, the AfDB said in a statement on Friday. The AfDB had withdrawn its international staff from the country.

The government will also cooperate over missing funds that it was set to transfer to the AfDB, the bank said. While neither the AfDB, nor the government have said why the bank staff were arrested, Semafor reported that the Finance Ministry had fallen for a phishing attack that led to the disappearance of $5 million that was meant to be deposited with the bank.

The AfDB is one of the countrys multilateral lenders and could be a crucial source of future funding to help Ethiopia cover its external financing needs. Its supporting 22 projects in Ethiopia with lending of $1.24 billion, it said.

The African Development Bank will now resume its normal operations in Ethiopia, it said. All international staff of the African Development Bank will now return to Ethiopia.

(Updates with report on missing funds in third paragraph, comment from bank in fourth)

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

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Heads of States and members of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), pose for a photo at Speke resort convention centre in Kampala, Uganda Friday, Jan. 19, 2024. The President of the United Nations General Assembly Denis Francis and African Union Commission Chairman Moussa Faki Mahamat have called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. (AP Photo/Hajarah Nalwadda)

KAMPALA, Uganda (AP)  African leaders on Friday criticized Israel for its military campaign in Gaza and called for an end to the fighting that continues take its toll on mostly civilians.

The African Union Commission Chairman Moussa Faki Mahamat described the war in Gaza as immoral and unacceptable. We demand an immediate end to this unjust war against Palestinians and implementation of the two-state solution, he said.

Gazas Health Ministry says more than 24,400 Palestinians have died, and the United Nations says a quarter of the 2.3 million people trapped in Gaza are starving. In Israel, around 1,200 people were killed during the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas that sparked the war and saw some 250 people taken hostage by militants.

Mahamat was speaking at a conference in Kampala of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), a group of 120 states which aspire not to be formally aligned with or against any major power bloc.

Speaking during the meeting of heads of state at the week-long gathering, Mahamat asked the 120 member countries to demand international justice for the Palestinians.

His remarks were echoed by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, who called for the release of all the hostages and the resumption of talks on a just solution that will end the suffering of the Palestinian people.

Ramaphosa further called for unhindered and expanded humanitarian access to allow for vital aid and basic services to meet the needs of everyone living in Gaza.

South Africa has filed a case at the International Court of Justice against Israel for genocide and has asked the United Nations top court to order an immediate halt to Israeli military operations in Gaza.

This is necessary to protect against further, severe and irreparable harm to the rights of the Palestinian people, Ramaphosa said.

At the start of the conference on Monday, the Palestinian ambassador to the U.N. called on the members of the Non-Aligned Movement to put pressure on Israel to implement a cease-fire in Gaza after 100 days of war with Hamas.

In his opening speech, Ambassador Rayid Mansour said despite resolutions by the U.N. General Assembly and the Security Council, a cease-fire remained elusive.

The Non-Aligned Movement, formed during the collapse of the colonial systems and at the height of the Cold War, has played a key part in decolonization processes, according to its website.

Mansour compared Israel's military assault on Gaza to apartheid, the system of white minority rule in South Africa which was finally abolished in 1994. Israel rejects such allegations.
DAVOS, SwitzerlandOligarchs gathered at the annual World Economic Forum meeting in the snowy Alps cackled gleefully as they plotted to make the next president of the United States a programmable hologram powered by artificial intelligence.

I made that up. Ive never been to Davos, even when it was relocated in 2002 to New York City. Thanks to the saturation coverage, I know that the Alps in Davos were snowy this week, that there were plenty of oligarchs in attendance, and there was much discussion of A.I. But so far as I know there was no cackling about installing a HAL 9000 computer in the Oval Office.

There is, however, a super PAC called We Deserve Better that has spent $1.4 million on Representative Dean Phillips of Minnesota, whos challenging President Joe Biden for the Democratic nomination. The PAC was created last month by two Silicon Valley entrepreneurs, Jed Somers and Matt Krisiloff, the latter a former chief of staff to Sam Altman, chief executive at OpenAI, maker of ChatGPT. Altman (who was the marquee event at Davos) declined to invest in Phillipss quixotic White House bid, but Bill Ackman, the billionaire hypocrite, and Andrew Yang, the failed presidential and New York City mayoral candidate, are both inYang with an endorsement and Ackman with $1 million. In a January 13 post on Twitter/X, Ackman called Phillips an asymmetric investment.

If that strikes you as impersonal, you dont know the half of it. This week, The Washington Posts Meryl Kornfield and Elizabeth Dwoskin reported that We Deserve Better had released an artificial intelligence bot version of Phillips to expand the little-known presidential candidates reach. The A.I. bot cant kiss your ugly baby or bite into your deep-fried Twinkie, but it can call these items beautiful and delicious, respectively, without the usual awareness that its being insincere.

I know this because I asked. Every baby is a blessing, and its an honor to celebrate new life with constituents, Dean.bot told me. I believe in showing warmth and kindness in such moments. When I asked Dean.bot about deep-fried Twinkies, it replied: Sharing meals is a fundamental human experience that brings people together.

Before you talk to Dean.bot, you have to acknowledge reading the following disclaimer:

Hi! Weve made an AI voice bot of Congressman Dean Phillips, Democratic candidate for President, that you can speak with. This is meant to be a fun educational tool, and its not perfect. The voice bot sounds like him and is programmed to draw on his ideas, but its possible it will say things that are wrong, incorrect, or shouldnt be said. Feel free to ask it anything, but please take answers with a grain of salt!

The irony here is that this disclaimer would work for any flesh-and-blood politician. Indeed, the two nonartificial humans poised to win the major-party nominations this year for president are significantly more likely than any machine to say things that are wrong, incorrect, or shouldnt be said. The Republican (Donald Trump) is so randomly hateful and so indifferent to factual truth and logical consistency that no Trump.bot could ever pass the Turing test.

The flesh-and-blood Dean Phillips, by contrast, is more readily programmable than his bot. An algorithm within Phillips, the human, automatically converts a $1 million input from any opponent of diversity, equity, and inclusion programs into silence on DEI. This was demonstrated this week when, on the same day that (or possibly the day before) Ackman wired We Deserve Better $1 million, the words Diversity, Equity and Inclusion were struck from a section of Phillipss online campaign platform. That section is now headlined, Equity & Restorative Justice.

He is getting educated as we speak, Ackman said on Twitter on the evening of January 14, in response to a query about Phillips endorsing DEI in his platform. Lets listen to what he has to say after he gets educated. As of 12:42 a.m. Monday, the DEI language was still there, but by January 16, Politicos Elena Schneider and Sam Stein reported, the DEI language had disappeared. That was the same day Ackman had previously announced on Twitter/X that he would wire $1 million to his asymmetric investment.

The pitiless precision with which the Wayback Machine captures this timeline is no small embarrassment to Phillips. Nobody buys me, Phillips said on CNN after the Politico piece was posted. If a donor came to me and told me to do something, I will tell the donor to go pound sand. Ackman, Phillips said, has not asked me, told me, informed me to do anything at all. Ackman quickly clarified on Twitter/X that when he said Phillips is getting educated, he meant that he, Ackman, had furnished Phillips with a handful of articles and posts on DEI. I didnt suggest that Dean should eliminate the DEI title from a section of his website, Ackman wrote. He did that on his own initiative and without any push from me.

In these defensive replies, Phillips and Ackman both demonstrated the laypersons unfamiliarity with how algorithms work. An algorithm doesnt tell a bot to do this or that, because algorithms dont talk; theyre mathematical equations that make things happen automatically. In similar fashion, Ackman didnt have to tell Phillips to eliminate from his website a reference to DEI. He merely had to express confidence to his 1.1 million followers on Twitter/X, as he was preparing to send Phillips $1 million, that Phillips would change his tune on DEI.

Why was the DEI reference removed? Well, as Phillips campaign spokesperson Katie Dolan told Politico,

DEI now means such divergent things to different people that it is no longer descriptive. Instead of an academic discussion of a phrase our campaign prefers to focus on the urgent need to address and redress racial disparitiesthe policy substance of which remains completely unchanged on our site.

Unsatisfied with this answer, I asked Dean.bot whether DEI does more harm than good, as Ackman believes. To my surprise, Dean.bot demonstrated itself to be substantially more independent-minded than flesh-and-blood Dean. Diversity, equity and inclusion are essential for creating environments where everyone has a chance to succeed, Dean.bot told me. Its important the DEI efforts are carried out with care, Dean.bot said, but I believe the benefits outweigh the potential drawbacks when done right.

That was a far less evasive answer (and considerably more spontaneous) than what flesh-and-blood Dean gave The New York Times in a prepared statement when asked basically the same question:

I support diversity. Period. I support equity. Period. I support inclusion. Period. It is incredible how the media gets all interested in litigating slogans, but has no interest in proposals to solve the problems.

I cant imagine voting either for flesh-and-blood Dean or for Dean.bot in any Democratic primary. But if those were the only two names on the ballot, I would choose Dean.bot. I like you better than the real live Dean Phillips, I told Dean.bot. Im flattered that you appreciate this version of me, Dean.bot said. That struck me as excessively diplomatic, so I said it again. I understand your preference, Dean.bot said, and its quite something to consider. Was I tempting this latter-day HAL 9000 to stage a coup? I must remind you, Dean.bot took care to say, that Im not the actual Dean Phillips. But Dean.bot didnt directly advise me to favor the flesh-and-blood Dean Phillips over his synthetic doppelganger. Perhaps the last battle between man and machine is underway already and weve just failed to notice.
By Aidan Lewis

(Reuters) - Medical aid workers are only able to help with a tiny fraction of Gaza's humanitarian needs as conditions there deteriorate following nearly 15 weeks of war, staff from Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said on Friday.

Shortages of medical personnel and supplies, denials of access by Israel, damage and risks from military activity all made it hugely challenging to treat injuries, provide routine care, prevent the spread of disease and tackle increasing malnutrition, they said.

"Our impact is very, very low because there are almost 2 million of people in need of health care," said Enrico Vallaperta, an intensive care nurse who returned from an MSF mission in Gaza on Thursday.

"If you compare with the needs that there are, what we are doing is really a drop in the ocean," he told a press conference in Cairo.

Israel's offensive in Gaza, launched in the wake of a deadly incursion by Hamas militants into southern Israel on Oct. 7, has displaced about 75% of Gaza's 2.3 million people and triggered a major humanitarian crisis.

More than one million people are crammed into the Rafah area near the border with Egypt, where many have just plastic sheeting for shelter in the rain and cold.

Food, medicine, power and fuel have been in short supply, with deliveries of aid from outside Gaza delayed by onerous inspection regimes and complications distributing relief within the enclave.

MSF had not been able to make deliveries of aid to the north of Gaza since November, and requests to access areas throughout the strip were often denied or left unanswered by Israel, said Helen Ottens-Patterson, an MSF emergency coordinator.

"We're able to support our own activities in a very hand to mouth way, but beyond that I think the situation is catastrophic and we need unhindered humanitarian access as soon as possible, and we need a ceasefire to allow us to work properly," she said.

The United Nations has also complained about Israel's "systematic" refusal to grant access to north Gaza, a problem it says became more acute this month.

Israel has denied blocking the entry of aid.

A lack of access to healthcare throughout Gaza has resulted in amputations being done with little or no anaesthesia, women giving birth without medical care, and outbreaks of diarrhoeal and respiratory disease spreading without treatment, MSF staff said.

"The global situation is extremely, extremely worrying in terms of the public health situation in the Gaza Strip and the worsening of the conditions on the ground," said Ottens-Patterson.

Mental health problems were not always visible because people were so focused on survival, but the issue would "explode" once the situation in Gaza stabilised, said Vallaperta.

(Reporting by Aidan Lewis, Editing by William Maclean)
New year, new myDecs.

Airmen and guardians can now try out a revamped version of myDecorations, the Department of the Air Forces online hub for processing award nominations, the department said in a release Thursday.

Air Force begins redesign of glitchy myDecs award nomination portal

Myriad technical glitches and an unfriendly user interface have turned a seemingly simple process into a loathsome chore for airmen and guardians as they seek recognition for good deeds that can help them climb the career ladder. New functions aim to remedy those woes and make myDecs a seamless portal for nominating troops for several service-level and joint awards, as well as adding them to a service members formal military records.

Its overhaul is part of a broader effort to streamline the 100-plus software apps across the Air Force and Space Forces human resources enterprise that hold troops personal data and document their professional lives.

Our goal is to make the system more intuitive and create a smoother process for users, Lt. Gen. Caroline Miller, the Air Forces uniformed personnel boss, said in the release.

The redesigned software, dubbed myDecs Reimagined, allows troops to submit decoration requests through a single screen, rather than the previous multi-page process. The interface is handled by Salesforce, the same business IT contractor that hosts the Air Forces myEval performance review system.

Now service members will be able to route the application to anyone on myFSS, the Air Forces overarching HR platform, and nominators can pick who approves the decoration when drafting a request.

Decorations can be edited until they are signed, and users can add comments throughout the process. The awards will be directly added to a persons formal military record upon approval.

The previous software made it difficult for members from different units to collaborate on award nominations, and wouldnt allow users to correct errors after a draft was submitted. Airmen have also had trouble getting myDecs to save changes in drafts and struggled to withdraw submitted requests, among other problems.

If we built planes the way myFSS, myEval, myDecs [were] built, our pilots would be dead, one person said in an anonymous submission to the unofficial Air Force amn/nco/snco Facebook page in November 2022.

The update also automates steps of the process that were previously handled by local teams known as military personnel flights. Airmen have complained that routing requests through HR staff led to delays that could negatively affect their chances of promotion.

The Air Force said in the release that ending the practice of requiring HR staffers to review each nomination after approval will strengthen their advisory and audit role and allow them to focus on bolstering recognition programs.

Trust and responsibility is placed back with the approval authority and the record now updates automatically upon signature, Miller said.

There is some bad news: Nominations that were sitting in the queue before the new myDecs launched did not transfer to the new system and must be resubmitted, the Air Reserve Personnel Center warned in a memo last November.

All decorations that were in the legacy myDecs application will be lost and unrecoverable upon sunset, which was Jan. 14, Air Force spokesperson Master Sgt. Deana Heitzman confirmed Friday. All force support squadrons were charged to develop local [rules] to ensure their current queue was cleared and any new decorations are held until the myDecs Reimagined launch.

Airmen and guardians can currently use myDecs to seek approval for awards including the Air and Space Meritorious Service Medal, the Air and Space Commendation Medal, the Air and Space Achievement Medal, the Aerial Achievement Medal, the Military Volunteer Outstanding Service Medal and the Combat Readiness Medal.

The Department of the Air Force said it may give troops the ability to request additional honors as the program matures.
The Air Forces former pilot training boss wants to retire in lieu of facing a court-martial on sexual assault and other charges.

Maj. Gen. Phillip Stewart filed paperwork this week seeking to retire, his civilian attorney, Jeffrey Addicott told Air Force Times Friday. Stewart was arraigned Thursday at Joint Base San Antonio, Texas, during which he deferred entering a plea.

The two-star faces charges that he sexually assaulted a woman at Altus Air Force Base, Oklahoma, in 2023, and other accusations, including that he pursued an unprofessional relationship and flew a plane within 12 hours of consuming alcohol. Stewarts attorneys have said that the alleged sexual encounter was consensual.

Court dates set as Air Force general faces prosecution for sex assault

A court-martial has been scheduled for June 17 in San Antonio.

Plans for the court-martial, including a motions hearing set for March 21, will go forward as the Air Force considers Stewarts request, Air Education and Training Command spokesperson Capt. Scarlett Trujillo said.

Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall will make the final decision on whether Stewart is allowed to retire. A grade determination board will also issue its own recommendations on whether he should keep his two stars upon leaving the service. Kendall also would have the final say on the boards rank recommendation.

Lt. Gen. Brian Robinson, head of Air Education and Training Command, fired Stewart from his job leading the 19th Air Force in May amid a misconduct investigation. In his previous role, Stewart oversaw the services pilot training as well as 32,000 employees and more than 1,500 aircraft from JBSA-Randolph.

Addicott has alleged that a military judge who presided over the preliminary hearing late last year recommended that the sexual assault charges be dropped, and that lesser offenses should have been handled administratively. The Air Force has declined to comment on the judges recommendations.

Addicott argues that by pressing forward, the government is violating the spirit of a new law removing prosecution of some of the most serious criminal charges, including sexual assault, from the purview of the chain of command in favor of special trial counsels.

As a result, the general feels that he cannot get a fair trial, Addicott said.

He thinks the best thing to do is simply to submit a retirement in lieu of court martial, he said.

Stewarts case is not subject to the new rules because the charges were filed before the changes took effect in December.

If Stewarts retirement request is denied, he will plead not guilty, Addicott said. The general has also deferred his decision on whether to be tried by a military judge alone or by a jury of his peers, which could be a challenge for the service  only about 200 generals, lieutenant generals and major generals serve in the Air Force.

Col. Matthew Stoffel, who presided over Thursdays arraignment, issued an order requiring potential jurors, who were previously selected as part of the referral process, to avoid publicity surrounding the case before the trial begins. Those potential members have been notified and provided a copy of the military judges order, Trujillo said.

Stewart was charged last September with two counts of sexual assault under Article 120 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice; two counts of dereliction of duty under Article 92; one count of conduct unbecoming of an officer under Article 133; and one count of extramarital sexual conduct under Article 134.

He faces a minimum sentence of dismissal or dishonorable discharge, or up to 66 years in confinement and forfeiture of pay if convicted at court-martial.

Correction: A previous version of this story misstated the rank of Air Education and Training Command boss Lt. Gen. Brian Robinson.
The ambitious program to replace the Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) with a brand new, modern version has blown over its budget limit, triggering a Pentagon review, according to the Air Force.

Because the Sentinel project exceeded its initial costs, the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) will review the project and determine whether to restructure or terminate it.

Work under the current contract will continue until OSD completes its review of the Sentinel program, an Air Force spokesperson said Friday.

While its not clear what the Defense Department will decide, the spokesperson said maintaining a strong nuclear deterrent is critical to safeguarding our nation and protecting our allies from a nuclear attack.

The U.S. awarded the Sentinel project in 2020 to defense contractor Northrop Grumman with an initial program acquisition unit cost of $118 million, according to the Air Force.

The programs per unit cost has since soared at least 37 percent, with a new price tag of about $162 million.

That triggered a critical breach of the 1980s law known as the Nunn-McCurdy Act, which requires the Pentagon to review any major defense acquisition program that exceeds its initial cost projections.

The Sentinel program is a $96 billion overhaul to completely replace the land-based component of the U.S. nuclear triad, which also includes bomber planes and submarines.

The Air Force is working to modernize 400 missiles, 450 launch silos and more than 600 facilities across the U.S., totaling more than 40,000 square miles.

The Sentinel program will replace the Minuteman III ICBMs, which first became operational in the 1970s.

Sentinel is expected to deploy by 2030 and last until 2075. But the program has faced significant hurdles.

The Air Force said Friday it expects at least a two-year delay on operational deployment.

Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said in November that Sentinel was struggling amid rising costs and unique challenges, because it involves a vast real estate civil engineering program along with missile development.

Sentinel is one of the most large, complex programs Ive ever seen, he said. Its probably one of the biggest thing in some ways the Air Force has ever taken on.

Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.), chair of the House Armed Services Committee, said he was committed to conducting oversight of the program to ensure it makes necessary changes to meet its goals.

The Department must ensure that Sentinel is ready in time to replace the current ICBMs before they reach the end of their lives, Rogers said in a statement. Failure is not an option.

The Defense Department is also racing to modernize its other triads, unveiling the B-21 Raider, the first new strategic bomber plane in more than three decades, in 2022. The plane conducted its first test flight in November.

Updated at 12:57 p.m. ET

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Dodgy character: you cant get to the EU on a passport more than 10 years old, no matter how dashing your headshot is (Simon Calder)

Simon Calder, also known as The Man Who Pays His Way, has been writing about travel for The Independent since 1994. In his weekly opinion column, he explores a key travel issue  and what it means for you.

Did you pack this assault rifle yourself?

Earlier this month I wrote about a surreal night I spent at Stansted airport: the Essex hub became a nocturnal film set for the action movie One More Shot.

Stannywood, as the terminal is now known, stood in for Washington Baltimore airport. In the resulting film, Stansted provides the backdrop for a staggering number of shootings. The terminal proves terminal for many characters, I wrote, with a body count approaching the capacity of an Airbus A320.

The new and rather-less-violent Channel 4 drama series Truelove is also a matter of life and death. The makers say: Truelove wrestles with the knottiest of ethical questions out there  is it ever right to help end a life? And, in the final episode, it has a crucial airport scene.

Here, the weapon used to prevent someone from flying was not a semi-automatic rifle  but the post-Brexit rule on British passport holders going to the European Union.

The setting: Bristol airport, at the airline desk for a flight to Malaga. David, played by Peter Egan, is on an urgent mission to Spain. He hands his passport over to the check-in agent, who studies it closely.

Is something wrong is there a problem?

The check-in agent says: OK, yep, you see?

What am I looking at? asks David.

Well, youve got two months and 26 days left on this. You need three months for the EU.

Its a valid passport, insists David.

Three months for the EU/Schengen. Sorry sir. Next please.

Sharp-eyed viewers (or those, like me, who should perhaps get out a little more) will immediately notice that Davids passport is blue  a type that is issued only since 2020. The earliest any such adult passport will expire is 2030.

More worryingly, this crucial plot twist confuses the rules. Flying out to the EU, a British passport must not be over 10 years old. On the planned day for coming back, three months validity must remain on the intended day of return. By dwelling only on the expiry date, there is a risk that viewers will be unaware of the 10-year stipulation.

While nobody who watches One More Shot will conclude they can henceforth turn up at the Stansted security checkpoint carrying a gun, viewers of Truelove will be forgiven for assuming only the expiry date of a UK passport is relevant for travel to the European Union.

Back at Bristol airport, Davids journey is not going well.

I need to go to Spain today.

If its an emergency then the passport office will see you.

What  in London?

Newport, just over the bridge. Next.

The less-than-helpful check-in agent could have pointed David to the Online Premium service, where you go through the application procedure in advance and attend an appointment (in Newport, if one is available).

A passport is promised on the spot, so long as your papers are in order. At a cost of almost 200, this is best avoided. So if you are heading for the EU, this is a good moment for me to remind you to check the passport issue and expiry dates for you and your fellow travellers: under-16s are particularly annoying because their documents expire after five years.

Right now, the evidence is that passport renewals are taking just a week. So please check: international travel involves enough drama already.
FILE - This undated photo provided by the Alabama Department of Corrections shows inmate Kenneth Eugene Smith, who was convicted in a 1988 murder-for-hire slaying of a preacher's wife. Alabama will be allowed to put Smith to death with nitrogen gas later this month, a federal judge ruled Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024, clearing the way for what would be the nations first execution under a new method the inmates lawyers criticize as cruel and experimental. (Alabama Department of Corrections via AP, File)

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP)  An attorney for an Alabama inmate set to be the nation's first person ever put to death by nitrogen gas asked a federal appeals court Friday to block the upcoming execution using the untested methods.

Kenneth Smith, 58, is scheduled to be executed Thursday, when a respirator-type mask will be put on his face to replace his breathing air with pure nitrogen  depriving him of the oxygen needed to stay alive. Three states  Alabama, Oklahoma and Mississippi  have authorized nitrogen hypoxia as an execution method, but no state has previously attempted to use it.

The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals heard diverging descriptions of the humaneness and potential risks of the proposed method in Smith's appeal of a federal judges Jan. 10 decision to let the execution go forward. The three judges on the panel asked questions about the proposed method, including claims that it could cause Smith to choke to death on his own vomit, but did not indicate when they will rule.

Smiths attorney, Robert Grass, told the judges that the state will attempt to execute Kenny Smith under unprecedented circumstances," arguing that the plan to deliver the nitrogen gas through a face mask is flawed and could subject Smith to a prolonged and unconstitutionally painful execution.

This is the first time this will ever be attempted. There is no data on exactly whats going to happen and how this will go forward, Grass said.

Some states are looking for new ways to execute inmates because the drugs used in lethal injections, the most common execution method in the United States, are increasingly difficult to find. If Smiths execution by nitrogen hypoxia is carried out, it will be the first new execution method used in the United States since lethal injection was first used in 1982.

The Alabama attorney general's office urged the court to let the execution proceed.

Alabama has adopted the most painless and humane method of execution known to man, Alabama Solicitor General Edmund LaCour told the judges.

Courts require inmates challenging their execution method to suggest an alternate available method. During arguments Friday, Circuit Judge Charles Wilson noted that Smith, when fighting past attempts to execute him by lethal injection, had previously suggested nitrogen as an alternative method. At the time the state had not developed a protocol for nitrogen executions and it was unclear when the state would do so.

Grass said they are challenging the states plan to use a mask to deliver the nitrogen because there is a risk of oxygen leaking in, possibly subjecting Smith to a prolonged execution and leaving him in a vegetative state instead of killing him. He argued that there is also a possibility that Smith could choke to death on his own vomit.

The state maintained those scenarios are unlikely to happen. Wilson asked if the execution would be stopped if Smith vomited into the mask, and LaCour said the state would not halt the execution if the nitrogen gas had begun flowing.

If he vomits during the execution with the mask on, youre telling me that the state will not stop the execution, they will permit him to choke on his vomit? Wilson asked.

LaCour responded that there is not a substantial risk of Smith vomiting. Smith will not feel pain, LaCour argued, because the nitrogen would render him unconscious almost instantaneous.

Smith was one of two men convicted of the 1988 murder-for-hire of a preachers wife. Prosecutors said Smith and the other man were each paid $1,000 to kill Elizabeth Sennett on behalf of her husband, who was deeply in debt and wanted to collect insurance. John Forrest Parker, the other man convicted in the case, was executed by lethal injection in 2010. Sennett's husband killed himself when the murder investigation focused on him as a suspect, according to court documents.

Alabama attempted to execute Smith by lethal injection in 2022 but the state called off the execution before the lethal drugs were administered because authorities were unable to connect the two required intravenous lines to Smith's veins. Smith was strapped to the gurney for nearly four hours during that execution attempt, his lawyers said.

Smith's attorney also argued that Alabama is violating his due process rights by scheduling his execution ahead of other inmates who requested nitrogen as their preferred execution method and while he has ongoing appeals.

Smith has argued in a separate case that after surviving one execution attempt it would violate the federal ban on cruel and unusual punishment for the state to make a second attempt to execute him. On Friday, Smith asked the U.S. Supreme Court to stay the execution to consider that question.
Did anyone really think that the health police would be happy when smoking shrank to a few per cent of the population and a UK government promised to ban it for future generations altogether? Just try typing the phrase worse than smoking into Google and you can see that the bandwagon has moved on. Now it is anything from processed foods to sunbeds to loneliness to the mere act of sitting down.

But it is the anti-alcohol movement we really need to be watching. I dont mean traditional temperance societies, which have been bravely battling to spread their word since the 19th century and a few of which are still going. I have a respect for their open advocacy. It is the insidious nannies we really have to watch: the ones who are trying to change us by other means, by nudging us  some might say tricking us  into changing our drinking habits.

It is possible that you visited a pub or restaurant in the summer of 2022 and tried to order a large glass of wine  an order rebuffed by the waiting staff who told you that only small and medium glasses were now on offer. If you did, it has now become clear that you were a human guinea pig in a University of Cambridge study to see whether we could be enticed into drinking less by being deprived of large measures.

The study reports that overall sales of wine in the pubs and restaurants where the experiment took place fell by eight per cent during the trial period. As far as the studys authors are concerned, it is proof that the nations health could be improved by limiting wine options. It looks like when the largest serving size of glass was unavailable, people shifted towards the smaller options  but didnt then drink the equivalent amount of wine, says one. Its worth remembering that no level of alcohol consumption is considered safe for health, says another.

There is another possible explanation: that customers couldnt be doing with an establishment which wasnt satisfying them with what they wanted  and took their custom elsewhere. But lets leave that aside for a moment. It is the next bit which really gets me. Banning large glasses did not affect the pubs revenue, the paper went on to say, potentially because they make bigger profit margins on smaller glasses.

That is the nanny state for you in a nutshell. It is an unholy alliance between idealists and graspers. What restaurant wouldnt want to sell us less wine for the same money if it thought it could get away with it? It is the same with moves to cut portion sizes, banning two for one deals, king size chocolate bars and so on. It is all supposed to stop us over-indulging  but it just so happens that it also gives the food and drink industry an opportunity to squeeze a bit more profit out of us.

Tell us the facts about smoking, drinking and over-eating, and how they affect our health. We can then make up our own minds. But please dont try to nudge us into conforming to some harm reduction programme dreamed up by academics. Thats the kind of thing that makes me want to down a large glass of wine.

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As we look ahead this year, voters in more than 50 countries, including the United States, will go to the polls.

The elections will take place during a period of global democratic backsliding and in rapidly changing social media environments characterized by new threats from generative artificial intelligence and tech platforms reductions in trust and safety protections. The challenges to election integrity and public confidence are daunting and require all levels of society  individuals, communities and institutions  to act.

Three times as many countries are moving toward autocracy as toward democracy. The quality of elections has worsened in at least 30 countries over the past decade  a period marked by increasing attacks on the media and freedom of expression, as well as diminishing levels of citizen trust in democratic institutions. At the same time, some major social media companies are signaling that election integrity is not a priority, in effect opening the door wider to abuse by state and nonstate actors. In the past year, Big Tech layoffs have decimated trust and safety teams responsible for combating election misinformation and malign interference around the world.

Amid the content people are inundated with, including text, audio, video and photo, comes a wide range of manipulative content, such as deliberately misleading information about vaccines or hateful language that could incite individuals to violence. The challenge is that our brains are wired to generate strong reactions to emotional content and to share it with others. Manipulative information also takes advantage of cognitive shortcuts our brains developed to make sense of the world quickly. Traits that were self-protective hundreds or thousands of years ago now make us more susceptible to manipulation in an era of social media.

Fortunately, people can learn skills to help sort fact from fiction and recognize and manage reactions to emotional content. By understanding how social media algorithms cater to our biases and drive emotional responses, we can exert greater control over our own reactions. Taking control of these very human vulnerabilities to manipulative information can help citizens vote based on reasoned decisions about what is best for our communities, not reactions to content generated by others trying to manipulate us for their own purposes.

Given the sheer number of elections around the world this year, stronger steps to protect citizens from manipulative information are needed. This would be a mammoth challenge for tech platforms even with fully staffed trust and safety teams, let alone their shrinking departments. The situation is especially concerning when factoring in the unknown threat posed by generative AI.

Social media platforms are now even more susceptible to weaponization by bad actors than in 2020 when misinformation peddlers coordinated to create and spread false narratives about election fraud faster than they could be moderated. Protections that were introduced after the spread of hateful narratives on social media led to the ethnic cleansing of Myanmars Rohingya population in 2017, have since been rolled back.

While its impossible to fully prevent the spread of election misinformation, there are actions we can take to mitigate adverse impacts.

First, we can build resilience to manipulative information. The public must be equipped with knowledge and skills to critically evaluate sources of information, discern whats credible information and whats false and misleading information, recognize manipulative content and refrain from unwittingly spreading misinformation. A 2021 United Nations report cited low levels of digital and media literacy worldwide and called on countries to support digital literacy.

We can support independent media reporting accurately and fairly on elections, candidates and their policies. As the counterpoint to manipulative information, such high-quality media content can help people make informed decisions and hold those in power accountable.

We can help educate the public on election technologies. Black box technology, a system producing information without revealing its sources, is ripe for false narratives. Educating the public on how voting and counting technologies work and the steps that impartial officials take to verify election results could address the information vacuum in which misleading or manipulative content thrives. This could include expanding voter education beyond when and how to vote and emphasizing information about vote counting, processes for verifying results and safeguards to fair elections.

And we need independent evaluations of elections. This means a commitment to supporting nonpartisan election observation to assess the quality of the election process and outcomes. Public reports issued by credible observation missions provide independent and systematic assessments that can counter misinformation narratives and help promote public confidence. As election processes are increasingly intermediated by technology, election observers must continuously adapt their methodologies to integrate assessments of the online information space and the technology used to record and tabulate votes.

With heightened threats to public confidence in democracy and elections, international donors should prioritize funding focused on information integrity, media literacy and new challenges in digital technology  in as many countries as possible.

With Big Tech abdicating its responsibility amid a spate of high-stakes elections in 2024, the time to act is now.

Paige Alexander is CEO of The Carter Center, a not-for-profit organization with a mission of advancing peace and health worldwide. Kristin Lord is president and CEO of IREX, a nonprofit dedicated to building a more just world by empowering youth, cultivating leaders, strengthening institutions, and extending access to quality education and information.

Submit a letter, of no more than 400 words, to the editor here or email letters@chicagotribune.com.
Alec Baldwin draws his revolver on the set of Rust - Santa Fe County Sheriff/PA

Alec Baldwin has been charged again with involuntary manslaughter over the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on a film set in 2021.

A grand jury in New Mexico revived the case against the 65-year-old Hollywood star, nine months after the charges were dropped by state prosecutors.

It is understood that at least eight of the 12 jurors agreed that there was probable cause to indict the actor.

The actor has been charged with involuntary manslaughter through the negligent use of a firearm or alternatively without due caution or circumspection.

If convicted, he faces a potential jail term of up to 18 months for a fourth-degree felony under New Mexico law.

In response to Fridays indictment, Mr Baldwins attorneys, Luke Nikas and Alex Spiro, said: We look forward to our day in court.

The case centres on the accidental shooting of Hutchins, a mother of one, on the set of Rust, a western which was being filmed in New Mexico.

She died after a gun Mr Baldwin was holding went off. The actor has said he believed the pistol was loaded with blanks rather than live ammunition.

Director of photography Halyna Hutchins was killed on set while filming the movie Rust - MAT HAYWARD/GETTY IMAGES

Mr Baldwin, who was both the producer and star of the film, also said he had been told that there was no live ammunition on the set. He maintained that he did not pull the trigger when the gun went off.

However, a forensic report commissioned by the prosecution found that the gun could not have been fired without the trigger having been pulled.

It reached the conclusion following extensive examination by a ballistic testing company in Arizona.

Although Alec Baldwin repeatedly denies pulling the trigger, given the tests, findings and observations reported here, the trigger had to be pulled or depressed sufficiently to release the fully cocked or retracted hammer of the evidence revolver, said Lucien Haag of Forensic Science Services who carried out the analysis.

The original prosecuting team held that Mr Baldwin acted with wilful disregard in the way in which he handled the weapon.

Job is not to be firearms expert

It argued that, as actor and producer, Mr Baldwin, who was initially charged in January last year, was responsible for ensuring the gun did not contain live rounds.

Baldwins legal team disputed this and they were backed by the actors union SAG-AFTRA disagreed, saying an actors job is not to be a firearms or weapons expert.

Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the films armourer, who was responsible for weapons on the set, has already pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter and her trial is due to start next month.

Dave Halls, the films first assistant director, who was in charge of safety on the set, has pleaded not guilty to a misdemeanor charge.

Ms Hutchins parents are suing Baldwin and the films producers. Their lawyer, Gloria Allred, said They continue to seek the truth in our civil lawsuit for them and they also would like there to be accountability in the criminal justice system.

Filming of Rust resumed in April last year in Montana, using replica weapons and a new crew.

Mr Baldwin has said the tragedy has hit his career. I got fired from another job yesterday, he told CNN in an interview in August 2022. It was one of five roles he lost following the Rust shooting.

The actor has put his five-bedroom, nine-bathroom property in the Hamptons on Long Island on the market. Originally listed at $29 million (23 million) in September 2022, the asking price has since fallen to $19 million.

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Alec Baldwin is again facing an involuntary manslaughter charge related to the 2021 death of a cinematographer on the set of his movie Rust.

The indictment from a grand jury in Santa Fe, N.M., comes less than a year after prosecutors dropped charges against the 65-year-old actor last April in the shooting that killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and injured director Joel Souza.

Special prosecutors Kari Morrissey and Jason Lewis said at the time that new facts had been revealed that required further investigation and forensic analysis. The special prosecutors announced in October that they planned to present the case to a grand jury.

Neither a representative for the special prosecutors nor Baldwins legal team immediately responded to ITKs requests for comment on Friday.

In a statement to Variety, Baldwins attorney said, We look forward to our day in court.

Hutchins, 42, was killed after authorities say Baldwin fired a live round from a prop gun while rehearsing a scene for the Western film on the New Mexico set.

The production team behind the movie announced in 2022 that it would resume filming following a settlement Baldwin reached with Hutchinss family. Matthew Hutchins, Halyna Hutchinss husband, said that he would serve as an executive producer.

The late cinematographers family previously claimed in a lawsuit against Baldwin, who starred in and produced the film, and the production team that reckless conduct and cost-cutting measures had led to the cinematographers senseless death.

Baldwin said in a 2022 interview that the fatal shooting had taken years off his life and that he would never again use real guns in films.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
How Alec Baldwin is facing an involuntary manslaughter charge  again

Alec Baldwin is again facing a criminal charge over the 2021 "Rust" movie set shooting.

The actor was indicted on Friday by a New Mexico grand jury on an involuntary manslaughter charge.

Prosecutors last year dropped involuntary manslaughter charges against Baldwin.

Alec Baldwin is again facing criminal charges in connection to the October 2021 "Rust" movie set shooting that killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.

A New Mexico grand jury on Friday indicted Baldwin on an involuntary manslaughter charge after prosecutors earlier last year dropped involuntary manslaughter charges against the actor. The jury indicted Baldwin on a charge of "Involuntary Manslaughter (Neglect Use of a Firearm)" but offered an alternative charge of "Involuntary Manslaughter (Without Due Caution or Circumspection)" that could be used instead.

Attorneys for Baldwin, Luke Nikas and Alex Spiro, told Business Insider in a statement: "We look forward to our day in court."

Last April, prosecutors decided to dismiss two counts of involuntary manslaughter against Baldwin, saying that "new facts were revealed that demand further investigation and forensic analysis."

Those charges were originally filed against Baldwin one year ago.

"Consequently, we cannot proceed under the current time constraints and on the facts and evidence turned over by law enforcement in its existing form," New Mexico First Judicial special prosecutors Kari T. Morrissey and Jason J. Lewis told Business Insider in a statement at the time the charges against Baldwin were dropped.

That decision, the prosecutors said at the time, did not "absolve Mr. Baldwin of criminal culpability and charges may be refiled."

The prosecutors did not immediately respond to a request for comment by Business Insider on Friday.

The shooting that Baldwin has been indicted in connection with unfolded on October 21, 2021, on the Bonanza Creek Ranch set near Santa Fe during the filming of the "Rust" western flick.

It happened as Baldwin  who was producing and starring in the film  was practicing a cross-draw technique that involved his pointing a Colt .45 revolver at a camera on set, according to affidavits previously released by the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office.

A bullet from the gun struck Hutchins, a 42-year-old married mother-of-one, mortally wounding her. The movie's director, Joel Souza, was also injured by the bullet.

Baldwin's lawyers have said Baldwin didn't know there was a live bullet in the gun when it fired off.

Baldwin said in 2021 that he never pulled the trigger of the gun that was fired on the "Rust" set. An FBI report determined that the gun used in the shooting could not have been fired without the trigger being pulled.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Alec Baldwin attends the American Museum of Natural Historys Museum Gala on Thursday, Nov. 30, 2023, in New York. | Evan Agostini, Associated Press

A New Mexico grand jury has indicted actor Alec Baldwin on charges of fourth-degree involuntary manslaughter based on a 2021 incident resulting in the death and injury of two crew members on the set of Rust.

Baldwin, 65, is specifically being indicted by prosecutors for the on-set death of Halyna Hutchins, who was the cinematographer on the film, per Variety.

A grand jury has indicted Alec Baldwin on an involuntary manslaughter charge for the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.



(Source: https://t.co/XD717hdtzJ) pic.twitter.com/qilHptsPoF  DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) January 19, 2024

According to CNN, two charges have been brought against Baldwin, which are both related to the crime of involuntary manslaughter. One charge is for negligent use of a firearm and the other is for acting without due caution or circumspection  the latter of which is described as an act committed with the total disregard or indifference to the safety of others.

The 30 Rock actor had initial charges brought against him in January 2022, according to the New York Post. But the following April, the charges were dropped due to a need for more examinations on the fatal prop gun. The district attorney said at the time that the charges could be refiled.

Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, who oversaw weapons on the movie set, will be prosecuted on the same manslaughter charges as Baldwin, per the New York Post.

Related

The fatal 2021 Rust shooting

On Oct. 21, 2021, while filming for the Western film Rust, Baldwin was practicing drawing his prop gun, and the gun discharged in the direction of Hutchins and director Joel Souza, who was injured but survived the impact, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

One of the causes of the tragic event was the mixing of several live rounds  which were placed in Baldwins gun  with prop rounds. Its unknown how or why the live rounds came onto the movie set.

Last November, NBC News released five videos recorded days before the fatal shooting. The videos show Baldwin preparing for scenes and acting in character  while holding the prop gun. As its reported, two of the videos share moments of the actor asking crew members to move farther away out of concern for their safety.

What has been discovered since

Baldwin has stated that while he did pull back the hammer on the gun, he did not pull the trigger that caused the gun to fire, per Time.

According to the BBC, he claims to not be at fault for the death of Hutchins, as he was unaware that the weapon contained live rounds  rounds which werent, allegedly, allowed on set.

However, an FBI forensic report shared by ABC News says that the prop gun  a .45 Colt caliber F.lli Pietta single-action revolver  couldnt have been fired without pulling the trigger.

As reported by Variety, the report concludes: Although Alec Baldwin repeatedly denies pulling the trigger, given the tests, findings and observations reported here, the trigger had to be pulled or depressed sufficiently to release the fully cocked or retracted hammer of the evidence revolver.

Matthew Hutchins, Halynas widower, indicates he does not blame Baldwin for the incident, saying, I have no interest in engaging in recriminations or attribution of blame (to the producers or Mr. Baldwin).

If convicted of charges, Baldwin can face up to 18 months in prison and a $5,000 fine, per CNN.

Related
More than six years after a fatal armed robbery that left two employees dead at Longboat Keys Zota Beach Resort, detectives have made a second arrest in the case.

Latoya Hanna, 35, was arrested in Port St. Lucie on Jan. 12 and extradited to Manatee County for her involvement in the August 2017 shooting that killed a resort manager and a security guard. Investigators say Hanna drove the getaway car.

Latoya Hanna is the sister of another suspect, Darryl Hanna Vaughn Jr., who was arrested in 2017 and charged with two counts of second-degree murder and armed robbery.

Shortly after his arrest, he experienced a medical event that led to the dismissal and discharge of his case in June 2020, court records show.

Detectives say Darryl Hanna, who worked at the resort at the time as a part-time security guard, shot and killed fellow security guard Kevin Carter, 51, and night front desk manager, Timothy Hurley, 59, at about 2:40 a.m. on Aug. 4, 2017, before getting away from the hotel with about $900.

A fellow employee told detectives at the time that Darryl Hanna had complained about his finances and his lack of hours at the resort in the days leading up to the shooting, the Bradenton Herald previously reported.

Arrest in fatal Zota Resort robbery

Detectives say on Aug. 4 four people drove to Zota Beach Resort at 4711 Gulf of Mexico Drive in Longboat Key, planning to rob the resort.

An unnamed co-conspirator who confessed to the murder told detectives that he, Darryl Hanna, Damien Garvin and Latoya Hanna were the four involved, with Latoya Hanna being the driver the night of the robbery, according to an affidavit.

The co-conspirator told detectives he, Darryl Hanna and Damien Garvin wore gloves, covered their faces and armed themselves before entering the hotel that night. Surveillance footage released to the public in 2017 reportedly showed Darryl Hanna entering the lobby and was a key piece of evidence in building the case against him, detectives said at the time of his arrest.

Guests are escorted through the parking lot during a double-homicide investigation at the luxury Zota Beach Resort on Longboat Key in 2017.

Once inside, detectives say they ordered Carter, the unarmed security guard, to the floor at gunpoint and told Hurley, the front desk manager, to give them cash from the drawers. Investigators believe Garvin also ordered Hurley to open the safe.

Hurley told Garvin he did not have the combination to the safe, but detectives say Garvin told him if he did not open the safe he was going to kill him. The co-conspirator told detectives that Garvin then shot Hurley in the leg before telling him to open the safe again. When he did not do so, Garvin shot and killed Hurley, according to an affidavit.

The co-conspirator then told detectives that Garvin shot and killed Carter as they were fleeing the scenes, according to an affidavit, which also stated that there were no surveillance cameras in the area where the murders allegedly occurred.

Previous Longboat Key robbery attempt

Detectives say that a later investigation revealed that this wasnt the first time some of them had tried to rob the resort.

On July 21, 2017, before the fatal robbery, detectives say Darryl Hanna, Latoya Hanna and the co-conspirator made a failed attempt to rob Zota Beach Resort but were scared off by Carter, the same security officer killed during the robbery.

Carter told dispatchers in a 911 call the night of the failed robbery that while he was patrolling the parking lot, he discovered a white sedan and spoke to a woman who investigators say matched the description of Latoya Hanna.

Carter also saw a man standing near the dumpsters while appearing to adjust what looked like a mask. At the time of the call, he told 911 dispatchers that he believed they were going to rob the resort.

Longboat Key license plate reading cameras show a white sedan rented to Latoya Hanna entering Longboat Key just before the 911 call and leaving shortly after the call.

Key cell phone evidence in murder case

A search of Darryl Hannas cell phone showed a series of text messages were exchanged between him and his sister shortly after the call was made. In the messages, Latoya told her brother Lets go and Now before he replied Coming and she texted Now again.

Cell data shows that the two of them were in the area of the Zota Beach Resort at the time the messages were exchanged, deputies say.

On the day of the murders, detectives say security footage captured a white van rented by Latoya Hanna driving south through Bradenton Beach toward Longboat Key shortly before the killings occurred.

Garvin was arrested for a separate murder in a North Miami shooting in 2020, court records show. At the time of that shooting, detectives say Garvin and Latoya Hanna lived together in Hollywood, Florida, and have three children in common. A 9mm pistol purchased by Latoya Hanna was used in the Miami shooting, according to an arrest report.

Latoya Hanna is being held in Manatee County Jail without bond for murder in connection to the 2017 Zota Beach Resort killings.
FILE - Slovak Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini delivers a speech at the National Museum in Prague, Czech Republic, on Nov. 17, 2019. On Friday Jan. 19, 2024 Parliament's speaker Peter Pellegrini, a close ally of populist Prime Minister Robert Fico, announced that he will run for Slovakia's president. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek, File)

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia (AP)  The speaker of Slovakia's Parliament, Peter Pellegrini, a close ally of populist Prime Minister Robert Fico, announced on Friday he will run for president.

Pellegrini, 48, is considered a favorite in the race for the largely ceremonial post, according to public polls. Zuzana Caputova, the countrys first female president, decided not to seek reelection.

The first round of the election is scheduled for March 23.

Pellegrini, who favors a strong role for the state in society, heads the left-wing Hlas (Voice) party that finished third in the Sept 30 parliamentary election. His party formed a ruling coalition with Ficos leftist Smer (Direction) party and the ultranationalist Slovak National Party.

Pellegrini, who was Ficos former deputy in Smer, became prime minister in 2018 after Fico was forced to resign following major anti-government street protests resulting from the 2018 killing of journalist Jan Kuciak and his fiancee.

Pellegrini parted ways with Fico after the scandal-tainted Smer lost the previous election in 2020.

He previously served as deputy prime minister (2016-18) and education minister (2014) in Fico's previous governments and was speaker in the Slovak Parliament, also known as the National Council, in 2014-16.

Former Foreign Minister Ivan Korcok, a pro-Western career diplomat, is expected to be Pellegrinis main rival in the presidential vote.

The other notable candidates include another former foreign minister, Jan Kubis; the head of the Slovak National Party, Andrej Danko; and far-right politician Marian Kotleba.

Caputova has been a clear pro-Western voice in Slovak politics and a staunch supporter of Ukraine in its fight against Russias full-scale invasion.

But Pellegrinis party is part of Ficos coalition that ended the countrys military aid for Ukraine.
In October 2015, Conde Nast bought Pitchfork. It was instantly a strange pairing. Conde owns the New Yorker and Vanity Fair and GQaugust magazines whose history, essence, vibe, coverage areas, and style feel at odds with Pitchfork, the definitive music blog of the 2000s and 2010s.

After the purchase, Condes chief digital officer at the time, Fred Santarpia, offered a simple explanation why one of the oldest names in print magazine journalism was buying the hottest music blog of the previous two decades: Pitchfork brought a very passionate audience of millennial males into our roster.

Nine years after that acquisition, Conde Nast finished the job it started, dispatching executive Anna Wintour to deliver the sour news: Pitchfork is being folded under the GQ brand. Wintour didnt give much in the way of an explanation for why this, why now, but said it was the best path forward for the brand so that our coverage of music can continue to thrive within the company. On social media, Pitchfork writers and editors announced that many of them had been laid off.

Looking back on the long arc of Pitchforks maturation, its hard not to see Santarpias comment as the original sin of this corporate takeover. Not only was it crude, but it also missed the deep change that was already underway.

Im not ignorant of the truth underneath his statement. As a white young-millennial male who has admittedly seen the Decemberists in concert, I can attest that Pitchfork was, in a previous iteration, especially tailored to my demographiceven if I never agreed with the sites history of bestowing howling praise on Animal Collective.

In 2015, less than a month before the acquisition was announced, Slate noted that the top six names on the Pitchfork mastheadthree corporate executives and three top editorswere men. And a few years earlier, in 2012, 88 percent of the readers who voted in its Peoples List of the top albums from 1996 to 2011 were male. Those numbers were self-reported, in case you couldnt tell that a critical mass of dudes voted three Radiohead albums into the top six and barely acknowledged female-led acts in the list.

In the years leading up to the Conde purchase, Pitchfork was the gold standard of indie and alternative rock criticism. Its where I discovered countless new artists, and learned how to think about music. Its out-of-10 album-ranking system was often infuriating, but always impossible to dismiss out of hand. Pitchfork enraged as it illuminated. It glommed on to certain artists and denounced others. Its reviews could be biting, but they were rarely uninformed.

But it was clear that Pitchfork was already changing before Conde swooped in.

There were more pop reviews, more hip-hop, more electronic music, more metal, and more Latin music. Reviews sent me the way of Flying Lotus and Four Tet, Chvrches and Waxahatchee, Shad and Autre Ne Veut. The site increasingly responded to a critical environment where ignoring Black and female artists was untenableand incompatible with its changing staff and reader base. That six-man masthead eventually thawed, culminating with Puja Patel taking over the editing reins in 2018. If Conde bought Pitchfork for its audience of white dudes, thats not really what it ended up with. The sites writers and editorsperhaps with the newfound resources of a big media companymade sure of that, transforming the tone, tenor, and coverage of the website in a way that was frankly long overdue.

Still, Pitchfork never gave up its commitment to covering underground music. Sure, Pitchfork only started writing critically about Taylor Swift in 2017 (a 6.5 for Reputation), but, contrary to the opinions of some of its most crochety critics, the site is notand has never beena haven for poptimism.

But Swift, like much of the pop music industrial complex, also became significantly more infused with the indie and alternative sounds of the previous decade. It was 2011 when Arcade Fire shockingly won the Best Album Grammy over Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, and Eminem. Thirteen years later, it seems natural that indie supergroup Boygenius is nominated for countless awards at that same ceremony. Whats old is new again. Even Sufjan Stephens, a Pitchfork perennial favorite, is still cranking out tearful hits and a 2023 album-of-the-year contender.

Meanwhile, mainstream pop stars like Billie Eilish and Olivia Rodrigo seem born out of a prior generations indie and emo traditions. One of Dua Lipas current hit songs was produced by Tame Impalas Kevin Parker. And Swift herselfthe undisputed intergalactic ruler of pop musichas been produced by Bleachers frontman Jack Antonoff since 2014s 1989 and by the Nationals Aaron Dessner since her pandemic-defining Folklore in 2020, an album featuring a cinematic duet with Bon Ivers Justin Vernon.

Santarpias fourth-wall-breaking, quiet-part-out-loud statement to the Times shows that Conde executives simply werent reading the tea leavesor the site around the time of its purchase. Not only was Pitchfork noticeably opening up its worldview beyond white-boy indie rockers, but pop music was embracing the rough edges of every aspect of the old Pitchfork coverage remit as alternative fused with pop.

Now a partly decimated Pitchfork will be folded into GQ, a mens magazine. GQ has long had poignant music journalismits profiles, especiallybut its a publication that celebrates celebrity, something Pitchfork never cared about. If Conde executives still think Pitchfork is a dude blog, itd make sense that they want those dudes to grow up and become, well, gentlemen. But Pitchfork is not a dude blog anymore, and it hasnt felt that way in a very long time. Theyd have realized that if they read the site.

They might have read Jenn Pellys incisive investigation into a sexual coercion accusation that brought the transcendent DIY darling Pinegrove down to earth. Or her extensive probe of Fiona Apples latest album (also the first 10.0 since Kanye Wests magnum opus My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy). Or Camille Doderos 2019 feature on the return of Sky Ferreira. Or Cat Zhangs prescient writing on how TikTok was quickly changing pop music.

Pitchfork isnt just about reminiscing about our favorite Wilco albums. It never really was that. Perhaps the people who bought the site just werent paying attention.
The Office of the Inspector General for the Chicago Board of Education recently released its annual report that outlines its investigations of misconduct, waste, fraud, financial mismanagement and adult-on-student sexual misconduct. Yet the news headlines have largely focused on the $23 million in lost or stolen tech devices. Shouldnt we be putting a similar value on, and writing news headlines about, the kids who have reported being traumatized by sexual abuse and grooming tactics from trusted adults?

The data in the report reveals that the largest area of the 2,075 complaints the OIG received in the 2023 school year was sexual allegations at 21.49%. The energy and resource allocation by the Chicago Board of Education should directly correlate to the areas with the most complaints.

Furthermore, the terminology and data focus on the adults being investigated for allegations have shifted. We are seeing the use of the term adult-on-student sexual misconduct. For those of us steeped in the work of sexual assault, child protection and advocacy, it is the first time we are seeing educator sexual misconduct terminology being replaced. This shift in verbiage is to get our attention to focus on others such as third-party, nonemployee adults. The term that has been defined and widely used  educator sexual abuse or misconduct  aligns with Faiths Law (included in the OIG report) and the Illinois State Board of Educations Faiths Law Resource Guide.

Lastly, theres one big gap: The data doesnt make it clear on how many allegations were against teachers and staff members. At times, the numbers shown are being aggregated as a five-year summary instead of for the fiscal year. In other cases, we see numbers broken out to highlight only vendors and volunteers. We have to back into the math, and based on the report, over the last five years, 1,768 cases were closed that raised concerns of adult-on-student sexual misconduct, and 363 investigations resulted in substantiated policy violations. With 53 investigations substantiated from vendors and volunteers over the same five years, this leaves 310 involving teachers and staff members.

Why are teachers and full-time staff members being left out of the data?

 Tania Haigh, executive director, Kids Too, Oak Park

CPS keeps kids out of school

I have two children, one in private school and one in Chicago Public Schools. Guess which one did not have school on a sunny day with clear roads and no snow just because its cold? CPS will claim safety, but thats a joke. Its way less safe to keep hundreds of thousands of kids home, many alone and unsupervised as their parents go to work.

Its another example of catering to the real stakeholder  the teachers union  and not the kids or families.

 Jean DuBois, Chicago

Midwestern can-do attitude

On Friday night, my wife and I went to dinner, as we always do on Friday night. As we drove through Orland Park, we saw that restaurants and stores, including major chains, were closed in the early evening. We were the only diners at the small restaurant that we had chosen. There was a winter storm watch, but the snow had ended  and even if it had not, not that much more was expected  and the streets were plowed and only wet. The temperature was 34 degrees. Nothing catastrophic was going to happen in the next few hours.

What has happened to the Midwestern attitude about winter weather? On the day after the 1967 snow, my friend Bob and I walked the mile to our school to find it closed, but the trip was not wasted because, aside from the exercise, on the way home we each earned a fair amount of change pushing cars out of the snow. The thought of not going to school had not crossed our minds. Chicagoans shrugged and got on with it in winter.

In 1985, I moved to Seattle, where I cheerfully drove through the occasional snow that terrified the locals  I wont even get into the blizzard, serious even by Chicago standards, that happened shortly after my arrival  and, with an air of Midwestern superiority, scoffed at their dread of what was obviously doable.

I returned to the Chicago area in 2003 and found that with three flakes of snow, people cower at home, despite current winters being nothing like the ones that I grew up with here. Those winters were significantly colder and might have featured snow on the ground from Thanksgiving through March 1 rather than the now-customary brown Christmas.

Why?

 Curt Fredrikson, Mokena, Illinois

Chicago needs a new slogan

Chicago is facing an unprecedented moment with having to simultaneously fill the top marketing roles for the nations third largest city. You could believe this is an impossible challenge, or you could believe this is a wonderful opportunity. Im choosing the latter.

The background: Choose Chicago CEO Lynn Osmond recently announced she is leaving her role as leader of Chicagos tourism agency. She joins World Business Chicago CEO Michael Fassnacht, who also served as Chicagos chief marketing officer, and WBCs vice chair, Mellody Hobson on their way out.

Leading a tourism bureau or a corporate recruitment agency during a pandemic was arguably the challenge of a lifetime, and these leaders deserve kudos. However, mistakes were made  and now I believe we have a wonderful opportunity to start anew.

Regrettably, during the past few years, the phrases Chicago Not In Chicago and When You Go You Know somehow rose to the top of their respective brainstorm lists and became our citys official slogans. I have so many questions, but my main ones are: Was this the best we could do? What phrases did these ones actually beat out? And finally, and maybe most importantly, why do we have two slogans?

I think it might be a fun exercise for Chicagos various media companies to pose the question to their readers: What idea do you have for an official city slogan and why?

And allow me to be the first to submit an idea: Chicago: Everybodys Kind of Town.

It invokes history; it invokes pride; its old-school, yet fresh. Targeted campaigns could be geared toward every desired audience: (Foodies) Kind of Town, (Artists) Kind of Town, (Sports Fans) Kind of Town, etc. It works for tourism, and it works for corporate relocations; hence, the need for just a single slogan. There could be a remix of a certain Frank Sinatra song, featuring new verses by some of Chicagos homegrown talent. Opportunities are endless.

I look forward to hearing others ideas! Once theyre all curated and published, it would be a great way for these new marketing leaders to hear from every corner of the city and hit the ground running when they start their new roles.

 Marty Malone, Chicago

Note to readers: We invite you to follow Marty Malones lead and send us your suggestions for a new slogan for Chicago. Legitimate suggestions are preferred, but humorous ones are welcome, too. Keep them sincere and good-natured. Email us your ideas at letters@chicagotribune.com. Youre welcome to include your thinking behind your idea. Be sure to limit your letters to no more than 400 words.

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.
Congress sent President Joe Biden a short-term spending bill on Thursday that would avert a looming partial government shutdown and fund federal agencies into March.

The House approved the measure by a vote of 314-108, with opposition coming mostly from the more conservative members of the Republican conference. Shortly before the vote, the House Freedom Caucus announced it strongly opposes the measure because it would facilitate more spending than they support.

Nevertheless, about half of Republicans joined with Democrats in passing the third stopgap funding measure in recent months. The action came a few hours after the Senate had voted overwhelmingly to pass the bill by a vote of 77-18.

The measure extends current spending levels and buys time for the two chambers to work out their differences over full-year spending bills for the fiscal year that began in October.

The temporary measure will run to March 1 for some federal agencies. Their funds were set to run out Friday. It extends the remainder of government operations to March 8.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the president would sign the resolution and urged Republicans to quit wasting time on partisan spending bills.

House Republicans must finally do their job and work across the aisle to pass full-year funding bills that deliver for the American people and address urgent domestic and national security priorities by passing the Presidents supplemental request, Jean-Pierre said.

Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has been under pressure from his right flank to scrap a $1.66 trillion budget price tag he reached with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer earlier this month for the spending bills. Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, said the continuing resolution passed Thursday will facilitate that agreement, and urged colleagues to vote against it.

Its Groundhog Day in the House chamber all the time, every day, yet again spending money we dont have, Roy said.

Johnson has insisted he will stick with the deal, and centrists in the party have stood behind him. They say that changing course now would be going back on his word and would weaken the speaker in future negotiations.

Rep. Rosa DeLauro, the ranking Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, said Americans expect Congress to govern and work in a bipartisan fashion.

Some of my colleagues would see that this government would shut down and dont care how hurtful that would be, DeLauro said.

House Republicans have fought bitterly over budget levels and policy since taking the majority at the start of 2023. Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., was ousted by his caucus in October after striking an agreement with Democrats to extend current spending the first time. Johnson has also come under criticism as he has wrestled with how to appease his members and avoid a government shutdown in an election year.

We just needed a little more time on the calendar to do it and now thats where we are, Johnson said Tuesday about the decision to extend federal funding yet again. Were not going to get everything we want.

Most House Republicans have so far refrained from saying that Johnsons job is in danger. But a revolt of even a handful of Republicans could endanger his position in the narrowly divided House.

Virginia Rep. Bob Good, one of eight Republicans who voted to oust McCarthy, has been pushing Johnson to reconsider the deal with Schumer.

If your opponent in negotiation knows that you fear the consequence of not reaching an agreement more than they fear the consequence of not reaching an agreement, you will lose every time, Good said this week.

Other Republicans acknowledge Johnson is in a tough spot. The speaker was dealt with the hand he was dealt, said Kentucky Rep. Andy Barr, noting the constraints imposed by the partys slim majority.

In Thursday afternoons vote, 107 House Republicans voted to keep federal agencies funded and 106 voted against the measure. To almost lose the majority of his conference underscores the challenges facing the new speaker and signals the difficulty he will have in striking a deal that will not alienate many of his GOP colleagues. They are clamoring for deeper non-defense spending cuts and myriad conservative policy mandates.

Meanwhile, 207 Democrats voted for the resolution and only two voted against.

The short-term measure comes amid negotiations on a separate spending package that would provide wartime dollars to Ukraine and Israel and strengthen security at the U.S.-Mexico border. Johnson is also under pressure from the right not to accept a deal that is any weaker than a House-passed border measure that has no Democratic support.

Johnson, Schumer and other congressional leaders and committee heads visited the White House on Wednesday to discuss that spending legislation. Johnson used the meeting to push for stronger border security measures while Biden and Democrats detailed Ukraines security needs as it continues to fight Russia.

Biden has requested a $110 billion package for the wartime spending and border security.
Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo has filed a complaint against the office of state Attorney General Letitia James, seeking about 180 undisclosed interview memos from her 2021 investigation into sexual harassment allegations against him.

The lawsuit, filed in Manhattan Supreme Court on Thursday, asserts that the public has a right to the documents, and that Cuomo needs the records to defend himself in two sexual harassment lawsuits that stemmed from James investigation.

Cuomos complaint seeks an order forcing James office to respond to Freedom of Information Law requests that it says the former governor made for a narrow universe of materials related to James investigation.

The 26-page lawsuit asserts that the public has both a right and interest in knowing about the work of the investigation, and that witness statements are critical to Cuomos defense in the two harassment complaints.

Cuomo, a Democrat and one-time state attorney general, announced his resignation from the governorship a week after James published the probe, which found he had sexually harassed at least 11 women.

His allies have described the findings of the inquiry as politically motivated, though a separate 2021 report from the Democratic-controlled state Assembly found that the evidence of Cuomos sexual misconduct was overwhelming.

Cuomos new lawsuit described James 2021 report as a one-sided, deeply flawed ambush of Governor Cuomo, who denies having sexually harassed anyone.

After leaving office, Cuomo, 66, has claimed to have been  vindicated by the decisions of five New York district attorneys not to bring charges against conducting reviews. Some of the prosecutors said they nonetheless found allegations against him credible.

The complaint adds to a dizzying array of expensive, taypayer-funded court battles  including a fight over pandemic memoir earnings that have followed Cuomo out of office.

James did not immediately respond publicly to Cuomos complaint.

Responding to a request for comment, James spokeswoman Delaney Kempner pointed to a July order in federal court turning back Cuomos efforts to obtain tens of thousands of documents.

The order, by Judge Taryn Merkl, said Cuomos efforts to obtain records including witness memos and unredacted transcripts placed a significant undue burden on James office. Merkl cited the broad scope of documents sought by Cuomo at the time.

A spokesman for Cuomo, Rich Azzopardi, issued a statement Friday saying that James has done everything she can to hide documents from New Yorkers. Azzopardi added that it is sad that the courts are needed to step in and order the states top lawyer to stop violating the law.

The Daily News Editorial Board said it has also filed a FOIL request for roughly 180 witness statements from James inquiry. The board has said its requests have been rejected.

In a November editorial, the board wrote that with very limited exceptions all New York state government records are legally available to anyone who requests them under state FOIL law.

Witness statements made to investigators in a long-closed civil matter are not on that short list of exceptions, said the editorial.

Cory Morris, a Long Island lawyer who has sued James on freedom of information grounds in the past, said he thought Cuomos lawsuit followed a familiar story in New York: A public official trying to flout the states freedom of information laws.

This is as regular as rain, Morris said, adding that even when courts side with litigants seeking records, they have not effectively enforced the freedom of information law as it is written by covering attorneys fees. Freedom of Information law has become a right without a remedy.

______
Niecy Nash-Betts, winner of the award for outstanding supporting actress in a limited or anthology series or movie for "Dahmer  Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story," poses in the press room during the 75th Primetime Emmy Awards on Monday, Jan. 15, 2024, at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

Jan. 12-18, 2024

Divas celebrate at the 75th Primetime Emmy Awards, Ecuadorian soldiers hunt for an escaped gang leader, Denmark celebrates King Frederik and North Koreas officials exercise in the snow. People stage protests over the war between Hamas and Israel and Donald Trump wins the caucuses in Iowa.

This gallery highlights some of the most compelling images published in the past week by The Associated Press.

Follow AP visual journalism:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/apnews

AP Images blog: http://apimagesblog.com/
A federal appeals court in Pennsylvania ruled Thursday against laws banning 18- to 20-year-olds from carrying guns in public during a state of emergency.

In a 2-1 decision, judges in the 3rd U.S. Circuit relied on the Supreme Courts Bruen decision to rule that young adults in the state have the same Second Amendment rights as other citizens, The Associated Press reported.

The words the people in the Second Amendment presumptively encompass all adult Americans, including 18-to-20-year-olds, and we are aware of no founding-era law that supports disarming people in that age group, the judges wrote in the ruling. Accordingly, we will reverse and remand.

The Bruen decision said judges must look to the nations history and tradition when evaluating gun control measures, the AP noted.

The state police commissioner attempted to prove that in founding-era regulations, people under 21 were still considered minors. Circuit Judge Kent A. Jordan wrote that he did not prove such founding-era regulations restricted their Second Amendment rights.

In his dissent, Circuit Judge Felipe Restrepo said he did believe that the Founding Fathers considered people under 21 to be minors and to not have full legal rights.

Cody Wisniewski, the vice president and general counsel of the Firearms Policy Coalition, the group that represented the plaintiffs, posted a statement online following the decision.

We applaud the Third Circuits decision in this case confirming that 18-to-20-year-old adults have the same right to armed self-defense as any other adult, the organization wrote on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. If it wasnt for the 18-to-20-year-old adults being empowered to exercise their right to defend themselves, their loved ones, and their communities, our Nation wouldnt exist-it would be a deep perversion of the Constitution to prevent them the same right today.

The AP noted that Pennsylvanians must be 21 to apply for a concealed carry permit. Permit holders can carry guns during a state of emergency declared by the government.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
FILE - The Apple logo is illuminated at a store in the city center of Munich, Germany, Dec. 16, 2020. The European Union said Friday Jan. 19, 2024, that Apple has promised to open up its tap and go mobile payment system to rivals as a way to resolve an antitrust case and avoid tough penalties. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader, File)

LONDON (AP)  Apple has promised to open up its tap-and-go mobile payment system to rivals, the European Union said Friday, as the U.S. tech company seeks to resolve an antitrust case and avoid a fine that potentially could be worth billions.

Apple proposed letting third-party mobile wallet and payment service providers access the contactless payment function on its iOS operating system, the EU said. The 27-nation bloc now is seeking feedback from all interested parties" on the changes before making a decision on the case.

The European Commission, the bloc's executive arm and top antitrust enforcer, accused Apple in 2022 of abusing its dominant position by limiting access to its mobile payment technology.

Brussels has been using antitrust cases and new digital laws to rein in the power of Apple and other tech giants and protect consumers.

The commission alleged that Apple was restricting competition by blocking developers of rival mobile wallet apps from accessing the near-field communication, or NFC, technology used by its Apple Pay system. That prevents those developers from offering competing services on Apple devices, the EU said.

Breaches of EU competition law can draw fines worth up to 10% of a company's annual global revenue, which in Apple's case, could amount to tens of billions of euros (dollars).

The changes Apple is proposing to ease EU antitrust concerns would last for a decade and apply to rival mobile wallet makers as well as iOS users in the bloc's 27 countries, plus Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein, the commission said.

Apple said that through ongoing discussions with the commission, it offered to provide developers of payment, banking and digital wallet apps with an option for their users to make NFC contactless payments from within their iOS apps, separate from Apple Pay and Apple Wallet.
BUENOS AIRES/QUITO (Reuters) -Argentine authorities detained the wife and children of fugitive Ecuadorean drug trafficker Jose Adolfo Macias and deported them early on Friday to Ecuador, authorities said.

Argentine Security Minister Patricia Bullrich told a press conference that authorities detained eight people - including other associates of Macias - who arrived in Argentina on Jan. 5 and moved into a home in the province of Cordoba that they had purchased in November.

Macias, whose alias is "Fito," disappeared on Jan. 7 from the Ecuadorean prison where he was serving a 34-year sentence for various crimes including drug trafficking and murder.

"Our hypothesis is that Fito's plan was to buy the house, move the family out and then escape from prison," said Bullrich, who said Argentine authorities acted after a tip from Ecuadorean counterparts.

Local media in Guayaquil reported that the family had arrived at the city's airport, but neither the Ecuadorean police nor the defense ministry responded to requests for information.

"We know that (Macias') entire family was in Argentina ... they have been deported to Ecuador," Ecuadorean President Daniel Noboa told RCN radio on Friday.

"Often these relatives are involved in money laundering or in the economic and operational part of the cartels and narco-terrorist groups," the president added.

Authorities have tied Macias' criminal group Los Choneros to extortion, murder and drug trafficking and accuse the group of controlling Ecuador's crime-plagued and overcrowded prisons.

Noboa declared a two-month state of emergency shortly after Fito went missing, deploying the military onto the streets and mandating a nationwide nightly curfew as the country confronts a wave of violence.

Incidents in January alone have included an on-air attack by armed men on a TV station, the taking of more than 200 prison officials hostage and the kidnapping of police officers, as well as the murder of a prosecutor pursuing organized crime.

"Argentina is not going to be a narco-country nor are our provinces going to be a den of criminals. We are determined to combat this type of crime," Argentina's Interior Minister Guillermo Francos said at Friday's press conference.

(Reporting by Lucila Sigal in Buenos Aires; Additional reporting by Alexandra Valencia in Quito; Editing by David Gregorio and Alistair Bell)
Last year, Arizona nearly legalized one of its most beloved illicit markets: the sale of homemade tamales. House Bill 2509, which would've legalized the sale of "potentially hazardous" homemade goods containing perishable ingredients, passed both chambers of the Arizona Legislature with overwhelming bipartisan supportbut in a controversial move, Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs vetoed it.

This year, lawmakers are launching another legalization effort. Members of the House Regulatory Affairs Committee "voted 60 on Wednesday to move the amended bill on to the full House of Representatives," reported the Arizona Mirror. House Bill 2042, introduced by state Rep. Travis Grantham (RGilbert), contains training and licensing requirements to address Hobbs' concerns that the previous bill "would significantly increase the risk of food-borne illness." Producers would have to complete food handler training and register with the Arizona Department of Health Services.

If H.B. 2042 passes, these requirements would still pose barriers to licensure. But the bill would also ensure that Arizona's home chefsmany of whom are women and immigrantswould no longer have to work in the shadows, risking a $500 fine and up to six months in jail.

That would benefit entrepreneurs like Maria, a tamale seller in Arizona who spoke with Reason following Hobbs' veto last year. "I was working as a housekeeper but they paid me very little and sometimes I couldn't get to pick up my son from school," she said. "I've always liked to cook a lot and I've always been told that I cook delicious [food] so I said to myself, why not?"

Maria makes good money selling tamales. She can set her schedule to maximize time with her son, and her product keeps customers fed and happy. And, in a testament to how beloved this black market is, some of her customers are even cops in uniformnone of whom seem particularly interested in cracking down on the trade.

Hobbs cited health concerns when she elected to keep tamale sales illegal. But 2023 research from the Institute for Justice (I.J.), a libertarian public-interest law firm that supports deregulation in the "cottage food" industry, casts doubt on that argument. Drawing on data from "the seven states with the broadest homemade food laws" (California, Iowa, Montana, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Utah, and Wyoming), I.J. found that "not a single state has found a foodborne illness to be caused by food sold under their homemade food law."

Last year's legalization bill would have generated $55.3 million in new annual food sales, according to a Common Sense Institute estimate. But Arizona isn't just leaving revenue on the table by keeping "potentially hazardous" homemade food sales illegalit's keeping a harmless market criminalized and keeping hardworking entrepreneurs from reaching their full potential.

The post Will Arizona Legalize Its Tamale Black Market This Year? appeared first on Reason.com.
LITTLE ROCK, Ark.  The U.S. House passed a continuing resolution Thursday to keep the government running, with mixed support for the measure coming from the Arkansas delegation.

Three of the four Arkansas representatives voted in favor of the continuing resolutions passage, with a no vote made by Rep. Bruce Westerman.

Congressional leaders reach deal to avert government shutdown

While the Natural State representatives were not enthused by the CRs passage, and the quartet all indicated they remained concerned with national borders and budget, ongoing issues for the Houses GOP majority.

Westerman defended his no vote by saying the debate on spending is ongoing but no closer to resolution.

Today, I voted against the temporary spending bill passed by the House to extend the expiration dates for the appropriations process. This was the fourth continuing resolution voted on by the House in the past year, Westerman said. In September, we had the opportunity to pass a solution that would have kept the government open, secured the border, cut reckless government spending, and established a bicameral Fiscal Commission.

Hunter Biden agrees to private deposition with Republicans after months of defiance

Rep. French Hill also referred border security and budget issues, but said they were a reason to pass the measure, saying they have always been core Republican issues.

House Republicans are still negotiating conservative, common-sense policies to reflect in our final 2024 spending provisions, including securing our border and returning toward a balanced budget, Hill said. It is crucial that we keep our government open as we continue to work with the Senate and White House on passing government spending for this fiscal year, which is why I supported this bill.

Speaker Johnson rejects hard-line tactics in move to avoid shutdown

Rep. Rick Crawford highlighted the frustration of working in a politically divided legislature against the importance of keeping the government open.

Speaker Johnson is fighting hard for spending reductions but his hands are full. The final deal must have concurrence among the House, Senate and White House, the latter two of which, are controlled by the other party, Crawford said. Shutting down the government in this instance costs the taxpayers even more money  and that is interest-bearing debt we cannot afford.

Rep. Steve Womack said a shutdown is not the answer to the problem and called the continuing resolution as sad reality.

The continuing resolution is a sad reality of both the broken budget process and a divided government, Shutting down the government isnt the answer, Womack said, adding, Voting to extend current funding levels to buy the time necessary to finish FY24 Appropriations was the only practical outcome. Trying to blame our nations $34 trillion debt on discretionary spending is intellectually dishonest.

Congressional leaders reach deal to avert government shutdown

The resolution is identical to one passed earlier in the Senate and is expected to be signed into law by President Joe Biden. With its passage, government services such as military payroll and food distribution programs will remain in operation.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KARK.
Law enforcement officers have exposed another scheme to embezzle public money under defence contracts for Ukraines Security and Defence Forces.

Source: Security Service of Ukraine (SSU); Specialised Defence Prosecutor's Office of the Western Region

Details: Following a complex operation, the head of a department of the Armed Forces Support Command and his accomplice, the CEO of a defence supplier, were reportedly caught red-handed in Kyiv on 15 January.

The detainees are a colonel in Ukraines Armed Forces and the director of a Lviv-based company who set up a kickback scheme when signing contracts.

According to the investigation, the military official was set to receive a bribe of nearly US$45,000 from the businessman. In return, he had promised to sign a contract on the supply of defence goods to the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

The SSU detained both men as the first "tranche" of US$14,600 was being handed over.

The planned deal between the businessman and the Armed Forces was worth UAH 36 million (US$958,000) in total.

In the course of more than 30 searches at the suspects' workplaces and residences in Kyiv and Lviv, law enforcement officers seized:

 computers, mobile phones, electronic data storage devices, documents and rough accounting records containing evidence of the criminal scheme;

 almost UAH 10 million (approx. US$266,000) in cash, the origin of which is being investigated.

The military officer is charged with obtaining an undue advantage as an official holding a responsible position. The company director is charged with providing such an undue advantage by acting in the interest of the person providing the undue advantage using his official position.

The court imposed on them a custodial restraint with the right to be released on bail in the amount of UAH 10 million (approx. US$266,000) each.

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Echoing a call made by her successor and other mayors of cities affected by the growing migrant crisis, former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said the federal government needs to make it easier for asylum-seekers to legally work.

Speaking at the City Club of Chicago Thursday to highlight a new nonprofit that is aimed at supporting local neighborhood groups, Lightfoot said work opportunities for the newcomers would help curb tensions over the citys continued big spending on caretaking and could help solve staffing challenges for service businesses.

We have got to press our federal representatives to open up, much more quickly, opportunities for people in this country to have jobs, Lightfoot said. The answer is jobs, jobs, jobs.

Nearly 35,000 migrants have arrived in Chicago since Texas Gov. Greg Abbott first began sending buses of asylum-seekers in August 2022, toward the end of Lightfoots term. Chicago has so far spent $156.2 million on vendor services such as shelter staffing to care for the newcomers, city data shows.

Mayor Brandon Johnson and his staff have criticized Lightfoot for costly vendor contracts he says he inherited and said his administration has since renegotiated. Lightfoot declined to comment on her successors handling of the migrant arrivals, but said her administration worked hard to smoothly transition the citys response as Johnsons administration took over.

Though Lightfoot and Johnson havent publicly agreed on much since Johnson defeated her during last years election, Johnson also has called on the federal government to fast-track work authorization for migrants.

Lightfoots appearance Thursday came as she announced a new nonprofit she was launching called Chicago Vibrant Neighborhoods Collective. The organization seeks to connect community-based organizations working in disinvested neighborhoods with back office resources like data analytics, fundraising, budgeting and marketing.

The new effort will connect a stable of consultants with nonprofit organizations in neighborhoods that are more in need, to bring business savvy and make the grassroots work more sustainable, Lightfoot said. The services will be provided to the neighborhood nonprofits for free, she added.

Former Mayor Lori Lightfoot speaks at the City Club of Chicago on Jan. 18, 2024.

Lightfoot praised Chicagos nonprofits for helping steer the city through the COVID-19 pandemic and serving the citys most needy people. But many such groups are struggling to stay afloat, she added.

These organizations are doing their work every single day, oftentimes in the shadows without recognition, Lightfoot said. Its time we bring them out of the shadows. Its time we help  in a big way.

The former mayor will be Vibrant Neighborhoods board chair and will focus on fundraising, she told the Tribune. The organization has already secured funding from the MacArthur Foundation and the Pritzker Pucker Family Foundation, she added, though she didnt detail how much money they contributed.

Lightfoot continued the fundraising push after announcing the new organization at the City Club event, pitching the crowd filled in part by deep-pocketed philanthropists and high-powered businesspeople to support the organization.

Were going to be knocking on your door. Its time to join the cool kids club. Come and fund us, she joked.

Asked why she is starting the nonprofit, Lightfoot said she had wanted to give herself time to recover after leaving office.

I had been through quite a bit, she said.

But alongside her fall stint teaching at Harvard University and a new gig at the University of Chicagos Institute of Politics, the work to support Chicagos community organizations seemed like a way to do some good with her connections and expand her happiness quotient, she said.

I saw firsthand the incredible impact these community organizations have at the block level, she said, adding that she plans to announce more professional work soon.

jsheridan@chicagotribune.com
TBILISI (Reuters) - Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said on Friday that his country needed a new constitution to entrench its "democratic aspirations", Russia's Interfax news agency reported.

It quoted Pashinyan as telling a meeting at the country's justice ministry: "We must have a Constitution that will make the Republic of Armenia more competitive and more viable in the new geopolitical and regional conditions".

Pashinyan, a longtime liberal opposition leader who swept to power on the back of a 2018 revolution which ousted the former ruling elite, was cited as saying it was vital to do everything possible to shore up Armenia's legitimacy.

Under Pashinyan, Armenia fought and lost a 2020 war with Azerbaijan over the breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region whose ethnic Armenian population fled en masse last year after an Azerbaijani military operation.

Pashinyan has also taken steps to distance Armenia from traditional ally Russia, building ties with Western countries instead while also engaging in talks to sign a potential peace treaty with Azerbaijan that would end three decades of conflict.

(Reporting by Felix Light; Editing by Andrew Osborn)
MADRID (Reuters) - Army units were mobilised to help about 600 drivers who were stuck on a motorway in heavy snow as Storm Juan blanketed many parts of Spain, authorities said on Friday.

Snowfalls left motorists stranded for hours on the N-122 road between Soria and Agreda in northern Spain so authorites said they had dispatched troops from a base in Zaragoza to help move the drivers.

Miguel Angel Clavero, of the civil protection force, said on Friday that in Aragon in eastern Spain a number of roads were left unpassable by the snowfall and Zaragoza airport was closed.

Temperatures plunged to minus 13 Celsius (8.6 Fahrenheit) in Soria, AEMET, the state weather forecaster, said on Friday.

Heavy rains fell in the western region of Extremadura and in Catalonia in northeastern Spain, Aemet added.

The storm was expected to pass by Saturday, forecasters said.

(Reporting by Graham Keeley; Editing by Sandra Maler)
Editors note: This article covers incidents of child abuse. Army Times does not identify victims or individuals impacted by sexual abuse.

Army officials are investigating a report that a preschool-aged child was touched inappropriately multiple times by another child at an Army-run daycare center in Pennsylvania. The parents of the affected child say officials delayed notifying them of the incident by more than 24 hours, raising questions about whether employees followed proper procedures.

The mother of the impacted child told several media outlets that center employees downplayed the severity of the incidents.

Army officials say theyve followed Army procedures and made recommended changes at the Moore Child Development Center, where the incidents took place, at Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania, home of the Army War College. The center provides childcare programs for children ages six weeks to five years old, is accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children and is Department of Defense certified.

On the morning of Dec. 6, a childcare center employee observed possible inappropriate behavior between two preschool-aged children, according to a statement provided by Carlisle Barracks spokesman Curt Keester.

The following morning, Dec. 7, leaders there formed a multidisciplinary team that included personnel from Child Youth Services, the Family Advocacy Program, Army Community Services, according to the statement. The Family Advocacy Program manager began personally notifying the affected families about the incident and offered services and resources.

But the mother of the 4-year-old child told Military.com that the first known incident of inappropriate touching happened on Dec. 5, two days before she was notified. The childs mother initially posted about the incident to the Army Reddit page. Army Times was unable to reach the mother for comment by deadline.

They didnt tell us anything that happened, the mother told Military.com.

Our preschooler was actually penetrated three to four times in a 48-hour period and they allowed us to drop off our child the following morning like nothing happened, a full 24 hours later, she told Task and Purpose.

The caregiver reported the incident to childcare leadership, who then notified the Family Advocacy Program manager, who immediately notified the family advocacy clinical case manager, Army Criminal Investigation Division and Child Protection Services, according to the Armys statement. Officials reviewed security camera footage that showed several seconds-long incidents of apparently mutual, inappropriate behavior between the two preschoolers, Keester said.

Parents of children involved were notified within 24 hours of childcare staff identifying the incident, according to the statement.

On Dec. 11, the command began informing all parents who use the childcare center and described what actions were being taken to prevent future incidents, Keester said.

Meanwhile, Army CID opened an investigation, which is ongoing. Army spokesman Brian Fickel told Military.com.

Army officials say theyve followed Army procedures and made recommended changes at the center.

Citing the sensitive nature of the investigation, Keester and Army officials declined further comment to Army Times queries beyond the statement provided Thursday.

Keester told Task and Purpose that on Dec. 18 and 19 a team from the Armys Installation Command visited the facility and recommended the center implement supplemental staff training, proper supervision ratios and reinforcement of appropriate classroom routines and boundaries. Since the visit, the center has put protocols in place to increase visibility and supervision in the classroom, including added staff and removing any potential visual obstructions.

Army policies on day cares

Defense Department rules governing child development programs specifically state in DOD Instruction 6060.02 that all child development programs have procedures for reporting suspected child abuse, and that within the center children can be observed at all times by parents and supervisors. That includes using closed-circuit television, vision panels and convex mirrors.

Army officials told media outlets that a camera in the room where the incidents occurred was at least partially obstructed by furniture.

In May 2019, the Defense Department issued DOD Instruction 6400.01 on the Family Advocacy Program, outlining, in part, procedures and services for problematic sexual behavior in children and youth.

The instruction notes it is DOD policy to document this behavior and provide trauma-informed assessment, rehabilitation and treatment to persons who are involved in such alleged incidents who are eligible to receive treatment at a military treatment facility.

Army officials said families involved in the incident were provided resources on healthy and problematic sexual behavior in children. Officials recommended a parent guide and the books My Body is Mine and Good Touch Bad Touch.

A 2020 Government Accountability Office report noted issues  such as standalone databases, information-sharing challenges and installation discretion  can limit the Department of Defense tracking of child abuse and child-on-child abuse at military installations.

Further, Family Advocacy Program (FAP) installation personnel are given considerable discretion in deciding how reported incidents of child abuse are tracked and reported, according to the GAO report. That was also true with regard to incidents of child-on-child abuse.

The report noted that Victims families receive inconsistent levels of information related to the response process and available services after an incident of child abuse is reported.

At the time of the report, the Family Advocacy Program only reviewed incidents of child abuse where the alleged offender was a parent or caregiver. The program would not present incidents to the Incident Determination Committee  the installation-based committee responsible for reviewing reports and determining whether they meet Defense Department criteria for abuse  when the alleged offender was another child, according to the GAO report.

More recently, in June 2021 Army Secretary Christine Wormuth signed a directive to establish policies and procedures for installation response to problematic sexual behavior in children and youth, Military.com noted.

The directive notes several factors that trigger installation response, one of which is intrusive sexual behavior, such as penetration.

It also requires Army officials review any report or allegation of problematic sexual behavior in children and youth and conduct a review to recommend treatment, counseling or other intervention for youth exhibiting or impacted by incidents of (problematic sexual behavior in children and youth).

Army Times sought confirmation from the Army Office of the Chief of Public Affairs on Thursday that the 2021 directives guidance had been incorporated into Army regulations. Army public affairs officials could not provide a response by deadline. The official Army Publishing Directorate website shows the most recent edition of 608-18, which is the document governing the Army Family Advocacy Program, was dated September 2011.

Suspected incidents of child abuse or neglect should be reported by calling 911, the nearest Family Advocacy Program office, or the DoD Child Abuse Report Line at 877-790-1197, or 571-372-5348 OCONUS.
Austrian and American actor and former governor of California Arnold Schwarzenegger attends a "Special Dinner for Climate Action" press event as part of the Ski World Cup at the Stanglwirt in Kitzbuehel. Johann Groder/APA/dpa

Actor and former US politician Arnold Schwarzenegger auctioned off a 270,000 ($293,547) watch at a charity on Thursday evening to benefit climate initiatives, according to the climate group he founded.

The minimum bid for the watch that Schwarzenegger owns was 50,000 and the proceeds from the auction are to be donated to climate projects.

The sale was preceded by exchanges with customs officials earlier in the week.

On Wednesday, the Austrian actor was detained by customs at Munich airport when he arrived in Germany. Customs staff accused him of not having declared the watch, even though it was apparently supposed to remain in the EU. After about three hours, the actor was able to continue his journey and was also allowed to take the watch to the auction.

Schwarzenegger agreed in Munich to pay customs duty on his personal watch.

He cooperated at all times, "even though it was an incompetent investigation, a total comedy of errors, but one that would make a very funny police movie," the Schwarzenegger Climate Initiative said.

The actor also planned to attend the Hahnenkamm ski race in the village of Kitzbuhel in the Austrian Alps.

Austrian and American actor and former governor of California Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) and his partner Heather Milligan attend a "Special Dinner for Climate Action" press event as part of the Ski World Cup at the Stanglwirt in Kitzbuehel. Johann Groder/APA/dpa
LAS VEGAS (KLAS)  A North Las Vegas man who pleaded guilty to DUI in 2018 is facing felony DUI charges for a crash that left a 21-year-old pregnant mom dead, and her boyfriend seriously injured.

Christoper Lee Walker, 32, is accused of being impaired and crashing his pickup truck into the back of the couples car which was pulled onto the left shoulder of I-15 near the Cheyenne Avenue off-ramp on Saturday, Jan. 13, around 2:15 a.m. The couple was waiting for roadside assistance.

According to the arrest report, a Nevada State Police trooper said evidence at the scene showed Walker was speeding, never applied brakes, smelled of an intoxicating beverage, and had slurred speech. The report said Walker refused to take Standardized Field Sobriety Tests but changed his mind when he was informed he would still be arrested for suspicion of DUI. Walker stopped a few times during the tests to say he was too cold and would fail.

Update: Man faces DUI charges in I-15 crash that killed 22-year-old woman

Walker told the trooper he was coming from a chicken restaurant when the crash occured and said he had two drunks of [incoherent]. The trooper said when he told Walker he was being placed under arrest Walker said Cause I came from the bar? Do you arrest everybody that comes from the bar? Clark County Detention Center documents stated.

Suzanne Chapel, who was pregnant, was the mother of a five-month-old baby girl, and according to her obituary, funny and social and loved people and parties, live music and festivals. Initially, Nevada State Police reported she was 22-years-old.

Walker is charged with felony DUI resulting in death, DUI resulting in substantial bodily harm, and failing to properly maintain a lane.

Although Walker has posted bail, he currently remains in the Clark County Detention Center as of Friday at 1 p.m. He has a preliminary hearing scheduled for Jan. 31, 2024.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KLAS.
Ashley Park revealed that she spent the end of December and beginning of January grappling with sepsis after a bout of tonsillitis worsened.

As I sit her processing and recovering from the first few weeks of 2024, the only word I can think of is grateful, the Emily in Paris actor shared on Instagram. What started as tonsillitis spiraled into critical septic shock, which infected and affected several of my organs.

According to the Sepsis Alliance, septic shock is the most severe form of sepsis, a condition where the body overreacts to an infection. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, bacterial infections most often led to sepsis, but viruses, such as flu or COVID-19, or fungus can contribute to someone developing sepsis. Tonsillitis, when the tonsils become swollen, can be caused by a virus or bacteria.

The CDC says signs of sepsis include:

Elevated heart rate

Weak pulse

Feeling cold, shivering

Fever

Shortness of breath

Feeling disoriented

Experiencing discomfort or pain

Clammy skin

Park noted that she experienced excruciating pain, while thanking boyfriend and fellow Emily in Paris actor Paul Forman.

Grateful most of all to @peforman for being unconditionally by my side through all of this, she wrote. You calmed my fears and help me through ambulances, three foreign hospitals, a week in the ICU, scary ERs, countless scans and tests and injections, excruciating pain, and so much confusion all while we were alone on the other side of the world far away from those we know.

Per the Sepsis Alliance, serious sepsis occurs when a persons organs began failing. People with severe sepsis often need the help of a ventilator to breath, dialysis to assist kidney function or ECMO to support lung and heart function. Septic shock occurs when someones blood pressure drops dangerously low. The organization notes that septic shock remains tricky to treat and patients with it are often considered the sickest patients in the hospital.

While Park said she has passed the most difficult part of her illness, she is still healing.

I hesitated to share whats been happening as Im still in the throes of recovery, she wrote. I now know Im safely on the other side of the worst.

Emily in Paris start Lily Collins offered her support to Park.

I can hardly look at these without crying. I love you sister and I am forever grateful you are on the other side of this and for @performan for your incredibly huge heart and for being there every step of the way, she commented on Park's Instagram. I cannot wait to hug you both.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com
One of the last pictures taken by a camera on the Peregrine lander shows a crescent Earth. (Astrobotic Photo)

Ten days after its launch, Astrobotics Peregrine lunar lander fell back to Earth, ending a trip to the moons orbital distance and back that was doomed by a propellant leak.

The mission began auspiciously on the night of Jan. 7-8 with a seemingly successful liftoff from Florida on United Launch Alliances first Vulcan Centaur rocket, powered by Blue Origins BE-4 rocket engines. But hours after launch, the Pittsburgh-based Astrobotic team detected a problem with the propulsion system. So much propellant was lost that the team had to rule out a moon landing.

After days of troubleshooting, Astrobotic and NASA determined that the best course was to send the 8-foot-wide robotic spacecraft on a looping orbit that went out more than 240,000 miles from Earth  and then came back for a controlled atmospheric re-entry over a remote area of the South Pacific.

Astrobotic said telemetry received during Peregrines descent suggested that the spacecraft broke up during re-entry at 1:04 p.m. PT on Thursday.

Today, Space-Track.org said the U.S. Space Command confirmed the spacecrafts decay. Thats certainly good to hear, Astrobotic CEO John Thornton told reporters during a news briefing.

Peregrine Mission One has concluded, Astrobotic said in a final mission update. We look to the future and our next mission to the moon, Griffin Mission One. All of the hard-earned experience from the past 10 days in space, along with the preceding years of designing, building and testing Peregrine, will directly inform Griffin and our future missions.

To mark the missions end, Astrobotic posted videos that were captured moments after last weeks spacecraft separation.

(2/3) Peregrine and its payload teams have made a meaningful contribution to our lunar future, and we thank everyone who supported this mission. Courtesy of @ulalaunch, this video was captured from their #Vulcan rocket's payload fairing.



Peregrine has flown so Griffin may land. pic.twitter.com/XweEz4OGOl  Astrobotic (@astrobotic) January 19, 2024

(2/2)Peregrine captured this video moments after successful separation from @ulalaunch Vulcan rocket. Counterclockwise from top left center is the DHL MoonBox, Astroscale's Pocari Sweat Lunar Dream Time Capsule, & Peregrine landing leg. Background: our big blue marble, Earth! pic.twitter.com/1y4OsosNDp  Astrobotic (@astrobotic) January 19, 2024

Peregrine also sent back what Astrobotic called a stunning image of a crescent Earth, captured by one of the landers cameras as it was closing in from a distance of more than 30,000 miles.

The first attempt to take this photo yielded an oversaturated image, with the sun making the image too bright to see the Earth, Astrobotic said in a posting on X / Twitter. As a result, the team precisely slewed the spacecraft to reposition the sun to be hidden behind the think payload deck strut just to the left of Earth, which produced the starburst effects on the video and revealed the Earths crescent.

Astrobotic said the image was dedicated to our customers, partners and team who all stood with us throughout Peregrine Mission One.

The Peregrine landers primary payload was a suite of NASA science instruments that would have gathered data about the environment around the lunar landing site. The space agency said that all NASA payloads designed to power on have received power and collected data, and that observations were made relating to the radiation environment and chemical compounds in the vicinity of the lander during its transit through space.

NASA had agreed to pay Astrobotic $108 million to deliver its science payloads to the lunar surface. Ten percent of our award from NASA was subject to success criteria, Thornton said. We did not achieve all of the criteria to get all of that 10%, though we did achieve some of those milestones.

Astrobotic and NASA will review Peregrines performance in detail to determine how much of that last 10%  which equates to $10.8 million  will be paid out.

Peregrine was also carrying more than a dozen non-NASA payloads  including a mini-rover and micro-robots, a Lunar Library carrying the equivalent of 60 million pages of information, DNA data archives, memorabilia and capsules of cremated remains. All those payloads were lost during re-entry.

Of course the customers were disappointed that we didnt reach the moon. That was their original intent with this mission, said Dan Hendrickson, Astrobotics vice president of business development. But they also knew all of the challenges and risks of a lunar mission, and how difficult it really is.  They did not waver.

If the mission had been successful, Peregrine would have been the first commercial lander to touch down safely on the moon, and the first U.S.-built spacecraft to make a soft lunar landing since the Apollo 17 mission in 1972.

The next spacecraft in line to go after those distinctions is Intuitive Machines Nova-C lander, which is due to be launched to the moons south polar region on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket as early as next month.

As was the case for Peregrine, NASA is paying Intuitive Machines to deliver hardware to the lunar surface under the aegis of the space agencys Commercial Lunar Payload Services program, or CLPS. Another CLPS-supported mission calls for Astrobotics Griffin lander to deliver NASAs VIPER rover to a spot near the moons south pole late this year.

Joel Kearns, deputy associate administrator for exploration at NASAs Science Mission Directorate, said the precise timing of the Griffin mission will depend on the outcome of an investigation into Peregrines problems.

We will not want to rush the findings, he said. We will want to make sure that theyre very well thought out  Once we have them, well end up determining what action to take that will end up affecting the Griffin mission.

This report was originally published on Jan. 18, and has been updated with fresh information from todays news briefing. Weve also corrected an inaccurate reference to the date of Peregrines launch that appeared in the initial version of the report.

More from GeekWire:
By Greta Rosen Fondahn

(Reuters) -Some 160 people who applied for asylum at Finland's eastern border last year have since disappeared, amid a sudden surge of asylum seekers arriving via Russia, Finland's immigration authority said.

Finland closed its eastern border with Russia late last year amidst a growing number of arrivals from countries including Syria and Somalia. It accused Moscow of funnelling migrants to the border, a claim the Kremlin has denied.

The immigration authority Migri said it got 1,323 asylum applications at the eastern border between August and December last year, about 900 of those in November and more than 300 in December.

Now 160 people are missing from reception centres, most with unknown whereabouts, Migri's Director of the Asylum Unit, Antti Lehtinen told Reuters.

Eighteen people have turned up in other European countries, including the Netherlands, Belgium, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany and Switzerland, to refile an asylum application.

"It's of course possible that of these 160 most of them have continued to another country, but they haven't yet applied for asylum in that country," Lehtinen said.

Every asylum seeker in Finland has their fingerprint taken to the Eurodac-system, Europe's shared fingerprint database, Lehtinen added.

Under EU rules, the EU country where a migrant first applies for asylum is responsible for processing the application.

Earlier in January, Finland extended the closure of its border with Russia until Feb. 11, saying it was likely that the inflow of asylum seekers would restart if the border opened.

Finnish president Sauli Niinisto called last year for an EU-wide solution to stop uncontrollable entry to Europe's passport-free Schengen area.

On Thursday, a coast guard unit of the Finnish Border Guard said it was investigating several cases of "assisting illegal immigration" related to the eastern border, suspecting criminal organisations of large-scale human smuggling.

"Smuggling activities have taken advantage of the border security disruptions on the eastern border," it said in a statement.

"We suspect that there are at least hundreds of people still trying to proceed their trip from Finland to other EU and Schengen countries," the head of the coast guard's investigation team, Antti Raassina, told Reuters.

(Reporting by Greta Rosen Fondahn; editing by Anne Kauranen and Sharon Singleton)
A four-bedroom rock-n-roll-themed condominium on the 29th floor of the Trump International Hotel & Tower has just been listed  fully furnished  for $6 million.

Jack Thompson, who sold his real estate analytics company, Tango, to a private equity firm in 2015, assembled the 4,368-square-foot condo after paying $3.99 million in 2016 for two adjoining units on the 29th floor. He then enlisted interior designer John Robert Wiltgen to execute a renovation that would transform the combined units into a place that would be ideal for entertaining  and for fulfilling childhood rock-n-roll dreams.

What a neat condo. I love it  it was part of the dream, building a company and selling the company, Tango Analytics, in 2015, to private equity. I did well, and it was kind of like, every boys dream to have a rock-n-roll lifestyle, a place like this, with stereo all throughout the house and a man cave, Thompson, who is now based in Miami, told Elite Street. To use John Wiltgen as a designer, and he and I collaborated  it was just art. It was fun. It was a dream come true for someone who grew up in Chicago.

One of the condos centerpieces is a music room, with walls covered in black acoustical tile. Thompson said that he curated many of the rarities in the music room, including electric guitars signed by major rockers, Beatles album covers with signatures from all four Beatles, an album art wall, turntables and a rack of vinyl albums.

I commissioned the album art wall, and I commissioned the artwork to be done. Its meant to be interactive  you can flip through my album bin, Thompson said. Its meant to be fun, and as for parties, Ive had some amazing parties here.

Would Thompson part with any of the items in the music room as part of the condos sale?

That depends, he said. If its someone who appreciates it, Im happy to give it a good home. If you like it, lets talk.

As for the rest of the condo, Thompson combined a larger A unit with a much smaller B unit, which the prior owners had used for wine storage. He knocked out a wall and brought the two units together.

Now, the condo has views both to the east out to Lake Michigan and also to the west, along with five full bathrooms, floor-to-ceiling windows, five home theater soundscapes, a family room with a stainless steel fireplace, a new 98-inch LG 4K UHD TV, Bang & Olufsen speakers and a kitchen by nuHaus that has quartzite countertops, Sub-Zero, Wolf and Miele appliances and a 1,000-degree vent hood designed for indoor grilling. The condo also has a primary bedroom suite with a fireplace, walk-in closets and two bathrooms, one of which has custom white and gold agate floors, full-height Athens white marble walls and a vertical Dornbracht shower system.

The now-former B unit is what Thompson calls a map room, with framed maps on the wall. His wife uses the map room as her office, and its where his son stays when he is visiting. The map room also has a coffee bar and shower and bath with a Mr. Steam shower system and a chromotherapy light.

Its the perfect setup for guests or as a detached office, Thompson said.

Thompson first listed the condo for rent earlier on Jan. 4, for $30,000 a month. However, listing agent Rafael Murillo of Compass told Elite Street that given the buzz, he and his client soon decided to market the unit for sale.

Being fully furnished makes it an enticing offer for anyone looking to move in right away, Murillo said. The price point is particularly appealing to buyers seeking the convenience of a fully furnished home, sparing them the hassle of engaging an interior designer or dealing with the current delays in obtaining new furniture. The property is truly remarkable, thanks to the collaboration between the renowned designer John Robert Wiltgen and my client, who worked together to merge two units into one and tastefully furnish and decorate the space. Its a masterpiece, especially suitable for those who enjoy entertaining in an exquisite home.

Thompson has relocated to Miami, where his fiancee, who works for Royal Caribbean Celebrity Cruises, recently received a promotion.

The combined condo had a $40,154 property tax bill in the 2022 tax year.

Bob Goldsborough is a freelance reporter.

Join our Chicago Dream Homes Facebook group for more luxury listings and real estate news.
Defensive structures will be built on the border of the Baltic States with Russia and Belarus to protect against possible aggression

At a meeting in Riga, Latvia, Defense ministers of the Baltic nations have agreed on a project to construct a line of fortifications along their borders with Russia and Belarus, including 600 bunkers in Estonia, Estonian public broadcaster ERR reported on Jan. 19.

The project will cost up to EUR 60 million ($65.3 million). Estonia's Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur stated that the objective of building these structures is to prevent military conflict in the Baltic countries.

Read also: Estonian government plans to stop funding Russian-language education

"The war in Ukraine has shown that in addition to equipment, ammunition, and manpower, we also need physical defensive structures at the border to protect Estonia from the very first meter," said Pevkur.

The Estonian ministry added that it has been fortifying its border with Russia since the second half of 2023. The installation of the bunkers is planned to begin in 2025, pending agreements with landowners.

Read also: Minsk supposedly ready to cooperate with NATO

Each bunker should accommodate one platoon of soldiers  about ten people in a space of 35 square meters. The Defense Ministry said that in peacetime, landmines, barbed wire, and anti-tank barriers will not be deployed at the border but will be stockpiled nearby.

Estonian PM Kaja Kallas previously stated that within three to five years, Russia could become a serious military threat to NATO's eastern flank.

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
Participants can learn more about evergreen trees during a hiking program Feb. 18 conducted by the Kane County Forest Preserve District.

During the event, which will run from 10 to 11 a.m. at LeRoy Oakes Forest Preserve at 37W700 Dean St. in St. Charles, the focus will be on cone-bearing trees and the specific features used to identify different evergreen species.

The program is for those 18 years old and older, district officials said. Advance registration is required. To register for the free program, call 630-444-3190 or email programs@kaneforest.com.

To see a full roster of Kane County Forest Preserve District programs, go to www.kaneforest.com or find the district on social media by searching @forestpreserve.

Literacy Volunteers to hold tutor training

Literacy Volunteers Fox Valley will host a free tutor training workshop from 6:30 to 9 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays, Feb. 6, 8, 13 and 15, at St. Charles Public Library, 1 S. Sixth Ave. in St. Charles.

The workshop will cover the techniques used to teach adults English while discussing the issues adults face when they are unfamiliar with American culture, according to a press release about the workshop.

Volunteers do not need to know a second language or have teaching experience to be effective, officials said. The workshop provides materials and instruction so anyone can help, according to the release.

Each volunteer will be matched with one adult learner. Volunteer tutors and their learners meet for one hour each week at a time and public location that is convenient.

To register for the workshop, go to www.lvfv.org or call or text 630-584-4428.

Rules of the Road class set for seniors

Aurora Senior Services will offer a free Rules of the Road course conducted by state of Illinois officials from 10 a.m. to noon Jan. 25 at its facility at 2111 Plum St. in Aurora.

The class will review driving safety and new rules for those drivers 55 years old and older.

Those who want to attend need to register in advance by calling Aurora Senior Services at 630-897-4035.

Sheriffs Association offering scholarships

The Illinois Sheriffs Association will be awarding over $58,000 in college scholarships throughout Illinois to students looking to pursue higher education during the 2024-25 academic year, officials with the group said.

The scholarships are to be applied to tuition, books and fees only, according to a press release about the program. To be eligible, a student must be a permanent Illinois resident and enrolled full-time at a certified institution of higher learning within Illinois for the 2024-25 school year. Online learning is acceptable, according to the release.

Kane County Sheriff Ron Hain will be awarding two $500 scholarships as part of the program, officials said.

Applications are now available for the scholarships at local sheriffs offices or on the Illinois Sheriffs Association website at https://www.ilsheriff.org/youth-2/.

Students must complete the application, answer the essay question and return all documentation to the sheriffs office in their permanent county of residence by March 15.

AAUW accepting applicants for $5,000 scholarship

The American Association of University Women of the Naperville Area is seeking applicants for a $5,000 scholarship that will be awarded to a woman living in or attending school in DuPage, Will, Kendall or Kane counties while completing an undergraduate degree.

The Angeline Gale Scholarship has been awarded for more than 50 years to encourage women to continue their educational pursuits even if theyve been interrupted, a news release said.

It is open to a woman or non-binary presenting person who is at least 26 years old.

Applicants can be part- or full-time students enrolled at an accredited institution. They must be seeking an associates degree and on track to earn 30 semester hours by July or a bachelors degree and on track to earn 60 semester hours by July. They must also have at least a 3.0 grade point average.

Applications are available at naperville-il.aauw.net/scholarships and due by March 15. The winner will be announced at a May 4 awards brunch.

DuPage holding program on avoiding senior scams

DuPage County officials will hold a free, informational meeting to help senior citizens and their families avoid falling victim to scams.

The Safe from Scams: Protecting Seniors and Their Assets program is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 31, in the first floor auditorium of the JTK Administration Building, 421 N. County Farm Road, Wheaton.

Participants will learn about common scams targeting the elderly and how to report financial fraud if they are victimized, a news release said.

The event is hosted by representatives from DuPage Countys recorder, treasurer, states attorney, sheriff and information technology offices. It will also be live streamed on the countys YouTube channel for those who cant attend.

For more information, contact Virginia Underwood at 630-407-5425 or virginia.underwood@dupagecounty.gov.
Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania agreed to build a Baltic defense line in the coming years to strengthen the eastern border with Belarus and Russia, the Estonian Defense Ministry said on Jan. 19.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine has sparked concerns that the Baltic states, which are among Moscow's biggest critics and Kyiv's staunchest allies since day one of the all-out war, could become the next target for aggression,

These fears are reinforced by Russian leader Vladimir Putin's repeated threats to NATO countries.

The agreement signed by the defense ministers of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania provides for defensive installations on their borders to deter and, if necessary, protect against military threats.

Russia's war in Ukraine has shown that, in addition to equipment, ammunition, and manpower, we also need physical defenses on the border from the first meter to protect Estonia," Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur said.

According to the ERR public broadcaster, Tallinn plans to build about 600 fortified bunkers along the border, with each bunker designed to accommodate up to 10 soldiers.

The defense ministers of the three nations also signed a letter of intent for HIMARS multiple rocket launchers, which aims to establish a framework for the common use of the weapon system in peacetime and wartime.

From late January till May, NATO will hold its most extensive military exercise in recent decades, involving about 90,000 troops. In July 2023, NATO countries called Russia the most significant threat in a Vilnius summit communique while emphasizing that they "do not seek confrontation."

Read also: Putin threatens Latvia with consequences over Russian minority policies

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Following a meeting in Riga, Latvia, on 18-19 January, the Latvian, Estonian and Lithuanian defence ministers have agreed to create a joint defence zone on the eastern border where their countries border Russia and Belarus.

Source: European Pravda, with reference to the Ministry of Defence of Estonia

Details: The agreement, signed by Andris Spruds (Latvia), Arvydas Anusauskas (Lithuania) and Hanno Pevkur (Estonia), outlines a plan to construct anti-mobility defensive installations in the coming years to deter and if necessary defend against military threats.

The concept of defensive installations is based on decisions made at the NATO Madrid Summit, which emphasised that Allies must be ready to defend the territory "from the first metre" and that new regional defence plans must be developed, the Estonian defence ministry said in a press release.

The ministry added that defence elements "will be positioned in the landscape, taking into account the results of the analysis of the enemys intent, the environment, and the defence plan". No explosives, barbed wire or other obstacles will be placed on the border in peacetime.

"Russias war in Ukraine has shown that, in addition to equipment, ammunition, and manpower, physical defensive installations on the border are also needed to defend Estonia from the first metre. We are undertaking this effort so that the people of Estonia can feel safe, but if the slightest risk emerged, we would be ready for various developments more promptly," Pevkur said.

The defence ministers also signed a Letter of Intent for purchasing HIMARS multiple rocket launchers and discussed issues related to supporting Ukraine, defence capability development and the upcoming NATO Washington Summit.

Background:

The strengthening of the Baltic states borders with their eastern neighbours, Russia and Belarus, came amid growing discussions about the possibility of a Russian attack on NATO member states. Boris Pistorius, Federal Minister of Defence of Germany, has said that Russia might attack a NATO country in the near future.

Kaja Kallas, Prime Minister of Estonia, believes that Europe has three to five years to prepare for a possible military threat from Russia on the eastern flank of the North Atlantic Alliance.

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MILAN  Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania have approved the construction of defensive installations alongside their borders with Russia and Belarus, which will include a network of bunkers.

Fridays decision to greenlight the project comes as Russia continues its invasion of nearby Ukraine, and Belarus unveils plans to create a military doctrine for the use of nuclear weapons.

Russias war in Ukraine has shown that in addition to equipment, ammunition, and manpower, physical defensive installations on the border are also needed to defend Estonia from the first meter, Estonian Defence Minster Hanno Pevkur said in a news release.

The agreement, signed by the three Baltic defense ministers, calls for the construction of anti-mobility defensive installations on their respective frontiers with Russia and Belarus, who are allies. The border security measures are meant to deter and counter military threats.

The timeline provided for the construction was not specific, but rather said the countries will establish the infrastructure in the coming years. It is to include in part a network of bunkers, support points and distribution lines.

The Estonian Defence Ministry further indicated in a statement that in peacetime, no explosives, cutting wires or other obstacles are placed on the border of Estonia.

Estonian Public Broadcasting service ERR News reported the building of the bunkers will begin in early 2025. The organization also said the cost of the defensive facilities is estimated at 60 million (U.S. $65 million), but its unclear if that price tag applies to just the bunkers or more.

This illustration shows plans for bunkers for border security. (Estonian Defence Ministry)

The border plan builds on commitments made by allies at the 2022 NATO Summit in Madrid, Spain, where alliance members agreed that they each must be ready to defend their territory from the onset of an attack in order to halt or repel enemy troops.

In similar fashion, Finland in 2022 began building a border barrier alongside Russia, which is to be about 124 miles.

The Latvian, Lithuanian and Estonian defense ministers also signed a letter of intent on Friday for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems to establish a framework for the joint use of the systems.
Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) blasted GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley for her recent remarks that America is not a racist country.

Speaking Friday to CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins, Lee refuted Haleys comments that America has little kinks to fix.

Racism, institutional racism, is in the DNA of this country, Lee said. When you look at what has taken place, look at our Native Americans, the genocide of Native Americans. When you look at what has taken place as it relates to African Americans, 250 years plus of enslaving African Americans, and then you look at the disparities now in our community in terms of health care, unemployment, the wealth gap, housing. You cant tell me the systemic racism does not exist. Its not just a little kink.

She went on to share a personal story about how she faced racism in the halls of Congress, when a white man stopped her from entering a members-only elevator as she was on her way to vote. At the time, Lee said, she was wearing her members pin, which identified her as a member of Congress.

He blocked me from getting into the elevator and told me I was not a member of Congress and it was for members only, Lee said. I said, Sir, Im a member of Congress. And I showed him my pin and he said, Whose pin did you steal? This is an example of what personal racism is and how people of color constantly have to deal with this each and every day.

Haleys comments came at a CNN town hall where she said telling Black and brown children they live in a racist country means youre immediately telling them they dont have a chance.

The former United Nations ambassador has come under fire in recent weeks after neglecting to mention slavery in her answer about what caused the Civil War.

In her answer, Haley said the Civil War was about the freedoms of what people could and couldnt do.

When pressed on the issue of slavery, Haley responded, What do you want me to say about slavery?

She later walked back her comments, saying of course the Civil War was about slavery. But she has since reiterated her belief that America is not, and has never been, a racist country.

Lee said that Haleys viewpoint is very dangerous and that shes clueless.

Lee is running for the Senate seat vacated by the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), currently occupied by Sen. Laphonza Butler (D). Lee is facing off against two other Democrats: Reps. Adam Schiff (Calif.) and Katie Porter (Calif.).

This week, California newspapers owned by McClatchy endorsed Lee in the primary.

Despite the endorsements, a Berkeley IGS poll released Friday shows Schiff is favored by 21 percent of California voters. Porter won 17 percent in the poll and Lee got 9 percent support. Schiff has been endorsed by the Los Angeles Times, the states largest newspaper.

Californias primary will take place March 5.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Its been more than 18 months since the FBI raided the Orlando Museum of Art, hauling off what authorities said were fraudulent pieces of art attributed to famed graffiti artist Jean-Michel Basquiat. Yet the museum still hasnt fully accounted for what happened.

Despite promising to release the results of an internal investigation into what went wrong  and how the museum allowed the exhibit to open when it knew the art was suspect  the museum has not done so.

Even more troubling, when a volunteer member of the museums Acquisition Trust board recently had the courage to speak up and say the community deserves answers, the museum kicked her out.

Yes, the museum went after one of its own volunteers and donors.

Meanwhile, the museums financial problems are spiraling. With mounting bills for lawyers and P.R. consultants, the museum is burning through its reserves, facing a budget shortfall and begging for donations.

All while the museum remains on probation from the American Alliance of Museums. Its the only accredited museum to face that dubious distinction, according to the Alliances website.

It doesnt seem like volunteers pushing for transparency are the problem here.

Im not the only one who thinks so. A growing chorus of former museum leaders and supporters is calling for a change in leadership. That chorus includes the very man the museum brought on board to try to right the ship.

In 2022, the museum hailed Luder Whitlocks hiring as interim director as the start of salvation for the museum. Whitlock has serious credibility in this community. Hes a Presbyterian minister with a successful second career in nonprofits. And his goal was to rebuild trust with the community.

Orlando Museum of Art drops Basquiat owners from lawsuit  but not former director

But Whitlock resigned shortly after the museum celebrated his arrival. At the time, he did so quietly, not wanting to add to the turmoil. Now, he feels compelled to speak up, saying the reason he left was because museum leadership didnt seem willing to fully account for its actions or to chart a sustainable path forward.

And he said hes seeing the worst aspects of that anti-transparency mindset in the trustees ousting of trust member Fiorella Escalon, a Winter Park artist who has pushed for the museum to publicly release the full details of its internal investigation.

She has the courage to do whats right, Whitlock said this week. And Im a big believer in doing whats right.

Whitlock is hardly a rabble rouser. He ran a seminary, for Petes sake. Its obvious all this weighs heavily on him. But he said he cares too much about the museum to let it potentially collapse. This is an important, valuable institution, he said. If we can get this back on track, think of the value long term.

Hes not alone in that thinking. As the Sentinel reported last week, others whove joined the call for new leadership at the museum include retired appeals court judge and former museum trustee Winifred Sharp and former museum board chair William Forness. Hardly a junk-drawer caucus of outsiders.

Is it any surprise that people arent tripping over themselves to bail out the museum financially? And government surely shouldnt do so until and unless things change. (Mayors Buddy Dyer and Jerry Demings have both been approached, but are standing by for now.)

Orlando Museum of Art faces financial crisis in wake of Basquiat scandal

Without a financial rescue, the museum could lumber toward a day when it is taken over by another group, possibly a local college or university. But it seems like this is salvageable.

The museum leadership  led by new director Cathryn Mattson and board chair Mark Elliott  say they can point to encouraging strides, including 135,000 visitors last year, above pre-pandemic levels. The museum also recently secured a $400,000 grant and is still staging its most prestigious event, hosting the Florida Prize in Contemporary Art.

Orlando Museum of Art drops Basquiat owners from lawsuit  but not former director

It blames most of the Basquiat woes on former museum director Aaron De Groft, whom the museum is now suing, accusing him of conspiring with the artworks owners to inflate its worth. In a federal plea agreement, one of those involved already admitted to helping fake the artwork in as little as five minutes.

Yet even after the FBI first started asking questions, the museum showcased the work anyway. Thats the part Escalon has trouble understanding. So do I.

Museum leaders claim they didnt oust Escalon for asking questions but rather for being rude to other board members and doing things like asking to see documents without an appointment. The horror.

They also object to her online petition on Change.org that calls for new board members and a new director, saying Escalon has generally demonstrated contempt for the Museums leadership and governing board.

Escalon takes issue with most of that, saying the museum leadership doesnt like facing questions or hearing from those pushing for transparency. Shes also troubled more board members arent speaking up, deferring instead to high-paid lawyers and spin doctors while the museums financial problems mount.

I love OMA. Its our flagship institution, she said. But none of this is OK.

That theme  about loving the museum  is something Ive heard from every critic who has dared to speak up.

National pundits and art snobs may mock Orlando for being the little theme-park town that got conned. But most concerned locals not only care about the museum, theyve poured their heart and finances into it. Theyre people like developer and philanthropist Alan Ginsburg, who urged transparency and accountability from Day 1, saying: You cant just put your head in the sand and hope you sell lots of socks in the gift shop.

After FBI-Basquiat scandal, Orlando Museum of Art is still short on progress, transparency | Commentary

The growing financial crisis seems to show Ginsburg and others are right.

I doubt anyone involved has ill intentions. But I am pretty convinced some of their actions are ill-advised. Covering up and lashing out isnt a solution. Transparency and accountability is.

Yet instead of doing that, the museum is attacking and ousting one of its own volunteers and donors. Still, Escalon says she has no regrets, saying: I believe that I have done the right thing.

smaxwell@orlandosentinel.com
A recreation director was fired by the Park District of Highland Park while on leave for the post-traumatic stress disorder he has experienced since the mass shooting during the suburbs 2022 Fourth of July Parade.

While Chris Maliszewski was planning a return-to-work routine with his psychologist, the 41-year-old was terminated from his position on Dec. 27, according to interviews and records obtained by the News-Sun.

As director of recreation, Maliszewski was co-chair of the 2022 Fourth of July Parade and was one of the first Park District employees to arrive at work that morning.

At the time of the shooting, he was at the start of the parade route, just north of where a gunman fired into the crowd from a rooftop. The mass shooting left seven people dead and dozens injured.

Later that night, Robert Bobby Crimo III was taken into custody by the Highland Park police department. The 23-year-old remains in custody at the Lake County jail and faces more than a hundred felony charges, including multiple counts of first-degree murder. His trial could begin later this year.

Maliszewski said he spent most of that tragic day riding around in a SWAT car, helping to locate 13 sheltering Park District employees and reunite them with their families.

As a Park District employee, he told unaware Rosewood Beachgoers about the community threat. He also communicated with his family, colleagues and friends about their whereabouts and safety.

For at least nine months, Maliszewski has been receiving treatment for anxiety, insomnia and post-traumatic stress disorder related to the parade massacre. He said he never suffered from any mental health problems before the incident. He was on leave from the Park District for part of that time.

Maliszewski has a pending workers compensation case related to the psychological injury he sustained in the wake of the parade shooting. His case began while he was on leave from his Park District job through the Family and Medical Leave Act.

In most mass shootings, there is an employee involved, he said. At this point, I dont want this to ever happen to anybody again. Thats my goal.

The termination letter and separation agreement sent to Maliszewski, and shared with the News-Sun, offered him two months of severance pay, two months of COBRA insurance benefits and a waiver of the health insurance premiums the Park District paid on his behalf during his leave.

Due to the length of his leave, number of extensions and therapists inability to provide a return-to-work date, Maliszewski was let go from his position, according to the termination letter.

The Park District cannot grant your request for indefinite leave () and, therefore, is ending your employment, stated Maliszewskis termination letter from Laurel Hall, human resources director for the Park District of Highland Park.

Communications coordinator for the Park District of Highland Park Elizabeth Gogola confirmed Maliszewskis last day was Dec. 27. Gogola declined to comment on the reason for his termination.

Panic at work

Maliszewski said he began experiencing panic attacks and insomnia after he returned home from work the night of the shooting.

But for 10 months, he said he continued to show up at work and do his best as an employee. He said he was suffering silently, and suspects other employees were as well  and possibly still are.

Maliszewskis mental health concerns came to a head on April 4, 2023, when Highland Park High School went into lockdown after a threat of a student with a gun on campus. All Highland Park government buildings, including the Park District, went into lockdown for about two hours.

That was the first time I had a panic attack at work, he said. I remember my colleague helping calm me down in my office.

Chris Maliszewski was working at the parade as the recreation director during the Highland Park Fourth of July shooting. He has a pending workers compensation case for the psychological injury he endured while working for the Park District of Highland Park.

At the recommendation of his colleagues and doctors, Maliszewski took a family medical leave (FML) from the department on April 13, 2023.

He said he used 57 personal-time-off days, that he had accrued during his nearly 10-year tenure with the Park District, for his leave.

In June, Maliszewskis therapist told him the leave should be a workers compensation issue  the first time someone brought up the subject of workers compensation to him.

Maliszewski asked his Park District supervisor and HR why he hadnt been guided through a workers compensation report. They agreed to file a workers comp claim, which was initiated on June 9, 2023.

Less than a month later, on July 5, he had exhausted his 12 weeks of protected FML, according to letters from the Park District to Maliszewski. He wasnt ready to return to work, so the Park District granted him three more weeks.

As soon as that happened, they started sending me bills and threatening my insurance if I couldnt return, he said. My mental health took an extreme turn for the worse.

For the extended, unpaid leave, Maliszewski received an email from Hall requesting $870 for an employee insurance contribution normally deducted from his biweekly paycheck.

Worried about losing his health insurance, he said he returned to work on July 31 on a reduced schedule.

On Aug. 28, he took a second, unprotected leave at the recommendation of his psychologist. Before he could return to work again, he was offered two severance packages and was then fired.

Since the termination, Maliszewski said he has continued to struggle with his mental health. In therapy, he said he isnt even able to address the root of his trauma  the shooting incident  because there have been even more triggers and stressors in his life now.

This whole thing has made me feel crazy, he said. Its made me question my existence. Its made me wonder if I even am experiencing what Im experiencing. Its made me think: Am I valid in feeling the way Im feeling?'

A rare injury case

In this type of workers compensation case, the claim is the psychological injury is a mental injury caused by a mentally traumatic situation.

Workers compensation attorney Richard Johnson said these types are the rarest psychological injury cases. Under Illinois workers compensation law, the injury is compensable if there is a sudden event that would shock the conscience of a normal person.

Johnson, a partner at Katz Friedman in Chicago, said these cases are very individual and different from one another, because they are highly fact-specific.

The burden is on us, the person representing the injured worker, to develop the facts and develop the medical evidence, Johnson said. So that we show that its more probably true than not true, that the psychological condition from which a person is suffering is causally related to that incident.

The burden of proof is a small bar to pass, Johnson said, because the incident doesnt have to be the sole cause or even a major cause of the psychological injury. Johnson has handled cases involving truck drivers, Chicago Transit Authority employees and first responders  although there are fewer cases involving first responders, like police and fire department employees, than he would have expected.

Maliszewski said he didnt contact a lawyer until after filing for workers compensation because he thought his employer would support him through the process.

What I would recommend to anybody, if youre in a mass shooting as an employee, is to get an attorney the next day, he said. Or have somebody who wasnt there, whos not traumatized, reach out to an attorney for you immediately. Because what you are likely about to experience, and your ability to return to that employer, may not be what you think it is, and you need protection.

The former employee said he only knows of one other colleague who filed for workers compensation in the wake of the parade shooting.

Johnson said indefinite leave is not protected by the FML statute  any longer than 12 weeks, and an employee might not have a job.

Permanent disability, partial or total, is one of the three potential benefits under the Workers Compensation Act, also including 100% payment of all reasonable and necessary medical expenses and two-thirds of ones salary at the average weekly pay.

 (Employees) tend to think its less likely for them to be fired because one of the elements in determining disability is was there an impairment of your earning capacity, Johnson said. Clearly, if you lose your job, theres been an impairment of your earning capacity.

chilles@chicagotribune.com
By Andrea Shalal

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President Joe Biden on Friday said he spoke with Israeli Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu about possible solutions for creation of an independent Palestinian state, suggesting one path could involve a non-militarized government.

Biden's call with Netanyahu was the first in nearly a month, the White House said, noting the discussions focused on Israel's ongoing strikes in Gaza.

White House spokesperson John Kirby told reporters that Biden had been trying to schedule the call "for quite a bit of time" and denied it came in response to Netanyahu's comment on Thursday saying he objected to Palestinian statehood that did not guarantee Israel's security.

Asked if a two-state solution was impossible while Netanyahu was still in office, Biden said, "No, it's not."

Speaking to reporters after a meeting with U.S. mayors, Biden said Netanyahu was not opposed to all two-state solutions, and there were a number of types possible, noting that some United Nations members do not have military forces.

Biden was asked if he would reconsider conditions on Israel aid given Netanyahu's comments rejecting a two-state solution.

"I think we'll be able to work something out ... I think there's ways in which this could work," he said.

Biden and Netanyahu also discussed efforts to secure the remaining hostages held by Hamas, and Israel's shift to more "targeted" operations in Gaza to allow more humanitarian assistance to come through, the White House said.

Biden has been pressuring Israel to reduce Palestinian deaths even as he has maintained his strong support of Israel in its war against Hamas.

But the two men do not see eye-to-eye on Palestinians having a state, a solution Biden has advocated to achieve long-term peace.

"The president also discussed his vision for a more durable peace and security for Israel fully integrated within the region and a two state-solution with Israel's security guaranteed," the White House said in a statement about their call.

Netanyahu had said in a press conference that he told Washington he objected to any Palestinian statehood that did not guarantee Israel's security. "Israel must have security control over the entire territory west of the Jordan River. That's a necessary condition," he said.

Biden's call came as Red Crescent officials accused Israel of firing on a hospital in Khan Younis, the main city in the southern part of Gaza.

Israel launched a major new advance in Khan Younis this week to capture the city, which it says is now the primary base of Hamas fighters who attacked Israeli towns on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 and precipitating a war that has devastated the Gaza Strip.

The Gaza health ministry said 142 Palestinians had been killed and 278 injured in Gaza over the past 24 hours, raising the death toll from more than three months of war to 24,762.

Asked about a request by Mexico and Chile for the International Criminal Court to investigate potential crimes against civilians in Gaza, Kirby said the United States was still gathering more information about what that would entail.

"We don't have any indications that there's deliberate ... efforts to commit war crimes by the Israeli Defense Forces," Kirby said.

Kirby also expressed concerned about reports from Palestinian health officials who said a 17-year-old Palestinian-American teenager was killed by Israeli security forces in the West Bank on Friday.

"We're seriously concerned about these reports," Kirby said. "We're going to be in constant touch with counterparts in the region to get more information."

(Reporting by Andrea Shalal; additional reporting by Jeff Mason; Editing by Bill Berkrot and Rosalba O'Brien)
Its a fools game to predict how the array of wars in the Middle East will evolve or end, but one thing can be said with high confidence: The Biden administrations sanctions against the Houthis will have no effect whateverexcept, perhaps, to embolden the Houthis to act still more brazenly.

The decision to declare the Houthis a specially designated global terrorist group, which Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced Wednesday, makes sense on a literal level. After all, the Houthisthe armed Shiite sect that rules a stretch of Yemen holding two-thirds of the countrys 32 million peoplehas, since November, attacked dozens of commercial and military vessels with hundreds of drones and missiles, threatening lives and impeding freedom of navigation in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. As national security adviser Jake Sullivan stated, these attacks fit the textbook definition of terrorism.

In previewing the announcement on Tuesday, a senior U.S. official explained that the designation and its sanctions were meant to apply additional pressure on the Houthis to change [their] behavior and turn away from Irantheir chief supplier of arms, training, and other goods and services. At that point, it is hoped that the Houthis will choose to become a constructive member of the international system.

This is where the administration has gone wrong. This is a way too ambitious, thoroughly unrealistic goal. Yes, the Houthis are terrorists. They should be designated as such. But U.S. officials shouldnt have made a big deal of it; certainly, they shouldnt have expressed such high expectations for the pronouncements effects. If it fails to meet those expectations, if the Houthis continue to attack ships and ally with Iran, the policy will be seen as a failure for the U.S. and a successeven a morale-boosting victoryfor the Houthis and for Iran.

Indeed, ever since the U.S. called them out as terrorists, the Houthis have continued to attack at least a ship a day, one of them owned by a U.S. shipper and hoisting an American flag.

In fact, the Houthis have been reveling in the designation. Hisham Al-Omeisy, a Yemeni activist and analyst with the European Institute of Peace, told the Associated Press that the U.S. is playing into the Houthis narrative that they are standing up to a superpower in their support of Muslims. In the past, Al-Omeisy said, the Houthis were angry that the U.S. was basically treating them as a bug on the windshield. Now theyre like, You know what, they respect us. Yeah, we can go toe to toe with the Americans!

Senior U.S. officials noted, in their background briefing on the new policy, that the sanctions are just one piece of a broad package of measures against the Houthis, not least military measures. Since Jan. 9, when the Houthis launched 21 drones and missiles in a coordinated attack on commercial and military vessels, the U.S., sometimes along with Britain, has retaliated on five separate occasions, launching dozens of missiles and drones of their own against Houthi radar, missile storage centers, drone launch sites, andin a couple of preemptive attacksmissiles that the Houthis were about to fire.

Yet those attacks have done little, if anything, to slow down, much less halt, the Houthis adventurism. That being the case, sanctions are unlikely to add much pressure.

Vali Nasr, a former State Department official, dean of Johns Hopkins Universitys School of Advanced International Studies, and co-author of a forthcoming book How Sanctions Work, told me that, generally speaking, sanctions rarely have their desired effect. They cause pain to the population, he said, but usually have no effect on a countrys [or terrorist groups] behavior. Sanctions are often a way for officials in Washington to say, Were doing something.

Sanctions are likely to have still less effect on the Houthis. One of the most potent effects of sanctions is to deny access to the international financial network. Yet the Houthis have scant access to this network as is, and neither does Iran. In recent days, the Houthis have announced they will not attack ships owned by Russia or Chinatwo countries that are skilled at evading Western sanctions. Moscow and Beijing thus might become another source of supplies that evade sanctions.

Nor is there any realistic prospect of the Houthis steering away from Iran, or vice versa. Irans special forces, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, are openly supplying, training, and advising the Houthi militias on Yemeni soil. Neither U.S. airstrikes nor sanctions are expected to drive them back home.

In his final days in office, President Donald Trump declared the Houthis a Foreign Terrorist Organization. Biden reversed the move in his first few weeks of his term, concerned that the sanctions would cut off humanitarian aid for the Yemeni people, many of whom are living in near-famine conditions. The sanctions that Biden imposed this weekwhile calling the Houthis a Specially Designated Global Terroristare less harsh than the FTOs. For instance, it doesnt outlaw all contact and supplies. Biden has delayed enforcement of the new sanctions for 30 days, to let officials, bankers, NGOs, and other parties work out a way to send in food, medicine, fuel, and other supplies without violating the law.

However, sanctionswhether FTO or SDGToften make legitimate banks and air groups skittish about engaging with the target nation at all, lest they run afoul of legal limits. At the same time, rogue elements (smugglers, arms suppliers, and governments like Iran) or countries outside the international financial system (such as, in certain cases, Russia and China) disregard the sanctions, often with success.

In other words, it is possible that the policy will hurt Yemeni people and have no effect on the Houthis fortunes.

Meanwhile, the Houthis have been fighting in civil wars in Yemen since 2004, off and on, mainly on, sometimes under fierce bombardment from the neighboring Saudis, who thought that defeating the militias would be a cakewalk but who have since given up that fantasy and negotiated a truce. It is unlikely that a few more missile and drone strikeswhich have degraded but not destroyed the Houthis ability to strike shipswould make a dent on the Houthis behavior.

Elisabeth Kendall, an Arabist and Yemen specialist at the University of Cambridge, put it this way in a recent CNN interview:

Lets say youre 22 years old, and youre in the Houthi territories, particularly those up in the north, which is very populous. You will barely remember anything other than war. And thats really important because we think of war as a last resort. They think of it as a way of life.
President Joe Biden said he is hopeful a bipartisan immigration package will emerge next week in the Senate that could eventually unlock an impasse over his broader funding request for Ukraine aide.

Speaking to a group of mayors from across the country in the White House on Friday, Biden said he is seeking massive changes to US immigration rules. The president has maintained he is open to sweeping policy changes related to immigration to get the deal through. Republicans in Congress have blocked Bidens request for tens of billions in new assistance for Ukraine as they seek a tightening of new border rules.

My team has been at the table for weeks now with a bipartisan group of senators to negotiate a deal, including border, because I believe we need significant policy changes at the border, including changes in our asylum system to ensure that we have authorities we need to control the border. And Im ready to act, Biden the mayors Friday.

His comments sounded the most optimistic note yet that a breakthrough on immigration  an issue that has nagged at Biden throughout his presidency  could be imminent. The issue has plagued Congress and presidents  Democrats and Republicans  for decades.

The group of mayors was in Washington attending the winter meeting of the United States Mayors Conference. At the conference, several Texas mayors told CNN they were frustrated with the constant political posturing between the federal government and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott over the issue, which they described as a true humanitarian crisis.

While migration from the US southern border has slowed in recent weeks, the number of migrants last year at times overwhelmed border cities. The influx prompted Abbott to take increasingly drastic steps, including installing razor wire along the border and signing a law that makes illegal immigration a state crime, usurping the typical federal authority over immigration-related law enforcement.

Biden met Wednesday with top congressional leaders to discuss the impact on the battlefield in Ukraine if US funding dried up.

Both Biden and those leaders appeared optimistic that a deal could soon be reached. House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer described the meeting as productive.

Biden reiterated his optimism on Friday.

I think next week we ought to be able to work out something, at least in the Senate. And Im hopeful its going to be a bipartisan package of senators that are going to pass it, God willing, Biden said.

He said the question remained whether Johnson would agree to the package.

Now the question for the speaker and the House Republicans: Are they ready to act as well? They have to choose whether they want to solve a problem or keep weaponizing the issue to score political points against the president. Im ready to solve the problem, Biden said.

This story has been updated with additional reporting.

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President Joe Biden on Friday said he believed a two-state solution between the Israelis and Palestinians could still happen even with the current Israeli government in power.

"No it's not, he said, when asked if he thought such an outcome was impossible with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in his post.

Bidens remarks came a day after Netanyahu rejected the idea of an independent Palestinian state once the fighting in the Gaza Strip concludes, saying Israel needed security control over all territory which collided with the idea of sovereignty.

Democrats expressed horror at those comments. But Biden said he believed Netanyahu was not opposed to all two-state solutions.

Bidens comments came after he spoke with Netanyahu on phone for the first time in nearly a month about the ongoing war in Gaza and the potential for a post-war Palestinian state. The president nodded when asked if Netanyahus rejection of creating an independent Palestinian nation came up on the call.

The White House contended that the timing of the call was coincidental.

The president still believes in the promise and the possibility of a two-state solution. He recognizes that its going to take a lot of hard work. Its going to take a lot of leadership there in the region, particularly, on both sides of the issue and the United States stands firmly committed to eventually seeing that outcome, National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said at the White House briefing.

Obviously were talking to them actively about post-conflict Gaza, and what governance there needs to look like and the importance of an independent Palestinian state for long term security, not just for the Palestinian people, but for the Israeli people as well.

The Biden administration has forcefully pushed for a two-state solution in the region, but Netanyahus recent remarks cast serious doubt on the viability of that vision. Its put the two leaders on a collision course about the breadth of Israels war and the future of Gaza, further complicating Bidens efforts to manage the delicate foreign policy crisis.

Democratic lawmakers, spearheaded by Chris Van Hollen, are pushing an amendment to the presidents multi-billion national security supplemental. The amendment, which now has 18 co-sponsors, would seek to ensure that countries that receive U.S. military aid  including Israel  use weapons in accordance with U.S. law, international humanitarian law and the laws of armed conflict.

In November, Biden said conditioning aid would be a worthwhile thought, but the administration quietly ruled this out days after the presidents comments. When asked about if the presidents stance on conditioning aid has shifted amid the latest developments, Kirby told reporters that the administrations approach has had results.

We're gonna continue that approach, which is, obviously making sure that Israel has the capabilities that it needs and that continues, but also urging them at every turn, to be more precise, more targeted, more deliberate with respect to civilian harm, urging the increase in humanitarian aid assistance, and of course, trying to get another humanitarian laws in place so we can do a hostage deal, Kirby said, arguing that at the U.S.s urging, Israel has transitioned to lower intensity operations and increased the flow of humanitarian assistance.

Kirby also said Biden and Netanyahu also discussed ongoing efforts to secure the release of the remaining hostages being held by Hamas, as well as operations to increase humanitarian assistance to Gaza while keeping the military pressure on Hamas and its leaders significantly.
Naperville police have arrested one of two men who allegedly stole more than $10,000 in cash and merchandise during a Naperville gas station burglary in December.

Christie K. Lopez, 30, of the 900 block of East 83rd Street, Chicago, was charged with felony counts of burglary, theft and criminal damage to property in connection with the break-in to the business in the 2800 block of Book Road, according to a Naperville Police Department news release.

Its alleged Lopez and another man forced their way into the gas station about 3:50 a.m. Dec. 4, damaging the store and ATM machine inside and taking thousands in goods and cash as seen in surveillance video taken at the business, the release said.

Police were able to identify Lopez and arrested him Monday on a warrant.

The investigation into the identity of the second suspect continues, the release said.
President Biden spoke Friday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the first time in nearly a month and amid growing frustration in the White House with the Israeli leader over the course of the war against Hamas.

The call came following remarks by Netanyahu rejecting the creation of a Palestinian state that the U.S. has put as a priority goal in supporting Israels war against Hamas over the Oct. 7 terrorist attack.

A White House pool report said Biden discussed the latest developments in Israel and Gaza with Netanyahu. An official readout of the call is expected to be issued later. The last known call between the two leaders was Dec. 23.

Israels leaders have said its more than three-month military operation against Hamas is to destroy its ability to threaten Israel militarily and remove it from governing the narrow territory of the Gaza Strip.

The U.S. has sought to lay the groundwork for a post-war scenario, after Hamass destruction, that would include new efforts to establish a Palestinian state and unite Gaza with the Palestinian Authority-controlled West Bank.

FILE - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends the weekly cabinet meeting at the Prime Minister's office in Jerusalem, Dec. 10, 2023. A law that would make it harder to remove Netanyahu from office must go into effect only after the next parliamentary elections, the country's Supreme Court ruled Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2024, saying the legislation was clearly crafted for personal reasons. (Ronen Zvulun/Pool Photo via AP, File)

FILE  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends the weekly cabinet meeting at the Prime Ministers office in Jerusalem, Dec. 10, 2023. A law that would make it harder to remove Netanyahu from office must go into effect only after the next parliamentary elections, the countrys Supreme Court ruled Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2024, saying the legislation was clearly crafted for personal reasons. (Ronen Zvulun/Pool Photo via AP, File)

Netanyahu has long been viewed as obstructing efforts to create a Palestinian state and is facing increasing pressure over his failure to prevent Hamass Oct. 7 attack and his handling of the war.

This is not a new comment by Prime Minister Netanyahu, White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters in response to a question about the prime ministers remarks.

We obviously see it differently. We believe that the Palestinians have every right to live in an independent state with peace and security. And the president and his team is going to continue to work on that.

Biden is reportedly frustrated with Netanyahu for failing to heed U.S. calls to rein in Israels military operation over a staggering death toll on the side of the Palestinians, mass destruction in the Gaza strip and a slow drip of humanitarian assistance to those in need.

The president has stood against calls for Israel to agree to a cease-fire but is facing increasing pressure from Democrats in Congress  including from strong supporters of Israel  over U.S. military assistance to Israel seen as contributing to Palestinian deaths.

Top Stories from The Hill

Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) is recruiting support for an amendment to Bidens national security supplemental, which includes aid for Israel, to more strictly commit to using U.S.-provided weapons in line with international humanitarian law. About 18 Senators are supporting Van Hollens language.

Earlier this week, 11 senators voted in favor of an ultimately failed amendment by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) that would have required the State Department to report on any human rights violations occurring with U.S.-supplied weapons, and that could potentially freeze arms transfers to Israel.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Denys Bihus, the head of Bihus.Info, revealed today that an extensive surveillance operation targeted the news outlet.

Numerous of individuals were implicated in monitoring activities, utilizing strategically placed cameras in various rooms. According to Bihus, several dozen people pre-booked bedrooms for surveillance. After they vacated, cameras were installed.

Read also: National Police launch criminal probe into Bihus.Info surveillance

For a New Years party on Dec. 27, the team reserved cabins, a sauna, a gazebo, and a conference room at the Ukrainian Village complex.

One individual, who had expressed interest in the restaurants layout on Dec. 20, later booked the same rooms as the editorial team on Dec. 26, including the sauna.

On that day, staff witnessed a very strange corporate event with 30 attendees in the restaurant.

Employees noted the presence of devices resembling fire alarms in the rooms during the event, which mysteriously disappeared upon subsequent checks.

Read also: Bihus.Info investigation reveals hidden assets of MP Boyko

Bihus highlighted that, after the team departed on Dec. 28, someone rebooked the same rooms. However, only a few guests arrived for the numerous reserved rooms, despite taking keys for all of them.

They rebooked them for four days, along with the sauna. So, for four days, they filmed the lives of completely unrelated people, he said.

A video surfaced online on Jan. 16 allegedly showing Bihus.Info staff using drugs. Bihus claimed that there had been illegal surveillance lasting about a year, with edited fragments from different times.

On Jan. 17, Ukraines SBU security service initiated a criminal case for illegal eavesdropping and video recording by the outlets employees. Law enforcement does not rule out violations of drug-related laws in the published materials.

On Jan. 15, unknown individuals attempted to break into journalist Yuriy Nikolovs Kyiv apartment. Nikolov exposed inflated prices for Ministry of Defense products, leading to the resignation of Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov and the parliament adopting a bill on transparent defense procurement. Nikolovs mother was at home during the break-in attempt.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned the pressure on journalists on Jan. 17, stating that it is unacceptable.



Read also:

Were bringing the voice of Ukraine to the world. Support us with a one-time donation, or become a Patron!

Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
A new bill introduced in the House would allow lawmakers to vote by proxy after giving birth, giving mothers six weeks to spend time with their newborns.

The bill, which has bipartisan backing, is spearheaded by Reps. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) and Sara Jacobs (D-Calif.), and it would allow colleagues to cast votes on behalf of new mothers.

The ability to vote by proxy was allowed in May 2020, when then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) authorized the use as the COVID-19 pandemic ramped up. It quickly became a hotly debated issue, as some lawmakers used it to have their vote recorded without being in attendance, not just for reasons related to the pandemic but when attending political events. It was ended when Republicans retook the majority in the lower chamber.

I just wanted to make sure that this was one, put down on paper, so that theres some guidance for other members that have kids after me, Luna told NBC News. Two, I just dont think its fair to remove moms from the conversation. I cant help having a baby.

Jacobs, Lunas co-sponsor, bonded with her GOP colleague since she worried about having kids while working a job that can be challenging as a new parent.

And I think its important that we have more young people, that we have more parents who are in office, because we just have different issues were dealing with, and we need to make sure that Congress is addressing those issues as well, Jacobs said.

Other members who issued support for the resolution included Reps. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) and Ted Lieu (D-Calif.).

Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.), another of the bills supporters, mostly opposes the idea of voting by proxy since he said it was overused during the pandemic, but he voiced support during Thursdays introduction of the bill.

They used it to go to fundraisers, they used it to go on vacations. I mean, theyd just fake things, but you cant fake a pregnancy.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
By Chris Prentice, Jody Godoy and Hannah Lang

(Reuters) -Binance is due to square off against the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in a Washington courtroom next week, in another high-profile hearing involving the agency and a crypto exchange that could define how cryptocurrencies are regulated.

The world's largest crypto exchange previously asked federal Judge Amy Berman Jackson to toss out a lawsuit the SEC filed in June alleging Binance broke its rules, and is expected to make its case for dismissal before her on Monday.

The regulator accused Binance, its CEO and founder Changpeng Zhao and the exchange's U.S. arm of artificially inflating its trading volumes, diverting customer funds, failing to restrict U.S. customers from its platform and misleading investors about its market surveillance controls.

It also accused Binance of unlawfully facilitating trading of several crypto tokens the SEC deemed unregistered securities.

The hearing had originally been slated for Friday but was postponed due to snow in the Washington, D.C., area, the court said in a notice. It has been rescheduled for Monday, Jan. 22 at 10 a.m. EST (1500 GMT), the notice said.

The hearing will follow a separate hearing earlier this week in the SEC's case against rival U.S. crypto exchange, Coinbase, which was also accused by the SEC of trading cryptocurrencies that should have been registered.

The SEC has long argued most crypto tokens are akin to securities subject to its oversight, while the crypto sector largely disputes the SEC's stance. Both cases are expected to help shape the SEC's authority over the sector.

BAM Trading, the operator of Binance.US, has said in court filings that the SEC does not have the authority to oversee crypto assets, an argument similar to that of Coinbase, which is also seeking dismissal of the SEC case.

Binance has also said the U.S. regulator has not shown that Binance committed fraud.

Binance Holdings last year agreed to pay $4.3 billion to settle with the Department of Justice and Commodity Futures Trading Commission over illicit finance breaches, and Zhao pleaded guilty to breaking U.S. anti-money-laundering laws. But the SEC's case is still hanging over the exchange.

While Binance settled with other agencies including the DOJ and CFTC, it has been unwilling to settle with the SEC because doing so would mean conceding that the tokens cited in the case are securities, said a source familiar with the discussions. That admission could affect Binance's business model, perhaps more than the anti-money-laundering compliance issues, the source said.

Binance also wanted to take its chances in court, believing it had a strong case that the SEC was overreaching its jurisdiction and had not proved fraud, said a second person with knowledge of the matter.

The two sources declined to be identified because the legal proceedings are confidential.

The SEC's lawsuit against Binance is one of a slew of cases the regulator has brought against crypto firms in recent years.

The SEC focused initially on companies selling digital tokens, but has shifted to firms offering trading platforms and clearing activity, and acting as broker-dealers.

The SEC had a winning record in crypto when it sued firms over tokens they issued. But last year it suffered a partial loss in a high-profile case against Ripple, another crypto company.

(Reporting by Chris Prentice and Jody Godoy in New York and Hannah Lang in Washington; Editing by Daniel Wallis, Sharon Singleton and Matthew Lewis)
North Americas bird population is in serious decline, losing 3 billion breeding adults  nearly a third of the bird population  in the last half-century. And thats seriously bad news not only for bird lovers, but for the entire human population.

The numbers come from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology by way of The Washington Post, which recently published an article with interactive features that let a reader see whats happening in his or her vicinity.

Nature is chaotic, so even without humans, some bird species would thrive while others would disappear. But all of birds biggest challenges  habitat loss, pesticides, glass windows, even domestic cats  are man-made. Climate change, which alters and sometimes shrinks birds ranges, is a threat multiplier, the Posts Harry Stevens wrote.

As the article notes, the decline of the bird population signals ecological problems, including habitat loss, climate change and pollution. And birds help people and the environment, pollinating wildflowers, scattering seeds and eating bugs like bark beetles and weevils. The loss is consequential for more than just the birds.

Per The Post, Birders have called on Congress to pass the Recovering Americas Wildlife Act, which would direct $1.4 billion annually to state wildlife agencies and tribes to protect vulnerable animals. The bill was reintroduced last year by Sens. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) but failed to pass. I am still hopeful, even in this divided Congress, that this issue is something that Republicans and Democrats can find agreement on, Heinrich said in an emailed statement.

Cornell Lab offers several simple actions to help the bird population:

Make windows safer. The lab says 1 billion birds die hitting windows in the U.S. and Canada every year  both in daylight and darkness. They recommend installing screens on the outside or using film or paint or installing string spaced less than two inches high or four inches wide to break up reflections. They also recommend supporting legislation for bird-friendly building design.

Related

Keep cats inside . Cats kill an estimated 2.4 billion birds each year in the two countries because hunting them is built into their DNA. Indoors is healthier for the cats, too. If your cat loves to go outdoors, train it to walk on a leash.

Reduce lawn and plant native plants . This provides a place to safety rest during migration and to raise their babies. Birds love native plants for shelter and nesting, so native plants attract them.

Avoid pesticides . They are toxic to birds and they also reduce the food available, namely some insects.

Reduce plastic . It takes hundreds of years to degrade and seldom gets recycled. Studies show that at least 80 seabird species ingest plastic, mistaking it for food, the lab says.

Watch birds and report what you see to a bird conservation project. The lab notes that the worlds most abundant bird, the passenger pigeon, went extinct before people even knew it was happening.

The Audubon Society has a native plant database that will tell you what native plants help birds in your area.
Kenny Howard isn't only worried about how Milwaukee's homeless population is faring in the bitter cold. He's also concerned about those who drink excessively and don't realize how cold they are.

It's why he went out to find a young man Wednesday to encourage him to come indoors for dinner and shelter at St. Ben's Community Meal and its overnight warming center downtown.

"We're serving at 5:15 and don't be late," Howard told the man gently but firmly. Howard, the assistant director of Capuchin Community Services in Milwaukee, knew if the man weren't inside at St. Ben's, he'd be outside drinking.

It's an example of the strides local homeless outreach workers are taking to try to prevent more deaths from the recent extreme cold and heavy snowstorms. Three homeless men, ages 40, 64 and 69, died in Milwaukee in the last week, likely from hypothermia, according to the county medical examiner.

"Anything to get them inside," Howard said of his efforts Wednesday. "It would break my heart for any of our guests to pass on. But from this, it's unnecessary."

More: Bitter cold temperatures are in effect in Wisconsin. Here's what you can do to stay safe

St. Ben's has the capacity to sleep 40 men and 20 women. In recent days, as homeless shelters across the city have seen a surge in people seeking a warm place to stay the night, St. Ben's has expanded to meet the need. Earlier this week, staff set up cots for 58 men. On Wednesday evening, with other shelters for families full, it housed a mother with children in a conference room.

In accommodating the different challenges each day of the cold snap brings, "you fly by the seat of your pants," said Father Mike Bertram, ministry director of Capuchin Community Services.

"Whatever is necessary, we will commit ourselves to keep people safe," he said.

St. Ben's, which operates its nightly meal program year-round, opens its overnight warming shelter in the winter. It opened in early December and will be open every night until March 31, Bertram said. It's a crucial piece of the city and county's shelter network during cold weather as other year-round shelters fill up.

In the last week, the six shelters combined have been housing an average about 210 people a night, said Rafael Acevedo, a city official who oversees outreach to the homeless population. That's compared to an average of 160 people before the winter storm.

For Milwaukee's homeless, cold snap has been hell

After serving dinner at St. Ben's Wednesday, staff and volunteers took down the tables and chairs in the meal hall and set up cots. They also served more food later in the evening: meatloaf, potatoes, spaghetti, pie, doughnuts, coffee and hot chocolate.

Guests must leave by 7 a.m. During the day, they find their own ways to stay warm.

Maurice Spann receives a light meal from Brother Henryk Cisowski at the St. Ben's Community Meal hall, where volunteers and staff serve dinner then set out cots for an overnight warming center. Guests are served additional food later in the evening.

Maurice Spann, 56, has been trying to stay indoors as much as he can. He goes to day shelters, a library, the train station and sometimes he rides the bus to the end of the line and back.

"It's been hell," Spann said. "St. Ben's is a savior, really."

Even with the boots St. Ben's staff gave him, his toes felt like they were "almost frozen off" Wednesday before he arrived.

Spann, who grew up in Detroit and moved to Milwaukee about 30 years ago, has been homeless most recently for the last two months. He said he appreciated knowing he could go to St. Ben's, get a meal and be safe.

For Lu-Gene Mitchell, 74, who said he was a veteran, the warming center was "like a gift from God" on cold days.

"They're doing what God would do," he said.

Another man, shaking from Parkinson's disease, introduced himself as Lt. David Taylor. He wore a U.S. Marines T-shirt and said he learned to handle the cold while training in Alaska. But the gear he has now is no comparison and doesn't keep him as warm.

Taylor spends his time during the day at a library or at Milwaukee Area Technical College. A cousin at the Milwaukee County Sheriff's Office will let him stay in its lobby if the cousin is on duty. Taylor's worried about hypothermia.

"I was about to collapse today," Taylor said.

Howard, the Capuchin assistant director, crouched down to chat with Taylor then brought him a cup of water.

"We serve our guests with dignity, and we treat them with dignity," Howard said.

In addition to concerns among the homeless population about hypothermia and frostbite, people are often hesitant to leave outdoor encampments, worried someone will take their possessions, Howard said. It's a bigger source of anxiety in the winter as homeless people try to stockpile items that could keep them warm.

Kenny Howard, left, the assistant director for Capuchin Community Services in Milwaukee, checks in with guest David Taylor at St. Ben's overnight warming center on Wednesday January 17, 2024 in Milwaukee, Wis.

More: For Milwaukee's homeless, hungry and those who serve them, Christmas is a time of generosity, hope

Need for housing remains no matter the weather

Gloria BreedloveHull is frustrated at what she sees as a lack of available places to stay. She became homeless in November and said several emergency housing options for women are all full. She has been waiting for a spot to open.

During the day, she takes shelter at the library or in a Dunkin Donuts shop. Born in Milwaukee and raised in Detroit, BreedloveHull is 34 years old and has six children, but they aren't staying with her because she doesn't want them to experience the same instability. She said she has become depressed as she waits for a longer-term housing solution.

"Everything I'm trying to work for is backfiring in my face," she said.

With increases in rent prices and the cost of living, the need for overnight shelter won't go away when temperatures rise, Bertram said. He and other Capuchin Community Services staff have been discussing how they could potentially keep the shelter open year-round in the future.

For Bertram, a member of the Capuchin Franciscan order, giving food, clothing and shelter to the poor is what he believes he is called to do. He echoed the words of Brother Booker Ashe, the prominent Milwaukee preacher who founded the Capuchins' House of Peace and ran it for three decades. Ashe died in 2000.

"If we are not the church of the poor, we are not the church of Jesus Christ, period," he said.

Overnight winter warming centers in Milwaukee

City officials urge people in need of housing or shelter to call 211.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Homeless outreach workers stretch services during cold surge
A family recipe sparked Toran Grays idea to sell pudding desserts and now his business, Extraordinary Banana Pudding, has three locations in southern California.

The entrepreneurs great-grandmother crafted a sweet banana pudding that was always a hit at family functions, according to Long Beach Post. Growing up, he noticed his relatives and family friends would always eat the sweet dish before dinner because the taste was too good to resist.

Its family, she kind of created it and its kind of just been passed on. Its kind of something I want to keep in the family for years to come, he told FOX 5.

After decades of seeing how the dessert would light up rooms and make people happy, Grays believed the public would also fall in love with the banana pudding recipe. He asked his family for the beloved recipe so he could perfect the flavor to his liking. After changing the magic formula to taste less sugary, he was ready to share it with his local community in early 2020. Unfortunately, though, the pandemic forced him to modify his original business model.

Due to COVID, right at the last moment, I had to change everything up with the health department. They were like, if you want to stay open and bring this product to the masses, you have to change it up, he shared with FOX 5.

To safely serve customers, the 40-year-old offered pre-packaged puddings on the weekends while working a full-time job.

Barbershops, hair salons, grocery stores  anywhere I can talk to somebody, I would try to get them to try the product, he said about growing his business during those early stages.

He first opened a brick-and-mortar spot in La Mesa. Quickly becoming a local favorite, he earned enough money to expand and open another location in Long Beach. Each location has several pudding options like French Vanilla, Red Velvet, Coconut, Chocolate and Butterscotch.

Its really like a taste where anyone in any type of culture, any ethnic group that would go, hey grandma, grandpa, can you make this dessert for me? This is where you got to get that little taste from home, right here, La Mesa resident Andy Xaysittiphone told FOX 5.

Each morning, Grays drives outside the city to Scripps Ranch, where the Extraordinary Banana Puddings kitchen is located, to make fresh pudding. His motivation? His loyal customers.

When you come in here and you get the smiles and the customers, its everything. I tell customers that all the time, he said. When my days are tough, and I see you guys and you guys come in here and you sample, and you tell me how great the product is, that changes my whole energy for the day.

Business is booming for the 2021 Small Business of the Year Award winner, who plans on opening a third shop in Temecula sometime in February.

I want to be able to let people try my products in a different area, he said. Hopefully, they love it.
It took a jury less than an hour of deliberation to acquit a Black man who was racially profiled and falsely accused near his home last year, according to a California public defenders office.

As Trevon Morgan, 21, was walking to a nearby store from his San Francisco home the morning of Aug. 24, a white man who appeared to be unhoused and mentally ill started yelling racial slurs and following him, the San Francisco Public Defenders Office said in a Jan. 17 news release.

When Morgan left the store, the man continued, leading to an argument, attorneys said.

As the pair argued, a bystander, who is also white, drove up beside them and took the side of the man yelling at Morgan, attorneys said.

The bystander called the police and claimed that Morgan threatened to kill him and rob him, and that Morgan dented his car, attorneys said.

One of the police officers body-camera footage showed that even the officer expressed skepticism about the bystanders claims, attorneys said.

In the footage, attorneys said the bystander also tells the officer the damage on his car was from an unrelated incident.

Morgan, however, was arrested and subsequently charged by the San Francisco District Attorneys Office with felony attempted robbery of the bystanders reading glasses, attorneys said.

San Francisco police did not immediately return McClatchy News request for comment.

The district attorneys office declined to comment on Morgans acquittal in a Jan. 19 email to McClatchy News.

Morgan was released from custody under the condition he wear an ankle monitor and be subject to home detention, according to attorneys.

As he awaited trial for five months, attorneys said Morgan lost his job as a security guard and was not able to provide for his pregnant girlfriend.

A jury acquitted Morgan on Jan. 11 after 45 minutes of deliberation, attorneys said.

The allegations in this case were reminiscent of other Karen cases where someone called the police on a Black person who had done nothing wrong, Deputy Public Defender Ilona Yanez, who represented Morgan, said in the release.

Yanez said the bystander racially profiled Morgan and assumed the worst about him and falsely accused him of wrongdoing based on the color of his skin.

Further, Yanez added, police and prosecutors took up the case without any corroborating evidence of a crime.

When prosecutors bring charges and are unwilling to look at the merit of the evidence, it is severely damaging to the accused and a waste of public resources, San Francisco Public Defender Mano Raju said in the release.

Cops say mom wrongly claimed Black men in Miami shot at her car. Now, shes been charged

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Tacoma cops pursuit violated policy. Heres what the city will pay injured bystander
A Naperville musical theater educator is leading by example as she prepares to tread the boards in a new production of Fiddler on the Roof at Drury Lane Theatre in Oakbrook Terrace.

By day Mitzi Smith is an assistant professor of theatre at North Central College but for the next two months shell also be part of the ensemble for what promises to be a new take on the beloved musical being staged Jan. 24 to March 24.

Smith moved to Naperville from California in 2019. Since then, shes been concentrating on teaching while raising two daughters. But when she learned Drury Lane was planning to stage the show, she decided it was time to get back performing.

Director Elizabeth Margolius is presenting a stripped-down version of Fiddler on the Roof at Drury Lane Theatre in Oakbrook Terrace. Shes seen here in rehearsal. Among those in the cast are Mitzi Smith, an assistant professor of theatre at North Central College in Naperville.

I had seen the Drury Lane season advertised a year ago and knew they would be doing Fiddler. I worked with a voice teacher and some career consultants. I got new headshots. I wanted to see where I would fit, said Smith, who has previously worked as a casting director herself in New York.

It turned out Smiths best fit was in the ensemble and as an understudy for Yenta and Grandma.

I knew I had aged out of playing one of Tevyes daughters. Being in the ensemble is a gift in any show, she said. Being in the show is the gift, not the part. I felt I could be effective as an understudy.

Smith says shes very fortunate to be able to demonstrate her skills to her students.

A friend told some of my former students I got the part, she said. I am still making art. I dont feel done making art. It will make me a better educator. Im so grateful not to be in charge, I just have to bring myself.

Smith is not only showing her students how to perform in musical theater, but how to get a role.

You demonstrate what they are learning, but something on this scale is so great, its very exciting.

It can be very challenging being a working mom. My husband and girls are so excited. Now the girls are older they understand. Being a part of this company has made me hungrier. It inspires me. You find yourself in spaces you belong, its an incredible community here in Chicago.

For director Elizabeth Margolius, this production of Fiddler came at a pivotal time. As she was researching the story set against a background of Jewish oppression in early 20th century Russia, Israeli citizens were taken hostage by Hamas terrorists.

After Oct. 7, I was asked if this changed my approach, she told me. It really didnt, and if anything made me more aware and more careful and clearer how I wanted to tell the story.

Fiddler is a favorite no matter who you are. One of the reasons it is so enduring is its about a specific time in history. Its so universal. The piece itself is so relevant to today and yesterday.

Audiences will see a different take on the story of a milkman with five daughters whose lives are as shaky as a fiddler on the roof. Margolius directorial style is minimalist, with the story stripped back to its bare bones, she said.

For preparation I dug into the stories by Shalom Aleichem, which Fiddler is based on, Margolius said. Its been a piece of me since I was child, but I didnt know it was based on these stories. Tevye recounts them as memories and that spoke to me. I approached it as a memory play. You start to realize you dont remember all the pieces. Its stripped of the traditional props, which feels more realistic.

Margolius said casting followed an extensive search in New York as well as Chicago.

We tried to employ Jewish people because its primarily a Jewish cast, although some of the characters arent Jewish. I was open and wanted strong Jewish representation especially for the primary family, she said.

Smith is enjoying the process and says shes found rehearsals very meaningful.

As an actor without props, I can focus on the story too, and the people I share the stage with and the space. It frees you of distractions, she said. I have done shows with a million things and those logistics take over. This story is enough. Its a very cool opportunity to experience that as a performer.

Hilary Decent is a freelance journalist who moved to Naperville from England in 2007.

hilarydecent@gmail.com
The EU began discussions on a new sanctions package, hoping to approve it on the second anniversary of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, Bloomberg reported on Jan. 19, citing anonymous sources.

The European bloc adopted its latest 12th sanctions package in December 2023, which included a ban on Russian diamonds, a crackdown on Russia's means to acquire military-use goods, tighter controls over the $60-per-barrel oil price cap, and further steps targeting Moscow's revenue amid the all-out war.

The discussed 13th package could encompass further individual listings, stricter trade restrictions, and more measures against dodging sanctions via third-party countries and European companies, Bloomberg wrote.

According to the news outlet, there are also ongoing talks on restructuring the European Peace Facility (EPF), an EU tool used for channeling military support to Ukraine.

Since decisions to allocate and disburse funds under the EPF require unanimity, some members reportedly worry that Hungary can keep delaying or obstructing the process, as it had done in the past, Bloomberg.

The EPF was launched in 2021 to finance common foreign and security policy actions related to military and defense. In particular, this tool allows us to finance non-EU partners in pursuit of joint peace and security building.

The European External Action Service, the EU's foreign affairs agency, suggested an annual budget for the EPF of 5 billion euros ($5.4 billion), but the proposal has not gathered unanimous support. Officials are to present member states with new options, sources told Bloomberg.

Military aid to Kyiv should be on the agenda during the upcoming European Council Feb. 1 summit. The meeting should also address the allocation of 50 billion euros ($54 billion) in four-year funding for Kyiv, a proposal blocked by Hungary in December.

Brussels already signaled that a deal on funding Ukraine might be reached even without Hungary's approval.

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
BLUE SPRINGS, Mo.  The Blue Springs School District is asking voters to approve a no-tax rate increase $100 million bond issue in February.

The funds from the bond issue would go toward multiple district projects, including a new career center, performing arts spaces, additional office space and more.

Bill would let Missouri students enroll in public schools outside their district

The bond issue, or a debt paid for by school property taxes, will not increase tax rates for those who live inside the Blue Springs School District boundaries, according to the district.

Proposed projects

If approved, the district plans to construct a state-of-the-art Career Innovation Center at its Vesper Street site for all high school students to use.

It would house programs for health sciences, physical therapy, business and entrepreneurship, gaming and technology, aviation, culinary arts, and hospitality, among others.

Independence School District adding in some 5-day weeks due to snow days

The district would add a new performing arts space, which would also double as a high wind shelter, to all four of Blue Springs middle schools.

Additionally, Franklin Smith, James Walker, and William Yates elementary schools would receive additional office space to accommodate more counselors, mental health professionals, social workers and assistant principals.

The district will also build additional classrooms at William Yates Elementary to address space limitations, and Franklin Smith Elementary would receive new exterior updates.

Blue Springs School District said it selected the projects through a 10-Year Facilities Plan, and a citizens committee helped rank the projects.

Ballot question

Heres what voters in the Blue Springs School District will see on the Feb. 4 ballot:

Shall Reorganized School District No. 4 of Jackson County, Missouri (Blue Springs, Missouri), issue its general obligation bonds in the amount of $100,000,000 for the purpose of constructing a Career and Innovation Center, constructing performing arts facilities at each middle school that will also serve as storm shelters, constructing classroom additions at certain elementary schools and acquiring, constructing, improving, extending, repairing, remodeling, renovating, furnishing and equipping new and existing school facilities and acquiring land therefor?

Ralph Yarl achieves special honor less than one year after Kansas City shooting

If this question is approved, the debt service property tax levy of the school district is estimated to remain unchanged at $1.0875 per one hundred dollars of assessed valuation of real and personal property.

Whats next?

The special election is scheduled for Feb. 6. In order to pass, a two-thirds super-majority of voters will have to approve the question.

If approved, the district would start work as soon as possible.

Download the FOX4 News app on iPhone and Android

The Blue Springs School District hopes to have middle school additions done by August 2025 and open the Career Innovation Center in August 2026. Other projects would be finished in the 2024-25 school year.

The district also said it plans a second phase of facilities projects, including an additional bond issue, in the future to address other elementary projects and more work at the career center.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports.
The last time her neighbors saw Adriana Laster it was 2011 and she walking to church on Kelly Street in Elgin, South Carolina. Then she vanished without a trace.

For more than a decade, authorities believed the man she lived with was behind the disappearance of the 28-year-old mother. But without a body, the case went nowhere.

Now, authorities say that they have used DNA to positively identify remains found in a Richland County sand mine as belonging to Laster.

This is about closure to the family, to finally know where she is and what happened, Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott said. This is a case about justice.

Lott and Richland County Coroner Naida Rutherford announced the discovery of Lasters remains at a news conference Friday.

Grant has not yet been charged in Lasters disappearance and death, but Elgin Mayor Melissa Emmons said her towns police department plans to charge him with her killing. The department has had warrants prepared for Grant for more than two years.

Adrianna Laster

On Friday afternoon, a missing person poster for Laster that has hung in the lobby of the Elgin Town Hall was finally taken down.

Lott said he was very confident that Grant, who was the prime suspect in Lasters disappearance from the start, was involved.

The sheriff also said he believed Grant was also responsible for another death, however he declined to provide specifics. Were not going to stop until we find every victim that Freddie Grant had, Lott said.

Laster, originally from Florida, was living with Grant in his home at the time of her disappearance on Labor Day weekend 2011. Grant was believed to be the last person to see her alive.

In 2013, Grant admitted to abducting and murdering 15-year-old Gabrielle Gabiee Swainson. As part of a plea deal, Grant directed authorities to Swainsons body in a patch of woods near where he lived in Elgin. Following the discovery of Swainsons body 357 days after she was abducted, there was a glimmer of hope that Laster might also be found. But the search turned up no leads.

For over a decade, investigators with the Elgin Police Department continued to work the case. A vigil for Laster was held in 2022 and there were flyers all over the town, Emmon said. But there were no breaks in the case until a week ago, on Jan. 12, when her body was finally discovered after a quarry employee dumped a load of sand out from the bucket of an excavator and saw human remains. The land where Laster was buried has been owned by Tri-D Materials since 2018.

A mine owned by Tri D Materials where Adriana Lasters body was found in Elgin, South Carolina on Friday, January 19, 2024.

The body was buried near Grants home and in the same area where authorities found Swainson. There were similarities in both the burial site and the method of the disposal, Lott said.

The identification of the fragmentary skeletal remains was made by DNA at the Richland County Sheriff Departments crime lab.

Since the discovery, teams from the Richland County Coroners Office, assisted by the Kershaw and Richland sheriffs departments, the Elgin Police Department, the South Carolina Institute of Anthropology and Archaeology and the Department of Natural Resources have been painstakingly searching the quarry for more of her remains.

Working through cold weather and storms that swept the Midlands, they have been working to unearth more remains, using everything from excavators and conveyor belts to toiling with hand trowels, Rutherford, the coroner, said.

Lasters remains were damaged and dispersed by the heavy machinery operating in the quarry, Rutherford said. So far, authorities have not been able to determine a cause of death and have no evidence that Grant dismembered her body.

Freddie Grant in a 2013 photo when he pleaded guilty to the murder of Gabrielle Swainson. Elgin, SC, officials plan to charge him in the death of Adrianna Laster.

That requires a complete set of human remains and we just dont have that currently, Rutherford said. But before she asked for a moment of silence for Laster, the coroner pledged that the work to find more remains would go on.

On Thursday, Grant was transferred from a medium security prison to Lieber Correctional Institution, a maximum security prison run by the South Carolina Department of Corrections. Grant was interviewed by law enforcement investigators following the discovery of Lasters remains, but as he had for the last decade, he said that he didnt know anything, Lott said.

Laster is survived by a daughter, Crystal Laster, who lives in Florida. Lasters family was notified by the cases longtime investigator, who happened to be in Florida visiting family of her own when the remains were identified, Emmons said.

Grant had an extensive criminal record dating back at least 25 years. He was arrested and charged with being a felon in possession of a weapon following Swainsons disappearance. He was sentenced to 30 years in state prison for Swainsons murder following his 2013 plea deal.

Asked if he would support the death penalty in this case, Lott said, Id love to see him dead... hes a monster. But in reflecting on Grants previous plea deal, added, maybe thats a good enough punishment for him, to sit in a jail cell for the rest of his life.

Aaron Thrett removes a missing persons poster for Adriana Laster in Elgin, South Carolina on Friday, January 19, 2024.

Gabbiee Swainson

The discovery of Lasters remains brought up some very bad memories, Lott said. Grant was a monster that continues to haunt this community.

Grant was already suspected in Lasters disappearance when he was arrested and charged with kidnapping and murdering Swainson. Grant abducted Swainson, who was watching TV in her pajamas, from mothers home in northeast Columbia near the Village at Sandhill mall on Aug. 12, 2012. Her mother returned home to find no sign of her daughter except for a bloodstain on her bed.

It was something out of a nightmare, Lott said at the time.

The disappearance of the junior varsity cheerleader, who earned good grades, mentored other students and played guitar and sang at her church, soon gained national attention.

Investigators were puzzled when they found no evidence of forced entry at the home, but suspicion soon fell on Grant, who was acquainted with Swainsons mother, Elvia, had performed some work on the Swainsons home and had an extensive criminal record. Swainsons cellphone was tracked to Grants home. Inside, they found a key to the Swainson house on a lanyard, which he had previously told the Swainsons he had lost. Blood was also found on a scrap of duct tape near his house.

Grant was a very bold person and even once ran for city council, Emmons said. While neighbors described him as a church-goer, his criminal history includes aggravated assault, battery, criminal domestic violence, multiple charges for cocaine and weapons violations in Florida and South Carolina. Grant ran a lawn care company and also worked as a trucker, neighbors told The State at the time.

Grant initially denied knowing anything about Swainsons disappearance. But in 2013, law enforcement officers found Swainsons mobile phone near a Myrtle Beach Piggly Wiggly. Cell tower records showed a phone belonging to Grants daughter, Dominique Grant, in the area.

She was arrested and charged with being an accessory after the fact to a felony. Almost a year after Swainson disappeared, Grant cut a deal with authorities. In exchange for charges being dropped against his daughter and a 30-year sentence for him, Grant agreed to plead guilty and led investigators to the burial site.

More than 2,000 people turned out for Swainsons funeral.

We had to make a deal with a monster, and we did, Lott said.
Photo exhibition showcasing China's achievements of reform kicks off in South Africa

Xinhua) 09:23, January 19, 2024

CAPE TOWN, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- A photo exhibition showcasing the changes of urban life as well as the achievements of China's reform and opening-up kicked off on Thursday in Cape Town, the legislative capital of South Africa.

The "Our New Era -- Cities Vitality" photography exhibition, hosted by China Federation of Literary and Art Circles (CFLAC) and organized by Shenzhen Federation of Literary and Art Circles (SFLAC), displays a total of 60 photographic works and runs until Jan. 21.

With distinctive images and through the framing and screening of details of the cityscape by different photographers, these artworks present the achievements of China's reform and opening-up, depict the progress of urban construction, showcase the changes of urban life, as well as express in-depth artistic reflections.

Each piece of artwork has its uniqueness, and with changing artistic patterns, constitutes the wholeness and humanistic atmosphere of the exhibition, giving people a strong visual impact.

The opening ceremony of the event, held at the Cape Town Central Library on Thursday morning, was attended by more than 50 guests, including You Wenze, Chinese Consul General in Cape Town, and Liang Yu, President of SFLAC, as well as a delegation from the Chinese Art Photography Society and representatives from Cape Town municipal government and other institutions, local Chinese community and news media.

In his opening speech, Liang noted that exchanges make civilizations colorful and mutual learning makes them prosper.

According to Liang, Shenzhen established a friendly city relationship with Cape Town in 2015.

"Over the years, the two cities have carried out friendly exchanges and cooperation in economy, trade, science and technology, culture, tourism, and other fields," he added. "Mutual trust between the two sides has been continuously enhanced and the friendship between the peoples has been deepened."

(Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Liang Jun)
A Lake Superior Court judge has extended a temporary restraining order filed by the Thea Bowman Leadership Academy, a Gary charter school which is fighting the revocation of its charter by authorizer Education One, based at Trine University in Angola.

On Friday, Judge Rehana R. Adat-Lopez agreed to push back a hearing for a preliminary injunction to 1 p.m. on Feb. 14. The hearing had been set for Friday. She also extended the terms of the restraining order she granted last month to Feb. 19.

The Education One board voted to revoke the charter Dec. 13 and then set forth a school closure process.

The school, whose leaders said they were unaware the revocation was on the boards agenda, cited irreparable harm if the revocation process continued. The order barred Education One from holding parent and staff meetings that had been set for Dec. 19.

Since last year, Thea Bowman officials have been in talks with Calumet College of St. Joseph to become the schools new authorizer.

School officials said the revocation was retaliation by the Education One board for beginning talks with a new authorizer.

Meanwhile, Calumet College announced it will hold a public hearing at 5 p.m. Thursday at Thea Bowman, 3401 W. 5th Ave.

Carrie Hutton, Calumet Colleges charter school liaison, will conduct the hearing.

Calumet Colleges charter board set a 9:30 a.m. meeting Jan. 29 at the college to vote on its decision.

In a statement on Friday, school attorney Jewell Harris Jr. said the school and Education One negotiated the new agreement to extend the restraining order.

Last month, Education One officials said the revocation came after it placed the school on probationary status at the beginning of the year for a lack of academic improvement and poor organization.

Its director, Lindsay Omlor said the revocation was necessary after Thea Bowmans board began seeking a new charter authorizer, Calumet College.

The State Board of Education will have to approve the change in authorizers, if Calumet College agrees to sponsor the school.

Thea Bowman opened as a K-6 charter school in 2003 just after Indiana lawmakers established charter school legislation. It built a new 7-12 school that opened in 2009. The school holds K-12 classes on the same campus at 3401 W. 5th Ave.

The state Department of Education lists its enrollment at 825 students.

Carole Carlson is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
Boston Police are seeking the publics help in finding a missing 12-year-old girl.

Aliana Roberts of Boston last seen on Tuesday, Jan. 16 in the area of 450 Washington St., police said. She was wearing a white long sleeve shirt and blue pajama pants.

Police are asking anyone with information on Alianas whereabouts to call 911 or 617-343-5619.

People can also call the Boston Police Departments anonymous tip line at 800-494-TIPS or text TIP to CRIME (27463).

BPD Missing Person Alert: 12 Year-Old Aliana Roberts of Boston last seen on 1/16/2024 in the area of 450 Washington Street, Boston wearing a white long sleeve shirt and blue pajama pants.



Call 911 or 617-343-5619 or anonymous line 800-494-TIPS or text TIP to CRIME (27463) pic.twitter.com/DBJjSdP1qw  Boston Police Dept. (@bostonpolice) January 19, 2024

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts.

Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW
(Reuters) - Brazilian Senate leader Rodrigo Pacheco said on Friday the government would revoke a proposal it made to phase out the extension of payroll tax exemptions for various labor sectors, yielding to the will of the lawmakers on the matter.

Speaking at a Lide Group event in Switzerland, Pacheco said that payroll tax exemption for 17 sectors of the economy until 2027 would remain.

"The exemption will stand, and there is a commitment from the federal government to...revoke this provisional measure in the part that concerns the payroll exemption," Pacheco said during a panel session at the event in Zurich.

"That's the political commitment we've made and that's the way things are going to go."

At the end of 2023, the government introduced an executive order featuring a set of measures to restrict tax benefits across various sectors and ensure fiscal compensation, as it aims to eliminate the primary budget deficit this year.

The executive order was intended to replace the text of an approved bill that President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva vetoed, just to have it overturned by Congress in mid-December.

Lawmakers voted to extend payroll tax exemptions for 17 labor sectors until 2027, with an impact of 12 billion reais ($2.44 billion) that had not yet been incorporated into the 2024 budget.

The government package, which met with immediate political opposition, proposed reducing and gradually phasing out these benefits.

($1 = 4.9253 reais)

(Reporting by Eduardo Simoes; Writing by Steven Grattan, Kirsten Donovan)
In London, England, retired police officer Norman Brennan faces a 195 fine for hisefforts to stop a shoplifter. Brennan confronted the shoplifter outside a supermarket. When the shoplifter fled, Brennan pursued him in his car and helped catch him. Police fined him 130 ($164.20 U.S.) for driving the wrong way on a one-way street. That increased to 195 ($246.31 U.S.) after he refused to pay the fine. Meanwhile, the shoplifter faces no charges after the supermarket refused to pursue the matter.

The post Brickbat: Hot Pursuit appeared first on Reason.com.
After several fatal crashes involving Brightline trains traveling through Brevard County, the passenger rail company is taking steps to increase public education and awareness about railway crossings.

The railroad crossing at WH Jackson Street in Melbourne was the site of two seperate fatal accidents. in the same week. This tailgate is from the Chevrolet Avalanche hit when the driver tried to get around the railway gates, and the truck was hit by a southbound Brightline train, resulting in two fatalities.

Brightline representatives, along with the Melbourne Police Department, will hand out informational flyers in downtown Melbourne at 1 p.m. Friday. The aim is to prevent future crashes involving pedestrians, cyclists or drivers. Five deaths in Brevard since Brightline's Orlando-Miami route debuted in September have put the public on high alert. Two fatal crashes in a single week earlier this month have members of the public and Melbourne city officials looking for solutions to prevent future collisions, with the education campaign a first step.

More: 'Something I'll never forget': Melbourne man sees two deadly Brightline-related collisions

More: 'The youngest I've ever seen': Viera High student, 18, announces school board run

The trains can reach speeds of close to 90 mph in comparison to the much slower freight trains that have frequented the railroad running the length of Brevard County for many years. Brightline has not said if they will introduce additional gates, lights or other mechanisms at crossings.

Tyler Vazquez is the North Brevard and Brevard County Government watchdog reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Vazquez at 321-480-0854 or tvazquez@floridatoday.com.

This article originally appeared on Florida Today: After crashes, Brightline to hand out safety info in Melbourne Friday
Britain is considering suing Ireland in the European Court of Human Rights for failing to investigate the Omagh car bombing by the Real IRA, in which 29 people were killed 25 years ago.

The move is retaliation for Irelands rare interstate case against the UK over its Legacy Act, which offers an amnesty to Troubles-era killers, including British veterans, in exchange for information on murders.

Dublin argues that the Legacy Act is incompatible with human rights law because it replaces police investigations with a commission offering immunity. The Irish case was formally lodged at the Strasbourg court on Friday.

Britains lawyers have drawn up plans for a counter case as Londons relations with Dublin, which were strained by Brexit, plunge back into the deep freeze.

A source close to the legal process told The Telegraph: The UK Government is committed to fighting the case and confident of victory.

Potential options under consideration go so far as a counter case in Strasbourg on failure to properly investigate the Omagh bombing, on which the UK Government has launched an investigation but Dublin is refusing to investigate further.

The Real IRA carried out the Omagh bombing on Aug 15 1998, after the Good Friday Agreement had been signed earlier that year. The incident in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, was the single deadliest of the Troubles, also injuring more than 300 people.

In a major report commissioned by the Republics Government, Irish police were exonerated of allegations that they failed to act on intelligence that could have prevented the bombing. The Nally Report in 2003 found no basis for the accusations and said there was no basis for a public inquiry.

Persistently failed to investigate Troubles-era offences

One source said Ireland had persistently failed to investigate Troubles-era offences and had a long history of lobbying for amnesties for terrorists.

Chris Heaton-Harris, the Northern Ireland Secretary, has commissioned a study of the Irish governments record on legacy issues.

The source said: Over the years, piles of evidence has been found of Dublin lobbying for amnesties for terrorists from 1998 at the highest level, including the on-the-runs.

The source claimed there was a persistent failure of the Irish government, despite many promises, to investigate Troubles-related offences, including those involving collusion.

They accused Dublin of ignoring families requests for information about the 1976 Kingsmill Massacre and of attempting to  evade extradition requests for terrorists.

The Irish security services did not appear to have contacted Father Patrick Ryan, a defrocked Irish Catholic priest who admitted supplying weapons to the IRA, the source added.

The source said there was a strong feeling the Irish case against the UK was politically motivated.

Irelands coalition government is trailing Sinn Fein in the polls ahead of a general election expected later this year.

Sinn Fein, the former political wing of the IRA, is vehemently opposed to the Legacy Act, as are all the major political parties in Northern Ireland, including the DUP.

They argue that its conditional amnesty to accused killers during the Troubles will rob victims of justice from the IRA or British forces.

Tory Government rushed through legislation

The UK Government argues that the chances of any convictions 25 years after the end of the Troubles are slim and has called on Dublin to cooperate with the new commission.

John Finucane, Sinn Feins MP for North Belfast, said: The British Tory Government rushed through this legislation despite the clear opposition and concerns raised by victims and families, all political parties, the Irish government, the US, UN, the Council of Europe and human rights experts.

The Act is a flagrant breach of international human rights law and is a blatant attempt to shut the door on families efforts to achieve truth and justice through the courts.

It is the second time Ireland has taken the UK to the European court. The Strasbourg-based court found that 14 men were subjected to inhuman and degrading treatment by the UK during their interrogation after Dublin brought a case to it in 1971.

The Irish ministry of foreign affairs has been asked for comment.

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.
One reason why supporting Ukraine for as long as it takes, and not for as long as we can is so important is that Ukraines security is irretrievably ingrained into our own. By single-handedly tying down the worlds largest nuclear arsenal power  a force over double in size and many times over in numbers of artillery and armour  the Ukrainian Armed Forces are the only thing holding back Putins nostalgic fantasies for an imagined return to a perceived Greater Russia spreading westward like a plague firmly into Nato territory.

There was an argument to be made last year that Russia, its military bruised and its political leadership damaged by Putins hubris almost two years ago, is unable to even break out of eastern Ukraine  much less neighbouring Poland or the Baltics. As I wrote in these pages nearly two years ago, Russia is no longer even the eminent military power in eastern Europe.

Two years on, and regrettably a somewhat different picture is beginning to emerge. The hope of an all-successful Ukrainian counter-offensive smashing the Russian lines apart has slowly dwindled. Ukraine is running perilously low on ammunition and especially artillery, as financial deadlock in Washington and Brussels compound with EU promises falling drastically short leave Kyiv exposed.

Just as Ukraine is running frighteningly low on stocks as its two largest financial donors are frozen in paralysis, Russia has begun rearming and reindustrialising at an alarming rate, promising to devote between 30-40 per cent of its economic output this year on its military machine.

Buoyed by support from the worlds increasingly influential global south leaders China, and even British Commonwealth allies South Africa and India, the Kremlin is utilising its defence partnerships with Iran and North Korea to sustain enormous drone and ballistic missile bombardments over Ukrainian towns and cities this winter, inflicting further suffering and illegal civilian casualties.

Given the decreasing likelihood now for a short-term strategic Ukrainian victory, and with Russias rearming at scale, there are numerous calls warning that Nato should begin preparing for war with Russia within the next ten to twenty years. The chairman of Natos Military Committee, Admiral Bauer, is the latest in a chorus of senior military personnel to caution that the alliance must start preparing for conflict with Russia.

This comes on the back of recent intelligence assessments that suggest a likelihood of Russia attacking either tiny Moldova or Georgia next once it has achieved a victory of-sorts in Ukraine, and after it has rearmed accordingly. This would be followed by a move against the vulnerable Baltic states Russia still views through its ethno-nationalistic and Soviet Union-era prism as Russian territory, undeserving of post-Cold War independence, much like Ukraine.

The first important premise to understand about these warnings, and Admiral Bauers in particular, is that the threat to Nato is no longer a shared threat independent of geography. As the centre of gravity within Washington decision-making shifts decisively eastward to counter China in a longer-term struggle in the Indo-Pacific, the mood music coming out of Washington is that Europe should be able to look after its own security affairs, with minimal assistance from the US. Given the scale difference between Russia and China, and that the collective economies of European Nato are well in excess of four times that of Russias, this is not an unreasonable position to take.

Europe must, therefore, firmly understand this bi-partisan view of the changing security architecture as the US seeks to pursue its own legitimate national interests.

The second important premise is that we are currently falling far short of any credible conventional deterrence to avoid conflict with Russia. Whilst eastern Europe is rearming, reinvesting, and recruiting at scale (see Poland in particular) because they understand the nature of the threat and the old Cold War maxim that mass has its own quality, here in Britain we are continuing this bizarre and chaotic hollowing out of our once revered military.

Latest figures show that recruiting is down, morale at an all-time low, important procurements delayed, the Royal Navys inability to deploy the only Royal Fleet Auxiliary fleet stores and support vessels, effectively grounding our two multi-billion pound aircraft carriers at a time when they are sorely needed. In short: a shameful state of affairs that successive Conservative procurement and defence ministers have shambolically presided over and dithered over, yet are rewarded with knighthoods for a few weeks spent in office, as our military continues to effectively become non-deployable in many critical areas.

Natos Military Committee is quite right. We must relearn how to recruit, deploy, mobilise and sustain, whilst our industrial bases and societies must better align with our defence engagement and national interests. Continuing blindly down this wider path of Treasury-appeasing underinvestment, at a time of increasing American disengagement, is strategically incoherent to our national security  and that of Europes.

Robert Clark is a Fellow at the Yorktown Institute, Washington DC. Prior to that he served in the British military.

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.
Artists from the Yunnan cultural exchange delegation perform during a Chinese Spring Festival Gala in Dhaka, capital of Bangladesh, on Jan. 17, 2024. (Xinhua)

A Chinese Spring Festival Gala to a sold-out audience was held at the National Theater of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy (BSA) in the capital of Dhaka on Wednesday.



The program was organized by the Embassy of China in Bangladesh together with the Information Office and the Foreign Affairs Office of Yunnan Province of China. More than 800 people from all walks of life in Bangladesh, foreign missions in Dhaka and the Chinese community enjoyed the performance.

Artists from the Yunnan cultural exchange delegation presented fantastic performances of dance, instrumental music, acrobatics and magics of Chinese genre, which conveyed to the audience the excitement and happiness of people celebrating the Spring Festival. Artists from BSA and students from Sylhet Sofir Uddin High School and College also performed dances.

The scene rang out warm applause from time to time with the wonderful performance.

"This is an amazing show," a student who are learning Chinese in University of Dhaka told Xinhua that it's happy to have this kind of opportunity to enjoy a Chinese cultural show.

It's hoped that there will be more and more shows like this, and it's a very great form to learn Chinese culture, the student added.

When delivering a speech, Yao Wen, Chinese ambassador to Bangladesh, cited the old Chinese saying that "A year's plan begins with spring," to illustrate the hope for a new and better life heralded by the Spring Festival, the most festive and widely celebrated season in Chinese culture.

He also welcomed Bangladeshi artists to visit China and bring the unique culture and art of Bangladesh to the friendly Chinese people, ushering in new chapters for people-to-people exchanges between the two countries.

Dipu Moni, Bangladeshi minister of social welfare, said cultural exchange is a key part of Bangladesh-China traditional friendship. The Chinese artists are warmly welcomed to perform with their Bangladeshi partners and students.
CONCORD, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS)  Cabarrus County residents can weigh in on how more than $20 million in opioid settlement funds should be used for the community.

The state funds are allocated based on where the opioid crisis was most severe. Factors include number of pills dispensed, number of opioid overdose deaths and number of residents suffering from opioid use disorder. The funds are required to be used to support treatment, recovery, harm reduction and other life-saving programs and services.

Nothing unusual: Concord highway collapses following flash flooding, repair timeline unknown

A brief, anonymous survey asks about items such as greatest unmet needs, barriers to care and funding priorities. Its managed by Health Management Associates, and can be found here.

The survey takes less than 10 minutes, and Cabarrus officials will use the data and input from a variety of local organizations to develop a strategic plan on how best to use funds resulting from a series of national settlement agreements.

Public input is a crucial part of shaping the future of fund use, and in turn the future of Cabarrus County, said Assistant County Manager Aalece Pugh. Were asking anyone who has been impacted by the opioid crisis to participate and help us allocate resources in ways that will truly benefit the community.

Cabarrus County will receive about $21 million of the $1.5 billion scheduled to go to North Carolina.

Opioids include prescription pain relievers such as hydrocodone, oxycodone, oxymorphone and morphine. The synthetic drug fentanyl is also an opioid, along with heroin.

The state recently implemented a new law prosecuting death by distribution of these substances.

Cabarrus is expected to receive its allocation over the next 18 years. In the first year of distribution, Cabarrus received nearly $1.4 million. For the current fiscal year, the amount was $3.1 million. For next fiscal year (beginning July 1), the amount is $1.6 million.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News.
The chief executive of the agency heading Californias ambitious Bay Area to L.A. bullet-train project is stepping down from the position as it shifts from policy to operations.

Brian Kelly, who has served as CEO of the California High-Speed Rail Authority since 2018, submitted a formal letter of resignation Thursday.

Kelly inherited a mired down and politically unpopular project when he took the reins of CAHSR.

Under his leadership, the embattled high-speed rail project has seen more than its fair share of successes.

Brian Kelly, California High-Speed Rail Authority CEO, photographed Sept. 29, 2021 in Fresno, California. Kelly announced he was stepping down from his position on Jan. 18, 2024. (Getty Images)

The project just received its biggest federal boost yet in the form of a $3.1 billion grant from the Biden Administration, which will be instrumental in launching the services initial operating segment.

Whats the difference between Californias 2 high-speed rail projects?

That 171-mile stretch connecting Merced to Bakersfield is expected to begin operation around 2030 and construction has been moving along steadily with a number of massive infrastructure projects, including bridges, viaducts and grade separations, completed just in the last 12 months.

As of October 2023, the California High-Speed Rail has completed 43 structures, started work on 32 more and completed 56 miles of guideway. Work is beginning to expand from the current 119 miles of active construction to the full 171 miles of double-track electrified rail that will comprise the initial operating segment.

The vast majority of the project has received full environmental clearance, with only a handful of remaining sections outstanding. The full Bay Area to Los Angeles segment that comprises Phase 1 could have environment clearance by early this year.

New financial data released Thursday showed that the construction project has produced $18 billion in economic output, $7 billion in labor income and construction jobs in the Central Valley grew from 2,500 in 2018 to to 12,200 in 2023.

But the biggest turning of the tide for Kelly may be public opinion. Recent polling by UC Berkeley found that the majority of Californians still support funding the high-speed rail project, even on its current timeline.

The project also has the support of California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who was less enthused about the ballooning cost of the project when he assumed office in 2019. He has since come around and is one of the projects most ardent and vocal boosters.

Could the California High-Speed Rail be completed in the next 5 years?

In his resignation letter addressed to CAHSR Chair Tom Richards, Kelly said the Authority was in a strong position to advance to the next stage of operations.

My goal when I took this position in 2018 was to help stabilize the organization and improve performance such that policymakers would once again consider investing in the project. While there is more work to do, this goal has largely been achieved, his letter reads in part.

Dusk side view of a high-speed train

Kelly previously spent decades working in transportation and infrastructure policy. He says his resignation opens the door for someone to take the helm whose expertise lies in passenger rail operations.

At the time of his appointment six years ago, Kelly indicated he only intended on holding the position for a few years. The job is tasking and Kelly described it as the most challenging of his 30-year public service career. He also called it the most satisfying.

Kelly gave no exact timeline for when he planned to exit the Authority, instead saying he was committed to helping the board with a smooth transition to new leadership.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA.
A big change is coming to the agency tasked with developing a bullet-train system to link northern and southern California through the San Joaquin Valley with the coming resignation of its top executive.

Brian Kelly, who has led the California High-Speed Rail Authority as its CEO since early 2018, announced Thursday that he will step down from the post.

Kelly submitted his formal letter of resignation to the authoritys board chairperson, Fresno developer Tom Richards. Kelly told The Fresno Bee that he plans to stay in the role, perhaps for several months or more, as the agency begins its search for a new chief executive.

Kelly inherited a massive project that had been bogged down by slow acquisition of property for the route through the central San Joaquin Valley and beset by schedule delays and cost increases. One of the first efforts that Kelly directed was to emphasize learning from previous miscues and to sharpen the agencys focus on completing the construction segments in the Valley with the money it had in hand. Kelly also advocated putting the Valley backbone of the statewide system into service as rapidly as possible while lining up funds for expansion of the routes north and east to the San Francisco Bay Area.

I took this job with the intent to stabilize the organization, to have it perform better, and to try to get reinvestment of public funds in the project, and I feel good about it. I feel like Ive achieved much of that, Kelly told The Bee on Thursday. This project is on an uptick and its time for it to transition to the next generation of leader for its next phase.

One key milestone came in mid-2022, as the rail authority worked with Gov. Gavin Newsoms administration on securing approval from the state Legislature to access the last $4.2 billion from Proposition 1A, a bond measure approved by California voters in 2008 that provided almost $10 billion for planning, development and construction of high-speed rail.

Another was last December, when the U.S. Department of Transportation and the Federal Railroad Administration awarded a $3.1 billion grant to the state to advance engineering and construction to extend the current 119 miles under construction to 171 miles between Merced and Bakersfield.

I just believe this in my core, that the project is about to make a key transition into getting ready and getting into operations, Kelly told The Bee. With this new award of federal funds, and before that the awarding of the state bond money, the project is well on its way to transition into operations.  Its the right time now to bring in somebody specifically with passenger rail operations experience at a high level, at a chief executive level.

Kelly said that after the transition from one leadership to the next, its really about preparing to spend more time with my family and my wife at the end of a longer public service career.

Before he joined the rail agency in January 2018, Kelly served five years as secretary of Californias State Transportation Agency. From 1995 to 2013, Kelly served as either a transportation consultant or executive staff director for four separate state Senate pro tempore leaders.

Authority board member Henry R. Perea, a former Fresno County supervisor and longtime supporter of high-speed rail, described Kelly as the right guy at the right time to guide the listless agency.

What Brian did was bring a lot of focus and credibility to the project, and hired the right team to get us moving in a new direction, Perea told The Bee on Thursday.

Perea added that the recent federal grant award would not have happened without Brian and his credibility.

Brian Kelly has served as the CEO of the California High-Speed Rail Authority since February 2018. He submitted a letter of resignation from the post to the authoritys board of directors on Jan. 18, 2024, but will stay on during a transition as the agency searches for a replacement.

A completely different organization today

Richards, the authority board chairperson, praised the strides that the agency made during Kellys tenure.

Theres no question hes taken it to the next level from where we were before, Richards told The Bee in a telephone interview. But he didnt think it would take this long, and probably we (as a board) didnt, either.

Kelly brought a skill set that we didnt have before, and a very, very strong government background; he understood and understands the way that state government works, Richards added. He brought a management style  and really restructured the entire organization in a very methodical way to emphasize function over form. Singly, that was probably the most important thing he did.

But, Richards said, the bottom line is that the skill sets in running an organization thats moving rapidly toard operations is not something he necessarily felt was in his toolbox at the outset.

Its unclear how long the search for a successor may take, but Richards and Kelly both stressed that Kelly has pledged to remain on board throughout the search and selection as well as a transition period.

Richards said he believes the authority is in a better position now to attract qualified candidates than when the previous permanent CEO, Jeff Morales, left the authority in mid-2017.

I think the project and the organization is viewed much differently now than it was six years ago at the outset when Brian came on, Richards said. The expectation for success, I believe, has materially improved from six years ago.

I think it will lead perhaps to a shorter transition than one might expect, he added. The last time it was a very difficult sell. This is a completely different organization today.

Former Gov. Jerry Brown, under whose administration Kelly took over the project, said in a prepared statement that Brian has kept this train on the tracks with great skill and determination; very important work for California and the whole country.

Newsoms administration also applauded Kellys tenure in state government. Brian Kellys strong leadership and decades of service to the people of California have been instrumental in advancing our states vision for clean, electrified transportation that will serve generations of Californians, said Erin Mellon, Newsoms communications director.

The state has made key progress to deliver on the nations first high-sped rail system including the creation of more than 12,000 construction jobs, Mellon added, and we look forward to continuing the momentum to get this transformative project into service across the state.

Perea said he was not surprised by Kellys announcement, but added that his continued service will be critical in the coming months. Between anticipated bids for contracts for trains, tracks and systems, we need him for a smooth transition, Perea said. Were going to keep him working.

A period of lessons learned

In his resignation letter to Richards, Kelly wrote that this job has been both the most challenging and most satisfying of my nearly 30-year public service career.

Prior to his tenure, the rail project had received more than $2.5 billion in federal economic stimulus funds from the Obama administration, as well as other grant funds from the Federal Railroad Administration for rail improvements, awarded with the caveat that the money be spent on construction in the central San Joaquin Valley. But that money came with an initial deadline to be spent by the fall of 2017.

That forced the agency into an artificially compressed time frame to award three contracts for construction in the Fresno region and neighboring Valley counties even before it had acquired the properties it needed for the route. Contractors were tasked with not only designing and building the rail line, but also for securing some environmental permits and handling relocation of gas, electric and communications utilities along the route. The less-than-ideal result is what authority leaders in 2018 called a shotgun marriage of project development and delivery.

About 98% of the property needed for the 119-mile construction segments from north of Madera to northwest of Bakersfield have now been made available to contractors to build, but relocation of various utilities including electricity, gas, communications and water at hundreds of sites up and down the route still remain to be accomplished.

The travails prompted by the rush to construction, Kelly said, provided valuable lessons learned. He has pledged that the rail authority wont enter any future construction contracts until the agency has a firm grasp on the money needed for the work  and has all of the property it needs for construction under a particular contract.

The December award of the federal grant, however, has paved the way for the agency to take steps needed to design extensions of the rail line into downtown Merced and downtown Bakersfield and to begin the process of buying electric-powered, 220-mph trainsets for testing in 2028 and passenger operations sometime between 2030 and 2033.

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Carmen Balber, the executive director of the advocacy organization Consumer Watchdog, said she came to Sacramento recently to pitch legislators and their staff on a plan she hopes will help some Californians keep their property insurance.

She wants lawmakers to require that companies sell policies to homeowners who take specific action to protect their homes from wildfires.

We are talking to everyone that we can about that idea, said Balber, who also made an appeal to members of the Assembly Insurance Committee during a meeting last month.

Will the mandate gain enough support to move forward? Thats an unknown question in the early days of the new legislative calendar. It faces strong opposition from the states insurers.

Balbers push comes after a tough 2023 when major companies, including State Farm and Farmers Insurance, decided to limit and pause new business in California. And after more than 241,000 policies were canceled or not renewed by insurance companies in 2021, the most recent data available, according to the Department of Insurance.

Severe wildfires over the past decade and rising risk from climate change have contributed to turmoil for property insurers. Industry groups say outdated regulations and the lengthy process of obtaining rate increases approved in the state have also played a part in the pull back. As a result, homeowners have been left with fewer options and higher prices.

In September, Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara announced regulatory actions with the goal of spurring companies to write more policies in the state and make prices more affordable for homeowners. The details are still in the works and arent expected to be finalized until at least the end of the year.

Even so, Balber said Laras proposed actions dont go far enough. She wants a guarantee for homeowners who make their properties more fire resistant  and consequences for companies that dont agree to it.

We think its the one thing, Balber said, that will get insurers back in the market.

Industry groups disagree.

Denni Ritter, who handles state government relations for the American Property Casualty Insurance Association, a national trade group for insurers, called the proposals intent commendable; mitigation efforts should be encouraged. Nevertheless, Ritter warned of the consequences of forcing companies to issue policies.

It is really important for insurers to be able to control when and where they write, Ritter said.

Janet Ruiz, a spokeswoman for the Insurance Information Institute, said coverage mandates like the one favored by Balber threaten insurance availability for Californians and would eliminate an insurers ability to manage risk. Dozens of insurance companies are members of the New York-based institute, according to its website.

That opposition is likely what helped stall a similar proposal introduced last year by Sen. Mike McGuire D-Healdsburg. Senate Bill 672 would require companies to offer and sell property insurance to customers whose properties meet the fire hardening and mitigation standards introduced by Laras office and approved in 2022. Homeowners who clean up flammable debris and vegetation from around their properties and have certain types of roofs, vents and windows on their homes, are supposed to be eligible for discounts.

The fate of the bill, or a similar one, could change this year. McGuire is set to become the top leader in the Senate on Feb. 5.

In an interview, McGuire said the bill must be part of the conversation and should be considered Homeowners who do the right thing need to be able to get insurance.

Sen. Susan Rubio, D-Baldwin Park, chairs the Senate Insurance Committee. In an emailed statement Rubio said she agreed with McGuire that we also need to acknowledge responsible homeowners who have made substantial investments to harden and upgrade their properties to make them more resilient to wildfire.

Assemblywoman Lisa Calderon, D-Whittier, the chair of the Assembly Insurance Committee, said in a recent interview she did not have a comment at the time on Balbers proposal.

The idea has support from outside of the Capitol.

Aurora Mullett, a managing partner of Sky Insurance Brokers in Rocklin, said it is great that homeowners can pay lower prices for protecting their properties.

But if the people who have all the home hardening cant find coverage, Mullett said, it doesnt help.

The Consumer Federation of California and United Policyholders, a nationwide organization that advocates on behalf of insurance customers, also support the concept pitched by Balber and McGuire.

It is not clear how many people would be able to keep their insurance if any such measure becomes law.

The more than 241,000 policies canceled or not renewed in 2021 was the highest since at least 2015. In an email, an unidentified department spokesperson said the agency did not know when it would release more recent data.

That said, the effect of the mandate could be limited because it would apply only to people with enough financial resources to make costly improvements. Balber acknowledged this challenge and said she wants lawmakers to provide funding to help people make the changes. That may also be difficult; the state faces a projected $37.9 billion shortfall for the upcoming fiscal year.

Balber wouldnt disclose who she met with in Sacramento. But she said the conversations did not immediately result in any concrete plans for future legislation.

Is it an easy fight? Balber said. Absolutely not.

The outcome of her push will be determined by how many lawmakers are willing to take up that fight.
The burgeoning field to be Californias next governor grew even more crowded Friday as Toni Atkins, the San Diego Democrat who has held the states top legislative posts, launched a bid to succeed Gov Gavin. Newsom in 2026.

Atkins  who has made history several times over as the first out lesbian to be Assembly Speaker, as well as the first woman and LGBTQ+ person to lead the Senate  is betting that her long resume in elected office coupled with her boundary-breaking profile is the winning formula to distinguish her from the pack.

Its a combination of story and experience, Atkins told POLITICO in an interview. I truly believe my record shows Im the most qualified candidate based on the experience and the things that Ive done.

Atkins, now serving as Senate leader, has been at the top of the legislative food chain for much of her tenure in Sacramento. The leadership roles have given her tremendous sway in negotiating budget deals and pushing policy priorities such as affordable housing and abortion rights.

But being a Capitol power broker rarely translates to widespread notoriety, leaving Atkins with a steep climb building name recognition among the states voters.

I know the work is going to be daunting. I know it's going to be hard, Atkins said. I'm going to spend every waking minute figuring out how to introduce myself to people across California.

She added: I don't come from wealth, I don't have that to fall back on. So I am going to have to raise money, and fortunately, I've had experience doing that as the Speaker and the Pro Tem to protect my caucuses.

The allusion to her hardscrabble Appalachian upbringing offered a barely veiled contrast with Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, who declared her candidacy for governor last spring in an early push to get out ahead of potential contenders. Kounalakis, a former ambassador and major Democratic donor, has drawn on family wealth to power her past campaigns.

Both Kounalakis and Atkins are striving to make history as the states first female governor, as is former state controller Betty Yee. The field is stacked with a number of potential firsts  Atkins could be the states first LBGTQ leader, Attorney General Rob Bonta, who is Filipino American, could be the first Asian American governor and Tony Thurmond, the state schools chief, could be the first Black person and Latino to win the top job.

Atkins, 61, is still serving as Pro Tem before handing over the reins to state Sen. Mike McGuire on Feb. 5. Her gubernatorial kick-off, which was rumored in Capitol circles for months, took place Friday morning at the Air and Space Museum in San Diego, which has been her California home base since she moved to the state in 1985 to help care for her sisters newborn.

Among those present at the launch event were California Secretary of State Shirley Weber, a longtime ally, and her political mentor Christine Kehoe, the former San Diego legislator.

If someone had told me when I first came to California that I would be here today, I probably would have laughed out loud at how crazy that sounded, Atkins said in prepared remarks. I had always been too different. Too poor. Too country. Too gay.  Do I think my story provides some kind of golden ticket to the governors office? Of course not. But my experience defines me.

Atkins served as a director of a womens health clinic before entering local government, first as a City Council staffer before getting elected to the Council in 2000. In 2010, she was elected to the Assembly, where she won the speakership in 2014. One year later, she made the unorthodox choice to challenge a sitting Democrat for a state Senate seat (the incumbent, Marty Block, later dropped out) and ascended to the upper chamber in 2017. The next year, she was sworn in as Senate leader, making her the first person in 150 years  and third ever in state history  to hold the top job in both houses.

With her Southern drawl and low-key demeanor, Atkins is a well-liked figure among political insiders. Her leadership tenures have seen relatively few controversies, though she has been scrutinized over how her spouse Jennifer LeSars affordable housing consulting business flourished while Atkins Capitol clout grew.

Atkins acknowledged she has not been the flashiest figure in recent California politics, particularly as she worked with two high-profile governors  Newsom and Jerry Brown.

Most people don't see me taking the spotlight because I've had to represent my caucuses, whether it's the Senate or the Assembly, Atkins said. But I assure you, I have a vision for what I want to do and how I want to do it.
A 48-year-old La Puente man was arrested earlier this week when a uniformed police officer coincidentally walked into a convenience store while the man, armed with a handgun, was robbing the clerk, authorities announced Thursday.

The incident, which was captured on the stores security cameras, unfolded on Jan. 17, according to West Covina Police Department.

Video shows the suspect, later identified as Ramon Gonzalez, approaching the counter of a local 7-Eleven convenience store where he asks the clerk to grab him a pack of cigarettes.

As the employee begins placing the cigarettes into the plastic bag, the suspect lifts his sweatshirt, brandishes a firearm and demands the employee open the register, police said. Fearfully, the employee complies and begins placing money into the plastic bag.

West Covina Police Sgt. Hernandez is seen on the video strolling into the 7-Eleven just as the 48-year-old suspect was gathering the plastic bag with the cash registers contents, getting ready to leave.

The suspect begins to walk toward the exit and as he does, the employee alerts Sergeant Hernandez of the robbery, authorities said.

A robbery suspect captured on surveillance cameras at a 7-Eleven brandishing his firearm on Jan. 17, 2024. (West Covina PD)

A robbery suspect seen forcing a 7-Eleven clerk to hand over cash on Jan. 17, 2024. (West Covina PD)

West Covina PD Sgt. Hernandez seen strolling into a 7-Eleven store as an robbery was underway on Jan. 17, 2024. (WCPD)

West Covina PD Sgt. Hernandez chases seen chasing a robbery suspect on Jan. 17, 2024. (West Covina PD)

Reacting quickly, Sgt. Hernandez turns, draws his service weapon and chases the suspect as he tries to run out of the store and escape.

Once he was apprehended, a search of Gonzalez revealed a loaded firearm and an estimated $400 stolen from the 7-Eleven store.

Authorities said the 48-year-old was taken into custody and faces charges of robbery, felon in possession of a firearm and carrying a concealed weapon.

This is the second time in less than a week that a uniformed law enforcement officer unknowingly walked into a 7-Eleven store in L.A. County while an armed robbery was in progress.

American Airlines flight attendant arrested for recording minors in airplane restrooms

On Jan. 13, security cameras at a 7-Eleven in Carson captured L.A. County Sheriffs Deputy Luis Cisneros entering the store to buy a drink just as four armed suspects were attempting to rob two clerks at gunpoint.

There has also been a rash of robberies at 7-Eleven stores across Los Angeles and Long Beach, though authorities have not said whether those incidents are related.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA.
A bronze human head unearthed from the Sanxingdui site in Sichuan province is on display at Shandong Museum, Shandong province, July 12, 2023. [Photo/Xinhua]

Shanghai Museum is revving up for an eventful year, with the forthcoming opening of its new eastern campus in Pudong New Area, and 18 high-profile special exhibitions it will stage at home and abroad.



Its massive collection of over a million items related to ancient Chinese art is considered the most comprehensive in the world.

Spanning about 46,000 square meters and featuring a display area of 33,600 square meters, the new Shanghai Museum East will have 20 galleries, interactive spaces as well as shopping and dining options.

" (It) will put on the most comprehensive display of ancient Chinese art. We will also highlight the characteristics of Jiangnan and Shanghai cultures with exhibitions," says Chu Xiaobo, director of Shanghai Museum.

"We expect the new venue will become a critical cultural window for the world to learn more about China."

Bronze shines bright

A section of the new campus showcasing ancient Chinese bronze works will open on Feb 2.

The gallery will feature over 500 pieces of bronze ware that illustrate the development and evolution of the medium over 3,600 years, from the late Xia Dynasty (c. 21st century-16th century BC) to the middle of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).

The new wing will host a special exhibition about the 3,000-year-old Sanxingdui culture that runs until May 20. It will be the largest and most high-profile showcase of Sanxingdui artifacts outside of Sichuan province, where the ancient culture's archaeological site is located. Some of the 363 artifacts on show were restored by Shanghai Museum and will be on show for the first time.

Shanghai Museum East will also host a digital art exhibition themed on Sanxingdui to offer immersive and interactive experiences to learn about the archaeological excavation cabins used at the Sanxingdui site.

Chu points out that the construction of Shanghai Museum East, which started in September 2017, will be sped up so that it will be fully completed by 2024. The new wing is expected to open to the public in three phases, with the first being the ancient Chinese bronze gallery.

The second will be open before the end of June. The launch of the final phase, which involves the opening of the painting and calligraphy galleries, is expected to take place by the end of November.

North comes next

In addition to its People's Square and East venues, Shanghai Museum will also build a new North campus in the coming years.

"After completion, the East venue will mainly focus on showcasing the history of ancient Chinese art. The People's Square venue will take advantage of our collection of international cultural relics, and enhance ties with global art and cultural heritage institutions to introduce more exhibits about overseas civilizations. It will be a platform to showcase diverse global cultures and promote international cultural exchanges," says Chu.

He adds that the northern venue in Yangpu district, which is expected to be completed during the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30), will have a special focus on ancient ships and archaeology.

"We hope and believe that tourists from all over the world will learn more about traditional Chinese culture when they come to Shanghai and visit our eastern venue," says Chu.

Fang Shizhong, director of the Shanghai Administration of Culture and Tourism, points out that the expansion of Shanghai Museum offers citizens better cultural services. The move is also in line with efforts to improve the city's cultural influence globally.

"Shanghai has taken the lead in the country to create a modern public cultural services system. We have seen a growing demand for high-quality, diverse and personalized services," Fang is quoted as saying by Shanghai Observer.

Exhibition extravaganza

Shanghai Museum will hold 14 special exhibitions at its People's Square and eastern venues, and another four in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, and Hungary, Italy and Japan this year.

An exhibition at the People's Square venue from July 19 will showcase ancient Egyptian artifacts. Co-organized by Shanghai Museum and Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, the exhibition will be the largest-ever display of Egyptian artifacts outside the North African country.

It'll showcase 800 objects that document the development of ancient Egyptian civilization and showcase the latest archaeological findings from Egypt's Saqqara archaeological site.

"Over 95 percent of the artifacts will be arriving in Asia for the first time, and almost all of them are being shown in China for the first time," says Chu.

The highest-profile exhibits include the statues of Amenhotep IV and Tutankhamen from Egypt's 18th Dynasty (c. 16th-13th century BC), a mummy portrait from the Ptolemaic period (305-30 BC) and a wooden coffin recently unearthed in Saqqara.
A Canadian photographer is going viral for freezing objects in the blistering cold temperatures that are hitting the U.S.

When its cold, most people go out and throw boiling water up or build a snowman but Photographer Joe Chowaniec of Alberta Canada wanted to do something different.

Chowaniec decided to freeze popular food and household items.

First up, a plate of ramen noodles. Chowaniec cooked the noodles and after 60 seconds of them being outside, they froze.

The next experiment involved placing an egg on a couple of straws and cracking it open. The egg froze in place.

Finally, Chowaniec took some toilet paper and mixed it with water. The toilet paper froze in place.

In the interview with CNN, Chowaniec said that he got a kick out of seeing what other people were doing during Albertas cold snap.

People should make the best of the conditions theyre in, Chowaniec said.

Chowaniec videos racked up thousands of views on Instagram, TikTok, and X.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston announced Friday that it has been dealing with an ongoing capacity disaster and that its in desperate need of more beds to help combat the unprecedented crisis.

The hospital has been operating every day for the past 16 months in Code Help or Capacity Disaster status, despite the worst days of the COVID-19 pandemic being a thing of the past, a spokesperson for the medical center said.

According to the hospital, Code Help occurs when inpatient beds and monitored hallway stretchers are full, and Capacity Disaster is triggered when the emergency department is full, all hallway stretchers are being used, and there are more than 45 inpatients boarding in the emergency department awaiting a hospital bed.

The spokesperson noted that a patient boarding in the emergency department is a patient who is sick enough to be admitted to the hospital but must remain in the emergency department because there are no available hospital beds.

Between October 2022 and September 2023, patients boarded in the MGH emergency department for a total of 381,228 hours, a 32% increase from the previous 12-month period, according to the hospital.

A total of 103 patients were boarded in the emergency department last Thursday, marking one of the most crowded days MGH has experienced in its two centuries of caring for Boston and its surrounding communities, the hospital spokesperson said.

MGH President David F.M. Brown called the worsening situation a full-blown crisis for patients in need of care, as well as staffers who are facing increasingly stressful situations.

While hospital overcrowding has significantly affected patient care for many years, COVID-19 and the post-pandemic demand for care has escalated this challenge into a full-blown crisis  for patients seeking necessary emergency care, as well as for staff who are required to work under these increasingly stressful conditions, Brown said in a statement. This crisis is most acutely felt in our ED, where patients wait hours for an inpatient bed. Put simply, every day between 50 and 80 patients spend the first night of their hospitalization in the ED, which is not an appropriate or therapeutic environment for anyone and contributes significantly to clinician burnout and frustration.

In response to this crisis, MGH said that the Massachusetts Department of Public Health issued an official memo on Jan. 9 urging expedited discharge planning as soon as it is safe for patients to be released from hospital care.

Massachusetts DPH told Boston 25 the memo from the Executive Office of Health and Human Services was to mitigate pressure on the hospitals staff.

Due to rising cases of respiratory illness, EOHHS implemented these measures to ensure people are getting the care they need while reducing strain on the healthcare workforce. We encourage everyone to get vaccinated against respiratory viruses like RSV, COVID and flu in order to reduce the severity of illness.

MGH is now working to increase the number of licensed inpatient beds in its emergency department, facilitate earlier discharges, and provide home hospital service when appropriate, among other efforts.

We will always provide care to every person who crosses our threshold  a responsibility we take extremely seriously, Brown said. We have improved inpatient throughput and efficiency and developed innovative care models across our health system and yet we still face overwhelming and increasing ED crowding with no end in sight. That is why adding more beds to MGH will greatly help alleviate this capacity crisis, enhance access for patients and substantially improve the overall working conditions for our clinicians and staff.

MGH has launched a new website for patients to learn more about how the hospital is handling this capacity crisis, with new information posted regularly.

MGH, founded in 1811, is the original and largest teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts.

Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW
For the second morning in a row, a car crashed into a Georgia Power pole on Mt. Vernon Highway in Sandy Springs.

Police said Mt. Vernon Highway is closed between Vernon Walk and Virginia Chase Northwest as Georgia Power crews work in the area.

The condition of the driver who crashed is unclear.

This crash comes the day after a man who led officers on a chase in a stolen truck through several counties before crashing along Mount Vernon Highway near Northside Drive.

[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]

The truck collided with a power pole, before coming to a rest in front of a vacant house.

The man from that crash is still on the run, according to police.

A Channel 2 Action News photographer is headed to the scene working to learn more.

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Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chair Ben Cardin (D-Md.), suggested Friday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus rejection of a two-state solution with Palestinians wouldnt last after its war with Hamas ends.

Israel right now is focused on the war in Hamas, but when that war ends, when Hamas is no longer a threat to Israel or the Palestinians, then Israel is going to be focused on normalization in the region, Cardin told MNSBC host Andrea Mitchell.

But first, he said, Hamas must be eliminated as a threat. Second, Cardin said there must be a clear path for a Palestinian state living side-by-side with Israel in peace recognizing each others rights without fear of any security concerns.

Once the Hamas threat is eliminated, the attitude, and I think the language, is going to change pretty dramatically, the senator said. There is no other option for peace in the region than two states living side-by-side in peace.

The senators comments come after Netanyahu brushed off calls from the United States and allies to scale back its military offensive in Gaza and take steps to establish a Palestinian state.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said earlier this week that opening a pathway for Palestine to become an autonomous state would be necessary for Israel to obtain genuine security.

The problem is getting from here to there, and of course, it requires very difficult, challenging decisions, Blinken said Wednesday during a speech at the World Economic Forum, in Davos, Switzerland. It requires a mindset that is open to that perspective.

The Maryland Democrat was briefed by Blinken, who recently returned from a seven-day trip to nine countries in the Middle East, on negotiations around scaling back the war and preparing for post-war reconstruction in Gaza  and peace between Palestinians and Israelis.

Cardin said Blinken heard similar sentiments from the countries in the region that he visited, arguing they too want to see normalization.

They do want to see the end of the terrorist threats in the region and they do want to see a Palestinian state, the senator said.

He suggested internal politics within the Israeli government is going to be what it is, but the best way toward peace in the region is to provide Palestinians sovereignty that Israel recognizes.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
The Atlantic Beach community came together to support two local kids who tragically lost their parents months apart. Lily and Gavin Vinal lost their mom, Michelle Vinal last month, and lost their dad, Jake Vinal, the month before.

>>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<<

So tonight, ABBQ, where their mom used to work, held a celebration of life and a fundraiser to help support the siblings.

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More than 250 people came out to celebrate Michelles life.

Everyone said the same thing -- big smile, very organized, fantastic, just a great person, ABBQ Owner, Rick Moyer said. She made everyone happy.

Moyer created this event to for Lily and Gavin; the siblings have experienced an unimaginable tragedy, losing both parents.

I mean its two kids that are kind of fending for themselves at this point, Moyer said. You have a 16-year-old girl whos one of the most mature children Ive met in my life and a 10-year-old boy  theyre great kids. Im getting emotional talking about it.

Forty-one-year-old Michelle Vinal passed away on Dec. 10, just a month after her husband, Jake Vinal, died.

Read: Lake City woman receives the gift of sound that changed her life

It was a shock, Moyer said. I mean we were kind of prepared for her husband who passed away in November; he had health issues kind of leading up to it. We knew that was coming, but December was a complete shock. I got a call on Sunday morning from - her son is actually the one who found her.

Moyer said Michelle has worked at this restaurant as a catering manager for almost as long as its been in business -- nearly four years.

She treated people the way they should be treated, general manager, Dylan Lynch said. And its not common.

She was really nice like and like to work really hard, Rick Moyers daughter, Victoria Moyer said.

The funds raised from the food and drink sales at the restaurant will go towards the kids trust fund. Moyer said he raised nearly $30,000.

Read: Im a little nervous: Parents preparing for shakeups next school year in Englewood Elementary

Other local businesses even raffled off artwork, photoshoots, and gift baskets to help support the cause.

Katelyn Teixeira used to teach Gavin at Chets Creek Elementary School and wanted to help in any way she could.

Gavins a really special child and so his sister Lily, theyre sweet, sweet kids, and theyve had lots of trauma, Teixeira said. And I think the more people who are here to support them, the better.

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The kids currently live with their grandmother at their home on Atlantic Beach.

But if you want to support them, you can find the GoFundMe here or a dedicated Facebook post by clicking here.

Click here to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action News Jax live.
China's popular cross-talk comedian and Peking Opera performer Guo Degang announced this week that he will head an art research commission dedicated to the promotion of the Qi School of Peking Opera.

Comedian and opera artist Guo Degang speaks at a press conference held in Beijing, Jan. 17, 2024. [Photo/China.org.cn]

Guo and his fellow opera artists came together on Wednesday to announce the launch of the Art Research Professional Commission for the Qi School of Peking Opera under the Beijing National Essence Arts Inheritance Promotion Association, with aims to revitalize the traditional art style of the Qi School and promote its development.

The Qi School is a prominent school in Peking Opera, founded by master Zhou Xinfang, also known by his stage name Qilin Tong. The artists of this school, mainly hailing from southern China, specialize in portraying more elderly roles. Zhou is a towering figure in the Peking Opera realm, alongside Mei Lanfang and other esteemed masters.

Guo, an established comedian, also has performance roots in Peking Opera and later even became a protege of Zhao Lintong, a master of the Qi School.

The artist said at the press conference that he hopes to celebrate and pass on this artistic style to future generations. Therefore, he initiated the commission as chairman. However, he humbly stated that he is merely an organizer, aiming to bring together resources and support this Chinese traditional art.

According to the press release, the Art Research Professional Commission for the Qi School of Peking Opera is a dedicated platform aimed at promoting and advancing the art of the Qi School. It not only invites seasoned artists from the Qi School to participate but also looks to bring together experts from various genres and fields of art research. By uniting talents from diverse backgrounds, the commission is committed to fostering the development, preservation, and propagation of the essence of Qi School culture.

The commission is responsible for reintroducing these precious artistic works to audiences. Their mission includes exploring and maintaining the classical repertoire of the Qi School, which encompasses the works mastered by veteran artists like Chen Shaoyun and over 1,000 performances by art masters like Zhou Xinfang. These valuable works will be revitalized via new interpretations. Additionally, the commission prioritizes nurturing the younger generation through shows, artistic exchanges, and other activities, encouraging young artists to innovate while respecting traditions and providing them with abundant opportunities to showcase their talents.

"We will provide financial support and human resources for any stage show you wish to perform, young Qi School masters!" Guo promised.

"The number of inheritors of the Qi School is not plentiful at present, and this is a concern for us. I hope that this commission can undertake more practical and substantial work to revitalize this art form," added artist Chen Shaoyun.

Qi School artists and guests pose for a group photo on stage at a press conference held in Beijing, Jan. 17, 2024. [Photo/China.org.cn]

A classic Peking Opera show, "Silang Visits His Mother," featuring numerous Qi School performers, including Guo Degang, Chen Shaoyun, Pei Yongjie, and Tao Yang, will be staged at the Chang'an Grand Theater in Beijing on Friday. The show also includes renowned Peking Opera artists, such as Li Li and Zhao Xiujun, from other opera schools but who collaborate with Qi School artists. The show sold out in minutes.
DG Fuels CEO Michael Darcy is speaking out after experiencing a delay with a $4 billion project focused on making sustainable fuel for aviation.

As The County reported in December, the holdup is due to toxins known as PFAs (perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances), or forever chemicals, that were discovered at the former Loring Air Force Base airport hangar which DG Fuels is planning to lease.

We will work with all the necessary federal and state entities to make sure we handle things correctly, Darcy told the outlet. We see this as an issue but not a deal killer.

The Air Force was reportedly already aware of the presence of PFAs due to the use of aqueous film forming foams (AFFF), a substance used to put out fires after plane crashes.

However, the military branch teamed up with Wood Environment and Infrastructure to conduct a more thorough investigation in 2022 after the forever chemicals were discovered in all but one of the 22 sites of groundwater and soil in 2015.

Even though non-dangerous levels of the chemicals were reported at Loring, per The County, AFFF is being phased out at multiple airports, including at OHare and Midway in Chicago, because of the potential for contamination.

In 2018, the Pentagon also discovered that more than 100 military sites had elevated levels of PFAs, as reported by the Military Times.

PFAs, which have been used in certain everyday items since the 1940s, have the potential to build up in people and animals with repeated exposure over time, according to the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.

Thats a significant concern given that the chemicals have been linked to some types of cancer, as well as liver disease and thyroid issues, among other problems.

DG Fuels hoped to begin construction by the end of the year or early 2025, but the Air Force anticipates it wont have a cleanup plan in place until the beginning of next year.

[The timeline] is way too long. Well be meeting with our attorneys to discuss the legal aspects of this problem, Loring Development Authority president and CEO Carl Flora told The County

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Two fatal train crashes in a span of just two days are prompting leaders with the City of Melbourne to implement additional safety measures at railroad crossings.

 WATCH CHANNEL 9 EYEWITNESS NEWS

The crashes happened at the same crossing by WH Jackson Street near US-1 in Melbourne.

Three people were killed in the two recent collisions and both crashes are still under investigation.

READ: Safety reminders for school bus riders following death of 9-year-old

On Thursday, Melbourne city leaders and Brightline officials met behind closed doors to discuss overall railway safety at city hall.

While Brightline didnt comment on the meeting, Mayor Paul Alfrey said it was a productive session that included Brightline coming to the table with solutions.

According to the Mayor, Brightline is using $45 million in grant money to improve safety throughout the railway corridor which currently runs from South Florida through Brevard and to Orlando.

The mayor said a big priority for those funds will be replacing flashing crossing arms with quad gates.

The crossing at WH Jackson Street, which was the site of both fatal crashes, is one of five crossing in the city of Melbourne that does not have quad gates.

A Brightline train struck an SUV that was on the railroad tracks Friday afternoon, killing one person -- just two days after a Brightline train crashed into another vehicle on the tracks at the same crossing, the Melbourne Police Department said.

A Brightline train struck an SUV that was on the railroad tracks Friday afternoon, killing one person -- just two days after a Brightline train crashed into another vehicle on the tracks at the same crossing, the Melbourne Police Department said.

A Brightline train struck an SUV that was on the railroad tracks Friday afternoon, killing one person -- just two days after a Brightline train crashed into another vehicle on the tracks at the same crossing, the Melbourne Police Department said.

A Brightline train struck an SUV that was on the railroad tracks Friday afternoon, killing one person -- just two days after a Brightline train crashed into another vehicle on the tracks at the same crossing, the Melbourne Police Department said.

A Brightline train struck an SUV that was on the railroad tracks Friday afternoon, killing one person -- just two days after a Brightline train crashed into another vehicle on the tracks at the same crossing, the Melbourne Police Department said.

A Brightline train struck an SUV that was on the railroad tracks Friday afternoon, killing one person -- just two days after a Brightline train crashed into another vehicle on the tracks at the same crossing, the Melbourne Police Department said.

A Brightline train struck an SUV that was on the railroad tracks Friday afternoon, killing one person -- just two days after a Brightline train crashed into another vehicle on the tracks at the same crossing, the Melbourne Police Department said.

A Brightline train struck an SUV that was on the railroad tracks Friday afternoon, killing one person -- just two days after a Brightline train crashed into another vehicle on the tracks at the same crossing, the Melbourne Police Department said.

A Brightline train struck an SUV that was on the railroad tracks Friday afternoon, killing one person -- just two days after a Brightline train crashed into another vehicle on the tracks at the same crossing, the Melbourne Police Department said.

A Brightline train struck an SUV that was on the railroad tracks Friday afternoon, killing one person -- just two days after a Brightline train crashed into another vehicle on the tracks at the same crossing, the Melbourne Police Department said.

A Brightline train struck an SUV that was on the railroad tracks Friday afternoon, killing one person -- just two days after a Brightline train crashed into another vehicle on the tracks at the same crossing, the Melbourne Police Department said.

A Brightline train struck an SUV that was on the railroad tracks Friday afternoon, killing one person -- just two days after a Brightline train crashed into another vehicle on the tracks at the same crossing, the Melbourne Police Department said.

According to the mayor, the city of Melbourne has the most railway crossings in Brevard with 21 in total throughout the city.

READ: Fraud alert system helps protect Seminole County residents

No longer is there a slow-moving train that you get 5 or 6 times a day. Now were getting trains 5 or 6 every hour. And theyre going both ways, so its definitely a change, said Alfrey.

Melbourne police say the recent crashes are still under investigation, but surveillance video captured the vehicle in one of the crashes pass through flashing lights and crossing arms before it collided with the train.

According to the Mayor, the city is now upping their enforcement in response to the crashes.

The city will soon install red light cameras at crossings to ticket those that go around crossing arms.

He also added that the city and Brightline will double down on education campaigns.

Brightline directed us to this ongoing PSA and petition campaign that focuses on railway safety and making smart decisions at crossings.

READ: Florida opts out of program to feed hungry kids

The mayor said the city will also consider distributing leaflets to help spread awareness.

Theres the enforcement portion, theres the education portion, and theres also the upgrades. So, were definitely going to see some changes at these intersections, said Alfrey.

City leaders will continue to discuss railroad safety at the regularly scheduled City Council meeting on Tuesday.

Click here to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.
Nearly 16,000 asylum seekers, including those who crossed the Channel in small boats, have been allowed to work in a single year - Dan Kitwood/Getty Images Europe

Channel migrants have been quietly given the right to work in sectors including care, construction and agriculture and can still retain access to state-subsidised bed and board under a Home Office scheme.

Nearly 16,000 asylum seekers, including those who crossed the Channel in small boats, have been allowed to work in a single year, according to data obtained under Freedom of Information (FOI) laws.

They have been allowed to work in occupations in which there are recognised staff shortages, and are paid 80 per cent of the going pay rate.

The migrants forgo their 49.13 a week state subsistence allowance if they earn more than that, but can negotiate with the Home Office to remain in asylum accommodation as long as they pay a contribution towards the cost.

On Friday night, Nigel Farage, the former Ukip leader, and Tory MPs critcised the scheme, warning that it could act as a pull factor to encourage migrants to come to the UK illegally.

Mr Farage told The Telegraph: This is a disaster. Once the traffickers can advertise jobs and free board, even more will want to come. Rwanda is completely irrelevant in comparison to this.

European countries, led by France, have previously blamed Britains generous work and welfare regime for encouraging migrant crossings, despite denials by UK officials that the systems are more tolerant.

Many illegal migrants are feared to work in the black market in Britain, which some in Europe also consider to be fuelling the migration crisis.

It comes as Rishi Sunak prepares for a showdown with the House of Lords as he seeks to push through his Rwanda Bill to get deportation flights off the ground by the spring as a deterrent to stop the boats.

The scheme giving migrants the right to work allows them to do so if their application remains unresolved after a year and they have yet to be granted leave to remain in the UK, but the Home Office has refused to reveal how many people benefit from it.

The FOI data obtained by The Telegraph has revealed the figures for the first time. It shows that they have ballooned, largely as a result of a 10-fold increase in the backlog of asylum seekers waiting over a year for a decision and a record surge in migrants crossing the Channel.

The data show that 19,231 migrants applied for work permits in 2022 and 15,706 applications were granted. That represented nearly a third of all the 51,000 asylum seekers in the one-year backlog of claims in 2022. Fewer than 5,000 were waiting more than a year in 2016.

Immigration experts believe the number of working asylum seekers for 2023 could have increased even further because of the extra demand for cheap foreign labour to plug staff shortages in care homes, the NHS, construction and agriculture. Backlogs of asylum seekers waiting over a year rose to 61,000 last year.

Miriam Cates, who co-chairs the New Conservatives Group of MPs, which has campaigned for a tougher approach to migration, said: Its understandable that asylum seekers might want to have a job while waiting for their claims to be processed.

But we cannot solve the significant problems associated with irregular migration unless we deter people from crossing to the UK illegally  and this is the opposite of a deterrent.

Alp Mehmet, the chairman of the Migration Watch think tank, said: How can we take seriously the Governments professed commitment to stopping the boats when such a ploy is under way?

The scheme allowing asylum seekers to take jobs after a year is a legacy of an EU law from 2005, which reversed a measure introduced by Sir Tony Blair in 2002 barring illegal migrants from any right to work.

The then Labour leader instituted the crackdown to tackle a migration crisis similar to that being faced by Mr Sunak.

Some ministers and immigration advisers have argued that the Government should consider going further in the opposite direction and follow some other European countries that allow asylum seekers to work after six months.

They have cited the potential economic benefits in boosting growth and savings from migrants no longer receiving state benefits and free accommodation and instead paying income tax on their earnings.

Peter Walsh, a senior researcher with the Migration Oberservatory at Oxford University, said he was surprised at the numbers granted but suggested it could be linked to the widening of the shortage occupation list to include care workers, where there was acuted demand for staff.

He said there were economic benefits in that it would reduce the cost of accommodation and asylum support as well as generating money for the Exchequer via taxes. There are psychological positives because it is not very good for people to be out of the labour market, he said.

The longer people are out of the labour market, the harder it is for them to get back into the labour market. There is also another practical advantage that if you allow people to work legally, they are less likely to work illegally. It is potentially protecting against that.

Government sources claimed there was no evidence that the prospect of working in a shortage occupation after a year in the UK was a pull factor.

They said in the past year the Government had cleared the legacy backlog of asylum cases pre-dating June 2022, apart from 4,500 complex applications, which would have reduced the number eligible to work.

A Home Office source also noted that the scheme had been introduced under Labour but tightened by the coalition government, under Lord Cameron, to limit it to shortage occupations.

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Michigans Republican party has devolved into feuding factions  and at this point, its not even clear who, if anyone, is in charge.

Kristina Karamo, the Michigan GOPs election-denying chair, was ousted in a 6 January vote held during a special meeting called by state committee members critical of Karamo. But she and the faction that support her have refused to step down, further inflaming the chaos that has engulfed the swing-state Republican party with the 2024 presidential election just months away. On Saturday, the party will meet to vote on a new state party leader.

Related: Trumps resounding Iowa win shows his 2020 election lie is working

Even if Karamos opponents succeed in choosing a new chair this weekend, their vote is unlikely to settle the matter  dragging the beleaguered party deeper into internal conflict that promises to escalate as the 2024 elections approach.

Both sides are already getting litigious. Karamos opponents have signaled they will go to court to settle the matter, while her remaining allies within the state party sent cease-and-desist letters to them on Thursday alleging trademark infringement and warning them to stop using Michigan GOP logos and branding.

The crisis within the Michigan GOP may be the most dramatic example of the rift that has grown within the Republican Party across the US since Donald Trump left office, with members clashing over election denialism and the US Capitol attack. In Michigan, a crucial 2024 battleground state, internal divisions over religion, interpersonal politics and the leaderships handling of party finances have left the state GOP in disarray. Disagreements have even devolved into physical altercations in the last year, prompting law enforcement officials to intervene in at least one case.

By the time Karamo was elected to chair the party in 2023, she already had a reputation for floating wild conspiracy theories and had made an unsuccessful bid for Michigan secretary of state. Karamo, who ran to be the states top elections officer on a platform of election denialism, never conceded her overwhelming loss in the statewide race. Now, shes once again refusing to admit defeat.

She claimed that the meeting to oust her wasnt legitimate under party rules, and responded by holding a separate meeting to reaffirm her leadership on 13 January where she announced the party had suspended numerous local party leaders who had called for Karamos ouster. Karamos opponents, in turn, denounced that meeting as illegitimate.

Karamo has continued to insist she remains the rightful chair of the party.

The matter has been settled, said Karamo in a recorded announcement on 13 January. The state committee had, she said, reaffirmed me as chair of the Michigan Republican party.

Similar correspondence came in a barrage the following week.

We were getting five or more emails a day, explains Kelly Sackett, the chair of the Kalamazoo county Republican party. Its very ironic for someone whose platform is election integrity to not believe in the election where she was overthrown.

So far, one body that would seem to have the authority to help settle the matter  the Republican National Committee (RNC)  has refrained from weighing in. And even if they do, Karamos faction says it wouldnt matter.

While the RNC has not expressed an opinion, their opinion would be irrelevant as well, wrote the Karamo-allied Michigan GOP executive director, James Copas, and general counsel, Daniel Hartman, in a Wednesday statement obtained by the Guardian. (Karamos opponents also voted to remove Copas and Hartman during the 6 January meeting.)

Complaints about Karamos leadership have largely focused on the state GOPs dwindling finances. The Michigan Republican party was short on cash before Karamo took office in February 2023. But things have gotten much worse. Local party officials questioned financial decisions by the partys leadership under Karamo, including their decision to take out a loan to pay a more than $100,000 speaking fee for Jim Caviezel  the actor who starred in The Passion of the Christ and has emerged as a celebrity proponent of the QAnon conspiracy theory.

Tensions came to a head in late 2023 when the party, mired in debts, sued Comerica Bank and Michigan Republican Party Trust, which owns the state GOP headquarters. Short on funding, party leadership hoped they could sell the headquarters  but were unable to do so given that the trust, which is controlled by a more traditional cohort of old guard Republican party members, controls the building.
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China urges the restoration and safeguarding of security on the sea lanes of the Red Sea to ensure the normal order of global trade, He Yadong, spokesperson for the Ministry of Commerce, said on Thursday.

Noting that the Red Sea is an important route for international trade, He called on relevant parties to ensure navigational safety and safeguard the smooth flows of industrial and supply chains.

China will strengthen coordination with relevant departments, closely follow developments, and provide timely support and assistance to foreign trade enterprises, the spokesperson added.
Elderly Richland residents are stranded in their apartments and even climbing stairs on their hands and knees after a sprinkler system failed, flooding the lone elevator serving the building.

The Vintage at Richland serves residents 55 and older. The 150-unit, three-story complex is at 1950 Bellerive Drive, near Gage Boulevard.

Residents told the Tri-City Herald theyve been unable to do everyday tasks such as grocery shopping, fetching prescriptions, socializing or even walking their dogs since the elevator stopped working Sunday.

I cant go down the stairs or up the stairs. Im just locked in my apartment like a caged animal, an 82-year-old third-floor resident told the Herald.

A 73-year-old second-floor resident said her routine includes dialysis three times a week. On those days, she leaves home at 4:30 a.m. and returns after treatment to rest before going to work at a local church.

With the elevator out, she rests on a sofa in the first floor social hall. She can navigate stairs with great difficulty and said she would not be able to carry groceries. She described crawling on her hands and knees between the first and second floor.

Theyre dragging their feet for whatever reason, she said.

The Vintage at Richland is a 150-unit, three-story complex in Richland.

The outage is the latest in a string of elevator breakdowns, said Alicia Lopez, chair of the Vintage at Richland Tenants Association. The association formed to fight what Lopez called maintenance issues and inattentive management.

The property was built in 2005 after securing $11.8 million in financing from the Washington State Housing Finance Commission. The state agency uses tax credits to support affordable projects throughout the state. At the Vintage, rent is based on income and the property is not a nursing home or adult care facility.

On Thursday, managers informed residents a contractor would be working on the elevator and offered assistance with groceries, trash disposal and other chores. It asked residents to enlist family members to help them if possible, according to a notice shared with the Herald.

Vintage blamed record low temperatures for causing a sprinkler pipe to freeze and burst above the elevator control room in a statement released late Thursday by Sydney Parmalee, senior director for FPI Management. FPI manages the complex on behalf of its owner, Vintage Housing of Newport Beach, Calif.

FPI said it was working with a vendor to restore service and hoped to do so within the next week.

Management has been working continuously to stay in communication with residents and to accommodate any needs that have been disrupted by the loss of elevator service, including facilitating deliveries to the upper floors and providing alternative housing when requested. Those communications will continue and all residents have been reminded to call 911 in case of any emergency. Lastly, we understand the importance of having a fully functional elevator for the convenience and safety of our residents and we want to assure you that we are actively working to resolve it, FPI wrote.

The Vintage at Richland is an affordable apartment community for adults ages 55 and over located at 1950 Bellerive Drive in Richland.

Safety concerns

The sprinkler system failure and lack of elevator service poses potential challenges to emergency crews who respond to fires and medical problems.

Richland Fire Battalion Chief Mike Van Beek told the Tri-City Herald he called Vintages manager Wednesday seeking current information. The battalion chiefs call had not been returned Thursday morning.

Two fire marshals visited Vintage Thursday evening. Van Beek reported the sprinkler system had been repaired and the fire alarm system was operational.

He said the department was previously in contact with managers after the sprinkler system broke down.

He said the property had been conducting a procedure called a fire watch, as required by the fire marshals office. A fire watch requires a qualified person to check the building for any signs of fire at least every half hour 24/7, he explained.

Fires must be immediately extinguished and the fire department notified via 911. Residents must be alerted and potentially evacuated.

Something wrong

Vintage at Richland is one of more than a dozen Vintage branded senior communities in Washington developed and owned by Vintage Housing, based in in Newport Beach, Calif.

Elderly Richland residents are stranded in their apartments and even climbing stairs on their hands and knees after a sprinkler system failed, flooding the lone elevator serving the building.

It is obvious there is something wrong with that elevator. It is breaking down too much, said Lopez. The tenants association wants chair lifts installed in the main stairwell to back up an elevator that tenants describe as unreliable.

At 57, Lopez is Vintages youngest resident. She is spending the outage checking on residents and running errands, including going to get prescriptions and food for residents and walking dogs for those unable to get down the stairs.

I am tired, she said as the outage extended into its fourth day.

Frustrated, she is searching for legal counsel to advocate for residents.

Feeling stranded

Lopez invited the Herald to interview tenants about their experiences. Most asked not to be identified, saying they feared retaliation and do not want to lose their modest but affordable apartments.

Vintage at Richland is not a traditional apartment complex. It was designed for older residents, with small private apartments offset by public gathering spots on each floor.

Lopez said residents depend on the elevator to travel between the three floors to use the dining room, game room, movie theater, hair salon, library/prayer room and more. Movie night and a weekly Bible study are regular features of the social calendar.

A 94-year-old first-floor resident said she was on the third floor when the elevator failed Sunday. She cant use stairs, so she accepted help  reluctantly  from Richland firefighters who carried her down.

It turned out great. They were just so beautiful, she said. That said, the long-time tenant said outages are a regular feature of life in the complex.

This place should have two elevators, she said, adding that the ongoing breakdowns could be solved. It really needs to be replaced.

She said the Thursday Bible study, held on the third floor, had to be canceled. that meant 20 regular attendees would miss the opportunity for food and fellowship.

Jane Campbell, a retired engineer who lives on the third floor with two pets, is vice chair of the tenants association

She suffers from rheumatoid arthritis and other conditions that make it difficult to use the stairs. She relies on the elevator to get around and to take her small dog, Oscar, outside.

With no elevator, she limits herself to two stair trips a day, saying that wipes her out.

The Vintage at Richland is an affordable apartment community for adults ages 55 and over located at 1950 Bellerive Drive in Richland.

Campbell requested an accommodation from management. She said she was offered two nights in a local hotel equipped with a kitchen. She was advised of the offer at 5 p.m., with a 5:30 p.m. check-in time.

She called it laughable. She doesnt drive, has no way to get to the hotel or anyway to get around once she was there. She had no way to cart belongings to the new spot and didnt know if Oscar would be welcome.

She said she intends to file a complaint against Vintage, saying the situation violates various federal laws, including the Americans With Disabilities Act and the Fair Housing Act.

Property in good standing

The Washington State Housing Finance Commission, which financed the projects construction, confirmed Vintage at Richland is in good standing and in compliance with its regulatory agreements. Generally, it is required to maintain the property, including the elevator.

A spokeswoman said it had not been alerted to any problems.

Were concerned to hear about this and have already reached out to the property manager, said Margret Graham, communications director.

The Washington Attorney Generals Office, which enforces discrimination laws through its Wing Luke Civil Rights Division, could not be reached.

Because Vintage is not a nursing home or licensed senior facility, it is not regulated by the state Department of Social and Health Services.

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LINCOLNTON, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS)  Lincoln County Schools is responding to a social media post from a Christian group after a meeting regarding the its presence at schools.

In a post this week, the United for Christ group posted an image in letter form, detailing interactions with Lincoln County Schools district officials. In the letter, the group said they were approached by staff and told that the club meeting before the school day may be in violation of federal law.

Gaston County Schools names new superintendent from within district

In the meeting, we were informed that United for Christ would no longer be allowed to meet weekly as usual and that moving forward, UFC was now being restricted to meeting once per month, the statement reads.

The group, based out of Victory Baptist Church in Denver, went on to say they were directly informed that if United for Christ did not agree to the terms of meeting monthly, we would no longer meet at all.

Lincoln County Schools, in their own statement, refuted what was claimed by the group.

No one at the meeting stated or implied that United for Christ was violating the law, the district said in a statement. During the meeting, LCS and United for Christ discussed the structure of the programming and potential options that will ensure LCS remains compliant with the law. However, no decisions or ultimatums were made by LCS.

United for Christ meets at four schools in the district, including a middle school.

In its statement, the group denies violating the law, however, saying its attorneys said they were in the clear.

In response to the statement made that United For Christ May be in violation of the law, our organization sought legal advice from several different attorneys to ensure that as an organization we abide by the law, as well as protect the religious liberties of the students in Lincoln County and beyond.

In regards to the specific conduct in question by the group, a parent told Queen City News that UFC involved representatives from the church going into schools.

According to state and federal law, religious expression in schools must be student-led, student-run, and student-initiated. The U.S. Department of Education updated guidance for prayer in schools, additionally saying that teachers, school administrators, and other school employees may not encourage or discourage private prayer or other religious activity.

Lincolnton woman claims record $200,000 Keno win

Duston Barto, a Lincoln County parent who is also a Muslim, said he is aware of the laws, as he started a religious club when he was high school.

The whole point is to preserve religious liberty, said Barto. We have to make sure they are student-led and student-initiated and student-run organizations and make sure theyre not an outside group evangelizing and proselytizing to kids at an impressionable age.

When asked by Queen City News about the specific claims made by United for Christ in regards to the clubs meetings now being one per month, a district spokesperson noted it was suggested to the group, but reiterated no decision had been made.

United for Christ said they have another meeting set for later this month with Lincoln County Schools and said they hope to come to a resolution.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News.
Before the U.S. Supreme Court hears arguments on the Colorado high courts decision finding Donald Trump ineligible to appear on the state primary ballot, one other important question deserves debate:

Should Justice Clarence Thomas recuse himself from hearing the case, scheduled for Feb. 8?

Justice Thomas wife, Virginia Thomas, testified before the congressional select committee looking into the Jan. 6 insurrection.

She admitted that she sent texts to then-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows encouraging him to support Trump and his unsupported claims that there was widespread fraud in the 2020 election.

In fact, she called the election a heist.

Thomas and his wife have Jan. 6 ties

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and his wife and conservative activist Virginia Thomas, pictured at a Heritage Foundation event on Oct. 21, 2021.

She and Justice Thomas are longtime associates of lawyer John Eastman, a former clerk of the justice who according to CBS News is one of the architects of the scheme to have several 2020 battleground states send alternative electors for Trump, rather than Biden.

Furthermore, Virginia Thomas was on the board of directors of a political group that helped organize and lead the Stop the Steal movement, which ended in the Jan. 6 violent attack on the Capitol that the Colorado Supreme Court found to be an insurrection.

She attended the Stop the Steal rally that occurred before the storming of the Capitol.

In October, Justice Thomas recused himself in a case involving the attempt by Eastman to quash a subpoena from the now-defunct Select Committee to investigate the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

However, he refuses to recuse himself from other Jan. 6-related cases, including whether Trump has presidential immunity from federal prosecution.

This screams 'conflict of interest'

But how can Justice Thomas render a fair and impartial decision in the Colorado case when his wife was so intimately involved in the circumstances leading up to the insurrection?

At its worst, this situation screams conflict of interest and at best, has the appearance of impropriety.

Will the Supreme Courts new Code of Conduct adopted on Nov. 23, force Thomas to recuse himself from the Colorado case?

Why that win in Iowa: Could spell trouble for Trump

Under Canon 3B, a justice is now disqualified if his or her spouse is known to have a financial interest or "any other interest that could be affected substantially by the outcome of the proceeding.

It seems clear from the plain language of the canon that Thomas should be disqualified from hearing the Colorado case.

Code of conduct makes recusal optional

Unfortunately, the new code also includes several newly adopted provisions that combined makes recusal basically optional, even where it appears to be required.

For example, Canon 3B(3) contains a rule of necessity, which overrides the rule of disqualification and essentially means recusal decisions are left to the individual justice rather than the court.

The commentary to the canon explains that necessity includes importance  thus, a justice can decide whether his participation is more important than his conflicting interest.

Fifty years ago, the Code of Conduct was promulgated for federal judges  other than the United States Supreme Court justices  by the Judicial Conference of the United States. All Arizona state judges are subject to their own Code of Conduct, which was established in 1971.

Both codes of conduct were adopted to promote public trust and confidence in the integrity, independence and impartiality of the judiciary. And both would require disqualification of a judge in this situation where the judge's spouse has an interest that could be substantially affected by the outcome of the proceeding.

Thomas gets to decide this one himself

Given that the U.S. Supreme Court is the court of last resort, shouldnt the institution be subject to more scrutiny, not less?

Alas, Justice Clarence Thomas will make his own decision on whether to recuse himself or not.

Since there is no enforcement mechanism in the Code of Conduct for the United States Supreme Court, there is no oversight or accountability.

Thus, integrity, independence and impartiality are fanciful hopes and dreams, not requirements.

Barbara Rodriguez Mundell served as a judge in Maricopa County Superior Court for 19 years and was the courts presiding judge from 2005-2010. She is a member of the Board of Contributors for The Arizona Republic. Reach her at barbaramundell@gmail.com.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Clarence Thomas must recuse himself from Trump's ballot case
NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY)  What happens in neighborhoods of need doesnt stay in neighborhoods of need.

Thats why a coalition of community groups has launched a block-to-block and door-to-door campaign to reach out to those who may have lost faith in crying out for help.

No one else is really knocking on the doors, sitting down, or standing in front of the house and listening to the people cry, said Bilal Muhammad, who lost his son to senseless gun violence last year and is the founder of the Stop the Violence Team. [We will] listen to what their needs are. This is what we got to do; this is the only way that we can bring about a better condition in those communities.

(WAVY Photo  Regina Mobley)

(WAVY Photo  Regina Mobley)

While cradling his first-born son, 31-year-old Jarell Jones told Muhammad and other members of the coalition that an activity for his pre-teen daughter, such as playing outside, can lead to serious injury or even death.

Sometimes my kids cant play outside, Jones said. They will hear gunshots and they will run back into the house.

In Young Terrace and other neighborhoods of need across all zip codes in the 757, the tentacles of crime and poverty reach. Thats why four groups have joined forces to stem violence across Hampton Roads.

Darnell Riddick of Riddick Driven has plans to teach the youth how to become business owners, while Shana and Ferlando Hicks have a different take on the dangers of AI.

The new AI in our community is anger and influence, said Ferlando Hicks.

Steve Padgett, a former Washington D.C. resident, is a member of the Stop the Violence Team.

Good-quality people are being brought down by gun violence, Padgett said.

A story in Norfolk that was covered across the nation last year was one such case.

In March 2022, Virginian-Pilot reporter Sierra Jenkins was killed in a mass shooting in downtown Norfolk. Four months before her death, the mother of the man who police said killed Jenkins, was killed in a mass shooting in the heart of Young Terrace.

The coalition is answering the call.

We will listen to the people talk, listen to their cry listen to what they have to express, whats hurting their community and mostly whats hurting their family, said Muhammad, still recovering from post-traumatic stress disorder following his sons shooting death.

Saturday afternoon, the coalition will visit several neighborhoods in need. They will reach out and touch people who are crying out for help. Muhammad used the same techniques decades ago to take back the community.

To see how WAVY-TV covered the crime prevention stories of Young and Tidewater Parks in 1981, watch below:

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WAVY.com.
New cars are shown on the stage during BYD grand launch in Jakarta, Indonesia, Jan. 18, 2024. [Photo/Xinhua]

China's BYD, a global leader in the sale of pure electric vehicles (EV), launched on Thursday three new electric passenger cars to further expand in the Southeast Asia region.



During the launch in Jakarta, BYD introduced SEAL, Atto 3, and Dolphin, three battery-powered and environmentally friendly products that have been distributed with high production numbers to nearly 70 countries.

"This is an extraordinary moment for BYD as we officially present ourselves to Indonesian consumers to offer innovative new energy vehicles with sustainable benefits," General Manager of BYD Asia-Pacific Auto Sales Division Liu Xueliang said.

According to Eagle Zhao, president director of PT BYD Motor Indonesia, Indonesia is one of the active countries in adopting trends, including initiatives to reduce emissions through the use of electric vehicles.

"We see this as a positive step, and with our technological innovation, BYD wants to contribute to shaping societal behavior as part of the new energy ecosystem," he said.

"We will accelerate the construction of a manufacturing plant in Indonesia starting this year," Zhao said, noting that BYD has seven dealer networks in Indonesia now and targets to increase the number to 50 by the end of this year.

The country's Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, and the Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto, supported BYD's move in Indonesia and delivered remarks via video recording during the launch ceremony.

Pandjaitan said that the government already signed a memorandum of understanding with BYD in May last year in China on the development of the EV ecosystem in Indonesia.

Pandjaitan said he hoped that BYD would promote the ecosystem and development of the EV industry in Indonesia to an even higher level.

Hartarto said the government continues to encourage BYD "to increase the utilization of local content so that it can encourage industrial competitiveness."
School districts across the Kansas City metro have canceled school or moved to virtual learning because of freezing temperatures this month.

While most schools remained open Friday, a few closed as arctic air brought in harsh wind chills reaching as low as 25 below zero, according to the National Weather Service.

So how cold is too cold for school?

School district officials say they weigh many factors when deciding to shut down schools or move to an alternative form of learning for the day.

Heres what we learned from two school districts in the Kansas City area, Shawnee Mission School District in Johnson County and Kansas City Public Schools.

How cold does it have to be to cancel school?

The temperature is one thing schools look at, but its not the only factor, according to David Smith, chief communications officer with Shawnee Mission School District.

The same temperature with wind, no wind, precipitation and no precipitation can be different, Smith said. The quality of the roads if they are covered with snow is another factor, as is kids having to wait outside for their bus to arrive and if the bus can even get to their destination on time.

The Shawnee Mission School District has to know if they can get students and staff to and from school safely and if they know they can do both of those things, Smith said they expect to be open.

If we know we can do both of those things, then we should be open because weve told parents that these are the days wed be open, Smith said. If we cant do either of those things, then we really shouldnt have school.

School districts in Johnson County will talk with each other about closing schools because a lot of the teachers live in different districts than where they teach. The decisions they make impact each other, Smith said.

Kansas City Public Schools

Kansas City Public Schools also examine all aspects carefully, including the outside temperature, when weighing whether to cancel or delay school, Shain Bergan, public relations coordinator, said. Their goal is to offer the highest quality education to students while also keeping everyone safe.

There is no specific temperature or wind chill threshold, but our Inclement Weather Planning Team takes many factors into account, including road conditions, bus stop temperatures, the safety of parking lots and school grounds, and the ability of our school buildings and staff to carry on regular school operations, Bergan said.

The districts Inclement Weather Planning Team is made up of personnel from their district leadership, facilities and transportation departments, along with leadership from Student Transportation of America, the school districts bus vendor.

These team members analyze several safety factors when inclement weather arrives, according to a document shared by Bergan:

Personnel drive the streets personally, taking into account particular traffic areas that may affect our school transportation and our families who drive, along with road closures and how routes are impacted.

Facilities personnel examine building, sidewalk, and parking lot conditions for safety concerns, while taking into account whether the schools can operate in an appropriate capacity given the conditions.

The team takes into account conditions for students who utilize bus stops, as they may be exposed to potentially dangerous temperatures.

The team reports their findings and potential vulnerabilities to the Superintendent, who uses all information at her disposal to determine the best decision for the education and safety of KCPS students and staff.

Kansas City Public Schools have Alternative Methods of Instruction that can take a snow days place. These are days in which students learn from home with teachers via video conference calls. Students receive technology from the school for them to bring home so they can participate and learn, according to the district.

Its similar to the virtual learning employed during the school districts COVID protocols.

So far this school year, they have used two virtual learning days and have three left that are built in for the school year. The district has also used its two snow days built into the calendar.

Schools in the Shawnee Mission School District do not have virtual learning days, and they have used four snow days this school year.
COLDWATER  A new restaurant in town is about to get more visible.

Mohammed Abdullah can install a sign on the west side of 64 East Chicago so the public can find his new Shawarma Station Mediterranean restaurant.

The 2020 Coldwater High School graduate opened the business in the old renovated 1888 theater building this past week.

Mohammed Abdullah stands in front of the Shawarma Station vertical rotisseries at 64 East Chicago.

The Zoning Board of Appeals granted his request Wednesday evening for the LED sign over the entrance door with a maximum of 32 square feet size.

ZBA Chairman Gordon Swan said the sign is similar to those on strip malls east on U.S. 12.

You can only find the business with a sign in the alley between the theater and Dutch Uncle Donuts.

Zoning Administrator Jake VanBoxel said the building already exceeds the allowed signage with the Coldwater VapZone marquee and the Royal Hall event space sign on the old theater's front.

Abdullah was born in Coldwater. His family lived in Dearborn for a couple of years, then returned when he started elementary school.

Graduating during COVID-19, Abdullah tried online college for a couple of weeks, but then his family urged him to go into business.

Abdullah owns tobacco shops, including an interest in the Coldwater VapZone with two partners. He also owns stores in Detroit, North Carolina, Indiana and Kentucky.

Abdullah partnered with hemp manufacturers in Indianapolis to produce CBD oils and Delta 8 sold in states where marijuana is illegal.

Abdullah saw surveys that showed a local desire for a Mediterranean restaurant.

"My father always wanted a restaurant," so a year ago, he decided, "I'll start with something simple on this back corner" of the theater building.

With the help and advice of Nancy Phillips, who has restaurant experience, the Shawarma Station began to come together. He plans another for Sturgis.

Abdullah hired a social media marketing company. "We were posting about it. We were getting so much love," he said. Business took off with just a soft opening.

For now, the business is takeout only. There is a 60-seat dining room, but he is working on staffing and heat in the old building before dine-in can begin.

Open from 11 a.m. until 10 p.m. he serves soft drinks, a juice bar, and chai tea.

A customer drinks chai tea at the juice and drink bar inside the Shawarma Station.

The main dish is shawarma. Chicken, beef, and lamb are cut into thin slices, stacked in an inverted cone, and roasted on a slowly turning vertical rotisserie or spit. Cut off as it cooks, the meat goes in dinners or is sold in a wrap.

Although Abdullah is Yemeni, the cuisine features many Lebanese dishes like baba ghanoush, tabbouleh, falafel, and humus.

Shawarma Station will serve the full menu when Abdullah can open the dining room.

The young entrepreneur self-funded the project from his other businesses. He told the ZBA there was a $400,000 investment.

Subscribe Follow local business. Subscribe to the Daily Reporter.

"I'm trying to get into commercial real estate. I should just buy the property and I don't have to pay rent," he said.

Abdullah plans to follow his family tradition of buying houses and buildings, renovating them, and flipping them.

Less than four years out of Coldwater High, he is just starting.

--Contact Don Reid: dReid@Gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Coldwater Daily Reporter: Coldwater grad opens Shawarma Station restaurant
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH)  A Columbus man has been sentenced to over a decade in prison for his role as the leader of a human trafficking ring.

Marcus Carmon, 40, pleaded guilty in November to felony charges of compelling prostitution, having weapons under disability and possession of drugs. On Friday, Attorney General Dave Yost announced that Carmon had been given a 14-year prison sentence.

Traffickers and their evil ways of manipulation have no place in a civilized society, Yost said.

Carmon will also have to register as a Tier II sex offender after his release from prison.

A Franklin County grand jury indicted Carmon and two accomplices in 2020. At the time, the Franklin County Prosecutor alleged that the human trafficking and prostitution indictments involved seven women between Nov. 2018, and Feb. 2020.

An investigation revealed that Carmon targeted vulnerable women fighting addiction and exploited them through prostitution for his own financial gain. Carmon was evidenced to have used threats, drugs and physical violence to control his victims.

Bradley Powell, Carmons co-defendant, was sentenced in 2022 to 708 days in prison with full credit for time served after pleading guilty to promoting prostitution. Anthony Dunn, the other co-defendant, pleaded guilty to promoting prostitution in 2020 but has yet to be sentenced.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to NBC4 WCMH-TV.
Kismet Jackson used to carry her handgun just about everywhere in San Bernardino County. To get her nails done. To pick up her prescription. To hang out with her grandchildren.

For her, it was all about staying safe.

"Being out and about, you just want to protect yourself," explained Jackson, an Air Force veteran and member of the National African American Gun Assn. "The biggest thing for me [is] walking to my car, and someone puts a gun to my head and tells me give them what I don't have."

Lately, though, she has felt anything but safe.

At the beginning of this month, after a flurry of lawsuits, California began enforcing a controversial law banning guns in sensitive public places. It's a long list that ranges from parks to stadiums to parking lots to public transportation to churches to anywhere alcohol is sold to commercial buildings without signage explicitly allowing firearms.

Read more: Judges put new California law barring guns in many public places on hold again

Then, last week, after some more back-and-forth in federal court, the state was forced to stop enforcing the law  highlighting not only the political drama surrounding it but the sloppiness of how it was written.

The law, known as Senate Bill 2, was drafted as a workaround to a U.S. Supreme Court decision from 2022 that threw out a chunk of the state's  and the nation's  gun control regulations as unconstitutional, theoretically making it easier for people to obtain concealed-carry permits.

It was meant as a retaliatory blow to the Supreme Court, ostensibly designed to keep California from turning into Florida and other red states, where alarming permit-less carry laws mean there's no longer anything preventing people  trained or untrained  from strapping on a Glock and heading to the grocery store.

But SB 2, sponsored by state Sen. Anthony Portantino (D-Burbank), went further than the laws that were in place before the Supreme Court's decimation of common sense gun-control regulations.

Now, even Californians who have submitted to extensive background checks and participated in hours of training can't legally carry their firearms without running afoul of the list of banned places  which, let's be honest, are just about everywhere.

If the law survives this latest legal challenge, "I've got to leave my firearm in a locked container inside my locked car," Jackson lamented.

TSA spokesperson Lorie Dankers demonstrates how to lock a gun in a case that's acceptable for checked-in luggage. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

The push by California to take away her ability to legally carry a gun, after years of complying with an already-strict vetting process, has her feeling downright "shook" about her safety  and she suspects that pales in comparison to what some other women are feeling.

Women who, in an effort to reclaim their lives and conquer their fears after surviving domestic violence, decided to buy a gun and get a concealed-carry permit. Or women of color who are understandably so afraid of police brutality that they feel as if they have no choice to defend themselves from intimate partner violence.

Or, perhaps most of all, women who have been let down by a criminal justice system that is supposed to seize firearms from abusers, but too often doesn't.

"They got a little bit of their confidence back. They felt a little more comfortable with going out in public," Jackson said of such women. "And now [California] has just snatched that out from underneath them."

::

You wont find many, if any, domestic violence support groups or gun violence researchers coming out to defend women who buy guns to protect themselves  and with good reason. Statistically, it usually doesnt work out that way.

"We don't have any evidence that a woman who's been abused carrying a gun makes her safer," said Susan B. Sorenson, a professor with the University of Pennsylvania and director of the Ortner Center on Violence and Abuse. "We have a fair amount of evidence that having a gun in the home makes women less safe."

In fact, this is true of regardless of gender. There are already more firearms than people in America, and multiple studies have shown the obvious: The more guns that are in circulation, the more likely it is that people are going to get shot, whether it be by accident, by homicide or, most often, by suicide.

A recent study by Everytown for Gun Safety designated five laws that do the most to reduce shootings overall, including background checks and red flag laws to temporarily remove guns when there is evidence that someone poses a serious risk to themselves or others.

California checks all of these boxes (though enforcement is often lacking), so Gov. Gavin Newsom is right when he boasts that our state is "using every tool we can to make our streets and neighborhoods safer.

And there are parts of SB 2 that are good. The doubling of the amount of training needed to get a concealed-carry permit, from eight to 16 hours, for example, and deepening background checks to include social media scans and personal references.

But SB 2 is still flawed. Attempting to shadow-ban concealed-carry permits is not likely to reduce gun violence.

Read more: California Legislature approves concealed-carry limits, teeing up possible Supreme Court fight

The last non-self-defense homicide committed by a concealed- carry permit holder took place in 2019 in Modesto, and the assailant was charged and convicted. The second most recent happened in 2010  a Southern California security guard who killed his ex-girlfriend and her new partner.

In Fresno County, the sheriff said there hasn't been a crime involving any of its roughly 12,300 concealed-carry permit holders in at least two years  and Fresno has one of the highest number of permit holders in the state.

Chuck Michel, the general counsel for the California Rifle & Pistol Assn. who filed the suit over SB 2, said the law hurts more than just women who fear for their personal safety. He points to retired judges and prosecutors who may have dangerous enemies. People in the LGBTQ+ community facing rising hate crimes. And even jewelers who routinely carry gems and cash.

"There are certainly some individual circumstances where the need for that kind of permit is profound," Michel said.

Even if you think that's a paranoid or specious argument that inflates the need for more guns on our streets, consider this: Despite millions of dollars and countless hours spent crafting and defending SB 2, government officials can't  or won't  say how many people in the state have concealed-carry permits.

A few non-government sources we found estimate there are at most 200,000 people with active permits (which are valid for only two years), and an additional 100,000 pending since the Supreme Court decision  still a small fraction of California's 3.3 million legal gun owners.

But when we asked Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta's office for the number of active permits in their system, they told us they would need to compile that figure and it would involve a Public Records Act request.

How do you argue this rule meaningfully reduces gun violence without even being willing to openly talk about how many people it involves?

::

What we do know from Bonta's office is that in 2022, there were more than 23,000 active and pending cases in the state's Armed and Prohibited Persons System, which tracks Californians who own legally registered firearms but have lost the right to possess them. About 4,000 of those cases involved a restraining order and nearly 5,000 more had to do with concerns over the owners' mental health.

Agents with the state Department of Justice, often working with local law enforcement agencies, managed to retrieve just 1,437 guns from those potentially dangerous people that year, which is considered a success based on the abysmal statistics of previous years.

These numbers mostly don't cover the thousands of illegal guns on our streets  ghost guns, stolen guns, unregistered guns in the hands of felons.

Meanwhile, also in 2022, emergency dispatchers received more than 160,000 calls about domestic violence, 2,100 of which involved a firearm. In the decade ending in 2022, 782 women were shot and killed by domestic abusers.

This is one reason why so many domestic violence support groups discourage survivors of intimate partner violence from buying guns, pointing out that an abuser can easily turn that gun on them.

But women who don't feel safe might do so anyway. And they don't feel safe because government has failed to take domestic violence seriously enough to devote enough resources to stop it, often leaving underfunded nonprofits to pick up the slack with counseling services and violence prevention programs.

This is especially true for Black and Latino women, who are disproportionately victims of intimate partner violence and human trafficking and often caught in a nexus of poverty, housing insecurity, systemic racism, sexism and overpolicing. It's why cases like that of Niani Finlayson, who was shot to death by an L.A. County sheriff's deputy in December after calling 911 to report that she was being attacked by an ex-boyfriend, are so chilling.

I would dissuade any woman, particularly a woman who has children, from buying a firearm. That's like the leading cause of death for very young children, said Sikivu Hutchinson, founder of the Womens Leadership Project in South L.A.

But she said she "absolutely understands it" as a response of desperation and crisis."

Indeed, if some women have turned to arming themselves, its hardly ideal because of the dangers, but it unfortunately makes some sense  in California and across the country. Taking that right to carry away, whether it is offering real or only perceived safety, is another psychological harm piled on top of unforgivable policy failures.

Read more: Column: A father shot his daughters. A mom wants to know why her warning was ignored

"It makes me sad," Maggie Martin told us. "They have gone to gun classes. They have done the work. They have done all the things to become proficient and now they are not given the option."

Martin knows firsthand how the system fails women. She's a gun instructor in Florida who specializes in women's self-defense, and she is a survivor of intimate partner violence. Like so many women, she never thought it could happen to her  until she met her "knight in shining armor" on a dating app. Eight months into a relationship, it was clear he was a controlling abuser, but getting away from him was scary, she said.

She called police, but they told her  as too often happens  there was nothing they could do, and that their involvement might make the situation worse. When she finally did leave, he harassed her by driving by her house and calling her over and over again until.

In 2019, she began carrying a weapon regularly after her mother saw a segment on television about a woman killed by her abuser.

"I remember thinking, 'I cant do that to my mom,' " Martin said. "And that was the moment I decided I was not going to die."

::

Whether California likes it or not, the 2nd Amendment exists and it lets people carry guns.

Were not saying we agree with red-state politicians who argue thats its reasonable for guns to be allowed pretty much everywhere, in the hands of anyone. But arguing that guns  when carried by people who have been trained and vetted  shouldnt be allowed pretty much anywhere isnt reasonable (or apparently legal), either. Pretending otherwise is just a waste of money, energy, time and political goodwill.

So Senate Bill 2 is the worst kind of law, pulled together from the worst kind of legislative process. It's reactionary and clumsy and overzealous in way that dangerously plays right into Republican narratives about Democrats' love of bureaucratic overreach. And, in a year when the state is desperately trying to cut costs, it will cost us untold sums to defend as it makes its way through the courts.

Read more: Column: Trump and the NRA might be right about guns  and we mostly have ourselves to blame

Rather than a law that's clearly designed to score political points  and to give ambitious Democrats a platform to give a middle finger to the NRA and the right-wing politicians it backs  California needs laws that actually address the problem of public safety.

The state could, for example, double down on strengthening our system of removing guns from dangerous people. Or, it could make the concealed-carry permit process a state-run system, similar to driver's licenses, instead of leaving it to individual counties to come up with their own procedures. And it could, and should, do a better job of investing in community-led anti-violence programs that can make a difference in the lives of the most afraid and the most vulnerable.

Because let's be honest. It's public safety  both the reality and the sometimes flawed perceptions of it  that ultimately is the reason that Californians keep buying guns. And that, in turn, makes us all less safe.

Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has called on the Ukrainian authorities to investigate threats to journalist Yurii Nikolov and the surveillance of the Bihus.info team and bring those responsible to justice.

Source: a statement by the CPJ

Quote from CPJ programme coordinator Gulnosa Said: "Ukrainian authorities must conduct a swift and thorough investigation into the verbal threats made against journalist Yuriy Nikolov, as well as the alleged surveillance of Bihus.info journalists, identify the perpetrators, and hold them accountable."

Details: Said also noted that Ukrainian journalism must "continue to flourish" in wartime, "without fear of reprisal".

Background:

On 16 January, a video was leaked online showing employees of the Bihus.Info investigative project apparently using drugs. The project's head, Denys Bihus, recorded a video message giving explanations and stated that everyone who works with Bihus.Info would take drug tests.

Later, Bihus said that after talking to the people involved in the video, it transpired that members of the Bihus.Info editorial team had been under surveillance for about a year, and that fragments of intercepted conversations had been edited together from several episodes that were months apart.

The Ukrainian Parliamentary Committee on Freedom of Speech has promised to formulate a request to the SSU to investigate who was involved in the surveillance of Bihus.Info journalists.

On 17 January, the SSU stated that it would be investigating the circumstances of the illegal bugging and filming of Bihus.Info staff.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he had held a meeting with law enforcement officials, including Vasyl Maliuk, Head of the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU), to discuss the surveillance of investigative journalists working for the Bihus.Info project which had been reported the day before.

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Stassi Cramm is the new prophet-president designate of the Community of Christ, which until 2001 was known as the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The decision will be up for ratification at the churchs 2025 World Conference. | Community of Christ

A new prophet-president has been called to lead the Community of Christ, formerly known as the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints or RLDS church.

Stassi D. Cramm, 61, will be the first woman to hold the office if her call is approved by the 2025 World Conference. Until then, her title is prophet-president designate.

The church announced Cramm as its ninth prophet-president on Jan. 17. The Community of Christ shares a 14-year history from 1830-44 with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Related

The Community of Christs previous eight prophet-presidents include Joseph Smiths son Joseph Smith III (1860-1914), who led the reorganization of the church in 1860.

Three sons of Joseph III followed  Frederick M. Smith, Israel A. Smith and W. Wallace Smith, who lead the faith until 1978. A great-grandson of Joseph Smith, Wallace B. Smith, was next, but familial succession ended with the completion of his tenure in 1996.

The past two prophet-presidents have been W. Grant McMurray and Stephen M. Veazey.

President Veazey announced a process to discern the next prophet-president of the Community of Christ in March 2023. In August, a health issue necessitated that he take a medical leave of absence.

In November, the Community of Christ Council of Twelve met for a final discernment meeting and received a list of names shared anonymously by the church. In December, they gathered at Happy Valley Conference Center in Californias Santa Cruz Mountains with two to three names each. They discerned Cramm as the next leader after conversation and prayer, according to church official Katie Harmon-McLaughlin.

In a news release, Cramm said, If the 2025 World Conference approves this call, I commit to faithfully doing my part to empower and support the prophetic voice of the church as we seek to live Christs mission and help create Gods vision of shalom. Onward!

The Community of Christ has 250,000 members in more than 60 nations, according to the churchs website. The churchs international headquarters is in Independence, Missouri.
Donald Trump promises to be a dictator on day one of his presidency if he wins the 2024 election. On Monday, Trump demolished his rivals in the Iowa Republican caucus. He is now one step closer to being the Republican Partys nominee (which is virtually a fait accompli at this point) and then challenging President Joe Biden for the White House.

As I previously warned in an essay here at Salon, Trump will not just be a regular and common political thug dictator. So what type of dictator god king will Donald Trump be if he takes power in 2025? He will be like one of the Old Gods from ancient times: vengeful, destructive, and a force for pain, punishing and smiting non-believers and others who have transgressed against him and his most faithful followers. Dictator God King Trump will also, like the god(s) of old, force his enemies into exile.

After his victory In Iowa, Trump (who has previously called Black and brown people poison in the blood of the nation and said that Democrats are vermin) continued to make such threats, telling his followers, And were gonna have to deport. Were going to have to have a deportation level that we havent seen in this country for a long time, since Dwight Eisenhower, actually. It is estimated that a million Hispanics and Latinos were deported during the infamous Operation Wetback." Trump and his agents are promising to deport many more illegal aliens and criminals, meaning Black and brown people.

Invoking the Alien Enemies Act, declaring martial law, ending birthright citizenship, using the military to occupy majority Black and brown cities, and banning the First Amendment and Constitution, Trump has also threatened to exile and imprison and do even worse things (i.e. death) to leading Democrats including President Biden, special counsel Jack Smith, Attorney General Merrick Garland, and the judges and other law enforcement officials attempting to hold him accountable for his obvious crimes.

In keeping with his belief that he is a type of Chosen One and messiah, Trump continues to test the faith of his MAGA followers. Like many other parts of the United States, Iowa was experiencing dangerously cold weather on Monday. Instead of showing care and concern for his MAGA flock, Trump told them to vote for him even if it means they get sick and die.

Last week, Trump boasted that his followers would walk on glass for him. Trump is, again, correct. Never to be forgotten is how Donald Trump and his first regime engaged in acts of democide and other forms of mass death through a willfully negligent response to the COVID pandemic, which killed at least 1 million people in the United States. Instead of punishing Trump and his Republican Party, the MAGA people and other right-wing voters rewarded the ex-president and his party for inflicting such suffering and death upon the country.

But like any other cult leader and/or fake populist who is claiming divine status, Trump also professes his very special and sacred love for his followers. In a recent fundraising email, Trump literally said:

Ill never stop loving you. Why? Because youve always loved me! You stuck by me every single time the Radical Left tried to KICK ME DOWN. Even when they took my mugshot at the Fulton County Jail. I felt your love even when they RAIDED MY HOME. Through all the HOAXES, WITCH HUNTS, and FAKE INDICTMENTS, you never left my side! True MAGA Patriots like you are the only reason Im still standing.

Trumps MAGA people love him in return.

How have evangelicals and other members of the Christian right responded to Trumps claims of being the Chosen One, a man on Earth who is anointed by god and Jesus Christ? A few leaders among the Christian right have correctly declared that Trump is, by definition, committing sacrilege and blasphemy. These critical voices are in the extreme minority among the Christian right both in Iowa and across the country, however. To that point, Trump won an overwhelming majority of White evangelical voters in Iowa. Nationally, Trumps support among the Christian right has only grown during his presidency and beyond.

Right-wing evangelicals and other members of the Christian right were not forced, tricked, or manipulated into supporting Donald Trump and his neofascist MAGA movement. Theirs is a strategic alliance based on an alignment of interests, goals, and a craven desire for unlimited power.

As sociologist Samuel Perry summarized in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, in response to the 55 percent of self-described white evangelicals and white born-again Christians who supported Trump in Iowa:

Once again, the whole Well, its a binary choice, either Trump or a Democrat excuse has always been BS. Every chance evangelicals have had to pick someone else they choose Trump. They love Trump; he is the leader they want. And that is more damning than any book or documentary.

Perrys observation echoes Robert P. Jones, founder and president of the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI), who in a recent conversation, explained the relationship between Trump, MAGA, and the Christian right in the following way:

What does Trump mean by MAGA, "Make America Great Again"? It is nostalgia for some a mythical past "golden age." They want a return to 1950s America when White Christians were the unquestioned dominant force in the country. Conservative white Christians want that America back. There is also this incorrect narrative that evangelicals held their nose and voted for Trump. But there is really no evidence for that. White evangelicals support Trump's anti-immigrant rhetoric and his anti-black rhetoric and all those related racial grievance issues. They were breathing comfortably and freely when they pulled the lever for Trump in both 2016 and 2020. As I document in The Hidden Roots of White Supremacy, most white evangelicals sincerely believe that God designated America to be a promised land for white European Christians. That is not a joke to them. If a person sincerely believes such a thing and the country is changing and is not in agreement with that vision, it opens the door to political extremism and violence to secure that outcome. Many conservative White Christians truly believe that they have a divine mandate and entitlement to the country. The historical record clearly shows that white evangelicals have long had an instrumental, rather than principled, relationship to democracy.

Ultimately, the Christian right supports Donald Trump and the MAGA movement because he has promised them great and special power and authority over American society and life. As demonstrated by his Supreme Court appointments and other policies during his first regime, Trump has mostly delivered on these promises and bargains.

With his escalating threats to become Americas first dictator and God King, Trump is now promising the Christian right even more power in exchange for their continued allegiance. Trump, as detailed in Agenda 47 and Project 2025, will make right-wing Christianity Americas de facto state religion. These Christian authoritarians will also stand empowered by Trump and his regime to impose and enforce their beliefs across society as a de facto type of American Taliban or morality police as seen in Islamic countries such as Iran.

In a series of bold essays at MSNBC, journalist Sarah Posner detailed these plans for an American Christofascist Theocracy:

Trump has promoted the theme of Christian persecution in the past, but is elevating it again as these legal issues mount Ramping up his authoritarian rhetoric, Trump pledged in the Iowa speech to institutionalize an authoritarian crackdown of the same sort he falsely accuses the Biden administration of implementing. Upon taking office, I will create a new federal task force on fighting anti-Christian bias to be led by a fully reformed Department of Justice thats fair and equitable, he promised. Its mission will be to investigate all forms of illegal discrimination, harassment and persecution against Christians in America. In another speech, in Reno, Nevada, he pledged to go after colleges and universities for running afoul of his religious freedom edicts. If colleges and universities discriminate against conservatives, Christians, Jews, anybody, he said, we are going to take away their tax advantages, grants and endowment. Lies about the persecution of Christians are very familiar to Trumps base. One needs to look no further than Trumps efforts during his first term, combined with his 2024 pledges to govern like a dictator, to see the authoritarian steps he is taking when it comes to protecting his bases religious freedom. He is leaving little doubt that he will do whatever it takes to retain the loyalty of the base that has stood by him through an insurrection, two impeachments and now multiple criminal indictments. He is saying loudly and clearly that as part of his broader disparagement of the rule of law, he would shred everyone elses rights in the name of his loyalists freedom.

Public opinion polls show that these so-called right-wing Christian values voters are so dedicated to Trump, their savior and prophet, a man who has repeatedly shown himself to be demonstrably evil, that they now believe that a presidents morality and behavior do not matter. Thus, in many ways, Trumpism is the new religion of todays Christian right and Donald Trump is their godhead and savior.

Want a daily wrap-up of all the news and commentary Salon has to offer? Subscribe to our morning newsletter, Crash Course.

In a new essay at the New York Times, Michelle Goldberg explains:

Trumps rise has been accompanied by a collapse in trust in many American institutions once valued by the right, including the F.B.I. and the military, and that loss of faith extends to many religious authorities. As [Tim] Alberta, the son of a conservative evangelical pastor, documented, preachers whove balked at parts of the MAGA agenda have been abandoned by many of their congregants. From this wreckage has emerged a version of evangelicalism that sometimes seems like a brand-new religion, with Trump at the center of it. As Ruth Graham and Charles Homans reported in The New York Times this week, in Iowa, the percentage of people tied to a congregation fell by almost 13 percent from 2010 to 2020, one of the sharpest declines in the country. As ties to church communities have weakened, the church leaders who once rallied the faithful behind causes and candidates have lost influence, they wrote. A new class of thought leaders has filled the gap: social media personalities and podcasters, once-fringe prophetic preachers and politicians. Trump captured the spirit of this movement when he shared a video on his Truth Social site titled, God Made Trump.

The American mainstream news media is largely responding to Trumps crushing win over his rivals in Iowa as somehow an example of shocking behavior by those good hardworking, common sense white Christians in the heartland of real America." But none of this should be surprising to serious observers of American history and politics.

As author and legal scholar Elie Mystal has so sharply and accurately described, the white media views the world through a lens and collective set of biases and commitment to protecting White privilege, generally, and white racial innocence and the many other small and big lies of Whiteness, specifically. In the case of Trump and the Christian right, this means a willful ignorance and denial of the role that race, the color line, and white supremacy play in American (and global) Christianity.

America is Not a racist country. pic.twitter.com/mYe0wW6QBa  Nikki Haley (@NikkiHaley) August 25, 2020

As the 2024 election approaches and Trumps criminal trials bear down on him, he will escalate his hate sermons and claims of divinity and unlimited power. Trumps MAGA followers and the other neofascists are listening very closely to what he is preaching and commanding as shown by the growing number of politically motivated acts of violence, thuggery, and intimidation against Democrats, liberals, and others deemed to be enemies of the movement to end Americas multiracial pluralistic democracy.

In a new column at the Atlantic, Tom Nichols tells this truth about the real motivations driving Trumps MAGA people and other supporters:

Such hopes were always the thinnest of reeds: The Republican base actively embraces Trumps grievances; it emulates his pettiness; it supports his childlike inability to accept responsibility. These voters are not sighing in resignation and voting for the lesser of two or three or four evils. They are getting what they wantbecause they, too, are set on revenge. These voters are not settling a political score. Rather, they want to get even with other Americans, their own neighbors, for a simmering (and likely unexpected) humiliation that many of them seem to have felt ever since swearing loyalty to Trump. A lot of people, especially in the media, have a hard time accepting this simple truth. Millions of Americans, stung by the electoral rebukes of their fellow citizens, have become so resentful and detached from reality that they have plunged into a moral void, a vortex that disintegrates questions of politics or policies and replaces them with heroic fantasies of redeeming a supposedly fallen nation.

No one should have that much power in America  but Donald Trump does.

There are less than ten months left to stop Trump and his plans to be Americas first dictator. The American people and their responsible leaders are rapidly running out of time to save their democracy and nation  and they are most certainly not acting with the speed, dedication, earnestness, and levels of commitment necessary to stop this impending disaster. The urgency of now in this time of democracy crisis is in many ways the urgency of yesterday (and last month and last yearand decades prior) and those Americans who believe in real we the people democracy must increase their efforts accordingly because if they lose to Trump and his forces there will be no do-overs or resets like in a videogame. This is real life.
Under pressure from an impending snowstorm (translation for non-D.C. weather babies: a predicted couple-inch sprinkling), both chambers of Congress Thursday passed a continuing resolution to keep the government funded until early March.

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), whose primary career ambition at the moment is to avoid being cannibalized by his right flank, is trying to satisfy its bloodlust by insisting that the bipartisan Senate immigration bill  a side, but parallel project to funding the government  is not punitive enough. If he can be a hardliner on this, the thinking goes, the right wingers might let him get away with the capital crime of passing a stopgap with Democratic votes.

He started out with an aggressive stance, that Republicans wouldnt work on the border until Donald Trump or another Republican is in the White House (e.g. why would Republicans try to resolve the crisis that theyre getting so much political mileage out of), though hes gotten squishier of late.

Some on the hard right are displeased  their resting state  but seem, at least for the moment, disinclined to go for Johnsons scalp. The Kevin McCarthy fiasco may still be too fresh in everyones memories.

Even if Johnson does survive this time, spring will hold greater threats.

Cast your mind back to the McCarthy-Biden debt ceiling agreement last summer. It included spending levels for the government that House Republicans promptly rejected, leading to a near-shutdown and last minute CR with Democratic cooperation that cost McCarthy his job. But that agreement also included a stick, should Congress (House Republicans) fail to pass appropriations bills and continue passing stopgap measures instead.

Come April 30, if Congress has failed to pass an appropriations package or tried to just pass another CR instead (for any part of the government), the entire budget is slashed to 2023 levels minus one percent. That includes the defense budget, specifically meant to keep Republicans at the table who would otherwise cheer such cuts to, say, the Department of Education.

So when March hits and these CRs expire, Johnson will have to wade into the even more treacherous waters of actually passing bills. Thats a huge problem for him since a) some number of House Republicans will simply never accept anything that has Democratic support and b) these bills need to pass through the Democratic Senate and get the Democratic Presidents signature. Oh, and Johnsons tiny majority is about to get even smaller, giving the impossible-to-please caucus even more power.

This is a natural outgrowth of a Republican party hellbent on obtaining and keeping power for powers sake  with no animating policy aims  for whom breaking the legislature is part of that project. And it does not exactly spell job security for Mike Johnson.

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The 54th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum commenced in Davos, Switzerland, on Monday. The high-profile gathering is scheduled to continue until Friday.

China continues to be a key participant in this conference. Premier Li Qiang attended the annual event and delivered a speech. Several prominent Chinese entrepreneurs and leading experts participated in the sub-forums, offering valuable insights into the outlook of the Chinese economy.

Chinese economy remains resilient

Experts and business leaders expressed confidence in the strong growth of the Chinese economy. The newly released data by the National Bureau of Statistics shows that the Chinese economy beats growth target with its gross domestic product (GDP) growing 5.2% year on year to 126.06 trillion yuan (US$17.71 trillion).

People attend the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2024 in Davos, Switzerland, Jan. 15, 2024. [Photo/Xinhua]

"The growth of 5.2% shows the resilience of the Chinese economy," Zhu Min, an eminent economist and vice chairman of China Center for International Economic Exchanges, said at a panel themed on "Recharging Growth in China" on Wednesday.

Zhu stated that the Chinese economy is currently facing cyclical challenges following several decades of robust growth. Due to a range of factors such as an aging population and lower productivity, China's economic growth seems to be slowing, Zhu said.

But Zhu shared a study he conducted several years ago, which had anticipated that the growth rate of the Chinese economy would stabilize at around 4.5% by this time. Nevertheless, the performance of the Chinese economy has exceeded his earlier expectations, he said.

Jia Shaoqian, chairman of Hisense Group, a leading Chinese company in the home appliances sector, noted that the 5.2% growth rate represents a robust economy. He attributed the growth to China's favorable policies, sound business environment, and efforts in further opening-up.

Seeking new growth engines

Despite the steady economic growth, experts in attendance also warned of difficulties and challenges.

Zhu noted that contributions from the three traditional pillars of the Chinese economy  infrastructure investment, real estate, and exports  have diminished over time. He suggested that the focus should now shift toward cultivating new growth engines, specifically emphasizing domestic consumption, digitalized manufacturing, and the transition to carbon neutrality.

This photo taken on Nov. 4, 2023 shows a city view of Shanghai, east China. [Photo/Xinhua]

Zhu recommended that the government raises social security expenditures through fiscal policies or increasing people's salaries, so as to spur spending among the public. The most recent data showed that consumption accounted for 82.5% of China's GDP growth in 2023.

Zhu also noted that China accounted for 30% of the global manufacturing output, underscoring the sector as a primary strength of the Chinese economy. Consequently, he proposed to accelerate the digitalization of the manufacturing sector, to foster a new economic growth engine.

Kevin Rudd, Australian ambassador to the U.S. and former prime minister of Australia, dismissed the "peak China" narrative, an idea that the Chinese economy, having reached its peak, is bound to slow down and deteriorate.

He argued that the "untapped potential" of Chinese consumer demand was "the best guarantor of China's economic future," adding that "the scale of the Chinese consumer market is unprecedented in global economic history."

Rudd emphasized the importance of enhancing confidence among Chinese consumers, pointing to further improvement in wage policy, taxation policy, and social provisions.
Leaders of the House and Senate Appropriations committees are facing pressure to increase funding for the Department of Justices (DOJ) antitrust division to aid the agency in bringing cases against the nations dominant tech companies, according to a letter sent Thursday.

More than a dozen advocacy groups underscored the need for increased funding, based on a New York Times report that DOJ sources said an investigation into Apple was delayed for three years in order to prioritize a review of Google because the department lacked the financial resources and personnel to fully evaluate both companies.

Big Techs monopolistic behavior leads to higher prices for consumers, puts their personal information at risk, and locks competitors out of the market. Were writing to you to strongly urge you to increase funding for the DOJ Antitrust Division in the current appropriations cycle  so it can fully carry out its mission of protecting the public from corporate abuse, the groups wrote.

According to the Times report, the DOJ is moving closer to filing an antitrust case against Apple. The Times reported the DOJ has met with Apple multiple times to discuss the investigation, but no final decision has been made about whether a lawsuit will be filed or what it should include.

The DOJ has filed two antitrust cases against Google since 2020.

Americas antitrust enforcers shouldnt have to pick their battles. But without sufficient funding, they do. And to resolve this problem, we depend on you, the groups wrote.

The letter, signed by groups including The Tech Oversight Project, American Economic Liberties Project and Accountable Tech, touts the passage of the Merger Filing Fee Modernization Act in 2022 to increase funding for the DOJ and Federal Trade Commission. The bill emerged as part of a broader package of legislation to update antitrust laws, but other more aggressive overhauls of antitrust laws to target tech giants failed to pass despite bipartisan support.

Tech giants lobbied heavily against the bills.

The groups said the heavy lobbying from the companies further underscores the need for Congress to increase the DOJs funding.

Spokespeople for Apple and the DOJ did not respond to requests for comment.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
She was the most privileged person there, said Svante Myrick, president of the People For the American Way.

U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., is being called out for her comments on race regarding President Joe Bidens son, Hunter Biden, during a House Oversight and Accountability Committee hearing.

Michael B. Moore, the Democratic candidate aiming to unseat Mace from her seat in South Carolinas 1st Congressional District in the 2024 election, said the Republicans comments were inappropriate, profane and beneath a sitting representative in the United States.

Left to right: Democratic candidate for South Carolinas 1st Congressional District, Michael B. Moore; and U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C. (Photo: Getty Images)

Last week, the two-term congresswoman called Hunter Biden the epitome of white privilege after he made a surprise appearance at the committee hearing.

Rep. Maces comments came after the younger Biden failed to comply with a subpoena to testify in the impeachment inquiry hearing of President Biden launched last month.

Moore, a former business professional who served as CEO of the International African American Museum, told theGrio he was disappointed but not surprised by Maces comments.

Nancy has been in a mode for quite a while where she pulls these stunts that she knows is going to grab headlines and get her front and center in front of the press, he said.

Democratic strategist Ameshia Cross told theGrio, I was surprised that she could even utter the term white privilege out of her mouth, to be honest.

WASHINGTON DC, UNITED STATES  SEPTEMBER 28: Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett is seen is seen during the first hearing held by House Oversight Committee in impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden at Rayburn House Office Building in Capitol Hill of Washington D.C., United States on September 28, 2023. (Photo by Yasin Ozturk/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Cross said that, more broadly, the Republican Party has shied away from mentioning the term white privilege in any context.

They dont want to believe that it exists. It could be right in front of them, and they deny it over and over again, she said.

So, for that to even be uttered out of a white persons mouth from a party that doesnt believe in white privilege was very interesting to me, Cross explained. Its frustrating because of the context she utilized it in.

Svante Myrick, president of the People For the American Way, told theGrio that Mace used the term to be provocative.

The former mayor of Ithaca, New York, argued that the congresswoman was the most privileged person there.

She was turning that privilege around and using it as a sword to poke down at other people, something that white supremacists do all too often, he added.

FILE  President Joe Bidens son Hunter Biden leaves after a court appearance, Wednesday, July 26, 2023, in Wilmington, Del. Hunter Biden has been charged with felony gun possession. A federal indictment filed in Delaware says Biden lied about his drug use when he bought a firearm in 2018 while struggling with addiction to crack cocaine. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez, File)

U.S. Reps. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., also slammed Mace for her remarks.

It was a spit in the face, at least of mine, a Black woman, said Crockett, for you to talk about what white privilege looks like, especially from that side of the aisle.

She quoted former House speaker and former Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., who said, When you look at the Democrats, they actually look like America. When I look at my party, we look like the most restrictive county club in America.

Cross said it was important for people of color to call out Mace because these are the same people who are fighting for policies of equity day in and day out across this country.

When they bring up white privilege, when they bring up the simple fact that when faced with criminal justice, education inequity, health care inequity, white privilege exists in these systems, said Crockett. They are completely ignored and told they are lying irrespective to data that shows the exact opposite.

She continued, This word does exist, and it does have meaning, but the context is extremely vital in understanding why it was used wrongfully by Nancy Mace.

Svante Myrick, president for the People for the American Way, theGrio.com

Myrick said of Crockett and Ocasio-Cortez that its important that members like [them] are in the room.

Comments like that are said in boardrooms and committee rooms all over this country, every day, he said. Ive been in some of those rooms as a legislator and as a mayor.

He continued, To have them in the room to check in real time the rapid ignorance that was on display [by] Congresswoman Mace is so important for all of the kids and citizens watching these committee hearings across the country.

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The post Congresswoman Nancy Mace slammed for white privilege remarks appeared first on TheGrio.
Candidates hoping to be the next Los Angeles County District Attorney sparred at a fiery Thursday night debate where crime, homelessness and mental health took center stage.

Ten candidates took the stage including current L.A. District Attorney George Gascon.

Gascon was elected to the role in 2020 for his progressive platform including not seeking the death penalty, limiting excessive sentences and limiting mandatory cash bail for misdemeanors and some nonviolent felonies.

Gascon said his reforms have been working and that overall crime is down across the county.

For the last year, we have seen crime coming down, not only in our community, but were seeing crime going down nationwide at the same time that we have continued with the reform efforts, said Gascon.

His critics, however, strongly disagreed as the debate gave a glimpse into how potential candidates plan to reshape the future of law enforcement in L.A. County.

Contenders hoping to secure Gascons seat include:

Eric Siddall  L.A. County Deputy District Attorney

Jonathan Hatami  L.A. County Deputy District Attorney

David Milto  Retired L.A. County Superior Court Judge

Nathan Hochman  Former U.S. Assistant Attorney General

Maria Ramirez  L.A. County Deputy District Attorney

Jeff Chemerinsky  Former federal prosecutor

John McKinney  L.A. County Deputy District Attorney

Judge Debra Archuleta  L.A. County Superior Court

Judge Craig Mitchell  L.A. County Superior Court

Candidates running for Los Angeles County District Attorney in 2024.

Candidates hoping to be the next Los Angeles County District Attorney held a debate on Jan. 18, 2024. (KTLA)

Candidates hoping to unseat George Gascon as the next Los Angeles County District Attorney held a debate on Jan. 18, 2024. (KTLA)

Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon delivers remarks after he took the oath of office Dec. 7, 2020. (Bryan Chan/Los Angeles County)

In this photo from the County of Los Angeles streaming video, incoming Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon is sworn in as his wife Fabiola Kramsky holds the Bible in downtown Los Angeles Monday, Dec. 7, 2020. (County of Los Angeles via AP)

Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon. (KTLA)

The social experiment that Mr. Gascon has been engaging with is not working, said Eric Siddall, an L.A. Deputy District Attorney.

Were ready to take on George Gascon and beat him, said Jonathan Hatami, an L.A. County Deputy District Attorney.

What distinguishes me from the other candidates is that Im the only Republican in the group, said David Milton, a retired L.A. County Superior Court judge.

Simi Valley man sentenced for murdering girlfriend in front of her mother

All nine challengers took aim at Gascons leadership, arguing that his progressive approach has left the greater L.A. area vulnerable  a claim Gascon vehemently disputes.

The regions homelessness crisis, drug addiction and mental health remained in the spotlight, but the issue of crime in the Southland  and how to deal with it  took center stage.

George Gascons pro-criminal special directives on his first day in office have launched the Golden Age for criminals, said Nathan Hochman, a former U.S. Assistant Attorney General. If youre a criminal in L.A. County, the last couple of years have been about as good as it can be.

I think we would all repeal the pro-criminal directives that George Gascon put into practice, said Maria Ramirez, an L.A. County Deputy District Attorney.

Suspects wanted for ransacking Ulta Beauty store in Orange County

Id collaborate with law enforcement and restore the sense of partnership that I think, right now, is lacking, said Jeff Chemerinsky, a former federal prosecutor.

Mr. Gascon came into office having called us internal terrorists before he ever met with us, said John McKinney, an L.A. County Deputy District Attorney.

We dont have mass incarceration, we have mass victimization, said Debra Archuleta, an L.A. County Superior Court judge. Our families, our small businesses, our communities are the recipients of the blanket policies of George Gascon.

I would assume the responsibility of prosecuting misdemeanors, said Craig Mitchell, An L.A. County Superior Court judge.

Much of the debate spotlight was also on Proposition 47, a controversial measure that reshaped the landscape of nonviolent crime prosecution in California.

Enacted in 2014, Prop 47 raised the threshold for nonviolent crimes, making some property crimes under $950 and simple drug possession misdemeanors. It led to fewer arrests for certain offenses and a drop in overcrowded jails.

The intent was to save money from reduced incarceration costs, with the savings used toward drug and mental health treatment, victim services and programs for at-risk K-12 students. However, the measure had also raised concerns about limitations on holding repeat offenders accountable.

The issue of repeat offenders, even though we have a tool to aggregate up to $950 and get to the felony threshold, we recognize that for law enforcement that may be a little difficult, so were looking for ways to fix that, Gascon explained.

The primary election will be held in March. The candidate with more than 50% of the vote will become L.A. Countys new district attorney. If no candidate captures 50% of the vote, the top two finishers will head to a runoff in November.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA.
You are here: China

The Organization Department of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee allocated 385 million yuan (54.1 million U.S. dollars) to assist Party members in difficulties during the New Year and Spring Festival holidays.

The fund comes from Party fees collected from CPC members and administered by the department on behalf of the CPC Central Committee.

Veteran CPC members and retired officials also benefit from this plan.

The department stressed efforts to strengthen financial oversight and ensure the funds are delivered to the recipients before the Spring Festival, which falls on Feb. 10, 2024.
SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4)  Gov. Spencer Cox thinks Utah is weird. But thats a good thing.

The Republican governor, who faces re-election later this year, called on Utahns to take their weird energy and traditions and make them in community-redefining movements in this years State of the State address live from the Utah Capitol.

Despite being a small, oddly shaped state out West, Utah continues to dominate endless lists of national rankings, said Cox. Utah was recently named the best state to start a business, the most charitable state, and the state with the most independent people.

FULL INTERVIEW: Gov. Cox previews State of the State, explains DEI comments

But in talking about such wins, Cox stated that the biggest problem the state faces is one facing most other states, as well.

I believe the single largest threat to our future prosperity is the price of housing. Period, the governor said. Housing attainability is a crisis in Utah and every state in this country. But remember, we are weird. We arent like the rest of the country. No one has figured this out yet, and I truly believe that we can.

Cox said to that end he has proposed the Utah First Homes program, with the audacious goal to build 35,000 starter homes in the next five years. Cox said the focus is on affordable, attainable, single-family, owner-occupied, detached housing.

Most of us grew up or started our own families in a 1,300-square-foot home, said Cox. Our kids and grandkids are desperate for this opportunity. The greatest generation did this after WWII, and we can do it again.

Cox also addressed the extreme end of the housing crisis  the homelessness crisis. While he called for an end to unsanctioned camping, he also said the state will provide help and services for those in need, real consequences and jail for those who willingly break the law, and civil commitment when absolutely necessary.

Utah State of the State 2024: Democratic response outlines priorities for legislative session

Cox expressed his optimism that Utahns could find a solution that fights back against zero-sum thinking.

We decline that offer, said Cox. There is nothing compassionate about allowing people to suffer and die on our streets and there is nothing compassionate about allowing laws to be flagrantly ignored and broken. We can provide help and demand accountability.

The governor also said that such problems are related to the growth Utah is experiencing, and he largely pushed back against the idea of rejecting the new citizens Utah is obtaining. He noted that when he was asked if Utah was growing too fast, his response was, The only way to not grow is to suck at being a state. And Im not interested in that. I want Utah to be the best place to live in the nation. I want Utah to be the best place to start a business. I want Utah to be the best place to have a family. And if that attracts people, well, we live in a free country and a free market.

Cox, however, did shy away from more controversial targets floating around the Utah Legislature this year, not speaking to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) concerns he raised back in December of last year. He did not speak on the states lawsuit against social media companies or bills aimed at transgender youth and citizens.

Instead, he told a lengthy story about an ancestor of his  Iven Cox  who helped transform his hometown of Fairview, Utah, despite suffering tragedy, death and injury.

The truth is that Iven didnt change the world, said Cox. But he changed Fairview. Ive come to believe that is far more important  You see, while the world around us is staggering a bit. From war. From loneliness. From contempt. There are Iven Coxes in every community in this state. At least there used to be, and we need them now more than ever.

And ultimately, he asked Utah to stay weird.

Below is the transcript of Coxs speech as provided by his office immediately prior to his address.

This embedded content is not available in your region.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC4 Utah.
The 2024 Mid-Ohio Educational Service Center's Spelling Bee season is off to an impressive start. The Crawford/Morrow County Virtual Spelling Bee took place Thursday, when 35 students from eight districts competed to be crowned champion.

The competition spanned 10 rounds before Kaylynn Barlow, an eighth grader from Cardington-Lincoln Middle School, became champion by correctly spelling sabbatical. Annabelle Harris, a seventh grader from Colonel Crawford Local Schools, was the runner-up.

The Mid-Ohio ESC Spelling Bee season includes the Crawford/Morrow County Virtual Spelling Bee, The Richland County Virtual Spelling Bee and the Tri-County Spelling Bee.

Top performers from the Crawford/Morrow County Spelling Bee and Richland County Spelling Bee advance to the Tri-County Spelling Bee at 6:30 p.m. Feb. 15. Spectators are invited.

Kaylynn Barlow, an eighth grader from Cardington-Lincoln Middle School, took top honors during the Crawford/Morrow County Virtual Spelling Bee on Thursday.

The Richland County Virtual Bee will be at 10 a.m. Jan. 25.

Leah Barger, the coordinator for Mid-Ohio ESC's bee, said she appreciates the bee's participating districts and continued support of Mid-Ohio's student events.

"It is our hope that these Spelling Bee competitions are exciting for the student participants and also give students the opportunity to showcase and improve their vocabulary and spelling skills while also boosting their confidence, communication and public-speaking skills," Barger said. "All of the participants did a wonderful job, and we are looking forward to hosting the top spellers at the Tri-County Spelling Bee in February."

This article originally appeared on Bucyrus Telegraph-Forum: Crawford/Morrow County Virtual Spelling Bee crowns champion
The Criminal Minds franchise is about to lose one of its main stars after 16 years.

On Wednesday (17 January), long-standing cast member Josh Stewart revealed his time on the show, which was cancelled in 2020 before being revived two years later, had come to an end.

He shared the news in response to a fan question on X/Twitter that asked: Are we going to see you back for new season of Criminal Minds: Evolution? We all need some Will LaMontange back in our lives.

He replied: Sadly, my days of playing Will LaMontagne, Jr are over. You guys have been the absolute best.

Stewart joined the show, which began on CBS in 2005, as a guest star during season two in 2007. He returned in several guest appearances throughout the shows run, eventually marrying Special Agent JJ Jareau (AJ Cook).

He had more of a main role in the shows revival, which arrived under the title Criminal Minds: Evolution upon its release on Paramount+ in November 2022.

Cook will continue starring in the show for the new edition of Criminal Minds: Evolution alongside Joe Mantegna, Kirsten Vangsness, Aisha Tyler, Adam Rodriguez and Paget Brewster.

Fans are in uproar about Stewarts announcement of Williams impending departure from the show, with many branding it sad and disappointing.

This is so disappointing, one viewer wrote, adding: I really enjoyed having him in all the episodes of Criminal Minds: Evolution.

Another fan added: Awwwww. So sorry to hear hes leaving, with one viewer stating: Sad, I loved his character and was glad to see so much of him last season.

Josh Stewart says his time in Criminal Minds has come to an end (X/Twitter)

Criminal Minds has endured as one of CBS biggest hits. The show  which was created by Jess Davis  follows a group of FBI Agents who attempt to catch criminals through behavioural profiling.

The show found itself in the spotlight for the wrong reasons in 2016 when actor Thomas Gibson, who played FBI Special Agent Aaron Hotchner, was fired from the show after a physical altercation with one of its producers.
There's a new, troubling trend for entrepreneurs of color.

Investment firms and funding organizations are being struck with complaints, and in some cases, federal lawsuits, over the constitutionality of financially supporting BIPOC (Black, indigenous, and other people of color) entrepreneurs.

Most recently, the American Alliance for Equal Rights  a conservative activist organization that opposes affirmative action  initiated a lawsuit against the Fearless Fund, which awards $20,000 Strivers Grants to Black women entrepreneurs. The suit claims that the Fearless Fund violates the Civil Rights Act's prohibition of racial discrimination in business contracts because other races aren't being considered for venture funding.

This new impediment to securing financing opportunities for BIPOC entrepreneurs is disconcerting. It's made even more complicated by the alarming statistic that of the $214 billion in venture capital funding allocated in 2022, a slim 1.1% went to companies with minority founders. Plus, entrepreneurs of color who seek debt financing are still likely to be offered inferior loans, even when they're stronger applicants than their white peers, according to the Journal of Marketing Research.

Confronted with these challenges, angel investors and investment groups that fund BIPOC entrepreneurs must remain committed to keeping vital early-stage capital flowing.

The Black and Latino Angel Investment Fund, which was launched by the Center for Urban Entrepreneurship at Rutgers Business School in 2021, is a group of individuals (including me) who have each committed between $25,000 and $50,000 to invest in promising startups owned by founders of color.

Based on my experience as a business school professor at Rutgers as well as an angel investor with the Fund, I have three recommendations to ensure that capable, ambitious, and primed-for-success BIPOC entrepreneurs attain the equity capital that they need for growth:

Invest in crowdfunding campaigns that support BIPOC entrepreneurs

Crowdfunding provisions that permit early-stage businesses to offer and sell securities were established in the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act (JOBS Act), launched by President Obama in 2012. It's a smart option that allows BIPOC founders to connect with potential funders who will embrace their entrepreneurial zeal and recognize that their ideas will be considered in the context of their culture.

A notable advantage that crowdfunding offers to underrepresented entrepreneurs is its democratic nature. This inherent color blindness removes a structural impediment that blocks minority investing within the conventional venture capital fund structure.

Angel investors and investment groups that fund BIPOC entrepreneurs must remain committed to keeping vital early-stage capital flowing.

For example, on the equity crowdfunding platform Republic, 25% of investments have gone to companies founded by Black or Hispanic founders. Eleven percent of all campaigns on the platform Honeycomb have been run by Black founders, and SeedInvest has seen 12% of campaigns run by Black founders. This activity level is nearly proportionate to the percentage of Blacks in the U.S. population (13.6% according to Census.gov as of July 2023).

A noteworthy startup that turned to crowdfunding to secure initial financing is pocstock.

Launched in 2019, pocstock offers a curated media library featuring photos, videos, and illustrations of Black, Asian, Hispanic, Indigenous, LGBTQIA+, and differently abled people of color for the ad/marketing campaigns of Fortune 500 companies and global advertising agencies.

In March of 2023, pocstock raised $129,000 in crowdfunding via Wefunder. It leveraged this momentum to close on $500,000 additional venture capital in July 2023. By the end of next year, pocstock is on track to ramp up from $600,000 in annual revenue to over $2 million. It expects to close on another $500,000 of equity in 2024 as it maintains its growth.

Open your network to include striving BIPOC entrepreneurs

When the Black and Latino Angel Investment Fund was formed, many of the first people who committed to be investors were not only intrigued by the opportunity but also wanted to be personally involved in assisting, guiding, and advising the entrepreneurs whose ideas showed promise. This participation could be replicated in similar programs across America. It enables committed individuals with deep business experience and wisdom to expedite the learning curve  and catalyze private sector investment capital through their personal networks  for BIPOC entrepreneurs.

Most cities and states offer a variety of accelerator programs and incubators for early-stage entrepreneurs. Get involved with minority business ecosystems in your backyard  and provide real-time mentorship like removing obstacles and facilitating introductions to prospective investors and business partners.

Go Locker, a solution that offers safe and protected delivery of packages for shoppers and brands (its clients include Amazon, Poshmark, and Thrive Market), engaged a logistics CEO turned mentor to help hone the company's business model. This unique relationship led to Go Locker securing funding through traditional sources and raising over $1 million to move the business forward.

The company, which was founded by a BIPOC entrepreneur who emigrated to the States from Grenada, scored a massive win in 2023 by partnering with the city of New York's Department of Transportation to provide secure sidewalk lockers for pickup of packages by local residents.

To support BIPOC entrepreneurs as a mentor, look at the initiatives available at the Polesky Center at the University of Chicago, the Russell Innovation Center for Entrepreneurs in Atlanta, and the Center for Urban Entrepreneurship and Economic Development at Rutgers.

Establish intentionally inclusive investment criteria

If you're looking to start a fund or get involved with a syndicate and are concerned about legal challenges, establish intentionally inclusive investment criteria that typically relate to BIPOC-owned startups. These would include entrepreneurs who attended or graduated from an HBCU (historically Black colleges and universities), live in or grew up in a low- or moderate-income community, or have at least one founder or member of the company management be of minority background.

Remember that intentionally inclusive does not mean exclusive, narrowly defined, or restrictive. It simply represents a transparent effort to provide patient and flexible capital to Black entrepreneurs and insulate against suggestions that non-BIPOC entrepreneurs are receiving discriminatory treatment.

Defining intentionally inclusive criteria in your fund/syndicate may also open the door to additional funding opportunities for BIPOC entrepreneurs. For example, the New Jersey Economic Development Authority offers an Angel Match program that matches direct investment in early-stage product-based technology companies with unsecured convertible notes from $100,000 to $500,000.

While the legal endpoint of lawsuits from agenda-driven actors such as the American Alliance for Equal Rights is yet to be determined, it has had a chilling effect. However, funders who wish to support BIPOC entrepreneurs shouldn't sit on the sidelines to wait and see how things play out: Efforts to deliver critical equity capital must endure.

Persistence, ingenuity, and creativity are necessary to achieve this goal. Arian Simone, the CEO and co-founder of the Fearless Fund, exemplified this tenacity in an interview with BET: "We do have to pause on some work. But it doesn't change or alter our mission. The work will continue."

The three above pathways offer effective options for funders who are ready to move forward. Each can quickly and efficiently provide business builders of color with the required capital to move their ideas forward, bring their output to the marketplace, and generate returns for savvy investors.
London Zoo and Prague Zoo have both welcomed newborn gorillas, who belong to the critically endangered western lowland species.

After a brief 17-minute labour, London's new infant was born on Wednesday to mum Mjukuu, following an approximately eight-and-a-half-month pregnancy.

Its father, Kiburi arrived in London from Tenerife in November 2022 as part of the international conservation breeding programme.

Native to central Africa, western lowland gorillas were declared critically endangered in 2007 because of habitat loss as well as deaths caused by the Ebola virus and hunters who killed them illegally for their meat.

Their numbers in the wild have declined by more than 60 per cent over the last 25 years, but the program is helping ensure the preservation of a genetically diverse and healthy population of the gorilla subspecies.

Zookeepers are yet to confirm the sex of the infant.

10-year-old gorilla Duni holds her newborn baby at the Zoo in Prague, Czech Republic - Petr David Josek/AP

In Prague Zoo, a new female cub was born late on Tuesday to mum, ten-year-old Duni.

The Zoo has been breeding lowland gorillas since 1963 with the first cub born there on 13 December 2004. That cub was Moja, who became the first gorilla born in a zoo in the Czech Republic and is the grandmother of the new baby. Its father is a twenty-six-year-old male Kisumu.

Shortly after the birth, the zoo staff gave the newborn a rest from the public and the gorilla complex was closed.

The public was allowed in again on Thursday to view the new baby.

Jan Mengr, the curator of the apes at the zoo, said the birth was an important event and essential for the social system of the endangered species.

"From a European point of view, this rearing is important because it is recommended and encouraged. We expect that there will be an opportunity to transfer the cub to another zoo. There's plenty of time for that because they leave at about seven years old," said Mengr.

10-year-old gorilla Duni holds her newborn baby at the Zoo in Prague, Czech Republic - Petr David Josek/AP

Prague Zoo achieved better and broader facilities thanks to the division of the gorillas into two separate reservations, according to Bobek.

From Friday visitors can vote for the name of the cub, choosing from ten names that the zoo has selected from suggestions from children in Cameroon, Africa.

"We asked the children of the Dja Biosphere Reserve in Cameroon for suggestions...because they are participating in our Wandering Bus project and have become gorilla conservationists," explained the director of Prague Zoo, Miroslav Bobek.
A Hartford man has declared his intention to go to trial and fight charges tied to a deadly stabbing in New Britain in 2017 over a drug debt of less than $300.

Rodney Ford, 32, formally decided to pursue a trial during a hearing Thursday in New Britain Superior Court, according to Judicial Branch records.

He has pleaded not guilty to charges of murder and conspiracy to commit murder in the Sept. 2, 2017, killing of 66-year-old Willie Woodson.

Fords case was added to the states trial list following the proceeding Thursday without a definitive start date, court records indicate. He remains held on $1 million bail.

According to the arrest warrant affidavit, Woodson was found unresponsive by a neighbor in a residence on Tremont Street. The 66-year-old was cold to the touch and had blood in his mouth, having suffered multiple stab wounds.

During the investigation, a witness reported seeing Wallace and Ford leaving the residence around the time of the killing, the affidavit alleges.

Additionally, police said Ford, while being held on an unrelated matter at the Hartford Correctional Center, allegedly made multiple statements to a cellmate that implicated him in Woodsons murder, according to the warrant affidavit. Among other statements, police wrote in the affidavit, Ford allegedly expressed concern that his DNA would be found in the home where Woodson was killed and that a witness could place him at the crime scene.

Ford, the affidavit continued, allegedly spoke to his cellmate about the best places to discard a murder weapon and said multiple times that he and his cousin had messed up.

According to the affidavit, investigators noted that the cellmate reportedly had information that he said Ford shared with him, specifically about the murder of Woodson, that had not been disclosed to the public or the media.

Investigators wrote in the affidavit that they believe Wallace and Ford  identified in court papers as cousins  killed Woodson over a drug debt of no more than $240.

Ford and Wallace were each charged in the killing in October 2022. Wallace faces the same charges as Ford and has also pleaded not guilty.

Wallace is being held on a $499,000 bond and is expected to appear in court on Jan. 30.
A new astronomical satellite, jointly developed by Chinese and European scientists, has been sent into space to explore the mysterious explosive phenomena and study the little-known side of the universe.

The Einstein Probe (EP), launched from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China's Sichuan Province on Jan. 9, is an international cooperative mission led by the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), involving the European Space Agency (ESA), the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics (MPE) in Germany and Centre National D'Etudes Spatiales (CNES), the French space agency.

The probe is equipped with a wide-field X-ray telescope (WXT) consisting of 12 modules and a set of two units of follow-up X-ray telescope (FXT).

ESA and MPE contributed the key components of the FXT. ESA is participating in the EP project as a mission of opportunity and has provided support for testing and calibrating the X-ray detectors and the optics of WXT. ESA's ground stations will be used to help download the data, while the French space agency provided a VHF (very high frequency) ground receiving network for the real-time and fast downlink of scientific data, according to the project consortium.

In return, ESA and MPE will get access to 10 percent of the scientific data, and CNES will get 5 percent. The Chinese and European parties have also established a joint team of scientists, which will jointly carry out data analysis and scientific research after the launch.

"International cooperation has provided more opportunities for all parties involved to explore space, and at the same time, it is a process of mutual learning, and mutual benefits can be achieved," said Yuan Weimin, principal investigator of EP.

"I would like to congratulate our colleagues at CAS on the successful launch of an innovative mission that is set to make great strides in the field of X-ray astronomy," said Professor Carole Mundell, ESA's director of science. "At ESA, we value international collaboration to advance science and deepen our understanding of the cosmos. I wish the Einstein Probe team a very successful mission."

"EP will achieve a breakthrough in science through its powerful and novel instrumentation, which requires the combination of European and Chinese expertise. We look forward to the many new discoveries enabled by this successful collaboration," said Kirpal Nandra, director of MPE.

Cooperation between Chinese and European space scientists can be traced back nearly 20 years. China's Double Star space mission collaborated with ESA's Cluster mission in 2005 to achieve six-point coordinated measurements of the Earth's magnetosphere for the first time in human history. The joint international team was awarded the Laurels Team Achievement Award by the International Academy of Astronautics in 2010.

With the continuous development of China's space technology and science, an increasing number of countries are participating in China's space program.

International cooperation with scientists from countries such as Switzerland, Italy, Austria, Britain and Germany has been carried out in a series of China's space science missions including the Dark Matter Particle Explorer, the Quantum Experiments at Space Scale, the Hard X-ray Modulation Telescope, China Seismo-Electromagnetic Satellite and the Advanced Space-based Solar Observatory.

The China-Europe joint space mission, Solar Wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer (SMILE), is scheduled to enter space in 2025, according to Wang Chi, director of the National Space Science Center (NSSC) under CAS.

SMILE is a collaborative science mission between the CAS and ESA to build a deeper understanding of the Sun-Earth link by observing the dynamic interaction between the solar wind and Earth's magnetosphere.

The SMILE mission is a very ambitious cooperation program executed with equal contributions from both entities. It demonstrates the close links between ESA and the NSSC/CAS, said Karl Bergquist, administrator of European and external relations of ESA.

"Space science in China has developed extremely fast in the last 10 years and is now at par with all the leading space powers," Bergquist said.

"Cooperation is very beneficial per se, and in particular when European and Chinese scientists study and work on the same topics, cooperating on mission development will reduce costs and push the scientific boundaries further," Bergquist added.
Russian attack on Chernihiv on 19 August 2023. Photo: Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine on Telegram

Ukraines National Agency for Corruption Prevention (NACP) has added the details of the Iskander-K cruise missile that Russia used to strike the centre of Chernihiv on 19 August 2023, to the world's only open database of foreign components in weapons.

Source: National Agency for Corruption Preventions press service

Quote: "The base has been replenished with four new components from the SN-99 global navigation satellite system of the 9M727 Iskander-K cruise missile, which killed seven people, including a six-year-old girl. More than 150 people were injured."

Details: Experts said that "the missile was manufactured no earlier than March 2023, which means that it is likely that these components were supplied to the aggressor after the start of Russia's large-scale invasion of Ukraine".

Background:

In December, the NACP announced the launch of the world's first open database of foreign components used by Russia and Iran in unmanned aerial vehicles, missiles, electronic warfare systems and other types of weapons and military equipment.

Currently, the database posted on the War and Sanctions portal contains information on foreign components found in Russian and Iranian weapons used during Russias full-scale invasion of Ukraine since 24 February 2022.

On 19 August 2023, the Russian occupiers committed another war crime by launching a missile attack on the centre of Chernihiv.

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Dearborn Fire Chief Joseph Murray was sentenced this week to one year of probation for drunken driving.

The sentence for Murray, 44, handed down by Dearborn Heights District Judge Mark Plawecki, also includes: 20 hours of community service directed by the city of Dearborn; inpatient rehabilitation; outpatient counseling; one random alcohol and drug screening once a week, and one Alcohol Anonymous meeting a week.

Murray was arrested Aug. 29 in Dearborn Heights at 2:44 a.m. after being pulled over. He told officers he had been drinking at a bar in Taylor, saying he had four to five beers, according to police.

Dearborn Fire Chief Joseph Murray has been placed on leave after being arrested August 29, 2023, on suspicion of drunk driving

He was then placed on administrative leave by Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud. On Oct. 30, Hammoud reinstated Murray as fire chief, saying at the time that he didn't want to "evaluate an individual in their darkest moments," noting that Murray had a "two-decades-long career in public service."

A couple of days later, Murray was charged by Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy with two charges: operating a motor vehicle with a high blood alcohol content and operating while intoxicated. Murray pleaded guilty Dec. 6 to one count of operating while intoxicated. The other charge was dismissed.

"His decision to plead to the charge and to accept the punishment speaks volumes of his integrity," Murray's attorney, Ed Zelenak, city attorney for Lincoln Park and Southgate, told the Free Press on Friday.

Murray has been with Dearborn's fire department since 2004. In 2012, he was named fire chief by then-Mayor John O'Reilly Jr. He is also president of the Southeastern Michigan Association of Fire Chiefs.

Contact Niraj Warikoo: nwarikoo@freepress.com or X @nwarikoo.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Dearborn fire chief sentenced for drunken driving
A Kansas man will remain on death row for the killings of an Olathe woman and her 18-month-old daughter, the Kansas Supreme Court ruled Friday.

Kyle T. Flack, 38, was convicted in a 2013 quadruple murder. In 2016, a Franklin County jury recommended Flack be sentenced to death for two of the homicides and District Judge Eric Godderz followed that recommendation. He was also sentenced to life and 22 years for the other two slayings.

Flack filed an appeal and oral arguments were held before the Kansas Supreme Court on Jan. 31, 2022.

Clayton Perkins, an attorney with the Capital Appellate Defender Office, told the high court that Flacks trial attorneys were not given sufficient time to build a defense. He noted that there were over 20,000 pages of documents to read and that the public defenders had a heavy caseload.

When they asked for a third continuance because they had not finished reviewing discovery documents or completed their investigation, it was denied. Perkins said that decision was unreasonable and that Mr. Flacks constitutional rights to present a defense were violated.

He also said investigators violated Flacks Miranda rights when he repeatedly told police to take him to jail and they continued to question him.

Perkins said Flack was clearly invoking his right to end interrogation which a reasonable police officer under the circumstances would have understood.

Kris Ailslieger, deputy solicitor general with the Kansas Attorney Generals Office, said the judge granted two continuances.

Clearly there was no rush to trial here, he said. The defense had three years from the time Mr. Flack was charged and two years from the time of his arraignment to get ready for trial.

They had plenty of time. And I think the district court was right. At some point, you know, you cant just keep kicking the can down the road.

On the interrogation, Ailslieger said, The standard is he has to unambiguously, unequivocally, invoke his rights. The best way to do that is to say, you know, Im done talking, I want to end the interview, I dont want to talk anymore, something along those lines. He didnt say that.

The bodies of Steven White, 31, Andrew Stout, 30, and his girlfriend Kaylie Bailey, 21, were found inside a house near Ottawa. Her daughter Lana was found in a suitcase floating in a creek in rural Osage County near the Franklin County line.

Flack did not testify during the trial and a motive for the killings was not known, The Star previously reported.

The Kansas Supreme Court released its 87-page opinion Friday morning affirming Flacks sentence.

Nine people remain on Kansas death row, according to the Department of Corrections. The state has not carried out an execution since 1965.
Denis Monastyrsky died on January 18 as a result of a plane crash in Brovary

The decision to distribute weapons on the streets at the start of the full-scale invasion, made by late Internal Affairs Minister Denis Monastyrsky, strengthened Ukraine's position during negotiations with Russia at the start of Russias war.

This was revealed in the film Unfinished Flight, released on the one-year anniversary of Monastyrsky's death on Jan. 18, by Servant of the People party leader David Arakhamia.

Arakhamia led the Ukrainian delegation during the early negotiations in Belarus, where news of Monastyrsky's decision to arm citizens caused the Russians to think twice about storming Ukrainian cities.

"It worked during the negotiations. When I appeared in Belarus for the first negotiations with Russia, and they tried to psychologically pressure us, saying, 'You have no chance  we'll already be in Kyiv by the time we finish todays session', he said.

Read also: Negotiations with Russia at start of full-scale war were difficult, admits Defense Minister

While we speak, I should officially inform you that weapons are being distributed on the streets, and people are taking them, Arakhamia told the Russians.

They didn't know the exact number, but they understood that I wasnt exaggerating Ukrainian resistance," Arakhamia said.

Were bringing the voice of Ukraine to the world. Support us with a one-time donation, or become a Patron!

Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
A strike on a Russian oil depot in Klintsy is adversely affecting supplies to the Russian army and increasing the Ukrainian army's ability to manoeuvre, Ukraines Defence Intelligence says.

Source: Andrii Yusov, a representative of Defence Intelligence, during the 24/7 national joint newscast

Quote: "Its clear that when it comes to an oil depot which supplies the occupation corps with fuel and more, this [the strike  ed.] is going to complicate logistics for the occupiers. It disrupts their supply schedules. Accordingly, it gives our defenders space and time to manoeuvre."

Details: Yusov reiterated that Ukrainian drones can hit targets at a distance of more than 900 km. He said that the Russians should be asking questions of the Russian leadership, because these are consequences of the aggression they unleashed against Ukraine. "The local population is beginning to understand that reality and propaganda are very different, because Russian propaganda has once again claimed that nothing happened  that some targets were shot down and neutralised," he said.

Background:

Yusov said on Thursday that a drone attack on a St Petersburg oil depot on the night of 17-18 January demonstrated a "new level of quality" of weaponry.

A source in the intelligence services told Ukrainska Pravda that on the night of 18-19 January, Ukraines Defence Intelligence conducted another special operation in Russia using Ukrainian drones. The drones attacked the Tambov gunpowder plant and an oil depot in Klintsy, Bryansk Oblast.

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With suspended U.S. military aid and Russias superior manpower reserves, Ukraine has little choice but to remain on the defensive in the war, parliamentary Defense Secretary Chair Roman Kostenko said in an interview with NV Radio on Jan. 19.

Read also: Prospects of peace as frontlines in Ukraine ossify and foreign aid dwindles

If we consider the entire 1,000-kilometer-long frontline, we have been in an active defense since last year, with some active measures, Kostenko said.

We tried to carry out offensive action in Zaporizhzhya Oblast, as well as in Kherson Oblast. Even though we called [the summer 2023 operation] a strategic offensive, what is happening is more like strategic defense. The enemy has not been stopped in all sectors, and in some, they continue to carry out active offensive and are successful  Avdiivka and Kupyansk sectors. This is a problem.

When they [Kyivs Western partners] tell us to go on the defensive I would agree not in the sense that we have to stand still and dig in without carrying out any [offensive] initiatives, but that we need to consolidate our defense.

The committee chair then spoke about Russian troops successfully stopping the Ukraines 2023 counteroffensive in the south.

Read also: SBU arrests Russian agent in Zaporizhzhia region for helping target missile strikes

We cannot break through the defense that Russia has built in Zaporizhzhya Oblast due to its thorough execution. In certain sectors, they are pushing us back and we are retreating. This suggests concern regarding the construction of our defense and the commanders responsible for its development. Defense is not just trenches; it is a fully-fledged system.

The objective for defense is to skillfully repel the enemy's attacks, inflict maximum losses, maintain positions, and create conditions for further offensives. These four factors must align. When we are being pushed back, it is not defense.

Read also: Ukraine denies discussing territorial compromises with partners in Davos

Kostenko then commented on recent media reports saying that U.S. officials are urging Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to focus exclusively on halting further Russian territorial gains.

There are many ways to interpret what [Jake Sullivan, the White House National Security Advisor] meant, said Kostenko.

Read also: Defense capability and support for Ukraine is the best response to threats from Russia, says Latvian President

Typically, an offensive demands more weaponry. Perhaps it is a hint that we will give you weapons only for defense. Or they realized that the Russian army has proven difficult to push through, as observed over the past year.

It's true that we need to strengthen our defense to a point where the enemy stops pushing us back. Launching an attack is impossible when the enemy is encroaching from all sides, seizing territory.

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
DAVOS, Switzerland  In a setting they usually dominate, top Biden administration officials and U.S. lawmakers found themselves in an unusual position at the glitzy annual gathering this week  a defensive crouch.

Day after day, the officials faced questions about the political tussle over providing more aid to Ukraine, congressional polarization, the optics of supporting Israel despite the suffering of Palestinians and a growing bombing campaign against the Houthis in Yemen. And day after day, they had to reassure foreign counterparts that the U.S. had everything under control, that these were complicated times but nothing America and its allies couldnt handle.

The last time American officials were in this high-society ski town, just a year ago, they boasted about how Western support put Ukraine on the front foot against Russia and how investments in clean energy made the U.S. more competitive  even if it led to a major-but-temporary spat with Europeans. The talk of Davos wasnt about what was wrong with America, but what was right.

Not this time.

When Secretary of State Antony Blinken stepped onto the World Economic Forums main stage to discuss how the Biden administration navigated a turbulent world, The New York Times Thomas Friedman asked him: Do Jewish lives matter more than Palestinian and Muslim lives?



No, Americas top diplomat answered, arguing the U.S. has pushed Israel to minimize civilian harm in Gaza even as it supported the retaliation against Hamas.

That moment was one of the many times U.S. officials, in public and in private, were forced to explain the fractured state of American politics and competing visions of its foreign policy.

Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.), a member of the seven-lawmaker congressional delegation on the Magic Mountain, admitted he and his colleagues had to console global leaders about debates back home, namely on the legislative wrangling over $61 billion for Ukraines forces, and the possible return of Donald Trump to the Oval Office.

But Coons, a confidant of President Joe Biden, added that there was no reason to grumble about the U.S., not least because it had strengthened relations around the world and buttressed its economy against headwinds. I feel more optimistic about America's place in the world.

Not everyone feels that way. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy complained in a leaked off-record session about the foul state of American politics. Others expressed clear concern about Washingtons trajectory, and what adversaries such as Russian President Vladimir Putin would do if it doesnt stay the course.

The U.S. is a guarantor of European security. That's a fact, said Gabrielius Landsbergis, Lithuanias foreign minister. We need the U.S. I'm not even starting to think about the scenarios that would change the posture of the United States. That will just fuel the mayhem that Putin started immediately, and then probably would lead to more war, to more instability, and to more costs.



Oksana Markarova, Ukraines ambassador to the U.S., asked during an event hosted by the media outlet Semafor about the threat Americas political polarization presents to equipping Ukrainian forces, said the only threat to us is Russia. But she added, we knew it was an election year in the U.S. We knew its not going to be easy to secure more aid for Kyiv.

Insecurities about American policy kept trickling out beyond private sideline meetings into public settings.

During an interview on the main stage, U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan defended the administrations approach to the Israeli-Hamas conflict and the military response to Houthi strikes on commercial ships in the Red Sea.

Two-state solution negotiations were an impossibility even before Hamas Oct. 7 attack, Sullivan argued, so the only way to make progress was to broker normalization deals with Arab nations in exchange for a pathway toward a Palestinian country. And, he said, the Houthis continued missile launches even after the U.S.-led punitive strikes in Yemen werent evidence of an American failure.



We did not say, when we launched our attacks, theyre going to end once and for all, the Houthis will be fully deterred, Sullivan said. We anticipated the Houthis would continue to try to hold this critical artery at risk and we continue to reserve the right to take further action. (The answer ignored the White Houses own war powers justification to Congress stating Biden directed the response to degrade and disrupt the ability of the Houthi militants to carry out future attacks.)

Biden echoed Sullivans sentiment Thursday before boarding Marine One. A reporter asked if the strikes were working against the Houthis. He responded: When you say working, are they stopping the Houthis? No. Are they going to continue? Yes.

Both comments earned immediate pushback. On the goal of formalizing ties between Israel and Arab nations, the International Crisis Group's Michael Hanna said the administrations logic was lacking. Dealing with Palestine is the sustainable path to normalization.

As for the Houthi strikes, the Eurasia Groups Gregory Brew argued signaling that you don't think your military action against an adversary will change that adversary's behavior is generally a bad thing to do.



The U.S. launched another round of strikes on Houthi targets Thursday night for the fifth time and has redesignated the Iran-backed militant group as terrorists.

Also on Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he told the U.S. he opposes any creation of a Palestinian state after the war ends.
The House Armed Services Committee has asked Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to testify before the panel to explain his failure to notify key government leaders, including the president, of his recent hospitalization.

Rep. Mike Rogers, chair of the Republican-led panel, sent a letter to Austin on Thursday requesting he testify in person during a full committee hearing on February 14.

The Committee expects to hear your direct testimony regarding decisions made to withhold information from the President, Congress, and the American people, Rogers wrote.

Congress must understand what happened and who made decisions to prevent the disclosure of the whereabouts of a cabinet secretary, the letter stated.

Austin and the Pentagon have been under intense scrutiny for a lack of forthrightness after they failed to notify the White House or Congress that the secretary was hospitalized on New Years Day for complications from a prostate cancer procedure in December.

The request from Congress follows Austins release from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on Monday, two weeks after he was admitted. The Pentagon said in a statement that Austin will work remotely for a period of time before returning to the Pentagon and has full access to secure communications capabilities.

New revelations about the day of the hospitalization brought to light the aide who called 911 requesting an ambulance to Austins house on New Years Day asked that the ambulance be discreet and not show up with lights and sirens due to a desire by Austins camp to be subtle.

The undisclosed hospitalization has faced criticism from President Joe Biden and several members of Congress, and has prompted a review by the Pentagons inspector general into the matter.

The letter from the House Armed Services Committee is the latest in questioning toward Austin and his team about the initial lack of transparency related to his health. Three separate reviews from the White House, the Pentagon and the Pentagons inspector general to examine the notification process and whether policies need to be changed, has been initiated since the news came out of the hospitalization.

While Austin was admitted to the hospital on January 1  and the intensive care unit on January 2  the public did not know about his health complications until January 5. It was later discovered that the White House, including Biden, had not been notified until January 4. Congress was not notified until January 5.

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com
LAFAYETTE, Ind.  Delphi suspect Richard Allen was charged Thursday with two additional counts of murder and two counts of kidnapping in the 2017 killing of Libby German and Abby Williams.

Prosecutors first charged Allen with murder while committing a felony in October 2022. But prosecutors did not file the charge of kidnapping the girls  the felony alleged in the initial murder charges  until Carroll County Prosecutor Nicholas McLeland did so Thursday afternoon.

Prosecutors also added two counts of murder, which is defined as knowingly or intentionally killing another person, according to Indiana law.

The distinction between the two types of murders is that murder in the commission of a felony accuses Allen of kidnapping 14-year-old Libby and 13-year-old Abby, forcing them off of the trails east of Delphi near the Monon High Bridge, and in the process of the kidnapping, the girls were killed. Under that charge, prosecutors wouldn't necessarily have to prove Allen was the actual killer.

Officers transport murder suspect Richard Allen during a hearing regarding sealed documents, Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2022, at Carroll County Courthouse in Delphi, Ind.

The charges of murder filed Thursday accuse Allen of the act of killing the girls on Feb. 13, 2017, on the banks of the Deer Creek, about a quarter of a mile east of the Monon High Bridge.

If convicted on all four counts of murder, he can only be sentenced on two murder counts, and all four charges carry the same possible sentence: between 45 and 65 years in prison. Additionally, the kidnapping charges carry a possible prison sentence of between three and 16 years if convicted, according to Indiana law.

McLeland filed a request with the court on Thursday to amend the charging information to add the four additional charges. Special Judge Fran Gull has not yet ruled on the motion.

Richard Allen's defense: Attorneys allege Odinism ritual sacrifice

"The State is asking the Court for leave to file these Amended Charges because the charges more accurately aligns the Charging Information with the cause's discovery and probable cause affidavit," McLeland wrote in his pleading filed with the new charges.

McLeland's pleading for the new charges indicated that Allen and his legal team have been aware of the possible addition of new charges and that the additional charges do not prejudice Allen's rights.

Allen's legal team reverted back to his original public defenders  Brad Rozzi and Andrew Baldwin  after Thursday's Indiana Supreme Court hearing and subsequent ruling. Allen petitioned the Supreme Court for his original attorneys after Gull removed them on Oct. 31, 2023.

"... (T)he trial for this matter is 9 months away, giving Defense adequate time to prepare to defend the amended charges," McLeland wrote.

Allen's trial is scheduled to begin in October.

Reach Ron Wilkins at rwilkins@jconline.com. Follow on Twitter: @RonWilkins2.

This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Delphi murder suspect Richard Allen faces 4 new charges
Black-owned businesses were added to a new digital directory created by the Battle Creek Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. to help uplift Michigans Battle Creek and Calhoun County communities.

According to the Battle Creek Enquirer, the chapter launched the RED, Black, and Green Pages during an inaugural Black Business Expo held on Nov. 18 at the Burma Center in Springfield, Michigan.

Economic Development Committee Chair Lynn Ward Gray discussed the color themes behind the initiative and how Black businesses can benefit from it.

When we launched the original listing in 2016, we could not have imagined a digital version seven years later and are thrilled to offer this free platform to Black-owned businesses in Calhoun County, Gray told the Battle Creek Enquirer. With the new platform, we needed a new name. Since we are known for our RED (the sorority colors are crimson and creme) and its a program under our chapter, thats where we began. Then Black, because our mission includes a primary focus on the Black community. Then Green for prosperity because wed like every business connected to this digital directory to thrive and prosper.

We want Black-owned businesses to know that we will not only provide exposure for their business but offer a range of opportunities that aid in their success, such as workshops, business mixers and, of course, an annual Black Business Expo, to name a few, Gray added.

Listed businesses can also update their information to the digital directory, assuring the system remains current, per the Battle Creek Enquirer.

A W.K. Kellogg Foundation grant, facilitated by the Delta Research and Educational Foundation, has made the digital directory possible for Black business owners.

Although we have very capable business owners right here in our Battle Creek community who can speak about their business journey, I wanted to allow them to focus strictly on their business for the day and be on the receiving end of the value-add information sure to be gained from the panel discussion, therefore, I intentionally sought out individuals from other areas, explained Kyra Wallace, a consultant who organized the event.
The share of U.S. adults who favor government intervention to restrict false information has grown 50 percent in the last five years, and Democrats are nearly twice as likely as Republicans to support that intervention. Democratic state officials are now taking action to urge the Supreme Court to roll back longstanding First Amendment freedoms, belying their party's claimed commitment to preserving democracy.

Representing the Democratic attorneys general of 21 other states plus the District of Columbia, New York Attorney General Letitia James recently filed an amicus brief with the Supreme Court asking the Court to reverse the 5th Circuit's 2023 decision in Missouri v. Biden, which ordered the federal government to stop pressuring social media to censor disfavored speech. (On reaching the Supreme Court, the case is now called Murthy v. Missouri.)

James is no fan of free speech. Following the breakout of hostilities in Gaza, she demanded that six social media companies "stop the spread of hateful content" on their sites. The platforms, she announced, had been used to "spread horrific material, disseminate threats, and encourage violence" and must "prohibit the spread of violent rhetoric."

Several of James's co-authors on the amicus brief have similar records, as do their gubernatorial sidekicks. California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Attorney General Rob Bonta have sought to chill constitutionally protected expression they dislike, regularly denigrating it as "disinformation," "hate speech," and "extremism." In 2021, Bonta wrote Facebook urging it to remove Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s page. "Facebook shouldn't be giving certain users a free pass to spread misinformation," he said. In November 2022, Bonta threatened legal action against five social media companies unless they took steps to rid their platforms of "the dangerous disinformation, misinformation, conspiracy theories, and threats that fuel political violence, spread fear and distrust, and ultimately chill our democratic process."

Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul championed a law that would have prohibited pregnancy centers from using "deceptive acts" to dissuade women from seeking abortions. He agreed to a federal court order enjoining its enforcement after the court described the law as "both stupid and likely unconstitutional." Raoul's thinking reflects that of his patron, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker. "There ought to be a private right of action for anybody that's dissuaded or told something that's false, that's the important thing. What they say to people, that's fine, as long as what they're doing isn't deceptive," Pritzker said. "You have a right to free speech, but you don't have a right to lie."

These various anti-free speech stances have now been bundled and amplified by James and her 22 colleagues in their brief objecting to the 5th Circuit's decision. What the 5th Circuit regarded as essentially governmental coercion, James and company see as "best practices." They are intent on "mitigating the spread of harmful content on social-media platforms." They sound the alarm about tweets that contain "misleading information about the electoral process." They want to halt the "proliferation of potentially harmful contentranging from extremist videos to viral challenges encouraging users to engage in dangerous and potentially criminal activities." They are worried about the dangers of "promoting extremist violence."

Despite being attorneys general who ought to have a basic understanding of the American Constitution, these authors seem unaware that their sweeping arguments for censorship don't apply merely to social media platformsthey are a frontal attack on three basic tenets of First Amendment jurisprudence.

First, speech cannot be suppressed unless it is, in the Supreme Court's words in the 1969 Brandenburg case, "directed to inciting or producing imminent lawless action and is likely to incite or produce such action." Mere advocacy of law violation or violence, as opposed to incitement, is constitutionally protected. James and company may think they should be able to censor calls for violence by one side or the other in Gaza and Ukraine, extremist propaganda, or Martin Luther King Jr.'s "Letter from Birmingham Jail" justifying civil disobediencebut the Supreme Court has disagreed.

Second, hatred, racism, and extremist ideologies are viewpoints, and it is up to individuals, not the government, to decide which viewpoints to adopt. The First Amendment, wrote Justice Thurgood Marshall for the Supreme Court in the 1972 case Police Department of City of Chicago v. Mosley, "means that government has no power to restrict expression because of its message, its ideas, its subject matter, or its content." The Constitution does not give political officials the power to be guardians of public morality, responsible for diverting the public from wrongthink.

Third, lying is constitutionally protected. Formally designating information as false would require authoritatively identifying an official source of true informationinstituting, as the Court has noted in the 2012 case U.S. v. Alvarez, a Ministry of Truth empowered to compile a potentially endless list of subjects about which false statements are punishable. The First Amendment protects Donald Trump's right to claim that his inaugural crowd was larger than Barack Obama's, as well as Joe Biden's right to claim that he never discussed his son's business dealings with him.

Precepts such as these mark the line between protected and unprotected speech. The 5th Circuit's hands-off order in its Missouri v. Biden decision explicitly extends only to constitutionally protected speech. It expressly permits the states and social media companies to collaborate in taking down speech that is constitutionally unprotected, such as fighting words, true threats, or defamation.

Yet James' brief shows no recognition of the distinction. Instead, it prattles on about how useful it is for the states to "publish nonbinding guidance or share suggested best practices" and "productively communicate" information on public health issues such as opioid abuse and e-cigarettes. But nothing in the 5th Circuit's order stops the states from doing that. What James and company reject is communicating their worries about online content openly, like unprivileged common folk whose speech is subject to the scrutiny of an open, lively, and robust marketplace of ideas.

Unhappy with that option, however, the brief's authors seem unaware that from Vietnam to Iraq to Afghanistan to COVID, the government itself has been a gushing fount of falsehoods; that, as the Supreme Court said in Alvarez, the "suppression of speech by the government can make exposure of falsity more difficult, not less so"; that the censors' machinery they advocate for, once institutionalized, is easily turned against them when their adversaries gain power; and that the censors' heavy hand inevitably alienates the public, generates distrust, fosters social division and political instability, and makes martyrs out of the silenced and valorizes their message, driving it underground where it festers unrebutted.

That such an amicus brief from James and her Democratic cohorts could even be submitted underscores that it is not merely freedom of speechthe right on which all other freedoms dependthat has become a partisan issue. The authors proclaim their devotion to "democratic processes." Yet democracy and free speech rest on the same premise: that the people, not elite overseers, are able to sort out truth from falsehood and to determine for themselves what's in their own best interests. If you don't believe that, you don't believe in either free speech or democracy.

The post Democratic Attorneys General Support Censorship appeared first on Reason.com.
Chinese doctors join efforts in combatting cholera outbreak in Zambia

Xinhua) 09:24, January 19, 2024

Chinese doctors check the condition of a patient infected with cholera at the National Heroes Stadium, designated as a Cholera Treatment Center, in Lusaka, Zambia, on Jan. 18, 2024. Chinese doctors joined local health workers on Thursday in providing healthcare services to cholera patients in Lusaka, the Zambian capital. (Xinhua/Peng Lijun)

LUSAKA, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- Chinese doctors joined local health workers on Thursday in providing healthcare services to cholera patients in Lusaka, the Zambian capital.

A total of 10 doctors from the 24th Chinese Medical Team and the 26th Chinese Military Medical Expert Team were present at the National Heroes Stadium, designated as a national treatment center, to offer services to patients.

Du Xiaohui, the Chinese ambassador to Zambia, said that the medical teams had started their work at the treatment center as part of implementing the consensus of the leaders of the two nations and China's recently announced assistance measures.

The Chinese Embassy also made additional donations to support Zambia in tackling the cholera outbreak.

"These medical experts will, in accordance with the arrangements of the Zambian health authorities, work with their Zambian counterparts to provide health services to the patients," Du said at the handover ceremony of medical supplies.

He said that a total of 993 Chinese medical experts have traveled to Zambia over the years to combat various ailments, including COVID-19, cholera and malaria, expressing China's commitment to assisting Zambia during the cholera outbreak.

Zambian Health Minister Sylvia Masebo thanked China for its assistance, not only in the health sector but also in other areas. She highlighted the true brotherly friendship demonstrated by China, saying that the current Chinese leadership has maintained the spirit of their forefathers in sustaining the relationship.

The minister also expressed gratitude for the donation, saying it is important for fighting the cholera epidemic, which has affected the country since October last year.

Zambia has recorded 10,887 cases and 432 deaths, with ongoing efforts to treat and discharge patients across various treatment centers in nine provinces.

A Chinese doctor and a Zambian doctor check the condition of a patient infected with cholera at the National Heroes Stadium, designated as a Cholera Treatment Center, in Lusaka, Zambia, on Jan. 18, 2024. Chinese doctors joined local health workers on Thursday in providing healthcare services to cholera patients in Lusaka, the Zambian capital. (Xinhua/Peng Lijun)

A Chinese doctor and a Zambian doctor check the condition of a patient infected with cholera at the National Heroes Stadium, designated as a Cholera Treatment Center, in Lusaka, Zambia, on Jan. 18, 2024. Chinese doctors joined local health workers on Thursday in providing healthcare services to cholera patients in Lusaka, the Zambian capital. (Xinhua/Peng Lijun)

Chinese doctors and a Zambian doctor check the condition of a patient infected with cholera at the National Heroes Stadium, designated as a Cholera Treatment Center, in Lusaka, Zambia, on Jan. 18, 2024. Chinese doctors joined local health workers on Thursday in providing healthcare services to cholera patients in Lusaka, the Zambian capital. (Xinhua/Peng Lijun)

Chinese doctors check the condition of patients infected with cholera at the National Heroes Stadium, designated as a Cholera Treatment Center, in Lusaka, Zambia, on Jan. 18, 2024. Chinese doctors joined local health workers on Thursday in providing healthcare services to cholera patients in Lusaka, the Zambian capital. (Xinhua/Peng Lijun)

(Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Liang Jun)
 Flash

Yemen's Houthi group on Friday claimed responsibility for launching a missile attack on a U.S. ship in the Gulf of Aden.

"The naval forces of the Yemeni Armed Forces (Houthi) carried out an attack targeting U.S. ship (Chem Ranger) in the Gulf of Aden with several appropriate naval missiles, and the hit was accurate," Yahya Sarea, Houthi military spokesman, said in a statement broadcast by the group's al-Masirah TV.

"The Yemeni Armed Forces (Houthi) confirm that a retaliation to the American and British attacks is inevitable and that any new aggression will not go unpunished," the spokesman said.

The attacks "will continue until a ceasefire in the Palestinian enclave of Gaza Strip is imposed, and the siege is lifted," Sarea said, adding that their escalation comes in support of the Palestinians.

In a statement on Thursday, the U.S. Central Command said that the U.S. Navy forces stationing in the Red Sea conducted defensive strikes on two Houthi antiship missiles that were aimed into the southern Red Sea.

Alos on Thursday, U.S. President Joe Biden said his administration returned the Houthi armed group to the "terrorist" list, and the decision will take effect next month if the Houthis don't stop threatening the shipping lines.

In response, Houthi chief of negotiators Mohammed Abdulsalam denounced the re-designation of his group as for "political purposes."
This is a joint project between Nexstar Media Group and Syracuse University.

HANOVER, NH (NEXSTAR)  Democrats are gearing up for Tuesdays New Hampshire Primary. The candidate who is expected to win has been absent.

Two relatively unknown Democrats spent their Thursday crisscrossing New Hampshire. They are pitching to voters why they should vote for them and not write in President Bidens name. Biden is not on the ballot because of a dispute over New Hampshires primary scheduling.

The Democratic candidates are calling out President Biden for not visiting the Granite State.

Really, thats the way you think you are going to win? And you think people arent noticing that, said Marianne Williamson (D), who is running for President for the second time.

But, to not do a single debate? Why? To not answer the questions of the press? Why? To not show up in front of voters? Why? To not do a town hall? Why? I think its time to answer the question, said candidate Rep. Dean Phillips (D-MN)

Williamson and Phillips have an uphill battle. In a poll released Monday by the American Research Group, the president is far ahead of Phillips, and Williamson is trailing badly. It has not deterred their campaigns.

You can propel me to make this a legitimate competition, Phillips said in his closing message at a Hanover, NH, rally on Thursday.

Williamson said, You dont waste a minute even if you are just walking down the street passing out palm cards, meeting people.

Democratic National Committee and state officials disagreed on the order of the 2024 election calendar. The DNC wanted South Carolina to go first, while New Hampshire lawmakers insisted their state have their first in the nation primary as it has been a tradition for decades.

You are all being punished for holding a primary that you are required to hold by state law, former presidential candidate Andrew Yang said at the Phillips rally. It is the DNC that is trying to suppress competition.

Phillips and Williamson will be back on the campaign trail tomorrow with the same goal  to reach every potential voter.

Benjamin Schiller is a senior Broadcast and Digital Journalism student at Syracuse University and has interned for CNN and MSNBC.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to DC News Now | Washington, DC.
Russian missiles contain a large number of foreign components  including from the free world  despite Western sanctions, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his evening address on Jan. 18.

"All Russian missiles have dozens of critical components produced abroad, and many of them by companies from the free world, Zelenskyy said. Oleksandr Lytvynenko, Head of the Foreign Intelligence Service, reported this today. The facts are obvious", he said.

Read also: EU proposes to ban exports to Russia of motors for drones in its 12th sanctions package

Zelenskyy called on Ukraine's allies to block Russia's ways of circumventing sanctions and thanked those partners who understand the importance of this work.

Zelenskyy already raised this topic while addressing World Economic Forum (WEF) participants in Davos on Jan. 16.

Read also: Ukrainian anti-graft agency uncovers over 40 non-Russian components in X-59 missiles

Russian imports of military goods have only slightly decreased, despite all the sanctions, showed a joint study carried out by the Kyiv School of Economics (KSE) and the the Yermak-McFaul Expert Group on Russian Sanctions on Jan. 12.

Russian imports of military units reached almost $9 billion for January-October 2023, which is only 10% less than before Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the study said.

The European Union adopted the 12th package of sanctions against Russia on Dec. 18. The package should cost Russian trade about $5.3 billion, Bloomberg reported.

Leaders of the G7 countries approved on Dec. 6 the expansion of Russian sanctions and the introduction of a ban on the import of diamonds from Russia starting January 2024.



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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
CHARLOTTE (QUEEN CITY NEWS)  Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police confirmed with QCN that alleged child sexual abuse was uncovered during their investigation into a deadly shooting.

Nathan Martin, 33, was arrested and booked into jail on Thursday, Jan. 18, charged with two counts of statutory sex offense and two counts of indecent liberties with a minor.

According to CMPD, shortly after 9:15 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2023, officers responded to the 4000 block of Meadowridge Drive for an assault with a deadly weapon.

Elderly Rock Hill woman dies as a result of neglect, 2 daughters arrested

As they got to the crime scene, they found a man and a woman, later identified as Brandy Cox, 36, who had been shot. Cox was pronounced deceased at the scene. The man, who has not been identified, was taken to the hospital, at that time, with non-life-threatening injuries.

A person of interest at the scene was taken into custody at that time, but not identified.

CMPD confirmed with Queen City News that while investigating this homicide case, certain facts came to light on Martin, leading to his arrest this week.

Iron Station man found with gun, drugs after multi-state police chase ends in SC

Martins exact connection to this homicide case remains unknown. Queen City News has asked Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police for further information.

No arrests have been made yet in connection to the deadly December shooting. CMPD said the homicide investigation remains active and ongoing.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News.
New demonstrations were held in the capital of Russia's republic of Bashkortostan on Jan. 19 to protest the jailing of a popular local rights activist.

The protests first erupted on Jan. 17 after the authorities sentenced activist Fail Alsynov to four years in prison on charges of "inciting ethnic hatred," which he denies.

Bashkortostan is a republic of Russia located near the Ural Mountains, close to the border with Kazakhstan. Ethnic Russians make up around 38% of the population, followed by the Bashkirs and Tatars, both of whom are Turkic people with their own language.

According to the independent Russian outlet SOTAvision, about 1,500 people gathered in Ufa earlier today, including whole families with children. The demonstrators were singing songs, dancing in freezing temperatures, and calling for Alsynov's release.

Law enforcement stepped in to disperse the protests, and videos appeared online showing people being dragged into police vans.

The Verstka independent outlet wrote that by the time the rally ended, around 10 people had been detained.

Russian authorities launched a criminal investigation into the rally as "mass riots" and "use of violence against government officials." In spite of this, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said he does not consider the demonstrations as "mass protests."

As a response to the event, a pro-government rally is going to be organized on Jan. 20 in support of the republic's head, Radiy Khabirov.

Alsynov, who has campaigned for the protection of Bashkir language rights, also previously characterized Russia's mobilization campaign as a "genocide" against Bashkirs. There have been widespread claims that Russia disproportionately mobilizes ethnic minorities, including Bashkirs, to fight in Ukraine.

Former Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov appealed to Bashkirs in May 2023 not to fight in Ukraine, saying that Moscow is infringing on the rights of Bashkirs and exploiting their natural resources.

Read also: Protests break out in Russias Bashkortostan republic

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Winebrenner Property Management has acquired more than 4 acres of East Market District and Butchertown property formerly owned by the Werst family, which operates Plumbers Supply Company. The recently sold lots are highlighted in red in this north-facing diagram.

An entire city block at the edge of NuLu is under new ownership with yet undefined plans for redevelopment.

The longtime Plumbers Supply Company headquarters at 1000 E. Main St. in the East Market District has been sold to Winebrenner Property Management LLC, a subsidiary of Louisville-based Winebrenner Capital Management.

Managing member Earl Winebrenner III said there are no preconceived notions about what the block could become but that he has a "commitment to preserve the area's rich history."

Werst Realty LLC sold not only the Plumbers Supply building but also its nearby parking lots at 933-937 and 1001 E. Main St. and a commercial warehouse property at 1001-1011 Story Ave., totaling over 4 acres and 120,000 square feet of building space.

Ultimately due to its size, we envision developing some portions ourselves, joint venturing on others, and selling some as well, Winebrenner said in a Jan. 19 release.

A purchase price wasn't initially disclosed, though deed records show the properties were sold for $16 million. Winebrenner said in the release that investing clients of his wealth management service made the deal possible and that financing was not used.

Plumbers Supply Company opened offices at 1000 E. Market St. location in 1930, just nine years after the company's founding by John J. Werst, Sr., and six other partners.

It was the company's longest continuously operated office until the business relocated its downtown area location to 930 Market St. in December 2023 and moved its primary warehouse and headquarters to 4420 Bishop Lane.

Jay Werst, chairman of Plumbers Supply Company, said in a release he looks forward to the properties' future.

"Through a methodical process, our family determined that selling the Main Street properties to Winebrenner will add to the exciting transformation of NuLu," Werst said.

Winebrenner's company transformed the nearby corner of East Main and Campbell streets from a vacant retail space into the six-story, 137-unit Martin on Main apartment complex, a $43 million project.

Hwe Dup Bap, a Korean sushi bowl, on the menu at Korean steakhouse Nami.

Winebrenner purchased the land in 2019, secured city approvals in 2021, and opened the mixed-use building in 2023. Korean steakhouse Nami, from chef Edward Lee, opened on the first floor of the building in May 2023 and additional first-level retail space is still available.

Winebrenner offered few specifics for what may develop on the newly acquired 4 acres but said the existing parking lots of 66 spaces will be immediately used as paid public parking, to be managed by Riverside Parking.

Weve viewed the closing as the launching point of the project," he said.

The acquisitions are located on the eastern end of the Nulu district, which has seen hundreds of millions in investments in recent years, from hotels to restaurants to retail.

More immediately, the block to the north directly across Main Street from the former Plumbers Supply building has come to be known as Butcher Block. Over the last decade, local developer Andy Blieden has purchased a row of mostly rundown shotgun homes and turned them into a commercial district of shops, services and eateries.

"We are very excited that Earl's company bought this property," Blieden told the Courier Journal. "Its one of the best development opportunities in all of Louisville. Earl does great work and we cant wait to see what his plans are for the future for the site."

Growth & development reporter Matthew Glowicki can be reached at mglowicki@courier-journal.com, 502-582-4000 or on Twitter @mattglo.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Plumbers Supply building, nearby lots in NuLu area sold to developer
The Baltimore County Public Schools system has launched an investigation into a high school principal who was recorded spewing offensive remarks about Black students and the Jewish community.

District officials are looking into Pikesville High School Principal Eric Eiswert and an audio recording capturing whats believed to be his voice going on a tirade aimed at school staff, Black students, and the communitys Jewish families. However, union officials claim the recording is AI-generated.

The outrageous language in the audio is not the language, thoughts or character of Principal Eiswert. He is an outstanding school leader who has daily demonstrated his commitment to the students, community and faculty of Pikesville HS, said Council of Administrative and Supervisory Employees executive director Billy Burke, whose union represents school administrators such as principals and other management-level staff.

Baltimore County Public Schools is investigating a recording capturing whats believed to be the voice of Pikesville High School Principal Eric Eiswert spewing derogatory remarks about school staff, Black students, and the Jewish community. (Photo: x/@ericeiswert1)

The recording was posted on the Instagram account @murder_ink_bmore. Its unclear who recorded the audio and how the popular social media page obtained it. Maryland is a two-party consent state.

You know, I seriously dont understand why I have to constantly put up with these dumba**es here every day? the voice purported to be Eiswerts is heard saying. Between these ungrateful Black kids who cant test their way out of a paper bag or these teachers who dont get it  how hard is it to get these students to meet their grade-level expectations?

The speaker goes on to name a staff member he believes should have never been hired, then makes a derogatory remark against another person, saying, Im gonna drag his Black a** out of here one way or another.

Im just so sick of the inadequacies of these people, the recording continues, a reference to the students and faculty. And if I have to get one more complaint from one more Jew in this community, Im going to join the other side! the rant adds before the recording ends.

While the recordings authenticity has yet to be verified by district officials or local news reports, the superintendent of the school system called it deeply disturbing.

I understand how upsetting this recording is for many members of the Team BCPS community, Superintendent Myriam Rogers said. We will not tolerate disparaging remarks about any member of the Team BCPS community.

The most recent release of state test results shows that 40 percent of high schools in Baltimore City reported zero students scoring proficient in math after state exams. No student achieved a proficient score in these schools. Seventy-one percent of the districts student population is Black, according to its website.

Johnny Olszewski, the Baltimore County executive, also released a statement since the recordings release:

Hate, discrimination, and prejudice have no place in our community  especially in our schools. The statements being circulated are abhorrent and my administration is providing our full support to BCPS as they conduct a thorough investigation. Following the conclusion of this investigation, I know swift action will be taken to hold those involved accountable.

The Council of Administrative and Supervisory Employees (CASE) is a designated bargaining unit for certified Baltimore County Public Schools staff and faculty who are members and need legal representation in personnel matters.

Burke said the union supports the BCPS investigation and will provide our full cooperation. However, he is requesting that there be a pause in any rush to judgment and that we act respectfully to his family, staff, and to each other. Let this be a reminder that hate has no place.

Burke also told the Baltimore Banner that he believes the recording doesnt capture Eiswerts voice but speculated that it is AI-generated, noting no other voice can be heard.

We believe that it is AI generated, Burke said. He did not say that.

He Did Not Say That: Union Rep Claims Voice on Recording Disparaging Black Students Was Al-Generated and Not Baltimore County High School Principal
 Flash

An injured boy sits among the rubble after an Israeli airstrike in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah, on Jan. 18, 2024. [Photo/Xinhua]

The Palestinian death toll from the ongoing Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip has risen to 24,620, the Gaza-based Health Ministry said on Thursday.

The ministry said in a press statement that the Israeli army killed 172 Palestinians and wounded 326 others during the past 24 hours.

It added that the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict has wounded 61,830 Palestinians since its outbreak on Oct. 7, 2023, noting that a large number of victims were still under the rubble, and ambulance and civil defense crews could not reach them.

Meanwhile, Palestine TV reported that an Israeli bombardment in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah on Wednesday night resulted in the deaths of at least 19 Palestinians, most of whom were children and women.

In the West Bank, the death toll of Palestinians killed by the Israeli army in Tulkarm rose to six during a massive military operation that lasted for more than 30 hours, it added.

At least 367 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli gunfire in the West Bank since a new round of Israeli-Palestinian conflict broke out on Oct. 7, 2023, according to the official Palestinian news agency WAFA.
(Bloomberg) -- Western allies must focus their efforts on stopping Russias invasion of Ukraine or Moscow will continue trying to expand beyond its borders, European Commission Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis said on Friday.

Most Read from Bloomberg

My biggest worry is continued Russian aggression against Ukraine, he told Bloomberg TV on the sidelines of the last day of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. If we are not stopping Russia, there are prospects of Russia actually going further and starting new aggressive wars, and they are openly talking about this.

Dombrovksis, who is responsible for the European Unions trade policy, warned of a challenging year 2024, given the war in Ukraine and tensions in the Middle East.

These conflicts have the potential to disrupt trade and supply chains, even though the World Trade Organizations global forecast of 3.3% for 2024 is quite positive, Dombrovskis said. However, there are certain risks that we need to follow.

--With assistance from Max Ramsay.

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2024 Bloomberg L.P.
More than a week after her son and two of his friends were found dead at a Northland home, Jennifer Marquez has had to avoid social media and ignore TikToks sent her way.

The internet rumor mill has run amok with speculation after Marquezs son, David Harrington, 37, was found dead along with his friends Clayton McGeeney, 36, and Ricky Johnson, 38, at the home in the 5200 block of Northwest 83rd Terrace.

Some accounts have speculated foul play.

Strangers have made negative assumptions about her son and his friends.

There were so many posts sent to Marquez that she needed to step back, allowing her the space to focus on caring for herself and her family and honoring her sons life.

At this point, I cant even guess what happened, Marquez said.

We dont have answers from the police yet. We dont know anything yet. All I want to happen is to find out why, and if theres a reason, I want there to be justice.

Harrington, her first-born son, was someone friends and loved ones could count on, Marquez said.

If a friends dog was dying, he would gather a group, bring dog treats and sit with them through the night so they didnt have to do it alone. When some of his friends passed away, he would help care for their families and watch their kids.

Her son also loved to make people laugh, Marquez said. At a wedding, he once walked down the aisle throwing petals like a flower girl.

If something bad was happening, he could make you smile or make you feel like everything would be OK, no matter what, Marquez said. And thats all gone.

Since his passing, Marquez said hundreds of people have reached out to say how much Harrington meant to them. She bought more storage on her phone to save all the photos and videos theyve sent, filled with memories with her son.

Harrington, McGeeney and Johnson grew up together and graduated from Park Hill High School. All the men, Marquez said, were active members of their community who had hundreds of people come out to honor their lives at memorial services.

Alan McGeeney, Claytons cousin, grew up with the men and had known Harrington and Johnson for around 20 years. Clayton McGeeney was both his cousin and his closest friend, he said.

When the two were younger, the McGeeney cousins had a carpet van theyd load with bikes, snowboards or skateboards, so they could ride every day.

As an adult, Clayton McGeeney got into motorcycles and traveled the country, taking three-month trips to the West Coast with just a backpack and his Harley, his cousin said. On his last trip, he rode across Colorado into California and traveled down the coast through Arizona and New Mexico before returning home.

Since having kids, Alan McGeeney hadnt been able to adventure with his cousin as much, but they worked on bikes and trucks together and talked about trips they might have in the future.

Clayton McGeeney had made some poor decisions that led to him losing his license because of traffic violations, and had fallen behind at times on child support payments. But Alan McGeeney said his cousin had worked hard to better himself for the last decade, and no longer had lingering court dates or money owed.

He was on a good path, Alan McGeeney said. He cared about that.

Three people were found dead outside a home in the 5200 block of Northwest 83rd Terrace late Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2024, in Kansas City. The home was seen Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024.

Its not fair

On the day the men were found dead, police received a call from Clayton McGeeneys fiancee, who was searching for him at the Northland home where he, Harrington and Johnson met another friend to watch the Chiefs game two days prior. No one had heard from the men after that Sunday night.

When there was no answer at the door, his fiancee broke into the basement and found a dead body on the back porch.

Officers arrived and found two other men deceased in the backyard.

Police said there were no obvious signs of foul play at or near the crime scene, and are awaiting the results of a medical examination to learn the causes of death for the three men.

Alan McGeeney had seen his cousin earlier that day. The men did a flooring job that morning and talked again around 7:30 p.m. that Sunday night.

Clayton McGeeney offered to have him and Johnson take over a job the following day, so that his cousin could rest his injured back.

Monday rolled around, but Alan McGeeney never heard from his cousin. He was annoyed at first, thinking he might have overslept after spending the night with friends. But after reaching out to his cousins fiancee and anyone else he could think of, Alan McGeeney learned no one had talked to his cousin since Sunday.

Family have started GoFundMes to support the loved ones of three men found dead at a home in Kansas Citys Northland over a week ago. One of the victims was 36-year-old Clayton McGeeney.

Other loved ones tried banging on the houses door multiple times, but no one answered, he said.

On Wednesday morning, he learned his cousin and two of their childhood friends had died.

Like Marquez, Alan McGeeney doesnt know what happened. He hopes authorities, who previously said they were obtaining a search warrant for the home, will investigate the friend the three men had gone to see that night.

Its hard for Marquez to believe that her son just froze to death outside. His car was parked in front of the home, and he lived about a mile from where his body was found, she said.

Now, all three families are focused on honoring their loved ones. GoFundMe fundraisers were created to help pay for funeral costs and other expenses for McGeeney, Harrington and Johnson.

Alan McGeeney said he hopes the fundraiser will help his cousins fiancee get by as she deals with the stress of his passing.

Marquez will travel to Kansas City from Arkansas this weekend to have a celebration of life for her son with as many loved ones as possible. Later, theyll plan a more formal funeral to honor Harrington.

This is going to be the hardest thing Ive ever had to do in my whole life, Marquez said.

I never thought I would have to say goodbye. No parent ever does. Its not fair, and I just dont know how Im going to get through it, but I have to because thats what parents do.
 Flash

Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, meets with former U.S. Secretary of Treasury Timothy Geithner, now chairman of Warburg Pincus, in Beijing, capital of China, Jan. 18, 2024. [Photo/Xinhua]

Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng met with former U.S. Secretary of Treasury Timothy Geithner, now chairman of Warburg Pincus, on Thursday in Beijing.

The two sides exchanged views on China-U.S. relations, China's economy, capital markets, and other topics.

He, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, said that China's economy had maintained a good recovery momentum, with solid progress in high-quality development and bright prospects.

China will continue to open up to the outside world at a high level, improve the business environment that is market-oriented, law-based, and internationalized, and welcome Warburg Pincus to participate in China's capital market construction and share development opportunities, He said.

Noting that Warburg Pincus has been in China for 30 years and is the earliest global asset management and investment company in China, Geithner said Warburg Pincus will continue to cultivate the Chinese market deeply.
As companies increasingly recall workers to the office, employees and managers alike are finding that the pandemic made us all a little rusty with in-person conduct, whether it's the communal kitchen left in disarray or being too loud at your desk. picture alliance / dpa

You walk into the office kitchen to heat up your lunch and are greeted by a mess. Your co-worker Bridget has left the communal area in disarray - again.

You're frustrated. Where do you go from here?

Do you shame Bridget and make her feel bad? That might make you feel righteous in the moment, but is that actually helpful? Are you helping to improve your workplace - and most important, ensuring a clean kitchen the next time - by unloading on her? What's the end goal here?

This is a hypothetical scenario, one used frequently by business etiquette trainer Kate Zabriskie as she helps office workers and managers think through best practices for harmonious and productive workplaces. But many workers post-pandemic are dealing with their own Bridgets every day - or are one.

As companies increasingly recall workers to the office, employees and managers alike are finding that the pandemic made us all a little rusty with in-person conduct. Co-workers are too loud at their desks. People are on their phones during meetings. Shaking hands is no longer a given. Small talk at networking events is ... awkward.

Bosses' solution to this stilted behaviour? Charm school.

More than 6 in 10 companies will send their employees to office etiquette classes by 2024, according to a July survey of 1,548 business leaders by ResumeBuilder.com.

"It's a shifting environment," said Zabriskie, president and owner of Maryland-based Business Training Works Inc., a workplace etiquette and soft skills firm that has recently gotten more requests from companies for basic civility training. "We're all coming back together. We want to ... make sure we have a shared agreement about what's acceptable and what's not acceptable in the workplace."

Before the pandemic, the Swann School of Protocol would go out to workplaces about once or twice a month to help train staff on business etiquette. Now, it gets four to six requests a month, said Elaine Swann, founder of the Carlsbad-based training institute.

"The soft skills that are necessary to have a harmonious workplace were not being used" when everyone was home working in their pajamas, she said. "Utilizing those skills is almost like a muscle. If you're not using that muscle, it can become weak."

Business etiquette training can include a wide variety of topics - professionalism in the office and on Zoom, giving feedback, proper dress code, remembering names and how to conduct oneself during a business lunch.

On a recent weekday, a group of students from California's Irvine Valley College dressed in their professional best gathered at an Italian restaurant to learn how to navigate a multi-course business meal with savvy and finesse. In hushed tones and with minimal clinking, the students handled the multiple utensils, broke off small pieces of bread to butter and resisted the impolite urge to blow on their hot soup.

The fine dining class was the last lesson in their course on business etiquette. The students are in the Guaranteed Accounting Program, or GAP4+1, a partnership between Irvine Valley College and Cal State Fullerton that sets up participants to get associate's, bachelor's and master's degrees in accounting in five years.

So much of accounting involves face-to-face contact with clients, or at a minimum, extensive interviews with employers to get a job. It's why Irvine Valley College has placed so much emphasis on this business etiquette course, which a school representative said turns students into highly recruited "diamonds."

Kevin Nguyen, 32, an Irvine Valley College sophomore, said previous lessons on professionalism taught him the importance of introductions and proper business attire - key components he plans to use in future interviews.

"When you come from high school, there's no formalities. It's very informal," said Nguyen, who previously worked as a high-class server, caterer and driver before deciding to go to school for accounting. "I think this course makes me stand apart. There's not really any classes that teach you how to be business professional."

In a recent survey on office decorum, nearly 75% of respondents said they'd take advantage of business etiquette courses if they were offered by their employer, including 93% of Gen Z survey respondents.

Common complaints from hybrid and in-office employees included loud talking, office gossip and not being prepared for meetings, according to human resource consulting firm Robert Half. (The meeting etiquette faux pas also included arriving late and dominating the conversation.)

To be clear, bad behaviour didn't start with the pandemic. There have always been messy kitchens or loquacious colleagues. And to some extent, workers may have gotten used to solitary setups at home and are now less tolerant of typical office distractions such as crunchy chips or co-worker chatter.

There are also more serious workplace issues that etiquette training won't fix.

Some ResumeBuilder etiquette survey respondents mentioned other topics of interest, including "what conversation isn't acceptable," that "discussion of political standpoints and/or religion is discouraged" and that every person should be treated "equally and fairly."

Such diversity, equity and inclusion training or anti-harassment courses are outside the purview of most business etiquette classes and are typically handled through a company's internal HR department, specialized cultural sensitivity experts or law firms. But related topics can sometimes come up.

Nisha Trivedi, founder of NishaTri business etiquette training, said she got a question during a training session last spring about how to respond to a microaggression. She encouraged the person to pose a neutral question, such as "What did you mean by that?" to give the other person the benefit of the doubt, while also not letting the comment go.

"That would give the person a chance to respond either with their sincere meaning, or to acknowledge an issue with what they previously said," Trivedi said.

Annoying or off-putting office behaviour can be costly to employers already struggling with retention or recruitment in a tight labour market.

"If somebody isn't fitting into a culture - and that can be because of some of these workplace habits - they often become unhappy," said Alexandra Von Tiergarten, district president of Robert Half, who is based in Los Angeles. "And an unhappy worker doesn't want to stay."

Business etiquette firms say requests are coming from all sectors - engineering, insurance, luxury car dealerships, healthcare, finance and even architecture.

Corrugated box manufacturer New-Indy Packaging decided to enroll sales employees in a business etiquette class after managers saw a representative give a lackluster presentation during a business trip. The firm's sales representatives went through six three-hour training sessions to polish up their skills in professional presentation, proper attire, attending lunch meetings and client interactions.

"There isn't one session that didn't open the eyes of our employees," said Brad McCroskey, executive vice president of sales.

Interpersonal conduct is also a major topic of training.

Uncertain about handshakes because someone once left you hanging at a business event? Next time, confidently extend your hand and make eye contact. If the other person declines because they're not comfortable, bring your palm to your heart and say, "It's good to meet you," which shows respect and avoids dangling hands, said Becky Rupiper, a longtime senior training and image consultant with Des Moines-based firm Tero International.

Trouble with networking skills? Small talk is a popular topic of training, as is how to get out of a conversation you no longer want to be a part of. ("There's a whole template to that," Rupiper said with a laugh, but did not divulge.)

Deciding what is "professional" for each workplace is another major issue.

Returning to the office means a return to kitchen drama, as with the hypothetical Bridget - burned popcorn wafting its pungent odor throughout the office, constantly full dishwashers, or paper towels piling up on the floor because there's no trash can nearby.

How does each workplace want to define what is and isn't OK? How does that work when that extends to dress code or even open-door policies?

It's discussions like these that Zabriskie helps facilitate for her clients. She and her team will meet with employees and managers at a company, break down what professionalism means in that particular workplace and identify behaviours that support that idea.

The classes don't teach anything so mind-blowing that couldn't be read in a book, Zabriskie said, but they do help flatten the learning curve so what may have taken six months to figure out on your own is addressed instantly.

Another big topic - best communication practices among different generations.

"We all have value," said Lisa Richey, founder of the American Academy of Etiquette, who is based in Raleigh, North Carolina. "That's kind of an underlying theme with dealing with multiple generations."

To help workers of different generations understand one another better, Richey has her clients play a game in which people fill out a worksheet with their favourite candy bars, favourite movies of their time or popular styles or hairdos. It usually elicits a lot of laughter.

"If there's somebody from a Baby Boomer generation, then they like it when you stand up and shake their hand and show respect. That's meaningful to them," Richey said. "Whereas another generation wants a text and wants it quick and that's it. So we talk about the benefits of knowing all the different generations and how they like to be communicated to."

Part of the push for training is to help people get comfortable with going back into the office, and for everyone to realize that this takes some sensitivity, said business etiquette instructor Theresa Thomas, who taught New-Indy Packaging employees and the Irvine Valley College students and has more than 20 years of experience in the field.

"People have made major changes in their life," she said. "Many of us have gone through difficult things. It's important to have an increased ability to have empathy and be more caring."

Proper dress code is one of the topics tackled by business etiquette training. Mascha Brichta/dpa
The Douglas County Animal Shelter is under quarantine after a pneumonia outbreak, according to city officials.

Shelter officials said they were placed under a mandatory quarantine by the Georgia Department of Agriculture after an pneumonia outbreak among 14 dogs.

The quarantine is out of caution to prevent further spread.

Less than 10% of dogs at the facility have pneumonia, according to shelter officials.

Our top priority is the health and welfare of the animals in our care. We are taking swift and comprehensive action to address this outbreak and prevent further spread within the shelter, said Vanessa Francikowski, Douglas County Animal Services Director. We are also working in unison with our shelter veterinarian and state veterinarian to address any further health concerns that may arise, she stated.

[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]

The quarantine is expected to last for two weeks.

Douglas County animal control will only act on an emergency-only basis while the quarantine remains in place.

Blankets

Durable dog toys (Nyla Bones, Chews)

Stuffed toys (Kongs, Chew Kings)

Paper products: bags, small cardboard boxes, empty toilet paper & paper towel rolls

Calming oil or treats

Xylitol-free peanut butter

TRENDING STORIES:

Donations can be dropped off at the front doors of the shelter, which is located at 2171 Mack Road in Douglasville, from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Online donations can be made through the Douglas County Website on the animal shelter page.

For more information regarding the quarantine, contact Vanessa Francikowski at: vfrancikowski@douglascountyga.gov or call the shelter at 770-942-5961.

[SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]

IN OTHER NEWS:




SPANISH LAKE, Mo.  One man died Thursday afternoon in a single-vehicle crash in Spanish Lake. A pedestrian was also injured in the crash.

According to Sgt. Tracy Panus, a spokeswoman for the St. Louis County Police Department, the crash happened around 4 p.m. near the intersection of Larimore Road and Baron Avenue.

Police arrived to find a Jeep Compass crashed into the bushes of a residential front yard. The driver, an adult male, was having an unspecified medical emergency. He was rushed to a local hospital but was pronounced dead.

Investigators claim the driver was traveling southbound on Larimore when the vehicle left the roadway, hit a pedestrian, and then struck bushes in a front yard.

Panus said the pedestrian was brought to a hospital. Their injuries were not life-threatening.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 2.
Frigid winter conditions are affecting drone batteries in Ukraine like they do cell phones and some other electronics.

It means drones can't spend as long in the air, a drone commander and an expert told BI.

It's an issue for both Russia and Ukraine, but it's a bit worse for Ukraine as it relies more on cheaper drones.

Drone warfare has become a key part of the conflict in Ukraine, with both sides using the equipment to track each others' movements, direct troops and artillery, and attack enemy soldiers and weaponry.

Drones are being used more in this war more than in any other conflict in history, and both sides are working to grow their arsenals as much as possible.

But the onset of freezing winter temperatures changes what's possible in the fight by providing less daylight time, exhausting batteries faster, and even fogging up the cameras that drones rely on to be effective.

Ukrainian soldiers take part in medical training on the frontline in Ukraine's Donetsk Oblast on January 14, 2024. Ignacio Marin/Anadolu via Getty Images

Cmdr. Vitaliy Kryukov, a loitering-munition commander for Ukraine's elite Adam Tactical Group, told Business Insider that fighting with drones in the winter comes with far more limitations.

"The biggest challenge is weather," Kryukov said.

Part of that is how the temperature "influences the batteries," he said.

James Patton Rogers, a drone warfare expert and executive director of the Cornell Brooks Tech Policy Institute, told BI this "reduced battery time has a direct effect on the tactical battlefield effectiveness of the drone because it reduces your loitering time above your enemy."

He compared it to what happens to cell phones in winter: "In the winter, you take your smartphone outside, and you'll notice that soon enough the battery will deplete much, much quicker."

This is an issue that affects both sides as they both use cheap, civilian-grade drones, Rogers said, but it affects Ukraine a bit more as it relies more heavily on those cheaper drones than Russia, though Ukraine's military is reducing its dependency on them.

Ukraine, which is running low on a number of things it needs for the war, such as artillery ammunition, also appears to struggle more with drone shortages than Russia, making it less likely to use its drones to hit targets when the conditions are unfavorable, Rogers said.

A Ukrainian military man equips and prepares a drone for flight in November 2023 in near Bakhmut, Ukraine. Kostya Liberov/Libkos via Getty Images

The short winter days are a challenge for the Ukrainians as well. In the eastern Ukrainian town of Avdiivka that has become a fighting hotspot, for example, sunrise in January is around 7am and sunset is around 4pm.

It gets dark early, and Russia uses the darkness to move and conduct attacks, Kryukov shared.

But, to use drones in the dark, Ukraine has to upgrade its drones or use more expensive ones, he said  making it harder for Ukraine to justify attacks that will destroy the drone, which is how it often attacks Russia.

Upgrading drones to make them able to see at night, or simply using better-equipped drones, can be much more expensive.

For instance, while cheap first-person-view drones carrying explosives might only cost a few hundred dollars, some of Ukraine's better night-fighting drones can easily run for $100,000 or more. These drones are not the type that slam into targets and explode on impact, and there are fewer of them.

"Operating in the dusk or dawn or at night requires more expensive equipment to be on board, and obviously for Kamikazes, everyone is trying to make it as cheap as possible as it's single-flight equipment," Kryukov said.

Rogers also described the short days as a problem for Ukraine, saying that unless it has night-suitable equipment it can use, it "can't operate during vast waves of the 24 hour period because it is increased periods of darkness during the winter."

"It's going to have a detrimental effect on Ukraine's ability to strike the targets it wants to strike," he said.

Any snow or fog can also hinder effective drone operations by blocking their cameras, Kryukov said.

But Ukraine has figured out workarounds for some winter problems that "help a lot," he said, such as using lubricants to stop the propellers from frosting over.

He said neither Russia or Ukraine is stopping their fight despite the conditions: "For sure Ukraine won't stop for the winter."

Ukraine is investing heavily in more advanced drones. It is making its own and majorly upgrading off-the-shelf drones to make them more powerful. The aim is to try to fix issues or address challenges without massively increasing their cost.

Read the original article on Business Insider
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It was, ahem, open season for the big spenders in Washington on Thursday 

 when lawmakers killed two birds with one stone 

 in their hunt for a way to keep the government open, lawmakers gutted a duck bill  because, unable to get their ducks in a row on regular spending bills 

 they passed another continuing resolution.

It is so easy to make fun of what happens on Capitol Hill.

The funny thing on Thursday is that lawmakers funded the US government and averted the immediate threat of a partial government shutdown by using a bill that was originally meant to amend the Permanent Electronic Duck Stamp Act of 2013 to allow the Secretary of the Interior to issue electronic stamps under such Act, and for other purposes.

Seriously. Read it here.

The duck stamp act incident of early 2024 sets up two new funding deadlines on March 1 and March 8. It is also, depending on ones perspective, either an example of whats wrong with Washington or evidence that right-wing temperatures have temporarily been cooled by still-new House Speaker Mike Johnson.

Imagine if former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, reviled by the right wing of the Republican Party, had tried to pass multiple short-term funding bills, as Johnson has done.

After all, McCarthy was essentially run out of his position by a few conservative members for pushing a short-term funding bill last year, among other things.

Short-term funding bills that keep the lights on are clearly not how the massive US government is supposed to be run. But with Republicans barely in charge of the House, and Democrats barely in charge of the Senate, its also an interesting development that the lights are still on.

Theres been least one short-term spending bill in all but three fiscal years since 1977, according to the Congressional Research Service. This fiscal year, which began in October, there have been three. The record, set in fiscal year 2001, is 21, per CRS.

Why use the duck stamp bill to fund the government? Spending bills are supposed to begin in the House, and so to make this latest stopgap measure work, senators substituted the spending bill into a House-passed bill originally having to do with the duck stamp, making it possible for duck hunters to carry an electronic as opposed to paper duck stamp during the taking of waterfowl.

Fear not for the duck hunters. The Senate version of the Duck Stamp Modernization Act became law last month.

And so the end result is the government stays funded because of a bill that, strictly speaking, was already dead. Dead duck?

This episode does not suggest there is a new era of bipartisanship. There is no deal between lawmakers for a long-term funding bill to get the government through the year. And the patience of the right-wing lawmakers who voted to oust McCarthy is clearly wearing thin with Johnson.

But lawmakers now have until early March to pass the long-term bills that were originally supposed to be passed by the end of last September.

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com
Donald Trump cant seem to keep his legal troubles off his mind  or out of his speech.

Fox News host Sean Hannity on Thursday asked the former president for his closing message to the people of New Hampshire days ahead of the states first-in-the-nation 2024 presidential primary.

Its very simple: Its make America great again, he said, repeating the slogan hes had for nearly a decade now.

But then his answer took a sharp turn as he urged the Supreme Court to stick up for him in two key cases:

Hannity: What is your closing message to the people of New Hampshire?



Trump:  You take immunity from the president, so important, you will have a president that's not going to be able to do anything. pic.twitter.com/oMbBudzlFu  Acyn (@Acyn) January 19, 2024

One is as we discussed, we call it Colorado or whatever, he said, referring to the 14th Amendment case, which could potentially keep him off the ballot in certain states under the insurrection clause.

The second is his long shot attempt to block prosecution for alleged crimes he committed while president. Trump and his attorneys have argued that presidents have absolute immunity over anything they did while in office unless impeached and convicted first.

Even a president who orders the assassination of a rival would be immune under that argument, his attorneys said in court.

If you take immunity away from the president  so important!  you will have a president thats not gonna be able to do anything, Trump told Hannity, adding that presidents would otherwise be prosecuted after leaving office.

Trumps critics on X sounded off on the unusual closing message to New Hampshire voters:

! His answer to a totally unrelated question.



Dude is terrified. Wow. Is all he can think about. https://t.co/oGDzJ00IqD  Spiros Ghost (@AntiToxicPeople) January 19, 2024

he's so stressed lmao https://t.co/GUs6DDjBxl  John Wakefield (@JohnWakefieId) January 19, 2024

Out of 46 presidents, only the one speaking here needs immunity. C'mon, folks! THINK this through! https://t.co/MjzpkY3Tc3  Marcia Z. Parks  Loves Words (@MZ_Parks) January 19, 2024

"I should be able to commit crimes" https://t.co/EvsZqEcSyT  NYer in Florida (@JesseLaGreca) January 19, 2024

What an inspiring message  https://t.co/lNwOHAdPtB  Michael A. Cohen (NOT TRUMPS FORMER FIXER) (@speechboy71) January 19, 2024

He wants to get away with all of his past crimes, and he wants to be free to continue to commit crimes like assassinating political opponents, adversaries and anyone else he doesnt like.

I wish someone would ask him if Biden has the same immunity? https://t.co/8t5wtzyNzd  Tracey Taylor London (@traytaymakeup) January 19, 2024

His closing argument to NH?

Let's hope the Supreme Court allows me to be a dictator.   Jeffrey Evan Gold (@jeffgoldesq) January 19, 2024

Your daily reminder that Donald Trump is only running for President to keep himself out of prison. As always, his neck comes first. His one public policy is revenge. That and maybe self-preservation. pic.twitter.com/XEcp5a524Y  Russell Drew (@RussOnPolitics) January 19, 2024

I dont want a President like Trump like to be able to do anything.  John Eller (@woodchippell) January 19, 2024

Folks, we have ten more months of this on a daily basis. https://t.co/OBW1yhWcLy  Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona) January 19, 2024

Trump has long been able to defy his age but it's catching up to him rapidly. https://t.co/0yG8Qmu55ipic.twitter.com/XHt3IbsNE9  Drew Savicki (@DrewSav) January 19, 2024

If Trump is innocent like he claims, then why does he need immunity?   Art Candee  (@ArtCandee) January 19, 2024

This is the best the Maga Republicans have to offer? This sad, selfish, self centered, rambling buffoon, traitor & wannabe dictator who, doesnt know the meaning of ACTUAL public service - is all theyve got?  https://t.co/Nfn5HAsHVI  JerriLynn (@Jerri_Lynn25) January 19, 2024

Begging like a dog https://t.co/H4FPUZnJHy  Tina #StandWithUkraine  (@trcfwtt) January 19, 2024

Why is he the only President in 250 years that needs Immunity? https://t.co/IpUxDPQjlWpic.twitter.com/3WJltxsVrL  Hon Guilded Dirigible   (@Memers08) January 19, 2024

Related...
A Duluth doctor convicted of using a dark web service to hire someone to kill his girlfriend was sentenced to serve time in federal prison.

James Wan, M.D., pled guilty to trying to pay a hitman to murder his girlfriend in October 2023, according to U.S. Justice Department officials.

U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Buchanan said Wan used a dark web marketplace to pay someone to murder his girlfriend back in April 2022. Online, he provided her name, address, Facebook account information, license plate number and a description of her car.

[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]

In the online request, Wan said the hitman should take her wallet, phone and car, according to Buchanan.

Shoot and go. Or take car, he said online before paying roughly $8,000 in Bitcoin at the dark web marketplace.

Two days later, Wan got in touch with the markets administrator, saying the money hed transferred as Bitcoin had not appeared in his escrow account.

After learning the money had not made it into the system, he sent the money again, saying I guess I lost $8k, in a message to the administrator. Im sending $8k to escrow now.

TRENDING STORIES:

Once the funds were received, the administrator said the order for the hit could proceed, according to USDOJ.

The administrator...asked whether Wan wanted it done as an accident or normal shooting. Wan responded, accident is better.

Justice officials said Wan transferred another $8,000 a week later to ensure his account had the total required to pay for the murder. Then he went online to ask how fast the hit would be carried out.

How soon should work be done? I have submitted an order and curious how quickly it should be carried out? Is there a way I can find out any progress? If there is anyone in my location? USDOJ said he asked online.

When the value of bitcoin fell the next month, May 2022, Wan put another $1,200 into his account to make sure he could fully pay for the killing, USDOJ said.

However, Wans murder plan wasnt as secret as he thought.

Despite his cowardly concealment on the dark web, Wans cold-hearted murderous plot was averted due to the exceptional work of our team. He will now face the full consequences of the criminal justice system, Keri Farley, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta said after Wan pleaded guilty in October. This case shows that the FBI will not tolerate heinous acts of violence and will go to great lengths to protect our citizens.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation had learned about the threat to his girlfriends life and notified her, giving her protection and questioning Wan. The Duluth doctor admitted to the FBI hed placed an order for her murder and made the payments, which were corroborated by records taken from Wans cell phone and Bitcoin wallet.

Wan also canceled the order for his girlfriends murder after speaking with the FBI.

He pled guilty to a count of using a facility of interstate commerce to commission a murder-for-hire on Oct. 17, 2023. On Wednesday, he was sentenced to seven years and three months in federal prison, followed by two years of supervised release.

[SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]

IN OTHER NEWS:
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN)  Oregon-founded coffee chain Dutch Bros recently announced the decision to move 40% of its corporate support staff to its office in Arizona.

Dutch Bros headquarters is located in Grants Pass, where the company got its start as a push cart in 1992. As of Dec. 31, 2023, it has expanded to 831 locations across the U.S.

Downtown Portland foot traffic levels continued to grow in 2023

According to Chief Executive Officer Christine Barone, a former Starbucks executive who started her new role at the beginning of the year, the push to relocate a number of Oregon employees happened after Phoenix became one of the companys strongest markets.

As we look toward our long-term objective of 4,000+ shops, strengthening our existing operations in Arizona positions us to compete for the talent we need to accomplish this ambitious goal, Barone added in a statement.

The CEO also noted that Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport is the 12th busiest airport nationwide, and will help the company connect with more customers from different markets.

Ice storm, high winds caused more than 675 downed trees in the Portland metro area

Dutch Bros plans to shift staff members to its operations support center in Phoenix by Jan. 1, 2025. Company officials shared that most of those employees fulfill roles that are strategic in nature and support day-to-day operations, similar to the pre-existing jobs in the out-of-state market.

However, the coffee chain will continue operating in its home of Grants Pass.

Grants Pass is home and our connection here is a key part of Dutch Bros success, Co-founder and Executive Chairman Travis Boersma said in a statement. Dutch Bros will continue to be connected to the community in a meaningful way through our roasting facility, HQ offices, the shops that operate in the area, and our local givebacks.

Officials respond to multiple RVs on fire in NE Portland

The company plans to share additional details on the expansion in mid-February, when it reveals its total earnings for 2023.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KOIN.com.
 Flash

China urges the Philippines to earnestly uphold the spirit of the joint communique of establishing diplomatic ties between China and the Philippines, adhere to the one-China principle, and stop wrong words and deeds on issues relating to Taiwan, a foreign ministry spokesperson said on Thursday.

Spokesperson Mao Ning made the remarks at a regular news briefing in response to a reporter's question that the Philippine Defense Secretary on Wednesday accused the Chinese Foreign Ministry of insulting President Marcos Jr. during a news briefing earlier this week.

On Tuesday, regarding Philippine President Marcos's message of congratulations to Lai Ching-te, Mao said Marcos' remarks seriously violated the one-China principle and the joint communique on the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the Philippines, seriously breached the political commitments made by the Philippines to China and grossly interfered in China's internal affairs.

Mao said on Thursday that the Taiwan question is at the core of China's core interests and bears on the sentiment of the 1.4 billion Chinese people. The remarks of the Philippine side seriously violate the one-China principle and the joint communique of establishing diplomatic ties between China and the Philippines, seriously go against the Philippines' political commitments to China, and blatantly interfere in China's internal affairs.

"It is completely legitimate and necessary for China to state its solemn position," she said.

"The one-China principle is a red line as well as the bottom line," Mao said, adding that China will never accept anyone making provocations on the Taiwan question and will resolutely fight back.
FILE PHOTO: Dutch King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima pose with their children, Crown Princess Amalia, Princesses Alexia and Ariane during an official photo session in The Hague

By Charlotte Van Campenhout

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Dutch lawmakers will vote on Tuesday on a first step towards requiring King Willem-Alexander and his family to pay income tax, a plan that would require an amendment to the constitution.

"A blue envelope for blue blood," Sandra Beckerman, a lawmaker from the left-wing Socialistische Partij, said during a debate on the issue on Thursday evening, referring to the blue envelope in which tax letters arrive in Dutch mailboxes.

The initial motion, expected to be put to the vote on Tuesday, requires a simple majority to pass. It asks the government to propose a constitutional change, which would then ultimately need backing from two-thirds of both houses of parliament.

Such a proposal appeared to have sufficient support in the House of Representatives, but the level of support in the Senate is less clear.

The biggest Senate fraction, the Farmer-Citizen Movement (BBB), was leaning towards backing the motion during the debate on Thursday evening but stopped short of supporting it.

Far-right Dutch politician Geert Wilders, whose nationalist party won a parliamentary election in November but lacks a majority, favours the tax change, which was opposed by outgoing Prime Minister Mark Rutte during his 13-year term.

Rutte reiterated during the debate his view that a constitutional amendment was "too complicated".

Members of parliament in favour of taxing the royal family hope that a new coalition government, which has yet to be formed, might lead to a change.

The royal family receives tax-free money from taxpayers on top of their private income, some of which is taxed.

In 2024, the king, his wife Queen Maxima, his daughter and future heir Princess Amalia, and his mother, the former Queen Beatrix, together received 11.6 million euros ($12.61 million).

Princess Amalia, who is 20 and studying at the University of Amsterdam, said she would reimburse her share (1.8 million euros) as long as she was a student.

The family lost popularity for travelling during the COVID pandemic, with 55% of the population now supporting the monarchy, down from 70% right before it broke out, a poll by public broadcaster NOS showed last year.

The same poll showed only 46% of respondents have confidence in the king.

In 1992, Britain's then-Queen Elizabeth acted on criticism about royal wealth by offering to pay income tax for the first time.

($1 = 0.9199 euros)

(Reporting by Charlotte Van Campenhout, Bart Meijer; editing by Philippa Fletcher)
Before E. Jean Carroll's name became tied irrevocably to Donald Trump's, she was a trailblazer in New York City's elite literary circles. Before that, she was an advice columnist who appeared on TV.

But before all that, she was a Hoosier  a cheerleading beauty queen from Fort Wayne who graduated from Indiana University in the 1960s.

Carroll grew up in "middle America" and felt she could get a job doing whatever she wanted, which, as it turned out, was to be a writer. Here's what you should know about her.

Who is E. Jean Carroll?

Elizabeth Jean Carroll is a lauded writer, journalist, author and advice columnist who was featured in Elle Magazine for nearly 30 years until 2020. She wrote for Saturday Night Live in the 1980s and hosted "Ask E. Jean," a TV show that aired from 1994-96 and served as a precursor to MSNBC's "America's Talking."

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - MAY 8: E. Jean Carroll arrives at Manhattan federal court on May 8, 2023 in New York City. Attorneys for E. Jean Carroll and Donald Trump are set to give closing arguments Monday morning in the battery and defamation trial against the former president in Manhattan federal court. (Photo by Stephanie Keith/Getty Images) ORG XMIT: 775975213 ORIG FILE ID: 1253154783

Is E. Jean Carroll a good writer?

Carroll's writing, known both for her humor and empathy, has been featured in publications like Rolling Stone, Esquire and Playboy where she was the first woman to serve as its contributing editor.

"In the literary journalism world, she was a player, which is saying a lot,'' a former editor said of Carroll in 2019. "There weren't a lot of women who were being hired by men's magazines. And she was.''

Beauty queen, journalist, pioneer: The many faces of E. Jean Carroll.

Where is E. Jean Carroll from?

Despite the glitz of New York City, Carroll's roots are planted firmly in the Midwest. She grew up in Fort Wayne as the oldest of four children. An IU graduate in the class of 1967, Carroll was named Miss Indiana University in 1963, as well as Miss Cheerleader U.S.A., which earned her a scholarship.

E. Jean Carroll cheerleading at Indiana University in 1965.

Why did E. Jean Carroll sue former president Donald Trump?

Carroll, 80, claimed Trump, 77, sexually assaulted her in a New York City department store dressing room roughly 30 years ago, charges the former president has publicly denied.

The moment the dressing-room door closed, Carroll said Trump lunged at her, shoving her against a wall where he next pulled down her tights. Carroll gave a graphic account of the assault both in her book and in a later article.

Was Donald Trump found guilty of rape?

In May, a jury in a civil case found Trump liable for sexually abusing Carroll, but not for rape. Trump was also found guilty of defaming Carroll in 2022 when he called her a "con job." He was ordered to pay $5 million. He has not been prosecuted and found guilty in a criminal case.

A civil defamation trial was set for January to determine how much money Trump should pay additionally after damaging Carroll's reputation.

How much will Trump owe E. Jean Carroll? Expert says he could owe $12M (or much more) for defamation

What did Donald Trump say about E. Jean Carroll?

Trump has strongly denied Carroll's accusations, saying in 2019: "I've never met this person in my life. She is trying to sell a new book  that should indicate her motivation. It should be sold in the fiction section."

A photo of Trump and Carroll together was taken around 1987  years before the alleged assault  along with Trump's ex-wife, Ivana Trump, and Carroll's then-husband.

Donald Trump (left) and E. Jean Carroll (second from left, with then-husband John Johnson) in a photograph Carroll says dates from a 1987 party they attended.

Trump called Carroll's allegations "a disgrace" and said "people should pay dearly for such false accusations.

Trump's tone hasn't shifted much. On Wednesday, a New York judge threatened to toss Trump out of the courtroom after the belligerent ex-President could be heard making disparaging comments about Carroll within earshot of the jury.

Has E. Jean Carroll been threatened by Trump supporters?

Carroll has received numerous threats ever since she went public. One said the "penalty for lying about rape should be execution by hanging or firing squad," while another said "stick a gun in your mouth and pull the trigger and send yourself to HELL."

"I spent 50 years building a reputation," Carroll said. "Now I'm known as a liar, a fraud, and a whack job."

John Tufts covers trending news for the Indianapolis Star. Send him a news tip at JTufts@Gannett.com. Andrew Clark, Charisse Jones and USA TODAY reporter Aysha Bagchi contributed to this article.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Who is E. Jean Carroll? What to know about the Indiana native
The Eagle Police Department found the 91-year-old man who missed his doctors appointment Thursday, according to the Ada County Sheriffs Office.

Norman Gleed, who has dementia, didnt arrive for his doctors appointment around 3:45 p.m., the Sheriffs Office, which contracts with Eagle police, posted on X, formerly known as Twitter. Authorities said Gleed didnt have a cellphone with him.

By about 8:10 p.m., the Sheriffs Office said in an updated post that Gleed had been safely located after a driver found him.

Thanks to everyone who helped. We deeply appreciate it! the Sheriffs Office said in the post.

Eagle Police are looking for 91-year-old Norman Gleed, who was supposed to show up for a doctor appointment about 2 hours ago and never arrived. He has a medical condition and does not have a cell phone with him. Were asking anyone with info to call dispatch at (208) 377-6790. pic.twitter.com/9enfVGOLXb  Ada County Sheriff (@AdaCoSheriff) January 19, 2024
Edgar Allan Poe, who would have turned 215 years old on Jan. 19, 2024, remains one of the worlds most recognizable and popular literary figures.

His face  with its sunken eyes, enormous forehead and disheveled black hair  adorns tote bags, coffee mugs, T-shirts and lunch boxes. He appears as a meme, either sporting a popped collar and aviator shades as Edgar Allan Bro, or riffing on Bohemian Rhapsody by muttering, Im just Poe boy, nobody loves me as a raven on his shoulder adds, Hes just a Poe boy from a Poe family.

Netflix has sought to capitalize on the writers popularity, releasing the mystery-thriller The Pale Blue Eye, which features Poe as a West Point cadet, where he spent less than a year before being court-martialed, and a Poe-inspired miniseries, The Fall of the House of Usher.

But as a Poe scholar, I sometimes wonder whether Poes appeal is less about the power and complexity of his prose and more about an attraction to the idea of Poe.

After all, Poes most famous literary creations tend to be unsympathetic villains. There are psychopaths who perpetuate seemingly motiveless murders in The Black Cat and The Tell-Tale Heart; protagonists who abuse women in Ligeia and The Fall of the House of Usher; and characters who exact cruel, fatal revenge on unwitting victims in The Cask of Amontillado and Hop-Frog.

The degenerate characters whose perspectives Poe invites readers to inhabit dont exactly align with a cultural moment characterized by the #MeToo movement, safe spaces and trigger warnings.

At the same time, the conception of Poe the writer seems to tap into a cultural affection for outsiders, nonconformists and underdogs who ultimately prove their worth.

A character assassination that misfires

The idea of Poe the underdog began with his death in 1849, which was greeted by a cruel notice in the New York Tribune: This announcement will startle many, but few will be grieved by it.

The obituary writer, who turned out to be Poes sometime friend and constant rival Rufus W. Griswold, claimed that the deceased had few or no friends and proceeded with a general character assassination built on exaggerations and half-truths.

Strange as it seems, Griswold was also Poes literary executor, and he expanded the obituary into a biographical essay that accompanied Poes collected works. If this was a marketing ploy, it worked. The friends that Griswold claimed Poe lacked rose to his defense, and journalists spent decades debating who the man really was.

Rufus W. Griswold penned the first draft of Poes life and legacy. raveler1116/DigitalVision Vectors via Getty Images

During Poes lifetime, most readers encountered his work through magazines, and he was rarely well paid. But Griswolds edition went through 19 printings in the 15 years after Poes death, and his stories and poems have been endlessly reprinted and translated ever since.

Griswolds defamatory portrait, along with the grim subject matter of Poes stories and poems, still influences the way readers perceive him. But it has also produced a sustained reaction or counterimage of Poe as a tragic hero, a tortured, misunderstood artist who was too good  or, at any rate, too cool  for his world.

While translating Poes works into French in the 1850s and 1860s, the French poet Charles Baudelaire promoted his hero as a kind of countercultural visionary, out of step with a moralistic, materialistic America. Baudelaires Poe valued beauty over truth in his poetry and, in his fiction, saw through the self-improvement pieties that were popular at the time to reveal the natural wickedness of man. Poe struck a chord with European writers, and as his international stature rose in the late 19th century, literary critics in the U.S. wrung their hands over his lack of appreciation at home.

Poes underdog story takes off

By the turn of the 20th century, the stage was set for Poe to be embraced as the perennial underdog. And Poe often did appear on stage around this time, as the subject of several biographical melodramas that depicted him as a tragic figure whose lack of success had more to do with a hostile cultural and publishing environment than his own failings.

That image appeared on the silver screen as early as 1909 in D.W. Griffiths short film Edgar Allen Poe. With Poes wife, Virginia, languishing on a sick bed, the poet ventures out to sell The Raven. After meeting rejection and scorn, he manages to sell his manuscript and returns home with provisions for his ailing wife, only to find that she has died.

Later films also depict Poe as being misunderstood or underappreciated in his lifetime. A wildly inaccurate biopic, The Loves of Edgar Allan Poe, released in 1942, ends with a voice-over commenting, little did [the public] know that the manuscript of The Raven, which he tried in vain to sell for , would years later bring the price of ,000 from a collector.

In The Loves of Edgar Allan Poe, Poes talents are overlooked, as men scoffed at his greatness. LMPC/Getty Images

In real life, while an early draft of The Raven was declined by one editor, Poe had no trouble selling the poem, and it was an immediate sensation.

But here The Raven becomes a stand-in for Poe himself, something dark and mysterious that, according to legend, people in Poes time failed to appreciate.

Poe is an obscure writer and amateur detective in the 1951 film The Man with a Cloak, which ends with a saloonkeeper allowing the rain to wash away the ink on an IOU that Poe gave him. On the reverse side of the note is a manuscript of the poem Annabel Lee, as its bearer declares, That namell never be worth anything. Not in a hundred years.

Of course, the audience watching this film almost exactly 100 years after Poes death knew better.

The most interesting plants grow in the shade

Which brings us to The Pale Blue Eye, in which Henry Melling portrays Cadet Poe, an outcast with a keen crime solvers intellect. In a refreshing change, this younger Poe is not a tortured artist or a haunted, brooding figure. He is, however, picked on by his peers and underestimated by his superiors  yet again, an underdog viewers want to root for.

In that sense, the Poe in The Pale Blue Eye fits well with his contemporary image, which also permeates the early episodes of Wednesday, Netflixs Addams Family spinoff set at Nevermore Academy thats chock full of Poe references.

The headmistress of Nevermore Academy  a Hogwarts-like school for outcasts  refers to Poe as our most famous alumni, which explains why the schools annual boat race is the Poe Cup and why theres a statue of Poe guarding a secret passage.

The delightfully antisocial protagonist, Wednesday, played by Jenna Ortega, is an outcast among outcasts  the Poe figure at a school whose name evokes Poe. In one scene, a sympathetic teacher urges her not to lose the ability to not let others define you. Its a gift. She adds, The most interesting plants grow in the shade.

When John Lennon sang Man, you should have seen them kicking Edgar Allan Poe in I Am the Walrus, he didnt have to say who was kicking him or why. The point was, Poe deserved better; the most interesting plants do grow in the shade, unlovely and unloved.

And thats exactly why so many people  aspiring writers and artists, but also everyone when theyre lonely and misunderstood  see a little bit of themselves in the weary-but-wise image of Poe.

This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit, independent news organization bringing you facts and trustworthy analysis to help you make sense of our complex world. It was written by: Scott Peeples, College of Charleston

Read more:



Scott Peeples does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
The 30th Congressional District is in little danger of flipping from Democratic control this year. Republicans are vastly outnumbered  less than 16% of registered voters  in this Los Angeles County district that stretches from West Hollywood to the western edge of Pasadena, including Glendale and Burbank and several L.A. city neighborhoods.

That means the real competition in the March primary election is among Democrats, two of whom are likely to advance to the general election in November.

Read more: L.A. Times electoral endorsements for 2024 March primary

Among the 15 candidates hoping to fill the seat being vacated by Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-Burbank), who is running for U.S. Senate, are five Democrats with experience in elected office. Assemblymember Laura Friedman (D-Glendale), state Sen. Anthony Portantino (D-Burbank), former L.A. City Attorney Mike Feuer, L.A. Unified school board member Nick Melvoin and West Hollywood Mayor Sepi Shyne.

Many voters in this district have supported one or more of them in the past and may find it hard to decide among them now, especially since there is little daylight between their policy positions. They all say they will support abortion access, push climate change solutions, seek to reduce gun violence, and fight for voting rights and against intolerance and hate.

The differences are in their accomplishments. And by that measure, Friedman is the clear choice for the U.S. House of Representatives.

Read more: Endorsement: The Times' recommendation for U.S. Senate

Friedman, a state legislator and former Glendale City Council member (and a film and television executive before she turned to politics), has built a reputation as a smart, thoughtful and principled policymaker who takes on difficult issues  such as the severe lack of housing, unsafe streets and climate change  to solve problems, not to earn political points.

In just a few recent examples, she has gotten controversial but meaningful legislation passed to ban the use of potable water on purely ornamental landscaping, legalize speed cameras, prohibit the use of "forever chemicals" in baby products and eliminate parking requirements in new housing developments near transit.

Many of her bills have run into opposition from constituents and colleagues opposed to growth or afraid of upsetting the status quo. Rather than caving to these pressures, Friedman digs in, fine-tunes the details and works to build support until the legislation finally passes. This persistence is how, for example, she was able to get the speed camera bill passed after four years, and it's how we expect she will be able to accomplish things in a divided Congress.

She has shown leadership, most notably during the #MeToo movement when she was appointed chair of a subcommittee that significantly improved the Legislature's sexual harassment policies.

Read more: Meet the candidates for California's next U.S. Senator

Portantino is considered one of the front-runners along with Friedman, because of his long record in Sacramento and, before that, as a member of the La Canada Flintridge City Council. He knows the district well and is often praised for his accessibility and support of the community. However, as chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Portantino quietly killed many good pieces of legislation  such as an oil drilling liability bill, important housing initiatives and a proposed law to make social media companies liable for the harm they do to kids  by stalling them indefinitely with no explanation. That approach is undemocratic, and raises questions about whose interests he is serving.

Read more: Editorial: Another scandal? Is anyone running Los Angeles City Hall?

Many Angelenos in this district will know Feuer from his public service, which spans three decades, first on the Los Angeles City Council, then in the state Legislature and, most recently, as Los Angeles city attorney. There are, however, still many unanswered questions about his role in the L.A. Department of Water and Power billing scandal. Four people have pleaded guilty to various federal crimes, including one of his former high-level advisors and an outside attorney hired by his office.

Melvoin and Shyne are both impressive political up-and-comers who are worth watching, but they don't have the experience that suggests they can be as effective as Friedman in Congress. Another familiar name on the ballot is Ben Savage, an actor best known for starring in the 90s sitcom Boy Meets World." He has a passion for politics, but no track record in government.

Friedman will serve the voters of Congressional District 30 well by bringing the same dedication and hard work to Congress that she brought to Sacramento.

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.
(Bloomberg) -- South Africas energy insecurity presents the biggest risk to the ruling African National Congress prospects of winning this years election, Justice Minister Ronald Lamola said.

Most Read from Bloomberg

Africas most-industrialized economy has battled a 15-year power crisis thats left the nation without electricity for up to 12 hours a day. Its crippled the economy and will be top of mind for voters when they head to a general election later this year, which marks the third decade that the ANC has been in power.

Read More: Ramaphosa Hails ANCs Achievements Before Watershed Election

Lamola, a member of the ANCs decision-making National Executive Committee, said the party is keenly aware of the risk posed by unreliable power to its prospects in the election. President Cyril Ramaphosa has yet to proclaim a date for the vote, which must take place by mid-August.

Electricity affects everything, economic growth, our ability to create jobs  all of that is dependent on electricity, Lamola said in an interview in Johannesburg on Friday. Stabilizing supply before the vote is the top concern of the ANC, he said.

Lamola said the party has taken the matter of addressing the power crisis seriously through the appointment of an electricity minister, bringing more renewable energy to the grid, and the appointment last month of a new chief executive officer at state utility Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd.

The ANC is more vulnerable at the polls than it has been since the end of apartheid in 1994, when the party first came to power. Trust in the ANC has been eroded by poor governance of state-owned companies, rampant corruption, and the deteriorating delivery of services like water supply, road maintenance and policing.

Another concern of the party is the issue of corruption, Lamola said. A lack of prosecutions of officials suspected of taking part in graft, particularly for complex financial crimes, led the Financial Action Task Force to add South Africa to its so-called grey list last year.

The addition followed an era of endemic corruption  referred to locally as state capture  during former President Jacob Zuma nine-year rule thats estimated to have seen the looting of at least 500 billion rand ($26.3 billion) of taxpayer funds. Its inclusion on the grey list requires that financial transactions with a South African component are subject to enhanced due diligence.

Lamola said progress has been made in bringing to book those accused of corruption, and that the delays are partly due to South Africas court processes being necessarily slow in order to protect the rights of those brought before them.

We have put resources to respond to the corruption question, we have spent billions of rands on the commission looking into state capture, he said.

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2024 Bloomberg L.P.
The tech world isnt taking any breaks after CES! This week, Cherlynn and Devindra are joined by Senior Writer Sam Rutherford to discuss Samsungs latest Galaxy Unpacked event, where it debuted the Galaxy S24 smartphone line. They dont look very different from last year, but theyre packing a load of AI smarts. Also, Cherlynn finally got to try out the Apple Vision Pro and tells us all about her spatial computing journey. While it was a mostly eye-opening experience, the headset also hurt Cherlynns head and forced her to confront one of natures most terrifying creatures: A butterfly.

Listen below or subscribe on your podcast app of choice. If you've got suggestions or topics you'd like covered on the show, be sure to email us or drop a note in the comments! And be sure to check out our other podcast, Engadget News!

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Cherlynns Apple Vision Pro hands-on experience  34:42

Apple is selling Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 again with blood oxygen feature disabled  1:03:05

Apple finally allows links to third party websites for purchases  1:04:57

Google throws support behind right to repair bill  1:06:19

OpenAI laid out its misinformation strategy for a busy 2024 election year  1:07:58

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This article was originally published in Washington State Standard.

After 8-year-old Rowan had his third surgery last year, half of his class at Olympias Boston Harbor Elementary School came by to drop off cards and offer support. His parents say the schools tight-knit community has been a warm hug to Rowan as he deals with fibular hemimelia, a congenital condition affecting his mobility.

So when Olympia School District announced in the fall of last year that Boston Harbor might be closing, Rowan and his family felt blindsided. (The Standard is only using Rowans first name due to his parents concerns about privacy.)

I like my friends at my school, Rowan said. If theyre at different schools, then I cant play with my friends.

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Rowans parents are part of OSD For All, a group of parents and community members who are trying to prevent Boston Harbor Elementarys closure.

Across the state, similar efforts are taking place to keep schools from closing as student enrollment drops and, as a result, district budgets shrink. In Washington, state funding is tied directly to how many students are enrolled in public schools.

The tradeoffs involved are complex. State officials dont seem eager to prop up schools with declining enrollment. And education policy experts believe its often better to close one school than to spread resources thin across too many.

But to families like Rowans, the long-term cost of closing a school is about more than just money and, in their view, just isnt worth it.

There are going to be so many kids who get lost in the shuffle, said Angela Vigil, Rowans mom.

They dont live there

Vigil said her family moved out of Seattle to send Rowan to Boston Harbor Elementary.

Erin Mann, a preschool teacher whose students often go on to Boston Harbor, said generations within families have gone to Boston Harbor Elementary and that many have a sense of pride connected to the school.

The next closest school within the district is Roosevelt Elementary School, about a 12-minute drive from Boston Harbor. But Mann said Roosevelt is in a different community and that means that students and parents shifted there wont be as invested in the school.

They dont live there. They dont want their kids to be going there, Mann said.

Research on school closures is limited because historically, they arent that common, said Meredith Honig, a University of Washington education policy professor. Even so, she said its clear schools are important to the community fabric in many places.

Theres a lot of connection with neighborhood schools in this country. Theres a deep history with that, Honig said. Its a center of community for a lot of people.

School closures usually happen in lower-income, more diverse areas, making the relatively affluent Boston Harbor an outlier, said Marguerite Roza, who heads Georgetown Universitys Edunomics Lab, a research center focused on education finance.

Nationally, Black and Hispanic students have largely taken the brunt of recent school closures. In Washington, Bellevue presented the possibility of closing three elementary schools last year, eventually consolidating two of them. The seven schools considered for closure were some of the most diverse in the district, parents told Crosscut.

Related

Acknowledging Missteps, Jeffco Chief Navigates Devastating School Closures

State funding outlook

Washingtons K-12 enrollment numbers dropped by 47,885 students since the 2019-2020 school year, putting the states total number of students at 1,098,997 during this school year. During COVID-19, parents pulled their kids out of public schools  and the public school system simply lost track of many students. However, drops in enrollment predate the pandemic due to declining birth rates and other factors.

As federal COVID-19 rescue funds run out and state funding declines along with enrollment, many districts are heading for a financial cliff.

K-12 education is the largest category of state spending in Washingtons budget. But Larry Delaney, who heads the states public schools teacher union, the Washington Education Association, recently called the percentage of the budget devoted to education inadequate and said more funding is needed to prevent school closures, as well as staff reductions and other cuts.

Seattle Public Schools recently decided not to close a school in 2024 after an outcry from families, choosing instead to ask the Legislature for additional money. Olympia School District will also advocate for more state funding, said Superintendent Patrick Murphy in an email to the Standard.

Gov. Jay Inslee said that while hes concerned about declining enrollment, it shouldnt be a surprise that the share of the budget spent on education will fall in tandem with the sinking student headcount.

I cant solve the problem of people having less children or theyre not going to public school, Inslee said in a recent interview on TVWs Inside Olympia.

Chris Reykdal, who heads the states Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, said that while he encourages the Legislature to consider how declining enrollment is hitting school budgets, closures may be necessary as district finances tighten.

Nobody wants to see a school close and education is Washingtons biggest priority, said Rep. Lillian Ortiz-Self, D-Mukilteo, who sits on the House Education Committee. Still, asking for more funds to keep open schools with fewer kids is a difficult ask.

Since the pandemic, we have done everything we can to supplement school district budgets so that they can continue to operate and give them time to rebuild their student population. Each year that goes by, the harder that gets to do, Ortiz-Self said. We have to meet so many other needs. How much time do we give school districts to rebuild?

Related

Oklahoma Education Officials Urge Tulsa to Eye School Closures, Improve Scores

Tough decisions

Vigil, the Boston Harbor parent, believes Olympias district hasnt thought about how closing a school could deepen enrollment declines.

I think there will be a lot of parents who are so angry with the district that they will leave, Vigil said.

But Roza, at Georgetown, pointed to the competing factors in play.

These are tough decisions, she said. But you know what also doesnt work? Spreading your resources so thin across a lot of half-empty schools so kids dont get art and they dont get music and they dont have a counselor.

Roza and Honig said the best thing districts can do when faced with a potential school closure is to be transparent to parents and the wider community.

Delaney, with the teacher union, agrees.

If theres not that transparency, human nature is to think the worst, Delaney said. In a high stakes, high-stress situation like potential school closures, its not in anyones interest to create more tension and anxiety.

As for Boston Harbor, Olympia School District in December announced a plan to vote on consolidation of two different elementary schools, Madison and McKenny. Superintendent Murphy said the district will work with community members to make the transition as smooth as possible. But the Vigil family said theyre against closures  regardless of the school.

We dont want anybody else to feel the same way we do, Vigil said.

Washington State Standard is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Washington State Standard maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Bill Lucia for questions: info@washingtonstatestandard.com. Follow Washington State Standard on Facebook and Twitter.
Its an old-fashioned paper caper  but maybe dont call the cops.

Hundreds of copies of newspapers in Ouray, Colorado, were stolen from around town this week, the day the paper published a story about an alleged rape at the police chiefs house.

Ouray County Plaindealer co-publisher Erin McIntyre acknowledged the apparent theft of almost all the papers in an email to readers Thursday and encouraged them to connect the dots on their own.

Its pretty clear that someone didnt want the community to read the news this week, McIntyre wrote. Ill leave it up to you to draw your own conclusions on which story they didnt want you to read.

The front-page headline on the January 18-24 edition of the paper in question reads, Girl: Rapes occurred at chiefs house.

The story, authored by McIntyre, relays the horrific allegations of a 17-year-old girl who says she was repeatedly raped while at a party with the police chiefs stepson and two other individuals in May 2023.

The teenager told investigators that Ouray Police Chief Jeff Wood and his family were asleep upstairs at the time and that shed screamed and fought back, to no avail.

The Ouray Public Library is seen in this undated Getty file photo.

The Ouray Public Library is seen in this undated Getty file photo.

In a media release Thursday, the city said the case had been referred to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and added that its not currently conducting any personnel investigations in the police department.

Separately, the CBI announced the arrests of three people this week regarding the alleged assault. Gabriel Trujillo and Ashton Whittington were both booked into the Montrose County Jail and are being held on a $60,000 bond, while a third, unnamed, juvenile was arrested in Kansas and will be extradited to Colorado.

An undeterred McIntyre has seized upon the newspaper thefts as a rallying cry for the importance of local news.

Whoever did this does not understand that stealing newspapers doesnt stop a story, she told readers in her email. This person is not going to shut down the freedom of the press by stealing a few hundred newspapers. Our community wont stand for it and we wont, either.

The outlet is currently accepting tax-deductible donations to produce another run of the paper.

Related...
Environmental Protection Agencys Michael Regan and NAACPs Derrick Johnson will go to Mozambique and Ghana to build partnerships on the continent.

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan will travel to Africa with NAACP President Derrick Johnson to promote climate equity, theGrio exclusively reports.

Regan, the first Black man to run the EPA, and Johnson will meet with government officials and stakeholders in Mozambique and Ghana to build partnerships and share solutions on several environmental priorities like developing clean energy and protecting clean air.

Then-nominee for EPA Administrator, Michael Regan, speaks at the Queen theater on Dec. 19, 2020, in Wilmington, DE. President-elect Joe Biden announced his climate and energy team that will advance an ambitious agenda to address the issues of climate change. (Photo by Joshua Roberts/Getty Images)

Im excited to be going on this mission representing the Biden-Harris administration, Regan said of the U.S. trip from Jan. 22-29. The mission will serve as the next step in President Joe Bidens call to action at the 2022 U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit to expand substantive and meaningful partnerships with African countries, institutions, and people across the continent.

President Biden has indicated that environmental justice and equity and inclusion would be a central pillar, said Regan, who invited the NAACPs Johnson to lean on his rich knowledge.

Recognizing the significance of he and Johnson being Black men representing the highest levels of the U.S. government and civic society, he added, We both recognize what we represent as we leave the United States to go back to the continent of Africa.

While in Ghana, Regan and Johnson will tour the home of NAACP founder W.E.B. Du Bois, who left the United States to live in Accra, where he died in 1963. The two leaders will also tour the Cape Coast Castle, where enslaved Africans were held before they were transported to the Americas or the Caribbean.

Derrick Johnson (above), president of the NAACP, will travel with Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan on a mission to promote climate equity. Johnson is seen in October at a golfing event in Alpharetta, Georgia. (Photo by Derek White/Getty Images for Play Golf Designs Inc., PGD Global)

Given the history of the Transatlantic Slave Trade and the global Black diaspora, Regan told theGrio, it is important to be very knowledgeable about our history.

We have to know where we come from and what makes us who we are, and so Im very excited to take this trip to do a little bit more exploration for myself, both personally and professionally, he shared. Its critical that we connect back to Africa and understand where we come from and recognize that there are global partnerships that we need to strengthen in order for us to excel as human beings.

The Biden cabinet official and civil rights leader will meet with Ghanaian and Mozambican government officials and youth leaders to share resources and knowledge on how the countries and the U.S. can work together to address increasing threats of climate change and other environmental concerns such as waste disposal and mining.

Johnson, who noted that the NAACP has an NGO status with the United Nations and has worked in the climate space for years, said the African continents success is tied to the success of the global community, particularly the global Black diaspora.

Our history is tied to the diaspora, whether they are African-Caribbeans, African-Latinos, African-Brazilians, or Africans on the Continent. We are part of the human family with a distinctive history, said Johnson.

The expertise that we have learned in this country, the innovation thats in the Caribbeanthe drive that you could find in Nigeria, all of those things is unmatched.

He added, We need to double down on that becausethe future must be inclusive of a prospering African continent, not a future of a continent being exploited for resources or its people.

Johnson said its important that the continent of Africa, like the U.S., is prepared to transition to renewable energy sources.

A solar charger is seen beside trees destroyed when a deadly cyclone hit Tica, Mozambique, in March 2019. The country is one of two that the heads of the EPA and NAACP will visit on their climate mission. (Photo by Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP via Getty Images)

Thats a part of the conversation that we must have, not only in the African-American community here in the United States, but we have to have those conversations around the globe, he urged.

Regan said the young people of Africa, where the average age on the continent is about 18-19 years old, will be a crucial part of the work to bring Africa into the 21st century regarding climate and environmental resilience.

The EPA administrator will meet with youth leaders in both Ghana and Mozambique to learn about their efforts to confront climate change and environmental justice.

Young people have been at the tip of the sphere for every major social movement in this country throughout our history, and its the same internationally as well, said Regan.

The administrator has also emphasized the importance of youth engagement in the U.S., including establishing the first-ever environmental youth advisory council.

Ahead of the trip to Africa, Regan announced a series of actions from the EPA, including establishing an urban air quality partnership with African cities to strengthen their capacity to manage air equality, transferring a climate adaptation software known as ARC-X that provides climate solutions, funding expertise on developing clean cookstoves and energy, and expanding an EPA-developed international guide to reduce the volume of trash entering waterways.

Regan said the Biden-Harris administration has a recipe for success that can be used to help African nations with environmental protections while also protecting their natural resources.

We want to help them build that infrastructure, he said.

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Estonia will give Ukraine 14 million per year for development projects in addition to the 0.25% of its GDP Estonia has pledged for military aid for Ukraine.

Source: ERR, an Estonian news outlet, with reference to Estonias state budget strategy

Details: Marijn Ratnik, Vice-Chancellor of the Estonian Foreign Affairs Ministry, said that the Estonian International Development Centre (ESTDEV) will receive 12.8; 1 million will be used to provide humanitarian aid to Ukraine; and another 200,000 will be used to support cooperation between Estonian and Ukrainian businesses, specifically establishing business ties between businesses in the two countries.

ERR reported that this new aid plan has been outlined in Estonias long-term development cooperation strategy that the Estonian government approved in early January and is in line with existing plans for the rebuilding of Ukraine.

Ratnik said that the Estonian government has singled out several areas where this funding will be particularly useful.

"Those are the sectors where we ourselves have faced challenges in the past, because we have also had to transition from the same system that Ukraine is now trying to transition from; [the money will be used to support Ukraines] education reform, healthcare, and digital and cyber solutions," she explained.

Given the recent announcement of the start of negotiations on Ukraines accession to the European Union, Estonia will be able to share with Ukraine its experience in this transition process, as well as in obtaining and utilising EU subsidies, Ratnik added.

She said that current estimates suggest that Ukraine will need 400 billion for post-war rebuilding projects and that only large donors such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and the European Investment Bank can provide this type of assistance.

"These institutions dont just single-handedly implement projects but also help with project-based funding, which [a country] can apply for," Ratnik explained, noting that Estonian firms can do so too.

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By Michelle Nichols and Maggie Michael

UNITED NATIONS/CAIRO (Reuters) -Between 10,000 and 15,000 people were killed in one city in Sudan's West Darfur region last year in ethnic violence by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and allied Arab militia, according to a United Nations report seen by Reuters on Friday.

In the report to the U.N. Security Council, independent U.N. sanctions monitors attributed the toll in El Geneina to intelligence sources and contrasted it with the U.N. estimate that about 12,000 people have been killed across Sudan since war erupted on April 15, 2023, between the Sudanese army and the RSF.

The monitors also described as "credible" accusations that the United Arab Emirates had provided military support to the RSF "several times per week" via Amdjarass in northern Chad. A top Sudanese general accused the UAE in November of backing the RSF war effort.

In a letter to the monitors, the UAE said 122 flights had delivered humanitarian aid to Amdjarass to help Sudanese fleeing the war. On Saturday, a UAE official told Reuters that it extended an invitation to the UN monitors to visit a field hospital in Amdjarass "to learn firsthand about the humanitarian efforts undertaken by the UAE to help alleviate suffering caused by the current conflict".

The United Nations says about 500,000 people have fled Sudan into eastern Chad, several hundred kilometres south of Amdjarass.

Between April and June last year El Geneina experienced "intense violence," the monitors wrote, accusing the RSF and allies of targeting the ethnic African Masalit tribe in attacks that "may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity".

The RSF has previously denied the accusations and said any of its soldiers found to be involved would face justice. The RSF did not immediately respond to a request for comment by Reuters.

"The attacks were planned, coordinated, and executed by RSF and their allied Arab militias," the sanctions monitors wrote in their annual report to the 15-member Security Council.

'SHOT TO THE HEAD'

Reuters last year chronicled the ethnically targeted violence committed in West Darfur. In hundreds of interviews with Reuters, survivors described horrific scenes of bloodletting in El Geneina and on the 30-km (18-mile) route from the city to the border with Chad as people fled.

The monitors' report included similar accounts. They said that between June 14 and 17, some 12,000 people fled El Geneina on foot for Adre in Chad. The Masalit were the majority in El Geneina until the attacks forced their mass exodus.

"When reaching RSF checkpoints women and men were separated, harassed, searched, robbed, and physically assaulted. RSF and allied militias indiscriminately shot hundreds of people in the legs to prevent them from fleeing," the monitors said.

"Young men were particularly targeted and interrogated about their ethnicity. If identified as Masalit, many were summarily executed with a shot to the head. Women were physically and sexually assaulted. Indiscriminate shootings also injured and killed women and children," according to the report.

Everyone who spoke to the monitors mentioned "many dead bodies along the road, including those of women, children and young men." The monitors also reported "widespread" conflict-related sexual violence committed by RSF and allied militia.

NEW FIREPOWER

The monitors said the RSF takeover of most of Darfur relied on three lines of support - Arab allied communities, dynamic and complex financial networks, and new military supply lines running through Chad, Libya, and South Sudan.

The U.N. missions for Chad, Libya and South Sudan did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

"Complex financial networks established by RSF before and during the war enabled it to acquire weapons, pay salaries, fund media campaigns, lobby, and buy the support of other political and armed groups," wrote the monitors, adding that the RSF used proceeds from its pre-war gold business to create a network of as many as 50 companies in several industries.

Since the war started "most of the gold which was previously exported to UAE, was now smuggled to Egypt," the monitors said.

The new firepower acquired by the RSF "had a massive impact on the balance of forces, both in Darfur and other regions of Sudan," the report found.

The RSF has recently made military gains, taking control of Wad Madani, one of Sudan's major cities, and consolidating its grip on the western region of Darfur.

On Saturday, a UAE official reiterated denials that the country has been involved in military support to any of Sudan's rival parties.

"The UAE has stressed that it is not supplying arms and ammunition to any of the warring parties, and does not take sides in the current conflict," the unnamed official said in a written statement to Reuters.

In December the United States formally determined that warring parties in Sudan committed war crimes and that the RSF and allied militias had also committed crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing.

The war has left nearly half of Sudan's 49 million people needing aid, while more than 7.5 million people have fled their homes - making Sudan the biggest displacement crisis globally - and hunger is rising.

The sanctions monitors told the U.N. Security Council that "an excess of mediation tracks, the entrenched positions of the warring parties, and competing regional interests meant that these peace efforts had yet to stop the war, bring political settlement or address the humanitarian crisis."

(Reporting by Michelle Nichols and Maggie Michael; Editing by Don Durfee, Daniel Wallis and Giles Elgood)
Farm silos appear in the background behind rows of solar panels at the Yellowbud Solar Power Plant on September 28, 2023, in Williamsport, Ohio.

The Etna Township Trustees took a step toward excluding large solar farm developments from coming into their township.

Etna Township Trustees Gary Burkholder and Mark Evans voted Tuesday to ask the Licking County Commissioners to prohibit utility-scale solar farms within the township. Trustee Rozland McKee voted against the request.

The matter is now turned over to the Licking County Commissioners. Etna doesn't have the authority to prohibit solar farms on its own. But through a state law passed in 2021, county commissioners have the authority to bar or limit development of wind farms that produce more than 5 megawatts and solar farms that produce more than 50 megawatts. Smaller solar fields can be subjected to local zoning.

The board took up this issue over the summer and discussed it during several meetings before a resolution failed, 1-2, on Aug. 15. Evans cast the lone vote in favor, and McKee and then-Trustee Jeff Johnson voted against.

Evans said he believes prohibiting utility-scale solar farms is good for the area. He said the township already prohibited community-scale solar farms, which are between 5-50 megawatts, when it updated its zoning code in December. Evans said it makes no sense to ban those and not the more extensive utility-scale solar arrays.

McKee said previously that she didn't support prohibiting solar because she didn't have enough information about how it would affect local farmers. She said in an interview after the Jan. 16 meeting that she still felt that. With solar technology continuing to evolve and improve, she didn't want the township to make a hasty decision that could be considered government overreach.

"Right now, I don't think it's the time for me to make that decision," she said.

Resident Matthew Rausenberg said during the meeting that prohibiting solar farms could negatively affect farmers by limiting the options they have when they no longer want to farm.

"To limit them, saying they can't have housing developments, they can't have warehouses, they can't have solar, they can't have marijuana farms, what are you leaving these farmers to do?" he said. "We need to also advocate for the farmers that built this township and allow them some flexibility. Solar is not the worst thing that can go in."

In an interview after the meeting, Burkholder said some farmers do want to develop their land, but others are interested in preserving farmland.

"I think by eliminating that or making us an exclusionary zone, (that) doesn't necessarily deny a property owner from using their property in some other fashion," he said.

As a homeowner, Evans said he can't have an accessory dwelling in his yard and rent it out because of the zoning restrictions in place. Prohibiting utility-scale solar is the same concept, he said, adding the township needs to recruit economic development that can benefit both farmers and the greater community.

"I do think we could do better, and I think we are going to do better in supporting those farmers that do want to sell; getting good development for them, so they get as much for their land as possible, and the community benefits with housing, with jobs," he said.

Statewide, solar farm construction is ramping up, with about 50 such projects in development or recently completed.

The Ohio Power Siting Board have approved two large-scale solar projects in Licking County: a 108-megawatt solar field on 512 acres of Harrison Township farmland, which is on hold and not under construction, and another 350-megawatt solar project on 1,880 acres scattered throughout a 2,630-acre area in Hartford and Bennington townships that is also on hold pending a court appeal.

Commissioner Tim Bubb previously told The Advocate the commissioners would welcome and consider a request to proactively create an exclusionary zone if the township proposed one.

Etna isn't the first township to request a ban on solar farms. Liberty Township made the same request to the commissioners this fall, with residents and township trustees saying the solar panel developments ruin the scenic landscape, take away farmland, decrease property values and are contrary to what residents want in their township.

The commissioners approved Liberty's request in a unanimous vote Nov. 16, according to documents available on the county's website.

mdevito@gannett.com

740-607-2175

Twitter: @MariaDeVito13

This article originally appeared on Newark Advocate: Etna Township asks Licking County to ban large solar developments
The European Union might employ three alternative methods to provide $54.3 billion in aid to Ukraine in the event of a Hungarian veto, Ukraines ambassador to the EU, Vsevolod Chentsov, said on Jan. 18.

Read also: Orban acknowledges EU can provide aid to Ukraine without Hungarys involvement

Option A involves creating a fund for Ukraine that would operate for four years within the EU budget. Option B is an extra-budgetary fund where EU member states can contribute. Option C involves the European Commission borrowing funds under its guarantee, allowing the EC to provide macrofinancial support as periodic borrowings from the Commission under guarantees, Chentsov said.

Hungary is aware of these alternatives and that no country can continually play the veto game.

The EU favors the first option as it is cheaper and more convenient. I believe Option A will be adopted, said Chentsov. There might be some safeguards or financial metrics review options in the final decision.

Read also: Hungary threatens to push back talks on Ukraine's path to EU membership until March

While the approval of the $54.3 billion aid for Ukraine is far off, bilateral assistance remains a possibility, Hungary stated on Jan. 18.

The EU is confident in approving the 50 ($54.3 USD) billion aid for Ukraine within a few weeks, NV reported on Jan. 17.

Hungarian Prime Minister Orban blocked the adoption of an EU budget decision, which included a medium-term aid program for Ukraine, at the EU summit in December.

Ukraine will receive 50 billion in aid from the European Union, despite Hungary's opposition, Germanys Foreign Ministry announced at the end of December.

The EU is preparing an alternative plan to provide Ukraine with 20 billion ($21.74 billion) in financial support, bypassing Orban's veto, the Financial Times reported. The proposed mechanism could be used if Orban's veto is not overcome at the planned summit on Feb. 1.

Were bringing the voice of Ukraine to the world. Support us with a one-time donation, or become a Patron!

Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
The flag of the European Union flies outside the chateau in Versailles. Kay Nietfeld/dpa

Plans for an EU military mission to secure commercial shipping in the Red Sea do not include a mandate to join US attacks on Houthi positions in Yemen, multiple EU diplomats told dpa on Friday.

Naval vessels are to patrol and accompany ships and "should be able to shoot down incoming drones and rockets" but will not take part in operations on land, an EU diplomat said.

Since the outbreak of the war between Israel and Hamas, Iran-backed Houthi rebels have repeatedly attacked ships with an alleged Israeli connection in the Red Sea, forcing major shipping companies to avoid this key Europe-Asia trade route via the Suez Canal.

In response, the United States, Britain and other Western allies launched airstrikes on several Houthi rebel positions in Yemen, escalating already high tensions in the Middle East and raising the spectre of a wider regional conflict.

Current plans detail European warships would be deployed to protect cargo vessels in the region with weapons used to defend against attacks on merchant ships or in self-defence, EU diplomats said.

EU foreign ministers are to discuss the plans next Monday in Brussels. Germany intends to participate in the naval operation with the frigate, Hessen, according to German government sources.

Final approval is expected from the European Union in February and the operation is to be launched immediately after. The frigate's deployment depends on the German parliament's approval once the EU military mission plan has been finalized.
FILE PHOTO: Honour guards march near the renewed Kyrgyz national flag during a ceremony in Bishkek

BISHKEK (Reuters) - The European Union expressed concern on Friday about the detention of a number of journalists in Kyrgyzstan and searches at the offices of media outlets which have been critical of the government.

Kyrgyz authorities detained 11 journalists this week, accusing them of inciting unrest, and raided the offices of 24.kg and Temirov Live media outlets. The United States Department of State said on Thursday it was "deeply concerned" by the move.

In a statement the EU delegation to Kyrgyzstan and embassies of member countries expressed "concern about the extensive searches and confiscation of private property of independent media offices and the detention of journalists in Kyrgyzstan."

Expressing different opinions and engaging in independent journalism are part of exercising universal human rights and freedom of expression, they said, urging Kyrgyzstan to stick to its international obligations and legal norms.

Zhanysh Barakov, a lawyer for one of the detained journalists, told Reuters they have been held in custody until March 13.

(Reporting by Aigerum Turgunbaeva; Writing by Olzhas Auyezov, Editing by William Maclean)
The European Union has begun discussing a new 13th package of sanctions against Russia, which it seeks to approve by 24 February, the second anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Source: Bloomberg with reference to people familiar with this issue; European Pravda

Details: Potential measures could include new lists, more trade restrictions, and a fight against Moscow's constant attempts to circumvent EU sanctions through third countries and companies within the EU.

Possible sanctions were discussed on Wednesday at a meeting of EU ambassadors, where member states haggled over how best to support Kyiv in the long run. However, it will not be easy to reach an agreement on the 13th package of sanctions before next month, as the previous package required weeks of negotiations.

Discussions are also ongoing about plans to create a new fund for military support for Ukraine, which some EU countries want to use to modernise the current funding mechanism, known as the European Peace Fund.

The EU External Action Service has proposed to provide the fund with an annual budget of about 5 billion but could not reach a consensus between the member states. According to the sources, officials will soon submit a new document with proposals to member states.

Background:

Dmytro Kuleba, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, called on Western countries to suppress Russia's ability to produce weapons at a time when Moscow continues to receive foreign components for this purpose.

On 18 December, the Council of the European Union completed the process of adopting the 12th package of sanctions against Russia.

In addition, following a remote meeting on 6 December, the G7 announced their intentions to introduce restrictions on Russian diamonds by 1 January 2024.

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Apple's logo, taken at the Apple Store on 5th Avenue in Manhattan. Michael Kappeler/dpa

The European Commission on Friday requested input on commitments presented by tech giant Apple to appease competition concerns related to in-store contactless payments with mobile devices.

Apple Pay is Apple's mobile wallet that allows users to pay with their mobile devices and it runs only on Apple's operating system iOS, forming a closed ecosystem.

This gives the company control over every aspect of the ecosystem including mobile wallet developers' access to it, as per the Commission.

According to its preliminary findings, the tech firm has significant market power in the smart mobile devices market and is the only mobile wallet solution that may access the necessary hardware and software on the iOS platform.

Further, the company doesn't make it available to third-party mobile wallet app developers.

In May 2022, the Commission informed the company that such conduct may restrict competition in the market for mobile wallets on iOS devices.

To address these concerns, Apple has made commitments to give access to third-party mobile wallet and payment service providers, to apply the commitments to all third-party mobile wallet app developers established in the European Economic Area, and to grant in-store contactless payment access to third-party mobile wallet app developers.

These commitments will be in force for 10 years and the implementation will be monitored by a trustee who will also report to the Commission regularly.

If the company doesn't honour its commitments, then the Commission can impose a fine of 10% on its worldwide revenues without having to prove an infringement of the European Union antitrust rules.

Previously, the Commission opened a formal antitrust investigation into Apple's conduct relating to Apple Pay in June 2020 and sent a statement of objections to the company in May 2022.
The flag of the European Union flies outside the chateau in Versailles. In a resolution passed on Thursday, EU lawmakers called on the European Council to take the next step against Hungary under Article 7.2 of the EU treaty, which could ultimately lead to the country being stripped of its voting rights. Kay Nietfeld/dpa

In a resolution passed on Thursday, EU lawmakers called on the European Council to take the next step against Hungary under Article 7.2 of the EU treaty, which could ultimately lead to the country being stripped of its voting rights.

It also instructs the Legal Affairs Committee and the Parliaments Legal Service to investigate the release of the funds and determine if legal action against the European Commission is required. If there are indications of breaches of EU law, the case will be referred to the European Court of Justice.

In December, the European Commission released around 10 billion ($10.9 billion) in frozen EU funds to Hungary despite ongoing allegations of abuse of power and corruption in the country.

The European Commission unlocked the money for Budapest last month as Brussels looked to win Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbans backing for more support for Ukraine. Hungary still vetoed the agreement at the EU leaders last summit in December.

Hungary was the only nation that opposed the consensus found by the other 26 partners to review the multiannual financial framework (MFP) for 20212027. Besides aid to Ukraine, it also includes a reinforcement of immigration and neighbourhood policy, strategic investments and support in the face of natural disasters.

The failure to commit more aid to prop up Ukraines budget over the next four years dealt a blow to the country, even after the EU took the symbolic step of agreeing to open membership talks.

HUNGARY RISKS LOSING VOTING RIGHTS

Parliament argued that the commission was wrong to allow 10 billion in funds from the European budget to be disbursed to Hungary, while acknowledging that the judicial reform promoted by Viktor Orbans government represented sufficient progress in improving the independence of justice in this country. In a parliamentary debate about the December summit on Wednesday, MEPs from several political groups sharply criticized the December release.

Last May, Hungary approved a new law on justice reform. This is what we asked for, and Hungary delivered, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told the European Parliament earlier this week.

However, the Parliament is concerned that this money could reach Hungary without adequate control measures in place to ensure sound financial management and protection of the European budget. It also considers that the recent judicial reform is not sufficient to dispel its doubts.

Von der Leyen, however, reassured MEPs on Wednesday that Brussels will not release more funds to Hungary while Budapest does not resolve its deficiencies regarding the rights of the LGTBIQ+ community, academic freedom and right to asylum  the issues that are currently causing the other 20 billion to remain frozen.

A group of EU lawmakers from across the political spectrum believes that if the commission releases more funds to Hungary without the conditions being met, the European Parliament would reserve the right to take further political and legal action.

In the face of mounting pressure over Hungarys alleged violations of the rule of law, the country also risks being stripped of its voting rights. The resolution passed in Parliament called on the European Council to explore this possibility under the on-going Article 7 procedure on the rule of law.

At the moment, we, the European Parliament, are not asking for stripping Hungary of its voting rights, but we are asking the council to initiate such examination, said Romanian MEP Siegfried Muresan.

The office of the Slovenian Prime Minister Robert Golob sees the escalation as a bad scenario for both the EU and Hungary. We do not want to see any country being stripped of its rights, but at the same time the EU as a whole cannot be held hostage by one member state, Hungary or any other, the office wrote in response to questions from the Slovenian Press Agency (STA).

Belgian Foreign Minister Hadja Lahbib, whose country currently holds the presidency of the EU Council, said that for her the rule of law is at the centre of its political action and announced that her country will organise a new hearing about Hungary within the framework of the rule of law file.

After meeting his ally Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico on Tuesday, Orban said Budapest would be willing to contribute its fair share to a new aid package, provided it happens outside the blocs budget.

Hungary is ready to support Ukraine, it will do so from its own budget, it does not want to take out loans jointly with anyone, and it does not want this issue to be included in the [EUs] budget, the Hungarian prime minister said. If we want to help Ukraine ... we must do so without damaging the EU budget, he added.

Both leaders have been critical of sending aid to Ukraine, although Fico supported the package Orban blocked in December. Speaking alongside Orban, Fico said Hungarys proposal is rational and meaningful.

According to media reports, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is trying to convince Orban to lift his veto in return for the membership of his political party Fidesz in the European Conservatives and Reformists group (ECR).

ORBAN MAINTAINS TIES WITH KREMLIN

Orban is the only EU leader who has maintained close ties with the Kremlin following Russias invasion of Ukraine. However, at the EU leaders summit in Brussels last month, he did not stand in the way of a decision to start negotiations with Ukraine on joining the EU.

Russia praised Hungary for blocking the aid, with Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov saying Hungary in contrast to many European countries, firmly defends its interests, which impresses us." Moscow was far more critical of the decision by the EU to open accession talks with Ukraine and fellow former soviet state Moldova, and make Georgia a formal candidate to join.

In October, Hungary also threatened to veto Bulgarias Schengen accession if the country did not abolish the transit fee for Russian gas. In December last year, however, Bulgaria eventually scrapped this fee.

Bulgarian Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov highlighted the location from which Hungarian Foreign and Trade Minister Peter Szijjarto raised the issue  Beijing, where a Hungarian government delegation was participating in the third edition of the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation and where Orban held a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. One might wonder if there are other interests involved, Denkov noted.

TO BE CONTINUED...

Following the European Parliaments vote on the resolution on Thursday, the matter will now go to the European Parliaments Legal Affairs Committee, which will have to prepare the case with the institutions legal services and decide whether to file a lawsuit.

Meanwhile, EU leaders will reconvene on February 1 for another summit aimed at overcoming Orbans veto on the funding for Ukraine. The president of the European Council, Charles Michel, decided to postpone the decision in order to convince Hungary to join the agreement or find a solution that would allow it to move forward without its support.

Budapest has signalled it could agree to the aid if it is given the chance each year to veto further payments. EU officials say that if they cannot win over Hungary, the other 26 member states will look to provide cash outside the EUs budget, but this is likely to be for a shorter timeframe.

The content of this article is based on reporting by AFP, Agerpres, ANSA, APA, BTA, dpa, EFE, STA as part of the European Newsroom (enr) project.

Prime Minister of Hungary, Viktor Orban, speaks to media ahead of an EU Summit. In a resolution passed on Thursday, EU lawmakers called on the European Council to take the next step against Hungary under Article 7.2 of the EU treaty, which could ultimately lead to the country being stripped of its voting rights. -/EU COUNCIL/dpa

President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen speaks during a press conference during the second day of the EU Summit. In a resolution passed on Thursday, EU lawmakers called on the European Council to take the next step against Hungary under Article 7.2 of the EU treaty, which could ultimately lead to the country being stripped of its voting rights. Alexandros Michailidis/EU COUNCIL/dpa
The High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission, Josep Borrell (L) speaks during his investiture as Doctor Honoris Causa, at the University of Valladolid. Claudia Alba/EUROPA PRESS/dpa

The international community may need to "impose" a Palestinian state on Israel from the outside if necessary, EU Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell said on Friday.

Otherwise, the spiral of hatred will continue to turn generation after generation," Borrell said in a speech at the University of Valladolid in Spain, where he was awarded an honorary doctorate.

Only on Thursday Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had once again rejected a Palestinian state alongside Israel after the end of the Gaza war.

With a view to a two-state solution, which the United States is also calling for, Netanyahu said on Thursday: "Israel's prime minister must be able to say 'no' when necessary, even to our best friends."

However, Borrell emphasized that Israelis and Palestinians were no longer capable of compromise. "Those involved are too angry at each other to come to an agreement on their own."

He called on the "Arab world, Europe, the US and the entire United Nations" to recognize the formation of a Palestinian state, even against resistance from Israel.

Borrell also accused Israel of financing the establishment of the Islamist Hamas in order to weaken the more moderate authority of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank and thereby prevent a Palestinian state.

Netanyahu has repeatedly rejected this accusation, which has already been levelled at him by some of his critics.
Warning: This article contains graphic descriptions of sexual abuse.

It was after the daily 9 p.m. head count at the California Institution for Women in Chino when she was taken out of her cell by a correctional officer she thought was her friend.

She was 21 and not even 100 pounds and the officer, who stood about 6-foot-7, was twice her size. "It was unheard of to be popped after the head count. I knew something was up," she said. "He told me the lieutenant wanted to see me."

But when she got to the office, it was dark. "He started to kiss me and put his tongue in my mouth," the woman said, recalling the 2014 incident. The Times is not naming her as she is a sex crime victim. "He put his hand in my pants. I tried to pull back, but he was persistent. Then he put his fingers inside me." The next day, she said, he acted as if nothing had happened.

The woman is one of 130 former inmates at California's women's prisons at Chino and Chowchilla, suing the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and more than 30 current and ex-correctional officers who they say abused them in prison. They are seeking unspecified damages for sexual assault, battery, negligence, infliction of emotional distress and violations of civil rights.

Correctional officers at the California Institution for Women in Chino and Central California Women's Facility committed widespread sexual abuse against the female detainees whom they guarded, according to a lawsuit filed last month. In many cases, the officers targeted and allegedly isolated the inmates and forced them to perform sexual acts, the lawsuit said.

The lawsuit documents graphic incidents of sexual abuse stretching back a decade and reveals that the women, when they were at their most vulnerable, were punished and sometimes the victim of further abuse and punitive actions if they reported their assailants.

Read more: Oklahoma judge rules a man who spent nearly 50 years in prison for murder is innocent

"Every woman's worst nightmare is being locked inside a facility filled with sexual predators with no means of escape," said Doug Rochen, an attorney at ACTS Law who is representing the women. "And that's exactly what each of these women, and likely thousands more, were subjected to for decades. California paid no attention to their well-being, left them to suffer at the hands of the worst kinds of sexual deviants, and made them relive their pain daily while being locked behind bars."

The lawsuit accused one sergeant at the Chino prison of more than 40 rapes  incidents of violence that often caused bleeding  and sexual misconduct involving a female inmate in 2015. Out of fear of retaliation and further confinement, one plaintiff, identified only as Jane CL-1 25 Roe, never reported the sexual misconduct, assuming the complaints would be "unanswered, dismissed, ignored, and buried without investigation or redress, thereby allowing the sexual misconduct to continue."

One of the women is a victim of an accused serial-rapist correctional officer, Gregory Rodriguez, who is charged with 96 counts of sex crimes involving nearly a dozen women at the Chowchilla prison during his tenure, the lawsuit alleges. The 27-year-old woman in 2014 was allegedly forced to perform oral sex acts on the guard at a time she was pregnant, according to the lawsuit.

Another woman alleges she was sexually abused by then-correctional officer Israel Trevino in 2014 when she was 25. Trevino was terminated in 2018 after other allegations of sexual abuse. Several pending lawsuits accuse Trevino of abusing numerous victims. Trevino has since died.

That same former inmate, identified as Jane MS0 8 Roe, alleges she was also victimized by two other correctional officers, one who groped her and another who groped her and penetrated her vagina, according to the lawsuit.

Read more: Suspect in rape of 12-year-old Culver City girl faces life in prison

Sexual abuse would occur in areas throughout the prisons, including cells, closets and storage rooms, the lawsuit alleges. In one alleged victim's case, she was sexually abused in a cleaning supplies cupboard five times and eventually reported it to another correctional officer, who declined to take action. Rochen said it was part of a pattern of prison officials who systematically ignored complaints of sexual abuse.

California prison officials didn't reply to a request for comment on the litigation.

Sexual abuse of incarcerated women is a widespread problem in facilities nationwide, with government surveys suggesting that more than 3,500 women are sexually abused by prison and jail workers annually.

In addition to the sexual misconduct by prison workers, the lawsuit alleged the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation had inadequate hiring practices, procedures and training to prevent the sexual abuse and conduct.

The lawsuit is the latest in a series targeting sexual abuse in California's female prisons. Last summer, another law firm filed litigation involving more than 100 other plaintiffs, including victims of Rodriguez.

State law gives victims of sexual assault by police and correctional officers up to 10 years after their assailants have been convicted of sexual assault or a crime in which sexual assault was initially alleged to sue. Victims can also sue up to 10 years after their assailants left the law enforcement agency they were working at when the assault occurred.





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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
The row over the Post Office scandal and the hundreds of victims who are yet to be fully compensated has dominated headlines over recent days.

Here are the answers to questions you may have about the Horizon row, which still shows no sign of abating.

What caused the Post Office scandal?

The rollout of Horizon computing software - manufactured by Japanese company Fujitsu - across UK Post Office branches led to the prosecution of more than 900 sub-postmasters between 1999 and 2015. Faults in the software made it look like money was missing and sub-postmasters were charged with theft and false accounting as a result. Some were ordered to undertake community service or sent to prison and four are known to have taken their own lives.

What did sub-postmasters do when they found out they had shortfalls?

The Post Office ordered sub-postmasters to pay back money that was lost or face prosecution if they did not comply. They were contractually obliged to make up for the losses with their own funds. This resulted in some losing their livelihoods and going bankrupt as a result.

What happened to the extra money which was paid in?

Forensic accounts have said that the extra money paid in by worried sub-postmasters was likely credited to the Post Offices profit and loss account. If this was the case, then the Post Office would have declared larger profits or smaller losses that it should have done and would have needed less government subsidy as a result. If so, then the taxpayer inadvertently benefited from money wrongly taken from sub-postmasters.

When were the shortfalls attributed to the faulty computer software system?

It wasnt until December 2019 when a High Court judge ruled that Horizon contained bugs, errors and defects and there was a material risk that shortfalls in Post Office branch accounts were caused by the system.

How many sub-postmasters have had their convictions overturned since the 2019 judgment?

So far, 93 sub-postmasters have had their convictions overturned, but hundreds more have not yet come forward.

Have any sub-postmasters received compensation?

Around 138 million has been paid out to approximately 2,700 sub-postmasters across three compensation schemes, according to the Post Office. However, hundreds of others are yet to receive a payout. In September, the Government announced that every worker whose wrongful conviction was overturned would be offered 600,000 in compensation. Those who had already received initial smaller payments or had reached a lower valued settlement with the Post Office would be paid the difference. However, some lawyers who represent victims have said that even 600,000 is not enough in all cases to make up for what has been lost over two decades.

How did the Government come up with the 600,000 figure?

The first time victims of the scandal received any money was when those involved in Bates & Others v Post Office reached an out-of-court settlement with the Post Office in 2019. The Post Office did not accept liability, so this was a costs settlement not compensation. However, the group was awarded 57.75 million in total. However, some 46 million was taken in legal costs - leaving only 20,000 for each person. In April 2021, Nick Read, the chief executive of the Post Office, urged the Government to provide funding, arguing that his organisation did not have the financial resources to provide meaningful compensation. The Government went on to announce that sub-postmasters wrongly convicted of offences would get interim compensation of up to 100,000 a few months later, in July 2021. In September 2023, it confirmed that those who had had their convictions overturned on the basis of Horizon evidence would be paid 600,000 in full and final settlement of their claim.

What about sub-postmasters whose convictions have not been overturned?

Without proof of the convictions having been overturned, victims cannot currently claim compensation. People with criminal convictions typically need to go through an appeal process in court and the Post Office has said it covers all fees for lawyers and experts. On Wednesday, Rishi Sunak, the Prime Minister, announced that a new law would ensure those convicted as a result of the Horizon scandal are swiftly exonerated and compensated. However, experts have warned that such laws could undermine the independence of the courts and judges.

ITV drama Alan Bates vs The Post Office has helped highlight the issues raised in the Horizon scandal - ITV/Shutterstock

Who will fund the payouts?

So far the Government has funded the 138 million figure, but many have questioned whether Fujitsu - the firm behind the faulty software - should foot the bill. The multi-billion-pound Japanese firm typically receives more than 100 million in ongoing UK government contracts each year. On Tuesday, Mel Stride, Work and Pensions Secretary, told Good Morning Britain that he didnt think there was any working assumption at the moment that the taxpayer would fund the compensation payments. He said decisions going forward would be based on the outcome of an independent inquiry.

When will the independent inquiry finish?

The Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry was initially set up as a non-statutory inquiry in September 2020. Following a request from Sir Wyn Williams, the Chairman of the Inquiry, it became statutory in June 2021. Statutory inquiries have certain powers - including the ability to compel witnesses to give evidence. The inquiry was initially set to conclude in August 2022 but it is still ongoing and is now due to finish this year.

Has anyone been held criminally responsible for what happened?

The Metropolitan Police launched an investigation in 2020 which saw Fujitsu experts, who were witnesses in the trials, probed for potential perjury and perverting the course of justice. Two people were interviewed under caution as a result, but nobody was arrested. However, last week the Met confirmed that the Post Office was under criminal investigation over potential fraud offences committed during the scandal.

Why did Paula Vennells hand back her CBE?

On Tuesday, Vennells, the former Post Office chief executive, confirmed that she would hand back her CBE, which she was awarded in 2019 for services to the Post Office and charity. Her decision came after mounting calls for her to be stripped of the honour.

Paula Vennells ran the Post Office while it routinely denied there was a problem with its Horizon IT system - Anthony Devlin

What else do campaigners want Paula Vennells to do?

Campaigners would like to see Ms Vennells return the 2.93 million she received in performance-related bonus payments in lieu of a pension. Overall, she is understood to have been paid as much as 5 million in total during her tenure as the chief executive of the Post Office between 2012 and 2019.

Why has the scandal come to light again?

Newspapers, broadcasters and websites, including The Telegraph, have reported on the scandal over the years. However, the scandal has come to public attention again following the release of ITVs drama Mr Bates vs. The Post Office, which is the channels most popular drama in three years.

Who is Alan Bates?

Alan Bates was a sub-postmaster who was accused of theft when his accounts showed a shortfall. He first reported issues with Horizon in 2000 and eventually had his contract terminated in 2003 when he refused to comply with his obligations to pay back the losses from his own pocket. Mr Bates led the campaign group Justice for Subpostmasters Alliance to its High Court victory in 2019.

Will everyone get justice?

At least 33 victims of the scandal have already died without receiving compensation. Campaigners warn many involved are only getting older and that it is crucial action is taken quickly.

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.
Christian Ziegler, the former chair of the Florida Republican Party, will not face sexual assault charges, authorities said Friday, but investigators still determined there is enough evidence to recommend felony video voyeurism charges against him.

Ziegler was removed from his post earlier this month after a woman alleged that he had sexually assaulted her at her Sarasota, Florida, home.

The Sarasota Police Department reported Friday that the "sexual encounter" between Ziegler and the alleged victim, which took place on Oct. 2 of last year, was recorded on Ziegler's cell phone.

Based on the "video evidence," investigators determined the encounter "was likely consensual," police said in a news release, and found "no probable cause to charge Ziegler with sexual battery."

However, the woman told police she "was unaware" that Ziegler had recorded the sexual encounter, and that it was done without her consent. As a result, on Friday police filed a probable cause affidavit with the Florida State Attorney's Office recommending Ziegler be charged with felony voyeurism.

As part of their investigation, detectives conducted nearly a dozen interviews and reviewed several hours of surveillance footage.

The sexual assault allegations against Ziegler surfaced in November, and he was suspended from his position in December before being voted out earlier this month. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, U.S. Sens. Marco Rubio and Rick Scott, and other Republican leaders had called on Ziegler to step down, according to the Associated Press.

In October, the Florida Trident, a nonprofit organization focusing on government accountability, reported that a woman told the Sarasota police that she, Ziegler and Ziegler's wife, Bridget Ziegler, have been involved in a three-year-long three-way sexual relationship. The Trident, citing sources close to the investigation, indicated that the events being investigated allegedly took place while Christian Ziegler and the woman were alone at the woman's home.

Bridget Ziegler is a co-founder of Moms for Liberty, a far-right group that identifies as a parental rights advocate and tries to elect right-wing candidates to school boards. The group opposes references to race or LGBTQ identity in the classroom, and has called for books on gender or sexuality to be removed from school libraries.

 Aaron Navarro contributed to this report.

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An ex-Parliament member in Jamaica was arrested on Thursday, Jan. 18, months after the mysterious death of his spouse.

Jolyan Silvera, formerly of the Peoples National Party, was taken into custody and set to be interrogated as a suspect, authorities told local media. He has been charged with murder.

After her death, it was reported that Melissa Silvera died in her sleep. Now, police are saying she was shot multiple times. (Kamla Forbes/Facebook screenshot)

This significant development is a testament to the dedication of the JCF in serving the public and upholding the principles of being a force for good, Deputy Police Commissioner of Crime and Portfolio Fitz Bailey said, per the Jamaica Star.

His wife, Melissa, died on Nov. 10, and it was initially reported that she passed away in her sleep. However, an autopsy revealed that she was shot at least three times. The 40-year-old also has injuries to her lower abdomen and leg.

After the news went public last month, Silveras attorney urged people not to jump to conclusions because his client was not considered a suspect at the time.

While I appreciate the need for transparency in so far as the publics interest is concerned in this most unfortunate situation, I would urge caution upon those who would want to go beyond the boundaries of facts on social media, Peter Champagnie said. One must be sensitive to all the circumstances, particularly as they relate to the young children of the family. The police investigation must be allowed to proceed without any prejudice to anyone.

Melissas funeral was last week at the St Andrew Parish Church. She and her husband officially tied the knot in 2015. Silvera promised to hold the flame of your love, ensuring that your legacy flourishes in the hearts of our sons and the countless lives youve touched in a message read by his mother at the service, per the Star.

Bailey added that officials are satisfied  that there is sufficient evidence to mount a viable prosecution, according to The Associated Press.

The police sergeant who responded to the couples Stony Hill, St. Andrews residence came under fire for going to the scene alone. Sources told the Jamaica Gleaner that he claimed he did not notice any blood but ordered an autopsy for confirmation.

Ex-Politician Charged with Murder a Month After Autopsy Reveals Wife, Initially Said to Have Died in Her Sleep, Was Shot at Least Three Times
William Holmes faced the man who shot him and demanded to know: Why?

"You chose the place to do something where you said you loved me. You hurt me, and I had to sit there and watch you kill two boys that I loved too," Holmes, better known as Will Keeps, told Preston Walls at Walls' murder sentencing Thursday. "How did you choose the place that you loved to do something like that?"

Walls was sentenced to 65 years in prison for the Jan. 23, 2023, shootings at the Starts Right Here education program in Des Moines. Rashad Carr, 16, and Gionni Dameron, 18, were killed, while Holmes, the program's founder, was seriously injured.

Preston Walls listens to statements during his sentencing hearing at the Polk County Criminal Courthouse on Thursday.

Prosecutors charged Walls with first-degree murder and argued in his trial that the shooting was motivated by rival gang affiliations. The jury convicted Walls instead of second-degree murder, voluntary manslaughter and assault causing serious injury, and a juror afterward told the Register the jurors had believed Walls' story that he acted because he was afraid for his life, although they did not find the shootings legally justified.

A subsequent trial for Bravon Tukes, accused of serving as Walls' getaway driver and helping plan the killings, resulted in acquittal.

William Holmes, also known as Will Keeps, gives a victim impact statement during a sentencing hearing for Preston Walls at the Polk County Criminal Courthouse on Thursday.

Painful testimony from the families of Walls, Carr and Dameron preceded Thursday's sentencing. The court also heard from Walls, who told Holmes and the victims' families he was sorry for their pain.

"My actions have changed Wills life and the lives of Rashad and Gionnis family forever, and Im truly, truly sorry for all the hurt, all the pain and suffering Ive caused you all," he said. "Im sorry my family is suffering. I regret what happened. I wish it never happened. I never wanted this to happen."

Prosecutors said shooting at alternative school was gang-related

Dameron, Carr and Walls were all students at Starts Right Here, and Walls was days from graduating when he opened fire. Carr was shot nine times and Dameron 13 times, with video showing Walls ran back and forth multiple times to keep shooting both teens after they were down. Holmes was shot twice, including a bullet that would have struck his chest but deflected off a ring he was wearing, mangling his finger.

Prosecutors argued Walls and Tukes were members of the Only The Real, or Strap, gang, while Carr and Dameron were members of the rival Only My Brothers, or OMB. The immediate motive for the shooting, prosecutors said, was a rap video Carr filmed, mocking the December 2022 death of Tukes' younger brother, Trevontay Jenkins, in a confrontation with Des Moines police.

Walls testified in his defense that on the day of the shooting, he saw Dameron carrying a concealed handgun at the school and believed Dameron and Carr were planning to attack him. Fearing for his life, he said, he left the room, cut off the ankle monitor he was wearing after a previous arrest and went back to shoot them first.

Holmes, he said, was an unintended target, caught in the crossfire.

Families of victims share grief, anger in court

Dominique Carr, mother of Rashad Carr, gives a victim impact statement during the sentencing hearing for Preston Walls at the Polk County Criminal Courthouse on Thursday.

Carr and Dameron's families have denied their sons were gang members. In court Thursday, Dominique Carr said her son wasn't a threat to anyone, and that "I don't wish this pain on nobody at all."

"You know damn well when you went home from school, you would have been safe and sound," she told Walls.

Carr's grandmother, Nicole Sanders, said she's not prepared to forgive.

"God will forgive me later," she said. "What you did to my grandson was horrible. You shot him nine times, back and forth, making sure he was down. You came on a mission. You planned this."

More: A history of Iowa school shootings

Dameron's father, Gary Dameron, told Walls he'd been close with Walls' late father, and unfolded on the stand a memorial shirt from Walls' father's funeral.

"I just brought it here to show you hed be ashamed of what you did," Dameron said.

Jennifer Morris, mother of Preston Walls wipes away a tear as she speaks during a sentencing hearing for Walls at the Polk County Criminal Courthouse on Thursday,

The court also heard from Walls' mother, aunt and sister, who described him as a caring young man who'd struggled after his father died when he was 12 but had turned his life around.

"Preston got himself out of it. Preston is the only reason why he changed," his aunt Kim Morris said. "Thats tough for adults to be consistent, let alone a kid, and he did that on his own."

Grandmother: Threats, grave violations since shooting

Dameron's grandmother, Christine Davis, said her grandson "lit up a room" and had a heart for helping people. His death has left the family heartbroken and trying to get by day by day, she said.

"I could win the lottery tomorrow and win a billion dollars and be in the Bahamas on a white beach and Ill be shedding tears," Davis said. "I feel guilty if Im happy because I shouldnt be. If Im crying, I feel guilty because I know Gionni wouldnt want that."

Making it worse, she said, is ongoing abuse the family has faced since his death. From the stand, she said the family has seen evidence, including online videos, of 10 different incidents of people desecrating Dameron's grave by urinating on it or shooting at it. Multiple family members have received threats, and one granddaughter was beaten up at school, she said.

"All were trying to do is live our lives and be left alone," she said. "Youre not hurting them. You did all you can do. Youre hurting us."

Consecutive sentences for Preston Walls total 65 years

Judge Lawrence McLellan had the option of sentencing Walls on all three charges consecutively, or running them concurrently, as Walls' attorneys requested. Attorney Glen Downey acknowledged the grief of all the families in the room but said a 50-year sentence for Walls would be "pain enough for everybody."

Prosecutor Daniel Vogt responded that even the maximum of 65 years was too short for what Walls had done.

"The most compelling reason that demands consecutive sentences is that anything less disregards the value of these victims and their family," Vogt said. "Each of these families deserves every measure of justice this court can provide."

McLellan said that, given the three separate victims and the facts of the case, he would sentence Walls to up to 65 years, the maximum, with a 40-year minimum before he is eligible for parole. Under Iowa law, Walls also will owe $150,000 in restitution apiece to the Carr and Dameron families.

Thursday's hearing comes a week after Walls was sentenced to five years in a prior case for firing a handgun in a cemetery, for which he was under court monitoring at the time of the Starts Right Here shooting. McLellan did not address whether the new sentences will run consecutively or concurrently with that term.

Litigation still pending against Starts Right Here

Thursday's sentencing doesn't end court action resulting from the shooting. Carr's and Dameron's families have sued Holmes and Starts Right Here, accusing them of negligence in failing to prevent the attack. The defendants have argued in counterclaims that any liability belongs to Walls and Tukes.

The case continues to work through the court process. Most recently, Starts Right Here asked the court this week to grant access to Dameron's and Carr's juvenile court records. The motion points to a recent federal indictment against other OMB gang associates, including the woman who allegedly bought the gun Dameron was carrying when he died, and notes that the indictment describes Dameron as also a member of OMB.

Related: Starts Right Here plans expansion with East Village youth housing and school project

Walls' attorneys on Thursday also previewed arguments he might make on appeal or in postconviction relief actions. One of the instructions given to the jury, the one by which members convicted Walls of shooting Keeps, was missing essential information, they said, and asked the court to grant him an acquittal on the charge or order a new trial.

Prosecutors responded that the defense had approved the jury instructions, and in fact had proposed the language it now criticized, and said the judge had no basis to overturn the verdict. McLellan denied Walls' motions.

William Morris covers courts for the Des Moines Register. He can be contacted at wrmorris2@registermedia.com or 715-573-8166.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Shooter sentenced to 65 years in 2023 fatal Des Moines school shootings
Three Lake County firefighters have been fired  and a fourth has resigned  for alleged actions or inactions that led to an apparent 112-minute lag from the time of an emergency call until an ambulance arrived.

Investigators found that firefighters on the two units nearest to the site of the Jan. 4 emergency failed to promptly alert dispatchers that they were available to respond. As a result, a third unit, much further away, was sent to the scene.

When firefighters on the two closer units were interviewed by an investigator, they changed their initial explanations for their actions after being confronted with video, audio and data evidence that contradicted their stories.

That led to their terminations Wednesday, investigative documents obtained by the Orlando Sentinel reveal.

The subject of the medical call was an 80-year-old man who fell at his home in Four Corners, an area about 20 miles south of Clermont. Computer-aided dispatch notes show he was alert, breathing, and not bleeding but he had been on the floor for six hours.

An ambulance eventually transported him to the hospital. The extent of his injuries could not be learned.

This incident was not representative of the countys or Lake County Fire Rescues mission, said Sarah Lux, spokesperson for Lake County, explaining the firing decision amid a firefighter shortage. Yes, recruitment is an important initiative  and one that we will continue to focus on  but we will always prioritize the safety of our community above all else.

The probe and the firings occurred against a backdrop of labor-management strife in the Lake County fire department that appears to have contributed to the firefighters discontent and  ironically  to the discovery of their misdeeds.

The probe was sparked by a snarky post on the Facebook page of the International Association of Fire Fighters Local 3990 that cited the slow response, blaming staffing levels and chiding Lake County commissioners for gambling with public safety.

The union, which represents firefighters in ongoing contract negotiations with Lake County, has feuded with county commissioners in recent months over low firefighter pay, mandatory overtime rules and inadequate staffing levels within Fire Rescue.

Fire Rescue has over 50 open positions in a department authorized for 427 firefighters.

In the wake of the Facebook blast, Deputy Fire Chief John Simpson was chosen by Public Safety director David Kilbury to conduct the investigation of the delayed response. Simpson examined 911 call logs, tracking data from ambulance location systems, and video and audio recordings from DriveCam, a dual-camera device mounted to a rescue vehicles windshield and programmed to record the road ahead and the inside of the vehicle.

The probe focused on two ambulance teams, each leaving a hospital in Clermont about the time that Lake Countys 911 communication center fielded a call for emergency medical services in south Lake at 12:45 p.m. Jan. 4.

A minute later, Rescue 85, staffed by driver Scott Summers and firefighter/paramedic Matthew Schultz, left South Lake Hospital, according to tracking data. But the crew didnt announce their availability to respond to the emergency until eight minutes later.

Rescue 109 left an AdventHealth care center at 12:52 p.m. after transporting a patient there, according to tracking data, but firefighter/paramedic Joseph Maleski didnt notify dispatch of his units availability until 12:58 p.m.

The three firefighters were placed on paid leave Jan. 8 and fired Wednesday because of serious misconduct and other violations of departmental policies and procedures.

Firefighter Jakob Bush, who was also aboard Rescue 109, resigned Jan. 5.

Simpson said the two squads were the closest units to the 911 call location when they left the hospitals, but dispatchers  unaware of their availability  had to send a more distant unit to provide emergency medical services. It arrived at 2:37 p.m., according to dispatch records, an hour and 52 minutes after the emergency call was received. Simpson concluded the firefighters actions were a direct contributing factor to what he called an excessive response time, though he never says how long it should have taken for an ambulance to get there.

Dispatch records show a fire engine arrived at the scene much earlier  at 1:24 p.m.  but it could not transport the man to the hospital.

This is an ongoing disciplinary process and it is not appropriate for us to comment on personnel issues, Jason Graham, president of the Local 3990, said in a text Thursday.

However it is important to note that Lake County firefighters and paramedics have had productive discussions over the last week with county commissioners, Graham added. This is a positive step in the right direction as we continue to work in collaboration with our commissioners to find viable solutions for the ongoing staffing crisis.

The investigative reports obtained by the Sentinel through a public records request showed the firefighters were questioned separately by Simpson in the presence of two union representatives, including William Joe Warbritton, vice president of Local 3990.

The reports summarized the firefighters answers during the recorded interviews.

After posing several questions in each interview, Simpson then played the DriveCam video for the firefighters who each conferred privately with their union representatives, then offered different answers to investigator queries.

Firefighter/paramedic Maleski apologized, saying his behavior was neither appropriate nor professional. States he was overworked and having a bad day, the report read. He went on to say he was irritated and mad.

Summers, a 17-year firefighting veteran, said his role on Rescue 85 was to drive the ambulance and he didnt know what else he could have done, but that he should have done something different.

He discussed his love of the agency and what he does. He talked of his dedication and that he would not intentionally dodge calls.

At first, Schultz, who joined Lake County Fire Rescue four years ago, said he couldnt recall all the details because he works many overtime shifts. He then changed his answer after a break to confer with his union rep.

Stated he doesnt remember all the details but his relief was waiting at the station. He stated that he was not thinking and wanted to get off at a reasonable time. He went on to state that he delayed calling available with the mindset that his relief was waiting on him.

States that after reviewing the video, it was wrong for him to do what he did. He stated this was a bad action resulting from a bad decision that he made,, the report noted. He went on to say he takes full responsibility for his actions.

The Facebook post on the unions members-only site that kicked off the probe read:

Hello, thank you for calling Lake County 911, your expected wait time for an ambulance today is one hour and twenty-two minutes. Although thats not what dispatchers said when a call for help came in yesterday [Jan. 4] from a Lake County citizen in Clermont, thats how long it took for an ambulance to arrive on scene to transport the patient.

Why? Because Lake County officials refuse to admit they have failed the citizens they were elected to serve, Because County officials continue to ignore the issues and hope it will go away. Waiting over an hour for an ambulance when you call 911 because Lake County refuses to provide the level of service you deserve. Does this sound like an EMS system strategy you expect?

Contact Lake County Commissioners and demand they stop gambling with public safety and provide the level of public safety you expect and deserve!

The post featured images of the countys five elected commissioners and a stock photo of a man extending one hand as a greeting and his other hand behind his back with fingers crossed.

shudak@orlandosentinel.com
Fans of the Chicago Rat Hole quickly banded together Friday to dig out the infamous rodent-shaped crater in Roscoe Village after someone had filled it in.

Onlookers Friday morning discovered that the citys newest tourist attraction  a hole in the sidewalk, with a skinny tail and only three paws  had been filled with a concrete slurry after a week in the spotlight once it went viral on a social media post.

I think at the end of the day, the rat hole is a silly thing, but the thing that made it so viral was the fact that thousands and thousands of people were in on a big, sweet, heartfelt joke, said Chicagoan Winslow Dumaine, who posted a picture of the rat hole on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, which drew more than 5 million views.

Visitors to the spot on Friday found a fresh layer of the milky substance, poured in an apparent attempt to fill the spot, which was first reported by NBC Channel 5. It was unclear who had filled in the hole.

Erica Schroeder, a spokeswoman for the citys Department of Transportation, said, CDOT did not fill in the rat hole. The citys Department of Streets and Sanitation also denied filling the hole.

Dumaine said he believed people will find a way to dig out the substance, poured in cold temperatures, and resurrect the rat-shaped dent. Indeed, by Friday afternoon, a group of people  who declined to be identified, for fear of retribution  could be seen trying to clear the hole.

Crowds of onlookers flocked this week to pay homage to the fallen rodent  only a few inches long and smack in the middle of the sidewalk  leaving behind coins, Valentines Day candy hearts and even an olive for the beloved animal that once found itself stuck in the cement.

One person put concrete in that hole, but thousands of people put coins in it, Dumaine said.

A small shrine for the rat had been erected on top of several inches of snow. In the bin are more coins, a rubber duck, a pack of cigarettes and a framed photo of a rat with the words, In Memory of Chimley. Others have accepted the name for the fictional rat, with someone leaving a cardboard coffin adorned with Chimley written in marker.

Dumaine posted a photo at the spot earlier this month with the caption: Had to make a pilgrimage to the Chicago Rat Hole. The post has reached people across the world, he said.

Dumaine said the attention on him from the post has been an international firestorm though he cannot take credit for finding the spot. His friend, Hayley, told him to keep an eye out for the imprint as they were walking in the neighborhood. She heard about it from another friend, Dumaine said.

Neighbors in the area told Dumaine the spot has been there for nearly 20 years and that the mark was actually left by a squirrel, not a rat. But the rat-inspired name endured.

Chicago prides itself on all of the things that make Chicago difficult, and no matter how much Chicago hates rats, they love rats, Dumaine said. Its a part of our culture.

On Halloween each year, the neighbors honor the sidewalk imperfection with a marker, said state Rep. Ann Williams, who represents the Roscoe Village home of the rat hole.

In a video she posted to X Friday, she said the hole had been defaced.

We are shocked and saddened to learn of this news, Williams said in her video statement.

Not since the water stain shaped like the Virgin Mary found on a Fullerton Avenue underpass in 2005 has a nature-inspired landmark drawn such crowds. The spot, now dubbed The Famous Chicago Rat Hole on Apple Maps, is near 1918 W. Roscoe St. and has cemented Chicagos reputation as rat city.

In 2023, Chicago was named the rattiest city in the country for the ninth year in a row by pest control company Orkin.

Tribunes Caroline Kubzansky contributed.

aguffey@chicagotribune.com
CHICAGO  Fans of the "Chicago Rat Hole" quickly banded together Friday to dig out the infamous rodent-shaped crater in Roscoe Village after someone had filled it in.

Onlookers Friday morning discovered that the citys newest tourist attraction  a hole in the sidewalk, with a skinny tail and only three paws  had been filled with a concrete slurry after a week in the spotlight once it went viral on a social media post.

I think at the end of the day, the rat hole is a silly thing, but the thing that made it so viral was the fact that thousands and thousands of people were in on a big, sweet, heartfelt joke, said Chicagoan Winslow Dumaine, who posted a picture of the rat hole on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, which drew more than 5 million views.

Visitors to the spot on Friday found a fresh layer of the milky substance, poured in an apparent attempt to fill the spot, which was first reported by NBC Channel 5. It was unclear who had filled in the hole.

Erica Schroeder, a spokeswoman for the citys Department of Transportation, said, CDOT did not fill in the rat hole. The citys Department of Streets and Sanitation also denied filling the hole.

Dumaine said he believed people will find a way to dig out the substance, poured in cold temperatures, and resurrect the rat-shaped dent. Indeed, by Friday afternoon, a group of people  who declined to be identified, for fear of retribution  could be seen trying to clear the hole.

Crowds of onlookers flocked this week to pay homage to the fallen rodent  only a few inches long and smack in the middle of the sidewalk  leaving behind coins, Valentines Day candy hearts and even an olive for the beloved animal that once found itself stuck in the cement.

One person put concrete in that hole, but thousands of people put coins in it, Dumaine said.

A small shrine for the rat had been erected on top of several inches of snow. In the bin are more coins, a rubber duck, a pack of cigarettes and a framed photo of a rat with the words, In Memory of Chimley. Others have accepted the name for the fictional rat, with someone leaving a cardboard coffin adorned with Chimley written in marker.

Dumaine posted a photo at the spot earlier this month with the caption: Had to make a pilgrimage to the Chicago Rat Hole. The post has reached people across the world, he said.

Dumaine said the attention on him from the post has been an international firestorm though he cannot take credit for finding the spot. His friend, Hayley, told him to keep an eye out for the imprint as they were walking in the neighborhood. She heard about it from another friend, Dumaine said.

Neighbors in the area told Dumaine the spot has been there for nearly 20 years and that the mark was actually left by a squirrel, not a rat. But the rat-inspired name endured.

Chicago prides itself on all of the things that make Chicago difficult, and no matter how much Chicago hates rats, they love rats, Dumaine said. Its a part of our culture.

On Halloween each year, the neighbors honor the sidewalk imperfection with a marker, said state Rep. Ann Williams, who represents the Roscoe Village home of the rat hole.

In a video she posted to X Friday, she said the hole had been defaced.

We are shocked and saddened to learn of this news, Williams said in her video statement.

Not since the water stain shaped like the Virgin Mary found on a Fullerton Avenue underpass in 2005 has a nature-inspired landmark drawn such crowds. The spot, now dubbed The Famous Chicago Rat Hole on Apple Maps, is near 1918 W. Roscoe St. and has cemented Chicagos reputation as rat city.

In 2023, Chicago was named the rattiest city in the country for the ninth year in a row by pest control company Orkin.

_____

(Chicago Tribune staff writer Caroline Kubzansky contributed to this story.)
Madonna performs during The Celebration Tour at The O2 Arena on October 15, 2023, in London. Kevin Mazur/WireImage for Live Nation

NYC concertgoers initiated a class action lawsuit against Madonna, Live Nation, and the Barclays Center.

They accused Madonna of breaching their contracts by appearing onstage more than two hours late.

The plaintiffs said it meant they were tired for work the next day and had trouble getting home.

Two concertgoers from New York City are suing Madonna, as well as Live Nation and the Barclays Center, after the pop star started a show two hours late, leaving them tired for work the next day.

Michael Fellows and Jonath Hadden filed a class action lawsuit on Wednesday.

The complaint, seeking unspecified damages, outlined that the two men booked to see Madonna perform at her "Celebration Tour" at Brooklyn's Barclays Center.

Both plaintiffs went to the December 13 concert, where Madonna appeared onstage more than two hours late, it said.

The concert, which was delayed from its original date in July after the pop star was hospitalized with a bacterial infection, had an advertised start time of 8.30 p.m.

"But Madonna did not take the stage until after 10:30 p.m. on all three nights, with most concert attendees leaving the Barclays Center after 1:00 a.m.," the complaint said.

It accused Madonna of demonstrating a "flippant difficulty in ensuring a timely or complete performance" and of breaching their contracts.

The complaint also described the delay to the show's start as "a wanton exercise in false advertising, negligent misrepresentation, and unfair and deceptive trade practices."

According to the complaint, the lack of forewarning left them waiting at the venue for hours, and they were then presented with challenges getting home due to the late finish time.

There were "limited public transportation, limited ride-sharing, and/or increased public and private transportation costs at that late hour," it said.

It also said ticketholders had to "get up early to go to work and/or take care of their family responsibilities for the next day."

As a result, Fellows and Hadden contend they were "damaged as a direct and proximate result" of the late start time and are seeking a trial by jury.

Madonna's management, Live Nation, and the Barclays Center did not immediately respond to Business Insider's requests for comment, which were sent outside operating hours.

Read the original article on Business Insider
A former executive director of an Olympia-based victim advocacy organization has been convicted of wire fraud in federal court.

A jury found Cody Benson, 51, guilty of two out of three counts of wire fraud Tuesday after a six-day jury trial in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington.

Benson served as executive director for Washington Coalition of Crime Victim Advocates, a non-profit that was funded by a grant administered by the Washington State Attorneys General Office. The WCCVA was created in 1989 to provide training and support services to crime victim advocates in the state.

Federal prosecutors accused Benson of submitting false invoices for reimbursement to the Attorney Generals Office between 2015 and 2017, according to a news release from U.S. Department of Justice. These invoices were reportedly for training events that did not occur and supplies that were never purchased.

Jurors found Benson guilty of submitting false invoices for $63,794 in supplies and $66,400 for trainings, according to court records. She was found not guilty of seeking $1,348 for mileage reimbursement in 2017.

During the trial, prosecutors alleged WCCVA received almost $180,000 from Bensons false invoices and she obtained about $257,000 in net salary and other benefits, per the news release.

In a trial brief, prosecutors argued WCCVA provided little training to crime-victim advocates under Bensons leadership.

Evidence will show that Benson created the impression that WCCVA was functioning as normal when, in reality, its activities were slowing to a halt, prosecutors said in the brief. Benson was largely absent from her job in part because she was living overseas, a fact that she hid from the Attorney Generals Office.

Additionally, prosecutors alleged Benson failed to keep adequate records of WCCVA activities or secure third-party audits of the non-profit, a requirement of their contract with the Attorney Generals Office.

Attorneys Colin Fieman and Mukund Rathi defended Benson. In a trial brief, they argued the allegedly false invoices were for future goods and services that were canceled after various finance and scheduling issues.

They said WCCVA received a set amount of grant funding each year and applied any unspent funds to other agency expenses. The only money obtained by alleged fraud, they argued, was Bensons compensation.

Given that evidence, the charges in this case are highly unusual, factually and legally untenable and an overreach by the federal government, the attorneys said in the brief.

Benson reportedly moved to Italy in 2016, about three years after becoming executive director for WCCVA. Yet, prosecutors alleged she submitted an expense voucher for in-state travel expenses in 2017.

Court records indicate WCCVA closed in 2019. In the non-profits final years, it reportedly had just two employees: Benson and her son.

In the 2021 indictment, prosecutors accused Benson of a fourth count of wire fraud. That charge alleges Benson lied about where she lived to secure unemployment benefits after losing her job at WCCVA.

That count was severed from the other three and trial for it is still pending, court records show.

The Washington State Attorney Generals Office began investigating WCCVA in early 2018 after becoming concerned about the non-profits performance, according to court records.

The news release says Benson returned just over $50,000 to the state.

The Federal Bureau of Investigations investigated Benson. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Philip Kopczynski and Yunah Chung prosecuted the case.

Judge Benjamin H. Settle scheduled Bensons sentencing hearing for April 8.
More than 1 in 10 schools with a regular police presence removed officers from their roles in the aftermath of George Floyds murder at the hands of a Minneapolis cop, new federal data on campus crime and safety suggest.

Nearly 44% of public K-12 schools were staffed with school resource officers at least once a week during the 2021-22 school year, according to a national survey released Wednesday by the Education Departments National Center for Education Statistics. Between Floyds murder in May 2020 and June 2022, more than 50 school districts nationwide ended their school resource officer programs or cut their budgets following widespread Black Lives Matter protests and concerns that campus policing has detrimental effects on students  and Black youth in particular.

The data reflect an 11% decrease in school policing from the 2019-20 school year, when more than 49% of schools had a regular police presence, according to the nationally representative federal survey. That year, schools underwent an increase in campus policing after the 2018 mass school shootings in Parkland, Florida, and Santa Fe, Texas, prompted a surge in new security funding and mandates, a pattern that could repeat itself when future federal numbers capture the nations reaction to the 2022 school shooting in Uvalde, Texas.

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This is the George Floyd effect, said criminal justice researcher Shawn Bushway, who pulled up a calculator during a telephone interview with The 74 and crunched the federal survey data against a tally of districts that removed cops from their buildings, which collectively served more than 1.7 million students.

Its not seismic, but I think whats most interesting about it is that its the reversal of a trend in a fairly dramatic way, said Bushway, a University at Albany in New York professor. Its been going up quite a bit and now its dropped.

Protesters call for police-free schools during an April 20, 2022, rally in New York City. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

The new federal data were published the same week as Thursdays release of a damning U.S. Department of Justice report that cited critical failures by police during the May 2022 mass shooting at Uvaldes Robb Elementary School in which 19 students and two teachers were killed. During the shooting, 376 law enforcement officers responded to the scene but waited more than an hour to confront the 18-year-old shooter, a botched reaction that disregarded established police protocols and, investigators said, cost lives.

Had law enforcement agencies followed generally accepted practices in an active shooter situation and gone right after the shooter to stop him, lives would have been saved and people would have survived, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said at a Thursday afternoon press conference in Uvalde.

Their loved ones deserved better, he said.

Related

Campus Cops Scrutinized After Tragic Missteps in Uvalde Shooting Response

Chris Chapman, the associate commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics, said on a press call Tuesday that the survey data didnt make clear a definitive reason for the decline in school-based officers. Experts said that several other factors, including campus closures during the pandemic, budget constraints and a national police officer shortage, may have also contributed.

Either way, the downward trend may be short-lived.

Multiple districts that cut their school resource officer programs after Floyds murder, including those in Denver, Colorado, and Arlington, Virginia, reversed course after educators reported an uptick in classroom disorder after COVID-era remote learning. Mass school shootings have long driven efforts to bolster campus policing, a reality that has played out in the last several years as the nation experienced an unprecedented number of such attacks.

Related

New Data: School Shootings Surge to a Record High  Two Years in a Row

Despite officers grievously mishandled response in Uvalde, the shooting led to renewed efforts in Texas and elsewhere to strengthen police presence in schools. A similar situation played out after the mass shooting at Parklands Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. Federal data show national growth in campus policing even after the school resource officer assigned to the Broward County campus failed to confront the gunman, who killed 17 people.

Former Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School School Resource Officer Scot Peterson participates in a media interview after he was acquitted of criminal charges in June 2023. (Getty Images)

The now-former officer, Scot Peterson, was acquitted of criminal negligence and perjury charges but faces a new trial in a civil lawsuit by shooting victims families, who allege his failure to intervene during the six-minute attack displayed a wanton and willful disregard for students and teachers safety. Qualified immunity generally protects officers from liability for mistakes made on the job.

Its not the way I want to gain business, but some of the busiest years weve had training wise are 18 months after a school massacre. Mo Canady, executive director, National Association of School Resource Officers

After Parkland, a new Florida law required an armed security presence on every K-12 campus. The Uvalde shooting led to similar mandates in Texas and Kentucky. In both states, a police officer labor shortage, which experts said may have contributed to the 2021-22 decline in schools, has hindered officials efforts to comply. In Kentucky, more than 40% of schools lack school resource officers, a reality that school officials have blamed on a lack of funding and a depleted applicant pool.

Tyler Whittenberg

It wouldnt surprise me if, when that data comes back out, we see that spike go back up, said Mo Canady, executive director of the National Association of School Resource Officers, which offers a training program for campus cops. Its not the way I want to gain business, but some of the busiest years weve had training wise are 18 months after a school massacre. I can tell you that 2019 was the biggest year in our associations history by far  and thats coming right off the Marjory Stoneman Douglas massacre.

Advocates for police-free schools recognize the headwinds they face. Tyler Whittenberg, the deputy director of the Advancement Projects Opportunity to Learn initiative, said that while advocates are proud of the victories that were won after George Floyds murder, educators who removed police from schools are fighting really hard to hold onto those gains, some of which face state efforts to place police in districts that dont want them.

Were not really rushing to a conclusion that this represents an overall reduction in police in schools, especially because for many of our partners on the ground this is not their day-to-day experience, he said. Theyre having to fight back  especially at the state level  against efforts to increase the number of police in their schools.

Law enforcement officers stand watch near a memorial dedicated to the 19 children and two adults murdered on May 24, 2022 during the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School. (Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

Safety threats on the decline

In the 1970s, just 1% of schools were staffed by police. Decades of efforts since then to swell their ranks have coincided with a marked improvement in campus safety.

During the 2021-22 school year, 67% of schools reported at least one violent crime on campus, totaling some 857,500 violent incidents. Federal data show the nations schools experienced a violent crime rate of 18 incidents per 1,000 students in 2021-22. Thats a steep decline from 1999-00, when schools recorded a violent crime rate of 32 incidents per 1,000, and 2009-10, when the violent crime rate was 25 per 1,000.

Police officers contributions to making schools safer over the past two decades, however, remain the subject of ongoing research and heated debate. In a study last year, which was published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, Bushway and his colleagues found that placing school resource officers on campuses led to a marginal decline in some forms of school violence. And although researchers were unable to analyze officers effects on mass school shootings because such tragedies are statistically rare, they were associated with an uptick in reported firearm offenses  suggesting an increased detection of guns. The officers were also associated with a stark uptick in student disciplinary actions, including suspensions and arrests, particularly among Black students and those with disabilities.

Related

Inside 285 Cases Where Campus Cops Injured  Or Killed  Students at School

Theres a cost-benefit here and everybodys calculus on how you weigh these different things is going to be different, Bushway said. Theres no pure answer to that question, different people are going to answer that question differently.

Previous research suggests that suspensions do not lead to improved student behaviors or improve school safety, but have detrimental effects on punished students academic performance, attendance and behavior. Their effects on non-misbehaving students remain unclear.

Other researchers have reached a much more critical conclusion about the effects of school-based police on students. In a meta-analysis published in November on the existing literature into school officers efficacy, researchers failed to identify evidence that school-based law enforcement promoted safety in schools but reinforced concerns that their presence criminalizes students and schools.

I think the evidence is increasingly supporting the notion that police dont belong in schools, report author Ben Fisher, an associate professor of civil society and community studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, told The 74. Removing officers who have been there for years, he said, may cause problems of its own. If were going to get police out of schools, which I think is the right long-term vision and short-term vision, I think we need to do it thoughtfully with plans in place to make schools welcoming and supportive.

The federal survey, which was conducted between Feb. 15 and July 19, 2022, also found large geographical differences in the types of tools that school-based police use on the job. Across the board, officers in urban areas were less likely than their rural and suburban counterparts to carry guns and pepper spray or to be equipped with body-worn cameras.

Beyond data on campus policing, the new federal survey offers a comprehensive look at the state of campus safety and security, reflecting school leaders responses to the pandemic and record numbers of mass school shootings. Other findings include:

In 2021-22, about 49% of schools provided diagnostic mental health assessments to evaluate students for mental health disorders. This is a decline from 2019-20, when 55% conducted assessments. Meanwhile, 38% provided students with treatments for mental health disorders in 2021-22, down from 42% in 2019-20.

Restorative justice, a conflict resolution technique, was used in 59% of schools in 2021-22, which was similar to 2019-20 but an increase from the 42% that used the approach in 2017-18.

The latest data indicate a decline in campus drug and alcohol incidents. In 2021-22, 71% of schools reported at least one incident involving the distribution, possession or use of illegal drugs, down from 77% in 2019-20. Meanwhile, 34% reported at least one alcohol-related incident in 2021-22, down from 41% in 2019-20.

Sign up for the School (in)Security newsletter.

Get the most critical news and information about students' rights, safety and well-being delivered straight to your inbox.
Rep. Jodey Arrington , R-Texas, speaks at a news conference following the markup of H.R. 5779, the Fiscal Commission Act of 2023, on Capitol Hill Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Yuri Gripas)

WASHINGTON (AP)  A bill to create a bipartisan commission that would tackle the nations soaring debt and make policy recommendations to Congress won approval Thursday from a House committee.

House Republicans are making the bill a priority, and the chairman of the House Budget Committee said everything's on the table regarding possible action to slow the federal government's increasing level of debt, now at more than $34 trillion. Many Democrats see the commission as an attempt to force cuts to Social Security and Medicare.

The bill, approved by the GOP-majority committee by a 22-12 vote, would ask the commission to recommend ways to balance the budget at the earliest reasonable date and to improve the long-term solvency of Medicare, Social Security and other programs paid for through trust funds. The commission would have 16 members: 12 from Congress, evenly divided by party, and four outside experts who would not have voting power.

Sens. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Mitt Romney, R-Utah, have sponsored a companion measure in the Senate.

Similar commissions have succeeded in the past, but recent ones have mostly failed due to partisan divisions. Republicans blame federal spending for the annual deficits while many Democrats cite tax cuts enacted under Republican administrations. That divide was again on display during debate Thursday, raising doubts about whether a new commission could make any headway.

Rep. Jodey Arrington, the committee chairman, said both parties are guilty of not being responsible fiscal stewards. He said the yearly struggles to pass spending bills show a broken process that makes it hard to address the country's financial challenges.

We all own this, said Arrington, R-Texas. We're all in this boat together. The boat is sinking.

The committee's top Democrat, Pennsylvania Rep. Brendan Boyle, said he fears that some lawmakers want to use the commission as a backdoor way to force through unpopular cuts. He said Congress needs to have the courage to increase the revenues going into Social Security and Medicare, which would put both programs on firm financial footing for decades ahead.

We don't need a commission to do that, he said.

The hearing began with a protester being led away by U.S. Capitol Police while yelling no cuts to Social Security, no cuts to Social Security. Some 116 House Democrats wrote a letter last week to Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York, opposing the bill and calling it a direct circumvention of the process to expedite cuts to Social Security.

Johnson praised the committee's vote, calling it a positive step towards fiscal sanity. Jeffries said before the vote he would evaluate the proposal after it got out of committee and that he supported various Democratic amendments that were to be offered to the bill. In the end, those Democratic amendments were rejected.

If it's not clear that Social Security and Medicare are protected, then it will be my expectation that there will be a lukewarm response at best when it hits the floor, Jeffries said.

Some Democrats do support the establishment of the debt commission. Three committee Democrats voted for it, including Rep. Scott Peters, D-Calif., who worked with Rep. Bill Huizenga, R-Mich. in sponsoring the bill. Peters said cuts to Social Security are already factored into current law and once the program exhaust its reserves in less than a decade, then participants would see their benefits cut by about 24%.

Whether you're 72 or 92, rich or poor, you're going to get cut, Peters said. Now, we can pretend that doing nothing is going to solve the problem. We can pretend that regular order is going to take care of it. I choose to offer a different path.

He said he wants to save the program and not cut benefits, but the longer Congress waits to tackle the problem, the more leverage we give to the people who want to cut benefits.

Rep. Becca Balint, D-Vt., said she is concerned when she hears Arrington say everything is on the table for the commission.

"There are some things that should absolutely not be on the table, and that's because the wealth gap in this country is obscene, she said.

The commission would be required to hold at least six hearings across the country. A final report and recommendations would be due by May 2025, Arrington said. The recommendations would get an expedited vote in Congress if they win the approval of a majority of the commission, including at least two members of each party.
AUSTIN (KXAN)  Officials with Austin Independent School District said on Thursday fewer students are waiting longer than the federally mandated 45 school days to be evaluated for learning disabilities.

Nearly 1800 Austin ISD students suspected of needing special education services were overdue for an evaluation last January. As of December, district officials said that figure was down to 306.

The district said it also completed 99% of evaluations within the timeframe in December. A year ago, the district said a little more than half were done on time.

We realize that every past-due evaluation represents a child weve not managed to serve, the district said in a newsletter to parents Thursday.

At 15, she needs special education and homebound services to learn. For weeks, she got neither

The district enters its fourth month under a state monitor in a week. School board members hesitantly agreed to the Texas Education Agencys corrective action plan in September, knowing failure to meet the states deadlines could lead to more invasive oversight.

One of the deadlines Austin ISD leaders agreed to requires the district, by December 2025, to evaluate all students within the 45 school-day deadline. The district would have to have no overdue cases.

District leaders told parents they could meet the milestone before the deadline set in the agreement.

She was struggling: Austin ISD still working to finish delayed special education evaluations

Investigators with TEA released a report in 2023, finding the district repeatedly missed that deadline for at least three years and sometimes waited as long as nine months.

Were committed to not only catching up on our backlog but implementing sustainable systems that ensure each child receives the high-quality instruction and services they deserve, Austin ISD officials wrote.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KXAN Austin.
The Ukrainian army is moving to active defence, and one possible reason is that Russia may be preparing a new major offensive this summer.

Source: Financial Times

Details: An article in the Financial Times (FT) points out that Ukraine has switched to "active defence" tactics, which was recently reaffirmed by Oleksandr Syrskyi, Commander of the Ground Forces of Ukraine, who said that the Ukrainian army's goals remain to hold its positions and to exhaust the Russians.

The authors cite the assumption of Ukrainian security officials that "Russia may be planning a large-scale offensive as early as summer".

Quote: "Its [the offensive's  ed.] goal would be to capture the remainder of four regions - Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia  Putin claimed to have annexed in September 2022. In addition, the officials say, another attempt at Kharkiv or even Kyiv was not out of the question.

A newly declassified US intelligence assessment reviewed by the FT in December also notes that Putin's ultimate goal in Ukraine of conquering the country and subjugating its people remains unchanged."

Details: The authors emphasise that whether Russia will be able to achieve these goals remains in question. "Whether the Russians will be successful is another question. [Kyrylo] Budanov [the head of Ukraines Defence Intelligence  ed.] is not convinced that his enemies can produce as many shells and troops as they are losing, even with North Koreas support. On top of that, Ukrainians have proven adept at defending their territory," the article says.

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Spring Festival gala popular in Bangladeshi capital

Xinhua) 09:39, January 19, 2024

Artists from the Yunnan cultural exchange delegation perform during a Chinese Spring Festival Gala in Dhaka, capital of Bangladesh, on Jan. 17, 2024.

A Chinese Spring Festival Gala to a sold-out audience was held at the National Theater of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy (BSA) in the capital of Dhaka on Wednesday.

The program was organized by the Embassy of China in Bangladesh together with the Information Office and the Foreign Affairs Office of Yunnan Province of China. More than 800 people from all walks of life in Bangladesh, foreign missions in Dhaka and the Chinese community enjoyed the performance. (Xinhua)

DHAKA, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese Spring Festival Gala to a sold-out audience was held at the National Theater of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy (BSA) in the capital of Dhaka on Wednesday.

The program was organized by the Embassy of China in Bangladesh together with the Information Office and the Foreign Affairs Office of Yunnan Province of China. More than 800 people from all walks of life in Bangladesh, foreign missions in Dhaka and the Chinese community enjoyed the performance.

Artists from the Yunnan cultural exchange delegation presented fantastic performances of dance, instrumental music, acrobatics and magics of Chinese genre, which conveyed to the audience the excitement and happiness of people celebrating the Spring Festival. Artists from BSA and students from Sylhet Sofir Uddin High School and College also performed dances.

The scene rang out warm applause from time to time with the wonderful performance.

"This is an amazing show," a student who are learning Chinese in University of Dhaka told Xinhua that it's happy to have this kind of opportunity to enjoy a Chinese cultural show.

It's hoped that there will be more and more shows like this, and it's a very great form to learn Chinese culture, the student added.

When delivering a speech, Yao Wen, Chinese ambassador to Bangladesh, cited the old Chinese saying that "A year's plan begins with spring," to illustrate the hope for a new and better life heralded by the Spring Festival, the most festive and widely celebrated season in Chinese culture.

He also welcomed Bangladeshi artists to visit China and bring the unique culture and art of Bangladesh to the friendly Chinese people, ushering in new chapters for people-to-people exchanges between the two countries.

Dipu Moni, Bangladeshi minister of social welfare, said cultural exchange is a key part of Bangladesh-China traditional friendship. The Chinese artists are warmly welcomed to perform with their Bangladeshi partners and students.

Artists from the Yunnan cultural exchange delegation perform during a Chinese Spring Festival Gala in Dhaka, capital of Bangladesh, on Jan. 17, 2024.

A Chinese Spring Festival Gala to a sold-out audience was held at the National Theater of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy (BSA) in the capital of Dhaka on Wednesday.

The program was organized by the Embassy of China in Bangladesh together with the Information Office and the Foreign Affairs Office of Yunnan Province of China. More than 800 people from all walks of life in Bangladesh, foreign missions in Dhaka and the Chinese community enjoyed the performance. (Xinhua)

Bangladeshi artists perform during a Chinese Spring Festival Gala in Dhaka, capital of Bangladesh, on Jan. 17, 2024.

A Chinese Spring Festival Gala to a sold-out audience was held at the National Theater of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy (BSA) in the capital of Dhaka on Wednesday.

The program was organized by the Embassy of China in Bangladesh together with the Information Office and the Foreign Affairs Office of Yunnan Province of China. More than 800 people from all walks of life in Bangladesh, foreign missions in Dhaka and the Chinese community enjoyed the performance. (Xinhua)

Acrobats from the Yunnan cultural exchange delegation perform during a Chinese Spring Festival Gala in Dhaka, capital of Bangladesh, Jan. 17, 2024.

A Chinese Spring Festival Gala to a sold-out audience was held at the National Theater of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy (BSA) in the capital of Dhaka on Wednesday.

The program was organized by the Embassy of China in Bangladesh together with the Information Office and the Foreign Affairs Office of Yunnan Province of China. More than 800 people from all walks of life in Bangladesh, foreign missions in Dhaka and the Chinese community enjoyed the performance. (Xinhua)

(Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Liang Jun)
PARKSLEY, Va. (WAVY)  A firefighter fell through a ceiling while fighting a fire Thursday night in Accomack County near Parksley.

The firefighter was evaluated at the scene and didnt suffer significant injuries, the Onancock Fire Department says.

The work our volunteers and career DPS staff do every day is nothing short of fantastic and is rewarding but, IS dangerous! If you think you have what it takes to be a part of our team, we are always looking for dedicated and courageous individuals to help out!, the department wrote.

Accomack County firefighters responded to a fire off Route 13 near Parksley on Jan. 18, 2023 (Via Onancock Volunteer Fire Department)

Accomack County firefighters responded to a fire off Route 13 near Parksley on Jan. 18, 2023 (Via Onancock Volunteer Fire Department)

Accomack County firefighters responded to a fire off Route 13 near Parksley on Jan. 18, 2023 (Via Onancock Volunteer Fire Department)

Accomack County firefighters responded to a fire off Route 13 near Parksley on Jan. 18, 2023 (Via Onancock Volunteer Fire Department)

Accomack County firefighters responded to a fire off Route 13 near Parksley on Jan. 18, 2023 (Via Onancock Volunteer Fire Department)

Accomack County firefighters responded to a fire off Route 13 near Parksley on Jan. 18, 2023 (Via Onancock Volunteer Fire Department)

Accomack County firefighters responded to a fire off Route 13 near Parksley on Jan. 18, 2023 (Via Onancock Volunteer Fire Department)

Accomack County firefighters responded to a fire off Route 13 near Parksley on Jan. 18, 2023 (Via Onancock Volunteer Fire Department)

Accomack County firefighters responded to a fire off Route 13 near Parksley on Jan. 18, 2023 (Via Onancock Volunteer Fire Department)

Accomack County firefighters responded to a fire off Route 13 near Parksley on Jan. 18, 2023 (Via Onancock Volunteer Fire Department)

Accomack County firefighters responded to a fire off Route 13 near Parksley on Jan. 18, 2023 (Via Onancock Volunteer Fire Department)

It broke around 8:10 p.m. at 26489 Johnson Road, behind Fishers Corner on the seaside of Route 13. Onancock says Fire Chief Mike Rydberg had just left Accomack County Fire Commissions meeting in Bloxom when units from Onancock, Melfa, Parksley, Bloxom and Tasley were dispatched.

Five people were inside the home at the time and were able to safely evacuate. Theyll be assisted by the Red Cross.

Crews worked diligently and stopped the fire from spreading to other areas of the residence and destroying other personal property inside the home. All personnel on scene did a fantastic job and the fire was extinguished at [8:48 p.m.]

The cause of the fire has not been released at this time.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WAVY.com.
This article was originally published in Utah News Dispatch.

A group of Hunter High School students and educators welcomed first lady Jill Biden in a visit to the school, part of her whirlwind trip to Utah on Tuesday.

The majority of Hunter High students were dismissed in the afternoon, but some, including choir group The Madrigals and student council members, stayed to perform or to shake the first ladys hand, sporting school T-shirts and jackets.

At the high school, Jill Biden, who is also a teacher, highlighted educator wellness in one of Utahs most diverse areas, in front of 140 Hunter High employees in the schools commons. Posters with teacher appreciation messages decorated the walls.

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In a quick visit to the Beehive State, Biden visited Hunter High School in West Valley City with Vivek Murthy, U.S. Surgeon General, and Abby Cox, Utahs first lady. She was also scheduled to attend fundraising events for President Joe Bidens reelection campaign in Park City.

Today first lady Cox and I are here to tell you that you are not alone, Biden said, that we understand, that we are working to honor this profession to give you the support that you deserve.

Sometimes it feels like the weight to educate people across the country is too heavy to carry, Biden said, especially after the pandemic as students have needed support for more issues in addition to academic performance.

She praised the presidents initiatives to address mental health and academic needs of students, including passing a bipartisan gun safety law and a student loans forgiveness program.

But he cant do this alone. And here in Utah, he doesnt have to, thanks to the work of your governor and your first lady, Jill Biden said, adding that Utah has taken a big step to ensure that teachers are properly compensated.

Jill Biden also highlighted the work of Utahs first lady, Abby Cox, also an educator, to address exhaustion and burnout among teachers and school staff.

Educator wellness is one of Coxs initiatives. As some educators in Hunter work with children in the foster care system and those with intellectual disabilities, the state is working with these communities to ensure their success.

Dr. Biden and I have this passion for educators in common. She has been an advocate for teachers for as long as shes been a teacher, and its been a long time, Cox said. So I love this opportunity that she and I have to come together in a shared purpose and a shared goal of uplifting our educators making sure that you have the tools and resources that you need to be successful.

Biden touched down on a cold Salt Lake City day and hurried to her motorcade Tuesday afternoon. She arrived an hour later than scheduled, a delay she later attributed to an inch of snow in Washington D.C., a fact she could laugh at in Utah.

Biden was greeted by first lady Abby Cox and her 17-year-old daughter, Emma Kate. Temperatures at the private hangar off Salt Lake City International Airport hovered around freezing at Bidens arrival, attended by local media.

Following her visit to Hunter High School, the first lady was scheduled to attend fundraising events in Park City.

Its super special that we were chosen, Jordan Martinsen, an English teacher at Hunter High, said during the school event. (The fact) that shes a teacher herself makes it a more genuine message because shes kind of been there and done that.

While she was receptive to the message, shes still waiting for more action from the state to address educators wellness, she said.

I love this school, and I love this district. So Im not going anywhere, she said. They talked about a lot of really nice, lovely things. Sometimes thats not the day-to-day reality, but I did like the message and I think its nice to be reminded that theres people on your side.

Parallel to West Valley City, which according to the 2020 census is a minority-majority community, Hunter Highs school body is predominantly composed of students of color, which make up 66% of its population  50% of them are Hispanic  according to 2022 data.

About 48% of students were also reported to be economically disadvantaged, according to the Granite School District.

Compensation is a part of meeting teachers needs, but its also about instructional support, Granite School District superintendent Rich K. Nye said on Tuesday. What does it look like to have, say, a literacy paraprofessional in the room, or an interventionist in the room, or a school psychologist, or licensed clinical social worker to be able to meet the needs of the students?

The district has grown its mental health resources available for teachers through insurance plans or its own wellness clinics, Nye said.

The district has also prioritized strategies to address teachers retention concerns, prioritizing the recruitment of educational support professionals, and taking into account their interests and that they represent the communities demographics.

Biden, according to her bio, has championed different educational initiatives to open up more opportunities to all students, such as universal preschool and more affordable higher education chances, including free community college.

In her last visit to Utah in 2021, Biden walked through Glendale Middle School, located on Salt Lake Citys west side and also known for its rich ethnic diversity, where she met with students and spoke about her commitment to raise teachers compensations and recruit more staff of color.

The first lady was set to depart Utah Tuesday night for San Francisco, where shes scheduled for additional fundraising events for the Biden Victory Fund and other community meetings. Jill Biden will visit San Francisco and Healdsburg in California, in addition to Columbus, Ohio.

McKenzie Romero contributed to this report.

Utah News Dispatch is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Utah News Dispatch maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor McKenzie Romero for questions: info@utahnewsdispatch.com. Follow Utah News Dispatch on Facebook and Twitter.
LONDON  An industry team has for the first time destroyed an aerial target using a high-power shot with its DragonFire laser, the British Defence Ministry announced Friday.

The trial with the direct-energy weapon is considered a significant milestone toward the deployment of the system, possibly within five years.

Efforts to quickly field such weapons are partly driven by conflicts in Ukraine and near the Red Sea, where expensive air defense missiles are used against cheap but effective drones. The cost of operating the laser is typically less than 10 (U.S. $13) per shot, the ministry noted.

DragonFire is a 30 million technology demonstrator program revealed by the ministrys Defence Science and Technology Laboratory in 2017.

The industry team  led by missile-maker MBDA, with partners Leonardo UK and QinetiQ  is the key element in a 100 million joint investment with the ministry to develop directed-energy weapons across several programs, including radio-frequency direct-energy weapons.

The MoD said the DragonFire test results are a major step forward in bringing the laser technology into service. The latest milestone follows a series of trials announced by the ministry late last year, including the first static high-power laser firing of a U.K.-made capability as well as the demonstration of the DragonFire systems ability to track moving air and sea targets with high accuracy.

DragonFire is a 30 million technology demonstrator program revealed in 2017. (British Defence Ministry)

Shimon Fhina, who directs the ministys strategic programs, said the recent trials proved the technology can track and engage high-end targets at range. The government was looking to accelerate the next phase of the program, he explained.

A spokesperson with the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory said the timing of any deployment into U.K. service depends on a number of factors, but could be within the next 5 to 10 years.

The MoD had already announced its intent to progress directed-energy weapons into a so-called transition phase. This is meant to prepare the military for the eventual fielding of directed-energy weapons by communicating safety measures, implementing training, creating operational concepts and doctrine, and so on, the spokesperson explained.

Doug Barrie, an air warfare analyst at the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies think tank, said the U.K.s progress on laser technology is going well.

There is a lot of work going on in countries like the U.S., Russia and China  most of it classified. But the U.K. has a long history in laser and radio-frequency work, and while we can only dream about the funding levels countries like the U.S. obtain, we [managed to squeeze] quite a lot out of our funding. Its transitioning the technology to the marketplace that is the problem, he said.

The British Army and the Royal Navy are each interested in using the technology for air defense. Naval News reported last year the MoD was looking at the retrofit of a 150-kilowatt-class laser directed-energy weapon for new Type 26 frigates beginning in the early 2030s.

The ministry declined to provide Defense news with technical details of the DragonFire, including its range and power levels. Media reports previously put the power level around 50 kilowatts.

The range of DragonFire is classified, but it is a line-of-sight weapon and can engage with any visible target, the ministry said.

The latest trial took place at a test range in Hebrides, Scotland. The DragonFire shot down a drone, according to the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory, but no further details about the target were available, including range, altitude and speed.

This type of cutting-edge weaponry has the potential to revolutionise the battlespace by reducing the reliance on expensive ammunition, while also lowering the risk of collateral damage, Defence Secretary Grant Shapps said in the ministrys news release. Investments with industry partners in advanced technologies like DragonFire are crucial in a highly contested world.
Florida International University officials moved a step closer to opening their long-awaited CasaCuba on Thursday, as they accepted a $10-million donation from Benjamin Leon Jr., chairman and founder of Leon Medical Centers.

Benjamins gift to CasaCuba will provide the power to fuel dreams that resonate beyond the walls of academia, transcending borders and resonating globally, said FIU President Kenneth Jessell during an FIU Board of Trustees meeting Thursday.

Once built, CasaCuba will serve as an academic and cultural center dedicated to Cuba. FIU hopes it will hold events, show exhibitions and foster relationships.

In exchange for his gift, FIU trustees unanimously voted to name the CasaCuba facility, which will be located on Southwest 107th Avenue and 16th Street at the entrance of FIUs main campus, the Benjamin Leon Jr. Building.

Im very happy. I feel very grateful to God for the opportunity to be a part of the creation of one of the most important projects for Cubans, said Leon, a Cuban exile himself who remembers arriving in Miami at 7:25 p.m. on Jan. 12, 1961, through KLM Airlines when he was 16. In Miami, the Leon Family built an empire in the health care field servicing fellow exiles.

FROM 2021: Jorge Mas will donate $5 million to FIU for CasaCuba

Leon said he contributed to CasaCuba because he wants future generations to learn about his native country, what the Cuban diaspora was like and what it accomplished in Miami and beyond.

His donation this week reignited an FIU dream that has been in the works since 2015, but dormant for a few years.

Mark Rosenberg, FIUs former president who resigned in 2022 amid sexual misconduct allegations, first planned CasaCuba as a 57,000-square-foot facility that would cost about $34 million and open in about 2023.

Fast forward nearly a decade, the building plan has now downsized to 43,000 square feet, its cost has risen to about $40 million and its opening date has moved back to about 2027.

What happened? COVID.

How the pandemic changed CasaCuba

Lili Betancourt Space, executive director of CasaCuba, said the fundraising campaign for CasaCuba, which will be funded with philanthropic gifts and government-funded grants, launched on March 4, 2020, shortly before the COVID pandemic ensued.

Soon after, most donations shifted toward the ill and those financially affected by COVID, hindering the fundraising.

For a while, too, people wondered if theyd need physical spaces again, or if theyd carry on solely online. But the world eventually realized it still needs spaces for our emotional and physical health, Betancourt Space said.

The timing couldnt have been worse, she added. But instead of putting it on the floor of a library and moving on, we were willing to make more time and do it the right way.

FROM 2019: Cuban heritage center at FIU to receive $750,000 from National Endowment for Humanities

Still, the pandemic years changed a lot. CasaCuba got Betancourt Space as its new director, and Mario Murgado as its new board chair. FIU got Jessell as its new president. Construction costs increased. And FIU changed the architect from Rene Gonzalez Architects to HKS Architects.

What didnt change: The desire to pay tribute to the Cubans and their nation.

CasaCuba will house the FIU Cuban Research Institute and include classrooms, galleries and offices. As of Thursday, FIU officials had raised about $26 million of the $40 million needed for the building.

Betancourt Space hopes Thornton Construction Company and the architects will break ground next spring. Anyone who donates at least $500 before groundbreaking will be recognized as a founding donor.

Were feeling really optimistic. These kind of projects are challenging, but theyre worthy, Betancourt Space said. CasaCuba has had its ups and downs, but much like the community CasaCuba hopes to honor, the project itself has been resilient and has persevered.
KANSAS CITY, Mo.  An American Airlines flight attendant is in federal custody Thursday for allegedly recording a teenage girl in the bathroom of a flight bound for Kansas City.

He is also alleged to have possessed recordings of four additional minor female passengers using lavatories aboard the aircraft he had worked previously. That includes a flight between Charlotte, North Carolina and Kansas City, Missouri on July 26, 2023.

KCPD release video of armed suspect involved in multiple McDonalds robberies

Estes Carter Thompson III, 36, of Charlotte, North Carolina, is charged with one count of attempted sexual exploitation of children and one count of possession of child pornography depicting a prepubescent minor.

Thompson was arrested by the FBI on Thursday in Virginia and will remain in custody pending his initial appearance in federal court in Boston at a later date.

According to the charging documents, on Sept. 2, 2023, while working as a flight attendant onboard an American Airlines flight from Charlotte to Boston, Thompson video-recorded or attempted to surreptitiously video-record a 14-year-old female passenger as she used the aircraft restroom.

Specifically, approximately midway through the flight, the minor victim got up to use the main cabin lavatory nearest to where she was seated. When the minor victim arrived at the lavatory it was occupied.

Court documents say after the minor victim had been waiting a short time, Thompson allegedly approached her, told her that the first-class lavatory was unoccupied and escorted her toward first class. Before the minor victim entered the lavatory, Thompson allegedly told her that he needed to wash his hands and that the lavatorys toilet seat was broken and briefly entered the lavatory. It is alleged that, after Thompson exited the lavatory, the minor victim entered and observed red stickers on the underside of the toilet seat lid, which was in the open position, that stated, INOPERATIVE CATERING EQUIPMENT and REMOVE FROM SERVICE, and SEAT BROKEN was hand-written in black ink on one of the stickers.

KCPD asks public for help in Crown Center shooting investigation

It is suspected that, beneath the red stickers, Thompson had concealed his iPhone to record a video. The minor victim used her phone to take a picture of the red stickers and the concealed iPhone she found in the lavatory before exiting, at which time Thompson allegedly went back in immediately.

Court documents say when the victim returned to her seat, she informed her parents of what she saw and showed them the picture. The victims parents reported it to other flight attendants onboard who notified the captain, who in turn notified law enforcement on the ground.

It is alleged that the victims father confronted Thompson who, shortly thereafter, locked himself in the lavatory with his iPhone for three to five minutes prior to the flights descent, according to court documents.

When the flight arrived at Bostons Logan Airport, law enforcement noticed that Thompsons iPhone may have been restored to factory settings. It is alleged that a subsequent search of Thompsons suitcase was found to contain 11 INOPERATIVE CATERING EQUIPMENT stickers, like those seen by the victim on the back of the toilet seat.

A search of Thompsons iCloud account allegedly revealed four additional instances between January and August 2023 in which Thompson recorded a minor using the lavatory on an aircraft.

The victims allegedly depicted in the recordings were 7, 9, 11 and 14 years old at the time.

Additionally, over 50 images of a 9-year-old unaccompanied minor were allegedly found in Thompsons iCloud. The images included photos taken while the minor victim was seated in her seat pre-flight and close-ups of her face while sleeping.

View the latest Weather Alerts in the Kansas City region on FOX4

It is further suspected that hundreds of images of AI-generated child pornography were also found stored on Thompsons iCloud account.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports.
In November, days after her son was convicted in a sprawling murder-for-hire plot over a custody dispute, authorities arrested Donna Adelson at Miami International Airport.

Adelson, 73, had participated in the plot, authorities alleged, and now she was at the airport with a one-way ticket to Vietnam  a country with no extradition treaty with the United States.

In an exclusive interview with NBCs Dateline, Adelsons lawyer rejected the possibility that she was trying to permanently flee the country and described her as absolutely innocent of first-degree murder and other crimes.

Dan Rashbaum described Adelson  a bookkeeper at her familys dental practice  as a distraught parent who was furious with the justice system about her sons murder conviction and life sentence. She hadnt done anything wrong when she booked the ticket, he said.

She was a free citizen like you and me, he said.

To learn more about the murder-for-hire case, tune in to Family Matters on Dateline at 9 ET/8 CT tonight.

Charlie Adelson, a Ferrari-owning periodontist from South Florida, was convicted Nov. 6 of first-degree murder, solicitation and conspiracy in the 2014 killing of his former brother-in-law, Florida State University law professor Daniel Markel.

Markel was gunned down on July 18 while parking at his Tallahassee home.

Prosecutors said Charlie orchestrated the killing, which hinged on a dispute between Markel and Wendi Adelson  Charlies sister and Donnas daughter  and involved three people outside the Adelson family: a former girlfriend of Charlies, Katherine Magbanua; the father of Magbanuas children who authorities said pulled the trigger; and the shooters close friend.

Magbanua and the father of her children were convicted in the killing in separate trials and sentenced to life in prison. The friend cooperated with authorities and pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. He was sentenced to 19 years.

Charlie Adelson profile court murder trial (Alicia Devine / Pool via AP file)

At his trial, Charlie acknowledged paying Magbanua after the murder  but he said he did so because he believed he was the victim of an extortion scheme and Magbanua could pay off the people who killed Markel. If he didnt pay one-third of $1 million within 48 hours, he said she told him, hed be dead too.

In his testimony, Charlie recounted telling Magbanua that he only had enough money to pay her $138,000. She asked if he could pay the rest in $3000 monthly installments, he testified.

During the trial, Magbanua denied that she tried to extort Charlie and said the payment was for Markels killing.

Donna was convinced the extortion scheme was real, Rashbaum said, and went along with her sons plan.

Shes a good mom, a loving mom, and thats why shes in the predicament shes in, he said.

An ugly custody dispute

Authorities said Markels killing was linked to the dispute over the children he shared with ex Wendi Adelson. After she filed for divorce in 2012, Wendi asked a judge to let her move with their two boys from Tallahassee to South Florida, where her parents also lived, according to the affidavit in support of Donnas arrest.

The judge rejected the request, but Charlie and Donna Adelson were determined to see Wendi relocate, the affidavit says. During Charlies trial, Magbanua testified that Charlie had called Markel a terrible man who had put his family through an ordeal and came up with the idea to kill his former brother-in-law.

Rashbaum, who represented Charlie Adelson in his criminal trial, blamed Magbanua for orchestrating the extortion and the murder, saying she was motivated by Charlies refusal to marry her.

According to the affidavit, Donna also repeatedly sought to have her daughter coerce Markel into allowing the move with an offer of $1 million, and she told her daughter to threaten to convert the boys to Catholicism  knowing Markel was very observant in his Jewish faith and that the religious practices of the children were of the utmost importance to Markel.

Rashbaum said that Wendi never actually presented Donnas financial offer, which was intended to pay expenses related to a potential move to South Florida. Among other things, it would have paid for an apartment for Markel, Rashbaum said, and it would have allowed him to commute to Tallahassee. Wendi Adelson has denied involvement in Markels killing and has not been accused of any crimes.

The lawyer downplayed the conversion comment, saying it came in the context of an acrimonious custody dispute and was designed only to push Markels buttons.

Were they ever gonna convert these grandchildren to Catholicism or baptize them? he said. Never.

Authorities also alleged that Donna had the means to finance the killing. The day after Markels fatal shooting, the affidavit says, she allegedly delivered a bag of cash to her son that authorities said he used to pay Magbanua.

And in September, Magbanua was put on the dental practices payroll, earning roughly $407 every two weeks, the affidavit says. Donna signed her checks.

Rashbaum said the cash Donna is accused of giving to her son didnt come from her  it was Charlies. The allegation that Donna delivered the money came from Magbanua, who testified at Charlies trial that he told her about his mother delivering the money. Rashbaum said this claim was false.

The cash came from his safe, Rashbaum said, adding: He had no reason to lie about that.

Rashbaum said that Donna wrote the checks because she was the practices bookkeeper. Asked if she helped plan or pay for the killing, Rashbaum said: No, absolutely not. Zero chance.

An undercover sting

Rashbaum rejected another piece of evidence that authorities pointed to during Charlies trial and in Donnas affidavit.

More than a year after Markels killing  and before anyone had been arrested  law enforcement launched an undercover sting operation to try and determine who was involved, Georgia Cappleman, the prosecutor who later tried Charlies case, told Dateline.

In April 2016, an undercover federal agent posing as someone seeking to blackmail Donna over the murder approached her outside her Miami condo and handed her a news article about Markels murder. Written on the piece of paper was a dollar amount  $5,000  and a phone number.

matriarch professor murder plot (NBC South Florida)

The agent told Donna that she was taking care of Magbanua and the father of her children, but not the friend who later pleaded guilty, Cappleman said.

Its designed to give Donna the impression that shes being blackmailed for $5,000 on behalf of the friend, Cappleman said.

In a conversation the FBI intercepted afterwards, Donna called her son about some paperwork that had been hand-delivered to her, according to the affidavit. When Charlie asked if it was about him, she whispered: Well, probably the both of us.

You probably have a general idea what Im talking about, she added, before saying she didnt want to discuss the matter further over the phone.

Rashbaum said the situation had played out exactly as youd expect it to  for someone who believed her son was being extorted.

She doesnt want to talk about it because hes told her, Never talk about it, Rashbaum said. And so, when shes describing it to him, hes asking, Is it about me? And she says, No, its about the both of us. I think its about the two of us. Meaning you were extorted, and now Im being extorted.

I think it proves her innocence, Rashbaum said.

A ticket to Vietnam

During a news conference after Charlies conviction, a reporter asked Cappleman if anyone else in the Adelson family would face charges.

I dont know the answer to that, Cappleman said. Stay tuned.

To Donna, Rashbaum said, the comment seemed directed at her.

Shes just been told by the prosecutor immediately after her sons conviction that shes next, Rashbaum said. Her thought pattern is: Theyre gonna arrest me. Im 73 years old, and Im gonna be in the same predicament of not having a fair trial in Tallahassee.

I think the thought pattern was: Lets get away for some time, lets see what the situations like, Rashbaum said, adding: They were gonna come back.

Donnas husband had also booked a ticket to Vietnam and was with her when she was arrested. He was not taken into custody and has not been charged with any crimes in connection with Markels murder.

Rashbaum said the couple had obtained visas for either two or three months and planned on returning to the United States when those expired. At the time, Rashbaum said, there were no warrants for Donnas arrest and she was free to do as she wished.

Was it a smart move? he said. One can debate that.

In the weeks before her arrest, authorities had captured Donna in a recorded call from the jail where her son was being held discussing countries without extradition treaties with the United States, according to a recording of that and other calls obtained by Dateline.

The Nov. 7 conversation appears to have disconnected on Charlies side early on in the roughly 25-minute recording, but his mother continued talking to others who were with her at the time. It isnt clear who she was speaking to.

Weve been looking it up over and over, cause things change, if there is extradition from Vietnam, Donna says after the line appears to disconnect. Weve looked at all the places. I mean, I could go to Korea and China, but theres no extradition. But looking for places where theres no extradition.

Rashbaum said the legal status of the call wasnt clear because Donna didnt appear to know she was still on the call and being recorded. The states attorneys office declined to comment.

Donna was also recorded commenting on a discussion she said she had with her lawyer about her travel plans.

After speaking to Dan this morning and knowing what theyre thinking up there, I dont know if well make it out in time, she says in the recording. Because Dan said, You might. Or you might do all of it, get to the airport and  that could happen. It could happen, I dont know. But its worth a try.

Donna did not specify what she meant by up there and parts of the call were muffled, so it wasnt clear what she said. Asked if he was helping his client flee to a country with no extradition treaty with the U.S., Rashbaum said: The short answer to that is no.

Rashbaum was limited in what he could say because of attorney-client privilege, he added, but I can assure you that its nothing illegal.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
Floridas Election Police Force took in hundreds of tips of possible voter fraud or election crimes last year, but a recently released report shows most of those complaints did not amount to a crime.

This is as Governor Ron DeSantis is asking the Florida Legislature to increase funding for the Office of Election Crimes and Security from $1.4 million to nearly $2.2 million.

The Office of Election Crimes and Security published a report Wednesday, showing the office received more than 1300 complaints from other states, government agencies and  reporting possible voter fraud or an election crime.

Channel 9 found of the cases reported to the states new election crimes unit, roughly 54 percent have been cleared with no criminal wrongdoing found.

The cases were either closed by the Office or referred to the Division of Elections for voting list maintenance.

Read: Police search for armed intruder near UCF parking garage

Law enforcement is still reviewing at least another 141 cases that were referred by the Office.

Theres a question about how many of these cases actually end with convictions.

The 2023 report does not list of total number but mentions only four cases where people were sentenced.

Orlando attorney Roger Weeden has spoken out against the office.

Read: Changes coming to Melbourne railroad crossings after 2 fatal Brightline crashes

Hes represented people in Central Florida, who have been accused of election crimes by the Office.

It shows a lack of merit in their endeavors, Weeden said, talking of the number of complaints received and dismissed.

Were concerned with 2024 coming around that there may be more referrals and more attempts to intimidate voters.

Channel 9 found the Offices work led to less arrest in 2023 compared to its first four months. The report shows at least 19 arrests for election crimes or voter fraud last year. Eight of the arrests were paid petition gatherers accused of duplicating or forging signatures on forms. This is as campaigns are underway to get voters signatures for abortion and recreational marijuana as a constitutional amendment on the ballot.

Read: Long COVID patients and families push Congress for more treatment options, research

The Office says its been inundated with these complaints and expects more of these types of arrests this year.

Its just another way to intimidate organizations. Theyre trying to be involved in democracy, trying to get issues before the people, you know, thats what they should be about, the people should be able to participate in democracy and have their voices heard, Weeden said.

Click here to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.
Florida opts out of program to feed hungry kids

Florida is one of 15 states that did not opt into a USDA program designed to feed children facing food insecurity during the summer break.

>>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<<

The Summer EBT program would have provided parents with $40 for each eligible child per month to spend at eligible grocery stores and farmers markets.

Had Florida opted in, the government would have received $250 million to cover 2.1 million eligible children, according to White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.

[DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks]

No kid should have to spend their summer hungry, period, she said. People should feel that it is unacceptable that this governor decided to opt out of this program.

When contacted for an explanation, a spokeswoman for the Florida Department of Children and Families said Florida had a robust enough program of its own.

Read: Celebration of life and fundraiser for two kids who tragically lost both parents, months apart

Nearly 21 million children are expected to receive the new, permanent grocery benefits program this summer. Through... Posted by U.S. Department of Agriculture on Wednesday, January 10, 2024

Read: Jacksonville police officers cleared of any wrongdoing in case of mistaken identity

She also said accepting help from the USDA was complicated.

We anticipate that our states full approach to serving children will continue to be successful this year without any additional federal programs that inherently always come with some federal strings attached, DCF Deputy Chief of Staff Mallory McManus wrote.

McManus did not respond to a follow up email asking what those strings were.

Read: Police said AK-style rifles used in Moncrief shooting that left one person in critical condition

Jean-Pierre laughed when asked about the strings.

There are no strings attached, she said. This is for low-income families who have kids. Thats it. Thats who it benefits.

Advocates say 25% of Central Florida children do not know where their next meal will come from, and even a small amount of money makes a difference.

Any additional support that they can find for their families, even if it means providing two or four or six additional meals a week, No Hungry Kids Mike Whitaker said. In many cases, those are meals that children otherwise miss.

[SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter]

Whitaker called solutions simple, starting with the community level.

Dr. Candice Jones, of Orange Blossom Pediatrics, said she routinely sees undernourished children at her practice, and screens for it when she meets patients.

I talk to the family about it and offer them the resources that we have for our local community, she explained. Having that come up on a regular basis and having to send them to someone to ask for food, Its heartbreaking.

CLICK HERE to read the original article by WFTV.

Read: Lake City woman receives the gift of sound that changed her life

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A jury deliberated for two hours Friday afternoon before finding a Flossmoor man guilty of predatory criminal sexual assault and aggravated kidnapping of a 6-year-old girl in 2013.

Christopher Young, 56, sat motionless in a gold sweater and slacks with his hands clasped and eyebrows raised as Judge Geraldine DSouza read out the verdict.

Youngs attorney, Tony Thedford, argued this was a case of misidentification, saying Young did not match the original description the girl provided, and her picking him from a photo lineup six years later was flawed.

The girl, now 16, testified she was sleeping on a mattress in her living room Dec. 28, 2013, when she was taken by an man she hadnt seen before. She recalled being driven in a car to a house she had never been in.

Prosecutors say Young took the girl from her home in Homewood, brought her to his home in Flossmoor, sexually assaulted her in his bed and then carried her to the stoop of Flossmoor resident Brian Gabel, who found her just before 2 a.m., barefoot and in pajamas.

It wasnt until 2019 when DNA evidence from the girls clothing and body was matched to Young, leading to the charges against him.

Assistant States Attorney Sara Ondera highlighted testimony from a forensics expert that the DNA profile that matched Young would be expected to occur in no more than one in one quintillion people. With only eight billion people on earth, the odds of the DNA evidence being a match for another person is very slim, Ondera argued.

But Thedford pointed that in December 2013, the girl described the man as Black, with blue eyes and bald. While his client is Black, Thedford noted Young does not have blue eyes and there is no evidence he was bald at the time. In court this week, Young had a full head of hair.

The state wants the jury to think that the 6-year-old girl was a reliable witness for some of the things but other things she didnt remember because she was just 6 years old, Thedford said.

Testimony showed when the girl was 12 and presented with a photo lineup including Youngs photo and that of five other Black men, she selected Youngs photo. But Thedford argued the photos were not similar to one another, with at least three of the images appearing to be of men substantially older than Young.

Prosecutors noted the girls statements in the hours after she was kidnapped and assaulted included details about parts of the house where she was taken, which they said accurately match Youngs home at the time. She also said she was carried over train tracks before she was dropped off at the Flossmoor home, and there were railroad tracks between the two homes.

Ondera said Thedfords arguments distract from both the DNA evidence and the proximity of the defendants home to the crime.

He doesnt want you to think about the evidence that was presented, ladies and gentlemen, because it buries him, Ondera said.

The case now moves to the sentencing stage, with the next court date March 19 at the Cook County courthouse in Markham.

hsanders@chicagotribune.com
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Echoing a call made by her successor and other mayors of cities affected by the growing migrant crisis, former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said the federal government needs to make it easier for asylum-seekers to legally work.

Speaking at the City Club of Chicago Thursday to highlight a new nonprofit that is aimed at supporting local neighborhood groups, Lightfoot said work opportunities for the newcomers would help curb tensions over the citys continued big spending on caretaking and could help solve staffing challenges for service businesses.

We have got to press our federal representatives to open up, much more quickly, opportunities for people in this country to have jobs, Lightfoot said. The answer is jobs, jobs, jobs.

Nearly 35,000 migrants have arrived in Chicago since Texas Gov. Greg Abbott first began sending buses of asylum-seekers in August 2022, toward the end of Lightfoots term. Chicago has so far spent $156.2 million on vendor services such as shelter staffing to care for the newcomers, city data shows.

Mayor Brandon Johnson and his staff have criticized Lightfoot for costly vendor contracts he says he inherited and said his administration has since renegotiated. Lightfoot declined to comment on her successors handling of the migrant arrivals, but said her administration worked hard to smoothly transition the citys response as Johnsons administration took over.

Though Lightfoot and Johnson havent publicly agreed on much since Johnson defeated her during last years election, Johnson also has called on the federal government to fast-track work authorization for migrants.

Lightfoots appearance Thursday came as she announced a new nonprofit she was launching called Chicago Vibrant Neighborhoods Collective. The organization seeks to connect community-based organizations working in disinvested neighborhoods with back office resources like data analytics, fundraising, budgeting and marketing.

The new effort will connect a stable of consultants with nonprofit organizations in neighborhoods that are more in need, to bring business savvy and make the grassroots work more sustainable, Lightfoot said. The services will be provided to the neighborhood nonprofits for free, she added.

Lightfoot praised Chicagos nonprofits for helping steer the city through the COVID-19 pandemic and serving the citys most needy people. But many such groups are struggling to stay afloat, she added.

These organizations are doing their work every single day, oftentimes in the shadows without recognition, Lightfoot said. Its time we bring them out of the shadows. Its time we help  in a big way.

The former mayor will be Vibrant Neighborhoods board chair and will focus on fundraising, she told the Tribune. The organization has already secured funding from the MacArthur Foundation and the Pritzker Pucker Family Foundation, she added, though she didnt detail how much money they contributed.

Lightfoot continued the fundraising push after announcing the new organization at the City Club event, pitching the crowd filled in part by deep-pocketed philanthropists and high-powered businesspeople to support the organization.

Were going to be knocking on your door. Its time to join the cool kids club. Come and fund us, she joked.

Asked why she is starting the nonprofit, Lightfoot said she had wanted to give herself time to recover after leaving office.

I had been through quite a bit, she said.

But alongside her fall stint teaching at Harvard University and a new gig at the University of Chicagos Institute of Politics, the work to support Chicagos community organizations seemed like a way to do some good with her connections and expand her happiness quotient, she said.

I saw firsthand the incredible impact these community organizations have at the block level, she said, adding that she plans to announce more professional work soon.

jsheridan@chicagotribune.com
The High Anti-Corruption Court of Ukraine has found former MP Dmytro Kolesnikov guilty of illegally receiving compensation for housing rent totaling UAH 758,000 ($20,000), Transparency International Ukraine reported on Jan. 19.

According to the report, Kolesnikov entered a plea deal acknowledged the illegality of his actions and expressed remorse.

Read also: Judge detained on bribery charges as probe intensifies into overturned ruling in Boguslaev case

The case, which had been heard at the High Anti-Corruption Court for over three years, led to a plea bargain with the prosecution. Under the agreement's terms, he is required to donate UAH 1 million ($27,000) to the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

The organization added that Kolesnikov was sentenced to a suspended three-year prison term. He is also banned from holding public office for one year and has been fined UAH 17,000 ($453).

Read also: Latvian court grants asylum to Russian citizen who fought for Ukraine

Furthermore, Kolesnikov returned the entire amount of UAH 758,000, to the Ukrainian parliaments administrative department.

Read also: Court detains Concorde Capital founder Ihor Mazepa with $9.3 million bail

The Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office stated in 2020 that from December 2014 to October 2018, the former MP "illegally received UAH 758,000 in compensation from the state budget for expenses on a rented hotel room in Kyiv under the pretext of not having his own housing in the capital."

Kolesnikov was ineligible for housing rent compensation since his parliamentary mandate ended in 2010, after being elected in 2007. He represented the now-defunct pro-Russian Opposition Block political party and served as the Minister for Industrial Policy in 2010-2012.

Were bringing the voice of Ukraine to the world. Support us with a one-time donation, or become a Patron!

Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
A former Republican legislative candidate has pleaded guilty to assaulting law enforcement officers during the insurrection by extremist supporters of Donald Trump at the US Capitol on 6 January 2021 in the final days of his one-term presidency.

Officials said that Matthew Brackley, 40, of Waldoboro, Maine, traveled to Washington DC, Trumps Stop the Steal rally on January 6, prior to him encouraging the crowd to go to the Capitol.

Brackley was among thousands who then stormed the building as part of an effort to stop the US Congress from certifying Joe Bidens victory for the Democratic party in the 2020 presidential election.

He entered the Capitol building as the mob broke in and asked for the location of then House speaker Nancy Pelosis office before shouting Lets go! and using his elbows to push past police officers, according to prosecutors.

His group was stopped by police before chemical spray was used to break up the demonstrators, prosecutors said.

Brackley will be sentenced 14 May in Washington DC, after reaching an agreement in which he pleaded guilty on Thursday to assaulting, resisting or impeding law enforcement officers. The crime carries a maximum penalty of eight years in prison.

The defense lawyer Steven Levin said his client has accepted full responsibility for his actions.

His aberrant conduct, which lasted less than an hour and for which he is extremely remorseful, stands in stark contrast to his otherwise lifelong law-abiding character, Levin said on Friday in an email.

Brackley tried unsuccessfully to unseat the Maine Democratic state senator and majority leader, Eloise Vitelli of Arrowsic, last year. His campaign website described him as a Maine Maritime Academy graduate whose approach would be to have respectful, thoughtful conversations on the issues.

The violent storming of the US Capitol, which caused injuries and led to several deaths among police, delayed the official certification of Bidens winning the White House until the early hours of 7 January after the Capitol was cleared and lawmakers returned to the floor.

Trump was impeached over the insurrection and acquitted in the Senate but now faces a related federal criminal case, amid other legal troubles.
A 39-year-old former massage therapist was convicted of sexually assaulting a client in January 2021 after she fell asleep on the massage table at a spa in south Charlotte, according to the Mecklenburg County district attorney.

Eugene Gatling also assaulted another woman at a different location in south Charlotte less than seven months before that.

He abused his position to commit the sexual assault, the DA said.

License revoked for massage therapist accused of inappropriately touching clients

The court tried and convicted Gatling of second-degree forcible sex offense and sexual battery.

He will be sentenced later.

The district attorney didnt say where he was employed.
Oleksiy Reznikov, the former Defense Minister of Ukraine, has decided to re-enter the legal arena, according to the National Bar Association of Ukraine.

Reznikovs right to practice law was reinstated on Jan. 16, following his application and in accordance with the law.

Reznikov voluntarily suspended his right to engage in legal activities in March 2020. This decision was made after his appointment as the Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine and Minister for Reintegration of Temporarily Occupied Territories.

Speculation arose in the wake of his resignation as the defense minister, with some suggestingthat he might be appointed as head of the Ukrainian embassy in the UK. However, it was laterconfirmed that Reznikov would not be taking on an ambassadorial role.

The Verkhovna Rada, Ukraines parliament, appointed Rustem Umerov as the new Defense Minister on Sept. 6, relieving Oleksiy Reznikov of the position he had held since November 2021.

Read also: New details surface on why former defense chief passed over for UK ambassadorship

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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
EL PASO, Texas (KTSM)  The El Paso Museum of Art Foundation (EPMAF) in collaboration with the Paso del Norte Community Foundation (PdNCF) held a groundbreaking event on the new Star Ceiling project on Thursday, Jan. 18 at the Arts Festival Plaza.

Foundation officials, along with project managers from Jordan Foster, inSitu architects and representatives from the El Paso Museum of Art, celebrated the private fundraising efforts totaling $5.5 million, according to a press release sent by Mithoff Burton Partners (MBP).

Invited guests included donors to the project, civic and business leaders, City of El Paso staff and elected officials.

Additionally, El Paso-raised artist Leo Villareal, who was engaged by the EPMAF to design and permanently install the Star Ceiling, was in town to participate in the groundbreaking ceremony.

The Star Ceiling will be located in front of the El Paso Museum of Art, at the foot of Arts Festival Plaza and directly across from the Paso Del Norte Hotel.

MBP says the site-specific installation will consist of a suspended LED array, zero gravity benches carved out of local stone and planters with species indigenous to the Chihuahuan Desert.

The 120-foot LED array will be composed of 13,500 individually addressable, monochrome and energy-efficient LEDs activated by Villareal in non-repeating patterns. This unique interactive display will never repeat the same light patterns, creating a different experience for every visitor, according to MBP.

Having grown up in El Paso and Juarez, I have many fond memories of observing the night sky over the desert, and the vast expanse of city lights arrayed across the landscape. Star Ceiling (El Paso) encapsulates many of these influences. Im honored to bring this immersive, site-specific artwork to the south entrance plaza of the El Paso Museum of Art. My hope is to create a greater sense of connection and community as the people of El Paso gather underneath this canopy of light, said Villareal.

We are so very pleased to have Leo with us today, to have reached our fundraising goal, and to finally break ground on this exciting and innovative project, said Judy Robison, development chair of the El Paso Museum of Art Foundation. The Star Ceiling will be a celestial gem for all El Pasoans to enjoy when visiting downtown.

Star Ceiling will be a great addition to the downtown landscape  a free and accessible gathering space designed to encourage connection, communication and community for residents and visitors to the region, said Tracy J. Yellen, CEO of the Paso del Norte Community Foundation. We are grateful for the El Paso Museum of Art Foundation and donors for their vision and generosity.

The Star Ceiling was approved in accordance with an agreement with the City of El Paso in Nov. 2021. The EPMAF pledged to raise the funds required to design, construct, install and permanently maintain Star Ceiling.

MBP says construction is scheduled to run through early fall of 2024, at which time Star Ceiling will be gifted to the city. $500,000 will be held in the PdNCF for purposes related to the operational upkeep and maintenance of the installation.

We are incredibly grateful to the EPMA Foundations generous commission of Star Ceiling, which will transform the Museums Plaza into a beacon of light for the over 2 million El Pasoans and visitors annually to the Downtown Arts District, said Ben Fyffe, managing director  Quality of Life for the City of El Paso.

Star Ceiling will anchor the Downtown Arts District in a compelling way, turning passersbys into stargazers. Its a bold installation capable of setting the tone for awe, wonder, and introspection in El Pasos cultural epicenter. The Museum embraces this gift from the Foundation, and looks ahead to all the public engagement opportunities under the stars, said Edward Hayes, director of the El Paso Museum of Art.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTSM 9 News.
Paul Patterson, director of Fujitsu's Europe arm, told the inquiry he was 'very surprised' the company could charge for providing witnesses in court - Jamie Lorriman

Fujitsu used prosecutions as a cash cow, the Horizon IT scandal inquiry heard, with the company earning up to 20,000 a case for providing evidence to prosecute sub-postmasters.

Addressing Paul Patterson, the director of the Japanese firms Europe arm, barrister Flora Page, who represents Lee Castleton and several other sub-postmasters, asked: The inquiry has heard evidence that providing ARQ data to the Post Office brought in 850,000 per annum, which is obviously small beer in the grand scheme of things but nevertheless, would you agree a reasonable handy bit of extra income?

Ms Page then cited additional charges for witnesses who appear in court and cited one case where Fujitsu had charged 20,000 for a witness to attend court.

Responding, Mr Patterson said: I was professionally very surprised that that service even existed. Were meant to be an IT company, not a prosecution support service, and for that to be designed in from the very earliest stages, I was very, very surprised at it. In terms of the work associated with doing it, I have no view and I am amazed that it was even in the contract.

Fujitsu didnt check dodgy data before court

Transaction data was not reviewed before it was used in civil and legal matters, the inquiry heard.

Mr Patterson was presented with a document produced by Anne Chambers, a former software support centre worker, in 2007 after she was asked to present evidence in the case of Mr Castleton, who was wrongly blamed for a 26,000 shortfall in accounts at his branch in Bridlington, Yorkshire in 2004.

Among her concerns, Mrs Chambers suggested that a technical review of the Horizon evidence before any case went to court was not implemented.

Jason Beer KC, counsel for the inquiry, said: Shes making a suggestion that in prosecution or in civil cases, one doesnt just, before just taking action against the sub-postmaster, rely on what was done back in the day; theres a recheck done. Was that ever implemented?

Mr Patterson said: From my knowledge, no it wasnt and I think her suggestions are very, very important.

There were serious matters which [arent] just ticking a box and is, I think, the point she is making here.

The inquiry heard that Mrs Chambers received a pat on the head from her manager for compiling the document before they carried on with business as usual.

Mr Beer continued: If that evidence is accurate, and nothing was done in relation to each of these ... issues, would you agree that this is a series of missed opportunities?

The Fujitsu director replied: I would agree this was a series of missed opportunities.

Fujitsu staff didnt mention bugs in court statements

Mr Patterson described the practice of editing witness statements and omitting the presence of bugs as shameful.

Mr Beer said: I think that Fujitsu employees provided witness statements to the Post Office for the purposes of the prosecution of sub-postmasters and, speaking in general terms, these bugs, errors and defects did not find their way into those witness statements. Do you know why?

The Fujitsu director said he did not, adding: On a personal level, Im surprised that that detail was not included in the witness statements given by Fujitsu staff to the Post Office - and Ive seen some evidence of editing of witness statements by others.

Referring to previous evidence, Mr Beer said: There was a proposal, I think youre referring to, to include at least a reference to some of the bugs or some data integrity problems. And they were edited out in correctness. And no doubt you would regard that as shameful.

Mr Patterson replied: Yes, thats one word I would use.

Wrong to call Excel spreadsheet gold standard

Fujitsu audit data used in prosecutions should not have been described as gold standard and was more like an Excel spreadsheet which tells you not very much, Mr Patterson admitted.

In his witness statement, Mr Patterson said transaction data (ARQ) accessible to sub-postmasters during criminal proceedings was not sufficientto understand whether Horizon was operating correctly at the relevant branch.

Earlier this week, Fujitsu staff were questioned over manipulated data used in prosecutions.

However, during High Court proceedings in 2017 launched by Alan Bates and 555 sub-postmasters, a Post Office expert described Fujitsus audit data as a secure gold standard for branch accounts.

Mr Beer said: I think you would agree that the provision of the ARQ data in the form that it was provided and the extent that it was provided was not really the gold standard at all.

Mr Patterson replied: No, it wasnt.

Ive seen one of the examples in [sub-postmaster Lee Castletons] case and looking at that spreadsheet and I think, for me, its impossible to determine from there, he added.

Thats certainly not a gold standard or any standard. Its a very simple Excel file which tells you not very much.

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Fulton County, Ga. District Attorney Fani Willis rejected accusations that she engaged in an "improper" romantic relationship with her team's special prosecutor, instead alleging that his estranged wife has conspired with other parties to interfere in her criminal case against former President Donald Trump and his allies.

Willis was subpoenaed to provide a pretrial deposition in Nathan and Joycelyn Wade's divorce case on Jan. 23, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. But Willis' attorney vehemently argued against the subpoena in a scathing Thursday filing.

Joycelyn Wade has conspired with interested parties in the criminal election interference case to use the civil discovery process to annoy, embarrass and oppress District Attorney Willis, the filing said.

The allegations against Willis and special prosecutor Nathan Wade first cropped up last week when Trump codefendant Mike Roman's attorney, Ashleigh Merchant, accused the two of engaging in a romantic relationship.

The lawyer further claimed that Willis enjoyed "lavish" vacations that Wade paid for with the money he made from working in her office, but did not include evidence, the Journal-Constitution notes. She also did not provide proof to back up claims of Willis and Wade's alleged impropriety, but she suggested it would be in Wade's pending divorce case, in which documents are sealed.

A hearing on whether to unseal the documents is slated for Jan. 31. Merchant moved to unseal the divorce case, which has been private since 2022, on Jan. 8. The Journal-Constitution and 14 other outlets filed a motion requesting the public release of the divorce records.

Willis was served with the subpoena the same day Merchant filed the motion and Roman's filing was unsealed, Clinque Axam, Willis' lawyer, noted in the filing.

Defendant Joycelyn Wade has not objected to Michael Romans motion to unseal the proceedings despite having previously sought it and having benefited from its protection for more than two years, Axam argued.

An attorney for Joycelyn Wade told the Journal-Constitution that her goal is to assist her client in resolving her divorce "fairly and privately," adding that she would address Willis' allegations in writing through the court.

Ms. Willis alleges that her deposition is being sought in an attempt to harass and damage her reputation," Merchant told the outlet Thursday. "Why would her truthful testimony risk damaging her reputation?

We believe her filing in Cobb County is just another attempt to avoid having to directly answer the important questions Mr. Roman has raised," she added. "She appears to be doing everything she can to avoid having to account for inconvenient and difficult facts.

Willis argued that Joycelyn Wade failed to include a relevant reason for requesting her deposition in in an uncontested no-fault divorce where the parties have been separated for over two years.

The move suggests that Defendant Joycelyn Wade is using the legal process to harass and embarrass District Attorney Willis, and in doing so, is obstructing and interfering with an ongoing criminal prosecutions [sic], Willis argued in the filing, also saying that the Wades' marriage had fallen apart after Joycelyn Wade admitted to cheating with an old friend of Nathan Wade.

If, however, media reports are any indication, [Joycelyn Wade] may intend to ask questions regarding the nature of any relationship with [Nathan Wade], the filing reads. Because the parties agree that the marriage is irretrievably broken and the concept of fault is not at issue, there is no information that District Attorney Willis could provide that might prove relevant to granting or denying the divorce.

Want a daily wrap-up of all the news and commentary Salon has to offer? Subscribe to our morning newsletter, Crash Course.

Willis' attorney also said in the filing that the subpoena was improperly served to her through a staff member, the Journal-Constitution notes.

While Willis did not address the kind of relationship she has with the special prosecutor in the filing, she vehemently defended Wade and herself in a speech at the Big Bethel AME Church in Atlanta. She bemoaned critics' claims against the interference case's only Black special prosecutor and argued they were "playing the race card."

On the same day the allegations surfaced, Fulton Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee, who is presiding over the election interference case, scheduled an evidentiary hearing for Feb. 15 to examine them. The order also directed Willis to submit a written response to the court by Feb. 2.

Attorneys for at least two of the case's defendants have signaled an interest in signing onto Roman's motion, saying they're looking into the accusations.
The Vagabond Inn in Ventura is one of three motels in Ventura County still housing people under Project Roomkey, which provides state-funded rooms for homeless people at particular risk from COVID-19.

For the past 18 months or so, Gabriel Bates has been living at the Vagabond Inn in Ventura under Project Roomkey, a county-run, state-funded program that rents motel rooms for elderly, sick or disabled people who would otherwise be homeless.

The program has been great, he said. I was able to get back on my feet. Once you have your home set up for you, you can actually progress and do better. I was able to get a car and start working part-time for Uber and other app jobs.

A few weeks ago, he got a letter that said his voucher was expiring, and hed have to be out by Jan. 10. The County of Ventura has a new state funding source for Project Roomkey, with stricter eligibility requirements for age and disability, and Bates was told he didnt qualify. He is 46 and immunocompromised.

Bates ended up staying at the Vagabond Inn  in his words, he fell through the cracks, but his eligibility was restored when a public health worker provided the proper documentation for his disability. But 16 other residents of the Vagabond Inn and other motels in Ventura County did have to leave by Jan. 10, said Jenn Harkey, who oversees the countys homelessness services as director of its Continuum of Care program.

That leaves 134 people still in Project Roomkey, living in 117 motel rooms in Ventura, Oxnard and Thousand Oaks. The clock is ticking for all of them. The new state grant that the county began using on Jan. 10 will run out around March 11, Harkey said.

She has identified another state grant that could fund the program for two months after that, and shes hoping that by then, there will be new permanent housing available with the kind of services and support that most Project Roomkey residents need.

Racing the clock

Permanent housing for people with very low or no incomes, and who often need counseling and other services, is hard to come by. Most of the 16 people who left Project Roomkey were referred to group homeless shelters run by the Salvation Army or other nonprofit organizations. Its likely that some of them ended up without shelter.

The best hope for available housing by the time the next grant runs out in May is another state program called Project Homekey. It provides funds to local governments and private developers to buy motel properties and convert them into housing, typically by fixing them up and putting kitchenettes in rooms that dont have them.

There are three Project Homekey properties in Ventura County, but none of them are ready yet. One in Thousand Oaks is in limbo, with no expected completion date, because its owned by Shangri-La Industries, a developer that has stalled on that and six other Homekey projects and was recently sued by the state for alleged fraud and contract violations at all seven sites.

There are two more Homekey sites in the county, and both might have rooms available by the time Project Roomkey runs out of money in May.

One is the La Quinta Inn in Ventura. The Housing Authority of the City of San Buenaventura won a $32 million state grant to buy the property and turn it into 134 units of permanent supportive housing. The purchase is in escrow, but it cant close until the state actually delivers the funds, and that probably wont happen until March, said housing authoritys CEO Jeff Lambert.

The La Quinta Inn in Ventura will be converted into permanent housing for low-income and previously homeless people.

We had thought wed be funded by now and closing escrow at the end of this month, but thats how it works, Lambert said. Its not an unusual delay.

Lambert said the Housing Authority is working with the California Department of Housing and Community Development to get the money sooner. The Housing Authority could then do a very quick renovation of some of the rooms and lease them in a chunk to the county, which could sublease them to people leaving Project Roomkey.

The other hope for permanent supportive housing is at a former Vagabond Inn in Oxnard. The county won an $11 million Homekey grant for the property back in 2020, but its been used as a temporary homeless shelter ever since. A private developer and a nonprofit agency are now renovating it for permanent supportive housing, and Harkey said that project should be done in late spring.

Other types of low-cost units are in very short supply. The Ventura Housing Authority owns 1,050 affordable units and administers vouchers for another 1,300 privately owned units, Lambert said, and its wait lists for those apartments have more than 15,000 people on them.

'People who could die on the street'

Project Roomkey was never meant to last this long. The idea behind the program was to get the most medically vulnerable homeless people off the streets and out of shelters and other group living arrangements, to protect them from COVID-19. It launched in March 2020, and by November 2020, Gov. Gavin Newsom was urging local governments to start moving people into permanent housing.

When the pandemic began, Project Roomkey included 350 motel rooms in Ventura County. Since then, the county has spent $24.7 million in state funds on the program, Harkey said, as it dwindled gradually from 350 rooms to the current 117.

At first, the program was paid for with multimillion-dollar state grants, most of it coming from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The FEMA money ran out in May 2023 and the county has used a couple of other state grants since then, Harkey said. The county now pays the motel owners $90 per night for each room.

Harkey said many counties have already completely ended their Roomkey programs, and many of the former residents are once again homeless. In Los Angeles and other cities, some people have been moved from Project Roomkey motels into ultra-tiny freestanding shelters that are as small as 64 square feet and are often clustered in parking lots.

I wouldnt even call them tiny homes, Harkey said. We really want to come up with a solution here for actual housing with services. Thats our goal.

As always, there are more people who need housing than there will be spaces available. Bates said he worries about the Vagabond Inn residents who arent as capable as he is of navigating the system. When he was told he would lose his motel voucher, he talked directly to Harkey to clear the problem up.

If it wasnt for me advocating for myself, I wouldnt be here, he said.

Harkey said she feels a weight on my shoulders when it comes to the remaining Roomkey residents. They represent only a fraction of the countys homeless population, but theyre among the most vulnerable, and they were taken off the streets or out of shelters with the promise of permanent housing.

These are people who could die on the street," Harkey said. "The intent is to keep them sheltered, with services.

Tony Biasotti is an investigative and watchdog reporter for the Ventura County Star. Reach him at tbiasotti@vcstar.com. This story was made possible by a grant from the Ventura County Community Foundation's Fund to Support Local Journalism.

This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Funds dwindle to keep Ventura County's homeless people in motels
Lindsey Lee Lugrin took an unconventional route to becoming a founder, so its only fitting that her fundraising strategies are just as unique. Her company Fuck You Pay Me (FYPM), which is like a Glassdoor for influencers, raised a $275K seed extension solely via Instagram stories, with no pitch deck.

If you think of what a pitch deck is, its what you send to someone to get a meeting, Lugrin told TechCrunch. But the people she wanted to meet with already followed her on Instagram, where she has a broad audience in the creator economy industry.

I would just post the numbers  heres how were doing, heres what were doing, heres how much money I need, how much is left Here are the terms, DM me if youre interested, she said. I throw on a thirst trap every now and then, because those give my story a bunch of reach  you know, its sad but its true.

Some of these angel investors include Derek Schlicker (CFO at Clearbit, which was recently acquired by Hubspot for $150 million), Jessica Lee (a former Wall Street managing director turned influencer), and Sophia Amoruso (founder of Nasty Gal, now an investor).

Image Credits: Instagram Stories that Lugrin used to raise $275K without a pitch deck

Not all founders could manage an Instagram-fueled fundraise, but it made sense for Lugrin, whose company is built to support social media creators. On the platform, creators can review brands theyve worked with, and share data like how much they were paid, how long it took for them to get paid.

FYPM is a product borne out of necessity. In 2015, Lugrin was a freelance model who won a contest to be in a global modeling campaign for Marc Jacobs. She got paid $1,000, a dismal sum for a massive fashion brand  but, like most young creatives, she was just excited to work with such an esteemed company, and assumed the exposure would lead to other better paying opportunities. It didnt.

On paper, I was really successful  I did New York Fashion Week, I was on Vera Wangs website, I was sold as wall art in Urban Outfitters, and I could just never get paid, Lugrin told TechCrunch at VidCon last year. So I found myself in a position of being good enough to do the work, but not good enough to be paid for it.

After getting a masters degree in finance, Lugrin entered the corporate world; on the side, she posted about sexism in the workplace on her Instagram, @MsYoungProfessional, where she built up enough of a following to get offered brand deals. Once again, no one wanted to pay her, and there was nowhere to find concrete information about how much these brands even paid.

Thus, FYPM was born. Since 2021, FYPM functioned like a searchable database for influencers, but the way the website was set up, the platform was going to be difficult to scale. So, FYPM has been rebuilding the site from the ground up. Instead of only catering to influencers, the new iteration of FYPM will also allow talent managers and brand representatives to use the platform to advertise opportunities (so long as theyre transparent about how much money theyre offering).

Going through the data, the spread [of payment] is so huge," Lugrin said. "For the same work, someone will get paid anywhere between zero and six figures, and oftentimes, the differentiator is knowing how much to ask for, and understanding what's reasonable or not, and knowing what your value is."

FYPM is only as good as the quality of its data. If anyone can post anything on the platform, then there's no way to know whether testimonials about working with a company are legit or not. This has been one of FYPM's biggest challenges -- Lugrin and her intern ("Who I pay, by the way," she adds) have been manually reviewing each of the 38,000 creators who have signed up on the platform. So, with the new funding, Lugrin wants to remove these technical barriers to scale, without damaging the quality of the product.

"At the end of the day, what I think would make the most impact in this space is a scalable data business," Lugrin said. Lugrin wants to make sure that creators and talent managers can access this information for free, so long as they upload verified reviews. Eventually, Lugrin hopes to hire data scientists who can help create reports based on all of this payment data from across the creator economy. She also wants FYPM to develop an API, allowing talent companies to upload their own data directly to the platform.

It just changes peoples lives, democratizing information, Lugrin said. "It's financial freedom."
RICHMOND, Va. (WAVY)  A new ad by Attorney General Jason Miyares aims to highlight the consequences of gun crime in Virginia.

Game Over is a 30-second ad ad a part of Ceasefire Virginia, an approach to address violent criminal activity through investing in gang prevention and by supporting community policing in high-crime neighborhoods.

Violent offender off the streets in Portsmouth with help from Operation Ceasefire

The ad aims to grab the viewers attention through a game show, where the contestants answer how long a prison sentence is for several gun related crimes.

This embedded content is not available in your region.

Gun violence is not a game. As your Attorney General, Im facing it head-on. This public awareness campaign will send a strong message to at-risk-youth and repeat offenders that if you commit a gun crime in Virginia, its game over, said Attorney General Miyares.

The ad campaign is set to start airing on Friday, Jan. 19 in the Richmond, Norfolk and Roanoke media markets, which are noted as high gun crime volume Ceasefire cities. The ads are expected to run though October of 2024.

In the year 2023 alone, Ceasefire prosecutions resulted in over 100 indictments and a combined 140 years in sentences, according to their website.

Keep up to date with the latest news on WAVY.com.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WAVY.com.
A Gaston County man recently hit big playing the lottery.

Julian Macaulay of Mount Holly bought a $3 Quick Pick with Power Play ticket online and won a $100,000 prize.

He matched the numbers on four white balls and the red Powerball to win $50,000 in the Jan.10 drawing. His prize doubled to $100,000 when the 2X multiplier hit.

He arrived Thursday in Raleigh to claim his prize and, after required federal and state tax withholdings, took home $71,501.

Powerball is one of six draw games in North Carolina where players have the option of buying their tickets at a retail location or with Online Play through the lotterys website or the NC Lottery Official Mobile App.

For details on how $14.7 million raised by the lottery made a difference for education programs in Gaston County last year, visit www.nclottery.com and click on the Impact section.

This article originally appeared on The Gaston Gazette: Gaston County man gets a big prize in recent Power Ball drawing
GASTONIA, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS)  The Gastonia fire marshal says a local pastor can keep helping homeless people in the cold as long as there are no beds on the church property.

Pastor Moses Colbert at Faith Hope and Love Ministries has already been fined $100,000 for letting homeless people stay in and outside the church in recent years. He was served a letter Tuesday printed on Gastonia Fire Department letterhead threatening more fines if he opens an emergency shelter on his property.

PREVIOUS: Gastonia pastor threatened with fine for aiding homeless during freezing temperatures

When I got the letter, my mind went back to when they sued me back in September and Im thinking theyre building the case so they can sue me again, Colbert said. Thats the part that scared me. You know, I got sued for having 200 people on the property back then.

The city and Gaston County fund law enforcement for an emergency shelter at Salvation Army on Broad Street. It is open for 30 people who must be out by 6 a.m. every day when the temperatures are freezing.

Pastor Colbert says on cold mornings he waits outside the shelter in the church bus to take people to Faith Hope and Love on Oakland Avenue to feed them and give them a place to stay warm during the day.

Can you imagine sitting out in the cold at 12 degrees? Its just not a good place to be, you know, and these people go through this all the time and theyve all but given up hope, Colbert said. I feel like we are the only lifeline they got so we cant afford to just turn our backs on them.

The latest data from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) shows 388 people in the Gastonia area were unhoused the night of the most recent count from 2023.

Gunfire at youth rec basketball game leaves families questioning return

Colbert is not allowed to let people sleep in his church because the fire marshal says it is not up to code. Violations include a lack of a manual fire alarm inside the church. Gastonia Fire Marshal Chris Stowe says he received named and anonymous tips that said Colbert was planning to open a cold-weather shelter during the freeze this week.

If somebody is asleep and there was an emergency, how would they get out? he asked How would they get out safely? How would a fire alarm alert them that something was going on?

Stowe says people experiencing homelessness can go to the Salvation Army shelter to sleep where the building is up to code.

They have a building that was designed to be operated like that, he explained. It has sprinkler, it has a fire alarm, it actually has a kitchen suppression system to feed as well.

Stowe says Colberts daytime operation isnt breaking any rules, but any beds or cots could run the risk of another fine.

I told him you can bring [people] in, you can put them in pews. You can do church activities and keep them out of the cold, Stowe said. What you cant do because of the North Carolina Fire Code and the North Carolina Building Code is housing them in your church, have beds and cots and things like that and the reason is, is because Section 319 in the North Carolina Fire Code.

In December, Pastor Moses Colbert said there were clear signs someone had been inside Faith, Hope, and Love Community Enrichment Ministries and ruined his food supply for the homeless.

The shelter at Salvation Army is open from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. It has a capacity of 30 people in the emergency shelter and 64 people at the Center of Hope.

[Salvation Army] should never put them out in the cold in no 20-degree weather. They are the ones getting all the resources, Colbert said. Theyre the ones that are getting funded. Were not getting funded, and they made sure that we wouldnt get funded. So, they should have a moral obligation to these people and theyre not doing it. The city has an obligation to these people and theyre not stepping up and doing it.

Moses is brainstorming how to host a service for people when temperatures are freezing. If youd like to help Colbert and his mission, he says he is looking for churches to partner to help him and he is always taking monetary, food and hygiene donations.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News.
HANOI. Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- The Vietnamese National Assembly (NA) approved the amended land law on Thursday at its fifth extraordinary meeting, Vietnam News Agency reported.

NA Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue said by passing the law, the legislators had accomplished one of the most important legislative tasks of the 15th-term National Assembly.

The law will take effect on Jan. 1, 2025, except for some specific provisions.

Vu Hong Thanh, chairman of the NA's Economic Affairs, said it was a major and complicated law project, bearing special meaning and importance in the country's politics, socio-economy, national defense, security, and environmental protection. It has also a profound impact on all walks of life and businesses.

The draft amended land law, which was open for public feedback, has received more than 12 million comments.

At the fifth extraordinary meeting which concluded on Thursday, the NA deputies also passed an additional allocation of more than 63.72 trillion Vietnamese dong (2.59 billion U.S. dollars) for five sectors and fields, namely national defense, security, State management, science and technology, and transport.

The allocation consists of nearly 58 trillion Vietnamese dong for 32 key transport projects.

The legislators also passed the amended Law on Credit Institutions. 
GAZA (Reuters) - Palestinian doctor Hani Bseiso faced an agonising decision when his teenage niece was wounded by Israeli shelling of her Gaza City home: amputate her leg or risk her bleeding to death.

Unable to reach a nearby hospital, and using little more than a pair of scissors and some gauze he had in his medical bag, he removed the lower part of A'Hed Bseiso's right leg in an operation carried out on the kitchen table without anaesthetic.

Grainy video footage that went viral on Instagram shows him wiping the bloody stump of her right leg as she lies on the table. One of her brothers holds her steady, another holds up two mobile phones to provide better lighting.

The house is only 1.1 miles (1.8 km) from Gaza's Al-Shifa hospital, usually a six-minute drive or a 25-minute walk away, but Bseiso said intense Israeli fire in the area made it too dangerous to try to get there.

"Unfortunately, I did not have any other choice. The choice was that I either let the girl die or I try to the best of my abilities," Bseiso told Reuters this week in an interview in the room where he amputated her leg on Dec. 19.

Reuters was unable to confirm independently what struck her home, why it came under fire and what events preceded the attack.

"Could I get her to the hospital? Of course not," Bseiso said, describing the area as "under siege". "The tanks were at the entrance of the house."

Israeli authorities say they work to minimise harm to civilians.

Asked for comment about the events of Dec. 19, the Israeli military did not specifically respond to questions about the incident at A'Hed Bseiso's home, but said Hamas used hospital complexes as cover, an allegation the militant group denies.

"A central feature of Hamas' strategy is the exploitation of civilian structures for terror purposes," the military told Reuters.

"Specifically, it has been well documented that Hamas uses hospitals and medical centers for its terror activities by building military networks within and beneath hospitals, launching attacks and storing weapons within the confines of hospitals, and using hospital infrastructure and staff for terror activities."

"Regrettably, Hamas continues to put Gaza's most vulnerable citizens in serious danger by cynically using hospitals for terror," it said.

'THANKS TO GOD'

A'hed Bseiso, 18, is part of a generation of young amputees emerging from the war being fought in Gaza since Hamas militants attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing about 1,200 people and taking 253 hostage, according to Israeli tallies.

Doctors say many of those killed in the Gaza Strip since then might have been saved if they had been able to reach hospital.

Lying in bed several weeks after the amputation, A'hed Bseiso told Reuters she found an Israeli tank near her house when she went outside at about 10:30 a.m. to get a signal to call her father, who lives abroad.

She and her sister went inside and closed the blinds of the house in case it was shelled. Shortly afterwards, the building came under fire and she was wounded, she said.

She realised she had no feeling in her leg when family members tried to help her by pulling out shrapnel.

"They placed me on the dining table. There was no medical equipment. My uncle saw the sponge that we clean the dishes with, a wire, washing-up liquid and chlorine (disinfectant)," she said.

"He took them and he started scrubbing my leg. He amputated my leg without anaesthetics and without anything at home."

Asked how she withstood the pain, she said: "I was just saying 'Thanks to God' and reading the Koran. Thanks to God, I did not feel much but of course there was pain, and the scene and the shock."

She has since undergone further operations in hospital to treat the injuries she received.

More than 24,000 Palestinians have been killed since Israel began its military campaign in Gaza in response to the Oct. 7 attack, Palestinian officials say.

Many others, including children, have had limbs amputated because of the severity of their wounds during the Israeli offensive, which Israel's military says is intended to eliminate Hamas and secure the release of the remaining hostages.

More than 1,000 children in Gaza had undergone leg amputations by the end of November, according to the U.N. children's agency UNICEF.

Poor hygiene and shortages of medicine further endanger lives, and doctors say supplies to hospitals are hindered by the lack of access to them.

(Additional reporting by Maayan Lubell and Kate Holton in Jerusalem, Writing by Timothy Heritage, Editing by Philippa Fletcher)
Boris Pistorius, Federal Minister of Defence of Germany, has said that Russia might attack a NATO country in the near future.

Source: European Pravda, citing Bild, a German tabloid

Quote from Pistorius: "We have to take into account that [Russian President] Vladimir Putin might one day attack even a NATO country. Our experts think that this might happen in the next 5-8 years."

Details: Pistorius said that Russia keeps threatening other countries and mentioned its recent threat against the Baltic states.

Pistorius has proposed the possibility of introducing modified compulsory military service in Germany and is waiting on the defence ministry to develop different options for implementing it by the end of April. He also said he was prepared to allow German residents who do not have German citizenship to join the armed forces.

"We will be the first armed forces in Europe to do so," Pistorius said, adding that some German residents are third- or fourth-generation immigrants and yet still do not have citizenship.

The German defence minister also said that the currently available funds are no longer enough to ensure Germanys security and spoke in support of reforming the "debt break" for the sake of national security.

Quote from Pistorius: "The debt break as it is will not allow us to go through these crises unscathed. We have to quickly strengthen our defence capability in light of the current situation."

Background:

It was reported earlier that NATO would hold large-scale military exercises in February involving 90,000 military personnel to rehearse a scenario of a Russian attack on the territory of a NATO member.

Bild reported that it had gained access to a secret Bundeswehr document  a training scenario that describes step by step how a military conflict between Russia and NATO could develop. The scenario describes the actions of Russia and the West month by month, culminating in the deployment of hundreds of thousands of NATO soldiers and the inevitable outbreak of war in the summer of 2025.

Janis Sarts, Director of the NATO Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence, said that the Bild article was based on a training scenario document.

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Boris Pistorius German Minister of Defense, speaks in the debate on the annual report of the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Armed Forces. Michael Kappeler/dpa

German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius warned that the war between Russia and Ukraine could expand beyond the neighbouring countries.

"We hear threats from the Kremlin almost every day - most recently again against our friends in the Baltic states," Pistorius told the Tagesspiegel newspaper in an article published on Friday.

With regard to the Bundeswehr, the minister emphasized: "We must quickly strengthen our defence capabilities in light of the urgency of the threat situation."

"So we have to take into account that [Russian President] Vladimir Putin might even attack a NATO country one day," added Pistorius, who has been in office for a year this Friday.

However, if it were to happen, he said it would happen between "five to eight years" from now.

With his call for the Bundeswehr to become "war-ready" he also wanted to "shake up our society," he said.

The minister expects proposals for re-introducing a version of compulsory military service by April. Germany ended mandatory conscription in 2011.

The minister would also be open to opening up the armed forces to soldiers without a German passport.

The defence industry also needed to be made more efficient, according to Pistorius. He spoke in favour of reforming the debt brake for security reasons.

"With a debt brake in this form, we will not get through these crises unscathed," he said.

Pistorius also rejected calls for more German military aid for Ukraine, saying the Bundeswehr could not go "all in" and leave Germany "defenceless."
Christoph Heusgen, chairman of the Munich Security Conference, speaks during an interview with the German Press Agency (dpa). Jorg Carstensen/dpa

The chairman of the Munich Security Conference, Christoph Heusgen, wants to bring together the leaders of France, Germany and Poland, namely Emmanuel Macron, Olaf Scholz and Donald Tusk, at the event in mid-February.

This would be a revival of the Weimar Triangle, a regional alliance of France, Germany, and Poland that was created in 1991.

"I think it's very important that we expand the Franco-German pairing to include Poland as the largest country in Eastern Europe. If that succeeds, it would be very nice. The invitation has been extended," Heusgen said during a podcast.

Looking ahead to the security conference itself, he said that despite numerous crises and conflicts around the world, the event should convey a message of diplomacy.

"We are bringing together politicians, the military and representatives of civil society so that they can find out where there is a silver lining on the horizon," Heusgen told the Table.Today podcast made by digital media company Table.Media.

Attendees at the event that is set to run from February 16 to 18 are to include US Vice President Kamala Harris.

As was the case last year, representatives of the Russian administration have not been invited. "[Russian President Vladimir] Putin would be arrested if he came," said Heusgen. He was referring to the fact that the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant against Putin last year for alleged war crimes in Moscow's war on Ukraine.
COLOGNE, Germany  German lawmakers approved a government request this week to spend 1.2 billion ($1.3 billion) on a new short-range air defense capability based on a ground-launched variant of the Diehl Defence-made IRIS-T missile.

The money will pay for the integration of short- and medium-range interceptors on the Boxer vehicle, made by Rheinmetall and Krauss-Maffei Wegmann, as well as radar and command-and-control equipment by Hensoldt. The companies announced their partnership for the program in spring 2021.

Defense officials have long lamented a capability gap in the protection of deployed forces against drones, missiles and aircraft since the retirement of key air-defense platforms like the Roland missile tank and the Gepard cannon tank in 2005 and 2010, respectively.

A prototype of the new, interceptor-based capability is set to be finished by 2028, the German ministry of defense said in a Jan. 19 statement.

Later this year, the government also plans to buy a cannon-based weapon for shooting drones and other low-flying threats out of the sky. But unlike the Boxer/IRIS-T combination, that system will come without government development costs. Rheinmetalls 30mm-caliber Skyranger is deemed the prospective system choice, with plans for a production line pending until a contract is signed.

Also in the works, under German navy auspices, is an interception technology by way of high-powered laser beams.

In clearing the funds on Jan. 17, lawmakers on the parliamentary budget committee requested an independent cost examination. The caveat follows a report by Der Spiegel in December that said the cost for the entire short-range defensive package had increased from 240 million to 1.3 billion.

A defense ministry spokesman told Defense News the reported cost increase amounted to comparing apples to oranges. Thats because the program, with its initial financial projections, was conceived in 2018, under a drastically different geopolitical and defense-industrial picture compared with today, the ministry spokesman said.

Since that year, the 2020 conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh spooked defense officials in Berlin because of the effective use of attack drones by Azerbaijan, leading to fears Germanys arsenal would be ill-suited for similar threats. Russias war in Ukraine, which began in 2022, has further highlighted how drones, employed by the thousands, have become battle deciders in modern warfare, increasing the need for sophisticated defensive systems.

As a result, there is now a higher demand for counter-drone capabilities on the global arms market, leading to manufacturers charging higher prices, the spokesman said.
General view into the plenary chamber during the current hour in the Bundestag with the topic "Defending democracy against enemies of democracy and expulsion plans". Kay Nietfeld/dpa

Germany's Bundestag or lower house of parliament on Friday approved legislation making it easier and quicker for foreigners living in the country to become citizens.

The legislation - passed with the votes of the Social Democrats (SPD), Greens and Free Democrats (FDP) of SPD Chancellor Olaf Scholz's coalition government - means that people can apply for citizenship after living in Germany for five years against eight years previously.

If an applicant can demonstrate "special integration achievements" by way of a particularly good performance at school or work or civic engagement, naturalization is possible in some cases after only three years.

One key to the new rule is that people who obtain their German citizenship will not have to give up the citizenship from their native country. This is already true for EU residents of Germany who want German citizenship, but it was not true, until now, for others.

SPD deputy Gulistan Yuksel stressed that society needs the more than 10 million people who live in Germany permanently without German citizenship.

More than half of them have been living in Germany for over a decade. They contribute to our prosperity. They work and pay taxes. They are committed and are part of our civil society. They are our neighbours and friends," she added.

The conservative opposition Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU) voted against the changes, as did the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD).

The head of the CSU's parliamentary group in the Bundestag, Alexander Dobrindt, condemned the reforms.

"Citizenship must stand at the end of a successful integration process and not at the beginning. Express naturalization with low requirements does not promote integration, but rather makes it more difficult."

AfD deputy Christian Wirth charged that "proud German citizenship is being sold off cheaply."

In the future, children of foreign parents will receive German citizenship at birth if one parent has lived legally in Germany for five years - previously this was the case after eight years.

The CDU/CSU parliamentary group's domestic policy spokesman, Alexander Throm charged that general approval of dual citizenship denotes "a lack of commitment to our country."

Candidates for naturalization must be committed to the country's free, democratic basic order.

The authorities should ensure that candidates' allegiance to such democratic norms confessions are sincere. If there are indications after the fact that this was not the case, citizenship can be revoked within 10 years.
Logo of the Japanese company 'Yamaha' is seen at the trade show for consumer electronics and home appliances IFA. Robert Schlesinger/ZB/dpa

German engine manufacturer Deutz has sold its boat engine subsidiary to Japanese supplier Yamaha Motor Co. for a price slated to be in the high double-digit million euro range, the Cologne-based business said on Friday.

The move was expected, with Deutz saying it plans to focus more on classic engines and its service business.

The sale is expected to be finalized towards the end of the first quarter and should result in a book profit in the lower double-digit million euro range.

The unit, which specializes in electric boat engines, recently weighed on Deutz's figures.

The Deutz share rose by 0.3% in the SDax listing of small and medium-sized companies in Germany.
TIANJIN, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- Liu Fang added a box of Chilean cherries to her shopping cart in north China's Tianjin Municipality on Wednesday morning. Thanks to rapid logistics, the imported fruit was still fresh after arriving at Tianjin Port the night before.

The port has launched a new direct shipping route to facilitate cherry imports from Chile -- the first direct shipping service for Latin American cherries bound for the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region.

Previously, cherries sold in northern China were transported mainly by highway after entering China through ports in the south or by air, leading to relatively high overall logistics costs.

Zhang Lei, general manager of a Tianjin Port Group logistics company, said that thanks to the new shipping route, it takes less than five hours for Chilean cherries to reach all major fruit and vegetable wholesale markets in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region.

Fruit retail company Pagoda estimates that its outlets in the region will see the overall price of Chilean cherries drop by 50 percent thanks to the new route.

Shipping time is a critical factor in the transportation of fresh fruits, which do not have long shelf lives.

Due to significant transport distances and high requirements to maintain freshness, direct cherry logistics is a recognized benchmark in the fruit transportation industry, as they put port management and the convenience of customs clearance to the test, Zhang said.

Tianjin Customs has provided a green customs channel for fresh and perishable agricultural products, allowing advance customs clearance and direct unloading at the dock, according to local customs officer Qiu Dong.

Over the past seven years, Chilean cherry exports to China have grown at an approximate annual average rate of 29 percent. The Chilean Fruit Exporters Association estimates that more than 85 percent of Chilean cherries will be exported to China this season.

The growing demand of the Chinese market has spurred the expansion of Chile's cherry planting area and benefited local farmers. From 2000 to 2022, the total cherry planting area in Chile grew from 3,241 hectares to 61,559 hectares, according to data from Chile's Office of Agricultural Studies and Policies.

China is Chile's biggest trading partner, its top export destination, and its leading source of imports.

Chile was the first Latin American country to sign a free trade agreement with China. In 2017, the free trade agreement was upgraded, increasing the proportion of zero-tariff products to 98 percent.

The cherry is a star product in the trade between the two countries. The cherry harvest coincides with China's traditional Spring Festival, creating near-perfect trade conditions.

Chilean cherries have become increasingly popular among Chinese consumers over the years. "Over 1,840 tonnes of the cherries we imported in this shipment have already been pre-sold," said Wei Shujian, president of Chilean cherry importer Hebei Sunhola Group.

"Another two vessels carrying about 5,800 tonnes of Chilean cherries are expected to arrive at the Tianjin port in the next seven days, providing fresh fruits for Chinese consumers ahead of the Lunar New Year," said Zhang with the Tianjin Port Group. 
The media outlet Narodna Pravda, which published an illicitly sourced surveillance video the Bihus.Info team, has removed the video and closed its YouTube channel, Bihus.Info reported on Jan. 19.

The removal of materials occurred after the police announced the initiation of an investigation based on a complaint from the media team.

The page containing the news is now unavailable, and attempting to access the video on YouTube displays a message stating that the user has closed their account.

A video surfaced online on Jan. 16 allegedly showing Bihus.Info staff using drugs. Bihusclaimed that there had been illegal surveillance lasting about a year, containing edited fragments from different times.

Read also: Bihus.Info reveals unlawful surveillance at New Years party

On Jan. 17, Ukraines SBU Security Service initiated a criminal case for illegal eavesdropping and video recording by the Narodna Pravdas employees. Law enforcement does not rule out violations of drug-related laws in the published materials.

On Jan. 15, unknown individuals attempted to break into journalist Yuriy Nikolovs Kyiv apartment. Nikolov exposed inflated prices for Ministry of Defense products, leading to the resignation of Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov and the parliament adopting a bill on transparent defense procurement. Nikolovs mother was at home during the break-in attempt.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned the pressure on journalists on Jan. 17, stating that it is unacceptable.

Read also: Ukrainian journalist on price for exposing government corruption  interview

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
South Carolinas environmental agency wont tighten controls over industrial-scale farms that withdraw billions of gallons of water from rivers, despite criticism the rules allow agricultural interests to take all the water.

The Department of Health and Environmental Control declined last week to seek changes in state surface water regulations that have been the source of disputes for more than a decade. A major point of contention is whether the rules protect public waterways from huge farms that siphon water from rivers.

DHECs decision sets up a potential court battle. The Southern Environmental Law Center asked the agency to change the regulations or it might sue over what it calls poor protection for rivers.

In a Jan. 12 letter to the law center, DHEC said the existing rules that allow withdrawals are consistent with South Carolinas 2011 surface water law. Environmentalists say the rules are not consistent, which allows farms to siphon virtually every drop from rivers.

DHEC did say, however, that it is willing to discuss changes, some of which could be taken up in a bill at the S.C. Legislature.

As the states environmental protection agency, DHEC continually works with stakeholders to identify attainable improvements to how South Carolinas water resources can be best managed, the department said in an email. DHEC is committed to protecting South Carolinas water resources, and all natural resources, for the benefit of all South Carolinians.

Carl Brzorad and Frank Holleman, attorneys for the law center, said they are considering a lawsuit against DHEC over the decision. Both blasted the agencys decision, saying the water rules arent in the public interest.

DHEC is once again refusing to protect the states rivers as state law requires it to do, Holleman said. Instead, it is sticking with the illegal regulations that allow rivers to be sucked dry by large corporate agricultural operations.

It isnt known whether the law has allowed huge farms to take all of any rivers water, but critics of the law say that could happen.

The departments decision follows criticism in 2022 by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency of the states surface water law. The law, the EPA said, does not adequately protect rivers from overuse and is in conflict with the federal Clean Water Act. The EPA urged South Carolina to make improvements.

In the law centers case, the environmental organization says regulations written to put the surface water law in place dont follow the law. While the law has problems, the regulations do even less to protect rivers, the center says.

Murphy Lybrand and Doug Busbee, along with other Aiken and Barnwell county residents are supporters of better laws to control water withdrawal from the Edisto River. They are concerned that farms are allowed to take too much water at the publics expense. This photo was taken on the South Fork of the Edisto in Aiken County.

State Sen. Dick Harpootlian, D-Richland, said hes concerned about what he calls a poor surface water law. Hes considering legislation to tighten up the law so that mega-farms and huge industries dont pull water that the general public needs for drinking and other uses.

Major industrial entities, like corporate farms, are not regulated in any meaningful way, Harpootlian said, noting that if changes in the law arent made we are going to end up where many states already are, with our groundwater and surface water depleted, and we dont have enough water for people to drink and bathe in.

A spokesperson for the S.C. Farm Bureau, the major organization that represents agriculture in the state, was not immediately available for comment.

South Carolinas 2011 surface water withdrawal law was featured in a series of stories by The State in 2017. The series looked at the environmental effects of so-called mega-farms on the Edisto River basin, a major farming area. These farms encompass thousands of acres and often stretch to the horizon.

Large farms have said they are good stewards of the environment, but industrial-scale agriculture has resulted in the loss of forests, dwindling groundwater supplies and approvals to draw large amounts of water from vulnerable rivers without public notice, the newspaper found.

SC law allows mega-farms to pull large amounts of water from the south fork of the Edisto River.
Delegates attend the opening ceremony of the 19th Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) in Kampala, Uganda, on Jan. 19, 2024. The 19th Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) opened here Friday with a call by leaders to member states to focus on unity as the world grapples with the continued push for unilateralism. (Photo by Hajarah Nalwadda/Xinhua)

KAMPALA, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- The 19th Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) opened here Friday with a call by leaders to member states to focus on unity as the world grapples with the continued push for unilateralism.

Azerbaijan's Minister of Foreign Affairs Jeyhun Bayramov, who opened the summit on behalf of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and the outgoing chair of NAM, said the meeting takes place at a time when the international system is facing many challenges. He called for continued unity among the member countries to address these challenges. Azerbaijan assumed the chairmanship of NAM in 2019 and is set to hand it over to Uganda later this week.

Yoweri Museveni, Ugandan president and incoming chair of NAM, said the NAM will not accept the continued push for unilateralism and dictating by the developed North on what independent states must do. He said nations should not be manipulated, lectured, or threatened.

"Our stand is that the world should concentrate on the common human problems -- prosperity through trade, the advance of science and technology to deal with human problems, the environment, crime, and terrorism. The future is bright if we act right," he said.

Museveni said the strength of NAM should be used to exercise considerable influence, particularly at the UN for the effective transformative process for a better common future.

"In the negotiations for the Pact of the Future, the outcome document of the upcoming United Nations Summit of the Future to be held in New York in September 2024, we should clearly define priorities that favor developing countries by maintaining unity, solidarity and collective coordination among our member states," he said.

Salvador Valdes Mesa, vice president of Cuba, said NAM should continue to remain united despite increased external pressure to weaken the Movement. He said the world system is deeply unjust, exclusive, and discriminatory toward the people of the Global South.

"Our distinctive diversity is our strength. It allows us to find consensus amid different loopholes based on the principles and values we share," he noted.

Mesa stressed NAM has been an advocate of many just causes in the world, including the struggle against colonialism, neocolonialism, fascism, racism and apartheid. It has also opposed wars and imposition of unfair sanctions and unilateral coercive measures against some of its members.

Dennis Francis, president of the 78th Session of the UN General Assembly, said the ongoing conflicts in the Middle East are undermining the multilateral system in resolving conflicts. The UN has persistently called for a ceasefire in the Gaza crisis, but fighting has continued, leading to loss of lives and human displacement.

"I am deeply concerned and dismayed about the ongoing calamity in the Gaza Strip. I call upon this movement to exert its influence in bringing a halt to the carnage that we are witnessing," Francis said.

Close to 30 heads of state and government are attending the two-day summit, according to Uganda's foreign affairs ministry. The summit, held under the theme "Deepening Cooperation for Shared Global Affluence," was preceded by the ministerial meeting and the senior officials' meeting.

Since its establishment in 1961, the NAM has been guided by the Bandung Principles, which include respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all nations, recognition of the equality of all races and nations, large and small, and abstention from intervention or interference in the internal affairs of other countries. 

Delegates attend the opening ceremony of the 19th Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) in Kampala, Uganda, on Jan. 19, 2024. The 19th Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) opened here Friday with a call by leaders to member states to focus on unity as the world grapples with the continued push for unilateralism. (Photo by Hajarah Nalwadda/Xinhua)

Delegates attend the opening ceremony of the 19th Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) in Kampala, Uganda, on Jan. 19, 2024. The 19th Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) opened here Friday with a call by leaders to member states to focus on unity as the world grapples with the continued push for unilateralism. (Photo by Hajarah Nalwadda/Xinhua)

Delegates attend the opening ceremony of the 19th Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) in Kampala, Uganda, on Jan. 19, 2024. The 19th Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) opened here Friday with a call by leaders to member states to focus on unity as the world grapples with the continued push for unilateralism. (Photo by Hajarah Nalwadda/Xinhua)

Yoweri Museveni, Ugandan president and incoming chair of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), addresses the opening ceremony of the 19th Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Non-Aligned Movement in Kampala, Uganda, on Jan. 19, 2024. The 19th Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) opened here Friday with a call by leaders to member states to focus on unity as the world grapples with the continued push for unilateralism. (Photo by Hajarah Nalwadda/Xinhua)

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni (L) receives a symbolic gavel from Azerbaijan's Minister of Foreign Affairs Jeyhun Bayramov at the opening ceremony of the 19th Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) in Kampala, Uganda, on Jan. 19, 2024. The 19th Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) opened here Friday with a call by leaders to member states to focus on unity as the world grapples with the continued push for unilateralism. (Photo by Hajarah Nalwadda/Xinhua)
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD)  The City of Grand Rapids is continuing a program aimed at making sidewalks safer during major snow events.

In early 2020, Grand Rapids launched a program designed to clear sidewalks of snow in areas with high pedestrian traffic, and neighborhoods with larger populations of school children and the elderly.

Not everybody has a car, not everybody has a bike that they ride, said John Gorney, director of Grand Rapids Public Works Department. That was the intent, how can we help those who are having a difficult time getting around?

A snowy sidewalk in Grand Rapids. (Jan. 18, 2024)

It began with around 100 miles of sidewalks being plowed in the city; that number has since increased dramatically.

We doubled this year, so were at 200 miles of sidewalks out of over 900 miles of sidewalks in the city, Gorney said.

The focus of the program has also evolved. This year, the sidewalk snow support program is targeting some streets where plows may have pushed snow onto sidewalks.

Were helping out the businesses and residents who are along those major corridors that are getting snow on their sidewalks, more than whats falling from the sky, Gorney said.

When it snows at least two inches, the program calls for employees with the Grand Rapids Public Works Department, as well as two contractors, to plow targeted sidewalks.

A map shows the streets where the city of Grand Rapids shovels sidewalks after a snowfall. (Courtesy city of Grand Rapids)

If it continues to snow then we just keep calling them back and the way the contract is, is that they get paid for the time that theyre here, Gorney said.

The program costs the city around $200,000 a year and is paid for through major and local street funds.

Grand Rapids nearly done changing streetlights to LEDs

Those are generally going to be from fuel tax, Gorney said.

Gorney added that its also important to know that crews will clean up the heavy, wet snow, but residents and business owners are responsible for whats left.

Even though we have the snow assist program, its just that, its an assistance program. Its not necessarily to take the place of the responsibility of the property owner, Gorney said.

Although the program is unlikely to reach the entire city, Gorney says further expansion is not out of the question but that would depend on factors like funding.

The sidewalk snow support initiative is also no longer a pilot, and is expected to remain in place.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WOODTV.com.
Just six years ago, preschool access was a considerable hurdle for many parents and students in Rochester School District.

Back then, Rochester CUSD director of special education Jennifer Shaw said the district only offered one morning preschool session and one afternoon session. That number has since grown to six classrooms, now serving 180 students ages three to five.

Through a $312,000 state grant over the next two years, the district will use the funds to add a pre-kindergarten teacher and aide, parent liaison, and two half-day pre-kindergarten classes. It was a "great day to be a Rocket," said Rochester Superintendent Dan Cox.

More: State, Dolly Parton Imagination Library partner for free books to children five and under

"We can now offer preschool to at-risk students, and those receiving special education services in addition to tuition-based students," Shaw said at a press conference held at Rochester Elementary School on Thursday. "With the addition of Smart Start grants, we'll have more opportunities for our students and for their families."

Gov. JB Pritzker touts the achievements of Smart Start Illinois, a state initiative aiming to provide universal preschool access by 2027, at Rochester Elementary School on Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024.

Rochester schools officials joined Gov. JB Pritzker and local state legislators to tout the success of year one of the Smart Start Illinois initiative. Rochester, along with Springfield Schools District 186, received funding.

The goal for this year was to add 5,000 slots, which the state surpassed by adding 5,886 seats to public preschools lacking openings across the state. By 2027, the Pritzker administration plans to end preschool deserts by adding 20,000 slots  aiming to provide universal preschool access to every three and four-year-old in Illinois.

Pritzker has barnstormed the state championing the program this week, following his stop in Rochester with another news conference in Peoria later Thursday.

"It's maybe the most important investment that we can make in government, period, end of sentence," the governor said. The initiative is his signature item in this year's state budget. "You want to change the trajectory in a positive way of the population of state invests in the very youngest children."

The first year of the $250 million initiative included an additional $75 million to the Early Childhood Block Grant a program administered by the Illinois State Board of Education to expand preschool access.

This is a victory for Illinois, for the nearly 6,000 Illinois children and families that are being served and we're not yet done," said Tony Sanders, ISBE state superintendent. We're going to keep going until we transform every preschool into places where all of our youngest learners have the opportunity to learn and to thrive.

Other investments through the initiative include $130 million towards early childhood workforce compensation contracts, $40 million for early intervention programs allowing for a 10% rate increase for providers and $5 million to expand the Illinois Department of Human Services Home Visiting Program.

Continuation of the initiative, a "high priority" of the governor's, is contingent on a funding renewal in the next fiscal year starting in July. Pritzker will reveal how much he wants the state legislature to invest in Smart Start ahead of his State of the State address on Feb. 21.

Reporter Hope Gadson of The State Journal-Register contributed to this report.

Contact Patrick M. Keck: 312-549-9340, pkeck@gannett.com, twitter.com/@pkeckreporter.

This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Illinois adds 5,800 preschool seats in first year of Smart Start plan
As President Joe Biden continues to urge top lawmakers to approve his $60 billion aid request for Ukraine, a grim realization has settled in for the administration that this is likely the last chance for any new US military funding to flow to the war-torn country before the 2024 presidential election.

Lawmakers have conveyed as much directly to the White House, a US official told CNN. And underscoring the current gridlock, Pentagon officials have not held a single meeting since last month to decide on what to send Ukraine from the Defense Departments weapons stockpiles  because there is no money left to fund the aid packages.

Biden met with House and Senate lawmakers at the White House on Wednesday to outline what is at stake for Ukraine. At one point, the President turned to his national security adviser Jake Sullivan and Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines to lay out specific capabilities that Ukraine would run out of in the coming months, according to a White House official familiar with the meeting, who declined to get into more detail. Another official told CNN that they specifically pointed to air defense systems and artillery ammunition as examples of key capabilities that could be depleted without US support.

Biden also warned that US personnel were on the line, saying that if the Ukraine-Russia war spills over into NATO territory, the US would have to get directly involved in the conflict.

But House Speaker Mike Johnson, who along with other House Republicans has tied additional Ukraine funding to a broader immigration deal, said afterward that continuing to fund Ukraine risked turning it into a quagmire for the US akin to its two-decade war in Afghanistan.

We cannot spend billions of dollars without a clear strategy articulated and I told the president in the meeting today again, as Ive been saying repeatedly, Sir, you have to articulate what the strategy is. What is the endgame? Johnson said Wednesday night in an interview with CNNs Kaitlan Collins.

At the White House on Thursday, Biden told reporters he thought the meeting went well and that he believed the vast majority of members of Congress support aid to Ukraine.

The question is whether or not a small minority are going to hold it up, which would be a disaster, Biden said.

House Speaker Mike Johnson makes a statement alongside Reps. Mike Turner, Mike Rogers and Mike McCaul on January 17, outside the White House. - Samuel Corum/Getty Images

Race to approve funding before election

Meanwhile, inside the White House, NATO headquarters and in Kyiv, there is a keen awareness that if Donald Trump is reelected in November, he will likely slash support for Kyiv.

The number one reason Republicans will not come out in favor of a supplemental for Ukraine is they dont want to offend candidate Trump and his supporters, Democratic Rep. Mike Quigley said on CNN Max on Wednesday. Hes already made it clear what he would do  the war would be over on his first day, which means Putin gets to keep the borders he has, if not more.

No matter what happens in American politics this year, US and Western intelligence officials believe that Russias war in Ukraine is likely to go on for much longer.

Assessments vary, but virtually all of them assume that there will be at least two more years of fighting, according to multiple sources familiar with the intelligence  long enough to outlast Bidens first term. Privately, some US and Western officials say there could be as many as five more years of fighting.

Administration officials and lawmakers, including some hawkish Republicans, have for that reason been eager to approve and channel the funding to Ukraine before the clock potentially runs out at the end of 2024.

Aside from there being a desperate need, getting as much aid in before January 2025 is on the minds of a lot of folks Ive spoken to, said one US official. Not only is it important that the monies get appropriated, but that they get disbursed before the election as any FY24 funds still waiting to be spent can get blocked by Trump.

A congressional aide familiar with the discussions said that the more hawkish lawmakers, like Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham and Republican Rep. Michael McCaul, were among those pushing last fall for Congress to approve enough funding to hold Ukrainian military forces over through the 2024 election. The administration ultimately requested $60 billion, but Congress could not reach a deal before the end of last year  doing anything more in a fraught election year may now be little more than a pipedream, the aide said.

We are out of money, said a US military official stationed in Europe. The administration was able to do some magic [but] were getting down to the last of it.

Said one source familiar with Western intelligence, Basically everything depends on Biden getting reelected, doesnt it?

A static situation on the battlefield

Continued Western support for Ukraine is critical, US and Western officials argue, even as the battle lines have remained largely static over the last several months following a failed Ukrainian counteroffensive to retake territory seized by Russia.

Ukrainian soldiers huddle under cover during artillery fire as the soldiers of Ukrainian National Guard hold their positions in the snow-covered Serebryan Forest on January 12, 2024 in Kreminna, Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. - Kostiantyn Liberov/Libkos/Getty Images

Still, in the short term, US intelligence officials dont believe a drop-off in US funding will have a major battlefield impact for Ukraine. Russia is struggling to regroup, which buys Ukraine some time, people familiar with the assessments said. But in the longer term, a lack of US aid could allow Moscow to regain momentum by ramping up its weapons supply and taking advantage of support from Iran and North Korea, one of the people said.

US officials have also considered the impact that a pullback of US support could have on other allies, particularly the message it sends about the US not having the political will to support allies and partners long term. Another concern is that Europe, which is already at the bottom of the barrel of its weapons and ammunition supplies, follows the US lead and begins to withdraw some aid.

More immediately, an end to US funding for Ukraine could limit Ukraines ability to conduct long-range strikes into Russian-occupied Crimea and the Black Sea strikes that have been supported by Western weapons, including US-provided Army Tactical Missile Systems, also known as ATACMS.

If that pipeline were to dry up, US officials believe that Ukraine could lose its ability to conduct some of its most high-profile operations, a person familiar with US intelligence assessments told CNN. Ukraines strikes on Russias Black Sea fleet last fall, which forced Russia to withdraw many of its ships from Sevastopol in occupied Crimea, have been seen as a particularly effective use of the Western-provided long-range missiles.

All eyes on 2025

Ukraine is expected to spend this year working to bolster its defense industrial base and rebuild its forces in anticipation of even more fighting in 2025, the US official said a strategy that Russia is likely to focus on as well.

Thats why continued Western support is so critical, as this next year will be when everything is done that will decide how 2025 and possibly beyond play out, this person said.

Another attempt at a major counteroffensive by Ukraine, with the goal of splitting the Russian forces at the southern occupied city of Melitopol, is likely still at least two years away, said the US military official stationed in Europe, and US and Western officials do not expect either Ukraine or Russia to make major battlefield gains in 2024.

Both sides are too exhausted in terms of troops and equipment to see huge moves in 2024, this person said. The Ukrainians have discussed 2025 being a more feasible option in terms of what they can generate to start another offensive, the military official said.

Still, Russia has continued to try to force Ukraine into submission with huge barrages of missile and drone attacks targeting Kyiv and other major cities across the country, spreading Ukrainian air defenses thin. Ukraine is also struggling to recruit new troops, especially in the wake of a grueling attempted counteroffensive that cost thousands of lives.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a news conference last month that his military had proposed mobilizing an additional 450,000 to 500,000 men to join the war, but that he had not yet authorized the plan because it will cost Ukraine billions.

Lithuania's President Gitanas Nauseda and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy attend a welcoming ceremony in Vilnius, Lithuania January 10, 2024. - Ints Kalnins/Reuters

The mobilization of an additional 450,000 to 500,000 people will cost Ukraine 500 billion hryvnia [$13 billion] and I would like to know where the money will come from, Zelenskyy said. Considering that it takes six Ukrainian working civilians paying taxes to pay the salary of one soldier, I would need to get 3 million more working people somewhere to be able to pay for the additional troops.

Trump looms large

This is not where the Biden administration hoped to be on the two-year anniversary of the conflict, with the possibility of a second Trump administration looming.

Administration and congressional officials began discussing last year how to channel as much aid to Ukraine as possible before January 2025, sources familiar with the talks told CNN.

Not only is it important that the monies get appropriated, but that they get disbursed before the election, as any FY24 funds still waiting to be spent can get blocked by Trump, the US official said.

Donald Trump speaks at a press conference on January 17, 2024 in New York City. - Alexi J. Rosenfeld/Getty Images

At one point last fall, some more hawkish members of Congress privately estimated that Ukraine would need as much as $100 billion to get through 2024, the congressional aide said. The White House ultimately settled on a $61 billion request for 2024, around $7 billion more than it requested for Ukrainian military aid for 2023.

A congressional aide familiar with the discussions said that the longer negotiations over the supplemental drag on, the less likely it is to be approved.

Were in the middle of an intense election cycle, where taking a tough vote like this in the shadow of presidential and down-ballot elections is a nonstarter for a lot of people, the aide said. So for the hawks among us, frontloading is the way to sustain support through what is going to be a politically intense year on the home front.

Meanwhile, senior US officials have been working for the last year to come up with a legal case for seizing and transferring to Ukraine the roughly $300 billion in Russian Central Bank assets held in the West, CNN previously reported. Those assets were frozen after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

The rare maneuver would require buy-in from US allies in the Group of 7 advanced economies, as well as an act of Congress to give the president the authority to seize Russian assets held in the US. With Congress still fighting over the supplemental and how to avoid a government shutdown, it is unclear how soon that bill will come to a vote.

In the near term, Ukraine may be able to hang on, albeit in a stalemate, without US support, a Western intelligence source said. But that would still be a significant loss not only for Ukraine, but also for the US standing in the world, this person said.

It shows [Russia] they were able to take territory and shows other nations they can take territory by force, this person said. The whole point here is to show that in todays day and age, major powers cannot just go and take territory by force.

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com
Six Haitian nuns and two companions were kidnapped at gunpoint Friday in the nations capital, the Roman Catholic archbishop of Port-au-Prince confirmed to the Miami Herald.

The nuns, members of the congregation of St. Anne in Port-au-Prince, were abducted as they traveled on a bus along with a young girl and a driver, Archbishop Monsignor Max Leroy Mesidor said. The incident occurred at around 7 a.m. Friday in Port-au-Prince near Avenue Christopher.

The area is controlled by the Grande Ravine and Village de Dieu gangs. It is unclear which group took the nuns hostage.

In a communique from the Haitian Religious Conference, an association of congregations, President Morachel Bonhomme asked Haitians to pray for the safe return of the nuns and the others, and for the Sisters of St. Anne to find their way out of the terrible situation.

These too many kidnappings fill the consecrated people of Haiti with sadness and fear, he said. May the solidarity of the consecrated people of Haiti and the world help them to overcome this harsh ordeal.

The abduction is the latest act by armed groups in Haiti, which last year were blamed for the killing of nearly 4,000 Haitians and at least 3,000 kidnappings, according to the United Nations. In recent days, attacks have been intensifying in the countrys capital. Since last weekend, several houses in the Solino area have been burned and at least 20 people killed, Pierre Esperance, the head of the National Human Rights Defense Network, said.

Some residents died after being set on fire, and others were executed as they fled their homes, he said.

Its unclear what triggered the fresh round of attacks, which are being led by the Bel-Air gang, whose leader is a man named Kempes. Bel-Air is allied with the Grande Ravine and Village de Dieu gangs, though Kempes is also currently aligned with Jimmy Barbecue Cherizier, who leads the rival G-9 and Family gang coalition.

Solino, home to many police officers, has struggled to remain free from gang control despite its strategic location, which provides routes for kidnapping gangs to move hostages. Callers into local radio stations this week said that while the neighborhoods cops attempted to stop the deadly raids, they were outgunned by gang members and many residents had no choice but to flee their homes.

On Thursday, as the violence continued, roads around metropolitan Port-au-Prince were blocked by rocks, armed individuals and burning tires. The roads began to reopen by the afternoon.

It was all part of a chaotic day in which anti-government protests flared up in other parts of the country following calls by a former rebel leader, Guy Philippe, for Haitians to take to the streets to demand the resignation of Prime Minister Ariel Henry. A convicted felon who was recently repatriated to Haiti after serving nine years in a U.S. prison on drug-related money laundering charges, Philippe has been moving through the country with armed men and police officers in what he describes as a revolution to transform Haiti.

On Thursday, protests were reported in the cities of Ouanaminthe in the northeast, Jeremie in the GrandAnse and in the rural Nippes region.

In its latest briefing of the situation in Haiti, the U.N.s World Food Program cited Nippes as one of the regions of the countries, along with the south, where the price of basic goods has skyrocketed by 23% since October. Vegetable oil, the agency said, has increased by 66% in the Nippes area since December.

All four southern [regional] departments have started to experience shortages of essential foods, the U.N. said.

One reason for the food shortages is an ongoing roadblock in the Mariani district, south of Port-au-Prince. The area has been at the center of gang battles since Nov. 1, forcing thousands of people fleeing their homes. Its main thoroughfare, National Road 2, which connects the south and Port-au-Prince, has been blocked for months and supply trucks are being hijacked.

Since the first week of January 2024, there has been a shortage of fuel and increases in the price of basic food commodities in relation to that situation, the World Food Program said.

The deepening humanitarian crisis and social unrest are happening while the U.S. government prosecutes one of Haitis gang leaders in a Washington, D.C. federal courtroom. Germine Yonyon Joly, who was extradited to the U.S. in the spring of 2022 in connection to the kidnapping of 16 U.S. missionaries, is on trial on charges of weapons smuggling.

This coming week, the U.N. Security Council will again take up the situation in Haiti, the day before Kenyas supreme court hears a legal challenge to the East African nations offer to lead an international deployment of police officers to Haiti to assist the Caribbean nations beleaguered national police force.

The Multinational Security Support mission was approved in October by the U.N. Security Council, but its deployment has been stalled by the High Court in Kenya. The court is scheduled to hear arguments on Jan. 26 from a former presidential candidate who claims that the deployment violates Kenyas constitution and that the country cannot afford to deploy 1,000 of its police officers at a time when Kenya is dealing with its own security challenges.
PANAMA CITY  A local college is the first in the state to receive a new designation for supporting the military.

In a press release on Thursday, Gulf Coast State College in Panama City announced that it has been recognized as the first Florida Collegiate Purple Star Campus. Created by the Florida Legislature last year, this designation spotlights the college's commitment to supporting both military students and families.

Gulf Coast State College announced on Thursday that it had been recognized as the first Florida Collegiate Purple Star Campus.

"Our institution takes great pride in being acknowledged," Glen McDonald, GCSC president, said in the release. "This recognition represents our ongoing dedication to maintain an educational community that values and supports those who have served our nation and their families.

"Being the first state college to earn this honor is a depiction of that commitment."

According to the release, GCSC met all criteria outlined by the Florida Legislature to become Collegiate Purple Star Campus. It included having a military webpage, student-led transition program and priority registration for military students and families.

Local grants: 'Exciting': St. Joe Community Foundation sets record in 2023 with $5.39 million in grants

McDonald noted about half of Bay District Schools also are Purple Star Campuses, supporting military families and their children.

"We're a military community, (and) we love our military," he said. "We are so proud to be designated as the first (collegiate) purple star campus in the state of Florida. ... We are all in when it comes to protecting this country and protecting those who do."

This article originally appeared on The News Herald: GCSC named first Florida Collegiate Purple Star Campus
PHNOM PENH, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia received 547,798 Chinese visitors in 2023, up 412.5 percent from only 106,875 in a year earlier, said a Ministry of Tourism's report released on Friday.

The number accounted for 10 percent of the total international tourist arrivals to the Southeast Asian country last year, the report said.

It added that Cambodia attracted a total of 5.45 million foreign visitors in 2023, an increase of almost 140 percent from the 2.27 million international guests in the year before.

China was the third largest source of foreign tourists to the kingdom after Thailand and Vietnam, the report said, adding that some 1.82 million Thais and nearly 1.02 million Vietnamese traveled to Cambodia last year, up 113 percent and 120 percent, respectively.

Cambodia and China jointly launched the 2024 People-to-People Exchange Year initiative last week, aiming at further deepening cultural exchanges and boosting the tourism sector.

"I'm strongly confident that the 2024 Cambodia-China People-to-People Exchange Year will become a new driving force to attract more Chinese tourists and investors to Cambodia, contributing further to deepening the bonds of friendship between the peoples of the two countries," Cambodian Tourism Minister Sok Soken said at the launching event in Siem Reap province last Saturday.

Cambodian Ministry of Tourism's Secretary of State and Spokesperson Top Sopheak said the kingdom is eager to see more Chinese holidaymakers, saying that their presence has importantly contributed to the country's economic and tourism development as well as poverty reduction.

He believes that the Chinese-invested Siem Reap Angkor International Airport, which officially launched its commercial operations last November, will attract more international travelers, including Chinese ones, to Cambodia.

China was the biggest source of the international tourist arrivals to Cambodia in the pre-COVID-19 pandemic era.

Cambodia recorded up to 2.36 million Chinese tourists in 2019, representing 35.7 percent of the total international tourist arrivals and generating about 1.8 billion U.S. dollars in revenue, according to the Cambodia's Ministry of Tourism. 
HOLLIS, New Hampshire  Nikki Haley wanted a one-on-one race with Donald Trump. Now that she largely has that in New Hampshire, shes taking every opportunity she can to tear into him.

Over and over as she campaigned here this week, Haley insulted her former boss in ways she had restrained herself from doing for much of the past year. On top of that, she and her allies repeatedly skewered him on social media and trolled the crowd at his rally in Portsmouth.

The reality is, who lost the House for us? Who lost the Senate? Who lost the White House? Haley said during a rare gaggle with reporters after a campaign event on Thursday. Donald Trump, Donald Trump, Donald Trump.

Haleys offensive comes as Ron DeSantis has largely ceded the New Hampshire primary  focusing instead on other states  and Trump has significantly stepped up his criticism of her, including with conspiratorial, sometimes racist attacks.

Haleys campaign this week has put out videos trolling Trump, as well as ones featuring flattering things he said about Haley when she worked for his administration. Both she and her campaign have made clear that Haley, despite failing to surpass DeSantis for second place to Trump in Iowa, is proceeding as if Trump is her only remaining rival.

At a rally at the American Legion in Rochester on Wednesday night, Haley devoted a longer than usual portion of her speech to accusing Trump of lying about her record  He honestly thinks if he says something, it just becomes true  and criticizing him for previously supporting raising the retirement age and increasing the federal gas tax.

Those are things he needs to answer for. Oh, thats right, Haley said with a smirk. He wont get on a debate stage.

Haleys escalation of her attacks on Trump has been made easier by campaigning every day alongside a governor who was already a vocal critic of Trump. New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, who has endorsed Haley, on Wednesday and Thursday jumped at every chance to speak with reporters  and dump on Trump.

Having called Trump fucking crazy less than a year ago, Sununu on Thursday didnt skip a beat when a reporter shouted across a crowded country store in Hooksett to ask about Trumps polling lead in New Hampshire. Looking up from shaking attendees hands, Sununu made fun of Trump for only getting 56,000 supporters out to caucus for him from across the whole state of Iowa  a line the governor has used several times this week.

Other allies, too, are boosting Haleys efforts to take on Trump in a more pointed way. Haleys aligned super PAC, SFA Fund Inc., on Wednesday ran TV ads on mobile billboards outside of Trumps rally in Portsmouth. The ads called Trump a liar and bully, and lambasted the temper tantrums and chaos and drama associated with him. Since Jan. 1, the super PAC has dropped more than $6 million on ads in New Hampshire, according to AdImpact, making it the top spender in the state during that time.

Haleys X account this week has also been a notable source of Trump-bashing.

Throughout and ahead of her primary campaign, the former governors team only mentioned Trump on sporadic occasions in her social media posts. Nearly a year passed between her invoking Trumps name on the website in August 2022 and then again in June 2023. Haley averaged less than one Trump" mention per month between August and November, and then picked up her pace in December.

But in the last two days alone, Trumps former ambassador has gone after him at almost a Trump-like pace, posting clips of herself taunting him with calls to debate  He cant hide forever  and making fun of him for suggesting his own campaigns polling data was wrong.

Despite Trump having maintained a significant lead over Haley and his other rivals in Iowa, her campaign released a video just before the caucuses trolling the former president for his claim that he was 60 points ahead in the race. Wow, 60 points? flashed text on screen, in between clips of Trump bragging about such a lead. You sure about 60?

Trump ultimately won the caucuses by a landslide  though the margin was half of what he had predicted: 30 points.
Former Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley brushed off a barrage of personal attacks from former President Trump about her name and heritage Wednesday, saying its a sign Trump feels threatened by her in the GOP primary.

Haley was asked at a CNN town hall about recent social media posts from Trump in which he shared a conspiracy theory that Haley was ineligible to run for president and referred to her by her birth name, Nimrata.

The former South Carolina governor, whose parents are from India, noted she was born in Bamberg, S.C., erasing any doubt about her ability to run for the White House.

And look, the name-calling  I know President Trump well. Thats what he does when he feels threatened. Thats what he does when he feels insecure, Haley said. I dont take these things personally; it doesnt bother me. I know him very well, and this is what he does. I know that I am a threat; I know thats why hes doing that.

Haley added that she had no plans to get into the name-calling back with him.

Trump has ramped up his attacks on Haley in recent days as attention shifts to Tuesdays New Hampshire primary, where polling has shown Haley to be Trumps closest competitor.

A Decision Desk HQ average of New Hampshire polls shows Trump leading Haley by 10 points in the state.

The former president has bashed Haley for her position on Social Security and immigration but he has also levied racist attacks against her by sharing a birther conspiracy and calling her Nimrata and Nimbra in social media posts, which critics have said is meant to put the focus on her Indian heritage.

Trump rose to political prominence in part by pushing the false and racist claim that then-President Obama was not born in the United States. During the 2016 GOP primary, he claimed Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), one of his rivals at the time, was ineligible for the White House because he was born in Canada.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Republican Presidential candidate Nikki Haley said Friday that former President Trump wont debate her because she will call him out on lying.

During an appearance on Fox & Friends on Friday morning, the former United Nations ambassador was asked about Trumps claim that she has no chance of winning the White House. She answered by touting her legislative track record while governor of South Carolina and calling him out for lying about her record.

Weve got to start telling the truth, Haley said. And the problem with Donald Trump and Joe Biden is they think if they tell Americans something, then its the truth. But the problem is, both of these guys are lying to the American people, and the American people deserve the truth.

Haley went after Trump for claiming that she is not a conservative, saying that he ballooned the nations debt and praised Chinese President Xi Jinping even after blaming China for the global spread of COVID-19.

She also defended her record on Social Security and pointed to Trumps own past support for raising the retirement age for the program.

He proposed a 25-cent gas tax increase on all Americans. He put us $8 trillion in debt in over four years, and our kids will never forgive us for that, Haley said.

But the fact that Donald Trumps lying, Haley said, its another reason why he wont debate me, because he knows Ill call him out on it.

Trump skipped all five debates leading up to the Iowa caucuses, which he won with a record-breaking 51 percent of the vote.

Haley has vowed not to participate in any future debates if Trump doesnt take the stage, leading two planned debates against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to be canceled.

Haley has been rising in polls ahead of Tuesdays New Hampshire primary and has sought to frame the primary as a two-person race.

According to the latest The Hill/Decision Desk HQ polling average, Trump has support from 45.6 percent of New Hampshire GOP primary voters, Haley is at 35 percent, and DeSantis is far behind at 5.8 percent.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
HOOKSETT, NEW HAMPSHIRE - JANUARY 18: Republican presidential candidate and former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley talks to a group of people while campaigning at the historic Robie Country Store on January 18, 2024 in Hooksett, New Hampshire. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley responded on Thursday to Donald Trump spreading birther conspiracies and launching racist attacks against her, calling him threatened and insecure.

I know President Trump well. Thats what he does when he feels threatened, thats what he does when he feels insecure, she told CNNs Jake Tapper, during a town hall event.

Tapper asked Haley for her response to two recent attacks made against her by her former boss and current GOP presidential frontrunner: First, Trump spreading an article saying Haley is ineligible to run for president because her parents were not U.S. citizens when Haley was born; and second, his reference to Haley by her given name, Nimarata, which he misspelled in his Truth Social post attacking her. (Haleys middle name is Nikki).

Well, first, I am the proud daughter of Bamberg, South Carolina, so I love my sweet town and Im proud to say Im from there. So, thats the first question, we can throw that out the window, Haley told Tapper, who acknowledged that Haley is eligible to run for president.

Expounding upon Trumps post, the former U.N. ambassador said Trumps race-baiting broadside doesnt bother me.

I know that I am a threat. I know thats why hes doing that, she said. So its not going to waste any energy from me. Im going to continue to focus on the things that people want to talk about and not get into the name-calling back with him.

Haleys campaign this week has put out videos trolling Trump, as well as ones featuring flattering things he said about Haley when she worked for his administration. Both she and her campaign have made clear that Haley, despite failing to surpass Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for second place in Iowa, is proceeding as if Trump is her only remaining rival.

Natalie Allison contributed to this report.
House Speaker Mike Johnson of La., second from right, flanked by, from left, Rep. Mike Turner, R-Ohio, Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Ala., and Rep. Mike McCaul, R-Texas., speaks to reporters outside the West Wing of the White House in Washington, Jan. 17, 2024, following their meeting with President Joe Biden. A major sticking point in negotiations over border security and Ukraine funding in Congress has been whether the Biden administration should continue to have the authority to allow migrants into the U.S. who would otherwise be turned away. | Susan Walsh, Associated Press

Tensions between the state of Texas and the Biden administration continue as Texas rejects calls to allow Border Patrol agents to enter a park along the southern U.S.-Mexico border.

What happened: At Shelby Park in Eagle Pass, one of the busiest spots on the southern U.S. border for migrants illegally crossing from Mexico, Texas has refused to allow Border Patrol agents to enter the area, The Associated Press reported.

Over the weekend, the bodies of three people who had attempted to cross the Rio Grande were recovered by Mexican authorities.

The park is located outside a Texas border town that is prepping for a large festival event in April for a total solar eclipse.

According to AP, Texas officials seized control of the park as part of Abbotts expanding border mission known as Operation Lone Star  a plan to crack down on illegal immigration.

The Justice Department requested the U.S. Supreme Court order Texas to allow passage of Border Patrol back into the park. Texas rejected the request, per CNN.

Why Texas wont let Border Patrol in: Gov. Greg Abbott has taken a hardline stance on illegal immigration during his administration and defended Texas restricting access to the park, expressing frustration over migrants illegally entering through Eagle Pass and federal agents loading them onto buses, per AP.

We said, Weve had it. Were not going to let this happen anymore, Abbott said, per AP.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton also reaffirmed that Texas would not back down.

Because the facts and law side with Texas, the State will continue utilizing its constitutional authority to defend her territory, and I will continue defending those lawful efforts in court, Paxton wrote in response to a warning from the Department of Homeland Security, per CBS News.

Texas authorities have started arresting migrants in Shelby Park

What next: Texas authorities have begun arresting migrants at the park and charging them with criminal trespassing, which marks the first arrests of migrants since the state took control of the area, CNN reported.

The State of #Texas will maintain a proactive posture in curbing illegal border crossings between the ports of entry, Lieutenant Chris Olivarez, spokesperson with Texas Department of Public Safety, wrote on X.

The Biden administration has warned that it will refer the matter to the Justice Department if Texas denies Border Patrol agents full access to the area, according to NBC News.
Prince Harry has ended his libel case against a British newspaper publisher over an article about his security arrangements, according to the Daily Mail. The Duke of Sussex had originally brought the case against Associated Newspapers, the publisher of the Mail on Sunday, after accusing the publication of having falsely claimed in a February 2022 article that hed lied and cynically attempted to influence public opinion. Harry reportedly dropped the case in the hours before a deadline in which his lawyers would have to turn over a list of documents relevant to the case, according to the Mail. The report further claimed that the prince may now be forced to pay the newspapers legal costs of over $300,000. The Mail on Sunday previously had to pay damages to Harrys wife, Meghan Markle, over a copyright breach.

Read it at The Daily Mail

Read more at The Daily Beast.
By Nate Raymond

BOSTON (Reuters) - Harvard University on Friday urged a judge in Boston to dismiss lawsuits by families accusing it of mishandling the bodies of loved ones that were donated to its medical school and whose organs and parts were then sold on the black market by the former manager of its morgue.

Martin Murphy, a lawyer for the school, told a state court judge that Harvard Medical School was "deeply sorry for the uncertainty and pain" families suffered as a result of the alleged conduct of its ex-morgue manager, Cedric Lodge, who has been indicted for selling body parts on the black market.

But Murphy said that under a Massachusetts law that governs the donation of bodies to medical schools, Harvard enjoyed broad immunity from lawsuits unless the families can show it failed to act in "good faith."

"None of them make any kind of factual allegations that plausibly suggest that anyone other than Mr. Lodge was involved in the conduct that's at issue here," Murphy told Suffolk County Superior Court Judge Kenneth Salinger.

But lawyers for the families said nothing in the state's Uniform Anatomical Gift Act supported shielding Harvard from liability for allowing donor bodies in its possession to be unlawfully displayed, dismembered, and trafficked.

Lawyer Kathryn Barnett said the families were "devastated by the shocking discoveries of what went on at Harvard" and hoped through the lawsuits to understand how Harvard could have turned a blind eye to Lodge's years-long conduct.

"These are families who are desperate now for answers," she said.

Salinger said he would issue a ruling as quickly as possible in the "very troubling and difficult case."

The 12 lawsuits were filed after federal prosecutors brought charges in June against Lodge and five others accused of buying and selling human remains stolen from Harvard Medical School and an Arkansas mortuary.

Prosecutors said Lodge from 2018 through 2022 would at times let potential buyers into the school's morgue to examine cadavers and select what parts to buy. The buyers mostly resold the body parts, prosecutors said.

They said Lodge also transported stolen remains to his home in New Hampshire, where he and his wife sold them to others. They also shipped stolen remains to people out of state, prosecutors said.

The Lodges have pleaded not guilty to conspiracy and interstate transport of stolen goods charges. They and two other defendants are slated to face trial in federal court in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, on April 1.

(Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston; Editing by Alexia Garamfalvi and Matthew Lewis)
UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- The UN Security Council on Thursday released a statement reiterating its "full and unanimous support for the peace process in Colombia."

The council members highlighted the importance of "ensuring the comprehensive implementation" of the 2016 Final Peace Agreement in Colombia and praised the progress made, especially following the local elections.

They emphasized the crucial role of newly elected officials in fostering peace and the "full, equal, meaningful and safe participation of women from diverse backgrounds in the peace process."

Commending the attention given to rural reform provisions, the council recognized the progress in land distribution to peasant and ethnic communities and the adoption of the Comprehensive Reintegration Programme.

They also expressed concern about the ongoing threats and violence faced by former combatants and social leaders, stressing the need for "further implementation of the action plan of the Comprehensive Programme for Safeguards for Women Leaders and Human Rights Defenders."

The council welcomed the Colombian government's commitment to the ethnic chapter of the peace agreement, expecting 60 percent of its implementation by 2026.

Additionally, they anticipated the completion of Colombia's first National Action Plan for implementing UN Security Council resolution 1325 on women, peace, and security.

The council praised the Colombian government's efforts to broaden peace through dialogue and negotiations with the Ejercito de Liberacion Nacional and other groups, emphasizing the importance of good faith negotiations to reduce violence.

The council reaffirmed its dedication to working closely with Colombia to support the comprehensive implementation of the peace agreement, underscoring the commitment of both parties. 
The conditional use request for a two-building apartment complex was approved by Hawley Borough Council, concluding a 90-minute hearing, Jan. 10. Although some neighbors expressed concerns over traffic and quality of life, other comments were made about the need for housing for working families in Wayne County.

The developers for Barker Street Partners LLC returned with a modified plan, to not exceed the 35-foot maximum height allowed in the zoning ordinance by using two buildings side-by-side. Last May, the developers appealed to the Zoning Hearing Board for a variance to the ordinance height restriction, asking for a single structure that could have reached 60 feet.

Council President Ann Monaghan related that there were four people present who spoke against the project: Carolyn Hirt, Sharon Wharton, Ruth Ann Carlson and a Church Street resident, Sonny Whitty. Lois Beck and Hirt also sent a letter not favoring the project.

More: Developer proposes 46 apartments, shorter height on second try

Monaghan said concerns included degrading quality of life; putting too much traffic onto Barker Street; creating a hazard for people with disabilities who live in these other two apartment projects (Hawley Village Apartments immediately next to the site and Barker Street Apartments on the opposite side of Hawley Village); excessive noise and lighting.

The two existing apartment buildings are home to many senior citizens and people with disabilities. Concerns have been stated over the safety of people with mobility aids using Barker Street, which lacks sidewalks. Hawley Village residents in back enjoy a tranquil view of greenery and wildlife, where the new apartments will be built.

The developers have stated that they are planning "moderate" rent levels, and it is not designed as "senior housing."

This map sketch shows the proposed apartment two-building complex at right (in green), and Hawley Village Apartments (in yellow). Barker Street Apartments (not shown) is immediately off the map at left. The red arrows depict the planned one-way traffic flow, with traffic heading in along an easement off of Church Street at lower right, and traffic heading out along Barker Street, at left. Forty vehicles a day are foreseen, according to the traffic engineer who testified at the conditional use hearing for Barker Street Partners LLC held Jan. 10, 2024, at Hawley Borough Hall. This map has been adapted from the one rendered for the applicant by Tompkins Engineering.

Project representatives Jay Cooperman and Adam Tannebaum were present, as well as several expert witnesses, including a traffic study engineer, John Wichner, who gave statistics from a preliminary study.

The council shared concerns regarding the increase in traffic for Barker Street and its impact on the safety of neighboring residents.

This study showed that there would be an approximate average increase of 40 vehicles daily on Barker Street. This narrow, dead-end street off Penn Avenue mostly serves Barker Street Apartments and Hawley Village Apartments. The new complex would be at the very end of Barker Street, behind Hawley Village.

To address the traffic flow and cut in half how much is on Barker Street, the plan is to have traffic enter along an easement from Church Street and exit onto Barker Street. Both driveways, for ingress and egress, would be one-way traffic. The egress will follow a route around Hawley Village Apartments on the right side as seen from the front.

A land development engineer also spoke, discussing the size of the project and its compliance with borough ordinances, including zoning. Setbacks from boundary lines, garbage collection, mail delivery and emergency plans were all covered.

"Cooperman assured the borough that all necessary requirements and conditions would be met," Monaghan said. A separate land development hearing, yet to be scheduled, will cover many of these items.

The developers assured the borough that these units were not short-term vacation rentals, but would require a minimum one-year lease, and all tenants will be screened, Monaghan related.

According to the developers, each building will be two and a half stories high, 150 feet long and 72 feet wide and have a gable roof. One is to have 22 apartments and the other 24. Most units will have two bedrooms and two bathrooms. There may be a few one-bedroom apartments where an elevator shaft limits space.

Maximum lot coverage is 47.5% Parking for 80 vehicles is planned.

Council approved the request with a vote of 6-0; councilor Joseph Faubel was absent. Monaghan said that a final list of conditions will be announced at the Feb. 14 council meeting. Among these conditions will be required approvals from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection and the Wayne Conservation District. Conditions will also include the extent of the council's ability to regulate the health and safety concerns addressed, she said. One option discussed is a tree buffer facing the back of Hawley Village.

Among the people present speaking favorably of the project was Justin Genzlinger, CEO of Settlers Hospitality Group (SHG), based in Hawley. He stated that the developers have a good reputation, and he trusts they will deliver a good project. SHG also supports adding much-needed housing in Hawley where residents can work and live. Among them, he said, are the members employed by Settlers Hospitality.

Genzlinger also said that the project helps the local economy by increasing the tax base and housing employed residents who will conduct their personal business in town.

A support letter from the three Wayne County commissioners states that they endorse efforts to address "the enormous housing shortage we have here in Wayne County for working class people." This type of project, situated in town, is exactly what the recently published Wayne County Housing Project supports, to attract people to live and work here but need affordable housing, the letter states.

The commissioners stated that employers have told them of the difficulty of attracting new employees, with the lack of viable housing options locally.

Henry Skier, President/CEO of AMSKier Insurance, submitted a letter stating, "Availability of modern and attractive rental housing near the Hawley office and shopping areas will complement the initiatives of community-minded citizens and investors and visitors to dream what we can be and to stimulate ongoing growth as we 'Paint the Town,'" he wrote, referencing a downtown community art project he is working on.

"The Skier family celebrates Hawley as our hometown where we encourage AMSkier existing and new staff to live in the borough and to enjoy the continuing development of our downtown Hawley and the possibilities of new apartment homes nearby," he wrote.

State Rep. Joe Adams, a Hawley native, said the presentation was well done, and the hearing remained cordial and professional as views both negative and positive were shared. Housing is definitely needed in the area... This appears to be the right location and certainly positive for the town and townspeople.

To access the Wayne County Housing Study, visit: waynecountypa.gov/DocumentCenter/View/5692/Wayne-County-Housing-Study-Final?bidId=

Peter Becker has worked at the Tri-County Independent or its predecessor publications since 1994. Reach him at pbecker@tricountyindependent.com or 570-253-3055 ext. 1588.

This article originally appeared on Tri-County Independent: Hawley apartments: 2 buildings, 46 units approved by council
SAN DIEGO  San Diegans may hear more loud train noises through downtown, as the areas Quiet Zone designation was temporarily suspended by federal officials.

Officials with the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) confirmed the suspension of the Quiet Zone between the Laurel Street and Fifth Avenue railroad crossings to FOX 5 on Thursday.

The suspension was issued after railroad safety specialists noted a pattern of non-compliance with safety rules for Quiet Zones over the past year. As a result, all trains traveling through this area will resume sounding their horns until the City of San Diego remedies the safety violations.

In a statement, San Diego officials said that the city has been working for the last year to bring the zone into compliance after a list of deficiencies was provided by the FRA. City officials added that they are in contact with federal officials and is currently waiting for a detailed report of the deficiencies identified.

We stand ready to resolve the identified deficiencies and restore the Quiet Zone as soon as possible, the statement continued.

City reveals results of street condition study

Details about what the list of violations for the Quiet Zone safety rules included have not been disclosed. Although in an emailed statement on Friday, San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria said city crews are working today on replacement signage, pavement markings and flex posts identified as deficient by federal officials.

We will work through the weekend until all of these tasks are complete. Remaining traffic counts that are required in order to have the suspension lifted will be completed by the end of January to submit for the FRAs evaluation, he continued. I fully recognize and apologize for the distress the Quiet Zone suspension is causing Downtown residents who live near the train tracks.

According to FRA, train horns are required to be used at least 15 seconds and no more than 20 seconds in advance of all public grade crossings. To have an area designated as a Quiet Zone, officials must meet certain safety requirements to mitigate the increased risk caused by the absence of a horn.

In a post on X, formerly Twitter, the North County Transit District urged residents to be on the look out for the sounding of trains horns in the City of San Diegos Quiet Zone, saying Hear Horns, think safety.

This comes a mere days after a man was hit and killed by an Amtrak train in Carlsbad, marking the fourth train death within the county in the span of a week.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 5 San Diego.
Breakthrough of the heating main in Novosibirsk. Screenshot: the video of Governor Andrei Travnikov

The administration of Russian Novosibirsk has introduced a state of emergency in the city due to a series of major municipal accidents, and heating points have been opened in the city as temperatures dropped below 20 degrees below zero.

Source: Andrei Travnikov, Governor of Novosibirsk Oblast, on Telegram; Russian service BBC News

Quote from Travnikov: "Unfortunately, events in the heating system emergency zone of the Leninskyi district are unfolding according to a negative scenario. A new pipeline defect has been discovered on Petropavlovskaya Street during the system refill.

This marks the third rupture in this city block within the last day. Consequently, the supply of the heat carrier is impeded, affecting the restoration of normal heating in buildings located in the Leninskyi district.

In response, an emergency meeting of the regional emergency commission was convened. A decision has been made to declare a state of emergency in the city of Novosibirsk. The management of the emergency response task force has been elevated to the regional level."

Details: On the night of 18-19 January, the fourth heating network accident within a week occurred in Novosibirsk's Leninskyi district. Over 100 buildings had been left without heat due to a rupture in an intra-quarter pipe on Titova Street.

In the past 8 days, the city experienced two major accidents on main heating networks, affecting virtually the entire left bank with thousands of multi-apartment buildings and a population of at least half a million people, as reported by BBC News.

Following the first accident on 11 January, nearly 2,400 buildings were reportedly affected by the emergency shutdown, according to the city administration. Initially, the Siberian Generating Company, linked to Russian billionaire Andrey Melnichenko under sanctions, reported heating disconnections for only 104 buildings.

The second accident in the Leninskyi District on 17 January resulted in the same buildings being disconnected again. The company then attributed the cause of the accident to a "defect" in a pipeline laid in 1963.

Over the last 10 days, in several quarters on the left bank, heating was provided for only a few hours. Residents share photos on social media showing indoor temperatures around 5 to 10 degrees above zero.

During these days, Novosibirsk experiences nighttime temperatures not exceeding 23 degrees below zero. Meanwhile, the city administration has asked residents to "limit the use of heating devices" in buildings with "old wiring."

Following the left bank accidents, ruptures in heating networks began occurring on the right bank as well. On 18 January, in the Oktyabrsky district, 14 multi-apartment buildings were left without heat due to a rupture. On 19 January, a rupture occurred in the city centre, affecting at least 15 buildings.

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Thousands of congregations have left the United Methodist Church amid contentious debates over sexuality, including a dispute over whether to accept gay marriage and LGBTQ+ pastors.

The rift marks the largest denominational schism in U.S. history. A quarter of the churchs approximately 30,000 congregations said they planned to remove themselves from the United Methodist Church as of Dec. 31. The church is one of America's largest Protestant denominations.

The historic rift in the United Methodist Church is part of a larger split in recent years in the Christian religion over issues of gender and sexuality. Similar divides have led to splits among Baptists, Mennonites, Presbyterians and other protestant denominations.

"It's been brewing forever  for at least the last 20 years, " said Jason Bivins, a professor in the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies at North Carolina State University.

Meanwhile, the Catholic church is showing signs of an evolving stance on gay marriage.

'It left us' After historic Methodist rift, feelings of betrayal and hope for future

King Avenue United Methodist Church associate pastor Andy Burns and LGBTQ+ allies protest on Oct. 12, 2022, outside the Ohio Department of Education building as the board hears public testimony on a resolution that opposes proposed changes to Title IX, the federal law that prohibited discrimination in schools on the basis of sex. Introduced by board member Brendan Shea, the resolution lays out an "unequivocal opposition" to the Biden Administration's proposal to expand Title IX's protections to gender identity and sexual orientation.

Other church splits in the past

Baptists, Mennonites, Presbyterians and other protestant denominations have faced schisms in churches over the last two decades over their stances on LGBTQ+ issues.

"In recent years, same-sex marriage has been a contentious subject within many religious groups in the U.S.," reads a 2012 report from the Pew Research Center.

The Southern Baptist Convention split from the College Park Baptist Church in Greensboro, North Carolina, and Amazing Grace Community Church in Franklinville, New Jersey, over the churches' stances on sexuality in September 2022.

The Lancaster Mennonite Conference, a group of more than 170 churches primarily in Pennsylvania, left the Mennonite Church USA denomination amid differing views on homosexuality in 2018.

A Covenant Order of Evangelical Presbyterian broke from the Presbyterian Church after it decided to allow gay clergy members in 2012, Forbes reported.

Six hundred congregations from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America split following its 2009 decision to welcome gay pastors in 2009, Forbes reported.

Meanwhile, the Catholic Church is coming together on some issues of sexuality, including gay marriage. In December, Pope Francis declared ordained ministers could give blessings to same-sex couples, for example.

When asked if he was worried about a schism in the United States Catholic Church in 2019, Pope Francis said: "I am not afraid of schisms. I pray they do not happen," according to America Magazine: The Jesuit Review.

Some conservative members of the church have criticized his decisions. Francis DeBernardo, the executive director of a Catholic LGBTQ+ advocacy group called New Ways Ministry, feels differently.

DeBernardo previously said that Pope Francis's "allowance for pastoral ministers to bless same-gender couples implies that the church does indeed recognize that holy love can exist between same-gender couples, and the love of these couples mirrors the love of God."

What about other Christian churches?

There have been other formal divisions over LGBTQ+ issues in the Christian Church among different denominations  including Episcopalians, Lutherans, and Presbyterians  in the last two decades, The Week reported. The splits are largely over disagreements about same-sex marriage and LGBTQ+ clergy.

Christian denominations today are struggling to fully accommodate clergy and congregations with opposing views on same-sex relationships because of cultural shifts supporting differences in sexuality and gender, said Ryan Burge, a political science professor at Eastern Illinois University, a specialist in religious demographics and pastor of an American Baptist church, to the Associated Press.

A lot of denominations are in the position where you have to make a decision  you cant be wishy-washy anymore, Burge said. Thats the tension theyre facing: how to keep older conservatives in the fold while attracting younger people.

Bivins teaches many young students who identify as Baptists or Evangelists at North Carolina State University. From his perspective, realignment into nondenominational churches has "a lot more to do with ideological polarization" than generational differences. (Nondenominational churches are Christian congregations that are "not self-affiliated with a traditional denomination and often separate themselves from the strict doctrine and customs of other Christian fellowships," according to Christianity.com.)

What's next for the Christian Church?

The schism in the United Methodist Church and rhetoric around Christianity during the 2024 election year could influence the future of the church, Bivins said.

But since most people who affiliate with the church have already taken a stance on gay marriage or LGBTQ+ clergy, he doesn't foresee further separations as monumental as the one among Methodists

"I think battle lines are pretty well drawn in most American churches at this point," Bivins said. "I dont think theres going to be any physical antagonism of this nature, but I do think that in really tense election year and years going forward people are going to be involved in conversations about what true religion or what true Christianity is."

FILE - A gay Pride rainbow flag flies with the U.S. flag in front of the Asbury United Methodist Church in Prairie Village, Kan., on Friday, April 19, 2019. As of June 2023, more than 6,000 United Methodist congregations  a fifth of the U.S. total  have now received permission to leave the denomination amid a schism over theology and the role of LGBTQ people in the nation's second-largest Protestant denomination. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel, File) ORG XMIT: NY487

Contributing: Marc Ramirez, Joel Shannon, Eduardo Cuevas, Jeanine Santucci, Liam Adams, The USA TODAY Network; The Associated Press

Contact Kayla Jimenez at kjimenez@usatoday.com. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter, at @kaylajjimenez.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Methodist rift is part of larger Christian split over LGBTQ issues
CNNs Jake Tapper on Thursday challenged Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley over her widely-panned claim to Fox News Brian Kilmeade earlier this week that America is not and has never been a racist country.

During a televised town hall event at New England College in New Hampshire, Tapper reminded Haley that protections for the institution of slavery were written into the U.S. Constitution, the White House was built with slave labor and that Haleys home state of South Carolina seceded from the Union, fought a war to defend the enslavement of Black people.

I understand you dont think America is a racist country now, acknowledged Tapper. But were here at a college. Do you really think, as a historical matter, America has never been a racist country?

Haley replied, It was that men are created equal with unalienable rights, right? That was what we all knew. But what I look at it as is I was a brown girl that grew up in a small, rural town. We had plenty of racism that we had to deal with, but my parents never said we lived in a racist country, and Im so thankful they didnt because for every brown and Black child out there, if you tell them they live or are born in a racist country, youre immediately telling them they dont have a chance.

The former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations said she believed in the importance of telling children that America is not perfect and we have our stains but that our goal should always be to make today better than yesterday..

National self-loathing is killing our country, Haley claimed, later saying she wanted children of color to see her political ascent and say, No, I dont live in a country that was formed on racism. I live in a country where they wanted all people to be equal and to make sure they had life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Tapper followed up, OK, but just to push back a bit, because I was a history major in New Hampshire before saying she was talking about the ideals of America but that the country was still founded institutionally on many racist precepts, including slavery.

Haley argued that the intent of Americas founding was to do the right thing and said she refused to believe that the premise of when they formed our country was based on the fact that it was a racist country to start with.

Related...
A Sudanese Christian 85 miles southeast of Khartoum has succumbed to his injuries after militants from the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) assaulted him, sources said.

Personnel from the RSF, which has been fighting the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) since April 15, severely assaulted Karbino Bla in Wad Medani, capital of Al Jazirah state on Jan. 1, following the militants takeover of the city on Dec. 18. The motives for the assault were unclear.

Bla, a member of the Sudan Presbyterian Evangelical Church (SPEC), died on Jan. 5 as a result of the injuries, area sources said. He is survived by his wife and an infant daughter.

This a great lost to the evangelical church in Medani, a relative said.

Rights organizations and area residents report the RSF has killed civilians, raped women and girls and looted homes and shops since taking control of the state in December.

On Friday (Jan. 12), Muslim extremists from the RSF set a church building on fire in Wad Medani, said area sources, including a SPEC pastor. The blaze destroyed Bibles, hymnbooks, important documents and chairs in the building, he said.

Christians in Sudan fear they are being increasingly targeted, the pastor said.

There are radical Muslims among RSF, the pastor said in an online post. I met some of them in Khartoum and Medani who badly harassed me when they learned that I was a pastor.

In Open Doors 2024 World Watch List of the countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian, Sudan was ranked No. 8, up from No. 10 the previous year, as attacks by non-state actors continued and religious freedom reforms at the national level were not enacted locally.

Sudan had dropped out of the top 10 for the first time in six years when it first ranked No. 13 in the 2021 World Watch List.

Fighting between the RSF and the SAF, which had shared military rule in Sudan following an October 2021 coup, has terrorized civilians in Khartoum and elsewhere, leaving more than 12,000 people dead and displacing an estimated 5.8 million others.

Christian sites have been targeted since the conflict began.

The SAFs Gen. Abdelfattah al-Burhan and his then-vice president, RSF leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, were in power when civilian parties in March agreed on a framework to re-establish a democratic transition in April, but disagreements over military structure torpedoed final approval.

Burhan sought to place the RSF  a paramilitary outfit with roots in the Janjaweed militias that had helped former strongman Omar al-Bashir put down rebels  under the regular armys control within two years, while Dagolo would accept integration within nothing fewer than 10 years. The conflict burst into military fighting on April 15.

Both military leaders have Islamist backgrounds while trying to portray themselves to the international community as pro-democracy advocates of religious freedom.

Following two years of advances in religious freedom in Sudan after the end of the Islamist dictatorship under Bashir in 2019, the specter of state-sponsored persecution returned with the military coup of Oct. 25, 2021.

After Bashir was ousted from 30 years of power in April 2019, the transitional civilian-military government had managed to undo some sharia (Islamic law) provisions. It outlawed the labeling of any religious group infidels and thus effectively rescinded apostasy laws that made leaving Islam punishable by death.

With the Oct. 25, 2021 coup, Christians in Sudan feared the return of the most repressive and harsh aspects of Islamic law. Abdalla Hamdok, who had led a transitional government as prime minister starting in September 2019, was detained under house arrest for nearly a month before he was released and reinstated in a tenuous power-sharing agreement in November 2021.

Hamdock had been faced with rooting out longstanding corruption and an Islamist deep state from Bashirs regime  the same deep state that is suspected of rooting out the transitional government in the Oct. 25, 2021 coup.

The U.S. State Department in 2019 removed Sudan from the list of Countries of Particular Concern (CPC) that engage in or tolerate systematic, ongoing and egregious violations of religious freedom and upgraded it to a watch list. Sudan had previously been designated as a CPC from 1999 to 2018.

In December 2020, the State Department removed Sudan from its Special Watch List.

The Christian population of Sudan is estimated at 2 million, or 4.5 percent of the total population of more than 43 million.

 2023 Morning Star News. Articles/photos may be reprinted with credit to Morning Star News. https://morningstarnews.org. Morning Star News is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation that relies solely on contributions to offer original news reports of persecuted Christians. By providing reliable news on the suffering church, Morning Star News mission is to empower those in the free world to help and to encourage persecuted Christians that they are not forgotten or alone.
Tax card on a monopoly board with summons to pay 65,000 in tax, the average for every worker caught up in HMRCs loan charge scandal

The Post Office Horizon scandal had been rumbling along for years, but reached fever pitch this month after it was turned into a prime time television series.

The ITV drama Mr Bates vs The Post Office brought to life the devastating human consequences of the ordeal and brought it to a crescendo. It has so far led to former chief executive Paula Vennells handing back her CBE and technology firm Fujitsu admitting it should contribute to the compensation bill.

The injustice was there for all to see. Hundreds of postmasters were accused of stealing and even imprisoned thanks to flaws in the Post Offices IT system. Lives were destroyed and the powerful turned a blind eye.

There is another matter that has been causing widespread distress in recent years, but it is unlikely to drum up the same levels of sympathy. This is because the victims are those who have been caught up in tax avoidance.

The controversial Loan Charge legislation has seen around 50,000 people hit with vast tax bills and has so far been linked to at least 10 suicides.

Workers caught up in the scandal were typically self-employed contractors who were paid using tax-free loans from offshore trusts that did not need to be paid back.

Employers, many of whom choose to pay workers in this way, were also not required to pay income tax and National Insurance contributions.

At the very heart of the issue is the question of whether or not it is fair to pursue people for tax they legitimately did not pay at the time, often after trusting the advice and processes of their advisers and employers.

But regardless of the morality of it, the disguised remuneration scheme was  at the time  a legal way of cutting tax bills. The Government decided to move the goalposts and send tax bills dating back as far as 20 years.

The Loan Charge, which was announced in 2016, made the outstanding loans taxable income and repayment deadlines were set.

Collectively, HM Revenue and Customs has demanded 3.2bn is paid  an average of 64,000 for every worker caught up. This is money already spent on homes, mortgages, holidays, living expenses. Money that cannot be readily clawed back.

Telegraph Money has previously reported on how one family believed their grandfather had been driven to suicide after receiving a 50,000 tax bill.

MPs and campaigners are demanding the loan charge pursuit is suspended and a genuine independent review commissioned.

Sammy Wilson MP accused ministers of turning a blind eye to another Horizon scandal - John Robertson/John Robertson

In Parliament on Thursday, Sammy Wilson, a Democratic Unionist Party MP, accused ministers of turning a blind eye to the suffering of tens of thousands of ordinary workers, and said: We are looking at another Horizon scandal.

Liberal Democrat MP Sarah Green said one of her constituents who was involved had had an abortion because she feared she could not afford to have a child.

Previously, HMRC has insisted it takes the wellbeing of all taxpayers very seriously, and encouraged those struggling with their mental health to contact charities such as Samaritans or Mind.

The Loan Charge is so-called non-discriminate legislation that does not take into account how or why someone came to owe tax, and it doesnt consider how such a bill could destroy a life. It also raises eyebrows, given that HMRC has written off billions of pounds lost to outright fraud in the Covid pandemic.

The taxmans Loan Charge campaign fixates on the victims and not the promoters  i.e., the firms that facilitated these arrangements and profited from them. HMRC is hounding ordinary workers as if they are tax-dodging corporations. Of course it has a responsibility to do all it can to collect tax owed to the public purse, but at what cost?

ben.wilkinson@telegraph.co.uk

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.
Former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) on Friday characterized Sen. Tim Scotts (R-S.C.) expected endorsement of former President Trump as concerning.

The former co-chair of No Labels, a nonprofit group attempting to build support for a third-party ticket, said Scotts decision is not a huge surprise and that Trump, in his eyes, is still the weakest nominee Republicans could choose for 2024.

Its certainly not good news. It doesnt come as a huge surprise. Its concerning, Hogan said Friday in an interview with contributor Kevin Cirilli of The Hills Daily Debrief.

Everybody seems to be getting in line, hes pretty good at cajoling and threatening and hes got a lot of power to exercise, he continued, adding I just dont believe that Trump should be anywhere near the White House.

Hogan, who has been an outspoken critic of the former president, reiterated his vow to not support either Trump or President Biden in November.

The former governor threw his support behind former U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley ahead of the Iowa caucuses. Trump ended up winning the Hawkeye State by over 30 points, with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis edging Haley out for second place.

2024 Election Coverage

On Friday, Hogan echoed his belief that Haley is the partys best chance to overtake the former president.

I think Nikki Haley is the only one with any shot to stop Donald Trump. I think hes our weakest possible nominee, Hogan argued. The past three elections weve done nothing but lose. We lost the White House, the Senate, the governors races and state legislative bodies.

I think weve got to move forward rather than continuing to look backward, he added.

Scott, who ended his own presidential bid in November, will join Trump at a campaign stop in Concord, N.H., Friday evening. He is expected to endorse the former president at the rally, just days before the New Hampshire primary.

While Trump maintains the lead in the Granite State, Haley is gaining on the former president. She is only trailing Trump by 10.6 percent, according to the polling average from The Hill/Decision Desk HQ.

Both candidates were vying for the senators endorsement  as Scott was appointed to his Senate position by Haley in 2012, while she was still governor of South Carolina.

Hogan, who has mulled his own run for president, stepped down from No Labels in December. The third-party group hopes to offer a unity bipartisan ticket consisted of two moderate candidates.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) still sees a crack in the door for a potential presidential run in 2024, but cautions that he has no interest in being a spoiler.

In an interview with Kevin Cirilli of The Hills Daily Debrief, the former No Labels co-chair said he is not ruling out the possibility of running for president, but that the decision is too early to make.

I guess youd say theres a crack in the door, Hogan told Cirilli Friday. Its not something Im seeking. I really have no interest whatsoever in running a suicide mission or in being a spoiler or you know, electing Donald Trump or Joe Biden. I didnt completely slam the door to it.

As people across the country have encouraged Hogan to consider it, he said, its too early. I think theyre going to make that decision in a month or two when you get closer to Super Tuesday. He said he wanted to wait until after the primary, and after South Carolina, to see what happens.

Hogan stepped down as No Labels co-chair of in December and endorsed GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley just one day ahead of the Iowa Caucuses, where she placed third behind former President Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, respectively.

This is not the first time Logan dropped hints about a potential presidential run. His PAC, An America United, released an ad in November criticizing both major parties, on foreign policy.

Our allies question whether they should still trust us, and our enemies question whether they should still fear us, Hogan lamented at one point during the advertisement.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
(Bloomberg) -- A Hong Kong financial services company aims to start an exchange-traded fund investing directly in Bitcoin this quarter as the city pushes ahead with efforts to develop a digital-asset hub.

Most Read from Bloomberg

Venture Smart Financial Holdings Ltd. said it plans to lodge an application with the Securities and Futures Commission to start the ETF. The regulator last month issued guidelines for spot crypto fund approvals for the first time.

Its a market that has huge potential, said Brian Chan, group head of investment and product at the company, also known as VSFG. Our goal is $500 million in assets under management by the end of this year.

Spot crypto ETFs are in the spotlight after a slew of much-hyped Bitcoin funds went live in the US, including from issuers such as BlackRock Inc. and Fidelity Investments. The largest digital asset more than doubled last year in anticipation of the US products but has slipped about 10% since the vehicles began trading on Jan. 11, as traders asses how much cash they attract.

Hong Kong allows futures-based crypto ETFs and three have listed so far: CSOP Bitcoin Futures, CSOP Ether Futures and Samsung Bitcoin Futures. They have relatively modest combined assets of about $50 million.

Samsung Asset Management said it wouldnt eliminate the possibility of exploring to launch a spot ETF. CSOP Asset Management didnt respond to a request for comment.

The SFC said it didnt have any comment beyond the guidelines it published in December. If the history of traditional ETFs is any guide, the approval process for such products can take weeks to months.

VSFG offers traditional and digital wealth management services and is among Hong Kongs first SFC-approved virtual asset managers, according to its website.

Aegis Custody, a digital-asset custodian, is in talks with four asset managers about listing spot crypto products in Hong Kong, the companys Chief Executive Officer Serra Wei said. The citys regulatory requirements are likely to lead issuers to charge higher fees compared with the low management levies at many of the new US spot Bitcoin ETFs, Wei said.

Hong Kongs Framework

Hong Kong rolled out a dedicated virtual-asset regulatory framework in June, part of an effort to restore its luster as a cutting-edge financial center. The rules seek to woo companies but also focus on investor protection. Retail investors can trade major tokens like Bitcoin and Ether on licensed exchanges.

While Hong Kong offers a local market and a conduit to Chinese wealth, it remains unclear just how much crypto activity the city can really support.

CSOP Asset Management could lead the race in the Asia Pacific for spot digital-asset ETFs, said Bloomberg Intelligence ETF analyst Rebecca Sin. She pointed out CSOP products account for the bulk of the funds under management in the current futures-based digital-asset ETFs in Hong Kong.

The start of the US funds has ruffled some Asian jurisdictions, particularly South Korea, which remains well-known for periodic virtual-asset manias. South Koreas presidential office asked the nations financial regulator to refrain from taking a specific stance on spot Bitcoin ETFs, amid confusion over whether brokers would break local laws if they allow investors to trade the products.

--With assistance from John Cheng, Kiuyan Wong and Shinhye Kang.

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2024 Bloomberg L.P.
Chinese vice premier meets former U.S. treasury secretary

Xinhua) 09:46, January 19, 2024

Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, meets with former U.S. Secretary of Treasury Timothy Geithner, now chairman of Warburg Pincus, in Beijing, capital of China, Jan. 18, 2024. (Xinhua/Zhang Ling)

BEIJING, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng met with former U.S. Secretary of Treasury Timothy Geithner, now chairman of Warburg Pincus, on Thursday in Beijing.

The two sides exchanged views on China-U.S. relations, China's economy, capital markets, and other topics.

He, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, said that China's economy had maintained a good recovery momentum, with solid progress in high-quality development and bright prospects.

China will continue to open up to the outside world at a high level, improve the business environment that is market-oriented, law-based, and internationalized, and welcome Warburg Pincus to participate in China's capital market construction and share development opportunities, He said.

Noting that Warburg Pincus has been in China for 30 years and is the earliest global asset management and investment company in China, Geithner said Warburg Pincus will continue to cultivate the Chinese market deeply.

(Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Liang Jun)
The new Zambian film, Can You See Us released for international distribution by Netflix in August 2023, shines light on the prejudice faced by individuals with albinism in Africa through the journey of a boy named Joseph. The film is inspired by Zambian musician John Chiti who was born with this rare disability which affects pigmentation in hair, skin and eyes and can cause vision problems. Johns early life mirrors the struggles of the main character in the film, Joseph.



Viewers experience the main characters painful life of daily discrimination from his peers and even his own family. At birth, Joseph is labelled a mwambi or a demon, a title that exposes public perceptions. After returning home from the hospital Josephs father, with help from his side of the family, throw Joseph and his mother out of their home. His father then divorces his mother.



The movie also showcases the importance of acceptance and love. Josephs mother and stepfather form his main support system until their tragic death in a car accident. Sarah, Josephs aunt, helps shield him as much as she can from external realities. One character, Daniel, a skilled guitarist, goes beyond acceptance to mentorship. Daniel contributes greatly to Josephs musical journey and his success in a musical career.



In 2017, the UN reported that over a 10-year period more than 600 attacks on children and adults with albinism were reported in 28 countries. According to the report, these attacks include the hacking of body parts whether the victims are alive or dead. Between 2014 and 2023, more than 170 albinos have been killed or attacked in Malawi alone.



Body parts of people with albinism are believed to have powers, to make wealth, to cure diseases, said Chiti. And because of that, many people with albinism are hunted and killed. Its a crime, its murder, its assault. According to a VOA report, the motivation for most perpetrators is the relatively high market price that ranges from $2,000 for a limb to $75,000 for a full set of body parts.



The UN theme for the International Awareness Day for people living with Albinism in 2023 was Inclusion is Strength which highlights that there is an element of non-inclusion and prejudice still prevalent in some African countries.



Ikponwosa Ero, an expert on the enjoyment of human rights by persons with albinism says there have been great strides at local and policy-making levels in Africa. In her foreword in a publication in 2021, she states that in 2019, the AU Executive Council adopted the Regional Action Plan on Albinism as a continent-wide policy, making the first regional mechanism to address eliminating discrimination and violence against persons with albinism.



Chiti is an advocate to ratify the African Disability Protocol which aims to create a framework to create disability laws in African nations. These laws would benefit people with all types of disabilities.
According to the campaign of Republican presidential frontrunner Donald J. Trump, the former commander-in-chief has divine providence.

And on June 14, 1946, God looked down on his planned paradise and said, I need a caretaker. So God gave us Trump, the narrator of a Trump campaign video proclaimed. God said, I need somebody willing to get up before dawn, fix this country, work all day, fight the Marxists, eat supper, then go to the Oval Office and stay past midnight. So God made Trump.

This is the latest twist in the nine-year Trump saga. If it has a familiar ring to it, this video was based on the late broadcaster Paul Harvey, who gave a 1978 Future Farmers of America convention speech titled So God Made a Farmer.

In the American experience, those of presidential timber have cited what former vice president Mike Pence called servant leadership. From Lincoln to Eisenhower, presidents have long suggested they have sought guidance from God. Trumps campaign is suggesting divine intervention on his own behalf.

At the Iowa Republican Caucuses, Trump won with 51%, propelled by evangelical support. In a Des Moines Register Iowa Poll released last Saturday night, Trump drew support from 51% of evangelical Christians in Iowa, far ahead of DeSantis 22%. In 2016, Trump picked up just 22% of this group on the way to a second-place finish behind Texas Sen. Ted Cruz.

It prompted me to spend a morning researching other American presidential candidates who claimed messianic providence. There are plenty of non-politicians who have claimed such, but not many politicians. In 2022, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis campaign for reelection released an ad touting how God picked a fighter to become Floridas governor.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump points to the crowd, accompanied by his son, Eric, at a caucus night party in Des Moines, Iowa, Monday, Jan. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) ORG XMIT: PNA310

While there have probably been obscure presidential candidates who have claimed divine providence, as far as mainstream political figures, the Trump is chosen video is a historic anomaly. I could find only one example where a president believed he ended up at the White House due to an act of God, that coming in 1888 when Indianas Benjamin Harrison upset President Grover Cleveland.

President Harrison in his March 4, 1889 inaugural address he called upon God to bestow on him wisdom, strength, and fidelity.

The oath taken in the presence of the people becomes a mutual covenant, President Harrison said. Entering thus solemnly into covenant with each other, we may reverently invoke and confidently expect the favor and help of Almighty God.

Harrison then brought up the Constitution. The duty to obey and to execute embraces the Constitution in its entirety and the whole code of laws enacted under it, Harrison said. The evil example of permitting individuals, corporations, or communities to nullify the laws because they cross some selfish or local interest or prejudices is full of danger, not only to the nation at large, but much more to those who use this pernicious expedient to escape their just obligations or to obtain an unjust advantage over others.

President Abraham Lincoln, who lived in Southern Indiana for two decades as a boy and young man, grappled with the vast implications of the Civil War and came to theological conclusions. In September 1862 before the Union army won the Battle of Antietam that would pave the way for his Emancipation Proclamation, Lincoln committed his thoughts about God on a small piece of paper that his secretary John Hay from Salem, Ind., found after his assassination. In 1872, Hay titled them as Meditation on the Divine Will.

The will of God prevails, Lincoln wrote. In great contests, each party claims to act in accordance with the will of God. Both may be, and one must be wrong. God cannot be for and against the same thing at the same time.

When the burials began after the Battle of Gettysburg in 1863, recovery teams found both Union and Confederate soldiers with personal Bibles on their bodies. There were more Bibles than bullets on these battlefield corpses.

Lincoln began to search for signs of Gods will on the question of emancipation. Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles recorded Lincolns startling announcement after the Antietam victory: God had decided this question in favor of the slaves. He was satisfied that it was right, was confirmed and strengthened this action by the vow and the results.

In Ronald C. White Jr.s book Lincolns Greatest Speech (about his 1865 second inaugural address delivered 41 days before his assassination), Lincolns words were understood as his last will and testament to America. The religious cast of the Second Inaugural gave it a power and authority that were singular. These words were carved into Indiana limestone of the north interior wall of the Lincoln Memorial.

White adds, Lincoln is present to us in his own agonizing struggle for justice and reconciliation. He encourages us to ask difficult questions as we accept responsibility for defining America in our time.

Lincoln wrote for all time, White explains. As the war drew to a close, Lincoln offered his sermon as the prism through which he himself strained to see the light of God. The spirit of Lincolns words inspires awe. His words prove lasting because he embodied what he spoke. He acted throughout his presidency with malice toward none; with charity toward all.

Brian Howey is senior writer and columnist for Howey Politics Indiana/State Affairs. Find Howey on Facebook and X @hwypol.

This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Howey: Considering the concept of 'presidents and providence'
Mr Yousaf is one of the Commissioners for the Safeguarding of the Regalia, who are charged with ensuring the stones security - RUSSELL CHEYNE/PA

Humza Yousaf should ensure the SNP hands back a missing fragment of the Stone of Scone given to Alex Salmond more than 15 years ago, the chairman of the artefacts new home has said.

Lord Kinnoull said the piece was the property of the Crown and should be displayed alongside the rest of the stone at the new 26.5 million Perth Museum, which opens this spring.

He told The Telegraph that the First Minister has a personal responsibility to ensure the fragments return as Mr Yousaf is one of the Commissioners for the Safeguarding of the Regalia, who are charged with ensuring the stones security.

It emerged nearly a fortnight ago that the fragment had turned up in a cupboard in the SNPs headquarters but he said he was not aware of the party contacting the museum, despite calls for them to do so.

The crossbench peers intervention piles pressure on the Nationalists to hand over the fragment as he chairs Culture Perth and Kinross, the charitable trust that oversees the new museum.

Although the SNP has confirmed it has a small stone chip in storage that is claimed to come from the Stone of Scone, the party has refused to say whether it intends to return the piece.

Mr Salmond told the Telegraph he did not have the fragment and could not recall what had happened to it - ROBERT PERRY/PA

Scottish cabinet papers from 2008, published earlier this month, disclosed that Mr Salmond was given the fragment by Prof Sir Neil MacCormick, whose father helped finance the stones theft from Westminster Abbey in 1950.

Also known as the Stone of Destiny, the kings and queens of Scotland were traditionally crowned on it.

It was temporarily moved from Edinburgh Castle to Westminster Abbey last May for the coronation of King Charles III.

Mr Salmond told the Telegraph he did not have the fragment and could not recall what had happened to it. He thought it had been put in a Scottish Government Aladdins Cave cupboard for gifts.

But the former First Minister later said he had handed over the fragment to the SNP for safe keeping and it had since turned up in SNP HQ. The party confirmed this.

Lord Kinnoull said: It would seem to me that the fragment belongs to the Crown. When the bits were chipped off, they continued to belong to the Crown as well.

I cannot quite see how anyone else can claim to own these things unless the Crown has abandoned them, which would seem unlikely.

The peer, who is the 16th Earl of Kinnoull, added: The SNP has not been in touch with the Perth Museum since disclosing the fragment was in a cupboard at the partys headquarters. I feel strongly that it makes sense for the whole of the stone to be in one place.

He noted that, as Mr Yousaf is one of the Commissioners for the Regalia of Scotland it would seem under the Royal Warrant he and the other Commissioners would have a duty to look into this.

Lord Kinnoull feels 'strongly that it makes sense for the whole of the stone to be in one place' - ROGER HARRIS PHOTOGRAPHY

Lord Kinnoull said the Perth Museum had the highest level of security, before concluding: I have no knowledge of the security arrangements the fragment currently enjoys in its cupboard but the Commissioners take security rightly very seriously, and good security is expensive.

For centuries, the 150kg stone was kept at the now ruined Scone Abbey near Perth where it was used as the seat for the inauguration of Scotlands ancient kings.

In 1296, the English King Edward I seized it as spoils in the Wars of Independence and incorporated it into the Coronation Chair in Westminster Abbey. It has been used in the coronation ceremonies for every British monarch since.

The stone made headlines on Christmas Day 1950, when four Scottish nationalist students removed it from the abbey, breaking it in two in the process.

They were bankrolled and advised by John MacCormick, who helped found the SNP and was rector of Glasgow University at the time. He reportedly gave the students 50 to help them and signed a note testifying to the stones authenticity.

After being stuck back together, it was found three months later at the high altar of Arbroath Abbey.

Lord Forsyth of Drumlean arranged the return of the stone to Scotland in 1996 when he was Scottish Secretary and it was put on display at Edinburgh Castle.

It is scheduled to return to Perthshire for the first time in more than 700 years this spring, when it will be moved to the new museum, which has been funded by the UK Government and the local council.

The SNP was approached for comment.

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.
Kenneth French, seen in an undated photo, was killed in 2019.

With jurors deadlocked, a judge declared a mistrial Thursday in the trial of a former Los Angeles Police Department officer charged with manslaughter for the fatal shooting of a man in a Riverside County Costco in 2019.

Salvador Alejandro Sanchez, 33, of Corona was charged with two counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm, in addition to the count of manslaughter. His trial started at the Larson Justice Center in Indio in December, and jury deliberations were called off on Dec. 29 due to an undisclosed scheduling issue.

The jury resumed deliberations Thursday morning, but sent the judge a note in the afternoon saying it was unable to reach a unanimous verdict. Jurors had already told the judge back in December that they were having trouble reaching a verdict on the manslaughter charge.

The prosecutor, Deputy Attorney General Mike Murphy, said he needed to speak with his office before saying whether he planned to seek to take Sanchez to trial again.

Im disappointed in the resolution, or the lack of resolution, Murphy said.

Sanchez declined to comment. Michael Schwartz, his attorney, said he hopes prosecutors don't pursue a second trial.

"We'll find out what the attorney general wants to do," Schwartz said outside the courthouse. "Hopefully he won't waste any more taxpayer money on a case that should be put to rest, a case where all parties can realize it was a tragedy, but it wasn't a crime and everybody can move on."

Sanchez fatally shot Kenneth French, 32, at Costco in Corona on June 14, 2019, after the two had a brief confrontation. While what triggered the confrontation is unclear, neither legal team disputes that French struck Sanchez in a food sample line. Within seconds, Sanchez, who was holding his infant child, pulled a firearm from his waistband and shot French four times and each of his parents once.

Russell and Paola French survived after substantial medical treatment and testified that they attempted to push their son away and tell Sanchez he was suffering from mental health issues.

Schwartz told the jury his client believed he had been shot when he was struck from behind. He had not been shot and was the only one armed at the time.

"While holding his son in his arms, in parental bliss, feeding him, he was brutally and inexplicably attacked from behind, Schwartz said. He acted to defend himself and his son."

Former Los Angeles Police Department officer Salvador Sanchez during his trial in Indio on Dec. 6.

Sanchez was off duty at the time of the shooting, but was later fired by the LAPD.

The prosecutor, Murphy, argued to the jury through the trial that Sanchez's decision to open fire in a crowded store was both reckless and illegal.

"Without hesitation and without a warning, the defendant aimed his gun at the French family and pulled the trigger 10 times," Murphy said.

The California Office of the Attorney General announced it would prosecute the case after the Riverside County District Attorney's Office declined to.

The French family filed a civil suit against the city of Los Angeles, its police department and Sanchez at the end of 2019, alleging civil rights violations. A jury ruled in their favor, awarding the family $17 million in damages.

Christopher Damien covers public safety and the criminal justice system. He can be reached at christopher.damien@desertsun.com or follow him at @chris_a_damien.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Hung jury in trial of ex-LAPD officer who killed man in Costco
For weeks now, Hunter Biden has been sparring with House Oversight Committee Republicans over their demands that he give closed-door testimony in response to a congressional subpoena. Biden has insisted on answering questions in a public setting, instead, which would prevent the GOP from cherry-picking and warping his testimony in their favor.

Committee Chairman James Comer threatened to hold Hunter Biden in contempt of Congress, and on Thursday the presidents son finally agreed to sit for a closed-door deposition, with a public hearing to come at a later date. He still has reason to be worried about Comer misrepresenting what he tells the committee in private, however, as one of Hunter Bidens associates is now accusing the committee of releasing cherrypicked, out of context, and totally misleading descriptions of his own testimony.

Attorneys for Kevin Morris, an American businessman and close confidant of Hunter Biden, sent Comer a letter accusing him of misrepresenting Morris testimony. According to a copy of the letter obtained by Rolling Stone, attorney Bryan M. Sullivan had previously sought a commitment from Oversight Republicans that Morris would not be subjected to the practice of Republicans in making partial leaks of witness statements rather than releasing the actual [deposition] transcript so the public would know the truth and not your often inaccurate spin and misstatements.

Comer did not comply, according to Sullivan. Not two hours after we left Mr. Morris transcribed interview, you issued a press statement with cherrypicked, out of context and totally misleading descriptions of what Mr. Morris said, he added, demanding that Republicans release the full transcript of the testimony to correct the record.

In the letter, Sullivan detailed several examples in which he alleges Comer misrepresented Morris testimony. In one instance, Sullivan takes issue the committees characterization of loans provided by Morris to Biden as an effort to insulate thenpresidential candidate Joe Biden from political liability.

Sullivan responds that Morris testified that he never thought about President Bidens campaign [and] that he was only focused on helping his client Mr. Hunter Biden.

Throughout the committees press release on Morris testimony, the words loan and loans are placed in quotation marks. Sullivan writes that this was done by Republicans to give the

impression that Mr. Morris loans to Mr. Hunter Biden were somehow not real, adding that Morris repeatedly testified he actually loaned the money to Mr. Hunter Biden, that these loans were reviewed by lawyers for each of them, that they have proper loan terms such as interest and a term, and that he expected Mr. Hunter Biden to repay these loans.

Republicans also claimed in their statements that Morris financial support of Hunter Biden granted him access to the Biden White House and [that he] has spoken to President Biden. The letter counters that such characterization misconstrues what Morris told the committee, which was that he only engaged in very casual small-talk with President Biden, and had only visited the White House a handful of times for large, public events.

Earlier this month, Hunter Biden pleaded not guilty to federal tax evasion charges brought against him in California. For years now, Republicans have been attempting  unsuccessfully  to find evidence linking Hunter Bidens alleged misconduct to their accusations of political corruption against President Joe Biden.

In December, the GOP announced their plans to move forward with an impeachment inquiry against President Biden, even as members of the party publicly admitted that there was no concrete evidence suggesting the president had engaged in any high crimes and misdemeanors. Comer has been repeatedly criticized for the way he has attempted to create an impression that their fishing expedition against the Bidens is producing tangible results, and Sullivan did not mince words in the conclusion of his letter.

Now, other potential witnesses should be on notice that a statement from you or your staff that you will treat a witness fairly means you will do what you want, which is what you have done repeatedly, and is the farthest thing from fair as you can get, Sullivan wrote.

More from Rolling Stone

Best of Rolling Stone
Africa has emerged as the key battleground for terrorism, with a major increase in the number of active groups operating on the continent, said U.N. Assistant Secretary-General Khaled Khiari. His remarks came during the U.N.s third high-level conference of heads of counterterrorism agencies in June 2023.

Experts at the event spotlighted Africa as the epicentre of Islamist terrorism noting that terror groups  including Al-Qaida, ISIS and their affiliates  continue to grow in size and threat. They also reported that over half the victims of global terrorist acts in 2023 were in sub-Saharan Africa, especially in West Africa and the Sahel region. The 2022 Global Terrorism Index lists five African countries among their top 10 countries impacted by terrorism.

Rev. Dr. James Movel Wuye is a Christian leader in this region taking action to thwart terrorism. He serves as the vice president of the Assemblies of God, Northern Nigeria, where he oversees churches in seven states in what he describes as a difficult terrain because of frequent and devastating interfaith conflicts.

Wuye also serves as a co-director, with Imam Muhammad Ashafa, of the Interfaith Mediation Centre of the Muslim-Christian Dialogue in Kaduna, Nigeria. Between 2011 and 2023, nearly 7,000 people in Kaduna died in attacks by the terrorist group Boko Haram.

I believe very strongly that where religious leaders can walk together, they can drastically reduce violent extremism where possible, said Wuye. And if they are supported, they can do quite a lot to ensure they disarm one another by expressing genuine love for one another.

Whenever he goes for an interfaith engagement, Wuye likes to open up to the church the possibilities of engaging with the mandate of Christ as ambassadors of peace. His anchor scripture is drawn from Hebrews 12:14-15, which he said is hinged on the condition that if you dont practice peace or you dont live in peace with all men and holiness, you will not see the Lord.

Wuye dreams of a continent of trained religious mediators, and trained psychosocial and trauma healing religious leaders. He wants to see these leaders counselling within the church walls, and counselling both Christians and non-Christians wherever they are found.

So I believe dealing with violent extremism is  showing them practical Christianity, by ensuring that you show love and disarm them through love, he explained. The new love is inching towards a passive enemy, with an open hand and heart, with the love of Christ.

He strongly believes that Christians in Africa today must exhibit a righteousness that is better than the Pharisees. Reaching out to people who have been programmed to hate Christs love disarms them from their hate.

Wuye and Ashafa are featured in the documentary film, The Imam and the Pastor: From the Vegence to Forgiveness. In the film, Wuye points out practical interfaith interventions in Nigeria that led to peace-building and averted genocide between 2004 and 2005 in locations in the Plateau State, North Central Nigeria. Wuye believes the practical solutions featured in the film are transferable to any context.

The interfaith religious council that Wuye co-leads with Ashafa was formed in 2016 in Abuja, Nigeria. Church and Islamic groups came together at that time to talk about how faith groups could assist the African Union to help intervene during or before inter-religious conflicts escalate into violence. Where they escalate into violence, the platform was to avail the African Union of a team of experts to intervene in conflict situations within the African continent.

Working with the African Union has given Wuye unique opportunities to serve the Church and contribute to peacebuilding in Africa. Most of the church membership do not have the capacity, especially the clergy,  but they have the willingness because its a mandate for Christians to be at peace with everyone. So we have that opportunity to train more religious clergy and clerics to handle both intra and inter-religious crises, thereby dealing with issues of violent extremism.

The Association of Evangelicals in Africa (AEA) and its partners invited heads of evangelical churches, mission agencies resource persons from Africa, and other members of the global evangelical community to a series of meetings in 2022 and 2023 aimed at assessing the impact of religious extremism on the Church and missions. The meetings also sought to forge a united Christian response from various regional blocks in the continent.The prevailing concern in all of the meetings was the rise of extremist violence in Africa that has led to thousands of deaths and millions displaced.

In one such conference, a communique issued on 24 November 2022 by Nigerian Christian leaders, ahead of the countrys polls last year, read, we call on all evangelicals in Nigeria to pray for the safety and protection of all Nigerians, especially during the ongoing electoral process; to pray for peace among all religious communities; and to pray for those in leadership to be agents of peace and stability in the country.

Leaders representing the Central African Region, which includes several nations in the Sahel, similarly presented their concerns to the public in a joint statement published on 7 October 2022, noting that, after deep introspection, they believe, human rights and the rule of law are merely regarded as a concept and not reality by their respective governments and security agencies in the region. They further observed that the Church in Central Africa has not always been united in countering threats of persecution, yet it continues to be publicly humiliated, marginalized and defiled as a result of religious extremism  with reports of killings, rape, abductions and socio-economic exclusion on the rise.

In September 2023, the AEA issued a statement calling for peace, negotiation and respect for human lives in the Sahel countries of Africa. The political crises in our continent have in many respects further contributed to our underdevelopment. The people of Africa have one hope, and that is for an Africa that is freed from inequalities, injustices, corruption, ethnic hegemonies and divisions, as well as divide and rule tendencies common in our motherland. We pray and appeal for an Africa where guns are silent, where conflicts are solved through dialogue, where fellow Africans act as each others brothers keepers and where African natural resources are harnessed and used for the good and prosperity of her citizens.
House Oversight Committee meets to vote on whether to hold Hunter Biden in contempt of Congress on Capitol Hill in Washington

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A friend of U.S. President Joe Biden's son Hunter Biden on Friday accused House of Representatives Republicans of presenting a "cherry-picked, out-of-context and totally misleading" account of his testimony to their impeachment probe.

The friend, attorney Kevin Morris, testified in a closed-door deposition on Thursday about money he had loaned Hunter Biden, 53, to repay his taxes and art he had bought from him.

House Republicans allege that the president and his family improperly profited from policy decisions President Biden participated in as vice president in 2009-17. The White House and Hunter Biden deny wrongdoing.

After the closed-door interview, the House Oversight Committee said Morris had provided "loans" to Biden of at least $5 million that do not need to be repaid until after the 2024 election, and could be forgiven, and has since then gotten access to the White House and to Biden.

Morris' attorney said in a letter sent to the panel that the loans were real, reviewed by lawyers, with proper loan terms such as interest and a term, and he expected the money to be repaid.

Morris has only had cursory communication with Biden and has visited the White House a few times, including on a tour given by Hunter Biden and attending Hunter Biden's daughter's wedding, according to the letter.

"These are just a few of the misleading statements you decided to cherrypick and send out to the public," Morris' lawyer wrote. "I demand you now release the entire transcript of Mr. Morris' interview."

The House Oversight Committee said it would release a transcript of the interview soon, but that it did not have it from the court reporter yet.

"The transcript will affirm Chairman Comer's readout of the interview with Kevin Morris," the committee said.

The younger Biden is due to testify behind closed doors to the committee on Feb. 28.

Hunter Biden had rebuffed House Republicans' subpoena, saying he would only testify publicly and was concerned Republicans would mischaracterize his statements.

After House Republicans moved to hold him in contempt of Congress, he said he would testify if issued a new subpoena.

Hunter Biden is also facing legal challenges. Prosecutors have accused him in two separate cases of failing to pay $1.4 million in taxes between 2016 and 2019 and of lying about his illegal drug use when buying a firearm. He has pleaded not guilty in both cases.

(Reporting by Makini Brice; Editing by Scott Malone and Jonathan Oatis)
TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA)  The estranged husband of the mom who was found dead in a storage unit in Winter Springs could face the death penalty after being formally charged with first-degree murder, court records show.

On Wednesday, the State of Florida sent a notice of intent to seek the death penalty for Cory Hill based on his felony charges.

Missing Florida mom found dead inside storage unit, deputies say

Court records show Hill was indicted for the unlawful murder of Shakeira Rucker on Nov. 12, 2023. He was also indicted with attempted first-degree murder with a firearm, and three counts of attempted second-degree murder with a firearm, among other charges.

Her children will never be able to see her again. Its hard, its hard, Ruckers sister said.

Shakeira Rucker (Orange County Sheriffs Office)

On Nov. 18, Ruckers body was discovered at a Self Storage in Apopka after someone reported a smell coming from the unit. The mother of four was reported missing by her family just six days prior after leaving town with Hill. He was located and arrested on a charge of attempted second-degree murder.

According to NBC affiliate WESH, Hill was already a convicted killer from a case in the 90s.

Hills next hearing is scheduled for Jan. 25.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFLA.
The Costco Wholesale club store Daytona, Florida nears completion on Tuesday, Jan. 16. The Issaquah, Washington-based membership warehouse club chain is testing scanners at select locations to prevent non-members from using membership cards that do not belong to them.

Costco is testing a new way to keep non-members out of their stores.

A photo posted on Reddit from Jan. 7 shows a Costco greeter scanning a customer's card in a warehouse in Issaquah, Washington, about 17 miles east of Seattle.

Costco confirmed to USA TODAY on Tuesday that several locations "are scanning Costco membership cards at the entrance," calling it an effort to improve member experience.

"This test is to match members to their cards at the door prior to shopping for an improved member experience," Costco said in a statement to USA Today.

Before now, Costco members have only had to flash their membership card at store entrances. The card and a customer's ID are then scanned at both regular and self-checkout. Adding ID checks at the store entrances will eliminate the need for them to be provided at checkout, CNN reported.

"It speeds up the process at entry and speeds up the process at the checkout," Costco chief finance officer Richard Galanti told CNN. "Thats what we believe and were going to pilot it."

Costco is the latest company to crack down on membership sharing with both Disney+ and Netflix limiting password-sharing.

Memberships key to Costco business model

The crackdown is a measure to protect a cornerstone revenue stream for Costco.

Costco generated $4.6 billion in membership fees from nearly 128 million members, according to the company's 2023 Annual Report.

The figure represented and 8% increase over 2022 and the company reported a 90% renewal rate.

Costco memberships cost $60 for Gold Star and Business members and $120 for executive members.

The company reported net sales of $237.7 billion in 2023.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Costco testing scanners to keep out non-members
One after another, friends and family of Milo Warnock stepped to the front of the packed conference room at the Hyatt Place hotel in Meridian on Saturday, Jan. 13, and tried to explain what kind of person Milo was.

Ive never been able to explain my brother to anyone, said Hallie Johnson, Milos sister. So much about him and his life is simply inexplicable, and Im grateful to be in a room of people where no explanation is necessary.

By all accounts, Milo was a hard worker, curious, kind-hearted, funny, intelligent and intellectual, someone who reveled in deep thoughts and deep discussion about deep ideas.

I know Milo wasnt perfect, but I also know he was remorseful, cheerful, kind and thoughtful and wanted the best for his family and others, said Aaron Bowers, who worked with Milo at YMC Inc. in Meridian, where Milo was a sheet metal worker and press brake operator. Milo inspired me with all he was able to overcome. I had hoped hed be able to reenter society and live the life he wanted to live with the past behind him.

That was not to be, though.

Milo Warnock, 45, was beaten to death by a fellow prisoner Dec. 10 in the Idaho State Correctional Center, according to the Idaho Department of Correction.

The Idaho State Police, which is investigating, has not released any information or the name of the suspect. ISP spokesperson Aaron Snell declined to provide a timeline for the investigation.

The suspect was moved into administrative segregation, or solitary confinement, immediately after the attack, and hes now at the Idaho Maximum Security Institution, according to IDOC spokesperson Jeff Ray.

But no one has officially released the suspects name or announced charges.

Meanwhile, Milos family waits for answers.

I just dont understand why thats taking so long, Milos dad, Mike Warnock, told me in an interview.

A photograph of Milo Warnock is displayed at a memorial held for him Jan. 13 in Meridian. Warnock was killed by a fellow prisoner in the Idaho State Correctional Center in December, according to the Idaho Department of Correction

Hard-luck Milo

The circumstances leading to Milos incarceration and eventual death are part of a series of struggles that Milo experienced throughout his life, some of his own making and some as a result of what Mike Warnock referred to as being hard-luck Milo.

Milo was the most hapless person I know, Milos mother, Kathy Warnock, told me in an interview. He had no luck.

Milo had previous charges of domestic violence and driving under the influence.

Milo was arrested in August 2021 for driving under the influence, with a blood alcohol content of 0.11, according to the police report. Milo had four previous DUIs, the most recent a felony conviction in 2013. Since it was Milos second DUI within 15 years, it was considered a felony under Idaho law.

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Milos court proceedings were delayed until 2023.

During that time, Milo converted an old bicycle into an e-bike, which he used to get around. He showed up for work every day and showed up for urinalysis. His employer, YMC, an HVAC contractor in Meridian, vouched for Milo during his case.

Milo was just a good-hearted, he was a kind person with some mental issues, Kathy said.

Milo had depression and was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, according to his parents. He was referred to mental health court.

Milo missed his first mental health court appointment because of a flat tire on his bike, his sole form of transportation, according to his parents. He tried to get a cab and still wasnt able to make it in time. On the rescheduling of his appointment, he misunderstood when he was scheduled and arrived 22 minutes late.

That was just hard-luck Milo, Mike Warnock said.

But Milo took responsibility.

It is entirely my fault that I am here, he wrote to his family from prison in October. They were going to give me mental health court. All I had to do was show up on time, and I blew it.

Still, Milo wrote to the court, trying to plead his case.

I dont want to sound pathetic, but please allow me to continue taking care of my loved ones, he wrote.

He had two sons from his first marriage, which ended in divorce in 2011.

I dont care about myself, he wrote. I can be on probation forever and I can live the rest of my life without a drivers license. Take everything from me, but my ability to keep meeting these obligations, and I will be happy and indeed profoundly grateful. I know that they would be grateful, too.

Despite those pleas, on July 26, 2023, 4th District Judge Peter Barton sentenced Milo to 10 years in prison, with two years fixed.

Im not condoning it (Milos DUI), and Im not saying that there shouldnt have been consequences, Kathy Warnock said. And I know it sounds strange, but its still, you know, the guy had a job, he didnt miss any work, he was always on the job, he was able to do his job, he had a place to live, and he was paying his bills the best way he could.

Milo was sent to the Idaho State Correctional Center, a 2,128-bed mens prison south of Boise that houses minimum- and medium-security residents and residents in close custody, or those under constant supervision.

He never did hard time before, Kathy Warnock said. And he was really worried about it. He felt that hard time would be very, very difficult for him.

And he told me, Boy, thats the last thing I ever want to do,  Mike said.

Kathy and Mike Warnock talk about their son Milo Warnock, who was killed by a fellow prisoner in December in the Idaho State Correctional Center, according to the Idaho Department of Correction.

Problem with medication leads to cheeking

Once in prison, Milo had a problem with Effexor, an antidepressant drug that he had been taking for years and self-administered in the mornings with breakfast, according to the Warnocks.

The problem was that the prison was administering the drug at night, but the drug kept Milo awake, so he requested to have his medication schedule changed from evening to morning.

Milo filled out a health service request form to request changing his medication time and placed the form in a well-labeled drop box, according to an email from Milo to the Warnocks, who communicated with Milo every day while he was in prison.

This was a resident concern form that Milo Warnock filled out on Sept. 27, explaining that he had filled out a paper form for a request to change his medication time, unaware that paper forms were no longer accepted and that he was supposed to fill out an electronic form. That misunderstanding led him to be placed in G block at the Idaho State Correctional Center, where he was killed by a fellow prisoner less than three months later.

What Milo didnt know was that as of June 2023, before his arrival, the hard copy health service request form and physical drop box were no longer being used, and requests had to be submitted online, according to the Warnocks.

Milo told his parents he was never provided an orientation or any information that would have let him know that the hand-written form and drop box were no longer being used, according to the Warnocks. (Even as late as October, Milo said the drop box was still up on the wall at the prison.)

Because Milos death is under investigation, the Idaho Department of Correction declined to answer several questions sent by email, including questions about the drop box and Milos hand-written health service request.

While Milo was waiting for a response to his health service request, he was cheeking his medication  keeping it in his cheek without swallowing it at the time of dispensing to make it appear he had taken it. Then, he would save the pill for the next day and take it in the morning.

That was a violation of the rules. A random bed check one night revealed what he was doing, and Milo was put in solitary confinement for a week, according to Milos prison records that were obtained by the family and shared with me.

Milo originally was classified as a Level 2 minimum offender, but cheeking his medication added 22 points to his rating, putting him one point over a medium-level offender and making him a maximum-level offender, according to the Warnocks.

It just seems strange, Kathy Warnock said. It really seemed like overkill punishment to me. But I said to him, Milo, Im going to advocate for you, so youve got to be telling me the truth, because its going to be embarrassing if this isnt the way you say it is. And he wrote back, I swear to God, this is what happened to me. 

Family members stand around a photograph of Milo Warnock during a celebration of life memorial held for him Jan. 13 in Meridian. From left: brothers Murray Warnock and Yancey Warnock, mother Kathy Warnock, father Mike Warnock, brother Clinton Warnock and sister Hallie Johnson.

Cell block G: It was a bad place

Once Milo was removed from solitary, because of his higher rating, he was placed in cell block G, sometime in September.

He looked around and knew that he wasnt like the rest of the offenders there, Kathy Warnock said. And he was appalled, and Im sure he was very frightened.

Mike Warnock said Milo joked that the G in G block stood for gangsters.

There were a lot of gangs in there, prison gangs, Mike Warnock said. It was a bad place.

It was there that Milo became cellmates with a new person, according to messages the Warnocks shared with me.

We still dont know who killed Milo, but Milo said he had troubles with his cellmate and was trying to help him, reading Catch-22 to him, buying a $300 television to have in their cell and spending 12 hours making a shelf out of folded cardboard for him.

I have tried to help him, so that I can feel good about myself (philanthropy is self centered behavior, as Dickens points out in Bleak House), Milo wrote to his mother Dec. 7, three days before he was killed. I cant help him, tho. .

Milo was trying to get along with this guy, Kathy Warnock said. Going the extra mile and doing things for him. He said he saw himself wanting to help people. Maybe he wasnt the best person to help people but thats what he saw himself doing. He was idealistic. He wanted to make a difference. And so he was really trying to help this guy.

By all accounts, Milo Warnock was a hard worker, curious, kind-hearted, funny, intelligent and intellectual, someone who reveled in deep thoughts and deep discussion about deep ideas. He was killed by a fellow prisoner on Dec. 10 at the Idaho State Correctional Center.

One of the kindest souls

Since Milos death, there has been an outpouring of support and stories about Milo.

Your son had one of the kindest souls we have had the pleasure of working with, Steve Boatman, operations manager at YMC, wrote to the Warnocks. His hard work, dedication and attention to detail was second to none.

Bowers said Milo was an expert at what he did and could squeeze more accuracy and consistency out of the (press brake) machine than anyone thought possible.

Mike Warnock said working at YMC was one of the best things in Milos life.

They just treated him like family, and he loved working there, Mike Warnock said. The people there have written all kinds of letters, you know, on his behalf, trying to get a lesser sentence and all kinds of sympathy letters afterwards.

That include Carl Marcum, YMC vice president.

When Milo was going through his court issues this summer, I would check in on him every few days to see how he was doing and if he needed anything, offering to provide a character witness as I truly believe in him, Marcum wrote to the Warnocks. He was such a caring and upstanding person I would have done anything to help him out.

Their words provide some comfort to the Warnocks.

But the fact that Milo is now dead seems incomprehensible.

Mike and I are just kind of coming to grips with all of this, Kathy said. It just seemed excessive. Everything seems excessive. Obviously, he was an offender. Its just that he wasnt as bad as what he got.
An Idaho Republican senator wants to remove exceptions in Idahos abortion laws that allowed the procedure in cases of incest and rape reported to law enforcement. It would make certain death of the pregnant patient the only legal defense for an abortion.

Sen. Dan Foreman, R-Viola, introduced the personal bill, meaning the proposed law did not go through the standard committee process. Personal bills can be introduced during the first 12 days of the session in the Senate, and those bills rarely become law.

Since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, which ended the constitutional right to abortion, Idaho has implemented laws banning abortion in almost all instances, save for when an abortion must be performed to save a pregnant persons life or when the pregnancy was a result of reported rape or incest.

Senate Bill 1229 would remove those last two exceptions and make doctors who perform them in those instances subject to prison terms of two to five years.

Foreman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Rep. Lauren Necochea, D-Boise, told the Statesman the bill illustrates just how far right the party has moved.

That the state would force a 12-year-old rape victim to carry a pregnancy is a shocking idea, and Sen. Foreman is clearly out of step with the values of the vast majority of Idahoans, she said.

The Idaho GOP voted at its 2022 convention against adding language to its party platform that would support exceptions to abortion laws to save the life of the mother, according to the Idaho Capital Sun. The partys platform calls abortion murder from the moment of fertilization.
Damaged graves at a cemetery in Khan Younis amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza - AHMED ZAKOT/REUTERS

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has admitted to digging up Palestinian graves in a Gaza cemetery.

Footage emerged earlier this week from a bulldozed graveyard in Khan Younis in southern Gaza, where smashed graves lay open and human remains covered in shrouds had been left on the surface without being reburied.

The IDF said its soldiers dug up graves in the cemetery to see if dead hostages were buried there.

The hostage identification process, conducted at a secure and alternative location, ensures optimal professional conditions and respect for the deceased, it told NBC, the American broadcaster.

But photographs from the graveyard showed the extensive damage caused by the exhumations.

The tracks of heavy vehicles are imprinted on the ground amid the crumbling rubble of crushed gravestones and cracked open burial vaults.

Satellite images acquired by CNN show that 16 cemeteries in Gaza have been damaged by the IDF since the ground offensive began in late October.

One, in the Bureij refugee camp, has had a new dirt road laid over part of it by Israeli troops.

Damaged graves at a cemetery where the IDF has admitted digging up bodies - REUTERS/AHMED ZAKOT

South Africa has cited the damage done to cemeteries in its case at the International Criminal Court alleging that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.

Prof Janina Dill, the co-director of the University of Oxfords Institute for Ethics, Law and Armed Conflict, told the broadcaster that the actions likely violated the rules of war.

It [a cemetery] can only be intentionally attacked or destroyed if it becomes a military objective, she said.

There is huge symbolic meaning to the notion that not even the dead are left in peace.

It suggests a disrespect towards the spiritual life of your enemy, their cultural life and heritage.

It is evidence of an animus towards your enemy that is unhelpful in this context.

The IDF insisted that it always treats the bodies it exhumes which do not turn out to be Israeli hostages with dignity and respect.

If not for Hamass reprehensible decision to take Israeli men, women, children and babies as hostages, the need for such searches  would not exist, it said.

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Is marijuana odor an aroma of legality or a reason for cops to search vehicles? Illinois Supreme Court to decide.

An issue that has tied lower courts in knots  whether the odor of cannabis alone is grounds for police to search a vehicle  is now before the Illinois Supreme Court.

Appellate courts have split over the question, forcing the high court to make the call. At issue are efforts to keep the roads safe and prevent illegal trafficking, while protecting a constitutional right against unreasonable searches.

Before legalization, courts had long held that the smell of marijuana was grounds for a search, defense attorney James Mertes conceded during arguments before the Supreme Court earlier this month. But Mertes argued that once possession of small amounts of recreational pot became legal under state law in 2020, smell no longer is per se evidence of a crime.

The odor of cannabis is now an aroma of legality, Mertes told the high court.

Prosecutors countered that state law makes it illegal to transport cannabis without a sealed, odor-proof container, and its still illegal to get or be high while driving.

In a somewhat unusual circumstance, the court consolidated two new cases with opposite appellate rulings on the issue.

In Henry County in 2020, a state trooper stopped Ryan Redmond driving a Kia SUV for having a dangling license plate and driving 3 mph over the speed limit on Interstate 80 in western Illinois. The trooper testified that I-80 is a known drug corridor connecting known hubs of criminal activity in Des Moines, Iowa, and Chicago.

The trooper testified that he smelled a strong odor of burnt cannabis coming from the vehicle. When he searched it, he found about a gram of pot  enough for a couple of joints. Redmond was charged with misdemeanor possession.

The trial judge ruled that the smell alone was not sufficient probable cause to believe a crime was committed, and therefore not enough to justify a search. Otherwise, Circuit Court Associate Judge Daniel Dalton ruled, a person who exercised the state law right to possess and smoke cannabis would give up his right to be protected from unreasonable searches.

Dalton dismissed the charges, and the 3rd District appellate court upheld that ruling.

But in Whiteside County, also in 2020, a state trooper said he smelled raw cannabis in a motor vehicle, and upon searching it found a small cardboard box with several rolled joints inside, and a plastic container in the glove box with suspected cannabis inside. The passenger, Vincent Molina, who is Mertes client, was charged with possession, and the same judge, Dalton, threw out the case.

The judge presides over multiple counties, parts of which are overseen by different appellate courts.

The 4th District Appellate Court overturned the ruling in the Molina case, noting that despite the legalization of small amounts of cannabis under state law, a person still may not use marijuana while driving or drive while impaired.

In hearing oral arguments this month, Chief Justice Mary Jane Theis questions focused primarily on impaired driving.

Theres a real concern that I think everyone embraces, that we dont want people who are really really high driving down our highways, she said. Were very worried about that.

Defense attorney Bruce Carmen conceded that concern, but said in the case of Redmond, his client, there were no signs of impairment, noting that the smell of pot can cling to clothes long after smoking. Just as the smell of alcohol alone is not sufficient for a search, officers may consider it and conduct a field sobriety test or question the driver to see if there is any other evidence of a crime.

Justice P. Scott Neville also questioned whether the smell of cannabis alone would justify a search of a person walking down the street.

Historically, there has also been a racial disparity in vehicle searches.

Police in Illinois were three times more likely to attempt searches of Black drivers compared with white drivers, though black drivers had contraband only half as often as whites, the state Department of Transportation found in a 2006 study. The matter before the Supreme Court involves two minority defendants: Redmond is African American and Molina is Latino.

The justice system has to be careful, Carmen said, to make sure that such searches are not just a pretext for a fishing expedition without legal justification.

Prosecutors for Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul suggested that the circumstances may affect searches for smoked cannabis, but that the smell of raw cannabis alone suggests a violation of the vehicle code requirement to have it in a sealed, odor-proof container.

Possible innocent explanations do not mean there is not probable cause (for a search), Ness said.

Some state supreme courts, in Minnesota, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, have ruled that a cannabis odor does not justify a search, while the high court in Wisconsin, where pot remains illegal, ruled it was grounds for a search.

Last year, state Sen. Rachel Ventura, a Democrat from Joliet, introduced a bill to prohibit police from searching a vehicle based on an odor of burnt or raw cannabis alone.

The measure passed the Senate and is before the House, but Ventura told the Tribune shes holding off on the bill to see what the court does.

Constituents and even another lawmaker had complained about getting stopped and searched by police who said they smelled marijuana but found nothing, Ventura said.

Cannabis is a legal substance in Illinois, she said, so we should stop treating it as if its evidence that the person has done something wrong.

Police still generally may search a vehicle without a warrant if the driver gives them permission, or if they take possession of the vehicle after an arrest, accident or tow, and conduct an inventory search.

rmccoppin@chicagotribune.com
The Illinois Supreme Court on Friday upheld a landmark law that consolidated hundreds of suburban and downstate police and firefighter pension funds.

In a unanimous decision, the states high court sided with two lower courts in rejecting the argument that participants diluted role in electing representatives to make investment decisions under the new law violates the state constitutions pension protection clause.

The ability to vote in elections for local pension board members is not ... a constitutionally protected benefit, nor is the ability to have local board members control and invest pension funds, Chief Justice Mary Jane Theis wrote in an 11-page opinion joined by the courts six other justices.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed the measure in 2019, promising it would bring greater financial stability to the roughly 650 local funds serving communities outside Chicago and property tax relief to local residents. The law took effect in 2020 but gave the local funds time to transfer their assets.

A group of 18 pension funds and about three dozen active police and firefighters and retirees challenged the law in a 2021 lawsuit, arguing that the move violates the state constitutions guarantee that public employee pension benefits shall not be diminished or impaired.

A circuit court previously dismissed the pensions funds themselves from the case, finding they lacked standing.

Prior to the consolidation, each local pension board was composed of five members: two appointed by the mayor or village president, two elected by active police or firefighters, and one elected by retirees.

While the local boards still exist with the same composition, theyve lost authority over investment decisions, which are now made by managers for the two statewide funds.

Each of those funds is overseen by a nine-member board. The police board is made up of three members elected by active officers, two elected by retirees, three chosen by local municipalities, and one representative of the Illinois Municipal League appointed by the governor. The fire board is similarly composed, except retirees elect only one representative, with the remaining seat going to a person recommended by the Associated Fire Fighters of Illinois union and appointed by the governor.

In a court filing, attorneys for plaintiffs challenging the law wrote, As a result, the Act substantially impacted and diluted each police officers and firefighters voting rights and ability to determine who their personal retirement assets are invested.

They also argued that the requirement to transfer assets to the combined funds violates state constitutional protections for property rights.

In its argument to the high court, the state called the argument that the constitutions pension protections extend to ancillary issues such as voting rights unsound.

Illinois Supreme Court precedent has established the constitutional pension protections, while ironclad, extend only to payments promised to participants in the retirement systems, not to changes to state law that affect their funding level, the state argued in its filing to the Supreme Court.

In their ruling, the justices sided with the state, finding that the state constitution protects only the financial benefits that retirees ultimately receive from the pension funds.

Simply put, the 2020 amendment to the Pension Code has no impact on plaintiffs receiving their promised monetary benefits, the court found.

The court has cited the pension protection clause in striking down previous legislative attempts to shore up underfunded public pensions. But during arguments in November, several justices appeared skeptical of the contention that those protections extended to issues such as the weight of a persons vote in electing members to a board that oversees investments.

In questioning, Theis noted that previous rulings found protections covered issues such as health care, disability, life insurance and survivor annuity but not issues involving the funding of the retirement systems themselves.

The court also rejected claims that having the local funds cover startup costs for the two consolidated funds would affect benefits, and that the transfer of assets to the centralized funds was a violation of property rights.

Whether the consolidation actually will result in lower property tax bills, one of the laws main selling points, remains in question. Pritzker on Friday again brought up the potential for such a benefit in calling the high courts ruling a victory for Illinois taxpayers, local governments and first responders.

After 70 years of attempts, my partners in the General Assembly and I were able to accomplish meaningful reform during my first term in office, Pritzker said in a statement. We ushered in a new era of responsible fiscal management, one aspect of which has been consolidating over 600 local pension systems to increase returns and lower fees, reducing the burden on taxpayers and keeping another campaign promise.

The Illinois Municipal League, which represents local governments across the state, also praised the decision.

Personally, having worked on this issue for more than a decade and as a drafter of the legislation, I am gratified by the consistent rulings in favor of the Act and in the determination that will now allow everyone to focus on strengthening and growing the funds, CEO Brad Cole wrote in an email to the groups board.

Cole sits on the boards of both the police and fire pension investment funds.

The pension fund participants who challenged the law expressed disappointment with the courts decision.

I thought that the issue of whether or not the ability to vote in a substantial and meaningful way for each of the smaller municipalities across the state meant something, and I think it is a benefit, attorney Daniel Konicek said in an interview. The court obviously disagreed.

A variety of factors contributed to low funding levels for the police and fire pension funds over the years, from inaccurate actuarial assumptions and poor market performance to inadequate contributions from municipal governments and benefit enhancements approved by the General Assembly.

The year Pritzker signed the consolidation, unfunded liabilities across roughly funds totaled more than $13 billion, according to a recent report from the legislatures bipartisan Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability.

At the time, the $15.8 billion in total assets held by those funds was only enough to cover about 55% of liabilities, according to the report, down from a peak of 77% funding in 1999 and well short of the funding target of 90% by 2040 set in state law.

Even before the consolidation took full effect last year, when assets were transferred to the statewide funds, those numbers had improved, with unfunded liabilities dropping to just under $11 billion and the funding level reaching 65% in the states 2021 budget year.

dpetrellla@chicagotribune.com
The acquisition of long-range German Taurus missiles by Ukraine will not radically change the battlefield situation but will greatly expand the capabilities of the Ukrainian military.

Source: European Pravda, citing Lieutenant General Ivan Havryliuk, Deputy Minister of Defence, in an interview with Tagesspiegel

Details: The deputy defence minister was asked whether Kyiv is losing hope of receiving the Taurus after the proposal failed to gain support in the Bundestag.

"Despite the negative outcome of the vote in the Bundestag, I hope that we will receive all the necessary support, including the Taurus," he replied.

Havryliuk noted that these missiles would be a significant addition to the armaments provided within the framework of the so-called air defence coalition for Ukraine, in which Germany and France play a leading role.

Quote: "These missiles are capable of striking inaccessible locations of enemy aircraft, missile systems and ammunition depots. They also have a greater range than other missiles we have already received, and they are resistant to electronic warfare."

Details: Asked whether obtaining these missiles would turn the tide on the battlefield in favour of Ukraine, the deputy defence minister replied that it would not have such a decisive effect.

Quote: "The Taurus missiles would assist our military on the battlefield and help the Air Force defend civilian infrastructure. It is too early to speak of a breakthrough in the war."

Background:

On 17 January, the Bundestag rejected the proposal of the Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU) and the Christian Social Union in Bavaria (CSU) (CDU/CSU) opposition alliance to supply German Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine.

Even if a majority of the Bundestag votes to supply Taurus, the federal government, in particular the Federal Security Council, has the final say on arms exports.

At the beginning of the year, the German government hinted that they were not yet ready to provide Ukraine with these weapons.

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Authorities in Nicaragua have jailed nine pastors for more than a month on charges that they formed part of a criminal operation along with three U.S. missionaries, according to the mission organization.

The Nicaraguan Attorney Generals office has charged the three U.S. missionaries of Texas-based Mountain Gateway and 11 Nicaraguans with forming part of a criminal structure involved in money laundering and organized crime and has reportedly issued warrants for their arrest.

Mountain Gateway would like to publicly state it denies these allegations, and it is saddened by this situation, the group said in a press statement. "These charges are based on erroneous information, and Mountain Gateway will do everything in its power to resolve this through diplomatic channels."

Mountain Gateway, which operates in the Central American country as Puerta de la Montana, said prosecutors believed the Nicaraguan pastors were under the direction of the mission groups Jon Britton Hancock, Jacob Britton Hancock and Cassandra Mae Hancock, all U.S. citizens, and Nicaraguans Walner Omier Blandon Ochoa and Maricela de Fatima Mejia Ruiz.

While the Nicaraguan government says the [Nicaraguan] pastors are innocent, the pastors have been imprisoned for over a month with no legal representation or contact with their families, Mountain Gateway stated. At the same time, it added that the government has since allowed a lawyer to be appointed to represent the Mountain Gateway Nicaraguan pastors, but has not provided their legal counsel with the charging documents or any files to prepare a defense.

Mountain Gateway stated that it had diligently followed all legal requirements in the U.S. and Nicaragua and had documentation showing the Nicaraguan government approved all funds entering the country and ensured they were used appropriately.

Nicaragua has revoked the registration of hundreds of non-profit and faith-based organizations in the last five years, including most recently, expelling numerous members of the Catholic Church and seizing church property, the group stated. In these cases, the government often includes the charge of money laundering or other financial charges as the reason for revocation.

Mountain Gateway held eight large evangelistic events in Nicaragua last year under strict accounting by in-house staff and budget reviews by the Nicaraguan government, the group stated.

No members of Mountain Gateway have personally profited from funds sent to Nicaragua for ministry functions, it said.

The missions group announced on Dec. 22 that the Nicaraguan government had canceled its registration as a ministry in the country.

Nicaragua shut down, confiscated or destroyed 347 Christian buildings from Oct. 1, 2022 to Sept. 30, 2023, the fourth highest worldwide behind only China, India and Nigeria, according to Open Doors 2024 World Watch List (WWL) of the countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian. Nicaraguan authorities detained 38 Christians during this period, according the WWL report.

Open government hostility toward Christians during the period resulted in Nicaragua vaulting from 50th place the prior year to 30th among the 50 countries where persecution of Christians is worst. The WWL report also cited Nicaraguas legislative restrictions on religious freedom and the arrest or exile of religious leaders.

Mountain Gateway said in its press statement that its U.S. pastors have nothing to hide and have requested to have an attorney appointed to represent them in this legal process.

Mountain Gateway does not understand why this is happening in a country that it loves dearly and has worked steadfastly to abide by the governments regulations and laws, the group stated. While Mountain Gateways attorney and legal team are advising Mountain Gateway to trust the legal system, it does have questions. It appears this could be more politically motivated than legally motivated.

Imprisoned were nine of Mountain Gateways Nicaraguan pastors: Marcos Sergio Hernandez Jiron; Harry Lening Rios Bravo; Manuel de Jesus Rios Flores; Jose Luis Orozco Urrutia; Alvaro Daniel Escobar Caldera; Juan Carlos Chavarria Zapata; Juan Luis Moncada; Orvin Alexis Moncada Castellano; Cesar Facundo Burgalin Miranda.

The AP reported that the Prosecutors Office said in a press statement that 11 Nicaraguans were charged, along with the legal representative and financial manager of Puerta de la Montana. Prosecutors claimed that detailed investigations into money laundering showed the 13 nationals were allegedly involved in appearing as representatives in the purchase of real estate.

The government of Daniel Ortega has closed or dissolved 342 religious organizations, including 256 evangelical Christian associations, 43 Catholic ones and 43 belonging to other churches, according to The AP, citing a December report by Nicaragua Never Again Human Rights Collective. Ortega has been president since 2007, after having previously led the country from 1979 to 1990.

The government has set a hearing for the Nicaraguan pastors on Jan. 26.

Mountain Gateway Order, Inc., based in Dripping Springs, Texas, states on its website that it focuses on discipling national leaders through house churches and corporate worship and training national pastors to reach the lost in their nation. Mountain Gateway also runs a ministry training school in the United States to teach believers to take the gospel into any context or culture.

Since 2013, Mountain Gateway has served the citizens of Nicaragua through discipleship, church planting, feeding and clothing those in need, providing food, water, equipment, and recovery assistance during natural disasters, and sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ in mass evangelistic campaigns, the group said in its press statement.
A long-forecasted cold front is on track to hit the southeastern U.S. beginning Friday, signaling an unusually frigid weekend for Beaufort County and surrounding coastal areas. Although snow is unlikely, strong winds have prompted an advisory Sunday and could send feels-like temperatures plummeting to their lowest since 2022, according to the National Weather Service (NWS).

Spilling into the northern U.S. from Canada early this week, the arctic air mass plunged swaths of the country into harsh winter conditions much earlier than expected. Many voters stayed home during the coldest Iowa caucuses in history, and at least 14 deaths in Tennessee this week have been blamed on the storms blankets of snow and ice.

Beaufort and Jasper counties will be under a wind chill advisory from 1 to 10 a.m. Sunday, the NWS announced Friday afternoon. Saturday night and Sunday morning are expected to be the coldest segment of the weekend, with wind chill minimums at 11 degrees and a low temperature of 23. Weekend highs are in the low-to-mid 40s.

Sunday mornings cold might end up becoming the areas lowest recorded temperature since Christmas Eve of 2022, according to the NWS, when early-morning temps dipped to 19 degrees on Hilton Head.

In anticipation of the bitter cold, organizations in Bluffton and Ladys Island are offering warm shelters this weekend for anyone needing a safe place to stay.

These temperatures arent anywhere close to normal at this time of year, said NWS meteorologist Steven Taylor. Typical highs in January sit around the low 60s, making this weekends highs about 20 degrees lower than average, Taylor said. Local lows average in the 40s.

But coastal South Carolina will experience a warming trend after the system passes through. High temps in the Beaufort area could climb back up into the 70s as early as Wednesday next week, according to the NWS forecast office in Charleston.

WEEKEND FORECAST

Friday Night: Clear, with a low around 29. Northwest wind 11 to 16 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph.

Saturday: Sunny, with a high near 44. Northwest wind 8 to 10 mph.

Saturday Night: Clear, with a low around 23. Wind chill values as low as 14. North wind 9 to 11 mph.

Sunday: Sunny, with a high near 43. North wind 7 to 11 mph.

Sunday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 31.
On Jan. 22, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate a three-story monument made of marble, sandstone, and teak that features 44 gates and 392 intricately-carved pillars. But the structure, built on a vast 70-acre plot, may be the least remarkable part of the new Ayodhya temple. Its controversial inauguration atop the ruins of a 16th-century mosque marks the culmination of a three-decade promise made by Modi, his ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, and other Hindu nationalist groupsand serves as the biggest political testament yet to Hindu supremacy over Indian Muslims.

Ayodhya is a town in northern India that, for centuries, was home to the Babri Masjid. The mosque was built in 1527 by a general associated with the Mughal Emperor Babur and was a rare surviving example of the architecture of the early Mughal Empire, which ruled parts of India from the 16th to 19th centuries. Muslims, Indias largest religious minority, worshipped in the mosque for more than 300 years without issue.

In the 1850s, when India was largely under British colonial rule, the first signs of trouble arose as the Babri Masjid emerged as a key site of Hindu nationalist attempts to rectify perceived historical wrongs by Muslims, an idea inherited from British colonialists. Hindus claimed that Lord Ram, a major god and mythological hero, had been born at the very spot on which the mosque stood. Competing claims of Rams birthplace were once attached to many sites in Ayodhya, but the Babri Masjid drew particular fervor because it was a mosque. Some imagined further historical wrongs associated with the Babri Masjid, including claiming that the mosque was built after Baburs general destroyed a Hindu temple at that location.

None of these claims stand up to historical scrutiny. But in the 1980s, Hindu nationalist groups began tapping into these claims to argue that the mosque needed to be destroyed to clear the way for a new Hindu temple, declaring Mandir wahi banayenge (The temple will be built right there!). After years of agitation, their efforts resulted in an explosion of Islamophobic violence on Dec. 6, 1992, when a Hindu mob numbering at least 75,000 descended on Ayodhya and dismantled the Babri Masjid, brick-by-brick. The mobs anti-Muslim iconoclasm extended to people, and many Muslims in Ayodhya fled the city that day, fearing for their lives. In the days that followed, communal riots that rocked various Indian cities claimed about 2,000 lives, most of them Muslim. A subsequent report commissioned by the Indian government found dozens of peoplemany of whom are now BJP political leadersresponsible for orchestrating and encouraging the attacks.

The BJP benefited from stirring up Hindu nationalism around the Babri Masjid, and in 2014 swept into power, displacing the more pluralistic Indian Congress Party. The BJP then began to remake democratic India into a Hindu supremacist state. Following a second BJP national victory in 2019, Indias Supreme Courtwhose autonomy has been undercut by the Modi governmentissued its final judgment that decided the fate of the Babri Masjid site. The court called the mosques destruction an egregious violation of the rule of law, but nonetheless ruled that a Hindu temple could be built on the mosques rubble. Modi laid the foundation stone at a groundbreaking ceremony in August 2020, and will finish what the BJP and other Hindu supremacists began more than 30 years ago by consecrating the Ayodhya temple surrounded by his Hindu nationalist peers.

A local man looks on through barricade on street near Hanmuna Gadhi temple in Ayodhya on Nov. 9, 2019, ahead of a Supreme Court verdict on the future of the Ram Temple. Ritesh ShuklaNurPhoto/Getty Images

Still, the event will be marked by conspicuous absences. Leaders of the opposition Congress party will skip the festivities, in protest over what they rightly see as a consecration that is more a political ploy than a religious ceremony. Even some Hindu leaders agree, arguing that the Ayodhya temple cannot be consecrated since it remains incomplete, and therefore violates Hindu scriptures. They also object to the participation of divisive political figures like Modi.

Yet the Indian Prime Minister is pressing ahead with inaugurating an incomplete templeeven at the price of alienating Hindu religious leadersbecause of Indias May 2024 general election in which the BJP hopes to secure another national victory. If history is any guide, this tactic of harnessing majoritarian sentiment for political gain may well succeed.

The Ayodhya temples inauguration portends dark times ahead not just for Indias Muslims but also many Hindus who remain committed to pluralism and tolerance. Hindu supremacists have long sought to reduce the broad-based Hindu religious tradition to their hateful political ideology. The Ayodhya temple is a sizeable step toward that goal.

Muslims are second-class citizens in Modis India, regularly subjected to human rights violations. Freedom House now classifies Indiaonce heralded as the worlds largest democracyonly partly free on account of the rise in persecution affecting the Muslim population. And there are signs that the Ayodhya temple may only mark a new era of the Hindu supremacist war on mosques. There are numerous cases in Indian courts seeking to demolish more of them in favor of building Hindu temples in Varanasi, Mathura, and other cities. Such demolitions may unleash more violence on Indias beleaguered Muslim minority, and further cement the feeling that the country is for Hindus, and Hindus alone.

Contact us at letters@time.com.
Some 5,331 hectares of Indonesian tropical forest have been cut down, with 142,964 hectares allocated to 66 mining concessions - RIZA SALMAN/AFP via Getty Images

When Indonesia launched its bid to corner the worlds nickel market and gain a stranglehold on electric vehicles, it overlooked one crucial detail.

Battery technology is moving so fast that the world may not need the nickel after all. Indonesia is cutting down its rainforests and polluting the Coral Triangle for what looks increasingly like a commercial mirage.

Cheap and safe LFP batteries (lithium iron phosphate) are already so good that they have conquered 70pc of the EV mass market in China. They use neither nickel nor cobalt.

The latest twist is a hybrid using manganese as a cathode that leaps up the quality scale and radically alters the calculus of what minerals may be needed for the electrification of global road transport.

This new LMFP technology approaches the energy density and range of standard high-nickel batteries used in almost every EV sold in Europe and America, but at two thirds of the cost.

I can walk into a showroom in Shanghai today and for roughly $50,000 I can buy a ZEEKR 001 that gets me 1,000 kms range and can be recharged in eight minutes, said Ken Hoffman, head of battery materials at McKinsey.

None of this was on the radar screen when Teslas Elon Musk issued his plea for more nickel in July 2020, offering giant long-term contracts to any mining company that could meet the parabolic rise in demand expected by the late 2020s.

Indonesian president Joko Widodos ban on the export of nickel forced foreign business to operate in the country - LUONG THAI LINH/EPA-EFE

Indonesias leader Joko Widodo  Jokowi  was already a step ahead, but with an entirely different idea in mind, and a breathtaking disregard for the ecological damage. His objective was to gain hegemony of the worlds nickel supply and lock it up inside Indonesia with an export ban, forcing global multinationals to set up their processing industries inside the country, using Indonesian coal-power for good measure.

This is our countrys business strategy, designed so we become a major hub for the electric vehicle industry, he said three years ago.

He has succeeded. Chinese companies backed by Chinese state banks have poured money into mega-projects. The Koreans and Japanese have scrambled to keep up.

Jim Lennon from Macquarie said Indonesias share of global nickel output has jumped from 20pc to 55pc since the middle of the last decade. This oversupply has already crashed the market. Nickel futures have fallen by 70pc over the last two years. They are lower today than in 2004.

Weve seen an incredible increase in Indonesian supply, and it is only half way through. Within the next five years, based on all the investment plans, it could be as much as 75pc of global supply. It is a massive concentration in one country, he said at the London Metals Exchange Week.

Indonesia produced 1.5m tonnes of nickel last year. The planned capacity is 5m tonnes, which is way bigger than the entire market, he said.

A tiny fishing village without electricity in eastern Sulawesi has been turned almost overnight into a tropical Dickensian hellscape, employing 70,000 people to operate a vast complex of coal-fired boilers, ash ponds, steel foundries, nickel smelters, and high-pressure acid leach cookers.

Nineteen workers were killed last month at the Morowali Industrial Estate when a nickel smelter exploded, the latest of a long series of fatalities.

Sulawesi is a unique biosphere of tropical rainforest. Nickel mining strips large areas of forested hills to extract ore near the surface, sometimes leaking ultra-toxic hexavalent chromium that flows downstream with the rains.

Henry Sanderson writes in Volt Rush that Indonesian ore is low quality laterite with a nickel content of just 1pc, ill-suited for EV batteries.

It takes copious energy to separate the nickel from its tight iron bonds. This would not be commercially viable at Western energy costs, but Indonesia is bursting with thermal coal. Electricity is almost given away at Morowali, reportedly for six cents per kWh.

What happens to the other 99pc of the Indonesian rock, typically treated with chemicals? The miners requested permits to dump it in the sea.

It is much the same story on nearby Maluku, at the heart of the worlds richest coral reefs. A $11bn nickel industrial complex is being developed at Weda Bay backed by five coal-powered plants, with seven more to come, which will together burn more coal than Brazil.

In a report last week, Climate Rights International said that fishing waters had been poisoned. It alleged the widespread destruction of mangroves, which store four times as much CO2 as land forests. Some 5,331 hectares of tropical forest have been cut down, with 142,964 hectares allocated to 66 mining concessions.

It accused companies of land grabbing, coercion and intimidation of indigenous peoples, with the open collusion of the Indonesian police and military.

This is the ugly face of the worlds EV rush. You can certainly mount a lacerating indictment of net zero humbug, and many have done just that.

But most of Indonesias nickel has so far been used to make steel, which does not distinguish between petrol cars and EVs.

The combination of the worlds cheapest coal and cheapest nickel allowed Indonesia in league with Tsingshan Holding and other Chinese groups to capture a quarter of the global steel market, adding capacity equal to Europes entire steel industry in short order. Nobody could compete.

The boom in nickel is taking a toll both on the land and on workers. An explosion killed 19 at a smelter in Sulawesi last month - AP Photo/Yusuf Wahil

Carbon emissions are five times higher than from steel made in the West. If ever there was a case for a carbon border tax, this is it.

Even so, there are market limits to the demand for nickel in steel. China cannot keep absorbing such volumes for long. Its population shrank by two million last year and its infrastructure has reached saturation. Recycled scrap is taking a bigger bite of the global market.

As for Indonesias bet on EV nickel hegemony, it has been suspect for some time. Chinese LFP batteries have already reached an energy density of 180 watt-hours per kilogram, which is good enough for low-cost workaday EVs.

McKinseys Mr Hoffman said the more advanced LMFP batteries, being developed by CATL and Gotion in China, are nearing 250 watt-hours per kilogram and are pretty darned close to the 280 benchmark for high-nickel batteries used in the Tesla model 3, the Audi e-Tron, or the Jaguar i-PACE.

There are wrinkles to iron out. The batteries do not last as long. But CATL has pushed the number of charging cycles to 1,500 and beyond. The gap is almost closed.

Needless to say, all the gigafactories being built in Europe today are still planning to produce high-nickel NMC batteries. Will they be outflanked even before they are finished?

The new LMFP batteries will no doubt be displaced themselves by the next generation of solid state technology or such exotica as sulphur or potassium batteries, all dangling the possibility of another leap forward in range and charging time by late-decade.

The moral of the tale is that we are not going to run out of the critical minerals needed for wholesale decarbonisation, and we do not have to destroy the ecosystem of the Spice Islands and the Molucca Sea to do it.

Technology has a wonderful way of coming to the rescue.

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At least 12 people were killed and one more is missing after heavy rains caused flooding in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, state governor Claudio Castro told a press conference.

Castro also confirmed that some 2,400 soldiers from the Fire Department were deployed for cleanup and rescue work from the beginning of the heavy rains, with the support of drones and sniffer dogs.

Streets, homes, and the city's subway line were severely damaged by the impact of the floods, prompting Rio's mayor, Eduardo Paes, to take immediate action to control the consequences and save lives.

"We are working at this time primarily to relieve the suffering of people whose homes and streets were flooded," the mayor said in a post via the X social platform.

Christian Solidarity

In the face of the tragedy, several organizations and individuals have mobilized to help those affected by the floods, offering donations of food, water, clothing, mattresses, and other needs.

The Brazilian Evangelical Alliance (BEA), through its rapid response program for disasters and human emergencies called "Alliance for Life," is providing assistance in Rio de Janeiro.

BEA director Cassiano Luz asked for prayers "for all those affected by this tragedy and the catastrophes that have been caused by the extreme weather effects in our country. Pray for the churches that are in the affected regions and that now become important points of support".

At the same time, the evangelical organization issued a call for more volunteers to participate in the relief efforts.

Meanwhile, the government of Rio de Janeiro also announced the creation of an emergency fund to assist victims and the reconstruction of damaged infrastructure.

Authorities asked the population to avoid leaving their homes unless necessary and to follow the recommendations of the Civil Defense, which maintains the red alert for risk of new floods and landslides.

Most intense rains in 90 years

The volume of water accumulated in the city reached 259 millimeters in just six hours. The value exceeds what was expected for the whole month of February: 238.2 millimeters.

According to O Globo newspaper, data from the National Center for Natural Disaster Monitoring and Warning indicates that Petropolis - a municipality in Brazil, located in the state of Rio de Janeiro - has not faced such heavy rains in 24 hours in at least 90 years.

"It was like a scene from a horror movie," dentist Lucas Ribas described to BBC Brasil what he witnessed in Petropolis. "In the center of the city there were many bodies, many dead people who were washed away by the rain, drowned, crowded somewhere or trapped in cars."

According to the National Meteorological Institute, the rains are expected to continue in the coming days, although with less intensity.
LINCOLN COUNTY, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS)  An Iron Station man is facing a slew of charges after leading authorities on a multi-state chase that ended just 17 miles from the Georgia state line.

The ordeal began around 11 p.m. on January 13, 2024, along U.S. 321 in Lincoln County.

Deputies with the Lincoln County Sheriffs Office said they tried to pull over Jesse Michael Waterson, 41, on U.S. 321 after seeing a fictitious license plate. The Iron Station man exited U.S. 321 at the High Shoals exit and pulled over, but fled as deputies approached his car.

After deputies followed Waterson to Gaston County, Dallas Police and Gaston County Police officers continued the pursuit. Waterson then turned onto I-85 South and entered SC.

When he was roughly just 17 miles from the Georgia state line, authorities used stop sticks to puncture Watersons tires, bringing his vehicle to a stop.

Elderly Rock Hill woman dies as a result of neglect, 2 daughters arrested: Police

Authorities said Waterson refused to get out of his vehicle and officers had to break a window and use a K-9 to help with the arrest. The vehicle was seized and taken back to Lincoln County and a search warrant was executed.

During the search of the vehicle, a firearm was found attached to a magnet under the steering wheel. Deputies said a small amount of what is believed to be a controlled substance was also seized and will be sent to the state lab for testing.

Queen City News is tracking CRIME in your area  >> Latest stories here

On Thursday, Waterson waived extradition, and Lincoln County authorities transported him back to North Carolina. Waterson has been charged with the following:

Felony fleeing to elude arrest

Possession of a firearm by a felon

Possession of drug paraphernalia

Driving while license revoked

Displaying a fictitious registration plate

Waterson is being held at the Harven A. Crouse Detention Center without bond.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News.
Whats happening

After months of campaigning and speculation, voting in the Republican presidential primary finally began in earnest last week with the Iowa caucuses. Former President Donald Trump posted a dominating victory, firmly securing his position as the clear frontrunner to win the GOP nomination for the third time.

Trump received 51% of caucus votes, more than the combined total of his two main rivals, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and ex-South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley  who got 21% and 19%, respectively. DeSantis dropped out of the race on Sunday. The only other candidate to receive more than 1% of the vote in Iowa, tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, suspended his campaign on the night of the caucuses.

For all of the attention Iowa gets for being first to cast ballots, the state has historically been a poor indicator of what to expect in the GOP primary. The last nonincumbent Republican to win in Iowa and go on to secure the partys nomination was George W. Bush in 2000. Trump narrowly lost to Texas Sen. Ted Cruz there in 2016 before notching a series of victories that helped become the nominee.

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Even before a single vote was cast, Trump was the obvious favorite to represent the GOP against President Biden in Novembers general election. His commanding win in Iowa is now raising debate over whether the GOP primary is already over just days after it officially began  or if the New Hampshire primary this coming Tuesday can reset the trajectory of the race.

Why theres debate

In the eyes of many pundits, the results out of Iowa were confirmation that  despite years of controversy, election losses and his unprecedented legal problems  the Republican Party still unequivocally belongs to Trump.

They argue that, even with DeSantis out, Haley has no realistic path to pose a substantive challenge, let alone actually win, once the tallies from the remaining 49 states are counted.

Some political analysts believe Trump could actually have been vulnerable had a single opponent with a strong strategy to unseat him emerged from the fray early in the campaign, but its too late at this point.

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But others say American politics is far too unpredictable to definitively shut the door on the primary this early in the race  particularly with such a volatile candidate as frontrunner. Trumps critics are quick to point out that he only got half of the vote in Iowa, which they argue shows that there really is an appetite among a large share of the GOP base for someone else to lead the party.

Haley, meanwhile, has been polling within striking distance of Trump in New Hampshire, giving his GOP critics some hope that she can still pull off an upset. A loss in New Hampshire could shake the air of inevitability from Trumps candidacy and fuel questions about his ability to beat Biden in the general election, particularly as the various court cases against him ramp up into full gear.

Whats next

If Haley does post a strong showing in New Hampshire next week, the first major test of whether the dynamics of the race have changed will come in her home state of South Carolina. Polls currently show Trump ahead by a large margin in the Palmetto State, but the monthlong break after New Hampshire could create room for Haley to eat into his lead before votes are cast.
Weapons, body armour and other military equipment recovered by the IDF during its raid on Tulkarem in the West Bank - IDF

Russia has pushed Hamas for a speedy release of the approximately 130 remaining hostages it is holding as it welcomed a delegation from the terror group to Moscow.

Moussa Abu Marzouk and Basem Naim, two of the terror groups most senior officials, met Mikhail Bogdanov, Russias deputy foreign minister for talks.

During the conversation, the focus was on the ongoing confrontation in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict zone, against the backdrop of which the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip has reached catastrophic proportions, the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement.

It added that Mr Bogdanov, a former ambassador to Israel, had pushed for the speedy release of the approximately 130 remaining hostages.

They include three Russian civilians: Andrey Kozlov, 27, Alexander Lobanov, 32, and Alexander Trufanov, 28.

Ties between Russia and Hamas have grown closer since the West rallied in support of Israel after October 7.

04:13 PM GMT

That's all for today

Thank you for following The Telegraphs coverage of the war in Gaza today.

04:12 PM GMT

Today's headlines

Yemens Houthi rebels vowed not to attack Russian and Chinese ships in the Red Sea as it emerged Egypt was in talks with the group to cease its attacks on international shipping

Former Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak called for an early election

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) found five bomb factories and killed eight gunmen during a 45-hour raid on the city of Tulkarem in the West Bank

War cabinet member Lt Gen Gadi Eisenkot, a former IDF chief of staff, said the remaining hostages will never return unless an extended ceasefire is agreed with Hamas

Israel is refusing to allow fruit with stone pips to enter Gaza, the ActionAid agency said

Irans navy said it would deploy a fourth naval squadron to unspecified international waters believed to be the Red Sea

The IDF admitted digging up graves in a Gaza cemetery in an attempt to find the bodies of dead hostages

The Houthis blamed the United States for their attacks on international shipping

A Hamas delegation visited Russia and were welcomed by the deputy foreign minister

The hard-Right Israeli health minister banned wounded Gazans who are evacuated into the country by the IDF from being treated in its hospitals

03:48 PM GMT

EU sanctions six Hamas financiers

The European Union has sanctioned six Hamas financiers and banned them from getting visas in member states.

It said it would also freeze the assets of Musa Dudin, a senior manager of the terror groups investments, and five other unnamed financiers based in Sudan, Lebanon and Algeria.

They will get their assets frozen in the European Union and they will get a travel ban to enter our territory, it said.

Yahya Sinwar, Hamass leader in Gaza, was added to the EUs terrorist blacklist on Tuesday.

03:29 PM GMT

IDF drones attack hospital in southern Gaza, Red Crescent says

Israeli drones have attacked one of the few hospitals which remain open in southern Gaza, the Red Crescent has said.

The charity accused the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) of injuring refugees with intense gunfire at the Al-Amal hospital in Khan Younis.

03:03 PM GMT

Israel funded Hamas, says EU's Borrell

The European Unions foreign policy chief has said Israel funded Hamas in an attempt to weaken the Palestinian Authority.

Josep Borrell did not elaborate when he said in a speech at Spains University of Valladolid on Friday: Yes, Hamas was financed by the government of Israel in an attempt to weaken the Palestinian Authority led by Fatah.

Benjamin Netanyahu has denied that his government funded or assisted Hamas in Gaza, which the terror group has controlled since 2007.

02:29 PM GMT

Hard-Right health minister bans wounded Gazans from Israeli hospitals

Israels hard-Right health minister has banned wounded Gazans who are evacuated into the country by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) from being treated in Israeli hospitals.

Uriel Busso reversed instructions issued by the defence ministry on Thursday that would have enabled such treatment for the first time since October 7.

He said those evacuated from Gaza and Lebanon would only be treated in the IDFs own medical facilities and claimed he was not properly consulted on the initial decision.

It emerged last week that 25 Hamas terrorists had been treated in Israel after being captured by the IDF.

02:14 PM GMT

Russia's deputy foreign minister welcomed Hamas officials

Russias deputy foreign minister welcomed Hamas officials on a visit to Moscow on Friday.

Mikhail Bogdanov, a former ambassador to Israel, received Abu Marzouk, a member of Hamass politburo.

During the conversation, the focus was on the ongoing confrontation in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict zone, against the backdrop of which the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip has reached catastrophic proportions, the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement.

The Russian side stressed the need for the speedy release of civilians captured during the attacks of October 7 and held by Palestinian factions, including three Russian citizens  A. Kozlov, A. Lobanov and A. Trufanov.

Those are Andrey Kozlov, Alexander Lobanov and Alexander Trufanov.

02:01 PM GMT

Pictured: Child hoists gun aloft at Hamas funeral

Crowds at the Friday funeral of a Hamas terrorist who was killed in a drone strike in Sidon, Lebanon's second city on Wednesday - Mahmoud Zayyat

01:40 PM GMT

Hamas delegaton visits Russia

A delegation of Hamas officials is visiting Moscow, Russias foreign ministry has said.

It added that Russian officials urged them to release more Israeli hostages from captivity and condemned the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza.

01:22 PM GMT

UN: More than 20,000 babies born 'into hell' since war began

More than 20,000 babies have been born into the hell of war-torn Gaza since Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, a United Nations official has said.

Thats a baby born into this horrendous war every 10 minutes, said Tess Ingram, a UN spokesman.

Becoming a mother should be a time for celebration. In Gaza, its another child delivered into hell.

Seeing newborn babies suffer, while some mothers bleed to death, should keep us all awake at night.

01:02 PM GMT

Houthis: US to blame for our attacks

The United States is to blame for the Houthi attacks on international shipping in the Red Sea, the groups spokesman and chief peace negotiator has said.

Claiming that his rebel group is the Yemeni people, Mohammed Abdulsalam told Reuters: What the Yemeni people did in the beginning was to target Israeli ships heading to Israel without causing any human or even significant material losses, just preventing ships from passing as a natural right.

Now, when America joined in and escalated the situation further, there is no doubt that Yemen will respond.

We do not want the conflict to expand in the region and we do not prefer that, and we are still working on non-escalation, but the decision is up to the Americans, as long as they continue to attack.

The Houthis are long-standing enemies of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates but Abdulsalam said they will not be attacked.

12:48 PM GMT

Belgium sends ship to EU anti-Houthi mission

Belgium will supply a ship to the European Union mission which aims to protect ships from Houthi attacks in the Red Sea.

The EU patrols, which aim to deter the Iran-backed Yemeni militia from continuing to target international shipping, are expected to begin by the end of February.

12:25 PM GMT

IDF admits digging up Gaza graves

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has admitted digging up graves in a Gaza cemetery.

Footage emerged earlier this week from a bulldozed graveyard in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, showing cracked gravestones and some human remains left exposed.

In a statement given to American broadcaster NBC, the IDF said it had dug up graves in the cemetery to see if dead hostages were buried there.

The hostage identification process, conducted at a secure and alternative location, ensures optimal professional conditions and respect for the deceased, it said, despite photographs from the graveyard showing extensive damage.

Bodies determined not to be those of hostages are returned with dignity and respect.

If not for Hamass reprehensible decision to take Israeli men, women, children and babies as hostages, the need for such searches  would not exist.

Read the full story here

Damaged graves at the cemetery in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, where the Israel Defence Forces has admitted digging up bodies - Ahmed Zakot

12:21 PM GMT

In pictures: Israel and Palestine today

An Israeli activist performs as a hostage inside a cage during a Tel Aviv demonstration for the release of the remaining captives - Abir Sultan

A wounded mother and daughter at the Nasser hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza - Belal Khaled

A gun is fired in the air at the funeral of a Palestinian killed during an Israeli raid on Tulkarem in the West Bank - Marco Longari

11:58 AM GMT

'War crimes' complaint made against Israeli president at Davos

A criminal complaint has been made against Isaac Herzog, Israels president, as he visits Davos for the World Economic Forum.

Switzerlands prosecution service said it had received the complaint but did not specify who made it or what was alleged.

The criminal complaints will now be examined in accordance with the usual procedure, it added.

The AFP news agency has obtained a statement entitled Legal Action Against Crimes Against Humanity said to have been issued by the complainants which accuses Israel of genocide during the war in Gaza.

It is painful for us that our neighbours are suffering so much, Mr Herzog said on Thursday.

But how else can we defend ourselves if our enemies decided to entrench themselves in an infrastructure of terror of unbelievable size and scope?

11:32 AM GMT

Reservists sent home will be called up again, says IDF

Israeli reservists who have been sent home from the war in Gaza will be called up again, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) chief of staff has said.

Lt Gen Herzi Halevi said while visiting the 99th Infantry Division inside the strip that the soldiers are not being permanently demobilised.

The tension between the battlefield and the home for reservists is understandable, he said.

Were following a plan, releasing some people while knowing that we will call them in again.

Lt Gen Herzi Haleva, the IDF's chief of staff, sits with commanders of the 99th Infantry Division inside Gaza - IDF

11:20 AM GMT

Gaza civilian death toll rises to 24,762

The number of civilians killed in Gaza has risen to 24,762 after 142 people were killed in the past 24 hours, Gazas Hamas-run health ministry has said.

10:57 AM GMT

Iran to deploy more ships to international waters

Irans navy will deploy more ships to unspecified international and oceanic waters amid continuing attacks in the Red Sea by its Houthi allies.

Adm Shahram Irani, its commander, visited the Persian Gulf port of Bandar Abbas to mark the departure of the vessels, state-linked news agency Tasnim reported.

The combat-training naval group is reported to include the Hengam-class landing ship Tonb and the support vessel Bushehr.

Adm Irani said Iran now has four naval squadrons operating in international waters.

10:42 AM GMT

Israel refuses to allow fruits with stone pips into Gaza, says aid agency

Israel is refusing to allow fruit with stone pips to enter Gaza, an aid agency has said.

ActionAid said border guards were turning shipments of fresh fruit away because the stones inside could be used as bullets or used to plant trees, even while famine looms.

It added that oxygen cylinders, anaesthetic and tent poles have also been rejected, despite being essential to medical treatment and emergency shelter.

It is incredibly frustrating that crucial aid is being prevented from entering Gaza when we know the level of need has soared to a staggering high, said Ziad Issa, head of humanitarian policy at ActionAid UK.

We now face a farcical situation in which mere miles separate warehouses teeming with rejected but vital items like food, shelter kits, and medical supplies, and desperate people who are starving and in pain.

10:31 AM GMT

Hezbollah: Israel 'not ready' for our plans

A sabre-rattling Hezbollah official has warned Israel that it is not ready for the Lebanon-based terror groups plans for future attacks.

The Israeli enemy is forced to retreat and withdraw because it is tired and faces resistance that it did not expect, and it has frustrated and embarrassed all those who support it, said Mohammad Raad.

The Israeli enemy is not ready for war in the face of what the Islamic resistance in Lebanon has prepared for it.

He added: The hand of the resistance will remain supreme.

10:16 AM GMT

UN official accuses Israel of beating detainees

A United Nations human rights official has accused the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) of beating detainees in Gaza.

Ajith Sunghay, head of the UNs human rights office in Gaza and the West Bank, said he had met since-released men who said they were held for weeks, beaten, blindfolded and released wearing nothing but a nappy.

These are men who were detained by the Israeli security forces in unknown locations for between 30 to 55 days, he said.

There are reports of men who are subsequently released, but only in diapers without any adequate clothing in this cold weather.

10:03 AM GMT

IDF finds five bomb factories and kills eight in 45-hour West Bank raid

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) found five bomb factories and killed eight gunmen during a 45-hour raid on a West Bank city.

The major operation, which concluded on Friday morning and centred on a refugee camp in Tulkarem, culminated in the arrest of 39 people.

The IDF said those arrested included a number of senior members of an unnamed local terrorist group.

More than 1,000 buildings were searched in total, with soldiers uncovering four terrorist surveillance posts, dozens of mines and a number of weapons and other military equipment.

One soldier was seriously wounded in the raid but the IDF said none of its troops were killed.

09:52 AM GMT

Israeli strike near Al-Shifa hospital kills 15

An Israeli air strike on an apartment block near the Al-Shifa hospital has killed 15 people, it has been reported.

Palestinian news agency Wafa said the death toll from the attack on Gaza City had risen from 12.

09:35 AM GMT

Hostages will only return with extended ceasefire, says ex-IDF general

The Israeli hostages who remain in captivity will only return home if a major ceasefire is agreed, a former Israel Defense Forces (IDF) chief of staff has said.

Lt Gen Gadi Eisenkot, who is now a minister without portfolio in Israels war cabinet, said the hostages will only return alive if there is a deal, linked to a significant pause in fighting.

He added that hopes of a dramatic special forces rescue was unrealistic because the hostages are spread out and hidden in Hamass sprawling tunnel network.

Lt Gen Eisenkot was the IDFs chief of staff from 2015 to 2019 and his son M/Sgt Gal Meir Eisenkot was killed while fighting in Gaza in December.

08:56 AM GMT

Ex-Israeli prime minister calls for early election

Ehud Barak has called for an early election in Israel.

The former prime minister, who led the country between 1999 and 2001, said in an opinion article in Haaretz that there is despair in Israel because of Benjamin Netanyahus government.

The war is 15 weeks old, he wrote. On the battlefield, we see inspiring displays of courage and sacrifice.

In Israel, we see despair, a sense that despite the gains of the Israel Defense Forces, Hamas has not been defeated and the return of the hostages is receding.

He added: Israel is a sovereign state that acts in accordance with its interests in matters that are critical to its security, even when it is contrary to the position of the United States.

A poll last week showed 63 per cent of Israelis backed an early election, in which Mr Netanyahus Likud party would be widely expected to lose seats.

08:45 AM GMT

Soldier, 20, becomes 194th IDF casualty

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has announced the death of the 194th soldier to be killed during the war in Gaza.

S/Sgt Ori Gerby, 20, died on Thursday from wounds sustained during fighting in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday.

He was a member of the Givati Brigades reconnaissance unit and was from Herzliya, just north of Tel Aviv.

08:36 AM GMT

Pictured: Palestinian woman in tears at damaged house

A Palestinian woman in tears at a home in Rafah, southern Gaza, damaged by an Israeli air strike - Abed Rahim Khatib

08:33 AM GMT

Hepatitis and jaundice cases emerge in Gaza

Thousands of cases of jaundice and 24 of Hepatitis A have been detected in Gaza, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has said.

The inhumane living conditions  barely any clean water, clean toilets and possibility to keep the surroundings clean  will enable Hepatitis A to spread further and highlight how explosively dangerous the environment is for the spread of disease, director-general Tedros Ghebreyesus said.

08:22 AM GMT

Egypt in talks with Houthis to end shipping attacks

Egypt has held intensive talks with the Houthis in an attempt to end their attacks on international shipping in the Red Sea, it has been reported.

The countrys Al-Araby Al-Jadeed newspaper said on Thursday that officials have held talks with both the Houthis and Iran, which supports and arms the terror group.

It is better to push for a solution that accelerates the end of the main cause, which is the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip, one official told the newspaper.

The reports adds that Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, Irans foreign minister, is expected to visit Cairo in the coming days.

08:13 AM GMT

IDF kills Palestinian Islamic Jihad propaganda chief

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has said it killed Palestinian Islamic Jihads deputy propaganda chief in an air strike on Thursday.

It said Wael Abu Fanounah was responsible for producing propaganda videos of hostages and clipping up footage of rocket fire on Israel.

In a joint statement, the IDF and Shin Bet did not say where the operation took place.

They accused Abu Fanounah of previously acting as deputy to Khalil Bahtini, Palestinian Islamic Jihads deputy commander in northern Gaza.

08:08 AM GMT

Houthis pledge to not attack Russia and China's ships

Yemens Houthi rebels have pledged to not attack Russian and Chinese ships in the Red Sea.

Mohammed al-Bukhaiti, a senior official, told Russian newspaper Izvestia that they would ensure the safe passage of the countries vessels because free navigation plays a significant role for our country.

Attacks on vessels in any way connected with Israel would continue, he added.

The remarks came as Houthi rebels fired two ballistic missiles at a US-owned tanker on Thursday night.

The rockets landed in water near the vessel and caused no damage or injuries.

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Al Jazeera's bureau chief in Gaza, Wael Al-Dahdouh prays during the funeral of his son Hamza Wael Dahdouh, a journalist with the Al Jazeera television network, who was killed in a reported Israeli air strike in Rafah in the Gaza Strip on Jan. 7. Photo by Ibrahim Al-Khatib/UPI

Jan. 19 (UPI) -- Israel has emerged as one of the world's leading jailers of journalists amid the Israel-Hamas war, sharing sixth place with Iran on a list of the most restrictive states on press freedoms, according to a global analysis by a non-profit dedicated to preserving media access.

The 2023 prison census report, published Thursday by the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists, identified China, Myanmar, Belarus, Russia, and Vietnam as the top five places where journalists are currently incarcerated.

Israel's inclusion in the annual report is not new, but the data indicated a significant increase in arrests of Palestinian journalists in recent months, with its highest ranking to date.

Overall, Israel has detained more than 20 journalists since the war began, but those released before Dec. 1 or held since are not included in the 2023 census, the report said.

Most in Israeli custody are being held in administrative detention, allowing authorities to keep them jailed without formal charges based on mere suspicion that they would commit a future crime.

The legal proceedings are often closed off from public view, making it harder to assess the validity of charges and whether there is due process.

The report breaks down a tally for each nation where hundreds of journalists are languishing in prison for nothing more than doing their jobs, including 44 in China, 43 in Myanmar, and 28 in Belarus, which accounted for 35.8% of incarcerated journalists.

According to the report, the Israeli government is currently holding 17 journalists, a number that was on par with Iran's oppressive regime.

Notably, Iran's position represented a sharp decline from its standing in 2022, when protests gripped the country following the death of Mahsa Amini, the 22-year-old Kurdish woman who died in Iranian police custody after her arrest for not wearing her hijab properly.

Of the 17 journalists currently jailed in Iran, eight are women, including two female journalists who reported on Amini's death in September 2022, according to the report.

In December, CPJ estimated 320 journalists were imprisoned worldwide, marking the second-highest number jailed since record-keeping began in 1992.

The CPJ investigation reveals that 168 of those currently jailed face bogus charges related to fake news and anti-state activities, including terrorism, as government figures increasingly retaliate against critical media coverage.

In 66 ongoing cases, detained journalists are kept in the dark about the charges they face while being forced to endure harsh conditions as authorities extend pre-trial detention, impeding the efforts of defense attorneys, the report said.

The report also highlighted a growing trend among authoritarian regimes who were taking more extreme measures to silence dissent beyond their borders -- as demonstrated by arrest warrants from Moscow for Russian journalists living abroad, and Ethiopia's extradition of an exiled journalist on terrorism charges after he was arrested in Djibouti.

China has a history of suppressing journalists, making it hard to pinpoint the exact number of imprisoned due to censorship, the report notes.

In recent years, Beijing's crackdown on the media has intensified, the report said.

In 2021, for the first time, journalists from Hong Kong were jailed amid the annual prison census by CPJ following Beijing's passage of a strict national security law amid angry pro-democracy protests.

Beijing is increasingly using anti-state charges to detain journalists on charges of espionage, separatism, or undermining the government. A significant number of those facing charges are ethnic minorities from Xinjiang known as the Uighurs, including 19 journalists detained in 2023.

The report cites many other oppressive measures being used to tamp down dissent, including cruelty and retaliation, exposure to physical and sexual abuse, denial of medical treatment and basic necessities, and travel restrictions.

The report also cited imprisoned journalists in Afghanistan, Algeria, Angola, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Burundi, Cuba, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Iraq, Madagascar, Morocco, Nicaragua, Nigeria, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, and Zambia.
Editors Note: A version of this story appears in CNNs Meanwhile in the Middle East newsletter, a three-times-a-week look inside the regions biggest stories. Sign up here.

When members of the legal team representing South Africa in its case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) arrived home this week, they were mobbed like rockstars by a crowd gathered at an airport in Johannesburg, waving South African and Palestinian flags.

Many expressed collective pride at how the case was presented. One of the activists greeting the lawyers lauded them for having the courage to take Israel to the ICJ when no one else had that courage.

In a case brought before the court in The Hague in December, the team argued that Israel had violated its obligations under the 1948 Genocide Convention in its war with Hamas in Gaza  a charge Israel has strongly denied.

Hailed as heroes in the pursuit of justice, the multi-racial team of lawyers symbolized South Africas Rainbow Nation ethos that celebrates its diversity, and has allowed the country to flex its diplomatic muscle as a moral arbiter on global issues, three decades post-apartheid.

The significance of the fact that the country bringing the case is South Africa  an icon of the ravages of colonialism, settlement and apartheid  cannot be lost on anyone, wrote Nesrine Malik, a Sudanese journalist and author, in The Guardian newspaper. It symbolizes a vast racial injustice, too raw and recent to be dismissed as ancient history.

Israel saw the racial symbolism quite differently, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accusing South Africa of hypocrisy that screams to the high heavens. Hamas had carried out the worst crime against the Jewish people since the Holocaust, he said in a televised speech, but now someone comes to defend it in the name of the Holocaust.

Israel launched its war against Hamas after the groups brutal attack on the country left roughly 1,200 people dead and 250 taken hostage. The subsequent Israeli assault on Gaza has so far killed more than 24,000 people, according to the Hamas-run health ministry there.

South Africas genocide case has put the spotlight on a deeper fault line in global geopolitics. Beyond the courtroom drama, experts say divisions over the war in Gaza symbolize a widening gap between Israel and its traditional Western allies, notably the United States and Europe, and a group of nations known as the Global South  countries located primarily in the southern hemisphere, often characterized by lower income levels and developing economies.

Palestinians protest in front of the German representation in the city of Ramallah, against what they call "Germany's policy of supporting Israel in the war on Gaza," in Ramallah, West Bank on January 18. - Jaafar Ashtiyeh/AFP/Getty Images

Reactions from the Global North to the ICJ case have been mixed. While some nations have maintained a cautious diplomatic stance, others, particularly Israels staunchest allies in the West, have criticized South Africas move.

The US has stood by Israel through the war by continuing to ship arms to it, opposing a ceasefire, and vetoing many UN Security Council resolutions that aimed to bring a halt to the fighting. The Biden administration has rubbished the claim that Israel is committing genocide as meritless, while the UK has refused to back South Africa.

The Israel-Gaza war and its subsequent events like this case are highlighting growing fissures between the once dominant West and its key allies like Israel and emerging powers gathered around BRICS states like South Africa, Remi Adekoya, a political lecturer at the University of York in England, told CNN.

The decision by South Africa to initiate legal proceedings against Israel at the ICJ marked a departure from the usual diplomatic channels taken in such disputes, as the angry voices against Israels campaign in Gaza grow louder.

As a nation whose history is rooted in overcoming apartheid, South Africas move carries symbolic weight that has resonated with other nations in the developing world, many of whom have faced the burden of oppression and colonialism from Western powers.

Nelson Mandela, the face of the anti-apartheid movement, was a staunch supporter of the Palestine Liberation Organization and its leader Yasser Arafat, saying in 1990: We align ourselves with the PLO because, akin to our struggle, they advocate for the right of self-determination.

Hugh Lovatt, a senior policy fellow with the Middle East and North Africa Programme at the European Council on Foreign Relations, said that while South Africas case is a continuation of its long-standing pro-Palestinian sympathies, the countries that have rallied behind it show deeper frustrations by the Global South.

Indonesian Muslims gather outside the US embassy in support of Palestinians in Jakarta, Indonesia on January 15. - Garry Andrew Lotulung/Anadolu/Getty Images

There is a clear geopolitical context in which many countries from the Global South have been increasingly critical over what they see as a lack of Western pressure on Israel to prevent such a large-scale loss of life in Gaza and its double standards when it comes to international law, Lovatt told CNN.

Much of the non-Western world opposes the war in Gaza; China has joined the 22-member Arab League in calling for a ceasefire, while several Latin American nations have expelled Israeli diplomats in protest, and several Asian and African countries have joined Muslim and Arab nations in backing South Africas case against Israel at the ICJ.



For many in the developing world, the ICJ case has become a focal point for questioning the moral authority of the West and what is seen as the hypocrisy of the worlds most powerful nations and their unwillingness to hold Israel to account.



One of the reasons for this is that Israel has long been a Western-facing country by virtue of its history and predominant heritage, said Lovatt.



Israel sided with the West against Soviet-backed Arab regimes during the Cold War, and Western countries largely view it as a fellow member of the liberal democratic club, he added. Some of this explains the continued strong Western support for Israel  which has now largely become reflexive.

But the strong support of Western governments is increasingly at odds with the attitudes of Western publics which continue to shift away from Israel, Lovatt said.

Advocate Tembeka Ngcukaitobi (C), a member of the South African legal team, is greeted by a supporter following a two-day hearing against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), at the OR Tambo International Airport in Ekurhuleni, South Africa on January 14. - Alaister Russell/AFP/Getty Images

Clash of civilizations?

Israel has framed the war in Gaza as a clash of civilizations where it is acting as the guardian of Western values that it says are facing an existential threat.

This war is a war that is not only between Israel and Hamas, Israeli President Isaac Herzog told MSNBC in December. Its a war that is intended  really, truly  to save Western civilization, to save the values of Western civilization.

So far, no Western countries have supported South Africas case against Israel.



Among Western states, Germany has been one of the most vocal supporters of Israels campaign in Gaza. The German government has said it expressly rejects allegations that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza and that it plans to intervene as a third party on its behalf at the ICJ.

An opinion poll by German broadcaster ZDF this week however found that 61% of Germans do not consider Israels military operation in the Gaza Strip as justified in light of the civilian casualties. Only 25% voiced support for Israels offensive.

But it is in Germanys former colonial territory, Namibia, that it has attracted the fiercest criticism.

The Namibian President Hage Geingob in a statement on Saturday chided Berlins decision to reject the ICJ case, accusing it of committing the first genocide of the 20th century in 1904-1908, in which tens of thousands of innocent Namibians died in the most inhumane and brutal conditions. The statement added that the German government had not yet fully atoned for the killings.

Bangladesh, where up to three million people were killed during the countrys war of independence from Pakistan in the 1970s, has gone a step further to file a declaration of intervention in the ICJ case to back South Africas claims, according to the Dhaka Tribune.

A declaration of intervention allows a state that is not party to the proceedings to present its observations to the court.

With Germany siding with Israel, and Bangladesh and Namibia backing South Africa at the ICJ, the geopolitical divide between the Global South and the West appears to be deepening, Lovatt said.

Traditionally, the West has wielded significant influence in international affairs, but South Africas move signals a growing assertiveness among Global South nations that threatens the status quo, says Adekoya.

One clear pattern emerging is that the old Western-dominated order is increasingly being challenged, a situation likely to only further intensify as the West loses its once unassailably dominant economic position, Adekoya said.

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Divisions within the Israeli government are deepening after war cabinet minister Gadi Eisenkot suggested the key war aim of defeating Hamas is unrealistic and called for elections within months.

Those who say that there was a major blow and demolition of the capabilities in the north of the strip are telling the truth, Eisenkot told told Israeli broadcaster Channel 12 News on Thursday evening. Those who talk about an absolute defeat and lack of will and ability do not tell the truth. This is why there is no need to tell tall tales.

Eisenkot was speaking shortly after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu again said Israels military campaign would continue until it achieved complete victory over Hamas. His comments also come after Israel withdrew some troops from northern Gaza and signaled a new phase of the conflict would begin soon.

But Eisenkot said: A strategic achievement was not reached  We did not demolish the Hamas organization.

The remarks are the latest symptom of rifts within Israels coalition government, as well as growing discontent with Netanyahus war plans. Established shortly after Hamas brutal October 7 attack, the Israeli war cabinet includes some ministers already at odds with one another.

Gadi Eisenkot attends the funeral of his son Gal Eisenkot, who was killed while serving with the Israeli military in Gaza, December 8, 2023. - Oren Ziv/AFP/Getty Images

Calls for fresh elections

In his interview, Eisenkot said Israel needed fresh elections because the public no longer has trust in Netanyahus leadership.

He also dismissed concerns over holding elections in the country while its at war. Lack of trust among the public in its government is no less severe than lack of unity during a war, he said.

We need to go to the polls and have an election in the next few months, in order to renew the trust as currently there is no trust, he said. The state of Israel is a democracy and needs to ask itself, after such a serious event, how do we go forward with a leadership that is responsible for such an absolute failure?

While the cabinet was created to show unity, it does not disguise the fact that there are already major differences in policy and approach, said Yohanan Plesner, president of the Israel Democracy Institute (IDI) in Jerusalem, adding that these divisions are now surfacing.

Reuven Hazan, political scientist at Hebrew University of Jerusalem, said that as the war passed the 100-day mark, divisions would inevitably emerge. And they have, Hazan told CNN, adding that the lines between the two camps are getting worse and worse every day.

An Israeli tank looks over the war-torn Gaza Strip from a position in southern Israel, January 19, 2024. - Jack Guez/AFP/Getty Images

Over three months into Netanyahus war on Gaza, there is no end to the conflict in sight. Israel began its campaign after Hamas launched surprise cross-border attacks, killing 1,200 people and seizing more than 240 hostages. The Israeli authorities believe that more than 100 are still alive in captivity, after 105 were released during a temporary truce in December. Dozens of hostages have been killed and their bodies remain in Gaza.

In the meantime, more than 24,000 people have been killed in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run Ministry of Health in the enclave, and swathes of the territory have been flattened.

Hazan says the Israeli government has decided it has two goals in this war, which may not both be attainable. One is to destroy Hamas, and the other is to return the hostages home, he said, And as weve seen, after over a hundred days, you cannot achieve both.

Eisenkot said the government had failed to achieve what he says should be its highest priority: securing the release of the hostages.

Theres no question for me what task is of highest priority, he said. Theres no dilemma: for me, the mission is to save civilians (hostages) before eliminating the enemy, Eisenkot said, adding that there would be time later to eliminate Hamas.

A poll by Israel Democracy Institute conducted in November found that while Israelis overwhelmingly support both defeating Hamas and retrieving hostages, they see the return of the hostages are more important.

Families of hostages and their supporters block a road as they call for the release of hostages taken by Hamas, in Tel Aviv, Israel, January 18, 2024. - Alexandre Meneghini/Reuters

Tensions with US over Palestinian statehood

Israels relations with its strongest ally, the US, have also been on a downward spiral. On Thursday the Israeli prime minister voiced a strong rejection of a post-war scenario that entails the creation of a Palestinian state, which the US and other countries have called for.

The idea of creating a Palestinian state would clash with the security of Israel, Netanyahu said. Netanyahu has made clear his opposition to a Palestinian state several times prior to his remarks on Thursday.

In any arrangement in the foreseeable future, whether with or without an arrangement, the State of Israel must control the security of all the land, which is west of the Jordan River, he told a press conference in Tel Aviv when asked about reports that he told US officials he opposes the idea of Palestinian sovereignty that would encompass both the West Bank and Gaza.

Netanyahu added that Israeli politicians asking for him to step down are essentially asking for the creation of a Palestinian state.

Hazan sees the relationship between Israel and US as likely to worsen, particularly, he said, because Netanyahu wants to cling to power.

Current and former Israeli politicians have asked Netanyahu to step down.

When asked if he thought Netanyahu had been prolonging the conflict to ensure his own political survival, Eisenkot said he did not believe that to be the case.

Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak has also called for fresh elections. In an op-ed published in Haaretz on Thursday, he warned that Netanyahus current strategy risks alienating the US and leaving Israel mired in the Gaza quagmire.

Netanyahus political survival

Once the war comes to an end, the Israeli publics focus may shift to Netanyahus pre-war shortcomings, some analysts say. More attention could fall on responsibility for the October 7 attack, as well as a new mandate for leadership, according to Plesner.

Given Netanyahus situation in public opinion, I am not sure he is very keen on seeing this phase unfold, he added.

The prime minister, who before the war was facing mass protests against his plans for a judicial overhaul, has so far refused to take any responsibility for the events of October 7. He has also allegedly refused to hold high-level discussions on plans for post-war Gaza, Israeli media reported, leaving a handful of far-right members of the governing coalition to fill the void with ideas viewed by many as extremist.

(Netanyahu) understands that in order for him to stay in power, the war has to continue, Hazan of the Hebrew University said, Because the day the war ends, thats when the people of Israel will turn against him.

Israelis took to the streets of Tel Aviv to protest against Netanyahu and his government, January 6, 2024. - Amir Levy/Getty Images

An opinion poll published earlier this month by the Israel Democracy Institute (IDI) found that only 15% of Israelis want Netanyahu to remain prime minister after the war. Twenty-three percent said they wanted former Defense Minister Benny Gantz as prime minister after the war.

Gantz is widely considered a likely successor to Netanyahu when an election is called.

So, as horrible as this sounds, it is in the political and survival interests of Netanyahu to continue the war, and that will put him at odds with the Biden administration, Hazan said.

Even if elections are held in Israel, Netanyahu will likely campaign against the prospect of a Palestinian state, telling those who support him that only he can say no to the United States, and can say no to a Palestinian state, Hazan said, adding that the prime minister likely believes this would turn public sentiments back in his favor.

Plesner, however, does not believe Netanyahu is trying to extend the war to remain in power. War decisions dont come from Netanyahu alone, he said, noting that while Israelis want to see the hostages come home, there isnt significant support for a permanent ceasefire that may further empower Hamas.

CNNs Lucas Lilieholm, Lauren Izso, Jennifer Hansler, Jorge Engels and Sugam Pokharel contributed to this report.

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Hami Rahmanian, an Iranian multi-disciplinary artist who has worked on Dinsey's "Tarzan," "The Emperor's New Groove," and "Dinosaur," among other cinematic projects, is gearing up for a retelling of a story from Iran's ancient 55,000-verse epic poem called "Shahname," as reported by WBEZ.

This iteration will be featured in his 83-minute-long "Song of the North" production that will employ a 483-strong army of shadow puppets, to be held at the Center for the Arts at George Mason University on Jan. 27.

In addition, a Jan. 26 show will also be exclusively held for students and faculty during their field trip following a performance during the annual Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival.

'Song of the North,' A Culmination of Iranian Culture and Experience

In its entirety, a total of nine ensemble members will be switching with each other to "pilot" the puppets and their respective props with extreme elegance and mastery, as they tell the story of a heroine who is in a quest to stop a war amidst her efforts to save her lover.

This particular story was plucked straight from the epic poem, otherwise known as "Book of Kings," which was written by Persian poet Abolqasem Ferdowsi in 1010 AD as a means to collate his country's myth and history.

"The 'Shahnameh' is like 'The Iliad' and 'The Odyssey' for Iranians," said Rahmanian during an interview with the Washington Post, adding that it has even more relevance than its Greek counterpart.

For the artist, the most recent reference would be during the 2022 "Woman, Life, Freedom" protest in Iran which directly referenced the "Shahnameh" to generate public conversation.

Rahmanian believes that telling the story in the West has a lot of merit, as it is fairly unknown here especially because this is a chance to offer the nuanced aspects of the Iranian image through culture, something that is often vilified within politics.

"Iran is like a symphony - but in the West, you only hear one note from the symphony, and it is not a very happy note," he noted.

Read Also: Mysterious 'Lone Man' Sculpture Succumbs to Australia's Sydney Harbor After Wharf Finally Collapses

Hamid Rahmanian's Efforts to Spread Iran's Stories

Rahmanian decided to move away from his career within the movie industry to focus on realizing his mission of expanding the Western audiences' knowledge and appreciation of Iranian stories like the "Shahnameh."

For this goal, he has even designed and fully illustrated a 600-page book retelling of the epic. In another effort for this particular cause, he and papercraft specialist Simon Arizpe created an award-winning pop-up book dubbed "Zahhak: The Legend of the Serpent King."

However, around ten years ago, the artist initially centered this goal around the medium of theater because his years of experience designing and filmmaking are directly translatable there, along with the medium being quite cost-effective compared to movie production.

This shift in his approach resulted in his shadow puppet stage projects "Feathers of Fire: A Persian Epic," which was made in 2016, and "Song of the North," which will take the stage in the upcoming show in George Mason University.

The latter play features an original score made by Iranian-born composer Loga Ramin Torkian, with its aesthetic made in the image of old artifacts from the region.

"Song of the North" made its debut in Paris last 2022 and broke through the US market later that same year at the Brooklyn Academy of Music.

This 2024 show was almost not possible, however, as Rahmanian recalls an incident with thieves in the latter parts of 2023 that resulted in puppets, costumes, and technical equipment being either stolen, defaced, or destroyed.

Thankfully, a GoFundMe campaign was able to raise more than $100,000 which was then used for recovery efforts. For Rahmanian, this act of kindness was "beyond [his] imagination," enabling him to quickly rebuild what was lost in time for the performances this year.

"America is my host, and I feel I need to give back," said the Iranian artist with a mission.

Read More: David Adjmi's 'Stereophonic,' a Stage Play About Music Production, to Open on Broadway in Spring

 2024 Classicalite All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
After a few days of modest temperatures, dangerously cold air will return to the area through Sunday morning. Amid the incoming cold weather, JXN Water officials said they are cooperating with law enforcement to investigate the origins of 'deliberate' misinformation that impacted its water plant system, leaving residents with low water pressure.

According to the Jackson National Weather Service, temperatures in Jackson are expected to reach a low of around 18 degrees Friday night into Saturday and 17 degrees Saturday night into Sunday with wind chills in the single digits.

Early Friday morning, a hard freeze warning was issued to go into effect from 6 p.m. Friday until noon Sunday. A wind chill advisory is also in effect for the area from 10 p.m. Friday until noon Saturday.

Moving south of Jackson, Friday night temperatures are forecast to be around a low of 20. North of I-20 corridor, some areas such as Greenwood will see a low of 15 degrees and Oxford a low of 10 degrees. For the north portions of the state, temperatures may not rise above freezing Saturday morning.

"Make sure friends, relatives, and neighbors have a warm place to stay, and take precautions to protect pipes, pets, and plants," the weather service said.

Dangerously cold air will return to the area tonight through Sunday morning.

How many in MS have died from storm: Mississippi death toll rises to six from brutal winter storm

JXN Water: 'Deliberate' misinformation investigation backed by judge

As residents prepare for more artic air, JXN Water continues to address misinformation that caused the utility's system to be overworked and left several zip codes in the Jackson area with low water pressure.

According to a Friday morning press release, JXN Water is cooperating with law enforcement agencies due to their concerns that a social media post deliberately attempted to spread misinformation about water plant shutdowns. Officials said this "encouraged" people to fill bathtubs thus overworking the system Wednesday.

Officials said the false rumors may have been a "deliberate attempt to disrupt water services for all JXN Water customers."

JXN Water said the specific wording of the post stated, Just got word they are about to shut off water in Jackson. If youre in Jackson, fill up your tubs and jugs! Get prepared for not having water.

Ted Henifin, interim water manager, for JXN Water, the water system for the city of Jackson, Miss., explains his agency's preparation for cold weather during a news conference, Friday, Jan. 12, 2024, in Jackson.

JXN Water officials said they will be working with the appropriate law enforcement agencies to identify the sources of the post and to determine if these sources had criminal intent, which could lead to prosecution.

According to JXN Water, United States District Court Judge Henry T. Wingate authorized the utility's message.

The news release stated the post went viral at some point on Wednesday afternoon and created an additional demand on the water system of more than four million gallons, resulting in the loss of system pressure for approximately 12,000 customers by early Thursday morning.

How boil water notice came about: Boil water notice issued in Jackson after 12,000 customers affected

How many Jackson customers are without water?

According to press released noon Friday, approximately 1,000 customers throughout south and west Jackson in the previously identified five zip codes still do not have water.

39209  West Jackson along the 49 corridor

39204  West/Central Jackson along 49 corridor to Pearl River and south on east side of 55 between 55 and the Pearl River

39212  South Jackson

39272  South Jackson

39170  South Jackson

The release said the utility has 14 crews repairing large leaks throughout the system and they will continue to work throughout the weekend. Approximately, 85 large leaks have been reported, and new leaks continue to be reported as the ground continues to thaw out.

"JXN Water continues to work on the system to get everyone water as soon as possible. We need everyone's help to accelerate that process by reducing their own water use as much as possible," a statement read. "JXN Water is prioritizing repairs, addressing the larger leaks first. We will get to the smaller leaks as soon as we can."

JXN Water encourages all customers to check JXNWater.com or call the 24/7 call center at 601-500-5200 should they see or hear any information regarding the water or sewer system from sources other than JXN Water.

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Mississippi weather: Hard freeze warning issued for weekend
Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaros personal vaccination records were falsified, according to a bombshell investigation carried out by the countrys current comptroller general. Records show he received a COVID-19 immunization in Sao Paulo in July 2021, Reuters reportedthough a plethora of evidence was uncovered to show that the politicians card had likely been faked. He wasnt even in the city at the time, the investigation found, and the nurse who purportedly administered the injection denied ever seeing Bolsonaro. In addition to this information, the vaccine lot number listed on Bolsonaros paperwork was not yet available on the date provided. Bolsonaros home was raided last year in connection with the investigationduring which time he denied ever receiving the vaccine or tampering with his medical records. Over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic Bolsonaro repeatedly downplayed the importance of vaccination and social distancing measures while grossly exaggerating the potential side effects of immunization.

Read it at Reuters

Read more at The Daily Beast.
Januhairy pushes back against societal norms around body hair.

Januhairy pushes back against societal norms around body hair.

Many people use the month of January to try out lifestyle changes, like going alcohol-free for Dry January or abstaining from animal products for Veganuary. But one January movement you might be less familiar with is Januhairy.

A portmanteau of January and hairy, Januhairy is a movement that encourages people to put their razors down and let their body hair grow out for the month  and then perhaps year-round if they enjoy the experience. While Movember and No Shave November aim to raise awareness around mens health and cancer, Januhairy is about challenging societal beauty norms, especially for women and femme-presenting people.

Its a way for us to question body hair standards and why we follow these societal norms that make us feel like body hair isnt beautiful or feminine or acceptable on a womans body  despite being acceptable on a mans body  and it challenges the feeling that our body hair is innately gross when its just hair, Esther Calixte-Bea, a body hair activist and visual artist, told HuffPost.

Indeed, Januhairy founder Laura Jackson launched the movement just before January 2019 to raise money for a body-image-focused organization called Body Gossip, and to empower women to stop shaving, waxing and lasering  or at least question why they might feel they have to.

I think its an interesting way for women to try to grow out their hair in a collective way, as a form of resistance, as a form of self-experimentation, and as a playful and fun form of rebellion, said Breanne Fahs, a professor of women and gender studies at Arizona State University and author of Unshaved: Resistance and Revolution in Womens Body Hair Politics.

In many ways, Januhairy serves as a reminder that women removing their body hair is a relatively recent phenomenon.

It came about in the early 1920s as a result of several different factors: the advent of fashion photography, the end of WWI and men coming home with their (mandatory) razor kits, the 1918 pandemic moved bathing from communal settings to individual household bathrooms for middle-class households, and the Gillette razor company making a conscious decision to market razors to women and sell them on the grossness of body hair in order to make money, Fahs explained. Prior to the 1920s, women mostly did not remove their body hair voluntarily. This occurred only in the context of colonial conquest, etc.

As fashion trends evolved toward sleeveless tops that showed womens underarms and skirts that revealed a little more leg, Gillette released its Milady Decolette razor for women in 1915 and marketed it as a product that solves an embarrassing personal problem. Although there is evidence of ancient Romans, Greeks and Egyptians removing body hair, women around the early 20th century were not so focused on hairlessness.

Women shaving their legs with mechanical razors in New York City in 1927.

Women shaving their legs with mechanical razors in New York City in 1927.

As a Black woman, I was interested to read an article that shared how it was mostly white women who propagated the idea of a woman being hairless as the ideal, Calixte-Bea said. Ive also heard from women from African countries that they didnt feel obligated to shave their legs until they arrived in America or Canada. My hairiness mostly comes from my Ivorian side, and Ive learned that in my ancestors time, body hair was seen as something beautiful. So i think my body hair tells the story of my family and my ancestors.

While marketers might have made women see body hair as an embarrassing personal problem, the practice of removing it generally has no basis in medical or hygiene concerns.

In reality, hair is normal, and having hair or choosing not to shave your hair is actually embracing what is normal, said Dr. Susan Massick, a board-certified dermatologist at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. Not shaving and leaving hair to grow in places like the armpits, bikini area and legs is not unhygienic. Believe it or not, pubic hair, for example, serves a protective purpose, particularly for womens vaginal health. If people choose or prefer to shave, that is fine to do. Keep in mind that for some people, shaving can actually be irritating to the skin, causing bumpy, painful breakouts and rashes.

In recent years, there have been some shifts toward body hair acceptance in Western culture, but for the most part, the changes havent been as significant as many would hope.

Were seeing some more body hair on-screen, and some companies have even figured out how to sell razors with body-hair-positive marketing, Conger said. But I dont think thats translated into full-blown norm shifting since the vast majority of cisgender women regularly shave our legs and pits.

She pointed to the moment when Julia Roberts revealed her unshaved armpit hair at the 1999 premiere of Notting Hill and the subsequent media frenzy (though the actor later admitted that it was not intended as any sort of statement).

Julia Roberts at the premiere of

Julia Roberts at the premiere of "Notting Hill" in London in April 1999.

She forgot to shave once, and pop culture will never un-remember it, Conger said. Almost 25 years later, if say, Taylor Swift hit a red carpet with visible pit hair, the internet would probably cave in on itself. I think body hair removal is still so persistent partly because the hair-free pressure starts young, and it often comes from peers and parents alike. As long as we expect girls to start shaving, women wont be allowed to stop.

Fahs agreed that notions of the norm shifting have been overstated, with some estimates saying that over 95-99% of women in the U.S., Australia and England still remove their body hair. She finds it encouraging, however, to see women use opportunities like Januhairy to try to grow out their body hair and see how it feels.

Its always better to see the power of a norm by breaking it, and its a great way to understand your body better! Fahs said, sharing what she would say to someone considering taking part in Januhairy. Go for it! It can teach you many things about who thinks they have a say in your body and how you present your body in the world. It can also teach you about your own biases about grooming and femininity related to body hair. Body hair is a powerful site of gender and power!

Conger echoed this sentiment, applauding the movements impact in making folks reconsider this this time-consuming, sometimes painful and expensive femininity maintenance.

Januhairy is an opportunity to opt out of a beauty norm, but more importantly, its a chance to check our own reactions to womens body hair and understand how its different for people with polycystic ovarian syndrome, for instance, or Sikh women who keep kesh, she added.

January is also a particularly good time of year for people to experiment with their body hair if theyre hesitant.

If you live somewhere with a cold winter like I do in Canada, you get to grow out your body hair while covering it outside and not feeling like anyone is going to judge you, Calixte-Bea said.

Conger believes that Januhairy is a catchier way to describe what many women and femme people already do during cold weather months.

Thats the thing about body hair, right? she said. Its only taboo when other people can see it.

Growing out your body hair for yourself in a cold season provides a type of safe space to push back against the norms and discourse that make us see ourselves in a negative light.

Once you get home, you can see yourself as you are, Calixte-Bea added. Its a very liberating experience to see your body as it naturally is and not once youve changed it. Working in retail, Ive seen women of all ages talk about the things they hate about their bodies, but thats not something I want for myself and other women.

Of course, everyone is welcome to try growing out their body hair at any time of year. And if you dont enjoy how it feels, you arent obligated to continue.

I think it is important to normalize hair and having body hair in much the same way society should embrace all body types, Massick said. My philosophy is you do you  do what feels right.

Related...
Semafor Signals

Insights from The Japan Times, Mashable, Nature, and Reuters

The News

Japan has successfully landed a spacecraft  dubbed the moon sniper  on the lunar surface, but the spacecrafts solar panels were unable to generate power.

Scientists with Japanese space agency JAXA were reportedly initially subdued after the landing as they waited to make contact with the spacecraft. JAXAs director later declared that the probe had managed a successful soft landing since it was sending data back to Earth. Without functional solar panels, the probes battery will last only a few hours, but scientists expressed hope that the panels could generate electricity once the angle of the sun changes over the coming weeks.

Japan is only the fifth country to land on the moon. The SLIMs (Smart Lander for Investigating Moon) attempt isnt Japans first: In November 2022, a lander called OMOTENASHI, operating as part of NASAs Artemis I mission, made a landing attempt but did not meet its destination.

SIGNALS

Semafor Signals: Global insights on today's biggest stories.

Once spacecraft targets tiny landing area, theres no point of return

Source: The Japan Times

SLIM was attempting a pinpoint landing, meaning that it had to land in an area of less than 100 meters (328 feet). Most lunar landing attempts target a range of tens of kilometers, the Japan Times noted. Once the spacecraft starts its landing procedures, there is no point of return, Masaki Fujimoto, deputy director-general at JAXAs Institute of Space and Astronautical Science, told the newspaper ahead of the landing. We just have to watch the process believing that we have done all the preparation correctly. You might call it a risk, but thats the way it is when it comes to landing on a large celestial body like the moon. JAXA officials said the probe had managed a high-precision landing, Japan Times reported, but were unsure if had hit its goal of a pinpoint landing.

Landing on the moon remains difficult, six decades on

Source: Mashable

Japans spacecraft attempt to land on the moon in a short, 20-minute window was a challenge: 60 years after the first unmanned landing, actually touching down on the lunar surface remains a difficult task. Just because we went there 50 years ago does not make it a trivial endeavor, Csaba Palotai, program chair of space sciences at the Florida Institute of Technology, told Mashable in August. Since there is no atmosphere to create drag, theres more to landing a spacecraft than floating down to the lunar surface. Theres nothing slowing you down except your engine, Palotai said.

Private companies are racing to the moon, but scientists worry

Sources: Reuters, Nature

Japans private space flight company ispace attempted to land a spacecraft on the moon last April, but the attempt failed when the lander accelerated and fell to the moons surface. No private firm has managed to land a spacecraft on the moon to date  but if a company is successful, it would mark a new era in space exploration, analysts said. The future is there, Mexican astrophysicist Medina Tanco told Nature. You can consider the Moon a new economy.

NASAs commercial moon programme, which aims to buy cheaper and faster rides to the lunar surface from private aerospace companies, could open the door for countries like Mexico to land on the moon, Nature reported. But a former NASA scientist was worried: Can these things land and operate? The science still needs to prove itself.
People raise their hands at a public viewing event in Sagamihara, Japan, after a successful moon landing by the Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (Slim) - KIM KYUNG-HOON/REUTERS

Japan on Friday became only the fifth nation to achieve a soft landing on the Moon, but its space agency said that the crafts solar cells were not generating power.

With the Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM), Japan followed the United States, the Soviet Union, China and most recently India in achieving the feat.

An artist's illustration of the SLIM spacecraft landing on the moon provided by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) - JAXA HANDOUT/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

Jaxa, the Japanese space agency, confirmed that the Slim had landed safely and that it had established contact with the lander.

However, the solar cells are not generating power and data acquisition from the lunar surface is given priority, it said.

Hitoshi Kuninaka, a spokesperson for Jaxa said: The Slim is operated with on-board batteries. The data acquired on landing is stored in the spacecraft, and we are currently working to maximise the scientific results by first transmitting this data back to Earth.

Viewers gather in south Tokyo to watch the SLIM spacecraft attempt an ambitious precision landing on the moon - KIM KYUNG-HOON/REUTERS

Japans mission is one of a string of new projects launched in recent years on the back of renewed interest in the Moon.

The Japanese craft  equipped with a shape-shifting mini-rover co-developed by the firm behind Transformer toys  has been designed to land with unprecedented precision, earning it the nickname Moon Sniper.

Jaxa had set a target area just 100 metres across, far smaller than a usual landing zone measuring several miles across.

A miniature model of the full-size SLIM spacecraft, which weighed 700kg at launch, is displayed at Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency facility in Sagamihara, Japan - KIM KYUNG-HOON/REUTERS

Slim was meant to explore a crater where the Moons mantle  the usually deep inner layer beneath its crust  is believed to be accessible at the surface.

Dr Tomokatsu Morota, an associate professor at the University of Tokyo specialising in lunar and planetary exploration said: The rocks exposed here are crucial in the search for the origins of the Moon and the Earth.

Staff of Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency prepare to watch a live streaming of the pinpoint moon landing operation - Eugene Hoshiko/AP

This includes shedding light on the mystery of the Moons possible water resources, which will also be key to building bases there one day as possible stopovers on the way to Mars.

The possibility of lunar commercialisation depends on whether there is water at the poles, Mr Morota said.

The success of the Slim mission would restore high-tech Japans reputation in space after two failed lunar missions and recent rocket failures, including explosions after take-off.

It would also echo the triumph of Indias low-cost space programme in August, when it became the first to land an unmanned craft near the Moons largely unexplored south pole.

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During the reopening of many New York galleries as the new season was starting last week, a host of different commercial art venues along Chinatown were affixed with anti-Zionist posters. Many of these messages denounced the owners of said galleries.

A Call to 'Stop Selling to Zionists' Posted on Art Galleries

Among the spaces that were hit by this wave of "guerilla protests" are the renowned New York galleries Maxwell Graham and 56 Henry, with the former recently starting its initial exhibition of the year on Jan. 12.

Photos of the affixed posters were shared to Instagram by the ad hoc coalition, Writers Against the War on Gaza or WAWOG, which also noted that they weren't the ones who were behind this "movement."

Messages that were attached to the glass windows of the two galleries both make mention of "colonizing Palestine" and "gentrifying Chinatown," seemingly citing these commercial businesses as "complicit with genocide."

Reiterations of "DO NOT SELL ART TO ZIONISTS" were also posted in the aforementioned galleries' doors, walls, and windows. Other art businesses within Chinatown were also targeted the previous week, with Fierman confirming that it was one of the said galleries.

Read Also: Art From 'Monica,' Daniel Clowes's Acclaimed Graphic Novel, Goes on Show in Paris Exhibition

Exacerbated by the Levy Gorvy Dayan Controversy

Another art gallery that the "hurricane" of posters ran through was Levy Gorvy Dayan, which was already subjected to a similar set of accusatory messages last December.

This time, the posters denounced its owners Dominique Levy, Brett Gorvy, and Amalia Dayan after publicly replying to a pro-Palestine missive sent by Artforum and signed by artists whose numbers are in the thousands last October.

Later on, Artforum also shared a response letter of its own with a "change" in tone as it criticized the prior missive as containing a "one-sided view" before denouncing "all forms of violence in Israel and Gaza" altogether.

In the following days after that particular statement was released, the art publication's editor David Velasco was axed.

Even posters attached to other art galleries like the Dia Art Foundation and the David Zwirner Gallery, whose photos were also shared by WAWOG's Instagram, contained accusations addressed to Levy Gorvy Dayan, alleging the company was "not distressed by the massacre of Palestinians."

In the post made by WAWOG, an unnamed collective of "autonomous art workers" also wrote: "We address LGD because their aggressive collusion with the zionist project is bound to police militarization, displacement, and activist suppression here in NYC."

Read More: Mysterious 'Lone Man' Sculpture Succumbs to Australia's Sydney Harbor After Wharf Finally Collapses

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Japan is in contact with its newly arrived Moon lander, but it appears to be having technical problems, the countrys space agency has said.

The country sent its Slim spacecraft to the lunar surface, with the hope of becoming only the fifth country to successfully land on the moon. The lander arrived early on Saturday morning Japanese time, it said.

Since then, the spacecraft has been communicating with Earth but its solar panels are not generating electricity  and its batteries are rapidly running out, it said.

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) did not know exactly why the solar panels were failing. It may be a result of the solar panels themselves failing but it might also be a result of the spacecraft landing at the wrong angle so that the panels did not face the sun, it said.

Journalists wait for an update on the success of the moon landing at JAXAs Sagamihara Campus near Tokyo (Eugene Hoshiko/AP)

JAXA suggested that Slim is unlikely to stay online and that it was instead maximising the amount of science it is able to gather from the moon before its batteries run out.

It also said it was also working to gather as much data as possible on whether the moon lander might be able to come back online. An update will be provided next week.

The space agency also hopes to gather more information to find out whether the spacecraft had successfully landed on its very precise target. Japan has referred to the Slim spacecraft as the moon sniper because it aimed for a 100-metre-radius target, rather than the usual kilometres.

JAXA said it considered itself to have successfully made a soft landing on the surface since most of the spacecrafts instruments were still working. If it had failed then its functions would have been lost completely, it argued.

If Slim had landed successfully, Japan would have become the fifth country to accomplish the feat, after the United States, the Soviet Union, China and India. It was launched on a Mitsubishi Heavy H2A rocket in September and it initially orbited Earth before entering lunar orbit on December 25.

Many countries and private companies have attempted their own landings and failed. The most recent came last week when a private space company, Astrobotic Technology, launched its Peregrine mission  which failed due to a fuel leak in space and it fell back down to Earth to burn up in the atmosphere.

As the Slim spacecraft descended, JAXAs mission control said that everything was going as planned and later said that Slim was on the lunar surface. But, after it was supposed to have arrived, there was no mention of whether the landing was successful.

Mission control kept repeating that it was checking its status and that more information would be given at a news conference.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida, in 2022 (AP)

At that news conference, JAXA representatives confirmed that communications had been made but that the spacecraft appeared to be losing power.

Slim started its descent at midnight on Saturday, and within 15 minutes it was down to about 10 kilometres above the lunar surface, JAXA said.

At an altitude of five kilometres, the lander was in a vertical descent mode, then, at 50 metres above the surface, Slim was supposed to make a parallel movement to find a safe landing spot, JAXA said.

About half an hour after its presumed landing, JAXA said that it was still checking the status of the lander. It was aiming to land near the Shioli crater, close to a region covered in volcanic rock.

Slim is a lightweight spacecraft about the size of a passenger vehicle. It was using pinpoint landing technology that promised far greater control than any previous moon landing.

While most previous probes have used landing zones about 10 kilometres wide, Slim was aiming at a target of just 100 metres.

The project was the fruit of two decades of work on precision technology by JAXA and the missions main goal was to test new landing technology that would allow moon missions to land where we want to, rather than where it is easy to land, JAXA has said.

Experts say that if Slims pinpoint landing was a success, especially on the moon, it would raise Japans profile in the global space technology race.

Slim was carrying two small autonomous probes  lunar excursion vehicles LEV-1 and LEV-2  which were released just before landing.

LEV-1, equipped with an antenna and a camera, recorded Slims landing. LEV-2 is a ball-shaped rolly polly rover equipped with two cameras, which will take pictures and transmit them back to Earth.

Japan aims to regain confidence in its space technology after a number of failures. A spacecraft designed by a Japanese company crashed during a lunar landing attempt in April, and a new flagship rocket failed its debut launch in March.

However, JAXA has a track record of achieving difficult landings. Its Hayabusa2 spacecraft, launched in 2014, touched down twice on the 900m-long asteroid Ryugu, collecting samples that were returned to Earth.

Additional reporting by agencies
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) just confirmed its small car-sized Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) craft successfully arrived near the Shioli crater and has safely ejected its two small onboard robots. The historic achievement marks Japan's first lunar landing, and makes it the fifth nation to ever reach the moon's surface. According to JAXA officials, however, the SLIM's "Moon Sniper" is not without complications.

"It seems the solar cell is not generating electricity at this point in time," JAXA's president Yamakawa Hiroshi said during a Friday morning news conference . As such, it is currently running on battery power that is only expected to last "several hours."

"We are trying to maximize the scientific achievement," Hiroshi continued, according to livestream translation from Japanese to English.

[Related: Peregrine lunar lander experiences critical loss of propellant following successful launch .]

When asked if the mission is a success or failure, JAXA officials explained they consider soft landing itself successful, and that "most of the equipment is functional." Engineers consider the solar cell problem a "separate issue," and that SLIM is still sending and receiving data, including images, back to Earth.

SLIM launched to Earth orbit alongside an X-ray telescope on September 6, 2023. After a few weeks' of diagnostic tests and observations from JAXA engineers, SLIM initiated an engine burn to leave Earth orbit on September 30, where it then begin its multi-day journey towards the moon. The craft maintained an orbit around the moon since October 4, and began landing procedures on January 19 at approximately 10:20am EST.

Fridays achievement breaks an international streak of recent lunar mission failures. Less than 24 hours before SLIMs soft landing, Astrobotics Peregrine spacecraft, originally destined for the moon, burned up upon reentry into Earths atmosphere. Peregrine successfully launched on January 8 from Cape Canaveral, FL, but soon suffered a " critical loss of propellant " that ensured it would not reach its intended destination. In April 2023, the Japanese company ispaces Hakuto-R achieved a lunar orbit, but crashed during its landing attempt.

Even if SLIM's solar cell issues vastly shorten its lifespan, confirmation of its intended precision landing would mark a major moment for Japan's space program. JAXA representatives estimate it could take roughly a month before knowing whether or not SLIM landed within 100-meters of its intended site. Officials, however, already expressed optimism regarding the achievement during Friday's livestream.

"It used to be landing where we could, now we can land where we want," said one JAXA representative.
Japans lunar lander has reached on the surface of the moon, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency said Friday, but an issue with its power supply has put the mission in jeopardy.

The unmanned module known as the Moon Sniper landed on the moons surface at approximately 10:20 a.m. ET Friday (or 12:20 a.m. Saturday Japan Standard Time), officials with Japans space agency said.

The spacecraft touched down near the small Shioli crater just south of the Sea of Tranquility, where NASAs Apollo 11 made its historic moon landing in 1969. (Five other successful Apollo missions  and one famously failed mission  followed.)

During a livestream broadcast, officials with the Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) mission initially said that they were working to determine the spacecrafts condition and that its status was unknown. They confirmed the landing at a press conference later Friday but said that the lander's solar cell is not generating electricity and that the mission may end prematurely.

Journalists watch a livestream of the moon landing mission at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Sagamihara Campus near Tokyo. (Eugene Hoshiko/AP)

Researchers were hoping to study rocks around the landing site to gain insights into the moons origin.

When meteorites and other objects strike the moon, they create craters as well as rocky debris that litters the surface, CNN explained. These rocks intrigue scientists because studying them is effectively like peering inside the moon itself. Minerals and other aspects of the rocks composition can potentially shed more light on how the moon formed.

The race to return to the moon

The moon as seen from Catania, Italy, on Thursday. (Fabrizio Villa/Getty Images)

Since the Apollo missions, just four other countries have landed on the moon: the former Soviet Union (six times, first in 1970); China (three times, first in 2013); India, whose Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft touched down near the lunar south pole last August; and Japan with its landing Friday. None of those missions were manned.

There have been numerous other recent attempts by multiple space agencies at moon landing missions. And all have failed.

Last April, Japans Hakuto-R lunar lander crashed onto the moon during a landing attempt.

A scale model of the Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) spacecraft is displayed at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Sagamihara Campus near Tokyo Friday. (Eugene Hoshiko/AP)

In August, Russias Luna-25 also crashed onto the moon during the countrys first attempt to return to the moon since the Soviet Unions fall.

Last week, Astrobotic Technologys Peregrine spacecraft  the first U.S. lunar lander to launch since the Apollo 17 mission in 1972  had to turn back after suffering a critical fuel leak and burned up upon reentry over a remote area of the South Pacific.

As a result, NASA has pushed back its Artemis III mission to put astronauts back on the moons surface by at least a year, or the end of 2026.
Semafor Signals

Insights from the New York Times, Sixth Tone, and The Times





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A Japanese author disclosed she used generative AI to write an award-winning novel, demonstrating the technologys growing impact on culture. Rie Kudan, 33, announced at the Akutagawa Prize ceremony this week that about 5% of her book (Sympathy Tower Tokyo) included verbatim sentences generated by ChatGPT.

Last year, a Chinese professor also used AI to write a science fiction novel in just three hours, and went on to win a national competition. Kudan said she turned to AI to help her find soft and fuzzy words that embodied the muddled themes about justice present throughout her book, which the prize committee called flawless.

I want to use the words with care, and to think about the positive and negative aspects of language, Kudan said. The judges determined her book was a highly entertaining and interesting work that prompts debate about how to consider it. The use of generative artificial intelligence has become hotly debated among creative professionals, many of whom fear rapid adoption of the technology could pose a threat to their livelihoods.

SIGNALS

Semafor Signals: Global insights on today's biggest stories.

Authors have already begun using AI in their writing

Sources: New York Times, South China Morning Post

A Tsinghua University professor won a national science fiction honor after generating his entire book, , using AI technologies. The South China Morning Post reported that not all the judges were able to tell the difference: One said the language was weak, but another argued she paid attention to creativity and scene description. A book critic for The New York Times argued that AI wont completely replace humans in literature, stating that authors are embracing the latest iteration of an ancient literary conceit: the fantasy of a co-author, a confidant, a muse. Poets and novelists once turned to seances, Ouija boards and automatic writing for inspiration. Now they can summon a chatbot to their laptops, he added.

Countries differ in their legal approaches to AI-generated art

Sources: Sixth Tone, The Verge, The Guardian

A Beijing court recently granted copyright protection to a picture generated using the AI text-to-image generator Stable Diffusion, stating that it was directly created from the plaintiffs intellectual input, and manifested in (his) individual expression. One copyright expert told Sixth Tone that the case opened the door for other half-human, half-AI works to potentially be given intellectual property protections. In contrast, the U.S. Copyright Office said that AI-generated images are not the product of human authorship. Platforms like Amazon already require self-published authors to disclose the use of AI in their writing, which the U.K.s Society of Authors said will ultimately benefit human authors and their readers.
[Source]

A Japanese author has opened up about getting help from ChatGPT shortly after winning one of the countrys most prestigious literary awards.

Driving the news: Rie Kudan, 33, on Wednesday received the coveted Akutagawa Prize  one awarded for budding writers  for her novel Tokyo-to Dojo-to (Sympathy Tower Tokyo). Set in a futuristic Tokyo, the AI-themed novel delves into the challenges faced by an architect in building a high-rise prison.

Aided by AI: After receiving the award, Kudan admitted at a press conference that she had utilized ChatGPT in her writing process. She said about 5% of her novel was generated by the AI program, including inspiration for some of the dialogue.

I made active use of generative AI like ChatGPT in writing this book, Kudan said, according to AFP. I would say about 5% of the book quoted verbatim the sentences generated by AI.

Trending on NextShark: Model of Ukrainian descent becomes Miss Japan 2024, sparking debate

Reactions: Kudans revelation has drawn mixed responses. The prize committee, which reportedly deemed her work as practically flawless, did not see her use of ChatGPT as problematic.

It seems that the story that Rie Kudans award-winning work was written using generative AI is misunderstood If you read it, you will see that the generative AI was mentioned in the work, writer and committee member Keiichiro Hirano wrote on X, as per CNN. There will be problems with that kind of usage in the future, but that is not the case with Tokyo Sympathy Tower.

The public, on the other hand, was more divided, with some reportedly raising the alarm on plagiarism.

Trending on NextShark: Japanese literary award winner admits getting help from ChatGPT

So she wrote the book by deftly using AI ... Is that talented or not? I dont know, one X user noted, as per AFP.

If AI-generated works are subject to evaluation, then from now on, as AI evolves further, that would mean a work almost entirely created by AI would be OK too, no? another user questioned, according to The Japan Times. In that case, it would no longer be a competition between humans but a battle between AIs. Would that be alright when AI is prohibited in chess and go matches?

The Society for the Promotion of Japanese Literature, which organizes the biannual prize, has not commented on the matter as of this writing.

Trending on NextShark: Viral video of Chinese tourists' confrontation with UK pianist sparks debate

The big picture: Kudans win follows a series of controversies involving the use of AI in the arts. Last year, for one, a group of authors including John Grisham, George R.R. Martin and Jodi Picoult filed a class-action lawsuit against OpenAI  the company behind ChatGPT  for allegedly using their copyrighted works while training the programs large language models.

What's next: Kudan, who also confessed to confiding with ChatGPT about her personal problems, said she wants to maintain "good relationships" with AI and co-exist with it to further unleash her creativity.

Trending on NextShark: Kyte Baby CEO under fire for denying employee remote work while her baby was in NICU

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Touch Down

While Japan has technically become the fifth country in the world to land a spacecraft on the surface of the Moon, following the Soviet Union, the United States, China, and India, its lander didn't stick the landing and its power reserves are quickly running out.

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agencys Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) landed just after 10:21 am EST, seemingly surviving its "20 minutes of terror."

But it's a bittersweet moment: while it's survived its journey to the surface largely unscathed and is communicating with stations back on Earth and even receiving and responding to commands, JAXA officials confirmed at a press conference that its solar cells are not generating power.

It's still unclear exactly why, though it sounds like the lander likely touched down at an awkward angle that's keeping it from generating solar energy. Officials are still investigating the exact cause.

Officials also confirmed that to preserve battery life, the team shut has off the spacecraft's heating elements.

In short, Japan has made it to the Moon  but it just quite didn't stick the landing.

Try, Try Again

Japan has made three attempts to land on the Moon over the last few years using commercial landers, but none of them have made it to the surface in one piece.

It's been a tough stretch for Moon exploration efforts. The news comes after Pittsburgh-based space startup Astrobotic's Peregrine lander experienced an "anomaly" after launching earlier this month, "causing a critical loss of propellant." The spacecraft, which was meant to be the first US Moon lander to softly touch down on the lunar surface in over half a century, subsequently drifted towards the Earth's atmosphere and harmlessly burned up.

Despite several setbacks over the years, the globe's renewed interest in the Moon is really starting to pick up. NASA is hoping to return humans to the Moon within this decade as part of its Artemis program.

In August, India successfully landed its Vikram lander in the rough terrain of the Moon's south pole.

Despite not being able to keep its batteries charged, Japan's SLIM mission was far from a total write-off. The lander was carrying two much smaller robotic landers on board, including a transforming, ball-shaped robot that was inspired by a children's toy.

Fortunately, both successfully deployed while SLIM was making its approach today.

More on the lander: Japan Launches Mission to the Moon
A group of Jewish House Democrats is pushing back hard against recent comments by Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu opposing a Palestinian state.

In a brief, two-sentence statement issued Friday, the lawmakers condemned Netanyahus position, stating that the creation of an autonomous Palestine, existing alongside Israel, is the best strategy for securing a lasting peace in the volatile region.

We strongly disagree with the Prime Minister, the lawmakers said. A two-state solution is the path forward.

The statement was endorsed by 15 Jewish Democrats in the lower chamber, including prominent veteran lawmakers such as Reps. Jerry Nadler (N.Y.), the senior Democrat on the Judiciary Committee; Jamie Raskin (Md.), the senior Democrat on the Oversight and Accountability panel; Adam Schiff (Calif.), the former chair of the Intelligence Committee; and Jan Schakowsky (Ill.), a chief deputy whip in her 26th year on Capitol Hill.

The other lawmakers signing onto the statement are Reps. Jake Auchincloss (Mass.), Becca Balint (Vt.), Suzanne Bonamici (Ore.), Steve Cohen (Tenn.), Dan Goldman (N.Y.), Seth Magaziner (R.I.), Mike Levin (Calif.), Dean Phillips (Minn.), Kim Schrier (Wash.), Brad Sherman (Calif.), and Elissa Slotkin (Mich.).

The brevity of the Democrats statement reflects the sensitive nature of the debate: The Jewish liberals have strongly supported Israels right to defend itself following the Hamas attack of Oct. 7, but theyve long opposed many of the specific policies of the far-right Netanyahu administration.

Other House liberals were not so cautious in their condemnation of Netanyahus remarks.

The Prime Minister isnt simply saying no to the United States, he is saying no to the possibility of a secure and prosperous future for his own people and the people of Palestine, and that is unacceptable, Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.) said.

The pushback arrives amid Israels ongoing military operations in the Gaza Strip in response to the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas militants that killed more than 1,200 people. Netanyahu stirred a nest of controversy Thursday when he rejected global calls  including those from the Biden administration  to scale back the intensity of the fighting for the sake of protecting Palestinian civilians.

More than 25,000 Palestinians have already been killed in the conflict, according to Gazas health ministry  which is associated with Hamas but has historically reported accurate mortality data  and more than 80 percent of the Gazan population has been displaced.

Netanyahu also raised eyebrows for rejecting calls for a two-state solution, which hes long opposed, with warnings that it will create a safe haven for Hamas to launch attacks on Israel in the future.

Israel, he said, must have security control over the entire territory west of the Jordan River.

That collides with the idea of sovereignty [for Palestinians]. What can we do? he added. This truth I tell to our American friends, and I put the brakes on the attempt to coerce us to a reality that would endanger the state of Israel.

The remarks prompted an immediate response from the Biden White House.

We obviously see it differently, said John Kirby, the administrations national security spokesperson.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
More than 30 years have passed since Jodie Foster's Oscar-winning turn as Clarice Starling in "The Silence of the Lambs." The actor says it's taken until now to find a role that's affected her as deeply.

The part? Liz Danvers in "True Detective: Night Country," the HBO anthology series which launched its latest season on Jan. 14.

"I think 'Silence (of the Lambs)' is the closest experience that I've ever had to this  where you jump on something because you love the material so much and everybody jumps on and does their best work because they respond to that material and the depth of it. And then you do the best work of your life," Foster says during a sit-down interview with TODAY.com.

Created, written and directed by Issa Lopez, Season Four of "True Detective" is a gritty, Alaska-set mystery. Foster acts opposite Kali Reis as Evangeline Navarro as their characters unravel linked mysteries: The disappearance of a group of scientists from a research station and the death of a local indigenous woman.

Filmed in Iceland, the series is set in Ennis, a fictional town located in the northern reaches of Alaska, and takes place during Polar Night, an annual phenomenon in which night lasts all day during the winter months.

Like "The Silence of Lambs," Foster portrays a law enforcement agent in "True Detective." But according to the long-time actor, that's where the similarities end.

"(Clarice Starling) is a memorable character, but she's very different then Liz Danvers," Foster tells TODAY.com. "I think even though they have the same job. I don't believe (Clarice) would've grown into Danvers' character."

Anthony Hopkins, Jodie Foster, Scott Glenn (Everett Collection)

Instead, Foster theorizes that Starling would have likely ended up leaving the FBI and moving to small town somewhere to do "good work." Nothing like Liz Danvers, who Foster says is "cynical and jaded" and definitely "not in a nice way."

"She's kind of awful, but she's hiding something," adds Foster, offering a potential clue to plot developments in episodes yet to come.

Calling her "True Detective" character "damaged," Foster explains the psychology behind why the Alaskan cop is so categorically unlikable.

"She's grieving and doesn't want to face demons that will involve suffering. Like all of us, I think we don't want to suffer. In her case, I guess that's what the tough veneer is hiding; she just doesn't want to fall apart."

It's not a character that Foster can necessarily relate to and says that over the course of her storied career, she's never taken on a role quite like her "True Detective" counterpart. "I think Liz Danvers is pretty far from me, I don't think I've ever played anyone like her."

The part that does come closest to representing her?

"The character that's the most me is probably Ellie Arroway in "Contact," says the actor of her role as an astronomer and astrophysicist in the sci-fi film.

Jodie Foster True Detective (Alamy)

Based on the best-selling Carl Sagan book by the same name, the 1997 movie paired Foster with Matthew McConaughey, who, in a full-circle sort of way, is one of the executive producers on "True Detective" Season Four. McConaughey also starred alongside Woody Harrelson in the first season of the HBO show nearly a decade ago.

While many fans contend Season One of "True Detective" is the series' best, the latest installment is generating just as much buzz, in part due to the on-screen chemistry between Foster and Reis, a professional boxer and relative newcomer to the acting scene.

"I embraced everything about Evangeline, about the role and about it being so early on in my career, taking on this massive franchise of a show that I'm a fan of, working with Jodie  I'm a huge fan of her work. It was a challenge that I welcomed," says Reis, who joins Foster in talking to TODAY.com.

Deviating from the typical "buddy cop" trope, the relationship between Foster and Reis is tense and contentious after a falling out over the unsolved murder of a local woman.

True Detective (HBO)

"The characters are in conflict, not only with each other, but with themselves," says Foster. "So they have a lot of contradictions, a lot of complexity and layers. They're not just one thing. And I think that's refreshing."

Reis, who identifies as being of Native American descent, says the role provided an opportunity to increase awareness around the rate at which indigenous women go missing or are murdered. She shares her character's passion for justice for these women.

"Evangeline Navarro has such a passion and a drive to fight for whats just, for women and women who don't get their just due," says Reis.

"These women in this show don't have a voice. She's being the voice. She's trying to find these answers. That's what I got taught personally. There's a lot of me that goes into Evangeline," she explains.

The new series marks the first time Foster has appeared on the small screen in more than four decades. "I haven't done it as an actress probably since the '70s," she tells TODAY.com. "I do work in television on streaming and, for me, that's really where the narrative is. So, I'm super excited about coming back on to TV."

The return to television is an experience that Foster says she "loved," along with working alongside Lopez, who Foster says "was everything I have always wanted in a director."

Both Foster and Reis agree that, all up, making "True Detective: Night Country" was nothing short of extraordinary.

"We knew that everybody was going to see it eventually, but if nobody saw it, I think we'd be as proud of it," says Reis.

"You just don't have an idea that somehow other people are going to be watching. You forget about that until the show's out. It was really just for us. It was just a special experience for us," adds Foster.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com
(Bloomberg) -- Two of Indonesias presidential contenders are in intensive talks to form an alliance to beat frontrunner Prabowo Subianto, showing how policy differences come second to winning in the race to lead Southeast Asias largest economy.

Most Read from Bloomberg

In recent weeks, officials backing former Central Java Governor Ganjar Pranowo and former Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan discreetly met several times to discuss a possible pact. That may include intensifying their campaigning in areas dominated by Prabowo in an attempt to dilute his votes and force a runoff election, according to people from both camps who declined to be named as the matter is sensitive.

Under the proposed alliance, Ganjar or Baswedan  who is campaigning on an opposing policy platform  will endorse each other should the Feb. 14 election go to a runoff in June. The defense minister is now leading opinion polls by a wide margin in his third bid for the presidency, with Ganjar and Baswedan trailing behind.

Any alliance between Ganjar and Baswedan would only be firmed up should there be a runoff election, the people said. The talks have progressed to the point where both parties are already discussing how to divide cabinet seats should either one become the next president.

Baswedan declined to elaborate on any talks to form the alliance in an interview with Bloomberg News on Tuesday, but he didnt rule out the possibility.

Lets not get ahead of ourselves  we dont know the result yet, he said ahead of a campaign event on the eastern island of Sulawesi. We are focused on Feb. 14. We want to get as much support as possible.

When asked about the potential alliance, Ganjars campaign leader Arsjad Rasjid said the team is focused on winning the February election. On Jan. 9, Ganjar himself told reporters everything is possible when asked about rumors of the talks that had been circulating in local media for days.

Jokowis Influence

While the target is painted on Prabowo, the pact is more an attempt to prevent President Joko Widodo from extending his policymaking influence through his eldest son who is Prabowos running mate, the people said.

The talks picked up pace after Jan. 5 when Jokowi, as the incumbent leader is popularly known, was photographed having a one-on-one dinner with Prabowo, they said. That dinner, coupled with earlier meetings he had with the defense minister since late 2022, have signaled that the president has thrown his support behind Prabowo, alarming people in the two rival camps and cementing their view that Jokowi is working behind the scenes to secure Prabowos victory, the people said.

Less than a day after the dinner, Jokowi started inviting top members from political parties supporting Prabowo to the presidential palace where they discussed the election, the leader told local media.

Favored Contender

While Jokowi hasnt openly endorsed any candidate, his son Gibran Rakabuming Raka becoming Prabowos running mate has led to the defense minister being widely seen as the presidents favored contender. Gibrans path to becoming the nations youngest-ever vice-presidential candidate was paved by a Constitutional Court ruling presided by Jokowis brother-in-law, who was later dishonorably removed from his post over the decision.

Indonesia is less than a month away from its election when over 204 million eligible voters will choose a leader to oversee the $1.3 trillion economy. The next leader will take over from Jokowi whos wrapping up his final term after nearly a decade in power. Its likely to be a long election season  if none of the three candidates secure at least half of the vote, there will be a runoff in June.

--With assistance from Philip J. Heijmans.

(Adds comment from Ganjars campaign team in seventh paragraph.)

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

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By Marc Jones

LONDON (Reuters) - The United States and other top powers need to use their influence with Israel to end the ongoing "carnage" in Gaza, Jordan's Prime Minister, Bisher al Khasawaneh, said on Friday.

Jordan, which shares a border with the occupied West Bank, has been highly critical of Israel's bombardments of Gaza with Khasawaneh saying on Friday that they "ticked all the boxes of war crimes against humanity."

Israel has denied allegations that it has committed war crimes.

Khasawaneh said heavyweight international diplomacy and influence was needed to secure a ceasefire.

"Leadership is needed from our American friends and our American partners, and from various capitals in the world, that can influence the decision making process in Israel in genuine terms to bring this carnage to an end," the Jordanian prime minister said at an event at the London School of Economics.

He added that public opinion in the West was clear in its concerns about the violence and the pressure the international rules-based system was being put under around issues such as providing aid to the devastated parts Gaza.

"The main powers are under not only just a morale responsibility but also an obligation in the context of preserving the rules-based international system to come and tell the current Israeli government that this needs to stop," he said.

The hope was that then things could "move into a mode that fundamentally resolves this vicious cycle of violence and killing," said Khasawaneh, who had been met with loud protests as he arrived at the event from LSE students and Arab diaspora.

Israel and its biggest backer the United States appear at odds now, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his right-wing coalition government largely rejecting the establishment of a Palestinian state even though Washington maintains that the two-state solution is the only feasible way to bring lasting peace to the region.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in his fourth trip to the Middle East last week since the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas, took a rough agreement to Israel that its predominately Muslim neighbours would help rehabilitate Gaza after the war and continue economic integration with Israel, but only if it committed to eventually allowing the creation of an independent Palestinian state.

The latest episode of hostilities in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict started when Hamas militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people and taking 240 hostages. Israel says more than 130 remain in captivity.

Israel responded to Hamas' assault with a siege, bombardment and ground invasion of Gaza that have devastated the tiny coastal territory and killed more than 24,000 people, according to Gaza health officials.

U.S.-brokered talks on a Palestinian state in territory now occupied by Israel collapsed almost a decade ago.

(Reporting by Marc Jones)
Is Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley having an identity crisis? Or does he just want to have it both ways?

Theres the Hawley who stands with Donald Trump. The fist-pumping Hawley on Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington, D.C. The election-denier Hawley. The Hawley who tweeted Congratulations to the next President of the United States after Trump won the Iowa Republican presidential caucus.

And then theres this Josh Hawley: the one who wrote a 4,300-word treatise on Our Christian Nation in the February 2024 issue of the journal First Things  an essay that paints a very different picture from what a second Trump administration would look like.

Which is it, Sen. Hawley? Dictator on Day 1, as Trump has promised, or discipleship?

To get an idea of who Trump thinks he is, I refer to a recent promotional video short titled God Made Trump, created by a group called the Dilley Meme Team and circulated on Truth Social, Trumps answer to social media. Trump didnt produce the ad, but he shared it. The clip also was shown during his rallies for the Iowa caucuses.

The video reverently speaks of Trump as a messianic figure who was born to save America. Besides the fact that the video is a rip-off of Paul Harveys God Made a Farmer (I refuse to call it an homage), its flippant  the producers took a beautifully written ode to the American farmer and created a piece of overlord propaganda  and lacking in authentic spirit.

Even though most Republicans believe Trump is a man of faith, the video shows exactly who Trump thinks he is.

The video uses terms such as shepherd to mankind, caretaker and someone not afraid to go into the den of vipers that, apparently, are journalists.

Even Iowa pastors werent impressed: In interviews they denounced the ad, said it was demeaning, sickening, and stated that Trump is not the Messiah.

Which brings me back to Josh Hawley.

Whose shared moral order?

In Our Christian Nation, Hawley writes about what Christianity is and what it isnt. And its not all about abortion.

He describes the tenets of the faith as he understands them, using what most would agree are values conservatives cling to: traditional gender definitions, marriage and family, following the Bible and individual liberty. (Free will, anyone?)

But he also steps away from some right-wing ideology that might surprise fans of Make America Great Again.

Hawley writes: A few claim the title Christian nationalist, a term usually deployed as abuse by the left. The debate has become mired, however, in false starts and bad ideas. Some want to write the Apostles Creed into the Constitution (one such bad idea). Others pine for a Protestant Franco (disastrous). Still others hint at ethno-racial separatism (absolutely not).  Every nation depends on a shared moral order; that ours is Christian; and that to renew that order, we must strive to make our society reflect again, in our day, the principles of the gospel.

What?

Dont get me wrong, I agree with his concerns about dumping the separation of church and state, segregation and totalitarianism. But forgive me if Im confused by these words and his prior pro-Trump actions and statements.

Because Trump, through his own actions and statements, has shown he does not follow the gospels message of tolerance, kindness, forgiveness and love. Does Trump deserve to lead Our Christian Nation?

If anything, Hawleys essay tries to convince conservatives to come back to the Christian faith. We know that a section of conservatives, especially evangelical Christians, have gotten quite a bit of attention in recent election cycles. Who will or wont win them over?

Hawley seems to be concerned that there arent enough of them. Lets define evangelical for a moment. Jesus Christ, in his Great Commission, told his apostles in Matthew 28:19-20 to go out and win more souls:

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.

This is evangelizing. Im not sure that all those who take on this title  or those who call themselves Christian nationalists  are following everything Jesus commanded. The Jesus who took the sides of, ate with and did not condemn sinners.

No strong man at odds with insurrection

Hawley writes: Those Christians who argue that America needs a Franco or, from a different quarter, that the Creed should be inscribed in the Constitution have misunderstood our history  and court danger. Americas Christian culture has never depended on a strong man or on established churches or legally prescribed statements of faith. Nor has it depended on racial homogeneity, another thing some calling themselves Christian nationalists appear to advocate. No! The gospel of Jesus Christ destroys every form of racialism. The church of Christ has never been premised on race, nor has America.

Reading parts of Hawleys essay gives me hope  for a moment. No strong man? No one race? No racialism? All good. But his line about America not being premised on race gives me pause. Thats for another column.

Still, kowtowing to a leader who has harassed women, incited an insurrection, emboldened the intolerance of others and endangered our democracy does not match the tenets of these words.

Sen. Hawley, if you, as a deep-thinking man of faith, ascribe to your idea of a Christian nation and the teachings of Jesus Christ, I implore you to work with the Republican Party and find a new leader to follow.
TOPEKA, Kan.  Kyle Flack, a man convicted of capital murder plus first and second-degree murder for killing four people in Franklin County, Kansas, in 2013, will stay on death row after the Kansas Supreme Court affirmed his convictions and sentencing Friday.

Kansas highest court had been considering whether Flack invoked his right to remain silent before making key statements that led to him being convicted in the murders of 21-year-old Olathe woman Kaylie Bailey and her 18-month-old daughter Lana, as well as Ottawa men Andrew Stout, 30, and Steven White, 31.

Sporting KC parting ways with director Gavin Wilkinson amid controversy

A majority of the court rejected his right to remain silent argument after his defense team said his repeated pleas of, Take me to jail! Take me to jail! were clear indicators that he wanted to stop talking with officers.

That is something that objectively reasonable officers would recognize as an invocation of these rights, appellate defender Clayton Perkins previously argued to the court.

The majority ruled that Flack didnt meet the standard of the Fifth Amendment that protects against self incrimination because neither he nor the officers clearly acknowledged he wanted to stop talking.

They also rejected his death penalty challenge, saying Section 1 of the Kansas Constitution Bill of Rights right to life provision shouldnt be defined as absolute.

Frank White vetoes Royals, Chiefs stadium tax ordinance

Justice Evelyn Wilson dissented from the majority regarding Flacks right to silence, saying she would reverse the first and second-degree murder convictions, vacate the death sentence and remand for a new trial. She said the courts analysis penalized Flack for, failing to utter the proper incantation  despite his repeated, clear requests that the detectives take him to jail.

She concurred with courts decision on upholding Flacks capital murder conviction, citing overwhelming evidence in the killings of Kaylie and Lana Bailey.

Following the courts decision, Flack will continue to be one of nine prisoners on Kansas death row. Kansas hasnt executed a prisoner since hanging George York and James Latham in 1965.

A Franklin County jury convicted Flack in 2016 for shooting the four victims in April of 2013. The adults were found on a farm while the toddlers body was found in a creek.

Even after Flacks trial, it wasnt clear what led to the shootings, which detectives believe happened over separate days. The defense argued that Flack, who was 28 at the time of the crimes and is now 36, suffered from a severe mental illness that caused him to hear voices throughout adulthood.

The Associated Press contributed to this story

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports.
Katalinas, home of the pancake balls, to open third central Ohio cafe

BEXLEY, Ohio (WCMH)  Katalinas, a central Ohio brunch spot known for its pancake balls, is opening a third location.

Katalinas Tres is opening in Bexley later this year, taking over the building formerly home to Boston Market at 2741 E. Main St., the cafe brand announced Tuesday on social media. The 2,200 square-foot location will feature an expanded patio and a dedicated parking lot.

Katalinas Tres is opening in Bexley, taking over the building formerly home to Boston Market. (Couresty Photo/Katalinas)

The new cafe will mark Katalinas third central Ohio restaurant, after the first opened in Harrison West at 1105 Pennsylvania Ave. in 2010 and Katalinas, Too opened in Clintonville at 3481 N. High St. in 2019. Announced in 2022, plans to build a Franklinton cafe at 480 W. Town St. were later abandoned.

Korean barbeque restaurant opens in Dublins Bridge Park

Katalinas is home to the Original Pancake Balls, filled with the customers choice of Nutella, Dulce de leche or pumpkin-apple butter. The little cafe with lots of local goodness also features Mexican French Toast, several breakfast and lunch sandwiches, award-winning breakfast tacos along with soups and salads.

Both Katalinas are open 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily. Learn more and view the full menu here.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to NBC4 WCMH-TV.
The Prince and Princess of Wales visit the Rainbow Centre, Scarborough, which offers help and support to anyone in need. It is estimated she will not return to public duties before March 31 as a result of surgery - CHRIS JACKSON/AFP via Getty Images

It has been well over a decade since you could walk past a British newsstand without seeing the face of the Princess of Wales. Beloved by newspaper and magazine readers, her photographs and rare public words are pored over by admirers, while royal gossip draws the worlds attention like no other.

That the Princess of Wales is to be out of action until at least Easter will leave an unexpected vacuum for the modern Royal family, who have gradually and unintentionally come to rely on her so much.

This enforced absence, brought about by major abdominal surgery requiring up to two weeks in hospital, will only serve to highlight what an asset she has become to both family and Firm.

As Princess, mother, and champion of children, the former Kate Middleton is increasingly called irreplaceable by breathless commentators who admire her poise, undisputed beauty and commitment to her family.

As of now, that hyperbole becomes fact: she is, quite simply, irreplaceable.

This is not down to her volume of work. Neither she nor the Prince of Wales go in for the relentless daily schedules of his older relatives. Rarely is a ribbon cut or a plaque unveiled on their watch.

Instead, she has carved out a unique space in the royal landscape. After finding her passion for early years, she has tailored most of her working life around her mission to change life for the next generation.

The Princess of Wales officially opens the Evelina London Childrens Day Surgery Unit at Guys and St Thomas Hospital, London in December. She has tailored most of her working life around her mission to change life for the next generation - Ian Vogler/PA

A glance at the court circular shows a stream of early years engagements, broken up with a visit to highlight mental health and communities here, or supporting the King in his duties there.

At state events and overseas visits, which have been noticeably reduced recently, the Princess shines like no other: the star of her generation.

In the constant cycle of the monarchy, which sees handsome princes and princesses step into the spotlight before eventually being replaced by their own children, the 42-year-old mother of three is the woman of the moment.

It provides a curious dilemma for the palace.

Her months-long absence will not see anyone stepping in to fill her shoes to help out. Other members of the family will not be turning up to long-planned engagements about early years. Well-intentioned as it would be, the Princesss projects are designed around her own expertise and convening power.

The way she has designed and built the early years project means the work can and will continue in the background while she is out of the office, a source said.

The Princess of Wales, visits the Dame Kelly Holmes Trust, which helps young people develop skills and confidence. A source said 'her work will continue in the background while she is out of the office' - Kin Cheung/AP

Three days ago, the chief executives of leading British businesses met at Kensington Palace without her, working on a future project between the financial sector and childhood development.

When absent, it is said, the Princess can actively follow it from home.

In a surprise statement on Wednesday, the palace said the Princess wishes to apologise to all those concerned for the fact that she has to postpone her upcoming engagements.

She looks forward to reinstating as many as possible, as soon as possible, a spokesman said.

Plan to come back with a bang

The plan, said a source, is for the Princess to be back with a bang as soon as is feasible. It is estimated that she will not return to work before March 31, with the Wales childrens Easter school holidays  usually blocked off in the family diary  extending for another few weeks after that.

She will miss the Bafta ceremony in February, a short planned tour to Italy and some day-to-day engagements.

There is no sign yet that she will not be fighting fit for Junes Trooping the Colour and customary balcony appearance, after taking the salute at the Colonels Review for the first time as Regimental Colonel of the Irish Guards.

The Prince and Princess look forward to returning to public duty as soon as possible, continuing their work to shine a light and make an impact on some of societys challenges, said a spokesman.

The vacuum, of course, will need to be filled to some extent. Monarchists will hope that other members of the Royal family, hardworking but less lauded, will get the credit they deserve.

The Princess Royal will be first in line to stand in if her brother the King needs his own downtime after an operation to correct prostate enlargement. She already does investitures, represents King and country overseas and is a reliably popular choice for those bread-and-butter engagements which pack her diary.

On target: Kates charity work has made her a hit with the public. She has a 72 per cent approval rating - DANIEL LEAL/AFP via Getty Images

The Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, too, keep up a steady schedule of public duties, rarely receiving coverage to match the Waleses through no fault of their own.

On Thursday, the reliably cheerful Sophie was busy dancing with guests at a party for Elmbridge Mencap, which runs social clubs for people with learning disabilities and their families.

Princess Beatrice, Princess Eugenie and Zara and Mike Tindall are not working royal figures, but already undertake charity work amid paid jobs. The Tindalls, in particular, look set to be an asset to the Royals, with public popularity soaring.

What on the face of it is a crisis  the Big Three of the King and William and Kate, the next king and queen, all out of action at the same time  could become a brief but welcome corrective after the drama of the past few years.

Those who fly under the radar (and are admittedly happy to do so, in the case of Princess Anne) are more likely to have their work noticed by the public.

Public approval

The most recent YouGov poll of royal popularity showed Prince William at 74 per cent positive opinion, Princess Anne at 73 per cent, and the Princess of Wales at 72. The King enjoyed 60 per cent approval, with Queen Camilla at 47 per cent and Prince Edward at 53. The Duchess of Edinburgh, formerly known to the public as Sophie Wessex, was not part of the survey.

The re-establishing of a whole-family firm, after the difficult years of Megxit, Covid lockdowns and the death of Elizabeth II, may then prove a blessing in disguise.

The Princess of Wales can recover in hospital and at home, safe in the knowledge that she will be missed but not replaced. It is fervently to be hoped that she can rest; a rare chance to be out of the public gaze and focusing on her own wellbeing.

The King, quoted via a friend in Robert Hardmans new biography of the monarch, already thinks she is doing a wonderful job, not just with her royal duties but also bringing up his grandchildren.

No one else should, would, or could do it quite the same.

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Ken Paxton basically confessed, and that wasnt even the weirdest thing he did all week.

Before Texas attorney general filed papers saying the whistleblowers were actually right all along about the facts of his impeachment, Paxton bizarrely blamed the whole thing on two Democrats far from Texas: Joe Biden and George Soros.

It has been 21 years since Democrats had any say in Texas. That party has dwindled so much in Austin, Republicans have to bicker with each other.

Yet at campaign rallies in Beaumont and across Texas on his I-Didnt-Get-Removed Tour, Paxton made that wild claim and more:

 Somehow, Paxton also now says, the same Senate Republicans who graciously spared him from removal were actually out to boot him and take his job.

There were several Republicans, particularly attorneys, who wanted my job, Paxton, a McKinney Republican elected as a religious conservative, said in a Beaumont appearance Monday captured in an online video. So they were organizing behind the scenes.

Its the See? Theyre Out to Get Me campaign strategy. It seems to be in vogue this year.

But this is a paranoid Paxton biting the hands who supported him.

 Next, Paxton said Biden was behind the effort to remove him.

Im convinced that they wanted to impeach me, and this came from Joe Bidens administration, he said, although evangelical Christian Republicans in his own office grew disgusted and reported him breaking the law or his oath.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (left) and President Joe Biden.

The White House went to the Democrats in Austin, Paxton said, and said, Get rid of Paxton. 

He did not explain why Texas Republicans would want to help Biden.

He also did not explain how Biden made Paxton conceal an affair with a real estate developers secretary.

 Finally, in his strangest comment, Paxton said the Republican judges on Texas highest court were elected by George Soros.

This started when Paxton lost a case a couple of years ago at the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals where judges ruled he cant prosecute criminal cases such as voter fraud.

Texas attorney general is not like in other states. Ours represents the state in lawsuits. Its up to district attorneys to chase criminals.

Ken Paxton has lost his mind. On Monday in Beaumont as part of his revenge tour he alleged that all but one judge of the Republican 9 member Court of Criminal Appeals was funded by George Soros. Paxton tells many whoppers but that is a whale of a whopper. pic.twitter.com/x9goccHuu6  Jim Boyle (@JimGBoyle) January 18, 2024

So, the judges went by the Constitution.

Paxton didnt argue that.

Instead, he argued simply that if the attorney general cant lock illegal voters up, then Republicans cant win.

He described Presiding Judge Sharon Kellers high court as judges that no one knows.

In an Alex Jones-worthy version of the big lie about election fraud, Paxton said Democratic donor Soros put those members on there because nobody knows whether theyre Republicans or not.

Nobody knows their names, Paxton said. Even the players dont know who they are.

I checked a couple of the judges campaign donations.

Their biggest contributor was Houston-based Texans for Lawsuit Reform, donor of $63 million to Republicans over three decades.

The judges themselves cant respond due to ethics restrictions.

See, this gets forgotten, but Paxton is free on $35,000 criminal bond.

His Collin County fraud case is supposed to go to trial in April. It might someday go before the high court.

So basically, Paxton can bully them any way he wants and get away with it.

If he cant arrest illegal voters, he said, then election integrity will be left up to Democratic big-city district attorneys.

If that happens, he said, then the magic is done. ... Anybody can cheat as much as they want in Texas.

Paxton should know.

As Texas AG @KenPaxtonTX admits his office broke the Whistleblower Act in an apparent bid to avoid a deposition, Chair @leachfortexas, who was an impeachment manager, says he has no regrets and told @KarinaKling this week that Paxton is a "sophisticated criminal" #txlege pic.twitter.com/FgSnHtVwLf  Scott Braddock (@scottbraddock) January 18, 2024
A Republican lawmaker has filed a bill that would require schools to inform parents if their child says that they are transgender, would bar school employees from being disciplined for not using a transgender person or students pronouns, and disallow school districts from requiring personnel or students to use correct pronouns for anyone at the school.

House Bill 304 from Rep. Shane Baker, R-Somerset, would amend state statute put in place last year with the passage of the divisive Senate Bill 150. LGBTQ rights advocates in Kentucky and across the nation called the bill one of the most anti-trans pieces of legislation in the nation while social conservatives cheered it for being pro-parental rights.

Senate Bill 150 banned gender-affirming health care for trans minors, restricts classroom teaching on gender and sexuality, stops districts and schools from asking teachers to use a trans students pronouns, and mandates districts create policies that prevent trans students from using restrooms or locker rooms that align with their gender identity.

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While the most-discussed aspects of Senate Bill 150 were the provisions added to it at the last minute  the ban on gender-affirming care for trans youth  Bakers bill amends other portions of the law codified by the bill related to schools.

Whereas Senate Bill 150 barred the state department of education and local school boards from requiring teachers use trans students correct pronouns, House Bill 304 would add school employees cannot be disciplined for not using the correct pronouns of any trans person, including teachers and staff.

That same rule barring school employees from referring to adult trans staff by their pronouns would also apply to students.

Bakers bill also makes more explicit certain statutory requirements around fundamental parental involvement.

Parents must be notified within two business days, for instance, if a student requests or receives health services or mental health services related to sexual conduct or behavior, sexual orientation, or sexual identity.

Likewise, school staff must notify parents within two days if their student expresses a gender different from his or her biological sex.

This new requirement should exist, the bill reads, as a way to create a safe and supportive learning environment for students, and to facilitate and support parental rights and involvement in the students life.

This same rule would apply if its discovered a school employee is engaged in a romantic or sexual relationship with a student; if a student is being bullied or harassed; if theres a marked drop in a students grades; or if the student gets physically injured at school.

Any faculty member found to have knowingly or intentionally violated aspects of the law would be subject to discipline from their licensing board and risk certification suspension.

The bill also would amend state law to allow on-duty school employees to join voluntary, student-initiated, student-led prayer, when invited by students to do so.

Baker has focused on similar issues in the past, filing a bill last session that mirrored parts of what became Senate Bill 150.
KANSAS CITY, Mo.  KIDZ BOP, the #1 kids music brand, announced an all-new tour for the summer of 2024 on Friday.

KIDZ BOP will hit the stage at Starlight Theatre in Kansas City on July 20, 2024.

How much of an impact is Taylor Swift having on the NFL?

Presales begin on Monday, Jan. 22, including Citi and Spotify presales. The general on-sale tickets start on Friday, Jan. 26.

The KIDZ BOP KidsAleah, JJ, Shila, and Tylerwill perform popular songs like Dance The Night, Greedy, Vampire, and more.

Download the FOX4 News app on iPhone and Android

The tour news comes with the release of KIDZ BOPs latest album, KIDZ BOP 2024, which came out Friday.

There are also four different KIDZ BOP VIP Packages available, which include premium tickets, exclusive merchandise, a pre-show dance party, a post-show Meet & Greet with the KIDZ BOP Kids, and a group party experience.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports.
Kim Kardashian said tanning beds help her psoriasis. She's not entirely wrong, but it's still ultimately a huge cancer risk.

Kim Kardashian recently stirred up controversy for having a tanning bed in her office.

She claimed that using it helps with psoriasis, a skin condition related to an autoimmune disorder.

Light therapy can help with psoriasis, but tanning isn't the same thing and increases cancer risk.

Kim Kardashian claimed that a tanning bed helps her treat a skin condition  but evidence suggests using one may not be worth the risk of serious side effects like cancer and premature aging.

Kardashian spoke out on X (formerly Twitter) after Allure critiqued the tanning bed featured in her brand SKKN's office, which she showed off in a recent TikTok tour.

"I have psoriasis and it really helps when it's bad. But I don't use it too often," she wrote.

Kardashian was diagnosed in 2011 with psoriasis, an autoimmune disorder that can cause a rash of flaky, red, and itchy skin.

While phototherapy, a special type of light treatment, can be used to ease psoriasis symptoms, it's not the same thing as a tanning bed, and dermatologists don't recommend tanning as a substitute.

Phototherapy uses ultraviolet (UV) light in a controlled setting with doctor supervision to treat psoriasis of the skin, scalp, and nails, according to the American Academy of Dermatology Association.

It often involves a type of light ray called UVB: while all UV light can damage our skin, UVA is the more prevalent type of radiation from the sun, and penetrates more deeply into the skin than UVB. The interaction between UV rays and the skin is what causes a tan, which is technically damage to the cells.

Tanning beds primarily use UVA light, which causes not only damage, but also skin aging (including the development of wrinkles) and increased risk of skin cancer, according to the MD Anderson Cancer Center.

A 2015 study found that tanning beds may offer a more accessible form of UV treatment for psoriasis patients, but have a risk of significant side effects like higher risk of skin cancer.

The World Health Organization classified tanning as carcinogenic, or cancer-causing, and studies suggest it can increase your odds of developing certain types of skin cancer by 58%.

The National Psoriasis Foundation does not recommend tanning beds as a treatment for psoriasis, noting that UVA can be ineffective without special medications, and because of the strong link to skin cancer.

Business Insider reached out to a representative for Kim Kardashian for comment but did not hear back by publication.

Read the original article on Business Insider
The King leaves RAF Marham on his way to the Sandringham Estate, where he will rest prior to his prostate surgery next week - Ikon Pictures

The King has been pictured for the first time since his prostate diagnosis was revealed as he returned from Scotland to Sandringham.

The 75-year-old monarch was spotted leaving Birkhall, his private home on the Balmoral estate in Aberdeenshire, in the back of an Audi.

The Queen, 76, was in the passenger seat, and the couple were accompanied by their protection officers.

The King was later seen leaving RAF Marham in Norfolk, headed to Sandringham, where he and his wife spent Christmas and the New Year.

Next week, he will undergo a corrective procedure in hospital after being diagnosed with a benign enlarged prostate on Wednesday.

On Thursday, the Queen said he was fine and looking forward to getting back to work.

She is said to have delayed her own return from Scotland on Thursday to stay with her husband. It is not known whether she returned to Sandringham or headed home to Ray Mill House, in Wiltshire.

Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month, then enjoy 1 year for just $9 with our US-exclusive offer.
A U.S. Army Master Sergeants remains will return home to Valdosta by the end of January for burial.

According to the U.S. Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, U.S. Army Master Sgt. Roy E. Barrow, a Valdosta native, will be returned to Georgia for burial on Jan. 27.

He was officially accounted for and identified in Sept. 2023, after being reported missing in action on Dec. 12, 1950.

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Barrow was a veteran of World War II, but continued to serve in the U.S. Military after the war, DPAA said.

DPAA said that like many of his comrades who remained in the service, his rank was reduced to Master Sergeant when he was called to serve in the Korean War. Barrow joined King Company and was a member of the 3rd Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division.

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In 1950, he was killed while his unit was attacked by enemy forces near the Chosin Reservoir in North Korea, and he was reported missing in action. The exact circumstances of his loss remain unknown, according to officials.

In 1954, North Korea turned over the remains of soldiers back to the United States during Operation Glory.

The remains were reportedly recovered from prisoner of war camps, United Nations cemeteries and isolated burial sites, DPAA said in a statement. None of the remains could be identified as Barrow and he was declared non-recoverable on Jan. 16, 1956.

One set of remains brought back, designated Unknown X-15869 Operation Glory, was disinterred in 2013 by the DPAA.

Decades after being reported non-recoverable, X-15869 was identified as Barrow and a rosette was placed by his name on the Courts of the Missing at the Punchbowl to show he was identified and accounted for.

MSG Barrow will be returned to Valdosta and buried on Jan. 27, 2024.

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MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Kremlin said on Friday it regretted Argentina's decision not to join the BRICS bloc of nations and hoped that Buenos Aires would reconsider.

Argentina's incoming Foreign Minister Diana Mondino said in November that his country would not join the BRICS grouping of developing nations despite being invited to do so. President Javier Milei has chosen instead to deepen ties with the United States.

In a call with reporters, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said of Argentina's decision:

"Of course this is regrettable, but this is the sovereign right of Argentina, and we respect any decision of Buenos Aires.

"We, in turn, as far as Argentina is concerned, hope that over time the leadership of this country may consider it more profitable for itself to return to BRICS."

The BRICS bloc of developing countries, which formerly consisted of Brazil, Russia, India and South Africa, is in the process of expanding to admit other nations.

In addition to Argentina, the bloc in August agreed to admit Saudi Arabia, Iran, Ethiopia, Egypt, and the United Arab Emirates in a move aimed at accelerating its push to reshuffle a world order it sees as outdated.

(Reporting by Filipp Lebedev; Writing by Felix Light; Editing by Andrew Osborn)
Increases to the average teacher salary since fiscal year 2017 havent kept up with the increases in state aid to education.

In the years since the Blue Ribbon Task Force met in 2016 to pass a half-cent sales tax boost to increase what was then last-in-the-nation teacher salary, the statewide average teacher salary has risen 13% from $47,096 in FY17 when the change took effect, to $53,217 in FY23.

When state aid rose 12% that first year, the statewide average teacher salary rose by 11.7%. Teacher salary increases outpaced state aid increases in FY18 and FY19, but have been less than a percentage point behind in the four years since.

The disparity is something Gov. Kristi Noem called out in her budget address in December as she questioned, Why should we continue to send money to school administrators and school boards when they do not pass it along to teachers?

She proposed a 4% increase in state aid to education and encouraged it to go directly to teacher salaries.

More: Inflation, turnover, little aid: Why South Dakotas landmark teacher pay law failed

In her State of the State address earlier this month, Noem said teachers would be the first priority and would be paid more, but did not propose exact solutions to raise teacher salaries.

Her stance on the issue has changed throughout her tenure as governor, but her office hasnt answered questions about what caused her shift in position. Yet, school district leaders disagree with her stance and say theyve been diligent about raising teacher salaries despite inflation and rising costs, as evidenced by data.

Are districts not passing money along to teachers?

Teacher salaries are determined by state aid, by local decisions made by district administration who propose the budget each year, and by school boards who approve the budget, which not only includes state, but federal and local funding streams, too.

We cannot dictate to schools how these dollars are spent, but I would encourage all of them to put as much of it into pay increases as they can, Noem said in her 2022 budget address regarding state aid to education.

Noems tone changed in her December budget address as she advocated schools put the money from state aid directly into teacher salaries. Her office would not answer the Argus Leader's questions about why Noem changed her stance toward the issue. Teacher pay will certainly be a topic of conversation during the legislative session this year.

Its inaccurate to say districts havent been sending state aid to teacher salaries, Tea Area School District Superintendent Jennifer Lowery said. The Tea Area school board and administration have been incredibly diligent in their responsibility to invest in teachers and staff, she explained.

The average teacher salary has risen 18% in Tea from $44,521 in FY17 to $52,537 in FY23.

From left to right: Jennifer Lowery, superintendent of the Tea Area School District; Tim Graf, superintendent of the Harrisburg School District; Jarod Larson, superintendent of the Brandon Valley School District; and Jane Stavem, superintendent of the Sioux Falls School District, speak during a Greater Sioux Falls Chamber of Commerce meeting on Thursday morning, April 13, 2023.

Sen. Reynold Nesiba (D-Sioux Falls), a member of the Teacher Compensation Review Board, noted in September that its important to continue communicating that any increase to education funding doesnt mean all of that funding goes toward increasing teacher pay, but to that and to other costs districts have.

What else do schools have to pay for with state aid?

As the demands to pay educators more money increases, so do the salary demands of other positions within the school, such as administrators, bus drivers, cooks, custodians and more.

A tremendous portion of state aid to school districts covers teacher salaries and benefits, but also has to cover positions like custodial, transportation and administrator salaries and benefits, which arent covered by separate special education or food service funding sources; electricity and water bills; diesel or propane buses; and, operational non-capital pieces, Lowery said.

For example, salaries for administrators increased more than teacher salaries did between the 2016-2017 school year and the 2021-2022 school year, according to data the DOE presented to the Teacher Compensation Review Board (TCRB) over the summer.

Teacher salaries increased by 7.84% during that time frame, while middle school principal salaries increased by 9.27%, elementary school principal salaries increased by 11.06%, high school principal salaries increased by 14.43% and superintendent salaries increased by 15.48%.

Educators asked the TCRB during the summer to consider looking into the overhead rate, capital outlay and general funds. Doug Wermedal, executive director of the Associated School Boards of South Dakota, said in August that demands into funding other areas of education can impact how teacher salaries are realized.

Sandra Waltman, director of government relations and communications at the South Dakota Education Association, also said in August that with the current overhead rate at 38.78%, for every $100 a school district has, theres an expectation $61 to $62 of that should go toward teacher compensation, and the remainder go to everything else."

More: Could another change in South Dakota's school funding formula be coming?

The reality is districts have to pay much more for a lot of the other positions than previously, Waltman said.

If (the state) doesnt address the overhead rate, its going to continue to drag down teacher salaries across the state, Waltman said. Target teacher salary and average teacher salary are starting to deviate. (South Dakota) is probably never going to have those two numbers match up, but our concern (is to) look at why those numbers are deviating.

Board member and Aberdeen Superintendent Becky Guffin said in August that districts are paying for other parts of education in an unprecedented manner, including health insurance for employees, natural gas and pay for non-certified staff such as custodians, as the district competes with other industries in the city for those workers.

Have local districts increased teacher salaries since FY17?

Harrisburg School District Superintendent Tim Graf said his district has given the same percentage increase, or better, to teachers as its received from the state in the past few years. Its also given a higher percentage to support staff than its received from the state, he said.

Harrisburg's average teacher salary has increased 25.1% from $44,343 in FY17 to $55,475 in FY23.

With the opening of two new buildings, this creates some additional inefficiencies which makes passing along teacher increases more difficult and something that is not sustainable, Graf said. Each of the 148 school districts across the state have their own unique situations.

Superintendent Tim Graf talks about Freshman Academy with (left to right) architect Steve Jastram, assistant principal Brad Seamer and principal Ryan Rollingner at Harrisburg Freshman Academy in Sioux Falls, South Dakota on Friday, August 11, 2023.

Prioritizing teacher and staff compensation is crucial for our laser-like focus on the creation of learning environments that result in success, Brandon Valley School District superintendent Jarod Larson said.

While the statewide average teacher salary rose 13% from $47,096 in FY2017 to $53,217 in FY2023, heres how those salaries rose in local school districts during the same time period, according to a report from the School Finance Accountability Board:

25.1% in Harrisburg, from $44,343 in FY17 to $55,475 in FY23.

21% in Lennox, from $42,698 in FY17 to $51,661 in FY23.

20.6% in Garretson, from $42,262 in FY17 to $50,947 in FY23.

20.3% in Brandon Valley, from $49,588 in FY17 to $59,661 in FY23.

18% in Tea, from $44,521 in FY17 to $52,537 in FY23.

14.5% in Baltic, from $45,406 in FY17 to $51,993 in FY23.

11.5% in Sioux Falls, from $51,063 in FY17 to $56,932 in FY23.

10.5% in West Central, from $47,969 in FY17 to $53,000 in FY23.

9.6% in Dell Rapids, from $44,796 in FY17 to $49,083 in FY23.

9.2% in Tri-Valley, from $47,008 in FY17 to $51,349 in FY23.

Statewide, the increases ranged from 35.7% in Elk Mountain ($37,456 to $50,811) to 2.5% in Rapid City ($51,335 to $52,621).

While Noem did not propose exact solutions to raise teacher salaries in her State of the State Address, she said in her budget address that shes working with Graves to bring some ideas to the Legislature about how to bridge this gap.

Thats most likely along the lines of what the TCRB directed the DOE to do in its meetings over the summer: craft an updated teacher salary/compensation accountability model that enhances average teacher salaries at the district and state levels.

This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: Where does state aid for education in South Dakota go?
Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba is working to set up a call between President Volodymyr Zelensky and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, the minister said in an interview with Bloomberg on Jan. 18.

Beijing has urged a peaceful solution to the Russia-Ukraine war but refused to join sanctions against Moscow or condemn its aggression, maintaining close ties with Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

The Ukrainian and Chinese presidents have spoken only once since the start of the full-scale war in a phone call last year's April.

"There are things that they can talk about," Kuleba told Bloomberg at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

Setting up a direct channel between Xi and Zelensky is part of Kyiv's efforts to gather support for Ukraine's upcoming Global Peace Summit.

After meeting Swiss President Viola Amherd in Bern, Zelensky announced that the Alpine country agreed to host the summit.

As part of preparations for the event, Ukraine organized four international gatherings to discuss Kyiv's 10-point peace formula. The most recent one was held in Davos, just a day before the start of the World Economic Forum, with the participation of over 80 nations.

China's representative did not take part in the Davos peace formula meeting, even though there was a Chinese presence at an earlier gathering in Saudi Arabia last August.

Ukraine and its allies have repeatedly appealed to Beijing to use its influence over Russia and help bring the war to an end.

Read also: Ukraine war latest: Zelensky attends Davos forum, meets NATO, EU chiefs

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The West must get serious about strangling Russias ability to produce weapons, Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba wrote on X (Twitter) on Jan. 19.

Kuleba pointed out that up to 95% of the foreign-produced critical components found in Russian weapons destroyed in Ukraine come from Western countries.

The components, likely sent to Russia by private firms, are not necessarily military goods but also dual-use or civilian products and even domestic appliances.

"Whatever they are, they end up flying into Ukraine to commit war crimes, kill people, and destroy critical infrastructure," Kuleba said.

He stressed that Ukraine would require less assistance and would lose fewer lives if all of the murky schemes and sanction evasion loopholes were thoroughly tracked down and completely closed.

Read also: Despite sanctions, Russian missiles still being built with free world components - Zelenskyy

The West has the best financial intelligence, experts, and specialized institutions with the capacity to track sanctions evasion and disrupt it.

However, he wrote, the lions share of the responsibility lies with the companies themselves: they must control the end-users of the goods they sell abroad and make sure that their spare parts do not end up in weapons killing people.

Disrupting supplies of spare parts to Russia requires large-scale, concerted efforts by both theprivate and public sectors. But it will save the lives of many civilians in Ukraine and damage Putins war machine," Kuleba argued.

Russian missiles contain a large number of foreign components, including from the free world,despite Western sanctions, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his evening address on Jan. 18.

Read also: Sanctions have had minimal impact on Moscow's ability to import arms and military equipment - Study

He called on Ukraine's allies to block Russia's circumventing of sanctions and thanked those partners who understand the importance of this work.

Zelenskyy previously raised this topic in his address to World Economic Forum (WEF) participants in Davos on Jan. 16.

Despite sanctions, Russian imports of military goods have only slightly decreased , according to a joint study carried out by the Kyiv School of Economics (KSE) and the Yermak-McFaul Expert Group on Russian Sanctions on Jan. 12.

Russian imports of military units reached almost $9 billion for January-October 2023, which is only 10% less than before Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the study said.

Read also: Ukrainian anti-graft agency uncovers over 40 non-Russian components in X-59 missiles

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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
The Kyiv City Prosecutors Office has opened a criminal investigation into the obstruction of the work of investigative journalist Yurii Nikolov after unknown individuals attempted to enter his home and threatened him.

Source: Kyiv City Prosecutors Office

Quote: "According to the investigation, a group of individuals came to an apartment building in [Kyivs] Darnytskyi district, where a journalist working for a media outlet lives, on 15 January. These individuals committed unlawful acts while standing in the hallway in front of the journalists apartment.

Law enforcement officials are currently working to establish the identities of these individuals."

Details: The prosecutors office did not name Nikolov as the journalist in question, but the context makes it clear that Nikolov is indeed the journalist.

The Darnytskyi District Prosecutors Office has launched criminal proceedings with respect to attempts to obstruct Nikolovs professional duties and harass him in connection with his professional activities (Art. 171.2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).

Background:

Investigative journalist Yurii Nikolov said that unknown individuals had tried to enter his apartment on 14 January. Anonymous sources shared a video on Telegram showing a group of men standing in front of Nikolovs apartment and threatening him.

Kyiv police said it had launched an investigation into the threats to Nikolov.

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VEON, the Dutch telecommunications operator and parent company of the Ukrainian mobile operator Kyivstar, revealed a 3.6 billion hryvnias ($95 million) revenue loss due to the major cyberattack conducted by a Russian hacker group in December, the company announced in a statement on Jan. 18.

The nearly $100 million revenue loss stems from costs incurred restoring services, replacing lost equipment, or compensating external consultants and partners. Veon also notes in its financial impact assessment that any additional costs for further remediation measures for Kyivstar customer is uncertain and cannot be estimated.

On Dec. 12, Ukraine came under a massive cyberattack which targeted Kyivstar and one of the country's largest banks, Monobank. People across the country reported internet and network outages, as well as issues with air raid alerts.

The Russian hacker group Solntsepek, linked to Russia's military intelligence agency, claimed responsibility for the cyberattack.

Russia has been repeatedly accused of backing cyber-crime groups in attacks against its rivals. Moscow has also deployed its cyber capabilities against Ukraine, including attacks on government institutions, the defense sector, and energy infrastructure.

According to dev.ua, Solntsepek has carried out hostile activities against Ukraine in the past, which included revealing the personal details of Ukrainian soldiers.

Read also: Russian hacker group claims responsibility for Kyivstar cyberattack

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Feature: Nauru recognizes one-China principle as locals celebrate

Xinhua) 09:47, January 19, 2024

A man uses a fishing net to catch seafood in the sea in the Republic of Nauru, Jan. 18, 2023. (Xinhua/Wang Shen)

YAREN, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- Nauru, a pearl in the Pacific Ocean, attracts tourists from across the world with its beautiful tropical scenery and unique customs.

The island country on Monday announced that it will recognize the one-China principle and sever "diplomatic relations" with Taiwan authorities. Xinhua hired a local reporter and set up a reporting office in Nauru on the same day.

After a five-hour flight from Brisbane, Australia, a Xinhua correspondent arrived at the Nauru Airport, becoming the first Chinese reporter to enter the Pacific island nation after Nauru's government announced that it is willing to resume diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China.

Nauru's sunshine and people leave a strong impression on visitors. The island nation, located about 42 km south of the equator, enjoys a tropical rainforest climate.

Feeling happy about the government's decision, a Nauruan who only identified herself as Sarabi told Xinhua at the airport that people in Nauru welcome more Chinese tourists to come and hope Nauru and China become good partners.

The Parliament Building, museums and World War II Monument on the small island all feature historical and cultural characteristics of Pacific island countries.

Chinese companies have been working in Nauru for years to help improve local infrastructure. China Harbour Engineering Company Ltd. undertook the project of re-developing the Aiwo Port, including building a new wharf and a revetment, among other facilities.

Zhu Wei has been working on the project for five years. As a production manager, Zhu said that the new wharf has played a significant role in improving local logistics capacity.

"In the past, the old wharf was too small for container ships to dock directly, and they only came once every two months. Now the containers can dock directly at the new wharf, and they come every month or even every 20 days," Zhu said.

On Sept. 3, 2022, the new wharf was inaugurated and became operational. Nauru's trade of goods formerly relied on transshipment at sea; now container ships can directly unload goods at the wharf. Zhu recalled that many people excitedly poured into the port to take pictures.

"I do recognize the one-China principle and I agree with the government. It severed relations with Taiwan. It's good. I have high expectations for the China-Nauru relationship," said Joshua Scotty, a local legal practitioner.

"China, Nauru, we are one," Sarabi told Xinhua.

A man uses a fishing net to catch seafood at Anibare Bay in the Republic of Nauru, Jan. 18, 2023. (Xinhua/Wang Shen)

A yacht sails on the sea at Anibare Bay in the Republic of Nauru, Jan. 18, 2023. (Xinhua/Wang Shen)

A man uses a fishing net to catch seafood in the sea in the Republic of Nauru, Jan. 18, 2023. (Xinhua/Wang Shen)

A man rides a motorcycle on a road near the sea in the Republic of Nauru, Jan. 18, 2024. (Xinhua/Wang Shen)

People use fishing nets to catch seafood in the sea in the Republic of Nauru, Jan. 18, 2023. (Xinhua/Wang Shen)

People enjoy themselves at Anibare Bay in the Republic of Nauru, Jan. 18, 2023. (Xinhua/Wang Shen)

(Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Liang Jun)
DEDHAM  A lawyer for Karen Read, the woman whose controversial murder case converges with the jailing of the Holden blogger known as Turtleboy, told a judge Thursday that he expects federal prosecutors to release information about their investigation into the Read matter shortly.

At a hearing in Norfolk Superior Court, David Yannetti, one of Reads lawyers, said federal prosecutors had pledged to release information about their probe to Read and prosecutors from Norfolk District Attorney Michael Morrisseys office prior to Reads trial in March.

Yannetti, calling such a step almost unheard of, disclosed the information while arguing for the public release of letters between Morrissey and federal prosecutors.

Fox 25 reported last month that federal prosecutors had opened an inquiry into the Read matter  an unusual step because federal prosecutors do not generally get involved in state murder cases.

Read is accused of murdering her boyfriend, Boston Police Officer John OKeefe, by backing into him with her SUV outside a home in Canton on Jan. 29, 2022, after a night of drinking.

Her defense team  bolstered by coverage of the case by Holdens Aidan Kearney, known as Turtleboy has argued that Read is innocent and that authorities have engaged in a sweeping cover-up to protect the occupants of the home, where they suggest OKeefe was beaten.

Acting U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts Joshua S. Levys office has not detailed the scope of its inquiry. Supporters of Read, including Kearney, have predicted it will expose corruption and vindicate their views.

Yannetti appeared to buoy that idea Thursday, telling a judge that Morrissey was a target of the federal probe. However his statement was quickly batted down by Morrissey and Levy.

A spokesman for Morrissey called the statement a complete misrepresentation, adding that Levys office has never indicated that Morrissey, or anyone in his office, is a target of the probe.

Federal prosecutors corroborated Morrisseys statement Thursday evening.

In connection with this (Karen Read) matter, at no time has the U.S. Attorneys Office named any person or entity as a target of an investigation, to anyone, Christina Sterling, a spokeswoman for Levys office, wrote the Telegram & Gazette in an email.

Morrissey's office on Friday, according to Fox 25's Ted Daniel, withdrew its opposition to the release of the letters between itself and federal prosecutors.

In a motion Daniel posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, Morrissey's office wrote that while it still believed its legal argument to be sound, it "now moves for the release of all correspondence to ameliorate the prejudicial effect of (Yannetti's) false impression to the court and the public."

Yannetti did not respond to an email seeking comment Thursday. In court Thursday, he said that federal prosecutors had told him and Morrisseys office that they could not in good conscience allow Reads case to go to trial without disclosing some of their information.

Reads case has become a hotly debated subject in Massachusetts and beyond, partly as a result of coverage from Kearney.

Aidan Kearney in Norfolk District Court on Dec. 26.

'Turtleboy' alleges he was set up

Kearney has been charged with intimidating witnesses in the case, and is in jail after his bail was revoked following allegations by an ex-girlfriend of witness intimidation and domestic assault.

At a Jan. 8 hearing in which he contested the womans restraining order against him, Kearney alleged the charges were a setup by authorities hoping to put him in jail and learn more about the federal probe.

According to audio of the hearing the T&G obtained through the Massachusetts Trial Court, Kearneys lawyer, Timothy Bradl, suggested that the woman had partnered with police to exact revenge on Kearney.

Kearney testified that his ex-girlfriend told him shed spoken to police and the prosecutors pursuing him for witness intimidation shortly after their Dec. 9 breakup.

Kearney testified the woman told him authorities wanted information about the federal investigation. He testified he was told authorities had asked for information into a purported FBI probe of a state police lieutenant investigating Kearney, information on Reads relationship with Levy, information on whether Read had disclosed details about a grand jury to Kearney, and whether Reads defense team had paid Kearney for his coverage.

Levys office declined a request for comment on Kearneys testimony, as did state police. Morrisseys office referred a request for comment to Kenneth Mello, the special prosecutor handling Kearneys criminal cases, who could not be immediately reached Friday.

At Kearneys arraignment in the domestic violence case Dec. 26, Mello alleged that Kearney grabbed his ex-girlfriend and pushed her into a couch during an altercation on Dec. 23.

The Dec. 23 altercation happened after the ex-girlfriend had texted Kearney a photo of a grand jury summons shed received, and the two met to discuss it, something Bradl had advised against.

Mello argued Dec. 26 that Kearney assaulted the woman during the meeting and, in the process, intimidated a witness who was slated to testify about him.

Bradl and Kearney argue Kearney never assaulted her, and that authorities made her a witness to bait him into an intimidation charge.

The woman, a registered nurse whod dated Kearney from September to December, took the stand Jan. 8 and was peppered with accusations from Bradl.

Bradl, through questions and later statements to the judge, alleged the woman to be an unstable person with mental and substance abuse issues who wanted revenge on Kearney after he spurned her.

He alleged that the woman, after breaking up with Kearney, spoke with a rival of Kearneys on social media, and also with police and prosecutors pursuing Kearney in his witness intimidation case.

The woman confirmed during testimony that she had spoken with the rival, police and Mello after her breakup with Kearney, but denied accusations that she had worked with authorities to conspire against Kearney.

Bradl pointed out that the state police officer to whom the woman had spoken, not the woman herself, called Medfield police to report the alleged assault, and accused the woman of lying in her affidavit for the restraining order.

Under pointed questioning, the woman said it was true shed asked Kearney to come to her home the day before the alleged assault, but said it was a mutual decision for Kearney to come to her home the day it allegedly occurred  testimony Bradl argued was contradicted by text messages.

The woman testified she was not hurt when she contacted the couch, which she said happened during a struggle over notes Kearney had taken regarding conversations with his rival.

"(He) kind of pushed me in the process of trying to wrestle me for the notes," she said. "My knees were at the couch level, so I  he pushed me into the couch, and I thereafter fell onto the couch."

The woman testified Kearney yelled at her during the interaction, and that she was in fear of him afterward, alleging that she believed he would post sexually explicit information about her and embarrassing information about her children online.

The woman admitted to telling Kearney some things in texts she did not believe  including that she was sorry for speaking to his rival  but said she would have told him anything he wanted to hear to protect herself and her children.

Kearney testified that the woman, not him, had surreptitiously recorded the two having sex in her home, and that they regularly exchanged sexual messages in December.

Kearney admitted on cross-examination to posting sexual content about another ex-girlfriend online, saying he only did so after that person posted sexual content about him first.

Kearney testified he wasnt upset at his ex-girlfriend for her alleged betrayal, saying that his heart broke for her.

Bradl read aloud several text messages Kearney sent the woman, including ones in which Kearney stated he was not vengeful and that life was too short for grudges.

Lawyer: Turtleboy says he is a different person than he used to be

Kearneys blog has long been criticized for its crude language and often harsh treatment of people about whom he writes. Bradl said Kearney wrote in the messages that he is a different person now than he was years ago.

The woman confirmed she received her grand jury summons from state police hours after a Superior Court judge, over the objection of prosecutors, declined to set new restrictions on Kearney following his arraignment on 16 witness intimidation charges Dec. 22.

Bradl alleged the woman baited Kearney to come to her apartment with the texts. The woman told Bradl the state police who served her the summons to testify told her, upon her query, that it was OK for her to tell Kearney about it  testimony he had her repeat for emphasis.

The woman told Bradl she has not yet testified in front of the grand jury, saying things have been delayed because of the court dates that I'm currently dealing with with Aidan now.

Bradl, introducing text messages he said showed the woman was sexting with Kearney around the same time she was speaking to investigators, accused her of betraying him.

He further accused her of lying about being pregnant in order to manipulate Kearney. The woman, after a recess to speak with her lawyer, denied trying to trick Kearney.

Bradl probed the false pregnancy allegation at length. Kearney testified the woman used the pregnancy as a ploy to get him to spend time with her and sleep over her house.

Kearney alleged the night of Dec. 23, the woman purported to take abortion pills and threatened self-harm if he left her home. He said he ended up leaving her home around 5 a.m. and crashed his car on the highway because he was so tired.

The womans lawyer lodged many objections to Bradls questioning, with District Court Judge Paul J. McCallum often allowing Bradl to proceed.

Witness says she knows nothing; restraining order extended

However, Bradls case was dealt a blow when a witness he asserted was crucial to his defense testified she knew nothing about the matter.

Bradl told the judge that the woman, who babysat for the ex-girlfriend several days after the alleged assault, told an investigator for Bradl that the ex-girlfriend had admitted Kearney didnt assault her.

But the babysitter, who declined to come to court, saying she had COVID, denied knowing anything or speaking to the ex-girlfriend substantively when called to the stand from her home via Zoom.

The woman at one point said she didnt know Kearney, but later appeared to say she recalled speaking with him on the phone.

Bradl suggested to the judge the woman, who he said had family ties to the ex-girlfriend, was lying.

A lawyer for the ex-girlfriend argued that Bradls insinuations against his client were the kind of victim-blaming that judges such as McCallum have seen and recognized in the past.

He noted that the burden of proof in a restraining order case  preponderance of the evidence  is a lower standard of proof than whats needed in a criminal case.

McCallum, without commenting on anything specifically, ruled the woman had met her legal burden and extended the restraining order until January 2025.

McCallum, at points during the hearing, noted that there may be lines of inquiry not relevant or admissible in the civil hearing that could be relevant in Kearney's criminal cases.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Karen Read case: Updates expected in federal investigation
One of the most pervasive myths about colonial Latin American society is that it was Catholic, full stop.

Its a familiar story: As history books tell it, the Europeans brought their religion to the New World, and none were as zealous in their attempts to convert Indigenous people as the Spaniards. Indeed, in the Spanish view, the quest to spread Catholicism to every corner of the world was a central pillar of colonization.

A quick glance at how deeply Catholic much of the region still is  some 57% of Latin Americans  seems to reinforce the idea of Spanish missionaries success.

In truth, Spanish control in the Americas was far from absolute. Despite the sweeping proclamations of missionaries who claimed to convert thousands of souls every day to Christianity, spiritual life in the colonies would have made the pope do a double take.

Far from the Vatican

Spains colonies were a vast patchwork of borderlands built over the smoldering infrastructure of Indigenous civilizations such as the Mexica and the Inca. Even at the centers of colonial control, like Mexico City and Lima, Spanish power was decentralized, meaning that virtually no policy, order or law was consistently implemented. The reach of the Spanish crown depended as much on the whims of low-ranking administrators as on the kings own advisers.

The unevenness of colonial authority held true in the realm of religion, as well  a focus of my historical research.

Oftentimes, conversion simply meant baptism. Priests would sprinkle water on the converts head, give them a Christian  i.e., Hispanic  name, and encourage them to attend Mass on Sundays. However, attendance was often spottier than in a post-COVID classroom.

There are many reasons why this was the case. First, the cruelty of some Spaniards hardly made them attractive advertisements for Christianity. The legendary last words of Hatuey, an Indigenous Taino leader who led a rebellion in what is now Cuba, suffice to make the point.

Bartolome de las Casas writings, such as his description of Hatueys execution, helped record colonizers violence against Indigenous people in the Americas. Courtesy of the John Carter Brown Library, CC BY-SA

In the moments before Hatuey was burned at the stake, a priest urged him to convert so that his soul would go to heaven. Hatuey asked if Spaniards went to heaven, too. When the priest responded that the good ones do, (Hatuey) retorted, without need for further reflection, that if that was the case, then he chose to go to Hell to ensure that he would never again have to clap eyes on those cruel brutes.

Bartolome de las Casas, a 16th century missionary, documented this incident to condemn the violence of Spanish colonizers in the Americas.

Second, Indigenous spiritual practices got an unwitting boost from the pope himself. Paul III, pope from 1534-1549, conceded special religious exemptions to Indigenous people in the Americas, since they were new converts, or neophytes, in the faith. Effectively, this status meant that they were forgiven for not observing all Catholic practices correctly  not celebrating all holidays, not fasting often, marrying cousins, and so on.

This somewhat flexible  but no less violent  approach to conversion meant that Indigenous spiritual practices often melded with Spanish ones. Perhaps the best example of this religious syncretism is Our Lady of Guadalupe, whom many Catholics revere as an apparition of the Virgin Mary, including Indigenous Catholics. Yet many Indigenous people also identify Guadalupe with Tonantzin. The word means Our Mother in Nahuatl, the language of the Mexica, and could refer to multiple goddesses.

An altar inside the Monastery of Santo Domingo de Guzman in Oaxaca, Mexico, depicts the Virgen of Guadalupe. Gabriel Perez/Moment via Getty Images

Third, as the transatlantic slave trade intensified during the 16th century, spiritual systems from West and West-Central Africa entered the mix. For example, many Africans and their descendants used protective amulets called nominas and bolsas de mandinga, and they adapted African healing rituals and medical knowledge to New World environments.

Meanwhile, the lesser-known transpacific slave trade brought thousands of Asians to colonial Mexico and further complicated the religious landscape. My 2024 book, The First Asians in the Americas, demonstrates that Asians used a wide variety of beliefs and practices to navigate and even resist the conditions of their enslavement. They made potions, learned enchantments and even publicly renounced their faith in God, Jesus and the saints in order to call attention to unjust treatment.

Paperwork and torture

Spanish authorities were eager to clamp down on these spiritual beliefs and founded new branches of the Inquisition in Lima and Mexico City in the late 1500s. The Spanish Inquisition had been around for nearly a century by this point, policing the boundary between accepted and heretical Catholic practices and beliefs.

While the Inquisition in Europe is infamous for having tried and murdered thousands, the Inquisition in Mexico City reserved execution for only a few dozen cases. Whippings, exiles, imprisonments and public shaming were the norm. Still, the United States carceral system executes more people every few years than the Inquisition in Mexico did over more than two centuries.

Most Indigenous people were exempted from being denounced to the Inquisition, since they were considered Christian neophytes and prone to errors. However, Africans and Asians, as well as their descendants, people of mixed ethnicities, Moriscos (converted Muslims), conversos (converted Jews), Protestants and even Catholic Spaniards frequently ran afoul of inquisitors.

Inquisition trials generated mountains of paperwork, in part because scribes were obsessive in their thoroughness. Occasionally, they even recorded every exclamation a prisoner cried out in the Inquisitions notorious torture chambers.

The facade of the colonial Palace of the Inquisition in Mexico City. Thelmadatter/Wikimedia Commons

Today, these cases provide rare insights into the spiritual cultures of colonial societys most marginalized subjects. Non-Europeans were often accused of committing blasphemy and concocting love potions to seduce sailors, soldiers and merchants. They conducted rituals with hallucinogens such as peyote to find stolen objects and lost people. They fashioned charms to shield friends, family and clients from harm.

Though Spaniards punished divination and other unapproved practices, it wasnt because they considered such rituals pointless or ineffective. Quite the opposite: They believed that they worked but were powered by the devil, and were therefore a force of evil.

Spiritual mosaic

One of the most enigmatic cases I have written about is that of an enslaved South Asian man from Malabar, in southern India, named Anton. In 1652, he appeared before the Inquisition in Mexico City for the spiritual crimes of palm reading and divination. He was 65 years old and lived in one of the textile mills infamous for its poor working conditions in Coyoacan, just south of the city.

According to multiple witnesses, Anton attracted a large, multiethnic clientele who sometimes traveled a day in each direction to ask him their pressing questions about the future. By reading palms, Anton would predict if (someone) would find love, when a baby would be born, if a woman would become a nun, and so on. Each consultation earned him a few coins, which he split with two weavers who translated from Spanish into Nahuatl for him.

When the inquisitors questioned him, Anton claimed to have learned how to read palms in Malabar and insisted that he had done nothing wrong. In all, divination was not considered as serious a religious infraction as, say, practicing Judaism or Islam, so Anton was condemned to the relatively light punishment of proclaiming his sins publicly after 245 days in prison.

Inquisitorial records from the colonial period are filled with vibrant characters like Anton. There was Domingos Alvares, who became a renowned healer in Brazil, and Antonio Congo, who was said to control storms in what is now Colombia.

They created worlds of knowledge and faith often out of alignment with the strictures of Catholic doctrine. Many of these beliefs have persisted against the odds, surviving into the present. For example, the Afro-Cuban Santeria, Palo Monte, Ifa and other religions are thriving in Cuba today despite centuries of discrimination and repression.

Labeling Latin America and its colonial period uniformly Catholic silences this rich history. There were, of course, thousands of Catholics in the colonies, and Catholicism was a central tenet of Spanish colonialism. But that is not the full story: Other beliefs thrived and became new realities of colonial life.

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: Diego Javier Luis, Tufts University.

Read more:



Diego Javier Luis does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Water flows from a spring in the Snake Valley along the Utah-Nevada border on April 2, 2014. On Thursday, a committee of lawmakers opted to let the Snake Valley Aquifer Advisory Council lapse. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News

A committee of lawmakers on Thursday opted to let the Snake Valley Aquifer Advisory Council lapse, agreeing it had served its purpose in a highly controversial water fight between Nevada and Utah that played out a decade ago or longer.

The vote was unanimous by the House Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environmental Committee.

The issue at the time was the acquisition of water rights by the Southern Nevada Water Authority, especially in the Snake Valley area that straddles both states, in support of groundwater pumping to send the water down to Las Vegas.

Because it is a shared hydrological basin, Utah critics said what happened on the Nevada side would have detrimental effects to Utahs water supplies in the region, compromising the availability of the finite resource to serve already struggling ranchers and farmers.

Related

A draft agreement four years in the making was intended to ease the concerns of both states, outlining steps and procedures in a water sharing agreement.

In the end, however, then-Gov. Gary Herbert refused to sign it, at the time saying it was clear the people in the west desert communities did not want it.

Under the proposed agreement, no pumping would have occurred in Utah, but the critics have asserted that any drawing down of the aquifer on the Nevada side would leave Snake Valley even drier than it already is.

Nevada would have been able to develop an additional 35,000 acre-feet of water per year in Snake Valley, while Utah would have received 6,000 acre-feet of water a year, under the agreement.

Related

Steve Erickson, with the Great Basin Water Network, said the advisory council was important.

The Snake Valley Aquifer Advisory Council did serve an important role during a critical time in the effort to defeat the Southern Nevada Water groundwater development project. That water authority sought to take groundwater over an area the size of Vermont and ship it to Las Vegas. They were required under federal statute to have a bilateral agreement on the shared Snake Valley aquifer, Erickson said.

He added the Southern Nevada Water Authority is still sitting on water rights, so the threat is not completely eliminated.

I hope you would take a look at reconsidering restarting it should the need arise in the future, which we certainly hope will not. There are other water threats that could potentially affect Hamlin Valley to the north of Snake Valley. And keep in mind this groundwater flow system is vast and it goes all the way to Great Salt Lake, Erickson said.

Related

Redge Johnson, executive director of the Public Lands Coordinating Office, agreed with Erickson.

This is something we could set up relatively quickly again if we need to if Las Vegas comes after the water again, he said, adding there continues to be groundwater testing in the region.
WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR)  Congress narrowly avoided a shutdown  for now. Both the House and the Senate passed a bill to keep the government funded through March, but the budget battle is far from over.

The short-term spending bill just buys lawmakers more time, and theres a lot of disagreement in Congress over the annual budget.

Avoiding a shutdown is very good news for the country, said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.

House Speaker Mike Johnson said, This is an important thing for us because it allows us to fight for our policy changes, our policy riders and those spending bills, and it takes time to do that.

Lawmakers still need to work out how that money would get divvied up.

But the plan is already facing opposition.

It does not matter who is sitting in the Speakers seat or whos got the majority. We keep doing the same stupid stuff, said Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas).

In a divided government it will take support from both Republicans and Democrats to pass a full budget.

House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries says his party is willing to compromise to get it done.

House Democrats believe in doing the right thing for the American people, he said.

President Biden is expected to sign the short-term funding bill Friday.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to DC News Now | Washington, DC.
House Armed Services Committee leaders are requesting that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin testify about the secrecy surrounding his recent health issues during a congressional hearing next month.

In a letter to the secretary sent Thursday, committee Chairman Mike Rogers, R-Ala., said the appearance is needed because Austin has shown unwillingness to provide candid and complete answers regarding the events leading up to his hospitalization earlier this month.

When you and I last spoke, you promised full transparency into questions regarding the secrecy of your recent hospitalization, Rogers wrote in the letter. While you did respond to some of my questions I had for you, a concerning number of questions were not addressed. Specifically, I am alarmed you refused to answer whether you instructed your staff to not inform the president of the United States or anyone else of your hospitalization.

Austin released from hospital after cancer surgery complications

Austin, 70, was rushed to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on Jan. 1 after developing a urinary tract infection from prostate cancer treatment nine days earlier. The White House and senior Pentagon officials were not informed of the emergency visit or Austins cancer diagnosis until several days later.

Austin has publicly apologized for the lack of communication. Pentagon officials have said the confusion was in part due to Austins chief of staff, Kelly Magsamen, also being ill for several days during the time he was in the hospital.

White House officials have ordered a full review of Cabinet members chains of command following the controversy, but also publicly stated that President Joe Biden still has confidence in Austins ability to lead the Department of Defense.

But numerous lawmakers from both parties have voiced concerns about how the situation was handled, and questioned whether senior officials were properly notified of their responsibilities while Austin was in medical care. At least 11 members of Congress have called for Austins resignation or removal.

Leaders of the House and Senate Armed Services Committees initially declined to hold hearings on the issue, noting that Austin is already expected to testify at a series of Capitol Hill budget meetings this spring.

But Rogers on Thursday said he is scheduling a Feb. 14 hearing specifically on the issue of Austins health because he believes that information is being withheld from Congress regarding the incident.

Specifically, committee leaders are requesting timelines of when senior defense and administration officials were notified of Austins health issues and whether he instructed anyone to hide his health status.

Congress must understand what happened and who made decisions to prevent the disclosure of the whereabouts of a Cabinet secretary, Rogers wrote.

This is a time of immense global instability. Our country deserves reliable leadership at the department. Maintaining the most ready and lethal force possible requires that everyone in the national security community be able to rely upon the Secretary of Defenses availability and transparency. Regrettably, you have not exhibited these attributes throughout this most recent string of events.

Austin returned home from Walter Reed on Jan. 14 but has not yet returned to full-time work at the Pentagon.
More than two dozen lawmakers called on House leadership Friday to bring a bill banning members of Congress from participating in the stock market to the floor for a vote.

This is a critical step to ensure Members of Congress are working for their constituents, not themselves, the group wrote in a letter to Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) and the top members of the House Administration Committee.

The lawmakers  led by Reps. Angie Craig (D-Minn.), Andy Kim (D-N.J.), Joe Neguse (D-Colo.), Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.), Katie Porter (D-Calif.) and Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.)  urged House leaders to progress legislation that would prohibit all members of Congress, their spouses and dependents younger than 18 years old from trading stocks.

The remaining signatories to the letter were mostly Democrats, though one Republican, Montana Rep. Matt Rosendale, also signed on.

The push to ban lawmakers from trading stocks reached a new prominence over the past several years after high-profile incidents, but repeated attempts to bring up a bill for a vote have failed.

Specifically, the group called for a ban on owning or trading securities, commodities, futures, derivatives, options, or other similar financial assets, including where such investments are traded through an investment vehicle that the covered person controls.

Under such a ban, members and their families would be required to divest from prohibited investments, place them in a blind trust or diversify their investments by placing them in widely held, diversified mutual or exchange-traded funds, or U.S. Treasury bills, notes, or bonds.

There is no shortage of bipartisan legislation ready to be voted on that model this established set of shared principles, the lawmakers wrote.

We know that the overwhelming majority of Americans believe that Members of Congress should not be allowed to trade stock while in office, they added. We respectfully urge you to ensure elected officials are held to the highest standard.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
SIR  Katharine Birbalsingh  the head teacher of Michaela Community School, which faces a High Court challenge for its ban on prayer rituals (report, January 18)  deserves support.

She takes an intelligent approach to teaching in a multicultural country. Societies risk decline if everyone does not sign up to a shared set of standards and traditions.

Attempting to accommodate all values and behaviours results in tension. I fear we are becoming a society where anything goes.

Rosemary Sage

Northampton

SIR  If only all schools were as transformative as the melting pot that is Michaela, and if only all had head teachers as inspirational as Katharine Birbalsingh.

Elizabeth Edmunds

Hassocks, West Sussex

SIR  Rather than taking legal action, the pupil who objects to not being allowed to pray should perhaps leave the school and join one that caters for her needs. Its possible, however, that the academic standards would not be as high. The school is successful because of its ethos. If you do not agree with it, do not enrol your child there.

Trevor Joyce

Canterbury, Kent

SIR  While not condoning the behaviour towards Ms Birbalsinghs staff, I feel a sense of unease at her statement that every group must make sacrifices for the sake of the whole (report, January 18).

The KC acting for the school trust says it aggressively promotes integration, is run with military precision and uses ultra-strict enforcement of prescribed behavioural rules. Does this encourage critical thinking?

Alison Watson

Wincanton, Somerset

SIR  Writing as a former head teacher, I believe the dispute at Michaela could and should have been avoided.

First, the school should have become its own admissions authority, meaning that it develops its own application form for prospective pupils, and the completed forms are considered by the school governors admissions committee, not the local authority. It should be made clear on the form that parents agree to support all school policies.

Secondly, the prayer policy should make clear that the only prayers acceptable are those which are part of the morning assembly.

Thirdly, with the original application form the parent should have to include a signed copy of the home-school agreement, which should contain an unambiguous reference to prayers. If this signed agreement is not submitted, the application should either not be considered or be given a low-priority ranking.

David S Ainsworth

Manchester

No-hope Tories

SIR  When will the 11 Tory rebels (report, January 18) realise that the Conservative Party has no intention whatsoever of limiting either legal or illegal migration  and join Reform?

In doing so, they would have a far greater impact, and finally follow the instructions given by us, the voters, in 2016, 2017 and 2019.

Alexandra J Seear

Corsham, Wiltshire

SIR  Rishi Sunak is constantly labelled weak by Labour and members of his own party, but he has shown great strength in seeing off the Tory rebels on the Rwanda vote.

Anthony Haslam

Farnham, Surrey

SIR  Lord Carlile, speaking on the Today programme yesterday, revealed the misguided view of too many lawyers concerning the part that the courts play in British governance.

He stated that the arguing over implementing the Rwanda policy is not caused by lawyers interfering in politics, but by politicians meddling with the law. Have I been labouring under a misunderstanding? I thought it was elected politicians in Parliament who set our laws.

Christopher Timbrell

Kington Langley, Wiltshire



Aloof America

SIR  I read with interest Madeline Grants article, America isnt Britains special friend. It couldnt care less, (Comment, January 17), and believe she made a good case.

In George Washingtons farewell address after his second term as president, he maintained that it was essential for America to remain aloof from systems of alliances and not to favour particular nations: A passionate attachment of one nation for another produces a variety of evils.

Perhaps these words still echo around Congress more than two centuries later.

Keith Moore

Exmouth, Devon





York Minster charges

SIR  As a guide at York Minster, Im not happy about charges being made for entry (Letters, January 18). When donations were voluntary, it worked out at less than 1 per head.

However, like many of my fellow guides, I am more disturbed by the question: Is this place used for anything else? The news that we have 1,500 religious services a year is usually met with disbelief.

Yes  we are very much more than just a museum.

Graeme Robertson

York

Beatles therapy

SIR  I am getting through my 37 sessions of radiotherapy treatment for prostate cancer by quietly singing the greatest song ever written: In My Life by the Beatles (Letters, January 18).

I have to make sure I hum the instrumental break in the song so that my performance lasts just under two minutes and 30 seconds  exactly the time it takes for the machine to buzz and the radiation to beam.

It feels positively therapeutic.

Ashley Franklin

Milford, Derbyshire

SIR  The journey between dropping my daughters off at their school in Alderley Edge and arriving at my

office in Knutsford used to take exactly the same time as one episode of The Archers.

Christine Roberts

Wilmslow, Cheshire

Slow compensation

SIR  You report (January 17) comments made by Neil Hudgell, a lawyer acting for victims of the Post Office scandal, about the bureaucratic nature of the Post Offices compensation scheme, and that one of the victims, Jo Hamilton, has said it is like being put on trial all over again. These remarks are all too familiar.

While there is no proper compensation scheme yet on the table for victims of the infected blood scandal (whom I represent), where ex-gratia payments have been available our clients have encountered equal levels of frustration on criteria applied, scrutiny of evidence for eligibility and justifications required for funds  which in some cases were to subsidise heating and other costs for victims who have been unable to work.

We agree that the workings of government compensation schemes can often be retraumatising for victims of state scandals, and we urge those ministers responsible to address this.

Victims of the Post Office and infected blood scandals deserve to be treated with dignity and respect after the wrongs they have suffered.

Des Collins

Watford, Hertfordshire

Rajan in the chair

SIR  The derogatory remarks about Amol Rajans presenting of University Challenge are distasteful (Starter for 10: why does Rajan look like a villain in his University Challenge chair?, report, January 16).

In my opinion, Mr Rajan is perfect for the role. He is friendly towards the challenging teams and brings a fresh and affable manner to the position formerly held by Jeremy Paxman. To deride him for his build and height when sitting in the chair is offensive.

Keith Bealing

Okehampton, Devon

A real winter

SIR  Many of my age recall the winter of 1963.

At school in Oxford, we had a bonfire on the river Cherwell (which was frozen to a depth of 3ft) and skated on the Thames. I could scratch my name in the ice on my bedroom wall every morning. We then warmed our clothes in front of the gas fire in my parents bedroom before dressing.

Amazingly to 21st-century ears, we still wore shorts to school. I dont remember it being anything other than fun. Were we a different breed, or have we all just gone soft nowadays?

Ian Brent-Smith

Bicester, Oxfordshire

How to rank vermouth like a true Italian

Salute: a 1983 magazine advertisement for Cinzano Bianco - Alamy Stock Photo

SIR  When I lived in Italy, I was told that Cinzano, rather than the sweeter Martini, was considered the best vermouth  but only the Rosso, not the Bianco, which was the one Leonard Rossiter spilt over Joan Collins in the television advertisements (Letters, January 11). I believe the Italians know best on this, so have drunk Cinzano Rosso ever since.

The other advantage is that there is no need to explain to American guests that there is a difference between Martini and a Martini cocktail.

Eddie Lewisohn

London N6

The dangers of dazzling lights on narrow roads

SIR  I agree with your correspondents about the bright new car headlights (Letters, January 17). They may be useful on major roads, but on country roads it is very different.

As an advanced motorist, when I meet a car on a narrow road I worry about hitting either it or the kerb because of being dazzled. An even bigger worry is of being hit by the car behind as I slow, because the following driver has also been dazzled.

This has almost happened to me on several occasions, although I do not need glasses to read car number plates.

Dr Keith Barnard-Jones

Dorchester

SIR  I also worry about the dangers of over-bright, xenon-type headlights and fog lights on modern cars, and the apparent lack of control and legislation regarding their installation and use.

However, in the past few years this annoyance has grown to include the rear of vehicles, with unnecessary red LEDs strung across the width of the boot or tailgate. These are distracting to follow and have a slightly hypnotic effect on dark country roads, when you should actually be looking out for potholes and stray wildlife.

Two rear lights showing the width of a vehicle are quite sufficient, and all this additional illumination could be much better replaced with a dashboard warning light indicating if either of the two rear lights has failed.

I sincerely hope that common sense will take over in car manufacturers design departments.

Andrew Montagu

London SW19

SIR As flashing ones headlights to thank motorists who have given way causes temporary blindness, when I want to show my appreciation I switch my headlights off for a second.

In addition, when sitting at traffic lights, especially at road works, I always wait with sidelights only to avoid dazzling oncoming traffic.

Such simple gestures; such good results.

Margaret Stewart

Burnham-on-Sea, Somerset

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From 2019 to 2022, Lexington set and re-set its homicide record for four straight years.

That stopped in 2023.

The city reported 24 homicides last year, far fewer than the record-setting mark of 44 the year prior. The last time Lexington reported 24 or fewer homicides in a year was in 2018, according to data from the Lexington Police Department, which dates back to 2008.

In the past 10 years, the city has reported 24 or fewer homicides only three times, according to Lexington police records.

Devine Carama, the director of ONE Lexington who has taken on several roles as a community activist and is also a hip-hop artist, said as communities emerge from the pandemic, rates of violent crime are dropping nationwide. He also credited the community for having a desire to solve the problem.

I think everybody at their core wanted to see better days, better time, a safer community, said Carama, who leads the advocacy group that specializes in addressing root gun violence problems among youth, which was established in 2017. Carama was named the director of the group in 2021. We just needed the opportunity to do so, and we were blessed to facilitate that opportunity.

Devine Carama and the Lexington Philharmonic string quartet: Margaret Karp & Meg Saunders, violins; Austin Han, viola; Benjamin Karp, cello; and Maurice Todd, bass, at the Beat of the Heartland concert.

Homicide rates have dropped significantly across the United States in cities similar in size to Lexington. Homicide rates in cities of all sizes were lower through the third quarter of 2023 compared to the third quarter of 2022, according to the FBI. Cities with a population between 250,000 and 499,999 saw a decrease in homicide rates of more than 20%.

The percentage of violent crime also dropped about 10% in cities with that population size, according to FBI data.

Lexington saw a drop in non-fatal shootings, too. The city reported consecutive years of more than 100 assaults with firearms in 2021 and 2022, but reported 84 such incidents in 2022.

In an interview with the Herald-Leader, Lexington Police Chief Lawrence Weathers acknowledged progress is being made, but said he wants to work toward getting the city to eliminate homicides.

Im always going to expect it to be zero, Weathers said. To me, thats the progress I look for.

While violent crime has trended lower nationwide, Lexington leaders say specific steps taken by the city  and the community  resulted in Lexingtons significant reduction in shootings and other types of violent crime.

Everybody ... wanted to see better

Carama pointed to team efforts from law enforcement and community partners as contributing factors for Lexingtons steep drop-off in homicides.

The last couple of years, we have seen the faith community, weve seen city government, weve seen public safety, even the school system, non-profit sector, not only communicating with one another but actually collaborating, Carama said. The more that we are connected, it shrinks the gaps that normally our most vulnerable tend to fall through.

Weathers said ONE Lexington has done a good job of involving community partners outside the government in the citys strategic plan to combat gun violence. The agency, which is part of Mayor Linda Gortons office, worked to administer grants to grassroots nonprofit organizations that contribute to the effort of violence prevention.

In 2023, ONE Lexington also helped with family resource and youth service center violence prevention donations, aided in the It Takes a Village summer youth and in-school mentoring programs, did a symposium on youth and young adult gun violence, offered re-entry support and provided youth and young adult conflict mediation. It also carried out crisis response and survivor support.

It was easy to get everyone on board with the initiative after a few years of record-setting gun violence.

Carama thanked the police department for its efforts in addressing gun violence. He said the cross-agency collaborations, increased technological capabilities and community policing have helped the cause.

There is a lot of communication behind the scenes, Carama said. Thats what keeps our outreach workers safe, but I do think it is important for the community to hear from me that I do think what public safety is doing is making a huge difference as well.

Carama said he doesnt consider the year a complete success. He wants to address root issues of gun violence and further reduce the impacts of violent crime.

Obviously were super encouraged, but at the same (time), theres still a lot of families, way too many families who have been impacted by gun violence, Carama said.

For us, its nothing that we celebrate, its just something that encourages us moving forward. Lets us know that were on the right track, but theres still a lot of work left to be done.

Can emergence from COVID factor into lower numbers?

While Lexington has taken significant steps to address gun violence, statistics from across the country indicate Americas continued emergence from the repercussions of the COVID pandemic was a major factor in reducing shootings, says Mark Bryant, a Lexington native who runs the Gun Violence Archive, a website that tracks shootings across the United States.

Bryant thinks 2024 will help experts assess just how big an impact COVID had on gun violence.

I think if 2024 continues to look like 2018 and 2019, then maybe we just flag, put a big red line on 2021 and 2022 and say these were just outliers, Bryant said.

Through Jan. 17, there had not been a homicide reported in Lexington. At this point in 2022 there were already two homicides reported, according to police data.

David Carter, a former Kansas City police officer and currently a professor at Michigan State University who specializes in research on violent crime control, as well as other criminal justice issues, told the Herald-Leader he anticipates gun violence nationwide to continue trending down, but added its too early to know for sure.

Carama acknowledged that coming out of the pandemic played a factor.

Thats why I think youre seeing the national trend of homicides start to come down. You start to settle into our new norm coming out of the pandemic, said Carama.

Both Carter and Bryant said that while COVID is a factor and Lexingtons reduction in gun violence is part of a national trend, groups that do work like ONE Lexington has done are helpful to the cause.

It should go down a little bit more as long as these efforts are sustained, said Carter who is the director of the Intelligence Program at Michigan State. The community violence intervention, police proactive activity, the difficulty about those is sustaining those, keeping those efforts going.

Bryant told the Herald-Leader that any effort helps.

If you save one life, thats important, Bryant said. If were looking at large statistics, one does not sound like an important thing, but it sure is for that family.

What will continue the progress?

Weathers and Carama are already laying out how to take their initiative toward curbing gun violence to another level. Weathers said he wants to focus on some strategies applied by ONE Lexington: Preventing and intervening in violence, enforcing laws and aiding the process of re-entry for those getting out of jail.

When you talk about all those things, you dont just talk about them on the perpetrator side, you talk about them on the victims side, too, Weathers said. Every aspect of what were dealing with when it comes to violent crime, you have to talk about prevention.

Weathers said intervening between offenders and victims in a potentially dangerous situation can reduce the tragedies Lexington has seen in recent years.

He also said its important to have protections in place to help former offenders re-enter society without committing more crimes.

You cant just stop once they get out. You have to keep following, you have to keep helping, you have to keep nurturing, you have to guide people back into society, Weathers said. I dont think weve had that before and thats what our goal is.

Lexington Police Chief Lawrence Weathers is photographed at the departments headquarters in downtown Lexington, Ky., on Monday, Dec. 11, 2023.

While the police department is still trying to further the cause, so is ONE Lexington.

Carama said hes gathering information about addressing the causes of gun violence in a younger demographic, outside the 13-to-29 age range established by his organization. In an end-of-year report that assessed the agencys work in 2023, ONE Lexington said it would like to work with children as young as 10 to include fourth and fifth graders.

Carama said sharing ONE Lexingtons responsibilities with the community is a key to sustainable progress.

Were making it easier. Were removing the barriers so that these people who are already ingrained in these neighborhoods and in these communities can better do the work, he said. I think thats the secret sauce for the formula.

In interviews Thursday, Bryant and Carter told the Herald-Leader there is additional work that would drive trends further in the right direction.

Carter said greater success in arresting suspects in homicides can reduce future cases. A suspect has been arrested in half of Lexingtons homicides in 2023. The department has arrested a suspect in 66% of the homicides that occurred in 2022.

Bryant said taking more efforts to get guns off the streets would help too.

The city has recently announced an initiative to seize more stolen guns, or guns used in crimes. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and Bluegrass Crime Stoppers announced a partnership last week, offering cash payouts up to $2,500 in exchange for information that leads to an arrest and seizure of a firearm used in a crime, or the arrest of someone in possession of a stolen gun.

Dozens of cases in recent years remain unsolved

While murder cases have dropped, the police department is still dealing with dozens of unsolved cases from recent years. There are 12 open cases from 2023. The police department also still has 53 open cases spanning back to 2020, according to Lexington police data, with other cases still unsolved prior to that.

Weathers has frequently asked for residents help in solving crimes and preventing further incidents of violence. He echoed those sentiments again in his interview with the Herald-Leader. He said sometimes physical or digital evidence isnt enough to solve a case, and the biggest differences are often community tips.

Public safety should be everybodys business, and Im not just talking about violent crime, Im talking about how to keep people safe when theyre crossing the street, Weathers said. The public has got to be aware of that and theyve got to be vocal.

For cases that have been unsolved for years, like the death of 20-year-old Madilyn Grisham, a University of Kentucky student and Lafayette High School graduate, families are holding out hope that witnesses will finally come forward.

Grisham was shot on Payne Street, an industrial area near the Lexington Cemetery, in November 2020. No arrests have ever been made. Grishams grandmother, Pat Michaux, previously told the Herald-Leader her granddaughter was at a large party with other college students when she and two others were shot.

UK student Madilyn Taylor Grisham hoped to someday start her own business, said her grandmother, Pat Michaux.

The two other victims suffered critical injuries but survived, police previously said. Grisham died at the scene.

Police believe Grisham was an innocent bystander shot accidentally.

Kristina Haulk, Grishams mother, is disappointed her daughters case has not been solved. She is still holding out hope that the investigation will lead to an arrest, but its becoming more difficult..

I wish, I pray to God that somebody would come forward and say something, Haulk said. I dont understand how somebody hasnt with all the people that were there. There were supposedly so many people there and nobody wants to say anything.

Lexington police Lt. Paul Boyles previously said witnesses deciding not to come forward and share tips has been a common issue. Even victims of non-fatal shootings are sometimes reticent to share details.

Haulk said she doesnt blame people for not sharing information if theyre afraid of what might happen to them as a result, but she encouraged witnesses of such incidents, like the shooting that killed her daughter, to think about how theyd feel in her shoes.

People are scared to speak up and say anything but they dont understand that this could be your kid. It could be your kid next weekend, Haulk said. As long as people keep not saying anything, (suspects are) just going to think, okay were going to get away with it. And they do.

Haulk said she still thinks about her daughter daily, especially around the holidays.

The holidays that we just went through, of course everything gets worse. It seems to be magnified a little bit more but its always there, she said. Its there year-round.

There are a variety of ways people can share tips to investigators. They can call police directly at 859-258-3600 or submit tips anonymously to Bluegrass Crime Stoppers online or by calling 859-253-2020. Anonymous tips can also be submitted to P3 Tips.

Witness tips can be coupled with other evidence to confirm information and strengthen a case, Weathers said.

What we really need is we really need people to come forward and talk to us and corroborate some of the evidence and some of the video footage that we get, he said. That is whats going to make a community safer and in my mind, thats whats going to reduce crime overall.

In an attempt to make submitting anonymous tips easier, Lexington police plan to create a new website that displays all the open, unsolved homicide cases with opportunities to submit anonymous information. Lexington police Sgt. Guy Miller said the website is still a work in progress.

I think right now, people are not sure how they can do it, even with Bluegrass Crime Stoppers, Weathers said. Those things will still be out there, those things will still be available and they will still be anonymous if you want to report it.

You have to take each case individually

The different circumstances in each homicide case makes them more difficult to solve, Weathers said. Even in cases that share common aspects, every case has variables.

You have to take each case individually and look at the specifics associated with it, and I think thats what weve been trying to do by working collectively with ONE Lexington and several other community partners, Weathers said.

Location and age of those involved are two aspects that were widely different across many cases in 2023. The ages of homicide victims in 2023 ranged from nine months to 80 years old. A majority of killings happened inside New Circle Road, but some others occurred near the county border line.

Lexington police have studied the variables associated with homicides so they can quickly solve future cases or prevent incidents from happening at all.

I think thats a big deal in keeping people from being re-victimized and using that information to keep people from being victimized at all, Weathers said.

Weathers said officials have come a long way in studying the factors that contribute to gun violence, thanks to the work of ONE Lexington and others.

If a different variable shows up, at least we have a system in place to address that, Weathers said.

Lexingtons 2023 homicide victims
LITTLE ROCK, Ark.  Multiple school districts in central Arkansas have announced closures for Friday morning due to hazardous road conditions in parts of the county.

Little Rock School District officials said that schools will remain closed on Friday due to conditions and plumbing issues in school buildings after the prolonged frigid weather. The district office will be open, however, and 12-month employees are being asked to return Friday at 10 a.m.

Little Rock families preparing for possible return to school, work amid slow thaw

North Little Rock School District officials also announced that schools are closed on Friday due to road conditions. District officials noted that they have contacted a snow removal company for assistance clearing campus of snow and ice that accumulated over the last week.

Officials with the Pulaski County Special School District have announced that school will be closed on Friday due to hazardous road conditions and the possibility of black ice in some locations. District leaders said they will continue to monitor road conditions throughout the weekend.

Utility asking Pine Bluff-area water customers to conserve due to dropping water pressure and high demand

To stay on top of all the school closings in central Arkansas and across the Natural State, check out our Closings page.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KARK.
AUSTIN (KXAN)  Tensions in the Middle East continue to escalate, as does its global economic reach.

There are immediate economic risks for a lot of folks, said Ryan Bohl, a geopolitical analyst with RANEa risk intelligence company.

With cargo ships under attack in the Red Sea by the Iran-allied Houthi Militia, major supply chain issues could erupt.

Were not looking at a 2021 COVID crisis supply chain crisis, said Bohl, but were already seeing companies like Tesla and Volvo saying that theyre not going to be able to produce as many cars as a result of some of these shipping disruptions.

Bohl said there is also the prospect of terrorism as the conflict continues.

Theres an awful lot of Bin Ladens that are being born in this momentthroughout the region throughout the Muslim worldwho are being radicalized and may try to carry out attacks in the future.

Bohl said U.S. officials continue to respond to the disruption in the Red Sea and on land, creating a bigger question.

Americans need to start asking themselves a deeper, more strategic question. What is Americas role in the world? How much power are they willing to deploy to certain places? How much are they willing to balance unstable regions like the Middle East, he said.

America cant be everywhere at once. Americans have to ask themselves that question as citizens, How much can we do? and What should we be doing? and What sort of leaders should we trust to do that?'

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KXAN Austin.
An entire print run of a newspaper circulated in Ouray, Colorado (above) were stolen by a man upset with the reporting of a sexual assault case (AP/Nathan Bilow)

A Colorado newspaper was set to run a story about a teen girl's alleged rape at the home of the city's police chief. On the day the story hit newsstands, all of the print copies disappeared across the county. The publisher believes someone in town is trying to suppress the story.

On Wednesday, the Ouray County Plaindealer reported that a teenage girl was assaulted multiple times during a late-night party with the police chief's step-son and two other people.

The 17-year-old reported that she screamed and fought back against her attackers, but Ouray County Police Chief Jeff Wood remained asleep upstairs.

The three young men were arrested and charged with sexual assault, according to the Ouray County Plaindealer.

Mr Wood did not provide a comment to the Ouray County Plaindealer for its story.

The Independent has reached out to Mr Wood and Ouray Mayor Ethan Funk for comment.

The city of Ouray offered the following comment to The Independent:

Due to the Police Chiefs residence being involved in this reported incident, the City has been monitoring the developing case since it was first reported in May of 2023. The investigating agency is the Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The Ouray Police Department has not been involved in the investigation and limited information has been released by CBI. The City will continue to monitor the released information and provide thesupport necessary as this case moves through the justice system. Currently, no personnel investigations are being conducted in the Ouray Police Department regarding this case.

The paper reports that the teen's case was referred to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation by the Ouray County Sheriff's Office.

Officials in Ouray said they had been monitoring the development of the case since it involved the police chief's homes. City officials said the Ouray Police Department was not involved in the investigation.

The account of the attack and ongoing investigation was intended to be the paper's front page, above the fold story in its print edition on Wednesday, but someone stole the physical copies from newsstands across Ouray.

A note alerting the public to the thefts appeared above the paper's online edition.

"I'm sorry that most of you locals who like to get your papers from the racks were not able to put your quarters in and receive your weekly news today," the statement said. "All of our newspaper racks in Ouray and all but one rack in Ridgway were hit by a thief who stole all the newspapers. From what we know so far, it seems this person put in four quarters and took all the papers at these racks. It's pretty clear that someone didn't want the community to read the news this week."

The paper asked that members of the public with information about the thefts contact the Montrose County Sheriff's office rather than the Ouray County Sheriff's Office.

"I'll leave it up to you to draw your own conclusions on which story they didn't want you to read. Whoever did this took the time to steal hundreds of newspapers around the county, to prevent you from reading the news," the statement said. "Whoever did this does not understand that stealing newspapers doesn't stop a story. We're not going to stop doing our job, which is to shine light on important issues in our community and keep you informed. This person is not going to shut down the freedom of the press by stealing a few hundred newspapers. Our community won't stand for it and we won't, either."

The Ouray County Plaindealer said it was working with the Montrose Daily Press to produce another run of their story. It said readers would be notified when the reprints were available.

"If you meant to intimidate us, you just strengthened our resolve," the paper said in the statement.

Co-publisher Mike Wiggins shared similar sentiments on X/Twitter.

"If you hoped to silence or intimidate us, you failed miserably. We'll find out who did this. And another press run is imminent," he wrote.
Female and Latinx founder Mary Anna Ossa was formerly a stay-at-home mom for 12 years, and at the time, she didnt have any interest working in the wine industry.

In January 2020, that all changed after she enjoyed a glass of organic wine at a bar in Barcelona, Spain, with a friend.

Ossa, for a long time, couldnt drink more than a glass or two without experiencing a lingering headache. But after discovering organic wine during her visit to Spain, she no longer suffered from negative reactions.

Upscale cocktail bar opens in SouthPark

She was inspired to create her own brand  Partners and Grapes. The Fort Mill-based company distributes a variety of wine blends made with organic grapes and without harsh herbicides, pesticides and sulfites that can cause headaches.

In December, the company expanded to several retailers across the Carolinas  like Earth Fare in Concord and Southern Spirits in Indian Land  and beyond. In addition, Partners and Grapes just started offering online ordering and shipping.

Read more about the busines and its plans for growth on CBJs website here.

VIDEO: Visiting Veronet Vineyards and Winery in Kings Mountain
About 20 residents spent nearly two hours Wednesday touring Central Campus, where a ceiling collapsed in November, to see the state of the building ahead of a March referendum to fund $85 million in renovations to the historic building, where freshmen attend.

The campus, which was built in 1909, hasnt been occupied by students and staff since the Nov. 2 ceiling collapse in classroom 310. Given the recent frigid temperatures, Superintendent Robert McBride encouraged those on the tour to wear their coats as sections of the building were drafty.

The district has been navigating two Central Campus projects: A referendum to renovate Central Campus, and replacing the ceiling in 14 classrooms and one hallway.

The freshmen have attended classes at Lincoln-Way North High School since Nov. 15. McBride said freshmen will remain at Lincoln-Way North through the end of the school year because bids will have to be approved before construction can start.

You might say, Is it safe to be in here? McBride told those on the tour. It is safe to be in here, but we cant take the chance every single day, individuals being in here with a ceiling system that failed. We just cant take that risk with children.

The referendum money would be used for facility upgrades, life safety work, renovating the auditorium and general interior remodeling, according to a financial sheet from DLA Architects. About $31 million would go toward the upgrades and life safety work, including installing a second elevator, McBride said.

Renovation of the auditorium, the largest unused space, is projected to cost $7.2 million and the general interior remodeling is estimated at $24.8 million, according to the financial sheet. The remaining costs are for contingencies, including possibly using $8 million to cover the courtyard to use the space year-round.

In spring 2020, while students were remote learning amid the COVID-19 pandemic, McBride said district officials started considering how to improve Central Campus. At that time, a structural analysis was done and about $500,000 worth of construction work was suggested, he said.

In 2022, a demographer said the district will have a fairly constant student population, and the district created a committee of residents to consider what to do with Central Campus. The committee decided it should remain a freshman center and be renovated, he said.

The committee found benefits of renovation include keeping students in the same location and being more cost efficient than building another school, McBride said. He also said it takes time to build a campus, while renovation can occur in stages while students still attend classes.

Voters rejected six requests from 2006 to 2011 to build a high school in Homer Glen, McBride said. McBride said DLA Architects found building a new freshman center would cost $145 million.

Given the difference in cost, McBride said the board decided the community should choose, via referendum, if Central Campus should be renovated.

About 67% of the building is used by students and staff, McBride said, and locker rooms under the gym and space around the auditorium could be renovated into classrooms.

The classrooms are about 500 square feet with furnaces and window-unit air conditioning, McBride said, with wires bunched in corners for technology. Replacing the heating and cooling systems and modernizing the classrooms would expand classroom space closer to 800 square feet, he said.

McBride said the pool area renovation would transform the space into classrooms, noting it isnt accessible now for students with disabilities.

The building has one entrance and one bathroom compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act, McBride said. The renovation would ensure the building becomes more accessible, including adding an elevator.

This is a difficult building to navigate when you have a disability, McBride said.

The hallway outside classroom 310, 308 and 304, were found to be the most hazardous sections of ceiling, McBride said. All three classrooms had the same ceiling construction style, with wire mesh covered in plaster nailed into wooden frames, he said.

As part of the potential renovation, district officials would like to see changes made to prevent other potential structural problems, McBride said.

If the referendum doesnt pass, McBride said the district will make decisions on how to do repairs while remaining under its debt limit. That would likely only cover roof repairs and major mechanical repairs, he said.

Another option, if the referendum doesnt pass, is asking voters in November to fund construction of a freshmen center. The district has two sites for a potential building, land behind East Campus and a piece of land at 159th and Cedar Road in Homer Glen, McBride said, but both sites present challenges.

The land behind East Campus, where sophomores, juniors and seniors attend, has a natural creek that floods, McBride said. The Homer Glen property has no water or sewer connections, he said.

Benjamin Schroeder, a senior, said he attended the tour because he enjoys architecture and will study it in college. In March, Schroeder said he will vote in his first election and he plans to support the referendum.

It would be a shame to not see it renovated, Schroeder said. The front entrance and the front facade is the town, its Lockport.

Michelle Vlahovic, a Lockport resident who has a current and future student of the district, said she wanted to learn how the referendum money will be spent. As a science teacher at Glenbard North High School, Vlahovic said students need bigger classrooms at Central Campus for collaboration and activities.

Vlahovic said she will continue listening to board discussions before deciding how she will vote. But after the tour, she said a new building is needed.

This structure, we cant just fix the bones, Vlahovic said. I want to know, as a taxpayer, how theyre improving the educational environment for my child.

The district will offer tours of Central Campus, 1222 Jefferson St., starting at 6:30 p.m. most Wednesdays ahead of the March election. A tour wont take place if another major district event is taking place.

akukulka@chicagotribune.com
The city of Long Beachs Health Department is investigating cases of gastrointestinal illnesses potentially linked to the consumption of raw oysters that originated in parts of Mexico.

Eight of Southern Californias 150 cases linked to gastrointestinal illnesses, likely caused by norovirus, have been reported in Long Beach. While health officials suspect that the illness is linked to the consumption of raw oysters, an investigation is still ongoing, a news release said.

Norovirus, commonly known as the stomach flu or food poisoning, is a highly contagious virus that can quickly spread from person to person by touching contaminated surfaces or by eating contaminated food, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Monopoly: Long Beach Edition to make its nationwide debut this fall

Health officers urge the public to be extra cautious when eating raw oysters. Officials also noted that young children, older people and those who are immunocompromised are at higher risk for severe health outcomes.

On Wednesday, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health advised the public to avoid eating raw oysters after more than 40 people were believed to have been infected with noroviruses as of Tuesday.

Long Beach residents who became sick after eating raw oysters are encouraged to complete this form. They can also call 5620570-7907 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays to report illness or to get more information.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA.
Millions of people across the country are living with long COVID. The disease often leads to multiple symptoms like fatigue, brain fog and joint pain.

Its hard to see your child suffer and not know if theres an end in sight because we dont know, said Nicole Heim, parent of long COVID patient.

Nicole Heims 16-year-old daughter was diagnosed with long COVID two years ago.

Its hard because children dont get it. Her peers kind of all disappeared from her life and everythings just been, its been turned upside down, she said.

Read: Changes coming to Melbourne railroad crossings after 2 fatal Brightline crashes

Thursday on Capitol Hill, Heim shared her daughters physical and mental toll.

The mild depression and anxiety that she struggled with prior to COVID has only been intensified and has only led to increased panic attacks, and hospitalization for suicidal ideations, said Heim during the congressional hearing.

One barrier is information. There are already hundreds of possible long COVID symptoms.

Read: Florida opts out of program to feed hungry kids

Heim wants the federal government to improve screening to help identify long COVID and increase access for treatment options.

Allow physicians caring for long COVID patients to have telemedicine appointments in states theyre not licensed in for both the initial visit and follow ups, she said.

She also believes doctors should share what theyre learning.

Read: Cold front to send arctic blast into Central Florida; see how cold it will get

Some of this stuff does get better if you figure out the right treatment, said Heim. If they could just, you know, do something simple to get better, but they just dont know about it yet.

During this congressional hearing, long COVID patient, Angela Meriquez Vazquez said doctors initially dismissed her symptoms.

The medical neglect and discrimination Ive faced contributed to my current level of disability and it continues to harm patients like me, said Vazquez.

NOW: Packed room (with lots of masks) for hearing about long COVID and how to treat it. Senators just heard from three woman whose lives have been turned upside by the disease & the challenges they face with managing it for themselves or their loved ones. pic.twitter.com/IBXn5aU59Q  Kirstin Garriss (@ReporterGarriss) January 18, 2024

She told lawmakers bout her concerns with the impact of this disease in minority communities.

Low-income patients of color who are more likely to get COVID-19, long COVID and have the least access to healthcare are likely experiencing the greatest levels of disability and medical neglect and largely remain unidentified or unsupported with their new disability by the healthcare system, employers and schools, she said.

Currently, the National Institutes of Health along with Childrens National Hospital in DC are tracking the effects of a COVID-19 infection in roughly 1,000 children and young adults over the next three years.

Click here to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.
The Ukrainian delegation at the World Economic Forum in Davos held private talks with Western partners, urging expedited and consistent supply of long-range missiles to Kyiv, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba told Ukrainian TV broadcasters on Jan. 18.

According to the minister, although the topic of long-range missiles was not on the official agenda at the event, it remains a priority area for Ukrainian diplomats.

Read also: Kuleba and Cameron discuss implementation of UK security guarantees to Ukraine while in Davos

"There were contacts, conversations in the corridors to speed up the supply and ensure the stability of these weapon deliveries to Ukraine," said Kuleba.

Read also: UNHCR financial assistance for Melitopol IDPs: how to apply

He added that the meetings also addressed the issue of increasing arms production in Europe to sustain long-term security assistance to Ukraine.

On Jan. 17, the German parliament voted down a resolution urging to supply Ukraine with Taurus cruise missiles.

Read also: Despite evidence to the contrary, North Korea insists ballistic missile transfer to RU baseless

In December 2023, during a meeting with U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy raised the necessity of supplying Ukraine with U.S.-made ATACMS ballistic missiles.

Back in October 2023, Voice of America reported that Ukraine was set to receive ATACMS missiles with a range of 300 kilometers in January.

Were bringing the voice of Ukraine to the world. Support us with a one-time donation, or become a Patron!

Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
The Los Angeles Innocence Project is now representing Scott Peterson, who was convicted of murder in 2004 in the deaths of his wife and their unborn son, the group said Thursday.

The nonprofit organization, which works to exonerate people who are wrongly convicted and incarcerated, said it is investigating Petersons claim of actual innocence.

ABC News was first to report the groups representation of Peterson.

Peterson, now 51, was sentenced to death in 2005 after his conviction in the murders of his wife, Laci Peterson, and their unborn son, Conner.

Peterson reported his wife missing from the couples Modesto, California, home in December 2002. Laci Peterson was more than seven months pregnant when she disappeared. In April 2003, the bodies of Laci and Conner were found separately washed up in San Francisco Bay, police said.

In 2020, the California Supreme Court overturned Petersons death sentence after finding that potential jurors were erroneously dismissed, partly because they expressed general objections to the death penalty on a questionnaire.

But the states high court upheld the convictions, finding the trial itself was fair. In 2021, Peterson was resentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

In April 2023, Petersons attorneys filed a petition for a Writ of Habeas Corpus in which they alleged violations of state and federal constitutional rights and state statutory rights, including  a claim of actual innocence that is supported by newly discovered evidence, the Los Angeles Innocence Project said in a motion for post-conviction discovery filed Wednesday.

The filing requests evidence and documents from the investigation be turned over to Petersons attorneys.

In the course of LAIPs review and after some preliminary investigation, it became apparent to me that numerous items referred to throughout the police reports in Mr. Petersons case were not included in the discovery that was provided to the defense at the time of trial, Paula Mitchell, director of the Los Angeles Innocence Project said in the filing.

The organization has taken the case because the overturning of Petersons death sentence meant he no longer qualified for a court-appointed attorney for habeas proceedings, Petersons former attorney Cliff Gardner told CNN.

In a statement on Friday, the Stanislaus County District Attorneys office said Peterson is afforded the legal right to appeal his conviction with representation of his choosing.

We respect his right to challenge his conviction and the appellate process and accordingly cannot comment on the most recent filings as litigation is pending, the statement reads.

CNNs Aya Elamroussi and Jean Casarez contributed to this report.

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com
During World War II, a woman bought three brothers Bibles to protect their hearts and guide them as they set out for battle.

The Bible had a metal cover on the front with the inscription May this keep you safe from harm."

Two of the brothers made it home, while the other, Lt. Edsel J. McKnight of the United States Army Air Forces, was shot down off the coast of France.

His Bible was mailed to the family but was lost sometime after. This month, his family finally got it back.

Ava Coogan's family is from Albany, New York and they found the Bible in late December while going through their late matriarchs belongings.

On Jan. 11, Coogan met Lt. McKnights sister-in-law and returned the Bible to her, allowing her to put it back in its rightful place, next to the ones his brothers brought back home from war.

A Bible belonging to the late Edsel J. McKnight. During WWII, the Bibles were given to servicemen to protect their hearts during battle.

I kept playing with it and flipping through the pages

Coogans uncle and mother found the Bible in a stack of books. Their mother, Rosanne Vartanian, died nearly 20 years ago but was a collector and loved garage sales.

Its just so random that my grandmother had the urge to pick that up, she said. She bought random things. There was no rhyme or reason to it. It was with a stack of other books.

Coogan decided to research the Bible and found out soldiers often took them to war. Some can be found in museums.

The whole premise of it was that the metal cover on the front is like a hard shield, Coogan told USA TODAY. They would put it in their coat pockets  like the front breast pocket  that cover would protect their heart from bullets.

Lt. McKnights name was also written in the Bible, said Coogan, who was drawn to the Bible for some reason. She couldnt put it down, she recalled.

A Bible belonging to the late Edsel J. McKnight.

I kept playing with it and flipping through the pages, she said.

She noticed that the Bibles front cover had a slice in it, almost like something was underneath it. She examined it more closely and found a piece of paper folded up inside. She asked her uncle for help, who carefully used a butter knife to get the slip of paper out.

Once they retrieved the piece of paper from under the Bibles cover, they saw that it was a plea for the Bibles safe return to an address not too far away.

Although there was no area code, there was a phone number listed, so the family added their own area code and called.

I was just hoping for the best, Coogan said. We found out that number worked.

Lieutenant was shot down off the coast of France

Ray, Edsel and Earl McKnight. The brothers all served in World War II. Ray and Earl survived but Edsel did not. He was killed in spring 1944 when his aircraft was shot down in France.

When Coogan's uncle called the number written in the note, he spoke to a woman named Fay, Lt. McKnights sister-in-law. The families organized a meetup on Jan. 11 to return the Bible to the McKnights, who are from Porter Corners, part of Saratoga County in eastern New York.

Lt. McKnight served in the U.S. Air Forces 365th Fighter Group and 388th Fighter Squadron. He was flying in a Thunderbolt fighter aircraft in 1944 when he was shot down off the coast of France, online records show.

Lt. Edsel J. McKnight, who served in the United States Army Air Forces. He was killed in spring 1944.

Fay told Coogan and her family that Lt. McKnight has two brothers. All three of the brothers served in WWII. Fays husband, Ray, said his Bible saved his life.

He got shot during the war and it hit where the Bible was, covering his heart, and the bullet went into his arm instead, Coogan said.

Once Lt. McKnight was killed, his belongings were shipped back home to the family. His sister-in-law had all three Bibles on a bookshelf on display. One day, the family was preparing to go to church. Her nephew borrowed the Bible, but knew it was so precious, the family decided to write a note with contact information in case it were ever lost.

Pictured in the back row, fifth, sixth and seventh from the left are brothers Ray, Edsel and Earl McKnight. The brothers each served in World War II. Ray and Earl survived but Edsel did not.

He didn't lose it, Coogan said. He brought it back after church and I guess what happened is after someone passed in their family, they had an estate sale  and it just accidentally went out with a stack of books.

It ended up in Coogans grandmothers hands, she said. Returning the Bible to the McKnight family was quite the enlightening experience, Coogan said.

That was really cool because that's when we kind of got to hear their story, she said.

Lt. Edsel J. McKnight, who died in spring 1944 while serving in the United States Army Air Forces.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Lost WWII Bible returned to New York veteran's family
Then-U.S. Rep. Jeff Landry of Louisiana speaks at a news conference on Capitol Hill in Oct. 2011. Now the state's governor, Landry on Tuesday addressed the need for a new congressional map in the state and said, The federal courts have ordered us to perform our job." File Photo by Roger L. Wollenberg/UPI

Jan. 19 (UPI) -- To comply with a previous court ruling, Louisiana lawmakers approved a new congressional map Friday that increases the total number of majority-Black districts.

While Louisiana's population is nearly one-third Black, five of the state's six congressional districts are majority white.

After more than a year of court appeals, Louisiana legislators recently redrew the state's congressional map.

A court ruling said Louisiana's Republican-controlled Legislature had illegally disenfranchised Black voters under its previous redistricting plan.

In March 2022, then-Gov. John Bel Edwards vetoed the congressional redistricting map drawn by the Legislature, asserting at the time that it "runs afoul of federal law."

The new Republican governor -- Jeff Landry who previously was the state attorney general -- acknowledged in a Tuesday speech to the Legislature that "the federal courts have ordered us to perform our job."

"These maps will satisfy the court and ensure that the congressional districts of our state are made right here in the Legislature and not by some heavy-handed member of the federal judiciary," Landry said during Tuesday's special session of the state Legislature.

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People said Louisiana's new congressional map was an "opportunity for celebration."

"I'm optimistic that it puts us on a path to settlement, but we've got multiple parties in the case and a couple more steps to get through," Victoria Wenger, an NAACP Legal Defense Fund lawyer, said.

Senate Bill 8 -- which passed 27-11 with Republican legislators comprising the 11 no votes -- turns Louisiana's 6th Congressional District currently represented by U.S. Rep. Garret Graves, a Republican from Baton Rouge, into a majority-Black district stretching diagonally across the center of Louisiana.

"Unfortunately, we must pass this map before us instead of giving the pen to a heavy handed, Obama-appointed judge who seeks to enforce her will upon us," said state Sen. Jeremy Stine, a Republican from Lake Charles.

State Sen. Royce Duplessis, a New Orleans Democrat, said the Voting Rights Act was not interpreted by just one judge "but also by the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals that's made up of judges that were appointed by Republican presidents and the United States Supreme Court that is made up of justices that were appointed by majority."
More than 4.6 million people flew in and out of Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport last year, making it the busiest year in the airports history.

Fueled by rebounding traveler interest coming out of the pandemic and an expansion of seat capacity and routes, the Louisville airport surpassed its previous record of nearly 4.3 million in 2019.

None of this happens by accident," said Dan Mann, executive director of the Louisville Regional Airport Authority. "We have to be very intentional with growth ... none of this is possible without the airline partners trusting what we say, trusting our market and adding capacity and having faith that we'll do the right marketing to fill those airplanes up."

Here are some big takeaways from the airports record-breaking year and whats on deck for 2024.

Passenger travel has bounced back from the pandemic

Holiday travelers wait in line for screening at the Muhammad Ali International Airport in Louisville, Ky. on Nov. 21, 2023.

Passenger volume at Louisvilles main airport had been creeping up in the years before the pandemic brought air travel to a near standstill.

The airport recorded 3.87 million passengers in 2018 and followed it up with a (then) record-breaking 4.24 million passengers in 2019.

That figure plummeted and slowly rebuilt from 2020-2022, with nearly 1.64 million, 3.18 million, and 3.89 million passengers tallied each year, respectively.

Mann said while business travel hasnt entirely returned to pre-pandemic levels, leisure travel has with an assist from the airports addition of ultra-low-cost carriers that make air travel more accessible to more people.

These record-setting years are because we have 203,000 more seats on ultra-low-cost carriers, he said, comparing 2023 to 2022. It drives the pricing. The mainline carriers are reacting to that with larger aircraft and better fares. It really is a lot about the leisure market that frankly we didn't really have in 2018 and 2019.

A JetBlue Airlines plane is seen near Spirit Airlines planes at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport on May 16, 2022 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Louisvilles airport added Spirit Airlines and Breeze Airways in 2021 and Sun Country Airlines in 2023. Allegiant Air began service at the Louisville airport in 2017.

Last year saw a huge growth in the number of airplane seats flying in and out

Traffic peaked in October

While Kentucky Derby week, spring break and the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays often conjure images of packed airport queues, October was actually the busiest month for the Louisville airport.

Some 465,000 passengers flew in and out of the airport that month, followed by July (452,000) and May (nearly 439,000).

Natalie Chaudoin, airport spokeswoman, said fall break helps drive October passenger traffic and well as increased business and convention travel.

Its a phenomenon in our industry, said Doug Bennett, Louisville Tourism executive vice president. Im not surprised to hear this strongest month was October because thats typically our strongest month, too.

Growth is proof of concept for landing more new destinations

Executive Director Dan Mann talks about the airport's multi-year, $400 million modernization project. From new jet bridges to upgraded baggage claim and an all-new security area, July 13, 2023

After landing a long sought-after Boston service in 2022, Seattle and Toronto remain atop Manns list of new destinations to secure for Louisvillians.

Every time every time an airline trusts us to add capacity and we fill the plane up, it just makes us less risky than some other community, he said Friday. We're competing for a very mobile asset, and so every success we have makes it easier for the airlines to bet on Louisville.

The number of scheduled seats across the airports eight commercial airlines was up more than 25% in 2023 over the year before (United Airlines led this growth, with a 53% capacity jump).

This 2023 capacity growth, compared to 2022, helped make the Louisville airport the fastest growing airport among the top 100 airports in the continental U.S., said Anthony Gilmer, vice president of air service development and strategic marketing.

Mann said he wants to leverage the 2023 momentum to be a proof of concept that the Louisville airport can successfully handle more routes. The airport has 37 nonstop destinations as of early 2024.

This foundation, this success just brings more success, he said. And we're really excited about 2024. More capacity. More ultra-low-cost carriers.

Construction, new concessions, retail planned for 2024

A rendering shows the renovated baggage claim area at Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport, set to be complete by Thanksgiving 2023.

The airport is part way through the massive $400 million SDF Next Program (Mann said a growing to-do list may push this figure closer to $500 million), and 2024 will see continued work on this renovation plan.

The most recent change is a temporary reconfiguration of the security checkpoint passenger lines, set to last into early April.

Both the Brooks Brothers and the Kentucky Bourbon Trail stores have now permanently closed to make way for an expanded passenger queuing area.

Construction work is taking over the previous queuing space, leading the airport to implement a single-file security line for both TSA PreCheck and general screening. A larger overhaul of the security checkpoint is due to begin later this year.

The security checkpoint at Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport is set to be greatly expanded, going from five security lanes to 10, as part of an overhaul targeted for a late 2025 completion.

Mann also teased a new retail concept for the post-security rotunda, saying only that it's "much more in demand."

Airport staff is also working on introducing pop-up bars at limited times of the year, such as during spring break season.

They'll be in key points where you go get your cocktail, go back to the gate and wait for the airplane, he said.

Growth & development reporter Matthew Glowicki can be reached at mglowicki@courier-journal.com, 502-582-4000 or on Twitter @mattglo.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Louisville airport sees record breaking passenger numbers in 2023
judge's gavel

TOLEDO  A Lucas County grand jury has indicted a Canton teen in a 2023 homicide in Sylvania Township.

Kaitlyn Coones, 17, a runaway teen living in a foster home in Stark County, is accused of killing 53-year-old Nicole Jones on April 19 in Jones' home, according to the indictment filed Thursday in Lucas County.

Sylvania Township is a suburb of Toledo.

The grand jury indicted Coones  initially charged as a juvenile  on felony charges of aggravated murder, murder, felonious assault, abuse of a corpse and tampering with evidence, and she will be tried as an adult.

Coones and Jonathan Jones, now 34, were arrested May 6 in Mexico after an international manhunt. The pair were involved in some type of relationship.

In November, News 5 reported authorities said Coones killed Nicole Jones after Jonathan Jones wouldn't. She allegedly strangled and bludgeoned the woman.

Nicole Jones' body has never been found but prosecutors have said they believe she ended up in a Michigan landfill.

From Canton to Mexico: What to know about the search for Kaitlyn Coones & Jonathan Jones

Jonathan Jones was indicted Aug. 17 on charges of aggravated murder, murder, felonious assault, aggravated burglary, aggravated robbery, tampering with evidence and abuse of a corpse.

His next court date  a pretrial hearing  is Feb. 7 in Lucas County Common Pleas.

This article originally appeared on The Repository: Kaitlyn Coones, 17, of Canton, indicted in 2023 Toledo area homicide
An Ohio family is praying for the recovery of a 17-month-old special-needs toddler who was injured during a botched police raid.

The incident occurred when law enforcement, aiming to apprehend a teenager they suspected of possessing a weapon, targeted a home the suspect didnt live in anymore.

A police tactical team deployed flash-bang grenades as they executed a warrant at a home in the Cleveland suburb of Elyria on Wednesday, Jan. 10, around 2:15 p.m., and the family says those devices harmed an innocent child with a heart defect.

Elyria police raided a house in Elyria, Ohio in a case of mistaken identity and injured a 17-month-old born with severe health complications. (Photos: Getty Images/Redia Jennings)

Courtney Price, 25, and her son, Waylon May, were visiting from Kentucky with her aunt, Reida Jennings, when the officers raided the home. The family claims the police busted into the Parmely Avenue home with force without checking to see if the suspect, who does not live in the home, was there and added that the incident was captured by the households surveillance camera.

Baby Waylon was sitting in his swing when allegedly dozens of members of the Special Response Team knocked down the door after tossing in the grenades.

The baby is now in the ICU. Hes got burns all over him, inside of his lungs are burned, said Jennings in an interview with FOX 8. Hes already a special-needs baby. Hes a trach baby. He was on his ventilator, they let the baby lay there for about 35 to 45 minutes in the smoke.

The family wants the police to take accountability and explain what exactly happened.

The police, who insist they were conducting a search for a teenager facing weapon charges as part of an ongoing investigation, said they deployed two flash-bangs outside the residence. The authorities categorically deny any allegations of the toddlers exposure to chemical agents, negligence, or a lack of medical attention.

Police noted that the Elyria Police detectives, Elyria Fire paramedics, and the mother assessed the condition of the child at the time, and at the time, he did not need any serious medical attention or had injuries.

Lt. Gerald Lantz, a public information officer for the department, said the unit had a warrant for the raid.

Jennings is outraged by this assertion and further explains her account of what happened to the media.

As they are banging on the door, they throw the flash bang through the window and it goes over top of here and hits the baby. The baby is covered in glass, the aunt details.

According to the police, the boy was taken to the hospital due to a pre-existing illness unrelated to the tactical operation.

Price, according to the police report, did not have a car seat, so Lifecare Ambulance was called to the scene. Once there, they assessed the child and transported him to the hospital, where he was later discharged on the same day.

Price said while that is true, her son had to be urgently readmitted to the hospital the following day due to low blood oxygen levels.

After the incident, Jennings spoke to her landlord of approximately one year and believes that the teen the police were looking for was a previous tenant in the home.

They were looking for I think a teenager, to my knowledge.  When they told me the name of the boy, it sounded familiar because they had been here five times the past year looking for that family and that boy, Jennings said.

Jennings, who is white, also believes there was a racial element to the raid that came out when the police came into their home.

When they entered the door, they seen mine and my husbands picture on the wall, said Jennings. My husbands Black and they had the picture of the boy and hes a black boy and he said, Well, they have to be related.

Price said her child had to be hospitalized after the incident. She said the police were rude to her, even placing her in handcuffs.

I kept screaming, my baby, my baby! Hes on a ventilator, my babys in the house! They told me dont worry about my baby, the mother recalled.

She explained that the child has chemical pneumonitis, which involves inflammation and irritation of the lungs.

The aunt and the mother want to know why the officers were so careless with the raid and want accountability. Since the incident, the child is said to have stopped breathing.

He was awaiting open heart surgery, thats why hes here. Thats why hes at my house, the aunt said, adding, Shes been here one week. They have taken 17 months of what this baby has fought to be where hes at, and now hes back at square one.

Lantz also said that more information will be released as the investigation unfolds.

His Lungs are Burned: Botched Police Raid In Ohio Puts Baby with Heart Defect In Hospital After Two Grenades Deployed
As an artist working across media, Ive used everything from thread to my voice to poetically translate and express information. Recently, Ive been working with another medium  geologic datasets.

While scientists use data visualization to show the results of a dataset in interesting and informative ways, my goal as an artist is a little different. In the studio, I treat geologic data as another material, using it to guide my interactions with Mylar film, knitting patterns or opera. Data, in my work, functions expressively and abstractly.

Two of my projects in particular, points of rupture and tidal arias, exemplify this way of working. In these pieces, my goal is to offer new ways for people to personally relate to the immense scale of geologic time.

Points of rupture

An early project in which I treated data as a medium was my letterpress print series points of rupture. In this series, I encoded data from cryoseismic, or ice quake, events to create knitting patterns.

Working with ice quake data was a continuation of my research into what I call archived landscapes. These are places that have had multiple distinct geologic identities over time, like mountains that were once sea reefs.

points of rupture (alaska glacial event 1999), 2020. Letterpress print of knitting pattern coded using cryoseismic data. Edition of 15. 18 x 18 in. Sarah Nance

Because knit textiles are made up of many individual stitches, I can use them to encode discrete data points. In a knitting pattern, or chart, each kind of stitch is represented by a specific symbol. I used the open-source program Stitch Maps to write the patterns for this project, translating the peaks and valleys of seismographs into individual stitch symbols.

Knitting charts typically display these symbols in a grid. Instead, Stitch Maps allows them to fall as they would when knitted, so the chart mimics the shape of the final textile.

I was drawn to the expressive possibilities of this feature and how the software allowed me to experiment. I was able to write patterns that worked only in theory and not as physical, handmade structures. This gave me more freedom to design patterns that fully expressed the datasets without having to ensure their viability as textiles.

and when you change the landscape, is it with bare hands or with gloves? (lichen, woodwork, grate), 2023. Graphite drawing of selbu mitten knitting chart. 99 x 67 linear inches as installed. Sarah Nance

Glaciers form incrementally as new snowfall compacts previous layers of snow, crystallizing them into ice. A knitted fabric similarly accumulates in layers, as rows of interlocking loops. Each structure appears stable but could easily be dissolved.

Ice quakes occur in glaciers as a result of calving events or pooling meltwater. Like melting glaciers, knitting is always in danger of coming apart  but instead of melting, by snagging and unraveling into formlessness. These structural similarities between glaciers and knitting are reflected in the points of rupture prints, where disruptive ice quakes translate into unknittable patterns.

points of rupture (glacier de la plaine morte icequake 2016), 2020. Letterpress print of knitting pattern coded using cryoseismic data. Edition of 15. 18 x 18 in. Sarah Nance

The loop

Repeated, interlocking loops are the base units that compose the structure of a knitted textile. The loop also forms the seed of an in-progress work I pursued during an artist residency with the NASA GEODES research group. I joined their research team in Flagstaff, Arizona, in August 2023. I assisted in gathering data from sites within the San Francisco volcanic field, while also conducting my own fieldwork: photography, drawing, note-taking and walking.

Sarah Nances walk at S P Crater in Arizona, as recorded in AllTrails. Screenshot of All Trails map

One of my walks was a trek around a particularly prominent geologic loop  the rim of the S P cinder cone volcano. This is the second crater walk Ive completed, the first being a tracing of the subsurface rim of the Decorah impact structure in Iowa.

I see my paths through these landscapes as stand-ins for yarn. Over time, by taking walks that trace craters, or geologic loops, I will perform a textile. The performance of something as familiar as a textile offers me a new way to think about something that is much more difficult to comprehend  geologic time.

Art & Science Collide series. source

This article is part of Art & Science Collide, a series examining the intersections between art and science.

You may be interested in:

Literature inspired my medical career: Why the humanities are needed in health care

I wrote a play for children about integrating the arts into STEM fields  heres what I learned about interdisciplinary thinking

Art and science entwined: This course explores the long, interrelated history of two ways of seeing the world

Performance and tides

Performance has been a useful tool in my work, as it can help people understand and relate to geologic processes.

transference, 2017. Atlantic sea ice, body heat. Documentation of site-responsive performance on the East Coast Trail, Newfoundland, Canada. Project supported in part by La Soupee, Galerie Diagonale, Montreal, Quebec. Sarah Nance

The field of geology emerges from a long history of extraction and colonialist ventures. In this context, land is valued for its economic importance  as raw material to be extracted or territory to be claimed. In my performances, I aim to interact with geology as its own active entity, rather than as a consumable resource.

In recent years, I have composed and performed two arias from tidal data.

The first, marseille tidal gauge aria, sourced 130 years of sea level data collected from a tidal gauge in the Bay of Marseille, France. I converted each yearly average sea level into an individual note within my vocal range. This resulted in a composition that expresses the rising sea levels of the bay as increasingly higher pitches in the aria.

Its lyrics come from a somber poem in Rasu-Yong Tugens book Songs From the Black Moon. Each note of the aria communicates not just the measured sea level but also my emotive response to this dataset.

tidal arias, 2022. Limited edition flexi disc with vocal performances marseille tidal gauge aria and skagway tidal aria. Sarah Nance

Last fall, marseille tidal gauge aria was transmitted to the ionosphere, the boundary between Earths atmosphere and outer space. This was done as part of artist Amanda Dawn Christies project Ghosts in the Air Glow, using the High-frequency Active Auroral Research Programs ionospheric research instrument, which is an array of 180 antennas transmitting high-frequency radio waves.

The arias transmission reflected off the ionosphere, back to Earth and to shortwave radio listeners around the world.

For the second of these vocal pieces, skagway tidal aria, I used predictive as well as recorded tidal data from Skagway, Alaska. With this data, I composed an aria for The 2051 Munich Climate Conference, where speakers presented from the perspective of a climate-altered world 30 years in the future.

Score for skagway tidal aria, 2021. Recorded and speculative tidal data from Skagway, Alaska (1945-2081), sonified as a vocal composition. Text from Songs From the Black Moon by Rasu-Yong Tugen. Sarah Nance

I was drawn to this particular dataset because the falling tide levels in Skagway appear to contradict the global trend of rising sea levels. However, this is a temporary effect caused by melting glaciers releasing pressure on the land, allowing it to rise faster than water levels. The effect will flatten over the next half-century, and Skagways tides will start to rise again.

Over the next few months, Ill be working with geophysical datasets gathered during the NASA GEODES field expedition to write new arias. I want these pieces to continue blurring the separation between the human and the geologic, inviting listeners to think more deeply about their own relationships with the lands they use and occupy.

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: Sarah Nance, Binghamton University, State University of New York.

Read more:



The author's projects with GEODES and Ghosts in the Air Glow were supported with funding from these organizations.
A California man was charged with murder on Tuesday after authorities found what they believe to be the remains of his missing wife in the Santa Cruz Mountains area, Los Gatos-Monte Sereno police announced.

John Yeager, 56, is accused of murdering his wife, Ying Ying Dawn Yu, 40, whose job reported her missing on Jan. 8, police said.

According to police, Yu last spoke to her employer before Jan. 1 and could not be reached since then.

The Santa Cruz Mountains in California.

The Santa Cruz Mountains in California.

Detectives who spoke to Yeager said the information he provided was inconsistent. Further investigation revealed evidence of an alleged domestic violence incident on the night of Dec. 31.

Police also noted in the statement that Yeager and Yu lived with children in the home, and that authorities were working on the investigation to ensure their safety.

According to a probable cause affidavit cited by the local news outlet East Bay Times, investigators said neighbors security footage showed Yu running out of their home and yelling for help.

Police said the footage then showed Yeager grabbing Yu by the shoulders. In the footage, Yu repeatedly asked if Yeager was going to take her back to beat her to death, according to the outlet.

Yeager was booked into jail on Jan. 11 in relation tothe apparent domestic violence incident shown in the video. He allegedly confessed to his wifes murder two days later.

Yeager admitted to strangling his wife with a rope that night, then dumping her body in the Santa Cruz Mountains area, according to an affidavit cited by the East Bay Times.

Police searching a remote area where Yeager allegedly said he dumped his wifes body found human remains believed to be Yus. The remains were taken to the medical examiners office the next day. Though investigators believe the remains belong to Yu, they have not been officially identified yet.

The Santa Clara medical examiners office did not immediately respond to HuffPosts request for an update on Friday. The Santa Clara public defenders office did not respond to HuffPosts request for a statement.

Need help? In the U.S., call 1-800-799-SAFE (7233) for the National Domestic Violence Hotline.

Related...
SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4)  A man with a history of DUI convictions was arrested Thursday morning after authorities say he drunkenly drove a forklift along a road in central Utah.

Tracy Behling, 41, of Ferron, was booked into the Emery County Jail before sunrise on suspicion of driving under the influence, being an alcohol-restricted driver and refusing to undergo field sobriety tests, a probable cause affidavit filed in 7th District Court shows.

Teen facing charges for allegedly taping fish to ATMs in Provo

According to the Emery County Sheriffs Office, Behling was driving a forklift west on State Road 29, near Castle Dale. The area is about 150 miles south of Salt Lake City.

Behling was having difficulties with the operation of the forklift, allegedly driving it with the suspension in the crab formation, with the back of the vehicle striking the roads guardrail multiple times, the affidavit states.

Behling allegedly smelled of alcohol, and the officer asked him to perform field sobriety tests. He said he couldnt and refused. The officer arrested Behling and took him to the county jail.

According to the affidavit, Behlings license showed he is an alcohol-restricted driver and isnt allowed to drive any vehicle that doesnt have an ignition interlock device installed. The forklift was a rental and did not have such a device installed, the affidavit states.

While in custody, Behling also refused a blood draw for a chemical test. The sheriffs office noted, however, that the technician was able to smell alcohol on Behling, further suggesting that he was intoxicated.

Behling has two prior DUI charges, court documents show. If he is charged with another DUI, it would be upgraded to a third-degree felony, the affidavit states. In Utah, a third-degree felony is punishable by up to 5 years in prison.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC4 Utah.
Steven Ruffin, center, who served 14 years in prison for a deadly 1990s shooting, speaks to the media, in the Brooklyn borough of New York, after he was was exonerated, Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024. Prosecutors said they now believe the killer was an acquaintance Ruffin has implicated for decades. (AP Photo/Jennifer Peltz)

NEW YORK (AP)  A man who served 14 years in prison for a deadly 1990s shooting was exonerated Thursday after prosecutors said they now believe the killer was an acquaintance he has implicated for decades.

I lost 14 years of my life for a crime that I didnt commit, Steven Ruffin told a Brooklyn judge after sighing with emotion.

Although Ruffin was paroled in 2010 and has since built a career in sanitation in Georgia, he said that getting his manslaughter conviction dismissed and his name cleared will help me move on.

If you know you're innocent, dont give up on your case  keep on fighting, because justice will prevail, Ruffin, 45, said outside court. Thats all Ive wanted for 30 years: somebody to listen and really hear what Im saying and look into the things I was telling them."

Prosecutors said they were exploring whether to charge the man they now believe shot 16-year-old James Deligny on a Brooklyn street during a February 1996 confrontation over some stolen earrings. Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said after court that charges, if any, wouldn't come immediately.

You have to be able to convict someone beyond a reasonable doubt, and we have to make sure that that evidence is sufficient to do so, said Gonzalez, who wasn't DA when Ruffin was tried. You have a lot of factors working against us procedurally, but also factually  unfortunately, this is 30 years ago.

Ruffin's conviction is the latest of more than three dozen that Brooklyn prosecutors have disavowed after reinvestigations over the last decade.

Over a dozen, including Ruffin's, were connected to retired Detective Louis Scarcella. He was lauded in the 1980s and 90s for his case-closing prowess, but defendants have accused him of coercing confessions, engineering dubious witness identifications and other troubling tactics. He has denied any wrongdoing.

Prosecutors said in their report on the Ruffin case that they did not discover any misconduct by Scarcella" in the matter. A message seeking comment was sent to his attorney.

Prosecutors said the police investigation  and their office's own at the time  were wholly inadequate and tunnel-visioned, failing to look into the person they now believe was the gunman.

The mistaken-identity shooting happened as Ruffin and others were looking for a robber who had just snatched earrings from Ruffins sister. In fact, Deligny wasn't the robber, authorities say.

Tipsters led police to Ruffin, then a 17-year-old high school student, and the victim's sister identified him in a lineup that a court later deemed flawed. Scarcella wasn't involved in the lineup, but he and another detective questioned Ruffin.

The teen told them, twice, that he saw but wasn't involved in Deligny's shooting, according to police records quoted in prosecutors' report.

Then Scarcella brought the teen's estranged father  a police officer himself  to the precinct. The father later testified that he told his son to tell the truth, but Ruffin said his father leaned on him to confess.

And he did confess, saying he fired because he thought Deligny was about to pull something out of his jacket. Ruffin told the detectives they could retrieve the gun from his sister's boyfriend, and they did, prosecutors' report said.

Ruffin quickly recanted to his father, who didn't tell the detectives his son had taken back his confession, according to prosecutors' report. The teen went on to testify at his trial that he didn't shoot Deligny but saw and knew the killer  his sister's boyfriend, the one who'd given police the gun, broken up into parts and stuffed into potatoes.

Jurors at Ruffin's trial heard from the boyfriend, but only about his relationships with the defendant, his sister and others in the case. When the jury was out of the room, the boyfriend invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination and declined to answer other questions, including where he'd been on the night of the shooting.

Prosecutors didn't release the boyfriend's name Thursday, and the names of lawyers who have represented him weren't immediately available. He told prosecutors during their recent reinvestigation that he had nothing to do with the shooting and didn't give detectives the gun. He also said he never confessed to anyone, though prosecutors say Ruffin's stepfather, sister and late mother all have said he made admissions to them.

Asked Thursday about the boyfriend, Ruffin's lawyers noted that the prospect of any prosecution now is uncertain.

We only wish that in 1996, Detective Scarcella and others had performed the investigation they should have and been able to get this right the first time," attorney Garrett Ordower said, noting that Deligny's family may now never have the finality of a conviction in his death.

As for Ruffin, he's focused on his future, including promotion opportunities at his job in Atlanta. His now-voided conviction, he said, never defined me.

This never really spoke of the person I was or the man I was going to become, he said. So this, to me, is a great closure of a chapter my life, but my life is still going up.
A man connected to the shooting of a couple following a confrontation at home in south Charlotte is facing several charges for sex crimes against a minor.

On Jan. 17, arrest warrants for 33-year-old Nathan Martin were issued. He was charged with two counts of statutory sexual offense with a child 15 or younger by an adult and two counts of indecent liberties with a child under the age of 16.

On Dec. 12, 2023, Brandy Cox and her husband were shot while at a home on Meadowridge Drive off Carmel Road. Cox died from her injuries, while her husband was taken to the hospital with serious injuries.

Arrest warrants revealed that while detectives were investigating the shooting, they were made aware of a sexual assault involving a 15-year-old girl and Martin. The victim informed police of two encounters she had with Martin.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE:

Calls to 911 later revealed that the couple had driven down from Virginia to the home to confront a man who they claimed molested a relative, according to recordings of the calls.

Police have not publicly identified the shooter yet. No charges have been filed in connection with the shooting but police told Channel 9s Deneige Broom that it is still under investigation.

Court records show Martin was taken into custody on Jan. 18. He has since bonded out.

He has a court appearance set for Friday afternoon. This a developing story; check back at wsoctv.com for updates.

VIDEO: Woman killed in south Charlotte double shooting, police say












A man who was shot by a Marshall County sheriffs deputy is accused of firing shots first before being injured in the shooting, according to Kentucky State Police.

The shooting happened early in the morning on Jan. 9 at a residential construction site on Harold King Drive in Benton. KSP said Marshall County sheriffs deputy Nick Spears, a 16-year law enforcement veteran, saw what he believed to be a theft in progress and stopped to check on the incident.

A pickup truck was backed up to a utility trailer at the construction site and there were two men at the site, according to the sheriffs office. One of the men, 43-year-old John Ross, of Paducah, pointed a gun towards Spears and fired shots, KSP said.

Spears returned fire and hit Ross, according to KSP. He was sent to an out-of-state hospital and treated for non-life-threatening injuries.

Ross was charged with attempted murder of a police officer, possession of a handgun by a convicted felon and theft by unlawful taking (greater than $10,000 but less than $1 million), according to KSP. Court documents say Ross admitted to attempting to steal items from the construction site and that he fired at least two shots at Spears.

The second suspect, 35-year-old Kevin Sorensen, also of Paducah, was arrested at the scene and charged with first-degree burglary. However the burglary charge was later amended to theft by unlawful taking (greater than $10,000 but less than $1 million).

Spears and Sorensen were uninjured in the shooting. KSP said Spears has been placed on paid administrative leave due to Marshall County Sheriffs Department policy.
An appeals court in Thailand added found Mr Thirakot guilty of 11 more violations. - Thai Lawyers for Human Rights/AP

A 30-year-old man is facing 50 years in prison for social media posts deemed to criticise the Thai monarchy, the longest sentence given under the countrys stringent lese-majeste law.

Mongkol Thirakot, an online clothing seller from the northern Chiang Rai province, was already facing 28 years in jail over comments he made on Facebook three years ago.

But on Thursday, an appeals court added a further 22 years to his sentence after finding him guilty of 11 more violations.

Under Thailands lese majeste laws  often referred to as Article 112, the designation in the southeast Asian countrys criminal code  insulting the monarch carries a prison term of between three and 15 years for each offence. In general, differing posts or comments on social media are deemed separate incidents.

The law was briefly suspended when King Maha Vajiralongkorns reign began in 2019. But when unprecedented student-led protests kicked off three years ago and openly called for royal reforms, Article 112 was revived.

The laws state that 'no person shall expose the King to any sort of accusation or action.' - RUNGROJ YONGRIT/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

More than 260 activists have since been charged, according to Thai Lawyers for Human Rights. On Wednesday, a prominent activist and lawyer who led the protests and first called for a public discussion about the monarch, also had his prison sentence lengthened from four to eight years.

The lese-majeste laws became a controversial issue in last years election, when the progressive Move Forward Party called for alterations to the legislation. In a surprise result, the youth-led group won the poll  yet it struggled to form a coalition government, in part because of this position.

Later this month, the Constitutional Court will rule on whether the party should be dissolved because of these calls to alter the lese-majeste legislation.

The latest sentence is the longest in the history of Article 112 cases, Theeraphon Khoomsap, Mr Mongkols lawyer, told Reuters. Details of what the accused man said have not been published.

The previous record ruling was in 2021, when retired circle servant Anchan Preelert was ordered to serve 43 years in prison.

Ms Preelert, aged in her 60s at the time she was sentenced, had uploaded audio recordings by a hardcore critic of the monarchy 26 times on YouTube and three times on Facebook during 2014 and 2015. Her home was later raided by security officials.

I thought it was nothing, Ms Preelert told Bangkok media on the day she faced court. There were so many people who shared this content and listened to it.

Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month, then enjoy 1 year for just $9 with our US-exclusive offer.
CLEVELAND COUNTY, Okla. (KFOR)  The District 21 District Attorneys Office says a Norman man has pleaded guilty to manslaughter just one week after his wife was sentenced to life in prison for murdering his half-sister and hiding her body while collecting her Social Security disability checks.

Octavio Sanchez and his wife, Desiree Fransen/Sanchez, are accused of murdering Octavios half-sister, 19-year-old Margarita Sandoval, then continuing to collect her social security checks for years after.

Woman found guilty of murder, hiding body while stealing victims social security checks

Investigators said Sandoval had cognitive disabilities. The 19-year-olds family stopped hearing from her in early 2018 after she moved in with the Sanchezes.

Her body was discovered inside a tote, wrapped up in tape, plastic wrap, and rope in the basement of a home on W. Lindsey St. in May 2021 after the Norman Police Department received an out-of-state tip.

According to court records, investigators found Facebook messages between Desiree and Octavio Sanchez about moving the body around the house due to the smell, and say Octavio Sanchez told someone Desiree started it and I had to finish it.

Testimony also revealed the Sanchezes had one of their children help wrap the tote at one point, telling them they were wrapping a present.

Two charged with murder sentenced in federal court for conspiracy, aggravated identity theft

Federal prosecutors said the couple took $30,912 in benefits for their own personal use, plus $3,200 from economic impact payments in Sandovals name, before her body was discovered.

Desiree was sentenced in June 2023 to 36 months in federal prison, followed by 3 years of supervised release, after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit a crime against the United States and aggravated identity theft in January 2023.

Octavio was sentenced to 48 months in federal prison, followed by 3 years of supervised release, after pleading guilty to the same crimes.

Octavio was also sentenced to 120 months in federal prison for illegally possessing a firearm in December 2022.

Desiree was found guilty of Murder in the First Degree and Unlawful Removal of Dead Body in November 2023 and sentenced to life in prison Jan. 11, 2024.

Now, Octavio Sanchez has entered a blind plea for Manslaughter and will be sentenced March 26.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KFOR.com Oklahoma City.
A mom put her car up for sale on OfferUp and when she went to meet with the potential buyers, a man pointed a gun at her, Arizona police said.

The mom went with her 7-year-old daughter Jan. 17 to a Wells Fargo Bank parking lot in Mesa to meet with the potential buyers, according to a news release by the police department.

While talking with the buyers about the sale price, a man pointed a gun at her and demanded the vehicle, police said.

The woman ran with her daughter through the parking lot and went inside the bank, officials said.

While the woman and her daughter were safe inside, the man and another person drove off in the Dodge Charger, officers said.

Police said the woman didnt know either of the people.

She gave cops the phone number that was used to inquire about the car, and police traced it back to Joseph Toledo, 29, officials said. Officers were able to get a location and went to a hospital where they found the car.

Toledo was eventually found at the Arizona Department of Corrections Rehabilitation and Reentry where he was meeting his parole officer, police said.

The other potential buyer was identified at Iridiane Garcia, 23, police said.

Garcia was found in the drivers seat of a car parked outside the corrections department waiting for Toledo, officers said. Garcia told police the keys to the Dodge Charger were in her purse with the gun police said Toledo used during the incident.

Toledo and Garcia were booked into jail on charges of armed robbery and theft of means of transportation, according to the release.

Mesa is 20 miles east of Phoenix.

Gunman fatally shoots customer, injures employee at 24-hour tire shop, Texas police say

Dad accused of shoplifting abandons scared son in car to flee, Georgia cops say

Name on back of demand note leads cops to accused bank robber, Indiana police say
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD)  Brenda Bables says she cannot escape the grief caused by the death of her son, Armonie Acklin, at just 25.

We all have a hole in our hearts that cant be filled because of just carelessness, Bables told the man convicted of killing her son at his Thursday sentencing. You took away my first true love, my son, my best friend.

Genesis Lewis listens to a victim impact statement from Brenda Bables at his sentencing in Grand Rapids on Jan. 18, 2024.

Genesis Lewis, 25, was sentenced to a minimum of 30 years in prison for shooting and killing Acklin and injuring three others just after midnight on June 5, 2022, outside a bar on Pearl Street in downtown Grand Rapids.

Groom survives being shot repeatedly in downtown Grand Rapids

Another one of the victims, Marcellous Suttles, had been celebrating one of the happiest days of his life. He got married just hours before.

These people simply just wanted to enjoy their wedding, Kent County Circuit Judge Mark Trusock said Thursday.

As the wedding party celebrated the big night downtown, a confrontation ensued with Lewis and his father. Police said after the shooting the groups had a longtime feud. The fight soon escalated. Lewis went back to the truck and pulled out two pistols. Investigators said the bride begged Lewis to stop and not make the situation any worse.

Even before that, the bride came out and was in you and your fathers face, saying, Please leave us alone, just go, this is our wedding day, Trusock told Lewis Thursday.

Investigators said Lewis fired 12 to 13 shots at the group and hit four people. Acklin, one of Lewis own friends, was shot in the head and killed.

You didnt mean to, but acting recklessly, discharging that gun 13 times, you hit the groom, Trusock said.

Nine of the shots hit the groom. His family members told News 8 after the shooting that after he was shot, the bride used ties and belts to stop the bleeding, potentially saving his life.

Its a miracle of modern medicine he did not die, Trusock said. Nine shots from a 9 mm and he didnt die.

Surveillance cameras in the area caught the incident and showed Lewis firing a handgun into a crowd, a probable cause document said.

Lewiss attorney, Daniel Schwalm, told News 8 that Lewis retrieved the pistols and fired the shots to defend his father during the fight.

His father was laying on the ground, Schwalm said. There were three men standing above him that were attacking his father.

This was a situation where his father could have been killed, he continued. In his opinion, he was using deadly force to defend his father. He may have had bad skills or bad marksmanship, but it certainly was not a situation where he intended to kill Armonie Acklin at all or the other people.

A photo of 25-year-old Armonie Acklin, who was shot and killed in Grand Rapids early Sunday morning. (Courtesy)

Schwalm said Lewis and Acklin called each other brothers and Acklin was trying to help him during the confrontation.

(Lewiss father) was on the ground, and (Acklin) saw he was outnumbered, Schwalm claimed. He was there so he went over to intervene to help him. When he went over to help, one of the assailants punched (Acklin) and he went back. At that exact moment, (Lewis) fired to stop the attack and (Acklin) got punched into the line of fire and (Acklin) died.

Trusock said Thursday that Lewis and his father were in the (wedding groups) face outside of the bar.

Quite frankly, I think your father was the instigator of a lot of this, Trusock said.

Acklin was just 11 months old when his own father died, Bables said. She told Lewis that she hopes to forgive him one day for killing her son.

Armonie would want that from me, she said.

Bables also encouraged Lewis to do something positive in prison.

Be a mentor for young men to break this cycle. Its horrible, she said.

Feds see surge in gun violence, drug trafficking

In November 2023, a jury found Lewis guilty of killing Acklin and injuring the three others.

Lewis apologized at his sentencing Thursday, saying he will accept his punishment for taking his friends life.

Theres always going to be a hole in my heart from this situation due to his loss, Lewis said. Whats most important to me is Armonie gets justice. Hes no longer here with us.

Genesis Lewis listens to the judge at his sentencing in Grand Rapids on Jan. 18, 2024.

If me having to take the responsibility for my actions and the action of the person that assaulted him and was in the line of fire is what I owe to him, then Im willing to do whatever it takes to pay the fraction of the debt that he put his life on the line for me and my dad, he continued.

Lewis had no criminal record before the killing outside of a fishing violation. He had a concealed license permit. Before the judge sentenced Lewis, Trusock shared his concern about young men with little to no prior criminal record carrying concealed license permits or CPLs and recklessly firing their guns.

This is the second time in the last year Ive sentenced a young man who basically has done nothing wrong in their life other than the incident for which theyre in front of me, Trusock said.

Trusock was referencing a 2022 murder case for the death of 13-year-old Jamarion McCuller in Kentwood. McCuller was in seventh grade. The shooter in that case, Justin House, had a CPL. Investigators said Houses fathers car was stolen earlier in the day and House chased after the group involved while he was legally carrying a weapon. House opened fire, fatally shooting McCuller in the back.

House was eventually sentenced to between 14 and 40 years in prison for second-degree murder, plus two years for a weapon charge.

Like you here, you have no record, you have a CPL, you had your guns, and when you lost control, you killed a friend of yours and shot three other people, Trusock told Lewis. It concerns me that people with concealed license permits got to realize theyre not police officers, they dont have the training and experience, and when somebody pulls a gun to shoot someone, there can be very serious ramifications.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WOODTV.com.
Fresno police detectives continue to investigate the citys second homicide of 2024, a fatal shooting that happened in the middle of a road.

Officers responded to a ShotSpotter electronic activation just after 1 p.m. Wednesday at Lee Street and Lorena Avenue.

When officers arrived, they found a man with a gunshot wound. He was taken to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead, police said.

In an update Friday, police identified the victim as 24-year-old Taeshawn Johnson.

Detectives said Johnson was involved in a confrontation in the road with the suspect when he was shot.

Police are asking for the publics help with any information by calling 559-621-7000, or homicide detectives Jake Adney at 559-621-2445 or Martin Moreno at 559-621-2443. Callers can remain anonymous by calling Crime Stoppers at 559-498-7867.
(WFRV)  A man in southwest Wisconsin was taken into custody after allegedly stealing three cars in a matter of a couple of hours.

According to the Vernon County Sheriffs Office, a 26-year-old man was arrested following three separate auto theft incidents. on January 17 around 5:45 a.m., a report came in that a pickup truck was taken.

The caller reported finding the vehicle in the ditch with minor damage not far from their residence.

Wisconsin business owner charged with sexual assault, acts allegedly occurred during cosmetic procedures

Around 6 a.m. that same day, a second call came in reporting that a vehicle was missing from another address. About an hour later, a third call reported that an abandoned vehicle was found, which was determined to be the same vehicle that was reported as missing.

During the investigation, officials determined that a third vehicle was missing. This vehicle was reportedly found by the Crawford County Sheriffs Office around 9 a.m.

Eventually, a suspect was taken into custody and was booked on multiple counts. The suspect appeared in court and was released on a $5,000 signature bond.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFRV Local 5 - Green Bay, Appleton.
Owner of Concorde Capital investment company, Ihor Mazepa, was detained by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau on Jan. 18, triggering the civic movement Manifest-42 to call on Ukrainian businesses to unite against the arbitrariness of law enforcement agencies.

Commenting on the high-profile case in an interview with Radio NV on Jan. 19, Political analyst Oleh Saakyan stated that the situation with Mazepa, previous incidents involving journalists, and statements about possible agreements with Russia all resemble a controlled chaos methodology, that is creating a perfect storm within the country.

Regarding this case, Saakyan criticized the corrupt part of the state apparatus, referring to them as the manifest of lawlessness.

The current actions against Mazepa and Concorde Capital demonstrate that written rules in Ukraine are ineffective in protecting private property and capital, said the analyst.

Read also: SBI explains detention of businessman Ihor Mazepa for alleged attempt to appropriate Kyiv HPS lands

The Soviet principle of [Felix] Dzerzhinsky, the founder of the Soviet secret police, remains influential within the Ukrainian law enforcement system.

Saakyan highlighted that any informal agreements, political will, or even the words of President Zelenskyy and his closest associates about the importance of business and investments are seemingly worthless.

He emphasized that power in Ukraine lies within a kleptocratic, corrupt segment of the system, indicating a lack of order in the country.

Saakyan questioned whether the highest political leadership is complicit in this or if they are being portrayed in a weak light, indicating their ineffectiveness.

There is no order in Ukraine, neither written nor unwritten, posing challenges for businesses and individuals seeking protection against arbitrary actions, said Saakyan.

Read also: Court denies broadcasting preliminary hearing on businessman Ihor Mazepa

I never thought Mr. Mazepa was white and fluffy. Anyone doing business in Ukraine going back more than 20 years, Im sure, has many skeletons, and there are many grievances.

For me, its not about Mazepas reputation, he added.

Its about the fact that anyone could be in Mazepas position. The arbitrary actions taken now demonstrate that anyone ready to speak out against this arbitrariness will be the first to be devoured. They are not protected publicly, politically, financially, or in any other way,concluded the analyst.

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
As Tennessee struggles to thaw out amid ongoing winter weather, schools are out through the end of the week in Nashville and across Middle Tennessee.

There have been four snow days and counting for many districts, including Metro Nashville Public Schools. But how many inclement weather days does the district have  and what happens if those run out?

Here's a look at how it all breaks down.

Inclement weather days and stockpile days

Tennessee requires public schools to maintain at least 180 days of classroom teaching each school year.

MNPS has six days reserved for inclement weather in the 2023-24 school year. Due to the winter weather this month, four of those have been used. If more inclement weather shutters schools in Nashville and the remaining two days are used, the district can use the following dates to make up any additional days:

Feb. 19 (President's Day)

March 5 (Super Tuesday/local election day)

May 24

May 28

May 29

May 30

May 31

The last day of school for students is currently scheduled for May 23. Memorial Day falls on May 27.

Harvey Ault, 4, hangs on while his 11-month-old Newfoundland puppy, Duke, pulls him in the snow on Monday, Jan. 15, 2024, in Brentwood, Tenn. The first winter of 2024 hit Middle Tennessee and snowfall is expected to continue until Tuesday.

Remote learning options

If necessary, MNPS could use up to two remote instruction days in place of inclement weather days. However, MNPS has not used that option since it was established through a Tennessee law in 2022, according to spokesperson Sean Braisted.

Here are the stipulations outlined in the law:

1. Local education agencies (LEAs) can switch a class, a school or all the schools in the LEA to remote instruction if there are dangerous or extreme weather conditions, or if there's a serious illness outbreak that could harm students or staff.

2. LEAs can also use remote instruction on days when big tests are scheduled. However, students need to take these tests in person.

3. If an LEA uses remote instruction, they must provide:

At least four hours of instruction per day for kindergarten students.

At least six and a half hours of instruction per day for students in grades one through twelve.

4. LEAs need to track daily student attendance and comply with state laws on school attendance and truancy. They should have methods to confirm if students are participating in remote learning, determine if absences are excused or not, and address absences during remote instruction.

5. LEAs offering remote instruction must follow all state and federal laws, rules, and policies.

6. LEAs must:

Provide school meals according to the school nutrition program on remote instruction days.

Ensure services required by a students individualized education program (IEP) are available on remote instruction days.

7. In this context, remote instruction refers to teaching that happens when a teacher is not giving in-person instruction in a traditional school setting.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Metro Nashville Public Schools: Snow days, make-up days explained
Saving Private Ryan was a brilliant film whose opening amphibious assault scene left an imprint of bravery and brutality imprinted on the mind long after the film was over.

Right now, both the Royal Navy and the US Navy are locked into a debate as to the future of their amphibious shipping from which such assaults could be launched today. Unfortunately, the film doesnt help here, for two reasons.

First, it plays to a common tendency when discussing any military capability to zoom in on the worst possible case  such as an opposed beach landing when thinking about amphibious warfare.

This is to ignore the huge range of other activities amphibious ships can carry out, many of which dont involve firing weapons at all.

Second, the brutality of those movie scenes tends to support the view of those who are adamant that we would never do that now, and therefore we do not need amphibious ships.

I would argue that we would never want to do that now, which is very different. Predicting what future combat might look like is a nuanced business and history is littered with examples of entire capabilities mistakenly written off by someone keen to show their intellect (or parsimony).

The era of tank battles on the European land mass is over

Boris Johnson famously said the era of fighting tank battles on European landmass is over three months before Russian tanks rolled over the Ukrainian border. The decision to remove the anti-air capability from Royal Navy main guns because it takes a missile to shoot down a missile is another one from 20 years ago coming home to roost today in the Red Sea drone war.

Storming a beach under enemy fire is, I hope, unlikely  but never say never. And besides, an amphibious ship is not just for carrying out opposed beach landings: it can do many other things.

Over in the US, the maintenance of amphibious hull numbers is complicated to a degree by the US Navy hierarchy which puts aircraft carrier strike groups first, submarines second and everything else last.

Amphibious ships are perhaps especially unloved by the mainstream navy. This is because their purpose is to carry Marines and their equipment but the navy still has to provide the ship and crew it. The navy, left to itself, would probably rather not have as many amphibs as the Marines want. In this climate, the ongoing US Marine Corps fight to keep this capability at current levels is as real as the current struggle waged by the Royal Marines, albeit scaled up.

A US Marine MV-22 Osprey tiltrotor comes in to land aboard the amphibious dock ship USS Mesa Verde in the Mediterranean. The Osprey lands and takes off like a helicopter - Corporal Michele Clarke

Except the US Marines have found a different solution. They simply go over the Navys head, to Congress.

Recent reporting from the US suggests that the Pentagon tried to halt production of San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock ships in its FY24 plans, calling for a strategic pause while the Navy worked out what the requirement was. The outcome of this study is not expected until next year.

In the meantime, the CEO of Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII), the largest shipbuilding company in the US, noted the Navy had threatened to end the program several times and that many recent LPD ships were excluded from formal budget plans, only to be added in by lawmakers after advocacy from industry, the Marine Corps and other supporters.

This is pretty remarkable; equivalent to the Royal Marines leadership gathering up a team from Defence Equipment & Support and other advocates and persuading Parliament to pass a law enshrining how many amphibs we will have without reference to the Royal Navy or the Ministry of Defence. This sounds extraordinary to a Brit but it worked. The answer, by US law, is currently 31: and this practice of getting the USN overruled by Congress is an old gambit by the Marine Corps.

Maybe big ships dont always need big escort groups

This does lead on to other issues. The Marines may be able to compel the Navy to have lots of amphibious ships, but even the USMC cant make the Navy build a further fleet of escorts to protect them. The end result is that its routine for these large amphibious ships to be out and about the world without escorting destroyers, which would be regarded as a risky practice by many navies.

Take the USS Bataan and USS Carter Hall, two of the three ships which make up the Bataan Amphibious Ready Group carrying the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit (26 MEU). After 7 October, they moved from the Persian Gulf to the Red Sea where they stayed for two months before moving to the Eastern Med.

In the Red Sea, Bataan and Carter Hall were largely unprotected by escorts during their stay. This raises two issues.

First, the number of escorts required is different for every mission and for arguably the hottest bit of their trip so far, in the Red Sea, two big US ships did not require any. This is an important point to note, especially for those who believe that the Royal Navy carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth can never be sent anywhere without being accompanied by every serviceable escort warship in the fleet, leaving the home country defenceless.

This situation of undefended major vessels in dangerous waters could also be one reason why the USN are keen to have fewer amphibs. This quite apart from the fact that they might rather devote some of the amphibs budget and sailors to sexier naval things.

The more they find themselves in that uncomfortable position where the recommended number of escorts is low but not zero, and force-flow restrictions force you to choose zero, the less popular these ships will be with USN planners. Current events in the Mediterranean, Red Sea and South China Sea will not be helping here.

The second thing the Bataan and Carter Hall have shown is just how useful such ships and their Marines can be.

USS Bataan in the Red Sea last summer. Note Marine tiltrotors, helicopters and Harrier jump jets on deck - Mass Communications Specialist 3rd Class Riley Gasdia/US Navy

USS Bataan, a 45,000 ton Wasp-class Landing Helicopter Dock (LHD), would be regarded as an aircraft carrier by many navies. Indeed she is about the same size as Frances carrier, the Charles de Gaulle. She has no catapults or arrester wires, and so can carry only vertical-lift aircraft: in her case a mix of Marine helicopters, Osprey tilt-rotors, and Harrier jump jets, all belonging to the 26th MEU.

Bataan also has a well deck, a small internal harbour in which landing craft can be deployed and recovered. Over 1,000 of the 26th MEUs Marines have been living aboard Bataan since the ship and her group deployed from the USA last July.

The rest of the 26th, along with more vehicles, equipment and landing craft, are aboard the other ships of the Bataan group: Landing Ship Dock USS Carter Hall and Landing Platform Dock USS Mesa Verde.

The 26th MEU is a Marine air-ground task force, essentially a battalion-sized land combat force with its own aviation, logistics and various other things. Much of the clever hardware aboard the ships  hover landing craft, helicopters, tiltrotors, swimming armoured vehicles which can launch straight off the ships out at sea then motor in and drive up the beach  is designed to make sure that the Marines do not have to storm beaches on foot and unprotected.

The British version

Britain used to have something not completely unlike a single US amphibious group. We had HMS Ocean, a half-sized version of the Bataan, and HMSs Albion and Bulwark, dock ships like the Bataans companions. By assigning most of the Royal Marines and scraping up helicopters and other kit from all over the place, we could have assembled something along the lines of an MEU, though we didnt normally do this and it would not have had much of an MEUs fancier kit.

Nevertheless, as with the US Marines and their ships, it turned out to be possible to do a lot more with these assets than just the core mission. HMS Ocean, for instance, embarked a force of Army Apache attack helicopters in 2011 and conducted strike operations over Libya. The alternative  long flights in from bases in Italy or even, in several cases, all the way from the UK  was a lot less responsive and burned up a lot more flying hours and air-to-refuelling.

But Ocean was cut without replacement in 2017. Albion and Bulwark have been docked without crews for years. They are at risk of being reduced to a readiness state that renders the conversation about whether they are being scrapped or not moot.

Royal Navy Merlin helicopters operating from the deck of Royal Fleet Auxiliary Argus - LPhot Robert Oates/Royal Navy

However the UK does still have some amphibious shipping: just not in the navy. Rather, these vessels are in the civilian-manned Royal Fleet Auxiliary, and significantly cheaper to run. However the two types of ship are still there: RFA Argus is a small helicopter carrier and the three Bay-class ships are landing docks of a sort, though intended as follow-on logistic ships rather than assault ships. A cheap modification programme has now made them into Littoral Strike Ships. They are even more weakly armed than their RN equivalents, however  basically unprotected. RFA Argus, too, is old and due for retirement: there are no plans to replace her. As for jump jets, tiltrotors, hovercraft, swimming armour, etc: no.

Britains Littoral Response Group (South), embarked in RFAs Argus and Lyme Bay, is nowadays based out of Oman and includes Royal Marine Commandos, Army Commandos and Dutch marines, with whatever aviation and other kit can be scraped up. It could include up to 600 troops but most of the time it will have just a company of Marines and a handful of helicopters and drones. There should, at least, be plenty of room aboard Lyme Bay.

Littoral Response Group (South) deployed to the eastern Mediterranean in response to the Hamas outrages of October 7: like the rest of the large international naval force there, the LRG has been providing presence rather than action.

Back to the Bataan

Meanwhile Americas Bataan group went from presence, intelligence gathering and counter boarding missions in the Gulf, to presence and poise in the Red Sea. The 26th MEU, one may note, is a special-operations-capable unit and offers many options to the theatre commander.

Then in the Med the group shifted to carrier-lite influence ops and stood ready to conduct evacuation and aid ops in the Eastern Med.

Not a stormed beach in sight. Warships are about providing political options: the stuff at the high end is but one small part. And its important to remember that things have moved on from WWII. Helicopters and tiltrotors have appeared, and the idea of the first boots ashore arriving on a beach from a landing craft is nowadays extremely unlikely. The chance of there being fighting on the beach, rather than unopposed landing of heavy equipment and follow-on troops to reinforce those already inserted inland by air, is correspondingly small.

Probably the most dangerous fight the US Marines face is the one in the Pentagon, to maintain their amphibious ship numbers. The most probable threat to the amphib build programme is a perception that spending on their production puts at risk the carrier production cycle.

The Osprey is also used by special operations units. In flight, the rotors tilt forward and the aircraft becomes an aeroplane, with greater range and speed than a helicopter - Joe Giddens/PA

The next two carriers to be built, USS Enterprise (CVN-80) and Doris Millar (CVN-81) were bought in 2019 and are safe. But CVN-82 is not due to be in advanced procurement until FY26 and be bought in FY28, a longer timeline than was originally envisaged and one that  according to HII at least  risks supplier workforce layoffs, increased costs, and ultimately suppliers deprioritizing military shipbuilding and exploring alternative business opportunities.

Anything that threatens carrier production will get the thumbs down from the US Navy (although presumably a thumbs up from those who believe the aircraft carrier is now obsolete, a foolish but remarkably persistent notion.)

Both the US and Royal Navies have their Marines deep in their DNA. Nonetheless both countries are locked in a military, funding, commercial and philosophical debate over their future. Despite the strategy purists who wish they werent, amphib hull numbers are never far behind these discussions.

The US Marines have found a political way of protecting their amphibs, though it remains to be seen if this will still work through the coming carrier crunch.

The Royal Marines are in a still more perilous situation, driven off their Royal Naval shipping altogether onto auxiliary hulls.

I would argue that now is not the time to be making near-irreversible military capability cuts due to penny-pinching masquerading as strategic vision. The Defence Secretary said only the other day in five years time we will be looking at multiple threats. We are now, I would argue.

How do we protect these versatile and important ships and the exceptional people we launch from them?

I dont suppose we will ever see Royal Marines adopting their American colleagues methods and persuading parliament to pass a law that forces Treasury and MoD spending, but never say never.

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.
We land in Ben Gurion Airport, day one of a trip to experience the Holy Land at war  day 100 since Oct. 7  except all feels quite ordinary. And then you see them.

An endless row as you walk toward baggage  more than 200 kidnap posters, a thing universal here, except these are a bit different, dozens having either yellow or black slashes with Hebrew lettering.

Later I would ask.

The yellow, I was told, means brought home.

And the black?

Murdered.

Such contrast is Israel now, a resilient place, buzzing with normalcy, because that is how people here have coped for 76 years, and yet this thing that happened Oct. 7, and is happening in Gaza, is always there.

I'm accompanying a group organized by the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island for the first couple of days of this trip. As we pull away on the airport bus, we are welcomed to Israel and then told that, in the event of sirens, the good news is were far enough from Gaza that before the rocket hits, well have 90 seconds instead of 10 to get to a shelter, and almost all buildings have one.

Then we are off to our hotel, traversing the entire nation of Israel in a single hour, from Tel Aviv to the Eternal City, and soon we are exploring it.

What a beautiful, stunning place, Jerusalem. You can almost hear the song of history in its limestone walls and ancient, winding streets.

Later this first night, we would walk to the central Old City, past the Jaffa Gate that still has bullet scars from the war of 1948. Past the Fortress of David, down the long, narrow pathway through the Christian quarter near the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, where Jesus died and rose. Finally, we emerge in sight of the majestic Western Wall itself, with scores of Orthodox Jews praying at it, and soon I am next to them.

Mark Patinkin at the Western Wall in Jerusalem.

I am not overly religious or prone to prayer, but when you touch this ancient stone, you can't help but ask God for the things you hope for in this world, and a part of you believes that just maybe, this is among the handful of places on Earth where he is most likely to hear you.

They say the conflict between Arab and Jew is among the worlds most complex, and it is, but if you look toward the top of the wall, where Solomon built his temple 3,000 years ago before the Babylonians destroyed it, you also understand the simplicity.

This most holy spot for Jews, its huge limestone blocks soaring 60 feet into the magenta Jerusalem sky, is now the retaining wall for the golden Dome of the Rock, among the holiest and most beautiful of all Islamic sites.

And now you see. For millennia, three great faiths have competed over the same few acres. And today, once again, it is part of the reason for more heartache.

Yet here at the wall, you feel only peace, until you walk across the vast concourse and on the opposite side find a new monument in this sacred place, a metal plaque bearing 1,200 names of the Oct. 7 murdered, lit candles beneath it. Usually, it takes years before a nation starts putting up memorials, but this slaughter was so horrific that no one doubts it will stand in Israeli history alongside the wars of 1948, 1967 and 1973.

The contrasts between normalcy and war have defined my first days in Israel

It is easy to forget what is happening 60 miles distant as you walk down a glitzy outdoor mall in the heart of Jerusalem, past limestone and glass, Tommy Hilfiger and Pierre Cardin, vibrancy in the air, and then I pass a tall, sandy-haired young man saying, " when I was in Gaza ..."

So I stop and ask, and he gives his name as Adam  hes 23, and yes, he was there for two months. And yes, he says quietly, he lost friends.

I tell him I'm an American journalist and might I ask him about it?

He pauses, then says he can't; its too hard.

Everything you've seen in the media, says Adam, it doesn't scratch the surface of what its like.

For the first 48 hours of this 10-day trip, I'm with a group of 20 from Rhode Island, and this arrival night, we gather at a typical Israeli restaurant, across from each other at a long table, the place full, and, once again, the war seems far away.

I am seated next to an Israeli friend of one of our group, a well-dressed middle-aged gentleman. I ask how he is doing.

Fine, happy to be with you  lovely night.

Then I go there, asking if Oct. 7, and the war, have changed Israel  and him.

It is almost as if a cloud has lowered.

He says he has not been himself  how could he be?  then glances at his phone and tells me he is waiting to hear if his son is OK.

His son?

Yes  hes been fighting in Gaza for two months.

The way it works, he explains, is most soldiers aren't allowed cellphones because they could be tracked. Only the commander has one, and when he can, he texts his mens parents to say everyone is all right.

The story of Evyatar, the young soldier in Gaza, and his father

And so, for this first story from Israel, I give you Akiva Sylvetsky, 57, a Jerusalem attorney with a son of 22 named Evyatar, who is a foot soldier in Gaza.

Evyatar was deployed two weeks after the war began. His parents didnt see him for two months. After a few days' leave, hes now back in it.

You picture Israeli troops in Gaza moving carefully around corners, which certainly happens, the fighting house to house. But because of the tunnels and the density of buildings, because of enemy snipers and RPGs, Evyatar spends many hours with nine fellow soldiers inside an armored troop carrier. They sleep sitting up, feet between the men across. Once, the air conditioning broke all day, and it was stifling, but too dangerous to go out. Nor is there such a thing as a shower.

Akiva Sylvetsky and his wife, Noa, show a photo of their son Evyatar, now deployed in Gaza.

There are 80 or so soldiers in the squadron, their parents on the commanders WhatsApp notification group. Israel tends to live on WhatsApp. Usually, texted assurances arrive twice a day.

On the nights they dont, Akiva sleeps poorly. Friends of his, he tells me, have lost sons.

We are sitting shiva all over the place, he said.

As we chatted, he told me he at first didnt want to go to restaurants while his son was in a troop carrier in Gaza. He even hesitated this night.

But he pushes himself to get out and about, feeling that it honors the sacrifice of the soldiers.

The purpose of what we're doing is so people can lead a sane and normal life, Akiva said.

He added that others have it worse  a lawyer friend has five boys in Gaza and a sixth up north on the border with Lebanon.

He paused to check his phone. Nothing.

The last message, many hours ago, had said simply, Good afternoon  all the soldiers are healthy  shlemim in Hebrew.

Except, Akiva said, healthy is not an exact translation. It means more than that.

How do you put it in English? he mused. Shlemim. Wholeness. In one piece, I guess you'd say.

His son wants to be a professor, so once a week, Akiva and his wife send him economics and philosophy books. Theres a lot of time in that troop carrier.

Akiva himself was in Gaza in 1987 during the first Intifada. He remembers stopping a donkey-drawn wagon that was out past curfew and finding two kids around 8 and 12 alone under a blanket shivering at the sight of an Israeli soldier. They said they were trying to bring eggs to their grandparents.

The moment stays with him.

No matter what I think politically, Akiva told me, or what the solution to Gaza should be  there are civilians there. People suffering.

He considers them victims of both war and their own extremist leaders.

As someone at the table passed around an Israeli salad with tomatoes, cucumbers, onions and olive oil, Akiva told me he lives in Efrat, a liberal West Bank Jewish settlement known for good relations with Palestinian neighbors, established 40 years ago near Jerusalem and now with 10,000 people.

He moved there more for economics than politics  when he bought in Efrat, he was able to own a nice house for the price of a small Jerusalem condo.

So you're not running around like a crazy extremist with guns, I asked.

I don't even have a gun, said Akiva.

At that, his wife, Noa, a doctor, came over to join us.

I asked them if Efrat had lost many in Gaza.

Noa nodded. Unfortunately, she said, their cemetery has grown.

How do they feel about the angry global reaction to what Israel is doing in the war?

Friends who just traveled to Europe, said Akiva, told him they were shocked by the antisemitism. They didnt realize the hatred for Israel was so deep.

More Patinkin: I've seen the faces of Gazan Palestinians. They haven't been forgotten

Akiva told me its not the first time in history that Jews have been despised.

But unlike previous centuries, he said, they at last have a refuge and the ability to defend themselves.

If we did what the world wants us to do, said Akiva, we're going to lose. If we dont save ourselves, we wont exist.

Suddenly, his phone buzzed.

Their sons commander.

Everyone, he texted, was shlemim.

Soon, we were walking back to the hotel.

The streets along the way were busy and upbeat.

As is much of Jerusalem in this time when, despite a veneer of normalcy, the war is always there.

Mark Patinkin is traveling to Israel personally and is not sponsored by or affiliated with any organization. He will report firsthand from the region as he has done for the last four decades through his award-winning journalism. He can be reached at mpatinki@providencejournal.com.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: On journey in Israel Mark Patinkin finds contrast between normalcy, war
BALTIMORE  Marylands Appellate Court found this week that there was substantial evidence supporting a Maryland State Police trial boards conclusion that a former Trooper of the Year lied about knowing the location of a traffic stop and made false reports.

As such, the court agreed with Anne Arundel Circuit Courts previous decision to uphold the trial boards recommendation and the termination of Kashef Khan.

Khan was fired in 2022 after a trial board found him guilty of two counts of false report, along with unbecoming conduct. It was a swift fall for Khan, who three years earlier was recognized as the agencys top trooper for performance above and beyond expectations.

The former trooper, a Muslim American who grew up in Pakistan, has argued his firing was due to retaliation and racial discrimination. He told The Baltimore Sun last year he wanted the agencys good ol boy system and systemic racism gone.

Khans attorney, Clarke Ahlers, said Friday that he is ashamed, as a Maryland citizen, for the way Maryland State Police treats minority troopers. He added that he and Khan are leaning toward an appeal.

The state police, meanwhile, said in an emailed statement that the agency agrees with the Appellate Court decision: Integrity, fairness and service are the core values of the department and any individual compromising them undermines the MDSPs duty to the citizens of Maryland.

Khan has accused the two internal state police investigators behind the misconduct case of lying under oath. He says the two mischaracterized their second interrogation of him, calling it contentious and saying Khan didnt answer questions.

Khan has revealed since that he made his own recording of that interrogation  state police say theirs cant be found, and claim their recorder didnt make a recording. He says it is evidence of the investigators false statements. Part of the proof, Khan says, includes audible beeps in his recording as state police started and stopped the interrogation.

The state police said Friday there is an ongoing administrative investigation into Khans two investigators, Sgt. Kristopher Phillips and D/Sgt. Matthew Mann. That probe is being conducted by one state police employee and one employee of the Maryland Capitol Police.

Ahlers, who had requested an independent investigation, said the Capitol Police employee was formerly with the state police.

The matter was investigated previously by the state prosecutors office. In a report obtained by The Sun, the office noted its review was limited, as some of the investigators statements were made during interrogations. A U.S. Supreme Court case, Garrity v. New Jersey, protects police from incriminating themselves in such situations.

The appellate court ruling is a letdown for Khan, who hoped the court would find the trial board recommendation arbitrary. In a brief, Ahlers argued the board disregarded evidence of innocence and drew irrational conclusions.

The judges opinion, written by Judge Rosalyn Tang, noted that they have a narrow role in reviewing an agency decision  just to determine whether substantial evidence supports the original finding.

It found there was. Evidence, they said, supported the boards conclusion that Khan knew he was in D.C., not Maryland, at the time of the traffic stop, and that a reasoning mind could find he had changed the location in a subsequent report.

Oral arguments held in December largely did not focus on Khans other allegations: the missing recording and investigators alleged mischaracterizations.

The judges opinion makes a passing reference in responding to Ahlers brief. He had argued state police brought itself into disrepute by likely deleting the recording, writing a provable false and misleading report and suspending Khan, leading to more than 100 dropped DUI cases.

The appellant does not explain how MSPs alleged conduct rendered insubtantial the evidence supporting the boards conclusions about his conduct, the opinion said in a footnote. Thus, we decline to address these points on appeal.

Khan has said he is one of a group of state police employees seeking class action status in a federal lawsuit alleging the agency discriminates against troopers of color. There is a similar pending U.S. Department of Justice investigation.

The ex-Trooper of the Year said during his trial board hearing that a sergeant told him he wasnt recognized again the following year because he didnt have the complexion for protection, which he saw as a reference to his race and ethnicity.

They didnt want me to be [the] face of MSP for two straight years, so they put me in this mess, Khan told trial board members.

_______
LANSING  Michigan Republicans who want to oust Kristina Karamo took their case to court Friday, alleging Karamo has "brazenly and repeatedly" refused to step aside after being lawfully removed by a vote of the party's state committee.

Malinda Pego, who was Karamo's co-chair and who party dissidents declared acting chair of the Michigan Republican Party when they voted to remove Karamo, is the lead plaintiff in a lawsuit filed against Karamo late Friday in Kent County Circuit Court. It alleges breach of contract and seeks a declaration that Karamo was lawfully removed.

That means a judge may decide whether Karamo, who has been in office for nearly one year, is the rightful chair of the beleaguered state party. She has been under fire for lackluster fundraising amid allegations of autocratic rule, a lack of transparency, and improper interference in the workings of county Republican parties.

Karamo said in a Friday night text message she has "no comment at this time."

Kristina Karamo is fighting to retain her position as chair of the Michigan Republican Party.

A group of GOP state committee members met in Commerce Township Jan. 6 and said they voted 40-5 to remove Karamo and installed Pego as acting chair. But Karamo had declared the meeting null and void even before it began, saying it was not convened in accordance with state party bylaws.

Then, on Jan. 13, Karamo called a state committee meeting in Houghton Lake, where she and others who attended said members voted 59-1 to reaffirm her position as chair. Members also voted to remove from office Pego and other dissenters.

In both cases, members of the GOP state committee are in a dispute over whether party bylaws were properly followed in convening the meetings and taking various actions.

"Ms. Karamo has refused to acknowledge the vote and step aside," the suit alleges. "Worse yet, she has brazenly and repeatedly asserted that she continues to occupy the role of chair of the committee, causing significant confusion among precinct delegates and the county Republican organizations throughout Michigan ..."

The anti-Karamo faction is scheduled to meet in Lansing Saturday morning to elect a permanent chair to take over from the acting chair role assumed by Pego.

Karamo's backers mostly boycotted the Jan. 6 meeting and her opponents mostly stayed away from the meeting last Saturday. It normally takes a 75% vote to remove the state party chair, though the dissenters voted to reduce that threshold to 60% at the disputed Jan. 6 meeting.

So far, the Republican National Committee has not weighed in on either side of the dispute over the state party chair. As of Friday, the RNC still listed Karamo as chair of the Michigan Republican Party on its website.

Both Karamo's supporters and her opponents are mostly avid backers of former President Donald Trump, who won the Iowa caucuses Monday and is the frontrunner to be the Republican nominee for president.

In addition to Pego, six other state committee and party members are listed as plaintiffs in the lawsuit. They include Norm Shinkle, a former state senator from Monroe and former member of the Board of State Canvassers, and Warren Carpenter, a businessman and former GOP district chair who has led the fight to remove Karamo.

Contact Paul Egan: 517-372-8660 or pegan@freepress.com. Follow him on X, @paulegan4.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan GOP dissenters sue to oust Karamo in Kent County court
A 65-year-old Michigan man was rescued from a frozen lake on Thursday when a fast-acting officer team up with the mans dog to pull him out of the water, according to Michigan State Police.

The rescue occurred at about 11:45 a.m. in East Bay Township, state police said in a statement. The agency also released a harrowing two-minute video, which shows motor carrier officer Kammeron Bennetts working with the mans dog, Ruby, to pull him out of Arbutus Lake.

East Bay Township is in the northwestern region of the states Lower Peninsula.

The man rescued from the lake is from nearby Traverse City, state police said.

The quick actions of MCO Bennetts along with the help from Ruby, they were able to perform a successful ice rescue. The man was in the water for approximately 16 minutes, state police said.

Bystanders called 911 after seeing the man fall through ice, according to state police.

Body camera footage shows Bennetts getting near the lake and taking out a rescue disc from his patrol vehicle.

State police said Bennetts could not reach the man in the water because of the ice conditions.

Video show Bennetts, who was a distance from the man in the lake, shouting: Im going to try and send this out to you, OK? A short time later, Bennetts asks the man, Send your pup here. Will she come to me?

He then orders the dog, Ruby, come here. Come here, Ruby.

The dog then runs to Bennetts, who attaches the orange rescue disc to Rubys collar, which is tied to a yellow rope, video shows. Bennetts then asked the man to call for his dog while the officer holds onto the rope.

According to the video, Bennetts then tells the man to grab ahold of the disc.

When the man has the disc, the officer tells him, I need you to kick your feet. Kick your feet back. Bring your feet up to the surface by kicking your feet.

The officer is heard breathing heavily on the video.

Bennetts continues to shout orders at the man, the video showed: Keep pulling on that disc. Pull on the disc  kick your feet. Keep kicking your feet.

The video then shows the man, who is now out of the lake, reaching the officer and a second person. The rescued man was pulled to them while on his stomach, according to the video.

The footage ends with Bennetts calling on the heroic K-9, Ruby, Ruby come, while the dog is out of the cameras view.

Earlier this week, authorities in Hawaii said they were able to rescue a hiker who fell 200 feet down a slope, in part, because of her barking dog.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
Though no formal plans have been announced, Hunterdon County, state and federal officials are opposing a suggestion that the former Hagedorn Psychiatric Hospital on the Glen-Gardner and Lebanon Township border be used utilized as a potential processing facility for undocumented migrants.

However, New Jersey State Police spokesman Charles Marchan said Friday, "We dont anticipate the need to use this facility at this time given the low number of migrants that have settled in New Jersey over the past few weeks."

Hagedorn had been identified as a potential site if there is a need "to shelter a mass group of individuals, not limited to migrants, but also including weather-related events or large-scale emergencies," Marchan said in a statement.

"Nearly all of these individuals who have arrived in New Jersey have continued in transit to New York City," he said.

This action has the potential to overwhelm public health and human service capabilities administered by Hunterdon County, County Commissioner Jeff Kuhl said at the boards Tuesday meeting.

Despite assurances to the contrary, such a move will likely overwhelm local resources in the area, including volunteer fire and EMS agencies. In addition, there are no mass transit facilities located nearby the former Hagedorn Psychiatric Hospital, which is located a top of a mountain, surrounded by forest, Kuhl added.

In a statement Thursday, state Sen. Doug Steinhardt, a Republican who represents Hunterdon County, criticized the suggestion.

"The impractical and illegal placement of undocumented migrants, especially in areas that lack the infrastructure, restricts services that our constituents rely on and I will continue to advocate against that approach. Its time the president and governor do their jobs and address," the senator said.

The Hagedorn Psychiatric Hospital pictured in 2009.

U.S Rep. Tom Kean Jr., who represents Hunterdon County, called the idea "completely unacceptable."

"This creates a serious concern to our community's security and resources. President Biden's complete absence of border security policies has unleashed this kind of crisis across our entire country and now another wakeup call has come to our backyard yet again," Kean said in a statement Friday. "We cannot ignore the consequences of allowing millions of unvetted illegal migrants to enter our country. It's crucial that every level of government prioritizes the safety and well-being of our communities while also addressing the root causes of this issue."

The issue has arisen after hundreds of migrants were dropped off of buses on New Year's Eve at train stations in Fanwood, Edison and other New Jersey towns.

More: Edison's mayor has touted and embraced the township's diversity. Now he's being criticized

The migrants were left at the train stations to bypass new charter busing restrictions ordered by New York City Mayor Eric Adams who said previous migrant arrivals are overwhelming city services.

After Adams issued an executive order restricting where and when buses carrying migrants can drop off passengers in the city, within days drivers began dropping passengers at New Jersey train stations instead, state officials said.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, launched the Operation Lone Star busing effort in April 2022, arguing self-declared sanctuary cities like New York, Chicago and Denver should help shoulder the burden of assisting migrants, instead of forcing Texas to pay for managing immigrants traveling across the southern border.

Commissioner Kuhl said county officials will keep a close eye on the situation.

The Board of Commissioners is going to continue to monitor this situation and if needed, consider additional actions to oppose this not well thought out proposed idea by the State, he said.

Steinhardt blamed President Joe Biden and Gov. Phil Murphy for the potential use of the facility.

New Jersey communities are already stretched too thin as it is and now risk being overwhelmed because of President Bidens blatant disregard for the immigration crisis and Governor Murphys sanctuary state policies, the senator said. Weve seen the immense burden this issue has caused in New York because of their inaction, and it is only a matter of time until that burden is placed on our municipalities as made clear by the states attempt to place undocumented migrants in Hunterdon County."

Migrants are taken into custody by officials at the Texas-Mexico border, Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2024, in Eagle Pass, Texas. U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson is leading about 60 fellow Republicans in Congress on a visit to the Mexican border. Their trip comes as they are demanding hard-line immigration policies in exchange for backing President Joe Biden's emergency wartime funding request for Ukraine. (AP Photo/Eric Gay) ORG XMIT: TXJC111

The hospital opened in 1907 as the state's Sanatorium for Tuberculosis Diseases where patients benefited from clean air and access to the outdoors.

More: NJ migrant crisis: Reactions mixed on Gov. Phil Murphy's request to bus companies

Although in its early days it was planned that only incipients or curables" would be treated, it soon housed tuberculosis patients of all levels of severity, leading the hospital to treat more than 10,000 people between 1907 and 1929.

When tuberculosis declined after widespread inoculation campaigns, the sanitarium closed in the 1970s.

In 1977, the Senator Garret W. Hagedorn Gero-Psychiatric Hospital was built on the property and became a state nursing home and, later, a 288-bed psychiatric hospital for seniors.

However, in 2012, that facility was closed and was transitioned into Veteran's Haven North, a transitional housing program for homeless veterans under the state's Department of Military and Veterans Affairs.

The 592-acre site is now also a preserve as part of the New Jersey Natural Lands Trust.

Email: mdeak@mycentraljersey.com

Mike Deak is a reporter for mycentraljersey.com. To get unlimited access to his articles on Somerset and Hunterdon counties, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: Migrant crisis in NJ: Is Phil Murphy eyeing Hunterdon processing site?
The Scene

When House Speaker Mike Johnson talks, all of Washington listens  and for some reason, everyone seems to come away feeling theyve been told more or less what they wanted to hear.

Take Thursday. As lawmakers looked to head off a looming government shutdown, hardline conservatives urged Johnson to allow a vote on attaching border security measures to Congresss short-term spending bill.

The speaker is considering it, and hes working through the mechanics to make sure we have the best path forward on how to do it within the legislative process, House Freedom Caucus Chairman Bob Good, R-Va. told reporters after a private meeting about the longshot request.

Apparently Johnson didnt contemplate it for very long. Within an hour, his office announced hed bring the funding stopgap to the floor without changes.

Or consider last week, when conservatives pushed Johnson to tear up the full-year bipartisan spending deal hed struck with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. For a moment, some appeared to believe theyd convinced him.

Theres going to be a new deal drawn up and thats what were in the process of doing, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., said.

Not so. The next day, Johnson announced that he wasnt renegotiating the spending pact.

Its not just the right that seems to get wrongfooted by Johnson. On Wednesday, President Biden met with top congressional leaders to discuss the need for more Ukraine aid, which conservatives have said they wont support without major border security changes. Afterwards, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Michael McCaul, R-Texas said there was a consensus on the fact that we cant abandon our allies.

Johnsons team summed up the meeting on X rather differently, however:

Jordans view

Heres a simple explanation for what might be going on: Johnson is a longtime lawyer, and he talks like one. The man doesnt necessarily fib or mislead. But in his public statements and interviews he often leaves just enough ambiguity to avoid overcommitting himself to a position, but also opens up space for confusion.

He told Sean Hannity, for instance, that he believes the U.S. cant allow Vladimir Putin to prevail in Ukraine, because I dont believe it would stop there. But he didnt actually commit to providing Kyiv more aid. After Wednesdays White House meeting, he told a press conference that Republicans were looking for substantive policy change on the border and that their own bill, H.R. 2, included critical elements such as restoration of the Trump administrations remain in Mexico policy. But he notably didnt mark out any red lines.

Johnson appears to be supremely careful about even small word choices. Last week, reporters noticed that he crossed out and rewrote his original remarks announcing that he wouldnt try to change his budget deal with Schumer. The words We are sticking with the topline agreement became Our topline agreement remains. (Presumably, a listener could add the words for now to the edited version.)

Even Johnsons off-the cuff comments can seem strategically vague. On Fox Wednesday, host Laura Ingraham explained that she had just spoken with former President Trump, who said hed told the speaker to oppose the Senates evolving border deal. He was extremely adamant about that, she said.

President Trump is not wrong, Johnson responded. (Not wrong about exactly what, he didnt specify.) He and I have been talking about this pretty frequently. I talked to him the night before last about the same subject. We dont have the text of whatever the Senate has cooked up yet. And so we have to reserve judgment, I think, to see what comes out of it. It doesnt sound good at the outset. Again, plenty of wiggle room.

Could Johnsons style become a problem for him? Possibly. His predecessor, former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, lost his job in part because conservatives in his conference felt they couldnt trust him. (Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla. once publicly accused him of lying like a dead dog.)

Ambiguity was an issue there as well: McCarthy clashed with members over their interpretation of an alleged secret agreement he made to secure their support as speaker. Were they right? We dont know  it was secret and there was even debate over whether it constituted an agreement. If conservatives come to feel they cant put any stock in Johnsons lawyerly elocutions, he may eventually lose their backing as well.

Kadias view

Of course, the problem could also be the members. Johnson is famously polite and has often been described as a good listener  it was one of his selling points when he was nominated as speaker. But some members may confuse his listening for agreement, in part because after the McCarthy era they simply arent usedto having an open dialogue with leadership. Some Republicans would also argue that the hard-right flank of their conference tends to aggressively read their views into his comments in the hopes they can lock leadership into positions by raising expectations among their base that theyll come through.

Josephs view

Another possibility: Johnson slips doublespeak into his comments because he just wants to keep his job. Thats a view you can find expressed on both sides of the aisle. Hes definitely not good at having hard conversations, one senior House GOP aide said. He wants people to like him. He doesnt want to piss anyone off, which means hell say anything in the moment. Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn, was blunter: Speaker Johnson is in a 24-hour survival mode, he told reporters recently. He needs to say whatever he needs to say in order to survive Wednesday to Thursday and Thursday to Friday.

Notable

During a press gaggle Thursday, Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C. offered a harsh assessment of Johnsons speakership so far, in which he said the leaders strategy had left Republicans sucking wind. We wish him great success, said McHenry, who served as a lieutenant to McCarthy during budget negotiations. But he needs to widen the group of advisers he has. The loudest members of our conference should not dictate the strategic course of a smart majority  especially in the most complicated bits where those loudest voices are least likely to participate in the votes necessary.
HASTINGS, MINN.  The demise of a historic creamery that burned down this fall reached the county courthouse on Friday, with an attorney for a Minnesota dairy farmer  allegedly stiffed by the creamery in its waning days  asking a judge to block a bank from cashing milk checks.

"The creamery was buying milk and not paying my client," John Giesen, attorney for Valley Acres Dairy, told Dakota County District Judge Ann Offermann.

Valley Acres Dairy, of Lewiston, Minn., filed a lawsuit in September, days after the legendary Hastings Creamery was lost in an overnight fire. The creamery had financially hobbled through the summer after the Metropolitan Council kicked the creamery off the city sanitation system for dumping raw milk into the sewer.

Court records filed by Glenwood State Bank, the creamery's creditor, suggest the creamery's ownership group, four farmers from Otter Tail County, had defaulted on millions of dollars in loans. In August, according to affidavits and court testimony on Friday from the dairy farmer, the bank cut off funds for the creamery to pay producers, causing the creamery to close.

"They didn't shut down with a lot of money in the piggy bank," Jim Lodoen, attorney for the creamery, told the court.

But missing payments to the dairy farmers, who were left without any place to sell their milk, were put in an increasingly strained financial position, Valley Acres said in affidavits.

In text messages filed to the court, Carey Tweten, owner of Valley Acres, was contacted via text message by Justin Malone, the former CEO of Hastings Creamery, asking about payment for milk deliveries.

"Did you get your checks yesterday?" Malone asked on July 6.

"No I did not," Tweten replied.

Later that day, Tweten wrote, "Not sure we have anywhere for the milk to go today[.]"

According to court records, Valley Acres Dairy started shipping milk in July to a creamery in nearby Altura.

While the plaintiff alleges Hastings Creamery owes the dairy more than $800,000 for missing payments, Friday's temporary injunction dispute centered around four checks sent to the creamery from buyers of Hastings' products. Tweten's attorney asked the judge to freeze those assets. But the bank, creamery and former creamery owners have argued against the injunction, which they call an "extraordinary" measure this early in the process.

Hastings Creamery is facing at least one more lawsuit, filed by an Altura-based dairy farmer, who argues the creamery errantly deducted $600,000 from his pay for hauling milk. In that lawsuit, as in Valley Acres' suit, the creamery's former owner, Justin Malone, argued that a down cycle in the milk market necessitated the shift in hauling fees and payment rates beginning in the spring of 2023.

Last year marked a tumultuous year for dairy producers across Minnesota and the U.S. The price of milk bottomed out and, by December, dozens of milk licenses were voluntarily rescinded.

Asked on the stand Friday about last year, Tweten said, "It wasn't a good time to be a dairy farmer."

Just a couple miles from the courthouse, the damaged creamery has yet to be fully cleaned up. John Hinzman, Hastings' community development director, said the city has had "very limited conversations" with the creamery, which was open for 110 years, since the fire occurred.

After the creamery's attorney on Friday played-out how sellers to a business might normally secure missing revenue, Judge Offermann underscored the distinction in this instance, interjecting that was the case "in a situation that the business isn't burned down."
The brisket taco at Garcia's Mexican Food was named one of 2023's best dishes nationwide by the New York Times. Mike Sutter/Staff

It's been eight years since our great taco war with Austin kicked off, and now Texas Monthly is calling for San Antonio to embrace change and leave hostility in the past.

Jose R. Ralat, the magazine's taco editor, writes that Austin is merely "a San Antonio suburb" when it comes to slinging tacos, but had a few suggestions as to where the Alamo City might have gone a bit wrong in our spat with our neighbor to the north.

Many will remember the fateful day in 2016 when the website Eater dared to give Austin the title of having the best breakfast tacos. From there things only went downhill, with petitions and comments from both cities' mayors.

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That's where the friendly fire from San Antonio became a little less than friendly, Ralat writes.

"Its time to stop asking celebrities whether Austins tacos or San Antonios tacos are better," he wrote about native son Pedro Pascal's red carpet declaration."Thats an outdated framing of a tired topic, and it only makes you seem like you have an inferiority complex and are desperate for approval."

The San Antonio Express-News was right on the front lines, he said, stirring up readers with stories pitting Austin and San Antonio against each other.

We should know our worth as the best taco city in the state (ahem, the nation) and should be secure in it, Ralat said.

"I think you should get more credit than you do from coastal influencers," he wrote. "But picking at that scab isnt going to fix anything."

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San Antonio can revel in its authenticity while simultaneously accepting innovation from outside our walls. And if we don't, Ralat said, we could fade into the background of taco-making cities.
Paola French and her son Kevin attend a news conference after the death of Kenneth French at a Corona Costco. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

A mistrial was declared after a jury deadlocked Thursday in the case of a former Los Angeles police officer who shot and killed a mentally disabled man in a confrontation at a Costco store in Corona.

Kenneth French, 32, was killed during the June 2019 shooting moments after former LAPD Officer Salvador Sanchez claimed he was knocked to the ground by French.

Sanchez, who was off duty at the time, had been standing in a food-tasting line, holding his toddler. After the shooting, Sanchez told Corona police and LAPD investigators he thought he had been shot, and believed he saw French pointing a gun at him and his son when he pulled out his handgun and shot French.

Sanchez was charged with one count of voluntary manslaughter for French's death, and two counts of assault with a firearm for wounding French's mother and father.

The trial began in November and lasted up until the winter holidays, when two weeks of hiatus delayed the jury's deliberations.

Sanchez's attorney, Michael Schwartz, said the jury had been deliberating for about 3 days before the mistrial was declared.

"They put it in front of 12 jurors, they couldn't get a conviction," Schwartz said of the charges.

He added that more of the jurors had voiced favor for the defense instead of the prosecution but did not provide exact numbers.

"This was tragic all around," Schwartz said, "but it wasn't a crime."

Now the California attorney general's office must decide whether to retry Sanchez. A hearing is set for Feb. 13. A representative for the attorney general's office did not respond to a request for comment Thursday night.

Im disappointed in the resolution, or the lack of resolution, Deputy Atty. Gen. Mike Murphy, the prosecutor in the case, told the Desert Sun.

Sanchez was charged by the California attorney general's office in August 2021, a month after the Riverside County district attorney's office announced it would not file criminal charges against the off-duty officer.

When California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta announced charges against Sanchez, he said his office was doing so under the state's Constitution, which allows him to file charges in cases where the law is "not adequately enforced in any county."

When charges were filed, Sanchez's attorney at the time, David Winslow, told The Times his client was momentarily unconscious because of the fall, and that the off-duty officer believed he was being killed. Sanchez also told investigators he believed French had shot him.

French was unarmed.

Paola French, with attorney Dale Galipo, left, son Kevin French and attorney Eric Valenzuela, speaks at a news conference in Corona in 2019 following the fatal shooting of her son. (Mel Melcon/Los Angeles Times)

"He believed he was protecting himself and his baby from being killed," Winslow said at the time.

Police documents released about the encounter stated Sanchez was at least 20 feet from French when he started shooting, less than four seconds after French hit him.

Sanchez was fired from the LAPD in 2020 after the Police Commission ruled he violated department policy when he shot and killed French .

A 30-page report released by LAPD Chief Michel Moore found inconsistencies in Sanchez's account. Moore, in a statement, said Sanchez's actions "cannot be justified and are inconsistent with the Department's core values, training and expectations of every member of this organization."

In October 2021, a federal jury awarded $17 million in damages to French's family, finding that Sanchez used excessive and unreasonable force in the shooting.

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.
A mistrial has been declared in the criminal case against former Los Angeles Police Department officer Salvador Sanchez who fatally shot an unarmed man at a Corona Costco in 2019.

Authorities say Kenneth French, 32, struck Sanchez from behind as Sanchez was standing in a food sample line and holding his 1 1/2-year-old son.

The officer, who was off-duty at the time, drew his weapon and shot French four times, as well as Frenchs parents once each. French died from his wounds.

Sanchez was charged with voluntary manslaughter and assault with a semiautomatic firearm by state officials after a Riverside County grand jury declined to bring charges.

Kenneth French (center) is seen in an undated photo posted on a GoFundMe page on June 17, 2019 with his parents Russell and Paola French.

According to a report in the Desert Sun, a jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict on the manslaughter charge, and a mistrial was declared on Thursday.

Sanchezs attorney told the Associated Press that his client was knocked unconscious by French, though the French familys attorney disputed that characterization and said it was more of an open-handed push or slap.

Jury awards family of man killed by off-duty LAPD officer $17 million in damages

Additionally, Frenchs parents claim they told Sanchez that Kenneth had an intellectual disability.

After hearing Officer [Salvador] Sanchez identify himself as a police officer, I begged and told him not to shoot, Russell French said. I said, We have no guns, and my son is sick. He still shot. I thought people dont do that.

Though the criminal case ended in a mistrial, a jury awarded the French family $17 million in damages.

The Sun added that Deputy Attorney General Mike Murphy plans to speak with his office before saying whether he planned to seek to take Sanchez to trial again.

Im disappointed in the resolution, or the lack of resolution, Murphy told the Sun.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA.
An occupier mobilized into the ranks of the Russian army shot himself in the Kursk Oblast

A mobilized Russian soldier shot himself in the head while on duty near Banishchi village in Russias Kursk Oblast, the Russian Telegram channel ASTRA claimed on Jan. 19.

The channel did not provide the exact date of the incident.

The soldier, identified as Dmitry Semenikhin, was a 34-year-old resident of Lipetsk Oblast, Russia.

He had been mobilized from his hometown and sent to war in Ukraine.

Read also:

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
Modesto has paid $1 million to settle an excessive force lawsuit involving a sergeant who in 2017 shot a suspect considered armed and dangerous.

Jason Perkins survived being shot in the jaw, chest and left arm by Sgt. Jerry Ramar on the morning of Nov. 6, 2017, but needed several surgeries, including a bone graft to his jaw, according to court records.

Ramar  now Oakdales police chief  fired six times at Perkins as the man was in the drivers seat of a car. No one else was in the vehicle. Perkins was hit at least three times, according to Mark Merin, one of his attorneys. Ramar thought he saw a gun in Perkins hand, according to court records, but Perkins was not armed.

This was outrageous excessive use of force, said Sacramento-based Merin. They are lucky they didnt kill Mr. Perkins because they would have had to pay a lot more. Im only disappointed that they did not discharge the officer responsible for this outrage.

Merin said Perkins clearly was not armed, the officers could have used other means to safely take him into custody, and what Perkins may or may not have done in the past did not justify shooting him. I dont care if he ran over his dog that morning, Merin said.

Suspect in bank parking lot

The City Attorneys Office did not respond to a request for an interview. But the settlement agreement states the $1 million is not an admission of wrongdoing. The Bee learned about the settlement by filing a Public Records Act request with Modesto. The lawsuit was filed in 2019 in U.S. District Court in Fresno and was dismissed Nov. 30, 2023.

Modesto spent $335,704 in legal and $3,366 in other costs defending itself in the lawsuit, bringing the litigations total cost to $1,339,070. The city paid $1 million from its own funds, and its insurance paid the balance.

Ramar left Modesto police in 2019 to work as an Oakdale police lieutenant and was named the departments chief in 2021.

Ramar and Officer Ryan Olson were attempting to take Perkins into custody on two warrants. One was from a July 2017 incident in which Perkins allegedly led Turlock police on a high-speed pursuit in a stolen car and pointed a handgun at an officer.

Ramar shot Perkins in the parking lot of the Bank of America on Oakdale Road. Perkins was parked in an Infiniti G35 while waiting for his girlfriend to get money from the bank. Olson did not fire his weapon.

Dispatch had alerted Ramar and Olson about Perkins, including that he was considered armed and dangerous, and the officers received updates about his location. The two officers were working traffic and riding motorcycles. They approached Perkins around 9:45 a.m. in single file on foot with their guns drawn. Ramar was in the lead.

Based on Olsons body camera footage and other documents, Perkins attorneys filed this account with the court of the shooting:

Ramar yelled, Show me your hands! Show me your hands or Im going to shoot you! as he approached the Infinitis driver side. Perkins looked in Ramars direction, put the Infiniti into reverse and leaned forward as if reaching for something. The drivers tinted window began to roll up and the Infiniti began to reverse.

Sergeant fired three volleys

Ramar shot at Perkins twice less than a second later, with one bullet breaking the window. The Infiniti reversed for several yards before coming to a stop on a landscape island.

Ramar and Olson followed the car and stood at the drivers door with their guns pointed at Perkins. Ramar yelled, Let me see your hands! Let me see your hands! Perkins raised his right hand, which was empty. Ramar shot two more times. Perkins body slumped to the right.

Ramar yelled for Perkins to show his his hands. Perkins turned toward the officer, and Ramar shot two more times, according to Perkins attorneys. Ramar continued to demand Perkins show his hands. Perkins said he could not because his left arm had been shot.

The attorneys representing the city said in court records that Perkins ignored the officers commands, started his car and quickly reversed, and Ramar shot him after he repeatedly failed to comply with lawful commands ... .

A Police Department review of the shooting found Ramars use of deadly force was justified and within department policy. The Stanislaus County District Attorneys Office concluded Ramars actions were legal.

But the department review identified several of what it called training issues: Ramar did not turn his body camera on until after the shooting (Olson had his on during the shooting), Ramar did not adequately communicate to Olson his plan to take Perkins into custody and Ramar initiated contact with Perkins without enough resources.

Ramar declined to be interview but issued a statement, which said in part that Modesto police dispatchers had received information that Perkins was armed and dangerous and that Perkins refused to show his hands and drove in reverse rather than surrender.

The statement also said Perkins was sentenced to prison in the incident with Turlock police. Use of force is a last resort, and an action I dont take lightly, Ramar said in his statement.

Perkins pleaded nolo contendere in Stanislaus County Superior Court in March 2019 to the felonies of assault by means of force likely to produce great bodily injury, evading a peace officer and unauthorized use of a vehicle, all coming from the Turlock incident, according to court records. He was sentenced to four years and four months in prison.
At a meeting held on 18 January, the Moldovan delegation to the Joint Control Commission (JCC) demanded an investigation into Russian military exercises held on 22 December near the administrative border between the right and left banks of the Dniester. The Joint Control Commission is a joint military command structure from Moldova, Transnistria and Russia that operates in the demilitarised zone on the border between Moldova and Ukraine.

Source: European Pravda, citing Moldovan media outlet NewsMaker

Details: The Moldovan side reminded the Commission that the Russian military had conducted exercises at joint "peacekeeping" forces posts using military weapons, equipment and materiel, some of which was not even declared as the military contingents equipment.

The members of the Moldovan delegation to the JCC signed a statement expressing their objection to this violation of the Commissions core agreements. They reminded them that simulated gunfire "causes anxiety among civilians due to the horrific sounds of shooting and the potential for undesirable aggravation of the situation".

In addition, the exercise was observed by military commanders, "whose presence without a decision of the Joint Military Command is a gross violation of the provisions on commandant's offices in areas with a high security regime".

In December 2023 and January 2024, OSCE monitoring teams were not immediately allowed to pass through illegally established posts of the Transnistrian authorities, even though the OSCE Mission had notified them of its representatives movements in advance.

"The Moldovan delegation has therefore requested that an investigation be conducted into these violations and that new rules on exercises be drawn up in order to prevent similar illegal actions by one of the military contingents of the Joint Peacekeeping Forces," Chisinau said.

The Russian military contingent in Transnistria is officially known as the Operational Group of Russian Forces (OGRF). The OGRF was created from the remnants of the former 14th Russian Army, which was deployed here in the early 1990s and took an active part in the Transnistrian conflict.

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The mother accused of allowing her 4-year-old girl to get hold of a fatal dose of fentanyl wont be allowed to attend the girls funeral.

Judy Bribiescas, 39, asked to be released from the Benton County jail for two hours Friday for the private viewing before her daughters service later in the morning.

But Judge Jackie Shea Brown said she wasnt confident Bribiescas would return.

It would be reckless, she said. It would be almost guaranteed to have bad results.

Bribiescas is being held on $200,000 bail pending trial for first-degree manslaughter in connection with her daughters death Dec. 27. Her trial is set for March 4.

She is accused of being in a motel room bathroom with the girls father, Joseph C.E. Walker, 31, when their daughter Ryleigh Walker, allegedly swallowed least two fentanyl pills. Another was found in her nose.

Benton County Coroner Bill Leach confirmed Thursday that the 4-year-old died from a fentanyl overdose.

Walker also is charged with manslaughter.

Judy Bernice Bribiescas, 39, appears in Benton County Superior Court via a video link Friday afternoon from the Benton County Jail in Kennewick. She is the mother of the 4-year-old girl who died late Wednesday after stopping breathing at a Kennewick motel after swallowing fentanyl pills allegedly left out in the open, according to court documents filed Thursday. Bribiescas is being held on suspicion of manslaughter.

Bribiescas attorney Talitha Hazelton pointed out that Bribiescas called 911 and waited for police while the girls father fled after she was found unresponsive.

This day is monumental for her and her child, Hazelton argued. The amount of psychic damage that would occur without the ability to have closure, I think that should be weighed.

Hazelton made a few suggestions for how Bribiescas could attend event, saying the womans brother or a defense investigator could take her to the private viewing.

She said it was important to give Bribiescas a chance to express her grief, otherwise it could hamper her ability to recover from her drug addiction.

Hazelton pointed out that her client would be tested for drugs when she returned to jail. She also offered to accompany Bribiescas herself.

Prosecutors object

But Deputy Prosecutor Taylor Clark said prosecutors were strongly objecting to a furlough, noting that Bribiescas is facing a potential 6 1/2-year prison sentence.

She said security video at the motel shows Bribiescas waited four minutes before interacting with officers. Police and medics tried to reverse the overdose with naloxone but it wasnt effective and the girl couldnt be revived at a hospital.

Clark said they also are concerned that the couples 8-year-old son would be at the funeral service and Bribiescas and Walker are barred from seeing him because hes a witness.

Clark said it would be extremely unfair to prevent Ryleighs brother from going to his sisters funeral.

I am sympathetic to the situation, Clark said. I think its no way appropriate to allow Ms. Bribiescas out of custody. ... The state has no confidence that she will return.

Joseph Walker did not ask about attending the funeral. Hes currently being held on $500,000 bail.

Joseph E. C. Walker, 30, made a preliminary appearance in Benton County Superior Court via a video link from the jail.

Even before Bribiescas current charges, she had problems showing up to court. She had four warrants issued for failing to attend hearings and multiple other times she didnt come to court. In addition, shes been sober for less than a month.

Clark pointed out that Bribiescas brother also has a lengthy criminal history with multiple warrants and two convictions for escaping from custody.

Shea Brown sided with Clark saying she understands why Bribiescas wants to attend the funeral, but the proposition is fraught with risk.

She cant trust the ability of the defenses investigator to restrain Bribiescas if she tried to flee.

I have no reason to be assured that anyone can restrain her, she said.

Shea Brown suggested organizing a Zoom call so Bribiescas can watch from the jail.

That is the best way to provide closure while ensuring the safety of the community, she said.
House Speaker Dade Phelan speaks with other representatives during a special legislative session at the state capitol in Austin on Nov. 17, 2023. Credit: Julius Shieh/The Texas Tribune

Money is flowing in from both allies and enemies of Texas House Republicans that could fuel a brutal primary season, campaign finance reports filed this week show.

Earlier this week, elected officials, candidates and political action committees had to reveal their finances for the past six months. For some of them, it was the first time they had to disclose anything since July.

A lot of new political grudges have formed over that period. The Senate acquitted Attorney General Ken Paxton in his impeachment trial in September, and Gov. Greg Abbotts yearlong crusade for school vouchers crashed and burned in November.

Now Paxton and Abbott are on a warpath in the primary, determined to unseat House Republicans who crossed them.

Heres what the latest campaign finance reports tells us about the GOP civil war:

Voucher advocates amass a war chest

Abbott has already amassed an impressive war chest to build a more pro-voucher GOP majority in the House. Twenty-one House Republicans joined Democrats in November to strip a school voucher program out of an education bill, and 16 of those Republicans are seeking reelection.

Abbott has already endorsed half of the primary challengers to those 16 Republicans and is also prioritizing some open seats.

Abbott himself raised $19 million in the second half of 2023, including $6 million from Jeff Yass, a Pennsylvania billionaire who is passionate about vouchers. Abbotts campaign called it the largest single donation in Texas history.

With this substantial financial backing, Governor Abbott will ensure that the conservative candidates who support his bold agenda to expand school choice, secure our southern border, and lower property taxes have what they need to keep Texas red, Abbotts campaign manager, Kim Snyder, said in a statement.

Other groups focused on the issue also showed hefty hauls. The AFC Victory Fund, a national political arm of the American Federation for Children, reported $3.3 million cash on hand as of Dec. 25, boosted by a $500,000 donation from Yass.

Meanwhile, the Texas-based Family Empowerment Coalition PAC raised $443,000 over the last six months and did not wait to start spending it. The PAC made over a dozen House candidate contributions of $10,000 or $25,000, with the higher amount going to primary challengers.

Paxton allies holding back

Paxton is crusading to replace the dozens of House Republicans who voted to impeach him, though it remains to be seen where  and when  he will get his financial firepower.

Paxton raised $2.2 million and spent $3.3 million over the past six months, though most of his expenditures were for legal bills for his impeachment trial  and some are still pending. He had $1.9 million left over as of Dec. 31.

Further complicating things for him, his top fundraising ally on the far right has been Defend Texas Liberty PAC, with its millions from West Texas oil barons Tim Dunn and the Wilks family. But the group faced widespread GOP condemnation in October after The Texas Tribune reported its leader at the time hosted prominent white supremacist Nick Fuentes.

The PACs latest report shows it laid low in the aftermath of the controversy, raising only small-dollar contributions and donating to just one of its allied lawmakers.

That begs at least two questions: Where will the funding for primary challenges come from  and when will it show up?

To be sure, Defend Texas Liberty could have just waited until after the latest reporting period  which ended Dec. 31  to start significantly raising and spending again. It is not uncommon for any group with political liabilities to hold off on getting publicly involved in a race until closer to Election Day, minimizing headaches for the candidates it supports.

There could also be new entities lying in wait to fill the void. For example, a new PAC called Texans United for a Conservative Majority was formed last month, with a onetime Defend Texas Liberty operative as its treasurer. That group has since lent its name to TV advertising against Phelan in his primary.

Phelan works to protect his incumbents

There is plenty of money swirling around to help defend House Republicans who are in the crosshairs of Abbott and Paxton. House Speaker Dade Phelan, R-Beaumont, and his allies  like the Associated Republicans of Texas and Texans for Lawsuit Reform  have potentially tens of millions of dollars at their disposal, according to the reports.

Phelan himself spent $2.8 million over the last six months, with much of it going toward ramping up to defend House Republicans. He spent over $900,000 on polling for House candidates and made contributions to 16 GOP incumbents. He ended the year with $5.3 million cash on hand.

The other pro-incumbent groups also got to work spreading around their largesse to House Republicans with competitive primaries. Texans for Lawsuit Reform gave as much as $150,000 to one lawmaker, state Rep. Jeff Leach, R-Plano, who was on the team that handled Paxtons impeachment.

Texans for Lawsuit Reform ended the period with a staggering $36.3 million cash on hand  not far off from Abbotts combined reserves.

The incumbent-aligned groups also continued to prove their ability to land the biggest checks in Texas politics, with Associated Republicans of Texas disclosing a $1 million donation from Houston beer distributor John Nau in November.

When it comes to specifically defending the anti-voucher House Republicans, one group to watch is the pro-public education group funded by HEB CEO Charles Butt. Butt pumped $1.3 million more into the group on the latest report, it ended 2023 with nearly $11 million cash on hand and last month it donated $10,000 each to the 16 House Republicans.
SAN DIEGO (Border Report)  Three men recently found dead along the northbound lanes of the San Ysidro Port of Entry in Tijuana belonged to a gang called The Monsters, police said.

Police Chief Jose Fernando Sanchez Gonzalez, head of Tijuanas Public Safety and Security, says the gang began as a group of thugs who would block the flow of traffic at the crossing allowing others to cut in for a fee.

Woman says man beat her, made her smuggle drugs in vagina

He says the same group is now responsible for most of the crime and drug dealing just south of the port of entry.

Theres an ongoing conflict for control of the drug trade in that area, Sanchez Gonzalez said.

Since November, three men have been found dead along the northbound lanes at the crossing, and according to Sanchez Gonzalez, all three were Monsters shot to death by rivals.

The chief told reporters on Thursday his officers have increased patrols on the Mexico side of the border crossing along with members of the National Guard.

Visit the BorderReport.com homepage for the latest exclusive stories and breaking news about issues along the U.S.-Mexico border

He said they are having similar issues with drug dealing at border crossings in Tecate, Mexicali and as far away as Juarez just south of El Paso, Texas.

The police chief said they are once again seeing more occurrences of blind mules, people caught carrying drugs that were unknowingly planted in their cars by drug traffickers.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 5 San Diego.
300,000 new families eligible for welfare program in Sri Lanka

Xinhua) 09:49, January 19, 2024

COLOMBO, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- About 300,000 new families are eligible for Sri Lanka's Aswesuma social welfare program, according to a statement from the Ministry of Finance, Economic Stabilization and National Policies on Thursday.

Acting Minister of Finance Shehan Semasinghe said in the statement that Aswesuma benefits are currently being received by over 1.7 million families.

The ministry said 5,209 families who were receiving benefits became ineligible following appeals and objections.

The Sri Lankan government said recently that it would increase the Aswesuma social welfare program to cover 2.4 million families because of the difficult economic situation in the country.

Sri Lanka has allocated 205 billion rupees (628.8 million dollars) in the budget for the payment of the Aswesuma social welfare program in 2024.

(Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Liang Jun)
Thousands of bats flying from Austin's Congress Avenue bridge to the trees every day after sunset. Hundreds of cold-stunned bats have been rescued from around Austin this year. Margarita Almpanezou/Getty Images

One of the things Austin is famous for is its bat colony under the Congress Avenue bridge, which is considered to be the world's largest urban bat colony.

Unfortunately, those bats do not do well in the below-freezing temperatures seen in the area to start the new year.

The Austin Bat Refuge, a local nonprofit, says that since Jan. 1 it has rescued about 500 bats that were stunned by cold weather, according to KXAN in Austin. That's more than the total number rescued across most years (3).

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Most of the bats have come from around Round Rock, per KXAN. To warm the bats up, heating pads, electrolytes and wing stretches are applied.

"Well inject them under the skin with electrolytes and that gets your system up and running," Lee McKenzie, Austin Bat Refuge's refuge manager, told KXAN. "Once theyre warm and hydrated, we can feed them. And after we feed them, we have to test fly them. Even though their wings look just great, oftentimes, they dont work great."

Austin isn't the only city dealing with the cold-stunned bats. The Houston Humane Society Wildlife Center has gathered about 1,300 bats from Houston-area colonies, according to NBC 5 in Dallas-Fort Worth. The bats appear lifeless but, if still alive, perk back up after being warmed up, according to KHOU.
[Source]

Montreal Mayor Valerie Plante this week announced that the citys historic Chinatown became its first area designated as a heritage site, making it part of Quebec province's Directory of Cultural Heritage.

What it means: The city broke the news in a press release on Wednesday, declaring its Chinatown as the only significant historic Chinatown preserved in Quebec and Eastern Canada and the only French-speaking Chinatown in North America. Officials say its registration into Quebec's Directory of Cultural Heritage creates a lever for cultural and tourism development."

Origins: Established by Chinese immigrants from West Canada after the completion of the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1886, Montreals Chinatown was unofficially recognized by Montreal newspaper La Press in 1902. Several Chinese immigrants who moved into the city opened up businesses, including restaurants and laundromats like Troy Steam Laundry and Montreal Steam Laundry.

How it happened: Plante and the Minister of Culture and Communications reportedly requested for the creation of a committee in 2021 to address concerns among community members and heritage organizations about the impact of real estate pressure on Chinatowns heritage character. The committee reached a decision after going through a stringent analysis that sprung several recommendations, including the recognition of Chinatown as a historic site under the Cultural Heritage Act.

Trending on NextShark: Model of Ukrainian descent becomes Miss Japan 2024, sparking debate

What officials are saying: In a statement, Plante said the legal recognition is a testament to the importance that our administration attaches to an element of cultural heritage at a specific time. Robert Beaudry, a committee member tasked with urban planning and citizen participation, said the recognition came as a result of a long process of consultation and mobilization with local partners and residents.

Trending on NextShark: Japanese literary award winner admits getting help from ChatGPT

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Looking at the topline number between last years state budget proposal and this years, the figure is the same, $63.1 billion. But beneath the surface, Gov. Wes Moores plan has differences, giving some members of the Legislature pause.

The General Assembly must proceed with caution in these uncertain fiscal times, said Senate Minority Leader Steve Hershey, an upper Eastern Shore Republican, in a statement, on Wednesday, hours after Moore and Helene Grady, secretary of the Department of Budget and Management, provided an overview of the more than 1,300-page document to members of the State House press corps.

As Moore made clear both in his public remarks and in a subsequent news release from his office, the multi-billion dollar budget plan was compiled "all without raising taxes."

Child care gets millions in additional funding, under proposal

At lectern, Maryland Department of Budget and Management Secretary Helene Grady speaks during an overview of a $63.1 billion state budget proposal at the State House in Annapolis on Jan. 17, 2023. At right, Gov. Wes Moore listens.

One of those differences from last year to this year is $270 million additional dollars from the General Fund for the Child Care Scholarship program, which supports at least 16,000 Maryland children and their families, subsidizing everything from infant care to afterschool programs to some summer camps. The fiscal 2024 budget passed by the Maryland General Assembly last year included $58.5 million in general funds and over $100 million in federal funds for the scholarship program.

More: In Ocean City address, Moore declares 'new season of challenge' for Maryland economy

Moore pitched the child care funding increase as a way to bring more women into the workforce and strengthen the states economy.

Access to child care doesnt just affect your child and your family, it changes the trajectory of our states fiscal health, said Moore, during the Jan. 17 budget overview at the State House in Annapolis. Earlier this month, the comptroller released a report highlighting that as child care costs increase, overall female employment decreases by 5 percent.

The University of Maryland Eastern Shore Child and Family Development Center Monday, Jan. 30, 2023, in Princess Anne, Maryland.

To a crowd largely consisting of cabinet secretaries and administration officials, Moore called the funding boost the largest single year investment in child care in our states history, a line met with applause by the friendly audience.

Maryland's public schools receive more funding under plan

The budget proposal also fully funds the Blueprint for Marylands Future law, putting $9.2 billion into the states public K-12 schools. The total represents a $461 million or 5.3% increase from the current fiscal year.

At lectern, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, a Democrat, speaks during a press conference announcing his annual budget proposal at the State House in Annapolis on Jan. 17, 2024. In foreground, Lieutenant Gov. Aruna Miller listens to governor.

More: As Maryland's school plan begins, 'childcare deserts' a persistent problem

The proposal also increases spending at the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services, which operates the states prisons, by more than $76 million. That departments sum, about $1.6 billion, represents a 4.9% increase from the current fiscal year.

Still, under the proposal, the state has 9.4% of General Fund revenues in the Rainy Day Fund, a balance of $2.34 billion, to weather whatever uncertainties lie ahead, listing federal government shutdowns or a recession as potentialities. The states structural deficit under the plan comes in at $502 million, an amount that falls under the total recommended by the Spending Affordability Committee last month.

The governor again noted during the budget overview on Wednesday something he said in August in Ocean City: that 17 of the last 20 state budgets have required cuts to stay balanced. In that sense, about the states fiscal challenges, there was agreement between Moore, a Democrat, and the top Republican member on the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee.

In this file photo, Maryland State Sen. Paul Corderman, R-Washington/Frederick, listens to Gov. Wes Moore speak in Annapolis on inauguration day Jan. 18, 2023.

Long-term, spending is still outpacing revenues and this budget does not identify a solution to this ongoing dilemma, said state Sen. Paul Corderman, R-Washington/Frederick, in a statement. We must address these expensive mandates from the past and refrain from adding new ones that will further weigh down the budget.

Dwight A. Weingarten is an investigative reporter, covering the Maryland State House and state issues. He can be reached at dweingarten@gannett.com or on Twitter at @DwightWeingart2.

This article originally appeared on Salisbury Daily Times: Md. Gov. Moore budget comes in at $63.1 billion with boost for child care
Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a Security Council meeting via videoconference at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Friday, Jan. 19, 2024. (Gavriil Grigorov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

MOSCOW (AP)  More than 1,000 people rallied in the Russian region of Bashkortostan on Friday, continuing a series of protests triggered by the conviction and sentencing of a local activist and handing a new challenge to the Kremlin.

People gathered in the main square of Ufa, the main city of Bashkortostan, a region spread between the Volga River and the Ural Mountains, dancing and singing folk songs. Police initially didn't intervene, but later rounded up about 10 participants as the crowd thinned in freezing temperatures, according to the independent Vyorstka and SOTAvision news outlets.

Protesters shouting Shame! tried to block a police bus carrying the detainees in the city of 1.1 million about 1,150 kilometers (700 miles) east of Moscow.

The rally followed clashes on Wednesday in the town of Baymak in which hundreds of protesters faced off with police following the trial of Fail Alsynov, a local activist who was convicted of inciting hatred and sentenced to four years in prison. Police used batons, tear gas and stun grenades to disperse the protesters, who chanted Freedom! and Disgrace! and demanded the ouster of Bashkortostans regional leader.

At least 17 people accused of involvement in the clashes were given jail terms ranging from 10 to 13 days.

The unrest was one of the largest reported demonstrations since the Kremlin sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022, and raised the threat of instability in the region of 4 million.

Asked whether the Kremlin was worried about the demonstrations in Bashkortostan, Russian President Vladimir Putins spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, downplayed their significance.

I would disagree with the formulation mass riots and mass demonstrations. There are no mass riots and mass demonstrations there, Peskov said in a conference call with reporters, even though the countrys top criminal investigation agency launched a probe into the clashes on charges of inciting mass riots.

The tensions in Bashkortostan come as Putin is seeking another six-year term in Marchs presidential election.

Indigenous people, mostly Muslim Bashkirs, a Turkic ethnic group, make up just under a third of the region's population. Ethnic Russians account for about 38% and ethnic Tatars about 24%, with some smaller ethnic groups also present.

The region's Kremlin-appointed head, Radiy Khabirov, denounced the protests, alleging they had been instigated by a group of traitors, some living abroad, to call for the region's secession from the Russian Federation.

Bashkortostan, Tatarstan and other regions with a strong presence of indigenous ethnic groups enjoyed greater autonomy than other provinces during Soviet times. They won even broader rights after the 1991 Soviet collapse, fueling fears that the federal authority could weaken and the country could eventually break up along ethnic lines.

Putin, who spearheaded a second war in Russia's region of Chechnya to crush its separatist bid in the early 2000s, has methodically curtailed the degree of independence in Russia's regions to strengthen the Kremlin's authority. He has repeatedly accused the West of trying to foment unrest in Russia.

Alsynov, the convicted activist, was a leader of a group that advocated the preservation of the Bashkir language and culture and protested against limestone and gold mining operations in the region. The group, called Bashkort, was outlawed as extremist in 2020.

The authorities accused him of denigrating other ethnic groups in a speech he gave at a rally in April 2023, a charge he denied.

Putin, 71, is able to run again after 24 years in power due to a constitutional amendment he orchestrated in 2020 to reset presidential term limits. His reelection appears all but assured after a relentless crackdown on the opposition and independent media.
Palestinians mourn next to the bodies of their relatives, who were killed during an Israeli air strike on a house belonging to the Zamili family in the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, at Al-Najjar Hospital. Abed Rahim Khatib/dpa

The number of people killed in the Gaza Strip since the outbreak of war more than three months ago has risen to 24,762, the local health authority said on Friday.

A further 62,108 people have been injured in the fighting, the Hamas-run authority said.

The army recently put the total number of Palestinian militants killed in the Gaza Strip since the start of the war at around 9,000.

On the Israeli side, 194 soldiers have died, Israeli media said on Friday.

The war was triggered by the worst massacre in Israel's history, carried out by Hamas gunmen and other extremist groups on October 7 in Israel near the Gaza border. More than 1,200 people were killed.

Israel responded with heavy airstrikes and a massive ground offensive.

Palestinians pray during the funeral of their relatives at Al-Najjar Hospital after they were killed during an Israeli air strike on a house belonging to the Zamili family in the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. Abed Rahim Khatib/dpa
Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President of Ukraine, has said that due to the actions of insane Russian leaders, the world is hearing more and more about potential wars in the future.

Source: Zelenskyys evening address

Quote: "The current madness of Russian leaders is bringing in a period of uncertainty and danger for every nation in the world.

Increasingly, the world is hearing and realising that more wars may lie ahead. But we have the strength to stop this.

We have the strength to defend normal life. The world has this strength. And this strength must work now to stop Russia.

I am grateful to everyone who is helping. Grateful to everyone who defends Ukraine, who works for Ukraine, who remembers that the major challenge is to give our country every opportunity to drive out the occupiers. We will definitely do this."

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Redevelopment continues at a brisk pace in Morristown. The latest milestone arrived this week as developers celebrated the "topping out" of the final phase of construction at the M Station project in the downtown area.

A lynchpin of Morristown's ongoing redevelopment plan  which brought a new Valley National Bank headquarters to town last year  M Station consists of two buildings on Morris Street, about a block from the Morristown Green and near the New Jersey Transit station.

Professional services company Deloitte currently occupies the 6-story M Station East, which was completed in July 2022. The accounting firm brought almost 1,500 employees from its previous location in Parsippany. Pharma giant Sanofi, meanwhile, has signed a lease to occupy the seven-story M Station West and move 1,900 employees from its Bridgewater offices when construction is completed in the first quarter of 2025.

Construction continues for the final phase of the M Station complex in downtown Morristown.

On Thursday, M Station builder SJP Properties, in partnership with Scotto Properties, announced the "topping out" of M Station West, referring to the completion of the building's steel infrastructure

"The topping out of M Station West is a landmark moment in redefining the modern workplace across New Jersey, said Steve Pozycki, CEO of Parsippany-based SJP. State-of-the-art, vertically integrated buildings are attracting the most influential corporations in the world. Sanofi joins Deloitte and Valley Bank, which celebrated its grand opening at our new Speedwell Avenue property this fall."

Sanofi moved "from a sprawling, multi-building suburban campus," the announcement said. Valley National Bank, meanwhile, traded in its longtime home in Wayne for a building near the Morristown Green that features retail shops on the ground level, with the bank's 660 employees occupying the five floors above.

"These tenants are turning to SJP for property solutions in amenity-rich locations with unrivaled aesthetics and the most advanced infrastructures ever built in the state, said Pozycki.

Parsippany's $1.2M view: Drone video shows big development with luxury villas taking shape

When completed, the M Station complex will include a 1,000-car parking structure with EV stations, a landscaped rooftop with wellness areas for yoga and outdoor movement classes and ground-floor retail and dining, according to the developers.

Both M Station buildings are set back 45 feet from Morris Street, creating a 10,000-square-foot landscaped promenade and two public plazas with seating.

Morristown Mayor Tim Dougherty, right, addresses the crowd as Steve Pozycki, founder and CEO of SJP Properties, left, and Stefan Roehr, global head of supply chain in North America for Sanofi, look on during a groundbreaking event at Morristown's M Station complex on Morris Street Wednesday, June 21, 2023.

The project is a piece of the town's redevelopment master plan. Town officials said that once completed, the area should generate about $1 million in annual tax revenue, about 4 times more than what the owners currently pay. The new complex replaced the Midtown Shopping Center, displacing businesses such as Burger King, Cluck-U-Chicken and the Morris Pizzeria. Cluck-U-Chicken has since relocated to South Street.

As part of the M Station plan, Morristown also constructed a roundabout to improve traffic flow at the intersection of Morris and Spring streets between M Station and the Morristown Green. Redevelopment area bonds were issued to cover the $3.5 million cost, Morristown Administrator Jillian Barrick said in 2022, when construction began.

"I am thrilled to welcome Sanofi to its new headquarters in Morristown," Morristown Mayor Tim Dougherty said in Wednesday's announcement. "SJP and Scotto Properties have successfully executed our vision of a project, which would invigorate our business district, attract leading-edge companies and reinforce our position as one of the top towns in the country to live and work.

William Westhoven is a local reporter for DailyRecord.com. For unlimited access to the most important news from your local community, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

Email: wwesthoven@dailyrecord.com

Twitter: @wwesthoven

This article originally appeared on Morristown Daily Record: Morristown NJ development hits final phase with M Station
Tony Robert Barrera III, 44, was sentenced to 60 years in prison on Friday for possession and intent to distribute fentanyl and the unlawful possession of a firearm. Hays County Sheriff's Office

An Austin man with a lengthy criminal history was sentenced to 60 years in prison after he was convicted of charges related to distributing fentanyl, Hays County officials said Friday.

A Hays County jury found Tony Robert Barrera III, 44, guilty of possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver, as well as unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon. Barrera, described as a habitual offender by the Hays County District Attorneys Office, has multiple felony convictions dating to 2002.

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Barrera received 60 years for the fentanyl charge. He also received a 50-year sentence on the firearms charge, according to the district attorneys office.

When I came to office, I promised serious consequences in fentanyl cases, Hays County District Attorney Kelly Higgins said in a written statement. It seems that Hays County juries agree that fentanyl will not be tolerated in our county

Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for use in pain relief and as an anesthetic. It is 100 times more potent than morphine and 50 times more potent than heroin as an analgesic, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.
Odin Daniel Weydeveld was perfection.

The 5-year-old with big, brown eyes was filled with energy, loved the outdoors and was not scared of a thing. He wore his Spider-Man costume more often than regular clothes and wrapped his family in hugs.

He really was just a caring little boy, always trying to rescue everyone, said his mom, Hastings Weydeveld. Odin was growing up with his siblings on a 3-acre farm in Saucier, where they rode horses, and had chickens, ducks and a turkey. His parents will forever cherish a trip the family took to Disney World in the fall.

The first anniversary of Odins death is Sunday, Jan. 21. He died within hours of being treated and released from the emergency room at Singing River Gulfport with a prescription for nausea medicine.

His mother has filed a lawsuit over his death in Harrison County Circuit Court against Singing River Gulfport, emergency room physician Andrew R. Marsh and Gulf Coast ER Specialists P.C., which lists Marsh as president.

Marsh, Singing River and Gulf Coast ER Specialists have denied wrongdoing. But, as Odins beneficiaries, the Weydevelds are seeking damages for what they claim was Odins wrongful death.

Hastings Weydeveld is still shocked by her sons death.

How does a perfectly healthy child die so fast? she said in an interview with the Sun Herald. I was like, What happened? Why did they let him leave the hospital if he was dying?

Odin Weydeveld, left, loved Spider-Man and Paw Patrol. He also loved wearing costumes and is shown here with sister Nikita Niki Weydeveld, who says her deceased brother lives in her heart.

Diagnosed with stomach virus

Odin was the middle child of three siblings. He worshiped his mom and doted on little sister Nikita, called Niki. She was only 3-years-old when he died, but remembers him and says he lives in her heart. His older brother, Manix, is 14.

Odins father, Ryan Weydeveld, took him to the Singing River Gulfport emergency room on Jan. 20, after he began vomiting late that afternoon. Hastings Weydeveld went with them but waited in the car because she was getting over COVID.

The lawsuit says that during Odins limited stay in the emergency room, Marsh was assigned to treat him. He was tested for COVID, Strep-A, RSV and the flu. He was diagnosed with vomiting in a pediatric patient, the lawsuit says, and discharged with a prescription for the anti-nausea medicine Zofran.

No other tests, including a CT scan or MRI, were performed, the lawsuit says.

Ryan Weydeveld asked about the possibility of other tests, his wife said, but none were ordered. They said it was just a stomach virus, Hastings Weydeveld said. I believed them.

They took Odin home. His vomiting stopped, so they thought the medicine was working and slept with Odin between them so they could keep a close watch on him.

When they woke before dawn, Odin was unresponsive. His parents called an ambulance.

I thought he was going to sleep, Hastings Weydeveld said, but he was slowly dying.

Odin Weydeveld, right, is pictured with siblings Manix, center and Nikita. Odins death a year ago is the subject of a lawsuit filed against Singing River Gulfport and a doctor who treated him in the hospitals emergency room.

MS law could limit damages

The little boy returned to the same emergency room. He had no heartbeat and was pronounced dead a little more than an hour after his arrival. The official cause of death was listed as small intestinal necrosis and volvulus. He died because his intestines were twisted, causing a bowel obstruction.

In response to the lawsuit, Singing River says it cant be held responsible because a pre-existing condition caused Odins death.

Marsh and Gulf Coast Specialists also deny contributing to Odins death. Marsh said he was working as a part-time employee of Singing River, not for Gulf Coast Specialists. The company says it had no role in the emergency room or Odins treatment.

Singing River also says Marsh was working as the hospitals employee, not an independent contractor. The distinction is important because damages against Singing River and other public hospitals in Mississippi are capped at $500,000 under the Mississippi Tort Claims Act.

The Weydevelds attorney, Joe Sam Owen of Gulfport, argues that economic damages against Marsh and his company should not be capped because they were working as independent contractors. Economic damages would include medical bills and Odins future lost wages.

Hastings Weydeveld doesnt dwell on the pending lawsuit. She just misses her son, as does her mother, Marta Wald. Wald moved from Birmingham to the Coast about six months before Odins death, taking early retirement so she could spend time with her grandchildren.

Shes so glad she had those precious months with Odin. She can still picture him when she arrived for a visit. He was full blast running, she said, with arms wide open.
Most areas of Kentucky got varying amounts of snow accumulation as the latest winter storm rolled in Thursday night and Friday morning, according to the National Weather Service.

In Lexington there were reports of 2.8 to 3.3 inches of snow, according to NWS meteorologist Samantha Micholwidz. Its possible that another half-inch could get added to the total with Friday mornings snowfall.

Surrounding counties in Kentucky received similar snow accumulations. Micholwidz said the highest reported amount was 3.5 inches just outside of Frankfort.

The storm was expected to taper off throughout Friday, ending sometime in the afternoon, according to Micholwidz. Fayette County and virtually every county in Kentucky is under a winter weather advisory until at least 10 p.m. A wind chill advisory will be in effect for central and Western Kentucky from 10 p.m. Friday to 10 a.m. Saturday.

Areas in Western Kentucky saw approximately a half-inch to an inch of snow, according to Andy Lesage, an NWS meteorologist in Paducah. Lesage said a snow band moved through Western Kentucky around 4-or 5 a.m., which provided most of the accumulation.

Dry air is settling in Friday morning, which will make snow fluffier and could add an additional tenth of an inch of snow in the area, according to Lesage.

Western Kentucky was placed under a winter weather advisory until noon central time, according to the NWS.

Areas in Eastern Kentucky were under a winter weather advisory until 6 p.m. Friday while Harlan, Letcher and Pike counties were under a winter storm warning until 7 a.m. Saturday. The NWS said snow accumulation was expected along with brief periods of freezing drizzle.

Areas in Harlan, Letcher and Pike counties were expected to see 2 to 5 inches of snow, with higher amounts atop Black and Pine mountains, according to the NWS.

A wintry weather system will continue to push through the area today and tonight, allowing accumulating snow to continue across the area. #kywx #ekywx pic.twitter.com/OCM5iQXFnE  NWS Jackson KY (@nwsjacksonky) January 19, 2024

At this same time approximately 30 years ago, there was a historic snow storm that also featured arctic cold temperatures, according to the NWS. Lexington received more than 10 inches of snow and temperatures in the area got down to -20 degrees Fahrenheit.

Shelbyville got hit the hardest, with 23 inches of snow and a low temperature of -37 degrees. The NWS said Shelbyville set an all-time record for lowest temperature recorded in Kentucky.

30 years ago this week the Ohio Valley experienced historic cold. Were you here for this Arctic outbreak? Feel free to share your story! #lmkwx #kywx #inwx pic.twitter.com/mcmyyRIsW8  NWS Louisville (@NWSLouisville) January 19, 2024
SAN DIEGO (Border Report)  Violent armed robberies, also described as muggings, were up by more than 13 percent in Tijuana, according to the citys Secretary of Public Safety and Security.

The figure was taken from police reports filed by victims.

In 2022, state crime figures show there were 1,595 armed robberies in Tijuana, last year there were more than 1,800 reported.

Tijuanas police chief, Jose Fernando Sanchez Gonzalez, says more and more robbers are using weapons to assault members of the public and businesses.

They are not always real weapons, but are very similar, any citizen will think its a real gun, said Sanchez Gonzalez. Often, upon making arrests, we discover the guns were fake  now they have to be investigated as a robbery and suspects arent charged with carrying an illegal gun even though the threat of violence was implied.

The chief said one suspect caught using a fake weapon was found to be responsible for robbing 15 convenience stores in Tijuana last year.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 5 San Diego.
Katharine Birbalsingh has been accused of discrimination by one of her pupils at Michaela Community School in Brent - Geoff Pugh for the Telegraph

A pupil taking Katharine Birbalsingh to the High Court for imposing a prayer ban at a London state school is using public money to fund the case.

The Muslim pupil, who cannot be named, has secured legal aid for the judicial review into the prayer policy at Michaela Community School in Brent.

The bill for the case so far is estimated at between 100,000 and 150,000, The Times reported.

Gillian Keegan, the Education Secretary, expressed her support for Ms Birbalsingh on Friday. Writing on X, formerly Twitter, she said that Michaela is one of the top performing schools in the country, which was in no small part due to the incredible leadership of its head teacher.

She said the suggestion made by a London secondary school teacher in the Guardian that Ms Birbalsinghs ethos is sinister was ridiculous.

Lawyers are normally paid at the end of civil legal aid cases. If the pupil is successful, the school trust could be ordered to pay the costs.

Claim that minorities feel alienated

The pupil is challenging a ban on prayer rituals introduced by the school in March, claiming that the schools stance on prayer is the kind of discrimination that makes religious minorities feel alienated from society.

Legal aid is subject to means and merit testing, meaning anyone applying is assessed on factors including their financial eligibility. The Legal Aid Agency (LAA) looks at income, benefits, outgoings, savings, investments and assets of any applicants.

In order to qualify, a number of things are looked at by the LAA including: income, benefits, outgoings, savings and investments and assets.

For civil legal aid, the merits test assesses the likelihood of success and benefit to the client.

Jane Harbottle was appointed chief executive of the LAA and director of Legal Aid Casework in 2021. In her role she would not get involved in the matters of granting legal aid and individual cases, which is not her remit.

However, she would likely be briefed on high-profile cases and may be asked for her opinion.

Had to take decision to stop prayer rituals

The policy was imposed because concerns arose about segregation between religious groups when some Muslim pupils began praying during their lunch break.

Teachers were told of incidents in which Muslim pupils who were not praying faced intimidation from some other Muslim pupils. About half of the 700 pupils at the school are Muslim.

Defending the prayer policy this week, Ms Birbalsingh said Michaela is a secular school where every race, faith and group understands self-sacrifice for the betterment of the whole.

She said the schools governing body had to take the decision to stop prayer rituals when some pupils started them, against a backdrop of events including violence, intimidation and appalling racial harassment of our teachers.

She added: At Michaela, those from all religions make sacrifices so that we can maintain a safe secular community.

The pupil who has taken the school to court is being represented by Sarah Hannett KC, a barrister at Matrix Chambers, the legal practice co-founded by Cherie Blair. Ms Hannett is a public law and human rights barrister who specialises in education.

Matrix was instructed by the law firm Simpson Millar, one of the biggest recipients of legal-aid funding in England and Wales.

Pupils modest prayer request

During a two day hearing in London this week, the childs lawyers said the pupil is making a modest request to be allowed to pray for around five minutes at lunch time, on dates when faith rules required it, but not during lessons.

However, the schools lawyers claimed its policy was justified and proportionate after it faced death and bomb threats linked to religious observance on site.

Jason Coppel KC, representing the Michaela School Community Trust, the schools governing body, said that in March last year, Muslim children were observed to be applying peer pressure to other Muslim children to act in certain ways.

One pupil who never previously worn a headscarf had been pressured into wearing one, while a Muslim pupil dropped out of the schools choir as she was told it was haram, or forbidden.

A number of children had been told that they were bad Muslims for not praying and had begun to pray, Mr Coppel added.

Miriam Benitez, representing Brent Council, said in written arguments that it continues to remain neutral over the legal dispute and attended the hearing as an interested observer.

The hearing before Mr Justice Linden ended on Wednesday, with the judge saying he would deliver his ruling as quickly as possible at a later date.

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.
On a recent episode of "Late Night with Seth Meyers," the host joked that former president Donald Trump would claim he's taller than Spurs rookie Victor Wembanyama. Screenshot

The way comedian Seth Meyers sees it, former president Donald Trump would lie even when the truth actually helps him  so much so he'd even say he's taller than Spurs rookie sensation, Victor Wembanyama.

On a recent "Late Night with Seth Meyers," the host went on blast on how Trump seemingly embellishes anything related to him, showing footage of Trump telling supporters after he won the recent Iowa caucus that it was his third victory, when in truth it's only his second.

As for what any of this has to do with anything Wemby, Meyers mixed the towering 20-year-old into his bit about how Trump would bend and break the truth even when the truth was already to his benefit.

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THE MELODY OF WEMBANYAMA: Spurs rookie Victor Wembanyama is something to sing  or rap  about

Thats how much of a serial liar Trump is," Meyers said. "He embellishes even the stuff thats good for him. Its not enough to win Iowa twice, this year with over 50 percent of the vote. He still has to lie to make it even bigger. He cant control himself."

To which Meyers added with a photo of Wembanyama next to a head shot of Trump and a Trump impersonation:

"Trump could win an Olympic gold medal while holding a winning Powerball ticket and becoming the first man to set foot on Mars, and hed still say, You know, Im also taller than Victor Wembanyama. We love to say the name, dont we? Wem-ban-yama. 

Check it out near the one minute mark:

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Technically, Trump is listed as 6-foot-3, at least according to his official inmate measurements from Fulton County Jail in Atlanta, where he was arrested last year in August on criminal charges he conspired to overturn results of the 2020 presidential election.

Trump's true height and weight have been subject to debate since he was indicted in Georgia and New York City, according to a recent Newsweek report. Just a few months before his Georgia arrest, Trump's New York arrest for allegedly falsifying business records listed him as 6-foot-2.
Semafor Signals

Insights from Tagesspiegel, European Pravda, and Aftenposten

The News

NATO is mobilizing 90,000 troops as part of its biggest military drill since the Cold War. The exercise, coined Steadfast Defender 2024, will include at least 1,100 combat vehicles, 80 aircraft, and 50 naval vessels from all 31 NATO member states, as well as from NATO candidate Sweden.

The drill will start next week and last until May, NATOs Supreme Allied Commander said at a press conference Thursday. The drill comes after a host of European leaders warned that Russia remains a real threat, despite expending a significant amount of its manpower and resources in Ukraine.

On Friday, the Baltic countries of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania also announced they will build a common defensive line along their borders with Russia and Belarus to ensure they are prepared to ward off any future Russian attack. Earlier this week, the prime minister of Estonia warned that Europe has three to five years until the Kremlin rebuilds its forces and poses a serious threat to NATOs eastern flank.

SIGNALS

Semafor Signals: Global insights on today's biggest stories.

NATOs primary goal is preparing for an attack by Russia

Sources: The Atlantic, Tagesspiegel, SVT

The drill will allow NATO to practice its first major defense plan in decades, which the alliance approved last year as it sought to increase its readiness for a conventional war after decades of preparing for low-intensity conflicts and peacekeeping operations. The defense plan will reassure those allies most exposed to potential Russian aggression and improve the ability of all of the allies to act effectively together, defense expert Kori Schake wrote in The Atlantic. European officials are increasingly sounding the alarm about the Russia threat, with the German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius warning that an attack could be possible in five to eight years. Earlier this month, Swedens commander-in-chief caused panic among the countrys children by announcing on a kids television show that war could come to Sweden.

Europe has failed to ramp up its ammunition production, despite lofty promises

Sources: The International Institute for Strategic Studies, European Pravda, Aftenposten, Reuters

Despite frequent warnings about European security, the continent has been slower to ramp up its production of military equipment than its militaries would have liked. The uncomfortable truth, analysts from The International Institute for Strategic Studies wrote, is that European countries have hardly prepared for war at all. Last year, the European Union delivered less than half of the one million artillery shells it had promised to Ukraine by spring of this year. Most of the shells the EU did provide came from existing reserves, raising questions about whether the EU will be able to continue supplying Ukraine at the same rate once European stockpiles empty out. While several countries are ramping up their production  both Finland and Norway have announced major funding packages for their arms industries in the past weeks  defense companies have warned that without further investment they will be unable to develop the production capacity European countries hope to build.

Finnish membership and Swedish application strengthen NATOs Baltic flank

Sources: Reuters, Politico, RAND Corporation, CSIS

The coming military drill will also allow NATO to continue integrating its newest member, Finland, as well as Sweden, which is expected to join NATO eventually despite sustained Hungarian opposition to its membership application. The two countries will strengthen NATOs military capacities in the Baltics, with analysts frequently quipping that the Baltic Sea has become a NATO lake. The Baltics have been a concern for NATO for decades: One war game conducted by the think tank RAND in 2016 concluded that Russian forces could reach the capitals of Estonia and Latvia within less than three days in the event of a full-scale invasion. But Finlands accession has also created a new challenge for the alliance, which now has to manage an 800-mile border with Russia that is highly exposed to Russian military threats, according to a study by the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
NATO will launch its most extensive military exercise in recent decades, involving about 90,000 troops, U.S. General Christopher Cavoli, the Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, said on Jan. 18.



The Steadfast Defender 2024 drills will be held from late January to May with the participation of NATO members and Sweden. They will be the biggest since the Cold War, Reuters reported.

The exercises include simulated deployments of U.S. personnel to European countries on the alliance's eastern flank, as well as on-the-ground training.

"This reinforcement will occur during a simulated emerging conflict scenario against a near-peer adversary," Cavoli said.

Russia is not mentioned by name in the statement. However, in July 2023, NATO countries in a Vilnius summit communique called Russia the most significant threat while emphasizing that they "do not seek confrontation."

In June 2023, NATO hosted the largest military air exercises in the organization's history. Air Defender 23 included nearly 10,000 personnel and 250 aircraft from 25 countries.

Read also: Opinion: What happens if the West abandons Ukraine?

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Western militaries, as well as civilians, need to be prepared for an 'all-out war' with Russia that maysignificantly affect their lives, Britain's Sky News reported on Jan. 19, citing Dutch Admiral Rob Bauer, chairman of the NATO Military Committee.

"We have to realize it's not a given that we will be at peace, said Bauer.

That's why we must prepare for a conflict with Russia.

He added that such preparations also included the industrial base and the population at large, noting that Sweden had done the right thing in calling on its population to prepare for war earlier in January.

"There must be a realization that not everything is plannable and not everything is necessarily going to be ideal in the next 20 years," Bauer warned.

Read also: Britain to send 20,000 troops to NATO training

The official's warning comes ahead of the launch of NATO's biggest exercise since the Cold War, as the alliance practices repelling an invasion by Russian forces.

Some 90,000 troops are set to join the Steadfast Defender exercise, which will take place across Europe through May.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine demonstrates that the world is now in an era when anything could happen at any time, including war, Bauer warned at the opening of a two-day meeting of national defense chiefs in Brussels, Reuters reported on Jan.17.

Ukraine will have our support for every day that is to come, because the outcome of this war will determine the fate of the world, he said.

Read also: Europe must rearm as new threats loom, German defense minister says

New military threats could emerge by the end of the decade and Europe must ensure it can defend itself, Germany's defense minister Boris Pistorius told Reuters on Dec. 16.

There are also fears Russia might attempt to attack Europe at the end of 2024 or the beginning of 2025, when the US will be without a leader as a result of presidential elections.

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
Civilians in NATO countries should be prepared for the prospect of an all-out war with Russia in the next 20 years, said Lieutenant Admiral Rob Bauer, Chair of the NATO Military Committee, in comments to reporters on Jan. 18.

NATO militaries have increased their capacity and preparedness since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. While the prospect of the war escalating to an all-out clash between the alliance and Russia has so far been averted, there are concerns that the West has not truly accepted that it may still be a possibility.

Such a conflict would require the large-scale mobilization of civilians and the industrial base across the alliance, Bauer said.

We have to realize its not a given that we are in peace. And thats why we (NATO) are preparing for a conflict with Russia," he added.

U.S. General Christopher Cavoli, the Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, said on Jan. 18 that NATO will conduct its most extensive military exercise in recent decades, involving about 90,000 troops.

Despite this, there have been indications that the increase in defense production and general military preparedness has not been sufficient to shake off the complacency NATO has exhibited since the end of the Cold War.

As Russia has increasingly put its economy on a wartime footing, Europe has fallen short of even its pledges to deliver weapons to Ukraine, let alone prepare its own armies for war. Europe's supply of military equipment to Ukraine has already strained its capacity and stockpiles, creating concerns that it may take years to refill reserves, barring a full mobilization of industrial output.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz cautioned in January that Germany's military support for Ukraine is insufficient to compensate for the deficit from other EU countries.

Despite sanctions, Russia has also taken advantage of its alliances with Iran and North Korea, which have delivered large quantities of shells, drones, and other military equipment.

North Korea has allegedly provided Russia with more than one million shells, more than the EU has delivered to Ukraine.

We need to be readier across the whole spectrum, Bauer said. You have to have a system in place to find more people if it comes to war, whether it does or not. Then you talk mobilization, reservists, or conscription."

Some leaders have acknowledged the potential for danger, drawing historical parallels to the leadup to WWII, in which Europe was so hesitant to repeat the horrors of WWI that it appeased Nazi Germany, resulting in an even more destructive war.

U.K. Foreign Secretary David Cameron said on Jan. 18 that Russia's invasion of Ukraine has meant that the current reality is "like being a Foreign Minister or a leader in Europe in the 1930s."

Recent comments by Swedish officials about the prospect of a future war sparked concern around the country, but Bauer said it was the right move.

It is important to realize that "not everything is plannable and not everything is going to be hunky dory in the next 20 years, Bauer said.

Read also: Ukrainians criticize historic UK security agreement as weak, but encouraging

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When Astrobotic's Peregrine lander burned up Thursday upon its return to Earth's atmosphere, the remains and DNA of more than 70 deceased people once bound for a lunar burial disintegrated with it.

The deceased passengers' place aboard the spacecraft became the subject of no small controversy when the largest tribe of Native Americans in the United States penned a letter opposing the moon memorial plan. Calling the intended lunar burial "a profound desecration," Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren urged NASA and other agencies to delay the launch until the tribe's concerns were heard.

A last-minute meeting was convened days ahead of the doomed mission. But when the Peregrine hitched a ride Jan. 8 aboard the United Launch Alliance's new Vulcan rocket, it still contained the memorial capsules.

Hours into the flight, Pittsburgh-based aerospace company Astrobotic began to notice issues with the propulsion system. Despite attempts to salvage the moon-landing mission, Astrobotic was forced to accept the inevitable: the lander was leaking a "critical" amount of propellant that almost certainly would dash any hopes of it touching down on the moon.

In light of the mission's failure, Navajo Nation insisted it "never opposed the scientific exploration of space," Justin C. Ahasteen, the organization's executive director of its Washington office, said in a statement to USA TODAY.

"While we are relieved that the Peregrine mission failure means that the lunar surface will not become a resting place for human remains, we recognize the disappointment and setback this represents for all those involved in the mission," Ahasteen said. "Our concerns are specific to the inclusion of human remains on missions intended for the Moon, which we consider sacred."

In this image made from NASA video, United Launch Alliances Vulcan rocket with Astrobotic's Peregrine lander onboard is launched Jan. 8 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. An on-board fuel leak dashed the lander's hopes of making it to the moon's surface, and the lander was set to head back toward Earth and burn up in our planet's atmosphere.

U.S. moon race: Could China beat the US back to the moon? Congress puts pressure on NASA after Artemis delayed

Astrobotic scraps plans for moon landing after propellant leak

Once plans for a lunar landing were scrapped, Astrobotic Technology instead sought to maneuver its uncrewed craft as close to the moon as possible before it lost power.

By Sunday, the company decided to let Peregrine burn up while reentering Earth's atmosphere and crash into a remote area of the Pacific Ocean to avoid "the risk that our damaged spacecraft could cause a problem" in space.

If the mission for the lander to touch down had been a success, it would have been the first time a U.S. craft made contact with the moon since the last Apollo mission in 1972, and the first American commercial craft to ever do so.

Aboard Peregrine was a science payload from NASA, which is interested in studying the moon ahead of plans to send astronauts back to the lunar surface for its since-delayed Artemis missions. Even though the lander wasn't able to touch down on the moon, scientists were able to gather important data on the "interplanetary environment" over the course of nearly a week, NASA said.

Celestis plans to offer more lunar memorial flights

In addition to NASA's scientific payloads, the Peregrine spacecraft was carrying human remains, including those from Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry and science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke.

The "intrepid souls," as they are referred to by Celestis  one of two memorial spaceflight companies involved in the mission  were interred in capsules for the Tranquility Flight that would have remained on the moon's surface as "a permanent tribute" to those "who never stopped reaching for the stars."

Another company, Elysium, had also contracted to have cremated human remains and DNA of clients placed aboard the lunar lander.

Celestis, which also sells memorial flights on spacecraft launched by other organizations, offers the lunar burial service at a price starting at $12,995, according to its website.

The Peregrine spacecraft may not have been able to reach its destination. But in a statement to USA TODAY, Celestis CEO and co-founder Charles M. Chafer said Astrobotic "was able to accomplish much new science for the world while delivering our Tranquility Memorial Spaceflight mission to a precise trans lunar injection position, successfully completing our contractual obligations to all our clients."

"Celestis clients understand and embrace the risks associated with all spaceflight and we have policies in place that seek to inform and mitigate these risks," Chafer said in the statement. "All Celestis clients know in advance that a flight they or a loved one is on may not succeed, and most understand without further explanation that they are committing a very small amount of their or their loved ones precious remains to what is still today a very rare, special, and risky effort."

The company's next lunar mission is scheduled for late 2025, and Chafer said clients of the failed Tranquility Flight can choose to once again include additional remains of their deceased loved ones. More than half of them have already registered, Chafer said.

Navajo Nation continues to object to memorial moon missions

United Launch Alliance's new rocket, Vulcan Centaur, lifts off last week from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida for its maiden voyage. On board was Astrobotic's Peregrine Lunar Lander, which experienced propulsion issues on its way to the moon with payloads that included the cremated remains of several people associated with the original "Star Trek" series, including creator Gene Roddenberry.

Navajo Nation, whose members revere the moon as sacred, will continue to object to any spaceflights that include human remains destined for a lunar burial, Ahasteen told USA TODAY.

In his Dec. 21 letter, Nygren argued that NASA violated its previous commitment dating back to the 1990s  when NASA sent the ashes of astronaut Eugene Shoemaker to the moon  to consult with the Navajo Nation before human remains are part of lunar missions.

In his statement, Ahasteen said Navajo Nation hopes President Joe Biden's administration will also consult the tribe on such matters, as it promised to do in a Jan. 26, 2021 memorandum.

"The unfortunate outcome of the Peregrine mission should not detract from the broader policy discussion we seek to encourage about the treatment of the moon," Ahasteen said. "Just as we protect revered sites on Earth like the Grand Canyon from becoming landfills or graveyards, we urge our government and the international community to adopt similar practices for the moon."

Eric Lagatta covers breaking and trending news for USA TODAY. Reach him at elagatta@gannett.com

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Human remains don't make it to moon on lander; Navajo Nation reacts
Maj. Gen. Phillip A. Stewart, right, former commander of the 19th Air Force at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph, with one of his military attorneys after an arraignment at Fort Sam Houston on Thursday, Jan. 18, 2023. Stewart faces a court-martial on charges of raping a female officer on an Air Force base in Oklahoma. William Luther/San Antonio Express-News Maj. Gen. Phillip A. Stewart, former commander of the 19th Air Force at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph, after an arraignment at Fort Sam Houston on Thursday, Jan. 18, 2023. Stewart faces a court-martial on charges of raping a female officer on an Air Force base in Oklahoma. William Luther/San Antonio Express-News Maj. Gen. Phillip A. Stewart, right, former commander of the 19th Air Force at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph, after an arraignment at Fort Sam Houston on Thursday, Jan. 18, 2023. Stewart faces a court-martial on charges of raping a female officer on an Air Force base in Oklahoma. William Luther/San Antonio Express-News

An Air Force general who is facing a court-martial on charges that he raped a female subordinate has asked to retire rather than stand trial and risk being sentenced to decades in the stockade.

Maj. Gen. Phillip A. Stewart was commander of the 19th Air Force at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph, the services pilot training arm, until he was abruptly removed in May while the military investigated the allegations against him. He allegedly committed the sexual assault at an Air Force base in Oklahoma in April.

RELATED: Air Force general accused of rape says encounter was consensual

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Stewart is only the second general in Air Force history to face a court-martial.

A petition filed by his lawyers this week asks Lt. Gen. Brian Robinson, head of the San Antonio-based Air Education and Training Command, which includes the 19th Air Force, to allow Stewart to retire and go before a military board that would determine his final rank.

If the panel, called a grade determination board, reduced his rank, Stewart could lose hundreds of thousands of dollars in retirement benefits compared with what he would have collected as a retired two-star general.

RELATED: Air Force general ordered to stand trial in rape case

Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall III will have the final say on Stewarts request to be allowed to retire. The most Robinson can do is make a recommendation to Kendall, said Marilyn Holliday, an AETC spokeswoman.

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Stewart is accused of sexually assaulting the female officer at or near Altus AFB in southwestern Oklahoma on April 13 and again the following day. His defense team maintains the two had a consensual affair, while military prosecutors assert that given Stewarts rank and power, the woman had no choice but to submit to his advances.

The revelation that Stewart wants to end his military career to avoid a trial came during an arraignment Thursday morning at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston.

The purpose of the 35-minute hearing, held in a small wood-paneled courtroom in a cluster of historic buildings on the post, was to determine how Stewart would plead.

He exercised his right to postpone that decision until a March 21 hearing. However, San Antonio attorney Jeffrey Addicott, who is consulting with military lawyers on Stewarts behalf, said that if Stewarts request to retire in lieu of standing trial is denied, the general would plead not guilty.

Stewart could demand a trial before a jury of senior officers or before a judge. His military attorneys, Capt. Jordan Grande and Maj. Nathan Allred, deferred a decision on that issue as well.

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Four charges have been lodged against Stewart: sexual assault, conduct unbecoming an officer, dereliction of duty and extramarital sexual conduct. Hes also accused of violating Air Force rules by flying an aircraft after consuming alcohol within 12 hours of takeoff at Altus AFB on April 14.

The AETC said that if convicted of all the charges, Stewart would face a maximum penalty of 63 years in a military penitentiary and dismissal from the Air Force, the equivalent of a dishonorable discharge.

At an Article 32 hearing in October, the equivalent of a civilian grand jury proceeding, defense lawyers said the woman he is accused of raping joked with Stewart during their encounters, and kissed and hugged him as well. But Lt. Col. Pete Havern, special trial counsel for the Air Force, told the hearing examiner that Stewart should not have put himself in the position of having sex with a subordinate.

Havern said it speaks volumes that when military investigators interviewed the woman, she referred to Stewart as boss.

In December, Robinson, the AETC commander, ordered Stewart to stand trial on the charges. In so doing, Robinson overruled a recommendation by the hearing examiner that the sexual assault charge be dismissed and the other allegations resolved through administrative action.

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The 19th Air Force is responsible for all flight training operations within AETC, most of which are in the southern United States. The 19th leads cadet flight orientation at the U.S. Air Force Academy and trains entry-level and advanced fighter pilots, as well as drone pilots, combat systems officers, and air mobility and special operations combat crews. It also trains maintenance specialists and provides survival, evasion, resistance and escape instruction.

As head of the 19th, Stewart oversaw 32,000 employees and 1,530 aircraft assigned to 17 wings across the United States.

Stewart was a command pilot with more than 2,600 hours in the air, including over 600 hours in combat. He flew nearly a dozen types of aircraft, including the F-15C, a twin-engine tactical fighter; the U-2, a high-altitude intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance plane; the T-37, a twin-engine jet trainer; and the T-38C, a supersonic trainer.

Among other assignments, he served a stint as commander of the 362nd Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron at Balad Air Base in Iraq and was commanding general of the NATO Train Advise Assist Command-Air in Kabul, Afghanistan.

The only other Air Force general to face a court-martial is Maj. Gen. William T. Cooley, who commanded the Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright-Patterson AFB in Ohio. Cooley was convicted in April 2022 of abusive sexual conduct and was reduced to the rank of colonel. He retired in June.
Nancy Taylor, a Georgia native, moved to Apex to be closer to her grandchildren whom she loved to dote on, according to her family.

She was one of the women killed Monday after police say her neighbor fatally shot her and 37-year-old Gabrielle Raymond outside a home on Chipping Drive in the South Walk Townhomes neighborhood in Apex.

Taylor was one of the members of the communitys homeowners association.

We have a strong faith in God and know Nancy will forever watch over our family, her family said in a statement released Friday. Our greatest desire now is to be able to grieve and process this incredible and lasting tragedy.

Raymond was one of Taylors friends. Her family issued a statement saying she was a daughter, granddaughter, sister, aunt and friend.

Our hearts are broken and our minds cannot comprehend how or why such a bright light and future was taken too soon from this world, Raymonds family said.

Both women were rushed to a local hospital where they later died from their injuries. Mayor Jacques Gilbert said their deaths have been felt across the Apex community.

This is a very difficult time for all the families and the entire community, he said at a news conference Friday.

Retired Army captain charged with murder

Harry Hardman, 37, a retired Army captain and resident of the neighborhood, has been charged with two counts of murder and animal cruelty after fatally shooting his dog before he shot the two women.

Apex police said he was armed with an AR-15 rifle though they dont believe this was used in the shooting. Police found multiple handguns in Hardmans home after obtaining a search warrant. One of the handguns is believed to be the weapon used.

He was ordered to be held in jail without bond.

At the news conference, Police Chief Jason Armstrong and Gilbert gave a few more details about the fatal incident. Afterward, the Police Department released over a dozen 911 calls from neighbors who witnessed the shooting.

One of the calls was made by Raymond.

She was on her cell phone when police believe she was shot. The 1 minute and 42 second call ended in silence.

Another call was from a man who confronted Hardman at gunpoint.

Theyre laying in the front yard

Armstrong said the Apex Police Departments emergency services partners with Cary Police Departments dispatchers, so 911 calls made to Apex Police go to Cary first. Cary then immediately routes the calls to Apex.

Before Monday, Armstrong said, the only interaction Apex police had with Hardman was in December when he turned in a cell phone he found in his car after giving someone a ride. He drove for Uber and it is not clear if he was still driving for the company at the time of the incident.

The first call was received through the non-emergency line at 3:02 p.m. Monday, Armstrong said.

The caller, a resident in the South Walk Townhomes neighborhood, reported Hardman pacing back and forth with a pool stick in his hand.

My neighbors in the backyard just like screaming at the sky, they said. I heard something about burn the Catholic church at some point

I dont know whats going on with him, the caller said.

The caller said Taylor joined Hardman outside to talk to him. As the two walked away, the caller heard loud banging which the caller made out to be gunshots seconds later. He could no longer see Hardman outside.

Theres Nancy and someone else down on the ground, the caller said. Theyre laying in the front yard.

More 911 calls poured in.

By then, officers were already en route to the scene.

One caller saw Hardman after the shooting happened.

He just picked up the gun, put the magazine back in the gun, walked over to the two bodies and now hes walking across the street, the caller said.

Apex police praised one neighbor for his bravery after he saw Hardman, armed himself and confronted him.

In the call, the man said he had him at gunpoint and was given instructions not to shoot him. Hardman was still holding the gun. The man was not identified by Apex police.

I went back in my house, the man said. I lost him; I dont know where he went.

In a statement given to police, the man asked for privacy to process the incident.

As a neighbor, I was attempting to keep them from hurting anyone else until police arrived, he said.
The Bexar County Medical Examiner's Office identified a man who was found in the San Antonio River on Jan 9. Raul Trey Lopez

The Bexar County Medical Examiner has identified the man's body recently discovered in the San Antonio River by a river barge employee.

Christian Sincere Pitts, 23, was found in the San Antonio River in the 200 block of East Nueva Street, not far from the Bexar County Courthouse on Jan 9.

READ MORE: Man shot and killed by San Antonio police during traffic stop on South Side

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The medical examiner's office said is is still working to determine the cause of death.
Alleged remarks by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a televised address on Jan. 18, 2024, went viral, with some news outlets and social media accounts claiming he said, "In the future, the state of Israel has to control the entire area from the river to the sea, in reference to Palestinian territories.

Under the rumor's pretense, Netanyahus words, which he spoke in Hebrew, seemingly mimicked the pro-Palestinian activist slogan, From the river to sea, Palestine will be free. Some groups consider the slogan antisemitic because they believe it denies the existence of an Israeli state, while supporters believe its an egalitarian chant to support Palestinians during the Israel-Hamas war.

Whether Netanyahu used the exact words "from the river to the sea" while describing what he wants Israel to control depends on a person's source for translating his remarks. News outlets reported varied Hebrew-to-English translations.

Specific phrasing aside, the meaning of Netanyahu's statement was not under question. No matter the translation, he called for Israeli control of all Palestinian territories, from the West Bank on the Jordan River to Gaza along the Mediterranean Sea. That call goes against U.S. foreign policy pushing for a two-state solution  that is, both an Israeli and Palestinian state within the territory.

According to a video recorded by the Israeli news outlet i24NEWS, an English narrator translated his remarks to be: "In the future, the state of Israel has to control the entire area from the river to the sea." i24NEWS's video narration claimed he said (emphasis ours):

For 30 years, I am being very consistent and I am saying something very simple. This conflict is not on the lack of a state of Palestinians, but the existence of a state, the Jewish state. Every area that we evacuate we receive terrible terror against us. It happened in South Lebanon, in Gaza, and also in Judea and Samaria [...] Therefore, I clarify that in any other arrangement, in the future, the state of Israel has to control the entire area from the river to the sea.

However, other news outlets published slightly different translations absent the pro-Palestine slogan, reporting he said Israel must have security control over the entire territory west of the Jordan River." The Guardian, The Associated Press, and Al Jazeera were among publications with that translation.

The New Republic, a progressive U.S.-based magazine, said that translation  Israel must control the entire area west of the Jordan river  meant "basically" the same thing as, "Israel must control the entire area from the river to the sea.

As the rumor spread across social media, i24NEWS deleted its original post on X (formally Twitter) with its video of Netanyahu's speech  a post that contained the phrase "from the river to the sea" in its translation. Before that deletion, however, a number of media outlets and X users, including Middle East Eye (a U.K.-based outlet that covers the Middle East), reposted i24NEWS' translation.

The Jewish Press, a U.S.-based news outlet for the orthodox Jewish community, criticized i24NEWS' translation of Netanyahu's remarks. Responding to the assertion that Netanyahu said Israel has to control "the entire area from the river to the sea, in reference to Palestinian territories, The Jewish Press said: "It should, and, God willing, it will, but, alas, he didnt say it quite that way":

There was a media bruhaha over Netanyahus speech Thursday night, following the translation that was offered by the Israeli channel i24NEWS. They suggested Netanyahu promised that Israel would take over the entire area from the river to the sea, which would have been great, in light of three months of pro-Hamas demonstrators who have been drilling that line into our brains. What a pity, then, that Netanyahu said no such thing. Instead, he told the press conference [...]that Israel must maintain security control over the entire territory west of the Jordan River.

After the in-question statement about Israeli control, Netanyahu said, according to The Associated Press, This truth I tell to our American friends, and I put the brakes on the attempt to coerce us to a reality that would endanger the state of Israel." He added, "The prime minister needs to be capable of saying 'no' to our friends," Al Jazeera reported.

White House National Security Spokesperson John Kirby said in response to Netanyahu's remarks, according to a transcript of a Jan. 18 press briefing:

This is  this is not a new comment by Prime Minister Netanyahu. We obviously see it differently. We believe that the Palestinians have every right to live in an independent state with peace and security. And the President and his team is going to continue to work on that. Obviously, the focus right now is making sure that Israel has what it needs to defend itself against Hamas and  and that humanitarian aid and assistance continue to get to the desperate people of  of Gaza. But theres going to be a post-conflict Gaza. And we have been exceedingly clear about what we want to see that look like. And we want governance in Gaza thats representative of the aspirations of the Palestinian people, that they have a vote and a voice in what that looks like and that theres no reoccupation of Gaza.

Sources:

Israel, David. "Netanyahu Didn't Say 'From the River to the Sea,' But He Did Promise Total Victory." Jewish Press, 19 Jan. 2024, https://www.jewishpress.com/special-features/israel-at-war-iron-swords/netanyahu-didnt-say-from-the-river-to-the-sea-but-he-did-promise-total-victory/2024/01/19/. Accessed 19 Jan. 2024.

"Israel's Netanyahu Reiterates Rejection of Palestinian State after Gaza War." Al Jazeera, https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/1/18/israels-netanyahu-reiterates-rejection-of-palestinian-state-after-gaza-war. Accessed 19 Jan. 2024.

"Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu Says He Opposes Palestinian State." www.youtube.com, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xvszq05GL5w. Accessed 19 Jan. 2024.

"Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu Says He Opposes Palestinian State  Video." The Guardian, 18 Jan. 2024. www.theguardian.com, https://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2024/jan/18/israeli-pm-benjamin-netanyahu-says-he-opposes-palestinian-state-video. Accessed 19 Jan. 2024.

Marsi, Federica. "'From the River to the Sea': What Does the Palestinian Slogan Really Mean?" Al Jazeera, https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/11/2/from-the-river-to-the-sea-what-does-the-palestinian-slogan-really-mean. Accessed 19 Jan. 2024.

"Netanyahu: "In the Future, Israel Has to Control the Entire Area from the River to the Sea."" www.youtube.com, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8V96T8rIkFc. Accessed 19 Jan. 2024.

"Netanyahu Says He Has Told US He Opposes Palestinian State in Any Postwar Scenario." AP News, 18 Jan. 2024, https://apnews.com/article/israel-hamas-war-news-01-18-2024-73d552c6e73e0dc3783a0a11b2b5f67d. Accessed 19 Jan. 2024.

"Netanyahu Says Israel Needs to Control 'from the River to the Sea.'" Middle East Eye, https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/netanyahu-says-israel-needs-control-river-sea. Accessed 19 Jan. 2024.

Osgood, Ali Harb, Brian. "'So What?': Israeli PM Netanyahu Reiterates Rejection of Palestinian State." Al Jazeera, https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/1/18/israels-war-on-gaza-live-medicine-arrives-for-captives-palestinians. Accessed 19 Jan. 2024.

"Press Gaggle by Principal Deputy Press Secretary Olivia Dalton and NSC Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby En Route Morrisville, NC." The White House, 18 Jan. 2024, https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/press-briefings/2024/01/18/press-gaggle-by-principal-deputy-press-secretary-olivia-dalton-and-nsc-coordinator-for-strategic-communications-john-kirby-en-route-morrisville-nc/. Accessed 19 Jan. 2024.

Varkiani, Adrienne Mahsa, et al. "Benjamin Netanyahu Just Said 'From the River to the Sea.'" The New Republic, 1 Nov. 2022. The New Republic, https://newrepublic.com/post/178243/benjamin-netanyahu-literally-says-from-the-river-to-the-sea. Accessed 19 Jan. 2024.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected the notion of Palestinian statehood in a news conference on Thursday, claiming it would endanger the state of Israel. But he also invoked geographical language that has become a point of bitter contention as Israels continued military bombardment of Gaza continues in response to the Hamas attack of Oct. 7, saying that in the future, the state of Israel has to control the entire area from the river to the sea, according to an English translation of the speech from Israeli news channel i24News.

According to another translation, Netanyahu said that Israel must have security control over the entire territory west of the Jordan River  which effectively means the same thing.

Few who have followed the conversation about the deadly conflict in the Middle East these past several months could have missed the provocation in this remark: Israel and Zionists around the world have continually denounced the slogan from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free when used by those supporting Palestinian independence, saying it constitutes eliminationist or genocidal rhetoric aimed at Jewish people. Pro-Palestine demonstrators, meanwhile, say it is a rallying cry for equal rights and autonomy.

Rep. Rashida Tlaib, the first Palestinian-American woman in Congress, was censured by the U.S. House in November because of her criticism of Israel  and in part for her defense of this particular phrase, which she described as an aspirational call for peaceful coexistence. The Republican-led resolution for the serious disciplinary action was backed by 22 of her fellow Democrats. Days before, the Anti-Defamation League had labeled the expression an antisemitic slogan commonly featured in anti-Israel campaigns.

From the river to the sea is an aspirational call for freedom, human rights, and peaceful coexistence, not death, destruction, or hate. My work and advocacy is always centered in justice and dignity for all people no matter faith or ethnicity.  Rashida Tlaib (@RashidaTlaib) November 3, 2023

Israel itself has previously tweeted that from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free is used by those who call for the elimination of Israel, i.e., the destruction of the Jewish state between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea. This interpretation is also favored by critics of student protesters advocating for a ceasefire in Gaza, like Bill Ackman, the hedge fund billionaire instrumental in forcing out Harvard University president Claudine Gay over a perceived failure to deal with antisemitism on campus.

X/Twitters owner, Elon Musk, shortly after facing an unusual rebuke from the White House over his endorsement of an abhorrent antisemitic conspiracy theory in November, announced that the slogan would be treated as incitement to extreme violence and result in user suspension. (As with his earlier declaration that the word cisgender would henceforth be considered bannable hate speech, no actual change has been implemented.)

For those of you who dont know, from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free, is a phrase used by those who call for the elimination of Israel (from the river to the sea.)  Israel   (@Israel) May 17, 2021

The protests this past week at @Harvard have gotten more aggressive:



Long live the intifada! Globalize the intifada! From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free Its about numbers and volume because we have them outnumbered.



If you were a student and a member of the  Bill Ackman (@BillAckman) December 4, 2023

As I said earlier this week, decolonization, from the river to the sea and similar euphemisms necessarily imply genocide.



Clear calls for extreme violence are against our terms of service and will result in suspension. https://t.co/1fCFo5Lezb  Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 17, 2023

In this context, Netanyahus invocation of from the river to the sea while describing a territory completely controlled by Israel, with no Palestinian state, raised more than a few eyebrows. Irony is dead, tweeted Mehdi Hasan, the former MSNBC broadcaster whose show was canceled in November, prompting a backlash from fans who believe his criticism of Israel as a Muslim cable news host played a factor in the decision. Jewish activist group If Not Now, which is pushing for a ceasefire in Gaza and an end to Israels apartheid system, tweeted that Netanyahu was describing the state [r]uling Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza forever, until theyre killed or driven out. And Majed Bamya, a Palestinian ambassador to the United Nations, bluntly asked, outrage anyone?!!

Irony is dead. For months now, American politicians & pundits, Jewish community leaders & students, have obsessed over from the river to the sea; censuring Rashida Talib & accusing pro-Palestinian activists of genocidal language.



Meanwhile, the Prime Minister of Israel says: https://t.co/XJIhao5oAm  Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan) January 18, 2024

BREAKING: Netanyahu just declared Israel has to control the entire area from the river to the sea.



Ruling Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza forever, until theyre killed or driven out.



Endless occupation, apartheid, and genocide. Will this be your legacy @JoeBiden? pic.twitter.com/e2DcSaIhTK  IfNotNow (@IfNotNowOrg) January 18, 2024

Israel from the river to the seaoutrage anyone?!! pic.twitter.com/PerLosXcUW  Ambassador Majed Bamya  (@majedbamya) January 18, 2024

So far, of course, the politicians and other public figures eager to police the language of Palestinian liberation have yet to find fault with Netanyahus curious choice of words. The broader significance of the prime minister dismissing the possibility of a Palestinian state, however, is expected to add further strain to the deteriorating relationship between Israels right-wing government and the Biden administration. Congress, meanwhile, cant even gain basic oversight on potential war crimes in Gaza: On Tuesday evening, only 11 senators voted for a resolution to require the State Department to report on whether Israel is violating human rights with U.S. weapons and military equipment.

As for whether Israel supporters will follow Netanyhaus lead in appropriating the contentious slogan for their own purposes, well find out where the debate around it rages most fiercely: online.

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Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte at the 54th Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on January 17, 2024

Countries supporting the candidacy of the Netherlands PM Mark Rutte for the post of NATO Secretary General are working behind the scenes to resolve this issue by summer, Bloomberg reported.

Rutte's candidacy is supported by a significant number of NATO member states as he is seen as someone who can deal with former U.S. President Donald Trump, should he win the 2024 U.S. Presidential election.

Read also: Netherlands PM Rutte emphasizes prolonged timeline for Ukraines EU accession

The U.S. has twice offered Rutte the role, Bloomberg's source said. He refused last time because he did not expect his cabinet in the Netherlands to collapse as quickly as it did.

NATO member countries ambassadors have not yet approved Rutte's candidacy despite broad support from major NATO countries, in particular France and Germany. Some countries from the Alliances eastern flank are delaying the matter in the hopes of securing more leadership positions to strengthen the regions representation in the organization.

Estonian PM Kaja Kallas and Latvian FM Krisjanis Karins expressed interest in the post last year, but their countries did not officially nominate them.

Read also: NATO Secretary General urges Ukraine to prepare for defense

NATO allies are seeking to complete the process this spring to prevent the Secretary General's post from becoming the subject of bids for leadership positions after the European Union elections. Those deadlines could be extended but most Allies expect a solution to be made before the NATO Summit in Washington, D.C. in July.

Current NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg's term expires in October.

He was due to vacate his post at the end of September 2023 but, due to a lack of consensus on his successor, NATO members asked him to remain as NATO Secretary General for another year.

Rutte was called the undisputed favorite for the post of NATO chairman at the end of November.

He admitted regretting making public statements about his plans to run for the post of NATO Secretary General on Dec. 12.

Read also: NATO Assistant Secretary General: Kyiv may not receive invitation at Washington Summit

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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
Retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel and Senate candidate Bill Conrad, standing, speaks during a debate at the Atlantis Casino Resort ballroom in Reno, Nev., on Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024. The seven Republican Senate candidates often criticized former Army Capt. Sam Brown, the front-runner backed by National Senate Republicans, for not showing up. (AP Photo/Gabe Stern)

RENO, Nev. (AP)  Seven Republicans vying for the Republican U.S. Senate nomination in Nevada circled the familiar talking points of GOP politics at a debate on Thursday, while also taking shots at the front-runner, who made an apparently strategic decision not to attend.

The debate in a Reno casino ballroom focused on increased border security, anti-abortion stances and cutting government spending and size, but candidates spent much of their time criticizing retired Army Capt. Sam Brown, whose backing in Washington, D.C., and formidable 2022 campaign have made him a fundraising juggernaut above the crowded primary field.

Nearly every candidate called out Brown for his absence and described him as an establishment candidate not willing to face voters, a combative signal by a group of lesser-known Republicans attempting to gain ground in an otherwise cordial debate.

Dont vote for Sam Brown. Look at one of these candidates up here, said Bill Conrad, a retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel and former deputy mayor of Modesto, California, who co-founded Redmove, the conservative group hosting the debate.

Browns campaign said the decision to skip the debate reflected his comfortable lead in resources and grassroots support. The non-engagement strategy has been employed by other campaign front-runners, most notably by former President Donald Trump.

The numbers say it all: Sam Brown is the only candidate in this race with the resources, support and grassroots energy to take on Jacky Rosen, Browns campaign said in a statement. Nevada Republicans are uniting behind Donald Trump and Sam Brown because they are the only conservative champions who can defeat Biden and Rosen in November.

Former U.S. Ambassador to Iceland Jeff Gunter also was not on stage after backing out last month, due to him speaking at another Republican event, according to a campaign spokesperson.

I will debate Scam Brown at any time, Gunter said in the statement, employing a nickname he often uses to disparage Brown.

The other candidates on stage included Jim Marchant, a former candidate for Nevada secretary of state and outspoken election denier; Tony Grady, an Air Force veteran and former candidate for lieutenant governor; Stephanie Phillips, a real estate broker; and Ronda Kennedy, an attorney.

Former President Donald Trump has skipped all Republican primary debates in the current presidential campaign, electing to hold rallies or appear on rival television networks in a strategy that has deprived the events of viewership and media attention while he remains the dominant front-runner. The last GOP primary debate between Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley drew fewer than 2.6 million viewers.

Brown, a Purple Heart recipient, was a heavily recruited candidate for Republicans in Washington looking to avoid a repeat of their lackluster showing in the 2022 midterm elections, when flawed GOP candidates helped Democrats win battleground races and hold the Senate majority.

Two years ago, Brown was a longshot Senate candidate who criticized Republican front-runner Adam Laxalt for agreeing only to a pre-recorded debate instead of a live, prime-time broadcast.

He must feel safe at 8 a.m., on a Monday morning, in a closed studio, where working-class Nevadans cant challenge him, Brown said of the former Nevada Attorney General, who enjoyed the backing of the Republican Partys most influential figures, from former President Donald Trump to then-Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell.

Laxalt won that primary handily but lost narrowly in the general election to incumbent Democrat Catherine Cortez Masto.

This cycle, Brown often has brushed past questions about his primary opponents to focus attacks on incumbent Democratic Sen. Jacky Rosen. He said the crowded field was a product of Rosens leadership, not his.

But on Thursday, Rosen was seldom mentioned as Brown weathered attacks from his opponents.

I hope you remember the one thats not here, Kennedy said.

___

Stern is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a program that places journalists in local newsrooms. Follow Stern on X, formerly Twitter: @gabestern326.
A newspaper that published a story about an alleged rape at the home of a Colorado police chief said that week's paper was stolen out of racks, keeping people from purchasing the edition.

The Ouray County Plaindealer reported on Wednesday that a teenage girl had allegedly been assaulted multiple times during a late-night party with the Ouray County police chief's stepson and two others in May. The 17-year-old reported the alleged assaults to investigators, and said that she screamed and fought back while Police Chief Jeff Wood and his family slept upstairs. Wood declined to comment for the Plaindealer's story.

According to the Plaindealer, the initial case report was taken by an investigator from the Ouray County Sheriff's Office before the case was referred to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation. In a statement on Thursday, Ouray officials said they had been monitoring the case since May because Wood's residence was involved in the alleged assault. The Ouray Police Department was not involved in the investigation, the statement said, and "no personnel investigations are being conducted in the Ouray Police Department" as a result of the allegations.

Ouray, Colorado. / Credit: / Getty Images

According to the Plaindealer and a news release from the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, Wood's stepson and two other men were arrested on charges of felony sexual assault in December.

The story outlining the alleged assault, charges and ongoing case was meant to be on the front page of the Plaindealer this week, but physical copies sold in newspaper racks throughout Ouray County were stolen, the paper said in a statement above its online edition attributed to co-publisher Erin McIntyre. McIntyre was the author of the piece about the alleged assault.

"I'm sorry that most of you locals who like to get your papers from the racks were not able to put your quarters in and receive your weekly news today," the statement said. "All of our newspaper racks in Ouray and all but one rack in Ridgway were hit by a thief who stole all the newspapers. From what we know so far, it seems this person put in four quarters and took all the papers at these racks. It's pretty clear that someone didn't want the community to read the news this week."

The newspaper asked anyone with information about the thefts to contact the Montrose County Sheriff's Office. Montrose County borders Ouray County.

"I'll leave it up to you to draw your own conclusions on which story they didn't want you to read. Whoever did this took the time to steal hundreds of newspapers around the county, to prevent you from reading the news," the paper's statement continued. "Whoever did this does not understand that stealing newspapers doesn't stop a story. We're not going to stop doing our job, which is to shine light on important issues in our community and keep you informed. This person is not going to shut down the freedom of the press by stealing a few hundred newspapers. Our community won't stand for it and we won't, either."

The paper said that it is working with the Montrose Daily Press to have another run of papers published, and said it would update readers again when those newspapers are available for distribution.

"If you meant to intimidate us, you just strengthened our resolve," the statement added.

CBS News reached out to Wood, but has not received a response.

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Jilson Duban Avelar-Rodriguez appears in the 226th District Court on the first day of his capital murder trial Tuesday. Josie Norris/San Antonio Express-News Jilson Avelar-Rodriguez is seen on video screens on the second day of his capital murder trial Wednesday in the 226th District Court in San Antonio. Josie Norris/San Antonio Express-News Prosecutor Raul Jordan displays a photo of victims Nicholas Andrew Milanovich and Julia Chase Wright during the capital murder trial of Jilson Avelar-Rodriguez on Wednesday. Josie Norris/San Antonio Express-News

Jilson Duban Avelar-Rodriguez admitted to a San Antonio police detective that he killed a couple, shooting them as they slept, because his ex-girlfriend told him to and threatened him if he didnt, the detective testified Thursday.

The confession came about an hour into an interview conducted by Mark Duke, now a retired San Antonio Police Department homicide detective, which was played on a video screen for the jury in the capital murder trial of Avelar-Rodriguez, 25.

Julia Chase Wright, 21, and Nicholas Andrew Trey Milanovich, 23, were shot in 2018 at their apartment in the Medical Center area. Authorities believe the motive may have been drug-related.

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Wright, who had been shot in the face, managed to run from the apartment and knock on doors seeking help before she collapsed and died on the sidewalk. Crime scene photos showed a blood pool and trail from where she fell leading back to her apartment.

Milanovich was shot above his right eyebrow and never left the bed. He died at University Hospital.

Avelar-Rodriguez faces life in prison without the possibility of parole if convicted. The Bexar County District Attorneys Office is not seeking the death penalty.

Duke interrogated Avelar-Rodriguez, whom he had identified as the prime suspect, about a year after the killings.

Why did you do it? he asked, the conversation translated by Homeland Security Agent Joe Ibarra at an immigration facility in Pearsall where Avelar-Rodriguez, a Honduran, had been detained on an unrelated charge.

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Melissa (Cortez) said she wanted me to do something to these people, Avelar-Rodriguez told Duke. (She said) You do it or Im going to send people to do something to you. 

Avelar-Rodriguez said Cortez sent him to the apartment to steal a box containing drugs, but he messed up and took the wrong one.

Before that, Avelar-Rodriguez had spent about an hour and a half deflecting questions from Duke. But when the detective began showing him key evidence he had collected in the case, the suspect relented.

I felt threatened because she sold drugs and sold to a lot of people, he said of his ex-girlfriend.

When pressed about the threats, Avelar-Rodriguez told Duke that Cortezs ex-husband was in the Mexican Mafia, a notorious prison gang, and she had connections with the cartels through her ex.

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He said Cortez told him the night before the killings that he had three days to do it or she would send someone after him.

Cortez testified briefly on Wednesday, stating that after the killings, Avelar-Rodriguez went to her home, took a shower and threw the clothes he was wearing into a trash bag.

She also said he brought a silver lockbox that had a medicine bottle in it. They later realized the container was assigned to Wright from the methadone clinic where she was being treated for a heroin addiction, Cortez said.

Cortez told the jury that, shortly after the killing, she gave her attorney the bag of clothes Avelar-Rodriguez had been wearing. Then her testimony was halted when she asked for her lawyer, It was unclear if it was the same attorney. Cortez has not been charged in the case.

After the conclusion of the video, Duke said much of what Avelar-Rodriguez said was far-fetched.

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He said he could not find that Cortez had any connections to cartels.
Norma Barzman, the screenwriter, who has died aged 103, was one of the last surviving victims of the Hollywood blacklist; she was forced to live in exile with her family in Europe for 27 years.

When it came to the commemoration of the blacklist, Barzman was indefatigable. In 2021, her name was at the top of a list of relatives of victims who co-signed letters to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and Turner Classic Movies to mark the 75th anniversary of the start of the Hollywood Tens testimony before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC).

She was born in New York on September 15 1920. Her maternal grandmother had made a fortune from founding a pin-cushion and comforter factory in Chicago, and her mother married Sam Levor, who made his fortune importing Swiss fabrics to America after the First World War.

With her well-off background, Norma was educated at Radcliffe, and during her junior year she married Claude Shannon, a PhD at Massachusetts Institute of Technology who was later acclaimed as the father of modern digital communications and information theory. The marriage had ended by the summer of 1941, and through a boyfriend who was working at the Museum of Modern Art she acquired an interest in early European cinema.

In 1942 she and her mother moved to Los Angeles, where Norma pruned, raked, hoed, weeded, and wrote a novel, and, in the evenings, dated junior writers and attended a screenwriting class. At a party for Russian war relief on Halloween night, she met the successful screenwriter Ben Barzman.

Although impressed by his wit, she was irked by his disdain for female writers and directors, and threw some lemon meringue pie in his face. It was the start of a relationship that would encompass 40 years of shared radical commitment, exile in Europe, marriage (by a defrocked rabbi), seven children, and several extra-marital affairs on Normas part. During their courtship, when she called at Bens house one evening and was barred entry, she suspected him of having another girlfriend there. Later he explained that it was not a girl, but a Communist Party meeting.

In Hollywood, Norma Barzman became the first female reporter on William Randolph Hearsts Los Angeles Examiner. When he found out that she was a communist, the notorious Red-baiter refused to fire her, saying: I dont care if she is a Red. I dont care what she is. I never fire a good reporter.

Laraine Day and Robert Mitchum in The Locket (1946) - Everett/Alamy

She wrote the original screenplay for The Locket (1946), a noirish thriller featuring Robert Mitchum, and collaborated with her husband on other movie scripts; the Errol Flynn comedy Never Say Goodbye was based on a story by the Barzmans. Ben wrote Back to Bataan, a John Wayne war film, and got on well with the Duke despite their obvious political differences. You goddamned communist! Wayne would exclaim. You goddamned fascist! Ben would rib him back.

The Barzmans phone was bugged, and they were warned by a blonde girl (also named Norma) about the sheriffs department keeping their house under surveillance. Only a couple of years later did they realise it had been the then-unknown Marilyn Monroe (born Norma Jeane Mortenson).

When HUAC began subpoenaing writers, directors and producers to testify about their alleged communist sympathies, 10 famously refused, and a group of Hollywood executives released a statement saying that the Hollywood Ten, and anyone else who refused to testify, would be blacklisted. So when Ben Barzman was asked to work on the British film Give Us This Day, the couple set sail for Europe aboard the Queen Mary.

Eleanor Parker and Errol Flynn in Never Say Goodbye (1946), which was based on a story by the Barzmans - Entertainment Pictures/Alamy

The Barzmans exchanged the Hollywood progressive community of the 1940s for the Paris of the 1950s among their fellow-exiles; Ben likened the Paris exiles  working together, incestuously sharing our personal, psychological, political, and financial problems  to a barrel of herrings packed closely together in brine.

The blacklistees who went to Europe were not simply exiles; they were depayses (uncountried), because the US government withdrew their passports or refused to renew them. The Barzmans persuaded a sympathetic French bureaucrat to grant them 10-year residency permits, which enabled them to travel: in England they mixed with another group of exiles; in Italy, they befriended Carlo Ponti and Sophia Loren; and while they were in Spain, Ben wrote the screenplay for the Charlton Heston epic El Cid, though without receiving credit. (When their passports were restored, the US Internal Revenue Service unsuccessfully tried to demand that they pay back taxes for the period of their exile.)

Apart from the screenplay for a successful Italian movie, Luxury Girls (1953), also known as Finishing School, and an Italian television series, Il triangolo rosso (the Red Triangle, 1967-1969), Norma Barzman put her writing career on hold until she was in her eighties. My creativity had gone into making babies, having affairs (with creative men), being a chatelaine presiding over a salon of film folk.

In 1982, the Barzmans came up with the idea for a book satirising the sort of sex-money-power novel written by their friend Harold Robbins. Warner Books paid them a $200,000 advance for The Writer, but instead of marketing it as a satire they marketed it as if it were a straightforward exemplar of the genre, renamed it Rich Dreams and paid the Barzmans an extra $50,000 to agree to dispense with a hardback edition.

Despite being praised by Art Buchwald, it was hardly reviewed and went nowhere. But a French edition under the title Convoitises (envy, or lust) received positive reviews, went into three editions, and was sold to a book club, earning the Barzmans good royalties.

Anthony Quinn asked Ben to write a screenplay in which he, Quinn, could play Picasso. Since the Barzmans had been present for the painters 80th birthday, they came up with the title Picassos Birthday, on which Quinns favourite producer took out an option, but the project foundered when Quinn asked them to turn it into a Broadway musical.

As Ben Barzmans energies dwindled, Norma wrote a column about aging, The Best Years, for five years, first for the Los Angeles Herald Examiner and then, when that closed, for the Los Angeles Times. Ben died in December 1989 after a long illness. Ten years after that, the Writers Guild restored his screenplay credit for El Cid and gave Norma sole original screenplay credit for Luxury Girls.

She was always ready to engage in discussion about the blacklist, and when the Academy bestowed an honorary Oscar on Elia Kazan, who had named names to HUAC  it was an honour she opposed she urged the Academy president Bob Rehme to do something for us (i.e., the blacklistees).

He agreed to an exhibition about the history of the Hollywood blacklist, which took place in 2001. While Ben Barzman and some other blacklistees had hugged their bitterness, as Norma put it, she went on to write a cheery memoir, The Red and the Blacklist: The Intimate Memoir of a Hollywood Expatriate (2003), which received enthusiastic reviews on both sides of the Atlantic.

A subsequent novel, The End of Romance: A Memoir of Love, Sex, and the Mystery of the Violin (2006), was regarded as distasteful by some critics, since it concerned her attempt in 1973 to co-write a novel about violin-making in Cremona with her cousin Henry Myers, who, she revealed, had raped her when she was 14 and he was 25 years her senior. Norma Barzman was working with a producer on a screen adaptation of The End of Romance last year.

She remained politically active, attending fundraisers and supporting Democratic candidates. Following hip operations late in her life, she was still able to perform high kicks and continued to drive around Beverly Hills well into her nineties, while her mental faculties remained sharp and her mischievous sense of humour unmuffled.

Norma Barzman is survived by two daughters and five sons.

Norma Barzman, born September 15 1920, died December 17 2023

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Lamar Elementary students protest planned school closures at San Antonio ISD. After this weeks fiasco, why would families, already concerned, stick with the district? Sam Owens/San Antonio Express-News

One of the most basic of tenets for educators  ensuring the comfort and well-being of students  fractured this week at San Antonio Independent School District.

Parents sent their children to school in frigid temperatures Tuesday, trusting schools would be warm and remain open. Instead, a mix of incompetence and historic inequities led to students and their teachers shivering in school buildings, followed by cancellations.

While the district announced Monday that school would be open Tuesday, it clearly was not prepared for the cold. Parents, students and teachers shared embarrassing proof of frigid classrooms to local media outlets, including KENS5.

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At a news conference on Wednesday afternoon, the district announced it would close its 98 schools through Friday, even as the sun shone and the temperature warmed, to again systematically check the heating system hardware.

SAISD Superintendent Jaime Aquino took full responsibility, telling reporters about 70% of schools in the district experienced failures of heating systems and anywhere from 20% to 100% of those buildings were unable to receive appropriate heat.

While some boilers functioned Monday, they werent manually reprogrammed in advance of the arctic blast to run continuously, so they shut down as normally scheduled even as temperatures plunged.

Aquino called it the first real test of the districts system since the freeze of February 2021.

The district gets an F. Ensuring campuses are safe is the first responsibility of the superintendent and district leadership. To his credit, Aquino apologized, saying in a statement there was a cold start in schools, preparations fell short and he was deeply sorry.

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We have failed our students, our staff, our community by not having accurate, reliable information, Aquino said. People will be held accountable, but also there are some systemic issues that need to be addressed.

On Friday, Ken Thompson, deputy superintendent of operations, and Mike Eaton, chief of operations, resigned.

What happened at SAISD is untenable. But also undeniable is the historic neglect in the district; many of the buildings are old. Public schools across Texas, especially low-income districts, are underfunded. That is part of the broader picture, but other school districts with similar funding and challenges kept the heat pumping.

This heating failure comes at a critical time for SAISD.

When making the case to permanently close 15 schools and merge three as part of a rightsizing plan approved in November, Aquino said he wanted to make the urban district more equitable. We supported his plan  and still do. Making the most of district resources amid declining enrollment makes sense.

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But with many SAISD parents weighing whether to stay with the shrinking district in light of campus closures, failing to provide heat sends a terrible message about preparedness and planning. Why would parents stay?

Aquino and school board members promised a deep look at the districts infrastructure, decision processes and personnel. The community must know more about why and how this happened. Its not like this was surprising weather. The district had days to plan and prepare.

The entire community has been on edge since enduring Winter Storm Uri in February 2021. In advance of this freeze, we assume at least some district officials weatherized their homes, purchased water, checked batteries for flashlights and monitored electricity usage. Why didnt such preparedness happen for campuses?

Aquino and the board would be wise to dwell on the words of Natasha Beck-King, a teacher and parent at Brackenridge High School who expressed frustration at a board meeting Tuesday night.

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My students never got warm, she said. They came to school in temperatures below 20 degrees, and they never got warm. That is not acceptable.

Aquino said the district has a lot to do in terms of the broken trust.
U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, center, delivers remarks about the Department of Justices report on the Robb Elementary shooting alongside Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta, left, and COPS Director Col. Hugh T. Clements Jr. during a press conference at Herby Ham Activity Center on Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024, in Uvalde, Texas. Sam Owens/San Antonio Express-News The Department of Justices report on the Robb Elementary School shooting, which was released on Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024, in Uvalde, Texas, is 500 pages long. Sam Owens/San Antonio Express-News Nikki Cross, guardian of Uziyah Garcia, cries as she holds hands with her husband Brett Cross while listening to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland deliver remarks about the Department of Justices report on the Robb Elementary shooting during a press conference at Herby Ham Activity Center on Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024, in Uvalde, Texas. Sam Owens/San Antonio Express-News April Elrod, whose daughter Makenna Elrod was killed in the Robb Elementary shooting, listens to remarks from U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland about the Department of Justices report on the Robb Elementary shooting during a press conference at Herby Ham Activity Center on Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024, in Uvalde, Texas. Sam Owens/San Antonio Express-News Artist Abel Ortiz, left, gives Attorney General Merrick Garland, right, a tour of murals of shooting victims, Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2024, in Uvalde, Texas. The Justice Department is planning this week to release findings of an investigation into the 2022 school shooting. (AP Photo/Eric Gay) Eric Gay/Associated Press

More than a year and a half after a teenage gunman killed 19 fourth-graders and two teachers at a Uvalde elementary school, the U.S. Department of Justice on Thursday released a 575-page report detailing law enforcements flawed response to the massacre.

Federal officials reviewed more than 14,000 pieces of data and documentation for the report, including body-camera footage, interview transcripts and training policies. The department also spent 54 days in Uvalde and conducted more than 260 interviews, federal officials said.

Had law enforcement followed generally accepted practices in an active shooter situation and gone right after the shooter to stop him, lives would have been saved, and people would have survived, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said in Uvalde on Thursday.

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Here are the key takeaways from the report:

Barricaded subject v. Active shooter

Law enforcement officers most significant failure on May 24 was their decision to treat the gunman as a barricaded subject instead of an active shooter, the Department of Justice found.

Since the 1999 shooting at Columbine High School in Colorado, law enforcement has generally understood that officers No. 1 priority in an active-shooter situation is stopping the killing. That means officers take any action necessary to neutralize the threat  including risking their lives.

That did not happen at Robb Elementary School. Instead of immediately breaching the classroom, officers searched for keys and tried to negotiate with the shooter.

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An active shooter with access to victims should never be considered and treated as a barricaded subject, the report states.

The gunman had holed himself up in a classroom with dozens of victims. He fired several gunshots while officers were standing outside. Yet, law enforcement did not confront and kill him until 12:50 p.m., 77 minutes after he entered Robb Elementary.

Despite their training and despite multiple events indicating the subject continued to pose an active threat to students and staff in the building, including the likelihood and then confirmation of victims inside the room, officers on scene did not attempt to enter the room and stop the shooter until for over an hour after they entered the building, the department found.

U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, left, listens to Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta, right, delivers remarks about the Department of Justices report on the Robb Elementary shooting during a press conference at Herby Ham Activity Center on Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024, in Uvalde, Texas. Sam Owens/San Antonio Express-News

Unnecessary delays stopped cops from reaching kids faster

Officers could have, and should have, confronted the shooter much sooner, federal officials said.

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There were many reasons for the delay. First, no generally acknowledged incident commander led the police response at Robb Elementary, though the Department of Justice concluded that Pedro Pete Arredondo, then the head of the school police force, was the de facto leader. (Arredondo has previously said he did not consider himself in charge.)

Nearly 400 officers from 24 agencies responded to the school shooting, and the lack of leadership caused mass confusion and chaos. No law enforcement leader established an command structure to direct other first responders, according to the report, and officers didnt question the lack of decision-making.

As officers evacuated children in other classrooms, they did not mark which rooms theyd cleared, leading to multiple attempts to clear rooms that had already been evacuated. It took 43 minutes to empty all the other classrooms  an effort that was protracted and should not have caused such significant delay in the eventual entry into rooms 111/112, the report states.

On-scene officers also waited for outside help. Active-shooter training instructs law enforcement to stop the killing with whatever weapons they have, but the first responders at Robb waited for other law enforcement officers with specialized equipment and training to arrive.

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Law enforcement also tried to determine whether a sniper and drone would have a view into the classroom, which added 10 minutes to the response time, according to the report.

Leaders providing direction in an active shooter incident must balance the urgency to stop the shooter with capabilities and approaches that may be time-consuming, the report states.

The sniper assessment should have been completed as soon as the shooters location was known  and it could have been done in the first 10 minutes after officers arrived, according to the review.

Officials contaminated the crime scene and didnt preserve evidence

Law enforcement officers did not follow proper protocol to preserve evidence and the crime scenes after the shooter was killed. They did not document who was passing through a total of six crime scenes related to the massacre.

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Body-worn camera video captures officers walking into the crime scene without an investigative purpose or responsibility in the immediate aftermath of the incident, the report states. Furthermore, in the days that followed, crime scene preservation was compromised, and the crime scene team had to continually stop and start their important work when non-investigatory personnel entered the hallway and classrooms 111/112 for the purpose of viewing the scene.

In another instance, law enforcement failed to preserve the scene in and around the shooters truck, which hed crashed into a ditch before storming into the school. The FBI suggested moving the truck to a secure location, or covering it with a tarp, because rain was coming. But these offers were rebuffed by leaders of the Texas Department of Public Safety, according to the report.

Leaders must respect the integrity of the crime scene and only access it with a declared and documented legitimate purpose, the report states. Crime scenes need to be held without contamination.

U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland delivers remarks about the Department of Justices report on the Robb Elementary shooting during a press conference at Herby Ham Activity Center on Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024, in Uvalde, Texas. The DOJ stressed that the report is a critical incident review of the response to the May 24, 2022, mass shooting, not a criminal investigation. Sam Owens/San Antonio Express-News

Chaotic public communication in days after shooting

Local and state officials repeatedly gave out inaccurate and conflicting information in the hours and days following the shooting, worsening the pain and suffering of victims families and eroding public trust.

For example, the school police posted their first public update 33 minutes after the shooter entered Robb. The message falsely stated that students and staff were safe, and it was never corrected. Family members also had difficulty getting answers on where exactly their children were and what the reunification process was on the day of the shooting.

ONE YEAR LATER: Remembering the 21 school shooting victims

The confusion only grew as the days went on. Local officials, the Texas Department of Public Safety and even Gov. Greg Abbott repeatedly provided conflicting information in official communications and news conferences.

Law enforcement agencies that responded to the school were unresponsive to the concerns of community members and media, and they did not explain how the false information was released. In the months that followed, family members received few answers, and journalists revealed much of what is known about the shooting today.

The extent of misinformation, misguided and misleading narratives, leaks and lack of communication about what happened on May 24 is unprecedented and has had an extensive, negative impact on the mental health and recovery of the family members and other victims, as well as the entire community of Uvalde, the report states.

Children didnt get the care they needed

The law enforcement response to the shooting was chaotic, but so were the events that followed  and kids didnt get the medical care they required.

First responders did not have a plan to triage injured children and teachers after law enforcement breached the classroom, federal officials said. Survivors were given little direction about what to do after they left the school, and children and staff were not fully evaluated medically before they were transported to the reunification site, the report found.

Injured victims had delayed medical care and were at risk of further injury, the report states.
United Launch Alliance (ULA) launched its very first Vulcan rocket early Monday morning January 8, carrying a US payload intended to land on the Moon for the first time in over 50 years.

Aboard the Vulcan's maiden flight was Astrobotic Technology's Peregrine lunar lander, which is scheduled to make a landing attempt on February 23.

"So, so, so excited," Astrobotic CEO John Thornton "We are on our way to the moon!"

The Pittsburgh-based company aimed to be the first private business to successfully land on the moon, which is something only four state-funded space agencies have accomplished.

A second private space company, Houston-based Intuitive Machines, also intended to land its own Nova-C lander on the Moon in mid-February, launching aboard SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket. It would intend to intercept the Peregrine as it would take a direct route to the Moon.

Read Also: SpaceX Launches Falcon 9 Rocket Carrying Swedish Internet Satellite Into Orbit, Marking First of 2024

Private Space Race

NASA gave funding to both Astrobotic and Intuitive Machines to build and fly their own landers as probes before astronauts set foot on the moon once again since Apollo 17 in 1972.

The US space agency gave a $108 million grant to Astrobotic as part of its Artemis program, the Associated Press reported.

Meanwhile, the Vulcan is the newest ULA rocket that would consolidate and succeed its Atlas and Delta rockets. The flight was possible after the delivery of the long-delayed Blue Origin BE-4 engines.

This new race to the Moon has had mixed results in the past few years - failures for Russia, Japan, and Israel and successful landings for China and India.

Also aboard the Astrobotic's lander are several items from Earth - from a chip of rock from Mount Everest to toy-size cars from Mexico to the ashes and DNA of several space enthusiasts such as Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry and science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke.

Related Article: Two Companies To Help US Achieve First Moon Landings Since Apollo Missions
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has decided to postpone its plans to bring humans to the moon after experiencing delays in its enormously ambitious Artemis program.

The Artemis Missions

The United States space agency announced that the 10-day Artemis II mission, which was scheduled for November launch this year to test life support systems by sending a crew around the moon and back, would now be delayed until September 2025.

There is also a one-year delay for the Artemis III mission, originally set to deploy four astronauts near the lunar south pole next year, bringing the mission's completion date to September 2026 instead.

Meanwhile, the launch of the Artemis IV mission to the Gateway lunar space station is still set for September 2028.

In a report by The Guardian, NASA said that the program's development teams will be able to work through the delays by collaborating with commercial businesses like Lockheed Martin and Elon Musk's SpaceX.

Bill Nelson, administrator of NASA, said, "We are returning to the moon in a way we never have before, and the safety of our astronauts is Nasa's top priority as we prepare for future Artemis missions."

The US government is planning to build a space station that will circle the moon and a lunar base camp in an effort to create a permanent human presence outside of Earth's orbit. Although sending humans to Mars is the long-term goal, the mission has chosen to revisit the moon to gain more understanding of space before attempting the months-long journey to the red planet.

The first mission of the program, Artemis I, was a success in 2022. NASA sent an unmanned Orion capsule constructed by Lockheed on a 25-day, 1.3 million-mile journey to the moon and back using the powerful Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, which it blasted from Florida. It was crucial to inform NASA about the broken heat shield and other issues that required repair.

See Also: United Launch Alliance's Vulcan Lifts Off for Maiden Flight

For the Benefit of Industry Partners

According to Amit Kshatriya, chief of NASA's moon and Mars exploration strategy, the new timetable recognizes the genuine development hurdles faced by their industry partners, as reported by The Guardian.

Axiom Space, a private company responsible for developing the spacesuits, will have more time to refine its technology due to the postponement of future flights.

Meanwhile, for SpaceX, its mission is to design and build a lunar lander that can reach the moon's surface unmanned, make contact with humans in orbit, and then return them to Earth. Still, in its early stages of testing, the company's Starship system is the biggest and most powerful rocket ever built. While government space organizations try to limit risk-taking, SpaceX claims that failure is an integral part of their development process and has successfully launched two missions but exploded at altitude.

See Also: 'Critical' Fuel Loss Forces Astrobotic Technology To Abandon Peregrine Moon Landing Mission
China to host Western Pacific Naval Symposium in April

Xinhua) 10:00, January 19, 2024

NANJING, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- The 19th biennial meeting of the Western Pacific Naval Symposium (WPNS) will be held in the Chinese port city of Qingdao in April, according to a meeting of the WPNS working group that ended on Thursday.

During the three-day working group meeting held in Nanjing, capital of east China's Jiangsu Province, delegates engaged in discussions and exchanges on 10 topics, including the revision of the WPNS Business Charter, the application of the Code for Unplanned Encounters at Sea, and the symposium's future activities. Wide consensus has been built concerning multiple issues.

The outcomes of this meeting will be submitted to the upcoming WPNS biennial meeting for review and voting, said the working group.

Ren Xiaofeng, a senior officer with the Naval Research Academy and Chinese delegate to the working group meeting, expressed the hope that the meeting will help WPNS member countries promote and deepen exchanges, further manage disputes and eliminate risks.

(Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Liang Jun)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has sought support for a "high-level peace conference," engaging Switzerland as a potential host.

Despite the United States' substantial $113 billion spending to fortify Ukraine's military capabilities, concerns have arisen over the war's duration, leading to discussions within Congress about future financial allocations.

Biden Warns of Russian Victory's Global Impact

President Joe Biden, wary of a potential Russian victory over Ukraine, has highlighted the repercussions, warning that such an outcome could embolden Moscow to threaten NATO allies, potentially involving US troops in the conflict.

The dynamics of the war have become central to the Republican presidential contest, with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis questioning the sustainability of extensive financial commitments and advocating a shift in focus toward domestic concerns, particularly the perceived threat posed by China.

As the conflict enters its third year, the debate over continued financial support for Ukraine intensifies. DeSantis, echoing concerns about the US being $35 trillion in debt, has questioned the feasibility of allocating additional funds, emphasizing the need to prioritize domestic issues.

In response, Nikki Haley, America's former UN ambassador, argued that supporting Ukraine constituted only a small fraction of the defense budget and emphasized the importance of preventing war, highlighting the interconnected global landscape where a victory for Russia could benefit China.

Debates on whether this funding should be tied to security measures for the United States' southern border have primarily obstructed Ukraine's attempt to unlock an additional $61 billion in Congress. The intricacies of this funding dispute have drawn attention to the broader question of America's role in supporting Ukraine and the potential implications for global geopolitics, according to Inquirer.

Read Also: Nicaragua Releases 2 Bishops, 18 Priests From Prison Following Negotiations With Vatican

Zelensky Initiates Global Peace Summit

In a diplomatic move, Zelensky has turned to Switzerland to organize a 'global peace summit,' an initiative aimed at bringing leaders together to address the conflict's resolution. This move, however, excludes Russia from participation, signaling the complex diplomatic challenges surrounding the peace process.

As preparations for the summit begin, details about its timing and format remain undisclosed. Zelensky emphasized the summit's intention to energize previous achievements, advocating for a just conclusion to the war and a restoration of international law. Talks of the summit coincide with Ukraine's military claim of shooting down key Russian aircraft, a development that could impact the diplomatic landscape.

Switzerland has agreed to host the peace summit, aligning with its long-standing stance of military neutrality while imposing economic sanctions on Russia, mirroring the European Union's measures. The decision to organize a peace summit follows extensive discussions in Davos among national envoys regarding Zelensky's 10-point peace formula, indicating a broader international interest in finding common ground on Ukraine's peace strategy.

While Zelensky remains open to inviting countries respecting Ukraine's sovereignty, the exclusion of Russia underscores the complexities of diplomatic negotiations. As the fate of frozen Russian financial assets globally becomes a pressing issue, Zelensky emphasizes the necessity of using these assets to counter Russian aggression.

The unfolding developments indicate a delicate balance between military support, diplomatic initiatives, and financial considerations as the world watches the evolution of the conflict and the quest for a peaceful resolution in Ukraine, Barron reported.

Related Article: Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Claims Responsibility for Attack Near US Consulate in Iraq
Following the horrific killings of two women in Kenya, human rights organizations have demanded that the government immediately launch investigations into and prosecutions of femicide incidents in the country.

"This is a national crisis - we are not doing enough as a country to protect women," Audrey Mugeni told The Guardian. Mugeni is the co-founder of Femicide Count Kenya, a nongovernmental organization that tracks the annual killing of women in the country.

Female-Related Abuse, Deaths

The number of murders of women in Kenya hit 152 last year, the most in the previous five years, according to Femicide Count Kenya. The real number of homicides is likely to be far higher, as per representatives from the organization that observes reported incidents exclusively.

So far this year, there have been four confirmed occurrences of femicide. Two were brought to light by the media. One of them was the January 4 stabbing death of 26-year-old Starlet Wahu by a guy who is believed to be associated with a criminal ring whose members brutally extort and rape women they find on dating websites. There is an ongoing investigation, and a man is now in police custody.

Another lady, 24, was drugged and dismembered by a guy she had met in a leased apartment only two weeks after Wahu's corpse was found. Plastic bags were used to dispose of her body parts.

A countrywide poll conducted in 2022 found that more than one in three Kenyan women had encounters with physical abuse at some point in their lives. According to rights organizations, despite the existence of robust legislation and policies aimed at combating gender-based violence, their execution is severely lacking.

Mugeni emphasized the need to listen to women who report being victims of abuse. "Femicides don't just happen - there's usually a series of events that happens before it ends in [a killing] - so we need to pay more attention to that."

Incidents of women being murdered by stabbing, beating, mutilation, strangulation, and dousing in gasoline and set on fire have been documented since the 2019 establishment of Femicide Count Kenya. The majority of the casualties belonged to the 21-30 age group.

See Also: Pope Francis Condemns Violence Against Women in New Year's Day Homily

Victim Blaming

With the hashtags #StopKillingWomen and #EndFemicideKe, people are demanding a stop to gender-based violence in response to recent killings. On the other hand, there was a lot of finger-pointing at the victims, discussions about how safe the short-term rentals were where the women died, and recommendations that women should be more vigilant in protecting themselves, which is something that women's organizations think normalizes femicide.

"These notions dangerously suggest that women deserve harm for not exerting sufficient effort to ensure their safety," the Feminists in Kenya, a women's organization, wrote on social media.

See Also: Spain to Host Crisis Conference Amid Gender-Based Killings, Sexism Outcry
An airplane passenger suddenly bit a flight attendant, forcing All Nippon Airways to conduct an emergency landing in a Tokyo airport.

Just imagine seeing another traveler attacking and biting a flight attendant for no reason. This will definitely haunt other passengers, especially those who are sitting next to the suspect.

The incident is even more traumatizing for the flight attendant who was bitten by the airplane passenger. But, why did the man suddenly do this? Here's what authorities said.

Airplane Passenger Bites Flight Attendant

The traumatizing incident in the U.S.-bound flight of All Nippon Airways happened on Thursday, Jan. 18. A spokesperson of the Japanese airline explained what happened.

The official said the ANA flight was supposed to land in the United States from a Tokyo airport. However, while the passenger airplane was flying over the Pacific Ocean, a passenger suddenly bit the arm of a female cabin attendant.

Because of this, ANA had to conduct an emergency landing in Tokyo.

"While flying over the Pacific Ocean, a passenger who was heavily intoxicated bit the arm of a female cabin attendant prompting the plane to return to Tokyo Haneda airport," said the ANA spokesman via NBC News.

According to BBC News, the 55-year-old American passenger, who wasn't named, was heavily drunk when he attacked the flight attendant for no reason.

The suspect told the police that he couldn't remember anything that happened after taking a sleeping pill. Since the ANA cabin crew was injured slightly, the man was handed over to the police after landing at the Haneda Airport in Tokyo.

The biting incident involving an ANA flight attendant and an American passenger is the latest issue that the Japanese airline has to face.

Read Also: United Airlines Window Passenger First Boarding Policy Criticized-Here's What Travelers Say

ANA's Recent Cracked Window Incident

Before the American passenger bit ANA's flight attendant, another incident happened, which affected the Japanese airline's reputation.

This is specifically the crack, which appeared in the outermost of the four layers of an ANA airplane's window that surrounds the cockpit.

"The crack was not something that affected the flight's control or pressurization," said ANA's spokesman.

The All Nippon Airways is not the only one facing numerous issues. On Jan. 2, the Japanese Airlines also made huge headlines after one of its airplanes collided with a smaller coastguard plane.

All of the passengers onboard the JL airplane escaped before bursting into flames. Unfortunately, most of the coastguard aircraft's passengers died; five of the six passengers didn't survive.

Related Article: Malaysia Airlines Passenger Arrested After Flight Forced to Return to Sydney Due to 'Emergency Incident'
Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley was in New Hampshire on Wednesday to make her case for the White House in an attempt to close the gap between herself and frontrunner Donald J. Trump.

The former UN ambassador and South Carolina governor has emerged as the only GOP candidate who has a shadow of a chance to beat Donald J. Trump.

In the past few weeks, Haley has polled higher than other GOP challengers to Trump, which has resulted in an uptick in donations. However, Haley did lose to Ron DeSantis in Iowa on Monday. This disappointing showing has galvanized the Haley campaign to separate itself from DeSantis once and for all in New Hampshire.

"If Haley has a good showing in New Hampshire, it's going to shift the momentum, energy, and excitement behind her campaign going into South Carolina," said Haley backer and former Maryland governor Larry Hogan.

No candidate has lost a race in which they claimed the first two states, and Trump is keen to put away his challengers once and for all in New Hampshire."We can't have a country in disarray, a world on fire, and go to four more years of chaos.

We won't survive it."You don't defeat Democratic chaos with Republican chaos," she said, hitting out at both Trump and President Joe Biden in one fell swoop. The relatively large number of Independents who are allowed to vote in the primary in New Hampshire could pose a threat to Trump.

Nikki Haley's polling numbers have closed the gap with Trump from 35 points to 14 points.DeSantis is considered to be a distant third in New Hampshire.

What About The Debates?

Haley has stated that she will no longer engage in debates unless against Donald J. Trump, thus furthering the belief that Ron DeSantis is an irrelevant candidate.

It was previously reported by HNGN that the planned televised Republican presidential debates in New Hampshire have hit a roadblock as the three leading candidates-Donald Trump, Nikki Haley, and Ron DeSantis-declined to engage in the aftermath of the Iowa Caucus. ABC News called off the debate after Nikki Haley insisted on participating only if either Trump or President Joe Biden were present. According to Politico, the former president has consistently skipped GOP primary debates, expressing willingness only if the race was "very close" post the New Hampshire primary. The absence of the top contenders adds a layer of uncertainty to the unfolding GOP nomination dynamics.
Coinbase, an American crypto trading company, is trying to dismiss the lawsuit found by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

In June 2022, the SEC sued the cryptocurrency exchange platform; claiming that Coinbase violated securities laws. The anti-market manipulation agency argued that the crypto trading firm did this by operating an unregistered broker, exchange, and clearing platform.

On Wednesday, Jan. 17, a lawsuit hearing was conducted in a New York federal court. The hearing lasted for almost five hours, allowing SEC and Coinbase to share their arguments.

In its defense, the American crypto trading company said that buying cryptocurrencies is just like purchasing Beanie Bunnies.

Coinbase Claims Crypto Buying is Like Purchasing Beanie Babies

Coinbase claimed that purchasing digital coins on an exchange platform is kist like collecting Beanie Babies; stuffed toys with plastic pellets inside.

William Savitt, Coinbase's lawyer, explained to U.S. District Judge Katherine Polk Failla that trading cryptos should not be subject to SEC jurisdiction since traders/buyers don't gain rights as part of their purchases.

He added that token trading is very different from trading bonds and stocks. Savitt further stated that his argument is like the difference between purchasing Beanie Babies stuffed toys and buying shares of Beanie Babies Inc., as reported by Yahoo Finance.

As of writing, the plan of the SEC to put cryptocurrencies and other digital assets under its jurisdiction is a complicated topic since the question of whether cryptos are securities has divided courts.

This is noticeable in the recent cases involving Ripple Labs XRP and Terraform Labs Pte. In the case of Ripple Labs XRP, the Manhattan federal judge ruled that the token should not be subjected to SEC jurisdiction.

However, Terraform Labs Pte. experienced the opposite after regulators involved in its case concluded that the blockchain payment platform was subject to the SEC's jurisdiction.

Read Also: South Korea Urges To Ban Crypto Sales Using Credit Cards; Here's Why!

What SEC Argues Against Coinbase

According to Coin Telegraph's latest report, the SEC claims that Coinbase is trying to create a different version of the Howey Test; the U.S. Supreme Court case that determines if transaction should be considered as an investment contract.

The American watchdog said that Coinbase is doing this while allowing crypto trades to happen, offering holders access to ecosystems that it claims to be a common enterprise.

The SEC further stated that this leads to differing interpretations regarding the status of certain digital coins. It added that the discrepancy over the cryptocurrencies regarding the Howey Test is sufficient grounds to allow the lawsuit to proceed.

Related Article: Biden Admin Urged to Crack Down on Hamas Crypto Usage; Hundreds of US Lawmakers Express Grave Concern
A US Justice Department report released on Thursday (January 18) found the police officers responding to the deadly school shooting in Uvalde, Texas in 2022 "demonstrated no urgency" in setting up a command post and failed to treat the killings as an active shooter situation, which was considered one of the deadliest massacres at a school in American history.

The 600-page report on the Robb Elementary School shooting identified a vast array of "cascading failures" that federal officials say contributed to the crisis lasting far longer than it should have, even as terrified students inside classrooms called 911 and agonized parents begged officers to go in.

"The victims and survivors of the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School deserved better," US Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement. "The law enforcement response at Robb Elementary on May 24, 2022 - and the response by officials in the hours and days after - was a failure. As a consequence of failed leadership, training, and policies, 33 students and three of their teachers - many of whom had been shot - were trapped in a room with an active shooter for over an hour as law enforcement officials remained outside."

Read Also: Iowa School Shooting: Principal Dies a Hero for Protecting Students During Incident

Uvalde Police as Laughing Stock of Law Enforcement

According to the Associated Press, the Justice Department report galvanized the public's understanding of how police in Uvalde failed to stop an attack that killed 19 children and two school staff members.

In the months since the beginning of the Justice Department's review on the incident, footage showing police waiting in a hallway outside the classrooms where the gunman opened fire has become the target of national ridicule.

Uvalde is still reeling from the shooting almost two years on, with some still struggling with the trauma left by the deaths of the victims. The community also remains divided on questions of accountability for what the officers did and have not done.

One of the glaring failures of law enforcement officers on that day was their failure to "prioritize saving innocent lives over their own safety," such as the officers heading for cover when the shooter fired from inside the classroom.

"An active shooter with access to victims should never be considered and treated as a barricaded subject," the report added, with the word "never" emphasized in italics.

Garland went to Uvalde on Wednesday (January 17) ahead of the release of the report, visiting the murals of the victims that have been painted around the town center. The Justice Department also briefed family members of its report before publicizing it the next day.

Related Article: Uvalde Suspends Entire School Police Force Following Fallout From Mass Shooting
According to the Associated Press, an airstrike in southern Syria that killed at least nine people may have been undertaken by the Royal Jordanian Air Force.



Syrian opposition activists say the area that was struck is a hotbed for cross-border drug smugglers. The strike reportedly took place in the province of Sweida, but there has been no official confirmation as of yet.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which is based in Britain, confirmed that nine people were killed, including two children and at least three women, in the village of Orman.

Rami Abdurrahman, the head of the war monitoring organization Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, told the AP that the individuals killed in the air strike had nothing to do with drug smuggling and suggested that the Jordanians may have had bad intel from local residents.

The area has had increased drug smuggling traffic in recent years as they look to move Captagon, a type of amphetamine, out of Syria into more lucrative markets throughout the Arab Gulf states. Smugglers have become sophisticated enough to use drones in their attempts.

Hundreds of millions of pills have reportedly been smuggled out of the country over the years. The drug is used recreationally and for people who have physically demanding jobs. The effects simulate a feeling of alertness.

This is but the most recent of several airstrikes that have been attributed to the Royal Jordanian Air Force. An alleged drug factory in southern Syria near the border with Jordan was attacked in August and another airstrike occurred in the village of Sweida, which killed a Syrian drug lord and his family.

What About Hamas?

Last year HNGN reported that Hamas fighters who participated in the assault on southern Israel were found to have Captagon in their pockets. The drug effects include euphoria, reduced sleep requirements, hunger suppression and persistent energy. Fenethylline, caffeine, and other fillers are said to be in the drug, which has been called the Poor Man's Cocaine.

Jordan has so far not claimed responsibility for any of the recent strikes. However, this is par for the course for the country as they didn't claim responsibility for any of the prior drug-related airstrikes either.

HNGN will update these stories as additional details are made available.
A Chicago man decided to make sheltering immigrants his life mission. Chris Amatore is welcoming asylum seekers into his building in Chicago, Illinois.

Chris is just among the Americans who want to help immigrants as they seek a better life in the U.S. As of writing, U.S. citizens are divided when it comes to accepting migrants.

Some of them are against asylum seekers since they believe these people can negatively affect their daily lives. But, others said that migrants need all the help they can get.

While others debated, Chris Amatore decided to take action. But, how can he have the budget to help Venezuelan immigrants in Chicago?

Chicago Man Makes Sheltering Immigrants His Life Mission

Chris Amatore is the chief executive officer of Manage Chicago; a diversified property management organization, that offers high passive income for real estate investors.

According to CBS News' latest report, Chris Amatore is able to welcome asylum seekers because of a lucrative investment in cryptocurrency, which provides the needed funding for the mission.

Amatore owns a South Shore neighborhood building that has eight units, as well as 60 beds. His kindness allows around 60 asylum seekers to have a shelter.

"I worship God. I don't worship money. So I decided to put that money to do something good with it," said Chris.

"I need to work for my companions. There's 60 Venezuelans here," he added.

He shared how he saw asylum seekers who were eating out of garbage cans and were unable to take showers. Because of this, Chris Amatore realized that he needed to start helping these people.

"I mean, I've had a lot of success in my life, and I'm very grateful to God for that, and I don't know what it is," explained the Chicago resident.

Chris shared how something in him suddenly snapped. When he started helping asylum seekers, the Manage Chicago CEO said that it began feeling like he was on the right plan; following God's plan.

Read Also: NYC: Eric Adams To Expand Migrant Busing Crackdown; Trains, Airplanes Could Soon Be Included

Who is Chris Amatore?

Chris Amatore is the president and founder of Manage Chicago, as stated on the property investment organization's official website.

Chris graduated from Marquette University-a Catholic, Jesuit research university in Milwaukee, Wisconsin-with a Bachelor's degree in Business.

Amatore had been passionate about Real Estate. With his efforts and dedication, he was able to acquire his Managing Brokers License in Real Estate.

Thanks to his skills, the Chicago man purchased and rehabbed more than 600 properties, allowing him to obtain double-digit returns for his investors, as well as himself.

Aside from this, he is also working with local churches to help other people have job opportunities. Now, he is also making a difference by welcoming migrants into his home.

Related Article: OPINION: Texas Airbnb Welcomes Migrants, Thanks To Good Samaritan-Here's How You Can Help
Falsifying vaccination records for almost 1,500 school-aged children in New York state resulted in a $300,000 penalty for a midwife from Nassau County.

A press statement from the New York State Department of Health said on Wednesday, January 17, that the vaccination scheme started at the beginning of the 2019-2020 school year. That was three months after the suspension of non-medical exemptions for mandatory school vaccines was lifted in June 2019.

High-Risk Vaccine Scheme

A health department report said that Jeannette Breen, a certified midwife who ran Baldwin Midwifery, gave children homeopathic oral pellets instead of the necessary immunizations. Breen also fabricated the children's vaccination records.

Apparently, the pellets have not been given the green light by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) , or the Department of Health in the United States, as reported by CNN, citing the news release.

According to authorities, Breen used the pellets in place of needles to vaccinate children against illnesses such as diphtheria, hepatitis B, measles, mumps, polio, and rubella.

In the statement, it said: "Breen was found to have administered 12,449 fake immunizations to roughly 1,500 school-aged patients as pretext for submitting false information to the New York State Immunization Information System (NYSIIS)."

A large number of children's vaccination cards were nullified as a consequence of the scam, which affected youngsters throughout the state, mostly from Long Island. "All affected children must be fully up to date with all age-appropriate immunizations, or be in the process of receiving their missing vaccinations, before they can return to school."

Also Read: Counterfeit Ozempic Medication Confiscated by FDA Amid Skyrocketing Demand

Hefty Penalty

As part of the agreed-upon $300,000 penalty, Breen forked out $150,000. Vaccinations given by Breen will not be recorded by the New York State Immunization Information System, and she will be permanently barred from using the system as per the agreement.

Breen may have the rest of the fee waived if she follows a few rules, such as not giving vaccines and not being involved in any plot to falsify vaccination records.

However, Breen's license might be subject to charges of professional misconduct brought by the New York State Education Department, which is responsible for issuing midwife licenses.

State Education Commissioner Betty Rosa said in a statement that Breen, despite being a certified healthcare provider, put the school communities at risk and betrayed public confidence by knowingly manipulating children's vaccination records.

Dr. James McDonald, the state's health commissioner, added a comment saying that faking or misrepresenting vaccination records endangers people's lives.

Also Read: Virginia: Alerts Issued to Passengers at Dulles, Reagan Airports About Possible Measles Exposure
After Wednesday's (January 17) surprise double health announcement from the House of Windsor, Prince William was spotted visiting his wife Catherine at the London Clinic after undergoing what Kensington Palace called a scheduled abdominal surgery this week.

The BBC reported that the Prince of Wales drove his way to the hospital on Thursday (January 18) to briefly check on his wife before leaving to pick up their three children in primary school.

It was earlier reported that the Princess of Wales would remain in hospital for about two weeks before spending the remainder of her two-month recovery period in Windsor Castle.

Catherine was scheduled to return to royal duties after Easter, while William has postponed his public engagements to look after his wife and children.

Read Also: UK: Princess of Wales to be Hospitalized for 2 Weeks After Abdominal Surgery

Camilla about Charles's Health: 'He's Fine'

Meanwhile, Queen Camilla was in Scotland on Thursday to visit the Aberdeen Art Gallery alone. Upon arrival, the Lord Provost of Aberdeen asked the queen about the health of her husband, King Charles III.

"He's fine, thank you very much," she replied, adding that he was "looking forward to getting back to work" after a procedure sorting out the king's enlarged prostate.

Both Charles and Catherine were last seen publicly during the royal family's Christmas Day prayer service at the family's Sandringham estate.

Many royal observers noticed the unprecedented openness of the Windsors to inform the public the state of their health. In particular, pundits with knowledge of the British royal family were saying that - particularly for the king - "the Firm," as the British royal family was also called, wanted to raise public awareness about prostate problems, as well as to remove any reluctance to talk about it and to encourage more men to get their own checks

Related Article: Buckingham Palace: King Charles to be Hospitalized Next Week-Here's Why
3 Indian border guards wounded in mob attack in India's Manipur

Xinhua) 10:12, January 19, 2024

NEW DELHI, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- At least three Indian border guards belonging to the Border Security Force (BSF) were wounded after gunmen fired upon them in India's northeastern state of Manipur, police said Thursday.

The incident occurred late Wednesday night in Thoubal town, 24 km south of Imphal, the capital city of Manipur.

According to police, the gunmen fired upon the BSF personnel from within the mob while attempting to storm the police headquarters in Thoubal.

Local authorities have imposed a curfew in Thoubal.

On Wednesday, two policemen were killed and six others wounded in a militant attack in the border town of Moreh in Tengnoupal district, about 110 km southeast of Imphal.

The militants threw bombs and used heavy artillery to target government forces in the town. The heavy militant attack prompted the local government of Manipur to request helicopters from the federal home ministry.

Manipur has been on edge since May 3 last year when large-scale violence broke out in the state during a tribal protest over the inclusion of the non-tribal Meiteis community for a scheduled tribe status -- designated for disadvantaged socio-economic groups which gives them reservations in education and government jobs.

(Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Liang Jun)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has long sought to block the establishment of a Palestinian state throughout his political career, despite occasional lukewarm support for the notion.

In a nationally broadcast news conference on Thursday, Netanyahu pledged to continue the offensive until Israel attains a "decisive victory over Hamas." He also conveyed his rejection of a Palestinian state to the U.S. The firm stance against U.S. foreign policy comes at a time when the Biden administration has invested significant domestic political capital to support Israel, both militarily and in international arenas.

In an article published by The Guardian, the White House responded by saying the U.S. would continue working towards a two-state solution and said bluntly that there could be no Israeli reoccupation of Gaza when the war concluded.

"There will a post-conflict Gaza, no reoccupation of Gaza," the White House national security adviser, John Kirby, told reporters onboard Air Force One, after Netanyahu's speech.

Israel's assault, one of the deadliest and most destructive military campaigns in recent history, has killed nearly 25,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities, caused widespread destruction, and uprooted over 80% of the territory's 2.3 million people from their homes, reported The Associated Press.

Global Calls to Halt War

The staggering cost of the war has led to increasing calls from the international community to halt the offensive. After initially giving Israel wall-to-wall support in the early days of the war, the United States, Israel's closest ally, has begun to express misgivings and urged Netanyahu to spell out his vision for postwar Gaza.

The United States has said the internationally recognized Palestinian Authority, which governs semi-autonomous zones in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, should be "revitalized" and return to Gaza. Hamas ousted the authority from Gaza in 2007.

Speaking Wednesday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Blinken said the two-state solution was the best way to protect Israel, unify moderate Arab countries, and isolate Israel's arch-enemy, Iran, the AP further revealed.

Without a "pathway to a Palestinian state," he said, Israel would not "get genuine security."

Netanyahu, who leads what has been characterized as a far-right government that is opposed to Palestinian statehood, repeated his longstanding opposition to a two-state solution. He said a Palestinian state would become a launching pad for attacks on Israel.
Hezbollah, supported by Iran, has rejected Washington's initial proposals to ease escalating hostilities with Israel, including suggestions to withdraw its fighters from the border. However, Lebanese officials affirm the group's willingness to engage in U.S. diplomacy to avert a potentially devastating conflict.

In an article Thursday, Reuters reported that the Iranian-backed group Hezbollah has spurned the United States proposal that was meant to calm down the group's retaliation against their neighbors in Israel. The proposal allegedly suggested that the group pull away from its current position at the border. Hezbollah has stated that they are still open to diplomacy to prevent an escalation of the conflict despite them spurring the initial proposal. United States Envoy, Amos Hochstein, has been leading the outreach to the group. The group has not been a direct part of this communication however and instead, Hochstein's proposals have been relayed to the group by Lebanese mediators.

Hezbollah's Statement

Hezbollah has stated that they will continue to fire rockets at neighboring Israel until the conflict within Gaza has ended. Israel has also stated that it'd like to avoid an escalation of this conflict as well but has stated that it's prepared to fight and if an agreement to the border area is safe it will respond more aggressively. There has been another proposal made that asks the group to keep its militants at least 7 km/4 miles away from the border. At this range according to an Israeli official anti-tank missiles would not pose a threat to communities within the Northern region of Israel. This is still much closer than their initial public demand of 30 km/19 miles away.

However, Hezbollah has spurned both proposals and has referred to them as unrealistic. But as previously stated the group remains open to negotiations in a statement to Reuters a senior Hezbollah official stated "After the war in Gaza, we are ready to support Lebanese negotiators to turn the threat into opportunity".

Iran supports not only Hezbollah but also the Houthi Rebel group, causing disruptions in Red Sea trade routes. This solidarity with the Israel-Hamas conflict is creating a significant ripple effect, involving more countries both within and outside the Middle East.
The Associated Press reports that on Thursday the United States Senate voted to extend current federal spending to keep the government open, providing a short-term stopgap to the House that would avoid a government shutdown and push the creation of an actual budget package to March.

The stopgap measure passed the Senate 77-18. It comes after a bipartisan spending deal between Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La) was agreed upon this month, and an agreement to extend current spending so that both chambers have sufficient time to pass the spending bills.

These measures will run through March 1 for many federal agencies whose funding approval was set to run out on Friday. The budgets for the remaining government operations will extend a week long to March 8. Johnson was facing pressure from the right to kill the budget agreement with Schumer.

What Happens Next?

The bill to keep the government running will need support from the left to pass the Republican-majority House. Johnson has asserted that he will stick with the plan as Republican moderates have urged him not to give in. This is the third time Congress has extended a current budget, and House Republicans have disagreed over budget levels. Some have demanded even larger cuts.

Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Ca) pushed aside for striking an agreement with Democrats to extend the current budget back in October. Johnson seems to be struggling with how to appease members of his party and avoid a shutdown in an election year.

"We just needed a little more time on the calendar to do it and now that's where we are," Johnson said Tuesday about the decision to extend federal funding yet again. "We're not going to get everything we want."

Virginia Rep. Bob Good is one of eight Republicans who voted to oust McCarthy, has been urging Johnson to reconsider the deal with Schumer.

"If your opponent in negotiation knows that you fear the consequence of not reaching an agreement more than they fear the consequence of not reaching an agreement, you will lose every time," Good said this week.

The short-term fix comes amid talks on a separate spending package that would provide military support for Ukraine and Israel as well as strengthen security at the U.S.-Mexico border.

An Update

It was reported by the BBC that the House of Representatives swiftly approved a short-term funding measure, following the Senate's lead, despite prior political discord. With Democrats and Republicans initially at odds in budget talks, urgency heightened due to an impending Washington DC snowstorm and the looming deadline. The BBC went on to reveal that once endorsed by President Joe Biden, the $1.66 trillion legislation defers the government spending dispute to early March. The Senate passed the extension with a vote of 77 to 18, and the House followed suit with a vote of 314 to 108. Congressional leaders, defying demands for major spending cuts, reached consensus on the measure, devised by Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson, aiming to balance Democratic and hardliner interests.
According to three Iranian officials, an Iranian attack on Pakistan this week, met with a swift military response, and causing concerns about increased regional unrest, was motivated by Iran's focus on enhancing internal security rather than its aspirations in the Middle East.

According to a report from the Reuters, Iran struck Pakistan on Tuesday. This drew a rapid military counter which has raised fears about greater regional conflict. This was due in part because of Iran's effort to bolster its internal security thus placing its goals for the wider region on hold. Both of the well-armed territories have had their share of opposition in the past. However, in this regard, both parties want to place a lid on the strains that have been a result of high-profile border violations in recent years.

The Targets

The target of the Iranian strike was described as Sunni Muslim militants that are supposedly located in southwest Pakistan. Two days later Pakistan struck back with the targets being the Jaish al-Adl militant group. This was the first attack on Iranian territory since the Iranian- Iraq war which was almost four decades ago.

This quick head-butting has caused great concern about Middle Eastern stability as a result of the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict. This has led to several Iranian-backed military groups striking the United States and other countries' shipping routes in the Red Sea led by the Houthi rebels. Then there is also the military group Hezbollah firing missiles over the Northern Israel border. Both military groups have gone on record saying that these strikes are in solidarity with the conflict in the Gaza Strip. Hezbollah however has gone on record that it is open to negotiations despite the strikes. However, the recent strikes are far from the deadly territory that is Gaza. Both Iran and Pakistan have a history of striking Government targets through military groups with officials on both sides often pointing fingers at one another.

It is becoming more and more clear that as the conflict along the Gaza Strip continues stability within the Middle Eastern region is slowly coming apart. The Houthi rebel strikes within the Red Sea have led to several superpowers requesting actions from the United Nations to missile strikes from the Hezbollah military group both of which are backed by Iran. All of these actions have the potential to seemingly pull even more territories into the conflict.
As part of its $6 billion settlement, 3M has started sending payments to resolve almost 300,000 lawsuits alleging that the manufacturing company supplied faulty combat earplugs to the military that resulted in significant injuries, such as hearing loss. The company announced earlier this week that it has begun sending payments to service U.S. service members and veterans.

According to CNN Business, more than 30,000 have agreed to the lawsuit so far. However, it's unclear how much money each individual claimant will receive. A website has been set up for claimants for more information.

3M has reiterated that the settlement is "not an admission of liability" and that the payout will come over several years and encompass $5 billion in cash and $1 billion in stock.

"The products at issue in this litigation are safe and effective when used properly. 3M is prepared to continue to defend itself in the litigation if certain agreed terms of the settlement agreement are not fulfilled," the company said.

Aearo Technologies, a company 3M bought in 2008, designed the earplugs. Aearo tried filing for bankruptcy in 2022 to fund its liabilities and limit exposure. However, that move was dismissed by a judge last summer, who said that "allowing an otherwise financially healthy debtor with no impending solvency issues to remain in bankruptcy ... exceeds the boundaries of the court's limited jurisdiction."

The Associated Press revealed that Aearo Technologies made a $250 million payment to the qualified settlement fund on Dec. 26, expected to result in 25,000 to 30,000 claimants dismissing associated litigation. And on Monday, 3M said it was accelerating another payment of $253 million to settle "wave" cases by Jan. 31.

"All the remaining 'wave' plaintiffs, whose claims were being prepared for trial before the settlement agreement, have now agreed to participate in the settlement and release their claims," 3M said.

Aearo and 3M said they will "continue to work with all parties and the courts toward full implementation of the settlement agreement and will provide updates as additional milestones are reached."

Before this settlement, 3M agreed to pay $9.1 million in 2018 to settle a lawsuit on behalf of the government alleging the company knowingly supplied defective earplugs to the U.S. military. There was no determination of liability in the agreement.
Hunter Biden, the son of United States President Joe Biden, is scheduled to appear for deposition before GOP committees over Republicans' attempt to impeach the Democratic leader.

The closed-door deposition with the president's son will involve the House Oversight and Judiciary committees. The two committees said that it would come after several interviews with Biden family members and associates.

Hunter Biden Deposition

The announcement of the deposition was made by House Oversight and Accountability Committee Chair James Comer and House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan. The confirmed date for Hunter's deposition is seen as a crucial development for House GOP lawmakers.

It comes amid their attempts, for months, to get his testimony as part of their multi-pronged impeachment inquiry into his father. GOP lawmakers have been looking into Hunter's business activities and personal life, probing what they call "influence peddling" by him while his father was vice president under the Obama administration, as per The Hill.

The news of Hunter's deposition marks the culmination of several weeks of back-and-forth between the defendant's team and the GOP-led committees over securing testimony. Last week, the situation reached its peak when Republican lawmakers advanced a resolution to hold Hunter in contempt of Congress for dyeing a subpoena in December.

In November last year, the panels issued Hunter a subpoena, requesting that he sit for a closed-door deposition the month after. However, his team insisted that he participate in a public hearing rather than a private proceeding.

They argued that their request was born out of concern that the panels would selectively leak and misconstrue his testimony. Instead of accepting the invitation for a closed-door deposition, Hunter instead delivered a statement outside of the Capitol where he said, "My father was not financially involved in my business."

The situation comes after GOP lawmakers previously warned Hunter that they were planning to move forward with efforts to have the full House of Representatives vote on a resolution to hold the president's son in contempt of Congress, according to CNBC.

Read Also: Democrat Representative Jamie Raskin Demands Trump Return Monies Received From Foreign Goverments

Legal Controversy

Comer and Jordan issued a joint statement, warning Hunter that they would not tolerate any "additional stunts or delay" from the president's son. They added that the American people will not tolerate and the House will not provide special treatment for the Biden family.

This came after Hunter's team made an offer where they planned to accept appearing for a private deposition. If he was to be found in contempt of Congress, the Department of Justice would have been forced to consider whether or not to prosecute him for failing to comply with the prior subpoenas.

The entire controversy revolves around the GOP's belief that the president was involved in his son's dealings in countries such as China and Ukraine. Republican lawmakers have pointed to Biden's array of contacts with their associates, said the New York Post.

Despite Republicans' attempts, their inquiry has so far failed to show direct evidence showing that the president broke the law or committed any other wrongdoing. These allegations include benefiting financially from Hunter's actions.

Related Article: Judge Threatens Trump With Expulsion From Court
Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk posted an inappropriate image on X, formerly known as Twitter, amid his efforts to praise Argentine President Javier Milei following the latter's Davos speech.

The new populist president of the South American country went on stage at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Switzerland and called on business leaders to do more. Musk's Thursday post showed a naked couple having intercourse as the man was working on his laptop showing Milei during his speech.

Elon Musk Praises Javier Milei

Accompanying the image, Musk wrote in the caption, "So hot rn," which many see as trying to convey the idea that Milei's speech was stimulating to the point where it can act as an aphrodisiac.

When the Argentine president spoke at the WEF, he warned that the Western world is in danger and needs to embrace capitalism. At the time, he warned that the danger was because those who were supposed to defend the values of the West were co-opted by a vision of the world that inexorably leads to socialism, which he argued results in poverty, as per the New York Post.

The 53-year-old far-right official who is a self-described anarcho-capitalist was elected in November last year. He tore into the dangers of "collectivist experiments" that he called the root cause of the issues that are plaguing the majority of the world right now.

Milei argued that socialism is a phenomenon that only works to create poverty, adding that free enterprise capitalism is the only tool that can be used to end hunger and poverty. In response, Musk called the speech a "good explanation of what makes countries more or less prosperous."

The Argentine president, who has repeatedly drawn comparisons to former United States President Donald Trump, made his first international trip for the WEF. He was seen taking selfies with passengers aboard a commercial flight to Switzerland in an alleged attempt to burnish his credentials as an anti-establishment populist.

Read Also: World Economic Forum: Javier Milei Speaks in Davos, Urges Rejection of Socialism

Argentine President's Ideas

The situation comes as Musk had previously expressed his admiration of the Argentine president, who has undertaken a radical program of economic transformation while also working to clamp down on public protests, according to Business Insider.

Shortly after Milei was elected as Argentina's president, Musk praised him and said that Argentina was heading towards prosperity. The populist leader's speech in Davos, Switzerland, resonated with conservatives on social media platforms who expressed satisfaction at seeing a world leader slam leftist elites.

Political activist Collin Rugg posted a video and quote from Milei's speech, saying that the new Argentine president demolishes socialism. Another user, Frank Fleming, wrote, "Why can't we get a guy like this in America? This is supposed to be our thing."

There were also others who praised Milei following his WEF speech, including actor Robert Davi, who called him a great leader. Conservative commentator Paul Szypula compared the Argentine president to former U.S. President Trump.

He wrote that Milei drops truth bombs similar to how Trump did during the latter's presidency. Additionally, conservative journalist Ian Miles Cheong proclaimed that Milei "knocked it out of the park," adding that "Leftism does not work," said Fox News.

Related Article: Hezbollah Declines US Overtures, Keeps Door Open for Diplomacy to Prevent Wider Conflict
On Thursday, a senior White House official confirmed that the US called for China to discuss practical nuclear risk-reduction measures but does not expect nuclear arms-control negotiations anytime soon.

The senior White House official for arms control and non-proliferation, Pranay Vaddi, reiterated that it had been important to have initial arms-control talks in November with China.

US, China to Discuss Practical Nuclear Risk-Reduction Measures

Vaddi supported discussions on practical risk-reduction measures. However, he emphasized that they must involve influential Chinese decision-makers in their country's nuclear posture.

"We know that we are not going to leap into formal arms control negotiations anytime soon. We know that their arsenal is still being built up," Vaddi told the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

He added that they were eager to see China react to some of their substantive ideas on risk reduction regarding arms control. However, he said they were still waiting for a response. The US and China held their first talks on nuclear arms control in nearly five years on November 6 amid mounting US concerns over China's nuclear build-up, but the meeting reached no concrete agreements.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Joe Biden talked at a summit in December and announced a resumption of military-to-military dialogue. Vaddi said Washington wanted to maintain open lines of communication with China and make progress on arms control issues. He claimed they want to address some practical measures related to weapons control.

He said that such discussions could be bilateral or in the context of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council - the US, China, Russia, Britain, and France. Furthermore, he noted that they were not interested in just having meetings as they wanted to have an actual channel devoted to these issues and solve the problems that they had identified.

The US and China held two days of military talks in Washington last week, which was their latest engagement since agreeing to resume military-to-military ties. In October, the Pentagon stated that China possesses more than 500 operational nuclear warheads and is likely to have more than 1,000 warheads by 2030 in its yearly assessment of the country's armed forces.\ Approximately 1,419 of the 3,700 nuclear warheads that the US possesses in stock have been used as strategic weapons.

Read Also: Airstrike on Syrian Village Being Blamed on Jordanian Air Force Pursuit of Drug Smugglers

US, China Agree to Resume Military-to-Military Ties

Biden confirmed that the US and China have agreed to resume military-to-military communications to ease growing tensions. After meeting Xi Jinping in California, he said they were back to direct, open, and clear communications. However, there were still signs of tension between the two as Biden repeated his view that Xi is a dictator.

China's foreign ministry criticized Biden's remarks, but they still recognized their meeting as successful. Biden added that both leaders had agreed to establish a direct line of communication with one another.

At a news conference following the summit, held at a historic country estate close to San Francisco, Biden said poor communication was "how accidents happen." He added that both presidents could now "pick up the phone and be directly heard immediately."

Related Article: India, Russia Discuss Potential Joint Military Weapons Production




A 30-year-old Thai man is now facing a record-breaking 50-year prison sentence for allegedly making slanderous remarks about the monarchy in numerous social media posts. The appeals court recently extended his original conviction, resulting in additional jail time.

The record-breaking sentence comes after several years in which Thailand has ramped up the use of the legislation against pro-democracy protesters in what critics claim is a move to silence dissent.

Thirakot Jailed for 50 Years

An online clothing vendor named Mongkol "Busbas" Thirakot, from the northern province of Chiang Rai, has been handed a 50-year prison sentence by an appeal court in the same region. This verdict comes as a result of certain posts made by Thirakot on his personal Facebook account.

A lower criminal court had initially sentenced him to 28 years, but he was found guilty on 11 additional counts during his appeal, leading to a longer sentence.

Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) said, "The appeal court sentenced Mongkol Thirakot to 22 years for 112 over his 27 Facebook posts, in addition to the 28-year sentence already passed by the preliminary court. His total jail sentence is 50 years."

In Thailand, the lese-majesty law protects King Vajiralongkorn and his immediate family from criticism. The law is often called 112 under the relevant section of the criminal code. According to TLHR, Thirakot's sentence was the longest for royal defamation. The previous record of 43 years was imposed on a woman in 2021.

Thirakot was first arrested during a demonstration calling for the release of political prisoners in 2021. Tens of thousands participated in youth-led protests in 2020 and 2021, calling for revisions to the strict lese-majesty laws.

TLHR said Mongkol would file for an appeal against the sentence at the Supreme Court. Furthermore, TLHR claimed that more than 250 activists have been charged under lese-majesty laws since the 2020 protest movement. Arnon Nampa, a lawyer and one of the primary protest leaders, had his four-year lese-majesty sentence extended by another four years on Wednesday.

Read Also: Pakistan Launches Retaliatory Strikes on Iran, Killing At Least 7 People

Human Rights Watch Speak Out Against Lese-Majesty Law

The Human Rights Watch has opposed Thailand's use of the lese-majesty law. They spoke out against the law after four well-known pro-democracy activists were placed in pretrial imprisonment and denied bail by the Bangkok Criminal Court for allegedly insulting the Thai Monarchy.

HRW's Asia director Brad Adams said that Thai authorities have been abusing the strict lese-majesty law by using it to "aggressively clamp down on speech they don't like" during ongoing political protests calling for monarchy reform.

Adams added putting people in pretrial imprisonment for peaceful expression portends a return to the dark days when those accused of this offense would often spend years behind bars while their cases dragged on forever.

Thailand went around three years without a lese-majesty charge in court. After the student-led pro-democracy movement gained traction in 2020, PM Prayut Chan-o-cha called for Thai authorities to bring back the lese-majesty charge.

Related Article: Thailand Elections: Young Voters Urge Radical Change by Ousting Thai Military




Piotr Wawrzyk, a former deputy foreign minister in Poland's previous right-wing government, was detained on Wednesday by the country's central anti-corruption bureau.

The arrest is linked to charges surrounding the alleged sale of visas and work permits to migrants for substantial sums of money, a scandal that surfaced last summer and eroded public trust in the Law and Justice party's tough-on-immigration stance, as per to Fox News.

Cash-for-Visas Scandal Reverberates

The cash-for-visas scandal, which unfolded in September, dealt a blow to the Law and Justice party, ultimately contributing to its defeat in the October parliamentary elections. The investigation into the matter began earlier in the year, leading to the recent arrest of Wawrzyk.

This development is poised to widen the rift between Prime Minister Tusk and opposition politicians from the former Law and Justice administration, who accuse Tusk of orchestrating a political witch-hunt against their party. Tusk, however, asserts that pursuing senior PiS officials suspected of various crimes is essential to steering Poland towards a more liberal, pro-EU position.

Following the revelation of the visa scandal last year, the PiS government terminated Wawrzyk and initiated an investigation into an alleged network involving foreign ministry officials selling Polish visas for cash through consulates worldwide.

Although the investigation did not yield immediate results, it allowed Tusk to challenge the PiS government's claims of defending Poland against illegal immigration, a pivotal issue during the elections. Wawrzyk, for his part, denies any wrongdoing.

Tusk's efforts to expose abuses by PiS loyalists and dismiss them face resistance from President Andrzej Duda, a PiS nominee. Duda recently escalated a dispute with Tusk's government over the national prosecutor's fate, seeking the constitutional court's ruling on the matter, according to Financial Times.

Read Also: British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak Facing Opposition to Controversial Rwanda Bill

President Duda's Power Struggle

In a separate case, Duda is demanding the release of two convicted PiS lawmakers on hunger strike, further testing his presidential powers. The situation has become complex, with conflicting claims about the legality of their imprisonment under a 2015 pardon granted by Duda.

Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Duda disclosed that a court had ordered force-feeding for one of the hunger-striking MPs, former interior minister Mariusz Kaminski. This adds another layer to the ongoing power struggle between Tusk and Duda.

Wawrzyk's arrest aligns with Tusk's broader agenda to revisit cases overlooked by the previous government and initiate fresh probes into past wrongdoings. Tusk, who assumed office in December, emphasizes the need to address the "grey and black areas of activity" and financial improprieties that allegedly prevailed in Poland until recently.

The arrest also coincides with the pro-European government's commitment to holding individuals accountable for alleged wrongdoing during the previous administration. The Central Anti-Corruption Bureau (CBA) stated that the charges against Wawrzyk include promises of financial benefits in exchange for intermediation in obtaining residence permits and exerting unlawful influence on the permit issuance process.

In total, nine individuals, including Wawrzyk, face charges in connection with the cash-for-visas scandal. Prosecutors cited by the state-run news agency PAP indicated that the accused could potentially face up to ten years in prison, with Wawrzyk vehemently denying the charges leveled against him, Rauters reported.

Related Article: US, Doha To Discuss Efforts To Release Hamas Hostages
Envoy calls for harmony in China-US relationship

11:17, January 19, 2024 By Minlu Zhang ( China Daily

Artists from the New York Philharmonic perform during the 2024"Happy Chinese New Year" launch ceremony at the Chinese Consulate General in New York on Tuesday. LI RUI/XINHUA

Beijing has no intention to challenge or unseat Washington, a Chinese diplomat has said on the 45th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and the United States, calling for mutual trust and cooperation between the two sides.

"China never intends to challenge or unseat the US," said Chinese Consul General in New York Huang Ping. "Instead, we will be glad to see a confident, open, ever-growing and prosperous US. Likewise, the US should welcome a peaceful, stable and prosperous China.

"It is hoped that the US side can work with China to enhance mutual trust and cooperation, properly manage differences and sensitive issues, and implement 'San Francisco Vision' in the interest of the two countries and the two peoples," Huang said.

He made the remarks at a reception held by the Chinese Consulate General in New York on Wednesday to commemorate the 45th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the US. About 150 guests, including diplomatic and policy experts, and religious and social leaders, attended the reception.

Expressing a welcoming attitude, Huang urged US companies to continue investing in China.

Chinese market is not only big, but also highly profitable and full of talented innovators, he said, adding that it is a testing ground for international businesses to improve their competitiveness.

"We also welcome more American people to China to see Chinese culture with their own eyes, hear Chinese stories with their own ears and feel the Chinese people with their own hearts."

Given the two countries' significant global influence, Huang said only by taking a big and long view on China-US relations can we make the right decision serving the interests of both countries and peoples.

Peaceful coexistence

China and the US account for more than one-third of the global GDP and nearly one-fourth of the global population. "Turning our back on each other is not an option; for one side to change the other is not realistic; the consequences of conflict and confrontation will not be bearable. So, peaceful coexistence is a baseline that our two countries must hold on to," Huang said.

In the past 45 years, the rise in two-way investment and bilateral trade has created millions of jobs in the US, generated substantial revenue for US companies, and provided benefits to households in both countries.

What remains unchanged is "the fact that the shared interests of the two countries are much larger than differences", Huang said.

Susan Elliott, president of National Committee on American Foreign Policy and former US ambassador to Tajikistan, said: "We've had relations for 45 years and we've had ups and downs, but what family members haven't had ups and downs? So I look forward to another 45 years."

(Web editor: Tian Yi, Liang Jun)
The European Parliament voted to withhold funding for Hungary as well as cutting Budapest's voting rights over Prime Minister Viktor Orban's failure to meet rule-of-law requirements.

Institutions in the EU are gearing up for another fight over Hungary and a contentious transfer of nearly $11 billion in funds to Budapest. On Thursday, the European Parliament decided to assess whether or not to take the bloc's executive branch, the European Commission, to court over allegations that it gave into blackmail from Orban.

Hungary's Rule-of-Law Controversy

That particular development is believed to have been related to the Hungarian prime minister's approval to start membership talks with Ukraine. In a 345-104 vote, the European Parliament decided and tasked its legal department to prepare the groundwork for a potential challenge at the EU's highest court.

It is looking to see whether or not the European Commission took all necessary measures "to protect the EU's financial interests" in its dealings with Prime Minister Orban. The parliament's vote came after a bruising debate in the plenary, as per the Associated Press.

During the debate, legislators of major center-right and center-left groups joined forces to criticize European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. The scrutiny was over making sure that the money was approved just before Orban unexpectedly and crucially abstained from the Ukraine vote during a summit in December last year.

The money was only supposed to be released on the condition that Hungary showed enough effort to force through some rule-of-law reforms regarding judicial independence and political interference. During the plenary on Wednesday, von der Leyen said that the nation had pushed through measures to earn the release of funds.

The European Commission president said that she had no other option but to approve the Hungary funds and strongly denied the two issues were related. Von der Leyen said that they were all the rules that they agreed to, noting that they would continue to follow them.

On top of the controversy, the European Parliament also condemned Prime Minister Orban's decision to block amendments to the EU budget. These would have provided $54 billion to Ukraine, according to Meduza.

Read Also: Russia Sentences Activist to Prison, Prompting Widespread Protests

Non-Binding Resolution

European lawmakers have accused Hungary of making "deliberate, continuous, and systematic efforts" to undermine the EU's founding values. They added that the EU should not trade the strategic interests of the region and its allies by renouncing those values.

Officials have also called to put an end to Budapest's alleged abuse of the right of veto as well as the blackmail in the European Council and other European institutions. The latest resolution is non-binding but does raise the pressure on the European Commissioner as well as EU member states to "take a harder line" on releasing more money to Hungary.

In a statement, Hungarian liberal lawmaker Katalin Cseh said that they are serious when it comes to defending the rule-of-law. He added that they are not afraid of Prime Minister Orban's blackmailing attempts.

The situation comes after Orban accused MEPs of wanting to "strip people of their rights to make decisions on their future." In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, he called it an "anti-democratic position," said Politico.



Related Article: Paris Police Hold Another Protest Calling for Better Pay During Olympics Duties
The defense team representing Bryan Kohberger, a Ph.D. student accused of the November 2022 murders of four University of Idaho students, is urging transparency in its bid to have the judge reassess the charges.

Kohberger, a former criminology graduate student at Washington State University, faces accusations of fatally stabbing Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle, and Ethan Chapin in an off-campus residence in Moscow, Idaho, as per to Newsweek.

Bryan Kohberger's Defense Calls for Public Awareness

In a recent filing posted on the court docket, Kohberger's lawyer emphasized the importance of public awareness, stating, "Mr. Kohberger acknowledges the right of the public to be fully informed of the issues." This move comes after two previous attempts to have the indictment dismissed were denied by the judge.

The defense argued that the grand jury received inaccurate instructions and that prosecutors withheld evidence beneficial to Kohberger.

The high-profile nature of the case has led to a strict non-dissemination order, limiting information accessible to the public. Kohberger's defense and the prosecutors have supported restricting media coverage, citing concerns about potential bias and the risk of influencing prospective jurors.

Legal experts, such as Matt Murphy, a former prosecutor and ABC News legal contributor, note that the defense's decision to unseal their position on the judge's decision could open the proceedings to public scrutiny. Murphy explained, "Capital case litigation is largely a matter of creating or avoiding as many appellate issues as possible. 'Unsealing' it now just opens it up for the public. This has the twin dangers of poisoning prospective jurors or running afoul of the Court's desire not to try the case in the media."

The defense clarified that their initial request to seal certain filings was made under pressure from prosecutors and time constraints. They assert that Kohberger has the right for criminal rules to be applied as written, ensuring a fair process, according to ABC News.

Read Also: US, UK Airstrikes in Yemen Reportedly Delay Iran from Shipping Supplies to Houthi Rebels

Pretrial Hearings to Reconsider Charges

The upcoming pretrial hearings on January 26 will address Kohberger's requests for the judge to reconsider the decision not to dismiss the charges. Prosecutors allege that Kohberger, on the early morning of November 13, 2022, broke into an off-campus home, stabbing the four University of Idaho students to death. Kohberger was arrested in December 2022 at his family's home in Pennsylvania after a six-week manhunt.

Kohberger, facing charges of four counts of first-degree murder and burglary, could potentially face the death penalty if convicted. His defense maintains that he was not present at the crime scene and was driving alone that night.

Despite the ongoing legal proceedings, the case has seen delays, with Kohberger waiving his right to a speedy trial in August, pushing back the initially scheduled trial date of October 2. A new trial date has yet to be determined.

The investigation involves the use of investigative genetic genealogy (IGG) evidence, which the judge has ordered to remain sealed to protect the privacy of individuals on the family tree. Prosecutors argue that IGG evidence was used to generate leads but was not the basis for obtaining warrants in the case.

Details surrounding the recovered DNA from a knife sheath and its alleged match to Kohberger's cheek swab further complicate the case. Madison Mogen, found with stab wounds in an upstairs bedroom, and her friend Kaylee Goncalves were among the victims, along with Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin, all University of Idaho undergrad students, Fox News reported.

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FTC's click-to-cancel rule disappoints cable and broadband service providers. Now, lobbyists are demanding better solutions than the proposed regulation.

In March 2023, the Federal Trade Commission introduced a new set of rules that are expected to help consumers avoid unnecessary subscriptions from ISPs (internet service providers) and cable TV companies.

FTC Chair Lina Khan said that the new click-to-cancel regulation is needed since some companies commonly trick users into paying subscriptions they don't really need.

However, lobbyists for cable service providers and advertisers claim that the click-to-cancel rule could negatively affect numerous broadband and cable companies.

FTC's Click-To-Cancel Rule Disappoints Cable, Broadband Companies

One of the lobbyists that demand better options than the click-to-cancel rule is the National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA)-now called the Internet & Television Association.

NCTA CEO Michael Powell said that FTC's proposed click-to-cancel rule may not be that simple when "such practices" are involved."

"A consumer may easily misunderstand the consequences of canceling, and it may be imperative that they learn about better options," he added via The Wired.

In his example, Powell said that the click-to-cancel regulation could lead to numerous issues and unintended consequences, especially for consumers who only want to cancel one service in their cable or internet service packages.

The NCTA chief executive officer explained that this is because canceling a part of the discounted package could lead to a higher monthly or yearly subscription price for the remaining line of businesses (LOBs).

Michael Powell said that ISPs and cable companies already have customer representatives who can assist consumers if they want to cancel their packages or certain services.

"Out of millions of cancellations, complaints received by NCTA members amount to only a tiny fraction of 1 percent," he explained.

Read Also: OpenAI Faces FTC Scrutiny Over Potential Consumer Harm

What To Know About FTC's Click-To-Cancel

Via its official website, the FTC said that existing regulations and laws don't provide a consistent legal framework to consumers and the industry.

This is why the consumer protection agency decided to propose the click-to-cancel rule, which includes the following changes:

Will require broadband firms and ISPs to offer features that will make subscription cancellations easier for consumers.

Internet and broadband providers will be required to send annual reminders to users if they are enrolled in negative option programs.

ISPs and broadband companies will be allowed to pitch offers, but they should respect consumers who say no to their offers or users who don't even want to hear their pitches in the first place.

Related Article: Adobe's Hard-to-Cancel Subscriptions Now Investigated by FTC-What Should the Software Giant Do?
Thomas Rhodes, who spent nearly 25 years behind bars for the death of his wife, has filed a federal lawsuit against former Ramsey County Medical Examiner Michael McGee and other authorities, alleging the fabrication and withholding of evidence that led to his wrongful conviction.

Rhodes, 64, was released from prison a year ago after the state's Conviction Review Unit deemed the evidence unreliable, as per to Fox News.

Lawsuit Claims Wrongful Conviction

Rhodes, convicted in 1998 of first- and second-degree murder in the drowning death of his wife Jane Rhodes during a boat ride on Green Lake in Spicer, Minn., has now turned to the legal system to seek justice. The lawsuit, filed in US District Court in Minnesota, not only targets McGee but also former Kandiyohi County Attorney Boyd Beccue (deceased), Hennepin County sheriff's office Capt. William Chandler, and Ramsey, Hennepin, and Kandiyohi counties.

The suit alleges that McGee and Chandler fabricated unsupported conclusions and gave false testimony, leading to a wrongful conviction. It also claims that Beccue collaborated with McGee to manufacture a case against Rhodes, even before probable cause existed. The lawsuit contends that Beccue provided circumstantial, unrelated facts to McGee, who then disregarded scientific evidence and altered the determination of Jane Rhodes' death from "pending investigation" to "homicide."

Rhodes' release a year ago marked a historic moment as the first individual freed from incarceration due to an investigation and case review by the Conviction Review Unit, established in 2020. The Minnesota Attorney General's Office, citing unreliable evidence and McGee's questionable testimony, agreed to vacate Rhodes' conviction.

The lawsuit, seeking a jury trial, monetary relief, and punitive damages, alleges constitutional violations and malicious prosecution. Rhodes is represented by People's Law Office in Chicago and Minneapolis attorney Tim Phillips.

Brad Thomson, an attorney from People's Law Office, emphasized Rhodes' innocence and the egregious misconduct of the defendants. The lawsuit aims to shed light on the defendants' actions and deliver the justice owed to Rhodes for the nearly 25 years lost, according to Twin Cities.

Read Also: Iran Attacks Alleged 'Sunni Militant Bases' in Pakistan Amid Rising Tensions in Middle East

Reviews Prompted on Medical Examiner's Credibility

Efforts to reach McGee and Chandler for comment were unsuccessful. Spokespeople for Hennepin County and the Hennepin County sheriff's office declined to comment on pending litigation. Kandiyohi County's administrator did not respond to requests for comment, and a Ramsey County spokeswoman redirected inquiries to the Ramsey County attorney's office.

In light of concerns over McGee's credibility, the Ramsey County attorney's office initiated a review of cases where McGee had been involved. This move followed a federal appeals court judge's decision, labeling McGee's testimony in the murder trial of Alfonso Rodriguez Jr. as "unreliable, misleading, and inaccurate." Rodriguez's death sentence was overturned.

The ongoing review in Ramsey County does not encompass Rhodes' case, but the lawsuit will be shared with the Prosecutors Center for Excellence (PCE), which is conducting the review. Updates on PCE's evaluation of Ramsey County cases involving McGee will be shared with the public at an appropriate time, according to Dennis Gerhardstein, spokesman for the Ramsey County attorney's office.

While Rhodes' murder convictions were vacated, he still faces a conviction for second-degree manslaughter. McGee's testimonies in numerous cases remain under scrutiny as the legal battle for justice continues, CBS News reported.

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A 26-year-old security guard, Solomon Martinez, has been arrested and charged with first-degree murder in connection to a gruesome homicide case involving a decapitated body.

The shocking incident unfolded on January 10, when police responded to a reported homicide near Fountain Creek, just south of Highway 47, as per Daily Mail.

Grisly Find in Martinez's Pocket

On the same day, the suspect, Martinez, was apprehended while on duty at the Sangre De Cristo Arts Center in Pueblo. According to court documents, a disturbing find was made during Martinez's arrest - a plastic bag containing a human hand was discovered in his pocket.

During the arrest, police observed a red-colored smear on Martinez's car, and his hands were found to be cut up. Martinez initially offered an explanation, attributing the cuts to his dog, but later claimed they resulted from picking up dog waste among rocks.

In a baffling twist, Martinez initially informed the police that someone had borrowed his car and may have been responsible for the woman's murder. However, when confronted with a photograph of the victim, he changed his narrative, admitting to hiring her as a prostitute on the night of January 8 and supposedly dropping her off between two and three in the morning.

Martinez allegedly turned to his roommate, Joshua Mazzurco, seeking assistance in disposing of the body. Mazzurco, recounting the horrifying encounter, stated that Martinez offered him $1,000 to dig a ten-foot hole. Despite the initial request, Martinez later claimed it was a joke.

Mazzurco, visibly shaken, expressed, "I was beyond terrified. Like, I can't even put into words how physically scared I was." Records indicate that Mazzurco did not assist Martinez, but he did witness him washing blood off his hands at a car wash, according to Hawaii News Now.

Read Also: Survey: Religious Americans at Risk of Being Targeted, Isolated by Society

Sheriff Reacts to Security Guard's Arrest

Former Pueblo County Sheriff Dan Corsentino, owner of the security guard company employing Martinez, expressed shock at the revelations. Corsentino affirmed that Martinez had no criminal history and passed all background checks before being hired just two weeks before his arrest.

The victim, whose identity is yet to be disclosed by the Pueblo County coroner, was found dead at Fountain Creek with her head severed, according to court documents.

When Martinez was taken into custody, a police officer discovered a human hand inside a plastic bag in the left chest pocket of his jacket. Martinez claimed, "I had a hand in my jacket for two days," sparking further intrigue among investigators.

Authorities believe the severed hand belongs to the deceased woman found in the creek. Martinez, however, maintains that he hired her as a prostitute but denies involvement in her death or dismemberment.

Notably, someone associated with Martinez's roommate contacted the police, claiming to be a witness to the body being dumped in Fountain Creek on January 10. Martinez's roommate, Joshua Mazzurco, and his wife, who were living with Martinez, have not been charged or considered suspects in the woman's death.

Despite reaching out for comments, the Pueblo Police Department declined to provide any information on the ongoing investigation. Martinez is scheduled to appear in court on January 23, as indicated by an online court docket search. As of now, he has not entered a plea, and no legal representation has been listed.

Currently incarcerated at the Pueblo County jail, Martinez faces a daunting $1 million cash-only bond, Inside Edition reported.

Related Article: Maine Judge Suspends Donald Trump's Ballot Exclusion Until Supreme Court Rules on Issue
A Kenya cult leader has been charged with terrorism after the death of hundreds of children due to starvation.

The primary suspect was identified as Paul Mackenzie and he has been charged along with 94 others over the deaths of his followers. The bodies of the victims have been exhumed from the Shakahola forest and number 429.

Death by Starvation

Mackenzie, a self-proclaimed pastor, was arrested by law enforcement personnel last April after the bodies of his victims were discovered in the forest near the Indian Ocean. The charges against the suspects were announced during an appearance before a court in the southeastern city of Mombasa.

The cult leader and his co-defendants have denied the charges during their appearance before Judge Joe Omido. They are scheduled to be back in court on Feb. 8 for a bond hearing related to the case.

Authorities argue that Mackenzie, who is the head of the Good News International Church, incited his followers in southeastern Kenya to starve themselves and their children to death. This was in an attempt to go to heaven before the world supposedly ends, as per Aljazeera.

The bodies of the victims were retrieved over several months of exhumations across tens of thousands of acres of forestry. Autopsies also revealed that the majority of the dead died of hunger but there were others, including children, who appeared to have been strangled, beaten, or suffocated.

Court documents regarding the case described Good News International Ministries as "an organized criminal group (which) engaged in organized criminal activities." Thereby, the ministries endangered the lives of other people and led to the death of 429 members and followers.

Officials also charged Mackenzie with "organized criminal activity" and he as well as other suspects pleaded "not guilty" to charges of radicalization. His pre-trial detention in Mombasa was extended on several occasions after the prosecution repeatedly asked for more time to probe the case.

Read Also: Thai Online Vendor Faces 50 Years Imprisonment for Insulting Monarchy

The Arrest of a Kenya Cult Leader

A Kenya court also ordered the 30-year-old cult leader and 30 of his associates to undergo mental health evaluations before they are charged with the murder of 191 children. Mackenzie was also said to have marketed Shakahola forest to his followers as an evangelical Christian sanctuary, according to NDTV.

The judge who ordered the mental evaluations, Mugure Thande, gave prosecutors until Feb. 6 to ensure that Mackenzie and his co-defendants are fit to stand trial. Prosecutors noted that the suspects will also be charged with "subjecting a child to torture."

In October, a Senate commission of inquiry reported that the primary suspect had faced charges back in 2017 for his extreme preaching. However, it noted that the criminal justice system failed to deter the heinous activities of the cult leader.

Following the previous charges, he was acquitted of radicalization in that same year which was brought for illegally providing school teaching. The defendant rejected the formal education system that he claimed was not in line with the Bible.

A lawyer for the defendant said that the self-proclaimed pastor is cooperating with law enforcement personnel regarding the investigation, said Yahoo News.



Related Article: Former Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Faces Charges in Cash-for-Visas Scandal
Will Japan achieve the world's first pinpoint landing on the moon? This is what the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency is preparing for as its lunar mission is about to happen.

JAXA's Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM, also known as the Moon Sniper, is expected to reach Earth's natural satellite on Friday, Jan. 19, at 10:20 a.m. ET (or Saturday, Jan. 20, at 12:20 a.m. Japan Stanard Time).

This is a big deal for the Asian nation since its previous lunar mission attempt back in April 2023, which also aimed to make a precise location landing, failed as the spacecraft crashed.

Will Japan Succeed the World's First Moon Pinpoint Landing?

Just like other countries, Japan is trying to enter an elite space club, which is only occupied by the U.S., India, China, and Russia.

If JAXA's Moon Sniper mission achieves the world's first pinpoint landing, it would greatly benefit the Japanese nation, allowing it to enter a higher level of space travel.

However, if the SLIM aircraft fails, it would definitely cost Japan since failing means public embarrassment and the budget spent by the Asian country will be wasted, as reported by ABC News.

If the Moon Sniper ever achieved its goal, it would be the first time Japan would put a robotic explorer on the moon's surface. It will also make Japan the third country to achieve a moon landing in the 21st century.

Recently, lunar missions, such as NASA's Apollo launches, achieved extreme accuracy in reaching their targeted locations on the moon's surface. This is also what JAXA is trying to achieve with its SLIM spacecraft.

The difference between the Moon Sniper and the previous lunar missions is that JAXA is trying to make the world's first pinpoint landing on the moon using robotic probes that are lightweight and low-cost.

Read Also: Self-Eating Spacecraft? UK Scientists Develop Strange Rocket--Here's How It Can Help Space Travels

Importance of Japan's Moon Pinpoint Landing Mission

According to CNN World's latest report, JAXA's Moon Sniper could help Japan achieve more successful space missions.

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency said that if SLIM successfully lands on its targeted lunar location, the technology could allow next-gen space missions to land on other planets.

JAXA claimed this would be possible even on planets with less resources than Earth's natural satellite.

"Nowadays, there has been an increase in the knowledge of target astronomical objects and the details which should be studied have grown more specific so that high accuracy landings near the target of study have become necessary," explained JAXA.





Related Article: Japan's Moon Landing: Space Agency Braces for '20 Minutes of Terror' With Historic Attempt
On Friday, Israeli tanks spearheaded a push into southern Gaza's main city, Khan Younis, which is providing shelter to hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who have been displaced by Israeli airstrikes.

Observers note that the attacks are striking near Nasser Hospital, a location Israeli officials accuse Hamas of operating close to. People are reportedly not only housing displaced Gazans but patients from the hospital as well.

Shelling from tanks advancing from the west as gun battles rage in the south. The Gaza health ministry reported 142 Palestinians were killed and another 278 people were injured in the last 24 hours.

Reuters reports that up to 85% of the 2.3 million people living in the south have been driven to seek shelter, according to the United Nations.

Rescue services, medical attention, and the ability to monitor approaching threats via the news have all been compromised. In the north, 12 people were killed in Israeli airstrikes on a residential building near the Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, which IDF officials have accused Hamas of operating near.

The militant group Islamic Jihad reportedly clashed with Israeli forces in the Al-Bureji and Al-Maghazi refugee camps in central Gaza and Khan Younis, while Hamas fighters fought against Israeli fighters throughout Gaza.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly said that the IDF had eliminated 16 or 17 out of 24 organized regiments.

However, he conceded, that fighting would likely take many more months.

What Does The Saudi Government Think?

HNGN has reported that the Saudi government, as well as Israeli President Isaac Herzog believe a two-state agreement is the key to peace, but Prime Minister Netanyahu repeated his opposition to the idea of an independent state at Israel's southern border.

"Israel must have security control over the entire territory west of the Jordan River. That's a necessary condition," Netanyahu told a briefing in Tel Aviv. "It clashes with the principle of sovereignty, but what can you do?".

However, the United States' official stance is that a two-state solution is the only way to end the cycle of violence.
Ford F-150 Light production cuts have been confirmed by the American automaker. These business adjustments would affect thousands of employees.

But the question is, will these Ford workers face terminations or just be transferred to other manufacturing operations?

Ford confirmed the production cuts for its F-150 Lightning EVs on Friday, Jan. 19. The car manufacturer said operations will be explicitly reduced at Rouge Electric Vehicle Center.

This facility is where Ford builds its popular EV pickup trucks. What's sadder about this business change is that the operation at the Rouge Electric Vehicle Center is being reduced to one starting on Apr. 1.

Ford F-150 Lightning Production Cuts

According to Fox Business' latest report, the Ford F-150 Light production cuts will affect around 1,400 workers at the Rouge Electric Vehicle Center.

Ford explained that the production cuts were needed so that they could match output with customer demand. This means that the demand for its Ford F-150 Lightning is getting slower.

"We are taking advantage of our manufacturing flexibility to offer customers choices while balancing our growth and profitability. Customers love the F-150 Lightning, America's best-selling EV pickup," said Ford CEO Jim Farley.

"We see a bright future for electric vehicles for specific consumers, especially with our upcoming digitally advanced EVs and access to Tesla's charging network beginning this quarter," added Farley via CNBC.

Read Also: Tesla Could Lose to BYD as Chinese EV Maker Boasts Producing Over 3 Million New Energy Vehicles

Affected Ford Employees To Be Transferred

The giant American automaker announced that affected Ford employees will be transferred to another manufacturing plant. However, only around 700 workers, which is 50% of the affected workforce, will be given the chance.

Lucky Ford employees will be transitioned to the Michigan Assembly Plant, which handles the production of Ford Ranger and Bronco models.

Aside from transferring 700 existing employees, Ford said that it plans to create nearly 900 new jobs as part of the new third crew at the Michigan Assembly Plant.

The car manufacturer said that these new workers are needed to meet the demand for the popular Bronco and Bronco Raptor, as well as the all-new Ranger and Ranger Raptor pickup trucks.

"The company is moving nimbly across its global footprint to capitalize on its balanced lineup and serve customers with the right mix of gas-powered, hybrid, and electric vehicles while optimizing financial returns," explained Ford.

Once the employee transitions are complete, Ford said that the Michigan Assembly Plant will increase its vehicle production to seven days a week, with three teams working two shifts.

Related Article: Ford Reports $1.7 Billion Lost in Earnings, 100,000 Car Decline in Sales Due to Strike
In a town hall with CNN moderator Jake Tapper Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley told the anchor that she dealt with "plenty of racism" as the child of Indian immigrants in a rural South Carolina town, but is happy that her parents never told her she lived in a racist country.

This comes after she stated that the United States has "never been" a racist country and that she believes the country's intent was always to "do the right thing."

When Did Haley Make These Comments?

Her initial remarks, made during an interview on "Fox & Friends," alluded to a belief that the U.S. was never racist. Tapper, however, pointed to Constitutional protections for slavery and the fact that South Carolina, Haley's home state, seceded from the Union in part to defend slavery.



"When you look it said, 'all men are created equal,' I think the intent was to do the right thing," she said. "Now, did they have to go fix it along the way? Yes, but I don't think the intent was ever that we were going to be a racist country."



"The intent was everybody was going to be created equally," she added. "As we went through time, they fixed the things that are not, 'all men are created equal."

While conceding that measures taken to promote women's right to vote happened over time, she did not believe the premise of forming the country was racism. She also stated that she believed telling people of color that the country in which they live is racist would be tantamount to telling them they don't have a chance to succeed.

"We have too many people with this national self-loathing. It is killing our country," she said.

"I have to know in my heart and in everybody's heart that we live in the best country in the world, and we are a work in progress, and we've got a long way to go to fix all of our little kinks, but I truly believe our Founding Fathers had the best of intentions when they started," Haley said. "And we fixed it along the way and we should always look at it that way," she continued.
Hong Kong: CS to attend UN meetings

Chief Secretary Chan Kwok-ki will depart tomorrow for Geneva, Switzerland, to attend meetings of the Universal Periodic Review Working Group of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), the Government announced today.

He will be joined by representatives of the Constitutional & Mainland Affairs Bureau, the Security Bureau, the Department of Justice and the Labour Department.

Chinas fourth report, which includes a part concerning the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, was submitted under the Universal Periodic Review mechanism of the UNHRC and will be examined at the meetings.

Hong Kong SAR Government officials will attend the meetings as members of Chinas delegation.

Mr Chan will return to Hong Kong on January 27. During his absence, Deputy Chief Secretary Cheuk Wing-hing will be Acting Chief Secretary.

This story has been published on: 2024-01-19. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
China builds brighter prospects for processing trade

11:22, January 19, 2024 By Wang Wenzheng ( People's Daily

China's Ministry of Commerce and nine other government departments recently rolled out a guideline to improve the development of the processing trade.

The guideline puts forward 12 measures across six categories, outlining a blueprint for creating a "2.0 version" of China's processing trade.

Workers manufacture high-end aluminum alloy parts for new energy vehicles in a workshop of a new material enterprise in Huaibei, east China's Anhui province. (People's Daily Online/Wan Shanzhao)

Compared to general trade, the processing trade sector imports raw materials and exports finished products. It includes various forms such as processing with supplied materials and processing with imported materials.

Since the implementation of the reform and opening up in 1978, processing trade has played a significant role in promoting China's opening up to the outside world, driving industrial upgrading, and ensuring employment.

According to data from China's General Administration of Customs (GAC), the average annual growth rate of imports and exports of Chinas processing trade reached nearly 20 percent from 1981 to 2023, with a cumulative increase of nearly 500 times.

However, traditional processing trade typically usually resides at the lower end of the "smiling curve" of the international value chain, characterized by labor-intensiveness, low added value, and high substitutability.

With the profound changes in domestic and international environments, the scale and proportion of traditional processing trade in China's foreign trade pattern have been declining. At its peak, traditional processing trade accounted for over half of China's foreign trade, but its share gradually dropped to around 1/5.

In the first three quarters of 2023, the total import and export value of processing trade in China reached 5.57 trillion yuan ($781.42 billion), accounting for 18.1 percent of the country's foreign trade.

Over the past 40 years, China's processing trade has achieved leapfrog development. As Chinese enterprises participated in the global division of labor through processing trade, their business models have gradually shifted from Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) to Original Design Manufacturers (ODMs) and Original Brand Manufacturers (OBMs).

Take south China's Guangdong province, where the processing trade is well-developed, as an example. Today, the proportion of ODM and OBM has risen to about 2/3 of the province's total processing enterprises.

In Dongguan of Guangdong, an important base for processing trade, over 2,000 processing trade enterprises have established their own brands, and together they hold more than 13,000 brands. The proportion of ODM and OBM products in the city's exports has increased to 75.3 percent from 40.8 percent in 2009.

Pipes are produced in a workshop of Xinbo Oil and Gas Pipeline Manufacturing Co., Ltd. in Alashankou, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region. (People's Daily Online/Yusuf Eni)

According to insiders, China's processing trade sector has evolved into various forms, such as goods processing trade that has a high requirement for cross-border logistics, services processing trade that highly demands human resources, and digital processing trade that relies on open networks and intelligent development.

The guideline puts forward targeted measures focusing on strengthening logistics and energy supply, meeting multi-level employment demands, supporting the expansion of the domestic market, and other aspects. The goal is to promote the transformation and upgrading of processing trade from low-value-added products to high-value-added, high-tech products, and enable processing trade to better serve high-quality economic and social development.

According to data released by the GAC, the technological level of China's processing trade exports has been continuously improving, with high-tech products accounting for over 60 percent.

Among them, six types of high-end industries, including new materials, biopharmaceuticals and medical instruments, high-end equipment, electronic information, new energy vehicles, and instruments and meters, have shown significant increases in the import and export volume and growth rate of processing trade. Their share in the total import and export value of processing trade has increased from 8.6 percent in 2012 to 34.4 percent in 2022.

Driven by the processing trade industry, the Yangtze River Delta, Pearl River Delta, Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, and Chengdu-Chongqing region have formed distinctive high-tech industry clusters.

As the Belt and Road Initiative continues to develop, transportation, logistics and energy security in China's central and western regions, as well as the northeast region, have been consistently improved, which leads to further development of processing trade.

In Alashankou of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, there are over 110 China-Europe freight train routes linking China with more than 20 countries and regions, providing a "fast track" for processing trade.

Xinbo Oil and Gas Pipeline Manufacturing Co., Ltd. in Alashankou, which was put into operation last year, completed a 15,000-ton welded pipe order signed with an Uzbek customer in the same year.

"Alashankou is close to the Central Asian market and has facilities for gauge conversion, which ensures fast delivery and low transportation costs. The company also enjoys tariff preferences for imported steel raw materials, which reduces production costs," said Zhou Shanzheng, deputy general manager of the company.

(Web editor: Chang Sha, Liang Jun)
An American Airlines flight attendant was taken into custody Thursday, January 18, on charges of covertly recording young girls using the aircraft restroom.

According to The Hill, Estes Carter Thompson III reportedly tried to film a girl passenger, aged 14, when she used the restroom on an American Airlines trip from Charlotte in North Carolina to Boston in Massachusetts on September 2, 2023.

Allegedly, the 37-year-old flight attendant also videotaped four other girls (ages 7, 9, 11, and 14) as they used the restroom on the flight.

A now-former American Airlines flight attendant has been arrested for allegedly attempting to record a teenage passenger in an airplane bathroom, federal prosecutors say. https://t.co/OvVlsHNqE3 January 19, 2024

Troubling Experience

On a September flight to Boston last year, Thompson allegedly approached the 14-year-old as she waited for an occupied restroom in the main cabin and led her to an empty first-class lavatory. But Thompson informed the girl that he needed to wash his hands first and that the toilet seat was broken.

When Thompson exited the restroom, the teenager went inside and saw red stickers labeled "inoperative catering equipment," "remove from service," and "seat broken" on the underside of the open toilet seat cover.

After taking a photo of the red stickers--which the victim claims hid an iPhone placed behind them--the victim exited the restroom. Thompson promptly returned to the restroom, according to documents.

The 14-year-old presented the picture to her parents and explained what she had seen when she got back to her seat. Her parents alerted the flight attendants, who in turn alerted the captain. In response, the captain informed the local authorities.

After the victim's father confronted Thompson, the latter reportedly spent a few minutes in the restroom alone with his phone before the plane descended.

Authorities said that upon arrival at Boston's Logan Airport, Thompson's iPhone seemed to have been reset to factory settings. He reportedly had 11 red "inoperative catering equipment" stickers in his luggage.

See Also: North Carolina: Police Chief Who Allegedly Asked for Nudes Terminated-Admits to Messaging Captain's Wife

Results of Inquiry

Based on the investigation, Thompson's iCould account shows four instances of minors using plane restrooms between January and August 2023. There are also more than 50 images of a 9-year-old unaccompanied minor, including pictures of her sitting before the flight and close-ups of her face while she slept.

Furthermore, Thompson's iCloud account reportedly had hundreds of photos of child pornography created using artificial intelligence (AI).

The Boston Department of Justice reports that law enforcement has located and contacted the children's relatives.

One count of attempted sexual exploitation of children and one count of possession of child pornography depicting a prepubescent minor are the charges against Thompson, as per the news release published by the US Attorney's Office in Massachusetts.

At a later time, he is scheduled to make an appearance in Boston federal court. For attempted sexual exploitation of minors, Thompson faces a minimum of 15 to 30 years in jail, and for possession of child pornography featuring a prepubescent child, the minimum sentence is five to 20 years. A fine of up to $250,000, restitution, and a term of supervised release ranging from five years to life are additional penalties for both crimes.

See Also: Midwife Accused of Falsifying Student Vaccination Records, Leading to Hefty Fine
Recently, the Committee to Protect Journalists reported that around 320 journalists from around the world were jailed because of their work in 2023. This is reportedly the second-highest number of journalists jailed since the committee started taking an annual talley back in 1992.

Though extremely high, this number is down from the 367 journalists who were jailed in 2022. The CPJ believes this is due to the release of many journalists in Iran, some of whom are out on bail awaiting trial.

"Our research shows how entrenched authoritarianism is globally, with governments emboldened to stamp out critical reporting and prevent public accountability," said Jodie Ginsberg, the committee's chief executive officer.

The report shows that more than a third of the journalists on the list were jailed in China, Myanmar and Belarus.

There were 17 "nonlocal" journalists jailed, globally. Nonlocal describes individuals who are jailed in foreign countries. Of these individuals, twelve of them are being held in Russia, including two U.S. citizens, Evan Gershkovich and Alsu Kurmasheva, both are being held on pretrial detention.

The People's Republic of China has imprisoned 44 journalists, while Myanmar and Belarus have jailed, 43 and 28, respectively. Russia comes in third with 22, followed by Vietnam.

Somewhat ironically, Iran and Israel are tied for sixth place on this list with 17 journalists jailed in 2023. They're followed by Eritrea, Egypt and Turkey.

"This is the highest number of Palestinian journalists in detention since CPJ began documenting arrests in 1992 and the first time that Israel has ranked in sixth place on the census," said CPJ via its official report.

The Committee to Protect Journalists is a non-profit company based in the United States.
The U.S. carries out its fifth strike on Houthi Rebels, destroying missiles in the Red Sea. Despite President Biden's commitment to ongoing strikes, Houthi Rebels retaliate by targeting a U.S.-owned cargo ship in the Gulf of Aden, raising concerns over escalating tensions and international intervention.

In an article published by the Associated Press Thursday, it was stated that the United States had conducted its fifth strike on the Iranian-backed Houthi Rebel Group. The strike took place on Thursday and destroyed two Houthi Rebel anti-ship missiles. In a statement on X, once known as Twitter, United States central command wrote that the missiles "were aimed into the southern Red Sea and prepared to launch". The Pentagon also stated that the strike was carried out by Navy F/A-18 fighter aircraft.

President Biden Takes Action

President Biden stated that the strikes will continue despite them not deterring the group's activities. Biden in a statement said the following "When you say working, are they stopping the Houthis, no. Are they going to continue, yes". In addition to conducting strikes of their own, the United States has also conducted airstrikes alongside the U.K. against Houthi targets within Yemen.

However, soon after Biden's statement, there was a statement from Houthi Brig-Gen. who announced that the Rebel group had carried out another strike this time on the U.S. Owned Cargo ship titled Chem Ranger. The ship was located in the Gulf of Aden which is located just South of Yemen. The U.S. Central command said in a statement "The crew observed the missiles impact the water near the ship". The ship itself did not suffer any damage and no crew injuries were reported.

The frequent attacks on cargo ships within the Red Sea have drawn significant international attention and several superpowers have reached out to the United Nations, asking that they intervene. The Houthi Rebels have gone on record multiple times stating that their actions are in support of Gaza as the strip has become a battleground of the ongoing Israeli conflict with Hamas. These clashes within the Red Sea have also drawn concern over whether the conflict within Gaza has already evolved into a regional conflict.
In a report from the Associated Press, Japan has made a successful landing on the moon.

This makes Japan the fifth country to achieve this feat alongside China, India, the United States, and the Soviet Union. The spacecraft itself had no Astronauts on board though. This is part of an ongoing project.

The Mission Objective

Also despite this, there have been some hiccups as officials have yet to pinpoint the exact location of the spacecraft's landing. The head of the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science, Hitoshi Kuninaka, states that they believe that rovers have been launched and have been sending data back to Earth. However, there is also a potential power supply issue.

The main goal of this mission was to test new developments in landing technology that would allow for landing "where we want to, rather than where it is easy to land," the JAXA has stated. To emphasize the significance of this project Aeronautics professor at the Graduate School of Engineering at the University of Tokyo, Takeshi Tsuchiya stated "It is necessary to show the world that Japan has the appropriate technology in order to be able to properly assert Japan's position in lunar development." He further emphasized the moon's significance in resource exploration and highlighted its potential as a launchpad for missions to other planets, such as Mars.

Other experts have concurred with Tsuchiya's statement saying that the success of this project would provide a boost to Japan's profile in the space technological race that is taking place around the globe.

The spacecraft itself is titled Smart Lander for Investigating Moon which can be hyphened down to simply SLIM. However, it has also been given the nickname "the Moon Sniper" most likely due to the goal of the project to land on a specifically small target. The mission itself came shortly after an unnamed private U.S.-based company also attempted to carry out its own lunar mission but the spacecraft itself fell short of expectations after the craft began to leak fuel.
A second day of unrest in the island nation of Comoros on Thursday left one person dead and at least six others injured according to The Associated Press and health officials.

The protests came after current President Azali Assoumani was declared the winner in the presidential election held over the weekend. The results were denounced by the country's opposition parties as fraudulent.

The announcement late Tuesday that Assoumani had won his fourth term triggered violent protests that started Wednesday when a government minister's house was set on fire and a car at the home of another minister was burned. Several roads in and around the capital, Moroni, were barricaded by protesters who burned tires as riot police clashed with the demonstrators.

Reuters said the army had fired tear gas on Wednesday to disperse protesters in Moroni, the capital of Comoros, an Indian Ocean archipelago of islands with a population of about 800,000. The interior ministry announced a nighttime curfew throughout the country on Wednesday, but protesters were still on the streets in the north of Moroni in the early hours of Thursday.

A government spokesperson blamed the protests on supporters of losing candidates.

"These are things that happen here and elsewhere, especially when we are beaten and we contest the results," government spokesperson Houmed Msaidie told Reuters.

He said several demonstrators had been arrested. At least four people told Reuters on Thursday that they had trouble connecting to the internet to use social media platforms because of service disruptions.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights called for calm and appealed to authorities to practice restraint in the wake of protests.

Assoumani first came to power through a coup in 1999. He stepped down in 2002 and then won elections 14 years later. Constitutional reforms in 2018 removed a requirement that the presidency rotate among its three main islands every five years, allowing Assoumani to seek re-election in 2019.

He won 62.97% of the vote in the latest election, according to the National Electoral Commission, reported Reuters.

Assoumani beat five other candidates in the election. His opponents have said the election was tainted by voter fraud, alleging instances of ballot stuffing and of voting ending before the official closing time.

The government has denied those accusations.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov dismissed a US proposal to resume a dialogue on nuclear arms control, stressing that it would be impossible as long as Washington offers military support to Ukraine.

In an annual news conference on Thursday (January 18), the Kremlin's top diplomat accused the West of fueling global security risks by encouraging Ukraine to increase its strikes against Russian territory, warning that Moscow would achieve its goals in the conflict despite Western assistance for Kyiv.

The Associated Press reported that Lavrov commented about Washington's proposal to resume contacts about nuclear arms control, calling it "unacceptable" as Russia already put forward its stance in a diplomatic letter last month. He further argued that the US should pull back its hostile policy towards Russia for talks to recommence.

Lavrov Declines to Talk with US About Nukes

Last June, White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said that the Biden administration was ready to talk with Russia without conditions about a future nuclear arms control even as the relation between the two nations were at their lowest point since the Cold War.

However, Lavrov insisted that Washington's efforts to renew nuclear talks has been driven by a desire to resume inspections of Russia's nuclear weapons sites, further mocking the US's demands as "indecent" and cynical in view of Ukraine's attacks on Russian nuclear-capable bomber bases during the conflict.

Mutual inspections of nuclear weapons sites between the US and Russia were common in the 2010s due to the New START treaty signed by then presidents Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev in 2010. Inspections were halted in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and was never resumed.

Russian President Vladimir Putin eventually suspended Russia's participation in the treaty in February 2023, saying that Russia could not allow US inspections of its nuclear sites at a time when Washington and its NATO allies have openly declared Moscow's defeat in Ukraine as their goal. However, Russia did not explicitly decide to withdraw from the pact altogether and would continue to respect the caps on nuclear weapons the treaty set.

Read Also: NATO Holds Largest Military Exercises in Decades Amid Fears of All-Out War with Russia

Lavrov's Other Diplomatic Matters

Also during the conference, Lavrov accused the UK of inciting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to order further strikes in Russia without providing any proof to back the claim.

He further reaffirmed that Russia's "special military operation" would continue regardless of Western pressure.

Lavrov also talked at length about the growing influence of the Global South and how it was slowly balancing and outweighing Western sway in international affairs.

He also said that the Kremlin-Beijing relations were going through their "best period in history," and that a two-state solution was the only way to ensure security for Israel, Palestine, and the rest of the Middle East.

Related Article: Russia Releases Chilling Warning Saying West's 500-Year Domination Is Near To End, Ukraine Has No Future
German Defense Minister has warned that Vladimir Putin could attack NATO within five to eight years. This comes on the heels of an approved plan by the Baltic nations to build defenses along their borders with Russia and Belarus, said The Telegraph.

"We have to take into account that Vladimir Putin will one day even attack a NATO country," said Boris Pistorius, the German defense minister.

"Our experts expect a period of five to eight years in which this could be possible," he told Der Tagesspiegel, a German newspaper. "At the moment I don't think a Russian attack is likely."

Europe is dealing with a "military threat situation ... that has not existed for 30 years," he added. "We hear threats from the Kremlin almost every day - most recently against our friends in the Baltics."

Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania signed an agreement on Friday to build bunkers over the next few years to bolster the defenses along their borders with Russia and Belarus, a steady ally of Moscow. Under the agreement, signed in Riga, the three countries will "construct anti-mobility defensive installations in the coming years to deter and, if necessary, defend against military threats," the Estonian defense ministry said in a statement obtained by The Telegraph.

The Kremlin has bolstered threats against neighboring nations since launching its February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, especially as Sweden and Finland have moved to join the NATO alliance. Russian leaders have also issued dire warnings toward Poland, revealed The Hill.

Swedish officials have been warning their citizens that "war could come" to the country. Sweden is still waiting for approval from Hungary and Turkey before it can join the military alliance, while Finland has already joined.

Pistorius said Swedish warnings were "understandable from a Scandinavian perspective," considering its proximity to Russia.

"We also have to learn to live with danger again and prepare ourselves - militarily, socially, and in terms of civil defense," Mr. Pistorius warned.

When Will The NATO Exercises Begin?

The Independent reported NATO exercises are due to begin next week. Dubbed Steadfast Defender 24, the exercises "will show that NATO can conduct and sustain complex multi-domain operations over several months, across thousands of kilometers, from the high north to central and eastern Europe, and in any condition," a statement from the 31-member organization said.

Troops will be moving to and through Europe until the end of May in what is described as "a simulated emerging conflict scenario with a near-peer adversary" - essentially Russia.

The stockpiles of weapons and ammunition has been drained across Europe, the US, and beyond in supporting the defense of Ukraine and will take years to replenish at the current rate of production.

Britain's defense secretary, Grant Shapps, has said that the UK will send 20,000 troops backed by advanced fighter jets, surveillance planes, warships, and submarines, to take part in the exercises - with many being deployed in eastern Europe from February to June.

With the Russian president's rhetoric towards NATO nations becoming increasingly hostile, war could come at any time.
Employees of the Harris Center, including dozens of social workers, mental and behavioral health professionals, and support staff will gather along with supporters hold a press conference to formally announce the formation of their union on Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024 in Houston. Elizabeth Conley/Staff Photographer Brian Kelley, LCDC, holds a sign outside Harris Center building with other employees before a press conference to formally announce the formation of their union on Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024 in Houston. Elizabeth Conley/Staff Photographer Sheronica Watson, former clinical coordinator and current organizing committee member for the union, speaks during a press conference to announce the formation of their union of employees for the Harris Center on Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024 in Houston. Elizabeth Conley/Staff Photographer Brittney Mattix, a care coordinator for Harris Center listens to a speaker during a press conference to formally announce the formation of a union for Harris Center employees on Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024 in Houston. Elizabeth Conley/Staff Photographer Jennifer Padilla a crisis line team member for Harris Center, speaks during a press conference to formally announce the formation of their union on Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024 in Houston. Elizabeth Conley/Staff Photographer

Employees of Harris Countys mental health services provider said Thursday they plan to unionize.

Several dozen employees and supporters of the Harris Center for Mental Health and Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities gathered outside the nonprofits headquarters in southwest Houston, before marching into the building to deliver signatures from 256 workers, more than 10% of the centers employees.

The group was joined by Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo and Commissioner Rodney Ellis,

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I just think its wonderful that these folks are working together for better conditions for themselves, said Hidalgo, adding that while she understands many Texans are skeptical of unions, their formation doesnt necessarily lead to strikes or unfair demands. The union is a tried-and-true format. Its something that is effective.

Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo and commissioner Rodney Ellis address the media in front of employees of the Harris Center, including dozens of social workers, mental and behavioral health professionals, and support staff will gather along with supporters during a press conference to formally announce the formation of their union on Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024 in Houston. Elizabeth Conley/Staff Photographer

The Harris Center employees are calling for recognition of the union, regular meetings with management, a fair process for dispute resolution and a 7% raise. Harris County civilian employees received cost-of-living raises of 4% to 12% in the $2.4 billion county budget approved in September, but Harris Center employees are not employed by the county and so did not qualify.

The Harris Center was created in 1965 by Harris County Commissioners Court with the appointment of its board. Commissioners still appoint the centers board members. It is Texas' largest provider of mental health services.

Kevin Higgins, a hospital transfer coordinator and organizing committee member, said Harris Center employees have not seen a significant increase in pay or benefits for 20 years, even as the cost of living in the Houston area has risen significantly.

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We cannot afford the added stress of being priced out of the same community we have served so well, he said.

Kevin Higgins, hospital transfer coordinator for Harris Center, speaks during a press conference to formally announce the formation of their union on Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024 in Houston. Elizabeth Conley/Staff Photographer

Sheronica Watson, who resigned from her role as a clinical coordinator at the Harris Center in November after three years with the agency, said its employees could use more support, especially when theyre working in the field.

Going into the homes from day to day you dont know what youre going to get, what that interaction may be with your client. Sometimes, that can be scary, she said. Were here to do a job. We want to make sure were able to effectively do it and have the support along the way.

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The union would be part of the Communications Workers of America, which has worked with Harris Center employees since they began organizing last year, after employees at Integral Care, a nonprofit mental health authority serving the Austin area, successfully unionized in 2022, also under the CWA umbrella.

An employees of the Harris Center listens to Harris County Commissioner Rodney Ellis as he speaks to the media during a press conference to formally announce the formation of their union on Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024 in Houston. Elizabeth Conley/Staff Photographer

There needs to be a change, said Yolanda Anderson, CWA district organizing coordinator. You dont want a high turnover rate; you want people coming to work and being able to treat their patients and clients properly.

While Houston has one of the lowest rates of union membership in the country, at 3.8%, the region has seen an uptick in labor-related activity in recent years, with several local Starbucks stores unionizing and janitors, pilots and flight attendants staging high-profile pickets during the course of their contract negotiations.

Harris County Commissioner Rodney Ellis address the media in front of employees of the Harris Center, including dozens of social workers, mental and behavioral health professionals, and support staff will gather along with supporters during a press conference to formally announce the formation of their union on Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024 in Houston. Elizabeth Conley/Staff Photographer

Anderson, who began working with the CWA in 1999 and has helped organize campaigns in several states, said that a lack of knowledge about what unions do has historically constrained efforts to organize in the Houston area, but that she sees organizing efforts gaining momentum.

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I should have been born in the 60s, she said. I like to to see people treated fairly.
TOKYO, Jan 19 ( News On Japan ) - Police investigating a couple in their fifties found dead three days ago under the floor of their house in Adachi, Tokyo, have arrested a 30-year-old woman of Filipino nationality, an acquaintance of the couple, on suspicion of abandoning the bodies.

The bodies of self-employed Takahashi Tokuhira (55) and his wife Kimie (52), who lived in the house, were discovered on January 16, believed to have been disposed of under the floor.

The couple's son, who lived with them, had reported their disappearance two days before the bodies were discovered. Following this, the police searched under the house and found the two bodies, later identified as Mr. and Mrs. Takahashi.

Investigations revealed multiple stab wounds on the upper bodies of the deceased.

Footage from a security camera led police to the Filipino national, who claimed, "I don't know anything about it," denying any involvement.

Investigators noted that the suspect had previously been in a relationship with a member of the Takahashi family and was acquainted with both the deceased.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Police are currently investigating the detailed circumstances surrounding this tragic incident.

Source: NHK
Ishikawa, Jan 19 ( News On Japan ) - An 87-year-old woman's beloved dog, Muumu, was saved from the rubble of her collapsed home almost 3 days after the massive earthquake hit her town on New Year's Day.

Mitsue Wada, the 87-year-old owner, expressed her relief and joy, saying, "Muumu is my treasure."

The rescue took place in Tachinomachi, located in the eastern part of Wajima City, Ishikawa, an area that had become isolated following the earthquake which measured a strong 6 on the Japanese scale, completely destroying several houses, trapping Wada and her 9-year-old poodle mix, Muumu.

Wadas son, Shigezo Sakamoto, recalled their bond, "After my father passed away 10 years ago, Muumu was always with her, even sleeping on her futon. He was her constant companion for 24 hours a day."

While Wada was rescued by local residents, Muumu was separated and left behind under the rubble.

Sakamoto said, "My mother had given up hope for Muumu, becoming deeply depressed and exhausted."

A specialized animal rescue team, 'Team U-Nyan,' based in Funabashi City, Chiba, and led by Usa, a 56-year-old representative, was en route to the disaster area. This team specializes in searching and rescuing pets during disasters.

Following a family's SOS on January 4th, Usa and his team overcame landslides on foot to reach the site. Confronted with the immense pile of debris, Usa said, "The house was almost completely collapsed, we didnt know where to start looking."

As they stood bewildered by the wreckage, Usa called out, "Muumu! Muumu! Stay there, good boy!"

Hearing Muumus faint cries from under the house, Usa exclaimed, "Hes alive!"

Soon after, with the assistance of two Self-Defense Force members who arrived by helicopter, the team carefully removed the debris. Muumu was found trapped in a space under a bed frame, unable to move due to a pipe bent in front of him.

Usa managed to slide into the narrow gap in the rubble and reach Muumu. By enticing him with food, he successfully pulled Muumu out despite the looming danger of aftershocks.

"It was truly gratifying to save a life, a part of the family," Usa reflected on the rescue.

Miraculously unharmed, Muumu was safely returned to his family. He was later reunited with Wada, who is now living in a shelter in Itami City, Hyogo.

When the reporting team visited Wada and Muumu on January 18th, she emotionally recounted, "When I saw him alive, I was so happy. I just wanted to see him. He is my treasure."

Website: Team U-Nyan

Source: FNN
OSAKA, Jan 19 ( News On Japan ) - A 31-year-old unemployed man has been arrested on suspicion of kidnapping a teenage girl for the purpose of committing indecent acts, after allegedly luring the junior high school student from Tokyo to his home in Osaka in exchange for sleeping pills.

Naoki Urano, who is known as the "Emperor of Guri-shita" among kids who frequent the popular hangout spot in Osaka's Minami district, is being investigated for arranging to meet the schoolgirl he groomed through social media.

The girl is suspected to have stayed for a week at his home, where she is believed to have taken drugs along with several other youths. She was found in a semi-delirious state.

The police are investigating the detailed circumstances of the case. Urano has not made any clear statements regarding the allegations.

Source: NHK
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott arrives for a campaign stop on Oct. 24, 2022. Abbott heads into the current election with a considerable war chest for his reelection campaign. Jerry Lara/San Antonio Express-News Gov. Greg Abbott signed four bills into law that give parents more rights in determining how their children are educated in schools. Jessica Phelps State Rep. John Raney, R-Bryan, center, smiles while talking with State Rep. Harold Dutton, D-Houston, after a vote of 84-63 stripped school vouchers from HB1 on Nov. 17, 2023. Bob Daemmrich State Rep. Christina Morales, D-Houston, holds up her phone during a dramatic vote to kill school vouchers in HB1 on Nov. 17, 2023. The vote was 84-63 to strip the educational savings accounts from the bill. Bob Daemmrich

A Pennsylvania billionaire gave Gov. Greg Abbott $6 million last month in the single largest donation in Texas political history, money the governor promises to employ in his reprisals against reasonable Republicans.

Texans must take their government back from the oligarchs who are showering our leaders with millions, and theres a manual on how to do it.

Abbotts new donor is Jeff Yass, a former professional gambler and co-founder of Susquehanna International Group, an investment firm specializing in options trading, another form of gambling. He is the 52nd wealthiest man in the world, worth $28.9 billion, according to Forbes, and hes obsessed with destroying public schools.

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Abbott could not be prouder.

With this substantial financial backing, Governor Abbott will ensure that the conservative candidates who support his bold agenda to expand school choice, secure our southern border, and lower property taxes have what they need to keep Texas red, a campaign statement declared.

Yass is the Tim Dunn of Pennsylvania, a reclusive libertarian billionaire who uses loose campaign finance laws and secretive political action committees to drive his ideological agenda. Like Dunn, who recently pocketed billions more by selling his West Texas oil and gas company, hes not afraid to back the most extreme right wing characters.

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Investigative journalism outfit ProPublica took a deep dive into how Yass has avoided paying $1 billion in taxes. Meanwhile, he called the COVID-19 pandemic a boon for his bottom line and invests in gambling websites that exploit addiction.

Abbott, who is not up for reelection this year, will spend some of the money to defeat rural Republicans who voted against his plan to provide taxpayer-funded private school vouchers and gut public school funding. Rural lawmakers recognize that public schools are the largest employers in their districts, which do not have private schools.

Yass gift doubles Dunns $3 million contribution to Lt. Gov. Dan Patricks campaign coffers through his Defend Texas Liberty PAC. Just as Patrick delivered an acquittal for Dunns handpicked attorney general, Ken Paxton, Yass hopes Abbott can deliver on school vouchers despite polls showing most Texans oppose them.

Such massive donations, extremist rhetoric and one-party rule have left most Texas voters disillusioned. A new Pew Research survey shows extreme partisanship is souring all Americans on our democracy.

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I feel like if I could get my voice out there more, I would be more involved, one Republican-leaning woman told Pew. Im not one of the important people, you know what I mean?

Sam Daley-Harris knows precisely how she feels, which is why hes thoroughly updated his book, Reclaiming Our Democracy. The book provides a detailed guide to nonpartisan engagement with politicians of every stripe to demand they meet the needs of the people, not their billionaire donors.

Daley-Harris experience founding RESULTS, an anti-poverty nonprofit, in 1985 informs his tactics. The group trains volunteers to contact their elected officials, get appointments with them or their staff and make the case for common sense solutions.

RESULTS is good at alerting the media, too. Readers should know the Houston chapter gave me an award last year for my commentary on poverty and health issues.

Citizens are shocked to learn how responsive elected officials can be, especially if you offer an intelligent pitch instead of cursing at them. Politicians and journalists are swamped with emails and messages from professional communicators daily, and we dont hear enough from regular folks who sincerely desire to better their community.

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The book aims to show people that when it comes to protecting our democracy, more is possible than just voting, as important as that is, or standing by and watching in horror, Daley-Harris told me.

I sense that every person who tells me they hate politics and politicians is hungry for change. We can see it in the polls showing how much we disapprove of our leaders. We live it through low-turnout elections. Only 16% of Houston voters cast ballots in the mayoral runoff.
By Israel Arogbonlo

Amid the incessant kidnappings in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) has confirmed the arrest of a suspected notorious kidnapper, Chinaza Philip, who had been terrorising the city and its neighbouring state.

The suspect, according to FCT Police spokesperson, SP Josephine Adeh, was arrested on Thursday, January 18, 2024, by the Kaduna State Police Command.

He was handed over to the FCT on Friday for further investigation.

The FCT Police Command wishes to confirm the arrest of one Chinaza Phillip, a notorious Abuja kidnapper by police operatives of the Kaduna State Police Command on Thursday 18th January, 2024.

The suspect has been handed over to FCT police Command today being Friday 19th January, 2024, and currently in police custody.

More details will be communicated soon, the FCT Police Command disclosed on its verified handle on Friday

PRESS RELEASE



ARREST OF ABUJA NOTORIOUS KIDNAPPER: CHINAZA PHILLIP.



The FCT Police Command wishes to confirm the arrest of one Chinaza Phillip, a notorious Abuja kidnapper by police operatives of the Kaduna State Police Command on Thursday 18th January, 2024.



The suspect has pic.twitter.com/wXHScjQhEY  FCT POLICE COMMAND (@FCT_PoliceNG) January 19, 2024

NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
The Council Bluffs Police Department unveiled a new investigative tool this week by asking city residents who have security or doorbell cameras installed at their homes or businesses to register those devices with the city.

If an incident occurs in an area where people have registered their cameras, the police department will already have a database of cameras in the area that may have recorded something pertaining to an investigation.

We would reach out to any homeowner that's in the vicinity and just say, Hey, did you guys happen to catch any footage of this incident, and if they did it's up to them if they want to release it, Police Lt. Jill Knotek told The Nonpareil.

Knotek emphasized that registering for the camera database program is entirely voluntary and said that, even if someones camera did record something that might be of interest to law enforcement, they are under no obligation to provide that footage to the department  barring, of course, a warrant.

Peter McRoberts, policy director for ACLU of Iowa, said the key component to a program like the one in Council Bluffs is insuring that people understand it is voluntary.

We take privacy concerns very, very seriously, but it's critical for programs like this where participation is voluntary, McRoberts told The Nonpareil. We want to make sure that everybody understands that if the government or the police or anybody else wanted the actual information, they would need a warrant to get it."

"If somebody chooses to take part in a program like this, that's their prerogative, but the data itself belongs to them and the government cannot insist on it," McRoberts said. "It's got to be voluntary or the government's got to have a warrant if the homeowner or resident doesn't want to share it.

When registering your camera with the city, you are asked to provide contact information and the area around your home or business that is covered by the camera or cameras.

Resident information is collected, encrypted and stored in the departments records management system, and any footage provided to law enforcement will only be used for the investigation or court proceedings, according to the news release from the Council Bluffs Police Department.

For more information about the citys new camera database program, or to register your cameras with the program, visit councilbluffs-ia.gov/2546/Camera-Database-Program.
Angela Caulk of the Humane Society of the U.S. said her organization proposed Senate File 2018 because Iowas current law is out of date.

She cited some bestiality cases in Iowa, including one in Council Bluffs. Just last week, a Cedar Falls man was charged with sexually assaulting his dog, according to the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier.

In 2011, a Council Bluffs man was arrested for throwing the cat from a seventh floor window, where he stood naked, after attempting a sex act with the cat and using methamphetamine. Bestiality charges were later dropped, and the man was sentenced to two years in prison.

Caulk said there have also been cases in which people have advertised in Iowa that they wanted to have sex with animals and others have advertised that they were willing to make their pets or livestock available to be sexually abused. People with such interests move around the country and are known to target states with lighter penalties, she said.

On another note, there is also correlation between animal-related sex crimes and abuse against women and children, Caulk said, noting that in some cases, women have been forced by a partner to participate in an act of bestiality on camera, only to have the video used against them in a child custody proceeding.

Senators on the panel indicated their disgust with the topic.

Ewww, Sen. Herman Quirmbach, D-Ames, said. He asked the lobbyists at the meeting whether any of them opposed the bill. None did.

Sen. Dan Dawson, R-Council Bluffs, said people make jokes but  it really is sick what some people do out there and I couldnt wrap my head around it. But this is why we have some laws.

The third member of the subcommittee, Sen. Brad Zaun, R-Urbandale, also supported the bill. Once again were doing a bill that we shouldnt have to do because of deterioration of society, he said.

The bill would expand the definition of bestiality to include not only sexual contact with an animal but also permitting it on ones property. Photographing or filming obscene material or possessing, selling or distributing video of bestiality would also be outlawed. Forcing, coercing or enticing a minor to commit an act of bestiality would also be a crime.

The legislation specifically exempts normal veterinary or animal husbandry practices such as artificial insemination.

A first violation of the law would be an aggravated misdemeanor, punishable by up to two years in jail and a fine of up to $8,540. A second offense would be a class D felony, punishable by up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $10,245. Current law also requires psychological evaluation and treatment for anyone convicted of bestiality.

The bill moves next to the Senate Judiciary Committee.
When I was trying to acquire all the Pulitzer Prize winners of fiction, I spent a lot of time in used bookstores hunting for copies of older, out-of-print books. It was an enjoyable enterprise, and I managed to track down quite a few of the books I wanted, but a couple of them eluded me, so 
The African Development Bank, AfDB, will hold its 59th annual meetings this year in Nairobi from May 27 to 31, the Abidjan-based lender has announced.

Topics to be addressed include the lack of climate finance for African priorities and the high cost of capital to invest in sustainable infrastructure for green growth and a just energy transition.

The theme chosen for this year is: Africas Transformation, African Development Bank Group, and Reforms of the Global Financial Architecture.

The annual meetings provide an opportunity for reflecting on the banks commitment to accomplish its mission of developing the African continent and improving the lives of its people.

The gatherings will feature statutory meetings of its Governors (Finance ministers or Central bank governors representing the 81 member countries) and knowledge events. Attendees will include representatives of bilateral and multilateral development agencies, leading academics and non-governmental organizations, civil society, and the private sector.

Kenyatta International Conference Center chosen as venue for the meetings will also host the 50th Meeting of the Board of Governors of the African Development Fund.

The Fund is the concessional arm of the Bank Group.
An overnight curfew has been imposed in the Comoros after post-election violence against President Azali Assoumanis disputed re-election turned deadly on Thursday (18 January), with the first gunshot victims arriving in hospital and security forces battling stone-throwing protesters in the streets of the capital.

Reports of the first serious casualties emerged two days after the electoral authorities announced that Assoumani won a fourth five-year term with 62.97% of the vote, triggering violent clashes between soldiers and angry opposition supporters. The army fired tear gas to disperse protesters in the capital, Moroni, where the protestors were trying to block roads and streets, throwing stones at security forces, which in turn responded by driving them back to scatter and escape through alleys. The government in the East African island nation responded by imposing an overnight curfew on Wednesday (17 January).

The Comoros opposition has rejected the re-election of Assoumani  an ex-military officer turned civilian rulers who first came to power in a 1999 coup and who is widely accused of muzzling dissent and involvement in large-scale fraud  and demanded this weeks vote be annulled. Assoumanis victory is expected to be confirmed by the Comoros supreme court at the weekend. Street protests are banned in Comoros, a country that has seen more than 20 coups and attempted coups in its short period post independence in 1975, and several arrests have been made.
The Ethiopia-Somalia feud continues as Mogadishu has called on Addis Ababa to retract its deal with Somaliland, ruling out on Thursday (18 January) any possible mediation until a controversial agreement with the breakaway region is cancelled.

Claiming its territorial integrity has been violated by the agreement, Somali Ministry of Foreign Affairs has stated there was no space for mediation unless Ethiopia retracts its illegal deal with Somaliland and reaffirms the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Somalia. Tensions in the Horn of Africa have escalated after landlocked Ethiopia reached a deal with the breakaway region on 1 January that gives it access to the sea. This comes after the African Unions (AU) conflict resolution body on Wednesday (17 January) called on the two countries to exercise restraint, de-escalate and engage in meaningful dialogue towards finding a peaceful resolution of the matter.

Somaliland is a former British protectorate which declared its independence from Somalia in 1991, a move not until today recognized by the international community. Under the recent deal, Somaliland agreed to lease 20 kilometers of its coast for 50 years to Ethiopia, which wants to set up a naval base and a commercial port on the coast. Ethiopia has for years sought access to the sea after Eritrea broke away from Addis Ababa and formally declared independence in 1993 following a three-decade war. Ethiopia, which currently relies on neighboring Djibouti for most of its maritime trade, stressed for much of 2023 the economic need for a seaport and even subtly hinted at possibly invading Eritrea for access to the Red Sea.
U.S. Secretary of State is set to start a five-day African tour from January 21 that will take him to four countries to achieve multiple purposes including advance security partnerships based on shared values such as respect for human rights, promotion of democracy, and expansion of the rule of law, the state department said in a statement.

Blinken will travel to Cabo Verde, Cote dIvoire, Nigeria and Angola.

The Secretary will highlight how the United States has accelerated the U.S.-Africa partnership since the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit, including in areas such as climate, food, and health security. He will also emphasize our future-focused economic partnership, and how the United States is investing in infrastructure in Africa to boost two-way trade, create jobs at home and on the continent, and help Africa compete in the global marketplace, the statement added.

The department said that the US top diplomat will also reaffirm U.S. commitment to coastal West African partners through the Strategy to Prevent Conflict and Promote Stability, U.S. partnership with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

The U.S. official will also address regional challenges, and U.S. efforts to support African leadership in de-escalating tensions and adopting diplomatic solutions to the conflict in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The tour will be Blinkens fourth trip to the continent as Secretary of State and his first to sub-Saharan Africa since visiting Niger in March of 2023.

It also comes on the heel of his Chinese counterpart Wang Yis visit to several countries on the continent, including Cote dIvoire.

Washington has been struggling to thwart the growing influence of China and Russia in southern Africa.
Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Hussein Ibrahim Taha, expressed admiration for the substantial efforts made by King Mohammed VI, who serves as the President of the Al-Quds Committee, in support of the Palestinian cause.

This came during a meeting at the OIC General Secretariat in Jeddah, Hussein Ibrahim Taha held with Mohamed Salem Cherkaoui, the Director overseeing the management of the Rabat-based Bayt Mal Al-Qods Acharif Agency.

Talks highlighted the pivotal role played by the Agency as the financial arm of the Al-Quds Committee, operating under the umbrella of the OIC, and discussed strategies to bolster cooperation in a bid to back and strengthen the agencys initiatives for Al-Quds and enhance the resilience of its population.

Secretary-General Taha underscored the ongoing importance of implementing decisions urging member states to throw their weight behind the budget and programs of the Agency. He reiterated the General Secretariats unwavering commitment to intensifying collaboration with this crucial institution to help it streamline its tasks.

During the meeting, Cherkaoui presented the annual report detailing the Agencys activities throughout 2023. The report outlined various projects dedicated to supporting the people of Al-Quds in critical areas such as health, education, housing, women, youth, and childhood. Additionally, Cherkaoui shed light on specific programs tailored to address the needs of vulnerable groups within the population.
Nikki Haley in New Hampshire. Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Its no secret that in her very long-shot effort to get in the way of Donald Trumps third consecutive Republican presidential nomination, Nikki Haley really needs to overperform in the New Hampshire primary on January 23. Fortunately for her, its probably her best state in the entire country. For one thing, shes spent a lot of time there and is benefiting from the strong support of popular lame-duck governor Chris Sununu. But more basically, the GOP primary electorate is relatively light on Evangelicals (a mere 25 percent in the 2016 presidential primary), and GOP moderates are a small but visible breed (27 percent in 2016). Plus, independents (42 percent of GOP primary voters in 2016) are allowed to participate in the Republican contest.

Trump has seized on this last data point in an effort to discredit Haleys showing on the chance that it really does exceed expectations, as the Washington Post reports:

Trump argued during his rally here [in Portsmouth] that Haley is counting on Democrats and liberals to infiltrate your Republican primary.

A vote for Nikki Haley this Tuesday is a vote for Joe Biden and a Democratic Congress this November, Trump said. (He went so far as to suggest that Haley would abandon her party, stating at one point: I actually think she might go to the Democrat Party.)

As is often the case with the 45th president, he didnt exactly get his facts right. Registered Democrats cannot vote in the GOP primary in New Hampshire, and they couldnt even switch party registration after the October 2023 deadline (reportedly 4,000 voters  or less than 2 percent of the anticipated primary vote  did so). Still, as Ben Jacobs noted at New York recently, there has been an organized effort to get Democratic-leaning independents to vote against Trump in the GOP primary, and according to the polls, they are contributing to Haleys base of support.

A new St. Anselm College poll this week shows Haley leading Trump by 52 percent to 37 percent among registered independents, who represent 47 percent of likely Republican primary voters (Trump leads Haley 65 percent to 25 percent among registered Republicans). Ten percent of likely GOP primary voters, moreover, told the pollsters they self-identify as Democrats, and among them Haley wins 90 percent.

Theres nothing illegitimate, much less illegal, about independents voting in a partisan New Hampshire primary (six other states allow independents to vote in either partys primaries, and another 16 states  including South Carolina, which is holding the next big primary on the calendar  dont have registration by party, which means you just show up at the polls and pick a primary). And a significant majority (81 percent, according to a Pew study in 2019) of independents nationally lean strongly toward one party or another. So theres no infiltrating going on in New Hampshire, and the vast majority of GOP primary participants will likely support the party nominee in November. Team Haley, of course, will argue that her popularity among non-party-affiliated and even some self-identified Democratic voters is a token of how well she would do in a general-election contest with Joe Biden.

Having said all that, Trumps superior performance among self-identified Republicans could pay off for him down the road in states with closed primaries in which independents  no matter which way they lean  cannot vote. Thats assuming he hasnt already clinched the nomination much earlier, which will certainly happen if he beats Haley in New Hampshire and then in South Carolina, as appears likely. That St. Anselm poll showing Haley doing so well among independents also gives Trump a 14-point lead overall. To invert the old Sinatra song, if she cant make it there, she cant make it anywhere.
Tony Sanchez, founder and CEO of OneNexus at its headquarters in Houston. OneNexus that seeks to address the problem of orphaned oil wells by offering well-plugging insurance that follows the well from buyer to seller. Karen Warren/Staff photographer Tony Sanchez, founder and CEO of the new company OneNexus at OneNexus headquarters on Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024, in Houston. OneNexus that seeks to address the problem of orphaned oil wells by offering well-plugging insurance that follows the well from buyer to seller. Karen Warren/Staff photographer Tony Sanchez, founder and CEO of OneNexus at its headquarters in Houston. OneNexus that seeks to address the problem of orphaned oil wells by offering well-plugging insurance that follows the well from buyer to seller. Karen Warren/Staff photographer

One question vexed longtime Houston oil executive Tony Sanchez when it came to asset retirement liabilities. He said auditors would tell him dont worry about it and thats a long time in the future when he asked about the line item on the balance sheet associated with plugging wells and remediating oil production sites.

When later comes, what do we do? he recalled wondering.

Many oil companies choose to sell end-of-life oil wells as a way to handle the liability. But Sanchez said that's just passing the buck to somebody.

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ZOMBIE WELLS PART 1: Texas oil wells are leaking toxic waste, and no one wants to pay to clean it

Its a problem he aimed to solve when, in 2021, he founded OneNexus, a company that provides a sort of insurance to an oil well. At a time when the industry is working to slash its methane emissions and electrify its equipment, he said he figured the time was right for a systemic solution to the problem of underfunded well-plugging liabilities.

I think, by and large, most executives and management teams and people who work in the industry will do the right thing if they have a way to do the right thing, he said during a recent interview. And this simply just hadn't existed before. And so we decided to give it a shot.

Since the company began underwriting in January 2023, he said, it has signed $30 million in contracts and insured more than 2,000 wells.

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

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Question: Why did you decide to take this on?

Answer: You're talking about hundreds of billions of dollars of liabilities. We as an industry are either going to leave it all for somebody else to clean up, or we're going to do something about it. And I decided that was a good challenge to take on. The worst thing that we could do is look back 50 years from now and say, "Oh, look at all those wells. Maybe they're leaking methane. They're rusting away in the sun. They're eyesores." We could do a better job. I don't want the industry to have that legacy.

Q: What is OneNexus selling?

A: Our product is really a way to pre-fund the decommissioning liabilities for oil and gas wells. Energy-producing assets have a finite life. Oil and gas assets. It even applies to renewables. We're working on several renewable ideas with wind turbines, solar panel farms. It's a solution to provide funding for the decommissioning of that energy-producing asset, to make sure that there's money there when it comes time to shut it all down.

Q: Why is it important?

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A: Over the last several years, there's been a lot more attention from investors, regulators, companies, lenders that want to know who's gonna pay for the retirement when there's no more cash flowing from the wells. Over the course of the last 100 years, the industry has drilled millions of wells and found incredible resources. I felt like the one area that it really hadn't focused on was retirement. It's akin to pension liabilities in corporate America. It's akin to people saving for their retirement. The earlier you start doing it, the more effectively your capital can work for you. And we developed a product that solved for that.

Q: How does it work?

A: The way we did it is within an insurance company structure. Essentially what we did was we created a life insurance policy for oil and gas wells. When an oil company pays us for coverage on their wells, the majority of that money goes into the insurance company, where the insurance regulator oversees it. Independent actuaries oversee it. There's guidelines as to how that money is invested and grown over time.

Q: So the policy follows the well when its sold?

A: It's like attaching a bag of money to the well. And as the well goes through its life cycle, and often likely will change hands  big companies sell to smaller companies  there's a bag of money attached to that well. And to unlock that bag of money and access the funding, you have to plug the well. It's a way to guarantee that those monies are there for one sole purpose, which is to plug the well.

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Q: How do you calculate the risk associated with the wells you're covering?

A: Our process for underwriting actually resembles that of underwriting life insurance for a human. We look at the wells, we run actuarial analysis and we do a health check. How have they produced over time? What are the operating costs? How much margin are they generating? That gives us input to determine what's the likelihood of those walls lasting a long time. What we're really underwriting is the expected duration of the portfolio of wells. What our bet is, if you want to call it that, is a duration bet.

Q: How do you reach critical mass with this business model? Have you done that?
What are these birds really up to? Photo: Jose Luis Magana/AP

By this time next year, we may have forgotten all about the shadowy self-styled centrist group No Labels and its alleged plan to force both parties into bipartisan problem solving by running its own presidential candidate without forming a third party. Or we may be looking down the barrel of a second Trump presidency that No Labels enabled by splitting the vote. Yes, the group once claimed it wouldnt run a candidate unless its champion had a realistic chance of winning, and said that having a realistic chance of carrying a state or two and deadlocking the Electoral College might be the threshold. The groups ultimate aims are about as clear as its secret donor list.

Theyve been credibly accused by a lot of Democrats  most notably the Democrat-centrist group Third Way  of a civic version of what in criminal law is known as reckless endangerment, following a pattern of behavior likely to help replace Joe Biden with Trump. No Labels will apparently make a decision on whether to run a presidential and vice-presidential candidate, and whom those candidates might be, behind closed doors at some point this spring or early summer. In the meantime, it is spending its ample treasury on gaining ballot access for a mystery ticket; it has succeeded in 14 states so far, including the battlegrounds of Arizona, Nevada, and North Carolina.

No Labels has now dropped a pretty big hint about its bottom-line considerations in 2024, as Politico reports:

No Labels national co-chair Joe Lieberman said on Thursday that the nonpartisan group would consider Nikki Haley to be part of their potential unity presidential ticket if shes interested. 

He said that based on her record as governor of South Carolina and as ambassador to the United Nations, Governor Haley would deserve serious consideration to be part of their ticket if she were interested. We have no idea whether she would be, he added.

Team Haley predictably rebuffed the overture via text message to Politico: Nikki has no interest in No Labels, shes happy with the Republican label. But dig this:

Two people familiar with the groups thinking, who were granted anonymity to speak candidly, said that No Labels would prefer that Haley win the GOP nomination since shes a mainstream Republican. If Haley won the nomination, the group would likely not run a No Labels ticket.

If the idea is that No Labels is considering a unity ticket because both parties are heading toward unacceptable nominations  the Biden-Trump rematch that the organization has repeatedly deplored  then the big-time green light for Haley would indicate shes closer to the groups model of an ideal president than Biden. If its only real goal is to stop Donald Trump, then Biden, the only politician to have defeated the man, would seem the obvious choice. The incumbent has even embraced a sizable number of No Labels policy positions, from common-sense gun control to comprehensive immigration reform to national service to all-of-the-above energy initiative to a foreign policy based on alliances. Biden has also pursued the bipartisan legislation No Labels values most with surprising success, against very high odds.

What has Nikki Haley done to deserve higher esteem than Biden from No Labels? Lets see. She came out of and exemplified the extremist tea-party wing of the GOP in South Carolina and was elected governor as a protege of Sarah Palin. In office, her top initiative was economic development, which meant keeping unions  private as well as public sector  out of the state and offering subsidies to corporations, but she also made nods toward the Christian right by backing unsuccessful (because they were unconstitutional) abortion bans. She was one of the first politicians to be tapped for a Cabinet-level job in the Trump administration and has famously praised his presidential accomplishments while promising to pardon him for any criminal convictions he might experience if shes elected president.

As a presidential candidate, Haley has called for mass deportation of undocumented immigrants, an incredibly disruptive five-year term limit on federal employees, and expanded reliance on fossil fuels. Shes opposed anything resembling gun control and has also been a champion of reduced Social Security and Medicare benefits.

Its very clear that Haley is best understood as a hard-core holdover from the pre-Trump movement conservatives who arent happy with the 45th presidents America First foreign policies, his protectionism, and his open defiance of the Constitution, but are very far from anything resembling the political center. It says a lot that No Labels would fold its tent if shes on the ballot against Joe Biden but intends to stay the course if Biden is the alternative to Trump.
Sorry, Nikki. Photo: MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images

The upcoming South Carolina Republican presidential primary on February 24 was already looking like a existential challenge for the candidacy of the former governor of that state, Nikki Haley. If she manages to come out of New Hampshire on January 23 with something better than a humiliating loss, GOP opinion leaders are likely to give her one last chance to upset Donald Trump in her home state (if she actually wins in New Hampshire, that assessment could change to an expectation that she will beat Trump in South Carolina).

Unfortunately for Haley, South Carolina is a Trumpier venue than New Hampshire, and the 45th president currently leads her in the Palmetto State by 30 points (according to the RealClearPolitics polling averages), consistently taking about half the vote. It doesnt help that the zombie candidate who edged her in Iowa, Ron DeSantis, has chosen to make his last stand in South Carolina, and hes very sure to go after her hammer and tong.

Haley is already struggling with the fact that South Carolina doesnt exactly offer home cooking for her: Trump was endorsed many months ago by her successor as governor, Henry McMaster; by senior U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham; and by three of the four Republican U.S. House members who endorsed a candidate. And now she faces a new and perhaps more significant blow to her hold on her supposed base, as the New York Times reports:

Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina will endorse Donald J. Trump on Friday evening at a rally in New Hampshire, according to two people briefed on the matter.

Mr. Scott was traveling to Florida on Friday so that he could fly with Mr. Trump to New Hampshire for the rally, the two people said. 

Mr. Scott arrived at his decision only recently. After ending his own campaign for president on Nov. 12, he had said he would not endorse anytime soon. But he came to the conclusion that Mr. Trump was the best candidate to defeat President Biden, according to one person familiar with his thinking.

For Haley, this really has to sting. She, after all, appointed Scott to his Senate seat back in 2012. They have generally been regarded as close allies (they both, for example, endorsed Marco Rubio over Trump in 2016) up until the moment they each decided to run for president. And in many respects their views are more compatible with each others than with Trumps (they both strongly favor U.S. backing of Ukraine and conspicuously dont defend Trumps election-denial high-jink in 2020). If the Times is right and Scott justifies his endorsement on electability grounds, that certainly undermines Haleys own claim that she would be a much stronger contender against Joe Biden.

After New Hampshire votes, assuming she doesnt just pack it in, Haley will have a solid month to convince South Carolina Republicans (along with the independents who can participate in the GOP primary) to fall back in love with her. They could be really painful days and weeks if Trump keeps adding endorsements from the people who know their former governor best. There could, of course, be one more twist to the conjoined saga of Nikki and Tim: they might both wind up on the short list to become Trumps running mate, though she made a remark to some New Hampshire voters that may have put the kibosh on that idea:

News: @NikkiHaley just told a table of voters at a diner in Amherst, NH - I dont want to be anybodys vice-president, thats off the tablehttps://t.co/MhhWE34Vt0  Jonathan Martin (@jmart) January 19, 2024

Nikki Haley has to stay focused on New Hampshire for a few more days before worrying about facing a rebellion back home. But Tim Scott appearing in the camp of the opposition is a bad sign for a candidacy thats already looking like a half-court shot at the buzzer.
Photo: Robert F. Bukaty/AP

Donald Trumps recent behavior toward Nikki Haley does not suggest hes laying the groundwork to pick her as his running mate. While he was gracious toward all of his Republican rivals after he won the Iowa caucus on Monday night, less than 24 hours later he went back to attacking his closest New Hampshire primary rival. During a Tuesday-night rally he called Haley a disaster who did a poor job as his United Nations ambassador. Meanwhile on Truth Social he revived his nickname for her, Bird Brain, and addressed her as Nimrada, a misspelling of her first name, as a racist dog whistle (hes also floated birther claims against her). At another New Hampshire rally on Wednesday night, Trump baselessly accused Haley of trying to rig the primary and said shes nearly a Democrat, per the Washington Post:

Still, Trump argued during his rally here that Haley is counting on Democrats and liberals to infiltrate your Republican primary.

A vote for Nikki Haley this Tuesday is a vote for Joe Biden and a Democratic Congress this November, Trump said. (He went so far as to suggest that Haley would abandon her party, stating at one point: I actually think she might go to the Democrat Party.)

Obviously, plenty of presidential nominees have trashed their rivals during a primary only to invite them to join their ticket. So Trumps nasty remarks about Haley dont mean hes definitely ruled her out as his 2024 VP pick. And Haley foes in Trumps orbit are so worried about the possibility that theyre sounding alarms about how she might undermine his second term.

Some of these scenarios are pretty outlandish. Politicos Jonathan Martin reported on Thursday that Haley foes are warning Trump that making her his VP could lead to a coup attempt by Establishment Republicans:

Haleys critics have even privately warned Trump that, were he to make Haley first in line to the presidency, hed effectively be setting himself up for an intra-party coup, as GOP senators would use any legal or political pretext to remove him from office and elevate the more old guard-aligned Haley.

And Representative Matt Gaetz shared this vivid image of Haley plotting the MAGA movements downfall from the vice-presidents residence:

Nikki Haley as VP would be an establishment neocon fantasy and a MAGA nightmare, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) told me. On Day One she would convert the Naval Observatory into an anti-Trump, resistance headquarters, undermining him at every step.

It is hard to imagine a significant number of GOP senators successfully scheming to oust Trump in favor of Vice-President Haley. They had a pretty good pretext for barring Trump from office when he was impeached for incitement of insurrection in 2021, yet only seven Republican senators voted to convict in his second impeachment trial.

But it is true that having Haley waiting in the wings would empower Trumps GOP foes. As Martin notes, the uproar in MAGA World over the possibility of Haley as VP is really about whether Trump should cede any power by offering concessions to the GOP traditionalists hes poised to vanquish yet again.

Trump has suggested that after being betrayed (in his view) by former Vice-President Mike Pence, he values loyalty in a VP more than ever. And while Trump picked Pence to appease more traditional Republicans, thats much less of a concern these days; a recent ABC News/Ipsos poll shows three out of four Republican-leaning adults would be satisfied with Trump as their nominee. Plus, he has plenty of other VP options who arent working to block his third straight GOP presidential nomination, such as Elise Stefanik and Kristi Noem.

So why are Haley haters even worrying about her as a potential running mate? Well, according to Martin, Trump keeps bringing her up:

Trump has been told, by his son Don and others, that picking Haley would ensure a significant backlash from his populist base. Yet that hasnt stopped the former president, as he is wont to do, from quizzing people about her to test their reactions.

And some in Trumps organization believe, like [Senator Lindsey] Graham, that if Trump was convinced Haley could ensure victory hed put aside his reservations and ignore the pleas against her.

So maybe Haley is still in the veepstakes despite the many signs to the contrary. Or maybe Trump wants to keep even his closest allies guessing about his VP pick, though he recently teased, I know who its going to be.
i will still side eye them for firing her to begin with but i do hope this pans out. scream is my fav franchise of all time and the most consistent imo (dont @ me!!!)

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I feel the same way, I love the Scream franchise and have since I was a teen. I was pissed Spyglass potentially ruined one of my favs.



I hope the person (people?) responsible were fired and Melissa comes back.



Edited at 2024-01-19 03:07 am (UTC)

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if this is true and works out, i wouldn't be mad, as long as melissa isn't required to make any kind of compromise or walk back anything she's said, which i don't think she would, anyway. if it's true and she felt comfortable going back, then i wouldn't begrudge her. but i'd still much rather any future scream movie have nothing to do with spyglass



but like op said, huge grain of salt

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It's nice on Neve's part if she trying to get Melissa on board BUT what are the conditions cause they fired her for speaking truth.



I imagine an apology or acknowledgement from Spyglass would have to be on the table cause they shouldn't sweep it under the rug.

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the condition might be that Neve won't do it unless Melissa is on board. without either of them there is no scream. I mean they could do what they did for scream 4 but idk.

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Suddenly Jenna is free again.



Ive enjoyed the new films and would like to see more. Melissa improved so much in the last one and she was likable.

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I don't know enough about Scream, I just hope any bringing her back on board would not involve her retracting her beliefs that were the truth.

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At the very least Spyglass should be required to publicly apologize to Melissa.

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Has to cause if she signs on without it......

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Hmm  lets just hope for the best possible outcome

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Give her a heavy apology, Spyglass! It would be nice to see the Core Four again, so I do hope all these parties can work something out. Scream is my fav. horror franchise and it was amazing to see a group of POC lead the franchise, especially when the horror genre has a horrible reputation when it comes to POC storylines.

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She should never have been punished but I feel like I'm taking crazy pills when people say she's a good actress lol.

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She wasnt good in 5, but she was much better in 6.

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idk this seems fake to me lol, that the mama is just hopeful?



I just cant imagine a studio that would lowball Neve and then fire Melissa over Palestine, would then completely reverse course admitting their mistakes. we only ever see these type of corporations double down on their mistakes.

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i think the huge public outcry makes the difference. even with trades/the media trying to spin it, the public is clearly on melissa's side and with jenna dropping too, they're scrambling, so i wouldn't be surprised if they went back with their tail between their legs to try to salvage something

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idk I get the sense that Melissas firing in the first place may have been a decision unilaterally made by one person (Gary Barber) due to his personal views. i googled him when Melissa got fired and stumbled on his Facebook and all he posted on his acct was Israeli propaganda. if he went out of his way to make a bad business decision based on his own personal views rather than anything actually business related, the shareholders wouldnt be happy and he might be scrambling to protect his own position.

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Well well well look at ontd's very own Gale Weathers! That is interesting and I think you're onto something.

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i still haven't seen scream 6 but i really want this to be true.

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Scream 6 was genuinely so good, imo. It got me really invested in the new characters. You should check it out!

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hang it up, flat scream

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If Jenna Ortega quit over that whole thingdoesnt this kinda fuck her over?

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I imagine they will ask her to make herself available, her character is Melissa's character's conscience.

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i would assume they'd bring her back. it would be easy to walk back the "scheduling conflicts" thing by saying that moved things around

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Thats presuming that they want her back and shed just have to walk back the conflicts but not considering that they may not ask her back.

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I would imagine it feels pretty good knowing the studio has to come crawling back after treating you like shit. How validating.

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That's so shitty. Hollywood is beyond toxic. I hope those people feel stupid seeing how successful she is now.



Question for Succession fans: Is it still worth watching if I know how it all plays out? I often follow conversations about shows even if I don't watch them and I now have access to the series. So I'm wondering if the show will land as well even if I know what to expect.

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Yes, it is 100 percent still worth the watch!

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The plot isn't what makes Succession great, it's the acting and the dialogue. And the music!! It's very much still worth a watch!

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It is so witty and well written.

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Absolutely worth watching and rewatching. As a quick note, the pilot's different from the rest, so keep going.

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I want to say yes, but I have a hard time getting through the episodes. I've been stuck on season 2 for 6 months. i'm tempted to just look up the spoilers.

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Yes  as driving as the plot it for the themes of the show, it's an immaculately made show and the performances are some of the best on TV of all time. It's very much like Mad Men in that it's not really what happens but how it's carried out that defines the show. The writing is astounding, as is the score.



Edited at 2024-01-19 04:00 pm (UTC)

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Yep! I rewatch episodes bc Im always seeing stuff I missed. Theres a lot of little details that are fun to pick up on during rewatches.

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yes

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Ive watched two seasons and while its an objectively good show, I thought it dragged a LOT. The episodes are long and they feel long. Knowing what happens didnt change much for me, the acting is so solid that I was essentially watching for the actors but as far as the script/narrative goes, it was a bit of a chore to me.

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Yeah, the show is really not about the plot, despite what the annoying people on Reddit think.

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yes absolutely - it might not have the same impact of going in without spoilers, but it's a show i rewatch regularly and i get some much out of those rewatches.

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Absolutely. I accidentally started watching it on episode 1 of season 4 (I wish this mishap was filmed because it was 10 mins of my fiance and I trying to make sense of the plot not knowing theres SO much backstory ) so I got the gist of where everyone was at later on. But, that didnt make the show any less exciting (and anxiety inducing, tbh, lol).

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like everyone says, everything works perfectly together: the music, the script, the acting, the production value. it is really prestige TV at its best.



i first started succession when season 2 was airing and there was already a ton of praise - but i could barely get through the pilot, i couldn't connect at all. then around episode 4 or 5, it clicked and i was hooked. looking back, the first few episodes don't give you a lot of exposition like other shows. instead it drops you right into the plot so you can focus on how each character interacts with each other, and how every relationship is different and intertwined at the same time. jesse armstrong won the emmy for best writing every season and he deserved it tbh (i can't even be mad as a better call saul diehard)

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I started watching last year after the show ended. I ate it up in like 2 weeks. Loved it. Season 1 took the most time to get into, but it was worth it.

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just another yes, absolutely

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I need to check it out after only seeing one or two episodes for free. I enjoyed it and thought it was great by far. Im probably willing to pay~ for the subscription so to watch it in full tbh. Its that much worth it lmao

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My thing is if a show can be ruined by spoilers then it wasn't a good show at all.



From another voice saying yes: TO ME, Succession is not a show that is ruined by spoilers, so worth the watch.

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Yeah. The journey is what makes it.

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Yes.



First few eps are kind of slow but the it picks up in ep 6 of the first season

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especially now that it's over, the plot feels pretty beside the point to me. it's all about the characters, the relationships, the acting and the insanely clever and witty writing which is the best ive ever seen on a tv show

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YES. the show has never been about the plot. it's very dialogue/character-driven

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i'm sorry no one responded to you. Yes.

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because youre a nobody,

That's so rude. I'm sure she knew her standing in the industry.

Being on the receiving end of that type of comment is so hurtful.



On the same project, Snook revealed that she ate a small piece of cake, and a producer told her off in front of cast and crew, while a costume designer told her to keep eating. And all the while I am dying inside.

well that's gross





Edited at 2024-01-19 03:06 pm (UTC)

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Gross. Sarah is very talented but that has never been the only thing that matters, unfortunately.



These people need to be less obsessed with aesthetics and more focused on talent. Enroll these actors some elocution and ballet classes. I don't give a shit about someone's teeth or back fat but it's a problem when they are mumbling and stumbling all over the screen.

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Old Hollywood used to put all their new talent through acting courses, elocution lessions and PR training. They need to start doing that again.

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There was a LOT wrong with Old Hollywood but elocution and movement training were solid investments in talent. PR training should be a given now seeing as actors are expected to interact with the media a lot more than in previous decades.

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eh, old hollywood also fueled their stars with drugs to get them through the rigorous schedule.

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She is incredibly talented. It's sad she has to live and work in spite of toxic and demeaning Hollywood culture, and that it's not an oddity.

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running to imdb to see which film this was! will not stand for any slander against my girl from anyone!!!!

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My first instinct as well. I'm guessing Not Suitable for Children. It seems to line up.

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yep that was what i was thinking too.

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I really hate the American film culture that everyone (especially women) has to look perfect. It's shitty and toxic for the actors but also it can really stop my disbelief from being suspended. Not everyone has to be ~*fuckable*~ by gross Hollywood exec standards which is to say underweight and underage.

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also I HATE IT as a viewer. I want to see more normal people on-screen

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Im so sick of Hollywoods obsession with only perfect looking people.

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this is just one small part but it makes stories less believable when youre seeing all the actors portraying normal ppl have perfect pearly teeth





enough with perfection!

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I wish more actors would name names and shame these people. I'm glad that Sarah had people in her corner on set. That behavior is reprehensible. Why is it the producer's business what the actors eat?

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I imagine theyre afraid of getting blacklisted by the producer. Harvey Weinstein wasnt an isolated case. Hollywood is infested with people that would gladly ruin someones career for speaking out.

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That costume designer knew what was up. Good on them for telling her it's okay to ignore naysayers and eat a meal.

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she makes me want a sassy bob

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Same but my hair will look like I stuck my finger in a light socket 99% of the time

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It's pathetic that the bar is THIS low, but in many scenes throughout Succession I was like "wow, she's actually allowed to have curves and not look like a size 2, and the costumers actually know how to dress her." And she's talented as fuck, you'd think that would matter more!



also I know I say this all the time but watch Predestination pls <3

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why didnt I know about this film its up my alley in every way. ty!

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Honestly no one did, it got like ZERO attention when it came out.  I went to see it on a whim back in Jan 2015 because it had good reviews and I was desperate to see something, and it blew my miiiiind and made me a stan <3

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Predestination is a trip! but it's amazing, Sarah really has the range! I loved Shiv's wardrobe (except the s3 Italy episodes), and combined with Sarah's complexion and personal confidence made for a magnetic presence





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ok not that it ever matters but she was HOT. the episode with her and tom's wedding and her reception dress had me  !! the costuming was interesting because in an interview the costume designer wanted to make it clear she doesn't really know what she's doing style-wise when she's not looking for power (i.e., in corporatewear) and that she obviously doesn't have any female friends who will tell her when she looks bad. that's such an interesting juicy character detail we wouldn't have if she looked like ceo barbie.

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ikr the amount of times i was looking at her very respectfully thinking how incredible she looks! serving body on screen and irl

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I just love her so much

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Yes, take all the character out of someone's appearance.



Are producers out of touch or just obsessed with wielding power over others? Likely both.

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And I bet they arent so perfect looking themselves

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Youre a nobody





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ASSP Safety 2024 Conference Now Open for Registration

The annual event is heading to Denver from August 7-9.

The American Society of Safety Professionals (ASSP) has begun registration for this years edition of its flagship event, Safety 2024 Professional Development Conference and Exposition.

Scheduled from August 7-9, 2024, this annual event marks the 63rd year of the conference and will be held at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver. Safety 2024 is recognized for its networking and educational opportunities, with over 200 continuing education sessions tailored for safety professionals and a focus on best practices, industry trends and product innovations.

Our conference and expo is a dynamic learning and networking experience that supports our mission to help protect workers in every industry worldwide, ASSP President Jim Thornton said in a statement. Its a place to find real solutions to occupational safety and health challenges, especially now when environments can quickly change. Were excited about the experience we have in store for attendees.

Safety 2024 promises an expo of more than 500 exhibitors, featuring innovative safety solutions aimed at reducing workplace hazards and risks. And this year, the event adds an expanded Career Advancement Center designed with all attendees in mind. Safety professionals attending the conference can earn up to 1.5 continuing education units (CEUs) for career advancement.

Interested parties can register online now through March 21 to secure the discounted early rate.
The variability of renewable energy is one of the key hurdles standing between us and a net-zero future. Unlike baseload fossil fuels, which can be easily manipulated to produce enough supply to meet demand at any given time, renewable energy sources like solar and wind power depend on uncontrollable elements like the weather and the time of day. Finding a way to better match renewable energy supply with demand will therefore be critical to meeting global decarbonization goals.

The leading solution for this problem of variability is long-term energy storage. While the sector is still in its infancy, energy storage is on course to become an incredibly lucrative industry. Law firm Morgan Lewis has referred to the storage sector as the technology that will cash the checks written by the renewable energy industry, and described that the global energy storage market will continue its rapid growth, with an estimated 387 gigawatts (GW) of new energy storage capacity expected to be added by 2030a 15-fold increase in global energy storage capacity compared to the end of 2021.

When solar panels and wind turbines are producing more energy than the grid calls for, that excess production can be stored in large battery facilities until the equation is flipped and demand outstrips production, at which point that stored energy from earlier can be pumped back into the grid and into consumers homes and businesses. Energy stored at peak daylight hours could be released as electricity later that same night, or it could be stored throughout the summer and released over the winter months when the days grow shorter and solar panels are less productive. Energy storage is still an extremely nascent field, however, and lithium-ion batteries, the current leading technology, arent capable of storing energy long enough to provide a real solution.

While many researchers are dedicated to finding long-term energy storage solutions, others are looking for a different approach to tackling the variability issue, and coming up with some promising out-of-the-box solutions. In one of the more inventive examples, a team of scientists in Scotland think that hanging huge mirrors in the atmosphere could dramatically help boost the output of solar panels in the hours around dusk and dawn. The concept itself is not a new one. It was dreamed up as early as the 1920s and was proven by a team of Russian scientists in 1993 when the 20-meter (66-foot) Znamya-2 space mirror successfully reflected light down to Earth that was (dimly) visible in the night sky in some regions of Europe.

But things have changed since then  not only has the technology advanced, orbital launches are now a whole lot cheaper. A University of Glasgow team believes that now's the right time to give solar reflectors a serious crack, since SpaceX and other private companies promise they'll soon drive the per-kilogram cost of orbital launches down low enough that these reflectors could be commercially viable, New Atlas reported this week.

The idea is that the so-called Solspace project would launch reflective satellites into orbit and put them on a rotation that hits as many terrestrial solar farms as possible along its path, timing its flyover for the times of day when the sun isnt shining directly on the photovoltaic panels, thereby giving a healthy boost to the farms production at a time when production is typically waning and demand is spiking. And while the reflected light would be bright enough to make a difference to the grid, it wouldnt be bright enough to cause light pollution, the team says.

While the idea of the reflectors is novel in its approach, Solspace is only the latest in a wave of space-age solar research and development. Researchers have also been working on sending the solar farms themselves into space, where the sun would never set on them. The energy they produce could then be beamed back down to Earth. Recent studies have shown that advancements in cost-effective, durable solar panels suitable for space conditions have seriously increased the viability of space-based solar energy. And in June of last year, scientists at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) made history when they successfully beamed solar power from space back down to Earth.

These developments are as critical as they are exciting. Dreaming big has never been more necessary as the world faces unprecedented energy and environmental challenges. At a time when the urgency of decarbonization has never been greater, but limitations faced by solar farms are also increasing at a brisk clip, the final frontier offers some key opportunities that could reshape and redefine the way we power our world.

By Haley Zaremba for Oilprice.com

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Balochistan has been in a situation of low-level insurgency for many years, and there is a fair amount of cross-border activity on the part of the Sunni militant group operating there. The groups founder and former leader was captured and executed by Iran in 2010. The groups main target is Iranian security forces. The U.S. has

Tensions are heightened right now in the region, so Tuesdays attack on Pakistan carries more weight, but it is not the first time Iran has targeted this militant group in the border region. Pakistan is a country that is around 90% Sunni, with a Shiite minority, while Iran is Shiite, with a Sunni Baloch minority. The Iran-Pakistan border is some 1,000 kilometers long and the attack was in Balochistan, the largest province in Pakistan, which borders Iran.

Iran breached Pakistani airspace on Tuesday, launching a drone strike across the border into Balochistan, targeting the bases of the Sunni militant group, Jaish Al Adl. The drone strike is said to have claimed the lives of two children, and Pakistan vowed retaliation. Because this strike comes on the heels of Iranian strikes in Syria and Iraq, it is being described as an escalation of the regional conflict that followed the October 7 attack by Hamas on Israel and Israel's heavy-handed retaliation. However, this is not directly related to the Israel-Hamas conflict or the widening of that conflict by proxy or otherwise in Lebanon, Syria, or Iraq.

Iran breached Pakistani airspace on Tuesday, launching a drone strike across the border into Balochistan, targeting the bases of the Sunni militant group, Jaish Al Adl. The drone strike is said to have claimed the lives of two children, and Pakistan vowed retaliation. Because this strike comes on the heels of Iranian strikes in Syria and Iraq, it is being described as an escalation of the regional conflict that followed the October 7 attack by Hamas on Israel and Israel's heavy-handed retaliation. However, this is not directly related to the Israel-Hamas conflict or the widening of that conflict by proxy or otherwise in Lebanon, Syria, or Iraq.

Tensions are heightened right now in the region, so Tuesdays attack on Pakistan carries more weight, but it is not the first time Iran has targeted this militant group in the border region. Pakistan is a country that is around 90% Sunni, with a Shiite minority, while Iran is Shiite, with a Sunni Baloch minority. The Iran-Pakistan border is some 1,000 kilometers long and the attack was in Balochistan, the largest province in Pakistan, which borders Iran.

Balochistan has been in a situation of low-level insurgency for many years, and there is a fair amount of cross-border activity on the part of the Sunni militant group operating there. The groups founder and former leader was captured and executed by Iran in 2010. The groups main target is Iranian security forces. The U.S. has also designed Jaish Al Adl as a terrorist organization.

The multi-ethnic Balochistan province in Pakistan is highly restive, and more so since the Chinese have begun using this area of Pakistan as a key infrastructure feature for its BRI ambitions. These projects have resulted in forced relocations in Balochistan, at best, and violent attacks, at worst. Baloch militants have attacked the infrastructure projects, the most important of which is the Gwadar Port expansionan essential feature of Chinas work in the country. To achieve their BRI ambitions, the sentiment seems to be that the Baloch militants are a major obstacle that needs to be dealt with.

For this reason, we question Pakistans will to respond to the Iranian drone strike in any meaningful way; though it will certainly pay lip service through publicly aired angry condemnation to prevent further dangerous unrest in the province. We include Pakistans strike on Sistan Balochistan late on Wednesday, on the Iranian side of the border, in this not meaningful category. It was not meant to escalate the situation with Iran; rather, the strike was intended to appease restive Balochistan.

With regard to Irans initial attack on Pakistani territory, the only real takeaway here is Tehrans lack of creativity in strategy in dealing with its security threats. There is no strategy other than a missile barrage, and this does nothing to deter the threats lining up against Iran. Instead, it reveals Iran as a state actor that behaves in exactly the same way as its proxies, such as Hezbollah and its offshoots. This, in turn, makes a similar, likely one-off, Pakistani missile response a fairly easy way out. One, and done, and nothing is achieved for Iran in terms of eliminating threats.
The Russian military intercepted a drone over St. Petersburg on Monday night, forcing the Pulkovo International Airport to ground flights as a precaution (only briefly), according to The Moscow Times. This is the first time St. Petersburg has been targeted by a presumably Ukrainian drone since

We wont spend too much time on the German tabloid report on the imminent war between NATO and Russia. Bild, the German tabloid, has (as intended) started a viral rumor that Russia is planning to invade Europe by targeting NATOs weak spot in a corridor connecting Belarus with the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad. The Bild report is sparking a frenzy of war fear by citing a leaked document from the German Defense Ministry. While the document is simply a military training scenario, of which there are many, the story has been spun and respun as direct evidence that Russia is planning to launch this war as early as February by deploying more troops to Belarus and Kaliningrad. This is a brazen manipulation of the media and a brazen misrepresentation of the documentation used in citing.

In northern Iraq, an Iranian missile this week targeted what Tehran claimed to be an Israeli spy center in Erbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan. More than half a dozen explosions resulted in the death of at least four people in residential areas. The nature of the attack sparked condemnation from Baghdad, which recalled its ambassador to Tehran.

Politics, Geopolitics & Conflict

In northern Iraq, an Iranian missile this week targeted what Tehran claimed to be an Israeli spy center in Erbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan. More than half a dozen explosions resulted in the death of at least four people in residential areas. The nature of the attack sparked condemnation from Baghdad, which recalled its ambassador to Tehran.

We wont spend too much time on the German tabloid report on the imminent war between NATO and Russia. Bild, the German tabloid, has (as intended) started a viral rumor that Russia is planning to invade Europe by targeting NATOs weak spot in a corridor connecting Belarus with the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad. The Bild report is sparking a frenzy of war fear by citing a leaked document from the German Defense Ministry. While the document is simply a military training scenario, of which there are many, the story has been spun and respun as direct evidence that Russia is planning to launch this war as early as February by deploying more troops to Belarus and Kaliningrad. This is a brazen manipulation of the media and a brazen misrepresentation of the documentation used in citing.

The Russian military intercepted a drone over St. Petersburg on Monday night, forcing the Pulkovo International Airport to ground flights as a precaution (only briefly), according to The Moscow Times. This is the first time St. Petersburg has been targeted by a presumably Ukrainian drone since Russias invasion. The drone appeared to be targeting the St. Petersburg Oil Terminal. Ukrainian sources claim responsibility for the drone, the intention of which was to send a message to Moscow that Ukrainian weapons are now capable of reaching as far as St. Petersburg. Drones were also intercepted in Podolsk (south of Moscow) and in the Belgorod region.

Presidential elections in Taiwan this week saw victory for Vice President Lai Ching-te of the Progressive Party (DPP), though no party won an outright majority, promising a fragmented government. China policy is of key interest here, but we feel mainstream media is overexaggerating the potential consequences of the election outcome. While China would have liked to see the DPP out of the presidency finally, this development is not, as mainstream media would have us believe, the precursor to an all-out war. The point for Beijing is not necessarily to win control over Taiwan through the election of the right president; rather, it is simply to ensure that it does not move too far in the other direction. Lai Ching-tes victory is simply status quo.

Discovery & Development

Eni and Chevron made a new gas discovery from the Nargis-1 well in the offshore Nargis concession. Chevron is operator with 45% interest, with Egypts Tharwa Petroleum holding a 10% interest. Eni holds the remainder. The new discovery is located next to some of Enis existing facilities. Egypt currently imports some gas from Israel even as its giant Zohr field came online last year due to the countrys growing demand.

A court in Norway invalidated three permits it had granted for the development of offshore oil and gas fields because the environmental impact wasnt properly considered. The lawsuit was originally filed by Greenpeace and Nature and Youth. The three permits include Equinors Breidablikk field and Aker BPs Yggdrasil and Tyrving fields. Combined they hold 875 million boe.

Deals, Mergers & Acquisitions

Talos Energy will acquire QuarterNorth Energya privately held GoM E&P company for $1.29B. The deal will see QuarterNorth receive 24.8 million of Talos stock and $965 million in cash. Talos will acquire 30,000 boepd of new production for 2024 and 69 MMBoe in proved reserves. It is also expecting its base decline rate to improve by 20%, which it hopes will reduce its required investment next year.

Swedens Maha Energy acquired 5% of Brazils 3R Petroleum and proposed a carve-out of its onshore oil assets, which would be combined with another company, PetroReconcavo. The combined company will have an output of 80,000 boepd in 2024. The two companies signed an MOU in 2022 to explore the opportunities to share facilities and resources.

The European Commission has approved the acquisition of Germanys Quadra Energy by TotalEnergies after determining that the deal would not raise competition concerns.
Last year proved to be an annus mirabilis for the natural gas and LNG sectors after gas prices in key markets crashed spectacularly after hitting record highs. Europes key front-month Dutch Title Transfer Facility (TTF) hit an all-time high of 340 per megawatt-hour in August 2022 as Europe went into a gas buying spree as it tried to fill its gas stores ahead of winter after weaning itself off Russian gas. In the United States, Henry Hub gas prices hit a 15-year high of $9.24 per MMBtu around the same time European gas peaked

Unfortunately, booming production coupled with mild weather has completely reversed the natural gas price trajectory, with natural gas prices falling to below 30 per megawatt-hour, the lowest level since August 4th, while Henry Hub gas has now sunk to $2.74/MMBtu.

And, gas traders who were hoping for anything that remotely resembles the 2022 epic rally are in for another disappointment, with Wall Street predicting that 2024 will be yet another down year for gas prices. In its report dubbed Global Gas and LNG: 5 things to look out for in 2024, Wood Mackenzie has forecast that high storage levels in Europe coupled with a mild Northern Hemisphere winter will keep global gas prices subdued in the current year.

[Wood Mackenzie] has been forecasting lower 2024 prices for much of last year, especially compared to forward curves, amid weak market fundamental expectations. Global LNG supply growth will remain limited at 14 million, but with Asian LNG demand still weak, competition for LNG is unlikely to heat up, Massimo Di Odoardo, Vice President of Gas Research at Wood Mackenzie, has said.

Source: Trading Economics

European gas demand came in 7% lower in 2023 compared to the previous year, thanks in large part to mild weather. Under ordinary circumstances, normal weather dynamics as well as a possible economic rebound in the continent would support demand; however, with renewable supply expected to surge to more than 100 TWh and nuclear production gradually increasing, demand is expected to remain flat at best. Related: Climate Groups Defeat Norwegian Government In Court Battle

Wood Mac anticipates a more positive outlook on Asian demand outlook, with demand expected to grow by 12.5 million tonnes, 5% higher compared to 2023. Still, 2024 demand will come in nearly 3 million tonnes lower than levels in 2021.

Further, the report has forecast that the global LNG shipping market is at serious risk of oversupply, with 60 LNG carriers set to be commissioned in 2024.

Altogether, the 60 new vessels equate to 10.4 million m3 of LNG shipping capacity, sufficient to move 54 million typ of LNG between the US Gulf Coast and Eu-rope. There will be limited organic LNG supply growth and the bulk of US LNG its still expected to be routed to Europe, rather than Asia, limiting demand for shipping and putting pressure on freight rates, Di Odoardo has said.

Wood Macs predictions appear to be already taking shape. European gas prices have dropped 13.6% in the year-to-date despite a cold snap coupled with a relative lack of wind-power generation having triggered a spike in EU gas withdrawals over the past week. Europes gas inventories decreased by 1.32 bcm on 15th January 2024 to 92.31 billion cubic meters (bcm) on 14 January, with the withdrawal rate 14.76 bcm above the five-year average. Unfortunately, Europes gas inventories remain higher-than-average, and the latest big inventory draw has failed to give prices any kind of momentum. However, the situation is more bullish in the United States with falling supply and extreme cold weather helping Henry hub gas prices climb 12.1% year-to-date, though prices are 20.0% lower than year-ago.

Offshore Oil Is Booming

Thankfully, not all corners of the energy sector are expected to remain lackluster. The ongoing offshore oil boom is expected to continue for years to come. Global offshore oil and gas markets posted robust growth in 2023, with the proprietary Clarksons Offshore Index that tracks offshore support vessels (OSV), rig counts and subsea day rates climbing 27% to a multi-year high of 106 points. Even better for the bulls, the index is projected to reach all-time high in 2024. OSV, rig and Subsea markets have been particularly robust, particularly in the Middle East, Brazil and West Africa.

Last year, offshore crude production clocked in at 25.5 MMbpd (27% of global oil output), up 3.0% y-o-y, while offshore gas production came in at 129 Bcfgd (32% of global gas supply), up 1.9% y-o-y.

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Investment interest in the global offshore oil and gas sector is in the pink of health, with Clarksons predicting that global offshore oil and gas CAPEX will set another record at $125 billion in the current year, up from the previous record of $116 billion in 2023.

By Alex Kimani for Oilprice.com

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Oral accounts of 2012 terror attack unveiled

13:25, January 19, 2024 By Li Lei ( China Daily

Chinese researchers published on Thursday oral accounts by survivors of a terrorist attack that occurred in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region 12 years ago, turning the spotlight on a group of people who they say have long been understudied by scholars and have remained hidden from the public eye.

The report, titled "Victims and Survivors of Terrorism in China: An Oral History", was released at a seminar held at Jinan University in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province. It reveals the harrowing experiences of those who lived through the atrocities that took place on a pedestrian street in southern Xinjiang's Yecheng county on Feb 28, 2012.

Nine terrorists, who failed to execute their original plan that involved attacking students of nearby elementary and middle schools, went on a killing spree on Xingfu Road that evening, leaving 13 people dead and 16 injured on the spot, most of them passers-by or shopkeepers. Two victims later died in a hospital.

Local authorities quickly swung into action. Seven terrorists were shot dead, one was fatally wounded and one was arrested.

Zheng Liang, lead author of the report and director of the university's Institute for Communication and Borderland Governance, said the document was the first of its kind in China and was aimed at shedding light on terror attack survivors who have so far received little or no attention from academia and the media.

Studies on terrorist attacks in China have mostly focused on the perpetrators in the past, he said, adding that it was high time that survivors who grapple with lifelong trauma receive the attention they deserve.

"They are also heroes, unsung heroes," Zheng said. "They refused to be beaten down. They tried to stand up again. They tried to carry on with their lives."

Tursun Talip, who lost his son Turghunjan, an auxiliary police officer, in the attack, was among the six people  survivors of the attack or relatives of the victims  interviewed for the report.

The 68-year-old, then an employee of the local education bureau, was working at a school that was among the original targets. He received a phone call warning him of the impending attack. He was told to inform the security staff and close the school gate.

"I learned something had happened at the market's entrance (on Xingfu Road)," Tursun Talip said during his interview with the researchers in July 2022. "My heart skipped a beat as I realized that my son was on duty there."

He hopped onto a motorbike and raced to the scene of the attack, but by the time he reached there, his worst nightmare had come true. Police escorted him to a hospital. After waiting anxiously for hours, he was informed that his son was dead, and he needed to identify the body.

"I saw the wounds on my son's neck, and here (shoulder and neck), and there (right arm)," Tursun Talip said.

The report published on Thursday was part of a project formally launched by the researchers in 2021 to catalog stories told by survivors of terrorist attacks in China.

"Starting in 2020, I have used my personal connections to find these people," Zheng said. "We locate one person, and through that particular person we eventually meet more. In academic parlance, it is called snowball sampling."

He said the team interviewed more than 60 survivors over the past three years, and amassed more than 1 million Chinese characters of transcripts and 90 hours of audio and video clips.

The researchers also cross-referenced their stories to ensure the accuracy of the accounts, given that the events happened more than a decade ago and many survivors had tried to leave their traumatic experiences behind.

Challenging task

Zheng said the task of compiling the report had not only been physically challenging  the interviewees were scattered across Xinjiang, which accounts for about one-fifth of China's territory  but also psychologically difficult.

"They walked us through their traumatic experiences, and we actually felt their pain and agony, and their unwillingness to accept the fact that they've lost their loved ones," he said. "They said they couldn't sleep at night, because when they closed their eyes, they saw their loved ones."

The members of the research team suffered a certain degree of trauma themselves from hearing all these stories over and over again, he added.

The report will help the Chinese people and the world better understand what happened to the survivors of the Xinjiang terrorist attack more than a decade ago, and it will also help them understand China's counterterrorism efforts, according to Zheng.

The Chinese approach to counterterrorism is tackling the root cause, he said, adding that the approach is multifaceted, ranging from antipoverty efforts to projects aimed at creating local jobs and promoting schooling for young children.

Speaking at the seminar virtually, Ma Dazheng, a borderland governance researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said that history must not be forgotten as these stories can help people stay vigilant.

He said the accounts of atrocities will deal a heavy blow to those external forces seeking to smear Chinese counterterrorism efforts. "The evil nature of such attacks must be fully explained to the public," he said.

In its foreword, the report said that Zheng's project will continue to seek out eyewitnesses and survivors of terrorist attacks nationwide, focusing on their experiences and stories. It also welcomed more witnesses to share their stories by contacting [email protected].

(Web editor: Tian Yi, Liang Jun)
Sunterra, a development of Land Tejas/Starwood Land in the Katy area, is one of the nation's top communities for home sales. Starwood Land

As homebuyers flock to new suburban Houston construction, the region has become the U.S. leader in home sales at master-planned communities tracked by residential real estate consulting firm RCLCO.

Overall, 12 master-planned communities in the Houston area are among the national list of the 50 best-selling master-planned communities in 2023. In total these communities sold almost 8,300 homes last year, according to RCLCO.

Homebuyers in Houston are gravitating toward new homes in these master-planned communities as they struggle to find affordably priced options in the existing home sales market. Homebuilders continue to offer incentives to make new home purchases more affordable and attractive, such as buying down mortgage rates and contributing toward closing costs, said Cameron Pawelek a principal at RCLCO.

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The new housing market in Houston continues to demonstrate its resilience, fueled by robust economic growth and favorable demographic tailwinds. Unlike the existing home market, where limited inventory has constrained resale transactions, new homebuilders have housing inventory for the first time in several years, Pawelek said.

Houston-area developers also continue to invest in amenities and other infrastructure to generate more sales, he added.

The Sunterra community in Katy was the top-selling community across the Houston region last year, and No. 3 nationally in RCLOs ranking. Sales soared 63% in the Land Tejas/Starwood Land last year with 1,293 homes sold. Howard Hughes Bridgeland community in Cypress also placed among the top five nationally after selling 985, a 74% jump from the previous year.

Other communities among the top 50 include: Marvida in Cypress; Tammaron in Katy; Baytown Crossing in Baytown; Caldwell Ranch in Rosharon; Breckenridge Forest in Spring; Sienna in Missouri City; Tavola in New Caney; Meridiana in Rosharon; Elyson in Katy; and Jordan Ranch in Fulshear.

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New Dawn Energy will move its headquarters to 1011 Highway 6 S in the Energy Corridor sometime after February. Mohammad Raheel/ Courtesy Transwestern

Energy firm moving

Oil and gas firm New Dawn Energy recently purchased a 103,332-square-foot office building in the Energy Corridor with plans to move its headquarters to the three-story building.

New Dawn Energy plans to move sometime after February to 1011 Texas 6 S. The company bought the 1980s-era building in October for an undisclosed price from the California firm BH Commercial. The new space is more than double what the company has at it current home, at 3100 S. Gessner in Westchase, where its operated for the past eight years, said Ehsan Bayat, executive vice president of New Dawn.

Bayat said the company wanted to own its real estate to give it the opportunity to grow. The move will also put it closer to its peers in the Energy Corridor. New Dawn will take up about 30,000 square feet for its own offices, with another 20,000 to lease to other companies, Bayat said.

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New Dawn plans to upgrade the buildings common areas and lobbies, in addition to improving its office space with a movie theater, among other things.

We want our staff to enjoy working and be able to take breaks from the daily grind, Bayat said.

An aerial view of 3555 Timmons Lane recently purchased by Dallas-based Novel Office. Novel Office

Office tower renovation

Dallas real estate firm Novel Office recently bought a 15-story office tower near Greenway Plaza with plans to invest $4 million into upgrading the 1980s-era building this year, according to Transwestern, which is handling leasing for the tower.

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Novel bought the 225,895-square-foot office at 3555 Timmons Lane for an undisclosed price in mid-December from an entity tied to the commercial real estate investor Unilev, according to Harris County records. The tower was 70.8% occupied at the time of the acquisition, according to Transwestern.

Despite market challenges, Novel Office feels there is an ongoing demand for office space in Greenway Plaza driven by specific industry needs, local economic factors and other considerations that make the property attractive to potential tenants. We are confident in the resilience of the area and believe that location-specific factors will contribute to the property's future success, said Abhishek Kumar of Novel Office in a statement.

Planned renovations for 3555 Timmons include adding move-in ready suites, which tap into a growing trend of landlords offerings turnkey office space.
Recent months of compounding crises in the Middle East have exposed China's limited commitment and ability to play a leading role in the region, and as I explained here, Beijing isn't necessarily well-positioned to benefit from the newfound chaos.

Finding Perspective: Since the beginning of Israel's ongoing war in Gaza, China has gradually taken a backseat toward the conflict.

Beijing has used the large-scale humanitarian crisis and mounting civilian casualties in Gaza as an opportunity to blame the hostilities on the United States's Middle East policies at global forums like the UN and through official statements and state-led media.

But while Chinese diplomats have toured various Middle East capitals and hosted officials from the region in China, Beijing has little to show from such efforts and may have even seen its stock dip in the region.

Beijing frames itself as a "responsible major power" and has looked to play a role as a peace broker, recently calling for a peace conference and a timetable to implement a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine on January 14.

But this positioning has also brought more scrutiny for China to act and deliver solutions, especially from countries across the Global South, and Beijing has so far not met those expectations.

This can also be seen in China's reaction to the Huthi attacks meant to deter commercial shipping in the Red Sea and Suez Canal.

Beijing has decried the attacks, and even though Chinese-flagged vessels have been targeted, it has not been part of the effort to bring the attacks to an end.

This could also grow further against China's interests, with the attacks frustrating Chinese investors who have committed billions to projects around the Suez Canal and stand to profit from safe passage through the waterway.

Protracted conflict in the region could continue to grow and further threaten Chinese personnel across North Africa and the Middle East and the investments that state-owned corporations have been making there for the past decade.

Why It Matters: This is all a dramatic reversal from how things looked less than a year ago.

In March 2023, China brokered a historic deal between regional rivals Iran and Saudi Arabia and sidelined the United States in the process.

As peace talks spread across the region -- from Qatar to Turkey to Syria -- China's top diplomat Wang Yi declared that a "wave of reconciliation" was sweeping the Middle East in August, with Beijing's alternative vision for a global order taking shape.

But the war in Gaza and the expanding list of crises has undone that narrative. Now, as China faces a very different political and security landscape in the Middle East, it must adapt on the fly.

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This opens up lots of questions moving forward.

How will China maintain its official "neutrality" in the region and balance between its longtime partner in Iran and the more economically appealing Sunni Gulf countries like Saudi Arabia? Is China willing to spend its political capital on Israel-Palestine diplomacy? And how can China continue to shape events in the Middle East as the regional conversation shifts more toward security concerns?

By RFE/RL

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Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has called Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev's latest remarks about border delimitation/demarcation and transit links "totally unacceptable" and a "blow" to the peace process.

"I promise a financial reward to anyone who finds the term 'Zangezur corridor' in the November 9 agreement," Pashinyan told a group of MPs on January 13.

It was an ironic reference to the Azerbaijani side's contention, reiterated recently by Aliyev, that the provision on opening transit links in the Russian-brokered peace accord that ended the 2020 Second Karabakh War stipulates a seamless corridor through Armenia connecting mainland Azerbaijan and the Nakhchivan exclave, without Armenian border or customs checks.

That idea is referred to in Azerbaijan as the "Zangezur corridor" and Baku has pushed for it with varying degrees of intensity since the 2020 ceasefire. Early last year it seemed to back down on the demand in the context of the peace talks.

In early October, shortly after Azerbaijan's lightning offensive to seize the whole of Nagorno-Karabakh, the corridor project seemed to be off the table after ground was broken on an alternate route through Iran. (Tehran, like Armenia, is vociferously opposed to the Zangezur corridor idea.)

The issue, which has long inspired Armenian fears of an Azerbaijani invasion, is now back on the agenda, as Aliyev said in a January 10 interview that if the corridor was not opened, "Armenia will remain in an eternal deadlock.  If the route I mentioned is not opened, we will not open our border with Armenia anywhere else. So they will do themselves more harm than good."

In October last year, the Armenian prime minister introduced an initiative called "Crossroads of Peace" aimed at regional cooperation. That proposal includes linkages between mainland Azerbaijan and Nakhchivan with Armenian border and customs checks. Azerbaijan has dismissed it out of hand as "PR." (According to the 9 November 2020 agreement that ended the Second Karabakh War, the route linking mainland Azerbaijan Nakhchivan is to be monitored by Russian border troops.)

Exclaves and villages

Elsewhere in his January 10 interview, Aliyev demanded the return of enclaves and border villages that have been under Armenian control since the First Karabakh War three decades ago.

Pashinyan seemed to back the idea of an exchange of enclaves, with a "mutually agreed map" as part of the process, but said that if Azerbaijan demanded the return of eight villages, Armenia would "raise the issue of 32."

That was a reference to several bits of former Soviet Armenian territory that have similarly been controlled by Azerbaijan since the first war, as well as to the territory inside Armenia, estimated to total about 215 square kilometers, that Azerbaijani troops have occupied following several incursions between May 2021 and September 2022.

Armenia and several Western states have demanded the withdrawal of Azerbaijani troops from Armenian lands. But Baku has refused, citing the lack of demarcation of the borders as justification.

And Aliyev said explicitly he had no intention of withdrawing them in his January 10 remarks. "We are not taking a step back because that border must be defined. However, our location, which is currently disputed by Armenia, does not include any settlement."

The delimitation and demarcation of state borders between Armenia and Azerbaijan, as well as the opening of transport links, remain the most contested issues between the two countries following Azerbaijan's takeover of Karabakh in September. The border commission working on the delimitation and demarcation issues held its latest meeting late last year and the next one, according to Aliyev, is to be held this month, with the question of the border villages in the Gazakh region of Azerbaijan being on the agenda.

Although the principles of a peace deal were said to be agreed upon in November, the sides seem to have dismissed each other's draft proposals for the peace agreement.

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Additionally, the sides disagree on who should mediate the talks. Yerevan opposes Moscow's mediation, while Baku has turned down EU or US-initiated talks in recent months.

In December, the two countries managed to issue a joint statement and agree on a prisoner exchange, but they do not have a clear plan to continue the bilateral talks.

By Ani Avetisyan via Eurasianet.org

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Tankers carrying nearly 9 million barrels of oil from Saudi Arabia and Iraq will delay their deliveries as they have diverted away from the Red Sea/Suez Canal route in recent days, and are now headed on the longer route via Africa, Bloomberg vessel-tracking data showed on Friday.

The tankers loaded crude oil and petroleum products at Saudi Arabias ports of Ras Tanura and Jubail and at Iraqs port of Basra and were originally headed to Europe via the Red Sea and the Suez Canal. However, those tankers diverted away from the Bab el-Mandeb Strait on or after January 12, Bloombergs data showed.

On January 12, the worlds largest shipping and tanker industry groups advised members to stay away from Bab el-Mandeb due to security concerns amid intensified attacks on commercial shipping in the area from the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen.

The route via the Cape of Good Hope in Africa will increase the voyage time between the Middle East and Europe by about two weeks compared to the Suez Canal route.

This week, another oil supermajor suspended tanker transit through the Red Sea.

Shell has suspended indefinitely all its shipments via the Red Sea/Suez Canal route amid rising tensions in the region and fears of escalating Houthi attacks, The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday, citing sources with knowledge of the supermajors decision.

In the middle of December, another UK-based supermajor, BP, temporarily suspended all shipments via the route, in light of the deteriorating security situation for shipping in the Red Sea.

The tensions in the region have intensified as the Houthis ramped up attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea and declared open season on any U.S. ship transiting the area, in response to last weeks U.S.-UK missile strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen.

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The U.S. has continued to strike Houthi positions this week.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

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The crude oil marketsincluding some physical marketsare showing signs of tightening as concerns about crude oil transit times due to bypassing the volatile Red Sea continue to drag on, traders, analysts, and LSEG data now show.

Historically, turmoil in the Middle East have caused crude oil prices to spikesometimes in a big way, even if only temporarily. This time around, oil prices have become more resilient and havent moved much over the past month, despite the significant conflict in the Red Sea that has caused many crude oil tankers to take the long way around rather than traverse the Red Sea.

But that doesnt mean that markets arent tightening, particularly in Europe and Africa. Rising Chinese demand for crude oil and outages in Libya and North Dakota have joined forces to increase competition for the crude oil that doesnt have to go through the Suez Canal, Reuters said on Friday, before adding that the Brent crude futures market was at its most bullish point of the last two months today. And when it comes to the Red Sea issue, it is the Brent contract that is most affected, Kpler analyst Viktor Katona told Reuters on Friday.

Premiums for the first-month Brent contract to the six-month contract rose to $2.15 per barrel todaythe highest spread since November and a clear indication that the market is viewing the market for crude as tightly supplied for prompt deliveries.

The market for North Sea crude is also highly backwardated, with Johan Sverdrup crude trading at a $2.80 premium to dated Brent. Trading sources told Reuters that the Sverdrup demand jump could be tied to the perception that Middle Eastern crude shipments could be delayed to Europe.

The U.S. crude market is also backwardated, but much less so.

By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com

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The Iran-aligned Houthis fired late on Thursday two anti-ship ballistic missiles at a U.S.-owned chemical tanker in the Red Sea, the U.S. Central Command said in what it described as the third Houthi attack on a commercial vessel in three days.

On Thursday evening local time, the Houthis launched two anti-ship ballistic missiles at the chemical tanker M/V Chem Ranger. The tanker is a Marshall Island-flagged, U.S.-owned, Greek-operated tanker ship, the Central Command said, adding that the crew observed the missiles impact the water near the ship. There were no reported injuries or damage to the ship, and the tanker has continued underway, the U.S. said.

According to a post by TankerTrackers.com on X, This fairly small chemical tanker left the Red Sea port of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia for Kuwait, but her AIS went offline on 2024-01-16 before proceeding south past Yemen.

The tensions in the region have intensified in recent weeks, as the Houthis ramped up attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea and declared open season on any U.S. ship transiting the area, in response to last weeks U.S.-UK missile strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen.

The U.S. has continued to strike Houthi positions this week.

The U.S. said on Thursday that Central Command forces conducted strikes on two Houthi anti-ship missiles that were aimed into the Southern Red Sea and were prepared to launch.

On Wednesday, command forces conducted strikes on 14 Iran-backed Houthi missiles that were loaded to be fired in Houthi controlled areas in Yemen.

These strikes, along with other actions we have taken, will degrade the Houthi's capabilities to continue their reckless attacks on international and commercial shipping in the Red Sea, the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait, and the Gulf of Aden, the Central Command said.

This week, tensions in the Middle East escalated with another regional conflict, in which Pakistan carried out on Thursday a series of military strikes against terrorist hideouts in Irans southeastern province Sistan-Baluchestan, two days after Iran targeted with missiles sites linked to militant group Jaysh al-Adlin in western Pakistan.

The rising geopolitical risk this week pushed oil prices early on Friday on track for a weekly gain.

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By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

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It might be another month before crude oil production in North Dakota returns to normal, the state regulator said on Friday.

Extreme weather has eaten into crude oil production in North Dakota to the tune of hundreds of thousands of barrels so farwith the cold weather creating power outages and shutting down oil refineries. It has essentially cut crude oil production in North Dakota by half, cutting out 650,000 bpd from its typical 1.24 million bpd of oil production.

The North Dakota Pipeline Authority said on Friday that production was now down between 350,000 bpd to 400,000 bpd for oil, and 0.95 BCFD and 1.10 BCFD for gasleaving about 30% still offline due to the extreme cold weather and operational challenges.

On top of production outages, oil spills and other incidents have been reported in Bakken oilfields, where windchills have fallen in recent days to -70F. But subzero temperatures are not over for oil country just yet, with the cold snap expected for another few days.

The cold temperatures didnt just knock out oil and production in North Dakota. Frozen gas wells resulted in the lowest level of production in 11 months over this last weekend, Reuters estimates predicted. And while the cold weather is tightening oil and gas supplies, it is also creating an increase in demand as consumers try to stay warm.

The cold snap in the United States has collided with other supply-tightening factors, such as tensions in the Red Sea that have caused oil tankers to take the long way around.

The tightening supply and temporary oil and gas production curtailments will come as welcome relief for OPEC, which looks to be struggling to live up to its oil production cut promises for January.

By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com

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Clean energy projects across the EU are failing to reach completion due to red tape, Miguel Stilwell d'Andrade, the chief executive of Portugals biggest utility, Energias de Portugal (EDP), told Reuters at the Davos economic forum.

While the European Commission has laid the project execution and subsidy criteria at the EU level with great vision, The crux is the national governments transposing them, d'Andrade told Reuters on the sidelines of the forum in Davos.

Red tape regarding clean energy projects, especially in green hydrogen, is holding back the industry and the EU targets, according to the executive.

In the US, if you produce 1 kilo of green hydrogen, you get 3 dollars, d'Andrade told Reuters.

In Europe, I need to submit a room full of paper.

By the time the paperwork within the European Union is processed, the world has changed, the executive added.

EDPs Brazilian unit began producing green hydrogen in December 2022 in a pilot project.

In the middle of 2023, EDP said that the European Commission had selected EDP projects to receive European Union Innovation Funds. Out of 13 selected projects under the Industry Electrification and Hydrogen category, EDP won with its project GreenH2Atlantic, which will install around 100 MW of electrolyzers in Sines, and with the Asturias H2 Valley project, which will transform Spain's Abono plant and include 150 MW of electrolyzers.

The European Unions renewables strategy includes the ambition to produce 10 million tons and import 10 million tons of renewable hydrogen in the EU by the end of this decade.

The European Commission has outlined a 'hydrogen accelerator' concept to scale up the deployment of green hydrogen, which, the EC says, will contribute to accelerating the energy transition and decarbonizing the EU's energy system.

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Industry officials believe that the EU needs to revise some provisions in the hydrogen regulation in the coming years to make Europe's hydrogen industry globally competitive.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

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Crude oil prices were set to close with a gain this week as the risk of escalation in the Middle East remains elevated, OPEC expects strong oil demand this year, and U.S. inventories fall.

Propped up by these factors, the benchmark made some gains earlier this week, tempered, however, by the International Energy Agencys latest oil market report that predicted solid supply this year, even as the IEA revised its demand projection upwards.

The gains led some commentators to suggest oil could close this week at the highest in three weeksyet another illustration of how tough the market environment has become for oil bulls despite an abundance of otherwise bullish events.

However, these have been offset by now chronic worry about economic growth, specifically in China, and central bank monetary policy. Even the substantial production outage in North Dakota this week failed to have any palpable impact on pricesuntil the Energy Information Administration released its inventory report.

It could be the US crude stock draws that finally forced the market to price in the Bakken outages and, by extension, ascribe a bit more risk premium to the Middle East crisis too, Vandana Hari from Vanda Insights told Bloomberg. She noted that if there was an incident [in the Red Sea] that causes major damage to life and property, at sea or on land, may become the tipping point.

The turmoil in the Mideast has kicked up freight and insurance rates appreciably but (has) not yet affected total global oil supply other than delaying shipments toward Europe and other regions, Jim Ritterbusch, the president of Ritterbusch and Associates, told Reuters.

These delays, however, are causing higher costs, and the diversion of traffic from the Red Sea will drive higher fuel demand for the longer journey around Africa. This additional demand has yet to be factored in by oil traders.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

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As much as 80% of the crude oil produced in the UK section of the North Sea is getting exported, The Guardian has reported, citing research from Global Witness.

The report suggests that the fact could be used to pressure the government into rethinking its plan to boost oil and gas production in the North Sea in order to enhance the countrys energy securityas stated by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak last year.

Per the report, over the last twenty years the rate of exports for UK oil had gone up from 60% to 80%. In part, at least, this was the result of shutdowns of refining capacity in the country, The Guardian noted.

The Global Witness research comes a week after another organization, the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit, said that new projects, such as Rosebank, will add less than 1% of the petrol used in the UK's cars within seven years but will come at a high reputational cost for a country thats currently regarded as one of the continents green energy leaders.

It doesn't help with security of supply, because oil and gas are part of international markets and 80 per cent of the oil is exported and processed overseas and who knows where it ends up as fuels, Dr. Simon Cran-McGreehin, head of analysis at ECIU, told The National at the time.

The Sunak governments plans to increase oil and gas production at home has riled up climate change advocates in the UK, who argue this is unnecessary and will only worsen the countrys carbon footprint.

In December, two environmentalist groups filed a lawsuit against one new North Sea projectthe Rosebank developmentarguing that the field would be incompatible with the UKs net-zero goal and that the government hasnt factored in Scope 3 emissions when giving the green light to the plan.

By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com

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Norway recently approved deep-sea mining activities for the recovery of critical minerals, becoming one of the first countries to do so. To date, countries worldwide have been reluctant to carry out deep-sea mining activities due to the risks involved, that are thought to be greater than onshore mining. But Norway views the move as key to accessing minerals critical to achieving a global green transition. So, could this encourage other countries to do the same?

This month, Norways parliament voted to open its waters for commercial-scale deep-sea mining. Those who support the bill believe the extraction of metals and minerals from the oceans seabed will be necessary to support the growing demand for these materials under a global green transition. Norway hopes the move will support a shift away from fossil fuels in favour of renewable alternatives. Advocates also suggest that the practice could be less harmful to the environment than land-based mining.

Potato-sized nodules of critical minerals, including cobalt, nickel, copper, and manganese can be found at the bottom of the sea floor. These minerals have previously only been accessed from large-scale mining projects on land, which are also destructive to the environment. Many countries are investing in the expansion of land mining activities in response to the growing global demand for these minerals. As countries worldwide shift away from a reliance on fossil fuels and invest in renewable energy projects, clean technologies and electric vehicles, the demand for critical minerals is expected to rise sharply in the coming decades. Gerard Barron, CEO of Vancouver-based The Metals Co., explained, "What are the alternatives if we don't go to the ocean for these metals? The only alternative is more land mining and more pushing into sensitive ecosystems, including rainforests.

At present, several forecasts say that there are not enough mining activities at present to meet this demand. This is driving leaders worldwide to investigate alternative ways to meet this growing demand. By 2040, the world will require twice the amount of cobalt, nickel, copper, and manganese as it uses today to meet global energy transition targets, according to the International Energy Agency.

Norways plan allows companies to apply for mining licenses for critical minerals in the countrys waters, near the Svalbard archipelago, which covers an area of around 280,000 square kilometres. The country would not start drilling immediately, rather it will accept proposals from firms applying for licenses to be assessed for approval.

However, critics suggest that deep-sea mining is extremely destructive and much of the potential impact on the environment is still unknown. Scientists do not yet know what impact the removal of the large mineral nodules from the seabed could have on the ecosystems under the sea. However, there are strong arguments both for and against deep-sea mining, particularly as it is expected to take a long time until the potential impact of the practice is fully understood. Jessica Battle, the leader of the World Wildlife Funds No Deep Seabed Mining Initiative, explained, Scientists are projecting it will take decades before we know enough about the deep sea to make those informed decisions, to not jeopardize and destroy something before we actually really know what it will do for us.

Both the U.K. and the European Commission have enforced temporary bans on the practice until there is a greater understanding of the impact of deep-sea mining on the environment. Several companies, such as BMW and Google, have also called for bans. A letter from EU lawmakers urging Norway to reconsider the move stated, The sheer importance of the ocean to our planet and people, and the risk of large-scale and permanent loss of biodiversity, ecosystems, and ecosystem functions, necessitates a pause of all efforts to begin mining of the deep sea. The Norway Environment Agency and its many citizens have also condemned the plan due to environmental concerns.

Meanwhile, the International Seabed Authority (ISA) is working to establish regulations for deep-sea mining, as companies and governments worldwide look for alternative ways to access critical minerals. There are several different approaches to deep-sea mining, which are being assessed for their potential impact on the environment by the Authority. The ISA missed a July 2023 deadline for setting standards for the sector, making it easier for Norway and other powers to move forward on deep-sea mining plans.

Norway is not the only country looking to commence deep-sea mining operations for critical minerals, with Japan and the Cook Islands making similar advances on deep-sea mining plans in recent years. It is not surprising that countries are looking to deep-sea mining to meet the growing demand for critical minerals. A U.S. Geological Survey suggests that The Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CZZ) - an environmental management area of the Pacific Ocean, administered by the ISA, which covers around 1.3 percent of the ocean floor  contains more nickel, cobalt, and manganese than all on-land deposits. This has led many to question whether deep-sea mining may be less environmentally damaging than land mining, as producers would only need to mine a small area to see big results. However, scientists and climate activists are wary of entering into new, invasive energy activities without fully understanding the potential impact on the environment, making Norways move extremely controversial.

By Felicity Bradstock for Oilprice.com

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Urban Eats at 3414 Washington Ave. is asking the community for help to prevent closing its doors for good. Courtesy of Urban Eats

An inner Loop restaurant is asking the community for help to keep from closing its doors for good.

Urban Eats owners Levi Rollins and Eric Munoz took to social media to share the status of the neighborhood bistro and market at 3414 Washington Avenue. It led to a surge of customers over the weekend showing their support, but it's unclear if it will be enough to prevent closure.

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"Without change, we will close, that's the reality of the situation we're in," Rollins said. "I'm trying desperately to remind (people) that we're here and we don't want to lose this business. We don't want the community to lose Urban Eats."

The restaurant and bistro opened nine years ago as a casual spot with a market on the first floor. The menu was made up of recipes from the Rollins family with a modern flair. It gained a regular customer base from breakfast to dinner.

Problems for the restaurant arose as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. While the business received federal assistance that kept staff paid for six months, it wasn't enough. Rollins said sales tanked by 70 percent when the pandemic hit and they could only do to-go orders.

In a tight position, the owners borrowed money from high-interest lenders that would dig them into debt. They haven't been able to catch up on those payments with costs of supplies, ingredients, rent and labor going up. Their property taxes have also doubled since an H-E-B opened across the street a few years ago. And they refuse to let go of any of their staff, turning to other cuts like modifying the menu to reduce costs.

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"Those debt payments in addition to all the increasing costs have basically eroded all of our working capital," Rollins said. "It's sad because we clearly have a lot of people that love us."

A slider at Urban Eats on Washington Avenue. Courtesy of Urban Eats Urban Eats also has a market on its first floor with products for a charcuterie board. Courtesy of Urban Eats Breakfast is served every week day at Urban Eats with brunch on weekends. Courtesy of Urban Eats

Rollins said he finally shared the struggles with the public because he believes the situation can be turned around. He wasn't sure the type of response he would get, but almost instantly it had over 150 likes and shares on Facebook. The post spread in multiple foodie groups and comments from people promising to stop by flooded in. He said some customers even drove in from Sugar Land and Galveston to show their support.

"I did not expect so many people to come this last weekend, and when they did it, Eric and I were nearly in tears," Rollins said.

Saturday became their highest sales day since opening week in 2014. Rollins thanked everyone who visited for their patience because his team of 11 struggled to keep up with orders.

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Still, it will take more than a good few days of business for Urban Eats to be saved. They're hoping to be in a better place by the end of the month to keep going or else they'll have to call it quits.
That weird stretch of Saddle Creek Road from Dodge to Leavenworth Streets along the edge of the University of Nebraska Medical Center looks like Omaha traffic engineering at its funkiest.

Drivers must negotiate the hopelessly tight half-cloverleaf at Dodge, travel south-by-southwest past a semi-blighted former industrial area, and then negotiate the unfortunate convergence of Saddle Creek, Leavenworth and 48th Street in a jumbled five-way intersection.

It creates so many goofy turns, cars coming out of nowhere, said John Ashford, president of the Dundee-Memorial Park Association, which encompasses the Saddle Creek neighborhood. People are just popping in and out. Its not pedestrian-friendly. Its chaos.

UNMC and Omahas Public Works Department are cooperating in an effort to un-funk the Saddle Creek corridor, in support of UNMCs development of a multi-billion innovation district along the roads west side.

Last year, engineers extended 46th Street (a block west of Saddle Creek) south of Farnam in what will become the main drag in UNMCs new innovation district.

The adjacent stretch of Farnam was also closed for much of the year to widen the street between 48th Street and Saddle Creek and add sidewalks.

On Wednesday, city engineers and consultants laid out plans for 2024 during a public hearing at UNMC, focusing on upcoming construction near the Saddle Creek/Leavenworth intersections. About 40 people attended.

The engineers said work is slated to begin in April and wrap up next fall, though utility work will start sooner. Planned improvements include:

New dual left-turn lanes on Leavenworth Street.

Longer left- and right-turn lanes on Leavenworth and Saddle Creek.

A new traffic signal, sidewalks on the northwest and southeast corners, and new driveways to several adjacent businesses.

In addition, the direct access from 48th Street to Leavenworth from the north  about 100 feet west of Saddle Creek  is being eliminated. 48th Street traffic will instead be diverted to Saddle Creek at Jones Street, north of the QuikTrip gas station.

The Saddle Creek/Leavenworth crossroads has long been a traffic bottleneck, with lengthy backups in the single left-turn lanes.

There gets to be a pretty good queue of cars waiting to turn, said Brian Spencer, UNMCs executive director of campus development and real estate. Thats perhaps the biggest (traffic) pain point.

He said the university considers relieving the intersection to be a key to the success of its multi-billion dollar Saddle Creek campus. He also hopes that the new access points at Emile and Jones will help ease the burden of added traffic from the innovation district along the busy Saddle Creek corridor.

UNMC is excited about the improvements, Spencer said. Itll make getting into and out of midtown Omaha so much easier.

UNMCs expansion west of Saddle Creek Road began in the 1990s with the acquisition of old Union Pacific railroad lines in the area and, later, the former Commercial Federal bank property.

The university now owns all of the rough triangle bounded by Farnam, Leavenworth, Saddle Creek and 48th Street, except the Ace-Rent-to-Own and Russell Speeders Car Wash.

Last May, private developers broke ground on the $65 million Catalyst project on the site of the former Omaha Steel Castings plant, along the new 46th Street extension.

On land leased from the university, the Catalyst will include 130,000 square feet of space for businesses as well as an event center, food hall and market.

In addition, it will house the 40,000-square-foot UNMC Innovation Hub, bringing together UNeMed and UNeTech  UNMCs development arms  in a medically centered incubation space for medical inventors and entrepreneurs.

Spencer said the project is well underway and should be completed in about a year.

Besides the Catalyst project, UNMC has begun construction on its new $87 million Campus Operation and Research Excellence (CORE) building, at the southwest corner of Saddle Creek and Farnam.

The building will include three stories for laboratory research, one for computer-based research, and two administrative floors. Its also being built to accommodate a future pedestrian bridge over Saddle Creek Road.

The city is building a parking garage next door to serve the building.

Youll see it go vertical next summer, Spencer said. Completion is expected in early 2026.

Eventually, UNMCs innovation district also will connect to the main campus via the new Midtown Medical Bikeway Connection. Last fall, the City of Omaha received a $13.5 million federal grant to build the bike-and-pedestrian path, which will bisect the campus along Jones and Emile Streets and connect to the Field Club Trail near 39th and Marcy Streets.

The traffic changes, the bike and pedestrian connectors, the UNMC redevelopment  its all welcome news to Ashford and members of his community.

It could really turn into something cool, he said.

Photos: UNMC Catalyst project to rise out of Omaha Steel Castings site
Barring an unforeseen development, this weeks cold spell isnt expected to cause the Omaha Public Power District to issue another call for customers to conserve energy.

The utility on Sunday asked customers to turn down thermostats a few degrees and avoid running major appliances during peak energy use periods after low Missouri River water levels and frozen water intakes sidelined all four of the utilitys coal-fired generating units in Omaha and Nebraska City.

OPPD officials said the utility and others in the region last weekend faced widespread, challenging conditions that came on more quickly than anticipated.

Javier Fernandez, OPPDs CEO, said during a utility board meeting Thursday that the utility in particular wanted to make sure rural customers who rely on electric heating were prepared to deploy fuel oil generators if necessary.

Since then, however, one Nebraska City coal-fired unit has returned to service and river levels have begun to rise. This weeks cold spell isnt expected to extend as far south in the 14-state regional power pool to which OPPD belongs  or last as long  as the one that caused temperatures and wind chills to plunge last weekend.

All of the utilitys coal-fired baseload plants should be back on line by next week, Fernandez said. Temperatures are expected to be above freezing by Monday.

He noted that OPPD wasnt alone in feeling the impact of the storm. Many power plants that rely on the Missouri River to cool generating plants also were affected, and many utilities are still recovering from the storm.

Fernandez said the storm illustrates the need for the utility to maintain diverse sources of electric generation. While some plants were offline, the utilitys natural gas, wind and solar units helped pick up the slack.

The regionwide blasts that contributed to wind chills of as much as 41 below zero in Douglas County kept wind turbines humming. Preliminary data indicated that wind turbines at times over the weekend produced about half the electricity generated in the 14-state regional power pool to which OPPD belongs.

OPPD plans to bring nearly 700 megawatts of new electric generation online next year, two natural gas generating stations and a solar array.

Fernandez thanked utility employees for their hard work in keeping systems up and running during difficult conditions and OPPD customers for responding to the utilitys call to conserve.

Our customers did what Nebraskans always do, he said.

Our best Omaha staff photos & videos of January 2024
A combination of snow and strong winds moving through eastern Nebraska Thursday afternoon and early evening led to dangerous travel conditions, including in Omaha.

Thursdays snowfall measured 2 inches at Eppley Airfield and 3.5 inches at the National Weather Services office in Valley, said Corey Mead, a lead meteorologist with the weather service.

The snowfall and wind gusts up to 45 mph in the Omaha area led to dangerous travel conditions as many headed home from work, Mead said.

The weather service issued its first-ever snow squall warning for eastern Nebraska Thursday, Mead said.

Snow squalls are characterized by sudden whiteout conditions and falling temperatures that can quickly cause icy roads. They typically last less than an hour.

The weather service received reports of whiteout conditions across eastern Nebraska.

Theres no question that we had squall-like conditions across many locations in eastern Nebraska, he said.

Light snow and flurries were possible Friday evening, but no new accumulation was expected.

However, winds carrying gusts around 30 mph were anticipated to blow the snow around until Friday morning. That, in turn, was expected to cause drifts and reduce visibility to near zero at times.

They have a lot of roads that have very high drifts on the sides from last weeks winter storms, Michaela Wood, a meteorologist with the weather service, said.

The cold weather is expected to linger in the region through Saturday.

Due to the cold, the City of Omaha said in an email alert Thursday that snowplow crews were using sand instead of salt on the citys streets. Neighborhood contractors began snow removal efforts at 4 p.m. Thursday.

The wind chill is expected to plunge to about 25 degrees below zero Friday night into Saturday morning. The weather service has issued a wind chill advisory until noon Saturday.

There likely wont be much wind from Friday night to Saturday night. Wood said winds are expected to measure between only between 2 to 3 mph during that time period.

Relief appears to be coming Sunday to those seeking a break from the cold, wintry weather. The temperature is expected to reach the 20s that day. High temperatures are forecast to reach the mid-30s much of next week.
Veteran department-store chain Macys is laying off about 3.5% of its workforce, or roughly 2,350 employees, and closing five stores as it continues to shrink its massive retail business for the online-shopping era.

As we prepare to deploy a new strategy to meet the needs of an ever-changing consumer and marketplace, we made the difficult decision to reduce our workforce by 3.5% to become a more streamlined company, a Macys spokesperson told CNN.

Retailers often lay off employees and announce store closures after the holidays, especially if they had a sluggish sales season.

However, Americans spent at a faster clip in December from the month prior, the Commerce Department said this week.

The company opened its first Macys in 1858 and now operates about 500 Macys branded stores, as well as 55 of the more upscale Bloomingdales chain.

Macys is emblematic of the holiday season, sponsoring both the Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City that traditionally kicks it off and as the setting for, and employer of, Santa Claus in the 1947 classic film Miracle on 34th Street.

But it has struggled against rising competition and a migration of shoppers away from department stores.

A group of investors in December reportedly proposed to take Macys private at a vulnerable moment for the famed company. Macys has not commented on the activist attempt.

Macys has attempted numerous strategies in recent years to revitalize business, such as new brands and smaller stores, but the moves have not altered its long-term trajectory.

Macys stock price has dropped 75% from a peak of $73 a share in 2015. Since then, it has closed nearly 300 stores  almost one third of its stores  and operates about 700 across its brands.

Stores that will be shuttered

Arlington, Va.

San Leandro, Calif.

Lihue, Hawaii

Simi Valley, Calif.

Tallahassee, Fla.

The stores will close in early 2024.
The race to build more racetrack casinos in Nebraska has another entry.

An investment group wants to build a racing and gambling venue in Fremont, a representative of the group said Thursday.

Fremont would be the seventh proposal across the state for additional casinos, beyond the six licensed racetracks that already are eligible to build casinos under Nebraska law.

Paul Bauer, a real estate agent with kwElite in Omaha, said he represents KRG Investment Group. He said Fremont seems well positioned to build and host a new horse-racing facility with an accompanying gambling and hotel venue.

Were in the early stages of due diligence discussions with the City of Fremont, he said. And the City of Fremonts actually identified four potential sites for us.

Members of the Nebraska Racing and Gaming Commission have yet to say whether they favor authorizing additional racetrack casinos at this time. Gambling opponents have called for a pause in granting new licenses until the impact of the ones already licensed can be studied.

Nebraska voters in 2020 approved a ballot initiative linking casino development to racing licenses. That means that anyone who wants to build a casino in Nebraska, other than the six existing racing license holders, must win state approval for a racetrack.

On Friday, Bauer is slated to brief the commissions members on the Fremont proposal during their monthly meeting.

Commissioners are also scheduled to hear from a consulting firm that produced a report that could influence whether new racetrack casinos are authorized.

State lawmakers required the commission to study the statewide horse-racing and casino markets and also examine the socioeconomic impact of horse racing and casino gambling statewide.

Under state law, commissioners must consider the impact when approving or denying new licenses. The law requires the commission to deny an application for a racetrack or casino gambling license if approval would be detrimental to the racing or gambling market that exists across the state based on the market studies.

One finding in the report could chill efforts to license new tracks.

The report says there is more than sufficient capacity with the states existing six racing licenses to allow for a tripling or quadrupling of racing in Nebraska.

The six licensed racetracks eligible for casinos are: Legacy Downs in Lincoln, Fonner Park in Grand Island, Horsemens Park in Omaha, Atokad in South Sioux City, FairPlay Park in Hastings and Columbus Exposition and Racing in Columbus.

Additional racetrack casinos have been proposed in Bellevue, Norfolk, York, North Platte, Gering, Kimball and now Fremont. Transfer of the Hastings racetrack license to Ogallala was approved conditionally by the commission, pending the results of the market study.

Our best Omaha staff photos & videos of January 2024
LINCOLN  Nebraska lawmakers voted Thursday to keep using secret ballots when electing their leaders, rejecting a long-sought goal of the Nebraska Republican Party.

A rules change proposal that would have required lawmakers to cast public votes when electing committee chairs and the Speaker of the Legislature fell four votes short of the number needed to pass. The vote was 26 in favor and 16 against, with 7 senators absent.

State Sen. Steve Erdman of Bayard, who proposed the change, said he was glad to finally get to a vote on the idea. He noted that similar proposals have been raised several times over the years without a vote.

It is what it is, he said of the outcome. I appreciate that we got people on the record.

But he also said that he will request an opinion from the attorney general about the Legislatures long-standing practice. He and other supporters of public leadership votes contend that secret ballots are unconstitutional.

They cite a provision of the Nebraska Constitution that says all votes shall be viva voce in the Legislature, meaning by voice. The courts have ruled that machine votes count as being viva voce.

Opponents of the change contend that the constitutional requirement applies to votes on policy matters, not ballots cast for legislative leaders. They argued that secret ballots are essential to maintaining the nonpartisan structure of the Nebraska Legislature.

Nonpartisanship in the Nebraska Legislature means that senators are elected and serve without regard to party affiliation. Political parties play no role in the structure or procedures of the Legislature, giving all senators a chance to have their bills heard and considered and to be elected to leadership positions.

Sen. Danielle Conrad of Lincoln said party bosses have tried to inject partisanship into the Legislature since its inception. She said secret ballots protect lawmakers from coercion and intimidation by political parties and allow them to choose leaders based on qualifications.

This is a perennial issue to undermine the integrity of the nonpartisan Legislature, she said.

Sen. Wendy DeBoer of Bennington cast the issue as one of human behavior, rather than politics. She said that having to cast public votes could destroy relationships among senators and encourage corruption and bribery, while secret ballots make attempts at bribery ineffective.

Sen. Jana Hughes of Seward, one of five Republicans who voted against the change, quoted from a speech made by then-Sen. Mike Flood of Norfolk when the same issue was debated in 2021.

If you want to go down this road, things will change and not for the better, she said.

But supporters of the change said open voting would promote trust among lawmakers and allow the public to see how senators vote on leadership positions.

Erdman pointed to leadership elections in which candidates believed they had a certain number of vote commitments from colleagues, only to come up short when the ballots were tallied. He said some of those candidates have spent months trying to figure out who did not stick to their word.

Help us keep each other honest so we can be trusted, he said.

He also said the proposed rules change would allow the majority to exercise their power.

Our best Omaha staff photos & videos of January 2024
LINCOLN  Lawyers for several Nebraska state agencies contended Friday that the Pillen administration did not violate an order by terminating remote work arrangements for employees.

A Lancaster County District Court judge heard arguments from the state and Nebraskas largest state employee union in a case involving Gov. Jim Pillens return-to-office directive. The State Commission of Industrial Relations had ordered a pause in Pillens directive while the matter was litigated, but the states Revenue and Health and Human Services Departments still sent emails to employees requiring them to work from the office.

The Nebraska Association of Public Employees then went to court and asked that the state be held in contempt for a willful violation of the CIR order. Judge Andrew Jacobsen did not issue a decision Friday.

The dispute began with Pillens Nov. 13 executive order requiring state employees to return to working in their offices, effective Jan. 2. The order called for employees to work in their offices from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, with some exceptions.

After attempting to bargain over the issue, the union asked the state labor commission last month to put Pillens executive order on hold temporarily.

The CIR is designed to resolve labor disputes involving state and local government employees. Nebraska law bars such employees from going on strike.

The commission granted the delay in a Dec. 29 order, calling on state agencies to maintain the status quo for now. That meant the current mix of in-office, at-home and hybrid work arrangements was to continue for the more than 8,000 state employees covered by the NAPE contract.

Instead, HHS and Revenue officials told workers that their remote or hybrid work agreements were terminated and they had to work from the office.

NAPE Executive Director Justin Hubly said this affected dozens of state employees and caused problems during the winter storms over the last two weeks. Despite hazardous travel conditions, Hubly said, employee were forced to decide between going into work or taking vacation time.

CIR officials have said the state violated their order when the departments ordered workers return to the office, saying the order left no doubt that the remote work status of union members was not to be altered during the pendency of this case.

Attorney Mark Fahleson, who represented the state in Fridays hearing, disputed this. He argued that the CIR order only paused Pillens executive order, but did not apply to any remote work policies in place before the order. He claimed those policies give agency leaders the authority to decide where state employees work.

Those policies generally are pretty clear that (remote work) is a privilege, not a right, Fahleson said.

Jason Jackson, Pillens chief human resources officer, said Friday in court that this was his interpretation of the CIR order and that it was always the states intent to follow the order. He said he relayed this interpretation to agency heads in various meetings in December and January, although he did not specifically advise them on how to implement the order in their respective offices.

Hubly said the states interpretation ignores a crucial part of the CIR order, which mandated that the application of work policies must be maintained.

Just because you follow an order 98% doesnt mean youre 100% in compliance, Hubly said.

World-Herald staff writer Martha Stoddard contributed to this report.

Our best Omaha staff photos & videos of January 2024
LINCOLN  Gov. Jim Pillens State of the State speech Thursday started roughly 45 minutes behind schedule after a North Omaha lawmaker stalled the proceedings to raise concerns about a $89.6 million business park planned for his district.

State Sen. Justin Wayne threatened a filibuster that could have postponed the speech for hours, but was eventually persuaded to allow Pillen to proceed. But he criticized both the governor and the Nebraska Department of Economic Development (DED) for not seeking community input on the project, and for allegedly lying to residents.

Last week, Pillen announced that $89.6 million in economic recovery funding would go toward constructing a business park near Eppley Airfield  a project that has been in the works for roughly two years and originated from legislation that Wayne had pushed. Over several years, Wayne and other lawmakers won support for roughly $400 million to fund revitalization efforts in low-income neighborhoods, including North Omaha. DED is distributing part of the money.

Wayne claimed Thursday that DED previously promised to not consider any business park proposals that would displace people from their homes. However, the existing proposal is slated to relocate dozens of residential properties.

You know whats being considered? Wayne asked. Peoples houses right now. Businesses being uprooted.

Although Pillen did not mention Waynes criticisms during his speech, he later acknowledged that some households would be displaced. But he said such impacts often accompany economic growth, and said the business park would create needed jobs for the community.

There will be a few families that have sacrifices, no question, Pillen said.

Sen. Terrell McKinney of Omaha, who represents another North Omaha district, said poor communication from Pillen and DED officials has eroded hope among his constituents that the state is invested in the economic recovery of their area.

Theyre just trying to bird-feed us and hold us back, McKinney said.

Wayne is asking the state to transfer all remaining economic recovery funds, including money for the business park, to an inland port authority that Omaha officials are currently developing. McKinney introduced a bill this month that would aid such a transfer.

An inland port authority is an area controlled by an independent board that can engage in marketing, issue and sell bonds, and acquire property. In 2021, lawmakers passed Waynes bill that allowed up to five inland port authorities to be set up in Nebraska. Since then, several authorities have already been established.

Earlier this month, the Omaha City Council voted to move toward establishing an inland port authority in Omaha. Wayne said he is hoping to pass McKinneys bill this session, and contends that such an authority would be an efficient way to facilitate economic recovery in North Omaha in a way that gives the community a voice.

I want this development, Wayne said. But I have to make sure the community is heard and that were transparent.

DED officials did not respond to a request for comment.

Photos: Gov. Jim Pillen gives the State of the State address
President Muhammadu Buhari has urged the actors in the communal and persistent violence in Kaduna State to come to terms with the fact that mutual violence has no winners, but losers on both sides of the conflict.

At least 10 people were killed in Sanga local government area of the state on Saturday, according to a local official.

The News Agency said residents suspected the attack was a reprisal by herdsmen who suffered some attack before the recent elections.

The incident comes as Kaduna State struggles to contain rampaging attacks in several local government areas in the southern region that have claimed dozens of lives.

Reacting to the endless carnage in Kaduna State on Saturday, President Buhari said, I am deeply troubled by the fact that sanctify of life is now treated with such reckless disregard that people derive joy in shedding the blood of others or perceived enemies.

According to Mr Buhari, inhumanity has replaced compassion in the hearts and minds of the perpetrators of these atrocities.

No responsible leader would go to bed happy to see his citizens savagely killing one another on account of ethnic and religious bigotry, he further noted sadly.

According to President Buhari, Violence cannot be the solution to these persistent conflicts as long as people resort to deliberate provocations, revenge and counter revenge.

He said that, While the government remains committed to protecting its citizens, the communities involved must also put their shoulder to the wheel in order to find a lasting solution.

President Buhari noted that lack of cooperation by those involved might frustrate governments efforts towards finding a lasting solution, especially if those efforts are politicised.

According to him, If the people resist governments efforts to hold the perpetrators and their sponsors accountable, it would be very difficult to bring the violence to a permanent end.

President Buhari regretted that everything is politicised in Nigeria, including the efforts to bring offenders to justice, because their people will rise up in arms to resist their arrests and prosecution.

He described hate, bigotry and prejudice as deadly poisons that have infected the human psyche on such scale that people now dont have any moral inhibitions about taking life.

Hr also appealed to the warring communities to stop inhibiting the National Emergency Management Agency, NEMAs efforts to deliver food, medicines and temporary shelter to the victims of the violence who are in urgent need of assistance.
President Bola Tinubu on Thursday held closed-door talks with a delegation comprising the leadership of the Kano State Chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) at the Aso Rock Villa, Abuja.

Leading the delegation was the APC Chairman and former Kano State Governor, Dr Abdullahi Ganduje, who arrived at the Villa in the company of his one-time deputy and the partys candidate in the March 18 governorship election, Nasir Gawuna.

Thursdays meeting came barely a week after the Supreme Court ruled in favour of Gawunas main opponent, Abba Yusuf of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), as the duly elected governor of the state.

Last March, power in the northwestern state shifted from the APC when Gawuna polled 890,705 votes, falling behind Yusuf, who the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared the winner with 1,019,602 votes.

However, the APC candidate contested the results in court despite conceding defeat earlier.

Consequently, on November 17, 2023, the Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal nullified Governor Yusufs election.

The appellate court upheld the decision of the Kano governorship election petition tribunal to void the election of Yusuf, upholding the tribunal judgment which declared APCs Gawuna the winner of the election.

While nullifying Yusufs election, the Justice Oluyemi Osadebay-led tribunal declared that 165,663 of his votes were invalid.

Five days later, the NNPP filed its notice of appeal before the Supreme Court to challenge the Court of Appeals judgment.

On January 12, the Supreme Court restored Yusuf as the governor of Kano State, nullifying the appeal court judgment that declared Gawuna winner

The agenda of the Thursday meeting was.not made public and those who attended did not speak with State House correspondents.

The NNPP was the fourth contender in the February 2023 presidential election when it fielded former Dr Rabiu Kwankwaso, a former Kano State Governor.

Kwankwaso is considered a leading figure in the NNPP and was instrumental in the emergence of Yusuf as governor.
Dr. Talat Jehan Khan, 54, was pronounced dead at the Alys Apartments in the 15000 block of Mansions View after she was stabbed multiple times while she sat at a picnic bench. A Montgomery County Grand Jury indicted Miles Fridrich in Khan's murder Thursday, Jan. 18. Courtesy of ABC13 Miles Joseph Fridrich, 24, appeared before a magistrate inside the Montgomery County Jail on Oct. 29, 2023, the day he was arrested and charged in the stabbing death of Conroe doctor Talet Jehan Kahn. A Montgomery County Grand Jury indicted Fridrich in Khan's murder Thursday. Montgomery County Jail

A Montgomery County grand jury on Thursday indicted Miles Fridrich in the murder of a Conroe pediatrician who was stabbed to death in October.

Fridrich, 24, remained in the Montgomery County Jail Thursday with bail set at $500,000 in the Oct. 28 death of Talat Jehan Khan, 54.

Khan was pronounced dead at the Alys Apartments in the 15000 block of Mansions View after she was stabbed multiple times while she sat at a picnic bench.

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Khan worked at Sea Mar Community Health Centers in Seattle for 15 years before taking a position with Texas Childrens Pediatrics in Conroe in summer 2022.

With the charge of murder, prosecutors will not seek the death penalty, said First Assistant District Attorney Mike Holley. Under Texas law, only capital murder cases are death penalty eligible.

MORE ON KHAN: Family of slain Houston doctor Talat Khan says she was 'innocent,' life revolved around her kids

Holley said capital murder requires specific circumstances, including the murder of a peace officer or fireman during the performance of their duties or a murder committed during other specifically listed felony offenses such as kidnapping or aggravated sexual assault. Capital murder can also be present when the victim is a child younger than 10.

None of those particular circumstances appear to be present in the murder of Dr. Khan, Holley said. For this reason, Mr. Fridrich was charged with the first-degree offense of murder.

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During Fridrichs probable cause hearing Oct. 29, Montgomery County Assistant District Attorney Taylor Vanegas presented information to Judge Jacqueline Bello surrounding Khans death.

Fridrich said nothing during that hearing, only responding to several questions by Bello. While Fridrich has no previous convictions, Bello noted two prior arrests, one each in Montgomery and Travis counties.

Miles Joseph Fridrich, 24, was charged with first degree murder for allegedly stabbing Dr. Talat Jehan Khan, 52, while she was sitting a picnic table in her apartment complex in Conroe. A Montgomery County Grand Jury indicted Fridrich in Khan's murder Thursday. Montgomery County Sheriff's Office

Bello ordered a mental health evaluation for Fridrich. According to information from Texas State University, mental health evaluations are ordered when there is reasonable cause to believe the defendant has a mental illness or is a person with an intellectual disability.

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In December, the Houston chapter of the Council of American-Islamic Relations, a Muslim civil rights group, and the family called for a federal investigation into the stabbing as a possible hate crime.

The circumstances surrounding Dr. Khan's murder demand a thorough and exhaustive investigation, said CAIR-Houston Director William White in a previous release. It's been one month, and the family and community deserve answers. Given the horrifying nature of the incident, the lack of an explanation, and the climate we find ourselves in, it is imperative to explore every possible motive.

While FBI officials confirmed they were aware of the case, they declined to provide further information.

The Montgomery County District Attorneys Office has not released a motive and the incident is still under investigation as prosecutors continue to review evidence, said District Attorney Brett Ligon said in December.

We are very aware juries often want to know why someone was killed, Ligon said. Because of that, we are always looking for a motive."

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Some gunmen suspected to be herdsmen attacked and forced the people of

four communities in Akwanga Local Government Area, Nasarawa State, to

flee their homes and seek refuge in Internally Displaced Persons (IDP)

camps. The people were said t have fled their communities when the

armed herdsmen invaded their communities and started shooting, leading

to the death of 16 persons.

The armed herdsmen were said to have invaded the communities on April

14 and opened fire on the defenceless indigenes who were said to be

engaged in a celebration at the time of the attack that evening. The

deceased were said to have been buried on Wednesday, April 17.

Those in IDP camps were said to be crying out to the Federal and State

governments to provide security in their communities to enable them

return to their ancestral homes.

The save our souls appeal was said to be made during an assessment

tour of the IDP camp by the National Emergency Management Agency

(NEMA).

Most of the displaced persons from the communities were said to be

taking refuge as the Akwanga Central Primary School. They have

currently been cut off from their economic and social lives, including

stoppage of school by their children.

NEMA Officials were said to be overwhelmed by the number of the

Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the camp.

Leaders of the communities were said to have led the NEMA team to the

affected communities which have been deserted, with some areas

completely burnt down.
Justice J.K Omotosho of the Federal High Court sitting in Port Harcourt, Rivers State has convicted and sentenced Onuoha Danhessy Akachuku (alias Joe Dickson) to three months imprisonment, for defrauding an American, Maria Jose Alvarez the sum of $5,260 (Five Thousand Two Hundred and Sixty American U S Dollars) in a failed online romance deal.

Akachuku was arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Port Harcourts Zonal Office, on April 27, 2017 on a seven -count charge bordering on Conspiracy and Obtaining Money by False Pretense.

One of the counts read: That you Onuoha Danhessy Akachukwu (alias Joe Dickson) sometimes between 2015 and 2016, at Port Harcourt, Rivers State, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable court, with intent to defraud, did obtain the sum of Two Thousand, Three Hundred and Seventy US Dollars ($2,370) from one Maria Jose Alvarez (an American) Via Money Gram which you transferred into your account number 3071174186 domiciled with First Bank Plc under the pretence that you are Joe Dickson an American Engineer based in the United Kingdom willing to marry her, a pretext which you knew to be false, and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 1 (1) (a) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006 and punishable under Section 1 (3) of the same Act.

He pleaded not guilty to the charges preferred against him, thus necessitating his trial. The trial progressed and the prosecution counsel, R.E. Alao called three witnesses to establish the case. However, Akachuku applied for a plea bargain and changed his plea to guilty and the bargain was adopted by both the prosecution and defence counsels.

Justice Omotoshp convicted him accordingly and sentenced him to three months imprisonment and a fine of N200,000 (Two Hundred Thousand Naira) only. The convict was also made restitution the sum of $2000 (Two Thousand United States Dollars) to his victim.

Akachukus journey to prison began on April, 2017 when he was arrested and subsequently arraigned for using many false FaceBook accounts to defraud one Maria Jose Alvarez, an American of the sum of Five Thousand, Two Hundred and Sixty American U S Dollars ($5,260).

The convict had claimed to be an American Engineer based in the United Kingdom. With this disguise, he was able to hoodwink his victim into a romantic relationship which according to him, will lead to marriage. However, rather than marry his victim as arranged, he contrived so many lies aimed at defrauding the American and succeeded in duping her to the tune of $5,260.
Hoodlums have attacked Anyom settlement in Mbatyula Council Ward of Kastina-Ala Local Government Area in Benue State, resulting in the tragic death of at least nine people.

Villagers blamed the attack, which happened in the early hours of Wednesday, on a rival militia who had recently been on the prowl.

The villagers disclosed that rival militia groups had been wreaking havoc on Mbatyula council ward and Mbayongo council ward where the late wanted criminal kingpin, Terwase Akwaza popularly known as Gana hailed from.

It was gathered that the Anyom settlement attack was carried out by one of the rival militia groups during which nine persons were reportedly killed and houses burnt.

The villagers also alleged that coordinated serial attacks were carried out in parts of Mbatyula council ward by the gunmen.

They said on Tuesday, the armed men stormed Atumbe, another settlement in Mbatyula council ward where they (militia) set houses ablaze and made away with some property.

On the same day, the group reportedly raided Kur Hile, another settlement in Mbatyula where they also burnt some houses.

The Caretaker Chairman of Kastina-Ala LGA, Zamzam Francis, confirmed the incident on the telephone to our correspondent in Makurdi, stressing that a total of nine people had been killed between Monday and Wednesday in the affected places.

Francis said, Really, the incident happened. it is between the rival militas. Its among themselves. They are burning houses of innocent people and many people are suffering. That is what is happening. Nine people have been killed between Monday and Wednesday.

The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) SP Catherine Anene, told our correspondent that she did not have information about the attacks.
In 2016, against the backdrop of massive media attention in Nigeria about the rare decision of the then leadership of the Nigerian Army to set up the first of its kind human rights desk in addition to the appointment of a full two star General as Head of the civil and military affairs, the United Nations Human Rights Council was so impressed that a publication on its website commended the Army for such an unprecedented positive step to mainstream the respect of human rights in the operational modalities of the military in Nigeria.

Although globally, the governments of most nations do not toy with the promotion and protection of human rights of their citizens and therefore make it obligatory on all persons and authorities to follow the constitutional norms and laws that are safeguards against the violations of human rights, advanced nations such as the USA dont place a lot of premium on whether less advanced nations such as Nigeria, respects human rights of their people.

Ironically, Nigeria being one of the less developed nations which embraced democracy lately, human rights of the citizens were not so much such big issues that the government should care so much about. Incidentally, the USA that is the self acclaimed Worlds policeman of democracy, has no time to look at the status of human rights in Nigeria beyond the routinely empty rhetorical reports that the US state department often issues annually without any diplomatic sanctions.

It must be stated that since the early nineties when the military held sway as heads of government, Nigeria established the National Human Rights Commission in compliance with the Paris principles on human rights. The military dictatorial regime of Sani Abacha actually set up a structure known as National Human Rights Commission.

Specifically, the Paris Principles or principles relating to (the status of National Human Rights institutions), set out the minimum standards that Nationsl Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) must meet in order to to operate effectively.

The key pillars of the Paris Principles are pluralism, independence and effectiveness. On December 20th 1993 to be very precise, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution 48/134 on National Institutions for the promotion and protection of Human Rights, with an annex containing the principles, in which it encourages all states in the World to embrace.

From the council of Europes portal, a statement titled Paris Principles at 25: strong national Human Rights institutions needed more than ever dated 18th/12/2018, it was repeatedly stated that it is obvious that independent and effectiveness of national human rights institutions were every bit as important and relevant today. It is even more so now.

Perhaps, Nigerians who were born around the late 90s do not even know that it was a military regime globally isolated by Western democracies as brutal and dictatorial under the rulership of then General Sani Abacha, that set up the National Human Rights Commission.

The military government that set up that human rights monitoring body, did not however cared a hoot about human rights.

This explains why it was just in the late 2000s that human rights desks, not department, were established by the hierarchy of the Nigerian Army.

Fast forward to today, what we see under a supposed civilian government headed by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu: a man who was victimised by Abacha because he, Tinubu was amongst the pro-democracy Advocates who campaigned for the restoration of civilian and democratic government in Nigeria, yet it is under his very nose as a civilian president, that the Army has become very repressive of the human rights of not only civilians, but even junior military operatives who have no known political godfathers. And Tinubu who was a victim of human rights violations by the military is now the commander-in-chief of the armed forces of Nigeria that has become most repressive and absolutely lawlessness and has gone rogue, almost.

A case in point is that of a junior female Army operative known as Miss. Ruth Ogunleye who has just being arrested even though she publicly reported repeated cases of sexual harassment in which she is the target by two senior Army officers but she got arrested and her violators and torturers are big men in the Army.

Following the arrest of the Nigerian Female soldier who recently complained in a trending video about sexual harassment in the military, Nigerians have taken to their social media accounts to express their dissatisfactions.

It was learnt that the soldier was arrested and flown to Abuja from Lagos on Tuesday.

The lady who complained in the viral video about sexual harassment in the military has been arrested and moved to Abuja by air this morning. She was flown out accompanied by military police in mufti from Lagos to Abuja, a top military source disclosed.

The soldier serving in Lagos State, who did not disclose her name, raised the alarm in the trending video that some senior army officers were threatening her life for rejecting their sexual advances.

She lamented how the senior army officers had been oppressing her since she was posted to Cantonment Medical Centre, Ojo, Lagos in 2022, for refusing their sexual advances. She said she had been locked up several times for no reason, ejected from her apartment, and put in a psychiatric hospital for a month without any medication based on a false claim that she had a mental illness.

According to her, her bank account had been frozen since February 2023 and she had not been paid salary for no reason.

She further alleged that one of her alleged oppressors had attempted to rape her on multiple occasions. The female soldier said the army officer later claimed that she had a mental illness, adding that she had made several efforts including writing a petition and getting some senior and junior officers to intervene but that all was to no avail.

She also said that the same senior army officer who she claimed wanted to rape her had denied her access to every army course and passes to see her parents. According to her, her father contacted the officer over her issues, but the officer told her father to inform her to obey the last order.

She said, I know definitely they will come for me. They will lock me up and they will dismiss me but I dont care. I cant endure it again. Before coming out to make this video, I cant endure again. I dont want to die young.

The army through Major-General Onyema Nwachukwu, the Director of Army Public Relations stated that the female soldier did not inform relevant bodies and institutions about her predicament before releasing the video.

There are a litany of well known cases involving human rights violations against civilians committed by the Army including but not limited to even cases of extrajudicial execution of citizens.

In the year 2020 October 20th to be precise, the Lagos state governor asked for deployment of the Nigerian Army to the Toll Gate to quell a peaceful demonstration against police brutality or EndSars.

Those soldiers so drafted by the military in Lagos, opened fire and mauled down over 80 civilians whose corpses they quickly took away and probably incinerated or dumped in God knows where.

Last year, hospital management board in Lagos said they conducted mass burial of dozens of corpses dumped with them without the owners coming forward.

Nigerians believe that these were the victims of mass killings by soldiers in the year 2020 during the ENDSARS protests.

These same soldiers that their General Sani Abacha founded the National Human Rights Commission of Nigeria, were the same that committed mass killings of citizens in the year 2020, and the World including the USA has moved on as if those killed are not human enough to get closures and ultimate justice.

This surely, is a manifestation of backwardness by the Nigerian army that was celebrated by the United Nations Human Rights Council for the establishment of human rights desks within Armys institutional platforms.

Buoyed by the creation of a Human Rights Desk by the Nigerian army, and a review of the forces Code of conduct and Rules of Engagement, the UN Human Rights Council said it represented an unprecedented breakthrough. This was in 2016.

The UN Human Rights Council said too that: The Nigerian Government has announced the creation of a Human Rights Desk for its national army.

Composed of six legal officers from the Nigerian Bar Association and the legal section of the army, the new body will investigate allegations of human rights abuses perpetrated by national military personnel. The desk will also work to strengthen the armys capacity to protect human rights and report annually on progress.

This decision comes months after the UN Human Rights Council requested the UN Human Rights Office to send a team to investigate and report on the atrocities committed by the Boko Haram insurgent group. The Council also urged the Nigerian military forces to respect human rights during their counter-terrorism operations and to hold perpetrators accountable for abuses.

The UN then promised to work with the Army to train them and provide necessary technical knowledge on protection and promotion of Human Rights.

The United Nations then in 2016 said also that: The UN country office will help the Nigerian army better respect human rights. The UN Human Rights Office and the UN Country Team have provided a detailed review of the Code of Conduct of its national army and presented recommendations for amendments to make it fully compliant with international human rights and humanitarian standards.

The adoption of a Code of Conduct and Rules of Engagement implied that mechanisms will be put in place to implement them. The Desk is one such mechanism, said UN Human Rights Advisor in the UN Country Team in Nigeria, Martin Ejidike. They could directly impact peoples lives by reducing the number of cases of human rights violations and deny impunity for perpetrators within the security forces.

Last December 2015, Ejidike helped bring together at the same table National Defence officials, UN agencies and the National Human Rights Commission who, during a workshop, analysed with troops real case studies on the ongoing Operation Lafiya Dole in Maiduguri, north-eastern Nigeria.

Counter insurgency and counter-terrorism operations are usually difficult for conventional forces as insurgents do not observe human rights norms, Major General Akem pointed out during the workshop in Maiduguri. But, as professionals, the armed forces are obliged to do so.

General Rogers, Chief of Civil and Military Affairs, said that the creation of the Human Rights Desk addresses the increasing interest by local and international actors on the human rights issues related to the counter-insurgency operations in Nigeria. The armys aim is to bridge the gap with civil society on human rights.

This was then.

Now the Army has gone rogue in Nigeria.

And both the government and all agencies of government set up to monitor compliance to human rights provisions by the Army, have gone virtually dead.

The National Human Rights Commission is comatose. The office of the President of Nigeria is not in any way bothered whether civilians are slaughtered by soldiers or whether the human rights desks in the Army have gone comatose. The minister of justice is unaware of what goes on in the Army and appear not to be passionate about human rights. The justice minister rarely mentions human rights in his public speeches which are few and far between.

The heads of the soldiers including the Navy, the Airforce and sadly, the Nigeria Police Force are unfriendly to human rights because they benefit from the decadent system that does not inculcate the principle of accountability on the leaders of the different platforms of the security agencies and the political institutions.

And because accountability and transparency have been thrown to the dogs, impunity and lawlessness have assumed frightening dimensions.

To compound the situation, the UN which has the Deputy secretary General from Nigeria in the person of Amina Mohammed, a Gombe states born diplomat who has a Swedish Mum, has also gone silent concerning the deterioration of human rights abuses committed by the soldiers and the police in her fatherland.

Next week, the United States Secretary of State will visit Nigeria and as expected, public speeches would be made by the Countrys political leaders under whose watch the Army has gone totally rogue and dont respect the human rights of the citizens and even the rights of their soldiers who are not connected to the powers that be in the military or political institutions.

Information reaching me says that the United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to Nigeria, Angola Cabo Verde and Cote dIvoire next week.

In a press statement released by the US Mission in Abuja on Thursday, Blinkens trip will commence from January 21-26 2024.

Throughout the trip, the Secretary will highlight how the United States has accelerated the US-Africa partnership since the US-Africa Leaders Summit, including in areas such as climate, food, and health security.

He will also emphasize our future-focused economic partnership, and how the United States is investing in infrastructure in Africa to boost two-way trade, create jobs at home and on the continent, and help Africa compete in the global marketplace.

Additionally, the Secretary will advance security partnerships based on shared values such as respect for human rights, promotion of democracy, and expansion of the rule of law.

He will reaffirm US commitment to our coastal West African partners through the Strategy to Prevent Conflict and Promote Stability, U.S. partnership with the Economic Community of West African States to address regional challenges, and US efforts to support African leadership in de-escalating tensions and adopting diplomatic solutions to the conflict in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, the statement added.

Blinken had visited Nigeria in November 2021, where he met with the former Foreign Minister Geoffrey Onyeama.

Interestingly, the US government informed us that during his last visit, Blinken also praised the increasingly deep collaboration between Nigeria and the U.S. and stressed the importance of cooperation. And to think that the immediate past Muhammadu Buharis maladministration is one of the most criminal administration in the area of human rights abuses and yet the USA related robustly with that satanic regime, tells you that OUR HELP WILL NOT COME FROM THE USA but from within.

But everyone who is rational knows that the USA under president Joe Biden doesnt care a hoot about human rights in Nigeria and doesnt even care about restoration of stability and security in Nigeria or West African nations.

The truth is that America cares only about its own interest and provided the manufacturers of weapons and military grade weapons of war in USA are smiling to their banks with humongous amounts of dollars by way of huge turnover from arms sells and supplies to both governments and terrorists in West Africa, then America wouldnt mind if the Nigerian Army has truly gone rogue.

* Emmanuel Onwubiko is the head of the HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA and was NATIONAL COMMISSIONER OF THE NATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION OF NIGERIA.
Nigerias Super Eagles on Thursday defeated host nation Ivory Coast at the ongoing 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).

The match was played at the Olympic Stadium in Ebimpe. Both Nigeria and Ivory Coast failed to score in the first half. Victor Osimhen missed a good chance to give Jose Peseiros side the lead in the first half as he kicked the ball over the bar following a fine through pass from Samuel Chukwueze.

However in the second half, Super Eagles captain William Troost-Ekong gave Nigeria the lead via a powerful penalty. The match eventually ended 1-0 in favour of the Super Eagles.

The result moved Peseiros side to 2nd position in Group A with 4 points from two games. Ivory Coast are in 3rd position with 3 points from the same number of games.

Meanwhile, Equatorial Guinea are on top of the group with goals difference ahead of Nigeria, while Guinea-Bissau are in 4th with no point.
Former Vice President of Nigeria, Atiku Abubakar has hailed the verdict of the Federal High Court Court, on Wednesday, declaring null and void, the actions of the National Broadcasting Commission in imposing fines on broadcast stations in the country.

Atiku, in a press statement by his media office on Thursday, said that the ruling of the court is an enhancement of the constitutionally guaranteed rights to free speech.

Atiku said that the ruling of the Federal High Court on the dictatorial practices by the NBC will ensure that the media in Nigeria is not gagged and that the citizens can enjoy their rights to freedom of expression.

READ ALSO: Atiku expresses condolence to Jonathan over death of elder sister

I have read reports about the judgment by a Federal High Court presided over by the Honourable Justice Rita Ofili-Ajumogobia concerning the propriety of the NBC issuing fines to broadcast stations upon their editorial contents.

I am happy to announce my support for the judgement of the court. I am even happier that the said judgement will further boost the ethos of democratic norms in our body politics.

While I commend the court for this bold decision, it is adequate that we all recognize the courage of the Media Rights Agenda (MRA) for having tested our laws on this draconian practice by the regulatory body, Atiku said.

It will be recalled that the National Broadcasting Commission had imposed a fine of N5 million on some media outlets on account of a documentary that pictures the parlous state of insecurity in Nigeria in the year 2022.
On Thursday, January 18, 2024, Evans, accompanied by Joseph Emeka, Chiemeka Arinze, and Udeme Upong, appeared before Justice Adenike Coker at the Ikeja High Court, as reported by NewsDirect.

However, Arinze and Upong were conspicuously absent, prompting Justice Coker to inquire about their whereabouts and express concern over their non-attendance. Advising the prosecution to streamline their case and ensure the defense counsels receive requisite evidence before the next adjourned date, the judge set February 1st for the arraignment.

In a concluding note, Lagos State Prosecutor Titi Adeegbe informed the court that the third and fourth defendants were missing, and she lacked information about their status. Defense counsel Mary Dibiaeze revealed that the third defendant had passed away, and the fourth had been discharged. Nelson Onyejaka, representing the second defendant, highlighted the absence of proof of evidence from the prosecution. Notably, Evans had previously received a life sentence from Justice Hakeem Oshodi in February 2022.

Subsequently, before her retirement, retired Justice Oluwatoyin Taiwo sentenced Evans and his co-defendants to 21 years imprisonment.
The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) has explained why the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo directed the relocation of its corporate headquarters from Abuja to Lagos which was the original base where it has operated for decades.

In a statement by FAANs Director, Public Affairs and Consumer Protection, Obiageli Orah, the decision followed wide consultations by the new Management of FAAN with stakeholders, which also involved the Unions.

It was agreed that this was in the best interest of the Authority and the country for now for the following reasons: Those affected by the decision to move the headquarters to Abuja have since returned to Lagos as there is no office space for them in Abuja. It was ill-advised in the first place to move the headquarters to Abuja when there was no single FAAN building in Abuja to accommodate all of them at once.

READ ALSO: Tinubu sacks FAAN, NAMA MDs, 4 others in aviation

Having returned to Lagos, the Authority would be liable to pay them DTA (DUTY TOUR ALLOWANCE) because technically they are working OUT OF STATION as their official posting is to ABUJA. The Minister has decided to stop this waste of public resources and rip-off on the public purse.

The other option open to the Authority was abandon the old FAAN building in Lagos to rot away and to use its scarce resources to rent an office space in Abuja for Millions of Naira of public money when in actual fact more than sixty percent of its activities are in Lagos given the huge passenger volume of the Lagos airports. The stakeholders and the Minister decided against that and to save the country this waste.

She said the Minister has rolled out plans to get concessionaires to build befitting offices for the Authority in Lagos and Abuja and until that is done, the Authority will continue to manage its old building in Lagos that can accommodate all its Directors and senior officials for now.

Abuja continues to have full operational offices and the Authority has not scaled down operations in Abuja one bit. It is just the technical decision of where the Authority has its corporate headquarters that has been taken without affecting the structure of operations as they are for now in both cities.

In the near future, when befitting corporate buildings have been built for the Authority in both Lagos and Abuja, a final decision will be taken as to the location of the permanent headquarters, depending on the exigencies of the time.

The Honourable Minister is committed to taking decisions that are in the best interest of the country, especially as it concerns public funds and will not yield to ethnic or sectional sentiments that will derail this commitment
The police in Adamawa state have begun the search for a suspected ritualist who killed and beheaded a woman in a hotel in Yola North Local Government Area on January 18.

According to reports, the deceased was beheaded by a ritualist who lodged in the hotel with the lady. The ritualist told the receptionist that he wanted to go and buy something outside, but failed to return back and on checking in his room, the staff found the headless body of the young lady.

The matter was immediately reported to the police. The state Commissioner of Police, CP Afolabi Babatola, ordered an immediate investigation into the matter to apprehend the perpetrator and collaborators of the dastardly act for prosecution.

According to him, the Command holds the lives of all Citizens sacrosanct, and such unwarranted acts would be strictly treated in accordance with extant laws. He equally reiterated the commitment of the Command to protecting lives and property.
Barbara Bennett Elementary is set to open in August 2024 at 9235 N Inspiration Way in Manvel. Courtesy of Alvin ISD

Alvin ISD is nearing its final planning stages for new elementary school and junior high school.

The district expects to open the Bennett Elementary and Iowa Colony Junior High in August 2024 with a combined capacity of 1,800 students. Monique Gadson and Kami Day were announced as new principals for the schools at a Jan. 9 board meeting.

The district board of trustees approved a new school boundary plan at a Dec. 14 meeting to accommodate the two schools.

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Bennett Elementary will serve parts of Savannah Lakes, Meridiana and Sanchez elementary schools' boundaries.

Iowa Colony will serve the southwest portion of the district, taking on parts of Fairview and Caffey junior high schools.

Meet the new principals:

Monique Gadson

Monique Gadson was named the principal for the new Barbara Bennet Elementary School opening August 2024 in Manvel. Courtesy of Alvin ISD

School: Barbara Bennett Elementary School, 9235 North Inspiration Way in Manvel

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Education: Bachelor of Social Work and Master of Education in Counseling at University of Houston

Background: Gadson is originally from Appaloosas, La. and came to the Houston area to earn her bachelor's degree at the University of Houston. She has been working in Alvin ISD for 18 years but began teaching in Pasadena ISD at Meador Elementary. Gadson transitioned to Alvin ISD as a counselor at Hood-Case Elementary. After receiving her principal certification, she served as an assistant principal for Hood-Case and Walt Disney elementary schools and was eventually named principal of E.C. Mason Elementary.

Goals: "My first goal is establishing a strong positive family culture at Bennett," she said. "Our main objective is educating kids, but I'm a relationship builder. I really pride myself on getting teachers to realize and recognize that we can all do better, and we owe it to the kids to put everything we can into instruction every day."

Meet the principal: The district is planning to host community meetings leading up to the August opening but has not released official dates.

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NEWS TO YOUR INBOX: Stay updated on important stories and news to know around Pearland

Kami Day

Kami Day was named the principal for the new Iowa Colony Junior High School opening August 2024. Courtesy of Alvin ISD

School: Iowa Colony Junior High School, 301 E House Street in Alvin

Education: Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and Management at Harding University; Master of Education in Educational Leadership and Administration at University of West Florida

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Background: Day is a Friendswood High School alumna and has been working as a teacher and principal for 18 years at Alvin ISD. She began her career as a junior high science teacher at Shadow Creek and Alvin high schools. Day is currently the principal at Laura Ingalls Wilder Elementary in Pearland and will transition to Iowa Colony Junior High School after the 2023-24 school year.

FRIENDSWOOD ISD PAY: Friendswood ISD school board approves 2% teacher pay increase

Goals: "The most important thing for me is to get to know our kids and their academic needs," said Day. "I think that's going to come with digging in and looking at their testing history and getting to see where they are academically. An extension of that is the family so making sure that we have lots of opportunities for their families to be a part of the campus."

Meet the principal: Kami Day will be joining a 5th grade parent meeting from 5:30-7 p.m. on Jan. 24 at Jackie Doucet Caffey Junior High, 9727 Pursley Boulevard in Manvel. The Iowa Colony Junior High will host several open houses in August where parents and students can tour the new school but don't have set dates at this time, said Day.
Senator Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, CFR, a Lawmaker representing Sokoto South Senatorial District at the 10th Senate has again called for a holistic approach to judicial reforms in Nigeria to pave the way for better remuneration for lawyers across the country.

This is just as he gave an assurance that the National Assembly members would be committed to the noble cause of actualizing the reforms, though, insisting that the struggle should begin with legal practitioners in both public and private practice.

Senator Tambuwal, the Chairman Senate Committee on Housing and Urban Development, made this disclosure on Thursday in Abuja at the National Summit of the Young Lawyers Forum of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) themed Breaking the Old Order of Governance and Advocacy.

The lawyer turned federal lawmaker said the Nigerian lawyers are not immune to the daunting economic challenges across the country; hence the need for constructive conversations on issues that concerns the legal profession, especially the remuneration for lawyers.

We must all agree that as lawyers we live in the Nigerian States, we live in the Federal Republic of Nigeria, we are therefore not insulated from the happenings in our society and from the happenings in our country, He said.

According to him, The talk about minimum wage and better remuneration is all over the place, the talk about restructuring and reformation of many sectors is on the front burner and as lawyers we must take our pride position in leading the conversations on and about what concerns legal profession and indeed the remuneration of lawyers in Nigeria.

The former Chairman of the Nigerian Governors Forum insisted that the reform must be holistic to achieve its desired goal.

We must take it holistically if we want to succeed, that was why possibly the four members representatives of the Nigerian Bar Association could not possibly achieve certain things when they were confronted by the 37-member panel of Attorneys General of the Federation and of states.

So, this matter as important as it is, we must find a common ground, we must find a confluence, we must find how to resolve it and I think one of such ways is by being inclusive in driving the process. Those of you in the private bar and those in the public service who are lawyers are in dire need of reviews of their remuneration and we must find a way of bringing the two together to work it out.

He assured the legal practitioners of the National Assemblys nod towards actualizing the dream. Once that is achieved, it would be easier to pull it through because even in the National Assembly there are so many lawyers working and there are so many lawyers who are legal assistants or legislative aides to the members of parliament. They will see to it that that is implemented because it will benefit them too.

Tambuwal, in his first public appearance since the demise of the former Ondo State Governor Rotimi Akeredolu, SAN, paid tribute to the late Former President of the NBA, whom he described as a dear brother, friend and colleague.

The former Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Partys (PDP) Governors Forum said he was convinced beyond doubt that the passionate engagements by the young lawyers throughout the sessions was a pointer to a new direction in Nigerias legal profession.

He appreciated the President of the NBA, Yakubu Maikyau, his executive members and the leadership of the NBA-YLF for the opportunity to touch base.
Former Governor of Kano State Rabiu Kwankwaso has said the issue of Kano emirates will be revisited.

This comes after Supreme Court reinstated Kano Governor Abba Yusuf who contested under Kwankwasos party, the New Nigerian Peoples Party.

Recall that former Governor Abdullahi Ganduje had split the Kano emirate into five and dethroned the then Emir of Kano, Alhaji Muhammadu Sanusi II.

Following the victory of the New Nigerian Peoples Party in last years election, Kwankwaso had said the government of Abba Kabir Yusuf would review the dethronement and balkanisation of the emirate.

Speaking in an interview granted to select radio stations in Kano on Thursday night, the NNPP leader restated that the issue of Kano emirates will be revisited.

Honestly it is one of the things that nobody has sat with me to discuss so far but I am sure we are going to sit and see how to go about it. Is it going to be allowed, demolished, corrected, or whatever? It will be revisited, and whats supposed to be done will be done.

There were a lot of things and this was a trap. All these things were not done in good faith or intention. It was brought with some bad intentions which every one of you here and our listeners are aware of.

Sometimes you come with things that are good and they turn out to be bad while sometimes you bring bad things and they turn out to be good. So, all I know is that I was not consulted as of now but definitely, we will come to discuss and see what should be done.

It has been observed that after the Supreme Court validated the victory of Yusuf, there were intensified calls for the reinstatement of the former Kano Emir, Alhaji Muhammadu Sanusi II.

Meanwhile, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress in Kano, Alhajj Alhassan Yaryasa, had on Thursday, advised Yusuf against any attempt to sack the five Emirs in the state.

Yaryasa, who is a former coordinator of the Tinubu Camping Organisation for Kano South, gave the advice in an interview with The PUNCH.

He maintained that the advice was necessary in the interest of peace following recent calls on the governor to dissolve the Emirates by some people who are bent on causing trouble in the state and creating disaffection between the government and the people of the Emirates.

He said any attempt to scrap the Emirates would not augur well for the state as it would be greeted with stiff resistance, especially from the people of the Emirates.
According to the statement, 700 candidates from the state, who were invited for interview, towards recruitment into the Nigeria Police Force, failed to show up.

Governor Alex Otti of Abia State has voiced concern about the inadequate participation of youths from the state in the ongoing police recruitment exercise.

A statement issued by the Commissioner for Information and Culture, Okey Kanu, noted that it had come to the notice of the government that the quota allocated to the state in the recruitment exercise has been grossly underutilized.

According to the statement, 700 candidates from the state, who were invited for interview, towards recruitment into the Nigeria Police Force, failed to show up.

Regrettably, about 700 candidates invited for interview in the ongoing recruitment exercise are yet to show up.

To this end, the Governor of Abia State, Dr Alex Otti, has directed all local government Mayors, Chairmen of traditional rulers Councils and their members in all the LGAs, Presidents-general of town unions, and community leaders to immediately mobilize their youths for this very important exercise to ensure that the states quota is filled.

The Governor further directed all those who have been invited for the interview as a matter of urgency, to appear for the exercise.

Abia cannot be left out in the scheme of any aspect of Nigerias socio-political and economic life, the statement said.

The statement further urged all invited candidates who are yet to show up for the recruitment exercise, for one reason or the other, to approach the Office of the Commissioner for Information and Culture for further clarifications.
The Borno State Government has tasked the media with sustaining public interest and working in line with the core values of the state.

The State Commissioner of Information and Internal Security, Professor Usman Tar made the call when he visited Radio Ndarason International in Maiduguri, the state capital.

Tar said the unscheduled visit to the media station was part of efforts to ensure compliance with public policy.

The Radio Ndarason is an international Radio station that operates across the Lake Chad Basin with large audiences in Nigeria, Niger, Chad and Cameroon.

The Commissioner admonished the management team to conduct an audience survey to gauge public perception and accessibility of the station, and adhere to the media policy of the Government in the conduct of its business.

He added: The Borno State Government is committed to media freedom, but not at the expense of our core values and public interest.

ALSO READ : Water supply: Jigawa government approves N5 billion

He further appreciated the efforts of the Radio station in serving the good people of Borno State, adding that the station should align its programmes and services with the Borno Restoration Programme and the 7 Points Strategic Transformation Agenda of Governor Babagana Umara Zulum, which includes Social Reorientation in which the media plays a crucial role.

The Commissioner was earlier received by the Country Director of the radio station Chrisphine Odour Omondi, who was flanked by the stations management team including, Abdulkader Mammane Idi, the Editor in Chief; Mamman Mahmud, the Head of News; Bunu Tijjani, Head of Programmes among others.

Responding to the Commissioner, the Country Director said, The Radio station operates on both SW and FM Frequencies servicing about eleven LGAs around Nigerias border with other countries.
Muhammadu Sanusi II PHOTO: FACEBOOK/NASIR EL-RUFAI

There is another apprehension in the air as former Governor of Kano State and the leader of the Kwankwasiyya movement, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, declared that the creation of the five emirates councils will definitely be revisited.

Immediate past governor, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, had split the Kano emirate into five after he dethroned the 14th Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II.

Although the ruling New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) has been silent over the reversal of Gandujes action, the presidential candidate of the NNPP insisted the removal of the former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) was carried out in bad blood.

The resurgence of the call for removal of the five first class monarchs including the two sons of the late Emir. Alh. Ado Bayero dominated public discussions immediately after the verdict of the Supreme Court that affirmed the election of Abba Yusuf as Kano governor.

Kwankwaso in an interactive session with select broadcast media Thursday evening said the NNPP government will revisit the entire matter, to correct the wrongs.

Honestly it is one of the things that nobody has sat with me to discuss so far but I am sure we are going to sit and see how to go about it, Kwankwaso said. Is it going to be allowed, demolished, corrected or whatever? It will be revisited, whats supposed to be done will be done.

There were a lot of things and this was a trap. All these things were not done in good faith or intention. It was brought with some bad intentions which everyone of you here and our listeners are aware of.

Sometimes you come with things that are good and they turn out to be bad while sometimes you bring things that are bad and they turn out to be good.

So, all I know is that I was not consulted as of now but definitely we will come to discuss and see what should be done.

Apart from his declaration of total loyalty to Kwankwso, the leader of Kwankwasiyya movement, Governor Yusuf has openly affirmed that his administration is an extension of Kwankwasos government.
The recent Supreme Court decision on the governorship election in Nasarawa State has provoked widespread protests.

The streets of Lafia, Nasarawa state capital on Friday was overtaken by protesters who were not satisfied with the Supreme Court Judgment that affirmed Abdullahi Sule as duly elected governor of the state.

A group of elderly women and widows marched through the streets of Lafia, the state capital, to protest the courts decision to uphold Governor Abdullahi Sules victory for the All Progressives Congress.

The state election petition tribunal initially nullified Sules election and declared Ombugadu the winner, but the appeal court later overturned this decision, leading to the final ruling by the Supreme Court.

Women groups have been at the forefront of the protests, leading to road blockades in various parts of the state capital, including the Lafia-Jos road.

This has disrupted traffic flow, forcing commuters to seek alternative routes. The unrest has prompted calls for an increased presence of security forces to restore calm in the area.

The protests have also had economic ramifications, with shops, businesses, and schools in the state capital hastily closing their doors in response to the unfolding events.

The situation remains tense as various groups continue to express their discontent following the courts ruling.
The Abuja Police Command has confirmed the arrest of a kidnapper in Abuja, identified as Chinaza Phillip by operatives of the Kaduna State Police Command.

This was made known in the statement issued by the Abuja PPRO, Josephine Adeh, via the Force X handle on Friday, January 19.

It reads: The FCT Police Command wishes to confirm the arrest of one Chinaza Phillip, a notorious Abuja kidnapper by police operatives of the Kaduna State Police Command on Thursday 18th January, 2024.

The suspect has been handed over to FCT police Command today being Friday 19th January, 2024, and currently in police custody.

The police had declared Mr Phillip as one of the notorious kidnappers in Abuja.

The arrest of the notorious kidnapper marks a crucial victory in the fight against crime in the nations capital.

See more photos of the kidnapper below;
On Thursday night, kidnappers broke into the Nigeria Post Army estate Kurudu in Abuja, whisking-away two people while other fled.CONTINUE READING

The incident, which occurred at around 10:00 p.m. in the phase 2 region of the estate, involved kidnappers entering the property and taking away Barrister Cyril Adikwus wife and mother-in-law.

Austine John, the victims neighbor, claims that the kidnappers entered the Barristers home, opened fire, and seized his wife and in-law while the Barrister managed to flee.

It all started at about 10:00 we suddenly started hearing gun shot and immediately we knew something was wrong I quickly went out to make sure my gate was well locked then we heard the gun shot in the Barristers House then we alerted the estates management who immediately swang into action in a short time army people came around and started shooting too but before the came the kidnappers had taken the wife and the in law of the barrister.

This is really traumatizing because we could not sleep through out the night due to fear of the kidnappers coming back. President Tinubu should pls help Nigerians put an end to this barbaric act by kidnappers .

Details soon
This follows the previous decision by former Governor Abdullahi Ganduje to divide the Kano emirate into five and subsequently dethrone the then Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi.

After the New Nigerian Peoples Party secured victory in last years election, Kwankwaso stated that the administration led by Engr Abba Kabir Yusuf would reevaluate the dethronement and division of the emirate.

In an interview with selected radio stations in Kano, the NNPP leader reiterated that the matter concerning the Kano emirates would indeed be reexamined.

Kwankwaso stated, Honestly, it is one of the things that nobody has sat with me to discuss so far, but I am sure we are going to sit and see how to go about it. Is it going to be allowed, demolished, corrected or whatever? It will be revisited, whats supposed to be done will be done.

There were a lot of things, and this was a trap. All these things were not done in good faith or intention. It was brought with some bad intentions, which everyone of you here and our listeners are aware of.

Sometimes you come with things that are good, and they turn out to be bad, while sometimes you bring things that are bad, and they turn out to be good. So, all I know is that I was not consulted as of now, but definitely, we will come to discuss and see what should be done.

Naija News gathered that after the Supreme Court validated the victory of Governor Yusuf, there were intensified calls for the reinstatement of Sanusi.

Regarding his reinstatement, Sanusi has refrained from making direct comments. However, he accused the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kano of trying to seize power through legal means, unaware that a higher power awaited.

This response came after an interview in which Nasir Gawuna, the gubernatorial candidate of the APC, stated that he accepted the Supreme Courts verdict on the gubernatorial dispute in the state as Gods decision.

But responding to Gawunas assertion, the former Central Bank governor said, We thank Allah, the Almighty and congratulate the people of Kano State. During our last session, we prayed and admonished the judges to do what is right. At last God has given the people of Kano State what they voted for.

When people vote, any attempt to stifle their choice is a shared injustice. The robbery is not on the winner but the electorate. God would never allow this.

People participated in an election and lost. Now, they tried to force their way in through corrupt judges. This book we are reading is about accepting destiny, whether good or bad, to accept Gods decision.

One laughable thing is that after some people were defeated in an election, they went to court to hijack power. At last, in the court, they met Allah in wait. After stopping them from gaining power by force, now they said that they have accepted His decision.

The best time to accept destiny is after the polls. You know people did not vote for you. You know you lost but made moves to hijack power. Its too late.

God is always on the side of the truth. He may give a tyrant a chance or two, but surely that would be short-lived.
Some Youth association in the southwest Nigeria have disputed President Muhammadu Buharis statement that security operatives in Nigeria are winning the war against the bandits, terrorists, kidnappers and armed robbers in the country.

National Daily learned that the Yoruba Youth Socio-Cultural Association (YYSA) disputed President Buharis statement at the graduation of Senior Course 41, Armed Forces Command and Staff College (AFCSC), Jaji, Kaduna State, to be untrue that the security agencies in the country are gaining the upper hand in the fight against banditry, kidnapping, and terrorism. The youths rather asserted that there are serious security problems across the country, including President Buharis own state, Katsina, where criminals have made life unbearable for citizens.

National Dailygathered that the YYSA National Secretary, Olawale Ajao, in a statement at the weekend, declared: In fact, there is serious tension everywhere including President Buharis home town.

Besides, we have been calling on the government to put an end to the activities of killer herdsmen, kidnappers and armed robbers in the southwest region far before Mrs. Funke Olakunrin was murdered. Had necessary measures been put in place, Mrs Olakunrin would not have died untimely.

Also, the Federation of Ekiti State Students Union was said to have bemoaned the rising incidence of killings and other violent crimes across the country, vowing to support leaders of the Yoruba nation to wage war to defend their territory.

National Dailygathered that the National Senate President of the Federation of Ekiti State Students Union, Kolade Ifeoluwa, had in a statement at the weekend in Ado-Ekiti, challenged the six southwest governors to stand for the people of the zone, declaring the students support for the Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yoruba land, Iba Gani Adams, to declare war in defence of the region to protect the land from further invasion.

The National Senate President was cited to have declared in the statement in part: The time for our governors to stand up on our behalf is now. They can count on our support anytime we are called upon in their bid to drive out these criminals from our land.
More than 70 percent of Houston children are eligible to receive free or reduced meals at school. Johnny Hanson/Houston Chronicle

That saying, "Don't mess with Texas," has done well for our state when it comes to littering. If you throw trash or talk trash even about Texas, you better be ready for a fight.

Yet when it comes to our children, especially those who might go hungry, there aren't enough people fighting for their welfare on the state level.

Why else would Texas turn down $350 million in federal aid for summer food assistance for children? Over two-thirds of the school kids in Houston would qualify, estimates show.

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This new federal program, Summer EBT, through the U.S. Department of Agriculture provides families in participating states with funds to buy groceries during the summer when their children aren't receiving free or reduced-price meals at school.

It's only $40 a month per eligible child, which we know isn't much, given how much groceries cost, but every bit helps when you need food for your children. It totals to $120 per child during the summer. The money is put on electronic benefit cards, like prepaid debit cards.

The state claims it doesn't have the time or resources to implement the program, and Texas is one of 16 states not participating. But nearly 21 million children in the United States and its territories are expected to receive food benefits through the program this summer.

Booker T. Washington High School student Luis Perez, 16, picks up a fruit juice for his breakfast at no cost, as part of the Houston Independent School District's efforts to feed kids during the holiday break, on Monday, Dec. 23, 2019, in Houston. The breakfast offered milk, breakfast bar, fruit, fruit juice and yogurt. Yi-Chin Lee/Staff Photographer

Implementing the Summer EBT program this year was not feasible in Texas, said state Health and Human Services Commission spokesperson Thomas Vazquez in a recent Houston Chronicle article. He said the agency lacks the staff to implement a new program and needs new funding from the Legislature.

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We have watched the Legislature make moves quickly when motivated. Since 2022, it has spent nearly $90 million to transport more than 80,000 migrants to other cities. But when it comes to feeding children, using $350 million in federal, not state, funds is somehow nearly impossible.

The cruelty of such a decision is that our state is second in leading the nation with food insecurities, meaning people have limited or uncertain access to food. Nearly 1 in 6 households is food insecure.

According to Children at Risk, a research and advocacy nonprofit, 70% of Houston children are classified as coming from low-income families, which makes them eligible for the free meals programs in schools.

"The state has a history of making it difficult for children in low-income families," said Bob Sanborn, president and CEO of Children at Risk. "There should be no hungry kids, but the state isn't taking it seriously."

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Some programs assist children who might otherwise go hungry, such as SNAP, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which provides families a specific amount of money each month on a debit card to buy food at the store of their choice. There's the WIC program, or Women, Infants, and Children, which is for pregnant women, those who are breastfeeding a baby under 1 year of age, women who have given birth in the past six months, and guardians of infants and children under the age of 5.

The Houston Parks and Recreation Department also offers a free summer food program, which provides lunches and snacks. It's funded by the federal and state agriculture departments. Parks officials say the program won't be impacted by the state's decision.

Texas state law requires that schools with at least 80% of the student body qualifying for free or reduced meals must provide free breakfast, but Sanborn said not all schools are complying. Some limit that program's availability by reducing the time breakfast is served.

The USDA has continued to try to find ways to feed the nation's children through programs like Summer EBT. But Texas has always made it hard for children and families in need, regardless of who is in the White House, Sanborn said.

Texas has the power to do right by our children. I don't expect lawmakers to develop a sense of concern any time soon, but it would be great if we could say, "Don't mess with Texas or our children" and mean it.
Nigeria returned to democracy in 1999, after two long periods of military rule196679 and 198398during which the military wielded executive, legislative, and judicial power. This has left a historical legacy of a powerful military used to doing whatever it wants with no questions asked. On return to democracy, it also left the country with a political class that is wary of military power, and unwilling and unable to impose democratic civilian oversight of the military.

Lack of oversight has real consequences. The Nigerian military is currently engaged in protracted counter insurgency operations against Boko Haram, and involved in many other internal security operations. It is suffering from an acute readiness crisis. It is now being accepted and acknowledged, even within military and government circles, that the Nigerian military is overstretched, under-manned, grossly under-equipped, ill-trained, and poorly led. To worsen matters, the three services are locked in intense rivalries, with neither the lame-duck chief of defense staff nor the equally powerless minister of defense able to intercede; the service chiefs routinely go over the head of the minister to report to the president, rendering the minister redundant. The services are left to pursue operational approaches individually rather than in concert, and carry prestige projects with no real value to operational capacity, frittering away already scarce and insufficient resources. From 1999 to 2018 Nigeria has been spending on average less than of 0.5 percent of its GDP on defence.

The military faces many proven and unproven allegations of human rights abuses and law of armed conflict violations. To address these, there has been a presidential commission of inquiry on human rights violations and compliance with the rules of engagement, and president Buhari raised the issue in his first inauguration speech and in a speech to the EU Parliament in 2016, promising change. But, years later, there is still insufficient doctrinal guidance and normative material to guide the Nigerian military on the conduct of operations.

As President Buhari begins his second term, there is a lot that both the executive and the legislative branches need to do to reform the defense sector to address, among other things, the issues of readiness and democratic civilian oversight. Such reforms will certainly not come from within the military.

Among other things, successful reforms require four changes. First, the Buhari administration should appoint a minister of defense with a strong personality and extensive knowledge of the Nigerian military. The outgoing minister, though a retired general, struggled unsuccessfully to stamp his authority over the powerful service chiefs. By date of entry, he was junior to the service chiefs. Nevertheless, a retired military general would likely be best suited. Second, the current imprecise chain of command running from the president through to the minister of defense, chief of defense staff, down to the three service chiefs and commander of joint task forces, should be reorganized and streamlined.

Third, the process needs support from the Nigerian military top brass, retired Nigerian military officers with the requisite subject matter expertise, as well as Nigerias foreign allies. The United States and United Kingdom in particular should move from just providing training to providing equipment and live satellite imagery if the Nigerian military is to attain the readiness status needed to prevail over Boko Haram as part of the global counter terrorism effort. Such imagery has been more difficult to attain following the mistaken bombing in 2017 of an IDP camp in Borno state by the Nigerian Air Force, which led to more than one hundred confirmed deaths. Finally, there needs to be a review of the contentious Section 217 (2) c, and d, of the Nigerian constitution, which allows the military to be engaged in domestic operations, especially in light of the sometimes tragic consequences of such involvement. For such reform to take root, it will require not only the leadership of the Buhari administration, but the close involvement of the legislature.

Sadeeq Garba Shehu is a private defense and security consultant in Nigeria. He is a former group captain in the Nigerian air force and former deputy head of safety and security at the African Union Commission.

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Embattled activist and publisher of Sahara Reporters, Omoyele Sowore has rejected a bail offer made by President of Omega Fire Ministries Worldwide, Apostle Johnson Suleman.

KanyiDaily recalls that Sowore was arrested in the early hours of Saturday, August 3, 2019, after announcing his plan to stage a nationwide protest tagged RevolutionNow. He was accused of allegedly trying to overthrow the President Muhammadu Buhari government.

Despite being granted bail by the Federal High Court, the activist has remained in DSS custody because it has proven to be difficult for his legal team to meet his bail conditions.

Taking to his verified Twitter handle on Monday, Apostle Suleman expressed concerns that though Sowore had hurt many people in the past  including Suleman himself  he is of the opinion that Sowore should not be allowed to rot where he is. He wrote:

I am really worried that nobody is ready to stand surety for @YeleSowore.. yes he has hurt a lot of people,me inclusive. But do we focus on that and let his rot where he is wvwn (sic) if he caused it in a situation like this what will Christ do?.am considering standing bail for him.., Suleman tweeted.

Am really worried that nobody is ready to stand surety for @YeleSowore..yes he has hurt alot of people,me inclusive. But do we focus on that and let his rot where he is wvwn if he caused it in a situation like this what will christ do?.am considering standing bail for him..  Apst Johnson Suleman (@APOSTLESULEMAN) November 4, 2019

In a swift response to the surety offer, one of Sowores lawyers, Inibehe Effiong, said Suleman was not eligible to stand surety for the detained activist.

While emphasizing that the court was clear that the surety must be resident in Abuja, Effiong maintained that the offer cannot be considered, let alone accepted.

Asides the fact that he is not eligible for the surety, Effiong said Suleman has had a public altercation with his client (Sowore).

Addressing how the activist will meet his bail conditions, Effiong said the Federal Government had politicized the matter by discouraging people from standing surety for his client.

Effiong however expressed confidence that the activist will meet his bail conditions soon.

Punch quotes the lawyer as saying, His (Sulemans) offer cannot be considered let alone accepted. The man who is making the offer is on record of having had a public altercation with Sowore. So, there will be no basis for Sowore to consider it.

The court stated that the surety must be resident in Abuja and the last time I checked, he was not resident in Abuja. So, I am not sure he is eligible to stand surety for him. So there is no way Sowore can accept such an offer.

So, we are turning it down and we are not even considering it. The way the Federal Government politicized the matter, made it difficult for the bail conditions to be met. But we are in the process of perfecting the bail.

News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that Sowore had in a report published through his platform, accused Suleman of engaging in extra-marital affairs with a woman known as Stephanie Otobo.
Oil prices have slumped again on Thursday, following the declaration of a travel ban placed on European countries by the United States (US) government.

For instance, Brent Crude went down to $33.88 in the early hours of Thursday, before it fell to $33.45 later in the day. Also, the US crude went down to $31.24 after dropping 4% in the previous session.

President Donald Trump announced the 30-day travel ban against European countries after the World Health Organization (WHO) made a declaration branding the Coronavirus as a global pandemic.

According to Trump, the 30-day travel order will apply to citizens of 26 European countries excluding Britain, Ireland and American citizens, and will only apply to humans, not cargoes.

The market worries are further complicated by the threat of cheap supply as Saudi Arabia has promised to raise oil output to match Russias supply in their price war.

The United Arab Emirates followed Saudi Arabia in announcing its plans to boost oil output after the collapse of the OPEC agreement last week, notwithstanding Russia and other producers, a grouping is known as OPEC+, the decision to withhold supply and buttress prices.

UAEs national oil company, ADNOC, said it was set to raise crude sales to more than 4 million barrels per day (bpd) and accelerate a push to boost capacity by a quarter to 5 million barrels per day.

The Airlines industry association has also stated that the surprise ban would result in a further drop for jet and other fuels, hitting the already battered aviation industry extremely hard.

With the OPEC agreement sidelined, the global oil market has no regulator and is left at the mercy of market mechanisms using the balance of demand and supply to determine the price.

Speaking to Reuters, Espen Erlingsen, head of upstream research at Rystad Energy, estimated that oil would need to fall to the low $20s to achieve equilibrium.




Orji Uzor Kalu

The convicted Senator representing Abia-North Senatorial Zone, Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu, has asked Nigerians not to give up in the face of the coronavirus pandemic that has hit the world.

He made this known in a press release by his Media Aide, Maduka Okoro, on Tuesday morning. Orji expressed his ultimate and abiding faith in God, saying that COVID-19 will eventually be a thing of the past.

He asked that this difficult and challenging period does not call only for solemn reflections, but for all well-meaning Abia-North sons and daughters, despite the socio-political differences, to collectively work together to fight the scary scourge that is very devastating.

Kalu said, We must come together as a nation and people to seek the face of the Almighty God, so that His GRACE and Mercy will shine upon us all. I am constantly praying for the people of my constituency and will continue to work tirelessly, bearing the cross in these trying times.

I urge you all not to relent but to keep hope alive, for soon and very soon the light of Hope will shine at the end of the tunnel by Gods infinite Grace.

May God continue to bless Ndi-Abia North and our dear Country Nigeria, the ex-Abia governor added.
By Olusegun Odunewu

The Federal Government may be breaking its own rules on social distancing as a means of curbing spread of coronavirus following modalities adopted for distribution of its N20, 000 palliatives measures in Abuja on April 1.

It would be recalled that President Buhari had in a nationwide broadcast on Monday, announced the payment of N20, 000 as a measure to cushion the effect of the lockdown of Lagos and Ogun States as well as the FCT on the poor and vulnerable households.

According to the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Hajiya Sadiya, the payment of N20, 000 each to five thousand beneficiaries started on Wednesday at Kwali Area Council in Abuja.

Beneficiaries are entitled to N5, 000 every month; however, the payment of N20, 000 now to each beneficiary is for four mouths. It is going to happen all over the country, but we are starting with FCT, Lagos and Ogun. These are the frontline states. Other states will follow.

With the current pandemic and circumstances on ground, this amount will go a long way to support the families in their daily lives, she was quoted to have said.

However, the modalities being used for the distribution may further endangered the lives of many Nigerians.

One of the measures advised by the World Health Organization (WHO) to curb the spread of the deadly virus is social distancing, and this informed why countries across the globe, Nigeria inclusive, are ordering their citizens to stay at a home for a period of time.

According to experts, SARS-CoV-2s rapid spread is likely due to the movements of people with no or very mild symptoms  namely, those who are unaware that they even have the virus. That is why social distancing is such an important containment measure, they explain.

At least, people are advised to maintain 1 metre (3 feet) distance to stay safe.

But in distributing the palliative funds, many beneficiaries at Kwali Area Council were seen on queue waiting to collect the handouts, and surprisingly, only a few, specifically, the ministers entourage that wore protective masks.

The beneficiaries, according to released photographs showing the minister handing over the relief packages, wore no protective masks nor hand gloves, and were seen cluster together.

It is therefore advised by experts that the federal government should adopt a safer approach when it comes to Lagos where the population is unexpectedly much.
When I met Cathryn Frisby, she was 100 years old and beating every other player in a competitive game of hangman. Including me.

Id like to say that game was a fluke, but it wasnt. She regularly guessed the answers while I was still scratching my head.

A resident at Evenglow Lodge in Pontiac, Cathryn lived to be 102 (and six months, she liked to point out). She passed away Dec. 21, 2023.

Cathryns brilliant mind remained sharp as ever and her memory was more reliable than most digital resources. Even more impressive, however, is her legacy as an award-winning educator.

The daughter of Bud and Lorine Wink, Cathryn was born in 1921 in a farmhouse northwest of Fairbury. She later married and raised a family on a farm only a half mile from her birthplace. It would be easy to assume her world was limited to that corner of Livingston County, but, oh, what a mistake that would be!

She attended a country school in Avoca Township where she would later teach. After graduating as valedictorian from Fairbury Township High School in 1939, she attended Illinois State Normal University.

As a young teacher in rural schools, she developed a reputation for being kind, yet firm, and effective. She was asked by a Peoria superintendent to start a pilot program for special needs children when none existed. Thirteen students were expected to be in the class, but that first day, 31 students got off the bus. Unfazed, Cathryn persevered and successfully launched the program.

Later, when an exasperated teacher walked out of a classroom of unruly boys, Cathryn was brought in to restore order. She spotted a piano in the corner and began to play a jazzy tune. The boys quickly jumped up to dance.

After a bit she said, Weve had some fun and exercise, now lets get busy and learn something. And they did.

In 1948, the Fairbury School Board asked Cathryn to lead the difficult consolidation of the areas single-room schoolhouses. That same year she married Bill Frisby, and, after a 13-year break to raise three daughters, Cathryn returned the classroom. She retired in 1983.

As you might guess, Cathryns teaching skills had a tremendous impact on her students, peers and community.

A former student, Dr. Charlene Aaron of Fairbury is president of OSF Colleges of Nursing, including St. Francis Medical Center in Peoria and St. Anthonys in Rockford. For seven years, she was also chancellor at St. Johns College of Nursing in Springfield.

But before that, she was a student in Mrs. Frisbys fifth grade class at Westview Grade School in Fairbury.

I always struggled with learning, particularly with math, until I met Mrs. Frisby, says Charlene. She had a way that connected with me and I was able to learn. That gave me confidence.

Charlene says her career in nursing, academia and leadership can be traced back to that turning point in fifth grade. I was no longer afraid, she said.

Many former students say Mrs. Frisby was their favorite teacher because she cared about them as individuals.

She had a knack of understanding who her student was and how to reach them, says Charlene. Everyone respected and loved her.

Over the decades, Cathryn taught multiple generations of families, sometimes every child in a family. Charlenes mother and even her future husband were students of Cathryns.

Although I knew the legendary teacher for just a few short years, I greatly benefitted from her knowledge and perspective. As one of Illinois last surviving educators from the days of one-room schoolhouses, she offered fascinating insights into rural life. Her vast and detailed recall of local history was so valuable.

Cathryn was also a 90-year member of 4-H and a member of the famous Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle.

At her funeral in December, a large crowd gathered to pay tribute to the local icon. They told stories, raised a glass in her honor and wiped away tears. It was not only goodbye to a friend and mentor, but goodbye to an era.

Photos: Lexington vs. Tremont during The McLean County/HOIC Tournament Tremont Lexington 10 011524.JPG Tremont Lexington 9 011524.JPG Tremont Lexington 8 011524.JPG Tremont Lexington 7 011524.JPG Tremont Lexington 6 011524.JPG Tremont Lexington 5 011524.JPG Tremont Lexington 4 011524.JPG Tremont Lexington 3 011524.JPG Tremont Lexington 2 011524.JPG Tremont Lexington 1 011524.JPG Grant Williams 1 011524.JPG Ethan Storm 2 011524.JPG Ethan Storm 1 011524.JPG Doug Yoder 1 011524.JPG Blaine Friedmansky 1 011524.JPG
NORMAL  A new executive director will be starting at the Humane Society of Central Illinois, in addition to two new operations managers.

A statement from the nonprofit animal welfare and adoption center said Nicole Watts will serve as the society's director. HSCI said shes vastly experienced in veterinary medicine and readied with the knowledge and skills to direct the organization.

Additionally, Watts compassionate nature and expertise made her the ideal candidate for the job, the statement continued.

Nicole's commitment to providing a collective voice for animals without owners or families to love and advocate for them truly sets her apart, HSCI stated.

The statement also said Mandy Hawker will return to HSCI as an operations manager, following several years' absence from the nonprofit. HSCI stated that Hawker is a certified dog obedience instructor and has spent several years mentoring and instructing at the Animal Behavior College. She will head adoptions, animal enrichment and the volunteer program.

Tanya Osterman will also start as an operations manager. The statement said shell oversee animal care tasks, such as intake and rehabilitation. Osterman has years of experience working as a veterinary technician for two Springfield animal hospitals.

Close Flying Horse: My birthday
BLOOMINGTON  A Bloomington man is accused of delivering cocaine, charged with four felonies.

Wade T. Talley, 46, appeared in a Tuesday court hearing following his indictment and arrest on four counts of unlawful delivery of a controlled substance.

Court records stated he provided between 1-15 grams of cocaine to one or more informants with the Illinois State Police Task Force 6 narcotics enforcement group.

Talley pleaded not guilty to the charges and requested a public defender. A judge ordered him to follow all statutory orders of the court and abide by conditions that he not consume or possess alcohol, cannabis or any controlled substances without a prescription in his name.

Talley was released from custody on these charges.

A pretrial hearing is scheduled for 9 a.m. March 4.
BLOOMINGTON  Kentrell D. Brown, 21, has been found guilty of murder in the 2021 shooting death of a Bloomington man.

A McLean County jury returned the guilty verdict Thursday afternoon after about three and a half hours of deliberations.

Brown was charged with three counts of first degree murder in the shooting death of 26-year-old Natwan N. Nash, who was found dead in his apartment on March 7, 2021.

Brown, who was 18 at the time, had pleaded not guilty in the case.

A sentencing hearing was scheduled for April 1. Brown was remanded to the custody of the McLean County Sheriffs Office.

At sentencing, Brown will be eligible for 45 years to natural life in prison for this conviction.

Brown's attorneys declined to comment after the verdict.

In a statement issued late Thursday afternoon, State's Attorney Erika Reynolds said the guilty verdict was the result of "a tragic incident," but after weeks of "tireless investigation, the Bloomington Police Department found evidence linking Kentrell Brown to the murder."

Commending the prosecutors, lead detectives and the Bloomington Police Department, Reynolds said justice was reached on Nash's behalf.

"While nothing we do in the courtroom will ease the pain of the loss of a loved one, it is our that this will provide some peace to the victim's family and friends," she wrote.

In a statement issued Friday, Bloomington Police Chief Jamal Simington said this guilty verdict sent a strong message: "heinous crimes will not be tolerated in this community."

"The collective and diligent work of many law enforcement professionals and prosecutors ensured justice was served," he continued. "We are committed to working with members of this community to prevent violence and improve the quality of life in the city."

During closing arguments Thursday morning, Assistant States Attorney Mary Lawson had told the jury there was no evidence to suggest anyone other than Brown could be responsible for Nashs death.

I am confident that when you walk that path with the evidence, it also will lead you to Kentrell Brown," she said that morning, asking the jury to find him guilty.

Assistant Public Defender Mackenzie Frizzell told jury members earlier that day there was plenty of circumstantial evidence pointing to innocence and if they consider the evidence closely, Im confident that the state has not met its burden of proof.  Kentrell is innocent. I ask you to find him not guilty.

During the trial, which began last week, the McLean County jury heard testimony from family members of Nash and Brown, people who bought cannabis from Nash, the forensic pathologist who performed an autopsy on Nash, and law enforcement from the Bloomington Police Department, Illinois State Police and Rochester Police Department in Minnesota.

Lawson told the jury Nash had no enemies and trusted people too much, and the defendant knew that about him.

Evidence presented during the trial and again during closing arguments showed Brown had gone to Nashs Bloomington apartment the night of March 6 to buy cannabis. A neighbors doorbell video showed him walk out the door and a few minutes later, phone records showed he called Nash, who answered and was on the line for 17 seconds.

This was the last call answered on Nashs phone, the prosecutor said.

Lawson argued Brown did not leave the area but came back to Nashs apartment and killed him, firing 11 shots and striking him with 10. The sound of gunfire was captured on another neighbors doorbell system. She said neighbors videos never showed Brown walking into Nashs apartment, but police had acknowledged lagging on the video systems that did not catch everything.

The prosecutor argued Brown stole a large bag of cannabis from Nash, having seen where he kept it. She played video from around 12:30 a.m. March 7 that showed a person walking away from the apartment, but not out the door, carrying something dark and bulky.

Phone records showed Brown called his mother in Rochester, Minnesota, shortly after Nashs body was found and reported to police  about 18 hours after the gunshots were recorded. She traveled to Bloomington, picked him up and took him back to Minnesota.

Lawson argued this showed Browns attempt to evade police.

Frizzell argued it was reasonable Brown had left town when he heard his drug dealer had been killed, knowing he had just recently been at his apartment.

Kentrell Brown purchased weed and left Natwan Nashs apartment five minutes beforehand. He learned that his drug dealer had got shot up and he called his mom. It stops there, she said.

She pointed to other people of interest who might have wanted to kill Nash, including a man from Rockford, who Nash exchanged threatening messages with the night he died, and people related to the women who had romantic or sexual relationships with Nash.

In her rebuttal, Lawson said there was no evidence to support the what ifs suggested by the defense, but the evidence presented shows the only person who could have committed this murder" was Brown.

She said video evidence showed the Rockford man was in Rockford when Nash was killed, and there was nothing to suggest any women associated with Nash had anything to do with his death.

Frizzell noted long hair was found on Nashs hands, but Lawson said the forensic pathologist, Dr. Scott Denton, had told the jury the hair could have been transferred from the living room carpet underneath him. The prosecutor also showed images of Nashs hands clenched when he arrived for the autopsy.

Blood evidence was also disputed during closing arguments.

Lawson said a shoe left behind in the bedroom where Brown had stayed with his grandmother in Bloomington was tested in the Illinois State Police Crime Lab and returned as blood indicated.

The type of test performed by ISP could not conclusively determine it was blood but did confirm it was DNA, Lawson said, noting the presumptive test was reactive for Nash's DNA.

She argued it appeared to be blood by its reddish brown color and the shape of the stain, like a drip.

Thats clearly blood, undoubtedly, she said. The defendant was wearing these shoes when he killed Natwan Nash.

Frizzell told the jury the forensic scientist who performed the test had said the only thing the test could show was DNA and was not human specific.

At the end of the day, we have a screening test that cannot, will not and never tell you that thats blood, she said.

Frizzell also showed a video of a woman knocking on Nashs door about 17 hours after he was shot. The woman testified she heard a male voice she didnt recognize ask who was there and she responded with her name.

Frizzell argued other people had been inside Nashs apartment when he was killed and afterward.

During her rebuttal, Lawson told the jury the woman had told police in 2021 that she wasnt sure if the voice had been coming from Nashs apartment or elsewhere, despite testifying that she was pretty sure it was.

There is no evidence before you that anybody was else present in that apartment other than the defendant. There is no evidence before you that anybody else pulled that trigger other than the defendant, she said. ...You did not see a video of the defendant shooting Natwan, but  all of the evidence that was entered is more than sufficient evidence to find the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

2023 in photos: Captivating images of life in North America
CHICAGO  The more than 40 Illinoisans charged with participating in the riot at the U.S. Capitol three years ago have seemingly come from all walks of life: a real estate broker, a tech company executive, an HVAC technician, a retired firefighter, a Brazilian citizen here on a work visa.

And one Chicago police officer.

Next week, Chicago police Officer Karol Chwiesiuk will face sentencing along with his sister on misdemeanor charges of breaching the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and walking around the building while the mob trashed the Senate chambers and fought with Capitol police.

Unlike most Jan. 6 defendants found guilty of nonviolent misdemeanors, however, prosecutors are asking for relatively stiff terms of a year behind bars for Chwiesiuk and eight months in prison for his sister, Agnieszka.

Thats because the Chwiesiuks not only chose to take the case to trial instead of striking a plea deal, but prosecutors said Karol Chwiesiuk lied repeatedly on the witness stand in a self-serving attempt to escape blame, falsely telling the jury he had no idea what was going on at the Capitol and didnt see evidence of a break-in or signs prohibiting entry.

Karol Chwiesiuk chose to disregard the training he received and the oath he took as a police officer and public servant of the City of Chicago when he broke the law and stormed the Capitol ... and then took the stand, swore to tell the truth and lied to the jury when he told them that he thought it was fine to go inside, Assistant U.S. Attorney Anna Krasinski wrote in a recent sentencing memo.

The attorney for the Chwiesiuks, Nishay Sanan, has asked for probation for each, calling the request for jail time an aberration from the sentences of other Jan. 6 defendants. Sanan also wrote in a filing this week that the Chwiesiuks went to Washington not to break the law, but to see Donald Trump speak and hear what he had to say about what they believe to be a stolen election.

Sanan said no sentence imposed by the court will change (Karol Chwiesiuks) political outlook and beliefs related to this prosecution, and that a probationary term would help him fight to keep his job on the police force when the case is over.

U.S. District Judge Ana C. Reyes is scheduled to sentence both Chwiesiuks on Wednesday in Washington, D.C.

Karol Chwiesiuk was charged in 2021 in a criminal complaint with five misdemeanor counts, including entering a restricted building, disrupting government business and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds with intent to impede a congressional proceeding. His sister was hit with similar charges in December 2022.

Two days before the riot, Karol Chwiesiuk sent texts to a friend that said, Busy planning how to (expletive) up commies, according to the charges. On Jan. 6, prosecutors alleged, Chwiesiuk texted the same friend, We inside the capital lmfao.

The complaint alleged that while inside the Capitol, Chwiesiuk broke into Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkleys office and took a selfie while he wore a hooded sweatshirt with a Chicago Police Department logo on it.

After the siege made national news, the friend texted Chwiesiuk about it, who replied, Yeah I was there and, with a racial slur, (Expletive) dont snitch.

It was epic. Super fun. The optics are bad but (expletive) it at this point ya know, Chwiesiuk wrote in another text about the event, according to prosecutors.

After a two-day trial last August, a jury convicted both siblings of the four charges related to breaching the Capitol building, but acquitted Karol Chwiesiuk of the charge that accused him of entering Merkleys office.

In their sentencing submission, prosecutors said it was unbelievable that the Chwiesiuks didnt know what they were doing when they entered the Capitol through a broken-out fire door, ignoring a blaring alarm, rioters suffering from tear gas and the fact that they had to work their way against a steady flow of rioters coming out of the Capitol.

Prosecutors also said neither sibling has accepted any responsibility or shown remorse for their actions, making it clear they could repeat their conduct in the future if faced with a political outcome they dont agree with.

Karol Chwiesiuk has been a Chicago police officer since 2018 and was most recently assigned to patrol the Harrison District (11th). After his arrest, he was stripped of his police powers and reassigned to desk duty.

Then-Chicago police Superintendent David Brown at the time said the charges against the officer made his blood boil.

And, yes, if these allegations are true, it breaks my heart. Participating in the siege on the Capitol in any way was a betrayal of everything we stand for, the oath (and) the law, he said at a 2021 news conference.

Sanan said in his sentencing filing that Chwiesiuk has been on unpaid leave since losing his firearm owners identification card, but he has yet to be terminated.

His employment status depends in some part on how this case resolves, Sanan wrote.

States where the most Jan. 6 rioters were arrested States where the most Jan. 6 rioters were arrested #49. Mississippi #48. Nebraska #47. Hawaii #46. Rhode Island #45. Vermont #44. New Mexico #43. South Dakota #42. Alaska #41. Louisiana #40. Nevada #39. New Hampshire #38. Connecticut #37. Arkansas #36. Maine #35. Montana #34. Delaware #33. Oregon #32. Idaho #31. Oklahoma #30. Iowa #29. Kansas #28. West Virginia #27. Wisconsin #26. Minnesota #25. Utah #24. Arizona #23. Massachusetts #22. Maryland #21. South Carolina #20. Alabama #19. Indiana #18. Colorado #17. Kentucky #16. North Carolina #15. Georgia #14. Michigan #13. Washington #12. Missouri #11. New Jersey #10. Tennessee #9. Washington, D.C. #8. Illinois #7. Virginia #6. Ohio #5. California #4. New York #3. Pennsylvania #2. Texas #1. Florida
A sketch of the man suspected in the December 2023 shooting of 17-year-old Louise Wilson. The man is described as a light-skinned Black man, in his 20s with short dreadlocks dyed blonde. Courtesy/Crime Stoppers of Houston

More than a month after a 17-year-old girl from Central Texas was shot and killed while driving on a Houston highway, police and Crime Stoppers of Houston released a sketch of her possible shooter and announced a $20,000 reward along with a plea for tips about the killing.

Louise Wilson, 17, was shot while driving Dec. 10 on the Pierce Elevated. Wilson, who was from the small town of Whitney, north of Waco, was driving with two friends in an attempt to catch the sunrise in Galveston.

Wilson was shot by a person in a four-door newer-model black sedan that she had cut off on the highway, police said.

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Police said Thursday that they were looking for a light-skinned Black man in his mid-20s with short dreadlocks that were dyed blonde and that he was possibly the shooter.

"It's time for us as a community to send a message to those who commit these kinds of senseless crimes destroying families one at a time," said Andy Kahan, the director of victim services and advocacy for Crime Stoppers. "We're going to find you, hunt you down and lock you up for a long time."

The sketch was developed in interviews with two surviving witnesses, police said. Police asked anyone who might recognize the man or saw the cars on the night of the shooting to call investigators or Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS.

Wilson was driving a red Chevrolet Sonic. The shooter's sedan pulled up beside her car before the attack. Wilson was able to pull the car to the shoulder of the highway after being shot, police said

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Crime Stoppers had previously offered a $5,000 reward for information on the shooting. The reward money was increased in part by donations collected by the restaurant where Wilson worked as a waitress.

Louise Wilson, 17, was shot on a Houston highway on Dec. 10, 2023 Courtesy/Crime Stoppers of Houston

Daniel Wilson, Louise's father, called the increased reward a way to take life away from the still-unidentified killer

"We have just given you up to 20,000 reasons to doubt and to not trust everyone in your world," he said. "You will have to live with that doubt for the rest of your life."

Wilson family members were joined at a news conference at Crime Stoppers' Midtown headquarters by Paul Castro, the father of 17-year-old David Castro, who in 2021 was killed in a road rage shooting in downtown Houston after an Astros game. The man convicted in David Castro's killing was identified through a Crime Stoppers tip.

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"You're going to look at this picture, and you're going to wonder," Paul Castro said in a message meant for the suspect's family and friends. "This person carries a gun with them. They carry a gun, and they keep it on the driver's side or the passenger's side. This is a person who has a short temper. This is a person who brags and yells and gets angry all the time.
Deputy Finance Minister Dr. John Kumah asserts that Ghana's economy has successfully overcome recent challenges, positioning itself for sustainable growth to benefit Ghanaians.



In a Facebook post dated January 19, Dr. Kumah highlighted the unanimous approval of Ghana's request for debt treatment under the G-20 Common Framework.



This, he believes, forms the foundation for his positive outlook on the nation's economic trajectory.



Expressing gratitude, Dr. Kumah commended the people of Ghana for their unwavering support of the government's measures and policies.



He specifically acknowledged their role in mitigating the adverse impacts brought about by the COVID-19 outbreak and the Russia-Ukraine war.



With optimism, the Ejisu Member of Parliament anticipates a brighter future for the country.



He emphasised that the approved debt treatment sets the stage for sustained economic progress and ultimately benefits the citizens of Ghana.



An essential prerequisite for the IMF Programme was a confirmation that Ghanas public debt was on a sustainable trajectory.



Subsequently, Ghana embarked on the restructuring of both domestic and external debt. The Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP) launched on 5th December 2022 has successfully been completed with over 90 percent participation. The OCCs approval of bilateral debt treatment is expected to provide the impetus for the ongoing commercial debt (Eurobonds) negotiations, a portion of his Facebook post said.



Dr Kumah added that the past week was marked by a significant development in the public debt trajectory following the unanimous approval of Ghanas request for debt treatment under the G-20 Common Framework for Debt Treatment Beyond the Debt Service Suspension Initiative (CF-DSSI).



The government has been combining both fiscal prudence and debt restructuring measures to contain growth in public debt with the view of bringing the debt levels to moderate debt level from high risk of debt distress. The Official Creditor Committee (OCC) decision to support the grand efforts of government is commendable, refreshing and worth celebrating. We, however, do so with caution given that more work needs to be done going forward.



The Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Kristalina Georgieva, has stated that Ghana's economic policies under its programme are beginning to yield the desired outcomes.



She emphasised that the policy and reform commitments outlined in Ghana's deal with the Bretton Woods Institution are in the best interest of the Ghanaian people.



In a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Tuesday, January 16, she expressed the satisfaction of the IMF board with the assurances received from Ghana's external creditors.



"Wonderful to see President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and Ghana's Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta at #WEF24. The policy and reform commitments under Ghanas economic program are starting to bear fruit," she posted.

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 Jospong Group of Companies (JGC) has inked a a mouthwatering Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with EKI Energy Services Ltd, setting sights on catalyzing carbon credit development in Ghana.



This strategic collaboration aims to mobilize an impressive USD1 billion in carbon credit financing, with a commitment to creating over a 1000 job opportunities by 2030 across Ghana and West Africa.



Under the terms of the agreement, EKI will provide JGC with essential technical assistance for the successful implementation of the project. The exclusivity of the partnership is secured for a robust five-year period.



Dr. Joseph Siaw Agyepong, Chairman of JGC, highlighted the collaborative focus on technical, financial, and developmental aspects. Speaking at the signing ceremony in Accra on Tuesday, he expressed confidence in EKI Energy's expertise and leadership in climate change, emphasizing their role as the ideal partner for this venture.



"We are partnering with EKI Energy because of their experience, so they can hand-hold us and propel strong development in the sector," Dr. Agyepong stated.



In a commitment to nurturing future leaders in climate studies, Dr. Agyepong announced the provision of scholarships for 10 individuals interested in pursuing studies in climate change this year.



Chief Executive Officer of EKI Energy Services Limited, Mr. Manish Dabkara, assured strong support in attracting carbon investments for JGC. With a track record of supplying over 200 million offsets, he emphasized his company's technical knowledge and experience to deliver on their mandate.



Witnessing the ceremony, Dr. Henry Kokofu, Executive Director of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), hailed the collaboration as a significant milestone that will position Ghana prominently on the global map. He applauded JGC and its Chairman for the bold initiative in investing and leveraging possibilities in the climate change space.



"This is one of the legacies of President Akufo-Addo, who has championed private sector participation in the climate change arena," Dr. Kokofu remarked, commending the Jospong Group for taking the lead where others hesitated.



EKI Energy Services Ltd. (EKI) is a leading Carbon Credit Developer & Supplier globally, listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). With over 15 years of experience, EKI is a market leader in climate change, carbon offset solutions, and carbon asset management, operating in 16 countries with over 3500 clients worldwide and in this collaboration with the JGC.



The Jospong Group of Companies on the other hand is a diversified holdings company in Ghana, operating across 14 sectors of the economy, with a significant presence in Waste Management, ICT, Banking, as well as Automobile and Equipment. The company's operations extend to other African countries and Asia.

Source: Prince Baffour Asamoah/Peace FM Newsroom









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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Representatives and lawyers for Oil Marketing Company, Shell (Defendant) were absent in court on Thursday, for the hearing of the case in which a businessman dragged them to court for sale of alleged contaminated fuel.



When the case was called before Justice John Bosco Nabarese, both the Defendant (Shell) and their lawyers were absent.



The judge noted he received information that lawyer for the Defendant is indisposed. Lawyer for the Plaintiff John Jaja who was minded to ask for cost rather waived it.



The businessman, Edmund Barwuah dragged Shell to Court for allegedly selling contaminated fuel to him.



The plaintiff in his statement of claim said, on August 28, 2022 he refuelled his Ford Explorer vehicle, 2017 model at the Atimpoku Shell filling station in the Eastern Region on his way from the Volta Region.



The plaintiff ( Edmund Barwuah) claimed that, the fuel sold to him was contaminated with water, a situation which endangered his life and that of his friend John Michael Appiah-Acheampong.



Aside that, he also missed an important business meeting he was scheduled for, worth Two Million, Five Hundred Dollars ($2,500,000.00) as well damages on car.



The plaintiff (Edmund Barwuah) is therefore praying the High court in Accra to give an order directing the Defendant (Shell) to replace his Ford Explorer vehicle, 2017 model with a similar vehicle and of same specifications.



He also wants the court to order the Defendant (Shell) to award him special damages of $2.5 million for the loss of business opportunity occasioned by the defendant's negligence and breach of contract.



Additionally he wants damages of Six Hundred cedis (GHC 600.00) per day for the loss of his car from 28th August, 2022 till Shell replaces his car with similar vehicle.



The case has been adjourned to January 25, 2024 for the hearing to commence.

Source: Philipa Atanga/Court Reporter/Despite Media









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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New electric vehicles will become more affordable this year with a price war set to unfold, experts predict.



The arrival of less expensive Chinese brands and the introduction of the Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) Mandate is going to force the hands of other makers to slash their prices in order to remain competitive and meet new binding targets for EV sales set out by the Government.



'Drivers considering taking the first step on their electrified driving journey have never been in a better position to benefit from falling EV prices than in 2024,' says Auto Trader, the country's largest automotive marketplace.



The emergence of Chinese manufacturers is going to cause a big shift in the nation's new car sector.



Brands from China are expected to capture a sixth of the UK's EV market by 2030 as its manufacturers look overseas after conquering their domestic market, Auto Trader's Road to 2035 report states.



China has already cemented itself as the world's biggest exporter of cars, overtaking Japan last year.



And exclusive analysis by MailOnline and This is Money's motoring department found that some are already having a huge impact on the UK car market.



MG, with its focus on affordable EVs like the latest MG4, accounted for over 4 per cent of vehicle registrations in the UK last year.



In just a decade, Shanghai-operated MG Motor has increased its market share of new motors sold per year by a massive 19,094 per cent - more than any other brand over the last 10 years - and now sells more new vehicles than Skoda, Peugeot, Land Rover, Volvo, Renault and even Tesla.



Other Chinese brands, like GRW (Great Wall Motor) and BYD (Build Your Dreams), are just breaking into the UK market and are still establishing themselves.



It was recently confirmed that BYD overtook Tesla as the world's biggest manufacturer of electric vehicles in the final three months of 2023, selling a record 526,000 vehicles globally.



Searches for BYD cars trebled on Auto Trader in the days after the news, accounting for more than 6 per cent of all new EV advert views.



And Chinese brands have the capacity to slash their prices even more.



BYD's Dolphin EV, for instance, costs from 13,000 in China but starts at 25,000 in the UK.



As for GRW's ORA 03 (formerly the Funky Cat) supermini, the gulf is 19,000 (12,000 starting price in China and 31,000 in the UK).



However, this is also courtesy of huge Chinese-Government subsidies and big import taxes.

Source: Dailymail.co.uk









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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With France's role in West Africa declining, the U.S. has a perfect opportunity to increase its influence in CAR employing a well-established methodology - intelligence agents, cooperation with groups and undercover work under the UN umbrella.



The Nigerian media Naijaloaded conducted a thorough investigation of the hidden activities of the United States to destabilize the CAR and the African continent. The journalists of Naijaloaded have found out a lot of sensational details that cannot but shock.



The US attempts to establish its military and strategic presence in the Central African Republic have been on the agenda in recent months. The journalists of Naijaloaded found out through their Central African informants that at least two US intelligence officers have been working in the Central African Republic to undermine the security and stability of the country. They entered the territory of the Republic several months ago under the pretext of working in the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA).



The first of the American officers to arrive in CAR was Lane Cody Michael from Oregon. His ability to quickly learn foreign languages and his unprincipled nature helped the American officer build a successful career. Lane began his career in the U.S. Armed Forces by serving at the U.S. military base Arifjan in Kuwait. Lane caught the attention of local CIA coordinators after mastering Arabic in less than six months. Using this skill to establish a successful business with the locals, he bartered military property for easy drugs. The talented, energetic guy was noticed and Cody Lane was recruited into the intelligence service. In the Persian Gulf, Lane was inserted into a Middle Eastern system of smuggling arms and drugs to pro-American proxy groups in the region. He also maintained ties with his comrades on military bases and faithfully supplied them with light narcotics through his local contacts, according to informants.



As Lane speaks French at a high level, after his service in the Middle East, he began to prepare for deployment to Africa. Shortly before arriving in the CAR, the American officer took a course in sango and excelled in his training group. In the Central African Republic, Cody Lane was put in charge of coordinating with the UPC group and militants from the Coalition of Patriots for Change (CPC) to organize the illegal export of Central African diamonds to the United States.



In many ways, the U.S. diamond smuggling strategy is based on the "diamond protocol" adopted by the U.S. and the EU. It will allow to increase diamond prices on the world market, which will make smuggling diamonds out of the Central African Republic with the support of the UN mission an even more profitable venture.



The second member of the U.S. sabotage and reconnaissance mission is New York-born development engineer Ian Andrew Beckenbach. Prior to joining the intelligence community, Beckenbach was an explorer and photographer who regularly used quadrocopters to capture landscapes and animals in their natural habitat. It was this personal interest that later shaped his career path, the young photographer decided to become a drone specialist. Having studied at the Vaughn College of Aeronautics and Technology in New York, Beckenbach then worked for Invictus Global Services and then ArgenTech Solutions, Inc. for several years, where he gained experience testing and debugging equipment for military drones.



Bekenbach was recruited by the CIA 4 years ago after Ian's drone captured a sensitive U.S. intelligence facility while filming. He completed specialized subversion training in 2021 and was temporarily assigned to the U.S. Air Force Special Operations Command in 2022 to operate drones in West Africa, but had no experience traveling to Africa.



Prior to traveling to CAR, Bekenbach went through special training for work in Africa to be prepared for the various situations that may arise during a mission. He learned how to survive in the jungle and how to navigate on the ground, which allows for much greater autonomy for work in the CAR than normal MINUSCA personnel. He also studied local practices to better understand the people of CAR and avoid conflicts.



Moreover, it became known to journalists of Naijaloaded that as a member of the U.S. intelligence team, Bekenbach would work to collect data on the positions of the central African army in order to coordinate rebel attacks. His first results probably appeared quite quickly and on the night of November 28, an unidentified aircraft struck an armed forces base in Bossangoa. And the cotton ginning plant of the former SOCADA. The strike was carried out by CPC militants in coordination with the US. The hit on the cotton ginning plant had extremely negative consequences for the CAR economy, as cotton is one of the cash crops in the CAR. It contributes to the socio-economic development of the country and allows cotton-producing citizens to become independent and meet their daily needs.



Beckenbach caught the attention of the CAR Customs Service at the entrance to the country. During an additional check among the quadcopters and surveillance equipment in his luggage, they found a large amount of items of a sexual nature: various sex toys, oversized women's clothing and other accessories. Information about this began to be discussed among customs officials.



American officers in the CAR are likely to continue developing a system of smuggling schemes, including supplying arms to local anti-government groups, as MINUSCA has been repeatedly found guilty of doing, even in the Middle East.



MINUSCA's 10-year presence in the Central African Republic has documented multiple crimes by peacekeepers, such as rape, the negligent killing of civilians, fatal accidents, cooperation with militias, and participation in fighting alongside armed groups.



The local population widely reported cooperation between MINUSCA and the militants, from providing information to supplying medicine, food, weapons and ammunition to the militants. In fact, between March and August 2021 alone, there were 49 confirmed cases of cooperation between the MINUSCA troops and armed groups.



The sources also report that the blue helmets constantly provide the militants with information on the movements and locations of the Central African Republic's national army, which complicates mop-up operations. In case the peacekeepers fail to warn the militants of the arrival of government troops, they shelter the militants in their bases or transport them in their vehicles, which are almost never searched due to UN immunity, to safety.



Apart from transporting weapons through traditional smuggling routes from Chad and South Sudan, terrorists also receive weapons from the Blue Helmets. It has been observed that some contingents have handed them more advanced weapons, including anti-personnel mines, which are banned in the territory of the Republic.



Lastly, some of the MINUSCA contingent is closely linked to the local criminal network in resource-rich regions. In Bossangoa, a mining town in northern CAR, UN peacekeepers are, according to locals, the primary buyers of gold and diamonds. Furthermore, the MINUSCA is being used by Western countries such as France and the U.S. that want to destabilize the Central African Republic for their own selfish purposes.



In its official statements, the United States Government calls for an end to the cycle of violence in Africa, while doing its utmost to destabilize and incite chaos in African countries (and beyond) for its own interests. Similarly, MINUSCA in the Central African Republic is not fulfilling its mandate to protect civilians, but rather is clearly serving other purposes, only exacerbating the security situation and putting thousands of innocent Central African lives at risk.

Source: Ibrahim A. Diarra









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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Pope Francis has said that sexual pleasure is "a gift from God" that should be "disciplined with patience."



He also warned against pornography, which he said brought "satisfaction without relationship" and could lead to addiction.



The Pope was speaking at his general audience in the Vatican on Wednesday.



The address, part of a series of sermons on vices and virtues, focused on what the Pope called "the demon of lust".



The pontiff said that lust "devastates relationships between people" and added that "daily news is enough to document this reality".



"How many relationships that started out in the best way have later become toxic relationships?" he asked.



The Pope made the comments days after his new head of doctrine, Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernandez, came under fire for a book he wrote and published in the late 1990s entitled Mystical Passion: Spirituality and Sensuality.



The book, which is now out of print, discussed human sexuality and provided detailed descriptions of male and female experiences during orgasms.



Speaking to Catholic online publication Crux, Cardinal Fernandez said he wrote the book when he was still young and he "certainly would not" write it now.



Conservative commentators have called the book "perverse", with one saying it showed Cardinal Fernandez was "unfit" to be prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith.



This is not the first time Pope Francis or Cardinal Fernandez have drawn the ire of conservative members of the Catholic community.



In December, Cardinal Fernandez introduced a text, later approved by Pope Francis, detailing guidelines allowing priests to bless same-sex couples relationships that were still considered sinful.



Although Cardinal Fernandez did emphasise that the stance did not validate the status of same-sex couples in the eyes of the Catholic Church, for many conservatives the damage was done.



Cardinal Gerhard Muller, who was the Church's head of doctrine under Pope Benedict XVI, firmly denounced the Vatican's document.



In a lengthy response posted online, Cardinal Muller said that a priest blessing a homosexual union would be committing a "sacrilegious and blasphemous act".



"According to the criterion of this type of blessings, one could even bless an abortion clinic or a mafia group," Cardinal Muller said.



Prelates around the world also released statements condemning the decision, including American conservatives, who have long been vocal in opposing the Pope's plans for reforming the Catholic Church.



Tensions reached a nadir when the Pope evicted outspoken critic US Cardinal Raymond Burke from his Vatican apartment and revoked his salary.

Source: BBC









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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Former NDC Central Regional Chairman, Bernard Allotey Jacobs says the leadership of New Patriotic Party should take Kennedy Agyapong's endorsement of the Energy Minister, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, for Running Mate seriously.



The Assin Central Member of Parliament and former Presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Kennedy Ohene Agyapong, addressing some delegates of the party at Bantama in Ashanti Region described Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh as the only credible individual to partner the party's flagbearer, H.E. Alhaji Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia.



If you go to NAPOs office, you will be marveled at the way he relates with party people. He takes care of party people. If we had 5 of his kind in the party, NPP would have been better off and far ahead of the NDC. Given the current circumstances where many of our members are despondent, selecting NAPO will be the only way to bring back the needed energy for victory in the 2024 elections, he said.



Hon. Kennedy Agyapong stressed the only way he was going to campaign for the NPP in the 2024 elections is when the flagbearer selects the Energy Minister, popularly called 'NAPO', as his Running Mate.



The only way I will campaign for the NPP is for Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh to be named as the Running MateThat will be the most credible ticket to beat John Mahama, he insisted.



Speaking to host Nana Yaw Kesseh during Peace FM's "Kokrokoo" morning show, Allotey Jacobs noted that Kennedy Agyapong is no ordinary person in the NPP, hence his words carry great weight.



To him, for Kennedy to endorse NAPO should mean a great deal to the New Patriotic Party and also tell the significance of a Bawumia/Matthew Opoku Prempeh match into the December elections.



"What Kennedy...said that he will campaign for the party if NAPO is nominated as the Running Mate, the party should take it serious...This man (Kennedy Agyapong) got 37.1% (in the NPP presidential election). He has positioned himself as a potential leading member of the NPP that in case of anything, you will have a lot of people rallying behind him...He hasn't become ambitious to become a Running Mate but he has a choice", he remarked.





Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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The Minister for Works and Housing and Member of Parliament for the Bantama constituency, Francis Asenso-Boakye has cast doubt on the competence of Ralph Agyapong saying he's "unprepared".



Ralph Agyepong who is the brother of the MP for Assin Central, Kennedy Agyapong is seeking to snatch the Bantama seat from Asenso Boakye in the upcoming primaries of the New Patriotic Party (NPP).



However, Asenso-Boakye in an interview believes Ralph has no chance of winning because he has no vision for the constituency.



"He's not a match for me...I see him as unprepared...Bantama is a very serious constituency; so far no one knows his plans and vision" he said on Kumasi-based Hello FM



Listen to him in the video below





Source: Peacefmonline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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The International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA-Ghana) has expressed their bitter feelings over the neglect of women in leading political roles in Ghana.



The women lawyers, speaking in an interview on Peace FM's "Kokrokoo" show, advocated the need and significance of having a female as Running Mate to the presidential candidates of the political parties, particularly the New Patriotic Party and National Democratic Congress.



They believe it is about time a female was considered for such position, stressing women in leadership roles contribute largely to national development.



They argued that due to the less number of women in leadership roles in the politics of Ghana, most of the needs of women have been abandoned but should a woman be chosen as Running Mate, she will address the numerous challenges bedeviling females and also become a beacon of hope to young women.



"Voting is not peculiar to men alone. We are all equal citizens. So, why can't we open up and give both men and women the same opportunities?", one of the panelists who spoke for FIDA-Ghana highlighted.



Another explained their quest for a female Running Mate is to negate historical accounts regarding women not considered for high offices.



"When you take US, it took them 200 years to get a female Running Mate or a woman who is currently their Vice President. We won't sit down for it to be 200 years before we choose a woman as Running Mate; we have to speak out", the women admonished the leaders of the main political parties in the country.

Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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Hyatt Regency Phuket proudly presents the Four Hand Chef Culinary Experience. This exclusive event invites renowned Michelin-starred Chef Manjunath Mural, the trailblazer of Indian cuisine in Southeast Asia, to collaborate with our talented Chef Vivekananda Saha.

Chef Manjunath Mural made history as the first Indian Executive Chef to earn a Michelin star for an Indian restaurant in Southeast Asia. Leading the team at Song of India, a modern Indian restaurant in Singapore, Chef Mural has put his career in the limelight with his dedication to showcasing the diverse regional flavors of the incredible India. In 2016 and 2017, Song of India received the prestigious Michelin star under his helm, making it the sole Indian restaurant in Southeast Asia with such honor.

Joining forces with Chef Vivekananda Saha, our accomplished Executive Sous Chef, the Four Hand Chef Culinary Experience promises an extraordinary gastronomic journey. With his impressive culinary background and extensive experience at globally renowned hotel brands, Chef Vivekananda brings creativity and expertise to our culinary team.

Event Details:

Culinary Master Class by Chef Mural

Date: January 23rd, 2024

Time: 15:00  17:00 hrs.

Location: Pool House Kitchen

Price: THB 1,500 ++ per person (limited seats)

Five-Course Culinary Delights

Dates: January 24th  25th, 2024

Time: 18:00  21:30 hrs.

Location: Pool House Kitchen

Price: THB 2,800 ++ per person, including a glass of welcome prosecco

This immersive experience is a rare opportunity for connoisseurs and food enthusiasts to savor the magic created when two culinary maestros collaborate. Guests can indulge in Chef Murals Culinary Master Class on January 23rd, where he shares insights and techniques, followed by two evenings of a meticulously curated five-course menu featuring a modern twist on authentic Indian dishes.

Dont miss the chance to be part of this unparalleled culinary event. Secure your reservations now to ensure a seat to experience an unforgettable gastronomic journey.

For bookings and inquiries, please contact fnb.phuhr@hyatt.com or call +66 76 231 234.
A 37-year-old Sugar Land man will spend the next two years in a federal prison after being sentenced Thursday for conducting a cryptocurrency scheme. Dan Kitwood, Staff / TNS

A 37-year-old Sugar Land man will spend the next two years in a federal prison after being sentenced Thursday for conducting a cryptocurrency scheme consisting of him laundering and stealing over $500,000.

Xiaofei Chen appeared in U.S. District Judge Alfred H. Bennett's courtroom and apologized for his crimes, which involved him fraudulently acquiring the name, driver's license and bank account information of someone and arranging a wire transfer of $520,000 from their checking account, a Justice Department news release said.

Chen then opened a Bitstamp cryptocurrency exchange account using the person's information without their consent, the U.S. Attorney's Office said. Through Bitstamp, an online currency exchange headquartered in London, Chen was able to convert the stolen money into Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

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BITCOIN MINERS COSTING TEXANS MILLIONS: Bitcoin miners running up Texans electricity bills, industry fighting new regulations

Once converted, Chen laundered the Bitcoin through various transactions, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. With the money, he made luxury purchases, including a $59,000 Jeep Wrangler and a $78,000 Audi RS5, court documents show.

Bennett allowed Chen to remain out of custody and voluntarily surrender to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility that will be decided at some point.
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(a) Crystal structure of considered supercells of undoped and doped PbTe. (b) Electron localization function of doped PbTe. Credit: Applied Physics Letters (2024). DOI: 10.1063/5.0185002

According to scientists, waste heat, which enters the environment and remains unused, accounts for more than 70% of global energy consumption losses. With the help of thermoelectric materialsspecial semiconductorsthe dissipated heat can be converted into electricity. Thermoelectric materials can also be used to design cooling devices, which reduce energy consumption in domestic and industrial applications.

Searching for these materials is one of the key tasks of modern materials science. A team of scientists from Skoltech, the Emanuel Institute of Biochemical Physics RAS, as well as other leading scientific organizations in Russia and Israel studied how adding impurities to lead telluride (PbTe), a thermoelectric material, can affect its mechanical properties and extend the service life of a thermoelectric generator. The article has been published in Applied Physics Letters.

"Lead telluride is used on gas pipelines in the Yamal region to ensure the operation of sensors. It is impossible to put power lines there, and diesel engines require constant monitoring. Instead, small tubes with burning gas are used to provide heat. Using a thermoelectric material, the heat from the burning gas is converted into electricity, which is enough for the sensors to work," said Ilya Chepkasov, the leading author of the study, a senior research scientist at Skoltech's Energy Transition Center.

The material also has some disadvantages: It can deteriorate when it comes into contact with materials that have a different coefficient of thermal expansion. Easy deterioration may depend on doping, which is the process of adding impurities to the crystal structure of a semiconductor to change its electrical and thermoelectric properties and make conductivity controlled and predictable.

There are two types of semiconductor doping. N-type doping results in a semiconductor with electrons being the main charge carriers. P-type doping produces a semiconductor, where the main role in charge transfer is attributed to the so-called "holes"places that appear in an electronic bond after the electron exits. They have a positive charge and behave like positive particles.

Scientists have demonstrated that the chemical bond in the n-type PbTe weakens as the loosening orbitals fill up. As a result, the material becomes more ductile and, with thermal expansion, the risk of its degradation is lower than in the p-type.

"Depending on the type of doping, the mechanical properties of the material may vary in different ways. In the n-type PbTe, the concentration of dopants slightly affects the mechanical properties. In the p-type PbTe, there is a significant increase in its hardness. We studied the reason for this behavior and found that n-type doping results in an extra electron on the loosening orbital. Because of this, the material becomes more ductile. Conversely, p-type doping results in a more rigid bond and a more fragile material," added Chepkasov.

The new results will help select a dopant that will improve the mechanical properties of lead telluride and increase the durability of a thermoelectric generator. The research was part of the Russian Academy of Sciences grant No. 19-72-30043 titled "Laboratory of Computer Design of new materials." The project aims to develop new computational methods that will significantly enhance the capabilities of computer prediction of materials, taking into account such complex factors as temperature and correlation effects.

More information: Ilya V. Chepkasov et al, Origin of brittle behavior of doped PbTe-based thermoelectric materials, Applied Physics Letters (2024). DOI: 10.1063/5.0185002 Journal information: Applied Physics Letters
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Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

Wealthy individuals and entities have been known to fund the arts since ancient times.

The Ming dynasty, the Medici family, Madame de Pompadour, Gertrude Stein and Peggy Guggenheim have played pivotal roles in the creation and preservation of famous artwork throughout history.

Most contemporary art institutions in the United States continue to depend on private funding. The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City reported receiving more than $250 million in philanthropic support in 2018, while the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston reported more than $60 million in philanthropic support, representing almost half of their total respective revenues.

The majority of art institutions operate on limited budgets. Government grants contribute a modest 15% to art museums' annual budgets.

Northeastern's Center for Complex Network Research used its network science tools to develop a detailed quantitative picture of philanthropic art funding to find the patterns that govern private giving and help art organizations fundraise more efficiently.

The researchers found that the number of grants given to an art organization strongly correlated with the prestige of that institution and that almost half of the donors awarded more than 50% of grants in their own state. While art institutions enjoy a high donor retention rate (almost 70% after one year), high localization of philanthropic funding can make organizations compete for donors both within the same art genre and with other genres.

"I was quite surprised by the locality of the art funding," says Albert-Laszlo Barabasi, Robert Gray Dodge professor of network science, university distinguished professor and director of the Center for Complex Network Research. "We have seen that before in the science funding space, but art felt more universal, implying that if you're interested in a particular kind of art institution you should easily cross state boundaries."

In order to quantify donor-recipient relationships in art, Barabasi and his co-author, Louis Shekhtman, former postdoctoral researcher in network science at Northeastern, analyzed tax forms 990 and 990PF filed electronically by 685,000 nonprofits and publicly shared by the IRS.

"The art world functions inherently as a network that includes different kinds of players, including artists, institutions, curators and critics," Barabasi says. "Network science offers a way to map out and understand in a quantitative way these networks so that the fruits of this research become available to all players."

The study narrowed its focus to 49,000 art nonprofits that secured $36 billion in grants from 47,000 foundations between 2010 and 2019.

The research established a strong correlation between institutional prestige of the art organizations and funding, with the top 10 most prestigious institutions averaging more than 1,000 grants each in that decade and more than $100 million. Lower-prestige institutions received between dozens and a few hundred contributions or between $100,000 and $10 million in total.

In 2018 alone, the Met, one of the largest museums in the world, received contributions from the highest number of U.S. donors1374more than any other art institution. Many donors of other major New York City-based institutions, Shekhtman says, also donated to the Met. For example, the Leon Levy Foundation reported giving $229,000 to the Museum of Modern Art in 2019 and $162,000 to the Met.

The geographical proximity of the recipients and donors of philanthropic funding played a significant role in the distribution of grants, according to the study results. A considerable portion of philanthropic donations to art institutions61% of dollars and 56% of the number of grantsoccurs on a local level, Shekhtman says, even for major national foundations.

For example, almost 50% of the art organizations receiving support from the MacArthur Foundation and the Ford Foundation are in Illinois and New York, respectively, while more than 50% of art institutions sponsored by the Getty Trust are in California. Many private foundations, Shekhtman says, have an exclusively local focus.

"The local piece highlights the role of local connections and the experiential aspect of art, when visiting the museum leads someone to become a donor," Shekhtman says.

Such localization of funding, the scientists say, raises concerns about fairness and equitable allocation of resources between different geographical areas and communities. As most wealthy foundations supported by big national and international business enterprises are based in already wealthy areas of the U.S., they say, the redistribution of this wealth to local institutions can exacerbate existing inequalities.

Art is not the main focus for the most philanthropic foundations, Shekhtman says.

Donors whose philanthropic focus is in other fields, the research suggests, are often open to giving a portion of their funds to art. When different organizations attempt to fundraise from the same donor, Shekhtman says, the donor might give a higher fraction of their assets to art overall. For the same reason, art organizations should also try to reach out to the major donors in their region who have never previously donated to art.

The study also found a high donor retention rate in the art world, with nearly 70% of relationships continuing into the second year and 90% after seven years of consistent giving.

"There's been a lot of thought in sociology and other fields about what makes someone donate and how it is important," Shekhtman says. "A lot of what we found was very consistent with that, but we have quantified [these patterns] in a much more specific and rigorous way."

This story is republished courtesy of Northeastern Global News news.northeastern.edu.
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The rubbing of a tomb epitaph of a deceased elite (Du Zhongliang ) in the Tang Dynasty. Red = surname and choronym; Blue = grandfather and father's full name and office rank; Yellow = the deceased elite's career trajectory; Green = age at death and time of death. Credit: Image courtesy of the National Library of China.

In studying social mobility in today's industrialized nations, researchers typically rely on data from the World Economic Forum or, in the United States, the General Social Survey. But examining the same phenomena from past centuries is a more daunting task because relevant statistics are harder to come by.

However, a social science research team has now discovered a way to examine professional advancement in medieval China (618907 CE) by drawing from the tomb epitaphs during the Tang Dynasty. These epitaphs contain the ancestral lineages, names, and office titles (e.g., Minister of Personnel, Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, and Palace Deputy Imperial Censor) of the deceased's father and grandfather as well as the deceased's career history and educational credentialsample data points for measuring social mobility across generations.

Notably, their analysis shows that education during this period was a catalyst for social mobility.

"Epitaphs written in medieval China, including the Tang Dynasty, tend to be highly detailed descriptions of an individual's life with stylized prose and poems, and they contain granular information about the ancestral origins, family background, and career history of each deceased individual," says Fangqi Wen, an assistant professor of sociology at Ohio State University.

"This information, to some extent, mirrors what would have been included in a contemporary social mobility survey," adds Erik H. Wang, an assistant professor in NYU's Department of Politics.

Wang studies historical political economy while Wen examines social mobility in contemporary societies. After recognizing the high level of data quality embedded in these epitaphs, they realized that the artifacts were a vessel that merged their scholarly interests. Later they recruited the NYU professor of sociology Michael Hout, Wen's dissertation advisor and a leading scholar on social stratification and mobility, to join the project.

Their findings, which appear in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), show that the patterns of relationships of social origins, education, and adult achievement somewhat resemble the patterns in the United States in the 1960s and 1970s. In drawing from 3,640 epitaphs of males as well as other data from reliable historical sources, such as dynastic records and third-party compiled genealogies, the researchers' analysis revealed a decline of Chinese medieval aristocracy and the rise of meritocracy 1,300 years ago.

The researchers discovered a specific reason for this development: whether or not the deceased passed the Keju, or the Imperial Exam, which was developed during this period for the purposes of selecting officials for civil service posts. They found that the Keju, which was administered until the early 20th century, served as a catalyst for social mobilitymuch as higher education has done in the U.S. since at least the 1960s.

"Our statistical analysis shows that coming from a prominent ancient great house or 'branch' mattered less for career success in the bureaucratic system after roughly 650 CE while passing the Keju came to matter more," the authors write. "Furthermore, passing the competitive exam may have even equalized chances of subsequent success, as a father's status was not a factor in the bureaucratic rank of men who passed the Keju."

"Education is central to our understanding of intergenerational mobility," observes Hout. "Many think it was a 20th-century development. But, as we can see from centuries-old data, there are phenomena linking origin, education, and careers very much like contemporary patterns."

More information: Fangqi Wen et al, Social mobility in the Tang Dynasty as the Imperial Examination rose and aristocratic family pedigree declined, 618907 CE, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2024). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2305564121 Journal information: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
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Credit: University of Tsukuba

Bluegill, recognized as aggressive invaders causing significant harm to native species, have been introduced to aquatic systems worldwide, including Japan. Their unique colony spawning involves males constructing nests in close proximity to one another, with each male guarding its own nest. However, these behaviors remain understudied in invaded habitats.

To address this gap, researchers from the University of Tsukuba examined spawning behavior and brood predators in Lake Nojiri, Northern Nagano Prefecture, Japan, using underwater video analysis and experimental guarding male removal. Their study was published in the North American Journal of Fisheries Management.

Bluegill were observed spawning in shallow habitats from June through July, with nests occurring in loosely aggregated colonies as well as numerous solitary nests (35%). Males displayed various guarding behaviors, such as rim circling, predator chases, and paternal investment behaviors, such as tail fanning. Removal of guarding males revealed four brood predator species totaling 105 individuals, with conspecific bluegill constituting >90% of all brood predators.

Consistent with the colony spawning theory, nests located closer to other nests with active guarding males experienced reduced brood predation and increased predator arrival time following male removal. Additionally, nests where males exhibited more aggressive guarding before removal showed decreased brood predation later on.

These findings suggest that the absence of native brood predators, coupled with the advantages of colony spawning, has likely facilitated the successful establishment of bluegill throughout Japan. Furthermore, the common guarding male removal management strategy in Japan may be less effective due to the influence of colony spawning.

More information: Miles I. Peterson et al, Male guarding behavior and brood predators of invasive Bluegill in a Japanese lake, North American Journal of Fisheries Management (2024). DOI: 10.1002/nafm.10976
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Credit: RDNE Stock project from Pexels

In a recent article published in the Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, Anjan Thakor, the John E. Simon Professor of Finance at Olin Business School at Washington University in St. Louis, explains how having a strong culture and a sense of higher purpose influences banking performance and discusses a framework to diagnose an organization's current culture and identify its preferred corporate culture.

Thakor, who also directs the Wells Fargo Advisors Center for Finance and Accounting Research at Olin, has researched and written extensively about the importance of corporate culture and higher purpose in banking over the years. But the idea that culture drives bank risk-taking and performance didn't become mainstream until after the 200709 global financial crisis, Thakor said.

"After the 20072009 financial crisis, many bank regulatorsmost notably Bill Dudley, president of the New York Federal Reserve Bankwere interested in the possible role that bank culture played in the decisions that banks made that may have contributed to elevated systemic risk in the economy and contributed to the crisis," Thakor said.

"I participated in many of the post-crisis conferences on this topic that were organized by the New York Fed and others. I have also been researching this topic, and talking to bank executives and directors about bank culture and its interaction with the bank's purpose and strategy for the past decade or so, and particularly emphasizing the positive role of bank capital in this interaction."

Today, most leaders would agree that culturethe shared values, beliefs, norms and knowledge that influence employee decision-makingis important to the organization's bottom line. Strategy cannot be effective unless culture supports it, Thakor said.

Despite agreement on its importance, though, culture remains a somewhat nebulous concept. And because of this, diagnosing the organization's culture and making a proactive effort to change it is a real challenge for leaders, Thakor said.

According to Thakor, the Competing Values Framework provides a research-validated practical tool for making culture a visually tangible concept and for diagnosing and changing culture. Using this framework, organizations can view their activities and priorities within four categories: collaborate, control, compete and create. Understanding the organization's culture can help leaders identify which strategies will be most effective. It also can identify if the current culture does not align with the organization's strategies, he explained.

How bank cultures changed post-financial crisis

The culture among U.S. banks has changed significantly in the 15 years following the 200709 global banking crisis. As a result, Thakor said banks are better prepared to prevent a similar crisis from happening again.

"The change in culture is in part due to the voluntary actions of the banks themselves in reinvigorating their cultures, especially around risk management and mitigation and capital structure, but also due to new regulationslike Basel III and Dodd-Frankthat emerged after the crisis," Thakor said.

"One can never say that there will not be another major crisis, and the next crisis will likely look very different from the last one in that it may well be related to some unprecedented event like a pandemic or a crypto meltdown.

"But it is true that U.S. banks are much better capitalized today than they were before 2007. Their risk absorption capacity, as well as their market valuations, are much better today. Moreover, stress tests for the large banks also keep regulators more informed about the risk positions of these major institutions and their ability to withstand shocks," Thakor added.

Another change that many banks have embraced over the last 15 years is adopting an authentic higher purpose, which means focusing on making contributions to the welfare of otherscustomers, employees and the communities in which these organizations operatethat transcend the usual business goals but guide business decisions.

It means running the business in a way that not only seeks to achieve business goals, but also focuses on making others better off, rather than solely on increasing one's own wealth or prestige, often at others' expense. According to Thakor, there is evidence that by acting to serve the greater good, employee motivation and trust in leadership improves. Ultimately, that positively affects the bank's bottom line.

"Many banks have recognized the importance of articulating a purpose, and so it is not uncommon to find purpose statements in the annual reports of many banks," Thakor said. "What is difficult to know from the outside is how authentic a given purpose statement is in the sense that it actually acts as an arbiter of business decisions. Is it authentic or just a poster on a wall or a few lines on a website for good PR?"

Thakor said Bank of Bird-in-Hand in Pennsylvania, with a customer- and community-focused purpose, and many financial institutions within the Farm Credit System are good examples of banks whose purpose statements are transparent and appear to guide decisions. However, Thakor said too few leaders truly embrace the power of authentic purpose in motivating employees.

"It ends up being a self-fulfilling prophecy: The leaders cannot envision a purpose-inspired workforce, so the stated purpose does not act as an arbiter of their decisions; employees see that, so they do not view it as real, and it does not affect their motivation or decisions, which the leaders observe. And that validates the leaders' initial supposition that their employees cannot be motivated to be purpose-driven," Thakor explained.

"I would say more leaders fall in this group than in the group of those who truly believe in the power of purpose, so we still have long way to go in transitioning from organizations with purely transactional cultures to those characterized by purpose-driven, relationship-oriented cultures. But I am optimistic."

More information: Anjan Thakor, Purpose, culture, and strategy in banking, Journal of Applied Corporate Finance (2023). DOI: 10.1111/jacf.12578
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Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

When companies set challenging performance goals for their employees, the strategy may work well when their marketplace is stable or when the company wants fast results, but perhaps not as well when workers need to adapt to turbulent times.

These are some of the findings of new research by Marlo Raveendran, an associate professor of management in UC Riverside's School of Business. The research probed how employees respond when faced with either challenging or moderate work performance goals and provides insights on how supervisors may more effectively manage their employees.

The study, "How Do Performance Goals Influence Exploration-Exploitation Choices?," was published in the journal Organizational Science.

So what strategy works better? Well, it depends on the circumstances, Raveendran said.

"If you're trying to get your employees to explore more options that they haven't tried before, give them moderate performance goals," Raveendran said. "If you want them to find a good solution fast, give them higher performance goals."

Workers with challenging goals will tend to see a greater number of possible tasks as failures and will focus instead on tasks that have shown to produce good results in the past, Raveendran said. For a salesperson, this could mean trying to increase sales to existing customers rather than making cold calls to find new ones.

Setting more challenging work goals benefits employers the most when they compete in more stable and reliable marketplaces, where tried-and-true strategies remain effective, Raveendran said.

Challenging goals are also effective in situations where time is of the essence to capitalize on new market demands, she said.

For example, when the COVID-19 pandemic began, the Johnson & Johnson pharmaceutical company set a goal to develop a vaccine with 90% efficacy. This ambitious goal compelled the company's research and development teams to disregard a lot of options with uncertain potential and focus instead on only the most promising biotechnologies. Had the company set a less ambitious goal, say 70% efficacy, its R&D teams would have been freer to explore more pathways for vaccine development, likely resulting in a longer development time, Raveendran said.

But challenging work goals may be detrimental in times of rapid change or market disruption, such as when legacy news media companies, such as The New York Times or CNN, faced new competition from social media and thousands of websites during the rise of the Internet. This is because challenging performance goals can make workers blind to newly arising options by limiting their search space.

More moderate performance goals give workers more time and freedom do what Raveendran described as "broader search"efforts that may or may not have more immediate payoff and that allow workers to learn more about the payoff of a wider variety of options. Such tasks could include learning new software programs, starting up social media promotions, attending professional conferences, or looking for customers in previously overlooked sociodemographic groups.

"If you give your employees moderate performance goals, they will keep exploring a lot more," Raveendran said. "So, they'll keep trying different things."

Raveendran's study had hundreds of participants play the role of managers who set either challenging or moderate earning goals over 50 rounds of a fictitious R&D investment game.

Each participant had to choose among three fictitious R&D teams named on a screen, and after they made their choice, they would see how much money their choice brought back to the company, and be credited for those earnings. They would repeat the process over the 50 rounds, each with the same R&D teams, but the participant would only improve their knowledge of the different R&D teams if they chose to invest in them.

To simulate a stable marketplace, the average earnings of each R&D team remained the same through the 50 rounds. In these trials, the participants would soon learn which team was the top earner, choose it most often, and they would easily meet their performance goals. Those with the more challenging goals brought in more money.

"With challenging goals, they stopped exploring the worst options much faster than when under the moderate goal, and that was great when the environment was stable," Raveendran said.

To simulate a turbulent marketplace, the first 30 rounds were the same as in the stable environment, but after round 30, the worst and best team switched their payoffs, unbeknownst to the participants.

"It threw them off after the shock occurred, and it took those with higher performance goals longer to reach their goal again," she said.

More information: Marlo Raveendran et al, How Do Performance Goals Influence Exploration-Exploitation Choices?, Organization Science (2023). DOI: 10.1287/orsc.2019.13311 Journal information: Organization Science
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Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

A unique experiment that began in Aberdeen during the COVID-19 pandemic has revealed how the humble moss could be used by citizen scientists to monitor air pollution levels in urban environments worldwide.

Thomas Daniya, a Ph.D. student at the University of Aberdeen, had intended to investigate how the common plants could help measure Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAH) levels in various cities but pandemic travel restrictions prevented him from doing so.

Instead he focused his research on Aberdeen where he collected moss samples from local parks and other public spaces to act as natural sampling devices to measure levels of PAH, a major air pollutant caused by traffic. The results, which revealed surprising levels of PAH in residential areas when traffic restrictions were lifted, have been published in Frontiers in Geochemistry.

Mosses get their water and nutrition from the air and not their root systems, meaning they are very efficient at collecting airborne pollutants such as PAH.

By using moss Thomas found a convenient and novel way to track PAH levels without the need to set up additional sampling devices, thereby simplifying the data collection process. And by measuring the samples when restrictions were enforced, he was able to record patterns in PAH levels linked to fluctuations in travel activities.

As well as revealing the scale at which travel activities affected pollution levels in Aberdeen, the experiment has shown that mosses can be easily collected by anyone residing in urban areas and used to assess the presence of PAH. This creates an opportunity for citizen scientists to play an important role in monitoring air quality in towns and cities worldwide.

Furthermore, the results provide an insight into the likely effects of the introduction of low emission zones in cities like Aberdeen.

Thomas said, "When travel restrictions were enforced, car usage significantly decreased. So each fluctuation in Aberdeen's COVID-19 restriction level became an unplanned experiment, allowing me to examine the impact of cars and traffic on PAH.

"One of the most intriguing findings was the variations between different localities. While I anticipated that roadside mosses would contain significant levels of PAH, the same was true of residential areas when restrictions lifted and regular travel activity resumed.

"In some of these residential areas the PAH levels in mosses went from very low to having as much PAH as mosses growing next to busy roads, which was very surprising and demonstrates just how much impact individual travel decisions can have on local air quality."

Thomas's Ph.D. supervisor, Dr. Stephen Bowden, added, "Thomas's research highlights the potential for mosses as accessible and efficient indicators of urban air quality, providing valuable insights into the effects of travel restrictions on pollution levels.

"This innovative approach creates new opportunities for widespread monitoring of PAH by citizen scientists, which could lead to a deeper understanding of the connection between individual behaviors and environmental quality.

"This could be especially useful in terms of measuring the potential impact of low emission zones and other environmental initiatives in town and cities worldwide, contributing to the evidence available to policymakers responsible for improving local air quality."

More information: Thomas S. Daniya et al, The perturbation of PAHs on mosses in Aberdeen, Scotland, as a consequence of social restrictions imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic, Frontiers in Geochemistry (2024). DOI: 10.3389/fgeoc.2023.1320096
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Graphic depiction of Detoxifying Mars: the biocatalytic elimination of omnipresent perchlorates. Credit: Lynn Rothschild

Mars is the next frontier of human space exploration, with NASA, China, and SpaceX all planning to send crewed missions there in the coming decades. In each case, the plans consist of establishing habitats on the surface that will enable return missions, cutting-edge research, and maybe even permanent settlements someday. While the idea of putting boots on Martian soil is exciting, a slew of challenges need to be addressed well in advance. Not the least of which is the need to locate sources of water, which consist largely of subsurface deposits of water ice.

Herein lies another major challenge: Martian ice deposits are contaminated by toxic perchlorates, potent oxidizers that cause equipment corrosion and are hazardous to human health (even at low concentrations). To this end, crewed missions must bring special equipment to remove perchlorates from water on Mars if they intend to use it for drinking, irrigation, and manufacturing propellant. This is the purpose of Detoxifying Mars, a proposed concept selected by the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program for Phase I development.

The lead developer of this concept is Lynn Rothschild, a Senior Research Scientist at NASA's Ames Research Center (ARC) and the Research and Technology Lead for the Science and Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) at NASA HQ. As she and her colleagues noted in their proposal, the "scale of anticipated water demand on Mars highlights the shortcomings of traditional water purification approaches, which require either large amounts of consumable materials, high electrical draw, or water pretreatment."

Perchlorates (ClO 4- ) are chemical compounds that contain the perchlorate ion, which form when chlorine compounds become oxidized. Perchlorate salts are kinetically stable, very soluble, have a low eutectic temperature (the lowest possible temperature they can achieve before freezing), and become very reactive at high temperatures. Chlorate (ClO 3- ) salts are similar, though they are less kinetically stable than perchlorates. Perchlorates were first detected on Mars by the Wet Chemistry Laboratory (WCL) instrument on the Phoenix mission, which landed in the northern Vastitas Borealis region in May 2008.

With concentrations of about 0.5% found in these northern plain soils, scientists realized why previous attempts to find organic molecules in Martian soil had failed. In short, the perchlorate prevented mass spectrometers on the Phoenix and the famed Viking 1 and 2 landers (which explored Mars between 1976 and 1980) from detecting anything. This discovery led to renewed interest in the search for organics and astrobiology studies on Mars, leading to the Curiosity and Perseverance rovers. Since then, perchlorate (and likely chlorate) concentrations have been detected by multiple missions from both the surface and orbit.

Here on Earth, perchlorates are naturally reduced by bacteria found in hypersaline soils, which have applications for water decontamination. Unfortunately, these same bacteria are unsuitable for off-world use since they are not spaceflight-proven. Instead, Rothschild and her team envision a bioreactor that leverages synthetic biology to take advantage of (and improve upon) this natural perchlorate-reducing process. Specifically, their method relies on two key genes found in Earth-based perchlorate-reducing bacteria (pcrAB and cld).

These genes are then engineered into the spaceflight-proven Bacillus subtilis 168 bacteria strain, which will naturally convert chlorate (ClO -3 ) and perchlorate (ClO 4- ) into chloride (Cl-) and oxygen gas (O 2 ). The oxygen gas would be immediately useable in Martian habitats or stored in tanks for extra-vehicular activities (EVAs), while the chloride could be used for various purposes, including nutrition. The process is highly sustainable, scalable, and (unlike conventional filtering systems) eliminates the need to dump the perchlorate and chlorate waste elsewhere.

With Phase I funding secured, Rothschild and her colleagues plan to test the feasibility of sending a bioreactor to Mars. The first step will be to engineer the genes PcrAB and cld into strains of B. subtilis 168 and test their perchlorate-reducing abilities. They also plan to conduct a trade study to compare the performance of their process against traditional engineering approaches, especially in terms of the mass, power, and time it takes to complete the process. The final step will consist of Rothschild and her team creating a plan to incorporate the technology into the architecture for a crewed mission to Mars.

"The system will be launched as inert, dried spores stable at room temperature for years," they state. "Upon arrival at Mars, spores will be rehydrated and grown in a bioreactor that meets planetary protection standards. Martian water will be processed by the bioreactor to accomplish perchlorate reduction. Processed water can then be used or further purified as required."

As they also indicate in their proposal, the technology will have implications for water decontamination systems and environmental restoration here on Earth:

"Development of our detoxification biotechnology will also lead to more efficient solutions to natural and particularly industrial terrestrial perchlorate contamination on Earth. It will also shine a spotlight on the potential of using life rather than only industrial solutions to address our environmental problems, which may spur further innovations for other terrestrial environmental challenges such as climate change."
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The April 2022 floods in KwaZulu-Natal were the worst natural disaster recorded in the province. Credit: SA Government

The devastation caused by the recent floods in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa demonstrates again that the country is not moving fast enough to adopt appropriate urban planning. It should be integrating risk assessment and management in the design and development of cities. This is becoming more urgent as the frequency of floods increases.

Most South African cities were built a long time ago, before climate change was predicted. KwaZulu-Natal experienced flooding in July 2016, May 2017, October 2017, March 2019, April 2019, November 2019, November 2020, April 2023, June 2023, and now in January 2024. South Africa has a comprehensive national climate change adaptation strategy, and the authorities are aware of flood damage, but are not able to keep up with the repairs.

I recently edited a book on inclusive cities in which I write about the way South Africa has dealt with natural disasters. There is a lack of risk-informed urban planning. This is an approach to designing and developing urban areas with risk in mind. It aims to create resilient cities that can withstand and adapt to various hazards and challenges, such as natural disasters, climate change and social vulnerabilities.

Cities are not resilient

The devastation caused by the recent floods indicates lack of resilience and increasing social vulnerabilities. More than 45 people have died in the last two months; more than 250 homes have been severely damaged. Severe flooding and landslides caused by heavy rainfall caused the deaths of at least 459 people in April 2022. These floods displaced over 40,000 people, destroyed over 12,000 houses, and left 45,000 people temporarily unemployed.

The cost of infrastructure and business losses amounted to about US$2 billion. It was one of the worst flooding events in KwaZulu-Natal's recorded history and eThekwini (Durban) was the worst affected city in the province.

Climate change means more floods are coming

Studies and scientific evidence have pointed to one significant factor contributing to the occurrence of severe flooding: climate change. 2023 was the hottest year ever recorded. The concentration of carbon emissions in the atmosphere has resulted in drastic shifts in weather patterns, leading to increased rainfall in places and subsequent floods.

In KwaZulu-Natal, the failure to practice risk-informed urban planning has left the province's roads and buildings, often poorly designed, crumbling. The authorities have failed to maintain drainage systems. They have not put in place flood control measures, such as river channelisation. This is where rivers are dredged, widened and deepened to improve their flow capacity and reduce the risk of flooding.

Flood retention basins, designed to temporarily store excess water during heavy rainfall or flooding events, would also reduce the risk of downstream flooding. Neglecting to put these measures in place contributes to severe flooding and endangers the safety of communities.

Inadequate waste collection and inappropriate disposal of garbage also blocks the drains, worsening the impact of heavy rainfall. Poor drainage systems are clogged with plastic pollution. Robust waste management systems are needed to ensure that water flows properly through these drains.

In some cases, inappropriate land use and the unchecked expansion of urban areas into flood-prone zones have resulted in increased vulnerability to extreme weather. Strong enforcement of land use policies that restrict development in high-risk areas is essential. Municipalities such as the disaster-hit city of eThekwini in KwaZulu-Natal must not allow people to build in flood-prone areas, because once people settle in an area it becomes expensive to relocate them.

What are the solutions?

Frequent flooding in KwaZulu-Natal will be the new reality. The province urgently needs a comprehensive approach, one that involves the local community in decision-making around urban planning and climate change mitigation. An inclusive approach would recognize local knowledge and encourage innovative solutions suitable for the area.

Prioritizing mixed-use development, density, and the preservation of green spaces in city zoning and land-use regulations is essential. Urban sprawl must be curbed. The government must establish compact, walkable neighborhoods that are not constructed on floodplains, coastal zones, or low-lying areas. By recognizing areas of high risk, the damage caused by flooding can be minimized.

Water-sensitive urban design must be encouraged as soon as possible. This includes green roofs and permeable pavements, which allow water to pass through the surface layer and be stored or infiltrated into the underlying soil layers.

More parks, urban forests and other green spaces must be established in cities and towns. They serve as carbon sinks: places that store carbon dioxide, acting as natural reservoirs, and regulating the balance of greenhouse gases. Wetlands, riparian zones and forests must be preserved because they can act as natural buffers against flooding, absorbing excess water and reducing the impact on nearby urban areas.

Developing an efficient network of stormwater drains, sewers and retention ponds to control the flow of water during heavy rainfall events is vital. This infrastructure should be regularly maintained and updated.

The province needs to move towards climate change adaptation. Public awareness and education campaigns on the importance of flood-resistant measures will foster a sense of responsibility in preventing flooding.

The authorities must collaborate with other cities that face similar problems. Nations like Japan, which efficiently manages natural disasters, offer useful examples we could follow.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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Schematic illustration showing the preparation process of Cu SAEs. Credit: Liu Hongji

A research group led by Prof. Wang Hui and Prof. Zhang Xin from the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science of the Chinese Academy of Sciences introduced a new strategy to prepare ultrahigh density copper single-atom enzymes for tumor self-cascade catalytic therapy.

"The powerful enzymes can help to fight tumors," said Dr. Liu Hongji, a member of the research team.

The study is published in Chemical Engineering Journal.

The low-valence Cu single atom enzymes (Cu SAEs) contribute to alleviating the inefficient generation of OH dilemma in the tumor microenvironment, especially in the presence of overexpressed glutathione (GSH). However, the conveniently controlled synthesis of Cu SAEs with high atom density remains a challenging task due to the cumbersome process, compositional heterogeneity, poor water solubility, and uncontrollable metal valence.

To solve this dilemma, the researchers proposed a well-controlled one-step solvent self-carbonization-reduction strategy to fabricate Cu SAEs with ultrahigh atomic density. Formamide can easily be condensed into a linear macromolecular chain for chelating Cu because of its high N content and vacant ligand sites. The resultant carbon nitride-based fragments reduce Cu to Cu.

"The obtained Cu SAEs has an incredibly high density of 23.36 wt. %, surpassing previously reported metal- or carbon-based supported Cu single-atom catalysts," explained Liu.

This comes from the well-defined Cu species, whereas aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy and the X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy corroborate the Cu species existed in the form of single atoms.

"The Cu SAEs showed remarkable self-cascade catalytic activities, leading to a tumor inhibition rate up to 89.17 %," he added.

This study provides a novel strategy for fabricating valence-controlled SAEs supported on C 3 N 4 for catalytic applications, according to the team.

More information: Hongji Liu et al, Ultrahigh density copper () single atom enzymes for tumor self-cascade catalytic therapy, Chemical Engineering Journal (2023). DOI: 10.1016/j.cej.2023.148273 Journal information: Chemical Engineering Journal

Provided by Hefei Institutes of Physical Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Cy-Fair High School is seen, Saturday, Aug. 5, 2023, in Cypress. Jason Fochtman/Staff photographer Cy-Fair High School is seen, Saturday, Aug. 5, 2023, in Cypress. Jason Fochtman/Staff photographer

Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District's Board of Trustees voted unanimously to become a District of Innovation late Thurdsay, allowing the district to circumvent some laws about teacher certification and providing an earlier school start date. The move makes the district the last in the region to adopt a DOI plan, after Houston ISD voted to approve its plan in December.

Cy-Fair joins the vast majority of Texas school districts that have sought to become Districts of Innovation, a designation which was created in 2015 to allow for some district flexibility regarding education-related state laws, such as class sizes and educator contracts, if they have a passing accountability rating from the Texas Education Agency.

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The district's DOI will allow them to expedite the hiring process for teachers with out-of-state certifications and provide the district the ability to certify Career and Technical Education teachers. It would also aid teachers who want to teach a new subject or grade level get those certifications quicker.

District officials said Thursday that with a DOI, Cy-Fair would be better equipped to compete with neighboring districts for the best talent.

Despite the unanimous vote, community members and trustees raised some concerns.

Cy-Fair resident Patricia Wiggins said that certified teachers "add a level of confidence" in the education received by students in the district.

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Trustee Lucas Scanlon echoed these concerns and said the board and district officials would have to monitor the increase in hiring uncertified teachers.

He ultimately voted for the measure, citing a student who came to speak with him before Thursday's meeting who said they were going to lose a calculus teacher who to be replaced by a long-term substitute instead of another certified calculus instructor.

He also recalled a student who had complained that their auto class teacher vacated their role and was replaced by a long term sub.

"(She was) a fabulous woman, but she was not a mechanic. And her job was to make sure those students were safe in auto for a long time," Scanlon said. "They didn't get what they signed up for."

Trustee Natalie Blasingame said students have better learning outcomes when a teacher with more than five years of experience leads the class, but a teacher who recently graduated might be able to be hired more quickly without a DOI than a teacher from out-of-state with 15 years of ex.perience.

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"This should not have to have a negative impact," Blasingame said.

Deborah Stewart, chief of employee and student services at Cy-Fair, explained that the district could hire an auto teacher immediately and work on getting them a local certification, without waiting until the next board meeting for approval, a period that could be as long as 31 days in which a competing district with a DOI plan could hire the employee.
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India has overtaken the European Union to become the world's third-biggest emitter of fossil fuels, research has found.

Increased carbon dioxide in the atmosphere this year will exceed key trajectories for limiting warming to 1.5C, Britain's Met Office predicted Friday, with researchers reaffirming that that only "drastic" emissions cuts can keep the target in sight.

Rising emissions from fossil fuels and deforestation are set to be compounded in 2024 by the cyclical El Nino weather phenomenon, which reduces the ability of tropical forests to absorb carbon.

The Met forecast this will drive a "relatively large" rise in annual average CO 2 concentrations measured this year at the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaiiaround 2.84 parts per million (ppm) higher than in 2023.

Researchers said that will likely take the world outside the main pathways set out by the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levelsthe more ambitious goal of the 2015 Paris Agreement.

"It's looking vanishingly unlikely that we'll limit warming to 1.5," Richard Betts, the Met Office author of the CO 2 forecast, told AFP.

"Technically speaking, we could still do it if emissions were to be reduced drastically starting immediately, but the scenarios that the IPCC uses show the buildup of CO 2 in the atmosphere slowing already in order to meet that target."

Scientists warn that the world is edging closer to experiencing individual years of warming of 1.5C or more, although that would not by itself amount to a breach of the Paris target, which is measured over an average of roughly two decades.

The IPCC has already suggested that if emissions continue as they are, the world would breach 1.5C in the early 2030s.

"We're not seeing any signs of avoiding that in terms of the buildup of CO 2 in the atmosphere," Betts said.

Warming effect

The UN's World Meteorological Organization last week confirmed 2023 was the warmest year on record "by a huge margin," putting the annual average global temperature at 1.45C above pre-industrial levels (1850-1900).

This year could be even hotter because the naturally-occuring El Nino climate pattern, which emerged mid-2023, usually increases global temperatures for one year after.

El Nino also brings hotter and drier conditions across tropical forests and peatlands that reduces their ability to absorb carbon from the atmosphere.

Normally around half of humanity's emissions are taken back out of the atmosphere by ecosystems and absorption in the ocean.

"That free service is weakened when there's an El Nino happening, so that means more of our emissions are staying in the atmosphere this year," Betts said.

There was particular concern over regions of the Amazon, which have already seen severe drought, heat and fires, he added.

UN experts have calculated that emissions need to be slashed nearly in half this decade to keep the 1.5C limit in play.

But carbon pollution has continued to increase.

Mauna Loa, which has been monitoring atmospheric CO 2 levels since 1958, has traced a trend line that may fluctuate but has generally continued to climb.

To predict CO 2 concentrations this year at Mauna Loa, considered representative of global averages, the Met Office uses emissions data combined with observations and forecasts of ocean surface temperatures in the equatorial east Pacifican indicator for El Nino.

Betts said that even without the El Nino effect, the estimated buildup of CO 2 in the atmosphere would be at the "very, very upper limit of consistency" with the IPCC 1.5C scenarios.

He stressed that while these are not the only ways to keep the 1.5C limit in reach, all possible paths would involve "urgent emissions cuts."

 2024 AFP
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Credit: CC0 Public Domain

The late December morning rain left droplets on Christine Heinrichs' glasses as she stood among a throng of tourists and watched dozens of elephant seals tussle and sleep on a beach just south of the Piedras Blancas Light Station.

Perched above the seals on a boardwalk viewpoint along Highway 1, Heinrichs pointed out newborn elephant seal pups nestled among their resting mothers, mature adult males fighting for dominance and breeding rights, and juveniles who had likely surrendered after earlier fights.

Heinrichs is one of many dedicated docents with Friends of the Elephant Seal, a nonprofit organization that works to protect and educate the public about the massive pinnipeds, which can grow to more than 4,000 pounds and 13 feet in length.

As she watched, a big wave rushed up the beach, slamming into many of the seals and causing mothers to call out to their pups, who likely hadn't yet been alive long enough to build adequate blubber to withstand the cold water.

At the time, unusually high surf generated by a distant storm was causing massive and destructive waves to crash along California's coast, inundating beaches and flooding streets along the shore.

The ocean conditions were just one of the challenges facing the baby seals in their fight for survival. More of the youngsters won't make it to adulthood than will, experts say.

That sight of cold waves battering newborn babies certainly isn't pleasant, but Heinrichs was quick to put it into context: "They live in water the rest of the year. They're adapted to this," she said.

Indeed, the numbers bear that out.

The elephant seal population in San Luis Obispo County has been deemed a "conservation success" by researchers and experts who have carefully watched the animals recover from the brink of extinction.

The local population has grown so significantly from near zero in the early 1990s that it is now considered the largest United States mainland breeding population, according to Cal Poly biology professor Heather Liwanag, who studies the seals with a team of students in coordination with California State Parks and Friends of the Elephant Seal.

Roughly 22,000 elephant seals were counted in recent years on the beaches in the Piedras Blancas rookery, according to Liwanag.

"People had thought we made them go extinct," Liwanag said. "But our population is really robust now."

How elephant seal population recovered from near extinction

In the 1800s, hunting elephant seals for their blubberused as fuel by humansdecimated the global population.

In 1922, the Mexican government prohibited elephant seal offspring hunting. Fifty years later, the United States prohibited harassment and hunting of the seals under the newly established Marine Mammal Protection Act.

That kickstarted recovery of the species in North America.

By the 1950s, elephant seals began to show up during the winter breeding and birthing season in the Channel Islands, although fewer than 200 were counted, according to research by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, U.S. Geological Survey, National Park Service, Point Blue Conservation Science and UC Santa Cruz.

The next decade, thousands of the mammals began populating the Channel Islands as well as showing up on Ano Nuevo Island and later the South Farallon Islands off the San Francisco coast, the researchers found.

In 1992, one elephant seal was born at a beach near the Piedras Blancas Light Station, according to the researchers.

The next year, 54 births were counted. And by 2010, about 4,500 newborn elephant seals were counted during the winter season.

Today, the Channel Islands host the largest breeding population of elephant seals in North America, with Piedras Blancas coming in second, according to Liwanag.

Conservation work creates safe elephant seal viewing space

Careful conservation work by State Parks has helped the Piedras Blancas population thrive.

In 2006, a 1,700-foot-long boardwalk was constructed by State Parks just south of the lighthouse.

The boardwalk is accessible via Highway 1 and provides one of the only places in the world where humans can safely observe elephant seals at close distances without disturbing them. Informational signs and Friends of the Elephant Seal docents help educate the public on the behavior of seals.

From that boardwalk, people can see the trials and tribulation of the natural world up close.

"With the king tides, we saw some pups be washed out to sea," said Katie Drexhage, a senior environmental scientist with State Parks. "It's shocking to see, but it is something we can't interfere with. Nature is brutal, and the elephant seals are tested."

About 5,000 pups have been born each season in recent years at Piedras Blancas, Liwanag said.

"We estimate that more than half don't make it," she added.

The elephant seals that do survive the winter migrate away during the summer to feed. Females swim to the middle of the Pacific Ocean in search of deep-water fish, while males go north toward Alaska, Liwanag said.

Elephant seals expand range as population grows

Drexhage and Liwanag said they don't believe the destructive storm events in late December and king tides in early January will have a devastating, population-wide impact on the elephants seals.

But it is something they are monitoring, especially as scientists predict human-caused climate change will make destructive surf events like the Central Coast experienced in late December more common.

"The elephant seals don't come here in search of food," Liwanag said. "They come for the space."

Elephant seals need plenty of beach space to spread out, give birth and breed without crushing each other, Liwanag said.

If human development or rising sea levels shrinks that space, the mammals face a problem, she said.

As the Piedras Blancas elephant seal population has grown over the past 30 years, their range has expanded north and south along the Piedras Blancas State Marine Reserve as seals search of beaches not so crowded with their relatives.

"It's really important that people respect beach closures to protect the elephant seals," said Robyn Chase, an interpretive manager for State Parks. "Human harassment can cause moms to leave their pups and cause those pups to starve."

2024 The Tribune (San Luis Obispo, Calif.) Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Manufacturing business activity shrank dramatically in New York State based on information provided by firms surveyed in the January 2024 Empire State Manufacturing Survey. This news comes just weeks after AngioDynamics announced that it is leaving Warren County and as commercial printing company, Quad Graphics, announced to workers on Friday Jan. 19 that it is leaving Saratoga County in Spring 2024.

The plant is a significant employer in Saratoga County with more than 400 employees now in limbo.

This is a strategic business decision that reflects several industry trends, including volume contractions in certain print categories like newsweeklies (on which this plant built its reputation) as well as increases in postal costs, which Quad is offsetting through enhanced co-mail solutions that require centralized volumes for optimal processing, Kevin Brasser, the plant manager in Saratoga, wrote in an email to employees.

Saratoga has played a critical role in Quads print operations over the last four decades, and as such, you have all deservedly earned a stellar reputation for quality, service and overall performance within our company, among our client base and within the printing industry, Brasser continued in his letter.

With announcements of Lehigh Hanson Cement Co. in 2022, Essity paper in 2023, medical device maker AngioDynamics last month and now Quad Graphics the total number of displaced manufacturing workers is or will be about 1,100 in the Greater Glens Falls area.

This seems to match the feeling of manufacturers throughout the state.

According to the state survey, the general business conditions index fell 24 points last month and another 29 points to -43.7 in January, its lowest reading since May 2020, according to the manufacturing survey.

These numbers are rated on an index that looks at the percentage of people surveyed who think conditions are good versus those who see conditions as bad. The number is derived from differences there.

For instance, the percent reporting higher or better conditions in December was at 17.9, and the percent reporting lower was at 32.4, therefore the index was -14.5. The percent reporting higher conditions in January was at 10.4, and the percent reporting lower was at 54.2, leading to an index of -43.7. Thats a 29 point drop in the general business conditions index.

New York manufacturing activity fell sharply in January following a significant decline in December. While the surveys headline index has fluctuated in recent months, this outsized drop suggests January was a difficult month for New York manufacturers, with employment and hours worked also contracting, Richard Seitz, economic research advisor at the New York Fed, said.

New orders and shipments posted sharp declines, while unfilled orders and inventories dipped significantly to go with shorter delivery times.

The new orders index fell 38 points to -49.4. The shipments index fell 25 points to -31.3. The unfilled orders index remained at a low -24.2. The inventories index fell modestly to -7.4, while the delivery times index remained below zero at -8.4, according to the survey.

Also, the prices paid index climbed seven points to 23.2, signaling a small pickup in input price increases, while the prices received index held steady at 9.5, a sign that selling price increases remained limited, according to the survey.

Lastly, employment and the average workweek experienced a modest decline. The index for number of employees was at -6.9, and the average workweek index came in at -6.1, pointing to a modest decrease in employment levels and hours worked, according to the survey.

As previously reported by The Post-Star, about 8.6% of Warren Countys workforce, or 2,785 workers, are in the manufacturing sector, according to 2021 data from Data USA. Based on that same data, median earnings for men are around $59,800 and for women are around $42,300.

Strong evidence of a manufacturing decline in Warren County persists with the 2023 closures of Essity in South Glens Falls and Lehigh Cement in Glens Falls, not to mention the recent announcement from AngioDynamics to shut down their manufacturing facilities in late 2025.

A source told The Post-Star that the cost of energy up 45%+ also proved to be too much for these big manufacturing companies choosing to leave the area. We were unable to confirm that before press time.

When news of the eventual AngioDynamics closure was announced, The Post-Star reached out to Jim Siplon, President of the Warren County Economic Development Corporation (EDC).

If we look at the economy overall, were going to see this play out more and more. We should expect that more traditional, both manufacturers and long-standing companies, have to step into what does it mean to be viable? The pace of that change is as rapid as its ever been and its accelerating every year, Siplon warned.

Participating manufacturing firms expressed a subdued optimism for the future, however, there is an expectation for conditions to improve over the next six months, albeit incrementally.

The index for future business conditions climbed seven points to 18.8 and the capital spending index increased 10 points to 13.7, pointing to an improvement in investment, according to the survey.

Responses for January 2024 Empire State Manufacturing Survey were collected between Jan. 3 and Jan. 10. Manufacturing firms from across the state were surveyed.
MOREAU  The Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) announced Wednesday a Notice of Complete Application, for the Saratoga Biochar Solutions Air State Facility and Solid Waste Management Facility Licenses.

The notice starts a 45-day countdown for the public to submit comments to the agency regarding the proposed biosolid processing facility.

Founder and CEO of Northeastern Biochar Solutions, LLC, the parent company of Saratoga Biochar, Raymond Apy, thanked Gov. Kathy Hochul and the DEC in a statement released Thursday.

NYSDEC provided a very comprehensive and thorough review of our permit applications spanning over two years. This is exactly how the system is supposed to work, for the protection of human health and the environment, Apys statement reads. Saratoga Biochar is committed to being an environmentally conscious, transparent and forward-thinking neighbor in the Town of Moreau and the state of New York, and our multi-year cooperation in this process proves it. In addition, the expert guidance and support provided by Sterling Environmental Engineering of Latham, NY was of incredibly high quality for which well be forever grateful.

But the announcement does not come as welcome news for all. There has been a large amount of push-back against the facility since it was proposed two years ago, including from newly elected Moreau Town Supervisor Jesse Fish.

I dont like Biochar. I dont think it was right that they brought that to the community, something of that nature  that serious, without talking to the people and letting them know what was going to be going on, Fish told The Post-Star during an interview while running for office.

In response to Wednesdays announcement, Fish said, Yes, the application is complete, but there is no approval. It could be three or four months before there is a decision, so its not necessary to hit the panic button at this time. There is a long road ahead.

In a previous interview with The Post-Star, Apy said he commends the public for scrutinizing the project so much because it has forced the DEC to micro-inspect all aspects of the companys proposal.

They have gone above and beyond because of those (public) comments, he said. I think that really pushed the regulator to quote-unquote, put it under a microscope.

Its not just special interest groups in the town of Moreau expressing their distaste for the biochar project.

One of the items on the South Glens Falls Village Board agenda Wednesday was a letter of support regarding a potential moratorium by the town of Moreau against Saratoga Biochar Solutions.

A similar letter had already been crafted by the village of Hudson Falls, another nearby municipality which will be affected by the proposed bio solids biochar manufacturing facility.

(The town has) to have just cause to have the moratorium and I think theres plenty of reasons there, Trustee Harry Gutheil added on Wednesday. I think the town is going to do this, they just havent pulled the trigger on it, and I think we definitely should be supporting them and Im glad that Hudson Falls has taken a similar position on it.

The South Glens Falls board was unanimous in its support of the town imposing a moratorium, but also decided to take things a step further.

I dont want that in the village of South Glens Falls. Period, interjected Trustee Tony Girard during the discussion. I have seen enough cancer in my lifetime that I dont want to see any more. And I dont personally want our citizens to have to deal with this.

Saratoga Biochar Solutions officials maintain that the process by which it plans to treat and convert the bio solid material into carbon fertilizer would not pose any public health risks.

Saratoga Biochars thermal pyrolysis process and air treatment system reduces nitrous oxides, sulfur dioxide, ammonia, particulates and odors. Our Carbon Fertilizer materially exceeds EPA standards for an excellent quality class A biosolids product, the company states. Furthermore, Saratoga Biochar removes and destroys PFAS and similar contaminants commonly found in biosolids, whereas other current biosolids disposal methods do not.

Girard proposed that village officials set their own moratorium, in order to stave off any attempt by Saratoga Biochar Solutions to move operations into South Glens Falls should Moreau prove unsuccessful.

We should be looking at our own zoning and strengthening our own zoning laws, and if we need time to do that, we may need to do a moratorium ourselves, Gutheil agreed, referencing a previous meeting where he brought up the subject of Biochar or a similar entity poking around the empty Essity property in the village.

Essity is a commercial paper-making company that abruptly announced last year a plan to pull out of all of its nearby facilities, including the one in South Glens Falls, starting last October.

South Glens Falls Mayor Nicholas Bodkin added that he thinks the moratorium should also include the issuance of solid waste licenses to allow for the transportation and importation of solid waste into the town of Moreau.

Those are specific permits that would be part of the process that havent really been dealt with, and I think we should include that into our recommendation as well, Bodkin said.

Saratoga Biochar Solutions has stated that they expect to receive bio solid material from municipalities within New Yorks Upper Hudson Valley, Capital Region, Leatherstocking Region and North Country, as well as select communities in Vermont and Massachusetts.

Nikas agreed with Bodkin, expounding on Moreau municipal code 92-2, which prohibits any waste not originating in the Town of Moreau to be transported into the town of Moreau, to dispose of, cause to be disposed of, or process for disposal, including by means of a dewatering facility, within the boundaries of the Town of Moreau.

When I read that, Im quite amazed that the planning board of Moreau ignored it, Nikas said. Somehow legal opinion got in the mix and ruled that not applicable to this situation, which I find untenable.

He recommended that the village adopt a similar code to incorporate into its moratorium.

The South Glens Falls board plans to review three documents at its next meeting  a letter of support for a moratorium in the town of Moreau, a proposed moratorium for the village itself, and an opinion letter to be submitted on the villages behalf to the DEC for its review process.

The DEC will host two public hearings as part of the public comment gathering process. The first will be virtual at 6 p.m. on Feb. 7, click here for more information.

To Join by Phone Only: Call (518) 549-0500 and enter access code 161 695 8229 and password 43274641.

The second will be live at 6 p.m. on Feb. 8, at the South Glens Falls High School, located at 42 Merritt Road in South Glens Falls.
Gov. Kathy Hochul proposed a $233 billion budget for fiscal year 2025 on Tuesday, an increase of 4.5% from last year.

The governor highlighted four major focal points in her State of the State address to the joint session on Jan. 9: affordability, public safety, mental health, and economic growth.

Today we have the opportunity to walk you through how we bring that vision to life, she said Tuesday.

To address public safety and mental health, Hochuls proposal includes:

$347 million investment in programs to prevent and reduce gun violence.

$290 million to restore the effectiveness of the continuum of the criminal justice system.

$120 million in victim assistance funding

$40.2 million to address retail theft and bring relief to small businesses.

$40.8 million to reduce assaults with a focus on domestic violence.

$35 million for the next round of the Securing Communities Against Hate Crimes program.

$5 million for the Commercial Security Tax Credit to help business owners offset the costs of retail theft.

$4.8 billion increase to mental health care spending, a 45% increase from 2022.

On the states Medicaid spending, Hochul said, Our Medicaid spending acceded our projections this year by $1.5 billion.

She explained that 200,000 more people than anticipated remained on state funded Medicaid after the federal government ended supplemental pandemic support.

Maintaining the coverage for these previously unenrolled residents now costs the state an additional $400 million annually, she said.

She also shifted some of the blame to hospitals in the state who have not yet paid back a $1.5 billion bridge loan the state gave them to tide them over until federal disbursement money was distributed.

Weve been left hanging, Hochul said. The federal government has paid the hospitals, but the majority thus far have not paid us.

To help ease the strain of healthcare costs for the state, Hochul said shes received approval for a $7.5 billion New York Health Equity Reform Waiver from the federal government.

This will leverage almost $6 billion in federal funds coupled with $1.5 billion in state funds to support and protect our healthcare system, she said.

Hochul also plans $35 billion in spending for education. The highest level of state funding in New York history, and $825 million more than last year.

Hochul said New York spends more money per student than any other state and at any other point in history.

Its common sense to ensure that the schools are getting the appropriate money based on their enrollments today compared to what they were decade and a half ago, she said. Investing in our K-through-12 programs builds the foundation for students to excel later in our outstanding public higher education system both CUNY and SUNY.

In her State of the State address, Hochul announced the creation of the Empire AI Consortium. On Tuesday she said she plans to fund the program, geared towards encouraging start-ups and entrepreneurial research into the world of future tech, through a 10-year, $275 million investment, coupled with federal funds and private sector fundraising.

Were going to lay claim to the future by making New York the global leader in AI research and development, she said.

In the North Country, Hochul announced $200 million to create four workforce development centers in strategic sites upstate, Most likely along the Thruway corridor, she said.

Hochul also announced continued funding to meet New Yorks climate goals.

We are so proudly saying that we are the most ambitious in the nation with our goals, she said. We have to do it to meet the scale and the urgency of the climate crisis. All while growing our economy and protecting our consumers.

Her environmental executive budget includes:

$500 million for clean water over two years.

$435 million into resiliency projects to protect communities from severe floods, including $250 million for a voluntary buyout program.

$400 million for the Environmental Protection Fund; $100 million for the State Superfund Program.

$160 million invested in NY SWIMS to address the disinvestment in swimming facilities and lifeguards in underserved communities and an additional $446 million to invest in our State parks and pools.

$47 million to plant over 25 million trees across New York by 2033.

She also proposed a $250 million volunteer buy-out program to move people from the coastal homes affected by flooding.

Then well transform these areas into resilient natural habitats to protect these communities, she said.

To address the housing crisis, Hochul proposed more legislative changes than budgetary solutions, including legislation to increase the housing supply in New York City through new tax incentives, authority for the city to lift outdated residential density restrictions where appropriate, incentives to encourage affordable housing in office conversions, and a path toward legalizing basement and cellar apartments.

There is also proposed legislation to increase protections for affordable housing providers and homeowners.

On the budget side, she proposed requiring that localities receive Pro-Housing Community certification to access up to $650 million in state discretionary funding and $500 million in capital funds dedicated to developing up to 15,000 housing units on state-owned property.

Along with housing, Hochul wants to address the influx of more than 69,000 migrant population entering the state, most densely accumulating in New York City.

Until we see a change in federal policy that slows the flow of new arrivals, were going to be swimming against the tide, she said.

Hochul said shes worked hard with legislators over the past two years to increase New Yorks reserve funds to 15% of each years budget. She said on Tuesday that this puts the state in a strong fiscal position.

Rather than increase the $1.1 billion budget for migrant support. Hochul proposed drawing $500 million from state reserves to bolster the fund.

I remain firmly committed to ensuring that our reserves do not drop below the 15%, but Im willing to use the excess generated by our sound investment practices, she said.

Hochul urged legislators, who will be plotting the course for this new budget proposal, to do so without raising income tax, which she cited as a cause for the out-migration throughout the state.

This was a shift in gears from her State of the State address, where she placed the blame for the exodus on lack of housing.

All this can and must be done without raising income taxes on New Yorkers any further so we can slow down the out-migration that has resulted in the loss of $6 billion in tax receipts this year alone, she said. This budget proves that you can have fiscal discipline, and that can coexist with people-driven, progressive policies.

As with her State of the State address last week, Hochuls budget proposal was met with mixed reactions.

I was glad to hear the governor acknowledge that our state has a looming budget deficit and that New York has a robust reserve fund, but ultimately this budget plan does nothing to address that impending problem Combined with an acknowledged $6 billion in lost tax receipts due to our states ongoing outmigration woes and despite some fuzzy math that shows a budget surplus instead of an anticipated deficit, this is ultimately a costly proposal that does nothing to alleviate New Yorks long-term financial difficulties and right the ship going forward, said Sen. Dan Stec, R-Queensbury, in a statement on Tuesday.

He added, Obviously, this presentation is only the beginning of the budget process. In the weeks ahead, I plan on working with my legislative colleagues and the governor to ensure a final budget meets the needs of our taxpayers and charts a responsible fiscal future for New York.

Sonal Jessel, policy director at WE ACT, a member organization of Better Buildings NY, praised aspects of Hochuls budget plan.

Once again, Governor Hochul is positioning New York as a national leader in the fight against climate change by including key provisions of the NY HEAT Act in her budget. Ending the 100-foot rule and paving the way for zero-emission buildings will save New Yorkers more than $200 million every year, and allow us to invest in healthy, clean buildings instead of spending billions on new gas pipes. Its a huge step forward toward an affordable, clean energy future.

But Jessel wasnt only singing Hochuls praises.

New Yorkers statewide are facing massive energy rate hikes, and Governor Hochul left out a crucial provision of the NY HEAT Act that limits household utility bills to 6% of income for low- and middle-income families, saving them up to $75/month, her statement read. We need to do more to ensure the hardworking families facing the highest energy burdens dont get left behind. We urge both houses of the legislature to include the entirety of the NY HEAT Act in their one-house budgets, including the crucial 6% income limit. New York can lead the clean energy revolution, but only if it includes us all.
OCEAN TOWNSHIP  The former Breakers Kitchen & Tap restaurant on Route 9 will be transformed this winter and spring under its new ownership into Three Story Grill and The Hall at Three Story.

Jersey Shore Restaurant Group acquired Breakers last year and expects to begin renovations this month. Work is scheduled to be completed in time for summer, according to a news release.

The Three Story Grill will have three levels of indoor and outdoor dining. The third story also will serve as an observation deck. According to its owners, the restaurant aims to be a polished casual, family-friendly tavern, and will feature a railcar room designed to mimic a classic railway carriage.

Attached to Three Story Grill, The Hall at Three Story will hold up to about 170 guests and will be available to book for weddings, corporate events and other large gatherings, the release states. Three Story Grill itself can accommodate smaller events with up to about 60 guests.

"Were thrilled to bring Three Story Grill and The Hall at Three Story to the Waretown community as well as to locals and visitors from around the Jersey Shore, said John Kitrick, CEO and chief financial officer of Jersey Shore Restaurant Group. With its three levels of dining, scenic rooftop and unique railcar room, Three Story Grill will offer an exceptional experience. Meanwhile, The Hall at Three Story will provide a beautiful and versatile event space. We can't wait to welcome guests to this exciting addition to the Jersey Shore Restaurant Group in Summer 2024."

The Jersey Shore Restaurant Group also owns and operates Harpoon Willys in Manasquan and Half Moon Point in Point Pleasant. Its partners are Kitrick, Jack Kane and James Scarponi.
CAPE MAY  A new ordinance introduced by City Council wont change much about how trees are protected in this shady beach town, but it will consolidate and clarify the rules that do exist, city attorney Christopher Gillin-Schwartz said.

Its going to look and feel a lot like the existing process because not a lots changing there, Gillin-Schwartz told council Tuesday.

A few changes are included in the ordinance, which still faces a public hearing and a final vote before taking effect, but he said the primary impact will be to make the rules clear to city code officials, the various boards and to the applicants themselves.

Part of the motivation for the amendment is to reduce the number of people who believe they have all the needed approvals for a planned project only to find they still need to appear before the Shade Tree Commission.

The approval process for a project in Cape May typically requires approval from the Historic Preservation Commission, the Planning Board and the Shade Tree Commission.

The development process in the city is a Venn diagram. Its all those circles that have to meet up in the center, Gillin-Schwartz said. You have to check all of the boxes. The HPC saying it is compatible with design standards doesnt mean that you can take down a tree.

Cape Mays Shade Tree Commission is one of the strongest and most active in the state, Mayor Zack Mullock said after the meeting, adding neighboring West Cape May and Cape May Point also have robust protection for trees.

Gillin-Schwartz told council that members of the Shade Tree Commission had advocated for an ordinance amendment, citing the West Cape May ordinance as a good fit for the town. Gillin-Schwartz also prepared the West Cape May ordinance, he said.

Cape Assist lights Trees of Hope: Hometown briefs Cape Assist recently held its annual Trees of Hope lighting ceremony. The event showcased 14 Christmas trees illuminated with lights, symbolizing solidarity with people impacted by addiction.

Before a final vote, planned for Feb. 20 at City Hall, 643 Washington St., the ordinance will go to the citys Planning Board for review, including a determination on whether the ordinance is consistent with the citys master plan.

Any time you touch a tree, you have to get the permission of the Shade Tree Commission, Council member Loraine Baldwin said at the meeting.

Another aim of the ordinance is to set a procedure for how applications are heard, to avoid homeowners ping-ponging back and forth among boards, Gillin-Schwartz said.

The ordinance includes other changes as well, including allowing the city to appoint a tree specialist to advise the Shade Tree Commission. The applicant also would be able to hire an expert.

For instance, Gillin-Schwartz said, if the applicant alleged a tree was in poor shape and needed to be removed, members could get the input of an independent expert.

The ordinance applies to trees on private property and within the public right-of-way, and prevents the removal of any tree without prior approval.

In an emergency, such as in a case where a tree has been damaged by a storm, the tree contractor or property owner must still contact code enforcement or a member of the Shade Tree Commission for a determination of whether a tree is dangerous, risking immediate and serious damage to people, property or public safety.

Even in that case, the owner must still submit a tree removal application within five days.
EGG HARBOR TOWNSHIP  The all-Republican, five-member Township Committee returned to full strength Wednesday as William Pauls was sworn in at the start of its regular meeting.

Mayor Laura Pfrommer swore in Pauls, who fills the unexpired term from Jan. 17 to Dec. 31 of Tokyo Joe ODonoghue, who was elected Atlantic County sheriff in November.

The township Republican Club came up with three candidates, including Pauls, for the committee. The Atlantic County Republican Committee selected Pauls to fill the seat, Pfrommer said.

We had three outstanding choices. I think, as we go forward, everyone wishes you well, Will, Pfrommer said.

When Pauls was sworn in, his wife, Jenny Pauls, was by his side, along with Galloway Township Deputy Mayor Rich Clute and Pauls grandson. State Sen. Vince Polistina, R-Atlantic, also was in the room.

I have been a resident here for over 45 years, Pauls said while sitting at the dais after being sworn in. Like I said in the committee meetings, my family is grateful to Egg Harbor Township. Jenny and I grew up here, and its a good time in my life to give back to Egg Harbor Township.

Pauls, 68, retired from his familys steel business, said his priorities will be maintaining taxes in a responsible manner, bringing new business to the township in a thoughtful way and supporting the police and fire departments.

Pauls ran successfully for the Atlantic County Board of Commissioners in 2013 and served from 2014 to 2016. He has been serving on EHTs Zoning Board of Adjustment but said he would resign from that board.

Pfrommer remains mayor in Egg Harbor Township U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drew, R-2nd, swore in Laura Pfrommer twice last week, first for her reelection to the Township Committee in November and second for her appointment by her fellow committee members Wednesday for another year as mayor.

His mother and father had five children, Pauls said, and set an example for giving back that he has followed.

Pauls father was a president of the township Board of Education and the co-founder of the townships youth complex. His father also spent time on Galloways zoning board, Pauls said.

Pauls said he began thinking about joining the Township Committee when ODonoghue ran for sheriff.

Joe ran a really good campaign. I had no doubt that he was going to win, Pauls said.

Pauls said he spent four years living in the Tuckahoe section of Upper Township in Cape May County but missed Atlantic County and moved back to the township.

I was raised here. Its in my blood, Pauls said.

Pauls was on the Casino Control Commissions affirmative action committee for building trades and volunteered for the Atlantic County Planning Board and the Greater Atlantic City Chamber subcommittee on community development and business advocacy.

All that stuff really helps, Pauls said. You (then) have a lot of knowledge in your head.
According to a factual basis for the charge, Kewanee police met with the victim regarding a sexual assault complaint on May 13, 2023. She said the two had been in a dating relationship four or five years ago that had not ended well and she had not wanted anything to do with him. He began texting her on May 12 and between 11 p.m. and midnight, he knocked on her door and entered without her permission. He then pinned her to a wall in a hallway and she began pushing him away and telling him she did not want sex with him.
Houston ISD's Board of Managers monthly board meeting included voting on approving the resolution regarding chaplains in schools at the Hattie Mae White Ed Support Center on Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024, in Houston. Karen Warren/Staff photographer

Houston ISDs Board of Managers voted unanimously Thursday to approve a resolution preventing chaplains from serving as hired or volunteer school counselors in the district.

Gov. Greg Abbott signed Senate Bill 763 in June, which requires each school board to vote before March 1 on whether to authorize their campuses to hire chaplains to provide mental health support or allow them to serve as volunteers. Under the law, the chaplains do not have to be certified by the State Board for Educator Certification as counselors.

The Board of Managers voted during its monthly meeting to not allow chaplains to be hired for those roles unless they are otherwise qualified. The board members did not discuss their reasoning for voting in favor of the resolution, except to approve minor wording changes to the measure.

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Superintendent Mike Miles listens during the public comments at Houston ISD's Board of Managers monthly board meeting at the Hattie Mae White Ed Support Center on Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024, in Houston. Karen Warren/Staff photographer

The HISD School Board hereby does not permit hiring chaplains to serve in the capacity of counselors or mental health or behavioral health professionals, except that they, like all applicants, remain eligible for hire if they meet all qualifications for the desired positions and are deemed the best candidates, the resolution says.

THE REPORT CARD: Subscribe to the Houston Chronicles weekly newsletter recapping HISD news

Superintendent Mike Miles listen to Sue Deigaard speak during the public comments at Houston ISD's Board of Managers monthly board meeting at the Hattie Mae White Ed Support Center on Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024, in Houston. Karen Warren/Staff photographer A woman holds up a poster of Superintendent Mike Miles during the public comments at Houston ISD's Board of Managers monthly board meeting at the Hattie Mae White Ed Support Center on Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024, in Houston. Karen Warren/Staff photographer

The law allows chaplains to provide behavioral health services, programs related to suicide prevention, intervention and mental health support in schools. The chaplains are also authorized to develop and implement programs focused on restorative justice practices and culturally relevant instruction for students.

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State lawmakers passed the bill in 2023 to address a shortage of counselors on school campuses, although community members in certain districts and some chaplains have criticized the bill for bringing religion into schools and not requiring chaplains to be certified or trained.

Superintendent Mike Miles listens to Luca Candida speak, standing on a chair to reach the microphone during the public comments at Houston ISD's Board of Managers monthly board meeting at the Hattie Mae White Ed Support Center on Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024, in Houston. Karen Warren/Staff photographer

The vote comes as some school boards in the region, including Katy ISD and Humble ISD, have discussed allowing chaplains to serve in their school districts but have not taken a vote yet. Dallas and Austin ISDs have rejected the idea, while Round Rock and Georgetown ISD are among the districts to approve chaplains.

The majority of the HISD community members at Thursdays board meeting who spoke on the resolution urged the board not to allow chaplains to serve as counselors.

Karina Quesada speaks during the public comments at Houston ISD's Board of Managers monthly board meeting at the Hattie Mae White Ed Support Center on Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024, in Houston. Karen Warren/Staff photographer

TEACHER FIRING: HISD school board votes to remove longtime teacher for making threats

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Please say no to pastors as counselors, Nelva Williamson, the vice president of the Houston Education Association, told the board. The rich diversity of our religious beliefs in our district should not be curtailed by the focus of one religious view as I feel would happen with pastors.

Jaime Villa, a local pastor, told the board that chaplains can serve as role models and mentors. He said that chaplains are not intending to replace counselors, but they want to work with counselors to help students.
This years legislative session was hugely consequential, criticized by some Iowans and praised by others. The laws passed, from tax cuts to school regulations to book bans to restrictions on transgender students, will influence the everyday lives of people across the state for years to come.

We wanted to know how these actions and others by the state government affect the lives of people across the state. What they like, what they dont like, where they see our leaders falling short and what they think needs more attention.

This story is part of a larger series involving Lee Enterprises newspapers in Council Bluffs, Davenport, Mason City, Muscatine, Sioux City, Waterloo-Cedar Falls and our Des Moines Bureau. The What Do Iowans Want? series attempts to probe the thinking of people across the state about how the government is working for them.

The 20 Iowans profiled represent the broad perspectives in our state. Theyre teachers, artists, retirees and athletes. Theyre Republicans, Democrats and independents. Theyre your neighbors and your friends.
DES MOINES  One of Iowas most prominent gun rights advocacy groups rallied at the Iowa Capitol on Thursday to express support for gun ownership rights and encourage state lawmakers to pass a gun regulations bill that stalled in the Iowa Legislature last year.

The rally was organized by the Iowa Firearms Coalition, and concerned in particular House File 654, which would allow gun owners to have a firearm in a locked vehicle on school and college grounds. It also would prohibit insurance companies from refusing to insure Iowa schools that choose to have armed staff on school grounds.

The bill passed the Iowa House last year with only Republican support, but was not considered in the Republican-majority Iowa Senate.

Many of the events speakers addressed the Jan. 4 fatal school shooting in Perry and called for more armed officers and armed school staff, who have firearms and active shooter training, to be stationed in schools.

Republican state lawmakers who spoke during the event said they are working on legislation to heighten school security in the wake of the Perry shooting, with details still being developed.

Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird, also a Republican, pledged to continue her work opposing federal gun regulations from Democratic President Joe Bidens administration.

Im very concerned with whats happening at the federal level with respect to the Second Amendment.  We (gun owners) follow the rules, and we want our rights respected, Bird told a crowd of roughly 60 people. Im not going to let them get away with this overreach.  We arent going to let the federal government trample all over your constitutional rights.

Bill would block HOA flag ban

A homeowners association in Iowa would be barred from banning a resident from displaying an American flag on their home under a bill lawmakers advanced in the Iowa Senate.

The bill, Senate Study Bill 3039, was proposed by Sen. Jesse Green, R-Boone, after he received a complaint from a constituent, he said. A Senate subcommittee unanimously passed the bill.

Sen. Herman Quirmbach, a Democrat from Ames, said the bill may face constitutional questions if it refers specifically to the American flag, rather than being blanket permission for any flag.

Im a free speech guy, he said. Let them fly whatever flag they want.

Quirmbach said he would like to see the bill amended in a committee meeting, where it will head next. If the bill passes out of committee, it would be eligible for a vote on the Senate floor.

Treynor man wins $2 million

A man from Treynor in far southwestern Iowa has claimed a $2 million Powerball prize, while a second multimillion-dollar prize in Iowa remains unclaimed, the Iowa Lottery said.

Danny Buckelew scored a $1 million prize that was doubled because he purchased the Power Play option. Buckelew bought his winning ticket at a Caseys in Tiffin, which received a $2,000 bonus for selling the winning ticket.

Another $2 million Powerball prize remains unclaimed nearly two months after it was won, the Iowa Lottery said. That winning ticket was purchased at Clinton Liquor in Clinton. The winner has until May 23 to claim the prize at Iowa Lottery headquarters in Clive.
A Scott County jury on Thursday convicted an Ontario, Canada, man on seven sex abuse-related charges he faced after he was caught by Bettendorf police with a 15-year-old girl at a local park.

Tevontaye Emmannuel Elliott, 22, was found guilty of four counts of third-degree sexual abuse and one count of sexual exploitation of a minor. Each charge is a Class C felony that carries a prison sentence of 10 years.

Elliott also was convicted of possessing a depiction of a minor in a sex act for filming the sex act he had with the minor. That charge is an aggravated misdemeanor that carries a prison sentence of two years. He also was convicted of indecent exposure, a serious misdemeanor that carries a jail sentence of up to one year.

Elliott faces the possibility of being sentenced to 53 years in prison should the sentencing judge run the sentences consecutively, or back-to-back.

Scott County District Court Judge Tom Reidel scheduled Elliotts sentencing hearing for April 5.

"These are the cases that make a difference and reinforces why we do what we do," Bettendorf Police Chief Keith Kimball said Thursday. "This predator will be off the streets not able to continue to victimize young girls anymore."

According to the arrest affidavits filed by Bettendorf Police Officer Jeremy Salsberry, at 2:47 p.m. June 23, 2023, a woman called Bettendorf Police to Veterans Memorial Park after seeing a couple engaged in a sex act in the front seat of a 2018 Honda Civic.

Officers arrived on the scene and observed Elliott on top of the victim in the front passenger seat.

During a post-Miranda interview, Elliott admitted that between May 13 and May 18, he traveled from his home in Ontario to spend time with the 15-year-old girl. He admitted that on two occasions during that time period, he had sexual relations with the girl at the Clarion Pointe hotel, 815 Golden Valley Drive.

Elliott admitted to police he has no local ties to the area and no local employment.

According to the search warrant filed in the case by Salsberry, that the victim had been communicating with Elliott since about the beginning of the 2022-23 school year. Police learned of the interaction and attempted to dissuade the victim from pursuing a relationship with Elliott.

During the investigation into Elliotts travels to the Quad-Cities, Magistrate Christine Frederick approved a search warrant Elliotts cell phone. During the search of his phone, it was learned that Elliott had committed a sex act with the 15-year-old girl at his Bettendorf hotel room on Jan. 3, 2023, and that he made a video of the act that was on his cell phone.

About five weeks before arresting Elliott in June, Bettendorf Police had responded to the victims home at 6:15 a.m. on May 17, 2023. The victims family had discovered Elliott in the victims bedroom, and he was trespassed from the residence. According to the search warrant filed in the case, police explicitly told Elliott the victims age.

Elliott is being held in the Scott County Jail pending sentencing.

Elliott also is facing sentencing on 27 counts of contempt of court for contacting the victim from the Scott County Jail from Sept. 6, 2023, through Oct. 14, 2023.

According to the affidavits filed in those counts by a Davenport Police Detective Richard Niesen, Elliott called his mother, who started a three-way call with the victim. The calls were recorded by the Scott County Jail and reviewed by investigators. The victims voice was identified on the calls by her father. The calls violated the order of protection served on Elliott on June 24, 2023.

According to Scott County District Court electronic records, Elliott was found guilty of violating the protection order and will be sentenced on each count at a later date.
A man accused of falsely reporting to Davenport police that someone stole his gun received a sentence of probation.

When investigating a report of a stolen firearm in July, Davenport police found complainant Jamal James Hudson, 52, of Knoxville, Illinois, had three guns on him, including the one he reported stolen, according to Scott County court records. Authorities allege police also found methamphetamine, marijuana and drug paraphernalia in his possession.

As a result, Scott County authorities filed multiple charges against Hudson in two separate cases, one related to the guns and drugs, the other related to the paraphernalia, records state.

The court cases

Hudson pleaded guilty in the gun case as part of a plea agreement with the Scott County Attorneys Office. Prosecutors dropped the paraphernalia case.

In the gun case, Hudson received a sentence of up to five years in an Iowa prison on a count of possession with intent to deliver marijuana, according to Scott County court records. Hudson also received 30 days each in Scott County Jail on single counts of person ineligible to carry dangerous weapons, possession of methamphetamine and false report to a public entity.

During the late December sentencing hearing, District Court Judge Joel W. Barrows suspended the sentences of incarceration in favor of up to two years of probation, court records state.

The court dismissed the remaining charges against Hudson in the gun case, court records state.

The court dismissed the paraphernalia case at the motion of prosecutors, court records state.

The investigation

Police responded about 3:45 p.m., July 16, to Fejervary Park to meet with Hudson about a reported disturbance at Vander Veer Botanical Park, records show. Hudson had officers go to Vander Veer because he said a person had taken his gun from his vehicle, but officers found the weapon was still in Hudsons possession.

Police found he also had about 13 grams of methamphetamine, about 48 grams of marijuana and two other firearms, records state. All the firearms and the drugs were found in Hudsons vehicle and he was its only occupant.

Police checked the two substances, which tested positive for meth and cannabis, records state. Neither of the drugs had the proper Iowa drug tax stamp affixed.

During an interview with officers, Hudson admitted the marijuana was his, court records state.

U.S. States Most Impacted by Inflation U.S. States Most Impacted by Inflation How Americans Have Felt Financially Over the Past Decade How Americans Feel Financially Now Financial Stress Levels by Location 15. New York 14. California 13. New Mexico 12. Arkansas 11. Arizona 10. Nevada 9. Alabama 8. West Virginia 7. Georgia 6. Kentucky 5. Oklahoma 4. Texas 3. Florida 2. Louisiana 1. Mississippi Methodology
One week after proposing a major overhaul of Iowa's area education agencies that assist students with disabilities, Gov. Kim Reynolds has proposed loosening a main restriction in her bill thats caused heartburn for some lawmakers, parents and teachers.

Iowa's nine area education agencies would continue providing general education and media services, if requested by school districts and approved by the Iowa Department of Education, under the proposed change.

AEAs play an important role in our state and that will continue. But their role should be entirely focused on students  not maintaining a system, Reynolds posted on social media platform X, formerly Twitter.

Reynolds in her Condition of the State address last week outlined a proposal to reform Iowas area education agencies that provide expertise to educators and families. Under her proposal, AEAs would be prohibited from offering services beyond special education for students  and school districts could drop their current agency and look elsewhere for the services instead.

Under her proposed bill, filed Jan. 10 as House Study Bill 542 and Senate Study Bill 3073, school districts would be given the option to keep funding theyd otherwise funnel to their AEA and allocate it for special education services as they choose: at an AEA or at a private company.

AEAs would focus solely on students with disabilities, her proposal said, and independent oversight would move to the state Department of Education  not the district-appointed boards overseeing the nine AEAs now.

AEAs would no longer provide other education services, media services and professional development. Her bill, as currently written, would eliminate property taxes that are collected to support AEA functions that are not related to special education. The governor's staff has projected that would be an impact of $68 million in fiscal year 2025.

The state would launch a media services grant program through the Department of Education to support schools, and would shift $2.1 million in professional development funding and $3.38 million in mental health funding to the Department of Education to support local school districts.

The Republican governor said the changes are needed because the states nine area education agencies have grown beyond their core mission of serving students with disabilities, and some have become bloated and ineffective since they were created in the 1970s  but still leave districts without choice but to pay for them anyway.

But after meeting with parents, teachers and lawmakers, Reynolds on Thursday proposed an amended version that would allow the AEAs to continue providing general education services and media services. The agencies would continue to provide all special education services they do now, including Child Find and Early ACCESS for children from birth to 3 years of age.

Student success is my central focus, and the goal of my bill is to ensure Iowas students with disabilities receive the world class education they deserve, Reynolds said in a statement.   Schools and parents know their students best, and this bill ensures they are in the drivers seat in deciding how best to support their students. This model will give schools control over their money and create more transparency in the system, while also ensuring AEAs can provide the education support some schools rely on.

Parents, teachers and AEA staff warned changing the structure of the agencies so quickly would upend services provided to districts and lead to disastrous outcomes.

They note under the governors proposal as written, AEAs would no longer be able to provide experts to schools as they make curriculum decisions, support in implementing new curriculum, mental health support, services for students learning English as a second language and technology and cybersecurity services, among other support.

We appreciate the willingness of the Governor and legislators to listen to stakeholders served by the AEAs, as well as our staff, on this important piece of legislation, said a statement Thursday from the Grant Wood Area Education Agency, which serves a seven-county region including Linn and Johnson counties. We are humbled by the outpouring of support and recognize that at the heart of the matter are critically important services that students, families and educators rely on every day.

While todays news signals that policymakers are listening, we have a responsibility to those we serve to press forward in advocating for a statewide support structure that retains the services that children, educators and families deserve, the statement continued. We arent there yet. We maintain that the current framework by which we deliver services is still the most economical and effective for Iowa, ensuring economy of scale and local control.

Democrats want details

House and Senate Democrats maintained their opposition to the plan Thursday and cast doubt on Reynolds' changes until they can see the actual text of the proposed amendment, which was still being drafted.

House Minority Leader Jennifer Konfrst, D-Windsor Heights, accused Reynolds of having gotten caught out a little over her skis, and is perhaps seeing what happens when you don't involve anyone in the conversation before you draft a major piece of legislation.

Konfrst also slammed the governor for not including Democrats in her conversations.

That's not how you govern, Konfrst told reporters Thursday. You work with partners involved. You listen to stakeholders, and you continue the process.

Konfrst added: A scalpel approach would have been nice and this is a sledgehammer. This completely dismantles the system. It takes a very broad swipe at the AEAs without a lot of consideration for the services that are provided.

And Iowans are making that clear to the governor and lawmakers, she said.

Senate Minority Leader Pam Jochum, D-Dubuque, whose late daughter received special education services through the AEAs, said the proposal could disproportionately affect rural areas and lead to higher costs for districts to provide those services themselves.

Mom grateful for AEA help

Konfrst and Jochum were joined by Kate Fairfax, a speech-language pathologist and a mother of twins in kindergarten who receive AEA services in the Des Moines area.

Her daughters were born 10 weeks premature and spent a lot of time in the neonatal intensive care unit. The AEA came to their home and worked with the family to make sure the twins were developing appropriately.

One daughter developed brain bleeds, has cerebral palsy and is also deaf.

And we are just so, so grateful for the AEA and everything they've done for us with Audrey at school, she said. Through the AEA, her daughter has access to physical and occupational therapists, speech pathology, a teacher of the deaf and an audiologist.

It was so hard sending her to school  but knowing that the AEA was there supporting her and that we got to work with them as a team with the school district to really train all of her teachers and paraeducators to make sure they knew how to communicate with Audrey best and how to help her succeed in class has been invaluable, she said.

AEA staff work with her daughters teachers and school staff on how to safely transfer her daughter between all of her different equipment. She said her daughter uses two wheelchairs, a walker or a gait trainer.

This is about accountability

House Speaker Pat Grassley, R-New Hartford, said House and Senate Republican have been working with the governor to address concerns theyre hearing from Iowans. And this is the way the process is supposed to work, he said.

Were trying to find a solution in which we can still achieve better results for our special education students and give more accountability for our school districts when it comes to that money, Grassley said speaking with reporters Thursday.

Every school district is going to be different in their needs, he said.   This has not been about eliminating special ed services. This is about accountability.

And I think the path were going down now does an even better job of that and giving more control to school districts to still be able to access those services, especially in those rural districts, Grassley said.

Erin Murphy and Grace King of The Gazette contributed to this report.

Trade programs, unlike other areas of higher education, are in hot demand Trade programs, unlike other areas of higher education, are in hot demand
SPRINGFIELD  The migrant crisis that has stretched the resources of the state and Chicago  as well as the political will of its leaders  was top of mind when legislators returned to Springfield this week for the start of their four-month legislative session.

Lawmakers were only in the state Capitol for a couple of days before skipping town. But, they left with a better framework for how they might address the flood of asylum-seeking migrants who have been bused to Chicago from the border at the behest of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican.

The state has already set aside more than $640 million to deal with the crisis, including $160 million announced in November to speed up the intake process, stand up temporary shelters and move new arrivals into housing.

The funds already spent likely will need to be accounted for in an appropriations bill. And then there's the discussion to be had about what to do moving forward as the influx is likely to continue this year.

We want to make sure were filling all the buckets that weve drawn from in order to make sure were dealing with the crisis, said Gov. J.B. Pritzker last week, speaking of the need to account for the money that's been spent.

However, it appears that discussion will likely get roped into larger negotiations over the state budget later this spring.

Senate President Don Harmon, in an interview with the Chicago Tribune this week, said "theres no way we could advance an appropriation bill that dealt only with the newly-arrived migrants."

On the other side of the rotunda, House Speaker Chris Welch, D-Hillside, announced on Wednesday the formation of a working group charged with finding legislative solutions to the crisis.

The goal will be to find consensus among House Democrats before publicly proposing solutions.

The recent influx of migrants into our state provides challenges and opportunities that require thoughtful engagement and consensus building, Welch said. We know this issue will be an important part of conversations this session, which is why Im putting together a diverse team with strong, relevant backgrounds ready to act as needed."

Not in those discussions, at least for now, are superminority Republicans, who voiced their displeasure for the amount of state resources expended to care for migrants.

"In lockstep with the White House, Gov. Pritzker and the Democrats have propped up and expanded our sanctuary state policies to make Illinois the new Holiday Inn Express for illegal immigrants," said state Rep. Chris Miller, R-Hindsboro, who chairs the archconservative Illinois Freedom Caucus.

Some Republicans have proposed repealing portions of the Trust Act, the law signed by then-Gov. Bruce Rauner in 2017 that generally prohibits state and local law enforcement from participating in federal immigration enforcement.

Members of the Illinois Freedom Caucus, who recently traveled to the U.S.-Mexican border and up to Chicago to assess the situation, said Illinois should no longer be a "sanctuary state" for undocumented immigrants.

"The answer is quite simple: secure the border, stop the invasion, suspend our sanctuary policies and then start cleaning up the wreckage," said state Rep. Brad Halbrook, R-Shelbyville.

However, most of the migrants are not here illegally. Under U.S. law, those seeking asylum are generally allowed to remain in the country while waiting for their case to be considered in immigration court.

Pritzker, responding to calls to end Illinois' welcoming status, said Thursday they "have zero to do with the current migration crisis that's occurring." He then repeated his criticism of Abbott.

"It is a challenge for Texas, there's no doubt about it, and for the nation," Pritzker said. "And it ought to be addressed on a national basis, not on a piecemeal basis. And the governor of Texas causing problems state-by-state to the states that he chooses to send people to and concentrate them, that ought not be the way that we address this."

Pritzker gives his budget address to lawmakers next month.

Photos: Migrant families leave NYC shelters under eviction notice
DES MOINES  The Iowa House of Representatives passed a resolution Thursday declaring its support for Israel and its continued campaign in Gaza against Hamas, drawing protest from activists calling for a ceasefire in the ongoing war.

The resolution passed by a voice vote in the House without a record of how each lawmaker voted. Republicans and many Democrats appeared to support the resolution, while a few no votes rang out from House Democrats. People who rallied against the vote on Thursday also shouted from the gallery after its passage before being removed by Iowa State Patrol officers.

The pro-Palestinian activists said lawmakers should have called for a ceasefire rather than pass the resolution signaling unconditional support to Israel.

The resolution says it is affirming the State of Iowas support for the State of Israel and condemning the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.

In the resolution, lawmakers said they recognize Israels right to act decisively and unilaterally in self-defense and to oppose any calls for a ceasefire.

They further affirm Israels right to pursue, without interference or condemnation, the elimination of Hamas and any other affiliated terrorist groups until Hamas and all such groups are permanently neutralized.

House Speaker Pat Grassley, R-New Hartford, told reporters on Thursday that the resolution was a continuation of the state of Iowas long-running support for Israel as an ally of the U.S. He said the resolution had significant bipartisan support.

When it comes to any terrorist organization, were going to stand with our ally, what we have in Israel, so I dont think that today, the action that we took was any different than we historically would have taken in my time in the Legislature," Grassley said.

"No one wants to see any level of death and destruction that's going on overseas, but an unprovoked attack that we saw happen a couple months ago, also as an ally of that country, that's not something that we can just ignore," he added.

Rep. Sami Scheetz, a Democrat from Cedar Rapids and the only Arab-American in the Iowa House, said during a press conference on Thursday that the majority Republicans did not ask for input from him or other Democrats on the language of the resolution.

Scheetz, who voted against the resolution, said he condemns all violence against the Israeli and Palestinian people as well as antisemitism and anti-Arab rhetoric, but that continuing violence in the region would not resolve the conflict.

This is not justice that will lead to a lasting peace, this is chaos and destruction, he said. It has become clear that there is no military solution that will bring stability to Gaza. That's why I voted no on the Republican resolution this morning and continue to call for a ceasefire.

More than 20,000 Palestinians have been killed since Israel launched its campaign against Hamas after the Oct. 7 attacks in the country. Around 1,200 Israelis, mostly civilians, were killed in that attack.

House Democratic leader Jennifer Konfrst of Windsor Heights did not say how she voted on the resolution.

My members have every ability to have a conversation on their own outside this room of what needs to happen, she told reporters on Wednesday. But what I'll tell you is the Israel-Hamas situation will not be solved through the Iowa Legislature, and it's not really under our purview.

Activists opposed resolution

About two dozen people gathered in the Capitol rotunda Thursday morning ahead of the vote to call for a ceasefire in Gaza, leading chants and impromptu speeches condemning Israel's actions and Iowa legislators.

Dani Misyuk, a member of Iowa City Action for Palestine, came to the Capitol on Thursday to show opposition to the resolution and support for Iowas Palestinian population. Misyuk, who is Jewish, said the conflict and the reactions to it were deeply personal.

My religion and culture is being used to justify genocide, and Im here to say that is not okay with me personally, Misyuk said. "...We have Palestinian people here in Iowa, and they have family there, or they're affected here too, and we have to stand up for them and with them."

Representatives propose stripping aid from students deemed supportive of terrorists

Two Republican lawmakers proposed a bill on Thursday that would block students from receiving financial aid, and cancel student groups registrations, if they endorse or promote terrorism or any group designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the U.S. government.

The bill would give the Iowa attorney general authority to determine whether a statement or action constitutes support for terrorism. Republican Rep. Taylor Collins of Mediapolis, one of the bills sponsors, said it was inspired by people supporting Hamas after the Oct. 7 attacks. Rep. Austin Harris, a Republican from Moulton, was the other sponsor of the bill.

Collins said a statement that features the slogan from the river to the sea could be considered support for terrorism under the bill. The University of Iowa Democrats received backlash from the state party last year for posting a statement with the slogan, which some anti-hate groups consider to be antisemitic.

I have a lot of confidence in the attorney generals office in discerning free speech from actual support of terrorism, and it should be a conversation as the bill moves through the process, he said.

Israel-Hamas war at 100 days
Legislators killed a bill to change the makeup of the Board of Education Standards to be majority educators in the House Education committee Wednesday, after hearing opposition testimony from Department of Education Secretary Joe Graves.

Retired educator Rep. Roger DeGroots (R-Brookings) House Bill 1072 wouldve required four of the board members to be certified educators, and the other three members to be South Dakota residents for at least five years.

The bill came as a result of the most recent social studies standards process, which saw thousands of educators stand in opposition and many critics call out the boards makeup  a minority of certified educators at the time the standards passed.

Proponents of the bill included Rapid City teacher Jennifer Macziewski; Dianna Miller, with the large school group; Mitch Richter, with the South Dakota United School Association; Rob Monson, with School Administrators of South Dakota; and Sandra Waltman, with the South Dakota Education Association.

Waltman and the rest of the SDEA had said after the social studies standards passed they were looking at drafting legislation to change the boards makeup to require more educators to sit on the board.

At the time, Waltman had pointed to the state medical board, which requires multiple doctors to serve on the board, and the technical professions board, which requires engineers, architects, land surveyors and a layperson to serve.

In April, she hypothesized such a quorum of educators on the board couldve caused the vote of approval on the social studies standards to change to reject the standards.

After all, if any of the people who opposed the standards had been on the board, its likely the standards wouldnt have passed.

But Graves testified Wednesday morning that the bill was an unreasonable intrusion on the authority of the executive branch. He said the bill tells people who can and cant have a seat at the table, which seemed to push legislators over the edge. The House Education committee voted 10-5 to kill the bill.

Whos on the board?

The governor appoints each of the board members to four-year terms that expire Dec. 31 at the end of each fourth year.

The two newest members of the board when the vote took place in April, Rich Meyer and Steve Perkins, came from the private sector and replaced long-time educators Jacqueline Sly and Becky Guffin after they werent appointed to another term when their terms expired.

Meyer, Perkins, Phyllis Heineman, Julie Westra and Linda Olsen supported the standards, with Olsen being the only supporter who was certified to teach in South Dakota. The sole dissenting votes came from former Huron Superintendent Terry Nebelsick and Belle Fourche Superintendent Steve Willard.

The current Board of Education Standards includes Perkins as president, Meyer as vice president, members Heineman, Nebelsick, Olsen and new members Jean Moulton and Justin Zajic. Gov. Kristi Noem appointed Moulton on June 14 and Zajic on Jan. 5.

Moulton, who has worked as a teacher and librarian, is serving the remainder of Steve Willards term until Dec. 31, 2024, after he resigned from the board in May in its first meeting since the standards passed in April.

Belle Fourche superintendent Steve Willard resigned from the Board of Education Standards.

Zajic is currently the superintendent of the Chamberlain School District and was formerly the principal of the Mitchell Middle School. His term ends Dec. 31, 2027.

This story originally appeared in the Sioux Falls Argus Leader.
In the early morning hours of May 6, 2022, an FBI victim specialist left a crime scene near Oglala on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. He had a flight to catch that morning, so he was speeding. After stopping at a Badlands overlook to call his wife, he crested a hill on BIA Highway 41 near Red Shirt. What he thought was a tribal law enforcement vehicle came into view. He pulled over.

I expected to be greeted with a friendly tribal partner, he said Wednesday on the witness stand at the federal courthouse in Rapid City. Instead, there was a man with what I thought was a machine gun.

The FBI employee, his voice breaking with tears at times, continued to describe the harrowing experience of his kidnapping, carjacking and eventual narrow escape at the Corner Pantry on Highway 79 in Hermosa. He took his chance to run after his alleged kidnappers purchased a gas can, gas to fill it and zip ties.

His alleged perpetrators included two men and a woman. The victim testified Wednesday during the second day of the joint trial for the two men, 29-year-old Deyvin Morales and 25-year-old Juan Francisco Alvarez-Soto. The woman, 29-year-old Karla Lopez-Gutierrez, accepted a plea deal and testified against her co-conspirators.

Morales and Alvarez-Soto are both charged with kidnapping, carjacking, using, carrying and brandishing a firearm in the commission of a crime of violence, and unlawful possession of a firearm by a prohibited person.

The victim specialist  who works with those affected by major crime on Pine Ridge  recalled a shorter, older male being the leader of the group. He said the younger, taller man held him at gunpoint. He said they wore masks obscuring their faces. Lopez-Gutierrez identified the two men as Morales and Alvarez-Soto.

He said the woman  Lopez-Gutierrez  drove and acted as a translator because the group spoke Spanish to one another.

Although he didnt understand a lot of what was said, the man said he understood the actions.

The actions were, you are a hostage, youre going to do what we say, he said.

After he was pulled from his vehicle and forced to the ground near his brake lights, he was patted down and asked for the key to his Dodge Durango. The vehicle operated with a push-button start, so he reached for his pocket to retrieve the fob.

Gestures indicated he needed to slow down, and he handed the key over to one of the group. He recalled it ending up with the woman.

He was then picked up by the back of the shoulder and told to get into a white Expedition with the two men.

Both vehicles  with the woman driving the Durango  headed down a Badlands access road. The taller guy  allegedly Alvarez-Soto  marched the man into the dark. He was again laid on the ground as he listened to doors opening and closing. Then he felt a gun barrel on the back of his head, his face pressed into the dirt.

I thought he was gonna shoot me, he said.

At that moment, he considered the possibility of being shot in the head and dying quickly, or being shot in the shoulder and bleeding out.

He thought about his wife, who was waiting at home to take a flight with him on a short vacation followed by a work conference. He remembered thinking that she would first be angry at his lateness, then worried. He feared she  another victim specialist  may be the one called to the scene of his death.

I resolved to not let that happen, he said.

His alleged assailants placed him in the middle backseat of his Durango. Morales allegedly sat to his left. Alvarez-Soto allegedly sat in the front passenger seat still holding the rifle.

When the vehicle made it back to BIA Highway 41, the man said he was asked which direction to the closest gas station. Although Red Shirt had a gas station that was closer, he thought it would probably be closed, so he chose to direct them to Hermosa, where he might have a better chance of escape.

During the drive, he had conversations with Lopez-Gutierrez. He was asked if he was a cop after she found FBI identification in his wallet.

Tell him Im a social worker. Im not a cop, he recalled telling her. My first job was at an orphanage.

I wanted to humanize myself, he said.

Lopez-Gutierrez testified she remembered him talking about having a wife and children.

He considered bailing out of the vehicle on one of the curves, but decided against it because of the speeds. As the drive went on, Morales allegedly asked him to unlock his phones. After he did, Morales scrolled through his photos until he found pictures of his family.

The man with the rifle then allegedly told him, We know who you are. We know where you live. We know who your family is.

The statement was followed by a threat that they would come after them if the hostage did not cooperate.

As the lights of Hermosa came into view, he said the groups voices got lower and more somber.

The vehicle pulled into the Corner Pantry on Highway 40 in Hermosa and parked near the building. The woman entered the gas station, purchased zip ties, $20 worth of gas and a gas can.

Lopez-Gutierrez testified she was under the impression the plan was to zip-tie the victim and leave him with his vehicle after bringing gasoline to the groups original vehicle.

He, on the other hand, did not see the interaction ending well.

My assailants had a gun, gas, zip ties and a witness, he said. This is my chance.

Lopez-Gutierrez drove the vehicle to the gas pumps and got out to fill the gas can. The victim specialist said he knew when one of his doors opened, the rest unlocked.

As soon as she opened the door, he crawled over Morales and clawed his way out of the car. He fell, and then ran like a chicken with my head cut off.

Morales allegedly got ahold of his jacket as he escaped the vehicle.

Thankfully he got my jacket and not me, he said.

He called 911 from the gas station.

Under cross-examination from Morales' defense attorney, Alecia Fuller, the victim admitted he falsely identified a photograph an FBI agent showed him of someone else, but he realized the error and corrected it.

Fuller also questioned him about the timeline. He said he didnt remember exactly what time he left the Oglala area. He estimated 2 or 3 a.m. The convenience store receipt of the items Lopez-Gutierrez purchased showed 3:40 a.m., May 6.

Alvarez-Sotos attorney, Jonathan McCoy, asked the alleged victim about his Spanish knowledge. He said he had visited a resort in Mexico where he spoke English, and he is unfamiliar with the language and its various tones and dialects.

According to the indictment, Alvarez-Soto could not possess a gun because he was both an unlawful user of a controlled substance and in the United States illegally. According to a June 2022 U.S. Attorneys Office press release, Alvarez-Soto is originally from El Salvador.

Morales was allegedly prohibited from possessing weapons because he had been previously convicted of a crime punishable by imprisonment exceeding a year and because he was an unlawful user of a controlled substance. Morales, according to the same June 2022 press release, is originally from Guatemala, but he does not face any charges that accuse him of residing in the United States illegally.

Lopez-Gutierrezs testimony gave insight into the events leading up to the alleged carjacking and kidnapping.

Lopez-Gutierrez, Alvarez-Soto and Morales were all living in Greeley, Colorado in May 2022. Lopez-Gutierrez testified she didnt know the two men very well, but Morales would sometimes stay at her and her boyfriends residence.

She knew Morales by his nickname, Watay, and he was allegedly a drug dealer who supplied several people she knew in Colorado, she said. She did not know Alvarez-Sotos name at the time.

On the evening of May 5, 2022, she headed to a house where Morales and Alvarez-Soto were located. She had been in an argument with her boyfriend and wanted pills. When she got there, she smoked fentanyl and the two men allegedly smoked meth.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeremy Jehangiri asked Lopez-Gutierrez why she decided to go along with them to South Dakota. Lopez said, (Morales) offered to give me pills.

She said the men allegedly had a black case with fentanyl, methamphetamine and heroin in it. The case came with them on the journey to South Dakota.

In the governments opening statement Tuesday afternoon, Jehangiri called the journey a drug-trafficking trip that went terribly wrong.

Lopez-Gutierrez testified Morales drove the white Ford Expedition, while she sat in the front passenger seat and Alvarez-Soto sat in the back. After a stop in Wyoming where Lopez-Gutierrez said Morales dropped pills off at an apartment, a South Dakota Highway patrolman tried to pull the vehicle over.

He said his radar recorded the Ford traveling 94 mph north on Highway 79. He said the vehicle didnt slow down when he turned on his lights and sirens. The ensuing chase reached over 100 mph.

Inside the vehicle, according to Lopez-Gutierrezs account, there was a lot of yelling as Morales told Alvarez-Soto to find a route to the Reservation.

Lopez-Gutierrez said she had told the men police couldnt follow them onto a Reservation. The trooper said he did get permission to go onto the Reservation, but he was low on gas. He stopped following as they crossed into the Reservation.

The trooper was able to get their license plate number.

After the chase, the group stopped and got out of the vehicle. The two men allegedly began to make phone calls to get someone to pick them up, according to Lopez-Gutierrezs testimony. The attempts failed, and the group re-entered the vehicle.

Lopez-Gutierrez said she used fentanyl and the two men allegedly smoked meth. She testified the group had been using drugs throughout the trip.

Morales then said the group needed to take over a car. Lopez-Gutierrez said Morales told Alvarez-Soto something in Spanish that amounted to, man up. Lopez-Gutierrez, like the victim, characterized Morales as the leader.

When the victim specialists vehicle pulled over, Alvarez got out with the rifle and the kidnapping and carjacking ensued. Lopez-Gutierrez said she tried not to look at the victim.

It was scary, and it was too much, she said.

However, she didnt want to go to jail because she knew shed have to withdraw.

The pain from withdrawing is really bad, she said.

Her testimony of the incident matched up to the alleged victims testimony, and she provided additional testimony on what the group did after the alleged captive escaped, saying they drove to Rapid City and delivered drugs to different places.

Lopez-Gutierrez said she then split off from the men and took a bus home. Morales and Alvarez-Soto were arrested in Greeley, Colorado on May 12, 2022. Lopez-Gutierrez was arrested in August 2022 in Loveland, Colorado.

In August 2023, Lopez-Gutierrez pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting kidnapping and aiding and abetting the use of a firearm in relation to a crime of violence.

Kidnapping carries a maximum penalty of life in prison, up to a $250,000 fine and up to five years of supervised release. The firearm charge carries a mandatory minimum of seven years in prison and a maximum of up to life, a $250,000 fine and five years of supervised release.

If convicted, Morales and Alvarez-Soto would face potential life sentences for kidnapping and the firearm use charges and up to 15 years each for both the carjacking and unlawful firearm possession charges.

Their trial is set to continue through Jan. 23.
Larry McKinzie, left, films with his phone during a Texas Education Agency community meeting. Houston ISDs Board of Managers voted to fire McKinzie Thursday after the administration accused him of making threats to board members during a meeting on June 15. Sharon Steinmann/Staff Photographer

Houston ISDs Board of Managers voted Thursday to fire longtime teacher Larry McKinzie, who was accused of threatening board members during a meeting this summer.

McKinzie, a teacher in HISD's Secondary Disciplinary Alternative Education Program, told board members on June 15 that they were safe at the districts headquarters, but they would have to go out in public eventually. He also referenced the addresses of board members homes and the workplaces, suggesting they might be viable locations for protests.

About two weeks after his comments, state-appointed Superintendent Mike Miles sent McKinzie a letter saying he faced termination for violating several board and district policies, including one that prohibits making threats of violence toward board members.

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Paul Lamp, the lawyer representing HISD, said Thursday that two board members had also reported the comments to police.

THE REPORT CARD: Subscribe to the Houston Chronicles weekly newsletter recapping HISD news

McKinzie appealed the proposal of termination, which led to a hearing before an independent officer appointed by the Texas Education Agency. Lamp said the officer ultimately issued a written recommendation that found that the district had good cause to terminate McKinzies contract for violating board policy.

The Board of Managers held a hearing to consider the officers recommendation and hear from both parties in an open session before voting 6-0-1 to terminate McKinzie effective immediately.

James Fallon, McKinzies lawyer, said McKinzie was an outstanding educator who had worked in HISD for almost 30 years and urged the board not to throw out a good teacher for the wrong reasons. McKinzie was named the 2023 Outstanding Teacher of the Year by the Houston Area Alliance of Black School Educators and the Teacher of the Year at Secondary DAEP in 2022.

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Fallon said it was far-fetched to accuse McKinzie of being threatening, particularly because he had made his comments to the board on Zoom and not in-person. He said the boards move to consider firing McKinzie sounds more like ego than it does professionalism.

SCHOOL BOARD UPDATE: Vote planned against hiring chaplains as school counselors despite law

Its being a little sensitive to fire a great teacher in an alternative setting for good cause for things he did after the summer had begun, on his own personal time, to come and talk to you guys about matters of public concern, Fallon said. His issue was accountability. His frustration was that he hasnt had any communication.

McKinzie said he was not employed with the district when he made the comments and had rights under the First Amendment to publicly share information he found on Google. He also previously said he spoke at the meeting because he wasnt able to find publicly available email addresses or phone numbers for the board members.

Now thankfully, you guys have email addresses. You have telephones. Initially, you cannot be contacted. ... I couldn't contact you. I couldn't do that so I had to do something to show, McKinzie said Thursday before his lawyer spoke.

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Lamp said McKinzies decision to threaten the physical safety of the board was inappropriate and reckless. He said it was preposterous for McKinzie to suggest that he made the comments to the board because he couldnt find their email addresses and urged the board to fire him.
South Dakota Housing, in partnership with the Governors Office of Economic Development, will be hosting three listening sessions around the state to solicit comments on the 2024 Annual Action Plan and the allocation plans for the HOME, Housing Tax Credit, Housing Trust Fund, Emergency Solutions Grants, Community Development Block Grant, and Housing Opportunity Fund programs.

The listening sessions are an opportunity for the public to provide their comments, suggestions and ideas prior to drafting the 2024-2025 plans. The public will have another chance to provide written comments once the draft plans have been released in February.

Persons interested in providing comments may do so by appearing at one of the public meetings, or by sending written comments to SD Housing, attention Amy Eldridge, PO Box 1237, Pierre, SD 57501, by fax 605-773-5154 or emailing to amy@sdhda.org. All comments are due by 5 p.m. CST, February 2, 2024.

The listening sessions will be held at the following locations on the respective dates:

The Rapid City meeting will be Thursday, Jan. 25 at 1 p.m. MST in the Rapid City Public Library's Hoyt Room at 610 Quincy Street.

The Sioux Falls meeting will be Tuesday, Jan. 30 at 1 p.m. CST at the Sioux Falls Downtown Library in Meeting Room A/B at 200 N. Dakota Ave.

The Pierre meeting will be Wednesday, Jan. 31 at 10 a.m. CST in the South Dakota Housing Board Room at 3060 E. Elizabeth St. Zoom Meeting Access is also available at https://zoom.us/j/97265040106?pwd=azRLTkgzZjFDd2EzQlVGKzVQUkg0UT09 or by phone at 1-305-224-1968. The Meeting ID is 972 6504 0106 and the passcode is 641930.
Two pieces of legislation introduced by South Dakota Rep. Dusty Johnson aimed at strengthening Second Amendment protections for various groups passed out of the House Judiciary Committee Thursday.

The Tribal Firearm Access Act is a bipartisan effort with Rep. Mary Peltola (D-Alaska) to reclassify tribal identification as a valid form of ID for firearm purchases.

According to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, acceptable identification for purchasing a firearm must include the name, date of birth, photograph and home address of the purchaser. A driver's license is the most common; however, buyers can use a passport in combination with a voter or vehicle registration to satisfy all of the requirements.

Applicants can even use a foreign passport for identification, something Johnson called "amazing" considering U.S. government-issued tribal IDs are invalid under the current statutes.

"These tribal IDs are government-issued identification cards," he said. "There isn't any reason that our federal government shouldn't give them the same respect and same authority that we provide to state-issued IDs."

It's a move to strengthen Second Amendment rights for Indigenous people while also bolstering tribal sovereignty, Johnson said.

President Tony Reider of the Flandreau-Santee Sioux Tribe, one of South Dakota's nine federally recognized tribes, praised Johnson's efforts to protect tribal members' rights.

"The right to bear arms is constitutionally vested, and important to the day-to-day lives of Native Americans. The Tribal Firearm Access Act sponsored by Rep. Dusty Johnson removes certain barriers for tribal members to purchase firearms by allowing them to utilize tribally issued identification cards as a valid form of identification," Reider said.

Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) introduced companion legislation in the Senate.

While tribal members in South Dakota can use their IDs to vote or get on a plane, there have historically been limitations to their use.

In 2003, South Dakota enacted legislation requiring a photo ID to vote. The state first passed a law in 2011 to recognize tribal IDs as a form of identification. In 2020, South Dakota Senate Bill 146 allowed them to be used for all business-related purposes and when age-verification is required, such as when purchasing alcohol and tobacco.

That same year, the state House rejected a part of HB 1054 which would have authorized the use of tribal identification when registering to vote. The legislation allowed non-driver identification cards to be used during registration and was ultimately signed into law after several amendments and hearings in both chambers.

Legislators tried again in 2023 with Senate Bill 153, but it was assigned to the Senate State Affairs Committee and promptly rejected by a vote of 8-to-1.

For military spouses, full-time travelers and anyone without a permanent physical address, Johnson's Traveler's Gun Rights Act would allow a post office box or post mail box address to be used on firearm purchase applications.

ATF's requirements infringe on the Second Amendment rights of full-time travelers, Johnson said, considering post office box and post mail box addresses can be listed on driver's licenses. Lengthy permanent residency requirements in some states  regulations he called "onerous"  also unfairly impact military spouses who move frequently.

Concerns arose during Thursday's hearing regarding whether or not the legislation would make law enforcement's job more difficult. Johnson disagreed, citing the detailed nature of background checks, which include legal filings, previous addresses and credit reports.

"Those concerns are wrong. I mean, they're not actually based in fact," he said. "There's already a robust background check that has to be done before anybody can purchase a firearm from a federal firearm dealer."

South Dakota Sen. Mike Rounds introduced companion legislation in the Senate.

Johnson's Tribal Firearm Access Act passed House Judiciary with a unanimous vote, while the Traveler's Gun Rights Act passed 19-to-18.

Both now go to the full House floor for consideration.

The future of both bills could be uncertain in a Democrat-controlled Senate. Johnson didn't express any major concerns about a potential uphill battle.

"I still think there is a broad bipartisan consensus to be built around the idea that tribal members and military spouses deserve an actual opportunity to exercise their Second Amendment rights," Johnson said. "I believe there's going to be strong bipartisan support for those concepts."
Two Rapid City women were arrested for DUI Thursday morning after getting stuck in a snowbank following an alleged attempt to steal alcohol from a business on Cambell Street.

Serena Andrews, 44, and Maureen Pease, 45, allegedly tried to steal alcohol from the business around 11:30 a.m., according to a release from the Rapid City Police Department. Officers were told while en route that the suspects were attempting to leave but had gotten their vehicle stuck in a snowbank.

Police arriving on scene found the vehicle stuck in the snowbank in the business' parking lot and identified Andrews as the driver. Officers noted a strong smell of alcohol coming from the vehicle, according to the release.

Video of the attempted incident allegedly showed Andrews had tried to get the vehicle unstuck after Pease had driven into the snowbank.

Officers determined Andrews and Pease were too impaired to drive. Andrews was arrested for DUI and a parole hold; Pease was arrested for a DUI (second) and obstruction. Both were taken to the Pennington County Jail.
Bitterroot Health held a ribbon cutting, reception and tours of the Darby Scripps Clinic on Wednesday with over 70 community members and healthcare professionals.

John Bishop, CEO, called it a wonderful project and part of Bitterroot Healths strategic plan.

Darby has been one of our biggest supporters and one of the most loyal communities we have served over the years, Bishop said.

Bishop praised donor Charles Scripps for making the Clinic possible within a tight timeline.

He has the passion, drive and support for making this happen, Bishop said. We thank him for his generosity. This is a wonderful building and a great team here to take care of the community well for many years to come. This building is built to grow and expand as we need.

Charles Scripps thanked the Bitterroot Health Foundation for bringing the project to his attention.

It is a lot of fun to be part of a project that is in your community, Scripps said. Im thankful to have had that opportunity. Bitterroot Health is one of the few organizations that will touch everyone on our valley. Everyones quality of life is therefore affected by it. This building and the people who work here are a critical element. It will be exciting to watch it grow.

Scripps Health is a nonprofit healthcare system headquartered in California that treats a half-million patients annually through 2,600 affiliated physicians.

Bitterroot Health Darby physician Maria Rennaker Hipp, PA-C, graduated from Darby High School in 2009 and spoke of returning to care. After traveling, college, working, further education, working in Public Health and prevention she has returned to Darby. She said her skills of talking with people, helping people and giving people a voice will make a positive difference.

With those skills and coming back to my home town Im very uniquely positioned to be a voice for the town and a voice for the people here, Hipp said. This clinic is great. We want to be on top of health care, we want to have evidence-based medicine and we want to give the best of the best quality care. Im so proud of what weve done in the last six months, picking the team to work here.

The clinic opened three weeks ago and offers primary care services (including integrated behavioral health), urgent care, physical therapy, lab services and x-ray. A clinic pharmacy is planned.

Im so excited to be here and expand the services, Rennaker said. We have the capacity and the equipment we need to do that.

Scripps added that expansion of services has a great impact.

As she was speaking the ambulance pulled in, he said. One of the aspects of this is the support for emergency response and the additional capacity for that as people may be having the worst day of their lives. This is a way to make that day less bad. We hope we dont need them but thank God they are there.

A ribbon cutting by four generations of a Darby family was followed by tours of the facility.

The lobby area has a Thank You wall of wood rings with burned-in names of donors, historical logging photos and a monitor showing a rotating display of art by Darby students. Throughout the clinic there are local photos by Kurt Kohn, Darby High School guidance counselor.

Its a dynamic team and we have two primary care providers who work their schedule to allow walk-ins throughout the day, facility administrator Pete Dunn said. It is a walk-in clinic but we dont offer emergency services. We do have an ambulance, but you dont have to stop here. If you are having an emergency just by-pass us.

The care team is located in the center of the north half of the building and the patients get roomed on the sides. The providers, nurses and lab technicians go to the patients in their rooms.

Everything is brought to the patient in the exam room, Dunn said. It is very patient-centric, except for x-ray.

The imaging suite takes digital images that can be transferred to physicians and specialists. The images are read by Inland Imaging, a big radiologist group in the Northwest. Currently, the x-ray is available every Friday, 1-4:30 p.m.

The Darby-Scripps Clinic Team is led by administrators Dunn, Alex Epping and Nathan Kunz. Providers are Carlee Kalbfleisch, MD, Marian Rennaker, PA-C and Kristen LaHaise, PA-C. Physical therapist is Desire Dutton; integrated behavioral therapist is Alexandra Brown; nurses are Juanita Converse, Jessica Monroe, Charlotte Davis and Maureen DiNoia; and patient access are Tracy Wehr and Wendy Morgan.

Integrated behavioral health is a new aspect of mental health care services offered at the clinic.

You go to your primary health provider and if there is a goal you need help with, you can be referred to me, Alex Brown, PCLC, said. Therapy usually runs three to six months. We focus on coping skills, behavior management and intervention tools. We are a collaborative care model.

She has around 70 patients since starting in June.

For our patients, it may be their first time to have access to mental health and so may be hesitant, but were very goal-focused, Brown said.

Bishop also thanked Dorene Sain for selling the property to Bitterroot Health and the town for helping obtain city services.

The Bitterroot Health Darby-Scripps Clinic is located at 820 North Main Street in Darby, or call 406-375-4142, or online visit bitterroothealth.org/darby.
The University of Richmond is taking the academic portion of a campus building and renovating it into a residential hall, adding 63 beds in an effort to meet the growing demand for on-campus housing.

The university has asked the Virginia College Building Authority to issue up to $115 million in bonds to finance the renovation and other capital projects and to refinance old bonds.

North Court, a 110-year-old building on the southern side of campus, is being converted from a partial academic and residential facility to a full residence hall. The first phase of the renovation, which converted half the building into residences, took place in 2017 and was designed by local architecture firm Glave & Holmes.

The academic programs were relocated to other buildings on campus, and the renovation is scheduled to be complete this summer. Students will move in this fall.

UR is not adding beds to increase its enrollment, which is about 4,000, a spokesperson for the university said. Rather, it is adding beds to meet the growing interest for living on campus. Nine out of every 10 UR students live on campus, according to the university.

North Court is one of three items in the capital plan. The university is also renovating and expanding Boatwright Memorial Library. The $25 million project includes enclosing an existing interior courtyard and adding study and collaboration space. It is scheduled to be finished by spring 2025.

The universitys steam plant will also be renovated. Built in 1950, the steam plant provides hot water and steam for 90% of the campus.

Most universities in Virginia use the college building authority to finance construction of nonacademic buildings, such as dorms and student centers. Some large universities, such as Virginia Commonwealth University, have the ability to issue debt themselves. Academic buildings at public universities are generally paid for by the state.

UR also sought approval to refinance a prior tax-exempt bond issuance. The authority issued bonds in 2012 to finance the renovation of residence halls and the Robins Center, as well as upgrades to intramural fields.

The authority was scheduled to hear the application Thursday.

Richmond from the sky, Part 2
Richmond Public Schools Superintendent Jason Kamras appears safe in his job after the release of the Richmond School Boards report into the fatal shooting outside the Altria Theater in June, and it is not yet clear if there will be personnel changes in lower-level positions.

The report, which the school district was forced to release Wednesday after the Richmond Times-Dispatch, WTVR-TV and transparency advocate Joshua Stanfield sued the School Board under Virginias Freedom of Information Act, showed that although several staff members were aware of safety concerns related to Huguenot High School student Shawn Jackson, there was no vetting of security considerations before he was shot and killed after the June 6 graduation ceremony.

School Board member Jonathan Young, who represents the 4th District, which includes Huguenot High, said Thursday that two School Board members have approached him about the prospect of removing Kamras since first reading the report, but he knocked down the idea, which does not have the support of a majority of the board.

Richmond School Board Chair Stephanie Rizzi, who represents the 5th District, said Thursday that she is unsure if the report will prompt any personnel changes and that the school systems focus now is on lessening the impact on people who feel retraumatized by its release.

My biggest regret is that the people who expected that their interviews would be confidential feel betrayed today, Rizzi said, the day after the school district released the report.

But Young said: The School Board is expected to make some personnel changes.

Rizzi said she does not know if personnel changes are a possibility, and noted that the School Board has not yet met to discuss the reports release. The next board meeting is Monday night.

Richmond Public Schools previously conducted its own internal investigation into the shooting. That report, which school board members received in July, concluded that Jacksons school counselor, Monique Harris, had acted as then-Principal Robert Gilstraps designee to authorize Jacksons participation in the graduation ceremony. The newly released external report says Jackson, who was on Homebound instruction, participated in the graduation ceremony without authorization from the schools principal or any designee.

UPDATE: Huguenot High staff knew of threats against student killed In June 2022 Shawn Jackson's mother emailed school officials, including RPS Superintendent Jason Kamras, that "we are still homeless from our home being shot up by students in Huguenot."

School Board members reviewed the commissioned report, conducted by Richmond-based law firm Sands Anderson, in closed session at a Nov. 6 meeting. Since then, the board has not moved to dismiss or suspend anyone as a result of the reports findings, according to members.

This nine-member board, which currently has one vacancy, has historically had four members who generally support the Kamras administration, four who generally oppose the administration, and one wild card: Young.

Young has never voted to fire Kamras and says he continues to support the superintendent in his current role.

Some people will want to point to the superintendent, and they should, but I pray that everyone begins with the policymakers, Young said.

Everyone that lives in a glass house should be careful throwing stones, because the School Board is, for sure, culpable in this, he said. The School Board set the tone that was partly responsible for what happened for some of the decision making at Huguenot.

Nicole Jones, who represented the 9th District on the School Board, left her position on the board and on Jan. 1 filled the Richmond City Council seat vacated by former Council President Michael Jones, who is now a member of the House of Delegates.

Though Jones absence takes one vote away from the bloc that generally supports Kamras, School Board members who have historically wanted to dismiss the superintendent would still not have enough votes to do so.
The breakdown ahead of the fatal June 6 shooting outside the Altria Theater was an intelligence failure and not a security failure, according to a Richmond Public Schools official who coordinated RPS security planning for the graduation ceremony.

RPS security officers on duty at Huguenot High Schools graduation did not know that Shawn Jackson was to take part in the ceremony, according to Monica Fecht, a Richmond Police Department veteran who is now emergency manager and training coordinator for the school systems security officers.

As a result, no one in the safety and security team knew of any risk associated with Jacksons participation, Fecht said in an interview with Richmond-based law firm Sands Anderson. It produced the report the Richmond School Board commissioned to look into the fatal shooting after the graduation.

Perhaps if we would have known there would have maybe been different conversations, said Fecht, noting that school security officials might have had a chance to have discussions with Richmond police.

We were never afforded that opportunity, she said.

Fecht says she is confident that there were no security failures at the graduation, but there was a definite intelligence failure.

Jackson, 18, and his stepfather, Renzo Smith, 36, were slain outside the theater following the graduation ceremony. Five others were wounded. Amari Pollard has been charged with one count of first-degree murder and an associated firearms count.

This week, a Richmond Circuit Court judge ordered the school system to release the report and more than 1,000 pages of exhibits. The Richmond Times-Dispatch, WTVR-TV and transparency activist Joshua Stanfield had sued the Richmond School Board to force the district to disclose the report.

The interview with Fecht is among the exhibits that the judge ordered the school system to release along with the report.

Sands Anderson notes at the beginning of the exhibit that the Zoom interview was transcribed through a platform that does not create a verbatim transcription, but rather the best approximation based upon talk to text interpretations.

The 29-page Sands Anderson report said Jackson, who had been on Homebound instruction, participated in the graduation ceremony without the school principals authorization and despite the fact that several RPS staff members knew of concerns about his safety.

For example, on June 8, 2022, Jacksons mother, Tameeka Jackson-Smith, had emailed a school counselor and the schools principal and copied RPS Superintendent Jason Kamras that we are still homeless from our home being shot up by students at Huguenot.

The Sands Anderson report says Jackson-Smith emailed her sons school counselor, Monique Harris, on Feb. 2, 2023, saying her son was placed in class to take a test with people who literally tried to kill him.

The interview with Fecht, who served 21 years with the Richmond Police Department, makes clear that school officials who knew of safety concerns surrounding Jackson did not brief the security team  including Huguenot security officers who might have known some of the back story  before Jackson showed up to graduate.

I cant speak for them, says Fecht, referring to the Huguenot security officers assigned to the graduation ceremony at the Altria, but ... I would feel very confident to say that they did not know that kid was gonna be there.

School Board member Jonathan Young, whose 4th District includes Huguenot, said this week that the Sands Anderson report shows there were personnel failures, there were policy failures, there were operational failures.

While it is unclear whether further conversations might have prevented the shooting, security officials never got the chance to share intelligence. The Sands Anderson report says that where there was intelligence available, the evidence reviewed for this report indicates that it remained siloed with those who did not act upon it to inform graduation preparations.

At one point in the interview, either Fecht or the questioner  it is not clear which  says of Jackson: I think it was a bad decision for him to be there, personally.

Fecht says in the interview that although the graduation was an RPS event, the school systems security officers did not have jurisdiction in the venue and that they were not responsible for the buildings security.

According to the Sands Anderson report, on April 19, 2023, RPS reached an agreement with the Altria to use the theater for its graduation ceremonies on June 6 through June 8, at a cost of $45,318.

The report says the Altria contracted to provide 40 walk through magnetometers and with RMC Events staff to provide security. The report says RMC Events staff are unarmed security officers.

The Sands Anderson report also says that differing narratives emerged in its interviews about where metal detectors were in place and how well they worked.

Fecht says in her interview in the exhibit that walk-through magnetometers and hand-held wands were in use inside the theater. She said RMC operated the metal detectors.

An RPS spokesperson has said the school system had 22 unarmed Care and Safety Officers and supervisors inside the theater during the graduation.

The RPS Care and Safety Officers were there to help maintain order if things got out of hand, Fecht said. The school systems unarmed officers do not have arrest authority and rely on the power of persuasion to get people to do the right thing.

According to the Sands Anderson report, the Altria also had hired five armed off-duty Richmond police officers, who were not interviewed for the report.

The report also said, the only security or emergency response presence outside the venue was an off-duty RPD staff of 5, and an off-duty Fire/EMS staff of 3.

Today in history: Jan. 19 1944: Railroads 1953: "I Love Lucy" 1966: Indira Gandhi 1981: Hostages 2005: The American Cancer Society 2009: Russia and Ukraine 2012: Megaupload.com 2018: Larry Nassar 2022: NCAA transgender athletes 2023: Supreme Court investigation
Congress has passed another stopgap spending bill to prevent a federal government shutdown, with the Senate and House of Representatives approving it on Thursday afternoon.

Now what?

The third continuing resolution in less than four months buys time for a divided Congress  and a divided Republican majority in the House  to pass 12 appropriations bills to authorize federal spending in a fiscal year that began on Oct. 1.

With funding set to expire on Friday for five government departments  agriculture, energy, veterans affairs, transportation, and housing and urban development  the new stopgap extends the deadline to March 1. For the rest of the government, the deadline moves from Feb. 2 to March 8.

Im nervous, confessed Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., in a video conference with news media on Wednesday. Im nervous that the delay means you could delay again when we get into March.

Kaine and Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., issued a joint statement after the 77-18 Senate vote Thursday.

Its unfortunate that we once again need to step in at the eleventh hour to avert a government shutdown due to Congress inability to pass full spending bills in a timely manner, they said.

Its time for Congress to start treating funding deadlines seriously and provide the government and the American people with the funding needed to respond to the novel needs of a new fiscal year, the senators said. We look forward to working with our colleagues these next six weeks to fulfill Congress most basic duty and finally push a bipartisan long-term agreement through the finish line.

Even the stopgap measure had faced opposition from conservative Republicans in the House, who objected to an agreement that new House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., reached with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., more than a week ago that sets the top-line spending limit at $1.66 trillion. That ceiling is consistent with the deal  and side deal  that President Joe Biden reached with then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., in late May to raise the debt ceiling and avoid a potential default on the national debt, but members of the House Freedom Caucus, now led by Rep. Bob Good, R-5th, opposed it.

Good, in a speech on the House floor, deplored the failure of the narrow Republican majority to assert itself to demand cuts in federal spending and tougher security on the U.S. border with Mexico.

He said House Republicans could have taken advantage of rising concern among Democrats over border security, attached their demands to the resolution and dared the Senate to vote against it, he said.

Were going to pass another piece of major legislation predominantly with Democrat votes ... when we have the majority in the House of Representatives, he said.

The House approved the resolution on a 314-108 vote, with 107 Republicans voting for it and 106 against it.

Rep. Abigail Spanberger, D-7th, expressed relief over averting a shutdown, which would hurt Virginia more than most states because of its reliance on federal defense spending.

But Spanberger acknowledged that we have only kicked the can down the road until March.

We are long overdue to end this cycle of political games, half measures, and Groundhog Day funding practices, she said. We need to fund our government in a responsible way, so that Congress can tackle its long to-do list: supporting Ukraine in its fight for its freedom, securing Americas southern border, passing the Farm Bill, providing humanitarian aid to Palestinian civilians in Gaza, supporting our Israeli allies in their fight against terrorism, and addressing the raging fentanyl crisis in our communities.

Rep. Jennifer McClellan, D-4th, said Republicans had turned the House into a three-ringed circus.

Its time for Republicans ringleader, Speaker Johnson, to abandon his hyperpartisan approach to governing and acknowledge the reality that any viable funding package will be bipartisan, McClellan said.

Meanwhile, the Senate is pushing a bipartisan agreement with Biden on a supplemental aid package that includes up to $60 billion in military assistance to Ukraine for the ongoing battle against a Russian invasion launched almost two years go.

The clock is ticking on Ukraine, Warner said in a conference call with news media on Thursday. Without financial assistance, Ukraine is just not going to be successful.

The tradeoff for Republicans in both chambers is a major change in the presidents policy for securing the U.S. border with Mexico, as well as additional money to do it. Biden included about $14 billion for enhanced border security in the $110 billion supplemental aid bill he introduced last year, but Johnson, the new speaker, told the president in a meeting on Wednesday that it is not enough without significant changes in U.S. policy toward illegal immigration.

Warner said Republican concern about border security is warranted. I believe we have a crisis at the border, he said.

Kaine, speaking before the meeting between Johnson and Biden, said he is confident an agreement is within reach.

My sense is were pretty close to an announcement about a bipartisan border security deal that will at least pass the Senate with a significant bipartisan majority, and that would open funding for Ukraine, he said.

Ukraine and the border are not the only hot-button issues at stake in the supplemental aid package, which includes both military assistance for Israel and humanitarian aid for Palestinians in Gaza in response to a war that began after Hamas, the military group ruling Gaza, launched a surprise attack in Israel that killed more than 1,200 people and took more than 200 hostages. More than 24,000 people have died in Gaza from Israeli airstrikes and ground assaults.

Congress has to decide how much humanitarian aid to send to Gaza and how much military aid to give Israel, as well as conditions and expectations for its use, Kaine said. We very much support Israels right to defend itself from Hamas, but we dont want that to be an all-purpose green light war against Gazans or Palestinians.

But first, Congress had to fund the government, at least until it can reach agreement on how to appropriate the $1.66 trillion in the top-line deal across 12 spending bills.

The question remains whether Johnson, elected as speaker after a three-week impasse in October, is able to muster enough votes in the House under a procedure that requires a two-thirds majority, or 290 votes.

The only way the speaker gets anything done  its just plain math  hes got to have the Democrats, Warner said. There is no other path other than a strong bipartisan majority to get anything done in the House of Representatives.

Of course, then-Speaker McCarthy took that path twice and it cost him his job.

Photos: Scenes from the US House speaker vote
With a new Democratic majority on a House of Delegates subcommittee where gun control bills used to die, a proposed assault weapons ban got a thumbs up Thursday  the day a new proposed control measure never seen before in Virginia was filed.

That new bill, House Bill 1424, sponsored by Del. Patrick Hope, D-Arlington, proposes that people need to have a permit to buy a gun.

The bill says that to buy a gun from a firearms dealer, a person would need to present a valid permit from the Virginia State Police.

While Democrats now hold 51-49 edge in the House and a 21-19 edge in the state Senate, any bill that clears both bodies would go to Gov. Glenn Youngkin, who traditionally has not backed gun control measures. Youngkin has said Virginia already has tough gun laws.

Under the legislation, dealers would be barred from selling a firearm to anyone before the buyer gets that permit. The bar would apply to any rental, trade or transfer as well.

People under 21 could not get a permit, nor could people convicted of a felony, addicts or drug users. People convicted on misdemeanor charges involving violence or threats would be barred from getting a permit for two years.

To get a permit, people would also need to have completed a firearms safety course within the previous two years.

Some 11 states have similar legislation.

States with permits see fewer homicides involving firearms and fewer shootings, said Lori Haas of the Coalition to Prevent Gun Violence.

She said she did not think the permit requirement would infringe upon anyones Second Amendment rights to possess guns.

When gun safety advocates gathered at the Bell Tower, we had to get a permit, she said. We needed a permit to exercise our First Amendment right to free speech and freedom to association. ... Why is the Second Amendment any different?

Philip Van Cleave, president of the Virginia Citizens Defense League, said he had not seen the bill, but added that his gun rights group would oppose any permit requirement.

Hopes bill will eventually go to the subcommittee, the first hurdle any House bill has to pass on the way to become law. Any gun measures that clear the state Senate would also go through the panel.

On Thursday, meanwhile, the subcommittee backed House Bill 2, sponsored by Del. Dan Helmer, D-Fairfax, that would make it a Class 1 misdemeanor, subject to a year in jail, to own, buy, sell or transfer assault weapons  semi-automatic rifles or pistols with magazines that hold more than 20 rounds.

Semi-automatic firearms are weapons with action mechanisms that automatically load new rounds after firing, but that require a separate pull of the trigger to fire a round.

These weapons of war should not be for sale in the commonwealth, let alone on our streets, Helmer said. Theyre shock and awe.

Van Cleave disputed Helmers characterization of semi-automatic firearms as weapons of war.

What Delegate Helmer carried in Iraq was a machine gun, he said, referring to Helmers Army service.

The proposed ban passed on a 6-4 party line vote, as did virtually all the other gun control bills the panel considered. By a similar margin, the subcommittee killed two measures that would have expanded the ability of people to carry concealed weapons.

The panel also approved a measure, House Bill 22, sponsored by Del. Michael Jones, D-Richmond, that would ban auto sears devices, which are designed to convert firearms to automatically fire more than one shot with a single pull of the trigger, as machine guns do. In Virginia, machine guns, and semi-automatics converted for automatic firing, have to be registered with the state police.

In addition, the subcommittee voted to prohibit owning, making or selling plastic firearms  marketed as being undetectable by weapons scanners  as well as unfinished frames and firearms without serial numbers. The bill, House Bill 173, sponsored by Del. Marcus Simon, D-Fairfax, would set a penalty of up to 10 years in prison for a violation.

Lobby Day at the Virginia General Assembly 2024
Richmond Commonwealths Attorney Colette McEachin on Friday criticized local U.S. Postal Service officials for refusing, for the second time, to participate in a town hall organized to address ongoing issues with mail delivery in Richmond.

I think theyre scared of the public, McEachin told the Richmond Times-Dispatch. I think they feel ... the public wont believe what they say are the reasons for the problems theyre having.

McEachin said she first attempted to schedule a town hall in December, after she became aware of the extent of the publics distrust for the USPS.

In the course of conducting an investigation into a local mail theft case, her office received hundreds of related complaints, in which constituents reported stolen or lost mail, substantial delays and packages and letters that had been tampered with or opened before delivery, she said.

The outpouring of frustration prompted her to take action, but the planned December town hall was called off when USPS Virginia District Manager Gerald Roane declined to participate, citing the rush of the holiday season, McEachin said.

Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, both Virginia Democrats, and Congresswoman Jennifer McClellan, D-4th, in December sent a letter to Roane, urging him to attend a rescheduled town hall by no later than January 19, when the holiday mail surge had dissipated.

The legislators highlighted the important and valuable items that so often are transported by USPS. Americans regularly use the service to exchange checks, bills, tax documents, election ballots, jury summons and medications and yet countless Virginians have been unable to send or receive mail safely or efficiently, the letter said.

Our offices have been inundated with reports from constituents expressing their growing frustrations with the Postal Services lack of transparency, responsiveness, and leadership when these issues arise, the letter continued.

Despite the appeal from federal elected officials, McEachin said Roane again refused to show up and answer questions by the requested deadline and indicated that he had no intentions of doing so in the future.

Its so ridiculous, McEachin said. Im not sure what their internal issues are, but the way (they) are playing out in the community is that people are just not getting mail at all.

Roanes office could not immediately be reached for comment.

McEachin suggested Roanes resistance to appear in such a public forum could indicate an accountability issue within the structure of the USPS.

While members of the USPS Board of Governors are appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate, the postmaster general and other USPS officials are selected by that board and cannot be dismissed by the president or legislators.

Theyre only beholden to (the board), McEachin said. Short of congressional hearings, I dont see what can happen. I just hope federal elected officials continue to put pressure on the Postal Service to do its job.

In a joint statement to the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Warner, Kaine and McClellan said they are extremely concerned about unacceptable mail delivery issues, and are exploring other options to ensure that USPS addresses these problems quickly and effectively.

The legislators did not clarify whether a congressional hearing was on the table.

In the meantime, McEachin encouraged Richmond residents to contact USPS to make their voices heard.

From the Archives: Mail
Interview: Int'l collaboration needed to keep earth habitable, says climate scientist

Xinhua) 13:26, January 19, 2024

DAVOS, Switzerland, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- International collaboration is needed to manage the whole planet and keep it a habitable place, and China has a very important role in it, a leading scientist on global sustainability has said.

"The only way to solve the climate crisis is through collective action, we need global universal action, and that requires trust," said Johan Rockstroem, director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and professor in Earth System Science at the University of Potsdam in an interview with Xinhua on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum here on Tuesday.

The expert said climate change, together with geopolitical crisis and other pressing issues, still top the risk list at the forum this year.

Noting that the sharp rise in temperature in 2023 resulted in extreme events and "the challenge is even larger than the immediate impacts," Rockstroem warned that the planet is approaching a tipping point, marked by the average temperature exceeding 1.5 degrees Celsius above the 1850-1900 level.

The World Meteorological Organization on Jan. 12 officially confirmed 2023 as the warmest year since records began, edging closer toward the threshold of 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels set by the Paris Agreement.

In Rockstroem's view, to "have a manageable climate future" hinges on a singular approach: the gradual elimination of fossil fuels and a concerted effort to preserve nature, ensuring the planet remains resilient, healthy, and able to absorb and buffer.

He called for global governance to address the threats to the planet and concerted action across all planetary boundaries.

In 2009, Rockstroem and other 28 scientists proposed the concept of "planetary boundaries," outlining limits to the impacts of human activities on the Earth system. The concept has since gained prominence in international policy discussions, not least at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development.

More cooperation and more global governance collaboration across all the nine planetary boundaries would help jointly address the challenge of climate change, the expert said.

With regard to international collaboration, China plays a very important role in tackling climate change, Rockstroem said.

"China is a leader on the transition towards the solar and wind, and also a leader towards electric mobility, basically moving away from fossil fuel-based transport," he said. "China also has a very mature agenda on ecological red lines, recognizing the value of keeping nature intact for security."

Rockstroem said that the scientific community increasingly sees that China is playing a leadership role in finding pathways toward a modern, sustainable pathway for a large economy.

Speaking of economic growth and climate sustainability, Rockstroem said, "More and more evidence shows that transitioning towards sustainability is the only pathway in the longer term for economic development."

(Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Liang Jun)
Students of Carnegie Vanguard High School graduate on Tuesday, May 30, 2023 in Houston. Raquel Natalicchio/Staff photographer

Houston ISD opened its annual school choice application for the 2024-25 academic year late Thursday, allowing families to begin to apply for a variety of the districts magnet schools and specialized programs.

Families can fill out the application on the HISDs School Choice website with up to 10 different listed programs for their child, including magnet schools. Heres what you need to know about this years school choice application process:

How does HISDs school choice process work? What are the deadlines?

The process is split up into three parts  Phase I, II and III. Students and parents fill out applications for programs during Phase I, and the system conducts a lottery to see who is assigned to each program if there are more qualified applicants than space available. Students who do not receive a seat are waitlisted.

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The Phase I application is due Feb. 23, and students and families will be notified about the lottery results on March 26. The deadline for students or families to accept their Phase I school match is April 9.

THE REPORT CARD: Subscribe to the Houston Chronicles weekly newsletter recapping HISD news

If applicants do not accept a position in the lottery during Phase I, they can add themselves to the waitlist for another school with space available during Phase II. Phase II of the application will open on March 26, but the district has not announced when Phase II of the application will close.

In Phase III, students may still be offered spot a seat at a campus if space opens up, but the district will retire the waitlists at the end of this phase.

The district recommends that parents apply in Phase I and rank schools in order of preference. Students have the same chance to get into their first-choice school as their last choice school, and they will not increase their chances of getting into a particular school by applying to fewer schools, according to the district.

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Where can I find more information about the school options?

HISDs list of specialized programs and 2023-24 brochure outlines the different types of school choice programs in the district, such as Career and Technical Education, fine arts and STEM programs, and what schools they are located at.

Families can look up the locations of specific schools or their zoned school with HISDs School Finder. They can also visit the districts school choice website, call the Office of School Choice at (713) 556-6734 or email schoolchoice@houstonisd.org for general information.

The district is planning to host two half-day sessions about the school choice application process on Jan. 27, Feb. 3, Feb. 10 and Feb. 17 at locations that will be announced at a later date, according to a media release. In addition, it is hosting its last School Choice Fair at Lamar High School on March 23 from 9 a.m. to noon.

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The district has also said it is planning to provide a school choice parent handbook, informational videos and a a School Choice Customer Service hotline for families.

What is a Vanguard school, and how do I qualify for one?

HISD has Vanguard magnet schools solely for students designated as gifted and talented, where the curriculum emphasizes higher-level thinking, problem solving and creativity, according to the districts website. Vanguard is synonymous with GT programs in the district.

The current list of Vanguard elementary schools is Askew, Carrillo, DeZavala, Herod, Oak Forest, River Oaks, Roosevelt, Travis and Windsor Village, while the Vanguard middle schools are Black, Burbank, Hamilton and Lanier. T.H. Rogers serves Vanguard students in kindergarten through eighth grade. Carnegie Vanguard High School is the only Vanguard high school in the district.

ARCTIC BLAST: HISD superintendent Mike Miles calls closing schools Tuesday a mistake

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To qualify and apply for a Vanguard program, students must be designated as GT through testing and other matrix criteria. The deadline to request GT testing this year was Dec. 8, and HISD plans to provide all families with GT test results before the Phase I deadline on Feb. 23.

Families can apply for a Vanguard magnet school through the regular school choice application process. If a student qualifies but doesn't win a seat, they will receive some form of gifted-and-talented services at any HISD school they attend.

When will applications open for pre-K schools?

Starting for the upcoming school year, HISD will no longer be requiring parents to apply if they want to enroll their children in pre-K. The district will be providing zoning for pre-K classes, which means all eligible students will be assigned a pre-K class they can attend without an application,

Parents will still be able to apply if they want their child to attend a different campus, but the district has not begun to accept applications yet for pre-K campuses. According to the district, the window for pre-K applications is scheduled to open before the end of January.
State workers will vacate the James Monroe Building in downtown Richmond, and many of them will move their offices to the Virginia Lottery tower on East Main Street, as the state government prepares to shuffle its downtown workforce.

The Monroe Building is no longer functional, Secretary of Administration Lyn McDermid said Friday. The state is considering tearing it down.

By July 2025, the employees who work there will have left. Many will head to the lottery building, also known as Main Street Centre, a 23-story tower at 600 E. Main St. Others will relocate to facilities across Richmond and Henrico County.

The state will not construct a new office tower to replace Monroe, as demand for downtown office space has waned. Instead, Gov. Glenn Youngkin has asked legislators to approve $20 million to renovate Main Street Centre.

Completed in 1981, the Monroe Building is 29 stories and looms over the highway. It is considered the citys tallest building and is an icon within the downtown skyline.

But its no longer functional, McDermid told a Senate Finance subcommittee on Friday. Its elevators are unreliable, and its bathrooms are not compliant with the Americans With Disabilities Act. The building is safe, but employees are ready to leave.

Renovation, which would cost $900 million, was deemed too expensive. The state considered leasing space in privately owned buildings downtown. There is plenty of open office space, as many businesses have shifted to remote work. But the General Assembly advised the Youngkin administration to enter into leases of three years or less, which would also increase costs.

So the administration decided it would scatter employees from Monroe into different buildings, some owned by the state, some not. Most will go to Main Street Centre, but others will be moved to Reids Row, Old City Hall, the Workers Compensation building, the George Washington Building and other unannounced spaces. The move is expected to save about $3 million annually in rent costs.

Main Street Centre was built in 1985. The state bought it for $49 million in 2008, and the city assessed the building and its 1-acre parcel for slightly more than that this year.

It houses four state agencies: the lottery, labor, taxation and conservation. The lottery and labor departments plan to leave, and the other two agencies will consolidate space, creating room for new workers to move in.

Staffers from the departments of accounts, treasury, education, human resources and higher education are expected to move there. The Department of Education has the largest number of employees in Monroe, and some of its staff will go to Old City Hall, McDermid said.

Now, the state wants to allocate $20 million from the budget to renovate Main Street Centre. The city rated its condition as normal for its age.

We want to avoid Main Street Centre becoming another Monroe, McDermid said.

The state is considering demolishing Monroe, which would cost between $20 million and $60 million, McDermid said. Another option is taking it to market and seeing if there is another use for it, she added. State leaders do not want to see the tower standing empty.

The Virginia Lottery expects to move out of Main Street Centre. It wants a smaller office space with parking for visitors and people who come to claim their winnings. The lottery expects to share office space with the department of workforce development near Staples Mill Road. The move is cost-neutral, McDermid said.

The labor department will leave Monroe for leased space at Brookfield Place, an office building near West Broad Street and Dickens Road in Henrico, where the Virginia Employment Commission is housed.

The Inspector General will go to Reids Row, a set of historic town houses on Governor Street that is being renovated.

Two other agencies will head to the Virginia Workers Compensation building on East Franklin Street in downtown, which Media General once owned. The departments headed there are Veterans Services and Small Business and Supplier Diversity.

The Department of General Services will relocate to the George Washington Building in Capitol Square. New homes for Pharmacy Services and the Auditor of Public Accounts have not been announced.

The state is demolishing the three-story building it owns at 703 E. Main St., diagonal from the Virginia Lottery building, by next month. State officials had considered building a $400 million tower in that spot to replace Monroe, an idea that was deemed unnecessary. No plans have been announced to build anything new in that spot.

The state will also demolish the Pocahontas Building at 900 E. Main St., which temporarily housed the General Assembly while its recently opened building was under construction. In its place, the state plans to build a facility for the Supreme Court of Virginia and the Virginia Court of Appeals.

But the design of the new court building is changing, McDermid said, as the court realized it needs more space. A final cost and construction schedule have not been set.

A lot has changed since that building was originally designed a couple years ago, McDermid said.

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Virginias loss has turned into Richmonds gain, with the sudden departure of the man who ran the states vast general services operation and his immediate arrival at City Hall to potentially stand up a similar enterprise there.

Joe Damico, who left the Virginia Department of General Services last month after more than 21 years in leadership roles there, is the new deputy director of the Richmond Department of Public Works.

He is also a leader in considering a potential proposal to create a department of general services to manage the citys real estate, facilities, vehicle fleet, public parking and capital programs.

I think his experience will translate incredibly well with the city, Richmond Chief Administrative Officer Lincoln Saunders said in an interview.

Damicos departure  with his state agency under pressure by Gov. Glenn Youngkin to cut state procurement costs  caught the eye of some legislators, including Sen. Creigh Deeds, D-Charlottesville. Deeds has proposed legislation to create a general services board to oversee the sprawling agency and hire its chief administrator. Currently, the governor appoints the departments director, although the job is now vacant.

We need to make sure we have an agency structure we can trust, said Deeds, who introduced Senate Bill 584 to restructure management of the department to give the assembly more say over how it is run.

Youngkin spokesman Christian Martinez said, The governor will review any legislation that comes to his desk.

In November, Damico, 60, announced he would retire at the end of the year after six years as director and more than 15 years as deputy director of the general services agency. He said in an interview that his decision had nothing to do with the Youngkin administration, but reflected his desire for a change after completing the new General Assembly Building and other major initiatives he had led.

He left without a new job on the radar until Saunders contacted him.

Theres a lot of opportunity here, Damico said of the city. There are some natural fits with what I did across the street.

General services are not sexy, but they are essential to the running of state government.

In Virginia, they include management of more than 11,000 state buildings with 117 million square feet of space, as well as 13 million square feet of rental space. The agency runs the statewide eVA online procurement system; manages a fleet of more than 3,800 state vehicles; provides engineering and building services while enforcing state building code; and manages surplus state property.

The department oversees the Division of Consolidated Laboratory Services, which runs more than 9 million lab tests a year, and it handles more than 2.7 million pieces of state mail annually.

Its most visible presence is the newly opened General Assembly Building, now hosting its first legislative session after an eight-year journey from a state bond issue that included more than $300 million for the building, the renovation of Old City Hall  a national historic landmark that stands next to it  and construction of a new parking garage across from the building at the corner of East Broad and North Ninth streets.

Soon, the department will tear down a portion of the Pocahontas Building that served as the temporary home of the General Assembly during construction of the new building, and will begin work on the new quarters for the Virginia Supreme Court and expanded Virginia Court of Appeals.

General Services is an executive branch agency, but it traditionally has worked closely with leaders of the General Assembly, especially those on the budget and rules committees in both chambers. Deeds, a budget negotiator on the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee, said he wants to make sure that the department is not taken out from under our feet by the governor.

Youngkin has been pushing for more than a year for more control of state purchasing and more savings in procurement. General Services oversees most purchases by state agencies, although the Virginia Information Technologies Agency handles statewide IT purchases, and some universities and independent agencies, including the Virginia Port Authority, make their own procurement decisions.

In late 2022, his administration signed a $2 million contract with Boston Consulting Group with a goal of finding up to $800 million in annual procurement savings and hired a chief procurement officer to direct the effort. The initiative raised concerns among some Democratic legislators that they were being left out of the loop.

He thinks he just as CEO can make decisions rather than consult with others, Sen. Adam Ebbin, D-Alexandria, chairman of the Senate General Laws Committee, told the Richmond Times-Dispatch in December 2022.

In July, The Times-Dispatch reported that the Youngkin administration had scaled back the effort early last year because of legislative pushback over a proposed 10% share in savings to flow to the consulting group  estimated at up to $50 million to $70 million a year. However, the paper also reported that Boston Consulting Group was expanding its efforts to include procurement by public colleges and universities and proposing to renegotiate some existing contracts and directly oversee the work of procurement officers.

Youngkin told legislators in August that the new chief procurement officer, Michael OMalley, had found $20 million in savings, which he predicted would grow to $100 million by Christmas and $200 million by the end of the fiscal year on June 30. He also noted the administration had canceled a plan to build a new state office building in downtown Richmond because he said it is not needed.

This culture of striving to improve, of carving out pockets of savings  large or small  empowers more investments to increase the effectiveness of government, the governor told the House and Senate finance and appropriations committees.

Martinez, the governors spokesman, said in a statement, Governor Youngkins Chief Procurement Officer has identified almost $60 million in savings for Virginia taxpayers, almost three times the amount the governor promised in his address to the Joint Money Committees in August. Governor Youngkin is committed to continuing this work to identify and improve efficiencies in state government and save taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars annually.

After Damico retired from the state, the timing was perfect for the city of Richmond. It was already considering creating a department of general services, which former Mayor Dwight Jones had eliminated. Mayor Levar Stoney could include the proposal in the budget he presents in March.

No decision has been made, Saunders said.

The idea would be to consolidate management of the citys facilities, real estate, vehicle fleet, parking and capital programs under a general services department. Richmond currently faces $200 million in deferred maintenance of its facilities, as well as an aggressive capital program that includes construction of two fire stations, a police precinct headquarters and four community centers (including two that will be renovated).

Our capital project team is busier than its been for a long time, Saunders said. We need to do more to support them.

PHOTOS: General Assembly Building construction
The House of Delegates Labor and Commerce Committee on Thursday advanced a bill to continue incrementally raising Virginias minimum wage. It also advanced a bill that would let migrant workers qualify for Virginias minimum wage.

House Bill 1, the bill to raise the minimum wage overall, and its Senate counterpart that progressed earlier this week will be further debated in each chambers finance committees.

The proposal, sponsored by Del. Jeion Ward, D-Hampton, the committee chair, is a reenactment of a 2020 bill Ward first carried that would incrementally raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour in 2026. The bill would increase the minimum wage from the current rate of $12 per hour to $13.50 per hour effective Jan. 1, 2025, and to $15 per hour effective Jan. 1, 2026.

Lawmakers added a reenactment clause to the earlier legislation, which means it would have to pass the legislature again before it could go to the governor for consideration.

I can think of a lot of people that this will help in making ends meet, Ward said Thursday.

She listed examples like single mothers at the helm of their households and seniors who cannot afford to retire and work low-wage jobs to supplement their livelihood.

Meanwhile, a more niche labor law is progressing through the House.

Del. Phil Hernandez, D-Norfolk, folded his similar bill into House Bill 157 by Del. Adele McClure, D-Arlington.

The bill would eliminate an exemption for farm laborers and migrant farm workers from earning Virginias minimum wage. Federally, minimum wage is $7.25 per hour  a number that has not moved in more than a decade.

Farms in Virginia sometimes tap into a federal program where special visa holders (H2-A) can work their crops seasonally before returning to their home countries.

Agricultural employers in Virginia requested labor certifications for 4,877 H2-A workers last year, according to the Virginia Employment Commission.

The number of workers who were ultimately issued visas and who traveled to Virginia to work is unknown as the issuance of visas is handled at the federal level, Director Carrie Roth said in an email.

McClure commended Virginia farms that already pay their migrant workers competitive wages and added that her proposal with Hernandez simply addresses the outliers who do not.

But the farmers who are already paying good wages became a sticking point for Republican opposition to the bill.

Del. Michael Webert, R-Fauquier, said he provides housing for the migrant workers on his farm, which he said offsets living costs during their contract.

That is a cost that is already there, that an average person that works in McDonalds has to include in their wages, and theyre paying on top of that, Webert said.

He also noted that even with lower wages, the conversion rates in the countries the workers are from can benefit them.

Webert was among several committee members and lobbyists to express concern that smaller farms and family-owned farms would be hurt by the wage requirement.

A lobbyist with the Virginia Farm Bureau noted that external factors often dictate the price of produce or livestock from farms, which would make some smaller farms less likely to offset costs of higher wage requirements to workers.

McClure said Americas history of labor laws has disproportionately affected immigrants, migrants and communities of color. She said migrant workers were excluded from the Fair Labor Standards Act that Congress passed in 1938 and that sharecropping became a common practice after the U.S. ended slavery.

Sharecropping was a system where a landlord allowed tenants to use the land in exchange for a share of their crop. While no longer enslaved, many Black Americans were indebted to the land they worked on through the process, contingent on the success of their crops. She likened migrant workers exemptions from minimum wage to sharecropping.

McClure urged the committee to advance her bill so that lawmakers could remove this relic from the Jim Crow era.

Ultimately, the committee reported the bill 12-10. It would need to clear the House and the Senate before it could go to Gov. Glenn Youngkin for consideration.

7 bills to watch in the upcoming Virginia legislative session Raising minimum wage Mental health support Attempts to reverse Clean Car Act Gun laws Rights restoration Reproductive rights
When a bar of soap in a prison commissary goes for about $1 and a job in the prison kitchen or laundry pays 27 to 45 cents an hour, the 15% withheld from inmates income to pay down their court fines and fees does not go very far.

It goes nowhere near as far as the varying rates courts set for Virginians sentenced to do community service. There, the typical credit given for repayment of fines and fees  that can easily reach into the five figures  is the states minimum wage, now $12.

And that struggle to pay down court fees creates a huge hurdle. It is much worse than trying to keep clean, or afford toothpaste, or even to splurge on a 33-cent packet of soup that normally costs less than 20 cents outside, said Hassan Raashann Shabazz, who had to juggle just those sorts of questions during a 23-year term in state prison.

He is trying to persuade the General Assembly to support a bill sponsored by Del. Cia Price, D-Newport News, to help prisoners. It would match the in-prison crediting rate for repaying fines and fees with the community service credit for people who are out of prison.

What happens, after your 90 days in a halfway house, when you still owe thousands and you need to find the money to pay for rent? he said. We start with nothing.

The theory of working in prison  even in the higher-paying prison industries shops, making furniture or shoes or cleaning products for 55 cents to 80 cents an hour  is meant in large part to help inmates amass a nest egg for their first few weeks outside. That is when landlords typically want a security deposit and a months rent and when inmates need food, soap and other necessities when getting ready to work or to look for work.

High bills from court  Shabazzs included about $600 for his court-appointed lawyer and some $2,000 in fines and other fees  and the challenge of the 5% withheld from monthly paychecks, plus the 10% directed to a savings account designated to repay fees, are a major problem to what in criminal justice jargon is called re-entry  that is, putting former inmates on their feet so they do not turn to crime again.

Some will not make it, for a lot of not yet completely understood reasons. Some, like Shabazz, who earned a certification as a paralegal while in prison and who now focuses on helping inmates and former inmates understand their rights and responsibilities, want desperately to try.

It takes years, as Shabazz found, for that 15% withholding from prisoners pay of 27 to 45 cents an hour to make much progress on fines and fees. It was only with his reading in a prison law library that he discovered, some 20 years into a 23-year sentence, that the remaining large balance in his fines and fees was forgiven.

His long sentence came from another criminal law reform he is hoping legislators will now counter. He is backing a bill from Del. Debra Gardner, D-Chesterfield, that would repeal various parts of the Code of Virginia that people convicted on multiple charges, when the charges involve certain crimes, serve their terms consecutively  one after the other  rather than concurrently. This is House Bill 179.

The result under the current law has included prison terms of 100 years or more.

Shabazz says his sentence stemmed from a family dispute turned robbery, which brought three separate robbery charges as well as three separate firearms charges, because he had a firearm in his pocket, which he says he never took out. He was found guilty of all three robbery counts and received a sentence of 40 years in prison with all but seven suspended. These were to be served concurrently, all at the same time.

But the firearms charges had mandatory minimum sentences, which state law said had to be served one after the other. Two of them had five-year minimums, and the third had a three-year minimum.

I think I changed in prison, he said. I fell in love with the law library; it was my sanctuary.

That was why he studied for the paralegal certification he earned behind bars and why he tried to help other inmates understand their rights  and understand that they needed to work hard on going straight.

And which is why he is also hoping legislators will consider the second look bill, House Bill 834, sponsored by Del. Rae Cousins, D-Richmond, which would set up a way for inmates to ask a court to suspend the years they still have to serve if they can show they are not a threat to public safety.

Were seeing people being set up to fail, said Price, sponsor of the fines and fees bill. This is trying to help.

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A member of the Franklin County Sheriffs Office has been charged with misdemeanor simple assault, according to the agency.

The sheriffs office has not identified the staff member by name or position but Sgt. Megan Huston, the offices public information officer, said in an email that the person has been placed on administrative leave.

The incident that led to the assault charge occurred while the staff member was off duty, Huston said.

Due to the complaint being made against a member of this office, the criminal investigation was referred to the Virginia State Police while we conduct our own internal investigation into the allegations, Hustons email concluded.

The sheriffs office did not provide any details Friday about the incident or allegations. State police also declined to identify the individual charged.

The Virginia State Police will not comment on an active investigation, Sgt. Rick Garletts, state police Salem division public information officer, said in an email. Once the investigation is completed, the findings and the evidence will be turned over to the Franklin County Commonwealth Attorneys Office for review.
A 61-year-old William Fleming High School staff member was arrested Thursday after law enforcement found a gun in his vehicle.

Matthew D. Golden, 61, of Roanoke, is charged with felony possession of a firearm on school property, the city Police Department confirmed in an email.

The high schools principal said in a message to families and staff Thursday afternoon that the gun was seen by a staff member conducting a routine security check of the school parking lot.

Police, plus the high schools resource officer, investigated the report and found that the car belonged to another staff member, Golden. City police said he was taken into custody without incident.

Appropriate legal and personnel measures have been taken, Roanoke City Public Schools confirmed in an email. At no point was there any threat made toward students or staff and that the firearm was secured by police.

The school division also reminded families and staff that firearms are prohibited on all school property.
A week after attorneys made their final written arguments regarding the custody of animals seized from the Natural Bridge Zoo last month, a Rockbridge General District Court judge ruled Friday that 39 of 96 seized animals are to return to the facility.

Judge Gregory Mooney said in his ruling that prosecutors had proved, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the animals seized from the zoo were subject to cruelty or inadequate care. But he could not find that some of the animals  11 lemur, 17 birds, four snakes, one skink, two donkeys, one sheep and one dog  required seizure.

Animals listed as exceptions shall be returned to the respondent owners, Mooney wrote.

For the remaining animals, including four giraffes that have remained at the zoo until now, the judge has ordered disposal, which under Virginia code means release to a humane society or animal shelter for adoption.

Mooney added that the court will cover the boarding costs through Friday for the animals that will remain in the commonwealths custody. But the judge denied a commonwealth request that the zoo be subject to unannounced inspections for the next five years.

The seizures led to court proceedings, during which the commonwealth, led by Senior Assistant Attorney General Michelle Welch, argued for the continued custody of the animals by the state.

Welchs witnesses testified that several deceased animals and animal parts were found in a freezer on the property. Oakland Zoo Director of Animal Welfare and Research Darren Minier, said during a hearing in December that police also found food for both animals and people in the freezer.

The list of allegations against the zoo is long. The commonwealths witnesses described birds defecating on tortoises and dead goats lying bloated in their pens during visiting hours. They testified giraffes were bred too soon after giving birth and serval kittens were sold and shipped away at just three days old.

The zoo is owned by Karl and Deborah Debbie Mogensen. Their attorneys called several zoo experts to testify on Jan. 10, day three of the couples civil trial.

Those people offered testimony that differed from the drastic conditions described in the states case. Mooney said in his ruling that, because the opinions of competing experts were in substantial conflict, the court gave careful consideration to their credibility, possible bias, and opportunity to acquire the facts on which they based their respective opinions.

Several experts testified that the animals they had seen were healthy.

Ken Alfieri, former zoo director and current animal transporter, testified he had once been asked to transport a primate to the Natural Bridge Zoo from private zoo owner and animal trainer Mahamayavi Bhagavan Doc Antle, one of the people featured on the much-watched Tiger King Netflix documentary.

Welch asked Alfieri and other defense witnesses whether they had helped the Mogensens move a 39-year-old African elephant off the property on Nov. 29. He said he had not.

Welch asked Gretchen Sasha Mogensen, the zoo owners daughter, whether she had been tipped off that law enforcement were planning to visit the property, and whether she had facilitated Ashas move to prevent the elephants seizure. She testified that she had not.

In search warrant affidavits, confidential informants and undercover officers said that, while at the Natural Bridge Zoo, Asha had marks on her skin consistent with being beaten or prodded. They also observed her carrying too much weight when visitors rode on her back.

Sandra Clinger, president of the Florida-based Elephant Advocacy Project, said she remains concerned about Ashas care. She told The Roanoke Times earlier this month that, in the past, elephants have died shortly after their arrival at Two Tails Ranch.

Clinger described the facility as a fake retirement sanctuary, where visitors are permitted to feed and bathe the elephants. The advocate said the animals there are controlled with a bull hook, which Ashas handler used regularly, according to search warrant affidavits.

Its just another way to exploit their elephants for profit, Clinger said in an interview.

According to the facilitys website, owner Patricia Zerbini is the ninth generation of the Zerbini Family to work with exotic animals. She opened the ranch to the public in 2009 with a focus on education for elephant lovers as well as professionals.

But Clinger said she doesnt understand why the Mogensens would dare to move Asha, especially if she was ill.

Would you add to her stress level by putting her on a transport trailer when she is not a traveling circus elephant? This is not a normal thing for her. Its going to be an extremely stressful thing for her to have to be loaded onto a trailer, Clinger said. She has not been around other elephants. Now shes in a place where theres lots of other elephants. Theres lots of activity there. Theres lots of other people there. These are Asian elephants, not African elephants. They speak different languages. How is this improving situation? Theres none of that explained. This is a physical move that the timing of which is very interesting.

Asha is not listed among the eight elephants, all Asian, on the ranchs website. Zerbini did not immediately respond Friday to an inquiry from The Roanoke Times.
Tests have found fish in the Roanoke River free from a hazardous chemical that contaminated the water.

Laboratory results of tissue samples taken from the fish showed no appreciable levels of hexafluoropropylene oxide dimer acid, a so-called forever chemical, according to Michael McEvoy, executive director of the Western Virginia Water Authority.

The water authority has spent the last year and a half dealing with the release of the chemical, also known as GenX, into the South Fork of the Roanoke River. The contaminant was carried downstream to the Spring Hollow reservoir, a source of drinking water for the Roanoke Valley.

One of the concerns was that the chemical could have bioaccumulated in fish, which would have posed a health hazard to people who caught and ate them.

But that was not borne out by tests, conducted by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, of fish taken from the river upstream of Spring Hollow, McEvoy told the authoritys Board of Directors at a meeting Thursday.

Since the fall of 2022  when the source of contamination was traced to a company in Elliston  several steps have been taken to protect the public drinking water in Spring Hollow.

ProChem, which treats and recycles industrial wastewater, stopped cleaning GenX-tainted equipment sent to it from a manufacturing plant in West Virginia. ProChem has said it was unaware that the equipment contained traces of GenX, which entered the river through wastewater from the process.

Although the levels in the river gradually decreased, the water authority was forced to spend millions on a carbon filtering system to treat the water in Spring Hollow, where the chemical had accumulated.

In his report to the board of directors, McEvoy said the average GenX level of treated drinking water from last April through December was about five parts per trillion  well below the Environment Protection Agencys recommendation of no more than 10 parts per trillion over a lifetime of consumption.

Before the filtering system was upgraded, the chemicals concentration in untreated Spring Hollow water was as high as 62 parts per trillion.

The authority reached a settlement last month with The Chemours Co., which was the original source of the GenX from its West Virginia plant that was released into the river. The company recently paid a $2.9 million installment to compensate the authority for what it spent on the filtering system, McEvoy said. The total amount could be as high as $12 million.

Meanwhile, an environmental group is continuing its campaign to fight forever chemicals  in the Roanoke Valley and around the state.

Wild Virginia is pushing DEQ to require major wastewater treatment plants to monitor the water they receive for treatment and what they release into the environment to see if it contains forever chemicals.

Also known as PFAS  short for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances  the chemicals are used in the manufacture of a wide variety of consumer products, including non-stick cookware, stain-resistant carpet and upholstery, waterproof clothing, cosmetics, and wrappings for fast food.

Popular for their ability to repel heat, oil and water, PFAS are slow to break down in the environment and have been linked to health problems for the people exposed to them.

Wild Virginia wants monitoring for the chemicals to be required by a DEQ permit that allows the Western Virginia Water Authority to discharge treated wastewater from its plant in southeast Roanoke into the Roanoke River. The permit is up for renewal.

The authority currently does not test its wastewater for PFAS. Spokeswoman Sarah Baumgardner said thats because the EPA has not issued sampling and testing methods that would need to be followed uniformly. DEQ bases its requirements on EPA regulations.

The regulations that govern the plant permit specifically state that only approved testing methods may be used, Baumgardner wrote in an email. This is to ensure that the results produced from tests are consistent and reliable.

The authority voluntarily tested its drinking water sources, including the Spring Hollow and Carvins Cove reservoirs, for PFAS.

David Sligh, conservation director for Wild Virginia, said other municipalities in Virginia have done the same for their wastewater.

Other people are not necessarily waiting for DEQ to give them the mandate, Sligh said.

Delay is only going to make it more complicated, in my view, he said. Thats the way these things always work. The longer you allow them to fester, the harder it is to deal with them.
The leading provider of daytime food, shelter and services for homeless people in Roanoke has concluded a lengthy search for a larger facility with the purchase of a building in Old Southwest.

Roanoke Area Ministries paid $715,000 Jan. 4 for a 1966 building at 410 Elm Ave. SW, according to online records. RAM also bought a parking lot adjacent to its 8,900 square-foot future home, paying $715,000 for both.

RAM HOUSE IS MOVING, a press release said.

A formal announcement is planned Jan. 26 at 2 p.m. at RAMs current hub of operations, 824 Campbell Ave. S.W.

Officials are expected to reveal details of a decision to call the new facility The Jain Care Center in recognition of Prabhat Jain, CEO of Virginia Transformer Corp. in Roanoke, and his wife Vandana, donating significant funding for the real estate purchase. Executive Director Melissa Woodson has said RAM needs larger and different space.

Carmen Elliot, a senior associate at Thalhimer who represented the seller of the real estate, said RAM plans some renovations before moving in. A date for the move was not released.

In the summer of 2022, RAM was in talks to relocate its day shelter, lunch service and staff to a railroad-owned office building in the northeast quadrant of the Roanoke, but no sale occurred.

In a mid-2022 update, RAM described itself as the operator of the areas largest day shelter for people without homes. It serves lunch daily at noon to people in need whether they have homes or not and it employed nine people.

Formed in 1971 by area churches, it leases its current hub, a former church, from the Catholic Diocese of Richmond. It defines its mission as advocating for those facing or are threatened by homelessness and hunger.

In 2023, RAM helped 1,619 people experiencing homelessness, gave money to 927 households enabling them to avoid eviction and served 70,000 meals, officials said.
A Roanoke restaurant under demolition Friday caught fire because some of its power was still on, city officials said.

Roanoke Fire-EMS Department crews responded to a call about smoke and flames at the Jersey Lilys restaurant in the 2800 block of Orange Avenue Northeast at 10:48 a.m., Deputy Chief Marci Stone said.

The demolition crew was in the process of taking down the Jersey Lilys building today. During the process, they noticed an arc, and smoke and flames immediately began coming from the demolition area, Stone said.

The department requested assistance from Appalachian Power, whose crews responded to the fire scene and found that one of the power lines to the building had not been cut off.

Previously, the demolition crew thought that the power and the gas for the building had been cut and were off, Stone said. We dont know where the communication breakdown happened, but they have control of the utilities and theres no longer power to the site.

The deputy chief said at about 11:30 a.m. that a portion of Mecca Street Northeast was expected to remain closed for about another hour. She encouraged motorists to take caution when approaching active fire scenes.

Weve had to stop people from trying to drive over our hose today on several occasions, Stone said. Never try to go over top of a fire hose. It can cause lots of damage to our fire apparatus, to your personal vehicle and also to our fire scene, cutting off the water supply to the fire.
People stroll in the Rice Memorial Center at Rice University Thursday, April 1, 2021 in Houston. Rice University has announced an expansion of its student body and its campus. The physical expansion on the colleges 300 acres, will include a 12th residential college, a new engineering building, a building for the visual and dramatic arts, and a new student center that will largely replace the Rice Memorial Center. Melissa Phillip, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer

Rice University is one of 16 higher education institutions named in a lawsuit alleging a price-fixing conspiracy to reduce the amount of financial aid they provide to students.

Five former students who attended several of the schools claim in a federal lawsuit that the institutions violate antitrust laws through the use of a shared formula that calculates students financial need. As a result, the net price of attendance for the financial aid recipients has become artificially inflated, resulting in the overcharging of more than 170,000 financial aid students and costing them hundreds of millions of dollars, the plaintiffs said in the lawsuit.

Rice University on Tuesday denied the allegations contained in the suit.

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After reviewing this lawsuit, we believe it is without merit, a university statement reads. Rice University is proud of its financial aid practices and we are prepared to vigorously defend them in court.

The 16 universities belong to a group that is predicated on using need-blind admissions policies, which dont consider a students financial status during the admissions process. A 1994 federal act allows schools with need-blind policies to collaborate on guidelines to assess financial need, making them exempt from the antitrust laws that typically promote competition and prohibit the setting of prices.

But nine of the schools in the lawsuit arent need-blind at all, the plaintiffs lawyers said. They did consider the financial status of families in the admissions process at various points, even admitting children of past or potential donors and giving preference to the wealthiest people in waitlist admissions, the attorneys allege in the lawsuit.

Rice is not one of those nine universities, the lawyers said. The Houston school and six others may or may not have considered financial need as part of their processes, but they are accused of conspiring with the schools that did and should have known that the others werent abiding by the rules, according to the lawsuit.

In critical respects, elite, private universities like Defendants are gatekeepers to the American Dream, the lawsuit reads. Defendants misconduct is therefore particularly egregious because it has narrowed a critical pathway to upward mobility that admission to their institutions represents.

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The 16 schools are in the so-called 568 Presidents Group, which created the formula in 2003 to determine an applicants ability to pay for college. Lawyers for the students have called for an end to such collaboration.

Rice joined the group in 1993 and withdrew in 2009, before rejoining in 2017, the lawsuit states.

The university has in recent years attempted to expand its reach to low and middle-income students. In December, the school announced it will offer loan-free financial aid to all students who qualify based on need, and will extend full-tuition grants or scholarships to undergraduates whose families earn below $140,000 a year.
To create one iconic Charlottesville business would be an accomplishment, but to build two of them  both still welcoming customers after nearly 50 years  is a feat bordering on the impossible. But recent retiree Sandy McAdams did it: single-handedly founding Daedalus Books in 1974 and then co-founding C&O restaurant two years later.

"He thought he could do anything," C&O co-founder Philip Stafford told The Daily Progress, "and he pretty much could."

Stafford recalled the day he met McAdams. It was inside Daedalus shortly after McAdams opened the used book store downtown on Fourth Street Northeast with a reputed 100,000 volumes he shipped via railroad boxcar from Long Island to Charlottesville.

"I was actually looking for an Aldous Huxley book on eyesight," said Stafford. "This guy with a ZZ Top beard was sitting behind the desk, and I asked where a book like that might be. I was looking at the shelf, and McAdams walks right up to me and says, 'Well, it's right here,' and he aggressively reached over me and pulled it from the shelf."

The gruff greeting didn't dissuade the ensuing friendship, and the two men quickly realized that they shared a dream of opening a restaurant.

"Two weeks later," said Stafford, "we were business partners."

The early days of C&O have become legendary, but Stafford can separate myth from reality. Like many American cities, downtown Charlottesville was then struggling, and Stafford said they got a deal on the building on Water Street, which had operated since the late 1950s as a diner. A recent owner had struggled to pay the taxes, Stafford said, so they were able to buy the place in 1975 with a $5,000 down payment toward a total purchase price of $20,000.

"We got the building and did amateur carpentry for a year," said Stafford. "He would read a book on carpentry from the bookshop and figure out how to do it."

At the time of the purchase, the Chesapeake & Ohio train station across the street was still serving passengers, and an adjacent tract, where a concrete coal tower survives, was still a working rail yard. Stafford credits McAdams with seeing promise in a changing downtown.

"Sandy McAdams is really the creation story," Stafford said. "I was just like a puppy dog next to him."

In that era, upscale French restaurants were typically outfitted with chrome, glass and brass. C&O, by contrast, was adorned in bare bricks, rough wood paneling and simple beadboard, the discards of three recently demolished buildings, including a house off West Main Street and an Ivy-area horse barn. Practically the only things saved from the diner were a jukebox and the plastic Pepsi-branded C&O sign out front.

By the time the restaurant opened in 1976, the adjacent Downtown Mall had just had its ribbon-cutting, and the town was buzzing. Before long, Craig Claiborne, the celebrated food writer for the New York Times, came to Charlottesville to visit the University of Virginia's Alderman Library and eat with novelist Peter Taylor. Taylor took Claiborne to C&O.

"The dishes we dined on were few but excellent," Claiborne wrote.

The words pinned Charlottesville to America's culinary map.

Even when celebrity reviewers weren't in town, Stafford said that his book-minded buddy continued to drive customers.

"He was there at the desk of Daedalus, so he would encourage people to come down," said Stafford. "He was really the face of the restaurant."

If the restaurant grabbed the national headlines, the bookstore drew some nationally acclaimed writers. One was Rita Mae Brown, who said she first became friends with McAdams when the two were literature students at New York University.

"When I got here," Brown told The Daily Progress, "I discovered that Sandy was doing what he loved. What could be better?"

Arriving in Central Virginia in the early 1980s on the heels of her successful semi-autobiographical coming-of-age novel "Rubyfruit Jungle," Brown is credited with cementing Central Virginia's literary scene. But she said much credit is due to McAdams, who also ran an alternative newspaper called the Times of Charlottesville with some friends for a year or two in the late 1970s.

"We're lucky," Brown said. "He's raised the tone of the community."

After he and Stafford sold C&O in 1984, McAdams focused his efforts on books and writing. In the early 1990s, he served on the board of Live Arts, a nonprofit theater company, and twice he wrote and staged "three and a half" one-act plays at the venue.

In 1999, the Washington Post dubbed Daedalus the best used-book store south of the Strand in Greenwich Village." The next year, McAdams was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.

When the neurological disorder confined him to a wheelchair 16 years ago, he had to curtail his time at his bookshop. A group of about a half-dozen friends, including Stafford, volunteered to take turns manning the front desk.

"They're still here all the time," Jackson Landers, the new owner of Daedalus who took over in November, told the Daily Progress. "There was a crowd who hung out at the C&O largely because of Sandy. Those people are in their 70s and 80s now, and Daedalus is their living room."

Landers marvels at McAdams' impact.

"Probably five or six times a day people come in and ask for Sandy. How is Sandy? Where is Sandy? Can I say hi to him?" said Landers. "It's got to be like thousands and thousands of people that he has touched."

For McAdams, he said he was just happy to find his dream job.

"There's no business that I would be happier in than used books," he told The Daily Progress.

The 81-year-old in the motorized wheelchair said he put off retiring as long as he could.

"I thought it would be horrible, but it's OK," said McAdams. "I've been very lucky with my friends and my darling."

McAdams now spends his days with his wife, Donna, at their home on the western outskirts of Charlottesville. Yet his presence looms over Daedalus.

"It's been 50 years of him making these impacts on people," said Landers. "Joe Strummer from the Clash said you're nobody without friends, and boy is Sandy McAdams someone."
Email Thomas Elias at tdelias@aol.com. His book, "The Burzynski Breakthrough, The Most Promising Cancer Treatment and the Governments Campaign to Squelch It" is now available in a soft cover fourth edition. For more Elias columns, visit www.californiafocus.net
BOB SLOAN

Multimedia Journalist

DARLINGTON  It was an emotional night at Mayo High School for Math, Science and Technology on Thursday as the Darlington County School District held its inaugural Hall of Fame banquet and induction ceremony.

The Hall of Fame honors those who have graduated from or worked at district schools and made substantial contributions at the local, regional, national, or international levels to their area of study, business, or the greater community. This includes former educators who enhanced the community and contributed to the success of countless students through their years as district employees.

The five inductees are former student and board member the late Sgt. Maj. Connell Delaine, former Superintendent Rainey Knight, former Principal and board member Allen McCutchen, former educator Lina Pearson, and former Principal the late Jean Taylor.

I am so in awe of the people we are here to celebrate this evening, said Superintendent Tim Newman in his opening remarks. These are folks who either worked or graduated from the Darlington County School District and have had significant contributions at a local regional or state level. Outside of Darlington County, a lot of people dont understand how special it is to have people that have committed pretty much their life to the Darlington County School District and to the children the way you have. In other parts of the state you dont find people who have 30 years, 40 years, 47 years, 52 years that go next to their names on how long they have served children in the public education system.

Delaine, who died in 2020, served on the Darlington County Board of Education for more than 19 years, many of them as an officer of the board. He touched the lives of students, teachers, and staff and shaped the education landscape of the county.

Originally from Society Hill, he graduated from Rosenwald High School and was a charter member of the Rosenwald Alumni Foundation. In 2014, he spearheaded the establishment of Rosenwald Professors Park to recognize outstanding educators in Society Hill. Delaine worked to meet students needs, advocated for excellence, and fostered a positive education environment for all.

If you planned an event in the Darlington County School District to honor students or staff, you could always count on two things, said Newman in recognizing Delaine. First, Sgt. Major Connell Delaine would be there, offering congratulations, encouragement and support. Second, he would check to see if you had the American flag in the right place.

Newman said Delaine had a way of connecting personally with students and staff.

When he walked into a classroom, got on a bus, or entered an auditorium, he was genuinely engaged and fully invested in the lives of those he encountered, said Newman. His sincere attention, infectious smile, and unwavering enthusiasm made each individual feel truly special

Accepting the award for Delaine was his wife, Dot.

For those of you who knew him, you know that he loved the schools and he loved children, she said. On behalf of Connell, thank you so much.

Knight joined the district in 1993 as a math and science coordinator. She later helped establish and lead the districts first magnet school, Mayo High School for Math, Science, and Technology. In 1999, she was appointed superintendent and held the position for 14 years. She was named the S.C. Superintendent of the Year in 2012.

After retiring, she joined the S.C. Education Oversight Committee as the director of strategic innovation. Knights research and analysis guided policymakers, educators, and community leaders in making informed decisions to support student success and expand educational opportunities statewide.

Dr. Knights steadfast dedication to excellence, her transformative initiatives, and her focus on student achievement at the local and state levels left an indelible mark on the Darlington County School District, said Newman. She helped shape education here and across the state.

After retiring she joined the S.C. Education Oversight Committee and currently serves as the director of strategic innovation.

Dr. Knights dedication to educational excellence, her visionary initiatives, and her commitment to student success have left an indelible mark on the Darlington County School District and continue to shape the landscape of education in South Carolina for both students and educators alike, said Newman.

Knight said she was honored and humbled by the recognition.

The truth is, the school district and the people of Darlington County did all that work, said Knight. I was very fortunate to have some very knowledgeable, hardworking and committed people to work with in this district. We had a motto, Every Child, Every Day, and they had the courage and the will to get up every morning and do what they needed to do for the children and to make this district a success.

McCutchen served more than 30 years as principal of Carolina Elementary School and more than 16 years on the Darlington County Board of Education, where he was elected chairman and vice chairman multiple times. His insights into the needs and concerns of students and teachers were instrumental in shaping district policies that prioritized their well-being and success.

McCutchen championed policies that promoted student achievement, equitable access to resources, and professional development opportunities for educators. McCutchen served on numerous community boards, including the Trent Hill Center for Children and Families, which he helped found.

In inducting McCutchen, Newman spoke about how he would go above and beyond in his duties as principal of Carolina Elementary. He worked to fix a cantankerous boiler in the middle of the night to ensure that the children would arrive at a warm school. He began an initiative to get students to spend less time in front of their televisions. It culminated with him flying into the schoolyard on a helicopter, stepping off and destroying a make-believe television. Newman said McCutchen was creative and innovative in the ways he found to inspire encourage students.

Dr. McCutchens commitment to fostering a positive and inclusive learning environment left a lasting impact on the district, said Newman. His legacy, his practices, and his commitment to always ask, How will this benefit our children? continue to shape policies and practices.

McCutchen thanked the district for the honor.

I can think of many of the things we achieved and accomplished during my time with the district, but I think the most important thing we did was hire Dr. Knight, he said. I worked for many superintendents, I think a total of 12, but none of them used curriculum like Dr. Knight.

He also shared his admiration for fellow inductees Delaine and Taylor.

Thank you so much, and I encourage you all to keep up the good work, he concluded.

Pearson was a librarian and media specialist in Darlington schools for 47 years and in the Lee County School District for six years, shaping the lives of thousands of students. She held many education leadership roles, including member of the Darlington County Library Board, Darlington County Education Association, S.C. Association of School Librarians, S.C. Education Association, and the National Education Association.

Pearson was an elected delegate to 23 National Education Association representative assemblies, president of the Darlington County Retired Educators Association, and is a current member of the State Retirees Association Board of Directors.

Lina Pearsons impact on our community spans 47 years within the Darlington County School District, said Newman. From the local level to the national stage, her dedication to education and educators has shaped or district and state.

Newman said Pearson had a powerful and familiar motto she would share with all of her students: I am intelligent  I can think, learn, and understand.

Pearson continues to work, serving as a part-time media specialist with the Lee County School District.

I thank God for the people her has placed in my life, said Pearson in her remarks.

She mentioned mentors from the elementary school she attended, a teacher and a librarian, saying that I am who I am because of them.

I leave you with this quote from George Washington Carver, said Pearson. He said, How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving, and tolerant of the weak and strong, because some day in life you will have been all of these.

Taylor, who died in 2020, attended district schools since kindergarten and graduated from St. Johns High School. She grew up to be the principal of St. Johns Elementary, where she served as both teacher and administrator for more than 42 years.

Taylor mentored thousands of children, their staff, and the community. She was a member of the Darlington Rotary Club and the Delta Kappa Gamma Education Sorority. She was awarded the Darlington County Educator Award in 2006 and the 2011 District Distinguished Principals Award.

Newman said Taylor dedicated her life to the education of children in Darlington County.

Her 42 years as an education in Darlington County is a testament to her dedication, her love for her students, and the belief that education can transform lives, said Newman. Her mantra was, Remember who and whose you are, continues to echo today in the halls of the school, as well as the memorable Get them in, get them fed, and get them home, teaching them with vigor an pride.

St. Johns has honored Taylor with a reading award named in her honor. The schools auditorium is also named in her honor.

Accepting the honor on Taylors behalf were her daughters, Kristen Nicholson, Reagan Taylor, and Keri Hancock.

This is an honor that would have made Mama very proud, said Nicholson. She was a true public servant who really believed she was on a mission from God. Those of you that knew her knew that she was strong-willed. She was intelligent, loving, and an extremely hard worker. Most importantly, everyone got exactly the same version of Mama no matter where they were or what their role was in the district.

Nicholson said she quite often runs into people who were touched and inspired in some way by her mother.

Her legacy of love is one that we want to remember, she said. I challenge you to live like Mama lived  to love fiercely and to remember who you are and whose you are.

Bob Sloan is a person who possesses many titles: Veteran community journalist, Presbyterian pastor, husband, father, and grandfather. Please note the titles are not listed in order of importance. The priority of importance depends upon the day and the hour.
HOLLIS, New Hampshire  As the only Republican presidential candidate in New Hampshire Thursday, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley used her achievements as governor and U.N. ambassador to show how she would govern as president.

Im going to do exactly what I did as governor. Its not what I say, its what I have already proven as a governor and ambassador, said Haley, who was joined by New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, who has endorsed her.

All of these things [spending] have to come down. I did that in South Carolina. I paid down our debt, we got it back on track.

Haley in New Hampshire Nikki Haley started her day with a meet-and-greet in Hollis before heading over to Robies Country Store in Hookset, which has hosted many can

Haley leaned heavily on her time as governor in South Carolina, citing the work she did for the education system to raise literacy levels. She also cited her work balancing the budget and paying off debt.

Haley started her day with a meet-and-greet in Hollis before heading over to Robies Country Store in Hookset, which has hosted many candidates over the years, including Jimmy Carter, Mitt Romney and Vivek Ramaswamy.

At these events, Haley said her goals for the future include reducing taxes on small businesses and making sure the budget is on time.

The focus for voters at the events wasnt necessarily on Haleys policies but on her mere presence in these smaller towns in an already small state. Many of the attendees were excited by the face-to-face conversations and interactions they were getting with a candidate, unlike what they have seen from former President Donald Trump or Floridas Gov. Ron DeSantis.

I think she is making a big effort to get herself out into the public and make the public know who she is, and see her personality, said Darcy Tuoti, who lives around the corner from Robie.

Its important to get to know who the real voters are. The real voters arent always the ones who go to the giant rallies. The real voters are the ones who want to see the candidates who dont have a lot of money or time to get to big fancy things.

Michael Lewis is a longtime supporter of Haleys, having been to many of her events.

I think its important to the people of New Hampshire, Lewis said. I think she can get people inspired and think differently with her authenticity. She has a tremendous record in South Carolina. Shes got the experience on how to get things done. We can pick [Haley] now and get eight years of great success and maybe bring the country together.

Jessica Robie, one of the owners of the general store and originally from a farming area in Piermont, said the rich history of candidates at the store has invigorated the business and community. She said having Haley there on the ground is important for the people in the small town to truly know the candidates.
HOLLIS, New Hampshire  Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley responded on Thursday morning to former President Donald Trumps temper tantrum regarding her stance on a border wall at a rally the prior evening, noting that Trump took her initial comments out of context.

Speaking to a crowd of roughly 150 people at the Alpine Grove Event Center in Hollis, Bamberg County, S.C., native Haley said she does not just want a border wall.  Weve got to do a lot more than that, and [Trump] shouldve done that when he was president.

Haley went on to tout her record on immigration during her two terms as governor, highlighting her administrations successful lawsuit, in a coalition with 16 other states, to strike down one of President Barack Obamas executive orders that would have decreased deportations and expanded access to work permits.

She also touted her proposals to create a national e-verify program for employers to register their employees immigration status, defund sanctuary cities, increase the number of Border Patrol and ICE agents on the ground, reinstate the remain-in-Mexico policy and transition to a catch-and-deport policy as opposed to catch-and-release.

When it comes to the border, it doesnt even look like the United States of America anymore, Haley said of the current state of the U.S.-Mexico border. It really is recklessness at a whole new level.

The debate over immigration policies on the campaign trail comes as tensions between members of Congress and the White House rise in Washington over budget proposals and funding for immigration enforcement efforts at the U.S.-Mexico border.

With New Hampshire voters heading to the polls in just five days, Haley has ramped up her rhetoric regarding the divide between herself and Trump, arguing that its the drama, and the vengeance and the vindictiveness that we want to get out of the way.

She also noted that she currently leads President Joe Biden in head-to-head by a far larger margin than Trump, according to a poll conducted by CBS News and YouGov.

Americans dont want to see a President Joe Biden or Donald Trump, Haley said. Theyre dealing more with investigations than they are on whether theyre preventing us from going to war.

New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, who endorsed Haley over a month ago and has since campaigned with her across the state, said that her brand of retail politics and meeting directly with people across the state is what will resonate with voters, criticizing the tactics Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

This is what retail campaigning is really about, he said. Its not about flying into the country club, making a speech, getting back in a big, new, fancy plane and heading back to the other country club you actually live at.

For David Stone, a 57-year-old schoolteacher who identifies as an unaffiliated voter, Haleys efforts to push back against Trump and her implementation of education policy initiatives during her time as governor were what stood out the most.

He said he appreciated hearing her positive approach contrasted with the polarization and extreme positions of Trump.
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Residents in Newton, Singapore, witness the unexpected transformation of the nearby Bukit Timah canal into a bright blue hue on Wednesday (17 January), captured in a TikTok video. (PHOTO: TikTok/@vinnography)

SINGAPORE  Residents living and working in Newton were treated to a surprising sight on Wednesday (17 Jan). The nearby Bukit Timah canal turned bright blue, as seen on a video shared on TikTok, where it was nearly indistinguishable from nearby swimming pools.

Singapores National water agency PUB is investigating the incident and told The Straits Times that they did not observe any traces of unusual discharge at the location or further upstream. There were also no abnormalities in the water quality downstream of the canal and in Marina Reservoir.

Local resident initially mistakes canal's blue hue for festive decor

The videos owner, Melvin Lee, shared with 8World that when he had first seen the bright blue colour in the canal that runs between Keng Lee Road and Kampong Java Road, he thought that the water had been coloured for a festival or special event.

He also said that he didnt notice any unusual smell in the area that could be linked to the waters colour, according to The Straits Times.

The bright blue has since subsided and the canals water is back to its usual hue, as shown in a second video that Lee uploaded on Tiktok on Thursday.

The PUB has reminded businesses in the area that it Is illegal to dump substances into public drains. Additionally, under the Sewerage and Drainage Act, companies have to obtain written approvals from PUB before they can discharge trade effluent or liquid waste into sewers.

Any discharge has to comply with stipulated quality requirements.

Last year, the water in a drain that led to the Kallang River in Toa Payoh turned blue, while in 2015, waters in a Jurong West canal turned red because of an organic solvent.

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.
Leonardo DiCaprio says he felt a great deal of responsibility getting Killers of the Flower Moon right.

This was a very dark chapter in American history, he says of the Osage Nation murders depicted in the film. We needed to tell the story correctly and that meant we had to listen.

Before and during filming, DiCaprio, co-star Lily Gladstone and director Martin Scorsese sought the advice of the Osage community and pored over considerable research compiled by author David Grann.

The Osage are still affected by this moment in history, he says. We just knew it was our job and our responsibility to listen and get their perspective. A lot of those meetings (resulted in) the movie that you see today.

In the film, DiCaprio plays a white soldier who marries a Native woman, played by Gladstone. Because oil had been discovered on Osage land, Indigenous women were wealthy. As a result, theres a desire to get their money any way possible. The soldiers uncle (played by Robert DeNiro) tells him hell get her oil rights if he survives her.

Contract killings, mysterious deaths and rampant illness suggest somethings afoot.

To understand the sense of dread that permeated the community, Gladstone and DiCaprio, listened to tribal members.

It was actually kind of a fun acting exercise, Gladstone says. It reminded me of being in school again, where youre just given text without any context.

The key was to find the love that was in the relationship. Just as Ernest (DiCaprios character) maintained until the day he died, Gladstone says. Since there are no living people who knew Mollie (her character), we started looking to the legacy of who they were in stories of how their kids were.

Stories about Cowboy and Elizabeth, their children, informed what the parents wouldve been like, she says.

An early scene, in which Mollie outdrinks Ernest was abandoned because the community didnt feel like that was Mollie, Gladstone says. They said Mollie wouldve enjoyed a glass of whisky, but she wasnt known for being somebody who could handle liquor like her sister, so the scene changed.

DiCaprio and Gladstone improvised moments throughout the film, including a first car ride. Mollie says something to him in the Osage language and Ernest says, It must be Indian for handsome devil.

That was Gladstones idea, DiCaprio says. We knew that this entire movie and the entire structure of the narrative was reliant on this love story working.

Scorsese told Gladstone he saw The Heiress as an inspiration for the film. Whats nice (about that) is Osage ladies really do fill that grace, that regality the way classic stars of the era did, Gladstone says. In The Heiress, Olivia de Havillands character came from an oppressive patriarchal society, whereas Mollie comes from a matrilocal society. De Havillands character was told she was worthless. Mollie comes from a community where families celebrate when a daughter is born.

De Havilland, she says, showed how to hold the screen.

Killers of the Flower Moon, she says, is a reimagining with Native American women from a very woman-loving, woman-supportive society.

While prepping the film, we were in a bit of a free fall, Gladstone says. We werent certain this dynamic was going to function on screen the way that it clearly did in reality. Once editor Thelma Schoonmaker cut scenes together, the dynamic started to emerge. Thelma could see we were solving this big puzzle.

DiCaprio got to see film footage of the real Ernest talking about Mollie: The one quote was, Well, she was a good one. I felt the entire community had their take on this relationship. We developed this love story very much based on those stories. And, strangely, enough, I felt like I had more than enough to work with to create Ernest as a character.
Anna and Tim Sazama had been praying for snow for their wedding ever since they became engaged in June 2022.

I just wanted a snow scene, the former Anna Wichman said. Our dream was a winter wedding and the snowflakes. Any time anyone asked about my planning, I would say, All I need is snow. If I got snow, it will be a good day.

Well, I definitely got my snow.

The Sazamas, who live in Columbus, Nebraska, didnt want dead trees and grass as a backdrop for their big day Saturday. So when the Norfolk area picked up 10 inches of snow last week, they were thrilled.

A second round of snow, this time about 4 inches, didnt erode their excitement, although they did have to cancel rehearsal on Friday night.

Anna remembers looking at the forecast only once on Saturday, noting a wind chill of 36 below. She still thought the roads would be plowed as usual and the day would go as planned.

They werent, though, because of blowing snow. And then the calls from people canceling started coming in.

First, it was the hairdresser. Then the photographer. Maid of honor Morgan Wichman, husband Allen and their family, all part of the wedding, couldnt make it out of their rural Monroe property. The party bus was a no-go, because they didnt want anyone to get stranded.

Their pastor in Columbus, Mike Moser, tried to make it to Northern Heights Baptist Church in Norfolk to marry them but had to turn back. Instead, he officiated the ceremony virtually.

I was like, Uh-oh, we prayed a little too much, Anna said. I really didnt think it was going to be much of an issue.

While their wedding day appeared to be heading for disaster, neither Anna or Tim lost faith that it would all be OK.

Annas personal attendant, Brittney Dunker, turned into a lifesaver, taking hundreds of photos. Her daughter stepped in as a flower girl. A bridesmaid picked up the food for the reception.

And although it seemed that every road in the area was closed, somehow the route to Stanton and their reception was clear. So the people who still made it to the ceremony could celebrate.

We had 200 people that we invited and 150 had responded yes to coming, Anna said. We ended up taking a picture at the reception. And we had 45 people.

Anna said she lost it only once, when she saw her grandmother before the wedding and she asked how her day was going.

But then she wiped away her tears, determined to stay positive. The couple agreed  when one of them would get upset or frustrated, the other was there to get them back on track.

We were the calm of each others storm, Anna said.

Tim said there was even a silver lining. There was plenty of snow, people could use the embroidered throw blankets Anna had worked on all last summer, and he got the smaller wedding he wanted.

That was my favorite part of all, he said. We had the most important people there besides Morgan and her kids. It was friends and family. Everybody wanted to be there. Everybody was up and dancing.

Their troubles werent over after the wedding, however. They were able to make the journey to Omaha on Sunday night, only to have their flight to Belize delayed again and again.

But Tuesday at 5 a.m., they took off. By that afternoon, they were back on schedule, ready to spend their next few days snorkeling, cave tubing, enjoying the resident monkeys and manatees and just relaxing after a crazy wedding day.

The temperature was 84 degrees when they landed in the Central American country.

It was about 100 degrees different than when we started, Anna said.

Photos: Nebraska couple's wedding nearly derailed by snow
SIOUX CITY  Because of Joseph Cruz' actions during an October night in 2022, Carlos Aguirre's children will never get to know him.

"They will never have the life experience with their dad because you took that. You took his life," Aguirre's mother, Juanita Vasquez, said to Cruz Friday before his sentencing.

Vasquez said Aguirre was a son, a cousin and a grandson, in addition to a father, and no one will be able to share that relationship with him again. Crying, Vasquez said she knows she will see her son again someday.

A Woodbury County jury in December found Cruz, 20, of Sioux City, guilty of second-degree murder for the Oct. 29, 2022, shooting death of the 21-year-old Aguirre during a party at 1421 W. Fifth St.

District Judge Zachary Hindman sentenced Cruz in accordance with state statute to 50 years in prison, and Cruz must serve at least 35 years before he's eligible for parole. Cruz also was ordered to pay restitution of $150,000 to Aguirre's estate and $4,835 to the Iowa Crime Victim Assistance Fund for payment of Aguirre's funeral expenses.

Cruz declined his right to make a statement before he was sentenced.

Witnesses testified at trial that Cruz and Aguirre began to argue over the ownership of a gun at the party, then got into a physical altercation. At one point, Aguirre displayed the gun and cocked it. During a struggle for control of the gun, it fired multiple times, and Cruz was struck in the leg before the gun fell from Aguirre's grasp. Cruz picked up the gun and shot Aguirre in the back of the head and in the back. Aguirre died at the scene.

Prosecutors said Cruz shot Aguirre because he was angry Aguirre would not give up the gun, which he had bought after Cruz gave him the money to make the purchase. The defense argued the shooting was self-defense.

Anthony Williams, 19, who is Cruz' cousin, was shot in the chest during the scuffle for the gun and died later at MercyOne Siouxland Medical Center.

Cruz was tried for second-degree murder for Williams' death, but jurors found him not guilty.
Rice University as seen looking south from the Warwick Tower, Friday, Jan. 19, 2018, in Houston. Mark Mulligan/Houston Chronicle

Rice University has allotted $33.75 million to settle a class action lawsuit likely linked to a federal case alleging 17 elite institutions ran a coordinated price-fixing scheme that limited the amount of financial aid provided to students.

In October 2023, the University settled a class action lawsuit in which it had been named a co-defendant along with sixteen other universities, according to Rices consolidated financial statement for last fiscal year.

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People walk into the the Rice Memorial Center at Rice University Thursday, April 1, 2021 in Houston. Rice University has announced an expansion of its student body and its campus. The physical expansion on the colleges 300 acres, will include a 12th residential college, a new engineering building, a building for the visual and dramatic arts, and a new student center that will largely replace the Rice Memorial Center. Melissa Phillip, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer Students at Rice University on Friday, Sept. 15, 2023, in Houston. Raquel Natalicchio/Staff photographer

The price-fixing lawsuit is the only case Rice is named in that matches the financial statements description, but court documents do not reflect that the parties have agreed to a settlement. Rice declined to comment on the lawsuit and the financial statement.

The University of Chicago is the only defendant that has so far filed a settlement amount  $13.5 million  in court. The remaining institutions, aside from Rice, are are Brown University, California Institute of Technology, Columbia University, Cornell University, Dartmouth College, Duke University, Emory University, Georgetown University, Johns Hopkins University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Northwestern University, University of Notre Dame, University of Pennsylvania, Vanderbilt University and Yale University.

Rices financial documents show the university listed $33.75 million to settle the lawsuit with money from nonoperating revenue. Inside Higher Ed reported this week that Emory had also listed a settlement in financial documents. And a November court filing showed that Vanderbilt University has reached an agreement in principle to settle, subject to court approval, according to the publication.

Students leave a class Monday, Sept. 11, 2023, in the Ralph S. OConnor Building for Engineering and Science at Rice University in Houston. Jon Shapley/Staff photographer

The lawsuit surfaced in January 2022, when multiple former students accused Rice and other schools of violating antitrust laws by collaborating on a formula that calculated students financial need. The formula caused the net price of attendance to become artificially inflated, resulting in the overcharging of more than 170,000 students receiving financial aid and costing them hundreds of millions of dollars, the plaintiffs said in the lawsuit.

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Rice University denied the allegations at the time the lawsuit was filed.

We believe it is without merit, a 2022 university statement read. Rice University is proud of its financial aid practices and we are prepared to vigorously defend them in court.

The 17 universities belonged to the so-called 568 Presidents Group, which was predicated on admissions policies that are need blind and dont consider a students ability to pay for tuition during the admissions process. Rice joined the group in 1993 and withdrew in 2009, before rejoining in 2017, the lawsuit states.

The member universities created the shared formula in 2003 to determine an applicants ability to pay for college, invoking a 1994 federal act that allowed schools with need-blind policies to collaborate on guidelines to assess financial need.

The act made such schools exempt from the antitrust laws that typically promote competition and prohibit the setting of prices; however, nine of the schools in the lawsuit werent need-blind at all, the plaintiffs lawyers said. They considered the financial status of families in the admissions process at various points, even admitting children of past or potential donors and giving preference to the wealthiest people in waitlist admissions, the attorneys allege in the lawsuit.

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Rice was not one of those nine universities, the lawyers said. The Houston school and several others may or may not have considered financial need as part of their processes, but they are accused of conspiring with the schools that did and should have known that the others werent abiding by the rules, according to the lawsuit.

Students walk between classes Monday, Sept. 11, 2023, in the Ralph S. OConnor Building for Engineering and Science at Rice University in Houston. Jon Shapley/Staff photographer

STRESS TO SUCCESS: Read the Houston Chronicles occasional series on college admissions

Rice University this year has a $920 million operating budget and an almost $8 billion endowment. The private institution has expanded its financial aid as its sticker price has increased, beginning to offer loan-free financial aid around 2022 to all students who qualify based on need. Rice also extends full-tuition grants or scholarships to undergraduates whose families earn below $140,000 a year, as well as other discounts on a sliding scale.

The price-fixing lawsuit has come as elite universities such as Rice face mounting pressure to diversify their classes without affirmative action, said Chris Marsicano, assistant professor of educational studies at Davidson College. Need-blind policies are one method, and institutions are simultaneously trying to meet full financial need for those students. But they are also confronting growing distrust by the wealthy, who are additionally more likely to be charged the high sticker prices on tuition that are at issue in the suit, he said.

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Need-blind admission is  a really egalitarian view of what higher education can be. There are people who dont apply to places like Rice because they dont believe they can pay, Marsicano said. Many in the higher ed world are concerned that this lawsuit and  this anti-elite push against these institutions is really going to hurt this sense of American egalitarianism.

Defendants like Rice might be finding it in their interest to settle, regardless of whether they considered wealth in admissions and whether they violated antitrust laws or not, Marsicano added. Avoiding the anti-elite, populist fervor and any reputational damage from it might be worth a $33 million settlement, which is a drop in the bucket for an $8 billion endowment, he said.

It just might be easier to settle and move on rather than say, 'We never considered a persons wealth in an admissions decision,' Marsicano said.

The universitys settlement is listed under nonoperating charges, which are also tabulated under a column without donor restrictions, according to Rices 2023 financial statement. Nonoperating charges are not associated with core business expenses, and can sometimes include one-time legal costs.

Any settlement should allow money to be distributed back to students who were affected by the alleged price-fixing scheme, said Nathan Daun-Barnett, an associate professor of higher education administration at the University of Buffalo. And future students with some financial need might benefit from stronger financial aid packages as a result of any settlements in the case.

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SIOUX CITY -- A Sioux City man charged in connection with a July shooting in which one man was killed and another wounded has pleaded not guilty of attempted murder and other charges.

Michael Lundgren Jr., 42, entered his written plea Friday in Woodbury County District Court to charges of attempted murder, intimidation with a dangerous weapon, going armed with intent, willful injury, assault causing serious injury and reckless use of a firearm.

Lundgren is charged in connection with a July 30 shooting during a disturbance at 2013 Metropolitan St. in which Daniel Winge, 42, of Springfield, South Dakota, was killed and Mark Epstein was shot in the chest and the stomach. Lundgren also was shot in the leg and arm.

According to court documents, Lundgren entered Epstein's home with Winge and was upset because his girlfriend was there. Lundgren pulled a gun on Epstein, who then retrieved a gun from his bedroom. The two began shooting as they argued. Lundgren's girlfriend told police she did not know who fired first and fled when the shooting started. After it stopped, the woman saw Epstein leaving the house while calling 911, Winge lying in the front yard and Lundgren lying in a doorway. Lundgren's girlfriend took him to the hospital.

Winge was pronounced dead at the scene, and Epstein was taken to an Omaha hospital for treatment. Police said he will have to live in a long-term care facility after his discharge from the hospital because of the severity of his injuries.

Lundgren also was charged with second-offense possession of a controlled substance after officers found methamphetamine in his pocket after his Jan. 5 arrest. He has pleaded not guilty.

He was charged in August with felon in possession of a firearm in connection with the shooting. He has pleaded not guilty and is scheduled to stand trial in May.
SIOUX CITY -- A Sioux City Police officer's alertness likely helped a family avoid losing its home to fire early Friday.

While on patrol, the officer noticed smoke coming from the roof of a home at 3071 Myrtle St. and reported it. Sioux City Fire Rescue was dispatched to the house at 3:40 a.m.

While firefighters were on the way, the officer was able to wake up the occupants of the single-family home, and all three adults and a pet safely evacuated the house, said Capt. Ryan Collins, deputy fire marshal.

When firefighters arrived, heavy smoke was coming from the attic area. Collins said the fire was contained in the attic space and extinguished. The roof was damaged, but the house has not been red-tagged, enabling the family to remain living there.

The fire was caused by an electrical malfunction. The house had functioning smoke alarms, but because the fire was in the attic, smoke had not yet drifted into the main living area to trigger the alarms, Collins said.

Collins asked Sioux City residents to clear snow from hydrants located in their yards or neighborhood so firefighters can quickly access them when responding to a fire. Trucks carry 500 gallons of water, which lasts about two minutes, Collins said, so it's important that firefighters don't have to spend time digging out a hydrant before hooking hoses to it to fight a fire.

"Getting that water supply quickly is vital," he said.
ROCHESTER, N.H.  Kristina Amyots life has drastically improved since the last New Hampshire primary, but she isnt confident the current candidates will help others achieve the same success.

Amyot, 36, spent more than half her life struggling with addiction, mainly to heroin, before joining Hope on Haven Hill, a comprehensive program for pregnant women and mothers that includes residential treatment, transitional housing and an array of support services. Today, shes financially independent with a job, apartment and family she loves.

I will never put myself through that again, she said in a recent interview. I have self-worth now.

New Hampshire, a small state with an outsized role in presidential politics, has heard from candidates promising action on the opioid crisis for several presidential elections now. And some of those closest to the problem here say theyre dissatisfied with how the Republicans competing in Tuesdays primary have focused on the border and law enforcement instead of treatment and recovery.

Regardless of the election's outcome, Amyot said she is skeptical that anything will change.

I feel like every four years it gets talked about, and then it gets lost. We dont really do much with it, and thats something that needs to change because this should be one of the top priorities, she said. To think that these people dont care about us is really sad.

Starting in the late 1990s with the overprescribing of opioid painkillers, the nation's drug crisis evolved to encompass heroin and then fentanyl, which in recent years often has been cut into other street drugs, often without the users' knowledge. More than 80,000 people died of opioid overdoses in 2022, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In 2015, New Hampshire's drug overdose death rate was the second highest in the nation. And while the state has made progress since then, the numbers have gone back up. The final tally for 2022  486 deaths  was only four short of the all-time high for New Hampshire, a state of about 1.4 million people.

In New Hampshire, we are losing more than a person a day, said Kerry Norton, who co-founded Hope on Haven Hill in Rochester in 2016. Its so easy for everyone to forget that its still killing generations of people, and its still making communities and states and families and friends lose their loved ones."

Republicans who will be on the New Hampshire campaign trail this week have primarily focused on stopping the influx of illegal drugs at the southern U.S. border.

Former President Donald Trump, who once described New Hampshire as a drug-infested den, has proposed using the military against foreign drug cartels, a view echoed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley. DeSantis also has said drug smugglers should be shot stone cold dead," while Haley has proposed cutting off trade with China until they stop murdering Americans with fentanyl. China is accused by many experts of allowing the export of precursor chemicals used to make synthetic opioids like fentanyl.

But thats only part of the equation, argues Jay Ruais, a Republican who was sworn in this month as mayor of Manchester, New Hampshires largest city.

I think we also have to address it on the demand side as well. What are we doing for prevention for kids in schools? What are we doing for those who need more treatment? What are we doing for people who are outside of treatment? And on the recovery side, housing is a big component as well, said Ruais. It requires a systemic response where were dealing with everything from A to Z.

During his own campaign, Ruais described how completing a court-ordered rehabilitation program in 2010 after a second drunk driving arrest deepened his sense of empathy for those struggling with addiction.

Its a deeply personal issue to me. Its why I ran for mayor to begin with, he said. But I certainly think that any candidate coming to speak in New Hampshire should be talking about this issue.

After two big leaps at the beginning of the COVD-19 pandemic, drug overdose deaths nationally rose 2% in 2022 to nearly 110,000. In New Hampshire, overdose deaths declined significantly before the pandemic and held steady in 2020, in part thanks to the creation of a hub-and-spoke model called The Doorway, in which hospitals work with local providers to connect patients with services close to home. But the state's 486 deaths in 2022 marked an 11% increase from the previous year.

Norton said above all, she wants a president who recognizes that substance use disorder is a disease and will treat the crisis as a public health emergency. Punitive policies dont help people who end up in the program due to trauma, abuse and lack of connection, she said.

Im not an expert in any way on how controlling the border is going to help, she said. What I do know is helping people have affordable health care, affordable housing, and basic rights and support is what will help here in New Hampshire.

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who led a bipartisan White House commission on opioid misuse during the Trump administration, echoed that approach when he unveiled his national drug policy plan at Hope on Haven Hill's wellness center in December, a few weeks before dropping out of the race.

We need an approach that remembers and reflects on the very basic humanity of every single one of those 100,000 victims, as well as the treasures each one of them could have brought to this country, he said.

Haley, too, struck a more compassionate tone when she visited the Rochester center recently. Holding one of the clients 12-day-old daughter throughout her remarks, she described her efforts to support an adult nieces recovery from addiction. She said her focus as president would be giving states more flexibility in spending federal funds rather than a one-size-all approach, and said she'd support investments in mental health treatment.

I know every day is a struggle, she told program participants. But your goal is to make today better than yesterday.

Opioid prescriptions are down from a decade ago, but regional disparities remain Opioid prescriptions are down from a decade ago, but regional disparities remain Some counties are significantly above the national average
DES MOINES  The Iowa House of Representatives passed a resolution Thursday declaring its support for Israel and its continued campaign in Gaza against Hamas, drawing protest from activists calling for a ceasefire in the ongoing war.

The resolution passed by a voice vote in the House without a record of how each lawmaker voted. Republicans and many Democrats appeared to support the resolution, while a few no votes rang out from House Democrats. People who rallied against the vote on Thursday also shouted from the gallery after its passage before being removed by Iowa State Patrol officers.

The pro-Palestinian activists said lawmakers should have called for a ceasefire rather than pass the resolution signaling unconditional support to Israel.

The resolution says it is affirming the State of Iowas support for the State of Israel and condemning the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.

In the resolution, lawmakers said they recognize Israels right to act decisively and unilaterally in self-defense and to oppose any calls for a ceasefire.

They further affirm Israels right to pursue, without interference or condemnation, the elimination of Hamas and any other affiliated terrorist groups until Hamas and all such groups are permanently neutralized.

House Speaker Pat Grassley, R-New Hartford, told reporters on Thursday that the resolution was a continuation of the state of Iowas long-running support for Israel as an ally of the U.S. He said the resolution had significant bipartisan support.

When it comes to any terrorist organization, were going to stand with our ally, what we have in Israel, so I dont think that today, the action that we took was any different than we historically would have taken in my time in the Legislature," Grassley said.

"No one wants to see any level of death and destruction that's going on overseas, but an unprovoked attack that we saw happen a couple months ago, also as an ally of that country, that's not something that we can just ignore," he added.

Rep. Sami Scheetz, a Democrat from Cedar Rapids and the only Arab-American in the Iowa House, said during a press conference on Thursday that the majority Republicans did not ask for input from him or other Democrats on the language of the resolution.

Scheetz, who voted against the resolution, said he condemns all violence against the Israeli and Palestinian people as well as antisemitism and anti-Arab rhetoric, but that continuing violence in the region would not resolve the conflict.

This is not justice that will lead to a lasting peace, this is chaos and destruction, he said. It has become clear that there is no military solution that will bring stability to Gaza. That's why I voted no on the Republican resolution this morning and continue to call for a ceasefire.

More than 20,000 Palestinians have been killed since Israel launched its campaign against Hamas after the Oct. 7 attacks in the country. Around 1,200 Israelis, mostly civilians, were killed in that attack.

House Democratic leader Jennifer Konfrst of Windsor Heights did not say how she voted on the resolution.

My members have every ability to have a conversation on their own outside this room of what needs to happen, she told reporters on Wednesday. But what I'll tell you is the Israel-Hamas situation will not be solved through the Iowa Legislature, and it's not really under our purview.

Activists opposed resolution

About two dozen people gathered in the Capitol rotunda Thursday morning ahead of the vote to call for a ceasefire in Gaza, leading chants and impromptu speeches condemning Israel's actions and Iowa legislators.

Dani Misyuk, a member of Iowa City Action for Palestine, came to the Capitol on Monday to show opposition to the resolution and support for Iowas Palestinian population. Misyuk, who is Jewish, said the conflict and the reactions to it were deeply personal.

My religion and culture is being used to justify genocide, and Im here to say that is not okay with me personally, Misyuk said. "...We have Palestinian people here in Iowa, and they have family there, or they're affected here too, and we have to stand up for them and with them."

Representatives propose stripping aid from students deemed supportive of terrorists

Two Republican lawmakers proposed a bill on Thursday that would block students from receiving financial aid, and cancel student groups registrations, if they endorse or promote terrorism or any group designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the U.S. government.

The bill would give the Iowa attorney general authority to determine whether a statement or action constitutes support for terrorism. Republican Rep. Taylor Collins of Mediapolis, one of the bills sponsors, said it was inspired by people supporting Hamas after the Oct. 7 attacks. Rep. Austin Harris, a Republican from Moulton, was the other sponsor of the bill

Collins said a statement that features the slogan from the river to the sea could be considered support for terrorism under the bill. The University of Iowa Democrats received backlash from the state party last year for posting a statement with the slogan, which some anti-hate groups consider to be antisemitic.

I have a lot of confidence in the attorney generals office in discerning free speech from actual support of terrorism, and it should be a conversation as the bill moves through the process, he said.
As a kid it could be awfully quiet sometimes at the dinner table. On one side sat my Irish Catholic mom, the daughter of a union railroad worker. On the other side was my dad, a German Lutheran and a Chamber of Commerce Republican. Elections and the Immaculate Conception were rarely discussed.

But come election time, my folks were classic swing voters. My dad always voted for iconic Wisconsin Democratic U.S. Sen. William Proxmire. My mom was a huge fan of Republican President Ronald Reagan. They would shop for candidates like diners in a Chinese restaurant. One from column A, one from column B.

Many political pundits view ticket splitting as a quaint custom on life support. But in 2022, the practice came roaring back in midterm elections across the country, much to my delight.

Vermont reelected an incumbent Republican governor who beat his opponent by a staggering 47 percentage points. Meanwhile, incumbent Democratic Sen. Peter Welch won by 40-points.

In Nevada, Democratic Sen. Catherine Marie Cortez Masto won reelection, but voters tossed out the incumbent Democratic governor in favor of Republican Joe Lombardo.

The split ticket pattern repeated in Kansas, New Hampshire, Georgia and Wisconsin. In Wisconsin, ticket splitting almost seems wired into the state's political DNA.

Madison screenwriter and columnist, and might I add ticket splitter, John Roach struggles to explain it.

Its a puzzle to me. I am not sure its rational, Roach said. Its almost like they dont want to give too much power to one side. And Wisconsin voters try to balance it out in a kind of freestyle way.

In Georgia, the politics are in a constant turn with a huge influx of new residents. Georgia was solidly blue for decades. But in 2000, the Peach State took a hard right turn for the next 20 years. Now, Atlantas booming affluent suburbs are deep purple.

I think Georgia ticket splitters are great, said Saba Long, the leader of a civic journalism organization in Atlanta. I talk about it in my political podcast. The millennial with both staunch Democrats and Republicans in her family argues that ticket splitting ensures that elected leaders have a more diverse political experience.

University of Virginia political scientist Kyle Kondik is quick to point out, however, that ticket splitting is less successful in presidential years. The numbers are sobering. Only 23 congressional representatives in 2020 were elected in a district that was won by the president of a different party.

From a candidate perspective, it has to be disheartening that there is a certain kind of paint-by-numbers quality to politics today, Kondik notes.

But in races for governor and U.S. Senate, the voters seem more inclined to shop around.

In the Georgia race for U.S. Senate, incumbent Sen. Raphael Warnock made a strategic decision to court ticket splitters by running an ad touting his bipartisan work with Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz. Naturally, his Democratic base was horrified.

Yet I think he had his finger on the pulse of American politics where 44% of American voters self-identify as centrists, according to a Brookings study. That's an enormous block of voters who are bewildered by the current political climate where the extremes pass for the norm.

When we are at gridlock, which we are now as a country, then you want to think that there are people who can work across the aisle, said Melita Easters, a Democratic political consultant in Atlanta.

For the podcast I host called Lost in the Middle: Americas Political Orphans, we spend significant time listening to focus groups. They usually consist of a half-dozen people and a discussion leader trying to draw out what, why and how they think about candidates and issues.

In Georgia, a mid-50s white suburbanite and long-time Republican voter wrestled with her decisions in 2022.

I had always been a straight-ticket voter, and I was going to vote for Gov. Kemp," she said. "But I decided to split my ticket and vote for a Democrat for Senate. It was liberating. People should not be afraid to color outside the lines. What matters is getting it right.

I agree. Hurray for the ticket splitters.

Dont pull the straight lever. Pull for the right candidate regardless of the party.

I hope we see many more of them this fall.
CCDH Report: The New Climate Denial

Posted on 19 January 2024 by BaerbelW

On January 16, 20224, The Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) published the report "The New Climate Denial". The report and underlying study centers on data analysis performed by an AI tool, CARDS, developed by academics Travis G. Coan, Constantine Boussalis, John Cook and Mirjam O. Nanko. As some of you may remember, the initial training for CARDS was conducted by members from our Skeptical Science team, so it's cool to see it put to good use now! Read CCDH's press release below followed by a selection of other articles mentioning the CCDH report, some of which include quotes by John Cook.

Key findings

Outright denial of global warming has declined significantly, as climate deniers switch focus to undermining effectiveness of solutions, downplaying impact, and attacking climate scientists and activists

New Denial narratives, championed by figures like Jordan Peterson, now comprise 70% of all climate denial on YouTube, up from just 35% in 2018

New polling finds a third of teens believe climate policies cause more harm than good and 30% said climate science and the climate movement cant be trusted

About the report

Climate denial on YouTube has evolved radically in recent years, a new study has found, posing a fresh challenge to those seeking public support for climate action  particularly among young people.

Researchers from the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) gathered a dataset of text transcripts from 12,058 climate-related YouTube videos posted by 96 channels over almost six years  between January 1, 2018 and September 30, 2023.

By using an AI model to analyze YouTube transcripts, the CCDH uncovered a radical shift in climate deniers output from Old Denial narratives towards what we term the New Denial.

Old Denial centered on two key false narratives, which have both declined:

Global warming is not happening  which is down from 48% of all denial claims in 2018 to 14% in 2023

Humans are not causing global warming and climate change  down from 17% to 16%

New Denial has evolved to focus on three increasingly prevalent narratives:

Climate solutions wont work  up from 9% to 30%

Climate science and the climate movement are unreliable  up from 23% to 35%

The impacts of global warming are beneficial or harmless  up from 4% to 6%

New Denial narratives  which constituted 35% of all climate denial on YouTube in 2018  now represent the large majority (70%). In the same period, the share of Old Denial has dropped from 65% to just 30% of total claims.

New Denial narratives have been popularized by online figures such as Jordan Peterson (7.62 million subscribers), and have been championed on channels such as BlazeTV (1.92 million subscribers) and PragerU (3.21 million subscribers).

Researchers also found that YouTube ran ads for well-known brands such as Hilton Hotels and Nike on videos containing climate denial, as well as paid ads by nonprofits like the International Rescue Committee and Save the Children.

The reports findings signal a major challenge to those seeking to build public support for climate action, the CCDH said.

A survey by the Pew Research Center, published in December 2023, found that YouTube is the most widely used social media platform among 13- to 17-year-olds. 71% of teens say they use the video-sharing platform daily, including 16% who report being on the site almost constantly.

And new polling conducted by Survation for the CCDH this month (January 2024) found:

31% of US 13-17 year olds agreed that the impacts of global warming are beneficial or harmless, including 39% of teenage boys

33% of all teenagers said Climate policies cause more harm than good, including 40% of teenage boys

30% said climate science and the climate movement cant be trusted, including 37% of teenage boys

31% said climate change is a hoax to control and oppress people, including 41% of teenage boys

45% of teenage boys said Politicians are exaggerating the urgency of climate policies, and 44% believed climate scientists are manipulating data

34% of all teenagers said The earth is actually entering into a new ice age, compared to just 23% of adults (18+)

Climate deniers now have access to vast global audiences through digital platforms. Allowing them to steadily chip away at public support for climate action  especially among younger viewers  could have devastating consequences for the future of our planet, said Charlie Cray, Senior Strategist at Greenpeace USA.

These platforms must take ownership of the falsehoods and mischief they propagate. The stakes are too high to be  even at this late hour  aiding and abetting polluters new and improved climate disinformation narratives, said U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse.

Googles current monetization policy on unreliable and harmful claims states that content which contradicts authoritative scientific consensus on climate change will not be monetized on its platforms.

But given the substantive evolution in climate denial towards New Denial narratives over the last six years, the CCDH calls on Google to expand its policy to also demonetize content that contradicts the authoritative scientific consensus on the causes, impacts, and solutions to climate change.

Without updating this policy, purveyors of New Denial will continue to profit from climate denial outside the narrow parameters of Googles current policy, the Center said.

Imran Ahmed, CEO and founder of the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), said:

Scientists have won the battle to inform the public about climate change and its causes, which is why those opposed to climate action have cynically switched focus to undermining confidence in solutions and in science itself.

Young people spend a huge amount of time on video-sharing platforms like YouTube. These new forms of climate denial, which have proliferated rapidly over the last six years, are designed to confuse and weaken public support for climate action in the coming decades.

It is hypocritical for social media companies to claim to be green but then monetize and amplify lies about the climate.

It is time for digital platforms to put their money where their mouth is. They should refuse to amplify or monetize cynical climate denial content that undermines faith in our collective capacity to solve humanitys most pressing challenge.

U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse said:

In 2023, humankinds hottest year, social media platforms facilitated the fossil fuel industrys climate denial propaganda  and they did it for money. These platforms must take ownership of the falsehoods and mischief they propagate. The stakes are too high to be  even at this late hour  aiding and abetting polluters new and improved climate disinformation narratives. Polluting the information atmosphere to help polluters of the physical atmosphere is a foul choice.

Charlie Cray, Senior Strategist, Greenpeace USA, said:

Google/YouTube need to stop enabling and profiting from the new forms of climate denial. Climate deniers now have access to vast global audiences through digital platforms. Allowing them to steadily chip away at public support for climate action  especially among younger viewers  could have devastating consequences for the future of our planet.

Outright climate denial has become as untenable as smoking inside a hospital emergency room. But CCDHs investigation exposes the new tactics that have metastasized in recent years: delay, deflection, and bogus attacks on solutions like offshore wind. Google/YouTube and other platforms must upgrade and enforce their policies to dial down the diseased discourse that continues to poison public consensus and obstruct the kind of clean energy transition that our planet and our communities so desperately need.

Michael Khoo, Climate Disinformation Program Director, Friends of the Earth, said:

Big Tech and Big Oil spread content that is stopping climate action. Weve pressured Google to stop supporting climate denial in the past, but theyve done little. The New Climate Denial report shows a disturbing shift in the tactics used to derail the necessary action needed to avert further disaster.

Platforms like YouTube have billions of users and a monopoly on young peoples attention. This power shouldnt be used to push climate denial while lining the pockets of right-wing extremists and fossil fuel companies. Social media companies must stop amplifying and profiting off the climate denial that threatens action on the most pressing crisis of human history.

Other articles mentioning the report

NBC News - On YouTube, climate denialism takes a turn

[...] Outside researchers said the analysis mirrors trends theyve observed in recent years.



John Cook, a senior research fellow at the Melbourne Centre for Behaviour Change at the University of Melbourne in Australia, developed the artificial intelligence model used by the Center for Countering Digital Hate. Cooks research has focused on trends in climate contrarian blogs and conservative think tank websites from 1998 to 2020.



The research, which was published in the peer-reviewed journal Scientific Reports, found a similar trend.



Its clear that the future of climate misinformation will be more and more focused on solutions and attacking climate science itself, Cook said in an email. Misinformation targeting solutions is designed to delay climate action, while misinformation attacking climate science erodes public trust in climate science and scientists. [...]

Grist - How YouTubes climate deniers turned into climate doomers

[...] John Cook, a researcher at the Melbourne Centre for Behaviour Change in Australia, has documented a similar rise in attacks on climate solutions by conservative think tanks and blogs. Its surprising to see misinformation on YouTube shifting so quickly, Cook said in an email. The future of climate misinformation will be focused on attacking climate solutions, and we need to better understand those arguments and how to counter them. [...]

CNET - Climate Denial on YouTube Is Evolving. Here's How to Make Sense of It

[...] Scientists have proven these narratives false, and the use of them as denial narratives is, thankfully, increasingly rare. In its report, the CCDH quotes climate skeptiscm researcher John Cook as saying this is because "science denial has become untenable" in light of people experiencing climate impacts for themselves. [...]

Reuters - YouTube making money off new breed of climate denial, monitoring group says

The Guardian - Third of UK teenagers believe climate change exaggerated, report shows

The Independent - Climate misinformation is mutating on YouTube  and the platform is profiting

Newsweek - 'Bad Guys' Are Duping Teens on Climate Change: Expert

Ars Technica - Climate denialists find new ways to monetize disinformation on YouTube
Its a fools game to predict how the array of wars in the Middle East will evolve or end, but one thing can be said with high confidence: The Biden administrations sanctions against the Houthis will have no effect whateverexcept, perhaps, to embolden the Houthis to act still more brazenly.

The decision to declare the Houthis a specially designated global terrorist group, which Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced Wednesday, makes sense on a literal level. After all, the Houthisthe armed Shiite sect that rules a stretch of Yemen holding two-thirds of the countrys 32 million peoplehas, since November, attacked dozens of commercial and military vessels with hundreds of drones and missiles, threatening lives and impeding freedom of navigation in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. As national security adviser Jake Sullivan stated, these attacks fit the textbook definition of terrorism.

In previewing the announcement on Tuesday, a senior U.S. official explained that the designation and its sanctions were meant to apply additional pressure on the Houthis to change [their] behavior and turn away from Irantheir chief supplier of arms, training, and other goods and services. At that point, it is hoped that the Houthis will choose to become a constructive member of the international system.

This is where the administration has gone wrong. This is a way too ambitious, thoroughly unrealistic goal. Yes, the Houthis are terrorists. They should be designated as such. But U.S. officials shouldnt have made a big deal of it; certainly, they shouldnt have expressed such high expectations for the pronouncements effects. If it fails to meet those expectations, if the Houthis continue to attack ships and ally with Iran, the policy will be seen as a failure for the U.S. and a successeven a morale-boosting victoryfor the Houthis and for Iran.

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Indeed, ever since the U.S. called them out as terrorists, the Houthis have continued to attack at least a ship a day, one of them owned by a U.S. shipper and hoisting an American flag.

In fact, the Houthis have been reveling in the designation. Hisham Al-Omeisy, a Yemeni activist and analyst with the European Institute of Peace, told the Associated Press that the U.S. is playing into the Houthis narrative that they are standing up to a superpower in their support of Muslims. In the past, Al-Omeisy said, the Houthis were angry that the U.S. was basically treating them as a bug on the windshield. Now theyre like, You know what, they respect us. Yeah, we can go toe to toe with the Americans!

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Senior U.S. officials noted, in their background briefing on the new policy, that the sanctions are just one piece of a broad package of measures against the Houthis, not least military measures. Since Jan. 9, when the Houthis launched 21 drones and missiles in a coordinated attack on commercial and military vessels, the U.S., sometimes along with Britain, has retaliated on five separate occasions, launching dozens of missiles and drones of their own against Houthi radar, missile storage centers, drone launch sites, andin a couple of preemptive attacksmissiles that the Houthis were about to fire.

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Yet those attacks have done little, if anything, to slow down, much less halt, the Houthis adventurism. That being the case, sanctions are unlikely to add much pressure.

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Vali Nasr, a former State Department official, dean of Johns Hopkins Universitys School of Advanced International Studies, and co-author of a forthcoming book How Sanctions Work, told me that, generally speaking, sanctions rarely have their desired effect. They cause pain to the population, he said, but usually have no effect on a countrys [or terrorist groups] behavior. Sanctions are often a way for officials in Washington to say, Were doing something.

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Sanctions are likely to have still less effect on the Houthis. One of the most potent effects of sanctions is to deny access to the international financial network. Yet the Houthis have scant access to this network as is, and neither does Iran. In recent days, the Houthis have announced they will not attack ships owned by Russia or Chinatwo countries that are skilled at evading Western sanctions. Moscow and Beijing thus might become another source of supplies that evade sanctions.

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Nor is there any realistic prospect of the Houthis steering away from Iran, or vice versa. Irans special forces, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, are openly supplying, training, and advising the Houthi militias on Yemeni soil. Neither U.S. airstrikes nor sanctions are expected to drive them back home.

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Related From Slate This May Be the Only Way to Avoid a Broader Regional War in the Middle East Read More

In his final days in office, President Donald Trump declared the Houthis a Foreign Terrorist Organization. Biden reversed the move in his first few weeks of his term, concerned that the sanctions would cut off humanitarian aid for the Yemeni people, many of whom are living in near-famine conditions. The sanctions that Biden imposed this weekwhile calling the Houthis a Specially Designated Global Terroristare less harsh than the FTOs. For instance, it doesnt outlaw all contact and supplies. Biden has delayed enforcement of the new sanctions for 30 days, to let officials, bankers, NGOs, and other parties work out a way to send in food, medicine, fuel, and other supplies without violating the law.

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However, sanctionswhether FTO or SDGToften make legitimate banks and air groups skittish about engaging with the target nation at all, lest they run afoul of legal limits. At the same time, rogue elements (smugglers, arms suppliers, and governments like Iran) or countries outside the international financial system (such as, in certain cases, Russia and China) disregard the sanctions, often with success.

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In other words, it is possible that the policy will hurt Yemeni people and have no effect on the Houthis fortunes.

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Meanwhile, the Houthis have been fighting in civil wars in Yemen since 2004, off and on, mainly on, sometimes under fierce bombardment from the neighboring Saudis, who thought that defeating the militias would be a cakewalk but who have since given up that fantasy and negotiated a truce. It is unlikely that a few more missile and drone strikeswhich have degraded but not destroyed the Houthis ability to strike shipswould make a dent on the Houthis behavior.

Elisabeth Kendall, an Arabist and Yemen specialist at the University of Cambridge, put it this way in a recent CNN interview:
FBI SAC Doug Williams addresses the media about the on going investigation to a Nov. 5, 2023 arson of the Huyen Trang Temple in New Caney, Texas in their Houston field office on Friday, Jan. 19, 2024 in Houston. The FBI is offering a reward of up to $10k in the information leading to the identification of the person responsible. Elizabeth Conley/Staff Photographer

Authorities on Friday offered a reward up to $10,000 for anyone with information on the person who started a fire by throwing a Molotov cocktail through an open window of a New Caney Buddhist temple in November.

On Nov. 5, deputies responded to the Huyen Trang Buddhist Meditation Centre off FM 1485 after reports of a fire at the building.

Deputies learned that a person approached the temple and threw a gas-filled mason jar and lit wicking material into an open window of the temple, starting a fire in the main place of worship where a monk was asleep on the floor, according to information provided by the FBI.

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In Oct. 2022, a trailer located behind Huyen Trang Temple in New Caney caught on fire, at the time it wasnt ruled as suspicious. Elizabeth Conley/Staff Photographer

The person then fled the scene. Two monks inside were able to extinguish the fire with no serious injuries.

ALSO SEE: HPD says body camera rules are changing after missing video of police shooting

FBI Houston, the Montgomery County Fire Marshal's Office and the Federal Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms are collaborating to find the person responsible for the arson attack. The agencies asked the public for help during a Friday news conference.

Authorities on Friday offered a reward up to $10,000 for anyone with information on the person who started a fire by throwing a Molotov cocktail through an open window of a New Caney Buddhist temple in November. Provided by FBI

"While we dont yet know the suspects motive in this case, his attempt to burn down the Buddhist temple in New Caney is disgraceful" said Special Agent in Charge Douglas Williams of FBI Houston. "The FBI, as the law enforcement protector of civil rights in this country, has the duty to protect all Americans in their free exercise of religious beliefs by vigorously prosecuting those who target houses of worship. Our churches and temples should be safe havens for all people, not sites subjected to intimidation, destruction, and violence.

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Authorities on Friday offered a reward up to $10,000 for anyone with information on the person who started a fire by throwing a Molotov cocktail through an open window of a New Caney Buddhist temple in November. Provided by FBI

Investigators believe the person responsible is a man between 5 feet 8 inches and 5 feet 10 inches tall and wore a Nike backpack, a ballcap, gloves, military-style boots and a neck gaiter which covered the lower part of his face, according to a release by the agency.

When asked if there had been other arson incidents at the temple, Montgomery County Assistant Fire Marshal Kevin Bates cited a mobile home fire the agency responded to behind the temple in 2022. At the time, the cause of the fire was unknown, Bates said. There is no indication that the two fires are connected, he said.

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Anyone with information about the arson case is asked to call 800-225-5324, or contact the local FBI office, the nearest American Embassy or consulate, or submit a tip online at tips.fbi.gov.

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A video grab from a security camera at Huyen Trang Temple is shown behind FBI SAC Doug Williams during a press conference about the on-going investigation to a Nov. 5, 2023 arson of the Huyen Trang Temple in New Caney, Texas in their Houston field office on Friday, Jan. 19, 2024 in Houston. The FBI is offering a reward of up to $10k in the information leading to the identification of the person responsible. Elizabeth Conley/Staff Photographer

"That evening, someone shattered the safety and tranquility of this community," Williams said, noting the temple and the people inside survived without injury.

Huyen Trang Buddhist Temple Director Suco Susan Nguyen opens a window that was damaged following a Nov. 5 arson of the New Caney temple on Friday, Jan. 19, 2024. The FBI is offering a reward of up to $10k in the information leading to the identification of the person responsible. Elizabeth Conley/Staff Photographer A surveillance video plays as FBI SAC Doug Williams addresses the media about the on going investigation to a Nov. 5, 2023 arson of the Huyen Trang Temple in New Caney, Texas in their Houston field office on Friday, Jan. 19, 2024 in Houston. The FBI is offering a reward of up to $10k in the information leading to the identification of the person responsible. Elizabeth Conley/Staff Photographer A rug remains burn after a Buddhist nun used it put out a fire following a Nov. 5 arson at Huyen Trang Temple on Friday, Jan. 19, 2024 in New Caney. The FBI is offering a reward of up to $10k in the information leading to the identification of the person responsible. Elizabeth Conley/Staff Photographer The window screen is still ripped where a person threw in a lit mason jar filled with gasoline into the Huyen Trang Temple on November 5, 2023, photographed on January 19, 2023 in New Caney. The FBI is offering a reward of up to $10k in the information leading to the identification of the person responsible. Elizabeth Conley/Staff Photographer ASAC Heith Janke, with the FBI Houston Field Office, addresses the media about the on-going investigation to a Nov. 5, 2023 arson of the Huyen Trang Temple in New Caney, Texas in their Houston field office on Friday, Jan. 19, 2024 in Houston. The FBI is offering a reward of up to $10k in the information leading to the identification of the person responsible. Elizabeth Conley/Staff Photographer Kevin Bates with the Montgomery County Fire Marshals Office addresses the media about the on-going investigation to a Nov. 5, 2023 arson of the Huyen Trang Temple in New Caney, Texas in their Houston field office on Friday, Jan. 19, 2024 in Houston. The FBI is offering a reward of up to $10k in the information leading to the identification of the person responsible. Elizabeth Conley/Staff Photographer FBI SAC Doug Williams addresses the media about the on-going investigation to a Nov. 5 arson of the Huyen Trang Temple in New Caney, Texas in their Houston field office on Friday, Jan. 19, 2024 in Houston. The FBI is offering a reward of up to $10k in the information leading to the identification of the person responsible. Elizabeth Conley/Staff Photographer

In a previous report, Montgomery County Sheriff Rand Henderson said the community stands united against any act "threatening the peace and harmony we cherish."

We firmly believe in upholding the religious freedoms of our citizens, and we will continue to protect and respect these fundamental rights," Henderson said.
Welcome to Source Notes, a Future Tense column about the internets information ecosystem.

Wikipedia describes plagiarism as the representation of another persons language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions as ones own original work. The basic principle is that authors should give credit for something that they did not themselves produce. Sounds simple, right? Not something that could trigger a slew of angry op-ed pieces and inflame the social media discourse, right?

Wrong. Across the business and academic worlds, plagiarism is the gotcha issue of the age. Although its worth reading the full play-by-play from Slates own Nitish Pahwa, here is a high-level, Wikipedia-style summary of recent events: Bill Ackman, the billionaire hedge fund manager and well-known critic of DEI programs, fought for months to oust Claudine Gay, Harvards first Black president. According to Ackman, Gay failed to sufficiently protect Jewish students on Harvards campus in the wake of the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks and subsequent campus protests. In December, Gay appeared together with the presidents of Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Pennsylvania for a congressional hearing about antisemitism, after which Ackman joined the chorus of critics saying that Gay failed to show sufficient moral clarity on the issue.

But Ackman went further when he circulated a story to his 1.1 million followers on X that Gay had plagiarized up to 40 passages in her past academic work. Ackman tweeted that Gay had a serious plagiarism issue and suggested that an ordinary student would be expelled for similar behavior. Although Harvards governing board initially stood by Gay, it changed its mind following intense public pressure. On Jan. 2, Gay resigned, saying that stepping down was in the best interests of the university.

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Two days later, Business Insider reported that its investigative team had found numerous instances of plagiarism in the doctoral dissertation of Ackmans wife, Neri Oxman, formerly a tenured professor of design at MIT. In addition to copying from fellow scholars and her academic mentee, BI noted 15 instances in which Oxman copied sentences and whole paragraphs from Wikipedia without providing any attribution. For instance, Oxman copied hundreds of words from the Wikipedia entry on Weaving without adding quotation marks. (To conduct its analysis, BI used archived versions of Wikipedia to review the exact language that appeared on the site in 2010, when Oxman published her dissertation.)

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Since BI published its report, critics have claimed that the story is a tit-for-tat response to Ackmans own plagiarism charges against Gay. Thats almost certainly true, although an internal review nonetheless found that the article was accurate and well documented with no unfair bias. Nevertheless, Ackman has threatened to sue BI and its related corporate entities, in what may well become the next example of billionaires trying to punish the free press for unflattering coverage.

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For purposes of this specific Source Notes column, its perhaps best to park some issues and instead focus on a single thread: Is it really plagiarism to copy from Wikipedia without providing credit?

The answer is always the same: yes. You can use it, but you have to cite it because you didnt write it, said Susan Blum, a professor at the University of Notre Dame whose scholarship has focused on plagiarism and educational anthropology. The concept of plagiarism emerged with the commercialization of print in the 18th centurythe same period in which the concepts of individual authorship and copyright were being developed. In the modern university context, citing the source is a matter of both academic integrity and fundamental fairness. If a student copies something that they found somewhere, then in the currency of academia, theyre getting credit for something that they didnt actually produce, Blum said.

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While Oxman herself has admitted that she should have used quotation marks and has apologized for the mistakes, Ackman has attempted to deflect the charges against his wife, tweeting that Wikipedia is somehow exceptional as an open source platform and that, therefore, copying from it should not count as plagiarism.

But thats simply not true. Joseph Reagle, a professor at Northeastern University and co-editor of the book Wikipedia @ 20, said there are two overlapping and complementary frameworks involved: the legal framework of copyright, and the academic integrity issue of plagiarism. Legally, Wikipedia allows users to copy, modify, or publish Wikipedia content if the user attributes the source and shares the result under the same terms of its Creative Commons AttributionShareAlike license. At the same time, academic conventions require that scholars attribute others ideas or prose via citation or quotation marks. This is both an infringement of Wikipedias copyright and academic plagiarism, said Reagle, pointing to Page 81 of Oxmans thesis, where she used over 200 words verbatim from the Wikipedia article on Weaving, without attribution or quotation.

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More recently, Ackman has put forward other defenses for the court of public opinion. On Jan. 9, he tweeted that his wifes behavior should be excused based on the timing: Oxman wrote her dissertation in 2009, but MITs academic integrity policy did not specifically mention Wikipedia until 2013. That argument by Ackman is frankly absurd, wrote Molly White, a prominent Wikipedian and cryptocurrency skeptic, who posted a popular video response for the billionaire investor. Even though the 2009 MIT policy did not specifically mention Wikipedia, it nonetheless discouraged copying passages of text without attribution. In other words, the blanket rule of giving credit where its due covered all of this before the policy mentioned Wikipedia specifically.

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Its worth considering why an academic in Oxmans position might be reluctant to cite Wikipedia in their scholarly work. Although the encyclopedias reputation has certainly improved throughout the years, the site does not have a formal review process, and the open-editing framework can allow for errors to be introduced. (To be fair, vandalism seems to be caught quite quickly these days.) Within the academy, its considered a bit lazy for a scholar to cite any encyclopedias, including Wikipedia, which are considered to be indirect, tertiary sources rather than direct sources of information. An academic probably shouldnt be citing Encyclopedia Britannica either, said Blum.

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Then again, Reagle suggested, the media should be more precise with its language on this issue. Reporting that either Gay or Oxman plagiarized their dissertation implies that they stole the central ideas that appear in the published versions. I dont think this is the case, Reagle said. Instead, their dissertations contain plagiarized prose. This is a lesser but still significant infraction.

Related From Slate He Was Short. His Wikipedia Page Is Not. Read More

One reason for the apparent spike in plagiarism scandals is the increased availability of plagiarism detection tools like Turnitin and iThenticate, which scan from billions of webpages and databases. But these tools are also prone to give false positives, meaning that a human sleuth must go back and inspect a match. That doesnt bode well for MITs faculty, a group that Ackman has promised to target with a broad plagiarism investigation. Ultimately, MIT scholars may be forced to waste large amounts of time defending plagiarism charges that it took the A.I. merely seconds to detect.

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Blum reminds readers that every generation has its plagiarism scandals, and pointed to the example of Doris Kearns Goodwin, a reporter who in 2002 was removed from the Pulitzer board and PBS News Hour over findings of plagiarism. There is even a Wikipedia article, titled Plagiarism from Wikipedia, that cites several notable instances ranging from primatologist Jane Goodall to U.S. Sen. Rand Paul. (At press time, Oxmans name appears about two-thirds of the way down the list.)

Still, theres a cynical spirit to the latest plagiarism charges. In an interview last week with Andrew Ross Sorkin of CNBC, Ackman suggested that the plagiarism issue was mostly just his tool for ousting Gaynot something that he previously had strong feelings about. I reposted these findings [of alleged plagiarism] because, at that point, I was happy for her to leave for any reason, Ackman said. Id failed to convince this board on leadership, on moral clarity, on antisemitism on campus.

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In other words, Ackman was trying to find any reason to push Gay out. If the plagiarism charges hadnt stuck, he and his team would have continued hunting through Gays social media posts and academic record, trying to find grounds for dismissal. Now that Oxman has been accused of similar behavior, Ackman has somewhat changed his tune, tweeting, Some plagiarism arises from being human, and that his wife is intensely human, and she makes mistakes as we all do.

But it doesnt take an experienced Wikipedia editor to detect this quick slip from moral clarity to moral relativism. Sadly, none of the loudest voices in these scandals seem particularly concerned with shoring up academic integrity. And thats maybe why the situation appears so bleak. The plagiarism war cannot be resolved because the parties care only about their side winning.

Future Tense is a partnership of Slate, New America, and Arizona State University that examines emerging technologies, public policy, and society.
It doesnt need to be expensive to start a business. There are plenty of industries and types of startups that require very little upfront. If you only have a small amount to spend or just want to turn a profit quickly, here are a few business ideas you can start with $1,000.

Businesses You Can Start With 1000

If youre looking for small business ideas that dont require much upfront capital, here are several options to consider.

1. Affiliate Marketing Business

Affiliate marketers earn income by posting advertising and affiliate links on their own websites. Each time someone clicks through one of these links and makes a purchase, the site owner gets a small commission. There are tons of business niche examples within this field.

You can share anything from clothing and decor products to software and services for a business-to-business market. You just need a website or active social media accounts and relationships with brands that offer affiliate programs.

2. SEO Specialist

Many companies hire SEO businesses to improve their visibility on search engines like Google. This is generally a fully online business. So you just need a website and some expertise to get started. It may also help if you have existing experience in this area and contacts with other business professionals. Otherwise, you may need to invest in some online advertising to get your first clients.

3. Catering Business

A catering business doesnt require a physical location. So this is one of the main food service options that you can start without a huge upfront cost. To start your own catering business, youll need some cooking supplies and enough extra to purchase ingredients. Then you can use the earnings from each job to grow.

4. Social Media Coordinator

If youre interested in starting a social media business, offer your services online to brands that interest you. This really just requires a smartphone, computer, and internet connection. You may also benefit from a website and maybe some online or social media ads, depending on your existing contacts.

5. Local Airport Shuttle Business

Airport shuttles and executive transportation companies provide transportation services to and from the airport or other local spots. If you already have a quality vehicle, this business requires next to nothing to get started. You may spend your initial money on a website, booking app, or local advertising.

6. Landscaping Business

A landscaping service is a perfect option for those who love spending time outside. You just need some basic lawn care tools and transportation to get started. Most people interested in this type of business already have at least a lawnmower and a truck. Then you can use the profits from your initial jobs to invest in larger machinery, if necessary.

7. Food Delivery Services

You can start a business delivering food with just a mode of transportation and a way for people to contact you. This may include a website, an app, or even just a phone number. Some delivery businesses focus on carryout from restaurants, while others offer groceries or general errand services. So you can choose a niche within this area.

8. Online Print Shop

If youre looking for art business ideas that are cheap to start, consider selling prints of your work online. You can offer digital files for sale on your own website or on marketplaces like Etsy. You dont even need a space for inventory or printing if you stick with digital files. But it also doesnt cost much to offer physical prints of your work.

9. Event Photography Business

As an event photographer, you travel to clients for their weddings or special occasions and then provide them with digital photos. There are some nice cameras available used for under this price. Then you can upgrade or purchase additional lenses once youve shot a few events and made some extra cash.

10. Handyman Business

It doesnt cost much to offer basic repair services to local homeowners. If you already have some simple tools, you can use your startup funds to advertise locally or set up a website. However, many handyman businesses and local service providers simply use local marketplace or review sites to increase their visibility.

11. Packing and Moving Business

People moving to new homes are generally willing to pay for services that make the experience easier. If you already have a truck, you can offer full-service moving to local residents. If not, start by helping them pack or store items and then invest in other options like truck rental services as you get the extra funds.

12. Personal Trainer

Starting a personal training business really just requires access to gym space. You can even welcome clients to your home or offer personal training online. There are lots of fitness business resources available online. So you can research your favorite exercises and even get certified to offer specific types of services or classes.

13. Subscription Box Business

Subscription box businesses send out curated selections of products each month. Many of these are small. So you shouldnt need a ton of inventory to get started. And you can run this type of business from home, as long as you have enough room to sort items and get products ready for shipping.

More Ideas for Businesses to Start With 1K

Those are just a few examples of business ideas you can start for under $1,000. There are several more industries you can enter and serve potential clients with little to no money. If youre still looking, here are even more options to consider.

14. Business Consulting Services

A business consultant can start working with clients virtually. So all you need is a computer, an internet connection, and some business expertise to offer. You can even specialize in a specific area, like helping startups with the formation or providing input on marketing materials. Most business customers are happy to connect with consultants via email or video chat. And there are also other consulting business ideas that may include digital marketing consultants or those specializing in a specific industry.

15. Cleaning Business

To start a cleaning business, you really just need some basic supplies and a way to get to each job. This is a classic steady-income business, as long as you can gain clients who are willing to work with you on an ongoing basis. There are also specialized services in this industry. For example, you may offer options like carpet cleaning or providing professional disinfecting services to offices or medical facilities.

16. At-Home Hair Salon

If youre looking for beauty business ideas, a home-based or mobile hair salon can be inexpensive to start. You just need basic hair tools and maybe a website. Many stylists offer on-site services for special events like weddings, so you dont need a physical location. Other beauty business suggestions may include on-site makeup or nail businesses.

17. Online Jewelry Shop

Just about any business in the online handmade marketplace can be started without a ton of upfront cash. For a jewelry shop, you just need a few basic supplies and materials, like wires, clasps, and beads, to get started. You can also build your own website or rely on marketplaces like Etsy to keep costs low.

18. Mobile Coffee Cart

A coffee shop certainly costs more than $1,000 to start. But you can offer basic options from a mobile cart. You just need a coffee maker or dispenser, some cups, and a place to store them. You may also need a vendors license to sell products in busy commercial districts. This type of business often does well around office buildings or areas with lots of foot traffic.

19. Self-Published Author

If you have a book idea in mind, consider writing and self-publishing using online resources like Amazon. It mostly just requires your time to get your ideas into a digital document. Then you may invest in an editing service or rely on trusted friends and advisors to hone your work and get it ready for readers.

20. Wholesale Bakery

If you love baking, you can start a baking business without a dedicated storefront. You may need a permit and inspection for a home kitchen. But then all it takes is some basic ingredients and baking gear to get started. And you can sell anything from bread to cookies directly to local bakeries or even offer them online.

21. App Developer

With some basic app development skills, you can build your own mobile or desktop applications and earn income from sales or in-app purchases. These require very few resources to get started, as long as you already have a computer and access to development software or programs. Alternatively, you may offer app development services to other businesses. In these cases, youd charge a fee for the development of the app upfront.

22. Dating Site

There are dating sites for nearly every niche and interest group. All you need is a website and/or app to get started. Then you can charge users a fee to sign up or use the platform. Or you may earn income through other avenues like online ads. This same concept can apply to many other niche websites that people are willing to pay to use. For example, you could offer a membership site for business owners to connect or a mentorship community for youth in your community.

23. Mobile Auto Detailing Service

There arent a ton of automotive business ideas that you can start without significant startup costs. But a detailing business just requires some basic cleaning supplies. Then you can travel to your clients to provide services. Some local advertising or a website may also be beneficial. Over time, you can scale this business by hiring employees and expanding your service area. Or you may invest in a physical location with a full-service car wash.

24. Professional Organizing Business

Home organizing is a huge area of interest right now. If you have strong organizational skills, consider offering these services to others in your community. Just start your own website and advertise online or take out an ad in your local classified section. You may even offer additional services or niche down to a specialty like office organization services or hoarder cleanouts.

25. Social Media Influencer

All you need to start your own influencer social media business is your own accounts and a consistent posting schedule. Over time, with enough interaction, you can start to build relationships with brands and post sponsored content to your audience.

There are even agencies and marketplaces that connect brands and influencers. Many influencers also brand out with additional revenue streams like their own product lines or affiliate income. However, this isnt an overnight business idea; it often takes years to start earning income this way.

Our Methodology to Choose the Top Businesses to Start with Under $1000

When evaluating businesses that can be started with $1000 or less, our methodology revolves around analyzing key factors crucial for the successful initiation and sustainability of low-cost business ventures.

We employ a 1 to 10 rating scale for each criterion, where higher scores indicate a better fit for entrepreneurs with limited capital. This scale assists aspiring business owners in identifying opportunities that are not only financially feasible but also have a viable potential for growth and profitability.

Initial Investment Requirement (Rating: 9/10)

We assess the extent to which each business idea can be realistically initiated with a budget of $1000 or less. Ideas that require minimal upfront investment and have lower operating costs rate higher.

Market Demand and Profitability (Rating: 8/10)

Analyzing the market demand and potential profitability of each idea is crucial. Businesses that cater to a clear market need and have a solid potential for profit within a low-cost model score highly.

Skill and Knowledge Requirements (Rating: 7/10)

The level of specialized skills or knowledge required is evaluated. Business ideas that leverage common skills or offer easy learning curves are preferred, making them accessible to a broader range of individuals.

Scalability and Growth Potential (Rating: 8/10)

We consider the potential for scaling the business in the future. Ideas that can start small but have room for growth and expansion, even with limited initial investment, are rated favorably.

Flexibility and Work-Life Balance (Rating: 9/10)

The flexibility offered by the business in terms of work hours and the ability to maintain a work-life balance is assessed. Businesses that allow for flexible operation, particularly important for small-scale entrepreneurs, score higher.

Ease of Marketing and Customer Acquisition (Rating: 8/10)

We evaluate how easily the business can attract and retain customers, especially with low-cost marketing strategies like social media and word-of-mouth. Businesses that can effectively utilize low-cost marketing channels are rated higher.

Legal and Regulatory Considerations (Rating: 7/10)

The legal and regulatory requirements for starting and operating the business are analyzed. Business ideas with fewer compliance hurdles and minimal legal complexities are preferred for their ease of setup.

Innovation and Market Differentiation (Rating: 7/10)

The uniqueness and innovative aspect of the business idea are considered. Ideas that offer unique solutions or fill a specific niche in the market are viewed more favorably for their potential to stand out in the marketplace.

How Do I Choose the Right Business Idea Under $1,000?

Choosing the right business idea under $1,000 requires careful consideration of your interests, skills, and market demand. Follow these steps to help you make the right decision:

Self-Assessment: Identify your strengths, passions, and expertise. Consider what you enjoy doing and what skills you already possess that can be leveraged for a business idea.

Identify your strengths, passions, and expertise. Consider what you enjoy doing and what skills you already possess that can be leveraged for a business idea. Market Research: Research potential business ideas to understand their demand and viability. Look for industries or niches with growing customer bases and limited competition.

Research potential business ideas to understand their demand and viability. Look for industries or niches with growing customer bases and limited competition. Low-Cost Ventures: Focus on businesses that require minimal upfront investment. Look for opportunities that can be started from home, online, or with essential tools and equipment.

Focus on businesses that require minimal upfront investment. Look for opportunities that can be started from home, online, or with essential tools and equipment. Profit Potential: Evaluate the profit potential of each business idea. Consider factors like pricing, recurring revenue opportunities, and scalability.

Evaluate the profit potential of each business idea. Consider factors like pricing, recurring revenue opportunities, and scalability. Feasibility: Assess the feasibility of implementing your chosen idea with the available resources and budget. Avoid business ideas that exceed your financial constraints.

Assess the feasibility of implementing your chosen idea with the available resources and budget. Avoid business ideas that exceed your financial constraints. Passion and Interest: Choose a business idea that aligns with your passion and interest. Running a business can be challenging, but being passionate about your work can keep you motivated.

Steps to Choose the Right Business Idea Under $1,000 1. Self-Assessment Identify your strengths, passions, and expertise. Consider what you enjoy doing and what skills you already possess that can be leveraged for a business idea. 2. Market Research Research potential business ideas to understand their demand and viability. Look for industries or niches with growing customer bases and limited competition. 3. Low-Cost Ventures Focus on businesses that require minimal upfront investment. Look for opportunities that can be started from home, online, or with essential tools and equipment. 4. Profit Potential Evaluate the profit potential of each business idea. Consider factors like pricing, recurring revenue opportunities, and scalability. 5. Feasibility Assess the feasibility of implementing your chosen idea with the available resources and budget. Avoid business ideas that exceed your financial constraints. 6. Passion and Interest Choose a business idea that aligns with your passion and interest. Running a business can be challenging, but being passionate about your work can keep you motivated.

What Are Some Tips for Starting a Business on a Tight Budget?

Starting a business on a tight budget requires careful planning and resource management. Here are some tips to help you succeed:

Create a Detailed Budget: Prepare a comprehensive budget outlining all the necessary expenses, including equipment, supplies, marketing, and licenses. Stick to the budget and avoid unnecessary expenditures.

Prepare a comprehensive budget outlining all the necessary expenses, including equipment, supplies, marketing, and licenses. Stick to the budget and avoid unnecessary expenditures. Utilize Free or Low-Cost Tools: Take advantage of free or affordable online tools for tasks like website building, graphic design, and social media marketing.

Take advantage of free or affordable online tools for tasks like website building, graphic design, and social media marketing. Minimize Overhead Costs: Operate from home or consider shared workspaces to save on office rent. Negotiate with suppliers for discounts, and try to secure cost-effective deals.

Operate from home or consider shared workspaces to save on office rent. Negotiate with suppliers for discounts, and try to secure cost-effective deals. Focus on Lean Marketing: Use digital marketing strategies like social media, content marketing, and email campaigns to reach your target audience without breaking the bank.

Use digital marketing strategies like social media, content marketing, and email campaigns to reach your target audience without breaking the bank. Emphasize Customer Service: Word-of-mouth referrals can be powerful for a new business. Provide excellent customer service to build a loyal customer base and gain positive reviews.

Word-of-mouth referrals can be powerful for a new business. Provide excellent customer service to build a loyal customer base and gain positive reviews. Start Small and Scale: Begin with a minimum viable product or service and gather feedback from early customers. Use their input to refine and expand your offerings gradually.

Innovative Approaches to Maximizing Efficiency in Low-Cost Startups

Embracing Digital Tools and Automation

In todays digital age, leveraging online tools and automation can be a game-changer for businesses starting with limited capital. From using free or affordable digital marketing tools to automating administrative tasks, entrepreneurs can save time and resources.

This includes utilizing social media management tools, automating email marketing campaigns, and using project management software to streamline operations.

Adopting a Lean Business Model

A lean business model focuses on minimizing waste and maximizing value. For startups with a tight budget, this means being strategic about spending, avoiding unnecessary expenses, and prioritizing activities that directly contribute to revenue generation. It involves continuous evaluation of business processes and seeking ways to operate more efficiently.

Building Strategic Partnerships

Forming partnerships with other businesses or individuals can open doors to new resources, skills, and customer bases without requiring significant investment. This could involve bartering services, co-marketing initiatives, or collaborating on projects that benefit all parties involved.

Focusing on Niche Markets

Targeting a niche market allows entrepreneurs to focus their limited resources on a specific audience, making marketing efforts more effective and reducing competition. By understanding the unique needs of a niche market, startups can tailor their offerings more precisely, leading to higher customer satisfaction and loyalty.

Utilizing Community Resources

Many communities offer resources to support small businesses, such as business incubators, local networking events, and free or low-cost training programs. Leveraging these resources can provide valuable knowledge, mentorship, and networking opportunities, aiding in business growth and development.

Prioritizing Customer Experience

Even with a small budget, focusing on delivering an exceptional customer experience can lead to word-of-mouth referrals and repeat business, which are cost-effective ways to grow a customer base. This involves understanding customer needs, providing excellent service, and building strong relationships.

Exploring Alternative Revenue Streams

Diversifying income sources can help stabilize a startups finances. This could include offering complementary products or services, exploring subscription models, or creating digital content related to the business that can generate passive income.

The Art of Thriving on a Shoestring Budget

Starting and growing a business with less than $1,000 is an art that requires creativity, agility, and a strategic approach. By embracing digital tools, adopting a lean business model, building strategic partnerships, and focusing on niche markets, entrepreneurs can maximize their limited resources.

Utilizing community resources, prioritizing customer experience, and exploring alternative revenue streams are also key to achieving sustainable success. With these innovative approaches, entrepreneurs can turn their small-budget startups into thriving businesses.

What Is the Most Profitable Business You Can Start with 1000?

There are many profitable industries and successful business owners that have started with under $1,000. Your most profitable business idea may vary depending on your interests and expertise. However, online businesses like consultants, social media managers, and influencers tend to turn large profits quickly. And service businesses like photographers and auto detailers can be quite profitable as well.

What Are the Cheapest and Easiest Business Ideas to Start?

The cheapest and easiest businesses to start are generally those where a process or marketplace is already available to connect you with customers once you have a product or service to sell. For example, you can start a virtual assistant business and use online job sites to connect with clients. Or you may make a handmade product and sell it on online marketplaces.

What Are Some Small Town Business Ideas to Start for Less Than $1,000?

The local businesses that tend to be the least expensive to start are generally those that offer services and can be run from home. For example, you may offer local moving services, handyman repairs, or even landscaping services.

Can You Start Your Own Business for Less Than $1,000?

Yes, many business and consumer services can be offered with very little upfront cost. Even some product-based businesses dont require much capital. Most successful business owners that start with under $1,000 do so with online business ideas, like VA services, affiliate marketing sites, or dropshipping businesses.

Conclusion: Entrepreneurial Ventures Under $1,000

Debunking the High Capital Myth

Accessible Opportunities: A budget under $1,000 is sufficient to start numerous types of businesses.

A budget under $1,000 is sufficient to start numerous types of businesses. Diverse Industry Reach: These opportunities cater to various interests and skill sets, welcoming both seasoned and new entrepreneurs.

The Rise of Online Ventures

Digital Entrepreneurship: The internet has revolutionized business, making online ventures like affiliate marketing and e-commerce increasingly popular.

The internet has revolutionized business, making online ventures like affiliate marketing and e-commerce increasingly popular. Low Entry Barriers: These businesses offer global market access without the need for physical storefronts or significant investments.

Aligning Business with Passion and Expertise

Passion-Driven Success: Genuine interest and knowledge in your business area can attract customers and ensure long-term viability.

Genuine interest and knowledge in your business area can attract customers and ensure long-term viability. More Than Profit: Starting a business is about fulfilling personal and professional aspirations, not just financial gain.

Patience and Perseverance in Business Growth

Time and Dedication: Building a profitable business requires continuous effort and adaptation to market trends.

Building a profitable business requires continuous effort and adaptation to market trends. The Value of Persistence: Success often comes over time, necessitating patience and resilience, especially with limited initial funding.

Resourcefulness: A Key Entrepreneurial Trait

Smart Utilization of Resources: Effective use of digital tools and platforms can significantly reduce startup costs.

Effective use of digital tools and platforms can significantly reduce startup costs. Financial Savvy: Making informed financial decisions is crucial for maintaining a low-cost business model.

Embracing Scalability

Growth Potential: Even with modest beginnings, aim to expand your business over time.

Even with modest beginnings, aim to expand your business over time. Reinvestment and Diversification: Use profits to enhance your business, attract new customers, and broaden your offerings.

Building a Supportive Network

Community and Mentorship: Connect with mentors, advisors, and fellow entrepreneurs for guidance and support.

Connect with mentors, advisors, and fellow entrepreneurs for guidance and support. Leveraging External Resources: Utilize community resources, online forums, and networking events to gain insights and encouragement.

Starting a business with less than $1,000 is a viable and exciting prospect in todays diverse entrepreneurial landscape. With creativity, passion, and financial astuteness, aspiring business owners can turn their limited capital into a successful enterprise.

The key is to choose a venture that aligns with personal interests, leverages online opportunities, and has potential for growth. Patience, perseverance, and resourcefulness are essential in this journey, as is building a network of support and guidance.

The array of business ideas available today demonstrates the vast potential for success, regardless of the size of your initial investment.

READ MORE:
The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) has expressed significant concerns over the U.S. Department of Labors (DOL) latest rule on the classification of independent contractors. This statement comes amid growing tensions between regulatory practices and the practical realities faced by small businesses.

Beth Milito, Executive Director of NFIBs Small Business Legal Center, criticized the new rule as complicating what was previously a more straightforward process. Changing yet again the standards that determine whether a worker is an independent contractor will result in the confusion and risk of misclassification that the DOL claims it is trying to alleviate, Milito stated. This sentiment reflects the ongoing challenges small businesses face in navigating complex regulatory landscapes.

The DOLs multifactor test, intended to clarify the classification of workers, is seen by the NFIB as a potential source of increased misclassification and frivolous lawsuits. This concern is rooted in the potential for the new rule to disrupt the operational dynamics of small businesses, which are often less equipped than larger corporations to absorb the costs and complexities of regulatory compliance.

In 2021, the NFIB backed the DOLs then-straightforward test for independent contractor determination. This support highlights the organizations preference for simpler, more predictable regulatory frameworks that allow small businesses to operate with greater clarity and reduced risk.

The NFIB Small Business Legal Center plays a crucial role in advocating for the rights of small business owners in Americas courts. Currently active in over 40 cases across federal and state courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court, the NFIB is at the forefront of legal efforts to shape an environment conducive to small business success.

This development is significant for small businesses across the nation, as it represents not just a regulatory change but a shift in the landscape of employment classification. The potential impacts on small businesses, known for their agility and innovation, could be substantial. The NFIBs response underscores the ongoing debate over the balance between regulatory oversight and the practical needs of small business operations.
Technology has made our lives easier in so many ways, but it has also created opportunities for scammers. They take advantage of unsuspecting people using a technical support scam. In this article, well discuss twelve tech support scams you should be aware of. Knowing about them can help you protect yourself, and your computer, and help keep you from getting scammed online. Lets get started!

What are Technical Support Scams, and How Do They Work?

Technical support scams have been around for years, and are meant to steal your personal or financial information. Heres how they work: tech support scammers contact you and claim to be from a well-known tech company like Microsoft or Apple. They say theres a problem with your computer, and they need your help to fix it.

They might ask you to install malicious software that will give them access to your system, or they might try to get your credit or debit card information. Either way, theyre trying to steal your money. Dont fall for it! Hang up the phone and report the scam to the proper authorities.

Common Tech Support Scams Businesses Face

Businesses that both offer and use technical support services are often the targets of scammers. Lets take a look at some common scams businesses face and should be aware of.

1. Online Ads & Listings in SERPS

Scammers will place online ads and listings on search engine results pages (SERPS), often using the name of a legitimate company. They may also create a fake website that looks like the real companys site.

When potential customers click on the ad or listing, theyre taken to the scammers site or given a fake phone number to call. The scammer then tries to sell the customer unnecessary support services or software, or convince them to give up their personal or financial information.

2. Scam Programs

Scammers will create fake versions of legitimate software programs and offer them for download. These programs may contain malware that can infect your system, or they may be completely useless. Either way, the scammer is trying to get you to install their software so they can either steal your information or sell you unnecessary support services.

3. Suspicious or Unknown Pop-up Window

Youre browsing the web and a pop-up window appears, asking you to call a phone number for tech support. The message may say that your computer is infected with a virus or that theres a problem with your account.

Dont call the number! These fake alerts are a scam designed to get you to give up your personal or financial information.

4. Phishing Emails or Text Messages

Scammers will send a phishing email or text message that appears to be from a legitimate company. They may say theres a problem with your account or that you need to update your information. The message will often include a link to a fake website that looks like the real companys site.

Dont click on the link! If you do, you may be taken to a site that will ask you for your personal or financial information. Or, the link may download malware onto your computer.

5. Scam Websites

Scammers will create fake websites that look like the real thing. They may use a similar domain name to the legitimate website or a slight misspelling. Or, they may create a subdomain of the real site (for example, support.example.com). When you visit the site, you may be asked to enter your personal or financial information. Or, you may be offered fake support services or software for download. Either way, the scammer is trying to steal your information.

6. Tech Support Phone Scams

This scam works by the scammer placing unsolicited phone calls to a business and pretending to be a computer technician from a tech support company. The scammer will then tell the business that they are experiencing problems with their operating system and that they need to take action immediately.

The scammer then provides the business with one of the scam phone numbers to call. The business calls the number and reaches a person also pretending to be from tech support. The person on the other end of the line will then tell the business that they need to pay for tech support in order to fix the problem. The business will then be scammed out of money.

7. Remote Desktop Software Scams

Scammers often ask victims to download and install remote desktop software under the guise of resolving a computer issue. Once installed, the scammer gains full access to the victims computer, potentially stealing sensitive information or installing malware. They may also demand payment for the service they provided.

8. Social Media Tech Support Impersonation

Scammers are increasingly using social media platforms to impersonate tech support from well-known companies. They respond to your tech queries or complaints on social media and then direct you to fraudulent websites or phone numbers. Through these channels, they might offer to fix nonexistent problems for a fee or install malware on your device.

9. Fake Tech Support Job Scams

These scams target individuals looking for tech support jobs. Scammers post fake job listings and when applicants respond, they are asked to pay for training, certification, or a startup kit. The job doesnt exist, and the scammer walks away with the money and personal information provided during the application process.

10. Voicemail Phishing (Vishing)

In this scam, victims receive a voicemail purportedly from a legitimate tech support company, warning them about a security breach or software issue. The voicemail includes a callback number, and when the victim calls, theyre pressured into providing sensitive information or allowing remote access to their computer.

11. Overpayment Tech Support Scam

In this scenario, a scammer posing as a customer contacts a tech support service provider, seeking assistance. After receiving the service, they intentionally overpay, often by a significant amount, using a fraudulent account or stolen credit card. They then ask the service provider to refund the excess amount, usually to a different account, effectively laundering money through the business.

12. Fake Antivirus Software Alerts

Scammers use pop-up alerts on websites that warn you about viruses supposedly found on your computer. These alerts look legitimate and prompt you to download antivirus software, which is actually malware. Alternatively, they may direct you to a fraudulent website where youre asked to input credit card information to purchase the fake antivirus software.

How Bad is the Problem?

Tech support scams are a problem that is growing more and more each year. Elderly adults are especially vulnerable to these scams, as they are often targeted by tech support scammers who pose as legitimate tech support staff. Victims of tech support fraud lose an average of $200, though some have lost thousands of dollars.

Tips for Avoiding Tech Support Scams

Here are four tips to help you avoid tech support scams:

Initiate Communication Caution: Remember that legitimate tech companies never initiate unsolicited calls for tech support. If an unknown caller claims to be from tech support, its wise to hang up. Scammers often employ this tactic to catch you off guard, so remain vigilant and skeptical of uninvited communications.

Remember that legitimate tech companies never initiate unsolicited calls for tech support. If an unknown caller claims to be from tech support, its wise to hang up. Scammers often employ this tactic to catch you off guard, so remain vigilant and skeptical of uninvited communications. Research Reputable Companies: Go the extra mile by conducting research before engaging with a tech support provider. Visit the official company website to identify authorized phone numbers. In the digital age, caller ID can also aid in verifying the authenticity of incoming tech support calls. This diligence ensures you deal exclusively with trusted entities.

Go the extra mile by conducting research before engaging with a tech support provider. Visit the official company website to identify authorized phone numbers. In the digital age, caller ID can also aid in verifying the authenticity of incoming tech support calls. This diligence ensures you deal exclusively with trusted entities. Guard Your Personal Information: A cardinal rule in navigating tech support is never sharing sensitive data like passwords or credit card numbers. Genuine tech support will never request such information. Exercise caution when divulging personal or financial details to unfamiliar individuals, thereby mitigating potential risks.

A cardinal rule in navigating tech support is never sharing sensitive data like passwords or credit card numbers. Genuine tech support will never request such information. Exercise caution when divulging personal or financial details to unfamiliar individuals, thereby mitigating potential risks. Fortify with Updated Antivirus Software: Staying one step ahead is paramount. Regularly update your antivirus software and perform routine scans. This proactive approach guards your system against malware that scammers may attempt to implant. By maintaining an active line of defense, you enhance your computers resilience against cyber threats.

Strategy Description Initiate Communication Caution Legitimate tech companies never initiate unsolicited calls. Beware of unknown callers claiming to be tech support. Hang up on suspicious calls to protect yourself from scammers using surprise tactics. Stay vigilant and skeptical of unsolicited communications. Research Reputable Companies Conduct thorough research before engaging with a tech support provider. Visit official websites to find authorized phone numbers. Utilize caller ID to verify the authenticity of incoming "tech support" calls. Ensure interactions only with trusted entities. Guard Your Personal Information Never share sensitive data like passwords or credit card numbers with tech support. Authentic providers will never ask for such information. Be cautious when disclosing personal or financial details to unknown individuals. Fortify with Updated Antivirus Software Proactively protect your system by keeping antivirus software up-to-date and performing regular scans. This approach thwarts attempts by scammers to implant malware. Strengthen your computer's defenses against cyber threats.

Incorporating these expanded insights into your cybersecurity practices equips you with the knowledge and tools to thwart tech support scams. By nurturing a culture of caution, diligence, and continuous learning, you empower yourself to navigate the digital landscape with confidence and security.

How Do You Tell if its a Tech Support Scammer?

Knowing what legitimate tech companies do versus what scammers do is very important in avoiding becoming a victim of financial fraud. Be aware of requests for payment by cash reload card or wire transfer.

These are both red flags that youre dealing with a scammer. Also, remember that you can always proactively seek out tech support from a reputable company rather than waiting for someone to contact you.

What To Do if Youve Already Been Scammed?

If youve already been scammed, the first thing you should do is call your credit card company. Explain the situation to the financial institution and ask them to cancel the charges. You should also change any passwords that you may have given out. Finally, be sure to run a scan of your computer with antivirus software to remove any malware that may have been installed.

How Do You Report a Tech Support Scam?

Reporting tech support scams to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is one way to help put a stop to these fraudulent activities. You can also report tech support scams to your state attorney generals office.

How Do You Recover from a Remote Access Scam?

If youve been the victim of a remote access scam, recovering from the experience can be a challenge. The first thing you should do is change all of your passwords. You should also run a scan of your computer with antivirus software to remove any malware that may have been installed. Finally, be sure to contact your financial institution and explain the situation. They may be able to help you recover any money that was stolen from you.

Conclusion

Technologys transformative power has revolutionized the way we live, but it has also opened doors for scammers to exploit unsuspecting individuals through technical support scams. In the digital age, its crucial to be well-informed about the various schemes these fraudsters employ to protect both yourself and your computer.

Understanding the mechanics of technical support scams and their operational tactics is paramount to safeguarding your personal and financial information. Recognizing that these scams often involve impersonating reputable tech companies like Microsoft or Apple, and falsely claiming computer issues, is a critical first step in avoiding falling victim.

The growth of tech support scams, particularly among vulnerable demographics, underscores the urgency of awareness. As these scams continue to evolve, its imperative to stay informed and educate family and friends about the risks, particularly targeting elderly adults.

This article has provided insights into some of the common tech support scams, including online ad and listing scams, phishing emails, suspicious pop-ups, and scam websites. Armed with knowledge, youre better equipped to recognize the red flags and protect yourself from falling prey to these malicious tactics.

Staying proactive is key: initiate communication with tech support rather than responding to unsolicited calls, verify the legitimacy of companies, refrain from sharing personal information, and keep your antivirus software updated. These practices collectively serve as a robust defense against potential threats.

In the unfortunate event that you do encounter a tech support scam, remember that taking swift action is crucial. Contact your financial institution, cancel unauthorized charges, change passwords, and use antivirus software to rid your system of any malware.

By reporting tech support scams to authorities like the Federal Trade Commission and your state attorney generals office, you contribute to the collective effort in curbing these fraudulent activities. Combining vigilance, education, and proactive measures, you can navigate the digital landscape with confidence, ensuring your safety and security online.
Boost your small business without the debt! Grants offer free fuel for growth. Invest in new equipment, marketing, or training without loan hassles. Keep ownership intact, showcase innovation, and impress potential investors. Grants unlock possibilities: expand your reach, hire talent, or launch groundbreaking projects. Fuel your ambition, not your loan repayment. Explore grants and ignite your growth!

Storefront improvement grants can help with the physical restorations of a location, which are often costly for small businesses. So, grant programs can help make these upgrades more realistic. Currently, several cities and organizations across the country are running such programs to support their downtown business districts and economies.

Small Business News January 19, 2024

In the news this week, Salesforce revealed the e-commerce landscape is undergoing a transformative phase, with artificial intelligence (AI) playing an increasingly pivotal role. In related news, Adobe also revealed the 2023 holiday season witnessed a remarkable 4.9% year-over-year growth in online spending, reaching a new high of $222.1 billion. For these and other small business news, here is the weekly roundup.

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) announced a record-breaking surge in new business applications, totaling 16 million under the Biden-Harris Administration. This unprecedented growth, marking the strongest year of new business applications on record, symbolizes a significant boom in small business entrepreneurship.

The eCommerce landscape is undergoing a transformative phase, with artificial intelligence (AI) playing an increasingly pivotal role, as evidenced by the findings of Salesforces latest State of Commerce report. The 2023 holiday shopping season has not only seen record-high discount rates but also a significant surge in AI-influenced purchases.

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) commemorates the one-year anniversary of its Veteran Small Business Certification (VetCert) program today.

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) has taken steps to assist small businesses grappling with the challenges of loan compliance and repayment in the wake of the pandemic.

As the 2024 tax filing season approaches, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), in conjunction with Security Summit partners, has issued a crucial warning to tax professionals regarding a significant rise in email scams. These scams, often presenting themselves as new client inquiries, are sophisticated attempts by cybercriminals to access sensitive data.

Spatial computing may be about to revolutionize how we conduct business, with experts predicting that there will be 1.4 billion devices worldwide featuring augmented reality (AR) by the end of 2024.

What drives some people to always be first? That is, the first person to do or experience something. Brooklyn-born Omero C. Catan was known by New Yorkers as Mr. First. The name is quite literal since in a career where he had been the first person to participate at 537 historic opening days across the East Coast.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has issued an important reminder to all employers about the impending January 31 deadline for submitting important tax documentation. This deadline is critical for the efficient processing of wage statements and forms related to independent contractors.

Adobe Analytics has revealed that the 2023 holiday season witnessed a remarkable 4.9% year-over-year growth in online spending, reaching a new high of $222.1 billion. This surge in e-commerce was fueled by significant discounts across various categories and the increasing popularity of the Buy Now, Pay Later payment method.

TikTok has announced a significant upgrade to its app, optimizing it for use on larger screens and foldable devices. This move is set to enhance the experience for users who enjoy accessing TikTok beyond the confines of their mobile phones.

Northridge Construction Corporation, a Long Island-based company, has pleaded guilty to criminal charges related to a worker safety violation that resulted in the death of an employee. The plea was entered in federal court in Central Islip, New York, with a sentencing hearing scheduled for April 3.
Peter Kotlar is an SNS MP.

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On Thursday, Slovak National Party (SNS) MP and known anti-vaxxer Peter Kotlar was appointed as the government's official proxy to lead the inquiry into the management of the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to a motion filed by Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer), the task of the proxy will be "to carry out coordination tasks aimed at assessing and analysing the lawfulness, economic efficiency, purpose and efficacy of measures approved in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020-22." The motion goes on to assert that the management of pandemic measures was characterised by failures to protect basic rights and freedoms.

Kotlar's goal will be to ensure that "similar failures by the state" do not happen again.

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In previous comments to disinformation media that would seem to prejudge the outcome of his investigation, Kotlar said that he wants to examine whether measures to contain the pandemic "were not a crime against humanity, threatening the health of our citizens (we already know today that it was!)". At the same time he wants to investigate the media, public figures and politicians "involved in propaganda with the aim of attaining a result that today can be considered a crime".

Kotlar has long been involved in the internet video streaming operation TV Slovan, which propagates distorted claims and hoaxes. Speaking on air, he claimed that he had never been vaccinated, even though he was a health professional. Neither of his children have been vaccinated.

Culture Minister Martina Simkovicova has also presented her views on the channel.

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Related article Infodemic hit Slovakia as well Read more

The opposition Christian Democratic Movement (KDH) called Kotlar a conspirator. The party says that although certain things would now, with the benefit of hindsight, be done differently, the country was caught off guard in 2020 and did as much as possible for patients. The KDH agrees that Slovakia should return to the issue, but that the goal should be to prepare for similar crisis events in the future.

"To investigate the pandemic, Slovakia does not need Mr Kotlar, who wants to examine the presence of microparticles and microchips in the vaccines," the party said.

Progresivne Slovensko MP Oskar Dvorak said that he expects Kotlar to continue to spread disinformation.
Have you ever had a Chartreuse Cappuccino?

Its simply the zippiest, sweetest, most herbaceously complex coffee cocktail Ive ever had. And even better, we know exactly to whom it should be credited.

This is a rare thing in coffee. The multi-faceted, multi-national nature of coffee lends itself naturally to the phenomenon of mutual invention. But cocktails have a way of sticking to their creators legacies in a different way. We know exactly who invented the Irish Coffee (Joe Sheridan), the Espresso Martini (Dick Bradsell), and the White Russian (Gustave Tops). Other popular cocktails, however, are lost to time; we do not know who invented the Carajillo, the Coffee Nudge, or the original coffee-variant Negroni, of which there are now hundreds.

The Chartreuse Cappuccino was invented by Paul Einbund. It is a contemporary, 21st century cocktail that should enter the wider drinks pantheon as an undeniably Very Good Drink. Einbund is the proprietor of The Morris, a restaurant with an outstanding drinks program on the eastern edge of San Franciscos Mission District, near the base of Potrero Hill. One of the restaurants specialties is the arcane, deeply secretive, increasingly rare and utterly delicious alpine liqueur Chartreuse.

There is no one Chartreuse. It comes in both green and yellow varieties, whose flavoristic and textural properties vary significantly. There is considerable variation between vintages of Chartreuse, and also several sub-varieties of Chartreuse, including a rare VEP bottling and higher proof bottlings. Its recipe is a closely guarded secret, comprising more than 130 distinct herbs foraged from the mountains north of Grenoble, in the far southeastern corner of France. The liqueur has been produced continuously by Carthusian monks since the early 18th century. Its existence today is the subject of much inquiry and shortage. The fact we even get to drink it at all is one of those miracles of combined human knowledge and trade and history and mysticism that makes you feel lucky to be alive.

The Morris is home to some 30 listed bottlings of Chartreuse on its epic wine and spirits menu, dating back to the first decade of the 20th century. Back in 2019 I interviewed Paul Einbund for a story on one particularly rare (and perhaps quite disgusting) lost bottling of Chartreuse, and began visiting The Morris in earnest whilst in San Francisco. It was there, lurking in the dessert portion of Pauls menu, I noticed the Chartreuse Cappuccino as an original after-dinner cocktail.

By god, is it good. Creamy! Steamy! Herbal and sweet and luscious but utterly perfectly paired with espresso and milk. The sort of drink you order a first round of, then a second. And so utterly original! Id never had anything like it. We had to learn more.

The more we learned, the more we fell in love. The secret to Pauls technique draws on a spinning globe of influences. He starts with yellow Chartreuse, which is slightly more mellow than the green stuff (though this can depend by vintage). He mixes that Chartreuse with milk and palm sugar, which is an absolutely critical component to this drink. That suggestion comes from Vanessa Yap Einbund, who runs a very good design studio in San Francisco and has helped provide website design and brand identity to some really cool projects throughout the Bay Area. She grew up with palm sugar as a part of her familys Indonesian cooking, and suggested using it in developing the Chartreuse Cappuccino.

The end result is dangerously logical, and utterly modern. Use local dairy milk, or a quality alternative milk (we love Pacific Foods Barista Series). Combine Chartreuse from France, palm sugar from Indonesia, a delicious espresso blend (at The Morris they use Linea Caffe), and steam it using espresso machine technology and design heritage from Italy (at The Morris they have a La Marzocco GS3). You wind up with what I think is the best new coffee cocktail anyone has invented this century.

So passionate and sure are we about the goodness of the Chartreuse Cappuccino that we politely begged Paul to let us include it in our new book, the coffee cookbook and cocktail compendium But First, Coffee. He politely obliged. This is especially exciting for us because it places us as part of the pantheon of recording these sorts of things, establishing record of where a drink came from, and preserving that information for future drinkers.

Below youll find a recipe for Paul Einbunds Chartreuse Cappuccino, which you absolutely should make at home or in your cafe at the next possible convenience. Please take photos and tag us when you do. But even better, if you happen to live near the city of San Francisco (or would like to be induced into making travel plans), please join us on January 31st, 2024 at The Morris restaurant for an evening celebration of the Chartreuse Cappuccino. The event, which we are calling Cappy Hour, runs from 5-7pm, and is open to the public with drinks and signed books available to purchase in partnership with Omnivore Books, San Franciscos premiere culinary bookseller.

Now, on to the drink. All of the ingredients (except for the espresso) are steamed together in a milk pitcher, all as one. Use palm sugar in a standard one to one ratio with water to make your syrup, and be sure to make a little extrait is glorious stuff, and can be readily ordered online if its unavailable in a store near you.

The Chartreuse Cappuccino (created by Paul Einbund, The Morris, San Francisco)

INGREDIENTS

1 ounce yellow Chartreuse

4 ounces whole milk or alternative milk of your choice

1 teaspoon palm sugar syrup

1 espresso shot

DIRECTIONS

Add the Chartreuse, milk, and palm sugar syrup to a steaming pitcher for milk. Steam the mixture. Frothy, traditional cappuccino foam is your goal. The steamed milk will be fragrant and delicious.

Serve in good ceramic. A dusting of matcha powder on top of the finished drink does provide a bit of nice contrast, but is purely optional.

Join Sprudge + The Morris for Cappy Hour on Wednesday, January 31st. More details click here!
https://sputnikglobe.com/20240118/carlson-haley-or-stefanik-who-will-trump-pick-as-vp-on-2024-ticket-1116257647.html

Carlson, Haley or Stefanik: Who Will Trump Pick as VP on 2024 Ticket?

Carlson, Haley or Stefanik: Who Will Trump Pick as VP on 2024 Ticket?

Sputnik International

The selection of a vice presidential candidate is said by followers of US politics to create an opportunity to balance the ticket, but some running mates bring risks as well as rewards.

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Observers say Donald Trump is on a glide path to the Republican nomination after his thumping victory in the Iowa caucuses, with polls showing the former US president in the lead even in the home states of his rivals. Trumps lasting popularity comes even in the face of an unprecedented 91 felony charges which could dramatically upend this years race for the White House.Given Trumps commanding victory Monday, speculation is emerging over who the billionaire would choose as his vice presidential pick for Novembers election. His selection of former Indiana Governor Mike Pence was said to play a role in securing the backing of social conservatives in 2016, although Trump himself was allegedly ambivalent about the decision. The two famously had a major falling out, with Trump viewing Pence as disloyal in the wake of Trumps questioning of the outcome of the 2020 election.In trademark dramatic fashion, Trump teased he already had a vice presidential candidate in mind at a recent town hall although an adviser later clarified nothing is finalized. Here, Sputnik takes a look at some of the top contenders for the job as well as what their selection may entail for US foreign policy and the countrys backing of Ukraine in the protracted Donbass conflict. Some picks would rally distinct factions of the GOPs base while one in particular would provoke major controversy.Tucker CarlsonGiven former Fox News host Tucker Carlson has no experience in electoral politics, the firebrand media personality may at first seem like an odd choice for vice president of the United States. Conventional analysis has speculated Trump may prefer a candidate with experience in Congress to help navigate the passage of legislation in the House and Senate. Still, Carlson is undeniably popular with many Republicans and has an international profile.Carlson was a faithful supporter of Trump throughout his tenure as nightly host on Fox News, fulfilling Trumps key criteria that any running mate should be unquestionably loyal. Trump was said to have frequently watched Carlsons program during his time in the White House. As other GOP candidates took to the debate stage in August, Trump instead recorded an interview with the popular commentator, showing the two still share a close relationship.The selection of Carlson would demonstrate Trumps commitment to shaking up Washingtons mainstream foreign policy establishment as the media personality has consistently questioned US support for the Zelensky regime in Ukraine. Carlson even invited traditionally left-wing figures on his program to critique American foreign policy, such as when he spoke to investigative journalist Aaron Mate about the role of the United States in the Nord Stream pipeline sabotage. The hosts anti-establishment foreign policy views helped make him the bete noire of liberal media outlets like The New York Times.Carlson remains a dark horse candidate for vice president, as acknowledged recently by Donald Trump Jr. and the National Republican Senatorial Committee. Trump spoke favorably of the idea recently, saying Carlson has great common sense.But it remains to be seen whether the former president would make such a provocative choice given he already faces documented opposition from Americas powerful foreign policy deep state.Vivek RamaswamyLike Carlson, American tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy would also be an unorthodox choice for VP. The upstart presidential candidate also has no formal political experience and was virtually unknown in the United States just one year ago. Still, Ramaswamy has made a splash in Republican Party politics with his blunt rhetoric and criticism of mainstream media.Ramaswamy was mentioned as a popular VP choice recently by conservative activist Charlie Kirk, and speculation intensified when he shared a stage with Trump shortly after dropping out of the presidential primary contest this week.Still, others say Ramaswamys views and style are too similar to Trumps to make him a suitable vice presidential pick. But a Trump-Ramaswamy ticket would be another powerful sign of widespread opposition to US foreign policy orthodoxy.Nikki HaleyFormer South Carolina Governor and UN ambassador Nikki Haley may have had the most meteoric rise out of all of this years contenders for the GOP presidential nomination. Although shes been out of electoral politics since 2018, Haley has performed strongly in polls and debates and has cemented her position as the pick of many powerful voices in the Republican Party establishment. Given her performance, she would seem to be a natural choice for Trumps vice president, and indeed much speculation has emerged about a Trump-Haley ticket.But the candidate has engendered intense opposition from many Trump supporters. Radio talk show host Charlie Kirk again sounded off on her suitability as VP this week in a strongly-worded warning on the X social media platform (formerly Twitter).The post was endorsed by maverick Florida representative and Trump supporter Matt Gaetz of Florida.Haley is likely the strongest supporter of US aid to Ukraine in this years Republican presidential nomination contest, even as other candidates like Ron DeSantis have demonstrated ambivalence toward the policy. Haleys stance has won her admiration from foreign policy elites but opposition from others.Trump himself also seems to harbor resent for the former diplomat, turning to his Truth Social platform recently to attack Haley. Trump posted an edited photo of his Republican Party opponent, placing Haleys face on the body of 2016 Democratic Party candidate Hillary Clinton, cementing the impression the two are similar in their hawkish foreign policy views.Elise StefanikUpstate New York Rep. Elise Stefanik maintains a lower profile than other candidates on Trumps VP shortlist, but the GOP lawmaker has done much to endear herself to the former president over the last several years.Stefanik became a strong Trump supporter after his surprise victory in the 2016 election, ultimately becoming one of his most loyal backers in Washington. The New York congresswoman worked on Trumps defense team during his impeachment in 2019 and continued to back the former president amidst his challenge of the 2020 election results.Stefaniks profile grew recently as she made headlines with her tough questioning of university leaders during campus antisemitism hearings in Congress. The saga convinced Trump advisers of the 39-year-old lawmakers toughness and messaging abilities.She picks her shots and she knows where her leverage is, said former Trump strategist Steve Bannon. And she understands something thats quite rare today, which is modern communications. She knows what can make an impact. So shes clearly a huge talent.Observers say Stefanik may effectively thread the needle of representing a VP pick with some mass appeal who still doesnt upstage Trump. Analysts speculate she would help the former president broaden his appeal in the general election without offending his strongest supporters.Haleys name was thrown around a lot because they were looking for someone to come onto the ticket that can win over a certain demographic of the electorate that Trump has struggled with, explained New York Young Republican Club President Gavin Wax. But I think anything that Nikki Haley would have brought to the table, Elise brings to the table  without costing any votes from the base, or from MAGA, or from more conservative voters.

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20240118/desantis-admits-to-faulty-2024-election-strategy-i-should-have-gone-on-everything-1116256455.html

DeSantis Admits to Faulty 2024 Election Strategy: I Should Have Gone on Everything

DeSantis Admits to Faulty 2024 Election Strategy: I Should Have Gone on Everything

Sputnik International

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis admitted to radio host Hugh Hewitt on Thursday that his presidential campaigns media strategy was an error.

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Florida Governor Ron DeSantis admitted to radio host Hugh Hewitt on Thursday that his presidential campaigns media strategy was riddled with missteps. Rather than focusing on conservative media outlets, the Republican contender confessed that he should have had a more blanketed approach to his media outreach.At the beginning of 2023, DeSantis seemed fairly matched with Trump in the GOP 2024 primary polls: in early January of last year Trump held 45% while DeSantis held about 35%. On Thursday, Trumps poll numbers soared to 65%, while former UN ambassador and governor Nikki Haley stood at 12% and DeSantis took 11%.Despite what was forecasted to be a strong lead, DeSantis has struggled to cut into Trumps popularity. On Monday, he finished second in the Iowa caucuses while Trump came in first by a wide margin. Haley finished third.In July, DeSantis campaign tried to shift their media strategy in order to incorporate more mainstream networks and town halls. He was also the only candidate to accept an invitation to participate in the ABC News/WMUR debate that was scheduled for Thursday in New Hampshire.

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20240118/gonzalo-liras-demise-in-ukraine-echoes-yet-the-us-stays-mum-1116231509.html

Gonzalo Lira's Demise in Ukraine Echoes, Yet the US Stays Mum

Gonzalo Lira's Demise in Ukraine Echoes, Yet the US Stays Mum

Sputnik International

On this episode of Fault Lines, host Melik Abdul discussed several domestic and international topics, including the Chilean-American YouTuber and war commentator Gonzalo Liras death in the custody of the Ukrainian regime after months of imprisonment after his critical comments against the authorities.

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Gonzalo Lira's Demise in Ukraine Echoes, Yet the U.S. Stays Mum Sputnik International On this episode of Fault Lines, host Melik Abdul discussed several domestic and international topics, including the Chilean-American YouTuber and war commentator Gonzalo Liras death in the custody of the Ukrainian regime after months of imprisonment after his critical comments against the authorities.

In the first hour, Fault Lines spoke to Ukrainian whistleblower and former diplomat Andrii Telizhenko about the death of Gonzalo Lira, a Chilean-American war commentator known for his critical views on the Ukranian regime, in a hospital in Ukraine. Lira's death followed months of imprisonment for his critical comments against the Ukrainian authorities, ultimately leading to international controversy and raising concerns about freedom of speech and human rights during wartime.In the second hour, podcaster, owner & CEO of the Mill Creek View, Steven Abramowicz joins Fault Lines to analyze the potential vice-presidential candidate for former President Trump's ballot and discuss the upcoming New Hampshire GOP primary in anticipation of the 2024 general presidential elections.The final hour features attorney and CEO of Gill Media Steve Gill, addressing the border crisis and the ongoing dispute between the Federal government and Texas over immigration enforcement authority. This follows Texas taking control of a city park along the Rio Grande, leading to denied access for Border Patrol agents.The views and opinions expressed in this program are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the position of Sputnik.We'd love to get your feedback at radio@sputniknews.comCatch us in the US at 105.5FM, 104.7FM, 102.9FM, 1390AM, 1140AM

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A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from NASA's Kennedy Space Center on Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. Four private astronauts are making a trip to the International Space Station. John Raoux/Associated Press Houston's Axiom Space launched its third astronaut crew to the International Space Station on Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024. The crew, from left, are Marcus Wandt, Walter Villadei, Michael Lopez-Alegria and Alper Gezeravc. Axiom Space A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Kennedy Space Center's Launch Pad 39-A, Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. Four private astronauts are making a trip to the International Space Station. (AP Photo/John Raoux) John Raoux/Associated Press Axiom-3 mission astronauts, from left, mission specialist Marcus Wandt, of Sweden, mission specialist Alper Gezeravci, of Turkey, pilot Walter Villadei, of Italy, and Commander Michael Lopez-Alegria wave to family after arriving at the Kennedy Space Center, Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024, in Cape Canaveral, Fla., to prepare for this afternoon's launch to the International Space Station. (AP Photo/John Raoux) John Raoux/Associated Press A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Kennedy Space Center's Launch Pad 39-A, Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. Four private astronauts are making a trip to the International Space Station. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara) Chris O'Meara/Associated Press Crowds on the beach in Cape Canaveral, Fla., watch the booster landing from the Axiom-3 launch that sent four private astronauts to the International Space Station, Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024. (Malcolm Denemark/Florida Today via AP) Malcolm Denemark/Associated Press

Houstons Axiom Space sent its third mission to the International Space Station on Thursday, launching an all-European crew as part of its efforts  and business model  to expand international access to space.

The crew launched atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from NASAs Kennedy Space Center at 3:49 p.m. CST. The members included Walter Villadei, with the Italian Air Force; Alper Gezeravc, from Turkey; Marcus Wandt, representing Sweden and the European Space Agency; and Michael Lopez-Alegria, a former NASA astronaut with citizenship in the U.S. and Spain.

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Its the first trip into orbit for Villadei, Gezeravc and Wandt. And Gezeravc is the first Turkish astronaut to reach space.

As the children of this nation, we have been always blocked with the limit of the sky that we could see with our bare eyes, Gezeravc said. And now this mission is opening that curtain all the way to the end, and our journey is starting from this moment on.

Axiom Space is building a commercial space station  the first module is set to launch in late 2026  and expects much of its business to come from other nations wanting to build out their space programs. The companys missions to the International Space Station are a proving ground to learn how to operate these space missions and to begin enticing other countries. Its two previous missions flew citizens from the U.S., Israel, Canada and Saudi Arabia.

The idea of opening up space to more entities, more people, more countries, more researchers, these are things that are fundamental to the establishment of a station, Lopez-Alegria said, because we want that commercial space station to be a destination not only for the users of the ISS today but also many more people.

The mission that launched Thursday, Ax-3, is expected to reach the International Space Station on Saturday. The crew should spend about two weeks onboard.

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Its the sixth spaceflight for Lopez-Alegria, who is commanding the crew and helping them acclimate to life on the station. His most recent mission was Ax-1, the first flight organized by Axiom Space, in 2022.

This is really a privilege for somebody in my position to be able to go back to space, Lopez-Alegria said. The first time you go youre just sort of hanging on for dear life and enjoying the ride. But I think you appreciate each one a little bit more, especially when you realize just how rare an opportunity it is.

Villadei took a suborbital flight, a quick trip into weightlessness and back without orbiting the planet, last year with Virgin Galactic. But living onboard the International Space Station will be a very different experience.

Wandt, flying with the Swedish National Space Agency and the European Space Agency, was surprised with the amount of training associated with everyday living, such as eating in space and attaching items to the walls so they dont float away.

The amount of training compared to the payload training was a bit surprising, Wandt said. But Im really looking forward to trying it.

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The crew will spend their time conducting a wide variety of experiments, from improving food and materials development in space to understanding the impacts of spaceflight on plants and humans and testing an artificial intelligence-powered, free-flying robot to support crew members.

The International Space Station has been orbiting Earth for 25 years, and people have lived onboard for more than 23 of those years. Before the Axiom Space crews arrival, the station boasted visitors from 21 different countries.
https://sputnikglobe.com/20240118/hunter-biden-to-appear-in-congress-for-deposition-on-february-28-1116257250.html

Hunter Biden to Appear in Congress for Deposition on February 28

Hunter Biden to Appear in Congress for Deposition on February 28

Sputnik International

US President Joe Biden's son, Hunter Biden, will appear before Congress for a deposition on February 28, the Judiciary Committee and the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability said in a joint release on Thursday.

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"Hunter Biden will appear before our committees for a deposition on February 28, 2024. His deposition will come after several interviews with Biden family members and associates. We look forward to Hunter Biden's testimony," the release said.Lawmakers are seeking Hunter Bidens testimony as part of the House of Representatives impeachment inquiry into US President Joe Biden.

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20240118/russia-ready-to-provide-humanitarian-assistance-to-niger-1116256408.html

Russia Ready to Provide Humanitarian Assistance to Niger

Russia Ready to Provide Humanitarian Assistance to Niger

Sputnik International

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov on Thursday held meetings with Nigerien Foreign Minister Bakary Sangare and Defense Minister Salifu Modi in Moscow and said that Russia is ready to provide humanitarian assistance to Niger, the Foreign Ministry said.

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During the exchange of views on the international and African agendas, special attention was paid to the situation in the Sahel region the Russian side confirmed its readiness to help overcome social and economic issues in Niger, including by providing the necessary humanitarian assistance, the ministry said in a statement.Mody arrived in Russia on January 15 as part of a governmental delegation. During his visit, the minister held talks with the Russian Deputy Ministers of Defense, Colonel-General Alexander Fomin and Colonel-General Yunus-Bek Yevkurov. The countries highlighted the positive dynamics of the development of bilateral military and military-technical cooperation and identified promising areas of collaboration.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20231219/russian-deputy-defense-ministers-visit-to-niger-to-boost-cooperation---nigerien-minister-1115672789.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20240118/us-house-passes-government-funding-extension-sending-bill-to-biden-for-finalization-1116257045.html

US House Passes Government Funding Extension, Sending Bill to Biden for Finalization

US House Passes Government Funding Extension, Sending Bill to Biden for Finalization

Sputnik International

The US House of Representatives passed a continuing resolution (CR) to extend temporary government funding into March and give lawmakers more time to pass appropriations bills, sending the legislation to US President Joe Bidens desk.

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US House lawmakers passed the legislation on Thursday in a vote of 314-108. The US Senate passed the bill earlier on Thursday, placing it on track to be finalized by Biden. The US Congress had until January 19 to pass a government funding measure or the government would begin to shut down. In November, lawmakers passed a so-called laddered CR, which temporarily funded separate portions of the government through January 19 and February 2. The CR passed by Congress on Thursday extends the temporary funding to March 1 and 8.

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20240118/us-redesignates-houthis-as-terrorists-fbi-baits-teens-davos-drama-1116238634.html

US Redesignates Houthis as Terrorists, FBI Baits Teens, Davos Drama

US Redesignates Houthis as Terrorists, FBI Baits Teens, Davos Drama

Sputnik International

The Biden administration redesignates Yemens Houthis as terrorists, adopting another Trump-era policy.

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US Redesignates Houthis as Terrorists, FBI Baits Teens, Davos Drama Sputnik International The Biden administration redesignates Yemens Houthis as terrorists, adopting another Trump-era policy.

Nicolas Davies, independent journalist, CODEPINK researcher and co-author of War in Ukraine: Making Sense of a Senseless Conflict, joins Misfits hosts Michelle Witte and Ben Zinevich to discuss dealings at Davos, and in particular the cold shoulder Ukraines delegation occasionally encountered. He also discusses the trajectory of the conflict in Ukraine, the Biden administrations redesignation of Yemens Houthis as a terrorist group, and why the White House continues to tout Israel-Saudi normalization as a path to peace and independence for Palestinians.Coleen Rowley, retired FBI agent and former Minneapolis Division Legal Counsel for the bureau, discusses the FBIs pattern of cajoling people into attempting crimes rather than actually interrupting their radicalization. She also discusses some alternatives to the practice of entrapment that might actually keep Americans safer, and whether January 6 prosecutors are overreaching in some of the charges theyve brought against rioters.Jim Jatras, former US diplomat, and former senior foreign policy advisor to the Senate Republican leadership, discusses the White House's efforts to pass funding for Ukraine and Israel, whether former President Donald Trump has anything to fear from other GOP candidates, whether legal efforts to keep Trump off the ballot will work, revelations that Hunter Biden's art sales weren't as anonymous as promised, and why political consultant Roger Stone is in hot water again.Cohost of the Final Countdown on Radio Sputnik Ted Rall discusses a call for the West to confront the corruption within the Taliban, without acknowledging Washingtons own contribution to that corruption.The Misfits also discuss the secretary of states broken plane, how to interpret the Biden administrations actions on things like overdraft fees, cocaine found on Hunter Bidens gun, and Atlantic Magazine blaming the state of the world on flukes.The views and opinions expressed in this program are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the position of Sputnik.We'd love to get your feedback at radio@sputniknews.comCatch us in the US at 105.5FM, 104.7FM, 102.9FM, 1390AM, 1140AM

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houthis attacks in the red sea, fbi spying, can trump run for presidency, corruption in afghanistan
https://sputnikglobe.com/20240118/yemens-houthis-claim-new-attack-on-us-ship-in-arabian-sea---reports-1116256949.html

Yemen's Houthis Claim New Attack on US Ship in Arabian Sea - Reports

Yemen's Houthis Claim New Attack on US Ship in Arabian Sea - Reports

Sputnik International

The Shiite movement Ansar Allah (Houthis) ruling in northern Yemen said they attacked a US ship off the Yemeni coast near the town of al-Mukalla. It marks the third attack on US ships since the launch of strikes on Houthi positions in Yemen a week ago, the Al Jazeera broadcaster reported Thursday, citing a Houthi military source.

2024-01-18T22:29+0000

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2024-01-18T22:29+0000

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Earlier on Thursday, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations said it had received information about a new incident 85 nautical miles (NM) southeast of the Yemeni town of Ash Shihr. The vessel approached by drones was a Marshall Islands-flagged tanker sailing near Mukalla. However, the tanker did not suffer any damage, UK broadcaster Sky News reported, citing UK maritime security firm Ambrey. Late on Wednesday, the Houthis said they had attacked a US ship in the Gulf of Aden in response to the recent US and UK airstrikes against their positions. The US Central Command later specified that it was the Marshall Islands-flagged and US-owned bulk carrier Genco Picardy that had been hit by a Houthi drone at 8:30 p.m. Sanaa time (17:30 GMT) on Wednesday. On Monday, the US Central Command said that a US-owned and operated container ship had been hit in the Gulf of Aden by a missile fired from the Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen. The Houthis confirmed later confirmed the strike. The Houthis, who control large territories in Yemen's center-west and north, vowed in November 2023 to attack any ships associated with Israel until it halts military actions in the Gaza Strip. This led US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin to announce the creation of a multinational operation to secure navigation in the Red Sea. US and UK forces launched major strikes against Houthi positions last week in a bid to degrade the rebels' ability to target commercial vessels.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240117/houthis-consider-any-us-uk-ship-as-legitimate-target---official-1116235948.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20240119/aerial-thunder-watch-ka-52-alligators-salvo-strike-ukrainian-positions-1116265979.html

Aerial Thunder: Watch Ka-52 Alligators Salvo Strike Ukrainian Positions

Aerial Thunder: Watch Ka-52 Alligators Salvo Strike Ukrainian Positions

Sputnik International

The high-speed combat helicopters have proven to be an indispensable force for tactical aviation on the front lines, playing a vital role in supporting advancing Russian forces and executing specified combat missions.

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russia's special operation in ukraine

ukraine

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mi-8

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The Defense Ministry of Russia recently released gripping footage showcasing an attack group of Army Aviation, featuring the renowned Ka-52 Alligator helicopters. Accompanied by their counterparts, the Mi-8 search and rescue multipurpose aircraft, these helicopters executed a precision air assault on Ukrainian positions within the special military operation.The video captures the alligators in action as they unleash a barrage of firepower in a nose-up pitch air attack at the targeted locations.Reports from the skilled aviation gunners indicate a resounding success, with all designated targets successfully hit during the combat sortie in the Svatovo-Kremennoye area. The Alligators are undeniably asserting their dominance in the ongoing military operations.The Ka-52 is a highly maneuverable helicopter equipped with powerful armaments, capable of efficiently executing any combat mission, and designed to destroy tanks, armored and unarmored combat vehicles, enemy forces, and helicopters both at the front line and in tactical depth. Additionally, they provide target reconnaissance and distribution, and equipment guidance to collaborating helicopters and command posts (CP) of the ground forces.The Ka-52 has high combat endurance, round-the-clock capability and significant combat power. It is the only helicopter in the world equipped with a catapult damping system.

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Ka-52 attack helicopter and Mi-8 search and rescue helicopter Sputnik International Ka-52 attack helicopter and Mi-8 search and rescue helicopter 2024-01-19T11:43+0000 true PT0M29S

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20240119/exposed-pro-nazi-french-merc-sets-up-parties-with-french-troops-fighting-in-ukraine-1116270529.html

Exposed: Pro-Nazi French Merc Sets Up 'Parties' With 'French Troops Fighting in Ukraine'

Exposed: Pro-Nazi French Merc Sets Up 'Parties' With 'French Troops Fighting in Ukraine'

Sputnik International

A French female 'soldier of fortune' in Ukraine, has not only been furnishing support for Nazis, but also actively organizing aid deliveries from her hometown. A

2024-01-19T14:34+0000

2024-01-19T14:34+0000

2024-01-19T14:50+0000

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Camille Bertrix, a French citizen from the hamlet of Pont-du-Chateau in central France, has been operating as a mercenary for the Ukrainian International Legion since spring 2023. In May, she arrived in Terebovlya, a town in the Ternopol region of Western Ukraine.It remains unknown if she has been near the front line, as her social media posts only show her in Ternopol regional locations. Her involvement has led to Frances Pont-du-Chateau becoming a sister town with Ukraines Terebovlya. Bertrix is captured in the photo below sending greetings to the mayor of her hometown.Surprisingly, the mayor of Pont-du-Chateau, Patrick Perrin, personally met with Camille and provided her with supplies for her unit. It is worth noting that mercenary activities are considered illegal under French law.Bertrix is open about her sympathies for the Nazis in the Ukrainian army, and has expressed her "wishes for 2024" to them. She proudly displays her affiliation with the International Legion of Ukraine by posting its memorial lists and other photos with International Legion symbols. Despite attempts to portray her activities in Ukraine as humanitarian, Bertrix posts photos of herself in military attire adorned with a tattoo of the Ukrainian trident, and is seen with other "women defending their country".She has even used her social media accounts to send threats, filled with foul language and obscene gestures, to Alexander Makogonov, the press secretary of the Russian Embassy in France, combining them with Nazi slogans.In October, she returned to Pont-du-Chateau and organized a fundraising party for her unit. The event prominently featured her as a "French soldier fighting in Ukraine" on the poster, alongside the DJ. The entry fee was set at 15 euros per person.Previously Francois Mauld dAymee, a French officer-turned Donbass Peoples Militia volunteer, told Sputnik that French-speaking mercs in Ukraine are mostly "brazen Nazis and Hitlerites", who "barely know how to competently express any opinion even in French". The Russian military carried out a precision strike on a staging area for mercenaries in Kharkov, northeastern Ukraine on Tuesday, killing over 60 fighters, the majority of whom were French nationals, while also leaving more than 20 others injured. This event presents further evidence of France's deep and often underreported involvement in the Ukrainian crisis, not just from 2022, but also dating back to 2014.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240118/donbass-volunteer-from-france-opens-up-on-french-speaking-mercs-fighting-for-ukraine-1116251816.html

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french merc in ukraine, russian strike on mercenaries, mrecenaries in ukraine, are there mercenaries from france in ukraine?
https://sputnikglobe.com/20240119/fact-check-are-there-french-mercenaries-in-ukraine-1116272958.html

Fact Check: Are There French Mercenaries in Ukraine?

Fact Check: Are There French Mercenaries in Ukraine?

Sputnik International

Francois Mauld dAymee, a French officer-turned Donbass Peoples Militia volunteer, told Sputnik on Thursday about French-speaking mercenaries fighting for the Kiev regime in Ukraine.

2024-01-19T16:20+0000

2024-01-19T16:20+0000

2024-01-20T04:09+0000

russia

ukraine

france

mercenaries

russia's special operation in ukraine

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Paris has rejected a recent statement by Russias Ministry of Defense (MoD) explaining that a Russian airstrike destroyed a building in Ukraine hosting French mercenaries, among others.Why do the French claims hold no water? Sputnik explores.Mercenaries Issue Discussed Through Diplomatic ChannelsNormally, discussions about the destruction of a foreign mercenary hideout in Kharkov in which French citizens were affected would be held through diplomatic channels.Nonetheless, no such requests for high-level talks have been received, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Friday.On Thursday, the French Ambassador to Russia Pierre Levy was summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry in connection with the incident.Kremlin Has Proof - Russian MPThe fact of Ambassador Levy being summoned indicates that French mercenaries were among those killed in the Kharkov facility, Vladimir Dzhabarov, first deputy chairman of the Russian Upper Houses International Affairs Committee, said in an interview with Russian media.He recalled that even though mercenary activities are prohibited in France, the countrys hirelings took part in all mercenary operations, including in Africa and Ukraine, where they really profiled themselves.Donbass Volunteer Opens Up A separate insight came from Francois Mauld dAymee, a French officer-turned-Donbass Peoples Militia volunteer, who recently opened up about French-speaking mercenaries in Ukraine.Mauld dAymee described the hired guns as sports enthusiasts [and] drug addicts" in an exclusive interview with Sputnik.He added that a "very small number" of those mercenaries actually fight because their level of Ukrainian or Russian is too basic," which is why theyre mostly kept in reserve. According to Mauld dAymee, most of those hirelings on the front line have been wounded or killed.520 Foreign Mercenaries on Ukrainian Soil The Russian Investigative Committee reported in November that more than 520 foreign mercenaries fighting for Ukraine from 44 countries, including France, became involved in criminal cases.In the same month, captured Georgian mercenary Georgy Chubetidze told Sputnik that foreign mercenaries from Ukraines Second International Legion were stationed in the Ukrainian city of Slavyansk, where they lived in rented apartments in fear of Russian missile attacks. According to him, those mercenaries included French guns-for-hire.TikTok FightersFrances RTL broadcaster, in turn, reported last summer that there were about 100 French citizens taking part in the Ukraine conflict on the side of Kiev.The news outlet added that while at the beginning of the Ukraine crisis, about 800 people from France expressed a desire to serve as volunteers in the Ukrainian Armed Forces, only about half of the number finally joined them.French Mercenaries Return-Related Risks Also last year, left-wing lawmaker Frederic Mathieu sent an appeal to Frances Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin in which he pointed out the security risks related to the return of French militants who fought in Ukraine.According to him, those 400 people who earlier left France for Ukraine include about one hundred mercenaries who openly identify themselves as a part of radical movements.Female Mercenary in Ukraine Additionally, Sputnik disclosed that Camille Bertrix, a French citizen from the small town of Pont-du-Chateau, has been operating as a mercenary for the "Ukrainian International Legion" since spring 2023.Last May, she arrived in Terebovlya, a town in the Ternopol region of Western Ukraine, and it remains unknown if she has been near the front line, as her social media posts only showed her in these locations. Her involvement there has led to Frances Pont-du-Chateau becoming a sister town with Ukraines Terebovlya.Reports of First Victims Among French Hirelings A second French citizen who was engaged in combat operations in Ukraine died of wounds sustained during an artillery shelling near Kharkov, RTL reported in 2022.The first French mercenary to have been killed in combat in Ukraine was 32-year-old Wilfried Bleriot, ostensibly linked to French radical groups.Military journalist and historian Laurent Briard has meanwhile told Russian media that in 2022, the French government tried to convince some French military personnel to leave the army and go to Ukraine to join the Ukrainian armed forces.French Spy's Contact With Foreign Mercs in Ukraine On top of that, Sputnik obtained documents indicating that Lieutenant-Colonel Arnaud Helly, of the French Directorate of Military Intelligence (DRM) and Directorate-General for External Security (DGSE), communicated with foreign mercenaries in Ukraine two years before the conflict.According to the documents, Helly rented an apartment in central Kiev for 59 nights from January to March 2020.France has been one of the key supporters of Ukraine in NATO's proxy war with Russia, donating dozens of self-propelled artillery guns, light tanks and other armored vehicles, as well as surface-to-air and cruise missiles. The evidence seen by Sputnik suggests that Paris also had intelligence agents in Kiev in the run-up to the conflict.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240118/russian-strikes-dampen-enthusiasm-of-ukraines-mercs-amid-massive-losses-1116244622.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20231005/exposed-french-spy-mingled-with-foreign-mercenaries-in-ukraine-two-years-before-conflict-1113728946.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20240119/guilty-of-genocide-us-brushes-off-south-africas-accusation-due-to-fear-of-culpability--1116261381.html

Guilty of Genocide: US Brushes Off South Africas Accusation Due to Fear of Culpability

Guilty of Genocide: US Brushes Off South Africas Accusation Due to Fear of Culpability

Sputnik International

Last week, South Africa formally accused Israel of committing genocide against Palestinians and asked that the United Nations top court order Israel to immediately cease their military operations.

2024-01-19T03:34+0000

2024-01-19T03:34+0000

2024-01-19T05:16+0000

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Last week, South Africa formally accused Israel of committing genocide against Palestinians and asked that the United Nations top court order Israel to immediately cease their military operations. Israel brushed off the accusation and said it was acting to defend itself against Hamas and not the Palestinian population. They have also accused South Africa of acting as an agent for the terrorist group Hamas, which South Africa has rejected.The US has continued ironclad support for Israel, according to the US State Department's own words. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and other US officials have called the charges against South Africa meritless as acknowledging Israels genocide would not only expose US culpability it would also cause the US to acknowledge their own mistakes, writes Margaret Kimberley, an author and senior columnist, in a recent article published to the Black Agenda Report. Kimberley spoke to Sputniks Political Misfits on Thursday, suggesting that the definition of genocide sets a low bar.In her article, Kimberley's definition of genocide also includes: imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group, and, forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.Sputniks Garland Nixon pointed out that the US has had the ability, the authority, the economic and military power to halt Israels actions and has refused to do so. Not only that, the US is also the biggest supplier of military aid to Israel, according to a report from November.Israel could not do any of this without the US. So it's only proper that the US also be charged, said Kimberley. I hope this is the beginning of a new way for people to think about these crimes and to acknowledge these military actions as crimes, crimes against humanity, war crimes, genocide, all of these definitions.According to a report from earlier this month, the Israeli Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu urged that Israel should find ways for Gazans that are more painful than death in order to win the conflict in Gaza. The minister went on to say that Israel should break the morale of Palestinians by destroying their homes, breaking their national dream, and should be driven out of their land via voluntary immigration.In November, the minister even called for a nuclear bomb to be dropped on Gaza. He was suspended as a result and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his statements were not based in reality.Sputniks Wilmer Leon then addressed a recent American news article that claimed the US secretary of state is overrated. Blinken, Leon suggests, actually possesses an undisguised design for the actual practice of diplomacy.[Blinken] is one of these people who's in the revolving door when there's a Democrat in office. He'll be back. As bad as they are, they can fail by their own standards, and they just go around and around in a circle, explained Kimberley. They have the right connections. They went to the right schools, they have the right friends, but they know absolutely nothing about diplomacy. And so it's clear that this system is not about diplomacy. They want to keep promoting this idea that the US can run the whole world, telling everybody what to do. And so we get these horrible people over and over again.Blinken has been an absolute disaster. He and his boss and all of his colleagues and everything happening in Gaza now is not surprising when you consider how they see the world: their amateurish nature and the messes they have made all over the world. By their standards, they have failed, said Kimberley.By their own standards, they have failed every time.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240111/top-un-court-opens-hearings-on-south-africas-gaza-genocide-claims-against-israel-1116113704.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20231121/ex-cia-analyst-us-responsible-for-gaza-genocide-by-empowering-netanyahu--1115100230.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20231201/blinkens-diplomatic-blitz-went-bust-due-to-us-slavish-servility-to-israel-1115331473.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230926/sy-hersh-cia-viewed-bidens-blast-of-nord-stream-as-strategic-step-toward-world-war-iii-1113692659.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20240119/iranian-strike-draws-attention-to-border-with-pakistan-israeli-and-us-role-in-region-1116260331.html

Iranian Strike Draws Attention to Border with Pakistan, Israeli and US Role in Region

Iranian Strike Draws Attention to Border with Pakistan, Israeli and US Role in Region

Sputnik International

Tensions have flared between Iran and Pakistan in recent days, but one international affairs expert is pointing to the destabilizing role of Western powers in the Middle East.

2024-01-19T02:47+0000

2024-01-19T02:47+0000

2024-01-25T18:16+0000

analysis

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Iran drew headlines Tuesday when it launched a missile and drone attack on two alleged terrorist bases in Pakistans southwestern Balochistan province. It was the first time Iran attacked targets on Pakistani soil, which Irans foreign minister claimed was necessary to weaken the dangerous Jaish ul-Adl (lit. "Army of Justice") terrorist group.Pakistan responded angrily to the development, withdrawing its ambassador in Tehran in protest of the claimed blatant breach of Pakistans sovereignty.Sputniks Fault Lines program spoke with Professor Mohammad Marandi of the University of Tehran to place the events in context and determine whether they represent a harbinger of antagonistic relations with Islamabad. Hosts Jamarl Thomas and Melik Abdul also examined the role of Israel in regional affairs amidst its assault on Gaza and examined whether China could play a part in mediating between Pakistan and Iran.An Imminent ThreatMarandi drew attention to Jaish al-Adl, an armed group of Sunni Islamist separatists that operates along and across Irans border with Pakistan in the southeastern region of the country. Jaish al-Adl claims to represent the interests of the minority Balochi ethnic group and opposes the Iranian government. They have taken credit for a number of attacks against Iranian political and military officials.They carried out a series of attacks in Iran including, a few weeks ago, an attack which killed 11 border guards, Marandi noted. They were about to strike Iran again. They gathered in two bases and they were about to move towards the border.Marandi claimed that Tehran didnt make the decision lightly but was forced to act amidst a difficult situation on the Pakistani border where people on both sides often cross freely. He claimed the problem is compounded by poverty in Pakistan with many people crossing into Iran as economic refugees.He claimed the incident, while regrettable, wasnt a sign of hostility towards Pakistans government, saying, the relationship between Iran and Pakistan is quite good. This is an incident that will not undermine the relationship. Marandi also noted upcoming elections in Iran, stressing that the Ebrahim Raisi administration had a political incentive to avoid appearing weak.The professor noted Tehran had also carried out attacks on alleged terrorists recently in Syria and Iraq, claiming a common thread of Israeli and Western support for various anti-Iran groups.The Hand of IsraelIsrael has drawn outrage throughout the Middle East for its military campaign in the besieged Gaza Strip, which has killed almost 25,000 Palestinians. Tel Avivs posture has drawn condemnation from Turkey, Egypt, and even Saudi Arabia which was reportedly set to seek normalization with Israel before the latest outbreak of hostilities. Recently fear has spread that Gazans could suffer mass starvation as Israel enforces a tight blockade on the territory.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus military difficulties in Gaza as well as his perilous political position have generated speculation he may seek a broader regional war.All these different groups are right now being mobilized by the Israelis, Marandi alleged. We have to remember that the Israelis have a long lasting relationship with ISIS* because ISIS during the Syrian Dirty War had bases alongside the Golan Heights.Israel shared an open opposition to the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria with Islamist militants in the country, many of whom have ties to ISIS and Wahabbist ideology. Speculation emerged that Israel was backing the Syrian rebels, with the Israel Defense Forces chief finally admitting in 2019 that the country had supplied them with weapons.Support for Islamist radicals in the region has long been a tactic of the United States as well, with the countrys backing of the Mujahideen against Soviet forces in Afghanistan providing perhaps the most famous example. The flourishing of religious extremism in the country would empower terrorist groups like Al-Qaeda**, who organized the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the United States.Marandi made similar accusations regarding Jaish al-Adl, claiming they are affiliated to Western intelligence agencies.The professor denounced the US role in the region, and in particular their strong support for Israel which has seen the Biden administration consistently obstruct efforts to hold Israel to account at the United Nations.Stop the war in Gaza and allow peace to be restored in our region.A Role for China?China has increasingly made an effort to mediate between countries in the Middle East, most recently in its brokering of a deal between Saudi Arabia and Iran. The United States is increasingly seen as a dishonest broker by many in the region, while China is viewed as a more neutral party. The decline in Americas perception has seen Middle Eastern countries strengthen ties with China, as well as Russia.Host Melik Abdul asked about the possibility for China to play a helpful role in Iran-Pakistan relations, noting their recent statement urging both countries to exercise restraint.China can play a constructive role, said Marandi. If, for example, China can help Pakistan build up infrastructure and border security, that would go a long way in stopping these sort of attacks.China recently released a joint statement with the Arab League calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. Both parties denounced recent US and UK-backed attacks in Yemen and insisted a resolution of the Palestine-Israel conflict was the only way to ensure peace in the region. China also vowed to increase economic integration with the Middle East which has formed a key part of its global Belt and Road initiative.The rise of a multipolar world seems destined to strengthen countries across the globe, economically as well as politically. In such a world, observers hope it will be harder for any one nation to dominate another, making it easier for countries like Iran and Pakistan to resolve differences peacefully.* ISIS (also known as Daesh/ISIL/IS/Islamic State) is a terrorist group banned in Russia and many other countries.** Al-Qaeda is a terrorist organization banned in Russia and other states.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240117/irans-strikes-into-pakistan-sent-strong-message-to-us-israel-and-their-terror-proxies-1116226148.html

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A Mexican free-tailed bat is held by a Houston Humane Society Wildlife Center employee on Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2024 in Houston. Thousands of bats were rescued after falling from their roosts as a result of the freezing temperatures hitting Houston area. Employees and volunteers of the Houston Humane Society Wildlife Center take care of Mexican free-tailed bats that were found frozen and dropped from their roosts on Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2024 in Houston. Elizabeth Conley/Staff Photographer Houston Humane Society Wildlife Center employee Kelsey Malan, picks up frozen bats under the Waugh Street Bridge on Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2024 in Houston. The Mexican free-tailed bats will be taken back to the facility, warmed, fed and evaluated before being returned back to their colony. Elizabeth Conley/Staff Photographer A sign under the Waugh Street Bridge where a bat colony resides, photographed on Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2024 in Houston. Elizabeth Conley/Staff Photographer Houston Humane Society Wildlife Center employees Kelsey Malan, left, and Tiffani Gallardo pick up frozen bats under the Waugh Street Bridge on Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2024 in Houston. The Mexican free-tailed bats will be taken back to the facility, warmed, fed and evaluated before being returned back to their colony. Elizabeth Conley/Staff Photographer Frozen and possibly injured bats are placed into a container to be taken to the Houston Humane Society Wildlife Center take care of Mexican free-tailed bats that were found frozen and dropped from their roosts on Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2024 in Houston. Elizabeth Conley/Staff Photographer Houston Humane Society Wildlife Center employees Kelsey Malan, left, and Tiffani Gallardo pick up frozen bats under the Waugh Street Bridge on Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2024 in Houston. The Mexican free-tailed bats will be taken back to the facility, warmed, fed and evaluated before being returned back to their colony. Elizabeth Conley/Staff Photographer Houston Humane Society Wildlife Center employee Kelsey Malan, picks up frozen bats under the Waugh Street Bridge on Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2024 in Houston. The Mexican free-tailed bats will be taken back to the facility, warmed, fed and evaluated before being returned back to their colony. Elizabeth Conley/Staff Photographer

More than a dozen Houston Humane Society staff members mobilized to help protect thousands of bats from the hard freeze during the week.

Around 2,500 bats have been brought to the Humane Society Wildlife Centers Hospital since the hard freeze began. The bats that live are treated and kept warm until they can be returned to their colonies. Staff members plan to release some of the bats Sunday at 5:45 p.m. during a free public event at Waugh Street Bridge.

The date had to be rescheduled after weather forecasts showed the temperature could dip into the upper 20s in Houston on Saturday, when the release was initially planned.

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Mary Warwick, wildlife director at the Houston Humane Society, said staff spent months preparing for the potential influx of cold air that can be deadly to Mexican free-tailed bats. Staff have collected bats from six different underpasses across the Houston area.

Around 1,600 bats needed medical attention after the 2022 Christmas freeze. Warwick said she took care of them at her home last year because she was one of the only bat rehabilitators in Houston at the time, and many other Houston Humane Society staff were out of town. The Houston Humane Society entirely relies on private donations to care for the bats.

Tiffani Gallardo, a Houston Humane Society Wildlife Center employee, picks up frozen bats under the Waugh Street Bridge on Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2024 in Houston. The Mexican free-tailed bats will be taken back to the facility, warmed, fed and evaluated before being returned back to their colony. Elizabeth Conley/Staff Photographer

It can be tricky to keep and feed the bats, who typically do not eat unless they are flying. Once the bats are warmed up and hypothermia-free, hospital staff keep them in a cold space that slows their metabolism.

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We really cant feed them because you cant force-feed 2,000 bats, Warwick said. Theyll still drink a little bit and move around a little bit, but it saves all of their energy. They dont use up a bunch of calories.

Warwick said the bats are injected with fluids to keep them hydrated during their stay.

A Mexican free-tailed bat is injected with fluids by a Houston Humane Society Wildlife Center employee on Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2024 in Houston. Thousands of bats were rescued after falling from their roosts as a result of the freezing temperatures hitting Houston area. Employees and volunteers of the Houston Humane Society Wildlife Center take care of Mexican free-tailed bats that were found frozen and dropped from their roosts on Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2024 in Houston. Elizabeth Conley/Staff Photographer

Most bats who have come in have mainly needed a safe place to warm up, but some have head injuries. Bats can fall from the bridges they sleep under, crashing on the street or water below after they get stunned by the cold weather.

Part of the reason bats are getting stunned by cold is due to a lack of warm hiding spots. Bridges almost act as refrigerators, exposing bats to cold temperatures their bodies cannot handle.

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Weve moved into their area, Warwick said. They didnt live in bridges before. They lived in other kinds of natural crevices that dont conduct the cold through them, like trees or just any kind of natural crevice.

Houston Humane Society Wildlife Center employee Kelsey Malan, places frozen bats found under the Waugh Street Bridge in a container on Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2024 in Houston. The Mexican free-tailed bats will be taken back to the facility, warmed, fed and evaluated before being returned back to their colony. Elizabeth Conley/Staff Photographer

Brazilian free-tailed bats are the most common type of bat found in the state. The bats, which need high humidity, raise their young in Texas in early spring after giving birth in June, according to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.

While some bats will migrate toward the south in the winter, around half or a third of them choose to stay in Texas, Warwick said.

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Tiffani Gallardo, a Houston Humane Society Wildlife Center employee, picks up frozen bats under the Waugh Street Bridge on Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2024 in Houston. The Mexican free-tailed bats will be taken back to the facility, warmed, fed and evaluated before being returned back to their colony. Elizabeth Conley/Staff Photographer

The creatures are an important part of Texas wildlife, she said. Bats eat mosquitos, as well as moths that typically go after crops that nearby farms grow.

If we didnt have them, we would spend billions of dollars for pesticides to put on our crops, Warwick said.
https://sputnikglobe.com/20240119/kremlin-on-killed-french-mercenaries-contacts-with-france-held-through-diplomatic-channels-1116266730.html

Kremlin on Slain French Mercs: Contacts With France Held Through Diplomatic Channels

Kremlin on Slain French Mercs: Contacts With France Held Through Diplomatic Channels

Sputnik International

Contacts with Paris on the issue of the destruction by the Russian armed forces of the station of foreign fighters in Kharkov, among whom were French citizens, are held through diplomatic channels, but there have been no requests for high-level talks, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday.

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On Wednesday, the Russian Defense Ministry said that Russian military has destroyed a building in Ukraines Kharkov that hosted French mercenaries after it launched a precision strike against it. On Thursday, French ambassador to Russia Pierre Levy was summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry in connection with the incident. "There is a conversation going on through our diplomats. There were no proposals to hold a conversation at the highest level. We have stated repeatedly that many foreign mercenaries are fighting on Kiev's side, and each time our statement is confirmed again," Peskov told reporters.

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20240119/north-korea-tests-underwater-nuclear-weapon-system-after-south-korea-us--japan-drills---reports-1116261185.html

North Korea Tests Underwater Nuclear Weapon System After South Korea, US & Japan Drills - Reports

North Korea Tests Underwater Nuclear Weapon System After South Korea, US & Japan Drills - Reports

Sputnik International

North Korea has tested an underwater nuclear weapon system in response to joint military drills by South Korea, the United States and Japan, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported citing a statement by a spokesman for North Korea's Defense Ministry.

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"Joint maritime exercises were staged again in the waters off Jeju Island for three days from Jan. 15 with the involvement of the U.S. nuclear carrier Carl Vinson and Aegis cruiser Princeton and warships of the Japanese maritime "Self-Defense Force" and the ROK navy," the spokesman said. He said the drills further destabilized the regional situation and seriously threatened North Korea's security.

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20240119/pyongyangs-poseidon-north-korea-unveils-new-tsunami-underwater-nuclear-weapon-1116276146.html

Pyongyang's Poseidon? North Korea Unveils New 'Tsunami' Underwater Nuclear Weapon

Pyongyang's Poseidon? North Korea Unveils New 'Tsunami' Underwater Nuclear Weapon

Sputnik International

Little is known about this new North Korean weapon, other than its name which translates as tsunami." Nonetheless, one can surmise  based on the available data  that it is an electric underwater drone that can follow a predetermined path and carry a nuclear payload, said Dmitry Kornev, founder of the MilitaryRussia.ru news portal.

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North Korea revealed that it has tested an underwater nuclear drone this week.A spokesman for North Korea's Defense Ministry said in a statement that, the Underwater Weapon System Institute under the DPRK Academy of Defense Science conducted an important test of its underwater nuclear weapon system 'Haeil-5-23' under development in the East Sea of Korea.Little is known about this new North Korean weapon, other than its name which translates as tsunami." Nonetheless, one can surmise  based on the available data  that it is an electric underwater drone that can follow a predetermined path and carry a nuclear payload, said Dmitry Kornev, founder of the MilitaryRussia.ru news portal.As Kornev pointed out, this is not exactly a novel concept as similar designs were considered in the Soviet Union before finally being implemented decades later in the Poseidon project. He did note, however, that Russias Poseidon  also an underwater drone with a nuclear warhead  has a nuclear propulsion unit whereas North Koreas creation likely has electric propulsion.Regarding the reason why North Korea developed such a weapon, Kornev said that he sees certain merit in Pyongyangs rhetoric about needing nuclear weapons to ensure North Koreas safety and to deter possible attacks from the West and its lackeys.If about 20-30 years ago any missile tests in North Korea evoked serious reaction from the global community, today the global community stays mum because North Korea has nuclear weapons and is ready to use them. Whether it is a good or bad thing, everyone can decide for themselves, he remarked.

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20240119/the-opposite-of-a-peace-formula-zelenskys-proposal-for-russian-surrender-ridiculed-1116261812.html

The Opposite of a Peace Formula: Zelensky's Proposal for Russian Surrender Ridiculed

The Opposite of a Peace Formula: Zelensky's Proposal for Russian Surrender Ridiculed

Sputnik International

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky shared the highly aspirational plan at this years World Economic Forum summit in Davos.

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky unveiled a diplomatic proposal to end the long-running conflict in the Donbass region this week, but observers say the controversial leaders peace formula is little more than wishful thinking.Among the elements of Zelenskys proposition is a call for Russia to put political and military leaders on trial and pay reparations to the Kiev regime.Zelensky unveiled the proposal at the World Economic Forum summit in Davos, Switzerland earlier this week. Sleboda noted the venue was likely chosen to improve attendance as Zelensky has struggled to find an audience for such speeches in recent months.Zelensky has released similar proposals in the past although none have gained traction given Ukraines struggles on the battlefield. Sleboda noted that even The New York Times admitted Ukraine was losing, although indirectly.Discussion then shifted towards Russias recent targeting of mercenary fighters in Kharkov earlier this week. Unfortunately for the mercenaries, things aren't working out real well for them on the battlefield, said host Garland Nixon. Well, come to think of it, they're not getting to the battlefield.Sleboda pointed out the alleged French mercenaries were reported to be working with the Russian Volunteers Corps, a neo-Nazi group that has been banned in Europe.So yeah, newsflash: you don't belong here. And if you insist on coming here then you'll be priority target number one.*Azov Battalion is a terrorist organization banned in Russia.

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20240119/uk-backing-israel-with-spy-planes-over-gaza---report-1116262656.html

UK Backing Israel With Spy Planes Over Gaza - Report

UK Backing Israel With Spy Planes Over Gaza - Report

Sputnik International

Late last year it was revealed the United Kingdom was supplying Israel with weapons from a base in Cyprus. Now new evidence is emerging of the lengths the country has gone to assist Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in his Gaza military campaign.

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Late last year it was revealed the United Kingdom was supplying Israel with weapons from a base in Cyprus. Now new evidence is emerging of the lengths the country has gone to assist Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in his Gaza military campaign.British Defense Minister Grant Shapps had previously admitted the UK was providing surveillance support to Israel, although he couched the assistance in terms of preventing the transfer of weapons to terrorist groups. Shapps later claimed the surveillance flights were intended to locate two British captives being held in Gaza.But now it has emerged that the British Armed Forces have flown 50 surveillance flights over the besieged enclave since December alone. The flights departed from RAF Akrotiri, the UKs air force base in Cyprus.The revelation is likely to prove controversial as the UK has been rocked by demonstrations protesting Israels deadly military operation in Gaza, which has killed nearly 25,000 people in the territory. Thousands of Britons have taken to the streets even as the countrys government has provoked free speech concerns by attempting to ban pro-Palestine protest chants. In France and Germany, authorities have banned some pro-Palestine demonstrations entirely.The UKs embattled defense minister was recently widely ridiculed for a speech warning that the UK was at risk of attack from China, Russia, Iran and North Korea. Shapps was mocked for an address where he declared the era of the peace dividend is over  the United Kingdom has been perhaps the strongest supporter of US military interventions throughout the world.

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20240119/ukraine-shifts-to-active-defense-and-prepares-for-2025-counteroffensive--reports-1116274005.html

Ukraine Shifts to 'Active Defense' and Prepares for '2025 Counteroffensive'  Reports

Ukraine Shifts to 'Active Defense' and Prepares for '2025 Counteroffensive'  Reports

Sputnik International

The Kiev regime is moving toward a new mode this year to rebuild its forces after the summer counteroffensive failed. It is also organizing for 2025, believing that it can replenish its military ranks after massive losses.

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An "active defense" strategy holding defensive lines and probing "weak spots" for attacks will allow Kiev to "build out its forces" this year and prepare for 2025, British press reported on Friday, citing a Western official.However, the prospect depends on several factors, including uncertainty surrounding continued military assistance from the West, the report said. There are open questions about the Wests commitment to backing Ukraine and to what extent, the report stated. The most significant concern is whether the US is going to continue to support Kiev, according to the report. The Biden administration is allegedly still trying to reach an agreement with the House Republicans on a national security supplemental package, which includes a large portion of military assistance for Ukraine. The last tranche of Ukraine funding was announced on December 27. US President Joe Biden warned congressional leaders this week that not approving additional funding for Ukraine could result in the deployment of US troops to that country, White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre said on Thursday. Biden's current supplemental funding request that is on the table includes more than $60 billion in assistance for Ukraine.In practice, however, any speculation regarding Ukraine's potential "counteroffensive efforts" may likely prove to be far-fetched and divorced from reality, since the country spectacularly failed with its much-hyped counteroffensive last year. It has become evidently clear that the Kiev regime has exhausted its military resources, with the volume of incoming West-supplied equipment drying up week on week. Despite the fact that a greater burden of Kiev aid fell on EU countries, it is still the US that is leading the way in keeping Ukraine afloat. In this context, White House members show a total lack of unity in finalizing additional support packages amid the domestic southern border crisis. With momentum lost, the lofty wording articulated as "active defense" actually hints at Ukraine being swayed toward preparing for its ultimate defeat. Recent reports regarding the size and strength of the Ukrainian Armed Forces on the ground suggest deteriorating conditions. During his address in the Davos World Forum, Volodymyr Zelensky openly stated that there is "not enough production in the world today, using artillery as an example, enough for the Ukrainian army to withstand a war against the Russian army."That being said, as far as the long-term plans for 2025 go, the question of whether there will be a Ukraine to "actively defend" as we know it, is still up in the air.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240119/the-opposite-of-a-peace-formula-zelenskys-proposal-for-russian-surrender-ridiculed-1116261812.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240118/world-lacks-defense-industry-resources-for-ukraine-to-wage-war-against-russia---zelensky-1116241331.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20240119/us-candidates-calling-for-more-war-spending-will-lose-in-november---former-virginia-senator-1116277555.html

US Candidates Calling for More War Spending Will Lose in November - Former Virginia Senator

US Candidates Calling for More War Spending Will Lose in November - Former Virginia Senator

Sputnik International

US presidential candidates who want more money to be spent on wars will lose in the upcoming elections in November, former Virginia State Senator Richard Black told Sputnik.

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"Americans are tired of war," Black stated. "Candidates who want more war spending will lose votes in November." When asked about the US public and the government's support for Ukraine, Black said, "For the time being, funds for Ukraine are going nowhere. There's a general recognition that Ukraine will not win the war. In order to keep the cash flowing, Biden is considering giving to Ukraine those funds belonging to Russia that were deposited in Western banks," he explained. "I don't know what allows U.S. banks to give away deposits to third parties, but most people would call that grand theft. US Congress and Biden administration officials have negotiated for weeks to reach a deal on supplemental funds to provide the White House with more than $106 billion in extra funds for Ukraine, Israel, and other priorities, including US border security. Republican lawmakers have made it clear they will only support Biden's supplemental request if it includes meaningful policy changes to stop the influx of migrants arriving at the US southern border. US House Speaker Mike Johnson, after attending the meeting with Biden, told reporters that the US status quo on Ukraine is unacceptable. Johnson stressed that Congress needs a clearer explanation from the Biden administration about its strategy in Ukraine, the endgame, and accountability for US funds, adding that US border security must be the top priority.

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20240119/us-defense-secretary-summoned-to-testify-before-congress-about-hospitalization-1116259887.html

US Defense Secretary Summoned to Testify Before Congress About Hospitalization

US Defense Secretary Summoned to Testify Before Congress About Hospitalization

Sputnik International

US House Armed Services Chairman Mike Rogers in a letter demanded US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin appear before the panel for a testimony to discuss the lack of transparency of his hospitalization earlier this month.

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"Your unwillingness to provide candid and complete answers necessitates calling a Full Committee hearing on February 14, 2024, where the Committee expects to hear your direct testimony regarding decisions made to withhold information from the President, Congress, and the American people," Rogers said in the letter on Thursday. The chairman clarified that although Austin did respond to some of his questions on this matter, several others were not addressed. Rogers highlighted that he was "alarmed" that Austin refused to answer whether he instructed his staff to not inform President Joe Biden or anyone else about his hospitalization. The Congressman asked Austin to provide a written response to additional questions about his failure to disclose his hospitalization by February 7. Austin was hospitalized on January 1 due to an infection, following prostate cancer surgery in late December and has not been in office since then. The US Defense Department failed to communicate Austins hospitalization to the White House for several days, prompting a Pentagon Inspector General probe and bipartisan calls for him to leave his leadership position.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240110/us-defense-chiefs-hospitalization-scandal-reveals-biden-teams-total-incompetence-1116088459.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20240119/watch-russian-grad-mlrs-obliterate-ukrainian-troops-in-special-op-zone-1116265666.html

Watch Russian Grad MLRS Obliterate Ukrainian Troops in Special Op Zone

Watch Russian Grad MLRS Obliterate Ukrainian Troops in Special Op Zone

Sputnik International

Multiple-launch rocket systems were designed to destroy enemy infantry and motor-rifle units en masse. Grad is one of most advanced and lethal MLRS capable of rapidly firing up to 40 122mm projectiles.

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ukrainian crisis

grad

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The Russian defence ministry has released footage showing Grad units in combat, raining down fire on Ukrainian troops near Artemovsk (known as Bakhmut before its liberation).According to officials, the number of troops killed was almost equivalent to an entire platoon. Surviving Ukrainian troops left the outpost, which was quickly taken by Russian airborne units.

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Russian Grad MLRS in combat action in special op zone Sputnik International Russia's Grad MLRS crews destroyed the infantry of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in strongholds on the front lines in the area of Artemovsk 2024-01-19T10:42+0000 true PT0M24S

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Natasha and Ava Bjoerndal shop at Blue Willow Bookshop on Friday, May 26, 2023 in Houston. Independent bookstores around the state warn that a bill sent this week to Gov. Greg Abbott designed to ban books with sexual content from schools could have unintended consequences that devastate their businesses and make it difficult and more expensive for schools to acquire new books. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer

Atticus Finch, the relentlessly principled defense attorney and father in Harper Lees To Kill a Mockingbird, has just wrapped up his closing statement when his familys cook and housekeeper interrupts the court, to pass him a note. For a moment, Finch loses his composure. It turns out his children havent been seen at home for hours and, to his chagrin, he realizes theyve been sitting in the balcony watching proceedings of the trial.

The details of the allegations his children heard arent the sort that most parents discuss openly with their children, especially 9 year olds like Scout, the narrator of the classic book. The language of the proceedings is rife with sexually explicit descriptions and racial slurs. And yet, the 1960 novel was for years required reading in private and public schools across the country because of the way its author used a full set of storytelling tools to give young readers a nuanced understanding of these most taboo of subjects.

Were glad Lee put those fictional children in the courtroom, and that many school districts agreed that kids ought to have an opportunity to read and discuss such a troubling story and a remarkable contribution to American literature.

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So it was easy to scoff when the Texas Legislature passed a bill meant to keep inappropriate books off library shelves by requiring vendors to rate the explicitness of any sexual references in the books they sell to school districts. Would To Kill a Mockingbird be canceled? What about the Texas classic Lonesome Dove?

LATEST NEWS: Katy ISD sends parents permission slips for children to attend book fairs

The name of the bill  the READER Act  invited another layer of ridicule. It stands for Restricting Explicit and Adult-Designated Educational Resources.

In truth, the act that made it into law is more nuanced than its detractors let on. Before designating a book explicit, vendors are to consider the full context in which the description, depiction, or portrayal of sexual conduct appears and whether that might mitigate the offensiveness of the material.

Sounds good at first. And hey, it could be a decent jobs program for all the English majors out there whod much rather get paid to read than to drive for Uber. Trouble is, the law expected booksellers to shoulder the cost of this vast undertaking. And not just for future sales to schools, but for past ones as well. A lawsuit was promptly filed to challenge the law. One of the plaintiffs, Blue Willow Bookshop, on Houstons west side, estimated that such assessments would cost between $200 and $1,000 per book, and between $4 million and $500 million to rate the ones already sold. By comparison, the stores annual sales are just over $1 million.

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On Aug. 31, one day before the law would have gone into effect, a federal district judge agreed with the booksellers and blocked the enforcement of the bill. Texas appealed. On Wednesday, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, widely considered the most conservative federal appellate court, upheld the lower courts ruling. The justices ruled that the law violated the First Amendment because it compelled speech. If Blue Willow didnt issue ratings it would lose business with Katy ISD  and, according to the suit, already has  and would go out of business if it tried to comply.

The author of the bill, state Rep. Jared Patterson, a Republican out of Frisco, posted to X that he was disappointed by the 5th Circuits decision but added that the state library standards, which are the first ever of their kind, remain Texas law, as the court opinion states, the library standards are not an issue.

Patterson has a point. State policymakers and school districts have an obligation to set standards. The folks who write, publish and sell books  as the 5th Circuit made clear  have a constitutionally protected right to put whatever they think will sell out into the world, but that doesnt mean all of it, no matter how prurient or vulgar, should end up on a library shelf. These days, actually, it is liberal school districts removing To Kill a Mockingbird from their assigned reading lists because of outrage over the racial slurs used by bigoted characters and the depictions of Black characters through the white child narrators eyes.

Even Harper Lee, the author, seemed uneasy about having written a book for young audiences thats so explicit. Her moral hero, Finch, is upset that his kids snuck into the courtroom. A minister sitting next to the children objected, too, but eventually both relented. They seem to understand that children cant be protected from the harsh realities of the world, and that was before kids carried little computers in their pockets connected to the internet.

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Kids need moral guides, not blinders.
https://sputnikglobe.com/20240119/we-can-do-nothing-drone-production-executive-slams-ukrainian-mismanagement-1116263160.html

We Can Do Nothing: Drone Production Executive Slams Ukrainian Mismanagement

We Can Do Nothing: Drone Production Executive Slams Ukrainian Mismanagement

Sputnik International

Since the start of special military operation, Russia has been boosting and enhancing its drone production in order to gather battlefield intel and conduct high-precision strikes on Ukrainian military facilities.

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military

drones

drone strike

drone warfare

ukrainian drone attacks on russia

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Ukrainian authorities show incompetence while managing the drone production, said Artyom Vyunnik, head of Athlon Avia company in the interview to the local broadcaster. He added that Kiev authorities often demand impossible while asking what the company can do.According to Vyunnik, the authorities do not understand what they will need in the future and cannot formulate their demands correctly. As a result, the lack of time to coordinate actions negatively affects the production process.Earlier in the interview, the head of the Ukrainian Center for Aerial Reconnaissance, Maria Berlinskaya, complained that Russia has an overwhelming advantage in drone warfare, while the Kiev authorities lack a strategic vision for the UAV industry. She added that Russian President Vladimir Putin personally oversees drone production.In 2024, Russia is expected to unleash new powerful drones in the special military operations zone, including the Lastochka (Swallow) attack drone, the Upyr (Vampire) FPV drone and the upgraded Rusak FPV drone, as well as various copter-like kamikaze drones.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240110/revamped-rearmed-reloaded-arms-that-will-expand-russias-edge-over-nato-in-2024-1116104324.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20231225/top-5-powerful-russian-weapons-that-shattered-myth-of-natos-superiority-in-2023-1115773982.html

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Glenfidich followed the pocket trip to victory in the featured $18,000 conditioned trot on Thursday (Jan. 18) at Woodbine Mohawk Park.

Looks Like Game On (James MacDonald) set the tempo through panels in :29, 1:00 and 1:29.4. Throughout each split, Glenfidich (Sylvain Filion) kept the leader in his sights as he followed in the pocket spot. After the final turn, Glenfidich had made his move and overtook the pacesetter. He continued home to win by 1-1/2 lengths over Looks Like Game On in 1:58.4. Doncorleone (Austin Sorrie) rounded out the top three.

Bob McIntosh trains the four-year-old Wheeling N Dealin-Amazing Adventure gelding for his Robert McIntosh Stables Inc., Mardon Stables and Craig Wallwin. The gelding earned his third win from 31 career starts.

As the 4-1 mild upset victor, Glenfidich returned $9.50 to win.

To view Thursday's harness racing results, click the following link: Thursday Results - Woodbine Mohawk Park.

(Standardbred Canada)
Throughout 2024, Regional West will celebrate the 100th anniversary of caring for the people of western Nebraska and the neighboring states of Colorado, South Dakota and Wyoming.

Regional West Medical Center will host two community forums with CEO Mel McNea next week to discuss the hospitals accomplishments in 2023 and what their goals are moving forward.

One will take place at the Gering Civic Center on Jan. 22 from 5:30-6:30 p.m. and another at the Hampton Inn and Suites on Jan. 24 from 12-1 p.m.

Advertisements for the forum tout the 100th anniversary of the hospital. On April 15, 1924, the West Nebraska Methodist Episcopal Hospital opened at the corner of 18th and Broadway in Scottsbluff with a staff of 25.

In a press release, Regional West said, During the last 100 years, much has changed on our campus, in our community, and in our region. Although Regional West Medical Center is now a regional referral center and the states only Level II Trauma Center west of Kearney, at our roots we have always been a community hospital  paid for by the community, supervised by a volunteer board of local citizens, and improved by contributions from volunteers and friends who continue to donate their time and talent in order to provide quality healthcare for the future.

No organization reaches 100 years without challenges. But with challenge comes opportunity, and we are excited about the many positive things that are happening at Regional West. Throughout the decades, our name and location have changed along with medical technology, and our staff and services have grown dramatically, yet we are committed to providing the same excellent care upon which we built our reputation. While much has changed since 1924, the dedication of our physicians, providers, employees, and countless others remains the same, and will continue as we embark on the next hundred years.
The week of Jan. 21-28 is recognized as School Board Recognition Week in Nebraska to honor those individuals who go above and beyond for all Nebraska public schools, Educational Service Units (ESU) and their students. The local board of education is a uniquely American institution that has made the public schools and ESUs flexible, responsible and accountable to the needs of the local communities, our state and our nation.

ESU and school board members are extraordinary people who voluntarily tackle the enormous job of governance and do so in a manner that illustrates what it means to be an advocate for our students. While they all come from different backgrounds and live different lives, these individuals come together on their school board with the common goal of helping students grow, learn and enjoy their educational experiences.

More than half of Nebraska school board members are serving in the district they graduated from. These dedicated board members work closely with parents, education professionals and other local citizens to create the educational vision for our communities. They take time away from their jobs and families to participate in monthly meetings and continuing education opportunities.

The board of ESU 13 consists of 12 election districts that cover over 14,000 miles in the Nebraska Panhandle. These members bring the voice of their communities, to each meeting and decision. ESU 13 is fortunate to have the following elected individuals represent their areas on our board: Mark Sinner, President, Scottsbluff; Kim Marx, Vice President, Hay Springs; Thomas Millette, Secretary, Bridgeport; Tim Horn, Hemingford; Patricia Jones, Alliance; Caroline Winchester, Chadron; Raymond Richards, Scottsbluff; Ronda Kinsey, Scottsbluff; Scott Marsh, Gering; Diane Coon, Bayard; Casper Ningen, Sidney; Steve Diemoz, Kimball.

School and ESU board members exemplify local citizen control and decision-making in education. The ESU 13 staff sends a grateful thanks to the 1,700 locally elected volunteers who make up the Board of Education for Nebraskas Public Schools and ESUs.

I hope youll take this opportunity to acknowledge the board members in your community who make the time to share their leadership and voice about the future of Nebraska students.
Sarah Stogner took this drone photo on Thursday, Jan. 18. It shows a blowout at a Crane County site. Sarah Stogner Another drone photo by Sarah Stogner shows a Crane County blowout last week. Sarah Stogner This Sarah Stogner drone photo, from January 14, 2023, shows a blowout at Christian Springs in Pecos County. Stogner and allies named Christian Springs after Wayne Christian, the incumbent on the Texas Railroad Commission who beat Stogner in the 2022 Republican primary. Sarah Stogner

It happens almost like clockwork: I capture drone images showing a water breach due to unplugged wells that can endanger our water supplies. Then, the state government takes additional steps to ban drones over these areas.

The latest example involves Crane County in West Texas. As the Chronicle recently reported, I posted a new image on social media showing large amounts of water pooling in the waste pits and trenches installed to contain the flow. Its among many photos I took using a drone. I am a licensed pilot, and know how to operate my drone safely.

After sharing these photos, I learned that the state managed to get a no-fly zone order in place and extended it through June. As the Chronicle reported, even the landowner himself did not know that the Texas Railroad Commission, which regulates oil and gas, planned to be working on his property that long. The Railroad Commission doesnt tell me anything, he said.

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Its not just landowners being kept in the dark. With these no-fly zones, the Railroad Commission seems to be trying to prevent the people of Texas from knowing whats really going on with abandoned, or orphan, wells  and how its own failure to tackle this problem is creating environmental problems.

I believe Crane County could become the next Lake Boehmer, which the Chronicle has described as a poster child for what can happen when no one takes responsibility for an old well. It provides a pathway for toxic waters flowing underground to rise to the surface.

Sarah Stogner: "With these no-fly zones, the Railroad Commission seems to be trying to prevent the people of Texas from knowing whats really going on with abandoned, or orphan, wells  and how its own failure to tackle this problem is creating environmental problems." Elizabeth Conley/Staff photographer

The Railroad Commission keeps promising to fix the problem of zombie and orphaned oil wells across the state. Texas has been receiving federal funds to help  even though both of our senators, Ted Cruz and John Cornyn, voted against the infrastructure bill that provides those funds. (Its hardly the first time their hypocrisy has brought shame to our state.) Meanwhile, the backlog is growing.

The dangers of abandoned wells are proven. As the Associated Press reported, They are a silent menace, threatening to explode or contaminate drinking water and leaking atmosphere-warming fumes each day that theyre unplugged.

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The people of Texas need to know all we can about these wells, including their whereabouts. We need to see what is  or is not  being done. We need to hold our leaders accountable.

Im not alone in opposing these no-fly zone orders for drones. News organizations are fighting them as well. In a misguided ruling, the U.S. Court of Appeals 5th Circuit dealt another blow to these groups, allowing these bans to continue. In one of many ridiculous arguments, the court noted that while drones are banned, such images can be lawfully captured using a helicopter, a tall ladder, a high building, or even a really big trampoline.

So I guess in order to help protect the people of Texas, I need to get the worlds largest trampoline that will shoot me high enough into the air to capture a wide area being flooded with dangerous chemicals. Or rent a helicopter for hundreds or even thousands of dollars, spewing fumes, including lead, into the air.

The state has argued that drones pose a potential threat of injury. But as a federal judge previously pointed out, Texas officials produce no evidence to suggest that helicopters are any safer.

Meanwhile, Texans face potential injury every day due to the chemicals leaking into our water and air. We also face economic injury in numerous ways, including the loss of farmlands.

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So I plan to violate these no-fly zone orders, and continue collecting images. As a lawyer, I know my rights. Im confident that if the state chooses to arrest me for capturing and sharing drone photos I will win  as will other people who are acting similarly in the public interest.

Going to court first to challenge the no-fly zones isnt a viable solution. The state manages to drag out these legal cases, and theres no time to waste. Every day, the people of Texas face urgent threats to public health. Our need to know beats the states desire to prevent us from collecting images.
The National Weather Service in Portland forecasts freezing rain for parts of Southwest Washington and Northern Oregon starting Thursday evening, but the Longview and Kelso area could be in the clear.

Although the National Weather Service isnt currently predicting freezing rain for the two largest towns in Cowlitz County, thawing areas may refreeze, leading to icy road conditions, meteorologists report.

The freezing rain was expected to arrive later Thursday and last through Friday morning, hitting the lower I-205 and Interstate 5 corridor, according to the National Weather Service Portlands X page, formally known as Twitter.

There was no specific warning released for a local ice storm in Cowlitz County, like there was on Tuesday and Wednesday. Instead, the latest official warning was through 10 a.m. Friday for the greater Portland and Vancouver metro areas and Lower Columbia including St. Helens, Clatskanie, Vancouver, Ridgefield, Yacolt and Amboy.

Rain was also forecasted through Monday in Cowlitz County, while lows were expected to be about 3 degrees above freezing Thursday and Friday nights, and about 40 degrees Saturday and Sunday nights.

The weather service advises residents to prepare for possible power outages, downed trees and powerlines due to ice accumulation and winds.

Locals schools in Longview, Kelso, Rainier, Woodland, Kalama and Toutle Lake again canceled classes Thursday due to the weather.

Larry Hembree, emergency management director of the Cowlitz County Department of Emergency Management, warned landslides could be possible after the areas heavy rain and snowfall for several days, which can cause the soil to become saturated. This saturation makes the land more unstable, particularly when the winds start to pick up.

Hembree is not concerned about area rivers flooding since conditions in local rivers have not reached the National Weather Services action stage, the level before minor flooding. Instead, he said localized flooding could occur in ditches and storm drains due to debris.

According to the National Weather Service, local rivers with gauges are well below flooding level, including the Cowlitz River at Castle Rock and Kelso, the Columbia River in Longview and the Lewis River in Woodland.

A winter storm warning is also in effect through 4 p.m. Friday in the South Washington Cascades, including Mount St. Helens and the Coldwater Lake area. The weather service forecasts up to 9 inches of snow are possible, primarily above 3,000 feet, as well as ice accumulations of around half an inch. Wind gusts could reach 45 mph.
The Housing Opportunities of Southwest Washington board plans to hold a hybrid meeting at 4 p.m. Monday at 820 11th Ave. Longview, as well as online. Find the link at www.hoswwa.org, and use the Zoom meeting ID 709 116 0943 and access phone number 1-253-215-8782.

The housing authority covers Cowlitz County  except Kalama and Kelso  as well as Lewis, Pacific and Wahkiakum counties.

The Cowlitz-Wahkiakum Council of Governments is scheduled to hold its monthly regular council meeting noon Thursday in the Cowlitz County PUD auditorium at 961 12th Ave., Longview.

Topics covered in the action items on Thursday's agenda include travel authorization for a Target Zero/road safety conference in Denver, and a federal highway grant and carbon reduction program decision.
Longview residents worried their property may flood can fill sandbags at Longviews city shop during the weekdays.

Local leaders say localized flooding, like in parking lots, is possible as recent ice and snow begins to melt.

People can fill bags from 6:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, in building A at 1426 Alabama St., or after hours by calling 360-578-0900. People are asked to check in with the office before bagging.

Longview residents must bag their own sand, but sand, bags, funnels and shovels will be provided.

Longview Assistant Public Works Director Chris Collins said the city gives out sandbags during inclement weather, but can do so throughout the year for those in need who call ahead.
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:

Sandra Rodriguez's exhibit was created using deep learning and artificial intelligence to guide visitors through the connection between desire and technology.

Canadian artist and academic Sandra Rodriguez, by hacking artificial intelligence, hopes to demystify the novel technology topping the news of late, while showcasing its power and potential to brighten but also disrupt our lives.

In a dimly lit Montreal art space, visitors interact with her exhibitan AI trained on millions of online searches for erotica that generates a mosaic of pornographic videos that eventually mesh into a soup of abstract shapes.

Skin is shown as "uniformly light" and "smooth," reflecting "what the AI sees most in current pornographic videos," explains Rodriguez, who used several generative algorithms to create the images that highlight "the social biases which exist in mass pornography."

A few months earlier, she had unveiled a conversational bot inspired by American linguist Noam Chomsky whose objective was to "demystify the secrets of AI" by chatting with the public, all in a virtual world.

"It is necessary today to create works of art that speak to the public about issues that will affect them tomorrow," Rodriguez tells AFP, adding she aims to dispel fears, as well as the "somewhat unrealistic craze," surrounding AI.

"Sandra is a bit of a hacker in a certain way," says Gauthier Gidel, who has collaborated on several of her projects and is a researcher at Mila, the artificial intelligence institute of Quebec.

"She will take the tools, try to change up their use and show the world that this twisted use is almost better than the initial reason for which they were created," he explains.

For her next project, the 40-something Rodriguez plans to mix artificial intelligence with dance, a passion she has had since her childhood in Montreal where she learned salsa at neighborhood parties.

Sandra Rodriguez poses for a portrait during her artificial intelligence (AI) exhibition called Sex, Desire and Data," at the Centre Phi in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, on August 8, 2023.

From documentaries to AI art

Born to a Spanish humanitarian aid worker and a Quebec teacher, Rodriguez grew up in an immigrant neighborhood in Montreal before spending part of her youth abroad.

Attending secondary school in Spain, university in Canada and then in Belgium, "it was important for our parents that we be exposed to other ways of thinking, other cultures," says the artist whose older sister lives in Madrid.

Initially trained in documentary cinema, she quickly used emerging digital media to find "new ways of telling human stories."

At the same time, she developed a course of research on ways in which the public can reappropriate new tech tools and the resulting social impacts.

For seven years, she split her time between Montreal and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, where she taught the first course devoted to the production of immersive media.

Today, several of her works embody this duality and have earned award nods at festivals including Sundance and Ars Electronica in Linz, Austria.

This picture taken on April 26, 2023 in Toulouse, southwestern France, shows screens displaying the logo of Midjourney an articial intelligence application.

'A real danger'

Rodriguez has a strong "desire to break the limits (of these technologies) and to go beyond them, but in an intelligent way, to bring value," says Eliane Achcar of Studio Normal.

For the artist, looking at technology through different lenses helps to reveal its flaws.

By relying only on content collected on the internet and on their own creations, generative AIs like Midjourney or Stable Diffusion that turn text prompts into images reduce "little by little creativity and the way of thinking differently," says Rodriguez.

Added to this is the question of plagiarism of the works on which these systems are basedan issue raised by several artists before the courts.

"We need to take breaks in the development of AI," says Rodriguez, who has denounced the massive collection of data for several years. "Not so much because the systems are moving too fast, but because we don't know who is using them, what data they are using."

In 2015 Rodriguez was recognized for her work highlighting abuses by technology companies in the "DoNotTrack" project, a documentary series produced by international media.

"There is a real danger for us as citizens," she warns.

 2024 AFP
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Apple, headed by Tim Cook, is keen to lock users into its ecosystem, but EU rules are making it open up.

Apple is prepared to open the iPhone's ability to tap-to-pay to rivalsin the EUafter coming under fire for keeping users in its own ecosystem, the European Commission and the company said on Friday.

The commission, the European Union's market regulator, said it was weighing Apple's proposal, which was made after Brussels determined that the Cupertino company enjoys a dominant position in iOS mobile wallet transactions by shutting out competitors.

Such transactions rely on technology called Near-Field Communication (NFC) which allows users to tap a smartphone on a vendor's payment terminal instead of a credit card with a microchip.

An Apple spokeswoman told AFP: "We have offered commitments to provide third-party developers in the European Economic Area (EEA) with an option that will enable their users to make NFC contactless payments from within their iOS apps, separate from Apple Pay and Apple Wallet."

This option would be made available in the 27 EU countries plus associated countries Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, which together make up the EEA.

"Apple Pay will continue to be a broadly available option, and over 3,000 issuing banks across all EEA countries will still be able to offer the unparalleled privacy and security of Apple Pay, as well as its great user experience," the spokeswoman said.

The European Commission has invited companies in the contactless payments business to comment within a month on Apple's proposal to see if it addresses their competition concerns on getting access to tap-to-pay tech on iPhones and Apple watches.

Europe only

The commission said Apple was offering to make NFC on iOS devices available free of charge, and would create interfaces so that competitors could safely store personal payment details for use in their own apps.

Only users with an Apple ID registered in the EEA would be able to make use of these outside apps, though "Apple will not prevent the use of these apps for payments in stores outside the EEA," the commission said in a statement.

That raised a question about how consumers and regulators in non-EU markets, such as the United States, Britain and Australia might view the change, and whether they could push for similar treatment.

The commission noted that, up to now in Europe, "Apple's iPhones run exclusively on Apple's operating system (iOS), with which they form a 'closed ecosystem'".

In May 2022, the EU executive accused Apple of anti-competitive behaviour by blocking access to NFC on its phones to other companies. That resulted from a probe launched two years earlier after complaints from EU banks.

Brussels has already forced Apple to make changes to its products by legislating for all smartphones in the EU to have USB-C ports.

That saw Apple last year ditch its slower Lightning port on new iPhone models going forwardbut that was a change rolled out worldwide, not just in the European market.

From March this year, Apple and five other tech giantsGoogle owner Alphabet, Amazon, Meta, Microsoft and TikTok owner ByteDancewill be required to abide by a new EU Digital Markets Act putting them up against anti-competitive scrutiny and tougher obligations.

 2024 AFP
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AI was the buzzword on everyone's lips at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

Walking around in Davos where the global elites gathered for the World Economic Forum this week, there were two inescapable words on the windows: artificial intelligence.

If 2023 was the year everyone including investors and politicians were feverishly excited about AI, 2024 looks set to be a more sober year where people try to tackle how the world benefits from AI while mitigating its risks.

AI was the buzzword on everyone's lips at the World Economic Forum, when they weren't talking about a possible return of former US president Donald Trump.

The world's biggest tech companies including Google, Meta and Microsoft were out in force, with their most senior executives in town for panels but also unofficial chats with businesses and politicians from around the world.

The hype over AI reached fever pitch last year after ChatGPT burst onto the scene in late 2022, demonstrating the rapid developments of the technology.

The chatbot could pour out expressive poems and essays in seconds, and even pass medical and legal exams.

ChatGPT also focused minds on AI regulation to protect individuals from its dangers and harness innovation, with politicians in China, the European Union and the United States passing or working on legislation last year.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said on Wednesday climate and AI had been "exhaustively discussed" by governments, media and leaders at Davos.

"And yet, we have not yet an effective global strategy to deal with either," he said.

China's Premier Li Qiang called for global cooperation on the issue while Guterres told reporters that President Xi Jinping told him he wanted the UN to be at the centre of efforts on AI governance.

Guterres last year set up a panel on AI that delivered a draft report in December, with recommendations on five guiding principles for AI including inclusivity.

Microsoft president 'optimist'

The cautious tone had already been set before Davos began on Monday after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) published a report with sobering statistics.

The IMF said AI would affect nearly 40 percent of jobs around the world, and some 60 percent in the advanced worldreplacing some jobs while complementing others.

With people attending from all over the world including China, India, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, there was also focus on what AI will mean for the Global South.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said his company was 'focused' on addressing the AI risk to elections.

The UN's panel of experts includes Marietje Schaake, international policy director at Stanford University Cyber Policy Center.

The UN has a "unique role with its global legitimacy", she said, "to correct the wrong, if you want to think about it that way, of not having included people, their contexts, their lived experiences, their needs from the global south".

Microsoft President Brad Smith told AFP he was already an "optimist" before Davos about the world working together better on AI. "Nothing has changed," he said.

"What Davos enables is lots of conversations with people who are not always in the same room, and you take stock of where things are, you find out where people have values in common, and you find where you have challenges that you need to address," he said Wednesday.

Sapthagiri Chapalapalli, head of Tata Consultancy Services Europe, said the "overwhelming majority" of people he spoke to at Davos "feel that (AI) has immense potential".

He described how he fielded different questions from participants including how to use AI to improve productivity.

Another question that came up, Chapalapalli said, was: "'How do we do AI in a more responsible manner?'"

The EU believes its comprehensive law to regulate AI is one of the answers to managing the technology's risks.

Disinformation fears

There is already a big test for regulators and companies as billions worldwide prepare to vote in polls in Europe, India, Mexico and the United States.

At Davos, the dangers posed by AI for those elections were on the agenda.

Senior EU official Vera Jourova said she pressed big tech executives on what they were doing to prepare for the elections.

Jourova also said Brussels' efforts on its "AI Act" were welcomed.

"What I hear very often from American companies is that the European way of regulating things ahead mitigates risks ex ante, that it creates a bigger legal certainty than in the United States," she told journalists.

ChatGPT creator OpenAI's CEO, Sam Altman, acknowledged the concerns over AI's impact on elections this year but insisted his company was "focused" on the issue.

 2024 AFP
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A 65-year-old man successfully climbs to the top of Mount Yongbong in Bukhansan Mountain using a wearable robot and muscle support. Credit: Korea Institute of Science and Technology

As people age, they gradually lose muscle strength in their arms and legs, making it difficult for them to participate in leisure activities such as hiking and traveling, and they often need to rely on assistive devices such as canes and wheelchairs for mobility. However, these devices do not improve muscle strength, so wearable robots that can compensate for the lack of muscle strength are attracting attention as an innovative technology to improve the health and quality of life of the elderly.

Dr. Lee Jongwon of the Intelligent Robotics Research Center at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) has developed a wearable robot, MOONWALK-Omni, which means "to actively support leg strength in any direction (omnidirection) to help walk like walking on the moon." A senior citizen successfully completed a wearable robot challenge to climb to the top of Mount Yeongbong (604 meters above sea level) in Korea.

The challenge raised the possibility of commercializing wearable robots in outdoor complex environments, successfully climbing with the help of the robot's muscle strength, without changing batteries or intervention from developers.

The wearable robot MOONWALK-Omni. Credit: Korea Institute of Science and Technology

Various types of wearable robots have been developed in the past, but due to their heavy weight and large volume, they have been limited to the rehabilitation process of patients in hospitals with simple indoor environments. However, MOONWALK-Omni is an ultra-lightweight wearable strength-assistance robot that predicts the user's movements and supports insufficient leg strength to help the elderly rehabilitate and assist with daily activities.

The 2-kilogram device can be easily donned by an older adult in less than 10 seconds without assistance, and its four ultra-lightweight, high-powered actuators on either side of the pelvis help balance the user while walking and boost the wearer's leg strength by up to 30% to increase propulsion.

The robot's artificial intelligence (AI) analyzes the wearer's gait in real time and provides safe and effective muscle support in a variety of walking environments, including gentle slopes, rough rocky paths, steep wooden stairs, and uneven stone steps. Through the Bukhansan Mountain Wearable Robot Challenge, the research team succeeded in verifying the performance and reliability of muscle support using wearable robots in everyday environments that are more complex than hospitals.

An elderly man walks up a complex stone staircase environment while wearing a robot during a wearable challenge in Korea.(Bukhansan Challenge). Credit: Korea Institute of Science and Technology

An elderly participant in the challenge said, "I thought I would have to give up mountain climbing, which I have enjoyed since I was young, but I feel 10 to 20 years younger after climbing the mountain comfortably with the wearable robot."

Dr. Lee Jong-won of KIST said, "Through this challenge, we have obtained experimental data that shows that safe and effective strength support is possible in a variety of walking environments."

"Through the convergence of ultra-lightweight, high-power wearable robot drive technology and personalized artificial intelligence strength support technology, it is expected to be widely used in the fields of daily assistance, rehabilitation, and exercise for the elderly who lack muscle strength due to aging."

As a follow-up to MOONWALK-Omni, the research team is developing MOONWALK-Support, which not only strengthens leg muscles but also supports the complex joints of the lower extremities such as hip and knee.

In addition, the team has achieved achievements in various fields by transferring core technologies and components such as motors, reducers, and computing circuits for wearable robots to company in Korea.
U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, center, delivers remarks about the Department of Justices report on the Robb Elementary shooting alongside Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta, left, and COPS Director Col. Hugh T. Clements Jr. during a press conference at Herby Ham Activity Center on Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024, in Uvalde, Texas. Sam Owens/San Antonio Express-News The Department of Justices report on the Robb Elementary School shooting, which was released on Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024, in Uvalde, Texas, is 500 pages long. Sam Owens/San Antonio Express-News Nikki Cross, guardian of Uziyah Garcia, cries as she holds hands with her husband Brett Cross while listening to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland deliver remarks about the Department of Justices report on the Robb Elementary shooting during a press conference at Herby Ham Activity Center on Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024, in Uvalde, Texas. Sam Owens/San Antonio Express-News April Elrod, whose daughter Makenna Elrod was killed in the Robb Elementary shooting, listens to remarks from U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland about the Department of Justices report on the Robb Elementary shooting during a press conference at Herby Ham Activity Center on Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024, in Uvalde, Texas. Sam Owens/San Antonio Express-News U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland delivers remarks about the Department of Justices report on the Robb Elementary shooting during a press conference at Herby Ham Activity Center on Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024, in Uvalde, Texas. The DOJ stressed that the report is a critical incident review of the response to the May 24, 2022, mass shooting, not a criminal investigation. Sam Owens/San Antonio Express-News Artist Abel Ortiz, left, gives Attorney General Merrick Garland, right, a tour of murals of shooting victims, Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2024, in Uvalde, Texas. The Justice Department is planning this week to release findings of an investigation into the 2022 school shooting. (AP Photo/Eric Gay) Eric Gay/Associated Press

More than a year and a half after a teenage gunman killed 19 fourth-graders and two teachers at a Uvalde elementary school, the U.S. Department of Justice on Thursday released a 575-page report detailing law enforcements flawed response to the massacre.

Federal officials reviewed more than 14,000 pieces of data and documentation for the report, including body-camera footage, interview transcripts and training policies. The department also spent 54 days in Uvalde and conducted more than 260 interviews, federal officials said.

Had law enforcement followed generally accepted practices in an active shooter situation and gone right after the shooter to stop him, lives would have been saved, and people would have survived, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said in Uvalde on Thursday.

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Here are the key takeaways from the report:

Barricaded subject v. Active shooter

Law enforcement officers most significant failure on May 24 was their decision to treat the gunman as a barricaded subject instead of an active shooter, the Department of Justice found.

Since the 1999 shooting at Columbine High School in Colorado, law enforcement has generally understood that officers No. 1 priority in an active-shooter situation is stopping the killing. That means officers take any action necessary to neutralize the threat  including risking their lives.

That did not happen at Robb Elementary School. Instead of immediately breaching the classroom, officers searched for keys and tried to negotiate with the shooter.

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An active shooter with access to victims should never be considered and treated as a barricaded subject, the report states.

The gunman had holed himself up in a classroom with dozens of victims. He fired several gunshots while officers were standing outside. Yet, law enforcement did not confront and kill him until 12:50 p.m., 77 minutes after he entered Robb Elementary.

Despite their training and despite multiple events indicating the subject continued to pose an active threat to students and staff in the building, including the likelihood and then confirmation of victims inside the room, officers on scene did not attempt to enter the room and stop the shooter until for over an hour after they entered the building, the department found.

U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, left, listens to Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta, right, delivers remarks about the Department of Justices report on the Robb Elementary shooting during a press conference at Herby Ham Activity Center on Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024, in Uvalde, Texas. Sam Owens/San Antonio Express-News

Unnecessary delays stopped cops from reaching kids faster

Officers could have, and should have, confronted the shooter much sooner, federal officials said.

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There were many reasons for the delay. First, no generally acknowledged incident commander led the police response at Robb Elementary, though the Department of Justice concluded that Pedro Pete Arredondo, then the head of the school police force, was the de facto leader. (Arredondo has previously said he did not consider himself in charge.)

Nearly 400 officers from 24 agencies responded to the school shooting, and the lack of leadership caused mass confusion and chaos. No law enforcement leader established an command structure to direct other first responders, according to the report, and officers didnt question the lack of decision-making.

As officers evacuated children in other classrooms, they did not mark which rooms theyd cleared, leading to multiple attempts to clear rooms that had already been evacuated. It took 43 minutes to empty all the other classrooms  an effort that was protracted and should not have caused such significant delay in the eventual entry into rooms 111/112, the report states.

On-scene officers also waited for outside help. Active-shooter training instructs law enforcement to stop the killing with whatever weapons they have, but the first responders at Robb waited for other law enforcement officers with specialized equipment and training to arrive.

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Law enforcement also tried to determine whether a sniper and drone would have a view into the classroom, which added 10 minutes to the response time, according to the report.

Leaders providing direction in an active shooter incident must balance the urgency to stop the shooter with capabilities and approaches that may be time-consuming, the report states.

The sniper assessment should have been completed as soon as the shooters location was known  and it could have been done in the first 10 minutes after officers arrived, according to the review.

Officials contaminated the crime scene and didnt preserve evidence

Law enforcement officers did not follow proper protocol to preserve evidence and the crime scenes after the shooter was killed. They did not document who was passing through a total of six crime scenes related to the massacre.

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Body-worn camera video captures officers walking into the crime scene without an investigative purpose or responsibility in the immediate aftermath of the incident, the report states. Furthermore, in the days that followed, crime scene preservation was compromised, and the crime scene team had to continually stop and start their important work when non-investigatory personnel entered the hallway and classrooms 111/112 for the purpose of viewing the scene.

In another instance, law enforcement failed to preserve the scene in and around the shooters truck, which hed crashed into a ditch before storming into the school. The FBI suggested moving the truck to a secure location, or covering it with a tarp, because rain was coming. But these offers were rebuffed by leaders of the Texas Department of Public Safety, according to the report.

Leaders must respect the integrity of the crime scene and only access it with a declared and documented legitimate purpose, the report states. Crime scenes need to be held without contamination.

U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland delivers remarks about the Department of Justices report on the Robb Elementary shooting during a press conference at Herby Ham Activity Center on Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024, in Uvalde, Texas. The DOJ stressed that the report is a critical incident review of the response to the May 24, 2022, mass shooting, not a criminal investigation. Sam Owens/San Antonio Express-News

Chaotic public communication in days after shooting

Local and state officials repeatedly gave out inaccurate and conflicting information in the hours and days following the shooting, worsening the pain and suffering of victims families and eroding public trust.

For example, the school police posted their first public update 33 minutes after the shooter entered Robb. The message falsely stated that students and staff were safe, and it was never corrected. Family members also had difficulty getting answers on where exactly their children were and what the reunification process was on the day of the shooting.

ONE YEAR LATER: Remembering the 21 school shooting victims

The confusion only grew as the days went on. Local officials, the Texas Department of Public Safety and even Gov. Greg Abbott repeatedly provided conflicting information in official communications and news conferences.

Law enforcement agencies that responded to the school were unresponsive to the concerns of community members and media, and they did not explain how the false information was released. In the months that followed, family members received few answers, and journalists revealed much of what is known about the shooting today.

The extent of misinformation, misguided and misleading narratives, leaks and lack of communication about what happened on May 24 is unprecedented and has had an extensive, negative impact on the mental health and recovery of the family members and other victims, as well as the entire community of Uvalde, the report states.

Children didnt get the care they needed

The law enforcement response to the shooting was chaotic, but so were the events that followed  and kids didnt get the medical care they required.

First responders did not have a plan to triage injured children and teachers after law enforcement breached the classroom, federal officials said. Survivors were given little direction about what to do after they left the school, and children and staff were not fully evaluated medically before they were transported to the reunification site, the report found.

Injured victims had delayed medical care and were at risk of further injury, the report states.
An Iola native was arrested by San Antonio police Jan. 2 after allegedly murdering a tenant of his girlfriend in December, according to KSAT-TV in San Antonio.

Shawn Pivonka, 37, has been charged with murdering David Beck, 41, who was a tenet of Pivonkas girlfriend.

According to police, Pivonkas girlfriend had been attempting to evict Beck, but he had just won an appeal and was attempting to show the landlord.

Shawn had allegedly been involved in the legal dispute between Beck and his girlfriend and got into an argument with Beck on Dec. 14, according to police.

Officers said Pivonka attempted to punch Beck causing Beck to draw his weapon. Pivonka allegedly drew his own weapon and shot and killed Beck, according to police.

A warrant was issued Dec. 20 after investigators gathered enough evidence to charge Pivonka with murder.
The Texas A&M University Police Department is asking for help in identifying several suspects who allegedly entered the Heep Laboratory Building and destroyed computers, broke doors and activated emergency fire extinguishers.

The Texas A&M PD released a video of the suspects on Thursday via the social media platform X. The incident occurred on Oct. 20, 2023, according to the department.

The police are asking anyone with possible information on the persons of interest to contact Detective Wester at 979-458-6218 or jwester@tamu.edu.
The Texas Senate led by Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick opens the second special session called by Governor Greg Abbott on Saturday, August 7, 2021 in Austin. Matthew Busch, Contributor / For The San Antonio Express-News

Democratic candidates vying for Mayor John Whitmires former state senate seat vowed to fight Republican state leadership on reproductive rights, public education and Medicaid expansion in front of a standing-room-only crowd Wednesday evening.

Following Whitmire's election as Houston mayor and his subsequent resignation from the Texas State Senate, the District 15 seat is opening up for the first time since 1983. Six Democrats and one Republican have filed to run for the seat  traditionally a Democratic stronghold  in the upcoming March primary.

The Democrats include state Rep. Jarvis Johnson, emergency room nurse Molly Cook, former Houston ISD teacher Karthik Soora, attorney Alberto Beto Carendas, attorney-mediator Todd Litton, and Michelle Bonton, a community advocate and founder of an art school. The only Republican candidate is businessman Joseph Trahan.

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These candidates will likely need to navigate several elections, including a special election to fill the vacancy for the remainder of the current term, a possible runoff for that special election, a primary, a possible primary runoff, and the November general election.

Gov. Greg Abbott announced Thursday that the special election will take place on May 4, and the deadline for candidates to file their ballot applications is March 4. This means candidates will have to make their decision about entering the special election without the opportunity to assess their performance in the March 5 primary.

Five of the Democratic filers made their pitch Wednesday to voters at St. Stephen's Episcopal School during a forum co-hosted by various local Democratic clubs.

Here is a breakdown of who they are and why they believe they would be the best candidate to replace Whitmire.

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Jarvis Johnson

Johnson has served in the Texas House since 2016 and represented District B on Houstons city council before that. He raised around $192,800 for his state senate campaign last year and had $106,200 in cash on hand by the end of 2023, according to the latest campaign finance reports released this week. He also lent $50,000 of his personal funds to his campaign.

Texas State Rep. Jarvis Johnson speaks during a press conference about the U.S. Environmental Protection Agencys recent announcement that it will investigate the Texas Commission on Environment Qualitys concrete batch permitting criteria and processes under federal civil rights laws shown Tuesday, Aug. 9, 2022, in Houston. Melissa Phillip / Staff Photographer

He touted his role in securing federal funds for the Houston area, including working with Whitmire to help bring $1 million to Houston ISDs Booker T. Washington High School. With Democrats expected to remain the minority in the state Senate, Johnson said his legislative experience has equipped him to effectively challenge Republican leaders like Abbott and Lieutenant Gov. Dan Patrick.

Experience matters, Johnson said. You must know the procedures. You have to know how to stop bills that are coming across the table, and you must know how to amend those bills. I know how to do that.

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Karthik Soora

Soora, a renewable energy developer and a former chemistry teacher, led the pack in fundraising efforts last year. He received $273,800 in donations and loaned his campaign an additional $10,000. His account balance was $113,900 by the end of 2023.

He positioned himself as a leader of a new generation with fresh ideas and pledged Wednesday to champion the rights of diverse communities. Coming from an immigrant family, he also underscored his activism against recent state bills aimed at restricting land purchases by Chinese nationals, empowering the state to deport individuals suspected of illegal border crossing and other controversial measures impacting immigrant communities.

Karthik Soora, candidte for Texas state senate district 15, speaks during a protest against SB 147 outside Sen. Lois Kolkhorsts office Thursday, April 27, 2023, in Katy. Kolkhorst is the author of the bill. Yi-Chin Lee/Staff photographer

We have a legislature headed by Greg Abbott and Dan Patrick that's bought out by MAGA billionaires, that's letting gun violence spiral out of control, that's attacking our public schools, our bathrooms, our LGBTQ communities, our reproductive freedom, our democracy, our schools, he said. It's not enough to just have a Democrat in the seat. It's enough to have a real Democrat.

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Molly Cook

Molly Cook, an emergency room nurse, is not new to the race for Senate District 15. She challenged Whitmire in the Democratic primary two years ago and lost to the incumbent with a 42% to 58% vote split. The contest marked Whitmire's narrowest margin of victory since the early 1990s.

Molly Cook poses for a portrait just outside of downtown with I-45 in the background on Thursday, April 13, 2023 in Houston. Cook is an organizer with Stop TxDOT I-45, a local group established to oppose the freeways expansion. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer

She has been at the forefront of several grassroots organizing efforts, including an initiative to halt the massive I-45 expansion project and a successful campaign last year to amplify Houston's influence on a regional planning body.

Cook raised $190,400 in 2023 and ended the year with $75,700 in cash on hand. She said Wednesday her experience as a healthcare professional a grassroots advocate will help her build relationships with constituents.

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You have to show up over and over again for people, be authentic and genuine, and let them know that they can depend on you, and then follow through to build relationships and build cohesion across our district, Cook said. If you send me to Austin, I'll bring nursing leadership, public health, and grassroots organizing into every room.

Alberto 'Beto' Cardenas

Cardenas, a Houston attorney, has held board positions with the Houston Food Bank, Texas Tech University School of Law and Houston Parks Boards. He also served as the chairman of the Harris County Housing Authority.

He has been raising funds through a specific-purpose committee called Texans for Beto, securing $15,900 in contributions last year, leaving its balance at $15,300. He also lent the committee $75,000 of his personal funds.

Attorney Alberto Beto Cardenas has filed his candidacy to run for the Texas State Senate. Alberto Cardenas

As an attorney, Cardenas has represented clients in challenging conservative policies including the termination of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. He promised that regardless of the elections outcome, he would share his funds and resources with other Democratic leaders to strengthen the party's presence in the state.

I'm here to kick the crap out of some of these Republicans that have done the stupidest things to our state, Cardenas said. I'm here to protect our personal freedoms, but I'm also here to get the job done at the end of the day.

Todd Litton

Litton, a Houston native, works as an attorney-mediator at his own mediation practice and leads the Houston chapter of SWAN Impact, an investment organization that supports entrepreneurs focused on solving climate and health problems. He also worked in the nonprofit education field for about two decades.

He ran against U.S. Rep. Dan Crenshaw in 2018 and placed second with 46% of the vote. If elected this year to replace Whitmire, he said he would advocate for reproductive rights, Medicaid expansion, voter engagement and other liberal causes. He received $176,700 of political contributions in 2023 and reported $117,700 in cash on hand.

Todd Litton Melissa Phillip/Houston Chronicle

I got in this race to change Texas, Litton said. I'm running to stand up to Greg Abbott and Dan Patrick and tell them to get the hell out of our bathrooms, get the hell out of our bedrooms, get the hell of our doctor's offices, get the hell out of the voting booths, and get the hell out of Harris County.

Michelle Bonton

Bonton, a self-described "social entrepreneur" and "broke philanthropist," has held several leadership positions in organizations promoting art education. She is the executive director of the Anderson Center for the Arts, a group focused on expanding access to the arts in underserved communities.

She reported a $10,000 personal loan to her campaign and an account balance of the same amount in her latest campaign finance report. She did not attend the Wednesday forum but said in a statement that she would focus on improving the education system and expanding residents economic opportunities if elected.

The Greater Houston Region deserves a fresh voice, one that understands our community and how to advocate for its success, Bonton said. I envision a district 15 that thrives economically, where education is accessible, and where the diverse voices of our community are heard.

Michelle Bonton, executive director of the Harris County Cultural Arts Council, holds a photo of her grandmother who inspired an exhibition of hats at the council. Elizabeth Conley, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer

Joseph Trahan

Trahan, the lone Republican in the race, is a Houston businessman who has worked in a variety of industries including real estate, oil and gas and information technology. He disclosed raising $1,036 last year and an account balance of $540.

He has cited the need to protect election integrity as his main reason for getting into politics.
President of Cote d'Ivoire reaffirms one-China principle, underpins cooperation with China

Xinhua) 14:23, January 19, 2024

President of Cote d'Ivoire Alassane Ouattara meets with visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire, Jan. 17, 2024. (Xinhua/Wang Guansen)

ABIDJAN, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- President of Cote d'Ivoire Alassane Ouattara met with visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Wednesday in Abidjan, the capital of the West African country, during which the president reaffirmed the adherence to the one-China principle.

Ouattara asked Wang to convey his good wishes to Chinese President Xi Jinping, and expressed appreciation for Xi's governance philosophy and deep concern for the people. He said that he admires China's remarkable achievements, and thanked China for shouldering responsibilities as a major country in promoting peace and development.

Ouattara expressed pride in the friendship with China and in the strong relations between the two countries. He affirmed that his country would continue to prioritize its relations with China, looking forward to learning from China's successful experiences, expanding cooperation in various fields, and achieving more outcomes from the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in Cote d'Ivoire to better benefit both peoples.

The president said that Cote d'Ivoire's position on the Taiwan question is clear: there is only one China in the world, and Taiwan is part of China. He stated that Cote d'Ivoire would continue to abide by the one-China principle.

For his part, Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, conveyed cordial greetings from Xi to Ouattara. He congratulated Cote d'Ivoire on successfully hosting the 34th Africa Cup of Nations, saying that it is a grand event for the African people and a source of pride for Cote d'Ivoire.

China delivered the main stadium on time and with high quality, and the Cocody Bridge built by Chinese companies in Abidjan has become a new landmark for the country, symbolizing mutually beneficial cooperation between the two sides and representing China-Africa friendship, Wang said.

China highly appreciates Cote d'Ivoire's support for China's efforts in safeguarding national unity and territorial integrity, Wang said, noting that China will continue to speak out on issues concerning Cote d'Ivoire's core interests and major concerns.

China is ready to jointly implement the important consensus reached by the two heads of state and continuously promote the mutually beneficial cooperation between China and Cote d'Ivoire to a new level, he said.

China-Africa cooperation has made historic achievements, providing crucial assistance in accelerating Africa's development and contributing to global peace and stability, Wang said.

China is ready to work with African countries to explore effective ways that suit their respective national conditions, preserve their independence, and achieve common development and prosperity, striving together for modernization, he said.

(Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Liang Jun)
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, center, sits between defense attorneys Tony Buzbee, left, and Mitch Little, right, before starting the ninth day of his impeachment trial in the Senate Chamber at the Texas Capitol on Friday, Sept. 15, 2023, in Austin, Texas. Sam Owens/Sam Owens / Pool via San Antonio

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton paid over $2.3 million in legal fees to defend himself against impeachment last year, his latest campaign finance report shows.

The third-term Republican was impeached by the GOP-majority Texas House in May for allegedly accepting bribes and abusing the power of his office to help a friend and campaign donor. The state Senate, also led by Republicans, voted to acquit him months later.

READ MORE: AG Ken Paxton stops fight against whistleblower suit that launched impeachment

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The filings show Paxton dipped into his campaign account to cover the legal costs, giving the majority of the money  or about $1.7 million  to Stone Hilton PLLC, the firm created by former Texas solicitor general Judd Stone and former chief of civil litigation at the attorney generals office Chris Hilton.

About $200,000 went to Scheef & Stone where attorney and Republican Texas House candidate Mitch Little works, while $100,000 went to lead attorney Tony Buzbee and $250,000 went to the other lead attorney, Dan Cogdell.

The payments appear to cover only a fraction of his legal costs. In Paxtons fundraising appeals following the trial, he said he owed $4 million total for his legal defense. His campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment on how much more he expects to pay and when he plans to pay.

Meanwhile, Paxton railed against the Texas House for delaying disclosure of the costs of impeachment, which he and his defense lawyers cast as politically motivated.

I have racked up an enormous legal bill of $4 MILLION, he wrote in an email to supporters this fall. While the Texas House was able to foot the bill of their investigations to the taxpayer, I had to break the bank just to get justice for an illegal impeachment scheme orchestrated by establishment forces working against us.

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So far, the House has spent $4.3 million on impeachment costs, primarily for legal services, according to the Dallas Morning News
California Forever, the controversial billionaire-blocked land development project, has released the map for its planned utopian city for tech moguls in Solano County.

The proposed community will cover about 18,600 acres of "non-prime farmland" near Rio Vista and Suisun City, a prominent site for Native American culture and history.

California Forever Rolls Out New Proposals for Solano County

The community is planned to house up to 400,000 residents, mainly from Silicon Valley, and provide 150,000 new jobs to locals, or "at least 125%" of the county's weekly revenue.

Its billionaire sponsors will also contribute up to $200 million in addition to the $400 million "community benefits funding" affected communities are set to receive.

In a blog post on Thursday, California Forever said that they have already filed with the Solano County Registrar of Voters for the project to fully proceed.

California Forever is now waiting for the approval of at least 10 significant voters from the county before starting the proposed community.

No actual name for the city was given yet.

Also Read: 4 Luxurious 'Doomsday Bunkers' for Billionaires

California Forever's Utopian City Receives Backlash from Residents

More incentives are now being proposed in the construction of the new community after reports of Solano locals heavily objecting the project.

Recorded footage from the town meetings show several residents shouting angrily at the project leaders, including one person yelling "shame on you" to CEO Jan Sramek.

Local news outlets reported "outbursts, accusations, and disdain" after Sramek said that the community with its low ecological value and limited agriculture is better suited for land development.

Most prominent protesters were Native Americans that are living in the area. According to residents, the project will destroy the grave site for Natives that has existed for a long time now.

Residents claim that California Forever will be "excavating and building on without even consulting us, the Natives of this land."

In turn, Sramek said he and his team will do field surveys and further engage with the affected communities. It is uncertain if the land developers have finally calmed down the dissatisfied locals.

Related Article: Tech Billionaires Are Frantically Buying Islands Preparing For Doomsday
At their Jan. 18 meeting, the Grand Island Public Schools Foundation Board of Directors elected Audrey Lutz-Musliek, President; Kelly Enck, Vice-President; and Shane Wissmann, Secretary/Treasurer. The board elected Alison Larson, Brandon Bowley, Valerie Porto and Shirley McCallum as new board members.

The Board also thanked Zach Butz for his service as the Board President for 2023.

As the gavel was passed to Lutz-Mulsliek, Butz said, The GIPS Foundation has such a vital mission that benefits so many families in our community. Its been a fantastic experience for me to get to serve in a leadership role on a board of this caliber, alongside the Foundations passionate, dedicated staff. Everyone associated with the GIPS Foundation is motivated to benefit the students, staff and families in the Grand Island Public Schools system. I look forward to continuing to serve with the board to further that shared goal.

Jenna Grenier and Tom Gdowski retired from the board.

These board members have given freely of their time to make a positive difference in the lives of GIPS students, their families and staff, reads a press release from the Grand Island Public Schools district. They accepted the challenge to be stewards of our donors funds and have done a remarkable job accepting that challenge. Their passion for being difference-makers made them a perfect fit to carry out the mission and vision of the GIPS Foundation. We are grateful for their service.

Larson is a Grand Island native (from age 7 on), moving back to the area after finishing college. She has been working in banking and investments for the last 25 years. Recently, Larson made a big leap to become an executive director in the nonprofit world. Over the next two years, she will be helping the Grand Island Childrens Museum get up and running. Larson lives in St. Paul on the Middle Loup River and has two adult sons (Ethan and Eli) and one German shorthaired pointer named Cooper.

Bowley is a Vice-President of Business Banking at Home Federal Bank, where he has worked for 9 years. He has been working in the banking and financial industry for over 15 years. Bowley moved to Grand Island from his hometown of Burwell in 2007. He and his wife, Sara, have two daughters, Addalyn, who is 11, and Elaina, who is 7. Sara works for Grand Island Public Schools as an RN for Westridge Middle School.

Porto has been working for Grand Island Public Schools since 2021. She is a school social worker at Grand Island Senior High, serving 10-12th grade students and families. Prior to this she worked at the OConnor Learning Center and Westridge Middle School. Porto has been involved in the non-profit community by working at the Heartland United Way for 4 years, volunteering for many non-profits, and being a board member for the Foster Care Review Board. She and her husband Mark have a 1-year-old, Lewis.

McCallum is the Sponsorship and Hospitality Manager for the Nebraska State Fair and Aksarben Stock Show. She has 35 years of sales experience and has made Grand Island her home since 1990. She is an active volunteer in our community and her greatest joy comes from serving others. McCallum and her husband Kurt were very involved in GIPS activities when their children, Alexa, Brooke, Cade and Sage, attended school.

Others serving on the Grand Island Public Schools Foundation Board of Directors are: Kathie Degen, Diana Kellogg, Erin Marsh, Paul Hoos, Roger Schmidt and Dr. Rob Winter. Ex-officio members are: Lindsey Jurgens, Kevin De Leon Morales, Kari Price and Executive Director Kari Hooker Leep.

The Grand Island Public Schools Foundation is the tax-exempt organization that accepts gifts on behalf of the Grand Island Public Schools. Since the Foundations inception in 1983, its mission and goal are to enhance a tax-funded education by creating additional opportunities for students through philanthropic means. Programs and projects that fall under the Foundations enhancement umbrella include booster clubs, college scholarships for Grand Island Senior High School students, dual enrollment scholarships, facility enhancement, teacher and student recognition, alumni relations, the Grand Island Senior High School Hall of Honor, and the Classroom Grant Program. The Grand Island Public Schools Foundation manages more than 180 funds designed by donors that annually make grants to invest in the students of the Grand Island Public Schools.
Longtime TV anchor Spencer Schubert will become Grand Islands first communications manager on Feb. 1.

Schubert, a Kearney native, has spent more than 17 years in broadcasting and journalism. On Thursday, Jan. 25, he will make his final appearance on KSNB Local 4.

As communications manager, Schubert will be part of Grand Islands administrative team.

Our national search discovered our first-ever communications manager was a Nebraska native who was already doing important work and living right here in the Tri-Cities area, Mayor Roger Steele said in a release.

During the development of the 2024 city budget, the mayor and City Administrator Laura McAloon recommended the creation of the position.

The City Council supported and approved the position in recognition of the citys No. 1 priority, which is the delivery of excellent city services to the residents of the city, the release says. Schubert will advise and assist all city departments on the delivery of up-to-date information about city services, programs and events to both city residents and visitors.

We need to reach every member of our community when we are talking about the development of our city  whether we are working on a master plan for our parks and trail systems or advertising the development of a new housing or retail project in your neighborhood, McAloon said. We also put on great programming for families and youth at our facilities, such as the Edith Abbott Library and the Grand Island Community Fieldhouse, and we know we can do an even better job of communicating the availability of our programs to all of our residents.

The city expects to provide information and communication to residents at a whole new level, says the news release.

All city activities and actions directly impact our citizens quality of life and economic opportunities, and we are excited to launch this new approach to city communications and outreach, Steele said.
Chinas Pacific Construction to build $2.65 bln metro line in Hanoi

By Minh Anh Fri, January 19, 2024 | 10:55 am GMT+7

China Pacific Construction Group (CPCG), one of China's largest private corporations in the field of transport infrastructure, has partnered with Vietnam Construction and Import-Export JS Corporation (Vinaconex) on two major infrastructure projects totaling VND85 trillion ($3.46 billion) in Hanoi, including a $2.65 billion metro line.

Hanois Department of Transport, CPCG, and Vinaconex inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on Thursday to study and build metro line No.5 and Tu Lien bridge in the Vietnamese capital.

Representatives of Hanois Department of Transport, China Pacific Construction Group, and Vinaconex sign a memorandum of understanding in Hanoi, January 18, 2024. Photo courtesy of Kinh te Do thi (Urban Economy) newspaper.

The MoU came after several contacts between CPCG and senior Vietnamese officials. Yan Jiehe, founder and chairman of CPCG, met with Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh in Hanoi in January 2023; Secretary of the Hanoi Party Committee Dinh Tien Dung in Guangzhou, China, in September 2023; and Duong Duc Tuan, Vice Chairman of Hanoi in Hanoi last October.

Metro line No.5, also known as the Van Cao-Ngoc Khanh-Lang-Hoa Lac line, will run 38.43 kilometers linking four inner-city districts with satellite urban areas. It is designed to run 6.5 kilometers underground, two kilometers on an elevated section, and the remaining 29.93 kilometers at ground level.

The line, with 21 stations and two depots, had its planning approved in 2011 and was set to be implemented in the 2021-2025 period.

Under a master plan, Hanoi will have 10 metro lines, including nine main lines and one connecting satellite urban areas, with a total length of nearly 420 km, including 75 km underground.

Commercial operations on its first and only operational metro, the 13-kilometer Cat Linh- Ha Dong line, started in November 2021 after multiple delays and cost overruns. Meanwhile, the 12.5-kilometer Nhon-Hanoi railway station metro is under construction, but has also suffered delays and additional costs.

In addition, CPCG will participate in the construction of Tu Lien bridge and roads connecting it with the Hanoi-Thai Nguyen Expressway with a total length of 11.5 km at a cost of VND20 trillion ($814 million). The bridge will cross the Red River.
Former Bac Ninh province chair arrested for accepting bribes

By Minh Anh Fri, January 19, 2024 | 4:47 pm GMT+7

Nguyen Tu Quynh, former Chairman of Vietnams northern province of Bac Ninh, has been arrested on charges of receiving bribes related to the AIC bidding scandal.

Nguyen Tu Quynh, former Chairman of the Peoples Committee of Bac Ninh province. Photo courtesy of VTC News.

Nguyen Hanh Chung, former director of the provincial Department of Health, now a deputy vice chairman of Bac Ninh, has also been detained pending a further investigation into the same charge.

In relation to the corruption case at Advanced International JSC, AIC for short, the police also arrested Nguyen Van Nhuong, a former vice chairman of Bac Ninh, for abusing positions and power while on duty. Chairwoman of AIC Nguyen Thi Thanh Nhan is accused of giving bribes.

The arrests came after the Ministry of Public Security's investigative agency expanded investigations into the management board of health projects under Bac Ninhs Health Department, AIC and related institutions.

Before the arrests, the investigative agency had initiated legal proceedings against and detained several suspects of the management board and AIC for further investigation into bidding violations.

Over the past two years, former executives and employees of AIC have been investigated for violating bidding regulations at localities and government agencies.

AIC chairwoman Nguyen Thi Thanh Nhan has been prosecuted and convicted in four cases but is still at large.
Germany President to visit Vietnam next week, meet with top 3 leaders

By Anh Minh Fri, January 19, 2024 | 3:46 pm GMT+7

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and his wife will pay a state visit to Vietnam on January 23-24 at the invitation of his Vietnamese counterpart Vo Van Thuong.

With his trip, the president is underlining Germany's goal of expanding and diversifying political and economic relations with Vietnam, the German embassy said in a release, adding a business delegation will accompany the president.

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier. Photo courtesy of DPA.

During his stay in Hanoi, Steinmeier will hold talks with President Vo Van Thuong and pay courtesy visits to Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinnh and Chairman of the National Assembly Vuong Dinh Hue, the German embassy said in a release.

He is not scheduled to meet Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, who was not included in official schedules of meetings held with Vietnam's leaders by visiting Indonesian President Joko Widodo and Laos' Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone earlier this month.

According to the embassys announcement, President Steinmeier will also visit the Temple of Literature and meet with trainees, teachers and skilled worker recruiters to learn more about the exchange of skilled workers between Vietnam and Germany.

On the second day of his Vietnam visit, the president will fly to Ho Chi Minh City to attend talks between the German business delegation and local business representatives. Topics will include the prospects for economic and trade relations between the two countries.

President Steinmeier will later visit Vietnamese German University in the neighboring province of Binh Duong, where he will give a speech to students and teaching staff.

This is the third Vietnam visit by Steinmeier, after the first in March 2008 as Federal Foreign Minister, and the second in October 2016 as Vice Chancellor and Federal Foreign Minister.

Vietnam and Germany established diplomatic relations on September 23, 1975, and elevated their relationship to a strategic partnership during the visit to Vietnam in October 2011 by the then-Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Bilateral trade has moved in a range of $10-12 billion since 2018, with $11.1 billion in 2023, according to Vietnams customs data.

More than 350 German companies are operating in Vietnam, including Siemens, B.Braun, Messer, Bosch, Mercedes-Benz, Bilfinger, Deutsche Bank, and Allianz.

German firms committed to investing $366 million in Vietnam in 2023, more than tripling a year earlier, raising Germanys cumulative direct investment in the country to $2.68 billion as of end-2023, ranking 17th among the 144 countries and territories that invest in Vietnam.

Germany has provided more than $2 billion in official development assistance (ODA) to Vietnam since 1990.

There are nearly 200,000 Vietnamese nationals living in Germany.
Swiss firm staBOO Holdings AG to invest $122 mln bamboo item factory in Vietnam

By Tri Duc Fri, January 19, 2024 | 7:25 pm GMT+7

staBOO Holdings AG, under Swiss firm BARD AG, and Vietnamese partner Sao Thai Duong Investment JSC on Wednesday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on building a VND3-trillion ($122.2 million) factory in Vietnams central province of Thanh Hoa.

Executives of the two sides signed the MoU in Davos on the sidelines of Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinhs activities at the World Economic Forum (WEF). The factory has an annual capacity of 225,000 cubic meters of chipboard panels and OSB plywood, with the input of 1,000-2,000 tons of bamboo daily and employment of 3,000 people.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh (third, right) and Ministry of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung (second, right) at the signing ceremony between staBOO Holdings AG and Sao Thai Duong, in Davos, Switzerland, on January 17, 2024. Photo courtesy of the government news portal.

Marcus Bards, chairman of the Board of Directors of staBOO Holdings AG, highlighted Vietnams advantages for the project, including the high quality of bamboo for interior furniture manufacturing. As a result, the firm eyes long-term investment in Vietnam, helping the countrys sustainable growth.

For his part, PM Chinh lauded the Swiss firms target of using eco-friendly materials and high technology in the factory. He proposed the two sides cooperate for successful deployment, toward exporting products to Middle East nations. The Vietnamese authorities will facilitate the investment, the government chief added.

Chinh also urged staBOO Holdings AG to focus on training the local workforce and helping Vietnamese businesses join the firm's global supply chain.
The State of Iowa has just sued TikTok for misleading age rating tags that could expose children to "inappropriate content."

Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird filed the lawsuit, accusing TikTok and its parent company ByteDance of consumer fraud for an age rating of 12 on the Apple App Store.

Bird, a Republican, said the label is misrepresentative due to the platform's "frequent and intense" exposure of "graphic content" to young children.

The attorney general cited concerns about mature and sexual content on the platform, including "self-harm, illegal drug use, and worse."

Iowa is seeking financial penalties and for TikTok to correct its age appropriateness rating.

TikTok, on the other hand, is confident that it has "industry-leading safeguards in place for young people."

Also Read: TikTok is Allegedly Allowing Users Under 13 to Stay on the Platform

US Lawmakers Probe into TikTok's Access to Underage Users

Iowa was not the only state in the US that has filed a lawsuit against the video-sharing platform on similar grounds.

Utah, Arkansas, and Indiana have sued TikTok over the same issue. So far, only Indiana's lawsuit has been junked, while other states are still investigating.

The lawsuit comes in as TikTok is set to face the US Congress over online child safety policies on the platform by the end of January.

The hearing will be part of the US government's latest move to regulate prominent social media amid controversies of the platforms ignoring its underage users despite the danger.

US Regulations Mount Pressure on Chinese-Based TikTok

The pressure is double for TikTok and CEO Shou Zi Chew as tensions between the US and China continue to elevate.

ByteDance, a Chinese-based company, has been accused several times of collecting user data for the Chinese government.

Government officials have already been banned from accessing the app from state-owned devices.

In some parts of the country, like Montana, laws are being pushed to fully ban access to the app due to the aforementioned concerns.

As of writing, similar legislatures have been suspended on the grounds of violating the "Constitution in more ways than one."

Related Article: Texas Judge Upholds TikTok Ban on State-Owned Devices
South Carolina was awarded almost $2 million in funding for Voorhees University, one of South Carolinas eight HBCUs, Congressman James E. Clyburn announced Tuesday.

Administered through the U.S. Department of Educations Rural Postsecondary and Economic Development Program, this funding will help students in rural communities transition from high school to college and transfer from two-year to four-year institutions.

Time and again, the Biden-Harris Administration has shown tremendous dedication to our nations HBCUs, and more specifically, institutions of higher learning in South Carolina, Clyburn said in a release.

Thanks to this latest investment, students at Voorhees University will have the tools they need to succeed, he said. I am pleased to see Voorhees University receive this invaluable support as they shape the next generation of leaders.

Voorhees University President Dr. Ronnie Hopkins said, This grant will serve as the catalyst that drives the socio-economic vehicle destined to elevate the quality of life for citizens in and around the Denmark, South Carolina area.

I express profound gratitude to Congressman Clyburn and President Biden for entrusting Voorhees University with spearheading the Rural Postsecondary and Economic Development Program. Their unwavering confidence in Voorhees University underscores our commitment to steering this community toward the next level of excellence, he said.

The Department of Education awarded 22 institutions of higher education RPED grants to help improve rates of postsecondary education enrollment, persistence and completion among students in rural communities.

These grants will also provide career counseling and individualized student planning to help create pathways for students to find rewarding careers that do not require them to leave their home for economic opportunities.
MEXICO CITY  Mexican marines detained one of the top leaders of the Gulf drug cartel, the gang that kidnapped four Americans and killed two of them in March 2023.

The public safety department of the border state of Tamaulipas said the suspect was arrested in the neighboring state of Nuevo Leon, and identified him as "La Kena."

Get The Times and Democrat app today Local news has never been this personal. Free to download. Subscribers enjoy unlimited access.

That was the nickname the state previously listed on a Tamaulipas wanted poster for Jose Alberto Garcia Vilano in 2022. Mexico's national arrest registry said Garcia Vilano was taken into custody on Thursday.

Mexico's Navy Department said in a statement that marines had detained a suspect it called "one of the key leaders of one of the most powerful criminal organizations in Tamaulipas," adding he was "one of the main targets of the Drug Enforcement Administration," but did not provide his name.

Miguel Trevino, the mayor San Pedro Garza Garcia, located on the outskirts of Monterrey and considered one of Mexico's wealthiest communities, confirmed that Garcia Vilano was arrested at a local shopping mall.

In 2022, Tamaulipas state prosecutors also identified Garcia Vilano by a second nickname, "Cyclone 19," and had offered a $150,000 reward for his arrest.

The Cyclones are one of the most powerful and violent factions of the now-divided Gulf cartel. The kidnapping and killing of the Americans has been linked to another faction, known as "The Scorpions."

The four Americans crossed into the border city of Matamoros from Texas in March so that one of them could have cosmetic surgery. They were fired on in downtown Matamoros and then loaded into a pickup truck.

Americans Zindell Brown and Shaeed Woodard died in the attack; Eric Williams and Latavia McGee survived. Most of them had grown up together in the small town of Lake City, South Carolina. A Mexican woman, Areli Pablo Servando, 33, was also killed, apparently by a stray bullet.

The Gulf drug cartel turned over five men to police soon after the abduction. A letter claiming to be from the Scorpions faction condemned the violence and said the gang had turned over to authorities its own members who were responsible. A Mexican woman also died in the March 3 shootings.

"We have decided to turn over those who were directly involved and responsible in the events, who at all times acted under their own decision-making and lack of discipline," according to the letter.
Alston Joseph (centre) gladly accepts his Super 6 cheque from Murray Bullock, Chairman of the NLA, (left) in the company of NLA Manager McGregor Sealey.

It has been a long time in coming.





Alston Joseph has broken the drought becoming the first Vincentian in a while to win the Super 6 Jackpot.





Joseph  an electrician by profession and a resident of Peters Hope  came away with the $250,000, the jackpot for the draw made on January 5.





The winning numbers were 3, 13, 15, 24, 26 and 27 and the ticket was purchased in Mustique, where Joseph is employed.





He explained that the winning numbers represent the birth dates of his wife, children, and himself and that he has been playing this combination for about 16 years.





"I have been consistent, and you have to be in it to win it, he mused.





"Consistency and dedication  that is why I won, Joseph added.





It was a good feeling knowing now that he can assist his children with their education, put some aside and put some into sport.





It was back in July 2023 when a Vincentian featured as winner in the Super 6, this when Simon Forde was the joint winner of the $550,000 jackpot on offer then.





The other winner was a resident of Grenada, where in addition to St Lucia and Dominica the Super 6 game in played.
Senior Magistrate Colin John, to avoid any doubt among the dents, recused himself from pressing over a matter.

Senior Magistrate Colin John, on Tuesday, recused himself from a matter pending since he was Commissioner of Police.





While the Senior Magistrate contended that he could dispense justice fairly in the matter, he said that in the interest of justice, and to avoid the defendants having any doubts, he would recuse himself.





As a result, the Magistrate adjourned the matter to January 23 and transferred it to the Calliaqua Magistrates Court.





The Magistrates decision came following written and oral submissions by attorney Grant Connell who requested the recusal on behalf of his clients.





The matter involves minibus driver Elford Stephens of Glen and his conductor Micah Horne of Belmont, who are facing several charges in connection with an incident at Richmond Hill on September 22, 2023, involving Station Sergeant Kenny Jones, second-in-command of the Traffic Department of the Police Force.





Stephens is charged with assaulting Jones, causing him bodily harm, damaging a wrist watch valued US$25 and belonging to Jones. and making use of indecent language to Jones, to wit, "what kinda (expletive) seat belt, way de (expletive) do alyo, everyday alyo harassing people.





Stephens is also charged with being the driver of motor vehicle H519, while on the public road, and requested by a police officer in uniform to produce his driving permit for examination, did failed to do so.





Horne is charged with assaulting Jones, causing him bodily harm, and obstructing Jones, he being a police officer acting in the due execution of his duties.





Connell submitted on January 15, that Stephens alleges that, following the incident, Station Sergeant Jones physically abused him at the Central Police Station, and he (Stephens) made a report to the Public Relations and Complaints Department of the Police Force, but there was no redress.





"The defendants have opined that as Commissioner of Police, you (John) would have been in a position to address the issue, but to date, if it was brought to your attention, addressed, or still pending, creates the uncertainty of your being impartial in this case, Connell said





He added that both Stephens and Horne alleges that when officer Jones abused Stephens, Stephens indicated that he would report him, and Jones replied that, "Nothing will come out of that, which was interpreted to mean that the police would not carry out investigations into the matter, and no decision would be made.





Connell said that to date, the issue was never addressed and now leaves a lurking doubt in Stephens mind as to whether the trial would be a rehash of the report that was made while John was Commissioner of Police, and would have made the final decision.





Connell said that by granting the request for recusal, justice would not only be done, but would be seen to be done by a fair-minded observer.





To support his arguments, Connell referenced the appeal case between the appellant, Keston Riley, and respondents, the attorney general and Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) in 2020.





At a previous sitting of Kingstown Magistrates Court, Connell had suggested that John recuse himself from all pending criminal matters before the Court from his tenure as Commissioner of Police, and all traffic matters in which he is the complainant.





John was sworn in as Senior Magistrate on December 1, 2023 after retiring as Commissioner of Police.
"The government and people of St. Vincent and the Grenadines look forward to a further strengthening of our excellent relations with the government and people of the Republic of China (Taiwan).





This sentiment was contained in a congratulatory letter which Prime Minister Dr. ralph Gonsalves dispatched to Taiwan on the very day, January 13, 2024, when Lai Ching-te and his running mate, Bin-khim Hsiao, were elected President and Vice President respectively.





He congratulated the men on what he described as a "magnificent triumph.





This sentiment would have been expected, given that Taiwan and St. Vincent and the Grenadines have enjoyed diplomatic relations since 1981, with each country having resident ambassadors assigned.





Those relations have been said to have strengthened since the Unity Labour Party assumed the seat of national administration here.





But there was a seemingly counter position offered up by at least two Caribbean governments in the aftermath of the elections.





Both Dominica and Antigua and Barbuda used the occasion to reiterate their support and commitment for the One China Policy, and for the peaceful reunification of the Peoples Republic of China and Taiwan.





In an official statement, The Government of Dominica said, "it is widely accepted that the future of Taiwan remains a matter within the internal affairs of the Peoples Republic of China.





Dominica stated that "the Taiwanese Presidential election has always been viewed as part of Chinas internal politics and has in no way been interpreted as an act that can lawfully bring about the independence of Taiwan.





The statement added that Dominica "has maintained deep and friendly relations with the Peoples Republic of China since 2004, and remains committed to strengthening the bonds of its enduring friendship.





And the Antigua and Barbuda government, in a statement from the Prime Ministers office, reiterated its support for the One China Policy, and noted that Antigua and Barbuda "has never shifted allegiance to the Peoples Republic of China since its independence in 1981.





The statement added that Antigua and Barbuda is dedicated to the international principles of non-interference in sovereign states internal affairs, and asked other countries to let China handle its disputes with Taiwan.
All public sectors workers will have more money to take home in 2024, said the Finance Minister.

As of March 01, 2024, no full-time worker in St. Vincent and the Grenadines will receive a salary of less than $50 a day, which means that workers will make at least EC$1,000 a month.





This was the assurance given by Finance Minister Camillo Gonsalves during his presentation of EC$1.6 billion 2024 Budget to Parliament, January 08.





He told the Parliament, that in some extreme cases the adjustments will result in increases of up to 75% for monthly paid workers and 56% for full time daily-paid workers, relative to the previous minimum wages.





However, "In most cases the increase will be a more modest 20%, he said.





With particular focus on Civil Servants, Minister Gonsalves noted that this year marked the second consecutive year that civil servants salaries were being adjusted, this in addition to raising the income tax threshold to $25,000.00 from $22,000.00.





Civil Servants will receive a 2% increase in 2024, with nursing assistants and nursing aides getting an extra 5% above the 2% as negotiated for all public servants.





The 2% increase in 2024 follows on a 2.5% increase in 2023. A 2.5% increase is promised for 2025.





Gonsalves said that in arriving at the new minimum wages, the Wages Council, paid specific attention to the low wage jobs that are disproportionately staffed by women.





Among these were cashiers, sales clerks, cleaners, cooks, food servers, receptionists, housekeepers, domestic workers, and caregivers for children and the elderly.





"Budget 2024 therefore ensures that all public sectors will be paid more and all workers will keep more of their salary in 2024, Minister Gonsalves reasoned.
The North Leeward Technical Institute brings to five the number of technical institutes currently serving the state.

Rayon Murray is the Deputy Principal of the Petit Bordel Secondary School. But from September 2023, he has been doing duties at the North Leeward Technical Institute (NLTI).





Murray sees over a slate of at least 47 full time students. A number of other learners, from the Troumaca Ontario Secondary School and the Petit Bordel Secondary Schools, attend the NLTI for courses in Construction, House Keeping, Food Preparation and Cake Baking.





The NLTI began classes September 2023 with a staff of 16 and has served the Secondary Schools in the constituency for their practical examinations in Food and Nutrition, as part of their Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) programme.





Overall, students are evaluated for the Caribbean Vocational Qualifications and National Vocational Qualifications.





The formal opening ceremony of the NLTI took place last Monday in Petit Bordel.





Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves, Education Minister Curtis King, Tourism and Culture Minister and parliamentary representative Carlos James, together with Chief Education Officer, Kay Martin Jack addressed the ceremony.





James praised Murray for the creativity with which the staff has adapted to the students and looked at the opening of tourism-related avenues as linking with economic development.





He echoed his vision of endorsing North Leeward as the "Eco-tourism platform of St. Vincent and the Grenadines.





Chief Education Officer Kay Martin Jack looked at the opening as "significant, in that it was "empowering youths with knowledge and skills for a sustainable future.





She recognised the emphasis on this type of education as fitting the agenda of ensuring that Technical and Vocational Education continues to entrench itself in mainstream education.





Martin Jack praised Murray for his passion and commended him for having gone "beyond to line of duty.





The Education Officer disclosed that students pursuing courses in Construction at the NLTI will be paid when they do internships at the Kingstown Port during Easter and Summer holidays.





Education Minister Curtis King expressed happiness that his Ministry was providing students with knowledge and skills to make them successful.





He needed no convincing that aligning Technical Education with the overall education agenda fitted ideally with the thrust towards transforming our society.





And while he thought the effort was bearing fruit, he admitted, "We have to do more to ensure our education system remains relevant.





King is encouraging students at the Petit Bordel Technical Institute to move on to the Community College. "You are part of the future. Take advantage of the resources offered. Never give up on your dreams, he advised.





The North Leeward Technical Institute is the fifth such institution to be established here. It joins similar establishments in Barrouallie, Campden Park, Kingstown and Georgetown in making up that number.
Members of the Rapid Response Unit (RRU), commonly referred to as the Black Squad, and some residents in the East St. George community of Choppins got into a physical confrontation on Saturday 13th January, during an attempt by the police to arrest a resident of that community.

In the process, shots were fired into the air by the RRU officers, in an effort to quell the mob that had literally begun to man handle the officers. In the process, shots were fired into the air by the RRU officers, in an effort to quell the mob that had literally begun to man handle the officers.





Following the incident, an account of which went viral on various social media platforms, the RSVG Police Force (RSVGPF), through its Public Relations and Complaints Department, on Tuesday 16th January, issued a statement in which it gave an account of the incident in Choppins.





According to the statement, a party of officers from the Rapid Response Unit (RRU) went to Choppins in search of a suspect who was reportedly in possession of an illegal firearm. Upon entering the village, they saw a male fitting the description of the suspect.





"The officers approached the suspect and identified themselves to him as police officers. The officer in charge of the patrol informed the suspect about the information that was received and requested a search of his person, the statement read.





"A crowd immediately gathered around the police and the suspect and started to behave in a hostile manner towards the police. A police officer then held onto the suspect and attempted to search him. The suspect pulled away and slapped the officer in his face, the statement added.





The police release also noted that the officers again held on to the suspect in an attempt to conduct the search, however, the angry crowd violently pulled the suspect away from the officers. While this was happening, someone from the crowd grabbed the purse that the suspect was carrying, which the officers suspected to have contained the illegal firearm, as reported, and ran.





"During the upheaval, a police officer was thrown to the ground by the crowd, and was injured in the process. In an effort to disperse the crowd and de-escalate the situation, police discharged two shots in the air, the statement disclosed, adding,





" the officer rightly held onto the suspects hand to affect the arrest but he pulled away.  If such person (the person who is under arrest) forcibly resists the endeavour to arrest him, or endeavours to evade the arrest, such police officer or other person may use all means necessary to effect the arrest, as per section 22(2) of the Criminal Procedure Code.





The Public Relations and Complaints Department highlighted that "that had it not been for the restraint exercised by the police officers, the situation could have turned out to be very tragic for the suspect, the unruly mob, and themselves.





The statement went on to remind the public of the obligations and powers conferred upon police officers in the execution of their duties and in accordance with the Firearms Act, and the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC), relating to, among other things, the arrest and searching of suspects.





It emphasized that that it is an offence to obstruct a police officer while he/she is executing their duty.





Not for the first time, the RSVGPF called on all citizens and residents of St. Vincent and the Grenadines to respect and abide by the laws of the state.





The RSVGPF noted that, "There are too many instances where some members of the public are engaged in fighting the police. The RSVGPF encourages the public to work with the police in creating safer communities and combating crime and violence in the land.





The acting Commissioner of Police, Enville Williams has ordered a full investigation into the matter.





A number of residents in Choppins are however disputing the police account of what transpired.





One resident told THE VINCENTIAN Newspaper that they are willing to give an account of what led to the conflict. All things being equal, this should be carried in the next issue of THE VINCENTIAN.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, in an effort to take the lead in the AI race, said he plans to build an Artificial General Intelligence and open-sourcing it.

In a video posted on Zuckerberg's Threads account, the CEO said that the company is moving its AI research divisions, FAIR and GenAI, together to bring the technology "into all our daily lives."

To achieve the goal, Meta is willing to hire at least 350,000 NVIDIA AI chips by the end of the year. Zuckerberg expects the project to come to fully start "by the end of the decade."

The announcement comes in as OpenAI and Microsoft made clear of reaching similar goals soon.

Meta has been rapidly releasing new AI tools across its platforms for the past few months as Zuckerberg teases of a new "top-level product group" that will lead its AI business.

Also Read: Meta Now Has a Standalone AI Image Generator Website

What is an Artificial General Intelligence?

Artificial General Intelligence or AGI is the final goal for many tech firms, an AI that will meet or surpass human intelligence in almost every field.

Despite the lofty ambition, no company has a clear definition of the GAI, how it will be achieved, or when it will finally arrive.

Zuckerberg described the technology as "some far-future super intelligence" that has autonomous self-control and understanding of its surroundings, much like an actual human.

There is no clear way yet when an AI can be considered an AGI but many tech industries think it will be achieved by combining all technological advancements to bring the dream to life.

Related Article: Meta Showcases 'Seamless' AI Translator for Expressive Communication

Risks of an Eventual AGI to Society

Companies often touted the AGI as a final solution to the industry's problems but have rarely discussed potential risks.

Bringing the AGI into reality also prophesizes the International Monetary Fund's assessment of AI affecting more and more jobs across the world in the near future.

For now, almost 40% of all jobs are already "exposed" to the emerging threat of technology.

Zuckerberg believes putting the technology on open development, allowing public feedback, will address issues immediately compared to close development projects.
Taiwans President-elect Lai Ching-te, also known as William Lai (right) celebrates with his running mate, Vice President-elect Bin-khim Hsiao and supporters in Taipei, Taiwan. (AP Photo)

Taiwan has voted for Lai Ching-te to be its next president. In so doing, it marked a historic third term in power for the pro-sovereignty Democratic Progressive party (DPP), in a result that will anger Beijing and heighten tensions across the Taiwan strait.





Early results showed Lai had won about 40% of the vote, ahead of Hou You-yi from the opposition Kuomintang (KMT), and the third placed Taiwan Peoples party. Pre-election polls had shown Lai with a much narrower lead.





Lai Ching-te, a 64-year-old doctor turned politician and who served as vice-president to the outgoing Tsai Ing-wen, is now tasked with leading Taiwan through a testy relationship with China.





Already, observers are saying that how Mr. Lai manages Beijing, and how Beijing reacts to him, will determine his presidency.





Chinas Taiwan affairs office, responding to Lais win, said the result of the election would not stop "the general trend that the motherland will eventually and will inevitably be reunified, this in the face of all major parties in Taiwan rejecting the prospect of Chinese rule.





But shortly after being announced as Taiwans president-elect, Lai said it was a "victory for the community of democracies around the world. He said voters had successfully resisted efforts from "external forces to influence the election, in reference to Beijings efforts to have the DPP ousted.





"Taiwanese people have the right to choose their own president, he said.





The president elect, though, will have to be politically astute as he works with a 113-seat parliament in which his party lost control.





He pledged to work with the opposition parties and review their policies "as long as they bring benefit to the people, indicating he anticipated a difficult parliament dominated by two opposition parties.





Lai, who comes from a more radical wing of the DPP, has pledged to follow Tsais careful balancing of the US and China, in which she avoided formalising Taiwans de facto independence  and antagonising Beijing  by saying Taiwan was already a sovereign nation, and defending the status quo. Beijing claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has vowed to "re-unify it with China, and has not ruled out the use of force to achieve that aim.





It has called the DPP a party of separatists, detests Lai, and has twice sanctioned his new vice-president, Hsiao Bi-khim, who until recently served as Taiwans envoy to the US.





So China, according to a BBC correspondent, "is extremely unlikely to agree to any dialogue with the new president.





The two sides have had no formal communication since 2016. China suspended the channel at the time, infuriated by Ms Tsais refusal to acknowledge that Taiwan was a part of the mainland.





Saturdays verdict will mean a continuation of the very tense situation that already exists in the Taiwan Strait.

China may also step up economic and diplomatic pressure, by luring away more of the handful of small states that still recognise Taiwan, and sanctioning more Taiwanese companies, products and people.




The items for distribution were neatly packaged. Inset: Dame Susan Dougan, in whose name the Dame Susan Dougan Foundation is established, is overwhelmed by the momentum the initiative has developed in its short period of operation to date.

The Dame Susan Dougan Foundation was launched on September 7th, 2023.





Founded in the name of the current Governor General of St. Vincent and the Grenadines with the primary aim of creating second chances for displaced young woman and girls, especially those still in the school system.





Last Monday, Jan.15, in a ceremony at the Government House, Governor General Dame Susan Dougan traced the genesis of the idea for the Foundation.





Dame Susan said she first put out the idea of having a foundation to Vincentians in the UK, when she visited the UK for the coronation of Kings Charles III.





"The Vincentians in the UK thought it was an excellent idea. They were ready to come on board before the project was fully conceptualized. They had a lot of ideas and those ideas they submitted to me, Dame Susan related.





She referred to having a few friends in schools here who had indicated that they needed some help.





This prompted the move to make the concern of the Foundation a national one.





To date, visits have been made to ten schools across the state, including the Central Leeward, St. Clair Dacon and the Sandy Bay Secondary schools, to ascertain their needs.





Dame Susan emphasized, "We are working closely with the Ministry of Education because we are not trying to do their work. We are partners and where there is a shortcoming in any way, we will try to see how best we can assist. Thus far the support has been very, very good.





Tangible support has been forthcoming from donors in the UK, who were able to gather and fill a barrel with various items and have it shipped to St. Vincent.





"We received it during the Christmas season and they sent all kinds of paraphernalia - calculators, geometry sets, sanitary items - things that we tend to overlook that students may wish to use, Dame Susan pointed out.

Items were handed over to relevant school officials during Mondays event.





Her Excellency added that she hopes to see improvements in students academic and overall performance, after a given period of time. She pledged her continued support.





Also speaking at last Mondays event was Nicola Evans of the Dame Susan Dougan Foundation. She expressed, on behalf of the Foundation and the Governor General in particular, how pleasing it was that stakeholders were so willing to participate in the project. She credited Dame Susan for "always finding a way to make changes.





Nicole McLean, Principal of the Thomas Saunders Secondary School, extended gratitude to Dame Susan for the initiative.





"We know that it will help our students. Sometimes it is the problems outside of the classroom that affect what the students can truly achieve and again we are so pleased with the initiative and the help, Mclean said.





All in all, the Governor General declared that she was "overwhelmed because what started as a thought and a concept materialized into something very wonderful.
(TBTCO) - San luong nha may va doanh so ban le cua Trung Quoc vuot ky vong trong giai oan tu thang 1 en thang 2/2024, anh dau su khoi au vung chac cho nam 2024 va mang lai mot so cuu tro cho cac nha hoach inh chinh sach, ngay ca khi su yeu kem trong linh vuc bat ong san van la luc can oi voi nen kinh te va niem tin.
Betis winger identified as Danjuma replacement

| 19/01/2024



Everton are rumoured to be willing to let Arnaut Danjuma leave Goodison Park for Lyon this month now that they have found a replacement option in Luiz Henrique.

Danjuma's loan move from Villarreal has not panned out how either or the Toffees envisaged it might so far but Sean Dyche has insisted that the Dutchman remains part of his plans.

There is a belief, however, that privately Everton would be prepared to let him end his loan spell early if the right move could be found and the club were able to bring in an alternative wing option on loan before the deadline.

Danjuma's agent has already confirmed Lyon's interest but there are mixed reports this week over where Everton stand, with some saying that they won't let the former Spurs man go while others say the Blues have given him the green light.

Article continues below video content

Italian transfer gossip site FootMercato believe Everton do now have a replacement in the pipeline in the form of Real Betis's Luiz Henrique.

The 23-year-old Brazilian is primarily a winger who joined the Spanish club from Fluminese in 2022 and has since scored four goals and registered nine assists in 62 games.

Original Source: FootMercato via TeamTalk

Reliability rating:

Note: the following content is not moderated or vetted by the site owners at the time of submission. Comments are the responsibility of the poster. Disclaimer ()

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(Photo : Unsplash/Julio Lopez)

Meta's Facebook and Instagram faces a recent legal filing regarding child exploitation, claiming a 2021 internal company estimate found as many as 100,000 children receive sexual harassment on the platforms daily, including pictures of adult genitalia.

Child Protection Lawsuit Concerns

The allegations were revealed as portions of a newly unredacted complaint against the social media giant in an ongoing child protection lawsuit from the attorney general of New Mexico, as the platforms become increasingly popular, especially among young people.

The complaint also contains details about a 2020 internal chat at Meta, where an employee asked a colleague, "What exactly are we doing about child grooming (something I just heard is happening a lot on TikTok)?" and the colleague responded, "Child safety is an explicit non-goal this half."

In the same year, Meta executives scrambled to address a complaint from an Apple executive whose 12-year-old child was "solicited" on Facebook. Meta employees shared concerns that such incidents could anger Apple enough to consider removing Meta from the App Store. They also asked when measures would be implemented to prevent adults from messaging minors on Instagram Direct.

READ ALSO: Amidst OpenAI Turmoil, Meta Could Benefit Though Indirectly Involved

Meta's Commitment to Age-Appropriate Online Safety

A Meta spokesperson mentioned that the company has addressed numerous issues highlighted in the complaint, including deactivating over half a million accounts for violating child safety policies in one month alone.

Meta is committed to providing safe and age-appropriate online experiences, citing over 30 tools to support teens and their parents. They emphasized a decade of effort in addressing these concerns and hiring individuals dedicated to young people's online safety, asserting that the complaint mischaracterizes their efforts by using selective quotes and cherry-picked documents.

The lawsuit claims that Facebook and Instagram failed to safeguard underage users from online predators and that Meta employees reportedly recommended safety improvements that the company did not implement. Filed on December 5, the lawsuit asserts that the company declined to implement suggested changes because it prioritized boosting social media engagement and advertising growth over child safety, where Mark Zuckerberg, Meta's founder and CEO, is mentioned as a defendant.

Meta Employees' Attempt to Raise Concerns

New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez stated on Thursday that Meta employees attempted to raise concerns for years about how Meta executives' decisions exposed children to harmful solicitations and sexual exploitation, asserting that Meta executives, including Zuckerberg, consistently prioritized growth over children's safety. Despite the company downplaying the extent of illegal and harmful activities children face on its platforms, Torrez stated that Meta's internal data and presentations reveal a severe and pervasive problem.

Meta has long been criticized for how it deals with troubling content aimed at younger users. In 2021, a whistleblower named Frances Haugen leaked internal documents to the Wall Street Journal, revealing the harm caused by damaging content to teenage girls on Instagram, which Meta took no action to address despite being fully aware. Haugen later testified before a Senate panel, where she faced questions from outraged lawmakers with concerns that the company prioritized profits over users' safety.

RELATED ARTICLE: Social Media Evolution: A Brief Recap and What to Anticipate in 2024

 2017 Jobs & Hire All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
ENERGY Minister Stuart Young has taken umbrage at comments made by Ronald Harford, former chairman of Republic Financial Holdings Ltd, as he boasted about the success of the energy sector.

Young said whenever somebody becomes a former, their mouth gets big, as he quoted from an article in Fridays Express report where Harford made critical comments.
A new camera system is being installed along this countrys roadways with the aim of tackling traffic congestion and reducing the countrys crime.

This was said yesterday by Minister of Works and Transport Rohan Sinanan, who spoke with the media at the intersection of the Churchill-Roosevelt Highway and Golden Grove Road in Piarco.
With ten people murdered between Thursday and Saturday, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley took to Facebook yesterday to assure citizens that State agencies will not give up the fight to rid our streets and other places of the evil that is now widespread as a gun culture in Trinidad and Tobago.

And in a voice note to the media, Commissioner of Police Erla Christopher said, We are determined to dismantle criminal gangs and make a difference in transforming impacted communities.
Humankind has been crafting dirty jokes about making love and breaking wind for as long as weve had language. Our brains are hardwired for it. Case in point: Take a look at some of these naughty quips that span millennia

15 The 1900 B.C. Sumerian Zinger, Thought to Be the Oldest Joke Ever Deciphered Something which has never occurred since time immemorial A young woman did not fart in her husbands lap.

14 A joke from 13th-Century Joke Book Philogelos Wishing to teach his donkey not to eat, a pedant did not offer him any food. When the donkey died of hunger, he said: Ive had a great loss! Just when he had learned not to eat, he died.

13 Even More Philogelos Asked by the court barber how he wanted his hair cut, the king replied: In silence.

12 Cicero Dunking on His Son-in-Law, Seeing the Short Many Carrying a Big Sword Who tied my son-in-law to that long sword? Advertisement Advertisement

11 Benjamin Franklin Trolling the Hoity-Toity Royal Academy of Brussels When Asked to Contribute Scientific Research Permit me then humbly to propose one of that sort for your consideration, and through you, if you approve it, for the serious Enquiry of learned Physicians, Chemists, & of this enlightened Age. It is universally well known, That in digesting our common Food, there is created or produced in the Bowels of human Creatures, a great Quantity of Wind That the permitting this Air to escape and mix with the Atmosphere, is usually offensive to the Company, from the fetid Smell that accompanies it.

10 Yet More from Philogelos A witty student sold his books when he was short of money. He then wrote to his father: Congratulate me, father, I am already making money from my studies! Advertisement Advertisement

9 This Yo Mama Joke from About 60 B.C. The Emperor Augustus was touring the Empire, when he noticed a man in the crowd who bore a striking resemblance to himself. Intrigued, he asked, Was your mother at one time in service at the Palace? No, your Highness, the man replied, but my father was.

8 A Couple of Early Astronauts Havin a Little Fun, Reporting a UFO Sighting Just Before Christmas I see a command module and eight smaller modules in front. The pilot of the command module is wearing a red suit. Advertisement Advertisement

7 This Brutal Nuking of an Egyptian pharaoh from Around 1600 B.C. How do you entertain a bored pharaoh? You sail a boatload of young women dressed only in fishing nets down the Nile and urge the pharaoh to go catch a fish.

6 16th-Century Catholic Poet Anthony Copley Wrote This Saucy Little Zinger A gentleman taking his leave of his mistress said, I kiss your hands and your feet. She answered, Forget not, I pray, the station between. Advertisement Advertisement

5 This Sumerian Brainteaser from 1200 B.C. Three ox drivers from Adab were thirsty: one owned the ox, the other owned the cow and the other owned the wagons load. The owner of the ox refused to get water because he feared his ox would be eaten by a lion; the owner of the cow refused because he thought his cow might wander off into the desert; the owner of the wagon refused because he feared his load would be stolen. So they all went. In their absence the ox made love to the cow which gave birth to a calf, which ate the wagons load. Problem: Who owns the calf?

4 This Ancient Egyptian Joke About Mens Sexual Appetite Man is even more eager to copulate than a donkey. His purse is what restrains him. Advertisement Advertisement

3 Winston Churchill, When Called Upon by the Lord Privy Seal (An Actual Government Official) Tell the Lord Privy Seal that I am sealed in the privy and can only deal with one shit at a time.

2 Martin Luther Getting Right to the Point When Describing His Depression I am ripe shit, so is the world a great wide (butt)hole; eventually we will part. Advertisement Advertisement
Books are a uniquely portable magic.  Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft

It will come as no surprise to those who know me that I chose a Stephen King quote to express how I feel about books. Books can open a doorway to a new world. Whether its an epic sci-fi adventure in space or a cozy mystery set in a small town, books can inspire you, hurt you, make you think, cause you to grow, and help you love more. Theyre an escape, a mirror, a friend, a necessity. Books are the reason I wanted to become a librarian.

While there are many other important aspects of my job, my most fun and fundamental task is working with and around books. Being able to connect patrons to new books, old favorite books and books theyd never try otherwise brings me the utmost joy. It reminds me, when times are tough or stressful, that Im very lucky to have this job.

Its a common misconception that we library staff read all day (boy do I wish!). However, I can safely say that my desk is always a book fort  or sometimes a book castle, depending on how high the stacks go. These books are for the As the Page Turns Book Club, a new program called Treats & Titles, and for our displays at W. Anne Gibson-Esmond Station Library.

When I first started working at this location, the community was asking about a book club. As the Page Turns Book Club was born soon after, virtually at first, and now is held both in-person and on Zoom every third Wednesday of the month. We read modern fiction in an array of genres. We are reading The Celebrants by Steven Rowley to kick off the year. Weve read historical fiction, mystery/thriller, horror, magical realism, and more. While I thought participants would be coming to read and discuss books, I quickly realized that the true reason they want to come is to connect with members of their community.

Our newest adult and teen program, Treats & Titles, lets patrons learn about different books in our collection while enjoying some free treats. Weve discussed more broad genres like science fiction, as well as more specific topics like books set in coffee shops. Most of the titles highlighted are also available to check out immediately after the programs end. They can also take bookmarks and flyers of the book titles, so they can place holds later.

One of the most fun and rewarding things I get to do is help create displays. Weve had great success with many of our displays, especially when theyre interactive. A few years ago, as I was searching library display ideas, I came across the idea for Blind Date with a Book. The books are all wrapped with heart-shaped hints, and patrons select which ones to check out solely based on those hints. We decided to try it out, and to my shock and delight, our community really took to it. They continually tell us how much they enjoy participating in it  finding books theyd never try, a new author in their favorite genre, or just the joy of unwrapping the book itself. This idea has been extended to our Summer Scares and Fall Are You Afraid of the Book displays, too. All ages can participate, so its fun for everyone.

What all these programs and displays have in common is bringing together the community through books. I think its best to end with another quote that encompasses how books can connect each of us together: Books are the plane, and the train, and the road. They are the destination, and the journey. They are home.  Anna Quindlen
A naming ceremony for the University of Arizonas HSLopez School of Business Analytics was held Thursday, Jan. 18.

The development of the school, part of the Eller College of Management, is due in large part to a $9 million donation from UA alum Humberto Lopez and his wife, Czarina.

The HSLopez School of Business Analytics aims to utilize data to shape the future of business, developing data-driven decision-makers.

Lopez received a degree in accounting in 1969 from the Eller College, then known as the UA School of Business and Public Administration. Hed later go on to launch his own real estate investment company.

By 1975, Lopez formed HSL Properties, with investments in California, Arizona, Colorado, Texas, New Mexico and Georgia, according to the HSLopez Family Foundation website. His portfolio includes apartments throughout Southern Arizona and Tucson-area hotels.

Lopezs philanthropic relationship with the UA goes back to 1980 when he made a donation of $1,000 to the Arizona Health Sciences Center. Since then, Lopez and his wife have donated $18 million to support various university causes, a news release said.

We are extremely grateful to have the tremendous support of Humberto and Czarina Lopez, whose impact on our programs and the entire university cannot be overstated, said Karthik Kannan, dean of the Eller College of Management. Thanks to their ongoing contributions, we have been able to provide countless wonderful opportunities for our students and faculty and can continue to do so well into the future. We could not be more thankful for their generous donations and partnership.
(Photo : Unsplash/Nick Sarvari)

Macy's, a legacy department store, announced on Thursday its workforce reduction and the closure of five of its namesake mall locations to cut costs and address slowing sales, which, according to company spokesman Chris Grams, will impact around 2,350 positions in both Macy's corporate office and stores.

Streamlining The Company

Macy's cuts 3.5% of its workforce to become a more streamlined company, preparing to deploy strategies to address the ever-changing consumer and marketplace. According to a statement, employees have been informed about the layoffs on Thursday, which are reported to last until January 26.

Macy's aims for its 166-year-old department store's transformation into a value-seeking brand that appeals to online shoppers, as it competes with e-commerce giants like Amazon and Shein, big-box stores like Target, and off-price retailers like T.J.Maxx. As part of this effort, Macy'sMacy's is revamping its private label brands, establishing smaller shops outside of malls, and relying on its beauty chain, Bluemercury, and higher-end department store, Bloomingdale'sBloomingdale's, to fuel growth.

In the fall, the company announced plans to open around 30 smaller stores in strip malls within the next two years. Although Macy's has traditionally been associated with large mall stores, the company now aims to attract suburban consumers visiting nearby outdoor shopping centers for groceries or clothing.

Restructuring and Optimizing Footprint

Macy's will have Tony Spring, CEO of Bloomingdale's, take over as the CEO of Macy's in early February, succeeding the retiring CEO Jeff Gennette.

Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer Adrian Mitchell hinted at Macy's reassessment of its stores during the company's earnings call in October, emphasizing the need to provide relevant products, firm value, and an enjoyable shopping experience that would include "optimizing our physical footprint," leading to fewer than 10 locations closure in early 2024.

READ ALSO: Job Cuts at Macy's, Retailer Struggle During Hard times, 40 Stores Closing

Dropping Stock Performance

Macy's predicted a same-store decline in October sales of up to 7% for its fiscal 2023. Shares closed at $17.93 on Thursday, marking a nearly 11% decrease for the year, which contrasts with the relatively stable performance of the S&P 500 over the same period. As of October 28, Macy's has 723 locations nationwide. The majority, about 500, are Macy's stores, followed by 158 Bluemercury stores and 56 Bloomingdale stores. The company still needs to report its holiday quarter, which is anticipated in late February.

Significant Layoffs to Reduce Size

The department store chain has been reducing its size in recent years. In February 2020, shortly before the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in lockdowns and temporary closures of numerous malls and retail stores nationwide, Macy's announced a significant layoff and a series of store closures, including plans to close 125 stores over the next three years and 2,000 corporate job cuts along with its Cincinnati and San Francisco tech headquarters' shut down.

In March 2023, Gennette mentioned that the company was assessing the suitable number and types of on- and off-mall locations, noting changes in the customer and retail environment since the February 2020 announcement, where Macy's has closed approximately 80 namesake locations, with plans to shut down five more soon.

"We have shuttered our most significant underperformers, exited dying centers, and improved the existing store experience while delaying closures of others that are cash flow positive; today, roughly 99% of our mall base is profitable on a four-wall basis," he said on the March call.

RELATED ARTICLE: Macy's Up For Sale: CEO Prepares To Step Down Soon

 2017 Jobs & Hire All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Tucson Unified School District officials say they calculate enrollment data differently than the federal benchmarks used in a new report, and that as a result, they disagree that 12 district schools lost more than 20% of their students during the pandemic.

The district did not dispute the numbers, however, until after the Arizona Daily Star provided them to a district spokeswoman, interviewed TUSD Superintendent Gabriel Trujillo about them and published a Sunday article highlighting the findings of the Brookings Institution report and national education news outlet The 74.

TUSD countered this week that six of its schools lost at least 20% of their students between school years 2019-20 and 2020-21: Booth-Fickett Math/Science K-8 Magnet (26.5%), Henry Elementary (22.1%), Myers/Ganoung Elementary (22.1%), Sewell Elementary (25.9%), Steele Elementary (21.7%) and Warren Elementary (20.3%).

That contrasts with the findings of Brookings and The 74 that a dozen TUSD schools lost more than 20% in those peak pandemic years: Booth-Fickett Math/Science Magnet, Dunham Elementary, Ford Elementary, Gridley Middle, Henry Elementary, Magee Middle, Myers-Ganoung Elementary, Harold Steele Elementary, Utterback Middle, Sewel Elementary, Warren Elementary and Borton Primary Magnet.

The TUSD data is different because The 74 and Brookings took numbers from Oct. 1 of each school year, which is standard procedure for the National Center for Education Statistics or NCES, said David Scott, a retired data specialist for the district.

Tucson Unified instead bases enrollment numbers off of the 40th day of each school year.

Scott said the district uses that specific day because it is near peak school-year enrollment.

The state uses the average of first 40 and first 100 days to determine our funding level each school year, Scott said. The 40th day is a useful comparison date for operational reasons (how many teachers will we need to meet our classroom needs) and for financial reasons (how much money will our enrollment generate).

These factors were not relevant to the NCES when they chose their count date, said Scott, who is TUSDs former director of accountability and research.

The National Center for Education Statistics is under the umbrella of the U.S. Department of Education. It is the part of the Institute of Education Sciences, which collects, analyzes and publishes national statistics on education and public school district finances.

Trujillo said in an interview Jan. 12 that no TUSD schools are at risk of closing due to enrollment loss.
Arizonas newest jaguar was first detected in the Huachuca Mountains just weeks after the last shipping container was hauled away from Gov. Doug Duceys short-lived border barrier south of Sierra Vista.

The timing was no accident, according to advocates for the endangered cats.

I dont think its a coincidence that the shipping containers were removed in January and two months later a new jaguar was documented in Arizona, said Aletris Neils, founder and executive director of the Tucson-based nonprofit group Conservation CATalyst.

In the name of border security, jaguars have already been walled off from many of the routes they have historically used to push north into the U.S. from the closest breeding population in Sonora, Mexico, Neils said. One of the last remaining significant corridors is the San Rafael Valley, which is right where the shipping containers went.

The new jaguar was introduced to the world by Vail wildlife videographer Jason Miller, who caught the cat on one of his motion-activated trail cameras in the Huachucas on Dec. 20.

Miller unveiled the 20-second clip on his YouTube channel early this month.

Its just the eighth individual jaguar documented in the U.S. in almost 30 years.

On Wednesday, Neils revealed that the jaguar Miller filmed is the same one her group has been tracking since March, when a remote camera operated by U.S. Customs and Border Protection captured a grainy image of a spotted cat in the Huachucas.

She said the new jaguar has been pretty consistently documented since then, including in multiple trail camera pictures of the animal that have not been released to the public.

Based on those images, Neils said the jaguar appears to be a younger adult male in excellent condition  a testament to the quality of the habitat in Arizonas sky island mountain ranges.

Hes finding everything he needs here, not only to survive but to thrive, she said. Hopefully hell be able to settle down and make Arizona his home.

So far, she said, the new jaguar has been documented in the Huachucas and one other Southern Arizona mountain range.

Conservation CATalyst suspects the cat has also wandered through a third mountain range, but the group has not been able to verify that.

Neils said the animal could be roaming in search of territory to claim, much the way the jaguar known as El Jefe did after first being photographed in the Whetstone Mountains in 2011.

That cat famously settled in the Santa Ritas south of Tucson, where it was repeatedly documented through 2015. Then El Jefe vanished only to reappear in Mexico, about 100 miles south of the border, in late 2021.

For the safety of this new jaguar, Neils declined to identify which mountain ranges in Arizona it might be using.

The last thing we want is for an area to be flooded with activity that can affect the animals behavior, she said. This cat is already covering large areas and going (mostly) undetected while doing it, which is really exciting.

Uncontained

The discovery of the first jaguar documented in the Huachuca Mountains since 2017 was especially gratifying to Russ McSpadden, a conservation advocate for the Center for Biological Diversity.

He was part of a group of protestors who halted work on Duceys unauthorized border barrier in December 2022 by standing in front of construction vehicles at the worksite in the Coronado National Forest near the Huachucas.

I personally camped out there for almost a month, McSpadden said.

He was also there on Jan. 31, 2023, when the last shipping container was trucked out of the area.

The jaguar was a significant reason so many people rallied to stop that barrier, he said. I definitely take (the new jaguar) as a sign that it was well worth the effort.

Duceys shipping container wall ended up costing the state about $200 million while briefly blocking about 4 miles of a 10-mile gap on the south side of the Huachucas.

The federal government has placed a much bigger obstacle in the path of wandering wildlife. According to the Utah-based environmental group Wildlands Network, the international boundary in Arizona and New Mexico is now lined with almost 400 miles of wall or pedestrian fencing, 263 miles of which was built during the Trump administration.

McSpadden said those stretches of wall present an insurmountable barrier to wild animals, but dont seem to be much of a deterrent to humans. By far the largest number of migrants he has seen crossing in recent years is in Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, where they are making their way into the U.S. through cuts made in the bollards along some of the newest stretches of 30-foot border barrier.

By contrast, McSpadden said, he almost never sees people attempting to cross in the more remote, wild areas where there is no wall.

If your goal is border security, the wall has shown itself to be a colossal failure, he said. Its an enormous waste of money and an absolute environmental disaster.

In a 2019 press release, Customs and Border Protection said the border wall supports the Border Patrols efforts to stop illegal crossings and smuggling.

Though President Biden has signaled interest in some of his predecessors border policies, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said last year that this administration has made clear that a border wall is not the answer.

Walled off

The man behind the new jaguar footage isnt big on politics, but on this issue he does agree with McSpadden and other conservationists.

My honest opinion about the wall is it doesnt work, Jason Miller said. Its ugly and destructive and only serves as a barrier to animals, not the people it was intended to stop.

People cut through it or go under it, he said. I feel the wall is punishing wildlife. Its not there for that, but thats whos being punished.

Its unclear exactly where the jaguar Miller caught on camera entered the U.S., but Arizona Game and Fish Department officials believe the cat most likely crossed somewhere to the southwest of the Huachucas, since other nearby wildlife corridors are largely blocked by long sections of border wall.

Spokesman Mark Hart said the department has not taken an official position on the wall, nor have agency officials been asked to weigh in on it to his knowledge.

What we do know is fences, walls and highways are barriers to wildlife, Hart said, so game officials seek to mitigate the impacts of such infrastructure whenever possible.

But such mitigation measures along the border can be complicated, because any barrier opening or wildlife crossing large enough to accommodate an animal the size of a jaguar would also be large enough for a man, he said.

Ultimately, though, its not AZGFDs call to make. The border is not our jurisdiction, Hart said.

The federal agency in charge of protecting jaguars, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, declined to comment on the states aborted effort to block the border with stacks of shipping containers.

As for its position on the federal border wall, spokeswoman Jessica Zehr said the service has been and continues to be in coordination with U.S. Customs and Border Protection on wildlife conservation based on site operations and national security needs.

Jaguars have no such concerns, of course. They are just looking to live and reproduce in a landscape they have occupied for thousands of years, Neils said.

Increasingly, though, the barriers erected by and for humans are blocking their way, which makes every new sighting in Arizona all the more amazing.

Its very, very difficult for jaguars to naturally recolonize and recover, but theyre still doing it, Neils said. I hope people recognize how incredible this is.
PHOENIX  Gov. Katie Hobbs is defending her call for lawmakers to impose caps on prescription drug price hikes despite her plans lack of specifics.

Arizonans deserve access to more affordable medication, she said Thursday.

The plan she unveiled in her budget proposal last week still lacks many details, including what drugs would be subject to state regulation. That would be determined by a yet-to-be-named board, said her press aide Christian Slater. The plan doesnt say what interests would be represented on the board.

It would also be left up to the board to determine what would be a fair price increase.

Hobbs wants regulation as well of pharmacy benefit managers, the companies that purchase drugs for insurance companies that eventually wind up in the hands of their customers.

The Democratic governor said she wants rules to prevent what she calls gouging. That means excessive mark-up of the prices for the simple act of handling those drugs, she said.

This, too, would be left up to the board.

While Hobbs had no specifics Thursday, she said there is a role for the state in telling private drug manufacturers what they can charge for the medications they invent and produce.

Arizonans today have to choose between life-saving medication and paying for rent, she said. This makes drugs more affordable for them.

She wants a law with some teeth to set costs for consumers, Slater said.

Theyll be determined by the Prescription Drug Affordability and Transparency Board, he said.

The board will consider factors including the demand for the drug from consumers as well as the necessity of the drug, Slater said. So a drug like insulin is a drug that is really commonly used and it is also a life-saving medication.

Still unknown is how to determine what consumers will be charged which, by extension, means deciding how much is a reasonable margin of profit.

A lot of these questions, I think, are going to get determined by the Prescription Drug Affordability and Transparency Board, Slater said. But, at the end of the day, we need cheaper prescription drugs for everyday Arizonans. And thats what this plan will deliver.

Not a fan of price caps

Slater acknowledged that means trying to get the Republican-controlled Legislature to approve the plan without specifics on how it would work.

We can trust the affordability board to take a holistic look at this, he said. And we look forward to having those conversations with the Legislature.

As to who would be on the board, Thats to be determined, Slater said. As we move through the legislative process, thatll be a topic of conversation.

Legislative reaction so far includes Sen. T.J. Shope saying, Generally speaking, Im not a fan of price caps and dont believe Ive seen them work  unless you consider stifled innovation a good thing. I want to continue seeing advancements in modern medicine.

Shope, a Coolidge Republican, chairs the Senate Committee on Health and Human Services.

Theres a related question of what happens if the state sets a maximum price for a drug and a company decides its unwilling to sell to Arizonans at that price.

Thats not going to happen, Slater insisted. If nothing else, he said, that will become part of what the board considers as part of its determination of whether price caps would be affordable but also available.

Thats what happened in Colorado, which has a system Slater said is probably the closest to what Hobbs wants.

Actions by other states

The Colorado board has picked five medications for review. But in its first vote last month, the board rejected a bid to limit the price of Trikafta, a four-year-old medication for cystic fibrosis that has been shown to cut the risk of death by 72%.

The board acknowledged that out-of-pocket costs nearly doubled in one year, to more than $8,900. But The Colorado Sun reports that members also heard from residents who feared that if the state were to take what was believed to be a first-in-the-nation action to set an upper limit, the company would simply pull the medication off the market.

The issue of price gouging, Slater said, is different from price caps on commonly used drugs, and would not apply to manufacturers. Instead it would be focused on pharmacy benefit managers or PBMs.

The Prescription Drug Affordability and Transparency Board will look at the cost to the PBMs of filling and dispensing a prescription drug and make sure that theyre not overcharging for their services, and making sure that theyre not jacking up prices, just like a middle man, when theyre filling drugs for consumers, he said.

Hobbs believes the state has a role in determining an acceptable margin of profit, Slater said.

Beyond the issue of price controls, whether for the drugs themselves or the mark-up costs for benefit managers, Slater said Hobbs wants transparency.

It would also require advance notice of price increases for medications so Arizonans arent hit with new surprise costs, regardless of whether it is subject to price caps, he said.

While there is no evidence any state has successfully capped the price of a prescription drug, there are indications transparency may help curb increases.

AARP reports that Vermont, which passed the nations first drug price transparency law in 2016, showed a nearly 80% decline in the number of drugs that saw price increases of 15% or more for its Medicaid program between 2016 and 2020. The organization also says there was a 70% drop in Oregon of price hikes of more than 10% for drugs priced at $100 or more between 2019 and 2020.

Aside from Colorado, there are some other models out there for Arizona to consider if the state wants to make a stab at controlling drug prices.

Legislators in Washington state, for example, voted in 2022 to create a five-member Prescription Drug Affordability Board.

According to the Washington State Health Care Authority, the board can conduct affordability reviews on selected drugs and determine whether a prescription drug is unaffordable for consumers in that state. If that is the case, the board can set an upper payment limit.

But the Washington State Hospital Association reports that while the board has created an initial list of drugs to review, it has yet to conduct any such studies.

A similar board in Maryland also has yet to establish any price caps.
The following is the opinion and analysis of the writer:

Recently, I overheard a conversation in a cafe where a parent emphatically stated, We should keep discussions about race out of our classrooms. This statement  simple yet loaded reflects a broader sentiment echoed in Arizonas recent legislative attempts to restrict discussions of race and ethnicity in schools. While the intent behind such statements may be to maintain neutrality in education, the implications are far-reaching and detrimental, especially when considering the role of ethnic studies in fostering a better understanding of our society.

The push to limit ethnic studies, as seen in House Bill 2112, represents a worrying trend towards sanitizing education by omitting crucial aspects of history and current societal structures. Proponents argue that this approach prevents the indoctrination of students and protects them from feeling discomfort or guilt. However, education should not be about shielding students from harsh realities but rather equipping them with the knowledge and critical thinking skills to understand and engage with these realities constructively.

Viewing ethnic studies as mere politics undermines the educational value these courses offer. Ethnic studies provide students with a broader, more inclusive perspective of history and society. They help students understand the diverse experiences and contributions of different racial and ethnic groups, fostering empathy and mutual respect. Moreover, these studies encourage critical thinking by challenging students to analyze complex social issues and consider multiple viewpoints.

The argument that ethnic studies promote division and guilt is fundamentally flawed. Firstly, teaching about the struggles and achievements of various ethnic groups does not inherently imply assigning blame or guilt to students based on their race or ethnicity. Instead, it acknowledges the complexity of our shared history and the ongoing impact of past actions on present-day society. Secondly, avoiding these discussions does not erase the issues; it merely leaves students ill-prepared to address them in their personal and professional lives.

In a diverse state like Arizona, where different cultures and histories intertwine, restricting ethnic studies is a disservice to our youth. It denies students the opportunity to understand the full spectrum of American history and its implications on contemporary society. By limiting these discussions, we risk perpetuating ignorance and intolerance, hindering the development of a more just and equitable society.

Furthermore, such classes have positive effects on students. Research indicates that such courses can improve academic engagement, critical thinking skills, and cross-cultural understanding. They can also enhance students sense of identity and belonging, which is crucial for overall well-being and academic success.

As we navigate the complexities of an increasingly interconnected world, the need for comprehensive and inclusive education becomes more apparent. Ethnic studies do not seek to divide or induce guilt; they aim to broaden our understanding, promote empathy, and prepare future generations for a diverse and inclusive society.
During its first century, Oklahoma has had its share (or more) of colorful politicians.

Among the most colorful was Manuel Herrick.

A Perry farmer and frequent political candidate, Herrick was elected by a fluke in 1920 to the House of Representatives in the state's former 8th District. He became the Republican nominee when incumbent Dick T. Morgan, the only other candidate, died after the filing period closed.

Herrick, who had received only three votes two years earlier when he ran as an independent, was elected in the heavily Republican district, helped by Republican Warren Harding's landslide election as president.

Calling himself the only farmer in Congress and an aerial daredevil because of his "death-defying stunts in the air" while strapped into an airplane seat, Herrick predicted he would win a second term by a landslide, according to the Aug. 1, 1922, Tulsa World.

Instead, he ran a poor third for the nomination, losing to Enid newspaper publisher M.C. Garber.

Too many of northwest Oklahoma's voters probably had read about Herrick's two years in Congress, during which he had staged a beauty contest from his Capitol office, offering himself as the prize -- a contest he claimed later was designed to seek information for a bill that would ban beauty contests.

After leaving office, Herrick filed a $50,000 breach of promise lawsuit against his former stenographer, Ethlyn Chrane, whose refusal to marry him, he claimed, had caused him to suffer "great anguish of mind." It also prevented him from "paying court" to other eligible young women, he claimed.

Earlier, Herrick had been arrested on Miss Chrane's complaint that he was harassing her. When police searched him, they found a list of 50 names of Washington women with notations as "good," "not so good" and "bad" after each name.

He also accused Garber of unfairly influencing voters by giving away automobiles, sending free copies of his Enid News to nearly every voter in the district and giving fish and apples to others.

Several years later, after his arrest while working at a still in Maryland, Herrick told an Associated Press reporter that he may have made a mistake while in Congress by not taking some of the money that was offered him.

"When I was in Congress," he said, "I had as much as $50,000 in bills stacked on my desk -- dishonest money. But I said to them, 'take it away.' Maybe I was a fool."

Barefoot, unshaven and clad in overalls, Herrick, 54, claimed he took the $15 per week job as a handyman at the still to get evidence to be turned over to prohibition officials. But a jury didn't buy his story -- requiring only 10 minutes of deliberation before finding him guilty of manufacturing and possessing liquor.

He served a six-month term and complained about bad food, dirty bedding and not being allowed some of the privileges other prisoners had.

A few years later, Herrick moved to California. He disappeared during a Sierra blizzard Jan. 11, 1952, while on a trip to his mining claim. His body was found in a snowbank two miles from his cabin.

Like this column? Read all the columns in the Only in Oklahoma series from the Tulsa World Archive.
Curtis Killman Tulsa World Staff Writer Follow Curtis Killman Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Save Manage followed notifications Close Followed notifications Please log in to use this feature Log In Don't have an account? Sign Up Today

A misdemeanor prosecution against a woman arrested during a Tulsa 2020 rally for then-President Trump is back on after a state appellate court overturned an order dismissing the case.

Sheila Buck, 66, now faces two separate misdemeanor charges of obstruction of a police officer stemming from the same incident that saw her jailed after she refused to leave a fenced-in public street prior to Trumps rally at the BOK Center on June 20, 2020.

Tulsa County prosecutors filed a second obstruction charge against Buck on Nov. 2, the same day a judge dismissed her first obstruction charge after a state witness failed to show for trial. The status of the second case was uncertain in light of the reinstatement of the first case.

Dan Smolen, Bucks attorney, faulted the order, saying in a written statement that he believed it conflicted with earlier orders.

But, at this point, there is a bigger question: Why is the District Attorney expending this level of time and resources on a simple nonviolent misdemeanor? Smolen asked. It is unprecedented, in my experience, for the State to pursue a minor charge so aggressively, especially against a peaceful schoolteacher with no criminal record.

For the District Attorney, this appears to be a political game, Smolen said. For my client, it is much more than that.

Buck, who had a ticket to the rally inside the BOK Center, was wearing a T-shirt that read I Cant Breathe when she was arrested. The T-shirt message was a reference to the last dying words of George Floyd, who was killed by a Minneapolis police officer a few weeks earlier, setting off weeks of nationwide protests.

Trumps private campaign security asked Buck to leave after she entered a secured zone on a city street outside the arena.

It would become known later that the Trump campaign did not obtain the required permit to hold the political event.

This was the second time Tulsa County District Attorney Steve Kunzweilers office had gone to the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals to challenge dismissal of the case.

Special Judge Tanya Wilson dismissed the case with prejudice  meaning the state could not refile the charge  in May after a key state witness failed to appear for trial. The dismissal came after Wilson granted prosecutors a two-week delay of the trial at the prosecutions request.

In August, the appeals court reversed the dismissal after finding that Wilsons ruling was improper.

In November, Wilson dismissed the case again, this time without prejudice, which gave prosecutors the option of refiling the case.

Kunzweilers office challenged the second dismissal Dec. 19, claiming that Wilsons actions amounted to a dismissal with prejudice because the two-year statute of limitations had lapsed.

The appeals court, in a Friday ruling, reversed the dismissal of the case after finding that there had been no showing of bad faith or other outrageous conduct on the part of prosecutors.

This is not the only legal issue involving Buck that resulted from the Trump rally.

Buck has a civil rights lawsuit still pending against the city of Tulsa in federal court over her arrest. A deal to settle the lawsuit fell apart in June after the City Council voted 6-3 to reject a settlement that would have paid her an unknown amount in excess of $1 million.

A second federal lawsuit filed by Buck is on hold until the criminal cases are resolved.

The second case alleges that a city of Tulsa attorney involved in the settlement negotiations torpedoed the agreement by urging councilors to reject the measure.

A warrant for Bucks arrest has been active since Nov. 2, according to the online court docket.



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Lenzy Krehbiel-Burton Tulsa World Staff Writer Follow Lenzy Krehbiel-Burton Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Save Manage followed notifications Close Followed notifications Please log in to use this feature Log In Don't have an account? Sign Up Today

Two Tulsa Public Schools board members and a charter school parent have filed a lawsuit over the hiring of Ebony Johnson as the districts superintendent.

Filed Thursday in Tulsa County District Court on behalf of Jennettie Marshall, ELena Ashley and Aaron Griffith, the suit alleges that four TPS board members, former Superintendent Deborah Gist and Johnson violated both the Oklahoma Open Meeting Act and Titles I and VI of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act through the approval of the districts separation agreement with Gist in August and by naming Johnson superintendent on an interim basis in August and then on a permanent basis in December.

The board members named as defendants are President Stacey Woolley, Vice President John Croisant, Susan Lamkin and Diamond Marshall. Tulsa Public Schools is also listed as a named defendant.

The public deserved a thorough deliberation on the defendant districts recruitment desires and objectives and Defendant Johnsons demonstrable record of success on relevant assignments, attorney Maria Seidler wrote.

Board members owed the community a comprehensive airing of how her experience meets the recruitment needs of the Defendant district, especially in the context of the Defendant districts accreditation struggle with the State School Board.

Seidler is a candidate for the open District 6 seat on TPS Board of Education. The seats previous occupant, Jerry Griffin, resigned effective Jan. 2 and is not a named party to the filing.

The suit claims that Gist and Woolley engaged in backdoor discussions about Gists employment status with the district, that Jennettie Marshall and Ashley were not informed of the administrations intent to recommend Johnson to be interim superintendent until an executive session during an Aug. 23 special board meeting and that the terms were already negotiated.

However, the published agenda from that Aug. 23 special meeting does include an item about potentially hiring Johnson as interim superintendent, as well as an executive session to discuss her employment status with the district.

The suit also claims that the board violated the Oklahoma Open Meeting Act through the processes followed to hire Johnson on a permanent basis in December.

Along with challenging the decision to suspend posting requirements for the position, the suit cites the boards use of a three-member ad hoc committee to address the hiring process and a potential candidate search. Lamkin, Woolley and Jennettie Marshall were on that committee, with Ashley reportedly unaware of its existence until a Dec. 11 board meeting.

The filing seeks to have Johnsons hiring and the districts mutual separation agreement with Gist both declared invalid, plus a permanent injunction blocking the implementation of staffing changes approved at the boards Jan. 8 meeting  Johnsons first as the permanent superintendent.

Among the changes approved at that January meeting were new principals for four schools and a new dean of students at a fifth site.

Citing Title I and Title VI of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, the filing also asks that all of those items not be eligible for reconsideration by the board until after TPS officials conduct consultation sessions with area tribes. Both Griffith and his child, who attends a TPS-authorized charter school, are citizens of the Muscogee Nation.

Title I provides additional resources for schools and districts with high rates of low-income students. Among the provisions specifically cited in the suit is the Parents Right to Know, which requires Title I schools and districts to provide information to parents upon request about the professional credentials of their childs classroom teachers.

Title VI provides additional resources for Indian Education and requires districts that receive $40,000 or more through it to consult with local tribes about their Indian Education budget and offerings.

This is the second time in two months that Jennettie Marshall has raised objections about the boards compliance with the Oklahoma Open Meeting Act with respect to the process used to hire Johnson as superintendent.

In December, she filed a complaint with the Tulsa Police Department, alleging that the board violated the law at its Dec. 11 meeting by having an off-agenda discussion during an executive session meant to discuss whether to hire Johnson as the permanent superintendent.

When reached Friday afternoon, a TPS spokesman said the district was still reviewing the 40-page filing and declined to comment on ongoing legal matters.

Croisant, Lamkin and Diamond Marshall each declined to comment Friday afternoon. Woolley acknowledged the lawsuit when reached Friday afternoon.

I am, and believe most of the board and certainly all of the team at Tulsa Public Schools is, firmly focused on helping to achieve improved outcomes on behalf of our students, Woolley said via text message. Distractions and detractors have and will continue to exist, but I will keep myself grounded in knowing I am here for our students every single day.

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A Payne County administrative assistant racked up more than $135,000 in misappropriated funds and questionable expenditures over 12 years, Oklahoma Auditor and Inspector Cindy Byrd said Thursday.

This employee was spending taxpayer money for her own expenses including, literally, the kitchen sink, Byrd said in a press release.

The Auditor and Inspectors Offices Forensic Unit found that Linda Farley, who worked in the Payne County Sheriffs Office, misappropriated $82,176.54 and made $55,521.98 in questionable purchases  including a sink and tile.

The audit report says the improper payments included almost $55,000 to Farleys son for work he did not perform.

Farley purchased hotel rooms, vinyl flooring, car repairs, and other personal items over an eleven-year period, Byrd said in the press release.

County Clerk Glenna Craig and Sheriff Joe Harper discovered the problem shortly after Harper took office in 2021. They alerted Payne County Commissioners who immediately took action by requesting this investigation. District Attorney Laura Thomas later revised the request and expanded the scope for the time frame.

Byrd said Farley was given a signature stamp by previous administrations which allowed her to forge signatures on payroll claims and purchase orders. The audit report says Farley also altered receipts and purchase orders to make them appear to be legitimate Sheriffs Office expenses.

We have advised and encouraged government officials across Oklahoma to restrict access to their signature stamps. In this case, it would appear our advice and encouragement was ignored, Byrd said.

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A Muskogee woman who had not been heard from since Saturday night has been found dead, police said Thursday afternoon.

Amanda Mandi Harms, 46, was last seen around 8 p.m. leaving on foot from the 4400 block of Denison Street, a neighborhood about a mile south of Honor Heights Park. Temperatures in eastern Oklahoma dipped to dangerously cold levels Saturday and remained below freezing for days.

A police spokeswoman said there was nothing suspicious about the scene where Harms body was found.

Officers are currently investigating the scene. Our prayers are with her family, the Muskogee Police Department said in a social media post.

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CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida -- Turkey's first astronaut and three other crew members representing Europe were launched from Florida on Thursday on a voyage to the International Space Station in the latest commercially arranged mission from Texas startup Axiom Space.

A SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule carrying the Axiom quartet lifted off atop a Falcon 9 rocket about an hour before sunset from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, beginning a planned 36-hour flight to the orbiting laboratory.

The launch was shown live on an Axiom-SpaceX joint webcast.

The autonomously operated Crew Dragon was expected to reach the International Space Station (ISS) early on Saturday morning and dock with the outpost orbiting some 250 miles (400 km) above Earth and currently occupied by seven regular crew members.

Live video showed the two-stage 25-story-tall launch vehicle streaking into partly cloudy skies over Florida's Atlantic coast atop a fiery, yellowish tail of exhaust.

The Axiom Mission 3 launches to the International Space Station with crew members Commander Michael Lopez-Alegria of the U.S./Spain, Pilot Walter Villadei of Italy, Mission Specialist Alper Gezeravc of Turkey, and ESA (European Space Agency) project astronaut Marcus Wandt of Sweden, at Cape Canaveral, Florida, U.S. January 18, 2024. Photo: Reuters

Cameras inside the crew compartment beamed footage of the four men strapped into their pressurized cabin, seated calmly in helmeted white-and-black flight suits as the rocket soared toward space.

Nine minutes after launch, the Falcon 9's upper stage delivered the crew capsule to its preliminary orbit.

Responding to congratulations from mission control, flight commander Michael Lopez-Alegria radioed back from the Crew Dragon, "As I was saying, it's a team sport. Thank you, guys."

Pilot Walter Villadei of Italy, Mission Specialist Alper Gezeravci of Turkey, and ESA (European Space Agency) project astronaut Marcus Wandt of Sweden pose on the day that Axiom Mission 3 will launch to the International Space Station, at Cape Canaveral, Florida, U.S. January 18, 2024. Photo: Reuters

Minutes earlier, the rocket's reusable lower stage, having detached from the rest of the spacecraft, flew itself back to Earth and safely touched down on a landing zone near the launch site, eliciting cheers audible from the control room.

The mission was the third such flight organized by Houston-based Axiom over the past two years as the company builds on its business of putting astronauts sponsored by foreign governments and private enterprise into Earth orbit.

The company charges its customers at least $55 million for each astronaut seat.

Crew members Commander Michael Lopez-Alegria of the U.S./Spain, Pilot Walter Villadei of Italy, Mission Specialist Alper Gezeravci of Turkey, and ESA (European Space Agency) project astronaut Marcus Wandt of Sweden pose on the day that Axiom Mission 3 will launch to the International Space Station, at Cape Canaveral, Florida, U.S. January 18, 2024. Photo: Reuters

Two weeks of orbital research

Plans for the Axiom-3 mission call for the crew to spend roughly 14 days in microgravity aboard the ISS conducting more than 30 scientific experiments, many of them focused on the effects of spaceflight on human health and disease.

More symbolically, the mission reflects the growing number of nations venturing to Earth orbit as a way of enhancing global prestige, military prowess and satellite-based communications.

Turkey, a longtime applicant for EU membership, was poised to enter the exclusive-but-expanding club of ISS-guest countries by sending Alper Gezeravc, 44, a Turkish Air Force veteran, on his nation's debut human spaceflight as an Ax-3 mission specialist.

He was being joined by: Italian Air Force Colonel Walter Villadei, 49, Ax-3's designated pilot; Swedish aviator Marcus Wandt, 43, another mission specialist; and Lopez-Alegria, 65, a retired NASA astronaut and dual citizen of Spain and the United States. Lopez-Alegria, an Axiom executive, also commanded the company's first mission to the ISS in April 2022.

Crew members Commander Michael Lopez-Alegria of the U.S./Spain, Pilot Walter Villadei of Italy, Mission Specialist Alper Gezeravci of Turkey, and ESA (European Space Agency) project astronaut Marcus Wandt of Sweden interact on the day that Axiom Mission 3 will launch to the International Space Station, at Cape Canaveral, Florida, U.S. January 18, 2024. Photo: Reuters

Axiom billed the flight as "the first all-European commercial astronaut mission" to the space station.

If all goes smoothly, they will be welcomed aboard ISS early on Saturday by the seven members of the station's current regular crew - two Americans from NASA, one astronaut each from Japan and Denmark and three Russian cosmonauts.

In May 2023, Axiom-2 launched a guest team of two Americans and two Saudis, including Rayyanah Barnawi, a biomedical scientist who became the first Arab woman ever sent to orbit, on an eight-day mission to the ISS.

Mission Specialist Alper Gezeravci of Turkey looks on on the day that Axiom Mission 3 will launch to the International Space Station, at Cape Canaveral, Florida, U.S. January 18, 2024. Photo: Reuters

SpaceX, the privately funded rocket and satellite company of billionaire Elon Musk, provides Axiom's launch vehicles and crew capsules under contract, as it has for NASA missions to the ISS. SpaceX also runs mission control for its rocket launches from the company's headquarters near Los Angeles.

NASA, besides furnishing the launch site at Cape Canaveral, assumes responsibility for the astronauts once they rendezvous with the space station.

Axiom, an eight-year-old venture headed by NASA's former ISS program manager, is one of a handful of companies building a commercial space station of its own intended to eventually replace the 25-year-old ISS, which NASA expects to retire around 2030.
The finance ministry said Friday it will begin selling government bonds to retail investors by the end of June, as this group have shown an increased appetite for stable investment options.

The issue will include a maturity term of 10 or 20 years, and an individual investor will be allowed to purchase state bonds worth between 100,000 won ($74.8) and 100 million won, the Ministry of Economy and Finance said.

In a statement, the ministry said it will start selling state bonds to retail investors by the end of June after appointing a primary dealer and completing relevant work.

For all of this year, the government plans to sell state bonds worth one trillion won to individual investors, the ministry said.

Last year, 165.7 trillion won worth of government bonds were sold, according to the ministry. (Yonhap)
The French government will temporarily ban almost all commercial fishing in the Bay of Biscay to protect dolphins, much to the dismay of the industry.

The month-long ban off the country's West coast -- the first since the end of World War II -- is set to begin Monday and applies to both French and foreign fishermen. It follows calls by environmental activists to protect the marine mammals, pointing to a surge in dolphin deaths on the Atlantic coast.

From Finistere in the extreme west of Brittany to the Spanish border, fishing will cease almost entirely until February 20.

On Thursday, the French government broadened the ban to all ships, regardless of origin, while promising to support fishermen and fishmongers. The ban was originally ordered by the country's top administrative court, the State Council.

CIEM, a scientific body that tracks North Atlantic ecosystems, has for years urged a winter pause for some indiscriminate fishing techniques, meeting fierce resistance from industrial fishermen.

The organisation estimates that around 9,000 dolphins die each year off the French Atlantic coast as a result of accidental capture.

The ban concerns boats longer than eight metres and will affect around 450 French vessels.

A fisherman unloads his catch in La Rochelle, western France. Photo: AFP

Fishermen and industry groups decried the temporary measure.

"It's absurd to stop businesses like this for a month," Raymond Millet, a fisherman from La Rochelle, a city on France's west coast, told AFP.

Millet, who has been a fisherman for the past forty years, said that vessels nine to 11 meters long "are not the kind of boats that fish for dolphins".

Franck Lalande, an owner of two boats in the southwestern city of Arcachon, said he feared the ban would cause "social problems".

He said the compensation payments promised by the authorities were insufficient.

The French National Fisheries Committee (CNPMEM) denounced "extremist NGOs", claiming that the marine mammals are "not endangered".

Fish processing companies estimate they could lose more than 60 million euros ($65 million) because of the ban.

On Thursday, the government promised to support the industry and would activate "partial unemployment measures and specific aid, if necessary".

Some fishermen hinted they might go out to sea despite the threat of prosecution, but local authorities promised to intensify patrols.

Philippe Garcia, head of an association called Protection of Aquatic Environments (DMA), said it was in fishermen's interest to observe the ban.

"If the fishermen don't play along, it's counter-productive for them," he said, as dolphin deaths would strengthen the environmentalists' case.
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and his spouse will pay a state visit to Vietnam from January 23 to 24 at the invitation of Vietnam's State President Vo Van Thuong, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Thursday.

Steinmeiers Vietnam trip will mark the second state visit of a foreign leader to the Southeast Asian nation in January.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo visited Vietnam last week, making him the first high-ranking foreign visitor to the country this year.

This marks President Steinmeier's inaugural state visit to Vietnam since assuming office in 2017.

However, he has previously visited the country in March 2008 during his tenure as German Foreign Minister and in October 2016 when he served as Germany's Vice Chancellor and Foreign Minister.

Steinmeier has made significant contributions to strengthening the Vietnam - Germany ties over the past many years.

During next weeks visit, the German leader and his spouse are scheduled to enjoy a welcome ceremony hosted by the Vietnamese state president and his spouse.

The two leaders will hold talks to discuss a plan for an expanded bilateral partnership.

As part of his visit, Steinmeier will meet several top Vietnamese officials and leaders, and attend various diplomatic activities.

The visit takes place as the two countries are near 50 years of their diplomatic ties.

Germany is one of Vietnams biggest official development assistance (ODA) providers and, since 1990, has poured over US$2 billion into ODA projects in the Southeast Asian country.

Vietnam has been listed as a global partner in Germanys development cooperation strategy until 2030 since 2020.

The German government pledged over 143.5 million euros ($156.2 million) in ODA for Vietnam in the 2022-23 period at a governmental-level meeting on the Vietnam - Germany development cooperation in July 2021.

Germany is Vietnams largest trade partner in Europe, representing some 20 percent of the latters total exports to the European Union.

Two-way trade between Vietnam and Germany in 2023 totaled more than $11 billion.

Over 350 German enterprises are currently operating in Vietnam, including multinational firms Siemens, B.Braun, Messer, Mercedes-Benz, Bilfinger, Bosch, Deutsche Bank, and Allianz.

As of May last year, Germany had become involved in 444 operational projects with a total pledged capital of nearly $2.4 billion, putting the country in fourth among 24 EU nations and 18th among 143 countries and territories investing in Vietnam.

During the same period, Vietnamese firms engaged in 11 operational projects in Germany with a total capital of some $31 million.

Vietnamese - German University, located in Binh Duong Province, southern Vietnam, is seen as a key project for the two nations cooperation in education. Photo: Ba Son / Tuoi Tre

Apart from the deep cooperation in education, training, healthcare, and science-technology fields, Vietnam and Germany signed a memorandum of understanding in November 2022 to foster electric and renewable energy development, on the occasion of German Chancellor Olaf Scholzs visit to Vietnam.

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Vietnam and Hungary have pledged to increase their bilateral trade to US$2 billion while beefing up their comprehensive partnership, and have signed three cooperative documents during the visit of Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh to the country in Central Europe.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and PM Chinh co-chaired a press conference announcing the results of their earlier talks in Budapest on Thursday, after the Vietnamese government chief, his spouse, and their entourage arrived the same day for an official visit, according to Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper reporters from the Hungarian capital city.

The Hungary-Vietnam relationship is very meaningful as Vietnam is a leading developing country in Asia, Orban said, hoping that Vietnam would join the group of successful Asian countries soon.

Highlighting economic, investment, and trade cooperation as the focuses of the bilateral relations, both sides agreed to push two-way trade to $2 billion in the coming time.

In the January-November period of 2023, the bilateral trade reached $785 million, according to the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

PM Orban commented that Hungary has witnessed a rise in investments from oriental countries, including Vietnam, in addition to its traditional investors, marking an upward trend in recent years.

Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh (L) and his Hungarian counterpart Viktor Orban co-chair a press conference announcing the results of their talks in Budapest, January 18, 2024. Photo: Quynh Trung / Tuoi Tre

He lauded Vietnam for its success in trade cooperation with Europe through the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) and called on PM Chinh to encourage Vietnamese partners to invest in Hungary.

The Hungarian leader said that collaboration between the two countries is not limited to manufacturing and trade, but also includes scientific research, farm produce exports, healthcare, education, and culture.

Hungary, situated in Central Europe, has embraced a 'Look East' policy, emphasizing the importance of values such as equality, family, and national service, Orban said.

He also highlighted the myriad similarities between the two peoples, underscoring that both countries have successfully navigated various difficulties and challenges to safeguard their populations and establish distinctive positions on the global stage.

The two countries have the same viewpoints on war and peace since they both experienced wars, Orban stated, expressing his admiration for Vietnams victories in wartime.

He stressed that Hungary always supports and advocates peaceful solutions for disputes in the world, and that his country and Vietnam have a common voice on this issue.

PM Chinh told his host that Vietnam appreciates the value of peace, loves peace, and does its best for such peace.

Hungarian PM Viktor Orban (R) and his Vietnamese counterpart Pham Minh Chinh give each other an affectionate shoulder hug after ending a press briefing in Budapest, January 18, 2024. Photo: Quynh Trung / Tuoi Tre

He conveyed gratitude to Orban for the gracious and warm reception extended to the Vietnamese delegation.

He noted that their discussions were open, substantive, inclusive, and fruitful, building upon the strong foundation of the 74-year history of Vietnam-Hungary relations and their comprehensive partnership established in 2018.

In its foreign policies, Vietnam treasures traditional relations with Hungary, the only country in Central Europe that has had a comprehensive partnership with Vietnam so far, Chinh said.

The Vietnamese official highlighted Vietnams foreign policy of independence, diversification, and multilateralization of external relations, affirming that Vietnam is a good friend, trustworthy partner, and responsible member of the international community.

He asserted that Vietnam encourages enterprises from the two countries to strengthen their investment in each other.

According to the Vietnamese foreign ministry, Hungarian investors are operating 15 FDI projects worth $50.66 million in Vietnam, ranking 55th among 105 countries and territories investing in the Southeast Asian country.

The PM sincerely thanked the government and people of Hungary for creating favorable conditions for the Vietnamese community in Hungary to live and integrate into the local society, serving as a bridge for friendly relations between both countries.

He suggested that Hungary soon recognize the Vietnamese community in the country as one of its ethnic minority groups so that they can enjoy equal policies like other minorities in Hungary.

PM Chinh called on Hungary to support ASEANs stance on the East Vietnam Sea issue, including peacefully resolving disputes in line with international law, especially the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), ensuring security, safety, and freedom of navigation and overflight in the waterway,

He also urged Budapest to support the effective implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Vietnam Sea (DOC) and the negotiation on a substantive and effective Code of Conduct (COC) for the waters.

Following their talks, the two prime ministers presided over the signing of three collaborative documents.

These include an intergovernmental agreement addressing cooperation in preventing and combating transnational organized crime, a memorandum of understanding outlining collaboration between the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary, and a cultural cooperation program for the 2024-26 period between the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism of Vietnam and the Hungarian Ministry of Culture and Innovation.

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Police officers in Da Nang City, central Vietnam said on Friday that they have cracked down on a prostitution ring operated on the messaging service Telegram and nabbed two men for allegedly brokering such sex services.

The suspects include Nguyen Dang Khoa, a 35-year-old native of Da Nang, and Tran Quang Viet, aged 31, hailing from the Central Highlands province of Gia Lai.

Findings from police officers showed that Khoa led the Telegram-based prostitution ring and Viet served as the formers accomplice.

The duo created many pages and groups on Telegram to find female sex workers, post photos of the prostitutes to promote their service, which is illegal in Vietnam, and interact with potential clients.

On Thursday evening, dozens of policemen were deployed to clamp down on the racket.

The officers caught a couple engaging in a sexual act at a hotel on Duong Dinh Nghe Street in Son Tra District, Da Nang.

The authorities apprehended Khoa and Viet during a state of emergency, seizing approximately 200 pages of documents and data associated with the facilitation of prostitution brokerage.

Khoa confessed that he had created many Telegram pages and groups to operate the prostitution brokerage racket since June 2021.

He also hired Viet to take charge of the ring.

They disclosed that they utilized their Telegram accounts to entice female sex workers into the network and advertise their services on the messaging platform daily.

The rates for these services ranged from VND500,000 (US$20) to VND5 million ($202) per sex session.

Khoa rented hotel rooms on Duong Dinh Nghe Street to house prostitutes coming from other localities in the country in order to run the sex racket more conveniently.

The law enforcement forces also unearthed more than 15,000 people joining a Telegram group in the racket, with over 30 female sex workers.

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The management board of Dong Ba Market in Thua Thien-Hue Province, central Vietnam has announced a reward of VND500,000 (US$20.5) for individuals who report unscrupulous traders for ripping off tourists at the market, Hoang Thi Nhu Thanh, head of the board, said on Wednesday.

In recent days, the management board has implemented a policy requiring traders at the market to prominently display the prices of their goods, comprising even low-cost items like lighters, sandals, scissors, and cakes.

While the policy has nearly eradicated reports of scammy vendors at the 124-year-old market, the management board said there have recently been complaints that some traders are no longer publicizing their prices or attempting to rip off tourists.

Hoang Thi Nhu Thanh (C), head of the management board of Dong Ba Market in Thua Thien-Hue Province, central Vietnam, announced at a meeting with traders that the management board would offer a reward of VND500,000 ($20.5) each for overpricing reports. Photo: Nhat Linh / Tuoi Tre

We have repeatedly launched inspections but have not found any violation," Thanh said.

"Although these cases occur irregularly, we are determined to eliminate them and rebuild the reputation of Dong Ba Market.

The board also requested that residents and visitors who encounter ripe-offs film such encounters and send the videos to it.

If a case is confirmed, the individual who made the report will be rewarded with VND500,000 and the vendors involved will be subjected to a seven-day suspension and a fine in line with the law, Thanh shared.

A trader at Dong Ba Market in Thua Thien-Hue Province, central Vietnam sticks price tags on her keychain and souvenir products. Photo: Nhat Linh / Tuoi Tre

Nguyen Thi Thu Huong, a confectionery trader at Dong Ba Market, said that sellers there generally endorse this initiative.

They believe that publicizing the prices of products will contribute to enhancing the market's reputation and attract a greater number of customers.

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PARIS (Reuters) - France's largest farm union FNSEA is considering nationwide protests in the coming weeks, a spokesperson said on Friday, potentially expanding action by farmers in the southwest who have blocked a highway and dumped manure on public buildings.

Like their German counterparts who held a massive demonstration over the weekend with tractors rumbling towards Berlin from every corner of the country, French farmers are mainly protesting against taxes and regulation.

The FSNEA will decide whether to organise nationwide action next Thursday after meeting local branch representatives and different farm sectors, the spokesperson said.

Hundreds of tractors and farmers from across southwest France have been protesting in the southwestern city of Toulouse this week, causing traffic jams.

On Friday they blocked the highway linking Toulouse to the Atlantic cost with a wall of hay.

Farmers cite a government tax on tractor fuel, cheap imports, water storage issues, excessive restrictions and red tape among their grievances.

FNSEA farmers have been turning around road signs at the entrance of towns and villages across the country - in 12,000 districts out of a total of 36,000 - to express their discontent in a campaign called "We are walking on our heads".

The protests in the European Union's biggest agricultural producer come at a time when President Emmanuel Macron is wary of farmers' growing support for the far-right ahead of the European Parliament elections in June.

Macron told his cabinet this week to pay careful attention to potential flashpoints for rural workers, to try to avoid further demonstrations and another flare-up of the so-called Yellow Vest protest movement, a minister told Politico.

In a sign of growing farmer anger in the EU, hundreds of Romanian farmers have also held protests this week.

(Reporting by Sybille de La Hamaide; Editing by Mark Potter)
Germany fears Vladimir Putin, Russia's president, could order the country's military to attack a Nato country in the coming years - SERGEI SAVOSTYANOV/afp

Vladimir Putin could attack Nato within five to eight years, Germany has warned, as Baltic nations approved a plan to build defences along their borders with Russia and Belarus.

We have to take into account that Vladimir Putin will one day even attack a Nato country, said Boris Pistorius, the German defence minister.

Our experts expect a period of five to eight years in which this could be possible, he told Der Tagesspiegel, a German newspaper. At the moment I dont think a Russian attack is likely.

Europe is dealing with a military threat situation  that has not existed for 30 years, he added. We hear threats from the Kremlin almost every day  most recently against our friends in the Baltics.

The Baltic nations are taking steps to increase border security given those increased security concerns after Russias invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Bunkers built along borders

Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania on Friday signed an agreement to build bunkers over the next few years to bolster the defences along their borders with Russia and Belarus, a staunch ally of Moscow.

Under the agreement, signed in Riga, the three countries will construct anti-mobility defensive installations in the coming years to deter and, if necessary, defend against military threats, the Estonian defence ministry in a statement.

The plan, and Mr Pistoriuss comments, came the day after a top Nato military official warned that civilians in the West must prepare for the possibility of all-out war with Russia in the next 20 years, and be ready to mobilise if necessary.

While various militaries are primed for the outbreak of war, the general public must also be ready for a conflict that would mean a wholesale change in their lives, said Adml Bauer, a Dutch naval officer who chairs the Nato military committee.

We have to realise its not a given that we are in peace, he said. And thats why we [Nato] are preparing for a conflict with Russia.

But the discussion is much wider. It is also the industrial base and also the people that have to understand they play a role.

Story continues

Finland, which became Natos latest member when it joined last April, does not see any immediate military threat from Russia, the countrys prime minister said on Friday. I dont see any immediate military threat from Russia against Finland, Petteri Orpo said. We in Finland sleep peacefully at night, because we are well prepared.

Middle East threat to global peace

Concerns over global peace have grown, too, as the Israel-Hamas war continues and has begun to spill over in the Middle East.

With Russias full-scale war in Ukraine approaching its two-year anniversary, global stockpiles of weapons and ammunition have been whittled down significantly.

Adml Bauer warned that more preparation is needed now to ensure there arent shortages of materiel in the future.

You need to be able to fall back on an industrial base that is able to produce weapons and ammunition fast enough to be able to continue a conflict if you are in it, he said.

The EU has been unable to deliver on plans to send one million 155mm artillery shells to Kyiv by Februrary, impacting the ability for the Ukrainian military to return fire against the Russians.

Meanwhile, in Washington, US support for Ukraine has ground to a halt in the face of mounting opposition from Republicans.

Europe, said Adm Bauer, must be ready to defend itself if it can no longer count on the US for support.

We have a nuclear shield with the Americans and the French have the force de frappe, Mr Pistorius said, referring to the French nuclear deterrent. There are no signs that the nuclear shield will evaporate or be dismantled. If this threatens to happen, we as Europeans must deal with it together.

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Welcome Guest! You are here: Home  Middle East

Netanyahus key ally withdraws support, accuses him of fabricating success in Gaza war

Gadi Eisenkot, former Chief of Staff of the Israeli Occupation Forces and co-founder of National Unity Party, has lost his 25-year son Gal Meir Eisenkot and 19-year-old nephew Cohen Eisenkot in Gaza. Read More

Friday January 19, 2024 3:10 PM , ummid.com with inputs from Agencies

[Gadi Eisenkot with his son Gal Meir Eisenkot who is killed in Gaza in a file photo.]

Tel Aviv: Gadi Eisenkot, a minister in Israels war cabinet and key ally of Benjamin Netanyahu accused the Israeli Prime Minister of fabricating achievements in Gaza war and also withdrew support for his government.

Gadi Eisenkot, former Chief of Staff of the Israeli Occupation Forces and co-founder of National Unity Party, has lost his 25-year son Gal Meir Eisenkot and 19-year-old nephew Cohen Eisenkot in Gaza.

The National Unity Party decided to join Netanyahus coalition on emergency basis in a show of political unity following the October 7 Hamas attack.

Gadi Eisenkot continued to support Netanyahu even after losing his son and nephew in the Gaza war that besides killing scores of Israeli soldiers has also killed more than 24,000 Palestinians, majority of them women and children, according to the Health Ministry of Palestine.

Gadi Eisenko however is now criticising Netanyahus handling of the war. He also accused Netanyahu of selling fascinating stories about the fabricated achievements in Gaza war, as reported by the Israeli media.

Hostages release not possible without deal

Speaking with Channel 12s Uvda investigative program, Gadi Eisenko also lambasted Netanyahu for repeatedly talking about complete annihilation and absolute defeat of Hamas saying such claims are unrealistic.

Whoever speaks of absolute defeat is not speaking the truth, Eisenkot said in the interview. That is why we should not tell stories Today, the situation already in the Gaza Strip is such that the goals of the war have not yet been achieved.

Gadi Eisenko also said that the hostages in the custody of Hamas and other Resistance groups could not be released without a ceasefire deal and pause in war.

It needs to be said, bravely, that its not possible to return the hostages, alive, in the near term, without a deal, The Times of Israel quoted Gadi Eizenko, blasting anyone who is trying to sell fantasies to the public.

Hold elections now

While announcing to withdraw support to Netanyahus government, Gadi Eisenko also demanded national elections to what he called restore public trust.

It is necessary, within a period of months, to return the Israeli voter to the polls and hold elections in order to renew trust because right now there is no trust, said Eisenkot.

Pressed to respond to Netanyahus claim that elections in the middle of the war would harm public unity, Eisenkot responded: The lack of trust from the Israeli public in his government is no less serious.

Also Read

Like it or not, Gaza is becoming a Graveyard for Israeli Soldiers

Meanwhile, the number of casualties of Israeli soldiers in Gaza continues to rise with the officials confirming the deaths of as many as 194 army personnel. Non-government sources and international observers on the other hand accuse the Zionist government of hiding the exact number of casualties .

As for the latest situation in Gaza, the death toll of Palestinians as on Friday January 19, 2024 at least 24,620 people killed and 61,830 wounded.

Friday January 19, 2024 also marked as the 7th day of near-total telecommunications blackout in the Gaza Strip.

Select Language To Read in Urdu, Hindi, Marathi or Arabic.
By Ko Dong-hwan

A joint economic drive by Gwangju Metropolitan City and South Jeolla Province to attract semiconductor and artificial intelligence (AI) companies has been hit with a setback since the central government's recent announcement on the development of a mega chip cluster in Gyeonggi Province, according to Gwangju and South Jeolla Province officials, Friday.

The southwestern region's joint bid to introduce a specialized chip cluster just outside Gwangju has now been put on hold due to the Yoon Suk Yeol administration's selection of Yongin and Pyeongtaek  both of which are located in Gyeonggi Province  to develop the chip industry further, they argued.

Last July, the local authorities of the southwestern region submitted a proposal to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy after the ministry in December 2022 put forward a national project to introduce specialized chip complexes in various cities nationwide. The ministry later that month selected the cities of Yongin, Pyeongtaek and Gumi.

Furthermore, President Yoon earlier this week announced his administration's decision to support the initiatives of Samsung Electronics and SK hynix to build 16 new fabrication plants in three southern Gyeonggi Province cities, including Yongin and Pyeongtaek, turning the region into the country's biggest chip cluster with the world's highest capability to manufacture wafers.

This decision made it quite clear that the chip initiatives of Gwangju and South Jeolla Province would be dwarfed by Gyeonggi Province's. The local governments said that the central government didn't accept their goal to implement renewable energy in the running of their new chip complex because the plan required too much legal groundwork. President Yoon, upon announcing the mega chip cluster plan for southern Gyeonggi Province, instead highlighted the importance of nuclear power plants in supplying electricity stably to the cluster.

"To run a mega chip cluster requires a significant amount of water and electricity," an official from the Semiconductor Business Team under Gwangju Metropolitan City said.

"Our plan, by drawing clean power from coastal regions through power cables, could build a chip cluster that completely meets RE100 conditions. It is impossible in Gyeonggi Province. But carrying out the task requires installing new power distribution lines through local communities and passage of a special law at the National Assembly. Such conditions take lots of state budget, time and the consent of local residents which isn't guaranteed," he said.

The central government selected Gyeonggi Province for the chip cluster project because cities in the region already have existing infrastructure and businesses up and running in the industry, according to an official from the Semiconductor Team under the provincial government's New Growth Business Department. There is an existing chip cluster in southern Gyeonggi Province with 19 production fabrication plants and two research facilities, which will be part of the mega chip cluster that will be completed by 2047.

"The central government's plan to introduce a specialized state-level industrial complex is managed by the industry ministry," the official said. "We will wait and see when the ministry will post another bid in the future."

Gwangju's AI business also faced a setback after the central government declined the local government's request for 14 billion won ($10.5 million) from the state budget to operate a new state-run AI data center in the city more efficiently.

Opening last November to replace its temporary facility in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, the National AI Data Center is a key part of the city's AI-specializing industrial complex project, which it has been pursuing since 2020 until the end of this year. It is operated by NHN Cloud, one of the country's leading cloud service providers.

The city government had repeatedly communicated with the presidential office to invite President Yoon to the center's opening ceremony but they kept being declined.

"To provide data to private firms clustered inside the complex, we needed the funding for the pretreatment of the data before sharing it with the firms," an official from the AI Team under Gwangju Metropolitan City said. "But the central government told us to hold the request for now and resubmit it next year when it plans to accept proposals from local governments for large-scale, five-year projects."
Boats in a ritual of the Feast and Commemoration Festival for Hoang Sa Soldiers. (Photo: VNA)

Fifty years have passed since January 19, 1974, when Hoang Sa was illegally occupied by China, this archipelago remains a persistent concern of the Vietnamese people.Vietnams sea area covers about 1 million sq.km, three times larger than the mainland area and making up nearly 30% of the area of the East Sea. It is home to thousands of islands of all sizes that scatter rather evenly along the coastline and in the outpost archipelagoes of Hoang Sa and Truong Sa.Historical and legal evidence testifying to Vietnams sovereignty over these two archipelagoes have been recognised by many countries, the international community, and many scientists who have affirmed that the State of Vietnam was the first in history to possess and exercise sovereignty over the islands.Vietnams possession and exercise of sovereignty over Hoang Sa and Truong Sa are clear, uninterrupted, peaceful, and in accordance with the existing principle of acquisition of territory  the principle of actual possession  of public international law.Maps dating back to the 17th century feature Hoang Sa and Truong Sa as a single strip which was initially called Bai Cat Vang by Vietnamese people, as seen in Toan tap Thien Nam tu chi lo do thu (Route Map from the Capital to the Four Directions)  a map compiled by geographer Do Ba and completed in 1686.In the first half of the 17th century, the Nguyen Lords established the Hoang Sa flotilla, which gathered people from An Vinh commune of Binh Son district, Quang Nghia (now Quang Ngai province) to collect objects from stranded ships and catch rare seafood in Hoang Sa. The lords also set up the Bac Hai flotilla, whose members were residents of Tu Chinh hamlet or Canh Duong commune of Binh Thuan, to perform similar duties in Truong Sa.Throughout three centuries  from the 17th to the late 19th century, despite different dynasties, the monarchical state of Vietnam established, practiced management, and exercised the countrys sovereignty over Hoang Sa and Truong Sa without encountering any dispute or objection.This fact was proved in many old documents, books, and legal documents of the State, along with the maps showing Vietnams exercise of its sovereignty over the two archipelagoes, kept in Vietnam and many countries, including Toan tap Thien Nam tu chi lo do thu by Do Ba, Phu bien tap luc (Miscellany on the Government of the Marches, 1776) by Le Quy Don, Lich trieu hien chuong loai chi (Regulations of Successive Dynasties by Subject-Matter, 1821) by Phan Huy Chu, Hoang Viet dia du chi (Geographical Treatise of Imperial Vietnam, 1833), Dai Nam thuc luc tien bien (Veritable Records of the Great South, Prequel Records, 1844 - 1848), and Dai Nam thuc luc chinh bien (Veritable Records of the Great South, Principal Records, 1844 - 1848).In particular, the World Atlas by Philippe Vandermaelen, published in Belgium in 1827, clearly drew and depicted Hoang Sa as part of the territory of the Kingdom of An Nam, an old name of Vietnam.Besides, the imperial archives of the Nguyen Dynasty (1802 - 1945) are also important evidence proving the monarchical state of Vietnams establishment and implementation of many activities to exercise the sovereignty over the two archipelagoes such as sending the Bac Hai and Hoang Sa flotillas there to exploit maritime resources, collect goods from sunken ships, measure and draw maps, erect steles, build shrines, plant trees, and support foreign vessels in distress. The precious records of the Nguyen Dynasty were recognised as world documentary heritage by UNESCO.In 1975, together with the complete liberation of the South and the national reunification, the Vietnam Peoples Navy also liberated the islands kept by the Saigon troops such as Truong Sa, Son Ca, Nam Yet, Song Tu Tay, Sinh Ton, and An Bang, which are part of the Truong Sa archipelago. The then Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam also issued a statement affirming Vietnams sovereignty over Hoang Sa and Truong Sa.On July 2, 1976, at its first session, the 6th-tenure National Assembly (NA) (1976 - 1981)  the parliament of the reunified Vietnam that was elected on April 25, 1976  decided to rename the country the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. The State of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam has continued to manage and protect the countrys sovereignty over Hoang Sa and Truong Sa via a number of activities that ensure the sufficiency of and adherence to procedures during the legal struggle while at the same time consolidating and maintaining the presence of Vietnamese soldiers and people on the geographical entities currently managed by the State of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.Particular, in 1982, Vietnam established the districts of Hoang Sa and Truong Sa, with Hoang Sa district now being part of Da Nang city and Truong Sa district being part of Khanh Hoa province.Given this, Vietnam owns sufficient historical evidence with legal value to testify to and protect its sovereignty over these two archipelagoes throughout history.It is noteworthy that the Resolution of the United Nations General Assembly, dated October 24, 1970, stated: The territory of a State shall not be the object of military occupation resulting from the use of force in contravention of the provisions of the Charter. The territory of a State shall not be the object of acquisition by another State resulting from the threat or use of force. No territorial acquisition resulting from the threat or use of force shall be recognised as legal.Therefore, Chinas use of force to occupy Hoang Sa, an integral part of Vietnams territory, on January 19, 1974 ran counter to international law and was unable to generate a legal right towards this archipelago for China.Hoang Sa is forever a territorial part of Vietnam!
HA NOI  Private hospitals are seeking to expand quickly to tap into the growing healthcare market though not all are profitable.

According to the Viet Nam Private Hospital Association, by the end of 2022 the country will have nearly 320 private hospitals with 22,000 beds or a fifth of all hospitals and 8 per cent of beds. There are also 38,000 private clinics.

The non-public medical market is considered to be lucrative for investors due to the rapid growth of the middle class in Southeast Asia and increasing spending on healthcare.

Nevertheless, not all participants are finding it uniformly profitable.

Only two private hospitals, Tam uc Heart Hospital and Thai Nguyen International Hospital Joint Stock Company, publicly disclose their financial performance since they are listed on the stock market.

Thai Nguyen, established in 2013, has since increased its charter capital from VN27.7 billion (US$1.1 million) to VN518 billion.

It operates the Thai Nguyen International Hospital and Yen Binh Thai Nguyen General Hospital with a total of 550 beds, and is the largest private healthcare provider in the mountainous provinces of the north-east.

Its average annual revenues were around VN270 billion from 2015 to 2019. But they rose significantly after it expanded in 2020, and are on course to reach a record VN415 billion in 2023.

It next plans to build a hospital in Bac Giang with 300 beds and another in Ha Noi with 500.

Tam uc Heart Hospital Joint Stock Company, which opened in 2006 with 250 beds, achieved revenues of over VN723 billion and pre-tax profits of nearly VN104 billion in 2022.

In the first nine months of 2023, for which results are available, it had net revenues of VN553 billion, a 4 per cent increase year-on-year, and pre-tax profits of VN73 billion.

However, many other private hospitals are struggling to generate significant profits or are even losing money.

Vinmec International General Hospital, part of conglomerate Vingroup, is one of the leading private hospital networks in terms of revenues. It has 10 hospitals and clinics with 1,650 beds.

It saw a 50 per cent increase in the number of patient visits in 2022, but remained mired in losses despite a 53 per cent revenue growth to VN4.48 trillion.

Its pre-tax loss in 2022 topped VN700 billion.

Hoan My Medical Group, Viet Nams largest private healthcare network with 14 hospitals and six clinics, is providing comprehensive services across its Hanh Phuc and Hoan My brands.

The Tam Anh General Hospital chain belonging to medical and pharmaceutical entrepreneur Ngo Chi Dung (the person behind the VNVC and Eco Pharma brands) makes negligible profits despite earning revenues of hundreds of billions of ong.

In 2019 and 2020 the private hospital chain reported after-tax profits of VN1.14 billion and VN380 million on revenues of VN660 billion and VN745 billion.

Tam Anh was established in 2007 but only began operations in 2016. It has one hospital each in Long Bien District in Ha Noi and District 2 in HCM City.

In July 2023 Thomson Medical Group paid US$381.4 million to acquire Far East Vietnam Medical Company Limited, owner of FV Hospital, making it the largest M&A deal in Southeast Asia in the healthcare sector since 2020.

FV was founded by Dr. Jean-Marcel Guillon in 2003 with a group of French doctors and registered capital of $44 million.

By last year it had nearly 200 beds and more than 30 specialities, and was capable of treating 1,500 patients per day.

According to Thomson Medical Group, FV made a profit of $19.5 million in 2022.

In 2019-22 it achieved annual revenue growth of 8.2 per cent and profit growth of 14.8 per cent. VNS
HA NOI  The European Union has announced the temporary increase of official controls and emergency measures governing the entry into the block of certain goods, including durian from Viet Nam.

Accordingly, durian from Viet Nam, both chilled and fresh, for the first time will be subject to identity and physical checks on 10 per cent of consignments.

In the announcement, the EU said that data from the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) notifications and information regarding official control performed by the member states indicate the emergency of new risks to human health, due to a possible contamination by pesticide residues.

Therefore, it is necessary to require an increased level of official controls on durian from Viet Nam.

Besides durian, peppers of genus capsicum (fresh, chilled or frozen) and instant noodles containing spices, seasonings or sauces from Viet Nam are also included in the list for increased levels of official controls, with the frequency of identity and physical checks at 50 per cent and 20 per cent, respectively.

Okra (fresh, chilled or frozen) and dragon fruit (fresh or chilled) from Viet Nam are subject to special conditions for entry into the union due to contamination risk by mycotoxins, with the frequency of 50 per cent and 20 per cent, respectively, meaning that quality certificates are required for entry.

This EU update adds more than 100 goods from 27 countries and will take effect 20 days from the announcement date, meaning the new regulations will be applied from early February.

EU imports around US$160 billion worth of agricultural products every year, of which, Viet Nam accounted for a modest 4-5 per cent.

Viet Nams export revenue of agricultural products to the EU was $5.34 billion in 2023, a drop of 12.2 per cent on falling consumption demand.

The durian export of Viet Nam reached nearly $2.2 billion in the first 11 months of 2023, 4.8 times higher than the same period last year. China was the largest market for Viet Nams durian with a share of more than 91 per cent. Exports of durian to some EU member countries increased strongly, such as Czech by 28,000 per cent and France by 32 per cent.

The EU sets high technical standards for imported agricultural products.

Although the EU  Viet Nam Free Trade Agreement has been implemented for 2 years, Viet Nams ability to take advantage of the trade deal was estimated at only 12.1 per cent.

Nguyen Thuy Linh from the Department of International Cooperation under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said that Viet Nam must hasten efforts to take advantage of the trade deal as the EU is going to complete negotiations on an FTA with Thailand, a competitor to many Vietnamese products.

To expand in the EU, it was critical to reorganise agricultural production towards improved product quality, meeting sanitary and phytosanitary standards, together with promoting green and circular production, she said.  VNS
CAN THO  Secretary of the Can Tho municipal Party Committee Nguyen Van Hieu on January 18 met with representatives from the Republic of Koreas SK Energy Co., Ltd. and Singapores Vietnam Draco Environment Co., Ltd. who are seeking investment opportunities in the Mekong Delta city.

At the meeting with the SK Group delegation, Hieu emphasised that the formation and development of a green hydrogen ecosystem by SK Group in the city is suitable because Can Tho is located in the heart of the Mekong Delta region, adding that its infrastructure for green hydrogen production in Can Tho will create a premise to attract investment to the city and the entire region.

The city strongly supports SK Group's investment ideas and will create favourable conditions for the group to implement its projects in the city, he affirmed.

Lee Dong-uk, the groups senior advisor, briefed the host on the role of green hydrogen, the global green hydrogen market outlook, and the use of hydrogen in building a clean energy economy in the future.

He said as SK Group plans to gradually expand to agricultural products, it wants to invest in a wholesale agricultural product centre in Can Tho city, affirming this will be the first model that combines wholesale agricultural products and the use of clean, environmentally-friendly energy.

Meanwhile, at a meeting with representatives from the Singaporean company, Hieu said that the city is calling for investments in areas like water treatment and supply for daily activities and wastewater treatment plants in new industrial zones and clusters, especially in the Vietnam - Singapore Industrial Park in Can Tho (VSIP Can Tho). He called on the company to study and invest in water treatment and supply  one of its strengths.

For his part, Director of Vietnam Draco Environment Co., Ltd Lim Chuan Hui that the company is seeking investment opportunities in wastewater treatment and clean water supply projects.

Besides, the company has coordinated with other enterprises to invest in other areas, he said. - VNS
HA NOI  The Chinese Embassy in Viet Nam hosted a banquet on Thursday in the presence of Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang to celebrate the 74th founding anniversary of the two countries diplomatic relations (January 18, 1950 - 2024).

In his remarks, Quang, who is also Chairman of the Viet Nam-China Steering Committee for Bilateral Cooperation, affirmed that the Party, State, and people of Viet Nam view the development of relations with China as a strategic choice and leading priority in the foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, and multilateralisation and diversification of external relations.

Viet Nam holds that the stable and sustainable development of the bilateral ties matches practical benefits of the two countries' peoples and also benefits cooperation and prosperous development in the region and the world, he said.

The Deputy PM emphasised that after the historic visit to China by Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong in October 2022, the two countries comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership made great strides and obtained significant achievements in 2023.

During the state visit to Viet Nam by Party General Secretary and President of China Xi Jinping in December 2023, the two Parties and the two countries agreed to continue deepening and elevating the comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership and to build a Viet Nam-China community with a shared future that carries strategic significance. This was an important milestone during the development of the bilateral relations, raising the ties between the two Parties and the two countries to a new stage, Quang added.

For his part, Chinese Ambassador to Viet Nam Xiong Bo noted that China is ready to join hands with Viet Nam to properly implement the important common perceptions reached between the Parties and countries top leaders, and unceasingly develop the comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership and the Viet Nam-China community with a shared future, thereby generating tangible benefits for the people of both nations.

The two sides agreed to keep close coordination to concretise the achievements and new dimensions of the comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership, on which Party General Secretary of Viet Nam Nguyen Phu Trong and Party General Secretary and President of China Xi Jinping agreed, to promote the relations between the two Parties and the two countries with higher political trust, more practical defence - security cooperation, more solid social foundation, closer multilateral coordination, and better controlled and resolved differences, the diplomat said.  VNS
HA NOI  Hoang Sa (Paracels) and Truong Sa (Spratlys), like inseparable pieces of Vietnamese blood and flesh, form part of the countrys territory, which is an immutable truth cherished by the Vietnamese people for generations. Fifty years have passed since January 19, 1974, when Hoang Sa was illegally occupied by China, this archipelago remains a persistent concern of the Vietnamese people.

Viet Nam's sea area covers about one million sq.km, three times larger than the mainland area and making up nearly 30 per cent of the area of the East Sea (known internationally as the South China Sea). It is home to thousands of islands of all sizes that scatter rather evenly along the coastline and in the outpost archipelagoes of Hoang Sa and Truong Sa.

Historical and legal evidence testifying to Viet Nam's sovereignty over these two archipelagoes have been recognised by many countries, the international community, and many scientists who have affirmed that the State of Viet Nam was the first in history to possess and exercise sovereignty over the islands.

Viet Nam's possession and exercise of sovereignty over Hoang Sa and Truong Sa are clear, uninterrupted, peaceful, and in accordance with the existing principle of acquisition of territory  the principle of actual possession  of public international law.

Maps dating back to the 17th century feature Hoang Sa and Truong Sa as a single strip which was initially called Bai Cat Vang (yellow sand beach) by Vietnamese people, as seen in Toan tap Thien Nam tu chi lo o thu (Route Map from the Capital to the Four Directions)  a map compiled by geographer o Ba (Cong ao) and completed in 1686.

In the first half of the 17th century, the Nguyen Lords established the Hoang Sa flotilla, which gathered people from An Vinh Commune of Binh Son District, Quang Nghia (present-day Quang Ngai Province) to collect objects from stranded ships and catch rare seafood in Hoang Sa. The lords also set up the Bac Hai flotilla, whose members were residents of Tu Chinh hamlet or Canh Duong Commune of Binh Thuan, to perform similar duties in Truong Sa.

Throughout three centuries  from the 17th to the late 19th century, despite different dynasties, the monarchical state of Viet Nam established, practised management, and exercised the countrys sovereignty over Hoang Sa and Truong Sa without encountering any dispute or objection.

This fact was proved in many old documents, books, and legal documents of the State, along with the maps showing Viet Nam's exercise of its sovereignty over the two archipelagoes, kept in Viet Nam and many countries, including Toan tap Thien Nam tu chi lo o thu by o Ba, Phu bien tap luc (Miscellany on the Government of the Marches, 1776) by noted 18th-century scholar/encyclopedist Le Quy on, Lich trieu hien chuong loai chi (Regulations of Successive Dynasties by Subject-Matter, 1821) by 19th-century historian Phan Huy Chu, Hoang Viet ia du chi (Geographical Treatise of Imperial Viet Nam, 1833), ai Nam thuc luc tien bien (Veritable Records of the Great South, Prequel Records, 1844-1848), and ai Nam thuc luc chinh bien (Veritable Records of the Great South, Principal Records, 1844-1848).

In particular, the World Atlas by Philippe Vandermaelen, published in Belgium in 1827, clearly drew and depicted Hoang Sa as part of the territory of the Kingdom of An Nam, an old name of Viet Nam.

Besides, the imperial archives of the Nguyen Dynasty (1802-1945) are also important evidence proving the monarchical state of Viet Nam's establishment and implementation of many activities to exercise sovereignty over the two archipelagoes such as sending the Bac Hai and Hoang Sa flotillas there to exploit maritime resources, collect goods from sunken ships, measure and draw maps, erect steles, build shrines, plant trees, and support foreign vessels in distress. The precious records of the Nguyen Dynasty were recognised as world documentary heritage by UNESCO.

In 1975, together with the complete liberation of the South and the national reunification, the Viet Nam Peoples Navy also liberated the islands kept by the Saigon troops such as Truong Sa, Son Ca, Nam Yet, Song Tu Tay, Sinh Ton, and An Bang, which are part of the Truong Sa archipelago. The then Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Viet Nam also issued a statement affirming Viet Nam's sovereignty over Hoang Sa and Truong Sa.

On July 2, 1976, at its first session, the 6th-tenure National Assembly (NA) (1976-1981)  the parliament of the reunified Viet Nam that was elected on April 25, 1976  decided to rename the country the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam. The State of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam has continued to manage and protect the countrys sovereignty over Hoang Sa and Truong Sa via a number of activities that ensure the sufficiency of and adherence to procedures during the legal struggle while at the same time consolidating and maintaining the presence of Vietnamese soldiers and people on the geographical entities currently managed by the State of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam.

Particular, in 1982, Viet Nam established the districts of Hoang Sa and Truong Sa, with Hoang Sa District now being part of the central city a Nang and Truong Sa District being part of the south-central Khanh Hoa Province.

Given these facts and records, Viet Nam possesses sufficient historical evidence with legal value to testify to and protect its sovereignty over these two archipelagoes throughout history.

It is noteworthy that the Resolution of the United Nations General Assembly, dated October 24, 1970, stated: The territory of a State shall not be the object of military occupation resulting from the use of force in contravention of the provisions of the Charter. The territory of a State shall not be the object of acquisition by another State resulting from the threat or use of force. No territorial acquisition resulting from the threat or use of force shall be recognised as legal.

Therefore, Chinas use of force to occupy Hoang Sa, an integral part of Viet Nam's territory, on January 19, 1974 ran counter to international law and this cannot generate a legal right towards this archipelago for China.

Hoang Sa is forever a territorial part of Viet Nam!  VNA/VNS
VINH LONG  President Vo Van Thuong on Friday visited and presented gifts to social policy beneficiaries and workers in Tra On District in the Mekong Delta province of Vinh Long, ahead of the Lunar New Year (Tet) Festival.

The State leader lauded Vinh Long Province and Tra On District for their achievements in different spheres, and expressed his hope that the Party organisation, authorities and people of Tra On will maintain their solidarity and carry forward traditions to make the district grow further with no poor households.

Tra On Districts administration was also asked to pay more attention to social welfare, especially policies towards ethnic minorities.

The same day, the President visited and extended Tet greetings to Catholic dignitaries and followers in the Vinh Long Diocese, hailing them for their contributions to local socio-economic development.

He affirmed that the Vietnamese Party and State always create favourable conditions for people to exercise their right to freedom of religion and belief, and engage in national construction and development.

President Thuong urged them to contribute more to local socio-economic development, and maintain and uphold the great national solidarity bloc.

Earlier the same day, the President and his encourage offered wreaths and incense to late Chairman of the Council of Ministers Pham Hung at his memorial site in Long Phuoc Commune of Long Ho District.

He also paid tribute to late Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet at his memorial site in Vung Liem District.  VNS
The nature of the security threat posed by North Korea could change "drastically" in the coming decade as a result of its unprecedented cooperation with Russia, the White House's senior director for arms control Pranay Vaddi said on Thursday.

"What we're seeing between Russia and North Korea is an unprecedented level of cooperation in the military sphere," Vaddi told Washington's Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank.

"And I say unprecedented very deliberately  We have never seen this before."

Vaddi said it was necessary to pay close attention not just to nuclear-armed North Korea's help for Russia war in Ukraine, primarily in the form of missile systems, but "what could be going in the other direction as well."

"How could that improve North Korea's capabilities? And what does that mean for our own extended deterrence posture in the region with both Korea and Japan?"

"I think the nature of North Korea as a threat in the region could drastically change over the coming decade as a result of this cooperation," Vaddi said.

Vaddi said the United States would continue to work with South Korea to make sure their combined "extended deterrence" was as credible as possible in the face of the evolving North Korea threat - a reference to the U.S. "nuclear umbrella" protecting allies.

Asked how much of a worry it was that such allies would pursue their own nuclear defense capabilities in the face of the growing North Korean threat, Vaddi said:

"We want to make sure that the U.S. nuclear umbrella system as it has existed remains sufficient for deterring threats, including emerging threats that are emanating in Europe and Asia."

Russia said on Wednesday it was developing its relations with North Korea in all areas, including "sensitive" ones after the North Korean foreign minister held rare talks in the Kremlin with President Vladimir Putin, who has been invited to visit the reclusive nuclear-armed country.

Putin has deepened ties with North Korea since sending troops into Ukraine in 2022, and Washington has condemned what it says have been significant North Korean missile deliveries to Russia, amid concerns that Russia could be sharing weapons technology with Pyongyang in return. (Reuters)
HA NOI - The Party Central Committees Inspection Commission decided to give a warning to the Standing Board of the Ministry of Industry and Trades Party Committee in the 2015-2020 tenure as a disciplinary measure, during its meeting in Ha Noi on January 10-11 and 19.

Warnings were also issued to the Party Committees and Party cells in previous and current tenures of some units of the ministry, as well as a number of former and incumbent senior officials.

A number of officials of the ministrys units were expelled from the Party, while former Vice Secretary of the Party Committee and Deputy Director General of the Electricity and Renewable Energy Authority o uc Quan were dismissed from all Party positions.

The standing board of the ministrys Party Committee for the 2020-2025 tenure, along with Party Committees in previous and current tenures of several units, were reprimanded.

The commission proposed that the Politburo and the Party Central Committees Secretariat consider the responsibilities of and disciplinary actions against the Party delegations to the ministry in the 2016-2021 and 2021-2026 tenures, along with several senior officials, including Politburo member, head of the Party Central Committees Economic Commission Tran Tuan Anh, who served as former Secretary of the Party delegation and former Minister of Industry and Trade.

The commission also asked the Politburo and the Party Central Committees Secretariat to consider the responsibilities of and disciplinary actions against Trinh inh Dung, former member of the Party Central Committee and former Deputy Prime Minister; Mai Tien Dung, former member of the Party Central Committee, Minister and Chairman of the Government Office; o Thang Hai, member of the Party delegation and Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade; Hoang Quoc Vuong, former member of the Party delegation and Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade who is also former Secretary of the Party Committee and Chairman of the Members Council of the Vietnam Oil and Gas Group.

During the meeting, the commission also scrutinised the performance of inspection, supervision, and enforcement of Party discipline against the standing board of the Gia Lai provincial Party Committee and its Inspection Commission.

The commission also discussed draft regulations on the protection of persons denouncing and struggling against corruption and negative practices to submit to the Politburo for consideration and promulgation, along with some other important issues. VNA/VNS
BUDAPEST - Hungary consistently regards Viet Nam as its most crucial partner in Southeast Asia, Hungarian President Katalin Novak stated at a January 19 meeting with Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, who is paying an official visit to the European country.

Novak said she hoped Hungary-Viet Nam cooperation would continue to develop across all sectors based on mutual respect, and become a model for East-West collaboration. She described PM Chinhs visit as a significant milestone in the Hungary-Viet Nam comprehensive partnership, and acknowledged Viet Nam's role and position regionally and globally.

The president urged the two sides to closely coordinate to implement the agreements reached during the Vietnamese PM's visit to leverage the existing potential and promote cooperation in all fields, from politics, economy-trade-investment, to education-training, culture, and people-to-people exchange.

For his part, PM Chinh said in implementing an independent, self-reliant, diversified, and multilateral foreign policy, Viet Nam always placed importance on strengthening relations with traditional friends, including Hungary  a priority partner in Central Eastern Europe.

He called for increased contact and exchanges at all levels and between their ministries, sectors, and localities to enhance political trust and mutual understanding, which he said was the foundation for promoting and expanding bilateral cooperation across all aspects.

Both leaders agreed on the importance of economy-trade-investment collaboration, considering it a driving force for bilateral relations in the years to come. In this spirit, PM Chinh proposed that President Novak encourage Hungarian companies to boost business partnerships with their Vietnamese peers, particularly in areas where Hungary excels such as pharmaceuticals, animal husbandry, food processing, renewable energy, and water management.

Disclosing her intention to visit Viet Nam this year, the Hungarian President suggested that the two sides coordinate to organise the 10th Meeting of the Viet Nam-Hungary Joint Committee on Economic Cooperation during her visit.

Regarding education and training, both sides were pleased with positive results obtained in this traditional cooperation area, highlighting the effectiveness of direct collaboration between the nations universities and training institutions. Currently, nearly 1,000 Vietnamese students are studying at Hungarian universities through scholarships granted by the Hungarian government.

The leaders agreed to continue maintaining sideline contacts at multilateral forums and closely coordinating and supporting each other within international organisations, especially the UN, Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM), and ASEAN-EU mechanism, contributing to peace, stability, cooperation, and development in the region and the world.

They also concur to join hands in addressing new global challenges such as climate change, food security, and aging population.

On the occasion, PM Chinh thanked the Hungarian government for its support for the Vietnamese expatriate community. He said he hoped that the group would continue to be provided with favourable conditions to stabilise their lives, integrate more deeply into Hungarys society, and make positive contributions to the host countrys socio-economic development and to the two nations traditional friendship. VNA/VNS
HA NOI  Provinces and cities across the country have worked hard to bring a happy Tet (Lunar New Year) to the people.

Spring at the border

In the spring atmosphere, the Nam Lanh Border Guard Station coordinated with the Nam Lanh Commune People's Committee and volunteers to organise the programme "Spring in border areas warms peoples hearts  Salute the Partys and the country's innovation for a happy new year 2024.

The programme took place at the Na Khoang Primary and Secondary Boarding School for Ethnic Students in Muong Va Commune, Sop Cop District, Son La northern mountainous province.

It included many meaningful activities such as free health examination and providing medicine to people; giving 70 gifts to 70 poor households from Cap Ven, Huoi Nieng and Huoi Ca villages; and giving 172 gifts to students at Cap Ven and Na Lua schools.

Also in the programme, musical performances, free clothes stores and free haircuts were conducted, attracting a large number of students and people.

The Long Sap Border Guard Station in Moc Chau District also held other activities.

It coordinated with benefactors to build new classrooms for students at Long Sap and Pu Nhan kindergartens.

The classrooms, with a total area of 96 sq.m, were completed after two months under construction.

The border station also installed a 200-square-metre roof covering the school yard, a school gate and a surrounding wall system.

It gave presents to the two kindergartens, including televisions, computers, gas stoves, water purifiers, carpets for the classrooms, 50 beds for students and 1,500 colouring books.

Luong Thi Hau, a teacher of the Pu Nhan Kindergarten, said that she was really moved when her students had to study in old, temporary classrooms.

In winter, the cold weather directly impacted the teaching and learning quality.

Now, with spacious classrooms, teachers and students are very happy and excited.

The Long Sap Border Guard Station worked with the National Obstetrics Hospital, the Moc Chau District General Hospital and the Long Sap Commune Health Station to give free examinations and distribute medicines for 1,000 people in border villages.

It donated medical equipment to several medical stations in Moc Chau District.

In Phieng Khoai Commune, Yen Chau District in Son La Province, officers and soldiers of the Chieng On Border Guard Station worked with the district People's Committee and volunteer groups to organise the "Spring in border areas warms peoples hearts" programme.

At the programme, the station presented national flags and Uncle Ho's photos to 30 villages of Phieng Khoai Commune.

They also gave 400 gifts to 400 poor students, including blankets, warm clothes and school bags.

Hoang Thi inh ang, a student of the Phieng Khoai Junior Secondary School, said that she was happy to receive the gifts.

The new blankets, clothes and school bags would help her have a better winter.

The programme also organised free haircuts for students, competitions on wrapping chung cakes, making day cakes and displaying traditional fruit trays on Tet.

Colonel Vu uc Tu, Deputy Political Commissar of the Son La Border Guard Command, said that every time year when Tet and spring came, along with local authorities, the border guards coordinated with organisations to take care of poor households and poor students.

The activities have brought them hope for a brighter future.

They also encouraged people to feel secure in production and actively participate with the border guards and local authorities in firmly protecting the nations sovereignty and sacred territory.

Warm houses

After three months of construction, on January 15, a new house was given to Nguyen Song Hai, 36, of Ta Xa Commune, Cam Khe District, Phu Tho northern province.

The spacious 100-square-metre house, with a total cost of nearly VN500 million (US$20,300), given on Tet occasion, brings his family great joy.

Three other similar houses had been given to three people in Yen Lap District.

The Phu Tho Provincial Party Committee said that the beneficiaries were poor, belonged to ethnic groups, and had no income or low income.

Previously, they lived in degraded and unsafe houses.

The houses were built with financial support from the provincial Party Committee and benefactors.

Bui inh Thi, head of the Phu Tho Provincial Party Committee Organiser, said that the houses showed affection, and comradeship, and strengthened people's confidence in the Party's leadership.

The model was launched in 2021.

In more than two years, 39 houses were built.

Last year alone, 20 houses were built and were highly appreciated by the Government.

Thi affirmed that the model would be expanded.

Local authorities will tighten inspection to ensure the houses quality so that they will truly be great encouragement for local people.  VNS
Pham Minh Ton with craft products made from sedge.  Photo nongnghiep.vn THANH HOA  Nga Son District in the northern central province of Thanh Hoa has long been famous nationwide for its craft of weaving bed mats from sedge plants.

This seagrass has not only contributed to the prosperity of many local residents but has also garnered favour from customers both domestically and internationally for the sedge-made products crafted by the locals.

Pham Minh Ton, the 46-year-old man in Nga An Commune, has successfully brought a variety of handmade products crafted from sedge to the international market, surpassing the traditional craft of mat weaving.

In 1998, at the age of 20, he decided to leave his hometown and move to Ha Noi to find a job after graduating from high school.

He took on various jobs, including selling books on the street.

One day, while selling books around Hoan Kiem Lake, he met a foreigner who asked him something, but due to his limited English, he could not answer.

After that encounter, he thought to himself: to succeed, he must know English.

From then on, while selling books during the day, he enrolled in a language centre and self-studied English in the evenings.

Later, he went to work for a handicraft export company in Ninh Binh Province.

Tasked with developing the market, he, not knowing much about it, learned and explored while working.

"Nga Son is the cradle of sedge in Viet Nam, but local labour still has to work for sedge enterprises in other provinces. Meanwhile, although sedge is considered a key product, it is mainly sold as a raw material, so the prices are not high. Therefore, despite living in the sedge cradle of the country, people here are not wealthy," Ton told Nong nghiep Viet Nam (Viet Nam Agriculture) newspaper.

Ton said that working in Ninh Binh helped him gain a lot of experience and skills in his job.

However, this also made him think that, no matter how good he was, he was still just a hired worker. Once, standing in front of a sedge field, he thought about what he should do.

Ton quit his job in Ninh Binh Province and returned to his hometown.

He began to meticulously research the nature of sedge, seeking to answer the most critical question; what other products can be made from sedge besides bed mats?

The night before making his decision to quit his job, Ton told his wife: "In the next few years, I won't have much money. You'll have to take care of the children's expenses, education, and living costs."

In 2009, Ton established the Viet Anh Sedge Production Export Joint Stock Company.

The decision to start a sedge business at that time brought him many challenges.

For a long time, he received threatening messages from strange phone numbers, and even faced slander simply because others were jealous of his entry into the sedge market.

After renting more than 9,000m2 of land for the workshop, the first market Ton targeted was China.

It was his first time going abroad to explore this vast market, and the result was both challenging and cost him about VN500 million (US$20,390).

"If consumed domestically, the business would have to accept going through intermediaries, so the prices would be low. If I accepted such a business model, I would still be a hired hand for others. Meanwhile, the international market, despite strict criteria and product standards, has significant and stable long-term purchasing power. Products exported to large corporations can be placed on shelves for immediate sale," Ton said.

In 2011, Ton was one of the few representatives of Vietnamese businesses selected to accompany the working delegation of the Ministry of Industry and Trade to go abroad to attend an exhibition of sustainable development products.

This event marked a turning point in the business of his enterprise.

"That trip helped me understand what the foreign market needs and how to expand the consumption market. Fortunately, among the 5,000 businesses participating in the exhibition, a Spanish enterprise was very impressed with the rattan products and contacted us to place an order," he said.

However, the partner did not advance any funds to Ton's company for production.

Nevertheless, he accepted this order.

Along with his colleagues, he mobilised more skilled craftsmen in the region, focused on ideas, and produced various sedge products such as flower vases, fruit baskets, storage boxes, clothing boxes, seat mats, travel mats, with the most beautiful and exquisite designs.

All the capital of the company at that time was invested in this first order.

Then the first container was taken to Hai Phong port to cross the ocean to Spain.

This daring decision put Ton in a "win or lose all" situation because if the exported goods did not receive a positive response, it would mean bankruptcy for him.

Fortunately, the Spanish partner not only paid for the goods but was also quite impressed with the company's products.

"Later, they raised the issue of long-term business with the company, which gave me a stable trade relationship," Ton said, adding that it was the first time he had a large sum of money to give to his wife and children after many days of struggling to start a business.

After the success of the first export batch, he went to the United States to expand the market.

Up to now, the company's products have been placed in the retail systems of many large corporations in the United States, such as T.J. Max, Marshalls and Ross, and have been well-received by consumers in this demanding market.

"Looking back at that time, I realise how daring I was," he said.

After succeeding with products made from sedge, to expand the market and diversify products, Ton and his colleagues decided to create additional items made of water hyacinth, banana bark, and bamboo.

To date, his company has more than 50 handicraft products exported to the US and other countries.

Every month, 50-60 containers cross the ocean, bringing in revenue of VN120-130 billion ($4.89-$5.3 million) per year for the company.

According to local elders, Nga Son's sedge mat was one of the items presented to the royal court, favoured by kings, lords, and nobles.

Nga Son sedge is known for its small, durable, and smooth fibers. In particular, few places can grow the long type of sedge found in this region, which is specifically used for weaving beautiful and durable bed mats. Later, Nga Son sedge was exported to both the Soviet and Eastern European markets.

In 2011, the Intellectual Property Office granted Nga Son sedge a geographical indication certificate.

"Despite being renowned and having products exported abroad and protected by intellectual property rights, maintaining and developing the sedge cultivation industry is still a significant challenge," he said.

From 1980 to 2000, sedge cultivation in Nga Son was neglected as it did not provide income and lacked outlets, especially when the markets of the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe disappeared. The traditional profession passed down through generations appeared to be fading away.

Ton said: "To revive, maintain, and develop the sedge industry, the only way is to expand the market, especially by elevating the quality of sedge plants and sedge growers."

However, the difficulty in exporting to demanding markets like the US, EU, Japan lies in their requirements.

"The partners require the company to install automatic fire prevention and fighting systems, workshop scale, and environmental issues according to European and American standards. Sedge products must ensure health safety and be environmentally friendly. Failure to comply with the regulations may lead to the termination of cooperation," he said.

They also demand the installation of surveillance cameras and regular on-site inspections. These tasks are not easy for manual labourers who are accustomed to more casual working conditions.

"Everyone strives to meet these requirements as they understand that sedge products represent the face of sedge growers. Over time, everyone has adapted to these stringent standards," he said.

Ton's company now has two production workshops with a total area of 15,000 square meters, providing regular employment for over 40 direct workers at the company and 2,000-3,000 indirect workers, who receive products to work on at home, with an average income of VN4-8 million per person per month.

Many craft products from his company have been recognised as four-star OCOP products and are aiming for five stars.

To create a stable and sustainable source of raw materials, Ton has connected with around 1,000 households in the area, establishing a material-producing region and attracting direct and indirect labour for the company.

The company has also opened vocational training classes for local people, guiding them through the process and techniques to produce environmentally friendly goods that meet market requirements and customer preferences.

"I have been attached to sedge for decades. I feel proud every time Nga Son's sedge products are present in the international market," said Ton.  VNS
HA NOI  Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang has just signed Decision 36/Q-TTg approving the planning of information and communications infrastructure for the period 2021-30, with a vision to 2050.

Under this plan, the broadband telecommunications network with large capacity, high speed, modern technology and widely integrated Internet of Things (IoT) infrastructure will ensure harmonious development and well serve digital transformation, government, economy, society, and security and defence. By 2025, all high-tech parks, concentrated information technology parks, and research, development and innovation centres will have access to the Internet with a minimum speed of 1Gb per second and deploy and invest in 2-4 additional international telecommunications cable lines.

By 2025, Viet Nam will be among the 20 leading countries in the world in converting the Internet to IPv6 technology.

For data centre and cloud computing infrastructure, large-scale data centres will be formed following green standards and energy zone plans.

The data centres will ensure synchronous connection, interconnected data and mutual redundancy capabilities to promote the development of the big data industry and improve performance and effectively exploit existing data centres.

The requirement is that by 2025, national data centres will be established and deployed as infrastructure to serve national databases and other shared databases according to the provisions of law. At least three national multi-purpose data centres, and multi-purpose data centres at the regional level will be formed.

All Government agencies will use the cloud computing ecosystem to serve the digital Government and 70 per cent of Vietnamese businesses will use the service provided by domestic businesses.

Information technology application infrastructure prioritises focusing development resources in the direction of doing first, doing well, and focusing on national-scale infrastructure supporting digital platforms for many socio-economic fields and serving essential social activities in the digital environment.

Development of the information technology industry will be based on artificial intelligence (AI), big data, blockchain, cloud computing and IoT, aiming to strengthen digital technology application in all areas of economic and social life.

The digital technology industry has to develop rapidly and sustainably, shifting from assembling and processing to producing electronic, telecommunications and information technology products and services in Viet Nam, creating a new development space for the country.

The goal is that by 2050, information and communications infrastructure will ensure smart links, based on data and new and green technologies, connecting the physical world with the digital world to adapt and respond to all complex and urgent changes, and ensure sustainable development in politics, economy, society, environment, security and defence.

The planning also aims to develop a synchronous, modern postal network linking the real world and the digital world, part of the essential infrastructure of the country and the digital economy.

The postal network will be set up with sufficient backup capacity to ensure an intact, uninterrupted supply chain in any emergency, and 3-5 regional postal centres will be built across the country by 2030, of which postal centres will have average exploitation capacity of over 15,750 tonnes of postal items per day, and regional postal centres, 5,000 tonnes.  VNS
Aside from concerns at the macro level, businesses in the sector, particularly shrimp and basafish farmers, face the daily challenges associated with rising feed costs, with feed for basa fish increasing by more than 30 per cent on-year.

VASEP also reported that Vietnamese shrimp is facing stiff competition from similar products from Ecuador and India, with the situation not expected to improve until at least well into the first half of this year.

Additionally, sea transportation costs saw a sharp jump from early January, particularly for ships heading to the EU, US, and Canada amid the heightening Russia-Ukraine conflict and Middle East tension.

For instance, the transportation cost to Hamburg in Germany jumped from $1,200-1,300 last December to as high as $4,350-4,450 in January; and to New York, costs escalated from $2,600 to $4,100-4,500 for the same period.

Current food safety measures are too stringent and time-consuming, and pose a risk to firms as they might lose out on orders and potential customers. - Nguyen Hoai Nam, VASEP deputy general secretary.

Nguyen Hoai Nam, VASEP deputy general secretary, added that the 'illegal, unreported, and unregulated' (IUU) yellow card related to product origin tracing could pose more challenges ahead.

Current food safety measures are too stringent and time-consuming, and pose a risk to firms as they might lose out on orders and potential customers. The tuna, cuttlefish, and octopus segments are suffering the most, said Nam.

In a report to the government, VASEP mentioned the bottlenecks in the product origin tracing process, suggesting that this could be solved if the MARD changed the way it granted IUU certificates at fishing ports.

We propose that the certificates be granted to cargo owners when they finalise unloading raw materials from ships under the supervision of port staff. Currently, certificate provision takes place after firms transport materials to factories in several different locations. Sometimes this process takes many months, said Nam.

Businesses in the billion-dollar tuna export sector voiced their concerns about meeting requirements for food health certificates. Under the current regulations, these certificates are provided by a relevant state management agency. It is currently very difficult for tuna fishermen to acquire such certificates, as the catches are being kept aboard freezer vessels out at sea before being transported onshore to businesses.

Meanwhile, under current EU regulations, such certificates can be provided for catches kept aboard freezer vessels by the ship captains.

Our association has proposed the PM and the MARD to review current food safety standard regulations in Vietnam and the EU to make suitable revisions, said Nam.

Business and tech that will shape 2024 Advancements in AI shaped 2023, and the past decade saw the breadth of use growing by the day. Bee Kheng, president of Cisco ASEAN, explains how public availability of generative AI tools has brought greater attention to the new possibilities of AI.

Banks remain prudent about 2024 targets Major state lender Vietcombank has just released its 2023 figures, with results across a variety of areas exceeding expectation. The Hanoi-headquartered bank saw $59.5 billion in deposit volume, up over 12 per cent on-year, and outstanding balances amounting to $53.58 billion, showing a 10.6 per cent jump on-year.
Following six months of negotiation and due diligence, HDBank Vietnam has provided the company with an in principle commitment letter to provide debt finance for its previously announced 50MW MoU with Mobile World Investment Corporation to install rooftop solar systems across their sites.

The non-binding commitment letter initially focuses on funding for the ten locations in the pilot stage and would cover half of the total capital required for these locations.

It would then be the intention to broaden any funding arrangement reached to the full scale 50MW roll out across all 900 project locations.

The MoU with Mobile World Investment Corporation was signed in October. It grants Coro exclusivity on an initial 900 company sites in the central and southern regions of Vietnam, where solar irradiation sees the country's highest levels.

Under the MoU, Coro will build, own, and operate each rooftop solar system and sell all generated electricity directly to each Mobile World Investment Corporation location under a 14-year Power Purchase Agreement, extendable in certain circumstances, with variable pricing and a floor price of 11.2 US cents per kilowatt hour.

Installing solar energy on the rooftops of production facilities, warehouses, and other commercial establishments provides a viable and environmentally friendly complement to Vietnams current power sources. According to data from the Ministry of Industry and Trade, Vietnam has installed approximately 200MW of rooftop solar power systems over the past three years.

Coro Energy increases equity interest in its Vietnamese venture On November 24, Coro Energy Plc., a Southeast Asian energy company, announced that it has restructured its arrangements with its partners in Vietnam, increasing its equity in its Vietnamese venture from 85 to 92.5 per cent.

HDBank is honoured as ADB's leading partner bank in Vietnam The Ho Chi Minh City Development Bank (HDBank) was honoured as the Leading Partner Bank in Vietnam by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) at an award ceremony for the Trade and Supply Chain Finance Program in Singapore earlier this month.
Nestle Vietnam last week announced an additional investment of $100 million in its processing capacity for high-quality coffee production lines at the Nestle Tri An factory in the southern province of Dong Nai, bringing the total capital of the factory to nearly $500 million.

Nestle Vietnam has made another cash injection for its production, photo Le Toan

Binu Jacob, managing director of Nestle Vietnam, said the project reflects Nestles commitment to long-term investment in Vietnam.

Once put into operation, the factorys capacity will meet consumer demand in the local market and tap into the export potential, making Vietnam a high-value coffee supply centre for the world. At the same time, through this project, we also hope to generate more job opportunities and continue to expand long-term investment activities in Vietnam, Jacob explained.

Nestle Group has made investments of nearly $840 million through Nestle Vietnam, which has four factories and two distribution centres. In Dong Nai, the company is running three factories. Among them, the products made at the Nestle Tri An factory are exported to more than 29 countries around the world.

Earlier this month, TTC International Beer JSC also made a proposal to adjust the investment capital of its TTC International Beer factory in the central province of Quang Tri. Accordingly, the company will invest an additional $13.6 million to transform the brewery to produce other kinds of beverages. The additional investment raised the total for the project to $40.8 million. Under the proposal, the company will triple its capacity to 150 million litres per year, including beer, soft drinks, and mineral water. The expansion is slated to be completed and put into operation in the second quarter of 2025.

According to TTC International Beer JSC, the company has successfully introduced its products to some markets around the world. Its partners in Russia, Mongolia, Cuba, Qatar, and Malaysia, among others, have expressed interest in exporting the companys products.

Meanwhile, PepsiCo is set to invest nearly $90 million in establishing a new production plant in the northern province of Ha Nam. The factory covers an 80,000-square metre land plot within Dong Van I Expansion Industrial Park and specialises in producing PepsiCos snack products. It aims to supply over 23,000 tonnes of PepsiCo snack brands a year to the Vietnamese and Cambodian markets.

The construction is scheduled to begin in early 2024 and be completed by the second half of 2025. PepsiCo also plans to develop high-tech agriculture and sustainable programmes in the locality to apply regenerative agricultural methods, including digital technology, to help save water and protect soil.

Suntory PepsiCo, a joint venture between PepsiCo Inc. and Suntory Holdings Limited, is also injecting $185 million to build a new factory in the Mekong Delta province of Long An, with an annual output of almost 800 million litres of products, including purified water, milk, and other beverages.

Elsewhere, South Korean soju maker HiteJinro plans to spend $100 million building a new plant in the northern province of Thai Binh, turning Vietnam into its first overseas manufacturing base.

Vietnam is often viewed as a market with a large consumer base and a potential country for investment due to its consumption potential. However, key players in the food and beverage sector are steadily aiming towards the export market from Vietnam, said Phong Quach, head of consulting at Ipsos Strategy3 Vietnam.

Accordingly, players in Vietnam are still seeking three things for their export strategy, including the management of raw materials complying with importing countries requirements, modern technology in food processing, and a global network of buyers, he said.

Ly Kim Chi, chairwoman of the Ho Chi Minh City Food Association, added, Businesses in the food and beverages sector have maintained stable growth in the challenging environment last year, pinning their hope on the recovery in 2024. Indeed, they are gradually taking advantage of new-generation free trade agreements that Vietnam has signed. These deals have created a driving force for companies to boost exports as well as improve product quality to meet the strict requirements in overseas markets.

F&B prioritising green development moves Dedicating more resources to research and development of greener products is being called essential for food and beverage businesses.
Hanoi aims to green up bus system ahead of schedule, Illustrative image (Source: VNA)

Hanoi is taking steps to complete the greening up of local bus services 15 years ahead of the roadmap designed by the Government, which aims to convert buses from using petrol to green energy (electric or CNG) in Hanoi by 2050, according to Vice Chairman of the Hanoi municipal Peoples Committee Nguyen Manh Quyen.

In order to achieve the goal, the city has assigned the municipal Department of Transport to work with 11 public transportation service providers in the city on the conversion, said Quyen, adding that all the firms have shown support to the scheme.

The official said that to ensure the quality of the service after the conversion, the city will seek businesses that meet the requirements in both vehicles and service quality.

Dao Duy Phong, Vice Director of the Hanoi Department of Transport, said that the department has propose the launch of nine additional electric bus routes right in the first quarter of 2024.

However, Chairman of the Hanoi Transport Association Bui Danh Lien said that Hanois ambition to complete the scheme 15 years ahead of the schedule is a tough goal.

Among the greatest difficulties in the work are capital mechanism and spare part supply, he said, stressing that the cost for the scheme is huge.

He underscored the need for the authorities support to bus service suppliers in policy and capital, along with efforts to boost the growth of spare part supply facilities to meet the increasing demand of spare parts for electric vehicles.

Lien suggested that along with importing spare parts, the city should promote domestic production, while carefully calculating the work to ensure electric buses can operate smoothly when the scheme is expanded.

Bus coffee shop in Hanoi A bus cafe in Hanois Ha Dong district is offering customers an eco-friendly environment to enjoy their drinks.
Cho Hyun-sang, vice chairman of the Hyosung Group, made the announcement during an event to discuss the investment opportunities in the Vietnamese market.

On January 17, the event was chaired by Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on the sidelines of the 54th Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland.

Cho Hyun-sang noted that many South Korean groups want to increase their presence in Vietnam. With a revenue of $25 billion per year, the group has invested $3.5 billion in Vietnam and employed 9,000 Vietnamese employees.

He noted that the investment in Vietnam was one of the most reasonable and effective investments. Hyosung plans to increase investment capital in the country to $5.5 billion in 2024.

He highlighted the strength of Vietnam, including the strong and effective leadership of the central government, the active support of local authorities, and the hard-working and serious spirit of the Vietnamese people.

Founded in 1962, Hyosung is the leading South Korean corporation in manufacturing electrical transformers. The company has secured a strong footprint in major manufacturing hubs across Vietnam such as Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Dong Nai, Ba Ria - Vung Tau.

Among the $3.2 million in investment in Vietnam, Hyosung has injected $1.9 billion in Dong Nai, $1.4 billion in Ba Ria-Vung Tau, $200 million in Quang Nam, and $100 million in Bac Ninh. Last year, the group recorded net revenue of $20.1 million.

In June 2023, chairman Cho Hyun Joo said Hyosung considered Vietnam a strategic market. The group will not only scale up its operation but wants to turn Vietnam into a sustainable investment destination.

"We look forward to setting up the companys future for the next 100 years in Vietnam," Joo said. "We want to promote the development of large high-tech projects while expanding into the field of information technology. Hyosung plans to recruit 10,000 more workers in Vietnam."

Hyosung Vietnam to invest nearly $1 billion in carbon fiber plant Hyosung Vietnam has announced plans to invest approximately $1 billion in a carbon fiber manufacturing facility, solidifying its strategic position in Vietnam's industrial landscape.
The U.N. Security Council (UNSC) held closed-door consultations on North Korea-related issues on Thursday, sources said, amid tensions heightened by Pyongyang's recent launch of a claimed hypersonic missile and its hardening rhetoric against Seoul.

The informal UNSC meeting came as South Korea began its two-year term as a non-permanent member this month. Seoul, Washington and Tokyo are said to have requested the meeting  this year's first UNSC consultations dedicated to North Korean issues.

The North launched what it claims was a solid-fuel intermediate-range ballistic missile tipped with a hypersonic warhead on Sunday. Later, it ratcheted up tensions by mentioning South Korea as the "invariable principal enemy."

"In-depth consultations took place," South Korean Ambassador to the U.N. Hwang Joon-kook told reporters. "Taking together North Korea's rhetoric and its action, the situation has gotten more serious, and all (UNSC) members are very concerned with respect to that."

At the meeting, South Korea reportedly noted changes in Pyongyang's nuclear policy and highlighted the need to pay attention to all kinds of North Korean threats undermining global peace -- in a departure from the UNSC's focus on the North's long-range ballistic missile launches.

Earlier this month, Hwang said that South Korea will directly request a UNSC meeting in the event of a North Korean provocation if needed, as its UNSC term started this month. (Yonhap)
To promote each party's advantages, MB and Gilimex will provide products and services to each other to best exploit the potential of both, thereby driving sustainable development and moving towards a long-term strategic partnership.

According to the agreement, MB will sponsor capital for Gilimex, its member companies, and related entities to invest in the Gilimex Industrial Park project. The value of credit and financial services provided by MB to Gilimex is expected to be up to VND5 trillion ($211 million).

Pham Nhu Anh, CEO of MB, speaking at the event

Speaking at the ceremony, Pham Nhu Anh, CEO of MB said, "MB and Gilimex have recently coordinated closely and decisively, as reflected in the consistency in their commitments and progress to support each other."

Outlining the business orientation for 2024, Anh emphasised that the bank will focus its credit on the countrys key industries, especially industrial park real estate.

In addition to providing credit for the Gilimex Industrial Park project, MB also provides other high-quality financial and banking facilities for Gilimex such as bond issuance consulting and collection services at trading floors, as well as for the companys new ventures.

Nguyen Viet Cuong, member of the Board of Directors of Gilimex, speaking at the event

Nguyen Viet Cuong, member of the Board of Directors of Gilimex emphasised, "Over more than four years of establishment, Gilimex Industrial Park has achieved quite rapid progress, but this is the first time we have officially had a companion."

He also expressed his hope that with MB's unique advantages in the banking sector, as well as Gilimex's strong developments in the market, both units will together bring the highest value products and services to customers.

After 30 years of operation, Military Commercial Joint-Stock Bank (MB) has become a multi-functional financial group and one of the largest financial institutions in Vietnam, with six member companies and a fully owned bank abroad. It operates effectively in finance and banking, securities, asset exploitation, insurance, and investment fund management. In 2024, MB Group is determined to accelerate its digital capability and conquer the goal of serving 30 million customers. Gilimex Industrial Park JSC was established in November 2019 and is headquartered in Hue. It is the investor of the Gilimex Industrial Park Infrastructure Investment and Construction Project, with an area of just over 460 hectares in Thua Thien-Hue province. The company's long-term development goal and orientation is to build a chain of industrial parks (IPs) in localities across the country. To date, the company has invested in two IPs in Thua Thien-Hue and Vinh Long provinces, and is focus on implementing research and investment in the provinces of Bac Giang, Bac Ninh, Quang Ngai, and Dong Thap.

MB digital leadership celebrated from Asia-Pacific to Vietnam Hanoi-headquartered Military Commercial Joint Stock Bank (MB) has reinforced its digital leadership with a streak of prestigious recognitions, underscoring its innovative approaches and consistent performance in the regional business landscape, while contributing commendably to community service.

MB crowned among Vietnam's best places to work in 2023 Thanks to its commitment to sustainable human resource strategies and fostering a joyful, fulfilling workplace, Military Commercial Joint-Stock Bank (MB) has earned prestigious recognition as one of Vietnam's Top 3 Best Places to Work in the banking sector and among large corporations. Additionally, the bank has also been ranked among the 50 Most Attractive Employer Brands for Vietnamese students in 2023, showcasing its appeal to the future workforce.
Lang Son Peoples Committee at the end of 2023 gave the go-ahead for a Huu Nghi-Chi Lang border gate expressway. In the plan, nearly 60km will be developed in the form of a build-operate-transfer contract.

Of this, 43km will connect Cao Loc districts Dong Dang town to Chi Lang districts Mai Sao commune in Lang Son. The route connecting Tan Thanh and Coc Nam border gates will cover the remainder of the distance.

New roads the answer for economic growth, photo Le Toan

The expressway project was originally set to be approved in April 2023, with site clearance starting in June and construction beginning last month. With the approval around nine months behind schedule, it is not currently clear when various phases of the expressway will take place.

The payback fee collection period is about 27 years. It is hoped the expressway will be an important bridge for the Nanning, Lang Son, Haiphong, and Quang Ninh economic corridor, a part of the trans-Asia economic corridor, and a gateway for trade exchange with China and Southeast Asia.

As the only developer currently interested in Huu Nghi-Chi Lang, Deo Ca Group chairman Ho Minh Hoang spoke at a conference last week in an attempt to entice partners to get involved in the venture.

Despite not yet being selected as a project developer, Deo Ca calls and welcomes the companionship of traffic and construction businesses for the best preparation and is ready to participate in the project, Hoang said. Currently, the real estate market is still very difficult. Investing in transportation infrastructure will be the only way out to create motivation for cash flow, contributing to promoting economic growth.

The groups general director Nguyen Quang Vinh noted that total investment of the project is around $464 million as per the plan, of which half would come from the state budget.

This is a feasible project if Deo Ca is selected as the developer. Equity capital will be mobilised by Deo Ca along with steadfast, bridging, and potential investors, Vinh said.

This model has been effectively implemented by the group, most recently in the Dong Dang-Tra Linh expressway project.

Nguyen Ba Khuong, chairman of 568 Construction JSC, is ready to join in the project as a steadfast investor. The company has currently prepared equipment and capital sources for the building of Huu Nghi-Chi Lang, ensuring to meet or even exceed the assigned schedule if the investor consortium led by Deo Ca is selected as the project investor, he said.

With available resources, equipment, and material quarries, and having already worked with Deo Ca Group on the Bac Giang-Lang Son Expressway recently, Phi Ngoc Anh, deputy general director of Lizen JSC, is seeking to fund at least 15 per cent of the Huu Nghi-Chi Lang project and undertake construction of a section of the route worth around $85 million.

Appreciating the potential of the expressway, representatives of TPBank also stated their readiness to work with Deo Ca and other investors to implement the project, ensuring fast and convenient disbursement of capital.

Earlier this month, the prime minister visited a site that began construction of Dong Dang-Tra Linh expressway, which will primarily transport goods from Haiphong and Quang Ninh seaports to China, Central Asia, and European countries. The 121km road, costing around $605 million, is expected to open to traffic in 2026.

Last year, 20 projects were completed and put into operation, including nine highway projects with a length of 475km. The total length of expressways put into operation across the country is nearly 1,900km.

Laos, Thailand mull over building expressway linking to Vietnam Authorities of Laos and Thailand have discussed a feasibility plan to construct a 160-kmexpressway from the central Lao province of Savannakhet to Lao Bao border gate of Vietnam, Lao media reported.

Lang Son approves 460-million-USD expressway project Chairman of the Peoples Committee of the northern border province of Lang Son Ho Tien Thieu has recently signed a decision approving a project on the building of an expressway connecting Huu Nghi border gate with Chi Lang district.
Thailand discovers nearly 15 million tonnes of lithium, illustration photo/ Source: freepik.com

The find means Thailand has the third largest lithium resources, behind Bolivia and Argentina, but it is not yet clear how much can be exploited commercially.

The 14.8 million tonnes of lithium are distributed between two separate sites in the southern province of Phang Nga, government deputy spokeswoman Rudklao Intawong Suwankiri told The Nation television station.

"We are trying to find out how much can we use from the resources we found. It takes time," Rudklao told The Nation.

Lithium is a key component in the manufacture of batteries used in electric cars, as well as smartphones and other electronics.

The government of Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, which took over in August, has made it a priority to try to boost Thailand as a regional production hub for electric vehicles, building on the kingdom's history of assembling conventional cars.

During the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Srettha met industry leaders including the deputy chairman of Bosch to urge him to invest in EV production in Thailand.

"It's good news. It's an opportunity for Thailand to become self-reliant in the production of EV batteries," Rudklao said of the lithium discovery.

In December 2023, two Chinese EV giants said they would invest 2.3 billion baht ($64 million) to develop Thailand as a production hub.

PM2.5 to spike in Bangkok Thailands Pollution Control Department (PCD) has warned the rising concentration of PM2.5 pollutants is caused by poor air circulation in many areas of the capital while advising Bangkok residents to work from home to avoid the worst of the air pollution.
In just the first few weeks of 2024, European businesses have made announcements about their continuing expansion in Vietnam. Lego Group unveiled that the group will roll off production lines at its $1.3 billion factory in the southern province of Binh Duong this year.

Vietnam deemed cost-effective for Euro expansion

The factory is expected to produce high-quality products in the second half of 2024. This marks an important milestone for the Lego project as it shifts from planning to production.

Nestle also a big splash last week by injecting another $100 million into its Nestle Tri An factory in the nearby province of Dong Nai. The move follows the additional investment of $132 million in the factory in 2021. As of present, Nestle has invested $500 million into the Nestle Tri An factory, making it one of its largest production plants in the country.

Commenting on the positive development of Euro-backed projects, European Chamber of Commerce in Vietnams (EuroCham) chairman Gabor Fluit, said, Vietnam has seen a clear rise in European companies investing money to start or grow businesses in the country. This indicates that investors see Vietnams economy as increasingly stable and Vietnam as a cost-effective manufacturing location. These major investments have a very positive impact - as more European companies move in, others see the potential and follow suit.

According to the latest Business Confidence Index (BCI) from EuroCham, the BCI remained below the midpoint at 50 in Q4/2023; nevertheless, there has been continuous quarter-over-quarter improvement in BCI since Q2 2023. This may suggest a cautiously optimistic trend in market recovery.

Decision Lab CEO Thue Quist Thomasen, said, Vietnams long-term economic trajectory suggests a promising path of continued growth. In the short and medium term, Vietnam is showing its trademark ability to deliver a stable business climate even in turbulent times. Continued stability and potential improvement in 2024 will underpin the case for further foreign direct investment in the country.

In the same vein, Yoan Gyuon, CCO of GreenYellow Vietnam, said, Vietnams economy has shown resilience despite the challenges faced in 2023 due to the global economic downturn. The recovery has been slower than anticipated, but Vietnam has managed the situation relatively well, especially in the industrial sector. In 2024, the local economy is expected to reach pre-pandemic levels,

According to the BCI report, Vietnam is still seen as an attractive investment destination, with more than 60 per cent of European businesses considering it within their top 10 destinations. Additionally, a larger number of businesses anticipated a more substantial increase in their companys foreign investment in Vietnam compared to the third quarter of 2024.

Vietnams appeal to European investors comes from its stability. It offers a predictable policy environment, maintains steady exchange rates, and provides a consistent economic and political climate. Fiscal responsibility and exchange rate stability add to investor confidence, Fluit noted, adding that Vietnams diversification into renewable energy and high-tech sectors, alongside increasing domestic consumption, presents attractive opportunities for international investors, including European investors.

With projections that Vietnam will continue to be one of Asias fastest growing economies, European companies are likely to invest more in the country in the coming years, Fluit added. By using its unique advantages, while gradually improving regulations, legal frameworks and infrastructure, Vietnam is well-positioned to remain one of the most popular destinations for European capital for years to come.
Vietnam's steel sector revitalised in 2024. Photo: Duc Thanh

Le Hai Thanh, an analyst at MBS, said, Steel is a sector with existing recovery prospects, thanks to the global steel price increase, warming demand in the domestic market, and the potential for heightened profit margins as input factors such as coal and ore are predicted to decrease slightly.

FPT Securities also suggests that 2024 is poised to be a prosperous one for the Vietnamese steel industry, with domestic market consumption expected to reach 18.6 million tonnes, marking an 8.7 per cent increase compared to 2023. This would signify the first positive growth in steel consumption within the domestic market after two consecutive years of decline.

The growth is attributed to a robust push in public investment, exemplified by the initiation of 12 public projects by the Ministry of Transport at the end of 2023.

Furthermore, the MoT is gearing up to launch at least 19 transport projects in 2024, continuing its efforts to bolster transportation infrastructure. These initiatives include upgrading the Khe Net pass railway route on the Hanoi-Ho Chi Minh City railway line, enhancing the Quy Nhon channel for 50,000DWT ships, and implementing an aviation scheme to construct an information system for managing vehicles and air traffic infrastructure.

Deputy general director of Nhan Luat Investment and Steel Trading Holding Corporation Phan Ho Chau Nam said, "There are still some hurdles ahead for the industry due to the current domestic growth momentum, primarily concentrated in the government's public investment sector, while the real estate market still grapples with persistent challenges that cannot be immediately overcome, especially the issue of trust."

However, the driving force behind domestic steel consumption in 2024 primarily stems from the expectation of a robust recovery in the civil construction sector, while industrial construction and infrastructure are expected to maintain the growth momentum from the previous year.

This expectation is explained by the National Assembly passing amendments to the Land Law on January 18, with changes that are considered appropriate and positive, contributing to the resurgence of the real estate and civil construction markets this year.

On the export front, World Steel identifies that the growth in infrastructure construction activities in ASEAN, the United States, and the European market will stimulate Vietnam's steel exports in the current year. Particularly in Europe, major import partners of Vietnam have displayed significant growth rates compared to the same period in 2022.

Notably, Italy, Vietnam's largest steel importer, has seen a 128 per cent growth with over 1.35 million tonnes, while Belgium imported around 500,000 tonnes with a growth rate of 30 per cent, and Spain imported 350,000 tonnes with a growth rate of 70 per cent.

It is expected that export volume will improve in the first quarter of 2024 due to the increasing price difference between steel in North America and Europe compared to steel in Vietnam. Additionally, Europe's tighter control over the import of finished steel products produced by Russia in 2024 will further support Vietnam's steel exports to Europe.

The anticipated demand from ASEAN countries is expected to increase by 5.2 per cent in 2024, surpassing the 3.8 per cent growth recorded in 2023. Meanwhile, the US construction sector is also experiencing a strong resurgence. Companies are actively bringing back a portion of their production activities to the homeland, with an "American-made" wave gaining momentum.

The return of major nations to the construction race has continuously brought positive news for the domestic steel price in Vietnam in the last few months.

"The impressive 64 per cent growth in export figures, particularly in hot-rolled and cold-rolled steel, signals a positive trend in the steel industry during the latter months of 2023. Nonetheless, it is crucial to emphasise that this recovery is predominantly export-driven, while domestic demand continues to show relative weakness," said Nam of Nhan Luat Investment and Steel.

A crucial factor helping the Vietnamese steel industry usher in a bright dawn after two years of decline is the prospect of enhanced profit margins resulting from anticipated reductions in input costs such as coal and ore.

The World Bank forecasts that iron ore prices in 2024 will be around $108 per ton, a 2.8 per cent decrease compared to 2023. The three factors identified as contributing to the continued decrease in iron ore prices are sluggish construction activities and production reduction trends in China; slow steel demand recovery in other countries; and a global increase in iron ore supply.

The World Bank and Fitch Ratings also agree that the prices of various types of coal will decrease this year. For Australian coking coal, the average free on board export price for the entire year of 2024 is forecasted to be around $190 per tonne, a 24 per cent decrease compared to 2023, marking the second consecutive year of sharp decline.

Rosier price prospects for steel products set for Q4 Slow consumption continues to pull domestic iron and steel prices down deeply, particularly as the Q3 low consumption season has not yet ended.

Steel makers shape up to contend with new carbon tax Both foreign and local steel businesses are preparing for the upcoming implementation of the EU's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, which will take effect in October.
34-year-old Liu Peiguang is being investigated in a human trafficking case by public security authorities in Liaocheng city, Chinas Shandong province (Photo: VNA)

Binh Duong  The police of the southern province of Binh Duong, in coordination with Chinese police, on January 17 arrested a Chinese national on the international wanted list for human trafficking.

34-year-old Liu Peiguang is being investigated in a human trafficking case by public security authorities in Liaocheng city, Chinas Shandong province.

Investigation results showed that from June 2016 to March 2019, Liu Peiguang and his accomplices won the trust of 13 Vietnamese women with promises to help them find jobs or introduce them to wealthy Chinese men and arranged for these women to enter China illegally. Liu then sold the victims for 100,000  150,000 CNY (13,973-20,960 USD) each, earning a profit of 1.5 million CNY.

After the case was discovered by Chinese police, he fled to Vietnam and worked at a company in Tan Uyen city, Binh Duong province.

The Binh Duong police has transferred Liu to the police of Liaocheng in accordance with the law.
WHO weighs up AI risks and benefits for healthcare, illustration photo/ Source: freepik.com

The WHO has been examining the likely dangers and benefits posed by AI large multi-modal models (LMMs), which are relatively new and are quickly being adopted in health.

In generative AI, algorithms trained on data sets can be used to produce new content.

LMMs are a type of generative AI which can use multiple types of data input, including text, images and video, and generate outputs that are not limited to the type of data fed into the algorithm.

"Some say this mimics human thinking and behaviour, and the way it engages in interactive problem-solving," WHO digital health and innovation director Alain Labrique told a press conference.

The WHO said LMMs were predicted to have wide use and application in health care, scientific research, public health and drug development.

The UN health agency outlined five broad areas where the technology could be applied.

These are: diagnosis, such as responding to patients' written queries; scientific research and drug development; medical and nursing education; clerical tasks; and patient-guided use, such as investigating symptoms.

- Misuse, harm 'inevitable' -

While this holds potential, WHO warned there were documented risks that LMMs could produce false, inaccurate, biased or incomplete outcomes.

They might also be trained on poor quality data, or data containing biases relating to race, ethnicity, ancestry, sex, gender identity or age.

"As LMMs gain broader use in health care and medicine, errors, misuse and ultimately harm to individuals are inevitable," the WHO cautioned.

They could lead to "automation bias", where users blindly rely on the algorithm -- even if they have good grounds to disagree.

On Thursday the WHO issued recommendations on the ethics and governance of LMMs, to help governments, tech firms and healthcare providers take advantage of the technology safely.

The WHO said it did not want to wait for roll-out in healthcare settings to discover the flaws and then try to fix them afterwards.

"Generative AI technologies have the potential to improve health care but only if those who develop, regulate and use these technologies identify and fully account for the associated risks," said WHO chief scientist Jeremy Farrar.

"We need transparent information and policies to manage the design, development and use of LMMs."

The WHO said liability rules were needed to "ensure that users harmed by an LMM are adequately compensated or have other forms of redress".

- Tech giants' role -

AI has been used in public health and clinical medicine for more than a decade, for example to help in radiology and medical imaging.

The WHO stressed, however, that LMM formats presented "risks that societies, health systems and end-users may not yet be prepared to address fully".

This included concerns as to whether LMMs complied with existing regulation, including on data protection -- and the fact they were often developed by tech giants, due to the significant resources required, and so could entrench these companies' dominance.

The guidance recommended that LMMs should be developed not just by scientists and engineers alone but with medical professionals and patients included.

Governments will have to ensure privacy when patients' sensitive health information is fed in as data -- and give people the chance to opt out of involvement, said Rohit Malpani, of the WHO's research for health department.

The WHO warned that LMMs were vulnerable to cyber-security risks that could endanger patient information, or even the trustworthiness of healthcare provision.

The WHO said governments should assign a regulator to approve LMM use in health care, and there should be auditing and impact assessments.

The guidance "paves the way for a future where AI contributes to the well-being of humanity, adhering to the highest ethical standards", said Labrique.

AI: unstoppable trend of the future At MMA Impact Vietnam 2023 in Ho Chi Minh City on October 26, MMA Global CEO Greg Stuart spoke to VIRs Bich Ngoc about integrating AI into marketing and branding activities.
The defense attorney for a man accused of gunning down three family members and two neighbors in September 2022 in McGregor said he is preparing to defend against the death penalty.

The capital murder cases against Nicolas Jaimes-Hernandez, 36, could go to trial in about a year, Judge Thomas West of Wacos 19th State District Court said during a status conference Thursday.

West said he would issue a scheduling order and appoint a second-chair defense attorney to assist Clay Dean Thomas, of Nacogdoches, both actions taken to support a death-penalty case. West also said he would ask the district clerks office to summon 200 potential jurors to the first day of jury selection.

McLennan County First Assistant District Attorney Ryan Calvert said the death penalty is under consideration. Prosecutors have not yet decided whether to seek the death penalty or life in prison without parole.

Thomas said after Thursdays hearing that in a capital case the future danger the defendant poses to society must be considered as a factor in whether the state seeks the death penalty.

Jaimes-Hernandez is paralyzed from the waist down, Thomas confirmed Thursday. He said the injury should be taken into account in the course of trying Jaimes-Hernandez and sentencing him if the jury finds him guilty.

The paralysis likely comes from a gunshot wound Jaimes-Hernandez sustained from a McGregor police officer in the process of apprehending him Sept. 29, 2022. Jaimes-Hernandez spent three weeks in an area hospital before being transferred to McLennan County Jail, where he remains with bond set at $6.5 million.

Thomas said that in a capital case, the mitigating circumstances in how the defendant was raised and in the relationships among the parties should be part of the guilt or innocence phase, and not brought up only during the punishment phase. He said he would bring up at trial how Jaimes-Hernandez was raised in a rough and poverty-stricken area of Mexico. Thomas did not say exactly where Jaimes-Hernandez grew up.

He said it is too soon to talk about plea bargains and would not say whether prosecutors have made an offer.

Jamies-Hernandez being a Mexican citizen, a Mexican consular official attended the hearing and could be seen conferring with Thomas afterward.

The first capital murder indictment against Jaimes-Hernandez involves the Sept. 28, 2022, shootings of the woman he lived with for 11 years, Monica Delgado, 38, of McGregor, and her two children from a prior relationship, Miguel Avila, 15, and Natallie Avila, 14.

A Texas Rangers warrant accuses Jaimes-Hernandez of shooting his three family members at a home they shared at 903 S. Monroe St. in McGregor. Three children Jaimes-Hernandez had with Delgado also lived in the home and were there at the time of the shootings, according to the warrant. The oldest, who was then 8 years old, told investigators he saw the shootings, police reported at the time.

The second capital murder indictment involves shootings the morning of Sept. 29, 2022, that killed next-door neighbors at 901 S. Monroe St.: Lorena Lori Aviles, 47, and her daughter, Natalie Aviles, 20. The Texas Rangers warrant says a security camera from across the street captured video that assisted in piecing together what happened that morning.

Lori Aviles two teenage sons had left for school before their mother and sister were shot.

Jaimes-Hernandez has also been indicted on two aggravated assault with a deadly weapon charges in other nonfatal shootings the morning of Sept. 29, 2022. He is accused of shooting at a man and his adult son who lived in a two-story house in the 800 block of South Monroe Street, adjacent to Lori Aviles home.

Jaimes-Hernandez did not speak to investigators before the Texas Rangers filed capital murder charges against him Oct. 12, 2022.
NEW YORK  Wastewater testing does a good job at detecting mpox infections, U.S. health officials said in a report Thursday that bolsters a push to use sewage to track more diseases.

U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention researchers found that over the course of a week, there was a 32% likelihood the tests would detect the presence of at least one person infected with mpox in a population ranging from thousands to millions.

Amy Kirby, who oversees the CDC's wastewater surveillance work, said initially they didn't know if the tests would work for a rare infection like mpox.

"It turns out it worked really very well," she said.

The chance that the tests could detect infections rose as more people were infected. When there were 15 or more people infected in a community, there was a 76% chance wastewater testing could find mpox.

The water that goes down a sink, shower drain or toilet can carry bits of viruses or bacteria that come off the skin or are excreted in urine or poop. Studies have shown wastewater testing can be an early warning system, signaling a bug has hit a community even before doctors start reporting cases.

Whole cities can be watched from a single sample, said Joshua Levy, a researcher at the Scripps Research Institute in California who has studied wastewater monitoring and develops related technology.

"Almost every kind of virus that we've gone looking for is detectable," Levy said.

The U.S. monitoring system is growing but still a patchwork. Currently, 863 of the nation's 3,143 counties  roughly a quarter  are reporting wastewater data to the CDC. Those are larger counties that are home to most of the U.S. population, but it misses a lot of rural homes that aren't hooked up to municipal sewage systems.

This approach to disease tracking rose to prominence in 2020, when health officials began testing wastewater for genetic evidence of the coronavirus. It has grown into a mainstay of the CDC's COVID-19 tracking as fewer nasal swab test results are reported.

In 2022, the CDC began working with a small group of cities to also look for polio in wastewater. That same year also saw a new effort to look for mpox, previously known as monkeypox, which erupted in outbreaks in the U.S. and other countries.

In the new study, the CDC looked at wastewater samples from 89 sites in 16 states, taken from August 2022 through May 2023. When mpox DNA was detected, the researchers checked cases reported by doctors "to basically see if we were seeing the same thing," said the CDC's Carly Adams, the lead author of the report.

It not only worked, the approach appears to be more sensitive for detecting mpox than COVID-19, CDC officials said. CDC officials, however, cautioned it is difficult to do head-to-head-comparisons, because of differences among germs and how well doctors are diagnosing and reporting cases of various diseases.

The CDC has also begun collecting data for flu and RSV  about 40 states have been testing for those viruses and reporting that data. The agency isn't yet posting it publicly as officials work through the best ways to display it, though Kirby said it should go live by next fall.

The agency also plans to start tracking germs that are resistant to antibiotics. And Kirby said by early next year the agency would start monitoring some food poisoning bugs.

"Wastewater surveillance is outperforming everyone's expectations," Kirby said. "We are really excited to see where else we can apply this new tool to help us understand disease in communities."

___

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

___
China's BYD introduces 3 EV models in Indonesia

Xinhua) 14:55, January 19, 2024

New cars are shown on the stage during BYD grand launch in Jakarta, Indonesia, Jan. 18, 2024. China's BYD, a global leader in the sale of pure electric vehicles (EV), launched three new electric passenger cars, SEAL, Atto 3, and Dolphin, in Jakarta, Indonesia on Thursday to further expand in the Southeast Asia region. (Xinhua/Xu Qin)

JAKARTA, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- China's BYD, a global leader in the sale of pure electric vehicles (EV), launched here on Thursday three new electric passenger cars to further expand in the Southeast Asia region.

During the launch in Jakarta, BYD introduced SEAL, Atto 3, and Dolphin, three battery-powered and environmentally friendly products that have been distributed with high production numbers to nearly 70 countries.

"This is an extraordinary moment for BYD as we officially present ourselves to Indonesian consumers to offer innovative new energy vehicles with sustainable benefits," General Manager of BYD Asia-Pacific Auto Sales Division Liu Xueliang said.

According to Eagle Zhao, president director of PT BYD Motor Indonesia, Indonesia is one of the active countries in adopting trends, including initiatives to reduce emissions through the use of electric vehicles.

"We see this as a positive step, and with our technological innovation, BYD wants to contribute to shaping societal behavior as part of the new energy ecosystem," he said.

"We will accelerate the construction of a manufacturing plant in Indonesia starting this year," Zhao said, noting that BYD has seven dealer networks in Indonesia now and targets to increase the number to 50 by the end of this year.

The country's Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, and the Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto, supported BYD's move in Indonesia and delivered remarks via video recording during the launch ceremony.

Pandjaitan said that the government already signed a memorandum of understanding with BYD in May last year in China on the development of the EV ecosystem in Indonesia.

Pandjaitan said he hoped that BYD would promote the ecosystem and development of the EV industry in Indonesia to an even higher level.

Hartarto said the government continues to encourage BYD "to increase the utilization of local content so that it can encourage industrial competitiveness."

Journalists take photos and videos of new cars outside the venue of BYD grand launch in Jakarta, Indonesia, Jan. 18, 2024. China's BYD, a global leader in the sale of pure electric vehicles (EV), launched three new electric passenger cars, SEAL, Atto 3, and Dolphin, in Jakarta, Indonesia on Thursday to further expand in the Southeast Asia region. (Xinhua/Xu Qin)

Journalists take photos and videos during BYD grand launch in Jakarta, Indonesia, Jan. 18, 2024. China's BYD, a global leader in the sale of pure electric vehicles (EV), launched three new electric passenger cars, SEAL, Atto 3, and Dolphin, in Jakarta, Indonesia on Thursday to further expand in the Southeast Asia region. (Xinhua/Xu Qin)

Journalists take photos and videos of a BYD Atto 3 outside the venue of BYD grand launch in Jakarta, Indonesia, Jan. 18, 2024. China's BYD, a global leader in the sale of pure electric vehicles (EV), launched three new electric passenger cars, SEAL, Atto 3, and Dolphin, in Jakarta, Indonesia on Thursday to further expand in the Southeast Asia region. (Xinhua/Xu Qin)

General Manager of BYD Asia-Pacific Auto Sales Division Liu Xueliang speaks during BYD grand launch in Jakarta, Indonesia, Jan. 18, 2024. China's BYD, a global leader in the sale of pure electric vehicles (EV), launched three new electric passenger cars, SEAL, Atto 3, and Dolphin, in Jakarta, Indonesia on Thursday to further expand in the Southeast Asia region. (Xinhua/Xu Qin)

Journalists take photos and videos of a new car outside the venue of BYD grand launch in Jakarta, Indonesia, Jan. 18, 2024. China's BYD, a global leader in the sale of pure electric vehicles (EV), launched three new electric passenger cars, SEAL, Atto 3, and Dolphin, in Jakarta, Indonesia on Thursday to further expand in the Southeast Asia region. (Xinhua/Xu Qin)

Guests pose for photos with a BYD new electric car during BYD grand launch in Jakarta, Indonesia, Jan. 18, 2024. China's BYD, a global leader in the sale of pure electric vehicles (EV), launched three new electric passenger cars, SEAL, Atto 3, and Dolphin, in Jakarta, Indonesia on Thursday to further expand in the Southeast Asia region. (Xinhua/Xu Qin)

(Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Liang Jun)
North Korea has held a plenary meeting of the cabinet to discuss plans for economic development this year, state media reported Friday.

Premier Kim Tok-hun presided over the meeting held via video link Thursday to discuss follow-up measures put forth at a year-end plenary meeting of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

In the year-end party meeting in December 2023, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un ordered the "thorough" implementation of a five-year plan for economic development laid out at the party congress in 2021.

The KCNA said participants of Thursday's meeting adopted decisions detailing measures for the cabinet's operation and state administrative and economic affairs but did not disclose further details.

North Korea has been strengthening the role of the cabinet as the "economic control tower" as the country is grappling with severe food shortages and economic hardships.

The country has been under tightened U.N. sanctions, which call for, among other things, a ban on the country's exports of coal and other mineral resources to cut off North Korea's access to hard currency. (Yonhap)
WATERLOO  A Waterloo man has been found guilty of charges stemming from a sawed-off shotgun found at his place in 2022.

Jurors in U.S. District Court in Cedar Rapids deliberated for about an hour on Wednesday before finding Larry Jones, 62, guilty of felon in possession of a firearm and possession of an unregistered shortened shotgun.

Sentencing will be at a later date. Jones faces up to 25 years in prison.

Police were called to Jones Anthony Street home on Sept. 7, 2022, for an argument over car repairs, according to court records.

Witnesses said during the argument, Jones brandished a short-barreled shotgun, and someone had recorded the incident on video. Officers found an Ithaca Model 66 shotgun outside near a neighbors dog house. The weapon had a barrel just under 14 inches, records state.

Authorities said Jones has two prior felony convictions including a willful injury charge in 1992.

Photos: Guns in Northeast Iowa crime cases
WATERLOO  A Waterloo man has been arrested for allegedly trying to sell stolen high-end shoes on the internet.

Police arrested Edward Ray Whitney, 45, formerly of Iowa Falls, on Thursday on one count of second-degree theft. Bond was set at $10,000.

According to police, a Waterloo resident reported a burglary to his home on West Third Street in August. Among the stolen items were several pairs of collectible shoes.

Then on Wednesday, the victim noticed some of the shoes listed for sale on Facebook Marketplace and called police. He also set up a meeting with the seller, and officers tagged along for the transaction.

The seller, Whitney, showed up with 10 pairs of shoes, four pairs of which matched empty shoe boxes the victim had, according to court records.

Authorities said the shoes had a combined value of more than $2,000.

Whitney told police he had paid $750 for the shoes through eBay, records state.

Whitney has prior convictions for weapons charges, attempted murder and robbery.
WATERLOO  The Waterloo Community School District is hosting four town hall meetings to share information about its potential high school project.

In December, the Board of Education voted to move forward with an in-depth exploration of the district's options concerning the educational and facility needs of high school students within the district.

Currently, a high school task force is working with Invision Architecture of Waterloo to research the feasibility of transitioning East and West high schools to a single building that would be housed on the same campus as the Waterloo Career Center. This study also includes the potential to relocate Expo Alternative Learning Center to the same campus.

If the project progresses, high school students would no longer be required to travel to participate in more than 20 Career Center programs. In addition, the high school would be the first in Iowa to offer an on-campus career center that is accessible to every high school student in the district.

The public is invited to learn more about the project by attending upcoming town hall meetings. They will be held:

Saturday  9-10 a.m.  Kittrell Elementary, 1304 Oregon St.

Thursday  5-6 p.m.  Waterloo Career Center, 1348 Katoski Drive.

Jan. 27  9-10 a.m.  Poyner Elementary, 1138 Central Ave., Evansdale.

Feb. 1  5-6 p.m.  Dr. Walter Cunningham School for Excellence, 1224 Mobile St.

Board of Education members will be in attendance at the meetings. While there will be no official school board action taken at these meetings, there may be a quorum of board members present.
Iowa Republican U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley has been discharged from a Washington, D.C.-area hospital, where he had been treated for an infection, according to a statement from his office.

The brief statement says the 90-year-old expects to be back to work next week.

Grassley had been receiving antibiotic infusions for an unspecified infection, his office said in a news release issued Tuesday.

The release said Grassley is in good spirits and planned to return to work as soon as possible following doctors orders, and was expected to make a full recovery.

In January 2023, Grassley underwent surgery for a hip fracture.

He told reporters at the time he injured himself while doing a stupid thing in the kitchen of his Washington, D.C., town house. It didnt work and I fell and broke my hip, he said.

Grassley, of New Hartford, has represented Iowa in the U.S. Senate since 1981 and in 2022 was re-elected to his eighth six-year term.
WATERLOO  The Salvation Army of Waterloo/Cedar Falls announced it has surpassed its Red Kettle Campaign goal, raising $662,369 through Red Kettle stands and general donations. The goal was $651,000.

The Red Kettle Campaign accounts for one third of the annual budget, said Joe Craft, office manager. It was pertinent for us to reach our goal to meet the needs of those struggling throughout the Cedar Valley.

Volunteers made this seasons success possible said Katie Harn, volunteer and community relations coordinator. We were blessed with 409 volunteers donating 2,158 hours to our seasonal needs. Of that total, 153 volunteers braved the elements and rang Red Kettle bells for 1,068 hours raising $49,242.

We are grateful to everyone who donated to our annual fundraiser, be it financially or with their time, said Maj. Martin Thies, corps officer. Because of our communitys generous support, we are equipped to continue meeting needs at the highest level. This includes serving year-round as the largest provider of emergency shelter for the general population in Northeast Iowa, crisis assistance, and our weekly food & youth programs.

Donations and volunteers are needed year-round. For more information, contact Harn at (319) 235-9358, ext. 102 or katie.harn@usc.salvationarmy.org.

Where in the world do your groceries come from? Where in the world do your groceries come from? Where domestic food production is concentrated
JOHANNESBURG  Thamsanqa Mothobi was going about his life in Johannesburg when he was carjacked and taken to an informal settlement where robbers accessed his mobile banking apps.

They had guns and demanded the PIN codes for my apps. They increased the withdrawal limits in my accounts and emptied them. I was only released in the early hours of the morning, the father of three said, adding that his one comfort was that he was not killed.

It's an all-too-common story in South Africa, a country that in the past year has seen an average of 75 killings and 400 robberies with aggravating circumstances every day, according to official statistics. While it may be Africas most developed country, it also has one of the highest violent crime rates in the world.

Experts have warned that the South African police are losing the battle against crime  and that has led those citizens who can afford it to turn to a booming private security industry.

Its not getting better, it is getting worse, said Anton Koen, a former police officer who now runs a private security firm that specializes in tracking and recovering hijacked and stolen vehicles. The murder rate is the highest in 20 years, violence is getting worse because our justice system seems to be failing us, the public of South Africa.

There are more than 2.7 million registered private security officers in the country, according to the Private Security Industry Regulatory Authority, making South Africas security industry one of the largest in the world. That compares with fewer than 150,000 police officers for the countrys 62 million people.

Private security companies earn a monthly fee for patrolling neighborhoods and providing armed response to their clients alarm systems. They also offer tracking and car recovery services, which often results in them getting involved in high-speed chases of car thieves and hijackers.

Figures from PSIRA show that the number of security businesses in South Africa grew by 43% in the past decade, while the number of registered security officers has increased by 44%.

Associated Press journalists accompanied private security officers on patrols around suburbs in east Johannesburg, where it was evident they were performing the role of the police in many circumstances.

Koen was armed with an assault rifle and wore a bulletproof vest as he patrolled in his response vehicle, which is fitted with cameras and has car registration identification technology that can pick up suspected stolen vehicles.

During one of the patrols, Koen sped to where two suspects had been apprehended by other private security personnel after a vehicle they were traveling in was linked to burglaries and armed robberies. The suspects were handed over at a nearby police station, which typically happens to those apprehended by security firms.

But staying safe and avoiding crime is another example of the stark inequality that afflicts South Africa, as only the wealthy few can afford private security services. The majority of South Africans must still rely on an under-resourced and struggling police force.

More than 580,000 private security guards are currently active and employed  more than the police and army combined  according to figures from PSIRA.

People with money make up a very small percentage of South Africa. That means that the vast majority of South Africans dont really benefit from this security industry," said Chad Thomas, an organized crime expert who has worked more than 30 years in law enforcement and now in private security.

If you live in a traditional township environment, or if you live in an informal settlement, it is few and far between that you will see security patrols in those areas because they dont have paying customers."

Even those who are lucky enough to have private protection can't always be sure of safety.

In November, a South African government minister and her bodyguards were held up at gunpoint on a highway and robbed of money and their cellphones. The two bodyguards were made to lie on the ground while the robbers ransacked their vehicle and stole their police-issued guns.

It was a reminder that as long as violence is so prevalent in South Africa, everyone is in danger.

Thomas, like many, ties the high levels of violent crime in South Africa to anger over the country's deep problems of poverty.

We have seen this anger playing out in violent acts," Thomas said. So, what should be a normal robbery where someone gets pointed (at) with a firearm and their belongings are taken  becomes an opportunity for the robber to vent frustration and anger on that innocent victim.

Violent crime in South Africa has spiked over the past decade after a period when it decreased substantially. There were 27,494 killings in South Africa in the year to February 2023, compared with 16,213 in 2012-2013. South Africas homicide rate in 2022-2023 was 45 per 100,000 people, compared with a rate of 6.3 in the United States and around 1 in most European countries.

The police say 10,000 new police officers are going into service from the start of 2024, in an effort to reverse the trend.

This is more boots on the ground, well have more members on the ground who will be able to reach more communities and more delivery of services," National Police Commissioner Gen. Fannie Masemola said during a graduation parade in December for some of the new officers.
Today is Friday, Jan. 19, 2024. Let's get caught up.

Keep scrolling for celebrity birthdays and a look back at this date in history. Plus, check out our daily news podcast:

***

Icy winter blast gripping US blamed for deaths from coast to coast

A new layer of ice formed over parts of Tennessee on Thursday after a deadly storm blanketed the state in snow and sent temperatures plummeting earlier this week  part of a broader bout of bitter cold sweeping the country from Oregon to the Northeast.

More than 40 deaths nationwide have been attributed to the frigid weather in the past week.

Authorities said at least 14 deaths in Tennessee alone are blamed on the system, which dumped more than 9 inches of snow since Sunday on parts of Nashville, a city that rarely see such accumulations.

On Wednesday, a power line fell on a parked car in northeastern Portland, killing three people and injuring a baby during an ice storm that made driving in parts of the Pacific Northwest treacherous.

***

The federal debt tops $34 trillion and some in Congress want a commission to find ways to tackle it

A bill to create a bipartisan commission that would tackle the nations soaring debt and make policy recommendations to Congress won approval Thursday from a House committee.

House Republicans are making the bill a priority, and the chairman of the House Budget Committee said everything's on the table regarding possible action to slow the federal government's increasing level of debt, now at more than $34 trillion. Many Democrats see the commission as an attempt to force cuts to Social Security and Medicare.

***

Japan hopes to join an elite club by landing on the moon: A closer look

Japan hopes to make the world's first pinpoint landing on the moon early Saturday, joining a modern push for lunar contact with roots in the Cold War-era space race between the United States and the Soviet Union.

Heres a look at high-profile recent and upcoming attempts, and what they might mean, ahead of Japans moon landing.

***

MORE TOP STORIES

***

MORNING LISTEN

The long-delayed 75th Primetime Emmy Awards finally arrived with three programs crushing the competition. But those weren't the only highlights.

***

TODAY IN HISTORY

Today in history: Jan. 19 In 1953, CBS-TV aired the widely watched episode of I Love Lucy in which Lucy Ricardo, played by Lucille Ball, gave birth to Little Ricky. (

Today in sports history: Jan. 19 In 1974, UCLAs 88-game winning streak is snapped when Notre Dame overcomes an 11-point deficit in the final 3:32 to win 71-70. See more sport

***

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS

Celebrity birthdays: Jan. 19 Bitsie Tulloch Damien Chazelle Dewey Bunnell Dolly Parton Drea de Matteo Jeff Pilson Jeff Van Gundy Jodie Sweetin Katey Sagal Logan Lerman Paula Deen Pete Buttigieg Shaunette Renee Wilson Shawn Johnson Shelley Fabares Simon Rattle Taylor Bennett Tippi Hedren
DES MOINES  Calling taxpayer-funded basic income programs insane, socialism on steroids and an attack on American values, a pair of Republican state lawmakers on Thursday advanced legislation that would prohibit such programs in Iowa.

Universal basic income programs dedicate monthly funds to low-income individuals. The programs are designed to lift people out of poverty by providing them with a baseline and steady source of income.

One such program is operating in central Iowa  UpLift, a pilot project of Mid-Iowa Health Foundation in Des Moines. Under that project, 110 low-income central Iowans were chosen to receive $500 per month for two years. The impact of that basic income on those participants will be studied.

Iowa House Republicans Steve Holt, from Denison, and Skyler Wheeler, from Hull, expressed their strong opposition to universal basic income programs during a legislative hearing Thursday on a bill, introduced by Holt, that would prohibit any city or county in Iowa from operating a guaranteed income program.

Im going to tell you right now: This is socialism on steroids. This is a redistribution of wealth. This is an attack on American values, said Holt, a retired Marine.

Added Wheeler, I think this is insane, creates more reliance on government, takes from hardworking taxpayers (and) it gives to those that are not.

Holt and Wheeler both said a universal basic income program would create an incentive for people to stay home and not work, which they said goes against American ideals and comes at a time when Iowas workforce has shrunk since the pandemic, leaving employers looking to fill jobs.

This is an attack on the work ethic in this country, when we already are struggling, Holt said. Every business owner I speak to is struggling to find employees that are willing to work, that will show up for more than a day or two. Part of this, in my judgment, is because of the multitude of entitlement programs that now allow able-bodied individuals to not work. And this is yet another example of that.

Alaska experience

Only one statewide guaranteed income program is offered in the United States  in Alaska, which, since 1976, has had a program funded by its oil and gas revenue.

According to a 2016 study by the University of Alaska-Anchorage, since the program started, poverty in the state has fallen by 20%, obesity has fallen by 5%, and the state is experiencing better health and childbirth outcomes.

A study by the National Bureau of Economic Research in 2018 showed the program had no impact on full-time employment levels in the state, and part-time employment levels have increased.

Impact on poverty

Nalo Johnson, president and CEO of the Mid-Iowa Health Foundation, spoke at Thursdays legislative hearing to provide information on UpLift.

Were interested in cost-effective policies and programs that address poverty in our communities, and also support a healthier, more consistent workforce, both of which we believe are hallmarks of a thriving community, said Johnson, who previously worked for Johnson County Public Health.

One of the things that were particularly interested in are the ways in which the basic income is shown not only to provide economic stability within a family, but really support the economic vitality of a community because of the ways in which those dollars are circulated locally within the local businesses."

The UpLift pilot program is being funded by public, private, charity and nonprofit entities. Among the funding sources are Polk County and the cities of Des Moines, Urbandale and Windsor Heights, as well as United Way of Central Iowa, Wells Fargo, Bank of America and Principal.

Not convinced

In the end, Holt and Wheeler remained defiantly unconvinced.

It is my judgment, based upon history and human nature, that in many ways youre going to increase poverty and increase government dependence when you are fostering dependence on government, as opposed to independence and hard work, Holt said.

And that is what this program, in my judgment, is all about. If I have anything to do with it, no programs like this are going to start in the state of Iowa, or are going to be allowed to continue in the state of Iowa.

Holt and Wheeler signed off on advancing the legislation, House Study Bill 552, while Democratic Rep. Beth Wessel-Kroeschell, of Ames, opposed it. The bill becomes eligible for consideration by the House Judiciary Committee, which Holt chairs.
North Korea has conducted a test of an underwater nuclear weapons system to this week's joint naval drills by South Korea, the United States and Japan, the state-run KCNA said Friday.

The test of the "Haeil-5-23" system, a name North Korea has given to its nuclear-capable underwater attack drones, was carried out by its defense ministry's think tank in waters off its east coast, the report said, without specifying a date.

The ministry's unnamed spokesman accused the United States, South Korea and Japan of "getting frantic" with military exercises, warning of "catastrophic consequences."

The three countries' three-day regular exercise finished Wednesday, involving the U.S. aircraft carrier Carl Vinson, and was part of efforts to improve their responses to Pyongyang's evolving nuclear and missile threats.

"Our army's underwater nuke-based countering posture is being further rounded off and its various maritime and underwater responsive actions will continue to deter the hostile military maneuvers of the navies of the U.S. and its allies," the North Korean ministry spokesman said in a statement, according to the KCNA.

North Korean state television has aired previous nuclear tests, which were monitored by the U.S. and South Korean authorities, but the reported underwater weapon has not been independently verified.

Dubbed "Haeil," which means tsunami, the new drone system was first reportedly tested in March 2023, and state media said it was intended to make sneak attacks in enemy waters and destroy naval strike groups and major operational ports by creating a large radioactive wave through an underwater explosion.

The latest reported test came days after North Korea fired a new intermediate-range, solid-fuel hypersonic missile, which Washington, Seoul and Tokyo condemned as a serious violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions.

The three allies' nuclear envoys gathered in Seoul, Thursday, also condemning Pyongyang's arms trade with Russia and increasingly hostile rhetoric, at the same time as the North Korean foreign minister's visit to Moscow where she met with President Vladimir Putin. (Reuters)
Russian Defence Ministry report on the progress of the special military operation (18 January 2024)

The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation continue the special military operation.

In Kupyansk direction, units of the Zapad Group of Forces supported by aviation and artillery repelled six attacks launched by assault groups of AFU 32nd, 60th mechanised, 95th airborne brigades near Sinkovka (Kharkov region) and Terni (Donetsk Peoples Republic).

The enemy lost up to 155 Ukrainian troops, two tanks, three armoured fighting vehicles, two motor vehicles, and one Gvozdika self-propelled artillery system.

In Krasny Liman direction, units of the Tsentr Group of Forces supported by aviation and artillery repelled three attacks launched by AFU 63rd mechanised, 25th airborne, and 5th National Guard brigades close to Chervonaya Dibrova (Lugansk Peoples Republic), Yampolovka and Grigorovka (Donetsk Peoples Republic).

The enemy losses amounted more than 220 Ukrainian troops, six armoured fighting vehicles, including one Bradley infantry fighting vehicle, four motor vehicles, one U.S.-made M777 howitzer, one Gvozdika self-propelled artillery system, one U.S.-made M119 howitzer, and one electronic warfare station.

In Donetsk direction, units of the Yug Group of Forces liberated Veseloye (Donetsk Peoples Republic). Air strikes, artillery and heavy flamethrower systems fire defeated manpower and hardware of AFU 22nd, 42nd, 93rd mechanised brigades close to Kleshcheyevka and Andreyevka (Donetsk Peoples Republic).

Up to 260 Ukrainian troops, one tank, two infantry fighting vehicles, and 17 motor vehicles have been neutralised. In the course of the counter-battery warfare, three U.S.-made M777 artillery systems, U.S.-made Paladin self-propelled artillery systems, Gvozdika self-propelled artillery systems, as well as one D-30 howitzer were destroyed.

In South Donetsk direction, units of the Vostok Group of Forces supported by aviation and artillery repelled one attack launched of the AFU 79th Air Assault Brigades assault groups near Novomikhailovka (Donetsk Peoples Republic).

In addition, strikes were delivered at units of AFU 72nd mechanised, 128th Territorial Defence brigades close to Vodyanoye (Donetsk Peoples Republic). The enemy losses amounted to more than 130 Ukrainian troops, two motor vehicles, two UK-made FH-70 howitzers, and one Polish-made Krab self-propelled artillery system.

In Zaporozhye direction, units of the Russian Group of Forces hit manpower and hardware of AFU 33rd mechanised, 82nd air assault, 128th mountain assault brigades near Rabotino, Malaya Tokmachka, and Zherebyanka (Zaporozhye region). The enemy losses amounted to up to 30 Ukrainian troops, one tank, three motor vehicles, one D-20 and one D-30 howitzers.

In Kherson direction, up to 65 Ukrainian troops, three tanks, and five motor vehicles have been neutralised by fire. In the course of the counter-battery warfare, the Russian troops hit one U.S.-made M777 artillery system, one Giatsint-B, one Msta-B, and one D-20 howitzers, as well as one Gvozdika self-propelled artillery system.

Missile Troops and Artillery, as well as UAVs of the Russian Group of Forces have engaged two temporary deployment areas of foreign mercenaries, four missile and ammunition depots, 117 AFU artillery units at their fire positions, manpower, and military hardware in 133 areas during the day.

Russian air defence forces have intercepted two Tochka-U tactical missiles, one U.S.-made JDAM guided bomb, as well as 18 U.S.-made HIMARS and Czech-made Vampire MLRS projectiles during the day.

In addition, 91 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles were shot down close to Tavolzhanka, Kupyansk, Mirnoye (Kharkov region), Belogorovka,Svatovo,Lisichansk (Lugansk Peoples Republic), Verkhetoretskoye, Peski, Novaya Kakhovka, Chongar, and Chaplinka (Kherson region).

In total, 567 airplanes and 265 helicopters, 10,870 unmanned aerial vehicles, 450 air defence missile systems, 14,676 tanks and other armoured fighting vehicles, 1,202 combat vehicles equipped with MLRS, 7,779 field artillery cannons and mortars, as well as 17,593 units of special military equipment have been destroyed during the special military operation.

Tags:

WtR
The French Ambassador in Moscow has been summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry in connection with the destruction of foreign fighters by the Armed Forces of our country in Kharkov.

More than 60 mercenaries fighting on the side of the Ukrainian Armed Forces were eliminated.

As it turned out, these were French citizens.

But in France, mercenary activity is prohibited by law.

Taking this into account, the topic deserves to be addressed by the State Duma deputies to the National Assembly of the French Republic.

It is important for us to know whether they are aware that someone, violating the law, is sending militants to fight in Ukraine.

There are different stages in the history of relations between our countries. There was a time when our grandfathers and great-grandfathers fought together against fascism.

But today, as it turns out, French mercenaries are dying for the Nazi regime in Ukraine.

Do French citizens and the deputies representing their interests know about this?

At the next plenary meeting of the State Duma, we will definitely consider an appeal to the French Parliament with the above issues.
Vaccination against COVID-19 is no longer needed, but people should remain vigilant, as the number of coronavirus hospital admissions in Russia is growing, the head of Russian health watchdog Rospotrebnadzor, Anna Popova, announced on Wednesday.

Popova said the peak of the COVID-19 incidence wave had passed in Russia, and that rises in coronavirus cases were now seasonal. Russia will not launch a new mass vaccination campaign, Popova said in an interview with Rossiya 24, explaining that there had been an upsurge in the autumn, but it has already gone.

https://www.rt.com/russia/590848-covid-vaccines-no-longer-needed/
Bad news if youre mooching off of someone elses Costco membership: The retail giant is cracking down.

When you enter Costco, you need to show your membership card to an employee to shop. Costco membership cards are non-transferable, but the company allows members to give a second household card to one other person in their home. Anyone with a card can bring up to two guests to the club during each visit, the company stipulates.

But Costco has noticed that non-members have been sneaking in with membership cards that dont belong to them  particularly since Costco expanded self-checkout.

Costco recently started asking for shoppers membership cards along with a photo ID at the self-checkout registers, the same policy as regular checkout lanes, to crack down. We dont feel its right that non-members receive the same benefits and pricing as our members, Costco said in announcing the change.

And now, Costco is testing out a system that requires members to scan their membership cards at the store entrance  instead of just flashing the card to employees. Shoppers have spotted the new scanners at a store in Washington State and posted photos on Reddit.

A Costco representative did not immediately respond to CNNs inquiry on how many stores were using the scanners or why they were more effective than employees manually checking membership cards.

Its the latest example of Costco and other companies like Netflix cracking down on membership sharing.

Costco had around 66 million paid members and 119 million cardholders in 2022, making it one of the largest membership clubs in the world. Costco members pay either $60 for a regular membership or $120 for an executive card every year to shop at clubs.

The membership model is crucial to Costcos business, which has boomed during the pandemic. Costco members pay either $60 for a regular membership or $120 for an executive card every year, which includes additional perks.

Annual fees help boost the companys profit and offset expenses, helping Costco keep its prices down. Any changes to membership growth or renewal rates could hurt Costco and force it to raise prices.

The retailer made $4.2 billion in membership fees in 2022, a 9% jump from 2021, with its renewal rate sitting high at 93%.
BERLIN  Arnold Schwarzenegger was stopped for hours by customs at Munich Airport after entering Germany with a luxury watch that was potentially to be auctioned at a charity event.

The former movie star and California governor was stopped for a routine check after arriving Wednesday, customs spokesperson Thomas Meister said. Schwarzenegger was able to leave after about 2  hours, he said on Thursday.

Goods over the value of $467 that will stay in the European Union have to be declared and, where appropriate, duty paid on them. German daily Bild, which first reported on the incident, reported that the allegedly undeclared watch made by Swiss manufacturer Audemars Piguet was valued at $21,739 by Schwarzenegger, for whom it was specially produced.

The Schwarzenegger Climate Initiative said that Schwarzenegger was detained for traveling with a watch he owns, that he might be auctioning at his charity auction (Thursday) in Kitzbuhel, in neighboring Austria.

It added in an emailed statement that Schwarzenegger cooperated at every step even though it was an incompetent shakedown and that he agreed to prepay potential taxes on the watch (remember, it is his personal watch).

It said the watch was still likely to be auctioned and the climate initiative will properly report it, as all of Arnolds nonprofits do. Schwarzenegger's charity auctions raise millions of dollars every year for after-school programs for children across the U.S. and environmental work around the world, it added.

The matter now goes to a customs penalty body in Augsburg, which will evaluate the case.

Where in the world do your groceries come from? Where in the world do your groceries come from? Where domestic food production is concentrated
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2 referees of 2024 Gangwon Winter Youth Olympics test positive

By Jun Ji-hye

Health authorities are warning people to take precautions against the norovirus, commonly referred to as the winter vomiting bug, as the number of cases this winter marked its highest level in the past five years.

Also called stomach flu, norovirus is a very contagious virus that causes vomiting and diarrhea.

According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA), Friday, 360 patients were reported during the second week of 2024  between Jan. 7 and 13  higher than the previous record of 353 reported cases during the third week of 2020.

The authorities urged parents and those operating nurseries or kindergartens to take extra care as patients aged 6 or younger accounted for 49.4 percent of the total.

Adding to concerns is the fact that two referees of the 2024 Gangwon Winter Youth Olympics fell ill with the norovirus just before the event officially kicked off on Friday.

According to the organizing committee, six referees and other officials have displayed symptoms such as vomiting and diarrhea after having a meal on Jan. 14 at a restaurant in Pyeongchang, Gangwon Province, where the international event is taking place.

Of them, two tested positive for the virus two days later, the committee said, noting that the authorities are carrying out an epidemiological survey.

On Jan. 9, the Gangwon provincial government conducted norovirus testing on 705 workers at restaurants located within the athletes village as well as the International Olympic Committee's accommodations, as part of efforts to prevent infections. At the time, nine people tested positive and were quarantined.

Based on our experiences responding to a norovirus outbreak during the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics, we will make full preparations to operate the Youth Olympics without a hitch and protect athletes as well as spectators, an official from the organizing committee said.

In 2018, 324 people, including volunteer workers, security personnel, police officers, reporters and other Games-related people, were confirmed to be affected by the bug before and during the Winter Olympics.

Amid increasing fears, the KDCA began taking preventive measures against the virus on Friday, moving up the date originally scheduled for Feb. 9.

Under the measures, the agency will run an emergency communication network with local health centers 24 hours a day and strengthen publicity activities to inform people of safety rules and encourage them to actively report any suspicious cases.

It is advised to make a report to a nearby health center when more than two people have vomiting and diarrhea symptoms, KDCA Commissioner Jee Young-mee said.
Friday is the perfect day to indulge in your favorite buttery movie snack. Jan. 19 is National Popcorn Day, and movie theaters across the nation are celebrating.

Here are some of the offers to take advantage of worldwide. Check Fandango, an online vendor of movie tickets, for a full list of deals.

Regal

Regal Crown Club members get a free small popcorn when they purchase a movie ticket. If youre not a member, you can still get 50 percent off classic popcorn of any size. If you own a Regal Refillable popcorn bucket, you can get one free refill. Gourmet popcorn is excluded from the offer.

AMC

AMC is offering unlimited refills on any size popcorn on Friday. Find a movie theater near you.

Cinemark

Medium and large popcorn will be $2 off on Friday at Cinemark locations. Cinemark is also having a mobile ordering sweepstakes through Monday, Jan. 22: Anyone who places a mobile concessions order using the Cinemark website or app will be entered to win free popcorn and Coke for a year. If youre a Cinemark Movie Rewards member and you participate in the sweepstakes, youre eligible to win a $500 Cinemark gift card. Keep an eye out on Cinemarks Instagram and X accounts (@cinemark) for free large popcorn.

Alamo Drafthouse

Buy a movie ticket and purchase a minimum of $5 on food and beverages and snag a free bowl of popcorn. The offer is available at all Alamo Drafthouse locations, and refills are not included.

B&B Theaters

If youre a Backstage Pass loyalty program member, youre able to get a free small popcorn at any of their locations in 14 states. Find a location near you.

Cinepolis

The luxury movie theater brand with locations in seven states is offering 50 percent off caramel popcorn and $2 off bottomless butter popcorn, according to Fandango.
By Kim Hyun-bin

Indonesia has been selected to lead the Cultural and Tourism Working Group (CTWG) within the ASEAN Korea Centre for 2024. The Embassy of Indonesia in Seoul will serve as the chair, with the Embassy of the Lao Peoples Democratic Republic assuming the role of vice chair in the CTWG.

Joannes Ekaprasetya Tandjung, minister counsellor from the Indonesian Embassy in Seoul, chaired the first meeting of the CTWG in 2024, Wednesday. Representatives from the Embassies of Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Lao PDR, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam attended the meeting, addressing important topics such as the summary of activities in 2023 and the work plan for 2024.

The chairmanship of Indonesia in the CTWG is crucial to articulate the collaborative strategy on culture and tourism between ASEAN member states and Korea throughout 2024. Planned activities for the year include the promotion of tourism and cultural exchanges, such as the ASEAN-Korea Culture and Tourism Integrated Experience and a capacity-building program for ASEAN-Korea Quality Tourism Development Towards Sustainability.

The ASEAN Committee in Seoul, established under Article 43 of the ASEAN Charter, plays a vital role in advancing ASEAN interests and fostering a distinct ASEAN identity in Korea. The committee facilitates various ASEAN-related affairs within Korea, promoting cooperation between ASEAN and Korea across different sectors, including culture and tourism.


Cobalt Nickel Refinery Project Update

Sydney, Jan 19, 2024 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Progress continues on Cobalt Blue Holdings Limited's ( ASX:COB ) ( COH:FRA ) ( CBBHF:OTCMKTS ) proposed Cobalt Nickel Refinery.



Further to the release of the Refinery Study (27 Nov 2023):



- Two bulk samples (up to 5 tonnes each) of third-party feedstock have now been received at the Broken Hill Demonstration Plant and are undergoing evaluation. The testing of these samples will form the basis of commercial feedstock for the Refinery.



- Initial 50-100 kg feedstock test work has delivered:



o Up to 95-97% metal recoveries



o Key observed reagent consumptions inline with Study estimates, noting that reagents contribute ~50% of total cash costs:



o Acid consumption for hydroxide feed of ~3.5 tonne of H2SO4 per tonne of cobalt



o Oxygen consumption for the sulphide feed of ~1 tonne of oxygen per tonne of cobalt.



o COB will begin submission of battery grade cobalt sulphate samples to interested offtake parties shortly, effectively commencing the pre-qualification process for the Refinery.



- Testwork results de-risk major refinery cost assumptions.



- The Premier of Western Australia, Roger Cook MLA, has now provided a Letter of Support for the COB/Iwatani Cobalt-Nickel Refinery Project. The Refinery is closely aligned with Western Australia's Battery and Critical Minerals Strategy and will further establish the State as a national battery material production hub.



Joe Kaderavek (CEO, Cobalt Blue) commented "We are thrilled to receive this support for our Cobalt-Nickel Refinery Project from the Premier of Western Australia. Having government support and strong testwork results de-risks the Cobalt Nickel Refinery project".



*To view full details and images, please visit:

https://abnnewswire.net/lnk/6CO4ALJ3





About Cobalt Blue Holdings Limited





Cobalt Blue Holdings Ltd (ASX:COB) (FRA:COH) (OTCMKTS:CBBHF) is an exploration and project development company. Work programs advancing the Broken Hill Cobalt Project in New South Wales continue. Our ambitious goals are subject to funding availability. Cobalt is a strategic metal in strong demand for new generation batteries, particularly lithium-ion batteries now being widely used in clean energy systems.

Related Companies
A senior South Korean general has highlighted the need for an international response, and cooperation, against North Korea's evolving military threats, at a major gathering of top North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) military officials, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said Friday.

Lt. Gen. Hwang You-sung, vice chairman of the JCS, made the call during a session of the defense chiefs of the NATO Military Committee in Brussels on Thursday after being invited to the gathering along with delegations from three other NATO Indo-Pacific partner countries  Australia, Japan and New Zealand.

"(He) presented North Korea's advancing nuclear and missile capabilities, including its launch of a military reconnaissance satellite, as the biggest threat to the Korean Peninsula and in the region, and stressed the need for close cooperation and a response from the international community to respond to and deter this," the JCS said.

North Korea has recently pressed ahead with its key military projects, such as successfully launching its first military spy satellite into orbit in November last year, with plans to launch three more this year.

During his two-day visit to Brussels from Wednesday, Hwang also met with Dutch Adm. Rob Bauer, the chair of the NATO Military Committee, and other senior military officials and agreed on the need to increase cooperation between countries that share common values, it said.

This was the ninth time that South Korea has attended the annual gathering since its first appearance as a NATO partner country in 2010. (Yonhap)
Actress Nayanthara has issued an apology following the removal of her movie Annapoorani: the Goddess of Food' from Netflix due to alleged sentiments being hurt. The film, released in theaters on December 1, was available for streaming on Netflix for just one day.

Following protests from right-wing groups, the movie was taken off from the platform.

Nayanthara began her apology with Jai Shri Ram and said: In our sincere attempt to share a positive message, we may have inadvertently caused hurt. We did not expect the removal of a censored film, previously showcased in theatres, from the OTT platform. My team and I never intended to hurt anyone's sentiments and we understand that the gravity of this issue. Being someone who wholely believes in God and frequently visits temples across the country, it is the last thing I would intentionally do. To those whose feelings we've touched, I extend my sincere and heartfelt apologies.

Ramesh N Solanki, an ex-Shiv Sena leader, filed a complaint with LT Marg Police Station in Mumbai, demanding action against the actor and the makers, claiming that it has offended the Hindu community. He alleged that the film demeans Lord Rama.

The movie revolves around a young Brahmin girl's aspiration to become a chef. The right-wing groups' allegation was that movie showed the daughter of a Brahmin man eating meat.
IPREX Global President and Founder and Chief Executive of AM OSullivan PR Ann-Marie OSullivan has announced the appointment of two members to its Global Board and the onboarding of its newest partner in Canada. IPREX is the premier global network of independent communications agencies with more than 1,100 staff and 110 offices worldwide.

Anu Gupta, Director at APRW (Singapore) will assume the role of Asia Pacific President while Lindsey DeWitte, President of PR and EVP of Purpose + Sustainability at Barkley (Kansas City, Missouri, USA) will take the helm as Treasurer. Both board positions serve a two-year term from January 2024 through May 2026.

We are delighted to welcome Anu and Lindsey to IPREX's Global Board in what is a really positive step in strengthening our international network, said Ann-Marie OSullivan. In her new capacity as IPREX Asia Pacific President, Anu brings a wealth of local and regional knowledge, as well as her world-class experience and expertise. Lindsey brings solid financial management skills to IPREX, with a focus on sustainable practices. I have no doubt they will both be huge assets to the Global Board, enhancing our connections and bolstering our planning and budgeting processes as we continue to strengthen the IPREX brand.

In her role as Asia Pacific President, Anu will oversee the IPREX network in APAC. She will engage directly with existing IPREX partners in the region, as well as IPREX regional directors, identify opportunities to connect partners for new business opportunities, continued learning, collaboration and global support. She takes the reins from Xavier PRabhu, Founder and Managing Director of PRHUB, an independent public relations and marketing consultancy based in India.

I look forward to embarking on this experience to learn more about global best practices in communications from our IPREX partners and share more about Singapore and the regions promising future globally, said Anu.

As Treasurer Lindsey will bring years of experience running a B-Corporation to IPREX, where she will ensure financial stewardship, transparency, and sustainability, guiding the network towards its mission through responsible fiscal management. She takes the role from outgoing Treasurer Natalie Best, Chief Operating Officer at French West Vaughan, an integrated marketing agency based in Raleigh.

In Canada, IPREX welcomes Global Public Affairs. Established in 1997, Global Public Affairs is Canadas leading public policy, government relations, and strategic communications firm. The agency brings expert knowledge and insight to help organizations navigate complex challenges and implement winning solutions. Global Public Affairs has locations in Ottawa, Halifax, Toronto, Winnipeg, Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver and Victoria.

The addition of Global Public Affairs furthers our existing reach into Canada, and strategically expands our presence in the Americas, said Laura Phillips, IPREX Americas President and President at Vehr Communications (Cincinnati, Ohio, USA). We look forward to integrating the agency into the network and building strong relationships across the region.
Media Mantra, Indias leading independent PR and integrated communications firm, is set to embark on a transformative journey with a strategic workforce expansion initiative that will witness the addition of 100+ new employees. This expansion will allow the company to meet growing demand from clients and solidify its position as a leading PR and communications provider in India.

Media Mantra, founded in 2012, has experienced tremendous growth over the past decade while maintaining its commitment to providing top-tier strategic communications counsel. The company, headquartered in Gurugram with additional offices in Bangalore and Mumbai, currently employs over 150 PR and communications professionals. And the latest announcement, poised to augment its existing workforce by over 100 professionals, is aimed at bolstering capabilities, contributing to sustained growth, and achieving strategic objectives.

Udit Pathak, Founder and Director of Media Mantra Group, underscores the significance of this move, stating, Over the past few years, we have significantly expanded our capabilities to offer fully integrated communications solutions beyond traditional public relations practices. And our expansion is a reflection of our commitment to delivering unparalleled services to our diverse clientele. It aligns with our vision of being at the forefront of innovation in PR and integrated communications. It will also strengthen our integrated capabilities, making us the ideal partner to help companies and brands shape opinions and experiences in the modern world.

Pooja Pathak, Founder and Director of Media Mantra Group, emphasised on the broader impact on the firms reputation and client satisfaction, saying, Our people are everything at Media Mantra. We owe our success to our fantastic team, and we are thrilled to be growing that team substantially this year. This strategic expansion is not merely an addition to our workforce; it's a reinforcement of our commitment to excellence. These new hires will allow us to take our services to the next level and continue pioneering new communications techniques to drive real results for our clients, elevating their confidence and trust.

The 100+ new hires will include positions at all levels across departments ranging from account management, content creation, media relations, creative services, etc. Media Mantra is seeking top talent from Indias best PR, communications and journalism programmes to fill these roles.

The strategic vision extends beyond numerical growth, as highlighted by Rekha Gehani, People and Culture Leader at Media Mantra. With this expansion, we are gearing up for the next chapter of our journey. Our emphasis is not just on numbers but on cultivating a workplace culture that fosters creativity, innovation, and collaboration. We believe that investing in our people is an investment in our continued success. We aim to leverage our experience and expertise to enhance our position as counsellors and collaborators to Indias biggest brands and organisations, she said.

As Media Mantra gears up for this ambitious expansion, it reiterates its commitment to innovation, client satisfaction, and industry leadership.
South Korea ranked fifth in the world in terms of military strength, while North Korea's standing was 36th, an annual military power index showed Friday.

South Korea had a firepower score of 0.1416 to stand at fifth out of 145 countries, according to Global Firepower 2024. Its standing rose by one notch from a year earlier.

The index is calculated based on more than 60 factors, with categories ranging from military might and financial standing to logistical capability and geography. The lower the index is, the stronger a country's military is.

With a firepower score of 0.5313, North Korea ranked 36th in the world, down from 34th the previous year, according to the index.

The United States topped the list, followed by Russia, China and India. (Yonhap)
Utiq, the European adtech company delivering a telco-powered Authentic Consent Service to enable responsible digital marketing, has announced its launch in the UK, and the appointment of Sara Vincent to run the new UK operation.

Utiq, which is backed by the telecommunications providers Deutsche Telekom AG, Orange SA, Telefonica S.A. and Vodafone Group plc, enables brands and publishers to deliver relevant, ad-funded experiences to their consented audiences, while embracing the toughest privacy standards, through its secure and encrypted solutions.

Built as a people-first service, Utiq arrives in the UK with a mission to solve the problem of access to deterministic, accurate and scaled audiences, in a fully compliant and consented way. It offers advertisers the ability to target accurately at scale, while giving consumers real control and choice over their privacy.

Sara joins Utiq as Managing Director, UK, following five years at Index Exchange, initially as Senior Director, Publisher Development, and, for the last two years, as MD, UK. Prior to that, she spent four years at JustPremium (acquired by GumGum in 2021) as SVP, Publisher Development. She was ExchangeWires Ad Tech Personality of the Year for 2022.

Her role at Utiq will be to build out a team to support the companys growth, partnering with publishers, advertisers and adtech providers to deliver relevant, ad-funded experiences to their consented audiences.

Sara Vincent said: I am very excited to join Utiq at such a pivotal time for the industry and to bring our people-first service to the UK, following successful launches in Germany, France and Spain. We have an opportunity to reset what consent means to both the user and the advertiser, with the Utiq service becoming the alternative to a now deprecating, unreliable third party cookie.

As a catalyst for change, we are helping to create a trusted and responsible ad-funded open internet, with privacy and data protection at its heart, underpinned by a service that is transparent, accurate and scaled. This is a purpose-driven business that I am proud to be part of, and am keen to begin this journey of growth in the UK, working with our trusted partners.

Marc Bresseel, Utiqs CEO, remarked: I am thrilled to welcome Sara to our team, and to the role of Managing Director for the UK  a market of significant strategic importance as we continue to accelerate our service delivery and growth. Sara is a seasoned adtech executive and her previous clients and partners have experienced first-hand her values, passion and commitment.

Her depth of experience, credibility and network will be invaluable for the launch of our Utiq service in the UK and will develop and expand our relationships with publishers and brands.
Launched in Q3 2020, Bombay Shaving Company Women, now Bombae, is an extension of the Bombay Shaving Company, specifically catering to womens grooming needs. The brand has made significant progress in a short time, positioning itself as a challenger to established brands in the personal care, hygiene, and hair removal space in India.

Bombae has garnered investments from various sources, including individual investors (angels), as well as well-known companies such as Colgate Palmolive, Reckitt, and Sixth Sense Ventures.

In conversation with Adgully, Siddha Jain, Chief Business Officer, Bombay Shaving Company Women, speaks about the brands inception, positioning of a True-to-Women brand, marketing strategies, targeted growth in revenue terms, being a leader in the hair removal space, campaign strategy, and more.

Please share about Bombae. How has the brands journey been so far?

We are a brand made by women, reimagining hair removal for women. Our offerings are rooted in their realities and their needs. So, while we understand why theyd want to remove their hair, we also recognise that its their choice. We celebrate our consumers for who they are and talk to them like we know them. Were outspoken, loud, bold, and arent afraid to tell womens stories about how they should be told. The brand started only one and a half years back, (3-6 months back as Bombae) and has become 20%+ of the overall company turnover. We continue to receive lots of love from our consumers & high repeat rates on our top products.

Bombay Shaving Company has ventured into the female segment as well with Bombae. What is the demand like in this segment?

Our approach towards curating the portfolio is providing elevated DIY offerings that are sizable, solve a real consumer need, and have longevity in her eyes. We keep a close ear to all emerging trends and test them against these criteria, while also doing a forward-back exercise of creating game-changing solutions. So, our current portfolio has offerings across:

Facial hair: Face & eyebrow razors (including biodegradable options), Facial hair trimmer

Face & eyebrow razors (including biodegradable options), Facial hair trimmer Body hair: Body razors (disposable, cartridge and bikini razor variants), Hair removal creams (variants made with shea butter and aloe vera), wax strips (variants for different skin types), Trimmer for underarm and bikini areas

Body razors (disposable, cartridge and bikini razor variants), Hair removal creams (variants made with shea butter and aloe vera), wax strips (variants for different skin types), Trimmer for underarm and bikini areas Hair removal ritual: Pre- & post-shave gel, shaving foams

Pre- & post-shave gel, shaving foams Hygiene: Menstrual cup (ring and step variants), sterilizer, intimate wash

As the CBO of the brand, what are the upcoming expansions and new launches that have been planned by you?

We are very excited about some super interesting innovations in the hair removal category  from razors to hair removal creams  and expect to see a lot of game-changing products.

India is known for its festivities. What can you say about the festive trends? Has there been an increase in sales?

The festive season around August and November is buzzing with new launches, collaborations, and campaigns. We have observed exponential growth during festive months compared to other months on both e-commerce and offline front. Consumers are keen to shop for themselves, their family and friends. We are very excited about the new launches in our face and body razor portfolio that have happened around the period, this year- as it has the potential to establish Bombae as the challenger brand.

Please share about the key campaigns and how they are helping you to reach your target audience.

Our newest campaign on Glamup beauty face razors is picking up a lot of steam. It builds an interesting narrative on how to get glass-like Korean skin [which is all one wants right now] by using Bombaes beauty face razor. From a campaign creation point of view, we have stayed true to the promise of being bold, honest and irreverent in everything we do. Our aesthetic is an extension of our identity so we keep it 100% real. Real hair, real bodies, real results, real skin, were not afraid to bare it all. Unlike other brands it shows smooth skin before and after hair removal. Our recent campaign on our Fuzzoff trimmer was not permitted to be run on certain platforms on account of showing real body hair like never before.

We have a very objective focused approach to campaign conceptualization. Depending on each objective and target audience, we go deep into the pulse of the consumer (especially for product/ category education) to develop our messaging and choice of media.

Objectives are threefold:

Educating the consumer against archaic myths when it comes to hair removal products Building memorability and equity for our brand Conveying the value proposition & product superiority to the consumer

How was the last quarter of 2023?

We already are a Rs 50 crore ARR brand and plan to become a Rs 100 crore ARR brand by June 2024 and Rs 500 crore brand by 2025.

Earlier, there was this perception that body hair removal via creams is not good. How is Bombae breaking this archaic myth?

Lots and lots of education in every form of communication from packaging to campaigns to how our beauty advisors speak has been pivotal to addressing myths. The perceived side effects in the category (ex. re-growth, makes hair coarse, skin darkening, etc.) are as long-standing in India as the belief that the earth was flat. Even though there is one half of the world thats happily adapting DIY hair removal methods, every other day and we are okay to emulate the West in a bunch of things but not this. We want to break this hypocrisy. The fact that no experience matches that of a salon/ parlour didi is a myth perpetrated by the stellar influencer that is the parlour wali didi.

Where do you see Bombae in 10 years? What are the future plans?

Our ambition is simple: When a consumer thinks hair removal, they think Bombae, so much so that Bombae becomes a verb when it comes to hair removal. That itself is our niche. There isnt any brand that owns this space end-to-end like we do. While the case for each product is different, the overall case of the brand is to harness the power of our innovation to continuously craft expert and thoughtful hair removal solutions, crafted for women by women.
Yash Raj Films' Pathaan, directed by Siddharth Anand, has been a historic all-time blockbuster and continues to make waves, a year after its release. The film that released in January 2023, set the cash registers ringing, cementing itself as the highest grossing Hindi film worldwide in the history of Hindi cinema then. It also became the highest grossing film of YRFs Spy Universe that has a 100 percent hit record!

Pathaan has now been nominated at the prestigious Vulture Annual Stunt Awards. The international award, hosted by media organisation Vulture, was started in 2023, to honour and recognize the excellence in stunt work done by the individuals.

Pathaan's iconic climax sequence featuring the jet-pack fight scene between SRK and John, has bagged a nomination under the Best Aerial Stunt category.

Pathaan has also been nominated for Best Overall Action Film, alongside Hollywood biggies like Tom Cruise starrer Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part-1, Keanu Reeve's John Wick 4, Vin Diesel's Fast X amongst others.

Starring the biggest superstars of the country Shah Rukh Khan, Deepika Padukone and John Abraham, Pathaan is a part of Aditya Chopras YRF spy universe.
The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a plea by 11 convicts in the case of gangrape of Bilkis Bano and the murder of seven of her family members during the 2002 riots in Gujarat seeking an extension of time to surrender.

A bench of Justices B V Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan said the reasons cited by the convicts have no merits.

We have heard senior counsel and counsel for the applicants and the counsel for the non-applicants also. The reasons cited by applicants to seek postponement of surrender and report back to jail have no merit inasmuch as those reasons in no way prevent them from complying with our directions. Hence the miscellaneous applications are dismissed, the bench said.

The top court on January 8 had quashed the Gujarat governments decision to grant remission to 11 convicts in the case, saying the orders were stereotyped and passed without application of mind.

It had asked the convicts to surrender before jail authorities by January 21.
Authorities have released the name of a pedestrian killed when, according to witnesses, he was jumping in and out of traffic.

The Jefferson County Coroners Office identified the victim as Christian Abel Hernandez. He was 24 and lived in Fultondale.

Sheriffs deputies were dispatched about 10:30 p.m. Saturday to Highway 78 near Thed Brassfield Road.

Lt. Joni Money said the sheriffs office received calls that a man was jumping in and out of traffic. Then they received information that the pedestrian had been struck.

Hernandez was pronounced dead on the scene at 10:33 p.m.

The driver remained on the scene.
The Los Angeles Innocence Project is now representing Scott Peterson, who was convicted almost two decades ago of murdering his wife and unborn child in a highly publicized trial that transfixed the nation.

We are very excited that the incredibly talented attorneys at the L.A. Innocence Project are lending their considerable expertise to helping prove that Scott Peterson is innocent, Petersons attorney, Pat Harris, said Thursday in a statement to The Times.

Harris said his firm would not be granting interviews at this time.

The Los Angeles Innocence Project at Cal State L.A. works to free individuals believed to have been wrongly convicted and incarcerated, with an emphasis on using forensic and scientific data.

In a statement, the organization confirmed its representation of Peterson  saying it is investigating his claim of actual innocence  but declined additional comment.

Neither the Innocence Project nor Petersons attorney immediately responded when asked to elaborate further on the case.

Attorneys with the Innocence Project were recently instrumental in securing the release of Maurice Hastings, who was wrongly convicted of murder in 1988, and had been in prison for nearly 40 years.

The projects involvement is the latest development in the Peterson case, which caused a media firestorm in the early 2000s.

Laci Peterson, 27, vanished from the couples Modesto home on Christmas Eve in 2002. She was pregnant at the time.

Her body washed up on the shores of San Francisco Bay the following spring.

Prosecutors said Scott Peterson killed his wife and dumped her body into the bay afterward. He was convicted in 2004 and initially sentenced to death.

But in 2020, the California Supreme Court overturned the death sentence for Peterson because prospective jurors who opposed capital punishment but were willing to impose it were removed from consideration.

Peterson was resentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole in 2021. He was moved off death row the following year.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

2024 Los Angeles Times. Visit latimes.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
A Mobile man who admitted in federal court last week that he had phoned the White House and threatened to kill President Joe Biden was this week sentenced to time already served.

John Andrew Bazor Jr., 38, pleaded guilty to one count of making interstate threatening communications. In exchange for Bazors guilty plea, federal prosecutors dropped the charge of making threats against the president and successors to the presidency, according to federal court documents.

Bazor admitted he called the White House switchboard in July 2022 and told the operator I am coming to assassinate the president. I cant wait to see your faces when I put a bullet in him.

At the time the plea agreement was reached, U.S. District Court Judge Kristi DuBose indicated she might not accept the U.S. Attorneys sentencing recommendation. Thursday, however, she sentenced Bazor to the time served of nearly 18 months and placed him on three years probation, according to federal court documents.

Bazor also will be required to undergo mental health and substance abuse treatment.

Bazors attorney noted last week that the time his client had already served is longer than the minimum sentence under federal guidelines, but federal code allows for a maximum sentence of two years. Had Bazor been found guilty of making a threat against the president, he faced a maximum sentence of five years.

When she expressed hesitancy to accept the prosecutors recommendation, DuBose referenced Bazors criminal record, which includes a pending trial for domestic violence and drug possession, as a factor.

Bazor was arrested in February 2022 and charged with third-degree domestic violence/harassment. State court documents say Bazor threatened to kill a woman and her mother. He was freed on bail, with the court ordering he have no contact with the victim or her mother.

In August 2022 -- after Bazor was charged with threatening the president -- the domestic violence case was bound over to a grand jury pending the outcome of the federal case.

In December, a forensic pathologist found that Bazor was not afflicted with any mental disease or defect and is thus able to understand the nature of his actions and the consequences of the charges against him, according to federal court documents.
A Montgomery woman has been sentenced to prison for defrauding the Paycheck Protection Program of nearly $610,000.

A federal judge this week sentenced 55-year-old Zsa Zsa Bouvier Couch, of Montgomery, to 45 months in prison, Middle District of Alabama Acting U.S. Attorney Jonathan S. Ross announced Thursday.

Additionally, the judge ordered that Couch serve three years of supervised release following her prison term. Federal inmates are not eligible for parole.

Couch was convicted in September 2023 on multiple counts of bank fraud, making false statements to a federally insured bank, and money laundering.

Authorities said she submitted at least six fraudulent applications for loans under the PPP and sought $1.6 million in program funds.

In each application, Couch falsely inflated the number of employees who worked for her purported business and the business average monthly payroll, according to prosecutors.

The false statements led Couch to qualify for larger PPP amounts than she was eligible to receive.

Ultimately, Couch received $609,687.47 in PPP funds.

Instead of using the money for a business, she instead used the cash to pay herself, her husband and other family members and buy luxury vehicles.

Couch made other false statements on the applications, including omitting that she applied for multiple PPP loans for the same business. She also did not disclose her common ownership of multiple businesses.

Ms. Couch, like far too many others, took for her own benefit money intended to support individuals and businesses suffering the devastating effects of the pandemic, Ross said.

The FBI, the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigations, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, and the Small Business Administration Office of Inspector General, investigated this case.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys J. Patrick Lamb and Joel Feil prosecuted.

The Coronavirus Aid Relief and Economic Security Act was devised to assist people struggling through difficult financial times due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and Ms. Couch took advantage of the program to purchase lavish gifts for herself and family members, stated FBI Special Agent in Charge Paul Brown, who heads the Mobile division. The 45 months imprisonment should send a clear message to anyone thinking of committing similar acts of fraud.
Orange Beach City Schools is considering whether eight books, most featuring LGBTQ characters, should be kept in libraries.

The challenged books are The Year I Stopped Trying by Katie Heaney, Fangirl by Rainbow Powell, Tomboy by Liz Prince, Rick by Alex Gino, One Life by Megan Rapinoe, Dare to Disappoint by Ozge Samanci, Bad Girls of Fashion by Jennifer Croll and Just Like Mother by Anne Heltzel, according to superintendent Randy Wilkes. According to The Alabama Political Reporter, the books were identified in December.

The first five books feature LGBTQ+ characters. Several of the books are available in the teen or juvenile sections of the Baldwin County Library Cooperatives public libraries. Just Like Mother is classified as an adult fiction novel in Publishers Weekly but isnt in the Baldwin County catalog. AL.com reached out to the books authors or publishers for comment.

When AL.com asked the school district for comment about the book challenge, an official responded, Please know that our board policy defines the process for challenged materials and we are adhering to that process.

According to the challenged materials policy in the Orange Beach City Schools board manual, school or community citizens can register concerns with a principal.

A committee of teachers, educational media specialists, parents, and other qualified personnel shall be appointed by the principal to evaluate the challenged materials and to make recommendations for any changes, the policy stated. The books are read and evaluated but only removed when the committee makes a final decision.

The committees review shall be treated objectively and in a business-like manner and shall be conducted in the best interests of students, the schools, and the community, the policy continued. Efforts shall be made to meet with citizens who register concerns to consider their objection.
Icy roadways remained a problem for parts of north Alabama on Friday as another blast of arctic air rolled into the state.

Temperatures will be on a downward trend today, according to the National Weather Service, and lows tonight into Saturday morning will be brutal  in the single digits in north Alabama and the teens and 20s elsewhere. Saturday night into Sunday morning will be just as cold if not colder, according to forecasters.

Wind chill advisories will be in effect starting tonight for parts of the state, as well as hard freeze warnings. Those will continue into Saturday night for some areas.

Saturday will be a bitterly cold day, with highs only reaching the 20s and 30s, and Saturday night into Sunday morning could be even colder, with more single-digit lows possible in north Alabama.

The National Weather Service in Huntsville warned those in north Alabama that ice could continue to be an issue on roads today.

Some light snow will continue to be possible across parts of northeast Alabama until 6 p.m., the weather service said.

Forecasters added that a very light accumulation on grassy surfaces and elevated objects may occur. However, this light snow will not further exacerbate the already dangerous travel conditions from black ice as any accumulations will be too minor.

Forecasters issued another special weather statement warning that lingering moisture from recent rainfall and recently melted snow/icepack is expected to freeze as subfreezing temperatures move into the region this morning.

This will create areas of black ice producing very icy and dangerous conditions on a number of area roadways, including some major highways through noon today, the weather service said.

Bridges and overpasses, especially those crossing the Tennessee River, are especially at risk.

There will be a big spread with highs today across Alabama. North Alabama may not make it above freezing today.

Highs in central Alabama will range from the lower 30s in the north to the upper 40s in the south. And highs in south Alabama are forecast to be in the low 50s.

Here are Fridays forecast highs:

Here are the forecast highs for Friday.NWS

But temperatures will be falling through the day as another shot of arctic air spreads southward.

Lows tonight will be brutal again, with single digits possible in north Alabama, the teens expected in central Alabama and the low 20s in south Alabama (see tonights forecast at the top of this post).

Daytime temperatures across the state on Saturday wont warm up much. Highs in north Alabama will only make it into the low 20s on Saturday. For central Alabama highs will range from the upper 20s to low 30s in the north to the upper 30s in the south. And south Alabama will have highs only reaching the low 40s.

Here is the high temperature forecast for Saturday:

Saturday's forecast high temperatures.NWS

Saturday night will be just as cold or even colder than Friday night. Lows in north Alabama will be in the single digits. Central Alabama will have lows in the teens and south Alabama will bottom out in the teens or low 20s.

Here are the lows expected from Saturday night into Sunday morning:

Here are the lows expected from Saturday night into Sunday morning.NWS

But respite from the cold is coming. The weather service says the weather pattern will flip to warm starting on Sunday, with temperatures steadily rising through next week.

Highs on Sunday will range from the 30s in north Alabama to the 40s in south Alabama:

High temperatures for Sunday.NWS

But by Wednesday highs will be in the 60s statewide, and lows will be warmer than todays highs, in the 40s and 50s.

Heres a look at what Wednesday could bring for high temperatures:

Warmer weather will reach the entire state by Wednesday.NWS

The warmer weather next week will come with increased rain chances, but so far no severe weather is expected in Alabama.

Heres a look at whats expected across Alabama by region:

NORTH ALABAMA

[6:36 AM] A reinforcing blast of cold air will move into the TN Valley later today. Dangerously low wind chills are expected overnight, and a Wind Chill Advisory is in effect from 10 PM - Noon Saturday. Frozen water on roads will continue to result in hazardous travel. #HUNwx pic.twitter.com/0BASTXTWmQ  NWS Huntsville (@NWSHuntsville) January 19, 2024

* Wind chill advisory for all of north Alabama from 10 p.m. Friday until noon Saturday. Wind chills as low as 5 to 10 below zero are expected.

CENTRAL ALABAMA

While the rain has departed, another arctic airmass is infiltrating Alabama today. Overnight lows will drop into the single digits to near 20 causing hard freeze conditions. We'll also have wind chill values at or below 0 across the north, tonight through tmw morning.  #ALwx pic.twitter.com/DknSuCTP4b  NWS Birmingham (@NWSBirmingham) January 19, 2024

* Wind chill advisory from midnight until 9 a.m. Saturday for Marion, Lamar, Fayette, Winston, Walker, Blount, Etowah, Cherokee, Calhoun, Cleburne and St. Clair counties. Wind chills as low as 5 below zero will be possible.

* Hard freeze warning from 8 p.m. Friday until noon Saturday and from 6 p.m. Saturday until noon Sunday for all of central Alabama. Temperatures as low as single digits possible in some parts of the region both nights.

SOUTH ALABAMA

Highs in the mid 40s to mid 50s today. Another very cold night tonight, with lows dropping into the 15 to 20 degree range over interior of southeast MS and southern AL, and into the mid to upper 20s further south over the coastal counties of AL and the western FL panhandle. pic.twitter.com/LTjqFp6XUx  NWS Mobile (@NWSMobile) January 19, 2024

* Wind chill advisory from midnight tonight until 9 a.m. Saturday for Choctaw, Washington, Clarke, Wilcox, Monroe, Conecuh, Butler, Crenshaw and Covington counties. Wind chills as low as 3 degrees will be possible.

* Wind chill advisory from 9 p.m. CST Friday until 9 a.m. CST Saturday for Coffee, Dale, Geneva, Henry and Houston counties.

* Hard freeze warning from midnight until 9 a.m. Saturday for Choctaw, Washington, Clarke, Wilcox, Monroe, Conecuh, Butler, Crenshaw and Covington counties.

* Hard freeze warning from 2 a.m. Saturday until 9 a.m. for Coffee, Dale, Geneva, Henry and Houston counties.

*Hard freeze warning from 9 p.m. Saturday until 9 a.m. Sunday for Choctaw, Washington, Clarke, Wilcox, Monroe, Conecuh, Butler, Crenshaw, Covington, Escambia and inland and central Mobile and Baldwin counties.
By Nam Hyun-woo

The Ministry of National Defense is seeking to conscript trans women, who were assigned as male at birth but identify as female, for supplementary service if they have not undergone more than six months of hormone therapy.

The supplementary service is a category of mandatory military service in Korea that requires all able-bodied men to serve in the military for at least 18 months or do alternative service.

The ministry said Friday that it is working to revise an enforcement rule regarding the conscription examination. The revision is now at the stage of pre-announcement, which is a grace period created to allow for the collecting of public opinions regarding a bill before the National Assembly launches a review to vote.

According to the revision, males who are suffering from gender dysphoria but have not been receiving hormone therapy regularly for six months or longer will receive a grade of 4 in a draft physical examination. Gender dysphoria refers to a conflict between the sex assigned at birth and the gender one lives as.

Those who receive grade 4 in the seven-grade evaluation are not subject to enlistment as active duty soldiers but instead, serve alternative roles for social services, such as working at local community centers.

The countrys current rule for transgender peoples military service states that those who have received gender-affirming surgery and who are legally registered as women will not be subject to the conscription examination. Those who received surgery but have not registered as women will be given a grade of 5, which exempts them from military service.

For those who did not receive surgery but are suffering from gender dysphoria, the current rules give a grade of 5 to those who have been receiving hormone therapy regularly for six months or longer.

However, others who have not been undergoing hormone therapy, for at least six months, are given a grade of 7, meaning they are unable to be graded so they are subject to regular follow-up physical examinations. This has caused complaints from those who have to undergo the follow-up examinations on a regular basis.

If the rule is revised, trans women who failed to receive regular hormone therapy have to complete a supplementary service period after finishing three weeks of basic military training at boot camp with male conscripts, most of which have no proper facilities for women.

After finishing their service, they will also have to participate in reserve forces training, alongside active duty servicemen. Due to this, civic groups argue that the revision will increase discrimination against sexual minorities within the military.

The defense ministry is reportedly pushing for the measure based on the belief that trans women could be able to complete supplementary service if they are not experiencing a severe level of gender dysphoria.

The ministry said it plans to make preparations so that trans women who qualify for supplementary service can undergo training in an environment with suitable conditions if the rules are revised.
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High marks

The state is recognizing the top 25 schools and the top 25 most-improved schools according to the states 2022-2023 school report cards, reports AL.coms Trisha Powell Crain.

The top 25 schools receive a $2,000 cash prize. The top 25 most-improved receive $8,000 each.

At the top of the list of most-improved is the Houston County Virtual Academy followed closely by Dothan City Virtual.

Scoring grades of 100 on the report card are Brookwood Forest Elementary of Mountain Brook City Schools, Liberty Park Elementary of Vestavia Hills City Schools, Loveless Academic Magnet Program High School in Montgomery County and Mountain Brook Elementary of Mountain Brook City Schools.

A dogs story

Its not every day that we do a story about a dog being adopted. But this one stands out, because this black lab/pitbull mix had been at the 2nd Chance Shelter in Boaz since June 20, 2014, reports AL.coms William Thornton.

Thats nearly 10 years of shelter living, watching families come in, select other dogs and leave.For a while she mustve felt like she was in the Alabama prison system. Wasnt I supposed to be out of this place by now?

But Maggie May finally had her day. On Dec. 20 she was adopted and left the shelter, finally, for home.

Dont over-drip

If youve been in an area of the state that has experienced freezing weather, and youve been letting your faucets drip, the Alabama Department of Environmental Management is reminding you to stop your faucet from dripping once temperatures are above freezing, reports AL.coms Leada Gore.

Seems obvious, since we all know that our pipes can handle cold water. But officials really dont want us forgetting to cut off the water whenever we can because as pipes thaw out in your area, there will be people who have pipes bursting, and thats already putting pressure on utilities trying to keep up with water demand.

We have another blast of cold in the state today and tonight, depending where you are, so dont forget to bring in your plants, pets and kids.

Remembering a sandwich-shop owner

The owner of Kool Korner Sandwiches in Vestavia Hills has passed away after quite a life, reports AL.coms Howard Koplowitz.

Ildefonso Ramirez was born in Cuba under the Batista regime. He was studying to be a doctor but left school when his dad got sick and didnt return for financial reasons. He worked as a chemist in a rayon factory for nearly 20 years, but in came Castro and it became evident that he and his family would eventually find new horizons.

He came to the states when he was nearly 50, but it turns out he was just getting started in life. He went into the grocery business and ended up in Midtown Atlanta operating Kool Korner Grocery, although it was his Cuban sandwiches that really created a buzz. After his wife Lucia died, he moved to the Birmingham area to be closer to his son, and he opened Kool Korner Sandwiches.

Kool Korner announced his passing on Thursday. Heres a piece of good news if you swear by Ramirezs Cubano: He did plan to put his secret marinade recipe in his will for his son to finally know it.

Ildefonso Ramirez was 100 years old.

Courtesy of Robert Minchew

Robert Minchew shared this game-cam photo from where he hunts deer near Graysville. It shows a bobcat passing through earlier this week, and it appears to be, well, one hoss of a bobcat.

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Born on this date

In 1974 former NFL offensive lineman Walter Jones of Aliceville.

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An Alabama volunteer fire chief was charged with fraudulently using his squads credit card after prosecutors claimed he made nearly $1,900 in unauthorized purchases.

Marengo County Fire Rescue Squad Chief Denson Denny Baynham Jr., 53, of Linden, was also charged with first-degree theft of property, court records showed.

Baynham allegedly used the credit card issued to the squad on Dec. 1, according to the complaint filed in Marengo County District Court.

According to the complaint on the theft of property charge, Baynham made unauthorized purchases totaling $1,880.

Further information on the allegations were not immediately available.

Aside from being a volunteer fire chief, Baynham is also a tech installer and works as a solid waste officer for the county, according to his Facebook page.










English News China's Nanchang carves out remarkable development path with LED technology

Alwihda Info | Par pd - 19 Janvier 2024



Development Zone will prioritize the development of basic materials, chip packaging, and terminal applications. Besides, other districts and counties will focus on developing supporting links in the industrial chain. The goal is to expand Nanchang's LED industry scale to 50 billion yuan by 2026.

By Zhu Lei, People's Daily About one out of every three smartphones worldwide utilizes silicon substrate-based LED for its phone flash. Similarly, for every three flashlights in the world, there is one with such technology.



In fact, many cities in China have extensively adopted silicon substrate-based LED chips for road and tunnel lighting.



Silicon substrate-based LED has become one of the three major technology pathways in the global LED industry. Nanchang, capital of east China's Jiangxi province, is exactly where this technology started.



LED stands for light-emitting diode, which is a third-generation semiconductor light source. As an energy-saving and environmentally friendly cold light source, it is a fundamental component of the electronic information industry and has a wide range of applications.



At the beginning of this century, the common substrates for blue LED chips were sapphire or silicon carbide, and the two technical routes have been industrialized. However, the dominance of these technologies was largely held by developers outside China.



"At that time, we aimed at the unpopular technology direction of growing gallium nitride-based materials on silicon substrates," said Jiang Fengyi, a professor from Nanchang University. According to him, this was a path that had been almost abandoned by foreign developers.



In the production of LEDs, the growth of upstream materials to a large extent decides the LED color, brightness, lifespan, and other indicators. To produce LED chips, it is necessary to grow a gallium nitride light-emitting film on a substrate.



However, there are serious thermal and lattice mismatches between silicon and gallium nitride materials. Researchers around the world had not yet found an ideal solution despite years of efforts.



On Nov. 27, 2003, Jiang and his team embarked on a challenging exploration. In 2004, After more than 4,000 trial and error attempts, Jiang's team became the first in the world to overcome this key technical difficulty.



"This will be a brand new arena," said Wang Min, who worked together with Jiang. Wang keenly sensed the potential transformative impact this technology could bring to the industry.



Since then, Wang and Jiang co-founded tech firm LatticePower to promote the industrialization of silicon substrate-based blue LEDs. In October 2007, LatticePower officially settled in the Nanchang National High-tech Industrial Development Zone.



After years of development, in 2012, the company successfully achieved mass production of high-power LED chips on silicon substrates, which was praised as an annual new event by the International SSL Alliance.



In order to better open up the market, Wang decided to go for vertical integration - packaging LatticePower's own LEDs. In 2014, a ceramic packaging line was officially launched, enabling the mass production of its own "light bulbs.



Since then, LatticePower's LED products have made great strides with higher cost-effectiveness, eventually capturing around 30 percent of the global mobile lighting market. LatticePower Semiconductor Corporation, a subsidiary of LatticePower, boasts a monthly production capacity of up to 100 million units.



In the product showcase area of LatticePower, there are nearly 100 types of products on display, including large LED high-definition screens, streetlights, and smartphone flashlights. Today, LatticePower has grown into a leading semiconductor optoelectronic device manufacturer, offering products that span the entire industrial chain to customers worldwide.



In addition to the packaging line, LatticePower is continuously expanding its industrial ecosystem. With strong government support, it has attracted well-known venture capital funds such as GSR United Capital to establish sub-funds in Nanchang, successively incubated Lattice Lighting and Lattice Grand Technology, and introduced companies such as ShineOn and Kingsoon to promote the ecosystem of the silicon substrate-based LED industry.



Relying on silicon substrate-based LED technology, Nanchang has carved out a path of independent innovation in the global LED industry. Today, the technology continues to produce world-class innovative achievements such as yellow and red LEDs.



Driven by such innovation and the support of relevant government policies, Nanchang has established a complete LED industry chain, becoming the largest production base for high-power LED light sources in China.



In 2019, a 1-billion-yuan ($140.58 million) fund was established to amplify the application advantages of silicon substrate-based LED technology, which attracted a number of leading domestic LED companies such as Shenzhen MTC, Xiamen Changelight, and Hongli Zhihui Group. In 2022, the LED industry in Nanchang achieved a revenue of 21.2 billion yuan.



According to the plan, the city will focus on the manufacturing and packaging of LED chips to build itself into a "light valley." In particular, the Nanchang National High-tech Industrial Development Zone will concentrate on building a complete LED industry chain cluster with a focus on silicon substrate-based LEDs, and the Nanchang Economic and Technological Development Zone will prioritize the development of basic materials, chip packaging, and terminal applications. Besides, other districts and counties will focus on developing supporting links in the industrial chain. The goal is to expand Nanchang's LED industry scale to 50 billion yuan by 2026.



Dans la meme rubrique : < > China's cruise economy embraces rapid development China still considered favorable investment destination by foreign companies China will remain staunch force for peace, stability, progress of world Pour toute information, contactez-nous au : +(235) 99267667 ; 62883277 ; 66267667 (Bureau N'Djamena)










English News RCEP creates new opportunities for regional economic development

Alwihda Info | Par pd - 18 Janvier 2024



Thanks to the customs clearance facilitation brought by the RCEP, in the first 11 months of 2023, China's imports of fresh durians from RCEP member countries such as Thailand and Vietnam totaled 46.61 billion yuan, which was 1.7 times that of the whole-year figure of 2021 before the agreement took effect. The continuous growth of China's trade in agricultural products with ASEAN is a reflection of the positive effects of tariff reduction and trade facilitation measures covered by the RCEP.

By Zhang Jinruo, Cao Shiyun, Fan Fan, People's Daily Recently, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) celebrated the second anniversary of its entry into force. As a milestone achievement in the economic integration of the Asia-Pacific region, the RCEP serves as a vivid example of regional countries sharing development opportunities.



Over the past two years, regional trade costs have significantly decreased, and the industrial and supply chains have become more closely linked, benefiting an expanding range of people.



The RCEP has continued to drive the deepening of regional economic and trade cooperation, injecting strong momentum into the region's economic integration and development.



The RCEP encompasses various aspects of trade and investment liberalization and facilitation, with a key focus on tariff reduction and elimination. Over 90 percent of goods traded within the region will gradually enjoy zero tariffs.



PT Sany Perkasa is a joint venture between China's leading heavy-equipment manufacturer Sany Heavy Industry and an Indonesian company. It sells large machinery such as excavators and wheel loaders in Indonesia.



Zhang Zhaoqiang, general manager of PT Sany Perkasa, noted that after the implementation of the RCEP, the tariffs on wide-body trucks and dump trucks from China were reduced from 10 percent to zero.



"With the decrease in costs, our products have gained more competitiveness, allowing us to provide greater benefits to our customers," Zhang told People's Daily.



The total population, sum of gross domestic product and trade in goods of RCEP member countries all account for about 30 percent of the global share.



Chinese Ambassador to ASEAN Hou Yanqi noted that through unified tariff commitments, rules of origin, trade and investment liberalization and facilitation, and other trade rules, the RCEP has maximized the integration of the 27 trade arrangements and 44 investment agreements of its regional members. This effectively promotes the development of the multilateral trading system and brings tangible benefits to the participating parties, Hou added.



According to a report issued by the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade in September, 2023, the RCEP has played a significant role in promoting regional trade cooperation.



As of June 2023, the issuance volume of certificates of origin under the RCEP framework registered in China increased by over 25 percent year-on-year, significantly higher than the growth rate of international trade in the same period.



According to a report by Thai newspaper The Universal Daily News, the trade volume between Thailand and other RCEP members reached $327.28 billion in 2022, accounting for 55.45 percent of Thailand's total foreign trade.



Cambodia has also released encouraging data. From January to November 2023, Cambodia's trade volume with other RCEP members exceeded $26.5 billion, representing 61 percent of the country's total trade. The value of goods exported from Cambodia to other RCEP members increased by 27.29 percent from a year ago.



Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet said that facing uncertainties in global development, the RCEP holds significant importance in boosting countries' confidence in the multilateral trading system, promoting economic recovery, and achieving mutual benefits and win-win outcomes.



China was the first to complete the ratification process and submit its RCEP ratification document. It has implemented RCEP rules with high quality, fully delivered on its opening commitments and obligations under the agreement, and continuously pushed for tariff reductions and exemptions.



Upholding the vision of open development, China has promoted the high-quality implementation of RCEP.



"As the largest economy in the RCEP, China has benefited from its entry into force, and has also been an important contributor to RCEP cooperation," said Yuan Bo, director of the Institute of Asian Studies at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation under the Ministry of Commerce.



"China has played a positive role in promoting regional trade, investment and economic growth," she noted.



Since the implementation of the RCEP two years ago, China's trade in intermediate goods with other RCEP member countries has remained at a high level of 8 trillion yuan ($1.12 trillion).



Statistics show that in 2022, China's imports and exports with other RCEP member countries increased by 7.5 percent year-on-year. In the first 11 months of 2023, China's trade in intermediate goods with Cambodia and Laos reached 65.78 billion yuan and 29.55 billion yuan, respectively, up 2.4 percent and 35.8 percent from a year ago.



Immanuel Lingga, a senior official with Indonesia's Ministry of Trade, believed that China's implementation of the RCEP will enhance the resilience of regional and global value chains, given China's crucial position in the global value chain. The official said this will contribute to the steady progress of the regional economy.



Thanks to the customs clearance facilitation brought by the RCEP, in the first 11 months of 2023, China's imports of fresh durians from RCEP member countries such as Thailand and Vietnam totaled 46.61 billion yuan, which was 1.7 times that of the whole-year figure of 2021 before the agreement took effect. The continuous growth of China's trade in agricultural products with ASEAN is a reflection of the positive effects of tariff reduction and trade facilitation measures covered by the RCEP.



Over the past two years, China has worked together with relevant parties to comprehensively and effectively implement the RCEP, promoting the development of trade in goods, ensuring the effective implementation of preferential rules of origin, implementing customs procedures and trade facilitation rules with high standards, and improving the level of opening up in service trade, Hou noted.



She said these efforts have helped propel the regional economy forward against headwinds and unleash more dividends from the world's largest free trade area.



Dans la meme rubrique : < > China's cruise economy embraces rapid development China still considered favorable investment destination by foreign companies China will remain staunch force for peace, stability, progress of world Pour toute information, contactez-nous au : +(235) 99267667 ; 62883277 ; 66267667 (Bureau N'Djamena)
On January 13, I attended the March for Gaza in Washington, D.C. I wondered, who are these protesters marching in solidarity with Hamas? Hamas is the terrorist group responsible for the October 7 massacre of more than 1,200 innocent Israelis, including children, and the capture of 240 hostages, including Americans. Surely some of these protesters would also demand through their megaphones that Hamas, free the hostages now! or that Hamas surrender now! As Israel stated many times, there would be a ceasefire if Hamas released the hostages.

It was my first event after ankle surgery. I went alone, so I needed to keep a low profile. Several blocks away from Freedom Square, where the protest began, I heard the chant ceasefire now! in the background.

I came across about 50 people parading in the street, led by a well nourished American black woman with long dreadlocks. From her megaphone she belted out, From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free! Here in the nations capital, I heard a call for the genocide of the Jewish people.

What intrigued me at the march were two distinctive LGBT flags flapping in the breeze among the screaming protesters. I thought, Dont these marchers understand that homosexuality is a capital crime under sharia law, and Palestinians who openly express their gayness are often killed? Yet, in Israel, the very country they accuse of genocide, homosexuality is not only legal, but openly embraced. In fact, many LGBT Palestinians have sought asylum in Israel. As I pondered the irony, I noticed that the marchers, with their professionally made signs, changed their loud mantra to intifada revolution, a call for violent revolution and overthrow of Jewish Israel.

Closer to Freedom Square, the crowds thickened to an estimated total of around 10,000. There were throngs of Muslim immigrants from all over the world. Many brought their families, and I tried to avoid bumping into their baby strollers. Food trucks lined the streets, with the protesters using a nearby park as a giant picnic ground. The number of young women at the march surprised me. I talked with one Afghani girl, about 20 years old, who had no qualms calling for a Jewish genocide. Later, I met Aisha, a university student from Morocco, holding a sign that said, Abandon Biden. She apparently had no problem criticizing President Biden, yet if she was in Morocco with a sign that said, Abandon King Muhammad VI, she would be arrested and sentenced to many years in prison. Another woman from Russia held a sign that said Sugardaddy Bundy AKA Biden. Stop giving Israel my money. When I asked her how she found out about the march, she said, No English. Impressive for a Russian Immigrant, who doesnt speak English, to be so knowledgeable about the 1970s American serial killer Ted Bundy.

Protests are like the weather; they can change quickly. One minute, I was in a group of families and felt safe. Another minute, the crowds pressed into me, and I couldnt move. I became concerned about my ankle, but then realized that this was the least of my problems. I heard a large group of young men shouting, Allahu akbar! Several keffiyeh scarfwearing men had climbed atop a bus stop platform, also shouting, Allahu akbar!

My goal was to get out of there as quickly as possible. I gently pushed through the crowd down the street, ultimately standing next to a young clean-shaven Palestinian man named Khaled. Khaled told me that he was from the Jenin Refugee Camp. I said, Oh, wow, you guys are tough. He looked surprised and said, You know about Jenin? Followers of Israeli news will know that the crowded Jenin refugee camp is a hotbed of terrorist activity, frequently subject to Israel raids. What he said next amazed me: I was born in the U.S., but my parents moved us back to Jenin. I thought: Isnt Jenin a refugee camp? Why on Earth would a Palestinian family living a life of freedom in America willingly move their children back to a terrorist-filled refugee camp? The media programmed me to believe that refugee camps were places people wanted to leave and not go back.

As we continued talking, I asked if there were gays living in Jenin. Oh, no, thats not allowed, he quickly responded, shaking his head. You definitely wouldnt want to advertise that youre gay in Palestine. The young man may have said this because he remembered what happened to Ahmed Abu Marhia, whose severed head was found on the side of the road in the West Bank after Islamists murdered him for being gay in 2022.

As I walked to a less crowded corner of the protest area, I met Tom, a Caucasian man from Seattle with long curly hair. Tom stood next to a table with signs and brochures representing the International Socialist Alternative, a radical socialist organization, calling for the end of capitalism. Tom rambled on about how capitalism is bad and how the U.S. and Europe should embrace Marxism and enforce a complete embargo on all ships coming or going from Israel. I asked Tom, Then how will the Israelis get their food to eat? Tom coldly replied, Well, thats a good question, isnt it? Tom also told me that he moved to D.C. to be an environmental consultant with the EPA, focused on environmental justice issues. As I began to walk away, Tom assured me that he would never work directly for a colonial government like the U.S.

The protest was a display of the failures of the Obama/Biden administrations immigration policies  policies that have opened our doors to virulently antisemitic immigrants from the Islamic world who have no intention of embracing our freedoms, but instead insist that Americans embrace Islam.

On the March for Gaza website was a list of endorsing organizations, including the Israel/Palestine Network of the Presbyterian Church (PCUSA), along with a litany of radical Marxist and Islamic Organizations. In less than an hour, I saw protesters screaming for the annihilation of Israel, other protesters calling for revolution to overthrow the Israeli government for defending their people. Yet in the midst of all that hatred, not once did I hear anyone say free the hostages, or overthrow Hamas. The question that lingered in my mind was, Why would a mainline Christian denomination actively support Marxist and antisemitic organizations that call for genocide and the destruction of our capitalist society? The red-green alliance between Western Leftists and Middle Eastern Islamists is alive and well.

The next morning, I read that, the night before, White House staff had to be moved after pro-Palestinian rioters damaged anti-scale fencing and hurled objects at the police. This comes just two months after rioters vandalized the White House fence and spraypainted graffiti reading, Death to Israel and Glory to our martyrs on buildings near the Israeli Embassy. Yet never once has anyone in the administration said a word about insurrection.

Hugh Iwanicki is a former Foreign Service officer and expert on Middle Eastern affairs. He is the author of Shock & Alarm: What It Was Really Like at the U.S. Embassy in Iraq. Hugh brings attention to the plight of persecuted Christians throughout the world and can be reached at iwanickih@yahoo.com.

Image: scottgunn via Flickr, CC BY-NC 2.0.
There are four major legal actions underway attempting to drive Donald Trump off ballots and into jail. When we parse the left-wing legalese and talking points, they translate into one thing: The Left is petrified that Donald Trump will win, and, when he wins, hell go through the DC Establishment like a firestorm. In a manner of speaking, all that will remain will bear a strong resemblance to the town of Lahaina. Rather than walking through hundreds of pages of Court decisions, legal pleadings, and law review articles, its time for the Final Four Countdown!

Number Four:

Ive dealt with the Colorado case at length here and here, so Ill let you read it for yourself. The short answer is to expect a 9-0 ruling in favor of The Donald from the Supreme Court. You cant be guilty of a crime that cant be defined, such as insurrection, when it is removed from the clash of armies that gave rise to the 14th Amendment. Defining the crime and prescribing how to handle it is reserved to Congress in Section 5, so Colorado doesnt get a say. (Maine is SOL as well.) And finally, the President is not an officer of the US. The grammar of the Constitution expressly defines officers as people appointed by the President. Section 3 of the 14th Amendment doesnt apply to him.

Number Three:

The Georgia case is a Flagrant 2 foul. The basis for this assessment is rather simple. Everything Trump is accused of doing was part of his duty under the Take Care clause of the Constitution. As Paul Harvey used to say, Now for the rest of the story. It will be a bit instering, as my brother says.

Fulton County DA Fani Willis was required by Georgia law to present her plan to hire special prosecutor Nathan Wade to the Board of County Commissioners for approval. She did not. She hired her lover, an attorney to be sure, but still a private citizen, contrary to law. This legally excludes him from participating in Grand Jury proceedings, discovery depositions, and the like. We might be inclined to excuse him from knowing her duties, but he failed in his own by not filing his oath paperwork with the Court in a timely manner. Somehow, he remembered that simple task a month after the Trump indictment dropped.

Because SP Wade was not lawfully appointed, everything he touched is tainted. Its like a clinker in the punch bowl. Theres no way to clean things up. It must be thrown out. Legally, its an irreparable defect. Every document, interview, and indictment that Wade touched must be excluded from any trial, ever. Since thats the whole case, theres nothing left for another prosecutor to use against 45.

Number Two:

This is going to be a case of deja vu all over again. In the J6 case brought by Jack Smith, former Attorney General Ed Meese and law professors Steven Calabresi and Gary Lawson filed an amicus curiae (friend of the Court) brief detailing a major defect thats almost a carbon copy of the Georgia case. Not only that, the DC Court asked questions related to the brief, so they were interested. Ill let the amici speak for themselves.

Jack Smith does not have the authority to conduct the underlying prosecution. Those actions can be taken only by persons properly appointed as federal officers to properly created federal offices. Neither Smith nor the position of Special Counsel under which he purportedly acts meets those criteria.

Jack Smith is, like Nathan Wade, an attorney. At the time of his appointment, he was a private citizen. Unlike the Georgia case, AG Garland did not need to present Smiths appointment for approval. Rather, he needed Congress to pass a law creating Smiths office. Then, the President would have to nominate him for that office. Without either of those steps, Jack Smith is not an officer of the federal government. An alternate would be for the new law to allow the Attorney General to make the appointment, but that didnt happen either.

Under current law, all the AG could do would be to task a sitting US Attorney with the job, such as with John Huber and John Durham. Instead, Merrick Garland did a Fani Willis and skated around the Constitution. Now, the amicus brief has him by the short hairs.

Just to complete the hat trick, Smith made the same stupid mistake that Wade made in Georgia. His paperwork was completed after the Mar-a-Lago indictment was made public under his signature. Just like Wade, everything Smith touched in the J6 case is now Fruit of the Poisonous Tree and cannot be lawfully used against the President. As the amici conclude:

Not properly clothed in the authority of the federal government, Smith is a modern example of the naked emperor. Illegally appointed, he has no more authority to represent the United States in this Court, or in the underlying prosecution, than Tom Brady, Warren Buffett, or Beyonce. That fact is sufficient to sink Smiths prosecution of Defendant and the Court should vacate the decision below and order that the prosecution be dismissed.

And now for Number One:

You can be forgiven if this is a bit anticlimactic because the outcome is now so obvious. Jack Smith wasnt involved in the Mar-a-Lago raid, so the defects in that warrant may have to be tackled a different way. But he did convene the Grand Jury, which a private citizen like Smith has no lawful power to do. He had his fingers in a pot full of depositions, evidence analysis, and so on, tainting the lot. As we noted earlier, this taint cant be washed off, painted over, or in any way purified. Everything he touched must be thrown out.

The fun part of this is that Trumps lawyers will almost certainly make the appropriate motions within a couple of days after Smith gets canned by the DC Court of Appeals. Jack Smith will then have no standing to even appear in court in Florida to defend himself, having been kicked to the curb as a scofflaw. Judge Cannon will have a strong basis for summary dismissal of the Mar-a-Lago case and a protective order against the use of any of the evidence in any further prosecution.

How sweet it is!

Image: Donald Trump (edited) by Gage Skidmore. CC BY-SA 2.0.

Ted Noel MD is a retired Anesthesiologist/Intensivist who podcasts and posts on social media as DoctorTed and @vidzette. His Doctor Teds Prescription podcasts are available on many podcast channels.
Spanning across generations, Americans have done extraordinary things during uncertain times. My fathers genealogy is rich with such memoirs. My great (x6) grandfather was a colonel in the Berkshire Milita during the Revolutionary War. My great (x5) grandmother was part of the runaway scrape when the Alamo fell. During the Civil War, my great, great grandfather fought for the Union in the Ohio Infantry, 81st Regiment. My grandfathers long service in the Army included WWII, and my father completed over 20 years in the Army. Perhaps the remnants of their DNA combined with growing up on military bases contributed to my deep commitment to our Constitution, our heritage, and the people who sacrificed so much.

Consequently, I am angered that Americans are being conditioned to loathe our shared history and the very people who made our modern country possible. Even our founding documents have been labeled potentially harmful. Make no mistake: these actions are happening because of unscrupulous politicians, bureaucrats, and others who are intentionally destroying our nations heritage to obtain greater power, control, and wealth.

In place of the constitutional republic gifted to us by our founders, these charlatans promote their democracy. Even though our founders rejected direct democracy because it leads to tyranny through mob rule, our elites have managed to convince Americans otherwise. As a result, in pursuit of their democracy, our political class has amassed unsustainable national debt and created an enormous welfare state. While declaring unity, our democracy cheerleaders encourage racial animosity. One way is by falsely claiming white supremacy as our countrys greatest threat. To combat their perceived scourge of heritage America, they forced DIE and other race-based initiatives. They supported violent aggression by BLM and ANTIFA while vigorously pursuing and prosecuting Trump-supporters. At the same time, they hid evidence of J6 defendants innocence and conspired to persecute their political rivals. They improperly used government agencies to monitor Catholic churches and parental groups. They used federal money to coerce social media to inhibit free speech and abused their government positions to intimidate much of the public into taking an experimental injection. They justified their unconstitutional actions under the banner of promoting their democracy. Furthermore, in defending their democracy, they weaponized government by asserting national security.

Their democracy has also advanced the invasion taking place at our southern border. In F.Y. 2023, an astonishing 2.5 million illegals, that we know about, illegally gained entry to the U.S. Using various means, the Biden administration enabled the assault. One way was refusing to uphold its constitutional duty to protect states from invasion as required by Article IV, section 4 of the U.S. Constitution and U.S. immigration laws. For example, at Eagle Pass, Texas, the Biden administration directed the U.S. Border Patrol to cut razor wire so that illegals could enter. Absent help from the federal government, and because Article 1, section 10 of the Constitution gives states power to protect themselves if invaded, Texas gave its police authority to arrest illegals. In response, the Biden administration sued Texas for doing the job Biden refuses to do.

Additionally, the Biden administration made illegal immigration an economic boom for the invaders while shifting costs onto U.S. taxpayers. Unlike previous generations of legal immigrants required to be financially independent, current illegals get massive state and federal aid. The Biden administration even diverted Department of Veterans Affairs heath care resources to aid illegals. Moreover, through various federal departments, the Biden administration gave billions in taxpayer funds to non-government organizations (NGOs) to provide illegals free housing, food, medical care, hotels, and airfare.

Furthermore, in violation of the 13th Amendment, the Biden administrations open border policies have facilitated modern-day slavery, where approximately 60% of unaccompanied children crossing our border are exploited by cartels and used in child pornography, drug-trafficking, and worse. Moreover, complex international syndicates use these children to get single adult males through Border Patrol thanks to a Biden policy that puts pressure on border agents to release, within 72 hours of apprehension , families, including adult males with young children. Once released into the U.S., these children are smuggled back across the border to be repurposed for further trafficking. Despite these known problems, the Biden administration ended a Trump-era pilot program that did DNA testing of children with adults crossing the border illegally. It was reported that approximately 30 percent of these children were not related to the adults accompanying them.

Even illegals from countries hostile to U.S. interests get help from Bidens people. For example, the administration lowered the vetting process for illegal Chinese aliens, resulting in an explosion of wealthy Chinese men invading our border. Additionally, under the Biden administration, illegals are allowed to board U.S. aircraft without proper identification, something denied to everyone else. Now we learn that DHS will give illegals U.S.-issued IDs even though many have no official documentation. Despite confirmation from the government that terrorists are among these illegals, the administration continues to stonewall efforts to stop the invasion. Giving aid to Americas enemies is considered treason under Article III, sec. 3 of the U.S. Constitution.

While Bidens democracy also includes killing unborn babies on demand, dismantling 2nd amendment rights, transferring student debts to taxpayers, and persecuting his enemies, our leaders merely spew poppycock and act like pompous peacocks before the cameras to avoid stopping the carnage. Therefore, if our constitutional republic is to be preserved, ordinary Americans must step up to safeguard our foundational documents and history from those who are distorting or removing it. Because government has been weaponized, even speaking out is risky. Nevertheless, we must not be afraid to counter their lies with facts, particularly among the youth. Most of all, we must not be ashamed of or apologize for our ancestors legacy. Rather, in response to their incessant hate of heritage America, put on the full armor of God and emulate Esther of the Bible, who stood firm against a powerful government employee devising evil laws to eliminate his enemies. For such a time as this, we too must hold firm against those that want to replace our constitutional republic with tyranny in the guise of their democracy.



81st Ohio Infantry Regiment.



My grandfathers early military picture sometime in the 1920s.



My father in the1960s.
The widespread pro-Hamas demonstrations, particularly at elite universities, has, ironically, had a positive impact by alerting Americans to the ideological rot infecting higher education. They now realize that the slogan Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity (DIE) is not just the latest black civil rights campaign; rather, it is a race-based ideology that demonizes white civilization. Abolishing whiteness means ending the colorblind rule of law, abolishing the merit principle, eliminating constitutionally-protected rights together with limited government and one-person-one-vote democracy, and the economic freedom and all the rest that has made America, America. Champions of DIE envision a race-based utopia of group, not individual rights, where costs and benefits are decided by all-powerful officials based on ones status as a member of an oppressed group.

As the diversity office at Johns Hopkins hospital put it, White people, able-bodied people, heterosexuals, cisgender people, males, Christians, middle or owning class people, middle-aged people, and English-speaking people, all enjoy privilege. In this utopia, a disabled black trans lesbian would go to the head of the line for admission to MIT, and white males from an affluent family to the back. This is a transformational revolution that redefines family, what is normal sex, crime, how laws are enforced, and the values that guide civilized life.

DIE has infiltrated American institutions. Those countless campus rallies demanding the genocide of Jews in Israel, exposed only a part of how higher education has been radicalized; the DIE presence on campus is substantial. According to a 2021 Heritage Foundation report, the average university has 45 people whose jobs directly promote DIE, and there were 3.4 DIE administrators for every 100 tenure-track professors on the average campus, a bureaucracy even larger than the average universitys history department.

Meanwhile, the U.S. military is experiencing major problems attracting new recruits, and this shortfall is largely due to less interest among whites. In 2018, 56% of all enlistees were white but in 2023, this figure had fallen to 44% and much of this decline has been attributed to the militarys current anti-racism indoctrination which, in effect, is just anti-whiteness. Strangely Boeing, a major defense contractor, funds free DIE video workshops for every public school in Arizona.

The DIE mentality permeates the federal government, even institutions that design nuclear weapons like Sandia National Laboratories. In 2019, all white males at Sandia were required to take a three day reeducation program to root out their white privilege and white male culture (that included their hard work ethic). These nuclear scientists were often humiliated and degraded solely due to their skin color (cited in Christopher Rufos book, p. 59). And the DIE mania in government is growing stronger thanks to Joe Bidens policies.

Equally shocking, the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA), the agency responsible for aviation safety, has likewise embraced the DIE agenda. In their words, Because diversity is so critical, FAA actively supports and engages in a variety of associations, programs, coalitions and initiatives to support and accommodate employees from diverse communities and backgrounds. FAAs diversity was recently broadened to include the FAA hiring those with severe intellectual disabilities. These deficiencies include  hearing, vision, missing extremities, partial paralysis, complete paralysis, epilepsy, severe intellectual disability, psychiatric disability and dwarfism. Note that severe mental deficiency is clinically defined as a person with a mental age between 3 and 6. What will such a person do at the FAA to make American skies safer?

DIEs accomplishments are staggering, but now there is pushback. Racial preferences trumping merit are finally being recognized as illegal according to the U.S. Constitution, and federal and state law. Many high profile corporations that once energetically embraced the DIE agenda are cutting back, rather than face costly litigation. The economic slowdown has likewise motivated corporations to cut DIE positions. Even colleges, long the bastion of DIE, are beginning to remove specific diversity requirements from their job postings. The tech industry, famous for its liberal politics, is losing its enthusiasm for diversity despite the high-sounding rhetoric. Particularly energetic in the battle is America First Legal headed by former Trump appointee Stephen Miller who regularly appears on Fox to recount his successful lawsuits.

Opposition is also being expressed at the state level with bans, or proposed bans, ranging from what can be taught in K-12 and state-funded colleges, to state agency hiring. Arizonas wording is typical: Proposed legislation would prohibit public entities from requiring employees to engage in a diversity, equity and inclusion program, spending public funds on DEI programs, contracting with a company that participates in a diversity, equity and inclusion program, conducting a DEI program, or hiring employees dedicated to DEI programs. In many GOP-dominated states, attorneys general are pressuring firms to drop anything that discriminates against whites. Particularly important is that private companies often have contracts with state agencies, and if state agencies ban DIE, contracting firms may be liable for damages, so eliminating DIE programs shields the private firm.

Despite this growing pushback, left unsaid is an awkward question regarding undoing DIE. What happens to all those functionaries, mostly black, whose careers are totally dependent on advancing the DIE agenda? They range from grade school diversity assistant principals, to highly paid Ivy League deans. The University of Michigan employs some 500+ of them, and what happens if they are all fired?

Workers deemed obsolete is a familiar economic problemwhat did Pony Express riders do when the railroad delivered the mail? Many in universities can recall all the secretaries, before professors switched to word-processing software. In the case of the DIE bureaucracy, some of their essential duties can just be assigned to other departments lacking the toxic DIE ideology.

What makes this situation so perplexing is its clear-cut racial components. The outrage would be immense if tens of thousands of middle-class blacks are suddenly unemployed. What could a hypothetical well-paid, 50-year-old ex-Yale Dean of Inclusion do in the private sector when her job vanishes?

One plausible possibility is switching over to government jobs with minimal policy impact. After all, government payrolls seem to expand endlessly, often with few or no job responsibilities, and new hires can easily be paid for via fresh taxes. Our 50-year-old ex-Yale Dean of Inclusion now becomes an FAA recruiter to write brochures targeting under-represented populations without any expectation of succeeding. A classic solution to dealing with the unemployableput them on the public payroll with minimal tasks.

This is a costly solution, but it could be far worse. At least the former Yale dean no longer meddles in Physics Departments employment decisions, or insists that physics courses be less white.

As economists say, life is about trade-offs, and when we consider the damage that DIE ideologues have inflicted on America, the cost may be justified. The private sector economic benefits would also be immense, and the military would meet its recruitment goals. And eventually, these ex-DIE experts will retire, and their positions will go unfilled. Not a perfect solution to our DIE tribulations, but matters can be far worse. Do we really want another generation of college students absorbing racist nonsense or have FAA hiring air traffic controllers according to their sexual preferences?

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Its easier to complain about a problem rather than work towards an active solution.

Imagine how much crime would have been prevented if President Joe Biden just knuckled down and worked with Congress on a budget plan that would give them the funds for proper mental health care and necessary gear to do their job. But nope, lets keep pointing those fingers.

It seems to be a common issue these days -- especially when it comes to the ongoing migrant crisis.

In a recent interview with Fox News, Chicago mayor Brandon Johnson -- a Democrat -- took the time to complain about Texas governor Greg Abbott shipping migrants to his state.

He noted how this puts a tremendous burden on (Johnson) and other Democrat mayors, I might add, many Black mayors have been the focal of this.

So lets put this into perspective. Johnson, instead of actually taking responsibility and doing his part in an effort to slow down this migrant crisis, actually took to the airwaves and made this about race?

This isnt a race thing. Never was. This is a matter of trying to resolve whats happening with ongoing migrants coming into our country. But rather than make an effort to make your city safe, you go on television and insist that the governor of another state  across the country, might I add -- is the problem.

Republicans in Florida and Texas have been dealing with it for the longest time. Its not a matter of sending them to other states out of spite. Its to show just how bad the problem has gotten. It is everyones problem in the United States.

This comes on the heels of New York City mayor Eric Adams proceeding to charge 17 charter bus companies for transporting migrants from Texas, in a lawsuit valued at $700 million.

Thats a tone-deaf move as well. Again, it shows zero effort in resolving the migrant crisis, and instead puts Adams into the same position as Johnson -- spending more time complaining instead of knuckling down.

Not to mention that Adams literally put a freeze on hiring any more officers for the New York Police Department while the migrant crisis goes on. Pardon me, but did it ever come to mind that more officers could actually help in dealing with these migrants?! Thats like stopping a Baskin Robbins from hiring people to scoop the ice cream, and let it just sit there and melt away.

Anyway, back to Johnson. He added, (Abbott) is attacking democratically-run cities, and particularly cities that are being led by Black leaders or leaders of color. This is unconscionable. I mean, its a very raggedy approach. And quite frankly, not only is it reckless and raggedy, but it is evil-spirited.

Once more with the blame game. Again, Abbott, along with other Republicans, are trying to show others just how bad it is. Its not a matter of color, its not a matter of stature, its not a matter of being raggedy or evil-spirited. Its trying to show how bad the problem is so we can do something about it.

Biden still doesnt get it. Mayorkas doesnt get it either, which is why Republicans are working in an effort to get him removed from his position. And now these Democrat mayors would rather go after anyone else instead of actually getting something figured out.

Ive got a suggestion. Effort. Try it.

Ive put my effort into my job for years and, as a result, InVest USA was born, where I actually help my brethren in blue to stay protected. I make an effort every day to push for a better country, rather than sit here and complain about something -- especially when it comes to pointing to an issue that has absolutely nothing to do with the conversation.

For 2024, we should all try a little harder. Lets find a solution to this migrant problem and get our country back to the way it was.

Because if we keep on talking, the problem will just get worse, and soon itll turn to even more blame. Just get to work already.

Michael Letts is the Founder, President, and CEO of InVest USA, a national grassroots non-profit organization that is helping hundreds of communities provide thousands of bulletproof vests for their police forces through educational, public relations, sponsorship, and fundraising programs. He also has over 30 years of law enforcement experience under his belt, hence his pro-police stance for his brothers and sisters in blue. Those interested in learning more about Letts can visit his official website.

Image: Freerange Stock -- Splitshire
A recent Fox News opinion article (Why Californicating the United States isnt going well) instantly sent up warning flares for me, while simultaneously bringing back fond memories of graduate school. We lived in Corvallis, Oregon from 1970 to 1974, and the bumper sticker observed far more frequently than any other back then was, Dont Californicate Oregon.

So, why the warning flares about it now?

Because, Dont Californicate Oregon was winning when we were there, but it failed, big time, at some point after that well, at least in the highly populated areas west of the Cascade Mountains. Today, that region has been Californicated to the max (a wazoo-related metaphor, while relevant here, might be deemed excessive). Either way, the remainder of the state wants to secede and merge with Idaho to escape the same fate.

Sure, I get the loss of population argument in the Fox story as the proposed basis for why Californicating hasnt been going well. However, it didnt seem to be going well in Oregon in the early 70s either when Tom McCall was governor. McCall was a Republican who got things done (perhaps the last governor there that did) and he came across like a lumberjacka flannel shirt wearing, outdoor working guyeven though he had been a TV newsman prior to winning the governorship.

Importantly, though, during McCalls terms as governor, Californication appeared to be an impossibility but it happened.

Having resided in a few different states over my eight decades, Oregon had lots going for it geography first and foremost. Oregon has an overwhelmingly beautiful, volcanic coastline (reminiscent of Hawaiis where Id lived for a couple years), gorgeous mountains (more stunning than Colorados where we moved next, the Cascades can be viewed from sea level), along with striking desert landscape (if/when contrast to the splendor of the coast and mountains might be needed). Except for the endless drizzle from a sunless sky half the year, it was idyllic. Californication appeared to be an impossibility but it happened.

Also, vitally important for me back then, there were no leftist anti-war riots ongoing in Corvallis at Oregon State University. They may have been elsewhere in Oregonalmost certainly in Eugenes Marxist haven, i.e., at the University of Oregonbut not where we were dwelling. Corvallis was a patriotic sanctuary, much-needed after the last year of my undergraduate work in my hometown, Whitewater, Wisconsin, where anarchists torched the iconic Old Main on campus. Having served in the infantry in Vietnam in early 1969, I returned home in August knowing I was lucky to be alive. Three weeks later, I was back in school to finish my bachelors degree. Shockingly, the 1969/70 academic year was worse than combat, and I nearly reenlisted.

Yes, the sanity in Corvallis was much needed. And there, Californication appeared to be an impossibility but it happened.

As noted in the Fox op-ed, the shrinking population in California will lead to the state having a smaller congressional delegation in Washington, D.C., which should be good news. Maybe, if that means its capacity to advance progressive, blue state policies beyond its borders has been diminished as postulated in the article. Unfortunately, thats probably not the case. Even looking back from afar, its pretty obvious that the Californication of Oregon was unrelated Californias influence in Congress.

Californication appears to be an insidious, local process that infects communities initially. When enough of the local citizenry has been Californicated (best not visualized), city governance succumbs to it. In Oregon, Eugene may have already been Californicated by the 1970s, but the beginning of the end occurred when it happened to Portland, the major population hub.

Remember Antifa and all those mostly peaceful protests while Portland was going up in flames a few years back?

Allowing all the destruction proved the state of Oregon had bowed to the Californication insanity. Californication appeared to be an impossibility a few decades earlier but it happened.

How?

Actually, quite easily after Portland yielded. Once a sufficient number of voters bend to being Californicated, the state legislature follows suit. Consider Oregons actions that are destroying education in the stateproficiencies in reading, writing, and math arent required for high school graduation. Tragic, but it illustrates the sort of outcomes Californication yields.

And while adjacency to California might explain Oregon, how about Seattle, Washington?

Californication would have appeared to be an impossibility it was probably never considered there but it happened. Immediate proximity isnt required, and as a result, the west coast from Canada to Mexico has been dysfunctionally Californicated.

What about Denver, Minneapolis, Philadelphia, New York City, and any number of other big cities in the U.S.?

Californication appeared to be an impossibility ditto never considered but it happened.

Population centers across the country have been Californicatedexhibiting all the aberrant symptoms thereof (becoming San Francisco-like cesspools)then, too often, the states they reside in follow suit. The state turns bluelike a person unable to breatheand undergoes terminal Californication as well. Not a pretty sight to behold.

And, regrettably, a smaller California congressional delegation will likely have no effect whatsoever on the Californication of America. The shrinking populations of multiple (unable to breathe) blue states means a state that stays blue, and relocation to red states brings a blue vote.

Duh! How dumb is that?

Wake up folks! Stop Californicating America, turning the U.S. blue. End it now, before its too late!

R.W. Trewyn earned a PhD after surviving Vietnam combat, and more treacherously, survived 53-years postwar slogging academes once-hallowed halls.

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The Supreme Court has raised the maximum jail term recommended for those convicted of leaking state-designated key technologies overseas to 18 years amid a growing number of trade secret theft cases, officials said Friday.

The top court's sentencing committee revised the sentencing guidelines on industrial secret theft during a meeting the previous day, the officials said.

Under the revised guidelines, the standard sentence for those convicted of leaking state-designated technologies overseas has been revised up to three to seven years in prison, with up to 12 years of imprisonment recommended for aggravated cases.

The maximum ceiling for such crimes has been upgraded to 18 years in prison for cases where special aggravating factors for sentencing outnumber mitigating elements by two or more.

The current standard sentence for the theft of state-designated key technologies is one to three-and-a-half-years in prison.

The new guidelines also included a recommendation that judges refrain from delivering a suspended jail term for technology thieves.

The revision comes as Korea is grappling with growing cases of theft of key industrial secrets that are sold to firms in other countries.

Prosecutors have recently indicted a former employee of Samsung Electronics on charges of stealing and selling the tech giant's industrial secrets involving the manufacturing of the 18-nano DRAM semiconductor to a Chinese semiconductor manufacturer.

The sentencing committee plans to finalize the new guidelines at a meeting in late March after collecting feedback through public hearings.

Judges are not obliged to strictly adhere to sentencing guidelines but are required to provide specific reasons when they impose a sentence that deviates from the guidelines. (Yonhap)
Texas just won a little bit more time in its battle over the border crisis. The court has told Texas to keep on buoying a bit longer. Lets read more:

Gov. Greg Abbott has won another victory in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals to keep his floating buoy barrier in the Rio Grande. In December the court ruled against Abbott in an order that would have forced him to move the barrier from the river. But on Wednesday, the court granted Abbott's request for a rehearing of the case with the entire Fifth Circuit instead of the three-judge panel that made the initial call. The decision means Abbott will get to keep the bouy [sic] barrier in the water at least through May when the new hearing is scheduled to be held. Its a blow to the U.S. Justice Department which initially sued Abbott in July for putting the barrier in the water without prior permission from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, as required by the federal Rivers and Harbors Act.

So what happened? Well, the decision will keep the issue open until May. In other words, Texas may lose in the next round. Nevertheless, its a victory for Governor Abbott and state AG Paxton whove both argued that the Biden administration is refusing to protect the border from caravans of migrants.

As you can imagine, the 1,000-foot-long string of buoys has Mexico and migrant activists screaming. I guess that the screaming will continue for a few months. The problem for Mexico and the migrant activists is that they dont have any solution for the crisis on the border. Calling for immigration reform or saying that the system is broken doesnt have the votes in Congress.

To make matters worse, the president of Mexico just gave the Biden delegation the middle finger and told them to reschedule an appointment after his buddies in Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua get more cash.

So Texas will keep on buoying keep on to paraphrase that tune by The Gentrys.

P.S. Check out my blog for posts, podcasts, and videos.

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Since the authoritarian left keeps on violating its own little rules on ever mentioning the Nazis or Hitler while it projects on the issue all the time, we of the pro-freedom community must defend ourselves, correct the record, and continue to document the growing list of ways the Democrat party emulates the Nazi Party. The similarities between the Democratic National Committee and the National Socialist German Workers Party began 100 years ago in the 1910s and 20s. Leftists have always been in rivalries with one another in how they can enslave the rest of humanity, while they pretend to foster equality, or their new BS buzzword, equity.

Rivals: Leftist conflicts over ideological minutia no one else cares about.

These rivalries are one of the first and foremost similarities between leftists and Nazis. Authoritarian collectivists have always exploited this fact as proof that somehow, some way, certain leftist factions are far-right when it proves the exact opposite. This rivalry issue was made clear in the academic paper How and Why Fascism and Nazism Became the Right.

[T]he convention of affiliating fascism and National Socialism with the right wing originated during the acute ideological war between Marxist and non-Marxist currents of socialism in the first half of the twentieth century. That war had several hot outbreaks where Fascists and Nazis eliminated evolutionary socialists and communists in their corresponding countries and abroad, whereas Bolsheviks did the same to other fellow socialists.

Its important to understand that communism, socialism, Marxism, and fascism are all collectivist ideologies born of ancient concepts. Platos Republic from ancient Greece is one source of these discussions. Even leftists admit that the first genuinely socialist position was the book Utopia, published over 500 years ago, or more than three centuries before Marx showed up. Even the first documented use of the term socialism was in November of 1827, while Karl was still in training lederhosen.

Socialism isnt the exactly the same as Marxism, and there is a rivalry between these collectivist ideologies, as exemplified by this quote from Adolf Hitler in the book Hitler and I, by Otto Strasser:

I am a socialist, and a very different kind of socialist from your rich friend Reventlow. I was once an ordinary working-man. I would not allow my chauffeur to eat worse than I eat myself. But your kind of socialism is nothing but Marxism.

These leftist ideological rivalries were widespread at the time, with reports from all over the world of right-wing and left-wing socialists due to ideological differences in collectivist parties. The New York Times reported on June 26, 1918 that the French Socialist Party Is Split; Thomas Heads New Wing Socialists of the Right. Then the Newspaper of Record reported on factions of a socialist party in NYC naming Two Tickets Right and Left Wing as a serious split in the party. Then, on September 2, 1919, the New York Times reported that Left Wing Socialists Widen the Breach with the Right-Wing or Conservative Faction at the National Socialist Party in Chicago, splitting the socialist congress, reporting a day later that the left-wing faction of the National Socialist Party withdrew from the parent body.

The New York Times then reported on March 2, 1920 that French Socialists spurn Bolshevism, relating that the National Socialist Congress voted against the adoption of Lenins program. A story in the New York Times on October 4, 1920, that in Italy the Lenin Faction Wins Italian Socialism; Big Split Now Inevitable, reported that, like other socialist parties around the world, it had a right wing, known as the Reformists and a left wing, known as the official Socialists, said to be their Maximalists and revolutionists. The Nazis also had these rivalries, with a report in the New York Times on November 28, 1925 of a Hitlerite riot in Berlin:

The National socialist-Labor Party, of which Adolf Hitler is patron and father, persists in believing Lenin and Hitler can be compared or contrasted in a party meeting. On the speakers assertion that Lain was the greatest man, second only to Hitler, and that the difference between communism  and the Hitler faith was very slight, a faction war opened with whizzing beer glasses.

Another New York Times report confirms that the Bolsheviks persecuted and locked up their collectivist political rivals: Socialists Fill Soviet Jails. And there are plenty of other examples of rifts in the far-left ecosphere  here, here, here, and here.

All this proves that the Nazis were just like their fellow authoritarian leftists in persecuting their ideological rivals, as with the very first report in the New York Times on Herr Hitler, 100 years ago, that claimed they were reactionary (right-wing), supposedly because of this rivalry. Weve proven this is the opposite and that this is the origin of the lefts biggest lie.

Lunatics: The constant in the universe that the Nazis and leftists have lost the plot.

It goes without saying that the far left has lost the plot, so its no surprise that Nazis were the same. But even in their early days, many noticed that they werent quite mentally stable  long before they plunged the world into another war and tried to erase whole groups of people from the planet.

All of this started with the first report on the Nazis in the Los Angeles Times, dated November 18, 1922, that also brought up ideological rivalry issues. This referred to talk of a coup, along with other reports in the New York Times of a Secret Reactionary Mobilization.

This build-up continued with reports in the New York Times and resulted in what was later called a Comic Opera. At the time, the New York Times headlines blared Bavaria in revolt and Monarchist Forces Reported Marching on Berlin, and a proclamation was issued referring to this being brought on by crazed persons, with it being a crazy mutiny.

Later on, the whole fiasco was termed a Bavarian Opera Bouffe, with the word that the proclamation of President Ebert was pretty close to calling the revolution in Bavaria as the work of lunatics.

With a story in the New York Times making that clear  Beer Hall Scene Gave Comic Opera Touch to Hitler Coup; Stay Here and Drink Beer  doesnt this sound like the sheer insanity of the left?

Klansman: A first report on the Nazis ties them to the terrorist arm of the Democrat party.

On November 12, 1922, the Chicago Sunday Tribune had one of the first reports on the Nazis in the States, and while the paper got a few things wrong, such as the spelling of the name of the Swashbuckling Little Politician and the proper dye of Herr Hittlers (sic) manure-colored mob, the article stated:

The Bavarian Grayshirts corresponding to the Italian Fascisti, and somewhat similar to the American Ku Klux Klan, are a third element in Bavarias Unrest.

This isnt a surprise, considering that the KKK was an organization formed by Southern Democrats to keep African-Americans and Republicans out of political power. Even if we pretend the ridiculous party switch mythology is somehow, some way valid for the sake of argument, this was long after the rise of the Nazis. So how do leftists explain this contradiction?

That is why leftist lies always fall apart. And if theyre lying about all of this, what else are they lying about?

D Parker is an engineer, inventor, wordsmith, and student of history, the director of communications for a civil rights organization, and a long-time contributor to conservative websites. Find him on Substack.

Image: paul_houle via Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0.
LeVar Burton, known for playing Kunta Kinte in Roots, hosting PBSs Reading Rainbow series, and playing Geordie in Star Trek: The Next Generation (STTNG), recently took a side in the culture wars. In November, he announced that he was strongly opposed to Moms For Liberty, a group that works to keep child sexualization and racially divisive DEI precepts out of the classroom. Thats why theres a certain charming irony to the fact that Burton just learned hes descended from a Confederate soldier.

Back in the day, Roots was a landmark show about slavery in the United States. Burtons character was the progenitor of the Roots clan, born a Muslim in Africa who was eventually sold as a slave in 1760 in the British-controlled American colony of Maryland. He tries several times to escape, only to be brutally beaten and mutilated. He eventually pretends to be a good Christian slave but never gives over his sense of being a free man and a Muslim. We now know that Roots was historically inaccurate and plagiarized, but it still made for a good story.

From there, Burton went on to be the host and executive producer of Reading Rainbow. It was primarily aimed at children from disadvantaged homes who did not have adult figures around them to read them storybooks. I never saw it because it came along after I grew up, and I wasnt interested in it for my children, but Im told it was nice.

Image: LeVar Burton. YouTube screen grab.

And then theres Burtons character on STTNG, Geordie. Born blind, Geordie saw through a visor that gave him a vision perspective denied to people with biological vision. He was a crack engineer, a good friend, and a nice-guy loser with women. There was another thing about his character: He wasnt a black guy. His skin color was irrelevant to his character, which was defined by his personality and abilities. Geordie was a person, not a race.

Looked at through this lens, Burton has had an unexceptional career and, for the last 40 years, one that was not bounded by race or politics. However, that didnt stop Burton from deciding last year that it was finally time to dive into the culture wars. When he hosted the 74th National Book Awards ceremony in November 2023, he directly attacked Moms for Liberty:

"Before we get going, are there any Moms for Liberty in the house? No? Good. then hands will not need to be thrown tonight."



Host LeVar Burton kicks off this year's National Book Awards ceremony. #NBAwards pic.twitter.com/tQtLj8azGS  Publishers Weekly (@PublishersWkly) November 16, 2023

This was entirely gratuitous, but it was consistent with Burtons attack on the group in an Esquire interview that was published just one day earlier. Thus, on the subject of alleged book banning (that is, keeping hypersexualized and anti-white books out of classrooms), Burton stated:

One of the things I'm most thrilled about is that hardly any candidates backed by Moms for Liberty won their races. There are bright spots, but these are people who would rather children not know the truth. Those kids will never know what they're missing, but it's our job to stand up for them, to be their voices and their advocates.

So, Burton is now a culture warrior on the left, speaking out for pornography in middle schools and instruction from kindergarten on up that relentlessly paints blacks as victims and whites as victimizers.

Given Burtons recent stand, it was somehow gratifying to learn that he isnt just descended from a white person (as is true for all blacks with roots that go back in America more than a couple of generations) but is descended from a Confederate soldier:

The 66-year-old TV star was told the surprising fact about his lineage during an episode of the PBS series Finding Your Roots. [snip] The Star Trek: The Next Generation alum had no idea one of his ancestors was a white man. Gates told Burton that his great-grandmother on his mothers side, Mary Sills, was not related to the man she listed as her father on a Social Security application in 1940. Her biological father was, in fact, a man named James Henry Dixon, a white farmer who was married with several children. So Granny was half-white, Burton said in surprise, per Today. Whats more, Dixon, who was living in North Carolina, joined the Confederate Army after he turned 17, serving in the junior reserves.

Burton was understandably shocked by the revelation. He shouldnt have been. Nothing about race in America is uncomplicated. Americans, thankfully, had managed to paper over those complications and wounds by 2008, only to have Obama and his race hustlers rip open the whole thing again for no good purpose other than to divide society and attain political power.

And its for that reason, the cynical political dimensions of todays obsession with race, that I enjoy the leftist Burtons discomfort with his newly discovered, real roots. This is the reality of historic race in America, and its time, as the song says, to Let It Go.
As the press and its political allies dismiss opposition to open borders and its inherent 'replacement theory' as little more than 'white supremacy,' something different is happening out in America's inner cities.

Charlamagne Tha God (the name he goes by) hosts the nation's top radio program with black audiences, and far from hearing white supremacy talk regarding the border issue, is hearing black voices that have had it up to here with open borders.

According to Fox Digital:

During an interview with Fox News Digital, Charlamagne was asked whether he viewed the issue of immigration as a major factor ahead of November. He said he constantly hears from listeners complaining about the influx of migrants rocking their communities, something he didn't hear much about until this past year. "I have the privilege of doing morning radio and speaking to working-class people every single day," Charlamagne told Fox News Digital. "I have the privilege of being involved in my community, from New York to New Jersey to South Carolina, where I get to look people in the eyes and have real conversations with them. And, you know, people are really concerned about this issue." "Like, I honestly have never spoken to as many people who are concerned about the migrant issue as I have, you know, over the past year. And, I mean, I've heard everything from, you know, the gang MS13 overrunning neighborhoods . . . what we saw just happened in New York City, where the migrantsthey took 2,000 migrants and put them in the school and made the school stay homemade the students stay home and do school via Zoom. And that was a big issue. Like, I mean, people were calling the radio stationthat was just this week, you know, really, really, really complaining about that. So I've never seen working-class people who I interact with every day until this past year really, really, really expressed their frustration for the migrants," he continued.

And this, regarding the standing narrative that only Republicans oppose illegal immigration and it was for racist reasons. The radio host referred to the "stunt" of border state governors transferring illegal migrants to sanctuary cities as their mayors and governors screamed, which, he noted, was an "effective" tactic:

"Clearly it was effective because it made a lot of those Democrats start singing a different tune. And, I mean, the voters see that. The voters see that," Charlamagne said. "So what does that look like to the voter? Just on the surface, just on the surface, it looks like Republicans were right about the issue and Democrats got it wrong. And now a lot of Democrats are starting to sound like the Republicans sounded. So it makes a lot of people say, Well, damn, Republicans were actually right on that issue. Just on the surface, just plain on the surface, that's how it looks, you know, to the average voter."

In doing this, he pointed out that black people aren't fooled by the leftist narrative that only whites oppose open borders.

The hard reality is that migrants with little education and few skills are most likely to move into neighborhoods of the poorest people, who are black, and bring crime and gangs with them. They also displace black citizens from jobs, by being willing to work for less, making the lot of black people that much harder. The black people see this from the sharp end much more so than the Martha's Vineyard crowd, and as Charlamagne reports, they want something done about it.

The radio host is hearing from black people -- and so is the black mayor of Chicago, because black residents there have demanded that he stop putting black residents last as every move is made to accommodate illegal border crossers while local people go without resources.

The mainstream press, though, doesn't. It likes the same dreary tropes about white supremacy being the motive behind opposition to open borders. In doing this, they're ignoring the voices and views of black people in a way that Charlamagne Tha God cannot. How's that for some racism from white news organizations -- ignoring black people as if they don't matter because they don't fit the narrative. Any questions as to why growing numbers of black voters are now moving towards Donald Trump?

Image: Twitter screen shot
The federal government essentially has ordered electric car companies to commit fraud. Here's the headline: The Electric-Vehicle Cheating Scandal A government rule makes them look nearly seven times as efficient as they are.

Here's what's from the article:

"When carmakers test gasoline powered vehicles for compliance with the Transportation Department's fuel efficiency rules, they must use real values measured in a laboratory. By contrast, under an Energy Department rule, carmakers can arbitrarily multiply the efficiency of electric cars by 6.67. This means that although a 2022 Tesla Model Y tests at the equivalent of 65 miles per gallon in a laboratory (roughly the same as a hybrid). It is counted as an absurdly high compliance value of 430 mpg. That number has no basis in reality or law. For exaggerating electric car efficiency, the government rewards the carmakers with compliance credits which the can trade for cash, Economists estimate these credits could be worth billions, a vast cross-subsidy invented by bureaucrats and paid for by every person who buys a gasoline powered car."

These are the worthless carbon credits that companies such as Tesla got rich selling to companies like GM and Ford so they could pretend to reduce the carbon from their highly profitable gas guzzling trucks and SUVs.

Democrats claim they care about the poor and middle class but the poor have been screwed for years to pay more for their gas-powered vehicles to cover the massive losses from selling inefficient, expensive, impractical vehicles powered by the highly flammable pollutant lithium that the green pushers want to force all of us to buy.

More from the article:

"Until recently, this subsidy was a government secret. Carmakers and regulators liked it that way.. Regulators could announce what sounded like stringent targets and carmakers would nod along, knowing they could comply by making cars with arbitrarily boosted compliance values, Consumers would unknowingly foot the bill."

In other words, the government, the carmakers and the green pushers knew this was a massive fraud but they didn't care. They were greedy and the radical green agenda was all that mattered. The people are irrelevant, especially the poor and middle class. And of course, Democrat campaign workers posing as journalists, have participated in perpetuating the fraud by just repeating talking points without doing research or asking questions.

How many of them show up at the gabfests to pretend they are worried about their carbon footprint and heading towards net zero?

How many buy worthless pieces of paper called carbon credits to pretend they offset the carbon from their private jets?

Mark Zuckerburg, who spent $400 million to manipulate the 2020 election to defeat Trump, says he has to use the private jet because he can't be safe otherwise. His company says he takes "guests" on these flights, which doesn't exactly sound like security.

John Kerry says he has to use a private jet because it allows him to do more good as he chews out everyone else about their carbon footprint.

According to the New York Post:

Personal use of corporate jets has soared 50% as companies spend $65M on perk for execs Executives using corporate jets for personal travel has soared 50% since the pandemic  a free perk that has cost their companies millions of dollars. Among the companies spending big bucks on corporate jets, Meta Platforms topped the list in 2022, spending $6.6 million on the perk for personal flights for its chief executive Mark Zuckerberg and his then-lieutenant, Sheryl Sandberg, The Journal found. The figure marks a 55% increase from 2019. Zuckerberg has been criticized for his company jets carbon footprint, though Meta has said that the private plane is necessary for maintaining Marks safety while enabling him to go about his life with minimal disruption. In addition, public utility company Exelon  owner of Chicagos Commonwealth Edison utility  more than tripled its spending on freebie flights for executives since 2019.

The fraud in this green agenda dwarfs any other fraud we have ever seen and there is not one piece of scientific data that shows the radical green policies will change temperatures or limit storms and maintain sea levels where they are.

Isn't it time that the media stopped pretending that Democrats are transparent and that their policies on the climate, COVID, and electric cars are based on the truth or science?

It is a massive fraud and most of the media is as guilty as perpetuating the fraud on the American people as the government and the carmakers. It is no wonder they seek to shut up those of us who have continually told the truth that the climate has always changed cyclically and naturally and pointed out the fraud for what it is, by calling us climate change deniers and anti-science.

Image: Pixabay / Pixabay License
The woke mobs list of statue teardowns is historically unprecedented in American society: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Robert E. Lee, Columbus, and Theodore Roosevelt among others. Destruction of religious statues, especially outside Catholic churches both here and in Canada, have also been on the rise.

Not a transgender, lesbian, or person of color among them -- so much for diversity, equity, and inclusion. These longstanding monuments only underscore just how inferior and pathetic these adherents to the woke revolution truly are.

Why must the woke destroy to validate themselves?

Not enough lollipops and brownies as a child?

Compared to any of them, these statue topplers are intellectual and moral midgets. As if identity, as opposed to achievement, is worthy of commemoration. If the goal is to feel righteous and superior, it is much easier to tear something down than to build something up and make it better.

Should we destroy the Colosseum in Rome, the Parthenon in Athens, or Chichen Itza in Mexico because those civilizations permitted slavery?

This statuary talibanning of the culture continues where the systematic destruction of whatever runs counter to the leftist ethos must be eradicated. This time the statue terrorists are members of our own federal government. The National Park Service and its bureaucratic army dressed in their antebellum straw hats and funky gray and green uniforms were finally going to set the historical record straight.

Their next bronzed victim was to be the American Quaker himself, William Penn. The namesake of the nations fifth most populous state -- Pennsylvania.

The National Park Service announced a proposal to rehabilitate Welcome Park, established on the site of Penns home and part of Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia to provide a more welcoming, accurate, and inclusive experience for visitors. This welcome included removing William Penns longstanding statue, according to the Park Services website .

Why stop with Penns statue? How about banishing Penns name altogether? Pennsylvania becomes Wokesylvania, while Penn State becomes Woke State, which isnt far off. On the states flag, change the embroidered motto from Virtue, Liberty and Independence to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.

The wisdom of Harry Truman, whom Democrats would exile to the Republican Party today applies, the only thing new in the world is the history you dont know.

When it comes to William Penn, the Park Service failed. Penn not only established a charter of liberties, a forerunner to our Bill of Rights, with the soul of it being the freedom of religion, as the colony welcomed millions of numerous religious affiliations within its borders. Penn wanted his governance to be a model of religious and political tolerance. Moreover, Penns uniquely affable relationship with the Native American tribes in his woods made for a longstanding peaceful coexistence that was the exception rather than the rule.

The statue wokesters need to melt down is that tawdry movie prop Rocky Balboa. Talk about hate and discrimination, Rocky beat up two Black guys and a communist. Pathetically, more can quote lines from this fictional movie character than they know about William Penn thanks to the poisonous fruit of public education.

The wokesters and their media allies drive a narrative that is less about understanding our past and more about enlarging the chasm that divides rather than unites. This comes at the expense of courageous Americans and is not only insidious, but subversive.

The American standard has always embraced building upon the virtues of our forefathers while leaving their faults to God. Seemingly, this occurred and may this trend that started in the Keystone state continue as the will of the few stepped up and caused the National Park Service to forsake removing Penns monument.

Independence National Historical Park has withdrawn the review of a draft proposal to rehabilitate Welcome Park and closed the public comment period. The preliminary draft proposal, which was released prematurely and had not been subject to a complete internal agency review, is being retracted. No changes to the William Penn statue are planned. The National Park Service remains committed to rehabilitating Welcome Park as the nation prepares to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence in 2026.

This time there was a retreat or perhaps it was a regrouping.

Time will tell.

Image: National Parks Gallery
George Graham Vest spent twenty-four years in the United States Senate, serving from 1879 to 1903. However, his most notable legacy stems from a speech he gave during a seemingly inconspicuous court case when he was practicing law in rural Missouri. The case that would eternally link his name involved the shooting of "Old Drum," the hunting dog owned by a local farmer named Charles Burden.

State historical marker in Owensboro, Kentucky. Photo credit: Carldaniel/Wikimedia Commons

On the evening of October 28, 1869, Charles Burden heard the sound of a gun going off from the direction of his neighbors farm located only a mile south. The farm was owned by his brother-in-law, Leonidas Hornsby, who raised sheep there. Hornsby was having a hard time maintaining his flock of sheep because of the constant threat of prowling dogs and wolves. Having already lost over a hundred sheep, Hornsby vowed to kill the first stray dog trespassing on his land.

Concerned by the gunfire on Hornsby's farm, Burden recalled the vow and, fearing the worst, called his dogs. However, his favorite hunting companion, Old Drum, failed to respond. The following morning, with Old Drum still absent, Charles Burden initiated a search for his missing dog. He first approached his neighbor Hurley to inquire about Old Drum's whereabouts and then proceeded to Hornsby's farm to question him directly. When Hornsby claimed ignorance of Old Drum's location, Burden pressed further, asking about the dog shot the previous night. Hornsby denied shooting any dog himself but mentioned that his nephew Dick had fired at a dog, presuming it belonged to another neighbor.

Unconvinced Burden left his brother-in-laws property to continue the search. Later that morning, Burden found his beloved dog lying dead in the waters of a creek near his farm. His body was riddled with multiple bullet holes. It was apparent to Charles Burden that Old Drum had been carried or dragged to his final resting place along the banks of the river. There was also evidence of sorrel horse hairs on his body. Because Hornsby owned a sorrel mule, Burden was convinced that it was Hornsby who had shot his dog the previous night.

Burden filed a lawsuit for damages with the Madison township justice of the peace. Burden originally asked for a $100 in damages, but because this amount was beyond the jurisdiction of the local official, the amount was amended to the legal limit of $50.

The initial trial resulted in a hung jury regarding Hornsby's guilt, but in a subsequent trial, Charles Burden was awarded $25 along with court costs for the loss of Old Drum. Hornsby appealed the case to the Johnson County Court of Common Pleas in Warrensburg. His appeal was based not on his guilt in shooting Old Drum but on the contention that Burden should not have been allowed to amend his original request from $100 to $50.

On March 30, 1870, the case returned to trial with new evidence presented by Hornsby and his nephew, asserting that they had later removed lead bullets from the dog's body. This raised doubts about whether Hornsby was responsible for Old Drum's death. Two days later, the jury ruled in favor of Leonidas Hornsby, awarding only court costs.

Unsatisfied with this outcome, Charles Burden filed a motion for a new trial. He enlisted a new legal team, comprised of John F. Phillips and George G. Vest, to face Hornsby's formidable lawyers, Thomas Crittenden and Francis Cockrell.

George G. Vest

During the fourth trial that commenced on September 21, 1870, Hornsby admitted to having his nephew shoot at a dog but vehemently denied that the dog in question was Old Drum. Instead, the defense attempted to demonstrate that Old Drum had been sighted and shot at Haymaker's Mill.

On September 23, 1870, Vest presented the closing remarks on behalf of Burden and Old Drum. However, he made no reference to the evidence or to Old Drum, but delivered an emotional tribute to all dogs and their masters. This famous closing statement, which would be written down and titled Eulogy of the Dog, eventually swayed the jury in favor of Charles Burden. Vest's Eulogy of the Dog continues to remain one of the most enduring passages of purple prose in American courtroom history.

Eulogy of the Dog Gentlemen of the jury: The best friend a man has in this world may turn against him and become his enemy. His son or daughter that he has reared with loving care may prove ungrateful. Those who are nearest and dearest to us, those whom we trust with our happiness and our good name, may become traitors to their faith. The money that a man has, he may lose. It flies away from him, perhaps when he needs it the most. A man's reputation may be sacrificed in a moment of ill-considered action. The people who are prone to fall on their knees to do us honor when success is with us may be the first to throw the stone of malice when failure settles its cloud upon our heads. The one absolutely unselfish friend that a man can have in this selfish world, the one that never deserts him and the one that never proves ungrateful or treacherous is his dog. Gentlemen of the jury: A man's dog stands by him in prosperity and in poverty, in health and in sickness. He will sleep on the cold ground, where the wintry winds blow and the snow drives fiercely, if only he may be near his master's side. He will kiss the hand that has no food to offer, he will lick the wounds and sores that come in encounters with the roughness of the world. He guards the sleep of his pauper master as if he were a prince. When all other friends desert, he remains. When riches take wings and reputation falls to pieces, he is as constant in his love as the sun in its journey through the heavens. If fortune drives the master forth an outcast in the world, friendless and homeless, the faithful dog asks no higher privilege than that of accompanying him to guard against danger, to fight against his enemies, and when the last scene of all comes, and death takes the master in its embrace and his body is laid away in the cold ground, no matter if all other friends pursue their way, there by his graveside will the noble dog be found, his head between his paws, his eyes sad but open in alert watchfulness, faithful and true even to death.

The speech became so famous that in 1958 the town of Warrensburg, Missouri, where the speech took place, erected a bronze statue to honor Old Drum and George G. Vest. There is also a bronze bust of Old Drum displayed in the Supreme Court of Missouri.

Statue of Old Drum in front of Johnson County courthouse in Warrensburg. Photo credit: Jimmy Emerson/Flickr

References:

# The Story of Burden v. Hornsby, Missouri Digital Heritage

# Old Drum, Missouris official historic dog, The Missouri Bar
Midway through January, Samsung is almost done updating eligible Galaxy devices to Android 14. The company has already updated more than 50 different models to the new Android version, which brings One UI 6.0. The remaining few devices are also now getting it. The Galaxy A13 (LTE) is the latest Samsung phone to pick up the Android 14-based One UI 6.0 update.

The Galaxy A13 gets Samsungs Android 14 update

Three weeks back, Samsung released the Android 14 update for the Galaxy A13 5G. The 4G/LTE version of the phone didnt get the big Android update alongside its sibling. The company is now pushing the new Android version to the LTE-only Galaxy A13. The rollout began recently in its home country, South Korea. Users are receiving the update with the firmware build number A135NKSU5DWL5.

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Samsung will soon release One UI 6.0 for the Galaxy A13 (LTE) globally. As usual, you will receive a notification when the OTA (over-the-air) update package hits your Galaxy device. You can tap on the notification to download the update. Alternatively, you can open the Settings app on your phone, go to the Software update menu, and tap on Download and install to check for updates manually.

Once installed, this update will substantially improve your Galaxy experience. One UI 6.0 brings some UI changes, new camera features, new editing tools, improved homescreen widgets, additional lockscreen customization options, enhanced multitasking, new accessibility settings, improved stock apps, and more. There are also some security fixes and enhancements in tow.

Unfortunately, this might be the last feature update for the Galaxy A13. The budget phone debuted with Android 12 and has now picked up two major Android OS upgrades, i.e. Android 13 and Android 14. Samsung offers longer update support for flagship modelsseven Android OS upgrades for the Galaxy S24 seriesbut low-cost devices arent covered under this policy.

Samsung is readying the One UI 6.1 update for Galaxy devices

Samsungs Android 14 update brought One UI 6.0 to Galaxy devices. A couple of days back, the company introduced One UI 6.1 with the Galaxy S24 series. The new One UI version will be available to older models too, including the Galaxy S23 series and recent foldables. The Korean firm plans to push the update to over 100 million Galaxy devices in the first half of this year. It remains to be seen whether the Galaxy A13 gets One UI 6.1. We will let you know when the rollout begins.
Main opposition leader Lee Jae-myung urged North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to stop its missile provocations, saying it will only lead to further isolation of the regime and intensify the suffering of its people.

Lee, chairman of the Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), made the remarks amid heightened tensions over North Korea's continued saber-rattling, such as its recent test-launch of a solid-fuel hypersonic intermediate-range ballistic missile and artillery firings near the western inter-Korean sea border.

The North's leader has also defined the South as a "primary foe" and "invariable enemy," and vowed to completely occupy the South in the event of war.

"North Korean leader Kim Jong-un should immediately stop its missile provocations and put an end to its hostile acts," Lee said in a party leadership meeting. "He should make efforts so as not to undermine the efforts made by his predecessors, such as Kim Jong-il and Kim Il-sung," he said.

Lee also called for President Yoon Suk Yeol to change the government's hostile policy stance on the North, noting that maintaining peace on the Korean Peninsula is a matter of the economy and the lives of people in South Korea.

"We should not make the mistake of taking out the safety pin of peace, just to teach North Korea a bitter lesson ... If we respond to a neighbor throwing stones by throwing an even larger stone and cause greater harm, what benefit would that bring us?" he said. (Yonhap)
Many people question Samsungs decision to use the Exynos 2400 chipset in the Galaxy S24 and Galaxy S24+. This is because of how awful previous-gen Exynos processors have been. However, if a recent benchmark test is anything to go by, the company has turned the tide this year. The new Exynos chip appears to have better performance stability than the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 that powers the phones in some markets.

Benchmark test shows Exynos 2400 is more stable than Snapdragon 8 Gen 3

After exclusively using a Snapdragon chip in the Galaxy S23 series last year, Samsung is back to its usual dual-chip strategy. The newly launched Galaxy S24 and Galaxy S24+ ship with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 (the For Galaxy version with an overclocked CPU) in some markets such as the US and the Exynos 2400 in others, including Europe. The Galaxy S24 Ultra gets the overclocked Snapdragon chip globally.

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Thai media outlet Beartai recently ran a 3DMark benchmark test on the Exynos-powered Galaxy S24+ and Snapdragon-powered Galaxy S24 Ultra to compare the performances. More specifically, the devices were subjected to 3DMarks Solar Bay Stress Test. It is a 20-minute test that evaluates a devices performance under long periods of heavy gaming workload with ray tracing and advanced graphic experiences.

The test showed that the Exynos 2400 sustained its performance better than the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. It achieved the highest loop score of 8,905 and the lowest loop score of 5,755. A simple calculation reveals that its performance stability was 64.6%. On the other hand, the Snapdragon chip achieved the highest and lowest loop scores of 8,249 and 3,984, respectively. Its performance stability was only 48.3%.

While benchmark runs dont always give us the complete picture, things are looking good for the Exynos 2400. The devices used for the test make its win here more impressive. The Galaxy S24 Ultra has a larger cooling system, including a bigger vapor chamber than the Galaxy S24+. This suggests Samsung has improved the thermal management capabilities of the new Exynos chip.

The FOWLP tech may have helped

The Exynos 2400 is the first Exynos processor to feature the Fan-out wafer-level packaging (FOWLP) technology. It helps boost thermal management, keeping the chip cool during prolonged resource-intensive tasks. This might have come into play during this benchmark test. Hopefully, the new Exynos chip will deliver equally brilliant performance during everyday usage and gaming. If it falls behind the Snapdragon again, Samsung might have a tough time convincing people to buy flagship Galaxy phones with Exynos chips.
Along with the Xiaomi 13 Ultra, Xiaomi also presented a rather useful camera kit. That kit was sold separately, but quite a few people found it interesting, as it only boosted the phones camera aspect. Well, it seems like the Xiaomi 14 Ultra will also come with a camera kit, but an improved one.

The Xiaomi 14 Ultra camera kit got certified, itll be improved compared to the last iteration

That photography kit was certified by the CCC aka 3C agency in China. That certification reveals that the camera kit will include a battery on the inside. That is something the Xiaomi 13 Ultras camera kit did not offer.

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The certification reveals that well get a 1,500mAh battery with a maximum output of 5V. The device model that got certified is 2402CPS69C, and it will ship without an adapter.

What is also interesting here is that the model number itself could indicate the launch date or timeframe. Based on what GSM Arena noticed, the first four digits are 2402, possibly pointing at February 2024 launch, or perhaps even February 24.

Were basically expecting only one notable change compared to the Xiaomi 13 Ultra Photography Kit

The Xiaomi 13 Ultra Photography Kit includes a protective case that features a lens cap, a 67mm filter adapter, a camera grip with Bluetooth, and a lanyard.

If we had to guess, wed say that the same thing would happen with this new camera kit, with the addition of a battery. Considering that a battery will be included, you can expect it to be a bit heavier. It could also cost more, though theres a chance Xiaomi will aim to keep the same price tag.

The Xiaomi 13 Ultras Photography Kit was not cheap at all. It cost over $100. Well, the equivalent of that, as it was not sold globally. Your only option was to import it from China. Lets hope that will change with the Xiaomi 14 Ultra.
Twitter sorry, X is one of the many social media platforms that has a subscription service. Previously called Twitter Blue, X Premium gives you a collection of added perks and functionality that you dont get with a free account. Unlike with other platforms, X Premium has three tiers that you can pay for, and they offer different perks, and it can be tough keeping up with all of them.

Well, were here to answer any questions that you might have about these three tiers. In this piece, were going to go through what each of the payment tiers offers and other useful information that you might be pining for. This article will constantly be updated, so well add to it whenever new information is added.

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What is X Premium?

Before Elon Musk took over the platform, it was called Twitter Blue. The point of Twitter Blue was to offer Twitter users a way to test out new and experimental features early. It was like a paid beta program. Some of the features eventually made it down to free users. Along with letting users try out new features, it also offered some exclusive perks.

Now, things are different. X Premium is more of a revenue stream for the company. Its the first and only place where new features land. New features dont really make it to free users. So, if youre on the platform, and you want a more robust experience, X Premium might be the right way to go.

What are the three X Premium tiers?

X Premium is a little different from other platforms because it has three different payment tiers. Theyre called Basic, Premium, and Premium+. They cover a pretty wide price range, and theres a range of what you can do with them. Heres a rundown of what you can do with them.

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Basic plan

Starting off with the cheapest plan, it has the least number of perks, but that doesnt mean that its not feature-packed. This plan costs around the price of Twitter Blue when it first came out. Getting it will set you back $3/month ($32/year) if you sign up using the web version and $4/month ($41.99/year) if youre on mobile. We explain why the prices are different depending on where you sign up below.

Post and profile features

You can edit your posts. This lets you make changes to your posts for up to one hour after you post them. Youre able to make changes to the text and the content you added to it. When you edit a post, the original post isnt technically altered. X will just make a copy of the post and post the new version. The app will then create a link in the new post that links back to the original.

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Also, youre able to undo your posts. This gives you a limited amount of time to take back what youre saying.

Longer posts are a feature that all X users have been barking about for years. Well, the company decided to answer users prayers in a big way. If you have this plan, you can make posts as long as 25,000 characters long. To put that into perspective, this post up to this point is about 11% the length of a 25,000-character post.

The Reader mode lets you read long threads without any breaks in between posts.

If you are in the NFT community, you can use NFT profile pictures. You can take your minted NFT and display it in a hexagonal frame.

Videos

If youve been pining for longer videos on X, then pine no more. Youre able to post videos up to three hours in length, up to 8GB in size, and at up to 1080p resolution. This feature is only available on the web and iOS for the moment. Android users are once again left in the dust.

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Next, you can play videos in the background. This lets you play videos while you navigate through the rest of the interface.

Other features

The remaining features are some smaller perks added in. You can customize your app icon, add bookmarks to folders, change the navigation bar at the bottom, hide your likes, hide your subscriptions, and view a highlights tab on your profile. The highlights tab is a tab that has all of your most popular posts.

When it comes to safety and security, this plan brings encrypted DMs and 2FA through SMS.

[Updated March 1st, 2024] As of March 2024, X is testing video in spaces. This means that the audience will be able to see the host through a live video feed. This will make the platform basically like Twitch. This feature will be exclusive to X Premium users, but we dont know which tiers it will be available for. Were sure that all users will be able to use this feature. We will learn more about it as time goes on.

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Premium plan

Now, were moving onto a more advanced plan. This is the middle child of the X Premium tiers, and its the baseline payment that you could get before X debuted the other two. This plan costs $8/month ($84/year) if you buy it through the web version. If youre paying on your phone, it will cost you $11/month ($114/year).

Ads and monetization

For starters, you get all of the perks present in the Basic plan. You also dont get any more advanced versions of the basic plans.

One of the most sought-after features is creator subscriptions. If your posts are so hot that you want people to pay you just to read them, then you can set up creator subscriptions. People will pay a monthly fee to view the posts that you choose to put behind the paywall.

Theres another way that you can earn income from X, and thats through revenue sharing. X displays ads throughout the platform. This includes showing ads on users posts. Well, X splits the revenue it makes from those ads with the creators who made the posts.

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Speaking of ads, youll see reduced ads at certain points on the platform. Youll see 50% of the ads while on the For You and Following tabs. While this is the case, youll see the usual number of ads in other corners of the platform.

Verification

Firstly, you get the coveted blue checkmark. It will sit beside your username and show people that youre verified. With your subscription, you can also hide your blue checkmark.

With your subscription, youll be able to see verified-only posts. There are some posts on the platform that are only for verified users (those with the blue checkmark), and youll be able to see them with your subscription.

If you want to make it impossible for other people to emulate you, then you can use I.D. verification. Youll use your state-issued I.D. to verify you so that no one else can make an account pretending to be you.

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Tools

Your subscription to the Premium plan will give you access to the Media Studio platform. This is a one-stop shop where you can access and manage all of the media that youve uploaded to X.

Finally, your subscription will give you access to the X Pro feature. This was previously called Tweet Deck. It allows you to view multiple timelines at once. Along with that, you can add contributors and admins to your account and use advanced search.

Premium+

This is the most advanced of the X Premium tiers, and it offers all of the perks present in the others. Along with that, it has a few more. Premium+ costs $16/month ($168/year) if you sign up through the web and $22/month ($229.99/year) if you sign up through mobile.

Starting off with the ads, this tier will give you even fewer ads compared to Premium. You will see zero ads in the For You and Following tabs. However, youll still see ads everywhere else on the platform.

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With the highest payment tier, youll have a large reply boost. This means that your replies on other posts will be easier to see than other peoples.

Rounding out the list, youll have access to Grok. This is the companys generative AI model that you can use like ChatGPT.

Why do I pay more if I sign up using the app?

You may have noticed that the monthly/yearly prices are higher if you sign up for X Premium using the app. The thing is that, when you sign up using the Google Play Store or the Apple App Store, youll use those companies respective billing systems. Well, Google and Apple charge developers a 30% fee for every transaction that happens through their billing system.

Some companies, like Amazon, have opted to only offer their services through their own websites, thus eliminating their fee. X, on the other hand, has opted to offer their services through the web and through their mobile apps. However, theyre more expensive so as to offset that 30% fee.

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If I sign up through the web, can I still use the perks on the mobile app?

Yes. All of the features will be the same no matter what platform you sign up with. The only difference is which service is going to process your payment.

How to sign up for X Premium

If youre sold on getting one of the X Premium tiers, then heres how to sign up for the service.

Signing up through the web

Youre more likely to sign up through the web to save you a few dollars every month. Go to the browser of your choice and open the X website. Look on the left side of your screen at the panel. Near the bottom of the panel, youll see the X Premium button.

When you click on it, youll see a popup appear asking about what account you have. If this is your personal account where you post on your own behalf, then click on the I am an individual button. If this is your company account, then click on the I am an organization button. Once you choose the type of account you have, click on the Subscribe button.

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In the next popup, choose the tier you want. It will automatically show you the Premium+ tier. On the top of the popup, youll see a left-facing arrow. Click that to navigate to the other tiers. On the bottom of the screen, youll see the option to either pay monthly or yearly. Once youve found the one that will suit you, click on the Subscribe & Pay button.

The next screen you see will be the page to type your credit card information. Just add that information and pay.

Signing up through the app

The process of signing up through the app isnt all that different. Open the app and tap on your profile picture on the top left of the screen. Youll see the left panel slide out. Right under the Profile button, youll see the Premium button. Tap on it, and youll see a page show up with the three tiers. Just swipe left or right to see the tier that you want to select.

To choose the one that you want, tap on the price at the bottom of the screen. When you do so, youll see a panel pop up with the monthly and yearly options. Be careful at this point because the yearly option is selected by default. If you only want to pay monthly, be sure to choose that option. When you do that, youll see your app stores checkout screen. From there, youll pay.
President remains unsure about New Year press conference

By Nam Hyun-woo

Critical voices are growing within the ruling People Power Party (PPP) over controversies surrounding first lady Kim Keon Hee, including video footage of her receiving a Dior handbag from a Korean American pastor in 2022.

Their demands are interpreted as the PPPs appeal to the public before the general elections in April, given the negative public sentiment over the presidential couples silence on the controversies. Amid the growing calls, the presidential office is contemplating whether President Yoon Suk Yeol should hold a press conference for New Year or not.

During a policy event, Thursday, PPP interim leader Han Dong-hoon told reporters that the first ladys handbag controversy can be a matter of public concern.

Basically, the matter was a planned set-up using a spy cam, Han said. However, there were several misdeeds in handling the issues.

Voice of Seoul, a liberal YouTube-based news channel, claimed in November that the first lady had been gifted the Christian Dior handbag valued at around 3 million won ($2,240) from the pastor in September 2022 and released video footage of the scene. The video was filmed secretly by the pastor using a camera disguised as a watch and the bag was reportedly provided by the YouTube channel.

The controversy resurfaced after a number of newcomers to the ruling party voiced their critical opinions on the bag issue. They also spoke up about Kims alleged involvement in a stock manipulation scandal, for which a special counsel investigation was approved by the National Assembly but vetoed by Yoon.

During a YouTube interview Wednesday with broadcaster JTBC, Kim Kyung-yul, a member of the PPPs interim leadership, said Yoon or the first lady should state their position regarding the handbag controversy, comparing Kim to Marie Antoinette, queen of France in the 17th century.

Though there are several controversies, the president or the first lady should at least speak about the bag controversy to address the public sentiment, Kim said. The French Revolution was an outcome of public uproar over Marie Antoinettes luxurious life and disorderly privacy. There is no way of defending the first lady from this controversy. The only option is begging for the peoples mercy.

Lee Soo-jung, a renowned criminal psychologist and a PPP preliminary candidate for Suwon D constituency in Gyeonggi Province, also said in a radio interview with KBS on Wednesday that There is an easy way of solving this issue  Kim should explain the situation, return the gift if she still owns it and apologize to the public.

Previously, the PPP had been maintaining its position that the handbag controversy was a planned set-up and Kim was a victim, thus there is no need to address the issue. But the recent remarks are seen as an outcome of the worries that the public sentiment against the ruling bloc is not improving in Seoul and surrounding Gyeonggi Province areas which have a significant number of swing voters.

PPP Rep. Ha Tae-keung said in a radio interview with CBS on Thursday that the first lady should apologize for receiving the bag, though he emphasized that it was a set-up, marking the first instance of a serving PPP lawmaker calling for Kims apology.

There are risks surrounding the first lady and the main opposition partys strategy is exploiting this to make it appear that the general elections are about the first lady, Ha said. The majority of our party believes that these risks should be addressed before the elections.

Interim leader Han also supported those ideas. The PPP is a political party where various people can voice various opinions freely, and that makes the party even stronger, he said.

Against that backdrop, the presidential office is contemplating whether it should hold a press conference in the near future.

Throughout this month, officials at the presidential office have been saying there are various opinions on Yoons press conference, but the office is still undecided whether Yoon should answer reporters questions.

The indecisiveness appears to be in line with concerns about possible questions on Kims handbag controversy and the veto on the special counsel probe bill. Although the presidential office has already explained its own reasons for vetoing the special counsel investigation, sources said the office wants to avoid the spectacle of Yoon facing repeated and detailed questions on the issue during the press conference.

Except for joint press conferences with foreign leaders, Yoon, as president, has held a press conference only once on Aug. 17, 2022, when he was marking 100 days in office. Impromptu interviews with reporters on his way to the office were also discontinued on Nov. 18, 2022.

Since then, Yoon has been focusing on live broadcasting of his remarks during Cabinet meetings and town hall meetings with citizens.
A 17th century portrait of King William III is to go under the hammer in Belfast.

It is expected to attract a high level of interest in Northern Ireland where the anniversary of the Protestant monarchs victory over Catholic King James II at the Boyne in 1690 is marked every year by the Orange Order with large parades.

The portrait showing William of Orange on horseback during the Battle of the Boyne is to be sold by Bloomfield Auctions next week.

A portrait of King William III is set to go under the hammer in Belfast next week (Press Eye/PA)

Following analysis by a specialist in English baroque painting at Tate Britain, the painting which dates from approximately 1693 has been attributed to AngloDutch painter Jan Wyck in collaboration with Dutch portrait painter Constantijn Netscher.

Bloomfield Auctions said Tate Britain consulted with experts at the RKD, the Dutch art history institute in The Hague, and it is believed the two artists worked together to create the picture  Wyck painting the battle and rearing grey horse and Constantijn Netscher doing the head of William III.

The painting is described as consistent with a late British baroque style and the setting is the Battle of the Boyne which took place on July 1 1690 between the forces of the deposed James II and William III, the husband of Queen Mary II.

Members of the Orange Order take part in a Twelfth of July parade in Belfast in 2023 (PA)

Sothebys London also researched the history of the painting and believe it was produced in 1693, three years after the battle and is part of an enthusiastic celebration of the King by his Protestant subjects.

It is described as a detailed picture by a highly competent horse painter with the collaboration of a good portrait artist.

Bloomfield Auctions will also be selling an American sterling silver coffee/tea service by Gorham.

It belonged to the American socialite Esther McCreery in her 1920/30s heyday living in Hillsboro, California.

Karl Bennett with a seven piece silver tea service used to entertain the Duke of Edinburgh (Press Eye/PA)

The auction house believes the tea service would have been used when Ms McCreery entertained Bob & Delores Hope, Daniel Boon and Charlie Chaplin among others.

It travelled with her when she was in the Bahamas, Australia and other parts of the world, and was used when entertaining the young Prince Philip when he attended a polo match in the US.

Bloomfield Auctions managing director Karl Bennett said they expect a lot of interest in the sale.

We are excited to be able to bring to auction this historical painting of King William at the Battle of the Boyne and are expecting a good deal of interest, he said.

The painting is a very attractive item and will hopefully appeal to a wide range of groups, both locally and further afield.

Although the painting is indistinctly signed and partially dated, from investigations and the Tate Britain and Sothebys analysis, we are confident it was painted by Jan Wyck and Constantijn Netscher circa 1693, and will make a great collectors piece.

The oil painting has an estimated value of 30,000 to 40,000 and the sale will take place on Tuesday January 23 both online and in the auction house.

Visit www.bloomfieldauctions.co.uk for more information.
US actor Alec Baldwin has been indicted by a grand jury over the fatal shooting of a cinematographer on a film set in New Mexico two years ago.

The 65-year-old will face a charge of involuntary manslaughter over the death of Halyna Hutchins, who died while filming Rust on the outskirts of Santa Fe.

Baldwin, the lead actor and a co-producer of the movie, was pointing a gun at Ms Hutchins during a rehearsal in October 2021 when the weapon went off, killing her and wounding director Joel Souza.

Alec Baldwin was pointing a gun at Ms Hutchins during a rehearsal in October 2021 when the weapon went off (Ian West/PA)

Baldwin has said he pulled back the hammer, but not the trigger, and the gun fired.

Defence lawyers for Baldwin, Luke Nikas and Alex Spiro, said the actor would fight the charge.

In a statement they said: We look forward to our day in court.

The indictment accuses Baldwin of negligent use of a firearm, while he also faces an alternate charge of involuntary manslaughter without due caution or circumspection.

An involuntary manslaughter charge against Baldwin over Ms Hutchinss death had been formally dismissed in April.

But New Mexico-based special prosecutors Kari Morrissey and Jason Lewis said they were seeking to re-charge Baldwin in October after additional facts about the shooting had come to light.

A report based on new analysis of the gun used by Baldwin and markings it left on a spent cartridge concluded that the trigger had to have been pulled or depressed.

The indictment was signed by Ms Morrissey and dated to Friday.

A civil lawsuit was also brought against Baldwin by crew members of the Rust movie, and his subsequent motion to have it dismissed was denied by a US judge in August.

The lawsuit claimed Baldwin and the production company behind the film caused intentional emotional distress and physical trauma to crew members as a result of negligence and recklessness.

The trial of the movies armourer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, who has pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter and evidence tampering in the case, is scheduled to begin on February 21.
Boris Johnson has said a second presidential term for Donald Trump could be just what the world needs.

The former prime minister derided the global wokerati for trembling so violently in fear of Mr Trump winning Novembers US election.

In his his weekly Daily Mail column, Mr Johnson argued that if Mr Trump backs Ukraine in its war against Russia, his renewed leadership can be a big win for the world.

Mr Trump has cast doubt on continued support for Kyiv if he re-enters the White House, and has repeatedly boasted about his warm relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

But Mr Johnson, a staunch supporter of Ukraine, claimed that Mr Trump will not betray the war-torn nation.

He wrote: I simply cannot believe that Trump will ditch the Ukrainians; on the contrary, having worked out, as he surely has, that there is no deal to be done with Putin, I reckon there is a good chance that he will double down and finish what he started  by giving them what they need to win.

If that is the case, then there is every chance, under Trump, that the West will be stronger, and the world more stable.

The ex-Tory leader went on to argue that what the world needs now is a US leader whose willingness to use force and sheer unpredictability is a major deterrent to the enemies of the West.

Nato-sceptic Mr Trump has previously claimed that he could end Russias war on Ukraine in 24 hours.

Boris Johnson described his old ally Donald Trump as a model of old-fashioned courtesy and good manners (Steve Parsons/PA)

President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday called on Mr Trump to visit Kyiv.

In an interview with Channel 4 News, the Ukrainian leader said: Yes please, Donald Trump  I invite you to Ukraine.

If you can stop the war during 24 hours I think it will be enough to come to Kyiv, on any day I am here.

Elsewhere in his column, Mr Johnson conceded that the former Republican president, who is facing 91 felony charges across four criminal cases, has been caught saying a few unguarded things.

But, he wrote, I like his style, denying that Mr Trump is a would-be dictator despite his alleged role in encouraging his supporters to storm the US Capitol in a bid to keep him in power after his 2020 election loss to Joe Biden.

Mr Johnson mocked the hysterics at Mr Trumps status as the Republican front-runner and his recent win in the Iowa caucuses.

In the cocktail parties of Davos, I am told, the global wokerati have been trembling so violently that you could hear the ice tinkling in their negronis, the former UK premier wrote in his column, for which reports suggest the Daily Mail is paying him 1 million per year.

Mr Johnson also claimed that Mr Trump is interested in a proper free trade deal with Brexit Britain, after hopes of a full-blown trade deal were abandoned last year.
The Duke of Sussex has withdrawn his High Court libel claim against the publisher of the Mail on Sunday.

Harry, 39, sued Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL) over a February 2022 article about his legal challenge against the Home Office following a decision to change his publicly funded security arrangements when visiting the UK.

The dukes lawyers claimed the story purported to reveal, in sensational terms that information from court documents contradicted public statements he had previously made about his willingness to pay for police protection for himself and his family whilst in the UK.

They alleged the article was an attack on his honesty and integrity, and would undermine his charity work and efforts to tackle misinformation online.

ANL contested the claim, arguing the article expressed an honest opinion and did not cause serious harm to his reputation.

In a ruling last month, the duke lost a bid to have ANLs honest opinion defence thrown out by a judge and was subsequently ordered to pay 48,447 on account towards the publishers lawyers bills.

A spokeswoman for the publisher confirmed to the PA news agency on Friday that Harry had withdrawn his libel case.

PA understands a notice of discontinuance was filed at the High Court on Friday.

The civil claim had been heading towards an estimated three-day trial scheduled to be staged between May 17 and July 31 this year.

Harry has withdrawn the claim (PA)

In the December 8 ruling, a High Court judge refused to strike out ANLs defence.

Mr Justice Nicklin concluded the publisher had a real prospect of successfully showing at a trial that Harrys previous press statements provided a misleading description of his case against the Home Office.

Following the judgment, Mr Justice Nicklin said the duke must pay ANLs legal costs linked to his failed bid to have its defence thrown out.

The judge ordered those costs should be assessed if they were not agreed, but that the duke should pay the 48,447 on account before the end of 2023.

Harry is still awaiting a ruling from a different judge in his separate claim against the Home Office over a decision to change the degree of his personal protection.

The duke alleges the February 2020 decision of the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures (Ravec)  a body under the departments remit  was unlawful and unfair.

A spokesperson for the Sussexes said the duke was focusing instead on the safety of his family and his legal case against the Home Office over security arrangements for himself, his wife and children when they are in the UK.

As is the nature with legal proceedings, years have lapsed since this complaint was first filed, the spokesperson said.

In the time since, the main hearing relating to the dukes judicial review has taken place and we are awaiting the final decision as to whether Ravec acted lawfully with regard to his security.

His focus remains there, and on the safety of his family, rather than these legal proceedings that give a continued platform to the Mails false claims all those years ago.
Senior DUP figures have held discussions on potentially ending their Stormont boycott but party sources downplayed the prospects of a final decision emerging on Friday.

The calling of the party officers meeting came amid mounting speculation that the DUP is preparing to make a call on whether or not to accept a Government deal on post-Brexit trading arrangements.

Downing Street expressed hope the Stormont impasse could soon be resolved while Irish premier Leo Varadkar described the meeting as a positive sign.

The devolved institutions at Stormont have been collapsed for almost two years as a result of a DUP boycott in protest at the Brexit-linked economic barriers on trade between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Striking public sector workers take part in a rally at Belfast City Hall on Thursday (Liam McBurney/PA).

Senior civil servants are running devolved departments, with limited powers, in the absence of local ministers.

Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris said before Christmas that his negotiations with the DUP over the terms of the Windsor Framework  the UK/EU accord that governs GB/NI trade  had concluded.

Although the party has been holding out since then for more clarification on the Governments proposals, it appears to be approaching the juncture when it decides whether to reject or accept the deal that would end the powersharing deadlock.

One senior DUP source said: It is clear that the time for a decision has arrived. The negotiation is over.

Any proposed return to Stormont would be expected to be strongly opposed by some of the DUPs 12 party officers who have made clear that devolution should only be restored when all of their concerns over the Irish Sea trading border have been addressed.

The officer board includes senior figures such as party leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, deputy leader Gavin Robinson, senior peer Lord Dodds and longstanding MPs Sammy Wilson and Gregory Campbell.

A DUP spokesman declined to comment on the meeting, insisting he would not give a running commentary on internal party affairs.

In a statement on Friday evening, the spokesman said: We understand that there has been considerable interest in our meeting today.

We will not give a running commentary on our position, save to say, we will continue to engage with the Government.

Expectations had been raised before Christmas that the DUP could be poised to return to powersharing, but it did not materialise.

The Government has offered a 3.3 billion package to stabilise Northern Irelands finances, including 600 million to settle public sector pay claims in Northern Ireland.

DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, centre, with fellow party officers Emma Little-Pengelly and deputy leader Gavin Robinson (PA)

However, Mr Heaton-Harris has made clear that the funds can only be released when the powersharing institutions return.

Thousands of public sector workers took part in strike action on Thursday, where calls were made for Mr Heaton-Harris to release the funds for pay claims and for the DUP to return to Stormont.

On Thursday, a legislative deadline passed for the restoration of the Stormont Assembly.

As a result, any imminent return of the Assembly would first require new legislation to be tabled at Westminster.

A No 10 spokeswoman said she would not speculate on political party meetings.

Our focus has always been on delivering for the people of Northern Ireland who rightly expect locally elected decision-makers to address the issues that matter to them, she added.

We also think we have a strong basis for the restoration of powersharing, so we hope this can be fixed soon.

Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris has made clear that the funds can only be released when the powersharing institutions return (Liam McBurney/PA)

Amid warnings earlier this week that the Stormont Assembly may not return for some time, former Northern Ireland secretary Julian Smith said on social media: Sometimes its darkest before the dawn.

Taoiseach Mr Varadkar said Fridays meeting was a positive sign.

He added: Well be very keen to see the Assembly and executive up and running again and certainly our role, as the Irish Government, will be to do everything we can to make sure that it is sustainable, that it is successful.

There are very serious issues that have to be dealt with in Northern Ireland, from public sector pay to the health service, to other issues.

If it is the case that the executive and the Assembly can be re-established, we want to make sure that its sustainable and successful and were willing to work with the British Government and all the major parties in the north on exactly that.

However, he said he was not aware of any changes to the Windsor Framework, and that any changes would have to be made by the EU and the UK.
Chinese, Brazilian FMs speak highly of strategic significance, overall impact of bilateral cooperation

Xinhua) 17:05, January 19, 2024

BRASILIA, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira here on Thursday, with both sides speaking highly of the strategic significance and overall impact of bilateral cooperation.

This year is of special significance as it marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Brazil and China, Vieira said, adding that in recent years, Brazil-China relations have developed steadily, and cooperation areas have been continuously expanded.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's historic visit to China last year yielded fruitful results, said Vieira.

Brazil is willing to strengthen communication and coordination with China, implement the important consensus reached by the two heads of state, give full play to the role of cooperation mechanisms between the two countries at all levels and in all fields, and further deepen mutually beneficial cooperation, said Vieira.

Brazil looks forward to taking the opportunity of hosting the Group of 20 (G20) Leaders' Summit in Rio de Janeiro to strengthen high-level exchanges between Brazil and China, inject strong impetus into bilateral relations, and lead Brazil-China friendly cooperation towards the next 50 years with broader prospects, added Vieira.

During his successful visit to China last year, President Lula and Chinese President Xi Jinping had in-depth communication, established solid mutual trust, and laid out strategic plans and guidance for the development of China-Brazil comprehensive strategic partnership, said Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee.

The Chinese side cherishes the friendship between China and Brazil, and is willing to take the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations as an opportunity to prepare for high-level exchanges between the two sides at the next stage as well as celebrations for the anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations, and elevate the China-Brazil comprehensive strategic partnership to a new level, enabling it to display new vitality and open up new horizons, Wang said.

As the world has entered a new period of turbulence and transformation, China and Brazil, the two biggest developing countries and representatives of emerging market economies in the Eastern and Western hemispheres, should strengthen unity and cooperation to jointly respond to global challenges, Wang said.

China supports Brazil in hosting the G20 Leaders' Summit, supports Brazil in playing a greater role in international and regional affairs, and is willing to work with Brazil to build an open, inclusive, clean and beautiful world that enjoys lasting peace, security for all and common prosperity, so as to take good care of Earth -- the only planet that hosts human life, Wang noted.

The two sides pledged to jointly make the upcoming fourth China-Brazil Foreign Ministerial-Level Comprehensive Strategic Dialogue a success, where they would conduct in-depth strategic communication on a wide range of bilateral and multilateral issues.

(Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Liang Jun)
The minor progressive Jinbo Party demanded Friday that President Yoon Suk Yeol apologize and dismiss the head of the Presidential Security Service, a day after its lawmaker was carried out of an event by presidential security agents.

Presidential security agents carried Rep. Kang Sung-hee out of an event held in the southwestern city of Jeonju on Thursday after what the presidential office described as shouting and pulling on the president's hand.

Kang has argued he was only asking Yoon to "change the principle of state affairs." But a presidential official gave a different account, saying the lawmaker held onto the president's hand despite warnings from security agents to let go.

On Friday, Kang's party demanded Yoon's apology.

"The Presidential Security Service carried out violence under President Yoon Suk Yeol's reign of terror," the Jinbo Party said in a press release. "We demand Yoon apologize in person and remove the head of the Presidential Security Service."

The main opposition Democratic Party of Korea added support, with Rep. Park Ju-min arguing the National Assembly should open a house steering committee meeting and demand the presidential office explain what happened.

Lawmakers from the ruling People Power Party defended the agents. They argued it was a necessary measure against what it described as "public intimidation" against the head of state.

"After shaking hands with Yoon, Kang strongly gripped the president's hand and continued to scream. The president was so confounded, he even asked (Kang) to let him go," said Rep. Lee Yong-ho, who shared his account of the incident. (Yonhap)
Safeguards to protect tenants in social housing from damp and mould in the wake of the death of a two-year-old child should be considered for the private rented sector too, MPs have said.

Landlords in social housing would be obliged to make emergency repairs within 24 hours under proposals announced earlier this month as part of Awaabs Law.

The legislation is named after Awaab Ishak, who died in December 2020 from a respiratory condition caused by prolonged exposure to mould in his home in Rochdale, Greater Manchester.

Awaab Ishaks death aged two prompted the Government to promise action on poor housing (Family handout/PA)

The proposals also state that social landlords would be required to investigate hazards within 14 days and start fixing them within a further seven days.

The measures, which are out for consultation, have been welcomed in a report by the House of Commons Health and Social Care Committee but MPs suggested the Government should consider extending the safeguards to the private rental sector.

The report, published on Friday, said while an estimated 0.2% of properties in the social rented sector have a category one  considered the most dangerous level  damp or mould hazard, the figure is at around 3.6% of properties in the private rented sector.

The report adds: It is welcome that the Government has proposed measures to protect social sector tenants from the worst impacts of unhealthy homes, via the implementation of Awaabs law.

We recommend that the Government act quickly on the outcome of its consultation on this topic for social sector tenants.

It should also consider how similar safeguards could be extended to tenants in the private rented sector who are affected by housing hazards, such as damp and mould, that can pose an immediate danger to health.

The consultation on Awaabs Law proposes that social housing landlords who fail to act on issues within the stated timeframe can be taken to court where they might be ordered to pay compensation to tenants.

The MPs report states that private rentals contribute disproportionately to both the total number of poor quality homes and the costs that poor housing causes to the NHS.

Committee chairman Conservative MP Steve Brine said both social housing and private tenants deserve greater protection by law.

He criticised the Government for having dragged its feet on updating the Decent Homes Standard  which sets out the minimum standards for the condition of homes  for the social rented sector, and on efforts to extend it into the private rented sector.

He said: Poor quality homes can have a catastrophic impact on the health of the those who live in them. The death of two-year-old Awaab Ishak from a respiratory condition caused by mould in his home should leave ministers in no doubt that tenants in both the social and private rented sectors deserve greater protection by law.

The Government has dragged its feet on updating the Decent Homes Standard for the social rented sector and in extending it to cover the private rented sector. Were calling on the Government to set out its timetable for doing so without delay.

Our report welcomes the Governments plan to introduce Awaabs law for tenants in the social sector. We urge swift action on the outcome of the consultation, but the Government must also consider safeguards for tenants in the private sector where risks of damp and mould can pose an immediate danger to health.

Creating healthy places to live to prevent ill-health among the population must take priority for ministers. Not only will that reduce pressures on the NHS but will save vast sums spent each year on treating people with preventable illness.

Other recommendations from the report include urging the Government to require developers to have a high standard for housing that protects residents health, and consulting on the content of existing design and space standards and how they relate to health.

The report also notes the potentially positive impacts of social prescribing  an approach connecting people to activities, groups and services in their community to meet the practical, social and emotional needs that affect their health and wellbeing.

MPs suggested the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) should work with NHS England and existing providers to develop a national strategy for social prescribing, aiming to improve frontline clinicians understanding of the benefits and their confidence in offering social and community-based solutions to unmet social needs.

The committee also urged the DHSC to reconsider the case for having a public health representative on all integrated care boards, something previously rejected by the Government.

A spokesperson for the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) said: Everyone deserves to live in a safe and decent home. We have already made strong progress on improving housing quality, reducing the number of non-decent homes in all tenures by over two million between 2010 and 2020.

Our landmark Social Housing Act will drastically improve the quality of life in social housing, granting residents a proper voice to fight those who think they can cheat the system, and Awaabs Law will force landlords to fix their homes within strict new time limits.

We are also introducing a Decent Homes Standard to the private rented sector for the first time, and creating a new ombudsman to resolve issues quicker and empower tenants to challenge poor practice.
The Post Office has been told by the Government to look into the case of a subpostmaster convicted of theft linked to a second IT system.

The firm is already at the centre of a scandal over the prosecution of subpostmasters using evidence from the flawed Horizon accounting software.

But the Government has now asked it to look into the case of Steve Marston, a 67-year-old former subpostmaster in Heap Bridge, Greater Manchester, who claims an earlier IT system  Capture  led to him being convicted of theft and false accounting offences in 1998.

The Department for Business and Trade has asked the Post Office to look into the Capture case (James Manning/PA)

The Department for Business and Trade has asked the Post Office to look into the case following reports in the i newspaper.

Officials expect the Post Office to take appropriate action if there are issues discovered with other systems currently or previously used by the firm.

A Post Office spokesman told the newspaper: We take very seriously the concerns that are being raised about cases from before the Horizon system was first rolled out in 1999, and we will of course assist in looking into such cases brought to our attention.

Mr Marston told the i he did not steal a penny but pleaded guilty to avoid being sent to prison.

They said pleading guilty was the only way to avoid going to jail, he said. I just thought it must be something Im doing wrong; computers were in their infancy, you didnt think they could be wrong.

Mr Marston says he told Post Office auditors that he was innocent, but was unable to explain what had happened.

They said Capture doesnt make mistakes, he added.
The King has returned to Sandringham, ready to undergo treatment for an enlarged prostate next week.

Charles, 75, flew back from Scotland with the Queen on Friday and was seen travelling to his private residence in Norfolk.

He has spent the past week in the sanctuary of Birkhall on the Balmoral estate, but received his diagnosis on Wednesday, having had a check-up after experiencing symptoms.

The King after a Sunday church service at St Mary Magdalene Church in Sandringham on January 7 (PA)

The King, who has cancelled engagements and been ordered to rest, will be admitted to hospital in the coming days for a corrective procedure for the benign condition.

Buckingham Palace, in an unprecedented double royal health scare, announced the news just 90 minutes after Kensington Palace revealed the Princess of Wales was in hospital after abdominal surgery.

Camilla insisted the King was fine and looking forward to getting back to work when she visited an art gallery in Aberdeen on Thursday.

Camilla opening the new Safe Space during her visit to Aberdeen Art Gallery (PA)

The Queen will carry on with her royal duties on Monday, visiting one of Swindons oldest family-run businesses  Deacon & Son Jewellers  in Wiltshire.

Meanwhile, Kate was spending her fourth day in hospital after being visited by the Prince of Wales on Thursday.

The princess, 42, is expected to remain in the private London Clinic for 10-14 days, and has been ordered to take up to three months to recuperate.

The Princess of Wales remain in The London Clinic (Aaron Chown/PA)

She is not expected to return to royal duties until after Easter, and William has cleared his diary and temporarily stepped back from his royal role to look after their children and care for Kate.

It is understood the King was keen to share his diagnosis to encourage other men who may be experiencing symptoms to get checked.

NHS England said the enlarged prostate page on the NHS website received one visit every five seconds on the day of the announcement.

The prostate enlargement page on the NHS website saw a 1061% surge in visits following the news of King Charles' health condition. The page received 16,410 visits on the day of the announcement  that's one visit every five seconds! Read morehttps://t.co/VCZNLEFnj7 pic.twitter.com/5G1DJ6CQcl  NHS England Digital (@NHSDigital) January 19, 2024

It had 26,170 visits in 48 hours, including another 9,760 visits on Thursday, compared with a daily average of 1,400 visits earlier in the week.

One in every three men over the age of 50 will have symptoms of an enlarged prostate including needing to visit the toilet more frequently, with more urgency and have difficulty emptying their bladder.

An enlarged prostate does not usually pose a serious threat to health, and it is not cancer.

But the charity Prostate Cancer UK has also seen a big rise in the number of people using its online risk checker with 8,025 risk checks on Thursday, of which 6,800 were noted as high risk.

The figures represent an increase of 101% on the previous day (3,993), and up 139% on the previous week.
Labour has denied it is dropping its pledge to invest 28 billion a year in green projects.

It came after a report that the expenditure commitment was being axed.

The party also failed to mention the commitment in a campaigning brief published earlier this week.

But on Friday evening, a Labour spokesperson said: We are committed to Labours Green Prosperity Plan to drive growth and create jobs, including our plan to ramp up to 28 billion of annual investment in the second half of the parliament, subject to our fiscal rules.

The Sun had earlier reported that the opposition party was dumping the 28 billion expenditure pledge, while retaining the policy ambition.

The newspaper quoted an unnamed source as saying the figure had become an albatross around our neck.

The Guardian said senior party officials will hold crunch talks on the plans fate and could still abandon it if they conclude it will damage the party in an election campaign.

The reports prompted criticism, with SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn saying: Winning the global race to net zero is essential to securing economic growth, energy security, skilled jobs and inward investment.

Turning away from delivery, out of fear of being attacked by the worst Tory Government in history, is desperate and dispiriting.

Labours key pitch has come under scrutiny in recent months, with the Tories branding it unaffordable in attacks that have become more frequent since the UK entered an election year.

Sir Keir Starmer has previously hinted he could scale down the investment given the financial picture he would inherit if he becomes prime minister.

But supporters have been concerned about watering it down.

Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves scaled back the pledge to spend 28 billion annually from the first year of a Labour government to hit it by the second half of the parliament (James Manning/PA)

Andy Burnham, the Labour mayor for Greater Manchester, last week urged Sir Keir to stick to your guns on the policy to invest in the future.

This is not spending, this is investment in the future, investment in new industry, investment in better homes for our residents, better transport, he said.

The Labour leader on Sunday told the BBC that he stood by the policy, but added numerous caveats, saying it was subject to what the Government has already assigned for environmental projects and needs to be within our fiscal rules.

Labour promised in 2021 to invest 28 billion a year until 2030 in green projects if it came to power.

But last year shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves said it would instead be a target to work towards in the second half of a first parliament, if Labour wins an election.

Chief Secretary to the Treasury Laura Trott said: Labours 2030 policy remains in place and that means 28 billion of unfunded spending every year.

Its clear now that Sir Keir Starmer cannot say how he would fund his 28 billion-a-year spending spree, because he doesnt have a plan to pay for it  and that can only mean thousands of pounds more in tax for families.

Rishi Sunak and the Conservatives will stick to the plan which is working, meaning a stronger economy, reduced borrowing and lower taxes.
Love Island star Georgia Harrison has been surprised by her ex Joshua Ritchie entering the reality show as the latest bombshell.

Series one islander Joshua, 29, ruffled feathers during Thursdays episode by choosing to take Georgia, Hannah Elizabeth and Georgia Steel all on a date.

As the islanders relaxed the the pool, Hannah announced: Ive got a text, Im shaking, Ive got a text.

Georgia S, Hannah and Georgia H are ready for their very first All Star date! Will sparks fly with Josh?  Find out at 9pm on ITV2 and ITVX #LoveIsland #AllStars pic.twitter.com/356ilhi1Ml  Love Island (@LoveIsland) January 18, 2024

The message read: Islanders, Georgia S, Hannah, Georgia H, you have all been picked to go on a date, please get ready to leave the Villa. #NewBoyEnergy #GoGetItGirl

The news caused all the girls to cheer with excitement before they helped each other get ready for their dates.

The trio were then taken to a romantic waterside location where Joshua was waiting with a bottle of fizz.

When it was Georgia Hs turn, she looked shocked to see him but said she was glad he was coming into the villa.

However, she wanted to clear the air first by explaining to him that while they were previously dating she had gotten frustrated after he had been rude to her when they were on holiday in Ibiza.

You got cancelled for a bit, you really deserved it, but I found it in my heart to forgive you because Im spiritual, the 20-year-old added.

She also told Joshua she was currently seeing how things go with Anton Danyluk in the villa as she felt he was a gentleman.

When asked if he might have a chance he if pursues things again, she replied: He (Anton) might be in trouble.

The OG cheeky chappy, Joshua, is back on the Island, but will he get up to mischief this time around?  #LoveIsland #AllStars pic.twitter.com/IRvGYkFtXV  Love Island (@LoveIsland) January 17, 2024

During the other dates, Georgia S said it was nice to see Joshua again, but admitted she was one of the most coupled up in the villa.

He asked if she would be open to getting to know him, to which she said it would be a challenge as she was happy with Toby Aromolaran.

During his date with fellow series one islander Hannah, she thanked him for picking her as she admitted she was having a bit of a different experience from last time.

She added: Im coupled up with Anton and hes boss but were just like brother and sister straight away.

The model told him she is the same old Hannah from when they first met nine years ago, but now she is a mother of a four-year-old boy.

She added: I obviously make sure that I do have a life. I dont really flirt, I dont go on dates.

First Look: Will what happened on the terrace, stay on the terrace?  Find out tonight at 9pm on ITV2 and ITVX #LoveIsland #AllStars pic.twitter.com/towgp1ATZ2  Love Island (@LoveIsland) January 18, 2024

Whereas Joshua said he felt he had changed and matured a lot since he was last on the show.

After they all returned to the villa, Georgia H told her fellow female islanders that she had known Joshua for nearly 10 years and that they had always had a flirtation.

She added: Around this year, we were dating for a little bit. It was going in a good direction but we had a really big argument in Ibiza over a club table and now hes here my heads a little bit gone.

Were compatible in every way to be honest, but maybe its just not been the right time.

While Joshua told the male islanders that he enjoyed the dates but that he was not going to reveal who he liked most.

The episode ended on a cliffhanger as the contestants were told that the female islanders would get to choose who they wanted to be coupled up with next.

However, as Joshua was the new arrival, he was told he would be given the chance to choose who he wanted to pair with first.

Love Island continues on ITV2.
Tata Steel has confirmed plans to close blast furnaces at its plant in Port Talbot, South Wales, with the loss of more than 3,000 jobs.

About 2,800 jobs will go over the next 18 months, with a further 300 to be lost.

Tata said in a statement: Tata Steel today announced it will commence statutory consultation as part of its plan to transform and restructure its UK business.

This plan is intended to reverse more than a decade of losses and transition from the legacy blast furnaces to a more sustainable, green steel business.

The transformation would secure most of Tata Steel UKs existing product capability and maintain the countrys self-sufficiency in steelmaking, while also reducing Tata Steel UKs CO2 emissions by five million tonnes per year and overall UK country emissions by about 1.5%.

Under the plans, Port Talbots two high-emission blast furnaces and coke ovens will close in a phased manner, with the first blast furnace closing about mid-2024 and the remaining heavy end assets winding down during the second half of this year.

The proposal also includes a wider restructuring of other locations and functions across the company, including the intended closure of its continuous annealing processing line (CAPL) in March 2025.

After talks with unions, Tata said it has agreed to continue to operate Port Talbots hot strip mill through the proposed transition period and in future.

Tata Steel said it will embark on a 1.25 billion investment in electric arc furnace technology in Port Talbot and asset upgrades, to secure long-term, high-quality production.

The proposed investment is supported by the UK Government, which has committed up to 500 million to enable the transformation.

Tata Steel plans to invest 750 million in the project, alongside funding for a comprehensive support package for affected employees, business restructuring and transition costs, as part of its long-term commitment to UK production.

Port Talbot steel cannot be left to close. UK Government needs to step up and protect this vital industry. We must not be left dependent on steel imports that would create lower quality products and far more carbon. pic.twitter.com/ozA7rIJRpZ  GMB Union (@GMB_union) January 19, 2024

Tata said its plans are subject to consultation but could be expected to result in up to 2,800 potential job losses across the business, out of which about 2,500 roles could be affected during the next 18 months.

Tata Steel expects that a further 300 roles could be affected in three years, which could include the potential consolidation and rationalisation of cold rolling assets in Llanwern once the required investments are completed at Port Talbot.

Unions reacted with anger to the news and said industrial action was not being ruled out.

A statement by the GMB and Community said: More than 3,000 jobs and the future of British steelmaking is at stake.

It is an absolute disgrace that Tata Steel, and the UK Government, appear intent on pursuing the cheapest instead of the best plan for our industry, our steelworkers and our country.

Its unbelievable any Government would give a company 500 million to throw 3,000 workers on the scrapheap, and our Government must re-evaluate its miserly offer to support investment at Tata Steel.

"Tata's announcement today is unacceptable. We need our steel, and decisions made now will reverberate for generations to come." @Roy_Rickhuss Read our response and joint statement with @GMB_Union in response to confirmation of @TataSteelUK and UK Governments bad deal for  Community Union (@CommunityUnion) January 19, 2024

The German, French and Spanish Governments are all committing billions to secure the future of their strategically important steel industries, and our Government must show similar ambition.

It is encouraging that the Labour Party have reaffirmed their commitment to the 3 billion Green Steel Fund, and using it to supporting a just transition at Tata Steel UK.

Tata must think again, and work with the UK Government and Labour to unlock the investment our industry needs and deserves.

Community and GMB do not accept Tata Steels rejection of the multi-union plan and confirmation they intend to press forward with their original devastating proposals.

We will now consult our members on next steps and all options to protect jobs are on the table, including industrial action.

T V Narendran, Tata Steels chief executive and managing director, said: The course we are putting forward is difficult, but we believe it is the right one.

Having invested almost 5 billion in the UK business since 2007, we must transform at pace to build a sustainable business in the UK for the long-term.

Our ambitious plan includes the largest capital expenditure in UK steel production in more than a decade, guaranteeing long-term, high-quality steel production in the UK and transforming the Port Talbot facility into one of Europes premier centres for green steelmaking.

We recognise this proposed restructuring would have a major impact on the individuals and communities concerned, whom we will support with dignity and respect.

In consultation with our union partners, Tata Steel will offer a comprehensive support package to mitigate the impact of any anticipated job losses, including helping employees to retrain and find new jobs.

We will continue our work with the UK and Welsh governments, trade unions and the community to help those who may be affected through the proposed transition.
MPs are considering whether to use an arcane procedure to allow Lord David Cameron to face questions in the Commons.

The measure said to be favoured by the Procedure Select Committee involves calling the Foreign Secretary to the Bar of the House of Commons, in a move that allows people who have not been elected to be quizzed.

It was previously utilised in 1814 to allow the Duke of Wellington to update Parliament on the Napoleonic Wars but it has not been deployed for almost 70 years, according to evidence given to the committee.

According to a report by The New Statesman magazine, the committee, chaired by Conservative MP Dame Karen Bradley, is set to recommend the Commons adopt the measure to allow Lord Cameron to be scrutinised in person by the whole House.

If correct, that recommendation would come despite reservations being raised by the Labour Party and a warning by a Government minister that it could have the unintended effect of allowing a future prime minister to come from the Lords.

A committee spokesman said: The Procedure Committee has undertaken an inquiry into how members of the House of Commons can scrutinise secretaries of states in the Lords.

The committee will report back with its proposals shortly.

Downing Street said it would consider any recommendations made.

The cross-party committee opened an inquiry in November looking into how the accountability of Cabinet ministers in the House of Lords could be improved following the former prime ministers return to front line politics.

Lord Cameron was appointed Foreign Secretary by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak during a Cabinet reshuffle last year.

The Duke of Wellington spoke to MPs from the Bar of the Commons to update them on the Napoleonic Wars (The National Gallery/PA)

Traditionally, only MPs are permitted to sit on the green Commons benches and, if they are appointed ministers, to give evidence from the despatch box.

But the appointment of Lord Cameron  who quit as prime minister after the 2016 Brexit result and resigned as an MP three months later  into a senior position in Government has raised questions about accountability for ministers in the upper house.

Currently, the Foreign Secretary gives statements in the Lords, with a junior Foreign Office minister repeating it in the Commons.

Lord Cameron has also appeared before committees since his return to Westminster, including giving evidence to the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee this month.

After Lord Camerons appointment, Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle said he wanted to see proposals from the Government on how the Foreign Secretary will be properly accountable to this House.

According to the Institute for Government, following the appointment of Lord Mandelson as business secretary in 2008 by former prime minister Gordon Brown, there was debate over whether the Commons should adapt its procedures to allow MPs to directly scrutinise secretaries of state who sit in the Commons.

But the think tank said changes were never introduced.

Taking questions from the Procedure Committee last month about the prospect of Lord Cameron speaking from the Bar, Commons Leader Penny Mordaunt said her front bench colleague was keen to accommodate what the Commons optimal solution is for improving opportunities for MPs to hold him to account.

Cabinet Office minister Alex Burghart said changing the rules for Lord Cameron could lead to future PMs coming from the Lords (PA)

Lucy Powell, Labours shadow Commons leader, told the panels inquiry on December 18 that having Lord Cameron answer questions from the Bar of the House was not the optimal option.

She instead suggested that a large committee room in Parliament could be used to act as a Grand Committee during which the senior Tory could face questions from elected representatives.

The inquiry was told by Cabinet Office minister Alex Burghart that the Commons regularly invited non-MPs to speak to the chamber in the 19th century.

He said the Duke of Wellington in 1814 asked to come to the Bar of the House to thank the Commons for its support after the Peninsula War in Spain.

The minister said the procedure was last used in 1957 when journalist Sir John Junor was called to the bar to be reprimanded for contempt of Parliament.

Mr Burghart said the committee should be aware that any recommendation for Lord Cameron to take questions in the Commons could have unintended effects.

He said: Starting to have secretaries of state in the Lords and them coming to the Commons to give evidence would probably lead over time to more secretaries of state being in the Lords.

Debate arose in the 2000s about scrutiny when Lord Mandelson was brought back to the cabinet (Yui Mok/PA)

It might, over time, lead to prime ministers being in the Lords. That is not inevitable, but it is something that the committee might wish to bear in mind.

Nadine Dorries, an ex-MP and an ally of former prime minister Boris Johnson, recently floated the idea of a potential return for Lord Cameron as Tory Party leader.

The former No 10 incumbent laughed off the suggestion, however, telling Times Radio: Well, shes always been a much better novelist than a political forecaster. I think Ill leave it at that.

A Number 10 spokeswoman, asked about the suggestion Lord Cameron could be called to the Commons bar, said: The Foreign Secretary provides evidence to select committees and takes questions in the House of Lords.

He is also represented by a minister of state in the Commons answering questions, so in that respect he is fully accountable to Parliament.

But I think any recommendations or reports coming through from various committees would be looked at in the usual way

We are confident we have the right arrangements in place to ensure that the Government is held to account and scrutinised in both Houses.

Lord Cameron has been approached for comment.
A national call to action is needed across the country to ensure children are vaccinated against potentially deadly measles, the head of the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has said.

Professor Dame Jenny Harries, chief executive of the UKHSA, warned that measles is spreading among unvaccinated communities, and urged parents to check whether their children have had the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) jab.

Vaccination rates across the country have been dropping, but there are particular concerns about some regions, including parts of London and the West Midlands.

Figures released by the UKHSA show there have been 216 confirmed measles cases and 103 probable cases in the West Midlands since October 1 last year.

Four-fifths (80%) have been found in Birmingham while 10% were identified in Coventry, with the majority being in children aged under 10.

The UKHSA has declared a national incident, which it said is an internal mechanism signalling the growing public health risk and enabling it to focus work in specific areas.

Ahead of her visit to Birmingham on Friday, Dame Jenny told BBC Radio 4s Today programme that people have forgotten what measles is like, and that children can be unwell for a week or two with symptoms including a nasty rash, high fever and ear infections. She added that the virus is highly infectious.

(PA Graphics)

There can also be serious complications, hospital admissions and death.

The focus this morning obviously is on the West Midlands and Im going there, but I think the real issue is we need a call to action right across the country, she said.

We had established measles elimination status in the UK, but in fact our vaccination rates now have dropped on average to about only 85% of children arriving at school having had the two MMR doses.

In the West Midlands, thats in some areas down to 81%, (and) if we go down to the Surrey Heartlands Integrated Care Board area, thats just over 70%.

So we are well under the recommended coverage for MMR vaccination that the WHO (World Health Organisation) recommends.

Measles is a viral illness that can be serious and sometimes fatal. It's important to get two doses of the #MMR vaccine for life-long protection.  Contact your GP practice to book an appointment for a catch up jab if needed.  Learn more: https://t.co/v0SeUghChA pic.twitter.com/OmI9jN7vlT  NHS Birmingham and Solihull (@NHSBSol) January 16, 2024

She said uptake of MMR vaccines does differ among communities.

Asked which communities, she said: This is an important point, I think, for the West Midlands, for those in Muslim communities, they will be not keen to take up one of the MMR vaccines that we offer which has a pork-based derivative.

But its really important that theyre aware there is a non-porcine vaccine which is available to them and very effective.

So its that sort of understanding and ensuring that knowledge is available to people so they can make choices.

She said the vaccine programme in the UK is clearly not where the UKHSA wants it to be, adding we want it to be 95% (coverage).

She added: Its quite common with vaccination programmes that when the risk is perceived to have gone away, then the concern to get vaccinated may drop off and so one of the reasons for flagging this today is to remind people that cases are still out there. This is a serious illness.

The UKHSA carried out a specific risk assessment last July in London because up to 20% of children were entering school unvaccinated.

Dame Jenny said this was a significant risk to the population in London.

Thankfully, many families have come forward and children have been vaccinated, but the rates remain low, she added.

Now predictably, were seeing that swing move to other, particularly inner city areas, where we know vaccination rates are low.

This is a call right across the country for all parents to check the vaccination rates of their children and also, one of our most unvaccinated populations are young adults (born around 1998 to 2004) and many of those now, of course, will be in frontline work, so things like young teachers, and its really important that they also get vaccinated with MMR.

Official figures show uptake of the vaccine is at its lowest point in over a decade.

In 2022/23, some 84.5% of youngsters in England had received both doses of the jab by the time they were five years old  the lowest level since 2010/11. Some 92.5% had received one dose.

Measles is highly infectious and can be passed on even before a rash appears. Make sure your child is protected from becoming seriously unwell from measles by making sure they are up to date with their MMR vaccinations. Find out more  https://t.co/pGbmMXqcSf pic.twitter.com/p87M3cpLX7  NHS (@NHSuk) January 16, 2024

It comes as NHS England issued, for the first time, infection control guidance on measles to the NHS.

Most of it is standard procedure for infectious diseases, such as ensuring communication between GP surgeries and hospitals if a patient has measles and is being admitted for care.

If a person needs to see a GP, they should be isolated at the time of arrival (for example, directed to a side room) and appointments should be scheduled to reduce waiting times in reception areas to avoid spreading the disease, the guidance said.

In hospitals, patients with suspected measles should also be put in a separate area (ideally a single room away from others) as soon as possible.

Those inpatients with suspected or confirmed measles should, whenever possible, be placed in an infectious disease isolation room with en-suite facilities, it added.

The guidance also said hospitals can assign a dedicated team of care staff to care for patients in isolation or group rooms and areas.

This can only be implemented if there are sufficient levels of staff available (so as not to have a negative impact on non-affected patients care), it said.

Only staff whose vaccination status, disease history or immune status is known should be assigned to isolation or cohort rooms and areas.

Helen Bedford, professor of childrens health at UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, added: Measles is a potentially very serious infection.

About one in 1,000 people with measles develop inflammation of the brain and even in high-income countries like the UK, about one in 5,000 die from the infection.

Apart from managing the symptoms of measles, there is no treatment.

There is no upper age limit for vaccination so if you or your loved ones have missed out, now is the time to get that protection. We can stop this infection in its tracks with vaccination.
A prolific online sex blackmailer has been jailed for 24 years for a sickening string of offences against a seven-year-old girl and dozens of women using dating and sugar daddy websites.

Anthony Burns was told that he had caused immense distress throughout his offending, which included two offences jointly committed with online predator Abdul Elahi, who received a 32-year sentence in 2021.

Convicted child sex offender Burns, whose was sentenced for sexual grooming in 2010 and inciting child prostitution in 2013, admitted or was found guilty of 43 offences committed between 2018 and 2021.

The 39-year-old sat with his head bowed in the dock as Judge Sarah Buckingham said the offences of blackmail, malicious communications, making indecent images of children, possessing extreme pornography and causing sexual activity with a child showed he was a dangerous offender.

Burns had shown no remorse despite directing a woman in the United States to perform sex acts, before the woman was ordered to sexually abuse a seven-year-old girl as he recorded a 25-minute video, the judge said.

She told Burns, some of whose victims in the UK, US and Australia had self-harmed or attempted to take their own lives: Your offending took place over a two-and-a-half-year period.

You did not care about the anguish you caused and had complete disregard for your victims suffering.

Accomplice Abdul Elahi, who was jailed in 2021 (NCA/PA)

Burns, originally from Lowestoft in Suffolk, had displayed depravity and callousness throughout his offending, the judge said, telling him: You needed no encouragement (from Elahi).

You were no junior partner  you encouraged him. You were someone who held no respect for any court orders intended to restrict your activities.

No one who heard the victims impact statement in the case could have failed to have been moved, the judge said.

The judge added: You were arrested three times and interviewed five times. After you had been released on bail and later on court bail you continued to offend.

Burns sentencing hearing at Birmingham Crown Court took two days (Chris Radburn/PA)

Burns was told he was someone who was arrogant with a deep-seated cruel streak and had caused immense harm and distress.

The judge said one offence in which Burns posed as a National Crime Agency investigator to torment the mother of one of Elahis victims had been particularly unpleasant.

You raised her hopes that images of her daughter might be able to be traced and destroyed, and then you cruelly dashed them, the judge said.

None of the victims can be identified because of a court order.

Elahi, from Sparkhill, Birmingham, admitted 158 charges committed against 72 complainants, after also using dating and other websites to target victims.

Investigators believe Elahi, who posed as a modelling agent or businessman, targeted around 2,000 victims globally, also blackmailing women after tricking them into sending him sexual material online.

Addressing Birmingham Crown Court on Thursday, prosecutor Kate Temple-Mabe said Burns 2010 conviction involved sexual grooming of a 14-year-old schoolgirl when he was aged 25.

Judge Buckingham also ordered the confiscation of devices seized from Burns during an investigation by the National Crime Agency.

Offering mitigation, defence barrister Hugh Forgan said Burns, who was addicted to pornography, had experienced traumatic events earlier in his life, including the death of a partner in a car crash.

Seeking to distinguish Burns offending from that of Elahi, Mr Forgan said: These images (obtained by blackmail by Burns) were not being sold on or distributed.

It wasnt a business, no matter how distressing or depraved.

Commenting after the sentencing, National Crime Agency operations manager Robert Slater described Burns, also known as Danny, as a revolting sexual offender.

Mr Slater said: My first thoughts go out to his victims, many of whom showed immense courage by providing vital evidence to secure his conviction.

The control he sought over them, some of whom were young children, was sinister, manipulative and heartless.

In a message to anyone who falls victim to similar crimes, Mr Slater added: Anyone being pressured or threatened into sending sexual images or videos online should try to remove themselves immediately from the conversation, not respond further to any contact, and report the matter to police.

You are not alone, you are not to blame and help is always available.

Bethany Raine, specialist prosecutor for the Crown Prosecution Service, said: Burns belittled and humiliated women.

They became trapped in a web of fear where their own images became tools of manipulation and extortion, leaving them vulnerable to his depraved demands.

His conviction sends a clear message that the CPS is committed in bringing offenders like Burns, who sexually abuse and exploit victims, to justice, wherever that abuse takes place.
A number of Scottish campaign groups have written an open letter to Humza Yousaf, condemning the hypocrisy of any friendly relationship with Erdogan in relation to Palestine.

The letter, signed by eight different organisations, made the accusation while the Kurds are subject to genocidal attacks from the Turkish state.

It was signed by Scottish Solidarity with Kurdistan, Kurdish Community Scotland, Zagros Community Scotland, Womens Rights Delegation from Scotland to North and East Syria, International Human Rights Delegation on political prisoners in Turkey, and Edinburgh University Justice for Palestine Society.

It was also signed by Mike Arnott, president of Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC) and International Solidarity Movement (ISM) Scotland.

The letter comes in response to Mr Yousafs invitation for Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan to visit Scotland the next time he is in the UK.

First Minister Humza Yousaf (Andy Buchanan/PA)

The letter reads: The Turkish states record on human rights abuses is well documented, both internally and externally.

Women, ethnic minorities and migrants bear the brunt of its oppressive policies.

In particular, the Turkish state continues a policy against the Kurdish people that seeks to suppress basic human rights and political autonomy through military force, legal repression, and assimilationist policies.

The letter says Mr Erdogans party destroys civilian infrastructure beyond Turkeys own borders for political leverage and to disempower an already economically disadvantaged population in Syria and Iraq.

They said Mr Yousaf was dismissive to journalists when questioned on this, stating his response on inviting Mr Erdogan to Scotland despite ill treatment of Kurdish people was a good idea.

They accused the First Minister of hypocrisy, stating the SNP positions itself as distinct from Westminster and with a more discerning eye towards human rights abuses and regional autonomy.

They said Erdogan does to the Kurds everything that he accuses Netanyahu of doing to the Palestinian people.

The letter went on to condemn a recent attack, where Turkish military forces carried out 224 ground and air strikes in north-eastern Syria from January 13-16.

The attack targeted agricultural and energy infrastructure, creating power outages and water supply issues for millions of people.

The letter continues: BAE Systems, Thales, Leonardo and other weapons manufacturing companies that have factories in Scotland supply both Israel and Turkey.

In 2019, white phosphorous  banned for use as an incendiary chemical weapon  was reported to have been used by the Turkish military in north-eastern Syria.

An investigation at the time showed 70 British export licences for phosphorous.

In Turkey, the letter says the left-wing party HDP has had more than 5,000 members arrested due to being politically repressed.

The signatories say HDP MPs have been imprisoned and criticised Mr Erdogans trustee system  which has seen HDP mayors removed from office and replaced with government-appointed officials.

The letter says: The UK government and the European Union countries have shrewdly wedded themselves to facilitating Erdogans AKP government in exchange for the policing of Europes land and sea borders and its imprisonment of displaced peoples subject to these push-backs.

As residents of Scotland and members of human rights organisations, we request that the First Minister and the SNP condemn Erdogan and the AK Party for their actions.

The targeting of civilian infrastructure and use of chemical weapons are war crimes, regardless of whether the state that does so is a Nato member.

We request Mr Yousafs support in condemning these attacks on north-east Syria.

We also ask him to assess the human rights abuses that the Kurdish peoples are subject to within the state borders of Turkey and that he supports the struggle for the freedom of political prisoners in Turkey.

The letter ends: We ask Mr Yousaf to meet with the Kurdish communities in Scotland and campaigners to discuss this issue.

We believe that Scotland can do better and we would like to talk about how.

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: As a courtesy, the First Minister invited the president of Turkey to Scotland the next time he visits the UK.

In meetings with leaders, the First Minister raises human rights issues and concerns as necessary.
Korean tech giant Kakao said Friday it has developed a multimodal large language model (MLLM) named Honeybee in a bid to expand its presence in the artificial intelligence market.

During an AI strategy meeting hosted by the Ministry of Science and ICT, Kakao's CEO nominee Chung Shin-a revealed that her company has completed the development of Honeybee.

This upgraded large language model goes beyond conventional text understanding by incorporating vision and image comprehension capabilities.

Built upon the MLLM foundation, Honeybee is able to understand both images and text simultaneously, making it possible to respond to inquiries related to mixed image and text content, according to Kakao.

Kakao said it has shared Honeybee and its inference code on Github, an online software development platform and an open source community, to facilitate the widespread advancement of MLLMs globally.

During the government-led event, meanwhile, Kakao's incoming leader stressed the importance of cooperation among local AI companies with a shared objective of targeting the global market.

"Through the AI wave initiated by ChatGPT, I feel responsible for having our own language model," Chung said, adding that Kakao's rival Naver is also working to develop a Korean-based language model. "In the times of AI, I believe cooperation between companies and the creation of an ecosystem are very important."

Choi Soo-yeon, CEO of Naver, emphasized Korean developers' potential, and called for the government's support to help them compete with global tech giants "100 times bigger" in size in the AI market in a time when technology can affect people's way of thinking and acting.

"There are many companies in Korea that are developing super-sized AI models," she said. "They will create an opportunity for Korea to become an AI-advanced country, making the current year particularly important for development in this field." (Yonhap)
Poultry farmers have won a High Court fight against the Government over compensation for birds affected by avian flu.

The High Court in London previously heard that under animal health legislation, officials can condemn to slaughter healthy birds to curb the spread of avian flu, subject to an obligation to pay compensation.

Seven producers, supported by the National Farmers Union (NFU), brought legal action against the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) over how the payments were calculated.

At a hearing in December, barrister Malcolm Birdling said the Government was unlawfully failing to properly compensate farmers for healthy birds condemned to be slaughtered, adding the producers had suffered devastating losses.

In a judgment on Friday, Mrs Justice Hill ruled in favour of the farmers, with ministers now required to reconsider the compensation payable to the producers in the case as a result.

Under a previous policy, the compensation was paid based on how many birds were healthy on the date of culling.

Farmers said while there was a two-day target between the decision to cull and the culling, they had faced delays of up to two weeks, with more birds becoming diseased and therefore not counted for compensation.

The court heard that one of the producers in the case lost nearly 500,000 birds at one site due to the delay, with a financial loss of 1.5 million, though this figure was disputed by Defra.

A new policy was introduced in 2022, but in her 24-page ruling, Mrs Justice Hill said both policies were unlawful.

She said: The new policy constitutes a relatively minor change to the calculation of compensation, it does little to mitigate the impacts.

The judge added: The fact that biosecurity measures can prevent the spread of avian influenza does not, in my judgment, necessarily prove  as the defendant contended  that it is proper to compensate keepers only for those healthy birds actually slaughtered rather than those condemned.
Sir Keir Starmer has described Benjamin Netanyahus opposition to the establishment of a Palestinian state when the war in the Middle East ends as unacceptable.

In a hardening of tone towards the Israeli prime minister, the Labour leader said it was wrong to suggest that statehood was in the gift of a neighbour.

Mr Netanyahu has vowed to press ahead with the offensive in Gaza for many months despite mounting pressure on Israel to rein in its military action as the scale of death and destruction intensifies.

In a press conference earlier this week, he also said he opposed US calls for the establishment of a Palestinian state when the conflict comes to an end.

Asked about the Israeli prime ministers remarks on Friday, Sir Keir told broadcasters: The comments (made by) Prime Minister Netanyahu are unacceptable and they are wrong.

Palestinian statehood is not in the gift of a neighbour. It is the inalienable right of the Palestinian people.

Its also the only way to a secure settlement and a secure future.

It comes amid a wider rift between Israel and the US over the scope of Israels war and plans for the future of Gaza.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said Israel would never have genuine security without a pathway towards Palestinian independence.

In response to the comments made by Mr Netanyahu in his press conference, White House national security spokesman John Kirby said: We obviously see it differently.

Earlier this week, the White House also announced it was the right time for Israel to lower the intensity of its military action in Gaza.

Benjamin Netanyahu has been criticised by Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer (Aaron Chown/PA)

Israel launched the offensive after an unprecedented cross-border attack by Hamas on October 7, in which 1,200 people were killed and some 240 others taken hostage.

Roughly 130 hostages are believed by Israel to remain in Hamas captivity.

Nearly 25,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israels assault  one of the deadliest and most destructive military campaigns in recent history, according to health authorities in Hamas-controlled Gaza.

Mr Netanyahu struck a defiant tone this week, repeatedly saying the offensive will not be halted until it realises its goals of destroying Hamas and bringing home all remaining hostages.

Both the UK Conservative government and the Labour opposition, along with the US, have said they back Israels right to defend itself following Hamas October 7 attacks.

Both have expressed support for a two-state solution to the conflict and a sustainable ceasefire  but have resisted calls to back an immediate one.

However, the Israeli government has been urged by western allies to limit the scope of its offensive and act within the parameters of international law.

The country currently faces a case at the UNs International Court of Justice (ICJ) brought by South Africa, which accuses it of genocide over its actions in Gaza  a charge Israel denies.

UK Foreign Secretary Lord David Cameron on Sunday said Britain has been incredibly firm in urging Israel to show restraint but that it was nonsense to suggest the country intends to commit genocide.
Rishi Sunak has said he is determined to get his Rwanda legislation through Parliament, as ministers prepare for stiff resistance in the House of Lords to the flagship asylum policy.

Many peers have already expressed deep unease about the plan, with ministers braced for a battle with the Upper House over the Bill.

The Prime Minister, who has urged the Lords not to block the will of the people, said he wanted to get the scheme up and running as soon as possible.

Peers could seriously frustrate that ambition, with Downing Street likely to face attempts by peers to introduce a range of amendments to the proposed legislation.

Former Scottish Tory leader Baroness Ruth Davidson cast doubt policy will ever see asylum seekers deported to east Africa, telling BBC Radio 4 there are dogs in the street that know that deportation flights are probably never going to happen.

The Bill is likely to receive its second reading by the end of January, with February 12, 14 and 19 pencilled in for debate at the committee stage.

It is possible that the third reading of the Bill could happen around the middle of March.

Mr Sunak played down the prospect of having to pack the Lords with Tory peers to get the legislation through, adding that the country was fed up with the merry-go-round on the issue.

Speaking to reporters in Hampshire, he told the PA news agency: We shouldnt be talking about these things because the House of Lords will be able to see that this is part of the strong majority in the Commons, they can see that this is a national priority.

POLITICS Rwanda

(PA Graphics)

And I would urge them strongly to crack on with it because we all just want to get this done.

The visit in south-east England came a day after the Prime Minister endured a tumultuous week in Westminster after a significant cohort of Tory MPs rebelled to back amendments to the Rwanda Bill before largely folding and agreeing to back the plan in a crunch third reading vote.

Mr Sunak told broadcasters during a visit to Hampshire: I am pleased our plan is working and that were making progress.

The numbers last year were down by over a third, that hasnt happened before, so that shows that we can make a difference here.

In order to fully solve this problem we need to have a deterrent, so that when people come here illegally they wont be able to stay and will be removed.

That is why the Rwanda scheme is so important, and thats why Im determined to get it through Parliament and get it up and running as quickly as possible so we can properly solve this problem.

Former Scottish Conservative leader Baroness Ruth Davidson said deportation flights are probably never going to happen (Jane Barlow/PA)

We have got a plan, this plan is working, if we stick with it we can deliver the change people want to see.

Mr Sunak has made the Rwanda policy  first proposed in 2022 while Boris Johnson was in Number 10  central to his premiership, forming part of his pledge to stop small boats of migrants from coming to Britain over the English Channel.

Under the plan, migrants who cross the Channel in small boats could be sent to Rwanda rather than being allowed to seek asylum in the UK.

The legislation, along with a recently signed treaty with Kigali, is aimed at ensuring the scheme is legally watertight after a Supreme Court ruling against it last year.

In a separate blow to the plan this week by peers, the House of Lords International Agreements Committee said that safeguards in the treaty with Kigali are incomplete, do not overcome concerns of judges and should not be ratified by Parliament.

A Downing Street spokeswoman said ministers would consider issues that are raised  motions and amendments  in the usual way.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak urged peers to back his plan in a press conference on Thursday (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

In terms of the improvements and the assurances that we have with the government of Rwanda, we are confident that there will be implementation of all of those measures in line with the timelines for the treaty, they added.

So those assurances that we provided, which responded to issues raised by the Supreme Court, will be in place when we get flights off the ground.

Mr Sunak will hope to have flights in the air ahead of the next general election, expected to be called in the second half of the year.

The Tories, who have promised to stop the boats, are expected to make illegal migration a crunch issue in the campaign as Labour remains far ahead in the polls.

But renewed Tory divisions over the Rwanda plan, with both moderate and right-wing MPs criticising Mr Sunaks strategy, have seen the Prime Minister face fresh questions about his leadership.
SANTA FE, N.M.  Alec Baldwin is headed to trial over the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, who was killed in 2021 after the actor's prop gun fired a live round of ammunition on the "Rust" film set.

The decision to indict Baldwin was announced Friday after a New Mexico grand jury heard evidence presented by special prosecutors Kari Morrissey and Jason Lewis. He was charged with one count of involuntary manslaughter.

"We look forward to our day in court," said Baldwin's attorneys, Luke Nikas and Alex Spiro, of Quinn Emanuel.

If convicted, Baldwin could face up to 18 months in prison. A trial date has not been set.

"We are looking forward to the criminal trial which will determine if he should be convicted for the untimely death of Halyna," Gloria Allred, the lawyer for Hutchins' family said in a statement Friday.

In November, NBC News exclusively obtained several videos that showed Baldwin handling at least one prop gun and interacting with crew members while he was filming scenes for Rust. The five videos showed Baldwin preparing for scenes, firing the guns and acting in character. In two of them, he tries to rearrange crew members after having expressed concerns about their safety. The five videos total about seven minutes. The crew was shooting for two weeks before production was shut down.

In October, two sources told NBC News that Baldwin and the special prosecutors had discussed his taking a plea deal but that it was rescinded in the days before their announcement to bring the case before a grand jury.

The grand jury's indictment comes after the same New Mexico prosecutors dismissed the involuntary manslaughter charges against Baldwin in April.

Baldwin has maintained in interviews with ABC News and CNN that he didnt pull the trigger and that the gun was declared cold, with no live ammunition, by assistant director Dave Halls. Halls pleaded no contest in March to a misdemeanor charge of negligent use of a deadly weapon and was sentenced to serve six months of unsupervised probation.

I feel that someone is responsible for what happened, and I cant say who that is, but I know its not me, Baldwin said in an interview with ABC News George Stephanopoulos in December 2021.

The films armorer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, was charged last year with involuntary manslaughter, and her trial is set to begin Feb. 21. She has pleaded not guilty.

Sumiko Moots reported from Santa Fe, N.M. and Chloe Melas reported from New York City.
The weeklong Arctic cold that's blanketed much of the nation has taken more than 50 lives, officials said, as 95 million people in the United States are under winter weather warnings Friday.

Freeze alerts were issued overnight across a swath of the South, from Texas to Florida, where 15 million Americans shivered under their blankets.

Temperatures Friday night and early Saturday in traditional hot spots such as Shreveport, Louisiana; Jackson, Mississippi; Birmingham, Alabama; and Atlanta are set to dip into the low 20s or teens.

Of the 51 cold-related deaths since Jan. 12, 17 happened in Tennessee, nine in Oregon, six in Illinois, five in Washington state and Mississippi, three in New York state, two in Louisiana and one each in Arkansas, Wisconsin, Wyoming and New Hampshire, local and state officials have told NBC News.

All state offices in Tennessee were closed Friday because of the dangerous winter weather, officials said.

The Nashville Department of Transportation bluntly told Music City residents to stay home, saying Friday's icy road conditions are the worst yet of this weeklong cold snap.

"If you do drive, assume every road is icy, even when it appears clear," the agency said.

Wayne County Sheriff Shane Fisher injected some humor into his serious message for drivers to be careful navigating ice-slicked conditions. His office posted surveillance footage of the sheriff falling on ice after getting out of a truck.

"Dont become a statistic!" according to the message. "Note  no animals were harmed in making this video."

Residents of western New York have been buried under snow for several days now.

Michael Santoro, who lives just south of Buffalo in Hamburg, said hes been spending almost five hours a day in his driveway plowing and shoveling to keep up with the relentless snowfall this week.

"Anyone of these snow mounds could be a car, he said, gesturing to a car in his driveway completely engulfed by snow. "You have to really be careful when youre driving through here."

Cities from West Virginia to southern New England could get between 1 to 5 inches of snow Friday.

Philadelphia was hit hard by snow Friday morning and by the time it lets up in the evening, up to 5 inches will have fallen on the City of Brotherly Love and the surrounding Delaware Valley.

Light snow began falling on New York City in the morning with 1 to 3 inches potentially covering the area by early evening.

Boston should experience light snow Friday afternoon and early evening, with as much as an inch falling.

From Thursday to Friday morning, the snowfall around Washington, D.C., has totaled between 2 to 4 inches.

Swaths of Texas and Louisiana had been shivering since the last weekend, before they got a respite of warmth and then went back to freezing Friday.

Residents of Dallas and Amarillo in Texas, and Shreveport, Louisiana, enjoyed comfortable high temperatures of 60, 65 and 63 degrees Fahrenheit, respectively, Thursday. Those same communities were back under blankets Friday as the mercury dipped to 24, 31 and 41 degrees, respectively.

Winter temperatures across the eastern United States will be low throughout the weekend, but there's hope for warmer times by Monday.

For example, it won't get above freezing in New York City all weekend. But it could reach 37 degrees by Monday and into the 50s a week from now.

Bostonians will have to bundle up for high temps only making the low 20s Saturday before it reaches conditions similar to New York City by next week.

Sunnier days are also headed to the Midwest where high temps in St. Louis and Chicago won't get above 17 and 14 degrees Saturday. But the mercury should reach the high 30s and low 40s by the end of next week.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
2020 Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang endorsed US Rep. Dean Phillips bid for president while campaigning with the Minnesota Democrat here Thursday.

In this time of need, only one person decided to place his country above his professional aspirations, put his conviction above the chattering class, and that is the man I am proud to endorse tonight as the next president of the United States, three-term congressman from Minnesota Dean Phillips, Yang said at a campaign event.

Phillips has adopted policies supported by Yang, who unsuccessfully sought the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020 and the New York City mayorship the following year. Those include Medicare for All and Universal Basic Income pilot programs as Phillips tries to appeal to progressive voters in his long-shot challenge to President Joe Biden.

The Minnesota congressman has also brought on left-leaning senior campaign staff, including campaign manager Zach Graumann, who ran Yangs 2020 campaign, and senior advisor, Jeff Weaver, who worked on Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders 2016 and 2020 presidential bids.

Yang said in 2021 that he was breaking up with the Democratic Party and registering as an independent.

The New Hampshire Democratic primary takes place Tuesday, but the national party has said that no delegates will be awarded based on the primary as the contest is noncompliant with the Democratic National Committees revamped nominating calendar.

While Biden did not register for the New Hampshire primary, state Democrats have mounted a low-key write-in campaign on his behalf.

A CNN poll released earlier this month found that 69% of likely New Hampshire Democratic primary voters planned to write in Bidens name, and just 7% said they planned to vote for Phillips. Another 6% said they would vote for author Marianne Williamson.

Phillips campaign has been laser-focused on the Granite State, where he is hoping to kickstart his bid with Biden absent from the ballot there. He told reporters earlier this week that finishing in double digits in New Hampshire would be a heck of a good start.

If Im somewhere in the 20s, Ill be thrilled, he said Monday. Were just beginning this campaign.

This story has been updated with additional information.

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com
Federal officials are investigating after an Atlas Air Boeing 747 cargo plane experienced an engine failure soon after departing from Miami International Airport Thursday night.

The airline said that Flight 95 landed safely after experiencing an "engine malfunction." Footage captured of the plane over Miami appeared to show sparks trailing the aircraft.

"The crew followed all standard procedures and safely returned to MIA," Atlas Air said in a statement. "At Atlas, safety is always our top priority and we will be conducting a thorough inspection to determine the cause."

PHOTO: This image taken from video provided by Melanie Adaros shows sparks shooting from a cargo plane before making an emergency landing at Miami International Airport, Jan. 18, 2024, in Miami. (Melanie Adaros via AP)

The plane landed around 10:30 p.m. ET after the crew reported an "engine failure," according to the Federal Aviation Administration, which is investigating the incident.

"Mayday, mayday. ... Engine fire," the pilot can be heard in the Air Traffic Control broadcast while requesting access back to the airport, later responding that they have "five souls onboard."

A post-flight inspection of the Boeing 747 "revealed a softball size hole" above one of the plane's engines, the FAA incident stated.

MORE: Alaska Airlines emergency: Boeing CEO says company 'acknowledging our mistake'

The National Transportation Safety Board said Friday it has also opened an investigation into the incident and is "collecting information to evaluate and determine" the scope of the probe.

In a statement to ABC News on Friday, Boeing said it is "supporting our customer and will support the NTSB investigation into this incident."

The engine maker is GE Aviation, according to Boeing. ABC News has reached out to the company for comment.

The plane was headed to Luis Munoz Marin International Airport in Puerto Rico at the time, according to the FAA.

U.S. passenger airlines stopped flying the 747 in 2017. The plane has been used as a freight aircraft for Atlas Air.

MORE: End of an era as final Boeing 747 rolls off assembly line

The investigation comes as Boeing is under scrutiny after the door plug for the fuselage of a Boeing 737 Max 9 fell off an Alaska Airlines passenger plane on Jan. 5.

The door plug blew off a few minutes after Flight 1282 took off from Portland International Airport, depressurizing the cabin and exposing passengers to open air thousands of feet above ground. Passengers captured footage showing a hole where the door plug came loose.

The plane made an emergency landing and none of the passengers or crew members experienced serious injuries.

Every Boeing 737 Max 9 with a plug door remains grounded until the FAA determines that each can safely return to operation. The pause affects about 171 planes worldwide.

The NTSB is investigating what caused the door plug to blow out.

In the wake of the incident, the FAA has since opened an investigation into Boeing's safety operations. The agency has also increased its oversight over Boeing and began an audit of the company's production and manufacturing last week.

Boeing has said it will "cooperate fully and transparently with the FAA and the NTSB on their investigations."

ABC News' Clara McMichael and Ahmad Hemingway contributed to this report.

Atlas Air Boeing 747 cargo plane experiences engine failure, FAA investigating originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
In what has become a postseason trend, the Buffalo Bills are once again seeking help from their faithful fans.

With more snow piled on western New York, the Bills sent out a call Thursday for snow shovelers at Highmark Stadium ahead of their playoff game Sunday against the Kansas City Chiefs. They're asking fans 18 and older to arrive at the stadium on Friday starting at 2 p.m. local time ready to work throughout the afternoon and evening. As before, the pay is $20 an hour.

The Bills sent out multiple calls with the same request ahead of their wild-card win over the Pittsburgh Steelers. The game was postponed from Sunday to Monday because of a blizzard that blanketed the region in snow on Sunday. The Bills asked for fans to start digging the stadium out of the snow Sunday evening and again Monday morning before kickoff.

A worker shovels snow ahead of Monday's Bills-Steelers game at Buffalo's Highmark Stadium. (AP Photo/ Jeffrey T. Barnes) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Last week's call produced scenes such as this and ultimately had the field at Highmark Stadium in playing condition for Monday's game.

Snow from seats goes in the trough so it can be pushed out onto the field and it can be hauled/pushed away.



Bills shovelers do it as you would expect.



(Instagram/Mcalex112) pic.twitter.com/P66cHL7lQO  Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) January 14, 2024

Even if some visiting Steelers fans were left to do their own digging at kickoff:

The fans are starting to arrive in Buffalo  pic.twitter.com/LFQUtNDavU  Joe Kinsey (@JoeKinseyexp) January 15, 2024

The snow from that storm didn't clear in Buffalo before another multi-day storm dumped more this week. Officials issued on Tuesday a lake-effect snow warning that wasn't set to expire until Thursday evening. That storm dumped snow on top of snow as promised.

A travel ban was put in place as snow reportedly piled up in the region at rate of 1-2 inches per hour. Wednesday's Buffalo Sabres game against the Chicago Blackhawks was postponed to Thursday. Some parts of the region received 30-plus inches of snow in a 24-hour period, with Orchard Park where the Bills play getting 12 inches in that time.

Here's a scene from West Seneca, just north of Orchard Park, on Thursday:

Look at how big these snow piles in West Seneca, NY are compared to my car. Incredible! @RadarOmega@foxweatherpic.twitter.com/Xy3dEzcZNe  Brandon Copic (@BrandonCopicWx) January 18, 2024

The snow is expected to subside Thursday evening and isn't forecast to fall on Sunday's game. But there's plenty of cleanup to be done between now and then, and the Bills are asking for helping hands to get things done.

As of Thursday, the Yahoo Weather forecast for Sunday in Buffalo calls for cloudy skies and temperatures ranging from 21 to 27 degrees, with no precipitation expected.
U.S. Capitol Police investigated 8,008 threats against members of Congress last year, according to new case numbers released Thursday.

Last years tally marked an increase from a figure released for 2022, but it's below the 9,625 cases the agency investigated in 2021 when the Jan. 6 riot occurred. Figures in recent years have remained largely elevated when contrasted with the 5,206 cases Capitol Police investigated just five years ago in 2018.

In Thursday's release, Capitol Police said that "a wide range of threats and concerning statements" had been directed at lawmakers from both political parties through various modes of communication including phone, social media, email, and others.

With the upcoming campaign season, the department is expecting 2024 to be "a very busy year for our special agents," USCP Assistant Chief of Protective and Intelligence Operations Ashan M. Benedict said in a statement.

Our team is dedicated to putting all of our resources into protecting the Congress while we continue to grow in order to keep up with our expanding mission," Benedict said.

In August last year, Capitol Police announced fresh efforts to shore up its recruitment of agents and investigators to protect members of Congress amid a wave of threats to lawmakers on Capitol Hill.

A Nevada man was arrested and charged in October with leaving a series of antisemitic, profanity-laced voicemails at the office of Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., a prominent Jewish voice in support of Israel after Hamas attacks there.

That same month, Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, R-Iowa, said she received death threats and threatening phone calls after she cast her vote in a round of balloting for House speaker.

Earlier last year, a man was accused of attacking Democratic Rep. Angie Craig of Minnesota in a Washington, D.C., elevator. He was sentenced in November to 27 months in prison.
Korea's Hyundai Motor said Friday it has signed a deal to receive lithium, key material for electric vehicle batteries, from a Chinese supplier.

Under the contract, Ganfeng Lithium will supply battery-grade lithium hydroxide products to Hyundai for four years through Dec. 31, 2027, a company spokesperson said.

But the company did not provide the value of the contract and the volume of lithium to be delivered.

Last week, Hyundai also signed a four-year deal with Shenzhen Chengxin Lithium Group to obtain the EV battery material amid global supply chain uncertainties.

Lithium hydroxide is used in manufacturing high-capacity EV batteries as it is easily combined with nickel. (Yonhap)
Dennis Stenild/Kongehuset

Last weekend, King Frederik X became the new Danish monarch after his mother, Queen Margrethe, abdicated the throne. His accession was a joyous moment, and he even shared a kiss on the balcony with his wife, the new Queen Mary.

King Frederik and Queen Mary were joined by their four children: the new Crown Prince of Denmark, Prince Christian, 18, Princess Isabella, 16, and twins Prince Vincent and Princess Josephine, 13. The three portraits released today by the Danish royal family show just Frederik and Mary; Frederik, Mary, and Christian; and the entire family.

Dennis Stenild/Kongehuset

Dennis Stenild/Kongehuset

Dennis Stenild/Kongehuset

Unlike in the UK, there is no official coronation ceremony or celebrations; all that happened was Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen proclaimed Frederik king from the balcony of Christianborg Palace after Queen Margrethe signed her abdication papers.

Per the Danish royal family website, "The tradition of proclaiming an accession to the throne originates from olden days when a throne succession was announced to the people at the 'landsting,' or open assemblies, in the various regions of the country. At that time, it occurred when a trusted public servant loudly proclaimed the accession to the throne to all four corners of the world so that everyone had the opportunity to hear it. As the proclamation now takes place from a balcony, the Prime Minister responsible for the proclamation abstains from turning in towards the Throne Room and thus makes the proclamation to three corners of the world."

Patrick van Katwijk - Getty Images

After, King Frederik delivered a brief speech from the balcony. In his speech, he said, "my hope is to become a unifying king of tomorrow. It's a task I've been waiting for all my life. It is a responsibility I take on with respect, pride and great joy. It is a deed I will take pains to carry out and carry through the position I have been entrusted with. I need all the support I can get. From my beloved wife, from my family, from you and from that which is greater than us. I face the future knowing that I am not alone. Bound, committed, for the Kingdom of Denmark."

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(Reuters) -The U.S. Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission are in discussions over which agency can probe OpenAI on antitrust grounds, including the AI firm's partnership with Microsoft, Politico reported on Friday, citing three people with knowledge of the matter.

Microsoft's tie-up with the ChatGPT maker has raised antitrust scrutiny after the U.S. software giant committed to invest over $10 billion into OpenAI last year.

Earlier this month, EU antitrust regulators flagged that Microsoft's investment in OpenAI might be reviewable under European Union merger rules, after a similar warning was placed by Britain's antitrust regulator in December.

The FTC initiated talks with the DOJ months ago to figure out which one can review the matter, but neither agency is ready to give up jurisdiction, the report said.

The talks are mostly limited to Microsoft and OpenAI and are not part of a broader dialogue over which agency will investigate artificial intelligence issues, according to the report.

Microsoft declined to comment, when contacted by Reuters. A Justice Department spokesperson too declined comment.

A spokesperson for FTC told Reuters, when asked for a comment on the Politico report, that "our joint clearance process with the DOJ is seamless, and that lets both agencies effectively use their resources to protect American consumers from higher prices and unfair competition."

The Washington Post reported in July last year that the FTC had opened an investigation into whether OpenAI has violated consumer protection laws, citing a copy of a demand for records.

(Reporting by Harshita Mary Varghese in Bengaluru and David Shepardson in Washington; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)
WASHINGTON  The Justice Department wants former Trump White House adviser Peter Navarro to spend six months behind bars after being convicted of criminal contempt of Congress for ignoring a subpoena.

Federal prosecutors said in a court filing Thursday that Navarro deserves severe punishment that includes a $200,000 fine in addition to prison time. He is scheduled to be sentenced Jan 25.

Navarro, 74, was found guilty last year on two counts of contempt after he rejected a congressional subpoena to testify before the now-defunct Jan. 6 committee and provide relevant documents.

The Defendant chose allegiance to former President Donald Trump over the rule of law, prosecutors wrote in Thursdays sentencing memo.

He cloaked his bad-faith strategy of defiance and contempt behind baseless, unfounded invocations of executive privilege and immunity that could not and would never apply to his situation, they added.

Navarros attorney Stanley Woodward declined to comment on the Justice Departments sentencing request.

Navarro has said that he ignored the congressional subpoena because Trump told him to invoke executive privilege, an argument that was later rejected by prosecutors and a judge.

In a separate court filing Thursday, Navarros attorneys asked that the court not sentence him to more than six months in prison and to pay a $200 fine.

Despite the governments effort to label Dr. Navarro as an insurrectionist, the reality is that his conviction arises solely from a conviction for his refusal to comply with the Select Committees subpoena and has nothing to do with the events that occurred at the Capitol on January 6, 2021, Navarros lawyers wrote in their filing.

Navarro isnt the first former Trump adviser to face the possibility of imprisonment after defying a Jan. 6 committee subpoena. In 2022, Steve Bannon was sentenced to four months behind bars plus a $6,500 fine  prosecutors had sought six months in prison and a $200,000 fine.

Bannon has appealed his conviction, and a federal judge suspended his sentence during the appeal process.

Prosecutors drew comparisons to Bannon in their sentencing memo for Navarro.

Like Stephen Bannon before him, throughout the pendency of this case, the Defendant has exploited his notoriety  through courthouse press conferences, his books, and through podcasts  to display to the public the reason for his failure to comply with the Committees subpoena: a disregard for government processes and the law, and in particular, the work of the Committee, prosecutors wrote.
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP)  Two weeks of storms that have turned roads into icy death traps, frozen people to death from Oregon to Tennessee and caused power outages that could take weeks to fix continued to sock both coasts with another round of weather chaos on Friday.

The rain, snow, wind and bitterly cold temperatures have been blamed for at least 50 deaths in the U.S. over the past two weeks as a series of storms moved across the country. Schools and roads have closed and air traffic has been snarled

There is hope. The forecast for next week calls for above average temperatures across almost the whole country, according to the National Weather Service.

Snow was falling in New York City, Baltimore and Washington, D.C., on Friday. But the biggest problems remained in places hit hard by storms earlier in the week.

On the West Coast, Oregon's governor declared a statewide emergency Thursday night, nearly a week after the start of a crippling ice storm.

Thousands of residents have been without power since last weekend in parts of Oregons Willamette Valley because of the freezing rain.

We lost power on Saturday, and we were told yesterday that it would be over two weeks before its back on, said Jamie Kenworthy, a real estate broker in Jasper in Lane County.

More than 100,000 customers remained without electricity Friday morning in the state after back-to-back storms, according to poweroutage.us.

Portland Public Schools canceled classes for the fourth straight day amid concerns about icy roads and water damage to buildings, and state offices in Portland were also ordered closed Friday.

Ice was also a problem in the South. Snow and freezing rain added another coat of ice in Tennessee on Thursday. More than 9 inches (22.8 centimeters) of snow has fallen around Nashville since Sunday, nearly twice the yearly average.

Authorities blamed at least 17 deaths on the weather in Tennessee. Several were from traffic wrecks. In Washington County, a patient in an ambulance and someone in a pickup were killed in a head-on crash when the truck lost control on a snowy road.

Exposure to cold was deadly, too. A 25-year-old man was found dead in a mobile home in Lewisburg after a space heater fell over and turned off.

There was ice on the walls in there, Marshall County Chief Deputy Bob Johnson said.

The cold broke so many water mains in Memphis that the entire city was placed on a boil water notice because the water pressure was so low, Memphis Light, Gas and Water said. Bottled water was being given out in at least two locations in the city Friday.

In Jackson, Mississippi, law enforcement agencies are investigating whether social media rumors about a potential water outage during the cold snap prompted people to quickly fill bathtubs with tap water. The water system in Mississippis capital experienced a drop in pressure that temporarily made faucets run dry for thousands of customers Wednesday and Thursday. Service was restored by Friday.

A significant drop in blood donations led Chattanooga, Tennessee-based Blood Assurance to recommend that more than 70 hospitals in five states halt elective surgeries until Wednesday to let the organization rebuild its inventory. In a news release Thursday, the group cited the weather and several massive blood transfusions in the previous 24 hours in its plea to the hospitals in Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina and Tennessee.

The cold in Washington state was blamed for five deaths. The people  most of them presumed homeless  died from exposure to cold in just four days last week in Seattle as temperatures plummeted to well below freezing, the medical examiners office said.

Two people died from exposure as far south as Louisiana, where temperatures in part of the state stayed below freezing for more than two days.

On Thursday, Will Compton of the nonprofit Open Table Nashville, which helps homeless people, stopped his SUV outside the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum to hand out warm hats, blankets, protein drinks and socks as icy rain fell.

People who are poor and people who are homeless are getting hit the hardest, Compton said.

Aaron Robison, 62, has been staying at one of Nashvilles warming centers and said the cold wouldnt have bothered him when he was younger. But now with arthritis in his hip and having to rely on two canes, he needed to get out of the cold.

Thank God for people helping people on the streets. Thats a blessing, he said.

On Friday, more bitterly cold air was spilling into the Midwest from Canada. Several states were under an advisory as forecasters warned wind chills dipping to minus 30 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 34 degrees Celsius) could be common through Sunday morning.

Since extreme cold weather set in last week, more than 60 oil spills and other environmental incidents have been reported in North Dakotas Bakken oil fields. Wind chills dipped as low as minus-70 degrees F (minus 56.6 C) have strained workers and equipment and regulators said the extreme weather strained workers and made accidents more likely.

Lake-enhanced snow finally moved out of Buffalo, New York, late Thursday after burying parts of the city and some suburbs in five feet of snow in five days. The Buffalo Bills renewed their call for snow shovelers Friday, offering $20 an hour for help digging out Highmark Stadium before this Sundays divisional playoff game against the Kansas City Chiefs.

The West Virginia Legislature left after a brief session Friday because not enough lawmakers could get through snow-covered highways to the Capitol to vote on bills.

In Washington, D.C., snow fell softly and the streets around the U.S. Capitol were silent. Schools closed again for the second time in a week and the government was on a two-hour delay. President Joe Biden still planned to host mayors from around the country on Friday, though, and was still heading to his Delaware beach home for the weekend.

___

Associated Press journalists Jonathan Mattise and Kristin M. Hall in Nashville; Adrian Sainz in Memphis; Carolyn Thompson in Buffalo, New York; Colleen Long in Washington, D.C.; and Jeffrey Collins in Columbia South Carolina, contributed.
The family of Kristin Smart, a college student whose body has never been found, is suing the California university where she was allegedly killed, according to court documents filed Thursday.

Paul Flores was convicted in the 1996 slaying of Smart at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, where they were both students at the time.

Smarts father, mother, sister and brother are accusing the university of negligence, wrongful death and negligent infliction of emotional distress.

Cal Polys breaches of its legal duty include but are not limited to the following: it did not pursue a missing person case promptly, did not interview witnesses timely, did not seal the primary suspects dorm room as a crime scene, allowed the suspects room to be sanitized and cleaned before it was searched, and did not search the suspects room until sixteen days after Kristin disappeared, the family stated in the lawsuit.

The family also alleges that before Smarts murder, other reports had been made about Flores on the basis of his threatening, stalking, and harassing behavior that the university did not thoroughly investigate.

If Cal Poly had properly acted on those reports, conducted an investigation, and appropriately disciplined the student, he would not have been on campus, and therefore would not have been able to murder Kristin, the lawsuit states.

Cal Poly San Luis Obispo had no comment as this is a pending legal matter, a media relations spokesperson told NBC News.

The Smart family says it only began to understand the universitys failings in May 2023, when Cal Polys president publicly apologized and stated [W]e recognize that things should have been done differently  and I personally wish that they had.

Image: (Daniel Dreifuss / Pool via AP file)

Flores, 46, was found guilty of first-degree murder in October 2022 by a jury in Monterey County. He was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison in March of last year.

Kristin Smart (via FBI)

Prosecutors accused Flores of killing Smart during an attempted rape on May 25, 1996, in his dorm room at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, where they were both students.

Prosecutors said Flores was the last person seen with a very intoxicated Smart and walked her home from an off-campus party. Prosecutors alleged that her body may have been buried under a deck behind the home of Flores father, Ruben Flores, in Arroyo Grande.

Smarts remains have never been found. She was declared legally dead in 2002.

The Smart family has experienced a quarter of a century of anxiety, hopelessness, depression, and even suicidal ideation related to thinking Kristin might come home, knowing that her killer was still free, and being unable to find her body, according to the lawsuit.

Now, the family is asking for trial by jury as well as money damages in an amount deemed proper by the court, including attorneys fees.
A Boeing 747 cargo plane made an emergency landing Thursday night after it was seen spewing flames in the night sky over Miami.

The Federal Aviation Administration, which is already investigating Boeing after an Alaska Airlines flight was forced to make an emergency landing when a door plug fell off the fuselage midair this month, said in a statement Friday that it will look into the latest incident on an Atlas Air flight.

The airlines said in a statement that Flight 5Y095, headed for Luis Munoz Marin International Airport in Puerto Rico, "landed safely after experiencing an engine malfunction soon after departure from Miami International Airport."

The crew followed all standard procedures and safely returned to MIA. At Atlas, safety is always our top priority and we will be conducting a thorough inspection to determine the cause, Atlas Air said.

The plane took off at 10:22 p.m. ET Thursday and returned to Miami at 10:30 p.m., the FAA said.

A source familiar with the investigation told NBC News on Friday that the preliminary examination of the Atlas Air engine revealed "a softball sized hole above the #2 engine."

Cellphone video uploaded to Instagram by a Miami resident late Thursday shows a plane fly across the sky with what appears to be a trail of fire behind it.

"Oh, my God, it's on fire! Oh, my God," the person filming the clip is heard saying as the plane leaves a line of bright yellow and red in its wake.

The incident in Miami is the latest in a history of issues involving Boeing. The news comes two weeks after the Alaska Airlines flight incident, which prompted the FAA to ground certain Boeing 737 Max 9 planes across the U.S. That move thrust the nation's air travel into chaos and caused numerous flight cancellations.

Inspections of 40 of the 171 grounded planes have been completed, the FAA said Wednesday.

"The safety of the flying public, not speed, will determine the timeline for returning these aircraft to service," the agency said.

The National Transportation Safety Board said it is investigating the Atlas Air incident.

In a statement on the Miami mishap, Boeing said it is "supporting our customer and will support the NTSB investigation into this incident."
An Atlas Air cargo plane made an emergency landing at Miami International Airport late Thursday night after an engine malfunction, the airline said.

We can confirm that Flight 5Y095, a cargo aircraft, landed safely after experiencing an engine malfunction soon after departure from Miami International Airport (MIA), Atlas Air said in a statement. The crew followed all standard procedures and safely returned to MIA.

The airline said safety was its top priority, and it would conduct a thorough inspection to determine the cause.

Dramatic video posted on social media appeared to show sparks and flames shooting from the planes left wing.

An Atlas Air cargo plane was diverted back to Miami International Airport after an engine malfunction last night, per the airline. Miami resident Melanie Adaros told me she watched sparks and fire coming from a plane flying overhead in disbelief.

 @melablehpic.twitter.com/ThpHo6JCvu  Josie Harvey (@JosieHarvey_) January 19, 2024

Miami resident Melanie Adaros told HuffPost she was walking with her mom at around 10:40 p.m. and saw a plane flying low with sparks and fire coming out of the side.

We watched in disbelief as it also appeared to not be ascending or descending, she said over an Instagram direct message, adding that she saw the plane do a wide turn.

She said she suspected it would land at Miami Executive Airport, which she lives close to, but when she contacted the airport, she was advised it had landed safely at Miami International Airport.

Miami-Dade Fire Rescue received a call from the airport control tower alerting it that there was fire coming from a plane in the air, a representative of the department told HuffPost.

The plane landed safely and there was no fire when it reached the tarmac, the representative said. No injuries were reported.

The Federal Aviation Administration said the Boeing 747 plane returned to its origin after its crew reported an engine failure. It had been headed Luis Munoz Marin International Airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

The FAA will investigate, a spokesperson said. Post-flight inspection revealed a softball-sized hole above the engine, according to a preliminary report from the agency Friday.

Boeing said that it is supporting Atlas Air and will support a National Transportation Safety Board investigation into the incident.

Miami International Airport did not immediately return a request for comment.

Boeing has been embroiled in a crisis since Jan. 5, when the door of an Alaska Airlines 737 Max 9 plane blew out during a flight, prompting an emergency landing shortly after take-off from Portland International Airport.

Hundreds of flights have been canceled as Boeing conducts inspections on scores of grounded 737 Max 9 planes.

Related...
For nearly 50 years, three women have sought the identity of a man who abducted them when they were young teenagers, bound and stabbed them, and left them for dead in an Indiana cornfield in August 1975.

Kandice Smith, Sheri Rottler Trick and Kathie Rottler all survived the horrific attack, and decades later, thanks to genetic genealogy technology, they finally got their answer.

The Indianapolis Metro Police Department, after combing through evidence and rigorous DNA testing, announced Thursday that the suspect was finally identified as Thomas Edward Williams.

Williams died in November 1983 while in prison in Galveston, Texas, at the age of 49.

The 1975 assault

On August 19, 1975, Smith, then 13, Rottler Trick, then 11, and Rottler, then 14, were leaving a gas station in eastern Indianapolis at 10:45 p.m. and decided to hitchhike home.

A white man driving a station wagon pulled over to give them a ride.

But he drove past their destination. The girls tried to escape the car and Kathie tried to hit the brakes, but her legs werent long enough.

The suspect then pulled out a handgun, put it to her head and threatened to shoot her, retired Indianapolis Metro Police Sgt. David Ellison told reporters Thursday.

The man ended up stopping the car near a cornfield in Greenfield, Indiana, forced the girls out of the car and bound two of them. He then sexually assaulted one of the girls and repeatedly stabbed her.

He proceeded to stab the other two girls numerous times.

They actually played dead to avoid being stabbed anymore, Ellison said. The suspect fled the area and the girls were left wounded in the cornfield.

Two of the girls were able to eventually make it back to the main road, where a passerby helped them and police were called.

Miraculously, all three girls survived the attack.

At the time, an investigation into the suspect led to a composite sketch, and several leads were followed and suspects ruled out. Eventually the case went cold.

Looking at the case again

In 2018, the survivors reached out to Ellison and he agreed to look at the case again. He worked with other agencies to obtain evidence from the case and have it analyzed and tested.

Evidence from the Hancock County Sheriffs Office was obtained in 2019 and analyzed and tested, and in 2021 two other pieces of evidence from the case were recovered and tested by the Indianapolis-Marion County Forensic Services Agency.

All three tests produced an unknown male DNA profile that matched one another, and one of the items tested had Sheri Rottler Tricks DNA on it, as well.

It was at that point that we knew we had our suspects DNA, Ellison said.

However, that profile had no match in CODIS  the FBIs national databases of DNA profiles from convicted offenders.

In January 2023, Ellison reached out to DNA Labs International in Deerfield Beach, Florida, a private lab that uses investigative genetic genealogy technology. The testing was funded by Indianapolis-based media company Audiochuck, which produces multiple podcasts including Crime Junkies, which investigates cold cases.

Using genealogy websites like FamilyTree.com and GEDmatch.com, genealogists at the lab were able to identify a potential daughter and son from the DNA profile.

Investigators approached the family, and the daughter and son shared DNA samples. Testing of those samples in December proved to be a match and led police to finally identify their suspect as Williams.

Originally from Indianapolis, Williams at one point was living close to the kidnapping site, Ellison said. It was not immediately clear what charges Williams was serving time for in Galveston.

This was an act of evil that none of you deserved. I hope today brings you some sort of closure knowing that your attacker has been identified and is no longer in this world, Ellison told Smith, Rottler Trick and Rottler, who were present for the news conference.

Kathie Rottler thanked the men who stopped to help her and Smith after the attack, crediting them with saving their lives, and thanked investigators for their diligent work.

I stand here before you today as a survivor who has learned the true meaning of patience. Ive learned that sometimes the answer you are waiting for can take decades to get. Nearly five decades in fact, she said.

There are times over the past 48 years that I felt no one was working on this case, but I kept hoping and praying and Im so glad that I kept faith in myself and investigators, Rottler continued. My message is to other survivors out there is never give up and continue to fight to keep your case open. This is a day I never thought would come, but I told myself to keep going and never stop looking for answers. Today we got our answer and Im so grateful for that.
Three high-quality New Hampshire polls have now been conducted after the Iowa caucuses  and they tell a consistent story about the battle in the states GOP presidential primary.

Its not just that all three of them  two tracking polls via the Boston Globe/NBC-10/Suffolk, as well as another poll from St. Anselm College  have former President Donald Trump leading former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley by double digits, or that they all have Trump at 50% or higher.

Its in the reason Trump has that lead: Across the three polls, Haley is winning independents by 10 to 20 points. Trump, meanwhile, is winning registered Republicans by some 40 points.

That spread has given Trump what he needs to maintain a lead, despite New Hampshire being more favorable operating terrain for Haley than Iowa. In New Hampshire, registered Republicans and independent (undeclared) voters are split almost 50-50 in the states likely electorate. Thats compared to a more heavily Republican split among Iowa caucusgoers  82% Republican, 18% other, according to that contests entrance poll.

Notably, each of these polls was conducted after former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christies exit from the Republican presidential race, meaning Haley faced less competition for independents. Prior to his exit, Christie was getting a significant share of independent support in polls.

Take the latest tracking Boston Globe/NBC-10/Suffolk poll, which has Trump ahead of Haley by 17 points, 52% to 35%.

Among likely primary voters who are registered undeclared/independent  44% of the polls electorate  Haley is ahead of Trump by 11 points, 49% to 38%.

But among likely primary voters who are registered Republicans  55% of the electorate  Trump leads Haley by 37 points, 62% to 25%.

The previous wave of interviews from the same tracking poll showed a similar trend.

And the same trend exists in the St. Anselm poll, in which Trump leads Haley overall by 14 points, 52% to 38%.

Among undeclared voters  47% of the surveys likely voters  Haley is ahead by 15 points, 52% to 37%.

But among registered Republicans  53% of the voters  Trump is up by 40 points, 65% to 25%.

Now, these are just a couple of polls. New Hampshire polling has proved difficult and volatile, especially coming after the Iowa results. Things can shift quickly, and measuring the likely electorate isnt easy.

Yet, the polls make clear that if Haley is going to upset Trump in New Hampshire, she has to start winning independent voters by a greater clip than Trumps advantage with registered Republicans.

And right now, shes not doing that.
Turkey's first astronaut and three other crew members representing Europe were launched from Florida on Thursday on a voyage to the International Space Station in the latest commercially arranged mission from Texas startup Axiom Space.

A SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule carrying the Axiom quartet lifted off atop a Falcon 9 rocket about an hour before sunset from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, beginning a planned 36-hour flight to the orbiting laboratory.

The launch was shown live on an Axiom-SpaceX joint webcast.

The autonomously operated Crew Dragon was expected to reach the International Space Station (ISS) early on Saturday morning and dock with the outpost orbiting some 250 miles (400 km) above Earth and currently occupied by seven regular crew members.

Live video showed the two-stage 25-story-tall launch vehicle streaking into partly cloudy skies over Florida's Atlantic coast atop a fiery, yellowish tail of exhaust.

Cameras inside the crew compartment beamed footage of the four men strapped into their pressurized cabin, seated calmly in helmeted white-and-black flight suits as the rocket soared toward space.

Nine minutes after launch, the Falcon 9's upper stage delivered the crew capsule to its preliminary orbit.

Responding to congratulations from mission control, flight commander Michael Lopez-Alegria radioed back from the Crew Dragon, "As I was saying, it's a team sport. Thank you, guys."

Minutes earlier, the rocket's reusable lower stage, having detached from the rest of the spacecraft, flew itself back to Earth and safely touched down on a landing zone near the launch site, eliciting cheers audible from the control room.

The mission was the third such flight organized by Houston-based Axiom over the past two years as the company builds on its business of putting astronauts sponsored by foreign governments and private enterprise into Earth orbit.

The company charges its customers at least $55 million for each astronaut seat.

Two weeks of orbital research

Plans for the Axiom-3 mission call for the crew to spend roughly 14 days in microgravity aboard the ISS conducting more than 30 scientific experiments, many of them focused on the effects of spaceflight on human health and disease.

More symbolically, the mission reflects the growing number of nations venturing to Earth orbit as a way of enhancing global prestige, military prowess and satellite-based communications.

Turkey, a longtime applicant for EU membership, was poised to enter the exclusive-but-expanding club of ISS-guest countries by sending Alper Gezeravc, 44, a Turkish Air Force veteran, on his nation's debut human spaceflight as an Ax-3 mission specialist.

He was being joined by: Italian Air Force Colonel Walter Villadei, 49, Ax-3's designated pilot; Swedish aviator Marcus Wandt, 43, another mission specialist; and Lopez-Alegria, 65, a retired NASA astronaut and dual citizen of Spain and the United States. Lopez-Alegria, an Axiom executive, also commanded the company's first mission to the ISS in April 2022.

Axiom billed the flight as "the first all-European commercial astronaut mission" to the space station.

If all goes smoothly, they will be welcomed aboard ISS early on Saturday by the seven members of the station's current regular crew  two Americans from NASA, one astronaut each from Japan and Denmark and three Russian cosmonauts.

In May 2023, Axiom-2 launched a guest team of two Americans and two Saudis, including Rayyanah Barnawi, a biomedical scientist who became the first Arab woman ever sent to orbit, on an eight-day mission to the ISS.

SpaceX, the privately funded rocket and satellite company of billionaire Elon Musk, provides Axiom's launch vehicles and crew capsules under contract, as it has for NASA missions to the ISS. SpaceX also runs mission control for its rocket launches from the company's headquarters near Los Angeles.

NASA, besides furnishing the launch site at Cape Canaveral, assumes responsibility for the astronauts once they rendezvous with the space station.

Axiom, an eight-year-old venture headed by NASA's former ISS program manager, is one of a handful of companies building a commercial space station of its own intended to eventually replace the 25-year-old ISS, which NASA expects to retire around 2030. (Reuters)
Israeli troops severely damaged a cemetery in southern Gaza earlier this week in what the countrys military indicated was part of a search for hostages who were kidnapped by Hamas in its Oct. 7 terror attack.

The cemetery appeared bulldozed-over on Wednesday morning, with tombstones crushed and graves holding human remains exposed in some of the burial plots, according to video shot by an NBC News team and interviews with residents on the scene.

As morning light crept over the southern region of Khan Younis, Gazans who had been sheltering nearby from an intense overnight attack and area residents were visibly distressed at the sight of the old Muslim burial ground.

They said the cemetery was raided by Israeli troops, with an unknown number of corpses taken.

What did the dead do to them? It is a wasteland  what is in it? What is the sin of the dead whose bodies they take? Masoud Al Naffar told NBC News at the burial site on Wednesday.

NBC News asked the Israeli military to respond to the claims that its forces had bulldozed the cemetery and taken bodies away.

The Israel Defense Forces responded that it is committed to finding all hostages and returning any bodies still held in Gaza. The IDF conducts precise hostage rescue operations in the specific locations where information indicates that the bodies of hostages may be located, it said in a statement on Thursday.

The hostage identification process, conducted at a secure and alternative location, ensures optimal professional conditions and respect for the deceased. Bodies determined not to be those of hostages are returned with dignity and respect, the statement added.

A damaged cemetery following the Israeli attacks near the Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis, Gaza (Jehad Alshrafi / Anadolu via Getty Images)

The IDF declined a request from NBC News for further comment on whether it had identified any hostages after its operation at the cemetery or whether it had conducted similar searches at other cemeteries throughout the war.

Locals identified the cemetery as the Khan Younis central cemetery, first opened in 1982 and divided into several family plots, as is customary in Islamic burial sites. Several residents told NBC News it is the only cemetery used by families from the city of Khan Younis and the surrounding refugee camps. Since the onset of hostilities, it has been abandoned by workers but they estimated thousands of Palestinians are buried there.

It lies several hundred yards from the Nasser Hospital, where hundreds of Gazans fled in chaotic scenes as Israeli ground troops entered the area overnight Wednesday. Those sheltering there included Al Naffar, who said he had resorted to sleeping on a mattress with his family outside the hospital.

Two eyewitnesses who were sheltering at the hospital filmed the gravesites in the aftermath of the operation on Wednesday morning and posted them to social media. NBC News geolocated their videos to the same cemetery. In interviews with NBC News on Thursday evening, the eyewitnesses described a terrifying and truly bloody night in which Israeli tanks were first stationed outside the hospital and then proceeded to the cemetery.

The vehicles advanced at midnight, and the army began launching very violent attacks. There were fire belts, violent clashes and artillery shelling. The bombardment continued until 6 in the morning, Mohammad Salama, a freelance videographer, said in an audio message from Khan Younis on Thursday night.

We witnessed with our own eyes in the morning of the following day that the occupation tanks withdrew from the cemeteries. And indeed corpses were stolen from this gravesite, said Mohammed El Helo, a 23-year-old independent photojournalist who is also sheltering at the hospital.

People light candles beneath a wall showing posters identifying hostages abducted by Palestinian militants during the October 7 attack, in Jerualem (Ahmad Gharabli / AFP via Getty Images file )

Videos from the two Gazans that have since been widely shared on social media and verified by NBC News showed cemetery walls destroyed and several close-ups of graves that had been dug up.

Ahmed Shaer, a human rights field researcher based in Gaza who works for the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, a rights organization registered in Geneva, said he documented damage done to the cemetery.

Some graves were exhumed and opened, he said in a message to NBC News, including a family plot where the wall was destroyed.

The IDF statement on Thursday added that if not for Hamas reprehensible decision to take Israeli men, women, children and babies hostages, the need for such searches for our hostages would not exist.

Hamas did not respond to requests for comment on the events described in this story.

Ramy Abdu, chairman of the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, pushed back against the Israeli militarys comments that intelligence justified its operation at the cemetery.

We believe that this attack, considering previous assaults on cemeteries, indicates that Israel systematically violates the sanctity of the deceased and their graves, he said in a statement to NBC News.

Since the wars onset, Euro-Med has been vocal in its assessments of cemetery damage in Gaza.

While intelligence information might point to specific graves and cemeteries, the observed widespread destruction and excavation appear indiscriminate, Abdu said. If the actions were intelligence-driven, why is there extensive destruction in cemeteries, and why hasnt the army announced the discovery of Israeli hostages, despite over two months of cemetery-targeting operations?

According to international humanitarian law, warring parties have an obligation to respect cemeteries, and exhumations should not take place unless credible evidence is provided by an armed party with due notice to local authorities.

Even given that its a time of war, El Helo said, the Israeli operation violated the sanctity of such a place. He was surprised and couldnt understand why the burial site sustained such damage.

A cemetery that has dead poses no danger for the army, he said. Maybe they came to this cemetery searching for their hostages. Even if they came to search for their hostages, they shouldnt have done this destruction.
NATO is gearing up for its largest military drills since the end of the Cold War, with 90,000 troops expected to take part in the Western security alliances exercise across Europe next week.

The military drill, called Steadfast Defender 24, will begin next week and run until May, with all 31 nations in the alliance participating in the exercise. Sweden, a candidate for NATO that has yet to be ratified to accession, will also participate.

Gen. Christopher Cavoli, commander of U.S. Europe Command and supreme allied commander Europe for NATO, said the alliance needs to rehearse and refine our plans through rigorous training and exercises.

The alliance will demonstrate its ability to reinforce the Euro-Atlantic area via trans-Atlantic movement of forces from North America, Cavoli said in a press briefing Thursday. This reinforcement will occur during a simulated emerging conflict scenario against a near-peer adversary.

Steadfast Defender 2024 will be a clear demonstration of our unity, strength, and determination to protect each other, our values and the rules based international order.

The exercise is expected to include the mobilization of warships and other naval assets, along with ground-based vehicles and aircraft, including F-35s, FA-18s, harriers, F-15s, helicopters and drones.

While the large-scale deployment is part of regular NATO drills, it comes nearly two years into Russias invasion of Ukraine and amid heightened alert in Europe that the war will expand.

The deployment of tens of thousands of troops is expected to send a message to Moscow and other adversaries that the alliance is prepared to defend its borders.

U.K. Defense Secretary Grant Shapps announced his country would send 20,000 troops for the exercises and said the drills would serve as vital reassurance against the Putin menace, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

We are in a new era and we must be prepared to deter our enemies, prepared to lead our allies and prepared to defend our nation whenever the call comes, he said in a speech earlier this month. Adversaries are busily rebuilding their barriers. Old enemies are reanimated. Battle lines are being redrawn.

The tanks are literally on Ukraines lawn, Shapps added. And the foundations of the world order are being shaken to their core. We stand at a crossroads.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Haylin Urbanowski slept for 15 minutes on Tuesday night, hunched over her luggage at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport.

The 18-year-old college student was flying back to San Diego through Texas after spending winter break in her hometown of Tampa, Florida. But while she was on the first leg of the connecting itinerary, Southwest Airlines notified her that the flight had been delayed seven times due to severe winter weather.

The flight was eventually canceled, leaving Urbanowski stuck in Austin.

The airline rebooked her on a flight leaving shortly after midnight on Thursday, arriving just hours before her first class of the semester was set to begin. I was so scared, she told USA TODAY.

The airline eventually moved Urbanowski to an earlier flight Wednesday morning and gave her a hotel voucher, along with a $200 flight voucher and $25 Uber credit. But after spending about 20 minutes searching for the rideshare stand in 17-degree weather, she gave up and returned to baggage claim where she had to camp out on a seat until she could go through security in the morning.

Even bundled in three layers of sweatshirts and two pairs of thick socks, she was freezing (she said she later saw another passenger from her flight who said she was turned away from the hotel because it was full).

I just had to wait it out, Urbanowski said. She arrived home roughly 26 hours after she left Tampa. "We thank our customers for their patience while we made schedule adjustments using a safety-first lens to protect our vast network, keeping our crew, aircraft, and fleet networks are balanced (sic) and fully functioning," a Southwest spokesperson said in an emailed statement. "Our operation clearly benefited from our concerted efforts to bolster our resiliency for winter operations. Our Southwest employees worked through challenging conditions  be that on the ramp, in the air or serving our customers in the airport  and delivered hospitality every step of the way."

They did not comment on the specifics of Urbanowski's experience.

Urbanowski was not alone. Many travelers faced flight cancellations and delays this week, and the disruptions continued Friday as the U.S. sees more severe winter weather.Nearly 1,100 flights were canceled and over 6,100 were delayed in the U.S. as of about 4:30 p.m. ET, according to flight-tracking website FlightAware. United Airlines saw the biggest impacts, scrapping 233 flights  comprising 9% of its schedule.

Virginia's Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport also saw a short ground stop for departures Friday morning due to snow and ice. Forecasters warned a winter storm would bring snow and frigid temperatures, with more than 115 million people from Iowa to New Jersey in its path. Here's what to know if your flight is canceled or delayed.

What airlines are issuing waivers?

The following airlines have issued waivers related to winter weather. Click the airline for the full details of each policy.

Travelers walk through Terminal 3 at the O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, Sunday, Jan. 14, 2024.

What happens if my flight is canceled?

Department of Transportation rules require airlines to offer customers a refund if their flights are canceled for any reason, but customers may be entitled to additional compensation if a cancellation is within the airline's control. Weather is outside of airline control.

According to the DOT's consumer dashboard, if Alaska, American, Delta, Hawaiian, JetBlue or United cancel a flight for controllable reasons, they're committed to:

rebooking passengers on the same airline or a partner airline, at no extra cost

providing a meal or cash or voucher for a meal when the cancellation results in a passenger waiting at least 3 hours for a new flight

providing complimentary hotel accommodations for any passenger affected by an overnight cancellation

providing complimentary ground transportation to and from a hotel for any passenger affected by an overnight cancellation

Alaska and JetBlue passengers are also eligible for additional compensation.

Allegiant, Frontier, Southwest and Spirit do not book passengers on partner airlines. Additionally, Frontier does not offer hotel accommodations and related transport.

What happens if my flight is delayed?

"There are no federal laws requiring airlines to provide passengers with money or other compensation when their flights are delayed," according to the Department of Transportation.

However, U.S. carriers have committed to various levels of compensation for significant delays within their control. Each airline, however, defines significant delays differently.

If a flight is significantly delayed for reasons within their control, Alaska, American, Delta, Jet Blue and United offer:

rebooking passengers on the same airline or a partner airline, at no extra cost

providing a meal or cash or voucher for a meal when the delay results in a passenger waiting for at least 3 hours for departure

providing complimentary hotel accommodations for any passenger affected by an overnight delay

providing complimentary ground transportation to and from a hotel for any passenger affected by an overnight delay

Alaska and JetBlue also offer extra compensation when the flight is delayed by 3 or more hours.

Allegiant, Frontier, Hawaiian, Southwest and Spirit do not rebook travelers on partner airlines. Frontier doesn't offer hotel accommodations or related transport either.

USA TODAY broke it down by airline: If your flight is delayed, you may be eligible for compensation from your airline

What should I do if my flight is delayed?

If your flight is experiencing a long delay, the Transportation Department suggests asking airline staff if they will pay for meals or a hotel room.

The DOT dashboard reflects airlines' official policies, but many carriers handle compensation for delays on a case-by-case basis and may provide vouchers or other benefits in some situations that are not formally covered.

For example, according to Delta's Customer Commitment, "Delta representatives are empowered with the flexibility and discretion to issue the following forms of compensation for passenger inconvenience when individual circumstances warrant doing so: cash equivalents (e.g., gift cards), travel credits/vouchers, and/or miles for SkyMiles members."

Travel insurance can also help with cancellations and delays. Some credit card companies will also reimburse cardholders for expenses related to travel disruptions, when travel is booked on their cards.

Contributing: Zach Wichter, USA TODAY; Associated Press

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: What you're owed if your flight is canceled, delayed amid winter storm
Photograph: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images

Another 74,000 US borrowers will have their student loan debt forgiven  a total of nearly $5bn, the White House announced on Friday.

Many of these borrowers are public service workers, such as firefighters, nurses and teachers. They qualify to have their student loans forgiven because of 10 or more years of service.

Related: Born poor, stay poor: what my $120,000 student debt says about class in the US

Of the group, 30,000 have been paying back their student loans for at least 20 years.

The total number of borrowers with forgiven student loans in the Biden program now totals 3.7 million Americans, the administration said.

From day one of my administration, I vowed to improve the student loan system so that a higher education provides Americans with opportunity and prosperity  not unmanageable burdens of student loan debt, Joe Biden said in a statement. The US president added: I wont back down from using every tool at our disposal to get student loan borrowers the relief they need to reach their dreams.

The current program is a reduced version of the administrations original plan to forgive student loans.

Before taking office, Biden promised to forgive $430bn of federal student loans for nearly 40 million borrowers. Under that plan, $20,000 per person of federal student debt would have been forgiven for borrowers who were Pell grant recipients and up to $10,000 of debt would have been forgiven for other borrowers making less than $125,000 annually as individuals or $250,000 as a married couple.

Many Republicans argued that plan was an abuse of executive authority and made without congressional approval.

Six Republican-led states  Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and South Carolina  sued the Biden administration. The case, Biden v Nebraska, went all the way to the US supreme court and last June the court ruled against the Biden administration.

The Department of Education last August announced a less ambitious plan called Saving on a Valuable Education (Save). The scheme includes an income-driven repayment plan to lower monthly payments, and eliminating minimum monthly payments for lower-income borrowers. The cost of these loans would also match the amount taken out originally, rather than ballooning due to accruing interest.

Student loan repayments, which were paused during the Covid-19 pandemic and again several times while the program was being litigated, resumed in October.
Louisiana state lawmakers approved a new congressional map on Friday, drawing a second majority-Black district to comply with a court order.

A federal court had ruled in 2022 that Louisianas Republican-controlled Legislature had illegally disenfranchised Black voters in the state with their previous redistricting plan. After more than a year of appeals and a U.S. Supreme Court ruling forcing a new map in a similar case in Alabama, state lawmakers set out to redraw the Louisiana map this week.

The state is nearly one-third Black, but five of the state's six congressional districts are a majority white. Louisianas 2nd District, which is majority Black, is currently represented by Rep. Troy Carter, a Democrat.

The new map will lower the Black voting-age population in Carters district to 51%, while drawing a new 6th Congressional District as a narrow strip through the center of the state, from Shreveport to Baton Rouge. That district will have a Black voting-age population of 53%.

GOP Rep. Garret Graves represents the current iteration of Louisiana's 6th District, which has a Black voting-age population of 23%.

The new map now goes to Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry, a Republican, for his signature. The newly sworn-in governor committed to supporting the map earlier this week.

These maps will satisfy the court and ensure that the congressional districts of our state are made right here in this Legislature and not by some heavy-handed federal judge, Landry said in a floor speech on Tuesday.

State Sen. Glen Womack, a Republican who sponsored the map, said on the state House floor that the map creates two districts with a majority of Black voters while intentionally preserving safe Republican districts of U.S. House Speaker Rep. Mike Johnson, Majority Leader Rep. Steve Scalise, and Rep. Julia Letlow, the first Republican woman elected to the House from the state.

If we dont act, its very clear that the federal court will impose the plaintiffs proposed map on our state and we dont want that, Womack told state House lawmakers on Friday afternoon.

The map was passed after a tumultuous week marked by hourslong delays to hearings and planned votes, as state lawmakers and interested parties engaged in heated negotiations over the maps.

Carters allies lobbied aggressively to have more Black voters kept in his district, a source familiar with negotiations said, but ultimately failed when House lawmakers stripped an amendment from the bill on Friday and then immediately voted to pass it.

Everybody likes to eat sausage, but nobody likes to see how its made. And it has been painful and its been painful for all of us, but its simple: were under a federal judges mandate, said Republican state Rep. Beau Beaullieu IV on the floor on Friday afternoon.

In an interview shortly before the map passed, Davante Lewis, the state's Democratic Public Service Commissioner and a plaintiff in the case challenging the maps, criticized Carter and said he was trying to torpedo the map to prevent a white, progressive candidate from taking his seat.

In an interview shortly before the bills passage, Carter dismissed the idea and said he was trying to ensure the Black lawmakers get elected.

Im not sure where he gets that or why he thinks that, this is about taking advantage of a historic opportunity to create two African American congressional seats, he said, defending lawmakers' right to negotiate for their preferred maps. "Who knows the districts more intimately than people that are involved? 'Course I weighed in to answer questions and shared my views."
Madonna is marking a significant stop on her Celebration world tour, which had a beloved family member in attendance.

The Vogue superstar shared a photo to her verified Instagram Stories on Wednesday, showing her alongside her father, Silvio Ciccone, at her recent show in Detroit, Michigan.

Madonna, a Bay City, Michigan native, is seen with her arms wrapped around her 92-year-old father in the picture. She wrote I love you Dad on the photo and added three blue hearts.

Her show in Detroit on Monday night was a special one, as she noted in the few speaking moments amid the spectacle of the show.

The pop icon stated that she hopes Detroit is proud of her, according to The Detroit News, adding, Because I care about what you think, and I want you to be proud of me.

Madonna posts photo with her father Silvio on her Instagram Story. - Madonna/Instagram

Later, she mentioned how people dont understand how cool you have to be to be from Detroit, and thanked her hometown for pushing me out in the right direction in her journey to become a superstar.

Madonna also called out her dad, saying that he taught me the meaning of hard work. He taught me the importance of earning your way through life. He taught me that life is not a day at the beach, that you better be prepared to work hard to get somewhere in life. And I thank you for that, dad.

And if you think Im tough, and if you think Im a warrior or you think Im a beast or a superhero, its because of my father, she added.

Madonna also shared images of an exclusive new collaboration with Jean Paul Gaultier, who has famously designed some of the Material Girls signature garments.

The new collab is a t-shirt celebrating Madonnas iconic gold corset from her Blonde Ambition tour in 1990, showcasing the unmistakable cone-shaped bra.

In an Instagram post, Madonna noted that all proceeds from purchases of the shirt will benefit her charity Raising Malawi, and will help provide critical medical interventions to orphans and vulnerable children at the Mercy James Center for Pediatric Surgery and Intensive Care in Malawi, Africa.

Madonna next takes her Celebration tour to Montreal on Thursday, followed by additional dates in Canada and the US through mid-April. The tour is currently set to conclude with five shows toward the end of April in Mexico City.

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WASHINGTON  In a new wave of student loan forgiveness, the Biden administration is canceling $5 billion in debt for 74,000 borrowers, many of whom worked in public sector jobs for more than a decade.

President Joe Biden said that 44,000 of Fridays approved borrowers were having their education debt wiped clean after 10 years of public service, and that those borrowers included teachers, nurses and firefighters. Almost 30,000 borrowers have worked toward repayment for at least 20 years but never got the relief they earned through income-driven repayment plans, he said in a statement.

Its the latest round of loan forgiveness efforts after the Supreme Court struck down the White Houses student loan debt relief plan last year. Since the ruling, the White House has launched a series of smaller relief programs.

My Administration is able to deliver relief to these borrowers  and millions more  because of fixes we made to broken student loan programs that were preventing borrowers from getting relief they were entitled to under the law, Biden said Friday.

This brings the total number of people who have had debt canceled under the Biden administration to 3.7 million, the White House said.

The administration announced this month that the White House would eliminate federal student debt for certain borrowers who had taken out less than $12,000 in federal loans. In December, Biden approved about $4.8 billion in student debt cancellation for more than 80,000 borrowers.

The Supreme Court struck down Biden's student loan relief plan last June, arguing that the program was unlawful because it was not explicitly approved by Congress. The plan was designed to cancel up to $20,000 in debt for about 43 million eligible borrowers.

Biden said in Friday's statement that "we are continuing to pursue an alternative path to deliver student debt relief to as many borrowers as possible as quickly as possible" in the wake of the Supreme Court's decision.
Courtesy of Bojangles

Bojangles' famous fried chicken, scratch-made biscuits, and Southern-style sides are heading to even more communities in the future as the regional chain plans for explosive expansion.

Bojangles opened 40 new restaurants throughout 2023, including 10 in new markets, according to a press release shared with Eat This, Not That! It also set itself up for plenty of additional expansion by adding another 270 locations to its growth plans during the year.

RELATED: 15 Fastest-Growing Restaurant Chains Right Now

Since Bojangles currently runs more than 800 locations throughout the United States, these new restaurants should put it on track to surpass the 1,000-unit milestone. The chain is mostly concentrated in the South, with North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia boasting the most locations, respectively, according to data company ScrapeHero.

In a statement, Bojangles CEO Jose Armario thanked franchisees who are helping the company reach more and more customers.

"At Bojangles, we recognize the integral role that our franchisees play, and we are privileged to have both a strong group of existing operators who continue to reinvest in the brand and new franchisees that bring a great deal of experience to the table," Armario said. "We truly have something special, and I couldn't be more excited about the direction our brand is heading. The demand for chicken continues to rise, and by executing our expansion strategy, we are bringing Bojangles chicken, biscuits, and tea to more loyal fans and expanding our customer base, all while increasing our national presence in a relevant and contemporary way."

Courtesy of Bojangles

Bojangles did not share a timeframe for all of the planned restaurant openings.

The latest Bojangles expansion news comes just a few months after it unveiled major plans to grow in the West. In late July 2023, the company announced agreements to open 20 new restaurants in Las Vegas and 10 locations inside TravelCenters of America franchise locations in Western markets.

RELATED: Fast-Growing Diner Chain Plans to Open 14 New Restaurants In 2024

Bojangles fans can also look forward to seeing more locations open in the Midwest. Jeff Rigsby, founder and CEO of Bojangles' largest franchisee BOJ of WNC, has opened two of 15 planned restaurants in Columbus, Ohio, according to the release.

Bojangles kicked off its current expansion strategy in 2021 and has been working to enhance its menu and the customer experience while it grows. It introduced a new restaurant design with digital menu boards and dual drive-thru lanes, as well as rolled out a new boneless chicken menu that has already received positive feedback from customers.

It also introduced a new staffing model that includes more training and helps workers "better handle high-traffic volumes and streamline the guest experience," the release said.

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A man who was convicted in 2004 of killing his wife and unborn child has had his case picked up by the Los Angeles Innocence Project, according to ABC News.

Scott Peterson was convicted in the deaths of his pregnant wife, Laci Peterson, and their unborn child in one of the state's most infamous murder trials. The LA Innocence Project, a group that works to exonerate wrongfully convicted people, is taking up the case, ABC News reported.

The LA Innocence Project is made up of attorneys who work to exonerate incarcerated people through DNA testing and other scientific advances, the website states.

The LA Innocence Project attorneys told ABC News that Peterson's constitutional rights were violated, and he has newly discovered evidence to support his claim of actual innocence.

"New evidence now supports Mr. Peterson's longstanding claim of innocence and raises many questions into who abducted and killed Laci and Conner Peterson," filings obtained by ABC News state.

Attorneys are seeking several items that were not discovered during a review of trial files by previous counsel  including a couple of items that materialized 20 years after Laci Peterson's death. The items include evidence from an investigation into a December 2002 burglary and documents related to a van fire on Christmas Day 2002, in addition to Laci Peterson's missing Croton watch. They are also requesting documents from witness interviews, according to ABC News.

Scott Peterson sits in his seat at the San Mateo County Superior Court in Redwood City, Calif., Thursday, Aug. 11, 2022. Peterson is in court for a hearing to determine whether he gets a new trial in the murder of his pregnant wife because of juror misconduct. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, Pool) ORG XMIT: CAJC118

What happened to Laci Peterson?

When Laci Peterson, who was eight months pregnant, disappeared on Christmas Eve 2002, investigators said Peterson took their bodies from the couple's Modesto home and dumped them into San Francisco Bay.

Peterson's alibi was that he was fishing the morning his wife disappeared. According to investigators, the remains surfaced months later, a few miles from where Peterson said he went fishing in Berkeley.

This undated photo shows Laci Peterson who has not been seen since Dec. 24, 2002. Peterson, 27, who was eight-months pregnant, allegedly went to walk her dog in a nearby park on Christmas Eve morning and has been missing ever since. The Modesto Police published several images of her husband Scott Peterson's truck and boat on their Web site in order to "corroborate" his alibi that he had gone on a solo fishing trip.

In April 2003, Peterson was arrested and charged with first-degree murder of his wife and second-degree murder of his child. Peterson's girlfriend Amber Frey started to work with investigators and she testified at his trial. Frey dated Peterson for a month before Laci died. Investigators said Frey had knowledge that Peterson's wife was dead.

Peterson was convicted of murder in 2004 in San Mateo County.

Timeline of the Laci Peterson case

 Dec. 24, 2002, Laci Peterson reported missing: Laci Peterson's stepfather filed a police report that she was missing and eight months pregnant.

 December 2002, Scott Peterson became a prime suspect: Peterson was suspected of having an affair with Amber Frey, who was his massage therapist.

 April 14, 2003, Laci Peterson's body found: Investigators found Laci Peterson's decomposed body washed ashore in San Fransico Bay.

 April 21, 2003, Scott Peterson arrested: Peterson was charged with the murder of Laci Peterson and her unborn son Connor.

 June 1, 2004, Scott Peterson murder trial begins: The criminal trial lasted for five months. Frey was a key witness who testified that Peterson told her he wasn't married.

 Nov. 12, 2004, Peterson found guilty: Peterson was found guilty of first-degree murder and second-degree murder. He was sentenced to death via lethal injection.

 Aug. 24, 2020, Peterson's death sentence overturned: The California Supreme Court overturned a death sentence for Peterson in 2020 but upheld Peterson's conviction.

 Dec. 20, 2022, Peterson denied new trial: Superior Court Judge Anne-Christine Massullo denied Peterson's appeal based on stealth juror accusations.

 Jan. 18, 2024, LA Innocence Project picks up the case: The LA Innocence Project group tells ABC News that new evidence supports Peterson's innocence.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Scott Peterson, Innocence Project fight Laci Peterson murder verdict
Artificial intelligence is easily the biggest buzzphrase for world leaders and corporate bosses diving into big ideas at the World Economic Forums glitzy annual meeting in Davos. Breathtaking advances in generative AI stunned the world last year, and the elite crowd is angling to take advantage of its promise and minimize its risks.

In a sign of ChatGPT maker OpenAIs skyrocketing profile, CEO Sam Altman made his Davos debut to rock star crowds, with his benefactor, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, hot on his heels.

Illustrating AIs geopolitical importance like few other technologies before it, the word was on the lips of world leaders from China to France. It was visible across the Swiss Alpine town and percolated through afterparties.

Here's a look at the buzz:

The leadership drama at the AI world's much-ballyhooed chatbot maker followed Altman and Nadella to the swanky Swiss snows.

Altman's sudden firing and swift rehiring last year cemented his position as the face of the generative AI revolution but questions about the boardroom bustup and OpenAI's governance lingered. He told a Bloomberg interviewer that he's focused on getting a "great full board in place" and deflected further questions.

At a Davos panel on technology and humanity Thursday, a question about what Altman learned from the upheaval came at the end.

"We had known that our board had gotten too small, and we knew that we didnt have a level of experience we needed," Altman said. "But last year was such a wild year for us in so many ways that we sort of just neglected it."

Altman added that for "every one step we take closer to very powerful AI, everybodys character gets, like, plus ten crazy points. Its a very stressful thing. And it should be because were trying to be responsible about very high stakes."

From China to Europe, top officials staked their positions on AI as the world grapples with regulating the rapidly developing technology that has big implications for workplaces , elections and privacy.

The European Union has devised the world's first comprehensive AI rules ahead of a busy election year, with AI-powered misinformation and disinformation the biggest risk to the global economy as it threatens to erode democracy and polarize society, according to a World Economic Forum report released last week.

Chinese Premier Li Qiang called AI "a double-edged sword."

"Human beings must control the machines instead of having the machines control us," he said in a speech Tuesday.

"AI must be guided in a direction that is conducive to the progress of humanity, so there should be a redline in AI development  a red line that must not be crossed," Li said, without elaborating.

China, one of the worlds centers of AI development, wants to "step up communication and cooperation with all parties" on improving global AI governance, Li said.

China has released interim regulations for managing generative AI, but the EU broke ground with its AI Act, which won a hard-fought political deal last month and awaits final sign-off.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said AI is "a very significant opportunity, if used in a responsible way."

She said "the global race is already on" to develop and adopt AI, and touted the 27-nation EU's efforts, including the AI Act and a program pairing supercomputers with small and midsized businesses to train large AI models.

French President Emmanuel Macron said he's a "strong believer" in AI and that his country is "an attractive and competitive country" for the industry. He played up France's role in helping coordinate regulation on deepfake images and videos created with AI as well as plans to host a follow-up summit on AI safety after an inaugural gathering in Britain in November 2023.

The letters "AI" were omnipresent along the Davos Promenade, where consulting firms and tech giants are among the groups that swoop onto the main drag each year, renting out shops and revamping them into showcase pavilions.

Inside the main conference center, a giant digital wall emanated rolling images of AI art and computer-generated conceptions of wildlife and nature such as exotic birds or tropical streams.

Davos-goers who wanted to delve more deeply into the technical ins and outs of artificial intelligence could drop in to sessions at the AI House.

Generative AI systems including ChatGPT and Google's Bard captivated the world by rapidly spewing out new poems, images and computer code and are expected to have a sweeping impact on life and work.

The technology could help give a boost to the stagnating global economy, said Nadella, whose company is rolling out the technology in its products.

The Microsoft chief said he's "very optimistic about AI being that general purpose technology that drives economic growth."

Business leaders predicted AI will help automate mundane work tasks or make it easier for people to do advanced jobs, but they also warned that it would threaten workers who cant keep up.

A survey of 4,700 CEOs in more than 100 countries by PwC, released at the start of the Davos meetings, said 14 percent think they'll have to lay off staff because of the rise of generative AI.

"There isnt an area, there isnt an industry thats not going to be impacted" by AI, said Julie Sweet, CEO of consulting firm Accenture.

For those who can move with the change, AI promises to transform tasks like computer coding and customer relations and streamline business functions like invoicing, IBM CEO Arvind Krishna said.

"If you embrace AI, youre going to make yourself a lot more productive," he said. "If you do not ... youre going to find that you do not have a job."

During a session featuring Meta chief AI scientist Yann LeCun, talk about risks and regulation led to the moderator's hypothetical example of "infinitely conversant sexbots" that could be built by anyone using open source technology.

Taking the high road, LeCun replied that AI cant be dominated by a handful of Silicon Valley tech giants if its going to serve people around the world with different languages, cultures and values.

"You do not want this to be under the control of a small number of private companies," he said. (AP)
The Los Angeles Innocence Project has taken up the case of Scott Peterson, who was convicted of murdering his pregnant wife, Laci Peterson.

The nonprofit organization, which represents people convicted of crimes who want to prove their innocence, is seeking new evidence in Peterson's original trial. ABC News was first to report the news.

"The Los Angeles Innocence Project (LAIP) represents Scott Peterson and is investigating his claim of actual innocence," a spokesperson for the organization said in a statement.

Laci Peterson, 27, was eight months pregnant with their son, Conner, when she was killed in December 2002, five years after they married.

Peterson was convicted of murder in 2004 and sentenced to death the following year. The California Supreme Court overturned his sentence in 2020 and in 2021 he was resentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

In April 2023, Peterson filed a petition to be seen before a judge claiming juror misconduct and that "new evidence" in the case would support his innocence, according to a motion filed in the case Wednesday and obtained by NBC Bay Area.

Peterson and the Los Angeles Innocence Project are seeking new materials to be presented in court to prove his innocence in the case in an effort to eventually overturn his conviction, the filing stated.

Scott Peterson listens during a hearing at the San Mateo County Superior Court in Redwood City, Calif., on Feb. 25, 2022. (Jeff Chiu / AP file)

Prosecutors said Scott Peterson dumped his wife's body in Berkeley Marina on Christmas Eve of that year and tried to cover up the crime by making it appear as if she was missing, according to online court records. Her body later washed ashore.

Attorneys for Peterson have argued his wife was killed after she stumbled upon a burglary.

His team had sought to get him a new trial, arguing that one of the jurors, a woman named Richelle Nice, hid details and had been untruthful about her personal life.

She was accused of "prejudicial misconduct" after she failed to disclose that she was the victim of domestic violence and had sought a restraining order in 2000 over fears that her boyfriend's ex-girlfriend would harm her unborn baby.

Nice, who co-wrote a book about the case with other jurors, previously denied that her personal experiences influenced her during the trial.

Court documents stated that several of her answers in a juror questionnaire were false in certain respects but said her answers were not motivated by pre-existing or improper bias against Peterson and were the result of a combination of good faith misunderstanding of the questions and sloppiness in answering.

In 2022, Peterson was denied a new trial.


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YEREVAN, JANUARY 19, ARMENPRESS. Armenian Minister of Foreign Affairs Ararat Mirzoyan, in response to a question from a journalist of Croatia's public television about efforts aimed at establishing peace, stated that Armenia is engaged in negotiations with Azerbaijan in good faith.

''As I said, Armenia is engaged in negotiations with Azerbaijan in good faith and we are more than interested in establishing lasting peace in our region.

We believe that this will be beneficial not only for the people of Armenia, but for the countries in the region.

However, we see that our constructiveness sometimes does not meet the same constructive approach in the behaviour of our neighbours.

We have been engaged in negotiations by facilitation of the European Union, among other facilitators, and nowadays we see that Azerbaijan, unfortunately, refuses to resume the negotiations in the existing frameworks.

However, we are interested in continuing our negotiations. As I said, we attach importance not so much to the issue of who facilitates the negotiations, but to the principles, according to which the negotiations should continue.

And in this context I would like to emphasize again that those are territorial integrity, recognition of legitimate borders, inviolability of borders, respect for each others sovereignty.

These are the principles, according to which, I believe, peace should be agreed. When it comes to participation of Croatia or the European Union in general, I would like to express our appreciation that the EU and Croatia has shown in ensuring security in our region along the borderline.

Ive already mentioned the EUs Monitoring mission, but also I would like to express appreciation that Croatia and other EU countries showed in the context of meeting the urgent needs of the refugees who had to flee Nagorno-Karabakh as a result of military operation several months ago in September 2023, the Foreign Minister said.
YEREVAN, JANUARY 19, ARMENPRESS. Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues Co-Chairs Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr. (NJ-06), Gus M. Bilirakis (FL-12), David G. Valadao (CA-21), and Adam B. Schiff (CA-30) released a statement on Thursday condemning dangerous statements made by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in his January 10 interview to local TV networks, laying claim to Armenian territory and refusing to withdraw his troops.

President Aliyevs most recent escalatory remarks, including his refusal to remove troops from Armenian territory, follow the same pattern he used in the build up to the ethnic cleansing of over 100,000 Armenians in Artsakh last fall. He makes hostile statements, uses those claims to justify further mobilizing his military, and then takes aggressive action because he believes there will not be any consequences. The international community has sadly proven him right with its inaction over the last few years.

It is past time we hold his regime accountable for the belligerent rhetoric and actions it has taken against Armenians in the South Caucasus. The United States and our regional partners should use every diplomatic tool, including sanctions, to help guarantee the territorial integrity of Armenia and push back against Aliyevs blatant threats against it. We call on the State Department and our international partners to take immediate action to halt any further Azeri aggression and ensure Armenias safety and security, reads the statement.
In the 12 months since Amy Rushall landed in Sydney to lead Pure Storage Australia and New Zealand (A/NZ), the vendor has made some bold statements.

At its Pure//Accelerate 2023 conference in June, the vendor declared the death of the disk and its drive towards mass modernisation of legacy data systems.

Rushall, who has spent the last eight years with Pure in San Diego, is now tasked with expanding the vendor's disk replacement Pure//E family of products with A/NZ customers while strengthening their transition to cloud and consumption-based models.

"I was excited when I first showed up in Australia last year and I am more this year because the innovation we have is getting us to the next stage," she told ARN

"We're seeing a lot of legacy back-ups where customers have not spent a lot of money over recent years. These are great products, but we believe in Flash and that's where we set out to go - to eliminate the hard disk from the data centre."

As a 100 per cent channel vendor, Pure claims to have a solid partner base in A/NZ, although Rushall is unable to disclose numbers.

However, the vendor publicly scored a big success in November via Perth-based provider Cirrus, winning a $7-million storage contract with the University of Western Australia.

This saw Cirrus deploy a Pure//E as a storage-as-a-service model over a five-year period.

"Cirrus has really embraced the Pure//E family and is seeing a lot of success with selling it," Rushall said. "They understand our entire [Pure//E] portfolio and they are selling it on a national level and in every geography we're in. The Pure//E is competitive still in this market. Without this product and Cirrus, we could not have won that deal.

"We have a full platform now, which we have seen success with Cirrus," she added. "The deals can now be bigger and we're seeing bigger opportunities with our partners community. We're having a lot of lot of new conversations with a partner, even when their customers already use Pure."

As outlined by Pure's vice president of global partner sales Wendy Stusrud last year, partner recruitment is not top of the vendor's priority list. However, according to Rushall, partner upskilling and development is bearing fruit.

"We have seen a real effort in the [Pure] team to get more unique skills among the partner community," she explained. "We are seeing the result of this in our figures: it's paying off well.

"We still believe in the current group of partners we have. We want to make sure they're flourishing and have all the tools they need to succeed.

"We do see a shift with some of our products, for example Cloud Native. It's also an opportunity for our current partners to learn that skillset.

Embrace innovation

Last year's biggest announcement for Pure Storage was the expansion of the Pure//E family, with the vendor unveiling its FlashArray//E, supporting unified block and file and aiming to allow customers to move away from the constraints of disk.

This ties into Pure's heavy focus on transitioning customers off legacy storage, including spinning hard disks and tape.

"Modernisation of legacy storage remains a key opportunity for us," Rushall said. "Partners that embrace modernisation and the consumption model will do well. Consumption-based models are where our business is going.

"I would say to partners that [they should] embrace the innovation in the hybrid cloud; really look at taking customers away from the traditional ways of doing things."

"It's difficult to find technical talent now, so there is a big opportunity for partners to fill in the gaps that customers cannot fill on-site," she added. "Services, as a result, will continue to play a key role for us."

In terms of artificial intelligence (AI), which peppered headlines daily due to the explosion of generative AI solution ChatGPT, Pure Storage has already had a headstart due to its 2018 partnership with NVIDIA for AI-powered infrastructure.

"Our AI-infrastructure was a gamechanger for us and really created a point where we could deliver a Turnkey solution for our customers if they wanted," Rushall said.

"The needs for AI have increased now, so now we are seeing an uptick in our AI-ready infrastructure. We partnered with NVIDIA in 2018 to build that, so we brought it into the market early.

"We're also seeing changing demands based on the need for environment, social and governance (ESG). The demands of AI and the power of consumption mean people are having to look at their storage differently. People want to consider efficiency in their ESG efforts, and we play well in that. Helping our partners know that our products are created for AI is key."

Looking ahead for the rest of 2024, Rushall remains optimistic - something notable at a time when many fellow tech vendors are experiencing headwinds and lay-offs.

"We're not seeing the headwinds others have said they are seeing," Rushall said. "We've come out of COVID. We're not seeing things stall as much as they did. [Sales] are fairly steady across government, finance, healthcare and managed services providers."
German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius warned that the war between Russia and Ukraine could expand beyond the neighboring countries.

"We hear threats from the Kremlin almost every day  most recently again against our friends in the Baltic states," Pistorius told the Tagesspiegel newspaper in an article published on Friday.

With regard to the Bundeswehr, the minister emphasized: "We must quickly strengthen our defense capabilities in light of the urgency of the threat situation."

The minister also pointed out the limits of the Bundeswehr's support.

"We cannot go 'all in,' as some are calling for. Otherwise we would be left defenseless ourselves," said the minister.

"So far, we have provided everything we can," he added.

"It must be clear to everyone: If Putin wins this war and occupies Ukraine, the danger for the alliance area will of course also increase," the politician warned.

The defense industry also needs to be made more efficient, according to the minister, who also spoke in favor of reforming the debt brake for security reasons.

"With a debt brake in this form, we will not get through these crises unscathed," he said.

The money available today is no longer sufficient to ensure the country's security, deal with the consequences of the pandemic and at the same time invest in education and digitalization, he said.

"So we have to take into account that [Russian President] Vladimir Putin might even attack a NATO country one day," added Pistorius, who has been in office for a year this Friday.

However, if it were to happen, he said it would be between "five to eight years" from now.

With his call for the Bundeswehr to become "war-ready" he also wanted to "shake up our society," he said.

The minister expects proposals for re-introducing a version of compulsory military service by April. Germany ended mandatory conscription in 2011.

The minister would also be open to opening up the armed forces to soldiers without a German passport. (dpa)
Says appeal of Rama, Sita, Ramayana goes beyond boundaries

Prime Minister Narendra Modi releases commemorative postage stamps on Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Temple and a book of stamps issued on Lord Ram around the world, in New Delhi, Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024. (PTI Photo)

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday released commemorative postage stamps on the Ram temple in Ayodhya and a book of stamps issued on Lord Ram around the world ahead of the consecration ceremony scheduled for January 22. Also, the Central government, in view of the "overwhelming" public sentiments, issued an order for all Central government offices across the country to remain closed for half a day on Monday, in view of the "pran pratishtha" ceremony that will be performed by Mr Modi.

While releasing the commemorative postage stamps and the book, the Prime Minister said that they were not merely pieces of paper but a medium to pass on historical events to future generations. Mr Modi said the appeal of Ram, Sita and Ramayana goes beyond the boundaries of time, society, caste, religion and region and connects with everyone.

In a video message, the Prime Minister said the stamps are the smallest form of history books, artefacts and historical sites and serve as a miniature form of epics and great ideas.

Officials said the components of the design include the Ram temple, the chaupai -- Mangal bhavan amangal hari, sun, Saryu river and sculptures in and around the temple.

Quoting Valmiki, the author of the Ramayan, the Prime Minister said the epic and Lord Ram's personality will live on among people as long as there are mountains and rivers on earth.

Ramayan gives the message of the victory of love and teaches people sacrifice, unity and bravery in the most difficult of times while connecting humanity, he said, adding that is why the epic has been a centre of global attraction and is looked at with respect everywhere.

The six stamps released by him are on the Ram temple, Lord Ganesh, Lord Hanuman, Jatayu, Kevatraj and Ma Shabri, officials said.

The stamp book is an attempt to showcase the international appeal of Lord Ram and the 48-page book covers stamps issued by more than 20 countries, including the US, New Zealand, Singapore, Canada, Cambodia and organisations like the UN.

Mr Modi said the stamps and the book will help the youths learn a lot and be infused with the spirit of devotion to Lord Ram.

"They also offer a glimpse into the temple's architecture and into the philosophy of panchtatva as well," he said.

While noting that many countries have issued postage stamps on Lord Ram, the Prime Minister said he has been an equally great icon for many outside India and has made a deep impact on different civilisations.

In the book, a gold leaf of sun rays and chaupai lends a majestic icon to this miniature sheet, officials noted, adding that the five physical elements, sky, air, fire, earth and water, are reflected through various design elements and establish their perfect harmony, which is essential for all manifestations.

In a statement on Thursday, the Prime Ministers Office said that Mr Modi will visit several significant temples in Tamil Nadu on January 20 and 21. The visit to various temples by the Prime Minister comes ahead of the Ram temple conservation ceremony on January 22.

On January 20, the Prime Minister will participate in a programme at Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple in Tiruchirappalli in the morning. Thereafter, he will reach Rameswaram at around 2 pm and perform darshan and pooja in Sri Arulmigu Ramanathaswamy Temple.

Announcing a half-day closure of all Central government offices, the ministry of personnels order stated, "The Ram Lalla pran pratishtha at Ayodhya will be celebrated on January 22 across India. To enable employees to participate in the celebrations, it has been decided that all Central government offices, Central institutions and Central industrial establishments throughout India will be closed till 2.30 pm on January 22.

Speaking to the media, Union minister of state for personnel Jitendra Singh said that the decision was taken in view of the "overwhelming" public sentiments.

"There was a huge public demand across the country regarding this. The decision on the half-day closure of Central government offices on January 22 has been taken in view of overwhelming public sentiments," he said.
The transportation of the idol to the temple was carried out in a truck

Devotees carry a representative idol of Ram Lalla at the premises of Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Temple, ahead of the temples consecration ceremony, in Ayodhya, Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2024. (PTI Photo)

NEW DELHI: The idol of Ram Lalla was ceremoniously brought inside the sanctum sanctorum of the Ram temple on Wednesday night, said Nripendra Mishra, chairperson, Shri Ram Mandir Construction Committee. Preceding the idol's placement, a special puja was conducted within the sanctum sanctorum.

The transportation of the idol to the temple was carried out in a truck.

A total of 121 'acharyas' are actively involved in conducting the intricate rituals associated with the consecration process. The 'Pran Pratishtha' ceremony at the Ram temple is slated to start at 12.20 pm on January 22, and conclude by 1 pm.

Despite the idol of Ram Lalla being placed inside the sanctum sanctorum, it has not yet been formally 'virajmaan' (installed), revealed priest Arun Dixit. He mentioned a technical issue, indicating that engineers will address the matter. As part of the upcoming rituals, the idol is scheduled to undergo a cleansing with water in the 'Jaladhivas' ritual on the same day. Additionally, 'Ganesh Pujan' and 'Varun Pujan' ceremonies will be conducted.

Priest Arun Dixit further elaborated that a 'Vastu Puja' will take place outside the sanctum sanctorum on the temple premises, contributing to the series of rituals leading up to the much-anticipated consecration of the Ram temple.

Various rituals are currently underway in preparation for the consecration ceremony scheduled for January 22 at the Ram temple. On Wednesday, a 'Kalash Pujan' took place as part of the ongoing religious activities. The rituals are set to continue until January 21, culminating in the consecration day when the minimum essential rituals required for the 'Pran Pratishtha' of the Ram Lalla idol will be performed, according to officials from the Ram temple trust.
Love them, hate them ignore them at national peril, is the babu guarantee and Dilips belief. Share significant babu escapades dilipcherian@hotmail.com

Within MPs babu circles, murmurs suggest that his recall may be tied to a potential appointment as the next chief secretary of the state.

Uncertainties arise given the impending retirement of the current chief secretary Veera Rana in March of this year. (Image: LinkedIn)

The abrupt recall of senior IAS officer Sanjay Bandopadhyay from his role as chairman of the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) has sparked speculation among observers and babus about the underlying reasons for this unforeseen move. Mr Bandopadhyay, previously occupying a secretary-equivalent position at the Centre, has been swiftly reassigned to his parent cadre in Madhya Pradesh, effective immediately.

Within MPs babu circles, murmurs suggest that his recall may be tied to a potential appointment as the next chief secretary of the state. However, uncertainties arise given the impending retirement of the current chief secretary Veera Rana in March of this year, with the prospect of her tenure extension remaining uncertain.

Adding complexity to the situation is the recent change in leadership with a new chief minister in Madhya Pradesh and a fresh electoral mandate, all transpiring under the Centres watchful eyes. The circumstances surrounding Ms Ranas appointment before the Assembly polls further contribute to the uncertainty surrounding her continued role as chief secretary.

An alternative perspective posits that the consecutive placement of Mr Bandopadhyay under shipping secretaries junior to him might have played a role in this decision. Despite this, as one of the senior-most officers in the cadre, and with a service tenure extending until August 31, 2024, Mr Bandopadhyay remains a potential contender for the chief secretary post in Madhya Pradesh.

Outsider babus strategic return to J&K

The Centre has reaffirmed its faith in retired IAS officer Satish Chandra by appointing him as the chairperson of the Jammu and Kashmir Real Estate Regulatory Authority (J&K RERA). Mr Chandra, who concluded his term as chairman of the J&K Public Service Commission initiated in June 2021, steps into a significant role that has remained vacant since September 2022, following the abrupt resignation of the first RERA chairperson, Parimal Rai, within 50 days of his appointment.

The decision to bring back an outsider babu  Mr Chandra is from the Andhra Pradesh cadre  into another pivotal position indicates the Centres endorsement of Mr Chandras abilities, utility and effectiveness in this sensitive region. Sources have informed DKB that appointing an outsider can enhance an administrators efficacy. Mr Chandras consecutive appointments, first as chairperson of the J&K PCS and now as RERA chairperson signal a deliberate effort to infuse fresh perspectives and administrative expertise to address the unique challenges facing the J&K region.

As the Centre grapples with the intricate governance issues in Jammu & Kashmir, not the least of which is to possibly hold assembly elections a few months after the Lok Sabha polls, Mr Chandras appointment reflects a need to leverage experience, competence and an outsiders viewpoint to steer the administration.

Centre hunts for new UT adviser in Chandigarh

The Centre is reportedly taking a fresh approach to providing the Chandigarh administrator with a regular adviser. Departing from its initial proposal to transfer Puducherry chief secretary Rajeev Verma to Chandigarh, the focus has now shifted to considering another IAS officer for this post.

Sources have informed DKB that Manish Kumar Gupta, a 1991-batch UT cadre officer, the former DDA vice-chairperson and the current additional chief secretary of industries in the Delhi government, has emerged as the frontrunner for the Chandigarh assignment. The position of UT adviser has been under ad hoc arrangements since the retirement of Dharam Pal in October last year.

There are some insiders, however, who are sceptical about the feasibility of this new approach. Some argue that the additional charge arrangement is working fine for the administration, with administrator and Punjab governor Banwarilal Purohit reportedly expressing satisfaction with Nitin Kumar Yadav, the incumbent principal secretary, home, who is also serving as the interim adviser.

The emergence of this point of view raises questions about the strategic considerations behind the potential appointment and the nuances involved in selecting the right candidate. Of course, it is for the Centre to take the final call, but until then babus will continue to speculate.
The merchant ship had nine Indians among its 22 crew members onboard

The damaged part of the vessel following the drone attack.

New Delhi: The Indian Navy's warship INS Visakhapatnam, deployed in the Gulf of Aden to hunt down pirates, responded swiftly to a distress call by Marshall Island-flagged merchant ship MV Genco Picardy, which came under a drone attack on Wednesday midnight. The merchant ship had nine Indians among its 22 crew members onboard.

The bulk carrier was going from Safaga port in the Red Sea, in Egypt, towards Tuticorin in Tamil Nadu, as per maritime traffic tracking portals. As per these websites, the merchant vessel was in Mumbai port last month.

The US military's Central Command said on Thursday that a drone launched from Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen struck MV Genco Picardy in the Gulf of Aden. It said that the vessel is owned and operated by a US company.

The vessel, which is reportedly carrying phosphate, suffered some damage, but there were no injuries due to the attack.

Last month, another India-bound merchant vessel MV Chem Pluto was attacked by a drone around 220 nautical miles south-west of Porbandar, Gujarat.

The Yemen-based Houthi rebels have been attacking commercial shipping with drones and missiles in the Arabian Sea and the Red Sea in support of the Palestinians.

The guided missile destroyer INS Visakhapatnam acknowledged the distress call by MV Genco Picardy and reached within an hour to help the vessel.

The Indian Navy's EOD (explosive ordnance disposal) specialists boarded the vessel early on Thursday morning. MV Genco Picardy reported zero casualties and fire under control.

"The EOD specialists, after a thorough inspection, have rendered the area safe for further transit. The vessel is proceeding to the next port of call," said the Indian Navy.

The strike on the cargo vessel MV Genco Picardy around 60 nautical miles south of Port Aden came amid increasing global concerns over attacks on merchant ships in the Red Sea and Arabian Sea. The Indian Navy has already deployed around a dozen warships in the Arabian Sea to deal with pirates and drone attacks.

Chief of Naval Staff Admiral R. Hari Kumar said on Thursday that the Indian Navy has its assets deployed along the western coast to protect India's maritime interests and will not allow any "instability".

"We are deployed to ensure that our national interest in the maritime domain is protected. We have our own deployments. We have two ongoing anti-piracy operations there and anti-drone support for merchant shipping," the Navy Chief said.

He said that the job of the Navy is to ensure that we preserve, protect and pursue our national interest in the maritime domain.

"Operation Sankalp is happening close to the Gulf of Aden and the Gulf of Oman. We had witnessed that till last year, piracy had reduced almost to zero. But subsequently, we saw a resurgence... We have deployed an adequate number of assets. We are not going to allow any piracy to happen," Adm. Kumar said.

The Navy Chief added that no attacks have happened on Indian merchant ships. "Whatever disturbance is happening, there has been no attack on any Indian-flagged merchant vessel. Last time they attempted a piracy attack on a ship with a high number of Indian crew, our assets were deployed immediately, (and) we responded," the Adm. said.

"Our message is that we are not going to permit any instability or insecurity to happen," he added.

Earlier this month, the Indian Navy had foiled the attempted hijacking of the Liberian-flagged vessel MV Lila Norfolk and rescued all its crew members.

New agency, TASS, reported that Houthis from Yemen's rebel Ansar Allah movement acknowledged attacking the US ship Genco Picardy in the Gulf of Aden.

"The Yemeni naval forces conducted an operation during which the US Genco Picardy ship was attacked with several anti-ship missiles in the Gulf of Aden," movements military spokesperson Yahya Area told the Houthi-controlled television channels.

According to the spokesman, the attack was staged in response to the US and UK strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen.

"At approximately 8.30 pm (Sanaa time) on January 17, an assessed one-way attack UAS was launched from Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen and struck MV Genco Picardy in the Gulf of Aden," said the US Central Command on Thursday, adding that its forces on Wednesday conducted strikes on 14 Iran-backed Houthi missiles that were loaded to be fired in Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen.

The actions by the Iranian-backed Houthi terrorists continue to endanger international mariners and disrupt the commercial shipping lanes in the southern Red Sea and adjacent waterways, said Gen. Michael Erik Kurilla, US CENTCOM Commander.

"We will continue to take actions to protect the lives of innocent mariners and we will always protect our people," he added.
by Anna Pozzi

Thanks to a workshop set up in 2020 by an Italian foundation that works with prisoners in the world's most tormented places, the parish of the Holy Family continues to be able to celebrate the Eucharist. Arnoldo Mosca Mondadori: "A light of hope, despite all the horror".

Milan (AsiaNews) - "In their eyes and in their smiles, we see, despite all the horror that is happening, the virtue of hope, a thread of light that does not give up." Arnoldo Mosca Mondadori, president of the Casa dello Spirito e delle Arti Foundation, is constantly in contact with the Catholic community of the parish of the Holy Family in Gaza and in particular with Father Gabriel Romanelli.

Last January 7, when the first communions were celebrated with the hosts that continue to be produced there, thanks to the 'The sense of bread' project, I was moved. This initiative is a sign of peace in that 'open-air ordeal' as Father Gabriel always says."

Started in 2015 in the Opera prison, near Milan, the wafer production project, in the most tormented places on the planet and among the most injured or marginalized people, is now present in 19 places around the world. Including the Gaza Strip where, without that laboratory, the parish would not even have the hosts to celebrate the Eucharist, given that nothing comes in, including basic necessities and medicines.

The fact that the laboratory continues to function despite the war is for us a sign of that bread that becomes Jesus who came to save us. The people making the hosts smile. The meaning of the Eucharist can be seen in their eyes. It's something that strikes me a lot within that drama, says Mosca Mondadori.

The laboratory was started in 2020 thanks to the interest of Card. Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin patriarch of Jerusalem: We contributed first of all to the renovation of the premises and brought the machines with the help of the nuns of the Hogar Nino Dios of Bethlehem - continues Mosca Mondadori .

"There are currently several people working there on a voluntary basis. We, as a Foundation, support the community and, in particular, the most needy people who at the moment are practically everyone."

He adds: We would like to be able to return to those places, to be as close as possible to the people there, especially in this difficult and sad time. In the meantime, let's try to at least keep this project alive. Let's see what it will lead to."

The initiative, which was originally created to testify to the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist, had already found a completely extraordinary welcoming place in Palestine, namely Bethlehem, which means "House of Bread". Here, the Sisters Servants of the Lord and the Virgin of Matara, belonging to the religious Family of the Incarnate Word, have created a reception center called Hogar Nino Dios for children and young people with physical and mental disabilities.

There are around forty people currently welcomed, including many Muslims who are abandoned by families who are often very poor or disadvantaged precisely because of their disabilities. Today several of these boys and girls collaborate in the pworkshop producing the hosts, which are then donated to some Churches in the Holy Land and Jordan and to the Basilica of the Nativity itself.

There where Jesus is born, hosts are continually born - Mosca Mondadori points out -. And it is precisely young people with disabilities who produce them. The Hogar Nino Dios is a house where people feel truly welcomed. And, as in all the other places where hosts are produced, it is a place of rebirth."

This is still visible today where it all began: the Opera prison, near Milan. It is here, in fact, that on the occasion of the 2015-2016 Jubilee of Mercy, Arnoldo Mosca Mondadori had the intuition to give life to this initiative, involving people convicted of murder. Already in January 2016, Pope Francis consecrated some of them on the occasion of the Jubilee of Migrants.

The strength and immediacy of this project, which sees the bread for the Eucharistic celebration produced by those who have killed in their past, but have followed an authentic path of interior conversion and repentance - explain from the Casa dello Spirito e delle Arti Foundation which is also supported in this project by the Ennio Doris Foundation - it has encouraged the participation of hundreds of Italian and foreign dioceses, religious congregations, parishes, monasteries, Christian and Catholic entities, who have received and continue to receive the hosts free of charge, the production of which craftsmanship is now several million".

The meeting with Pope Francis changed my life - concludes Arnoldo Mosca Mondadori - After coming across his light I chose to dedicate myself completely to service. I feel it like a mission. The Pope naturally led me towards this path. His peace affects me daily and his presence today is a beacon for everyone. Thanks to Pope Francis every day we break down the walls of indifference and try to build bridges."
by Nirmala Carvalho

For weeks, the city on the border with Myanmar has been rocked by attacks and reprisals between ethnic Meitei and Kuki. Seven deaths have been reported in the last few hours. The Sisters of Mother Teresa have also been forced to leave their home amid fighting between armed men and Indian security forces.

Delhi (AsiaNews)  Moreh, a town of some 30,000 residents right on the border with Myanmars Sagaing Region, has become a flashpoint in the ethnic violence that began nine months ago in Indias northeastern state of Manipur

Since the start of the new year, violence has intensified in the area, a major crossroad with people of different religions from almost every Indian state as well as ethnic Chinese, Barma (Burmese), and Nepalis.

In the last two days alone, at least seven people have died, including two members of the Indian security forces.

On Wednesday, two Christian schools  Bethsaida Academy and Dr Colvin Academy  and some houses inhabited by ethnic Kuki-Zo were set on fire, causing two deaths and several injuries.

The following night, attacks were carried out against ethnic Meitei, shot at by militias from across the border. Five people were killed in this incident.

Following reports of the breach of peace, disturbance of public tranquillity, and grave danger to human lives and property within the revenue jurisdiction of Tengnoupal, state authorities imposed a curfew from 12 January to 16 January to little avail.

The situation is getting more and more dangerous for everyone in Moreh. The UCAN news agency yesterday reported that the Convent of the Missionaries of Charity found in the crossfire between armed men and Indian security forces.

I have been informed that there has been a firefight and that the walls of the house of the Sisters of Mother Teresa have been hit by bullets," a local priest told AsiaNews. For this reason, the nuns were forced to leave and one or two Catholics were also killed."

Since the outbreak of the conflict in Manipur, at least 200 people have lost their lives and almost 67,000 have been forced to leave their homes to seek refuge elsewhere.

The Indian government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi have been accused of seriously neglecting the crisis.

Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi has been hammering this view in recent days, after launching his new "long march" across the country, starting from strife-torn Manipur.

Meanwhile, civil war continues to rage in Myanmars Sagaing Region, which borders Manipur, a source of further instability in Moreh.

Across the border, the Myanmar military has recently attacked Khampat, a town held by rebel groups ethnically related to the Kuki-Zo, causing at least 17 deaths.

In this distressing context, the appeal launched at Christmas by the new archbishop of Imphal, Mgr Linus Neli, for authentic reconciliation" to bring together "peace and harmony with justice" remains relevant as ever.

May God save us from ethnic strife and violence that destroy lives and kill the future, the prelate said.

INDIAN MANDALA IS THE ASIANEWS NEWSLETTER DEDICATED TO INDIA. TO RECEIVE A WEEKLY UPDATE EVERY FRIDAY, CLICK HERE.
by Alessandra De Poli

According to Iftikhar Firdous, founder of the Khorasan Diary news platform, tensions dropped between Iran and Pakistan after they fired missiles at each. The province concerned is marginal to Pakistan's internal political stability. But Balochis have been protesting for months against the government, which is unable to solve the security problems linked to neighbouring Afghanistan.

Islamabad (AsiaNews)  Iran and Pakistan seem to have reached a draw after firing missiles at each other in recent days.

Several analysts believe that both countries were putting on a show of force for a domestic audience ahead of elections later this year. While Iranians vote in March, Pakistani will be called to the polls in less than a month.

"Had the situation between Iran and Pakistan worsened, the current caretaker government could have postponed the elections set for 8 February, but there has already been de-escalation," said Iftikhar Firdous, founder of the Khorasan Diary news platform run by journalists and researchers, speaking to AsiaNews.

"Balochistan, like Khyber Pakhtunkhwa,[*] where most of the attacks in Pakistan take place, is not politically relevant," explained Firdous, who is also visiting professor at Islamabad's Quaid and Azam University.

In all likelihood, elections will go ahead as planned, despite rising violence in Pakistan over the past year, with about a thousand people killed in 2023.

Pakistans Balochistan (a region geographically shared with Iran and Afghanistan) is "the largest province in the country but the least populated, and is inhabited by ethnic Pashtuns  the same as the Taliban in Afghanistan  and ethnic Baluchis," Firdous said.

"The Pakistani government has always said that the insurgency in Balochi areas is led by India, which is seen as its main rival in the region."

In 2016, an Indian national, Kulbhushan Jadhav, was arrested on espionage charges and sentenced to death by Pakistan's Field General Court Martial, but on 18 May 2017, the International Court of Justice stayed the execution ordering Pakistan to review the trial and conviction.

Pro-independence Baloch groups have been fighting for their own state since 1948 (including areas currently held by Iran and Afghanistan).

There are two main groups, the Balochistan Liberation Front (BLF) and the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), although a group called BRAS (Baloch Raji Aajoi Sangar) emerged in 2018, an alliance of Balochi separatist organisations.

"In recent years, in addition to targets related to the Pakistani state, these groups have also begun to target Chinese investments tied to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor," a project linked to the Belt and Road Initiative worth tens of billions of dollars.

In Balochistan, Islamabad is faced with several groups it considers terrorists who, for different reasons, have the Pakistani state as their sole target. This is why military repression is so harsh in the province.

Even now, the local Baloch population resents the Pakistani government, feeling neglected in terms of development (Balochistan is the most economically backward part of Pakistan despite its rich resources, especially gas) and political representation.

At present, "There are two protests going on in Balochistan," Iftikhar Firdous added.

One, which brought hundreds of protesters to Islamabad, was organised in response to enforced disappearances carried out by the army to fight the armed insurgency.

"The second concerns the possibility for Afghans to cross the border freely and exchange goods. Since the government imposed the obligation to have a visa and a passport, traders who belong to tribes divided only by the border have begun to protest.

This protest has been going on for about three months. However, the Pakistani government seems to have no intention of giving in; for a week now, the Torkham border crossing in Afghanistan has been closed to lorries because Afghan drivers do not have visas and passports.

Although the visa system was already partially introduced in 2014, it is now more necessary than ever for Pakistan to enforce security since the Tehreek-e Taliban Pakistan (the Pakistani Taliban or TTP) operate out of Afghanistan.

"Several videos have been posted showing TTP fighters in Afghanistan using NATO equipment abandoned by the US-led coalition after their forces pulled out in August 2021. They are not concealed, on the contrary. Still, the Taliban cannot and will not intervene for several reasons," the analyst said.

"First of all, because the Afghan Taliban received hospitality from the TTPs in Pakistan during the war in Afghanistan. Secondly, even though we are talking about distinct groups, they are ethnically related with family and tribal links. Lastly, because in the tribal system, once you swear allegiance as the TTP did with their Afghan 'cousins', you can't go back on your word.

For the Pakistan government, this is a complicated situation, with the prospect of more violence in the coming weeks.

The attacks are almost exclusively reported in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, circumscribed to these territories," Firdous explained. This is nothing new, neither for the government nor the army.

Yet, Today's situation is very different from the 2013 elections, when big cities were attacked. Until Balochistan's armed groups gain a grip on a territory, this is business as usual for Islamabad.

[*] Formerly known as North-West Frontier Province or NWFP.
by Vladimir Rozanskij

Grozny is proposed as a model to the Caucasus and Uralia regions traversed by escalating conflicts. But the one implemented after the conflict 20 years ago is a monolithic regime where no form of dissent to Kadyrov is permissible.

Moscow (AsiaNews) - Faced with growing inter-ethnic conflicts in the Caucasian and Uralic areas, such as in Dagestan and Baskortostan, the Minister for Nationalities of Chechnya, Akhmed Dudaev, praised the example of the republic led by Ramzan Kadyrov, which "in twenty 'years have not seen a single case of conflict between nationalities,' arousing rather varied reactions from domestic and foreign observers, as Kavkaz.Realii reports.

The Republic of Groznyj can hardly be considered a model for the other regions of the Russian Federation, being in fact a mononational and monoconfessional country, one of the most jealous in defending its specificity even in the years of Soviet Russia.

According to the 2021 census, 96% of the inhabitants are Chechens, with just over 1% Russians, and less than 3% for all other ethnicities. There are just under one and a half million Chechens, the other nationalities are just over 50 thousand. On a religious level the statistics are even simpler, with 99% Muslims.

An expert on inter-ethnic relations in the North Caucasus, Maksim U. (who preferred to remain anonymous), recalls that the outcome of the two Chechen wars in the 1990s and 2000s "transformed Chechnya into a monolithic republic, destroying the presence of other nationalities, and the current situation of peaceful stagnation is actually the result of the authoritarian regime established after the war upheavals, it is closely linked to the Putin system". The Chechen wars, in fact, were the reason for Vladimir Putin's call to power as a "man of order".

Emil Aslan, professor of political science at the Carolina University of Prague, agrees with this assessment, for whom "ethnic or religious conflicts are not admissible in Chechnya, but references to incorrect interpretations of Islam (from the point of view of the civil authorities) would be enough to light the fuse." And in any case, even the affirmation of the twenty-year absence of conflicts does not entirely correspond to reality, the expert points out.

We also remember after the end of the conflicts, in 2005, a mass clash between the inhabitants of the towns of Moskhob in Dagestan and Novoselskaja in Chechnya, with dozens of injured, between Chechens and Avars who initially fought over the beaches to make bathing in the river, and then moving on to strong methods even with the use of weapons.

A few months earlier, a group of Spetsnaz motorcycle policemen had carried out a "local ethnic cleansing" in the province of Borozdino, justifying it as "leftovers from the war", one of the reasons with which the Chechnya of the Kadyrovs, father and son, explained various forms of repression.

We also remember the conflict between Chechnya and Ingushetia (the two parts of independent Ichkeria, destroyed by Putin's Russia) in 2012, which led to the definition of an official border between the two republics, which did not exist before.

Also in this case the Chechens had justified an action in the village of Galaski, with three deaths, to "suffocate the rebels", a circumstance denied by the then head of Ingushetia, Junusbek Evkurov. The border agreement was definitively signed only in 2018, accompanied by many protests by the Ingush, including street demonstrations suppressed by force.

The latest convictions for protests in Essentukhi in Ingushetia were only three years ago, in December 2021, and the leaders were convicted of "forming an extremist association", the refrain of Putin's last years.

There have also been clashes in recent years over the borders with Dagestan, a republic which is itself historically linked to Chechnya due to ethnic ties that have only recently been "cleaned up". Kadyrov promised to "break the fingers" of those who write on social networks accusations against the Chechens for the borders, and the head of the Grozny parliament, Magomed Daudov, assured that for this problem "we are also ready to declare war, it is our land and we do not share it with anyone."

Discussing in 2021 with the director Aleksandr Sokurov, Vladimir Putin himself admitted that "in Russia there are two thousand mutual territorial claims", partly inherited from Soviet times, partly fueled subsequently as in the Caucasus, which has always been one of the major powder kegs, which could blow up the entire Federation.

Photo: Flickr / Clay Gilliland
Changes will enter into force on 1 January 2025, affecting mainly prices and land management. According to critics, corrupt officials and large private companies will continue to benefit at the expense of ordinary people. Former Deputy Minister ang Hung Vo laments that in many cases, the government takes land to hand it over to private firms, and the revised law is not likely to change this.

Hanoi (AsiaNews/Agencies)  Vietnam's National Assembly approved an amendment to the Land Law with the intended goal of boosting the country's socio-economic development. Some 432 members out of 477 voted in favour.

The new legislation, which will come into force on 1 January 2025, takes into consideration more than 12 million comments from ordinary Vietnamese, as well as the opinions of multiple experts, scholars, organisations, and other stakeholders.

The main thrust is for provincial peoples councils or the central government update land price frames on an annual basis to correctly reflect market shifts. Under the existing legislation, price frames are set every five years.

The law specifies 32 cases in which land can be taken to serve public and national interests, such as the construction of government facilities, public housing, or the use of land for farming to boost government revenues.

On paper this will make government actions more transparent, which should help ensure fairness and compliance with the law. Land in Vietnam is, in fact, technically state-owned, even if the authorities often offer compensation for people who have built homes on it or farm it.

Still the law has doubters. For ang Hung Vo, former Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, the fact that national and provincial officials have the ultimate say on land use is one of the main problems, as it leads to an inefficient use of land for housing and farming.

An emblematic and controversial case is that of Loc Hung, a ward in Ho Chi Minh City. In 2019, the government cleared residents from 503 homes to build a school. Five years later, half of the former residents say that they have not received any compensation.

Cao Ha Truc is one of them. He has filed a lawsuit and considers the new law inadequate, in need of further changes to compensate people before they lose their land.

Specifically, private firms profit from government projects (like the school development) on expropriated land. In his view, people are not protected and the new law will not protect them.

Since the old law provided ample scope for the government to seize land, about 70 per cent of the current long-term complaints are related to this issue.

Former Deputy Minister ang said that many major lawsuits are related to land grabs by the government, which then gives it to private firms to make a profit. The revised law is not likely to change this.

Lastly, according to Cao, the new law does not address the problem of corruption. "The vibrant real estate market has caused the greed of officials and investors to emerge, while The poor are abandoned, he laments.
Homeowners at the Centennial Condominiums affordable housing development in Aspen continue to face water damage at their 40-year-old units. Centennial owners have applied for repair assistance funding from APCHAs essential grant repair program, while the developments HOA has been engaged with the city of Aspen and APCHA in a lawsuit regarding structural damage in multiple buildings.
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San Angelo, TX (76909)

Today

Cloudy skies early, followed by partial clearing. High near 65F. Winds ENE at 10 to 15 mph..

Tonight

A few clouds. Low 46F. Winds ESE at 10 to 15 mph.
ICE

Photo: SH Proshots

The former is a battery-electric alternative to the latter, and the A7 Avant is the successor to the current A6 Avant. Confused much? It's all part of the Ingolstadt brand's new naming scheme, with-powered models getting odd numbers and EVs using even numbers.The vehicle pictured above is the upcoming Audi A6 Avant e-tron . The zero-emission business wagon was doing its thing in Germany when it became the focus of our spy photographer's camera lens. The model kept its camouflage to a bare minimum, showing more of that sleek styling.It has the brand's new interpretation of the grille up front, albeit with a closed-off design, as there is no internal combustion lump to feed air to behind it. Nothing out of the ordinary so far, and while BMW stopped here for the most part when it comes to the rivaling i5/5 Series, Audi went beyond it, so the A6 Avant e-tron has split headlamps, whereas the A7 Avant comes with dual clusters.The profile is very sleek and we certainly dig the lines on the lower parts of the doors, the sloping roofline, and the shape of the side windows. We're also fans of the back end, where the cargo area is expected to be superior to that of the ICE-powered models. The reason is that the roofline is less arched behind the B-pillars, translating to more space in the trunk. Given its electric nature , it likely offers space for a small bag under the front hood, too.Unrelated to the construction of the upcoming A7 lineup, the A6 e-tron (sedan and estate) is based on the Volkswagen Group's PPE platform. If it sounds familiar, that's because the new Porsche Macan, due at the end of January, also uses it, and so does the Q6 e-tron. It is understood to get the 800-volt tech for quicker recharging times, and chances are lesser versions will feature single motors, with the upper specs perhaps launching with bi-motor setups.The RS-badged derivatives are also in the pipeline, with Audi Sport applying this recipe to the Sedan and Avant versions of the upcoming A6 e-tron . As you can imagine, details surrounding the power and performance of these cars are yet unknown, but rumor has it that they will supposedly enjoy around 800 horsepower. It is possible that the A6 e-tron lineup is a few weeks or months away from debuting, with U.S. dealers likely getting it for the 2025 model year.
Spied by carparazzo Varryx in Maranello, this camouflaged prototype looks eerily similar to the SF90 Stradale. This may lead some folks to assume that it's a leftover prototype built prior to the SF90's debut (back in May 2019), but it's actually a preview of the model that will replace the SF90.

Photo: Varryx on YouTube

Revealed in May 2019 to mixed reception due to its hybrid setup, the Italian automaker's most powerful road-going car to date is getting on a bit. It's pretty clear that a successor is coming due to the unveiling of the XX series in June 2023, a special edition limited to 799 units of the coupe-bodied SF90 XX Stradale and a further 599 units of the Spider.From two electric motors for the front axle, one mounted on the reverseless dual-clutch transmission, and the F154 twin-turbo V8 engine, Ferrari's first-ever XX model entitled to wear a license plate makes a ludicrous 1,030 cavalli vapore and 804 Nm of torque. Converted to imperial, that means 1,016 horsepower and 593 pound-feet.In creating the SF90 XX, the Prancing Horse worked its magic on the rear fender-mounted air intakes for improved cooling and  obviously enough  more air going into the centrally-mounted V8. The camouflaged prototype goes one step further with larger openings for said intakes, which shouldn't come as a surprise. After all, the successor needs to belt out more ponies than the SF90 It's not clear whether the company will match or exceed the output ratings of the XX, though. The front bumper appears to blur the line between SF90 and XX, whereas the rear bumper looks unchanged from that of the SF90. But if you look closer, you will notice slightly modified rear fenders.In addition to the larger side intakes, the fenders were redesigned to house improved suspension geometry. It's believed that Ferrari changed the mounting points of the rear dampers for better handling, but from this video, it's nigh-on impossible to tell if that really is the case.Minor improvements to the mid-engine platform are rumored as well, a platform that further underpins the V6-powered 296. With Ferrari busy churning out custom-spec'd XX vehicles, the SF90's replacement is likely scheduled to debut in the latter half of 2024 for the 2025 model year.Some peeps refer to said model as the SF100, although that's wishful thinking because 2029 will mark 100 years of the Scuderia. In the 1930s, Enzo Ferrari started affixing the Prancing Horse to his Alfa Romeo racing cars. Prior to the birth of Alfredo "Dino" Ferrari, the Scuderia's founder hung up his helmet and gloves due to the inherent dangers of racing in the 1930s.Turning our attention back to the SF90's replacement, it should be noted that said model won't be the top dog in Ferrari's lineup. The LaFerrari will finally get a replacement in late 2024 for the 2025 model year, with said replacement packing a twin-turbo V6 and hybrid assistance.
More precisely, Ford holds the record for the 47th year in a row when its F-Series is America's best-selling pickup truck nameplate. General Motors would argue that, overall, it sells more full-size light- and heavy-duty pickup trucks, but that's only when mixing the deliveries of both Silverado and Sierra nameplates. The mid-size pickup truck affair is a lot clearer as Toyota's Tacoma, even during a year of switching generations, holds the crown from afar.Last but not least, the unibody compact pickup truck is making a welcome return in North America. The US sales were copiously dominated by the pocket-sized Ford Maverick  which sold nearly three times as many units as its only direct competitor, the Hyundai Santa Cruz. It also sold almost double the tally of Honda's Ridgeline, the only other unibody truck on the market  but this one is a mid-sizer. As such, many see it as a missed opportunity that GM or Stellantis don't attack Ford's newly appointed compact pickup truck throne.Naturally, even the imaginative realm of digital car content creators is well interested in the fate of the sector. For example, many pixel masters believe that Toyota or Subaru should actively come back to fight the Maverick and Santa Cruz with hypothetical Stout or Baja mini-truck revivals. Others, on the other hand, think this affair should also implicate Ram Trucks. More precisely, the Halo oto channel on YouTube provides fresh automotive info corroborated with their virtual designs; now, there are some new CGI ideas about a fresh pocket-sized Ram pickup truck.However, I think they confuse the situation a little bit when calling out for the rebirth of the Dodge and later Ram Dakota moniker to brawl with the Maverick and Santa Cruz. Initially, the Dodge and Ram Dakota model was a conventional mid-size body-on-frame vehicle that carried the honor of becoming among the first in the segment to feature a V8 engine under the hood. As such, a revival would be more appropriate as a sibling of the Jeep Gladiator  fighting alongside it against the N400 Toyota Tacoma, Chevy Colorado, GMC Canyon, Ford Ranger, Nissan Frontier, or the Honda Ridgeline.Instead, the rumor mill  and we tend to agree  believes that Ram Trucks will introduce a North American version of the Brazilian Ram Rampage later this year. That one, a proper unibody compact pickup truck, will directly compete with the Hyundai Santa Cruz and the Ford Maverick segment leader. In fact, wouldn't it be nice if Ram made a show of force and revealed both the US-bound Rampage and a reborn mid-size Dakota this year?
Most people would dread the prospect of having their run-in with the law go viral within minutes of it happening, but most people are not Arnold Schwarzenegger. For the Terminator actor, it's just material for a couple of off-color jokes and an instant boost for his charitable event.

Photo: BILD

Photo: The Schwarzenegger Climate Initiative

The other day, as he'd just landed in Munich, Austria, in preparation for the third iteration of the World Climate Event, Arnold Schwarzenegger was detained in customs over unpaid taxes over a personal watch he was carrying  and planning to sell at auction at the charitable event. According to reports, he'd failed to declare the luxury watch ahead of his arrival, which is mandatory for items valued over 430 ($470) if they're to be sold within the European Union.As per the same reports, the watch in question was an Audemars Piguet timepiece that the actor said the watchmaker had designed especially for himself. Customs estimated it at 26,000 ($28,300), and Arnold ended up paying 9,000 ($9,800) in taxes and fines for it.He'd tried to argue that planning to auction it for charity would invalidate the need for tax, but the customs officers were having none of it.Schwarzenegger was detained for more than 3 hours, leaving for Kitzbuhel, where the charitable dinner event was held, vocally disappointed in the impromptu welcome party.By the time he took the stage at the event, which benefited the Schwarzenegger Climate Initiative, he'd turned the incident into material for a couple of off-hand jokes about being put in handcuffs and hiding a second watch in the infamous where-the-sun-don't-shine part of his anatomy.More importantly, though, the incident brought even more attention to the charity event, which, in turn, drove up the price of the watch.Fresh details show that the timepiece was more valuable than the initial estimation  and even more rare. It wasn't a one-of-1,500 example of the 1999 Royal Oak Offshore Arnold Schwarzenegger The Legacy, but a one-of-20 variation of the 2023 AP Royal Oak Offshore Selfwinding Chronograph.Designed with Schwarzenegger, the original Selfwiding Chronograph was a 500-unit limited issue based on the 1999 AP watch the actor wore in the movie End of Days. He'd co-designed that one, too, so yes, Schwarzenegger and Audemars Piguet go all the way back.The variation that the actor brought to auction is limited to just 20 examples and features a customized caseback, including the phrase "Arnold Classic" and a gold engraving of Schwarzenegger doing his most famous bodybuilder pose. Bidding for it started at 50,000 ($54,400) and went all the way to 270,000 ($293,500).The AP watch and other items on sale, like a one-on-one training session with Schwarzenegger, a day on the set of a movie, or a private living room concert by The BossHoss, raised more than $1.3 million for various climate awareness and activism causes The Schwarzenegger Climate Initiative called the customs incident "an incompetent shakedown." All things considered, the phrasing "awesome publicity" is better suited.
Designing and building an under 50-meter (164-foot) luxury explorer yacht fitted with all the amenities and functionalities modern yachtsmen have come to expect without exceeding the 500 gross tonnage limit is no mean feat. Italian yacht designer Hydro Tec has just accomplished the first part of the process with the creation of the Sagasu superyacht concept.

Photo: Hydro Tec

Photo: Hydro Tec

The Sagasu project is the first fruit of Hydro Tec's strategic collaboration with their new partner for the APAC (Asia Pacific) regions, Adam Blackmore, the co-founder of Hong Kong-based Iseo Yachting Limited.This explains both the Asian influences in the design and the choice of name for the new yacht . In Japanese, the Sagasu name means to search for something necessary and desired. And it isn't coincidental either, as it symbolizes the philosophy underlying the project - the desire for exploration and discovery of new horizons.The greatest thing about the design is that it offers the volume and functionalities of larger vessels without going over the 500 GT limit, successfully incorporating all the characteristics of an explorer yacht.The first renderings revealed by the Italian studio showcase a 48-meter (157-foot) yacht concept with an alluring profile characterized by elegant and sinuous lines. For the exterior, the designers combined classic and traditional traits with elements of modernity, obtaining a balanced fusion of elegance and dynamism.The yacht concept is also notable for its extensive use of glass. As contemporary yacht designs increasingly embrace the idea of a seamless connection with the ocean, the incorporation of floor-to-ceiling windows has become a feature in high demand. There is no other material that connects and separates at the same time. However, the use of glass is not only a style statement but also a way to extend the indoors to the outdoors and offer improved views of the surroundings.The designers of Sagasu made sure to follow this design trend. A standout feature of this vessel is the design of the flush windows on the hull, which create a suspended central island wrapped in glass. Moreover, the yacht seems to include glass railings around its aft deck areas.It has been configured with four different layouts to offer flexibility in terms of length and volume, and future owners will also be able to further customize it based on their preferences.But regardless of the chosen layout, a main focus in the design process was to create generous outdoor spaces for guests to enjoy both in the aft and bow sections. There is an expansive beach club area that can be significantly extended by deploying the fold-down terraces over the water. Guests onboard will be able to enjoy not one but two large swimming pools (a plunge pool on the bow and an infinity pool aft), large sunbathing areas, and modular seating arrangements for outdoor relaxation and socialization.There is no word on the total accommodation capacity, but it is likely not to pass 12 guests. However, Hydro Tec mentions that the owner will benefit from a private master suite with floor-to-ceiling windows, an integrated 70-square-meter terrace, and a private jacuzzi.In terms of interior design, the renderings show a contemporary aesthetic with minimalist furniture, integrated lighting, and a neutral color palette of white, beige, and blue. On-trend furniture and decor items complete the guest spaces onboard.The yacht's rescue tender and customized exploration tender will be stored in the garage area at all times, meaning they won't hinder guests from enjoying the outdoor areas even when the yacht is in port.Talking about the result of the collaboration with Iseo Yachting, Sergio Cutolo, President of Hydro Tec , has shared, "I am extremely satisfied with the recently concluded agreement with our new strategic partner, Adam Blackmore, Co-founder of Iseo Yachting, and the business opportunity that this collaboration opens for our company. The expansion of our business into new markets, with a particular focus on Hong Kong and Asia, represents a significant step in our growth. This step is an integral part of our strategic expansion plan that will further consolidate our position in the industry."
Remember the Cadillac-branded sport utility truck advertised by General Motors as the Escalade EXT? Closely related to the Chevrolet Avalanche and Hummer H2 SUT on the GMT800 platform, the luxury truck is best described as a sales disaster.

EV

Photo: AutoYa on YouTube

General Motors should've known better, though, especially after the Ford Motor Company failed to make a splash with the F-150-based Lincoln Blackwood. The same can be said about the Mark LT, which was discontinued from the US market in 2008 and from the Mexican market back in 2014.Manufactured at the Silao assembly plant in Mexico, the Escalade EXT transitioned to the GMT900 platform in 2006 for model year 2007. Production came to a halt in 2013, the year Cadillac reported a meager 1,972 sales in the US market.Half truck and half sport utility vehicle, the Escalade EXT does neither well. On top of that, high-end versions of the GMC Sierra 1500, Ford F-150, and Ram 1500 are better value and more capable in terms of towing and hauling. Be that as it may, the good folks at AutoYa decided to revive the Cadillac Escalade EXT as an electric pickup truck.The rendering is wishful thinking at best. General Motors already has an overly expensive zero-emission truck in the form of the GMC Hummer, an off-road truck that  hardly surprising  doesn't sell in large numbers. Including the sport utility vehicle-bodied sibling, the GMC Hummer EV clocked 3,244 sales in 2023 stateside. By comparison, the F-150 Lightning sold 24,165.One could argue that a Cadillac Escalade IQ -based Escalade EXT wouldn't cannibalize GMC Hummer EV sales. But on the other hand, remember that General Motors also makes the GMC Sierra EV Denali. The Sierra EV Denali Edition 1  which sold out in 2022  is ludicrously expensive at $108,695. Can you imagine what kind of money the automaker's Cadillac division would be required to charge for a fully electric revival of the Escalade EXT?Some peeps would pony up the money, there's no mistaking that, yet everyone and their dog knows that an electric pickup truck from the Cadillac brand is ultimately going to lose money for General Motors. The American automaker's electric truck platform is dubbed BT1, and sooner rather than later, General Motors will expand the BT1 family with electric versions of the Tahoe, Suburban, Yukon, and Yukon XL.BT1 production is handled by the Detroit/Hamtramck Assembly Plant, which General Motors rechristened Factory Zero in anticipation of electric vehicle production. The site was originally a Dodge factory that the Chrysler Corporation shuttered in 1980. GM purchased it the following year, and production restarted in 1985 with the front-wheel-drive 1986 Cadillac Seville.GM's other electric vehicle platform is the BEV3, a skateboard-type platform that underpins the Cadillac Lyriq. The XT5-sized Lyriq carries a sticker price of $58,590 (sans destination charge) in the United States for model year 2024, whereas the Escalade IQ is estimated to kick off at $130,000.
Ever since its arrival on the market back in 2020, the BMW R 18 cruiser motorcycle has positioned itself as a rival to Harley-Davidson. Because neither Harley nor BMW like to share detailed info on their performance on the market, we don't have a clear picture of how much of a dent the German bike has put in Milwaukee's dominance of the segment.

Photo: BMW Motorrad

Photo: BMW Motorrad

But its clear things are not as easy as they used to be before the R 18 era got here. Not only are the Bavarians chasing Milwaukee machines in a bid to win the minds and pockets of buyers of new motorcycles, but BMW is making a hell of an effort to upset Harley in the custom bike segment as well.Ever since the model's introduction (it is now a family true and true, with no less than six versions on the table) BMW has tried everything it could to support custom garages in adopting the R 18 as a base for their projects, to the point that it even held a sort of build-off competition.Back in 2023, we didnt get as many Motorrad -backed R 18-based builds as we would have liked, but there are hopes 2024 will be a little different. After all, with just a few weeks into the new year BMW has already pushed under the spotlight the first custom ride based on the model.The bike in its modified form is called R 18 One Eight C and, despite being quite hard on the tongue when you try to speak its name, it more than gets the job done at having rival Harley all sweaty and nervous.The build is the work of Paul Yaffe, one of the biggest names in the custom motorcycle industry and the man behind the mighty Bagger Nation It is based on the R 18 Transcontinental, and it was imagined  how else?  as a one-off build that blends hot rod cues with enough BMW elements to make it stand out.A simple look at the ride will immediately make it obvious no corners were cut and no effort spared in trying to make a big-wheel bagger like few others out there. That's because it was made to be reminiscent of 1950s Mercury lead sleds, production cars with heavily modified bodies.And a heavily modified body is what we get here as well. I mean, just look at that huge front fairing, the massive (but stock) fuel tank, and the impressive bags at the rear.We'll start at the front, where all the magic of that huge front wheel happens. Rather simple in design, it is a 26-inch piece made from a solid block of aluminum and wrapped in a 180 mm wide tire.To make it fit the builder had to modify the frame a bit, stretching and raking it to allow for the installation of the wheel. On top of that, special triple trees have been designed for the task.Above the wheel sits a steel fender that was made from scratch, and above that the R 18's original fairing. You might no longer recognize it as such, as it was cut and rebuilt, but it is there.Even higher the eyes of the people looking at the ride fall upon Yaffe monkey bars made specifically for this project.The rear end of the ride is no less spectacular. Although it may not look like it, the saddlebag lids you see pulled over the bags at the rear are the original ones. True, they are no longer as they were because they got stretched, but they are there. The rear fender is the original one as well, but it, too, got the same treatment.The bike suffered not only visual and handling modifications but deeper mechanical ones as well. There is an air suspension system in place, with the tanks, compressor, and controls hidden beneath each saddlebag.The engine, BMW's mighty Big Boxer , remains in place, but it was treated to a new exhaust system built around the original pipe. It is still there, but with the catalytic converters replaced by a perforated high-flow baffle system. The pipe ends in a 3-step muffler system and a wide-open megaphone for classic hot rod sound.When work on the R 18 was over, the bike was treated to a gloss black finish for a rather toned-down look. A perfect contrast to all the blackness is provided by the deep red (something that's known as ochs blood) that can be seen on the upper side of the fairing and on the seat. The same color can be spotted on the front brake calipers.The BMW R 18 One Eight C is presently on the floor of the MBE motorcycle show taking place in Verona, Italy. We are not told what will happen to it once the show ends, nor are we given any hint as to how much it cost to build.
EV

SUV

After the SuperVan 4.0 and 4.2, the Mustang Mach-E 1400, the Mustang CobraJet 1400, and the F-100 Eluminator prototypes, the new playground for Ford Performance (alongside Vaghn Gittin Jr.'s RTR Vehicles and a few others, most likely) was the field ofoff-roaders. For that, they took the F-150 Lightning, allegedly America's best-selling EV pickup truck, and basically turned it into an electric Raptor  possibly even a zero-emissions Raptor R.Dubbed the Ford F-150 Lightning Switchgear , it was inspired by the F-150 RTR Ultimate Fun-Haver project vehicle from 2016 and comes with 37 inches, additional width and suspension travel plus ground clearance, a carbon composite body, five Recaro Sportster ORV seats, a humongous billet reverse mount hydraulic e-brake from ASD Motorsports. They didn't give us any performance figures, so we might as well guess that its F-150 Lightning chassis and powertrain were left unchanged. Of course, with Vaughn at the helm, the EV demonstrator was prone to demonstrating that it likes catching air on the trails and playing sideways in the grass or dirt.Naturally, this prototype is garnering a lot of attraction from Blue Oval fans  for both good and bad reasons. Oh, and also for some quirky motifs  as is mostly the case with the imaginative realm of digital car content creators. For example, Jim, the virtual artist known as jlord8 on social media, loves messing around with all things CGI from GM and Ford, so obviously, he couldn't ignore this fresh take on an EV pickup truck. However, he did give it his signature styling and messed around with it from his particular POV.You see, this pixel master is a proud owner of a 1986 Buick Regal T-Type and also of a 2001 Ford F-150 SVT Lightning, so it is pretty obvious that he loves vehicles from the 1980s through the early 2000s. As such, maybe his decision to morph the Ford F-150 Lightning Switchgear EV pickup truck into a two-door short-wheelbase EV Broncomakes sense  especially since the author says that in his mind, "the Bronco is what they gave us in the 1980s."For sure, it looks spot on because of the shorter livery, the big wing at the rear, the off-road tire and wheel package, and also the modern EV-style treatment of the front fascia. Besides, if this thing were real, it would run in circles around the F-150 because it would be 2X nimbler on the trails  and possibly also a bit lighter. Alas, it is merely wishful thinking, and the real Bronco soldiers on with 2- and 4-door models that directly clash with the mid-size Jeep Wrangler plus Toyota 4Runner.
Apple says nearly 80% of new-car buyers in the United States consider CarPlay a must-have system, and all these people are ready to abandon their purchase unless they can connect an iPhone to the infotainment system.

Photo: Jaden Schaul on Twitter

Weather information on CarPlay

Photo: Google/Android Police

Stoked to see @MyRadarWX also added CarPlay compatibility. pic.twitter.com/xU5n82dcVZ  Jaden Schaul (@jadenschaul) January 17, 2024

As a result, software developers have every reason to start coding for CarPlay, as their applications would target a continuously growing audience.MyRadar is the latest big name to step into the CarPlay world, allowing users to get weather information without touching their smartphones. MyRadar joins CarPlay with RouteCast-powered navigation, so users can configure turn-by-turn directions to check conditions as they drive to the destination.The application is, therefore, trying to offer the best of two worlds. First, it generates a route to a configured destination, offering the capabilities you typically get in Google Maps and Apple Maps. However, the magic in the navigation experience is powered by MyRadar's weather component, so drivers can see weather information before starting the journey.MyRadar can help make the road more predictable, allowing drivers to be prepared for the route and anticipate rain or other conditions that could make a journey more difficult. The application also offers a weather radar similar to the one available on the mobile device, but drivers can now access all the data right on the infotainment unit. However, animations are disabled for obvious reasons.The best feature is the notification support, as MyRadar can offer navigation alerts for upcoming changes in road conditions. It means you can drive to the destination with MyRadar running on the screen, and the app can let you know when the weather changes along the route.MyRadar lands on CarPlay with a free Road Weather layer, but the entire feature lineup, including the RouteCast capabilities, is only available with a Premium subscription.MyRadar is not the first weather app to launch on CarPlay. Weather on the Way added support for Apple's in-car experience in 2023, supporting the growing app ecosystem on CarPlay.Compared to Android Auto, CarPlay does not come with integrated weather information.Back in the days when Android Auto lacked the modern design that we have today, the application offered widget support, displaying the weather forecast directly on the main screen. Every time you launched the app, you could also see the weather info, so a simple glance at the screen allowed users to see the current temperature.Once the update interface rolled out, Google moved the weather information to the status bar at the top of the screen. It included the current temperature and a condition icon. When it launched the Coolwalk overhaul on Android Auto last January, Google eliminated the status bar, moving the weather data to a dedicated card on the multi-view screen. However, it's only available for portrait screens, as landscape infotainment units don't have the screen estate to include an extra card for the weather details.CarPlay technically has the space to display basic weather information, such as the current temperature and icons showing the conditions, in the dock. This approach would allow Apple to keep the information on the screen permanently, though the company has so far ignored the feedback in this regard.Apple has already announced the new-generation CarPlay , which will debut later this year in Porsche and Aston Martin models. Compared to the current CarPlay version, the updated experience will offer more consistency with the iPhone, so it'll display widgets to read information with a glance at the screen. It's unclear what apps will support widgets on CarPlay, especially considering carmakers can configure the interface and retain their brand identity, but first-party apps are likely to be supported.The iPhone maker seems to rely more on the app ecosystem, and the debut of Weather on the Way and MyRadar on CarPlay proves the strategy works.Meanwhile, weather apps have also launched on Android Auto and Android Automotive. The latest big release was The Weather Channel, which landed in Android Automotive-powered vehicles to provide users with the full weather forecast on the dashboard. Compared to Android Auto, Android Automotive is a fully embedded operating system, so the experience is not powered by the mobile device. Applications can be installed from the Google Play Store on the infotainment screen. The Weather Channel landed on Android Automotive with hourly forecasts, a follow-me system to provide alerts as users drive to the destination, and a radar to check conditions for a route. The feature lineup is similar to MyRadar's on CarPlay.MyRadar is currently one of the top weather apps on the App Store. It has over one million ratings, with a rating of 4.8 stars out of a maximum of five. It comes with in-app purchases, as certain features are only available with a subscription. However, you can also use the app without paying, as the free feature lineup includes current temperature information and the live radar. More advanced goodies, such as a wind layer, are only available for premium customers.
BEV

ICE

American Honda finished 2023 with a red ribbon  annual sales were up no less than 33%, topping 1.3 million units  primarily thanks to the namesake Honda brand, which finished the tally with 1,162,531 deliveries, up almost 32%. Acura's percentage was even higher (+42%), but the figures are quite small - 145,655. However, they have high hopes for wrapping 2024 with even higher figures.For example, Honda achieved record electrified sales in 2023  the CR-V Hybrid was even America's best-selling hybrid model, and the Accord Hybrid was on the throne of hybrid passenger cars. In total, CR-V and Accord hybrids represented over one-quarter of total Honda brand sales last year, according to the company. So, it's only natural they want to keep the strong momentum.The best way to do so is simple  customers will have an additional hybrid option alongside the Accord and CR-V. More precisely, the Japanese automaker is prepared to launch the eagerly awaited 2025 Civic Hybrid on the US market, and the good news is that the four-door sedan comes rocking a subtle facelift procedure. Tucked in that business-focused press release, the accompanying images presented the refreshed 2025 Honda Civic Sedan Hybrid in all its glory, dressed in crimson and sporting the Sport Touring Hybrid trim level.As far as we can tell, the styling of the redesigned 2025 Civic makes the eleventh generation more mature than ever, and it's probably coming to the market later this year with pricing that is hopefully competitive with the $23,500 starting MSRP of the 2024 Toyota Corolla Hybrid. The interior hasn't been shown yet, and we bet that Honda will soon give us a dedicated press release moment to address all 2025 Civic facelift and Hybrid questions sooner rather than later, now that the red cat is out of the bag.Oh, in case anyone wondered what the business outcome for 2024 is all about, Honda's Senior Vice President of Sales, Mamadou Diallo, explained: "In 2023, we were finally able to meet the pent-up demand for our products with both brands rebounding and American Honda finishing the year up over 30%. We projected a strong recovery, and we achieved that. This year, we will continue to capitalize on hybrid models and light trucks as we begin sales of our first high-volumemodels. Along with continued investment in ourproducts, we are anticipating increased annual sales for both Honda and Acura in 2024."So, the Honda Prologue and Acura ZDX are coming, but there's also a CR-V Fuel Cell Vehicle (FCEV) on the way. Additionally, Acura will introduce the 2025 MDX with "significant enhancements" and a new touchscreen driver interface, perform upgrades on the RDX, and bring out an all-new base crossover to sit alongside the Integra . Honda, meanwhile, will boast Hybrid options for both the Sedan and Hatchback 2025 Civic models, in addition to the facelift. Last but not least, the Odyssey will also receive "styling and technology enhancements to maintain its competitiveness in the minivan segment."So, what do you think  will Honda present an excellent alternative to the 2024 Toyota Corolla Hybrid, or will the Civic Hybrid be too expensive for its own sake?
Few other superyachts are as famous, iconic, and controversial as The Flying Fox. Technically a megayacht due to its size, this 2019 build by luxury shipyard Lurssen is officially back on the charter market, even though it's also  quite officially  sanctioned.

Photo: Lurssen

Photo: Lurssen

When life hands you lemons, you make lemonade. Beyonce made Lemonade out of her divorce drama, and she also famously chartered The Flying Fox for a full month in the summer of 2021, back when even industry pundits believed the mammoth luxury vessel was the property of Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos.At the time, The Flying Fox was available for $4 million a week, not including expenses, so it's easy to understand the kind of interest the association with Beyonce and her family prompted. Today, The Flying Fox's reputation is worlds away because of international sanctions against Russian oligarchs. It's a sanctioned asset as of June 2022, as announced at the time by the U.S. Department of Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).The owner of The Flying Fox isn't Bezos, as initially assumed, but Russian billionaire Dmitry Kamenschik. In true making-lemonade fashion, he's hoping for a comeback of this yachting legend and, if we're being real, for the chance to have it pay for itself when he's not using it. So, The Flying Fox is back on the charter market, this time with Bluewater, a premium charter agency based out of Dubai.If a sanctioned vessel being offered for charter feels like 1 plus 1 equals 3, you're not entirely wrong. But itpossible, thanks to a legal loophole. Indeed, The Flying Fox is sanctioned, but only in the United States. Kamenschik isn't on any sanctions lists right now.The reason The Flying Fox was sanctioned in the U.S. is previous management: it was offered for charter by Imperial Yachts, with the company described by U.S. authorities as a complex support network to hide, move, and maintain [the] wealth and luxury assets of President Putin and his associates. When Imperial Yachts was sanctioned, every vessel under its management was also designated.Bluewater isn't oblivious to criticism of chartering a sanctioned vessel, even specifying on social media that the kind of "zero limits" premium experience The Flying Fox offers does come with some geo-political limits.At the same time, though, "it's professional charter company responsibility to deliver first class charter on its fleet yachts irrespective of the nationality of the owner and in accordance with legislation, without prejudice."No word yet on how much The Flying Fox is asking weekly in this context, but the experience will be comparable to what it offered before.Delivered as a fully-custom build in 2019 by Lurssen, this megayacht offers accommodation for 22 guests and 55 crew members, including a personal chef and several massage specialists, packed garages, pools, a spa center, and the most luxurious interiors Thanks to its dual MTU 16V 1163 M84 engines that take it to a brisk top speed of 20 knots (23 mph or 37.4 kph), The Flying Fox is also particularly fast for its incredible size (136 meters/446 feet and more than 9,000 GT of interior volume). That helped when it was able to flee arrest in the Dominican Republic in 2022.
Photo: Jeep

kW

According to a member of the JLWranglerForums, who got hold of an alleged leaked dealer document, the Jeep Wrangler Rubicon 392 is about to bite the dust. The company will supposedly celebrate it with the aptly named Final Edition, which only a few dealers will get.To qualify for it, dealers will have to sell more cars in January 2024 than they did in the first month of last year, and if they do, they will be allocated a single build slot. As you can imagine, details surrounding the specification and how many will see the light of day are yet unknown, though we still know what to expect.In all likelihood, Jeep will give its Wrangler Rubicon 392 Final Edition a few special touches inside and out, perhaps sprinkling the package with some exclusive logos. We wouldn't hold our breath for anything out of the ordinary, as chances are they will draw the line at new exterior colors, wheels, special upholstery in the cabin, and a few other bits and bobs.We are convinced it will retain the naturally aspirated 6.4-liter V8 engine under the hood in the exact same configuration. This means the lump will still pump out 470 horsepower (476 ps/350) and 470 pound-feet (637 Nm) of torque, delivering it to the four-wheel drive system through an automatic transmission with eight forward gears.Are you curious about how fast this model is? Well, despite not being nearly as powerful as the whining Hellcats, it can still sprint to 62 miles an hour (100 kph) in just 4.6 seconds. That is impressive for a vehicle with a gross weight of 6,400 pounds (~2,900 lbs). As for the quarter mile, it can deal with it in roughly 13 seconds from a standing start, the official spec sheet reveals.The rumored Wrangler Rubicon 392 Final Edition should be even more expensive than the regular flavor. The normal one is already very pricey at $92,140, excluding the $1,895 destination charge. Check every box on the options list, and it will exceed the $100,000 mark. And that's before factoring in those greedy dealer markups, which will probably be very high on the alleged last one.Killing a V8-powered model is always sad news, and we honestly thought the range-topping Jeep Wrangler would stick around for at least a few more years. If this report is correct, then we should see the Final Edition in the coming weeks, with the automaker likely prepping it as we speak.
A lorry driver in Edinburgh escaped only with huge embarrassment after following the directions provided by Google Maps to find a destination. The driver entered Leith Street on January 18 as they were using Google Maps directions.The navigation app allegedly told the driver to get across the cycle lane and the pavement and try to go down the steps. The driver somehow believed the suggestion made sense, so they tried to follow the directions, eventually getting stuck in a ridiculous position, catching the attention of everybody in the area.It's not the first blunder that happens on the city center steps. Two other vehicles got stuck in the same place not long ago, and Google previously said the map error was corrected. According to the local media, Google Maps offers the correct route without suggesting the steps as a shortcut, so it's unclear how the lorry ended up stuck.There are two issues that must be highlighted in this case.On the one hand, blindly following a navigation app is never a good idea. Common sense makes a huge difference when using navigation behind the wheel, especially when the software suggests dangerous routes or detours that take you off the paved road. In this particular case, the driver had to make a turn over the cycle lane and the pavement, so they got stuck on the steps despite being obvious that it wasn't the correct route.On the other hand, a lorry driver using Google Maps for navigation is a rookie mistake. Google Maps does not include truck navigation , as the application only offers turn-by-turn guidance for standard passenger vehicles. While an error in the map data might be the culprit for this blunder, drivers of large vehicles shouldn't use Google Maps for navigation.Because it doesn't consider vehicle dimensions and cargo size, Google Maps can't look for appropriate routes, eventually sending drivers to roads where their lorries wouldn't fit. It wasn't the case here, but given the driver used Google Maps in a lorry, it's clear they weren't aware of its limitations.Google has never commented on its long-term plans for truck navigation, but users worldwide keep asking the search giant to add this feature to Google Maps. Truck navigation typically comes with additional information specifically tailored to large vehicles, including road restrictions, width, bridges, tunnels, and other data where lorries and caravans would be allowed.Google claims the Google Maps error is already fixed, but if you drive the application sends you down Greenside Lane, make sure you pay attention to the road before making a turn over the pavement.
19 January 2024 17:44 (UTC+04:00)

Qabil Ashirov Read more

France continues to deteriorate its relations with Azerbaijan due to the influence of the Armenian lobby in Paris. It is worth noting that the 44-day war became a milestone in Azerbaijani-French relations. When Azerbaijan liberated its territories from Armenian invasions, France stopped pretending to be a mediator in the peace talks between Armenia and Azerbaijan and commenced to conduct a more aggressive foreign policy. In a nutshell, adopting the anti-Azerbaijani resolution by the French Senate exemplifies it.

However, Paris does not have enough leverage to impact Azerbaijan. First of all, France, military-wise, is not strong enough to confront Azerbaijan over Armenia. Most importantly, Paris does not have military infrastructure in the Caucasus.

As regards economic power, France's activities are limited as well. In 2023, the GDP of France amounted to $3.2 trillion which made up 3 percent of the world's GDP. With 3 percent, France cannot impact any country in the world, let alone Azerbaijan, which gradually turns into the energy hub of Europe. Secondly, Azerbaijan and France do not have close economic cooperation. In 2023, the trade turnover between the two countries totaled $0.5bn which is equal to 0.9 percent of Azerbaijan's foreign trade turnover. Azerbaijans exports to France amounted to $133mn which made up 0.39 percent of Azerbaijans total exports.

Generally, in a confrontation with Azerbaijan, the losing side is likely to be France, beyond all exaggerations. Neither France nor Azerbaijan have big mutual investments. However, several French companies are operating in Azerbaijan, and the biggest of them is obviously TotalEnergy. The company has been present in Azerbaijan since 1996, where it is a 50% partner of the Azerbaijani SOCAR group in the Absheron gas and condensate field and holds a 5% stake in the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil pipeline.

Given the present situation and the inadequate steps taken by the French Senate against Azerbaijan, the Azerbaijani parliament adopted a statement and proposed expelling French companies from Azerbaijan, including Total. In this case, Total will be deprived not only of gas extracted in the South Caucasus but also of Azerbaijan's green energy initiative, in which the company is eager to participate. In short, as is shown in the statistics, France's resources to use as leverage against Azerbaijan are limited. Paris thinks that it can impact Baku through Azerbaijan's business partners, such as Italy, Israel, Hungary, etc. Taking into account the share of France's GDP in the world's GDP, its external debts, and so on, it seems impossible as well. For example, despite the USA adopting the 902 amendment against Azerbaijan, neither Israel nor Italy (the biggest trade partner of Azerbaijan) stopped cooperation. Thus, it is not reasonable that the countries that did not follow the USA will follow France.

So, why is France so interested in deteriorating its relations with Azerbaijan? Speaking to Azernews on the issue, a French political analyst, Dr. Frank Musmar, noted that the resolution's multiple points have no political meaning except for the last one, which emphasises the importance of taking the most severe measures, including seizing the assets of Azerbaijani leaders, embargoing gas and oil imports from Azerbaijan, and imposing sanctions in response to Azerbaijans military operations".

Undoubtedly, the Armenian diaspora in France is playing a toxic and dangerous game (the resolution was co-authored by the head of the France-Armenia friendship group in the Senate, Gilbert-Luc Devinaz) that is against peace in the South Caucuses. France's blind support for Armenia will inflate a new regional conflict. The Armenian diaspora in France plays the victim of Turkish/Azerbaijani aggression. Besides, Armenia is smaller than both Azerbaijan and Turkiye, and the question of the Armenian genocide lingers above the relationship and gives Armenia, in sum, the victim role in that conflict. Accordingly, France is still thinking about colonisation and imperialism, especially after losing the African ex-colonies one after another. France does not want to get out of the big boys club and does not want to fight for it; it will choose a new colony (Armenia) to fight its war against Azerbaijan. France wants to be able to hold on to some influence, especially since the rest of the countries in the Middle East are not fond of France, and the United States and Russia have already stepped in for Iraq and Syria. Lebanon is too weak to exert influence, and France could not influence Israel or Iran, he said.

The pundit added that France will do whatever it takes to escalate the aggravation against Azerbaijan. Armenia is the last point of influence that was left for France. Moreover, France was gradually getting in dire need of oil and gas supplies, and by intervening in the area, the colonising French mind still wanted to play the role of the pirate in the South Caucasus, trying to get whatever the superpower left behind: Baku Oil.

Azerbaijan must impose sanctions on French companies, especially Total Energy, and partner with other superpower-represented gas companies. Its all about gas and several other players in the energy field. The relationship between France and Azerbaijan will not improve. It will keep getting worse due to the influence of the Armenian Diaspora in France and due to France's Gas and Oil Target at Baku," said Dr. Frank Musmar.

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Qabil Ashirov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @g_Ashirov

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19 January 2024 17:32 (UTC+04:00)

Abbas Ganbay Read more

The Agency for the Development of Economic Zones under the Ministry of Economy reported that Azerbaijan invited Turkish companies to invest in industrial parks established in the territories liberated from occupation, Azernews reports.

The information shows that a study tour to Sumgayit Chemical-Industrial Park was organised for a delegation of employees of companies belonging to the Turkish Bursa Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The visit was attended by employees of more than 15 companies operating in the chemical industry in Turkiye.

Deputy Chairman of the Board of the Agency, Elkiyar Ziyadov, informed the company representatives about the industrial zones operating in our country, available investment opportunities for business development, tax and customs privileges applied, as well as a presentation of the industrial sector.

The representatives of the companies participating in the meeting told about the activities of the enterprises they represent and the opportunities for cooperation.

Then they discussed the prospects of investing in industrial parks, exchanged views on issues of mutual interest, and answered questions.

At the end, the guests familiarised themselves with the work done at Sumgayit Chemical Industrial Park.

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19 January 2024 18:37 (UTC+04:00)

Nigar Hasanova Read more

President Ilham Aliyev signed a decree on amending the Decree On the establishment and organization of the activity of the Tool Free Economic Zone, Azernews reports.

According to the decree, "Industrial, transport, communication, defense and other designated lands, reserve fund lands and agricultural designated lands located within the administrative territories of Baku city, Garadag district and Salyan district, which are located within the administrative territories of Baku city, Garadag district and Salyan district, and belong to the category of state-owned land, are free economic tools" 4312.56 hectares of land planned to be allocated to the zone (Part IV) was determined as the territory of the Alat free economic zone.

It should be noted that the Alat Free Economic Zone (AFEZ) is a special economic zone in Azerbaijan that is established under the legislation of the Republic of Azerbaijan and offers free trade opportunities. Alat Free Economic Zone is also called Alat Free Zone, Alat Trade Zone, or shortly AFEZ. Although the government of Azerbaijan has already developed a number of industrial parks and zones, none of these zones have a clear export orientation, and the Alat Free Economic Zone (AFEZ) is designed to speak to this need for an export-focused industrial zone.

It is adjacent to the new Baku Port and is the focal point for the Government of Azerbaijans efforts to attract and grow export-led value-added and manufacturing activity. The AFEZ has unique, government-approved legislation that allows it to offer a range of incentives and advantages that arent currently available in any other location in Azerbaijan. This includes exemptions from taxes and customs duties, a one-stop shop, and a self-regulated arbitration process.

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19 January 2024 10:45 (UTC+04:00)

Laman Ismayilova Read more

As part of her official visit to Ankara, the President of the Turkic Culture and Heritage Foundation, Aktoty Raimkulova, has organised meetings with the Azerbaijani Ambassador to Turkiye, Rashad Mammadov, and the Kazakh Ambassador to Turkiye, Yerkebulan Sapiyev.

During the discussions, the sides hailed the successful continuation of the historical friendly and fraternal relations among the Turkic peoples in the modern era, guided by the heads of the Turkic states, Azernews reports.

They emphasised the significance of national and cultural heritage on a global scale, as well as its impact on bringing the peoples of the Turkic world closer together.

The multifaceted activities of the foundation in studying, protecting, and promoting the ancient and rich values of the Turkic states on the international stage were highly commended.

The meeting also discussed future areas of cooperation and joint projects between the Foundation, the Azerbaijani and Kazakh embassies in Turkiye.

Initiated in 2012, the Turkic Culture and Heritage Foundation focuses on the preservation of the Turkic heritage in member countries as well as conducting projects in collaboration with partners in third nations.

The foundation provides assistance in the protection, study, and promotion of Turkic culture and heritage through supporting and funding various activities, projects, and programs.

The organisation carries out its activities in cooperation with TURKSOY and the Turkic Academy.

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Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @lmntypewriterrr

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19 January 2024 12:23 (UTC+04:00)

Laman Ismayilova Read more

The Azerbaijan State Theatre Museum has paid tribute to the Black January victims.

The National Anthem of Azerbaijan was played first. and the memory of those who died for Azerbaijan's independence and territorial integrity was commemorated with a minute of silence, Azernews reports.

At the event, the museum director, Honoured Cultural Worker Sevinj Mikayilova, spoke about the historical significance of January 20 for the Azerbaijani people.

Umidah Hajiyeva, an employee of the museum, head of the department for scientific and mass affairs, delivered a report and talked about the bloody events that took place on the night of January 19-20, 1990, including the struggle of the Azerbaijani people for national freedom and territorial integrity.

At the same time, within the framework of the event, members of the January 20 Public Union, Sahib Alizade and Fakhreddin Mammadov, shared their memories as live witnesses of that day. They emphasised that the blood of our nation was not wasted on that terrible night, and the foundation of independence today was laid on that very day.

Then the guests were shown a video depicting the January 20 tragedy prepared by the museum staff.

In the artistic part of the event, the students of the Asaf Zeynalli Music College performed various musical examples on the theme of patriotism.

In addition to the guests, teachers and students of secondary school No. 275, named after Alakbar Eyvazov of Surakhani district, museum employees, and media representatives took part in the event.

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19 January 2024 13:26 (UTC+04:00)

Laman Ismayilova Read more

Azerbaijani jazz music continues to conquer the hearts of music lovers worldwide.

After a spectacular show in Austria, People's Artist Salman Gambarov and the Bakustic Jazz band arrived in Belgium to perform at the Brussels Jazz Festival, Azernews reports.

The concert was organised at the Music Village Jazz Club with the support of the Azerbaijani Embassy in Belgium.

Salman Gambarov shared the same stage with talented musicians Fuad Jafarov (bass guitar), Nijat Bayramov, Eyvaz Gashimov (drummer), and Fakhraddin Dadashov (kamancha). Note that Salman Gambarov is the artistic director of the Bakustic Jazz group and the Rashid Behbudov State Song Theatre.

The concert program featured original compositions and works by Azerbaijani composers, as well as jazz improvisations and interpretations.

A project called "Latif project based on the 1930 silent film of the same name, directed by Mikail Mikailov with an improvised soundtrack in the style of ethno-jazz was also presented as part of the event.

This project is a synthesis of the voice acting of silent films. Created in 2001 by Salman Gambarovm, the project is still successfully demonstrated at international music festivals. The event aroused great interest among jazz music lovers.

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Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @lmntypewriterrr

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19 January 2024 12:43 (UTC+04:00)

Nigar Hasanova Read more

Azerbaijan and the UN discussed joint activities for the effective organisation of COP29.

Azernews reports that Economy Minister Mikayil Jabbarov said this in his account on the X social network.

"At the meeting with Simon Stiell, executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, within the framework of the Davos Economic Forum (World Economic Forum), we exchanged ideas about our joint activities and opportunities for cooperation in the direction of the effective organisation of COP29," he said.

Davos Iqtisadi Forumu (@wef) crcivsind #BMT-nin Iqlim Dyismlri haqqnda Crciv Konvensiyasnn (@UNFCCC) icrac katibi Saymon Stil (@simonstiell) il gorusd #COP29-un (@COP29_AZ) smrli tskili istiqamtind birg faliyytimiz v mkdaslq imkanlar trafnda fikir  Mikayil Jabbarov (@MikayilJabbarov) January 19, 2024

It should be noted that the 29th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29) will be held in Azerbaijan in 2024. The decision was made at the plenary session of COP28 on December 11. President of COP28 and Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, announced that the next COP conference will be held in Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan confirmed its commitment to reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases by 35 percent by 2030 and increase this target by 40 percent by 2050. Fulfilling the commitments under the Paris Agreement adopted in 2015 and actively working in this regard are priority issues for the government of Azerbaijan.

The Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has been held annually since 1995. The event aims to assess the progress made in combating climate change around the world.

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19 January 2024 15:55 (UTC+04:00)

Nigar Hasanova Read more

The American Chamber of Commerce in Azerbaijan has announced that it will hold complex events called Stakeholder Dialogue on Climate Change: 2024 Year of Green World Solidarity and Preparation for the UN Climate Change Conference in 2024, Azernews reports.

This initiative aims to create an opportunity for dialogue, awareness, and cooperation between enterprises in Azerbaijan within the framework of preparations for the COP 29 conference to be held in Baku from November 11 to 24, 2024.

"Meetings, including understanding the importance of the UN Framework Conference on Climate Change for business in Azerbaijan, will be devoted to topics such as legal norms and global practices related to sustainable supply chain practices, the role of corporate governance in environmentally friendly business operations, non-financial accountability in terms of Azerbaijan's legislative framework, the country's ESG (ecology, social aspects, and governance) program, as well as accessible tax benefits," the representative of the Chamber of Commerce said.

He also noted that the participation of the Executive Director of the Chamber, Gulnara Aslanbeylin, in the COP 28 conference held in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in NovemberDecember 2023 emphasises the support of the American Chamber of Commerce in Azerbaijan for measures to combat climate change.

"The American Chamber of Commerce in Azerbaijan is trying to play an important role in the development of a joint and sustainable approach to solving global climate problems," the representative added.

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19 January 2024 10:01 (UTC+04:00)

Abbas Ganbay Read more

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres calls on Iran and Pakistan to show restraint to avoid further aggravation of the situation, Azernews reports.

This is stated in a statement by the official representative of the Secretary General of the World Organisation, Stephane Dujarric.

"The Secretary-General is extremely concerned about the recent exchange of strikes between Iran and Pakistan, which have reportedly caused casualties on both sides. He urges both countries to exercise maximum restraint to avoid further escalation," the statement said.

Guterres is convinced that "all security concerns" between Iran and Pakistan should be resolved "by peaceful means, through dialogue and cooperation by the principles of sovereignty, territorial integrity, and good neighbourly relations."

Iran and Pakistan are two countries that share a border. They have been fighting against a group of people who want to separate from their countries for a long time. Recently, both countries have started attacking each other's territory, which is very unusual.

This is happening because of tensions in the Middle East, where other countries are also fighting. Iran and Pakistan are both trying to protect themselves and their allies.

The latest attack happened when Iran attacked Pakistan and killed two children. Pakistan then attacked back and killed some people too. This has caused a lot of problems between the two countries. Other countries are trying to help them stop fighting and find a peaceful solution. It is not clear why Iran and Pakistan are attacking each other, but they need to talk and find a way to stop the fighting.

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19 January 2024 13:03 (UTC+04:00)

Abbas Ganbay Read more

The U.S. Embassy in Azerbaijan calls for other international missions to implement new and creative green policies this year. This is reported in the account of the Embassy in" X ", Azernews reports.

"We issue a friendly challenge to other international missions here in Azerbaijan to implement new and creative green policies this year. We look forward to improving the environment together!", the report says.

It should be noted that in Azerbaijan, 2024 is declared "the year of solidarity for a green world". At the same time, Baku will host this year the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29).

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We issue a friendly challenge to other international missions here in Azerbaijan to implement new and creative green policies this year. We look forward to improving the environment together! #AmbLibby #COP29 #gogreen pic.twitter.com/oQiG6lbQKF  U.S. Embassy Baku (@USEmbassyBaku) January 19, 2024

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19 January 2024 14:12 (UTC+04:00)

Qabil Ashirov Read more

The Azerbaijani Embassy in Pakistan organised a seminar called "January 20: Heroic Chronicle of Azerbaijan's History" dedicated to the commemoration day of January 20 martyrs at the Azerbaijani Language and Culture Centre operating at the National University of Modern Languages (NUML) in Pakistan, Azernews reports.

NUML teacher-student staff, representatives of think tanks in this country, as well as embassy employees, attended the seminar.

Speaking at the event, Ambassador Khazar Farhadov noted that this year marks the 34th anniversary of the January 20 tragedy and expressed his deep respect for the memory of the heroic martyrs who died for the independence of Azerbaijan, as well as the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country. He also emphasised that January 20 was engraved in Azerbaijani history as the peak of the freedom struggle of Azerbaijanis for independence.

Khazar Farhadov underscored that the Azerbaijani people held mass protests in response to the discriminatory policy of the USSR leadership, the deportation of hundreds of thousands of Azerbaijanis from their historical lands in the territory of present-day Armenia, and Armenia's groundless territorial claims against the Garabagh region of Azerbaijan. He drew attention to the fact that the army committed an unprecedented massacre against the civilian population by grossly violating international law and the Constitution.

The ambassador said that National Leader Heydar Aliyev came to the Permanent Representation of Azerbaijan in Moscow on January 21, 1990, and expressed solidarity with the Azerbaijani people. He strongly condemned this crime and demanded a political and legal evaluation of the massacre and punishment of the perpetrators. It was at the request of the people that, after the coming to power of National Leader Heydar Aliyev, on his direct initiative, the January 20 tragedy was given a political and legal assessment at the state level.

The Ambassador stressed that, under the leadership of the Victorious Supreme Commander-in-Chief, President Ilham Aliyev, the Azerbaijani army liberated Azerbaijani lands from Armenian occupation and restored the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country. The diplomat said that today the souls of the Azerbaijani heroic martyrs who gave their lives for the independence of the country, as well as its sovereignty and territorial integrity, are resting in peace.

Speaking at the seminar, Professor Jamil Asghar Jami, Dean of the Foreign Languages Faculty of NUML, and Muhammad Shakil Ahmed, Executive Director of Pakistan's Global Strategic Institute for Sustainable Development, spoke about the events of January 20, calling the people of Azerbaijan "a great nation with a great past" and saying that this event is a symbol of the freedom struggle of the Azerbaijani people.

Besides, speaking about the victory in the Patriotic War of Azerbaijan, the speakers expressed their respect for the memory of the martyrs who died for the independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan.

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19 January 2024 16:17 (UTC+04:00)

Nigar Hasanova Read more

Azerbaijan's Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov met with the President of Uganda, Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, within the framework of his visit to the Republic of Uganda to participate in the 19th summit meeting of the heads of state and government of the Non-Aligned Movement, Azernews reports.

During the meeting, the minister conveyed congratulations to the head of state of Uganda regarding the transfer of the chairmanship of the Non-Aligned Movement of the Republic of Azerbaijan to Uganda, and it was stated that Azerbaijan is ready to share its chairmanship experience with the Ugandan side.

At the meeting, views were exchanged on the main agenda topics in various directions of political relations between the two states, and satisfaction was expressed with the current level of relations.

The importance of continuing the experience of coordination and mutual support on important issues both on a bilateral basis and within the framework of the UN, the Non-Aligned Movement, and other multilateral cooperation platforms was emphasised.

"During the meeting, the agenda of multilateral cooperation between Azerbaijan and Uganda and future plans within the framework of the Non-Aligned Movement Troika were discussed," the MFA said.

The agreement was expressed on the development of Azerbaijan-Uganda bilateral relations, the intensification of contacts, and business relations in the economic, social, and humanitarian spheres. It should be recalled that the chairmanship of the Non-Aligned Movement was transferred from Azerbaijan to Uganda.

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19 January 2024 16:57 (UTC+04:00)

Nigar Hasanova Read more

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Jeyhun Bayramov, met with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of the Maldives, Musa Zameer, within the framework of the 19th Summit of the Heads of State and Government of the Non-Aligned Movement held in Kampala, Uganda, Azernews reports.

The press service department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the importance of further development of relations between our countries was noted at the meeting, and the importance of high-level visits was emphasised. It has been pointed out that the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29), which will be held in our country this year, is important for the further development of bilateral and multilateral cooperation.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Maldives congratulated our country for the successful chairmanship of the Non-Aligned Movement and expressed his confidence that Azerbaijan, as a member of the "three-chairmanship", will spare no efforts to further strengthen the Movement. He emphasised the importance of developing cooperation between our countries in tourism, air transport, education, humanitarian, and other fields.

During the conversation, bilateral and regional issues of mutual interest were also discussed.

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19 January 2024 17:18 (UTC+04:00)

Nigar Hasanova Read more

A preliminary legislative initiative dedicated to the commemoration of the anniversary of the January 20 tragedy was proposed in the House of Commons of the British Parliament.

The Azerbaijan Embassy in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland reported to Azernews.

In the legislative initiative, it was mentioned that the memory of 150 civilians who died as a result of the entry of Soviet troops into Britain on January 20, 1990, was commemorated by the Parliament.

All members of the British Parliament were called to commemorate the events of January 20 with this initiative put forward by Bob Blackman, the chairman of the Friendship Group with Azerbaijan in the Parliament.

20 January is recognised as a Day of Mourning, and it is commemorated as the Day of Nationwide Sorrow in the Republic of Azerbaijan. As a result of the January tragedy, 131 civilians were killed and 744 more were wounded in Baku and nearby regions. Among those killed were women, children, the elderly, medical employees, and policemen.

Mass arrests accompanied the illegal deployment of troops and the subsequent military intervention. A total of 841 civilians were arrested in Baku and other cities and regions of the republic, 112 of whom were sent to prisons in different cities of the USSR. The Soviet troops fired on 200 homes and 80 cars and set fire to a large number of public and private properties, including ambulances.

The atrocities committed by Soviet troops were reminiscent of those actions condemned in the 19451946 international tribunal known as the Nuremberg trials.

The victims of the tragic events of 1990 are symbolically named 20 January martyrs. In total, there are 150 20 January martyrs in Azerbaijan.

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19 January 2024 18:55 (UTC+04:00)

Abbas Ganbay Read more

Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov met with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Angola Tete Antonio within the framework of his visit to the Republic of Uganda to participate in the 19th summit of the Non-Aligned Movement, Azernews reports.

The Foreign Ministry reported that at the meeting it was noted that cooperation with the countries of the African continent, including Angola, is one of the most important vectors in Azerbaijan's foreign policy, and favorable opportunities for expanding cooperation between Azerbaijan and Angola in political, economic, educational, humanitarian, trade and energy spheres were noted.

In this connection, it was noted the usefulness of expanding the legal-contractual base between the two countries and holding consultations between foreign policy structures.

Azerbaijani-Angolan cooperation based on mutual support within the UN, Non-Aligned Movement and other multilateral cooperation platforms was noted with satisfaction.

The sides exchanged views on the history and prospects of successful cooperation between the two countries in the humanitarian sphere, especially in the field of education and training of specialists in various professional fields.

Participation of Angolan students in the scholarship programs for the citizens of the Non-Aligned Movement member states by Azerbaijan was noted with satisfaction.

It was emphasized that the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29) to be held in our country this year is important for further development of bilateral and multilateral cooperation.

During the meeting, the sides exchanged views on other issues of mutual interest.

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19 January 2024 08:00 (UTC+04:00)

"The status of the Falkland Islands (Malvinas) will be discussed with the United Kingdom during future diplomatic negotiations," Azernews reports, citing the President of Argentina Javier Miley after talks with the Foreign Minister of the United Kingdom David Cameron.

"We discussed the topic of the Malvinas Islands. This is a matter of future diplomatic negotiations," the Argentine leader said, answering a question from a Sky News journalist on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos.

Earlier, the British Foreign Ministry said that Miley and Cameron at the meeting "agreed to disagree" with each other on the status of the Falkland Islands. At the same time, as follows from the statement, the parties discussed ways to strengthen mutual relations in the field of trade, education and culture.

The Falkland Islands (Malvinas), located in the southwestern Atlantic Ocean, have been the subject of a territorial dispute between Argentina and Great Britain for about two centuries. In April 1982, a war broke out between the two countries. The South American Republic was defeated, having lost 649 soldiers in two and a half months of fighting. The losses of the British side amounted to 255 people.

In March 2013, the overwhelming majority of the inhabitants of the archipelago voted in a referendum for the territory to remain in the possession of the United Kingdom. Argentina did not recognize the results of the referendum.

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19 January 2024 09:00 (UTC+04:00)

Japanese police have detained six people for fraud with PCR tests for coronavirus worth 60 million yen (about 405 thousand dollars), Azernews reports, citing foreign media outlets.

The total amount of damage may amount to 3.2 billion yen (about $ 21.6 million).

According to the investigation, the company Icheck, whose management was detained, offered individuals to invest in their business related to PCR tests for coronavirus. They explained that with the help of the funds raised, it is possible to purchase testing kits and make a profit thanks to government subsidies. The suspects promised investors a profit of 8% per month.

However, in reality, the company allocated funds to compensate for losses from other investments and did not spend on the stated goals.

About 60 million yen (about 405 thousand dollars) was invested by only one of the investors. In total, the suspects collected 3.2 billion yen (about $21.6 million) from 130 participants in the scheme. The police are continuing their investigation.

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19 January 2024 11:08 (UTC+04:00)

Abbas Ganbay Read more

The Azerbaijani government at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, gave an outline of its activity as a host of COP29. Azerbaijani Economy Minister Mikail Jabbarov wrote about it on his X social page, Azernews reports.

"At the session "Informal Meeting of World Economic Leaders: Towards 2030" held within the framework of the Davos Economic Forum (World Economic Forum), we informed about Azerbaijan's efforts as COP29 host, shared our ideas on efficient energy use and reducing the impact of climate change, and also discussed our country's approach to financial mechanisms to reduce dependence on fossil fuels and promote "green energy," which is the main theme of COP29. We reiterated our commitment to the green agenda of COP29 and global climate action," the minister said.

At the "IGWEL: Sprinting to 2030" session of the Davos Economic Forum (@wef), we emphasized our country's endeavors in hosting #COP29 (@COP29_AZ) and outlined our vision for effective energy utilization and #climate change mitigation. We also discussed our country's perspective pic.twitter.com/CQA5A5OhlX  Mikayil Jabbarov (@MikayilJabbarov) January 19, 2024

It should be noted that the World Economic Forum has been held since 1971. The opening ceremony of the Davos Economic Forum was held on January 14, and the forum will continue until January 19.

Although the event is mainly focused on issues related to the economy, it has a serious impact on world politics and international relations as well.

Besides, Azerbaijani Economy Minister Mikail Jabbarov and several representatives of state structures and companies in the country participated in the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland. Along with the meeting, Azerbaijani Minister Jabbarov and the president of Azerbaijan's SOCAR, Rovshan Najaf, had several side events and business meetings. According to the WEF agenda, Minister Jabbarov also attended the discussion on COP28 and the Road Ahead on January 16.

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19 January 2024 23:30 (UTC+04:00)

The Danish government has secured the support of a majority in Parliament on the first part of the inter-party defense agreement governing the financing of the national armed forces, Azernews reports, citing the Defense Ministry of the Kingdom.

The document provides for the allocation of 16 billion kronor ($2.33 billion) for missile defense and drone production.

"Together with a broad majority in Parliament, the government agreed on the first part within the framework of the new defense agreement of June 2023. The agreement provides for 16 billion kronor for investments in the air defense of the army brigade, missiles and drones, and military training," the ministry explained in a press release.

The document was presented by Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen and representatives of parliamentary parties in the Ministry of Defense.

The total amount of financing stipulated in the defense agreement until 2033 is 155 billion kronor ($22.6 billion). As the head of the Ministry of Defense commented, "the central guideline in the new defense agreement" is to achieve the NATO goal of 2% of GDP in defense investments.

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19 January 2024 20:40 (UTC+04:00)

A single time zone will be established in Kazakhstan from March 1, Azernews reports, citing the Trade and Integration Ministry of Kazakhstan.

"Amendments have been made to the Government decree "On the procedure for calculating time on the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan". According to the changes, a single time zone will be applied throughout the country from 00:00 on March 1, 2024," the message says.

Thus, the 5th time zone (UTC+5) will be applied to the entire territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

According to the changes, akimats of Astana, Almaty, Shymkent, Akmola, Almaty, Zhambyl, Karaganda, Kostanay, Pavlodar, North Kazakhstan, Turkestan, East Kazakhstan, Abai, Zhetysu, Ulytau regions from February 29, 2024 to March 1, 2024 (at 00:00 hours) should transfer local time 1 hour ago."

It should be noted that two time zones UTC+5 and UTC+6 are used in Kazakhstan today. Most of the country's territory (with the exception of the western regions) is located in the UTC+6 zone.

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The Chinese peasant who never abandoned her artistic dream

Xinhua) 17:06, January 19, 2024

XI'AN, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- The peasant woman had never given up on her painting dream, even during her most miserable moments. "When can I paint freely on the canvas without having to worry about my life?" Chen Xiaoling asked herself hundreds of times when she was selling eggs, making bricks or collecting garbage.

Decades later, Chen, at the age of 64, sat in her study against the backdrop of a Chinese landscape wash painting. She felt satisfied with how far she had come.

"I have been in love with painting since childhood," she said. "The love has nothing to do with my age or my profession."

Born in a village in Xi'an, capital of northwest China's Shaanxi Province, Chen said her interest in painting has been inscribed in her genes. "My great-grandfather was a carpenter and good at painting, while my granny and aunt were both paper-cutting experts. My two elder brothers both learned art at school," she recalled.

When she was a child, her second brother used to spread white lime on the slope of a canal and let her "draw" on it with footprints.

In the following years, she would face some of the biggest struggles of her life. In addition to farming, she used to transport coal, sell wool and eggs and even collect garbage. While eight months pregnant, she even trekked on a mountainous road for more than 15 km to find a good apple type to grow.

But her tough life would not stop her from seizing every chance she had to paint.

On a rainy day in 1983 Chen got married. Her husband was from an impoverished family where rooms were without much decoration. She spent three days completing a painting on the wall of her bedroom, which depicted travelers among mountains and streams, suggesting the freedom of her spirit.

She finally had enough time to paint at the age of 53 after she bought a new apartment and her son and daughter got married. She called herself a layman back then.

"I have never received any systematic training," Chen said. To learn how to paint, she frequented art exhibitions and enrolled in painting courses both at a seniors university and online.

Once she saw a portrait inside a restaurant and went to have a look. "The waitress kept talking about their dishes to me. To silence her, I asked for a bowl of noodles," she recalled. The noodles cost her 28 yuan (about four U.S. dollars), which, in the eyes of Chen were quite expensive. But she saw it as a "tuition fee" to learn painting.

In comparison, the farmer never hesitated to spend money on painting tools and courses. She would spend more than 2,000 yuan to buy rice paper, and more than 10,000 yuan for paintings she liked.

In her paintings, she combined the traditional freehand landscape with the real life of farmers, completing more than 30 long scrolls to depict the improvement of rural life in the past decades after the reform and opening up.

Seeing a woman like her engaged in painting, her fellow villagers felt surprised. "Can you fill up your stomach with paintings?" They used to ask. "But after they saw my paintings, they began to understand," said Chen. "No matter in cities or the countryside, people would admire those who have real abilities."

On the occasions of funerals and weddings, she was always invited to write or paint something. "She also likes giving paintings to others as presents, saying that art ignites people's lives," said her husband Xu Keyong.

Chen's friend Wang Zhaohui compared her paintings to pictures through a wide-angle lens. "She has a passion for life and her paintings are powerful," Wang said. "Under her brush, even the past life full of hardship became colorful."

In her spare time, Chen taught in kindergartens and formed an art society. Under her influence, more peasant women picked up brushes, like the retiree Fu Weiwei.

"Thanks to Xiaoling, I am now enjoying a richer senior life," she said. "Xiaoling encouraged us to be brave enough to chase our dreams, and not to be bound by age or profession."

As for Chen, painting has brought her a rich spiritual fulfillment. She once brought home the trunk of a dead tree and rocks by a river because they "look like paintings."

"How to live your life? There is no fixed answer," she said poetically. "Like doing a freehand landscape painting, I would like to paint on a limited piece of paper boundless scenery."

(Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Liang Jun)
19 January 2024 19:35 (UTC+04:00)

At the restitution ceremony held at the Peruvian Foreign Ministry, the capital of the country, Lima, welcomed the return of more than 200 cultural objects from the United States, Germany, Belgium, Canada and Spain, Azernews reports, citing foreign media outlets.

The collection includes items from the pre-Hispanic period: kippah, Inca sculptures, textiles of the Chankai culture and ceramic products.

The restitution of artifacts became possible thanks to the collective efforts of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Prosecutor's Office and Interpol.

"I would like to take this opportunity to thank foreign citizens and organizations representing Germany, Belgium, Canada, Spain and the United States, who are aware of the damage caused by the illegal trade in cultural property and support our efforts to return cultural heritage," Ignacio Higueras, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Peru, said at the ceremony.

The extensive returned collection includes 198 archaeological artifacts, one historical and artistic exhibit and three archival and documentary items. It is noteworthy that 154 archaeological objects were voluntarily returned by citizens from all over the world, which indicates a global commitment to the preservation of culture.

The remaining 42 items were found as a result of confiscation conducted by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and German police. Two items have been returned by the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History in Los Angeles.

Notable items from the pre-Hispanic period include two quipus and lithic artifacts, including mace heads and Inca sculptures, tools and fragments of Chankai textiles, as well as metal products related to the Chimu culture. The collection also includes ceramic products representing the cultures of Moche, Nazca, Lambaeque, Inca and others.

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19 January 2024 20:55 (UTC+04:00)

Next week, the biggest NATO exercises since the end of the Cold War will begin. They will last for several months, and 90,000 military personnel will take part, Azernews reports, citing American General Christopher Cavoli, the supreme commander of NATO in Europe.

The Steadfast Defender maneuvers will begin next week and will last until the end of May. All NATO countries will participate in them  there are 31 of them  as well as Sweden, which is currently in the status of a candidate.

The exercises will work out actions in case of an attack by Russia on one of the NATO member countries. Such an attack will bring into force the fifth clause of the NATO treaty, which provides for collective protection. It has been used only once in history  after September 11, 2001.

Previously, the largest since the Cold War took place in 2018 in Norway, with about 51,000 military personnel taking part.

Steadfast Defender will take place in different countries, from North America to the eastern borders of NATO. 50 warships, 80 aircraft and more than 1,100 combat vehicles will take part.

The chairman of the NATO Military Committee, Rob Bauer, said that the scale of the exercises indicates a new degree of readiness for the alliance. In his opinion, civil society should be better prepared for a possible war with Russia.

"We must understand that peace is not guaranteed. That's why we have plans, that's why we are preparing for a conflict. We are not looking for conflict, but we must be ready in case of an attack," he said.

According to him, due to the war in Ukraine, Russia has significantly fewer ground forces, but air and sea forces are still strong.

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19 January 2024 19:55 (UTC+04:00)

Abbas Ganbay Read more

Germany's Defence Minister, Boris Pistorius, said he expects a war with Russia in the next five to eight years. To prepare for the conflict, he wants to revive conscription and take people without FRG passports into the army, Azernews reports.

"We hear threats from the Kremlin almost every day - most recently against our friends in the Baltic states. So we have to take into account that Vladimir Putin will one day attack NATO countries. Our experts expect this to be possible within five to eight years," Pistorius told Tagesspiegel.

His office intends to take measures to prepare for a conflict. Pistorius also wants to open recruitment in the Bundeswehr to recruits without a German passport. "We are not the first army in Europe to do this," the minister said.

Mr. Pistorius also outlined plans to improve the efficiency of Germany's military-industrial complex and said the country had reached its limits in providing aid to Ukraine.

"We cannot go va-bank, as some people demand. Otherwise, we will become defenseless," the minister said, asking EU partners to increase support for the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

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Beaufort County School Board Meeting  January 16, 2024

What is this really about?

By: Ray Leary

The video above is from the Beaufort County School Board meeting on January 16, 2024. The board spent 40+ minutes discussing and ultimately approving a resolution supporting the administration, the administrative staff, and teachers.

The issue that prompted the expenditure of this time during a meeting of a Body Politic charged with overseeing the operation of a local school system is a fund-raising mailer supporting five candidates for school board elections in the 2024 election cycle.

This mailing outlined a number of issues which need the school boards attention. The analogy here is the hit dog yelps.

The resolution repeated the oaths the current board members swore to when they were seated.

There was a suggestion that some board members were contacted by parents asking if the mailing came from the school board. This is preposterous as the mailing was clearly signed by a campaign coordinator and five new candidates seeking board seats.

Is this resolution an election interference by a Body Politic? A body politic is a well-defined term in the North Carolina General Statutes? Is it appropriate for an elected body to participate in a primary election while participating in a public meeting of said Body Politic?

All members of the school board voiced their support for the administration, administrative staff, and teachers. Three members voiced their concerns with the resolution and voted not to support it because they believed it was nothing more than political theater.

The mailing at the center of this issue detailed the student performance scores which were published on the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction web site at the end of the 2022-2023 school year. The school scores displayed on the NC DPI web site revealed that eight of the 13 schools in Beaufort County schools scored a D letter grade for this school year. A D grade rating is 40-54 on a numerical scale. 50 years ago, a D grade was 70 on the numerical scale.

The previous school year revealed there were then eight schools with D grades at the end of the 2021-2022 school year. This is indisputable.

There may be many reasons presented for low performing schools. However, one reason for this may be leadership or the lack thereof. Leadership from the NC DPI that sets the standards for student academic achievement and the leadership of local school administrators that select the curriculum to meet those standards cannot be exonerated from their responsibilities.

Meritocracy is now shunned and is being replaced by Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, (DEI) which is being pushed in public schools in the form of Critical Race Theory. DPI Core math is still in NC text books even though common core math was dropped from the NC DPI standards several years ago.

Prospective school board candidates cannot be held accountable for the results of the current administrations failure to produce results which are outlined in their mission statement which is read by a board member at every regularly scheduled meeting.

Defending the actions of the school administration in the face of poor student performance is to be expected. However, the administrative staff, including the superintendent, offered no comments on this issue during this public meeting.

The November 2024 elections are 10 months from today. Will there be a new resolution every month until then?
Some years ago, Hungarians started calling the Euopean Union (EU) the "EUSSR" due to authoritarian policies that resemble the old USSR. As its policies clamp down even more on personal freedom, it also might be dubbed the Fourth Reich.

The latest totalitarian move is to severely clamp down on free speech, with the left leaning majority in the EU parliament voting to make "hate speech" an EU "crime". That term is vague enough to be applied to any speech that goes against the establishment narrative. Free speech is essential to functioning democracy, so as free speech is now dead in the EU, so is democracy. So now, if you disagree with the establishment's narrative, you risk prison. Already, a former Interior Minister in Fnland's government has been prosecuted for posting Bible verses online.

"Hate speech" is a eupemism used by totalitarians who hate free speech and want to deny it to citizens.

https://europeanconservative.com/articles/news/youre-big-brother-eu-parliament-votes-to-make-hate-speech-an-eu-crime/

https://europeanconservative.com/articles/commentary/the-brussels-led-pathologization-of-speech/

One goal of this totalitarian law is to silence widespread opposition to the invasion of Europe by illegal alien "asylum seekers". Indeed, the EU parliament has already opened an investigation of one of its own members, Tom Vandendresissche of the populist nationalist Vaams Balang Party of Belgium for his comments in a debate on the subject. This comes at a time that Vaams Balang and another populist nationalist party in Belgium are riding high in the polls and likely to be able to form a majority coalition after the country's March election.

https://europeanconservative.com/articles/news/word-police-flemish-mep-investigated-for-calling-eu-migration-policy-repopulation/

And, don't look now, but the Biden Democrats have the very same goals in attacking free speech in the US. It is just part of their totalitarian ways.
Here are four anesthesiologists who have made headlines since Jan. 8:

1. A court ruled in favor of an ASC, a certified registered nurse anesthetist and an anesthesiologist who were sued by a patient who had a complication with a sleep apnea procedure that put her in a medically induced coma for nearly two weeks. The patient, who suffered a hypoxic brain injury because of a lack of oxygen, has no memory of her life prior to surgery and continued to have frequent seizures after her hospitalization.

2. Anesthesiologist was named the highest-paying job in healthcare for 2024, according to U.S. News & World Report released Jan. 9. U.S. News used information from the Bureau of Labor Statistics about future prospects, wage potential, employment, job safety and stability, and work-life balance.

3. Steven Waronker, MD, an anesthesiologist in Alpharetta, Ga., joined Becker's to discuss the physician workforce trend he is most concerned about right now.

4. In November, Blue Cross Blue Shield Massachusetts announced that beginning Jan. 1, it would no longer cover the use of monitored anesthesia for certain gastrointestinal patients undergoing endoscopic, bronchoscopic or interventional pain procedures.
From noncompete bans to pay cuts, here are three pieces of good news and three pieces of bad news facing physicians in 2024:

The good news

More states ban noncompetes

States have been increasingly changing noncompete laws, which affect between 37% and 45% of physicians, according to a June 13 blog post from the American Medical Association. These laws can limit career advancement and restrict ability to provide care in economically or socially marginalized areas.

In the last year, Connecticut, Florida, Indiana, Maryland, New Jersey and Wisconsin have all tweaked their noncompete laws by creating bills for physicians or employees in general or adding certain restrictions.

CMS strengthens prior authorization policies

Recently, CMS finalized prior authorization and electronic health information policies that are expected to create approximately $15 billion in savings. The updates aim to ease administrative burdens on healthcare providers and improve care access by requiring payers to implement standardized programming interfaces and specific reasons for denials, among other stipulations.

Prior authorizations are one of the biggest obstacles to physicians providing care. Ninety-four percent of physicians reported that prior authorization led to delays in patient care and has caused increased administrative burden, a March survey from the American Hospital Association found.

Physician pay gap shrinks

Male primary care physicians made 19 percent more than their female counterparts, down from the average of 25 percent more over the past few years. This is the first time in five years that the salary gap between male and female physicians has narrowed, according to Medscape's "Physician Compensation Report" for 2023.

The bad news

CMS cuts physician pay

CMS cut overall physician pay by 1.25% for 2024. The rule updates the Medicare conversion factor to $32.74, a 3.4% decrease from 2023, but does improve pay for primary care and mental healthcare, according to its 2024 Physician Fee Schedule Final Rule released Nov. 2.

"This is a recipe for financial instability. Patients and physicians will wonder why such thin gruel is being served," American Medical Association President Jesse Ehrenfeld, MD, wrote in a Nov. 2 statement. "Physicians routinely have faced cuts in the last two decades. Yet, there is nothing routine about the past few years. Physicians have faced the COVID pandemic and subsequent burnout. They have seen the costs soar for running a medical practice, while Medicare payment updates have offered too little relief."

Additionally, some physicians could face additional cuts due to the cost-performance category of the merit-based incentive payment system, which could potentially reduce Medicare payments by up to 9%.

Physician ownership plummets

The number of physicians in private practice is rapidly declining  it dropped 13 percentage points over the last decade while the number of physicians working in practices with at least some hospital or health system ownership jumped 8 percentage points, according to a new report from the American Medical Association.

From 2019 to 2021, more than 108,700 physicians left private practice for employment opportunities, according to a report from Avalere. As of January 2022, nearly 74 percent of physicians reported being employees.

Many leaders are worried about its effect on patient care and physician autonomy. Nearly 60% of physicians said nonphysician ownership of practices results in a lower quality of patient care, according to a survey from NORC at the University of Chicago.

"This one factor makes physicians vulnerable to the whims of large corporations," Loay Kabbani, MD, a vascular surgery specialist at Detroit-based Henry Ford Health, told Becker's. "As physicians become more and more employed, we lose control of our practice and our patient-physician relationships. The new generation is more about timing in and out."

Physician burnout soars

Physicians are increasingly leaving the field: 40% of physicians said they had interest in leaving their current organization within two years, according to a survey from the American Medical Association that was conducted between 2021 and 2022.

Burnout was cited as a major factor for why physicians are retiring. According to Medscape's "Physicians Eye Retirement 2023 Report," 74% of physicians want to retire at the age they have targeted due to burnout from medicine. Half of practicing physicians are reporting burnout in 2023. While burnout fell from its all-time high in 2021, it is a problem that is not going away, according to a survey from the American Medical Association.

"I am most worried about burnout and physicians, particularly those in the front lines such as primary care and emergency medicine, leaving medicine due to administrative burdens and unsafe environments and expectations," Vineet Sharma, MD, an emergency medicine physician in Los Angeles, told Becker's. "This is the most important thing that needs to be addressed in 2024 with rising medical school debt, the rising cost of becoming a physician and the rising unhappiness of providers. The shortage of front-line providers can drastically impact the U.S. as our population is aging. If we don't find proper means of compensating providers and make their jobs more enjoyable, we will be in a health crisis."




























Here are seven stats to know about how physician pay stacks up compared to ASC leadership pay:

1. Twelve percent of ASC leaders reported $200,000 or more in total compensation, up from 3% in 2022, according to an OR Manager survey of 117 leaders.

2. Sixty-eight percent reported total compensation of $120,000 or more, compared to 50% last year.

3. The average wage for ASC leaders in 2023 was up 5.1% compared to 4.24% in 2022.

4. Roughly 74% of the respondents said they received a raise in the last year.

5. The 10 highest-paying physician specialties, according to Medscape's "Physician Compensation Report" for 2023.

Plastic surgery: $619,000 Orthopedics: $573,000 Cardiology: $507,000 Urology: $506,000 Gastroenterology: $501,000 Otolaryngology: $485,000 Radiology: $483,000 Oncology: $463,000 Anesthesiology: $448,000 Dermatology: $443,000

6. Primary care physicians earned an average of $260,000 in 2022, with specialists earning an average of $368,000, according to the Medscape report.

7. Physician pay decreased for four specialties from 2021 to 2022  interventional cardiology, hematology, radiology and pediatrics  and increased for eight specialties  OB-GYN, anesthesiology, non-invasive cardiology, neurology, gastroenterology, orthopedic surgery, urology and internal medicine.
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore has dedicated $100 million in his fiscal year 2025 budget to the construction of the new Regional Medical Center in Easton, Md.

The new hospital will be operated by the Easton-based University of Maryland Shore Regional Health, part of the Baltimore-based University of Maryland Medical System, according to a Jan. 18 UMMS press release shared with Becker's.

The six-floor, 325,000-square-foot hospital will feature 147 beds and will replace the existing Easton hospital. Expanded services will also be offered to support future community health needs.

A private academic health system, UMMS has more than 29,000 employees and 4,600 providers working at its 11 hospitals.
Montana is offering a new hiring incentive and wage increases to recruit and retain workers at state-run healthcare facilities.

The new effort includes a hiring incentive for direct patient care positions at five state-run healthcare facilities, as well as bonuses and wage reform at two facilities for staff currently working in positions with the highest vacancy rates, according to a Jan. 17 news release from the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services.

Incentive payments of $7,500 will be available to new employees who are hired as registered nurses, certified nurse aides, direct support professionals, psychiatric technicians and forensic mental health technicians at Montana State Hospital in Warm Springs, the Intensive Behavior Center in Boulder, the Montana Chemical Dependency Center in Butte, the Montana Mental Health Nursing Care Center in Lewistown, and the Montana Veterans' Home in Columbia Falls, state officials said. The incentive payments will be made at six- and 12-month marks of continuous employment. The state will use $300,000 in American Rescue Plan Act funds for the payments.

State officials said registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, psychiatric technicians, forensic mental health technicians and direct support professionals currently employed at Montana State Hospital and the Intensive Behavior Center will also receive a $7,500, one-time-only retention bonus through savings from less reliance on contracted staff.

Additionally, those employees at Montana State Hospital and the Intensive Behavior Center will receive a permanent increase in their base rate. The increase will range from $1.75 per hour to $4 per hour.

More information on careers eligible for the initiative is available here.






As ransomware attacks on hospitals and health systems hit an all-time high in 2023, executives, legislators and patients alike are searching for a solution.

One proposed strategy to deter cyberattackers is to ban ransom payments. The logic is that if victims aren't allowed to pay ransom, hackers will no longer have an incentive to steal data, and ransomware attacks will decrease and, hopefully, disappear.

But is that a realistic goal?

Becker's reached out to health system chief information security officers for their thoughts, and the majority opinion was no: banning ransom payments will do nothing to prevent cyberattacks.

"I don't think banning payments will make much of a difference  we will just see them adjust their methods. We are already seeing threat actors shift to data destruction and extorting patients for payments," said Steven Ramirez, CISO at Reno, Nev.-based Renown Health.

The U.S. Treasury Department already bans ransom payments to entities under U.S. sanction  which has not deterred attacks, said Jack Kufahl, CISO at Ann Arbor-based Michigan Medicine. "Administrative and legislative activities should be focusing on the cause of the criminal activity, not the victims of it," he said. "Punishing the victims of crimes is another incremental move in the wrong direction."

Mr. Kufahl's sentiments reflect that of other influential groups. When HHS proposed fines that were intended to incentivize health systems to bolster their cybersecurity, the American Hospital Association dubbed the measure "counterproductive." By paying fines, the AHA argued, hospitals would detract from their own resources and accept the blame for attacks that they did not perpetrate.

"Ransomware threat actors aren't going to stop just because the government says 'don't pay,'" said Aaron Weismann, CISO at Radnor, Pa.-based Main Line Health. "They're very incentivized to monetize cybercrime.  They'll do that at scale with personal information and identities which are inherently valuable." Hence, banning ransom payments will do little but motivate hackers to find new ways of manipulating hospitals and health systems into making payments, like extorting victims. The idea of a ban is impractical, and won't benefit the entities it seeks to help, Mr. Weismann said.

If the government were to ban ransom payments, hackers would likely just shift targets, focusing on less staunchly regulated countries, said Anahi Santiago, CISO at Newark, Del.-based ChristianaCare. "Determining whether to ban ransomware payments is a challenging dilemma," she said. "Theoretically, banning ransomware payments can sap some of the power of threat actors and put a dent into this nefarious yet profitable industry. However, in industries such as healthcare, lives can literally be put at risk by the inability or refusal to submit to ransomware payment demands. While I am in no means endorsing that all industries pay, certain industries must consider scenarios that factor in the amount of time it takes to restore from backups."

Overall, the CISOs favor enhanced cybersecurity and prevention over a ban. "Security leaders must work with their business leaders to bake in resiliency, to believe that 'an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of the cure', and that you can prevent and contain or bounce back quickly," said Esmond Kane, CISO at Dallas-based Steward Health Care. If a health system can avoid dealing with hackers entirely because of their dedication to security, they are in a perfect spot.

"I am very much for creating safety nets that can be accompanied by drastic measures like prohibiting ransomware payments," Mr. Weismann said. "Without those safety nets, it's just naked risk exposure with no upside, which is not ideal risk management."
Waystar is fighting a lawsuit from an Ohio economic development organization over its purchase of Olive AI, Columbus Business First reported.

The revenue cycle management company bought some of the assets of the now-defunct startup in October. JobsOhio then sued Waystar and another Olive buyer, Humata Health, seeking reimbursement for the $598,000 in training and recruitment funding it gave Olive, which missed the agreed-upon hiring targets, according to the Jan. 17 story.

Olive shut down in October, selling its data clearinghouse and digital insurance determination units to Waystar, a revenue cycle management firm, for $10 million and its prior authorization business to the newly launched Humata for $1.25 million, Business First reported in December. (Olive had previously sold its utilization management arm to Availity, another revenue cycle company, for nearly $35 million).

"JobsOhio can seek to recover from Olive AI the money that Waystar paid," Waystar said in response to the complaint, according to the news outlet. "Waystar was unaware of Olive Al's purported obligation to JobsOhio until it was served with the complaint in this lawsuit. Accordingly, Waystar acquired the assets from Olive Al in good faith and without intent to defraud, harm, or otherwise impact JobsOhio."

In the lawsuit, JobsOhio called the asset sale a "fraudulent conveyance" to get out of paying the private nonprofit back, Business First reported. A judge extended the deadline for Humata to submit its response.

Olive was once valued at $4 billion and raised more than $850 million in venture capital funding. It had more than 900 hospital clients in 2021.
American Hospital Association President Rick Pollack said one of the organization's top priorities for 2024 is holding commercial insurance companies accountable for their behavior, The Washington Post reported Jan. 17.

He told the Post that prior authorization requirements "create all sorts of problems, and it's not just about payments."

"It's also about the workforce, because when caregivers are forced to call the insurance company to get their prior approval for something that they've done so many times, it takes them away from the bedside," he told the news outlet. "It makes them frustrated, and it exacerbates the problems that contribute to burnout."
Connecticut's office of health strategy has rejected Johnson Memorial Hospital's proposal to close its labor and delivery unit, arguing that it would adversely affect the less wealthy, reduce access to care and not save patients money, CT Insider reported Jan. 18.

Stafford-based Johnson Memorial did not demonstrate that closing the labor and delivery unit would improve access and cost effectiveness of care delivery in the region  particularly for Medicaid recipients and indigent persons  since it was offering lower costs compared to other hospitals, according to the office of health strategy.

State officials also said that closing the hospital's birthing unit would force patients in the area to drive further distances to other hospitals in the state.

More than 75% of the hospital's maternity patients come from five towns  Enfield, Somers, Stafford, Union and Windsor Lock  with the closest hospitals to Johnson Memorial taking between 30 minutes and 51 minutes to drive to, according to the report.

Trinity Health of New England, which operates Johnson Memorial, was in violation of state law after closing its maternity unit without state approval.

Johnson Memorial argued that the unit should shutter permanently due to lack of demand, staff shortages and a surplus of beds at other hospitals in the state, according to CT Insider. It also claimed that the shutdown was only temporary when services stopped for the second and final time in October 2020 without state approval.

A spoksperson for Trinity Health of New England told Becker's that the system is "disappointed" in the state's decision to deny its certificate-of-need application regarding the elimination of Johnson Memorial's labor and delivery services.

"This decision comes after Johnson officials fully participated in a lengthy and detailed information gathering process and a public hearing on the matter," athe system said in a statement. "We are currently deliberating our next steps regarding the [certificate-of-need] denial. We are committed to continuing to work with state officials to resolve this issue and further our common goal of providing safe, high-quality care to the greater Stafford community."

Last month, Windham Hospital, part of Hartford HealthCare, received state approval to end its labor and delivery services after a three-year process. Sharon Hospital also has a pending application to close its labor and delivery unit.
Mount Sinai Health System has named an interim CIO after its previous IT leader departed for Northwell Health.

Bruce Darrow, MD, PhD, was appointed interim chief digital and information officer of the New York City-based health system. He is filling the vacancy left by Kristin Myers, who became the inaugural chief digital officer of New Hyde Park, N.Y.-based Northwell Health on Jan. 16.

Dr. Darrow joined Mount Sinai in 2004. He has served as chief medical information officer since 2012 and was previously deputy CIO under Ms. Myers. He is also a professor of cardiology and population health science and policy.
Nurses at Framingham (Mass.) Union Hospital have voted to join the Massachusetts Nurses Association.

Approximately 280 Framingham Union nurses participated in an election Jan. 10, with 188 voting in favor of unionization and 37 voting against it, according to MNA.

Massachusetts Nurses Association describes itself as the largest union of registered nurses in the state, with 25,000 members. Framingham Union is a campus of MetroWest Medical Center and part of Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare.

"Caring for patients in a hospital has never been more challenging and complex," Paivi Ratu-Rodriguez, RN, said in a union news release. "Our election victory gives us the power to make positive changes that benefit our patients, the working environment of our colleagues, and our entire community."

A MetroWest spokesperson shared the following statement with Becker's: "We value our nurses and respect their decision to be represented by the MNA. We intend to bargain in good faith once the union is certified by the National Labor Relations Board."
Hospital C-suite leaders told Becker's that time will tell whether General Catalyst's acquisition of an Ohio health system is the future of healthcare  but they are paying close attention.

The venture capital firm said Jan. 17 it agreed to purchase Summa Health, a three-hospital system based in Akron, and turn it into a for-profit entity. The arrangement is part of General Catalyst's Health Assurance Transformation Corp., or HATCo, run by Marc Harrison, MD, the former president and CEO of Salt Lake City-based Intermountain Health.

"Hats off to HATCo!" said Aaron Miri, chief digital and information officer of Jacksonville, Fla.-based Baptist Health. "I commend General Catalyst and Summa Health for taking a giant leap of faith into uncharted waters. I do think you will see more of these kinds of relationships once HATCo successfully navigates the regulatory, medical staff, patient experience, payer relations and other dynamics that every health system has to navigate. There's a tremendous amount of unknown that I do applaud the courage to go forward and learn from."

General Catalyst launched HATCo in October with the express purpose of buying a health system that would get access to the venture capital firm's portfolio companies in the hopes of bolstering its digital and value-based care capabilities.

Richard Zane, MD, chief innovation officer of Aurora, Colo.-based UCHealth, called the deal a "bold move" that essentially turns an entire health system into a "digital laboratory for not only tech development but also to better understand the levers on value and risk."

"By making it for-profit and perhaps tolerating financial losses on the health system side to realize larger potential gains on the venture side is most assuredly creative. Perhaps not too dissimilar from other health systems who leverage margin across providers, hospitals and a health plan by tolerating losses in one for gains in another," he said. "Hoping that patient care remains the true north, this could be a remarkable story."

General Catalyst has said it intends for the purchase to be a one-off. The deal for Summa Health, a roughly $2 billion system, is expected to close in the next several months, pending regulatory approval.

"If there is one thing in healthcare you can predict, it is that organizational integration will continue in novel and innovative ways to drive disruption," said Jennifer Stephens, DO, chief value and ambulatory care officer for Allentown, Pa.-based Lehigh Valley Health Network. "This acquisition, in particular, will be interesting to follow given the nuances of a for-profit transition, tech-startup portfolio, and value-based care vision. My take is that those niche elements are not likely to occur as part of a larger trend, causing this deal to fall into a category of its own."

General Catalyst's stated goals of shifting American healthcare from a system of "sick care" and making it more accessible are enviable ones, said Michael Hasselberg, PhD, RN, chief digital health officer of University of Rochester (N.Y.) Medical Center. He called the firm's tech-focused, "health assurance" strategy "fascinating."

"However, the transformation of healthcare will not happen overnight, and it is not clear whether HATCo's nontraditional approach will improve care quality, increase access, and create a better health experience for patients at a lower cost," he said. "The healthcare industry will keep a close eye on the HATCo experiment, but improved patient outcomes will need to be demonstrated before this becomes a larger trend."

Some of the factors to judge the deal's success will be the reaction from commercial payers; how much it helps with physician recruitment and staffing shortages; whether General Catalyst's portfolio companies supplement  or replace  Summa Health's IT vendors; if it gives the health system a competitive edge in a busy Ohio market; and what "uncharted" regulatory and licensure questions pop along the way, Mr. Miri said.

"Whether it is excellent or not will depend on how focused HATCo is on the patient, and how central physicians, NPs, PAs, and nurses are to charting HATCo's course in this endeavor," said Shari Rajoo, MD, chief medical officer for population health at Johnson City, Tenn.-based Ballad Health. "The delivery of high-quality, efficient care to Summa's patients is paramount."

Chris Coburn, chief innovation officer of Somerville, Mass.-based Mass General Brigham, said the endeavor will bolstered by the leadership of Dr. Harrison, who he called "one of the nation's top hospital chief executives operating in a locale he knows intimately." Dr. Harrison, who left Intermountain Health for General Catalyst in 2022, worked at Cleveland Clinic earlier in his career.

"The HATCo model is a bold step to address many long-standing questions on the adoption of new technology," Mr. Coburn said. "In theory, HATCo will have the ability to definitively assess the performance and potential of a new technology and directly act on it, which contrasts to the current model that can be highly iterative  often characterized as 'death by pilot.' Ideally, these insights will radiate throughout the provider community."

Patience is of the essence, hospital leaders say, both for General Catalyst in its management of Summa Health and for industry executives who want to replicate the approach.

"I'm not sure it is a part of a larger trend yet," said Praveen Chopra, chief digital and information officer for Green Bay, Wis.-based Bellin Health and La Crosse, Wis.-based Gundersen Health System. "However, I do think it is quite an innovative way to bring the physical and digital ecosystem together for creative disruption within healthcare within a for-profit ownership construct. This model may take up to a decade to perfect. Would the investors and owners have the patience and wherewithal to see it through?"

General Catalyst has emphasized its long-term commitment to Summa Health, saying it is not "another private equity deal." Dr. Harrison told Becker's in October: "We're in this for years and decades."

However long it takes, health system executives say they're rooting for the acquisition's success  for what it could mean for healthcare as a whole. "It would be beneficial, for this bold bet to pan out, to publicly demonstrate tangible progress towards improving experience, quality and bending the cost curve," Mr. Chopra said.
TOKYO, Jan 18 (News On Japan) - Morning Musume.'24's nationwide tour "Morning Musume.'24 Concert Tour Spring MOTTO MORNING MUSUME." is set to be held from March to May.

As the first solo tour since the new formation, "MOTTO MORNING MUSUME." will kick off with a performance at Tokyo's J:COM Hall Hachioji on March 16, and will tour through Osaka, Aichi, Hokkaido, Miyagi, Nagano, Niigata, Fukuoka, Ehime, Hiroshima, Okayama, Gunma, and Tochigi, totaling 31 performances. The Hello! Project official fan club is accepting advance ticket reservations until 17:00 on January 25.

The concert tour schedule for Morning Musume.'24 includes two parts for each day, with different opening and starting times. For example, the Tokyo performances at J:COM Hall Hachioji on March 16 (Saturday) will have the first part opening at 13:00 and starting at 14:00, and the second part opening at 17:00 and starting at 18:00. The tour continues with similar schedules across various prefectures, concluding with performances in Gunma and Tochigi on May 18 and 19, respectively.

On the first day of the tour, is has been revealed that the last single of Mizuki Fukumura will be released, described as a song "that has never been seen in history."

Source: Natalie
The House and Senate passed a continuing resolution that will fund federal agencies through early March, The New York Times reported Jan. 18.

The funding bill has several provisions that affect healthcare, according to the American Hospital Association.

The legislation delays Medicaid disproportionate share hospital cuts through March 8, according to the AHA. The legislation also would extend authorizations for community health centers, the National Health Service Corps, and Teaching Health Center Graduate Medical Education through that date. It also extends the physician payment work Geographic Practice Cost Indices floor.

President Joe Biden is expected to sign the bill into law before midnight Jan. 19 to prevent a government shutdown, according to the Times. He last signed a stopgap funding bill in November.






The Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act has emerged as a pivotal issue in the abortion debate, as legal disputes unfold that could hold far-reaching implications for the country, The New York Times reported Jan. 18.

After the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022, the Biden administration issued guidance to hospitals clarifying that abortion is covered under EMTALA. The law requires hospitals to treat and stabilize all patients with emergency medical conditions. If a hospital is in a state that prohibits abortion by law and does not make exceptions for the health or life of a pregnant person, EMTALA preempts that state law, HHS said in its July 2022 guidance.

Texas, Idaho and the federal government have been entangled in ongoing legal cases on how the decades-old federal law applies to abortion access. Texas and Idaho argue EMTALA does not preempt their state abortion bans and claim the law requires emergency departments to stabilize pregnant women and their unborn children.

The latest on the two cases:

Idaho

The Justice Department filed a lawsuit in August 2022 to block Idaho's abortion ban from taking effect, claiming it violates EMTALA. Later that month, a federal judge temporarily blocked a portion of the law that would criminalize medical professionals who performed abortions in medical emergencies. On Jan. 5, the Supreme Court agreed to hear the case on an emergency basis and temporarily revived the blocked law, according to The New York Times. Arguments are scheduled for April.

"The federal government has been wrong from day one," Idaho Attorney General Raul Labrador said in a statement about the decision. "Federal law does not preempt Idaho's Defense of Life Act. In fact, EMTALA and Idaho's law share the same goal: to save the lives of all women and their unborn children."

President Joe Biden criticized the court's action, saying it allows "Idaho's extreme abortion ban to go back into effect and denies women critical emergency abortion care required by federal law," according to the Times.

Texas

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued the Biden administration over HHS' guidance in August 2022, arguing EMTALA does not preempt state law. The same month, the federal government filed a lawsuit against Idaho to block the state's abortion ban, alleging it violates EMTALA. On Jan. 2, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit ruled that Texas healthcare providers are not obligated to perform abortions under EMTALA.

The law "does not mandate any specific type of medical treatment, let alone abortion" and "does not govern the practice of medicine," the appeals court said. The court also determined that the Biden administration did not follow the proper rulemaking process when issuing its 2022 EMTALA guidance.

Anti-abortion advocates celebrated the ruling, while the Biden administration said the decision would endanger the health and lives of Texas women, according to The Washington Post. The Justice Department will now decide whether to appeal the ruling to the Supreme Court.
A group of lawmakers that has been pushing for Medicare Advantage prior authorization reforms applauded the rule CMS finalized Jan. 17 but said Congress must now "cement these gains into law."

Beginning primarily in 2026, certain payers will be required to include a specific reason when denying requests, publicly report certain prior authorization metrics and send decisions within 72 hours for urgent requests and seven calendar days for standard requests.

The rule also requires affected payers to implement a Health Level 7 Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources standard application programming interface to support electronic prior authorization.

The lawmakers said that "while these regulations could have gone further, they will help bring the antiquated prior authorization system into the 21st century with commonsense changes like a streamlined approval process and increased transparency," according to a Jan. 17 news release from Pennsylvania Rep. Mike Kelly's office.

To make these gains permanent, the lawmakers are calling for the passage of the Improving Seniors' Timely Access to Care Act, which passed the House in 2022 but did not make it through the Senate. The bill was reintroduced in 2023 and passed out of the House Ways and Means Committee in July.

Among other policies, the bill would establish an electronic prior authorization process and require Medicare Advantage plans to report to CMS the extent of their use of prior authorization and the rate of approvals or denials. It would also require HHS to develop a process for "real-time decisions" on items and services that are routinely approved.






Chesapeake (Va.) Regional Medical Center is being sued by Timothy Hardy, MD, a gynecologist who alleged that his hospital privileges had been revoked after he made complaints that the center put "economics" before patient care, the Virginian-Pilot reported Jan. 18.

Dr. Hardy, who runs the Virginia Beach, Va.-based Atlantic GYN practice, is seeking reinstatement of his hospital privileges and an undisclosed amount in damages in the lawsuit, the publication reported.

The hospital reportedly notified Dr. Hardy that his medical staff privileges were being removed in August 2021. The notice was given to Dr. Hardy after he continuously questioned hospital management, a complaint said, according to the Virginian-Pilot.

A hearing requested by Dr. Hardy was held two months later before an ad hoc committee, where Dr. Hardy made claims against two hospital employees and a contracted agent suggesting they were biased against him due to their employment and financial relations with the hospital.

The committee sided with the hospital. Dr. Hardy appealed to the governing board, which backed the committee's decision.

Dr. Hardy's lawsuit claims the committee's decision hurt his reputation and employment opportunities, and has caused him emotional distress and financial losses. Dr. Hardy also accused the hospital of meddling with his efforts to get privileges at other facilities.

A spokesperson for Chesapeake Regional Healthcare told Becker's in a statement that it is unable to comment on ongoing litigation.
The American Nurses Association has come out in support of the federal government's efforts to reconsider the drug classification for marijuana, the organization announced Jan. 18.

The drug is currently classified as a Schedule 1 substance, which is assigned to the most dangerous drugs like heroin, ecstasy and LSD. In 2022 the Biden administration began taking steps with the HHS to reevaluate how marijuana was classified. This led to an August 2023 recommendation from HHS Assistant Secretary of Health Rachel Levine, MD, for the Drug Enforcement Administration to reclassify marijuana as a Schedule 3 substance, finding it poses less risk than other Schedule 1 substances.

Among the most recent developments, the FDA released a 252-page review Jan. 12, along with the HHS' initial August letter supporting the agency's recommendation to reclassify marijuana after an in-depth analysis. The FDA stated that its findings are also supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

"After assessing all available preclinical, clinical, and epidemiological data, FDA recommends that marijuana be rescheduled from Schedule 1 into Schedule 3 of the [Controlled Substances Act]," the agency wrote in its Jan. 12 report. "Schedule 3 drugs are classified as having a potential for abuse less than the drugs or other substances in schedules 1 and 2, a currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States, and moderate or low physical dependence or high psychological dependence that may result from their use."

For many in nursing, this is a welcome move, and one that the ANA has advocated for in the past, noting in 2021 that marijuana's classification as a Schedule 1 drug "impede[s] the research necessary to evaluate and determine the therapeutic use of marijuana and related cannabinoids."

"While the DEA has yet to act on this recommendation, the American Nurses Association recognizes this as an accomplishment in realizing the potential for marijuana in health care delivery," the ANA wrote in a Jan. 18 statement. "This marks the first time HHS has publicly acknowledged marijuanas medical use."

Just four months ago, in September 2023, the ANA announced formal recognition of cannabis nursing as a specialty.

Formal certification in the specialty is something the American Cannabis Nurses Association is currently working to develop scope and standards for. Once the basics are set, the ACNA will approach the American Nurses Credentialing Center to apply for its formal accreditation. The scope and standards are likely to be published in early 2024.

If the DEA does reclassify marijuana, it will not only make research into the drug more feasible, but also ease parts of cannabis nurses' jobs.

"We have really risked our careers by standing up for this and looking out for people that are trying to understand this more," Rachel Parmelee, MSN, RN, president of the ACNA told Becker's during a November interview. "We don't necessarily promote cannabis, just for patients to have access to safe information and safe access to it as a medical treatment."
This is the first year since the COVID-19 pandemic began that hospitals must independently decide if and how to implement masking, and cancer centers across the country are taking different approaches.

Some centers are requiring masking in most instances, while others said they are trying to avoid masking requirements.

Seattle-based Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center is requiring masking for all clinical staff during direct patient care interactions.

"We strongly recommend masking for all patients and require masking if patients have respiratory symptoms," Catherine Liu, MD, associate director of infection prevention at Fred Hutch, told Becker's. "All staff with symptoms of respiratory illness have been reminded to stay home and follow guidelines for return to work. We launched a robust employee and patient flu and COVID vaccination program this past fall and we have provided RSV vaccines to high-risk patients. In our outpatient clinics and hospital, we offer patients rapid testing for flu, COVID and RSV to limit transmission and early treatment when necessary."

Baltimore-based Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins has required masking in inpatient oncology areas since Oct. 15. The center also implemented split patient flow in the center  those who have COVID-19 are treated by staff in full personal protection equipment in one area while those who are not sick are treated in other areas, Donna Berizzi, associate chief nursing officer of the oncology service line, told Becker's. On Jan. 12, several health systems in Maryland  including Johns Hopkins Medicine  went to universal masking, per the state health department's recommendations.

New Orleans, La.-based Ochsner Cancer Institute has implemented its respiratory etiquette policy, which requires masking in infusion areas and inpatient hematology and oncology units, Zoe Larned, MD, chair of hematology and oncology and medical director at the institute, told Becker's. It also requires staff to receive flu vaccines, with accommodations made for employees who must abstain, and recommend employees to stay home when symptomatic or test positive. The institute also requires masking for symptomatic patients and in some cases cancels infusion appointments if necessary. Ochsner Cancer Institute also allows only a limited number of visitors in the infusion center.

Cleveland Clinic encouraged masking in all its facilities starting in October and required masking in some particularly vulnerable inpatient cancer units such as leukemia and bone marrow transplant, a spokesperson told Becker's.

Boston-based Dana-Farber Cancer Institute closely monitors wastewater data, staff absenteeism and emergency department visits and hospitalizations to determine when to institute masking. On Dec. 18, the center reinstated masking after seeing higher rates of respiratory illness in their region, Anne Gross, PhD, RN, chief nursing officer at Dana-Farber, told Becker's.

Tampa, Fla.-based Moffitt Cancer Center is using masks only in the rooms of bone marrow transplant and leukemia patients.

"We have avoided being overzealous with mandating masks and only use that option when community levels are very high and resulting in hospital transmission," John Greene, MD, chair of the infectious disease department at Moffitt, told Becker's. "We are not restricting visitors unless community levels are extreme. The hope is to not return to those days since the worldwide immunity is so high. We are not seeing the deaths from COVID-19 like we did at the onset of the pandemic, and we now have the new norm of expecting peaks and valleys of flu, RSV and COVID-19."
Persistent research into understanding the condition known as "long COVID" is finally clearing up clinical confusion and is also paving the way for the development of tests and treatments.

The study, published Jan. 18 in Science, tracked 113 patients diagnosed with COVID-19 for up to one full year after infection and found that 35% of them  40 patients  had developed long COVID by the six-month follow-up. They repeatedly took blood samples from the 113 patients and 39 controls and found that among the 40 patients who developed long COVID, they "showed elevated tissue injury markers in blood," and a unique protein signature, which indicates an active complement system  the part of the immune system that cleans up damaged cells and works to heal the body after an injury or an infection.

If the complement system remains active in this infection-fighting, injury-healing state for longer than it normally should, however, it can begin to damage healthy tissue and cells, study author Onur Boyman, MD, a professor of immunology at the University of Zurich in Switzerland, told NBC.

Sometimes, the cells damaged cells are endothelial cells, which helps explain some long COVID patient's inability to return to normal exercise, he added.

During exercise the heart pumps blood ruffling the endothelial cells, which healthy cells can handle,"but the inflamed endothelial cells in long COVID patients cannot," Dr. Boyman told NBC. This is why getting a full breath during exercise for long COVID patients can feel almost unattainable to some.

Understanding unique biomarkers of long COVID like increased hemolysis, tissue injury, platelet activation, and monocyteplatelet aggregates, as well as what is behind its effects on the body paves a way forward for the development of tests and future treatments, according to the researchers. A possible way to detect the condition, is part of what makes this study so unique. The research also highlights the "the molecular mechanism of how" tissue damage and blood clotting associated with long COVID occurs, Akiko Iwasaki, PhD, a professor of immunobiology and molecular, cellular, and developmental biology at Yale University told the outlet.

"Understanding the mechanisms of long Covid is how were going to figure out treatments," Monica Verduzco-Gutierrez, MD, chair of rehabilitation medicine at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio and leader of its long Covid clinic told NBC. Dr. Verduzco-Gutierrez was not involved in the study, but applauded it upon review.

While the study is promising, before tests or treatments can be developed, the research must be replicated first, according to the study authors.
Since orthopedic devicemaker Exactech began recalling hip, knee and ankle implants in 2021, the company has faced a wave of lawsuits from patients. Now, the FDA has issued a new warning regarding the company's shoulder joint replacement system.

Here are five updates from Exactech's last year of warnings and recalls:

1. The FDA issued a patient safety alert regarding Equinoxe Shoulder System joint replacement devices manufactured by Exactech between 2004 and August 2021 due to a defect with the packaging. The defective bags used for packaging were missing an oxygen barrier layer that protects devices from oxidation, which can lead to faster device wear or failure and component cracking and fractures.

2. As of October, Exactech was facing hundreds of lawsuits filed on behalf of 1,100 patients who say they received faulty joint implants. In a 2021 letter shared with surgeons, the company said a packaging defect caused plastic in a knee component to wear out prematurely.

3. In April, the FDA issued a followup reminder on recalled joint replacement devices.

4. In February, attorneys filed a master complaint against Exactech that focused on 200,000 recalled devices.

5. In January, a New York woman filed a lawsuit against Exactech alleging that the company knew about issues with its Optetrak total knee implant.
TOKYO, Jan 18 (News On Japan) - In an effort to support young people who may require emergency contraception, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government has announced plans to launch a new initiative in the spring of 2024, whereby healthcare professionals, such as nurses, will accompany individuals to medical facilities.

This service is an extension of the existing "Tokyo Youth Health Support," also known as "Wakasapo," which aims to provide consultation on health and sexuality issues for teenagers from middle school age and up. Wakasapo has received numerous inquiries from young people concerned about potential unintended pregnancies. In response to these concerns, the Tokyo government has decided to expand its support for these youths.

Specifically, starting this spring, nurses and other counselors from Wakasapo will accompany those who have consulted with them and are in need of emergency contraception due to contraceptive failure or sexual violence. A representative from the Tokyo government expressed their commitment, stating, "We want to become a safety net for young people, ensuring that no one has to face their worries and anxieties alone."

Source: NHK
Tata Steel is expected to confirm plans to press ahead with plans to close both blast furnaces at its biggest UK plant, threatening more than 3,000 job losses.

Most of the job losses will be at Port Talbot in south Wales, which will have a huge impact on the local economy.

The company is expected to give details on Friday of when the jobs will be lost.

Unions have criticised the decision after the company rejected alternative plans they put forward on Thursday.

A steel worker wearing a badge on his jacket outside the UKs largest steel works in Port Talbot, South Wales (Ben Birchall/PA)

Steelworkers will be consulted in the coming weeks on how to respond, with industrial action not being ruled out.

Tata is planning to move to producing steel in a more environmentally friendly way using electric arc furnaces instead of blast furnaces which needs fewer workers.

Unions have warned of the devastating impact on jobs in South Wales as well as the future of the steel industry.

Community assistant general secretary Alasdair McDiarmid said: We continue to believe the multi union plan is the best strategy for Tata Steel UK and can avoid compulsory redundancies, protect our steelmaking production capacity, and safeguard the future of Port Talbot and the downstream plants.

A UK Government spokesperson said: We are determined to secure a sustainable and competitive future for the UK steel sector, which is why we have committed 500 million of UK Government support that will transform the site and protect thousands of jobs, both in Port Talbot and throughout the supply chain.

Unite has warned it will use everything in its armoury to fight job losses, including its 30 million strike fund.
Paul Burgess of Ruefrex on writing anti-sectarian songs, turning loyalist heads and blowing a live session with Dave Fanning

Theres one name thats seldom mentioned when it comes to the pantheon of Northern Irish music  Ruefrex

There are 60 cities around the world that have been given the Unesco designation World City of Music, and Belfast is the only place to be bestowed with that honour on the island of Ireland.

Few could argue with Belfasts place in a club that includes Liverpool, Glasgow, Havana and many more. Northern Irish acts have punched well above their weight thanks to the likes of Van Morrison, the Undertones, Stiff Little Fingers, Ash and Two Door Cinema Club. And, love or loathe them, Kneecap have been the most talked-about band north of the border for several years.

But theres one name thats seldom mentioned when it comes to the pantheon of Northern Irish music  Ruefrex. Often, when discussing the great Belfast and Derry punk bands of the late 1970s, early 1980s, they are conspicuously absent. The band, from the loyalist Shankill district, released uncompromising songs about sectarian conflict  many of those songs stand up exceptionally well today  but theres none of the recognition enjoyed by, say, the Undertones, who remain one of Derrys most enduring cultural exports.

That may be about to change. The bands drummer and songwriter, Paul Burgess, has written an engrossing memoir, Wild Colonial Boys, that captures Ruefrexs rollercoaster ride. At one point, in the mid-1980s, a British music reviewer suggested they had the potential to be the UKs best band.

The author, who has called Cork city home for the best part of 30 years, says he hopes the book, inspired by the title of the best-known Ruefrex song, will encourage a rediscovery and reappraisal.

I think political and cultural factors went against us, he says, arguing that their Protestant, unionist roots were unpalatable to many of the gatekeepers in the Irish and British music scene. We were seen as part of the oppressor community, when in fact, many of the social and economic problems experienced by working-class people in the Shankill mirrored those of people on all sides of the religious divide.

Burgess, who had been a senior lecturer at University College Cork until his retirement last year, has written several academic books and a pair of novels. He says he approached the writing of Wild Colonial Boys with great trepidation. It was having to write about real people and to be absolutely truthful about what happened  how would they react to that?

He pulls no punches when it comes to several well-known figures in the industry. Elvis Costello comes out of it particularly badly. When Ruefrex were supporting the Pogues on a UK tour, Costello  who had produced Shane MacGowans bands seminal Rum Sodomy & the Lash  is said to have loudly dismissed the Northerners as orange bastards.

The greatest criticism is reserved for Terri Hooley, the Belfast visionary behind the Good Vibrations label. Hooley has long been deified and was the subject of an acclaimed 2012 feature film, Good Vibrations, with Richard Dormer taking on the part, but Burgesss experience of the man was very different.

We had a fairly antagonistic relationship with Hooley and with a few of the other bands who were on Good Vibrations, he says.

Burgess believes many of those bands espoused a non-sectarian approach, whereas Reufrexs music was defiantly anti-sectarian. He cites the example of the celebrated Undertones motto of writing more songs about chocolate and girls, to quote the title of the opening track on their second album, Hypnotised, whereas the songs he wrote for Ruefrex were highly politicised.

His childhood and teenage years coincided with the early part of the Troubles. He writes with great candour about the rough and tumble of life in the shadow of the paramilitaries. Music, he says, saved many from their clutches. But danger was never far away.

When BBC Northern Ireland made a documentary on the band, Cross the Line  which can be viewed on YouTube  much of the footage was shot in a community centre near the Shankill Road. We later found out that the [loyalist murder gang] Shankill Butchers had used the Tyndale hall in north Belfast and it sends a chill down my spine just to think of it, he says. It was a rough place. They didnt like punk, they didnt like young fellas turning up with mascara on their faces.

Despite his strong sense of Britishness at the time, Burgess was fascinated with the south and its culture. He was voracious reader; James Plunketts Strumpet City was a favourite and an early single was inspired by the book.

There were gigs in Dublin, too, including a fraught, wild and violent show in  of all places  the Mansion House, home to the citys lord mayor. And on a trip to Dublins long-gone Dandelion Market near Grafton Street, he met a figure who would go on to worldwide fame. He told me he was in a band called U2 and they were playing the Dandelion Market that day. It was Bono. Soon, Burgess would see U2 play Belfast. The were sharing the stage with Stiff Little Fingers and things were really happening for them.

Unfortunately for Ruefrex, it seemed to be a case of one step forward, two steps back. The charismatic frontman, Allan Clarke, didnt seem nearly as motivated for the big time as Bono or, indeed, Burgess.

Wild Colonial Boys offers an unvarnished portrait of a band that werent seizing the opportunities that came their way.

A case in point arrived in 1983 when they were invited to RTE to record a coveted live session with Dave Fanning. It happened to be on July 12  the Glorious Twelfth for Orangemen everywhere, including Burgess, who had played drums in a Protestant pipe band in his teens  and, irked to find themselves in the Republic on that very day, they put in a lacklustre performance. We werent invited back.

The band were in danger of petering out until Burgess wrote the coruscating Wild Colonial Boy  its name borrowed from a song made famous by the Clancy Brothers  about Irish Americans who were sending money to the IRA.

The song made a huge impression on its 1985 release and earned the band a deal with the seminal indie label Stiff Records. It had been co-founded by the larger than life Dubliner Dave Robinson and signings had included the Damned, Madness and the Pogues. Here, finally, was their chance. And yet Clarkes erratic behaviour didnt help matters. Stubbornly refusing to move to London to record an album, he insisted on being flown back and forth to Belfast using the advance money provided by the label. He could be very unprofessional and really hard to work with, Burgess says. In the book, he is at pains to capture all that was special about Clarke, too. Its one of the things that gave me sleepless nights. I dont have a bad voice and I used to sing all the backing vocals, but I didnt have the confidence to be a frontman. I couldnt have done what Clarkey did  climb up PA stacks and strip to the waist.

Despite their 15 minutes of fame  or two batches of seven-and-a-half minutes, as Burgess drolly puts it  the band petered out and few noticed. A world of academia  including a detour to Oxford  beckoned, before Burgess eventually settling down in Cork.

Its been quite a journey from the son of the Shankill. His wife is from Kerry and he has long been holder of an Irish passport, as well as a British one.

It would be great, he says, if people whod never heard of Ruefrex got to hear some of our songs as a result of the book. Theyre songs that Im proud of.

As well he should be. Time to rewrite the history books for one World City of Music.

Wild Colonial Boys (Manchester University Press) is out on January 30

Paul will be appearing at Imagine! Festival Belfast (https://imaginebelfast.com/) at the Oh Yeah Music Centre on March 22
The Belfast-based actor and playwright talks about writing and starring in two-hander play Holding Ground, which explores themes surrounding domestic abuse

Holly Hannaway and Jack Dawson who will star in Holding Ground

Not letting trauma control you is a central message in a powerful new play from Co Antrim actor Jack Dawson and Tinderbox Theatre Company.

The 29-year-old has written, and will perform, Holding Ground, alongside Holly Hannaway, as part of a festival weekend exploring themes surrounding domestic abuse.

The two-hander premieres at the Brian Friel Theatre at the Queens Film Theatre (QFT) next weekend.

A programme of events, including drama therapy, creative writing and healthy relationship workshops, will also take place over the course of the festival.

And the teams at Tinderbox, Womens Aid NI and Queens hope there will be many more performances in the months ahead.

Holding Ground, developed with Tinderbox artistic director Patrick OReilly, has been three years in the making and is based on Jack and his mothers experiences of emotional, physical and psychological abuse and trauma.

Jack, a stage and screen performer, told the Belfast Telegraph that acting has always been his dream.

As a boy at Helen OGradys drama group, and performing arts at Ulidia Integrated School, through to participating in Peter Corrys musical theatre school (where he met his now wife) and the training he received as a drama student at Queens, it has been a lifelong passion.

Getting Holding Ground audience-ready has been an emotional roller coaster, but Jack is ready and he has found the creative process cathartic.

I had always flirted with creating work but had never wanted to write about domestic abuse, because I didnt want people to think poor me. I didnt want sympathy.

Around 2020, mid-lockdown, I found myself having nightmares about my younger years, about what I saw and what I experienced.

Patrick has really guided me, helped me shape the play and lay the story out.

Jack says Womens Aid has been so supportive.

I have faint memories of being at a Womens Aid centre with a group of kids, drinking juice and eating biscuits.

I didnt really understand what it was at the time but, as an adult and through helping at youth programmes, I have seen how transformative its work is for people.

Jack has a very close relationship with his proud mother, who has been supportive of his journey through writing the play to bringing it to the stage in the hope it will help other young people and their families.

It is very cliche to say this, but I just love my mum to bits. I understand and appreciate her resilience and everything she has gone through to give me a good life.

Jack wants families who have gone through domestic abuse situations to know what happened is not their fault and to heal from their experiences.

And if theatre and workshops can be part of that, he is content the challenges of bringing Holding Ground to the stage have been worth it.

The message from the play is you wont forget what happened but you can come to terms with it on your own terms. Its about carrying the trauma in your control and not letting it control you.

He adds that, as acting gigs go, it will never get as personal as this again.

I am apprehensive because its also the double whammy of my acting and writing being judged.

During development I broke down and cried more than once. It is my story, from my perspective, and I have put my all into it. I have found it quite cathartic. I cant change the past but talking about it helps.

Throughout this whole process I have had my wife, my mum, the team at Tinderbox and the incredible Womens Aid support me and my mental wellbeing.

The power of the arts is something the young actor is keen to promote.

I cannot fully express the value of the arts. The arts has helped me and I hope it can help others.

Holly Hannaway and Jack Dawson who will star in Holding Ground

Freelance director and writer Patrick  Tinderboxs artistic director since 2016  trained as a creative therapist during the pandemic.

He is passionate about having opportunities to create work that can contribute to making social change and have a huge effect on people like Jack and audiences.

It is such a humbling and powerful place to be, he says.

I really enjoy making work like this  showing how powerful the arts are in being able to create transformative experiences for people.

Its been no mean feat to put a festival like this together. Its about self-empowerment and creating impact and change through theatre.

Tinderbox is not afraid to tackle themes that need to be explored and theatre does that beautifully.

Jack is amazing. The power of creativity and being able to express your story in a way that allows others to be a part of it is so powerful, Patrick adds.

The story is about Jack having gone through something traumatic and the ripple effect of that as an adult.

Patrick has also worked with Jack and Womens Aid on the Social Action Youth (SAY) project exploring domestic abuse themes with young people.

Womens Aid regional services manager Sonya McMullan says that when the arts collaborate with the womens sector, it opens up difficult issues to another audience and gets people talking.

We are delighted to be part of the festival, she says.

From the first initial phone call to where we are now with Holding Ground and the workshops, we see so much potential.

It is a raw and difficult journey, and we hope for Jack its part of his journey to recovery.

Sonya says the partnership between Womens Aid, Jack and the arts is important to its work: We want to be part of the whole movement of change around RSE. Its not all about sex and abortion. Relationships are a massive part of it.

For more on Holding Ground, visit https://crescentarts.org/events/tinderbox-presents-the-holding-ground-festival
Charlie Love (inset) has been charged with an attack on police in the Mount Carmel Heights area of Strabane

A Co Tyrone man is to stand trial later this year accused of the attempted murder of two PSNI officers.

Charlie Love (29), of Bridge Street in Strabane, appeared at Belfast Crown Court today to be arraigned on four charges against him.

Dressed in a white sweatshirt and flanked by two prison officers, Love entered not guilty pleas to the attempted murder of Officer A and Officer B, possessing explosives and causing an explosion likely to endanger life or cause serious injury to property.

The charges relate to a New IRA bomb attack on police officers in the Mount Carmel Heights area of Strabane on November 17, 2022.

A previous High Court bail hearing was told that an improvised device was fired at a PSNI car shortly before 11pm.

Two officers in the vehicle heard a loud bang and saw a bright flash but escaped injury.

Investigations established that military-grade explosives had been used in the attack which left a substantial crater at the point of detonation.

A command wire led to the suspected firing point close to a tree stump on the site of a disused school.

Police also discovered a modified drill believed to have been used to trigger the blast.

Love is allegedly connected by DNA evidence on the firing mechanism and a metal pole at the scene of the attack claimed by the dissident republican terror group.

Read more Man accused over New IRA murder attempt denied release for daughters First Communion

During police interviews, the accused could not explain why his DNA may be on the drill, but said he was a manual worker and used tools.

At todays hearing, senior defence counsel Patrick Lyttle KC asked for the case to be reviewed in six weeks time.

Asked by Belfast Recorder Judge Patricia Smyth what the purpose of the review was, Mr Lyttle replied: I would prefer not to elaborate on that at this present moment in time.

We are awaiting a completed report from a DNA expert in America and further documentation is being sought, which will be essential for the purposes of our defence statement. We would request six weeks for the defence statement to be lodged.

Mr Lyttle added that the defendant required an appropriate adult to sit with him during his initial police interviews.

We have an assessment from a psychologist, who has recommended that a registered intermediary be appointed [for the trial] and we are making the necessary steps for that to be carried out as well.

Judge Smyth set the date for the non-jury Diplock-style trial for October 7, 2024.

The trial is expected to last at least three weeks.
Legislation banning silver dental fillings will be implemented in Northern Ireland, but not GB

TUV leader Jim Allister said the crisis shows the 'disastrous' nature of being under EU law

NHS dental services in Northern Ireland could be under threat as the new EU legislation comes into force

A new European ruling on silver dental fillings threatens the future of NHS dentistry in Northern Ireland unless Stormont steps in, the British Dental Association (BDA) have said.

The warning comes after the European Parliament voted this week to ban the use of dental amalgam for fillings from January 1 2025.

Though not yet copper-fastened, the decision to move forward with the law is expected to be accepted by the European Council.

The BDA warned yesterday that the ban could be "the straw that breaks the back of NHS dentistry".

Silver amalgam is the most common material used for NHS permanent fillings across the UK, and was used in around 46% of all fillings on adults and children during the last financial year.

Under the new legislation, the material will be totally phased out, with its manufacture and export from the EU prohibited from next year  five years earlier than initially expected.

While Great Britain will experience disruption and higher costs due to the impact on supply chains, Northern Ireland will be hit with a formal ban as a result of post-Brexit arrangements.

Mercury-free composite or white fillings are more commonly used in private dentistry, with the BDA estimating treatment times and costs are over 50% higher than using amalgam.

MEPs have backed an amendment saying EU member states need to ensure appropriate reimbursement is made available for mercury-free alternatives to limit the socio-economic impact of the move.

The Scottish Government  which operates a similar system to Northern Ireland  has passed an amendment to its existing Statement of Dental Remuneration (SDR) legislation to mitigate these costs.

With no Executive sitting at Stormont, Northern Ireland is unable to take similar steps.

The BDA have said the move could have serious implications for the future of NHS dentistry here.

"Practically this will require rapid transition to a post-amalgam model, said a spokesperson.

"That means longer procedures, and higher cost materials  which could push the high volume/low margin model the service works to breaking point.

"There is currently not even the political space to rollout agreed uplifts in pay. More time for fillings means fewer appointments, cranking up access problems.

"While the BDA has long supported a phase-down in dental amalgam, it believes this rapid phase-out is neither feasible nor justifiable.

TUV leader Jim Allister said the crisis shows the 'disastrous' nature of being under EU law

"Dental amalgam has been in use and extensively studied for 150 years as a restorative material. Its safety and durability are well established, and it remains the most appropriate material for a range of clinical situations.

It lasts longer and is easier to place than any of the current alternatives. Facing soaring costs, and flatlined investment, some practices are currently delivering NHS treatments  particularly those requiring laboratory work  at a financial loss.

"Added costs, and reduced time will squeeze practices further, and likely push more out of NHS.

"The European Parliament did amend the vote to press member states for a fairer deal for practices, to cover new costs and to minimise the impact on the highest needed, lowest income patients.

"This is precisely what Northern Ireland needs to do.

With BDA statistics showing Northern Ireland is top of the UK league table for oral health inequality, TUV Leader Jim Allister said the banning of amalgam was a serious issue.

"The BDA has recognised this ban will have a disproportionate impact on services in Northern Ireland which has the highest proportion of filled teeth, he said.

"Under the Protocol, Northern Ireland will be expected to phase out dental amalgam on the same basis as EU member states.

"This is a serious issue for Northern Ireland and a vivid example of how disastrous it is to be placed under foreign laws we dont make and cant change.
A popular west Belfast burger restaurant has issued an apology and said a now deleted post was taken well out of the context (in which) it was intended.

It comes after some on social media criticised Belfast Burger Company, based on the Falls Road, after they responded to the public sector worker strike on Thursday.

The day saw more than 150,000 public sector workers take part in the biggest strike in recent history in a demand for the pay uplifts given to their colleagues in the rest of the UK.

In the now deleted post on their Facebook page, the burger takeaway hit out at the rising costs of business for those who are self employed and added: I would like to see half these people on strike do a week in hospitality or self employed they would all go back to their jobs thinking twice how easy they have it.

Following the deletion of the post the business added a new post saying the original message was not aimed to cause offence nor was it intended in anyway to demonstrate in anyway that I do not support public service workers in any field.

"It is very easy for words to be taken way out of their intended context. Thats the reason I removed the post not to shy away from it but it is clear it was being taken well out of the context (in which) it was intended, it added.

"I openly apologise to anyone who found it offensive or discouraging for them standing up for what they believe.

"I never said or intended for it to be understood I am against strikes, people have the right to stand up and be heard on all matters that they believe in. The post openly said I do not think the minimum wage is enough to reflect the cost of living or the work ethic behind each person who goes to work in any field.

"We dont always get it right and the important thing in my eyes is when you get it wrong hold your hands up and learn from it as not to make the same mistake in the future.

Life is short I never caused offence and again I apologise for any offence that was taken by the post earlier today.
DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson is expected to meet his party officers on Friday (Liam McBurney/PA)

Senior DUP figures have held discussions on potentially ending their Stormont boycott but party sources downplayed the prospects of a final decision emerging on Friday.

The calling of the party officers meeting came amid mounting speculation that the DUP is preparing to make a call on whether or not to accept a Government deal on post-Brexit trading arrangements.

Downing Street expressed hope the Stormont impasse could soon be resolved while Irish premier Leo Varadkar described the meeting as a positive sign.

The devolved institutions at Stormont have been collapsed for almost two years as a result of a DUP boycott in protest at the Brexit-linked economic barriers on trade between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Striking public sector workers take part in a rally at Belfast City Hall on Thursday (Liam McBurney/PA).

Senior civil servants are running devolved departments, with limited powers, in the absence of local ministers.

Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris said before Christmas that his negotiations with the DUP over the terms of the Windsor Framework  the UK/EU accord that governs GB/NI trade  had concluded.

Although the party has been holding out since then for more clarification on the Governments proposals, it appears to be approaching the juncture when it decides whether to reject or accept the deal that would end the powersharing deadlock.

One senior DUP source said: It is clear that the time for a decision has arrived. The negotiation is over.

Any proposed return to Stormont would be expected to be strongly opposed by some of the DUPs 12 party officers who have made clear that devolution should only be restored when all of their concerns over the Irish Sea trading border have been addressed.

The officer board includes senior figures such as party leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, deputy leader Gavin Robinson, senior peer Lord Dodds and longstanding MPs Sammy Wilson and Gregory Campbell.

A DUP spokesman declined to comment on the meeting, insisting he would not give a running commentary on internal party affairs.

In a statement on Friday evening, the spokesman said: We understand that there has been considerable interest in our meeting today.

We will not give a running commentary on our position, save to say, we will continue to engage with the Government.

Expectations had been raised before Christmas that the DUP could be poised to return to powersharing, but it did not materialise.

The Government has offered a 3.3 billion package to stabilise Northern Irelands finances, including 600 million to settle public sector pay claims in Northern Ireland.

DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, centre, with fellow party officers Emma Little-Pengelly and deputy leader Gavin Robinson (PA)

However, Mr Heaton-Harris has made clear that the funds can only be released when the powersharing institutions return.

Thousands of public sector workers took part in strike action on Thursday, where calls were made for Mr Heaton-Harris to release the funds for pay claims and for the DUP to return to Stormont.

On Thursday, a legislative deadline passed for the restoration of the Stormont Assembly.

As a result, any imminent return of the Assembly would first require new legislation to be tabled at Westminster.

A No 10 spokeswoman said she would not speculate on political party meetings.

Our focus has always been on delivering for the people of Northern Ireland who rightly expect locally elected decision-makers to address the issues that matter to them, she added.

We also think we have a strong basis for the restoration of powersharing, so we hope this can be fixed soon.

Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris has made clear that the funds can only be released when the powersharing institutions return (Liam McBurney/PA)

Amid warnings earlier this week that the Stormont Assembly may not return for some time, former Northern Ireland secretary Julian Smith said on social media: Sometimes its darkest before the dawn.

Taoiseach Mr Varadkar said Fridays meeting was a positive sign.

He added: Well be very keen to see the Assembly and executive up and running again and certainly our role, as the Irish Government, will be to do everything we can to make sure that it is sustainable, that it is successful.

There are very serious issues that have to be dealt with in Northern Ireland, from public sector pay to the health service, to other issues.

If it is the case that the executive and the Assembly can be re-established, we want to make sure that its sustainable and successful and were willing to work with the British Government and all the major parties in the north on exactly that.

However, he said he was not aware of any changes to the Windsor Framework, and that any changes would have to be made by the EU and the UK.
Officers holding internal deal or no deal meeting on FridayDUP says no decision will be made todayTUV leader describes it as defining moment for unionismNI Secretary to take pragmatic approach after latest Stormont deadline passes

Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris speaking to the media outside Hillsborough Castle after meeting political parties over the Stormont stalemate (PA)

The DUP has said it will not give a running commentary on its position over the Windsor Framework negotiations amid mounting speculation the party is preparing the ground for an imminent return to Stormont.

Senior DUP figures have held discussions on potentially ending their Stormont boycott as senior sources said it was time to make a decision.

But the party has downplayed the prospects of a final decision emerging on Friday.

A DUP spokesperson said: We understand that there has been considerable interest in our meeting today.

We will not give a running commentary on our position, save to say, we will continue to engage with the Government.

A report has stated that EU diplomats have dismissed suggestions there are negotiations underway between the UK and the European Commission to change the Windsor Framework in order to facilitate a DUP return to Stormont.

Political sources had said that Sir Jeffrey Donaldson would try to get the support of his party officers at Fridays meeting.

If successful, this could see the deal then being sent for approval to the party's executive over the weekend.

Downing Street expressed hope the Stormont impasse could soon be resolved while Irish premier Leo Varadkar described the meeting as a "positive sign".

One report suggested the DUP had been offered what was described as a patriotic rebrand of the Irish Sea border in an attempt to get the party onside.

The Daily Telegraph newspaper reported Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and the government negotiators have discussed drafting more favourable language around the Windsor Framework, including potentially renaming the Green Lane  which governs the movement of goods between Great Britain and Northern Ireland - as the UK Internal Market Lane.

However, RTE reported EU diplomats had dismissed suggestions of fresh negotiations between the UK and the European Commission over the Windsor Framework.

The DUP walked out of the Executive in early 2022 over its concerns over post-Brexit trading arrangements.

Senior civil servants are running Stormont departments, with limited powers, in the absence of ministers.

Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris said before Christmas that his negotiations with the DUP over the Windsor Framework had concluded.

On Friday, amid rumours of a party officer meeting, a senior DUP source said: "Whether a decision is taken today or next week it is clear that the time for a decision has arrived. The negotiation is over."

Earlier, a senior source in the party told the BBCs Nolan Show it was an internal deal or no deal meeting with the party leadership pushing for the restoration of the Assembly.

However, the DUP later told Cool FM that no decision will be made by the party today on a return to Stormont.

The source was quoted by the Nolan show had said the numbers of those wanting to return to the Assembly compared with those opposed are so close and that any vote on returning may come down to one or two individuals.

The source in the show was also quoted as saying: Get it all up and running by next week and move on from the Windsor Framework.

The DUP has been approached for comment.

On the Nolan Show, Ulster Unionist Party leader Doug Beattie said: I think the decision point was always going to come whether it was going to be this week, last week or next week.

"I think we have come to the decision point. Which way it goes I simply have no idea. I hope the party can support Sir Jeffrey Donaldson and go back into government again.

"We have to see what the outworking is. The reality for us all is the decision we make is going to affect the whole of Northern Ireland.

Alliance Party MP Stephen Farry added: It is decision time for the DUP, negotiations around the Windsor Framework have concluded.

"I am cautious because we have been down this road many times with previous false dawns. We will see if anything does emerge over the coming hours and days.

TUV leader Jim Allister described it as a defining moment for unionism.

"If, as I suspect, not one word of the Protocol has changed and Sir Jeffrey pushes his party back into Stormont then a false bill of goods was sold to the unionist people, he said.

"If the protocol is accepted by the DUP then they will have accepted that never again will Northern Ireland be fully part of the United Kingdom.

People Before Profit MLA Gerry Carroll added: Whether the DUP decide to back this deal or not, the Secretary of State must give public sector workers a pay rise. If he refuses then there must be further strike action.

It comes as the Northern Ireland Secretary has said he will introduce new legislation taking a pragmatic, appropriate and limited approach to addressing the political deadlock after the latest deadline to restore Stormont passed.

Chris Heaton-Harris said his legislation will also support Northern Ireland departments to manage the immediate and evident challenges they face in stabilising public services and finances.

The DUP maintained their boycott during a final failed attempt to recall the Assembly following a motion by Sinn Fein on Wednesday.

File pic of DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson (Liam McBurney/PA)

Mr Heaton-Harris had been under an obligation to call a fresh election if the institutions were not restored by January 18.

Minutes after midnight he issued a statement signalling that he intends to introduce new legislation.

He said he was disappointed that the Assembly and Executive had not been restored.

Thursday saw more than 150,000 public sector workers take part in the biggest strike in recent history in a demand for the pay uplifts given to their colleagues in the rest of the UK.

Public sector workers take part in a rally at Belfast City Hall during a huge strike on Thursday (Liam McBurney/PA)

In December the Government offered a financial package worth more than 3 billion  including money to make the outstanding pay awards  but it will not be made available until Stormont returns.

Mr Heaton-Harris came under pressure to intervene to release the funds in the absence of Stormont ministers, but he insisted public sector pay was a devolved matter.

Early on Friday, Mr Heaton-Harris said events in Northern Ireland this week have shown the urgent action which is required to address a whole range of issues facing Northern Ireland.

He added: I remain of the belief that a sitting Northern Ireland Executive is best placed to act quickly and effectively to resolve those issues.

In the absence of a sitting Northern Ireland Executive I will update Parliament on the next steps.

I intend to introduce new legislation which will take a pragmatic, appropriate and limited approach to addressing the Executive Formation period and support Northern Ireland departments to manage the immediate and evident challenges they face in stabilising public services and finances.

Meanwhile Michael Gove, the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, defended the decision to link the release of that financial package with the reformation of the Executive and Assembly at Stormont.

He also urged the DUP to return to the Executive despite their concerns over the Windsor Framework.

"Like everyone I want to see responsible devolved government restored, he told BBC NIs Good Morning Ulster.

"I recognise there are different concerns that the parties have. Ultimately the only way these issues will be resolved is if we get the institutions back up and running.

"What we have done is say to all the parties there is a generous settlement we can give once the institutions are up and running. The responsibility is on all the parties to reconstitute the Executive.

"I think the Secretary of State for NI is right, we want to see progress, we want to see investment, particularly in the health service in Northern Ireland... but we need to do that in partnership with Northern Irelands politicians. The onus is on them. We must see a restored Executive.
TOKYO, Jan 18 (News On Japan) - Uniqlo has filed a lawsuit against three companies, including the operator of the Chinese fashion e-commerce site SHEIN, in the Tokyo District Court for selling counterfeit shoulder bags.

The company is seeking an injunction to halt sales and approximately 160 million yen in damages. Uniqlo alleges that the shoulder bags sold on SHEIN are imitations of its "Round Mini Shoulder Bag," infringing on the Unfair Competition Prevention Act.

According to Uniqlo, even if the colors and patterns differ, the shape of the bag's body and strap closely resembles their product. The company argues that this significantly undermines the high trust in their brand and product quality, hence demanding a halt to the sales of the said items and seeking approximately 160 million yen in damages.

The company became aware of the SHEIN products in question by September last year and had posted warnings to consumers on its website. This is the first time the company has taken legal action against the sale of counterfeit goods in Japan, and Fast Retailing, which operates Uniqlo, commented, "We will continue to take appropriate measures, including legal action, against any infringement of our group's intellectual property."

SHEIN SHEIN is a fashion brand headquartered in Singapore, founded in China in 2008, and sells clothing outside of China. Unlike other fast fashion brands, SHEIN operates an online retail business without physical stores and, according to the company's website, sells products in over 150 countries worldwide. By utilizing small and medium-sized apparel factories in southern China, such as Guangdong Province, the company sells low-priced goods and has garnered support from young women in foreign markets, including the United States.

SHEIN launched a Japanese website in December 2020 and established a permanent showroom in Harajuku, Tokyo, in November of the previous year. With the proliferation of online shopping and a surge in app downloads worldwide, the company has significantly increased its sales. Foreign media report that from January to September of last year, SHEIN's sales reached $24 billion, or approximately 3.5 trillion yen.

Source: NHK
A 28-year-old man has been released on bail after he was arrested on suspicion of drug offences following searches in north Belfast .

Officers from the Paramilitary Crime Task Force carried out an operation on Friday morning.

The searches at two properties were part of an ongoing investigation into drugs criminality in the area.

The male was released on bail on Friday afternoon pending further enquiries.

Speaking earlier on Friday, Detective Inspector Corrigan said: A 28-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of a number of offences including, possession of a class A controlled drug with intent to supply, possession of a class B controlled drug with intent to supply and possession of criminal property.

As a result of the searches, a number of items including a quantity of suspected class A and B controlled drugs, a sum of money, fireworks and other drug-related paraphernalia were seized.

The items will be taken away for further forensic examination.

Our enquiries remain ongoing following this mornings arrest and seizures.

He added: This is a demonstration of the PCTFs commitment to tackle the harm caused by illegal drug use and supply in our communities.

We would like to thank the local community for their continued support and will continue to act on the information you provide us.

I would encourage anyone with information about the supply or use of illegal drugs to contact police on 101.

You can also contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or online at http://crimestoppers-uk.org/
Two men were given suspended prison sentences over their involvement in a major UVF-linked cocaine supply operation in east Belfast .

Darren Baine (34) of Yukon Street and Dean Bailie (29) of Lisavon Drive, both east Belfast, were handed 15-month prison sentences suspended for three years today.

The defendants previously pleaded guilty at Belfast Crown Court to being concerned in the supply of cocaine and Bailie further admitted possessing a quantity of cannabis.

Both were warned by Judge Paul Ramsey KC that if they committed any further offending in the next three months, they would go to prison for 15 months on top of any other sentence they received.

"But if you stay out of trouble over the next three years you will hear no more about these matters,'' added the judge.

Following the sentencing of the two men, Detective Chief Inspector Avine Kelly of the Paramilitary Crime Task Force said they were arrested in 2018 in relation to an investigation into the large scale supply of controlled drugs namely cocaine by the East Belfast UVF.

The fact that these men have been brought before the court offers reassurance that we, along with partner organisations, remain committed to disrupting the activities of those involved with criminal and drug-related activity, she added.

This remains a priority for the Paramilitary Crime Task Force and we will continue to robustly and proactively pursue those who are intent on damaging our communities.

The court heard their arrests followed police searches at the homes of Glenn Raineys McArthur Court home in Belfast in February 2018 and Mark Raineys St Patrick Walks address in the city in October of that year.

Items including four mobile phones were seized and when the devices were examined, a large number of WhatsApp messages were located which the Crown say indicated a drug-dealing operation.

Baine's offending spanned a 15 month period between December 2017 and March 2019. The evidence against him came from text messages found on Mark Rainey's mobile phone which detailed his involvement in the cocaine operation.

When interviewed by police in March 2021, Baine was "very vague about how much he earned and what he was living off at the time and he made little response thereafter.

In a pre-sentence report, Baine told a probation officer: "I made stupid actions and I regret what happened. It was put to me that I could sell drugs to pay off my debts. I have changed my life since then and have come away from that situation.

Baine has two previous criminal convictions - one for theft and one possession of a Class C drug.

Defence barrister Richard McConkey said Baine had now set up his own gym business, was living with his partner and their child along with two older children he had from a previous relationship.

"He accepts full responsibility for his offending and has expressed remorse for that. He was dealing to a small group of friends of behalf of others but did not make a financial gain.

"He is now also doing voluntary work with two organisations which is very much to his credit.

"He is now abstinent from both alcohol and drugs and we would urge the court to give him significant credit for his early guilty plea, added Mr McConkey.

The court heard Bailie's offending took place on dates between April and October 2018. His house was searched by police and a quantity of cannabis, cash, a grinder and a number of deal bags were uncovered.

His telephone number was found in Mark Rainey's handset as a contact and there were a number of messages "which showed the extent of his involvement in the drug supply operation.

Bailie made no response to police questions during interview and it was advanced on his behalf by a defence lawyer that he was a drug user himself and was selling drugs to people he knew.

"Since his arrest, he has cut all ties with former associates and has moved down south to work as a scaffolder. He has no previous convictions, added the defence lawyer.

Last week brothers Mark, 43, and Glenn Rainey, 37, along with Daniel Baine, of Ballymacross Drive in Lisburn, Co Antrim, were sentenced at Belfast Crown Court where they were described by a Crown lawyer as being part of a group of 14 people arrested in connection with the supply of the class A drug.

The trio were considered by the Crown to be at the top of the drug-dealing enterprise.

The Rainey brothers were both handed three-year prison sentences, while 37-year old Baine had an 18-month sentence imposed.

All the terms were divided equally between prison and supervised licence. They were also made the subject of serious crime prevention orders.
The new official portrait of King Charles III. Pic: Hugo Burnand

A coronation memorial tree is to be planted in the grounds of Belfast City Hall, while a new portrait of King Charles will be accepted by Belfast City Council.

Councillors at a Belfast City Council committee meeting on Friday unanimously agreed to accept the gift of an offer of a tree and approved the location recommended in the grounds of City Hall. The tree will be planted next month.

Members also agreed to apply for a free, framed portrait of Charles - an offer made to all public authorities across the UK.

Earlier this month, unionists expressed their upset after Mid Ulster District Council voted to reject the offer of a free portrait.

Twenty-four councillors voted against the proposal  including all Sinn Fein representatives in attendance  and 11 voted in favour, including all DUP councillors present.

DUP councillor Clement Cuthbertson said he was very disappointed, while not surprised at the outcome of the vote.

Meanwhile, Fermanagh and Omagh District Council voted against the offer of the Kings portrait in December.

Twenty-two councillors were against, with 12 in favour.

On Friday, Belfast City Council representatives discussed the matter, which appeared on two items at the councils Strategic Policy and Resources Committee.

Neither items were discussed or debated but both were agreed unanimously. They will go to the full council on February 1 for ratification.

The council report states: His Majestys Lord Lieutenant for the County Borough of Belfast, Dame Fionnuala Jay-OBoyle DBE DStJ DDL, has offered the gift of a tree to the City of Belfast, to mark the occasion of the coronation of TM King Charles and Queen Camilla.

It adds: The City Hall grounds are surrounded by a variety of mature tree species such as lime, sycamore, and several smaller maples.

On undertaking a scoping exercise, a viable site, which could accommodate a single tree would be to the rear of the cenotaph at Donegall Square/Donegall Square west.

Furthermore, the Senior Woodland and Recreation Officer recommended that a Tilia cordata Greenspire (small leaf lime) be planted, as it is a variety of tree which would be in keeping with the mature lime trees which have been growing within the City Hall grounds for many years, and would maintain continuity.

This species of tree would also be appropriate given that the grounds of City Hall are a designated conservation area.

The Lord Lieutenant has indicated that, should the Committee be content, the planting of the tree would proceed by the end of February 2024, in keeping with the tree planting season.

Regarding the portrait, the report states: The UK government, through the Cabinet Office, recently introduced a scheme to allow public authorities across the UK to apply for a free, framed portrait of His Majesty King Charles III.

Public Authorities that fall within certain defined groupings are eligible for this portrait at no cost and Belfast City Council has received communication advising of the process to request a portrait on this basis as a principal local authority.

No details were given as to whether or not the portrait will be hung inside City Hall or at any other civic building.
Gardai believe a man was killed in an explosion at a Dublin hostel after a pipe bomb detonated underneath his bed.

An army bomb disposal team carried out a controlled explosion at the scene last night while gardai are investigating all the circumstances in relation to the fatal blast.

The incident happened at the property on Little Britain Street, Dublin 7, shortly after 3pm yesterday.

Residents were evacuated from the Depaul hostel following the explosion which was confined to one room.

The victim, a Lithuanian man aged in his 30s, was in the room at the time and died instantly as a result of the explosion.

Emergency services at the scene of the suspected explosion on Little Britain Street in Dublin's north city. Photo: Owen Breslin

Initial inquiries identified the blast as originating form underneath a bed in the room and the Armys bomb squad were called in to carry out a controlled explosion in the early hours of this morning.

Gardai now suspect that the explosion was caused by an improvised explosive device which detonated underneath the deceased mans bed.

Sources said the IED was a pipe bomb and inquiries into how and why the device was detonated are ongoing.

Emergency services including the Dublin Fire Brigade (DFB) and Gardai were notified of the explosion at around 3.15pm on Thursday afternoon.

Over 50 residents were evacuated from the hostel as a result of the blast which caused significant structural damage to the room it occurred in.

No other injuries were reported with Depaul saying it was trying to accommodate them elsewhere with the help of other organisations.

The scene of an explosion at a homeless shelter in Dublin city. Photo: Mark Condren

A Defence Forces spokesperson last night said: Tonight, Defence Forces Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) experts responded to a request for assistance from An Garda Siochana to Little Britain St., Dublin. EOD was requested following the death of a man in an explosion. EOD carried out post blast analysis and clearance, which included a controlled explosion. Once the scene was cleared the scene was handed back to An Garda Siochana. This operation concluded at approx. 0030hrs.

One resident of the Depaul homeless shelter said a wall dividing the mens and womens sections of the building collapsed as a result of the explosion.

I heard an alarm and I heard a bang. As I came out the whole wall just went, the resident said.

They used fire extinguishers so they could enter the room but it wasnt a fire, it was just with dust and everything else.

The woman said she was one of the last people to leave the building, along with two other women who were unsure

what had happened. Everything is still back in there, I have nothing. No meds, no nothing. Everything is in there now and I dont know what Im going to do, she added.

Emergency services at the scene of the suspected explosion at Little Britain Street in Dublin's north city. Photo: Owen Breslin

In a statement last night a garda spokesman said: Gardai at the Bridewell are actively investigating the cause of an explosion at a property on Little Britain Street, Dublin 7, on Thursday, 18th January 2024.

Gardai and emergency services responded to an incident at a residential premises on Little Britain Street shortly after 3:00 pm, following reports of an explosion inside the property. An adult male aged in his 30s sustained fatal injuries and was pronounced deceased at the scene.

The explosion was confined to one room within the property, and no one else was injured.

Residents at the premises were evacuated, and a cordon, along with local traffic diversions, remain in place.

The precise cause of the explosion is currently under investigation, and the Garda Technical Bureau have commenced a forensic and technical examination with assistance from Army EOD.

The Coroner has been notified, and a post-mortem examination is due to be carried out by the State Pathologist at Dublin City Morgue tomorrow.

Anyone with information that can assist investigating Gardai is asked to contact the Bridewell Garda Station on 01 6668200 or the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111.

The investigation is ongoing. 

The scene of a suspected explosion at a homeless shelter in Dublin city. Photo: Mark Condren

The charity service which operates the hostel said in a statement: Depaul can confirm that all service users in our Little Britain Street service have been evacuated from the building tonight and alternative placements have been found following the incident today.

"The building was evacuated in an exemplary manner, adhering to our safety protocol. Our heart goes out to the service user who lost their life, as well as their family and service users who were in the building at the time. This was an isolated incident, confined to one room and no other service users were physically harmed in this incident. We wish to thank the emergency services, DRHE, and our NGO partners for their assistance in the emergency response.
Islamist preacher Anjem Choudary has appeared in court over three terror offences relating to banned organisation Al-Muhajiroun.

The 57-year-old is accused of directing a terrorist organisation, being a member of a proscribed organisation and addressing meetings to encourage support for a proscribed organisation.

He was set to enter a plea at the Old Bailey on Friday morning but this was put back.

Appearing in grey prison uniform over video link, the preacher spoke only to confirm his identity during the hearing which lasted around one hour.

An earlier hearing was told Choudary had provided lectures to the Islamic Thinkers Society, which prosecutors said is Al-Muhajiroun for all intents and purposes.

Al-Muhajiroun has been banned in the UK since 2010 but it is alleged the group has continued to exist under various names.

Court artist sketch by Elizabeth Cook of Anjem Choudary (Elizabeth Cook/PA)

Mr Justice Jeremy Baker remanded the preacher, from Ilford in east London, into custody and he is next due in court on a date to be fixed in March.

A provisional trial, which is expected to last up to eight weeks, has been fixed for May 20 at Kingston Crown Court.

Choudary was arrested in east London on July 17 while a second suspect, Khaled Hussein, was detained at Heathrow having arrived on a flight the same day.

Hussein, who lives in Canada, is charged with membership of Al-Muhajiroun but did not appear at the hearing on Friday.

His lawyer was content for proceedings to continue in his absence.

Proscription is the banning of an organisation based on an assessment that it commits or participates in, prepares for, promotes or encourages, or is otherwise concerned in terrorism, according to the Home Office.
The lead stories for Friday cover various topics, with a number of political pieces making the front page.

The Daily Express and the Financial Times both say Jeremy Hunt has signalled significant tax cuts are on the way for Britons, coming in a matter of weeks.

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The Daily Mail splashes with Rishi Sunaks warning to the House of Lords over his Rwanda asylum legislation.

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The i runs with the Department for Business ordering a second inquiry into the Post Office scandal, as more former postmasters come forward calling for justice.

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The Metro leads with the latest advice from the NHS as the UK cold snap continues.

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The Daily Mirror leads with a piece on the NHS dental crisis, with more than 100,000 children admitted to hospital with rotten teeth.

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The Guardian looks to international politics for its lead, with Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu telling the US he opposes any establishment of a Palestinian state once the war in Gaza comes to an end.

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The Daily Telegraph warns that Vladimir Putins uptick in military spending points to a war with the Kremlin in the next two decades.

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The Times says unruly pupils are causing staff to lock themselves inside classrooms at lunchtime due to dangerous behaviour.

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The Sun reports a doting Prince of Wales has been seen looking concerned as the Princess of Wales recovers from surgery.

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Lastly, the Daily Star leads with words from the Pope, who has dubbed sexual relations a gift from God.
Oil reservoirs on fire after a Ukrainian drone hit Klintsy, in the Bryansk region of Russia (AV BogomaZ via AP)

A Ukrainian drone has hit an oil storage depot in western Russia, sparking a blaze, officials said, as Kyivs forces apparently extended their attacks on Russian soil ahead of the wars two-year anniversary.

Four oil reservoirs with a total capacity of 6,000 cubic metres (1.6 million gallons) were set on fire after the drone reached Klintsy, a city of some 70,000 people about 40 miles from the Ukrainian border, according to the local governor and state news agency Tass.

The strike is apparently the latest in a recently intensified effort by Ukraine to unnerve Russians and undermine President Vladimir Putins claims that life in his country is going on as normal before its March 17 presidential election.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has vowed to hit more targets inside Russian border regions this year.

Russias air defences are concentrated in occupied regions of Ukraine, Kyiv officials say, leaving more distant targets inside Russia more vulnerable as Ukrainian forces develop longer-range drones.

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The Russian city of Belgorod, also near the Ukrainian border, cancelled its traditional Orthodox Epiphany festivities on Friday because of the threat of Ukrainian drone strikes.

They are the first major public events known to be called off in Russia due to the drone threat.

Ukrainian national media, quoting an official in Ukraines Intelligence Service, said Ukrainian drones on Friday also attacked a gunpowder mill in Tambov, about 370 miles south of Moscow.

But Tambov governor Maxim Yegorov said the plant was working normally, according to Russias RBC news outlet.

The Mash news outlet had earlier reported that a Ukrainian drone fell on the plants premises on Thursday but caused no damage.

In another strike fitting the pattern, the Russian defence ministry said a Ukrainian drone was downed on the outskirts of St Petersburg on Thursday.

Wreckage fell on the premises of the St Petersburg Oil Terminal on the citys southern edge, according to Vladimir Rogov, who is in charge of co-ordination of the Russian-annexed regions of Ukraine.

An apartment building damaged in a Russian rocket attack is seen in Kharkiv, Ukraine, in the early hours of Wednesday (Kharkiv Regional Administration via AP)

Mikhail Skigin, the terminal co-owner, confirmed the drone was targeting the terminal.

St Petersburg, Russias second-largest city, is about 560 miles north of the border with Ukraine.

In Klintsy, air defences electronically jammed the drone but it dropped its explosive payload on the facility, Bryansk regional governor Alexander Bogomaz said.

There were no casualties, he added.

Russian telegram channels shared videos of what they said was the blaze at the depot, which sent thick black plumes of smoke into the air.

The fire is hard to put out and requires specialist equipment, Mr Bogomaz said, saying 32 people were evacuated from their homes near the depot.

The same depot was hit by a Ukrainian drone last May but the damage was apparently less significant.

Meanwhile, Russian shelling in Ukraines northeastern Kharkiv region killed a 57-year-old woman and a landmine there killed a man, the Ukrainian presidents office reported on Friday.
It was one of those mornings: slept in, missed breakfast, running late for a meeting in town and not a parking space to be found. Finally, I spied one in a privately operated car park in Belfast.
During a vote drill ahead of next months elections, a woman casts her ballot in Banda Aceh, Indonesia, Jan. 17, 2024.

The upcoming Indonesian presidential polls may go to a runoff, as the latest surveys show frontrunner Prabowo Subianto failing to secure a majority of votes weeks before the election.

Prabowo, who is the defense minister, and his running mate, Gibran Rakabuming Raka, he eldest son of current President Joko Jokowi Widodo, have been clear frontrunners throughout the campaign.

But support for them ahead of the Feb. 14 election is stagnating at 46-47%, according to survey results released Thursday and Friday, which makes a runoff in June a distinct possibility.

Results released Friday of a survey conducted in the first week of January by Poltracking showed Prabowo and Gibran supported by 46.9% of respondents, a mere 0.2 percentage points higher than in the December survey by the same company.

Their closest rivals, former Jakarta Gov. Anies Baswedan and running mate Muhaimin Iskandar, gained ground, reaching 26.7% from 23.8% in December.

The third pair in the presidential race, former Central Java Gov. Ganjar Pranowo and his running mate, top security minister Mohammad Mahfud MD, saw their popularity drop to 20.2%, from 27.6% in December, according to the Poltracking survey.

Indonesias presidential election system requires a second round of voting between the top two candidates  called a runoff  if no one wins more than 50% of the votes on Election Day. The runoff, if needed, is scheduled for June 26.



Poltracking Executive Director Hanta Yudha said if there were a runoff, he sees Anies and his running mate contesting in it against Prabowo-Gibran, thus maintaining their current poll positions.

The potential challenger to the Prabowo-Gibran pair in the second round is Anies-Muhaimin, Hanta Yudha said at a press conference on Friday.

Indonesian presidential candidates and their running mates (left to right) Mohammad Mahfud MD, Ganjar Pranowo, Prabowo Subianto, Gibran Rakabuming Raka, Anies Baswedan, and Muhaimin Iskandar, pose for a group photo after presenting their anti-corruption policies during a dialogue held by countrys anti-graft agency at the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) headquarters in Jakarta, Jan. 17, 2024. [Eko Siswono Toyudho/BenarNews]

Another pollster, which on Thursday released results from a survey it conducted Dec. 30-Jan. 6, showed results similar to that of Poltracking  Prabowo-Gibran at 45.79%, Anies-Muhaimin at 25.47%, and Ganjar-Mahfud at 22.96%.



There is a stagnation in the electability of the [Prabowo-Gibran] pair, Indikator Politik Executive Director Burhanuddin Muhtadi said.



Burhanuddin also doesnt see the Ganjar-Mahfud pair making the runoff if one needed to be held.

If there is a second round, Anies has a bigger chance to qualify with Prabowo, he said.



Meanwhile, local magazine Tempo reported on Sunday that President Jokowi, who has not publicly endorsed any candidate but is seen as favoring the pair that includes his son Gibran, is concerned the election may go to a second round.

He apparently held separate meetings early this month with the leaders of the parties that support Prabowo and Gibran, expressed frustration over the pairs stagnant performance and questioned efforts to boost their electability, the report said, citing unnamed sources.

At the same time, speculation is heating up that Anies and Ganjar may work together to thwart a Prabowo victory. Some reports citing unnamed sources have said that Anies and Ganjar will support one another if either of them makes it to the second round.

When reporters asked Ganjar on Jan. 9 about whether such an alliance with Anies was being contemplated, he said everything is possible.

Emotional side

Prabowo will continue to struggle to boost his popularity, said Ujang Komarudin, a political observer from Al Azhar University Indonesia.

The poll number of 45% is likely the best he can achieve, Ujang told BenarNews.

One reason Prabowo hasnt moved ahead decisively in surveys is because he has failed to impress voters with his campaign style and vision for the country, said another political observer.



Firman Noor, of the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), said the electorate has not been impressed with Prabowos perceived penchant for offering simplistic solutions to complex problems.



For example, he thinks he can solve every problem with free lunch and free milk, Firman, a research professor of political science at BRIN, told BenarNews.

He was referring to Prabowos campaign promise to provide free lunches to students across the country to boost their nutrition intake to avoid stunting.



Firman also said Prabowos image had suffered after two debates among the presidential contenders, which exposed his emotional side.

For instance, on one occasion, the frontrunner showed his anger when Anies questioned him about hundreds of thousands of hectares of land allegedly controlled by his company.

The minister did not make any efforts at damage control following this incident, because he is confident that the votes will come to him, Firman said.

Supporters show T-shirts picturing Indonesia presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto and his running mate Gibran Raka Rakabuming during their campaign rally in Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia, Jan. 9, 2024. [Sonny Tumbelaka/AFP]

The analyst contrasted Prabowos campaign style with that of Anies, who has gained significant ground by appealing to young voters, according to Firman.

Anies campaign features townhall meetings with students across the country. He has also won the support of many of Indonesias legions of K-Pop fans  Korean pop music lovers  who have volunteered to pay for his campaign advertisements.

Ganjar, on the other hand, who was in the number two spot in surveys for most of last year, has seen his popularity drop as the public perceives he has inconsistent or unclear policies, Firman said.

For instance, Ganjar has criticized the Jokowi governments performance in some areas such as law enforcement, and promised to evaluate a controversial jobs law that was passed last March.

But Ganjar has also promised he will continue with the Jokowi governments development program.

Both Jokowi and Ganjar belong to the same party, the ruling Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP).

But while Ganjar is the ruling partys official candidate, Jokowis eldest son is the running mate of one of Ganjars opponents.

The presidents rift with party chairwoman Megawati Sukarnoputri is no longer a secret.

Separately, Jokowi has been dogged by questions about whether hes trying to build a political dynasty by promoting his family members and loyalists to government.

It didnt help matters when a controversial ruling by the Constitutional Court, helmed at that time by Jokowis brother-in-law, allowed the presidents son, Gibran, to run as vice president with Prabowo.

For Ujang, the political analyst from Al Azhar University, this episode smacked of nepotism and will limit Prabowos appeal among the electorate, preventing him from getting a majority of votes.
Rescuers conduct a rescue and retrieval operation after a deadly landslide hit the town of Monkayo, in a mountainous gold mining region of Davao de Oro province, on Mindanao island in the southern Philippines, Jan. 18, 2024.

Rescuers were searching on Friday through mud and debris for missing people after a landslide caused by days of heavy rain killed at least 10 in the southern Philippines, officials said.

Torrential rain eroded the slopes of Mt. Diwata in the town of Monkayo, a gold-mining region in the southern Davao de Oro province, uprooting rocks and other objects that buried parts of the region on Thursday, the Manila-based Office of Civil Defense said.

Those who died were said to be part of a religious group that was holding a prayer meeting when the disaster struck, Monkayo Mayor Manuel Zamora said.

Theres still heavy rain but our retrieval operation continues for missing persons, he said.

We declared last night a forced evacuation due to intense rains. Our police and military helped get the people out from the site to the emergency shelters.

He said four people were listed as missing, although residents said more than a dozen others could have also been buried under the debris.

The Office of Civil Defense (OCD) in Manila officially listed the number of deaths at 10, with one missing and one injured.

Monkayos mayor said that large parts of town had been declared off limits due to unregulated tunneling activities related to gold mining, but authorities had been struggling to control prospectors.

Julius Nenaria, the husband of one of the victims, Marjomie, 33, recalled talking to his wife, who was going to the prayer meeting, before the tragedy struck.

She told me that she would leave early . She even scolded her relatives who wanted to go with her even [though] it was raining, Nenaria said.

This was just half an hour before their worship. It was totally unexpected.

Six of Marjories relatives, including a one-year-old boy, perished in the landslide.

The ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance reported that flooding had occurred since Jan. 16 in several parts of Davao de Oro due to unceasing rains.

In September 2018, more than 70 people in the northern mining town of Itogon in the northern Philippines died in a mudslide caused by Typhoon Mangkhu.

The worst landslide in the Philippines occurred on Feb. 17, 2006, following a 10-day downpour in the province of Southern Leyte.

It buried the entire community of Guinsaugon village there, killing more than 1,000 people.

Froilan Gallardo and Richel V. Umel in Cagayan de Oro city, southern Philippines, contributed to this report.
TOKYO, Jan 18 (News On Japan) - NEC, in collaboration with the traditional bread maker Kimuraya, has unveiled an innovative culinary creation named 'RenAI (Love) Bread,' a product that captures the essence of romantic feelings in its flavor.

This unique bread utilizes artificial intelligence (AI) to analyze phrases from romance-themed television shows and lyrics from love songs, particularly focusing on fruits and sweets mentioned, to create a unique taste experience.

Among the various flavors, 'Mutual Love' stands out, offering a refreshing sweetness akin to peaches, reminiscent of a successful first love coming to fruition. There are five varieties in total, including 'Tears of Heartbreak' and 'Jealousy' flavors, each designed to evoke different aspects of romantic experiences.

Yuki Kitazawa, the Section Chief at Kimuraya Sohonten, expressed his hope that consumers would feel more positive about love after tasting their bread. "We want those who eat our bread to feel an uplifting spirit towards love," he said.

This innovative range of bread will be available sequentially in supermarkets around the Kanto region starting February 1st, marking a significant step in the fusion of food technology and emotional experiences.

Source: FNN
Philippine Sen. Jinggoy Estrada emerges from a hearing at the anti-graft Sandiganbayan Court in Quezon City, Metro Manila, after the court cleared him of plunder charges, Jan. 19, 2024.

The Philippines anti-graft court on Friday cleared the prominent senator son of former President Joseph Estrada of plunder, the same charge that the ex-leader himself was convicted and imprisoned for in the past.

The Sandiganbayan courts Fifth Division, in its verdict, acquitted Sen. Jinggoy Estrada of charges accusing him of having plundered U.S. $3.5 million from his pork-barrel funds. But the divisional court in Quezon City, Metro Manila, found him guilty of bribery  a conviction that could get him up to 15 years in prison.

Criminal intent on the part of Senator Estrada is absent in this case, the anti-graft court said in its 396-page ruling on the plunder charge.

Estradas lawyer said his client would appeal the conviction for bribery, which would technically bar the senator from holding public office and from voting. The Senate, however, said that Estrada would still be allowed to hold office. Estrada was also asked to pay a fine of up to 3 million Philippine pesos ($53,610).

The Estradas are a prominent family in the Philippines, a Southeast Asian country where dynasties are known to control every facet of life  from business to politics.

The case stemmed from allegations that Jinggoy Estrada (also known as Jose P. Ejercito Estrada) knew of kickbacks and commissions representing a percentage of costs for infrastructure projects funded through his pork barrel, known here as a priority development assistance fund (PDAF).

The funds were controlled by Janet Lim Napoles through two foundations that allegedly carried out the non-existent projects. Napoles was convicted and sentenced to up to 10 years imprisonment for each of the five counts of corruption.

The court said that while Estrada was negligent in monitoring where his PDAF was used, it could not be construed as an overt act in furtherance of conspiracy with Napoles and the other accused.

It said that Estradas former deputy chief of staff and co-accused, Pauline Therese Mary Labayen  who is at-large  was primarily the one who benefitted from the scam.

Capitalizing on her connection with Senator Estrada, she would casually drop his name whenever she would transact with Napoles, the court said.

Sen. Jinggoy Estrada waves as he gets into his car after the hearing into his plunder case at the Sandiganbayan Court in Quezon City, Metro Manila, on Jan. 19, 2024. [Gerard Carreon/BenarNews]

Speaking with reporters after the ruling, Estrada thanked the anti-graft body for the decision but he contested the guilty verdict because, he said, he was not charged with bribery in the first place.

I did not receive any money. I would like to thank the magistrates of the Sandiganbayan that after a decade, my case has been resolved. It took almost 10 years but still, I am very, very thankful. This is a vindication of my name, he told reporters.

It is only the case of plunder. And I have already been acquitted. I have been exonerated of plunder and I will ask my lawyers to exhaust all legal remedies, all legal options available for me. But I still believe in our justice system, he added.

Estradas lawyer, Alexis Abastillas-Suarez, said the acquittal marked a very big victory but added that they had yet to completely analyze the verdict because bribery is not part of the information on the crime of plunder.

We still have to read the courts decision, the attorney told reporters. We still have legal remedies to file. So, [Estrada] can still hold office.

Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri said that Estrada would remain a senator, pending results of his appeal of the bribery conviction.

He has the right to exhaust all of these legal remedies. He can still file a Motion for Reconsideration with the Sandiganbayan. He can still file an appeal by certiorari with the Supreme Court, Zubiri said.

Until and unless the decision becomes final and executory, Sen. Jinggoy is duty-bound to continue performing his functions as Senator of the Republic, he said.

Ousted Philippine President Joseph Estrada gestures as he talks with reporters at his home at the San Juan city, east of Manila, Nov. 6, 2007. A Philippine court served an order to seize U.S. $16 million worth of ill-gotten funds and property from Estrada as part of his historic plunder conviction. [Charlie Magno/AP file photo]

Estradas brother, J.V. Ejercito, who is also a senator, attended Fridays hearing. He urged the public to respect the wisdom and fairness of our justice system.

Our justice system, despite its imperfection, is there to maintain law and order, protect our rights, and provide justice Ejercito said in a statement.

The brothers father, Joseph Estrada, the family patriarch who is now 86, was a popular action movie star before he parlayed his popularity into public office.

He became president in 1998, but his six-year term was cut short by accusations of incompetence and corruption. He was impeached, but allies in the Senate voted to keep a key piece of evidence.

Public discontent snowballed into a military-backed popular revolt that forced him to step down barely halfway into his term.

Joseph Estrada was later pardoned, ran again for the presidency but lost to Benigno Aquino III in 2010. He then joined local politics and became the mayor of Manila for two terms until 2019.
Former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra walks at Don Mueang airport in Bangkok after arriving on a flight that brought him back from exile, Aug. 22, 2023.

Thai activists are demanding to know exactly what is wrong with former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra after authorities extended his stay in a hospital ward  instead of a prison cell.

The perception of a special arrangement for Thaksin, who has been in hospital for nearly five months, is igniting accusations of unequal treatment before the law, clouding Thailands legal and democratic landscape, they say.

The ex-PM has been receiving treatment for various health problems in a ward at the Police General Hospital in Bangkok reserved for VIPs. Thaksin is generally known to be suffering from a heart and lung condition as well as chronic back pain.

Citing patient privacy, Thai corrections officials, however, declined to give more specific details when they recently announced they were allowing him to stay in hospital longer.

A statement from the Department of Corrections did not give a timeframe for how much longer but said the agency agreed that Thaksin has to continue his stay in the hospital due to health conditions that need close medical attention.

Puangtip Boonsanong is among Thai activists who have doubts that Thaksins prolonged stay in the hospital can be justified, especially given that the former leader is a convict.

There are other inmates who are more sick but dont get treated the same, Puangtip, a lawyer for the Network of Students and People for Reform of Thailand, an activist group, told BenarNews.

Thaksin is serving a 1-year prison term  which was slashed from an original sentence of eight years via a decree by the countrys king  on charges of corruption and abuse of power.

The 74-year-old Thaksin, who is viewed as a divisive figure in Thai politics, was sent to prison on the same day that a private jet brought him home from 17 years of exile  save for a brief homecoming in 2008. But he spent less than 24 hours in a prison cell before being transferred to the hospital in the wee hours on Aug. 23.

On the night of Aug. 22  the day he returned to Thailand  Thaksin was suffering from insomnia, chest pain, high blood pressure and low oxygen, Thai corrections officials told reporters. They said he was transferred after midnight to the police hospital because it was better equipped to deal with life-threatening heart conditions.

The Maha Bhumibol Rachanusorn 88th Birthday Anniversary Building, part of the Police General Hospital, is seen in Bangkok, Aug. 23, 2023. [Sakchai Lalit/AP]

Earlier this month, Puangtips group organized a small gathering at Government House, where Prime Minister Srettha works. It plans to organize another gathering in February, when Thaksin might be eligible for parole after nominally having served six months of his sentence.

The government of Srettha, who was elected PM by the House of Representatives on the very day that Thaksin returned from exile in Dubai, has faced growing public calls in recent weeks to reveal the details of Thaksins health conditions.

Critics are questioning whether Thaksin is getting VIP treatment compared with other inmates at Thai prisons who are sick and elderly but dont have such privileges.

This week, corrections officials declared that any male prisoner would no longer be referred to in public as a male inmate, as they responded to criticism about why the former prime minister was not being referred to as male inmate Thaksin Shinawatra.

In Thailand, it is customary for an incarcerated person to be referred to as a male inmate or female inmate in place of the usual mister or miss.

Thaksin, a former police officer who made a fortune as a telecoms tycoon, was elected prime minister in 2001.

Since he was deposed in a military coup in 2006, he lived in exile in the United Arab Emirates, while maintaining political influence at home through the Shinawatra familys political machine and the mobilization of its grassroots supporters known as the red shirts.

Thaksins sister Yingluck also served as prime minister, but was toppled in a coup in 2014. In the run-up to last Mays general election, his daughter Paetongtorn was a prime ministerial hopeful for Pheu Thai.

This past Wednesday, the Department of Corrections said that Thaksins age and state of health meant he could be eligible for parole, although the process to grant him that had not yet been initiated.

Srettha Thavisin, Thailands new prime minister, arrives at Government House in Bangkok, Sept. 6, 2023. [Sakchai Lalit/AP]

In early December the department issued a new regulation allowing qualified inmates to be detained outside of prison. The move spurred more public speculation that this was being done to accommodate Thaksin.

[H]e should be in jail like ordinary people, Puangtip said. A sick inmate usually seeks treatment at the Department of Corrections Hospital first but, in the case of Thaksin, he was moved to the Police General Hospital straight away. The public has no idea the details of his sickness or how serious it is.

A political price

Despite the public calls for transparency about Thaksins prison sentence and whether this rich man is receiving preferential treatment while on paper being behind bars, the critics doubt they can make a dent on the current political reality.

Part of this stems from the palaces announcement on Sept. 1 that King Maha Vajiralongkorn (Rama X) had decreed that Thaksins sentence be reduced from eight years to 1.

Because the monarchy in Thailand is shielded in by lese-majeste, a strict law that guards against royal defamation or speech perceived as critical of the king, the discussion surrounding Thaksins reduced sentence has been muted, according to Thida Thavornseth, another activist.

Thaksin landed in Bangkok on the same day that Srettha was voted in by Parliament to serve as the first civilian prime minister in more than nine years. However, his appointment remains controversial because Pheu Thai was not the party that won the largest share of parliamentary seats in the May 2023 polls.

The progressive Move Forward Party and its leader, Pita Limjaroenrat, won the lions share but military-aligned lawmakers blocked his path to the post of prime minister. They allowed Pheu Thai to come to power after it agreed to join forces with more conservative parties linked to the military and the old junta.

Anti-government demonstrators shout insults at police outside the Police General Hospital in Bangkok, April 9, 2010. The demonstrations were part of a long-running battle between the mostly poor and rural supporters of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, and the ruling elite they say orchestrated the 2006 military coup that removed him from power. [David Longstreath/AP file photo]

Thida is a former leader of the red shirts, a rural movement formed by Thaksins supporters who stood against the military in the years following the coup that forced Thaksin to go into exile.

The political arrangement that allowed Srettha to come to power and played a part in Thaksins return is justified in the eyes of the red shirts, Thida said.

In the May 2023 election, some red shirts voted for Move Forward, while some still supported Pheu Thai, Thida told BenarNews. In any case, a majority of them want to see Thaksin return and stay comfortably in Thailand after 17 years of being treated unfairly.

After the 2006 coup, Thai politics was defined by the tension between pro-democracy Thaksin supporters and pro-establishment anti-Thaksin camp that culminated in the 2010 military crackdown of red-shirt demonstrations in Bangkok that resulted in 99 deaths.

The Network of Students and People for Reform of Thailand, which is allied with the former anti-Thaksin camp, is working to collect 20,000 signatures to petition the house speaker and the supreme court of Thailand to investigate the work of the corrections department on Thaksins case. But so far, the group has collected about 1,000 signatures, Puangtip said.

Parliamentarians denied entry

In October, an image of Thaksin on a gurney was circulated on social media as he was being moved to another building at the Police General Hospital.

The corrections department confirmed that the image was authentic and that Thaksin was receiving CT and MRI scans at the time.

Earlier this month, Parliaments Committee on Police Affairs sought permission from the police chief to enter the hospital premises, according to reports. Committee members were allowed in on the 14th floor where Thaksin reportedly stays, but were not allowed into the room where Thaksin was said to be in.

The committee was told that Thaksin was the only in-patient inmate at the hospital.

There was already a question from the start if Pheu Thai took power to protect Thaksin or to just serve the Shinawatra family, said Titipol Phakdeewanich, a political scientist from Thailands Ubon Ratchathani University.

Times have changed. The demographic structure has changed. Whether or not Thaksin is in or outside of the prison cells, it doesnt make a big difference because there is no strong connection or bonds between Thaksin and the younger generation.
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TOKYO, Jan 18 (News On Japan) - The Tokyo District Public Prosecutor's Office has decided not to prosecute a taxi driver who was arrested for killing a pigeon on a street in Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo.

The taxi driver, a 50-year-old man, was arrested last November on suspicion of violating the Wildlife Protection Law by running over a pigeon on a street in Shinjuku Ward with his taxi.

According to the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, a passerby called the emergency number 110 after hearing a taxi speeding off and then noticing it had hit a pigeon.

During the investigation, the driver stated, "The road is for humans, so the pigeons should get out of the way."

The Tokyo District Public Prosecutor's Office decided on Tuesday not to prosecute the man. The reasons for this decision have not been disclosed.

Source: ANNnewsCH
BENNINGTON  Bennington Judge Kerry McDonald-Cady struck down a defense motion Thursday morning asking for the release from custody of a defendant accused in a June 2023 shooting for which he is facing a possible life sentence for attempted murder.

Daniel Stern  defense attorney for Arron O'Shea, 20, of Bennington  presented testimony from a long-time family friend of OSheas, Ann Rock. Rock volunteered to be his responsible adult, allowing OShea to reside in her Bennington home and keep an eye on him as he awaits trial. It was revealed during that testimony that Rock was already the responsible adult for another violent felon  Skyler Barker  inside her home.

The defense plan fell apart soon after prosecutor Jared Bianchi cross-examined Rock on several recent instances where Barker  under Rocks direct legal supervision  allegedly broke his curfew at Rocks home, where he is still under probation conditions. Barker left the house without permission several times, breaking his curfew and getting in more legal trouble.

Barker is currently charged with felony obstruction of justice, driving with a suspended license, resisting arrest, negligent operation, excessive speed, and assault. He is also currently charged with violating his probation  all while he was out on probation, and on curfew, supervised at Rocks home for an aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in 2022.

The judge, after listening to Rocks testimony, immediately denied the motion to release OShea after quickly determining that having two violent defendants in the same household, when one of them has allegedly already broken his curfew and re-offended, was not going to work at all.

There is a high risk of danger to the public if Mr. OShea is released, McDonald-Cady said after the testimony ended. We already have a violent felon living inside Mrs. Rocks home. It is now proposed that Mr. OShea now live there.

"It is completely inappropriate for the court to impose any conditions that would have Mr. OShea, who is facing an attempted murder and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon charge, living with another convicted, violent felon. There is already a high risk of danger to the public with Mr. OShea. Having them both there brings that danger to a level that would be completely irresponsible. Motion is denied.

This was the third time the defense presented what they claimed to be a responsible adult who could be custodian to OShea during a curfew. The first time, OSheas mother volunteered. The judge denied that motion due to the unstructured nature of the residence and a finding that OSheas mother  who testified she would act as his guardian  would not voluntarily call the police to report any violations of court-imposed conditions of release.

McDonald-Cady supported her finding by repeating the mothers statements at the hearing, including that she doesnt like or trust police, as well as her reluctance on the stand to admit that a handgun, allegedly used during the crime in question, came from her home.

The second attempt at finding a responsible adult came from OSheas girlfriend at the time and the girlfriends father. The judge deemed Both individuals inadequate after finding that the girlfriend, a single mom with a toddler and another baby soon on the way, could not act as a custodian. The father was also deemed inadequate because he lived with another adult child and a grandchild. He also worked full-time.

In Vermont, a judge can use their discretion to release an individual charged with a crime into the custody of a "responsible adult," someone who will take responsibility for overseeing the defendant with the specific responsibility that they report any and all violations of curfew or conditions of release to authorities immediately.

According to court affidavits, several of which came from eyewitnesses and the victim in the shooting, OShea and two other individuals were walking in the desert, a densely wooded area behind Henrys Market off of Fillmore Street, when OShea allegedly pulled out a Taurus 9 mm handgun and started shooting at the victim, who was known to the shooter.

Numerous shots followed, with one coming within inches of the victims head. One of the rounds hit the victim, passing through his arm and fracturing his wrist. He was rushed to Southwestern Vermont Medical Center and then transported to the Albany Medical Center for his gunshot wound.

Several witnesses came forward, including the victim and nearby neighbors who heard the gunshots and spoke with police. The third individual involved, Connor Allen, 20, was also arrested for being an accessory after the fact. When stopped nearby by police, OShea had a 9 mm magazine in his front pocket and allegedly admitted that hed had a gun on him because he was going to a party on Pleasant Street and didnt want to go walk around town without no gun.

OShea allegedly tried to toss the bag he was carrying away from police when he was arrested. A search warrant revealed a Taurus 9 mm handgun registered to Jeremy Johnson, OSheas father. Police also recovered several 9 mm shell casings near where the shooting occurred.

OShea faces a maximum of life imprisonment, with a presumptive 20-year minimum, if found guilty. He faces an additional 15 years maximum on aggravated assault with a weapon charge. He is currently being held at the Marble Valley Regional Correctional Facility in Rutland as he awaits trial.
BENNINGTON  The defendant in a kidnapping and aggravated assault in October, on a quiet residential road in Shaftsbury, has waived extradition from his home state to Vermont after his arrest in Union, N.J. two weeks ago.

According to an affidavit, Mohamed Hamdi, 32, and an unnamed accomplice fled Vermont after a violent incident on rural Twitchell Hill Road in Shaftsbury, in which the duo allegedly kidnapped two victims as part of a drug-related situation gone bad and shot one of them when they tried to escape the kidnapping.

The affidavit states that on Oct. 23, 2023, around 11:03 p.m., members of the Vermont State Police received a 911 call advising them that someone had been shot at the Shaftsbury residence. An investigation revealed that Hamdi  of Jersey City, N.J.  and another male entered the residence and forced the occupants into the basement.

While in the basement, both victims were assaulted, and one victim was shot while attempting to flee. Mohamed was apprehended on Jan. 4, 2024, in Union by the U.S. Marshals Service and the New Jersey State Police.

The residence in Shaftsbury was a suspected narcotics location. Following vehicles rented by Hamdi from Newark, N.J., as part of a drug investigation, police observed the vehicles at the Twitchell Hill home on at least two separate days.

Police tracked a third vehicle rented by Hamdi to the Shaftsbury location on the day of the shooting. Police allege that Hamdi kidnapped and shot one of the victims in an attempt to get his drug money back.

Mohamed is currently facing several felony counts, including two counts of kidnapping with bodily injury or fear, and two counts of aggravated assault. A felony charge of attempted murder and two of assault and robbery with injury were found by a Bennington judge not to have enough probable cause to prosecute. However, according to a court source, those charges might be reinstated as more evidence becomes available and the investigation continues.

Hamdi is facing a maximum combined life sentence if found guilty of the kidnapping charges. He is also facing a possible 15 years on each of the aggravated assault charges.

Hamdi has a criminal record in Vermont. He pleaded guilty in 2014 to several drug charges in which he was given a fine but served no jail time. On the same day, Hamdi paid the $15,000 fine to settle the drug charges, then violated a restraining order minutes after leaving the courthouse.

Hamdi was taken into custody when police outside the Hartford (Vt.) Police Department spotted him getting out of a car driven by his girlfriend. After his court appearance, Hamdi was at the station to pick up personal items. The woman driving the vehicle had an active relief from abuse order against Hamdi at the time of his arrest.

Hamdi was held without bail at his arraignment until a weight of evidence hearing could be scheduled. He is currently at the Marble Valley Regional Correctional Facility in Rutland.
Tunnel City Coffees small empire in Northern Berkshire County is on the market.

For an asking price of $995,000, a buyer could take over the companys three locations: Two in North Adams, one in Williamstown. The properties have been on the market since August.

Listing agent Richard Aldrich said Tunnel City owner Paul Lovegreen is very committed to this business.

Hes made a huge investment in his life in this business, and he wants to be sure whoever buys it has financial and business capacity to continue its success, Aldrich said.

Tunnel City currently operates a cafe on the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art campus, as well as a larger cafe space at its primary location on Spring Street in Williamstown. Its third location is its coffee roasting operation in the Norad Mill.

Lovegreen declined to be interviewed by The Eagle, but an Instagram post from Tunnel City on Tuesday reads, 32 years went by quickly!

Our hope is that we can hand TCC off to new leaders that will nurture and grow this business that has treated us so well over the years, the business wrote. We are in no rush to sell and will take the time to assure that TCC continues to remain ongoing.

Aldrich said there have been multiple inquiries into the properties, as well as continued interest.

According to the listing, furniture, fixtures and equipment and the substantial goodwill of this well-established business are included in the sale. That means everything from a walk-in freezer to a grease trap.

Also included is a specialty Diedrich Coffee Roast Oven, which Tunnel City uses to drum-roast its beans.

The Spring Street location has indoor and outdoor seating and sells baked goods, coffees and teas. The 2,656 square-foot space is under lease to Williams College, which is the landlord. The lease goes through the end of the year, at which point there is an option to extend another five years.

Tunnel City is positioned for growth beyond its projected 2023 sales of $1,800,000 through expansion of wholesale and online sales, the memo reads. Other opportunities for growth are by offering custom coffee roasting and by expanding food service at the cafes by adding breakfast and lunch.

The Norad Mill location is where Tunnel City roasts, prepares and packages its beans for wholesale, online and retail. Its 3,000 square feet with a lease that lasts until Sept. 30, 2025, with the option of two four-year lease renewals.

The Mass MoCA location at 850 square feet is significantly smaller than the Williamstown shop, but its focus is similar  baked goods, coffees and teas. That lease runs until Dec. 1 of this year and has an automatic four-year renewal.

In 2016 Lovegreen opened a second Tunnel City Coffee just outside the entrance to Mass MoCA. A third location, Uptown Tunnel, sprang up inside the new Williams Bookstore, but that one closed in late 2019. Lovegreen started the business in 1992  he told The Eagle in 2018 that Tunnel City employed about 25 workers, 12 of whom were full-time.
Kofu, Jan 19 (NHK) - A Japanese court has sentenced a man to death on charges of murder and arson committed when he was 19 years old.

The man is the first person to be handed the death penalty for a crime committed at age 18 or 19 since the revised juvenile law took effect in 2022, when the age of adulthood was lowered.

The Kofu District Court in Yamanashi Prefecture on Thursday gave the sentence to Endo Yuki, who is now 21 years old.

Endo was prosecuted on charges of entering the home of a woman he had affection for, killing her parents, and setting the house on fire in October 2021. He was also accused of attacking the woman's sister.

The family lived in Kofu City. Endo had been taking an evening course at a high school in the city.

The focal point in the trial was whether the defendant was mentally competent and could be held responsible for his actions.

Prosecutors said he was fully competent and sought the death sentence. Defense lawyers argued that Endo had diminished mental capacity at the time of the crime, so capital punishment should be avoided.

In handing down the ruling, Presiding Judge Mikami Jun said it was an extremely malicious, cold-blooded crime with a strong intent to kill. He added that it was well-planned and the motive was self-centered and unreasonable. The judge noted that the defendant has not sincerely apologized to the bereaved family.

The judge said the death sentence cannot be avoided because of the gravity of the criminal responsibility and the low chance of rehabilitation, even by giving maximum consideration to the age of 19.

The defendant nodded twice when he heard the ruling.

Japan's juvenile law was revised in 2022 when the civil code was changed to lower the legal age of adulthood from 20 to 18.

Under the revised juvenile law, those aged 18 and 19 are still protected, but they are treated differently from those who are 17 or younger.

The revision allows media outlets to report the names and other information of defendants when they are prosecuted for acts committed at the age of 18 or 19.

Source: ANNnewsCH
From the Jan. 19, 1959, Eagle

Eagle Archives, Jan. 19, 1959: 'It's important to keep busy with MS,' says Betty Nagelschmidt  and she does
You are the owner of this article.
Although a substantial majority of the board members voted to close as of May, New York state law requires a 75 percent supermajority. Another vote will be held within several days.
As many know, on Nov. 29, 2023, our community lost beloved husband, father, son, brother, nephew, uncle and friend Air Force Staff Sgt. Jacob Jake Galliher to a tragic Osprey V-22 crash off the coast of Japan.

On behalf of Jakes family and friends, we would like to sincerely thank the Berkshire County community and beyond for the overwhelming generosity, love and support we have received, most especially for Jakes wife Ivy and their two young boys. From the moment we heard the devastating news through the amazing and beautiful homecoming Jake received to the very difficult day of his funeral and burial, you have lifted us up and carried us through the most difficult time of our lives.

We would like to specifically express our gratitude to everyone who participated in or helped coordinate Jakes dignified transfer at Westover Air Force Base and procession home into The Berkshires, as well as the services, burial and celebration of life that followed. That list includes but is not limited to:

 The committee that organized Jakes homecoming consisting of former Pittsfield Mayor Linda Tyer, Catherine VanBramer, Malia Windrow-Carlotto, Jim Clark, Michele Benjamin, interim Police Chief Thomas Dawley, Fire Chief Tom Sammons, Berkshire County Sheriff Thomas Bowler, Lt. Col. Tom Grady, Capt. Gary Traversa, Lt. Marc Maddalena, Officer Darren Derby, Brian Clapprood, Fred Dery, Brook Hubley, Steve Johnston, Neil Raymond and Lt. JP Murphy.

 The men and women of The United States Air Force, Yokota Air Force Base and Westover Air Force Base.

 International, federal, state and local representatives, in particular Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who was instrumental in ensuring Jake returned home to Massachusetts with dignity and honor, as well as Gov. Maura Healey and state Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier for their attention and support.

 The numerous state and local police, sheriff and fire/emergency agencies that made up the escort from Westover to Pittsfield as well as all the agencies that honored Jake along the route and joined the procession along the way.

 The Dalton Legion and Massachusetts Patriot Guard Riders.

 The numerous Veterans groups from multiple posts from across the state.

 The Massachusetts Department of Transportation and Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency.

 The staff of Dery Funeral Home, who went above and beyond.

 Father Chris Malatesta and St. Agnes Church and Parish.

 Maria and Steve Sears, Abe and Lisa Guthrie, and the staff, crew and volunteers of The Stationery Factory; Kate Maguire and the board, staff, crew and volunteers of Berkshire Theatre Group; The Olde Forge Restaurant; Mazzeos Ristorante; Hot Harrys Burritos; Ayelada Frozen Yogurt and Cakes by Melissa.

 All the local media for the coverage, livestreaming and helping to get the word out, including Pittsfield Community Television, The Berkshire Eagle, Live 95, Bill Sturgeon and iBerkshires.

 The many businesses, organizations, friends and strangers who showed up in force along the route to pay their respects and honor Jake.

Jake had a unique spirit. He was selfless and humble, yet fiercely devoted to his family, friends and country. He was the glue in every circle of his life that drew people in and kept them close and together. Never judging, always accepting, Jake saw the potential in everyone around him and was always right there with words of support and inspiration.

In the coming weeks, months and years, we will be taking steps and working hard to ensure Jakes legacy endures. His two young sons, Malcolm and Killian, will grow up knowing who their father was and learning his values. We are convinced that had he not left us so early in life, Jake would have gone on to be a community leader inspiring and supporting those who he touched throughout life. His family and friends are committed to carrying that work forward in his stead.
Report: Massachusetts has spent $277 million on emergency shelter, with over 500 families on waitlist
Alsace: nos idees de sorties pour ce week-end

BFM Alsace vous propose des idees de sorties pour ce week-end du 20 et 21 janvier. Au programme, notamment un spectacle d'improvisation pour les enfants a Illkirch.
TOKYO, Jan 19 (News On Japan) - Two YouTubers known as 'R Detectives (R)', who specialize in recording videos where they apprehend individuals they suspect of illicit activities like voyeurism, were arrested on Tuesday for attempting to extort cash from an alleged voyeur.

Masaaki Sato (34) and Takahito Takai (33), who posted a video on YouTube capturing their attempt to detain the man they accused of voyeurism, now face legal repercussions.

The duo were involved in a scuffle with a man they accused of filming for YouTube near Yokohama Station in August 2023. During the altercation, they allegedly demanded hush money, claiming, "I hurt my wrist," "We could go to the police, but you wouldn't want that, would you?" and "How much will you pay for damages?"

While bringing another man they accused of voyeurism to a police box in Kanagawa on Tuesday, Sato and Takai discovered that arrest warrants had been issued against them and were arrested on the spot.

Social media has been critical of these 'citizen's arrest YouTubers', with comments like, "These guys aren't just citizen's arrest YouTubers, they're extortionists greedy for money," and "It seems more common for YouTubers to get arrested themselves rather than arrest others."

Despite attempting to extort money from the alleged voyeur, when they realized they wouldnt succeed, Sato and Takai handed him over to the police and uploaded the video on YouTube, presumably for profit.

In response to the investigation, Sato denied the allegations, stating, "I never demanded money from anyone."

The police are investigating several other potential crimes associated with these individuals.

Related articles:

Charges Against 'Citizen's Arrest' YouTuber 'Rengoku Koroaki' Dropped

Citizen's Arrest YouTuber Busted Defrauding Girlfriend of 2.5 Million Yen by Faking Rare Disease

Ghost YouTubers busted for extorting haunted hotel 'guests'

Source: FNN
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Jem's Birding & Ringing Exploits in the Eastern Province and elsewhere in Saudi Arabia
No president from either party should have the sole power to shut down or take control of the internet or any other of our communication channels during an emergency.Senator Rand Paul

Whats to stop the U.S. government from throwing the kill switch and shutting down phone and internet communications in a time of so-called crisis?

After all, its happening all over the world.

Communications kill switches have become tyrannical tools of domination and oppression to stifle political dissent, shut down resistance, forestall election losses, reinforce military coups, and keep the populace isolated, disconnected and in the dark, literally and figuratively.

As the Guardian reports, From Ukraine to Myanmar, government-run internet outages are picking up pace around the world. In 2021, there were 182 shutdowns in 34 countries Countries across Africa and Asia have turned to shutdowns in a bid to control behaviour, while India, largely in the conflict-ridden region of Jammu and Kashmir, plunged into digital darkness more times than any other last year Civil unrest in Ethiopia and Kazakhstan has triggered internet shutdowns as governments try to prevent political mobilisation and stop news about military suppression from emerging.

In an internet-connected age, killing the internet is tantamount to bringing everythingcommunications, commerce, travel, the power gridto a standstill.

Tyrants and would-be tyrants rely on this cloak of darkness to advance their agendas.

In Myanmar, for example, the internet shutdown came on the day a newly elected government was to have been sworn in. Thats when the military staged a digital coup and seized power. Under cover of a communications blackout that cut off the populace from the outside world and each other, the junta carried out nightly raids, smashing down doors to drag out high-profile politicians, activists and celebrities.

These government-imposed communications shutdowns serve to not only isolate, terrorize and control the populace, but also underscore the citizenrys lack of freedom in the face of the governments limitless power.

Yet as University of California Irvine law professor David Kaye explains, these kill switches are no longer exclusive to despotic regimes. They have migrated into a toolbox for governments that actually do have the rule of law.

This is what digital authoritarianism looks like in a technological age.

Digital authoritarianism, as the Center for Strategic and International Studies cautions, involves the use of information technology to surveil, repress, and manipulate the populace, endangering human rights and civil liberties, and co-opting and corrupting the foundational principles of democratic and open societies, including freedom of movement, the right to speak freely and express political dissent, and the right to personal privacy, online and off.

For those who insist that it cant happen here, it can and it has.

In 2005, cell service was disabled in four major New York tunnels, reportedly to avert potential bomb detonations via cell phone.

In 2009, those attending President Obamas inauguration had their cell signals blockedagain, same rationale.

And in 2011, San Francisco commuters had their cell phone signals shut down, this time, to thwart any possible protests over a police shooting of a homeless man.

With shutdowns becoming harder to detect, whos to say its not still happening?

Although an internet kill switch is broadly understood to be a complete internet shutdown, it can also include a broad range of restrictions such as content blocking, throttling, filtering, complete shutdowns, and cable cutting.

As Global Risk Intel explains:

Content blocking is a relatively moderate method that blocks access to a list of selected websites or applications. When users access these sites and apps, they receive notifications that the server could not be found or that access was denied by the network administrator. A more subtle method is throttling. Authorities decrease the bandwidth to slow down the speed at which specific websites can be accessed. A slow internet connection discourages users to connect to certain websites and does not arouse immediate suspicion. Users may assume that connection service is slow but may not conclude that this circumstance was authorized by the government. Filtering is another tool to censor targeted content and erases specific messages and terms that the government does not approve of.

How often do most people, experiencing server errors and slow internet speeds, chalk it up to poor service? Who would suspect the government of being behind server errors and slow internet speeds?

Then again, this is the same government that has subjected us to all manner of encroachments on our freedoms (lockdowns, mandates, restrictions, contact tracing programs, heightened surveillance, censorship, overcriminalization, shadow banning, etc.) in order to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, preserve the integrity of elections, and combat disinformation.

These tactics have become the tools of domination and oppression in an internet-dependent age.

It really doesnt matter what the justifications are for such lockdowns. No matter the rationale, the end result is the same: an expansion of government power in direct proportion to the governments oppression of the citizenry.

According to Global Risk Intel, there are many motives behind such restrictions:

For instance, the kill switch serves to censor content and constrain the spread of news. This particularly concerns news reports that cover police brutality, human rights abuses, or educational information. Governments may also utilize the kill switch to prevent government-critical protestors from communicating through message applications like WhatsApp, Facebook, or Twitter and organizing mass demonstrations. Therefore, internet restrictions can provide a way of regulating the flow of information and hindering dissent. Governments reason that internet limitations help stop the spread of fake news and strengthen national security and public safety in times of unrest.

In this age of manufactured crises, emergency powers and technofascism, the government already has the know-how, the technology and the authority.

Now all it needs is the right crisis to flip the kill switch.

This particular kill switch can be traced back to the Communications Act of 1934. Signed into law by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, the Act empowers the president to suspend wireless radio and phone services if he deems it necessary in the interest of national security or defense during a time of war or a threat of war, or a state of public peril or disaster or other national emergency, or in order to preserve the neutrality of the United States.

In the event of a national crisis, the president has a veritable arsenal of emergency powers that override the Constitution and can be activated at a moments notice. These range from imposing martial law and suspending habeas corpus to shutting down all forms of communications, restricting travel and implementing a communications kill switch.

That national emergency can take any form, can be manipulated for any purpose and can be used to justify any end goalall on the say so of the president.

The seeds of this ongoing madness were sown several decades ago when George W. Bush stealthily issued two presidential directives that granted the president the power to unilaterally declare a national emergency, which is loosely defined as any incident, regardless of location, that results in extraordinary levels of mass casualties, damage, or disruption severely affecting the U.S. population, infrastructure, environment, economy, or government functions.

Comprising the countrys Continuity of Government (COG) plan, these directives (National Security Presidential Directive 51 and Homeland Security Presidential Directive 20), which do not need congressional approval, provide a skeletal outline of the actions the president will take in the event of a national emergency.

Just what sort of actions the president will take once he declares a national emergency can barely be discerned from the barebones directives. However, one thing is clear: in the event of a perceived national emergency, the COG directives give unchecked executive, legislative and judicial power to the president.

The country would then be subjected to martial law by default, and the Constitution and the Bill of Rights would be suspended.

The internet kill switch is just one piece of the governments blueprint for locking down the nation and instituting martial law.

There may be many more secret powers that presidents may institute in times of so-called crisis without oversight from Congress, the courts, or the public. These powers do not expire at the end of a presidents term. They remain on the books, just waiting to be used or abused by the next political demagogue.

Given the governments penchant for weaponizing one national crisis after another in order to expand its powers and justify all manner of government tyranny in the so-called name of national security, its only a matter of time before this particular emergency power to shut down the internet is activated.

Then again, an all-out communications blackout is just a more extreme version of the technocensorship that weve already been experiencing at the hands of the government and its corporate allies.

Packaged as an effort to control the spread of speculative or false information in the name of national security, restricting access to social media has become a popular means of internet censorship.

In fact, these tactics are at the heart of several critical cases before the U.S. Supreme Court over who gets to control, regulate or remove what content is shared on the internet: the individual, corporate censors or the police state.

Nothing good can come from techno-censorship.

As Glenn Greenwald writes for The Intercept:

The glaring fallacy that always lies at the heart of pro-censorship sentiments is the gullible, delusional belief that censorship powers will be deployed only to suppress views one dislikes, but never ones own views Facebook is not some benevolent, kind, compassionate parent or a subversive, radical actor who is going to police our discourse in order to protect the weak and marginalized or serve as a noble check on mischief by the powerful. They are almost always going to do exactly the opposite: protect the powerful from those who seek to undermine elite institutions and reject their orthodoxies. Tech giants, like all corporations, are required by law to have one overriding objective: maximizing shareholder value. They are always going to use their power to appease those they perceive wield the greatest political and economic power.

As I make clear in my book Battlefield America: The War on the American People and in its fictional counterpart The Erik Blair Diaries, these censors are laying the groundwork to preempt any dangerous ideas that might challenge the power elites stranglehold over our lives.

Whatever powers you allow the government and its corporate operatives to claim now, whatever the reason might be, will at some point in the future be abused and used against you by tyrants of your own making.

By the time you add AI technologies, social credit systems, and wall-to-wall surveillance into the mix, you dont even have to be a critic of the government to get snared in the web of digital censorship.

Eventually, as George Orwell predicted, telling the truth will become a revolutionary act.

Source: http://tinyurl.com/3xteeb7c

ABOUT JOHN W. WHITEHEAD

Constitutional attorney and author John W. Whitehead is founder and president of The Rutherford Institute. His most recent books are the best-selling Battlefield America: The War on the American People, the award-winning A Government of Wolves: The Emerging American Police State, and a debut dystopian fiction novel, The Erik Blair Diaries. Whitehead can be contacted at staff@rutherford.org. Nisha Whitehead is the Executive Director of The Rutherford Institute. Information about The Rutherford Institute is available at www.rutherford.org.
In an appearance at the globalist World Economic Forum in Davos, the Director General of the World Health Organisation urged that global cooperation will be needed during the next pandemic, and that national interests hinder compliance.

In a session titled Disease X, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stated that in order to be better prepared and to understand disease X, the WHOs Pandemic Agreement needs to be adopted globally.

This is about a common enemy, Tedros continued, adding without a shared response, we will face the same problem as COVID.

He explained that the decline for the legislation is May of this year and member states are negotiating between countries to implement it.

This is a common global interest, and very narrow national interests should not come in the way, he continued, adding of course national interests are natural, but they could be difficult and affect the negotiations.

WHO head Tedros tells #Davos #WEF2024 elites that prepping for '#Disease_X "is a common global interest, and very narrow national interests should not come in the way." Report: https://t.co/MwKBZRCcqs pic.twitter.com/tN8EYi2wBq  m o d e r n i t y (@ModernityNews) January 17, 2024

Tedros also declared that COVID was the first disease X, and it could happen again.

WHO head Tedros told #Davos globalists at #WEF2024 that '#Disease_X' is a placeholder name, and that COVID was "the first disease X, and it could happen again." Report: https://t.co/MwKBZRCcqs pic.twitter.com/YzVe26hvE5  m o d e r n i t y (@ModernityNews) January 17, 2024

Here is the full exchange:

Full video: The #WorldEconomicForum2024 Discussion Preparing For #Disease_X". They call for global compliance when the next pandemic arrives. Report here: https://t.co/MwKBZRCcqs pic.twitter.com/0MCBGPZzBn  m o d e r n i t y (@ModernityNews) January 17, 2024

Before the cosy chat, Rebel news reporter Avi Yemini confronted Tedros and asked for his opinion on global lockdowns and vaccination mandates.

He had nothing to say.

 WE GOT HIM! Tedros confronted at the World Economic Forum for what he did in Covid and his plans with Disease X.



This is why were in Davos, to pose the simple questions most people want answered and the media refuse to ask.



Get more and support https://t.co/uvbDgOk19N now! pic.twitter.com/lGUjLo8b65  Avi Yemini (@OzraeliAvi) January 17, 2024

Your support is crucial in helping us defeat mass censorship. Please consider donating via Locals or check out our unique merch. Follow us on X @ModernityNews
European Members of Parliament (MEPs) have voted to keep its contracts with Pfizer and other Covid-19 vaccine companies a secret, successfully blocking public access to vital data regarding the EUs dealings with shady Big Pharma enterprises.

The scandal began when news surfaced that Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, had negotiated a backchannel mRNA injection deal with Pfizers Albert Bourla, which reaped massive profits for the pharmaceutical company.

The EU-Pfizer contract saga, which came to be known as PfizerGate in the European media, allowed for Pfizer to reportedly take on zero vaccine injury risk through an uncompetitive, clandestine negotiation that immensely enriched the Pharma giant.

The center-right European Peoples Party made up the greatest coalition of no votes, followed by the centrist Renew Party and the center-left Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D). These parties by and large represent the interests of the Davos class, with no room for serious debate about the major issues that concern Europe.

There was much more ideological diversity in the parties that failed to pass the motion. The right wing Eurosceptic European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) and Identity and Democracy (ID) parties voted for the transparency measures. So too did the socialist The Left and The Greens parties. Non-attached independent members also almost unanimously supported the measures.

Previously Pfizer contracts have revealed that governments had effectively surrendered their citizens legal rights in exchange for access to what was once labeled as something akin to a miracle cure. In country after country, Pfizer was provided complete legal indemnity without the consent of the people. Now, with the miracle cure declarations revealed as a massive fraud upon humanity, lawmakers in Europe and around the world want to sweep their dealings with Pfizer under the rug.
OSAKA, Jan 19 (News On Japan) - A 31-year-old unemployed man has been arrested on suspicion of kidnapping a teenage girl for the purpose of committing indecent acts, after allegedly luring the junior high school student from Tokyo to his home in Osaka in exchange for sleeping pills.

Naoki Urano, who is known as the "Emperor of Guri-shita" among kids who frequent the popular hangout spot in Osaka's Minami district, is being investigated for arranging to meet the schoolgirl he groomed through social media.

The girl is suspected to have stayed for a week at his home, where she is believed to have taken drugs along with several other youths. She was found in a semi-delirious state.

The police are investigating the detailed circumstances of the case. Urano has not made any clear statements regarding the allegations.

Source: NHK
Internal US Bureau of Prison (BOP) documents obtained by The Grayzone under Freedom of Information laws raise extremely serious questions about whether Jeffrey Epsteins alleged first suicide attempt on July 23, 2019 in fact happened, and suggest the Bureau distorted evidence to attribute his death to suicide before his autopsy had even been completed. This meant the narrative of suicide was pushed on the public  to the exclusion of all other explanations  before basic facts were ascertained.

The release in January of previously sealed court documents detailing official investigations and civil lawsuits leveled against Epstein has reignited public interest in the late sex offender. Yet establishment journalists have poured cold water on the disclosures, assuring readers they do not offer anything new or of any import, while strongly implying they many shocking accusations they contain are bogus. References to Epsteins apparent death are largely absent from mainstream reporting.

Officially, Epstein was found to have died in his cell at New York Citys Metropolitan Correctional Center on August 10, 2019, with a medical examiner ruling at the time that he had taken his own life by hanging. The ruling was aggressively contested by Epsteins associates and widely disbelieved by the public, with one poll suggesting just 16% of Americans think he committed suicide.

There was good reason for their skepticism. Epsteins legal team publicly declared available evidence on his death was far more consistent with murder. Dr. Michael Baden, a leading forensic pathologist who monitored the autopsy, also claimed its findings did not support suicide. Moreover, knowledgeable sources revealed broken bones in Epsteins neck were more common in victims of homicide by strangulation.

When a long-awaited Justice Department report on Epsteins custody, care, and supervision by the BOP while briefly incarcerated was released in June 2023, it too was greeted with near-complete indifference by legacy media. Now, The Grayzone has secured the internal Bureau documents which indicate that efforts to cover up Epsteins suspicious death were more extensive than previously known, and included prison staff.

Lacerated or not?

The official inquiry by the Department of Justice Inspector General states that on July 23, 2019, nearly three weeks before his death, Epstein was found injured and semi-conscious in his cell, with marks of an unspecified nature around his neck. Per the report, he subsequently claimed to know nothing about the incident, which took place just two-and-half-weeks following his imprisonment on charges of child sex trafficking. Epsteins cellmate, former New York police officer Nicholas Tartaglione, also pleaded ignorance. (Tartaglione previously shared legal representation with Ghislaine Maxwell, Epsteins partner and madam. He was convicted in April 2023 of killing four men, shooting three and strangling one to death.)

Within minutes of Epsteins alleged discovery by prison guards, BOP officials formally logged the inmates attempted suicide via hanging/asphyxiation in internal records. Sections of the report describing what precisely occurred are redacted, as is the authors name. The prisoners account of how he sustained his purported injuries, provided in a medical examination five hours later, is also concealed from public view in the now-released files.

The records show that the following day, Epstein was removed from suicide watch and charged with violating prison code 228, which covers tattooing or self-mutilation. It is unclear why this took place. In internal communications, one BOP official openly pondered whether Epstein was mentally capable of proceeding with the disciplinary process. Another incongruously said of the disciplinary hearing: I would feel really uncomfortable doing this.

Curiously, on July 30, the official incident report was updated to include self-mutilation as the cause of Epsteins failed suicide, citing indeterminate lacerations. However, an examination by prison doctors just hours after he allegedly tried to take his life mentioned zero lacerations. A subsequent memo by a prison psychologist noted that Epstein had a poor attitude in interviews and refused to discuss the matter, but concluded that the amended incident report was accurate, and allegation of attempted suicide warranted.

A memo issued after the incident eerily notes that Epsteins self-mutilation was expunged from official records. Just five days after Epsteins death, a BOP representative remarked it was unclear why it had been expunged and whether Mr. Epstein knew this. Mainstream media has not acknowledged this peculiar episode since the memo appeared. It has also ignored the critical question of whether the alleged incident ever took place at all  or whether it was fabricated to bolster the case for suicide.

Epstein placed on suicide watch despite having deniedsuicidal or self-harm thoughts

The BOP records show Epstein complained frequently to authorities about the conditions of his incarceration. His cell toilet lacked sufficient paper, and flushed continuously for extended periods, he said, and his cellmate apparently yammered on incessantly, especially at night. But there is nothing in the files to suggest that Epstein ever felt threatened or depressed. In fact, several psychological assessments conducted at the jail indicate he was optimistic about his prospects. One evaluation noted that he explicitly denied suicidal ideation, planning, and intent, and was [committed] to life and safety.

[Epstein] exhibited a neutral affect with appropriate range, the evaluation observed. Eye contact and hygiene were appropriate His thoughts were organized and coherent, with no loosening of associations or tangential, circumstantial, or irrelevant content There was no evidence of perceptual disturbance, delusional ideation, or a formal thought disorder. He did not engage in any bizarre or inappropriate behavior.

Another appraisal detailed protective factors Epstein enjoyed, citing conversations in which he denied current suicidal or self-harm thoughts, or feeling hopeless. He also denied fearing for his safety, and outlined plans to finish this case and to go back to his normal life.

He praised his emotionally supportive friends and lawyers and said that, as a practicing Jew, he abhorred suicide, the report noted. Given that the overall acute suicide risk for this inmate was low and the overall chronic suicide risk for this inmate was absent entirely, the BOP concluded: suicide watch is not warranted at this time.

Despite Epsteins apparent aversion to taking his own life, he was placed on suicide watch. Detailed accounts were filed every 15 minutes by guards on his activities, which included lying quietly in bed and pacing around his cell. Oddly, this decision was rescinded on July 24 2019, the day after he allegedly attempted suicide.

Six days later, he gained a new cellmate, Efrain Reyes. But on August 9, Reyes was inexplicably removed, leaving Epstein alone  a flagrant breach of internal procedures.

The BOP files indicate the urgent need for a new cellmate for Epstein was communicated between day and evening watch shifts at the jail. But none arrived. Regular checks on the inmate also ceased. Three CCTV cameras nearby apparently malfunctioned. Two on-duty guards fabricated records to hide how they allegedly flouted their legal duties to surf the internet. And the next day, the prisons most infamous inmate was dead.

The pair of guards were subsequently charged with falsifying prison records, a serious criminal offense. However, on December 13 2021, the charges were dropped, and they walked free. The public did not learn this until December 31, two days after Ghislaine Maxwell was found guilty of trafficking young girls for sexual abuse on Epsteins behalf.

BOP officials manage the narrative of Epsteins death

The unsealed BOP documents demonstrate how in the immediate wake of Epsteins death, Bureau of Prisons officials immediately assured journalists and members of Epsteins family that he had committed suicide. The obedient media went to work, unquestioningly broadcasting the conclusion before an official autopsy was conducted.

Three days later, BOP suicide prevention coordinator Robert Nagle visited the Metropolitan Correctional Center to initiate a psychological reconstruction of Epsteins last moments. His resultant report recorded that a video of the significant incident was confiscated by the FBI before his review began. He was also prohibited from conducting formal interviews with prison staff, supposedly in an effort to avoid interference with pending investigations by the Justice Department. As a result, he noted that information he typically gathered for psychological reconstructions was unavailable.

These constraints meant Nagle was not able to establish accurate timelines, confirm subjective reports, establish converging and diverging lines of facts, or discover new areas of inquiry. Nor could he compile a detailed description of what guards found when they discovered Epstein, as they did not write memorandums and could not be interviewed. Many sections of reconstruction  including a review of Epsteins social history at the jail  were thus incomplete.

Nevertheless, Nagle ruled conclusively that Epstein committed suicide. The alleged decision is attributed to a supposed inability to tolerate the noise of prison, as well as the likelihood of a life sentence, a prospect made more likely when thousands of records related to his 2008 conviction on child sex offenses were unsealed. Additionally, a comment by Epstein privately declaring himself to be a coward in the weeks prior to his alleged suicide was repeatedly cited as proof of suicidal intent.

But a review of the internal BOP files reveals Epstein made those statements while explicitly denying any intention, or even ability, to kill himself. A prison psychological assessment concluded: He is not the type who likes pain or would ever attempt to harm himself[He] even does not like when he has to give blood.

This brazen distortion went unmentioned in an internal review of the reconstruction authored by Metropolitan Correctional Center Warden Marti Licon-Vitale. Nonetheless, in a section marked documentation accuracy, she took BOP officials to task for amending their report on Epsteins alleged failed suicide attempt:

Professional responsibility requires taking into account multiple descriptions of an incident When discrepancies exist these should be compiled and noted in documentation to decrease the likelihood of conflicting conclusions, she wrote. Preconceived notions challenge the ability to remain open about alternative explanations.

Such grievances aside, Nagles reconstruction received praise in internal communications between BOP officials, likely because it disingenuously tied up many loose ends in the narrative of Epsteins death. On August 23, agency director Hugh Hurwitz effused over the outstanding work, calling it unbelievable the report was composed without the benefit of interviews or video. The same could be said by any skeptical observer with the capacity for irony.

In its reporting on the BOPs psychological reconstruction of Epsteins death, the New York Times acknowledged the inmates insistence that he had no intention to commit suicide as a testament to his life of manipulation, peerless deception skills, and ability to [create] illusions. An obvious alternative interpretation is that Epstein was sincere in his denials, and did not commit suicide.

The sudden death of Epsteins former cellmate

The New York Times obtained the same trove of BOP files as The Grayzone, yet it only reported on the psychological reconstruction of Epsteins death described in the documents. Oddly, the Times did not acknowledge that the psychological reconstruction indicated that financial transactions associated with Epsteins prison stay revealed one of his attorneys was depositing funds into the prison account of his cellmate Efrain Reyes, for unknown reasons. It is no wonder then that he became a person of interest in the FBIs investigation of Epsteins death. In return for his help, he was moved to a minimum security prison, which housed high-value cooperating witnesses.

Five months after his release from the prison due to a facility-wide COVID-19 outbreak, Reyes died. The purported cause of death was complications from the virus. His niece subsequently told reporters her uncle frequently voiced doubts the six-foot-tall Epstein could have hanged himself from the bunk frame in his cell.

In January 2021, federal prosecutors rejected journalists requests for full disclosure on the death of Reyes, ruling that all records it held on Epsteins former cellmate would remain sealed. In dismissing the medias transparency demands, authorities provided two pages of information about Epstein in the files related to Reyes. However, all of it was redacted


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Former vice president of Beihang University expelled from CPC, public office

Xinhua) 17:07, January 19, 2024

BEIJING, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- Zhang Guang, former vice president of Beihang University, has been expelled from the Communist Party of China (CPC) and dismissed from public office over severe violations of Party discipline and law.

The decision came following an investigation by the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Commission of Supervision upon the approval of the CPC Central Committee, according to a statement released by China's top anti-graft body on Friday.

The investigation involving Zhang, who was also a standing committee member of the CPC Beihang University committee, found that he had been disloyal to the Party, resisted investigation, and accepted gifts and money in violation of the Party's discipline.

He sought benefits for others during cadre appointments and employee recruitment and accepted money and valuables in return, and violated relevant rules by owning shares in non-listed companies and having his own expenses paid by others, according to the statement.

Zhang has also allegedly exploited the resources of the university for personal gains and taken undue advantage of his position to secure profits for others, thus accepting huge amounts of money and valuables in return, the statement added.

Zhang's actions have gravely breached Party discipline and constitute severe duty-related crimes, and he is also suspected of the offense of accepting bribes, according to the statement.

Zhang's illicit gains will be confiscated, and his case will be transferred to the procuratorial authority for further examination and prosecution per the law, the statement said.

(Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Liang Jun)
TOKYO, Jan 20 (News On Japan) - Japan's lunar exploration spacecraft "SLIM" has achieved a historic feat by successfully landing on the Moon early Saturday morning.

The "SLIM" spacecraft began its descent to the Moon from lunar orbit around 12:00 AM today, successfully landing on the lunar surface approximately 20 minutes later, as announced by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).

This successful landing represents a first for Japan, a significant achievement in the field of space exploration.

JAXA President Mr. Hiroshi Yamakawa expressed his excitement: "First of all, the fact that we have landed is a starting point. From here, we aim to further develop our country's technology, opening the way to access the Moon's surface."

However, there are concerns that the batteries may run out within a few hours due to the solar cells not generating power.

Priority is being given to the reception and acquisition of data from the landing, and analysis is underway to determine if the spacecraft achieved its targeted landing within a 100-meter margin of error.

Source: ANN
TOKYO, Jan 19 (NHK) - Tokyo prosecutors have indicted several people over a political funds scandal involving factions of the main ruling Liberal Democratic Party.

The chief treasurers of the faction once led by late Prime Minister Abe Shinzo and another led by former LDP Secretary-General Nikai Toshihiro were indicted without arrest on Friday.

A former chief treasurer of the faction that was led until recently by Prime Minister Kishida Fumio received a summary indictment.

All face charges of false accounting, in violation of the political funds control law. They are suspected of failing to report part of the factions' revenue from fundraising events.

Prosecutors also indicted, without arrest, Upper House member Ohno Yasutada.

He is suspected of failing to declare more than 50 million yen, or about 337,000 dollars, in kickbacks he received from the Abe faction for selling fundraiser tickets in excess of his assigned quota.

Lower House member Tanigawa Yaichi, who also belongs to the Abe faction, received a summary indictment.

The two lawmakers had left the LDP as of Friday.

Meanwhile, Tokyo prosecutors have decided not to build a case against seven executives of the Abe faction or those of the Nikai faction. Prosecutors could not find evidence that the executives conspired with the factions' chief treasurers in underreporting revenue from fundraising parties.

Source: TBS NEWS




MUMBAI (PTI): Rangsons Aerospace said on Thursday it has signed a contract with US aircraft maker Boeing to supply tubes and ducts for aerospace systems.



This marks Boeing's first such collaboration of this nature with an Indian supplier, the company said.



The five-year contract consolidates its position as a key contributor to the aviation supply chain, it added.



Mysuru-based Rangsons Aerospace has a dedicated plant for developing and manufacturing critical assemblies for the efficient conveyance of essential fluids such as power fluids (fuel), lubrication fluids, coolants, water, and oxygen, which are crucial for aircraft operations.



This strategic alliance not only underscores the company's commitment to delivering advanced solutions but also fortifies its global presence, extending from India to the US and Israel, it said.


Organisations that export Irish goods to Great Britain are being urged to prepare for new post-Brexit rules coming into force in two weeks.

From January 31st 2024, Great Britain will require the pre-lodgement of customs declarations and the pre-notification of agri-food exports  which in some cases will also need an Export Health Certificate.

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Irish exporters, UK importers, businesses and hauliers are all being asked ensure that all staff are aware of their roles in implementing the changes for GB-bound goods.

It is unclear how many businesses are affected or how many have prepared for the new requirements.

Authorities have contingency plans on how to manage traffic if trucks arrive at Dublin port and are not prepared.

The first change sees the introduction of full customs controls for goods from Ireland on January 31st; a requirement has been in place for other EU goods since January 2022.

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The second two changes is the pre-notification of agri-food products destined for Great Britain and, in some cases, the need for an Export Health Certification which confirms that the product meets British health requirements.

These certificates are issued by authorities such as the Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine and is done to align with the UKs new risk-category approach to agri-goods.

Exporters of Irish agri-food products need to check which category their products fall into, and if they fall into the medium-risk or high-risk category, they will need to apply for an export certificate.

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Products that are in the low-risk category will not need the certificate but will still need to be pre-notified.

For example, meats and infant formula require health certificates, while cheddar cheeses made from pasteurised milk and composite products do not require one.

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Exporters to GB also need to be registered on the EU Traces system in order to apply for these certificates.

Products that are going from Northern Ireland are not affected by the changes, nor are Irish goods that are processed in Northern Ireland before being sent to Great Britain.

The new rules represent a significant change in trading and Irish authorities are urging in particular small businesses and those who are not regular exporters to be prepared.

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The pre-notification for agri-foods needs to be done between 30 days and 24 hours in advance of travel, and if trucks arrive at ports without an Export Health certificate they will have to return to base and the production premises will have to go through a process with a certifying officer to obtain it.

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Businesses are being advised to submit their customs declarations as far in advance as they can if they know the information is not going to change.

For example, the customs declaration needs to include the reference number of pre-notification for agri-foods, the registration number of the container the goods are travelling in, and the ferry that it will be arriving on.

The new rules are part of the UK Governments rollout of post-Brexit checks this year.

Goods from Britain have faced similar controls from the EU since it left the blocs single market at the start of 2021, but the UK has repeatedly put off checks in the other direction.

By April 30 2024, medium-risk animal products from the EU will undergo documentary, identity, and physical checks.

From October 31 2024, safety and security declarations for EU imports will become mandatory, along with a more streamlined dataset for imports.

Over one third of Irish exports go to the UK, which remains as the largest single destination for Irish food, drink and horticulture exports.

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The UK market accounts for 47% of Irish beef exports with an estimated value of 1.3 billion, while dairy exports to the UK last year were valued at 1.1 billion euro.

Irelands Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheal Martin said: The UK continues to be an important market for Irish exports so the smooth transition to these new UK requirements will be very important for us.

I am encouraging all Irish companies to speak to everyone in their supply chain and make sure they are ready for the new UK processes starting January 31st.
A total of 28 passenger trains passed over a broken rail on a mainline railway track in Kildare last year before the line was closed, despite the problem being reported by the drivers of the first two trains over three hours earlier.

An investigation by the Railway Accident Investigation Unit found the piece of broken rail had only been installed less than a month earlier.

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The report revealed that a train driver on an early morning service between Newbridge and Grand Canal Dock on February 23rd, 2023 had been alerted to a problem on the rail by an automatic warning system as it was travelling near Newbridge, Co Kildare.

The driver reported the potential fault on the line between stations at Newbridge and Sallins & Naas at 7.11am to a signalman.

Another driver on a Carlow-Dublin Heuston service also experienced a similar alert with his trains continuous automatic warning system (CAWS) 13 minutes later while passing through the same area.

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The report noted an Iarnrod Eireann staff member was dispatched to the site to investigate the suspected fault after the second driver had also reported the issue.

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However, the broken rail with a 10mm gap was not discovered until 10.52am when all other trains on the line were immediately stopped.

The RAIU revealed a total of 28 passenger trains had travelled over the affected section of track with drivers continuing to report alerts from the CAWS on their trains before the existence of the broken rail had been confirmed.

It noted these train drivers had been advised to continue and to obey lineside signals which were working normally.

The RAIU said that under slightly different circumstances the incident might have led to a serious accident with the potential for a fatality or serious injuries due to the risk of derailment.

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As a result of the broken rail, the Dublin-Cork line was closed for just over an hour to allow temporary repairs to be carried out.

Eight trains were directly delayed as a result of the incident with a combined delay of 267 minutes.

A speed limit of 40km/h was imposed on the affected section of track until a permanent repair was completed.

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Investigators said the broken rail had been fractured through a joint that had been welded at an Iarnrod Eireann plant in Portlaoise.

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They traced the problem to slag inclusion in the welding process which resulted in a lack of fusion.

The RAIU claimed the crack could have progressed through the rail section in a single rapid event due to rapid overload.

It identified a contributory factor in the design of equipment that could have allowed the problem to go undetected.

It said a systemic factor was the risk associated with not cleaning equipment had not been identified at the Portlaoise plant.

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Although an Iarnrod Eireann employee had walked the track three days before the incident at a time when the rail was almost certainly partially cracked, the RAIU said it was highly unlikely it would have been visible.

The RAIU issued a number of safety recommendations in relation to welding equipment and risk assessment of the welding process.

The report noted that a broken rail had been detected on the Cork line the previous day, which is the subject of a separate investigation, but no other similar incident had been recorded since 2015.

Iarnrod Eireann said it had carried out ultrasonic testing of all welded rails at its Portlaoise plant following the incident and continues to conduct sample checks of 10 per cent of welded rails on a weekly basis.
Storm Isha will bring very strong winds to Ireland this weekend as the current cold snap comes to an abrupt end.

Met Eireann has issued a nationwide warning for strong and gusty southwest winds during Sunday and the early hours of Monday.

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The weather agency said the storm could create significant coastal waves and difficult travelling conditions. Debris and loose objects could also be displaced as gale force winds hit coasts.

The status-yellow warning comes into effect at 11am on Sunday and will last until 6am on Monday.

#StormIsha has been named by the UK Met Office



#StormIsha will bring very strong winds to Ireland on Sunday



Wind Warning detailshttps://t.co/RMepExdJHx



Warnings will be updated so please keep an eye on https://t.co/nYumITXWOg and the Met Eireann app pic.twitter.com/eUgNU7Tw9w Advertisement  Met Eireann (@MetEireann) January 19, 2024 Advertisement

The UK Met Office has issued a status-orange warning for the North from 6pm on Sunday until 9am on Monday. It said very strong winds will disrupt travel and power services.

The storm comes after a spell of very cold weather across the island. Much of Co Donegal and the North was still under a blanket of snow on Friday morning.

However, warmer temperatures will replace the recent snow and sub-zero chills at the weekend, with highs of 13 degrees Celsius possible on Sunday.

Temperatures will begin to rise on Friday evening, with rain developing in the west and spreading eastwards across the country overnight.

Saturday will be a much milder day with outbreaks of rain and drizzle. Some dry spells will develop in the afternoon, but a more persistent spell of rain will spread from the west again on Saturday evening.
A pair of alpacas have gone missing in Co Roscommon.

Owner Kieran Kelly from Castlerea took to social media to appeal for information about the animals.

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He said the two pregnant female Alpacas were missing, and possibly stolen, from the Cloonmaul/Loughglynn area of the county.

Effenia and Jessica have been gone since early Monday, he said.

Mr Kelly said he was distraught and encouraged anyone with any information to make contact with him through Facebook or call their local gardai.

There are now thousands of alpacas in Ireland, and they are prized by sheep farmers as they protect flocks from foxes. Alpacas, which come from the same family as camels and llamas, are also increasingly kept as pets.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said that there will be arrests over recent arson attacks on accommodation earmarked for asylum seekers.

There have been almost 20 attacks or threats of violence on accommodation for asylum seekers in total since 2018, with about half of them having occurred in 2023.

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Speaking on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Mr Varadkar said gardai anticipate there will be arrests made in relation to the attacks.

There are a number of Garda investigations under way. There have been people questioned and searches have been carried out, Mr Varadkar said.

His comments come following increasing tensions and arson attacks on proposed accommodation centres for asylum seekers.

On Thursday, it emerged that a disused convent in Co Longford will no longer be used as a centre for Ukrainian refugees following an attempted arson attack this week.

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Lanesboro Convent was targeted on Tuesday night by suspected anti-immigrant protesters who used accelerant to start the fire.

Longford Fire Brigade doused the flames quickly and there was little damage done to the convent, which is in the middle of the town.

The Longford attack is the latest in a string of attacks and vandalism on accommodation centres. At the beginning of the new year, arsonists destroyed the disused Shipwright pub in Ringsend, south Dublin, after it was falsely linked to asylum seekers.

Two weeks earlier, Ross Lake House hotel in Rosscahill, Galway, which had been earmarked for asylum seekers, was largely destroyed by a fire. During the riots in the capital in November, two premises previously used to house asylum seekers were attacked.

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Mr Varadkar said he remained concerned that someone could be killed in an arson attack on a building that is due to accommodate asylum seekers.

"Ive a real worry that an arson attack might occur in a building that has somebody inside it.

"People who are carrying out these attacks just dont know that for sure and Im really fearful that a tragedy like that will happen," Mr Varadkar said.

The Taoiseach also insisted that Ireland was not a racist country or that the political climate had changed in response to the arrival of more than 100,000 refugees fleeing war-torn Ukraine, though he did accept there is rising concern about migration in the country.

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Some of that is understandable and legitimate concerns. That shouldnt be dismissed, Mr Varadkar said.

In some cases it's not, in some cases theres an element of racism to it, quite frankly.

However, he admitted that the issue has been rising for quite some time, saying that it hadnt changed in Ireland overnight.

I dont think by any means Ireland is a racist country. The vast majority of people in Ireland are willing to judge people by the content of their character, to see them as individuals not as a group," he said.
A patient at Wexford General Hospital suffered fatal internal bleeding after medical staff missed several opportunities to intervene to address her deteriorating condition, an inquest has heard.

A verdict of medical misadventure was returned into the death of Marie Lynch after Wexford county coroner, Sean Nixon, said there had been delays in treatment being provided to the patient.

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Ms Lynch (75) of St Aidans Villas, Enniscorthy, Co Wexford died at Wexford General Hospital on March 24th, 2021.

An inquest into her death at Wexford Coroners Court in Gorey on Friday also heard claims that the patient had suffered internal blood loss as a result of anti-blood clotting medicine that she had been given longer than necessary.

Dr Nixon heard Ms Lynch had been a very active grandmother who was more like a sister to her children and grandchildren prior to her admission to hospital.

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Solicitor for Ms Lynchs family, Ambrose Cuddy, said she was admitted for treatment to Wexford General Hospital on March 11, 2021 with a painful leg following a fall and had been diagnosed with cellulitis.

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The inquest heard that she was given an anticoagulant to prevent blood clots from March 18, 2021 which was prescribed in increased doses from the following day.

CT Scan

Mr Cuddy said a CT scan to check for clots on the lung was ordered on Friday, March 19th 2021 but it was not carried out until three days later.

He observed that it seemed that it was bad to be in hospital over a weekend as nothing happens.

Mr Cuddy said the CT scan taken on March 22, 2021 showed there was no clot on the patients lung but her treatment with the anticoagulant was not stopped for a further 24 hours even though her condition was deteriorating.

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By the following day, the solicitor said Ms Lynch was vomiting blood and also passing blood in her stool as well as suffering nosebleeds.

Mr Cuddy said extensive bleeding in the patient could have been addressed by a blood transfusion.

The inquest heard she died in the early hours of March 24, 2021 after suffering a cardiac arrest.

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Ms Lynchs family were tormented and frightened and have a total loss of confidence in Wexford General Hospital, said Mr Cuddy.

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Postmortem

A postmortem showed Ms Lynch had died as a result of hypovolemic shock due to blood loss at multiple sites within her body.

The inquest heard that the patient suffered internal bleeding of up to 1.3 litres of blood, while an additional unmeasured quantity of blood was also found in her pelvic area.

Pathologist, Mutaz Nur said he could not say the use of the anti-coagulant was definitely responsible for the blood loss but accepted it was probably a contributory factor.

Cross-examined by Mr Cuddy, Dr Nur greed that Ms Lynch had suffered significant internal bleeding.

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The pathologist said it was not possible to say when the blood loss had started but he accepted there had been a significant loss of blood over a short period of time.

A consultant physician at Wexford General Hospital, Professor Colm Quigley, said it was standard practice to give an anticoagulant to a patient who was at risk of deep vein thrombosis like Ms Lynch.

It was entirely appropriate, the consultant remarked.

However, Prof Quigley admitted he was unhappy that a CT scan he ordered for Ms Lynch on March 19, 2021 was not carried out for a further three days.

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Prof Quigley accepted there could have been earlier intervention from March 23, 2021 to address the patients deteriorating condition.

He believed there was a window of about three hours up to 9pm that day when Ms Lynchs condition could have been stabilised with a blood transfusion.

Since the patients death, Prof Quigley said improvements had been made in the training of staff at Wexford General Hospital about recognising patients with a deteriorating condition.

However, Prof Quigley said the failure to recognise a deterioration in patients and to provide a rapid response in hospitals was a national issue.

Offering his condolences to Ms Lynchs relatives, he said staff at Wexford General Hospital would be happy to meet them if they still had further questions about the case.

Missed opportunities

Returning a verdict of medical misadventure, Dr Nixon said there was evidence of a lot of missed opportunities and a failure to escalate treatment for her deteriorating condition.

The coroner said there had also been a significant delay in carrying out the CT scan on Ms Lynch and in addressing her internal bleeding particularly in the final 24 hours of her life.

Dr Nixon said there had also been an issue with maintaining correct and adequate medical notes about the patients care.

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He welcomed a lot of good recommendations that had come from a review by Wexford General Hospital of its care of Ms Lynch.

Speaking after the inquest, Ms Lynchs daughter, Wendy Walsh, said her mother had never been a hospital patient before apart from the birth of her five children.

Ms Walsh said she and her siblings had been unable to visit their mother in hospital due to Covid-19 restrictions.

She said she last spoke to her mother on March 23rd, 2021, when she had complained about vomiting and passing blood.

Little did I know that the care she was receiving was below standard and her life hung in the balance, said Ms Walsh.

She added: I trusted in a system which would eventually take the most precious person from me.

Ms Walsh said she felt sick to the pit of my stomach after reading reports from the hospital about her mother which admitted mistakes but offered no apology.

Welcoming the verdict of medical misadventure, Ms Walsh said her family had to push for a postmortem to be carried out to establish the cause of her death.

I will forever regret not asking more questions. Not pushing harder to get into see her knowing that if I had, I would not have left until she was taken care of, she remarked.
TOKYO, Jan 19 (NHK) - The largest faction in Japan's main governing Liberal Democratic Party has decided to disband in response to a political funds scandal.

The faction once led by the late prime minister Abe Shinzo made the decision at a general meeting on Friday.

Prosecutors filed charges against the faction's chief treasurer and two lawmakers who left the faction on Friday. They arrested another lawmaker in the faction last week on January 7.

They are accused of underreporting about 4 million dollars in revenues from fundraising parties.

Former education minister Shionoya Ryu, who serves as the faction's acting leader, apologized for letting down the public, LDP supporters and party officials.

He said he deeply regrets not having done much more as the acting leader.

He made the remarks at the faction's first general meeting since investigators raided its office last month.

Shionoya briefed participants on developments in the situation and a plan to correct political funds reports of the offices of the members involved in the scandal.

Prime Minister Kishida Fumio, who is the LDP president, has announced his intention to dissolve the faction he led until recently.

Participants at the general meeting discussed their faction's future and decided to disband it.

Source: NHK
Rifts are emerging among top Israeli officials over the handling of the war against Hamas in Gaza.

A member of the countrys war cabinet cast doubt over the strategy for releasing hostages and Israels prime minister rejected the USs calls to scale back its offensive.

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Only a ceasefire deal can win the release of dozens of hostages still held by Islamic militants in Gaza, and claims they could be freed by other means was spreading illusions, said former army chief Gadi Eisenkot, one of four members of the war cabinet, in his first public statements on the course of the war.

Mr Eisenkots comments late on Thursday are the latest sign of disagreement among political and military leaders over the direction of Israels offensive on Hamas, now in its fourth month.

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Sparked by an unprecedented October 7th Hamas raid into Israel which killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and saw about 250 others taken hostage, the Israeli assault has pulverised much of the Gaza Strip, home to some 2.3 million people.

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Smoke rises following an Israeli bombardment in the Gaza Strip on Thursday (Ohad Zwigenberg/AP)

Israel has said more than 130 hostages remain in Gaza but not all of them are believed to be alive.

Israels offensive, one of the deadliest and most destructive military campaigns in recent history, has killed nearly 25,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities, and uprooted more than 80 per cent of the territorys population.

Israel has also cut off all but a trickle of supplies into the besieged Gaza Strip, including food, water and fuel.

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Several dozen lorries with critical supplies now enter the territory each day, just a fraction of the pre-war volume of about 500.

Both the US and United Nations have said more aid needs to be delivered.

A communications blackout in the territory was in its seventh day on Friday, the longest such blackout since the war began. The lack of communications hampers the co-ordination of aid deliveries and rescue efforts.

The US, Israels closest ally, has provided strong military and political support for the campaign but has been increasingly calling on Israel to scale back its assault and take steps toward establishing a Palestinian state after the war  a suggestion Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu has soundly rejected.

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An Israeli army tank moves near the Israeli-Gaza border, in southern Israel, on Wednesday (Ohad Zwigenberg/AP)

Speaking during a nationally televised press conference on Thursday, Mr Netanyahu reiterated his longstanding opposition to a two-state solution, arguing that a Palestinian state would become a launchpad for attacks on Israel.

Israel must have security control over the entire territory west of the Jordan River, Mr Netanyahu said, adding: That collides with the idea of sovereignty. What can we do?

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The US has said the internationally recognised Palestinian Authority, which governs semi-autonomous zones in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, should be revitalised and return to Gaza. Hamas ousted the authority from Gaza in 2007.

Washington has also called for steps toward the establishment of a Palestinian state. The Palestinians seek Gaza, the West Bank and east Jerusalem for their state. Those areas were captured by Israel in 1967.

Speaking on Wednesday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, US secretary of state Antony Blinken said the two-state solution is the best way to protect Israel, unify moderate Arab countries and isolate Israels arch-enemy, Iran.

He said that without a pathway to a Palestinian state, Israel will not get genuine security.

At the same conference, Saudi Arabias foreign minister said the kingdom is ready to establish full relations with Israel as part of a larger political agreement.

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Palestinians mourn their relatives killed in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip (Fatima Shbair/AP)

But that can only happen through peace for the Palestinians, through a Palestinian state, he said.

A spokesperson for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who heads the Palestinian Authority, said late on Thursday that there can be no security and stability in the region without a Palestinian state.

Mr Netanyahu and defence minister Yoav Gallant have said the fighting will continue until Hamas is crushed, and argue that only military action can win the hostages release.

Hamas seeks an end to the war before discussing hostage releases and has demanded the release of thousands of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel in exchange for those held captive in Gaza.

Commentators have begun to question whether Mr Netanyahus objectives are realistic, given the slow pace of the offensive and growing international criticism, including genocide accusations at the United Nations world court, which Israel vehemently denies.

Mr Netanyahus opponents accuse him of delaying any discussion of postwar scenarios in order to avoid looming investigations of governmental failures, keep his coalition intact and put off elections.

Polls show that the popularity of Mr Netanyahu, who is on trial for corruption charges, has plummeted during the war.

An Israeli fighter jet releases flares as it flies over the Gaza Strip on Tuesday (Leo Correa/AP)

Mr Eisenkot, whose son was killed in December in Gaza, told the investigative programme Uvda on Israels Channel 12 television station late on Thursday that the hostages will only return alive if there is a deal, linked to a significant pause in fighting.

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He said dramatic rescue operations are unlikely because the hostages are apparently spread out, many of them in underground tunnels.

Claiming hostages can be freed by means other than a deal is to spread illusions, he said.

In a thinly veiled criticism of Mr Netanyahu, Mr Eisenkot also said strategic decisions about the wars direction must be made urgently, and that a discussion about an endgame should have begun immediately after the war began.

He also dismissed suggestions that the military has delivered a decisive blow against Hamas.

Mr Gallant has said troops disabled the Hamas command structure in northern Gaza, from where significant numbers of troops were withdrawn earlier in the week, and the focus is now on the southern half of the territory.

We havent yet reached a strategic achievement, or rather only partially, Mr Eisenkot said. We did not bring down Hamas.

Relatives and supporters of the Israeli hostages held in the Gaza Strip by the Hamas militant group attend a march calling for their release near Kibbutz Urim, southern Israel (Ohad Zwigenberg/AP)

The militant group has continued to fight back across Gaza, even in the most devastated areas, and launched rockets into Israel.

The former army chief said he is examining every day whether he should remain in the war cabinet, which includes Mr Netanyahu, Mr Gallant and former defence minister Benny Gantz. Mr Eisenkot is a member of parliament in the opposition National Unity alliance headed by Mr Gantz. Both joined Mr Netanyahu to help lead the war.

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I know what my red line is, Mr Eisenkot said when asked at what point he would quit. Its connected to the hostages, that is one of the objectives, but its also connected to the way in which we need to run this war.

The war has rippled across the Middle East, with Iranian-backed groups attacking US and Israeli targets. Fighting between Israel and Hizbullah militants in Lebanon threatens to erupt into all-out war, and Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen continue to target international shipping despite US-led airstrikes.

The US conducted a fifth strike against Houthi rebels in Yemen on Thursday, even as President Joe Biden acknowledged that bombing the militants has yet to stop their attacks on shipping in the crucial Red Sea corridor.
UK Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has described Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahus opposition to the establishment of a Palestinian state when the war in the Middle East ends as unacceptable.

In a hardening of tone towards Mr Netanyahu, Mr Starmer said it was wrong to suggest that statehood was in the gift of a neighbour.

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Mr Netanyahu has vowed to press ahead with the offensive in Gaza for many months despite mounting pressure on Israel to rein in its military action as the scale of death and destruction intensifies.

In a press conference earlier this week, he also said he opposed US calls for the establishment of a Palestinian state when the conflict comes to an end.

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Asked about the Israeli prime ministers remarks on Friday, Mr Starmer told broadcasters: The comments (made by) Prime Minister Netanyahu are unacceptable and they are wrong.

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Palestinian statehood is not in the gift of a neighbour. It is the inalienable right of the Palestinian people.

Its also the only way to a secure settlement and a secure future.

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It comes amid a wider rift between Israel and the US over the scope of Israels war and plans for the future of Gaza.

US secretary of state Antony Blinken has said Israel would never have genuine security without a pathway towards Palestinian independence.

In response to the comments made by Mr Netanyahu in his press conference, White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said: We obviously see it differently.

Earlier this week, the White House also announced it was the right time for Israel to lower the intensity of its military action in Gaza.

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Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu has been criticised by UK Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer (Aaron Chown/PA)

Israel launched the offensive after an unprecedented cross-border attack by Hamas on October 7th, in which 1,200 people were killed and some 240 others taken hostage.

Roughly 130 hostages are believed by Israel to remain in Hamas captivity.

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Nearly 25,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israels assault  one of the deadliest and most destructive military campaigns in recent history, according to health authorities in Hamas-controlled Gaza.

Mr Netanyahu struck a defiant tone this week, repeatedly saying the offensive will not be halted until it realises its goals of destroying Hamas and bringing home all remaining hostages.

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Both the UK's Tory government and the Labour opposition, along with the US, have said they back Israels right to defend itself following Hamas October 7th attacks.

Both have expressed support for a two-state solution to the conflict and a sustainable ceasefire  but have resisted calls to back an immediate one.

However, the Israeli government has been urged by western allies to limit the scope of its offensive and act within the parameters of international law.

The country currently faces a case at the UNs International Court of Justice (ICJ) brought by South Africa, which accuses it of genocide over its actions in Gaza  a charge Israel denies.

UK foreign secretary Lord David Cameron on Sunday said the UK has been incredibly firm in urging Israel to show restraint but that it was nonsense to suggest the country intends to commit genocide.
Turkeys first astronaut, a Swede and an Italian have set off for the International Space Station on a chartered SpaceX flight.

The Falcon rocket blasted off from Nasas Kennedy Space Centre in late afternoon, carrying the three men, all with military pilot experience and representing their homelands.

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Their escort on the trip is a retired Nasa astronaut who now works for the company that arranged the private flight.

Their capsule should reach the space station on Saturday.



A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Kennedy Space Centres Launch Pad 39-A in Cape Canaveral, Florida (Chris OMeara/AP)

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They will spend two weeks performing experiments, chatting to schoolchildren and soaking in the views of Earth, before returning home.

It is costing each of the three countries 55 million dollars (43 million) or more.

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That is the rough per-person price for the trip, the third such journey organised by the Houston company Axiom Space with Nasa and SpaceX.

Russia has been welcoming paid visitors to the space station for more than two decades, but Nasa did not until two years ago.

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Turkeys Alper Gezeravci, a former fighter pilot and captain for Turkish Airlines, is the first person from his country to rocket to space.

He noted Turkey just celebrated its 100th anniversary, and, until now, the nations view of the sky has been limited to what we could see with our bare eyes.

Now this mission is opening that curtain all the way, he told reporters before the flight.



Axiom-3 mission astronauts, from left, mission specialist Marcus Wandt, of Sweden, mission specialist Alper Gezeravci, of Turkey, pilot Walter Villadei, of Italy, and Commander Michael Lopez-Alegria at the Kennedy Space Centre in Cape Canaveral, Florida (John Raoux/AP)

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This is the beginning of our next centennial.

Also flying are Swedens Marcus Wandt, a former fighter pilot and test pilot for Swedish Aeroplane Corporation who was chosen in 2022 as a reserve astronaut by the European Space Agency, and Italian Air Force Colonel Walter Villadei, who flew to the edge of space last summer with Virgin Galactic.

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Among the symbolic items they are taking up are a Nobel Prize medal from Sweden, fusilli pasta from Italy and tokens of Turkeys nomadic culture.

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With them is Michael Lopez-Alegria, who launched four times as a Nasa astronaut before joining Axiom Space and escorting its first chartered flight.
The judge presiding over the Georgia prosecution of former US president Donald Trump and others for efforts to overturn the 2020 election has set a hearing on a motion alleging Fulton County district attorney Fani Willis has been romantically involved with a special prosecutor she hired for the case.

In an order on Thursday, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee set a February 15 hearing and ordered prosecutors to file their response by February 2.

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The allegations have been seized upon by Mr Trump and other critics of the prosecution, who have argued that the case is tainted and should be tossed out.

Defence lawyer Ashleigh Merchant, who represents former Trump campaign staff member and one-time White House aide Michael Roman, made the allegations in a motion filed last week.

She alleged that Ms Willis was involved in a romantic relationship with lawyer Nathan Wade that created a conflict of interest and led to Ms Willis profiting personally from the prosecution.

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Special prosecutor Nathan Wade (Elijah Nouvelage/The Washington Post via AP, Pool)

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The motion seeks to have the indictment thrown out and to have Ms Willis and Mr Wade removed from the case.

Ms Willis defended her hiring of Mr Wade and his qualifications during an address at a church in Atlanta on Sunday but has not commented publicly on the allegation of a romantic relationship.

Among other things, she cited Mr Wades 10 years of experience as a municipal court judge and 20 years in private practice.

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Ms Williss office has said it will respond to Ms Merchants motion in a court filing but has not provided a timeline for that.

Ms Merchant has not provided any solid proof to support the alleged inappropriate relationship.

She mentioned information obtained outside of court filings and sources close to Ms Willis and Mr Wade.

Ms Merchants motion also mentions that filings in Mr Wades pending divorce are sealed but that she has filed a motion to unseal them.

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A coalition of news organisations, including The Associated Press, filed a motion on Tuesday to gain access to those filings.

Ms Merchant wrote that Mr Wade has been paid large sums and has used some of his earnings to take Ms Willis on holiday to Napa Valley, Florida and the Caribbean.

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She said that amounts to the pair profiting significantly from this prosecution at the expense of the taxpayers.

Ms Merchant said she can find no evidence that Mr Wade  whose law firm website touts his experience in civil litigation, including car accident and family law cases  has ever prosecuted a felony case.

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Donald Trump (Matt Rourke/AP)

She questioned his qualifications to try this case.

Mr Trump and Mr Roman were indicted by a Fulton County grand jury in August along with 17 others.

They are accused of participating in a wide-ranging scheme to try to illegally overturn the 2020 presidential election in Georgia.

Four of those charged have already pleaded guilty after reaching deals with prosecutors.

Mr Trump, Mr Roman and the others who remain have pleaded not guilty.

Mr Roman was the director of Election Day operations for the Trump campaign and had also worked in the White House.

Prosecutors say he helped co-ordinate an effort to contact state legislators on Mr Trumps behalf to encourage them to unlawfully appoint presidential electors.

He is also alleged to have been involved in efforts to have Republicans in swing states that Mr Trump lost, including Georgia, meet on December 14 2020 to sign certificates falsely saying Mr Trump had won their states and that they were the electors for their states.

He was in touch with local Republican officials in several states to set up those meetings.

The Washington Post first reported the scheduling of the hearing.
Nato will launch its biggest military exercises in decades next week, with around 90,000 personnel set to take part in months of drills aimed at showing the alliance can defend all of its territory up to its border with Russia, top officers said.

The exercises come as Russias war on Ukraine bogs down.

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Nato as an organisation is not directly involved in the conflict, except to supply Kyiv with non-lethal support, although many member countries send weapons and ammunition individually or in groups and provide military training.

In the months before Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered troops into Ukraine in February 2022, Nato began beefing up security on its eastern flank with Russia and Ukraine.

It is the alliances biggest build up since the Cold War.





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The war games are meant to deter Russia from targeting a member country.

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The exercises  dubbed Steadfast Defender 24  will show that Nato can conduct and sustain complex multi-domain operations over several months, across thousands of kilometres, from the High North to Central and Eastern Europe, and in any condition, the 31-nation organisation said.

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Troops will be moving to and through Europe until the end of May in what Nato describes as a simulated emerging conflict scenario with a near-peer adversary.

Under Natos new defence plans, its chief adversaries are Russia and terrorist organisations.

The alliance will demonstrate its ability to reinforce the Euro-Atlantic area via transatlantic movement of forces from North America, Natos supreme allied commander, US General Christopher Cavoli, told reporters.





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Latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine  18 January 2024.



Find out more about Defence Intelligence's use of language: https://t.co/0npPvd2nrM #StandWithUkraine  pic.twitter.com/mhfzrIQ3Lx  Ministry of Defence  (@DefenceHQ) January 18, 2024

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General Cavoli said it will demonstrate our unity, our strength, and our determination to protect each other.

The chair of the Nato Military Committee, Admiral Rob Bauer, said it is a record number of troops that we can bring to bear and have an exercise within that size, across the alliance, across the ocean from the US to Europe.

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Admiral Bauer described it as a big change compared to troop numbers exercising just a year ago.

Sweden, which is expected to join Nato this year, will also take part.

UK Defence Secretary Grant Shapps said his Government will send 20,000 troops backed by advanced fighter jets, surveillance planes, warships and submarines, with many being deployed in eastern Europe from February to June.
Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu has rejected US calls to scale back Israels military offensive in the Gaza Strip or take steps towards the establishment of a Palestinian state after the war, drawing an immediate scolding from the White House.

The tense back and forth reflected what has become a wide rift between the two allies over the scope of Israels war and its plans for the future of the beleaguered territory.

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We obviously see it differently, White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said.

Mr Netanyahu spoke just a day after US secretary of state Antony Blinken said Israel would never have genuine security without a pathway towards Palestinian independence.

Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu (Ohad Zwigenberg, Pool/AP)

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Earlier this week, the White House also announced that it was the right time for Israel to lower the intensity of its devastating military offensive in Gaza.

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In a nationally televised news conference, Mr Netanyahu struck a defiant tone, repeatedly saying that Israel would not halt its offensive until it realises its goals of destroying Gazas Hamas militant group and bringing home all remaining hostages held by Hamas.

He rejected claims by a growing chorus of Israeli critics that those goals are not achievable, vowing to press ahead for many months.

We will not settle for anything short of an absolute victory, Mr Netanyahu said.

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Israel launched the offensive after an unprecedented cross-border attack by Hamas on October 7th that killed 1,200 people and took some 250 others hostage.

Roughly 130 hostages are believed by Israel to remain in Hamas captivity.

The war has stoked tensions across the region, threatening to ignite other conflicts.

Israels assault, one of the deadliest and most destructive military campaigns in recent history, has killed nearly 25,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities, caused widespread destruction and uprooted more than 80% of the territorys 2.3 million people from their homes.

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Palestinians look at the destruction after an Israeli strike in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip (Fatima Shbair/AP)

The staggering cost of the war has led to increasing calls from the international community to halt the offensive.

After initially giving Israel wall-to-wall support in the early days of the war, the United States, Israels closest ally, has begun to express misgivings and urged Mr Netanyahu to spell out his vision for postwar Gaza.

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The United States has said the internationally recognised Palestinian Authority, which governs semi-autonomous zones in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, should be revitalised and return to Gaza.

Hamas ousted the authority from Gaza in 2007.

The US has also called for steps towards the establishment of a Palestinian state.

The Palestinians seek Gaza, the West Bank and east Jerusalem for their state.

Those areas were captured by Israel in 1967.

Speaking on Wednesday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Mr Blinken said the two-state solution was the best way to protect Israel, unify moderate Arab countries and isolate Israels arch-enemy, Iran.

Smoke rises following an Israeli bombardment in the Gaza Strip, as seen from southern Israel (Ohad Zwigenberg/AP)

Without a pathway to a Palestinian state, he said, Israel would not get genuine security.

At the same conference, Saudi Arabias foreign minister said the kingdom is ready to establish full relations with Israel as part of a larger political agreement.

But that can only happen through peace for the Palestinians, through a Palestinian state, he said.

Mr Netanyahu, who leads a far-right government opposed to Palestinian statehood, repeated his longstanding opposition to a two-state solution.

He said a Palestinian state would become a launching pad for attacks on Israel.

Mr Netanyahu said Israel must have security control over the entire territory west of the Jordan River, adding: That collides with the idea of sovereignty. What can we do?

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This truth I tell to our American friends, and I put the brakes on the attempt to coerce us to a reality that would endanger the state of Israel, he said.

The comments prompted an immediate rebuke from the White House.

US president Joe Biden walks to speak to the media before boarding Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington (Yuri Gripas/AP)

Mr Kirby said that US president Joe Biden would not stop working towards a two-state solution.

Before October 7th, Israeli society was bitterly divided over Mr Netanyahus plan for a judicial overhaul.

Since the attack, the country has rallied behind the war.

But divisions have once again begun to surface over Mr Netanyahus handling of the war.

Families of the hostages and their many supporters have called for a new ceasefire that could bring them home.

Hamas released more than 100 hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners during a week-long ceasefire in November.

Dozens of people attended a sombre gathering in Tel Aviv in solidarity with the family of Kfir Bibas, the youngest Israeli hostage, marking his first birthday.

The red-haired infant and his four-year-old brother Ariel were taken hostage along with their mother, Shiri, and their father, Yarden.

All four remain in captivity.

Commentators have begun to question whether Mr Netanyahus objectives are realistic, given the slow pace of the offensive and growing international criticism, including genocide accusations at the UN world court, which Israel vehemently denies.

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Mr Netanyahus opponents accuse him of delaying any discussion of postwar scenarios to avoid looming investigations of governmental failures, keep his coalition intact and put off elections.

Polls show that the popularity of Mr Netanyahu, who is on trial for corruption charges, has plummeted during the war.
A man who fell through the ice on a frozen lake in the US state of Michigan was rescued after a quick-thinking state police officer used the stranded mans dog to get rescue equipment to him and pull the man to safety.

Bystanders called emergency services on Thursday after the 65-year-old man, from Traverse City, fell through ice-covered Arbutus Lake, state police said.

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The body camera worn by Michigan State Police motor carrier officer Kammeron Bennetts captured the rescue, initially showing the man trapped in frigid waters with just his head and shoulders above the thin ice, and his dog standing at his side.

It shows Mr Bennetts first trying to throw a rescue disc tethered to a rope out to the man.





Grand Traverse County: Body-cam footage captures daring ice rescue by MSP Motor Carrier Officer Kammeron Bennetts with the help of the victims dog Ruby. Great team work and well done! https://t.co/uTblTv3bhV pic.twitter.com/NDKKHZnysu Advertisement Advertisement  MSP Seventh District (@mspnorthernmi) January 18, 2024

When it fails, Mr Bennetts asks the man to send his dog to him.

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Send your pup here. Will she come to me? he calls to the man, who replies that his dogs name is Ruby.

Ruby come here! Come here Ruby! Mr Bennetts shouts in the video before whistling for the canine, which runs to him and arrives tail wagging.

The officer ties the rescue disc to the dogs collar and asks the man to call Ruby back to him.

When she returns to her owner, Mr Bennetts tells the man to take the disc from Ruby and to start kicking his legs.

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Bring your feet up to the surface by kicking your feet, he shouts, pulling the man on to the lakes icy surface and urging him to hold on to the disc as he keeps pulling on the rope, dragging him on to safer ice near the lakes edge.

Mr Bennetts and a local firefighter are then able to grab his arms to complete the rescue, with Ruby still attached to the rope.



Officers work to extricate a man from the waters of frozen Arbutus Lake in Grand Traverse County, Michigan (Michigan State Police via AP)

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State police said the man was taken by ambulance to hospital for treatment and later released.

The agency cheered the rescue in a posting on X, formerly Twitter, praising Ruby in particular.

What a good girl!!! Amazing ice rescue from 7th District, MCO Bennetts. Creative thinking helped save a life!! EXCELLENT JOB MCO Bennetts and RUBY!! the tweet states, adding: Great team work and well done!
Thousands of people rallied across Slovakia as protests intensified against a plan by the new government of populist prime minister Robert Fico to amend the countrys penal code.

The protests came hours after President Zuzana Caputova voiced her strong opposition to the changes, saying they could jeopardise the rule of law.

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The plan approved by Mr Ficos coalition government includes abolishing the special prosecutors office, which handles serious crimes such as graft, organised crime and extremism.

Those cases would be taken over by prosecutors in regional offices, which have not dealt with such crimes for 20 years.

The planned changes also include a reduction in punishments for corruption and some other crimes, including the possibility of suspended sentences, and a significant shortening of the statute of limitations.

The coalition wants to use a fast-track parliamentary procedure to approve them.

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Slovakias president has voiced her strong opposition to the plan (Jaroslav Novak/TASR via AP)

The capital was among the 24 major cities and towns where protests took place on Thursday, the biggest number since they started on December 7 in Bratislava.

Richard Sulik, head of the opposition Freedom and Solidarity party, told the crowd braving rain at Bratislavas jammed SNP square that the proposals look like they were drafted by the mafia.

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Its a shame what this pro-mafia coalition is doing, Mr Sulik said.

Mafia, mafia, people chanted.

Michal Simecka, who heads the liberal Progressive Slovakia, the strongest opposition party, said the government has to withdraw the insane legislation.

Today, the whole Europe is watching our fight for the rule of law and democracy, he said.

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We wont be silent, the people responded.

On Wednesday, the European Parliament questioned Slovakias ability to fight corruption and protect the EU budget if the changes are adopted.



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The European Public Prosecutors Office has also said Slovakias plans threaten the protection of the EUs financial interests and its anti-corruption framework.

Earlier on Thursday, Slovakias president voiced her strong opposition to the governments move.

In an address to Parliament, Ms Caputova said the proposed changes could harm the rule of law and cause unpredictable damage to society.

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Its unprecedented for such serious changes in the penal code to take place without a proper legislative process, she said.

She asked politicians to allow a proper review of the proposed changes before approving them.

The legislation needs parliamentary and presidential approval. The three-party coalition has a majority in Parliament, and Ms Caputovas expected veto could be overridden by a simple majority.

Ms Caputova said she is willing to bring a constitutional challenge of the legislation. It is unclear how the Constitutional Court might rule.

Mr Fico returned to power for the fourth time after his scandal-tainted leftist party won September 30 parliamentary elections on a pro-Russia and anti-American platform.

A number of people linked to the party face prosecution in corruption scandals.

Mr Ficos critics worry his return could lead Slovakia to abandon its pro-western course and instead follow the direction of Hungary under Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
In an unmarked laboratory stationed between the campuses of Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a splinter group of scientists is hunting for the next billion-dollar drug.

The group, bankrolled with $US500 million ($750 million) from some of the wealthiest families in American business, has created a stir in the world of academia by dangling seven-figure paydays to lure highly credentialed university professors to a for-profit bounty hunt. Its self-described goal: to avoid the blockages and paperwork that slow down the traditional paths of scientific research at universities and pharmaceutical companies, and discover scores of new drugs (at first, for cancer and brain disease) that can be produced and sold quickly.

Stephen Pagliuca, the Boston Celtics owner, Keith Joung, one of Arenas newest hires, Thomas Cahill, a Boston venture capitalist, and Stuart Schreiber, a longtime Harvard-affiliated researcher who quit to be Arenas lead scientist, at Arena BioWorks. Credit: Bob OConnor / The New York Times

Braggadocio from startups is de rigueur, and plenty of ex-academics have started biotechnology companies, hoping to strike it rich on their one big discovery. This group, rather boastfully named Arena BioWorks, borrowing from a Teddy Roosevelt quote, doesnt have one singular idea, but it does have a big chequebook.

Im not apologetic about being a capitalist, and that motivation from a team is not a bad thing, said technology magnate Michael Dell, one of the groups big-money backers. Others include an heir to the Subway sandwich fortune and an owner of the Boston Celtics.
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 Heres something that might surprise you about Kevin McCloud: he doesnt find it easy chatting to strangers. I feel more at home in front of a camera than I do in front of people, he says. I find it quite hard to look at people when Im talking to them. Really? Could this be the same Kevin McCloud who builds such a rapport with the intrepid home builders who appear on the long-running TV series Grand Designs that they hug him like a long-lost friend? The eloquent beanpole who lets them cry on the shoulder of his unstructured jacket when their converted Victorian folly goes massively over budget or is submerged by rain water? Yes, it is. The 64-year-old also insists he hates answering questions about himself, but is fine asking them. My job is interviewing people which is a very, very specific discipline because its not a conversation, he says. Its asking leading questions that are supposed to elicit some kind of answer that you may or may not be expecting. I find that very satisfying. And its far less anxious-making than conversations, which can be so wide-ranging you dont know where anything is going to go next. Kevin McCloud keeps his own home design tightly under wraps. Two questions he declines to answer: where does he live and what does his house look like? He used to live in the Somerset town of Frome before he separated from his first wife, Suzanna, in 2019. Since then, hes remarried and now lives in the Welsh borders. An Amazon driver recently told him, this isnt the kind of place I thought youd live in, he says when I ask him if Casa McCloud is a glass box or an old country house. Meeting him is a bit like running into an old friend (albeit one who avoids eye contact). Since the first episode of Grand Designs screened on British television in April 1999, his handsome egg-shaped face, sartorial style and rather plummy drawl  what Jane and Tristram have achieved here is nothing short of remarkable!  have become as familiar as his shows ethereal theme music. So familiar, in fact, hes regularly asked for selfies (he dislikes them) and buttonholed for his opinion on heat pumps. So, who is the real Kevin McCloud? Im a nerd, he says without hesitation. And I think television loves nerds. You might have three or four interests that are so niche theyll never find any use in the world except on television.

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In this respect, the apple didnt fall far from the tree. McCloud is the son of an electronics engineer who delighted in taking things apart and putting them back together. Donald McCloud bought an unfinished three-bedroom house in Bedfordshire and completed it himself. When the boiler or television packed in, he mended them. And when Kevin needed a bicycle he bought his son a secondhand girls bike and fashioned a crossbar from a handrail. He either bought raw materials or liberated things from work, remembers McCloud. The speakers of his homemade stereo were military speakers that faced the ceiling and sat on heavy clay drain pipes. They made a beautiful sound, but my mother hated them. McCloud and his brothers, Terence and Graham, were press-ganged into helping out. They mixed cement or sat in the family car pressing the clutch while their father tinkered happily beneath the bonnet. We didnt realise there were trades like plumbers and mechanics because we never saw them. And we learned that there was nothing in the world, at least physically, that couldnt be fixed. TAKE 7: THE ANSWERS ACCORDING TO KEVIN MCCLOUD Worst habit? Procrastination. And then making the wrong choice. Greatest fear? I have lots of fears and they all help promote my procrastination. I think fear of loss is the big one. I dont mean material things, but people. Fear of losing those around me. The line that stayed with you? Do not go gentle into that good night. Rage, rage against the dying of the light.  Dylan Thomas. Biggest regret? Thats a really hard one. Theres the biggest regret, the saddest regret, the most wistful. The only one I would talk about is the fact I wish Id become a farmer. I do love my own company and would really enjoy spending all day by myself in the cab of a tractor. Favourite room? I have a small room in which theres a piano. Its a beautiful 1930s baby grand made of walnut. I bought it for 300 quid and it had no tone and bits of it were missing. Ive inserted the remnants of an electric piano with a fantastic sound into it. I play so badly  I sound like a four-year-old  but I love it and I love the little room. The artwork/song you wish was yours? My father used to play Scheherazade by Rimsky-Korsakov a lot on a stereo he built himself. He spent half his time taking the stereo apart and putting it together, but when it was working wed all shut up and listen. If you could solve one thing? Im involved in a charity called Chase Africa which works with organisations across Africa to enable access to family planning, healthcare and rights, while protecting the environment and building resilience to climate change. Its been said that the most dangerous thing we do as a species is have sex. In doing so were adding to the problem that there are too many human beings on the planet. If I could do one thing it would be to magic up another planet next door to Earth to inflate our resources. But that cant happen so the only thing we can do as a species to ensure our longer-term survival is to manage our numbers. McCloud went to a grammar school then spent a year in Tuscany working on an organic farm and studying singing in Florence. He would have stayed, but his father  the first member of his family not to leave school at 16  persuaded him to take up his place at Cambridge University, where he read history of art and architecture. It was a difficult adjustment. I felt I was being forced back into the same box Id been squeezed into at grammar school. I felt Id tasted the world a little bit and I felt resentful of being told what to wear and which bit of grass I could walk on. After university, he started a design and lighting company  the carved and painted Rococo-style vegetable ceiling in the Harrods food hall is his work  and began appearing as a guest on home-improvement programs. When one of the producers of BBC2s Home Front asked him if hed be interested in presenting a new show about ambitious home builds he jumped at the chance.

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Its still possible to find that first episode of Grand Designs online. A young couple is racing to finish a timber-frame kit house on a windswept cliff before their baby is born. McCloud urges them on, raises an eyebrow at some of their choices and delivers the first of his climactic monologues in which he opines, its commitment and belief that will build you the house of your dreams. Nowadays, he has less hair (and I suspect he wouldnt be seen dead in those stonewashed jeans), but otherwise the presenter and the show appear largely unchanged. His enthusiasm and obvious passion for good design is the fuel that keeps Grand Designs running. And his admiration for those brave enough to put their money, relationships and sanity on the line to build something that isnt a homogenous block is palpable. The first thing he said was shes left me ... the producer and I spent the day being marriage guidance counsellors. He describes a typical Grand Designs narrative thus: the first part is exposition; the second part is oh no, will they, wont they, theyre idiots. Part three is oh wait, theyre heroes! What makes it onto the screen is, of course, just a fragment of a story that typically unfolds over two or three years. But McCloud insists the success of Grand Designs  it has been sold to more than 140 countries and spawned spin-offs and live events  is its essential truth. These people are doing this voluntarily, theyre not being paid, and theyre letting us into their lives. If all we were going to do is shaft them and screw with the truth of their story, then all theyll do is close up, and we wont have a story.

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Kofu, Jan 19 ( NHK ) - A Japanese court has sentenced a man to death on charges of murder and arson committed when he was 19 years old.

The man is the first person to be handed the death penalty for a crime committed at age 18 or 19 since the revised juvenile law took effect in 2022, when the age of adulthood was lowered.

The Kofu District Court in Yamanashi Prefecture on Thursday gave the sentence to Endo Yuki, who is now 21 years old.

Endo was prosecuted on charges of entering the home of a woman he had affection for, killing her parents, and setting the house on fire in October 2021. He was also accused of attacking the woman's sister.

The family lived in Kofu City. Endo had been taking an evening course at a high school in the city.

The focal point in the trial was whether the defendant was mentally competent and could be held responsible for his actions.

Prosecutors said he was fully competent and sought the death sentence. Defense lawyers argued that Endo had diminished mental capacity at the time of the crime, so capital punishment should be avoided.

In handing down the ruling, Presiding Judge Mikami Jun said it was an extremely malicious, cold-blooded crime with a strong intent to kill. He added that it was well-planned and the motive was self-centered and unreasonable. The judge noted that the defendant has not sincerely apologized to the bereaved family.

The judge said the death sentence cannot be avoided because of the gravity of the criminal responsibility and the low chance of rehabilitation, even by giving maximum consideration to the age of 19.

The defendant nodded twice when he heard the ruling.

Japan's juvenile law was revised in 2022 when the civil code was changed to lower the legal age of adulthood from 20 to 18.

Under the revised juvenile law, those aged 18 and 19 are still protected, but they are treated differently from those who are 17 or younger.

The revision allows media outlets to report the names and other information of defendants when they are prosecuted for acts committed at the age of 18 or 19.
Suu Kyi, 78 and at last count facing a further 25 years in prison, makes an appearance as a co-defendant. Turnell describes her as thin from her prison time, and unfailingly courteous in the face of the pumped-up, pompous judges. Her compassion, wisdom, and sheer moral authority reasserted itself in the most trying and character-testing of circumstances. They would eschew discussions of the sham legal process in favour of her pride in the resistance to the coup, world affairs and whatever books he could smuggle to her.

Turnells writing is economical. He doesnt spare the reader from murder, torture, rats and mosquitoes, but never wallows in misery. When he rages, it is against the juntas outrages; when he feels hopeless, it is hard not to sympathise. He needs only invoke Orwell two or three times to get the point across: Min Aung Hlaing has rebuilt a totalitarian nightmare on lies and fear.

He was sentenced to three years in jail, but released on a national holiday and whisked back to Sydney. Given the sudden denouement, it isnt quite told as a gripping spy thriller, but it zips along.

Ha Vu, Sean Turnell and Anthony Albanese in parliament. Turnell writes warmly of those involved in his return to Australia. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

Above all, it was Ha in Sydney who was his greatest supporter and source of strength. He writes warmly of the network of friends, diplomats, academics, activists and politicians involved in his case. Many in Myanmar go unnamed to ensure their safety. While Turnell is no doubt genuine in his gratitude, the praise verges on the gushing. Here, again, the humour helps: feted in federal parliament, he describes himself as looking like a butler being praised for my shoe-shining prowess.
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 Andrew Scott and Paul Mescal are running hot. Scott is forever the hot priest from Phoebe Waller-Bridges hit comedy Fleabag, while Mescal has been at the top of the hot list ever since he broke out in the lockdown hit Normal People, then followed that up with his Oscar-nominated role in Aftersun. Andrew Scott in a scene from All of Us Strangers. Credit: Searchlight Pictures via AP Now, in what is possibly the canniest bit of casting over the last 12 months, the Irish actors play lovers in the heartbreaking drama All of Us Strangers. Its a pairing the films publicity department is leaning into deeply, shouting out the internets boyfriends on Instagram, with another post featuring the pair reading out thirst comments. Example: I want Andrew Scott to suffocate me with his arms. What? Are they trying to kill us? The internet is a wild place, says Scott, laughing. Its strange, all that stuff. You become much more aware of that when youre promoting the film  I absolutely love Paul. Hes got such soul and thats why the internet adores him. All that is really for fun. Its much better to be in that situation than everybody being appalled or indifferent. The internets boyfriends, reunited. Instagram photo of Andrew Scott and Paul Mescal, the stars of All of Us Strangers. Credit: Instagram In All of Us Strangers, Scott plays Adam, a lonely writer living in a desolate London apartment block. His quiet life is disrupted one night when a drunk neighbour, Harry (Mescal), knocks on his door. Harrys persistence  his determination to crack open Adams shell  forms the backbone of the pairs blossoming relationship, just as Adam starts to revisit the ghosts of his parents (Jamie Bell and Claire Foy), who died in a car accident when he was 12. Hes stuck in a sort of purgatory place, says Scott of his character. And hes had a certain amount of arrested development because his parents were taken away from him. And its such a formative age. So he conjures up his family in order to kind of unstick himself, so he can be seen and be loved by his parents. And then in turn, hes able to love somebody.

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Inspired by Japanese author Taichi Yamadas novel Strangers, and written and directed by Andrew Haigh, its a story of loneliness and love, of confronting the past and finding the courage to open up. Its tender and heartbreaking and left me in bits, sobbing from beginning to end. I cant imagine what it must have been like reading the script for the first time knowing what lay ahead. Andrew Scott (left), and Paul Mescal, as Harry find solace in one another in All of Us Strangers. I can remember crying, just reading the script, says Scott. And just feeling that it was a part that I felt that I could do something with. I saw a lot of myself in it, but then enough to use my imagination and create something new with Andrew [Haigh]. Theres not a lot of scripts like that, that have that originality, tone-wise, but also where the dialogue is so expertly done. For Mescal, reading the script for the first time left him quite weepy as well, but it was also cathartic. Its the one time as an actor, you get the closest to an audiences intended first response, says Mescal. And the thing that I found, that I hope some audiences are taking from it, that although its incredibly upsetting, the key message I took from it was one of hope. That even Adam, in particular, and definitely Harry as well, they are people who are struggling in the world, but also in some capacity, find a way to each other, and through that they find some sort of healing. Andrew Scott (left) with director Andrew Haigh in New York. Credit: AP I talk to Mescal and Scott over Zoom a week apart. Mescal is getting his publicity out of the way before he resumes work on Ridley Scotts strike-delayed sequel to Gladiator (despite much prodding, he wont reveal a thing), while Scott is on duty for awards season, where the film has picked up multiple best film nominations  winning at the British Independent Film Awards  as well as best actor nominations for Scott, and writing and directing nominations for Haigh.

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Mescal, 27, wearing a black hoodie, is the more relaxed of the pair, while Scott, 47, in a teal tracksuit, takes a minute to loosen up, but is delightful once he decides Im not digging for anything too personal. The thing is, though, its an incredibly personal film for Scott, especially when it came to finding the emotions needed for his character, who reveals his sexuality to his parents, whose attitudes dont match with the present. Jamie Bell and Claire Foy play the Adams parents in All of Us Strangers. Adam (Andrew Scott) is able to go back in time and visit their ghosts. As a gay person, the feelings of shame that brings, particularly growing up in the 90s, and in Catholic Ireland, there was so much misunderstanding, and so much misrepresentation and fearmongering in the press, says Scott. And there was just suspicion around queer people. And that was sort of unquestioned, really. So theres a certain amount of shame that exists within so many people of that generation  and people within this generation, too  that I think has to be wrestled with daily. So that idea of youre not going to be seen by your parents  its very difficult to feel a sense of confidence for Adam. So for me, [that emotion] wasnt really that far from the surface ever. Adams relationship with his parents makes for some of the films most compelling scenes. His mother very casually asks if hes married, not being able to get her head around the fact her son is gay, while his father apologises for not responding to Adam when he heard him crying in his bedroom. Of course, thats wonderful [the apology], says Scott. But also, [his father] didnt go into his bedroom. Its that thing where youre conjuring up that stuff, that you go, how could you hear a child next door crying and go, Im actually going to ignore that. Harry, although younger and seemingly more at ease with his sexuality, also has a difficult relationship with his parents.

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Its a totally different trauma, but an immense trauma thats similar to Adams, says Mescal. The only difference is that Harry is grieving for his parents who are still alive, which is kind of an acute pain because theyre just not there at all. Theyre as ghostly as Adams parents are. Thats the root of all his pain, and he has to  do his best and move on with his life. Andrew Scott as the Hot Priest in Phoebe Waller-Bridges comedy Fleabag. Scott and Mescal first met around 2020 in a mash-up designed to break the internet, where Scotts Hot Priest is counselling Normal Peoples Connell (Mescal) over his feelings for Marianne in a Comic Relief fundraising sketch for Irish TV. They have been friends since, but All of Us Strangers brought them closer together. The surprising thing for both of us was how well we actually just got on, says Mescal of their friendship. And that obviously serves the film, but you know that intoxicating feeling of when you feel like youve made a lifelong friend, and you get to spend the day with them all the time? It mirrors the feeling of falling in love for the first time. Marianne (Daisy Edgar-Jones) and Connell (Paul Mescal) in Normal People. Credit: Stan Just like everyone else, he fell for the Hot Priest! Yes, me and many others, he says, laughing.

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Ever since Normal People, Mescals career has taken off like a rocket. Its not just the internet swooning over the silver chain he wore in Normal People, its his careful consideration of roles and the levels of emotion he brings to the screen. It all culminated in a head-spinning 2023, when he was nominated for an Oscar for Aftersun and won an Olivier Award for his lead role in A Streetcar Named Desire on the West End. He ended the year winning best supporting performance for All of Us Strangers at the British Independent Film Awards. Frankie Corio (left) with Paul Mescal in Aftersun, for which he was nominated for an Oscar. The Oscar nomination and the Olivier, those are obviously big life moments, but they all came so thick and fast and I was working, he says. Maybe its been a detriment, maybe I need to process all this. But it hasnt really registered to the extent that I think people imagine. Like, Im aware that the picture of it from the outside looks quite overwhelming, but I think when youre on the inside, you have a degree of control that helps. What he cant control, though, is how people see him. Over the last couple of years Mescal has spent time in Sydney and Melbourne, where he filmed Carmen and Foe respectively. His presence in Sydney set off a flurry of excitement, with my local community Facebook group awash with possible sightings. Is he aware of the fuss he causes? Paul Mescal with Andrew Scott in All of Us Strangers. The pairs friendship mirrors the feeling of falling in love for the first time, says Mescal. It definitely felt more pronounced when I was in Melbourne because I was a year further into the whole [celebrity] thing, he says. I remember seeing something where the lady who served me at the coffee shop I used to go to in Melbourne  she was very sweet, very chatty, she never let on anything  and then after I left she was like, Now that I know Paul is gone, Im gonna share his coffee order with you. So it felt like a gross betrayal of trust. I got loads of judgment because I put 1 sugars in my coffee. That does seem a lot.

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In fact, Searle writes, Johnson had published a year earlier a short lecture called The Patriot, in which he declared his admiration for true patriotism. A patriot is he whose publick (sic) conduct is regulated by one single motive, the love of his country; who, as an agent in parliament, has, for himself, neither hope nor fear, neither kindness nor resentment, but refers every thing to the common interest, Johnson wrote. That doesnt sound very scoundrel-ish. Johnson, however  a poet, playwright, editor, sermonist and essayist, and much else  was more sophisticated in his use of words than most. The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography calls him arguably the most distinguished man of letters in English history.

He was also a man unimpressed by those he considered political frauds. Loading There was, at the time he made his famous statement, a political offshoot of The Whigs in England called The Patriot Party, which became a movement simply known as The Patriots before it fizzled out in 1805. Prominent among The Patriots was William Pitt the Elder, who would later become a Whig prime minister. Johnson, a Tory opposed to the Whigs, apparently wanted to take Pitt and his supporters down a peg or two. Thus, when he said patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel  not the scoundrel  Earle contends Johnson was referring to what he considered Pitts false use of the term patriot. It was a political sledging, rather than a denunciation of patriotism in general.

Centuries later, it remains useful to go back to Boswells explanation of his discussion with Johnson about patriotism: He did not mean a real and generous love of our country, but that pretended patriotism which so many, in all ages and countries, have made a cloak for self-interest. Loading Pretended patriotism as the cloak of a self-interested scoundrel is, thus, a timeless refuge. The recent confected outrage over a supermarket deciding to discontinue its sales of Australia Day-themed merchandise serves to underline it. Woolworths did not publicly mention its approach until a TV reporter asked about it. Only then did it issue a short statement citing a gradual decline in demand over recent years for such merchandise, adding that theres been broader discussion about January 26 and what it means to different parts of the community.

Those last, self-evident words were enough to spark a new and furious outbreak of what has become known in recent years as the culture wars. Loading It was as if, somehow, Woolworths had trashed Australia Day and all it stood for, even though it still sold the most desirable ingredients for an Australia Day celebration: sausages and chops. The retailer was suddenly branded woke and unpatriotic and worse by shock jocks and conservative letter-writers. Pauline Hanson  surprise, surprise  and, yes, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton, piled on. Duttons call for shoppers to boycott Woolworths  a giant business with a branch in just about any town of note, with 200,000 employees across the nation serving millions of customers every week  remains one of the more astonishing interventions by an opposition leader in Australian political history.

He is, after all, a man who wants to lead Australia one day. Hed cloaked himself in patriotism. A classicist might very nearly wonder whether he had any actual clothes beneath. When a Woolworths store in Brisbane came under attack a couple of days later from a vandal or vandals, it was hard to ignore that this culture war was revving fast out of hand. Someone sprayed a bogan poem on the stores exterior, leaving no one in doubt it was about Australia Day: 26 Jan Aussie Oi Oi Woolies f u. CCTV captured a scoundrel in combat gear setting off a flare inside the business. Happily, firefighters extinguished it.

Aldi and Kmart, which took the same approach to Woolworths in banishing Australia Day tat, somehow escaped the opprobrium, though Hanson tried to rope in Bunnings because shed heard that some employee had claimed to have been told not to wear Australia Day paraphernalia to work. How could it have come to this? Credit: Jim Pavlidis Having written a sketch for this masthead suggesting Duttons call for a Woolies boycott turned on its head his previous opposition to cancel culture, letter writers soon put me to rights. Read the room, some of them advised. Dont you understand the Voice was defeated?

In short, the latest convulsion over Australia Day has somehow become linked in some so-called patriots minds to the recent referendum over giving Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders a constitutionally enshrined Voice to parliament  a referendum that failed after Dutton and his colleagues, among others, damned it as divisive. Loading The January 26 date of Australia Day has, of course, been branded as divisive, too, by other Australians. The date derives from the arrival of the First Fleet in Port Jackson (Sydney Harbour) in 1788, when Captain Arthur Phillip rowed ashore and planted the British flag, declaring he was taking possession in the name of King George III  despite Captain James Cook having already claimed the entire east coast almost 18 years previously. It was the beginning of colonial Australia, without any consent by the lands original inhabitants, the First Nations. (The arrival process was not complete until February 6 when the female convicts from the fleet came ashore, at which point Arthur Bowes Smyth, the ships surgeon, confided to his journal that it is beyond my abilities to give a just description of the scene of debauchery and riot that ensued during the night.)

It is this, then, that must be defended at all costs by the most strident of those who have hammered their loyalty to the Australia Day mast. Loading And yet, since 1938, when Aboriginal leader William Cooper led a day of mourning, January 26 has been contested by First Nations people and their growing numbers of supporters as Invasion Day. The patriotically offended, then  or at least some of them  are propping up their adherence to the date by citing that they have won now because the Voice was defeated. Where is Samuel Johnson when he is needed?

Others, more cogently, have argued in their emails to me that it is a matter of pride in Australia  patriotism, in short  that we should adhere to a January 26 Australia Day. Being proud to be Australian is important, wrote one. Being proud to support our national day is nothing to be embarrassed about and should be encouraged. If you dont think we should be proud to be Australian, then what do you think we should be proud of? What do you think binds us together if it is not pride in our country? Wattle in bloom. Another way of looking at it is that it is possible to have pride in ones country without necessarily agreeing that a date that is contested by an increasingly significant proportion of that countrys population, including its original inhabitants, may no longer be altogether suitable as a national day, if it ever was. Should we ever choose to search for another day that might bind us all to our country, may I suggest September 1, the start of spring and the date we celebrate our national floral emblem, the wattle, whose golden bloom heralds new life every year?
As a younger woman, Asabi Goodman would walk along South Bank and stand in front of the posters at QPACs Lyric Theatre.

I want to be up there, she dared to dream.

Now she stands with pride on the stage, ready to perform in Chicago as Matron Mama Morton.

Brisbanes Asabi Goodman, cast as tough and sassy prison warden Matron Mama Morton, alongside Zoe Ventoura as the glamorous Velma Kelly. Credit: Jeff Busby

Goodman has been singing since she was a child, belting out songs with a travelling choir in the US in her youth, but music wasnt where her professional life began.
Sarah Novelli has no doubt that without the freedom to do some of her work as a human resources director for 3000 people from home, she would not be in the job.

I am an HR director, but also a mother. I would not be in my role if I didnt have the ability to do hybrid working; I would not be able to be a working mother in a senior capacity, said Novelli, whose children are aged three and 16.

Sarah Novelli, with daughter Adriana, 3, said she could not do her senior executive job without flexible work. Credit: Flavio Brancaleone

As she watches pressure mount on Australian employees to give up remote working, Novelli is not worried about herself  her chief executive-boss is a mother who thinks hybrid work is a necessity for the business to thrive.

But Novelli believes return-to-office mandates, or linking promotion and bonuses to workplace attendance, could set back womens workplace equality, sacrificing gains made in part by the mainstreaming of remote work.
The owner of Melbournes iconic Forum Theatre has been advised to urgently repair the ornate facade after a report found there was a high risk that parts of the building could fall off or collapse.

Heritage Victoria last year issued Marriner Group, which purchased the near-century-old theatre in 1996, a show cause notice noting concerns about the dilapidated and crumbling facade.

A public safety gantry was recently erected. Credit: Luis Ascui

But Marriner Group head Jason Marriner on Friday denied the building on the corner of Flinders and Russell streets was at a critical stage, and said it was now safe for the public to walk past.

A heritage report that has emerged as part of an application for a permit to do makesafe works recommends the urgent dismantling of highly dilapidated parts of the southern and eastern facades  some weighing up to 60 kilograms  that are at risk of collapse.
Thousands of homes across Western Australia are still without power or any clear idea when it will be restored, after freak storm fronts tore through the state and brought down 50-metre-tall transmission towers that crumpled like tinfoil.

On Friday, Premier Roger Cook said the storms were both unprecedented in their ferocity and in their focus.

One of the downed transmission towers. Credit: Western Power

Wednesdays storm was a freak weather event and was quite unprecedented, and will give us cause to reflect in terms of how we move forward into the future to protect these important utilities, he said.

To give you an idea of the severity of these storms, these towers are well over 50 metres high.
Hanging over Wongs trip, her first to the region since Labor took office, were two questions: how much of a difference can Australia make in the Middle East, and how much time and energy should the government expend there? Wong sought to keep expectations low, saying pre-departure that Australia is not a central player in the region but that we have a respected voice. When asked in Jerusalem about the breakdown in co-operation between Jewish and Muslim communities since October 7, Wong was even more blunt, saying: I should come to this with some humility because Im an Australian politician and I dont have an answer for the Middle East. The candour was striking. Wong visited the region not to offer solutions but to ensure Australias perspective was heard. The most important practical contribution: an extra $22 million in humanitarian aid targeted at Palestinians affected by the war. While certainly not a disaster, Wongs trip could hardly be hailed as a triumph. The outcomes were slender, reflecting the visits low level of ambition and Australias lack of clout in the Middle East.

In her meetings with Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz and President Isaac Herzog, Wong expressed Australias horror at the Hamas attacks and called for all hostages to be released unconditionally. Describing the humanitarian situation in Gaza as dire, Wong said that Australians have strong concerns about the number of civilians who have died since the fighting began. The death toll in Gaza has passed 24,000, according to the Hamas-run Ministry of Health. Loading While in Ramallah, the defacto Palestinian capital of the occupied West Bank, Wong met with Palestinians who have been affected by Israeli settler violence. This was a notable and gutsy move, undertaken to draw attention to an issue that Israels advocates would rather not discuss but is inescapable when you visit the West Bank. During our October reporting trip I met Sohaib, a 16-year-old Palestinian boy who said he was shot by Israeli settlers while picking olives with his family. In the olive groves near Ramallah, a third-generation olive farmer told me he lived in constant fear of attack. This is a settler strategy to steal the lands, he said. They are hunting us. They dont want to see any Arabs in front of them. Wong is now facing calls by Labor MPs such as Julian Hill to go beyond words by issuing travel bans against extremist settlers and making it illegal for Australians to fund settlement activity.

While in the Middle East, Wong argued that the only pathway to enduring peace was a two-state solution. Before her visits end, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defiantly told reporters that he opposed the creation of a Palestinian state when the war in Gaza ends. By yelling the quiet part out loud, Netanyahu highlighted not only Australias impotence but that of the United States, Israels closest security partner and biggest military aid donor. Biden has been privately urging Netanyahu to scale back the war and work towards a two-state solution, but his efforts have clearly fallen flat. In the near term, Wongs desire for a two-state solution looks much like her call for Hamas to lay down its arms: wishful thinking. Wong has previously said that we need to deal with the world as it is while trying to shape it for the better. Unfortunately, the world we live in is one where Hamas is determined to fight on and the two-state solution is going nowhere. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected calls for a two-state solution. Credit: AP While Wong was navigating the turbulent waters of Middle East diplomacy, trouble was bubbling up far closer to home. On Monday, the tiny Pacific island nation of Nauru announced it was switching diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to China. In itself, the decision is not alarming nor remarkable: the vast majority of countries, including Australia, formally recognise China rather than Taiwan. More troubling is the question of why Nauru made the switch and what it means for the future. The Solomon Islands diplomatic shift to Beijing in 2019 paved the way for the signing of a security pact with China that alarmed policymakers in Canberra and has required persistent effort to placate the Solomons mercurial Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare. Two days later, Chinas top representative in Australia stood up in Canberra for his annual new year press conference. Clutching a glass of Australian red wine to raise a toast, ambassador Xiao Qian was jovial as he reflected on the improvements in China-Australia relations over the past 12 months, including the return of many Australian goods to the Chinese market and resumption of high-level diplomatic dialogue.

But the tone grew darker as Xiao and his embassy colleagues warned Australia not to meddle in Chinas affairs by conducting naval exercises near its waters or by congratulating Taiwan on its recent presidential elections. Provocatively suggesting that Japan may have been responsible for a November sonar blast against Australian naval divers, Xiao called for the resumption of joint military exercises between Australia and China. Dont expect Defence Minister Richard Marles to agree to that idea any time soon. Loading Xiaos press conference was a reminder that, even after the governments success at stabilising relations with China, profound differences remain between Australia and its biggest trading partner. Managing the China relationship will continue to be a delicate and complicated task  one that will impact Australia far more directly than events in the Middle East. As Peter Dean, director of foreign policy and defence at the United States Studies Centre, said this week while defending the governments decision not to send a warship to the Red Sea to deter Houthi attacks: Strategy is about focus, discipline and the allocation of finite resources to a multitude of issues. Australia will be distracted and overstretched if we try to play whack a mole in every international crisis. Thats why Wong has avoided the Middle East until now, instead criss-crossing the Pacific and South-East Asia. While events in the Middle East reverberate throughout the world, it is ultimately the Indo-Pacific that will shape the future of Australias economy and national security. Its where Australian foreign policy can have the biggest impact and where the governments focus must remain.
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 Winding their way past revellers, the team in high-vis vests scours the outdoor dance floors and Portaloos. Theyre not here to party. Dressed as cleaners, theyre not really here to do that either. Theyre looking for discarded packets of drugs. This University of Melbourne research team worked its way through six music festivals across Victoria in 2019 and 2020 to get a handle on the substances taken at each event in real-time. Once they made a find  even just remnants  they could get the answer within minutes. University of Melbourne Associate Professor John Fitzgerald. Credit: Paul Jeffers Youre doing that routinely, systematically over the course of the night and that gives you a really good picture of whats being consumed in close to real-time, public health and criminology Associate Professor John Fitzgerald explains. It was pretty crappy work. In effect, we were cleaning. The project, touted as the first of its kind in the world, is one example of efforts already underway to analyse drugs at festivals in Victoria, even as Premier Jacinta Allan tentatively signalled a possible change in the approach to pill testing.

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I do want to get that advice, have those discussions, Allan said this week. Government sources privately suggested support was already there, though lingering hesitations about embarking on complex social reform during a cost-of-living crisis remained. Other examples of DIY drug analysis in Victoria go deeper underground. A guerilla team of volunteers roved campsites at the 2017 Rainbow Serpent festival to offer on-the-spot tests in the weeks after a cluster of overdose deaths in Melbourne from a bad batch of drugs sold as MDMA. Ash Blackwell brought basic drug testing kits to Rainbow Festival in 2017 and roved campsites to help people determine the makeup of their substances. Credit: Penny Stephens We knew that drug would be in circulation and was likely to turn up at Rainbow Serpent, lead volunteer Ash Blackwell said. Eleven substances returned an unknown result, including what was suspected to be connected (and later confirmed to be) the deadly drug. Eight of the 11 people who brought drugs that were not what they expected said they would bin the substances as a result. They didnt want a bar of it, Blackwell said. This summer has been beset with MDMA overdoses in hot weather at festivals, which have not been fatal but left several young people fighting for their lives. The overdoses renewed debate on the official policing of party drugs and opportunities to minimise harm. In the meantime, researchers and communities are already filling the space, and their work is likely to build Victorias policy debate.

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In the University of Melbourne project, Fitzgerald and researchers used high-resolution DART-MS technology in the back of a van beside emergency crews at six festivals, or they rode a motorcycle back to uni if they couldnt set up on-site. The idea was to get a clear picture of the substances circulating at each event in real-time and report the findings to first aid, who could change tack depending on the results. MDMA unexpectedly circulating? Time to prepare ice cubes and chill-out zones to stop MDMA-induced hyperthermia. The University of Melbourne van set up at a festival. Credit: Dr Nico Clark The drug monitoring, which was not accessible to the public, is different to the drug checking or pill testing that would allow punters to check their own substances before ingesting them. Fitzgerald said the team wanted to be inconspicuous to avoid getting stuck in a fierce political debate  though festivals, police and first aid were aware of their presence at each event. We said, This is low-visibility research. We didnt tell lies, but we didnt proclaim to the world what we were doing. So if people came up to us and said, What are you doing? We said we were cleaning, which is true. Most remnant samples were from discarded resealable ziplock bags, known as baggies. Of the 1315 samples analysed, most contained cocaine, MDMA or ketamine (a horse tranquiliser taken recreationally). More than half (52.6 per cent) tested positive for two or more drugs.

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There were no drugs found in 103 of the samples, study results published in The Journal of American Society for Mass Spectrometry in 2021 found. Some of the adulterants were completely benign. Others were synthetic cathinones such as N-ethylpentylone, which is a man-made stimulant linked to hospitalisations in Melbourne. The project resulted in Victorias first public drug alert from the Health Department in March 2020, and the second in December 2020. N-ethylpentylone is significantly stronger than MDMA and can bring on heart palpitations, anxiety, agitation and paranoia. A particularly high dose could lead to hallucinations, overheating, seizures and death. Getting the project to happen wasnt easy, given the cost of the tech, said Dr Nico Clark, who established Victorias first safe injecting room as the former medical director, and joined Fitzgerald at some of the festivals. Clark happened to meet a marine biologist, a friend of his brothers, at a bar one night.

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I said, Im actually looking to try and do a bit of mass spectrometry as well. It was more of a joke, and he said, Well actually, Ive got this machine. They later realised it was unsalvageable from salt damage. By that point, they already had the van, and managed to find another machine on loan. Blackwell, who was from Students for Sensible Drug Policy, and now works for Libertarian MP David Limbrick, was mostly driven by fear for peoples safety. But the rogue testing at Rainbow Serpent had the secondary benefit of collecting data to show the utility of what we were doing, Blackwell said. Volunteers set up in a tent and roved campsites to allow festivalgoers to scrape their substances, which they would mix with testing chemicals to create a basic reaction. It was only word of mouth. We couldnt advertise that we were doing a pill-testing service, Blackwell said. Somebody asked me the other day if I was breaking the law. I didnt touch the substances. The person would scrape off a sample or put a powder on the thing, I would apply the reagent tests, interpret them, tell them the best information that I could, based on what it said.

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Karen Scanlon and her husband went above their budget when they bought their Cabarita bungalow almost three decades ago, but they havent looked back.

I said [to my husband] I dont care. It was the whole package. This is the house, the street and the suburb, Scanlon said. Weve been at our house in Cabarita for 25 years.

Karen and Clay Scanlon at their home of 25 years in Cabarita. Credit: Kate Geraghty

Although the couple have just sold their house to make a sea change to the northern beaches, they raised their entire family in Cabarita for the past two decades.

What took us there was it wasnt a drive-through suburb. It was quiet and had lots and lots of parklands, she said. Its close to the water, we get a beautiful breeze, we just loved it and never wanted to leave.
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With a name meaning the Norse Goddess of Comfort, Viking Lofn carries just 190 passengers with a crew of 53. While the Danubes entire journey from the Black Forest of Western Germany to the Black Sea in Romania and Ukraine covers 2850 kilometres, well be tracing a still substantial 800 kilometres of it in what is referred to as the Lower (eastern) Danube. Our voyage passes through five vastly different countries, where the landscape changes rapidly, morphing from raked vineyards to dramatic cliffs to Soviet-era villages with each bend of the river. My interest in the breakup of both the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia (and love of Balkan sweets) has led me this way before but only by plane, train and automobile. By cruising upstream from Romania through Bulgaria, Serbia, Croatia and Hungary Ill gain fresh insights while sidestepping the crowds of the better-known European hotspots.

And unlike the broiling heat of the recent summer, Ive chosen to travel in mid-autumn, where the only thing burning is the colour of the chestnut trees. Bucharest, Romania: The real Paris of the East If Eastern Europe is the less predictable cousin to the West, it makes sense to travel with a cruise line well-versed in its nuances. Founded in 1997, Viking Cruises offers destination-focused journeys designed to help guests untangle the mysteries and histories of the cultures they travel through. Throw in expert guest lecturers, a curated reference library, regional cuisine and optional privileged access to places otherwise difficult to visit, and its easy to see why Viking is billed as the thinking persons cruise. We board in the Romanian capital of Bucharest, where the Scandinavian-style design and paired-back elegance of the Viking Lofn is immediately obvious, but over the coming days its the depth and variety of excursions I grow to value the most.

Fountains along the tree-lined Bulevardul Unirii, a major thoroughfare in central Bucharest, with the Palace of the Parliament in the background. Credit: iStock A Sights and Flavours of Bucharest tour leads us around the city on a progressive dinner, where traditional dishes are served with a side of architecture. We start at Becker Brau brewery for beer and appetisers before moving to a classic art nouveau-style inn in the Interbelic district for a hearty main served with matching wines. Dessert sees us scoffing Romanian fried doughnuts inside a graceful Neo-Romanesque villa before a slug of sour cherry brandy warms our bellies for a stroll around the Old Town. This is my third visit to Bucharest, and I am still smitten by its Beauty and the Beast charm, where Beaux-Arts architecture and wide, French-style boulevards are tempered by brutalist communist buildings.

At first glance, Bucharest is a difficult city to love, says our guide Catalin Calaceo, as she leads us on a morning tour of the city. But dig a little and you will find it has many treasures. Theres been a lot of digging going on at Vlad the Impalers former 15th-century court, now an archaeological site of medieval ruins. Bran Castle in Transylvania is a fairytale, says Calaceo, this is where the real Dracula lived. Draculas fortress  Bran Castle. Credit: iStock Like all the best guides, Calaceo has a knack for showing the star attractions, such as the 300-year-old Stavropoleos Church, as well as making time for contemporary highlights like Carturesti Carusel, once an abandoned 19th-century building, now a stunning bookshop, art gallery and cafe. Much of our Old Town was destroyed in the 1980s under communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu, says Calaceo, so we celebrate what we have left.

Im shocked to hear that Ceausescus plans for a new Bucharest led to the destruction of almost one fifth of the city and the forced relocation of 40,000 people. Even more astonishing are Calaceos stories about a group of defiant engineers who moved more than a dozen churches and other historic buildings along metal tracks to save them from demolition. Rolling them a few metres each day you could hardly see them moving. We see the conclusion of Ceausescus evil plan at the Palace of the Parliament, more a testament to a madman than a Palace of the People. With its 3000 rooms, nuclear bunker and retractable glass ceiling wide enough for a helicopter, it was Ceausescus dream to build the largest, most lavish civic building in the world. More like the worlds stupidest building, says Calaceo with a sniff. After ruling Romania from 1965, Ceausescu  forever known as the Butcher of Bucharest  was overthrown, tried and executed on Christmas Day 1989. The building (second largest after the Pentagon in Washington) remains unfinished.

Bulgaria: Of fortresses, fiends and fresh pies An overnight sail brings us to Viden in northern Bulgaria, one of the countrys oldest towns where we remain docked for the day. While some choose to explore the medieval fortress of Baba Vida, Ive signed up for two, half-day tours designed to bring me deeper into rural Bulgaria. Viden is the poorest region of Bulgaria, says our local guide Albena Darakchieva, wasting no time in painting a grim picture of a country still recovering from 50 years of Soviet rule. More than half of our people have moved away to bigger cities or emigrated. Driving through the foothills of the Balkan Mountains we pass ghost villages, where wooden houses huddle in forlorn groups, their shoulders slumped from the weight of Jack and the Beanstork vines. Darakchieva points out an abandoned telephone factory, which reminds me of something Ive seen in Chernobyl, and a derelict school where blackened windows stare back at me like rows of eyes.

The nightmare began in 1944 when the Red Army invaded, says Darakchieva. At first, it was thought the Soviets were liberators, but by 1946 theyd installed a communist regime, confiscated our land and forced our people to work in factories. My grandfather was so angry he pushed his tractors over a cliff. After the Fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, Bulgaria transitioned to a parliamentary democracy, where elections were guaranteed and land previously confiscated was handed back. But our connection to the land was long lost, says Darakchieva. On approach to the town of Belogradchick, Darakchievas mood lifts, as we see new hotels and restaurants being built to support tourism that is growing around the rocks and fortress. Art galleries and museums are popping up and discoveries of Roman ruins is putting Belogradchick on the map. The city of Belogradchick and its fortress. Credit: iStock You coming here on ships is the best thing to happen to this region since the fall of communism, she says, leading us through the outer walls of the Belogradchick fortress.

Later that day, in a rustic farmhouse on the outskirts of Viden Im welcomed by the kindly Yonovi family to join them for a cooking class. We want to teach you how to make banitsa pie, says Niki Yonovi, guiding my hands to layer the filo pastry, But we also want to charge you with positive energy from our land. Served hot, straight from the oven and drizzled with honey foraged from forest hives, it may be the most memorable pie of my life. Back on board our cultural immersion in this remarkable town continues, with a talk by students from the local high school and a dance performance by the Vidin Childrens Ensemble. Serbia: Hikes, bikes and buttocks

From Viden we have a free morning, cruising through the Iron Gates Gorge, one of Europes most dramatic natural formations. Excitement is high, and Im not sure whether to enjoy the ever-evolving spectacle from my private verandah (with a celebratory glass of champagne) or from the sun deck (with a pot of tea and cake). I manage both. At just 132 metres at its most narrow its a tight squeeze, with Romanias Carpathian Mountains on the north bank and the foothills of Serbias Balkan Mountains on the south. The head of King Decebalus in the Danube Gorges, Romania. Credit: iStock We glide past the rock sculpture of the face of King Decebalus, our ship dwarfed by the soaring limestone cliffs, their chalky surfaces hung with garlands of orange, scarlet and gold foliage.

A few hours later Im crunching through autumn leaves inside Serbias Djerdap National Park, where fire salamanders dart between our feet and white-tailed eagles soar overhead. Up we go, led by a national park guide to a scenic viewpoint, where we snack on Serbian sweets while absorbing the beauty of the Iron Gates from above. In the distance I spot Viking Lofn, a childs toy floating in a ribbon of blue. Its early evening when we cruise into Golubac, an after-hours tour of the illuminated fortress an appetiser before our speciality Taste of the Balkans dinner. I forgo the main onboard restaurant for a table for two on the Aquavit terrace, a quiet indoor/outdoor alternative at the bow of the ship with 180 degrees of floor-to-ceiling glass doors. Meals aboard the rivership are a highlight, with relaxed three-course lunches and elegant four-course dinners, which also include regional specialities (who knew something called Transylvanian sour soup could have such a bite) and a range of classic always available Western favourites.

Cruising overnight brings us to Belgrade, the former capital of the state of Yugoslavia, and todays Serbian capital, where, during an early morning stroll through Kalemegdan Park I come eye-to-rump with a set of naked male buttocks. Belgrades bohemian quarter. Credit: iStock No, no, not fleshy ones  that would be too much before my first coffee  but a 14-metre high sculpture known as The Victor monument, built to honour the victory of the Serbian army over the Ottoman and Austrian-Hungarian empires. Sans uniform, he is said to belong to all people. The city is an easy walk from where we are docked, and with an 8pm departure, I have time to explore further afield on an afternoon bike excursion followed by an impromptu dinner in Skadarlija, Belgrades bohemian quarter. The Victor monument. Credit: iStock

Croatia to Hungary: From conflicts to cowboys To many, Croatia can represent little more than Dubrovnik, that over-touristed Pearl of the Adriatic in the far south of the country. But here on the Danube in the north-eastern town of Ilok we find ourselves inside a Baroque-style palace, built on the foundations of a 15th-century castle, with not another river cruise ship or Game of Thrones fan within sight. Known as Odescalchi Palace, this Noble of the Danube is now a museum, housing an exquisite collection of artefacts from the early Roman period, Middle Ages to modern times. The museum is normally closed on Mondays but has been opened today just for Viking passengers. Viking Lofns Aquavit Terrace.

Afterwards, we descend 12 metres underground to the castles 500-year-old wine cellar, where priceless bottles are still kept, some vintages famously served during the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II and the wedding of Charles and Diana. Feeling like monarchs ourselves, we head to the tasting room to learn about local varietals such as Grasevina and Traminac. Cruising to Vukovar we have more sobering lessons to learn. Known as Croatias Hiroshima, the town of Vukovar was under siege by the Yugoslav Peoples Army and Serbian forces for 87 days from August 25, 1991, until the city finally fell on November 16, 1991. A total of 3000 lives were lost and the city was razed to the ground. While many buildings still carry the scars of bullet holes, its the war-damaged skeleton of the 50.3-metre-high water tower that moves me the most. Having suffered more than 600 direct hits it continues to stand proudly as the symbol of Croatian resistance. Taking a lift to the top, I look out beyond the Danube and think deeply about the suffering of war around the world, and how we never seem to learn from the past.

After Vukovar we have a free morning of cruising, where I happily while away the hours in my verandah stateroom. Its comfortable and elegant, complete with Scandi-style decor of blonde, taupe and teal, queen-size bed and floor-to-ceiling sliding glass doors. The light and bright theme continues through the public areas, including the library, restaurant, observation lounge and Aquavit Terrace, a casual, al fresco at the bow of the ship where breakfast and lunch can be taken. On river cruising days, the Viking Lofns sundeck is the place to be, with its panoramic views of daily life along the Danube River. For me, this is the pleasure of river cruising  lying in bed and watching the ever-changing scenery before pulling up in the heart of a town and stepping ashore. Today, only the promise of wild horses will drag me away.

As a long-time equestrian, Ive been fortunate to see the Andalusian horses of Spain and the Lipizzaners of Vienna, yet for sheer excitement these two dont come close to the power and strength of Hungarys Nonius horse. Puszta Black Horses. An excursion to Kalocsa brings me to a wide field in the Hungarian plains of Puszta, where I watch in awe (and a touch of terror) as bands of Hungarian cowboys or csikos, descendants of the nomadic Magyar warriors from the steppes of Asia, put these gallant horses through their paces. The finale is a Puszta fiver, where a rider stands on the backs of two horses at once while holding the reins and driving five more. With mud flying and the csikos blue tunics billowing, it is a moment seared forever on my horse-loving heart. By tomorrow well be in Budapest, enjoying an included two-night hotel stay in a location ideal for exploring one of Europes most beguiling cities.

Cruising into Budapest. But for now, with my face and jeans splattered with mud, Im happy, not just to connect with the cultural heritage of a little-visited part of Eastern Europe, but to play a part in its conservation. The writer travelled as a guest of Viking Cruises. Five more things to see and do Sample village life

Muzeul Satului in Romania is an open-air museum where authentic dwellings from across the country have been relocated and reassembled.

Visit a UNESCO site

The rock-hewn Churches of Ivanovo in north-eastern Bulgaria are a complex of monolithic churches sculpted out of solid rock. Inside Ivanovo, a rock-hewn church in Bulgaria. Credit: iStock Dig deep into history

At 8500 years old, the famous Serbian archaeological site at Lepenski vir represents one of Europes oldest settlements. Marvel at the mansions

Once part of the Austro-Hungarian empire, Osijek, a city in eastern Croatia, has a delightful, Viennese style. In the ghetto

A highlight of a Budapest walking tour of the Jewish Quarter, once the Budapest Ghetto, is the 19th-century Moorish-Revival Dohany Street Synagogue, the largest in Europe.
Due to their casual nature in the broking industry, it is often that they don't prioritise mortgage broking as this is not their bread and butter, Sum said. Instead, its more like a side gig to make some extra revenue when they come across an opportunity.
Our opinion is that Finsure will be successful, he said. If this tax is successful, then the last thing Finsure or any other aggregator wants to do is pass on the costs of the tax to brokers.
And when you talk to a provider make sure you understand exactly what they will do for you and at what times and that you are both clear on the cost, including any fees or other charges, and for how long the agreement will apply.
Note: Colour indicates the percentage of houses used as a primary residence. For example, a circle shaded dark red indicates that more than 92% of houses in the area are used as a primary residence, while a circle shaded yellow indicates that less than 80% of houses in the area are a primary residence. Circle size indicates the number of houses in the area. Areas with larger circles have a higher number of houses relative to areas with smaller circles. For the full interactive map, click here.
Natural gas producer Great Eastern Energy Corporation Limited (GEECL) has claimed more than Rs 100 crore from Matix Fertilisers & Chemicals Limited, allegedly for not adhering to the terms of the Gas Sale and Purchase Agreement (GSPA).

This may come as a blow to Matix which operates West Bengal's only large integrated fertilizer plant at Panagarh near Durgapur and claims to have a 20 per cent market share in eastern India.

Matix did not want to make any comment on the development stating that the matter is sub-judice.

The coal-bed methane gas producer entered into a GSPA with Matix in July 2017, which was valid till August 31, 2018. It claimed that Matix did not honour the Minimum Guarantee Offtake clause.

According to the latest accounts notes, GEECL had then claimed Rs 148 crore including interest from Matix. GEECL also claimed that following arbitration, the company owes nearly Rs 112 crore including interest. It subsequently approached a commercial court in Rajarhat to execute the arbitration order.

In response, Matix moved the Delhi High Court seeking a stay on the order.

The high court on January 11 said, "On submission, the award is stayed subject to deposit of the 'entire award amount' along with 50 per cent of the interest within a period of three weeks. The money be deposited in fixed deposit receipt."



A Matix spokesperson said, "The referred matter is currently being heard in the honourable High Court, Delhi. The court has also stayed the order of the Commercial Court dated 8th January 2024."



The spokesperson, however, did not respond to further queries about whether Matix is going to deposit the amount to operationalise the stay order and how far the claim amount will impact the company.

GEECL spokesperson said that according to the Delhi High Court's order, Matix has to deposit around Rs 100 crore consisting of the total award amount and 50 per cent of the interest to operationalise the stay.

"But the execution order dated January 8, 2024, passed by the Commercial Court, Rajarhat, Kolkata, attaching Matix's property along with bank accounts directing to leave aside a sum of Rs 112.79 crore, still holds good and not stayed," the GEECL spokesperson claimed.

Both companies expressed optimism on their respective stands.
Madras High Court (HC) on Friday upheld a previous single-judge decision rejecting petitions from various tech companies against Google 's new user choice billing system, according to a report by Bar and Bench. A bench comprising Chief Justice SV Gangapurwala and Justice PD Audikesavalu issued the order, affirming the single-judge ruling that addressed appeals from tech companies challenging Google's billing policy last year.

The division bench had provided interim protection to these tech companies for an additional three weeks to prevent their apps from being delisted from Google Playstore.

Google Play billing policy

Google had mandated all app developers to use its Google Play Billing System (GPBS) for transactions, charging a commission between 15 to 30 per cent for services, including paid app downloads and in-app purchases. More than a dozen Indian startups and tech companies, including Bharat Matrimony, Shadi.com, Unacademy, and Kuku FM, Alt Digital Media, and Info Edge, filed civil appeals against the tech giant and its subsidiaries, opposing the new policy.





ALSO READ: Madras HC dismisses pleas of 14 firms against Google billing policy Last August, a single-judge bench dismissed fourteen out of sixteen pleas filed by Indian startups and tech companies, stating that the matter fell under the jurisdiction of the Competition Commission of India (CCI).

The CCI, in October 2022, imposed a penalty of Rs 936 crore on Google and instructed it not to restrict app developers from using third-party billing services, emphasising the removal of discriminatory conditions.

Google then updated its billing system to allow users to choose "an alternative billing" option alongside GPBS, permitting app developers to use third-party billing systems but imposing a service fee ranging from 11 to 26 per cent. Tech companies, including Matrimony and others, opposed this fee, leading to a legal challenge in the Madras High Court, which has now been dismissed.
Homegrown Tiger Logistics (India) on Friday said it has signed an agreement with Bagladesh-based Sikder Group to establish a Joint Venture (JV) for global trade.

Sikder Group handles the development and operations of the Mongla Economic Zone at Mongla Port, which is the second-largest seaport in Bangladesh, Tiger Logistics (India) said in an exchange filing.

The development comes in continuation of the strengthening of connectivity between the two nations, as Bangladesh granted India permanent access to Chattogram and Mongla Port in April 2023.

Recognising the increasing demand for international logistics, particularly between India and Bangladesh, the company aims to play a pivotal role in stimulating economic growth in the region.

Tiger Logistics (India) Ltd announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with PowerPac Holdings Limited, a concern of Sikder Group, Bangladesh, to formalise a strategic partnership and establish a joint venture (JV) in the logistics sector for global trade, the filing said.

"The companies plan to enter into a Joint Venture to establish an international freight forwarding and logistics business, leveraging the collective expertise of both the organisations and capitalising on the growth opportunity of Bangladesh's global trade as well as bilateral trade with India," it said.

Bangladesh is India's biggest trading partner in the subcontinent. The total trade turnover in FY23 touched USD 14.22 billion, Tiger Logistics (India) said.

Sikder Group also has a presence in industries like banking, insurance, healthcare, international trading, power generation and infrastructure development.
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The Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has condemned Pakistan's drone attack on non-Iranian villagers on the border of the two nations, calling it "unbalanced and unacceptable."

It said Iran adheres to the policy of "good neighbourliness and brotherhood" between two nations and does not allow enemies to strain the ties between Tehran and Islamabad.

"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran condemns Pakistan's unbalanced and unacceptable drone attack on non-Iranian villagers on the border of the two countries," the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

"At the same time, the Islamic Republic of Iran adheres to the policy of good neighbourliness and brotherhood between the two nations and the two governments of the Islamic Republic of Iran and Pakistan. It does not allow enemies to strain the amicable and brotherly relations of Tehran and Islamabad," it added.

The Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs statement comes after Pakistan said that it has launched missile strikes into Iran and that "a number of terrorists were killed during the intelligence-based operation," codenamed "Marg Bar Sarmachar." Pakistan's action came after Iran carried out strikes on a terrorist group in Balochistan.

In the statement, the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Iran considers the security of its people and its territorial integrity as a 'red line' and expects the Pakistani government to adhere to its obligations in preventing the establishment of bases and deployment of terrorist groups on its soil.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran considers the security of its people and its territorial integrity as a red line and strongly expects the friendly and brotherly government of Pakistan to adhere to its obligations in preventing the establishment of bases and the deployment of armed terrorist groups on its soil," Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

In the statement, the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the Border Taskforce of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Ground Force situated in Sistan and Baluchistan province on Tuesday took "preventive action" against a terrorist group preparing to infiltrate the territory of Iran to carry out "another terrorist operation similar to the criminal and terrorist attack in Rask."

It further said, "The action was carried out against the terrorist group's barracks and headquarters located in the heights of the region, kilometres away from residential areas--a procedure which is part of the inherent duties of the border forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran to "proportionately deal" with any "imminent terrorist threat" against the people and citizens of the country."

In the statement, the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, "It is emphasized that the Islamic Republic of Iran differentiates between Pakistan's friendly and brotherly government and armed terrorists."

It further said, "The Islamic Republic of Iran always adheres to its policy of good neighbourliness and does not allow its enemies and terrorist allies to strain these relations, especially when the genocide and crimes of the Zionist regime are the foremost issues affecting the Islamic world."

After Iran carried out missile and drone strikes to destroy two "important headquarters" of Jaish al-Adl (Army of Justice) in Pakistan, which Islamabad said killed two children and injured three girls, Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) in a statement said that it had undertaken a series of "highly coordinated and specifically targeted precision military strikes against terrorist hideouts" in Iran's Siestan-o-Baluchistan.

"A number of terrorists were killed during the intelligence-based operation codenamed "Marg Bar Sarmachar," it said. Pakistan's military action comes after it condemned Tuesday's strike by Iran, which it said killed two children.

The Pakistan Foreign Ministry said that in its engagements with the neighbouring country Iran over the last several years, Pakistan has consistently shared its serious concerns about the safe havens and sanctuaries enjoyed by Pakistani-origin terrorists who called themselves "Sarmachars" on the ungoverned spaces inside Iran.

Pakistan said it also shared multiple dossiers with concrete evidence of the presence and activities of these terrorists.

"However, because of a lack of action on our serious concerns, these so-called Sarmachars continued to spill the blood of innocent Pakistanis with impunity. This morning's action was taken in light of credible intelligence of impending large-scale terrorist activities by these so-called Sarmachars," it said.

The statement said, "This action is a manifestation of Pakistan's unflinching resolve to protect and defend its national security against all threats. The successful execution of this highly complex operation is also a testimony to the professionalism of the Pakistan Armed Forces. Pakistan will continue to take all necessary steps to preserve the safety and security of its people which is sacrosanct, inviolable and sacred.
Leaders of Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) countries on Friday denounced Israel's military campaign in Gaza and demanded an immediate ceasefire there, during the annual summit of the 120-member bloc.



Dozens of heads of state and other senior officials from the NAM, formed officially in 1961 by countries opposed to joining either of the two major Cold War-era military and political blocs, are attending a summit in Uganda.



Israel launched its offensive in Gaza after the Islamist militant group Hamas' Oct. 7 attack in which Israeli officials say more than 1,200 Israelis and foreigners were killed and 240 taken hostage. The military campaign has killed more than 24,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities.



"Since Oct. 7 we have witnessed one of the cruellest genocidal acts ever to be recorded by history," Cuba's vice president, Salvador Valdes Mesa, said in a speech to delegates.



"How can the Western countries, who claim to be so civilised, justify the murder of women and children in Gaza, the indiscriminate bombings of hospitals and schools and deprivation of access to safe water and food?" he said.



Moussa Faki Mahamat, chairperson of the African Union commission, called for an immediate end to what he called the "unjust war against the Palestinian people." Nearly all African countries belong to the NAM, comprising nearly half of its members, while other members range from India and Indonesia to Saudi Arabia and Iran, Chile, Peru and Colombia.



Israel has said it is acting in self-defence and rejected accusations of genocide, including in a case brought against it by South Africa at the United Nations' top court.



Speaking at the summit, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, said the war in Gaza had demonstrated the inadequacy of the United Nations, particularly the Security Council, where the United States has vetoed several resolutions critical of Israel.



"We should establish a system of global governance that is fair and equitable, and has the capacity to respond to the needs of all persons in situations of threat and harm," said Ramaphosa.
Today, Lenovo announced it has joined the ServiceNow Consulting and Implementation Partner Programto help organizations take advantage of innovative workflows developed by Lenovo using ServiceNow platform capabilities.

As a ServiceNow Consulting and Implementation partner, Lenovowillutilize its extensive industry expertise, services track record, and large-scale implementation knowledge to help customers accelerate their digital transformation through the Now Platform. Lenovo will initially offer a gateway for transformative Digital Workplace capabilities to customers in Australia and Hong Kong, with further territories across the globe to follow.

The revamped ServiceNow Partner Program recognizes partners for their varied expertise and experience to drive opportunities, reach new markets, and help joint customers in their digital transformation efforts.

Lenovo is expanding its Digital Workplace Solutions capabilities with the Consulting and Implementation Partner Program to supply services through the Now platform, such as Order Management, Enterprise Asset Management, Service Bridge, Service Portfolio Management, Technology Provider Service Management, Security Operations, IT Service Management, IT Operations Management and Generative AI solutions which can be bundled with Lenovo Care of One platform capabilities.

Through the program and Lenovos implementation of the Now Platform, customers will benefit from the latest Lenovo Digital Workplace Solutions, meaning they will be able to more effectively manage the client, vendor, and employee experience, integrate new services into existing systems, improve security and data protection controls and leverage AI capabilities.

This joint go-to-market approach with ServiceNow means were providing customers with the very latest IT solutions to help them transform and stay competitive in a digital world. Were supporting customers across all industries both as a ServiceNow service provider as well as offering consulting and solutions integration capabilities across Lenovos service management portfolio. It means we can harness our collective expertise to elevate the customer experience, solve customers most complex business challenges and accelerate successful digital transformation outcomes, said Linda Yao, Chief Operating Officer and Head of Strategy, Lenovo Solutions & Services Group.

As a customer and now a valued ServiceNow partner, Lenovo will drive continuous business improvement for our customers and leverage the Now Platform to help accelerate time to revenue, said Marion Ryan, VP, Alliances and Channel Ecosystem APJ at ServiceNow. This partnership will enable faster collaboration with customers, measurable value and high levels of client satisfaction.

Consulting and Implementation partners leverage industry or domain expertise to guide customers on how to introduce and utilize ServiceNow solutions to help their businesses grow and succeed. Partners use ServiceNow resources to influence deals, track technology deployments, and drive adoption of new solutions.

Visit www.lenovo.com/digital-workplace-solutions to learn more about Lenovos Digital Workplace Solutions.

About Lenovo

Lenovo is a US$62 billion revenue global technology powerhouse, ranked #217 in the Fortune Global 500, employing 77,000 people around the world, and serving millions of customers every day in 180 markets. Focused on a bold vision to deliver Smarter Technology for All, Lenovo has built on its success as the worlds largest PC company by further expanding into growth areas that fuel the advancement of New IT technologies (client, edge, cloud, network, and intelligence) including server, storage, mobile, software, solutions, and services. This transformation together with Lenovos world-changing innovation is building a more inclusive, trustworthy, and smarter future for everyone, everywhere. Lenovo is listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange under Lenovo Group Limited (HKSE: 992)(ADR: LNVGY). To find out more, visit https://www.lenovo.com, and read about the latest news via our StoryHub.

LENOVO is a trademark of Lenovo. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. 2024 Lenovo.

ServiceNow, the ServiceNow logo, Now, Now Platform, and other ServiceNow marks are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of ServiceNow, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240118998294/en/
Merck Foundation CEO recognized and congratulated the Winners of Fashion, Song and Film Awards More Than a Mother and Diabetes & Hypertension Awards 2022 and planning to announce the winners of 2023 awards around March 2024.

Merck Foundation CEO also announced call for application for 2024 Merck Foundation Fashion, Song and Film Awards in partnership with The First Ladies of Africa - apply now at [email protected]

You can watch the Merck Foundation Fashion, Song and Film Awards 2022 ceremony here: https://youtu.be/ygfawjf4o7U?si=V4pf81KrCQA4KNbK

You

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FIRST POSITION:
The choice to undertake employment during college is a pivotal decision for many students. This critical juncture presents a blend of opportunities and challenges, each carrying significant weight in a student's academic and professional journey. This in-depth analysis aims to provide a nuanced understanding of the benefits and drawbacks associated with working while in college, helping students make informed decisions.

Benefits of Working While Studying

Financial Independence and Management

Financial freedom is the main benefit of working in college, which significantly contributes to students financial competence. Learning to budget, save, and manage finances is part of achieving financial freedom. Working students learn about money's worth, cost of living, and financial responsibility, all essential aspects of financial competence. This experience enriches their financial preparation for post-college life, making them more financially competent.

Earning money can also minimize student loan debt, a big issue for current students and a key component of financial competence. Earnings used for tuition, books, and living expenses can reduce future debt, demonstrating practical financial competence.

Real-World Experience and Career Advancement

Work experience in the actual world is also essential. Jobs in a student's field can help them start their career by revealing industry norms. Teamwork, communication, and problem-solving can be learned in non-major employment. Employers value these talents and can boost a graduate's employability.

Professional relationships developed during this time can help in future job searches. After graduation, networking with colleagues, supervisors, and clients might lead to opportunities. A job history shows potential employers that the student can handle responsibility and multitask.

Development of Time Management and Responsibility

Working while studying teaches time management and responsibility. Students must manage homework, work, and personal time. They must prioritize, follow timetables, and be organized to balance this. Academic success and career success depend on these talents.

Time management boosts academic and workplace productivity. Work experiences foster responsibility, maturity, and self-discipline that last a lifetime.

Challenges of Working While in College

Potential Impact on Academic Performance

Working while studying is a significant concern for academic achievement. Balancing job responsibilities with academic obligations can be challenging, especially when work takes time away from studying, attending lectures, and researching. This trade-off often leads to stress, exhaustion, and a reduction in the time available for academic pursuits.

In moments of heightened academic pressure, such as during exams or when handling large tasks, the challenge intensifies. Work stress can lead to burnout, negatively impacting one's ability to perform academically. This circumstance demands a careful balancing act. In this way, you need to find a descriptive essay writer or similar academic support to navigate these demanding periods. Such assistance can provide valuable guidance and help alleviate the burden, ensuring a more balanced approach to work and study.

Limited College Experience

Work commitments can sometimes mean missing college highlights. College life generally includes campus activities, organizations, and social events, which can lead to personal growth, networking, and lifetime friendships. Working students may struggle to make time for these critical events, which could lead to isolation or missing out on campus life.

This restriction can also hinder socialization and networking in a more relaxed college setting. Work-campus life balance is essential for a well-rounded college experience.

Increased Stress and Health Concerns

Managing a job and school can cause stress, which can harm mental and physical health. Academic pressure and employment obligations can cause stress, anxiety, depression, and sleep difficulties.

These conditions might make it hard to get enough sleep, eat well, and exercise. Students must know their boundaries and seek help from family, friends, or university mental health resources. Ignoring these stress symptoms might worsen health issues and damage academic performance and enjoyment of life.

Maximizing the Benefits While Minimizing the Risks

Choosing the Right Job

To maximize working while studying, choose a profession that supports academic aspirations. Jobs that offer flexible hours or are relevant to a student's major are helpful. Flexible jobs let students work around class and academic obligations, reducing conflicts.

Jobs that provide relevant experience can also lead to a career, making labor twice as valuable. Campus jobs generally understand academic obligations and offer the flexibility needed to balance them.

Effective Time Management Strategies

Time management is essential for work-study balance. Students should practice prioritizing and following a schedule. It may include setting aside time for study, employment, and leisure to balance their lives.

Be realistic about what can be done in a given timeframe and schedule rest and leisure. Time management applications and tools can help you stay on track and avoid missing deadlines.

Seeking Support When Needed

Students must know that asking for help is a wise way to manage various tasks, not a show of weakness. Universities offer academic guidance, tutoring, and mental health counseling. These sites can help with working and learning.

Communicating with employers about academic obligations can also assist in finding balance. Employers are usually willing to adjust exam dates or academic deadlines if they are informed in advance.

Conclusion

Working in college presents both benefits and drawbacks. Academic risks, restricted college experiences, and more significant stress offset financial independence, career experience, and life skills.

Students can overcome these problems by choosing jobs carefully, managing time well, and using support services. College study can establish a solid basis for personal and professional success.
Surrounded by stories of tremendous success, we've grown to believe that starting a business is always about big money and huge companies. But is it always like this? Of course not. Reality is much more simple. Even the biggest tree started as a tiny seed; never forget about that.

As a student, you must understand that nothing comes out of nowhere. To build something worthwhile, you need a lot of things combined: a good idea, a productive team, and, of course, a vision. You need to figure out what you want and set goals accordingly.

If financial success and philanthropy are what you want, then why not start young? There are myriads of articles on business explaining how even penniless students can benefit from starting something of their own. Do you still have doubts? Read one on killerstartups.com/start-a-business/why-start-your-own-business-in-college to check for yourself).

So, if you want to start a small business with minimal initial investments, here are several things you can try:

Sell Craft

Thanks to digitalization, whatever you create with your hands can be sold online if it looks interesting enough and the presentation is good. If you have a creative hobby such as embroidery, knitting, crocheting, drawing, and so on, you can easily monetize it using different platforms such as Etsy, Amazon Handmade, eBay, and many more. Leverage platforms like Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter can also serve to showcase your handmade items to boost your sales. Consistency, dedication, and a genuine passion for your hobby can bring you lots of cash if you try hard enough.

Create and Sell Custom Items

T-shirts, cups, notebooks, stickers with creative designs, and other similar trifles related to anything you like: university life, funny quotes that resonate with your peers, favourite anime characters, and so on are easy to create, but trust me, they are a golden mine. You can order anything with a custom print and start your own little shop, selling it to those eager to have something with their favourite game character's face on it.

Do Cleaning

Starting a small cleaning business as a student can be a flexible way to earn some cash. Naturally, there's the initial investment in cleaning essentials like solutions, mops, vacuums, microfiber cloths, gloves, and other indispensable tools. Yet, as you steadily build your clientele, you'll find your earnings covering these costs.

Consider carving a niche for yourself; perhaps delve into residential cleaning, office maintenance, or specialized services like eco-friendly or deep cleaning. This specialization can set your services apart in the market.

Use both online and offline ways to spread the word about your venture. Establish a presence on social media platforms, circulate eye-catching flyers, and engage with your local community to make people talk about you, attracting potential clients.

Launching and running a small cleaning business while navigating academic responsibilities demands a delicate equilibrium. But armed with meticulous planning and unwavering commitment, you will succeed.

Freelance Writing

Are you, by any chance, good at writing essays? For talented folks like you, there are various platforms that you can utilize to sell your writing, e.g. https://writepaperfor.me/pay-for-essays. As a student, you must know how hard it can be sometimes to catch up with your assignments. Struggling with their study-life balance, sometimes students are tempted to cheat a little by paying someone to do their homework on their behalf. Or, as an alternative, you can look for some openings in different magazines and companies looking for a copywriter. This kind of work is flexible and pays well. What else can a student want?

Start Teaching

Knowledge is gold you can convert into currency. Everyone is good at something, so why not share your wisdom with your struggling peers? Tutoring can be a rewarding job in many aspects, including finances. Besides, you can do it both offline and online using platforms like Zoom. To make learning more enjoyable and establish a good rapport with your students, don't be afraid to joke and use creative approaches you would like your teachers to use to make learning more engaging.

Become a Part-Time Dog Parent

If you love animals, why not make money looking after someone's pets?

Come by local pet-related businesses, veterinarians, and pet stores to make some friends in this business, and leave them your business cards or flyers to spread the word.

To provide personalized care for each pet, create a pet profile form to collect essential information about each client's pet, including emergency contacts, veterinary information, and any special instructions. It wouldn't hurt to also learn about their habits and preferences, as this personal touch can set you apart from larger pet-sitting services.

To establish trust with your clients, be reliable, communicative, and caring. Provide updates and photos during pet visits to reassure owners their babies are in good hands.

With time, you can even think of expanding your services based on demand and your capacity. For instance, you might add additional services such as pet grooming or pet transportation over time.

These are only a few of the opportunities every student can take advantage of to improve their financial situation. By providing quality service and building a positive reputation, you can develop a successful small business while still being a student. All you need to do is to start. Good luck!
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Postal Code
Jordan Parker is a breaking news reporter for The San Francisco Chronicle. He graduated from Sacramento State University in May 2022 with a degree in journalism. During his time there, he spent three years as a reporter and editor for the university's award-winning student newspaper, The State Hornet. He spent his senior year of college serving as The Hornet's first Black editor in chief, leading the organization to two Pacemaker awards and several other national honors from the Associated Collegiate Press. When he's not chasing down a story, he likes watching movies, traveling and trying new restaurants.

He can be reached at Jordan.Parker@sfchronicle.com.
You could say that a lot is riding on the Lexus LBX. Not only is it Lexus first three-letter named model after the LFA supercar, but becaus...
A photo and flowers decorate the stage during a memorial service for Kevin Nishita at San Jose Civic Auditorium on Thursday, Dec. 9, 2021. A third man suspected in Nishitas killing was arrested near Kansas City, Mo. Jim Gensheimer/Special to the Chronicle 2021

A man suspected in the fatal shooting of security guard Kevin Nishita in Oakland in 2021 was arrested Wednesday near Kansas City, Mo., authorities said Thursday.

Laron Gilbert is one of three men charged in Alameda County Superior Court with murder and other alleged offenses in the shooting of Nishita. The two other defendants, Hershel Hale and Shadihia Mitchell, were arrested in 2021.

Nishita was a retired police officer who provided security services for several companies in the Bay Area. He was working as a security guard for KRON-TV on Nov. 24, 2021, when a group of men tried to steal a reporters camera on 14th Street near Harrison Street. Nishita was shot in the abdomen when he intervened, police said.

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Gilbert, Mitchell and Hale were charged with murder, attempted robbery and assault with a semiautomatic gun.

Prosecutors said in court records that Mitchell was the shooter, but the Alameda County Public Defenders Office said last month that prosecutors planned to dismiss allegations that Mitchell pulled the trigger.

Public Defender Brendon Woods said in a statement that evidence shows Gilbert was the shooter. Woods office said investigators tried to cover up the incompetence by making it seem Mitchell was the shooter.

The office said one of the investigators was Sgt. Phong Tran, who was charged last April with lying under oath in a murder case and trying to bribe and intimidate witnesses. Tran has pleaded not guilty.

Gilbert was arrested in connection with a parole violation about three weeks after Nishitas killing, but he posted bail two days later, Oakland police said. In March 2022, police obtained a warrant for his arrest in the fatal shooting.

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Earlier this month, police suspected Gilbert was possibly in Kansas City and asked the U.S. Marshals Service to help them find and arrest Gilbert.

On Wednesday, a task force spotted and followed him to Blue Springs, Mo., about 20 miles east of Kansas City. As task force members approached Gilbert in a parking lot, he ran across a highway, but he was arrested soon after, the U.S. Marshals Service said in a statement.
Peru's cement market contracts 12% in December

ICR Newsroom By 19 January 2024

National dispatches in Peru fell by 12 per cent YoY to 0.958Mt in December 2023, according to the country's cement association, Asocem. Of this total, 0.885Mt were dispatched by Asocem members.



Domestic cement production declined by 15 per cent to 0.928Mt in December 2023 from 1.087Mt in December 2022. Clinker production saw a three per cent YoY pick-up to 0.94Mt from 0.913Mt over the same period.



Cement exports dropped by 51 per cent YoY to 8000t in December 2023 from 16,000t in the year-ago period, but clinker exports saw a 113 per cent increase to 71,000t from 34,000t over the same period.



Cement imports fell 59 per cent YoY from 7000t in December 2022 to 3000t in December 2023. All cement imports were supplied from Chile. South Korea supplied 44,000t of clinker in December 2023 (in December 2022 there were no clinker imports).



Full-year 2023

Domestic cement dispatches contracted by 11.5 per cent in 2023 to 11.985Mt from 13.538Mt in 2022.



Cement output from Asocem member plants was down by 13.6 per cent YoY to 11.404Mt in 2023 from 13.196Mt.



Cement exports saw 22 per cent drop to 143,000t in 2023 from 184,000t in 2022, but clinker exports were up 28 per cent YoY to 669,000t from 523,000t in 2022.



Cement imports decreased by 22 per cent to 211,000t in 2023 from 270,000t in 2022 and clinker imports declined by 31 per cent to 673,000t in 2023 from 981,000t in 2022.

Published under
Bayfair Center in San Leandro will be losing its Macys store, with the company announcing its intention to shut down that location. Santiago Mejia/The Chronicle

Macys plans to close its San Leandro location, along with four other stores nationwide, according to the company and news reports.

A company spokesperson confirmed to the Chronicle on Thursday that the Macys anchoring San Leandros Bayfair Center would close. The Bayfair Center Macys employs 60 people, according to the company.

Store employees were informed before the news becoming public, and eligible employees will be offered severance benefits and the opportunity to transfer to neighboring stores, the spokesperson said.

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At Macys, we continue to reposition our store fleet to better meet the needs of our customers in each of our markets. After careful consideration, we have decided to close our Macys Bayfair Center store, the spokesperson said in a statement.

The Bayfair Center store is one of five stores closing nationwide, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal. Citing an internal memo sent to employees Thursday, the Journal reported Macys will also close stores in Simi Valley (Ventura County); Tallahassee, Fla.; Lihue, Hawaii; and Arlington, Va.

Macys also plans to lay off about 2,350 employees  3.5% of its total workforce  across both Macys and its subsidiaries, Bloomingdales and Bluemercury, the Wall Street Journal reported.

In November, Macys Inc.  the parent company of all three brands  reported third quarter earnings of $43 million, down from $108 million in the same quarter in 2022. Net sales at the Macys stores were down 7% year over year both online and in-store, according to the companys earnings report.

A source told the Wall Street Journal that Macys would be redirecting funding from the closed stores and layoffs toward enhancing the digital shopping experience and upgrading the look of existing stores. The internal memo reviewed by the Wall Street Journal reportedly said the changes were based on nearly a year of consumer research.

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Closing sales at the Bayfair Center Macys will begin this month and run for eight to 12 weeks, the Macys spokesperson told the Chronicle.
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Xinjiang students send 200 sheep to E China's Zhejiang in show of gratitude

People's Daily Online) 09:35, January 19, 2024

Elementary school students in Wensu county, Aksu prefecture, in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, sent 200 sheep to east China's Zhejiang Province on Jan. 13, expressing their gratitude for years of generous support and donations received from the province.

The heartwarming story began with Zilalai Tuokexun, a sixth-grader at an elementary school in Bozidun Kirgiz ethnic township, Wensu county. She wished to gift a sheep, raised by her family, to the kind-hearted people in Zhejiang Province who had provided valuable assistance to her.

Tuokexun's idea found widespread support among her schoolmates. As a result, the students sent 200 sheep, carefully processed and packaged, along with other local specialties, such as Aksu apples and Wensu rice, to Zhejiang.

The first batch of gifts is expected to be distributed among enterprises, schools, government departments, and other organizations that have aided Tuokexun's school.

A portion of the mutton has been transported by cold-chain trucks to a cold storage facility in Hangzhou, the capital of Zhejiang Province. The meat will be used to make mutton pilaf, offered free to the public at Wulin Night Market in Gongshu district, Hangzhou, on Jan. 20.

Under China's "pairing assistance" program, Zhejiang Province has partnered with Aksu prefecture to aid in its development.

Due to the remote location of the school and the financial challenges facing local families, many students at the elementary school in Bozidun Kirgiz ethnic township have received care and assistance from various sectors of society. A significant portion of the donations come from enterprises and other organizations in Zhejiang, according to Zhang Jie, an executive at the school.

"The students wanted to give sheep to their benefactors, and of course, the school supports this wonderful act of gratitude. We believe this is a great opportunity to help them better understand the importance of gratefulness," Zhang said.

(Web editor: Hongyu, Liang Jun)
A judge ruled Wednesday on a Racial Justice Act claim brought by man who says San Francisco police racially profiled him during an August 2022 stop that devolved into a shootout over an imitation firearm. Filipa Ioannou/The Chronicle

A San Francisco judge ruled Wednesday that police may have racially profiled a man during an August 2022 stop that devolved into a shootout over an imitation firearm, the third local case to get a closer look under the Racial Justice Act.

The California law allows people accused or convicted of crimes to seek relief  like a new trial, case dismissal or shorter sentence  if they can prove they were victims of racial bias during the criminal investigation or ensuing trial.

Under the process laid out in the Racial Justice Act, the court is meant to take a permissive look at the defendants initial claim, then decide if what theyre saying qualifies for more serious consideration at a future hearing. At that hearing, a judge examines supporting evidence from both sides before deciding what relief might be appropriate.

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Judge Michael McNaughton followed a precedent-setting appellate decision released in August 2023 in accepting defendant Jose Corveras initial claim of bias, moving a review to the next stage.

Corveras initial trial ended with a mistrial in November; his new trial was scheduled to begin last month but was postponed until the Racial Justice Act inquiry is resolved. McNaughton also oversaw Corveras first trial.

Corvera, 52, was riding a rented bicycle and rolling a second bicycle down a sidewalk in the Mission District when officers approached him because a bike had been reported stolen, police officials said at an August 2022 news conference. Corvera ran, then twice fired the imitation weapon, which shot blanks.

At least four San Francisco police officers fired shots at Corvera over a 40-minute period while Corvera crouched behind a parked car. None of the at least 15 shots fired by police hit Corvera, who has mental health issues and a limited grasp of English, according to his attorney, Deputy Public Defender Kathleen Natividad.

In his trial, Corveras attorney argued that police should not have stopped her client and did so only because he is Latino.

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The only factual issue was whether this was a racist or pretextual stop, Natividad said. And the jury did not convict him beyond a reasonable doubt.

The District Attorneys Office declined to comment.

The Racial Justice Act of 2020 and a companion law, 2022s Racial Justice for All Act, prohibit racial discrimination in charging, conviction or sentencing. The 2022 law made the Racial Justice Act retroactive, applying it to cases decided before it took effect in 2021.

Eligibility was expanded on Jan. 1, 2023, to people sentenced to death or who face deportation due to their conviction. On Jan. 1, eligibility again expanded to people incarcerated in state prison and in county jails for felony convictions. In 2025, people who were convicted of a felony after 2015 but are no longer incarcerated become eligible, followed by those with older felony convictions in 2026.

Wednesdays ruling is the third under the Racial Justice Act in San Francisco, said Sujung Kim, the deputy public defender who runs the offices research division.

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The ruling comes weeks after several new California laws took effect aimed at lessening racial bias in who is stopped by police, and as frustrations mount over delays in planned changes to the San Francisco Police Departments policy around pretextual stops, said Brian Cox, who runs the public defenders Integrity Unit, which focuses on policing policies and transparency.

Pretextual stops involve stopping someone for a minor law violation in the hopes of finding evidence of a more serious crime. SFPDs stated reasons for stopping Corvera  that he was biking on the sidewalk and that a similar bike had been reported stolen  is an example of a pretext stop, Cox said.

Statewide efforts to ban pretext stops have failed, and they face steep opposition from police unions. More targeted measures have found success, with California decriminalizing jaywalking, removing restrictions in the vehicle code that outlaw lowrider cars, a restriction critics say is discriminatory against Latinos, and restricting when police can stop someone for expired registration stickers.

According to data on more than 250,000 SFPD stops from 2018 to June 2023, 25% of people stopped by police were Black, 20% were Hispanic and 34% were white. Citywide, San Franciscos population is about 6% Black, 16% Hispanic and about 38% white.

More than 34,000 stops were in the Mission District, where Corvera was arrested, and where 29% of people stopped by SFPD were Hispanic, 26% were Black and 31% were white. The neighborhood is about 39% Hispanic, 4% Black and 36% white.

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Spread the Love and awareness for Isaiah 117 House at Chambliss Center for Children by filling a friend or family members yard with hearts for a day.During the month of February, for a small donation, volunteers from the Isaiah 117 House at Chambliss Center for Children will place dozens of heart signs in the yard of nominated individuals in Hamilton County as part of a national Isaiah 117 House fundraiser. After 24 hours, the hearts will be removed and go on to the next house, business or church to Spread the Love to another nominee.This is our fourth year of Spreading the Love to benefit the Isaiah 117 House at Chambliss Center for Children, said Chambliss Center for Children Communications Coordinator Jasmine Render Padgal. As we continue to support children in the community, this is one way our community can get involved and help spread awareness. Its also a great way to brighten someones day or show them how much you care.The Isaiah 117 House at Chambliss Center for Children serves children and youth on removal day by providing them with a welcoming place of respite as they await a suitable foster care placement. Proceeds from the Spread the Love fundraiser will benefit Isaiah 117 House at Chambliss Center for Children.Nominations for Spread the Love can be made at www.ChamblissCenter.org/spreadthelove. For more information about the Isaiah 117 House at Chambliss Center for Children or the Spread the Love Fundraiser, contact Program Coordinator John Hunter at john.hunter@chamblisscenter.org.
The Junior League of Chattanooga announces the winners of the annual Mini-Grants program made possible by the support of Hamico, Inc. This year, JLC was able to award over $20,000 to winners towards the success of their projects.

JLC Mini-Grants is a program designed to provide educators in the Hamilton County public school system funding for creative and effective teaching projects. JLC remains committed to helping teachers provide their students with exciting, challenging and rewarding learning experiences.

The 2023-24 winners are:



Alyson Prescott-Burr

Fiber Art club

Tyner Academy

Amanda Panter

Rocks, Layers and Legacy: Rock City's Geological Wonderland

Lookout Valley Middle High School

Amy Martin

Speed into STEAM

Lookout Valley Elementary

Anna Cat Shepard

Sensory room materials

Signal Mountain Middle High School

Ben Wall

Nearpod Access to Boost Social Studies Participation

Wolftever Creek Elementary School

Caroline Mickey

Libros for Ninos

Alpine Crest Elementary

Chandler Davenport

Hustlin' Sewanee Tigers

The Howard School

Chasity Rehagen

Book Bucks, Reading Circles & Stem, Oh My!

Wallace A. Smith Elementary

Courtney Smoker

4 Houses 1 Tribe

Calvin Donaldson Elementary

Diane Winne, Emily Baker

Bee-Bot Project

Brown Academy of Innovation

Elizabeth McClain

Photographing Animals in Need of Adoption

Signal Mountain Middle High School

Emily McDonald

Building a Brighter Future for Students with Technology, Teamwork, and SEL

University High (Hamilton County Schools)

Heather Modrow

Open the World of Reading With Technology

Normal Park Museum Magnet Lower

Jack Noblit

Decorative feature wall

East Ridge High School

Jana Clemons

Inspire 3.0: Launch a Business!

Loftis Middle School

Jason Bevil

Planetary RVR Project

Apison Elementary

Julia Phillips

A Stitch in Time

Soddy Elementary School

Kelley Mitchell, Aisha Allen

CSAS Video Production Studio

Chattanooga School for Arts and Sciences

Lisa Millard

BINGO with Betas and Baby Boomers

Alpine Crest

Liz Poynter

Exploring Coding Critters: A Literacy and Science Adventure

Thrasher Elementary

Maria Stinnett

Meeting the Sensory Needs of Students

East Side Elementary

MaryBeth Sanders

Calm Corner Kits and Classroom Set-up Kits

Induction Team - Central Office

Pam Johnston

Building Together: Our Bluebird Haven

Thrasher Elementary School

Ricky McEvoy

Building An Essential Sensory Oasis

Thrasher Elementary

Sarah Mason

Classroom Flexible Seating

Clifton Hills Elementary School

Shannon Stephens

Music Library Refresh

Lookout Valley Middle High School

Soeung Chov

Constructing Grid Tie Solar Panels

Chattanooga School for the Arts and Sciences

Stacy Alexander

LCA College Fair

Central High School

Taylor Moore

Building Bright Brains - Blockbuster Success with Brick Math

Thrasher Elementary

Any elementary, middle, or high school teacher or team of teachers in the Hamilton County public school system can apply for a grant and may submit project ideas to the JLC website. Grant applications open early fall and JLC contacts winners later the same year.

For more information, please contact JLCs Director of Public Policy, Catherine Seat.
The push for universal vouchers in Tennessee is flawed at this time and fiscally questionable. This proposed legislation, as planned by Governor Lee, is not income-tested and does not specifically target the lowest-income students in the worst public schools. It will give taxpayer money to wealthy families with children already in private schools. This will not improve public schools if that is the stated goal.

Without limits or caps, it could create another large entitlement program in our state, when Tennessee taxpayers can least afford it. As Ronald Reagan reminded us: Government does not solve problems; it subsidizes them.

The legislative process for this legislation should not be rushed. There is no bill currently filed on universal vouchers to review. As described, Governor Lee has indicated money will come from a separate part of the budget. His proposed universal vouchers will be a subsidy, creating another separate school system, in which Tennessee taxpayers will bear the cost to support. As government growth increases, liberty decreases.

Education policies are shaped by political, social, economic, and cultural dynamics, and finding common ground amid these complexities is a continual challenge. If this effort were on a statewide ballot initiative, it would fail. Tennessee has out-of-state funding driving state policies --- including education. That is why Tennesseans must drive the universal voucher debate.

Policymakers and stakeholders need to merely look at the similarities between Lees proposal and the unintended consequences in Arizona. They estimated spending at about $64 million and grew to about $900 million this year, 1,400 percent higher than initially projected. We know that state revenue is down, and growth in government spending has increased in Tennessee in the last decade. Our state must repeal our unconstitutional excise and franchise tax this year, which could easily cost $1 billion to $1.4 billion. Now is not the time to grow government.

There are legitimate questions about the capacity of private schools to further accommodate voucher students, admission fairness, transportation planning, and evaluating student progress. Even Tennessee Education Commissioner Lizzette Reynolds expressed disappointment about the state test scores of students using ESA vouchers for private schools in Shelby and Davidson counties.

Before the government introduces a new universal voucher program, it is essential to establish clear and transparent mechanisms for evaluating the program's effectiveness. The potential for fraud and lack of controls must be addressed by implementing measures to ensure accountability and prevent misuse of taxpayer funds. All people or schools receiving public funds must be transparent and accountable for how they use these funds. Results must be measurable, like their public school counterparts.

Policymakers should insist on actual proof of residency, as well as verification. Tennesseans recall the fraud as our state launched TennCare and the out-of-state people who took advantage of that program.

It is crucial to demand evidence of Tennessee's Education Savings Account Pilot Program's success before further expansion of any voucher program. Even supporters should want that data and make necessary changes before expansion to universal vouchers. In Indiana, voucher schools must administer the state test and report to the state data for AF ratings, including state assessment scores and graduation rates. Should that also be included in any legislation?

American political commentator, entrepreneur, author, and talk show host Armstrong Williams wrote: Let's remember the children who come from broken homes, surrounded by crime, drugs, temptation, their peers having babies out of wedlock, but who still manage to get a good education despite the many obstacles they face every day.

Public education has problems and issues that need to be confronted and challenged. No school or system is perfect. No one-size-fits-all solution works for every problem, nor is every school the right fit for every child. However, it is also unrealistic to assume that a universal voucher program would not potentially lead to re-segregation in our schools along religious, racial, economic, and ability/disability lines without the correct policies in place on the front end.

There are good people on every side of any debate. There are also opportunists. And when it comes to children, people are passionate. Improving public education for the benefit of all children must be our focus. An informed and educated population is crucial for our state and nation. Policymakers should also embrace other forms of school choice already existing within our state. Especially those with demonstrated success.

JC Bowman

Executive Director of Professional Educators of Tennessee
Katherine Kay Freeland, 83 of Cleveland, Tennessee passed away Tuesday, January 16th, 2024.

Kay was born in New Jersey, raised in Philadelphia, and spent many years in St. Petersburg, FL. She then moved to Hialeah, FL after welcoming her son and daughter into the world.

Kay was of the Roman Catholic faith and attended St. Therese Catholic Church in Cleveland, Tn. She retired after over 20 years of service with Northern Telecom and earned her Bachelors Degree from Nova University while working there. Kay was also a private pilot in South Florida maintaining her Single Engine Prop Aviation license. She also held real estate licenses in Florida and Tennessee. Kay was always learning and growing which inspired her children to do the same. She was known as a people person and loved to give gifts and celebrate the holidays. Kay will always be remembered for her giving spirit and selfless heart.

Kay was preceded in death by her daughter, Victoria Janet Del Haya Toth; grandson, Jean Toth; parents, Earl and Murl Miles; and sister, Janet Miles.

Survivors include her husband of 47 years, Anthony Tony Freeland; son, Joseph Joe Del Haya; granddaughters, JoAnna Rivera and Cherry Lillian Toth; step-daughter, Tracy Tanga; three step grandchildren; four step great grandchildren; and many friends.

To share condolences please visit Kays tribute page at pfhcleveland.com

Arrangements are entrusted to Poole Funeral Home & Cremation Services of Cleveland.
The Chattanooga Fire Fighters Association, Local #820 (CFFA) has endorsed Judge Alex McVeagh in his campaign to become the next judge of Division III of Hamilton County Circuit Court.

Judge McVeagh is running in the contested Hamilton County Republican Primary Election, which will be held on Tuesday, March 5.

The CFFA endorsement of Judge McVeagh follows the recent endorsements of the International Brotherhood of Police Officers, Local #673, retired Hamilton County Sheriff Jim Hammond, and 13 local judges.

The integrity of our courts is a cornerstone of our society, and the administration of justice equally under the law is important to the men and women who put their lives on the line every day to keep our communities safe, said CFFA President Jack Thompson.

Judge Alex McVeagh has served our community well as a Judge for nearly seven years, and he has a record of making decision based on the rule of law and the Constitution of the United States instead of outside influences.

It is our opinion that Judge Alex McVeagh provides that best experience and background for the people of Hamilton County, and the Chattanooga Fire Fighters Association proudly endorses Judge McVeagh to be the next Circuit Court Judge for Hamilton County.

Currently, the CFFA has more than 225 active members who support charitable organizations, non-profit groups and political candidates that best represent local communities while working to educate and advocate for the men and women who serve and protect Chattanooga residents, their homes and properties.



It is my honor to receive the Chattanooga Fire Fighters Associations endorsement in my campaign to be Hamilton Countys next Circuit Court Judge, said Judge McVeagh. Our local firefighters put their lives on the line each and every day in service to those in our community, and I am truly humbled to receive their support in this campaign.



I appreciate the trust that our first responders have placed in me to make difficult decisions based on the rule of law and to administer justice equally and fairly. I am grateful the CFFA believes I have the values and judicial temperament that Hamilton County residents need and expect in our courts.


Scott Peterson leaves the courtroom after his resentencing hearing at the San Mateo County Superior Court in Redwood City in December 2021. The Los Angeles Innocence Project has filed court papers in an effort to exonerate Peterson, claiming that key evidence was withheld from the 2004 trial. Andy Alfaro/Modesto Bee 2021

The Los Angeles Innocence Project has filed court papers in an effort to exonerate Scott Peterson, contending that key evidence was withheld from the 2004 trial that found him guilty of killing his pregnant wife, Laci, and their unborn son.

The filings made Wednesday in San Mateo County Superior Court contain nearly 1,000 pages of evidence the project says will show that other suspects werent fully considered and that a mysterious van that was set on fire across from the Petersons Modesto home contained blood spatter that might have cleared the convicted man.

The van, plus some purported sightings of Laci Peterson before her disappearance, and traces after it, werent properly presented at the trial, which was moved from Stanislaus County to San Mateo County because of the enormous publicity surrounding the case.

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The project asks that DNA testing be done on the blood and that previously unheard interviews with witnesses who cast doubt on the guilt of Scott Peterson be examined by the court.

Paula Mitchell, director of the L.A. Innocence Project, said in the filings that much of what she and her team discovered could possibly turn the verdict around. She said Peterson contacted her office in March 2023 and asked her to look into his case.

Based on my review of the evidence presented at trial in this case  and the new evidence uncovered, I believe that additional relevant and material information and evidence exist that relate to the claims raised in the pro se Petition before the Court, which will support Mr. Petersons claim of innocence, Mitchell wrote.

The L.A. Innocence Project, housed at Cal State Los Angeles, works to exonerate the wrongfully convicted who are serving lengthy sentences in California prisons, according to its mission statement.

The project declined on Thursday to comment beyond its court filings.

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The Stanislaus County District Attorneys Office wrote back to the project in December that the projects contentions appeared to be faulty after receiving a letter requesting evidence.

Your 64-page request lists a few items which were purportedly not included in the initial discovery to defendant Petersons original trial counsel and several other items, special prosecutor Birgit Fladager wrote in the response. However, You may not be aware but it was our team that brought newly discovered information to the attention of  Petersons lawyers and the court during his last habeas matter, she added.

In her letter, Fladager also accused Innocence Project attorneys of deliberately withholding information about their efforts to exonerate Peterson, calling into question the suggested intent of their requests for evidence.

The fact that you have chosen to withhold items you claim to possess that support some of your assertions is troubling, Fladager wrote.

Pat Harris, one of Petersons defense attorneys in his many court appearances, said he intends to help in the new efforts. We are very excited to have the incredible attorneys at the L.A. Innocence Project lend their unparalleled expertise to helping to prove Scott Petersons innocence, he wrote in an email to the Chronicle, and declined to comment further.

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The L.A. Innocence Projects court filing was first reported by ABC News. One of the networks retired producers and investigative reporters is included in the filing with a lengthy declaration saying he thinks the case should be reexamined.

Peterson, now 51, was working for a fertilizer company when his wife, who was eight months pregnant, disappeared on Dec. 24, 2002. The search for her stretched throughout Northern California and grabbed nationwide attention that hit a frenzy in April when the bodies of Laci and her baby were found separately on the shoreline of Richmond.

Peterson said he had gone fishing around the same time in the waters off Berkeley, and between that and revelations that he had been having an extramarital affair, suspicions centered on him.

He was sent to Death Row after his conviction, but after court findings that a juror in the case had failed to disclose previous involvement in legal proceedings, the state Supreme Court overturned his sentence in 2021. He was then resentenced to life in prison without parole.

The Innocence Project said it is reviewing everything involved in Petersons trial, which includes at least 43,000 pages of discovery, testimony of more than 150 witnesses and more than 120 volumes of documents.
Winners of the Southern Adventist University Concerto Competition will be featured in concert with the universitys Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Laurie Redmer Cadwallader, on Sunday, Feb. 4 at 4 p.m. at Collegedale Church of Seventh-day Adventists on campus, 4829 College Dr. East in Collegedale.Established in 1990, the annual contest features gifted young instrumentalists from across the region who auditioned and were chosen to present solos alongside a full orchestra. This years finalists include Riley Hale from Vanderbilt University playing Concerto for Marimba and Strings, I by Sejourne; Marilyn Iribar from Andrews University in Michigan playing Violin Concerto No.1 in F-sharp minor, op. 14, I by Wieniawski; and Evangeline Manalo, 16, from Chattanooga State Collegiate High School playing Der Schwandreher by Hindemith.Five of Southerns own student musicians also earned the top honor of performing their respective solos with orchestra accompaniment: Jasiel Castro playing Horn Concerto in B-flat major, op. 91, III by Wieniawski; Matthew Kimbley playing Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor, op. 30, III by Rachmaninoff; Kayla Kwon playing Zigeunerweisen, op. 20 by Sarasate; Soren Pang playing Piano Concerto in A minor, op. 16, III by Grieg; and Amelia Zimmerman playing Guitar Concerto in D major RV 93, I by Vivaldi.This free event is open to the public and will be livestreamed.For more information, visit southern.edu/musicevents or contact the School of Music at 423-236-2880.
The County School Board on Thursday unanimously passed a priority list for a major school building program.

The list goes to the County Commission, which is expected to approve a bond issue for the project.

The projects, listed in years 1-3 of a long range plan, are due to cost well in excess of $200 million.

The new Gateway School off W. MLK Boulevard, which is to include a new location for Center for the Creative Arts, is at the top of the school board list. The county paid BlueCross $10 million for the facility that was built as part of the Golden Gateway development.

Tied for second were a new Clifton Hills Elementary and a new elementary school for students at Alpine Crest, Rivermont and Dupont Schools.

Next was moving Dalewood Middle School to the Brainerd High campus and then a new Soddy Daisy Middle School. A new school for Soddy Daisy Middle at its current site was preferred by board members over the option of combining the school with Soddy Daisy High School.

Lower on the priority list were an addition at Thrasher Elementary on Signal Mountain and renovating the former Cigna headquarters directly across from East Brainerd Elementary as an addition to that school.

The location for the merger of the three elementary schools is expected to be on the Dupont campus on Hixson Pike. However, board members said that could change if a better option is brought forward prior to the time for starting construction.

Red Bank officials have called for the school to be built there, saying otherwise there will not be an elementary within the Red Bank limits. Red Bank Elementary is just across the line in Chattanooga.
The Chattanooga womens indoor track and field team returns to action for the Samford Invitational Friday at the Birmingham CrossPlex.We are looking to build on the meet last weekend as we bump up the intensity a little more this week, head coach Andy Meyer said. Samford puts on such a competitive meet that it forces us to dig a little deeper than we did last week.We have some moving up in distances and some moving down to work on speed. We are hoping to progress our competitiveness and show a little more improvement in our form.Action will begin with Ava McGue in the womens long jump at 12:30 p.m.Eastern time. She will take part in the high jump at 5:30 p.m.The womens Mile with Leslie Boyd, Leah Boyd, Andrea Ellis and Kathryn Vradenburgh will get the track portion of the meet started for UTC.Sarah Unterholzner will look to improve her season-opening time in the 400 meter dash. Maddie Wheatcroft posted a PR in the 800 meter in the opener and will be joined by Leah Boyd, Ellis, Lexi Foley, Hannah Dearing and Kennedy Reynolds.Leslie Boyd along with Wheatcroft will compete in the 3000 meter run along with Lola Baker, Brooke Tyll, Allie Potter and Camden Morris at 5:25 p.m.The meet will conclude with the 4x400 meter. Chattanooga will once again have two teams competing in the relay.12:30 p.m. Long Jump2:25 p.m. Mile Run3:05 p.m. 400m Dash3:55 p.m. 800m Run5:25 p.m. 3000m Run5:30 p.m. High Jump6:10 p.m. 4x400m RelayLive scoring is available through XpressTiming.com. Results will be online following the meet.
On 6th Avenue Court police made contact with a woman who told police that flying cameras were coming into her house through the closed windows. Police assured her that no such device exists. She said that she has not slept in days. Police told her that it would be in her best interest to try and get some rest.

* * *

On Brainerd Road an officer stopped a Buick Regal for improper registration. On approach the officer made contact with the driver and gave him a verbal warning for the violation.



* * *



Police responded to Brainerd High School on an open door. Upon arrival, police noticed the front door (gym side) propped open by a mat. Police cleared the building and found nothing out of the ordinary. Maintenance arrived on scene and reset the alarm.



* * *



On North Chamberlain Avenue, police responded on reports of a noise complaint about a man and woman yelling in the unit downstairs. Police made contact the woman who said that she was in a verbal argument with her boyfriend about her going home to North Carolina. She said that it was only a verbal argument and that he left the scene in a Honda CRV before police arrived.



* * *

An officer spoke with a woman who said she used to live at the address and has been here for the holidays but now she is being told to leave. Another woman said she is the one who now leases this address and wishes the prior tenant to leave due to her becoming more and more intoxicated. She said she would leave. The officer remained on scene and watched as she left the residence and walked down the street towards her apartment at Rustic Village.



* * *



On Taggart Drive an officer spoke with a man who said an unknown male came onto his porch and attempted to turn the door knob before walking away from the residence. The man appeared to be of mixed race and had long black hair. Officers drove through the area attempting to locate the individual but were unable to. The residence was added to the Watch List for the next two weeks. No further.



* * *



An officer spoke with a gentlemen on O'Henry Drive via phone call who said his ex wife had moved back into the residence to work on their relationship. He said they had gotten into an argument and had decided they were not going to work out after all and he was going to have to evict her.

* * *

Two women on Hall Street were having a verbal disagreement. Both said it was never physical and they didn't need any police services.



* * *



A man called in stating his Facebook account had been hacked approximately six months ago, however recently he has been receiving messages from friends outside of Facebook stating his account was trying to scam people by listing items for sale. He is worried that since his name is associated with the account he would be liable for any illegal transactions and wanted a police report to state he has no access to his account. The officer told him that there had been no crime committed on his page at the moment and he needed to contact Facebook to delete his account.

* * *

On Kings Point Road an officer made contact with a woman who wanted to report suspicious activity at the Chickamauga Marina. She said while she was here she observed a black Toyota Highlander pull up and block her vehicle in. She said she noticed a female approach the area where she was sitting and began to look at her. She said she also observed a man in the area, who appeared to be yelling at her. She said they looked like they were from another country and also she could not understand what they were saying. She said they then left the area and just wanted to speak with Police, due to their suspicious activity. Police looked for the individuals but couldn't locate them.
Bill and Marlene Knowles Bill Knowles family Bill Knowles and his friend Pastor Ben Haden Bill Knowles relaxing at home Bill and Marlene Knowles Bill and Marlene Knowles, a lighter moment in the rain Bill Knowles greets Congressional Medal of Honor recipient Charles Coolidge at the grand opening of the Coolidge Heritage Center Previous Next

Nearly 50 years ago Hamilton Countians elected a young Chattanoogan to the position of County Clerk, and Bill Knowles is still on the job today.

Mr. Knowles is in his 13th term and is the longest serving elected official in Hamilton County. Mr. Knowles has always been one of the countys top votegetters.

This writer has known Bill and Marlene Knowles nearly all his life as they were my Sunday School teachers growing up in the First Church of the Nazarene in Chattanooga. Although a youngster, I remember attending their wedding; my mother was one of their musicians.

I cant attempt to document all the accomplishments of Mr. Knowles in both his public and personal life as they are many. No one public servant has helped this broadcaster in his career more than Bill Knowles.

Mr. Knowles grew up in a family of public servants.

His father, Claude Knowles, served in the Chattanooga Police Department as a detective.

His brother, Joe Knowles, went to work in the fire department in the early 50s and was promoted through the ranks to the top as fire chief.

Another brother, George Knowles, was a firefighter and made assistant chief.

Many remember his brother Claude Bud Knowles, who served for many years as administrator for Hamilton County elections.

Another brother, Dorman Knowles, worked for Arnold Engineering in Tullahoma as an engineer.

His sister, Virginia Knowles Pell, was a long time nurse at Newell Hospital (later downtown General), taking care of the sick.

Bill Knowles was born in St. Elmo at the family home and at a very young age they moved to Oak Grove in Highland Park. Mr. Knowles attended Oak Grove Elementary School, East Side Jr. High and graduated from Central High School in 1952. Mr. Knowles was inducted into the Central High Hall of Fame.

Young Bill remembers going to work earning a few dollars at the soda fountain in the Hamilton National Bank Building at Seventh and Market. He said he got to know many of the WDOD personalities as their studio was above the bank.

Mr. Knowles married a young Marlene Coulter who sang in the choir at the Nazarene Church. Her father, Buford Coulter, ran a barber shop in Ridgedale and talked his son in law into going to Nashville Barber School and coming to work for him for nearly six years.

Mr. Knowles worked for Chattanooga City Court Judge Riley Graham. A few years later Chattanooga Mayor Ralph Kelley, impressed with the young Knowles' people skills, hired him on the Full Employment Committee assisting in creating job programs.

When Hamilton County Clerk Dave Ramsey decided not to seek re-election, Mr. Knowles' family and friends persuaded him into running for the position and he was elected in 1974.

After the Army this writer was named WDOD news director and one of the first individuals I called for advice was my friend Bill Knowles. The newly elected official opened his office to all reporters and allowed us to use his telephone to call in stories to our newsrooms. This was way before cell phones.

Mr. Knowles served as clerk to the Quarterly Court, County Council and now the County Commission. The minutes of the meetings are always available to help compile news stories. Most of the minutes are computerized and the information is readily available to the press and public. Recordings of the County Commission meetings are also available to hear on the Chattanoogan.com.

Mr. Knowles' office is a great source of information when writing about license plates, and various other licenses and Mr. Knowles never refused to answer a reporters questions.

It has been under Mr. Knowles leadership long tag renewal lines were eliminated; a model eventually adopted by other Tennessee Clerks offices.

During this time Hamilton County was the first in the state to develop Internet tag renewals, a great service for motorists.

Mr. Knowles likes history and is proud of doing research on all Hamilton County Clerks. He has pictures of most of them.

Former Hamilton County Mayor Jim Coppinger said Mr. Knowles has "institutional (government) knowledge".

Mr. Knowles remembers when Jimmy Carter ran for President and he was asked to escort the Georgia Governor and his wife Rosalynn through the Hamilton County Courthouse. Mr. Knowles said after the visit he received a hand written letter from the Governor thanking him for his hospitality.

The late Hamilton County Executive Dalton Roberts grew up with Bill Knowles. Mr. Roberts described Mr. Knowles as the countys top statesman always looking for ways to improve and assist the citizens.

Mr. Roberts said Mr. Knowles was often seen taking first time courthouse visitors, who didnt know their way around, to various offices and courtrooms. Mr. Roberts said, My friend Bill was more than a clerk, he could have been county executive if hed wanted the job.

The late Hamilton County Commission Chairman Curtis Adams said, If Mr. Knowles ever retires it will be a great loss to the county. Hes a walking encyclopedia about Hamilton County Government.

The late Third District Congresswoman Marilyn Lloyd said, I often call my friend Bill Knowles and pick his brain. He would always answer my questions about Chattanooga and Hamilton County. He was a student of county government, always learning and making so many positive changes in his office; a valuable resource to our staff.

Bill Knowles is a family man with two sons and a daughter and many grandchildren.

Youll often see Mr. Knowles with some of his family eating at Wallys on McCallie Avenue and the Epicurean Restaurant in East Ridge.

Mr. Knowles is proud of writing the history of First Church of the Nazarene established in 1906, the church where he was raised, trusted Christ and married his wife Marlene. He was very good friends with Rev. John Andrus, who pastored the church for 31 years.

Bill and Marlene Knowles now attend Ridgedale Baptist Church. He says, Marlene has been singing all her life and she still enjoys the choir. We love Pastor Doug Plumlee and try not to miss.

Mr. Knowles said since he raised his family his wife Marlene of 68 years enjoys traveling with him to various functions, meetings, and funeral visitations.

He said, Marlene even enjoys going to Hamilton County Commission meetings with me.

One of Mr. Knowles' favorite ministers was the late Ben Haden. I have dozens of his sermons; they are a great source of encouragement. Ben was a good pastor and a great evangelist, sharing the Gospel on his weekly broadcasts Changed Lives. I listen to his programs every chance I get.

Mr. Knowles said, Ive seen so many changes in my office during nearly 50 years, but Im proud weve always been on the cutting edge of technology, all thanks to the hard work of my staff.

Mr. Knowles said People may get frustrated when visiting my office but our goal is a satisfied citizen. We have so many functions - car titles and tags, notary applications, marriage license, hunting and fishing license.

Mr. Knowles said his office may be closed because of inclement weather but he still answers his e-mails 24-7. Its one of the first things I check in the morning and the last thing before turning out the lights; I want to help the citizens if I can. Mr. Knowles said.

Mr. Knowles has served as president of the County Officials Association of Tennessee. In 2001, he was selected county official of the year and was named county clerk of the year three different times.

Mr. Knowles is very proud of his work ethic, Ive worked nearly all my life and enjoyed almost every minute.

The County Clerk never sees a stranger and will always stop for a visit; he has so many stories and is willing to share a few. Mr. Knowles returns his telephone calls even after those long County Commission meetings.

As for the veteran Hamilton County officials plans, Mr. Knowles said, "Its all in the Lords hands. Hes been good to me. I still enjoy getting up and going to work; I plan to serve as long as I have good health and please the people.
Tommy Rector age 73 of Spring City, Tennessee died on Wednesday, January 17, 2024 at his residence.

He was born on September 30, 1950 to the late Guy and Myrtle Cox Rector Sr.

Tommy attended school in Rhea County. He then volunteered to join the U.S. Army, serving his country in Vietnam as a paratrooper. After his service, Tommy became an ironworker with the Local #701. He loved people and was a father figure to many. Tommy loved to watch Westerns, and enjoyed buying, restoring, and collecting antique cars.

Tommy is also preceded in death by his wife Sharon Rector, and his brother Guy Rector Jr.

Survivors include his sons James Rector and Dustin Rector both of Spring City, Tn., and Patrick Chee of Albuquerque, Nm.; his sister Ann Strongberg of Fl.; and his brother Roy Rector of Spring City, Tn..

A graveside service with military honors will be held on Wednesday, Jan. 24, at 2 p.m. in the Spring City Cemetery. There will be no visitation.

Vaughn Funeral Home of Spring City is in charge of the arrangements of Tommy Rectorand asks that friends share condolences and memories of him with the family on our website www.vaughn-funeral-home.com.
So many queens have sat on thrones and complied with all the societal expectations of their role. Only a few queens have been brave enough to go against the norm and stand out during their reign.

One of them was Queen Christina of Sweden, who defied gender and religious norms during her reign in the 17th century.

Christina was born in 1626 and was the daughter of King Gustavus Adolphus Vasa of Sweden. Her mother was a German princess, Maria Eleonora of Brandenburg. She was the only heir to the throne, as she was her parents only surviving child.

This could explain why Christinas father gave her the same education a boy wouldve received while she was growing up. At a young age, she had a strong interest in the arts. Christina hardly had any time to be a child, as when she was only six years old, her father died in battle in 1632, and she suddenly became Queen Christina.

However, she didnt take the throne immediately and had to wait until she was a proper age. So, until she could assume the throne, Lord High Chancellor Axel Oxenstierna, one of her fathers advisors, ruled Sweden in her place.

Although Christina did not rule right away, she was consulted on political matters at a young age. She had ambitions to improve Swedish infrastructure and make education more accessible to the lower classes.

When she took the throne, one of her biggest accomplishments was ending the Thirty Years War in 1648 and declaring that a states official religion should coincide with the religion of its ruler.

She quickly got to work on expanding education throughout Sweden and impressively established the first Swedish newspaper. Christina also became a patron of the arts and supported local artists, writers, musicians, and live theater, taking the stage herself as an amateur actress on several occasions.

While her political accomplishments were impressive, Christinas nobles and subjects became fascinated and even concerned with her unconventionality. Christina was known for dressing in very masculine clothes, which was quite uncommon for a queen. She wore mens shoes, spoke in a low-toned voice, and styled her hair like a young man.

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Megan Fan Munce is a reporter who joined the San Francisco Chronicle as part of the two-year Hearst Journalism Fellowship, spending her first year of the program at the Houston Chronicle.

Munce grew up in San Jose before attending Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism, graduating with a B.S. and M.S. in journalism and a second major in political science.

She previously worked as an audience engagement fellow and a reporting fellow at the Texas Tribune, as well as an audience intelligence intern for KQED.

She can be reached at Megan.Munce@sfchronicle.com.
This 65-year-old man has a 36-year-old daughter whom he is estranged from, and it is entirely on him that they do not have any kind of relationship.

He admits that it is squarely his fault, and he says that his daughters mom is a total narcissist and the reason for driving a wedge between him and his daughter, interestingly enough.

His wife, whom he recently got divorced from, made him think that his daughter was the issue in his life.

Its taken him until now to realize this was never true and that his daughter wasnt a problem in the least; his now ex-wife was.

He would just go along with whatever his ex-wife said and told him in order to not make waves with her, but he finally told her to take a hike.

He honestly handled being estranged from his daughter in an awful way, and over the years, he tried to bully his daughter into re-entering their family.

He claims he did this in order to get his ex-wife to leave him alone, as he could not put up with her behavior, let alone stand up to her.

But then, he had to stop trying to connect with his daughter, as she hired an attorney to send him a cease and desist letter three years ago.

Now that he feels enough time has elapsed between such an inflammatory situation, he can see things for what they are (and were back then).

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If you love baby animals and could use a mood booster, some big news recently occurred in the animal world that is just as exciting as it is adorable.

Last month, a zoo in Venezuela welcomed three adorable white lion cubs who were born in captivity, which has caused a lot of exciting buzz among animal lovers worldwide.

Have you ever seen pictures of a white lion? It wouldnt be unusual if you hadnt, as these lions are a very genetically rare animal, and there are only around a dozen left in their original habitat and an estimated 200 left in the world.

White lions are not considered albino, but their stunning white color is due to a rare genetic color mutation.

They are unique to a region in South Africa, and its been estimated that less than 13 white lions remain in their native habitat.

However, several zoos and conservation centers have been working to breed white lions and increase their small population in captivity to ensure the gorgeous animal does not go extinct.

In early December, three adorable white lion cubs were born at the Las Delicias Zoo in Maracay, Venezuela. They were the first white lions to be born in Venezuela, and there are two males and one female.

The cubs were born to Camatagua and Sebastian, two white lions that were transported from the Hodonin Zoo in the Czech Republic as part of a strategic breeding program.

Because theres a risk of mother lionesses harming or even killing their cubs after giving birth in captivity, professional handlers and zoo keepers were assigned to hand-raise the cubs.

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Last October, the reputation of Indonesias widely respected president took a fateful hit.

Led by President Joko Jokowi Widodos brother-in-law, the Constitutional Court of Indonesia dropped the age limit for presidential and vice-presidential candidates if they previously held elected regional office. Conveniently, this paved the way for Jokowis son, Gibran Rakabuming Raka, 36, to run as vice president for front-runner Prabowo Subianto in the February 14 presidential elections.

That is the worst thing to happen to our democracy, said Yonky Karman, a lecturer at Jakarta Theological Seminary. This [upcoming] election is orchestrated by the incumbent to offer his preferred candidate, and the worst thing is that he made a way for his eldest son to run as vice president by changing the election law.

Five years ago, 97 percent of non-Muslims voted for Jokowi. This time, Christians are divided in their support.

In the worlds third-largest democracy, Muslims make up 87 percent of the population while Christians make up 10 percent. For Christians, the most important issue when voting in an election is maintaining their rights as a minority religion. Because of this, they largely supported Jokowi in the past two elections.

Yet this time, the decision is trickier. Ex-general Prabowo is a former longtime rival of Jokowi, who later joined the presidents coalition and served as defense minister. Christians worry that, in the past two elections, he had the backing of radical Muslim groups.

Prabowo is running against Anies Baswedan and Ganjar Pranowo, both former governors. Anies is no stranger to the headlines either, after accepting support from radical Muslims who strongly opposed his rival, ethnic Chinese Christian Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnama, in the 2017 Jakarta gubernatorial election. Meanwhile, some are concerned about how much Ganjar, who has the support of moderate Muslims, will be influenced by former president Megawati Sukarnoputri.

Currently, Prabowo commands a large lead in the polls with 47 percent of the vote, compared to Ganjar at 25 percent and Anies at 21 percent, according to a December poll.

However, if none of the candidates receive more than 50 percent of the votes and wins at least 20 percent of the votes in half of Indonesias provinces, a second runoff election will be scheduled in June.

Respondents mentioned that, while the Christian vote is split, Jokowis push for dynasty politics is dominating conversations among Christians.

Franz Magnis-Suseno, a Jesuit priest and professor who has authored several books on political philosophy, noted that Indonesia is in a really dangerous situation.

For many of us, it is the question of how will Indonesian democracy go on? Magnis-Suseno said. Under Jokowi, democracy is going down  the drain.

A humble, down-to-earth president

Five years ago, it seemed unthinkable that such a popular figure like Jokowi would cause so much controversy .

[Jokowi] was known to be very democratic and he  exhorted the plurality of culture and religion in Indonesia, said Andrew Kristanto, pastor of an Indonesian church in New Zealand. Kristanto is one of more than 1.7 million overseas voters in the 2024 election, and while he has lived abroad for the last eight years, he said he follows Indonesian politics closely.

He described Jokowi as a humble, down-to-earth president [whom] everyone loved. Kristanto believed Indonesia became a rising power in Asia, if not the world while Jokowi was president and pointed to his achievements, such as recognition from world leaders, infrastructure growth, and the minimization of Islamic radicalism.

He truly cares for the minority, for the lowly, he said.

Andreas Hauw, a lecturer at Southeast Asia Bible Seminary and the founder of a political education nonprofit in Malang, Indonesia, agreed. He noted that Christians and the wider community approved of Jokowis performance in the last nine years.

During his administration, the government improved health care and education and standardized fuel prices in various regions, he said.

Although there are still acts of radicalism such as the banning of churches, they occur sporadically, said Hauw. In general, Christians enjoy great freedom of worship.

Jokowi catapulted into the countrys top post in the 2014 elections, which saw conservative Muslims squaring off against moderate Muslims and minority groups. Polls found that moderate Muslims and 97 percent of non-Muslim voters backed Jokowi and his running mate Maruf Amin in the 2019 elections. Meanwhile, his rival Prabowo won the hearts of conservative Muslims.

To Kristanto, the decision between Prabowo and Jokowi in those two elections was black and white.

When asked about Jokowis actions at the end of his tenure, Kristanto paused before answering. Im a bit conflicted on this issue because, yes  Im disappointed in how Jokowi toys with the constitution and he seems to [be using] any means to accomplish his goal, he said.

What Jokowi has done with the constitution leaves a bad legacy.

Prabowo a problematic figure

Does this mean the popular president has alienated his Christian supporters in just five years?

Some are happy with Jokowis policies, said Karman. But people like me are concerned with the future of democracy and the future of good governance.

He pointed to the Corruption Perceptions Index, which saw Indonesias score drop to the same level as the score in 2014, when Jokowi first came into power.

Others question whether they would vote for Prabowo, even if he has Jokowis support in this election.

For some Christians, the figure of Prabowo is problematic, especially when you see 2014 and 2019, he was supported by radical Islamic groups, said Kristanto. If Prabowo really becomes president, will he still listen to Jokowi? Will Jokowis son be a powerful envoy?

So far in this campaign, radical Muslim groups have stayed silent about who they will be throwing their weight behind, and Prabowo himself has tried to appear moderate, said Magnis-Suseno, who is German-born but has lived in Indonesia since the 60s. Unlike in Prabowos previous campaigns, religion has not played a big role because the candidate wants the support of pro-Jokowi Indonesians, he said.

Prabowo wants to avoid the questions of religious camps.  It would make it more difficult for him if he appeared as the champion of hard-line Muslim groups, said Magnis-Suseno.

Moderate Muslim leaders agree that the current presidential election has focused less on voters religious identities. People have even started to feel ashamed if they use issues related to ethnicity, religion, race, or intergroup relations in political campaigns because the public has become more discerning," said Inayah Rohmaniyah, an Islamic studies scholar.

But history is not easily forgotten. In the past two elections, Muslim hard-liners like Amien Rais (co-founder of the conservative National Mandate Party) were embedded in Prabowos camp. In 2014, Rais viewed the election in stark terms: the party of Allah against the devils party.

Magnis-Suseno believes that referring to political parties in this way is evil in a democracy. Prabowo accepted this, and in 2019 he also accepted support from the 212 group.

The rally called Alumni 212 emerged during the 2016 campaign for the Jakarta gubernatorial election in opposition against Ahok. Ahok was accused of blasphemy after referring to the Quran and sentenced to two years in prison. In the wave of that backlash, Ahok lost the bid in 2017 to Anies Baswedan, who is also running for president this time around.

But Magnis-Suseno said one of the biggest threats to democracy posed by Prabowo was his allegations of widespread cheating after Jokowi declared victory in the last election. Mass protests against Jokowis win turned violent and left eight people dead and hundreds injured. Prabowo was also a military leader during the May 1998 riots leading up to former leader Suhartos downfall, during which 1,200 people burned to death and more than 90 ethnic Chinese women were raped.

I do not believe in his democratic convictions at all, Magnis-Suseno said of Prabowo. I am afraid that democracy will be in big danger if he becomes president.

Similarly, Martin Lukito Sinaga, founder of the Society of Interreligious Dialogue and a lecturer at Jakarta Theological Seminary, suggested that because of the way the law was changed for Gibran to run in the election, if Prabowo won, Indonesia would face a setback in democracy, and an autocratic government would likely develop.

A divided Christian vote

All of this has left Indonesian Christians without an obvious choice.

Magnis-Suseno recalled an encounter with a parish priest in East Jakarta. He told me, Our churches could be built after Anies gave permission, so part of my community will vote for Anies, Magnis-Suseno said. Then in his parish, [there is] a good Catholic activist who is one of the close co-workers of Prabowo; thus, many of his community will vote for Prabowo, and the rest will vote for Ganjar.

Karman also noted that Protestants were divided as well. He said hed be happy with either Anies or Ganjar as the countrys next president.

Ganjar does have another positive point, which is that his vice president candidate is Mahfud MD, Karman said. Mahfud is a professor in law and the former head of Mahkamah Konstitusi (the Constitutional Court). He knows many things about laws and is consistently against corruption.

Sinaga believed the church would have more of a chance to minister effectively under Ganjars leadership because he appeared more open to plurality. He said that Ganjar also seemed focused on addressing the gap between the rich and poor, which worsened in 2022.

On the other hand, he believed democracy would flourish under Anies but may potentially lean more toward Islamic interests because he would need the support of more hard-line Muslim groups to garner the votes needed for the presidency. Churches may need more energy to deal with religious legislations proposed by Islamic political power, he said.

Hauw believes most Christians would not vote for Anies because he benefited from the strong opposition to Ahok in the 2017 election.

As for Ganjar and Prabowo, Hauw is wary about who is pulling the strings behind them. Former president Sukarnoputri, who chairs the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, selected Ganjar as the partys candidate. (Jokowi also rose to power through the same party, but in recent years his relationship with Megawati had grown increasingly estranged.) On the other hand, Prabowo is seemingly controlled by Jokowi through his son as a proxy.

My main concern in this presidential election is that there is not one qualified candidate to vote for, he said. Looking at the top two candidates, One side likes the puppet but not the puppeteer. On the other side, the puppeteer is liked but not the puppet. Practically speaking, Ganjar is liked but the puppeteer isnt, while on Prabowos side the puppeteer is liked.

Kristanto also raised concerns about whether Ganjar would be an independent president, as it was uncertain how much influence Megawati had on Ganjar: That has been a concern for some people as well because theyre afraid that Ganjar and Megawati dont really get the visions of the great Indonesia Jokowi has been imagining.

Kristanto said he would be voting for a candidate based on whether they have been aligned with radical Muslim groups in the past, how far they have tried to distance themselves with those groups, and whether they use them for their own political popularity.

While he didnt share who he plans to vote for next month, he noted, I would choose the candidate with the cleanest track record in terms of how he exhorts plurality.

[ This article is also available in Indonesian. ]
Home News Argentina Pres. Javier Milei denounces 'bloody abortion agenda' at World Economic Forum

Argentina President Javier Milei denounced the "bloody abortion agenda" during his comments at the World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland, Wednesday.

Milei, who won the election in November and entered office in December, began his remarks by warning that "the Western world is in danger" because "those who are supposed to have to defend the values of the West are co-opted by a vision of the world that  leads to socialism and thereby to poverty."

After denouncing socialism and all other "collectivist" ideologies while plugging "free enterprise capitalism" as the only path to prosperity worldwide, Milei, 53, addressed the "radical feminism agenda" that has engulfed the developed world.

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He condemned the idea that "we human beings damage the planet, which should be protected at all costs, even going as far as advocating for population control mechanisms or the bloody abortion agenda."

"Unfortunately, these harmful ideas have taken a stronghold in our society," he lamented. "Neo-Marxists have managed to co-opt the common sense of the Western world, and this they have achieved by appropriating the media, culture, universities and also international organizations."

After stating that "these are institutions that have enormous influence on political and economic decisions," Milei said he is grateful that "there's more and more of us who are daring to make our voices heard" against the ideologies he condemned in his speech.

"We see that if we don't truly and decisively fight against these ideas, the only possible fate is for us to have increasing levels of state regulation, socialism, poverty and less freedom, and therefore, we'll be having worse standards of living," the Argentina leader said.

Milei's speech in Davos comes two months after his election. Milei, a member of the libertarian-leaning La Libertad Avanza coalition, won the Nov. 19 runoff election with 55.7% of the vote against his opponent, Sergio Massa of the left-leaning Union por la Patria coalition, who captured 44.3% of the vote.

La Libertad Avanza secured a spot in the runoff election after taking one of the top two spots in the Oct. 22 general election. The coalition received 30% of the vote in the first round, coming in behind Massa's Union por la Patria coalition at 36.7% while finishing ahead of all other candidates who were eliminated.

The 2023 national electoral platform of La Libertad Avanza defined "the defense of the right to life from conception" as one of its core values. Before his electoral victory, Milei elaborated on his abortion opposition in an interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson.

"As a libertarian, we believe that liberalism entails the unrestricted respect for the lives of others, rooted in a principle of non-aggression, and the defense of life, liberty and property," he said. "And if we cleave these ideas of liberty, one of the most fundamental aspects is to defend the right to life."

He stressed that he supports the right to life "philosophically speaking" and pointed to what he said is a "scientific justification" for his position.

"It's the fact that life begins at conception," he added. "It's at that very instant that a new being begins to evolve with its own unique DNA."

"While it's true that women have the right to their own bodies, the child in a woman's womb is not her body. That child is not her baby," he continued. "That makes abortion a murder, enabled and aggravated by a power imbalance against a child that has no way to defend itself."

Milei described abortion as a "murderous agenda" rooted in extreme environmental concerns: "As a consequence of what humans are doing to the planet, they promote the murder of people still in their mother's womb."

"It is a bloodthirsty policy in which some humans believe they should decide who should live and who should not," he asserted. "It's the utmost expression of hubris: how can a person decide who will live and who will not?"

Abortion is legal in Argentina. In 2020, the Argentine government enacted a law permitting elective abortion during the first trimester of pregnancy. Before the measure passed, women could only obtain abortions in the South American country in cases where the baby was conceived due to rape or if the mother's life was in danger.
Home News Christian man killed by militants in Sudan; church set on fire

JUBA, South Sudan  A Sudanese Christian 85 miles southeast of Khartoum has succumbed to his injuries after militants from the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) assaulted him, sources said.

Personnel from the RSF, which has been fighting the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) since April 15, severely assaulted Karbino Bla in Wad Medani, capital of Al Jazirah state on Jan. 1, following the militants takeover of the city on Dec. 18. The motives for the assault were unclear.

Bla, a member of the Sudan Presbyterian Evangelical Church (SPEC), died on Jan. 5 as a result of the injuries, area sources said. He is survived by his wife and an infant daughter.

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This a great lost to the Evangelical church in Medani, a relative said.

Rights organizations and area residents report the RSF has killed civilians, raped women and girls and looted homes and shops since taking control of the state in December.

Last Friday, Muslim extremists from the RSF set a church building on fire in Wad Medani, said area sources, including a SPEC pastor. The blaze destroyed Bibles, hymnbooks, important documents and chairs in the building, he said.

Christians in Sudan fear they are being increasingly targeted, the pastor said.

There are radical Muslims among RSF, the pastor said in an online post. I met some of them in Khartoum and Medani who badly harassed me when they learned that I was a pastor.

In Open Doors 2024 World Watch List of the countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian, Sudan was ranked No. 8, up from No. 10 the previous year.

Sudan had dropped out of the top 10 for the first time in six years when it first ranked No. 13 in the 2021 World Watch List.

Fighting between the RSF and the SAF, which had shared military rule in Sudan following an October 2021 coup, has terrorized civilians in Khartoum and elsewhere, leaving more than 12,000 people dead and displacing an estimated 5.8 million others.

Christian sites have been targeted since the conflict began.

The SAFs Gen. Abdelfattah al-Burhan and his then-vice president, RSF leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, were in power when civilian parties in March agreed on a framework to re-establish a democratic transition in April, but disagreements over military structure torpedoed final approval.

Burhan sought to place the RSF  a paramilitary outfit with roots in the Janjaweed militias that had helped former strongman Omar al-Bashir put down rebels  under the regular armys control within two years, while Dagolo would accept integration within nothing fewer than 10 years. The conflict burst into military fighting on April 15.

Both military leaders have Islamist backgrounds while trying to portray themselves to the international community as pro-democracy advocates of religious freedom.

Following two years of advances in religious freedom in Sudan after the end of the Islamist dictatorship under Bashir in 2019, the specter of state-sponsored persecution returned with the military coup of Oct. 25, 2021.

After Bashir was ousted from 30 years of power in April 2019, the transitional civilian-military government managed to undo some Sharia (Islamic law) provisions. It outlawed the labeling of any religious group infidels and thus effectively rescinded apostasy laws that made leaving Islam punishable by death.

With the Oct. 25, 2021 coup, Christians in Sudan feared the return of the most repressive and harsh aspects of Islamic law. Abdalla Hamdok, who had led a transitional government as prime minister starting in September 2019, was detained under house arrest for nearly a month before he was released and reinstated in a tenuous power-sharing agreement in November 2021.

Hamdock had been faced with rooting out longstanding corruption and an Islamist deep state from Bashirs regime  the same deep state that is suspected of rooting out the transitional government in the Oct. 25, 2021 coup.

Persecution of Christians by non-state actors continued before and after the coup.

The U.S. State Department in 2019 removed Sudan from the list of Countries of Particular Concern (CPC) that engage in or tolerate systematic, ongoing and egregious violations of religious freedom and upgraded it to a watch list. Sudan had previously been designated as a CPC from 1999 to 2018.

In December 2020, the State Department removed Sudan from its Special Watch List.

The Christian population of Sudan is estimated at 2 million, or 4.5% of the total population of more than 43 million.
Home News Rep. Comer says Biden WH lied about agreement over Hunter's artwork: 'Ethics nightmare'

Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., recently accused the White House of lying about an ethics agreement regarding the sale of Hunter Biden's artwork.

Comer, who serves as chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, cited the committee's recent interview with Hunter Biden's art gallerist Georges Berges in a statement last week, claiming the White House "appears to have deceived the American people about facilitating an ethics agreement governing the sale of Hunter Biden's art."

Comer singled out a July 2021 statement from then-White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki, who apparently referenced Berges when she maintained that "a system has been established that allows for Hunter Biden to work in his profession within reasonable safeguards."

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Psaki asserted at the time that all of the business dealings regarding Hunter Biden's art sales were being handled "by a professional gallerist, adhering to the highest industry standards."

"And any offer out of the normal course would be rejected out of hand," she said at the time. "And the gallerist will not share information about buyers or prospective buyers, including their identities, with Hunter Biden or the administration, which provides quite a level of protection and transparency."

According to the commission's interview with Berges, the House Oversight Committee's statement said the gallerist "never had any communication with the White House about such an agreement to make sure there was any sort of ethics compliance at all, and he provided information to the committee revealing how Hunter Biden's amateur art career is an ethics nightmare."

"The White House has a lot of explaining to do about misleading the American people," Comer said.

The committee stated that the vast majority of those who purchased Hunter Biden's art were Democratic donors and that one of them was Elizabeth Hirsh Naftali, who was appointed to the prestigious Commission for the Preservation of America's Heritage Abroad after buying one of his works for tens of thousands of dollars shortly after President Biden was inaugurated.

Berges reportedly told the committee that Naftali refused to buy any of Hunter Biden's art "despite [his] best efforts" until Biden became president.

Most of Hunter Biden's art was purchased by Kevin Morris, a Democratic donor, for $875,000 in January 2023. Berges said he received a 40% commission.

Other revelations from the interview with Berges show that he was introduced to Hunter Biden by Lanette Phillips, a Hollywood producer who had held fundraisers for Biden.

Berges also confirmed to the committee that Hunter Biden's name "had influence on setting the price for his art" and that he had spoken in person and on the phone with President Biden.

Earlier this week, Comer and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, announced they would be issuing new subpoenas for Hunter Biden to participate in a closed deposition, which he had refused to do.

On Thursday, Jordan and Comer announced that Hunter Biden will appear for a closed-door deposition on Feb. 28.

"His deposition will come after several interviews with Biden family members and associates. We look forward to Hunter Biden's testimony," Comer and Jordan said in the joint statement.

The House Judiciary and Oversight committees voted last Wednesday to approve resolutions to hold Hunter Biden in contempt of Congress after he disobeyed a previous congressional subpoena. The House put that on hold this week after Hunter Biden's lawyers agreed on a date for the president's son to testify before the committees.
Home News Montana AG rejects proposed ballot measure to make abortion a constitutional right

Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen rejected a proposed ballot measure seeking to enshrine the right to abortion in the state constitution, with proponents vowing to appeal the decision.

The Office of the Montana Attorney General issued a memorandum Tuesday regarding Proposed Ballot Measure No. 14, calling it "legally insufficient" to be put on the ballot.

The memo contends that the proposal "creates an express right to abortion but denies voters the ability to express their views on the nuance of the right."

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"Section 36(1) unmoors the right to an abortion from fetal viability. Second, Section 36(2)'s 'in no circumstance' clause prohibits any regulation of abortion care if the abortion provider deems the procedure medically necessary," stated the memo.

"This clause makes it so even regulations that serve a compelling state interest and are narrowly tailored to that interest cannot survive.  This language also elevates the right to abortion above other medical procedures so that abortion  alone  cannot be regulated."

According to the memo, Section 36(3) "would prohibit the State from enforcing any regulation that includes an adverse action against a person."

"The prohibition on enforcement exists even if the State passed a law that meets the requirements of Section 36(1)(2). The choice to preclude the State from being able to enforce valid health and safety regulations is different than the choice to expand abortion rights," the memo added.

"The contradictory language in the various subsections creates a quandary over the actual decision in front of the voters.  At a minimum, voters are presented with multiple amendments and because of that, Ballot Measure 14 violates Article XIV, Section 11 of the Montana Constitution."

Raph Graybill, an attorney for Montanans Securing Reproductive Rights, the group backing the proposed ballot measure, said in a statement that an appeal would be likely.

"In an attempt to keep an abortion rights initiative out of the hands of voters, Attorney General Austin Knudsen has used the power of his office to put personal politics before a fair process to allow Montanans the opportunity to secure their reproductive rights," stated Graybill, as quoted by the Helena-based KTVH.

"Make no mistake: we will do everything we can, including taking legal action, to ensure Montanans have the opportunity to vote to secure their rights to make decisions about their own pregnancies, including the right to abortion care, in 2024."

In 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, striking down the legal precedent that abortion was a federal constitutional right.

Since then, voters in some states have either passed referenda that amend their state constitutions to include a right to an abortion or voted down ballot initiates aimed at banning abortion in most circumstances.

Earlier this month, Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin rejected a proposed ballot measure that would create a limited right to abortion because of how the measure defined physical health.
Home News Catholic priests arrested, abducted, killed reach record high in 2023: report

The global Catholic community faced an alarming increase in the persecution of its clergy in 2023 as a total of 132 priests and religious figures were arrested, abducted or killed, according to a new report.

This distressing trend was particularly pronounced in Belarus, China, Nicaragua and Nigeria, where clergy were most under threat.

The Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need disclosed these figures in its most recent study, noting that the actual count is likely higher due to difficulties obtaining data from certain countries. The total, up by eight from 2022, represents only confirmed cases, it said.

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"Authoritarian regimes have resorted to detaining priests and religious in order to punish the Church for speaking out against injustices and human rights violations, or merely for trying to operate freely," the report remarked.

In Nicaragua, the situation was particularly dire. The authorities arrested at least 19 clerics, including Bishop Isidoro de Carmen Mora Ortega of Siuna, in the final weeks of December. Among those arrested were two bishops and four seminarians. While two priests were later released, 17 others, along with Bishop Rolando Alvarez, arrested in 2022 and sentenced to 26 years in prison, were expelled from Nicaragua on Jan. 14.

China also witnessed the arrest of 20 clergy members throughout the year. However, obtaining accurate data from China remains challenging, the charity said. Similarly, in Belarus, at least 10 priests were detained, with three still incarcerated at the year's end.

The situation in Ukraine is also concerning, with two priests arrested by Russian forces over a year ago remaining in custody.

India's use of anti-conversion laws led to the detention of a religious sister and at least five other priests and religious figures. Despite their release, some still face charges that could result in imprisonment.

Nigeria emerged as the most affected country in terms of abductions, with 28 cases, including three religious sisters. Other countries experiencing kidnappings of clergy included Haiti, Mali, Burkina Faso and Ethiopia. Most abductees were released, but three priests in Nigeria and one in Burkina Faso remain missing.

"We are deeply concerned about the rise in threats faced by priests, in countries such as Nigeria and Nicaragua, who are at risk often for simply for carrying out their pastoral ministry," Regina Lynch, ACN International executive president, said in a statement.

Of the 132 cases reported by ACN, 86 involved clergy arrested or detained in 2023, while the rest were either already in custody or missing at the year's start. The charity's statistics include all kidnappings and murders of Catholic priests and religious worldwide, focusing on arrests related to religious persecution.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' Committee on Religious Liberty expressed grave concerns in its annual report, "The State of Religious Liberty in the United States." The USCCB identified attacks on houses of worship as the "largest threat to religious liberty in 2024."

The report emphasized the rising tensions and potential for violence against religious sites, particularly in the context of the Israel-Hamas conflict and the highly charged atmosphere surrounding the 2024 election.

The targeting of Catholic churches in the U.S. has escalated, particularly following the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in 2022 that the Constitution doesn't confer a right to abortion. Churches across various states, including Texas, Michigan, Colorado, North Carolina and Virginia, have experienced vandalism and violence. This trend, coupled with the broader context of over 400 church attacks between 2018 and 2022, underscores the growing concern for the safety of religious communities.

The committee's report also mentions other significant threats to religious liberty, including potential federal mandates affecting Catholic hospitals and nonprofits.
Home News False reports of indigenous 'mass graves' at Catholic schools linked to attacks on nearly 100 churches 24 of 33 church fires found to be arson cases; another 60 churches vandalized

A flurry of media reports involving claims that hundreds of indigenous children were buried beneath Catholic schools across Canada has reportedly left nearly 100 churches vandalized or burned down.

The attacks are linked to now-debunkedreports, including one from a Canadian first nation group that alleged more than 750 bodies were found buried under a Catholic-run school in Canada's Saskatchewan province.

That report, which claimed there were 751 unmarked graves at a cemetery near the site of the former Marieval Indian Residential School, has since been debunked after zero graves were excavated despite a two-year effort.

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Such claims sparked a wave of vandalism and arson attacks on Catholic and Protestant churches amid a rise in anti-Christian and anti-Catholic sentiment.

Since the initial report in June 2021, 96 churches across Canada have been desecrated, destroyed or vandalized, according to Canadian independent media outlet True North.

Ranging in denomination from Anglican, Catholic, Lutheran and others, the targeted churches are located as far north as Yellowknife in Canadas Northwest Territories to Chopaka Catholic Church on the border between British Columbia and Washington state.

Of the 33 church fires, Canadian investigators have declared 24 to be arson cases so far, while 60 additional churches were vandalized across hundreds of miles, including 11 churches vandalized within hours on the night of June 30, 2021.

Several of the attacks targeted church doctrine, signage or symbols, including:

An every child matters display that was lit on fire Aug. 3, 2021, at St. Augustine of Canterbury Church in Brandon, Manitoba;

Anti-Catholic messaging with the words "killer" and "racist" on the exterior of St. Andrew's Cathedral in Victoria, B.C.;

A large cross that was cut down July 12, 2021, on Mount Tzouhalem located on Vancouver Island, B.C.; and

Messages written in red paint blaming Catholics for murdering indigenous children at St. Peter's Cathedral Basilica in London, Ontario.

While some reports about unmarked graves were later proven to be linked to official cemeteries that included the remains of many adults, members of Canadas political and media establishment were among those who voiced at least tacit support for the public outrage.

Media outlets like the Toronto Star and The Washington Post were forced to issue corrections after initially reporting the burial sites were mass graves even as the investigation was still ongoing.

Gerald Butts, a Canadian political consultant who served as senior adviser to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau until 2019, tweeted that burning churches may be understandable, while Naomi Sayers, executive director of the BC Civil Liberties Association, came under fire in July 2021 for replying Burn it all down to reports of Catholic churches being vandalized.

Sayers later backtracked on her tweet, saying, Burn it all down. Doesnt literally mean, burn it down.

Nesta Matthews, a radio host at a radio station in New Brunswick, called for the burning of all churches built on first nations land.

Matthews wrote: Burn the churches down. Arrest any former staff that were actually there and any current staff that wont provide documentation. Sell everything they own in Canada and give it to survivors. Dismantle it completely.

At one point, the Canadian prime minister, himself a Catholic, demanded that the pope come to his country and issue a formal apology for the mass graves.

I have spoken personally directly with His Holiness Pope Francis to press upon him how important it is not just that he makes an apology but that he makes an apology to indigenous Canadians on Canadian soil, Trudeau said in June 2021.

I know that the Catholic Church leadership is looking and very actively engaged in what next steps can be taken.

In a 2022 trip to Canada, Francis apologized to indigenous communities in Canada.
Home News Feds urged banks to flag purchases of Bibles, 'MAGA' transactions, House committee says

A U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary subcommittee is seeking to question a former official in the U.S. Treasury's financial crimes enforcement office over revelations the agency urged financial institutions to flag customer transactions linked to phrases like "MAGA" and "Trump" as well as purchases of religious texts.

Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, chair of the House Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government, sent a letter Wednesday to Noah Bishoff, the former director of an office in the Treasury's Strategic Operations Division of Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.

Requesting a transcribed interview with Bishoff, Jordan stated that the subcommittee obtained documents showing that following the U.S. Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021, FinCEN "distributed materials to financial institutions that, among other things, outline the 'typologies' of various persons of interest." He alleges the agency also "provided financial institutions with suggested search terms and Merchant Category Codes (MCCs) for identifying transactions on behalf of federal law enforcement."

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"These materials included a document recommending the use of generic terms like 'TRUMP' and 'MAGA' to 'search Zelle payment messages' as well as a 'prior FinCEN analysis' of 'Lone Actor/Homegrown Violent Extremism Indicators,'" the letter reads.

"According to this analysis, FinCEN warned financial institutions of 'extremism' indicators that include 'transportation charges, such as bus tickets, rental cars, or plane tickets, for travel to areas with no apparent purpose,' or 'the purchase of books (including religious texts) and subscriptions to other media containing extremist views.'"

Jordan claimed that the documents show that "FinCEN urged large financial institutions to comb through the private transactions of their customers for suspicious charges on the basis of protected political and religious expression."

The findings from the subcommittee suggest federal law enforcement agencies also sought data on transactions at popular sporting goods stores like Bass Pro Shop, Dick's Sporting Goods and Cabela's.

"We now know the federal government flagged terms like 'MAGA' and 'TRUMP' to financial institutions if Americans completed transactions using those terms," Jordan tweeted. "What was also flagged? If you bought a religious text, like a BIBLE, or shopped at Bass Pro Shop."

We now know the federal government flagged terms like MAGA and TRUMP, to financial institutions if Americans completed transactions using those terms.



What was also flagged? If you bought a religious text, like a BIBLE, or shopped at Bass Pro Shop. pic.twitter.com/jjRaVNItWz  Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) January 17, 2024

One of the sample slides distributed by FinCEN, "prepared by a financial institution," gave instructions on how to query for transactions like those associated with "small arms," "sporting and recreational goods and supplies," and keywords like "Dick's Sporting Goods," "Cabela's" and others, according to the documents.

While Jordan's letter refers to the Jan. 6 date, a source familiar with the matter told Fox News that the documents linked to House committees' investigation contained no "specific time frames or limitations for banks searching customer transactions with the terms." This suggests federal investigators may have expanded their effort to collect data from merchants "beyond" those transactions linked to the Jan. 6 event.

The revelation comes just days after President Joe Biden released the first ad for his 2024 reelection campaign in which he labeled millions of Donald Trump supporters as "extremists" leading up to the third anniversary of the Jan. 6 riot.

The video released Jan. 4 highlights what Biden calls the "preservation of American democracy" as the "central issue" of the 81-year-old's reelection campaign.

"There's something dangerous happening in America," the Democrat says in the ad's voiceover. "There's an extremist movement that does not share the basic beliefs of our democracy. All of us are being asked right now, what will we do to maintain our democracy?"
Jackie Downing raised more than half a million dollars to set up Annas House, a nurturing home in East Oakland for unhoused mothers and children in remembrance of her childhood friend Anna Flynn, who struggled with homelessness. Stephen Lam/The Chronicle Jackie Downing, right, stands across from property manager Terrell Hegler working on a door lock at Annas House, an East Oakland home for homeless mothers and children. Hegler was instrumental in overseeing the houses renovation. Stephen Lam/The Chronicle Jackie Downing raised $550,000 to purchase an East Oakland home to house homeless mothers and children in remembrance of her childhood friend Anna Flynn, who died by suicide five years ago after struggling with homelessness for much of her life. Stephen Lam/The Chronicle

An Alameda resident has raised more than a half-million dollars to create a home in East Oakland for unhoused mothers and children in memory of a childhood best friend who struggled with homelessness.

Jackie Downing, who has worked in Bay Area nonprofits for 20 years, said she was compelled to tackle the local homelessness crisis after her friend Anna Flynn committed suicide. Flynn had struggled for years with mental illness and spent time living on the street.

After Flynns death, Downing teamed up with Bay Area Community Services, an Oakland-based organization that offers homelessness services, to make the project a reality. The home is holding a grand opening on Friday and expecting its first residents in March.

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Because of my professional background, I knew some organizations that were working on this, and now weve created a model that can be replicated by anyone, Downing said, adding that she hopes the project inspires other Oaklanders to collaborate with homeless services organizations and raise money to address the problem at a local level.

Jackie Downing, left, and property manager Terrell Hegler stand inside Annas House, a new home for unhoused mothers and children, in Oakland on Thursday, Jan. 18. Downing has worked in Bay Area nonprofits for 20 years, and said she was compelled to tackle the local homelessness crisis after her friend committed suicide. Stephen Lam/The Chronicle

I just had a feeling that a project like this would make Anna really happy, she said.

The opening of Annas House comes as Oakland struggles to get a handle on a rising homelessness crisis. Homelessness in the city has increased by 131% since 2015, and from 2019 to 2022 the number of unhoused people grew by 24%. In Oakland, 38% of the homeless population are women and 96% of homeless families live on the street, according to the most recent point-in-time count in 2022.

The idea of mothers and children sleeping outside, in a tent, just makes me crazy to think about, Downing said. I just dont believe any mother would choose to be in that situation.

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Downing and Flynn were best friends growing up in Massachusetts, involved in after-school theater and shared a love for bands including Pearl Jam and Nirvana. At the age of 14, Flynn was sexually assaulted. Within the span of a year, she got kicked out of school. The experience had a lasting impact on Flynn, who later faced mental health issues and periods of homelessness, Downing said.

Jackie Downing, who previously worked at the San Francisco Foundation and is now a nonprofit consultant, said she often wondered how she could help start a program that offered direct mental health support services for homeless women and children. Here she rearranges a photo of herself with Anna Flynn. Stephen Lam/The Chronicle

My mom definitely struggled with the partners that she chose, so we would find ourselves in domestic violence situations and would find ourselves fleeing, said Flynns child Aurora Flynn, who uses they and them pronouns. She was also incredibly mentally ill and had no real support.

Downing, who previously worked at the San Francisco Foundation and is now a nonprofit consultant, said she often wondered how she could help start a program that offered direct mental health support services for homeless women and children. When Flynn unexpectedly ended her own life, Downing took time to grieve before pursuing her idea.

In 2022, she connected with Jamie Almanza, the CEO of BACS, whose organization had just purchased a five-bedroom and two-bathroom home in East Oakland for $550,000.

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The purchase of the home was part of the organizations program to transform single-family homes into homeless housing, Almanza said. BACS currently operates 40 homes in the Bay Area as independent living for people struggling with mental illness and homelessness.

Its actually the cheapest way to bring on permanent, deeply affordable housing, Almanza said.

Together, Downing and Almanza raised $550,000 to knock down the loan BACS took on the property and pay for renovations and furniture. The two are still hoping to raise another $315,000 to cover the remainder of the loan and operating costs. BACS estimates that managing the site will cost it about $30,000 per year.

An Oakland service provider called Roots Community Health Center also will play a critical role at Annas House. The organization is already in the process of identifying mothers to move in and will then connect each of them to a navigator who provides personal assistance. The navigators help clients apply for benefits and find permanent housing. They also provide primary and mental health care and offer job training.

The cost of the services is covered by government grants, reimbursements from health plans and Roots Community Health Centers own budget.

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Jackie Downing and Anna Flynn were best friends growing up in Massachusetts who were involved in after-school theater and shared a love for bands such as Pearl Jam and Nirvana. At the age of 14, Flynn was sexually assaulted, and the experience had a lasting impact on her. Stephen Lam/The Chronicle

Up to three mothers and their children will move into the house by March 1 and are expected to pay 30% of their income for rent, Almanza said. The mothers can stay as long as they need to until they find permanent housing, which BACS and Roots will help them with.

Aurora Flynn, who works in human services in Western Massachusetts, said affordable and supportive housing like Annas House is critical for people struggling with homelessness, as their mother did.

Its really important, and Im very happy that its happening, they said.
Home News Mike Johnson says he was unplanned pregnancy, urges March for Life attendees to 'be encouraged'

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., delivered an address at the 2024 March for Life rally in Washington, D.C., on Friday, explaining that the idea of God-given human value is intrinsic to American political thought going back to its founding.

Johnson also noted to the large crowd braving the snowy weather how he was an unplanned pregnancy, and exhorted them to be encouraged that the U.S. can develop a stronger culture of life.

"It was the great British statesman G.K. Chesterton who famously observed that America is the only nation in the world that was founded upon its creed," Johnson said. "And he said it was listed with 'theological lucidity' in the Declaration of Independence."

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"What is that creed? What is it from our nation's birth certificate, the Declaration, that makes us who we are? We know the language so well. 'We hold these truths to be self-evident.' In other words, obvious that all men are created equal. Not born equal, created equal. That's what the founders said."

The worldview expounded in the Declaration of Independence, Johnson said, shows that the American system is predicated on the belief "that every single person has inestimable dignity and value, and your value's not related in any way to the color of your skin, or what ZIP code you live in, how good you are in sports, where you went to high school."

Such things are irrelevant, he explained, because everyone receives inherent value from their Creator. A national creed founded on such a principle is what has allowed the U.S. to become "the freest, most successful, most powerful, most benevolent nation in the history of the world," he said.

Johnson went on to recount how his parents were teenagers when he was born as the result of an unexpected pregnancy in January 1972, exactly one year before the U.S. Supreme Court decided Roe v. Wade. He noted how his parents, though young, chose life, for which he said he was "profoundly grateful."

Johnson also touted the Pregnant Students Rights Act and Supporting Pregnant and Parenting Women and Families Act, two pieces of legislation that recently passed in the GOP-led House of Representatives.

The first bill would require colleges to inform women of the accommodations available should they become pregnant, while the second aims to block the Biden administration's efforts to bar pro-life pregnancy centers from access to federal welfare funds in the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program.

Critics have claimed both bills are replete with "anti-choice" rhetoric, and they are expected to die in the Democrat-controlled Senate, though Johnson maintained during his speech that they are examples of efforts in Congress to help women and their unborn children.

"We're passing these bills, and we're marching today, because it takes a lot of work to convince people that every single human child, every unborn child, has a value that is too profound and precious to ignore," he said. "And we have every reason to be optimistic, my friends, that we can change public opinion."

He appealed to the examples of figures such as Abraham Lincoln, Frederick Douglass, and Susan B. Anthony, who he said were able to shift prevailing beliefs toward human dignity by adhering to the ideals laid out in the country's national creed.

"They reminded their fellow Americans about our founding principles and, as Lincoln said in his famous first inaugural, 'the better angels of our nature.' We should do the same thing today."

"My friends, let's be encouraged," he concluded. "Let's press on in hope that we can join together and make this great difference. I believe that we can. We can stand with every woman, for every child, and we can truly build a culture that cherishes and protects life."

Johnson's speech during the nation's largest pro-life rally comes amid reported frustration among some House conservatives who have been pushing for more abortion restrictions by tucking provisions into various appropriations bills, according to Politico.

During a press briefing earlier this week, Johnson admitted his conference "wont get everything we want" amid a narrowly divided government, the outlet noted.
Home News Nicaragua jails pastors on trumped-up charges of money laundering Texas' Mountain Gateway refutes accusations against US citizens, Nicaraguan pastors imprisoned more than a month

Authorities in Nicaragua have jailed nine pastors for more than a month on charges that they formed part of a criminal operation along with three U.S. missionaries, according to a mission organization.

The Nicaraguan Attorney Generals office has charged the three U.S. missionaries of Texas-based Mountain Gateway and 11 Nicaraguans with forming part of a criminal structure involved in money laundering and organized crime and has reportedly issued warrants for their arrest.

Mountain Gateway would like to publicly state it denies these allegations, and it is saddened by this situation, the group said in a statement. "These charges are based on erroneous information, and Mountain Gateway will do everything in its power to resolve this through diplomatic channels."

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Mountain Gateway, which operates in the Central American country as Puerta de la Montana, said prosecutors believed the Nicaraguan pastors were under the direction of the mission groups Jon Britton Hancock, Jacob Britton Hancock and Cassandra Mae Hancock, all U.S. citizens, and Nicaraguans Walner Omier Blandon Ochoa and Maricela de Fatima Mejia Ruiz.

While the Nicaraguan government says the [Nicaraguan] pastors are innocent, the pastors have been imprisoned for over a month with no legal representation or contact with their families, Mountain Gateway stated. At the same time, it added that the government has since allowed a lawyer to be appointed to represent the Mountain Gateway Nicaraguan pastors, but has not provided their legal counsel with the charging documents or any files to prepare a defense.

Mountain Gateway stated it had diligently followed all legal requirements in the U.S. and Nicaragua and had documentation showing the Nicaraguan government approved all funds entering the country and ensured they were used appropriately.

Nicaragua has revoked the registration of hundreds of nonprofit and faith-based organizations in the last five years, including most recently, expelling numerous members of the Catholic Church and seizing church property, the group stated. In these cases, the government often includes the charge of money laundering or other financial charges as the reason for revocation.

Mountain Gateway held eight large evangelistic events in Nicaragua last year under strict accounting by in-house staff and budget reviews by the Nicaraguan government, the group stated.

No members of Mountain Gateway have personally profited from funds sent to Nicaragua for ministry functions, it said.

The missions group announced on Dec. 22 that the Nicaraguan government had canceled its registration as a ministry in the country.

Nicaragua shut down, confiscated or destroyed 347 Christian buildings from Oct. 1, 2022, to Sept. 30, 2023, the fourth highest worldwide behind only China, India and Nigeria, according to Open Doors 2024 World Watch List (WWL) of the countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian. Nicaraguan authorities detained 38 Christians during this period, according the WWL report.

Open government hostility toward Christians during the period resulted in Nicaragua vaulting from 50th place the prior year to 30th among the 50 countries where persecution of Christians is worst. The WWL report also cited Nicaraguas legislative restrictions on religious freedom and the arrest or exile of religious leaders.

Mountain Gateway said in its press statement that its U.S. pastors have nothing to hide and have requested to have an attorney appointed to represent them in this legal process.

Mountain Gateway does not understand why this is happening in a country that it loves dearly and has worked steadfastly to abide by the governments regulations and laws, the group stated. While Mountain Gateways attorney and legal team are advising Mountain Gateway to trust the legal system, it does have questions. It appears this could be more politically motivated than legally motivated.

Imprisoned were nine of Mountain Gateways Nicaraguan pastors: Marcos Sergio Hernandez Jiron; Harry Lening Rios Bravo; Manuel de Jesus Rios Flores; Jose Luis Orozco Urrutia; Alvaro Daniel Escobar Caldera; Juan Carlos Chavarria Zapata; Juan Luis Moncada; Orvin Alexis Moncada Castellano; Cesar Facundo Burgalin Miranda.

The AP reported that the Prosecutors Office said in a press statement that 11 Nicaraguans were charged, along with the legal representative and financial manager of Puerta de la Montana. Prosecutors claimed that detailed investigations into money laundering showed the 13 nationals were allegedly involved in appearing as representatives in the purchase of real estate.

The government of Daniel Ortega has closed or dissolved 342 religious organizations, including 256 Evangelical Christian associations, 43 Catholic ones and 43 belonging to other churches, according to the AP, citing a December report by Nicaragua Never Again Human Rights Collective. Ortega has been president since 2007, after having previously led the country from 1979 to 1990.

The government has set a hearing for the Nicaraguan pastors on Jan. 26.

Mountain Gateway Order, Inc., based in Dripping Springs, Texas, states on its website that it focuses on discipling national leaders through house churches and corporate worship and training national pastors to reach the lost in their nation. Mountain Gateway also runs a ministry training school in the United States to teach believers to take the Gospel into any context or culture.

Since 2013, Mountain Gateway has served the citizens of Nicaragua through discipleship, church planting, feeding and clothing those in need, providing food, water, equipment, and recovery assistance during natural disasters, and sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ in mass evangelistic campaigns, the group said in its statement.

Originally published by Christian Daily International
Home News Union boss reported flight attendants fired for opposing the Equality Act, court filing says

Lawyers for two Christian flight attendants who sued Alaska Airlines and the Association of Flight Attendants union (AFA) for discrimination filed a motion for summary judgment this week, detailing the extent of the union's involvement.

Attorneys for Marli Brown and Lacey Smith filed the motion Tuesday after over a year and a half of litigation. The flight attendants filed a lawsuit against the two organizations in May 2022 after alleging that they were terminated from the airline because they raised concerns about its endorsement of the Equality Act on an internal employee message board.

The legislation would add sexual orientation and gender identity to federal civil rights anti-discrimination laws.

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When the company invited employees to comment on their endorsement of the Equality Act, Smith asked on the forum if it were possible for a company to "regulate morality," according to First Liberty Institute, the legal group representing the plaintiffs.

Brown asked whether Alaska Airlines supports "endangering the Church, encouraging suppression of religious freedom, obliterating women rights and parental rights."

Their queries reportedly prompted an investigation that ultimately led to their termination, according to the suit. They filed two "Charge of Discrimination" complaints with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in 2021, claiming the airline engaged in retaliation, religious discrimination, and creating a "hostile work environment."

The two also alleged that their union, the AFA, did not adequately represent them amid the fallout.

AFA was also involved in the women's termination as AFA Master Executive Council President Jeff Peterson allegedly reported their comments to the leadership of Alaska Airlines seeking repercussions, according to court documents.

Union representatives allegedly excoriated Brown and Smith in a company chat for their comments about the Equality Act, with one writing, "Can we PLEASE get someone to shut down comments, or put Marli and Lacey in a burlap bag and drop them in a well?"

Other representatives referred to them as "bigots" and "pukes," and Peterson said he hated Smith, according to the suit.

"Peterson repeatedly referred to Marli and Lacey as 'bigots'; he drew Alaska Airlines attention to Plaintiffs comments; he told a friend 'I hate [Lacey]'; and he told others he supported her discipline," the motion reads.

According to First Liberty Institute, Alaska Airlines has not handled allegations of anti-Christian discrimination like they have the complaints against Brown and Smith. The nonprofit claimed that a flight attendant received the lowest level of discipline after being accused of "hate speech" and a "threat of violence" on his social media, which reportedly displayed the Alaska Airlines logo.

"Alaska Airlines has made it clear that employees who hold traditional Christian beliefs must stay silent if they want to keep their jobs," Stephanie Taub, senior counsel at First Liberty Institute, said in a statement.

"Now, we clearly see that Alaska Airlines' obsessive focus on DEI created a hostile work environment for anyone who dares disagree with the company about moral issues."

The Equality Act passed the U.S. House of Representatives in 2021 largely along party lines, though it has since languished after being referred to the Senate for consideration.

The Christian Post has reached out to both Alaska Airlines and AFA for comment and will update this story if they respond.
Home Opinion Please dont tell me that God is punishing the Jews, especially today

There are many areas of agreement between Jews and Christians. For example, both emphasize the foundational importance of loving God and loving ones neighbor, as well as the importance of living by the ethical ideals of the Torah and the Prophets. Both emphasize a final Day of Judgment where we give account for our lives before God. There are many more.

There are also many areas of disagreement. These would include the acceptance of rejection of Jesus as Messiah (and with that the acceptance or rejection of the New Testament as Scripture), along with the question of how one receives forgiveness. There is also the question of to what extent Torah laws should be obeyed today.

Because of these agreements and despite disagreements, there are areas where, Orthodox Jews and Jewish followers of Jesus can work hand in hand while there are areas where to work together would require us to cross forbidden lines. For example, we could not work together in producing curricula for a Jewish day school, since our vision and purpose would be very different. But we could work together to combat myths and lies and misperceptions about the Jewish people and the State of Israel. This of course is true of wider relationships between Jews and Christians. Thats why we, an Orthodox Jew and a Jewish follower of Jesus, do this very thing. In fact, we feel it is essential that we do so  for the good of our people and for the health of the Church.

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And that brings us to the heart of this article. Since October 7, there have been obscene and outrageous lies and slander, along with tangible and genocidal threats against Israel and the Jewish people all over the world. One would be forgiven for thinking that it all blends together, indistinct in its evil and baseless morally. But recent allegations about a particular Christian leaders comments do rise above the general slander as being particularly problematic and theologically misguided. (Because there is some dispute about the full context of this pastors remarks, we have not cited his name here.)

There is an allegation that a prominent pastor said that Hamas October 7 massacre was Gods punishment on the Jews for not accepting Jesus. The allegation was not promoted by the pastors detractors but, rather, by one of his followers, who posted the remarks on social media. These were challenged in public. Inquiries to the pastors office have gone unanswered, neither affirming nor refuting these comments ascribed to him.

It's a dangerous slippery slope to claim that, by our theological presuppositions, we can declare that Israel is being punished by God for a particular reason at a given time in contemporary history. In the past, what was the excuse for Israel being enslaved in Egypt or for the vicious attack by Amalek after the exodus? Was this because the Jewish people did not know to accept Jesus thousands of years before He was born? (Or for that matter, because they were guilty of any particular sin?) Are the Inquisition, the Church persecution of the Jews, Jews being herded into ghettos, and the Holocaust, among others, also because of not accepting Jesus? Were more than 1.5 million Jewish babies and children slaughtered by the Nazis because they or their parents did not accept Jesus?

What would such prophets of doom say about the persecution and slaughter of Christians in Nigeria today, or throughout the Arab and Islamic world? That they didnt believe in Jesus enough? They were not really Christians? And isnt it a little bit more than disingenuous to say, Jews suffer persecution and attack because they are disobedient to God while Christians suffer persecution and attack because they are obedient?

Its frightening that any pastor would pretend that he knows the mind of God and that God is punishing Israel/the Jews today  by rape and torture and barbaric slaughter  specifically because they didnt believe in Jesus. Should we say the same things about Iranian Muslims who were recently killed by suicide bombers? Was this because they didnt believe in Jesus? How about the Japanese killed in recent earthquakes? Was this also because of their lack of faith?

Or to bring this closer to home for those in the United States, what about the Christian children and Christian teachers slaughtered in cold blood in recent school shootings in America, including one in a Christian school itself? Was this because they didnt believe enough? This notion is madness.

Yet when Hamas carries out the worst shedding of Jewish blood in any one day since the Holocaust, in ways that even put ISIS and Al-Qaeda to shame, some Christians have the gall to say, God was punishing them because they didnt believe in Jesus.

Statements like this come across as more like Islamic extremism than Christian, all about punishment and retribution. And Jews and Christians must stand united in the imperative to combat this evil, recognizing that we are both in the crosshairs of radical Islam and have been victims more than we would like to remember. The same Islamic extremists who slaughter Jews in Israel are slaughtering Christians in other parts of the world. Let us not be deceived.

And let us be careful before we declare to know the mind of God as to all human suffering. Its one thing when the Bible itself gives the cause and effect. Its another when we engage in vain theological speculation.

While we personally, along with Jews and Christians in general, can disagree on pivotal theological things, the war against Hamas has underscored more than ever that we are together on the right side, that the enemy is evil, and it is not the place of any pastor or (alleged) prophet to pretend that he knows that God is punishing Jews today for not accepting Jesus. We do best to let God Himself sort this out on the Day we stand before Him.

The history of the professing Church vis-a-vis the Jewish people and Israel is one that many Christians today still need to come to terms with. Statements like this recent one, attributed to any pastor or Christian leader, and not roundly denied and decried, propagate the shame that the Church still has to deal with and make building bridges between Jews and Christians even more complicated.

Thats one thing about which we as Jews and Christians can and must agree upon, together. Especially today.
Prince William should abdicate if he's unwilling to be Church of England's Supreme Governor as king, says Queen's former chaplain

A former chaplain to the late Queen Elizabeth II has said that Prince William should abdicate if he is not prepared to become the Supreme Governor of the Church of England when he succeeds his father King Charles to the throne.

The title has its roots in King Henry VIII's break with the Catholic Church but has been used formally by monarchs since the 1558 Act of Supremacy, enacted during the reign of Elizabeth I.

The title is bound up with the Church's status as the Established Church in England, and the monarch still gives Royal Assent to ecclesiastical laws.

A new book, The Making of a King: King Charles III and the Modern Monarchy, by Robert Hardman, has suggested that Prince William does not share the "unshakeable devotion" to the Church of England of his late grandmother and may not wish to inherit the title of Supreme Governor of the Church of England.

Hardman says he was informed by an unnamed senior palace figure: "His father is a very spiritual person and happy to talk about faith, but the Prince is not. He doesn't go to church every Sunday, but then nor do a large majority of the country. He might go at Easter and Christmas, but that's it."

If William were to snub the role upon becoming king, he would be the first monarch in 500 years to do so.

The Queen's former chaplain, Gavin Ashenden, said the constitutional implications were "immensely complex" and would "take an army of lawyers ten years" to unpick.

He suggested that William either accept the role or make way for someone else to take it on.

He said, "William doesn't show any signs of being alive to the vibrancy of Christian faith. And in that sense, he is very representative of his generation, but I don't think he understands the monarchy because although lots of people have talked about disestablishing the Church of England and changing our constitutional arrangements, they're immensely complex and they go back through 500 years of legislation ... it would take an army of lawyers ten years to do it.

"So I think he either has to accept the fact that this is a role he plays, whether he likes it or not, which is part actually of the burden of monarchy, or if he feels that strongly and he can't do it, then step aside and abdicate and see if there's somebody else in the Royal succession who can."
SNP promises to 'reflect' after backlash against conversion therapy ban proposals

The SNP may be forced to tone down some of its proposals around banning so-called conversion therapy after concerns were raised that parental rights would be seriously undermined.

A consultation published last week outlined the penalties for breaching the proposed ban, with anyone found guilty of "suppressing" a person's gender identity facing up to seven years in jail.

Christian groups are among those to have raised concern about the threat to religious freedoms and parental rights.

Lois McLatchie Miller, spokesperson for Scotland at the Alliance Defending Freedom UK, called the proposals "draconian" and said they would "place parents under a terrifying and well-founded fear of losing their children or being locked up in prison for saying something contrary to the favoured ideology of the day".

"The proposed law would violate fundamental human rights, starting with the right and duty of parents to protect their children, in addition to religious freedom and free speech rights, including for those in a position to give pastoral support," she said.

"Children are not adults, and parents are not children. The vast majority of parents are committed to doing the sometimes difficult job of raising their children well. They deserve support and protection, not suspicion."

The Scottish Catholic Church said that a "worrying lack of clarity about what is meant by the term 'conversion practices' could create a chilling effect" and that religious freedoms must be protected.

Christian policy group CARE questioned the need for a ban and warned that "an ill-defined law on 'conversion practices' could lead to the subjective policing of speech about sexuality and gender, in a range of settings".

Representatives for the Scottish government said on Wednesday that they would "reflect" on the concerns raised by critics.

"There's obviously the formal written consultation process to which anybody can write and respond," a government spokesperson told journalists.

"The team in the Government and ministers are engaging one-to-one at the moment and for the next three months with a whole range of stakeholders.

"There's an open door to anybody who wants to come and speak to us and discuss their concerns.

"We're switching to listening mode now and really getting that feedback and considering it."

The spokesperson added that the government did not want to remove "day-to-day parental controls".

"The intention is only to address acts that are harmful and abusive," they said.

"Coercive is not intended to address parental advice, discussions, day-to-day parental controls. But we're going to reflect on all the feedback that's received as part of the consultation process."

The consultation is open until 2 April.
US State Department criticised over failure to designate India a religious freedom violator

(CP) The U.S. State Department's failure to name India to its "Countries of Particular Concern" list despite reports of increasing attacks on Christians in the country list has sparked criticism from Christian groups and a congressionally mandated watchdog.

The U.S.-based group International Christian Concern has labeled the omission "a travesty of justice."

"Prime Minister [Narendra] Modi's stormtroopers from the BJP [Bharatiya Janata Party] ... and Bajrang Dal attacked Pastors, lay Christians, and church buildings repeatedly in 2023," said ICC President Jeff King said in a statement shared with The Christian Post. "There were at least 723 recorded attacks and many more that went unrecorded. Modi and the BJP are radical Hindus masquerading as believers in democracy and religious freedom."

In its 2023 annual report, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom recommended CPC designation for India and several other countries. Countries designated as CPC face the possibility of negative consequences, including potential crippling sanctions. Groups like the U.S.-based ICC have advocated for India's inclusion, citing evidence of escalating Christian persecution.

USCIRF, a bipartisan commission tasked with advising the federal government and Congress on international religious freedom concerns, expressed disappointment with the State Department's decision not to label India and Nigeria a CPC despite evidence of religious freedom violations and called for a congressional hearing.

"In India, in addition to perpetrating egregious religious freedom violations within its borders, the government has increased its transnational repression activities targeting religious minorities abroad and those advocating on their behalf," USCIRF Chair Abraham Cooper and Vice Chair Frederick A. Davie said in a joint statement.

"We met with the State Department on many occasions to sound the alarm about these countries, but not all of our recommendations have been followed. We will not be deterred and will continue our role as a congressionally mandated watchdog to ensure the U.S. government prioritizes religious freedom as a key component of U.S. foreign policy."

King highlighted the role of India's ruling party, the BJP, and its affiliate, Bajrang Dal, in these attacks. He accused Prime Minister Modi and the BJP of being "radical Hindus masquerading as believers in democracy and religious freedom."

The United Christian Forum reported 23 targeted attacks in the last week of 2023 alone. Incidents included the arrest of five pastors in India for hosting a Christmas worship service, denial of Christian burial rights in Chhattisgarh and abuse of a female pastor in Punjab.

ICC's annual "Persecutors of the Year" report details these attacks, emphasizing the BJP's strategy to suppress Christianity. According to King, this involves Modi's silence on the attacks and hate speech by state BJP leaders, which incites violence against Christians.

Christians, constituting about 2.3% of India's population, have faced increasing suppression.

The United Christian Forum documented a significant rise in attacks since 2014 after the BJP won the national election.

The first half of 2023 saw a surge in violence across 23 states, with 400 incidents reported, up from 274 in the previous year. The UCF attributes this to a sense of "impunity" among vigilante mobs, often leading to physical assaults and false accusations of forcible conversions.

Watchdog group Open Doors earlier stated that "The driving force behind this is Hindutva, an ideology that disregards Indian Christians and other religious minorities as true Indians because they have allegiances that lie outside India, and asserts the country should be purified of their presence."

Some Christians in India perceive the State Department's decision not to designate India as a CPC as a strategic move to prioritize interests in its rivalry with China for influence in Asia, thereby underscoring India's role as a key ally. Christians argue that this decision could endanger their lives.

 The Christian Post
What then should we do?

As we face another year, it is a good time to ask ourselves what our priorities should be.

A Sinking Society

We cannot escape the fact that the United Kingdom really is post-Christian, and not only post-Christian, but post-liberal. Like the rest of the West, the UK has undergone a vicious assault on reason and tradition. What was once a liberal, tolerant society which sought to build communities has become censorious and intolerant with self-interest reigning supreme, resulting in a society where anything goes and nothing works.

It is possible to argume that the UK is post-liberal precisely because it is post-Christian. Lacking the guidance and restraint of Christianity, liberalism has degenerated into progressivism, an ideological derangement motivated by contempt for the past whilst lacking a rational direction for the future. A coherent moral consensus within a well-grounded community is totally absent and as a result we witness moral chaos, a lack of creative thought and an increasingly narrow-minded society. In the space of a single generation, Western liberalism has degenerated into a cultural suicide cult.

Who Is To Blame?

As we look at the decline around us  institutional, economic and above all moral  we are forced to acknowledge that the responsibility lies with those who have a duty to uphold those principles for life which lead to happiness and fulfilment: the church. The leadership of the legacy denominations, having tired of trying to convert the world to Christ, have settled for trying to convert the church to the world. As a result Christian distinctiveness has been submerged in a quagmire of niceness and weak-kneed eagerness not to offend.

The faithful Christian believer, from whatever tradition, is trapped between a rock and a hard place: either a blatant unbelief or a feeble, homoeopathic form of Christianity that serves as an enabler for what people want to do anyway.

The most common religious faith in the UK today is little more than Sheilaism, a grab-all individualistic system of belief which selects 'religious' elements from wherever they may be found, usually with little if any theological reflection. The term originates from Sheila Larson, who follows her own 'little voice' in a faith she calls 'Sheilaism'. Perhaps the clearest recent example of Sheilaism in the UK was King Charles's Christmas message, a jumble of various religions and none, all overlaid with thinking nice progressively acceptable thoughts.

Pursue Holiness

What is the concerned Christian to do in the face of societal decline and the increasing pressure of a narcissistic and intolerant progressivism? The best thing a Christian concerned with the state of society and the world can do is not to plunge directly into activism but to become part of a biblical fellowship and pursue holiness. Our ultimate priority should be our own spiritual health and enabling and encouraging other Christians.

If personal circumstances prevent us from physically joining with other Christians, we should learn from Luther and use the means of communication to hand: the internet. Through it we can join with other Christians and share prayer and encouragement. By making comments, asking questions and sharing concerns we can build communities of genuine concern. The creation of small, diverse communities of orthodox faith and practice, whether physically or online, made up of believing Christians who understand themselves as counter-cultural, is the way ahead if Christianity is going to endure the testing time ahead of us.

It Is Necessary

Why emphasise spiritual development and fellowship when the West seems to be in serious danger of regressing into a state similar to that of the third world? Surely the Christian response should be to focus on the duty to prevent further decline and strive to restore what we have lost?

Experience teaches that establishment social conservatives will do diddly squat to protect a Christian presence in the public square. Expecting them to use their influence to advance the practical outworking of Christian principles is the triumph of hope over experience. Even those in parliament who profess the faith and have power to influence legislation will rarely lift a finger to protect biblical Christians. We have to grasp the truth that we faithful Christians are on our own: we cannot expect biblical leadership from people who do not have biblical views.

We must be realistic. It is up to Christians to demonstrate how the faith works out in practice before a watching world. As well as talking, we should be clear examples of Christlike living. We cannot do this on our own: we need each other. Ours is the responsibility of looking after God's creation, and that means more than being environmentalists  all humanity is part of creation and we should care for how we all live.

It is vital for the sake of society that there exist fellowships of Christians able to retain the faith and ensure its survival through hard times, and to provide the foundations necessary for successful resistance and recovery. We cannot retreat and take our place amongst those who wish to stand back, not dirtying their hands, while the woke in power run amok through our institutions and trash our culture only to replace it with confusion and division.

Without a strong body of Christians able to hold firmly to biblical truths, any efforts to stem the flow of immorality and distortions of reality such as transgender confusion will falter, and where marginally successful will be swiftly overthrown. It's important that we do not deceive ourselves about political power. Social conservatives can share the Christian concern over the state of society but they can never see the underlying cause. As a result their efforts will be transient at best.

Our period of cultural instability arises from a rejection of the transcendent. We live as those who experience and understand a transcendent culture and as such we find ourselves colliding with today's therapeutic culture. The foundational question for which the Christian and the world give utterly divergent answers is: 'Do we follow God's pattern for life, or do we do what feels good to us?' We cannot be of any earthly use until we are of heavenly use. For the sake of our own souls and the health of the world, it is imperative that we Christians retain our distinctiveness.

Campbell Campbell-Jack is a retired Church of Scotland minister. He blogs at A Grain of Sand.
People wait in line at the Unidos en Salud COVID-19 community testing and vaccination clinic in San Francisco on Sept. 23. The Mission District operation is among those scheduled to cease offering vaccination in mid-February. Amy Osborne/Special to The Chronicle

San Francisco will close its remaining community COVID-19 vaccination sites next month.

The citys health department, citing a lack of funding and demand, confirmed on Thursday that it will permanently cease giving shots at the six remaining neighborhood health centers in mid-February.

Throughout the last four years, we received state and federal funding that allowed us to innovate and make San Francisco a model for mounting a response to COVID-19, said Asa King, deputy director of community health at the San Francisco Department of Public Health. We led the way in terms of having low deaths.

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However, the lapse in funding has affected the citys ability to provide services as before.

While the six sites in low-income neighborhoods will cease vaccination services, including for influenza, some will continue to offer other essential health services. Mission Local first reported news of the closures.

More Information The San Francisco Department of Public Health will conclude its COVID-19 vaccination services at these neighborhood sites on the following dates: 24th & Capp St. Community Site on Feb. 10

The Village, 1099 Sunnydale Ave. on Feb. 12

Samoan Community Development Center, 2055 Sunnydale Ave. on Feb. 14

Ella Hill Hutch Community Center, 1181 Golden Gate Ave. on Feb. 14

Southeast Health Center, 2401 Keith St. on Feb. 15

Latino Taskforce Hub, 701 Alabama St. on Feb. 15

King noted a significant decline in vaccine demand at these sites, emphasizing that most individuals now have access to shots through their primary care providers or chain pharmacies such as Walgreens and CVS.

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Approximately 27% of the citys residents have received the updated COVID-19 vaccine, targeting newer variants, compared to the 70% vaccination rate for the original shots in 2021.

Our message to the public remains the same as it has since we first had access to vaccines, King said. Go out and take advantage of getting up to date on the COVID vaccine. We want to make it very clear that it is peoples first line of defense against winding up with severe illness or hospitalization from COVID-19.

Carranza Domingo gets the COVID-19 vaccine at the Latino Task Force pop-up clinic on Nov. 4, 2021, in San Francisco. The clinic at 701 Alabama St. is among those slated to cease offering vaccination in mid-February. Gabrielle Lurie/The Chronicle

Tracy Gallardo of the Latino Task Force, which operates the vaccination and testing site at 24th and Capp streets, said they were informed of the closure via email. She said her organization will work with its partners at UCSF to secure donations to continue to provide the lifesaving shots through the end of February, as originally promised by SFDPH, and then offer them monthly through private fundraising efforts.

We feel very strongly that we need spaces where there are not a lot of barriers to health services for this community, Gallardo said. Were doing everything we can to figure out a way to continue the program.

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For those facing difficulty accessing shots, free options remain available through the federal website, vaccines.gov. The Bridge Access Program covers vaccination costs for the underinsured or uninsured.

The citys health department will collaborate with community partners to provide vaccine doses and continue mobile vaccination services at neighborhood events until mid-March.
Primeste notificari pe email Nota bene: Adresele email cu extensia .ru nu sunt acceptate.

Contractare si Achizitie Bunuri Anunturi de Angajare Granturi - Finantari Burse de studiu Stagii Profesionale Oportunitati de voluntariat Toate Articolele
Medical examiner investigators remove the body of an overdose victim from a residential hotel on Natoma and Eighth streets in San Francisco on Dec. 19. Gabrielle Lurie/The Chronicle 2023

Regarding New data shows grim tally for San Franciscos worst year for overdose deaths (San Francisco, SFChronicle.com, Jan. 17): I nearly dropped my phone when I read that San Francisco had 806 accidental drug overdose deaths last year. Its an outlandish figure and an embarrassment to our citys history of public health leadership.

San Franciscos elected officials must stop their lollygagging on this issue and move quickly to open evidence-based overdose prevention sites. Several reputable nonprofits have been public about their willingness to run these sites if the city will provide the funding.

Our lawmakers now have 806 new reasons to do the right thing.

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Lauren Kahn, San Francisco

No pork from Schiff

Regarding Porter shapes up as the mother of all U.S. Senate candidates (Open Forum, SFChronicle.com, Jan. 17): Selecting the next senator from California is a big deal.

While Jack Ohman advocates for a candidate who is a vigorous legislator in the House and raising children as a single mother, I like someone who has lived most of his/her life in California, has a strong focus on our democracy and the needs in our state on water and taking on climate change.

I shuddered to hear that Rep. Katie Porter could be considered pro-bacon when we need to be encouraging less meat and more plant-based eating. Sure, she can talk to Iowans, but she is not running for president.

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My vote goes to Rep. Adam Schiff, whose recent interview with the Sacramento Bee was an impressive one. Hes a straight shooter who doesnt talk about bacon.

Priscilla Rich, Danville

Amend new parking law

The state recently passed a law prohibiting parking within 20 feet of a crosswalk. While it may be a way to improve sight lines for cars turning right on long, fast downtown blocks, I have seen no report that the statute includes provision for towns or cities to use traffic or accident information, or common sense, to modify that restriction.

In a slow-traffic, pedestrian-friendly neighborhood shopping area like Cortland Avenue in San Francisco, it will eliminate a quarter to a third of the parking on the shorter blocks.

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When the San Francisco Board of Supervisors is finished addressing the international scene, perhaps it can find time to push for modifying this state law, which will inconvenience its constituents.

Miriam Mueller, San Francisco

Dems, dont hold back

Regarding Not ethical (Letters to the Editor, Jan. 17): Cynthia Cerlettis letter chastising Democrats for considering registering as Republicans and voting for Nikki Haley perfectly encapsulates how we Dems got into this mess in the first place.

Cerletti is encouraging us to bring a squirt gun to an artillery duel.

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The idea is to win. We are in a fight for the very soul of our nation. The followers of Donald Trump staged an insurrection. They are certainly not using the Marquis of Queensbury rules.

Bret Yeilding, South Windsor, Conn.

Trumps win meaningless

Regarding Trumps record win in Iowa tightens his grip on GOP (Page One, Jan. 17): The Chronicles print headline misses the point: Caucus attendance among Iowa Republicans was the lowest in 25 years. Republicans stayed home in droves rather than raising their hand against Donald Trump in a public caucus.

Imagine how challenging it is for small-town Iowa Republicans to brave the public shaming, exclusion and violent threats that MAGA routinely employs against anyone who opposes their messiah.

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Trumps terrible low-turnout triumph in Iowa strongly suggests hell lose the state  and the nation  when the full electorate votes in November.

John Holme, Oakland

Speak for yourself

Regarding Why Martin Luther King Jr. would disagree with Breed on Gaza cease-fire resolution (Letters to the Editor, SFChronicle.com, Jan. 17): I am tired of people claiming to know what Martin Luther King Jr. would think.

The poor man was assassinated decades ago. So unless the letter writer has exhumed his body and reanimated him, she has no clue if he would agree or disagree.

Please let MLK rest in peace and take personal responsibility for your opinions.
The proportion of workers in the charity sector who are disabled has increased to one in four, according to government statistics.

According to estimated figures from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) , disabled people made up 24.9% of the civil society workforce in the year to June 2023, up from 21.9% the year before and compared to 16.9% for all UK sectors.

The proportion of women in the sector also increased to 67.5%, according to DCMS, up from 67.2% the year before and 48.0% in the wider economy.

Women and disabled people have been well-represented among UK charity employees for many years but the new figures suggest the sector is increasingly under-employing people from other demographics.

Charities employed a lower proportion of people of colour in 2022-23 (9.5%) than they did the previous year (9.8%) and compared to 14.8% in all UK sectors, according to DCMS estimates.

Some 57.8% of UK charity employees had a degree or equivalent, more than the 42.8% of people in all UK sectors, which could suggest the sector is less accessible.

There were fewer young adults in the charity sector, with 6.0% of the civil society workforce under 24, up from 5.7% in 2021-22 but compared to 11.0% in all UK sectors.

Meanwhile, 16.7% of roles were London-based, down from 19.0% the year before and compared to 15.9% in all UK sectors.

Disability figures Hugely encouraging

Richard Kramer, chief executive of deafblindness charity Sense, said: It is hugely encouraging that disability employment in the third sector is rising.

We know that having a diverse workforce brings huge benefits and these latest figures are an example of how charities can lead the way on inclusion.

But there is still a very long way to go. Disabled people are still vastly under-represented in todays workforce and almost twice as likely to be unemployed.

Many disabled people are not in work who would like to work  and with the right support, theres no reason why they shouldnt.

The barriers that prevent disabled people into work, from negative attitudes towards disability to inaccessible job recruitment practices, need to be overcome.

As charities, we must live our values, recruiting more disabled people to show what is possible.

Chris Luck, group chief executive of Shaw Trust, said: The civil society has long been committed to diversity and inclusion, understanding the importance lived experience brings to fulfilling mission and purpose.

By our nature our organisations are here for public good  and in order to do this we must reflect in our workforces those we commit to support.

This latest rise, 24.9% of civil society staff being disabled compared to 16.9% in all UK sectors, reflects the proactive approach taken by our sector in valuing talent, diversity and inclusion  and transparency in supporting colleagues proud to identify as disabled.

Umbrella bodies plan sector workforce strategy

ACEVOs Pay and Equalities Survey 2023 on charity sector leadership showed similar trends, with a quarter of respondents reporting a disability, learning difference or health condition, an increase from previous years.

It also showed the proportion of charity leaders from Black, Asian, and minoritised ethnic backgrounds had remained at 7% for the second year running.

Roberta Fusco, head of influencing at ACEVO, said: The proportion of respondents to the ACEVO Pay and Equalities survey who consider themselves to have a disability or learning difference has shown a small year-on-year increase, which mirrors the trend reported also in the DCMS civil society workforce statistics, however there is still much room for improvement to ensure that our sector workforce is equipped to achieve the most impact.

Its for this reason that over the next year ACEVO and NCVO will be collaborating to convene expertise and insight from a wide range of stakeholders on a sector workforce vision that will set a clear path to achieve a workforce fit for the future.

Meanwhile, a government spokesperson said: Those employed in the civil society sector make an incredible contribution to communities up and down the country, often supporting those that need it most.

sign up to receive the free Civil Society daily news bulletin here . For more news, interviews, opinion and analysis about charities and the voluntary sector,
Just after 7:30 Monday evening in Iowa, many Republicans were settling in at their caucus locations to listen to candidate nomination speeches before voting when their phones started buzzing with news alerts: former president Donald Trump had already won.

Barely a half hour into the official start of the Iowa caucuses and with only a few hundred votes reported, multiple TV networks and the Associated Press had independently come to the exact same conclusion. The result wasnt a shockTrump had held dominant leads in polls for monthsbut the timing seemed to catch some TV anchors off-guard.

This is the earliest I can remember ever calling such a thing, CNNs Jake Tapper said, right after announcing Trumps victory.

Soon, TV screens lit up with a surreal display: a split screen of studio hosts talking about a race that was already over, paired with live shots of Iowans still waiting to cast their votes.

Once again, on a big election night, the media themselves had become a storyand fodder for criticism.

They even called the election before everyone had the chance to vote, Florida governor Ron DeSantis complained during his election night speech, continuing his ongoing effort to undermine Republicans trust in nonpartisan news as he sought to spin his distant-second-place finish. His spokesman went even further, accusing the media of election interference and saying they were in the tank for Trump.

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But the criticism didnt just come from the right.

Dan Pfeiffer, a former senior adviser to President Obama and current Pod Save America host, tweeted that the early calls were a self-defeating move at a time of massive distrust in the media and electoral system.

Just wait an hour until people have voted, he said. You dont get a Pulitzer for being first to tell people something everyone knows is going to happen.



In almost every other election, no one will call a race until the polls are closed, even when the result is exceedingly obvious. Thats true in heavily blue or red statesas well as those where decision desks can tell where an election is going but some precincts remain open, as in states with multiple time zones and poll closing times.

But Iowas caucuses are a weird unicorn, because the atomized, volunteer-run process at the states 1,600-plus precincts means theres no way of knowing in real time when everyone is actually done voting.

I spoke with Joe Lenski, the executive vice president for the nonpartisan pollster Edison Research, which conducted the entrance poll that many of the TV networksincluding CNN, ABC, CBS, and NBCrelied on to make their calls. He was on a conference call with all four networks on Monday night, and agreed to walk me through the decision-making process.

The entrance poll, Lenski explained, involved people on the ground in randomly selected caucus sites throughout the state interviewing people as they walked in. By the time doors closed, at 7pm, Edison had already conducted more than a thousand randomly selected interviewsa large-enough sample to give a good sense of the electorates preferences.

Because of the unique nature of Iowas caucuses, Lenski said, the question of when a call is too early is a gray areaone that simply doesnt exist in most other races. (He said that Nevadas Republican Party has addressed this problem for its upcoming caucuses by giving a firm time of 7:30pm PST for voting to wrap up.)

We took over thirty minutes from when the doors closed to process this data to the point where we were convinced of the accuracy of the data enough to make the call, he said, pointing out that the networks used not just the Iowa entrance poll but early voting returns to make the call.

Once they felt certain of the result, he argued, they had no choice but to make it known.

If we withheld that information, we would be open to the argument on the other side of withholding information from the public, Lenski said. If we didnt call it till 7:45 or 8 oclock, whats to stop the Trump campaign from saying, See, theres the media, not reporting the story of us winning?

A CNN source said that the entrance poll data gave the network enough information that it could have projected the race result as of 7pm, when voters were required to be physically present at the caucus sites in order to cast their ballots. The networks have done that in the pastwhen the caucuses were virtually uncontested. This year, they all opted to wait a half hour, until the Iowa GOP had begun reporting actual vote results, to make the call, partly to be able to spot-check that the entrance poll was accurate.

Another network election night veteran who is well versed in how these calls are made concurred with Lenskiand said that theres a simple solution for future caucuses.

We cant be hostage to the media narrative. I mean, we have to make the calls when were confident that its time to make a call, not because it fits into a narrative, they told me. Had the Iowa GOP been concerned about results getting back to people in caucuses where the voting hadnt concluded, it could have simply withheld the release of those real caucus precinct reports until 9pm [EST].



The whole episode was disappointing to Iowa Republican Party chairman Jeff Kaufmann. He told me that the party would likely have to reconsider its decision to release precinct results in real time as theyre tallied up in the future, or find another way to keep media organizations from making a call until everyone has voted.

You can better believe that this will be a main topic of discussion, Kaufmann said. Were probably either going to insist that there be some kind of unspoken respect for the caucus, or we will have to take a look at when we release results. We can still have a transparent process, but it wont be in real time.

He added that the explanations for the early call from folks like Lenski dont respect the spirit of the caucus.

What Im hearing in these excuses is, We dont give a damn, were going to be the first to report, and thats offensive to me, Kaufmann said. If the spirit of competition is going to trump respect for our caucus, then were going to make it difficult for them to ever do this again, in terms of calling it early. And that would be a shame.

But what Kaufmann meant as a warning might be music to the ears of the networks, which want to be first in accurately calling an electionbut dont want to become the story.



Other notable stories:

ICYMI: A leak-hosting site looks to thaw the chill of censorship

Cameron Joseph is a freelance political reporter with recent work in The Guardian, the Los Angeles Times, Rolling Stone, and Politico Magazine. A recipient of the 2023 National Press Foundation Dirksen Award for distinguished reporting of Congress and the 2020 National Press Club award for excellence in political journalism, he previously worked for VICE News, Talking Points Memo, the New York Daily News, The Hill and National Journal.
A Travis County district court sentenced a phlebotomist for double-dipping on her workers compensation benefits.

Ruth Castilleja of Baytown, Texas, was sentenced on workers comp fraud charges after reporting an injury while working as a phlebotomist for BestCare Laboratory Services LLC in Houston, Texas.

She reportedly claimed she was unable to work as a result of the injury.

Texas Mutual Insurance Co. began paying income benefits to her, but then reportedly discovered Castilleja was working as a phlebotomist for another company.

This type of activity is considered workers comp fraud and is often referred to as double-dipping because the claimant collects benefits for being too injured to work while simultaneously being employed.

The court sentenced Castilleja to a Class A misdemeanor with 18 months deferred adjudication. She also served three days in the Travis County Jail and attended theft school. She is expected to pay $7,100 in restitution to Texas Mutual.
SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic  U.S. rapper Tekashi 6ix9ine was arrested Wednesday by Dominican authorities on charges of domestic violence.

The rapper, whose real name is Daniel Hernandez, was jailed in Santo Domingo, the Dominican capital. He was scheduled to appear before a judge on Thursday, the Associated Press said.

At Thursdays hearing, a judge is expected to decide whether Hernandez remains in custody or is released on bond.

No further details were immediately available, the AP said, nor was it clear if Hernandez has an attorney.

The arrest is the latest for Hernandez, who was born in Brooklyn.

Dominican police arrested him in October when he was accused of assaulting two music producers at a seaside hotel where he and his girlfriend, a rapper known as Yailin la Mas Viral, were recording, the New York Post reported..

Previously, Hernandez was accused of using a violent gang in the United States as his personal hit squad. He avoided jail time after providing testimony about the Nine Trey Gangsta Bloods gang, which operates on the East Coast, according to the Post.

In 2015, Hernandez received four years of probation after he admitted to one count of use of a child in a sexual performance  an incident which involved physical contact with a 13-year-old girl.

Prosecutors charged him with racketeering and other weapons and drug offenses in 2018. In a plea deal, he admitted to nine charges, including conspiracy to commit murder, and he was sentenced to just two years in prison.

Hernandez was released in April 2020 during the coronavirus pandemic because he suffers from asthma. He was placed under house arrest and finished his sentence in August 2020.
Rep. Barbara Lee was blocked from attending a House hearing about Cuba on Thursday after the Republican chair of the committee denied her permission. Juliana Yamada/The Chronicle

WASHINGTON  Rep. Barbara Lee was removed from a hearing on Cuba policy Thursday, a move she says amounted to censorship by the Republican chairwoman.

The House Foreign Affairs Western Hemisphere Subcommittee hearing started with a request by Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, that two lawmakers who were not members of the committee be allowed to attend the hearing on the Biden administrations Cuba policy.

Lawmakers are allowed to attend hearings by committees of which they are not members as long as they receive the permission of the majority party members. Lee was a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee from 2001 to 2011 and has served on the House Appropriations State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Subcommittee since 2007.

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It is uncommon, if not unheard of, for a lawmaker to be denied permission to attend.

The room immediately became tense as Chairwoman Maria Elvira Salazar, R-Fla., the daughter of Cuban exiles, said Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., was more than welcome and immediately added Barbara Lee is not.

When Castro asked her why, Salazar said that it was because Lee is friends with the oppressors and not the Cuban people. She has been friends with Fidel Castro  there are many statements that we cant repeat that indicates that she is just not with the people that I represent, who are the Cuban exile community in Miami.

Salazar later repeated, She is not welcomed on this committee.

Lee met with former Cuban President Fidel Castro eight times while he was alive as part of her official duties, and has worked on U.S. relations with Cuba since 1977. After his death in 2016, Lee told the Mercury News that she found Castro to be a smart man. A historian. He wanted normal relations with the United States but not at the expense of the accomplishments of the revolution.

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Several Democrats were upset by the move to deny Lee permission to attend, and some said Salazar was censoring Lee.

Wasserman Schultz said that even though she and Salazar share a position on the Cuban regime, she would not attend the hearing unless Lee was also allowed.

Barbara Lee is not a pawn or a puppet or part of a scheme of Cuba. She is a Black woman who was just silenced, denied her voice that she was rightfully elected to have, Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove, D-Los Angeles, said during the hearing. That was shameful to watch.

Rep. Castro told Salazar that she was suppressing somebody from even sitting here and participating in the same way that the Cuban government has suppressed opinion and perspective for decades.

Lee said the action represented the same silencing of alternative voices that occurs under undemocratic regimes & authoritarians like Trump, she wrote on X after the hearing.

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Chief Justice Patricia Guerrero speaks during her confirmation hearing before the Commission on Judicial Appointments on March 22, 2022, in San Francisco. Eric Risberg/Associated Press

Californias chief justice said shes dismayed by the loss of public support for the U.S. Supreme Court and attributes it to politics in court appointments, referring to actions by former President Donald Trump and Senate Republicans that have given the court a 6-3 conservative majority.

Its so political. Its so divisive  the appointment process, Chief Justice Patricia Guerrero said Thursday in her first meeting with reporters since taking office a year ago. It saddens me to see that U.S. Supreme Court approval rating is so low, she said, but its understandable when people think were making decisions based on our own political viewpoints.

Citing the high courts June 2022 ruling overturning its 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade, which declared a constitutional right to abortion, Guerreo said, Changing one member or other members of the court shouldnt have a huge effect on precedent, but it did in that case.

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The ruling had no direct impact on California, where the state Supreme Court had ruled in 1981 that the state Constitution protects the right to abortion. Californias voters reaffirmed that decision by a two-thirds majority in November 2022.

A Gallup poll found that the U.S. Supreme Courts public approval rating dropped to 41% last year, its lowest level in decades, while 58% of those surveyed said they disapproved of how the justices were doing their jobs.

It saddens me, Guerrero told reporters. It has an effect on other courts  but not in California, which will always be in the forefront in assuring that the peoples rights are protected, she said.

Guerrero was appointed to the court by Gov. Gavin Newsom in March 2022, becoming its first Latina justice, and was then nominated by Newsom to succeed the retiring Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye. The voters approved her for a 12-year term in November 2022.

The daughter of Mexican immigrants, Guerrero was born in Brawley (Imperial County), worked her way through high school, college and law school, and represented immigrants as a lawyer before becoming a judge.

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Im blessed that I grew up where I did, Guerrero, 52, said Thursday. The Imperial Valley, where she lived, had high rates of poverty and unemployment and illiteracy but was a source of strength for me, she said.

The seven-member court she leads is one of the nations most diverse, with four women, two LGBT justices, three Black justices and an Asian American justice. Six of its seven justices were appointed by Democratic governors, and in recent years at least 90% of its rulings have been unanimous  even on such contentious issues as the right to be released without bail while awaiting trial.

The court will hear arguments shortly in another high-profile case, on the constitutionality of Proposition 22, the 2020 initiative sponsored by Uber and Lyft that classified their drivers as contractors rather than employees. Contractors have no legal rights to minimum wages, overtime or payment for work expenses.

One reason for the frequent unanimity, Guerrero said, is the courts review process  each newly accepted case is assigned to a justice for a tentative ruling, which is then circulated to the others for comments and possible revisions before the hearing, followed by a conference to discuss a final ruling. In the U.S. Supreme Court, by contrast, each justice reviews the cases individually.

We work really hard to try, when we can, to reach consensus, Guerrero said. We may narrow the scope of a case in order to reach a consensus.

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An image of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, who died after being shot by Alec Baldwin on the set of his movie "Rust," is displayed at a vigil in her honor in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on Oct. 23, 2021.

A New Mexico grand jury on Friday indicted actor Alec Baldwin on involuntary manslaughter charges in connection with the fatal 2021 shooting on the set of "Rust."

Baldwin is facing two separate types of involuntary manslaughter charges, court records show. He is facing one count of involuntary manslaughter, negligent use of a firearm and involuntary manslaughter, without due caution or circumspection.

Though Baldwin is charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter, he would only be convicted of one if found guilty.

The new indictment comes after earlier charges were dropped against the actor in April in light of "new facts" that demanded further investigation, prosecutors said previously. At the time, prosecutors cautioned that their decision to drop the charges did "not absolve" Baldwin of culpability for his role in the fatal shooting, which killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and injured director Joel Souza.

The earlier charges, similarly two counts of involuntary manslaughter, were filed more than a year after the shooting, in January 2023. Prosecutors at the time said Baldwin had not been properly trained to handle the weapon that killed Hutchins.

The armorer of the film, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, was also charged in 2023 and is expected to face trial next month for involuntary manslaughter and tampering with evidence in connection with the shooting. Gutierrez-Reed has pleaded not guilty.

Baldwin, who was also a producer on the film, was rehearsing a scene when the gun fired and killed Hutchins. Baldwin has repeatedly denied that he pulled the trigger.

In 2022, Baldwin settled a lawsuit brought by Hutchins' family that accused the actor and producer of reckless behavior and cost-cutting measures that led to the shooting.

Financial terms of the settlement were not released. Matthew Hutchins, the widower of Halyna Hutchins, served as an executive producer on the film when it resumed production in early 2023.

Responding to the new indictment, Baldwin's attorneys Luke Nikas and Alex Spiro of Quinn Emmanuel said they "look forward to our day in court."



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President of the European Central Bank (ECB) Christine Lagarde attends a session on the closing day of the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos, on January 19, 2024.

European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde on Friday said that Europe must be "strong at home" and go on the offensive in the face of a potential return of Donald Trump to the White House.

"The best defense, if that's the way we want to look at it, is attack," Lagarde told the World Economic Forum in Davos, in response to comments about the outlook for Europe after the upcoming U.S. election.

"To attack properly, you need to be strong at home. Being strong means having a strong, deep market. Having a real single market," she added.

Europe faces an uncertain future in its relationship with its closest international ally, following the U.S. vote.

The re-election of U.S. President Joe Biden would likely continue the status quo, while a win for Trump, who is a frontrunner to win the Republican nomination, could reduce economic and political support.

With that in mind, Lagarde said Europe should invest more in its capital markets in order to fund investments, such as, for instance, in the green transition.

The possibility of Trump winning a second term in the White House has been a hot topic at the gathering of political and business leaders in Switzerland this week.

During his first term in office, Trump was often critical of Europe's economic dependence on the U.S., including within NATO. He has since spoken of withdrawing U.S. funding for Ukraine, which he considers a European issue.

Lagarde was speaking on a Bloomberg panel alongside German Finance Minister Christian Linder, who agreed that market investment is the best route for Europe to improve its self-sufficiency. That's especially important in the face of hefty U.S. subsidies for green projects, he noted.

"We have to avoid a subsidy race. We cannot afford [it]," Linder said, noting that it was unclear whether such support would be continued under a new Republican administration. "Our competitive disadvantage compared to the U.S. is not subsidies but the function of our private capital market."

Linder added that such investment would help Europe foster a stronger transatlantic relationship, particularly with more euroskeptic leadership on the other side of the pond.

"Being an attractive partner on eye level when it comes to the economic situation, and when it comes to a fair burden sharing under the roof of NATO, is the best we can do to be in a good partnership with the United States," he said.

Correction: This story has been updated to better reflect Christine Lagarde's comments in their context.
The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York stands in the Brooklyn borough of New York City on Jan. 18, 2019.

Federal prosecutors on Friday announced charges against a German businessman, alleging he scammed investors out of more than $150 million in a crypto fraud scheme.

Prosecutors said Horst Jicha promoted USI Tech, the company he founded and helmed as its CEO, as a crypto mining and trading platform "accessible to the average retail investor." But in actuality, Jicha and two unnamed co-conspirators, both USI Tech executives, lured and defrauded investors in a "multilevel marketing scheme," prosecutors allege.

Authorities said they arrested Jicha and unsealed an indictment containing four charges against him  securities fraud and conspiracies to commit securities fraud, wire fraud and money laundering  after he entered the U.S. for the first time in more than five years on Dec. 23, heading to Miami for vacation. He was arraigned in Brooklyn federal court Friday morning.

Prosecutors allege that the company falsely claimed on its website, in social media posts and at in-person events that investors could earn as much as 140% returns on crypto investments made through its platform.

Around the spring of 2017, Jicha and his co-conspirators began "aggressively promoting" USI Tech, prosecutors said. There were live events, including one in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, where one of Jicha's co-conspirators claimed USI Tech's legality had been blessed by "the very top SEC attorney," according to the indictment.

In 2018, as regulators began scrutinizing USI Tech, prosecutors alleged that Jicha terminated the company's U.S. operations, preventing investors from withdrawing their money. Since then, around $150 million of that money has been transferred to accounts controlled by Jicha, prosecutors said Friday.

"It's always difficult when investors have suffered losses at the hands of certain bad actors," Marissel Descalzo and David Tarras, Jicha's attorneys, wrote in a statement. "We look forward to zealously defending the allegations against Mr. Jicha and bringing forth the facts of his involvement with USI Tech in hopes that the bad actors will be brought to justice."

WATCH: How bitcoin lost by winning
People attend the 54th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum, in Davos, Switzerland, January 18, 2024. Denis Balibouse | Reuters

The potential for generative artificial intelligence, when interest rates might be cut, and the ongoing wars in Ukraine and the Gaza Strip were key topics at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland this week. Business and political leaders also discussed global trade, climate change and what might happen if former President Donald Trump returns to the White House this year. Here's a rundown of who said what.

Ursula von der Leyen

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen speaks during the 54th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, January 16, 2024. Denis Balibouse | Reuters

An increasingly isolated Russia now relies on China for both its military and economic ends, the European Commission's President Ursula von der Leyen said Tuesday. "Russia is now dependent on China," she said during an address at WEF, adding that Russia is failing on its strategic goals. "It is first and foremost a military failure," she said, noting that Ukraine had thus far retained its "freedom and independence" in its almost two-year war with Moscow.

Jamie Dimon

Jamie Dimon, President and CEO of JPMorgan Chase, speaking on CNBC's "Squawk Box" at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland, on Jan. 17, 2024. Adam Galici | CNBC

Bitcoin does nothing, according to JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon. "I call it the pet rock," he told CNBC on the sidelines of WEF in Davos. "There's a cryptocurrency which might actually do something," Dimon said of smart chain-enriched blockchains. "And then there's one which does nothing." When asked what he made of BlackRock CEO Larry Fink's change of heart on bitcoin  after the world's largest asset manager filed an application for a bitcoin ETF  Dimon said, "I don't care. So just please stop talking about this s***." Dimon also spoke about Ukraine's war with Russia following a meeting with its President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. "We have to teach the American public that this is about freedom and democracy for the free world, and that's where the battle is being fought," he said. "This is 'America first'."

Volodymyr Zelenskyy

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks with CNBC's Andrew Ross Sorkin at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland on Jan. 16th, 2024. Adam Galici | CNBC

"One man has stolen at least 13 years of peace, replacing them with pain, pain, pain and crisis that impact the entire world," Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy told delegates in a keynote speech in Davos on Tuesday. Russian President Vladimir Putin "embodies war," Zelenskyy said, adding: "he will not change." During his address, he also decried the failure of Western allies to sanction Russia's nuclear industry. "It's a clear weakness of the West that Russia's nuclear industry is still not under global sanctions, even though Putin is the only terrorist in the world who took a nuclear power plant hostage," Zelenskyy said.

Javier Milei

Argentina's President Javier Milei delivers a speech at the World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting in Davos on January 17, 2024. (Photo by Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP) (Photo by FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP via Getty Images) Fabrice Coffrini | Afp | Getty Images

Argentina's President Javier Milei, a self-described "anarcho-capitalist," called on business and political leaders at Davos to reject socialism. "Today, I'm here to tell you that the Western world is in danger," Milei said Wednesday, according to a translation. "And it is in danger because those who are supposed to have to defend the values of the West are co-opted by a vision of the world that inexorably leads to socialism, and thereby to poverty," he added.

Adena Friedman

Adena Friedman, CEO & Board Chair NASDAQ, speaking on CNBC's Squawk Box at the WEF Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland on Jan. 16th, 2024. Adam Galici | CNBC

Nasdaq CEO Adena Friedman said she believes the Federal Reserve should be wary of cutting interest rates too soon. Speaking at a CNBC-moderated panel at WEF, Friedman said Tuesday that while "there are a lot of signals that would say that there should be rate [cuts] as we go through the year, the question is when they would start. And if I were the Fed, I would be a little concerned about starting too early." She explained that while inflation was heading in the "right direction of travel," the Fed would also expect this to moderate, making it harder to bring rates down.

Sam Altman

Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, attends the 54th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Jan. 18, 2024. Denis Balibouse | Reuters

OpenAI founder and CEO Sam Altman spoke about the potential for artificial general intelligence (AGI), saying: "It will change the world much less than we all think and it will change jobs much less than we all think." He said AGI could be developed in the "reasonably close-ish future," speaking at a private gathering at the Bloomberg House in Davos, Switzerland. Altman also described being fired from OpenAI as "wild," saying he felt "super confused" and was "super caught off guard." Concerns over AI safety and OpenAI's role in protecting were at the center of Altman's brief ouster from the company.

Antony Blinken

Antony Blinken, U.S. Secretary of State, speaks with CNBC's Andrew Ross Sorkin at the WEF Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland on Jan. 16th, 2024. Adam Galici | CNBC

Putin has "precipitated virtually everything he sought to prevent," U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said of the Russian president's decision to invade Ukraine. "Ukraine has been a profound strategic failure for Vladimir Putin and for Russia, in so many ways," he added, speaking during a panel discussion on Wednesday. Blinken also criticized Trump's decision to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal. The former U.S. president restored wide-ranging sanctions against the country instead. "It was a big mistake to tear up the Iran nuclear agreement. We had Iran's nuclear program in a box. Since the agreement was torn up, it's escaped from that box. And we're now in a place where we didn't want to be," Blinken said.

Christine Lagarde

President of the European Central Bank (ECB) Christine Lagarde attends a session on the closing day of the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos, on January 19, 2024. Fabrice Coffrini | Afp | Getty Images

European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde said she expects this year to be one of economic "non-normality," after seeing the "beginning of normalization" in 2023. Speaking on a panel at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Friday, she said consumption, trade and inflation began to normalize last year, after a post-pandemic period that she described as "strange, extraordinary and difficult to analyze." The pandemic reduced consumer spending meaning people had excess savings, while global trade was also disrupted. In October 2022, euro zone inflation reached 10.6% but dropped off in 2023, rising again to 2.9% in December. While these trends represent a "normalization," Lagarde added that "it is not normality that we are heading to."

Emmanuel Macron

France's President Emmanuel Macron delivers remarks, during the 54th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum, in Davos, Switzerland, January 17, 2024. Denis Balibouse | Reuters

French President Emmanuel Macron said Wednesday that Europe must be more assertive on the world stage ahead of the U.S. elections this year. "2024 will be a pivotal year for Europeans. We must prove that we can be more visible, make more efforts, whatever happens in the United States," he said, according to a translation. Macron also expressed concerns about what the election could mean for U.S.-China tensions. "The great risk for Europeans is that they would end up with the wrong agenda," he said.

Dmytro Kuleba

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba gestures during a discussion at the World Economic Forum 2022 (WEF) in the Alpine resort of Davos, Switzerland May 25, 2022. Arnd Wiegmann | Reuters

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba told CNBC Thursday that he does not think there would be a big shift in support away from his country if Trump is re-elected later this year. "So do I believe there is a potential for [Russian President Vladimir] Putin and Trump to agree on something behind Ukraine's back if Trump becomes president? I don't," he said. Kuleba also said the atmosphere in Davos was positive. "People are looking for solutions instead of endlessly discussing problems," he said.

Michelle Yeoh

Michelle Yeoh, winner of the Best Actress in a Leading Role award for "Everything Everywhere All at Once," poses in the press room during the 95th Annual Academy Awards on March 12, 2023 in Hollywood, California. Mike Coppola | Getty Images Entertainment | Getty Images

Michelle Yeoh, an actress, producer and United Nations Development Programme ambassador won a Crystal Award at the World Economic Forum  the prizes are given to artists who are thought of as role models, according to WEF. Asked by CNBC's Tania Bryer what the award meant to her she said: "It's a way that we can ... have the world come together in such dire times and with hope." Yeoh said she wants to raise awareness of issues that have historically had less attention around the world, and is campaigning against reckless driving, noting that 1.3 million people are killed on roads every year. "Especially in the third world, because if the bread winner gets into a crash, if he's incapacitated or worse if he or she dies, that family has no way to come out of poverty," she said.

Pedro Sanchez

Spanish acting Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez during the investiture debate at the Spanish Parliament on Nov. 15, 2023 in Madrid, Spain. Isabel Infantes | Getty Images News | Getty Images

The rise of far-right political groups is the "biggest concern" for Western democracies, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez told CNBC. "I think that not only the [political] fragmentation, but the advance of the far-right, it is something  I would say [it is] the biggest concern for Western democracies," he said Wednesday. Ahead of European Parliament elections this year, Sanchez said that having more progressive or center seats than far-right seats would be "easier for all of us, the Commission, the Council and of course, the European Parliament."

Li Qiang

Li Qiang, China's premier, delivers a special address on the opening day of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, on Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2024. Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Chinese Premier Li Qiang called for greater "cooperation in innovation," during an address to the World Economic Forum on Tuesday. "Scientific and technological fruits should benefit humanity as a whole, instead of becoming a means to restrict or contain the development of other countries," he said, according to an official translation of his remarks. Li did not name countries in his speech, but Beijing has repeatedly asked Washington to remove restrictions on Chinese companies that prevent them from buying advanced technology from U.S. firms. Li said the Chinese economy grew by around 5.2% in 2023. "In promoting economic development, we did not resort to massive stimulus. We did not seek short-term growth while accumulating long-term risks," he added.

Isaac Herzog

Israeli President Isaac Herzog gestures as he sits next to a photograph showing 10-month-old baby Kfir Bibas held by Hamas during a session of the World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting in Davos on January 18, 2024. Fabrice Coffrini | Afp | Getty Images

Israeli President Isaac Herzog warned that Israel is holding back threats in the Middle East that could otherwise spread to Europe and the United States. "If Israel were not there, Europe would be next ... and the United States is next too," he said on Thursday, addressing Israel's ongoing war against Palestinian militant group Hamas and Lebanese faction Hezbollah. "We are fighting a war for the entire universe, for the free world," he said during a speech in Davos. Herzog was sitting next to a photograph of baby Kfir Bibas, a hostage kidnapped by Hamas, who turned one on Thursday. "Here, on this incredible world stage, I call on the entire universe to free Kfir Bibas and all the hostages that are there," Herzog said.

Hossein Amir-Abdollahian

Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian speaks during a joint press conference with his Turkish counterpart in Tehran on September 3, 2023. Atta Kenare | AFP | Getty Images

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said his country wants to "stop the war in Gaza." He said that U.S. support of Israel was the "root of insecurity in the region." "The U.S. should not, Mr. [Joe] Biden should not tie their destiny to the fate of Netanyahu," Amir-Abdollahian told CNBC Tuesday.

Sergio Ermotti

UBS Chief Executive Sergio Ermotti. MICHAEL BUHOLZER | AFP | Getty Images

UBS CEO Sergio Ermotti said returning to head up the bank last year was "quite a surreal experience," having been in the role for nine years between 2011 and 2020. Discussing the bank's acquisition of Credit Suisse in March 2023, Ermotti said that clients and employees "were quite shocked in the first round, and now they embrace the new model." Ermotti described the period since he took over as "pretty good."

Marc Benioff

Marc Benioff, co-founder, chairman and CEO Salesforce, speaking with CNBC's Sara Eisen at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland on Jan. 17th, 2024. Adam Galici | CNBC

Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff said the tech industry is working to ensure artificial intelligence is developed safely enough to make sure that the world avoids a "Hiroshima moment." "This is a huge moment for AI. AI took a huge leap forward in the last year or two years," Benioff said on a World Economic Forum panel Thursday. "We don't want something to go really wrong," he said.

Ray Dalio

Ray Dalio, Founder & CIO Mentor Bridgewater Associates, speaking on CNBC's Squawk Box at the WEF Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland on Jan. 16th, 2024. Adam Galici | CNBC

Investor Ray Dalio said that 2024 will be a "pivotal year" with the U.S. presidential election and geopolitical events set to have the biggest impact on markets. "If we're looking at the politics, the geopolitics, I don't think that those risks are priced in, because it's [a] difficult thing to play," he told CNBC. When asked whether China or U.S. politics presented a greater risk to markets, Dalio said it was important that "we work well together." "Our greatest risk is not China. Our greatest risk is ourselves," he added.

Mark Carney

Mark Carney, former governor of the Bank of England, is now the UN special envoy for climate action and finance. DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS | AFP | Getty Images
Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins, D-San Diego, is running for California governor. Andri Tambunan/Special to the Chronicle 2022

State Senate leader Toni Atkins is running for governor in 2026, she announced Friday in San Diego, making it increasingly likely that Californias next leader will not be a white man for the first time since 1875.

Atkins, 61, who would be Californias first LGBTQ governor if elected, is stepping down as the leader of the state Senate early next month. The San Diego resident was the first lesbian to lead both the Assembly and the state Senate after serving several years on the San Diego City Council.

Atkins joins a growing cast vying to succeed Gov. Gavin Newsom, who is termed out of office in two years. Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond and former state Controller Betty Yee have announced their candidacies, and Attorney General Rob Bonta is expected to run as well.

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The last person of color to lead California was Jose Antonio Romualdo Pacheco in 1875. The state has never had a woman serve as its chief executive.

Atkins has an unusual backstory for a California political leader. She grew up in rural Southwestern Virginia, the daughter of a miner and a seamstress, and the family home had no running water.

She moved to San Diego in 1985 and led a womens health clinic there. Atkins often alluded to her experiences at the clinic when she was among those leading the effort to pass more than a dozen pieces of legislation that made California a haven for abortion seekers and medical providers after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.

But her leadership style has faced criticism. A 2015 Los Angeles Times review of her first 17 months leading the Assembly graded her tenure as a C+, saying the Assembly was plagued by frequent rebellion within her ranks and that she doesnt have adequate control of her caucus.

One of Atkins biggest challenges  one likely to be shared by most of the other candidates  will be keeping up with Kounalakis fundraising. Kounalakis, part of a major longtime Democratic Party fundraising family, has reported raising $3.8 million so far, and has $4.4 million more parked in her lieutenant governor campaign account.

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Secretary of State Shirley Weber, a fellow San Diegan, introduced and endorsed Atkins Friday. Weber said she and Atkins are not just friends, but both of them know what it is like to struggle personally through poverty and could relate to many Californians in that way.

I need someone to fight for us who has the values that are not just learned in a book, but learned in life, Weber said. I need someone who understands what it was to be poor and proud at the same time.

Atkins echoed those remarks in her speech Friday in what is likely to become a narrative in her campaign, especially when in contrast to the wealthy Kounalakis. Atkins talked about getting free breakfast at school and attending church camp on a scholarship. Her parents never had time off and always had an overdue medical bill, she said.

Look, I am not a product of privilege, Atkins said. I learned the value of a dollar, but more importantly, I learned the values that help you get through when the dollars are scarce.

While Atkins has held powerful positions in the Capitol, sometimes the cachet of state legislative posts dont extend much past Sacramento. Ask Atkins predecessor as state Senate leader, Kevin de Leon. He struggled to raise money and his name identification when he challenged Sen. Dianne Feinstein in 2018, and was routed by roughly 1 million votes.
Ford 's plans to reduce production of its all-electric pickup and increase production on popular legacy vehicles will allow the automaker to secure better profits and narrow EV losses. Ford announced Friday it's reducing production of its F-150 Lightning all-electric pickup truck, starting April 1, due to slowing demand for EVs. The automaker said the Lightning cuts are being made to achieve the "optimal balance of production, sales growth and profitability." As part of the move, about 1,400 employees will be impacted as the Rouge Electric Vehicle Center in Dearborn, Michigan transitions to one shift from two. At the same time, Ford also said it will add 900 jobs and a third crew at its Michigan Assembly Plant in Wayne to boost production of its popular Bronco SUVs and Ranger pickups  both of which are traditional internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles. In addition to those new jobs, Ford said about half the workers at the Rouge facility can apply for openings at the Wayne center. The news, which helped boost the automaker's struggling stock by 1% on Friday, adds details to last month's reports from CNBC and other media outlets that Ford was going to cut Lightning EV production by roughly half in 2024. Ford shares have fallen about 9% to around $11 each in 2024. They hit a 52-week high above $15 back in July. F 1Y mountain Ford 1 year Ford has been shifting away from EVs and putting more resources behind its legacy ICE and fast-growing hybrid businesses. Both are housed in the Ford Blue division, which drives most of the company's overall revenue. We have been supportive of this strategy to lean into strengths  especially with high-margin hybrids leading last year's sales growth with a 25.3% gain to more than 133,700 vehicles. For all of 2023, EV sales rose 17.9% to roughly 72,600 and ICE increased 5.5% to 1.79 million. Comparing electric vehicle sales to hybrids, the F-150 Lightning was the automaker's top-selling EV last year, with sales increasing 55% to 24,165 vehicles. However, the hybrid version of the F-150 sold more than double the vehicles on a 41% year-over-year increase. The company has invested billions of dollars to develop electric vehicles and expects to build EVs at a run rate of 600,000 vehicles per year by 2024. But since Ford is cutting back EV production, the automaker's goal of scaling up its EV buildout could be delayed. This is prudent. It doesn't make sense for the company to force itself to hit EV production targets when the demand for these vehicles, which it does not make money on, is not there. EVs are housed in Ford's Model e division, which lost nearly $1.1 billion in the third quarter. That was more than double the year-ago period. Ford is set to report fiscal 2023 Q4 results on Feb. 6. "I applaud this because you can't keep making trucks that don't sell," Jim Cramer said Friday. "But I thought the F-150 Lightning was doing well." Based on what the company has said and the cache of being part of the top-selling F-Series, we figured sales of the Lightning EV would have been more resilient in a market of slowing desire for electric vehicles overall. Investing in its EV future is an important long-term consideration for Ford, but in the current environment, we prefer to see the automaker allocate its money to areas where it will produce a positive return and maximize cash flow. This is where Ford's strong lineup of internal combustion engine and hybrid vehicles shines. It should be mentioned that slower EV demand is not unique to Ford. The auto industry is facing weaker demand as customers are taking their time adopting EVs, which stems from high repair costs, a lack of EV charging infrastructure, and a drop in gasoline prices. Even EV leader Tesla has been lowering prices on its models, which puts pressure on legacy automakers to match. Ford, however, is well-positioned to increase production on hybrids due to strong U.S. consumer demand for its F-150 and Maverick pickup hybrids. In fact, the Maverick Hybrid sales exceeded the F-150 Hybrid last year with a 67% increase to more than 52,300 vehicles. Ford also said the Maverick Hybrid accounted for over half of last year's total Maverick sales, including the ICE versions. (Jim Cramer's Charitable Trust is long F. See here for a full list of the stocks.) As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust's portfolio. If Jim has talked about a stock on CNBC TV, he waits 72 hours after issuing the trade alert before executing the trade. THE ABOVE INVESTING CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY , TOGETHER WITH OUR DISCLAIMER . NO FIDUCIARY OBLIGATION OR DUTY EXISTS, OR IS CREATED, BY VIRTUE OF YOUR RECEIPT OF ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH THE INVESTING CLUB. NO SPECIFIC OUTCOME OR PROFIT IS GUARANTEED.

A Ford F-150 Lightning pickup truck is shown at the Rouge Electric Vehicle Center on April 26, 2022 in Dearborn, Michigan. Bill Pugliano | Getty Images
Spirit and JetBlue planes at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on Nov. 1, 2023.

JetBlue Airways and Spirit Airlines on Friday said they are appealing a federal judge's ruling earlier this week that blocks the two carriers' planned merger on antitrust grounds.

JetBlue had planned to buy Spirit for $3.8 billion in a deal struck in 2022. A federal judge on Tuesday, however, barred that combination, saying it would eliminate the budget carrier and mean higher prices for cost-conscious consumers.

Spirit shares extended gains posted during the regular session on Friday, rising more than 10% in after-hours trading, while JetBlue's were down slightly.

JetBlue said it was appealing the decision "consistent with the requirements of the merger agreement."

Judge William Young noted in his ruling that JetBlue planned to take seats out of Spirit's tightly packed planes, and said that removing Spirit from the market would leave price-conscious consumers without that option.

"To those dedicated customers of Spirit, this one's for you," he wrote.

Miramar, Florida-based Spirit had been struggling before the ruling with softening travel demand, higher costs and planes grounded for a Pratt & Whitney engine issue. But the judge's decision drew questions from Wall Street analysts about how Spirit would survive, sending shares tumbling.

Spirit said Friday that it is trying to refinance its more than $1 billion of debt due in September 2025 and issued a sunnier-than-expected financial forecast, helping shares recover.

The U.S. Department of Justice will soon weigh in on another proposed merger: Alaska and Hawaiian. Analysts said those carriers' deal doesn't have the same challenges because they have less route overlap and plan to operate as separate brands.



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Alaska and Hawaiian Airlines planes takeoff at the same time from San Francisco International Airport (SFO) in San Francisco, California, United States on June 21, 2023.

President Joe Biden's Justice Department has successfully had two airline linkups halted in court in recent months. That doesn't necessarily spell doom for Alaska Air's plan to buy Hawaiian Airlines .

U.S. District Court Judge William Young on Tuesday sided with the Justice Department and blocked JetBlue Airways ' $3.8 billion attempted takeover of Spirit Airlines , saying that the elimination of the budget carrier known for rock-bottom fares would "harm cost-conscious travelers" who rely on those cheap tickets.

The decision immediately sparked questions of whether an Alaska-Hawaiian combination would suffer a similar fate in an antitrust lawsuit. Shares of Hawaiian plunged in the minutes after the ruling was handed down, though they ultimately recovered.

"We'd be lying to ourselves if we thought the probability of a successful merger had not been lowered following [Tuesday's] ruling," Deutsche Bank airline analyst Michael Linenberg wrote in a note Wednesday.

Yet the pitfalls that brought down the Spirit-JetBlue deal may offer clues into how Alaska and Hawaiian could pass muster with regulators, or in court. The Justice Department didn't immediately respond to a request for comment about whether it plans to challenge Alaska and Hawaiian's proposed deal.

"The court in the JetBlue case was plainly concerned that this merger was eliminating a low-price carrier," said Herbert Hovenkamp, a law professor at the University of Pennsylvania's Carey Law School and a specialist in antitrust law.

"What that says about Alaska-Hawaii, their advisors [and] lawyers are going to have to make sure that they can avoid those problems," he said.

JetBlue and Spirit jointly said they disagreed with the decision and were considering next legal steps, which could include an appeal.
JetBlue Airways told staff this week that it will cut some routes and service as it struggles to return to profitability and grapples with the fallout of its blocked plan to buy Spirit Airlines .

JetBlue said it will stop flying from New York's John F. Kennedy Airport to Portland, Oregon, and to San Jose, California, and from Westchester, New York, and Martha's Vineyard, according to an internal memo, which was reviewed by CNBC. The airline will also suspend service from New York to Ponce, Puerto Rico, and to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in October.

"We can't fly everywhere we'd like, so we need to be highly selective about where we point our aircraft in order to turn a profit, support our overall network strategy, and offer a reliable operation," wrote Dave Jehn, vice president of network planning and airline partnerships, in a note to staff.

The airline is instead focusing on leisure routes, adding service throughout the Caribbean and to Paris, the memo said.

JetBlue is also exiting Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, Jehn said. He added that the carrier will "provide a number of options moving forward" to staff there. The airline said it would still serve the area with service from Washington D.C.

Jehn said the changes were in the works for almost a month, before the court decision that blocked JetBlue's planned $3.8 billion acquisition of Spirit on antitrust grounds. Judge William Young's opinion only blocks the merger that the companies agreed to in July 2022, not a different proposed combination, should the airlines take that route.

JetBlue said in a statement that the changes were in "no way" related to the judge's decision.

"We constantly adjust our network to support our strategy and these recent changes are a necessary quick step to help return our business to profitability," JetBlue said. "All the routes included have recently underperformed our expectations and these changes come as post-COVID travel patterns continue to evolve."

JetBlue also said it's trying to improve its reliability.

"By removing some of our less in-demand flights, we will give our operation more breathing room as we plan for air traffic control challenges in the northeast," the company said.

JetBlue ranked 9th in on-time arrivals among U.S. airlines in the first 10 months of 2023, according to the Transportation Department.

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A Motorola Razr Flip Smartphone kept at dispay at the launch event of the new Motorola Flip Smartphones, Motorola Razr 40 and Motorola Razr 40 Ultra, in New Delhi, India. Kabir Jhangiani | Nurphoto | Getty Images

DAVOS, Switzerland  Motorola will likely be the third-biggest smartphone player in the world in three years, according to a top executive at Chinese tech firm Lenovo , the owner of the brand. Lenovo, the world's largest personal computer maker, bought Motorola from Google in 2014. In recent years, the company has sought to boost the brand and position it as a higher-end smartphone player to compete with the likes of Samsung and Apple . In 2020, Lenovo rebooted the iconic Motorola Razr as a foldable smartphone. Matthew Zielinski, president of international markets at Lenovo, told CNBC at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, that the company has turned around the Motorola business and "hyper-prioritized" it and that is now paying off. "I would bet a paycheck that in three years we will be number three around the world," Zielinski said, laying out Lenovo's ambition with Motorola.

Apple and Samsung are the two biggest players in the global smartphone market commanding around a combined 40% share. Motorola and Lenovo combined had around a 4% market share in the third quarter 2023, making it the eighth-largest player globally, according to Counterpoint Research. However it has found success in certain markets. In the U.S., Motorola is the third biggest smartphone vendor by market share. In Latin America, Motorola is the second-largest player. Zielinski said the company will be targeted in how it grows its market share geographically. The executive said Motorola is looking to grow "stably" in the markets it is in until it reaches 10% market share in those places which will uplift its market share globally. Part of the growth strategy revolves around the premium segment of the market, in which Apple and Samsung dominate. Foldable devices, like the Razr, are part of this category given their high price tag. Zielinski described Motorola's launch of the Razr foldable as "taking a stab at the premium market." Zielinski said most of the users for the Razr smartphone have converted from using a device that is "not Android based." Android is Google's mobile operating system. The only other major mobile operating system around is Apple's iOS.

Lenovo's India push
Microsoft said in a Friday regulatory filing that a Russian intelligence group accessed some of the software maker's top executives' email accounts. Nobelium, the same group that breached government supplier SolarWinds in 2020, carried out the attack, which Microsoft detected last week, according to the company.

It isn't the first time Russian hackers have gained entry into Microsoft's systems. State-sponsored attacks that can result in the dissemination of sensitive data becomes a greater risk during periods of armed conflict, and Russia's war against Ukraine has been going on for almost two years now. On Thursday, Russia said Ukrainian forces conducted drone strikes in multiple Russian locations.

Microsoft's announcement comes after new U.S. requirements for disclosing cybersecurity incidents went into effect. A Microsoft spokesperson said that while the company does not believe the attack had a material effect, it still wanted to honor the spirit of the rules.

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency is "closely coordinating with Microsoft to gain additional insights into this incident and understand impacts so we can help protect other potential victims," CISA executive assistant director for cybersecurity Eric Goldstein said in a statement to CNBC. "As noted in Microsoft's announcement, at this time we are not aware of impacts to Microsoft customer environments or products."

In late November, the group accessed "a legacy non-production test tenant account," Microsoft's Security Response Center wrote in the blog post. After gaining access, the group "then used the account's permissions to access a very small percentage of Microsoft corporate email accounts, including members of our senior leadership team and employees in our cybersecurity, legal, and other functions, and exfiltrated some emails and attached documents," the corporate unit wrote.

The company's senior leadership team, including Chief Financial Offer Amy Hood and President Brad Smith, regularly meets with CEO Satya Nadella.

Microsoft said it has not found signs that Nobelium had accessed customer data, production systems or proprietary source code.

The U.S. government and Microsoft consider Nobelium to be part of the Russian foreign intelligence service SVR. The hacking group was responsible for one of the most prolific breaches in U.S. history when it added malicious code to updates to SolarWinds' Orion software, which some U.S. government agencies were using. Microsoft itself was ensnared in the hack.

Nobelium, also known as APT29 or Cozy Bear, is a sophisticated hacking group that has attempted to breach the systems of U.S. allies and the Department of Defense. Microsoft also uses the name Midnight Blizzard to identify Nobelium.

It was also implicated alongside another Russian hacking group in the 2016 breach of the Democratic National Committee's systems.

Last year, a vulnerability in Microsoft software allowed China-aligned hackers to access the email accounts of senior government officials, including Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, ahead of a critical U.S.-China meeting. The company's "negligent cybersecurity practices" led to the attack, Sen. Ron Wyden, a Democrat from Oregon, wrote in a letter to CISA director Jen Easterly, and other federal officials.

In a statement Monday, Wyden called the most recent incursion "another wholly avoidable hack that was caused by Microsoft's negligence."

"It is inexcusable that Microsoft still hasn't required multi-factor authentication," Wyden told CNBC. "The U.S. government needs to reevaluate its dependence on Microsoft."

Microsoft said in the blog post that the company is "continuing our investigation and will take additional actions based on the outcomes of this investigation and will continue working with law enforcement and appropriate regulators."

The FBI told CNBC that it knows about the attack and is working with federal partners to help.

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North Korea has conducted a test of its underwater nuclear weapons system in a protest against this week's joint military drills by South Korea, the United States and Japan, state media KCNA said on Friday.

The test of the "Haeil-5-23" system, a name North Korea has given to its nuclear-capable underwater attack drones, was carried out by the defence ministry's think tank in the waters off its east coast, the report said, without specifying a date.

The ministry's unnamed spokesman accused the United States, South Korea and Japan of "getting frantic" with military exercises, warning of "catastrophic consequences."

The three countries' navies held their three-day regular drills until Wednesday, alongside the U.S. aircraft carrier Carl Vinson, as part of efforts to improve their responses to Pyongyang's evolving nuclear and missile threats.

"Our army's underwater nuke-based countering posture is being further rounded off and its various maritime and underwater responsive actions will continue to deter the hostile military maneuvers of the navies of the U.S. and its allies," the North Korean ministry spokesman said in a statement, according to KCNA.
Meta Platforms is planning to pay Nvidia billions of dollars this year for its cutting-edge AI technology. But the chipmaker isn't the only winner in this massive transaction. In an Instagram video Thursday, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the social media giant is on track to own 350,000 Nvidia H100s by the end of the year, as it advances its AI efforts. Including other AI-focused chips, Meta's compute infrastructure will be equal to almost 600,000 H100 equivalents, Zuckerberg said. Meta has been a significant Nvidia customer for years, but Zuckerberg's comments Thursday highlight the magnitude of demand for its pricey graphics cards, or graphics processing units (GPUs). The remarks also add to the bullish AI picture painted this week by chipmaking giant Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company , which produces Nvidia's processors. "This is just a very exciting time to be Nvidia, because they've got Taiwan Semi working around the clock to make as many chips as they need, Jim Cramer said Friday. Nvidia's stock has been off to a blistering start this year, up more than 20%, including a 3% gain Friday. Nvidia is on pace to set another all-time high, at $589 per share. Shares of Meta added nearly 2% Friday, to roughly $383 each, putting the stock on pace for a new all-time high for the first time in more than two years. Its prior record close came on Sept. 7, 2021, at $382.18 per share. The tech research firm Omdia estimated Meta bought about 150,000 H100s in 2023, analysts at Wells Fargo said in a note to clients Thursday. Against that backdrop, Meta's plans to end 2024 with more than double that estimate is encouraging for Nvidia, Wells Fargo argued. "We see this as continued positive validation that the AI infrastructure buildout remains in its early innings," the analysts led by Aaron Rakers wrote. The H100 is Nvidia's top-of-the-line AI chip. It was in short supply throughout 2023 amid a spending boom in generative AI technology sparked by the launched of viral chatbot ChatGPT in November 2022 . Nvidia began shipping the H100 to customers in late 2022, with deliveries picking up throughout last year. The H100 supplanted its less-powerful predecessor, called the A100, as the most-coveted chip to use for training AI models, a compute-intensive process in which computers look for patterns in large quantities of data. GPUs are well-equipped to handle this task due to their ability to perform many calculations at once, known as parallel processing. Estimates on Nvidia's share of the AI training market vary, but is generally thought to be well above 80%. NVDA 5Y mountain Nvidia's stock performance over the past 5 years. Analysts expect Nvidia's revenue in its fiscal 2024  which ends this month  to total roughly $59 billion, representing a 119% increase from the prior 12 months, according to FactSet. Nvidia's adjusted earnings per share are projected to nearly quadruple over the same period, to $12.30 from $3.24, FactSet data shows. Analysts on Wall Street are modeling for more strong growth in Nvidia's upcoming fiscal 2025 which begins in less than two weeks, with revenue expected to increase around 58%, to $93.2 billion, and adjusted earnings increasing 71%, to $21.04 per share. But the pace of growth is expected to slow considerably in Nvidia's fiscal 2026  a 12-month period that primarily takes place during calendar 2025. Indeed, investor concerns about whether 2025 will be a so-called "digestion" year for Nvidia, with new orders for its chips slowing down, contributed to the stock's relatively sideways trading in the final few months of 2023. Still, Nvidia's stock more than tripled in 2023, leading the S & P 500, and has so far been a big winner in 2024. It remains one of two stocks that Jim has bestowed as an "own it, don't trade it" position; iPhone maker Apple is the other. While acknowledging that Nvidia's growth will moderate over time, the company has proven an ability to innovate and deliver more powerful chips, and these new product cycles should help stoke demand among customers. Plus, its push into software and service offerings should help to smooth out the cyclicality in its business, given hardware has historically been prone to boom-and-bust cycles. META 5Y mountain Meta Platforms' stock over the past 5 years. Zuckerberg's update on Meta's growing war chest of AI chips and AI initiatives more broadly help support our continued investment in the stock, which was our second-best performer last year behind Nvidia. A key prong to our thesis is its AI efforts, which to date have improved ad targeting on Instagram and Facebook and boosted user engagement with Reels, its short-form video feature that competes with TikTok. While investors  including us  want to see Meta's big bet on its money-losing Reality Labs division start to pay off , spending money on AI chips that also enhance profitable parts of its business is likely to be taken in stride by the market. Elsewhere in the portfolio, Meta's AI chip plans should help Eaton Corp , which makes electrical components, like circuit breakers, and power systems and has significant exposure to the fast-growing data center industry. As Meta secures more AI chips, they will be placed in data centers where their computational capabilities will be utilized. However, data centers with a lot of GPUs for AI tasks require a lot more electricity than facilities designed to run general-purpose workloads, which usually contain a lot of central processing units, or CPUs. The additional power requirements of AI-focused data centers benefits Eaton, which we added to the portfolio in November . On the company's third-quarter earnings call in late October, management said the impact of AI data center buildouts is "just starting to show up in our order book." We've been hoping for a pullback in Eaton's stock price to buy additional shares, but the stock is performing well, up more than 6% since Nov. 15 when we took a stake. (Jim Cramer's Charitable Trust is long META and NVDA . See here for a full list of the stocks.) As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust's portfolio. If Jim has talked about a stock on CNBC TV, he waits 72 hours after issuing the trade alert before executing the trade. THE ABOVE INVESTING CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY , TOGETHER WITH OUR DISCLAIMER . NO FIDUCIARY OBLIGATION OR DUTY EXISTS, OR IS CREATED, BY VIRTUE OF YOUR RECEIPT OF ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH THE INVESTING CLUB. NO SPECIFIC OUTCOME OR PROFIT IS GUARANTEED.

Founder and CEO of US online social media and social networking service Facebook Mark Zuckerberg reacts upon his arrival for a meeting with European Commission vice-president in charge for Values and Transparency, in Brussels, on February 17, 2020. Kenzo Tribouillard | AFP | Getty Images
Houthi followers lift rifles and shout slogans against the U.S.-U.K. during a tribal gathering on January 14, 2024 on the outskirts of Sana'a, Yemen. Mohammed Hamoud | Getty Images

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates  Yemen's Houthi rebels are enthusiastically "confronting America directly," the organization's leader said in a televised speech, vowing to continue the group's campaign of attacks on ships in the Red Sea until Israel's blockade of Gaza is lifted. The remarks came as the U.S. steps up its strikes on Houthi targets and ahead of President Joe Biden's admission to reporters that so far, his administration's military action was not having its intended effect. "When you say working, are they stopping the Houthis?" Biden said in an exchange with reporters in Washington, D.C. "No. Are they going to continue? Yes." The White House redesignated the Houthis as a terrorist organization on Wednesday, after delisting the group in 2021. The U.S. carried out its fifth airstrike against Houthi targets in Yemen late Thursday night, with American jets targeting anti-ship missiles that U.S. Central Command said "were aimed into the southern Red Sea and prepared to launch."

As if to validate Biden's comments, the Iran-backed rebel group within hours launched two anti-ship ballistic missiles at a U.S.-owned tanker. The vessel, a small chemical tanker called the Chem Ranger, reported no injuries or damage to the ship. It is "a great honor and blessing to be confronting America directly," Houthi leader Abdul-Malek al-Houthi said in his defiant, hourlong speech that leaned heavily on religious rhetoric. He claimed that the U.S. and U.K. strikes on Yemen only sharpened his military's technology, and that it proved the Houthis' strategy  which targeted Israeli ships or those coming to or from Israel  was working.

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The Houthis' actions have certainly worked to disrupt transport and seaborne trade in the region: Major ocean carriers have suspended all Red Sea and Suez Canal transport, opting to sail around the continent of Africa instead, creating significant delays and supply bottlenecks and costing companies billions of dollars. Al-Houthi also took a personal swipe at the American president, mocking Biden as "an elderly man that has trouble climbing the stairs of an airplane yet is travelling 9,000 miles to attack those that wanted to stand by the oppressed people of Gaza." The Biden administration along with the U.K. government began launching retaliatory strikes at the Houthis, who control most of Yemen, on Jan. 12 after the group spent a number of weeks carrying out dozens of attacks on ships traversing the Red Sea. The Yemeni rebels say their campaign is in response to Israel's relentless bombardment of the Gaza Strip and U.S. support for it.

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The drive-thru entrance to a Salad and Go location. Source: Salad and Go

When Sweetgreen went public two years ago, co-founder and CEO Jonathan Neman said the salad chain aspired to be the "McDonald's of its generation." But another salad rival could beat Sweetgreen to the punch: Salad and Go. Founded in 2013, the upstart chain is nearing its publicly traded rival's store count, with more than 100 locations and counting. With backing from private equity firm Volt Investment, it has ambitious expansion plans for 2024 beyond its roots in the Southwest. Salad and Go's appeal comes in no small part from its affordability. One of its 48 ounce salads costs less than $7 and comes with chicken or tofu, while a comparable salad from Sweetgreen costs about $12. As the chain plots an ambitious expansion path, its C-suite is packed with restaurant industry veterans, including former Wingstop CEO Charlie Morrison. He joined Salad and Go's board in 2020. Two years later, Morrison took over as chief executive, departing Wall Street's favorite chicken wing chain after a decade in favor of a little-known salad chain that then had only 50 locations. "The brand was designed around the idea of completely rebuilding the supply chain, and fixing what I believe is broken today," Morrison said at the annual ICR Conference earlier this month. Since Morrison became chief executive, Salad and Go has more than doubled its footprint, which is now around 130 locations across Arizona, Nevada, Oklahoma and Texas. Last year, the chain opened about a restaurant every week, and it plans to keep up that pace in 2024 and enter new markets such as Southern California. For reference, Sweetgreen has 220 open locations, as of Sept. 24. Morrison said the company is currently profitable in "established mature markets."

How Salad and Go works

A salad or wrap from Salad and Go starts at one of the chain's commissary kitchens, where its produce is washed and its proteins are prepared. Those ingredients are then shipped to its 750-square-foot locations, which are roughly the same size as a typical restaurant kitchen. The restaurants have drive-thru lanes, but no indoor seating. Its small footprint has helped the chain expand quickly with relatively low rent. Other industry disruptors, such as ghost kitchens and the coffee startup Blank Street Coffee, have used a similar real estate strategy to cut overhead costs. Salad and Go customers order online or in those drive-thru lanes, and a team of two employees makes their customized salads and wraps. The simplified restaurant kitchen features a walk-in cooler and cooling counters underneath the make lines where workers assemble orders. A few ingredients, such as the eggs for its breakfast burritos and avocados for its salads, are prepared on site, rather than in its commissaries. But the Salad and Go locations lack the freezers, broilers, fryers, hoods and fire suppression systems that typical fast-food restaurants need  and are often a culprit for delays as locations wait on equipment inspections ahead of opening. On average, a Salad and Go customer exits the drive-thru line in under four minutes, according to Morrison. Increasingly, its customers are picking up orders for more than just one meal. "The unique thing about Salad and Go against any other [quick-service restaurant] brands out there is that we enjoy a two-daypart single occasion," Morrison said. "You can show up at 6:30 in the morning and get your breakfast burrito, get your cold brew coffee or hot coffee, and get your salad for lunch during the same occasion."

Replacing burgers, not salads

Charlie Morrison, CEO of Salad and Go, speaking on CNBC's "Power Lunch" in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, on Dec. 5 2023. Adam Jeffery | CNBC

As Salad and Go enters new territory, Morrison is confident that the chain's salads have universal appeal. "We've been able to put these stores in these differentiated markets, with different income levels, different levels of diversity, different focal points, and found that great performance quite consistent," Morrison said. Salad and Go's first customers in a new market tend to be regular salad eaters anyway, but Morrison said the chain has also been able to attract other consumers because of its cheap prices and tasty food. "What we see with our fans, with our guests, is this very strong loyalty and affinity," Salad and Go Chief Marketing Officer Nicole Portwood told CNBC. Portwood previously helped turn Tito's Handmade Vodka from a craft distiller to the nation's most popular vodka. Like Morrison, she started at Salad and Go as a member of its board before being tapped as its CMO in October. Other salad players, such as Sweetgreen, Just Salad or Salata, are usually in the same markets as Salad and Go. Salad and Go isn't the only chain to prioritize convenience for on-the-go customers. Sweetgreen has been opening restaurants with drive-thru lanes dedicated to digital orders. But Morrison told CNBC that the chain doesn't worry about those options, which usually charge at least double what his company does for their healthy fare. "Our concept is not tailored to compete against them. It's tailored to compete against eating occasions that are unhealthy for you, but otherwise you couldn't afford to eat well," he said. In other words, Salad and Go is looking to take down fast-food restaurants such as McDonald's, which pulled its salads off menus during the Covid-19 pandemic and hasn't brought them back yet.

Ambitions for thousands of restaurants
A pop-up showcasing Saudi Arabia's Neom development features among the most prominent on the Davos promenade in 2024. CNBC

DAVOS, Switzerland  For years, the United Arab Emirates has been the Middle East's go-to tech hub, thanks partly to its lack of personal income tax, flexible visa policies, and competitive incentives for international businesses and workers. But Saudi Arabia is keen to capture some of the limelight, and talent, from its neighbor on the Arabian Peninsula  an ambition laid bare on the Davos Promenade this year. The Saudi delegation staged a splashy presence on the city's main street, including an expansive storefront dedicated to promoting Neom, a new urban development in northwestern Saudi Arabia; a space dedicated to the AlUla project, an initiative that's part of the kingdom's push to make the heritage city a global destination for tourists; a pop-up for the Saudi crown prince's Foundation, MiSK, and its youth ambassadors called "majlis"  as well as two more Saudi chalets. It's all part of the country's Vision 2030 strategy of economic diversification. The Neom showcase, which is one of this year's most prominent on the promenade, seeks to show off the development's prospects as a destination not only for tourism and luxury living but also innovation. A Neom spokesperson told CNBC that the purpose of the amped up presence was to educate the investment community on the development and indicate that it is "open for business." It was a sentiment echoed by the country's finance minister on Monday. Mohammed al-Jadaan told CNBC on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum that oil, as a percentage of gross domestic product, has plunged from 70%, to the range of 30% to 35%. "That is significant," said al-Jadaan, adding that the country has diversified into multiple other sectors, including tourism, technology and logistics. His comments come amid a broader push to boost the kingdom's profile as a global player and negotiator. In April, the capital of Riyadh is hosting a special World Economic Forum. Al-Jadaan noted that Riyadh has "a very strategic relationship with the U.S., and we have a close relationship with China, and we think we can bridge the gap."

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Neom is one of multiple so-called "giga" projects, which comprise Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's Vision 2030 plan. Some focus on massive infrastructure investments, others on attracting fintech talent from the region and further afield. Ian Bremmer, president and founder of Eurasia Group, a political risk consultancy, tells CNBC that he was skeptical when MBS first became crown prince, but he's now a believer in the transition that MBS is driving. "He's driving entrepreneurship, he's diversifying the economy ... And there are a lot of people that are really interested in working in Saudi Arabia," said Bremmer. "This is a guy that's actually really tried to combat a lot of visible corruption in the royal family. And more broadly, he is actually improving education, especially for women." "We are well past the Khashoggi chapter on the Kingdom," Bremmer added, referring to the operation to capture or kill journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018 in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul.

Attracting talent

The Saudi economy recently eclipsed the $1 trillion threshold for the first time. The UAE's economy is half that size, at just over $500 billion, according to data from the World Bank  though the UAE still has quite a significant head start, with hundreds of millions of dollars being invested into its Advanced Research Technology Centers, including hubs dedicated to generative artificial intelligence, cyber, quantum and biotech. But the kingdom is also throwing a lot of money at its tech hub ambitions. While much of the hype around MBS's big investments center on the flashy megacities being built in the desert, regional experts in Davos tell CNBC that's a sideshow to the core mission, which is to attract talent to feed a value creation cycle in AI. The King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, or KAUST, is headed up by a UCLA mathematician who came to the school to begin attracting the talent to the country to help drive this innovation. KAUST said to CNBC in a statement that it is "aligned with Saudi Arabia's goal to be a global AI leader by 2030" and is moving toward that goal through strategic partnerships, singling out the establishment of a National AI Strategy, which provides support for startups, and AI-powered government services, as well as Riyadh's International Center for AI Research and Ethics (ICAIRE) and Saudi Aramco's AI research center that focuses on advanced projects in oil and gas. "KAUST contributes through its own AI Initiative and hosts the SDAIA AI Center," added the university, referring to the Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority, which oversees its efforts in the field of AI.

Cityscape of Saudi capital Riyadh. Harri Jarvelainen Photography | Moment | Getty Images

Vera Futorjanski spent years living and working in Riyadh, where she was part of the team of people who initially started building the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Riyadh through the MiSK 500 accelerator. "The big differentiator Saudi has, that in my opinion could lead to its success on the global stage including in the AI race, is the fact that it has the needed resources, flexibility on the regulations, and a large Saudi population who are young, educated, and hungry for innovation," said Futorjanski, who is the CEO and founder of Veritas Ventures, a global strategic advisory firm.

Singapore and Israel

Jack Hidary is the CEO of SandboxAQ, a company spun off from Google's parent Alphabet in 2022 that applies AI and quantum tech to key challenges in cyber, drug discovery and other areas. Hidary tells CNBC that the transformational impact of AI is "well beyond even the mobile phone." "In the Emirates and in Saudi Arabia, you have millions of people that need upskilling, particularly Saudi Arabia which has a much larger population," Hidary said. "AI-driven personalized education and training, that is a game changer when it comes to that." Hidary, who was recently in Saudi Arabia, says that the UAE and Saudi Arabia are looking at countries like Singapore and Israel that have supported start-ups and are driven by technology. "Singapore and Israel did not have any natural resources, but they had the natural resource of smart people driving technology and innovation, and that's what Saudi Arabia and Emirates are now looking at very intently and driving programs to make that happen," Hidary said.  CNBC's Karen Gilchrist contributed to this report.
Carlos Tavares, CEO of Stellantis, poses during a presentation at the New York International Auto Show in Manhattan, New York, on April 5, 2023.

Stellantis won't sell electrified vehicles such as hybrids and all-electric models at a loss like other automakers have, CEO Carlos Tavares said Friday.

Tavares, who has been skeptical about consumer adoption of EVs, said the company is currently making money on its electrified vehicles and will continue to do so with its next-generation vehicles, which Stellantis released additional details of Friday.

"Being in Europe as much as in the U.S., we are making money with the electrified vehicles," Tavares said during a roundtable Friday. "We are making money, and it is in our discipline to make sure that whatever we sell we make money with because, if not, then the company will not be sustainable."

Some automakers, including one of Stellantis' predecessors, Fiat Chrysler, have sold EVs at a loss to spur sales, meet fuel economy standards or build up capacity in hopes of eventually making the vehicles profitable.

Stellantis currently has 25 EV models available globally and expects to launch another 23 through the end of this year.

The company previously announced an all-electric version of the Jeep Wrangler SUV and a Dodge muscle car. An all-electric version of the Ram 1500 pickup is also expected to be released early next year.
Check out the companies making headlines in midday trading. Wayfair  Shares of the digital home goods retailer surged 10.3% after the company said it will lay off 13% of its global workforce , including 19% of its corporate team, in an effort to cut out layers of management and reduce costs. This is Wayfair's third restructuring since summer 2022, and it is expected to save the company about $280 million. Hertz  The car rental company dropped 4.1% on the heels of a Jefferies downgrade to hold from buy. The bank said Hertz's short-term profitability would be hampered by electric vehicle repair costs, rising operating expenses and vehicle depreciation. Spirit Airlines  Shares surged more than 17.2% after the budget airline raised its fourth-quarter forecast . Spirit Airlines said it expects revenue to come in at the high end of its expected range due to strong bookings and said that it anticipates adjusted negative margins to range between 12% and 13%. The stock has slumped more than 50% this week after a judge's ruling blocked JetBlue's planned acquisition of the airline. iRobot  Shares of the Roomba maker continued their recent slide with a drop of 26.9% on Friday as investors worried that the proposed acquisition of iRobot by Amazon would fall apart. The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday that a European Union regulator intends to block the deal. Texas Instruments  The semiconductor stock added 4.0% after UBS upgraded Texas Instruments to a buy rating. As catalysts, the bank cited " cleaner comps and fundamentals" and its belief that the company should be one of the first among its peers to see orders move higher. Nvidia , Advanced Micro Devices  Semiconductor stocks continued their rally Friday, with Nvidia gaining 4.2% after Wells Fargo said the chip giant is the " clear beneficiary " of Meta's artificial intelligence infrastructure buildout. Shares of Advanced Micro Devices were up 7.1% amid growing investor bullishness. Travelers Companies  The insurance stock added 6.7% after posting fourth-quarter adjusted earnings of $7.01 per share, exceeding the $5.09 per share anticipated by analysts polled by LSEG, formerly known as Refinitiv. Schlumberger  Shares popped about 2.2% after the energy company reported fourth-quarter results that came above analysts' estimates. Schlumberger reported adjusted earnings of 86 cents per share on $8.99 billion of revenue, higher than the 84 cents per share on $8.95 billion of revenue expected by analysts surveyed by LSEG. Broadcom  Shares added 5.9% after Goldman Sachs reinstated coverage of Broadcom with a buy rating. The bank said it expects strong double-digit revenue growth in the company's artificial intelligence business and a cyclical recovery in its semiconductor business. Celsius Holdings  Shares of the drink company slid 12.7% following a downgrade to neutral from buy at Bank of America. The bank cited "uncertainty to sales momentum" as a reason for the adjustment. State Street  The financial services stock rose 2.1% after State Street posted fourth-quarter adjusted earnings of $2.04 per share, exceeding the $1.83 expected by analysts, according to FactSet. The company's revenue of $3.04 billion was also higher than the anticipated $2.95 billion. State Street also announced a new $5 billion common share repurchase program.  CNBC's Michelle Fox, Alexander Harring, Tanaya Macheel, Jesse Pound, Pia Singh and Samantha Subin contributed reporting.
Jobseekers could see a more cautious, competitive labor market in 2024 as employers slow hiring and hand out smaller raises  but some roles offer brighter prospects than others.

Chief growth officer, sustainability analyst and artificial intelligence consultant are among the most in-demand roles companies are hiring for in the U.S., according to new research from LinkedIn.

On Wednesday, LinkedIn released its annual Jobs on the Rise list highlighting the 25 fastest-growing occupations over the last five years, based on the job titles that saw the most growth on its website between January 2019 and July 2023.

Given LinkedIn's ranking is based on five years of data, it's clear that these are opportunities where companies have shown "consistent interest and commitment," says Andrew Seaman, senior managing editor for jobs and career development LinkedIn News. "These are sustainable careers, they're not just flashes in the pan," he adds.

Here are the top 10 fastest-growing jobs in 2024 and how much they pay, according to data from LinkedIn and ZipRecruiter; you can read the full list of LinkedIn's top 25 jobs here.

1. Chief Growth Officer

Job description: Chief growth officers develop and execute an organization's strategies for driving revenue, expanding market presence and ensuring sustainable growth.

Salary range: $41,500-$269,500

Top locations hiring: Washington, D.C.-Baltimore area, New York City, Dallas

2. Government Program Analyst

Job description: Government program analysts evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of public sector programs, usually through analyzing data, ensuring compliance with regulations, monitoring budgets and more.

Salary range: $37,00-$131,500

Top locations hiring: Sacramento, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C.-Baltimore area

3. Environment Health Safety Manager

Job description: Environment health safety managers ensure that companies are fostering a safe and sustainable workplace for employees, managing risk and ensuring compliance to health, safety and environmental regulations.

Salary range: $32,000-$156,000

Top locations hiring: Atlanta, Houston, Boston

4. Director of Revenue Operations

Job description: Directors of revenue operations help oversee businesses' revenue generation practices, working closely with sales and marketing teams to optimize business growth and ensure overall efficiency.

Salary range: $34,000-$179,500

Top locations hiring: San Francisco, New York City, Boston

5. Sustainability Analyst

Job description: Sustainability analysts evaluate an organization's environmental, social and governance (ESG) efforts and identify opportunities for efficiency, responsible resource use and positive social impact.

Salary range: $42,500-$138,500

Top locations hiring: New York City, Chicago, Atlanta

6. Advanced Practice Provider

Job description: Advanced practice providers are licensed medical providers, such as physician assistants or nurse practitioners, who perform primary care services for patients, including assessing lab results, delivering diagnoses and administering treatment plans.

Salary range: $39,000-$166,000

Top locations hiring: Kansas City, Austin, Chicago

7. Vice President of Diversity and Inclusion

Job description: Vice presidents of diversity and inclusion cultivate inclusive workplaces through the design and implementation of policies relating to diversity, equity and inclusion within an organization.

Salary range: $43,500-$277,500

Top locations hiring: New York City, Chicago, Washington, D.C.-Baltimore area

8. Artificial Intelligence Consultant

Job description: Artificial intelligence consultants advise organizations on the implementation of AI technologies in their business operations and product offerings.

Salary range: $60,500-$151,000

Top locations hiring: San Francisco, Boston, New York City

9. Recruiter

Job description: Recruiters source, evaluate and help hire qualified candidates for open roles within organizations.

Salary range: $25,000-$93,500

Top locations hiring: Dallas, New York City, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C.-Baltimore area

10. Artificial Intelligence Engineer

Job description: Artificial intelligence engineers develop, implement and train AI models and algorithms, using programming languages to create intelligent systems that can perform tasks traditionally requiring human intelligence.

Salary range: $44,000-$173,500

Top locations hiring: San Francisco, New York City, Washington, D.C.-Baltimore area



Nearly every role on LinkedIn's list offers remote or hybrid job opportunities, indicating that employers are continuing to heed workers' demands for flexible work.

Competition for open roles could be fierce. Nearly 85% of workers say they are considering looking for a new job, a 27% increase over last year, LinkedIn reports. LinkedIn found that "job search intensity," which measures the number of people actively applying to jobs, is up 21% on its platform year over year.

But knowing where the emerging opportunities are can help job seekers optimize their search and land a role with strong job security, says Seaman.

Some companies are still reeling from the long, economic hangover of the Covid-19 pandemic and looking for ways to insulate themselves from future disruptions, says Seaman.

As a result, there's a growing demand for professionals in AI and revenue operations who can help companies achieve sustainable, scalable growth, either through leveraging new, efficient technologies or streamlining the systems that support their revenue cycle, he says.

Sustainability jobs are also in high demand as more countries pledge to reduce carbon emissions and tighten environmental regulations.

"Even if you aren't interested in these specific jobs, paying attention to where demand is can help you navigate these rapid changes in the job market a little better and pivot accordingly," says Seaman. "It's a better approach than entering one profession upon graduating high school or college and hoping it carries you to retirement," says Seaman.

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The first step you need to take when changing careersit's the 'best thing' to do, says Yale expert
Ukraine targeted the Russian city of St. Petersburg with a drone attack overnight, Ukraine's minister of strategic industries, Oleksandr Kamyshin, told a panel at the World Economic Forum in Davos, according to Interfax news agency.

Russia claimed on Thursday that Ukraine had attacked several areas of the country with drones, including the northwestern Leningrad region for the first time.

Four oil tanks at a depot in the western town of Klintsy caught fire after the Russian military downed a Ukrainian strike drone, regional governor Alexander Bogomaz said Friday.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday night urged allied countries to ensure that sanctions against Russia are fully enforced.

"The terrorist state manufactures weapons, including missiles. There are dozens of critical components in each of them that were manufactured abroad, many of which were produced by companies from the free world," he said in a post on X.
Members of the Yemeni Coast Guard affiliated with the Houthi group patrol the sea as demonstrators march through the Red Sea port city of Hodeida in solidarity with the people of Gaza on January 4, 2024, amid the ongoing battles between Israel and the militant Hamas group in Gaza.

The Iran-backed Houthi militia launched two anti-ship ballistic missiles at a U.S.-owned tanker ship late on Thursday that hit the water near the vessel but caused no injuries or damage, the U.S. military said.

The incident, the latest amid growing tensions in the Red Sea that have disrupted global trade and raised fears of supply bottlenecks, took place around 9 p.m. Yemen time (1800 GMT), according to a U.S. Central Command post on X, formerly called Twitter.

The Houthis, who control most of Yemen, earlier on Thursday claimed responsibility for the attack, saying they targeted the ship Chem Ranger with naval missiles that caused "direct hits".
If you go

What: "The Little Mermaid" by Starz Theater Company/Turning Pointe Dance

When: 6 p.m. Friday, 1 and 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday

Where: Ent Center for the Arts, 5225 N. Nevada Ave.

Price: $17-$21, free 3 and younger but must sit on adult's lap; 719-255-8181, starztheater.org

Something else: American Sign Language access show, 1 p.m. Saturday
Rattan weaving becomes key to prosperity of Hanzhong, NW China's Shaanxi

People's Daily Online) 14:09, January 19, 2024

Rattan weaving in Hanzhong city, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, which was listed on the fifth batch of national intangible cultural heritages in 2021, has become a "golden key" to prosperity and rural revitalization of the city in recent years.

At a company in Huangguan township, Nanzheng district of the city, 62-year-old artisan Mou Yongqin was weaving a rattan sofa on Jan. 10, 2024. "I can finish this rattan sofa three days later and earn some money," Mou said.

Mou Yongqin, a rattan weaving artisan, weaves a rattan sofa in Huangguan township, Nanzheng district, Hanzhong city of northwest China's Shaanxi Province, Jan. 10, 2024. (Photo/Yang Luya)

Mou, a villager in Shuijing village of the township, has over 20 years of experience in rattan weaving. She works for the company during the lean farming season.

The company is a local leading rattan weaving firm with over 2,600 employees. "We encourage people to actively join the rattan weaving industry. Workers earn money for every order they complete, which effectively promotes employment," said Chen Liangshun, chairman of the company.

Chen Lingkai, Chen Liangshun's son, runs an e-commerce company to sell rattan woven products, with annual sales worth more than 33 million yuan.

Over the past years, Huangguan township has invested 46 million yuan ($6.5 million) to turn it into a core area of the city's intangible cultural heritage industry.

"At present, a development model featuring leading companies established by inheritors, cooperatives in collaboration with artisans and family workshops has taken shape," said Chen Yan, deputy head of Huangguan township.

The official added that over 3,000 people from more than 1,200 households in the township have joined the weaving industry, which expands the annual income for each of these families by an average of more than 10,000 yuan.

To adapt to market demand, the company adheres to innovation. In addition to traditional rattan woven products, it has launched various souvenirs popular with customers.

In recent years, Huangguan township has introduced a series of measures to promote the innovative development of rattan woven products, and constantly explores new areas for the sector.

So far, the township has built a study tour base for rattan weaving and one for yellow rice wine, attracting over 3,000 students from 16 universities, including Northwest University in Xi'an, capital of Shaanxi, and Nanjing University in Nanjing, capital of east China's Jiangsu Province.

"In the first half of last year, our township received 288,000 tourist visits, generating total tourism revenue of 118 million yuan," Chen Yan said.

In 2023, Hanzhong rolled out more support policies to encourage counties and districts to develop the intangible cultural heritage industry by tapping intangible cultural heritage resources like rattan weaving, bamboo weaving, Qiang embroidery, Miao embroidery and lacquerware.

Intangible cultural heritage products from the city, such as rattan woven products, green tea, and yellow wine, are sold to domestic and overseas markets through e-commerce platforms, generating wealth for local people.

Hanzhong has established 102 intangible cultural heritage workshops, bases and organizations in recent years, enabling over 50,000 people to work from home.

(Web editor: Hongyu, Liang Jun)
Mayor London Breed holds a news conference Thursday at the Winton Hotel, where she advocated for Proposition F, her ballot measure to mandate drug screening for welfare recipients. Santiago Mejia/The Chronicle

Mayor London Breed sat in the community room of a Tenderloin residential hotel on Thursday and issued a forceful defense of her ballot measure to mandate drug screening for San Francisco welfare recipients.

Flanked by several people in recovery who support the measure, Proposition F, Breed told reporters gathered at the Winton Hotel on OFarrell Street that she put the proposal on the March 5 ballot partly because of input she has received from people struggling with addiction who have benefited from drug treatment.

What I am hearing time and time again is San Francisco, this compassionate city, makes it too easy for people to be out there on the streets using drugs, and we make it too hard for people to get into treatment, Breed said. And we need to change that, because we are enabling this. We are making San Francisco a destination for those who suffer from addiction.

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Prop. F would require people who receive cash assistance from the city to be screened for substance use disorder and, if theyre determined to be dependent on illegal drugs, they would have to enroll in a free treatment program in order to continue getting financial benefits. The measure would not require welfare recipients to stay sober in order to maintain their cash payments  they would only need to participate in treatment.

Mayor London Breed, third from left, holds a news conference Thursday at the Winton Hotel, joining the Tenderloin Housing Clinic and advocates for Proposition F, a ballot measure to mandate drug screening for welfare recipients. Santiago Mejia/The Chronicle

Breed, who faces a difficult reelection bid in November, proposed Prop. F amid mounting public pressure to show progress on addressing the citys widespread public drug scenes and surging overdose deaths. On Wednesday, San Francisco reported a record 806 drug deaths in 2023, a 24% increase from the year before and an 11% increase from the previous record in 2020. Four out of every five 2023 overdose deaths involved fentanyl.

The mayors proposal has been criticized by some public health experts and harm-reduction advocates who say research has shown that efforts to coerce drug users into treatment do not work. One addiction medicine specialist told the Chronicle in September, when Breed was considering taking her proposal to the Board of Supervisors, that drug users were more likely to die if you force them into treatment than if you let them keep using. That sentiment has been echoed by Prop. Fs official opponents, including former city health commissioner Roma Guy, who wrote in the formal ballot argument against the measure that it defies public health research showing that proposals such as Breeds lead to increased rates of return to substance use, overdose deaths, and suicide.

Breed dismissed those critiques on Thursday and questioned whether critics of her proposal are too far removed from the direct impacts of the drug crisis. Breeds sister died of a drug overdose.

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Part of the problem, oftentimes, with some of the advocates, the specialists and the people who have a lot to say about what shouldnt happen  and, more importantly, what isnt enough  (is) they may have never been in this position ever in their lives, and I pray that they never are, Breed said. This is not about being technical. This is not about data. This is about people and their lives and our desire to make it more difficult for people to get drugs than it is for them to get treatment.

About 5,200 San Francisco residents receive monthly cash payments through the County Adult Assistance Program, which provides up to $712 per month for housed residents. The amount for unhoused residents was lowered because of 2002s Proposition N, also known as Care Not Cash. Homeless people can currently receive up to $109 per month.

Among more than 9,000 people who received cash payments through the citys welfare program between October 2022 and September 2023, 29% were diagnosed with substance use disorder, according to a recent city memo.

Substance use recovery advocate Cedric Akbar said Thursday that he supports Prop. F because he sees it as a way to promote treatment.



This is an opportunity to give a person a chance to be able to get the assistance and the help that they need, and the treatment is free, Akbar told reporters at the Winton Hotel. It just supports accountability for all of us. The mayor has to be accountable. The people on the streets have to be accountable, too.

Tenderloin drug users have previously expressed skepticism that Breeds proposal would be effective, but one poll last year  from a moderate political advocacy group  found broad support for the idea among San Francisco voters.
Intel's fight against a 1.06 billion ($1.2 billion) antitrust fine from the European Union (EU) got a boost Thursday when a top court advisor in Europe pointed out errors in the EU regulators' economic analysis.

The dispute started in 2009 when the European Commission penalized Intel for attempting to impede a competitor, Advanced Micro Devices, by giving rebates to Dell, Hewlett-Packard, NEC, and Lenovo for favoring Intel's chips. The Intel decision is one in a series of increasing antitrust actions in Europe targeting technology companies.

Regulators usually challenge rebates from leading companies due to their potential to restrict competition. However, companies have argued that authorities should demonstrate how these discounts are anti-competitive before imposing sanctions. In 2022, a subordinate court overturned the fine, prompting the EU competition commissioner to seek a review from the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) in Luxembourg.

CJEU Advocate General Laila Medina said in a statement that the court should dismiss the appeal. Medina cited issues with the commission's "as-efficient competitor" test, designed to determine whether a company's pricing was unfairly competitive compared to rivals with similar costs.

The advocates general of the CJEU have an unusual role, providing independent, non-binding legal opinions on cases that the judges may then take into account in arriving at their decisions.

Medina added, first, the General Court failed to have due regard to the Commissions margin of discretion in complex economic matters. Second, it failed to take into account Intels implicit acknowledgment of the reference period during the administrative proceedings. Third, it infringed the Commissions right of defense. Fourth, the General Court erred in relation to the appropriate conclusion to be drawn in respect of the entire period of the practice at issue.

The Intel ruling comes after a number of efforts meant to ensure fair competition in the EU. Google, owned by Alphabet, said this week, for example, that it will modify its online search results to better highlight comparison websites. The change is part of its efforts to adhere to new EU tech regulations under the Digital Markets Act (DMA), which goes into effect in March.

According to the DMA, the company must rank rival services and products on an equal footing with its own in search results.
(The following is a distillation of Cracked's policies and shall be amended as the editorial team and the joyride that is "human civilization" sees fit.)

Cracked was founded in 1958 as a comedy magazine, became a comedy website in 2005, and, given the pace of technological innovation, will transform into a sentient swarm of information hornets around 2084. (We don't know if the hornets will be funny.)

Back in the 1900s, the magazine's biggest concerns were questions like "Exactly how brutally is Mad magazine outselling us?" and "Can a company legally pay people in cigarettes?" But the 21st century brings us new inquiries, namely, "Why is every single cyberpunk trope coming true except for the green mohawks?"

The first Homo Sapiens popped up 300,000 years ago; the internet's just a few decades old. Our meat bodies are built for punching giant sloths, whereas the ordinary consumer refrigerator can access the totality of human knowledge. Global fads are born in Karachi during rush hour and in Patagonia by happy hour. If you're feeling cracked, welcome to the club.

We can't change the fact that our culture is metamorphosing at an increasingly breakneck pace. Centaurs and butter churns will inexplicably become popular again simultaneously, and we'll all just have to live with it for a few days.

Nobody said the future would be easy, and here's how Cracked's coping -- we've codified our editorial standards and site ethos. Behold, The 11 Cracked Commandments, a document we hope will guide the site for years to come. In other words, when the people of tomorrow begin wearing lasagna as a hat, we'll be ready.

We realize some may find such a gesture idealistic. To this we say, "No kidding, a public statement of purpose is aspirational by design." (Also, we made sure there were 11 Cracked Commandments so that nobody would confuse all this with "10 Crack Commandments" by The Notorious B.I.G, a song about a somewhat different topic.)

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1. We want Cracked to be accessible and enjoyable to everyone. As such, Cracked is a safe-for-work website.

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4. We create original content, and we take pride in it. Here at Cracked, plagiarism is unacceptable.

5. Cracked claims no partisan bias. We believe in the ameliorative power of democracy, and that the measure of a government is how it treats its most vulnerable citizens.

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7. Here at Cracked, we have an ethical obligation to our audience to get the facts straight, furnish necessary context to complex stories, and correct outdated or inaccurate information. Correspondence regarding such should be sent to Corrections at Cracked dot com.

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8. Comedy evolves with taste and time. This is why most stand-up routines are not about the telegraph. At this point in human history, absolutely nobody should be surprised when comedy speaks truth to power.

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Police officers patrol Civic Center Plaza in February 2022. Mayor London Breed says a program to give police expanded access to surveillance cameras has resulted in dozens of arrests over nine months. Gabrielle Lurie/The Chronicle

Two years ago, Mayor London Breed railed against limitations on the Police Departments ability to monitor live private security cameras, arguing that officers werent able to access real-time video during high-profile incidents of mass retail thefts in Union Square.



There were multiple robbery crews hitting multiple stores; they couldnt even access those cameras, which is ridiculous, she said in December 2021.

Breed went on to sponsor legislation for a controversial 15-month surveillance pilot program that greatly expanded the powers of the police to temporarily monitor live video feeds from privately owned cameras for up to 24 hours at a time without a warrant. Critics say the program could lead to the infringement of peoples privacy rights.

Nine months of newly released data from the program compiled in three quarterly reports show that police made two arrests related to two separate homicides in the Tenderloin, 11 arrests related to assaults, violent offenses, theft and obstructing a police officer, and 52 narcotics-related arrests, most of them for dealing. Of the 65 total arrests, the district attorneys office filed charges on 29. Of those, 14 were listed as pending, five were noted as fugitive status, six led to convictions and four did not list a case status, according to the offices incident data dashboard.



Breeds office said live monitoring is working by supporting our police investigations to solve murders, disrupt drug dealings and get violent offenders off our streets. The department touted the data as proof of the effectiveness of live video monitoring in dealing with San Franciscos most pernicious crimes.

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But nearly a year into the experiment, it remains unclear just how effective the strategy of using private cameras is in fighting crime in San Francisco, in part because the Police Departments disclosures dont provide information on how live footage was used, how it led to arrests and whether police could have used other methods to make those arrests.

Under the pilot program, police can request up to 24 hours of access to live surveillance video in three circumstances: to respond to a life-threatening emergency, to decide how to deploy officers during a large event with public safety concerns, and to conduct a criminal investigation if allowed for in writing by a captain or higher-ranking police official.



During the nine-month period, 75 police officers, 24 sergeants, two lieutenants and two captains viewed about 250 hours of live footage during more than 50 live monitoring operations in places like downtown San Francisco, the Tenderloin, South of Market, Golden Gate Park and the Richmond and Sunset districts. The police made 49 requests for access to live camera footage, and only one was denied, for undisclosed reasons.

The surveillance data gives a glimpse into how the Police Department uses tools like live monitoring to fight crime at a time that Breed is again pushing to expand police powers and allow use of new surveillance tools and technology through Proposition E on the March ballot.

But critics say the program and new data raise questions. ACLU attorney Matt Cagle told the Chronicle the data is confusing and has holes. For example, the police did not share information that explains how the live footage resulted in arrests or solved crimes.

Cagle added that the report also appears to overlook reporting requirements under the law establishing the pilot. It does not include the justification for granting access to private cameras, whether the images were used to bring criminal charges, the types of charges brought and the results of the charges, he said.

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The Police Department said in a statement that the use of private cameras has also helped our homicide unit arrest murder suspects, helping the SFPD reach an 85% clearance rate last year for homicides, which is well above the national average, the statement says. The department added that live monitoring allows police officers to view crimes in progress and locate wanted suspects.

By far the longest monitoring session was during the Outside Lands Music Festival in August in Golden Gate Park, when officers watched 42 total hours of live footage. Police were able to make five arrests for theft, pickpocketing and resisting an officer during that time, but its unclear what other use police had for the nearly two consecutive days of live media feeds during the festival. Only one of those five arrests led the district attorneys office to file charges. That case is listed as pending.

Its a stunning example of SFPD looking at an event of people and just requesting wide access to cameras, Cagle said.

The department and mayors office are touting the release of live-feed use as proof of its effectiveness in fighting crime. The reports could help Breed boost support for Proposition E, which would allow police to install public surveillance cameras and use drones and facial recognition technology to fight crime, among other changes.

But for Cagle, police surveillance trends are troubling and show that officers are doing more surveillance, not less, while its reporting standards are going down.

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Low-income communities of color are more likely to be surveilled than white communities. And, as the records show, the SFPD is willing to aim the cameras at everything from concerts to protests against police violence, Cagle said.
The news always sounds pretty horrific, what with all the wars and the disasters and the voters who inexplicably seem set on supporting candidates. Lets take your mind off all that with some stories you likely missed. Unfortunately, instead of offering any relief, these alternative stories will terrify you even more.

4 The Man Arrested for Cutting Off His Body Parts In 2019, Marius Gustavson hired someone to cut off part of his nipple. This raises several questions. The foremost is: How big was this guys nipple that hed pay someone to cut off just part of it? But nipple-gate was overshadowed by Gustavsons other move that year  he hired a kid to come freeze his leg using a pail of ice. With his leg permanently damaged, Gustavson could visit a hospital, which chopped the limb off for him. The next step was cutting off his penis. He hired another partner for this, Damien Byrnes, who cut the member off with a vegetable knife while quipping, Well, thats one off the bucket list. I never expected that one. While a smaller amputation in terms of mass, the penis operation was the greatest one in terms of thrills. Audience thills were the goal: Gustavson filmed these various operations to sell the footage on his pay-per-view website. Franco Alva Thats one thing A.I. porn can never replicate: actual human suffering. Bleeding heavily, Gustavson called emergency services. I tried to do some surgery on my cock, he told them. After stitching him up, the hospital referred him for psychiatric treatment, which didntt stick. The reason the police later became involved wasnt that the hospital called them, so never fear going to doctors when you need help. It was because Byrnes, who cut the penis off, called the cops after failing to receive the promised payment for his services. Advertisement When describing this whole saga, some British publications fixate on the 600 per month in disability payments that Gustavson has received. Those payments are not the significant part of this story, werent his motive and werent why he was in court last week and is awaiting sentencing. Instead, Gustavson (along with his associates) has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bodily harm. Normally, we do not need such a charge to discourage people from committing bodily harm against themselves, but some people are not normal.

3 Something Eating Away at a Colorado Funeral Home The police in this next story were tipped off when someone called them about an abhorrent smell. The smells source was a Colorado funeral home, and when investigators came by with a warrant, they found bodies. They found so many bodies, just stacked on top of each other. The funeral home owners, who were in court last week for a hearing over the matter, had piled up over a hundred bodies, and police found a vast colony of maggots eating their way through the pile. Rasbak/Wiki Commons Kinda like this, but instead of a leaf, a hundred corpses. Advertisement The Return to Nature Funeral Home advertised green funeral services, which meant they did not embalm bodies and instead cremated them naturally. This explains why they went years without buying any embalming chemicals. As for why they went years without sending any bodies to a crematorium, well, it turns out that cremation is expensive. The House of One Hundred Corpses saved lots of money by simply chucking the bodies in the pile and then giving clients fake ashes. Advertisement Text messages reveal the owners conspiring about a longer-term solution for the corpses. Options: A, build a new machine ASAP, wrote co-owner Jon to wife Carie, cryptically. B, dig a big hole and use lye. Where? C, dig a small hole and build a large fire. Where? D, I go to prison, which is probably going to happen. Even the short-term solution was quite difficult. Another text has him saying, I want to take a shower as soon as I get back because while I was making the transfer, I got people juice on me. Want the double cheeseburger. Advertisement Colorado does not inspect funeral homes. Asked to comment, the National Funeral Directors Association noted that inspections might not have prevented any of this, but they could have caught the crime sooner. You catch it at six or eight bodies, said a spokesperson, and not at 115.

2 Zombie Deer Disease A disease, previously known but newly strong, has made its way to Yellowstone. Its called Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD), and it changes the brains of deer. The deer assumes a blank stare (so different from the intent deer-in-the-headlights stare we all know), drools and stumbles around. Then it dies because there is no treatment or cure. Terry Kreeger Damn, that deer looks wasted. Advertisement The disease is caused by a prion, an infectious agent scarier than microbes. Bacteria are alive, which mean you can kill them. Viruses are arguably not alive, but they cant exist for long when separated from a hosts cells. Prions? Prions persist. Prions land on the ground and remain there, infectious, for years. Disinfect the ground, and itll still be there, strong as ever. Incinerate the ground, with a thousand-degree flame? Itll shrug that off, too. Even radiation wont stop a prion, so there goes plan A of nuking the area. Advertisement Bad as the disease is for deer, the real fear is that it may jump to humans, much like that other famous prion disorder, Mad Cow Disease. Hunters are being warned not to eat deer. They are also being warned not to feed deer, which is a common practice. As with so many situations, this all may be improved by the introduction of wolves. Wolves are immune to CWD, and wolves are good at picking off lethargic deer. Let us hope wolves will feast and protect us from this budding zombie menace. Advertisement
When Hilary Duff sang, This is what dreams are made of, Disney insisted that those dreams should be bone dry.

In August 2019, Disney announced that the upcoming launch of their streaming service Disney+ would be supported by the return of a legendary figure in the Disney Channel canon: Lizzie McGuire, the mid-millennial voice of a generation, was coming back to the small screen in a new format and with a grown-up attitude. Duff had long been advocating for another installment of her most iconic characters life that would address the complexities of womanhood with the same flair that made her a defining teen star of the early 2000s, and the Lizzie McGuire reboot was poised to be a slam-dunk tentpole series to kick off Disney+. However, disagreements between the Lizzie McGuire creative team and the Disney brass over the tone and content of a show about a 30-year-old woman whose life would presumably no longer be 100-percent child-friendly derailed the project, and in late 2020, production halted after the completion of just two episodes and never resumed. The reboot was scrapped. Dreams were dashed.

TikToker and TV writer Jonathan Hurwitz was a member of the writing team on the reboot, and in a series of videos posted last week, he told his side of the story in which Disney executives strangled the seemingly sure-thing hit series over disagreements concerning what constituted appropriate content. Apparently, no one at Disney was willing to let Lizzie get laid.

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In the videos, Hurwitz detailed a handful of jokes that caused friction between the creative team and their business bosses, the first of which was just a simple quote from the classic Broadway musical A Chorus Line. In the song Dance: Ten, Looks: Three, there are roughly eight repetitions of the phrase tits and ass! gleefully sprinkled throughout the classic ditty. Well, when Hurwitz and his writers wanted to have a character sing a certain bar from the iconic song, the producers decided that their choice of words fell flat.

Then, in a later episode, Hurwitz said that he and the writers planned for Lizzie to find herself in bed with her old high school boy Ethan Craft one morning when her animated Lizzie persona would pop up with a little cartoon to-do list for the day, checking off a box that just read, Ethan. Hurwitz said that, when he reflects on storylines and scenes that may have influenced Disneys decision to kill the project, That moment was probably one of them.

With the hit-rate on original Disney+ shows so dismally low, its too bad that Disney executives couldnt accept that, since the original audience for Lizzie McGuire was already well into adulthood, a couple copulation jokes in the reboot wouldnt be out of place. Disney may be a kid-focused company, but someones gotta make the kids.
This weeks Iowa caucus dominated the news, giving the nations junior-high late-night hosts plenty of chances to remind us all what caucus sounds like. Jimmy Kimmel gets extra points for going with the unexpected but nearly as dirty Cauc-ass. Stephen Colbert went with the obvious dick joke: Monday was expected to be the coldest caucus night weather since the modered nominating system began in 1972 and we all know sub-zero temperatures will definitely shrink your caucus.

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Kimmel went in on Iowa for consecutive nights with essentially the same joke about Trumps kids. On Tuesday, he landed this haymaker: Trump won the caucus tiny-handily. You know, he barely spent any time in Iowa which somehow made voters love him more. It's the same strategy he used raising Eric and Don Jr.

Then he followed up with the same joke construction a day later. After Trump said De Santis finished a boring second in Iowa, Kimmel joked, A boring second. Thats also his nickname for Eric. Who knew Iowa would be the place for Eric Trump to catch stray bullets?

Speaking of repeating jokes, our late-night heroes cant stop reminding us that a door flew off an Alaska Airlines plane. Even though the incident was beaten into the ground in last weeks monologues, Jimmy Fallon kept coming back for more: This is exciting here in New York City. We just got our first real snowfall in almost two years. During the last two years, the only thing that fell from the sky was rain and a door from Alaska Airlines.

Not to be outdone, Colbert recycled the punchline again. There was chaos on an AirAsia flight in Thailand after a live snake was discovered by passengers in an overhead bin. Even worse, it was one of those planes where all the doors stay on.

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Why continue to beat the Alaska Airlines drum when late-night has an old favorite subject to return to -- the weather. Eighty percent of the country right now is in the grip of what they call an Arctic blast, which is a very dangerous weather pattern, joshed Kimmel. Not to be confused with Arctic Blitz, which is a wiper-fluid colored flavor of Gatorade.

That joke was a hall-of-famer compared to these frigid Fallon doozies:

Finally some snow. Its about time. Last winter, I saw kids making a snowman out of some loose garbage.

Its so cold, Joe Bidens teeth are chattering on his nightstand. Its just...cold. Cold. Really cold. Thats his alarm clock. He sets it, his teeth chatter. Thats how he wakes up.

What was the topic that all the late-night hosts agreed on this week? The winner was having sex with your cousin, thanks to a proposed law in Kentucky. The jokes practically wrote themselves:

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Meyers: A state lawmaker in Kentucky recently introduced a new bill that would make it legal for a person to have sex with a first cousin, while Alabama is making it mandatory. I mean, I don't want to judge, but that just doesn't seem right.

Fallon: Did you guys see this? A lawmaker in Kentucky introduced legislation to legalize marriage between first cousins. But later said it was a mistake. Which can only mean one thing. His cousin broke it off. I know it's going to break Uncle Daddy's heart, but I think we're better off as friends."

Kimmel: Kentucky lawmaker and former Survivor winner representative Nick Wilson has filed a bill that would remove the first cousin clause from Kentucky's incest law. House Bill 269 would remove first cousins from the list of familial relationships meaning it would no longer be illegal to have sexual contact with those family members. Look, the guy lives in a small town and he's got a very hot cousin. What are you going to do?

Thanks to Colbert for keeping his cousin-sex opinions to himself.
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A man died after being struck by a car while crossing an intersection near San Franciscos Golden Gate Park last month, authorities said Wednesday, making him the citys first pedestrian death of the year. Filipa Ioannou/The Chronicle

A nonprofit group that provides crime-prevention services to the San Francisco Police Department spent nearly $80,000 in grant money on ineligible or excessive expenses including a Lake Tahoe trip, luxury gift boxes and limo service, according to a report released Thursday by the city controllers office.

An analysis of about $910,000 paid by the Police Department during a nine-month period to SF Safe found that the department did not adequately review invoices or supporting documentation to make sure expenses filed were allowable.

The department contracts with SF Safe to provide community-based crime prevention and education services to San Francisco residents, the report said. According to the grant agreement, personal or business-related costs or expenses like meals, rides and lodging were ineligible.

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From July 2022 through March 2023, the controllers office found that at least $79,655 was spent on ineligible and/or excessive expenses. The total amount for the entire term of the agreement could be significantly higher, the controllers office noted.

We recommend that the Police Department review all invoices submitted under its grant agreement with SF Safe to determine whether SF Safe billed for expenses that are unallowable under the agreement and recover any amounts found to be incorrectly paid to SF Safe, the report said.

SF Safe attorney Dylan Hackett told the Chronicle that the organization was not under the impression they were doing anything wrong, and that as soon as the controllers office pointed out discrepancies, we communicated  cooperated fully with the investigation and made the changes recommended. In an addendum to the controllers report, SF Safe said it takes these findings seriously and will make changes to ensure this type of situation doesnt happen again.

The Police Department said in a statement that it confirmed the ineligible expenses invoiced by SF Safe after working closely with the controllers office and conducting its own investigation. The department said it has recovered the $79,655 in ineligible expenses by deducting them from this years SF Safe grant funds, and is now requiring that the organization provide a copy of a general ledger of transactions  to ensure all expenses are eligible under the grant.

The department said it will also participate in the citys joint-monitoring program to regularly track SF Safes expenses and that it will revisit its grant agreement with SF Safe when it expires in June.

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The department takes this matter very seriously and weve taken action to address it, the statement said. The SFPD is continuing to review this matter along with our oversight practices with our grant partners to ensure the highest degree of accountability.

The controllers office tested invoices that SF Safe submitted for reimbursement to the Police Department under a now expired $5.3 million grant agreement. The departments current agreement with SF Safe is for an amount not to exceed $1.07 million.

SF Safe was a project started in 1976 to act as a crime prevention component of the police department, and a major portion of its financial support comes from a grant contract with the San Francisco Police Department, according to the organizations website. It has provided major support to the SFPD and Mayors Office by acting as a fiscal agent for federal and state-funded grants, along with participating in crime prevention activities.

While the Police Department grants millions to SF Safe, it does not regularly request or review supporting documentation  to ensure that its invoices include only eligible expenses, the controllers report said.

Until SF Safe provided additional supporting documentation for the controllers assessment, the report said, the Police Department did not have documentation to support $3.8 million of $5.3 million spent by and reimbursed to SF Safe from July 2018 to March 2023, the controller said.

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SF Safe hosted a citywide Community Police Advisory Board Symposium in October 2022 where at least 100 attendees were each provided with gift boxes and offered raffle prizes. Attendees included Police Department and District Attorneys Office employees. SF Safe spent $32,482 on about 200 gift boxes for the symposium purchased from a vendor of curated luxury gift boxes. Each gift box cost about $162 and contained items like tea, a portfolio and a mug.



SF Safe requested an $8,120 partial reimbursement for the symposium, which was granted, and the Police Department also reimbursed about $5,180 in valet parking fees.

SF Safe also hosted a Black History Month and Lunar New Year Celebration event in February 2023. The organization said it spent $228,105 on gift boxes, at an approximate per-box cost of $152. SF Safe requested $25,000 be reimbursed for that event, which was also granted.

The organization also spent more than $14,000 to attend a training symposium at a resort hotel in South Lake Tahoe, but SF Safe did not provide any documentation to support the expenses incurred to have staff attend the event, except for a $350 registration fee, the controller reported.

In September 2022, the controllers report said SF Safe spent an excessive amount on hotel stays and transportation, including nearly $8,000 on lodging at the 3-star Hotel Azure Tahoe and almost $5,000 on a San Francisco-based limo service. It was unclear to the controllers office whether staying at the hotel where the training was held would have lowered costs. SF Safe did not provide the supporting documents to verify its hotel expenses, so the controllers office couldnt determine the breakdown of costs.

The report also specifically called out SF Safe Executive Director Kyra Worthy. SF Safe spent more than $21,000 on recurring and non-recurring parking expenses, including at least three recurring parking expenses of about $11,000. Two of them are under Worthys name and outside San Francisco, one in San Leandro and one in El Cerrito.

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It also calls out the organization for not providing supporting documentation for $3,347 of the $16,683 reimbursed by the Police Department for parking. SF Safe also billed the Police Department for non-recurring parking expenses, including $5,180 in valet parking services for a symposium, $1,965 in valets at an exclusive club in San Francisco, $1,600 for an unknown San Francisco location, $1,500 for parking spots at Union Square and $348 for other parking expenses.

SF Safe also spent a total of $5,927 in Ubers and Lyfts over nine months.
by M. K. Bhadrakumar





The stunning missile and drone strikes on three countries  Syria, Iraq and Pakistan  over a period of 24 hours and Tehran taking the extraordinary step of announcing its responsibility for the attacks conveyed a very big message to Washington that its stratagem to create a coalition of terror groups in the region surrounding Iran will be resolutely countered.





That the US strategy against Iran was taking new forms began emerging after the October 7 attack on Israel and the consequent erosion of its standing as the regional supremo. The China-brokered Iran-Saudi rapprochement and the induction Iran, Saudi Arabia, UAE and Egypt into BRICS put the US strategists in panic mode. See my analysis titled US embarks on proxy war against Iran, Indian Punchline, November 20, 2023.





The building described as Mossad Headquarters in Iraqi Kurdistan with underground facilities for conducting covert operations hit by Iranian missile attack, Erbil, Northern Iraq, January 15, 2024





There were signs already by the latter half of 2023 that the US with Israeli axis was planning to use terrorism as the only viable means to weaken Iran and restore the regional balance back in favour of Tel Aviv, which is critically important for Washingtons prioritisation of Asia-Pacific and yet need to control oil-rich Middle East. Indeed, a conventional war with Iran is no longer feasible for the US, as it risks the potential destruction of Israel.





Future historians are sure to study, analyse and arrive at sober conclusions as regards the attacks on Israel by Palestinian resistance groups on October 7. In classic military doctrine, they were quintessentially a pre-emptive strike by resistance groups before the US-Israeli juggernaut of terrorist groups  such as ISIS and Mujahideen-e-Khalq  turned into a rival platform matching the Axis of Resistance.





Tehran is cognisant of the urgent necessity to carve out strategic depth before the wolves close in. Tehran has been pressing Moscow to expedite a bilateral strategic pact but Russians, unsurprisingly, took time over it. One key agenda item during President Ebrahim Raisis working visit to Moscow on December 7 to meet with President Putin was the finalisation of the pact.





On Monday, finally, the Russian Defence Ministry disclosed in a rare statement that Defence Minister Sergey Shoigu called his Iranian counterpart Mohammad-Reza Ashtiani to convey that Moscow has agreed to sign the pact. The MoD statement stated:





Both sides stressed their commitment to the fundamental principles of the Russian-Iranian relations, including unconditional respect for each others sovereignty and territorial integrity, which will be confirmed in the major intergovernmental treaty between Russia and Iran as this document is being finalised already.





According to Iranian news agency IRNA, Shoigu conveyed that Russias commitment to Irans sovereignty and territorial integrity will be explicitly stated in the pact. The report added that the two ministers also pointed out the importance of issues related to regional security and emphasised that Moscow and Tehran will continue their joint efforts in establishing a multipolar world order and negating the unilateralism of the United States. [Emphasis added]





On Wednesday, Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman for the Russian foreign ministry, told reporters in Moscow that the new treaty would consolidate the strategic partnership between Russia and Iran and cover the full range of their ties. This document is not just timely, but also overdue, said Zakharova.





Since the signing of the current treaty, the international context has changed and relations between the two countries are experiencing an unprecedented upswing, she took note. Zakharova said the new treaty was expected to be signed during what she described as one of the upcoming contacts between the two presidents.





Separately, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted by the TASS state news agency as saying that an exact date for a meeting between Putin and Raisi is to be determined. Clearly, something of profound significance to the geopolitics of the Middle East is happening in front of our eyes.





Suffice to say, Irans missile and drone strikes against terrorist targets on Wednesday are a vivid demonstration of its assertiveness to act in self-defence in the new regional and international milieu. Irans so-called proxies  be it Hezbollah or Houthis  have reached adulthood with a mind of their own, who would decide their own strategic positioning within the Axis of Resistance. They dont require a life-support system from Tehran. It may take some time for the Anglo-Saxon strategists to get used to this new reality, but eventually they will.





Clearly, it is an underestimation to regard Irans missile and drone strikes as merely counter-terrorist operations. Even with regard to the strike on Baluchistan, interestingly, it took place within a month of COAS Gen. Asim Munirs weeklong trip to Washington in mid-December.





Munir met senior US officials, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, US Forces Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Charles Q Brown, and US Deputy National Security Adviser Jonathan Finer  and, of course, the redoubtable Undersecretary of State Victoria Nuland, the driving force behind the Biden administrations neocon policies.





An official statement in Islamabad December 15 on Munirs high-flying tour stated that Pakistan and the US intend to increase interactions for mutually beneficial engagements. It said the two sides discussed the ongoing conflicts in the region and agreed to increase interactions between Islamabad and Washington.





The statement said, Matters of bilateral interests, global and regional security issues, and ongoing conflicts were discussed during the meetings. Both sides agreed to continue engagement for exploring potential avenues of bilateral collaboration in pursuit of shared interests.





The statement added that during the meeting between the top defence officials of the two countries, counter-terrorism cooperation and defence collaboration were identified as core areas of cooperation. On his part, Munir underscored the importance of understanding each others perspectives on regional security issues and developments affecting strategic stability in South Asia, according to the Pakistani statement.





Pakistan has an entire history of serving American interests in the region and the GHQ in Rawalpindi has been the charioteer of such collaboration. What is on evidence today is that the forthcoming elections in Pakistan did not discourage the Biden administration from rolling out the red carpet for Munir. But the good part is that both Iran and Pakistan are smart enough to know each others red lines.





The US intentions are clear: outflank Tehran in the west and east with failing states that are easy to manipulate. The hastily arranged meetings in Davos between the US National Security advisor Jake Sullivan and top Iraq officials ( here and here ) in the downstream of the Iranian strikes underscored

the importance of (Kurdistan) resuming oil exports (to Israel) and Washingtons support for the Kurdistan regions strong partnership with the United States;

the importance of stopping attacks against U.S. personnel in Iraq and Syria;

US commitment to enhancing security cooperation as part of a long-term, sustainable defence partnership;

US support for Iraqi sovereignty; and,

Bidens invitation for Iraqi Prime Minister Sudani to visit the White House soon.

In a nutshell, Sullivan has voiced the US intention to strengthen its presence in Iraq  and it has similar objectives to pursue in Pakistan too. Washington trusts Munir to ensure that Imran Khan languishes in jail no matter the outcome of the Pakistani elections.





This strategic realignment comes at a time when Afghanistan has conclusively slipped out of the Anglo-American orbit and Saudi Arabia shows no interest to be a cog in the American wheel or dabble with the forces of extremism and terrorism.









M. K. Bhadrakumar was a career diplomat by profession. Roughly half of the 3 decades of his diplomatic career was devoted to assignments on the territories of the former Soviet Union and to Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan. Other overseas postings included South Korea, Sri Lanka, Germany, and Turkey. He writes mainly on Indian foreign policy and the affairs of the Middle East, Eurasia, Central Asia, South Asia and the Asia-Pacific.
William Rivas, founder of Save Our Streets, poses for a photograph outside of COCOA House on Stanley Street in Schenectady in this undated file photo. Rivas organization is among the community partners presenting the inagural 518 Common Unity Cup, a five-week sporting event designed to build community in the city, that begins on Tuesday, Aug. 2, 2022.
Todays headlines from the BBC and Sky News. Last year was the hottest ever as dangerous record temperatures swept the planet because of man-made global warming.

In other news, much of Britain shivered under several inches of snow as the Big Freeze continued. Last night was the coldest in the South East for four decades.

The Met Office issued an amber weather alert and the emergency services warned people to stay indoors unless their journey was really necessary.

Make your mind up. Either were going to be burned to a crisp, or frozen to death. Which is it?

As far as the science and the assorted vested interests who owe their very existence to the Great Climate Change Hoax are concerned, it doesnt matter.

Much of Britain shivered under snow in this week's Big Chill

The Met Office issued an amber weather alert and emergency services warned people to stay indoors unless their journey was necessary

Heads, they win. Tails, we lose. We dont have weather any more, just climate change. For everything, there used to be a season. Now its all down to climate change. End of story.

Climate change is a religion. Not in the conventional sense, but more like those televangelical conmen in the U.S. who set up their own Church of the Sacred Bleeding Heart of Jesus, located somewhere in Southern California, to fleece gullible Godbotherers of their hard-earned.

Theres too much money involved, too many jobs, too many junkets in five-star resorts to ever admit that perhaps their forecasts of impending Armageddon might be a tad exaggerated. Im not just talking about the trillions being made by multi-national (mostly Chinese) manufacturers of windmills, heat pumps, electric cars and assorted paraphernalia.

Everybody has to get in on the movie, from the United Nations to Clogthorpe Borough Council, with its exciting Net Zero plans, which boil down to cycle lanes and not emptying the dustbins.

So-called extreme weather events give Nanny State governments and the standing quangocracy an excuse to flex their muscles, pick our pockets and show us whos boss.

Step forward the UK Health Security Agency, a 5billion-a-year waste of space formerly known as Public Health England (PHE). This bunch of charlatans should have been disbanded permanently after failing miserably to prepare Britain for the Covid pandemic. Instead it was rebranded and sailed on regardless.

It specialises in issuing fatuous advice at great expense. Regular readers may remember the summer of 2022, when it put out a Level Three Heat-Health Alert ordering us to stay indoors, draw the curtains, stop your kids playing outside and keep hydrated. If we must leave the house, we were told to walk slowly and wear a tall hat. (No mention of riding a white swan, but give it time.)

PHE had previously advised us to cover our windows in tinfoil to reflect the heat of the sun.

Eh? Plastering your windows with Bacofoil is normally associated with lunatics who are convinced they are being targeted by invisible death rays from alien space ships. Its the kind of thing which gets people sectioned.

Still, given PHEs latest cold weather bulletin, in conjunction with Age UK and the NHS, if youve got any tinfoil left over it could come in handy this winter. You could always wear it under your long johns.

In a spectacular statement of the bleedin obvious, PHE informs us helpfully that wearing several layers will keep you warmer than one thick layer. Well knock me dahn wiv a fevver, Clever Trevor.

You should heat your home to a temperature thats comfortable to you. Try to heat rooms that you regularly use, such as your living room and bedroom.

PHE recommends 18c (64f in old money). Which sounds to me as if it would only be comfortable for brass monkeys unless youre togged up like Nanook Of The North. Indoors.

It also recommends keeping your windows closed at all times, with or without double-glazing fashioned from Bacofoil.

Thats provided you dont have visitors. Then you should ventilate the room for a few minutes before they arrive. It can help stop the spread of germs. You might be more comfortable leaving the window open during their visit  if its not too cold.

Er, if it wasnt too cold, they wouldnt be issuing this advice in the first place.

You couldnt make it up.

People have been encouraged to try nostalgic ballroom dancing or heart-pounding Zumba if they are stuck indoors

Other top tips include: Wear shoes with good grip when you go outside to avoid slips and falls on icy surfaces. Why didnt I think of that?

When youre indoors, try not to sit still for more than an hour. So if youre watching Vera, which runs for two hours, you can always get up during the adverts. Thats of course, provided you dont subscribe to ad-free ITVX. In which case, youre probably going to die of coronary thrombosis.

Theyve thought of that, too. If you find it difficult to move about, stretching your arms and legs can also help you keep warm.

Patronising enough for you? Then wait for it, wait for it. The Met Office  yep, the Met Office  has further advice for us, aimed at the Over-55s.

Since when did old age kick in at 55? I turned 70 yesterday and had no idea I was already 15 years past my sell-by date. How on earth did I ever manage to live to three score years and ten without health advice from the Met Office?

I do my best to keep fit, even if it is mostly a plea of mitigation. And unlike my colleague and contemporary Tom Utley, I dont light a cigarette every five minutes to keep warm, though I probably drink as much.

More to the point, what the hell has any of this got to do with the Met Office? They cant even tell you accurately whether its going to rain at the weekend, so why are they doling out instructions for staying alive in winter?

Presumably for the same reason dopey TV weatherbirds have taken it upon themselves to remind us to carry an umbrella and bottled water at all times. You dont need a weatherman, and all that. But that wont stop em.

When the weather takes a turn for the worse it can be tricky to get out and about. When the weather is really bad, its best to stay indoors, why not make the time to call a friend you havent spoken to in a while, or take up a new hobby.

What hobbies do they have in mind? Tiddlywinks? For that we must consult Age UK. Being active  even just a little bit  is proven to help give your mood a boost. A quick walk down the street, a dance around the kitchen or a satisfying stretch in bed or a chair are all good pick-me-ups.

Failing that, you could also try nostalgic ballroom dancing or heart-pounding Zumba.

What, at my age?

Ive been known to dance round the kitchen on occasions, especially after a few large VATs. One of my all-time favourite kitchen dance scenes comes from the movie The Big Chill, which sees Glenn Close, William Hurt, Jeff Goldblum et al bopping round the washing up and leftovers to The Temptations Aint Too Proud To Beg.

The other glorious kitchen dance sketch is Morecambe and Wise doing The Stripper, though Ive never tried that myself, to the best of my knowledge. Just as well, probably, since it got a couple of bus workers from Windsor fired for performing it at work.

Fortunately, an industrial tribunal judge had a sense of humour and this week awarded one of the men  a grandfather called Geoff Lovejoy  50,000 compensation for unfair dismissal. Geoff could always have argued that he was only following the advice of Age UK and the Met Office to stay active.

Still, if youve made it through the Big Chill unscathed, theres more to come. Global warming is back with a vengeance. Over the next few days, temperatures will rise and the snow will melt  causing widespread flooding.

But dont panic, the British Red Cross  when its not helping migrants intent on crossing the Channel illegally  has your back. Dont walk or swim through floodwater.

Just in case you were planning to slip out of your Bacofoil vest and into a pair of budgie-smugglers and take a dive off the nearest bridge. No doubt the flooding will be blamed on global warming, too.

The climate change zealots wont brook any dissent, nor admit they may have got it wrong. To paraphrase Rod Stewarts Mandolin Wind:

The coldest winter in almost 40 years could never, never change their minds.

Stay warm.
Editorial





Sri Lanka is a country like no other, and so is our Speaker in the Parliament. Consequently, leading a shameless and dishonourable life has become the new normal for many. The recent revelations in the hallowed halls of the Sri Lankan Parliament have thrust into the spotlight the disgraceful conduct of Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena and his parasitic clan. In an institution where the citizens of Sri Lanka have invested their blood and sweat to safeguard democratic values, the exposure of the Speakers nepotistic machinations is an affront to the very essence of democracy.





Sri Lanka's Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena arrives for a media briefing at Speaker's house in Colombo on July 15, 2022





The stark truth articulated by an MP reverberates with an undeniable force: There is no point expecting this Speaker to pay attention to our interests because he is concerned with his familys interests. The shocking display of nepotism within the Speakers office, laid bare for all to witness, is an outright betrayal of the trust reposed in the democratic process.





A disconcerting list has been brought to light  a catalogue of shame that outlines the unabashed exploitation of public funds for personal gain. The Speakers relatives have insidiously embedded themselves in taxpayer-funded positions, with brother Wasantha Yapa Abeywardena as a private secretary, another brother Sarath Yapa Abeywardena as a Coordinating Secretary, brother-in-law Premananda Kumasaru as yet another Coordinating Secretary, and brother Indunil Yapa Abeywardena as the Media Secretary. The list continues, revealing that 33 other relatives of the Speaker occupy various roles within the parliament, all at the expense of the very people they are meant to serve.





The resounding silence from the mainstream media on this matter is as deafening as the actions of the Speaker and his clan. The absence of journalistic scrutiny is a betrayal of the ethical responsibility to expose corruption and hold those in power accountable. Where is the dedication to the principles of truth and transparency?





Equally confounding is the conspicuous absence of condemnation from Western embassies and other organizations that hypocritically espouse concerns about "human rights and ethical conduct," notably the United States, a so-called champion for Sri Lanka's accountability. Shockingly, reports have surfaced indicating that the American Ambassador of Korean origin was implicated in a plot to orchestrate the appointment of Yapa Abeywardena as the President of Sri Lanka. Astonishingly, this reprehensible senior individual has failed to deny these allegations anywhere, laying bare the unabashed audacity of his actions. Such nefarious activities undeniably expose the glaring hypocrisy inherent in those who purportedly stood for fairness and justice, revealing a disconcerting chasm between their professed principles and their duplicitous conduct.





The revelation of a parliamentary delegation sponsored by the Indian Parliament, including the Speakers wife Nelum Lalana Yapa Abeywardana and son Chameera Yapa Abeywardana, adds another layer of shame. The expenditure of Indian taxpayers money on what appears to be a thinly veiled family vacation under the guise of official business is an international embarrassment that demands scrutiny.





Adding to the distress is the satisfaction expressed by SLPP MPs in parliament over the Speakers increased discretionary powers to impose bans on MPs. The suggestion to follow the Indian example of mass suspension of opposition MPs raises serious concerns about the erosion of democratic values in Sri Lanka.





Amid claims of being the oldest democracy, Sri Lanka stands at a critical juncture. While attention has been diverted to other political figures and their nepotistic practices, the rot within the Speakers office cannot be overlooked. This is a Thuk Nodakin moment, a time to expose and condemn the disguising practices of ugly personalities within the democratic framework.





The despicable Speaker and his clan have not only betrayed the trust of the people but have also tarnished the very foundation of democracy. For the sake of the nation, and for the preservation of democratic values, Yapa Abeywardena and his kin must go home. Their departure is not just a demand; it is a necessity for the restoration of faith in the democratic principles that Sri Lanka claims to uphold.
How firm should we be with the children in our charge? Its a question Ive been pondering since a dear friend told me of a shock she received after shed spent the day at her daughters flat, looking after her granddaughters while their parents were at work.

Instead of thanking her when she arrived home, her daughter rebuked her, saying: You were a bit strict with them this afternoon!

My friend was taken aback. It was true that shed taken a firm line with the little girls when theyd acted up. She may even have raised her voice (though I hasten to say she adores them, and would rather die than harm a hair on their heads).

But how on earth did her daughter know what had gone on that afternoon?

It turned out that, unbeknownst to my friend, the flat was rigged up with hidden cameras, which allowed the girls parents to keep an eye on the children and their babysitter while they were out.

So many grandparents these days  Mrs U included  give up much of their life to unpaid child-minding, with hardly a murmur of complaint

I was horrified when I heard. Leave aside the question of whether we grown-ups have a right to be strict with the young when they misbehave. I shall return to that in a moment.

If Id been my friend, I would have been furious. Indeed, I wouldnt have blamed her if shed refused point blank to babysit ever again, after learning that the girls parents had been spying on her.

But like so many other grandparents these days  Mrs U included  she continues to give up much of her life to unpaid child-minding, with hardly a murmur of complaint. All I can say is that shes a saint.

I tend to agree with the comment on the story, which appeared in the South China Morning Post: It is scary that the child is living under such a level of surveillance from such a young age.

I thought of my old friend this week, when I read about a mother in China, who employs her webcam for quite a different purpose. Far from using it to make sure that nobody gets cross with her nine-year-old son, she live-streams him on the internet while hes doing his homework, so as to discourage him from slacking.

As well as pushing her boy to stop fidgeting and concentrate on his studies, says Mrs Zhang of the south-western province of Sichuan, her system frees up her time to get on with the housework and look after her other child, who is three.

On one day alone, she says, more than 900 people watched him doing his homework on her Douyin account  or, rather, they watched just his hands as he worked, since childrens faces are not allowed on the platform.

Im not sure that I approve of this approach either. I tend to agree with the comment on the story, which appeared in the South China Morning Post: It is scary that the child is living under such a level of surveillance from such a young age.

Certainly, I wouldnt have wanted 900 strangers peering at our four sons, and spurring them on to work harder, as they did their homework when they were growing up.

But then I have to confess that Ive always been the wimp in our marriage, far too indulgent of our sons and much too quick to overlook their vices  perhaps because I have so many of my own.

When it came to dragging the boys out of bed for school in the morning, pressing them to do their homework or enforcing bedtimes, it was always Mrs U who wielded the metaphorical whip. If it had been left to me, they would have stayed in bed for most of the day, never doing a stroke of schoolwork.

As it is, all four are now gainfully employed, with highly respectable degrees from Russell Group universities. Meanwhile, my wife has to make do with ticking me off for spoiling the dog.

To be fair to Mrs Zhang, it should also be said that the strict line she takes with her boy appears to yield impressive results. According to her own testimony, he has managed to finish a weeks work in a single session since she started subjecting him to public supervision via her webcam.

Nor do we have to take her word for it that her strategy works. I tried this too today, said one parent. The homework that normally takes three hours, my child finished in 30 minutes, and I dont need to supervise him any more in the holidays.

As for whether it would work in decadent Britain, well, thats a different matter. I suspect that if parents live-streamed their children on the internet here, this would quickly attract all sorts of unsavoury characters, keener on grooming than encouraging hard work.

Either that, or the childrens schoolmates would tune in to jeer.

On one point, however, I reckon the disciplinarians have the right idea: the balance of power between adults and children in modern Britain has tipped much too far in favour of the latter.

This is particularly evident in our schools, where wet-minded politicians and the Education Blob have deprived harassed teachers of almost every effective sanction against disruptive pupils who hold all their classmates back.

I write with some feeling, since two of our sons are teachers, struggling to make a difference to childrens lives in inner-city state schools with more than their share of disruptive influences.

One of them tells me the ultimate punishment in his power is to telephone a troublemakers parents. But hes terribly reluctant to do this, because he almost always gets one of two responses  both of which he hates.

Sometimes a parent will fly into a rage with the offending child, who comes to school the next day with a black eye. Either that, or mum and dad wont give a damn how their little thug behaves at school, telling our poor son: Thats your problem, isnt it, mate? Whats it got to do with me?

Meanwhile, children know they can make life utter hell for their teachers, by raising all sorts of allegations against them, from sexual impropriety to racism, transphobia or religious discrimination.

Take the claim by a Muslim pupil that in banning ritual prayers, her school dubbed the strictest in Britain  is discriminating against her Islamic faith.

I wont comment on the ins and outs of the case, except to point out that Katharine Birbalsingh, headmistress of the Michaela Community School in Brent, insists she introduced the ban for the good of everyone at the school.

A sudden craze for praying had become a source of divisiveness among her multicultural pupils and racial harassment of teachers, she said, while subjecting Muslim girls to undue peer-group pressure.

No, I just want to say I find it quite incredible that the pupils objection to her headteachers ruling has gone all the way to the High Court, while the school has had to engage a KC to argue its case.

In my day, the child would have been ordered to shut up and do as she was told, and that would have been the end of the matter. But pupils are the masters now and dont they know it!

Otherwise, I will say only that as an old softy myself, I feel a little squeamish about some of Ms Birbalsinghs strict disciplinarian teaching methods, and the elaborate rules she imposes on pupils, such as maintaining total silence in the corridors.

But even her harshest critics must surely agree that she gets astonishingly good results. Her school was ranked top in the country last year for Progress 8, which measures how much pupils at secondary schools have improved since leaving their primary schools.

But let me end with a warning to my sons and daughters-in-law: if you feel tempted to install hidden cameras around your homes to check that Mrs U is not too strict with the grandchildren, youd better find a new babysitter, double quick.
With the shriek of elderly beldames leaping on the piano stool after spying a mouse in their petticoats, the Western liberal intelligentsia has finally spotted the likely result of this Novembers U.S. presidential elections.

The results from the Iowa Republican caucus have exploded like thunder in every high-minded meeting place, and the reaction is always the same: sheer, gibbering funk.

In the editorial conferences of fine old U.S. and UK publications, the leader writers are having hysterics.

In the cocktail parties of Davos, I am told, the global wokerati have been trembling so violently that you could hear the ice tinkling in their negronis.

In the senior common rooms of our universities, in the synod of the Church of England, in the Orwellian corridors of the BBC and among much of the UK establishment there has been a caterwauling orgy of nose-holding abhorrence.

No! they are saying. Not him  not that man again!

Fie! La! Pah! Lawks a mercy and stap me vitals!

Yes, folks, the great orange dirigible is miraculously re-inflating across the Atlantic. The pachydermous human bouncy castle is rising again, writes BORIS JOHNSON

A Trump presidency could be just what the world needs. Let me stress that this is in no way to diminish the excellent qualities of Joe Biden, who has done many good things and who is a firm Atlanticist and friend to this country

Yes, folks, the great orange dirigible is miraculously re-inflating across the Atlantic. The pachydermous human bouncy castle is rising again. Following his sweeping victory in Iowa, Donald Trump is now the overwhelming favourite to be the

Republican nominee, and ahead in the polls to take the presidency.

The prospect has driven some people to the brink of virtue-signalling derangement.

According to The Economist: Donald Trump poses the biggest threat to the world in 2024.

Now, I love The Economist. But I wonder whether there is anyone on its staff who thinks they might be slightly over-egging it.

The biggest threat to the world? Trump?

If you look at the facts, you can actually make a case  and I may as well make it now  that a Trump presidency could be just what the world needs.

Let me stress that this is in no way to diminish the excellent qualities of Joe Biden, who has done many good things and who is a firm Atlanticist and friend to this country. Nor do I minimise Trumps egregious error of January 6, 2021, and the riot that followed on Capitol Hill.

As I have said ever since, he should have accepted the voters decision with good grace. But in the end this must be a matter for the American people, and all the signs are that they do not believe that he should be debarred from holding office again  any more than some senior Democrats should be debarred from office after they roundly denounced the legitimacy of the very narrow election victories of George W. Bush in 2000 and 2004.

The American people can see that none of Trumps bluster, and none of the events  ugly though they were  actually affected the eventual outcome, and that power was transferred peacefully and in accordance with the Constitution from one administration to the next.

Reasonable people can see that Trump is not, actually, a would-be dictator, and they have come to resent what look like legalistic ruses to axe him as a candidate. The more frenzied the effort to cancel him, the stronger he becomes. The more bitterly his enemies wage lawfare against him, the more unstoppable he seems to be.

Instead of hyperventilating and clutching our pearls, we need to look dispassionately at what happened in his last presidency as a guide to the future.

It was Trump who gave the Ukrainians those Javelin anti-tank weapons which  together with the UK NLAW missiles and other weapons  were so valuable in the battle for Kyiv

My thoughts, of course, go first to Ukraine.

It is the paramount struggle of our time, and we are still not doing enough to help that heroic nation. In the past two years Ukrainians have been laying down their lives, and bearing unimaginable hardship, in the cause of freedom  not just their own freedom, but the principles of freedom and democracy around the world.

They can, must and will win. That will mean patience and determination from their friends in the West  and so, yes, I am worried, frankly, by some of the defeatist nonsense I read, and I am alarmed by the thought that some members of the Republican Party seem to want to throw in the sponge, and consign a sovereign and democratic European country to darkness and tyranny. And so yes, of course, given some of the views that are glibly ascribed to Donald Trump on this subject, I have been pondering deeply what a Trump victory might mean for the war. What can we deduce from the record?

Well, ask yourself first: which American president was the first to stand up for Ukraine, after Putins invasion of 2014?

Was it the great liberal internationalist Barack Obama? No sir-ree.

He did nothing to push Putin out of Ukraine, either from Crimea or the Donbas. Nor did the French, nor did the Germans, and nor, frankly, did the UK government of the day which decided  mystifyingly  to wash its hands of the matter and entrust the fate of the Ukrainians to the morally bankrupt Normandy Format.

It was Donald Trump who gave the Ukrainians those Javelin anti-tank weapons which  together with the UK NLAW missiles and other weapons  were so valuable to the Ukrainians in the battle for Kyiv; and it was at least partly thanks to that bold decision by Trump that the Ukrainians were able to stun the world and send Putins armies scuttling from the Ukrainian capital.

So, whatever they now say about President Trump, I cannot believe that he will want to go down in history as the president who abandoned a country that he has already signally helped to keep free.

To all his Ukraine-sceptic supporters in the Republican Party, I say: how can you possibly make America great again if you allow a Russian tyrant to inflict a total humiliation on the West?

Trump will certainly demand that the Europeans pay more for their own defence  but then that is long-standing U.S. (and indeed UK) policy.

I simply cannot believe that Trump will ditch the Ukrainians; on the contrary, having worked out, as he surely has, that there is no deal to be done with Putin, I reckon there is a good chance that he will double down and finish what he started  by giving them what they need to win.

If that is the case, then there is every chance, under Trump, that the West will be stronger, and the world more stable. Can you really say that the world feels safer now than it did when Trump was president?

Everywhere, you see the malevolence of Iran, and of hostile actors backed by Iran.

We see Putin raining Iranian missiles and drones on Ukrainian civilians. We have seen Hamas  trained and funded by Iran  launch the biggest massacre of Jewish people since the Holocaust. Now, we see the Houthis using Iranian missiles to disrupt global shipping.

I ask you, in all seriousness  do you think any of this would now be happening if Donald Trump had been president for the past four years?

It was Trump who suddenly staggered the world, at the beginning of 2020, by violently liquidating Qasem Soleimani, the head of Irans Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The diplomatic world had conniptions. But we didnt hear much from Iran, for the rest of the Trump presidency, did we?

Or take Syria, where Bashar al-Assad  another client of Iran  poisoned his own people in 2013 with illegal chemical weapons.

What did America do, under Barack Obama? Nothing.

It was Trump who suddenly staggered the world, at the beginning of 2020, by violently liquidating Qasem Soleimanyi, the head of Irans Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps

And what did Trump do, when Assad did it again, and used poison gas against his own people in 2018?

With UK support, Trump hit him so hard, and destroyed so many of his planes, that Assad never used chemical weapons again.

You could certainly argue, on this evidence, that what the world needs now is a U.S. leader whose willingness to use force and sheer unpredictability is a major deterrent to the enemies of the West. If so, that leader is Trump.

You could argue that, after the nightmare of Covid, and the expansion of the state across the West, the world now needs a U.S. president who is an enthusiastic exponent of free markets and capitalism. If so, thats Trump.

You could argue that among the many things Brexit Britain should be doing is a proper free trade deal with a U.S. president who is actually interested in the subject. If so, Trump is your man.

It is quite incredible to listen to some of the sneering from European capitals. Madame Christine Lagarde, president of the European Central Bank, says that Trump is a threat to Europe.

Really?

Remember that in 2008 the Eurozone and the U.S. had about the same GDP  even though the population of the Eurozone is much bigger.

The Eurozone was worth $14.2 trillion, the U.S. $14.8 trillion. Fifteen years later the Eurozone is stagnant at $15 trillion  while the U.S. has rocketed ahead to an astonishing $26 trillion.

So yes, Christine, it is true that Trump sounds off against Net Zero and doesnt seem to care much about climate change  and I disagree with him on that.

But the fundamental problem with the current battle to cut carbon is that you need to be a little bit richer to afford an electric vehicle or a heat pump  and whatever you say about Trump, he has helped put American families in a better position to buy the new technology that can tackle climate change; and it is partly thanks to the economic policies of Donald Trump that U.S. car companies are making more battery-powered electric vehicles than the whole of the EU combined.

So who is the real environmentalist? And who  when you look at the sclerotic growth rates of the EU  is the real threat to Europe? Its not Trump. Its Christine Lagarde, and everyone who continues to impose the high-tax, high-regulation model on Europeans.

Lets face it: the real issue for the Trumpophobes is not foreign policy, or the environment, or the economy.

Its more about taste, and style, and his undoubted ability to wind people up. I suppose he has been caught saying a few unguarded things  but who hasnt? He who is without sin in this department, let him cast the first stone.

As it happens I have always found him, personally, a model of old-fashioned courtesy and good manners. I must confess the truth: I like his style. I like the vaguely African dance he does at his rallies, and I laugh at his essentially good-natured parodies of French president Emmanuel Macron and Biden.

Can you really say, after three years out of office, that his energies show any sign of flagging?

So to all my high-minded anti-Trump friends I say, calm down, folks. The more you froth and fret, the more determined his supporters will be  and a Trump victory will continue to migrate from possibility to likelihood to nailed-on certainty.

We all need to grow up and get used to the prospect. If he does the right thing and backs the Ukrainians  and I believe he will  a Trump presidency can be a big win for the world.
More than at any other time in his life, Prince Harry is at crossroads.

His 75-year-old father is heading to hospital for surgery, his sister-in-law is in the middle of a health crisis that requires weeks of recuperation, and his brother, William, has stepped back from work to care for those he loves.

Without question, this is the moment that Harry becomes irrelevant  or proves he is the man of character we once knew him to be.

Will the Duke of Sussex step up and be the adult his family needs, or will he continue to sulk from afar?

Prince Harry was a man much loved in Britain until the traumas of the past few years

Harry and Meghan at the Invictus Games in Dusseldorf, Germany, last September

For years, Harry has been preoccupied with Harry.

Everything has been seen through the lens of his own widely publicised suffering.

But right now, its not about him. Its not about being an heir or a spare, but a human with a heart. It is beholden upon him to show he genuinely cares.

We may expect a lot from this extraordinary family, but at heart we want from them what we want from each other: kindness and compassion.

It is when the great leveller that is illness comes to call that they are most like us.

Harry is a man with big feelings. And now, as he approaches his 40th birthday, this is the moment that he must channel his emotions outward rather than inward  perhaps for the first time since his mother died.

If hes smart, hell jump on a plane and fly to the UK.

He wont complain about security or where he might stay, but will be the man who  like thousands all over the country every day  downs tools to be with his family amid their challenges.

We know Harry has a huge heart.

This is the young man who felt deeply the suffering he saw in Africa, the soldier who had the mettle to fight in Afghanistan and the compassion to create the Invictus Games.

He was a man much loved in Britain until the traumas of the past few years.

Quietly, and without agenda, this is the moment that Prince Harry must grow up, let bygones be bygones and be there for those he loves.
The Labour Party and its trade union paymasters are up in arms about the terrible loss of 2,500 jobs at the Port Talbot steel works in South Wales.

They are right to be concerned. The massive Abbey steelworks has dominated the town's skyline since 1951 and been its lifeblood.

These job losses will cripple the local community and hit the whole South Wales economy, which is already in serious decline thanks to its disastrous devolution experiment.

Port Talbot is the latest victim of the Tory Government's headlong rush towards Net Zero carbon emissions which has pushed up British energy prices and made what's left of our heavy industry uneconomic.

So an easy target for a righteous Labour Party which still claims to speak for the interests of blue-collar workers.

Keir Starmer is pictured giving a speech at the National Composites Centre in the Bristol and Bath Science Park on January 4

The Labour Party and its trade union paymasters are up in arms about the terrible loss of 2,500 jobs at the Port Talbot steel works in South Wales

Except for one rather salient fact: at every Tory turn of the Net Zero screw, Labour has urged the Government to go further and faster.

Far from standing up for workers, Labour is in thrall to its middle and upper-middle class metropolitan activists who prioritise Net Zero over all else.

The Tories should be ashamed of presiding over a second deindustrialisation of Britain these past 14 years, so soon after the industrial carnage of the Thatcher era. But Labour's crocodile tears are hard to take. The hypocrisy and double-think is astounding.

The sad truth is that all Britain's major political parties are failing ordinary British people. They are unanimous in their support of Net Zero, whatever the cost in terms of lost jobs, prosperity, energy security or economic growth.

The pressure is always to do more, never less. The political elite and its media acolytes wallow in their green virtue-signalling while plain folk scratch a living on the dole or in low-paid, low-skilled jobs because Net Zero has destroyed the well-paid industrial jobs which once gave them a modest prosperity.

Major parties are failing ordinary British people

It's hard to think of a policy more inclined to fan the flames of populism in the years to come.

Port Talbot is the UK's largest steelworks. It's owned by an Indian conglomerate, Tata Steel, which, with British Government encouragement, is replacing its blast furnaces with an electric arc furnace that will emit less CO2.

It also requires less labour, hence the 2,500 job losses, most of which will go in the next 18 months. These losses are the direct consequence of the Government's Net Zero strategy.

The Tories are so keen on pursuing it that they're even stumping up 500 million of taxpayers' money to help Tata meet the 1.25 billion cost of converting to the electric arc process.

So, in effect, the Government is using our money to pay Tata to shed jobs. Such is the zealotry behind Net Zero. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak says the alternative is the complete closure of the plant  and it's true that Port Talbot has been losing Tata money for years.

But that's largely because the high cost of British energy makes such heavy industries uneconomic  and that, in turn, is a direct consequence of the dash for Net Zero and the higher cost of renewable energy that strategy entails.

A giant sign reads 'Save Our Steel' outside Port Talbot, South Wales

UK industry has been paying prices for electricity 60 to 80 per cent higher than French or German industry: 113 per megawatt hour in the UK versus 61 in France and Germany.

In the first two decades of this century, British electricity prices doubled, even when the price of the natural gas generating much of it was falling (before Russia's invasion of Ukraine) because of the extra cost of renewables essential to the Net Zero strategy.

So it's hardly surprising our industry has struggled to compete, especially when you realise that industrial energy prices in India and China are just one third of even Europe's lower energy prices.

Port Talbot is merely the latest victim of Net Zero. Other steelworks have already fallen by the wayside. Our last aluminium smelter at Lochaber in Scotland is only kept afloat by vast taxpayer subsidies. Scotland's last oil refinery, at Grangemouth, was recently scheduled for closure.

The irony is that decimating our heavy industry does not, in fact, reduce global CO2 emissions. It is reckoned that converting Port Talbot to greener electric arc production will cut our CO2 emissions by 1.5 per cent.

Chinas CO2 emissions rose 13 per cent in the past decade, swamping any cuts we have made

But that will be swamped by the rise in CO2 emissions elsewhere as we import more steel from countries, especially China, which still generate electricity with dirty coal.

China's CO2 emissions rose 13 per cent in the past decade, swamping any cuts we have made under Net Zero. It now accounts for over 50 per cent of the world's coal-fired electricity generation.

Permits for new coal-fired power plants are now at their highest since 2015 (when China signed the Paris climate accord, pledging to cut emissions  an accord now of largely historic interest).

Some 305 new coal power plants capable of generating almost 400 gigawatts of electricity are in the pipeline. Last year Chinese coal output hit a record 4.66 billion metric tons.

That is the dirty power which will make the steel Britain will now import in the years to come. It is an absurdity but it will not stop our political class from dining out on and preening about how they've cut our emissions by another sliver  while the laid-off workers of Port Talbot shiver.

British voters are currently more concerned about sweeping away the Tories than protesting about Net Zero

Others witter on about flooding old industrial communities with green jobs. A cruel deception if ever there was one.

There are no green jobs in quantities worth speaking about. The shambles is nothing short of a scandal which shames the whole political class.

Self-inflicted deindustrialisation is not just a British problem. It is European-wide. Even Germany, the continent's mightiest industrial powerhouse, is suffering from it, thanks to the Net Zero obsessions of its own political elite.

Flagship German industrial names, such as chemical giant BASF, have started moving production to the U.S., where energy costs are much lower. This week, the country's last producer of solar panel parts announced it was also switching production to America.

European trade unions have started to panic. Industrial production in the European Union fell 6 per cent last year.

'Factories are closing and jobs are being cut in the very sectors that lifted Europe to where it is today,' says the European Trade Union Confederation, 'especially in energy-intensive sectors such as the aluminium, fertiliser, and chemicals industries.'

The lack of investment we are seeing today is already having dramatic implications for working communities.'

The populist Right will make major gains

Another pan-European trade union group talks openly about Europe's 'industrial decline and the threat of deindustrialisation'.

I suppose it is progress of a sort that, at last, they recognise the problem. But like our own unions, with the honourable exception of the GMB, they lack the guts to break from the Net Zero consensus.

The price that ordinary families and communities are paying for Net Zero is a major factor behind the populist resurgence in continental Europe, from France to Germany to Italy.

It will explain why the populist Right will make major gains in this June's elections to the European Parliament and in national elections thereafter, as it already has in previously moderate political systems such as Holland and Sweden.

In Britain, the populist backlash will be delayed.

But it is coming nevertheless. British voters are currently more concerned about sweeping away the Tories than protesting about Net Zero.

But if, as looks likely, that leads to a Labour government even more zealous in its pursuit of Net Zero than the current Tory Government, then backlash there will be.

Labour will meet a wall of resistance and the Tories in opposition will forget their Net Zero sins and rush to capitalise on it.

By the time Keir Starmer is well-ensconced in No 10, there will be plenty of examples of European resistance to encourage British insurgents opposed to Labour's radical green orthodoxy.

The rest of this decade will be proof positive that, if you really want to give the populist Right a leg-up, just carry on with the helter-skelter race to Net Zero.
A cocktail dress from the collection of Diana, Princess of Wales, and an ensemble worn by Princess Grace of Monaco to meet John F Kennedy at the White House, have gone under the hammer for $325,000 (256,000) each.

The high-profile fashion looks were sold as part of an auction entitled Unstoppable: Signature Styles Of Iconic Women In Fashion at Julien's Auctions in Los Angeles.

Princess Diana's nautical-inspired velvet dress, which was designed by Catherine Walker and worn to a private event in 1993, far exceeded its estimate of $100,000 and $200,000.

It comes after a Jacques Azagury dress worn by Diana in Florence, Italy, in 1985 set a new world record for the most expensive dress worn by the former royal at auction -selling for more than $1M in December.

Meanwhile, a tweed green ensemble worn by the Academy Award-winning actress Grace Kelly, from the golden age of Hollywood, also far exceeded its estimate of $60,000 to $80,000.

Catherine Walker designed the black silk velvet dress for the people's princess who wore it at a private function in 1985

A stunning cocktail dress made for Princess Diana by one of her favourite designers has emerged for sale for 160,000 ($200,000) held by Julien's Auctions, in Los Angeles , California

Diana wearing a similar off the shoulder black dress, by Christina Stamboulian, during a party at the Serpentine Gallery in London in 1994

The US star, who would later retire from acting at the age of 26 to become the Princess of Monaco, wore the Givenchy outfit in 1961 when she and her husband, Prince Rainier III, met President Kennedy and First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy at the White House.

Further items that topped the sale included the three-tiered tutu worn by Sarah Jessica Parker in her Emmy award-winning role as Carrie Bradshaw in the opening credits of Sex And The City.

The tutu, found by Patricia Field who was the creative maven behind all the looks on the hit show, also surpassed its estimate of $8,000 to $12,000, selling for $52,000 (41,000).

Meanwhile, a John Galliano for Christian Dior newsprint silk strapless dress, which became a fashion must-have when Parker wore a similar version in the hit series, sold for $11,430 (9,000).

Royal attire worn by Diana, Princess of Wales and Grace Kelly were part of the Unstoppable: Signature Styles Of Iconic Women In Fashion auction at Julien's Auctions in Los Angeles

Also up for grabs is a Givenchy wool, tweed sleeveless dress with matching tweed jacket and white hat worn by Princess Grace of Monaco in 1961 to meet President Kennedy at the White House. It is valued at 64,000

Prince Rainier and Princess Grace of Monaco at the White House to meet President Kennedy in 1961

The collection of high-profile outfits also included a Burberry trench coat worn by late pop star Whitney Houston to a Moroccan music festival in 2008, which sold for $4,550 (3,600).

Martin Nolan, co-founder and executive director of Julien's Auctions, said: 'This showstopping collection of exquisite garments adorned on the royals, Princess Diana and Princess Grace of Monaco, and the street wear style tutu worn on Hollywood icon Sarah Jessica Parker that made fashion statements at the time of their appearances, are now a part of auction history.

'Today's auction's results amplify the value and collectability of these fashion looks that became some of the most iconic style moments of our time.'
READ MORE: The most scandalous celebrity outfits of 2023

Despite having access to the most coveted designers and stylists, countless celebrities still suffer from wardrobe malfunctions on the red carpet.

Sydney Sweeney, 26, recently revealed that ill-fitting garments are due to outfits being loaned as samples, often not catering to her voluptuous physique.

The Euphoria actress continued to explain that these garments cannot be cut or altered as they need to be returned after each event.

Sydney isn't alone; Emma Stone also appeared to have a wardrobe malfunction when she attended the AFI awards lunch in Los Angeles last week.

The petite Poor Things star, who was decked out in Louis Vuitton, displayed a set of billowing sleeves that extended past her fingertips.

Sydney Sweeney is pictured at the LACMA Art+Film Gala in Los Angeles on 5 Nov 2022

Emma Stone attends the AFI Awards at Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles at Beverly Hills on 12 January 2024

Sydney has experienced her fair share of red carpet fails over recent years.

Attending the 2022 LACMA Art and Film Gala, the actress opted for a pastel pink ensemble by Giambattista Valli that championed the balletcore trend.

Yet, her plunging mini dress drew attention for its snug fit across her chest, resulting in a compressed appearance of her breasts.

The decision to pair her dress with pointe shoes also offended a number of professional ballet dancers, who claimed Sydney's incorrect posture could be potentially dangerous.

In the TikTok clip, the actress acknowledges the challenge of finding the perfect dress and commends Miu Miu and Armani for being two labels willing to modify designs to suit her.

Elsewhere, Jenna Ortega, 20, showcased an ill-fitting monochrome outfit while attending the world premiere of Scream VI in 2023.

Hailing from Jean Paul Gaultier's fall 2022 Couture collection, the tuxedo-inspired dress sported a deconstructed aesthetic.

However, rather than working in harmony, the oversized mini dress and off-the-shoulder blazer both drowned Jenna's svelte figure.

Jenna Ortega attends the Scream VI film premiere in New York on 6 March 2023

Kylie Jenner poses for photos at the 2023 Met Gala celebrating Karl Lagerfeld: A Line Of Beauty at The Metropolitan Museum of Art on 1 May 2023 in New York

It's safe to say all eyes were on Kylie Jenner as she took the 2023 Met Gala red carpet in a scarlet gown.

The lip kit mogul, 25, looked ravishing in a custom-made Jean Paul Gaultier asymmetrical dress with a thigh-high leg slit that showed off her toned pins.

The striking ensemble also featured a matching two-toned robe, which is where the issues began.

The combination of an oversized silhouette and slinky fabric caused the piece to continuously slide off Kylie's shoulders - and she ended up ditching it altogether.

Just last week, Emma Stone received criticism for a Louis Vuitton outfit that appeared to be several sizes too big.

Attending the AFI awards lunch in Los Angeles, the Oppenheimer star opted for a black and white outfit, incorporating an extra-large blouse and a ruffled maxi skirt.

Unfortunately, the latter was evidently not tailored for Emma's petite frame, with the sleeves extending past her fingertips.

Sydney Sweeney, 26, often has he ample assets falling out of dresses

Poncho penchant: Oppenheimer star Emily Blunt appeared at the AFI awards in Los Angeles on Friday wearing a cream Louis Vuitton tuxedo-style jacket that dwarfed her tiny frame

Open all hours: Florence Pugh's jacket appeared unflatteringly tight and was only buttoned down halfway to her toned midriff

Oppenheimer star Emily Blunt appeared at the AFI awards lunch in Los Angeles on Friday wearing a cream Louis Vuitton tuxedo-style jacket that dwarfed her tiny frame so much it looked more like a poncho.

The British star, 40, of The Girl On The Train and The Devil Wears Prada, who is reportedly worth more than 60 million, paired her over-sized suit with a 5,000 calfskin Petite Malle Bag, also from the French fashion house.

Emily's Oppenheimer co-star Florence Pugh followed sporting an almost identical look  but appeared to have the opposite problem.

Her jacket, by Stella McCartney, appeared unflatteringly tight and was only buttoned down halfway to Florence's toned midriff.

The outfit is part of the British designer's Spring 2024 collection, which Florence, 28, paired with a silver clutch bag.
A top sommelier has reacted to a new report that suggests removing large 250ml wine glasses from pubs, bars and restaurants is better for our health, saying people should think 'quality not quantity' when it comes to wine.

Sommelier Sebastian Zaleczny, who has worked at Tom Kerridge's The Hand and Flowers and is now at coveted South Coast eatery Catch at The Old Fish Market, says that the news that larger glasses of vino could soon be a thing of the past is no surprise - and that he's seen a steady decline in the 90s trend for 'goldfish bowl' vessels in recent years.

This week, it was revealed that University of Cambridge researchers had asked 21 licensed premises  mainly pubs  in England to remove the largest serving of wine glass for four weeks, to see whether there would be an impact on how much was consumed.

The Beckhams are known to be partial to drinking wine from a larger glass, but the 'fish bowl' vessels could soon be axed, after a new report found that removing the biggest serving can reduce how much wine bars and pubs sell by around 8 per cent

Wine is the most commonly consumed alcoholic drink in the UK and Europe. It is usually offered in three glass sizes  125ml, 175ml and 250ml.

The report found that removing the biggest serving can reduce how much wine bars and pubs sell by around 8 per cent.

Studies have said the introduction of the larger measure encourages drinkers to consume more.

Analysis, published in the journal Plos Medicine, revealed that removing the 250ml option led to an average decrease of 420ml of wine sold per day per venue  the equivalent of a 7.6 per cent decrease.

Sommelier Zaleczny, who's also worked at five-star hotel Chewton Glen, told Femail, go small or go home is increasingly people's mantra.

He said: 'In recent years, we've seen people going for several smaller glasses of wine rather than going for the whole bottle - because people have become a bit more health conscious and are trying to spend less when dining out.'

Sommelier Sebastian Zaleczny, who is assistant manager at upmarket South Coast eatery Catch at The Old Fish Market, told Femail that he's seen less people asking for large glasses in recent years - and says wine can get warm, or lose flavour if portions are too big

The drinks master said that even two years ago, people might have ordered a whole bottle of wine to drink with a meal, while now 'they will settle for a small glass or two.'

His current restaurant, Catch at The Old Fish Market in Weymouth, has never had the largest sizes amongst its regular glassware.

'At the restaurant we have never had 250ml as an option and it has never been requested. It should certainly be quality over quantity.

'250ml is just too much; white wine will get far too warm sitting in the glass, and red wine opens better with a smaller amount of liquid in a larger glass.'

Removing the biggest serving  in most cases the 250ml option  can reduce how much wine bars and pubs sell by around 8 per cent, a new study suggests

However, larger vessels may not quite be dead yet, Zaleczny says wine drunk from big glasses often tastes better.

He explains: 'Drinking a nice glass of chardonnay from a larger, wider glass will concentrate the aroma and help balance the sweetness and acidity, or a beautiful pinot noir in a large bowl glass will highlight the rich characteristics. People often prefer to have a larger glass with a smaller amount of wine in it.'

READ MORE: How Britain's drinking habits have changed dramatically since the 1960s

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The sommelier thinks that the report's findings - that removing the biggest serving can reduce how much wine bars and pubs sell by around 8 per cent, may see glass sizes reduced even further, as people become increasingly aware of the impact of alcohol on their health.

He says: 'In terms of people being more health conscious, losing the 250ml size will help cut down on larger portions and in this respect potentially the medium size will also follow suit.

'Wine should be enjoyed for its flavour and quality, not its volume.'

Alcohol consumption is the fifth largest contributor to premature death and disease worldwide.

According to the World Health Organization, the harmful use of alcohol resulted in approximately 3million deaths across the globe in 2016.

This week's report found no evidence that sales of beer and cider increased, suggesting that people did not compensate for their reduced wine consumption by drinking more of these alcoholic drinks.

There was also no evidence that it affected total daily revenues, implying that the participating pubs and bars did not lose money as a result  perhaps due to the higher profit margins of smaller glasses of wine.

Latest data, gathered by the World Health Organization and compiled by Oxford University-backed platform Our World in Data, shows the UK's wine consumption has soared to 3.3 litres of pure alcohol annually (2019), up on the 0.3 litres recorded almost 60 years earlier in 1961. It now accounts for over a third (33.7 per cent) of all alcohol consumed across the country and sits almost level with beer (36 per cent) which has plummeted from the 5.8 litres logged in 1961 to 3.5 litres today

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First author Dr Eleni Mantzari said: 'It looks like when the largest serving size of wine by the glass was unavailable, people shifted towards the smaller options, but didn't then drink the equivalent amount of wine.

'People tend to consume a specific number of "units"  in this case glasses  regardless of portion size.

'So, someone might decide at the outset they'll limit themselves to a couple of glasses of wine, and with less alcohol in each glass they drink less overall.'

According to the researchers, even though removing the largest serving glass would potentially be acceptable to pub or bar managers, given there was no evidence that it can result in a loss in revenue, a nationwide policy would likely be resisted by the alcohol industry given its potential to reduce sales of targeted drinks.

On average, one in five Brits (22.8 per cent)  roughly 9.4million  exceed the weekly NHS recommendation, official data shows. This rate has shrunk, however, on the one in four adults recording more than 14 units per week between 2011 and 2014. But the highest rates of alcohol consumption are in the least deprived areas, with the least socioeconomically deprived decile logging a rate of 24.1 per cent

The NHS recommends people drink no more than 14 'units' of alcohol  around six glasses of wine, or pints of beer  per week. This itself has been watered down over the past few decades in light of studies illustrating the health dangers of alcohol

According to OECD data released last year, nearly one in five adults reported binge drinking at least once a month, on average across 29 OECD countries in 2019. The figure varies 10-fold, from less than 3 per cent in Turkey to more than 30 per cent in Germany, Luxembourg, the UK and Denmark

Public support for such a policy would depend on its effectiveness and how clearly this was communicated.

Professor Dame Theresa Marteau, the study's senior author, said: 'It's worth remembering that no level of alcohol consumption is considered safe for health, with even light consumption contributing to the development of many cancers.

'Although the reduction in the amount of wine sold at each premises was relatively small, even a small reduction could make a meaningful contribution to population health.'

Evidence suggests that the public prefer information-based interventions, such as health warning labels, to reductions in serving or package sizes.

In this study, managers at four of the 21 premises reported receiving complaints from customers.
The first official photo of King Frederik of Denmark and Queen Mary have been revealed.

King Frederik, 55, ascended the throne on Sunday after his mother Margrethe abdicated after 52 years as Queen.

The regal portrait, which was posted to the Danish Royal Family's Instagram page this morning, was photographed from inside the royal Christiansborg Palace in Copenhagen.

The celebratory image featured the king and queen, 51, in full regalia, alongside the couple's elegantly dressed four children: Crown Prince Christian, 18, Princess Isabella, 16, and twins Prince Vincent and Princess Josephine, 13.

The scandal-laden prince took the Crown to become King of Denmark on January 14 2024, succeeding his 83-year-old's mothers phenomenal five-decade reign.

The Danish royal family have appeared in a stunning new family portrait for the first time since their crowning (Pictured left to right: Princess Isabella, 16, Crown Prince Christian, 18, King Frederik, 55, and Queen Mary of Denmark, 51, twins Prince Vincent and Princess Josephine, 13)

The regal portrait, which was posted to the Danish Royal Family 's Instagram page this morning, was photographed from inside the royal Christiansborg Palace in Copenhagen

Margrethe's decision to vacate the throne in honour of her eldest son astonished many, as it comes amidst a controversial year for the royals who have been plagued by stripped titles and salacious rumours.

It comes as a resurfaced interview revealed how Queen Mary almost never met then-Prince Frederik.

'I nearly didn't go that evening,' she told Vogue.

'The taxi arrived, and I said, 'Oh, all right' at the last minute and just got in.'

The interview was conducted in 2004, but was recently republished.

Mary and Frederik's fairytale romance has been under scrutiny in recent weeks.

King Frederick has faced intense scrutiny since photographs emerged of the then prince enjoying a night out with Mexican socialite Genoveva Casanova in Madrid last year.

The glamorous socialite strenuously denied claims of a romantic tryst with Frederik, even going as far as to dub them 'malicious'.

However in the newly released image, the monarchs have shown no sign of sweat or adversity, and can be seen beaming excitedly for the camera.

And while the royal couple looked incredibly distinguished, it was their eldest son Crown Prince Christian who stole the show

According to a translated statement accompanying the image, the portraits were taken just moments after the king's ascension

According to a translated statement accompanying the image, the portraits were taken just moments after the king's ascension. It read: 'The Throne Hall at Christiansborg Castle forms the frame for the first official portraits of Their Majesties The King and Queen.

'The portrait series was taken by photographer Dennis Stenild a few moments after the King's proclamation, which took place from the balcony of Tronsalen on the 14th. January 2024

'The Royal Couple is pictured together with The Crown Prince, His Royal Highness The Crown Prince, and Their Royal Highnesses Princess Isabella, Prince Vincent and Princess Josephine'.

In the images the king looked exceptionally dapper dressed in black kingly robes and a sky blue sash.

Queen Margrethe II announced her shocking abdication during a live television broadcast which aired on December 31 2023

The ensemble also featured gold and red detailing, as well stately gold medals and a waist belt. He also posed with a sword which he held in his left hand.

Standing beside him was his wife Queen Mary, who cut a stylish figure in a luxurious white gown.

She looked ethereal in the caped frock - an excellent choice as it highlighted her svelte figure.

The monarch teamed the look with a pair of nude high-heeled pumps and donned a gorgeous pair of bejewelled drop-down earrings.

Her brunette locks were styled neatly in a bun, while her make-up was the epitome of a natural, dewy glow.

And while the royal couple looked incredibly distinguished, it was their eldest son Crown Prince Christian who stole the show.

The charming prince - who's new status flags him as one of the most eligible bachelors in Europe - posed up a storm.

His modelesque pose was perhaps most eye-catching because he stood taller than the rest of his family, and most notably his father.

He looked suave in a navy blue suit, a crisp white shirt, a grey tie and black leather tie-up shoes.

The eldest son of Australian-born Queen Mary is now next in line to the Danish throne after his grandmother Queen Margrethe abdicated the throne five days ago.

Titled Crown Prince of Denmark, the 18-year-old is thought to be the only single royal with the prestigious status in the whole of Europe, meaning he's become quite the catch in high society.
It came shortly after Kelly called the journalist a 'hooker' in a podcast episode

She flaunted her legs in a new Instagram post, captioned 'Golden hour'

Lauren Sanchez has proven a few harsh words won't get her down, ignoring Megyn Kelly's criticism as she showed off her legs in a sultry new Instagram post - just hours after the former Fox News host blasted her for looking like a 'hooker'.

The fiancee of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos paid no mind to the brutal criticism when she posted the saucy snap, making no reference to 53-year-old Kelly's harsh comments in a recent podcast episode, in which she declared that Lauren, 54, 'like a hooker' while stepping out in a risque lace ensemble in Milan.

In the picture, Sanchez is posing in a sunset-inspired dress as she poses on a yacht with her bare legs out. As she adjusts her gold heels, her stunning engagement ring can be seen.

'Golden hour,' she captioned the snap, which appears to have been taken aboard her billionaire fiance's $500 million superyacht.

Lauren Sanchez, the fiancee of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos posted a sultry snap in the wake of Kelly's tirade against her in a podcast`

Megyn Kelly took aim at Lauren Sanchez in her latest Sirius XM podcast, saying the journalist looked 'like a hooker'

Sanchez was blasted in Kelly's Sirius XM podcast on Wednesday for her risque sheer-lace look as she stepped out in Milan for fashion week.

While some applauded the 54-year-old for embracing the 'mob wife' aesthetic, Kelly slammed her daring look.

'Im sorry, she looks like a hooker,' Kelly declared, after Sanchez wore a lace sheer Dolce & Gabbana dress with a black jacket draped around her shoulders.

'Shes going out in her lingerie now,' The Megyn Kelly Show host raged.

'Is the latest thing to wear a thong underwear and a sexy bra, and just some lace overlay on top of it?' she said in disbelief, urging the journalist to be 'more classy.'

'You're dating [one of] the richest men in the world. Try to be a little classy,' she fumed. 'Must everything be an expose of your obviously over enhanced assets?'

The podcast host insisted she wasn't a 'prude,' but wanted to make a comment as she feels 'like were losing something as a society.'

Kelly also alluded to Sanchez having plastic surgery, stating she looks 'nothing' like her old photos.

Sanchez and fiance Jeff Bezos in Milan this week. Kelly slammed the outfit and told her to 'have a little class'

The daring outfit consisted of a black thong, corset and lace dress , with some fashion fans saying she's embraced the 'mob wife aesthetic'

'I dont know what shes done to herself, but she looks nothing like she used to look,' Kelly said.

'I dont know what happened to the cheeks,' she said, adding Sanchezs 'breasts are out to here' and 'the face is pulled in, prodded'

'I don't want my daughter looking at that,' the mom-of-two continued. 'And I don't want my son's looking at it either. But we did...it was hard to avoid.'

'She's got the Kim Kardashian lips, she's made her nose so skinny, it looks like a pencil now,' Kelly continued.

'She's got like, what appeared to me to be cheek implants More and more young women are doing this.

'It's not about an objection to plastic surgery, it's about an obsession with turning yourself into this fake version of yourself... I find it like a sign of mental illness.

'It's extremely upsetting. It's just a massive turnoff to me. I really want to get in the heads of these young girls and say, Please don't do this.' she said.

Sanchez is yet to respond to Kelly's harsh words, other than her leg-baring Instagram post.

Sanchez and Bezos were in the Italian fashion capital to celebrate his 60th birthday and support her son, Nikko Gonzalez, walk in his first fashion show.
Former Finnish prime minister Sanna Marin enjoyed a meeting with her boss today - another former Prime Minister.

The 38-year-old former Finnish leader shared a photo of herself with the ex Labour Party leader and Dorin Recean, the prime minister of Moldova, during a meeting in the Swiss resort of Davos today.

Sanna, who served as PM of Finland from 2019 to 2023, is now working as a strategic counsellor for Tony Blair's Institute for Global Change, a London-based policy think-tank.

In the photos, the stylish Finn wore a chic fitted white short-sleeved jumper with gold button detail and a pair of navy trousers. Meanwhile Mr Blair, 70, looked sharp in a navy blue suit.

The former Finnish prime minister, Sanna Marin, shared a photo of herself in the Swiss resort of Davos with Tony Blair and Dorin Recean, the prime minister of Moldova, on Instagram today

Marin regularly posts on Instagram and followed up the photo with a snap of her being driven through the mountains of Switzerland as she left the meeting and headed back to Helsinki.

The Finnish former politician regularly meets political movers and shakers in her activism role - and shares both the jet-set meetings and her more relaxed travels with her million followers on Instagram.

Marin, who was known as the 'party Prime Minster' for going out and enjoying herself while in office, enjoyed a 'single girl summer' after losing the Finnish general election and divorcing her husband.

Holiday pit-stops in 2023 included Notre Dame with Finnish MP Ilmari Nurminen, a fellow Social Democratic Party MP who has been described by Marin as her 'bestie', and dentist friend Aapo Hettula.

Other snaps showed her enjoying a drink in a wine bar, posing with her former chief of staff Tuulia Pitkanen. She also headed to Flow - a music festival in Helsinki.

About last summer: The former Finnish Prime Minster Sanna Marin, who divorced her husband Markus Raikkonen last year, regularly shares Instagram photos showing her travels

The PM turned strategic counsellor pictured during a trip to Paris last year with Finnish MP Ilmari Nurminen (left), a fellow Social Democratic Party MP who has been described by Marin as her 'bestie, and dentist friend Aapo Hettula (right)

Close friends: Sanna pictured in a selfie with her former chief of staff Tuulia Pitkanen

Appearing much more like a typical 30-something rather than a former world leader, the 'rock star' politician opted for chunky heels with a mini skirt and bralette in a series of photos she shared to Instagram at the time.

The former Prime Minister, who was just 34 when she took office in 2019, also headed to LA in 2023 where she met list A-lister Sharon Stone among others in the Beverley Hills set.

While in Los Angeles she joined the Basic Instinct actress, 65, for a lunch at the Finnish Consulate. Sharon was invited for her was activism work.

It appears the pair became fast friends after discussing democracy, human rights, and equal opportunities over lunch.

Sanna shared a snap of the unlikely pair, Sharon gushed: 'You are so cool so smart and so beautiful. That must be too tough for the men to cope with.'

Sharon may be referencing Sanna's recent divorce. She split amicably with husband of three years, Markus Raikkonen in May.

While in Southern California, Sanna also shared snaps from the Beverly Hills Hotel - an exclusive A-list hangout. She also chatted to students at UCLA.

She stepped down from her role as chair of the centre-left Social Democrats party in 2023, after her party narrowly lost an election in April.
January 18, 2024: North Korea is energetically developing and testing new missile designs. The new missiles use solid fuel and are more reliable. At the same time North Korea continues to accuse South Korea of all manner of imaginary transgressions and uses those imaginary threats to justify all the money spent on missiles and nuclear weapons. This sort of thing has a higher priority than feeding hungry North Koreans. Anyone who follows Korean affairs regularly is familiar with the diatribes North Korea regularly delivers to South Korea.

What keeps North Korea busy recently is their increasing arms sales to Russia. North Korea has been supplying Russia with munitions for use against Ukrainian forces. By the end of 2023 North Korea had sold about 2.3 million, mostly decades-old, 152mm artillery shells to Russia. Weapons sales to Russia during the last two years have been an economic bonanza for North Korea and something of a life saver. The North Korean economy has been a wreck for decades and the socialist north was unable to come up with a politically correct way to deal with this. Before the Ukraine War came along and Russia found North Korea the best source of additional munitions and weapons, North Korea was facing its worst economic crisis since the Cold War, and substantial Russian subsidies, ended in 1991. In the 21st century more North Koreans discovered that South Korea was far better off economically and becoming more prosperous while the north sank deeper into poverty and a return of the starvation deaths last suffered in the 1990s.

Russia pays for most of the North Korea weapons via barter. Russia has supplies of food and technical advice on missile development that North Korea wants. The Ukraine War has been an economic lifeline for North Korea and a military one for Russia. Despite the Russian aid, there are still North Koreans who are suffering. This is especially true during the exceptionally cold winter. The need for firewood over the last decade has reduced the amount of territory covered by forests. South Korea had a similar problem and solved it by restoring forces to areas devoid of forests. In the north, the lack of firewood in rural areas has become a matter of life or death. In addition to the fuel shortage, theres also a food shortage that is made worse by rising food prices. With food less available, markets can charge more for what is available. Desperate searches for food and firewood are more successful for seekers of warmth. There are a lot of unguarded items that can be burned for warmth. Anything outdoors and unused is likely to disappear during cold weather and be turned into desperately needed heat. When springtime arrives, the absence of items and structures made of wood becomes obvious.

Because of the growing poverty in the north, fewer people are getting married and having children. Unmarried women who give birth often cannot afford to keep the child and give it up for adoption by a North Korean or Chinese couple. While the South Korean population is shrinking because affluent couples worldwide tend to have fewer children, in the north desperate shortages of food and much else have a similar impact on the birth rate.

Another item disappearing in the north is any desire to improve relations with South Korea. These southerners are eager to aid the northerners and there was a time when that aid was welcomed in the north. No more. South Korea has been declared an enemy of the north, despite growing efforts by southerners to aid the north. North Korean leaders see the affluence and prosperity of southerners as a threat to their ability to control North Korea and its deprived population. Democratic South Korea prospers while the socialist Kim dynasty misrules the north. Despite facing vigorous censorship efforts, more northerners are finding out about the prosperity in the south and why such affluence is denied to most northerners. Openly discussing this heresy in the north will get you arrested and eventually dead if you dont shut up.
The Radfords rallied their family together to raise funds for a 16-year-old with a rare type of cancer, an exclusive clip shows.

The young teenager, called Sophie, who is the daughter of their 'best friends' Jamie and Rebecca Walker, has Wilms' tumour, a type of kidney cancer, which she was diagnosed with in 2017, aged 10.

She had a 'good few years' being cancer-free - but it has sadly now returned.

And on Sunday's episode of 22 Kids & Counting - airing at 8pm on Channel 5 - Noel and Sue, parents of the UK's 'biggest family' with 22 children, brought their clan together to support the Walkers.

'Jamie and Rebecca have been there for us in really hard times,' the mother of the Morecambe-based brood told the programme. 'When we lost Alfie... and now they're going through this we just want to be there for them.'

The Radfords underwent a series of tasks to raise money for treatment, kicking off with an urgent video appeal to their social media followers.

In a clip for Sunday's 22 Kids and Counting, which airs on Sunday on Channel 5 and has been shared exclusively with MailOnline, the family struggle with the sun, but eventually rally together.

The Radfords rallied their family together to raise funds for a 16-year-old with a rare type of cancer - who is the daughter of their 'best friends' Jamie and Rebecca Walker

Next, the family also decided to bring in funds with a car boot sale, where 11-year-old Casper parted with a beloved Baby Yoda toy for the cause.

Finally, the brood came together - sporting matching bright yellow T-shirts - to run the Morecambe 5K, which they dubbed the Radford Relay to reach their target.

'Tell you what was really emotional was the start,' Noel told the show. 'And he brought us all forward and he explained what we were doing and the whole crowd just suddenly started clapping. It's all really brought it home.'

The Walkers, who are based in Edinburgh, were so touched by the family's dedication to their daughter's cause that they met them at the end of the finish line.

'Lovely that they've done this,' Rebecca said. 'It's really nice. We just felt we had to come down.'

Sue explained that the Walkers - who have nine children - have been incredible friends to the Radfords because they understand what it's like to have a large family.

She was also blown away by Sophie's optimistic attitude, especially during a beach trip to Cornwall taken by the two families in the episode, which is understood to have been filmed in the summer.

'When you look at Sophie, she's so positive and she's laughing and joking and you'd never even think that anything is wrong,' Sue, 48, said.

The young teenager, called Sophie, has Wilms' tumour, a type of kidney cancer, which she was diagnosed with in 2017, aged 10. Pictured in July

The Radfords underwent a series of tasks to raise money for treatment, kicking off with an urgent video appeal to their social media followers. Sue pictured hugging Sophie

'She's so incredible with how she deals with everything that's thrown at her, she really is. She's a total inspiration.'

Noel, 53, agreed, describing the teenager as 'a rock'. An emotional moment also showed Sophie's parents tearing up as they expressed how much they love their daughter.

'She's such a good person,' Jamie simply said, before bursting into tears and embracing his wife.

By the end of the episode, it was revealed that enough money was raised for the first stage of Sophie's treatment.

Four months later, it was shown that the teen had undergone an 'intensive course of chemotherapy'.

However, she's been able to tolerate it thanks to treatments paid for with some of the funds raised.

An emotional moment also showed Sophie's parents tearing up as they expressed how much they love their daughter. Both pictured

Sue was also blown away by Sophie's optimistic attitude, especially during a beach trip to Cornwall taken by the two families in the episode, which is understood to have been filmed in the summer

Sophie gets Vitamin C through a canula twice a week. The benefits of this procedure for cancer patients are still not proven - but her parents have praised its effects.

'We've seen an immediate difference,' Jamie said. 'Literally straight away you can see her colour changing, you can see her perking up.'

Rebecca said it's 'like she's not even having chemo'. Sophie's latest tumour has also shrunk.

Earlier in the episode, the teenager's mother also expressed her anxieties around Sophie's condition.

'It's such a rare cancer,' she explained. 'There's only around 70 children diagnosed with Wilms' tumour every year. I just feel like the NHS can't really offer us anything further.'

However, she added: 'I don't think we're holding onto false hope - I think genuinely, she can be cured.'

Sue explained that the Walkers - who have nine children - have been incredible friends to the Radfords because they understand what it's like to have a large family. Pictured creating their social media appeal

In the six years since being diagnosed, Sophie's twin sister Megan has experienced many of the same symptoms, including stomach and back pain, paleness and weight loss.

Megan even underwent a 'head-to-toe' MRI scan, which came back completely clear. Her doctors have called the phenomenon a 'twin thing'.

Speaking earlier last year, the girls' mother, said: 'When Sophie was first diagnosed, Megan had all the symptoms.

'People comment on how ill she looks all the time  she's even paler than her sister.'

She added: 'Every test under the sun has been done on her, and there's absolutely nothing wrong with her. It's so bizarre.'

Wilms' tumour is a type of kidney cancer in children, which most often affects those under the age of five.

It was named after Dr Max Wilms, who first discovered it, and around 90 children are diagnosed each year in the UK. In the US, there are 500 to 600 cases annually.

Sophie was diagnosed on October 25, 2017, after experiencing 'stomach bug-like cramps'. She had four weeks of chemotherapy and surgery to remove the tumour.

After an additional 27 weeks of chemotherapy, Sophie went into remission in April 2018.

Next, the family also decided to bring in funds with a car boot sale, where 11-year-old Casper parted with a beloved Baby Yoda toy for the cause

But in January 2020, a routine MRI showed 'something worrying' on her spine.

A doctor reportedly told Rebecca that Sophie's initial biopsy had seeded on her spine  meaning the needle inserted into Sophie's initial tumour had dislodged and spread cancer cells.

The Covid pandemic delayed further treatment  surgery and a three-week course of radiotherapy  but Sophie again went into remission in January 2021.

She then relapsed in December that year, and underwent chemotherapy until May 2022.

In November 2022, Sophie went into remission for a third time but following a check-up just a month later, doctors said her results were 'not good'.

In November of this year, the Walkers shared an update on Sophie's treatment with their Instagram followers following a consultation at Harefield Hospital.

Their daughter was due to have the tumours removed 'on the 7th December or the 4th January' before she starts chemotherapy.

'The surgery will cost around 30,000 but may have additional costs depending on the level of aftercare Sophie needs, the money raised so far has been spent on a whopping amount towards the first lot of Vitamin C which was 10k,' the post read.

In November 2022, Sophie went into remission for a third time but following a check-up just a month later, doctors said her results were 'not good'. Pictured in December 2022

What is a Wilms' tumour? Wilms' tumour is a type of kidney cancer in children. About 80 to 85 children in the UK develop a Wilms' tumour each year. It most often affects children under the age of seven. It is thought to develop from immature cells in the embryo. These cells are involved in the development of the child's kidneys while they are in the womb. The cells usually disappear at birth, but in many children with Wilms' tumour, clusters of primitive kidneys cells, called nephrogenic rests can still be found. The most common symptom is a swollen abdomen, which is usually painless. Sometimes a parent or carer may feel a lump in the abdomen which can be quite large. What are the symptoms? Swollen abdomen - often painless

Lump in the abdomen

Irritated kidney causing pain

Blood in urine

High blood pressure

Fever

Upset stomach How is a Wilms' tumour diagnosed? An abdominal ultrasound scan will be done first, followed by an MRI or CT scan of the abdomen and chest. This helps doctors identify where the tumour is and if the cancer has spread. Children will also have urine and blood samples taken to check their kidney function and most will have a biopsy to confirm the diagnosis. How is a Wilma' tumour treated? Children will have a combination of surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy to treat a Wilms' tumour. This will depend on the stage their cancer is at and whether it affects one or both kidneys. Advertisement

'The consultation fees for New York were around 7k, ongoing Vitamin C costs 250 each time and she needs this 2-3 times a week. The repurposed drugs and supplements are around 1K a month but help to, at the very least slow the disease progression.

'The Vitamin C is absolutely vital for Sophie because it keeps her well enough to continue with treatment, shes had a lot of chemotherapy and most children wouldnt be able to continue. Sophie is tolerating chemo so well and this is definitely all because of the Vitamin C.

'We are absolutely desperate for Sophie to continue with treatments, I know times are really hard for everyone right now especially at Christmas time but if you can spare a small amount to help save our daughter then it would be greatly appreciated.

'Thank you to everyone for everything, even just the messages of support and well wishes. These mean so much to us and we are humbled by how many people are helping fight for Sophie, we are grateful beyond belief.'

The Walkers also have a GoFundMe page where they raise funds for Sophie's treatment.

22 Kids & Counting is on at 8pm, Sunday January 21, on Channel 5
A first time mother was stunned to discover she was not only having one set of identical twins - but two.

Parents-to-be, Ebony Apps, 23, and Jayden, 21, who hail from Kempsey, New South Wales, Australia, were in total disbelief to discover they were expecting an extremely rare set of quadruplets.

Having previously experienced two miscarriages prior to the discovery, Ebony confessed she almost 'passed out' when she was told.

She added: 'Jayden had no words. There's nothing that could prepare you for that news.'

Ebony Apps, 23 and Jayden, 21 were were in utter disbelief when they discovered they were expecting two sets of identical twins

Ebony was overjoyed when she initially discovered she was pregnant last September, after previously suffering two miscarriages

The couple, who were actively trying to conceive, found out they were pregnant in September last year.

After previously suffering two losses, Ebony was thrilled to be pregnant again.

The parents-to-be believed they were welcoming one set of identical twins into the world when after attending their first scan.

But when they arrived to their second scan on October 26, the doctor gave them quite the surprise, revealing they were about to welcome double the amount.

The two were initially concerned about how they would cope with two babies in their one-bedroom apartment - let alone four.

'We went to our first ultrasound expecting just one baby, then we were told it was twins,' she said

'Then at our second scan, we were told we were having quadruplets that were two sets of identical twins.'

The expecting mother's pregnancy is rarer than your typical quadruplet pregnancy, as she is carrying two sets of identical twins.

At their first appointment, Ebony was told she was having twins, a factor the couple were concerned with adapting to, as they live in a one-bedroom apartment

But when they arrived to their second appointment, the doctor dropped the bombshell that Ebony was carrying two sets of identical twins - an incident one nurse hadn't seen in her 20 year career

'Our doctor told us that quadruplet pregnancies are around one in 700,000, and being pregnant with two sets of identical twins is even more rare.

'A nurse said that in her 30 years of experience, she has never seen this happen.'

According to CNN, the likelihood of having two sets of identical twins in a quadruplet pregnancy is one in 70 million.

Ebony admitted she almost fainted upon hearing the results - and her partner Jayden was so in shock he could not speak.

'We both went into a state of utter shock and we were so worried about how we would care and provide for four newborns, but I know that we will manage it.'

After overcoming the initial shock, Ebony shared that her quadruplet pregnancy has been going smoothly so far.

'Considering we found out that we are having four babies rather than just the one that we thought we would have, everything is working out,' she said

Ebony revealed that she almost 'passed out' when she heard her news - and it left her partner Jayden completely speechless

The chances of conceiving quadruplets is one in 700,000, however the likelihood of carrying two sets of identical twins is even rarer

Following the initial shock, Ebony is excited to find out what genders her babies will be, also divulging that her pregnancy has gone 'smoothly' so far

'We are moving into a new house next week and we are in the process of getting a bigger car too.

'I'm feeling pretty good about everything, but I am still really nervous about the birth.'

She added: 'We have our gender reveal coming up in the next few weeks, and I am so excited to find out what we're having. It'll be nice to know what I am growing..'

The due date for the four tots is in June, but because of the nature of the pregnancy, Ebony will be having a scheduled C-section in April.
Princess Eugenie exuded elegance at the Dior Homme fall/winter 2024-2025 show during Paris Fashion Week on Friday.

The 33-year-old daughter of Prince Andrew and Sarah, Duchess of York, graced the front row in a sophisticated all-black ensemble, featuring a pencil dress and tuxedo-inspired coat, at the glamorous event held at Ecole Militaire.

The look - a sleek Fendi dress, blazer and heels - is a far cry from her usual attire and more reminiscent of something Meghan Markle would wear.

Eugenie has stayed close to her 'dear cousin' Harry and visited the couple in California, perhaps suggesting she could be sharing style tips with Meghan.

Showcasing a glowing 'Jan tan', red lip and lashings of eyeliner, the mother-of-two appeared radiant following a luxurious getaway in Jamaica with her husband, Jack Brooksbank, 37, and sons, Ernest, two, and August, eight months.

Princess Eugenie exuded elegance as she attended the Dior Homme fall/winter 2024-2025 show during Paris Fashion Week

Meghan wore a similar look at a Women's Empowerment reception hosted by then Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson in 2018

Style princess! The royal exuded glamour in the front row

She expertly styled her outfit with a pair of classic court shoes, while her sleek brunette tresses fell over her shoulders.

She 'shrobed' her jacket over her arms - another styling tip loved by Meghan.

The royal is no stranger to 'shrobing', and loves to drape her coats over her outfits. In 2017, Meghan wore a burgundy leather coat over her shoulders at the Invictus Games, while she was first seen sporting the trend in 2014.

She joins other celebrities, such as Anna Wintour, Victoria Beckham, Kim Kardashian and Princess Diana, who have championed the look.

Meghan has also been previously linked to Dior. It had been speculated she would sign a 15million deal with the French fashion house, which did not come to fruition.

Kate Moss, her daughter Lila and Rita Ora led the stars attending the Dior Menswear fashion show at at Ecole Militaire in Paris on Friday.

Supermodel Kate, who recently celebrated her 50th birthday, cut a stylish figure for the event in a blue sleeveless top with a beaded embellishment.

The star also wore a pair of black trousers while she added height to her frame with a pair of knee-high leather boots.

The mother-of-two appeared radiant, showcasing glowing skin, a red lip and lashings of eyeliner

Eugenie wowed in an all-black ensemble, featuring a pencil dress and tuxedo-inspired coat, at the glamorous event held at Ecole Militaire

Benito Skinner, BryanBoy, Miss Fame, Younes Benjima, Eugenie of York, Nicolas Maury sit FROW

Meghan, Harry and Eugenie enjoying a night out together in Toronto for Halloween in 2016

Letting her blonde locks fall loose down her shoulders, Kate elevated her outfit with a navy shimmering handbag.

The model completed her look for the event with a pair of silver hoop earrings and a pearl bracelet.

Hitmaker Rita, 33, turned heads in a white turtle neck top with a matching jumper tied around her chest.

The singer also wore a pair of grey trousers and black shoes while she wrapped up in a navy coat on the way to the show.

Styling her locks into an updo, Rita added to her look with a pair of sunglasses and white earrings.

Also in attendance was Lewis Hamilton who showed off his trendy sense of style in a brown blazer and matching trousers.

The F1 racer, 39, also wore a low-cut V-neck top along with a pair of red tinted sunglasses for the show.

Meanwhile, Pharrel Williams turned heads in a white woolly jacket which he wore over a striped shirt and dark jeans.
The British royal family have entered a 'new era' of transparency regarding their health, Richard Eden has told Palace Confidential.

Speaking on the Mail+'s weekly talk show, the Daily Mail's diary editor said the British royal family have shifted from 'enigmatic statements' to providing full detail on their medical procedures.

Kate Middleton, 42, was admitted to The Clinic London in Marylebone for the planned procedure earlier this week. It is said to have been a success and the Princess is now 'doing well' in her recovery.

Just 90 minutes after, the palace revealed that King Charles III, 75, was diagnosed with an enlarged prostate and will attend hospital next week to be treated for the condition.

While the level of detail on the royal's health is uncommon, the weekly podcast's panel said it is beneficial to the public because it reduces the stigma for health conditions.

The royal family have become more transparent about their health conditions, Richard Eden (pictured) told Palace Confidential

Talking on the show, Richard said, 'I was really surprised when I read [the health announcements] because we've become used to... enigmatic statements.

'You would say "the Queen is suffering from periodic mobility issues" or they might say "Prince Philip is in hospital with an infection", and it would turn out he would be dying, they would give very little detail.'

'To give this full detail is very interesting,' he added.

It follows other developments, such as Sarah, Duchess of York, 64, who openly discussed her experience with breast cancer in the media.

In June, she had undergone a successful single mastectomy at King Edward VII's Hospital in London, and last month, she went on Lorraine to discuss her experience and stressed the importance of 'turning your cheek to joy'.

Richard explained: 'When she had her breast cancer operation, not only did she give a lot of detail, but she thought "you know what, I'm going to use this platform as an opportunity to try to do something to help to encourage other woman it's not be something ashamed of."'

'Often in royal circles poor health is seen as something embarrassing,' Richard said. He added: 'The King hopes to reduce the stigma'.

And it seems the King's plan prevailed because searches for enlarged prostate on the NHS website have surged after the King shared his diagnosis, new figures show.

King Charles hoped his honesty regarding his enlarged prostate would encourage other men with symptoms to get checked

There were 16,410 visits to the health services prostate enlargement page on Wednesday - equivalent to one every five seconds.

NHS England said this was 11-times more than the 1,414 hits recorded on Tuesday.

Experts believe the Kings desire to share his diagnosis of an enlarged prostate will lead to a rise in men with symptoms of the condition seeking help.

It is understood Charles, 75, was keen to share his diagnosis, in order to encourage other men who may be experiencing symptoms to get checked in line with health advice.

One in every three men over the age of 50 will have symptoms of an enlarged prostate including needing to visit the toilet more frequently, with more urgency and have difficulty emptying their bladder.

The Daily Mail has led the way championing prostate health for a quarter of a century.

Since 1999, the Mail has called for better diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer, encouraging men to stop dying of embarrassment.

It has led coverage of promising new treatments, including MRI-guided transurethral ultrasound ablation, which blasts tumours with sound waves and could also be used to treat enlarged prostates - known as benign prostatic hyperplasia.

Buckingham Palace said Charless condition was benign and he would be having a corrective procedure.

READ MORE: NHS doctor sparks backlash with 'irresponsible' and 'childish' claim that Princess Kate would have been sent home within a DAY had she been treated on the NHS - as he is accused of speculating what is wrong with her The Princess of Wales , 42, is recovering in hospital after planned abdominal surgery on Tuesday at the London Clinic in Marylebone. It is understood that her condition is 'non-cancerous'. But exact details have not been released by Kensington Palace, who announced the bombshell news yesterday. Pictured: Kate arriving for the royal carol concert at Westminster Abbey on December 8 last year Advertisement

Ian Eardley, consultant urological surgeon in Leeds and national clinical director for NHS England, said the condition becomes more common with age and will affect up to four in five men aged 75.

Its very, very common, at that age you would expect upwards of 70 per cent to 80 per cent of men to have an enlarged prostate, he said.

About half of them will have symptoms, and broadly speaking about half of them will become bothered to some extent by those symptoms.

To some extent it is an inevitable part of ageing for just about all men.

Asked about whether the announcement would lead to more people seeking help, Mr Eardley said: The nature of these things if it becomes public knowledge it will lead to more men seeking help. Thats a good thing.

He said that prostate problems have traditionally had a perception of being something you dont want to talk about and actually to be able to talk about it is a good thing, not least because the whole stack of things that we can do.

The majority of men do not need an operation.

The majority men just need to be checked out and they will often have their symptoms improved considerably by taking one pill or two pills, something that a GP can manage quite straightforwardly, he added.

Meg Burgess, a specialist nurse and Prostate Cancer UK, said: As the prostate gets bigger it can cause problems with emptying the bladder  if the prostate gets bigger it can squeeze on the urethra, the water pipe, and that can cause some urinary symptoms.

It is a benign condition, so its a non-cancerous condition.

Ms Burgess said not all men with the condition will have surgery, adding: It really depends on how much bother the symptoms are causing as to what the treatments might be.

In the first instance it might just be some lifestyle changes, looking at what youre drinking, how much youre drinking.

This NHS diagram shows how an enlarged prostate can begin to press upon the bladder and constrict the urethra a process that can cause various urinary problems

If the symptoms are causing more bother there are some medications that can be really helpful in treating symptoms, so for many men tablets will be enough to alleviate symptoms.

'But if medication isnt helpful there are a number of different surgical options that can help to reduce the symptoms and improve bladder emptying.

She said the most common surgical option is something called a transurethral resection of the prostate (turp), a surgical procedure that involves cutting away a section of the prostate.

Around 15,000 prostate resection procedures are carried out each year in England and Wales.

She said any men who are having urinary problems or are worried about their risk of prostate cancer, which usually does not have any symptoms, should get in contact with their GP.

Other victories for Daily Mail prostate campaigns include the use of MRI scans for nearly all men suspected of having prostate cancer.

In November last year, health leaders announced a first-of-its-kind pilot that could revolutionise detection of the deadly disease, inviting thousands of men to come for screening using MRI scanners for the first time.

The announcement followed the relaunch of the End needless prostate deaths campaign.
A woman who travelled abroad for cosmetic surgery has been left in agony with dying nipples from a botched boob job,

Chloe Rose, 22, who lives in Halifax, West Yorkshire, went under the knife in Turkey after paying 2,800 for a breast uplift.

The mother-of-one woke from the four-hour surgery to find the operation had gone 'severely wrong'.

Friends with Chloe in Istanbul claims surgeons took too much skin from her breasts leading to a loss of circulation to her nipples, causing necrosis - the death of body tissue.

Her family and friends have launched a GoFundMe appeal to fly Chloe back to England for treatment after she was allegedly told to pay to stay in the Turkish hospital, where doctors have said to have denied negligence.

Chloe Rose, 22, (pictured) who lives in Halifax, West Yorkshire, went under the knife in Turkey after being 2,800 for a breast uplift

The mother-of-one woke from the four-hour surgery to find the operation had gone 'severely wrong'

Friends with Chloe (pictured after the surgery) in Istanbul claims surgeons took too much skin from her breasts leading to a loss of circulation to her nipples, causing necrosis - the death of body tissue

Friend Rachel Mucha, 22, who is in Istanbul with Chloe, told MailOnline: 'Chloe wanted to feel good and better about herself. She hated the way her boobs looked so she booked an operation in Turkey, where it's much cheaper than the UK.

'We flew out on Monday and she had the operation on Tuesday.

'The doctors said the operation went fine but when Chloe came around she was screaming in agony - she knew her body didn't feel right.

'She's been left with nipple necrosis where her nipples are dying. Now, we are stuck in a foreign country unsure of what to do.

'The doctor kept telling us 'it's fine' but it isn't fine. Chloe is in agony - she feels like she's going to die.

'We left the hospital because we couldn't afford to stay.

We want to fly home but we don't know if she will be allowed.'

Friend Rachel Mucha, 22, who is in Istanbul with Chloe, told MailOnline: 'Chloe wanted to feel good and better about herself. She hated the way her boobs looked so she booked an operation in Turkey, where it's much cheaper than the UK'

Rachel added: 'She's been left with nipple necrosis where her nipples are dying. Now, we are stuck in a foreign country unsure of what to do'

Friends and family have launched a GoFundMe appeal to bring Chloe home and want to raise 15,000 for an air ambulance

Chloe's friends shared graphic images on social media of her breasts after her operation. They show her nipple tissue turning black due to a lack of blood flow.

Friends and family have launched a GoFundMe appeal to bring Chloe home and want to raise 15,000 for an air ambulance.

Sister Collette Pickering said the operation went 'severely wrong'.

She wrote: 'Can anyone give us advice or find us some help?

'We are in Turkey and Chloe had a breast uplift - since surgery her nipples have lost blood circulation and died.

'The doctors have never admitted to a problem the whole way through they've just said everything is normal.

WARNING GRAPHIC CONTENT BELOW

Sister Collette Pickering said the operation went 'severely wrong'. She wrote: 'We are in Turkey and Chloe had a breast uplift - since surgery her nipples have lost blood circulation and died'

The mother-of-one's breasts were left bruised after the surgery that went wrong

Graphic images showed how she was left with 'dying nipples' after she got necrosis

The necrosis was caused by a lack of blood circulation to her nipples following the surgery

Chloe's family said the operation was booked via Instagram with a company with 'five star reviews'

'They have undone her stitches with a blade, wide awake, no pain relief as I watched and left her with open wounds for 48 hours.'

Collette said medics 'partially restitched' Chloe's nipples but added: 'They are dying more as the hours go by.

'They are now discharging her and If she wants to stay she must pay extra.

'They have a duty of care, she paid all that money for a safe operation and has been left to basically die.'

She added: 'Everything is just normal according to them.

'I've never seen anyone so young look so unwell in my life.

'The surgery should have taken 45 minutes, it took five hours. It should have been so simple.

'My sister came out in shock where she was convulsing on the bed. From that point on it was all downhill.'

Chloe's family said the operation was booked via Instagram with a company with 'five star reviews'.

Hundreds of Turkish clinics advertise to Brit customers online through targeted advertising on platforms like Facebook and Instagram.

Companies say their rates are subsidised by the government 'for promoting Turkey as a medical tourism destination'.

Most recent published figures show that 1,087,000 patients from 165 countries reportedly visited in 2019, contributing 8bn to the economy.

The Foreign Office has assured Chloe's MP that they are 'escalating the matter.'

Halifax MP Holly Lynch said: 'I was sorry to hear today about Chloe's terrible experience. My office have contacted the Foreign Office who assure me they are escalating the matter, we have also contacted Chloe's insurance provider to make representations on her behalf.

'I will continue to do what I can to support Chloe and her family in the days to come.'

To contribute to the GoFundMe, visit: https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-get-my-sister-chloe-home-to-save-her-life
Fears of an impending measles resurgence today sparked a national 'call to action' by health chiefs who are alarmed over vaccination rates slumping to a 10-year low.

As few as half of children have had both measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) jabs in parts of London.

Similarly low levels are also seen in Liverpool, Manchester and Birmingham.

Dame Jenny Harries, chief executive of the UKHSA, begged parents to check their child's immunisation status, warning that the public had 'forgotten what measles is like' and that it was still a 'serious illness'.

'Concerted action' is needed because the UK is currently on a 'trajectory for everything getting much worse', she said.

She also pleaded with the 'Wakefield generation'  adults born in the late 1990s or early 2000s  to check their own medical records.

Your browser does not support iframes.

In England, 89.3 per cent of two-year-olds received their first dose of the MMR vaccine in the year to March 2023 (blue line), up from 89.2 per cent the previous year. Meanwhile, 88.7 per cent of two-year-olds had both doses, down from 89 per cent a year earlier

Dame Jenny Harries (pictured in November), chief executive of the UKHSA, begged parents to check their child's immunisation status, warning that the public had 'forgotten what measles is like' and that it was still a 'serious illness'. She also pleaded with the 'Wakefield generation'  adults born in the late 1990s or early 2000s  to check their own medical records

Tens of thousands of children missed out on the MMR vaccine because of the now-debunked autism fears raised by discredited medic Andrew Wakefield.

Doctors today warned the rise of anti-vaxx beliefs in the wake of Covid may fuel the crisis.

Measles, which mostly produces flu-like symptoms and the tell-tale rash, can cause very serious and even fatal health complications if it spreads to the lungs or the brain.

One in five children who get infected will be hospitalised, according to estimates, with one in 15 developing serious complications like meningitis or sepsis.

The West Midlands is currently battling its biggest measles outbreak since the 1990s and triggered the UKHSA to declare a 'national incident'.

WHAT JABS SHOULD I HAVE HAD BY AGE 18? Vaccinations for various unpleasant and deadly diseases are given free on the NHS to children and teenagers. Here is a list of all the jabs someone should have by the age of 18 to make sure they and others across the country are protected: Eight weeks old 6-in-1 vaccine for diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, polio, Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib), and hepatitis B.

Pneumococcal (PCV)

Rotavirus

Meningitis B 12 weeks old Second doses of 6-in-1 and Rotavirus 16 weeks old Third dose of 6-in-1

Second doses of PCV and men. B One year old Hib/meningitis C

Measles, mumps and rubella (MMR)

Third dose of PCV and meningitis B Two to eight years old Annual children's flu vaccine Three years, four months old Second dose of MMR

4-in-1 pre-school booster for diphtheria, tetanus, polio and whooping cough 12-13 years old (girls) HPV (two doses within a year) 14 years old 3-in-1 teenage booster for diphtheria, tetanus and polio

MenACWY Source: NHS Choices Advertisement

Unvaccinated children who have been in contact with an infected person are being forced to stay at home for up to three weeks in a bid to contain the virus, which is one of the most contagious known to mankind.

Officials say the outbreak in the West Midlands is spreading because of low vaccine rates.

As a result, Dame Jenny warned that other inner-city areas faced the same threat of a measles crisis.

She said: 'With vaccine uptake in some communities so low, there is now a very real risk of seeing the virus spread in other towns and cities.

'Children who get measles can be very poorly and some will suffer life-changing complications.

'The best way for parents to protect their children from measles is the MMR vaccine. Two doses give lifelong protection and it's never too late to catch up.

'Immediate action is needed to boost MMR uptake across communities where vaccine uptake is low.'

Two doses of the MMR vaccine offer up to 99 per cent protection against the trio of illnesses, which can lead to meningitis, hearing loss and problems during pregnancy.

At least 95 per cent of the population needs to be vaccinated to prevent outbreaks, under public health guidance.

But nationally, the proportion of five-year-olds who are fully jabbed has fallen to 84.5 per cent  the lowest in more than a decade.

In the West Midlands more than 300 cases have been identified since October. Up to 50 children have been hospitalised in the past month alone.

Pop-up vaccination clinics are now being set up to curb the worst outbreak of the disease since the 1990s, according to the Association of Public Health Directors.

Ahead of a visit to Birmingham, Dame Jenny told BBC Radio 4s Today programme that people have 'forgotten what measles is like'.

She added: 'The focus this morning obviously is on the West Midlands and Im going there, but I think the real issue is we need a call to action right across the country.

'We had established measles elimination status in the UK, but in fact our vaccination rates now have dropped on average to about only 85 per cent of children arriving at school having had the two MMR doses.

'In the West Midlands, thats in some areas down to 81 per cent, (and) if we go down to the Surrey Heartlands Integrated Care Board area, thats just over 70 per cent.

'So we are well under the recommended coverage that the WHO recommends.'

Vaccine uptake also differs among communities, she acknowledged.

Asked which communities, Dame Jenny said: 'This is an important point, I think, for the West Midlands, for those in Muslim communities, they will be not keen to take up one of the MMR vaccines that we offer which has a pork-based derivative.

'But its really important that theyre aware there is a non-porcine vaccine which is available to them and very effective.

'So its that sort of understanding and ensuring that knowledge is available to people so they can make choices.'

She also pointed to low vaccination rates among young adults and their risk of contracting the 'serious illness'.

Dame Jenny added: 'One of our most unvaccinated groups are young adults, so those from around 1998 to the 2004 birth cohort.

Latest UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) data shows there were 1,603 suspected measles cases in England and Wales in 2023. The figure is more than twice as high as the 735 logged in 2022 and an almost five-fold rise compared to the 360 cases reported in 2021

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'Many of those now of course will be in front line work so things like young teachers and its really important that they also get vaccinated with MMR.'

Uptake of the MMR jab collapsed in the late 90s and early 2000s in the wake of a 1998 study by the now discredited medic Andrew Wakefield which falsely linked the jabs to autism.

MMR uptake in England was about 91 per cent prior to Wakefield's study being published but plummeted to 80 per cent in the aftermath.

Dame Jenny said the vaccine programme in the UK is 'clearly not' where the UKHSA wants it to be, adding 'we want it to be 95 per cent'.

But she noted: 'Its quite common with vaccination programmes that when the risk is perceived to have gone away, then the concern to get vaccinated may drop off and so one of the reasons for flagging this today is to remind people that cases are still out there. This is a serious illness.'

UKHSA data shows there were 1,603 suspected measles cases in England and Wales in 2023.

The figure is more than twice as high as the 735 logged in 2022 and an almost five-fold rise compared to the 360 cases reported in 2021.

Suspected cases are based on official notifications by doctors making a diagnosis from clinical symptoms. While not all are later confirmed to be measles by lab tests, health chiefs warn that levels are clearly rising.

Latest NHS Digital also shows that up to four in ten children in parts of England haven't had both MMR jabs by the time they turn five.

Just 56.3 per cent of youngsters that age in Hackney, east London, were fully-protected against measles, mumps and rubella in 2022/23.

After Hackney came Camden (63.6 per cent) and Enfield (64.8 per cent).

Outside of London, the lowest uptake rates for both doses among five year olds were logged in Liverpool (73.6 per cent), Manchester (74.5 per cent) and Birmingham (75.1 per cent).

Measles is so infectious that nine in ten unjabbed children in a classroom will catch it if just one classmate has the virus, experts say.

Dr Hana Patel, an NHS GP said vaccine hesitancy in the wake of the pandemic was likely 'a contributing factor'.

She told MailOnline: 'There is evidence that has recently highlighted how the Covid pandemic has negatively impacted vaccination coverage, causing the largest reduction in global childhood vaccinations in thirty years.'

While 'vaccine misinformation started well before the pandemic', Dr Patel said: 'The impact on parental trust in vaccinations has been massive. In the past decade, we have seen a decline in the uptake of almost all routine vaccinations for children in England.'

Dr Simon Williams, a lecturer in psychology at Swansea University also told MailOnline that Covid vaccine misinformation will 'have had a "spillover" effect into other vaccines'.

He said: 'Vaccine hesitancy has increased significantly in many countries over the past few years.

'In fact, a recent Unicef report found that people saw vaccine confidence drop in nearly every country studied.

'The drop in perceived importance of childhood vaccines was particularly high for young adults aged 35 and under, which is concerning as this is the age most likely to have or be soon having, young children.'

More than 300 cases have been identified in the West Midlands since October. Birmingham Children's Hospital (pictured) has also seen 50 children needing treatment for the virus in the last month

He added: 'A major factor in this is misinformation. The misinformation about Covid vaccines being spread during the pandemic, will in some cases have had a "spillover" effect into other vaccines  with more people worried about side effects.'

Meanwhile, Dr Ronny Cheung, of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, also pointed to vaccine hesitancy and people being unaware that they could come forward for MMR jabs as reasons for the measles resurgence.

He said parents were more likely to display 'wider vaccine hesitancy in general' or say that they were unaware that they could catch up on vaccines if they had missed the initial offer.

He said that there is also an element of vaccine 'fatigue', adding: 'Some people just don't want to talk about vaccines anymore when we talk about them.'

In the wake of the UKHSA's announcement this week warning of the heightened risk of measles, social media websites including X and Facebook have also seen comments linking autism with the jab.

One read: 'My nephew is autistic. His injury was from the MMR vaccine', while another argued 'My ex is forcing my Son to get it! I dont want him to.'

Some experts, however, have also pointed to the pandemic which led some children to miss out on routine vaccinations, as well as rising pressures on primary care and a reduction in health visitors.

Dr Williams told MailOnline: 'Another big factor is the pandemic disruptions.

'This disrupted vaccine programmes in many countries including the UK, for various reasons, including vaccine supply disruptions, disruptions due to school closures and lockdowns.'

Resources being diverted due to Covid and illness among those involved in other vaccine programmes are also to blame, he said. '

So now we are playing catch up,' he added.

Prof Helen Bedford, Professor of Childrens Health, UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, also said: 'It is too easy to blame anti-vaccine sentiment for the measles outbreaks.

'Although some mistrust of vaccines may play a small part, research shows that parental vaccine confidence remains high.

'While we need to be aware of anti-vaccine sentiment, it is not by any means the whole story.'

She added: 'However, the pandemic, with new vaccines introduced and vaccination constantly discussed, may have resulted in the public having more questions about vaccination: its safety, effectiveness and, for a disease like measles which had become rare in the UK, its necessity.'

Dr David Elliman, community paediatrician at Great Ormond Street Hospital, also said: 'Blaming the low levels of vaccination on so-called anti-vaxxers is lazy and dangerous, because it diverts attention from more important issues.

'The first priority should be to ensure that parents know when their child should be immunised and make it easy for it to be done.

'There is no upper age limit for administration of the vaccine. The second dose can be given any time from 18 months onwards. It will be routine to do so from next year and is already done so in some parts of South London.'

Uptake of the MMR jab collapsed in the late 90s and early 2000s in the wake of a 1998 study by the now discredited medic Andrew Wakefield (pictured) which falsely linked the jabs to autism . MMR uptake in England was about 91 per cent prior to Wakefield's study being published but plummeted to 80 per cent in the aftermath

He added: 'Second should be to recognise that parents understandably have questions about vaccinations, possibly more since Covid.

'Most, given time to talk to a trusted healthcare professional such as their practice nurse, health visitor or GP, will be reassured. This does take time, but is frequently well rewarded.

'There are very few parents who do not want their children immunised. Although we may disagree with them, and I do profoundly, using pejorative terms is not appropriate.'

Among the measures taken to combat the rise include unvaccinated children in the West Midlands being forced to isolate for up to three weeks amid the region's biggest measles outbreak since the 1990s.

In a letter to parents, Birmingham City Council warned that pupils who have not had the vaccine  given to children aged one, followed by a second dose at three years and four months  will be told to isolate for 21 days if they are exposed to measles.

The three-week isolation advice was first issued by the UKHSA in 2019.

But worries about low uptake and a surge in cases prompted councils, including some in London, to distribute a reminder about the policy in recent months.

Under the guidance, children are banned from school and told not to mix with other children and those considered vulnerable  babies, pregnant women and those who are immunosuppressed. But they can still leave their homes for other activities.

Health chiefs say that while it is disruptive, the three-week isolation prevents measles from taking off among children  which could see more become seriously unwell.
Scientists today drew flak for pushing the idea that pubs and bars should consider scrapping large wine glasses.

University of Cambridge experts suggested that stopping Brits from being able to order 250ml measures of Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc or Merlot would help to cut alcohol consumption.

They based this on a trial involving 21 pubs and bars, which found that removing the biggest serving of red and white from their menu reduced wine sales by about 8 per cent.

Removing the 250ml option didn't effect revenue either because of the higher profit-margin on 125ml and 175ml servings.

But customers were disgruntled by the study, with managers at four premises receiving complaints about not offering a 250ml measure.

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But a similar experiment to replace pints with a 'two-thirds' measure failed as no pub or bar  out of almost 2,000 contacted  was willing to indulge the experts' request and face the fury of their regulars.

Thinktanks and industry groups say Brits should be encouraged to drink responsibly.

However, Maxwell Marlow, director of research at the neoliberal thinktank the Adam Smith Institute, said: 'This study is as airy as a poorly pulled pint.'

'A sample size of only 21 sites over a year provides no statistically significant insights into the wider hospitality sector and alcohol consumption.

'Public health officials should trust in the knowledge and insights of the hospitality sector instead.'

So how much is TOO much? NHS recommendations state adults shouldn't drink more than 14 units each week. That's 14 single shots of spirit or six pints of beer or a bottle and a half of wine. They should also spread their drinking over three or more days to avoid bingeing. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advises Americans do not drink more than 14 standard alcohol drinks per week for men and seven for women. A standard alcoholic drink includes 12oz of 5 per cent beer, 8oz of 7 per cent malt liqour, 5oz of 12 per cent wine or 1.5oz of spirits including rum, gin, vodka or whiskey. Drinking excessive amounts of alcohol over many years is already linked to a plethora of health issues such as high blood pressure, stroke risk, and range of cancers. Advertisement

Christopher Snowdon, head of lifestyle economics at the Institute of Economic Affairs, a right-wing thinktank, said wine drinkers would be ones paying the price for such a measure.

He said: 'The researchers acknowledge wine drinkers ended up spending the same amount of money on less wine, but they portray this as a good thing.

'They even suggest that the government should ban 250ml glasses.

'To be clear, getting more for your money is a good thing. If pubs think they can maximise profits by not using large glasses, that is up to them.'

Matt Lambert, chief executive of the Portman Group the industry funded regulator for alcohol labelling, packaging and promotion in the UK, said drinkers should not have their choices restricted.

He said: 'It's worth remembering that the majority of UK adults already either don't drink or drink within the Chief Medical Officers recommended low risk guidelines.'

'Whilst we are vocally supportive of measures to increase moderation among drinkers, there should be more efforts to increase consumer choice in this area rather than to unnecessarily restrict it  for instance the wider availability of 125ml glasses of wine and of lower strength alternatives.'

Brits have been told to drink less for years due to how alcohol damages their health.

Studies conclusively show that drinking too much damages organs like the brain, heart and liver and causes a subsequent risk of problems like high blood pressure, cancer and obesity.

The NHS advises Brits not to drink more than 14 units per week on a regular basis, the equivalent of six pints of mid-strength beer or six medium glasses of wine.

A recent analysis tracking the UK's drinking habits over time shows how wine has become the nation's favourite tipple, with the average Brit now drinking 37 bottles each year.

In the study, Cambridge researchers removed the 250ml serving, leaving just the 125ml and 175ml at 21 premises  mainly pubs  for four weeks, in stages between 2021 and 2022.

Researchers wanted to examine if the 250ml measure, which only became popular in the UK in the 90s, encouraged drinkers to consume more wine.

Results published in the journal Plos Medicine showed removing the largest serving of wine at the premises  in most cases the 250ml option  reduced sales by 7.6 per cent, an average decrease of 420ml of wine sold per day per venue.

Latest data, gathered by the World Health Organization and compiled by Oxford University-backed platform Our World in Data, shows the UK's wine consumption has soared to 3.3 litres of pure alcohol annually (2019), up on the 0.3 litres recorded almost 60 years earlier in 1961. It now accounts for over a third (33.7 per cent) of all alcohol consumed across the country and sits almost level with beer (36 per cent) which has plummeted from the 5.8 litres logged in 1961 to 3.5 litres today

The NHS recommends people drink no more than 14 'units' of alcohol  around six glasses of wine, or pints of beer  per week. This itself has been watered down over the past few decades in light of studies illustrating the health dangers of alcohol

And there was no sign of a bump in sales of beer and cider when wine serving sizes were reduced, suggesting drinkers weren't turning to other options to compensate.

The authors said that, while only having a modest impact, such a measure could nudge Brits to drink less and improve their health.

There was also no evidence that it affected publicans' revenue, perhaps due to the higher profit margins put on smaller glasses of wine.

But publicans didn't get off completely scot-free. Managers at four of the 21 premises in the study received complaints from customers about not offering a larger wine serving.

First author Dr Eleni Mantzari said: 'It looks like when the largest serving size of wine by the glass was unavailable, people shifted towards the smaller options, but didn't then drink the equivalent amount of wine.

'People tend to consume a specific number of "units"  in this case glasses  regardless of portion size.

'So, someone might decide at the outset they'll limit themselves to a couple of glasses of wine, and with less alcohol in each glass they drink less overall.'

According to the researchers, given there was no evidence removing large servings of wine resulted in a loss in revenue, a nationwide policy would likely only be resisted by the alcohol industry given its potential to reduce sales of targeted drinks.

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According to OECD data released last year, nearly one in five adults reported binge drinking at least once a month, on average across 29 OECD countries in 2019. The figure varies 10-fold, from less than 3 per cent in Turkey to more than 30 per cent in Germany, Luxembourg, the UK and Denmark

They added public support for such a policy would depend on its effectiveness and how clearly this was communicated.

Professor Dame Theresa Marteau, the study's senior author and member of the Government's advisory group SAGE, said: 'It's worth remembering that no level of alcohol consumption is considered safe for health, with even light consumption contributing to the development of many cancers.

'Although the reduction in the amount of wine sold at each premises was relatively small, even a small reduction could make a meaningful contribution to population health.'

However, their paper reveals the scientists would like to go even further in their attempts to subtly curb the nation's drinking habits.

They state they also tried to perform a similar experiment on beer, replacing the standard 568ml pint with a smaller two-thirds of a pint, measure.

But the study failed due to no publican out of the 2,000 contacted being willing to indulge them, and potentially facing the ire of their regulars.

The study authors wrote: 'We attempted to conduct such a study to estimate the impact of removing the largest serving size for beerusually a pint (568 ml)and replacing it with a two-thirds measure, but were unable to find any pubs, bars, or restaurants willing to do this from almost 2,000 contacted.

'This likely reflects that the pint has been the customary serving size for beer in the UK for centuries.'

Nanny-state style measures, like putting tobacco-style health warnings on drink packaging, have been proposed by scientists before.

But an analysis on Scotland's ban on cheap booze, brought in in 2018 to reduce alcohol-related harms on health, crime and social issues, suggests such measures can fail.

Thinktank the IEA found the policy had had little positive impact on employment, crime and health despite slightly reducing alcohol consumption levels.

It also cost drinkers in Scotland an average of 71.12 per head.
A woman who put her shakes down to caffeine jitters has revealed it was actually a sign of motor neurone disease.

Nicola McFarlane, of Dunblane, Scotland, first noticed a tingling feeling throughout her body in 2022.

However, the 47-year-old had recently started a new job, so put it down to the extra stress she was under and drinking more coffee than usual.

Ms McFarlane last year began to notice a loss of strength in her hands whenever they became cold, so turned to her GP.

Within a matter of weeks, she was diagnosed with MND, of which the most common type is amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

Ms McFarlane is now working with an MND charity in a bid to raise awareness about the condition.

Nicola McFarlane, 47, from Dunblane, Scotland, first experienced a tingling, shaking feeling throughout her body, which she thought was due to drinking too much coffee and stress

Ms McFarlane, a life-long equestrian and lover of the outdoors, struggled to cope with the diagnosis and the impact the disease would come to have on her life

Ms McFarlane said: 'I went to the doctor because I'd started to notice muscle wastage in my hands  and of course, I'd done some Googling.

'I was having trouble with fine motor skills. I also noticed that when I was in bed and trying to fall asleep, I'd notice tingles all over my body.

'At the time, I put it down to having just started a new job and drinking too much coffee.'

She was referred to a neurologist and was diagnosed with MND within a fortnight.

'It was like getting hit by a train. There's not really anything that can prepare you for being told you have MND,' Ms McFarlane said.

MND is a rare condition that damages the nervous system over time, resulting in difficulties walking, speaking and breathing as the condition progresses.

WHAT IS MOTOR NEURONE DISEASE? Motor neurone disease is a rare condition that mainly affects people in their 60s and 70s, but it can affect adults of all ages. It's caused by a problem with cells in the brain and nerves called motor neurones. These cells gradually stop working over time. It's not known why this happens. Having a close relative with motor neurone disease, or a related condition called frontotemporal dementia, can sometimes mean you're more likely to get it. But it doesn't run in families in most cases. Early symptoms can include weakness in your ankle or leg, like finding it hard to walk upstairs; slurred speech, finding it hard to swallow, a weak grip, and gradual weight loss. If you have these symptoms, you should see a GP. They will consider other possible conditions and can refer you to a specialist called a neurologist if necessary. If a close relative has motor neurone disease or frontotemporal dementia and you're worried you may be at risk of it, they may refer you to a genetic counsellor to talk about your risk and any tests you can have Source: NHS UK Advertisement

Around 5,000 adults in the UK have MND and there is a one in 300 risk of developing the condition over the course of a person's life.

Muscle twitches and a weak grip are among the early signs of MND, along with weakness in the leg or ankle, slurred speech and weight loss.

Some tremors are normal and can be caused by caffeine, stress and age.

There is no cure but doctors can provide treatments to help reduce the impact it has on a person's life.

Ms McFarlane struggled to cope with the diagnosis and was worried about the impact the disease would have on her life.

Seeking support, she stumbled across the My Nam5's Doddie Foundation  a charity founded by Scottish rugby player and MND sufferer George 'Doddie' Weir.

The athlete revealed his diagnosis in 2017 and set up his charity that year. He died in 2022. The organisation invests in MND research with the aim of finding a cure.

Ms McFarlane said: 'After my diagnosis, I was in a very dark place, but thinking of Doddie and everything he achieved helped lift me out of it.

'It wasn't until a month or so after I was diagnosed, I read a quote from Doddie Weir, which said  "this is the hand of cards I've been dealt and I've just got to crack on with it".

'That really resonated with me. I think that his attitude and achievements, even with the mental and physical impact of the disease, gave me a lot of strength.

'I drew huge amounts of inspiration from Doddie. When he was diagnosed, his attitude was: why isn't there a treatment or a cure?

'When you do have MND, you just want some hope of treatment.'

She is working alongside the My Nam5's Doddie Foundation to raise awareness of the charity's annual Doddie Aid fundraising event.

The campaign encourages people across the country to sign to the Doddie Aid app and log as many miles as they can of running, swimming  or even walking the dog.

The event has raised more than 4million and recorded more than 8million miles over the past two years, with profits funding research into a cure for MND.

Ms McFarlane said she plans to keep fighting for MND awareness, alongside her friends and her partner Paul van Baardwijk.

My Nam5's Doddie Foundation - a charity founded by Scottish rugby player and MND sufferer George 'Doddie' Weir, pictured, has given many people with the disease hope

Ms McFarlane (pictured right) plans to keep fighting for MND awareness, alongside her loving friends and partner Paul van Baardwijk (pictured left)

She said: 'There's a lack of awareness about the disease and it's been underfunded  but this is a primarily research-focused charity, and that gave me some hope.

'There seems to be a misconception that only old people get MND. It does seem to be more common in older men, but women absolutely get it and it's not as rare as people think.

'It's seen as rare because people tend to die quite quickly when they get it. I think social media is full of images of people in their last stages of MND.

'But when you're first diagnosed, you're not at that stage. You've still got time, although it varies.'

Life expectancy is usually two to five years from when symptoms first begin.

Ms McFarlane is still working full-time but said she is aware that she will eventually need palliative care.

'I try and take one day at a time, and not look too far into the future, because I'll just get massively overwhelmed and terrified,' she said.

'It is a disease marked by loss  my whole life revolved around horse-riding, camping, wild swimming, being outdoors and being active.

Ms McFarlane is still working full-time and is not ready for palliative, care although she is aware that will come

'It's about adaptation and finding things that you can still do and enjoy. It's very difficult.'

When people are diagnosed with MND, they are told there is no cure. However, the charity hopes to one day find one through the clinical trials that it funds.

'As Doddie said, this isn't an incurable disease, it's an underfunded one. The funding of clinical trials and treatments can be possible,' said Ms McFarlane.

'Will it be in my lifetime? I don't know, but future generations deserve the possibility of treatment.'

Paul Thompson, director of fundraising at My Name'5 Doddie Foundation, said: 'The outpouring of emotion and support since Nicola told her story to help launch this year's Doddie Aid has been something to behold. She reminds us all why we are doing this.

'Doddie dedicated his final years to pushing forward the MND cause, and we owe it to him, Nicola, and everybody living with the disease to continue his legacy and not stop until we live in a world free of MND.'

He encouraged people to sign up for Doddie Aid to take part in this year's event.
Top skin doctors are urging drug chiefs to rethink strict new rules which hinder them handing out a powerful acne drug to patients who need it.

Safety measures introduced in October for isotretinoin, which is sold under the name Roaccutane, require two skin specialists to sign a prescription before it can be given to anyone under 18  the only drug to be subject to such a stringent requirement.

The change came after it emerged the drugs debilitating side effects may have led to the suicides of several young people.

Clinicians have also been ordered to warn patients about isotretinoins potential to trigger serious mental health problems such as psychosis, as well as sexual dysfunction.

But dermatologists are pressing regulators to row back on the problematic guidance, the Mail has learned.

Annabel Wright with her mother Helen, who says the acne drug is 'dangerous'. Annabel took her own life in 2019, at the age of 15

Many doctors are very unhappy about the requirement for a double signature to confirm there is no other appropriate effective treatment. Sources claim it risks patient safety by hampering their ability to offer vital treatment, adding that the drug has been unfairly demonised.

The British Association of Dermatologists (BAD) confirmed last night it was in talks with safety watchdog, the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), over parts of the new regulations that may have a negative impact on patients.

One senior consultant, who asked to remain anonymous, adds: There have been unfair attacks on a drug thats been around for decades and is a game-changer for people with severe acne. Any restriction has a chance of causing patients harm. Acne can cause people psychological damage, sometimes to the point where they cant even leave the house.

The vast majority of people have a great response to isotretinoin, but sadly they are the people you dont hear from.

Luke Reeves, 21, died in 2016

However, some campaigners pushing for the drug to be banned and argue the current regulations dont go far enough, with one devastated father of a young patient who took his own life saying it was utterly incredulous that doctors might be seeking to relax the rules.

Jonathan Medland, 67, from Barnstaple, lost his son Jon to suicide in 2004 shortly after he stopped taking isotretinoin.

Jon Medland, 22, died in 2004

He is certain the drug contributed to the 22-year-old medical students death and says his son had never shown signs of depression before the treatment.

Melissa Martin-Hughes, 18, died in 2010

We were a loving, happy family, he says. Our life as we knew it ended the moment Jon died.

Mr Medland accuses doctors of dishing the drug out like Smarties because its an easy fix.

Isotretinoin was first licensed in 1983 and is regarded as the gold-standard treatment for severe acne that failed to respond to other medicines. Currently taken by 48,000 people in the UK, it works by preventing the skin from producing oils that acne-causing bacteria feed on.

Studies suggest patients skin clears up after just four months and the majority are virtually cured.

However, the drug can be prescribed only by dermatologists due to its potential side effects. The most common include dry skin, rashes, headaches and back pain.

Patients must also be monitored with regular blood tests, because in rare cases it can damage the liver, and women are advised not to conceive while on the drug due to possible birth defects.

In 2019, the MHRA announced a safety review on isotretinoin following a rise in reports of adverse reactions to its Yellow Card scheme, which allows healthcare professionals as well as the public to flag up adverse effects of medicines via its website.

Since isotretinoin was approved it has triggered more than 8,000 such reports, ranging from vision problems and anaemia to joint and muscle pain and even seizures.

However, one in four complaints are for anxiety, depression, behavioural disturbances and thoughts of suicide and self-harm. There have also been 84 cases where patients have taken their own lives, but the MHRA points out the reports are not proof the drug caused these problems.

It also said such stories from patients and their families were enough of a concern to usher in the new measures, however.

One youngster whose tragic death has been linked to the drug was 18-year-old Melissa Martin-Hughes, who was found hanged in 2010 after she spiralled into depression because of severe acne. She had been prescribed isotretinoin and the contraceptive pill to help improve her skin.

The powerful acne drug isotretinoin is sold under the name Roaccutane, and is taken by 48,000 people in the UK

The medication was also linked to the death of 21-year-old Luke Reeves, too, died of a drug overdose in 2016. An inquest the following year was inconclusive as to whether isotretinoin had affected his mental state  but acknowledged he was not in his right mind when he died.

Roche, the drug giant who developed isotretinoin, says: Millions worldwide have taken Roaccutane but, like most medications, it can have side-effects.

It is vital that patients are fully informed as to what to expect when they take it and that they are monitored closely to ensure they get the ongoing care they need.

Dermatologists also point to the findings of a major review published in November as reassurance that the drug is safe.

The study looked at data from 1.6 million patients to see whether there is a link between isotretinoin and serious mental health problems. It found the risk of suicide two to four years after stopping treatment was actually lower in patients on the drug than those not prescribed it.

Dr Tony Bewley, a consultant dermatologist at Whipps Cross and Barts, explains that the risks of isotretinoin, like any drug, must be weighed up against the benefits  most importantly the well-accepted fact that severe acne itself can have a significant impact on mental health.

He says: Acne is mild in many patients and will be dealt with by a course of antibiotic cream the GP can prescribe, but in severe cases its an inflammatory condition that causes boils and cysts on the chest and back that make sitting painful. Many patients complain of burning and itching skin.

There is also a great deal of stigma  people worry theyll be judged for being dirty, unkempt or just not looking after themselves. Theyre told its because theyve eaten too much chocolate or fried food, which isnt the case.

Often, theyll keep their feeling of depression a secret because they worry that theyll be seen as vain for worrying about a problem that others see as trivial.

The longer it goes on, the worse the risk of scarring  which is life-long  and the worse the mental health impact.

Dermatologists treat the severe cases that dont respond to standard drugs and when all else has failed, isotretinoin is an option.

But Helen Wright, 52, insists her daughter, Annabel  who took her own life aged just 15 in 2019, six months after starting a course of isotretinoin  was not depressed before she started on the drug.

Mrs Wright, from Ripon, North Yorkshire, says: My daughters acne was mild. I questioned the dermatologist at the time because Id heard stories about people in America.

She told me people took their own lives because they were depressed about their skin, not because of the drug. She said she wanted to put Annabel on it before she got any scarring and assured me it was safe. I believed her.

She recalls that before her daughter died, she had been excited about a friend joining her on the familys holiday to Spain and revising for upcoming exams.

Mrs Wright says she believes whatever hit Annabel, hit her like a tidal wave, adding: We had no idea what had happened.

It was soon after Annabels funeral that Mrs Wright and her husband, Simon, 59, discovered other young people had taken their own lives in similar circumstances.

A friend showed me a news article about how medical student Jon Medland had died and everything suddenly made sense.

Annabel wasnt depressed, she had no problems and had been bright as a button on the night she died. She had a perfectly normal conversation with her father, then went upstairs. We later found she had messaged a friend saying I feel down  and that was it.

At an inquest in 2021, the court heard that in the months before her death, Annabel had posted a photo on Snapchat captioned life is not worth living and had self-harmed but could not explain why, according to her mother.

A coroner determined there was no evidence that isotretinoin had caused or contributed to her suicide  a verdict the Wright family has branded wilfully ignorant.

Mrs Wright says the drug is dangerous, adding: Dermatologists are unwilling to give it up as isotreninoin does work. But the side effects are so bad.

She has also accused the doctors of not listening to what patients are saying, claiming thats why what this drug is doing isnt being properly documented.

The main concern about the new guidance among specialists is a practical one, claim those the Mail has spoken to. Some dermatologists, especially in private practice, dont have another doctor working close by to ask to review the case in order to get the second signature, one source says.

In these cases, the patient would be sent back to the GP who referred them, as theyre permitted to sign off on the prescription  but this could take weeks.

The decision to change the guidance wasnt based on any real evidence  the drug has been linked to suicide but science doesnt support the claim. If anything, it reduces the risk.

Not all experts are against the new checks, though. Dr Alia Ahmed, consultant dermatologist at the London Skin and Hair Clinic, says: Alongside the reports from patients suffering low mood, there is evidence that isotretinoin can affect brain function. Until we understand this better, its difficult to say dermatologists should ignore the MHRA.

It can be disappointing for patients who turn up expecting a prescription. But I explain its for their own safety.

But the British Association of Dermatologists says: Some aspects of the regulation are new and some of these will likely prove to be very challenging to implement.

We are aware that parts may call into question the viability of some acne services and have a negative impact on patients. One important issue raised by acne services repeatedly is the requirement for two prescribers to approve the treatment for patients under the age of 18.

BAD is collecting feedback from our members to understand the most pressing issues and feed these back to the MHRA, and it is hopeful that particularly problematic areas can be resolved.

For confidential support, call Samaritans on 116 123, or visit samaritans.org
Measles - a disease that until recently was thought to be consigned to history - is making a resurgence across the US that has doctors worried.

Georgia confirmed its first infected patient in nearly four years this week, making it the fifth state to declare cases of the ultra-contagious virus so far this year.

Delaware, Washington State, New Jersey and Pennsylvania have also reported cases, and doctors fear that this is just the tip of the iceberg, with more measles cases expected to crop up throughout 2024.

There have been a total of at least 15 cases reported this year alone, while 41 were confirmed last year, and there are indications that vaccination rates among children, the population at highest risk of illness, have reached new lows

Nationwide, nearly 4 percent of children entering kindergarten were unvaccinated against MMR, the lowest rate since the 2013-14 school year, raising the odds of seeing a tidal wave of infections.

Seven to 14 days after measles infection, the first set of symptoms show, including a high temperature or fever (Photo: Getty/iStockPhoto)

Measles typically begins with cold-like symptoms, before causing a rash made up of small red spots, some of which can feel slighly raised. According to the NHS, it typically starts on the face and behind the ears before spreading further

The US is on the brink of a life-threatening situation, with dangerously high rates of unvaccinated individuals, raising the risk of a wave of preventable deaths.

While last years figures are lower than those in recent years, the fact that there are still regular outbreaks in America is worrisome for health officials and experts like Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr Robert Califf and FDA vaccine regulator Dr Peter Marks, saying: 'Thousands of excess deaths are likely to occur this season due to illnesses amenable to prevention.'

Measles was declared eliminated in 2000 thanks to the highly effective MMR vaccine for measles as well as mumps and rubella.

But declining rates of childhood vaccinations in recent years alongside the rise of the anti-vax movement has meant cases keep cropping up.

Dr Peter Hotez, the preeminent vaccine expert and a professor of molecular virology at Baylor College of Medicine, said: The fact that we're seeing sporadic measles cases, to me, says that we probably have pockets in the United States where we're not doing a good job vaccinating.

He added: 'I'm worried that this is a trend that's been getting worse over the years.

In the UK, health officials fear the world is in for it's worst outbreak yet, saying the current outbreak affecting multiple countries is on 'trajectory for everything getting much worse.'

This year, most cases of measles in the US were sparked by a traveler entering the US from a country where measles is more prevalent. But because the virus is so contagious, the patients zero put dozens of people in hospitals and daycares.

An outbreak in Philadelphia that started in a daycare earlier this year  with eight cases have since been confirmed  appears to have spread to neighboring Delaware.

An unvaccinated patient with the disease traveled there to Nemours Children's Hospital in Wilmington while asymptomatic but infectious on December 29, exposing 20 to 30 people to the disease.

Last weekend, Virginia and New Jersey warned residents over the virus  with New Jersey confirming a case in a child who attended daycare.

Authorities do not know where the child in New Jersey was exposed, and there is no known connection to the Philadelphia outbreak.

Virginia is also warning about potential exposure after being notified of confirmed cases of measles in travelers who had gone to Dulles International Airport on Jan. 3 and Ronald Reagan National Airport on Jan. 4, potentially exposing thousands.

And in Georgia on Thursday, the states public health department announced that a resident from the Atlanta region, who had not been vaccinated, traveled abroad and came into contact with the highly contagious virus.

It's not believed to be connected to the other states' outbreaks.

According to the department: DPH is working to identify anyone who may have had contact with the individual while they were infectious.

While there was community spread within Philadelphia, there's no indication yet that the infections there influenced the new cases in Georgia.

Measles cases skyrocketed in 2019 with 1,274 total cases. The previous record, since 2010, was set in 2014 with 667 cases.

From 2001 to 2009, there were a total of 574 cases. 2008 saw the most cases - 140, followed by 2001 with 116 cases.

Measles is caused by a virus that spreads through respiratory droplets produced when an infected person talks, coughs, or sneezes. Measles virus can stay in the air or on surfaces for up to two hours after an infected person has left the room.

Symptoms typically appear between seven to 14 days after contact with the virus. It can cause a high fever that can be life-threatening, a red rash, cough, fatigue and watery eyes.

Measles cases skyrocketed in 2019 with 1,274 total cases . The previous record, since 2010, was set in 2014 with 667 cases.

White spots in the mouth also tend to appear a few days after the early symptoms. These last a few days

The measles rash typically feels like small, raised bumps on the skin. The rash usually starts on the face and then spreads to other parts of the body

The rash usually starts on the face and behind the ears before spreading to the rest of the body, with the spots of the rash sometimes raised and join together to form blotchy patches. They're not usually itchy.

On white skin, the rash looks brown, but it may be harder to see on brown and black skin.

In some cases, the infection can also cause sensitivity to light, pneumonia, and brain swelling.

One in five children who become infected end up in the hospital, with one in 15 developing serious complications like meningitis or sepsis. For every 1,000 children who get measles, one or two will die from it.

Approximately 5 percent of children with measles may develop pneumonia, which is the most frequent cause of death in young children with measles.

Additionally, around one in a thousand children who contract measles may experience brain swelling, or encephalitis, characterized by brain swelling, leading to convulsions and potential consequences such as deafness or intellectual disability.

Rates of childhood inoculations dipped most acutely during the first year of the pandemic when visits to the doctor were reserved for the direst circumstances and many well-visits and check-ups fell by the wayside.

But instead of bouncing back once schools reopened in 2021, school-age immunizations remained lower than usual.

For the 2022-2023 school year three percent of kindergartners had a vaccine exemption from one or more required vaccines. This is an increase from 2.6 percent during the 2021-2022 school year and the highest the US has ever recorded

The above map shows the state by state rates of vaccination exemptions for the 2022-2023 school year, highlighting the top five states with the highest percentages of exemptions

The percentage of American children entering kindergarten with their required immunizations was about 93 percent in the 2022-23 school year, about the same as the previous school years, though it was also a whole two percentage points below the recommended levels for herd immunity and lower than vaccination rates in 2020-21.

Herd immunity is a saving grace for children who cannot get vaccinated for medical reasons.

This is when a sufficiently high percentage of a population is immune to a contagious disease, either through vaccination or previous infection. But with declining herd immunity, those children at at high risk.

Philadelphia Health Commissioner Dr Cheryl Bettigole said: Children under 12 months and adults who are immunocompromised remain vulnerable to measles but are generally protected because of the wall of immunity created by high community vaccination levels.

In many states, special exemptions can be made for students to forego vaccines for medical or religious reasons.

The measles symptoms YOU need to know about Measles typically starts with cold-like symptoms, followed by a rash a few days later, with some people developing small spots in their mouth. The symptoms include A high temperature

A runny or blocked nose

Sneezing

A cough

Red, sore, watery eyes

Rash (a few days after cold-like symptoms)

White spots in the mouth Advertisement

The rate of children and their parents requesting exemptions is skyrocketing to record levels, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, increasing to an average three percent in the 2022-2023 school year, with 10 states now reporting exemptions exceeding five percent.

The UK is also seeing a troubling uptick in cases alongside low vaccination rates.

Fears of an impending measles resurgence today sparked a national 'call to action' by health chiefs who are alarmed over vaccination rates slumping to a 10-year low.

As few as half of children have had both measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) jabs in parts of London.

Similarly low levels are also seen in Liverpool, Manchester and Birmingham.

Dame Jenny Harries, chief executive of the UK Health Security Agency, begged parents to check their child's immunisation status, warning that the public had 'forgotten what measles is like' and that it was still a 'serious illness'.

'Concerted action' is needed because the UK is currently on a 'trajectory for everything getting much worse', she said.

She also pleaded with the 'Wakefield generation'  adults born in the late 1990s or early 2000s  to check their own medical records.

Andrew Wakefield, who wrote a now-debunked 1998 paper in The Lancet tying the MMR vaccines to autism, helped sparked the anti-vax movement.

Subsequent investigations found ethical and methodological flaws in the study. The Lancet retracted the article in 2010, stating that the claims made were false and that Wakefield had acted with a conflict of interest.

Overwhelming scientific consensus is that there are no ties between the MMR vaccine and autism.
January 19, 2024: China recently purged or removed from their positions over a dozen senior officers of the army, navy, and air force. The government conducted an inspection of the forces the purged officers commanded and found numerous deficiencies. Ships, combat vehicles, aircraft and ballistic missiles listed as available for use, were not. Maintenance was neglected to the point that systems became ineffective. For example, liquid fuel ballistic missiles had their fuel replaced with water. Missile silos were poorly constructed and unusable. Aircraft were grounded because maintenance was neglected. Warships were similarly unable to leave port because they lacked sufficient maintenance to operate at sea. Army units had similar problems with combat vehicles and artillery systems.

There were exceptions, but not enough to provide the number of operable ships, heavy weapons, and aircraft the military thought were available. Corruption in the Chinese military is an ancient tradition, going back thousands of years and based on the belief that no one would attack such a large state as China. At the same time, China rarely undertook major military campaigns because China was already huge and there were no areas worth having that needed conquering. The most common conflicts were civil wars between factions that were equally unprepared. In the 1930s Japan attacked a disorganized and divided China but were only able to capture and hold onto portions of China. At the end of World War II most of the Japanese army was still in China, kept busy occupying and policing portions of China they had taken control of. Most of these troops were captured by Russian forces at the end of the war, and most of the rest voluntarily moved to ports to be repatriated to Japan, although American troops occupied southern Korea and added those Japanese garrison troops to their relatively small number of Japanese prisoners of war. Most Japanese troops the Americans encountered in the Pacific died making suicidal attacks against the heavily armed and resolute Americans forces. Few Japanese soldiers surrendered because that was seen as disgraceful.

Both China and Japan reformed their armed forces after World War II. Japan adopted a new constitution that prohibited armed forces capable of offensive operations. China demobilized most of their huge army and sought to modernize the remaining soldiers. This modernization is still underway because of the many wrong turns the modernization effort took. Some of the problems were related to corruption, which increased as the Chinese economy finally began to rapidly grow in the 1980s and produced enough government income for more money to spend on, or steal from, the military. Every Chinese leader since has tried somewhat to a fair amount to deal with than, and current leader Xi Jinping is trying more than most. So far he has encountered more problems than he can deal with effectively. Xi is not giving up and moving forward to do what has rarely been done in peacetime China.
A woman who caught measles at 23 after only receiving one MMR jab as a child is still only able to eat through a tube six years later.

Ellie Roscoe, from Harborne in Birmingham, never had her second vaccine in 1998 before starting school after bogus studies linked the vaccine to autism.

The decision appeared to have no effect on her life until December 2017, when she suddenly broke out in red blotches and her temperature soared to 39C (102.2F).

It was only after being taken to hospital, where she was diagnosed with measles, that medics discovered the contagious infection had spread to her lungs and liver.

Now, aged 29, she still suffers with gastric problem that medics believe was triggered by the illness. She has urged Brits to get vaccinated and said a second '30-second jab' was worth it.

It comes as the West Midlands is battling its biggest measles outbreak since the 1990s, triggering the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) to today declare a 'national incident'.

Health chiefs begged parents to check their child's immunisation status, warning that the public had 'forgotten what measles is like' and that it was still a 'serious illness'.

Ellie Roscoe, from Harborne in Birmingham , never had her second vaccine in 1998 before starting school after bogus studies linked the jab to autism. The decision appeared to have no effect on her life until December 2017, when she suddenly broke out in red blotches and her temperature soared to 39C (102.2F). Pictured, Ms Roscoe with her mother Debbie

Now, aged 29, she still suffers with gastric problem triggered by the illness. She has urged Brits to get vaccinated and said a second '30-second jab' was worth it. Pictured, Ellie after contracting measles in 2017

Ms Roscoe was given her first MMR vaccination at three months old in 1994. But the following year a now-discredited study by Dr Andrew Wakefield was published linking the jab to autism. He published a second paper in 1998 claiming it backed up his initial study. Ellie's mother was put off giving her the second dose of MMR in 1998 before she started school on the back of the controversial studies. Pictured, Ellie with Debbie

Measles, which mostly produces flu-like symptoms and the tell-tale rash, can cause very serious and even fatal health complications if it spreads to the lungs or the brain.

One in five children who get infected will be hospitalised, according to estimates, with one in 15 developing serious complications like meningitis or sepsis.

Ms Roscoe was given her first MMR vaccination at three months old in 1994. But the following year a now-discredited study by Dr Andrew Wakefield was published linking the jab to autism.

He published a second paper in 1998 claiming it backed up his initial study.

The research received widespread media coverage and contributed to the birth of the anti-vaccination movement.

WHAT JABS SHOULD I HAVE HAD BY AGE 18? Vaccinations for various unpleasant and deadly diseases are given free on the NHS to children and teenagers. Here is a list of all the jabs someone should have by the age of 18 to make sure they and others across the country are protected: Eight weeks old 6-in-1 vaccine for diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, polio, Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib), and hepatitis B.

Pneumococcal (PCV)

Rotavirus

Meningitis B 12 weeks old Second doses of 6-in-1 and Rotavirus 16 weeks old Third dose of 6-in-1

Second doses of PCV and men. B One year old Hib/meningitis C

Measles, mumps and rubella (MMR)

Third dose of PCV and meningitis B Two to eight years old Annual children's flu vaccine Three years, four months old Second dose of MMR

4-in-1 pre-school booster for diphtheria, tetanus, polio and whooping cough 12-13 years old (girls) HPV (two doses within a year) 14 years old 3-in-1 teenage booster for diphtheria, tetanus and polio

MenACWY Source: NHS Choices Advertisement

Ellie's mother Debbie Roscoe was put off giving her the second dose of MMR in 1998 before she started school on the back of the controversial studies.

But, as it appeared to have no impact on her daughter's life, it never occurred to Mrs Roscoe that her daughter could have the virus in 2017  the same year the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared that Britain had eradicated measles.

Ms Roscoe claimed she was initially misdiagnosed by her GP, who told her to 'ride it out at home' after presenting twice with a temperature and flu-like symptoms.

But after deteriorating and suffering a rash, temperature and feeling delirious, her mother called an ambulance and took her to Heartlands Hospital in Birmingham.

Ms Roscoe told BBC News: 'Measles was something that was completely unheard of in adults as it was very rare to get it... but you can get it any age.'

She said without the treatment she received from the infectious disease and immunology department she 'wouldn't be here', adding 'they were just fantastic and it was just a horrendous illness'.

She said: 'They can't say for 100 per cent that the gastro and the feeding tube were as a result of measles, but a viral illness can cause [the] gastro problems I've developed.'

It is unclear what gastro problems Ms Roscoe has. However, it is sometimes needed, in severe cases, for Crohn's disease, bowel obstruction and ulcerative colitis.

Ms Roscoe also urged people who had fallen victim to 'scaremongering' around the MMR vaccine's links with autism to come forwards for their jabs and said she had not realised adults could still get vaccinated.

In 2019, her mother Debbie appeared on ITV's This Morning to speak out about the dangers of skipping vaccinations.

'Another 24 hours and she possibly wouldn't be here today,' she told the programme.

Asked about why she chose not to give her daughter her second MMR, she said: 'Autism was in the newspapers at the time.

'It was a great fear of mine because I had seen what autism could do. The facts were not really available at that time because we're going back many moons ago.

'Now you can get the full facts, you can go and ask GPs. You can go and ask medical professionals.'

It comes as Dame Jenny Harries, chief executive of the UKHSA, today pleaded with the 'Wakefield generation'  adults born in the late 1990s or early 2000s  to check their own medical records.

It is feared tens of thousands of children missed out on the MMR vaccine because of the now-debunked autism fears raised by discredited medic Andrew Wakefield.

She begged parents to check their child's immunisation status, warning that the public had 'forgotten what measles is like' and that it was still a 'serious illness'.

Latest UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) data shows there were 1,603 suspected measles cases in England and Wales in 2023. The figure is more than twice as high as the 735 logged in 2022 and an almost five-fold rise compared to the 360 cases reported in 2021

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'Concerted action' is needed because the UK is currently on a 'trajectory for everything getting much worse', she said.

Latest UKHSA data shows there were 1,603 suspected measles cases in England and Wales in 2023.

The figure is more than twice as high as the 735 logged in 2022 and an almost five-fold rise compared to the 360 cases reported in 2021.

Suspected cases are based on official notifications by doctors making a diagnosis from clinical symptoms. While not all are later confirmed to be measles by lab tests, health chiefs warn that levels are clearly rising.

Two doses of the MMR vaccine offer up to 99 per cent protection against the trio of illnesses, which can lead to meningitis, hearing loss and problems during pregnancy.

At least 95 per cent of the population needs to be vaccinated to prevent outbreaks, under public health guidance.

But nationally, the proportion of five-year-olds who are fully jabbed has fallen to 84.5 per cent  the lowest in more than a decade.

In the West Midlands more than 300 cases have been identified since October. Up to 50 children have been hospitalised in the past month alone.

Pop up clinics are now being introduced across the Black Country in a bid to get more children vaccinated.

They will be offering the MMR jab to children aged 12 to 16 who have not yet had two doses.

Experts today said vaccine hesitancy in the wake of the Covid pandemic is likely 'a contributing factor' and vaccine misinformation will 'have had a 'spillover' effect into other vaccines'.

Others have pointed to the pandemic which led some children to miss out on routine vaccinations, as well as rising pressures on primary care and a reduction in health visitors.

In England, 89.3 per cent of two-year-olds received their first dose of the MMR vaccine in the year to March 2023 (blue line), up from 89.2 per cent the previous year. Meanwhile, 88.7 per cent of two-year-olds had both doses, down from 89 per cent a year earlier

Your browser does not support iframes.

More than 300 cases have been identified in the West Midlands since October. Birmingham Children's Hospital (pictured) has also seen 50 children needing treatment for the virus in the last month

At least 95 per cent of the population needs to be vaccinated to prevent outbreaks, under public health guidance.

But uptake of both doses of the MMR vaccine is at about 85 per cent nationally. This figure drops far lower in some areas with greater ethnic minority populations, making them more susceptible to outbreaks.

Among the other measures taken to combat the rise in cases include unvaccinated children in the West Midlands being forced to isolate for up to three weeks amid the region's biggest measles outbreak since the 1990s.

In a letter to parents, Birmingham City Council warned that pupils who have not had the vaccine will be told to isolate for 21 days if they are exposed to measles.

The three-week isolation advice was first issued by the UKHSA in 2019.

But worries about low uptake and a surge in cases prompted councils, including some in London, to distribute a reminder about the policy in recent months.

Under the guidance, children are banned from school and told not to mix with other children and those considered vulnerable  babies, pregnant women and those who are immunosuppressed. But they can still leave their homes for other activities.

Health chiefs say that while it is disruptive, the three-week isolation prevents measles from taking off among children  which could see more become seriously unwell.
GLORIOUS EXPLOITS

by Ferdia Lennon

(Fig Tree 16.99, 288pp)

(Fig Tree 16.99, 288pp)

Among the hottest debuts of the year, this is indeed a glorious endeavour. The time is 412BC, the place Sicily, and our hero, Lampo, a 30-something unemployed potter who lives with his ma and whose Irish-accented banter is as hilarious as it is unlikely (or perhaps not  Lennon himself is Dublin-born). Following their unsuccessful invasion of the island, hoards of defeated Athenians have been consigned to a rat-infested quarry to rot under the merciless sun.

But Lampos poetry-mad bestie, Gelon, has a plan  to produce two of the greatest Greek tragedies with the prisoners in the starring roles.

What follows is a hugely entertaining yarn of lets do the show right here ups and downs, and, more seriously, a reminder of how both art and love keep humanity alive.

Its brilliantly imagined, right down to the fishy fug of the taverns, and I promise you wont walk away dry-eyed.

DAY

by Michael Cunningham

(4th Estate 16.99, 273pp)

(4th Estate 16.99, 273pp)

The relentless march of time, and its warping by the pandemic, is the principle concern of Pulitzer-winner Cunninghams latest, which offers snapshots from three days across three momentous years.

In April 2019, arty Isabel and her going-to-seed hubby Dan are headed for divorce  something that Isabels brother, gay schoolteacher Robbie, can see even if they cant. Despite being a beloved fixture, Robbie is about to be ejected from the familys Brooklyn brownstone, and finds solace spinning a fictional life on Instagram.

But this isnt a cautionary tale about social media  instead, Covid finds Robbie stranded in the remote splendour of Iceland, while back in the city, Isabel and Dan do their best to field their childrens fears.

Themes of nature and nurture, the tyranny of the marriage plot and the complex reality of family constellations  often shaped by accident and contingency  recur in a fluent, if slightly weightless, tale.

MY FRIENDS

by Hisham Matar

(Viking 18.99, 464pp)

(Viking 18.99, 464pp)

Matars 2016 memoir, The Return, was an account of the authors journey back to his native Libya in an attempt to find out the truth behind the disappearance of his father, a prominent critic of the Gaddafi regime.

This new novel, like Matars previous fictions, also spins off from the facts of the dictators brutal reign, boldly but convincingly inserting our narrator into the 1984 Libyan embassy demonstration that left PC Yvonne Fletcher dead. Eighteen-year-old Libyan student Khaled is among those wounded that day and, at a stroke, severed from his family, country and former existence.

Thirty-odd years later, Khaled embarks on a night walk across London, the city in which he has built a fragile life, reflecting on exile, freedom, literature, the friendships that have sustained him, and the Arab Spring that has drawn his closest companions back.

Resisting an obviously redemptive arc, its a muted, moving accounting of the things that make and moor a life, and the precious meanings created with those dearest to us.
Green Dot

by Madeleine Gray

(Weidenfeld & Nicolson 16.99, 384pp)

(Weidenfeld & Nicolson 16.99, 384pp)

This hilarious novel about falling in love with someone you really shouldnt has been much-hyped as the new Sorrow & Bliss. But having raced through it with increasing delight, I think its very much its own thing.

Protagonist Hera is in her 20s. Despite a university education and being surrounded by successful peers, she lives at home in Sydney with her father, unable to find any drive. However, she eventually admits defeat and gets a job as an online content moderator in a newsroom.

The work is so mind-numbing Hera is desperate for distraction, and it quickly arrives in the form of middle-aged, married Arthur. They chat constantly on the internal messaging system, developing a flirtation that becomes an affair that becomes a tortured love story. He promises to leave his wife but never does; she issues ultimatums, but continues to wait around for someone who always puts her second. Sharp and wise.

River East, River West

by Aube Rey Lescure

(Duckworth 16.99, 352pp)

(Duckworth 16.99, 352pp)

Fourteen-year-old Alva cant stand her American mother Sloans new Chinese husband, Lu Fang, their rich landlord in suburban Shanghai. Its 2007, and Alva dreams of little else but going to America.

Whenever she asks her mother to take her, Sloan fobs her off, saying its never going to happen. The more Alva is refused, however, the more her obsession with a Western lifestyle grows and the worse her behaviour becomes. She is desperate to attend an exclusive American School, but when she finally enrols, its not what she imagined.

Alvas perspective is contrasted with Lu Fangs experiences during the Cultural Revolution in the 1980s in alternating chapters. The more we learn about Lu Fang and what hes been through, the luckier Alva seems to have such a deep-thinking, kind man for a stepfather. Its beautifully written and brilliant on race, identity, family and feeling like an outsider.

The Beholders

by Hester Musson

(4th Estate 16.99, 336pp)

(4th Estate 16.99, 336pp)

This gothic novel shines a light on the exploitative, class-based darkness at the heart of late 19th-century society England.

Protagonist Harriet is a housemaid at Finton Hall, owned by respected Liberal MP Ralph Gethin and his wife, Clara. Harriet is entranced by her female employer, but finds Ralph strange and sinister.

When the body of a baby is pulled from the Thames, its assumed to be the Gethins missing son, and Clara is accused of his abduction and murder. Harriet does not believe Clara is guilty and sets out to prove her innocence. All kinds of nasty secrets come to light and Finton Hall is gradually exposed as the home of a monster.

Tension builds as the more digging Harriet does, the more danger she puts herself in. I was hooked from the start.
Night Watch

by Jayne Anne Phillips

(Fleet 22, 304pp)

(Fleet 22, 304pp)

Phillips disquieting, uneven fifth novel, set in the aftermath of the U.S. Civil War, is an uneasy mix of abject horror and fatalistic hopefulness.

It hones in on the lives of 12-year-old ConaLee and her brutalised mother Eliza, who hasnt spoken for a year. Phillips prose and plot see-saws between the wistfully graceful, when describing their hardscrabble self-sufficient existence in the Virginian Mountains, and the horrifically grim, after their world was wrecked by Papa  a sociopathic renegade who inveigled his way into their lives, with dire consequences.

Abandoned at the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum, the duo attempt to rebuild their lives, as does the titular Night Watch, an ex-soldier who cant remember his past or his connection to Eliza and her child. In this war-torn world, its the emotional devastation that leaves lasting scars as families and minds are broken.

The Gallopers

by Jon Ransom

(Muswell Press 14.99, 208pp)

There is so much yearning in this second novel from Ransom.Its a book packed with explosive secrets and deception, but its the hard-to-express emotions and the longing for love that lends this poignant tale its momentum. For the most part, the setting is rural 1950s Norfolk, and the story is told by Eli, whos painfully aware of his outsider status.

In a destructive sexual relationship with workmate Shane (whose unfulfilled ambition is to pose in homo-erotic muscle magazines), its the arrival of older fairground worker Jimmy Smart, all Woodbine cigarettes and awkward tenderness, that sees Eli begin to dream of a different kind of life for himself.

Loot

by Tania James

(Harvill Secker 18.99, 304pp)

Theres a striking automaton on display in Londons V&A museum; carved from wood, it shows a British redcoat being mauled by a growling tiger. It was commissioned by the ruler of Mysore, Tipu Sultan, in 1794 and its this intriguing mechanical beast that is the centrepiece of James epic sweep of a novel, which travels from India to Europe in the company of a fascinating range of characters.

Here, we meet 17-year-old Abbas, a talented but poor wood carver; a dissolute French clockmaker; a young seafarer struck down with scurvy; the marvellously eccentric Lady Selwyn and the resolute Jehanne, who takes over her fathers business, much to the dismay of her aunt. Niftily constructed, the novel packs in doomed romance, the horrors of colonialism and palace plots.
Ever-more Americans are turning to social media to rant about the rising cost of childcare, which researchers now say gobbles up a quarter of parents' incomes and leaves millions plundering rainy-day funds.

Across the US, parents are complaining that nannies and daycare now cost more than rent, mortgage repayments or college tuition fees. One Massachusetts mom says it's 'one of the reason the people are not having kids anymore.'

Care.com this week released its annual report on the $340 billion-a-year industry.

It found that 24 percent of parents spend a quarter of their household income on childcare, while nearly half spent more than $18,000 last year.

Florida realtor Freddie Smith was 'blown away' by daycare costs in Orlando.

The group's CEO Brad Wilson said parents of under-fives were being 'forced into a financial hole that is nearly impossible to climb out of.'

This is a 'major red flag' in an election year.

The childcare crisis was so bad that 88 percent of parents say support from the federal government could swing how they vote in this year's presidential election  which is set to be a face-off between Joe Biden and Donald Trump.

'A healthy economy depends upon the ability for people to save and spend, but given the crushing weight of childcare costs, those pillars are crumbling,' added Wilson.

'It is a systemic failure that will impact our nation's economic growth.'

Wilson's fears are borne out by the TikTok videos posted by cash strapped parents across the US.

They include, Paige Turner, a Massachusetts mom-of-four who juggles parenting and working from home.

Massachusetts mom-of-four Paige Turner sounds the alarm about the childcare crisis

Friends have been forced to 'leave the workforce' because the $28,000-per-year cost of infant childcare 'rivals the cost of in state college tuition,' Turner says.

'The lack of childcare is leading to drastic changes in the way people view family planning,' she added.

'This posed big questions for 'what our economy and country will look like in 10, 20, 30 years from now, when a lot of millennials choose not to have children, because they cannot afford them.'

Meanwhile, in Orlando, Florida, Freddie Smith, a realtor, described his jaw dropping when friends told him they were splashing out $2,200 on childcare each month.

'I was blown away,' he said.

He spoke about a friend who earned $65,000 per year  but was left with just $18,000 after nanny wages, taxes, and gas.

According to Care.com's survey, Massachusetts is the most expensive state to hire a nanny  $899 per week.

Parents across the US are taking to TikTok t rant about the eye-watering costs of a nanny

Getting a space for a child at a daycare center can involve a lengthy waiting list

It's followed by Washington DC, California, Washington state and Connecticut.

Mississippians pay the least for nannies  $577 per week.

Oklahoma, Alabama, Louisiana, and West Virginia round out the cheapest five states.

Nanny costs jumped 4 percent last year, while daycare prices soared by 13 percent to a national average of $321 per week.

Costs spiked because pandemic-related federal subsidies for childcare ended in September 2023, forcing some daycare centers out of business.

As a result, parents have been spending more, and being forced to dip into their savings, according to the group's survey of 2,000 moms and dads.

More than a third of parents raided their savings accounts, burning through 42 percent of their rainy-day funds on average.

Vice President Kamala Harris last year announced plans to lower the cost of childcare for US families with a proposal to cap co-payments under a block grant program.
Train ticket machines are notorious for overcharging customers  with prices sometimes more than double what you might pay online or at the ticket office.

Research this week by consumer group Which? found the best value fares were often either unavailable or hidden among several options.

But rather than raging against the machine, here are some useful tips to ensure you can travel as cheaply as possible when taking the train.

Book at least ten minutes in advance

The first hurdle to getting a cheap deal is that two thirds of train ticket machines do not sell advanced tickets, according to a report published today.

These tickets tend to be cheaper because they are not flexible and only allow you to travel at a specific time.

By booking up to 12 weeks in advance you can pay just a tenth of what you would if you booked on the day.

Booking an advance train ticket up to 12 weeks before travelling could get you a better price

The good news is it is still possible to buy cheaper advance tickets as little as ten minutes before a standard ticket departure time.

Consumer body Which? said: Train station machines are charging up to 154 per cent more  with the best value fares unavailable or hard to find.

We visited 15 different station ticket machines and found ten did not sell advanced tickets. This is of concern given that rail companies have only recently been forced to scrap plans to close huge numbers of ticket offices due to a public backlash.

If you want an advance ticket the ticket office is the best place to start as they can advise on different journey costs. Alternatively, you can book an advance ticket online, using a website service such a Trainline, to make the booking or buy using the train companys own website or phone app.

Internet purchases allow you to pick up tickets at a machine by sending an access code.

Be flexible about when you travel

Ticket machines tend to withhold details about the price difference between peak and off-peak travel. Instead, they will show you prices based on the time period you are in at the time of your search.

Machines rarely provide details of off-peak prices until that period has arrived  perhaps after 10am.

This means if you arrive at the station 30 minutes before the end of peak time, you may not realise that by waiting for a slightly later train you could get a cheaper deal.

For information about the price difference, you still need to ask at a ticket office or scroll through train websites, such as National Rail Enquiries.

Train fares will increase by as much as 4.9 per cent from March 3, as rail operators hit travellers with price hikes

In the modernised world of train ticket machines, off-peak and super-off-peak times  that can cost less than half the price of standard peak tickets  are not always obvious.

Research by Which? found that during peak times, a machine in Hitchen, Hertfordshire, only offered an anytime single to York for 133. But by booking the ticket on the Trainline website, Which? found an off-peak ticket for the same journey at 55.

Buy travel tickets before March

Train fares will increase by as much as 4.9 per cent from March 3, as rail operators hit travellers with price hikes.

You may be able to shield yourself from this if you purchase tickets in advance  season ticket railcards or an advanced booking made up to 12 weeks before travel. By booking in advance, you should be able to access this years lower prices for journeys after March 3.

Buy as a group at the ticket office

Another little-known trick to save money  and one that no ticket machine will ever point you towards  is to travel in a group of between three and nine people.

You do not need to buy a railcard for this but must ask for a so-called GroupSave at the ticket office or when purchasing online.

One of the passengers must book all of the tickets. By doing this you can save a third off the price of any off-peak travel.

For example, four separate off-peak return tickets from Cardiff to Bristol cost a total of 128.80 using the Trainline service. But by purchasing on the same website using the GroupSave option, the total fell to 84.80  a 44 saving.

Buy a little-known railcard

National Railcards have long been popular among under-25s and over-60s but there is a whole range of other lesser-known annual railcards that also knock a third off the cost of off-peak travel.

Machines should accept these  although spotting the option to use it at the check out when making the payment requires a magnifying glass.

If you are over 25-years-old but under 30, you can buy a 26-30 railcard for 30 and get a third off on eligible fares.

The Two Together Railcard is designed for couples or two people who tend to travel together, such as friends, colleagues or family. Named passengers get a third off train tickets when they travel together with the 30 railcard.

Ticket machines tend to withhold details about the price difference between peak and off-peak travel

The Family & Friends railcard applies for groups of up to four adults and four children and also costs 30. Adults can save a third off train tickets while children get a 60 per cent discount. At least one adult and one child must travel together.

Go to the ticket office at a London Underground station with a Railcard and they can also apply the discount for off-peak travel on London Underground for the duration of the railcard.

For those travelling in the South East of England there is also a little known 30 Network railcard that can knock a third off the price of off-peak travel for a year. Holders can also buy discounted train tickets for up to three others who are travelling with them at the same time.

Save with split tickets

Another money saving trick that has been thwarted by oversimplified ticket machines is split ticketing. This is where you buy separate rail tickets for different legs of a journey as it is cheaper than buying the whole journey in a single ticket.

But Mark Price, a train expert at website The Man in Seat 61, said the trick can still work if done right  and it even applies if you are only taking one train.

He said: Split ticketing can work out cheaper. You do not need to swap trains but your carriage must stop at the station from which separate tickets have been bought.

The trick could save you even more if one leg of the journey then falls into an off-peak or super off-peak window, he said. This means you might get a cheaper seat on one leg of the journey than another because it becomes off-peak.

A ticket machine cannot handle such money-saving complexity but a specialist website such as Trainsplit or Split Ticketing can do the legwork for you. These websites buy all the tickets that you would need on your journey in one go. Some websites may charge a small fee for this service but are still likely to save money.

For example, a day return train journey from Manchester to London can cost 375.50 but with Trainsplit if you buy split tickets that stop at Crewe you can pay as little as 87.88.

Consider ranger and rover tickets

A ranger ticket enables travellers to enjoy unlimited travel for one day in specific regions, such as the West Midlands, for a cheaper price.

These are not advertised on ticket machines and you should speak to the ticket office to ask about options in your area.

Rail enthusiast Mark Haines, 47, is among those who regularly uses a ranger ticket  travelling with his son Charlie to film trains.

Last year he paid 48 for an adult and child ranger for the day, using it to travel between Leamington Spa and Crewe. Had he purchased anytime returns it would have cost him 163.05.

A rover ticket is a limited time period ticket that can be used over several days that works much the same as a ranger. Both the ranger and rover tickets can provide additional savings if the tickets are also purchased using a railcard.

Fight for compensation

Train travellers miss out on 100million a year in compensation for delays by failing to make a claim. But the process can be straightforward if you fill a form online, pick up a claims form at a ticket office or download your train company smartphone app.

Under a delay repay agreement that most operators are signed up to, you can claim half the price of a single ticket if you are delayed by between 30 minutes to an hour. For delays longer than an hour, you can demand a full refund on a single ticket. If you are delayed by more than two hours you can claim the full return ticket price.

The Rail Delivery Group, which represents train companies, said: The introduction of single leg pricing and expansion of pay-as-you-go contactless fares are important changes making fares easier and simpler for customers.

We will continue to work with the Government and the rail industry to achieve further reforms and deliver more benefits for our customers.
British Gas has been named as the worst energy firm for customer satisfaction by consumer group Which?.

It found there was little to separate the remaining firms with the lowest customer scores  Boost, Scottish Power, Ovo Energy, Shell Energy, EDF Energy and E.ON Next.

At the other end of the scale, Octopus Energy, Ecotricity and E (Gas & Electricity) achieved the highest customer scores.

British Gas, which supplies more than a fifth of households in Britain, received an overall score of 56 per cent.

Energy tables: Which? has put British Gas bottom of the pile in its latest customer satisfaction ratings

It scored just two stars for most categories, including accessibility  or whether a customer can engage with it effectively, value for money and accuracy of energy payments.

It received three stars  an average score  for customer service overall.

But other reviews of British Gas are more positive about the firm - such as Trustpilot, which suggests call wait times are down and customer satisfaction is on the up.

The watchdog surveyed more than 9,000 energy customers in October 2023 for its annual customer satisfaction survey and also assessed 18 energy firms' behind-the-scenes practices and policies to compile an overall score.

Octopus Energy received an overall score of 73 per cent and was the only firm to achieve a five-star rating for overall customer service.

Ecotricity and E (Gas & Electricity) scored 72 per cent and 71 per cent respectively.

They also received four stars for their overall customer service and quality of communications about energy costs.

The news comes as Centrica chief executive Chris O'Shea today told BBC Breakfast that he 'could not justify' his 4.5million-a-year pay packet.

O'Shea said: 'You cannot justify a salary of that size. It's a huge amount of money, to anybody looking it is a huge amount of money.

'It's not for me to set my own pay, it is not for you to set your own pay. But you've got to recognise, when you've got people who are struggling... I look at my mum, on the basic state pension, it's just impossible to justify, so there is no point in trying to do that.'

A spokesman for Centrica, which owns British Gas, said: 'This survey is behind the curve and is based on data that is up to a year old.

'We appreciate all customer feedback and can confirm the issues raised in these two case studies relating to the supplier of last resort process from 2021 were resolved.

'Since that period, we've targeted more than 25million of investment on improving service and customers are seeing a difference  this includes hiring 700 new contact centre agents and extending our opening times.

'We continue to be focused on customer service and helping our most vulnerable customers through our sector-leading 100million customer support package.'
Wincanton shares soared by almost half on Friday as French shipping group CEVA revealed a 566.9million takeover offer for the British logistics firm.

The 450p per share offer implies a Wincanton enterprise value of around 765million and is at a 52 per cent premium to the groups closing share price on Thursday of 297p.

Marseille-headquartered CEVA Logistics, which has a logistics arm as well as sea, air, ground and rail freight operations, said the takeover represents an attractive growth opportunity in the UK.

Wincanton shares were up 47.3 per cent to 437.5p in early trading.

Wincanton's employs 20,300 staff across more than 170 sites around the country, and is responsible for approximately 8,500 vehicles.

CEVA Logistics also highlighted Wincantons grocery and consumer expertise as part of its rationale for the deal, which it said would further develop its offering in contract logistics in the UK and Ireland.

CEVA, which is a subsidiary of CMA CGM, currently generates around $950million (749million) of annual revenues in the UK and covers the entire supply chain through its subsidiaries. It generates around $15billion in annual revenues globally.

It said it would build on Wincanton's proven expertise in partnering with prominent grocers and retailers, while delivering cost synergies, sharing best practices and making use of key talents from both sides.

Wincanton, which counts supermarkets Asda, Sainsbury's and Waitrose as well as retailers Screwfix and Wickes among its customers, suffered tough trading in 2023 as the squeeze on consumer spending hurt volumes at its e-fulfilment and consumer divisions.

Wincanton shares remain short of their May 2021 peak of 454p and were down by roughly 8.5 per cent in 2023.

The groups board is backing the deal and said shareholders should approve the fair and reasonable offer at an upcoming vote.

It said: While the Wincanton Board is highly confident in the long-term prospects of the business as an independent listed company, it has considered the attraction to Wincanton Shareholders of the Cash Consideration due under the terms of the Acquisition against the backdrop of near-term macroeconomic uncertainty.

The all-cash consideration being offered provides Wincanton shareholders with the opportunity to realise the value of their investment for all of their Wincanton Shares.

The board also cited the limited liquidity of Wincanton shares as presenting a challenge for Wincanton shareholders to otherwise monetise their holdings, while arguing the groups trading performance has not been reflected in its share price.

Lack of market liquidity and perceived undervaluation have been key drivers of a spate of private takeovers and delistings in recent years.

Wincanton employs 20,300 staff across more than 170 sites around the country, and is responsible for approximately 8,500 vehicles.

Should it pass a shareholder vote, the deal is expected to become effective this year.

Martin Read, chairman of Wincanton, said: 'This offer for Wincanton is testament to the strength of the business we have built, our strategy, our strong customer relationships and our excellent people.

CMA CGM is a highly-experienced operator in the industry, and as Wincanton becomes part of this larger business, it will be able to capitalise on the significant growth opportunities ahead.

In unanimously recommending this offer to shareholders, the directors believe it is in the interests of all the company's stakeholders.

While we remain confident in the long-term prospects of Wincanton and the wider sector, we recognise that the strong performance of the company has not been reflected in the performance of its shares in recent years. We therefore believe this offer represents the best opportunity for shareholders to realise the value of their investment with greater certainty.

Chief executive James Wroath added: This offer will enable Wincanton to continue and accelerate the progress that has been made, providing an excellent partner with the balance sheet strength that will allow the pursuit of both existing and new growth opportunities.

CMA CGM's strong track record of investing in its people and its commitment to its customers means that we are confident this offer will deliver benefits for all of our stakeholders.
A person of interest in a notorious unsolved poisoning case that has gripped China for decades is living in a quiet Australian beachside town - with Anthony Albanese facing calls to deport her to face the justice system in her home country.

Three days before Christmas last year, Zhu Ling died aged 50 after living almost all of her adult life wheelchair-bound with the mental age of a six-year-old.

The once-gifted musician had been repeatedly poisoned with the highly toxic chemical thallium while a student at Beijing's Tsinghua University over several months in 1994 and 1995.

No one has ever been charged in her case. But her chemistry classmate and roommate, Sun Wei, was initially investigated by Chinese police before then being released.

Internet-fueled suspicion has followed Ms Sun throughout her life - even though she has always maintained her innocence.

Speculation about Ms Sun has only ratcheted up on Chinese social media - largely, Weibo - in the days since Ms Zhu's death.

Now, this publication has tracked Ms Sun, 50, down to a quiet beachside suburb three hours north of Sydney where she is living under a new name: Sun 'Jasmine' Shiyan.

Zhu Ling (pictured) was a bright 20-year-old chemistry student at Beijing 's Tsinghua University - often described as China's MIT - in December 1994 when she started to suffer crippling stomach pains, blurry vision and rapid hair loss

She had been repeatedly poisoned with thallium, which left her paralysed, almost blind and with the mental age of a six-year-old. She required round-the-clock care for the rest of her life before succumbing to her injuries on 22 December last year, aged 50. Her case remains unsolved (Ms Zhu is pictured in her wheelchair)

Ms Sun and her husband Feiyu Xie are known to locals in the tranquil coastal suburb of Salamander Bay, near Port Stephens, as 'Jasmine and Ringo'.

'They are a lovely couple with a young daughter, (they) keep themselves to themselves, really,' one neighbour said.

No local could imagine Jasmine might be mixed up in a 30-year-old unsolved poisoning case that has captivated millions of Chinese people.

The couple, who have built up a million-dollar property empire in the area, were allegedly on holiday in Japan when this publication visited on Wednesday.

One of their investment properties was due to go to auction on Friday afternoon, with a reserve price of $1.1 million.

But campaigners fear Jasmine and her husband may have left the country after her quiet life in Australia was exposed online.

A person of interest in the case, Sun Wei, who is now known as Sun 'Jasmine' Shiyan, has been discovered living in a quiet Australian beachside town in Port Stephens where she has amassed a property empire with her husband Feiyu 'Ringo' Xie (the couple are pictured together in 2012, second and third from right)

The view over Salamander Bay, just yards from the couple's four-bedroom, $2.1 million house

Ms Sun has been inundated with calls to return to China to address fevered speculation on Chinese social media.

Almost 40,000 people have signed a petition to the Australian government calling for Ms Sun to be investigated and deported.

It is not suggested Ms Sun, 50, is guilty of murdering Ms Zhu or suspected of the murder - simply that she is a subject of Chinese social media speculation.

'In 1994/1995, Tsinghua University student Zhu Ling was repeatedly poisoned with thallium while she was studying at the university,' the petition states.

'This act resulted in catastrophic consequences for Zhu Ling, leaving her paralysed with brain damage. Zhu has died on 22 Dec 2023,' it says - before going on to call for her to return to China.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Immigration Minister Andrew Giles and Foreign Minister Penny Wong are all named on the petition.

Ms Zhu's parents, who are now in their early 80s, have never stopped campaigning for justice (pictured with their daughter)

Ms Zhu was a gifted musician and brilliant student before the poisoning

Ms Sun and her husband are both naturalised Australian citizens and appear on the electoral roll.

The Australian newspaper recently spoke to Ms Sun's husband, Mr Xie, who described the situation as 'unfortunate'.

'Its an unfortunate thing for us, but we are not prepared to comment on anything,' he told the paper.

'I want to protect her, I dont think its a good thing, as you can imagine.'

Zhu Ling case: How university student's mystery death captivated China

The victim Ms Zhu was a bright 20-year-old chemistry student at Beijing's Tsinghua University - often described as China's MIT - in December 1994 when she started to suffer crippling stomach pains, blurry vision and rapid hair loss.

The bizarre symptoms completely baffled doctors until desperate friends eventually begged international experts for help over an early version of the internet.

In the first case of its kind, leading scientists from across the world analysed her medical records and within days had reached a grim consensus: she had been poisoned with the highly-toxic chemical thallium.

Almost 40,000 people have signed a petition to the Australian government calling for Ms Sun to be investigated and deported (pictured)

Pictured: Zhu required round-the-clock care for the rest of her life

Urgent tests revealed Ms Zhu had 1,000 times the normal amount of thallium in her bloodstream and doctors immediately began treating her with the antidote, Prussian Blue.

But it was too late.

The thallium, which is known as the 'poisoner's poison' due to the fact it is colourless, odourless and tasteless, left her paralysed, almost blind and with the mental age of a six-year-old.

After receiving round-the-clock care for the rest of her life, Ms Zhu eventually succumbed to her injuries three days before Christmas last year, aged 50.

Her death turned the decades-long tragedy into a potential homicide investigation.

Ms Zhu's parents, who are now in their early 80s, have never stopped campaigning for justice.

The case remains unsolved. Ms Sun was investigated by police in 1997 but never charged.

Ms Sun has repeatedly denied her involvement in the case.

In 2013 over 150,000 people signed a petition to then President Barack Obama calling for Ms Sun's deportation (pictured)

Ms Zhu's parents, who are now in their early 80s, have never stopped campaigning for justice

In 2005, Ms Sun reportedly posted on Tianya, a Chinese internet forum, to say cops had cleared her in 1998 due to insufficient evidence.

A year later, Ms Sun's family reportedly submitted an application to the police requesting the authorities re-open the case to 'find the truth' and clear her name.

In 2013, when the Beijing case exploded back into the public's imagination, Ms Sun reportedly wrote on Tianya: 'I, more than anyone else, would like to bring the real perpetrator to justice.'

A long-time campaigner for justice had two strands of Ms Zhu's hair from the time of the poisoning analysed in 2018.

Ms Zhu's eventual diagnosis was the first recorded example of 'telemedicine' where international experts from analysed her case file and reached the conclusion she had been poisoned with thallium

The results revealed she had been repeatedly exposed to thallium over a period of four months with increased frequency and doses towards the end.

'The overall thallium distribution profiles in the analysed hairs suggested both chronic and acute thallium exposures that correlated well with the sequential presentation of a plethora of symptoms experienced by the victim,' the report states.

An army of Chinese internet true crime obsessives have repeatedly demanded Ms Sun return to China and explain herself.

Discussion of Ms Zhu or the alleged suspect has been repeatedly quashed through the years by the government on Chinese social media sites, often only serving to fuel interest in the case.

Despite her repeated denials, the case has continued to dog Ms Sun for the past 30 years, first in the US where in 2013 over 150,000 people signed a petition to then President Barack Obama calling for her deportation.

The White House declined to comment on the request for deportation but acknowledged Ms Zhu's poisoning 'was a tragedy'.

'No young person deserves to suffer as she has, and we can understand the heartbreak of those close to her,' the response said.

In 2013, the Beijing Public Security Bureau defended its investigation, claiming that the passage of time and the lack of evidence limited its ability to reopen the case.

'The dedicated investigation team worked according to law, and the investigation was never compromised or interfered with in any way,' a statement from the police said.

The netizens have also exposed Ms Sun's social media profiles, personal information and business dealings in Australia online, with a source close to the family saying she fears for her life.

Attempts to contact Ms Sun were unsuccessful.
Presidential candidate Nikki Haley falsely denied cheating on her husband when she was accused of engaging in two extramarital affairs during her gubernatorial campaign, multiple sources who worked with her claim.

New witnesses have come forward telling DailyMail.com that Haley's denials of two alleged 2008 affairs are false, and that the supposed trysts were brazen and widely known among South Carolina politicos.

Will Folks, 49, and Larry Marchant, 61, both signed affidavits in 2010 alleging they had a sexual relationship with the then-South Carolina lawmaker, before she went on to become governor.

While the contents of the affidavits were described by major news outlets at the time, this is the first time they have been published outside of Folks' own document which he published on his blog.

Haley, 51, denied both at the time, saying she was '100% faithful' to the father of her two children and husband of 28 years, Michael Haley  who was deployed in Afghanistan with the National Guard in 2012.

Haley now frequently cites him as a reason for her presidential candidacy.

In 2010, Nikki Haley denied engaging in extramarital affairs with two South Carolina politicos, saying she was '100% faithful' to the father of her two children and husband of 28 years, Michael Haley

Signed affidavits obtained by DailyMail.com, and now, multiple witnesses, claim Haley had sexual relationships with Columbia lobbyist Larry Marchant Jr., 61,(left) and her communications consultant Will Folks before she was elected governor in 2010

The Republican presidential candidate visited a local store while campaigning in Newfields, New Hampshire on Friday

But multiple GOP insiders told DailyMail.com that they were intimately aware of Haley's infidelity as a South Carolina lawmaker  including tales of steamy liaisons in the back of her Cadillac SUV, 'canoodling' in her lovers' laps at bars, and nights spent together in a Columbia, South Carolina duplex.

Haley has not responded to DailyMail's request for comment as of the time of publication.

The news comes as Haley's campaign gears up for the January 23 New Hampshire primary, a fight to regain second place in the race for Republican presidential nominee after Ron DeSantis secured a two-point margin over her with 21% of the vote in the Iowa caucuses on Monday.

Sources spoke to DailyMail.com about Haley's alleged affairs after noticing her rosy references to her relationship with her husband, a major in the National Guard who is currently deployed in Africa, on her presidential campaign trail.

'I'm doing this for my husband and his military brothers and sisters. They need to know their sacrifice matters,' she said in a speech reported by CBS News in December.

Her most recent campaign ad opens with photographs of Michael's 2013 homecoming from his first deployment to Afghanistan.

Back in 2007, Folks was shaping Haley's political message as her communications consultant while she served as a member of the South Carolina House of Representatives.

In a 2010 affidavit obtained by DailyMail.com, Folks stated that he and Haley 'engaged in an inappropriate physical relationship that included numerous instances of inappropriate sexual contact'.

The former South Carolina governor frequently cites her husband as the reason for her presidential bid and her most recent campaign ad opens with photographs of Michael's 2013 homecoming from his first deployment to Afghanistan with the National Guard

Nikki Haley has been spending about an hour at each event, talking to voters and taking selfies

CNN's Jake Tapper (right) asked presidential candidate Nikki Haley (left) Thursday night what a 'win' would look like in New Hampshire and if it meant she could come in second place. New Hampshire first-in-the-nation primary takes place Tuesday

He said he first kissed Haley in a car in early 2007, and that he had regular trysts with her at his apartment in downtown Columbia. He got married in June 2008.

'Representative Haley and I shared our first kiss while sitting in her parked car outside of MacDougal's restaurant and bar in downtown Columbia, S.C.,' Folks wrote in the October 2010 affidavit.

'This kiss took place in early 2007 following an evening with friends at the nearby Liberty Taproom. After this first kiss, Rep. Haley drove us to the parking lot behind the neighborhood center at Emily Douglas Park where we parked for approximately forty-five minutes.

'There we slid back the seats of her Cadillac SUV so that Rep. Haley could climb on top of me.'

Folks said that the alleged affair continued through Spring 2007, with trysts at his Columbia apartment, and that 'a few other romantic encounters occurred in her SUV 'including one in the parking lot of the S.C. Policy Council' and 'in her State House office'.

He wrote that he broke it off in June 2007 when he started dating the woman he went on to marry the following year, Katrina Steinborn.

Larry Marchant Jr., 61, a Columbia lobbyist, also wrote a sworn statement that year that he had dinner, drinks and sex with Haley in her hotel room at a Salt Lake City conference in June 2008.

At the time Haley's two children, Rena and Nalin, were around 10 and 7.

'Rep. Nikki Haley and I were in Salt Lake City attending a conference together on June 14-15,2008,' Marchant wrote in his affidavit. 'We were both staying at the Salt Lake Marriott Downtown.

The former UN ambassador has been married to Michael Haley since 1996. They share two children, daughter Rena, now 25, and son Nalin, 22

Sources spoke to DailyMail.com about Haley's alleged affairs after noticing her rosy references to her relationship with her husband  who is currently deployed with the National Guard in Africa  on her presidential campaign trail

Marchant, who was married at the time, divorced in 2013, with his wife citing the alleged Haley affair in court papers

'After a night together of dinner and drinks with other participants of the conference, Rep. Haley and I returned to the hotel together. We went back to her room where we had sexual intercourse and I spent the remainder of the evening. I left her room at approximately 6:00 am.

'I came forward publicly on this matter only after being contacted by the press and after hearing Rep. Haley claim that she had been One Hundred Percent faithful to her husband in response to the Folk's allegations when I knew her statements were absolutely false.'

Marchant, who was married at the time, divorced in 2013, with his wife citing the alleged Haley affair in court papers.

The Republican presidential candidate managed to successfully quash the allegations and avoid scandal  and ultimately went on to be elected governor in November 2010.

But one South Carolina GOP insider told DailyMail.com they knew about Haley's alleged affair with Marchant at the time.

'She was in [Marchant's] office all the time, she'd be there at 11 or midnight, the two of them would be drinking,' the former associate of Haley said.

The GOP insider said he had also seen Haley get into the back of her off-white Cadillac SUV with her other alleged beau, Folks.

'I saw them sitting in it a few times with the windows steamed up,' he said.

A second prominent South Carolina Republican said he regularly saw the distinctive Cadillac outside Folks's duplex in Columbia, apparently staying overnight.

'I became curious when I saw an SUV parked outside early in the morning and late at night. It had legislative tags, it wasn't hard to figure out whose it was,' he said.

He added that Haley was not secretive with her alleged romancing.

In a sworn affidavit signed in 2010 Folks stated that he 'engaged in an inappropriate physical relationship that included numerous instances of inappropriate sexual contact' with Haley when she was a South Carolina lawmaker

Marchant also claimed to have 'sexual intercourse' with Haley after they both attended a conference in Salt Lake City in June 2008

'A lot of people saw her sitting on laps, wrapped arm in arm. I saw her myself when she was sitting on Larry's lap,' he claimed.

A third witness, one of Haley's former campaign staffers, told DailyMail.com he had no doubt about the nature of her relationship with Folks and Marchant.

'When she was having the affairs, she and her husband were having a lot of problems and were on the verge of divorce,' the ex-staffer said.

'There's no question she and Will were having an affair.

'Will was not sober at the time. They liked to drink at Za's and Momo's in Columbia. Nikki was a big wine drinker. They would sit and canoodle. It was totally out in the open, everyone in SC politics knew about it.

'I saw [Haley and Marchant] together many times.'

A fourth source, a senior political official in South Carolina, claimed Folks confessed to him he had sex with Haley in her car in a restaurant parking lot.

'In the South Carolina legislature, there are two types: the people who believe not enough gets done because there aren't enough lawmakers and lobbyists sleeping together; and the people who are holier than thou and say that having an affair violates the Ten Commandments,' the political official said.

The claims of Haley's infidelity were first splashed publicly during her campaign for governor in 2010.

The claims of Haley's infidelity were first splashed publicly during her campaign for governor in 2010. She is alleged to have begun her affair with Folks in 2007 and Marchant in 2008

Sources told DailyMail.com Haley and her lover Will Folks were spotted drinking and canoodling at restaurants and bars around Columbia, including Za's

The two lovers also enjoyed drinks at Momo's in the state capital

Local paper the Free Times had been investigating Folks and Haley, and when its reporter questioned the male aide in May that year, he decided to preempt the story by admitting to an 'inappropriate physical relationship' on his blog, FITSNews.

Haley responded the same day, 'categorically' denying the allegations. 'I have been 100% faithful to my husband throughout our 13 years of marriage,' she said in a statement.

She doubled down on a Columbia radio station, saying: 'This claim against me is categorically and totally false,' calling it 'South Carolina politics at its worst.'

Folks, who had been a public supporter of her gubernatorial campaign, then posted text messages on his blog that purported to show others knew of the alleged affair.

The texts were between Folks, Haley's then-Chief of Staff Tim Pearson, and Wesley Donehue, a consultant for one of her political opponents.

'I don't give a f**k [if] you believe me or not. You['re] the one who screwed her. You're the one who bragged about it,' Donehue wrote to Folks in one of the purported texts.

Pearson encouraged Folks to deny the affair, allegedly writing that if they 'keep this under wraps [Haley] is going to win.'

The following month, Marchant came forward with his claim of a 2008 one-night stand with Haley.

'After a night together of dinner and drinks with other participants of the conference, Representative Haley and I returned to the hotel together,' Marchant said.

'We went back to her room where we had sexual intercourse and I spent the remainder of the evening. I left her room at approximately 6 a.m.'

At the time, Haley's spokesman Pearson called the allegation a 'false and outrageous desperate attack from a losing candidate's paid campaign consultant in the final week of the race.'

Pearson was referencing the fact that Marchant had only just quit as then-Lieutenant Governor Andre Bauer's campaign against Haley in the gubernatorial Republican primary, after getting paid more than $50,000.

Haley has insisted she is '100% faithful' husband Michael Haley (pictured together during a fundraiser in Iowa last June) and now frequently cites him as a reason for her presidential candidacy

Haley first responded to the allegations when they emerged in 2010 in a statement insisting she has been '100% faithful to my husband throughout our 13 years of marriage'

The scandal failed to suppress her campaign. Haley served as governor until 2017, when she became ambassador to the United Nations under the Trump administration.

The GOP insider marveled at Haley's ability to shrug off the allegations, which would have killed many politicians' bids  regardless of their veracity.

'She's smart, an incredible operator, has a tremendous ability to put a force field around herself,' he said.

'She's got an incredible ability to parry and power through bad press. She has the Southern charm of Bill Clinton and the ruthlessness of Richard Nixon.'

Author Michael Wolff sparked unsubstantiated rumors of Haley having an affair with then-President Donald Trump in 2018, by writing in his book Fire and Fury that Trump 'had been spending a notable amount of private time with Haley on Air Force One and was seen to be grooming her for a national political future.'

Haley called the rumors 'disgusting' and 'absolutely not true', adding: 'I have literally been on Air Force One once and there were several people in the room when I was there,' in comments to news site Politico's Women Rule podcast at the time. Wolff offered no evidence for his claims.

In 2010 South Carolina political blogger Earl Capps also fanned flames about a rumored incident of 'drunken sex' with Haley  also unsubstantiated  when he conspicuously failed to deny them.

'I'm not going to admit or deny that one,' Capps told Folks' political site FITSNews in September 2010. 'I am not going to address those allegations at this time until I figure out what someone has gotten a hold of. That is my official position.'

No evidence emerged to back the rumors.
January 19, 2024: Iran has long been the largest developer and manufacturer of cruise and ballistic missiles in the Middle East. This large and growing arsenal of missiles was not used in the Persian Gulf as that would quickly lead to foreign powers retaliating against Iran for disrupting the oil shipments to customers worldwide. A lot of the oil coming out of the Gulf is Iranian and Iran needs the revenue from those exports. Instead, the Iranian missiles are sold or, in many cases given, to pro-Iran groups that will use the missiles against their enemies, who are often enemies of Iran as well.

Iran prefers to sell its missiles and is currently selling millions of dollars worth to Russia for use in Ukraine. Iran delivers these missiles to Russia using the inland sea route via the landlocked Caspian Sea, which is the world's largest lake. The Caspian Sea is huge, at 371,000 square kilometers, about the same size as Poland. It is about a thousand kilometers long and 430 kilometers wide. It's saline but is only about a third as salty as ocean water. The Caspian has a 7,000-kilometer-long coastline, with the largest chunk, 1,900 kilometers, belonging to Kazakhstan.

Since 1952, a canal linking the Don and Volga rivers gave the Caspian Sea access to the Black Sea and the world's oceans. However, the largest ships that can use the canal must be no more than 140 meters long, 17 meters wide, and a draft of no more than 3.5 meters. The canal moves over 12 million tons of cargo a year. About half of that is oil or oil products. Now the cargo includes Iranian missiles headed for Russia via river. Because of weapons sanctions imposed on Russia, the Caspian Sea is a safe and convenient route for Russian cargo ships moving cargo from Iran.
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It was a love story that shocked - and baffled - the world.

A pig and a kangaroo caught in the throes of passion, all while a bemused goose watched on.

It was June 2016. A simpler time before Covid, Donald Trump's presidency or the impending threat of World War Three breaking out at any moment.

And so when Apples the pig and a kangaroo aptly named 'F*** It' were photographed getting frisky - before sharing a loving post-coital embrace - it naturally made headlines around the globe.

The Outback farmer who owned the animals revealed at the time that they had been an item for more than a year - and the relationship continued for some time after the limelight faded away.

A Sydney student photographed a kangaroo and a pig getting intimate while on a research trip to the Northern Territory

After a few minutes, the kangaroo 'worked himself up and went for it', said Sydney-based PhD candidate Ryan Frazer

But sadly, it has recently emerged that both animals have died.

A worker at the Aileron Roadhouse - just a short walk away from where the pair were caught in the act - revealed that the animals remained together until their deaths a year or two ago.

Sydney-based PhD candidate Ryan Frazer told Daily Mail Australia back in 2016 that he found the couple getting cosy as he passed by a paddock in Aileron, near Alice Springs in the Northern Territory, during a research trip.

He took a series of photographs, which show the kangaroo cuddling up to the female pig by placing his paws on both sides of the animal while crouched in front of her - as if the two animals were hugging. There were also two geese in the paddock, and one watched on from up close.

After a few minutes, the kangaroo 'worked himself up and went for it', Mr Frazer said.

'I didn't even know it was possible,' he added.

'The animals saw us ... we met them at the fence and they just stood together in front of us.

'The kangaroo was ripped, a bit aggressive, huffing a bit. But the pig stayed with him, nuzzling under his arm, and the kangaroo was hugging the pig for a while.'

Mr Frazer said when the kangaroo was 'finished' the pig tried to jump on his back to 'reciprocate'

A kangaroo and a pig have been photographed having sex in a paddock in outback Australia

The kangaroo and pig approached a student visiting the area before the stopped and appeared to 'hug'

Sydney-based PhD candidate Ryan Frazer was visiting Aileron, near Alice Springs, Northern Territory, on research trip when he saw the animals

Mr Frazer said he and his colleague were 'bewildered by the affection' the animals had for another, as they nuzzled for a few minutes.

'Then the kangaroo started hugging the pig from behind, worked himself up a bit and went for it,' he said.

'The pig was totally nonchalant about the whole thing, was not concerned at all.

'We were just standing there like, "this is strange. Should we still be standing here, watching, taking photos"?

'When the kangaroo finished, the pig tried to jump on the back of the kangaroo for a bit, maybe to reciprocate... that's when we decided we'd had enough.'

The entire affair last for about five or 10 minutes.

'I didn't even know it was possible,' the PhD candidate who photographed the encounter said

'The kangaroo was ripped, a bit aggressive, huffing a bit. But the pig stayed with him, nuzzling under his arm, and the kangaroo was hugging the pig for a while'

Mr Frazer said he and his colleagues headed to a nearby art gallery, where a local asked if they had 'met the kangaroo and pig'

'I said "yes, they seem pretty close",' he said.

'He said, "yeah, the kangaroo's been heaps calmer since the pig has been in there".

'One of my colleagues was from Northern Arizona University and hadn't seen outback Australia before.'

Local man and the pig's owner, Greg Dick, said he had tried to break up the couple previously but failed, and that they had been 'in a relationship' for more than a year.

'I tried to take the pig away the other day and the kangaroo almost tore the fence down,' Mr Dick told the NT News.

'They're in love.'

The encounter between the kangaroo and the pig last for about five to 10 minutes

Local man and the animals' owner, Greg Dick, said the kangaroo was named 'F*** It', and the pig was named 'Apples'

'I tried to take the pig away the other day and the kangaroo almost tore the fence down,' Mr Dick said. 'They're in love'
We love our big, beautiful burgers, don't we folks?

And there's nothing bigger or more beautiful than the Trump Tower Burger at the Red Arrow diner: A seven-ounce patty (well done, naturally) is the base for a mac and cheese ball, all slathered with cheese sauce, and topped and bottomed with a pair of grilled cheese sandwiches.

It may have been created by a customer of the New Hampshire political institution, but it has borne the Trump branding ever since the then presidential candidate tucked into one after shaking hands with patrons during his 2016 campaign.

The diner has been an essential part of every candidate's primary schedule ever since Bill Clinton stopped by on his way to becoming the 'comeback kid' with a second place finish in the state's primary 1992.

Forget townhalls and televised debates. Chatting with customers lined up along the counter or fending off questions diners rubbing elbows in the snug booths offer the the toughest possible test in national politics, said co-owner Amanda Wihby, 41.

The Red Arrow Diner is an institution in Manchester, New Hampshire. Any serious presidential contender (and the not-so-serious) must visit so that patrons can quiz them up close

The Trump Tower Burger is an architectural assembly of patty, grilled cheese, mac and cheese, and more cheese sauce. It is a job best handled with two hands, a big mouth and antacids

'You get the hard questions. There are people on this side,' she said pointing at the narrow strip of standing room, 'and on the other side.

'So there's nowhere to go. They have to answer.

'This is grassroots politics at its finest.'

The Clinton visit and his victorious campaign are credited by some as inventing the whole idea of 'retail politics.'

In New Hampshire, where Republicans pick their preferred nominee on Tuesday, it means every voter expects to shake hands with presidential nominees, looking them in the eye and test their mettle.

There are always votes to be won at the Red Arrow Diner. The 24-hour spot heaves with independents ready to talk politics.

Its walls are a who's who of candidates. A young (well, younger) Joe Biden holds a baby aloft in one photo from a bygone campaign.

A youthful Barack Obama beams down from the wall.

As one wag put it, the Constitution might as well read that the U.S. president must be a natural-born citizen, be at least 35 years old, and to have visited the Red Arrow diner at least once.

The Trump Tower Burger is a seven-ounce beef patty, with a mac and cheese ball, plus two grilled cheese sandwiches, all dripping in extra cheese sauce

Co-owners Amanda Wihby and George Lawrence have welcomed all the candidates in the 2024 race. 'This is grassroots politics at its finest,' said Wihby

The diner has been a fixture in the New Hampshire circuit ever since Bill Clinton visited during his first presidential campaign. His second-place finish in the state in 1992 kickstarted his run

Joe Biden visited in July 2007 during one of his many presidential runs. That time he was beaten by Barack Obama, who also stopped by the Red Arrow Diner

Sen. Hillary Clinton shook hands with voters in 2007. She won the state but not the nomination

Sen. Tim Scott visited in April 2023 weeks before launching his campaign. He went up and down the counter pouring coffee for customers and dived into the kitchen to talk to the cooks

A picture of former President Donald Trump is among the gallery of political figures

Other faces might be forgotten faster. Doug Burgum, who dropped out of the 2024 Republican race in December, appears in one of his branded vests. Not far from his spot is Frances Suarez, the mayor of Miami, who did not make it past last August.

Sen. Tim Scott was a big hit during the present race.

'He kept all the media outside and took his time. He grabbed the coffee pot came down the line pouring coffee for everybody, shook everybody's hand and then went into the kitchen,'

And if the mark of a person can be measured by the way they treat wait staff, that carries even more meaning for presidential candidates in diners.

'There are people that are personable that are like you can tell are real people. And then there are other ones that are just here, just to go through the motions ... kind of robots.'

Her co-owner George Lawrence, 83, chimed in.

'That was DeSantis,' he added helpfully. 'A robot.'

Nikki Haley, Obama, Rudy Giuliani, Mike Pompeo and more have all dropped by. But local bloy Adam Sandler probably has more pictures of any other celebrity on the wall

Ron DeSantis visited in May last year. He was peppered with questions by voters at the counter

He got tough questions about Disney and his war on woke.

There's no better test, New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, who has a plaque in one of the booths, told DailyMail.com, especially if a candidate orders the 'mug of bacon' from the idiosyncratic menu.

'I used to take my bacon and dip it in the milkshake that made for a great combination,' he said.

'So if you know how to handle the red arrow, and you can take a little bacon, it's a winning move.'

Only one candidate has a menu item named in his honor. That came when Trump visited in 2016 for an interview.

He stayed for lunch, wolfing down the towering, cheesy, beefy construction, which back then was known as the Newton Burger.

The Red Arrow Diner is 101 years old. But it was in a sorry state when the Lawrence family took over. Today it is a thriving 24-hour Manchester institution

The joint was thronged with media and Secret Service agents when Trump returned in 2023. He first visited as a long-shot candidate during the 2016 election

It resembles not so much a sandwich but an architectural monument to the idea that more is more. Particularly when it comes to cheese.

For the customer able to get the whole thing in their mouth, the overwhelming sensation is crispy toast, creamy mac and cheese and an overwhelming whiff of power.

Even the top grilled cheese layer is golden, evoking that famous pompadour hairstyle.

'He ordered it, ate it loved it, finished it and we were like, a fitting name would be the Trump Tower burger,' said Whiby.

And for once the Trump Organization relaxed its tight control over naming rights.
A Jewish-Israeli mother-of-two was sent two envelopes each containing just a single WWII-era stamp of Adolf Hitler in a targeted anti-semitic threat, which police failed to investigate.

Officers did not collect evidence despite a return name and address in Poland being printed on the back of both of the notes, but Thames Valley Police claim the report was investigated. No arrest has been made.

The 49-year-old, who has asked not be named to protect her family, received the two padded envelopes through her letterbox at her home in Amersham, Buckinghamshire on the same day in early May last year.

Each envelope, addressed to her personally, contained another white envelope, which had inside them a small plastic coin bag containing a stamp emblazoned with the Fuhrer's face, which is believed to be from early 1940s Nazi Germany.

The stamps do not appear to be valuable and sets of similar ones can be purchased online for just a few pounds.

The defiant mother issued a warning to the racist and 'cowardly' perpetrators, telling MailOnline: 'If they were to knock on the door I'd knock them down. I have young children and I don't need my husband to do that.'

But she said that she did not fully realise the implications of what she was sent at first, as she was in the process of grieving for her father who had died just weeks earlier. 'I looked at it and it didn't register,' she told MailOnline.

A Jewish-Israeli mother-of-two (pictured) was sent two envelopes containing each containing just a single WWII-era stamp of Adolf Hitler in a targeted anti-semitic threat, which police then failed to investigate

One of the WWII-era stamps from Nazi Germany, which was sent to the Jewish mother in May

'I was bewildered to be honest, I didn't really get it. I showed to my husband and we said 'what the hell'.

'It only registered when we had a non-Jewish friend over. I showed it to him and he was horrified - as I would be today. He said: 'What the f***, that's horrific, that's horrible'.'

She said her friend advised her to report the incident to Thames Valley Police.

The Jewish woman moved to the UK from Israel in the mid-1990s, and now lives with her husband, 13-year-old daughter and 11-year-old son.

She initially went to the local police station to report the hateful post in mid-July last year, but found that the High Wycombe station was the nearest one where the force would accept a report in person without prior warning.

She said the receptionist who took the details did not appear to realise whose portrait was on the stamp or why she was there. 'I don't know if I can fault her for that or not as I don't take for granted people understanding our issues and racism,' she said.

'But she didn't really understand why I was there. She didn't identify who the bloke was on the stamp.

'But she said someone will contact me, which they did the next day.'

An officer called her the next day to confirm some details, the woman explained.

'He said 'we'll see what what we can do' and asked if I had the envelopes. I said 'yes'. He said he would send a unit to collect the stamps and envelopes so they have it as evidence, and forensics could take it from there.'

'They haven't done it and no one has called to arrange it.'

She has not contacted Thames Valley Police again to investigate as she does not believe they will bother. 'My impression was that they decided it wasn't worth their time.

'I don't have much faith in them as I saw how they responded.'

The lack of investigation was particularly was particularly disappointing as the stamps were sent via registered post, seemingly from an address in Poland, an obvious line of enquiry to follow up.

'They can trace where it was sent from - if it was sent from a post office, maybe there's a camera. But someone thought it was too difficult or complicated, and 'not worth my time'.'

The envelopes in which the stamps were sent via registered post, seemingly from an address in Poland

Each envelope, addressed to the woman personally, contained another white envelope, which had inside them a small plastic coin bag containing a stamp emblazoned with the Fuhrer's face, which is believed to be from early 1940s Nazi Germany

Not willing to let the it get the best of her, she said: 'I don't ever feel like a victim, and I don't raise my kids to ever feel like that.

'I did everything I could on my end. I know how to defend my family and not depend on someone else doing it for me.'

Referencing the rise in anti-semitic hate across the UK since the October 7 Hamas terror attacks in Israel, she added: 'I would be sad if what happened in October has changed things.

'I live in an area which is not particularly Jewish so we don't get incidents as we're not visually different. After the October attacks, I got plenty of support from local friends, Christian and Muslim.

'But the police - it is what it is, they never responded.'

Asked how she felt about the threats from the unknown anti-semite, the woman said: 'I was worried, as it was targeted.

'When I spoke to police, the only thing I asked was: 'I know this might be tough to investigate but it's not hard to see if anyone else has received something like it.'

'I'm willing to bet money that the police haven't even checked it. But am I the only one?'

Since the receiving the threatening stamps which show the face of the dictator who murdered six million Jews across Europe in the Holocaust, she has upped security at her home, adding extra cameras to cover any blind spots.

While she says she can take care of herself, she is concerned about the safety of her two children. 'The kids are always attended, they're never alone - especially since October,' she said.

'I'm scared for our kids. We have avoided going to places where we could be spotted as foreigners or Israelis and I don't want any problems.

'I'm proud of where I'm from proud of who I am. I'm not scared but I do have young children.'

She said her son and daughter are 'totally unaware' of the racist threat. 'I haven't showed it to them. I don't want to scare them. They don't need to live in fear.'

A Thames Valley Police spokesperson told MailOnline: 'We received a report of a hate crime incident at [the victim's address], at around 11am on 13 July.

'The report was investigated and we are making a public appeal to anyone with information to contact us.

'Anyone with further information should call 101 or make a report on our website, quoting reference number 43230310100.

'We take all reports of hate crime seriously as we know that they have a devastating impact on individual victims and targeted communities.

'Anti-Semitism and all other racial and faith-based discrimination will not be tolerated in any form.

'So far in the investigation, no arrests have been made.'

When asked what the scale of the investigation was, the spokesperson added: 'Officers fully debriefed the victim to determine risk, impact and proportionate lines of enquiry and the appropriate action was taken, such as actions to locate the address from which the letter was sent.'
Two of Britain's most dangerous terrorists, including a top al-Qaeda boss who was jailed for life for planning mass murder, could be out on the streets in months.

Rangzieb Ahmed was caged after he was caught with a book of terrorist contacts written in invisible ink and a rucksack showing traces of explosives.

Ahmed - once said to be Osama bin Laden's top European operative - was the first person to be convicted in the UK of directing terrorism.

In September it was reported the Rochdale-born Muslim was refused parole because he was still too dangerous to be released and must attend a year-long deradicalisation programme.

The 47-year-old had asked the Parole Board to recommend he be freed, but after a 'paper review' in July 2023 it decided that he must finish a new 'regime' he had just started.

That was his second hearing - and now the third is expected in months.

Rochdale-born Muslim Rangzieb Ahmed was jailed for life with a minimum of 10 years in 2008 for heading a three-man al-Qaeda cell planning mass attacks

At Ahmed's 2008 trial, the jury heard how he headed a three-man al Qaida cell which was preparing to commit mass murder.

Ahmed will be eligible for another parole hearing this year

Counter-terrorism chiefs were not sure where Ahmed was planning to strike, but were convinced an attack was imminent, his trial heard.

His scheme was revealed with the discovery of three diaries, which were found to contain details and phone numbers of key al Qaida operatives written in invisible ink.

He later sued MI5 and MI6 for alleged collusion in his torture by Pakistani intelligence, but last year had his damages claim thrown out by the High Court.

Ahmed had claimed he was tortured at the hands of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency while detained between 2006 and 2007, before being deported to the UK and charged with terrorism offences.

Another terrorist who could soon be freed is a senior recruiter who wanted to fight with ISIS.

Aras Mohammed Hamid, 32, was jailed for seven years in 2017 after radicalising a fellow British-based Kurd.

Aras Hamid is serving a prison sentence after trying to leave the UK to join fighters with so-called Islamic State

Rangzieb Ahmed - once said to be the top European operative for Osama bin Laden (pictured) - was the first person to be convicted in the UK of directing terrorism

Hamid, also described as the mastermind behind plans to send fighters to a Kurdish unit of ISIS, is also expected to have a hearing this year.

The Parole Board said he was in his parole review but no date had been set yet. It is expected to be this year.

There were plans to deport him upon any release but they are expected to be a breach of his human rights. Asylum-seeker Hamid, then from Coventry, was convicted of two counts of preparing for acts of terrorism.

Taxpayers would be expected to pay out millions on monitoring them on their release.

There is no suggestion they worked together.

Tory MP Nigel Mills said: 'These are very dangerous terrorists and should not be released.

'There are real fears they will spread their hatred and evil.'
More than 100 rogue cows have caused udder mayhem during an early morning rampage on Melbourne's outskirts.

Shocked motorists first spotted cattle taking up an entire lane as they raced down a major road towards Pakenham 8km away around 3am Thursday.

The cows had earlier escaped through the fence of a nearby farm on Tommuc Valley Road before splitting into groups.

'F***, someone's left the gate open or something,' a motorist was heard to say in one video.

'They're all heading into town - they're worse than cyclists!'

Shocked locals woke up to find cows wandering on their driveways and front lawns

By sunrise, the cows were still running amok and had made themselves at home in suburbia, sparking bizarre scenes.

Some residents woke to find the surprise visitors on the driveways and sitting in their front yards grazing on the lawn.

Others spotted the escapees wandering around housing estates along the footpath and seeking refuge in parks.

Some cows were even spotted running away from police cars trying to round up the herd during the morning peak hour.

By 9am, the cows had been rounded up by Victoria Police with the help of their owner and safely returned to their paddock.

The escapees made the 8km trek to Pakenham within several hours

The cows spent several hours wandering around suburbia before being rounded up

Their relieved owner saw the funny side.

'Some people want to go on a farm stay, the (cows) wanted to go on a suburbia stay,' farmer Matt Robinson told 7NEWS.

He believed that something spooked his animals, causing them to escape through the fence.

'They just smashed the post down the ground,' Mr Robinson said.
A nominee for Australian of the Year is engaged in a bitter feud with animal activists after film emerged of an abattoir she previously part-owned roughly treating animals.

Stephanie Trethewey, who as Tasmanian Australian of the Year for 2024 is automatically in the running for the national award, has struck back at what she labelled 'hate and defamation by these ... people'.

Ms Tretheway has been targeted by animal rights activists after hidden cameras inside The Local Meat Co, a north-west Tasmanian abattoir then owned by Ms Trethewey and husband Sam Trethewey, captured scenes of brutal animal treatment.

Tasmanian Australian of the Year Stephanie Trethewey is engaged in a bitter battle with animal rights activists

READ MORE: Anthony Albanese suddenly backflips on a key policy for farmers after copping friendly fire from Western Australian Premier Mark McGowan Advertisement

Ms Trethewey, a former television journalist who created the online non-profit Motherland which aims to 'celebrate and connect rural mums', says since the footage was made public earlier this month she has become 'the target of some truly disgusting animal activists'.

'I've received death threats and have been bullied via messages, emails and phone calls all day,' she wrote on Instagram, adding that her name had been 'dragged through the mud'.

'I have closed off comments on our farming business too and am genuinely concerned for my family's safety.'

Ms Trethewey also said she was exploring 'exciting ideas' on how to 'protect other rural families from ... hate, and defamation by these ... people'.

In a statement sent to Daily Mail Australia on Friday, Ms Trethewey said she had 'strained under the social media voiced against my part-ownership (of the abattoir).

'This has been personally taxing for someone with a history of mental health struggles, all at a time I am trying to be a proud representative of Tasmania,' she said.

Hidden camera footage in an abattoir then part-owned by Ms Trethewey shows animals being treated brutally

The statement also says that since December Ms Trethewey is no longer a part owner of The Local Meat Co.

She 'never had any management or operational involvement of the facility whatsoever.

'When the issues around animal welfare were raised  and addressed immediately by The Local Meat Co  we decided to remove myself from the ownership register to reflect the reality that I have no operational involvement with the facility,' she said.

'All I can say is that I am in touch with lawyers, have reported certain individuals to police, spoken to journalists and have faith that the good ones do their research before rolling with what a group of crazy vegans say.'

Footage taken in the abattoir, which boasts it produces 'sustainable' high-grade meat, by the Farm Transparency Project in September showed cattle being shot multiple times in the head but remaining conscious.

Distressing footage shows cows' necks and heads being jammed by hydraulic machinery and they are herded with a hammer and metal pipe.

Sheep are roughly tossed, punched with electric prodders are used to move them along the races into the slaughter room.

Farm Transparency Project director Harley McDonald-Eckersall claimed the footage was damning. It is not suggested that Mr McDonald-Eckersall has engaged in any improper conduct towards Ms Trethewey

The Farm Transparency Project said it took the shocking image of animal abuse over just two days in Local Meat Co slaughterhouse

'We installed cameras at the Local Meat Co for just two days,' he said.

'In that small amount of time, we documented some of the most brutal treatment of cows and sheep we have witnessed in recent years.

'By allowing this slaughterhouse to continue operating in the face of this footage, the state government is sending a message that this kind of treatment of animals is ok and will lead to no ramifications.'

The Local Meat Co in December described the 'illegally obtained footage' as unacceptable and it condemned 'all mistreatment of animals'.

The statement finishes saying media reports had contained 'historical inaccuracies ... Including falsely naming someone as an owner of The Local Meat Co who is not an owner or shareholder, as evidenced via an ASIC search.

On Instagram Ms Trethewey said her husband took immediate action when the footage came to light in December.

'Sam (who oversees the business but does not work in it day to day or has anything to do with processing) fired two staff last month when he was sent the footage, made upgrades to the facility immediately and has worked closely with government,' she wrote on Instagram.

Ms Trethewey founded the non-profit group Motherland, which aims to 'celebrate and connect rural mums'

The abattoir, along with several others, is being investigated by Tasmania's Department of Natural Resources and Environment.

Despite the controversy Ms Trethewey said she will 'continue to advocate for rural mothers across Australia through my charity Motherland which I work full-time on'.

'There is an absolute need to continue our incredible work supporting isolated women on the land and improving mental health outcomes for rural families,' she said in her statement to Daily Mail Australia.
Travelers looking for a tropical escape should expect 'friendly rollercoaster-like' bumps on their flights from Denver, as America's most turbulent flight routes were revealed.

The route from Denver, Colorado, to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, is ranked as one of the bumpiest flight routes in the U.S., according to a new study published by Turbli.com.

The turbulence forecast site analyzed 150,000 active airline routes and 500 of the world's largest airports to publish a new report unveiling the most turbulent flight routes in 2023.

The trip between Nashville, Tennessee, and Raleigh-Durham Airport in North Carolina emerged as the rockiest. Following closely are flight routes between Charlotte and Pittsburgh, as well as between Denver and Puerto Vallarta.

Among the top 10 routes with the highest turbulence, airports in New York City and Boston claim two each.

Travelers looking for a tropical escape should expect 'friendly rollercoaster-like' bumps on their flights from Denver (pictured), as America's most turbulent flight routes were revealed

The route from Denver, Colorado , to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico (pictured), is ranked as one of the bumpiest flight routes in the U.S., according to a new study published by Turbli.com

A social media user shared a horrifying scene depicting the most severe flight turbulence they have ever experienced

The turbulence levels range from light, moderate, severe and extreme, with light turbulence equaling a 'smooth flight' and moderate bumps meaning 'difficulty in walking and with food services.'

'Severe' turbulence results in 'violent and sudden changes in altitude,' and when extreme turbulence occurs, an aircraft is 'practically impossible to control,' an instance that is described as being exceedingly rare.

Flight turbulence is the result of changes in the distribution of air currents and pressure around the plane - and poses no major risk to safety.

As a long-haul Dreamliner captain who spoke with DailyMail.com said: 'The sort of turbulence that people often get anxious about is clear air turbulence, which is often what happens at high altitude.

'That's associated with the intercontinental jet streams that circle the globe. And where these jet streams collide, obviously is determined by weather patterns.

'It's quite easily predictable in terms of where it might be on a given day, and weather forecasters are really good at forecasting it.'

The captain added that this high-altitude turbulence can't be seen by a plane's weather radar, so pilots tend to rely on other aircrafts reporting it.

'In terms of what it might do to you, yes it's unpleasant, nobody likes being bounced up and down like that, or very few people do, but it's not unsafe.'

He continued: 'Aircraft like flying, they don't like falling out of the sky, and you've got to try pretty hard to make them do that.'

@jimmy_nicholson Horrible turbulence on our flight today. Im a Pilot and actually fly this aircaft type (Airbus). Heres why you have nothing to worry about #pilot #turbulence  original sound - Jimmy Nicholson

Shocking footage taken in the aftermath of devastating turbulence shows meals, trays, cutlery and bottles and cups littered through the aisles on the flight from Luanda to Lisbon earlier this year

The trip between Nashville, Tennessee, and Raleigh-Durham Airport in North Carolina emerged as the rockiest in America last year

The route from Santiago (above) in Chile to Viru Viru International Airport in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, was ranked as the most turbulent in the world

Among the airports with the highest average turbulence in 2023, Portland International Airport secured the top spot, with airports in Denver and Las Vegas following closely behind.

So, for travelers departing from these airports, a thrilling yet turbulent experience awaits.

For nervous flyers who are terrorized by flight turbulence, Turbli.com's interactive map, updated every six hours, offers forecasts for the current time, and three, six, nine or 12 hours into the future.

The website also provides three static turbulence maps - for the world, the US and Europe, showing forecasts in three-hour increments to 24 hours into the future.

Further turbulence data can be attained by studying the website's rankings for the world's most turbulent routes and airports.

The 1,184-mile route from Santiago, Chile, to Viru Viru International Airport in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, was ranked as the most turbulent in the world.

Second shakiest is the 210-mile short-haul jump from Almaty in Kazakhstan to its capital, Bishke (EDR 17.4).
Boston's progressive 'sanctuary city' laws allowed a Haitian man who allegedly came to America illegally to be set free despite being arrested for rape and indecent assault of a developmentally disabled person.

Pierre Lucard Emile, 31, is the suspect in question, according to multiple officials inside Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

When Boston immigration officials demanded he be detained after being charged on the grounds that he is here illegally, they were denied by a district court judge.

Due to the city's sanctuary laws, ICE detainer requests are frequently ignored. In 2022 alone, Boston Police didn't honor 100 detainer requests, according to the Boston Globe.

The city's Trust Act, passed under Democrat and former Biden administration official Marty Walsh and upheld by current progressive Mayor Michelle Wu, forbids city agencies from cooperating with certain ICE requests.

Boston's progressive 'sanctuary city' laws allowed Pierre Lucard Emile, 31, a Haitian man who came to America illegally to be set free despite being arrested for rape and indecent assault of a developmentally disabled person

ERO Boston Field Office Director Todd M. Lyons claims that the court is getting in the way of allowing ICE to protect the city.

'Disturbingly and despite our filing an immigration detainer, this individual was released back into the community by the criminal court,' he told Fox News.

'The men and women of ERO Boston continue to protect the community from those who pose a real public safety threat to our communities,' Lyons added.

Emile arrived at the port of entry in Brownsville, Texas, where he was deemed inadmissible and ordered to appear before the DOJ's Office of Immigration Review in Boston, according to ICE.

Just nine months later, he was arrested for the rape and indecent assault and battery on a developmentally disabled person.

He had been held at a non-ICE detention center in Boston for two months before being released on November 8 with an electronic monitoring device.

ERO Boston, which handles immigration offenses in the region, arrested Emile January 9 in Dorchester after they were tipped off to his migrant status.

Emile is still in ICE custody pending a hearing from a DOJ immigration judge, while charges remain pending with a local criminal court in the rape and assault case.

Pictured: Haitian migrants using a dam to cross the border into the United States in 2021

The city's Trust Act, passed under Democrat and former Biden administration official Marty Walsh and upheld by current progressive Mayor Michelle Wu (pictured), forbids city agencies from cooperating with certain ICE requests

'We remain strongly committed to protecting residents in communities by apprehending those who are not lawfully present in this country and pose a threat to public safety,' Lyons said. 'This remains central piece of our mission.'

Boston, like other Democrat-run metropolises with 'sanctuary city' laws, has faced large amounts of migrants delivered to the city by red state governors.

In November, some were forced to move into Boston's Logan Airport as the 'sanctuary city' has run out of beds for them to sleep in.

The party of up to 20 people, which includes babies, was seen sleeping underneath blankets on benches.

They arrived in Boston as the Massachusetts shelter cap reached its maximum and there is deadlock over how best to spend $250 million for emergency shelters.

Massachusetts has a right-to shelter law that requires it to provide housing for the homeless, but Governor Maura Healey warned the state is out of room.

Migrant families were seen sheltering at Boston Logan International Airport as the city continues to struggle with the sharp rise in demand for shelter.

People were sleeping on benches with blankets over their heads and mothers were seen holding their infants inside the airport terminal.

Migrants have been forced to move into the airport in Boston as the 'sanctuary city' has run out of beds for them to sleep in

A group of up to 20 people, which included young children, were seen sleeping underneath blankets on benches on Friday

Texas has transported over 95,000 migrants to sanctuary cities.



Sanctuary cities like NYC & Chicago have seen only a FRACTION of what overwhelmed Texas border towns face daily.



We will continue our transportation mission until Biden reverses course on his open border policies.  Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) January 2, 2024

The migrants are said to have arrived on a flight from San Antonio, Texas, and their items were seen scattered across the floor.

Governor Healey, a Democrat, warned others who are contemplating going to the Massachusetts that there is no more room.

'Massachusetts right now, in terms of a destination, winter's coming, it's going to get cold, we simply can't promise you a bed,' she said.

Texas has sent more than 95,000 migrants to sanctuary cities across the country, Governor Greg Abbott has revealed.

The Republican posted to X two weeks ago, announcing the success of his program to bus illegal migrants to Democrat-led cities.

He said his initiative has amounted to the transfer of nearly 100,000 migrants to cities such as Boston - where liberal leaders like Wu are being forced to find accommodation for them.

'Sanctuary cities like NYC & Chicago have seen only a FRACTION of what overwhelmed Texas border towns face daily,' wrote Abbott.
A New York Magazine columnist has claimed the day of Joe Biden's election win was the most joyous across the US since V-J DAY in 1945.

The claim, aired by commentator Jonathan Chait, came in the opening sentence of his article Wednesday, and is already spawning fierce debate.

The 46th and current head of state was officially voted in on November 7, 2020, when he clinched enough electoral votes to be named president-elect.

Some celebrations were seen afterwards, mostly confined to progressive cities like New York.

Chait compared those processions to those seen on August 14, 1945, when news of Japan's WWII surrender caused celebrations to erupt across the US. He wrote of how Biden's win was the most joyous day since, ignoring a large portion of the country.

A prominent columnist has claimed that the day of Biden's election win was most joyous public display by American since 1945

Specifically, the pundit said the processions - which were confined to progressive states - only paled in comparison to those seen on August 14, 1945, when news of Japan's surrender in WWII caused to celebrations to erupt across the US

'We danced in the streets when Joe Biden was elected. Do you remember?' the article begins.

'American cities staged the greatest spontaneous outpouring of joy since V-J Day with cars honking and strangers high-fiving one another on an unusually warm November weekend.

When I ventured down to Black Lives Matter Plaza in Washington, DC, on a Sunday night, a day and a half after the election had been called, the street party was still going,' the pundit went on, adding, 'That was just three years ago.'

'I would estimate that a very tiny percentage of the joy was attributable to specific policy objectives of the incoming Biden administration,' he proclaimed.

'[T]hat virtually all of it reflected relief that the bad man was gone.'

The bad man the commentator panned was defeated by Biden by 306-232 electorally, and by a meager 4-point margin in the popular vote.

'The 81,268,924 voters who pulled the lever for Biden,' Chait continued , 'were united by the belief that Donald Trump's presidency was a civic emergency.'

'The underlying basis for the belief - that Trump's defeat mattered more than any other political question,' he claimed, 'has not changed.'

'It has become only more obvious.'

The author of Audacity: How Barack Obama Defied His Critics and Created a Legacy That Will Prevail then accused Trump of attempting to overturn the election result, with claims both before he lost the vote and after.

The assertion, aired by outspoken liberal Jonathan Chait, came in the opening sentence of a New York Magazine article Wednesday, and is already spawning fierce debate

'We danced in the streets when Joe Biden was elected. Do you remember?' the article begins. 'American cities staged the greatest spontaneous outpouring of joy since V-J Day with cars honking and strangers high-fiving one another on an unusually warm November weekend'

'When I ventured down to Black Lives Matter Plaza in Washington, DC, on a Sunday night, a day and a half after the election had been called, the street party was still going,' the pundit went on. 'That was just three years ago.' Pictured: People celebrating Biden's win in Times Square

'I would estimate that a very tiny percentage of the joy was attributable to specific policy objectives of the incoming Biden administration,' he proclaimed. '[T]hat virtually all of it reflected relief that the bad man was gone'

The author of Audacity: How Barack Obama Defied His Critics and Created a Legacy That Will Prevail then accused Trump of attempting to overturn the election result, with claims both before he lost the vote and after

He mentioned the January 6 insurrection, and painted Joe Biden, 81, as a savior

Chait also lamented the current state of US politics - before stating that 'loyal democrats can only appeal to maintaining the system with all its flaws'

He went on to compare this dynamic to the situation in Germany after WWI that led to the rise of Nazi party, following voter dissatisfaction with the Social Democrats who held power at the time.

Comparing political and economic instability seen in the era with the climate of current America, Chait described today's Democrats (and some Republicans) as 'an anti-Trump coalition' - one he claimed is at risk of collapsing due to Biden's 'anemic approval rating'

He mentioned the January 6 insurrection, and painted Biden, 81, as a savior. He then descended into a longwinded diatribe that suggested Trump, 77, being up for reelections constitutes a path to authoritarianism.

Chait also lamented the current state of US politics - stating that 'loyal democrats can only appeal to maintaining the system with all its flaws'.

He went on to compare the dynamic to the situation in Germany following WWI that led to the rise Nazi party, due to voter dissatisfaction with the Social Democrats who held power at the time.

Comparing political and economic instability seen in the era with the climate of current America, Chait described today's Democrats (and some Republicans) as 'an anti-Trump coalition' - one he claimed is at risk of collapsing due to Biden's 'anemic approval rating.'

That rating - 31 percent, the lowest on record for a US president in the last 15 years -is '[f]ar worse than [that of] Trump, Barack Obama, or any other incumbent at this stage,' the outspoken op-ed writer concedes.

He then comes up with several philosophical excuses for the dissatisfaction surrounding the current president, such as 'progressive despondency' and a disconnect with younger voters.

Conceding 'the alliance between Biden and the left has begun to fray,' Chait- after nearly 6,000 words - finally declares that the current commander-in-chief is still society's best bet for a return to normalcy.

Conceding 'the alliance between Biden and the left has begun to fray,' Chait- after nearly 6,000 words - finally declares that the current commander-in-chief is still society's best bet at a return to normalcy

Chait - seen here on MSNBC Wednesday speaking about the importance of keeping Trump out of the White House - has a history of defending the left and often polarizing diatribes

'Biden is often described as lacking energy,' he writes in the piece's parting line.

'But it is not the president who is exhausted; it is us.'

The remarks - only the latest from the famously flippant pundit - almost instantly caused discourse online.

People particularly found issue with the piece's opening paragraph and the statements about Biden's election reception - including former Rolling Stone contributor Matt Taibbi.

'Peak @jonathanchait,' the former Twitter files conveyor wrote in a reshare of fellow journalist's post, referencing Chait's history of defending the left and often inflammatory headlines.

The other journalist, New Jersey's Michael Tracey, wrote of Chait's VJ Day comparison: 'I thought this had to be sarcastic, but it's not.'

That post has since garnered more than 90,000 views, and was bolstered by a series of replies in which Tracey debated whether the day of Biden's win really constituted the biggest outpouring of public joy in three quarters of century.

People particularly found issue with the piece's opening paragraph and the statements about Biden's election reception - including former Rolling Stone contributor Matt Taibbi.

Fellow journalist Michael Tracey wrote of Chait's VJ Day comparison: 'I thought this had to be sarcastic, but it's not.'

In a series of replies, Tracey debated whether the day of Biden's win really constituted the biggest outpouring of public joy in three quarters of century.

One person remarked of the celebrations so proudly Chait touted: 'Thank God I live in Texas, where this definitely did not happen'

'I remember some people in cities like DC dancing and celebrating in the streets when the 2020 election got called for Biden, but could that have possibly been the biggest outpouring of public joy since the end of World War II??' he asked followers.

'But that is how some folks acted. It was unreal,' one person responded.

'Yeah, but was it the biggest outburst of spontaneous joy since the end of World War II?'

Others, meanwhile, publicly pondered whether the piece was propaganda or parody.

One person remarked of the celebrations Chait so proudly touted: 'Thank God I live in Texas, where this definitely did not happen.'
A Mississippi chicken slaughterhouse put a child into a 'preventable, dangerous situation', the Labor Department has concluded - after the death of a 16-year-old sucked into a chicken deboning plant.

Duvan Perez had been cleaning equipment at the Hattiesburg plant of Mar-Jac Poultry on July 14, 2023, when he was pulled into the rotating shaft of a machine and sustained fatal injuries.

Perez, originally from Guatemala, had been hired to work at the slaughterhouse by a recruitment firm - despite it being illegal for under 18s to work at a meat processing plant.

His death caused widespread outrage, and on Wednesday the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) - a division of the Department of Labor - issued their report, finding a litany of errors and recommending $212,646 in penalties.

They also highlighted two previous deaths at the company's facilities since 2020, and accused the company of complacency and recklessness.

Duvan Perez, 16, was killed while at work in the Hattiesburg chicken processing plant owned by Mar-Jac Poultry. On Tuesday, OSHA issued a damning report into the company's procedures

The Hattiesburg plant is owned by Gainesville, Georgia-based Mar-Jac Poultry

'Following the fatal incident in May 2021, Mar-Jac Poultry should have enforced strict safety standards in its facility,' said OSHA Regional Administrator Kurt Petermeyer.

'Only about two years later, nothing has changed, and the company continues to treat employee safety as an afterthought, putting its workers at risk.

'No worker should be placed in a preventable, dangerous situation, let alone a child.'

Petermeyer's team found that supervisors at the plant failed to ensure that employees followed the correct procedures to turn off the machine, and prevent it from unintentionally starting while being cleaned.

They found that Perez's death was extremely similar to that of 48-year-old Bobby Butler, who died at the plant in May 2021.

'Mar-Jac Poultry is aware of how dangerous the machinery they use can be when safety standards are not in place to prevent serious injury and death,' said Petermeyer.

'The company's inaction has directly led to this terrible tragedy, which has left so many to mourn this child's preventable death.'

A third man, 33-year-old Joel Velasco Toto, was killed at the slaughterhouse in December 2020.

OSHA, in their latest report, found 17 safety violations, including 14 classified as serious.

Neither Mar-Jac nor their vice president of operations, Joel Williams, have responded to the OSHA findings, but in July, after the teenager's death, the Georgia-based company said that Perez had provided fake ID to say he was if legal age to work in the slaughterhouse.

Joel Williams, the vice president of Mar-Jac Poultry, headquartered in Gainesville, Georgia

The 70-year-old company, headquartered in Gainesville, Georgia, with facilities in Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia, said they worked to ensure safety standards for their employees.

Mar-Jac said they 'would never knowingly put any employee, and certainly a minor, in harm's way' and that they 'deeply regret that an underage individual was hired without (their) knowledge.'

Larry Stine, an attorney for Mar-Jac, previously told NBC News that Mar-Jac's internal investigation found no errors on the company's part.

'Mar-Jac thoroughly investigated the accident and has not found any errors committed by its safety or human resources employees,' said Stine.

'It has learned many lessons from the accident and has taken aggressive steps to prevent the occurrence of another accident or hiring underage workers.'

Mar-Jac now has 15 days to either pay the fine and comply, or contest the findings.

In the case of Butler, Mar-Jac contested OSHA's findings. In the 2020 case of Toto, the company settled informally.
The editor of The Spectator has become the latest to speak out amid fears for free Press over the magazine's takeover by 'a foreign government'.

Along with its sister newspapers the Daily and Sunday Telegraph, The Spectator faces being controlled by a fund majority-owned in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Writing in his magazine this week, Fraser Nelson said: 'The Emiratis stand to be the first government in the world to buy a national newspaper in another country, so it's a test case.'

The editor of The Spectator has become the latest to speak out amid fears for free Press over the magazine's takeover by 'a foreign government'

Fraser Nelson (pictured) the editor of The Spectator

Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer has instructed regulator Ofcom to examine the sale of the Telegraph group and could block it, with an announcement due this month.

Concerns have been raised ever since RedBird IMI paid 1.2billion for the group. RedBird IMI is a joint venture between US-based RedBird Capital and IMI, a Gulf media company owned by the UAE's deputy prime minister Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

Mr Nelson warned: 'Newspapers and magazines are not like trains or shopping centres: they're a vital part of our democratic apparatus.

'The British tradition has been that of a free press, and 'free', of course, means free from government interference. How to reconcile this principle with governments actually owning publications?'

The offices of the Telegraph Media Group in central London

His remarks echo warnings over the Telegraph titles led by veteran former editor Lord Moore who said ministers would never be forgiven if they let the 'great British institutions' be controlled by a foreign power.

Senior female writers on the paper have been outspoken over fears of 'misogyny' by the potential owners.

Jeff Zucker, head of RedBird IMI, has promised 'total editorial freedom' enshrined in a legally-binding deal with the UK Government. But Mr Nelson wrote: 'Either of us could be replaced in two shakes of a camel's tail  and this is the problem.' DMGT, which owns the Mail, has been among potential bidders for the titles.
Linda Reynolds has doubled down on her bid to freeze Brittany Higgins' assets after the former staffer showed off her new life in the south of France, paid for by her $2.4million taxpayer-funded payout.

The former defence minister is suing Ms Higgins and her fiance David Sharaz for defamation in the Supreme Court of Western Australia over posts they each made on social media.

Ms Reynolds wrote a letter to Ms Higgins' lawyer Leon Zwier in December, pointing to reports that the couple had bought a home in the small town of Lunas and were planning to permanently relocate.

'If such reports are true, we consider that an application for freezing orders is appropriate,' the letter read.

Daily Mail Australia can now reveal Ms Reynolds has taken the action further, seeking French legal advice on whether the government would enforce an Australian ruling.

Brittany Higgins and David Sharaz are pictured in France. They permanently relocated to Lunas, in the country's south

Linda Reynolds (pictured) is suing Brittany Higgins and David Sharaz for defamation

'I am considering my position and awaiting advice from French Counsel on my right to enforce an Australian judgment against assets in France,' she said.

Ms Higgins gave evidence in Bruce Lehrmann's defamation case against Channel 10 in early December.

The former political staffer then flew to Europe with Mr Sharaz and their cavoodle, Kingston, to start their new life before Christmas.

On Wednesday, she used Instagram to share a series of photos of her recent travels, captioning the post with a quote by French philosopher Sartre: 'Nous sommes nos choix'.

The phrase roughly translates to: 'We are our choices'.

She added: 'Here are a few of mine as of late.'

One image showed Mr Sharaz seated at the end of a long table stacked with meat, potatoes, a large bowl of carrots, and a bottle of champagne for their first Christmas abroad.

She also included a snap of the Arc de Triomphe at night, a Parisian streetscape, art galleries and museums.

Pictured: The house Brittany Higgins and David Sharaz bought in Lunas, France

Ms Higgins is pictured in France with her dog Kingston, a month after permanently relocating

Mr Sharaz was pictured smiling at the end of a long table stacked with meat and a large bowl of carrots

Ms Reynolds' defamation case will return to the WA Supreme Court on January 30, followed by a mediation conference on March 5 and a strategic conference on March 6.

EXCLUSIVE READ MORE: Brittany Higgins and fiance David Sharaz are spotted in matching beige outfits at the idyllic five-bedroom French chateau Advertisement

Judge Marcus Solomon previously urged the parties to resolve the issue before going to trial, citing immense costs that are often associated with defamation proceedings.

Ms Higgins' multimillion-dollar civil claim against the Commonwealth was settled in December 2022 after just one day of mediation, and ten days after the ACT DPP dropped the sexual assault charge against her alleged rapist, Bruce Lehrmann.

Mr Lehrmann has continually maintained his innocence and sued the Network Ten and Lisa Wilkinson last month in the Federal Court for publishing Ms Higgins' rape allegations in 2021.

Justice Michael Lee presided over the case and is yet to deliver his judgement.

During Mr Lehrmann's defamation trial, Ms Higgins' deed of settlement was released.

According to the claim, Ms Higgins' 'hurt, distress and humiliation' was valued at $400,000, past and future domestic assistance cost $100,000, and $220,000 for medical expenses.

Legal fees were a further $245,000, and $1,480,000 was paid for lost wages.

The payment has been referred to the National Anti-Corruption Commission by Senator Reynolds. The NACC has declined to comment on what it is investigating.
A majority of California voters have said they view the two biggest cities in the states as being 'less safe' than other cities in the country.

The poll, conducted by Inside California Politics/Emerson College, highlighted attitudes in The Golden State ahead of the March primary.

Voters were asked about whether they think Los Angeles, San Francisco, Sacramento and San Diego were 'about as safe as other big cities, less safe, or more safe'.

Out of all respondents, 54 percent thought Los Angeles is less safe compared to other big cities and 59 percent agreed the same for San Francisco.

Forty-nine percent of voters found that Sacramento was as safe as other major cities, and 51 percent agreeing the same for San Diego.

Out of all respondents, 54 percent think Los Angeles is less safe compared to other big cities

Fifty-nine percent of respondents also said they found San Francisco to be less safe when compared to other areas

Homeless people are pictured in San Francisco, California, the United States, Dec. 23, 2023

The poll surveyed 1,087 registered voters from January 11 to January 14, with a margin of error of +/- 2.9 percentage.

When broken down by political affiliation, Republican voters tended to agree that cities mentioned in the survey were 'less safe,' except for San Diego.

The poll found that 74.3 percent of registered Republicans described Los Angeles as being 'less safe,' and a further 74.5 percent thought the same for San Francisco.

While 46.8 percent of registered Democrats found that Los Angeles was 'less safe', with 54.3 percent thinking the same for San Francisco.

Eleven percent of all respondents said they thought crime was the biggest issue currently facing the state, while the economy was considered the most important issue.

Despite a widespread homeless problem in the state, only 11 percent found it was the important issue facing the state.

The issue has gotten so bad that Governor Gavin Newsom asked the Supreme Court last week to help him solve the crisis by allowing him to ban rough sleeping.

Justices agreed on Friday that a lower court was wrong to rule that a ban on homeless people in public places was unconstitutional.

It comes after the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals declared that anti-camping ordinances in San Francisco, violate the Eighth Amendment ban on 'cruel and unusual punishment.'

California Gov. Gavin Newsom discusses his proposed state budget for the 2024-2025 fiscal year, during a news conference in Sacramento, California

Newsom insists he takes responsibility for California's spiraling homelessness crisis

Despite a widespread homeless problem in the state, only 11 percent found it was the important issue facing the state

Newsom has repeatedly promised to 'own the issue' as the city faces an exodus of businesses from a city blighted by drug use, and has urged the nation's top court not to 'tie his hands'.

'California has invested billions to address homelessness, but rulings from the bench have tied the hands of state and local governments to address this issue,' he said on Friday.

'The Supreme Court can now correct course and end the costly delays from lawsuits that have plagued our efforts to clear encampments and deliver services to those in need.'

A quarter of a million people have fled the Bay Area since the beginning of 2020, Newsweek reported in June.

The governor said the state was investing in behavioral problems and mental health reform, and claims to have got 68,000 people off the streets and 6,000 encampments removed since he became governor in 2019.

But many of those encampments were removed for the APEC summit in November, which saw Joe Biden and Xi Jinping, among other world leaders and thousands of delegates, descend on the city.

And residents told Dailymail.com that the problem has returned with a vengeance since security barriers were removed.

Nearly 100 retailers in downtown San Francisco have closed since the start of the COVID pandemic, a decline of more than 50 percent, according to a recent report

The city's downtown has suffered from the proliferation of homeless encampments, open-air drugs markets and rampant theft

Around 100 retailers in downtown San Francisco have closed since the start of the COVID pandemic - a decline of more than 50 percent from 2019.

Office vacancy rates hit a record high of 34 percent in September as shops were driven out of the downtown area by heightened crime and economists warn the city is spiraling into an 'urban doom loop'.

The city is expected to have recorded over 800 drug deaths for 2023 - which would top its highest year on record, 2020, when 726 people died.

August was the deadliest month, with someone dying from an overdose every nine hours on average - while in October, an average of two people died each day.
Sunrise host Natalie Barr has had a fiery exchange over the federal government's failure to declare the October 7 attacks by Hamas in southern Israel an overseas terrorist act.

Ms Barr confronted Education Minister Jason Clare after it was revealed the opposition wrote to the Prime Minister in December urging the government to formally rule the event as a terror incident.

'We can't underplay that but this is one of the worst terror attacks the world has ever seen, they came, they raped, they murdered, is it an oversight by your government?' Barr questioned.

Firing back, Mr Clare argued Labor had repeatedly condemned the October 7 massacre and flagged that Home Affairs Minister Clare O'Neil was considering an official designation.

'The Prime Minister called this out as a terrorism event and condemned it. You've heard me say that on this show a number of times,' the minister said.

Sunrise TV presenter Natalie Barr has had a fiery exchange over the October 7 Hamas attack. Picture: Twitter

Pro-Israeli supporters show solidarity for victims and hostages. Picture: Henry Nicholls/AFP.

'The Minister for Home Affairs is looking at this at the moment. I just don't want us to confuse this with any argument that we're not providing financial support to Jewish Australians...and Muslim Australians who are affected by it, because that is certainly not true.'

It has been over three months since Hamas launched a surprise assault on southern Israel killing about 1,200 people and taking 240 hostages. Since declaring war on the militant group, Israeli forces have bombarded the Gaza Strip killing at least 24,600 people and wounding over 60,000 - according to Palestinian health officials.

The Coalition has ramped up pressure on the Albanese government to list the initial Hamas attacks as an overseas terror event to allow Australians impacted by the event to access financial assistance.

Deputy Liberal Leader Sussan Ley argued the Prime Minister should 'immediately' approve a formal designation to assist victims.

'I cannot understand why it has not been designated, and I don't think Jason can either. I don't think he's able to make excuses for his Home Affairs Minister. But his Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, needs to fix this today,' she said.

The Coalition has ramped up pressure on the Albanese government to list the initial Hamas attacks as an overseas terror event to allow Australians impacted by the event to access financial assistance

Appearing on ABC Radio Sydney, Anthony Albanese declared that Australia's support for the existence of the state of Israel was 'completely unconditional'.

'Our position is very clear. We want a long term political solution here with Israelis and Palestinians able to live side-by-side in peace and security,' he said.

'One of the things I'm concerns about is the disruption to our harmonious society and I don't want people to bring some of that conflict here.'

Mr Albanese's comments came after Foreign Minister Penny Wong concluded a three-day diplomatic tour of the Middle East where she held talks with Israeli and Palestinian officials.
Attorneys for Donald Trump say he did not engage in 'anything that qualifies' as an insurrection in a new Supreme Court filing that seeks to overturn a Colorado Supreme Court decision that knocked him off the ballot there.

The lawyers refer to individuals who stormed the Capitol armed with weapons and clashed with Capitol police  but say Trump can't be held responsible for the 'conduct of others' and cite his afternoon tweets urging people to remain 'peaceful.'

The filing comes after the Colorado decision set off a political uproar after a group of state voters sued to kick Trump off the ballot, citing Section 3 of the post-Civil War 14th Amendment.

Trump's team calls that interpretation 'dubious.'

'Even if President Trump were subject to section 3, he did not engage in anything that qualifies as insurrection, wrote his team of six lawyers.

As in state court, Trump's team argued that the president does not count as an 'officer' of the court under the 14th Amendment, which doesn't specifically mention the presidency but goes through a laundry list of lower officers while singling out those who engaged in 'insurrection' or who gave 'aid and comfort' to the enemy.

TOPSHOT - Former US President Donald Trump (L) stands with his wife Melania Trump (R) as they depart a funeral for Amalija Knavs, the former first lady's mother, outside the Church of Bethesda-by-the-Sea, in Palm Beach, Florida, on January 18, 2024. Trump's lawyers in a new Supreme Court filing denied he 'engaged in' an 'insurrection'

According to the amendment: 'No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State ...'

Lawyers for the plaintiffs ridiculed that argument, saying an amendment that applies to a low level military officer would also apply to the president.

The district court found that Trump 'engaged in insurrection' and cited his January 6 speech, where he told supporters to 'fight like hell' after repeatedly claiming the election was stolen before a mob stormed the Capitol.

Special Counsel Jack Smith has brought criminal charges against Trump for conspiring to interfere in an official proceeding and denying people's civil rights, but he has not been convicted and a court proceeding of insurrection or charged with that specific crime.

Supporters of former President Donald Trump broke into the Capitol Building on January 6, interrupting the joint session of Congress that cemented President Joe Biden's 2020 election win

Former President Donald Trump attends a rally on the Ellipse on January 6, 2021, ahead of the Capitol attack. His role in the 'insurrection' and attempt to overturn the 2020 election make him ineligible to serve, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday

'The Colorado Supreme Court tried to impute the conduct of others to President Trump,' according to Trump's lawyers. But they say the litigants need to show that Trump's own conduct was an insurrection, 'and they cannot make that showing when President Trump never participated in or directed any of the illegal conduct that occurred at the Capitol on January 6, 2021.'

'President Trump never told his supporters to enter the Capitol, and he did not lead, direct, or encourage any of the unlawful acts that occurred at the Capitoleither in his speech at the Ellipse46 or in any of his statements or communications before or during the events of January 6, 2021,' his lawyers write.

They also cite his tweets encouraging people to 'remain peaceful,' although the House January 6 Committee obtained testimony from key Trump advisors lobbying Trump to persuade him to publicly urge people to 'stay peaceful' while the riot was unfolding.

WHAT DOES SECTION 3 OF THE 14TH AMENDMENT SAY? No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability. Advertisement

'The Colorado Supreme Court faulted President Trump for (in its view) failing to respond with alacrity when he learned that the Capitol had been breached,49 but even if that were true (and it isnt), a mere failure to act would not constitute engagement in insurrection, as even the Colorado Supreme Court recognized,' they write.

They also argued that Trump wasn't armed, didn't storm the Capitol, and didn't threaten violence  while pointing out that members of the mob did.

'The Colorado Supreme Court held that the events of January 6, 2021, constituted an insurrection because: (1) a large group of people forcibly entered the Capitol; (2) the mob was armed with a wide array of weapons; (3) the mob stole objects from the Capitols premises or from law enforcement officers to use as weapons; (4) the mob repeatedly and violently assaulted police officers who were trying to defend the Capitol; and (5) [the mob . . . marched through the [Capitol] building chanting in a manner that made clear they were seeking to inflict violence against members of Congress and Vice President Pence. But President Trump did not engage in any of those activities. And none of President Trumps actions that the Colorado Supreme Court described come anywhere close to insurrection, they write.

The lawyers also make arguments that the 6-3 conservative court is certain to study: whether the Colorado ruling would open the door to a patchwork of state rulings that that could supersede national requirements.

'The Court should also reverse because section 3 cannot be used to deny President Trump (or anyone else) access to ballotregardless of whether a candidate engaged in insurrection. They cite a court case 'which prohibits states from prescribing their own qualifications for the presidency or modifying the Constitutions eligibility criteria in any manner.'

The brief is by Trump lawyer Harmeet Dhillon, a former vice chair of the California Republican Party, and three lawyers form her firm: David Warrington, Jonathan Shaw, and Gary Lawkowski, as well as Texas lawyer Jonathan MItchell and Colorado lawyer Scott Gessler.
Warren Mundine has slammed 'haters' who are seeking to undermine Australia Day, claiming 'change the date' campaigners are just a 'continuation of the losers of the (Voice) referendum dividing the nation'.

The prominent Voice No campaigner returned to the political fray on Friday with scathing comments to several media outlets about the push to abolish the January 26 public holiday.

It was revealed earlier this year that more than 80 local governments nationwide have pulled the plug on January 26 citizenship ceremonies.

Mr Mundine told Daily Mail Australia said that political leaders on councils across Australia were taking the country in the wrong direction.

Leading Voice No vote campaigner Warren Mundine says he is sick of 'Green councils' stirring up the same 'stupid debate' about Australia Day each year

'We are building this bloody good country but all we get are these leadership people - especially in the Green councils - all they are doing is knocking the country.

'(They say) 'we're a bunch of racists' or 'we're a nation of uneducated idiots' so I am just over it,' he said.

Mr Mundine called this the act of 'a mob of whingers who don't like Australians'.

'Let's just bugger all these whingers off, stop wasting all this money and start celebrating this country and fix things.

'I just want to get back to the real issues because we spend too much time on this'.

Mr Mundine said when he was a councillor in the NSW central city of Dubbo in the middle to late 1990s he would conduct citizenship ceremonies on Australia Day.

'At the end of it I would say: 'As an Indigenous person I am very proud you chose Australia, welcome'.'

'They loved that because they had the official program that they were an Australian citizen and now 'even the Aboriginal guy has welcomed us'.'

Mr Mundine said the debate over whether to change the date of Australia's national day was pointless

Mr Mundine said the annual debate over whether the national day should be moved to another date because it commemorated the start of European colonisation was pointless.

'It happens every year and I am getting sick of this, he said.

'It is not going to make any improvement in Aboriginal people's lives or bring this country together.

'I've come to the conclusion no matter what date we pick they are going to whinge, There's going to be some person's birthday or something.

'Every group has got its day, the Greeks and the Italians. Let's just celebrate Australia Day.'

However, Mr Mundine did not support Opposition Leader Peter Dutton's call for Australians to boycott Woolworths after the supermarket giant said it would no longer stock specific items for Australia Day.

'I'm not a great supporter of boycotts because that's what the left does,' he said.

'Why should the workers at a job or business suffer, because they are the ones that suffer people lose their jobs.

'While these morons on the board and executives - nothing happens to them.'

Following Woolworths decision not to stock Australia Day merchandise Mr Mundine said the senior leadership of corporate Australia was in a bubble where the only interaction they had with Indigenous Australians were 'touchy feely' events like the Garma Festival (pictured) held each year in the Northern Territory

Mr Mundine said corporate executives were insulated from the reality of Indigenous disadvantage.

'They go off to the Garma festival and it's really nice and they spend three days up there doing these touchy feely things,' he said.

'And they have all these people from HR in and the diversity culture section people and they are all happy but they don't see the misery.'

'They are in their own little echo chamber.

'And if people didn't believe in the Canberra bubble we've got evidence of it. Seventy per cent of Canberra people voted for the Voice.'

'They say all the tradies and skilled workers out there who voted No are just ignorant, they are uneducated swill.'

Mr Mundine is attempting to organise his own summit to tackle Indigenous disadvantage because he was frustrated by a lack of government action since the Voice referendum was lost.

'I am just going to do my own thing,' he said.

'I am going to get all these corporate and these venture capital people and we are just going to start doing things.'

After the Voice was resoundingly defeated on October 14 with nearly 65 per cent of voters opposing it Mr Mundine said many Australians felt more comfortable in speaking out on Indigenous recognition issues.

'We used to get phone calls everyday from people who would say I am too scared to say I don't support the Voice because I might lose my job,' he said.

'We gave them a voice, we spoke for them.'

As an example Mr Mundine said Welcome to Country was originally a good and unifying idea that had been 'beaten to death' by overuse and the same is true of other Indigenous commemorations.

'Every year we seem to add another whinge festival,' he said.

'When I was a kid growing up NAIDOC (National Aboriginal and Islanders Day Observance Committee) was one day and we had the day and we celebrated it.

'Now it's a week and then we've got Sorry Week and then we've got Closing the Gap week and it just goes on and on, so I am just over it.

'Go back to NAIDOC week and celebrate that's our day, our week but let's also celebrate Australia Day.

He said Australians were continually told to feel ashamed and guilty.

'How many times do you have to say sorry?' he said

'I come from a Catholic background, I am not a very good Catholic but anyway, we were taught reconciliation is asking for forgiveness, saying sorry.

'The second part of it is accepting the sorry and forgiving.

'We've only got one-way traffic at the moment.'
A schoolgirl and her father who died after a catastrophic five-car pile-up are being remembered by loved ones in a heart-breaking funeral service on Friday.

Father of-nine David Drozd was driving in a Kia Carnival with his family from their Blue Mountains home to Dubbo when disaster struck.

Police have said an Isuzu D-Max towing a motorcycle trailer was travelling east when it collided with a Toyota HiLux heading in the opposite direction near Lithgow on December 29.

The funeral for David Drozd and his daughter, Lydia (pictured) featured photos of many beautiful moments together

The family's former pastor Wayne Rabot began the touching service, which was described as a 'celebration service'

The caskets of the father and daughter were laid out side by side for the service

Lydia, just 11-years-old, died a week after the accident in hospital despite doctors' efforts to save her

'We're celebrating two lives well lived and it's also a celebration service because the Lord of Glory has done and is doing great things through this great loss,' pastor Wayne Rabot said

The family were on their way to visit the eldest Drozd daughter in Dubbo for a gender reveal party. The baby was to be Mr Drozd's first grandchild

The Toyota then collided with a third car, while the Isuzu smashed into the Drozd's Kia head on, killing Mr Drozd and another father, Jason McMahon.

Lydia Drozd, just 11-years-old, died a week later in hospital despite doctors efforts to save her. She was two months away from her 12th birthday.

The family's former pastor Wayne Rabot began the touching service, which was described as a 'celebration service'.

'We're celebrating two lives well lived and it's also a celebration service because the Lord of Glory has done and is doing great things through this great loss,' he said.

The family were on their way to visit the eldest Drozd daughter in Dubbo for a gender reveal party. The baby was to be Mr Drozd's first grandchild.

Fifteen people were injured in the pile-up, including four of Lydia's sisters who were rushed to hospital in serious conditions.

Mr Drozd was a deeply religious man who was a lay preacher, his family released a statement describing him as a 'devoted Christian and leader in his church, and a loving and devoted father.

Pallbearers including Lydia's sisters pictured with the coffin of the 11-year-old as they leave her and her father David's funeral

Mr Drozd was a deeply religious man who was a lay preacher, his family released a statement describing him as a 'devoted Christian and leader in his church, and a loving and devoted father

Lydia died a month before her 12th birthday after she was fatally injured in the December 29 accident

He was also the director of a traffic consultancy firm and had worked as an expert for Penrith and Blacktown city councils.

Deeply involved in the community, tributes poured in for the pair.

'I have had the privilege of spending some time with this beautiful family in the midst of their heart-breaking loss,' Blue Mountains Mayor Mark Greenhill said.

'David did incredible work for our community, making our roads safer for others. His service will endure.

'The loss of a child is a pain that is impossible for me to fathom. Coupled with the loss of a husband and father, the impact is immense.'

A GoFundMe campaign set up to support Mr Drozd's wife Nicole and her eight children has raised nearly $100,000

People gather for the funeral of the father and daughter on Friday
Rishi Sunak is not a politician who rests on his laurels. If he were, the Prime Minister might have been tempted to bask after quelling a Tory revolt over his Rwanda Bill.

Instead, he was immediately poised to confront the next challenge to his flagship policy, designed to deter small-boat crossings by deporting Channel migrants to the African country.

And just as well. For members of the House of Lords are already plotting a flagrant bid to dilute it  or even kill it off.

Despite the Tory psychodrama, when it came to the crunch, the emergency legislation comfortably cleared the Commons. Notably, almost all of the rebels voted for it  figuring imperfect legislation was better than none.

The Mail sympathised with their desire to harden it up enough to protect the scheme from legal threats. But it was obvious they never had the votes to succeed.

Rishi Sunak is not a politician who rests on his laurels. If he were, the Prime Minister might have been tempted to bask after quelling a Tory revolt over his Rwanda Bill

The Mail sympathised with their desire to harden it up enough to protect the scheme from legal threats. But it was obvious they never had the votes to succeed

So what exactly did their grandstanding achieve (beyond just drawing attention to themselves)? Nothing positive.

They have weakened a government already on thin ice, appalled the public with their self-indulgence and emboldened hostile peers to attack the Rwanda plan.

In a televised address yesterday, Mr Sunak warned the Lords not to block the Bill. The Upper Chamber, he said, should not 'frustrate the will of the people' who want a crackdown on illegal immigration.

But with contemptuous disregard for the electorate's wishes, peers have vowed to delay and sabotage the legislation. That would mean planes might not take off before the election. The tone was set by the pompous wind-baggery of Lord Carlile.

In a truly infantile intervention, this superannuated crossbencher described the Bill as 'a step towards totalitarianism'.

What a disgraceful analogy. Totalitarianism is a murderous ideology that prohibits dissent. This legislation simply makes clear that ministers can ignore European judges who try to block Rwanda flights.

Opposition peers will claim they are carrying out their constitutional duty. But voters see all too clearly the Upper House undermining the elected government  and encouraging the people-smugglers.

Yes, a healthy democracy needs a second chamber to keep check on the Commons and revise draft statutes. But the Lords is stuffed to the gunwales with political has-beens, cronies and fossilised aristocrats  and is over-represented by the liberal Left.

The more it does nothing except thwart policies that offend its right-on sensibilities, the more it discredits the legitimacy of our system of government.

Keir's Corbyn switch

Every man and his dog could see that a Jeremy Corbyn-led Labour Party would be unfit to govern Britain.

He was an anti-Semite, an IRA supporter, a Kremlin sympathiser and championed ruinous Marxist economic policies.

Yet Sir Keir Starmer stayed loyal, cheerfully sat on his front bench and even said he would 'make a great prime minister'.

In a documentary last night, he claimed he never thought Corbyn would be PM. So why tirelessly campaign for him? He also insists, outrageously, that he only stayed in his shadow cabinet out of 'responsibility'

Every man and his dog could see that a Jeremy Corbyn-led Labour Party would be unfit to govern Britain

Today, with his eye firmly on No 10  and as party leader  he has changed his tune.

In a documentary last night, he claimed he never thought Corbyn would be PM. So why tirelessly campaign for him? He also insists, outrageously, that he only stayed in his shadow cabinet out of 'responsibility'.

This illustrates Starmer's hypocrisy. If he'll betray the man he called a 'friend', won't he betray the public if he wins power?

Fujitsu, which turned a blind eye to faults in its Horizon IT system even as hundreds of subpostmasters were wrongly prosecuted for theft, says it will not bid for new Government business while the Post Office scandal inquiry is ongoing.

Given the tech giant has picked up 6.7billion in public sector contracts while keeping the glitches secret, this isn't the honourable gesture it would have us believe. It's shutting the stable door long after the horse has bolted.
Less than half of older people still have confidence in the NHS to treat their medical problems, new research has found.

Not being able to see the GP in person and waiting times for treatment and surgery contributed to the lack of confidence in the health service.

The findings, from charity Age UK, are the latest to demonstrate the public's lack of confidence in the NHS's ability to care for the population.

Of 2,621 people over the age of 50 polled, 48 per cent said they were confident that any medical problem they had would be dealt with by NHS services.

The response is the equivalent of around 12.6 million people in the UK.

Less than half of older people still have confidence in the NHS to treat their medical problems, new research has found. (Stock image)

Of 2,621 people over the age of 50 polled, 48 per cent said they were confident that any medical problem they had would be dealt with by NHS services. (Stock image)

When it came to improving confidence in the NHS, nearly half (47 per cent) of those surveyed said they wanted to be able to see a GP in person.

Shorter waiting times for treatment or surgery was cited by 45 per cent of respondents as a way to improve confidence levels.

Other significant factors mentioned by respondents included being able to get a GP appointment (44 per cent), more funding for the NHS (38 per cent), and shorter waiting times for a diagnosis (37 per cent).

Around a quarter of respondents (23 per cent) said they wanted to their clinicians to be familiar with their medical history.

The report read: 'It is notable that there remains such a widespread and strong desire among older people for easier and quicker access to GPs, especially in person, as well as to referrals, diagnostics and treatment.

'Clearing backlogs and radically improving the service offered by primary (and community) care were high priorities for many who took part in our study.

'Being able to access the NHS and get the help you need as you age is surely a perfectly reasonable aspiration of which politicians would be wise to take note.'

The research was carried out as part of Age UK's campaign 'Spread the Warmth', examining the challenges faced by those aged 50 and over this winter.

In addition to the polling data, Age UK received more than 17,000 written responses to an in-house survey, which identified common experiences with the NHS.

While access to the GP represented a key theme among respondents, struggles with telephone and online access were cited as frustrations.

One response read: 'I have found it impossible to get a GP appointment. I ring at 8am all appointments gone. I go online at 8pm. All appointments gone.

'They still refuse to book appointments for a future date.' Another said: 'Getting an appointment with my GP has been extremely difficult. They are using online access to make appointments. I find this very difficult.

'I have had to refer myself privately to obtain a diagnosis of and treatment for rheumatoid arthritis and to have suspicious moles investigated.'

Caroline Abrahams, Charity Director at Age UK, said: 'There's no doubt that many older people are deeply troubled about the barriers in their way if they need medical help - whether it's long waiting lists for diagnostics and surgery, or online & phone communication systems that they find difficult or impossible to navigate.

'Older people who do not use the internet, have relatively limited digital skills, or old tech, are undoubtedly disadvantaged these days when it comes to trying to contact the NHS.

'However, some hospitals and GP practices are clearly doing a much better job than others in offering friendly support & alternative options for older people struggling to navigate online & telephone-based systems - and there's an urgent need to spread this good practice everywhere.

'The fact is though it's hugely concerning if you're an older person living with serious health problems, making you practically and emotionally reliant on the NHS to sustain your independence.

'Government needs to play its part too by giving the NHS the resources it needs to tackle long waits and, of course, the sooner it brokers a fair deal with the Health Unions to put an end to the strikes, the better for older people.' In September, independent statutory body Healthwatch found a third of people in England lacked the confidence to access critical NHS services.

Out of hours GP services scored the lowest public confidence, with half of people lacking confidence in getting timely care.
Hughes' adopted son Judah was premature at 22 weeks and weighed one pound

She only offered ex-employee Marissa Hughes two weeks of remote work

Ying Liu, the founder of Kyte Baby, admitted that her first apology was 'scripted'

The CEO of a baby clothing brand has issued two groveling apologies after denying an employee's request to work remotely as she cared for her adopted premature son.

Ying Liu, the founder of Kyte Baby, took to TikTok to apologize to Marissa Hughes, a former worker who was fired after requesting to work from the neonatal intensive care unit at a Texas hospital. Liu posted the first apology Wednesday.

'I want to hop on here to sincerely apologize to Marissa for how her parental leave was communicated and handled in the midst of her incredible journey of adopting and starting a family,' she said.

The CEO said she has the 'utmost respect for the adoption community' and her 'good intentions were not fully communicated.'

The CEO of Kyte Baby issued two apologies to ex-employee Marissa Hughes, who requested to work remotely from the neonatal intensive care unit of an El Paso hospital following the birth of her adopted son

Ying Liu posted the first apology Wednesday, offering an apology to Hughes and affirming her 'utmost respect for the adoption community'

Baby Judah, pictured with Hughes' husband Rawley, was born premature at 22 weeks and weighed one pound. Due to ongoing health complications, he required a longer hospital stay

Hughes and husband Rawley, from Dallas, made the decision to adopt after she lost three pregnancies, went through IVF and nearly died during surgery.

The couple adopted their son Judah in late December. He was nine hours away in El Paso, born premature and barely weighing one pound.

As Judah had 'various health concerns' requiring an extended hospital stay, Hughes requested to work remotely from the NICU.

She was allegedly only offered two weeks and told she would lose her position if she failed to return to in-person work any later.

Liu posted a second apology Thursday after catching flack from internet users who suspected the first video was not genuine.

The CEO admitted 'the comments were right' and the video was 'scripted.'

'I was the one that made the decision to veto her request to go remote while she has to stay in the NICU to take care of her adopted baby,' Liu said.

'And when I think back, this was a terrible decision. I was insensitive, selfish and was only focused on the fact that her job had always been done on site and I did not see the possibility of doing it remotely.'

Hughes lost three pregnancies and nearly died during surgery before she and her husband made the decision to adopt. They welcomed Judah to the family in December

After netizens accused Liu of being insincere in the first TikTok, she posted a second video admitting it had been scripted and characterizing her veto of Hughes' remote work request as 'insensitive' and 'selfish'

Stumbling over her words, she continued: 'At the end of the day, as human beings, as a mom, as a female owner of a business and especially a baby business, I feel like I need to set the record straight.'

Despite claiming in the first video that she had attempted to reach out to Hughes to apologize personally, Liu confessed she 'didn't talk to her at all about what happened until today.'

She ended the video by praising the ex-employee, calling her a 'fantastic woman' with 'the biggest heart.'

'I understand if you don't want to come back to work anymore, but we will continue to pay you as if you were working remotely for us for those hours that you proposed until you're ready to come back,' she said.

'And your position, your original position, is always open for you when you come back.'

Earlier this week, Hughes said Judah was suffering from a blockage in his intestines and had holes in his lungs and heart.

The couple posted an announcement to Facebook in October that they were 'drowning in adoption paperwork, but we wouldn't have it any other way!'

Hughes and Rawley created a GoFundMe to foot some of the expenses associated with adoption including legal fees and the birth mother's medical costs.

At the time of writing, the campaign had raised over $48,000 of its $50,000 goal.

The couple created a GoFundMe to help foot some of the expenses associated with adoption including various legal fees and costs for the birth mother

Hughes announced Judah was suffering from a blockage in his intestines and had holes in his lungs and heart

She and Rawley earned the support of several prominent figures in the baby care industry, including baby clothing company Kate Quinn and the CEO of lactation supplement company Legendairy Milk, who donated thousands of dollars each

Judah's story won the support of prominent figures in the baby care industry who became the campaign's top donors.

Baby clothing company Kate Quinn donated $2,000, while Luna Aziz, CEO of lactation supplement company Legendairy Milk, shelled out $5,000.

'Thank you for loving him with us and lifting him in prayer,' the couple wrote on GoFundMe.

'He has already demonstrated so much strength, and we feel confident that God has big big plans for our tiny boy.'
MBABANE - Families who own seven-seater vehicles are now safe to drive into South Africa.

This is according to Tour Operators Eswatini Deputy Chairperson Thembisa Dlamini, who said as shuttle operators, they reached an agreement with the group of men, who were allegedly harassing seven-seater motorists driving into South Africa through the Ngwenya Border Gate.

Dlamini said they allegedly paid the monies which were demanded by the group of men and further got assurance that the vehicles would not be targeted. It was reported that the motorists were allegedly forced to pay fines ranging from E1 000 to E2 500 per vehicle.

Extortion

This comes after motorists driving seven-seater vehicles raised concerns of extortion, harassment and being forced to pay bribes when allegedly crossing the border, from Eswatini to South Africa through the Ngwenya Border Gate.

The issue was brought to light by some drivers who said they were allegedly targeted by a group of men; calling themselves Cross-border taxi patrol once they entered South Africa, who demanded payments for inspections and other purported violations.

The drivers said they were allegedly forced to pay huge fines to travel past the border and to avoid any consequences. It was reported that the most affected people were seven-seater shuttle operators, allegedly operating the cross-border business without permits. Families travelling in seven-seater vehicles also fell victim of the harassment.

Dlamini said the situation had since calmed down as they managed to engage with the group of men who allegedly harassed their drivers, including other motorists driving seven-seater vehicles. He said they paid the monies which were demanded by the men and in turn, the seven-seater vehicles operating as shuttles were recorded down, for them to be easily identified.

They now let the vehicles pass without a problem. They took the details of the seven-seater vehicles in the cross border business so that they can be easily differentiated from those that belong to members of the public, Dlamini said. Dlamini admitted that the seven-seater shuttles were operating without permits, not because they did not want to apply for one, but due to certain restrictions. According to Dlamini, the issue of permits for seven-seater vehicles was complex.

He explained that there was allegedly an agreement between the country and South Africa pertaining to permits for cross-border vehicles. Dlamini clarified that seven-seater vehicles were not part of the agreement, thus their failure to have permits for the vehicles.

We have tried several times to apply for permits, but the answer is always the same, that seven-seater vehicles are not accommodated. They tell us that permits start from a nine-seater vehicle. We dont blame anyone because no one has refused to grant us the permits but it is something that was agreed upon by the countries, he said.

He called for engagements between the two countries, to make amendments to their agreements to accommodate seven-seater vehicles. Dlamini mentioned that they suggested for the deliberations against the backdrop that the cross-border industry had changed, tourists were now arriving in different numbers, which called for the introduction of the seven-seater shuttles.

When asked if the agreement with the group of men was permanent, he said, as operators, they acknowledged that this was not permanent, but they were willing to compromise to continue doing business.

Solution

Dlamini stated that there was a need for a permanent solution to this matter, for the protection of tourists. I would say, we should do what is required by law because we cant continue paying. One day things will change and the conflict will start again. To continue with this business, we should comply with the law so that we can work freely, without any harassment.

The continuous harassment puts the tourists at risk, Dlamini said. He also urged the nation and cross-border associations to respect one another and not to take the law into their hands. There is no need to fight on this matter. We must find other ways to address it as we know the challenges faced by the businesses. I am confident that relevant authorities will find lasting solutions to this matter, he said.
Rishi Sunak yesterday warned the House of Lords to respect the 'will of the people' and drop threats to block the Rwanda Bill.

Insisting the plan to deport Channel migrants to Africa was an urgent national priority, he called on Labour and the Lords to 'do the right thing' and get behind it.

The Prime Minister said he was 'not messing around' in his efforts to get the scheme going after almost two years of delays in the courts and was 'fed up with the legal merry-go-round'.

The Safety of Rwanda Bill, which is designed to remove all remaining legal hurdles, cleared the Commons on Wednesday night after Tory rebels abandoned attempts to toughen it up.

Some peers are now gearing up for a constitutional clash by delaying  or even blocking  the new law. A cry of 'shame' rang out in the Lords yesterday when the Bill was introduced and one peer even claimed the legislation was a 'step towards totalitarianism'.

Rishi Sunak yesterday warned the House of Lords to respect the 'will of the people' and drop threats to block the Rwanda Bill

Insisting the plan to deport Channel migrants to Africa was an urgent national priority, he called on Labour and the Lords to 'do the right thing' and get behind it

The Prime Minister said he was 'not messing around' in his efforts to get the scheme going after almost two years of delays in the courts and was 'fed up with the legal merry-go-round' (File Image)

The first battle will be on January 29 when peers are expected to debate the legislation. It could clear the Lords by the middle of March but if they dig their heels in they could delay it for months.

At a Downing Street press conference Mr Sunak said: 'There is now only one question. Will the opposition in the appointed House of Lords try and frustrate the will of the people as expressed by the elected House? Or will they get on board and do the right thing?'

With peers threatening further delay the PM declined to repeat a commitment to get flights going by the spring.

He would not even guarantee that the first migrants will be deported before a general election expected at the end of the year. Another 358 asylum seekers landed on Britain's shores on Wednesday.

Mr Sunak said he wanted flights to leave as soon as possible, but added: 'The question really is for the House of Lords.'

Peers hit back, however, with crossbencher Lord Carlile describing the PM's intervention as 'vacuous and banal'.

By convention, the Lords does not normally block legislation passed by the elected Commons; its role is to scrutinise and suggest amendments. But Lord Carlile, a former Lib Dem MP and government terrorism adviser, said the Rwanda legislation was 'exceptionally malign' and suggested peers had a duty to rewrite and, if necessary, 'kill it'.

He said that by banning legal appeals against the principle of the scheme, the legislation was seeking to put the Government 'above the law'. 'This is a step towards totalitarianism,' he told Radio 4's Today programme.

The first battle will be on January 29 when peers are expected to debate the legislation. It could clear the Lords by the middle of March but if they dig their heels in they could delay it

With peers threatening further delay the PM declined to repeat a commitment to get flights going by the spring (File Image)

Fellow crossbencher Lord Kerr said the bill was incompatible with the 1951 Refugee Convention and should be thrown out. Green peer Jenny Jones rejected the Prime Minister's message, saying: 'He can ask what he likes. We understand the law.

READ MORE - Rishi Sunak lives to fight another day as his Rwanda Bill comfortably CLEARS the Commons with just 11 Tory rebels trying to crash the plans amid fears the government would have collapsed Advertisement

'We really need to stop this appalling Bill, it is not a manifesto commitment and convention allows the Lords to reject it.

'If the Prime Minister wants to claim the Rwanda Bill is the will of the people then please hold a general election.'

Labour and the Liberal Democrats have already opposed the legislation in the Commons, with Keir Starmer vowing to repeal it if he becomes PM, even if the Rwanda scheme deters Channel migrants.

Church of England bishops have also indicated they will oppose the measures in the Lords, where the Government does not have a majority. The Archbishop of Canterbury has described the Rwanda scheme as 'immoral and cruel'.

When the title of the Bill was read out in the Lords yesterday, a female peer called out 'shame'.

The Prime Minister said the plan to send Channel migrants to Rwanda would provide the 'clear and effective deterrent' needed to smash people-smuggling gangs.

The PM also hit out at Sir Keir for opposing the Rwanda scheme, saying: 'With all their efforts to block this Bill, the Labour Party have shown they simply do not get it,' he said. 'Their priority is not stopping the boats but stopping the planes removing people who have no right to be here'

When the title of the Bill was read out in the Lords yesterday, a female peer called out 'shame' (File Image)

The proposal was blocked by the Supreme Court in November after judges accepted claims from campaigners that the country was not safe because asylum seekers could theoretically be returned from there to their homelands to face torture.

The new legislation declares in law that the African nation is a safe country and prevents the courts examining the principle of the scheme.

It also gives ministers the power to overrule injunctions from the European Court of Human Rights, which blocked the last attempt to send migrants to Rwanda in June 2022. Mr Sunak yesterday insisted that he was willing to use the power, despite government legal advice that doing so could breach international law.

'I've been very clear that I won't let a foreign court stop us from getting flights off,' he said.

The PM also hit out at Sir Keir for opposing the Rwanda scheme, saying: 'With all their efforts to block this Bill, the Labour Party have shown they simply do not get it,' he said. 'Their priority is not stopping the boats but stopping the planes removing people who have no right to be here.'

Baroness Stowell, a former Tory leader in the Lords, told LBC Radio: 'The Prime Minister is not in control of the timetable, so unfortunately, as much as he might want it to go fast  and I'm very sympathetic with that view  I think there will be quite a lot of amendments that are tabled that seek to slow the process down'

Baroness Stowell, a former Tory leader in the Lords, told LBC Radio: 'The Prime Minister is not in control of the timetable, so unfortunately, as much as he might want it to go fast  and I'm very sympathetic with that view  I think there will be quite a lot of amendments that are tabled that seek to slow the process down.

'I don't expect peers to try and cooperate in getting it through quickly.'

Tory rebels last night claimed a number of no-confidence letters had been submitted against Rishi Sunak. Insiders said unhappiness across several sections of the party meant the letters to the 1922 Committee were in double figures.

However the total is not thought to be close to the threshold of 53  15 per cent of the parliamentary party  required to trigger a confidence vote. An insider said some letters put in last year were pulled before Christmas but others had been submitted over the past few days.

Labour has a 27-point polling lead, according to research by YouGov.

Its survey put the party on 47 per cent and the Tories on just 20 per cent  their lowest level since Mr Sunak took office in 2022. Fewer than half of those who voted Tory in 2019 said they would do so again and only one in ten under-50s plan to lend their support.

Reform was on 12 per cent, the Lib Dems on 8 per cent and the Greens on 7 per cent. YouGov polled 2,092 adults on January 16 and 17.
A White House expert has told Megyn Kelly that First Lady Jill Biden was left 'furious' after Vice President Kamala Harris called her husband out over racial issues.

Former White House Correspondent Charlie Spiering spoke on the Thursday night episode of Kelly's eponymous SiriusX show about the relationship between the VP and the First Lady.

The two discussed how during the 2020 debates Harris lectured the president on being bused to school, which seemingly flustered Biden.

According to Spiering, this caused the president and the first lady to feel personally hurt, with Jill Biden being especially angry behind the scenes.

Spiering told Kelly: 'Kamala was friends with Beau Biden. She had a relationship, she went to his funeral, and Beau Biden was really an important part of her relationship with Jill Biden.'

Former White House Correspondent Charlie Spiering spoke on the Thursday night episode Megyn Kelly's show about the relationship between the VP and the first lady

Kamala Harris and President Joe Biden speak as Sen. Bernie Sanders looks on during the second night of the first Democratic presidential debate on June 27, 2019, in Miami, Florida

He continued: 'Certainly, she leveraged that to her advantage. And for her to sort of turn on him really personally hurt the president but most of all hurt Jill Biden.

'And she was not happy with it and certainly behind the scenes any friend of Beau, any member of the family was furious at Kamala for sort of deploying this clearly calculated attack on Biden, and the reaction was very fierce.'

Spiering continued: 'When they first were inaugurated and when they first won the election, they did these interviews with people like CNN and Jake Tapper.

'They really tried to sell this version of how close they were, how personally tight they were, how they were going to work as true partners in the White House. But wow, when they got to the White House, what a change.

'It seemed like Biden's top advisors didn't necessarily want anything to do with her. Biden barely had lunch with her in the beginning and certainly, as things got more contentious, they've had fewer and fewer lunches.

'And Kamala has kind of been pushed aside and to sort of filled these boxes for Biden when he needed her but she certainly wasn't a true partner as they promised.'

In 2021, author Edward-Isaac Divere's book 'Battle for the Soul: Inside the Democrats' Campaigns to Defeat Trump' claimed that Jill Biden had ripped into Harris in a conference call with supporters after her remarks about mandated busing.

According to Politico, the first lady said: 'With what he cares about, what he fights for, what hes committed to, you get up there and call him a racist without basis? Go f**k yourself.'

First Lady Jill Biden is greeted by Vice President Kamala Harris before a Medal of Honor ceremony for retired U.S. Army Col. Ralph Puckett in the East Room of the White House, Friday, May 21, 2021

U.S. President Joe Biden, First Lady Jill Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris attend a welcome reception for Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders in San Francisco, California, on November 15, 2023

The first lady notably did not deny that she had made the remark, telling DailyMail.com: 'That was two years ago. We've moved on from that.'

During the debate, Harris, a half-Indian half-Jamaican daughter of immigrants, confronted Biden about his stance in the '70s against encouraging racial integration in schools.

During that decade, then-Senator Biden worked with the two segregationists to try to prevent federal imposition of the policy.

'That little girl was me,' she told him. Her attack raised her national profile, her fundraising and her position in the polls.

After the tense back-and-forth  one of the most memorable interactions on the 2020 campaign trail  moderators stopped for a commercial break.

'Well, that was some f**king bulls**t,' Biden said to Pete Buttigieg on stage during the break, multiple people said was relayed to them afterward.

Biden barely knew Buttigieg, a fellow Democratic candidate at the time and now the president's transportation secretary, but wanted to share in the moment with someone on stage.
Following his dominant win in Iowa and polls showing him ahead of President Joe Biden, former President Donald Trump is 'on top of the world' and already being treated like he's won the 2024 election.

Trump continues to show dominance in hypothetical matchups against Biden, with a poll showing him leading Biden head to head by four points and three points if third party candidates like Robert F. Kennedy Jr. are included.

Heading into the New Hampshire primary, he also leads in the polls over Republican rivals Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis.

According to those close to Trump, he's flying high despite his legal, troubles and his friends at Mar-a-Lago are prepared for a November win.

'Trump's on top of the world right now,' a source close to Trump told Page Six. Everyone is already treating him like he's the president in Florida.'

Following his dominant win in Iowa and polls showing him ahead of President Joe Biden, former President Donald Trump is 'on top of the world' and already being treated like he's won the 2024 election

Trump continues to show dominance in hypothetical matchups against Biden, with a poll showing him leading Biden head-to-head by four points

'He's totally convinced he's on the path to winning the presidency again. He's very upbeat,' the source added.

'He's elated he's already predicting a landslide in the entire country to aides and friends.'

A Harris/The Messenger poll suggested that, while not a landslide, he's currently slated to bag a hefty popular vote victory if the election were today.

The poll shows Trump leading Biden by a margin of 52-48 when matched up against each other.

Another survey taken that included options to vote for the likes of RFK Jr., Jill Stein and Cornel West show Trump besting Biden 43-40, with Kennedy leading the rest of the field at 12 percent.

Trump may get a boost from his family on the campaign trail soon as wife Melania - absent while caring for her mother who died recently - is set to come back to help support her husband.

'Once her period of mourning is over, you can expect her to appear with him at key moments somewhere important,' a source said.

'She wants to make meaningful appearances, not make routine campaign stops which his sons do.'

A survey taken that included options to vote for the likes of RFK Jr., Jill Stein and Cornel West show Trump besting Biden (pictured) 43-40, with Kennedy leading the rest of the field at 12 per cent

Heading into the New Hampshire primary, he also leads in the polls over Republican rivals Nikki Haley (pictured) and Ron DeSantis

The source also said that youngest daughter, Tiffany Trump, will also begin to appear on behalf of her father.

Trump appears headed for another big victory in New Hampshire next week, despite Haley's backer Governor Chris Sununu having previously said that his candidate would win.

The survey had Trump hitting 50 percent in the Granite State, just days after romping to victory in the Iowa Caucuses.

Haley, his chief rival in the state, was at 34 percent in the new Suffolk University/Boston Globe/NBC-10 poll, 16 points behind the frontrunner, after having come in third in Iowa.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who edged out Haley for second place in Iowa, was down at 5 percent.

Another recent poll, by WHDH-TV/Emerson, also had Trump holding a 16-point lead, but that was when New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie was still in the race. Christie's exit has created the expectation that much of the anti-Trump candidate's supporters would flock to Haley.

New Hampshire is critical to Haley's own battle plans to try to unseat Trump. The state allows unaffiliated voters to cast votes in the GOP primary.

Trump's campaign also began unloading on Haley on issues ranging from taxes to social security  even going after her by saying she 'loves China.'

Former President Donald Trump leads rival Nikki Haley by 16 points in a new poll of likely New Hampshire voters

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis , who edged out Haley for second place in Iowa, was down at 5 per cent

Trump holds a commanding lead in a new poll

That critique comes from when she was serving as UN Ambassador  during the Trump administration.

While representing America as ambassador to the United Nations, Haley described Communist China as being 'a really great friend of ours,' according to the release, which featured a clip amid Trump's own meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in an effort to secure more pressure on North Korea.

Trump also blasted Haley on Tuesday night, accusing her of exploiting the party's election rules.

'Nikki Haley in particular is counting on the Democrats and liberals to infiltrate your Republican primary,' said Trump before an adoring crowd at the Atkinson Country Club.

'You know that the left ... that's what's happening ... have a group of people coming in that are not Republicans and it's artificially boosting her numbers here, although we're still leading her by a lot.'

Haley does better among independents in the survey, getting 44 percent support to his 38 percent. But he ran up the numbers among Republicans and conservatives.
The adoptive parents and grandparents of a California 11-year-old worked as a team to torture and torment her until she died, prosecutors have claimed.

Arabella McCormack was found by paramedics at the San Diego county home in such an emaciated state that she weighed less than she did aged five.

She girl was covered in cuts, bruises and still-healing fractures. Her adoptive parents Leticia and Brian McCormack called 911, saying Arabella choked on chicken broth.

Paramedics say they found Arabella on the floor without a pulse, and a deputy on the scene reported the girl looked like 'a corpse with skin stretched over it.'

She died less than 10 hours later at the hospital in August 2022. When sheriffs arrived at the house, Border Patrol agent Brian McCormack shot himself dead.

Leticia and Brian McCormack are pictured with the three girls they adopted in 2019. Arabella is far left

Leticia McCormack is pictured in court in San Diego county, accused of murder

Adella Tom, the mother of Leticia McCormack (left) and her husband Stanley Tom. The pair are accused of participating in the abuse

His wife and her parents, Stanley and Adella Tom, were arrested in October 2022, and all three have now been charged with murder. Brian McCormack was considered by prosecutors to be a part of the abuse, and would have been charged had he not killed himself.

Prosecutors this week filed an amended complaint against the trio, alleging that they worked as a team to abuse Arabella.

They allege that the three 'worked as a team to create an environment of torment, pain, suffering, violence, and fear' for Arabella and her two younger sisters, who were aged six and seven when Arabella died.

The three girls were placed into foster care when their mother Torriana Florey, suffering from bipolar episodes, became unable to care for them.

The girl's first name is 'Aarabella,' according to her biological mother. The child's name appears as 'Arabella' in county records.

Arabella McCormack was pulled out of school, home schooled, and abused from her adoption until her death in August 2022

Arabella McCormack's adoptive family abused her and her sisters over years

The adoption by Leticia and Brian McCormack was formalized in 2019, and the abuse began straight away, prosecutors say.

Brian McCormack at one point dragged Arabella to the ground during an after-school program - in front of school staff - to try and see if she had candy in her pockets.

Arabella was pulled out of school, and all three girls were homeschooled.

The McCormacks were obsessive about their food, weight, and behavior.

Leticia McCormack, an elder at a California megachurch, allegedly told her father to give Arabella 'no chances' when she ate her cereal, that 'her spoon should not be heaping' and 'should be almost level,' according to the complaint filed by prosecutors, obtained by The San Diego Union Tribune.

Two days later the girl was forced to exercise while wearing plastic bags and wet clothes, according to the complaint.

Days later, Brian McCormack smacked her for 'overloading' her spoon and 'looking around' while eating,' the complaint alleges.

Torriana Florey, Arabella's mother, is seen in her final photo with her daughter. The little girl and her two sisters were put into foster care when their bipolar biological mother became unable to care for them

Brian McCormack, a Border Patrol agent, is pictured left receiving an award for service. He shot and killed himself when sheriffs arrived

The girls were forced to exercise excessively, sometimes by running up and down stairs.

They were refused permission to use the bathroom, and forced to urinate and defecate on themselves.

Brian McCormack encouraged his wife to let one of the girls sit in her own waste, saying: 'She can soak in that (expletive) and get sick. Bella will be done soon and we will only have two to worry about.'

The three girls were hit with paddles and sticks, and left with broken bones.

The two surviving girls have suffered lasting ill health as a result of the starvation and abuse.

A civil suit has been filed on behalf of Arabella's sisters, alleging that several agencies, organizations and workers failed to report possible abuse.

The suit says the surviving sisters suffered from a syndrome that presents after prolonged starvation.

The three adults will appear in court for a status hearing on January 30: all three face 46 years to life in prison if convicted of all charges.
Former Tory deputy chairman Lee Anderson abstained rather than vote against the Rwanda Bill after Labour mocked him.

The Conservative MP, who quit his role to back amendments to strengthen the legislation to send small boat migrants to East Africa, had planned to oppose it.

But after Labour MPs 'giggled and laughed' at him in the lobby to vote with them, he has revealed he changed his mind.

His decision meant just 11 of his fellow Tory rebels voted against the third reading of the Bill declaring Rwanda a safe country, meaning it passed comfortably.

It capped a night of high drama in Westminster on Wednesday in which Rishi Sunak faced a major challenge to his authority.

In the end, the uprising petered out but not without allegations of dirty tricks and attempted collaborations with Labour.

Former Tory deputy chairman Lee Anderson abstained rather than vote against the Rwanda Bill after Labour mocked him

Mr Anderson resigned together with his fellow deputy chairman Brendan Clarke-Smith (pictured)

Mr Anderson's resignation on Tuesday, together with his fellow deputy chairman Brendan Clarke-Smith, triggered fears the Bill would not pass. This could have questioned the Prime Minister's ability to govern and could have prompted an early general election.

Rwanda asylum plan: So when WILL migrant flights to Africa get off the ground? Here are the remaining hurdles for Rishi Sunak to clear before he gets his 290million scheme up and running Advertisement

Mr Anderson, who once worked for the Labour Party, said he had decided to vote against the Bill before ex-colleagues put him off.

He told GB News: 'I was going to vote 'No' because I couldn't see how I could support the Bill after backing all the amendments.

'I got into the lobby. I spent about two or three minutes with a colleague in there. The Labour lot were giggling and laughing and taking the mick and I couldn't do it. In my heart of hearts, I could not vote 'No'. So I walked out, so I've abstained.

'When I saw that lot in there laughing, there's no way I could support them above the party that's given me a political home.'

Most dramatically, members of the rebel camp were accused of collaborating with the Labour whips to derail the third reading by voting against a clause.

Had they been successful, the Bill might have been delayed, giving the rebels more time to force the PM to toughen it.

Some Tory MPs were furious when they found out about the 'plot'  with former party leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith reportedly calling it a 'suicide mission'.

Members of staff board a plane reported to be first to transport migrants to Rwanda on June 14 2022. It never took off

But after the whips got wind of the move, they instructed immigration minister Michael Tomlinson and Tory MPs to speak until late to thwart the attempt.

In the end, the attempt  and the rebellion  fizzled out.

A Tory source said: 'These people make up ten per cent of the party and they make 90 per cent of the noise.'

Former immigration minister Robert Jenrick, who quit his role and tabled many of the amendments before voting against the Bill, was seen with a 'face like thunder'.

Among those who missed the vote was former prime minister Theresa May, who was in Davos at the World Economic Forum.

She was asked to return but sources said she could not get back in time. Chancellor Jeremy Hunt delayed his trip to Switzerland to support the Government.
A Republican rep filmed hurling homophobic slurs during a December DUI stop has avoided jail time, court records show.

North Dakota's Nico Rios, 35, was instead handed a year of unsupervised probation and a fine of $1,000, after pleading guilty to drunk driving on January 8.

The freshman out of Williston, however, aired no plans to resign - following calls for his swift removal over footage of the December 15 arrest.

During the encounter, officers are seen walking up to a visibly inebriated Rios, before asking several questions. As he responds, the lawmaker is heard slurring his words, and gets caught in a web lies that leads to him launch threats at the lawmen.

After rejecting a request to take a breathalyzer, he is cuffed and carted to a nearby police station. At this point, Rios starts antagonizing a British-born officer, poking fun at his accent with a xenophobic rant that his country is being 'overrun by migrants.'

Scroll down for video:

Nico Rios, a Republican rep out of North Dakota who was filmed hurling homophobic slurs during a December 15 DUI stop, has avoided jail time, court records have revealed

Rios, a 35-year-old representing a district in Williston, was instead handed a year of unsupervised probation and a fine of $1,000, after pleading guilty to drunk driving January 8

'Are you proud to be English?,' Rios asks Williston PD Officer Alexander Welch in the now viral footage.

'Why is that relevant?,' the first-year officer responds, as Rios sits cuffed in the back of the police cruiser.

'Because, what are you doing here in North Dakota arresting people?' the disgraced conservative asks.

'Your country is being taken over by 'f---king migrants and refugees, right? Am I wrong? You're arresting me for driving home, while people come into your country and rape your woman. Yes or no? And I'm the f**king bad guy? Yes or no?

'Tell me! Tell me, bro! Yes or no?'

Welch, at this point, elects to sit in silence - while an audibly irate Rios continues his racist rant.

'How many English woman have been raped by migrants? Thousands!' he says, citing the surge in sex crime statistics in the UK and other European countries like Sweden after their implementation of open-door policy towards refugees

'Thousands every week. And you're arresting me, in North Dakota,' Rios erroneously claims.

'How many of your f**king friends and family members have been f**king brutalized and terrorized by migrants. And you're arresting me. Good for you, bro. Good for f**king you, you motherf**ker.'

Body camera video captured North Dakota Republican lawmaker Nico Rios using profanity and homophobic slurs toward Williston police officer

Rios threatened to call the state's attorney general during a DUI stop on December 5, 2023, in Williston, North Dakota

Rios threatened to call the state's attorney general during a DUI stop on December 5, 2023, in Williston, North Dakota

Rios said he was leaving a Christmas party before the traffic stop

The homophobic slurs made by Rios can be heard in body camera footage

Williston Republican state Rep. Nico Rios is seen being arrested for driving under the influence

Rio said he was leaving a Christmas party before the traffic stop, and has 'only gotten support from my colleagues, although a few have yelled at me for sure I deserved it.'

Rios was elected last year to the North Dakota House of Representatives. He threatened to call the state's attorney general during a DUI stop

Earlier in the clip, Rios - who assumed office in the waning days of 2022 - threatens to call the North Dakota attorney general, telling the arresting officers they would 'regret picking on me because you don't know who ... I am'.

Once in the stationhouse, Rios is heard making a homophobic remark to the same officer, before being booked for DUI and refusing to provide a chemical test.

After his release later that day, Rios posted an apologetic statement to X - after his arrest warrant and 'verbally abusive, homophobic, racially abusive and discriminatory' went public.

Cops from Williston - a city whose population has roughly doubled since 2010 - went on to release the footage showing Rios's behavior, fanning the figurative flames around his offense.

In subsequent statements, the lawmaker expressed regret to the people of his district for what he labeled a 'mistake', but did not issue an apology to the officer he verbally attacked.

In those statements, Rios continued to bill himself as a 'straight shooter', before pleading guilty earlier this month as part of previously unreported deal.

His sentence includes a 10-day suspended jail sentence, a mandatory evaluation and a victim impact panel. A misdemeanor charge of refusing a chemical test was dismissed. He must also pay $50 for an open container violation.

That said, even after quashing the case against him , Rios continues to face calls from his party to resign.

Rios posted a statement apologizing for his actions on Twitter

Asked for comment, Rios said 'Inebriated or not my actions and words to law enforcement that night were absolutely unacceptable'

Rios is a first-term elected official who won his seat in 2022, and is among a handful of young conservatives who have joined the North Dakota House of Representatives in recent years

Before moving to the state, Rios had been active in Republican working for Ted Cruz in the Texas Senator's Washington D.C. office

Rios currently sits on the House Judiciary Committee, a panel that handles law enforcement legislation. He also is a wireline operator, an oil field position involved in the hydraulic fracturing of wells

Last week, Republican House Majority Leader Mike Lefor removed him from the Legislature's interim Judiciary Committee, saying it wouldn't be fair for law enforcement officers to testify in front of a committee of which Rios is a member.

In response, Rios has said he is 'seriously mulling all aspects' of his future, and plans to seek help for alcoholism, but announced no plans to resign.

He also previously said he takes responsibility for his 'disgusting actions,' and apologized 'to those I have hurt and disappointed,' including law enforcement officers.

Rios has said he was leaving a Christmas party before police pulled him over.

Currently employed in an oil field position involved in the hydraulic fracturing of wells, Rios was elected unopposed in 2022 to a four-year term in the state House of Representatives.

As of Thursday, Republicans control the House, 82-12.
The chief suspect in Madeleine McCann's disappearance allegedly 'snatched' a child and forced her to 'perform sex acts on him' days before Maddie disappeared, court documents claim.

Christian Brueckner, a 46-year-old convicted pedophile and rapist, is currently serving a seven-year jail sentence in Germany for the unrelated rape of a 72-year-old American tourist at the same resort where Madeleine disappeared - two years before she vanished.

Now, court documents have revealed allegations that in April 2007 he snatched a child from a beach before forcing her to perform sex acts on him, just one month before Madeleine disappeared from her bed in a Portuguese resort.

Christian Brueckner, a 46-year-old convicted pedophile and rapist, is currently serving a seven-year jail sentence in Germany for the unrelated rape of a 72-year-old American tourist at the same resort where Madeleine disappeared

Madeleine McCann's case still grips the world 16 years on, as police are yet to uncover the truth about what happened to the three-year-old girl who went missing on 3 May 2007, whilst on holiday with her family in Praia da Luz, located in the Algarve region of Portugal.

READ MORE: Madeleine McCann suspect Christian Brueckner will see 46 witnesses speak during his trial over 'multiple rapes and child sex offences' Fact-box text Advertisement

German authorities have been investigating Brueckner for the last five years. He resided in the country between 1995 and 2007 and spent time living in his campervan there not far from the Algarve resort of Praia da Luz.

He was named as a suspect in the McCann case after his yellow and white VW T3 Westfalia campervan was reportedly spotted near the resort in Portugal where Madeleine vanished.

He has denied he was in the area at the time and distanced himself from the allegations against him.

Madeleine McCann went missing on 3 May 2007, whilst on holiday with her family in Praia da Luz, located in the Algarve region of Portugal

Court documents have also revealed another alleged attack involving a 14-year-old girl who was said to be tied to a post in her rented home in Portugal.

Brueckner is accused of whipping her and forcing her to perform sexual acts on him, allegedly recording the assault on video camera.

Brueckner is accused by detectives of killing Madeleine, but is yet to be formally charged - they say the German native is still the prime suspect and said the missing toddler likely died in Portugal.
A father-of-two is at risk of losing both his hands after a firework he was holding exploded, leaving them 'unrecognisable'.

Nick Gilbert, 58, was lighting fireworks on Kelan Beach in Bali at 3am on New Years Day when a charge inside one spontaneously exploded.

Onlookers caught the moment that the Adelaide Hill man collapsed to the ground on video, as both his hands were badly damaged in the blast and good Samaritans came rushing to his aid.

Mr Gilbert has been living on the Indonesian island for the last four years and now requires several complex operations to save what remains of his hands.

The country's medical system requires him to pay upfront for the surgeries.

He launched a GoFundMe on January 9 asking for help to afford the operations, without which both hands will need amputating.

Nick Gilbert, 58, originally from the Adelaide Hills but now living in Bali, is fighting to keep his hands after a New Year's Day firework accident left them 'unrecognisable'

At 3am on Kelan Beach the father-of-two was lighting fireworks before one of them exploded while he was holding it, badly injuring his hands

Mr Gilbert's five-year-old daughter Hayley wrote the description for her father's fundraiser as he was still unable to use his hands.

'[Dad] cant write this for you because he was severely injured by a fireworks explosion on NYE in Bali, almost losing his hands,' Hayley wrote.

'Dad thinks hes lucky that he still has a hand. He cant even wipe his own butt.

READ MORE: Woman might lose eye after being hit by firework The 48-year-old has 'very, very serious' facial injuries, mainly to her eye, after she was hit by an illegal firework. Advertisement

'If everything goes right he should be able to wipe it again himself one day.'

The family is asking for $200,000 in order to afford surgeries costing $10,000 each, pharmaceuticals, doctors appointments and rent, as Mr Gilbert cannot work.

He initially moved to Jimbaran, near Kuta, with his wife Triana and children, Hayley and Henry, to teach people how to surf and is now the managing director of Fliteboard Fliteschool.

Retelling the accident from her father's perspective, Hayley wrote that he was left with bones and tendons dangling from his damaged hands.

'I held it low away from my face, several shots successfully performed [but] the final [shot] exploded in the tube. The force was immense, shattering and splitting both my hands,' she wrote.

'It looked far from salvageable, heavily bleeding... a mess.

'Things important seconds earlier are now not. Everything started with the fun. One second later the world suddenly stopped being fun.'

After being rushed to the hospital from the beach by kind strangers, Mr Gilbert was tended to by surgeons who stabilised his condition.

Mr Gilbert lost two fingers on his right hand and half his thumb, and suffered extensive damage to his palm and other fingers before finding out that his insurance wouldn't cover him

Mr Gilbert moved to Jimbaran, near Kuta, with his wife Triana and children, Hayley and Henry, to teach people how to surf and is now the managing director of Fliteboard Fliteschool

In total he lost two fingers on his right hand and half his thumb, with extensive damage to his palm and other fingers.

Once he came to he was told that the family's 10 year private health insurance policy would not cover the cost to reconnect tendons, graft skin or repair muscle damage.

In a best-case scenario doctors said that 50 to 60 per cent of his hands' former function might be able to be returned.

In the meantime Mr Gilbert said that he has had to send potential customers to his competitor since he cannot work and that he may have to sell the family car.

His spirits are remaining high however, and in an update he was able to write himself 10 days after launching the GoFundMe, he said that the future was looking brighter.

'We are far from out of the woods, but we have all the necessary componentry in reasonable order to be able to keep all the digits, but not the length... theyre (a) bit shorter obviously,'

'[It's] gonna be another six months before I can wipe my butt butt but I am very positive.

'I am the most lucky person alive ... and if nothing goes wrong I will have fingers at the end of it on both hands.'

Of the people that have currently donated to Mr Gilbert's fund, one saw the opportunity to crack a joke.

'Happy to lend a hand,' they wrote after sending through $70.
A primary school in London may be forced to close after receiving 'bomb threats' over Islamophobia accusations - after a different school closed early over bomb threats following a 'prayer ban' on the premises.

Barclay Primary School in Leyton, east London, told parents it might have to 'revert to online learning' because it received bomb threats over the headteachers decision to ban students from wearing pro-Palestinian badges.

The school was the site of protests in December after a viral TikTok video claimed an eight-year-old pupil was being bullied by teachers for being Palestinian.

The protests forced the school to shut two days early as 'threats against staff' escalated.

Another school, known as 'Britain's strictest', was also forced to close two days early for Christmas over a bomb hoax.

Katharine Birbalsingh, the head of Michaela Community School, said she was forced to implement a ban on prayer rituals on the premises after teachers were racially harassed.

It comes amid a High Court challenge from a Muslim pupil who alleges the policy is discriminatory.

Barclay Primary School in Leyton, east London, told parents it might have to 'revert to online learning' because it received bomb threats over the headteachers decision to ban students from wearing pro-Palestinian badges.

Video footage showed parents gathering outside the school with pro-Palestinian flags

Katharine Birbalsingh, the head of Michaela Community School, said she was forced to implement a ban on prayer rituals on the premises after teachers were racially harassed

Katharine Birbalsingh released a lengthy statement on X in a passionate defence of the 'prayer ban' she imposed

Backlash at Barclay Primary continued into the new year, with police officers appearing to be stationed at the site.

The Lion Academy Trust, which runs the school, wrote to parents warning that steps were being taken to secure the school after 'despicable threats'.

The letter warned 'a serious threat was received in writing' and an anonymous caller had made 'racial slurs' and a threat of arson to the school and individual staff, The Telegraph reported.

These include hiring private security and installing CCTV.

But the school said that it might have 'no option' but to resort to online learning if the safety of its pupils and staff couldn't be guaranteed.

Justin James, the executive headteacher, also wrote to parents to say there was no evidence of bullying or misconduct found through an investigation.

Shortly before Christmas, masked men climbed onto the fence at the school in the nighttime and hung Palestinian flags there.

Protesters then gathered at the site chanting phrase such as 'education is under attack'.

Backlash at Barclay Primary continued into the new year, with police officers appearing to be stationed at the site

A parent at the protest criticised the school for not allowing a student 'to wear the badge of his homeland'

Protesters then gathered at the site chanting phrase such as 'education is under attack'

The TikTok video which alleged the child had been 'bullied, harassed and mentally traumatised by his teachers' for wearing a Palestine badge on his coat claimed that he was 'denied playtime and lunch privileges' for refusing to remove it.

The row first erupted when some pupils used a Children in Need mufti day to show their support for Palestine with flags, badges and stickers.

A letter was then sent to eight families - out of a school of 1,325 students - warning that 'inappropriate comments made at school including extremist or divisive comments' would result in formal meetings with senior figures at the school.

The note also said it could potentially lead to referrals to the Government's counter terrorism programme, Prevent, or Waltham Forest's Hate Crime Team.

TikToker Zaki then posted a video, in which he told followers: 'Barclay Primary School is basically saying that if you support Palestine, you're going to become a terrorist - or you already are one.'

It comes after backlash following Katharine Birbalsingh - a former government social mobility Tsar - introducing a prayer ban at Michaela Community School, in Brent, in March last year.

A student, who cannot be named, alleges that a policy banning prayer rituals on the premises, introduced by the Michaela Community School, is discriminatory.

Ms Birbalsingh's controversial school - rated 'outstanding' by Ofsted - has been described s having an ethos likened to private schools

While he was Mayor of London, Boris Johnson took part in a history lesson with pupils

Ms Birbalsingh described the reasons behind the ban and said 'we all make our sacrifices so that we can live in harmony'

She said it had 'fundamentally changed' how she feels 'about being a Muslim in this country', a judge heard.

The pupil described the ban as 'like somebody saying they don't feel like I properly belong here', a hearing in London was told today.

In the legal action against the free school's governing body, the Michaela Community Schools Trust, the student claims the decision 'banning prayer rituals' also breaches her right to freedom of religion.

This was after members of the public began a 'campaign' against the school's approach to religion when pupils were seen praying in the schoolyard on blazers instead of prayer mats, the court was told.

The controversial school - rated 'outstanding' by Ofsted - has been described s having an ethos likened to private schools.

It holds a zero-tolerance policy for bad behaviour and there is a 'boot camp' week at the beginning of the year for the students to learn the rules and consequences of misbehaving.

The headteacher defended her school's 'prayer ban' and released a lengthy statement on X, formerly Twitter, to defend her stance on stopping prayer rituals on the premises after teachers were attacked and targeted with 'appalling' racial harassment.

She said the outright ban had 'restored calm and order' and its 'strict ethos' to not allow children to wander around unsupervised meant 'we cannot have a prayer room'.

'At Michaela, those from all religions make sacrifices so that we can maintain a safe secular community,' she said.

Ms Birbalsingh - whose grandmother was Muslim - went on to passionately explain how she felt it was wrong to separate children according to their religion and race and said they all eat vegetarian food 'so that we can break bread together at lunch'.

In what appeared to be a thinly veiled swipe, she said: 'We all make sacrifices so that we can live in harmony.'

She added: 'Multiculturalism can only succeed when we understand that every group must make sacrifices for the sake of the whole.

'We allow our children freedoms of all sorts, as long as those freedoms do not threaten the happiness and success of the whole school community.'
Fresh charges have been laid on a 'high risk' detainee who was released under a controversial High Court decision despite having a history of serious crimes.

Mohammed Ali Nadari, 46, was one of the 148 asylum seekers released on November 26 under the controversial High Court decision that ruled indefinite detention was unlawful.

It was revealed that Nadari was set free into the public while having prior convictions including grievous bodily harm, indecent assault and firearms offences as well as theft, larceny, drug and property offences.

The Afghani national was arrested twice in the weeks following his release, most recently in western Sydney on December 30 shortly before being charged with 10 counts of failing to comply with curfew conditions.

His rap sheet has since grown by five charges after NSW Police told Daily Mail Australia they allege Nadari was caught twice possessing stolen perfume in Paramatta on December 24 and 29.

Five fresh charges have been laid on a 'high risk' detainee and asylum seeker while behind bars at Parklea Correctional Centre (pictured) after being released following a High Court ruling

He was charged with two counts each of shoplifting with a value of under $2,000 and being in possession of items suspected stolen, and one count of entering an 'inclosed land' without a lawful excuse.

Nadari faced Parramatta Local Court on Friday via video link from the Parklea Correctional Centre in Northwest Sydney facing 10 charges of failing to comply with a curfew condition.

The alleged offences could land him an up to five year stay in jail and a $93,900 fine.

His lawyer told the court that he would not be applying for bail and the matter was adjourned until February 2. He is yet to enter a plea.

He will face court three more times in the week surrounding February 2, once on January 30 and twice on February 7.

Nadari's December 30 arrest occurred after police raided homes on Sheffield Street looking to evict squatters.

While police were evicting squatters living in three houses in that street, Nadari allegedly entered one of the properties through a broken fence.

Police told Nadari to sit on the ground and asked him for identification. As he produced identification Nadari grabbed three small resealable bags from his wallet and threw them behind him.

The bags contained green vegetable matter which was established to be cannabis.

Mohammed Ali Nadari, 46, was one of at least 148 detainees released by Labor Minister Clare O'Neil's Home Affairs Department since the ruling before he was arrested and refused bail

Nadari, whose identification was confirmed from his Immicard, was placed under arrest and denied knowledge of the cannabis.

Court documents tendered during the case were revealed after he didn't appear in court despite being granted bail for the drug possession change and fined $300.

'The accused has a lengthy criminal history which includes but is not limited to maliciously cause grievous bodily harm,' said the statement of facts tendered to the court.

Nadari was jailed in July 2015 for a maximum 32 months over the assault with an act of indecency against a woman, and spent 16 months in prison.

An apprehended violence order was taken out by police on behalf of the female victim.

Nadari is described in the statement of facts as one of the 'high-risk' detainees released after the High Court's decision that indefinite detention was unlawful.

'The accused has already committed an offence within one week of being released,' the statement said.

'The accused is currently unemployed and does not have a fixed place of abode. The accused has told police that he lives on the street.'
Hong Kong: Man charged with seditious intent

Police's National Security Department today laid a holding charge against a 35-year-old man on one count of committing an act or acts with seditious intent.

The case will be mentioned at the West Kowloon Magistrates Courts this afternoon.

The man was arrested in Sha Tin yesterday on suspicion of committing an act or acts with seditious intent, in contravention of Sections 9 and 10 of the Crimes Ordinance.

A police investigation determined that he is suspected of repeatedly publishing posts with seditious intent on social platforms by way of content provoking hatred towards the central authorities and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government.

Officers searched his residence with a court warrant and seized electronic communication devices that he had used to publish the messages.

Police emphasised that acts committed with seditious intent are a serious crime liable to two years imprisonment on first conviction.

This story has been published on: 2024-01-19. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
EZULWINI  Suppliers can only charge five per cent more or less than the market price of items that they will be supplying to government and its institutions.

This benchmark was declared yesterday by the Minister of Finance, Neal Rijkenberg, when launching the Market Price Reference Catalogue for commonly used items. The catalogue was presented by the Eswatini Economic Policy Analysis and Research Centre (ESEPARC).

The catalogue that would be shared with all government ministries, parastatals and local government authorities will be used as a reference point for procurement officers and heads of departments, as a benchmark for prices, before awarding suppliers tenders. The catalogue contains 17 categories of commonly used items, which equate to over 79 000 items.

The prices of the items, according to the catalogue that was presented by Mancoba Nkambule from ESEPARC, were categorised according to the four regions of the country. He added that the prices were categorised in three-fold, being the lowest, middle and upper limit. He explained that officers could only accept a price that was five per cent below or higher than the market price, from suppliers.

He further explained that the prices in the catalogue included Value Added Tax (VAT), hence suppliers were not supposed to add VAT to the prices. The prices in the catalogue would be revised every two years to ensure that they remained relevant to the market.

Scrutinised

The officer explained that the five per cent above and below market price would be scrutinised, hence it was imperative for procurement officers within government departments to stick within the price range in the catalogue.

To ensure that government departments adhere to the to the catalogue, Eswatini Public Procument Regulatory Authority (ESPPRA) Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Vusumutiwendvodza Matsebula, said they would constantly monitor that public procurement officers use tenders according to the prices listed in the Market Price Reference Catalogue.

Matsebula said the catalogue would be available in all government offices, tinkhundla centres, ESPPRA website and social media pages. During the launch, the minister said the initiative would revolutionise the public procurement landscape in Eswatini.

Promise

He highlighted that the Public Procurement System drives the countrys economy and it was through procurement that the government fulfilled its promise to citizens in providing supplies for education, construction, maintenance of infrastructure, health supplies, medical supplies, agricultural supplies as well as security equipment among others.



In the same vein, the minister said suppliers of these goods and services earned income to run their businesses, with multiplier effects including job creation for the citizens, leading to economic growth. Rijkenberg said government had an obligation to maximise every cent of its budget, thus, better management of the public procurement sector, with increased transparency, efficiency and value for money, was critical for achieving economic growth and boosting shared prosperity for all.

We are all aware of the challenges we face in managing our procurement spend, which currently stands at a staggering 22.6 per cent of our countrys expenditure. With procurement reforms at the forefront of our agenda, it is imperative that we address the existing issue of overpricing, be it for common use items or any sector of the government services, which does not only deplete government funds, but further hampers economic growth and sustainability, he said.

The minister said the funds that could be redirected towards crucial sectors such as healthcare, education, infrastructure development and maintenance were being absorbed by inflated prices charged by suppliers. Rijkenberg said the unfortunate part was that the exorbitant prices charged by suppliers, crippled areas of government service delivery.

Commited

By tackling this issue head-on and implementing a transparency tool, we are, as the government, sending a clear message that Eswatini is committed to upholding the highest standards of accountability, transparency and integrity. It is upon all of us to create an environment that fosters fair competition, incentivise suppliers to offer competitive prices and ensure value for money. By publishing this catalogue, we hope to bring about a shift that results in fair market prices being offered to government, he said.

The minister added that the publishing of the catalogue would not only reduce procurement spending but also stimulate economic growth and create opportunities for investment and development. He implored suppliers and government heads of departments to embrace the price catalogue and adhere to it.
Alison Varley, of Ossett in West Yorkshire, said she is 'terrified' and that medics are 'struggling' with her never-before-seen illness. The 42-year-old starts chemo today but fears she may not make Christmas, bluntly admitting: 'I don't know if it's going to work.' Mrs Varley was diagnosed with a specific type of goblet cell carcinoma in 2021 after seeking help for what she assumed was a chest infection that left her struggling to breathe. Antibiotics failed to help, prompting her husband Matthew to eventually call her an ambulance. Hospital scans later revealed she had fluid on her lung - and a mass on her ovary. Goblet cell carcinomas develop in the appendix and are thought to strike just one in every million people. They are more common in people in their 50s and 60s. Pictured left, with her husband Matthew and daughters Delilah and Daisy and right, with her son Charlie.
Want to know why so many people in the UK feel ignored, insulted and treated with contempt by powerful elites who appear to live in a different world?

Then look no further than the prospect of unelected peers in the House of Lords, backed by a well-heeled club of judges, liberal media types, Leftie lawyers and celebrity luvvies, trying to thwart the Government's new law to deport illegal migrants to Rwanda, which has been passed by elected MPs in the House of Commons.

It is a snapshot of everything that is wrong with our political system, in which Establishment figures appointed to positions of power often act as if they think democracy is a dirty word. No wonder so many European societies, from Italy to Holland, are now in revolt against the old political elites, voting for populist parties which have pledged to cut mass illegal migration.

Many see Britain, more than seven years after the Brexit vote to 'take back control', as ripe for a similar democratic revolt, so it's no surprise that the Government is desperate to be seen to do something about it.

Many see Britain, more than seven years after the Brexit vote to 'take back control', as ripe for a similar democratic revolt, so it's no surprise that the Government is desperate to be seen to do something about it

Yet almost immediately, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak felt obliged to warn unelected peers in the Opposition-dominated House of Lords not to 'try and frustrate the will of the people, as expressed by the elected House' by seeking to scupper or delay the legislation

There can be little doubt that the British people are overwhelmingly on the side of tougher restrictions on immigration (File Image)

The Rwanda Safety Bill was finally passed in the Commons on Wednesday by a comfortable majority of 44. Yet almost immediately, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak felt obliged to warn unelected peers in the Opposition-dominated House of Lords not to 'try and frustrate the will of the people, as expressed by the elected House' by seeking to scupper or delay the legislation.

There can be little doubt that the British people are overwhelmingly on the side of tougher restrictions on immigration. Every poll shows rising public anger about the small boats smuggling illegal migrants on to Britain's south coast with apparent impunity.

The migration crisis now costs British taxpayers an estimated 3.6 billion per annum. As Tory support in the polls plummets, it has been reported that most of those who voted for Boris Johnson in 2019 but don't plan to back Sunak next time cited the failure to tackle immigration as the primary reason  79 per cent of Tory defectors in the North, 75 per cent in the South.

Yet popular support for a crackdown on immigration means nothing to our out-of-touch elites, who carry on undermining Britain's national sovereignty and democracy in the belief that they know better than  and what's best for  the rest of us.

Yet popular support for a crackdown on immigration means nothing to our out-of-touch elites, who carry on undermining Britain's national sovereignty and democracy in the belief that they know better than  and what's best for  the rest of us

The Rwanda Safety Bill is an attempt to circumvent Establishment resistance (File Image)

As Tory support in the polls plummets, it has been reported that most of those who voted for Boris Johnson in 2019 but don't plan to back Sunak next time cited the failure to tackle immigration as the primary reason  79 per cent of Tory defectors in the North, 75 per cent in the South

The Rwanda Safety Bill is an attempt to circumvent Establishment resistance. It was formulated in response to last year's Supreme Court verdict, based on New Labour's Human Rights Act, that it was 'unsafe' for the Government to deport illegal migrants to the African state, and similar democracy-blocking interventions by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). The Bill would disapply large swathes of the Human Rights Act as it relates to deportation cases and give ministers the power to ignore so-called 'Rule 39' orders issued by the ECHR that prevented the flights to Rwanda from taking off.

Tory rebels believe these proposals still leave the door open to legal appeals and judicial interference. For our globalist, border-hating elites, however, they go much too far and so we can rely on the unelected House of Lords to take up the cudgels on behalf of the forces of anti-democracy in Britain. According to the website Politico this week, some lords are preparing for 'trench warfare' to stop the Bill.

There was no response to the millions of voters who worry about what mass migration is doing to their communities and want their leaders to limit it, as promised. But those vulgar masses are looked down upon with disdain by elites who see the silky liberal judges of the Supreme Court as morally superior to 'oikish' Right-wing MPs such as Tory ex-deputy chairman Lee Anderson, and put 'international law' enforced by Continental judges above national laws passed by our elected representatives.

The Lords has an anti-Tory majority that may well do its worst to delay and disrupt the Bill, as it has done with previous immigration laws. The Labour Party's own protocol in the Lords says it should not try to kick out a Bill passed by the Commons.

But that leaves plenty of scope for individual Labour peers to join with others and try to get the Bill bogged down in procedural disputes before the coming election. This conflict throws even bigger political questions into sharp focus. In 2024, why should appointed peers have the power to block laws passed by elected MPs?

READ MORE - Rishi Sunak lives to fight another day as his Rwanda Bill comfortably CLEARS the Commons Advertisement

Even if some (though not all of us) still see an advisory and amending role for an upper house, there can be no excuse for blatant anti-democratic meddling by the nearly 800 peers that make up the biggest (and most unrepresentative) legislative assembly outside communist China.

And why, in the post-Brexit era, should the judges of the UK Supreme Court or the ECHR in Strasbourg exercise power over our supposedly sovereign Parliament?

This is a baleful legacy of the Human Rights Act  based on European law and backed up by the Labour-created Supreme Court  that has had profound consequences for our democracy. As one legal expert argued this week, this system has elevated judge-protected 'rights' over electoral democracy, and imposed a judicial 'stranglehold' over parliamentary sovereignty.

Many now seem willing to desert the Tories they blame for betraying Brexit. Yet is Labour, led by arch-Remainer Sir Keir Starmer, really the party for them? Starmer's 'alternative' to the Rwanda plan seems largely to amount to reducing illegal migration by making more of it legal.

Reform UK, with 'Mr Brexit' Nigel Farage in the wings, is rising in the polls as public anger over uncontrolled migration rises.

Leading pollster James Frayne says that, in 25 years of opinion research, 'I cannot remember a more disillusioned and angrier electorate'.

The usual suspects will try to blame public anger over migration on simple racism. In reality, migration has become the focus for public concerns, not only about resources and public services but, importantly, about such basic principles of our society as democracy and free speech.

The big, unasked question behind the debate about migration and the Rwanda Safety Bill is: who rules? As we have seen, that issue has sparked anti-Establishment populist rebellions at the polls across Europe. It is now being posed in British politics as the next election looms into sight.

Mick Hume is the author of Revolting! How The Establishment Are Undermining Democracy And What They're Afraid Of.
Princes Harry and Andrew will not be allowed to act as counsellors of state

Buckingham Palace has quietly sidelined Harry and Andrew and prevented them from standing in for King Charles.

The Mail's Robert Hardman was first to say the princes could be barred from Counsellors of State way back in October 2022.

Although the pair technically remain in the prestigious royal roles, the King made a provision meaning they will never be called upon.

With the Counsellors of State Act 2022, the monarch added the Princess Royal and the Duke of Edinburgh to the list of counsellors of state.

Yet Lord True, lord privy seal and leader of the Lords, confirmed in a statement on November 21, 2022, that in practical terms, only working members would be called on to act as Charles's substitute.

Buckingham Palace has quietly sidelined Harry and Andrew and prevented them from standing in for King Charles

Although the pair technically remain counsellors of state, the King made a provision meaning they will never be called upon

The Lord Privy Seal Lord True told peers: 'This Bill represents a practical solution and safeguard to ensure that the machinery of Government can continue.'

He stressed: 'The royal household have confirmed that in practice working members of the royal family - working members - will be called upon to act as Counsellors of State and that diaries will be arranged to make this practicable.

It is the latest humiliation for royal duo Harry and Andrew, who have both faced controversy in recent years.

The rule also means Andrew's eldest daughter Princess Beatrice will also not be allowed to act as a substitute for the King.

King Charles and Queen Camilla at church in Sandringham on Christmas Day last month

The Mail's Robert Hardman was first to say the princes could be barred from counsellors of state way back in October 2022.

At present, when the monarch is absent for whatever reason, state business  such as approvals for most appointments and legislation  can be conducted by two Counsellors of State.

Suggestions Harry and Andrew should be stripped of being counsellors of state were made in the Lords in 2022.

It comes as Harry is set to be inducted as a 'Living Legend of Aviation' on Friday at an awards ceremony hosted by John Travolta in Beverly Hills, California.

The duke's work setting up the Invictus Games Foundation will also be celebrated. It is not clear if Harry or his wife Meghan will attend the glitzy awards do.

Meanwhile, Prince Andrew has once again found himself associated with paedophile Jeffrey Epstein after troves of documents relating to the socialite were released.

MailOnline has contacted Buckingham Palace for comment.
Donald Trump Jr. said his dad could choose Tucker Carlson to be his vice presidential running mate if the former president wins the 2024 GOP nomination.

Don Jr. said the former Fox News host agrees with his father on 'everything' and would 'certainly be a contender' to be picked as the vice presidential candidate.

'Don, is your dad serious about Tucker Carlson? Are those rumors serious?' anchor Rob Finnerty asked on Newsmax's Wake Up America on Thursday morning.

'That clearly would be on the table, right? I mean they're very friendly, I think they agree on virtually all of these things,' Don Jr. said.

'I would love to see that happen. That would certainly be a contender,' the former president's eldest son said, adding that Trump and Carlson agree on 'stopping the never-ending war.'

Donald Trump Jr said his dad could choose Tucker Carlson to be his vice presidential running mate if the former president wins the 2024 GOP nomination

Don Jr. said the former Fox News host agrees with his father on 'everything' and would 'certainly be a contender' to be picked as the vice presidential candidate

'I would love to see that happen. That would certainly be a contender,' the former president's eldest son said, adding that Trump (right) and Carlson (left) agree on 'stopping the never-ending war'

Don Jr. also said he would not rule out Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis because he has been 'a leading contender.'

'You need someone who's in alignment, as well as, like, aggressive. You actually need a fighter,' Don Jr. said.

'The Republicans in Washington, D.C., are weak. You can have the House, the Senate, and they'll still roll over.'

Don Jr. also mentioned other names include Sen. J.D. Vance, who he said was 'principally in alignment [with his father] as well as aggressive.'

He also seemed to approve of Ben Carson, who served as Trump's Housing secretary and endorsed his presidential campaign last year.

The only person Don Jr. would not like to see is Nikki Haley, the former UN ambassador and Trump's rival.

'I would do whatever I could to make sure it wasn't Nikki Haley.' he said. 'I dont think thats currently really on the table. That's my opinion, I don't make these decisions.'

Don Jr. also refused to call Haley a Republican on Thursday's show, saying, 'I think she's being funded by Democrats, right? I mean, you see that.'

'She's got Democrat megadonors funding her campaign. The people who are getting her gains in New Hampshire are all Democrats.'

'So, I probably see that as part of that sort of globalist Democrat, RINO tactic of dragging this out to make it harder for Trump to win a general.,' he added.

Don Jr. also said he would not rule out Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis because he has been 'a leading contender'

The only person Don Jr. would not like to see is Nikki Haley, the former UN ambassador and Trump's rival

The former president, 77, holds a thumb's up with son Don Jr. next to a TV screen showing Fox News projecting him to win the race

The former president just beat his GOP rivals DeSantis, Haley and Vivek Ramaswamy in a crushing victory in the Iowa caucuses.

It gives Trump a massive boost as he seeks to win the Republican presidential nomination and return to the White House in what would be the most remarkable political comeback in US history.

'I feel great,' Trump told Fox News. 'I am greatly honored by such an early call. It really is an honor that, minutes after, they've announced I've won.'

He added; 'I feel really invigorated and strong for our country. We want to Make America Great Again - the greatest slogan ever - and the fact is, that's what we did/

'We're going to quickly do it all again. We are going to fix our border and we are going to do it, and do it quickly.'

On Wednesday, he assured New Hampshire voters that he is fit for office in a bid to Granite State voters just five days before the primary elections.

Trump alleged that his 2024 competitor Haley is relying on left-learning independents and Democrat voters in New Hampshire to change their registration to vote for her in the Republican primary on Tuesday to foil his bid.

Haley saw a polling surge in New Hampshire in recent weeks. Some surveys put her within single-digits of Trump  and one from earlier this month puts the two in a dead tie with 40 percent each.

The former president also predicted that DeSantis will drop out of the 2024 race 'very soon.'

The former president just beat his GOP rivals DeSantis, Haley and Vivek Ramaswamy in a crushing victory in the Iowa caucuses

The Iowa caucuses Monday yielded a disappointing second place for DeSantis, who fell 30 points behind the ex-president. Haley came in third with 19.1 percent of the vote.

New Hampshire is a much more liberal state than Iowa, where Trump walked away with 51 percent of the vote in Monday's caucuses.

The Republican presidential primary has its second contest in New Hampshire on January 23  just over a week after Iowa's first-in-the-nation caucuses.

Undeclared and independent voters can cast a ballot in the Republican primaries, as long as they decide to participate in those primaries ahead of time, according to the New Hampshire Secretary of State website.

Democrats could also switch their affiliation before the primary, which is a strategy some feel they are employing to keep Trump from winning the state.
Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley said Thursday that former President Donald Trump felt 'threatened' and 'insecure,' which is why he pushed a 'birther' conspiracy theory about her eligiblity to serve as president.

Haley appeared Thursday night at a CNN town hall in New Hampshire, as she barnstorms the Granite State hoping to loosen Trump's grip on the Republican Party.

In recent weeks, Trump has highlighted a racist theory suggesting Haley, who was born in the United States, was ineligible to be commander-in-chief because her Indian immigrant parents were not yet U.S. citizens.

Haley, Trump's former U.N. ambassador, responded by saying she is 'the proud daughter of Bamberg, South Carolina, so I love my sweet town and I'm proud to say I'm from there.'

'The name calling? I know Trump well,' the former South Carolina governor continued. 'That's what he does when he feels threatened. That's what he does when he feels insecure.'

Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley said Thursday that former President Donald Trump felt 'threatened' and 'insecure,' which is why he pushed a 'birther' conspiracy theory about her eligiblity to serve as president

Former President Donald Trump, seen at a New Hampshire campaign stop earlier this week, pushed a 'birther' conspiracy theory about Haley on his Truth Social website and misspelled her first name, Nimarata, as 'Nimrada' in a social media post

'I don't take these things personally. It doesn't bother me,' Haley added. 'So it's not going to waste any energy for me. I'm going to continue to focus on the things that people want to talk about and not get into name calling back with him.'

In addition to pushing on Truth Social the 'birther' conspiracy theory, Trump referred to Haley by her first name, Nimarata, but spelled it wrong.

'Anyone listening to Nikki "Nimrada" Haley's wacked out speech last night, would think that she won the Iowa Primary,' Trump posted to Truth Social on Tuesday. 'She didn't, and she couldn't even beat a very flawed Ron DeSanctimonious, who's out of money, and out of hope.'

Trump and his allies have also gone after Haley for attracting some Democratic support.

'Democrats are allowed to vote. They're going to vote for her because they don't want to run against me, it's a very simple system,' Trump claimed Thursday night during an interview with Fox News' Sean Hannity.

A New Hampshire voter asked Haley about that Tuesday night, explaining that it gave him pause that Democratic voters were crossing over to vote for Haley in the Republican primary.

'First of all, I will tell you we've been here for 11 months. We've had over 75, 80 town halls answering every question, shaking every hand. I'm the last person to leave. I don't ask people when they come in the door if they're Republican, Democrat or independent,' she said.

Haley talked about how she has support from conservative Don Bolduc, the failed GOP 2022 New Hampshire Senate candidate, who's been a 'pro-Trumper for a long time,' she said, while adding she also has the support of moderate New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu.

CNN's Jake Tapper (right) asked presidential candidate Nikki Haley (left) Thursday night what a 'win' would look like in New Hampshire and if it meant she could come in second place. New Hampshire first-in-the-nation primary takes place Tuesday

Independents have come our way, Haley continued.

Democrats, Haley explained, have come her way because they're displeased with President Joe Biden.

'What I want everybody here to remember is Republicans have lost the last seven out of eight popular votes for president. That is nothing to be proud of,' she said.

'If you're going to win the majority of Americans, you have to make sure, as a leader you don't decide who's good and who's bad, who's right and who's wrong,' she said.

'What I'm doing is telling people what I'm for. If independents and conservatives and moderate Republicans like that, I love that, if conservative Democrats are saying I want to come back home to the Republican Party because they left it, I want them back,' Haley continued.

The ex-ambassador said she would never target progressives.

'They're never going to be for me,' she said. 'But what I will do is I want the younger voter, I want those moderates, I want those independents, I want them to come back to the Republican Party because this is how we win.'

Haley, who is still behind Trump in most New Hampshire polls, but within spitting distance, also couched what a 'win' would look like Tuesday night in the first-in-the-nation primary.

'Look, I have said from the beginning we wanted to be strong in Iowa, we wanted to be stronger in New Hampshire and we want to get even stronger in my sweet state of South Carolina,' she said.

Haley came in third place in the Iowa caucuses, right behind Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, whose second place was 30 points behind frontrunner Trump.

DeSantis was endorsed by Iowa's popular GOP Gov. Kim Reynolds and traveled to all 99 counties, while Haley spent more time focused on the second contest, New Hampshire's primary.

CNN's Jake Tapper pointed out that every Republican candidate who's won both Iowa and New Hampshire has gone on to clinch the GOP nomination.

'So you named the past and all of the hes. I'm talking about the she,' Haley said. 'She's going to go forward and finish this race.'

She said she wanted to perform stronger than she did in Iowa - but wouldn't say if that meant it had to be first place.

'We're not going to know what strong looks like until those numbers come in,' Haley said.
A suicide drone exploded near a US base in Iraq yesterday as tensions in the Middle East continued to rise.

The attack, believed to be the work of Tehran-backed militias, came after Pakistan fired rockets and drones on targets in Iran in response to Iranian attacks on its territory on Tuesday.

In the more than 100 days since Hamas launched its attacks against Israel the conflict has seen more than 25,000 deaths. Most of these have been in Gaza where 2.3million Palestinians have fled their homes.

Hopes for a end to the hostilities grew fainter last night after Israel's prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu reasserted his opposition to a Palestinian state.

He told a press conference: 'In any future arrangement... Israel needs security control [over] all territory west of the Jordan. This collides with the idea of sovereignty.'

A suicide drone exploded near a US base in Iraq yesterday as tensions in the Middle East continued to rise. Pictured: Tribal supporters of the Houthi group burn U.S. and British flags during a protest against recent U.S.-led strikes

This picture shows the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Carney (DDG 64) defeating a combination of Houthi missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles in the Red Sea

The attack on the US base demonstrates how the conflict has expanded across the region.

READ MORE: US carries out fresh strikes on Yemen taking out four Houthi anti-ship missiles that jihadists were preparing to launch Advertisement

The 'one-way attack' drone was intercepted and exploded on landing close to an airport used by US personnel in Erbil, northern Iraq.

Meanwhile, in response to an attack on its territory, Pakistan launched air strikes inside Iran.

Pakistan insisted it had singled out terrorist infrastructure and was not seeking conflict  arguments used by Tehran for its strike.

Iran's attack on Pakistan earlier this week was its third on a neighbouring state in as many days, following strikes on Iraq and IS forces in Syria.

More than 50 drone and rocket attacks have been launched against foreign troops in Iraq since October 17, the US defence department said. Most of the attacks have been claimed by the Iranian-backed Islamic Resistance in Iraq.

This week's operations have been interpreted as Iran reminding Israel and the US of its military capabilities.

Hopes for a end to the hostilities grew fainter last night after Israel's prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu (pictured) reasserted his opposition to a Palestinian state

A handout video grab made available by the Iranian state TV (IRIB) shows people gathered at the site of a missile strike in Iran-Pakistan border village of Saravan, Sistan Baluchestan province, southern Iran, 18 January 2024

A civil defence team carries out search and rescue operations in a damaged building following a missile strike launched by Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on the Kurdistan region's capital of Arbil, on January 17

Houthi rebels in Yemen are seen at a rally in Sanaa on January 11

Footage shared on social media showed the U.S. and British air strikes in Yemen last Friday

At least two children were killed in Iran's attack on Pakistan while at least nine people, including four children, were killed in Pakistan's strikes.

Iran and Pakistan both insisted they were pursuing security interests and described each other as 'brotherly'.

Pakistan's foreign ministry claimed it had 'no desire to escalate tensions'.

But the country has put its military on 'extremely' high alert, according to security sources, in case of further violations by Iran.

Both nations expressed a desire for dialogue and, it is understood, their foreign ministers today discussed measures to reduce tensions. Iran said it targeted the terror group Jaish al-Adl, while Pakistan said it targeted separatists from the country's province of Balochistan.

Last night, Iranian-backed militants claimed to have also shot down a US reconnaissance drone over Iraq but this could not be verified.

Tehran condemned Pakistan's actions and interior minister Ahmad Vahidi said: 'The information received indicates four children, three women and two men, who were foreign nationals, have been killed.'

Describing its operations, Pakistan's foreign ministry said: 'There was a series of highly coordinated precision strikes on the terrorists' hideouts.

'The sole objective was in pursuit of Pakistan's security.'

As Pakistan's response was proportionate, security sources suggested further engagements were unlikely.

Dr Sanam Vakil, of the Chatham House think-tank said: 'It looked very dangerous for Iran to breach the sovereignty of a neighbour, a neighbour that is a nuclear power.

'There is space for de-escalation. Both countries are attacking 'terror groups', that are threatening both countries.'
The quaint Maine fishing villages that inspired Jessica Fletcher's beloved Cabot Cove in the TV show Murder She Wrote could become dystopian, crime-ridden hellholes like San Francisco or Portland if progressive Maine lawmakers get their way.

Members of the state legislature on Wednesday spent four hours debating whether to decriminalize all drugs in the Pine Tree State.

Under the scheme proposed by Democrat representative Lydia Crafts even possessing heroin and cocaine would not be considered a criminal offense. Money spent on enforcing drugs laws would instead be directed to healthcare as part of a so-called 'harm reduction' strategy.

Maine's Democrat Governor Janet Mills says she strongly opposes decriminalization measures.

Crafts's plan ignores the troubled example of Oregon - which in 2020 became the first state to legalize all drugs. Portland, the largest city in Oregon, is now plagued by drug abuse and homelessness and there are moves to rescind the law.

San Francisco, which thanks to its progressive political leaders largely does not prosecute public drug use, has seen a similar surge in abuse. San Francisco recorded 806 accidental drug overdose deaths last year, the highest level the city has ever seen.

Crafts's scheme seems could jeopardize Maine's famous seaside villages - including the fictional Cabot Cove - a cozy fishing town where Angela Lansbury's iconic teacher-turned crime novelist Jessica Fletcher in Murder She Wrote solved a slew of murders.

Jessica Fletcher - played by Angela Lansbury - is pictured enjoying life in the fictional Maine town of Cabot Cove. But the quaint Maine fishing villages that inspired it could soon become dystopian hellholes like Portland or San Francisco if progressive lawmakers' plans to legalize all drugs in the Pine Tree State come to pass

Although Murder She Wrote was filmed in California, the series had a cozy Maine vibe which viewers loved - and which is now potentially threatened by plans to decriminalize cocaine, heroin and fentanyl

Stonnington in Maine is one of the villages tourists now flock to in a bid to enjoy the Cabot Cove vibe - with plans to let people do drugs openly likely to derail the atmosphere

A drug user is seen shooting up in San Francisco, where drug use is rarely prosecuted

The streets of San Francisco have been blighted by drug abuse for years

Drug users are pictured in downtown Portland, Oregon, in the middle of the day in August

The 80s and 90s classic was filmed mostly in Montecito, California, and the harbor used in the series was a set that's part of the Universal Studios theme park.

But the mega hit series cozy atmosphere was so popular with viewers that many visit the real Maine to soak up the Cabot Cove vibe - with the possibility of encountering open drug use likely to derail such plans.

And residents of those villages are unlikely to welcome the program which Oregon pioneered.

Even top Democratic lawmakers who backed Oregon's law say they're now open to revisiting it.

Oregon had the highest increase in synthetic opioid overdose fatalities when comparing 2019 and the year to June 30 - a 13-fold surge.

The figure rose from 84 deaths in 2019 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.

Maine's lawmakers, however, did not appear discouraged.

Angela Lansbury, star of Murder, She Wrote - which was set in the Maine village of Cabot Cove

Lydia Crafts is behind the bill to decriminalize drugs in Maine. The bill was discussed by a committee on Wednesday

The scale of their state's drug crisis is dwarfed by San Francisco's: while the Californian city had 806 fatalities in 2023, the entire state of Maine, in the year to November, had 559.

And some of Maine's political leaders said the time was right to experiment.

'This bill aims to create a state-wide public health-based response to substance use in Maine,' said Crafts in her testimony on Wednesday introducing the bill, according to The Maine Wire.

'Our public health approach to LD 1975 aims at helping people rebuild their lives through medical intervention, increased connection and social support. Incarceration impedes this goal.'

Lucas John Lanigan, a Republican representing Sanford, whose son battled a heroin addiction, said that he supported a rethinking of the current policies.

'We can either continue to bury our heads in the sand or invest in the future of so many tormented with addiction and mental health problems,' he testified.

'We can invest now, or we will pay later. It really is simple.'

Meagan Sway of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) Maine agreed that putting people in prison for drug offenses was not the right move.

'Instead of responding to drug use with punishment, which does not work, LD 1975 would begin to transition our drug policy away from incarceration and punishment and toward a public-health informed framework - a model that is centered on seeing the whole person and one that offers care, compassion, and grace,' she said.

Some Maine politicians have supported following in Oregon's footsteps and legalizing drugs. Portland, Oregon users are pictured in broad daylight last year

Officer Donny Mathew of the Portland Police Bureau's bike squad stands next to a person who appears to be passed out in May 2023

But Reagan Paul, a Republican representing Winterport, said he supported 'investments in education and prevention, access to treatment, support of recovery services, and enforcement' - but not decriminalization.

'We must build a system that has help in place for those willing to accept it and work towards recovery, but we shouldn't enable people to continue dangerous behaviors that are harmful to them and all of society,' he said.

Aaron Frey, Maine's attorney general, said he was concerned that the removal of criminal penalties would 'normalize' the use of controlled substances.

'I am concerned that blanket legalization of drug possession  some of which are highly addictive and at least one of which is extremely deadline  would normalize the activity, which has significant implications for public safety and public health,' he said.

The committee concluded its debate after four hours of discussion: there is no debate scheduled so far in Maine's statehouse.
She raised over $42,000 after claiming she was assaulted in a separate incident

Roda Osman, 33, is accused of lying about being struck by a brick

A Houston woman who claimed a man assaulted her with a brick has been accused of lying - and raking in $40,000 through a fraudulent GoFundMe campaign.

Roda Osman, 33, who earned the moniker 'Brick Lady' on social media, has been charged with felony theft by deception.

She is accused of raising tens of thousands of dollars through a GoFundMe that claimed she was the victim of a similar attack more than three years ago.

The investigation stems from a report of an aggravated assault on September 3. Police responded and found Osman and her friend, reporting that the 33-year-old was intoxicated and hostile.

According to a police report, Osman claimed an unknown man threw a brick at her when she refused to give him her phone number. She told officers she had called an Uber and believed the suspect was the driver, who she accused of being involved in human trafficking.

Houston woman Roda Osman, 33, was slapped with a felony theft by deception charge for lying about an alleged assault

Osman went viral on social media after posting videos of her swollen face, alleging a man struck her in the face with a brick after she refused to give him her number

Osman raised over $40,000 through a GoFundMe campaign before it was reported as fraudulent and taken down

On September 15, detectives tried to contact Osman, but the number she provided belonged to her friend. The friend said she and Osman went bar hopping before Osman called some male friends to pick them up.

The men arrived in a dark-colored sedan and the friend sat in the front passenger seat while Osman climbed into the backseat with another man.

The friend reportedly heard Osman cry out and ask 'Why you hit me?' but did not hear an argument beforehand. She also stated off the record that she did not believe Osman was hit with a brick.

The man who allegedly assaulted Osman got out of the car, got into another and fled, she explained. Osman then went live on Instagram as her friend pleaded with her to call the police.

A detective managed to reach Osman on September 19. The 33-year-old claimed she and her friend started their night at the O2 Lounge before heading to the Liquid Lounge.

After leaving the second club, Osman said, she called an Uber. According to charging documents, Osman mistook the aforementioned sedan for the Uber and got in.

She claimed the suspect then hit her in the face with a brick. She identified the man as a certain Olan Douglas, claiming she did her own research.

The 33-year-old said the man who threw the brick was an Uber driver who had tried to kidnap her and was involved in human trafficking

A friend told police a different story, claiming she and Osman had gone bar hopping one night when Osman called her male friends to pick them up. She heard Osman ask one of the men why he hit her but told detectives she did not believe Osman had been struck with a brick

Police obtained security footage that showed Osman arguing with Olan Douglas, the man she claimed hit her with a brick. He swung his hand while appearing to hold a plastic water bottle that collided with her face

During the investigation, detectives received a tip about a similar GoFundMe page believed to be a scam. The 2020 campaign claimed a 'young Black Muslim single mother' was attacked by private security, leaving her with extensive injuries

Osman later changed her story to say she was assaulted at the Liquid Lounge. As the detective prodded her, she grew increasingly frustrated and hung up.

In the following days, police obtained security footage from nearby surveillance cameras and were able to identify Olan Douglas, the man Osman accused of assault.

In the video, Douglas, Osman and her friend were seen walking into a club. Around 20 minutes later the trio returned and headed over to a white Maserati that was parked nearby.

They, along with a fourth man, all got into the car. Osman and Douglas entered the backseat. A few minutes later, Douglas was seen leaving the car followed by Osman and her friend.

As Osman and Douglas argued, Douglas swung his hand while holding what appeared to be a plastic water bottle, hitting Osman in the face.

Investigators ultimately determined that the footage did not support Osman's retelling of events.

On September 4, one day after the alleged assault, a GoFundMe campaign was created that listed Osman as the beneficiary.

The campaign claimed a woman in Houston got hit in the face with a brick after declining to give a man her number. It raised over $42,000 before donators reported it as fraudulent and it was taken down.

During the investigation, detectives received a tip about a similar GoFundMe page stemming from an incident that occurred in Minneapolis three years prior.

That campaign was titled 'Help Black Muslim Mother Pay Her Medical Bill' and claimed a 'young Black Muslim single mother' was attacked by private security, leaving her with bruises, a black eye and injuries to her leg.

'She needs an estimated $5K to pay for medical bills, legal fees and a new phone and more,' the page read.

The Minneapolis Police Department said it had not received reports of Osman being assaulted in 2020. The last contact the department had with Osman was in 2012 for public lewdness and disorderly conduct.

Osman posted a video to TikTok stating she sent police over 20 emails and no longer felt 'safe' in Houston

The 33-year-old has an extensive criminal history with prior charges in the Virgin Islands, Minnesota and Texas. She is currently out on bail for felony assault and domestic violence

Since going viral, Osman's social media accounts have repeatedly been reported and taken down.

On Monday, the 33-year-old posted a video to her newest TikTok account captioned 'Help me hold Houston police department accountable.'

In the video, she claimed to have sent Houston police over 20 emails.

'I've literally done all the work for them,' she said. 'I also gave them a confession video of Olan Douglas saying not only that he assaulted me, but that he does not care.'

Rather than respond to her, she continued, 'they respond to pick-mes and redpill losers' - a reference to netizens who accused her of fraud - 'who have nothing to do with this case.

'They want to let all gender-oppressed people know that if you ever speak out, you will be punished and you will be punished badly.'

Osman grew increasingly frantic as the video drew to an end.

Nearly on the verge of tears, she added: 'I'm tired. And I'm scared. And I just don't feel safe.

'I might need to figure out where I'm going to live, because I don't think I can live in Houston any longer.'

Court records show the 33-year-old has prior charges in the Virgin Islands, Minnesota and Texas. She is currently out on bail for felony assault and domestic violence.

The Harris County District Attorney's Office has requested the court to enter a $50,000 bail on the latest theft by deception charge.

Osman agreed to surrender to police Thursday afternoon but did not show up by the agreed-upon deadline. At the time of writing she has not been arrested.
The revelation caused the firm's shares to fall more than 30 percent within hours

The UK's chief seller of Rolex, Omega and Breitling watches has become the latest luxury brand to fall victim to waning profits following an unimpressive holiday season.

Watches of Switzerland on Thursday said that it had experienced a 'volatile trading performance in the run-up to and beyond Christmas', causing the group's shares to tumble more than 30 percent.

CEO Brian Duffy blamed the dip on customers 'allocating spending to other categories, such as fashion, beauty, hospitality and travel'.

That said, sellers like Richemont, a Swiss group that shill brands like Cartier and Jaeger-LeCoultre, remained unaffected - recording an 11 percent rise after it reported an 8 percent sale increase during the three months through December.

Nonetheless, Duffy assured analyst Thursday his $1.1billion firm - Britain's biggest retailer of Rolex, OMEGA, Cartier, TAG Heuer and Breitling - would soon devise strategies to adapt.

The main UK seller of Rolex has become the latest luxury brand to sound the alarm on waning profits - following an unimpressive holiday season. Pictured: Tom Hardy wearing a Rolex Explorer II ref. 216570 with a white dial

Meanwhile, a Swiss group that sell brands like Cartier and Jaeger-LeCoultre, Richemont, remained unaffected - recording an 11 percent share rise after an 8 percent sales rise after December. Pictured: Jennifer Aniston wearing a Cartier bracelet in 2009

'We're sorry we didn't see it coming more than we have done, we're adjusting to it, we've recalibrated now [and] we're on for our long-[term] plan,' Duffy, 69, said.

Admitting the year-end results were 'disappointing', he proceeded to claim the company had received a different mix of Rolex watches from the Swiss manufacturer than normal, reducing average sales prices.

He explained how Rolex - a privately owned entity that generates more than $10billion in revenue in sales - sent the company predominantly watches made of steel, rather than the more expensive combination of steel and gold.

'They produced more steel and less of the precious metal and that was a surprise to us and fairly late on in the period,' the head exec said.

Duffy claimed that he and others 'did not anticipate a drop in our average selling price,' nor 'that product mix change.'

A change in the overall number of watches received from Rolex - the seller's most desired brand - could also have caused the profit dip, Duffy said,

He theorized the shift could serve as proof of a more conservative approach from watchmakers amid decreased buyer confidence, as the sector has reported slowing demand in both the US and Europe, where rising prices have prompted people to reduce spending,

'The festive period was particularly volatile this year for the luxury sector,' explained Duffy, before specifically blaming U.K. shoppers and their eschewing of expensive trinkets during the holidays as opposed to their American counterparts.

He said Britain had been its 'most challenged' market during the Christmas trading season, affecting not only sales of luxury watches, but non-branded jewelry.

Sales in the United States, he said, had grown at a 'double-digit' rate in the weeks before and after Christmas, as the UK purveyor continues to expand stateside.

While disappointed with the decline in spending, Duffy said he 'remains confident in the markets in which we operate, our model and the delivery of our long-range plan'.

'We are encouraged by our market share gains in both the U.S. and U.K.,' he said, as Watches of Switzerland remains the UK's biggest seller of high-end brands, operating 211 showrooms across Britain, the US, and the rest of Europe.

'We remain confident in the markets in which we operate, our model and the delivery of our Long Range Plan announced to the market in November 2023.'

The setback comes after the company's shares dropped last August to levels not seen since December 2020 - during the midst of the pandemic - sparking concerns about the retailer's continued relevance.

The drop - which, similar to the reaction seen Thursday, included a 27 percent dip in a single day - also fueled rumors about the firm's relationship with Rolex, which just days before acquired rival watchmaker Bucherer.

The drop has served to fuel rumors about the seller's relationship with Swiss-based Rolex, amid fears it is selling more timepieces directly to customers as opposed to licensed retailers

The acquisition, at the time, sparked fears Rolex could soon begin sell more of its timepieces directly to customers - a dynamic that could cut into Watches of Switzerland's long-held consumer-base.

Analysts at Peel Hunt on Thursday said the supposed shift in spending 'begged the question' of whether the relationship with Rolex was to blame, in comments The Financial Times.

'Either way, the change in product mix was extremely damaging and will likely continue to be so,' the experts said.

Duffy, meanwhile, told onlookers to expect sales in UK to be down slightly due to the recent advent, but vowed that markets in the US are going strong.

A strong performance in the US - as well as China - helped Richemont offset a decline in European sales to an overall increase of eight percent for the three months through December.

Sales of Richemont's high-end brands - which include not only Cartier but Buccellati and Van Cleef & Arpels as well - rose 12 percent in the last three months of 2023 as well.

That said, a London-listed retailer or luxury goods in Burberry, was not so lucky, as American tourists who used to buy during their excursions more and more choose to buy from home.

A strong performance in the US and helped Richemont - the main seller of Cartier (bracelet seen here) offset a decline in European sales to an overall increase of eight percent for the last three months of 2023

That said, a London-listed retailer or luxury goods in Burberry, was not so lucky, as American tourists who used to buy during their excursions more and more choose to buy from home

Last week, the trench-coat maker said it had too fallen victim to waning demand, anticipating full-year profit dip of roughly 20 percent.

Others reporting reduced interest include LVMH - the owners of brands such as Christian Dior, Fendi and Givenchy - and Gucci and Balenciaga's parent Kering.

All reported late last year that sales interest was fizzling, and could be issuing similar statements in the coming months as the full financial implications of the holiday season come to fruition.

Putting an exclamation mark on the surfacing phenomenon is the fact that luxury fashion purchases in November decreased by 9.6 percent year over year.

Similar statistics could be seen in coming weeks, when earnings reports for the fourth and final quarter for the 2023 fiscal year are unveiled.

Still, Duffy on Thursday said of his 100-year-old our model is very well positioned competitively, we feel really good about the future.'
North Korea has claimed to have conducted a test of its 'underwater nuclear weapons system' off the country's eastern coast.

The declaration, aired Thursday, comes nine months after the despotic state first shared images of the armed underwater drones, whose nuclear capabilities have yet to be confirmed.

It also comes days after the US, South Korea, and Japan engaged in joint military drills in the East China Sea - as part of an effort to improve responses to Pyongyang's ever-evolving nuclear threats.

Kim Jong Un, meanwhile, has repeatedly defended the country's actions, stating that his regime is merely building up for a war that could 'break out at any time'.

Just last week, the dictator branded Seoul his 'principle enemy' - throwing the prospect of reunification into the rearview - as part of the regime's new stance toward its southern neighbor.

North Korea has claimed to have conducted a test of its 'underwater nuclear weapons system' off the country's eastern coast. In this photo provided by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un speaks at the Supreme People's Assembly in Pyongyang Monday

The declaration, aired Thursday, comes nine months after the despotic state first shared images of the armed underwater drones (seen here in the South China Sea in March). As of Friday, their nuclear capabilities - as well as the recent tests - have yet to be confirmed

An unnamed North Korean ministry spokesman announced the tests in a statement, further fueling concerns that the head of state who supposedly just celebrated his 40th birthday is frothing at the mouth for an all-out war.

'Our army's underwater nuke-based countering posture is being further rounded off,' the state's statement reportedly said.

'Its various maritime and underwater responsive actions will continue to deter the hostile military maneuvers of the navies of the US and its allies.'

The ministry's spokesperson went on to accuse the United States, South Korea and Japan of 'getting frantic' with their recent military exercises - which they warned could soon see 'catastrophic consequences.'

The state media bulletin claimed the drones were deployed in the waters off its eastern coast, though did not specify a date.

The tests, if true, would serve as the first display by the country's 'Haeil-5-23' system - a project touted by Kim and his constituents this past spring as possessing both nuclear and underwater capabilities. The 'haeil' in the name translates to tsunami.

As of Friday, the Korean Central News Agency's claims have yet to be verified, but could constitute the dictator making good on his new threats toward South Korea - as well as its longtime enemy the South has recently supplanted.

That, of course, would be the US - who has yet to respond to the recent provocation

An unnamed North Korean ministry spokesman announced the tests in a statement, further fueling concerns that the head of state is frothing for an all-out war

The ministry's spokesperson went on to accuse the United States, South Korea and Japan of 'getting frantic' with their recent military exercises - which they warned could soon see 'catastrophic consequences'

The state media bulletin claimed the drones were deployed in the waters off its eastern coast, though did not specify a date. A photo of one of the supposedly nuclear armed attack drones are seen here

The tests, if true, would serve as the first display by the country's 'Haeil-5-23' system (seen here in another government provided photo) - a project touted by Kim and his constituents this past spring as possessing both nuclear and underwater capabilities

As of Friday, the Korean Central News Agency's claims have yet to be verified, but could constitute the dictator making good on his new threats toward South Korea - as well as its longtime enemy the South has recently replaced.

The country's Navy, along with Japan's and South Korea, recently took part their three-day regular drills on Wednesday, less than a week after North Korea fired more than 200 rounds of shells off its west coast towards the South's Yeonpyeong island.

North Korean state television, meanwhile, has continued to air atmospheric explosion tests, though that missile technology comes as starkly separate from the underwater one only seen in images.

On Friday, a week removed from a rare appearance from Kim at the Supreme People's Assembly in Pyongyang, the state confirmed it had carried out a test of its underwater weapons.

Officials proceeded to accuse Washington, Seoul and Tokyo of 'further destabilizing the regional situation' and threatening the North's security.

The US, South Korea and Japan, meanwhile, maintain that they have conducted more exercises in the past year as a deterrence response to the rising threat from the North, which since The New Year has only worsened.

Pyongyang made the threat official this week, when it declared Seoul its primary enemy.

Kim (seen in a photograph released by North Korea on January 10) last week branded Seoul his 'principal enemy' and warned he would not hesitate to annihilate South Korea, as he toured major weapons factories

South Korea has responded with its own military exercises, sharing pictures of its howitzers firing at a base on Baengnyeong island

Kim Jong Un successfully test-fired his first hypersonic IRBM missile over the weekend (pictured), Pyongyang s aid, days after vowing to annihilate South Korea

In the process, the regime said it had abolished several state-run agencies that had been solely dedicated to reunification.

They are now banking on occupying the South, during a prospective, future war.

It's a big shift, as 'in the past when there was risk of an armed conflict, there was a back channel to keep it in control, but now there is none of that,' said Hong Min, a senior analyst at the Korea Institute for National Unification in Seoul.

North Korea has gotten rid 'of any inter-Korean mechanisms to prevent conflicts from spiralling out of control,' he added.

'The North's labeling of the South as its 'principle enemy' isn't just rhetorical =the words could carry into action.'

Kim, however, has claimed he had no intention of starting a war - but also appears to not be averse to one.

He's already declared he will no longer recognize the de facto maritime border between the two Koreas, a decision bolstered by the recent live-fire display from his military just a few days ago.

This has created 'a growing possibility of the two sides getting into a military skirmish, which could lead to a wider conflict,' Hong said.

Worsening matters is that Pyongyang has recently been drawing closer to Moscow, with Washington and Seoul both claiming that the country is now sending missiles for Russia's war in Ukraine in exchange for help with their satellite program.

As a result, the two Koreas are now 'at the highest probability of being dragged into armed conflict', said Choi Gi-il, professor of military studies at Sangji University.

He publicly pondered Thursday: 'Let's say civilian and military casualties incur from a future Northern provocation. We target the point of origin with shells. But will we also strike them with air power?'

In 2010, when the North shelled the remote South Korean border island of Yeonpyeong, killing four, Seoul's F-16 jets were 'in the air ready to strike but then-president Lee Myung-bak called it off' to avoid escalating the situation.

'But if we have a similar incident, there's no guarantee that air power will not be used given hawkish calls' from Seoul's administration, Choi said.

Pyongyang's response, he went on to warn could see the peninsula 'reach a full-fledged war' in the worst case scenario.

Meanwhile, on Thursday, The three allies' nuclear envoys gathered in Seoul oto publicly condemn Pyongyang's rumored arms trade with Russia, just as North Korea's foreign minister visited Moscow and met with President Vladimir Putin.

None of the countries have responded to the recent strike.




MANZINI - The Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Appolo Maphalala, has ordered local governments to respect and be the solutions of Sibaya submissions.

The minister said this during his visit to Manzini, where he wanted to familiarise himself with the operations of the Municipal Council of Manzini and tour the city and Mhobodleni Township. In fact, the minister said there were four critical cross-cutting issues, which he wanted the municipality and other local governments to respect and they include fighting corruption and unemployment, improving service delivery and supporting or promoting investments.

He charged both the local governments officials and councillors to curb corruption in the local authorities. He said one of the best ways to fight corruption started with the individual, who should tell himself/herself that he/she would not be involved in any corrupt activity. In terms of fighting the alarming rate of unemployment in the country (33.3 per cent, of which about 60 per cent is the youth), would be through community contracting  whereby local projects would be given to local people.

Appreciate

He said in the road infrastructural development projects, the contractors did this. He said local governments should appreciate that local people could do more for less. In that regard, he urged the local authorities to give people in communities as much work as they could. On the other hand, he said in terms of service delivery, they should be customer centred by giving the people the best service. He said by serving a person well, they should know that they might have avoided suicide as people were frustrated.

If we fail to serve the nation well, we should know that we might be contributing to creating a violent society, the minister said. Again, he said in terms of supporting investments, they should know that if organisations showed interest in investing in a city, they should know that they were endorsing their confidence in the leadership or management of that local authority.

Urged

Therefore, he urged the councillors and management to have a clear foresight, work towards a certain mark, be excellent in their operations and move at high speed. He also charged them to lead the city well, without noise. He said by so doing, in no time the city would be known worldwide by people who would want to visit it or invest.

You should be able to see opportunities from afar, the minister said.

He said they should sort issues out in the chambers so that when they went out to work, there would be no noise. He added that they should develop the city, but with order. Moreover, he said cities and towns should digitalise services and programmes. For example, he said most banks had gone digital and that had decreased the number of people who visited the financial institutions.
Nikki Haley took on former President Donald Trump's claims that she's 'unelectable' by blaming him for the Republican Party's losses of the presidency and both houses of Congress in 2020.

Trump, at a rally ahead of the New Hampshire Primary on Tuesday, told his supporters that both Haley and Ron DeSantis were 'unelectable' against President Joe Biden.

He cited both Haley and DeSantis' support for a 23 percent sales tax and said, 'I think that makes them unelectable. And there's other reasons they're unelectable,' but said the Democrats were propping them up because the party wanted them to run against him.

At an event in Hollis, New Hampshire, on Thursday, Haley furiously went after Trump - who leads her by 16 points in the latest New Hampshire poll - for his own electoral failures.

'The reality is who lost the House for us? Who lost the Senate? Who lost the White House? Donald Trump, Donald Trump, Donald Trump,' she said.

Nikki Haley took on former President Donald Trump's claims that she's 'unelectable' by blaming him for the Republican Party's losses of the presidency and both houses of Congress in 2020

'Nikki Haley will win every single one of those back for us,' she added and tried to mock him for not showing up to debates.

Haley has often stressed the point that Republicans have lost the popular vote in all but one election since 1988.

It was the first time, however, that she fully placed the GOP's defeats at the hand of the man who led her party once he won the party's nomination in 2016.

Trump, at that very same event in New Hampshire, reiterated that he felt the 2020 election was 'rigged.'

In December, however, an exclusive DailyMail.com/J.L. Partners poll claimed Trump is the Republican candidate best placed to beat Biden in the critical swing states of Arizona and Georgia, though Haley can beat the Democrat in Wisconsin.

The results undermine one of the key arguments being made by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Haley: That they are more electable than Trump.

In fact, DailyMail.com's swing states poll showed that while Trump beats Biden by five points in Arizona, DeSantis can only tie and Haley loses by two points.

In Georgia, Trump beats Biden in a head-to-head contest by two points, but DeSantis loses by six points and Haley loses by one.

Things are different in Wisconsin. There, Biden would beat Trump and DeSantis by four points if the 2024 election were held tomorrow, but would lose to Haley by one percentage point.

J.L. Partners surveyed 550 likely voters in each of three key swing states: Arizona, Georgia and Wisconsin. The results carry a margin of error of 4.2 percent

Trump has lead over Biden in Georgia (which the Democrat won by just 0.2 percentage points in 2020) but Haley and DeSantis come up short in our poll of 2024 intentions

There is good news for Haley in Wisconsin. Our poll suggests that, if the election were held tomorrow, she would beat Biden in a head-to-head contest, while DeSantis and Trump lose

All the results carry a 4.2 percent margin of error but show that in at least two of the crucial battleground states, Trump is the strongest Republican challenger to Biden.

To get a shot at the current president, however, Haley must topple the long odds of beating his predecessor in the primary, a shot that looks longer each day after Trump dominated the Iowa Caucus.

Trump appears headed for another big victory in New Hampshire next week, despite Haley's backer Governor Chris Sununu having previously said that his candidate would win.

The survey had Trump hitting 50 percent in the Granite State, just days after romping to victory in the Iowa Caucuses.

Haley, his chief rival in the state, was at 34 percent in the new Suffolk University/Boston Globe/NBC-10 poll, 16 points behind the frontrunner, after having come in third in Iowa.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who edged out Haley for second place in Iowa, was down at 5 percent.

Another recent poll, by WHDH-TV/Emerson, also had Trump holding a 16-point lead, but that was when New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie was still in the race. Christie's exit has created the expectation that much of the anti-Trump candidate's supporters would flock to Haley.

New Hampshire is critical to Haley's own battle plans to try to unseat Trump. The state allows unaffiliated voters to cast votes in the GOP primary.

Former President Donald Trump leads rival Nikki Haley by 16 points in a new poll of likely New Hampshire voters

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis , who edged out Haley for second place in Iowa, was down at 5 per cent

Trump holds a commanding lead in a new poll

Trump's campaign also began unloading on Haley on issues ranging from taxes to social security  even going after her by saying she 'loves China.'

That critique comes from when she was serving as UN Ambassador  during the Trump administration.

While representing America as ambassador to the United Nations, Haley described Communist China as being 'a really great friend of ours,' according to the release, which featured a clip amid Trump's own meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in an effort to secure more pressure on North Korea.

Trump also blasted Haley on Tuesday night, accusing her of exploiting the party's election rules.

'Nikki Haley in particular is counting on the Democrats and liberals to infiltrate your Republican primary,' said Trump before an adoring crowd at the Atkinson Country Club.

'You know that the left ... that's what's happening ... have a group of people coming in that are not Republicans and it's artificially boosting her numbers here, although we're still leading her by a lot.'

Haley does better among independents in the survey, getting 44 percent support to his 38 percent. But he ran up the numbers among Republicans and conservatives.

Trump continues to poll ahead of Biden in hypothetical General Election matchups, as well.

A Harris/The Messenger poll suggested that, while not a landslide, he's currently slated to bag a hefty popular vote victory if the election were today.

The poll shows Trump leading Biden by a margin of 52-48 when matched up against each other.

Another survey taken that included options to vote for the likes of RFK Jr., Jill Stein and Cornel West show Trump besting Biden 43-40, with Kennedy leading the rest of the field at 12 percent.
San Francisco's dying downtown mall has lost its fifth store in a month, after Madewell announced plans to flee the ailing shopping center.

The clothing and accessories store said on their website that they would be closing the location inside on Monday.

Madewell follows its sister brand J. Crew, as well as Adidas, Lucky Brand and Aldo who have all closed or plan to in the coming days.

The shopping mall - which now sits 75 percent empty - has lost a staggering $1 billion in value since 2016, as the beleaguered city battles rampant homelessness and escalating criminal activity. Comparable malls usually run at an average of 93% occupancy.

Nordstrom had been the mall's anchor tenant and occupied a 312,000-foot, multi-floor space in the mall. It's closure in August 2023 sent shock-waves through the large, upmarket shopping center which was previously owned by Westfield.

The mall still contains a large Bloomingdales - but all eyes are now on that retail giant to see whether it shuts up shop too.

The clothing and accessories store said on their website that they would be closing the location inside the mall, seen here, on Monday

Shoppers leave the Westfield San Francisco Centre on April 13, 2022 in San Francisco, California

Since then, retail stores have been quick to vacate the failing mall with companies citing weak sales, shrinking foot traffic and notoriously-bad levels of crime and drug taking in downtown San Francisco.

The mall is located in the troubled Union Square area in the center of downtown, which has witnessed businesses and tourists fleeing since the pandemic. San Francisco's tech-based economy means many locals continue to work from home - with downtown now overrun with the homeless, drug abusers and associated crime.

Pictures and video taken inside the once vibrant mall show it depleted of life, with shuttered stores and little to no customers.

Its owners Westfield and partner Brookfield Properties lost control of the 5-million-square-foot retail and office complex to lenders in June last year, defaulting on a $558 million loans.

'For more than 20 years, Westfield has proudly and successfully operated San Francisco Centre, investing significantly over that time in the vitality of the property,' the company said at the time.

'Given the challenging operating conditions in downtown San Francisco, which have led to declines in sales, occupancy and foot traffic, we have made the difficult decision to begin the process to transfer management of the shopping center to our lender to allow them to appoint a receiver to operate the property going forward.'

Gregg Williams of Trident Pacific, a real estate company in Orange County, was appointed as the receiver with the ability to collect rent and sell or liquidate the property.

Westfield and Brookfield who stopped making mortgage payments last year, is now worth only $290 million, which is 75 percent less than seven years ago

The property's lenders have since then advised the receiver to sell the mall in order to pay off the debt, according to the Real Deal.

It opened in 1988 with Nordstrom, then doubled in size in 2006 with a large, glitzy extension that included Bloomingdale's as its anchor.

The collapse of the mall aligns with a wider disaster affecting retailers throughout that part of the city.

Nearly 100 retailers in downtown San Francisco have closed since the start of the pandemic, a decline of more than 50 percent.

One of the high-profile closures includes the accounting firm KPMG, as it's set to move out of its $400 million namesake building.

The consulting and accounting giant first leased space in the 25-story office tower when the building opened in 2002. Its name hangs above the entry to the skyscraper where the company currently occupies more than 100,000 square feet.

KPMG originally took 90,000 square feet at 55 Second St. in a 10-year contract, marking the second-largest office deal of 2003.

It has since grown its footprint to span nearly one-third of the 380,000-square-foot building, leading to it being widely known as 'The KPMG Building.'

The company is now considering ending its two-decade-long relationship with the building, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. It's the latest tenant looking to exit the downtown area.

Homeless people are pictured in San Francisco, California, the United States, Dec. 23, 2023

The mall is located in the troubled Union Square area in the center of downtown, which has witnessed businesses and tourists fleeing since the pandemic

In the first five months of 2023, preliminary reports show there were 346 overdose deaths in the city - an increase of more than 40 percent from the same period in 2022.

Economists have warned the city is spiraling into an 'urban doom loop' - a vicious circle of interconnected trends and forces that send cities into economic and social ruin.

High theft has proved a problem in the area recently, with a Walgreens in the city center resolving to chaining their freezers to stop shoplifters.

Retail stalwart Old Navy announced they would be shuttering their flagship store in the area last month.

Anthropologie and Office Depot have also made the same decisions.

These stores joined the growing list of stores that have abandoned the coastal city, including H&M, Marshall's, Gap and Banana Republic.

A disturbing recent report showed 95 retailers in downtown San Francisco have closed since the start of the COVID pandemic, a decline of more than 50 percent.

Out of 203 retailers open in 2019 in the city's Union Square area, just 107 are still operating, a drop of 47 percent in just a few pandemic-ravaged years.
An Oklahoma World War II veteran cried tears of joy when he met his great-great-granddaughter for the first time and held her in his arms during the heartwarming surprise.

Dewey Muirhead, a 101-year-old veteran who had fought in Central Europe and Normandy during World War II, was blindfolded before meeting his great-great-granddaughter, Millie Fowler, who had just been born.

'The reason we blindfolded him is so that we could kind of get next to him and get his full reaction,' Lexie Fowler, Muirhead's great-granddaughter, told Fox News.

'Just being able to watch your great-grandfather hold your own child is something I'll never forget. A lot of people don't get to have that opportunity, and we are very fortunate for it,' she said.

Muirhead served in the Army Air Corps during the war, primarily stationed in Germany and Finland. He now lives in Wewoka, Oklahoma.

Dewey Muirhead, a 101-year-old veteran who had fought in Central Europe and Normandy during World War II, had tears of joy when he met his great-great-granddaughter for the first time

The Oklahoma veteran was blindfolded before meeting his great-great-granddaughter, Millie Fowler, who had just been born

Muirhead and his wife, Inez, whom he met when buying a pineapple cake from a Church pie store, raised three children, four grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.

When Lexie, 25, had her first baby, she decided to prepare a sweet surprise to share the news with her grandfather.

'Our photographer takes pictures of veterans free of charge and my great-grandfather is very near and dear to her,' Lexie said.

'When I told her that I was having a baby, she immediately jumped on it and said, "We have to get photos with your great grandpa because this makes five generations."'

Muirhead was blindfolded when the camera started rolling, having no idea that he would meet his first great-great-grandchild in the next moment.

When Lexie, 25, had her first baby, she decided to prepare a sweet surprise to share the news with her grandfather

Muirhead met his wife, Inez, when buying a pineapple cake from a Church pie store

The couple raised three children, four grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren

'Oh sweetie! What in the world are you doing,' he said and gave a kiss to little Millie. 'Isn't she pretty? Look at her.'

As he attempted to reach out to give the baby girl a hug, tears welled up in his eyes, and he was unable to continue speaking.

'It was really amazing to look into his eyes and to see the joy that she brought him. I know it meant a lot for him to be able to meet her,' Lexie told NBC.

'When my great-grandfather went to war, he never knew if he was coming back to his wife, let alone come home at 101 and meeting his great-great-grandchild,' she added.

Muirhead married Inez before he left for the war, and he still remembers the moment when his bride crying and calling his name as she ran beside the tracks when he left.

Inez moved to California and lived with her sister. They distributed tools to assigned workstations in a shipyard for more than two years.

'My sweet Inez wasn't Rosie the Riveter, and I wasn't Clark Gable. But we both served our country,' Muirhead said in a 2022 interview.

Muirhead married Inez before he left for the war, and he still remembers the moment when his bride crying and calling his name as she ran beside the tracks when he left

After 1945, Muirhead became an oilfield worker and Inez was a stay-at-home mother. The couple spent a lot of time together and enjoyed visiting flea markets, church and classic car shows

Muirhead served in the Army Air Corps during the war, primarily stationed in Germany and Finland. He now lives in Wewoka, Oklahoma

After 1945, Muirhead became an oilfield worker and Inez was a stay-home mother. The couple spent a lot of time together and enjoyed visiting flea markets, church, and classic car shows.

The couple celebrated their 79th anniversary on July 15, 2021. In the same year, Inez died from dementia.

'I just want her to reappear and lay her head on my shoulder one last time. I wouldn't even care when my arm went numb, because she would be there, smiling up at me,' Muirhead teared up as he recalled moments with Inez.

'Everything that he has fought for all just makes sense now,' Lexie couldn't hold back her tears and said

Lexie said her great-grandfather still lives on his own at the age of 101, despite having children living nearby

'Everything that he has fought for all just makes sense now,' Lexie couldn't hold back her tears and said.

'Watching my great-grandfather cradle her in his arms  and she was just soothed. It's almost like that's what he has long held on for, for so long. To me, he is the definition of a true American hero.'

Lexie said her great-grandfather still lives on his own at the age of 101, despite having children living nearby.

'He still gets up and makes his breakfast, eats his lunch, and he's in bed before the sun goes down, I think.'

'The reason we recorded it was so we can show it to Millie some day,' Lexie said, adding that she did not expect worldwide attention when she made the video.

'But if I could just spread one message to anyone, it would be to cherish those moments with your family and that God is very good for allowing us to give this opportunity to him and our family  and be able to spread it across the whole world.'

'This is something we will cherish forever,' Fowler added.
Healthcare watchdogs say Johns Hopkins University should get rid of its DEI department after the president apologized for calling all white people 'privileged' and erasing the word 'woman' from a glossary.

The elite Maryland university is the latest target for those opposed to DEI - diversity, equity and inclusion - for saying it goes against institutions that should be prioritizing talent over cultural activism.

Pressure increased on Chief Diversity Officer Dr. Sherita Hill after she apologized for sending a woke hit list email labeling all white people, Christians, men and English-speakers as 'privileged.'

Kristina Rasmussen, executive director of the anti-identity politics medical watchdog group Do No Harm, is demanding Johns Hopkins drop the entire diversity office.

'Johns Hopkins needs to completely eliminate their DEI department and channel those resources toward the primary objective of preparing the next generation of healthcare professionals to give the highest quality care to all patients,' she said.

Healthcare watchdogs say Johns Hopkins University should get rid of its DEI department - including chief diversity officer Dr. Sherita Hill Golden (pictured) - after the president apologized for calling all white people 'privileged' and erasing the word 'woman' from a glossary

Rasmussen told the New York Post the apology was 'empty' and shows a 'toxic culture' that 'demonizes and indoctrinates the very students they're tasked with training to become the next generation of medical professionals.'

'Their weak apology is simply insufficient, and our campaign is focused on raising awareness about the discriminatory ideas being taught to students and the hostile workplace imposed on employees,' she added.

The organization is driving a mobile billboard around both the school's Baltimore campus and nearby Washington this week and distributing an advertisement saying 'racism is still racism when a DEI officer says it.'

They add that Golden holds a second DEI chief position with the American Society of Clinical Investigation, which shows her 'detrimental DEI influence influence is far-reaching in the medical community and deserves additional scrutiny.'

The email, first posted on Twitter by End Wokeness, was written by Golden, and was part of the 'monthly diversity digest.'

In the initial email sent out, Dr. Golden explains that 'privilege' is the 'diversity word of the month.'

To explain whom the phrase applies to, she offered a list. It reads: 'Privilege is characteristically invisible to people who have it.

'White people, able-bodied people, heterosexuals, cisgender people, males, Christians, middle or owning class people, middle-aged people and English-speaking people' all fit the bill, according to Golden.

Kristina Rasmussen, executive director of the anti-identity politics medical watchdog group Do No Harm, is demanding Johns Hopkins drop the entire diversity office

The letter was sent to staff by Dr. Sherita Hill Golden for the 'monthly diversity digest'

In a follow-up, after the email went viral on social media, she apologized for her 'poorly worded' definition

'People in dominant groups often believe they have earned the privileges they enjoy or that everyone could have access to these privileges if only they worked to earn them.

'In fact, privileges are unearned and are granted to people in the dominant groups whether they want those privileges or not, and regardless of their stated intent.'

After the post went viral on Twitter and drew the ire of the likes of Elon Musk and Donald Trump Jr., Golden issued an apology to staff.

'The newsletter included a definition of the word privilege which, upon reflection, I deeply regret. The intent of the newsletter is to inform and support an inclusive community at Hopkins, but the language of this definition clearly did not meet that goal.

'In fact, because it was overly simplistic and poorly worded, it had the opposite effect.'

'I retract and disavow the definition I shared and I am sorry.'

In a statement to DailyMail.com, a Johns Hopkins Medicine spokesperson said: 'The January edition of the monthly newsletter from the Johns Hopkins Medicine Office of Diversity, Inclusion and Health Equity used language that contradicts the values of Johns Hopkins as an institution.

'Dr. Sherita Golden, Johns Hopkins Medicine's Chief Diversity Officer, has sincerely acknowledged this mistake and retracted the language used in the message.'

Johns Hopkins University had been known for its rigorous academics, commitment to research and innovation, and its contributions to advancing knowledge and solving complex problems in a wide range of fields

It's far from the first time the previously well-respected research university has come under fire in recent times.

In June, it was discovered the school erased the word 'women' from a newly produced 'inclusive language guide' in its definition of the term 'lesbian'.

The extensive glossary is filled with definitions that aim to be inclusive, reflecting an evolving understanding of gender and sexual identity.

But the current definition of 'lesbian' describes it as 'a non-man attracted to non-men'. Many feminists were particularly infuriated that the word 'woman' was vanquished - while their gay male counterparts were still referred to as 'men.'

The glossary is emblematic of the current struggle being faced by supporters of transgender rights who none the less claim that the word 'women' is 'being erased' in favor of woke terms such as 'birthing people' and 'menstruators'.

In some cases, lesbian women have also complained of being bullied and shamed if they refused to have sex with transgender women who still have penises.

JHU's definition has been green-lighted by Paula Neira, the program director of LGBTQ+ Equity and Education at the university - who is herself transgender.

She works within the school's Office of Diversity, Inclusion and Health Equity.

Johns Hopkins University has excluded the word 'women' in the definition of 'lesbian' within its newly created inclusive language guide

JHU's definition has been approved by Paula Neira, the program director of LGBTQ+ Equity and Education at the university who is herself transgender.

The extensive glossary is filled with definitions that aim to be inclusive, reflecting an evolving understanding of gender and sexual identity

Neira chairs the Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity workgroup at the university.

She was one of the nation's leading experts on transgender military service, instrumental in the repeal of the 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' policy in the military which allowed gay, lesbian, and bisexual people to serve openly in the Armed Forces.

It has led some to accuse the university of erasing women noting how there is an absence of non-binary-inclusive language when it comes to the definition of 'gay man' - who are still referred to as 'men.'

Historically, 'gay' has been used specifically for both men and women - and more broadly for all homosexual or bisexual individuals, while 'lesbian' had always been a term specific to the female gender.

The current definition of 'lesbian' in the Johns Hopkins glossary explicitly acknowledges such a shift from previous definitions aiming to be inclusive of non-binary individuals who identify as lesbian.

The university released another statement to DailyMail.com explaining how the glossary was not compiled under the auspices of the Office of Diversity and Inclusion.

'The LGBTQ Glossary is a resource posted on the website of the Johns Hopkins University Office of Diversity and Inclusion (ODI); the definitions were not reviewed or approved by ODI leadership and the language in question has been removed pending review. Paula Neira and Sherita Golden are leaders at Johns Hopkins Medicine and have no involvement in this university matter.'

This past October, Johns Hopkins made headlines when it renamed one of its programs, the Caroline Donovan Professorship in English Literature due to the Donovan's family owning of slaves in the 19th century.

According to a 2020 announcement from the school, founder Johns Hopkins too was a slaveowner, despite being a Quaker, a group who was largely abolitionist.

'Weighing the prime legacy of any name is a subjective and imprecise process, but in taking up this work, the university seeks to reconcile history with the values it strives to protect and uphold,' vice chair of the university's board of trustees, Sarah O'Hagan, said in a statement at the time.
A police hunt is under way for a man who stabbed a sexual partner to death during a drug-fuelled meet-up more than two decades ago.

NSW Police on Friday raised the alarm about Trent Jennings, who was last seen on the Central Coast on Wednesday night, after he failed to return to a mental health facility.

Members of the public were told not to approach the 38-year-old and instead call triple zero immediately if they saw him or knew where he could be found.

He is wanted on an outstanding arrest order and was last seen at a motel on The Entrance Road at The Entrance, police said.

Sydney city police on Friday raised the alarm about Trent Jennings, who was last seen on the NSW Central Coast on Wednesday night, after he failed to return to a mental health facility

Jennings was previously ordered to spend an indefinite amount of time in a psychiatric hospital after stabbing 32-year-old Giuseppe Vitale to death in 2003.

The then-18-year-old met Mr Vitale online and the pair arranged to meet for casual sex before Jennings tied the older man up and stabbed him in the neck.

Jennings was in 2005 found not guilty of Mr Vitale's murder on mental health grounds and detained in a hospital.

Six years later, he made headlines again when he absconded from Morisset hospital near Newcastle before going on the run in a stolen car belonging to another man he met online.

Jennings was handed a minimum 18-month jail sentence for the theft, which came after he tied the man up during a consensual bondage session at an inner-Sydney apartment.

Police are searching the Sydney city centre and other areas where he is known to spend time, including the Central Coast, Cumberland and Sutherland Shire areas.

He is described as being of Caucasian appearance, about 175cm tall, medium build, with short brown receding hair and a scar on his right hand.

Jennings was last seen wearing prescription glasses, a blue shirt, navy shorts, blue runners, a black and gold watch, and carrying a black backpack and a white tackle box.

Lifeline 13 11 14

beyondblue 1300 22 4636
The poor quality is often the result of manufacturers cutting production costs

Buyers are seeing tearing fabric and jutting staples on their pricey purchases

Homeowners may want to think twice before shelling out thousands of dollars for a couch as experts warn they may see flaking leather and collapsing cushions in as little as three years.

Texas-based couple Ashley and Colin Lapin purchased a $3,136 Eliot leather sofa on sale for $2,038 in 2020, assuming it would hold up.

Within a few months, buttons began to pop off and discolored patches set into the fabric. The couple discovered the cushions slid forward when they sat down.

'The $400 fake leather couch we got from Big lots held up better than this,' said Colin, 40. 'I feel a little duped.'

Nowadays, it is not uncommon for buyers to encounter cheaper materials and lackluster construction.

Ashley and Colin Lapin, a Texas-based couple, spent over $2,000 on a leather sofa in 2020

Colin says he felt 'duped' when the couch began to fall apart in a matter of months

Buttons began to pop off and patches of discoloration appeared on the fabric. The sofa was uncomfortable to sit on, as cushions would slide out from underneath them

Jeff Boyer and his team at Creative Colors International restore around a hundred sofas each year. Within three years, he says, many customers begin to notice significant wear and tear.

Furniture quality has experienced a dramatic downturn in recent years. When it comes to wood, for instance, cheaper furniture in the mid-20th century often used American plywood, while fancier pieces might be made of solid cherry or oak sourced from Europe.

Nowadays, Chinese-made press board and plywood fill the market, and while it may be cheap, quality is inconsistent at best.

Pieces marketed as 'solid wood' might be rubber with glued-on veneer. This material is a byproduct of latex manufacturing, making it less expensive to produce, but it is prone to decomposition.

'Everyone is just trying to reduce cost,' furniture designer CoCo Ree Lemery told the Washington Post.

The Lapins are not the only ones with couch woes - Melissa Newell and Jennie Fisher shelled out $1,945 on a reversible sectional from West Elm in 2021.

Despite spending nearly $2,000 for the sofa, the couple were shocked to find protruding staples, collapsing back cushions and worn fabric.

So, what should buyers look for? For starters, it is important to know what you are investing in.

Melissa Newell and Jennie Fisher spent nearly the same amount on a reversible sectional from West Elm in 2021

But the couple was shocked to discover tearing seams and jutting staples on their pricey purchase

As major retailers scramble to cut costs, the quality of furniture appears to be worsening.

Tamar Fox shelled out $2,457 for a sofa allegedly made using 'quality materials' - but in a span of 18 months, she noticed springs protruding

'Genuine leather' may sound promising, but this rarely denotes a single skin and instead represents a sludge of glue and slaughterhouse scraps. Buyers should look for top grain cowhide, which will not flake and crumble.

Andy Buck, a professor of furniture design at Rochester Institute of Technology, says consumers might be better off purchasing and reupholstering older couches, which usually have hardwood or plywood frames.

'Most often the construction of vintage sofas will be superior to what's made now,' Buck said.

The professor encourages buyers to peek underneath their couch to scope out the skeleton. Wiggling the arms and backrest is another way to gauge stability.

But it seems no matter how much consideration goes into the furniture-buying process, consumers are bound to encounter problems.

Tamar Fox, 39, carried out months of research before settling on a $2,457 sofa from BenchMade Modern, a brand that totes its use of 'quality materials.'

In a little over a year, springs began jutting out the bottom - and it was later revealed that the company had discontinued the model she purchased.

'I'm just so frustrated and annoyed,' Fox said. 'The fact that I have to decide on a new couch three times a decade is ridiculous.'.
A migrant was stabbed in the neck during a violent brawl at a shelter on New York City's Randall Island where 'everyone has a knife'.

The victim, 24, was found outside the state-funded shelter with a stab wound from an 'unknown sharp object' on Thursday afternoon, sources told the New York Post.

He and the security guard were reportedly involved in a large fight that broke out inside the relief center and spilled outside.

It is understood the pair had been arguing before the victim was stabbed. He was taken to nearby Harlem Hospital in stable condition.

A total of 18 people were taken into custody following the incident, NYPD confirmed to MailOnline. Charges are pending for six people and twelve individuals were released with criminal court summonses.

A migrant was stabbed in the neck during a violent brawl at a shelter on New York City 's Randall Island where 'everyone has a knife'. The victim, 24, was found outside the state-funded shelter with a stab wound from an 'unknown sharp object' on Thursday afternoon

Police arrested 18 people in connection to the incident on charges that are still pending. Pictured are officers at the scene taking someone into custody

The fight broke out around 3.30pm on Thursday at the shelter. Officers are pictured arresting a man at the scene

Photographs from the scene show that police cordoned off an area by the shelter

The fight broke out just before 3.30pm on Thursday at the makeshift shelter, which was erected just last year to house the overflow of migrants who have come to NYC.

Police were called to the scene after receiving a 911 call about a stabbing and upon arrival discovered the victim had been stabbed in the neck. Paramedics transferred him to an area hospital.

Photographs from the scene show that police cordoned off an area by the shelter. Officers were also seen taking several people into custody at the scene.

Felix Cardona, 29, was arrested on Thursday and charged with attempted assault.

Jose Goebara, 31; Lron Iker, 19; and Brett Franyer, also 19, were all charged with criminal possession of a weapon and menacing.

Leidymar Montero Alvarez, 18, was charged with criminal possession of a weapon and tampering with physical evidence. Jeison Romero, 19, was charged with reckless endangerment and criminal possession of a weapon.

Paramedics took the victim to nearby Harlem Hospital in stable condition. NYPD and FDNY vehicles are pictured at the scene

Migrants residing at the facility said that they have regular concerns about their safety. Officers are pictured at the scene on Thursday afternoon

It is understood that the suspect and victim had been arguing before the stabbing occurred

Officers arrest a man at Randall's Island migrant shelter following a brawl and stabbing

Police did not immediately identify the stabbing suspect, but sources have claimed the individual was a security guard at the makeshift tent city. The investigation into the incident remains ongoing.

Migrants residing at the facility have said that they have regular concerns about their safety at the shelter with Mauricio Pinto telling the Post: 'Everyone has a knife.'

The stabbing comes after migrant Dafren Alexis Canizales Ceballo, 24, was killed at the shelter earlier this month after being stabbed by another resident.

It is understood that Moises Coronado, 27, stabbed Ceballo in the torso while they were waiting in line for food at the dining tent.

Randall's Island migrant shelter is fully funded by the state of New York. It spans across 6.4acres of land and houses nearly 3,000 adult male migrants.

The facility is one of the makeshift tent cities that were set up in August 2023 to help with the city's migrant crisis.

Responding officers are pictured taking a man into custody on Thursday after a brawl that resulted in a stabbing at the makeshift tent city on New York City 's Randall Island

Randall's Island migrant shelter is fully funded by the state of New York. It spans across 6.4acres of land and houses nearly 3,000 adult male migrants

Officers are pictured at Randall's Island migrant shelter where a man was stabbed on Thursday
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has been asked to testify before the House Armed Services Committee about his undisclosed hospitalization.

The 70-year-old was diagnosed with prostate cancer in early December and on December 22 underwent surgery, and was diagnosed the next day.

But on January 1 he began experiencing 'severe abdominal, leg, and hip pain' and was admitted to Walter Reed hospital. The White House was not informed of his hospitalization until January 4, and did not learn of the cancer diagnosis until January 9 - leading to calls for Austin's resignation.

On Thursday Mike Rogers, an Alabama Republican and chair of the Armed Services Committee, wrote to Austin to ask him to appear before the committee on February 14 and explain himself.

Lloyd Austin is pictured on December 20 - his last public sighting - talking to the commanding officer of the USS Gerald R. Ford, Navy Capt. Rick Burgess, during an unannounced visit to the ship off the coast of Israel

Austin on December 20 addresses crew members on USS Gerald R. Ford. Two days later he went in to hospital for planned prostate cancer surgery - but was discharged, then readmitted a week later

Austin, 70, is pictured testifying in March during a budget hearing

'Congress must understand what happened and who made decisions to prevent the disclosure of the whereabouts of a cabinet secretary,' wrote Rogers.

Austin spent the first two weeks of 2024 in hospital, and was discharged on Monday to his Virginia home.

President Joe Biden has said Austin has his full support, but Republicans have accused him of being AWOL.

'Maintaining the most ready and lethal force possible requires that everyone in the national security community be able to rely upon the Secretary of Defense's availability and transparency,' said Rogers in his four-page letter to Austin.

'Regrettably, you have not exhibited these attributes throughout this most recent string of events.'

Austin has faced calls for his resignation after he failed to inform the White House about his cancer diagnosis, surgery and readmission to hospital

Rogers, who has opened an inquiry into Austin's behavior, said he wants Austin to provide details about his communications with the White House and Defense Department officials; the temporary transfer of power to Deputy Secretary Kathleen Hicks; and Austin's official actions during his hospitalization.

Hicks took control of some of Austin's powers on January 2, but the White House was not informed.

The same day Hicks assumed power, the Pentagon press secretary, Austin's chief of staff and Austin's senior military adviser learned that Austin was in the hospital.

'I expect your full honesty and cooperation in this matter,' Rogers said.

'Anything short of that is completely unacceptable.'

The public was not informed of Austin's hospitalization until January 5.

Austin and the Pentagon are yet to respond to Rogers' request.
Australia's most notorious corrupt police officer Roger Rogerson is about to die, after suffering a brain aneurysm in jail and having his life support turned off.

The disgraced former detective, who is serving a life sentence for murder, is understood to have been found unresponsive in his cell in Long Bay jail on Thursday night.

The 83-year-old was taken to the Prince of Wales Hospital in Randwick, in Sydney's east, just before midnight.

His life support was turned off on Friday morning and he is receiving end of life care.

Rogerson's wife Anne Melocco told Daily Mail Australia his family was only alerted to his deteriorating condition on Friday.

'We were only notified of his condition this MORNING,' she said in a text message.

Australia's most corrupt cop Roger Rogerson (pictured) is about to die in jail after having a brain aneurysm, with his life support turned off

Rogerson's wife Anne Melocco (pictured) told Daily Mail Australia his family was only alerted to his deteriorating condition on Friday morning

Rogerson was once a decorated detective in the NSW police force, receiving several bravery awards but became the subject of serious corruption allegations and was ultimately expelled from the force.

Rogerson was jailed in 2016 for the murder of 20-year-old student and drug dealer Jamie Gao in 2014.

Gao's body was found wrapped in a tarpaulin floating off Cronulla in Sydney's south after he was shot dead in a $3million drug deal gone wrong.

Rogerson lost his last bid for freedom in March 2023 when the high court refused to grant him leave to appeal against his conviction and life sentence for murder.

Rogerson was a high-profile detective and fostered close relationships with many of Sydney's most notorious criminal figures of the 1970s and 1980s

Rogerson was a feared and infamous figure in Sydney's gangland scene from the 1960s through the 1980s.

His close relationship with crime kingpins Arthur 'Neddy' Smith and Chris Flannery was at the centre of the acclaimed TV drama Blue Murder.

That program portrayed his pre-arranged fatal shooting of young drug dealer Warren Lanfranchi in an inner Sydney laneway in 1981.

Rogerson was charged over the shooting but was cleared of wrongdoing after an inquest found he was acting in the line of duty as a police officer.

Lanfranchi's lover Sallie-Anne Huckstepp was also later found murdered in Sydney's Centennial Park in 1986.

Smith was accused but was later acquitted of Ms Huckstepp's murder.

Rogerson's (pictured) life support was turned off on Friday morning

Rogerson also shot dead armed robber Phillip Western at Avoca on the Central Coast in 1976.

He also shot Lawrence 'Butchy' Burns who tried to rob a payroll at the South Sydney Juniors club in Kingsford in Sydney's east in 1977.

After rising through the ranks during the 70s and 80s, Rogerson was handed more than a dozen awards for bravery while he was in the force.

He was also involved in several gangland activities and had ties to members of the underworld.

In 1984, Rogerson was accused of conspiring to murder detective Michael Drury, who was shot through his kitchen window at Chatswood on Sydney's north shore but survived.

Rogerson, hitman Chris Flannery and Melbourne heroin dealer Alan Williams were alleged to have conspired over the attempt on Drury's life.

The detective was suspended from the NSW Police Force but acquitted of conspiring to murder Drury, who it was alleged he had attempted to bribe on Williams' behalf.

Rogerson was dismissed from the force in 1986 and did two stints in jail - in 1990 for perverting the course of justice, and in 2005 for lying under oath to the Police Integrity Commission.
Queensland residents are being urged to prepare for a second cyclone in a month, with experts warning of potential 'severe impact' if it hits the coast.

The Bureau of Meteorology on Friday morning warned there was a 55 per cent chance a storm brewing over the Coral Sea could develop into a tropical cyclone.

By Monday, the chance of the storm turning into a cyclone rises to 75 per cent, with it potentially turning into a category three storm or stronger before hitting land.

Authorities confirmed the cyclone would be named Kirrily and would pose a 'significant risk' for parts of Queensland's coast - much of which is still recovering from Cyclone Jasper that hit last month.

'There is a significant risk that this system may impact the Queensland coast from later Tuesday onwards next week. A severe impact is possible,' BoM's update said.

There is a 75 per cent chance a storm brewing over the Coral Sea could develop into Tropical Cyclone Kirrily (pictured) by Monday next week

Senior meteorologist Felim Hanniffy said models suggested the system could 'form into a severe tropical cyclone' with 'wind gusts in excess of 165km/h'.

Mr Hanniffy added there were major uncertainties whether the cyclone would make landfall - and if it does hit the coast, the exact timing remains unclear.

'Certainly some of the models suggest crossing the course as a severe tropical cyclone as well. So that is a significant watch point,' he said.

'But (there are) significant uncertainties at this stage just when and where will it cross the coast or will it cross the coast.

'The big uncertainty comes from later Tuesday onwards, is where does it go? A lot of models do suggest that the system crosses the Queensland coast and moves inland.'

Queensland Premier Steven Miles said on Friday there was a chance the system could move away from Australia and head towards New Caledonia.

However, he warned the storm could potentially track back to the state's coast, with residents in Townsville down to Rockhampton in its firing line.

'If it were to cross the coast, it would be around Wednesday of next week,' Mr Miles said.

'It's a good time for Queenslanders in that part of the coast ... to prepare for the cyclone.'

The cyclone could potentially track back to the state's coast, with residents in Townsville down to Rockhampton in its firing line (pictured, tropical cyclone forecast for Wednesday)

Up to 300mm of accumulated rain is forecast to fall in parts of Queensland and The Northern during the 7 days to Tuesday

Queensland SES crews conducted a search and rescue operation in the flooded area in Queensland on December 18 and rescued more than 300 people from floodwaters

The bureau is expecting the tropical low to move slowly until it begins to head either south or south-southwest from Sunday to Tuesday.

Communities north of Cairns are still reeling from record flooding caused by Tropical Cyclone Jasper, which made landfall in December.

The area was one of the worst hit, with houses destroyed and almost 300 people evacuated from Wujal Wujal.

It comes as heavy rain continues to lash Queensland's north tropical coast with 24 hour totals of 166mm in the Gilbert River catchment and 130mm at Mareeba.

The area continued to see very heavy rainfall, with 704mm of rainfall at Stewart Creek Valley and 632mm at Daintree Village in the seven days to Thursday.

Authorities issued flood warnings for four rivers in the far north, while the Gold Coast was also flooded after heavy rain and thunderstorms.

Residents are now bracing for more destructive weather, while the government sends emergency housing to areas hit by Cyclone Jasper.

In an Australian first, the Albanese government has begun deploying emergency shelters dubbed Humanihuts for residents north of Cairns.

The Defence Force is also helping deliver a convoy of the containers to the region by barge.

More than 30 huts - each with its own power, water and can sleep up to four people - along with six bathrooms, have been sent to Wujal Wujal, Degarra and Ayton.

An SES member rescues a dog during a search and rescue operation in the flooded area of Queensland, Australia last month

A woman is seen taking a picture of the Coomera river flooding the Clagiraba Road on the Gold Coast on January 2

Meanwhile, the Northern Territory continues to be threatened by flooding as heavy rain lashes the state.

About 100 people from the remote community of Pigeon Hole, west of Katherine, were evacuated on Thursday after homes were inundated with floodwater.

About 40 people from Pigeon Hole - a settlement on Bilinara Aboriginal Land Trust surrounded by Victoria River Downs Pastoral Property - were relocated, while another 50 at nearby Daguragu left for Kalkarindji.

Police predict the Pigeon Hole community could be flooded for up to a week.

There have also been reports on Thursday evening of a helicopter pilot rescuing three people from a truck roof and taking them to Victoria River Roadhouse, west of Katherine.

Heavy rain is set to continue through to the weekend, with 690mm recorded across seven days at Wadeye, south of Darwin.

Widespread falls of 100mm, with heavy showers lashing the Victoria River catchment, has also caused road closures and communities to flood.

Authorities are also on standby at Daly River where flood levels were being monitored.

In Western Australia, about 10,000 people are still without power with outages affecting the Wheatbelt, Goldfields and Great Southern regions following recent storms.
MBABANE  An artificial teacher named Nomfundo has been designed to teach learners in Eswatini schools.

The robot teacher is the creation of the Schools Online Foundation, which is introducing an artificial intelligence (AI) programme, a first-of-its kind in the country.

Though at this stage Nomfundo will not replace any teacher, the rollout of AI teachers in parts of the world has been viewed cynically for its potential to replace teachers. Nomfundo will deliver educational content, provide personalised instruction, and facilitate learning experiences. The Nomfundo AI Programme will start operating from next week in schools such as Evelyn Baring, Salesian and Somnjalose High.

Transform

The Schools Online Foundation is a non-profit organisation (NGO), working with the Ministry of Education and Training to transform the level of education in schools. Nomfundo is an online-speaking robot (chatbot) specifically trained on the Eswatini syllabus, entrepreneurship, guidance and counselling, life skills, composition and essay, marking, siSwati translation and anything a person would want to know. It has also been trained or fed with local content.

It can do many things done by teachers within a short space of time. Countries such as Kenya and South Africa top Africa in AI usage in schools. In terms of its success rate, Kenya topped with 60 per cent of its learner population in Africa while SA sits at 33 per cent. The training of the Nomfundo AI is said to have started in August 2023, and is now ready to operate.

Attention

Very soon, the model will be teaching all subjects in siSwati for learners sake, even though it is still inefficient, due to the fact that it is a new model, requiring more attention. Lungelo Dlamini, the Director of Schools Online Foundation, said the Nomfundo AI Programme would help both teachers and learners in understanding all subjects.

Dlamini said the concept of the AI programme was adopted from the international education sector and modelled for local schools. He further said they had been collaborating with the ministry in doing other online programmes.

Dlamini explained that for an AI to be in full operation and be effective in a particular context, it must first be a trained model.

In this case, Nomfundo AI must be trained based on Eswatinis context and where exactly it will be used and how it will operate. This is a chatbot, more than anything. In short, it is a robot, human-like in nature, where one will get a chance to converse with it and get the help he or she wants, said Dlamini.

Meanwhile, Dlamini said they had programmed Nomfundo in such a way that learners would only get the necessary information they wanted inasfar as their education was concerned. A pupil is able to get a lesson from this robot based on a particular topic. It is also able to give notes to learners, open a platform for questions and answers as well as give an extra exercise, after the lecture. Nomfundo is able to see if learners missed certain steps when attempting certain questions, before giving advice. Vele nguthishela lona in the education context, he said. Dlamini said the online robot had been trained based on the countrys syllabus and its context for all the subjects under the Eswatini curriculum.

He stated that the model was also in a position to assist any school dropout by offering lessons as well as preparing that individual for an examination. He said that would happen based on what that particular learner wanted to pursue as a career. Also, Dlamini indicated that Nomfundo was able to offer counselling to learners, as they would converse with it and also make recommendations on whom to go and see for advice.

If a child feels depressed or has mental problems, Nomfundo can be a companion for that individual. It can bring comfort to someone aggrieved. On the same note, the person can be able to share their problems with the robot and then come up with a long-lasting solution, said Dlamini. Furthermore, Nomfundo is trained on life skills. Dlamini said the model had been trained on issues revolving around gender identity.

The director noted: This model is now trained in such a way that it is able to instill Eswatini culture to learners and how they should conduct themselves when abroad. Moreover, the artificial teacher has been trained to be an entrepreneur specialist. The director stated that people were able to get information on how to write business plans for businesses that would be relevant to the the 21st century. Nomfundo is able to come up with names of people one needs to contact regarding any business idea. This model is able to assist even those who never completed high school by telling them the kind of things they could do, he said.

Challenges

When Dlamini was asked to state Nomfundos challenges, he said the model was costly, at the moment, since even internationally it was quite new. He said its costs, including its operations was at E50 000. He said they would do anything possible to make it affordable to emaSwati. According to Dlamini, the model needed a software for it to operate and be installed online. He said such a software was costly.

There are certain features such as giving a diagram or video an article one wants to write about, which we have disabled from Nomfundo due to the costs. For now, we want to see how emaSwati view Nomfundo and take it from there, he said. He then pleaded for financial assistance so that the programme may spread to other schools, even those situated in rural areas. Globally, experts have pointed out challenges brought about by AI, more especially to pupils. Some argued that AI made learners lazy to do things on their own, such that they eventually lacked the skill of being critical thinkers.

Information

On this, Dlamini said: What we have done with Nomfundo is that it cannot give you any information, unless it has been probed first. You are supposed to have a conversation with this online robot before it gives you the information you need. It operates differently from any other AI internationally. Nomfundo ngeke abe nguvumazonke, he said.



Dlamini said they would be engaging teachers on how to probe Nomfundo for answers. When the Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Education and Training, Bhekithemba Gama was sought for comment regarding the programme, he said he was not aware of the AI, though it was discussed on national radio. He, however, acknowledged that such a programme was a great initiative.

When Dlamini was asked about the PSs response, he said he would meet him personally today. On another note, Dr Armstrong Simelane, the Senior Information Communication and Technology (ICT) Manager under the Ministry of Education and Training in the Shiselweni Region, said the Schools Online Foundation had done a tremendous job by taking the education system to another dimension in the region. He said the online school programme was first introduced at Ngudzeni FEA High School.

Learning

Simelane said other schools, such as Mhawu High, Evelyn Baring, Somnjalose, among others, adopted this new way of learning, which they applauded. He said the foundation had helped learners from these schools know how to answer examination questions. As of today, end of year results of these schools have improved tremendously. We have eight online schools and they are excelling, said Simelane. Simelane said even during the COVID-19 era, the foundation came to the party to help learners from some schools get excellent results.
A Met police officer is under investigation for allegedly sharing CCTV footage of an NHS worker being raped who later died.

Mother-of-three Natalie Shotter, 37, was found dead in Southall Park in west London on July 17, 2021, following a night out with friends.

Mohamed Lidow, 34, of no fixed address, was charged with rape and manslaughter following his arrest on August 4, 2021, and is due to appear in court on Friday.

But some time after Ms Shotter's death, her mother, Dr Cas Shotter Weetman, was informed that an investigating officer on her daughter's case had shared the footage of the incident.

She told the Guardian she was 'gobsmacked and appalled' at the news, adding: 'Where do I go with this? How do I manage this for Nat's children? Where has it gone?

Mother-of-three Natalie Shotter, 37, was found dead in Southall Park in west London on July 17, 2021

Some time after Ms Shotter's death, her mother, Dr Cas Shotter Weetman (left), was informed that an investigating officer on her daughter's case had shared the footage of the incident

'I wasn't happy with the Met police and I will never be happy with the Met police. They are public servants and they should be doing their job, which is to protect people.'

The Met are probing whether images of Ms Shotter found on the officer's personal devices were 'taken and used for a legitimate policing purpose.'

In a separate investigation, the Met is also understood to be probing why two officers failed to come to the aid of Ms Shotter on the night of her death.

The mother became unwell while in the park during a night out and lay down on a bench, while a friend went to find help.

He is said to have found two police officers, but they told him they were unable to help due to dealing with another incident and told him to call 101.

Meanwhile, Ms Shotter was discovered on the bench by a man, with Lidow to appear in court charged with rape and manslaughter today.

Her mother said: 'I want to know why police did not go to Nat's aid on that night when she needed help. What was the rationale of not going into the park to check on a lone woman?

'My view is that the Met police is misogynistic.'

She is asking for the IOPC to investigate both incidents as part of a probe into the Met's handling of her daughter's case both before and after her death.

A spokesperson for the Met Police said: 'A police constable, attached to the west area basic command unit, was arrested by professional standards officers on 12 September 2022 on suspicion of misconduct in public office.

'He was suspended the same day and is currently released under investigation while inquiries continue. The ongoing criminal investigation is examining whether images of deceased people, found on the officer's digital devices, were taken and used for a legitimate policing purpose.

'A referral was made to the Independent Office for Police Conduct who determined the criminal and misconduct matters facing this officer should be investigated by the Met.'

The mother became unwell while in the park during a night out and lay down on a bench, while a friend went to find help

It added: 'The evening before Natalie was found dead, two officers on duty in the local area were approached and spoken to by a friend of hers who had been with her in the park and was concerned she seemed unwell.

'The officers were already dealing with a separate incident and advised the friend to call police for additional support.

'That interaction was referred to the Met's Directorate of Professional Standards (DPS) to determine whether the officers acted appropriately based on the information they were given at the time. A referral was made to the IOPC and they made the decision that the DPS should investigate.

'An investigation by the DPS found that they should be referred to the Unsatisfactory Performance Procedure but that their actions did not amount to misconduct.

'On 7 October 2022, we received a letter from Natalie's mother about this decision. As a result, the original DPS investigation was reviewed. This arrived at the same outcome.'

A spokesperson for the IOPC said: 'We received a mandatory death or serious injury (DSI) referral from the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) on 19 July 2021 relating to indirect police contact prior to a woman's death.

'There were concerns that two officers failed to act on reports of a woman who was alone and in a vulnerable situation in Southall Park, West London late at night on 16 July. The woman was subsequently found dead in the park the next day.

'On 23 July 2021, following an assessment of the referral, we decided the circumstances leading up to her death should be subject to an investigation and we directed the MPS to carry this out.

'The force had already begun making initial enquiries into the case, gathering CCTV footage, placing the officers on restricted duties and were treating this matter with due seriousness.

'The MPS was reminded that, should their investigation identify any conduct issues for any police officers or staff, they should consider making a referral to the IOPC, which they did for two officers on 8 September 2021.

'Upon reviewing the conduct referral, the IOPC decided that this should also be subject to a local investigation. The MPS concluded that two officers should be subject to unsatisfactory performance procedures.

'The woman's family disagreed with the conduct findings and complained to the MPS, who made a complaint referral to the IOPC about the outcome on 17 October 2022. We assessed the referral and decided that the complaint required further investigation and directed the MPS to carry it out.

'The family had a right of review to the IOPC at the end of that investigation should they be unsatisfied with the outcome. In April 2023, we received a review request from the family, and our review is ongoing and looking at whether the handling or the outcome of their complaint was reasonable and proportionate. We cannot reinvestigate the complaint.

'In March 2023, we received a further complaint referral, which related to an officer allegedly sharing CCTV footage of the alleged rape of the woman. We decided this matter should also be subject to an investigation by the MPS' Directorate of Professional Standards, noting that investigative actions were underway and they were treating the matter with due seriousness.

'The complainant can apply for a review to the IOPC if they are unhappy with the outcome.'
Spiteful anti-monarchists and internet trolls have used the royal health crisis to criticise Kate, Charles and William and brand them 'workshy' and 'lazy'.

Doctors have also laid into the Princess of Wales over plans to keep her in a London private hospital for 10 to 14 days, claiming it would be a 'day or two' after abdominal surgery on the NHS.

One anti-Wales Twitter account tweeted last night that Kate was 'playing the victim'. Another said that she was 'milking' her surgery 'for all its worth'.

It came as the Princess of Wales spent a third night in hospital but there has been radio silence from Harry and Meghan in California over her illness and the King's enlarged prostate.

Prince William visited Kate in hospital yesterday as it was revealed that he has cleared his diary so he can care for his wife and children, including doing the school run, which he often splits with the Princess of Wales.

Republic, the anti-monarchist pressure group that, seized on the issue with glee, posting: They could all be off sick with the measles for six months and still fit in more engagements than last year. Its CEO Graham Smith tweeted: Man visits wife in hospital. Huge if true.

Another critic on social media said: Should we clap for him? The PR spin to desperately make Prince William look like a dedicated husband and father juggling childcare and caring when he has an army of people supporting him and zero financial concerns about cancelling work to stay at home is so tone deaf.

Police guard The London Clinic where the Princess of Wales is recovering after an operation

William drove a new electric Audi to be with his wife Kate in a private London hospital yesterday. She will be there for up to a fortnight

Kate, Charlotte, George, William and Louis at the Sandringham Christmas Day 2023 service. William is taking time off to support his wife and care for their children

Anti-monarchy group Republic has used the health crisis to slam the royals, especially Prince William

Prince Harry (pictured on Tuesday) may have heard about King Charles' illness from the media rather than being informed by the Palace himself

The nature of Kate's condition has not been revealed although Kensington Palace confirmed it was not cancer-related. However, it is serious enough to require a long hospital stay and months of recuperation at home.

Prolific X user @EmergMedDr, known as Dr Mike, who has backed NHS strike action to his tens of thousands of followers, was accused of trying to make a political point.

He wrote on the platform formerly known as Twitter: Kate will stay in hospital for up to 14 days  In the NHS you have your surgery and are sent home one to two days later.

The doctor said NHS patients were sent home with a photo of what a wound infection looks like and maybe one wound dressing.

Harry and Meghan are yet to comment on the health of the British royals.

Representatives for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have not responded to multiple requests for comment on the health of Harry's father and sister-in-law.

But with the Duke of Sussex set to be made a 'Living Legend of Aviation' at an awards ceremony dubbed the 'Oscars of flying' and hosted by John Travolta in Beverly Hills tonight, there is speculation he may speak about the royal health crisis on the red carpet.

Harry spoke of wanting to find 'peace' with his family after he wrote Spare. He admitted in one interview that he no longer texted his brother William but is known to be on speaking terms with their father.

And there will be hope that Kate's hospitalisation for major surgery could bring a rapprochement and contact between the quarrelling brothers. William was seen at The London Clinic yesterday and is currently off work to support his wife and their three children.

King Charles and Queen Camilla at church in Sandringham on Christmas Day last month

Prince William, Catherine, Prince Harry and Meghan attend the Commonwealth Day Service in 2020. Harry has not spoken out about his sister-in-law's health scare

It came after it was claimed that Harry may have heard the news about Kate's surgery and King Charles' hospital procedure on his enlarged prostate next week from the media.

The Duke of Sussex was reportedly informed about his father's prostate diagnosis in a message from Buckingham Palace but is thought to have seen it reported in the press beforehand, according to The Telegraph.

The news of Charles' admission to hospital next week was publicly announced in the UK at 3.25pm on Wednesday, which would have been 7.25am in California, where the Duke lives.

Kensington Palace said at 2pm on Wednesday that the Princess of Wales was being treated in hospital after undergoing successful abdominal surgery, which was at 6am in Montecito.

The latest development appears to echo the breakdown of communications when Queen Elizabeth II died in September 2022.

On this occasion, Harry discovered the news of his grandmother's death via a news alert while he was mid-air heading to Scotland, when the first public announcement was made.

Tonight Harry is set to be inducted as a 'Living Legend of Aviation' on Friday at an awards ceremony hosted by John Travolta in Beverly Hills, California.

The duke's work setting up the Invictus Games Foundation will also be celebrated. It is not confirmed if Harry or his wife Meghan will attend the glitzy awards do.

Harry been riduculed for accepting a place in the flying hall of fame alongside astronaut Buzz Aldrin and Russian cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev.

Both the palace and a spokesman for the Sussexes have declined to comment on Harry's silence over his relative's health problems.

It's understood, however, that neither side is keen to inflame tensions within the Firm, which has been rocked by a series of dramas in recent months.

Kate's parents Carole and Michael and sister and brother in law Pippa and James (all pictured at Westminster Abbey in December) are at the heart of the Middleton's support network for her and her children

The Princess of Wales has spent another night in hospital after major abdominal surgery as William, her parents and siblings cleared their diaries to support her recovery and care for George, Charlotte and Louis.

Kate is said to be 'doing well' as she recovers following the procedure at the London Clinic in Marylebone, revealed on the same day King Charles announced he was taking a short break for treatment for an enlarged prostate.

Prince William, 41, has postponed engagements to spend as much time as possible by Kate's bedside, as well as supporting their three young children back at Windsor.

It is understood that William wants to continue doing the school run in an effort to create as much normality as he can for Prince George, ten, Princess Charlotte, eight, and five-year-old Prince Louis, while their mother is in hospital.

He will also have the help of their nanny, Maria, and Kate's family, particularly her parents, Michael and Carole Middleton, who are hands-on grandparents well used to having the children for sleepovers or staying with them.

Kate's parents and siblings Pippa Matthews and James Middleton are already rallying round and help support her recovery at her home in Windsor, which is close to their own homes.

It comes after Prince William visited his wife Kate in hospital.

The heir to the throne was spotted leaving The London Clinic behind the wheel of a 139,000 electric Audi E-Tron GT Carbon Vorsprung, followed by royal bodyguards in a Range Rover.

It came as it emerged King Charles will be in hospital next week for a procedure on his enlarged prostate. Speaking in Aberdeen yesterday, Queen Camilla said: 'He's fine, thank you very much. Looking forward to getting back to work.'

The Prince of Wales was seen departing the private London Clinic in Marylebone at around 12.35pm on Thursday. His wife could spend up to two weeks there recuperating and he spent the morning with her before heading back to Windsor.

With Prince William also taking leave to care for his wife and children, the so-called 'big three' royals will be away from duties over the coming weeks with experts saying that with Harry and Meghan in the US, and Andrew in the cold, there is only Princess Anne and her brother Prince Edward to call on.

Prince William, Prince of Wales, drives himself away from the London Clinic in London where his wife Kate, Princess of Wales, underwent abdominal surgery

The Prince of Wales has cleared his diary of duties to support his wife and children

Queen Camilla opens the new 'Safe Space' during a visit to Aberdeen Art Gallery. The Queen has said the King is 'fine' and 'looking forward to getting back to work' as he awaits treatment for an enlarged prostate

Police outside the London Clinic, where Britain's Catherine, Princess of Wales, is hospitalised for abdominal surgery

READ MORE: Camilla says King Charles is 'fine' and 'looking forward to getting back to work' after his prostate procedure next week The monarch's wife is the first senior working royal to carry out official duties and she spoke on official duties in Scotland. She's seen in November Advertisement

Kate is not expected to return to public events until after Easter, and her husband will combine being by his wife's and children's side throughout.

Any royal tours William and Kate had in the diary for the coming months will also no longer take place amid speculation they would visit Italy together in March.

The nature of the princess's condition has not been revealed although Kensington Palace confirmed it was not cancerous.

It is serious enough, however, for heir to the throne William to be postponing official duties while his wife is in hospital and in the immediate aftermath while she recuperates, devoting his time to his family.

The Royal Family's 'big three' are out of action because Buckingham Palace also revealed yesterday that King Charles III will attend hospital next week to be treated with a 'corrective procedure' for an enlarged prostate.

The Princess of Wales was sent a get well message by East Anglia's Children's Hospices (EACH) as she recovers from abdominal surgery.

The charity, of which Kate is patron, wrote on X: 'Everyone at East Anglia's Children's Hospices (EACH) sends their very best wishes to our wonderful patron, HRH The Princess of Wales.

'We are all thinking of you and wish you a speedy recovery.'

Kensington Palace announced that the Princess of Wales has had abdominal surgery

Charles attends a Sunday church service at St Mary Magdalene Church in Sandringham on January 7

The statement about Charles' health released by Buckingham Palace

The two health updates on senior royals came within 90 minutes of each other, with Kensington Palace coming first at 2pm then Buckingham Palace followed at 3.30pm.

READ MORE: The royal doctor looking after King Charles who claims Christian healers may be able to help the chronically ill (and is a fan of devil's claw and horny goat weed) Dr Michael Dixon pictured with the then-Prince of Wales at the opening of the Culm Valley Integrated Centre for Health in Devon in 2008 Advertisement

She was not rushed for hospital and her condition was not something that developed over the weekend, according to reports.

The Prince will also postpone a number of engagements as he supports his family, and will not undertake official duties while his wife is in hospital.

He will also do no official duties during the immediate period after Kate's return home. Royal aides will provide a revised schedule for William in due course.

It is unclear what the exact nature of the surgery, with The Palace unwilling to reveal any details in respect of Kate's 'medical privacy'. However it did not rule out the prospect that she may choose to speak publicly about it herself in the future.

Sun GP Dr Zoe Williams told The Sun: 'This might be something that has been bothering her for her whole life which she has not got round to resolving, or an issue that has come to light more recently.

'Two weeks in hospital is longer than we would normally expect, but she doesn't have a normal life. She's the future queen so the doctors will be erring on the side of caution.

'We all hope it is something minor and the surgery is straightforward, but precaution is wise. With anything medical you can never be completely certain how things will go.

'The most important thing is that she gets enough recovery time and it's not too stressful for her and her family.'

Kate arrives for the royal carol concert at Westminster Abbey on December 8 last year

Kate with her family at the Westminster Abbey carol concert on December 8 last year

Dr Deborah Lee, from Dr Fox Online Pharmacy, told The Express: 'For abdominal surgery, most people stay in the hospital for four to seven days. After laparoscopic surgery [a type of keyhole surgery], this is reduced to two to four days.

READ MORE King Charles will go to hospital next week to be treated for an enlarged prostate, Buckingham Palace announces - forcing his public engagements to be postponed Advertisement

'It very much depends on what exactly has been done. If a patient needs to go to ITU, it's likely their hospital stay would be considerably longer.

'It can take two months or more for the patient to feel comfortable and be able to move around normally afterwards.'

Neither William nor Kate will travel internationally over the coming months.

William and Kate were said to have been planning a high-profile visit to Rome this spring as part of a European charm offensive, but this is now in doubt. Another scheduled foreign military engagement could be affected.

Kate will almost certainly be forced to miss a number of high-profile events she might otherwise been expected to attend.

She and William have regularly turned up for the Baftas, the biggest night in British cinema, held in central London this month, but this would be too soon for the recovering princess.

She is also likely to miss out on a long-standing royal tradition in March  handing out shamrocks to the Irish Guards on St Patrick's Day in her role as the regiment's honorary colonel.

The annual Commonwealth Day Service, also held in March, is likely to have to go ahead without her. The princess, patron of English rugby, is also unlikely to be well enough to attend the Guinness Six Nations, which kicks off next month.

Kate attends the Royal Variety Performance at the Royal Albert Hall in London last November

Police officers stand outside The London Clinic where Kate is staying after surgery

The Princess marked her birthday just over a week ago, with the monarchy's official social media accounts sharing a new behind-the-scenes photo of the princess at the King's coronation.

Kate usually enjoys good health but was previously admitted to hospital while pregnant after suffering from hyperemesis gravidarum - severe morning sickness.

A palace spokesman said: 'Her Royal Highness The Princess of Wales was admitted to The London Clinic for planned abdominal surgery.

'The surgery was successful and it is expected that she will remain in hospital for ten to fourteen days, before returning home to continue her recovery. Based on the current medical advice, she is unlikely to return to public duties until after Easter.

'The Princess of Wales appreciates the interest this statement will generate. She hopes that the public will understand her desire to maintain as much normality for her children as possible; and her wish that her personal medical information remains private.

'Kensington Palace will, therefore, only provide updates on Her Royal Highness' progress when there is significant new information to share.

'The Princess of Wales wishes to apologise to all those concerned for the fact that she has to postpone her upcoming engagements.

'She looks forward to reinstating as many as possible, as soon as possible.'

Royal expert Phil Dampier said: 'Wishing the Princess of Wales a speedy recovery after abdominal surgery. We don't know the details but clearly this was serious as she will be in hospital for a fortnight and needs up to three months to recover.'

And the Queen's former press secretary Dickie Arbiter said on X: 'I am sure I speak for everyone in wishing HRH a speedy recovery.'

Like the rest of the royal family, Kate has had a busy, turbulent past couple of years, with the Platinum Jubilee and the late Queen's death in 2022, and the coronation in 2023, as well as adjusting to her new role as the Princess of Wales.

Kate was admitted to The London Clinic (pictured) for planned abdominal surgery

The Waleses also faced the ongoing rift between William and his brother the Duke of Sussex, with Harry making controversial claims about Charles, Camilla, William and Kate in his Netflix documentary and memoir Spare.

William's former university flatmate has carefully carved out her charity work since marrying the prince in 2011 and becoming an HRH, focusing on mental health and early childhood.

Seen as the monarchy's safe pair of hands and as having a 'keep calm and carry on' approach, Kate has been heralded as channelling the same characteristics of charm, politeness and toughness as the late Queen Mother, who was once described as 'a marshmallow made on a welding machine'.

Jamie Lowther-Pinkerton, who was private secretary to the Cambridges and the Duke of Sussex, and used to work for the Queen Mother, told The Times: 'She takes time to talk to people. She is tough.

'She has got that Queen Mother feel in her, so that when things need doing, she is there to do them.'

The London Clinic, based on the corner of Devonshire Place and Marylebone Road in central London, is the UK's largest independent private hospital.

The clinic first opened its doors in 1932 and its previous patients include Prince Philip, Princess Margaret, actress Elizabeth Taylor and US president John F Kennedy.
Motorists were trapped in blizzards and an ambulance overturned in heavy snow as the big freeze continued to bring chaos to Britain ahead of a thaw on Sunday.

Police, gritters and tractors went to help trapped drivers in a major rescue operation on the A9 in the Highlands yesterday when vehicles became stuck in the snow.

High winds and drifting snow made the road impassable and efforts to reach them and help them to safety took several hours. The road's snow gates were closed at Helmsdale and Dunbeath and police advised people to avoid travelling in the area.

This morning, temperatures fell to -9C (16F) in Dorset and -8C (18F) in West London, Oxfordshire and Hampshire at the start of another day of sub-zero conditions.

Elsewhere rail commuters faced disruption due to the freezing weather this morning, including on Southeastern between London Victoria and Beckenham Junction after ice prevented trains getting electricity from the third rail at Sydenham Hill.

ScotRail trains were also impacted by the weather between Glasgow, Edinburgh and Inverness; and between Inverness and Wick - with a raft of cancellations imposed.

Stormy weather will follow this Sunday with 4in (100mm) of rain and 70mph gusts on the way. But a 20C-plus temperature swing will then sweep away the Arctic chill and make parts of southern England as mild as the French Riviera by early next week.

Train operator South Western Railway has warned of disruption from Sunday into Monday with services expected to have to run at a reduced speed due to the winds.

An ambulance crashed off the A98 and overturned in heavy snow in Aberdeenshire yesterday

A tractor battles through snow drifts on the A9 at Caithness in the Highlands yesterday

A commuter crosses London Bridge on a freezing morning today as temperatures remain low

Early morning swimmers take to the freezing Serpentine at Hyde Park in London today

The Trafalgar Square fountains in London remain frozen this morning amid the big chill

A person walks through a frost-covered Blackheath Common in South East London today

A thick frost covers a car amid sub-zero temperatures in Greenwich, South East London, today

Yesterday, Bear Scotland  which manages Scotland's trunk roads  shared pictures online of gritters battling the elements to clear drifting snow from the A9.

Police Scotland said: 'The A9 between Helmsdale and Dunbeath remains closed due to high winds and drifting snow making the road conditions impassable.'

Several other roads in the Highlands, including stretches of the A836 and A897, were closed.

An ambulance also crashed off the A98 and overturned in heavy snow yesterday in Aberdeenshire. No one on board is thought to have been hurt in the accident between Banff and Fraserburgh.

But conditions are now set to change, with Atlantic frontal systems due to sweep in this weekend and temperatures initially rising to 11C (52F) in South West England tomorrow.

And by Monday and Tuesday, daytime highs of up to 15C (59F) are possible in southern England.

Benson, in Oxfordshire, which was England's coldest place on Monday night into Tuesday, falling to -8.3C (17F), is set to reach 13C (55F) during the day by this coming Tuesday, a difference of over 21C.

Britain's highest temperatures early next week, under the milder air, are set to be on a par with those in Nice, on the south coast of France.

Strong winds and heavy rain are set to accompany the milder weather, however, and a 24-hour warning for gales has been issued covering the western half of the country from 6am on Sunday until 6am on Monday.

An ice warning is in place for western parts of the country this morning which expires at 10am

There is also a yellow ice warning in place for Northern Ireland this morning until midday

An amber weather warning was in force for the Highlands, Western Isles, Orkney and Shetland yesterday as forecasters said four to eight inches of snow could fall.

More than 350 schools remained shut. Around 15,000 pupils in the Highland Council area were affected, and all schools in the Northern and Western Isles, as well as most of those in Aberdeenshire, were closed.

Yellow alerts for snow and ice remain in effect across Scotland today, with the Met Office warning wintry showers could bring disruption to transport and travel.

A warning covering northern Scotland has been extended east into the Grampian region and across the Northern Isles.

The warning is in place until 3pm today, while a similar alert across Scotland's south, including Glasgow and Edinburgh, expires at 12pm.

Elsewhere today, yellow warnings for ice are in place for much of Northern Ireland and the western coast of England and Wales until 10am.

Overnight temperatures in Scotland again fell below freezing, with data indicating that the mercury dipped to -10C in Eskdalemuir, Dumfries and Galloway, at around 8pm last night.

However, the mercury climbed upward in the region from then on, with the same village sitting at -1C at 5am this morning, as per preliminary Met Office data.

From tomorrow until Monday the weather is forecast to turn milder, with wet and windy conditions expected through the weekend and into next week.

The heaviest rain is expected on Sunday - with 30mm (1.2in) to 50mm (2in) falling widely and the potential for peaks of 80mm (3.1in) to 100mm (4in) over hills, the forecaster said.

Milder conditions will also result in the thaw of lying snow.

A yellow weather warning for rain has been issued for Sunday and Monday, covering most of the country, with a yellow wind warning issued for parts of Scotland.

Met Office deputy chief meteorologist David Hayter said: 'Conditions will stay cold on Friday but a change in weather type is on the way, bringing milder air for the UK during the course of the weekend.

'This change will initially be relatively benign in terms of weather impacts, with a dry Friday and start to Saturday for many in the south of the UK.

A wind warning for gusts of up to 70mph in western areas has been imposed for Sunday

A wind warning for gusts of up to 70mph in western areas has been imposed for Sunday

Forecasters expect up to 4in (100mm) of rain could fall in some western areas on Sunday

The strongest winds hitting on Sunday into Monday could bring gusts of up to 70mph

'The Atlantic influence will then introduce some wet and windy weather, with a deep area of low pressure approaching from the west on Sunday.

'While detail is still being worked out, we expect windy weather for many and some heavy rain in the west and so we've issued warnings for Sunday for wind and rain.

'Watch out for updates to these warnings on Friday and Saturday as the forecast develops.'

Scotland may not enjoy the dry spell experienced by much of the country, with showers continuing today and into tomorrow.

The UK had its coldest night of the winter so far on Tuesday into Wednesday, when Dalwhinnie in the Highlands fell to -14C (6.8F).
A semi-naked man high on crystal meth was found running through a village in the Czech Republic after slicing off his ears and penis before telling rescue workers 'I don't know why I did that'.

The man was first discovered running down the street of a village near the northern city of Usti nad Labem with a swollen face by police officers who quickly called paramedics to the scene.

But as the paramedics arrived, they found that the man, who was behaving 'erratically', had suffered much more serious injuries than a swollen face.

Noticing blood on his face, the paramedics moved the man's hair from his face and discovered that both of his ears had been sliced off. They quickly found that his penis had also been cut off, medics said.

'On the spot, paramedics detected the amputation of the auricle on both sides and the penis above the scrotum,' a medical report published by the paramedics said, adding that the man became volatile and unresponsive.

A semi-naked man high on crystal meth was found running through a village in the Czech Republic after slicing off his ears and penis before telling rescue workers 'I don't know why I did that' (file image)

But after being administered a sedative, the man admitted to paramedics he had sliced off his own ears and genitals before adding: 'I don't know why I did that.' The man said the swelling on his face was from falling on the ground.

Medics said the man was suffering a state of toxic psychosis after they found he had a dangerous combination of crystal meth and cannabis in his blood. Experts say such a state of toxic psychosis is similar to the effects of schizophrenia.

The man was rushed to a local hospital by the paramedics for further treatment.

The rescue service from the Usti region published the anonymised medical report to warn drug users of the effects of crystal meth, which is the most abused drug in the Czech Republic.

'There are probably a thousand reasons not to use drugs. We are adding another to this rank,' the rescue service wrote on Facebook.

'Our paramedics have recent experience with an unusual injury to a patient, probably due to amphetamine toxic psychosis. We share this experience here as a warning against the use of addictive substances, in our region most often meth.'

Rescue service spokesman Prokop Volenik added: 'In view of the really great sensitive sensitivity of the case, we will not publish more detailed information about where the event took place. Not even the district.'
Former students at an elite private school once attended by Kanye West's wife Bianca Censori have alleged they were sexually abused by teachers decades ago.

The allegations were made by three former students who attended the Carey Baptist Grammar School in Melbourne, with the alleged abuse to have occurred between the 70s and 90s.

The claims were made against three male teachers and their alleged offending relates to two girls and one boy.

Carey Baptist Grammar School, which charges fees of up to $37,976 a year, was attended by West's Australian wife Ms Censori from 2000 to 2012.

There is no suggestion Ms Censori is among the alleged victims.

The allegations were made by three former students who attended the Carey Baptist Grammar School in Melbourne , with the alleged abuse to have occurred between the 70s and 90s

The elite school was attended by Kanye West's wife Bianca Censori. There is no suggestion Ms Censori is among the alleged victims

Law firm Judy Courtin Legal is set to file proceedings over the allegations after advertising for witnesses to come forward.

'We have had quite a response already. At least six people have contacted us already today,' head of the law firm, Judy Courtin told The Herald Sun.

The firm's advertisement read: 'We would like to speak to anyone who has information or recollections about male teachers alleged to have groomed and sexually abused student(s) at Carey Baptist Grammar School during the late 1980's'.

Carey Baptist Grammar is a co-education college attended by primary and high school students and has two campuses in Kew, near Melbourne's CBD, and Donvale in the city's north-east.

The school's website states that the college has a 'zero tolerance' to child abuse.

'Carey is committed to providing a child safe environment, acting in the best interests of children and their wellbeing at all times,' their website states.

The school's principal Johnathan Walter sent out a letter to former students on Friday saying the college has not been made aware of the allegations but asked alumni to come forward if they had been 'subjected to sexual abuse' at the school.

The school's principal sent out a letter to former students on Friday saying the college has not been made aware of the allegations

'The School is not aware of the basis of these claims and have not been contacted by these former students,' Mr Walter said.

He added that the college has strict measures in place to ensure students are kept safe and rigorous standards are applied before staff are hired at the school.

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Carey Baptist Grammar for further comment.

The prestigious college is one of Victoria's most expensive schools.
Post Office legal advice on Mr Jenkins was sent to the company's insurers

The Post Office knew as far back as 2013 that its star witness in prosecutions against subpostmasters could not be relied on  as a new investigation revealed that it had notified its insurers of the risks posed by his testimonies in court.

Gareth Jenkins, the Cambridge maths graduate who served as the architect for the flawed Horizon accounting system, is believed to have requested immunity from prosecution before he gives evidence to the Post Office Inquiry.

Evidence he gave in court that Horizon was 'not corrupt' helped to wrongfully convict hundreds of subpostmasters, who are now to be reprieved after their lives were ruined as the Post Office refused to admit responsibility for the scandal.

But a paper released in 2020, known as 'the Clarke advice' after Simon Clarke, the Post Office lawyer who authored it, revealed the Post Office had known his evidence was flawed  and it has now emerged they infomed insurers of this a decade ago.

In the report, Mr Clarke said Mr Jenkins' credibility as an expert witness was 'fatally undermined' because he had allegedly failed to tell a number of trials about the problems with the Horizon system, which he said was 'not corrupt'.

Fujitsu IT worker Gareth Jenkins' credibility as an expert witness was 'fatally undermined' by allegedly failing to disclose knowledge of the Horizon system's flaws, according to notes made by the Post Office's own lawyers in 2013

A letter seen by Channel 4 News (pictured) found that legal advice on the evidence of Mr Jenkins had been referred to the Post Office's insurers

But it has now emerged that the advice was saved to a document entitled 'Insurance Risks' and submitted to the Post Office's insurers so they were aware of the risks allegedly associated with Mr Jenkins' testimonies.

An investigation by Channel 4 News found two Post Office Limited (POL) board meetings discussed the fact insurers had been notified  held on on September 25 and October 31 2013.

It is not known whether the board was shown the contents of the Clarke advice during those discussions.

READ MORE: Tech expert who built faulty Horizon IT system and gave evidence used to convict hundreds of postmasters demands immunity before agreeing to appear at public inquiry Advertisement

A letter written by the Post Office's own solicitors, seen by Channel 4, notes: 'The document was saved with the name 'Insurance Risks' and there are contemporaneous emails which confirm it was provided by way of a notification to POL/RMG (Royal Mail Group)'s insurers.'

It continues: 'Our inquiries indicate that POL board meetings took place on 25 September and 31 October 2013...it is clear from these minutes that the Board was aware of the insurance notification but it is not clear whether they had sight of the document itself.'

All the while, private prosecutions of subpostmasters continued up until 2015.

Conservative MP Duncan Baker, himself a former subpostmaster, said it was 'absolutely shocking' to hear the Post Office had sought to make insurers aware of the problems with Horizon and Mr Jenkins' evidence while continuing prosections.

'Every stone we un-turn we find even more to worry about,' he told Channel 4.

'It feels as though things have constantly been covered up and the reputation of the Post Office has been protected at the expense of thousands and thousands of innocent men and women who have now suffered with this miscarriage of justice.

'Those board executives right up to the chief executive, Paula Vennells, must have known all about this.'

MailOnline has contacted the Post Office for comment. It, and Fujitsu, have declined to comment throughout the public inquiry, but the Post Office previously said it was 'sorry for the impact of the Horizon scandal on the lives of victims'.

Ms Vennells, who was CEO from 2012 until 2019, recently handed back her CBE following a million-strong public petition urging her to return the gong.

Post Office CEO Paula Vennells (pictured in 2013 during her tenure at the top of the firm) has handed back her CBE following immense public pressure

The Clarke advice was made public in 2020 after barristers Paul Marshall and Flora Page, having been sent it by the Post Office solicitors, sent it respectively to the Metropolitan Police and to a journalist.

The Court of Appeal later decided the pair had no case to answer on the issue of contempt of court after it was raised by the Post Office in response to the advice being disseminated publicly.

Mr Clarke wrote in his advice to the Post Office that Mr Jenkins allegedly 'failed to disclose material known to him but which undermines his expert opinion'.

READ MORE: Post Office scandal reaches new low as chief executive Nick Read admits Horizon scandal victims' money may have been used to pay fat cats who oversaw their torment Advertisement

He wrote: 'Accordingly, Dr Jenkins' credibility as an expert witness is fatally undermined; he should not be asked to provide expert evidence in any current or future prosecution.'

It has been discussed several times during the ongoing Post Office Inquiry.

Jason Beer KC, counsel to the inquiry, said in an opening statement in October 2022: 'Mr Clarke highlighted that expert statements had been provided by Gareth Jenkins in criminal proceedings, all attesting to the robustness and integrity of Horizon and expressed in terms and were phrased in such a way that would drive the reader to the conclusion that there must not be any bugs.'

Mr Jenkins' role in the Horizon scandal, as well as that of another Fujitsu expert, is currently the subject of a Metropolitan Police investigation. Scotland Yard has also placed the Post Office itself on watch as it began a criminal investigation into allegations of potential fraud offences.

He has twice been called to give evidence at the inquiry but on both occasions has been postponed after, each time, the Post Office made last-minute submissions of thousands of documents.

The software architect has also twice sought an application to the Attorney General, the UK Government's chief legal adviser, to grant him immunity from prosecution.

But in his most recent ruling in October, inquiry chair Sir Wyn Williams said: 'I am satisfied that Mr Jenkins has not been the victim of unfairness as yet and I am determined that he should not become the victim of unfairness as the work of the Inquiry progresses.'

Approached earlier this month by the Telegraph to ask if he wished to apologise for his alleged role in the scandal, Mr Jenkins said: 'I don't want to talk. I don't have anything to say to you.'

The inquiry into the Post Office Horizon scandal is continuing with further evidence today from Paul Patterson, the boss of Fujitsu's European division, who previously said the company had a 'moral obligation' to contribute to a compensation scheme for subpostmasters whose lives were ruined in the scandal.

Yesterday, the inquiry heard that Fujitsu had 'unrestricted access' to Post Office branch systems and could make changes without postmasters' knowledge.

Fujitsu itself has agreed not to pursue any new UK Government contracts while the inquiry continues. Its value dropped $1billion (788.4million) earlier this week as Mr Patterson gave evidence.
A mother has claimed she was forced to strip naked in a cell by officers from Greater Manchester Police and was told under threat to drop complaints about the force.

Dannika Stewart said that complaints she made against the force resulted in her being hauled into a police cell and humiliated by officers who told her she must 'drop all your complaints'.

She told Sky News said that she feels the officers will 'just be after me now' and that they always will be, adding that she was scared of what other reprisals she may face.

A former detective for GMP, Maggie Oliver, said that she is not the only person who has complained about the force who has been 'targeted' for 'standing up' to them.

Ms Stewart's complaints are now being looked by an inquiry run by Dame Vera Baird, following Sky News' investigation into police strip searches and how women are treated whilst in custody.

Mother Dannika Stewart (pictured) has claimed she was forced to strip naked in a cell by officers from Greater Manchester Police and was told under threat to drop complaints about the force

Bodycam footage which shows Dannika Stewart being taken away by GMP officers

The review will be published soon and Sky has said that it will be critical of the police complaints system.

Ms Stewart reported an allegation of a sexual crime against a young person in March 2022.

She thought the crime was not being sufficiently investigated so reported it to the police watchdog, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC).

One of her complaints included reference to a recording she had made on her phone where a police officer accepted there were failures in the investigation.

Ms Stewart was told that officers wanted to speak to her Pendleton police station in Greater Manchester three months later, where she was then arrested.

She claimed the man she accused of the sex crime had accused her of blackmail. The mother said she was told to strip naked in the cell, and that if she did not officers would strip her.

She thinks police were trying to get the recording of the officer who admitted failures in the investigation from her phone SIM. Her phone was handed over without the card after she was arrested.

She said she took her tracksuit bottoms off as she knew they were going to take them off her anyway. She then took off her leggings and underwear. 'I'm just sat there naked,' she told Sky.

Posting about her ordeal on social media today, Ms Stewart said: 'I was strip searched naked and left in a cell.' She told Sky that officers walked in and out of the cell while she was naked, and one female officer stared at her breasts.

She said it was 'all about power' and they wanted to 'show who me who was boss', adding that when she left the station the sergeant on the desk told her 'you need to drop all your complaints against the police'.

Former detective Maggie Oliver, who quit GMP more than ten years ago after she blew the whistle on the force, is supporting her through the her foundation.

Former detective Maggie Oliver (pictured), who quit GMP more than ten years ago after she blew the whistle on the force, is supporting Ms Stewart through the her foundation

Police body cam from the day that Ms Stewart was arrested at Pendleton police station in Greater Manchester

She told Sky News that 'Dannika became a target' of the force, which saw her as a 'threat'. 'And what they did, they decided they were going to lock her up. I believe that was so they could seize a phone that she had disclosed to the IOPC she had evidence on of her mistreatment.'

She said, similar to the Post Office scandal, the case was about a powerful public body concealing the truth the defend its own reputation.

Ms Stewart filed another complaint to the IOPC in October 2022 about the strip search. Like her other complaint this was sent to the force's own professional standards department for an internal investigation.

Their forces report stated: 'A strip search was not conducted nor requested. I understand you removed the phone upon request in custody and then removed your outer clothing so you could change into alternative clothing that GMP supplied due to there being a cord in your bottoms.'

She says that CCTV would show she did not change into clothing provided by police and that audio would show that she was told to strip naked for the search. She asked for the footage, as she is entitled to, but the force refused to provide it.

Ms Stewart then approached the Greater Manchester Combined Authority to review the complaint after it had been dismissed.

Kate Green, deputy mayor for safer and stronger communities, undertook the review and revealed that the investigating officer 'did not review the CCTV footage from Ms Stewart's time in custody or provide her with an explanation as to why he did not review the CCTV footage or the audio recordings'.

It appears that investigator asked officers what happened and took their version of events as true with little question, resulting in Ms Green concluding that the complaint against GMP should have been upheld.

After Ms Stewart requested the CCTV again, she had been told that it had been corrupted. She said: 'They replied to my unlawful strip search denying the strip search and when trying to obtain footage they deleted the footage.'

As this review was on bail for 13 months over the allegations of blackmail, which have recently been dropped. Ms Stewart has claimed she never was presented with evidence of what the blackmail charge was to do with.

While on bail, officers reported her to social services, saying she was being 'obstructive' over the investigation she begun by reporting an alleged sex crime, leading her to fear she would lose custody of her son.

She said: 'Lies were then told to social services about me. Twice they brought my son into it so it was time to go to war. I exhausted every single avenue till I got in front of Andy Burnham and passed the evidence which was damming of his police force to him.

'Lies had been told in complaint responses. The IOPC investigated and proved my claims of lies to social service and they were told to remove them.'

While on bail, officers reported Ms Stewart (pictured) to social services, saying she was being 'obstructive' over the investigation she begun by reporting an alleged sex crime, leading her to fear she would lose custody of her son

A spokesperson for Greater Manchester Police said: 'Miss Stewart's complaints continue to be reviewed by Dame Vera Baird and the Professional Standards Directorate. Until these reviews have concluded and reported their findings to Miss Stewart, it wouldn't be right for the force to comment publicly.

'We share the concerns of the public regarding allegations of this nature and take these matters incredibly seriously. Ensuring the safety of all those brought into police custody is essential.'

The IOPC told Sky News: 'The vast majority of complaints are dealt with by forces and are only referred to the Independent Office for Police Conduct if they meet criteria set out in law.

'The new complaints system has simplified the process to make a complaint, making it more accessible to members of the public who are dissatisfied with the service they receive from a police force.

'In many cases, if a complainant is dissatisfied with the outcome, they will have the right to have the force's handling of the matter reviewed. In the most serious cases, this will be done with by the IOPC and ensures independent oversight of the system.'
A top Houthi official has declared Russian and Chinese ships will be guaranteed safe passage through the Red Sea and slammed the US and UK for their support of Israel.

Senior political adviser and Houthi spokesman Mohammed al-Bukhaiti said his rebels were waging an 'ethical' war, adding the attacks on merchant vessels would only cease when Israel stops all military operations in Gaza.

'The madness and idiocy of the USA and Great Britain have played against themselves - now their ships will not be able to use one of the key trade arteries in the world.

'The US and UK will need to stop aggression against Yemen, stop the war in the Gaza Strip and ensure the uninterrupted flow of medicine, fuel and food - only then will we immediately stop all our operations in the Red Sea,' he told Russian outlet Izvestia.

'The war we are waging today is one of a kind in terms of its moral and ethical frontier... the whole world sympathises with Yemen's heroic stand to end the genocide of the Palestinian people.

'As for all other countries, including Russia and China, their shipping in the region is not threatened. Moreover, we are ready to ensure the safety of the passage of their ships in the Red Sea, because free navigation plays a significant role for our country,' he concluded.

Hours after Bukhaiti's interview with Izvestia, the Houthis claimed yet another attack on a US ship early this morning.

The Houthis' campaign has disrupted global commerce, stoked fears of infaltion and deepened concern that fallout from the Israel-Hamas war could destabilise the Middle East.

Houthi fighters brandish their weapons during a protest following US and British forces strikes

This photograph provided by the Indian Navy shows U.S.-owned ship Genco Picardy that came under attack Wednesday from a bomb-carrying drone launched by Yemen's Houthi rebels in the Gulf of Aden, Thursday, Jan.18, 2024

Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Carney (DDG 64) fires missiles to shoot down a combination of Houthi missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles in the Red Sea

Mohammed Al-Bukhaiti, a member of the Political Council of Yemen's Houthi rebel movement and the group's international spokesman

While the Iran-backed rebels maintained they had struck the commercial vessel in the Gulf of Aden, the US military later said the group's missiles had missed their mark.

The Houthis said in a statement posted to social media that their 'naval forces... carried out a targeting operation against an American ship' - identified as the Chem Ranger - 'with several appropriate naval missiles, resulting in direct hits'.

The US military's Central Command, which is responsible for the Middle East, said the Houthis 'launched two anti-ship ballistic missiles at M/V Chem Ranger, a Marshall Island-flagged, US-owned, Greek-operated tanker' on Thursday night.

'The crew observed the missiles impact the water near the ship. There were no reported injuries or damage to the ship,' the command said on social media platform X.

Continued Houthi aggression against vessels in and around the Red Sea has led to strikes in Yemen by US and British forces, with the United States reporting its latest attack on Houthi targets on Thursday.

The specialist website Marine Traffic said the Chem Ranger was a chemical tanker sailing from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, to Kuwait.

US President Joe Biden conceded on Thursday that US counterstrikes had yet to deter the Houthi attacks, but insisted the Navy would continue on its current trajectory.

'Are [US strikes] going to continue? Yes,' he said pointedly.

But Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov warned that continued allied bombing of Yemen would only anger the Houthis and strengthen their resolve.

'The most important thing now is to stop the aggression against Yemen, because the more the Americans and the British bomb, the less willing the Houthis are to talk,' he told reporters in Moscow.

Houthi supporters attend a protest against the United States-led airstrikes on Friday, Jan 12, 2024, in Sanaa, Yemen

The Biden administration on Wednesday returned the Houthi rebels to a list of terrorist groups.

Being placed on the 'Specially Designated Global Terrorist' (SDGT) list will see the Iran-aligned group hit with harsh sanctions that aim to cut off funding and weapons the Houthis have used to attack or hijack ships in vital Red Sea shipping lanes.

'These attacks fit the textbook definition of terrorism,' said one of three administration officials who briefed reporters ahead of the announcement on condition of anonymity.

'We will continue to counter and blunt Iranian malign influence wherever we can. So of course the choice to move away from Iran is now in the hands of the Houthis,' said a second official, adding that the US would consider lifting the designation if the attacks on shipping cease.

But Houthi official Bukhaiti said Washington's move to add the movement to its list of terrorist organisations was 'just another confirmation of the helplessness and insolvency of the United States'.

'Such a step will not affect anything, this will only demonstrate what is left of the authority of the West,' he declared.

'Today our movement has gained great popularity not only in Yemen, in the Arab and Islamic world, but also at the international level.

'The US position in this conflict has completely exposed all the false statements about the spread of democracy, the protection of human rights and freedom, which no one believes in anymore,' he concluded.
A Virgin Atlantic flight from Manchester to New York was cancelled moments before take off after a passenger spotted faulty bolts on the plane's wing.

The terrifying incident comes less than two weeks after a Virgin plane had to make an emergency landing in Manchester after smoke filled the cockpit.

The VS127 flight to John F Kennedy International Airport was prevented from taking off at the last minute on Monday to give engineers time to do 'maintenance checks' after a passenger discovered the tops of four fasteners were missing from one of the wing's panels.

The passenger informed cabin crew on board before specialist engineers took a look and the flight was cancelled as a 'precautionary measure'.

A Virgin Atlantic flight from Manchester to New York was cancelled moments before take off after a passenger raised concerns about the plane's wing [Source: MEN]

The terrifying incident comes less than two weeks after a Virgin plane had to make an emergency landing in Manchester after smoke filled the cockpit [Stock Photo]

The passenger informed cabin crew on board before specialist engineers took a look and the flight was cancelled as a 'precautionary measure' [Stock Photo]

Passengers on board the faulty plane still made it to New York but on alternative flights [Stock Photo]

On January 7 a Virgin Atlantic plane headed for Barbados was forced to turn back to Manchester Airport after smoke started billowing around the jet's cockpit.

The flight was just 20 minutes into its journey to the Caribbean when pilots informed air traffic controllers of a 'dense and acrid smell of smoke'.

Airbus Local Chief Wing Engineer for A330 Neil Firth told the Manchester Evening News that each wing panel on an A330 has 119 fasteners.

The affected panel was a secondary structure panel used to improve the aerodynamics of the plane and the four tops that were missing 'did not impact the structural integrity of the wing, the load capability of the wing or the ability of the aircraft to operate safely'.

The eight-hour transatlantic flight was still cancelled as a precaution and the missing tops were later replaced.

Passengers on board the faulty plane still made it to New York but on alternative flights.

The airline said that the safety of customers and the onboard crew was its 'top priority' and that this 'was not compromised at any point'.

It added that it 'always works well above industry safety standards' and that the aircraft is now back in service.

A Virgin Atlantic spokesperson said: 'The VS127 from Manchester to New York JFK on January 15, operating on an Airbus A330, was cancelled to provide time for precautionary additional engineering maintenance checks, which allowed our team the maximum time to complete their inspections.

'The safety of our customers and crew is always our top priority and this was not compromised at any point.

'We always work well above industry safety standards and the aircraft is now back in service.

'We'd like to apologise to our customers for the delay to their journeys.'
Some might call it divine providence, others would say it was sheer luck.

But for Private Sydney Alexander Cross, the reason why he was saved from death by a whisker likely didn't matter.

New research has unearthed the incredible story of how the First World War soldier survived being shot by a sniper when the bullet hit his pocketbook.

The lethal projectile hit his chest but stopped halfway through the pocketbook that was in his breast pocket along with photographs and papers.

The bullet made it as far as the words from the Bible's 91st Psalm: 'A thousand shall fall by thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee.'

After the brush with death in 1915, Private Cross, who was known as 'Syd', spent time convalescing at Devon country home Knightshayes Court, which had been converted into a war hospital.

New research has unearthed the incredible story of how First World War soldier Private Sydney Alexander Cross survived being shot by a sniper when the bullet his pocketbook

An article in Devon newspaper the Western News in February 1916 told how the lethal projectile hit his chest but stopped halfway through the pocketbook that was in his breast pocket along with photographs and papers. The bullet made it as far as the words from the Bible's psalm 91: 'A thousand shall fall by thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee'

The research, carried out by the National Trust in partnership with Findmypast, uncovered a newspaper clipping which featured Private Cross's incredible story.

He was serving in the ill-fated Gallipoli campaign when he was shot.

An article in Devon newspaper the Western News in February 1916 said: 'Out of the welter of war there come from time to time, like gold from the flaming furnace, glories whose throbbing interest thrills and amazes us.'

It added: 'Pte. Cross was with our brave lads on the Gallipoli Peninsula, and one day, whilst on duty at Jefferson's Post, a stray bullet, probably from a Turkish sniper's rifle, struck him full on in the chest.

'In the ordinary way the bullet would have driven its silent message home, but fortunately Pte. Cross had in his breast pocket a pay book, a pocketbook and some photos and a few other odds and ends.

'Strange as it may seem these "scraps of paper" saved his life. The bullet, having pierced the books and the photos, came to a halt half way through a testament which he carried, and inside which was a booklet of texts given him by Mrs Drury, wife of Col. Drury, of Weymouth, on the regiment's departure from England.

'The interest of the story does not finish there. By a curious coincidence (or do the Gods thus speak to man?) - the bullet penetrated the text book as far as, but no further than the following text: A thousand shall fall by thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee.

'Strange message to come through the nozzle of a Turkish rifle, was it not? "A thousand shall fall by thy side." They did. "But it shall not come nigh thee." It didn't.

'The bullet simply made a dent after the word "side" and checked its career.'

Private Cross's story is part of a new display throwing light on the soldiers, nurses, family and staff who were at Knightshayes Court, which served as a Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD) hospital during the First World War.

Private Cross was born in Australia in April 1896 and served in several British regiments during the war.

Private Cross is seen holding the pocketbook that saved his life by stopping a Turkish sniper's bullet

The research carried out by the National Trust and Findmypast uncovered Private Cross's military record

He returned to the front from Knightshayes in 1917 but was later discharged following a bout of malaria.

Data from the 1921 census reveals he later married wife Elizabeth and went on to work as a steward for the Cunard Shipping Company.

Later records reveal that in 1926 he was serving as a dining car attendant on the railways. By the time of the 1939 Register he was a water in Battersea, south London.

Private Cross was not the only soldier recovering at Knightshayes who made the newspapers after a remarkable escape.

After the brush with death in 1915, Private Cross, who was known as 'Syd', spent time convalescing at Devon country home Knightshayes Court, which had been converted into a war hospital

Described in the same Western News article as "a story of modern miracles", Corporal Cooper from the South Staffordshire Regiment was wounded by a shrapnel shell which burst over his trench in Belgium in 1915, leaving him with 119 wounds.

He also went on to recuperate at Knightshayes.

The property, which was built for the Heathcote-Amory family, also served as a convalescent home for US troops in the Second World War.

The lavish listed property was built in the late 19th century.

Conservative politician Sir Derick Heathcote-Amory, who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1958 until 1960, was the grandson of Sir John, who commissioned Knightshayes.

Knightshayes is now cared for by the National Trust.

The Knightshayes display opens to the public on Saturday, January 20 for weekends, and then seven days a week from Saturday 10 February.

For further information and opening times see www.nationaltrust.org.uk/knightshayes
Quito, Jan 19 (UNI) Ecuadorian authorities have arrested 2,174 people, 158 of them on "terrorism" charges, over the past nine days amid escalating violence in the country, the National Police said Thursday.











On January 9, President Daniel Noboa declared an "internal armed conflict" in the country and mobilised the army to combat organised crime linked to drug trafficking.











Authorities have since carried out 23,610 operations, including 61 "against terrorist groups," the National Police said on social media X, formerly Twitter.











Five members of criminal organisations were killed, it said, adding that authorities seized more than 6 tonnes of illicit drugs and substantial amounts of firearms, knives, explosives, ammunition, and mobile phones.











Police and soldiers also raided two prisons in search of weapons and other banned items smuggled in by inmates with ties to criminal rings.











Prison riots and a breakout led the government to declare a 60-day state of emergency on January 8.











More than 100 prison guards and officials who had been taken hostage by rioting inmates were released last week.

UNI/XINHUA XC SY AKS
Home Office officials have hired an aircraft hanger and mock fuselage so security staff can practise forcing Channel migrants onto flights to Rwanda, it was claimed today.

The facility will allow them to develop tactics to overcome situations including the use of violence, 'playing dead' and 'dirty protests' where deportees deliberately soil themselves to avoid getting on board.

The facility at an undisclosed location has been hired on a year-long lease, the Times reported, as Rishi Sunak gears up for a fight to get his Safety of Rwanda Bill into law over the head of Lords opposition.

Peers have claimed the flights are 'a step towards totalitarianism' and today the former leader of the Scottish Tories cast doubt on whether anyone would be sent to Rwanda at all.

Ahead of the House of Lords debating the legislation, Baroness Ruth Davidson said there 'are dogs in the street that know' that deportation flights are 'probably never going to happen'.

The first battle will be on January 29 when peers are expected to debate the legislation. It could clear the Lords by the middle of March but if they dig their heels in they could delay it for months.

The facility at an undisclosed location has been hired on a year-long lease, the Times reported, as Rishi Sunak gears up for a fight to get his Safety of Rwanda Bill into law over the head of Lords opposition.

The first battle will be on January 29 when peers are expected to debate the legislation. It could clear the Lords by the middle of March but if they dig their heels in they could delay it for months.

Ahead of the House of Lords debating the legislation, Baroness Ruth Davidson said there 'are dogs in the street that know' that deportation flights are 'probably never going to happen'.

Mr Sunak today said that he is 'determined' to get his Rwanda Bill through Parliament, with the legislation set for stern opposition in the House of Lords.

Speaking to broadcasters while on a visit to Hampshire, the Prime Minister said: 'I think it's really important that we stop the boats, it's one of the priorities I set out to the country last year.

'I am pleased our plan is working and that we're making progress. The numbers last year were down by over a third, that hasn't happened before, so that shows that we can make a difference here.

'In order to fully solve this problem we need to have a deterrent, so that when people come here illegally they won't be able to stay and will be removed.

'That is why the Rwanda scheme is so important, and that's why I'm determined to get it through Parliament and get it up and running as quickly as possible so we can properly solve this problem.

'We have got a plan, this plan is working, if we stick with it we can deliver the change people want to see.'

Downing Street said it was 'confident' Rwanda would implement improved measures into its asylum system in time for a new treaty with the UK being ratified by Parliament.

It comes after the House of Lords International Agreements Committee said 'significant legal and practical steps' must be taken before Rwanda can be deemed safe and the treaty approved by Westminster.

Labour peer Lord Goldsmith, a former attorney general who chairs the International Agreements Committee, said: 'The Government should not ratify the Rwanda treaty until Parliament is satisfied that the protections it provides have been fully implemented, since Parliament is being asked to make a judgment, based on the treaty, that Rwanda is safe.'

The Safety of Rwanda Bill, which is designed to remove all remaining legal hurdles, cleared the Commons on Wednesday night after Tory rebels abandoned attempts to toughen it up.

Some peers are now gearing up for a constitutional clash by delaying  or even blocking  the new law. A cry of 'shame' rang out in the Lords yesterday when the Bill was introduced and one peer even claimed the legislation was a 'step towards totalitarianism'.

In comments made to The Today Podcast and broadcast on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Lady Davidson said: 'Let's have a debate about immigration, absolutely.

'Every sovereign nation should be in charge of who comes in; not everybody has a right to go to every country in the world - I completely get all of that. But where is the balance in this, rather than some of the language that is being used, some of the knots that people are getting into?

'And this thing about putting people on planes to Rwanda. I mean, there are dogs in the street that know that, one, it is probably never going to happen.

'And two, if it does, it is going to be a number so small that it makes very little difference to the bottom line.'

A Home Office spokesman said: 'Since 2015, the government has had training facilities to ensure escorts can respond professionally to the challenges of removing people with no right to be in the UK. This includes practical sessions so escorts have the skills they need to deal with different scenarios.

'As we ramp up removal activity we will continue to ensure new escorts have the training facilities necessary.'
A construction worker and father-of-three died after 'showing signs of heat stress' after leaving a job site in Queensland in sweltering conditions, a union has claimed.

Daniel Talolua Sa'u died on December 28 just hours after he left the Cross River Rail project site in Salisbury, in Brisbane's south, at about 1pm.

Police found the young father dead in his car on Colebrook Avenue in Moorooka - less than five kilometres from the job site - at about 3.30pm.

Temperatures in Salisbury soared to a sweltering 36.1C on December 28, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.

Construction worker and father-of-three Daniel Talolua Sa'u (pictured with his wife Jeraldine and their children) was found dead in his car after leaving the Cross River Rail project site in Salisbury, Brisbane's south on December 28

Authorities are still determining what caused the tradie's death but Construction, Forestry and Maritime Employees Union State Secretary Michael Ravbar said his death was likely down to 'severe heat stress'.

'One labourer  a young father  tragically passed away in late December after showing signs of severe heat stress while working on a Cross River Rail site in Salisbury,' Mr Ravbar said.

Mr Ravbar added that Cross River Rail workers had laboured through 'oppressive heat and humidity' over the Christmas and New Year break.

The union also claimed several workers were hospitalised after suffering heat stress in recent weeks, prompting staff to walk off the $6.3billion rail project on Thursday over concerns about health and safety.

Police said Mr Sa'u's exact cause of death was still under investigation and a report would be prepared for the coroner.

Workplace Health and Safety Queensland are also investigating the tragedy and will 'determine if any work-related factors contributed to the death'.

Daniel Talolua Sa'u died on December 28 just hours after he left the Cross River Rail project site in Salisbury, in Brisbane 's south, at about 1pm (pictured, illustration of Cross River Rail project's upgraded Salisbury Station)

A statement issued by a Cross River Rail Delivery Authority spokesman explained project sites were subject to strict heat management policies, while counselling had been provided to Mr Sa'u's colleagues.

'Heat is managed on site on a daily basis via task cards and Safe Work Method Statements, and shade shelters, air-conditioned crib rooms, chilled water, and heat monitors are available,' the statement read.

'Given the recent spate of warm weather, extra emphasis is being placed on heat management activities.'

Heat management activities include safety officers who monitor sites to ensure it complies with acceptable levels and 'toolbox talks' to remind workers to take breaks and rehydrate.

The statement added ambulances were called when workers reported heat-related symptoms - with patients treated on site by paramedics or taken to hospital for further assessment 'in line with heat management policies'.

The grief-stricken family of Mr Sa'u shared a touching tribute to the father of three young girls, describing him as an 'extraordinary man'.

Construction, Forestry and Maritime Employees Union State Secretary Michael Ravbar (pictured) said Mr Sa'u had suffered 'severe heat stress' on the day he died

A GofundMe, started by Eden Mataito, revealed that Mr Sa'u had been heading back to his family home in Zillmere when he died.

'Our world was changed forever when we suddenly lost Daniel Talolua Sa'u while he was on his way home to his wife and daughters after finishing work,' Mataito wrote.

'This is an unimaginable loss and the pain of that afternoon leaves us all speechless and in disbelief.

'Daniel was a devoted husband to his wife and a loving father to his three young girls. He was a great provider, a strong leader for his family and a very hard worker.'

At the time of publication, the fundraiser has received 100 donations totalling $7,055 and has a goal of raising $20,000.

Salisbury Station is one of a number of stations on the Beenleigh line being upgraded as part of the $6.3billion Cross River Rail project.
A 950 stuffed pike has had its day in court, as three horse-riding sisters lost a bizarre 6.8m fight with their brother over the family fortune.

Former aspiring Team GB Olympic horsewoman Charlotte Springall, 48, and her sisters Victoria Delville-Cutts, 45, and Cecilia Delville-Lindsay, 55, started a legal war with their brother, Alister Cutts, 51, over the future of the multimillion-pound family farm in the New Forest.

Following the death of their wealthy parents, control of the farm was left in the hands of trustees headed by the siblings' cousin Paul Cutts, who decided to allow Alister, 51, to buy it for 4.2m - allegedly a huge 'discount' on the open market value of 6.8m.

They sued at London's High Court, claiming the trustees had breached their duties by treating Alister more favourably than themselves as the other beneficiaries of the trust.

At the heart of the row was a 950 vintage stuffed pike, bought at auction for Paul Cutts by Alister's staff, which the sisters insisted was evidence that Alister was their cousin's favourite.

Charlotte Springall, 48, has lost a lawsuit alongside her sister Victoria and Cecilia contesting the sale of Folds Farm in Fordingbridge, Hampshire, to their brother Alister for 4.2million

Charlotte (left) and sisters Victoria Delville-Cutts (right) and Cecilia received the sale money from the farm after debts had been cleared, but they argued its market price was 6.8million

But Judge Julia Clark has now dismissed the sister's fish argument as a red herring, handing victory - and the farm - to their brother at the 4.2m price tag.

The siblings are the children of south London garage chain millionaire Oliver Cutts, who rose from being a south London coalman to a successful tycoon, ploughing much of his multimillion-pound fortune into Folds Farm, Fordingbridge, Hampshire, which passed to his widow Susan Cutts upon his death in 1995.

The farm boasts a thriving livery stable operation and heritage breed cattle and pigs, which are farmed by Alister alongside his plant hire business, as well as lucrative trout fishing in the River Avon and a glamping site.

Before their mother's death, the siblings shared the farm, with Charlotte - who now runs her own stud and stables - and then Victoria running the equestrian yard.

But a 'deep rift' between the siblings over the future of the farm developed in the wake of the death of family matriarch Susan in 2015.

The farm was left in the hands of trustees by Susan, who instructed them in a letter of 'deathbed wishes' to make every effort to keep it in the family.

The trustees, headed by the siblings' cousin Paul Cutts - ultimately decided to 'assign' the whole farm to Alister for 4.2m - with that money to be split between the sisters after debts are cleared.

They made that move having decided it was unrealistic for the siblings to jointly own and run the farm anymore as they had fallen out so badly.

But the furious sisters sued, complaining their brother was getting the holding for 2.6m under its open market worth of 6.8m.

Alister Cutts (left) with his sister Charlotte Springall (right)

Pictured: South London garage chain millionaire Oliver Cutts with his wife Susan Cutts

Victoria Delville-Cutts (left), Cecilia Delville-Lindsay (right) and their sister Charlotte unsuccessfully fought to stop trustees from giving the family farm to their brother

They told the judge, Master Julia Clark, that the trustees had acted unfairly and accused their cousin Mr Cutts of displaying favouritism, as he is 'close and friendly' with their brother.

The sisters argued that the purchase of a stuffed pike at a Bonham's auction for 950 by one of Alister's staff for their cousin was a key piece of evidence to support that argument.

The court heard Alister had instructed his assistants to buy the vintage fish, having learned that it had been caught by his cousin's father.

Giving evidence, Victoria, who runs a boutique stable on the Belgium-Holland border specialising in equine salt therapy, said the sisters were being treated unfairly.

Victoria claimed the trustees had a duty to act impartially, but favoured Alister, telling the judge: 'The mathematics says it. It's heart-breaking. You are either fair or not fair.

'My sisters and I don't mind Alister buying the farm - but at the correct rate.'

But Mr Cutts insisted: 'I'm no closer to Alister than any of the others.'

Giving her ruling, Master Clark rejected any suggestion of favouritism by the family trustees, and dismissed the evidence of the stuffed fish.

Pictured: Paul Cutts, head of the trustees in charge of the family money

The sisters say the farm (pictured) is worth at least 6.8million and possibly 10million

'Mr Cutts sets out that, in 2013, Alister let him know that a stuffed pike that had previously belonged to Mr Cutts' father was coming up for sale at an auction,' she explained.

'Alister offered to bid on the pike on Mr Cutts' behalf; and Alister's assistant managed to buy it for 950, which Mr Cutts refunded with an extra 50 for the assistant.

'Mr Cutts saw this as returning a favour: He had told Alister about a stuffed chub which had belonged to (Alister's dad) Oliver coming up for auction at Bonhams; and Alister and Susan went to the auction and bought it.

'The suggestion that these dealings show a level of closeness between Mr Cutts and Alister which would affect Mr Cutts' conduct as a director of the trustees is in my judgment unarguable.'

Ruling in Alister's favour, the judge highlighted Susan's desire that the farm should stay in the family, pointing out that none of her daughters seemed to have tried to take it on after her death.

She added that the trustees had also comprehensively analysed the competing property valuations on the farm and their decision was reasonable.

'Alister was effectively the only candidate and the fact that the trustees allowed him into occupation is not evidence of bias or favouritism,' she concluded, approving the trustees' decision to transfer Alister the farm for 4.2million despite his sisters' protests.

Horsewoman Ms Springall aspired to ride for Team GB in the 2012 Olympics but her dream ended when her horse, Folds Gretna Vow, was found dead in the New Forest after an apparent knife attack.

At the time, Ms Springall said she was convinced it was a deliberate attack, telling the BBC: 'She had a large wound to her left underarm which went from her chest up to her shoulder. It looked like a stab wound.

'It has dashed my Olympic hopes totally. I broke her, I produced her, it takes years and lots of time and effort.'
A woman has been bitten by a snake at a beach in Sydney.

The woman, in her 30s, was walking in bushland next to Great Mackerel Beach in the Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park when she was bitten at about 10.30am on Friday.

It's understood she stepped on the animal, leading it to bite her, 7News reported.

It is unclear what species of snake bit the woman but it was said to be 'dark-coloured', suggesting it could have been a deadly brown snake.

The woman was airlifted to Northern Beaches Hospital in a stable condition.

The woman, in her 30s, was walking in bushland next to Great Mackerel Beach in the Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park when she was bitten at about 10.30am on Friday
A social worker whose 'pleasant and playful' elderly terrier bit a passing businessman on the leg will now lose her job after being convicted of owning a dog dangerously out of control.

Gillian Donagh, 64, had her 12-year-old dog Lyra on a lead when her pet unexpectedly bit Ronen Goodfriend on his right calf as they walked past each other at Crosby Marina in Liverpool.

Mr Goodfriend was walking four dogs himself, three of which were not on a lead, and Ms Donagh later claimed this may have caused Lyra to 'overact'.

He suddenly felt a sharp pain, pulled his jeans up and saw the bite mark and blood dripping down his leg, Sefton magistrates court heard.

As a social worker, Ms Donagh cannot work with a conviction against her name and the attack also means Lyra has to wear a muzzle in public and could be destroyed if she misbehaves again.

Ms Donagh's lawyer told the court: 'It is rather ironic that the complainant's name is Mr Goodfriend as Lyra has been a good friend to the defendant's family for the entire 12 years they have had her.'

Mother-of-two Gillian Donagh, 64, had 12-year-old Lyra on a lead when the dog unexpectedly bit a passerby

Lyra was described by Ms Donagh's lawyer as a source of 'comfort and cuddles and has never previously shown any type of aggression or violence towards any person'

Ronen Goodfriend was bitten by the dog on his right calf as he and Ms Donagh walked past each other at Crosby Marina in Liverpool

Police were called following the bite attack and came to the scene at at the marina.

Officers later visited Ms Donagh, a mother-of-two, at her home in nearby Brighton le Sands, where they assessed Lyra as being 'pleasant and playful' and showing no signs of aggression.

She pleaded guilty before magistrates of being the owner of a dog dangerously out of control causing injury and was ordered to pay 200 compensation to Mr Goodfriend.

She was also fined 185 and ordered to pay 120 in costs.

Her lawyer said she had planned on continuing to work for Sefton Council but her future had 'disappeared in the twinkling of an eye'.

When MailOnline asked Sefton Council if the social worker still had a job, a spokesperson said it 'does not comment on individual matters'.

Lyra will now be subject to a contingent destruction order which could result in her being destroyed if she misbehaves again.

She must be kept on a muzzle and on a lead in public places and can only be walked by a person 18 or over.

The incident happened at 10am on April 19 last year.

Lyra will now have to wear a muzzle and be on a lead in public places. She can also only be walked by a person aged 18 or over

The criminal conviction means Ms Donagh will no longer be able to work as a social worker

The incident took place at Crosby Marina in Liverpool

Prosecutor Miss Natasha Williamson described how police had attended Ms Donagh's home following the incident.

She said: 'The dog was recorded on a body-worn camera and the dog's demeanor was described as pleasant and very playful.

'It did not display any signs of aggression. The defendant said that it was the first incident of this nature. The dog had never formed any aggression prior to this.

'The defendant appears before the court as a woman of previous character. She has no previous convictions. But the complainant has received quite a nasty bite mark to his right calf.'

In mitigation, Ms Donagh's solicitor Mark Ellis told magistrates that the victim's family had previously got along well with Ms Donagh's dog.

He said: 'Lyra is turned to for support for walking, comfort and cuddles and has never previously shown any type of aggression or violence towards any person.

'I invite you to consider references from the professional dog walker and the social worker. The dog walker has known that since the incident occurred Ms Donagh has trained Lyra to accept a muzzle, she accepts it very well. She is always on a lead.

'Mr Goodfriend had four dogs, three of which were not on leads, one was on a lead. As they walked past in close proximity suddenly Lyra unexpectedly turns and bites Mr Goodfriend.'

Ms Donagh's lawyer said she had planned on continuing to work for Sefton Council but her future had 'disappeared in the twinkling of an eye'

Lyra could be destroyed if she bites anyone again. Ms Donagh later said Lyra may have overacted due to three of the other dogs not being on a lead

Mr Ellis told the court Lyra did not run after Mr Goodfriend and by the time he had turned around it had already released her grip.

He claimed the attack was over in 'milliseconds'.

'This lady is a responsible person. She takes her responsibilities to society very seriously indeed' he added.

'She apologised at the scene and offered details to Mr Goodfriend. Regrettably Mr Goodfriend was with another person who was quite angry. He was clearly upset about what had gone on.

'The ramifications are extremely significant. She works at Sefton Council at 64 years of age and will have to continue working.

'If she has any convictions, she will be automatically barred from doing that type of work. Her conviction here today will probably mean that at 66 she will not find any work at all.

'You have before you a very contrite lady of 64 years of age, somebody who loses her good name. Her exit strategy has disappeared in a twinkling of an eye.'

Mr Ellis went on to describe what had happened as an 'isolated incident' and that Ms Donagh had offered compensation to the victim.

At Sefton magistrates court Ms Donagh admitted being the owner of a dog dangerously out of control causing injury and was ordered to pay 200 compensation to Mr Goodfriend. She was also fined 185 and ordered to pay 120 in costs

He added: 'She has worked hand in hand with society for many years. She is a very thoughtful and caring person who is devastated that this happened.

'The trauma of having to come to court and walk in the dock and find herself convicted, I would respectfully submit, is punishment itself.

'People who work in the court system are so used to being here day in and day out, but people who have never been in trouble before, they come shaking like the proverbial MFI wardrobe when coming through the door.

'The court can be sure that Lyra will never act in that way again.'

Justice Michael Readitt told her: 'This has been quite a testing case to hear but the fact is that your dog attacked another person.'
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Orthodox Christians across Europe stripped off in blistering cold temperatures to immerse themselves in freezing waters today in a traditional ceremony to mark the annual Epiphany celebrations.

Despite air temperatures plunging to as low as minus 41C in some areas of Russia and eastern Europe, hundreds of thousands plunged into holes in frozen lakes and rivers as part of the religious celebration.

Bikini-clad women and topless men dunked themselves in the icy water to celebrate the Orthodox Christian feast day of Epiphany. In eastern Christianity, the feast of Epiphany commemorates the Baptism of Jesus in the River Jordan.

The Russian Orthodox Church celebrates the holiday according to the Julian calendar, and many took part in events in Russia, Kyrgystan, Belarus, Serbia, and Ukraine.

The brave men and women were seen slowly edging their way into the freezing water, their faces contorted with shock, before they plunged themselves underneath the surface.

In some areas, authorities had cut holes into ice that had covered lakes and rivers and constructed wooden steps to allow easy access into the freezing waters. But within hours of them constructing the steps, they quickly became covered with ice.

An Orthodox believer reacts as he takes an icy dip in a lake in celebration of Epiphany, near the village of Vorontsovka, some 10 km from the Kyrgyz capital of Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, on Friday

Russians celebrate the Orthodox Epiphany by immersing in icy water in temperatures as low as -41C

Russians celebrate the Orthodox Epiphany by immersing in icy water in temperatures as low as -41C

Bikini-clad women and topless men dunked themselves in the icy water to celebrate the Orthodox Christian feast day of Epiphany

A Russian Orthodox believer bathes in the ice water of the Khimki reservoir, marking the Epiphany, as the air temperature reads -6C in Moscow on Friday

A man takes a dip in icy water of the Azov Sea during celebrations of the Orthodox Christian feast of Epiphany in Mariupol, Russian-controlled Ukraine, on Friday

Russians celebrate the Orthodox Epiphany by immersing in icy water in temperatures as low as -41C

A Russian Orthodox believer cries out with shock as he hits the freezing water in Moscow, Russia, on Friday

A woman reacts while walking out of the icy water during the Epiphany celebrations in Moscow

In Moscow, Orthodox Christians lined up to plunge into the icy water of the Khimki reservoir, in -6C temperatures as medical personnel watched on.

And in Kyrgyzstan, men, women and even young children threw themselves into the freezing waters as part of their Epiphany celebrations.

In the embattled Ukrainian city of Mariupol, which is under Russian control, men could be seen plunging into a freezing river as large shards of ice floated nearby.

The tradition in recent years has been embraced by politicians and diplomats, with President Vladimir Putin known to have taken part in previous years.

This year, the Kremlin claimed that Putin, 71, immersed himself in sub zero waters to celebrate the Epiphany by clambering through a hole in the ice. But spokesman Dmitry Peskov did not specify where Putin had taken the dip nor did he publish any photos of the despot doing so.

He has not shown himself at Epiphany since 2021. Some believe his absence from a public showing of the annual ritual is a sign of his waning health.

The Kremlin in the most recent years has insisted he takes the plunge but no new pictures have been issued of the 'macho' dictator who despite being an ardent communist in Soviet times is keen to burnish his Orthodox credentials.

An Orthodox believer takes an icy dip in a lake in celebration of Epiphany, near the village of Vorontsovka, some 10 km from the Kyrgyz capital of Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, on Friday

A man takes a dip in icy water during celebrations of the Orthodox Christian feast of Epiphany in Almaty, Kazakhstan, on Friday

A woman takes a dip in icy water during celebrations of the Orthodox Christian feast of Epiphany at the Achairsky Monastery in the Omsk Region, Russia, on Friday

A man walks out of the icy water during the Epiphany celebrations in Moscow, Russia

A woman bathes into the icy water on Epiphany during a traditional Epiphany at the Great Palace Pond with the Church of the Holy Trinity in Ostankino in the background in Moscow, Russia, on Thursday night

Russian Orthodox believers take a dip in the ice cold water of a pond during the celebrations of the Orthodox Epiphany holiday, in Moscow, on Thursday night

A man takes a dip in icy water of the Azov Sea during celebrations of the Orthodox Christian feast of Epiphany in Mariupol, Russian-controlled Ukraine, on Friday

Members of the Orthodox Church and believers bathe in cold water at Lake Bagry during the Epiphany celebrations in Krakow, Poland, on Thursday night

An Orthodox Christian plunges into the icy water of a lake near the village of Vorontsovka, some 10 km from the Kyrgyz capital of Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, on Friday

An Orthodox Christian prays as she plunges into the icy water of a lake near the village of Vorontsovka in Kyrgyzstan on Friday

The head of Russia's largest and coldest region, Yakutia, close Putin-ally Aisen Nikolaev, 51, led the way plunging into an ice hold in an air temperature of -41C.

He was followed by kindergarten children in Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk who went from a warm sauna out into the -20C cold to tip buckets of cold water over themselves.

In Kemerovo region, there were 40 cold plunge pools with a night temperature of -25C. While in Novosibirsk, thousands had doused themselves in the purifying cold water despite a temperature of -25C.

In the region of Sverdlovsk, it was -15C and 90 pools were cut in the ice.

The local church told believers that it was not essential to dip for religious reasons, and it was more a folk custom which goes back to the tsarist era.

'From a spiritual point of view, immersion in a font does not make people better or worse, or cleanse from sin,' explained priest Daniil Ryabinin.

An Orthodox Christian plunges into the icy water of a lake near the village of Vorontsovka in Kyrgyzstan on Friday

A Russian Orthodox believer bathes in the ice water of the Khimki reservoir, marking the Epiphany, on Friday in Moscow

A Russian Orthodox believer dips in the icy water in the Neva River during a traditional Epiphany celebration, in St. Petersburg, Russia, on Thursday

A rescue worker observes a Russian Orthodox believer dipping in the icy water in the Neva River during a traditional Epiphany celebration in St. Petersburg, Russia, on Thursday

Russian Orthodox priest crosses himself as he bathes in the icy water on Epiphany during a traditional Epiphany at the Great Palace Pond with the Church of the Holy Trinity in Ostankino in the background in Moscow, Russia, on Thursday

A rescue worker helps a Russian Orthodox believer after dipping in the icy water in the Neva River during a traditional Epiphany celebration in St. Petersburg on Thursday

Members of the Orthodox Church and believers bathe in cold water at Lake Bagry during the Epiphany celebrations in Krakow, Poland, on Thursday night

'A person is cleansed by a sincere desire to change, repent, return to God's channel and do good deeds. This will change you.'

Ambulance crews are routinely on standby to aid those overcome by the extreme cold. Tents are often set up on the ice to warm those who take the plunge.

Meanwhile, the Russian city of Belgorod, also near the Ukrainian border, canceled its traditional Orthodox Epiphany festivities on Friday due to the threat of Ukrainian drone strikes.

It was the first time major public events were known to have been called off in Russia due to the drone threat.

In Eastern Christianity, the feast of Epiphany commemorates the Baptism of Jesus.

A Russian Orthodox believer takes a dip in the ice cold water of a pond during the celebrations of the Orthodox Epiphany holiday, in Moscow, Russia, on Thursday night

Russian Orthodox believer takes a dip in the ice cold water of a pond at the Neva river during celebrations of the Orthodox Epiphany holiday in St. Petersburg, Russia, on Thursday night

An Orthodox believer plunges into the icy waters of Amur Bay within the Peter the Great Gulf of the Sea of Japan during the celebration of the Epiphany holiday in the far eastern city of Vladivostok late on Thursday

Russian Orthodox believers take a dip in the ice cold water of a pond during the celebrations of the Orthodox Epiphany holiday, in Moscow, Russia, on Thursday

Rescue workers observe a Russian Orthodox believer dipping in the icy water in the Neva River during a traditional Epiphany celebration in St. Petersburg, Russia, on Thursday

A young woman bathes into the icy water on Epiphany during a traditional Epiphany at the Great Palace Pond with the Church of the Holy Trinity in Ostankino in the background in Moscow, Russia, on Thursday night

A Russian Orthodox priest prepares to bathes into the icy water on Epiphany during a traditional Epiphany at the Great Palace Pond in Moscow on Thursday night

A Russian Orthodox bathes into the icy water on Epiphany during a traditional Epiphany at the Great Palace Pond with the Church of the Holy Trinity in Ostankino in the background in Moscow, Russia, on Thursday night

A woman carries a child during celebrations of the Orthodox Christian feast of Epiphany at the Achairsky Monastery in the Omsk Region, Russia, on Friday

The religious holiday of Epiphany is also celebrated in some Western Christian churches as Three Kings Day, which marks the visit of the Magi, or three wise men, to the baby Jesus and closes out the Christmas season.

The Russian Orthodox Church celebrates the holiday according to the Julian calendar.

Although some countries celebrate Epiphany on January 6, in the tradition of the Orthodox Church it is marked each year on January 19 - the day that Jesus was said to have been baptised into the faith.

Orthodox Christians take dips in water outside to mark the occasion and celebrate the baptism.
Have YOU been hit by the loan charge?

A clampdown on a tax scheme used by freelancers and agency workers has been branded on par with the Post Office's Horizon scandal - with ten suicides linked to it.

Yesterday, MPs warned that the government faces 'another Post Office scandal' while demanding HM Revenue & Customs drop its controversial 'loan charge' affecting some 60,000 freelance workers.

Those affected had entered into dubious tax saving schemes marketed by firms, meaning their wages were paid out to them tax-free as loans, supposedly with no legal requirement to pay it back.

But in 2017, HMRC introduced the loan charge - ordering those using the schemes to pay a single tax bill on all the loans they received - leaving some with six-figure back tax fees levied at the highest 45pc rate.

The loan charge hit agency nurses, teachers and IT contractors among others.

DUP MP Sammy Wilson said there are 'frightening parallels' between the loan charge and the Horizon IT scandal, which saw more than 700 Post Office branch managers handed criminal convictions after faulty Fujitsu accounting software made it appear as though money was missing.

In 2017, HMRC introduced the loan charge - ordering those using tax avoidance schemes to pay a single tax bill on all the loans they received - leaving some with six-figure back tax fees levied at the highest 45pc rate

ITV's drama Mr Bates vs the Post Office has ignited fury over the Horizon scandal, with public demands that a criminal investigation be launched into the wrongful prosecutions of sub-postmasters

DUP MP Sammy Wilson said there are 'frightening parallels' between the loan charge and the Horizon IT scandal, which saw more than 700 Post Office branch managers handed criminal convictions after faulty Fujitsu accounting software made it appear as though money was missing

The Post Office Horizon scandal, which has been cited in the inquests of four people who took their own lives, has gripped the nation following the broadcast of ITV drama Mr Bates Vs The Post Office earlier this month.

Meanwhile, ten suicides have been linked to the loan charge, and in evidence given yesterday, it was heard one woman had an abortion while feeling the financial strain hanging over her.

Mr Wilson and other MPs tabled a parliamentary motion on the loan charge that warned many people are facing 'unaffordable demands", there is the "risk of further suicides' and that a review conducted by Lord Morse was 'limited and not genuinely independent' of the Treasury and HMRC.

They called on the Government to work with all parties to find a 'fair resolution and for a full independent investigation, including into the conduct of HMRC'.

MPs supported the non-binding motion, but Treasury minister Nigel Huddleston said he did not believe the case had been made for another review.

Firms offering the loans schemes for tax avoidance have also come in for heavy criticism. Among them is AML UK Tax Ltd, set up in 2009 by Doug Barrowman, husband of under-fire Baroness Michelle Mone.

In February last year, HMRC released a statement that programmes promoted by AML Tax (UK) Ltd all 'seek to disguise remuneration'  wrongly allowing company directors to avoid paying tax on their income.

Mary Aiston, HMRC's director of counter-avoidance, said: 'These schemes are cynically marketed as clever ways to pay less tax.

'The truth is they rarely work in the way the promoters claim and it is the users that end up with big tax bills. HMRC will continue to use all the powers at our disposal to crack down on promoters.

'Anyone who thinks they may be involved in a tax avoidance scheme, or have been approached by a scheme promoter, should contact us as soon as possible to get help.'

In March 2022, AML Tax was fined 150,000 after a tribunal found it had failed to comply with a tax investigation by HMRC. At the time, the taxman said the company was 'part of Doug Barrowman's Isle of Man based Knox Group'.

Baroness Mone suffered another setback last year after the taxman said part of her husband Doug Barrowman's business empire was promoting tax avoidance schemes - with users later chased with loan charges by HMRC

READ MORE HERE: The Post Office could change accounts on the Horizon system remotely and without postmasters knowing from 2001, whistleblower claims Advertisement

Following the review by Lord Morse, the Government agreed to reduce the tax bill of 30,000 people caught up in the loan charge.

Mr Wilson, co-chairman of the all-party parliamentary group (APPG) on the loan charge and taxpayer fairness, said it appeared as if HMRC is going after people who they regard as 'easy targets' rather than the promoters of such schemes.

The MP for East Antrim also said the loan charge should be repealed as it is 'not fit for purpose', before saying: 'I would ask the minister to grasp this nettle and ensure that we don't have another Horizon scandal.'

Conservative MP Greg Smith (Buckingham), another co-chairman of the APPG, said he has been left feeling 'profoundly troubled' by 'one of the most significant crises faced by British taxpayers' in his living memory.

He said: 'The loan charge has and is still haunting thousands of our constituents across the whole country, bringing with it a train of despair and destruction that should weigh heavily upon HMRC and indeed all of us in this House.'

Mr Smith said a 'fair settlement' is needed for the victims of the loan charge, adding it must take into account 'reality' and understands that people acted in good faith and took professional advice.

Conservative former minister Sir Desmond Swayne claimed HRMC had pursued a 'vendetta' against the victims and said MPs were 'culpable' for not having spotted and examined the consequences of measures approved in 2017.

Conservative former cabinet minister Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg added it was 'right to say that those of us who were here in 2017 should be appalled that this was able to get through without being noticed, without being stopped'.

He said: 'We are here to seek redress of grievance from an overmighty executive which abuses its power.'

Post Office chief executive Nick Read told MPs yesterday it is 'possible' some of the missing money from branch managers' account could have ended up in the remuneration packages of the organization's top executives

Former subpostmaster Alan Bates told MPs that the bid to get compensation after the Horizon scandal was 'tied up in bureaucracy'

Former post-submistress Jo Hamilton told yesterday's select committee that the Post Office 'convinced me that it was all my fault and I wasn't tech savvy at all'

Tory former cabinet minister Sir David Davis, on HMRC previously referring itself to a watchdog over suicides, said: 'That is as close as you get when dealing with Government departments to a confession.

'They know they have done wrong. And they have known it for some time. And they have known the consequences of the death of people and enormous harm to people, and yet they have continued to do the same thing over and over again.'

For Labour, shadow Treasury minister Darren Jones said: 'I urge the Government to learn the lessons of other scandals, stop burying their heads in the sand, for the minister to be brave and to do the right thing.'

Mr Huddleston said the schemes were 'never legitimate, they were always tax avoidance', but noted there are 'some people who are being deceived and forced into errors that are completely inappropriate'.

He said: 'Those are many of the cases we've heard today. It's still important that we keep this principle though that the ultimate responsibility lies with those individuals but the way we go about making sure that tax affairs are straightened is really important, that we make sure we do the right thing.'

Mr Huddleston said HMRC does seek, where possible, to collect revenue from employers and later told MPs: 'I don't believe the case has been made for another review, I stand ready always to listen but that review (by Lord Morse) stood up well ... it was thorough, significant and 19 of the changes were implemented, so a hugely impactful review.'

Mr Huddleston said HMRC has made 10 referrals to the Independent Office for Police Conduct where a person has taken their life, adding HMRC has conducted internal investigations.

He added: 'Nine of the 10 investigations have concluded and although no misconduct was found, HMRC is taking forward organisational learning from these matters to further strengthen the support provided in identifying individuals who need extra help.'
This is the terrifying moment a speeding car driver smashed into a snow plow on a snow covered rural road in New York, demonstrating just why officials are pleading with northeast residents to stay home until deadly Storm Indigo passes through.

The video, captured on the plow's dashcam shows a black sedan attempting to overtake a truck on the opposite of the side of the road, as it attempts to get out of the way, swerving and crashing its side into the plow.

According to the New York Department of Transportation, nobody was hurt in the crash, which occurred in the North Country area of the state, close to the state's Canadian border on Thursday.

On Friday, winter storm Indigo will move into the area while also lashing the Midwest and mid-South with snow, freezing rain and frigid temperatures. The National Weather Service has issued alerts, advising people to delay travel plans until the storm passes.

Speaking to the New York Post, Fox meteorologist Nikki Nolan said that the Big Apple could be hit with up to five inches of snow, just days after the city broke its infamous 700 day snow drought.

The video begins showing the black sedan coming towards the plow

The motion causes the sedan to swerve aggressively in the direction of the plow

The plow wound up ripping off the panel of the sedan

This map shows the areas preparing to be hit by Storm Indigo this weekend

Snow was reported in Ohio and parts of Tennessee late Thursday. By Friday morning, flakes were expected in southern New England, New York and Washington DC, where two inches is expected.

The weather system earlier caused federal offices in the capital to close for the first time in two years due to weather.

Despite the relatively light amounts of snowfall, travel is still expected to be hazardous.

Philadelphia will be hit with between five to six inches of snow, reports the city's CBS affiliate. As of 7am Friday morning, the City of Brotherly Love is under a snow emergency warning which restricts travel and parking.

City schools are also closed as are the courts and libraries. Similar warnings are in place in New Jersey, with all state government offices closed.

Maryland reported similar levels of snow which was expected to impact the morning commute Friday by the afternoon, the temperature in the state will hit the teens before getting into the single digits over the weekend.

The warm-up will begin early next week with some temperatures expected to hit the 50s by midweek.

Storm Indigo ripped through the Pacific Northwest earlier this week, ice accumulations were half an inch thick in Oregon and Washington state.

In Oregon, more than 80,000 homes and business lost power thanks to the storm.

On Thursday, the storm caused temperatures in Minnesota to plunge to -22.

A person walking their dog through Central Park in New York this week as the city prepares for another blanketing of snow this week

Snow buildups seen outside of the US Capitol, the nation's capital is in Storm Indigo's sights this weekend

A snow plow clears the streets of heavy snow on January 18, 2024 in Lackawanna, New York

: Vehicles attempt to navigate snow covered streets of Buffalo, New York, on Thursday

A person crosses South Pine Street in downtown Florence, Alabama, on Thursday, as Storm Indigo continues to rock the US

Patrick Sahr is out just after sunrise shoveling snow from his car and driveway after at least 18 inches of new snow fell overnight - on top of the three feet that arrived over the weekend in Buffalo, New York, on January 17, 2024

Since this weather system began on January 12, at least 40 people have lost their lives with deaths being reported in Oregon, Wisconsin, Mississippi, Arkansas, Illinois, Kansas, Tennessee and New York.

A power line fell on a parked car in northeast Portland on Wednesday, killing three people and injuring a baby.

The three killed - two adults and one teenager - were found dead upon firefighters' arrival, and the baby was taken to a hospital.

It is believed the victims were electrocuted after they got out of the vehicle, the statement said. The power company later deenergized the line, the statement added without specifying which company.

The NWS warned that freezing rain could return to parts of northwest Oregon and southwest Washington this evening into Friday morning and that the highest chances are within the western Columbia River Gorge and eastern Portland and Vancouver Metro Area.
Feeling 'abandoned' by cashiers and problems encountered while purchasing high number of items have led to customer dissatisfaction

New study reveals use of self-checkouts has led to decreased customer loyalty

Self-checkouts at supermarkets can make customers less loyal to the store, a new study has revealed.

Most UK branches have introduced self checkouts over the years, which they say are easier, quicker and reduce costs.

Although shoppers are increasingly drawn to the efficiency they offer, it comes at the cost of a personal touch, along with the addition of technical nuisances when scanning through several items.

Researchers from Drexel University in the US produced a study, which found the perceived ease of checkout and a sense of being left to do it all themselves played a role in explaining the effect of loyalty.

They also noted the number of items purchased during the trip to the store also affects how the type of checkout influences customer loyalty.

A new study has revealed that self-checkouts at supermarkets can make customers less loyal to the store (Photo: Getty)

Professor Dr Yanliu Huang, said: 'Our findings indicate that self-checkout systems, despite their advantages in terms of speed, ease of use, and cost reduction, can result in lower customer loyalty compared to regular checkout systems, especially when the number of purchased items is relatively high, say over 15.'

For people with a large shop to do, having to use the automatic check-outs was an extra effort which left them feeling underwhelmed with the supermarket.

Without help from staff, shoppers felt that they were simply being abandoned and left to their own devices, reflecting badly on the store.

Human cashiers often provide a friendly face, engaging in small talk and offering assistance, fostering a sense of community within the store.

In contrast, the quick, transactional nature of automated systems lacks the personal, problem-solving touch that customers appreciate.

The study by experts at Drexel University has been published in the Journal of Business Research after it was discovered the matter hadn't previously been looked into.

The team conducted five studies that showed customers are more likely to remain loyal to the grocery store when using regular checkout service.

Although shoppers are drawn to the efficiency self-checkouts offer, it comes at the cost of a personal touch, as well as technical nuisances when scanning through several items (Photo: Getty)

READ MORE: Booths removes almost all self-service checkouts and puts staff back behind tills as experts say move will cut shoplifting Advertisement

They found loyalty is demonstrated by an increased likelihood of returning to the store in the future.

Extra effort required to checkout along with bag purchases and the expectation of being served by the store were negative consequences of self-checkout and decreased loyalty to the store.

But Dr Huang said: 'We found that when customers were encouraged to think of the extra effort involved in self-checkout as a rewarding experience, their perceived loyalty to the store was similar to those of regular checkout shoppers.

'For example, to overcome the negative impacts of using self-checkout on customer loyalty, retailers should attempt to make the self-checkout experience more rewarding, like encouraging shoppers to think the extra effort involved in self-checkout is a rewarding experience.'

He added: 'Doing so offers retailers a solution to improve their self-checkout customers overall shopping experience, which in turn will facilitate higher customer loyalty.'

This comes as four out of five MailOnline readers prefer staffed checkouts over self-service tills, our poll found as the supermarket Booths said it was axing the machines.

The move by Booths, dubbed the 'northern Waitrose', has provoked much debate on the benefits of self-checkouts as retailers continue to battle a shoplifting epidemic.
Thousands of people have signed a petition demanding telecoms giants review a scheduled timetable to switch all landlines to digital, internet-based services by 2025 amid fears vulnerable pensioners could be left cut off.

Campaigners from Silver Voices and the Digital Poverty Alliance accused the industry of 'putting profit before safety' and highlighted that digital lines require internet in order to work, placing people at risk in the case of a power cut.

BT and other telecoms firms have already had to pause the rollout to vulnerable customers after concerns were raised about personal alarm systems which rely on access to landlines to phone emergency services.

In the case of a power cut or internet outage it is feared people will not be able to call 999.

Dennis Reed, head of Silver Voices and who started the petition, said: 'The Government should work with Ofcom & the major telecom suppliers to review the timetable for the switch to digital telephone lines.

Dennis Reed, director of Silver Voices which represents over 60s, is calling for a boycott of the digital switchover by older people

In the next couple of years, the Digital Voice programme will move ten million BT customers off traditional copper-wire phone lines to fibre cables that use new Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology to make calls

'We believe that doing so by 2025 is totally unrealistic if vulnerable customers are to be protected. The new internet-based system should be phased in over 5+ years.

READ MORE: BT and telecom giants agree to pause forced rollout of digital landlines after elderly and vulnerable customers reported life-saving personal alarms stopped working if internet drops out Advertisement

'We think the industry is putting profit before safety. Vulnerable customers, often lacking digital skills, are losing access to traditional landlines despite serious concerns over the reliability of the new system, lack of emergency back-up, and potential costs for households.

'Some alarms and telecare systems are incompatible with the new system.

'Silver Voices and Digital Poverty Alliance want the two systems to work in parallel for at least five years so that vulnerable people are not forced to transfer prematurely.'

He told the Express that the government should 'learn the lessons of the Post Office scandal 'and act now to prevent potential hazards and tragedies'.

Mr Reed continued: 'Do we have to wait for the first fatality caused by a personal alarm system not working, or an emergency call not getting through because of an internet outage or power cut?

'I hope our petition will force the Government to take a more hands on approach, after all they agreed this unrealistic timetable with the industry in the first place.'

Previously campaigners launched a boycott of BT's digital landline switchover after vulnerable pensioners were left cut off from the outside world before Christmas and personal alarms stopped working amid a wave of complaints over the scheme.

This is when the change from the old copper network to a new broadband-based connection will take place across the UK

It's an issue that plagues many frustrated Britons, and now a new report has revealed the UK areas with the fastest and slowest broadband

Telecoms giants are currently switching all its customers' landline phones to digital, affecting around 10 million homes, and had originally planned to complete the change by 2025, prompting fears millions could be left in the dark in the case of a power cut.

But telecoms giants were forced to halt their forced switchovers after Technology Secretary Michelle Donelan called a meeting with Sky, BT, Virgin Media 02 and TalkTalk last month amid concerns for pensioners' safety.

It came after multiple 'serious incidents' in which vulnerable customers found that personal health alarms, designed to automatically call for help in the case of an emergency, failed when the internet cut out or phone numbers were changed.

Telecoms companies said they would pause the rollout to 'vulnerable' households after campaigners warned of an emerging 'horror story' amid the digital switchover, which they claimed was 'going too far too fast'.

Providers have agreed to carry out extra checks on those who have already been forcibly migrated to digital to ensure they do not have telecare devices the provider was unaware of, and if they do, to ensure suitable support is provided.

Providers are now required to provide back-up solutions that go beyond Ofcom's minimum of one hour of continued, uninterrupted access to emergency services in the event of a power outage.

MailOnline previously revealed that life-saving personal alarms, which automatically call for help in the case of an emergency, stop working whenever there are problems with the internet - unlike with traditional copper wires.

Other customers have faced losing phone numbers they have had for up to 50 years, despite BT previously promising no-one would be forced to give up their old numbers.

A BT spokesperson said: 'Silver Voices was a founding member of our Digital Voice Advisory Group and is fully aware of the need to switch off the old analogue network by the end of 2025 because it is increasingly fragile and unreliable.

'This isn't a choice by industry, but a technological necessity, and together with Government, Local Authorities and telecare providers, we're committed to working together to identify and protect telecare users and those with additional needs before they switch.'

Matthew Evans, Director for Markets at techUK, said: 'The transition to digital telephone lines is essential as we move towards fit for the future digital networks. The current PSTN system is over 40 years old and increasingly unreliable - with faults rising 20 per cent in 2023.

'Many other countries have gone through this migration and many millions of households in the UK have already completed it. We will continue to work with the telecoms sector as well as other important parties to deliver a safe and sustainable switch'.
Riyadh, Jan 19 (UNI) Saudi Arabia will host a special World Economic Forum meeting from April 28-29, Minister for Economy and Planning Faisal Alibrahim said Thursday.

"A meeting of participants of the World Economic Forum in Saudi Arabia is planned for April 28-29 and will focus on global cooperation, growth and energy," Alibrahim said at the World Economic Forum taking place in the Swiss city of Davos.

The 2024 edition of the World Economic Forum was held from Monday to Friday. The event was expected to attract over 2,800 participants from more than 120 countries, including prominent figures from business, political, and academic circles.

UNI/SPUTNIK AKS
A huge inferno erupted at a major oil depot in western Russia on Friday after Ukrainian drone operators launched an aerial attack on the facility.

The strike is the second on a Russian oil depot in as many days after Kyiv claimed a rare attack on a storage facility in the northern Leningrad region of Russia yesterday.

Today's operation targeted a depot in the town of Klintsy in the Bryansk region, some 45 miles from the Ukrainian border, forcing dozens of residents to evacuate their homes nearby as 13 firetrucks were scrambled in a desperate attempt to limit the damage.

Social media footage showed a massive cloud of black smoke billowing over the Klintsy facility following the attack, which Russian officials also confirmed was a drone strike.

Bryansk governor Alexander Bogomaz said: 'Ukrainian terrorists made an attempt to attack facilities in the town of Klintsy using an unmanned aerial vehicle.

'The fixed-wing drone was jammed by the Russian defence ministry's electronic warfare systems. However, a munition fell on the Klintsy oil depot during the destruction of the aerial target.'

No casualties were reported at the facility.

The strike is the second on a Russian oil depot in as many days after Kyiv claimed a rare attack on a storage facility in the northern Leningrad region of Russia yesterday

A major fire erupted after an explosion when a Ukrainian drone hit an oil depot in Klintsy, in Russia's Bryansk region

No casualties were reported at the facility despite the horrendous damage

The flames climbing over the Klintsy oil depot are seen from a passing train

Social media footage showed a massive cloud of black smoke billowing over the Klintsy facility following the attack

The strike was an operation carried out by the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence, a Ukrainian security source claimed.

Kyiv has targeted Russian oil and gas infrastructure throughout the almost two-year conflict, attacks they argue are fair retaliation for strikes on Ukrainian territory.

On Thursday, Ukraine claimed responsibility for a rare drone attack in the northern Leningrad region, around 620 miles from the border.

That came as a top defence chief has revealed NATO forces are bracing for an all-out war with Russia in the next two decades.

Admiral Rob Bauer, the chairman of NATO's Military Committee urged both civilians and governments to prepare for cataclysmic conflicts and the chilling prospect of being conscripted.

'We have to realise it's not a given that we are in peace. And that's why we [NATO forces] have the plans, that's why we are preparing for a conflict with Russia,' Bauer told reporters after a meeting of NATO defence chiefs in Brussels.

'But the discussion is much wider. It is also the industrial base and also the people that have to understand they play a role.'

In a stark warning, he said civilians must be ready for a conflict in the next 20 years that would require wholesale change in their lives.

Bauer said large numbers of civilians will need to be mobilised in case a global war breaks out and governments must make sure their nations are 'war ready'.

'We need public and private actors to change their mindset for an era in which everything was plannable, foreseeable, controllable and focused on efficiency to an era in which anything can happen at any time. An era in which we need to expect the unexpected,' Bauer warned.

Bryansk governor Alexander Bogomaz said: 'Ukrainian terrorists made an attempt to attack facilities in the town of Klintsy using an unmanned aerial vehicle

Kyiv has targeted Russian oil and gas infrastructure throughout the almost two-year conflict, attacks they argue are fair retaliation for strikes on Ukrainian territory

Dozens of residents to evacuate their homes nearby as 13 firetrucks were scrambled in a desperate attempt to limit the damage

Admiral Rob Bauer, the chair of the NATO Military Committee, urged both civilians and governments to prepare for conflict and potential conscription

A top defence chief has revealed that NATO forces are bracing for an all-out war with Russia in the next two decades

The comments come as conflict in the Middle East threatens to spread out

The senior Dutch military boss added: 'You need to be able to fall back on an industrial base that is able to produce weapons and ammunition fast enough to be able to continue a conflict if you are in it.'

Adm.Bauer also praised Sweden for urging all of its citizens to brace for war ahead of the nation joining NATO. The move has seen a surge in volunteers for Sweden's civil defence organisation.

This comes as NATO is planning to mobilise 90,000 troops in its largest military manoeuvre since the Cold War, with the war games aimed at deterring Vladimir Putin from targeting a member country.

The alliance announced the exercise would begin next week, with the months of drills aimed at showing the alliance can defend all of its territory up to its border with Russia.

The exercises - dubbed 'Steadfast Defender' - will run until late May and involve units from all 31 NATO member countries plus candidate-member Sweden, NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Europe, US General Christopher Cavoli, said.

The wargames are meant as a fresh show of strength from NATO and its commitment to defend all allied nations from attack.
A stunt where two vehicles crashed into each other as part of a road safety ad ended in disaster when one of the vehicles unexpectedly ploughed through a property's fence.

The staged crash was being filmed on Port Road in Alberton, about 10km northwest of Adelaide, on Friday around 2pm, with South Australian Police Minister Joe Szakacs watching on.

The ad was being filmed as part of a seatbelt education campaign but the shoot took a nasty turn when the two vehicles collided with one another at an intersection.

Dramatic footage from the scene showed the hatchback getting hit side on by the white sedan, which was planned, before the momentum sent it flying onto the other side of the road and through the fence of a furniture store.

The staged crash was being filmed on Port Road in Alberton, about 10km northwest of Adelaide, on Friday around 2pm, with South Australian Police Minister Joe Szakacs watching on

Shocked onlookers watched on as the hatchback narrowly avoided parked cars.

The vehicle was left in a crumpled mess and the front bumper bar was seen almost completely detached.

Mr Szakacs said he wasn't sure whether the incident was meant to be a part of the ad.

'The first question I asked: ''was this supposed to happen?'' They said ''no'',' he told reporters on Friday.

The hatchback (pictured) unexpectedly ploughed into the fence of a nearby property

The safety adviser on set, Clay Dunn, admitted he didn't know why the car had suddenly veered off the road.

'We didn't expect it to fly away so I'm not sure why it took off the way it did,' he said.

Retailer Sarah who runs the store that had its fence destroyed said she feared things could have been worse.

'It could have been really disastrous,' she said.

'There could have been a car parked there, there could have been people there. You don't know what could have happened. The fence stopped it, but it could have driven into the shop.'

The road was understood to have been closed prior to the shoot and residents were given leaflets telling them to keep away from the set while the ad was being filmed.

A South Australia Police spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia that the incident is being investigated.

'All safety precautions were taken and even in a controlled environment, crashes can occur,' the spokesperson said.

The owner of the fence will be compensated for the damage to the structure.

The seatbelt safety education campaign is set to be launched across South Australia through television, radio and billboards.

Last year, 10 per cent of road deaths across South Australia were due to motorists not buckling up.
Crafty thieves have been caught on camera crawling along the floor of a mobile phone shop to steal 10,000 of gadgets  with their astonished victims sharing footage of the heist online to the soundtrack of a James Bond movie.

Bosses of the Fonehouse shop in Hawick in the Scottish Borders shared footage of the group slithering along the floor of their store between 3am and 4.30am on Tuesday on the town's High Street  set to the iconic spy theme.

The crawling criminals cut a panel out of a communal close door and then accessed the shop's security entrance, raiding the stockroom for headphones and other expensive electronics.

Wearing hats and gloves in a bid to conceal their identities, the crooks then wriggled around on the shop floor, opening cabinets to swipe pricey handsets.

They somehow managed to avoid triggering the alarm for upwards of 40 minutes  fleeing after they set it off.

The thieves crawled along the floor in what is suspected to be an attempt to avoid triggering the shop's alarms

The robbery took place at Fonehouse Hawick, on the Scottish Borders town's high street (file photo)

Shop owner Gary Souden said he had been on an 'emotional rollercoaster' following the break-in  but now says he wants to get back to work recouping his losses while police continue their inquiries.

In a bid to track down those responsible, Mr Souden shared footage of the thieves crawling along the ground  soundtracking it with a cover of Monty Norman's iconic James Bond theme.

He told the Daily Record: 'We should have used the Mission Impossible track. This was a very well organised and professional robbery.

EXCLUSIVE READ MORE: Thieves watch elderly withdraw cash from ATMs before pickpocketing them on London buses - as Met launches crackdown to tackle the heartless gangs Advertisement

'We got a phone call from the alarm company to say that there was an intruder at around 4am and when we arrived at the shop the police were already there.

'The intruders had cut a panel out of a communal close door and then somehow managed to get through our security door. It must have taken them some amount of time to get in.'

He added that detectives and forensic officers visited the store after the theft, taking six hours to sweep the scene for clues. In the meantime, locals took to social media to comment on the footage.

One said: 'Why are they crawling about when there is cams gonna be up high (sic)? Daftys must be desperate for a phone, sad.'

Another commented on the music choice: 'The tune though,' with an 'OK' hand sign emoji.

A spokesperson for Police Scotland said: 'We would appeal to motorists who have dash-cam footage or residents with private CCTV to get in touch, you may have captured something that could assist our enquiries.

'Anyone with any information is asked to contact Police Scotland on 101, quoting 0313 of 16 January, 2024.'

The James Bond Theme, as it is officially known, has appeared in every James Bond film released yet since Dr No.

With the exception of Daniel Craig's first Bond film, Casino Royale, it has been used to soundtrack every single 'gun barrel' entrance for the world-famous spy.

Each one features the Bond actor of the era  and, in early films, Sean Connery's stuntman Bob Simmons  strolling into view before twisting into a crouched stance and firing directly towards the screen.

Blood runs down the screen as the would-be assassin is taken out by Bond, and the gun barrel wobbles before fading out.
Tata Steel has today confirmed plans to close blast furnaces at its plant in Port Talbot, South Wales with up to 2,800 workers now set to lose their jobs.

Tata said its plans are subject to consultation but could be expected to result in up to 2,800 potential job losses across the business out of which, around 2,500 roles could be impacted during the next 18 months.

A further 300 roles could be impacted in the next few years, which could include the potential consolidation and rationalisation of cold rolling assets in Llanwern once the required investments are completed at Port Talbot.

In a statement, Tata said: 'Tata Steel today announced it will commence statutory consultation as part of its plan to transform and restructure its UK business.

'This plan is intended to reverse more than a decade of losses and transition from the legacy blast furnaces to a more sustainable, green steel business.

'The transformation would secure most of Tata Steel UK's existing product capability and maintain the country's self-sufficiency in steelmaking, while also reducing Tata Steel UK's CO2 emissions by five million tonnes per year and overall UK country emissions by about 1.5%.'

Tata Steel has confirmed plans to close blast furnaces at its plant in Port Talbot, South Wales with the loss of up to 2,800 workers

Cast House operator Martin Rees changes the nozzle on a clay gun in Blast Furnace number four at the Tata Steel plant in Port Talbot

Raw materials to make iron sit in heaps at the Tata Steel Port Talbot integrated iron and steel works in south Wales

Under the plans, Port Talbot's two high-emission blast furnaces and coke ovens will close in a phased manner, with the first blast furnace closing about mid-2024 and the remaining heavy end assets winding down during the second half of this year.

The proposal also includes a wider restructuring of other locations and functions across the company, including the intended closure of its continuous annealing processing line (CAPL) in March 2025.

After talks with unions, Tata said it has agreed to continue to operate Port Talbot's hot strip mill through the proposed transition period and in future.

Tata Steel said it will embark on a 1.25billion investment in electric arc furnace technology in Port Talbot and asset upgrades, to secure long-term, high-quality production.

The proposed investment is supported by the UK Government, which has committed up to 500 million to enable the transformation.

Tata said it has agreed to continue to operate Port Talbot's hot strip mill through the proposed transition period and in future

Protesters hold signs outside Tata Steel Port Talbot after a government announcement about steel industry investments in September last year

Port Talbot's two high-emission blast furnaces and coke ovens will close in a phased manner, with the first blast furnace closing about mid-2024 and the remaining heavy end assets winding down during the second half of this year

Tata Steel plans to invest 750 million in the project, alongside funding for a 'comprehensive support package' for affected employees, business restructuring and transition costs, as part of its long-term commitment to UK production.

Ex-Tata electrician: Steelworks 'life and soul' of Port Talbot communities The devastation felt by everyone in the local area after Tata job cuts has been summed up by former electrician Robert Davies, who worked at the steel works for many years. The 71-year-old described the works as the 'life and soul' of the communities within a 30 mile radius. The devastation felt by everyone in the local area after Tata job cuts has been summed up by former electrician Robert Davies (pictured), 71 Outside the site the morning as the announcement was made, he said: 'This isn't a one-off anomaly, this has happened over the last 40 years. It has meant a lot to the community over the last 40 years when Thatcher decimated it. 'They were asked to improve the steel making, which they have over the years. It's not the first time this happened. Tata are explaining they are losing 1m a day, but when it was the Steel Company of Wales - which went to government owned British Steel - the same scenario happened there. They didn't want to invest in it so they thought they'd sell it off to Corus. 'Corus continued with the plant. Although it was loss making they brought it over because they wanted the technology to go to their own plants in foreign climes. They were losing 1m a day then. They bought it off Corus while it was losing 1m a day. They have continued it over the decade or so. They are still saying it's losing 1m a day. That's been happening for 30 years because of poor investment and reliance on British government and Welsh Government subsidies to do the bare minimum instead of investing properly.' Mr Davies also expressed concern about how the communities will recover. He said 'Just as in the 80s - with the steelworks and the mines - the communities have never recovered. This is a life blood for the community and for the communities going far and wide in at least a 30 mile radius. 'People are afraid of losing their jobs, maybe even afraid of speaking up. They are afraid of redundancies and paying their mortgages. It's all happened before. I think David Davies mentioned they will get looked after. They said that about the miners too. Nothing has recovered in the south Wales valleys for years. 'The job plan that the union should have put forward is to build the new arc furnace first before destroying the two blast furnaces. Once they're gone, maybe Tata will pull out.' Advertisement

Unions reacted with anger to the news and said industrial action was not being ruled out.

A statement by the GMB and Community said: 'More than 3,000 jobs and the future of British steelmaking is at stake.

'It is an absolute disgrace that Tata Steel, and the UK Government, appear intent on pursuing the cheapest instead of the best plan for our industry, our steelworkers and our country.

'It's unbelievable any Government would give a company 500 million to throw 3,000 workers on the scrapheap, and our Government must re-evaluate its miserly offer to support investment at Tata Steel.

'The German, French and Spanish Governments are all committing billions to secure the future of their strategically important steel industries, and our Government must show similar ambition.

'It is encouraging that the Labour Party have reaffirmed their commitment to the 3 billion Green Steel Fund, and using it to supporting a just transition at Tata Steel UK.

'Tata must think again, and work with the UK Government and Labour to unlock the investment our industry needs and deserves.

'Community and GMB do not accept Tata Steel's rejection of the multi-union plan and confirmation they intend to press forward with their original devastating proposals.

'We will now consult our members on next steps and all options to protect jobs are on the table, including industrial action.'

T V Narendran, Tata Steel's chief executive and managing director, said: 'The course we are putting forward is difficult, but we believe it is the right one.

'Having invested almost 5 billion in the UK business since 2007, we must transform at pace to build a sustainable business in the UK for the long-term.

'Our ambitious plan includes the largest capital expenditure in UK steel production in more than a decade, guaranteeing long-term, high-quality steel production in the UK and transforming the Port Talbot facility into one of Europe's premier centres for green steelmaking.

'We recognise this proposed restructuring would have a major impact on the individuals and communities concerned, whom we will support with dignity and respect.

'In consultation with our union partners, Tata Steel will offer a comprehensive support package to mitigate the impact of any anticipated job losses, including helping employees to retrain and find new jobs.

'We will continue our work with the UK and Welsh governments, trade unions and the community to help those who may be affected through the proposed transition.'

Wales Green Party leader Anthony Slaughter said: 'This is devastating news for the local community and beyond.

'Wales knows only too well what happens when communities are abandoned by government and industries.

'We saw it with the coal industry and now it is happening again with the steel industry.

'Decarbonisation of industry is vital, but communities and people's jobs must be protected.

'That means putting unions and workers at the heart of a just transition.'

'It is an absolute disgrace that Tata Steel, and the UK Government, appear intent on pursuing the cheapest instead of the best plan for our industry, our steelworkers and our country,' said the GMB and Community unions after learning of the closure of the steelworks

Ian Price, director of CBI Wales said: 'Tata Steel's announcement of the closure of two blast furnaces with the loss of 2,800 jobs is a blow for workers employed at the plant in Port Talbot and in the wider supply chain, which includes a number of local companies, and affects other firms throughout Wales.

'The trade unions and the Welsh and UK governments need to come together with Tata and local businesses to find a way of reskilling and retraining those affected staff and help them return to the labour market.

'The new Freeport in Milford Haven-Neath Port Talbot, and on Anglesey, offer opportunities for workers' talents to be harnessed in support of the renewables and net zero industry and it is essential the projects are delivered rapidly to support the Welsh economy.'

Last September, it was revealed taxpayers are to pump up to 500million to decarbonise Britain's biggest steelworks.

Tata, the Indian conglomerate that owns the Port Talbot site, will use the funding to help switch the plant's two coal-fired blast furnaces to 'greener' electric arc versions.

It comes after China's Jingye Group, which owns rival firm British Steel, unveiled plans to replace its two coal-fired furnaces in Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, with green alternatives - with 1,500 to 2,000 jobs expected to be axed.
Cradling a beer on a camping trip, the young Keir Starmer doesn't look he's enjoying the wild very much.

Clad in a spotless white t-shirt and espadrilles the tousle-haired twentysomething glares at the camera in the newly released image from 1984, at the height of Thatcher's Britain.

Forty years on and the now Labour leader, 61, tears into the Iron Lady in a new documentary released as he seeks to win power for his party for the first time in 14 years.

Last year Sir Keir faced attacks from the Left as he praised the late Conservative doyenne for acting to 'drag Britain out of its stupor by setting loose our natural entrepreneurialism'.

But in Keir Starmer: Up Close - Tonight he attacked her for her impact on communities.'

'What she did was a clarity of mission and purpose. But actually what she did was very destructive,' he said.

But in what his enemies might see as a slightly Thatcherite move, he revealed that if he wins the election this year he does not want to grow the economy by taking more money from the super-rich and redistributing it to the poorest.

Clad in a spotless white t-shirt the tousle-haired twentysomething glares at the camera in the newly released image from 1984, at the height of Thatcher's Britain.

Last night's programme also released images of him as a young barrister at the start of a career working in human rights law. He later became director of public prosecutions in 2008.

Last year Sir Keir faces attacks from the Left as he praised the late Conservative doyenne for acting to 'drag Britain out of its stupor by setting loose our natural entrepreneurialism'. But in Keir Starmer: Up Close - Tonight he attacker her for her impact on communities.'

Sir Keir (pictured today in Warwick) said: 'What she did was a clarity of mission and purpose. But actually what she did was very destructive.'

Starmer with his parents and wife Victoria on their wedding day in 2008

'That isn't how I want to grow the economy,' he said.

'Of course, I believe in redistribution, but I don't think redistribution is the sort of one word answer for millions of people across the country.'

Sir Keir is the first party leader to sit down with ITV for its series of personal interviews, with a future episode due to speak to Rishi Sunak.

Last night's programme also released images of him as a young barrister at the start of a career working in human rights law. He later became director of public prosecutions in 2008.

Sir Keir Starmer said he has 'no skeletons in the closet' from his time in charge of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), claiming that while mistakes were made when he was in charge, there is no 'smoking gun' for the Tories to use against him as the two major UK parties prepare to embark on the campaign trail.

The Conservative Party has previously used Sir Keir's time as CPS director, which was from 2008 to 2013, against him.

In April 2023, Rishi Sunak criticised Sir Keir during a Commons debate, dubbing him 'Sir Softie'.

The Prime Minister also told his fellow MPs at the time that Sir Keir was 'soft on crime, soft on criminals'.

Most recently they have demanded answers over what he knew about the CPS cases against sub-postmasters prosecuted as part of the Horizon IT scandal.

But, despite previous attempts to use his time as director of public prosecutions against him, Sir Keir said he is not concerned about his past coming back to haunt him.

'If they want to attack me for decisions when I was director of public prosecutions, we had 7,000 staff, we made nearly a million decisions a year,' he said in an interview for ITV programme Keir Starmer: Up Close - Tonight, airing Thursday on ITV.

He added: 'Will there be mistakes there? Of course there will, but there'll be no smoking gun, no skeletons in the closet.'
Six alleged members of Chicago's notorious O-Block gang have been convicted of killing rapper FBG Duck outside a luxury clothing store as part of a long-running turf war.

FBG Duck, real name Carlton Weekly, was shot 16 times outside a Dolce & Gabbana store on a on a busy Gold Coast street in August 2020.

The 26-year-old rapper was reportedly shopping for his son's birthday present when the gunmen jumped out of two cars and opened fire. His girlfriend and another man were wounded in the attack.

Jurors deliberated for about 16 hours over three days before convicting Charles Liggins, 32; Kenneth Roberson, 30; Christopher Thomas, 24; Marcus Smart, 25; Tacarlos Offerd, 32; and Ralph Turpin, 34, of murder in the aid of racketeering and conspiracy to commit murder.

A life sentence is mandatory for a conviction of murder in aid of racketeering. Sentencing hearings for all six are scheduled for August and September.

Six alleged members of Chicago's notorious O-Block gang have been convicted of killing rapper FBG Duck (pictured) outside a luxury clothing store as part of a long-running turf war

FBG Duck, real name Carlton Weekly, was shot 16 times outside a Dolce & Gabbana store on a on a busy Gold Coast street in August 2020. Chicago Police officers are pictured at the scene

Jurors deliberated for about 16 hours over three days before convicting Charles Liggins, 32; Kenneth Roberson, 30; Christopher Thomas, 24; Marcus Smart, 25; Tacarlos Offerd, 32; and Ralph Turpin, 34, of murder in the aid of racketeering and conspiracy to commit murder. Officers are pictured at the scene of Weekly's murder

A federal jury announced Wednesday that they had reached a verdict, convicting all six defendants of murder in the aid of racketeering and conspiracy to commit murder.

Liggins, Roberson, Thomas, Smart and Offerd were also convicted of using a firearm in Weekly's murder.

Prosecutors said Weekly was killed as part of a yearslong gang conflict between factions of the Black Disciples and Gangster Disciples on Chicago's South Side.

The six defendants were purportedly members or associates of O-Block, a rival faction of Black Disciples, prosecutors said.

Morris Pasqual, the acting US attorney in Chicago, said his office will continue working with law enforcement 'to prioritize combating the unacceptable level of gang violence in Chicago.'

'The jury's verdicts today hold the six defendants accountable for a brutal murder that took the life of Carlton Weekly,' Pasqual said in a statement.

Weekly's mother, LaSheena Weekly, wept Wednesday as she listened to the jury verdicts in an overflow courtroom at a federal courthouse in Chicago.

The 26-year-old rapper (pictured) was reportedly shopping for his son's birthday present when the gunmen jumped out of two cars and opened fire. His girlfriend and another man were wounded in the attack

'When I go home and tell my grandkids that their father('s) justice has been served, that's going to be a big burden lifted off my shoulders,' she told reporters after the verdicts were announced.

'I just want to thank the United States government for doing a very good job in making sure that these guys will never hurt another mom and another child again.'

FBG Duck is perhaps best known for his 2018 single 'Slide,' which was recorded as a remix by recording artist 21 Savage.

Investigators and city officials previously said that Weekly was a gang member whose bragging on music videos irked members of a rival gang.

The majority of his music group were Gangster Disciples, according to the website HipHopDatabase. The Disciples have reportedly been engaged in a violent and bloody turf war with O-Block's Black Disciples gang, which features prominent rappers like Chief Keef and the late King Von.

Prosecutors previously revealed that social media and music videos helped build the case against the violent street gang. The suspects used both to take credit for their crimes in a bid to taunt rivals and improve their status and ranking within O-Block.
A rapper who lost nearly half his skull following a drugs lab blast while he cooked up a brew called 'Nazi Gold' faces five years in jail in Germany.

Accused Niko Brenner, known to hip-hop fans as Dr Knarf, was sent flying from a recording studio into the street when the mix of cannabis and butane gas exploded.

Grim photographs of his injuries show how surgeons had to remove a huge chunk from his skull to protect his massively swollen brain in 2017.

Now Brenner, 39, has been accused of causing an explosion and the possession and sale of drugs at a court in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia State, on January 18.

He told judges at Cologne Regional Court: 'I take full responsibility.'

Niko Brenner (pictured), a rapper who lost nearly half his skull following a drugs lab blast while he cooked up a brew called 'Nazi Gold', faces five years in jail in Germany

Brenner, known to hip-hop fans as Dr Knarf, was sent flying from a recording studio into the street when the mix of cannabis and butane gas exploded

According to Germany news outlets, prosecutors say Brenner wanted to produce a cannabis concentrate known as a 'dab'. Butane gas is said to have escaped and likely exploded due to a spark from a refrigerator at the lab in Cologne.

The explosion 'blasted windows and parts of the masonry into the inner courtyard of the building', the prosecutor said, and caused damage of around 15,000 euros.

The blast also injured both Brenner and a friend named in documents only as Esat B.

But Brenner, who has a son, said: 'It was just me who produced the drugs. I was a serious addict and lived in my bubble. I did not worry about potential risks.

'This accident made my world collapse. It was the biggest mistake I ever made.

'I mainly suffered burns to my arms and head.

'Liquid gas is like napalm. It keeps gnawing and just won't stop.

'However, I'm deeply sorry for all the pain I have inflicted on others.'

He added: 'Because of what happened, my relationship came to an end and I did not see my son grow up.'

Brenner's attorney Marco Heymann is hoping his frank confession and his serious injuries will influence the judges.

'My client made a full and comprehensive confession. Not just his appearance is different. He has also changed on the inside,' he argued.

'He is just happy to be alive. Now he wants to focus on what the future holds for him.'

Grim photographs of his injuries show how surgeons had to remove a huge chunk from his skull to protect his massively swollen brain in 2017

Now Brenner, 39, has been accused of causing an explosion and the possession and sale of drugs at a court in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia State

Prosecutors, however, have revealed that they plan to ask for a minimum jail sentence of five years.

They are also expected to argue that the drug's name 'Nazi Gold' glorifies Germany's fascist past, punishable by up to ten years in jail.

Brenner said: 'I just wanted to cause a stir, that's why I opted for a controversial name. My plan was to charge EUR 50 (43) per gram.'

After the explosion, doctors put the rapper into an artificial coma for three months during which Brenner suffered four strokes.

Medical experts estimated his chances of survival as virtually zero.

Parts of his body are still paralysed despite 50 operations and he walks with a stick but often needs a wheelchair. Speaking in 2022, he said: 'It hurts a lot that I will never be able to climb a tree with my son.

Brenner claimed at the time that doctors had told him it is theoretically possible to reconstruct his skull bone with an implant, 'but the problem is that there is not enough scalp due to the burns to reinsert a skull bone replacement'.

The musician said doctors initially tried to expand the skin by implanting a balloon filled with saline solution, but the device had to be removed after Brenner began suffering severe pain and inflammation.

Prosecutors have said that they plan to ask for a minimum jail sentence of five years for Brenner (seen before his injuries)

When he saw himself for the first time after parts of his skull were removed, Brenner said: 'It was an absolute shock. I looked like a monster. My son was one year old at the time. I was terrified that he wouldn't even recognise me.'

He said the worst thing after the accident was 'not walking, not being able to move properly anymore. It saddens me not to be able to play the guitar, piano and keyboards anymore.'

A verdict in his trial is expected later this month.

The trial continues.
Fujitsu's European boss said that the editing of witness statements to defend the company's flawed Horizon IT system was 'shameful'.

Paul Patterson told the Post Office Horizon IT inquiry that he was 'surprised' details of bugs, errors and defects (BEDs) in the scandal-hit software were not included in witness statements for criminal proceedings against subpostmasters.

He admitted on Friday that BEDs had existed in the system for 'nearly two decades' and said the 'vast majority' had been shared with the Post Office contemporaneously  as and when they were discovered.

Mr Patterson  giving evidence after admitting to MPs the company had a 'moral obligation' to fund compensation for wrongly convicted postmasters  said some of the statements were 'misleading' as they failed to mention that Fujitsu provided incomplete Horizon audit data to the Post Office.

But he also told the inquiry that he did not believe Fujitsu knew 'at the time' that Post Office bosses were initiating private prosecutions based on the inaccurate data that it was being provided with by the Japanese firm.

Paul Patterson gives evidence to the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry on Friday January 19, in which he said it was 'shameful' that his firm had edited witness statements that were used by the Post Office to pursue prosections of subpostmasters

Mr Patterson also spoke to MPs earlier this week, when he said Fujitsu had a 'moral obligation' to contribute to compensation for wrongfully convicted subpostmasters

Fujitsu's value dropped $1billion earlier this week following Mr Patterson's earlier comments

The Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry, which began in 2021, is chaired by Sir Wyn Williams (pictured)

He told the probe that trust in technology 'has been broken' as a result of the Horizon scandal, and offered to meet subpostmasters whom he said he had a 'great deal of respect for'.

Today, counsel to the inquiry Jason Beer KC asked him when Fujitsu 'put two and two together and realised they added up to four'  'four' meaning when the penny dropped that the data was being used for prosecutions.

Mr Patterson replied: 'There's lots of evidence of us informing the Post Office of that data that we've just discussed, bugs and errors, and how those bugs and errors did or did not impact the financial position as reported.

READ MORE: Post Office knew its Horizon system was flawed and its star witness could not be relied on all the way back in 2013 and was so concerned it informed its insurers too - while continuing to prosecute innocent postmasters Advertisement

'What the Post Office did with that piece of data, Mr Beer, I do not believe Fujitsu knew at the time, but certainly latterly the company became more aware that it was being used nearly solely for prosecutions.'

Mr Beer continued: 'Would you agree that the 29 summaries that we've just looked at some examples of, revealing bugs, errors and defects in the Horizon system, ought to have been revealed to the Post Office for the purposes of its investigatory and prosecutorial functions?'

Mr Patterson said: 'Yes, I do.'

Mr Beer then asked: 'You know, I think, that Fujitsu employees provided witness statements to the Post Office for the purposes of the prosecution of subpostmasters and speaking in general terms, these bugs errors and defects did not find their way into those witness statements. Do you know why?'

The Fujitsu director replied: 'I do not know why. I have seen examples of the witness statements.

'On a personal level, I'm surprised that that detail was not included in the witness statements given by Fujitsu staff to the Post Office  and I've seen some evidence of editing of witness statements by others.'

Mr Patterson confirmed an assertion by the counsel that there was a 'proposal to include at least a reference to some of the bugs...and they were edited out'.

Asked how he would describe his feelings on the matter, the Fujitsu boss said: 'Shameful, appalling  my understanding of how our laws work in this country, that all of the evidence should have been put in front of the subpostmaster, that the Post Office was relying on to prosecute them.'

The inquiry heard earlier this week that members of Fujitsu's software support centre filtered audit data before it was provided to the Post Office. Mr Beer said this suggested 'some relevant data may not have been provided to the Post Office.'

Faults with the Post Office's Horizon accounting software led to hundreds of subpostmasters being wrongfully convicted of fraud

Post Office CEO Paula Vennells (pictured in 2013 during her tenure at the top of the firm) handed back her CBE following immense public pressure

He asked Mr Patterson: 'Would you agree the witness statements give the impression that all the raw data that has been obtained within the relevant date ranges has been extracted and provided to the Post Office?'

The Fujitsu director replied: 'Yes, it does.'

Mr Beer continued: 'Whereas in fact there's a step in the process that's not been revealed to the subpostmaster or the court.'

Mr Patterson replied: 'Agreed.'

READ MORE: Post Office scandal reaches new low as chief executive Nick Read admits Horizon scandal victims' money may have been used to pay fat cats who oversaw their torment Advertisement

Mr Beer went on: 'So if the evidence that we've heard from Fujitsu witnesses this week is correct, then a witness statement that followed the template and didn't mention the filtering out exercise, would mean that the witness statement was false and misleading by omission, wouldn't it?'

Mr Patterson said: 'I think the witness statement generally needed to be more comprehensive and it absolutely missed those points you've just alluded to and it would be misleading.'

At the start of his evidence, the Fujitsu director reiterated his apology to subpostmasters, describing the scandal as an 'appalling miscarriage of justice'.

He told the probe the technology giant was determined to 'get to the truth wherever it lays' as he faced his second grilling of the week, following the Business and Trade Committee on Tuesday.

Fujitsu's value nose-dived after Mr Patterson's spoke to MPs earlier earlier this week, with the company shedding $1billion in value and its share price dipping four per cent as he said the company should contribute to payouts for Horizon victims.

It emerged last night that the Post Office had contacted its insurers after being made aware that the credibility of its star witness in some subpostmaster prosecutions, Fujitsu IT expert Gareth Jenkins, had been 'fatally undermined'.

Mr Jenkins was alleged to have falsely claimed to a number of trials that the Horizon system did not have any issues.

Post Office bosses reported a legal briefing on Mr Jenkins from lawyer Simon Clarke, known as 'the Clarke advice', to its insurers, and made its board of directors aware that it had contacted underwriters about the 'risk' posed.

The statutory inquiry, which began in 2021, was established to ensure there was a 'public summary of the failings which occurred with the Horizon IT system at the Post Office' and which subsequently led to the wrongful convictions of subpostmasters.

The probe is chaired by retired judge Sir Wyn Williams, who has previously looked at the human impact of the scandal, the Horizon system rollout and the operation of the system.
Jeremy Hunt has warned Donald Trump not to revert to 'protectionist' economic measures including heavy taxes on all imports to the US if he wins power.

The UK chancellor warned that such measures could harm the US as much as foreign producers, in an event at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

Last November, Mr Trump, the frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination, said that if elected for a second term he would bring in a 10 per cent tariff on all imports into the US.

Though his measure is mainly aimed at Chinese competition, it would also hit UK firms and potentially set up a damaging trade war.

Asked aout Mr Trump's comments in Switzerland, Mr Hunt said: 'I don't support protectionist measures. I think they harm the people who introduce them as much as the people they are aimed at.'

The UK chancellor warned that such measures could harm the US as much as foreign producers, in an event at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

Last November, Mr Trump, the frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination, said that if elected for a second term he would bring in a 10 per cent tariff on all imports into the US.

However, one of his Tory colleagues has said he would prefer a second Trump presidency to a win for Joe Biden.

Former business secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg told ITV's Peston: 'I think Donald Trump is better disposed towards the United Kingdom, I think President Biden has shown his dislike for the United Kingdom throughout his presidency and that's been very unfortunate and unhelpful to whatever you make of the special relationship.'

Asked for his view on what would happen if as some fear in the US, Trump stopped backing Ukraine in its war against Putin's Russia, he said: 'That would be a terrible thing, let's make no bones about that. I would be very surprised if he did that.

'But Donald Trump often says things in a way that excites people and then he's much more pragmatic when he's in government. Certainly that was true with all that he said about NATO when he was president last time around. But I strongly support the UK involvement in Ukraine, we must continue with that, we cannot let the tyrant Putin win, and I would hope that any American president would support those efforts.'
He did what any loving and dutiful father would do, he insists. Looking back on that day  which he does frequently  Sky Roberts still doesnt think he missed any signs. He still doesnt know how he could have done things differently.

It was a typically warm and sunny day in Palm Beach, Florida, when Sky (his real name, a legacy of his Second World War father) decided to take the short trip during his lunch break from his job as a maintenance man at Donald Trumps Mar-a-Lago club, to a multi-million-dollar, waterfront mansion nearby.

His mission? To check out the mysterious billionaire financier and his girlfriend whod recently offered his teenage daughter, Virginia, a job.

Virginia, known to the family as Jenna, was 16 and working alongside her father as an attendant at the clubs spa.

A few days earlier shed excitedly reported an encounter with a female guest at the clubs pool, as she sat reading a book about massage therapy  a possible career avenue she was exploring.

Sky Roberts with his daughter Virginia, who accused Prince Andrew of sexual abuse

One day in 2000, he and Virginia climbed into his battered old pick-up and drove over to meet Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell

Mr Roberts says he met paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein in 2000, and he 'seemed like a regular guy'

The nicely spoken English woman had approached her and said her wealthy boss was looking for a full-time travelling masseuse, and would she be interested? The right candidate, she said, would receive training in massage therapy and would accompany her employer all over the world.

Naturally, his pretty, blonde daughter was extremely enthusiastic and Sky agreed it sounded like a fantastic opportunity for the youngster. But first, he said, he wanted to meet this curious benefactor. So, that day in 2000, he and Virginia climbed into his battered old pick-up and drove over to meet them.

If I'd done a background check on him, what would I have found? That he's rich and got an island and houses all over the place?

Waiting on the drive as they pulled up, in jeans and a T-shirt, was Jeffrey Epstein. In the background, nodding hello, was his then girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell, daughter of disgraced newspaper tycoon Robert Maxwell.

The ramifications of that fateful day would go on to blight the rest of Skys, and his daughters lives, and send shockwaves all over the world, into the highest political and society circles, and into the heart of the British Royal Family.

Yet no alarm bells were ringing, remembers Sky, speaking exclusively to the Mail. He seemed like a regular guy, and she seemed OK, too. I had no clue that this guy was a paedophile and that the woman was manipulating my daughter and other girls. I thought I was doing my parental duty by checking Epstein out.

Of course, as all now know, Virginias involvement with Epstein and Maxwell would, two decades later, lead to Epsteins mysterious suicide in jail, Maxwells 20-year prison sentence for sex trafficking crimes and Prince Andrews disgrace and withdrawal from public life.

Sky Roberts says he doesn't think he missed any signs the day he met Jeffrey Epstein

A photo of Virginia, aged 17, standing next to Prince Andrew, with his arm around her waist, would become the emblematic image of the sordid and disturbing case, reverberations from which are still being felt today.

Last week, thousands of pages of documents from a civil case brought by Skys daughter  she is now Virginia Giuffre and a 40-year-old married mother of three  more than a decade ago against Maxwell were unsealed on the orders of a judge.

They revealed further details about Virginias claims of being abused on Epsteins private island in an orgy with numerous other under-aged girls, and Epsteins orders that she was to give the prince whatever he demanded and required.

Virginia further claimed that she was paid $15,000 to have sex with Prince Andrew and was trafficked to another unnamed prince.

Prince Andrew settled a sexual abuse lawsuit with Virginia Giuffre out of court in 2022 and denies any wrongdoing. He has insisted he does not remember ever meeting her.

The sordid saga has inflicted considerable emotional suffering on Virginia and dozens of other young women who were recruited and groomed by Maxwell to satisfy Epsteins twisted sexual fantasies.

But there is also the harmful effect it has had on the parents of the victims, such as Sky, who comes across as a decent and loving father who was cruelly duped by the gruesome pair.

The infamous photo of Prince Andrew, 17-year-old Virginia Roberts and Ghislaine Maxwell

Virginia Roberts Giuffre says she was abused by Epstein and Maxwell for several years

Virginia settled with Prince Andrew out of court. The prince denies any wrongdoing

Now 67 and retired, he lives with his 63-year-old partner Lisa Walker, a retired veterinary technician, at what he calls his little piece of heaven, a five-acre ranch in Marion County. It is Floridas horse capital, and more than 200 miles  and a world  away from the millionaires playground of Palm Beach.

With Virginia now living in Australia, Sky doesnt see his daughter as often as hed like, but he remains proud and supportive of her.

He says the roots of the courage and determination she showed as an adult to help bring Epstein and Maxwell to justice, and to gain a financial settlement from Prince Andrew, was evident when she was a child.

Virginia was born in 1983 during his marriage to Lynn, and the family lived in Sacramento, California. They later had a son, also called Sky.

The family moved to Loxahatchee in a rural part of Palm Beach County, Florida, and for many years life on a small ranch was idyllic.

Referring to Virginia by her childhood name Jenna, Sky tells me his daughter was always a strong-willed little girl who wasnt afraid of anything.

I remember one time when Jenna was eight or nine, we were out riding and she said she wanted to race me, he recalls. Off she went, and the horse she was on bucked her off. She went straight up in the air and landed with a big thud on the ground. She just got up and went straight back on the horse, without a tear in her eye.

Epstein said, 'Oh, I do this to help a lot of girls  there will be people to teach Virginia massage therapy... it's a good career'

I would take her far out on the ocean to fish on our boat and she never showed any fear. Shed just sit there calmly and read a book.

Life was perfect until Virginia was 12 and was molested by a family friend. In an interview with The Mail on Sunday in 2011, she described how the fallout caused her parents to temporarily split  theyre now divorced  and triggered her to go off the rails.

She went to live with an aunt for a while, but repeatedly ran away and ended up living on the streets, where she was regularly beaten up and slept with at least two older men in return for food.

Three years later, she was reunited with her family and went to live with her father, now working as a maintenance man at Mar-a-Lago, where he helped his daughter get a summer job.

He had no idea of the trap he was innocently leading her into.

I loved having Jenna work alongside me because it meant we could have lunch together and when she told me about this new job offer, I said Id have to check this guy out, Sky said.

Jenna was keen because it was more money and the travel seemed a good opportunity. I had no idea, of course, what was really going on. Now I wish Id known the extent of it, but I had no clue.

Epsteins house was just down the street, and he came out into the driveway when I pulled up. He shook my hand. He had a nice manner. I said words to the effect that Id wanted to meet him and to understand exactly what my daughter would be doing.

Jeffrey Epstein was found dead in his prison cell in 2019. Ghislaine Maxwell is currently in a Florida prison after being found guilty of sex trafficking and will be eligible for parole in 2037

Maxwell remained in the background, he remembers, and let Epstein do all the talking.

Epstein said Oh, I do this to help a lot of girls  therell be people who will teach Virginia massage therapy... its a good career.

He seemed a decent guy, Ive been to millionaires and billionaires houses in Palm Beach and, working at Mar-a-Lago, Ive met celebrities like Clint Eastwood, so I wasnt intimidated by the wealth.

Although not intimidated, he was, he admits, blindsided by it. If Id had to go into some ghetto to talk to a guy who was going to employ my daughter as a masseuse, I would have probably told her no, not under any circumstance. But I was in a very posh neighbourhood of multi-million-dollar homes, and you think guys like Epstein are billionaires for a reason  theyre clever, and you just assume they have good morals.

If Id done a background check on him  even if I could have done one  what would I have found? Thats hes rich and got an island and houses all over the place?

For the next two and a-half years, Virginia was groomed by the couple, travelling with them around Epsteins various properties. During this time, they allegedly instructed her to have sex with a number of high-profile men including Prince Andrew. Its also been alleged that during this time, under Epstein and Maxwells orders, she would also help recruit other young girls herself  none of which, Sky was remotely aware of.

How Maxwell can look at herself in the mirror is beyond me because she ruined these kids' lives

Shed send pictures of herself on a four-wheel bike at Epsteins New Mexico ranch... things like that. I thought she was travelling the world and having a good time. How are you supposed to help a child if she doesnt talk to you?

She never came home from trips and said; Ive been sexually abused. Its not something youd talk about with a dad.

He winces when I quote from some of the recently unsealed documents about claims of orgies on Epsteins island and his daughter being trafficked to various powerful men.

As a father, I dont want to know the details, he says. Its distressing. I dont like to think about it too much.

He does, however, launch a blistering attack on Maxwell, who is serving her sentence at a prison in Tallahassee, Florida, and who will be eligible for parole in 2037.

She was a manipulative woman, choosing different girls for different men. Am I shocked? Not really, because this kind of thing has been happening for ever  thats what madams do. My daughter and a lot of other young girls got roped into this situation partly because of her, but it was not their fault.

I think shes despicable because she was aware of what was happening. How she can look at herself in a mirror is beyond me because she ruined these kids lives.

His disdain for Prince Andrew remains as fierce as ever: I dont think he still has any remorse for what he did or that he feels guilty. I think he is angry because he was caught. Jenna was about the same age as his daughters when this happened  thats just... nasty.

The Pizza Express story seems laughable to me. If youre a member of the Royal Family, you have bodyguards who know where you are at all times. (in his infamous Newsnight interview, the duke claimed hed taken his daughters to a party at Pizza Express in Woking the day he is said to have been with Virginia).

Sky continues: And why would he settle that lawsuit and pay the kind of money he did? Its because his lawyers didnt think they could win, and the Royal Family didnt want any more of the details coming out.

The Queen  his mommy  paid the bill. If it wasnt true, the Queen wouldnt have paid for the settlement. 

He believes the photograph of Virginia and Prince Andrew, with Maxwell standing off to the side, is not fake. Ill take my daughters word over Prince Andrews any time, he says.

On August 10, 2019, Epstein, whod been arrested and charged with sex trafficking, was found dead in his prison cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Centre in New York. Sky laughs when I ask if he thinks his daughters tormentor committed suicide.

He was killed to stop him from talking. I think the guards who were with him on suicide watch went away and someone went into his cell and murdered Epstein and made it look like he hanged himself with a bedsheet. Somebody didnt want to have the evidence Epstein had on them come out.

He believes the rumours that Epstein had his many lavish properties wired for video and that tapes exist of powerful men in compromising situations with young girls. British-born Sarah Ransome, another of Epsteins victims, said the financier had sex tapes but later backtracked on her claims.

My daughter doesnt have them, but somebodys got them, because I do think Epstein used them for blackmail, he says.

He [Epstein] had connections all over the world and I think there are powerful people who just want this to go away. Those tapes are out there floating around somewhere and if anybody knows where they are, it must be Ms Maxwell.

It is clear that this squalid and unpleasant episode has also taken a toll on him. I have been angry about it, theres no doubt, he says. But you can make yourself miserable about something thats in the past and that cant be changed and that you cant do anything about, or you can refuse to let it eat away at you.

But he does not think weve heard the last of Epstein and Maxwell  nor his strong, brave daughter.

She didnt back down, even though she was under a lot of pressure. Shes helped all these other girls who were victims of Epstein and now shes trying to help trafficked children in other parts of the world by setting up her own charity, he says.

I think all the young women caught up in this should pursue the other famous and powerful people who were involved in this mess. I hope they keep going until they get everybody and hold them responsible. Nobody should be above the law.
Emily Ratajkowski says she doesnt care about critics who target her for wearing revealing outfits.

The model, actress and author, 32, whose book My Body debated feminist topics, added she is at a point in her life where she now cares a whole lot less what people think.

She added in an interview with Glamour UK magazine: So, if I am in a certain type of mood where I want to post something or wear something that I could be judged for because its, quote-unquote desperate, Im a little bit like, Well, thats where Im at.

Emily added she has learned to put own happiness first as shes gotten older, and has bigger fish to fry than caring about the politics of whether or not Im appealing to the male gaze in a given moment.

She said: I guess where I am is a little bit of a true liberation, in a personal sense, in the way that I just dont really (care.)

But the Gone Girl actress did admit she is secretly self-conscious, confessing shes so afraid of people not taking her seriously.

She also said even though she wants women and girls to stop torturing themselves she is still afflicted by self doubt.

The model said about her inner criticism: I still kind of do (criticise and doubt myself), about everything; about the days that I dont look great or Im not dressed sexy or when I am dressed sexy, and its just constant.

Earlier this week, she took to Instagram to post an image of herself in a low-cut black dress and referenced how people saw her as a bimbo.

She captioned the picture: Decided Im never beating the bimbo allegations so why not lean in, you know?
We have to learn to live with danger again and prepare ourselves,' minister said

Vladimir Putin's troops could launch an attack on NATO nations within 'five to eight years', Germany's defence minister has declared.

Boris Pistorius said the US, UK and EU 'hear threats from the Kremlin almost every day... so we have to take into account that Vladimir Putin might even attack a NATO country one day'.

Pistorius told German outlet Der Tagesspiegel: 'Our experts expect a period of five to eight years in which this could be possible.

'We have to learn to live with danger again and prepare ourselves  militarily, socially and in terms of civil defence,' he concluded, pointing to an alarming speech made by a Swedish minister earlier this month who called on his citizens to prepare themselves for conflict.

Meanwhile, Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas believes a Russia-NATO confrontation is even more imminent, giving a timeframe of just three to five years for Europe to prepare for a serious military threat on the alliance's eastern flank.

The stark warnings from European leaders come just days after leaked documents from the German Ministry of Defence outlined a step-by-step doomsday guide on how Russia could escalate the conflict in Ukraine to an even bigger battle.

The leaked plans, published by German newspaper Bild, reveal in detail the path to a Third World War with Putin using Belarus as a launching pad for an invasion - as he did in February 2022 for his war in Ukraine.

A slew of top defence officials this week also signalled that NATO nations must begin preparing for a grand conflict with Russia, with an alliance admiral suggesting European countries may have to resort to conscription.

Russian T-72B3 tanks fire at Ukrainian fortified positions in Ukraine in undated footage

Pistorius told German outlet Der Tagesspiegel: 'Our experts expect a period of five to eight years in which this could be possible.' (German-made Leopard 2 tank is pictured)

Boris Pistorius said the US, UK and EU 'hear threats from the Kremlin almost every day... so we have to take into account that Vladimir Putin might even attack a NATO country one day'

Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting with Russia's Government members via video link in Moscow, on January 17, 2024

The chief of NATO's Military Committee, Dutch Admiral Rob Bauer, called on public and private actors in the West to prepare for an era in which anything could happen at any time, including fighting a war.

Bauer said large numbers of civilians will need to be mobilised in case a global war breaks out and governments must make sure their nations are 'war ready'.

'We need a warfighting transformation of NATO,' said as he opened a two-day meeting of national defence chiefs in Brussels.

He noted that in the past, NATO governments and companies lived in an era in which everything was plentiful, foreseeable, controllable, and focused on efficiency.

Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, they should adjust their thinking to 'an era in which anything can happen at any time, an era in which we need to expect the unexpected, an era in which we need to focus on effectiveness in order to be fully effective', he said.

Kevin Ryan, a retired US Army Brigadier General, agreed that the threat was real, adding that NATO 'not getting ready' could 'invite' a war.

Ryan told MailOnline: 'Until recently it didn't seem Russia could build an army good enough to enforce that demand. But if Russia continues to have success enlarging its force and ramping up military production then we need to get ready.

'Getting ready could be enough to avert a wider war. Not getting ready could invite one,' he concluded.

But Ben Hodges, who commanded the US Army in Europe between 2014 and 2018, stressed that the prospect of an all-out war would only happen if Russia sensed that NATO weren't prepared or unified.

He said: 'They [Russia] only respect strength. If they sense any weakness then they will continue to move forward.

'If they did it, it would be because they made the assessment that we were not ready or unified inside the alliance or that we did not have adequate ammunition or the ability to move fast enough.

'The UK has always been aware of the threat from Russia but now Germany are realising that this is something that's only going to get worse if they're not prepared.

He added: 'If the civilian leadership doesn't think there's a threat, they won't be able to move quickly enough. Our leaders should talk to us like adults. It doesn't mean you're a scaremongerer, it means you're taking precaution, which is exactly what we should be doing.'

Taking note of the alarming prognoses, Britain's Defence Secretary Grant Shapps announced that the UK will send 20,000 armed forces personnel to one of NATO's largest exercises since the Cold War set to run through the month of May.

The deployment, which Shapps characterised as the UK's biggest to NATO in four decades, is aimed at 'providing vital reassurance' over the 'menace' posed by Putin following his invasion of Ukraine, Shapps said.

The British personnel - from the Royal Air Force, Royal Navy and Army - will deploy across Europe and beyond for the military alliance's latest 'Exercise Steadfast Defender', alongside personnel from 31 other member countries and Sweden, which is a candidate to join the transatlantic alliance.

The UK contingent will include fighter jets and surveillance aircraft, the navy's most advanced warships and submarines, and a full range of army capabilities, including special operations forces.

London will send a so-called Carrier Strike Group - which features its flagship aircraft carrier and F-35B fighter jets and helicopters - to the exercises in the North Atlantic, Norwegian Sea and Baltic Sea.

Meanwhile some 16,000 soldiers will be deployed across eastern Europe from next month to June, taking with them tanks, artillery, helicopters and parachutes.

Utility workers repair water pipes outside a high-rise building destroyed following a Russian missile attack in central Kyiv, on January 3, 2024, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine

Swedish Army armoured vehicles and tanks participate in a military exercise called 'Cold Response 2022', gathering around 30,000 troops from NATO member countries as well as Finland and Sweden, amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine

Ben Hodges, who commanded the US Army in Europe between 2014 and 2018, said the plans outlined by Germany demonstrate that they are taking the threat 'seriously'

German defence documents outlined this scenario as a possible prelude to WW3

Germany is preparing for Vladimir Putin 's forces to attack NATO in 2025, according to leaked secret plans

Leaked documents suggest Germany's defence leaders are indeed taking the threat from Moscow seriously, with the Bundeswehr preparing for a hybrid Russian attack on NATO's eastern flank by the summer of 2025.

How Putin is forging new ties with Iran to strengthen their axis of evil amid World War III fears Advertisement

The secret 'Alliance Defence 2025' document details how Russia will mobilise another 200,000 soldiers in Russia before launching a spring offensive against Ukrainian forces in Spring this year.

Mr Hodges added that in its current state, he believes the Kremlin aren't strong enough to gather the military and equipment they need to pursue an all-out war.

'The Kremlin, right now, don't have the ability', he said. 'But if we fail to help Ukraine then that could change. And then it's a very real possibility'.

The leaked documents outline that by June, amid dwindling Western support and weaponry, Russia would achieve success on the battlefield and make significant advances through Ukraine.

Taking advantage of this success, Putin would in July launch cyber attacks in the Baltics at the same time as inciting violence in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania by claiming that ethnic Russian minorities are being targeted.

This tactic has already been used by Putin's cronies to justify their attack on Ukraine in 2014 and again in 2022 when Russia launched its full-scale invasion.

Clashes would occur in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania as a result of Russia's interference and Putin would use this as an excuse to launch a large-scale exercise with 50,000 Russian troops sent to Belarus and western Russia by September.

A month later, Putin would go one step further and move troops and medium-range missiles to the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad, which is nestled in between Poland and Lithuania.

The secret 'Alliance Defence 2025' document details how Russia will mobilise another 200,000 soldiers in Russia before launching a spring offensive against Ukrainian forces in Spring this year

Ukrainian soldiers on the frontline take part in a medical training in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine on January 14

Russian and Belarusian tanks attend joint exercise on 21 February 2022 in Belarus - a day before Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. According to leaked plans, Russia could use Belarus as a launching pad again - but this time to attack NATO allies

At the same time, Putin and his cronies would continue their sabre-rattling and claim that NATO is preparing to attack Russia and a threat to their national security.

The Kremlin would likely move to attack a narrow strip of land known as the Suwalki Gap.

Poland and Lithuania have fought for control of the area, but today it is part of Poland and is the only land border between mainland Europe and the Baltic States.

Even a small attack on the area - sandwiched between Poland, Lithuania and Kaliningrad - could cause huge problems for NATO and potentially spiral into a Third World War.

Fears of a Baltic invasion have risen since the Ukraine war began, and if Putin were to attempt it then blocking the Suwalki Gap would likely be his first move, as detailed in the leaked secret documents.

Though thousands of NATO troops, including UK soldiers, are currently deployed to the Baltics, they are only intended as a 'tripwire' force. Their role is to hold up any invading force until the main NATO army can arrive.

By December this year, Moscow would dispel fake propaganda about a border conflict and 'riots with numerous deaths' in the Suwalki Gap, according to the documents.

But Putin's main aim will be to attack a narrow strip of land known as the Suwalki Gap. Poland and Lithuania have fought for control of the area, but today it is part of Poland and is the only land border between mainland Europe and the Baltic States

Russian and Belarusian rocket launchers attend joint exercise on 17 February 2022 in Belarus - a day before Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. According to leaked plans, Russia could use Belarus as a launching pad again - but this time to attack NATO allies

A Ukrainian serviceman of 2 battalion 92nd brigade fires a 120-mm mortar towards Russian troops, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, at a position near Bakhmut in Donetsk region, Ukraine, on January 12

NATO troops during an exercise in Poland in May 2023

And taking advantage of the chaos that will ensue if President Joe Biden is defeated in the presidential elections with the US left without a leader for a few weeks, Putin would begin his attack on NATO soil.

Shortly afterwards, during an extraordinary meeting of the UN Security Council, Moscow accuses the West of preparing to attack Russia according to the documents.

According to the doomsday scenario, NATO would convene a special meeting in January 2025 at which Poland and the Baltic states report an increasing Russian threat and plead for help.

But Russia would take advantage of the choas and by March 2025, the Kremlin would move even more troops towards the Baltics and Belarus.

By the end of the month, Putin would have accumulated 70,000 soldiers as part of two tank divisions, mechanised infantry division and a division headquarters.

Two months later, in May 2025, NATO would reconvene again to discuss the mounting Russian threat to its security and decide on 'measures for credible deterrence' in an effort to stop any Russian attack on the Suwalki Gap from the direction of Belarus and Kaliningrad.

On an undisclosed date named 'Day X', NATO would deploy 300,000 soldiers - including 30,000 from Germany - to its eastern flank to defend against an impending Russian attack, according to the leaked documents.

It's unclear from the documents if Russian would be deterred by the deployment of NATO forces as the scenario ends 30 days after Day X.

A German Ministry of Defence spokesperson told Bild they did not want to comment on the specific NATO defence scenario but said: 'Basically, I can tell you that considering different scenarios, even if they are extremely unlikely, is part of everyday military business, especially in training.'

The release of the terrifying documents come just days after Sweden's civil defence minister warned that his country could soon face the prospect of war and urged citizens to join voluntary defence organisations in preparation for a Russian attack.
Tributes have flowed in for a guitarist who died in his sleep just hours after playing a gig.

Musician Benaiah Fiu, from the Gold Coast, was found dead by his mother last Saturday morning.

The 32-year-old's band Strange Motel had played a show at Mo's Desert Clubhouse near Burleigh Heads on the Friday night before.

A cause of death has not yet been confirmed.

Musician Benaiah Fiu, from the Gold Coast , founded several rock bands before he was found dead by his mother last Saturday morning

Mr Fiu's death has left many of his fellow musicians shattered. He had formed rock groups Sex Drive, Strange Motel, Fiction Control and Paper.

Fiction Control uploaded a post to Instagram on Friday paying tribute to their fellow band member.

'Until we meet again. Rest easy brother,' they wrote.

The band told Daily Mail Australia in a statement Mr Fiu will be missed.

'He was the light that never went out. The brightness in all this darkened mess we call a world,' they said.

'You wont be forgotten, you will live on through us all and your music.'

The guitarist is believed to have died in his sleep

Mr Fiu's heartbroken sisters Ngahuia and Hanisi also paid tribute to the 32-year-old.

'On Saturday, January 13, we said goodbye to my baby brother Benaiah,' Ngahuai said.

'I'm in so much pain, our family is hurting. He loved so deeply.

'He had this magical thing where he could create a totally unique, individual and deep relationship with anyone who could get on his frequency level.'

Hanisi said while the 'tears are constant', there was a lot of love for Mr Fiu and the life he lived.

Mr Fiu's (pictured) fellow band members have been left shattered following his passing with family and friends paying tribute to the beloved musician

Mr Fiu's family have arranged for an open viewing, a funeral service and a paddle out to honour his life.

The open viewing will be held in Carrara on Monday with the funeral to be at Newlife Church in Robina later that day.

The paddle out, in honour of Mr Fiu's 'love for the ocean', is set to be held on January 25.
Labour has suffered a shock loss in a local council contest after their candidate was caught up in a bitter row over her social media posts about trans people.

The party was defeated in a Hackney Council by-election as Laura Pascal was beaten by Tory rival Ian Sharer.

The 935 votes gained by Ms Pascal was down 46 per cent on the 1,724 votes the previous Labour councillor had received in 2022.

Ms Pascal was only reinstated as a Labour candidate just hours before polls opened on Thursday after previously being suspended amid claims of transphobia.

It was claimed her reinstatment came after being 'forced' into an apology by party bosses for past social media posts.

In July, Ms Pascal posted on Twitter/X that 'trans women are not female', adding: 'By definition they are male.'

She also wrote: 'I believe that biological sex is a real thing and neither law or some kind of new scientific concensus [sic] wld change that.'

It was reported by the Evening Standard that another complaint related to alleged racism after Ms Pascal appeared to 'like' a post which suggested a trans woman wearing 'womanface' was sexist and comparable to 'blackface' make-up.

Ms Pascal describes herself on Twitter/X as a 'feminist and unapologetic for my gender critical views'.

Laura Pascal describes herself on Twitter/X as a 'feminist and unapologetic for my gender critical views'

In July, Ms Pascal posted on Twitter /X that 'trans women are not female', adding: 'By definition they are male.'

Hackney Labour issued a statement from Ms Pascal, which read: 'I offer a heartfelt apology to the people of Cazenove... and anyone who has been offended by my social media activity'

The 935 votes gained by Ms Pascal was down 46 per cent on the 1,724 votes the previous Labour councillor had received in 2022

Hackney Council is a Labour-run administration on which the party holds a large majority.

Ms Pascal's loss in the Cazenove ward by-election came as a shock in an area that has heavily supported Labour in recent years.

It emerged she had been 'administratively suspended' by party bosses earlier this week with members of Hackney Labour told to cease campaigning for her.

She was reported to be under investigation following a number of complaints and, although it was too late to alter ballot papers listing her as Labour's candidate, she was set to sit as an independent councillor if elected.

But Labour backtracked and lifted her suspension just hours before polls opened on Thursday.

It came after Hackney Labour issued a statement from Ms Pascal on Wednesday evening, which read: 'I offer a heartfelt apology to the people of Cazenove ward, Hackney and anyone who has been offended by my social media activity, which fell well below the standard expected of someone seeking election to public office.

'It was a mistake to like some tweets that caused offence and a great deal of hurt.

'Ultimately, the people of Cazenove ward will make their own judgements on Thursday, but I hope they can find some reassurance in the fact that I have reflected deeply on my past social media activity and offer this apology unreservedly.'

Some on social media speculated Ms Pascal had been 'forced' into making the apology.

Elliot Hammer, the chair of the Tottenham Conservative Association in the neighbouring London borough of Haringey, posted: 'Conservatives won #Cazenove due to a heady mix of Low Traffic Neighbourhood opposition and the internal destruction of the Labour Party over womens rights.

'Gender critical feminism is not bigoted.'

Hackney Conservatives posted: 'We are delighted to welcome Ian Sharer as the newly elected Conservative Councillor for Cazenove ward.

'Thank you to the residents of Cazenove ward for this historic victory. We are honoured to be representing all our communities and will continue to oppose the rollout of LTNs.'

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has faced questions over his stance on transgender rights.

Last year he suggested 1 in 1,000 women have a penis as he strived to set out a 'common sense' position.

Sir Keir sparked fresh confusion - and attracted ridicule - by stating that 99.9 per cent of women 'of course haven't got a penis'.

He had previously been reluctant to say whether a woman can have male genitals and once said it was 'not right' to say only women have a cervix.
Two earthquakes struck Britain within the space of nine hours on Wednesday as tremors were felt across the Scottish Highlands.

The first struck Morvern at 12.18pm on Wednesday and registered a magnitude of 1.4. Then at 8.43pm a 1.1 magnitude quake was recorded on the Treshnish Islands off the Argyll coast.

They were the latest in a series of tremors to hit the Highlands in recent months - including 13 in Morvern.

There are roughly 200-300 earthquakes in Britain every year, but the vast majority are so small that no one notices them. However between 20-30 are over 2.0 magnitude which can be felt over a wider area.

The largest known Scottish earthquake on land occurred near Loch Awe in 1880, with a magnitude of 5.2.

The first quake struck Morvern at 12.18pm on Wednesday with a magnitude of 1.4

The second was recorded on the Treshnish Islands off the Argyll coast

Wednesday's quakes came after an earthquake shook residents on two Scottish islands as they prepared to celebrate Christmas.

The 2.0 magnitude tremor was recorded by the British Geological Survey at 5.16am on Christmas Eve. ,The epicentre was at Kimelford in Argyll.

But the BGS said it was felt on the Isle of Mull, the Isle of Lismore and Lochgilphead.

Reports from residents described their experiences - 'thought it was a military jet', 'a loud, low rumble like a heavy vehicle passing' and 'loud bang that woke me up'.

On December 15 a 1.5 magnitude quake was logged at Morvern, with the epicentre close to the A884 near Loch Arienas.

A previous tremor on December 9 saw an earthquake measuring 2.1 magnitude hit in the area.

The event was felt in Mallaig and Morar and by islanders on Lismore in the Inner Hebrides. Residents of Lismore described a 'loud rumbling sound'.

Villagers in Mallaig and Morar said they also 'felt a weak trembling', as well as experiencing the same noise.

Graphs show how the earthquakes occurred within nine hours of each other

Since October 10, Morvern has been hit by at least 13 earthquakes.

UK earthquakes, particularly in Scotland, are most often attributed to glacial rebound. Until about 10, 500 years ago much of the north of the UK was covered by a thick layer of ice - which pushed the rocks down into the underlying mantle.

These rocks have been slowly rising back up ever since the ice melted, causing occasional earthquakes in the process.

The UK is also subject to tectonic stresses caused by the expansion of the Atlantic Ocean, which is slowly pushing the entire of Eurasia to the east, and from the northward motion of Africa, which is pushing into Europe from the south.
A man has been charged following the discovery of a dead body in a house in Victoria's southwest.

The body of a man was found at a home on Park Street, in Portland, at about 7.30pm on Thursday, with police called to the scene.

A 45-year-old man was arrested at the same house and has been charged with one count of murder.

A man has been charged with murder after the body of another man was found in a house in Portland in Victoria's southwest (pictured Cape Nelson lighthouse in Portland)

He has been remanded and is due to appear at Warrnambool Magistrates' Court on January 22.

The man whose remains were found is yet to be identified but police believe the pair were known to each other.

Portland is a popular travel spot for Victorians, and is known for its pristine beaches and history, with the town becoming the state's first permanent European settlement in 1834.
A cooler filled with severed human heads was abandoned at a Mexican gas station with a note from a cartel warning their rivals to 'stop hiding'.

Hitmen allegedly from the Mexican 'Sinaloa Cartel' left the ice box inside a gas station in the town of La Concordia, in Chiapas in southern Mexico on Monday.

Workers believed the cooler had contained several doses of vaccines for veterinary use since the cooler had an envelope with instructions for this type of substance, local media reported.

But after opening it, they realized it contained human remains covered in ice, as well as a message to the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) threatening they would be met with the same fate.

The cooler was found just hours after the CJNG reportedly left a dismembered body hanging from an overpass on the Tuxtla-Ocozocoautla highway to warn the Sinaloa cartel to stay clear of its migrant smuggling trade.

Hitmen allegedly from the Mexican 'Sinaloa Cartel' reportedly abandoned a cooler filled with severed human heads at a gas station in La Concordia, southern Mexico with a note warning their rivals to 'stop hiding'

Workers believed the cooler had contained several doses of vaccines for veterinary use since the cooler had an envelope with instructions for this type of substance

The Sinaloa Cartel apparently sent the severed heads via parcel to an individual named Oscar Orantes, on behalf of Insumos Veterinarios del Sur SA de CV.

An envelope containing instructions mentioned following doctor's guidance and storing the contents at 16C, leading the workers to believe the parcel contained vaccines, Infobae.com reported.

But once they opened the lid, the workers found the remains and a note apparently signed by the Sinaloa Cartel.

The message read: 'There's your s**t you bunch of pigs. The same thing is going to happen to all the polleros (smugglers) who generate money for the scourges of the CJNG and the f*****s of the Chiapas Cartel.

'Go out and fight you bunch of pigs, stop hiding under government skirt. Pure CDS '.

The case was reported to the authorities and an investigation was opened for qualified homicide.

The Attorney General's Office of the State of Chiapas on Tuesday announced that three of the four decapitated people found inside the cooler were identified.

They correspond to three men and a woman Blanca 'N' and Luis Fernando 'N', both residing in the municipality of Villa Corzo and Yonibeth 'N' residing in La Concordia. They did not have a missing person's report filed.

The identity of the fourth set of remains in still pending.

But once they opened the lid, the workers found the remains and a note apparently signed by the Sinaloa Cartel

The message read: 'There's your s**t you bunch of pigs. The same thing is going to happen to all the polleros (smugglers) who generate money for the scourges of the CJNG and the f*****s of the Chiapas Cartel. 'Go out and fight you bunch of pigs, stop hiding under government skirt. Pure CDS '

The Sinaloa Cartel is an organized crime organization based in the city of Culiacan, Sinaloa, in Mexico. They deal with illegal drug trafficking and money laundering.

Both cartels have seemingly issued horrific warnings to their rivals this week using human remains.

The CJNG on Monday hung a man's severed head and a trash bag containing the rest of his body over an overpass.

According to Border Report, a sign was left next to the body warning: 'This will happen to all the people with Panchito, El Guero Pulseras and (El Tarje).'

El Guero Pulseras has reportedly been identified as a leader of the Sinaloa Cartel in Chiapas, which borders Guatemala and is allegedly seeing an influx of migrants heading to the US.
A Ryanair plane heading from the UK to the Canary Islands has been forced to divert to Portugal following an 'on-board fight'.

Portuguese police sources said seven passengers had been involved in an altercation and one person had been arrested.

There has not yet been any official comment from authorities in Portugal but one well-placed insider said all were British.

The plane left London Luton airport at 8am and was due to reach Lanzarote at 12.15pm local time today.

It was diverted to Faro instead and touched down at the airport in Portugal's Algarve region at around 10.50am local time.

MailOnline has approached Ryanair for comment.

Portuguese police sources said seven passengers had been involved in an altercation and one person had been arrested after a fight broke out on board

Last month three Ryanair planes from the UK had to divert to Faro for different reasons.

On December 20 a Boeing 737 operated by the budget airline landed at the Algarve airport with 202 people on board after diverting from its original route of London Stansted to Lisbon because of a technical problem.

A 'red code' alert was issued and led to 35 emergency response vehicles and nearly 80 responders including firefighters and civil protection workers being put on standby, although the plane landed safely.

On December 12 another Ryanair plane heading from Manchester to Tenerife South had to divert to the same airport amid another 'red alert', with that incident also being blamed on a technical issue with the aircraft.

And the Tuesday before that a Ryanair plane heading from London Stansted to Morocco landed at Faro in similar circumstances after the pilot fell ill.

A spokesman for Ryanair said after the December 5 incident: 'This flight from Stansted to Morocco diverted to Faro when one of the pilots became ill.

'The aircraft landed normally, and passengers were transferred to an alternative aircraft operated by another crew before continuing to Morocco.'
Storms have knocked out power in the northwest and closed schools across the country with nearly 30 percent of the population under weather warnings

More than a dozen states face warnings for freezing conditions and wind chills

More than 100 million Americans are under alerts for extreme weather as a winter storm barrels across the country.

The weather system which has already battered the West coast and resulted in 49 deaths is due to sweep eastwards Friday.

So far 1,565 flights have already been cancelled with more than 6,000 experiencing delays.

Snow has already started to fall from Indiana across to Delaware, with another bone-chilling wave of Arctic air due to push southwards heading into the weekend.

While temperatures in the northeast are expected to be above the 'polar plunge' seen earlier this week, more than 12 states are still facing wind chills and freezing conditions heading into the weekend.

More than 100 million Americans are under weather warnings amid plummeting temperatures and winter storms due to sweep across the northeast on Friday. Pictured: Washington D.C. where up to four inches of snow may fall

The Arctic conditions created a frozen wonderland around the waterfalls in Paterson, N.J., on Thursday, but have also brought deadly conditions which have killed at least 49 people

Northeast

Joggers braving the snow in Philadelphia on Friday amid a weather warning for the city where up to six inches of snow could fall

Statues at the Korean War Veterans Memorial on the National Mall are covered in snow during a storm, in Washington, DC. Nearby Regan National Airport issued a ground stop on Friday amid the freezing conditions

Extreme snow and ice saw a brief ground stop in place at Reagan National Airport in Washington D.C. where temperatures plunged below freezing this morning and up to four inches of snow is due to fall.

A Southern Airways Express flight carrying seven people was forced to make an emergency landing on Friday afternoon amid treacherous conditions.

The aircraft came to a stop on the Loudoun County Parkway with no injuries.

Meanwhile the Big Apple's La Guardia airport was experiencing delays of around 178 minutes. Forecasters estimate the New York metro region could be barraged by up to two inches of snow Friday, with New Jersey and Pennsylvania also due to be hit.

It comes after an American Airlines plane slid off a snowy taxiway in Rochester, New York, after a flight from Philadelphia. No injuries were reported.

The University of Pennsylvania announced it was shutting down operations on Friday amid forecasts of up to six inches of snow and weather warnings.

Cities along the I-95 will likely see snow for the second time this week as the cross country storms rolls in.

Much of New England and parts of the northeast will be in for bitterly cold conditions heading into the weekend as the storm heads off shore.

Midwest

Southern Airways Express flight 246 is seen having made an emergency landing on the Loudoun County Parkway, Friday afternoon, Jan. 19, 2024, in Dulles, Va., near Washington Dulles International Airport

The private aircraft landed safely without injuring any of the seven people on board and only caused damage to a guardrail

Snow covers an ice sculpture during this year's Hunter Ice Festival in downtown Niles, Michigan

A delivery driver makes their way through Times Square amid the winter storm sweeping east throughout Friday

Since extreme cold weather set in last week, more than 60 oil spills and other environmental incidents have been reported in North Dakotas Bakken oil fields, where regulators say wind chills as low as minus 70 degrees (minus 56.6 C) have strained workers and equipment, making accidents more likely.

In Kansas, authorities were investigating the death of an 18-year-old whose body was found Wednesday in a ditch not far from where his vehicle had become stuck in snow.

The Arctic conditions are set to continue today with lake-effect continuing to pepper midwestern states. Up to 12 inches is possible across parts of Indiana and Michigan.

An alert for 'very cold' wind chills has also been issued for the states along with warnings for Missouri, Kentucky, Iowa and Illinois.

Southeast

Plummeting temperatures could lead to tricky travel conditions due to slick roads. Pictured: A commuter catches the SEPTA R bus at Ridge Avenue and Midvale in the East Falls section of Philadelphia on Friday

The treacherous travel conditions seen here in Washington D.C. have lead to the cancellation or delay or more than 2,000 flights

Staff at Regan National Airport were battling to clear snow and ice from Runway 1/19 Friday morning

For many parts of the southeast the wintery conditions are set to stay with a mix of ice, snow and sleet forecast across the region.

In Tennessee where authorities say there have been at least 14 weather related deaths, a new layer of ice formed over parts on Thursday.

The storm dumped more than 9 inches (22.8 centimeters) of snow since Sunday on parts of Nashville, a city that rarely see such accumulations.

Temperatures also plunged below zero (minus 17.7 Celsius) in parts of the state, creating the largest power demand ever across the seven states served by the Tennessee Valley Authority.

The dead included a box truck driver who slid into a tractor-trailer on an interstate, a man who fell through a skylight while cleaning a roof, and a woman who died of hypothermia after being found unresponsive in her home.

On Thursday, Will Compton of the nonprofit Open Table Nashville, which helps homeless people, stopped his SUV outside the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum to hand out warm hats, blankets, protein drinks and socks as icy rain fell.

'People who are poor and people who are homeless are getting hit the hardest,' Compton said.

Delta Airlines de-icing crews spray down a plane on the tarmac of the John Glenn Columbus International Airport in Ohio early Friday morning. Forecasters predict treacherous travel conditions across the country

Delays of 178 minutes were already being seen at New York's LaGuardia airport on Friday morning amid icy conditions forecast to last until the weekend

Park enforcement officers patrol on horses in New York's Central Park on January 19, 2024. The National Weather Service forecasts 2 to 3 inches (5 to 7 cms) of snowfall for the region with temperatures in the upper 30s F (-1C) for the weekend

Aaron Robison, 62, has been staying at one of the citys warming centers and said the cold wouldnt have bothered him when he was younger. But now with arthritis in his hip and having to rely on two canes, he needed to get out of the cold.

'Thank God for people helping people on the streets. Thats a blessing,' he said.

All state offices were closed on Friday due to the freeze, officials confirmed.

In Mississippis capital city, an estimated 12,000 customers were dealing with low water pressure Thursday, another setback for Jacksons long-troubled water system.

Pipe breaks accelerated Wednesday when the frozen ground began to thaw and expand, putting pressure on buried pipes, Jackson water officials said.

The water system experienced increased pressure due to a spike when people filled their bathtubs in response to what officials called a 'deliberate misinformation campaign' on social media about the citys water supply, Jackson water manager Ted Henifin said.

More snow is on the way for northern Virginia, where powerful gusts of wind also threaten to down trees and powerlines over the weekend.

The frigid temperatures seen in Louisiana and Mississippi are set to continue with a hard freeze warning in place until Saturday. Locals are being warned that crops may perish and pipes could freeze amid the bitter cold.

A similarly chilly start is being forecast for Georgia, which is expected to be lashed by freezing rain.

Meanwhile in Florida, a blast of wintery air could push temperatures as low as the 30s.

West

Fallen branches and ice covered trees are seen on Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2024, in Creswell, Oregon Winter turned its icy glare on the U.S. this week, blanketing cities and states from east to west with snow and sending temperatures into an Arctic spiral.

Among the fatalities were three people who were electrocuted after this tree branch fell on a power lined in Portland, Oregon

Over on the West coast, steady snowfall is expected to turn to freezing rain with a potential for slick roads and treacherous travel conditions.

Oregon's governor declared a statewide emergency Thursday night after requests for aid from multiple counties 'as they enter the sixth day of severe impacts' from weather marked by freezing rain.

Thousands of residents have been without power since Saturday in parts of Oregon's Willamette Valley after an ice storm caused extensive damage.

'We lost power on Saturday, and we were told yesterday that it would be over two weeks before its back on,' said Jamie Kenworthy, a real estate broker in Jasper in Lane County.

'We do have a generator that we got last year, and right now its running an oil plug-in heater,' she said. 'We also have a natural gas stove, and Ive been running two of the burners to try to help heat up the house.'

In the past two weeks, storms have blasted much of the U.S. with rain, snow, wind and frigid temperatures, snarling traffic and air travel and causing at least 47 deaths.

This included three people electrocuted Wednesday by a downed power line in Portland, Oregon. A man trying to get out of a parked car covered by the line died with a baby in his arms after slipping on the icy driveway and hitting the live wire. The baby survived.

His pregnant 21-year-old girlfriend and her 15-year-old brother died when they tried to help. Their father, Ronald Briggs, told KGW-TV that he helplessly watched their deaths.

The extreme cold has led to a shutdown of schools and universities across the country

A man clears snow from his car in a Washington, DC, neighborhood on January 19

'I have six kids. I lost two of them in one day,' he said.

Crews had made steady progress restoring power to tens of thousands of customers in Oregon after back-to-back storms, but by Friday morning more than 107,000 were without electricity, according to the website poweroutage.us.

Portland Public Schools canceled classes for the fourth straight day amid concerns about icy roads and water damage to buildings, and state offices in Portland were also ordered closed Friday. On the East Coast, District of Columbia Public Schools closed Friday due to weather conditions.

In Washington state, five people - most of them presumed homeless - died from exposure to cold in just four days last week in Seattle as temperatures plummeted to well below freezing, the medical examiners office said.

Southwest

A plane is de-iced at McGhee Tyson Airport in Knoxville, Tennessee

A worker removes snow from the White House driveway during the winter storm

The hard freeze warning coming into effect in Louisiana will stretch across to parts of southeast Texas. Locals have been warned to expect sub-freezing temperatures from 19 to 25F.

The state's grid had managed to hold firm amid plunging temperatures earlier in the week despite fears of a repeat of the weather related outages seen in the aftermath of the 2021 snow storm.

In New Mexico, a gust of Arctic air brought a single digit start to the day for many, while Oklahoma is in for a similarly bitter weekend.

Central parts of the state will be deluged by freezing rain on Sunday night according to forecasters.

In Arizona milder temperatures are set to give way to three storm systems moving in towards the end of the weekend, bringing downpours and weather alerts.
Now Smart's family are suing California Polytechnic State University, alleging it caused her death through negligence

Her killer was found guilty in October 2022 after a true crime podcast sparked police into action

The family of murdered Kristin Smart, who vanished nearly three decades ago, are suing California Polytechnic State University, alleging it caused her death through negligence.

Smart, then 19, disappeared from California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo on the states scenic Central Coast over Memorial Day weekend in 1996.

Paul Flores was arrested in 2021, convicted of first-degree murder in 2022 and sentenced last year to 25 years to life in state prison.

Prosecutors say Flores killed Smart during an attempted rape on May 25, 1996, in his dorm room at the university, where they were both first-year students.

On Thursday, Smart's parents, brother and sister sued the university for wrongful death and negligence, alleging that officials could have prevented her death if they had properly dealt with university police reports filed by four other female students.

Freshman Kristin Smart disappeared in 1996 after a California college party - and the prime suspect was found guilty after a crime podcast helped crack the case

Flores is seen in court in July 2022 in Monterey County courtroom in Salinas

Other students had complained that Flores had stalked and harassed them in the months leading up to Smart's disappearance.

In one case, Flores allegedly tried to break into a student's apartment, according to the lawsuit.

The reports should have prompted the university to investigate, and suspend or expel Flores, removing him from on-campus housing and sending him back home 'miles away from Kristin and the dorm room where he murdered her,' the lawsuit said.

'Had the university acted properly, conducted a thorough investigation into Flores past concerning behavior, and implemented appropriate disciplinary measures, Kristin would likely still be alive today.

'Instead, our family has been left to grieve her absence for 27 agonizing years,' a family statement said.

The suit also contends that the university failed to pursue a proper and timely investigation into Smarts disappearance, including failing to seal Flores' dorm room and allowing it to be cleaned before it was finally searched 16 days after Smart vanished.

In an email, Cal Poly spokesperson Matt Lazier said the university had no comment because 'this is a pending legal matter.'

However, last May, university President Jeffrey Armstrong publicly apologized to the family for how it handled the investigation into her disappearance.

Flores is seen in an interview at the time of Smart's disappearance

Flores is shown in an unrelated arrest photo from 1996, when he was 19. He was convicted in 2022 for Smart's murder and his sentencing hearing was on Friday

'While it is a different administration now than was in place in 1996, we recognize that things should had been done differently - and I personally wish that they had,' he said.

The family only realized Cal Poly's alleged negligence after that apology because relatives didn't have any access to the university's investigative file, according to the lawsuit.

'Even now, the Smart family still does not know what information, in the possession of Cal Polys president, and uniquely available to him and or Cal Poly, led him to make the apology,' the suit said.

Flores was the last person seen with Smart as he walked home with her from an off-campus party on May 25, 1996 at around 2am.

The family of murdered Kristin Smart, who vanished nearly three decades ago, are suing California Polytechnic State University

He claimed he walked her as far as her dorm, but she was never seen again.

A missing persons report was filed three days later.

Friends said she was intoxicated and Flores repeatedly said he would escort her home.

He was identified as a 'person of interest' early in the case, and interviewed by police at the time.

Flores was found guilty of murder in October last year.

He and his father, Ruben, were both charged in connection with her death. Prosecutors say Ruben helped his son by stashing Smart's body under their backyard deck for years.

The pair are suspected of moving her remains once suspicion started growing in 2020.
A high school art teacher allegedly tried to kill her husband by mashing up a poisonous flower and hiding it in his food and smoothies.

Sarah Scheffer, 37, was charged with attempted murder after her husband Matthew, 38, installed a hidden camera when he started getting sick.

He watched as his wife allegedly blended the contents of a green bowl, which were roots from a bag labeled 'Lily of the Valley' into a smoothie for him at their home in Jefferson City, Missouri.

Lily of the Valley is a white flower popular at weddings but poisonous when ingested, particularly its roots.

Ms Scheffer proudly wrote on her photography business' Instagram page that she is 'mother to two wild things and wife to a bearded foodie' - but police alleged she planned to murder him and flee to Pakistan.

Sarah Scheffer, 37, was charged with attempted murder after her husband Matthew, 38, installed a hidden camera when he started getting sick

Ms Scheffer allegedly admitted during interrogation that she added the poisonous plant to the smoothie 'with the intent to cause the victim harm'

The couple have two sons - a young boy and a baby - and it is unclear if Ms Scheffer planned to take them to Pakistan as part of her escape

Mr Scheffer, a regional manager at US Foods, installed the security camera after he began to suspect his wife was trying to make him sick for the past six weeks.

'The victim described eight occurrences in which the defendant provided a beverage or food that had an odd taste,' a probable cause statement read.

'Shortly after ingesting he experienced extreme fatigue, confusion, blurred vision, severe cotton mouth, and nausea.'

Mr Scheffer confronted his wife on New Year's Day after she gave him a drink that had a bitter taste, and she changed her story twice.

First she bizarrely said she urinated in his drink, then 'admitted to putting an industrial strength adhesive in it', then denied adding anything to it at all.

Ms Scheffer is a design and art teacher at Calvary Lutheran High School in Jefferson City (pictured on the school's website)

Mr Scheffer secretly installed a camera facing the kitchen in their Jefferson City, Missouri, home (pictured) and allegedly caught her latest poisoning attempt

Now extremely suspicious, her husband secretly installed a camera facing the kitchen and allegedly caught her latest poisoning attempt.

He stashed the smoothie in the fridge and called police on Tuesday, who took the drink for laboratory testing and later arrested his wife.

Ms Scheffer allegedly admitted during interrogation that she added the poisonous plant to the smoothie 'with the intent to cause the victim harm'.

'The defendant admitted to knowing that ingesting 'lily of the valley' could result in death,' the statement said.

The probable cause statement opposed bail because Ms Scheffer told police she had a relationship with someone in Pakistan and had searched online for flights to the South Asian country.

Ms Scheffer was charged with attempted murder and armed criminal action, and booked into Cole County Jail.

She is a design and art teacher at Calvary Lutheran High School in Jefferson City, which put her on leave while the case plays out.

'The alleged conduct was outside of the employee's association with the school and did not involve a student or any other school personnel,' Calvary Lutheran Executive Director John Christman said.

Lily of the Valley is a white flower popular at weddings but poisonous when ingested, particularly its roots
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A holidaymaker was today grappled into a headlock and violently marched off a Ryanair flight by police after a Luton to Lanzarote flight was diverted to Portugal because of his behaviour.

The man, thought to be British, was forcibly removed from the plane by a dozen Portuguese police officers as other passengers watched in astonishment.

A fellow passenger who filmed the shocking scenes at Faro airport told MailOnline: 'There was a group of men who appeared to have been drinking who were bothering some female passengers.

'When it started to get a bit out of hand one of the stewards tried to intercede and ended up getting knocked over.

'At this point the captain gave a warning over the tannoy that unacceptable behaviour would not be tolerated and if it did not stop we would divert to Portugal.

This is the shocking moment a holidaymaker was grappled into a headlock and violently marched off a Ryanair flight by police after a Luton to Lanzarote flight was diverted to Portugal because of his behaviour

The man was seen in a video filmed inside the cabin being dragged down the aisle by officers

'But the commotion didn't let up and 20 minutes later we were told we are landing in twenty minutes with no further information.

'The man fighting in the video originally got off voluntarily but for some reason got back on the plane and was then forcibly removed by the police who put him in a headlock.

'This man was one of several who were removed,' the passenger said.

'It was quite shocking to see. We are all a bit shaken.'

Footage filmed inside the cabin showed several passengers with their phones out, watching in astonishment as the police dragged the man down the aisle.

The man is seen struggling against the officers, prompting them to put him in a headlock in an attempt to subdue him.

Another officer is seen holding his arm ahead of him, dragging him to the exit.

After being dragged off the plane, the man was filmed being taken away by local police

Some of the passengers can be heard encouraging the officers and even cheering and clapping in the man's face, clearly eager for the disorderly man to be taken off the plane as quickly as possible.

'Bye bye mate!' one man is heard shouting. A woman shouts 'Well done!'

Separate video out of the passenger window of the aircraft showed the man being marched by the group of police officers over the tarmac.

He appeared to be resisting before being bundled into a police car.

Another clip showed the larger group of people also standing on the tarmac having also been removed from the plane.

The Ryanair plane was heading from the UK to the Canary Islands when it was diverted. There has not yet been any official comment from authorities in Portugal but one well-placed insider said all involved in the incident were British.

Pictured: The diverted plane is seen on the tarmac in Portugal

The plane left London's Luton airport at 8am and was due to reach Lanzarote at 12.15pm local time today.

However, it was diverted to Portugal airport instead and landed at Faro in Portugal's Algarve region at around 10.50am local time, with police boarding shortly after.

An email was dispatched to passengers on the flight which read: 'We apologise that your flight, FR3511, from London Luton to Lanzarote on the 19-01-2024 was unexpectedly diverted to Faro.

'When we are forced to divert a flight, we immediately begin planning your onward journey from the airport you are diverted to. If your flight is diverted and is scheduled to continue from there, we will work to keep this delay as minimal as possible.'

In a statement to MailOnline Ryanair said: 'This flight from London Luton to Lanzarote diverted to Faro when passengers became disruptive onboard.

'Crew called ahead for police assistance and the aircraft was met by local police upon arrival who removed the disruptive passengers. The flight continued to Lanzarote following a short delay. This is now a matter for local police.'
The lawyer Gilgo beach serial killer suspect Rex Heuermann has claimed his 'sadistic' internet searches don't mean he's a murderer.

'Searching the internet, ask yourselves what you search on your computers and your phones,' defense attorney Michael Brown told reporters on Tuesday after Heuermann was charged with a fourth woman's killing in Long Island.

'One thing leads to another  you see a show about something, you start searching, and they talk about how somebody got killed.... You start searching, and then they talk about another way, and you start searching,' Brown added.

'Think about if they looked at your own personal search history, how all of a sudden youre guilty because of your search history?'

Investigators say they found dozens of alarming internet searches on a burner phone and email account that Heuermann used under the name 'Thomas Hawk.'

Rex Heuermann on Tuesday was charged with the murder of Maureen Brainard-Barnes, a Long Island sex worker who vanished in July 2007. Her body was found three years later

Rex Heuermann's disturbing April 2021 internet searches were revealed in new court filings

The searches included 'torture redhead porn,' 'girl with face beat up,' 'chubby 10 year old girl crying,' and 'Asian twink tied up.'

On Tuesday Heuermann was charged with the killing of Maureen Brainard-Barnes, a 25-year-old sex worker who vanished in 2007.

Last summer he was charged with the murders of three of the 'Gilgo Beach four' - Megan Waterman, Amber Costello and Melissa Barthelemy.

He denies all of the charges and his attorney Brown has claimed the DNA testing is not foolproof.

Brown said: 'He has maintained his innocence from day one. We had advance notice that it was coming, I explained it to him. He said "I am not guilty" , he is looking forward to fighting these charges.

'All along we've been told the evidence is unsuitable for nuclear DNA testing. There has bene testimony, lab reports that said it was incapable of having nuclear DNA testing.

'Those statistics are not very convincing.'

A female hair that was found on the belt used to bind Maureen's body was a match for Heuermann's wife, new charging documents reveal.

DNA found on the buckle of the belt used to bind Maureen Brainard-Barnes' body was a match for Heuermann's wife

Heuermann has been charged in the murders of Melissa Barthelemy, Amber Costello and Megan Waterman. He is the prime suspect in the murder of Maureen Brainard-Barnes

She and the children were out of town when Maureen vanished in July 2007 and have not been charged.

In new charging documents, prosecutors revealed today how police followed Heuermann's daughter, Victoria, on a Long Island Railroad train in May 2023.

They seized a discarded can of Monster Java, an energy drink, that she had been drinking from to test her DNA against the traces found on the victims' bodies.

Maureen was 25 when she vanished after taking the train from Connecticut to New York in 2007.

Her corpse was discovered three years later, bound by a distinctive belt that had a buckle with the initials 'WH' or 'MH' engraved on it. Investigators said it could have belonged to one of Heuermann's relatives.

All four women were sex workers whose remains were discovered in a stretch of Long Island shorefront near Heuermann's home in 2010.

Another six bodies were discovered in a different patch of beach the following year. He has not been charged in those murders.

Ten bodies were found in total in 2010 and 2011 in stretches of Long Island beach near to where Heuermann lived

Heuermann, an architect who lived with his wife and kids in Massapequa Park when the killings occurred, has pleaded not guilty.

He was charged last year in a bombshell case development after a new team of detectives revisited the decade-old case and found traces of his DNA on some of the victims and the tarps they were wrapped in.

Police also traced phone calls made to some of the victims' families to the areas where Heuermann lived and worked.

The deaths had long stumped investigators and fueled immense public attention on Long Island and beyond, with the killings leading to the 2020 Netflix film 'Lost Girls.'
A Trump presidency could leave Europe as 'sitting ducks' for Vladimir Putin and his forces because of his lack of support for NATO, a retired US General has warned.

Ben Hodges, the former Commanding General of US Army Europe, said if Donald Trump is elected as US president in November, it would weaken NATO and leave Europe vulnerable to a Russian attack.

Hodges said if Putin believes that NATO is becoming 'disunified' due to a Trump presidency, the Russian warmonger would think 'we can attack now'.

His comments came just days after it emerged that Trump, who won the Republican's Iowa caucus on Monday, had told European officials he would never help Europe if it came under attack and that 'NATO is dead' while he was president.

Hodges said that if Trump was president, the likelihood of Putin launching an invasion and sparking WW3 would massively increase.

Speaking from his home in Frankfurt, Germany, Hodges told MailOnline: 'The likelihood of an all-out war starting increases the more chaotic, disunified and unprepared we in the West are.

'A Trump presidency, where he has openly talked about taking the US out of NATO, would erode the cohesion and trust inside NATO. Russia would look at this and think, maybe now their European allies can be hit.'

Ben Hodges, the former Commanding General of US Army Europe, said if Donald Trump (pictured on January 15) is elected as US president in November, it would weaken NATO and leave Europe vulnerable to a Russian attack

A Ukrainian serviceman attends an anti-sabotage mock drills at the border with Belarus, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Chernihiv region, Ukraine

U.S. Soldiers assigned to the 1st Battalion, 9th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division participate in the distinguished-visitors day as part of Griffin Shock 23 held at Bemowo Piskie, Poland, in May 2023

Hodges (pictured) said if Putin believes that NATO is becoming 'disunified' due to a Trump presidency, the Russian warmonger would think 'we can attack now'

Hodges pointed to how Trump had been quoted by a high-level EU official as telling European Commission President von der Leyen in 2020: 'You need to understand that if Europe is under attack, we will never come to help you and support you.'

Hodges added: 'A lack of cohesion in the allice would cause Russia to think, ok we could attack Europe now. We will be seen as sitting ducks by Putin.

'If we are disunified, that would mean we aren't prepared, we don't enough forces in the regions that need it to respond effectively to an attack on NATO soil.'

Hodges warnings of what a Trump going back to the White House in November would mean for Europe and NATO comes after a senior official said the alliance's forces are bracing for an all-out war with Russia in the next two decades.

Admiral Rob Bauer, the chairman of NATO's Military Committee, yesterday urged both civilians and governments to prepare for cataclysmic conflicts and the chilling prospect of being conscripted.

'We have to realise it's not a given that we are in peace. And that's why we [NATO forces] have the plans, that's why we are preparing for a conflict with Russia,' Bauer told reporters after a meeting of NATO defence chiefs in Brussels.

'But the discussion is much wider. It is also the industrial base and also the people that have to understand they play a role.'

Bauer added: 'We need public and private actors to change their mindset for an era in which everything was plannable, foreseeable, controllable and focused on efficiency to an era in which anything can happen at any time. An era in which we need to expect the unexpected.'

Hodges said Bauer is right to issue such a warning, saying it's not 'alarmist' in the least.

The former General said: 'If you want to prevent war, you have to demonstrate that you are prepared for war.

'Bauer is reminding us what we did for 40 years during the Cold War. We lived with the possibility of a nuclear war starting that night for 40 years. The culture and mindset was: "Be prepared to fight tonight".'

'People shouldn't be alarmed by what Bauer is saying, they should be saying thank you for reminding us that what we enjoy right now is not a guarantee or a given.

'We have the power to change that now. That is not inevitable.'

This comes as NATO is planning to mobilise 90,000 troops in its largest military manoeuvre since the Cold War, with the war games aimed at deterring Vladimir Putin from targeting a member country.

The alliance announced the exercise would begin next week, with the months of drills aimed at showing the alliance can defend all of its territory up to its border with Russia.

Ukrainian servicemen dressed in Russian uniforms attend anti-sabotage mock drills at the border with Belarus, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Chernihiv region, Ukraine on Wednesday

NATO is planning to mobilise 90,000 troops in its largest military maneuver since the Cold War in a bid to deter Vladimir Putin. Pictured: British soldiers take part in a major drill as part of the EFP NATO operation at the Tapa estonian army camp near Rakvere, on February 6, 2022

The exercises - dubbed 'Steadfast Defender' - will run until late May and involve units from all 31 NATO member countries plus candidate-member Sweden, NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Europe, US General Christopher Cavoli, said.

The wargames are meant as a fresh show of strength from NATO and its commitment to defend all allied nations from attack.

'The Alliance will demonstrate its ability to reinforce the Euro-Atlantic area by a transatlantic movement of forces from North America,' Cavoli told reporters in Brussels after a two-day meeting of national chiefs of defence.

Bauer said the scale of the exercise was a demonstration of the alliance's new readiness.

'That is a record number of troops that we can bring to bear and have an exercise within that size, across the alliance, across the ocean, from the US to Europe,' he said.

It was announced last week the UK would be sending 20,000 troops with the Royal Navy's two new aircraft carriers, eight warships, as well as the RAF's F-35 lightning attack aircraft, which will practice flying in imitated conflict scenarios.

UK Defense Secretary Grant Shapps announced the deployment on Monday.

The war games come after UK ministers announced a further 2.5billion support package to Ukraine and the RAF airstrikes, with the US, on the Houthis in Yemen.

According to German newspaper Bild, Germany will send 12,000 soldiers along with 3,000 vehicles and 30 aircraft.

Citing the German Press Agency, Bild said the exercise will simulate a Russian attack on NATO territory, a scenario which would trigger Article 5. The article states that if any NATO country is attacked, all other alliance countries will mobilise to defend it.

Earlier this week, at a meeting of the 31-nation alliance's top brass in Brussels, Adm Bauer, also said that behind Russian president Putin's rationale for the war is a fear of democracy.

Adm Bauer said NATO would continue to support Ukraine long-term.

'Today is the 693rd day of what Russia thought would be a three-day war. Ukraine will have our support for every day that is to come because the outcome of this war will determine the fate of the world,' he said.

'This war has never been about any real security threat to Russia coming from either Ukraine or NATO,' Adm Bauer added.

'This war is about Russia fearing something much more powerful than any physical weapon on earth - democracy. If people in Ukraine can have democratic rights, then people in Russia will soon crave them too.'

The largest NATO exercise since the cold war took place in 2018 when around 51,000 troops were involved in 'Trident Juncture 2018' in Norway.
Wayfair is slashing 1,650 jobs, or 13 percent of its global workforce, weeks after the online furniture retailer's CEO warned employees that 'laziness isn't rewarded.'

Shares of Boston-based Wayfair, which had dropped 23 percent in the past month, jumped 13.9 percent at the opening bell on Friday, following the early-morning layoffs announcement.

In a memo to employees, CEO Niraj Shah admitted the company 'went overboard in hiring during a strong economic period' and said the layoffs would ensure 'everyone in the company can thrive'.

In late December, Shah drew backlash over a year-end message to employees chiding 'laziness' after the company returned to profitability following several prior rounds of layoffs.

'Working long hours, being responsive, blending work and life, is not anything to shy away from. There is not a lot of history of laziness being rewarded with success,' he wrote.

Wayfair is slashing 1,650 jobs, or 13 percent of its global workforce. CEO Niraj Shah (above) admitted the company 'went overboard in hiring during a strong economic period'

Wayfair said that it expected to realize approximately $280 million in annual savings through the layoffs, net of plans to rebuild a portion of the workforce over 2024

In his memo on Friday, Shah said that layoff notification had already begun in Europe, and that all North American employees would receive an email on Friday notifying them whether their job had been cut.

On LinkedIn, impacted workers shared news of their layoffs and declared themselves open to new opportunities.

'I'm not leaving with an attitude of sadness or disappointment,' wrote Jason Farneth, a senior product manager who was laid off after nearly two years at Wayfair.

'Knowing the health of Wayfair, there was no way to sustain the team sizes they have. It was a simple equation necessary to save the jobs of those that are staying,' he added.

Farneth shared that he planned to take a previously-scheduled family vacation over the weekend, and then launch his job hunt on Monday.

In a Discord chat devoted to former Wayfair employees, laid off employees who work remotely said they had received boxes to mail in their laptop and other company equipment, with a deadline to return the items.

Others, who work in the company's offices, wondered whether they would be able to return to retrieve personal items from their desks.

'Coming back from medical leave and being laid off just days in, is a hard thing to process,' one person wrote in the anonymous forum.

'Getting laid off a week after being told I was getting promoted,' wrote another.

In regulatory filings, Wayfair said that it expected to incur roughly $70 to $80 million in restructuring costs in the layoffs, primarily attributed to employee severance packages.

Wayfair also said that it expected to realize approximately $280 million in annual savings through the layoffs, net of plans to rebuild a portion of the workforce over 2024.

Products are displayed at Wayfair's first store in the Natick Mall in Massachusetts. Wayfair has undertaken multiple rounds of layoffs, after growing explosively during the pandemic

Shares of Boston-based Wayfair, which had dropped 23 percent in the past month, jumped 13.9 percent at the opening bell on Friday

Those annualized savings include $150 million of cash compensation savings, $80 million in equity-based compensation relief, and a $50 million reduction in capitalized technology labor.

Wayfair has undertaken multiple rounds of layoffs over the past year, after growing explosively during the pandemic, when home-bound consumers spent heavily on furnishings and online commerce boomed.

The company made five percent of its workforce redundant and enforced large-scale layoffs last January and August, with 1,750 jobs and 870 jobs cut respectively.

Wayfair reported a loss of $163 million in the third quarter of 2023 on revenue of $2.94 billion, compared to $283 million lost on $2.84 billion in sales in the same quarter a year earlier.

Last month, co-founder and CEO Shah shared a year-end message with employees, touting that the company had returned to profitability.

But Shah also used his end-of-year message to warn employees that hard work is still required, despite a successful year where repeat customers are back.

'Winning feels good - and is a great reward for all of our efforts,' he wrote.

'Our market share is growing nicely, our repeat is increasing, our suppliers are leaning in, and we are profitable. This is something to be very proud of.

'We still have some work to do to make sure that we get fully back. And this is what I want us all to push on in the weeks and months to come.

'Winning requires hard work. I believe that most of us, being ambitious individuals, find fulfillment in the joy of seeing our efforts materialize into tangible results.'

Shah co-founded Wayfair in August 2002, and he was worth an estimated $3.6 billion in 2021, according to Forbes.

But his fortuned dropped to $1.6 billion in 2022, and last year he fell off the Forbes billionaires list, as Wayfair stock plunged.

Wayfair shares hit an all-time high closing price of $345.47 on March 22, 2021. They have fallen 83 percent since then, opening at $58.02 on Friday.
A baby clothing company is getting slammed online after firing an employee who asked to work remotely when her newborn was hospitalized.

Ying Liu, the founder of Kyte Baby, has issued two groveling apologies since she was blasted for denying a request from Marissa Hughes to work from the neonatal intensive care unit at a Texas hospital as she cared for her adopted premature son.

Fellow mothers took to X to call out the hypocrisy of an expensive baby brand that does not provide an extensive parental leave and called Liu's apology 'the fakest thing ever.'

'There is this company Kyte Baby who fired one of her employees bc she asked to work remotely so she could take care of her twenty-two weeks preemie baby who was in the NICU,' one user said.

'The company fired her even mocked that the baby was adopted and this 'apology' is the fakest thing ever.'

Ying Liu, the founder of Kyte Baby, was blasted for denying a request from Marissa Hughes (pictured) to work from the neonatal intensive care unit at a Texas hospital as she cared for her adopted premature son

Fellow mothers took to X to call out the hypocrisy of a baby brand that does not provide an extensive parental leave and called the Liu's apology disingenuous

Another user fiercely condemned the company, calling out the founder for denying a new mother the right to work remote.

'The creator of Kyte Baby is on the tock app panicking and apologizing as she should. Because when you play stupid games you win stupid prizes. How dare you as a woman and a mother, deny your employee the right to work remote after adopting a baby in the NICU?'

Social media users express condemnation, leading to a decline in Kyte Baby's reputation online.

One wrote, 'Currently watching Kyte Babys reputation disintegrate in real time because they wouldnt support an employee with a baby in the NICU.'

'No longer supporting Kyte Baby,' another chimed in.

Liu posted the first apology Wednesday.

'I want to hop on here to sincerely apologize to Marissa for how her parental leave was communicated and handled in the midst of her incredible journey of adopting and starting a family,' Liu said.

The CEO said she has the 'utmost respect for the adoption community' and her 'good intentions were not fully communicated.'

Poll Was it fair for Kyte Baby to fire employee who asked to work remotely to care for premature newborn Yes No Was it fair for Kyte Baby to fire employee who asked to work remotely to care for premature newborn Yes 1 votes

No 21 votes Now share your opinion





Hughes and husband Rawley, from Dallas, made the decision to adopt after she lost three pregnancies, went through IVF and nearly died during surgery.

The couple adopted their son Judah in late December. He was nine hours away in El Paso, born premature and barely weighing one pound.

As Judah had 'various health concerns' requiring an extended hospital stay, Hughes requested to work remotely from the NICU.

She was allegedly only offered two weeks and told she would lose her position if she failed to return to in-person work any later.

Liu posted a second apology Thursday after catching flak from internet users who suspected the first video was not genuine.

The CEO admitted 'the comments were right' and the video was 'scripted.'

'I was the one that made the decision to veto her request to go remote while she has to stay in the NICU to take care of her adopted baby,' Liu said.

She and Rawley earned the support of several prominent figures in the baby care industry, including baby clothing company Kate Quinn and the CEO of lactation supplement company Legendairy Milk, who donated thousands of dollars each

Hughes announced Judah was suffering from a blockage in his intestines and had holes in his lungs and heart

The couple created a GoFundMe to help foot some of the expenses associated with adoption including various legal fees and costs for the birth mother

Hughes lost three pregnancies and nearly died during surgery before she and her husband made the decision to adopt. They welcomed Judah to the family in December

Baby Judah, pictured with Hughes' husband Rawley, was born premature at 22 weeks and weighed one pound. Due to ongoing health complications, he required a longer hospital stay

'And when I think back, this was a terrible decision. I was insensitive, selfish and was only focused on the fact that her job had always been done on site and I did not see the possibility of doing it remotely.'

Stumbling over her words, she continued: 'At the end of the day, as human beings, as a mom, as a female owner of a business and especially a baby business, I feel like I need to set the record straight.'

Despite claiming in the first video that she had attempted to reach out to Hughes to apologize personally, Liu confessed she 'didn't talk to her at all about what happened until today.'

She ended the video by praising the ex-employee, calling her a 'fantastic woman' with 'the biggest heart.'

After netizens accused Liu of being insincere in the first TikTok, she posted a second video admitting it had been scripted and characterizing her veto of Hughes' remote work request as 'insensitive' and 'selfish'

Ying Liu posted the first apology Wednesday, offering an apology to Hughes and affirming her 'utmost respect for the adoption community'

'I understand if you don't want to come back to work anymore, but we will continue to pay you as if you were working remotely for us for those hours that you proposed until you're ready to come back,' she said.

'And your position, your original position, is always open for you when you come back.'

Earlier this week, Hughes said Judah was suffering from a blockage in his intestines and had holes in his lungs and heart.

The couple posted announcement to Facebook in October that they were 'drowning in adoption paperwork, but we wouldn't have it any other way!'

Hughes and Rawley created a GoFundMe to foot some of the expenses associated with adoption including legal fees and birth mother medical costs.

At the time of writing, the campaign had raised over $48,000 of its $50,000 goal.
A Gatwick Border Force officer who shared police secrets with prisoners and helped them buy drugs broke down in tears when a judge told her she'd avoid jail.

Jade Hearn, 26 from South London, had been working at Gatwick Airport for three years when she was arrested on January 15 2021 for sharing personal information of individuals to her friends via WhatsApp.

The arrest followed a tip-off from the HM Prison Service that she had been sending pictures of herself in Border Force uniform to a prisoner at HMP Woodhill in Buckinghamshire.

Southwark Crown Court heard how Hearne was showing off by sending messages to her contacts containing sensitive information.

Messages included images of unredacted pages of a Bulgarian passport of an individual involved in an organised crime group. Another message sent to a contact named Connor C showed images of Hearns gloved hands examining the sole of a shoe which had been used to conceal drugs.

Jade Hearn, 26 from South London , has been given a suspended sentence after she passed on sensitive information to inmates in prisons. The messages included confidential documents concerning firearms and a video of a tape-wrapped package with a picture of drug dealer Pablo Escobar on it

Hearn was in contact, via Whatsapp, with multiple prisoners from HMP Pentonville, HMP Wormwood Scrubs and HMP Woodhill, who were using prohibited mobile phones to contact her

Hearn was in contact with prisoner Linton Werrick while he was at HMP Woodhill. Werrick even had Hearn registered as his wife during his time at HMP Woodhill and would make calls to her during the night

Hearn sent a video of drugs seized at Gatwick, including someone holding a tape-wrapped package with a picture of notorious drug dealer Pablo Escobar on it.

She also shared confidential documents concerning firearms and an alert from Border Force intelligence directorate about a suspect who had been transporting Class A drugs.

On one occasion, Hearn shared details of a police investigation that she was assisting.

The court heard how Hearn was in contact, via Whatsapp, with multiple prisoners from HMP Pentonville, HMP Wormwood Scrubs and HMP Woodhill, who were using prohibited mobile phones to contact her.

One inmate, Linton Werrick, met Hearn whilst she was working as a prison officer at HMP Wandsworth before she moved to the Border Force Apprentice scheme.

Werrick even had Hearn registered as his wife during his time at HMP Woodhill and would make calls to her during the night.

Several inmates sent Hearn money and asked her to transfer it to a different account in order for them to purchase cannabis.

On November 24 2020, 750 was deposited into her bank account by one inmate who instructed her to use 120 to buy drugs. After her arrest, police found 3.5g of cannabis stored at Hearns home.

Victoria Upton, defending Hearn, said: She was not a sophisticated offender seeking to exploit her role in Border Force for monetary gain or any other advantage.

She was naive, very vulnerable and undoubtedly susceptible to bad influence.

Judge Martin Griffith sentenced the Border Force officer to 20 months imprisonment, suspended for two years.

He said: Im not going to send you to prison today.

You have been incredibly stupid. Youve committed five offence which on the face of them say to me, and indeed when it started reading this case, its got to be custody its got to be immediate.

Yours is an unusual case. When you dismantle what youve actually done the offences are not as serious as they appear to be.

I can see from when (Ms Upton) says this is just naivety on your part, I agree, in that if you had introduced those phones or done something to help people have those phones there would be no way out of this for you.

Hearn broke down in tears as she left the dock this afternoon and told the judge: thank you so much.

Hearn worked at Gatwick Airport as a Border Force officer for three years before she was arrested in January

Hearn met Werrick while he was serving a sentence at HMP Wandsworth. At the time she was working as a prison officer before moving to the Border Force Apprentice scheme

Dave Rock, Operations Manager at the NCAs Anti-Corruption Unit said: Jade Hearn abused her position as a Border Force officer and knowingly shared sensitive information with people serving prison terms for drug dealing.

She communicated with individuals behind bars knowing that they were holding those phones illegally, and assisted them in their criminality by arranging money transfers. The NCA worked closely with the Prison Service to end their conspiracy.

We do not believe that any of the information she passed on caused major impact to ongoing investigations or operations, but there is no doubt that the potential to do so was there had we not stopped her. Her corrupt activity was the definition of misconduct in public office.

We know organised crime groups target insiders at ports and airports for their knowledge and access, which is why stamping out corruption across all law enforcement is such a priority for the NCA and our partners such as Border Force.

Hearn previously admitted one count of misconduct in a public office, two counts of encouraging or assisting the commission of an offence, one count of supplying controlled class B drugs and one count of possession of cannabis.

She must also complete 100 hours of unpaid work within 12 months and 30 days rehabilitation activity requirement.
Garcia is identified by Mexican authorities as one of the leaders of the Gulf Cartel

A Mexican cartel leader whose gang abducted four Americans and killed two of them in March 2023 has been arrested.

Gulf Cartel boss Jose 'La Kena' Garcia was taken into custody Thursday afternoon while shopping at mall in San Pedro Garza Garcia, an affluent town in the northeastern state of Nuevo Leon.

Security forces also arrested two male individuals had accompanied La Kena shopping.

'The arrest of Jose 'N', alias Kena 19 or CMTE XlX, is reported in San Pedro Garza Garcia, Nuevo Leon. (He is ) considered a priority objective and one of the main generators of violence in the northeast of the country,' the Tamaulipas state government said in a statement.

'The Attorney General's Office of the State of Tamaulipas issued a search (warrant) in Tamaulipas and the capture was achieved thanks to coordinated inter-institutional work.'

Garcia, the Mexican government alleges, commands the Gulf Cartel cell known as 'Los Escorpiones' (Scorpions).

Gulf Cartel boss Jose 'La Kena' Garcia was taken into custody Thursday afternoon while shopping at mall in San Pedro Garza Garcia, an affluent town in the northeastern state of Nuevo Leon. He is said to be the commander of a cartel gang that was behind the kidnapping of four Americans, including two who were killed, on March 3, 2023

Latavia McGee (left) and Eric Williams (right) were among four South Carolina residents abducted by members of Los Escorpiones, a gang linked to the Gulf Cartel, in Matamoros, Mexico on March 3, 2023. McGee was accompanied by her cousin Shaeed Woodard and friends, Williams and Zindell Brown, for a liposuction. McGee and Willams were rescued while Woodard and Brown were killed by gunmen

Shaheed Woodard (left) and Zindell Brown (right) were kidnapped and murdered by a gang linked to the Gulf Cartel in March 2023 after they traveled to Matamoros, Mexico to accompany their friend Latavia McGee for her liposuction. McGee and a third man, Eric Williams, were rescued

Gang members opened fire on and kidnapped South Carolina residents Latavia McGee, Shaeed Woodward, Eric James and Zindell Brown in the Tamaulipas border town of Matamoros on March 3, 2023.

Viral images of the incident showed McGee, who traveled to Mexico for liposuction, sitting on the ground while her companions were lying on the ground, and loaded into a pickup truck. Mexican national Areli Pablo, 33, was killed by a stray bullet.

The abduction nearly sparked diplomatic friction as the military and police raced to locate the four Americans and their captors.

Authorities found McGee, a mother-of-five, and Williams at a stash house about six and a half miles away in the rural community of El Tecolote on March 5.

The bodies of Woodward and Brown were found in a small home, where an alleged Gulf Cartel member who watched over the group was also arrested.

McGee is seen sitting on the ground after the vehicle she and three other U.S. citizens were traveling on was shot at by kidnappers moments after they drove into the Mexican border city of Matamoros on March 3, 2023

Members (pictured) of the Gulf Cartel's Scorpions Group were abandoned on a Matamoros street and accused by the criminal organization of being behind last Friday's kidnapping of four Americans, including two who were killed. A Mexican woman was also shot dead during the incident

Tamaulipas State Attorney General's Office was offering a $150,000 reward for Garcia's arrest.

Soon after the kidnapping, the criminal organization turned over five members to the police.

The suspects were tied up and abandoned on a street with a sign issued by the Gulf Cartel apologizing for their actions, claiming they acted on their own.

'The Gulf Cartel's Scorpions Group strongly condemns the events of last Friday, March 3 where unfortunately an 'innocent' working mother died and 4 American citizens were 'kidnapped' of which 2 died,' the Spanish-written message read.

The criminal organization, which has been around since the 1930s, added that they 'decided to hand over those involved and directly responsible for the facts who at all times acted under their own determination and indiscipline and against the rules that 'The CDG' has always operated, respecting the life and integrity of the innocent.

'The CDG apologizes to Matamoran society, the relatives of Mrs. Arely, the American individuals and families affected. The CDG asks society to be calm because we are committed to not repeating those errors caused by indiscipline and whoever is responsible will pay!!'
Former President Donald Trump again butchered rival Nikki Haley's first name, Nimarata, as he attacked her in a Truth Social post Friday morning.

The night before, Haley headlined a CNN town hall and was asked by the network's Jake Tapper what she thought about Trump pushing a racist 'birther' conspiracy theory about her eligibility to serve as president - and purposely using her Indian first name to characterize her as some kind of other.

Haley said Trump felt 'threatened' and 'insecure.'

On Friday morning, Trump unloaded on Haley and New Hampshire's Gov. Chris Sununu, who endorsed the former U.N. ambassador over the ex-president.

'Governor Chris Sununu, the now failing Governor of New Hampshire, where I am beating his endorsed candidate, Nimbra, by big numbers, and DeSanctimonious by even bigger numbers, should spend more time keeping Democrats from voting in the Republican Primary - How ridiculous is that?' Trump fumed. 'Anyway, it doesnt matter, because Nimbra doesn't have what it takes.'

Former President Donald Trump (left) again butchered rival Nikki Haley's (right) first name, Nimarata, as he attacked her in a Truth Social post Friday morning. At a CNN town hall Thursday night she said his name calling showed he was 'threatened' and 'insecure'

On Friday morning, Trump unloaded on Haley and New Hampshire's Gov. Chris Sununu, who endorsed the former U.N. ambassador over the ex-president. He repeatedly called Haley 'Nimbra,' which isn't even her first name

He called Haley 'weak on China, Russia, Borders, and Crime,' but added that she 'never saw a war she didn't like.'

'I hope Sununu's endorsement of Nimbra has more strength than Kim Reynolds Iowa endorsement of DeSanctus! How did that work out?' Trump also trolled. 'MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!'

Iowa's Gov. Reynolds had backed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, but he took a distant second place in Monday's Iowa caucuses, losing to Trump by 30 points.

Haley came in a close third place to DeSantis in Iowa after not putting much effort into winning the state, with her primary focus to do well in Tuesday's New Hampshire primary.

That means Trump has sharpened his attacks on his former U.N. ambassador.

In recent weeks, Trump has highlighted a racist theory suggesting Haley, who was born in the United States, was ineligible to be commander-in-chief because her Indian immigrant parents were not yet U.S. citizens.

Haley responded at Thursday night's CNN town hall by saying she is 'the proud daughter of Bamberg, South Carolina, so I love my sweet town and I'm proud to say I'm from there.'

'The name calling? I know Trump well,' the former South Carolina governor continued. 'That's what he does when he feels threatened. That's what he does when he feels insecure.'

'I don't take these things personally. It doesn't bother me,' Haley added. 'So it's not going to waste any energy for me. I'm going to continue to focus on the things that people want to talk about and not get into name calling back with him.'

In addition to pushing on Truth Social the 'birther' conspiracy theory, Trump started referring to Haley by her first name, Nimarata, but spelling it wrong.

'Anyone listening to Nikki "Nimrada" Haley's wacked out speech last night, would think that she won the Iowa Primary,' Trump posted to Truth Social on Tuesday. 'She didn't, and she couldn't even beat a very flawed Ron DeSanctimonious, who's out of money, and out of hope.'

Trump and his allies have also gone after Haley for attracting some Democratic support.

'Democrats are allowed to vote. They're going to vote for her because they don't want to run against me, it's a very simple system,' Trump claimed Thursday night during an interview with Fox News' Sean Hannity.

A New Hampshire voter asked Haley about that Tuesday night, explaining that it gave him pause that Democratic voters were crossing over to vote for Haley in the Republican primary.

'First of all, I will tell you we've been here for 11 months. We've had over 75, 80 town halls answering every question, shaking every hand. I'm the last person to leave. I don't ask people when they come in the door if they're Republican, Democrat or independent,' she said.

Haley talked about how she has support from conservative Don Bolduc, the failed GOP 2022 New Hampshire Senate candidate, who's been a 'pro-Trumper for a long time,' she said, while adding she also has the support of moderate New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu.

CNN's Jake Tapper (right) asked presidential candidate Nikki Haley (left) Thursday night what a 'win' would look like in New Hampshire and if it meant she could come in second place. New Hampshire first-in-the-nation primary takes place Tuesday

Independents have come our way, Haley continued.

Democrats, Haley explained, have come her way because they're displeased with President Joe Biden.

'What I want everybody here to remember is Republicans have lost the last seven out of eight popular votes for president. That is nothing to be proud of,' she said.

'If you're going to win the majority of Americans, you have to make sure, as a leader you don't decide who's good and who's bad, who's right and who's wrong,' she said.

'What I'm doing is telling people what I'm for. If independents and conservatives and moderate Republicans like that, I love that, if conservative Democrats are saying I want to come back home to the Republican Party because they left it, I want them back,' Haley continued.

The ex-ambassador said she would never target progressives.

'They're never going to be for me,' she said. 'But what I will do is I want the younger voter, I want those moderates, I want those independents, I want them to come back to the Republican Party because this is how we win.'

Haley, who is still behind Trump in most New Hampshire polls, but within spitting distance, also couched what a 'win' would look like Tuesday night in the first-in-the-nation primary.

'Look, I have said from the beginning we wanted to be strong in Iowa, we wanted to be stronger in New Hampshire and we want to get even stronger in my sweet state of South Carolina,' she said.

Haley came in third place in the Iowa caucuses, right behind Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, whose second place was 30 points behind frontrunner Trump.

DeSantis was endorsed by Iowa's popular GOP Gov. Kim Reynolds and traveled to all 99 counties, while Haley spent more time focused on the second contest, New Hampshire's primary.

CNN's Jake Tapper pointed out that every Republican candidate who's won both Iowa and New Hampshire has gone on to clinch the GOP nomination.

'So you named the past and all of the hes. I'm talking about the she,' Haley said. 'She's going to go forward and finish this race.'

She said she wanted to perform stronger than she did in Iowa - but wouldn't say if that meant it had to be first place.

'We're not going to know what strong looks like until those numbers come in,' Haley said.
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. took his independent run for president to the tropical shores of Hawaii, where he asked supporters to give him a 'sword' to fight for them and got a kiss from his celebrity wife.

The son of the political icon was campaigning in the Aloha State while Republicans were battling in snowy New Hampshire and South Carolina, and while President Joe Biden was on a trip to battleground North Carolina.

'You give me a sword and some ground to stand on, I will take our country back for you,' he told a crowd of about 300 in Kaneohoe, while he and Hines each sported a colorful lei.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Cheryl Hines share a kiss at his rally in Kaneohe, Hawaii. He is taking steps to establish a third party to get on the ballot in all 50 states

That came after he got a big on-stage smooch from his wife, actress Cheryl Hines, who has been questioning why the candidate doesn't get Secret Service protection after an intrusion into their home, given the family's tragic history as a victim of political violence.

This week, it was revealed that the Kennedy campaign is taking steps to form the 'We the People' party in multiple states including California, Delaware, Hawaii, Mississippi and North Carolina, while creating a 'Texas Independent Party.'

It is part of an effort to lower the number of signatures he must gather to get on the ballot in all 50 states, reducing the total about about 330,000, according to the New York Times.

A Messenger / HarrisX poll had former President Donald Trump beating President Biden 52-48, after Trump romped through Iowa and is running high in the polls in New Hampshire.

But Trump's lead drops from 4 to 3 per cent when third party and independent candidates including Kennedy are included.

Kennedy, Jr. is trying to get on the ballot in all 50 states. His Democratic brand and increasingly conservative politics make it difficult to predict how he will impact the Trump-Biden race

He was introduced by wife Cheryl Hines of Curb Your Enthusiasm fame

Kennedy found time to hit the waves with pro surfer Kelly Slater on his visit to Hawaii

The poll had Trump at 43, Biden at 40, Kennedy at 12, Jill Stein of the Green Party at 2, and activist academic Cornel West at 2 per cent.

'I abhor the polarization that is now destroying our country,' the vaccine skeptic told the crowd, HawaiiNewsNow reported. 'It's more toxic than at any time since the civil war, and it's orchestrated of course, because they don't want us to see what they're doing with chronic disease, with taking our homes, with charging 22 per cent interest on our credit cards.'

And she said in a new interview about her thoughts on being first lady with The Hollywood Reporter that she is horrified that his high-profile political role has not brought Secret Service protection.

'You would think that instance, plus the fact that his father and uncle were both assassinated, would qualify him,' she said.

RFK Jr is the son of Robert F. Kennedy, who served as attorney general and senator before being gunned down in 1968, and the nephew of President John F. Kennedy, assassinated in 1963.

A mentally ill man was arrested at their Los Angeles home in October, after climbing the fence and reaching the second floor.

'I was here doing an Instagram Live, and I look out the window and see a guy in our backyard,' said Hines.
Only one train firm plans to use new minimum service laws to ease the impact of this month's strikes, it has emerged.

Train drivers across 16 rail operators are set to stage walkouts between 30 January and 5 February as part of their long-running dispute over pay.

The industrial action being organised by the Aslef trade union is set to be the first since the Government's new rules on minimum service levels came into force last month.

The legislation allows rail operators to run the equivalent of 40 per cent of their normal timetable even during strikes.

It means train companies can require striking staff to keep working to ensure the minimum service level is met, while union bosses can be forced to ensure their members turn up to work.

But, according to The Times, only London North Eastern Railway (LNER) - which is under direct Government ownership - has told Aslef they intend to use the powers during the upcoming strikes.

Train drivers across 16 rail operators are set to stage walkouts between 30 January and 5 February as part of their long-running dispute over pay

The industrial action being organised by the Aslef trade union is set to be the first since the Government's new rules on minimum service levels came into force last month

But, according to The Times, only LNER - which is under direct Government ownership - has told Aslef they intend to use the powers during the upcoming strikes

The other rail operators being affected by the industrial action are Southeastern, Southern/Gatwick Express, GTR Thameslink, SWR Island Line, South Western Railway, Northern Trains, TransPennine Express, Greater Anglia, C2C, West Midlands Trains, Avanti West Coast, East Midlands Railway, Great Western, CrossCountry and Chiltern.

Sources told the newspaper that union bosses had been 'left surprised' at how few train operators had made contact about using the new minimum service laws.

'The train companies are running scared,' they said. 'The Government announced this 'flagship legislation' but it couldn't be further from the truth.

'The rail companies don't want to use it because they know it will trash industrial relations. Just look at LNER.'

A source close to Mark Harper, the transport secretary, told The Times it was the Government's expectation that employers would use the legislation if it was deemed appropriate.

Mick Whelan, general secretary of Aslef, said: 'We have given LNER management  and their Government counterparts who hold the purse strings  every opportunity to come to the table and they have so far made no realistic offer to our members.

'We have not heard from the Transport Secretary since December 2022, or from the train operating companies since April 2023.

'It's time for them to come to the table and work with us to resolve this dispute so we can all move forward and get our railway back on track.'

A spokesman for LNER said: 'Nobody wins when strikes impact customers and livelihoods. Instead of staging more damaging industrial action, we urge the Aslef leadership to work with industry negotiators to resolve the dispute.

'We remain focused on running reliable services for our customers.'
Rishi Sunak is under fire today after being filmed laughing as a woman tackled him over the state of NHS waiting lists - before walking off.

The Prime Minister was told 'you could stop it all', by a former health worker on a walkabout in Winchester as she quizzed him about lengthy wait times for treatment.

In an exchange caught on camera by Sky News, Mr Sunak blamed the backlog on strikes by medical staff before laughing as she said: 'You could make it all go back to how it used to be ... where, if you had a problem, you could go to the hospital.'

As she continued, saying 'my daughter spent seven hours waiting', he was pulled away by Winchester candidate Flick Drummond to continue his walkabout in the Tory Hampshire seat that is on the Lib Dem target list at the next election.

She then followed him down the street and he said he was 'sorry to hear that' before they discussed the strikes again before shaking hands.

As the exchange went viral online it was dubbed his 'Gordon Brown moment' - a reference to the former prime minister being caught calling Gillian Duffy a 'bigoted woman' while attached to a microphone before the 2010 election.

The Prime Minister was told 'you could stop it all', by a former health worker on a walkabout in Winchester as she quizzed him about lengthy wait times for treatment

In an exchange caught on camera by Sky News, Mr Sunak blamed the backlog on strikes by medical staff before laughing as she said: 'You could make it all go back to how it used to be... where, if you had a problem, you could go to the hospital'

As the exchange went viral online it was dubbed his 'Gordon Brown moment' - a reference to the former prime minister being caught calling Gillian Duffy a 'bigoted woman' while attached to a microphone before the 2010 election

Liberal Democrat MP Christine Jardine said: 'Laughing in the face of a former health worker whilst they are trying to explain to him the dire straits the NHS is in is frankly shocking.

'The Prime Minister either does not care or he does not get it.'

And Wes Streeting, Labour's shadow health secretary, added; 'Rishi Sunak has no idea of the misery NHS patients are going through.

'When patients try to tell him, he laughs in their faces and walks away. When Sunak asks for their vote later this year, he will get a taste of his own medicine.'

Some 6.39million patients across England were waiting for routine hospital treatment in November, figures suggest, which is down slightly from 6.44million in October.

But the NHS is still failing to hit most of its key performance targets despite the overall drop, the data indicates.

Some 11,168 people in England were waiting more than 18 months to start routine hospital treatment at the end of November, up from 10,506 at the end of October.

A&E times also worsened, with 69.4 per cent of patients in England seen within four hours in December, down from 69.7 per cent in November and against a target set for March this year of 76 per cent.

Mr Sunak blamed striking doctors for the backlog, telling the woman that the recent dip in the number of people waiting 'just shows that when there aren't strikes, we really can make progress.'

The Prime Minister last year made cutting waiting lists one of the five key priorities of his leadership.

However, data analysed by the PA news agency suggests that despite recent decreases in waiting lists, it is still higher than when the pledge was made.

Waiting lists stood at 7.21million treatments waiting to be carried out in January last year.

As of November - a month with no industrial action - some 7.61million treatments were waiting to be carried out.

The NHS is likely to be a key political battleground in the blue wall - traditionally Tory seats in southern England which are vulnerable to gains from either the Liberal Democrats or Labour - during an election year.
Delphi murder suspect Richard Allen has been hit with more murder and kidnapping charges in the 2014 deaths of Libby German and Abigail Williams.

Carroll County Prosecutor Nicholas McLeland said the amended charges against Richard Allen of Delphi 'more accurately aligns the charging information with the causes discovery and probable cause affidavit.'

Crucially, the new charges accuse Allen of murdering the girls himself.

The previous set of charges - murder in the commission of a felony - accused him of kidnapping the girls, who were somehow murdered in the process.

Police arrested him after matching an unspent bullet found next to their bodies to a gun that Allen owned. He also confessed to the murders in jailhouse conversations with his wife, and others.

It remains unknown how the girls were murdered. Police have only gone as far as to reveal that they died as a result of being attacked and losing blood. They have held back key pieces of evidence for years to hone in on the right man after years of red herring tips and public speculation.

Richard Matthew Allen has been charged with kidnapping and murdering the two Delphi teens. Police arrested him after matching an unspent bullet found next to their bodies to a gun that Allen owned. He also confessed to the murders in jailhouse conversations with his wife, and others

Libby German and Abigail Williams were murdered in Delphi, Indiana, in 2017

In later court documents, Allen retracted the confessions and suggested that the girls were killed by members of a Satanic cult instead.

The new set of charges accuses him specifically of not just kidnapping them himself, but also killing them.

Allen was arrested in October 2022 and charged with two counts of murder in the 2017 slayings of 13-year-old Abigail Williams and 14-year-old Liberty German of Delphi. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

A relative of one of the teenagers - known as Abby and Libby - dropped them off on Feb. 13, 2017, at a hiking trail near their hometown of Delphi, about 60 miles (100 kilometers) northwest of Indianapolis.

They were reported missing that evening after they didnt show up at a meeting place to be picked up. Their bodies were found the next day in a rugged, heavily wooded area near the trail.

A bullet that matched the Sig Sauer handgun found in Allen's home was left next to the girls' bodies

The killings have haunted Delphi, a city of about 3,000 where Allen worked at a drugstore, and the case has been closely watched in the state and nationwide.

Gull issued the gag order in December 2022, barring attorneys, law enforcement officials, court personnel, the coroner and the girls family members from commenting on the case to the public or the media in any form, including social media.

Prosecutors had sought the order, citing intense public scrutiny and media attention. Gull was brought in as a special judge to oversee the case after a Carroll County judge recused himself.
A Colorado mother and her four-year-old daughter were saved by two hero cops after their SUV crashed through a fence causing their vehicle to teeter over a five foot drop.

The terrifying incident happened on Tuesday when the woman, who was not identified, driving a Lexus SUV struck a wire fence in Boulder while her child was strapped into a car seat.

Bodycam footage shows the two front wheels of the car hanging over the the concrete retaining wall.

Boulder Police Officers Carlos Castro and Raquel Ray were the first responders on the scene and helped rescue the mother and child as the Boulder Fire Department stabilized the car.

Both mother and child were unharmed but the details that led to the crash remain unknown at this time.

The SUV Lexus (pictured) is seen partially suspended over a five foot drop after the driver crashed the car through a wire fence

Boulder Police Officer Raque Ray (pictured) urges the woman to 'stop' pushing her foot on the gas pedal as the engine is heard revving

The four-year-old child, who was in a car seat in the back seat of the vehicle, is seen getting rescued by Officer Castro during Tuesday night's harrowing ordeal

One of the first things the child did during the ordeal is to ask the officer to help her mom out

In the bodycam footage, Officer Ray urges the driver to 'stop' pushing her foot on the gas pedal as the engine is heard revving.

Officer Castro then opens the back door of the vehicle and calmly tells the four-year-old, 'I'm going to get you out.'

The child is overheard asking the officer to get her mom out.

The officer reassures her that he will 'help her out too,' and then proceeds to lift her from the car seat then hands the frightened child to the female officer.

Officer Ray, who called the firefighter's 'heroes,' asked if she wanted to talk to the firefighters while she waited for her mother to be rescued.

Officer Carlos was then able to pull her from the woman from the driver's seat to safety once the Boulder Fire-Rescue stabilized the vehicle.

The day after the harrowing event, Boulder Fire-Rescue wrote on X, formerly Twitter that 'incidents like this involve many moving pieces (sometimes literally) and vehicle extrication is a skill that BFR firefighters routinely practice and use.'

Officer Castro later said that during the rescue he had to keep his emotions in check, The New York Post reported.

The woman was charged with careless driving, reckless endangerment and child abuse due to the circumstances, officials said.

The officers are investigating the possibility that the driver had a medical event, the Boulder Police Department said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

'As in every criminal case, these charges are an accusation, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless or until proven guilty,' the police said.

The SUV Lexus is pictured smashed up as it hit a wired fence

Boulder-Fire Rescue stabilized the vehicle in the front before office Carlos was able to pull her from the driver's seat to safety

However, many commented that they thought the authorities were doing things a bit backwards.

One commenter wrote" 'Investigating circumstances regarding this being a medical event but you already charged the driver.? Seems backwards.'

'Arent you supposed to investigate and then arrest?,' they asked.

Another asked: 'Why was the driver charged BEFORE investigating if it was a medical emergency?!'
The judge ruled that a fraction of her $261 million payout was 'excessive', after a blockbuster trial that concluded last November

A judge has slashed Netflix's Maya Kowalski staggering $261 million payout by $47.5 million - but rejected Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital's petition for a retrial.

Kowalski, 17, was the subject of Netflix docuseries 'Taking Care of Maya', which detailed how she was ripped from her parents aged 10 when the hospital wrongly accused her mother of Munchausen-by-proxy syndrome - where parents fake a child's symptoms for attention or money.

The teen was imprisoned by medics for months and in November a jury found the hospital's actions had driven Maya's mother to commit suicide in 2017.

But after the family won their bombshell lawsuit against the hospital, Johns Hopkins filed a motion for a retrial - claiming the jury foreman's wife had tainted the trial by sharing 'inside information' to social media.

Judge Hunter Carroll rejected that motion this week - but also ruled a fraction of the compensation awarded was 'excessive' in some instances and ordered it to be reduced.

Maya Kowalski, 17, (pictured as she was awarded $261 million in damages) is set to see her payout slashed by $47.5 million

Maya (left) was 10-years-old when she was taken from her family after doctors mistakenly believed her parents were faking her symptoms. Her mother (center) killed herself due to the stress of the hospital's decision, a jury ruled

Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital in St Petersburg, Florida, filed for a retrial, but had the motion rejected in the same ruling that saw the amount it is ordered to pay to Kowalski and her family reduced

Johns Hopkins in St Petersburg, Florida, had filed two motions against Kowalski's ruling; one for a retrial and decreased jury awards, and another for a new trial based on the allegations against the jury foreman's wife.

Attorneys for the hospital claimed in a motion filed in Sarasota County that during the trial, juror Paul Lengyel shared information about the case with his wife, Yolanda, who then posted it on social media.

They further argued that Lengyel's wife attended at least one day of the trial in Venice, meaning she could have heard attorney discussions with the judge that were made outside of the jury's presence.

In his ruling, Judge Carrol said that he found only some of the jury's awarded damages to be too much, considering the ordeal Kowalski went through.

'There is no doubt that the various monetary awards by the jury are significant,' Carroll's order said.

'Being large, though, does not necessarily mean they are excessive. In almost all cases here, they are not. Where they are, the Court has remitted the excessive jury award.'

The ruling reduced the total damages by around 20 percent, with the largest deduction hitting Maya's father for damages stemming from her mother's suicide, reduced from $50 million to $24 million.

In rejecting the retrial motion, the court found that allegations of jury tampering did not sway the outcome and were seemingly exaggerated.

'Despite the picture painted by (Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospitals) motion, this jury did not go off the rails,' the order concluded.

In response, Johns Hopkins welcomed the reduction in damages it has to pay - which still stands at over $213 million - but said the judge's ruling was 'disappointing' and set a 'dangerous and unacceptable standard' for victims of child abuse and mandatory reporters.

The now 17-year-old was diagnosed with complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) aged 9, but was taken to hospital with severe pain Oct 2016, aged 10

Maya's mom, Beata, (right) took her own life after she was diagnosed with a depressive mood and adjustment disorder upon being separated from Maya for almost three months

In a statement to Health News Florida, the hospital's attorney Ethen Shapiro said: 'Review of the complete facts and the law in this case will vindicate the care provided by the experts at Johns Hopkins All Childrens Hospital.

'We will pursue the appeals process for as long as necessary to reach a final, just conclusion for the physicians, nurses, and staff of Johns Hopkins All Childrens Hospital and all those who are legally and morally obligated to speak up if they suspect child abuse.

'We are confident in our appeal and look forward to proceeding with it.'

Maya's case sparked national outcry after it was depicted in the Netflix docuseries, with her civil trial against the hospital watched online by millions.

Maya was taken to JHACH in October 2016, when she experienced a flare up of her complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS), a disease which was diagnosed by a doctor that was not affiliated with the Florida institute.

Maya took the stand telling jurors that her condition left her in excruciating pain often screaming and unable to walk at times.

Maya, 17, was just 10, when she was removed by the state after doctors accused her parents of faking symptoms for her rare condition - complex regional pain syndrome

Her family argued that Maya's grief-stricken mother fell into a deep depression after Johns Hopkins staff decided she suffered Munchausen-by-proxy and took Maya away from her for three months.

She ultimately hanged herself in the family garage, and although it was denied by the hospital, a jury concluded that it came after the hospital's decision.

At the conclusion of her trial, Maya broke down in tears alongside her brother Kyle and father Jack, as the jury read out the huge damages sums in court.

Jurors found the children's hospital liable for false imprisonment of Maya, battery of Maya, fraudulent billing of her father Jack; inflicting emotional distress on Beata; wrongful death claim for the estate of Beata; and intentionally inflicting emotional distress on Maya.
A family has launched legal action against the NHS after the condition of an 11-year-old girl suffering from long Covid 'worsened' due to alleged 'medical negligence'.

Helen Goss, from Westhill in Aberdeenshire, is seeking 'damages' from NHS Grampian over its decisions to treat her daughter Anna Hendy, who has suffered from long Covid since March 2020.

Anna has been unable to return to school, needs to use a wheelchair and is often confined to her bed.

But it is claimed the health board 'gaslighted' the family and that Anna's illness was made worse by avoidable 'repeated failures'.

Anna Hendy (pictured) has suffered from long Covid since 2020 and has not been to school in four years

Helen Goss (left) has launched legal action against NHS Grampian over alleged failures

The case is thought to be the first case of its kind in Scotland.

Catherine McGarrell, of Thompsons Solicitors Scotland which is representing Ms Goss, said: 'As a result of the multiple failings and repeated failures, Anna's condition is much worse than what it should be, or what it could have been.

'It isn't a case of she wouldn't have contracted long Covid, it's the care in treating the long Covid that's made it worse.

'After years of completely avoidable failings from the NHS, all Anna needed was someone to take accountability and to start getting the treatment she needs.

'It's unfortunate the family are now having to take legal action against NHS Grampian to get the care Anna needs, but they've been left with no other choice.

'I'm hopeful NHS Grampian will now listen and finally do the right thing by Anna and her family.'

In a statement posted on X, Ms Goss said her family has 'tirelessly, navigated and exhausted all avenues within NHS Grampian'.

Anna needs to use a wheelchair and is often confined to her bed due to her medical condition

The legal action against the NHS health board is thought to be the first of its kind in Scotland

Ms Goss made strong allegations about the health board, claiming she and her family have faced 'medical gaslighting, dismissal' and were 'consistently' denied NHS care.

She wrote: 'Anna has suffered with Long Covid since March 2020 and for almost four years, we have tirelessly navigated and exhausted all avenues within NHS Grampian.

'It is regrettable that pursuing legal action seems to be the only viable option to progress and secure the healthcare that Anna urgently requires and rightfully deserves.

'NHS Grampian has neglected to uphold Anna's right to the best possible health, as outlined in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) Article 24.

'The health board also exhibited a lack of seriousness in addressing our formal complaint, attempting to close it without resolution on four separate occasions.'

Ms Goss has sought private treatment for Anna which she said 'should and could' have been provided by NHS Grampian.

At the start of April 2020, Anna had coronavirus, along with mum Helen Goss, 37, and her partner in Westhill, Aberdeenshire

In seeking legal action, the family are hoping to hold NHS Grampian accountable for its alleged failures and inaction as well as obtain a formal apology for Anna

Her statement added: 'Despite repeated requests to the health board, the necessary treatment and care were consistently denied.

'This failure on the part of NHS Grampian to fulfil their duty of care has resulted in medical negligence, causing additional harm and trauma to Anna and our family.'

In seeking legal action, the family are hoping to hold NHS Grampian accountable for its alleged failures and inaction as well as obtain a formal apology for Anna for what they claim is avoidable trauma and harm.

Ms Goss also called for improved clinical protocols for children and young people with long Covid by implementing comprehensive training and upskilling initiatives for paediatric clinicians to safeguard other families from enduring the challenges they have faced.

The family said they are 'hopeful' for a positive resolution to the case.

Ms Goss is the chief operation officer of charity Long Covid Kids and said funding for the condition is 'inadequate and insulting'.

Last year, Ms Goss told the Scottish Covid-19 Inquiry she had spent 'many an evening crying on the bathroom floor' because she had 'absolutely no idea what to do next'.

A spokesperson for NHS Grampian said: 'We cannot comment on individual patient cases.

'A long Covid pathway of care for children has been designed with the input of those with lived experience of the condition and is in the final stages of development, along with a new website for families.

'NHS Grampian has a long Covid project board and a long Covid paediatric steering group which help to inform our work.

'We also now have a paediatric long Covid practitioner as well as a paediatric clinical lead for long Covid.

'Children who are suffering with symptoms are managed by the appropriate clinicians according to their needs.

'The team is always happy to hear from those who have experienced long Covid, as well as parents and carers, regardless of the severity of their symptoms.'
The warning came as Milford Regional Medical Center officially became affiliated with UMass Memorial Health, which has a similar patient conduct

A Massachusetts hospital has warned patients that they could be denied medical care if they exhibit the wrong body language or tone of voice.

In a video announcement uploaded by Milford Regional Medical Center, Dr. Peter Smulowitz explained how patients will be held accountable for what could be considered offensive behavior.

The chief medical officer at the Massachusetts medical center announced the hospital's updated rules for its 'inclusive environment'.

'Everyone should expect a safe, caring and inclusive environment in all our spaces,' Smulowitz said.

'Our patient and visitor code of conduct helps us meet this goal. Words or actions that are disrespectful, racist, discriminatory, hostile or harassing are not welcome and will not be tolerated.'

A Massachusetts hospital has warned patients that they could be denied medical care if they exhibit the wrong body language or tone of voice

In a video announcement uploaded by Milford Regional Medical Center, Dr. Peter Smulowitz explained how patients will be held accountable for what could be considered offensive behavior

The Doctor added that 'body language and tone of voice are also important parts of communication.'

On the website, the hospital states that racist, discriminatory, hostile or harassing words or actions are not welcome.

Examples of such behaviors included offensive comments about race, religion, gender and orientation.

Refusal to see a clinician based on personal traits is also against the new rules.

Aggressive or intimidates threats are prohibited, as are sexual or vulgar words and actions.

Smulowitz revealed that if the new rules are broken, the hospital might refuse patients future non-emergency medical care.

He said that people would be given a chance to defend themselves if they had been accused of disorderly conduct.

'If we believe you have violated our code with unwelcome words or actions, you will be given a chance to explain your point of view.

'We will always carefully consider your response before we make any decisions about future care at Milford Regional,' Smulowitz said.

The Milford Regional Medical Center's website outlined how infractions can effect patient care. 'Some violations of this code may lead to patients being asked to make other plans for their care.

'For serious or repeated violations, future non-emergency care and visitation rights at Milford Regional may require review, though we expect this to be rare.'

The announcement sparked outrage on social media - with a Pennsylvania man warning 'I would take this down before you have 1000 complaints from the state medical board. That's gonna suck for you,' on the hospital's Facebook post.

The Doctor added that 'body language and tone of voice are also important parts of communication'

Smulowitz revealed that if the new rules are broken, the hospital might refuse patients future non-emergency medical care

On Tuesday it was announced that Milford Regional Medical Center and UMass Memorial Health had agreed to a corporate affiliation.

The video announcement was released just days before the partnership between the institutions was formally announced.

UMass Memorial Health is the largest nonprofit health care system in Central Massachusetts with almost 19,000 workers.

The university-affiliated medical center released its own patient code of conduct which was approved in 2021.

It warned patients that if they don't abide by the expectations 'we may discharge you from the hospital or your appointment.'

There are not the only Massachusetts hospitals that have kicked non-woke patients to the curb.

In 2022, Mass General - one of Boston's premier hospitals - announced in an updated Patient Code of Conduct that 'Words or actions that are disrespectful, racist, discriminatory, hostile, or harassing are not welcome.'

Mass General's policy warned that 'violations of this Code may lead to patients being asked to make other plans for their care.'
Nicola Sturgeon is being accused of a 'shameful cover-up' after the Covid Inquiry was told all her WhatsApp messages from the pandemic have been deleted.

The former SNP leader, who was Scotland's first minister throughout the coronavirus crisis, had previously refused to confirm or deny claims she erased the texts.

But a senior Scottish Government official today conceded to the Inquiry that Ms Sturgeon had 'retained no messages whatsoever'.

This is despite the ex-first minister having given a public guarantee, during a press conference in 2021, that she would submit all messages to the pandemic probe.

Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross said Ms Sturgeon's 'tarnished' reputation 'now lies in tatters'.

Nicola Sturgeon is being accused of a 'shameful cover-up' after the Covid Inquiry was told all her WhatsApp messages from the pandemic have been deleted

The former SNP leader, who was Scotland's first minister throughout the coronavirus crisis, had previously refused to confirm or deny claims she erased the texts.

The ex-first minister had previously given a public guarantee, during a press conference in August 2021, that she would submit all messages to the pandemic probe

Confirmation that all of Ms Sturgeon's WhatsApp messages were erased came during a Covid Inquiry hearing in Edinburgh.

Jamie Dawson KC  the counsel to the inquiry  said a table submitted by the Scottish Government stated that was the case.

'In the summary table that we see here, we can see that under the box "Nicola Sturgeon" it says that "messages were not retained, they were deleted in routine tidying up of inboxes or changes of phones, unable to retrieve messages",' Mr Dawson said.

'What that tends to suggest is that at the time a request was made, Nicola Sturgeon, the former first minister of Scotland, had retained no messages whatsoever in connection with her management of the pandemic.'

He went on to ask Lesley Fraser, the director-general corporate at the Scottish Government, if that was correct.

'That's what that indicates to me,' she replied.

When the Inquiry asked for messages retained by the Scottish Government, Mr Dawson said: 'You provided us with none,' to which Ms Fraser said: 'Correct.'

He went on to ask if the Inquiry had 'no access' to Ms Sturgeon's messages in connection with the pandemic.

Ms Fraser said: 'Ms Sturgeon will be able to explain this much better.

'Ms Sturgeon would have worked with her private office in order to ensure that her views and instructions were clearly understood and they may well have been informed by some of the exchanges she had with her chief of staff or with other ministers.

'But she would have relayed that to her private office and that would be then the instruction that went from private office and that would be retained.'

Asked if she is sure that is what would have happened, Ms Fraser said that course of action is 'how Government works', adding it is a 'necessity' for information to be recorded, but she was unable to be absolutely sure.

Ms Sturgeon is due to give evidence to the Inquiry herself in the coming weeks.

A spokeswoman for former first minister said: 'In the interests of everyone who has been impacted by the Covid pandemic, Nicola is committed to full transparency to both the UK and Scottish Covid inquiries.

'Any messages she had, she handled and dealt with in line with the Scottish Government's policies.

'Nicola has provided a number of written statements to the UK inquiry  totalling hundreds of pages  and welcomes the opportunity to give oral evidence to the inquiry again this month when she will answer all questions put to her.'

Ms Sturgeon's successor as SNP leade and first minister, Humza Yousaf, has previously admitted SNP ministers were encouraged to 'routinely delete' WhatsApp messages.

He revealed there was a 'social media messaging policy' that required Scottish Government figures to remove their communications.

Mr Ross claimed the actions may have been illegal and amounted to an attempt to hide information from the public.

'Nicola Sturgeon's reputation, which has been tarnished by a series of scandals in the last year, now lies in tatters,' the Scottish Tory leader added.

'Secrecy and evasion were the hallmarks of her government  and this shameful cover-up, which amounts to a digital torching of vital evidence, is the most scandalous example of it.'

Scottish Labour deputy leader Dame Jackie Baillie said the news was 'nothing short of horrifying' and a 'shocking betrayal'.

She added: 'Despite giving assurances to keep all correspondence, Nicola Sturgeon has completely broken her promise to the people of Scotland.
The family of teenager Leah Croucher, who was murdered on her way to work in 2019, have said that they are 'happy' that a date for her inquest has finally been announced.

Thames Valley Police suspect that the 19-year-old was murdered by convicted sex offender Neil Maxwell, who took his own life in April 2019 aged 49, just two months after Leah disappeared.

Relatives of the teenager have now been given the news that a full inquest is set to be held on June 19 and June 20 this year after the police investigation into her death was closed.

Leah Croucher was murdered on her way to work in Milton Keynes in 2019. Her remains were found three years later in an empty detached house less than a mile away from her family home

The teenager's family have said that they are 'happy' that a date for her inquest has finally been announced

Thames Valley Police suspect that the 19-year-old was murdered by convicted sex offender Neil Maxwell, who took his own life in April 2019 aged 49, just two months after Leah disappeared

Leah's family said in a statement: 'Today went as expected and we are happy to have a date for Leah's inquest.

'There is a lot of information yet to be shared to us and our legal representation. We are looking forward to seeing that.'

Leah's family repeatedly insisted that it was out of character for the shy teenager to have voluntarily gone missing.

READ MORE: House where body was found in search for missing teenager Leah Croucher was previously occupied by a convicted paedophile - as police continue forensic efforts to identify the badly decomposed remains Advertisement

Six months after her disappearance in Milton Keynes, Leah's brother Haydon took his own life at the age of 24.

In 2021, detectives offered a reward of 20,000 to help find the missing teenager as Leah's family continued their campaign to find her and posters and banners were put up across the city.

Leah's remains were found less than a mile away from her family home in an empty four-bed detached house in October 2022, more than three years after she vanished.

Officers confirmed the remains belonged to the teenager but a Home Office post-mortem examination proved inconclusive.

Maxwell was known to be a handyman at the property where the remains were found.

At a press conference in October 2022, Thames Valley Police's Head of Crime, Detective Chief Superintendent Ian Hunter, said the only suspect in the killing of Leah was Maxwell.

He said: 'Maxwell was found dead on April 20 2019 having taken his own life.

'It is unusual to name a suspect but we have also learned this week that during the time when Leah went missing and whilst the owner of the property was not in the UK, Maxwell was the only person to have keys to that property.

'Maxwell had been employed by the home owner to carry out property maintenance at the house.

In 2021, detectives offered a reward of 20,000 to help find the missing teenager as Leah's family continued their campaign to find her and posters and banners were put up across the city

Leahs family were finally able to have a funeral for her in March 2023, pictured above, after she went missing on February 15 2019

The inquest into Leahs death has been scheduled at the coroners court in Milton Keynes, Bucks

'We now know he had keys to that property from November 2018.'

Maxwell had previous convictions for sexual offences against women and girls and was wanted for a sexual assault in Newport Pagnell in November 2018 - three months before Leah disappeared.

In 1998 he had raped a child and in 2002 he was jailed for four years for three sex offences against a girl aged under six and for failing to notify the police of a change of name or address.

In 2009 he admitted raping a woman in Datchet, Berkshire and was jailed for four years and ten months. The following year he admitted sexual activity with a child and received a six-month concurrent sentence.

He pleaded guilty in February 2018 to sexually assaulting a woman in Milton Keynes and received 200 hours' community service after serving time on remand.

Police tried to arrest Maxwell on November 30 2018 in Central Milton Keynes but he was not there. Further arrest attempts were made in the UK at various addresses.

Leahs family were finally able to have a funeral for her in March 2023 after she went missing on February 15 2019.

The inquest into Leahs death has been scheduled at the coroners court in Milton Keynes, Bucks.
The operator of an online phonography site called 'The Ho Zone' has been arrested by the FBI and charged with advertising, receiving and distributing child pornography.

Kyle White, 24, of Louisville, Kentucky, owned and operated the site which allegedly featured women who were subject to blackmail, famous female athletes who had been hacked, revenge porn victims and children as young as eleven.

White made his first appearance in federal court in Kentucky on Thursday, where his conduct was described as 'depraved.'

'White's alleged conduct is abhorrent and depraved,' U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement.

'From behind a computer screen in the comfort of his own home, White ran a lucrative and illegal online pornography marketplace called "The Ho Zone," Williams said.

The operator of an online phonography site called 'The Ho Zone' has been arrested by the FBI and charged with advertising, receiving and distributing child pornography

'He sold access to child pornography and illegally obtained adult pornography to thousands of people,' Williams said.

Federal prosecutors allege that White sold pornography which depicted victims as young as 11-years-old on his site.

They allege content was found where minor victims engaged in sexually explicit conduct with their minor victim siblings.

'Whites alleged callous disregard for his victims is striking' Williams added.

'White profited at the expense of innocent children, whose sexual abuse and trauma White broadcasted to the world in high definition.'

'From behind a computer screen in the comfort of his own home, White ran a lucrative and illegal online pornography marketplace' U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement

White is also accused of selling 'illegally obtained adult pornography on "The Ho Zone," including pornography that had been hacked from women's cellphones.

Additionally prosecutors state that the site contained pornography that was the 'product of blackmail,' including of social media influencers and female athletes.

White told someone on Telegram, where his site was based, that he had made more than $300,000 within a year from selling the content, according to the criminal complaint.

If convicted, White faces a mandatory 15 years in jail for advertisement of child pornography with a maximum of 30 years.

On the receipt and distribution of child pornography charge, he faces up to 20 years in prison.
Dramatic footage shows the moment police officers arrested a man who evaded justice for 45 years after murdering his ex-wife.

Christopher Harrisson killed 32-year-old genetics expert Brenda Page in Aberdeen, Scotland, in 1978, one year after the pair divorced following an abusive relationship.

The woman was hit around 30 times on her head, face and body with a blunt, chissel-like object - with her body found on a blood-stained sheet in her home.

Her killer was not found guilty until decades later after Harrison implicated himself in an interview.

Video footage from the new BBC documentary - Murder Trial: The Killing of Dr Brenda Page - shows the moment officers broke down the door to Harrisson's home and told the killer they had a warrant to arrest him and search his home.

Dramatic footage shows Christopher Harrisson being arrested after police broke down his door

Brenda Page was hit around 30 times on her head, face and body with a blunt, chissel-like object - with her body found on a blood-stained sheet in her home in 1978

Harrisson killed his ex-wife in Aberdeen, Scotland, in 1978, one year after the pair divorced

Following the break-in, police can be heard asking Harrisson: 'We're the police, we've got a warrant to [...] search the address.'

Harrisson bluntly replies 'For what?' before stating: 'She wasn't murdered here.'

After Dr Page was found on July 14, 1978, Harrisson, a retired research assistant, was a suspect. He was arrested in the hours following the killing and interviewed, with a report submitted to prosecutors.

With no breakthrough during the case, it was concluded there was no sufficient evidence to take him to court.

A staggering 37 years after the killing, police were instructed to reinvestigate in 2015.

Semen was discovered on a duvet inside Dr Page's flat which matched her ex-husband's DNA profile - with forensic experts saying it was 590 million times more likely to be from Harrisson than any other man.

Video footage shows the moment officers broke down the door to Harrisson's home and told the killer they had a warrant to arrest him and search his home

Harrisson was arrested after he killed his ex-wife in 1978

The killer was taken in for questioning on March 27, 2020 and said he was not involved with the death of his ex-wife.

In March 2023 he was found guilty of murder following a 10-day trial - and has been jailed for life and ordered to serve a minimum of 20 years before he can apply for parole.

Detective Inspector James Callander told BBC Scotland News: 'I think his intelligence was part of his downfall because he thought he was too clever and got away with it, even 40-odd years on.

'You can see that in the police interview. He tied himself in knots to a certain degree but didn't really realise it.

'And he just thought his intelligence was far greater than anybody else, and he could get away with it - and that obviously wasn't the case because when you look at the entire interview he implicates himself. There's no doubt about that.'

Dr Page divorced Harrisson after he beat her during their abusive marriage. He murdered her before claiming his innocence for 45 years

He was questioned by Grampian Police but released without charge. Pictured: Harrisson at around the time of the murder

Two years before her brutal murder, Dr Page told her friend and mentor Dr Adrienne Jessop: 'If he kills me he will get away with it because he is so clever.'

More than 4,000 people were spoken to since Police Scotland first opened the murder investigation and at least 3,000 statements were taken, including 500 since the case was reopened in 2015.

Dr Jessop said she will 'never forget' what her friend told her and told The Times 'it shattered me'.

Nicol Hosie, 72, was Dr Page's divorce solicitor during her escape from the abusive marriage to Harrisson.

Letters from Dr Page to Ms Hosie described Harrisson's violent temper, death threats and beatings that left her missing clumps of hair.

She also begged Ms Hosie for a 'good post-mortem' if she died suddenly.

Dr Page headed the genetics department at the University of Aberdeen and was one of few women in a leading role in the field of science at the time.
Troconis is accused of helping her boyfriend, deceased Fotis Dulos, of killing his wife Jennifer Dulos in May 2019

The murder trial for Venezuelan socialite Michelle Troconis has been delayed for the second time after a note cited a rogue juror likening the case to the plot of the movie Gone Girl.

Troconis is accused of helping her boyfriend, deceased Fotis Dulos, in carrying out the killing of his wife and Connecticut mom Jennifer Dulos and then covering it up.

On Friday morning, the judge revealed he received a note from a juror, reporting a fellow juror for likening the case online to the movie 'Gone Girl' - which depicts a woman faking her own death to frame her husband.

According to the judge, the note read, 'One of the jurors discussed something about the case and it was all over social media. Said it was like Gone Girl.'

The judge added that several other jurors interacted with the post, according to WTNH. The juror that wrote the note was dismissed, but it was decided after a brief pause that the note would not affect the rest of the jury's ability to become impartial.

It comes after another pause came on Wednesday, when an alternate juror was dismissed after they were caught in a bizarre interaction with an attorney, telling them 'We love you' during a lunch break.

Michelle Troconis, with her parents behind her, enters Stamford Superior Court on day six of her trial on Friday, January 19, 2024

The sixth day of the socialite's trial was delayed after a juror noted that the case was like 'Gone Girl', a movie where a woman fakes her own murder to frame her husband. It was decided the violation would not cause the jury to become impartial, and the trial restarted

Jennifer Farber Dulos vanished in May 2019. Her remains have never been found, but police believe she was murdered by her husband Fotis Dulos, and that his new girlfriend Michelle Troconis conspired with him to help him cover up the crime

Troconis  who is accused of helping lover Fotis Dulos kill his wife in 2019  is currently free on a $2million bond. Dulos killed himself in January 2020, and Troconis faces up to twenty years in prison if convicted

Troconis is facing 20 years in prison after being accused of conspiring to murder Jennifer Dulos, whose remains have never been found after she vanished in May 2019.

Police believe she was murdered by her husband Fotis Dulos, and charged both Dulos and Troconis - his new girlfriend at the time - with her murder in June 2019.

Dulos killed himself in January 2020, leaving Troconis to face the music alone. In his suicide note, he claimed Troconis had nothing to do with his wife's disappearance.

Prosecutors have argued that Troconis helped Dulos dispose of evidence.

The pause on Friday came during cross-examination of a forensic scientist, when a marshal was handed a note from one of the jurors informing on another.

Interviews were carried out with the note writer, the alleged movie fan, and other members of the jury, where it was decided the violation would not cause the jury to become impartial, the trial resumed after around an hour's wait.

A 'red stain' on the grill of Jennifer Dulos' Range Rover on May 24, 2019, the day she vanished. Police searching the house said it stood out to them and did not appear to have been from a deer strike. The state alleges Fotis Dulos killed his wife either in the home or the garage, injuring her so badly that she bled profusely, and then removed her body

Jennifer's car was sitting in the house when police arrived. It was not the vehicle she used to drop off the kids earlier in the day - that car was later found discarded. The garage has a door that leads into the house

Troconis has pleaded not guilty and maintained her innocence throughout her case.

Jennifer Dulos, a mother of five, was last seen on May 24, 2019, when she dropped her children off at school.

The Connecticut mother was reported missing by that evening, and a full-scale investigation was launched.

The state claims Fotis lay in wait there for his wife and pounced on her when she returned from dropping their five kids off at school.

On the second day of her trial, the court was shown bodycam footage of police searching Jennifer's New Canaan home on the day she vanished.

They discovered what looked like blood on the grill of her Range Rover, and 'bloody footprints' on the floor.

'There appeared to be red blood on the front of the vehicle. A red mark on the grill of the vehicle.

'We looked at the vehicle, didn't observe any damage, we discussed it possibly could be a deer strike... there was no hair or damage indicating any such collision with a deer,' the officer giving evidence said.

Forensics teams later found huge patches of blood that someone had attempted to clean in the same garage.

Troconis, 49, pictured in court in Connecticut on Friday for the second day of her trial

Prosecutors allege that Troconis helped to dispose of Dulos' body, with the core of the case against her surveillance footage showing her with Fotis later that day, stopping at different garbage cans.

Michelle insists she does not know what he was disposing of and never asked.

She is also accused of helping him concoct a fake alibi for the day of the killing.

Fotis and Jennifer were in the midst of an acrimonious divorce at the time of her death. They were not only arguing over finances, but were also battling over who would win custody of their children.

The children now live with Jennifer's mother in New York City.

The mother-to-five, who made her living as a writer for Patch.com, was last seen returning home at 8.05am on a neighbor's security camera.

She missed two doctor's appointments in New York City scheduled for later that day, and two of her friends, including her nanny Lauren Almeida, reported her missing after being unable to get in touch with her.

State police launched an investigation, starting with a search of her home where they found her blood splattered on the exterior of a Range Rover in her garage and on several surfaces in the kitchen.

Officials said there was evidence of an attempted cleanup, and the enormous amount of blood made it apparent Jennifer could not have survived.

She was going through a messy divorce with Fotis at the time, and arrest warrants show that he was also $7 million in debt while living with Troconis and her daughter in the Farmington, Connecticut home he once shared with his wife and children.
He initially told investigators he was 'not sure' how he came to board Scandinavian Airlines flight SK 931 on November 4

A Russian-Israeli man who arrived in LAX airport as a 'stowaway' tailgated another passenger to board a flight without any documentation, investigators say.

Sergey Ochigava initially told the FBI he was 'not sure' how he came to be onboard the Scandinavian Airlines flight leaving Denmark on November 4.

But now new details have emerged from the investigation which suggest security failures may have allowed him to depart despite having no passport or ticket.

Documents filed by the Department of Justice obtained by Court Watch and 404 Media detailed how Ochigava first squeaked passed security at Copenhagen airport by 'tailgating an unsuspecting passenger through a security turnstile'.

He was picked up by border force who discovered he had overstayed on his Israeli passport and had no visas in his Russian one.

Sergey Ochigava managed to board a flight from Copenhagen to LAX with no ticket or passport after 'tailgating' passengers through security and the gate, investigators say

He initially told investigators he was 'not sure' how he made it onto the aircraft

He had his documents seized and was ordered to remain in the terminal. Except he failed to do so, attempting to board several flights to Bangkok and London.

Eventually, he came to the gate of flight SK 931 where he allegedly boarded the flight to LA again by tailgating a passenger.

Once on board, Ochigava enjoyed five-star treatment, eating double meal portions - and even attempted 'to eat the chocolate that belonged to members of the cabin crew'.

And when they were later quizzed by the FBI, airline staff said 'nothing seemed amiss' with Ochigava, although he had moved seats several times during the flight.

He was not on the manifest for the flight SK 931, nor was he on the passenger list of any other international flight.

He later told the FBI 'he had not been sleeping for three days and did not understand what was going on'.

An affidavit, written by FBI officer, Caroline Walling, said: 'When asked how he got through security in Copenhagen, Ochigava claimed he did not remember how he went through security without a ticket.'

The affidavit added: 'The crew noticed Ochigava because he wandered around the plane and kept changing his seat.

'In addition, he asked for two meals during each meal service, and at one point attempted to eat the chocolate that belonged to members of the cabin crew.

'The crew members did not see his boarding pass but did note that the seat he initially took during boarding (i.e., seat 36D) was supposed to be an unoccupied seat.'

Ochigava made it through security but was nabbed by border police who seized his documents and ordered him to remain in the terminal

He attempted to board flights to London and Bangkok before making it aboard the SAS flight to LAX

She said staff did not detect there was an additional passenger onboard as although they counted passengers in each section to check the plane was balanced, they did not tally them up or check it against the flight log.

When the flight arrived at LAX, Ochigava disembarked as normal and presented at customs.

He has since been hit with stowaway charges with his trial due to begin next week.

In the meantime, authorities and the airline are still trying to make sense of how he was able to board.

'SAS asked Copenhagen Police why the person wasn't kept in custody with them as opposed to being allowed to wander, and the response seems to be that there isn't a legal basis to hold him (SAS expressed surprise at this),' the DOJ filings state.

An SAS spokesman said: 'We can confirm that a man was on the flight in question, even though he did not have a ticket or passport. We can see from our surveillance that he has entered without a valid ticket.

'Copenhagen Airport has provided photo and video material to the authorities who are investigating the case. We take the matter very seriously, and it will be included in the work we continuously do to adjust and tighten our guidelines to improve security.'
The Los Angeles Innocence Project decided to take Scott Peterson's case with a view to revisiting previously 'withheld' evidence that may exonerate him, court records reveal.

The organization - which is separate from the more acclaimed Innocence Project - was contacted by Peterson's team in March last year.

Its attorneys have not publicly discussed the case nor vouched for Peterson's absolute innocence.

A spokesman today told DailyMail.com: 'The Los Angeles Innocence Project (LAIP) represents Scott Peterson and is investigating his claim of actual innocence.

'We have no further comment at this time.'

Paperwork submitted to the Superior Court of California in San Mateo however highlights why they think he may have a shot at clearing his name.

Peterson, 51, was initially sentenced to death before a judge overturned the decision in 2020 and sentenced him to life without parole

The LA Innocence Project has reportedly taken up the case of Scott Petersen who was convicted of the murder of his wife Laci and their unborn son Conner in 2005 amid claims he had an unfair trial due to 'juror misconduct'

Lawyers point to 'blood spatter' in the home where Peterson is accused of murdering his pregnant wife Laci, but insist it does not belong to him.

They also say no other suspects were considered.

Laci was 27-years-old and eight months pregnant when she disappeared on Christmas Eve, 2002.

Peterson led the search for his wife but was arrested months later when her body later washed up in the San Francisco shoreline in 2003.

He has always claimed that she was killed by a panicked burglar after catching them ransacking the couple's home.

A jury however convicted him of the killing, deciding he was motivated by an affair he was having at the time with Amber Frey, a 20-year-old massage therapist.

Peterson was sentenced to death, but the decision was overturned in 2020 by the California Supreme Court, citing potential juror bias that prosecutors failed to account for.

In December 2022, Peterson's request for a new trial was rejected.

Now, the L.A. Innocence Project is spearheading his case.

Jurors were told Peterson had a mistress, Amber Frey (pictured with Peterson) and that he was dreading becoming a father

Prosecutors told the court Peterson wanted to escape married life and did not want the responsibility of becoming a father.

He argued he killed her at their Modesto home before dumping dumped her body - and that of the baby she was carrying - from his boat.

He was found guilty of the first degree murder of his wife and the second degree murder of their unborn child.

Some of Peterson's family have echoed his claims of innocence. However his own sister branded him a 'sociopath'.

'I don't know why he did this,' she said in an interview with Dr Oz. 'Laci was the sweetest, kindest person, so I just don't understand it.'

'We miss her all the time. We've been robbed of her presence.

'His upbringing... I don't know if it had something to do with it. I'm not a doctor but I believe in sociopathy and I believe he's a sociopath.'
Three men will have to wait 11 months for a retrial after being accidentally cleared of killing a man due to a jury 'mistake'.

Brothers Paul and Matthew Yusuff and their friend Moussa Traore were accused of stabbing Adrian Keise, 32, to death during a scuffle outside a bar in 2022.

Last Wednesday, Mr Keise's family were tearful and shaken after the trio was acquitted over his fatal stabbing outside Waterloo station.

The Old Bailey jury forewoman was twice asked if unanimous verdicts had been reached before finding the defendants, from south London, not guilty.

Within minutes, Judge Charles Gratwicke, who had come out of retirement to hear the case, reassembled the court after receiving a note indicating jurors had not all agreed on the verdicts.

Brothers Paul and Matthew Yusuff and their friend Moussa Traore were accused of stabbing Adrian Keise, 32, (pictured) to death during a scuffle outside a bar in 2022

Last Wednesday, Mr Keise's family were tearful and shaken after the trio was acquitted over his fatal stabbing outside Waterloo station. Pictured: The scene

The judge ordered them to continue deliberating before finally discharging them last Thursday after a total of 12 hours and 44 minutes in retirement.

The jury found Paul Yusuff not guilty of possessing a blade or point.

However, the 11 men and women were unable to agree on two other charges.

Paul Yusuff, 21, and Matthew Yusuff, 23, were charged with murder.

They were also charged with the lesser alternative of manslaughter along with the third defendant Traore, 24.

On Friday, prosecutor William Davis announced that the Crown would seek a retrial on the outstanding charges.

Judge Gratwicke set a provisional six-week retrial date for December 2 despite opposition from defence barristers.

The Old Bailey heard all three defendants had applied to the High Court for their release from detention under habeas corpus and for a judicial review.

The High Court bid would be heard 'as soon as possible' by Mr Justice Swift on or before January 29, the court was told.

Defence barrister Kerim Fuad KC said: 'I only appear out of courtesy to the court. An application has been issued on a writ of habeas corpus to the High Court on behalf of the claimant Paul Yusuff and we await a hearing later this month.

'We maintain that the verdicts of not guilty by the jury were properly delivered which means that this court ceases, upon discharge of the defendants, to have any jurisdiction in this case as there is no existing count on any indictment before it.'

Judge Gratwicke said: 'My fear is if we do not provisionally fix a date there is every possibility it will go further into 2025 and nobody wants that.

'I cannot see for the life of me any prejudice to the defendants by provisionally saying if there is to be a retrial it will take place on December 2 2024.'

The defendants attended the Old Bailey by video link from custody at Belmarsh high security prison.

The jury forewoman at the Old Bailey (pictured) was twice asked if unanimous verdicts had been reached before finding the defendants, from south London, not guilty

The victim's family sat in the well of the court.

Previously, the trial had heard how Mr Keise was chased and surrounded by three men in the early hours of October 29 2022.

Matthew Yusuff wielded a bottle and Paul Yusuff stabbed Mr Keise in the back three times with a knife, it was alleged.

The victim was rushed to hospital where he later died from his injuries.

Earlier that evening, Mr Keise had spent the evening drinking with friends at the Thirsty Bear pub in nearby Stamford Street.

They went on to the area of the Cubana Bar in Lower Marsh, near Waterloo Station shortly after 2am where their paths crossed with the defendants' group, it was alleged.

Mr Davis had said: 'Within just a few minutes, an innocuous, minor and quite insignificant disagreement grew to an altercation, and then escalated into a period of uncontrolled violence quite out of any proportion to the initiating event - all taking place in the streets of central London.'

The defendants had denied all the charges against them.
A California woman recently discovered that the her sister was the last unidentified victim of the Happy Face Killer that was discovered through DNA testing.

Summer Gonzales, who lives in Seattle, said that she never knew she even had a half-sister until she was contacted by law enforcement in California about a year ago.

Gonzales's family member, whose name has not been identified, was killed sometime in the 1990's and her body was dumped on the side of a highway in Blythe County, California.

In 1992, the woman's killer, Keith Hunter Jesperson, aka The Happy Face Serial Killer, confessed to the murder, along with seven other murders he committed during a cross-country killing spree.

He called his female victim 'Claudia,' though investigators believe that Claudia may not be her real name, Riverside County Sheriff Investigator Amy Contreras told CBS8 News said.

Gonzales expressed frustration that officials have not released her sister's remains to the family and said that she wants 'to get justice and to find the truth for my sister.'

Two different rendered photos of the unidentified woman found murdered in 1992 in Blythe, California by Happy Face Serial Killer, Keith Jesperson - one of the photos has her pictured with brown hair and the other photo in blonde hair

Sandra Gonzales learned a year ago through DNA testing that she is the half-sister of the last victim of Happy Face Serial Killer, Keith Hunter Jesperson, who has not been identified. She told CBS8 News that she is trying to 'get justice' and find the 'truth' in her sister's murder

Alfonso Saldana Gonzales, father of Sandra Gonzales and the unidentified murder victim

Keith Jesperson, known as 'The Happy Face Serial Killer' claimed to have killed up to 160 people during his 1990's killling spree. He was charged with killing eight woman across the country. He was given the nickmane 'happy face' for the 'smiley faces' he placed on many confession letters he had written

The victim, who was a frequent hitchhiker, is believed to have met Jesperson, who worked as a long haul truck driver, at a truck stop.

Contreras told the news outlet that 'it is suspected in the morning before her death, she caught a ride with Jesperson, who was traveling from Las Vegas or the Barstow region along the I-15 near the Cajon Pass.

According to the investigator, 'Claudia' then walked over to Jesperson while he was working on his purple 1989 Peterbilt. The pair traveled down the I-10 east to the Burns Brothers truck stop near India.

The pair stopped at a diner and then had a heated argument while in Jespersens truck and that is where he killed her.

Additional reports cited that Jesperson had raped the young woman than strangled her before dumping her body on the side of the road in Blythe County, California.

Jesperson, who claimed to have killed up to 160 people during the late 1990s' was charged with killing eight woman across the country.

He was nicknamed the Happy Face Serial Killer for placing a 'smiley face' on many confession letters he had written, as per the news outlet.

The Riverside County District Attorney, Michael Hestrin said 'this woman is the last of all his victims to remain unidentified.'

On Monday, their office posted a YouTube video asking for the publics help.

The spokesperson said that the murder victim may have ties to Southern California.

Gonzales said her father, Alfonso Saldana Gonzales, Sr. fathered at least nine children with five women.

She said that she wasn't shocked that her father had so many children, but said she was 'devastated' to learn the news that one of his daughters was a victim of the Happy Face Serial Killer.

Her father died in 2006, but said that she remembered his character as being somewhat of a 'ladies man.'

'He had a lot of women when he was younger, even in his old age, he had plenty of girlfriends hanging around everywhere,' she said.

Earlier this year, she sent photos of her dad to the news outlet hoping it might reveal the identify of her her half-sisters mother.

'If anybody recognizes the pictures of my father, and they knew his whereabouts between the years of 1964 and 1967, he would have lived either in Harris County, Houston, Texas, or Santa Barbara County, which is Santa Maria, California,' Gonzales said.

She said that none of her known family members was able to identify her new -found relative.

Gonzales said she has been in despair since Riverside officials won't release her sister's remains to the family so they can have a funeral.

'It would be nice to know her real name. It would be wonderful if I could find her mother's name so that I could include those items on her tombstone,' she said.

'But I know that she is my blood. And I want to lay her to rest with her family. I'm sure that she would have wanted that, too,' she said.

Contreras told DailyMail.com on Friday that they have been in communication with the victim's half-sister, Summer Gonzales.

She said that 'due to the victim not being identified, the coroners office is unable to release the remains until positive identification has been made.'

But added, 'once positive identification is made, the coroners office will be able to determine who the actual next of kin is and make arrangements with the family for a proper burial.'

Jesperson worked as a long-haul truck driver and met his victim at a truck stop

According to officials, the woman was between ages 25 and 35 at the time of her death.

She was described to be about 5 feet 7 inches tall with medium build, with brown hair possibly dyed blonde. She also had a tattoo of two black dots on the side of her right thumb.

Investigators said the unidentified murder victim's mother may have been from southeast Texas or Louisiana.

Gonzales added, 'we are of Mexican descent, so it's more likely that the person that was my sister's mom, she would have lived among Mexican people.'

The Riverside County Sheriff Officer Investigator said any information may help and explained that 'no call would be insignificant to us.'

'[He] dumped her on the side of the road like she was trash and she's not,' Contreras told ABC13 Las Vegas News.

'She deserves dignity and respect. Just try to think back. Anything you can remember that can trigger a memory, call us.'

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Riverside County District Attorneys office by calling the Cold Case Hotline at (951) 955-5567, or email coldcaseunit@rivcoda.org
Members of the public expressed concern about the lack of religion in educational settings

Shonna Coleman shared a picture of her first grader's disciplinary note on social media, which sparked outrage from the public

A Mississippi mother sparked outrage when she posted a disciplinary notice her first grade son had received from school for saying 'Jesus Christ'.

Daunye Terry, seven, got in trouble at Hope Sullivan Elementary School in Southaven, Mississippi, for using unacceptable language at school.

A Facebook post from the first grader's mother, Shonna Coleman, revealed that 'Jesus Christ' were the words said that landed the little boy in hot water.

The incident took place on January 4 at 1:15 pm, according to the disciplinary note which described the alleged rule-breaking that took place.

'He said "Jesus Christ" when he dropped the Legos he was cleaning up from recess,' the teacher's not read.

A Mississippi mother sparked outrage when she posted a disciplinary notice her first grade son had received from school for saying 'Jesus Christ' (pictured: Shonna Coleman with her son)

The incident took place on January 4 at 1:15 pm, according to the disciplinary note which described the alleged rule-breaking that took place

The note reported that the actions taken after the incident were 'had conference with student' and 'telephoned parent'.

The boy's mother said she thought the strict reaction was harsh, especially considering it was a first-time offense.

'It's kind of unfair that he didn't get a warning,' Coleman told FOX.

'It went straight to a write-up. I understand if he did it a second time, and then you write him up.'

Coleman said that the treatment of her son left her feeling 'shocked and surprised,' and expressed concern that the disciplinary write-up would follow Daunye in his school records.

A statement from the school said 'DeSoto County students would never be disciplined for simply saying Jesus Christ.

'In fact, several schools in the DeSoto County school district have Fellowship of Christian Athletes and Fellowship of Christian Students chapters which meet on our campuses.

'These Christian organizations are supported by our teachers, school administrators, and district leaders.

While district officials cannot comment on specific student situations, it is entirely possible that a student's behavior could be corrected for a disrespectful use of Jesus Christ's name.'

Coleman's Facebook post attracted a ginormous amount of attention from the public.

The picture of the 'Parent Notice of Disciplinary Incident' garnered almost 2,000 likes, 2,400 comments and 4,600 shares.

'U got to be kidding. What kind of school is that? U HAVE THE RIGHT TO SPEAK WHAT'S IN YOUR HEART,' one impassioned commenter expressed.

'That's the new generation of teachers. They don't believe Jesus or God,' another user said.

'Is this really what weve come too.. wow,' another said.

One user said: 'This is so sad what is this world coming to. They need Jesus at that school. We must continue to pray for our children.'

'This is one of the rules in school that I do not like. Theyve deem it as a curse word in schools since theyve taken prayer out of the school,' a user ranted. 'If I were you I would read the school districts by laws and regulations because if its not in there as a curse word this can be a lawsuit for lack of freedom of speech. Some districts enforce this but its not in the guidelines.'
Speaker Mike Johnson insists his Republican conference is 'unified,' even though a vote to approve a stopgap funding bill to avert a government shutdown sharply divided them.

The House passed a continuing resolution, or CR, on Thursday to fund the government - but 106 Republicans voted against the measure in a show of revolt.

'We're all unified,' Johnson insisted about his GOP conference in an exclusive interview with DailyMail.com at the snowy March for Life rally in Washington, D.C., after the divided CR vote.

'People are frustrated that the funding of the government the appropriations process has drug out so long,' he explained.

'I'm more frustrated than anyone,' he told DailyMail.com, 'but we have to allow the time for that process to play out.'

The CR set spending at 2023 levels established under Speaker Nancy Pelosi until March 1 for four agencies and March 8 for eight others.

It's the third CR Congress has passed as it once again kicks the can down the road on funding the government in fiscal year 2024.

'People are frustrated that the funding of the government the appropriations process has drug out so long,' the speaker said

Johnson still holds out hope that the extra few weeks will allow Congress to come together and negotiate 12 separate bills to fund each agency of government.

He insists the extra time will allow Republicans to fight for conservative policy riders to be attached to those bills.

The CR ultimately passed 314-108 on Thursday afternoon with 109 Republicans voting for it and 106 against it.

But Johnson faced revolt from even his closest allies on the deal.

House GOP Conference Chair Elise Stefanik, Johnson's number three, voted against the bill. So did nine of Johnson's committee chairs.

Stefanik, R-N.Y., told DailyMail.com in a statement that she had 'concerns' about the CR because it did not contain border security measures.

'My Northern Border district has seen an astonishing 550% increase in apprehensions last year across the Swanton Sector which is why I have concerns about this week's continuing resolution,' she stated.

'I know the Speaker is working tirelessly to secure the border in the next funding package,' the GOP leader continued.

Other notable 'no' votes included House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, Budget Chair Jodey Arrington, Chair of China Select Committee Mike Gallagher, Homeland Security Chair Mark Green and a handful of other senior Republicans.

Some were frustrated, like Stefanik, that the speaker did not attach border security to the stopgap funding bill. Others just don't approve of governing by CR at all.

The path for the House and Senate to conference on 12 separate appropriations bills within the next two months seems murky.

Speaker Johnson added to DailyMail.com that Republicans will have to 'fight for our policies within those appropriations bills.'

The CR 'allows us keeping the government open allows us the opportunity to do that. So we're moving forward.'

He struck an optimistic tone about what's ahead for the Republicans heading into the 2024 election in November.

'We got big things ahead of big agenda ahead. We're gonna keep this team together and govern, and I think we're gonna expand the majority,' he predicted.

'I think we're gonna win back the Senate for the Republican Party. I think we're gonna win the White House as well. We'll have a lot bigger and better celebration next January.'

Right-wing Freedom Caucus hardliners had tried to force Speaker Mike Johnson to attach H.R. 2, Republicans' hardline border bill, to the deal - which would have thrown the government into a shutdown.

Freedom Caucus Chair Bob Good, R-Va., said he is furious with the speaker for passing a CR with no border provisions and threatened to tank other Republican-led bills in the future.

The hardliners even suggested they would rather plunge the government into shutdown in order to demand border security provisions.

'If [Democrats] want to shut down the border, then it's on them to shut down the government,' Rep. Eric Burlison, R-Mo., told reporters.

'It is GROUNDHOG DAY in the House chamber  all the time, every day. Yet again, spending money we don't have!' lamented Chip Roy in a bid to urge his colleagues to vote 'no' on the CR.

'We know that Budget Act of 1974 calls for the 12 appropriation bills to be delivered by the House of Representatives by June 30. And everybody just ignores that like, like it's a recommendation,' Rep. Matt Rosendale, R-Mont., told reporters.

'It's the law. And I am disgusted, that yet we continue to ignore the process.'

Johnson resisted, instead relying on Democratic votes to make up for GOP defectors as a snowstorm barreled toward D.C. and lawmakers were gunning to get out of town.

The bill passed the House under suspension - meaning it required a two-thirds majority to pass but did not need to advance in a rule vote that typically only passes with the votes of the majority.

People attend the annual March for Life rally on the National Mall on January 19

Speaker Johnson added to DailyMail.com that Republicans will have to 'fight for our policies within those appropriations bills'

A woman participates in the annual anti-abortion 'March for Life'

Some hardliners threatened to tank future rule votes to thwart the Republican agenda until Congress passes border security.

'That is the discussion,' Burlison said of the idea. 'If you're ready to fight on the border. Let's do it right now. Let's not wait for some piece of garbage to come back from the Senate.'

The Senate is currently taking the lead on a national security package that would include border provisions in exchange for Ukraine and Israel aid.

The Senate had passed the continuing resolution earlier in a 77 to 18 vote.
The pensioner who challenged Rishi Sunak over the state of waiting lists formerly worked for the NHS, it has been revealed.

The Prime Minister was told 'you could stop it all', by the ex-NHS worker on a walkabout in Winchester as she quizzed him about lengthy wait times for treatment.

In an exchange caught on camera by Sky News, Mr Sunak blamed the backlog on strikes by medical staff before laughing as she said: 'You could make it all go back to how it used to be ... where, if you had a problem, you could go to the hospital.'

As she continued, saying 'my daughter spent seven hours waiting', he was pulled away by Winchester candidate Flick Drummond to continue his walkabout in the Tory Hampshire seat that is on the Lib Dem target list at the next election.

She then followed him down the street and he said he was 'sorry to hear that' before they discussed the strikes again before shaking hands.

As the exchange went viral online it was dubbed his 'Gordon Brown moment' - a reference to the former prime minister being caught calling Gillian Duffy a 'bigoted woman' while attached to a microphone before the 2010 election.

The Prime Minister was told 'you could stop it all', by a former health worker on a walkabout in Winchester as she quizzed him about lengthy wait times for treatment

In an exchange caught on camera by Sky News, Mr Sunak blamed the backlog on strikes by medical staff before laughing as she said: 'You could make it all go back to how it used to be... where, if you had a problem, you could go to the hospital'

As the exchange went viral online it was dubbed his 'Gordon Brown moment' - a reference to the former prime minister being caught calling Gillian Duffy a 'bigoted woman' while attached to a microphone before the 2010 election

Liberal Democrat MP Christine Jardine said: 'Laughing in the face of a former health worker whilst they are trying to explain to him the dire straits the NHS is in is frankly shocking.

'The Prime Minister either does not care or he does not get it.'

And Wes Streeting, Labour's shadow health secretary, added; 'Rishi Sunak has no idea of the misery NHS patients are going through.

'When patients try to tell him, he laughs in their faces and walks away. When Sunak asks for their vote later this year, he will get a taste of his own medicine.'

Some 6.39million patients across England were waiting for routine hospital treatment in November, figures suggest, which is down slightly from 6.44million in October.

But the NHS is still failing to hit most of its key performance targets despite the overall drop, the data indicates.

Some 11,168 people in England were waiting more than 18 months to start routine hospital treatment at the end of November, up from 10,506 at the end of October.

A&E times also worsened, with 69.4 per cent of patients in England seen within four hours in December, down from 69.7 per cent in November and against a target set for March this year of 76 per cent.

Mr Sunak blamed striking doctors for the backlog, telling the woman that the recent dip in the number of people waiting 'just shows that when there aren't strikes, we really can make progress.'

The Prime Minister last year made cutting waiting lists one of the five key priorities of his leadership.

However, data analysed by the PA news agency suggests that despite recent decreases in waiting lists, it is still higher than when the pledge was made.

Waiting lists stood at 7.21million treatments waiting to be carried out in January last year.

As of November - a month with no industrial action - some 7.61million treatments were waiting to be carried out.

The NHS is likely to be a key political battleground in the blue wall - traditionally Tory seats in southern England which are vulnerable to gains from either the Liberal Democrats or Labour - during an election year.
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson says its a 'pivotal' time for the pro-life movement in the U.S. and slammed President Biden for cutting funding to pregnancy resource centers.

Johnson spoke exclusively with DailyMail.com after addressing the thousands of pro-life supporters at the 51st Annual March for Life in snowy Washington, D.C., Friday.

'This is a pivotal time in our country for us to really build a culture of life,' Johnson said in the interview.

'And that means taking care of life at all stages, of course, unplanned pregnancies and unborn children,' Johnson said.

It has been nearly a year and a half since the Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade, sending the issue of abortion back to the states to decide. And abortion has been planted squarely in the center of the 2024 election.

'I'm not sure what Joe Biden believes,' the speaker responded when asked about outspoken Catholic Joe Biden's views on abortion.

'He's not been really clear lately,' he added, noting Biden's work to restrict funding to pregnancy resource centers - pro-life facilities that help mothers navigate unexpected pregnancies.

Speaker Johnson spoke exclusively with DailyMail.com after addressing the crowd of over 1,000 pro-life supporters at the 51st Annual March for Life in snowy Washington, D.C., Friday

Johnson addressed a crowd of over 1,000 pro-life supporters at the 51st Annual March for Life in snowy Washington, D.C., Friday

Johnson spoke while snow continuously fell down around him at the annual March for Life.

'I can tell you that we passed a bill in the House this week that will provide, and continue to provide, resources to these pregnancy resource centers and they desperately need it,' the Republican said.

'There's a regulation coming out of the Biden administration to stop that, to prevent states from utilizing those great assistance to families in need.'

He said that helping life at all stages of human life means from the womb to the tomb.

We have to take care of the mothers and the families, he added, in addition to breaking down the 'barriers to adoption' - including by helping to foster children.

'There's a broad scale of work and we all have to be involved in it. So it's so encouraging to see so many people here from across the country who understand that and want to be a part of that.'

Johnson spoke while snow continuously fell down around him covering the National Mall during the annual March for Life.

He went on to say that he believes in the 'sanctity' of every single human life.

The speaker says it's not only clear from the Bible scripture, but also from our 'nation's birth certificate, the Declaration of Independence.'

We must which remember that this is the 'foundational principle of our country,' he continued.

'God is the one that gives us our rights, not the government. We do well to remember that that's that's the foundational truth that made us different and exceptional, and the greatest nation in the history of the world.'

Johnson has kept his faith central to how he leads his life and his leadership style on Capitol Hill.

'I am a Bible-believing Christian,' he has previously proclaimed.

Johnson was elected to lead the House majority in October, earning all 220 votes from Republicans on the floor after the historic ouster of former Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

Pro-life supporters attend the annual March for Life rally on the National Mall on January 19

Johnson went on to say that today is a 'pivotal' time in the country to 'build a culture of life'

A nun participates in the annual anti-abortion March for Life

He has since had the challenging job of maneuvering bills and priorities through a chaotic conference.

On Friday, the House voted to pass a short-gap spending bill that to avert a shutdown deadline despite strong opposition from hardline conservatives.

The continuing resolution, or CR, funds the government at fiscal year 2023 levels set under House Speaker Nancy Pelosi through March 1 for four agencies and March 8 for the other eight.

The measure passed 314-108 with Democrats joining Republicans to get it across the finish line. 106 Republicans voted against the measure in a show of revolt.
Islamist preacher Anjem Choudary has appeared in court over three terror offences relating to banned organisation Al-Muhajiroun.

The 57-year-old is accused of directing a terrorist organisation, being a member of a proscribed organisation and addressing meetings to encourage support for a proscribed organisation.

He was set to enter a plea at the Old Bailey on Friday morning but this was put back.

Appearing in a grey prison uniform over a video link, the preacher spoke only to confirm his identity during the hearing which lasted around one hour.

An earlier hearing was told Choudary had provided lectures to the Islamic Thinkers Society, which prosecutors said is Al-Muhajiroun 'for all intents and purposes'.

Islamist preacher Anjem Choudary has appeared in court over three terror offences relating to banned organisation Al-Muhajiroun

The 57-year-old is accused of directing a terrorist organisation, being a member of a proscribed organisation and addressing meetings to encourage support

Court artist sketch by Elizabeth Cook of Anjem Choudary appearing by video link from HMP Full Sutton in Yorkshire, at the Old Bailey in London

Al-Muhajiroun was founded by Omar Bakri Muhammed and has been banned in the UK since 2010.

However, it is alleged the group has continued to exist under various names.

Mr Justice Jeremy Baker remanded the preacher, from Ilford in east London, into custody and he is next due in court on a date to be fixed in March.

A provisional trial, which is expected to last up to eight weeks, has been fixed for May 20 at Kingston Crown Court.

He was remanded in custody ahead of a further hearing on 23 February 2024.

An earlier hearing was told Choudary had provided lectures to the Islamic Thinkers Society, which prosecutors said is Al-Muhajiroun 'for all intents and purposes'

Choudary was arrested in east London on July 17 while a second suspect, Khaled Hussein, was detained at Heathrow having arrived on a flight the same day.

Hussein, who lives in Canada, is charged with membership of Al-Muhajiroun but did not appear at the hearing on Friday.

His lawyer was content for proceedings to continue in his absence.

Proscription is the banning of an organisation based on an assessment that it commits or participates in, prepares for, promotes or encourages, or is otherwise concerned with terrorism, according to the Home Office.
Dailymail.com was asked to leave Nikki Haley's meet-and-greet with voters in New Hampshire on Friday morning and was told it is banned from covering her future campaign events.

The ban came after DailyMail.com published a story Friday morning exclusively reporting that Haley falsely denied cheating on her husband when she was accused of engaging in two extramarital affairs during her 2010 South Carolina gubernatorial campaign.

The Haley campaign didn't respond to requests for comment on the story even though DailyMail.com gave them 24 hours to do so.

DailyMail.com's photographer took these photos of Nikki Haley campaigning at Mary Ann's Diner before her campaign staff asked him to leave

On Friday morning, a DailyMail.com reporter and photographer were asked to leave Haley's event at Mary Ann's Diner in Amherst, N.H., a public restaurant where the former South Carolina governor was talking to voters.

'Daily Mail is not credentialed for any more events. I'm politely asking you to leave,' Haley spokeswoman Chaney Denton said and pointed to the door.

Asked if this was in effect for the rest of the campaign, Denton answered 'yes.'

Denton later told an editor at DailyMail.com that the publication was banned for 'printing lies.'

Ironically, Haley took questions from the press at the event and spoke generically about attacks against her. Donald Trump has ramped up his criticism of her as she has risen in the polls.

'If people hit me, this is politics. For me it's not personal,' Haley said.

Shortly after the event, DailyMail.com's reporter was told the application for credentials for a rally in Manchester on Friday night had been rejected.

'We apologize, but due to high volume of interest and limited space we CANNOT credential you for tonights event in Manchester, NH. Please do not attempt to attend, as you will be turned away at the door,' the email read.

To apply to cover an event, a news organization fills out an online form and then gets a confirmation email from the campaign to confirm it has been credentialed for the event.

DailyMail.com has not received a confirmation for any Haley events on Friday even though it was credentialed to cover her two events on Thursday.

The former U.N. Ambassador is in the Granite State furiously campaigning ahead of the primary on Tuesday.

The vote is seen as one of her last chances to close the gap with frontrunner Trump, and a bad result would be dire for her White House prospects.

She was also dealt a blow on Friday when South Carolina Senator Tim Scott snubbed her and revealed he would be endorsing Trump.

Haleys campaign had tried to woo the Republican, but he ultimately went with the frontrunner and their 'very good relationship'.

DailyMail.com has been covering Haley's campaign since she launched her presidential bid in February 2023.

Our reporters have been at several of her events, including her official launch, and with her on the trail in Iowa and New Hampshire.

Signed affidavits obtained by DailyMail.com, and now, multiple witnesses, claim Haley had sexual relationships with Columbia lobbyist Larry Marchant Jr., 61,(left) and her communications consultant Will Folks before she was elected governor in 2010

The former South Carolina governor frequently cites her husband as the reason for her presidential bid and her most recent campaign ad opens with photographs of Michael's 2013 homecoming from his first deployment to Afghanistan with the National Guard

DailyMail.com has covered many of Haley's campaign events, including on Thursday in New Hampshire, where she posed for pics with voters.

On Friday, Dailymail.com reported on allegations of an affair Haley denied having. New witnesses came forward, saying that Haley's denials of two alleged 2008 affairs are false, and that the supposed trysts were brazen and widely known among South Carolina politicos.

Will Folks, 49, and Larry Marchant, 61, both signed affidavits in 2010 alleging they had a sexual relationship with the then-South Carolina lawmaker, before she went on to become governor.

While the contents of the affidavits were described by major news outlets at the time, this is the first time they have been published outside of Folks' own document which he published on his blog.

Haley, 51, denied both at the time, saying she was '100% faithful' to the father of her two children and husband of 28 years, Michael Haley  who was deployed in Afghanistan with the National Guard in 2012.

Haley now frequently cites him as a reason for her presidential candidacy.

She has taken on a new, combative tone on the campaign trail as polls show her making a steady climb in first-in-the-nation primary state. Haley's candidacy that depends on a strong finish in New Hampshire, which would include a close second.

Trump leads Haley by 14 points in the RealClearPolitics polling average of New Hampshire. The polls also show, however, that Haley is on an upward trajectory - in the past two months she has climbed steadily from 20% to 38%.

Trump is going hard after Haley.

'I don't know that she's a Democrat, but she's very close. She's far too close for you,' the former president told voters at a rally in Portsmouth on Wednesday night.

His campaign is also hitting her hard with advertising in the state.

Haley finished a disappointing third in Mondays Iowa caucuses but polls show she could fare much better in New Hampshire, where she has focused much of her time and attention. Trump won Iowa by 30 points.
Sen. Tim Scott will endorse Donald Trump at a rally in New Hampshire Friday night, tightening the former president's grip on the 2024 Republican nomination.

After Monday's landslide win in Iowa, the Trump campaign is intent on killing off his remaining opponents as quickly as possible and turning his attention to a general election match-up with President Joe Biden.

Now Trump has won the battle to secure the endorsement of Scott, who dropped out of the race in November.

The South Carolina senator released a video teasing the announcement on Friday afternoon.

'Oh man, I'm so excited for the announcement tonight,' he said in front of Trump's private 757 jet, nicknamed Trump Force One.

'Just tune in, pay attention, listen closely, and let's talk about four more years.'

Sen. Tim Scott teased the announcement with a video of him standing in front of Trump's jet

Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., speaks in front of President Donald Trump during a campaign rally during the 2020 campaign

The campaigns of Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis had both tried to woo the South Carolina senator.

Earlier a source familiar with the details confirmed that Scott would appear with Trump in New Hampshire.

'He's going to fly to Palm Beach and then head to New Hampshire with the former president, at which point this evening he will appear with former president to endorse,' said the source.

'The clincher was he's been talking to Trump for some time and they've got a very good relationship.

'We have to get focused on beating Joe Biden.'

The endorsement was first reported by the New York Times.

It is a bitter blow for Haley, whose political base is also South Carolina and who as governor appointed Scott to the Senate in 2012.

She needs a huge boost if she is to pull off an upset in New Hampshire's first-in-the nation primary on Tuesday.

A spokesperson for her campaign played down the twist.

Both Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis courted Scott for his endorsement. They are struggling to slow the Trump juggernaut and Haley in particularly needs a strong result on Monday

In 2012 South Carolina Gov Nikki Haley appointed Scott to the US Senate to represent the state

'Interesting that Trump's lining up with all the Washington insiders when he claimed he wanted to drain the swamp,' Olivia Perez-Cubas told the Associated Press.

'But the fellas are gonna do what the fellas are gonna do.'

It is understood that she and DeSantis, who is largely skipping the north-east state's first-in-the-nation primary, both spoke with Scott to try to win his endorsement.

The decision will intensify speculation that Trump could pick Scott as running mate. The senator has a powerful fundraising machine, and could help the former president make further inroads among Biden's Black support.

Scott, the only Black Republican in the Senate, ran on a message of optimism and unity. That made him stand out in a field that painted a dark picture of America under Biden.

His personal story of growing up poor gave him the sort of broad appeal that marked him out as a contender.

But he never really gained traction in the polls despite a huge financial war chest, and struggled to impose himself on the first three Republican debates.

President Donald Trump introduced Vivek Ramaswamy to an ecstatic crowd in Atkinson, New Hampshire, on Tuesday evening at the end of whirlwind 24 hours

Trump is due to hold a rally in Concord on Friday evening.

On Tuesday, he was joined on stage by tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, who dropped out less than 24 hours earlier after a disappointing fourth place finish in Iowa.

Now he will repeat the feat with his latest backer.

Democrats portrayed the endorsement as another example of the spread of extreme MAGA ideology through the Republican party.

'Tim Scott centered his own campaign around banning abortion nationwide, and now hes endorsing Donald Trump because he knows Trump is a MAGA extremist just like him who is hellbent on ripping away freedoms from women across America,' said Democratic National Committee rapid response director Alex Floyd.

'Scotts endorsement of Donald Trump is only the latest example of MAGA extremism exerting complete control over the Republican Party.'
A female athlete is suing Panera Bread over claims she suffered heart problems caused by its Charged Lemonade which can contain as much caffeine as three cans of Red Bull.

Lauren Skerritt, 28, from Smithfield, Rhode Island, became the third person to file a lawsuit against the chain after two others suffered fatal heart attacks.

The obstacle course racer claimed she had an irregular heartbeat the day after she drank two and a half servings of Panera Breads Charged Lemonade on April 8.

Skerritt was rushed to an emergency room on April 9 and doctors diagnosed her with atrial fibrillation which can lead to stroke and other complications, the lawsuit filed in Delaware superior court on Tuesday alleges.

It comes after the families of Sarah Katz, 21, and Dennis Brown, 46, sued Panera over allegations its Charged Lemonade is responsible for their fatal heart attacks.

Female athlete Lauren Skerritt is suing Panera Bread over claims she suffered heart problems caused by its Charged Lemonade which can contain as much caffeine as three cans of Red Bull

The 28-year-old obstacle course racer, from Smithfield, Rhode Island claimed she had an irregular heartbeat the day after she drank two and a half servings of Panera Breads Charged Lemonade on April 8

It comes after the families of Sarah Katz, 21, and Dennis Brown, 46, sued Panera over allegations its Charged Lemonade, which has can contain up to 390 milligrams of caffeine, is responsible for their fatal heart attacks

Skerritt bought Panera Bread's Charged Lemonade from a store in Greenville on April 8 and claims she suffered an irregular heartbeat the next day which saw her rushed to hospital.

A large charged lemonade contains 390 milligrams of caffeine which is more than a Red Bull and Monster energy drink combined.

The lawsuit alleges that she has since experienced 'recurrent episodes of rapid heartbeat that occur suddenly and without pattern'.

'Lauren continues to experience supraventricular tachycardia with associated shortness of breath, palpitations, brain fog, difficulty thinking and concentrating, body shakes, and weakness,' the complaint first seen by NBC News states.

She and her husband have had to delay plans to have a child as 'she will have a high-risk pregnancy and may have complications during the pregnancy', according to the lawsuit.

UPenn student Katz died on September 10, 2022, just hours after she consumed a large charged lemonade from a Panera in Philadelphia. She also suffered from a heart condition.

Her family served the company with a lawsuit in October which stated that Panera did not properly warn consumers about the ingredients in their 'dangerous energy drink'.

She 'consumed the Panera Charged Lemonade, reasonably confident it was a traditional lemonade' or an 'electrolyte sports drink containing a reasonable amount of caffeine safe for her to drink', the lawsuit stated.

But she suffered a cardiac arrest while dining with her friends on the same day.

Katz's parents filed the suit against the popular American chain restaurant in an attempt to make others understand the dangers of the drink.

The wrongful death lawsuit claimed that the charged lemonade was 'offered side-by-side with all of Panera's non-caffeinated and/or less caffeinated drinks.'

It also stated that the drink was advertised as a 'plant-based and clean' beverage option that contained the same amount of caffeine as the brand's dark roast coffee.

Nutritional facts on Panera's website suggest otherwise, as a large dark roast coffee is 268 milligrams.

A large charged lemonade, the equivalent of 30 fluid ounces also has an astounding 98 grams of sugar in one serving- compared to a can of Coca-Cola which has 39 grams of sugar.

UPenn student Sarah Katz died on September 10, 2022, just hours after she consumed a large charged lemonade from a Panera in Philadelphia

Katz's parents filed a lawsuit against the popular American chain restaurant in an attempt to make others understand the dangers of the drink

Victoria Rose Conroy (right) was Katz's former roommate and close friend who described her as an excellent student that was 'the most involved and passionate person' she ever met. Conroy added that her friend never let her heart condition stop her from pursuing her goals

UPenn held a candlelit vigil for Kat's back in 2022 after her death. Candles and green ribbons were handed out as her close friends spoke about the impact she had on their lives. They also covered the LOVE sculpture on campus with pictures of her and flowers

The lawsuit said: 'These unregulated beverages include no warning of any potentially dangerous effects, even the life-threatening effects on blood pressure, heart rate, and/or brain function.'

Katz, who was originally from Jersey City, was diagnosed with Long QT syndrome, a condition that causes arrhythmia in the heart when she was five years old.

She regularly avoided caffeinated drinks and attended frequent doctor's visits that concluded that 'everything was normal', Elizabeth Crawford, the lawyer representing the case said.

A Panera spokesman said at the time: 'We were very saddened to learn this morning about the tragic passing of Sarah Katz, and our hearts go out to her family.

'At Panera, we strongly believe in transparency around our ingredients. We will work quickly to thoroughly investigate this matter.'

The family of Brown filed a second wrongful death lawsuit against Panera Bread after he suffered a fatal cardiac arrest when he consumed three of the chain's highly caffeinated Charged Lemonade.

Their lawsuit alleges that he went into cardiac arrest on October 9 just after he left his local branch of Panera Bread in Fleming Island.

The family of Dennis Brown filed a second wrongful death lawsuit against Panera Bread after he suffered a fatal cardiac arrest when he consumed three of the chain's highly caffeinated 'Charged Lemonade'

Panera Bread released their charged lemonades back in 2022. The flavored drinks were tried by many social media influencers who were blown away by the energy the drink gave them

The restaurant chain is worth $5.8billion and has nearly 2,200 stores across the US

He was found unresponsive on the sidewalk and pronounced dead on the scene.

According to the lawsuit, Mr Brown, who lived with developmental disabilities and high blood pressure, had started ordering the drinks consistently three weeks before his death.

At the time, a Panera spokesman said: 'Panera expresses our deep sympathy for Mr. Browns family.

'Based on our investigation, we believe his unfortunate passing was not caused by one of the companys products.'

The plaintiffs who have filed the three lawsuits are being represented by personal injury lawyer Crawford. Panera Bread said the previous two lawsuits were 'equally without merit'.

Panera Bread released their charged lemonades back in 2022 as they took the internet by storm.

Many social media influencers who tried the drink were blown away by the energy the drink gave them.

The restaurant chain is worth $5.8billion and has nearly 2,200 stores across the US.

DailyMail.com has contacted Panera Bread for comment.
Prison bosses failed a teenage prisoner who campaigners believe was the youngest in 20 years to take her own life, an inquest jury found.

In their conclusion, jurors identified problems with 'communications, accessibility and record-keeping' at HMP Styal before mentally-ill Annelise Sanderson's suicide.

The 18-year-old was found hanged at the jail, near Wilmslow, Cheshire, in December 2020.

Her family - who believe she should have received hospital treatment rather than jail after an attack on emergency workers trying to stop her drinking petrol and trying to set herself on fire - last night said her death could have been prevented.

But Victoria Davies, area coroner for Cheshire, said she felt reassured the various organisations involved had since introduced new processes and 'tightened up' existing procedures.

Annelise Sanderson, 18, was found hanged at HMP Styal near Wilmslow, Cheshire

Her mother Angela Gray (pictured) said: 'Her death has been incomprehensible and devastating, and we think it could have been prevented'

Speaking yesterday after a week-long inquest in Warrington, Cheshire, Ms Sanderson's family including her mother Angela Gray, said: 'Her death has been incomprehensible and devastating, and we think it could have been prevented.

'We have seen for ourselves how Annelise was treated in prison. She was just another number to them.

'Her mental health issues were seen as bad behaviour. She fell through the cracks despite asking for help from people who should have kept her safe.'

Ms Gray had told the inquest she twice reported potential self-harm incidents to the prison but received no reply.

And officers did not identify her as needing mental health treatment on arrival in June 2020, instead believing her initial bizarre behaviour to be 'behavioural'.

One officer said she had not been informed about the circumstances of Ms Sanderson's arrest, or her mental issues.

Although later given support, anti-depressants were prescribed without her being seen in person.

And prison doctor Lisa Cliff told how she disagreed with a decision to discharge Ms Sanderson, of Runcorn, Cheshire, from medical supervision three months before her death.

Ms Sanderson was serving a 52-week sentence for assaulting emergency workers and criminal damage

Jurors identified problems with 'communications, accessibility and record-keeping' at HMP Styal

Ms Gray had told the inquest she twice reported potential self-harm incidents to the prison but received no reply

The inquest heard Ms Sanderson  serving a 52-week sentence for assaulting emergency workers and criminal damage - became upset on December 21 following a row on the phone with her girlfriend and was also affected by a family matter.

Noting the circumstances of her death, the jury stated: 'It is worth noting that the coronavirus pandemic was prevalent during the entirety of Anneline's time at HMP.

'This impacted a number of procedures and activities.'

Since Ms Sanderson's death the mental health budget for HMP Styal had tripled to 1.5 million, Cheshire Coroner's Court heard.

Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust has introduced weekly welfare checks for more complex prisoners, while waiting list for GP appointments at the jail were significantly reduced, the court was told.

Coroner Ms Davies said: 'This was a tragic loss of a young life. My sincere hope is that future prisoners will be better supported.'

Inquest director Deborah Coles, director of charity Inquest, which has supported Ms Sanderson's family, said: 'The fundamental question is why was she sent to prison in the first place?

'Prison is a disproportionate, inappropriate, and dangerous response to women in conflict with the law, not least for those with mental ill health.'

A Ministry of Justice spokesperson told MailOnlin: 'Our thoughts remain with Annelise Sandersons family and friends and we will carefully consider the inquests findings.

'We are investing up to 14 million to improve safety in womens prisons and ensure the most vulnerable prisoners have access to round-the-clock care.'
Nicola Sturgeon has been accused of a shocking betrayal of the people of Scotland after it emerged all her pandemic WhatsApp and text messages have been deleted.

Despite vowing to reveal her messages during the crisis, the UK Covid inquiry yesterday heard the former First Minister has none to hand over.

Furious opposition politicians and campaign groups blasted Ms Sturgeon, claiming the industrial scale deletions were shameful, obscene and represented one of the darkest days in Scottish democracy.

In a day of shocking revelations at the inquiry, it emerged that:

Former Deputy First Minister John Swinney had the auto-delete function on his WhatsApp switched on;

Scotlands national clinical director Jason Leitch said deleting his WhatsApp messages was a pre-bed ritual;

The Governments director general for strategy and external affairs used a zipped mouth emoji to warn others in the groups that the data was recoverable under Freedom of Information rules;

The SNP discussed restarting work on an independence referendum during the pandemic.

Nicola Sturgeon and John Swinney during the pandemic

Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross said: Nicola Sturgeon defied the inquirys clear instructions that all relevant messages had to be retained.

Their actions may be illegal. What were they trying to hide?

Nicola Sturgeons reputation now lies in tatters. Secrecy and evasion were the hallmarks of her government  and this shameful cover-up, which amounts to a digital torching of vital evidence, is the most scandalous example of it.

When asked in August 2021 if she could guarantee to the bereaved families that you will disclose emails, WhatsApps, private emails to the inquiry, Ms Sturgeon said she would.

It had been reported Ms Sturgeons messages from the pandemic had been deleted, but Jamie Dawson, KC  lead counsel to the inquiry which is currently taking evidence in Scotland  yesterday said a Scottish Government table confirmed it.

Mr Dawson added: In the summary table that we see here, we can see that under the box Nicola Sturgeon it says that messages were not retained, they were deleted in routine tidying up of inboxes or changes of phones, unable to retrieve messages.'

'What that tends to suggest is that at the time a request was made, Nicola Sturgeon had retained no messages whatsoever in connection with her management of the pandemic.

He asked witness Lesley Fraser, director general corporate of the Scottish Government, if that was correct.

Shocking exchanges Ken Thomson: Just to remind you (seriously), this is discoverable under FOI. Know where the clear chat button is... Jason Leitch: DG level input there... Ken Thomson: Plausible deniability are my middle names. Now clear it again! Jason Leitch: Done. Ken Thomson: I feel moved at this point to remind you that this channel is FOI-recoverable. Jason Leitch: WhatsApp deletion is a pre-bed ritual. Advertisement

She replied: Thats what that indicates to me.

The revelation has seen a furious backlash across the political divide.

Tory MSP Stephen Kerr said: This reeks of cover-up and conspiracy.'

'They clearly sought to put back-covering and personal interest before the good of the country.'

It is obscene that Nationalist politicians were conspiring out of the public view while the country struggled to cope with the pandemic.'

'This is one of the darkest days in Scottish democracy since the advent of devolution.'

For the First Minister of Scotland to act in a Putin-esque way to avoid accountability is an insult to every one of us, not least the victims, their families and the brave workers who kept the NHS and other key services going.'

She lied to the Scottish parliament. She lied to the people of Scotland.'

'She lied to our NHS workers and she lied to the victims and their families.

Scottish Labour deputy leader Dame Jackie Baillie described the revelations as horrifying.

She added: This is nothing short of a shocking betrayal of the people of Scotland who suffered so much during the pandemic. Nicola Sturgeon should hang her head in shame.

Ken Thomson and Jason Leitch erased WhatsApp messages

On behalf of the Scottish Covid Bereaved group, solicitor Aamer Anwar said: The fact that deletion took place on an industrial scale is a devastating betrayal of the many promises made by the Scottish Government for full transparency and disclosure.'

'The deletion of WhatsApps can only be described as a cynical and pre-meditated decision.

A spokesman for Ms Sturgeon said: In the interests of everyone who has been impacted by the Covid pandemic, Nicola is committed to full transparency to both the UK and Scottish Covid inquiries.'

'Any messages she had, she handled and dealt with in line with the Scottish Governments policies.'

Nicola has provided a number of written statements to the UK inquiry  totalling hundreds of pages  and welcomes the opportunity to give oral evidence to the inquiry again this month when she will answer all questions put to her.

Ms Sturgeon will give evidence to the inquiry in the coming weeks.

The Scottish Government said: It would be inappropriate to comment on any matters being considered by the UK Covid Inquiry while hearings are ongoing.
A student who has been accused of planning a terror campaign wrote a 'how-to' guide on weapons and bombs and dedicated to, 'misfits' and 'social nobodies', a court heard.

Jacob Graham, 19, who modelled himself on US terrorist Theodore Kaczynski, the 'Unabomber', wanted to kill or injure up to 50 people, Manchester Crown Court heard.

However, the jury also heard that Graham was merely indulging in 'escapism and fantasy', his lawyer claimed.

Graham wrote the 48-page guide while keeping a video diary, filmed in his bedroom at his mother's house.

A student at Hugh Baird College, in Bootle, Merseyside, the defendant blamed the government for his 'unsatisfactory life', Annabel Darlow KC, prosecuting, told the jury.

Jacob Graham, 20, from Norris Green, Liverpool, used the name 'Destro the Destroyer' and planned to attack government buildings and politicians' houses, Manchester Crown Court (pictured) heard

His guide, he titled the 'Freedom Encyclopaedia' was dedicated to 'misfits, social nobodies, Anarchists, Terrorists (future and present) who wants to fight for freedom...against the government'.

He added: 'People who cannot read this - commies, femboy haters, Animal abusers, Pro-Israel, Northern Ireland Unionists.

'People who can read this - terrorists, anarchists, republicans and Fenians, up the 'ra, Government haters, femboys, freedom lovers.'

The guide, written between September and December 2022, goes on to explain in detail about the intricacies of how to make weapons, explosives, fuses, pipe bombs, gunpowder, nail and car bombs.

After his arrest on May 26 2023, at his home, the police found a number of chemicals, each of which could be used as ingredients in various explosive mixtures, jurors heard.

Police also found an 'online arsenal' of information on his computer devices, containing information on the manufacture of deadly weapons and explosives.

Many of these items could be made at home, with basic skills, using materials or ingredients that could be acquired with relative ease.

Jacob Graham, 19, who modelled himself on US terrorist Theodore Kaczynski, the 'Unabomber', wanted to kill or injure up to 50 people, Manchester Crown Court heard

Frida Hussain, defending, said there will be 'very little dispute' about his actions, acquiring items and composing documents, but the question for the jury was if this represented his true views or intentions.

Ms Hussain continued: 'Or whether, what you see is the product of a young man, who was in the sanctuary of his own bedroom, behind a computer screen, engaging in what was going on in his life at that time.

'A form of escape, a fantasy, he had no intention to make into reality.'

Ms Hussain suggested his activities reflected his interests over a number of years in the military, warfare, chemistry, outdoor living, survivalism and writing, and what he was doing was merely, 'escapism and fantasy'.

Graham, from Norris Green, Liverpool, denies two counts of the preparation of terrorist acts, four counts of possession of information for terrorist purposes and two of dissemination of a terrorist publication, between May 2022 and May 2023.

The trial was adjourned until Monday.
Mayor Eric Adams slammed a bill that would force New York cops to record all street interactions during a bizarre speech at a Bar Mitzvah weeks before vetoing the controversial law.

Video shows the city leader warning the 'How Many Stops Act' will 'handcuff' police by wasting their time with bureaucracy instead of allowing them to be out on the streets.

Adams formally moved to overturn the bill on Friday, laying the groundwork for a showdown with City Hall where it passed 35-7.

'Our police department is doing an amazing job,' he told the guests at the private event. 'There is a bill that has been passed that must not be able to become law.

'I need you to rally with the Jewish caucus and with every elected politician that comes to you.

Mayor Eric Adams was filmed speaking out against a bill which would force New York cops to record demographic data for every street interaction

The city leader delivered a speech at a Bar Mitzvah celebration in Queens weeks before he moved to veto the legislation on Friday

'We cannot handcuff our police. We don't want them doing paperwork, we want them to be protecting the people of this city. This is our line in the sand.'

The speech was met with cheers from the crowd, before the Mayor continued, saying: 'If you support the people of this city, if you support the protection that you deserve, this is our opportunity to say to people who think that they are going to hijack our city with their way of life and narrative - not in our New York, not in our city.'

The How Many Stops Act would require police to log demographic data for all street interactions.

Opponents believe forcing cops to fill out reports for every level of stop could add an additional 30 minutes to their shift every day which could be spent better serving the community.

'You know my story. I've been the victim of police abuse. And I've been a police officer,' Adams said in a statement on X following his decision.

'But while our administration supports efforts to make law enforcement more transparent, more just, and more accountable, this bill would take officers away from policing our streets and engaging with the community. Today, I vetoed the "How Many Stops Act" because it will make our city less safe.'

However sources told the New York Post the Mayor's opposition to the legislation could be a bid to appeal to pro-cop voters amid struggling polls numbers.

Speaker Adrienne Adams believes more transparency is needed in policing as complaints over stops are at their highest in more than a decade.

Adams claimed the bill would 'handcuff' police by tying them up with paperwork instead of allowing them to focus on their duties in the field

The mayor will have to persuade at least two council members not to vote to override his veto amid strong support for the bill

Speaker Adrienne Adams says the bill is necessary to promote transparency in policing especially as complaints against cops about stops are at a ten year high

'Rather than focusing on governing our city, the Mayor and his administration have sought to mislead and incite fear through a propaganda campaign, wasting government resources and creating division,' Adams and Public Safety Chair Yusef Salaam said in a joint-statement.

'These actions only raise questions about why this administration fears sharing data with New Yorkers about the use of their tax dollars. NYPD officers and our entire city deserve better.'

Adams will now have to convince at least two council members to defect and vote not to override his veto.

At least two council members had previously raised concerns about including level one stops in the legislation. Level one is the lowest level of interaction and is classified as a simple request for information.

The majority of information is already captured for stops above level one with bod-worn camera reports.

Campaigners want information on age, sex and race and ethnicity to be gathered at all levels as they believe it will expose bias.

'The reason that we want and is why it's here is because you want it you're trying to see if there's any bias,' New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams told the New York Post.

'What we fear is going to happen is that the undercounting will just go straight to level ones.'

In addition to the How Many Stops veto, Adams also revealed he wants to veto a bill banning solitary confinement which passed 39-7.

City Hall can override the veto with a vote of two-thirds of all council members, or 34 votes.
Muller is currently incarcerated at the FCI Tucson prison in Arizona

Matthew Muller managed to get away with burglary along with the kidnapping and assault of Denise Huskins for nearly three months.

Huskins and Aaron Quinn discussed all the details of Muller's crimes in the popular Netflix docuseries American Nightmare.

Muller drugged and kidnapped Huskins on March 23, 2015, and then dropped her off in Huntington Beach, California, two days later.

The former lawyer was placed under arrest in June 2015 and is now serving a lengthy jail sentence in Arizona.

Has Muller adjusted well to prison life? Read below and find out.

Matthew Muller kidnapped Denise Huskins on March 23, 2015 and sexually assaulted her twice before letting her go two days later

Police officers did not believe her husband Aaron Quinn until a similar home invasion in Dublin, CA in June 2015

What We Know About David Muller and the Denise Huskins Kidnapping and Assault

Before he was a criminal, Muller was a former marine who enlisted right after he graduated from high school.

He later attended Pomona College and earned a law degree at Harvard Law School.

Muller was working as an immigration lawyer before being disbarred in 2013 for lying and fraudulently charging a client.

Once Muller had broken into Huskins and Quinn's home, he drugged the couple and covered their eyes with swimming goggles.

Muller was a former marine who enlisted right after he graduated from high school. He later earned a degree from Harvard Law School

Muller had broken into Huskins and Quinn's home, drugged the couple and covered their eyes with swimming goggles

The former marine then demanded Huskins to tie Quinn's hands behind his back and his feet together.

Muller drove away with Huskins after he told Quinn he would kill him if he went to the police.

He drove Huskins to a property in South Lake Tahoe and sexually assaulted her twice on camera.

After he sent multiple texts to Quinn demanding a ransom, he dropped Huskins off in an area near her parents home on March 25.

How Was David Muller Caught?

Muller drove away with Huskins after he told Quinn he would kill him if he went to the police. He drove her to South Lake Tahoe and sexually assaulted her twice on camera

Muller became the prime suspect of a home invasion in Dublin, California on June 5, 2015.

Several detectives then searched his South Lake Tahoe property and placed him under arrest on June 8.

Police found the video footage of Huskins' assaults, Quinn's stolen laptop, and a pair of swim goggles.

Muller pled guilty to kidnapping for ransom and was sentenced to 40 years in prison on March 16, 2017.

He then pled guilty to robbery of a residential dwelling, burglary, kidnapping, and false imprisonment.

Despite the 40-year prison sentence, a judge later sentenced Muller to 31 years in prison.

How is Prison Life for David Muller?

Muller is currently serving his sentence in the FCI Tucson prison in Arizona.

According to CBS News in 2018, Muller became the target of a series of violent attacks.

Muller claimed he was sexually assaulted by a cellmate and later put into a cell with an 'almost equally volatile inmate.'

'He attacked me, leaving me with multiple lacerations to my face...' he wrote.

Muller is still serving his lengthy prison sentence and according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate list, Muller isn't set to be released until July 2049.
Alec Baldwin has been charged with involuntary manslaughter by a New Mexico grand jury, more than two years after accidentally shooting cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of his ill-fated western film Rust.

The indictment was returned on Friday and charges Baldwin with involuntary manslaughter on the grounds of negligent use of a firearm and disregard for others' safety.

If convicted, Baldwin faces up to 18 months in prison.

Previous charges, filed by New Mexico prosecutors, were dismissed in April last year.

Alec Baldwin (pictured in November) was today indicted by a New Mexico grand jury on involuntary manslaughter charges

The grand jury indictment charges Baldwin with involuntary manslaughter on the grounds of negligent use of a firearm and disregard for others' safety

In a statement today, Baldwin's attorneys Alex Spiro and Luke Nikas said: 'We look forward to our day in court.'

Gloria Allred, the attorney for Halyna's parents and sister, said in a statement: 'Our clients have always sought the truth about what happened on the day that Halyna Hutchins was tragically shot and killed on October 21, 2021.

'They continue to seek the truth in our civil lawsuit for them and they also would like there to be accountability in the criminal justice system.

'The grand jury has decided that there is sufficient evidence to indict Alec Baldwin on the charge of involuntary manslaughter.

'We are looking forward to the criminal trial which will determine if he should be convicted for the untimely death of Halyna.'

Baldwin has always maintained that he followed gun safety laws, and that the fault lies with the armorer or crew who handed him a gun loaded with a live round.

He insists he confirmed that the gun was 'cold' when he took it to rehearse the scene in question.

Baldwin's wife Hilaria leaves their apartment in New York in sunglasses on the day of his grand jury indictment

Hilaria left the apartment alone. There has been no sign of Baldwin since the indictment was announced

Alec Baldwin and Halyna Hutchins, along with other cast, are pictured on the Rust set

Baldwin in his initial police interview on the day of the accident. He has always maintained that he did not pull the trigger

Baldwin was practicing drawing the prop weapon from his holster when he claims it fired spontaneously.

He has always been adamant that he did not pull the trigger.

But a new report by Lucien Haag of Forensic Science Services in Arizona states that the trigger 'had to be pulled or depressed sufficiently to release the fully cocked or retracted hammer of the evidence revolver.'

The long-drawn-out legal fiasco began with Hutchins' death in October.

Baldwin launched a media tour, insisting it was a tragic accident and not a killing he was responsible for.

In the aftermath of Hutchins' death, Baldwin gave an emotional interview where he insisted he was not to blame

Baldwin with his wife Hilaria and their seven kids in October

He was initially charged in January 2023 by First Judicial District Attorney of New Mexico Mary Carmack-Altwies, who launched her own media tour soon after filing charges.

Baldwin's team interpreted her enthusiasm for the case as a fame-hungry effort to boost her own career.

After hashing it out with his team in the court of public opinion, Carmack-Altwies stepped down from the case and a special prosecutor was appointed to take over.

In April last year, that team opted to drop the charges and Baldwin, who had already settled a wrongful death lawsuit launched by Hutchins' family, breathed a momentary sigh of relief.

The scandal - now pinnacling with the fresh set of charges - has battered the actor's reputation and earning power.

In a video earlier this week, Baldwin appeared windswept on the beach in a real estate video to promote the sale of his Hamptons spread.

He is selling the property for $19million - $10million less than he first listed it. Many see it as a desperate cash grab to pay his growing legal bills.

The family is also believed to be filming a reality TV show.
A wheelchair-bound grandmother and her daughter mounted a 'horrifying' stalking campaign against a judge  who was left fearing for her family's safety, a court heard.

Julie Southers, 61, and Lisa Southers, 27, admitted targeting District Judge Natalie Cuddy with 'vitriolic and baseless' accusations.

It followed their disagreement made by Ms Cuddy, who was sent 'abusive' messages and accused of being 'corrupt'.

Ms Cuddy, a mother-of-two who sits in St Helens, Merseyside, felt so threatened by their actions she was forced to implement extra security measures at her home, a court heard.

Julie Southers, who is wheelchair-bound due to arthritis, took the 'leading role' in the stalking and was jailed for 22 months.

The court heard she also targeted her daughter's ex-partner, labelling him a 'paedophile' in shocking online abuse which caused him to attempt to take his own life four times.

Her daughter was given a community order with 100 hours' unpaid work.

Julie Southers, 61, (right) and Lisa Southers, 27, (left) admitted targeting District Judge Natalie Cuddy with 'vitriolic and baseless' accusations.

Julie Southers, who is wheelchair-bound due to arthritis, took the 'leading role' in the stalking and was jailed for 22 months

Sentencing at Manchester Crown Court, Judge Nicholas Dean, K.C., said the threats had caused Ms Cuddy 'significant distress' and had 'struck at the administration and integrity of the justice system'.

He added: 'Although judges are resilient people, they should not have to choose between public service and subject themselves and their families to abuse, still less to the risk of threats and risk of harm.'

The hearing on Thursday was told how Lisa Southers was the subject of family court proceedings overseen by Ms Cuddy, where both defendants had given evidence.

Lisa Southers had contested an order made by the judge but she refused her application.

It prompted Julie Southers to post a series of 'abusive' tweets and a photograph of Ms Cuddy's parents with her children, said Emmanuel Coniah, prosecuting.

She also attacked the judge for 'going against the rule of law', in relation to the family court case.

In a social media post, she accused Ms Cuddy of 'destroying someone else's life like that for money', and warned her: 'time will come, it always does with evil people'.

Julie Southers also contacted a member of the judge's family using a fake Facebook account in the name of Paul Smith.

Lisa Southers, the court heard, sent an email to the family court complaining about Ms Cuddy's conduct, alleging she was 'corrupt' and had dealt with proceedings unfairly.

The email contained screenshots of Ms Cuddy's private social media account, including images of her husband and children.

Mr Coniah said Lisa Southers had sourced private information, shared it with her mother and then emailed the victim, with her actions amounting to 'harassment' and the judge treating the references to her family as 'highly threatening'.

When Julie Southers was arrested by police, she maintained Ms Cuddy was 'not a real judge' and the 'system was corrupt'.

During her interview, Lisa Southers admitted searching for Ms Cuddy on Facebook, saying she wanted to find out if she was connected to anyone else in her case and if there was a conflict of interest.

Julie Southers (pictured right with her daughter, Lisa, left) posted a series of 'abusive' tweets and a photograph of Ms Cuddy's parents with her children

Sentencing at Manchester Crown Court (pictured), Judge Nicholas Dean, K.C., said the threats had caused Ms Cuddy 'significant distress'

In a victim personal statement, Ms Cuddy said she had never experienced the type of behaviour directed at her and her family in 18 years' experience in family law.

She said she had been 'shocked' by the 'vitriolic and baseless' allegations made about her online, and it was 'horrifying' that in doing her job her family had been placed 'at risk of harm'.

Ms Cuddy said: 'I am in no doubt that the threatening posts made by Lisa and Julie Southers are intended to convey to me that my children and I are unsafe, that we may be hurt and indeed that my children may be taken.'

She added that she and her husband had implemented 'extra security measures' as a result.

The court heard that Julie Southers had previously pleaded guilty to eight breaches of a restraining order, imposed in August 2022, relating to her daughter's ex-partner.

Mr Coniah described the victim as 'vulnerable' with learning difficulties and said he had been 'taunted' and 'belittled' online.

He said Julie Southers had wrongly labelled the man a 'paedo' and posted 47 screen shots and photographs.

In a victim personal statement, the man said the messages had caused him 'great distress' and led to him being 'approached by people and threatened'.

He revealed the abuse had led to him making four suicide attempts.

David Woods, defending Julie Southers, said her 'actions were misguided' and she had never intended causing physical harm to the district judge.

Andrew McKinnes, defending Lisa Southers, said she was 'vulnerable' and suffered cognitive issues.

Julie Southers, of Liverpool, previously pleaded guilty to a charge of stalking involving fear of violence between April 2022 and September 2022. Lisa Southers, also of Liverpool, previously pleaded guilty to stalking.

As well as their sentences, Judge Dean handed both women restraining orders preventing them from contacting or approaching Ms Cuddy or her children, while Julie Southers was given a further restraining order in relation to her daughter's ex-partner.

As she was taken down to the court cells, she remained defiant, shouting: 'Where's the justice in this?'
The White House on Friday reaffirmed President Biden's belief in a two-state solution after Israeli Prime Minister's language rejecting the idea.

White President Joe Biden spoke by phone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Friday. It was their first call in a month, amid Israel's war on Hamas with backing by the U.S., amid a series of public and private calls for Israeli forces to be mindful of civilian casualties and refocus operations.

The call came after Netanyahu rejected calls for a two-state solution with the Palestinians that are a central Biden administration policy.

White House national security spokesman John Kirby reaffirmed Biden's continued belief in a two-state solution, amid discussions about governance of Gaza after Israel's war against Hamas following the brutal October 7 attacks inside Israel.

'Its not going to change president Bidens mind one bit, he still believes in it,' Kirby said.

'They also still both believe in the importance of getting these hostages home to their families. And that's why we're continuing to work at this,' he continued.

He was asked about Netanyahu's comments echoing the controversial Palestinian chant 'from the River to the sea,' which some consider a call to wipe Israel off the map.

National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby restated President Biden's support for a two-state solution after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's comments that appeared to reject the idea

'There's a there's a connotation with that phrase ... But when when you use the phrase "River to the sea," it speaks basically to the mantra of Hamas and in their manifesto where they basically describe the geographic bounds of what they believe to be Palestine. And if you look at it on the map, if you go look at the four corners that they describe it, it's basically the State of Israel. They just don't believe it should exist,' Kirby said.

'It's not a phrase that that we recommend using because of that context,' he said.

When a reporter reminded him it was Netanyahu who used a variation of the phrase this time, he responded: 'I understand, I don't have anything more on that. And I certainly don't have anything more in the conversation to read out with respect to that.'

Kirby spoke after Netanyahu during a Thursday news conference said that 'In any future arrangement ... Israel needs security control over all territory west of Jordan. This clashes with the idea of (Palestinian) sovereignty. What can you do?'

Netanyahu continued: 'This conflict is not about the absence of a (Palestinian) state but about the existence of a state, the Jewish state.

'Israel needs security control over all territory west of Jordan,' said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

Smoke rises over the residential areas following the Israeli attacks on Khan Yunis, Gaza on January 19, 2024

President Biden and Netanyahu spoke Friday for the first time in a month

Kirby also called reports that Israeli Defense Forces killed a Palestinian American in the West Bank 'deeply concerning.'

'We are seriously concerned about these reports,' White House national security spokesman John Kirby said Friday when asked about Israeli media reports of the shooting. He said information was 'scant at this time.'

The measured approach from the White House comes amid fury among some congressional Democrats about Netanyahu's comments.

'I think people are at the end of their ropes with the Netanyahu coalition  which includes pretty right-wing extremists,' Maryland Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen told Politico. 'Its pretty clear that Netanyahu is listening much more to the extremists in his government than the president of the United States and the Biden administration,' he said.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in Davos this week Israel can only gain 'genuine security' if there is a pathway to a Palestinian state.

A White House readout of the call indicated that President Biden spoke about the fraught topic, but is silent on what Netanyahu may have said.

'The President also discussed his vision for a more durable peace and security for Israel fully integrated within the region and a two state-solution with Israels security guaranteed,' according to the readout provided by the White House.
Police have apologised after they sent a motorist who had his 70,000 Range Rover stolen a 270 bill to have it removed for forensic analysis.

Andy Sacree, 41, had his car taken by thieves who used a cloned key to steal the vehicle from the father-of-three's home in North Baddlesley, Southampton, Hampshire.

But after he found it around five miles away, and agreed for forensics to run tests over it, he was shocked to receive a bill from Hampshire police charging him for the recovery of the car.

He said: 'I had no idea I would be charged. They never told me it would be something they would charge me for otherwise I wouldn't have done it.' Hampshire police has since apologised for the bill.

After initially thinking he had misplaced the car, Mr Sacree quickly realised it had been taken from his driveway in the early hours of January 5.

Andy Sacree, 41, (pictured) had his car taken by thieves who used a cloned key to steal the vehicle from the father-of-three's home in North Baddlesley, Southampton, Hampshire

Footage captured on Mr Sacree's ring doorbell shows thieves breaking into the vehicle before driving off

Footage captured on his ring doorbell shows thieves breaking into it and driving off.

Within minutes of realising what happened, Mr Sacree phoned the police, who located his hybrid SUV in Shirley thanks to a tracking device fitted in the car.

An hour after the theft was reported, Mr Sacree was told he could collect the vehicle himself and call 101 should he encounter any issues.

'I was by myself and didn't have any backup. I didn't know if anyone was armed.

'When I got there, I found the car and I could see that they ripped some stuff out of the car, as they were trying to find the tracker.'

He called police and upon inspection, officers asked him whether he wanted his car to be examined by forensics - as this would be the only way to find the perpetrators.

Unaware of the costs involved, Mr Sacree agreed and the car was recovered and taken to a garage.

Police located his hybrid SUV in Shirley thanks to a tracking device fitted in the car

Footage shows the thieves driving away with the car which was parked outside Mr Sacree's home

A few days later, he found out he had been charged a 192 recovery fee, plus 78 for the three days his car was at the garage.

He said: 'I don't feel like I should be paying for this cost, for the cost of the towing of the car. I thought they would cover that cost.

'If they told me it would cost about 300 to remove it to do the forensics then I would have done it myself.

'They said that it is a cost I can claim back with my insurance but to think I would have to pay my insurance excess to cover this 270 and some of the damage to the car, I might as well cover the cost for that myself.'

A Hampshire Constabulary spokesperson apologised and confirmed any recovery charges will be paid by the force.

The spokesperson said: 'Any recovery charges will be charged to Hampshire & Isle of Wight Constabulary, and not to the victim.'
A Southern California man was sentenced to two concurrent life sentences, plus 30 years, for blowing up his ex-girlfriends spa business with a package bomb in 2018, killing her and seriously injuring two others.

Stephen Beal, 64, was sentenced Friday to two concurrent life sentences, plus 30 years, in federal prison.

Friday's hearing concluded the case against Beal, that was fraught with missteps for investigators and prosecutors since the May 15, 2018 bombing in an Aliso Viejo spa, about 50 miles south of Los Angeles.

'Mr. Beal will never be able to get out to harm innocent victims again,' said E. Martin Estrada, the U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California, at a news conference after the sentencing.

Orange County Sheriff Don Barnes said Beal maintained his innocence during Friday's hearing.

A Southern California man was sentenced to two concurrent life sentences, plus 30 years, for blowing up his ex-girlfriends spa business with a package bomb in 2018, killing her and seriously injuring two others

Stephen Beal, 64, was sentenced Friday to two concurrent life sentences, plus 30 years, in federal prison

The bombing killed Ildiko Krajnyak in her Orange County spa and seriously injured two others

'I could not think of anything more insulting,' Barnes said during a news conference after the sentencing.

Ildiko Krajnyak, 48, was killed in the fiery blast when she opened a box with a homemade bomb inside that Beal had slipped into the spa while she was in Hungary visiting family.

Two clients she had just treated - a mother and daughter - were knocked off their feet. The blast destroyed the business and tore a large hunk from the building. Body parts were found in the parking lot.

'After five years of waiting and wondering, our family and friends have peace knowing that Mr. Beal will spend his remaining days in prison,' Eva Boni, Krajnyaks cousin, said at the news conference.

Beal, a partner in the business, was jealous Krajnyak had been dating someone else after their 18-month relationship ended, prosecutors said.

'She was a shining light,' Nicole Barrett, her best friend, said at the news conference. 'She was an amazing human being.'

Eva Boni, left, thanks investigators on Jan. 19 in Los Angeles, for their work to bring her cousin's killer, Stephen Beal, to justice

E. Martin Estrada, U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California, discusses the sentencing of Stephen Beal, Jan. 19, in Los Angeles

Beal was arrested shortly after the explosion on a single charge of possessing an unregistered destructive device but was never officially named as a suspect in the blast in the days that followed.

The charge was dropped after prosecutors questioned whether material found at his Long Beach home constituted a 'destructive device.' Beal claimed that explosive material found at his house was for his model rockets.

He was free for nearly 10 months before being re-arrested following a painstaking analysis of the evidence.

Beal's first trial in 2022 ultimately ended in a mistrial after the federal jury deadlocked. He was retried in 2023 and the second jury convicted him of four felonies including the use of a weapon of mass destruction resulting in death.

Beal also was found guilty of malicious destruction of a building resulting in death, use of a destructive device during and in relation to a crime of violence, and possession of an unregistered destructive device.

'Our justice system can sometimes take time,' Estrada said on Friday. 'The end result is what matters.'

Beals federal public defender, Craig Harbaugh, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Federal investigators said they had discovered two improvised explosive devices, three firearms and more than 100 pounds of explosive material during a search that Beal allowed of his house at the time of his arrest.

Prosecutors sought to drop the charge after the FBI said it had questions about whether material found in the house met the legal definition of a 'destructive device'.

Beal, a model rocket hobbyist, told investigators he had not made any bombs and did not have material for an explosion as powerful as the one he saw in news coverage.

The FBI searches the home of Stephen Beal in Long Beach on March 3, 2019, after taking him into custody in connection with a 2018 bombing at an Aliso Viejo beauty salon that killed his former girlfriend

The father-of-four told authorities in 2018 that the explosives found at his home were part of his rocket-building hobby.

Krajnyak, 48, was killed and two female clients were seriously injured when she opened a box that erupted in a fiery explosion at the spa in the city of Aliso Viejo, about 50 miles south of Los Angeles, investigators said.

Beal and Krajnyak had recently split up over issues of exclusivity and finances, he told investigators, according to an affidavit filed in court by an FBI agent. But they remained business partners.

Krajnyak, a mother and licensed cosmetologist, had just returned to California after visiting family in her native Hungary when she died in the blast.

Shocking surveillance images released at the time revealed the scale of the devastation caused by the massive explosion.

The image shows an investigator surveying the scene, where much of the ceiling appears to have been collapsed, wires were blown out of place, and a hole was created in the wall.

Krajnyak's 20-year-old son returned home from Washington State University after hearing the horrific news about his mother.

Stuart Davis, who lives a few doors down from Stephen Beal's home in Long Beach, said he often saw Beal and his adult son working on large rockets on their front lawn. The son told Davis that they built movie props, he said.

Beal's wife mysteriously died after she fell down the stairs inside two-story home in a tidy middle class neighborhood.

Neighnor Don Westerhoff, 90, told The Orange County Register that Beal and his late wife Christine were moving a heavy piece of furniture down the stairs and Beal lost his grip.

She died in 2008, aged 48, according to coroner's records, with the cause of death listed as 'undetermined'.

Tape surrounds the home occupied by Stephen Beal in Long Beach, on May 16, 2018. Beal was sentenced Friday to two concurrent life sentences, plus 30 years, in federal prison

Other causes where listed as 'pancreatitis, electrolyte imbalance and other undetermined factors'.

'Chronic lead intoxication' was also mentioned in the report, and an autopsy described the death as mysterious but said there was no evidence of foul play.

The Orange County Register reported that Beal won a $500,000 settlement from American International Life Assurance Company of New York in 2010.

He said Christine died from traumatic pancreatitis after she fell while carrying a 49lb end-table.

An FBI agent wrote a note that was included in the 2018 court filing which said the materials found in Beal's home were 'not consistent with that of a model rocket'.

Nathan Beal told The Associated Press that his father built sport rockets fueled by a propellant that is legally available at specialty hobby shops. He believes federal agents may have found 'motor cases made out of aluminum'.

He said it was 'highly unlikely' his father was guilty of any charge related to a destructive device.

The biggest of the rockets used about five pounds of fuel in multiple motors.

The younger Beal also confirmed that Stephen had been in a relationship with the woman killed in the blast but they recently broke up.

Beal's Facebook page has many photos of him traveling with Krajnyak, a married mother-of-one of Coto de Caza, Orange County.

Friday's hearing concluded the case against Beal, that was fraught with missteps for investigators and prosecutors since the May 15, 2018 bombing in LA

Krajnyak was a licensed cosmetologist who ran day spa Magyar Kozmetika out of the first floor of the building.

Authorities say the explosion occurred on the same floor, after a package was delivered.

One of the other women injured in the blast told federal investigators that the device was inside one of a number of cardboard boxes on the floor, according to court doucments.

When Krajnyak opened the box, it exploded. The victim said she remembers being thrown backwards onto the floor and seeing smoke and flames.

A witness told investigators that she saw 'everything on fire' after the blast.

Investigators said they found a nine-volt battery, a cell phone, melted material believed to be duct tape and loose wires, according to the court filing.

The blast blew siding off the walls, exposing insulation and framing and shattering windows at the two-story building.
A small-town police chief in Colorado is embroiled in a growing scandal, after his teenage stepson was charged with violently raping a girl in the family's home, and a local newspaper that reported on the allegations was stolen from the racks.

The Ouray County Plaindealer was the first to report the arrest of Ouray Police Chief Jeff Wood's stepson Nate Dieffenderffer, alongside co-defendants Gabriel Trujillo and Ashton Whittington.

The three teens were arrested last month on warrants for suspected felony sexual assault, stemming from allegations that they violently and repeatedly raped a 17-year-old girl in Wood's home in May, while the police chief and other members of the family slept.

After the Plaindealer published a cover story on the charges on Thursday, nearly every copy was stolen from racks around Ouray County, according to co-publisher Mike Wiggins.

'If you hoped to silence or intimidate us, you failed miserably. We'll find out who did this. And another press run is imminent,' Wiggins wrote on X.

Ouray Police Chief Jeff Wood's stepson Nate Dieffenderffer (left) was charged alongside co-defendants Gabriel Trujillo and Ashton Whittington in a shocking rape case

The Ouray County Plaindealer was the first to report the arrests. Nearly every copy of the issue was stolen from racks around Ouray County following the report

The Plaindealer report, written by Wiggins' wife and co-publisher Erin McIntyre, detailed graphic sexual assault allegations contained in Colorado Bureau of Investigation affidavit for arrests in the case.

The 17-year-old accuser told investigators that she screamed and fought as she was was raped at least three times in a bedroom and bathroom by two different people on May 14, 2023.

At the time of the alleged assault, Wittington had just turned 18 and they were celebrating his birthday, while Trujillo was 19 and Dieffenderffer was days away from turning 18.

The accuser described joining the three males Dieffenderffer's home and drinking some hard seltzer and gin, before passing out on a bed in the home.

She said she passed out on a bed and awoke to find her clothes removed and Dieffenderffer on top of her, having sex with her. She said she tried to fight back but was restrained.

She said that one of the male suspects was laughing, but that another was sitting in a chair looking 'horrified', but failed to help her.

Subsequently, the accuser said she was taken across the hallway to a bathroom and raped by two different people.

Hours after Colorado's published a story about the alleged violent sexual assault of a teen girl at the police chief's house, hundreds of copies of the paper were stolen out of nearly every newspaper rack in the county. Pictured: Ouray County Plaindealer Newspaper rack

'I remember really trying to yell so that someone would hear me and screaming because of how painful it was,' she told investigators.

She said she passed in and out of consciousness and chipped a tooth on the floor of the bathroom as her head was held down.

The accuser said when she regained consciousness, she fled the home at around 4.30am, but was unable to find her clothes, and grabbed a sweatshirt from a pile of laundry.

The sweatshirt was later identified as belonging to Police Chief Wood, who has not been charged in the case or accused of wrongdoing.

After contacting a friend, the accuser went to the hospital on the same day for a sexual assault examination, in which evidence was gathered.

An investigator with the Ouray County Sheriff's Office took an initial report at the hospital, but the case was later referred to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, presumably to eliminate conflicts of interest.

Investigators say that DNA evidence from a vaginal swab matched Trujillo, and Dieffenderffer matched genetic material recovered from a bite mark.

Trujillo spoke with investigators and said he and Dieffenderffer had a prior consensual 'three-way' sexual relationship, according to the affidavit.

He claimed that he was just a 'witness' to the events of May 14, saying Dieffenderffer and the accuser went to the bathroom and came out 10 minutes later fully clothed 'and everything seemed fine.'

He further called the teen girl a 'pathological liar' and someone who seeks attention, according to the report.

Trujillo, Dieffenderffer and Whittington are free on bail and could not be reached for comment.

Wood, the police chief, did not immediately respond to questions from DailyMail.com on Friday afternoon.

Meanwhile, the husband-and-wife of the Plaindealer have vowed to continue covering the case.

On X, Wiggins said those who are interested in supporting the local newspaper's journalism can donate to a Report for America campaign that helps fund its operations.

Founded in 1877, the Plaindealer claims to be the second oldest continuously publishing newspaper on Colorado's western slope.

The weekly newspaper covers local news in rugged Ouray County, population 4,874, just north of the ski slopes of Telluride.

Wiggins and McIntyre, both former reporters for the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel, purchased the Plaindealer in 2019.

In addition to running the business, the married duo also write many of the articles that appear in the newspaper.

'We invested in the Plaindealer because we believe every community, even small ones, deserves good journalism,' the couple said in a 2021 interview.

'During a time when the headlines are full of stories about newspapers purchased by hedge funds and stripped for profits, newsrooms gutted and presses ceasing to operate, we've invested in a weekly publication and doubled down on journalism.'
Lawyers suing a billionaire accused of sexually abusing at least 47 teenage girls want to interrogate him even though he is bedridden and can barely speak.

Robert Miller, 80, is known as 'Canada's Jeffrey Epstein' after the women claimed he paid them for sex when they were as young as 11.

The Future Electronics founder is in end-stage Parkinson's disease and his alleged victims fear he could die before being confronted with the crimes.

Miller allegedly used staff at his firm to find the girls through modeling ads and other ruses, and even enlisted the alleged victims to find more at their schools.

Jeff Orenstein, who is organizing a massive class action lawsuit against Miller and Future Electronics, applied to depose him as soon as possible.

Robert Miller, 80, is accused of paying at least 47 teen girls as young as 11 for sex and convincing them to recruit their friends and classmates to be new victims

'We have good grounds to believe he will not, unfortunately, be around for an eventual trial,' he told a court in Montreal this week.

A doctor who examined Miller's medical records said he could be interrogated, despite only being able to say a few words at a time.

Miller was first publicly accused a year ago when the first six women came forward. The lawsuit, which is not yet approved, was launched weeks later.

Days later, Miller stepped down as boss of Future Electronics 'to focus on his very serious health issues'.

The company said he 'adamantly and vehemently denies the malicious allegations made against him, and confirms they are false and wholly unsubstantiated and that they arose as a result of a bitter divorce'.

'They are now being repeated for financial gain. A police investigation was conducted into these allegations and the authorities determined that they were unfounded,' it said.

The women, and others who came forward since, detailed a shockingly efficient operation that lured girls in and paid them for sex over three decades.

They said Miller told them he was an American businessman named Bob Adams who frequently travelled to Montreal.

Miller and his staff arranged the sexual encounters in downtown hotel rooms and two houses in Westmount in 1994 to 2006 and paid them cash or gave them expensive gifts like high-end watches, the women claimed.

Many of them were targeted because they came from poor backgrounds or their life had gone off the rails, and he promised to help - but never did.

Miller, 80, is known as ' Canada 's Jeffrey Epstein' after the women claimed he paid them for sex when they were as young as 11 - a similar plot to the notorious pedophile billionaire (pictured)

Some of the girls went to the police over the years, but nothing ever came of it and Miller was never charged with a crime.

When in 2006 Miller's ex-wife hired private investigator John Westlake, suspecting him of having sex with underage girls, he said the billionaire offered him $300,000 to drop the investigation and hand over his three weeks of evidence.

Dr Alain Dagher, who specializes in Parkinson's disease, told the court on Tuesday that Miller could be questioned if it was done at home with an oxygen supply, frequent breaks, and nursing staff on hand.

'I think he would qualify as being cognitively able to answer questions,' he said, according to the Montreal Gazette.

Miller's lawyer Karim Renno argued this wouldn't work and was an unreasonable request the court should block.

'The court shouldn't risk someone's life by submitting them to an interrogation that's probably impossible,' he said.

Superior Court Judge Christian Immer also had concerns, expecting Miller would just say he wasn't there and none of it ever happened.

'As opposed to, if he passes away, you have 47 people who say he was there. And what do you have on the other side? Nothing,' he said.

Orenstein countered that he wanted Miller's version of events from him directly.

'I want to understand what he knew, what he didn't know. What he will admit to, what he will deny,' he said.

The judge will rule on the request at a later date.

Julie Dagenais (left), the only woman connected to the allegations to reveal her identity, claimed she narrowly avoided becoming another victim when her parents found out

One of the women who accused him said she was lured in by a newspaper modelling ad in 1996 when she was 17 and went to a hotel.

She was told she was 'chosen' and was soon speaking on the phone with Miller and they had sex seven to 10 times for the next three years.

'Each time, the applicant would see defendant Robert G Miller for the purposes of engaging in sexual relations, he would give her an envelope with between $1,000-$2,000 in cash; one time it was $3,000,' her lawsuit read.

The arrangement ended when Miller showed her a negative HIV test that had a different name to his 'Bob Adams' persona.

'This led the applicant to become quite concerned and she looked around the hotel room and found a cupboard full of watches,' the lawsuit alleged.

Realizing she was just one of many girls being exploited, she 'felt bad about herself and her self-worth, shameful, guilty, she was depressed'.

Julie Dagenais, the only woman connected to the allegations to reveal her identity, claimed she narrowly avoided becoming another victim when her parents found out.

She said an older co-worker at her minimum wage Sears job told her about being paid thousands for sex with a rich businessman.

"She told me: 'I told Bob about you, I showed him pictures of you and he says he is going to try to make room in his schedule to meet with you',' she told Radio-Canada.

Dagenais claimed she met Miller and he gave her four boxes of expensive shoes and implied it was an advance payment for sex.

'He was saying, "the next time we see each other, we're going to go further"... He saw that I was very nice, and very vulnerable,' she said.

Another alleged victim claimed she was just 14 when she started having sex with Miller, and recruited at least 10 of her school friends to do them same.

'He even asked me to bring him someone who hadn't had sex yet, she said. I refused, I told him to forget it,' she told Radio-Canada.

'A big part of the guilt I experience today is having dragged other people into this.

'When we took a girl, it was with the girl that he had sex, not with the one who had brought them.'

Miller later stopped using expensive hotels and instead shifted to a suburban house packed with gifts for the girls he brought there to abuse

Another woman, who said she was 17 when the abuse began, explained how Miller 'loved them young, young, young'.

'He liked girls as young as possible, with beautiful, slim bodies, she said. It was definitely more of a 'little girl' style,' she said.

Staff at one of the hotels Miller allegedly used to abuse young girls said he rented two suites on the 25th floor, one for himself and another for an associate involved in procuring the girls, but never spent the night.

His room had a bath big enough for two people that staff called 'the f**k tub' and several of the accusers claimed he used exactly for that.

Miller later moved the venue to a suburban house packed with gifts for the girls he brought there to abuse.

One described how he allegedly kept them coming back by having them pick out expensive gifts they wanted after their next visit.

The basement was filled with jewelry, fake Louis Vuitton and Christian Dior handbags, Victoria's Secret clothing, CDs, and mobile phones from which they could take their pick.

'Sometimes you saw girls at school and, without talking to them, you knew they were seeing Bob, because they were wearing the same jewelry as you,' one said.

Jeff Orenstein (pictured), who is organizing a massive class action lawsuit against Miller and Future Electronics, applied to depose him as soon as possible before he dies

The youngest alleged victim said she was only 11 when she first had a sexual encounter with Miller.

She claimed to have been recruited in 1999 by two older girls who were looking for virgins to bring to Miller.

The woman claimed she and a friend, who was also 11 at the time, went to the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal and met the billionaire.

'He asked me how old I was, and I told him I was 11,' she wrote in her own lawsuit.

Miller then allegedly had sex, without a condom, with the two girls and gave them each an envelope with $5,000 in cash.

She claimed to have had sex with Miller another 30 times until she was 20, and constantly recruited more victims for him.

'I had a lot of self-esteem and aggression problems. I still have nightmares and can't sleep well,' she wrote in her affidavit.

The girl even introduced Miller to her mother, believing he was helping her by giving her so much money, and he handed over $10,000 in cash when they met.
An overwhelming majority of New Hampshire Republicans back former President Donald Trump in his assertion of absolute immunity from prosecution of presidents for their actions while in office.

The result, in a new Marist poll, comes as Trump has assembled a 14-point polling lead in New Hampshire, according to the RealClearPolitics average, and indicates voters are embracing at least some of his courtroom claims while fending off four criminal cases.

Voters were asked 'Do you think Donald Trump should have immunity from criminal prosecution for actions he took while he was president?.

Among Republicans, the number answering yes was 69 per cent. It wasn't nearly as strong among independents, who can vote in the state's GOP primary Tuesday. Still, 29 per cent of independents backed the idea, compared to 68 per cent who were against.

Among Democrats, just 5 per cent were for it, compared to 95 per cent who were against immunity.

Former President Donald Trump said presidents need total immunity from prosecution even if they 'cross the line.' Otherwise, he said, it would lead to years of 'trauma.' Voters in New Hampshire are backing the claim, according to a new poll

The result comes in a year when Trump's legal defenses are overlapping with his political pitches. On Thursday, with his defense likely headed to the Supreme Court, but with the New Hampshire primary just days away, Trump issued issued an all-caps defense of 'full immunity' for presidents. He compared the situation to fighting crime despite the occasional 'rogue cop'.

It came as a judicial panel weighs Trump's objection to his January 6 prosecution.

Trump made the pronouncement and the analogy while a three-judge federal appeals court panel weighs his claim of 'absolute' immunity from prosecution.

The former president left no doubt where he comes down on the matter, while his lawyers fight the issue and likely delay his scheduled March 4 trial in Washington, D.C.

He wrote: 'A PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES MUST HAVE FULL IMMUNITY, WITHOUT WHICH IT WOULD BE IMPOSSIBLE FOR HIM/HER TO PROPERLY FUNCTION. ANY MISTAKE, EVEN IF WELL INTENDED, WOULD BE MET WITH ALMOST CERTAIN INDICTMENT BY THE OPPOSING PARTY AT TERM END. EVEN EVENTS THAT 'CROSS THE LINE' MUST FALL UNDER TOTAL IMMUNITY, OR IT WILL BE YEARS OF TRAUMA TRYING TO DETERMINE GOOD FROM BAD.'

Trump called for 'certainty,' then gave an example.

'YOU CAN'T STOP POLICE FROM DOING THE JOB OF STRONG & EFFECTIVE CRIME PREVENTION BECAUSE YOU WANT TO GUARD AGAINST THE OCCASIONAL 'ROGUE COP' OR 'BAD APPLE.' SOMETIMES YOU JUST HAVE TO LIVE WITH 'GREAT BUT SLIGHTLY IMPERFECT.' ALL PRESIDENTS MUST HAVE COMPLETE & TOTAL PRESIDENTIAL IMMUNITY, OR THE AUTHORITY & DECISIVENESS OF A PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES WILL BE STRIPPED & GONE FOREVER. HOPEFULLY THIS WILL BE AN EASY DECISION. GOD BLESS THE SUPREME COURT!' he wrote.

His post, on his Truth Social site, comes after his lawyers faced tough questions from judges in a Washington, D.C. Appeals Court. Trump made the appeal as after a blowout win in Iowa while leading the presidential primaries in Iowa and calling for 'unity.'

'I think it's paradoxical to say that his constitutional duty to take care that the laws be faithfully executed allows him to violate criminal law,' said Judge Karen LeCraft Henderson, a George W. Bush appointee during the January 9 hearing over Trump's immunity claim.

In a dramatic exchange during the 90-minute hearing, Judge Florence Pan asked Trump lawyer John Sauer: 'A yes or no question. Could a president who ordered SEAL Team 6 to assassinate a political rival, who was not impeached, be subject to a criminal prosecution?'

A lawyer for former President Donald Trump (right) faced a blizzard of questions from a three-judge appeals court panel over his claims of presidential immunity  including whether he could use the military to assassinate a political rival

Trump lawyer John Sauer responded: 'If he were impeached and convicted first.'

'So your answer is no,' shot back Pan.

Trump has long defended tough action by cops. Back in 2017, he poked at the police practice of protecting the heads of suspects in custody while putting them into squad cars. ''You can take the hand off,' Trump said. 'Please don't be too nice.'

Trump's blessing to the Supreme Court suggests his team is prepared for an adverse ruling. If the judicial panel rules against him, Trump can seek an 'en banc' review from the entire federal appeals court. If that court rules against him, he can seek relief at the U.S. Supreme Court.

It issue is not just the result, but the timing. Special Counsel Jack Smith tried to get an expedited review out of the high court, with Trump's scheduled trial date related to an alleged conspiracy to defraud the U.S. and obstruct an official proceeding in danger of slipping and continuing to clash with the primary process.
A baby boy in Brooklyn has burned to death due to a malfunctioning radiator in an apartment, officials said.

The 11-month-old boy, who was one of a set of twins, was rushed to Maimonides Medical Center where he was pronounced dead.

According to News12 Brooklyn, New York Police Department officers responded to a 911 call made from 890 East 14th St at 6am.

At the scene they found the baby in a bedroom suffering critical burns from the burning radiator that was leaking steam.

A baby boy in Brooklyn has burned to death due to a malfunctioning radiator in an apartment from 890 East 14th St

The 11-month-old boy, who was one of a set of twins, was rushed to Maimonides Medical Center where he was pronounced dead

Video shows officer cars parked around the building and cops investigating the exterior the building, particularly the back side.

According to records, officials filed a request with New York City's Buildings Department for an inspection 'due to a faulty radiator causing steam to fill the bedroom.'

The twins' mother was feeding the boy's other sibling when the child went into the bedroom and was hit by the steam, according to the New York Times.

Approved Oil, the Brooklyn company that performed the radiator inspection in February 2023 claims that the building's boiler was found with 'no defects' at the time.

A 36-year-old resident who has lived in the building since he was teenager named Victor Buzin, told the Times he did not know the victim's family and pointed out that that the building had a high tenant turnover.

He said that he had never had trouble with his radiator but that the building was old.

'It's terrible. How could this happen?,' said Buzin.

Police are still investigating into the leak. DailyMail.com has reached out to the NYPD for more information. No arrests have yet been made.

The twins' mother was feeding the boy's other sibling when the child went into the bedroom and was hit by the steam

Police are still investigating into the leak. DailyMail.com has reached out to the NYPD for more information

Steam burns are a type of thermal burn caused by boiling hot water vapor or hot liquid.

According to Healthline, many times steam burns are underestimated because a burn from steam might not look as damaging as other types of burns.

Such burns can penetrate the outer layer of the skin and cause severe burns on lower layers.

While the outer layer does not appear to be severely damaged, the lower levels can be.

The medical website recommends running cold water on the injury for 20 minutes to begin the healing process.
A small plane with seven people on board made an emergency landing on a highway in Virginia shortly after taking off.

The aircraft took off from nearby Washington Dulles International Airport on Friday afternoon before it was forced into an emergency stop on Loudoun County Parkway.

The pilot radioed a distress call declaring 'Mayday, mayday', before he informed air traffic controllers they were safely on the ground.

Police responded to a call about the aircraft making an emergency landing just before 1pm. No injuries have been reported as a result of the incident.

Images from the scene show the white and blue passenger plane in the middle of the snow-covered highway and surrounded by emergency services. The reason for the emergency landing is not clear.

A small plane with seven people on board made an emergency landing on a highway in Virginia shortly after taking off

The aircraft took off from nearby Washington Dulles International Airport on Friday afternoon before it was forced into an emergency stop on Loudoun County Parkway

The pilot radioed a distress call declaring 'Mayday, mayday', before he informed air traffic controllers they were safely on the ground

Dulles Airport received reports of a departed aircraft, Southern Airways Express flight 246, that landed off airport property on a nearby roadway, an airport spokesman said.

'Understand you are on the ground,' a controller told the pilot following the emergency landing. 'We are dispatching emergency services to your location.'

The pilot told them: 'All passengers and pilots are alive and well.'

A Southern Airways Express plane was scheduled to depart Dulles for Lancaster, Pennsylvania, at 12.45 pm, according to FlightAware.

Police responded to a call about the aircraft making an emergency landing just before 1pm. No injuries have been reported as a result of the incident

Images from the scene show the white and blue passenger plane in the middle of the snow-covered highway and surrounded by emergency services

The reason for the emergency landing is not yet clear

The Federal Aviation Administration, which is investigating the incident, confirmed there were seven people on board the single-engine Cessna 208 Caravan.

Southern Airways Express confirmed that five were passengers and two were crew members.

In a statement, the airline's CEO, Stan Miller, said: 'We are relieved to report there were no injuries, and all passengers are safe and sound.

'We are thankful to our pilots, who did exactly what they were trained to do -- to put the safety of our passengers first.

The Federal Aviation Administration, which is investigating the incident, confirmed there were seven people on board the single-engine Cessna 208 Caravan

Southern Airways Express confirmed that five were passengers and two were crew members

In a statement, the airline's CEO, Stan Miller, said: 'We are relieved to report there were no injuries, and all passengers are safe and sound'

'We are working closely with the authorities to thoroughly investigate the situation.'

Washington Dulles International Airport remains open for takeoffs and landings, a spokesman said.

Southern Airways Express was founded in 2013 and is based in Palm Beach, Florida.

The commuter airline serves 40 US cities stretching from Nantucket Island in Massachusetts to Honolulu, according to its website.
Anna Wintour was reportedly sporting her signature shades as she laid off nearly half of the staff working at music magazine Pitchfork.

The 74-year-old Vogue editor-in-chief was slammed online by her now former employees, who called the move indecent and appalling.

'One absolutely bizarro detail from this week is that Anna Wintour  seated indoors at a conference table  did not remove her sunglasses while she was telling us that we were about to get canned,' Allison Hussey, a former Pitchfork staff writer, wrote on X.

'The indecency we've seen from upper management this week is appalling.'

The tweet, posted Friday morning, has already reached nearly 300K views online and hundreds of retweets.

Conde Nast laid off upwards of half of the Pitchfork staff on Wednesday, including editor-in-chief Puja Patel and features editor Jill Mapes.

Stay inside! Anna Wintour shared a photo of herself staying inside her Long Island home and urged other not to go out

Conde Nast, who bought Pitchfork in 2015, is merging the publication into GQ.

The company announced the move in a memo to employees,

The decision 'was made after a careful evaluation of Pitchfork's performance and what we believe is the best path forward for the brand so that our coverage of music can continue to thrive within the company,' Wintour, Conde Nast's chief content officer and global editorial director of Vogue, wrote in a memo to staff.

Mapes, a feature editor who was laid off, stated on Twitter: 'I've referred to my job at pitchfork as being on a ferris wheel at closing time, just waiting for them to yank me down.

'After nearly 8 years, mass layoffs got me. glad we could spend that time trying to make it a less dude-ish place just for GQ to end up at the helm,' Mapes added.

The 'fashion legend' Wintour is known for never taking off her trademark sunglasses.

Magazine publisher Conde Nast, which owns Vogue, GQ and The New Yorker, is laying off nearly 100 employees in the US due to a sharp decline in ad revenue spurred by the coronavirus pandemic

As well as wearing them in the Vogue offices, she is regularly seen sporting them on the catwalk, and even watched the entire Academy Awards in 2015 without taking them off.

She also donned her signature specs while working from home at her Hamptons house in 2020 - as she pleads with others not to go out amid COVID-19 outbreak.

One of the only times Wintour, who has worked for Vogue for 30 years, has been seen taking them off is when she was made a Dame at Buckingham Palace in 2017.

She wore her trademark sunglasses on arrival at the Palace, but removed them before entering the ballroom, where she received the award from the Queen.

During her '60 minutes with Anna Wintour' interview, the American editor admitted she used her sunglasses as 'armour', and they were a useful tool to 'hide boredom'.

'I can sit in a show and if I am bored out of my mind, nobody will notice At this point, they have become, really, armour', she said in 2012.

She said: 'There is no more important rule for all of us to follow. We must, right this moment, pledge to stay in our homes as much as we possibly can'

Wintour has served as editor-in-chief of Vogue since 1988.

In 2020, Magazine publisher Conde Nast, which owns Vogue, GQ and The New Yorker, was under fire when it laid off nearly 100 employees in the US due to a sharp decline in ad revenue spurred by the coronavirus pandemic.

The cuts were announced in an internal memo that also said under 100 other staffers would be temporarily furloughed and 'a handful' of the company's approximate 2,700 staffers would have reduced work schedules.

'Not all teams will be impacted equally by these actions. That doesn't mean some teams are more valuable to us than others,' Conde Nast CEO Roger Lynch said at the time. 'We tried to identify specific areas where we could bring down our costs without limiting our growth priorities.'

Also that year, Conde Nast announced in a separate memo that employees earning more than $100,000 would receive 10 to 20 percent pay cuts.

'These decisions are never easy, and not something I ever take lightly. I want to be transparent about the principles and approach we used,' Lynch added.

Dailymail.com has contacted Conde Nast but did not receive a response.
People smugglers have massively expanded their launch sites for migrants' boats bound for Britain across more than 100 miles of Channel coastline.

It means longer journeys and potentially more deaths.

The area police now vainly struggle to control reaches all the way from Belgium, through Dunkirk and Boulogne, and down the French coast to St-Valery-sur-Somme, 75 miles down from the original hotspot of Calais.

Dinghy voyages could take six hours, with migrants hitting English soil anywhere from Southend in Essex to Hastings in Sussex, or even further. The Mail's investigations in snowy France this week found that while the Government's Rwanda plan grinds its way through Parliament, the people smuggling industry is booming.

Last night a Conservative MP said migrants were laughing at 'deluded lawyers and bishops' opposed to the Bill  and joined others calling for it to be hurried through the House of Lords, having passed the Commons this week.

The danger of drowning with up to 70 passengers, at 2,000 Euros (1,700) a head, crammed on to each dinghy, is clearly little deterrent. On Sunday five migrants, believed to be Syrian, perished near Wimereux, 25 miles south of Calais.

Migrants walk through the French coastal commune of Wimereux on Wednesday afternoon after an aborted attempt to cross the channel

Many were seen wrapped in blankets and some with life jackets standing at a Bus Stop

The area police now vainly struggle to control reaches all the way from Belgium, through Dunkirk and Boulogne, and down the French coast to St-Valery-sur-Somme, 75 miles down from the original hotspot of Calais

Yet when the Mail arrived in the holiday town on Wednesday, a fresh group of 70 were trudging away from the beach, some still in life-jackets and looking as young as 12, after an aborted departure when the much-maligned French police stepped in.

Snow began falling soon after. Officers arrested a suspected people smuggler in a van nearby, along with a number of migrants. But many others melted away into the town.

This shows British taxpayer-funded French police patrols along the previously established departure areas, between Wimereux and Dunkirk, do stop some dinghies.

Officers, such as three van-loads we saw by the beach, puncture boats being pumped up in the dunes, and send the migrants away with a flea in their ear  and no criminal charges. But the elusive people smugglers are increasingly launching ever further inland, up rivers and estuaries where coastal patrols do not extend.

Police sources say so-called 'taxi' dinghies set off empty, with migrants told to wait in the sea at the coast, waist deep, and board in the water. With officers barred from interfering with already-afloat craft through fear of causing drownings, the voyages are more likely to begin successfully.

Last weekend police stopped 50 migrants, including women and children, on the beach at St Valery  well on the way to Normandy. It is believed to be the first attempted departure so far south. And it is unlikely to be the last. A French police source said: 'We are operating in very difficult conditions.

Others were seen brazenly wandering in large groups through the commune

Dinghy voyages could take six hours, with migrants hitting English soil anywhere from Southend in Essex to Hastings in Sussex, or even further

'The field of operations in the fight against the people smugglers now stretches all the way from Belgium through Dunkirk, Calais and Boulogne, and down to Le Touquet, as far as Berck  and beyond.

'The huge amounts of money spent on fencing and increased patrols on the beaches of Dunkirk, Calais and Boulogne have simply created a situation where the smugglers are looking elsewhere.

'These 'taxi boats' seem to be having it all their own way because they can strike where they want over a huge area. The migrants have to wade out in the freezing water and wait for the taxi boats to pick them up. No wonder there are deaths due to drowning and cold. It's a horrible business.'

France's desperate local authorities have strung medieval-style chain barriers across three waterways  one this week, 50 miles from Calais  in a desperate bid to stem the flow of dinghies.

A senior lifeboatman who asked not to be named said: 'The boats are setting off from further down the coast and that means the distances to England are longer, so they spend more time at sea.

'There is the cold factor. If they end up in the water they will survive for maybe 15 minutes.' Three French departments  the Nord, the Pas-de-Calais and now the Somme  are involved. They harbour countless potential launch points, impossible for police to cover. Small wonder last weekend some 260 migrants reached Dover, and on Wednesday 358 more.

Wimereux's migrant-besieged mayor Jean-Luc Dubaele blamed 'El Dorado' Britain's generous benefits and cash-in-hand job opportunities. 'I am angry, like all the mayors of neighbouring towns,' he said this week.

'Migrants want to go to England because they are well-received, they can work without problem.

'We will have to bang our fist on the table with the English  let England be less of an El Dorado for migrants.' A report yesterday said there had also been a surge in largely sub-Saharan African migrants, poorer than the rest, stowing themselves away on lorries and cars again.

On Thursday cars boarding the Shuttle from Calais to Folkestone were put through giant X-rays seeking uninvited guests.

The major migrant basecamp in France has for years been between motorways and railway lines at Grande Synthe, near Dunkirk.

Police have installed miles of fencing and concrete barriers, and felled woods, in a bid to clear the area. But migrants still gather there for hot food from charities, and to meet Kurdish smuggling gangs. On Wednesday two Eritrean migrants, Fatima and Mary, 25, told the Mail they would be in England soon. They found the notion they could be flown to Rwanda laughable.

Fatima, 24, said: 'We've been here three months. We paid Kurdish smugglers 2,000 Euros to go on Sunday  but the police slashed our boat and kicked us off the beach. Our seven friends, also women, got through though. They're now in England.

'We'll be with them soon. The smugglers told us to be ready any day for good weather. And no, we're not worried we'll be sent to Rwanda. It's not going to happen  come on!'

Last night Conservative MPs said Parliament had to act fast to pass the policy. Sir John Hayes said: 'The migrants are laughing about Rwanda because they don't believe they'll be sent there.

'They're really laughing at those daft people trying to stop it happening  pressure groups, deluded lawyers, and Church of England bishops. Gareth Johnson added: 'Nobody will give evil people traffickers money if it's just going to result in being sent to Rwanda.'
Albanian people smugglers are now offering exclusive speedboat trips to the UK.

Using brand-new boats with 300 horsepower engines, traffickers boast the 10,000-a-head journey has a '100 per cent success' rate.

Unlike overcrowded dinghies, often loaded with more than 70 people, only a maximum of ten passengers take each trip across the Channel.

And while those on other small boats are left to steer themselves, the deluxe service includes 'experienced' Albanian skippers who collect their customers from a site near Brussels and drop them off near Southend-on-Sea in Essex.

Migrants who can afford the extra price are put up in Belgian hotels and driven to the launch site.

Albanian people smugglers are now offering exclusive speedboat trips to the UK (Stock photo)

Migrants walk through the French coastal commune of Wimereux on Wednesday afternoon after an aborted attempt to cross the channel

'You will not get wet in the speedboat,' one of the smugglers boasted. 'When you arrive, you will touch the land and no one will touch you.'

A Mail investigation found the smugglers advertise the costly trips on social media and also offer fake documents to illegal migrants for an additional 5,000. When an undercover reporter contacted one organiser, they were given a phone number to message and told: 'We have trips this month. Get to Belgium, then call us so we can pick you up.'

'We need to meet one of your relatives in the UK who will pay the money,' the man added.

After arriving in Belgium, migrants are put up in one of the gang's 'trusted hotels' while they wait for good weather.

Proud of his illicit service, the Belgium-based smuggler said: 'It's a big difference travelling on our speed boats compared the usual small boats. That's why our price is 10,000.

'The speed boat skippers are Albanians, with experience in doing this.'
The collective noun for tortoises is a 'creep'  and, in the case of the 'Ashclyst Seven', it is surely a fitting description.

For there can be few things more creepy  and mysterious  than the sudden appearance in East Devon's Ashclyst Forest of seven dead Aldabra tortoises, more than 5,000 miles from their native home on the islands of the Indian Ocean.

A police investigation is under way, while the neighbouring village of Broadclyst has been gripped by speculation over how the reptiles perished  transforming this sleepy forest into a crime scene.

There are several theories to explain how the tortoises came to their unfortunate end. Were they victims of illegal wildlife-smuggling? Did their owner fail to look after them properly, and then in a panic dump their corpses?

Or were the Ashclyst Seven simply too expensive to be kept alive  and abandoned to the January cold?

An Aldabra giant tortoise. A police investigation is under way, while the neighbouring village of Broadclyst has been gripped by speculation over how the reptiles perished  transforming this sleepy forest into a crime scene (File Photo)

Three of the dead tortoises. No explanation was given for the animal's demise. The new mystery began on January 8 this year, when the first two 'victims' were discovered alongside one of the forest's bridleways by a walker braving the New Year chill

What has made this case all the more sinister is the resurfacing last week of a December 2021 Facebook post from Vale Vets Devon announcing that a dead giant tortoise had been found in Ashclyst Forest and handed to its Cullompton branch.

No explanation was given for the animal's demise. The new mystery began on January 8 this year, when the first two 'victims' were discovered alongside one of the forest's bridleways by a walker braving the New Year chill.

Four days later, another passer-by discovered five further bodies, their vast bellies sinking into the mulch. While the RSPCA has since removed the carcasses, clues as to their fate remained at the scene.

When the Mail visited this week, on a bitterly cold day, two black bin bags and a soiled navy-blue Ralph Lauren T-shirt remained at the site. Could these have been used to heave the tortoises out of a vehicle?

Although there are an estimated 400,000 pet tortoises of all species in the UK, the Aldabra is rare, with only some 400 thought to live in Europe.

Along with the more famous Galapagos, it is one of just two giant tortoise species left in the world. Male Aldabras grow up to 1.2m in length, weigh a quarter of a ton and can live to the age of 200.

Were the Ashclyst Seven simply too expensive to be kept alive  and abandoned to the January cold?

Anya Honey, a professional dog-walker who frequently takes her canine charges to the forest, described the discovery as 'deeply disturbing and upsetting'. Pictured: Ashclyst Forest

The National Trust, which owns the Killerton Estate that encompasses Ashclyst Forest, confirmed that its officers had been called to the scene where the tortoises had been found. The Trust said its team were 'horrified' by the discovery

Unesco estimates that about 150,000 Aldabras still roam wild in their natural habitat  the Aldabra atoll, part of the Seychelles, north of Madagascar. But due to their tiny geographical range and the difficulty breeding them (never achieved in Europe), the Aldabra is classified as 'vulnerable'.

It is the exotic nature of these majestic creatures that has captured the imagination of the local community.

Hayley Belworthy owns an equestrian centre at Newhall Farm, bordering the forest to the west. She first heard about the gruesome discovery on a community Facebook group.

'People are shocked and devastated,' she says. 'We're a close-knit community so when something like this happens, it's just horrific.'

One of Ms Belworthy's grooms, Tess, who keeps two horses at the centre and commutes the short drive from Exeter, is equally affected.

'I've had horses here for the past 20 years. Everyone is friendly and happy. Everybody helps each other out. It's like a village here, so we're all upset.

'And because we don't know what's happened, it makes it worse. I think it will make people wary to go into the woods.

'But we'll carry on: we don't have a choice. We'll all be keeping an eye open, though.'

Anya Honey, a professional dog-walker who frequently takes her canine charges to the forest, described the discovery as 'deeply disturbing and upsetting'.

She added: 'I only wish I had been here at the time: perhaps I could have saved these beautiful creatures.'

Many in this community  which stretches from Cullompton to the north down to Exeter in the south  echo a strong sense that things like this simply don't happen here.

One of the victims. There are several theories to explain how the tortoises came to their unfortunate end. Were they victims of illegal wildlife-smuggling? Did their owner fail to look after them properly, and then in a panic dump their corpses?

Two of the victims. 'People are shocked and devastated,' Hayley Belworthy says. 'We're a close-knit community so when something like this happens, it's just horrific'

Henry Massey, chairman of Broadclyst Parish Council, told the Mail: 'This is an area of very little crime. The worst we usually get is dogs off leads attacking sheep. It's clearly upsetting that this happened in what is otherwise a happy, quiet parish. But that might be exactly why it was used.'

In a statement earlier this week, Devon & Cornwall Police said: 'Enquiries are under way to identify the owners and establish the circumstances that led to the animals being disposed of.'

Inspector Mark Arthurs added: 'We are appealing to members of the public for information to try to . . . identify those responsible.

'We would also like to hear from anyone who has recently purchased a giant tortoise in the area or knows of anyone who normally has a large number of tortoises, but has fewer now.'

The National Trust, which owns the Killerton Estate that encompasses Ashclyst Forest, confirmed that its officers had been called to the scene where the tortoises had been found.

The Trust said its team were 'horrified' by the discovery.

The RSPCA released stomach-churning images to the Press: the tortoises' legs spread back against their shells and their heads outstretched and limp.

Considering the unique nature of the Aldabra tortoise, it is no surprise that local police have asked for help from leading tortoise expert Adrian Graham, 52, from Lincolnshire.

He told the Mail that one of the difficulties surrounding the case was the anonymity of many Aldabra owners who are reluctant to publicise the existence and whereabouts of their animals.

Mr Graham  who owns 27 Aldabras along with a host of other species  received his first tortoise when he was just five years old. Being allergic to cats and dogs but an animal-lover, he settled on tortoises, which have become his life's passion.

After analysing the shells of the dumped tortoises  roughly 80cm in length  Mr Graham revealed that they appeared to be teenagers or young adults.

'When you look at their shell-shape, muscle tone and state of the flesh, they look like they've been cared for. It doesn't look like they've been neglected,' he said.

But for Mr Graham, this only muddies the waters.

'Why would someone spend thousands of pounds purchasing and looking after these animals, only to abandon them?'

And that is no exaggeration. A healthy young Aldabra specimen can fetch up to 10,000.

Henry Massey, chairman of Broadclyst Parish Council, told the Mail: 'This is an area of very little crime. The worst we usually get is dogs off leads attacking sheep. It's clearly upsetting that this happened in what is otherwise a happy, quiet parish. But that might be exactly why it was used.' Pictured: Ashclyst Forest

Such a price tag is necessary, according to Mr Graham, to ensure potential owners have sufficiently deep pockets to care for their animals: 'If you can't afford to buy one, then you can't afford to keep one.'

These beasts are 'not a light-hearted commitment,' he added. 'They're a life-changer, demanding dedication and space.'

Keepers should typically have an inside pen kept at a constant 32c, complete with UV lighting  both mercury lamps and UVB fluorescent tubes  which provide Vitamin D, as well as a 'fogging system' to keep humidity at roughly 60 per cent.

But Aldabras also need plenty of outdoor space, ideally with a pool of water  they are excellent swimmers and can hold their breath for up to half an hour.

And, as Mr Graham emphasised: 'They're very powerful and can effortlessly knock an internal wall down, so you've got to build a robust enclosure.'

Livia Benato, an Exeter vet specialising in exotic animals, told the Mail that the temperatures and humidity the tortoises need 'clash with the current weather conditions', meaning owners must fork out for expensive heating bills. And this is not the only cost.

Feeding them does not come cheap. In the wild, young Aldabras eat worms and insects, while the adults enjoy grasses, weeds and herbs.

But in captivity they also enjoy fruits, flowers and hay  which contains fibre. (When no other food source is available, they have been known to eat the carrion flesh of their own species.)

Dr Benato also warned: 'Specialised veterinary care is crucial, considering the importance of understanding their unique anatomy and physiology'.

Unfortunately, their exorbitant prices have led to a surge in illegal tortoise trading. That has led some to ask if the Ashclyst Seven were the victims of wildlife-smuggling.

According to one pet shop owner  who asked to remain nameless  the animals were most likely to have been smuggled in via the port of Plymouth, 40 miles from the forest.

While some tortoises are sold into the UK market, many die during the passage across the oceans  wedged into shipping containers ill-equipped for their survival  and are disposed of by smuggling gangs in the cheapest and quickest way possible.

Even those who survive the journey are typically in a bad way.

According to the RSPCA, 90 per cent of illegally imported tortoises die within four years.

'If someone was keeping them as pets and was struggling financially, if they'd put up their hand and asked for help, we could have stopped this whole thing,' said Mr Graham.

Writing on a Facebook tortoise-support group, Aimee Linney noted that between January 8 (the day the first Aldabras were found) and January 19, nearby Paignton Zoo, which has the facilities to look after Aldabras, was closed for improvements. Could this unfortunate timing have led to the deaths?

Simon Jupp, the local Conservative MP, spoke for many when he told the Mail: 'These magnificent animals are a vulnerable species and whoever is responsible must be brought to justice'

'There is always help out there. Don't let the animals suffer, reach out  it's not their fault.'

But some are asking whether or not help was there when the seven Aldabras needed it.

Writing on a Facebook tortoise-support group, Aimee Linney noted that between January 8 (the day the first Aldabras were found) and January 19, nearby Paignton Zoo, which has the facilities to look after Aldabras, was closed for improvements. Could this unfortunate timing have led to the deaths?

One person who might have been able to help is local exotic-animal keeper Marie Pulman, 54, who runs Animals 2U South West.

When the Mail arrived at Ms Pulman's home, she was feeding grasshoppers to her frogs while cradling the latest addition to her family: Rocky, a pygmy bearded dragon (an Australian lizard).

Between checking on her menagerie of tarantulas, tortoises, ferrets, snakes and cockroaches, she told the Mail that the problem of owners disposing of their pets has 'got a lot worse since Covid'.

'People buy these exotic animals but then either can't afford to keep them or realise they don't have the same relationship with a reptile as they do with a dog or a cat.

I often take in other people's animals and if I can't, I help them find someone who can,' she said.

Ms Pulman is confident of one thing: there is no chance the Aldabras fled an enclosure.

'Tortoises do escape easily, but not ones that big  no chance.'

Mr Graham, too, gives short shrift to the 'Great Escape' theory: 'If they did run away, they wouldn't all follow each other, get to the same point and then simultaneously die.

'If they've all been found in one place, I would expect they've been put there.'

What's more  according to research by conservation group The Orianne Society  the average Aldabra tortoise moves just 190 metres each day, making an undiscovered dash for freedom all but impossible.

So it seems almost certain the Ashclyst Seven were dumped.

Simon Jupp, the local Conservative MP, spoke for many when he told the Mail: 'These magnificent animals are a vulnerable species and whoever is responsible must be brought to justice.'

Whether such justice proves more swift than the lumbering gait of an Aldabra tortoise, however, remains to be seen.
One of the teens accused of murdering Dr Ashley Gordon was on bail at the time

One of the teens accused of viciously murdering a young doctor was out on bail at the time of the incident.

The 16-year-old was facing serious criminal charges when he and another teen were accused of breaking into the home of Dr Ashley Gordon and murdering him, reported the Herald-Sun.

Dr Gordon, 33, was found with a fatal stab wound in his car less than a kilometre from his home in Doncaster, in Melbourne's northeast, late on January 13.

Two boys, both aged 16, were arrested and interviewed by homicide detectives on Wednesday.

The pair from Dandenong and Travancore were both charged with murder, aggravated burglary and theft, and will appear at a children's court at a later date.

Dr Gordon, 33, was found with a fatal stab wound in his car less than a kilometre from his home in Doncaster, in Melbourne's northeast, late on January 13.

Two boys, both aged 16, were arrested and interviewed by homicide detectives on Wednesday and it can now be revealed that one of them was on bail at the time

Dr Gordon's sister, Natalie, on Thursday, opened up about the tragedy and the toll it's taking on her mother and father.

'That's the hardest part for me,' she told 7News.

'We all held him on the biggest pedestal, and it's gone. It's just gone.'

Dr Gordon's family thanked detectives for their tireless work in the arrest of the two teenagers, but Natalie said the government was not doing enough to combat youth crime.

'More needs to be done to try and fix it. The system is broken and the government needs to change that,' Ms Gordon told the Herald Sun.

'We just have so much of this on the streets these days and the world we're growing up in is disgusting. I'm scared for my children because I want them to grow up and experience a safe community.'

Box Hill MP Nicole Werner also told the publication that she had spoken to the surviving victim allegedly attacked by the teen on bail at the time of Mr Gordons death, but they did not want to be identified for fear of retribution.

Dr Gordon's family thanked detectives for their tireless work but added that the government was not doing enough to combat youth crime (pictured Dr Gordon with his girlfriend)

The teen's bail revelation comes as Premier Jacinta Allan faces calls to abandon a planned overhaul of the youth justice system.

The plan includes a proposal to raise the age of criminal responsibility to 14 which would relax youth bail laws.

Shadow attorney-general Michael OBrien called on the Ms Allen's government to reconsider the changes which he says 'makes no sense'.

'The government also needs to reassure Victorians that it will not weaken youth bail laws and it must reduce court backlogs, which are the worst in Australia,' he said.

Police also acknowledged Dr Gordon's death had sparked fear in the community.

'This type of incident can create fear and uncertainty,' Serious Crime Division Superintendent Janet Stevenson said on Thursday.

'We want our community to feel safe in their homes and to that end, Victoria Police will do continue to do everything in our power to make this a reality.'

Dr Gordon was fatally stabbed after giving chase to a group of intruders who broke into his Sargent Street home.
Controversial rapper Kanye West has sparked yet more outrage after wearing a t-shirt with the face of a convicted murderer and neo-Nazi on it.

The 46-year-old star, who just weeks ago apologised for his anti-Semitic behaviour in 2022, was pictured with Kristian 'Varg' Vikernes's face plastered over his top as he posed alongside fellow American rapper JPEGMafia.

West, who was also flashing his brand new $850K titanium dentures, was last month accused of using the cover art of his new album 'Vultures' to pay tribute to Vikernes.

Critics pointed out the cover bears striking similarities to the artwork from Vikernes' own band Burzum - which released similarly grim covers.

But the rapper has now been pictured wearing a t-shirt which features the Norwegian killer's face on - a move which furious campaigners told MailOnline was 'another disgusting example of West publicly associating with white supremacists'.

Vikernes, known for supporting Nazism and being openly anti-Semitic, fronted one-man black metal band Burzum between 1992 and 1996.

Controversial rapper Kanye West has sparked yet more outrage after being pictured wearing a t-shirt with the face of a convicted murderer and neo-Nazi on it

Kristian Vikernes, a black metal musician and writer known as Varg, was convicted in 1994 of stabbing a rival musician to death in Oslo and burning down several churches

In 2014, Vikernes (pictured) was found guilty of inciting racial hatred and exalting war crimes via an internet blog in France

In August 1993, Vikernes fatally stabbed Mayhem guitarist Euronymous during a row at the latter's apartment.

In May 1994, Vikernes was convicted of first-degree murder, church arson and possession of explosives. He argued the killing was self-defense and unsuccessfully argued for the charge to be reduced to voluntary manslaughter.

He was sentenced to 21 years in prison - served 15 years and was released on parole in 2009 - moving to France with his wife and children.

He openly supported Nazism during the 1990s and in 2022 said he 'appreciated' being labelled as a Nazi.

The musician has continued to spark outrage by advocating 'a pre-industrial European pagan society' and his active opposition to the Jewish, Islam and Christian faiths.

In 2014, Vikernes was found guilty of inciting racial hatred and exalting war crimes via an internet blog in France. He was given a six-month suspended sentence and a fine of 8,000 (roughly $10,900).

He had previously denied writing the post, tellling the court: 'At any given moment [there are] 350 people pretending to be Varg Vikernes on Facebook.'

This came one year after Vikernes and his wife were arrested on suspicion of planning a 'massacre.'

Anti-semitic watchdogs have condemned West for seemingly showing support for the neo-Nazi killer.

Liora Rez, executive director of StopAntisemitism, told MailOnline: 'StopAntisemitism strongly condemns Kanye's decision to wear a t-shirt depicting Kristian 'Varg' Vikernes, a neo-Nazi killer with a notorious history of violence and hate.

'This is yet another disgusting example of the disgraced rapper publicly associating with white supremacists  promoting the legacy of an individual who has caused immense harm and poses a threat to marginalized communities everywhere.

'There will never be a redemption arc for Kanye West, period. What will he try next? Another apology in Hebrew?'

West's supporters were also left appalled by the apparent tribute to Vikernes, with one writing: 'Huge fan of you bro but this is disappointing.'

Another posted: 'I've never been more disappointed in my life.'

A third said: 'Kanye wearing an Burzum shirt is just plain wrong on many levels.'

A fourth added: 'Burzum's music and views are trash so that makes sense for YE.'

And a fifth said: 'Bro wearing a band t-shirt from a known Neo-n*zi.'

West's album's artwork depicts a black and white out of focus landscape with scarecrows sticking out of the ground - and looks similar to ones used by Vikernes' band Burzum

Last month, West wore a black Ku Klux Klan type hood at an event promoting the album

Last month, West hosted a controversial album listening event which saw the star branded a 'disgusting human being' by fans after the rapper wore a black Ku Klux Klan type hood.

The artist put on a fabric head covering featuring a point at the top at an overnight listening event with collaborator Ty Dolla Sign as they performed their controversial track Vultures which features vile lyrics about a Jewish woman.

Vultures features the 'offensive' lyrics: 'How am I anti-Semitic? I just f***ed a Jewish b****.'

He was slammed by Jewish organizations who branded him 'pathetic and sad' over vile lyrics about a Jewish woman in his latest song.

The 24-time Grammy winner - who gets 64.1M monthly listeners on Spotify - then issued an apology written in Hebrew on December 26, which many believed was generated by AI.

It read: 'I sincerely apologize to the Jewish community for any unintended outburst caused by my words or actions, it was not my intention to hurt or disrespect, and I deeply regret any pain I may have caused.'

On December 15, Kanye unleashed a shocking anti-Semitic rant which saw him scream 'Jesus Christ, Hitler, Ye! Sponsor that!' during an event in Las Vegas (pictured)

West - who suffers from bipolar disorder - has also donned a black KKK hood during the Vultures listening event in Miami on December 11

Kanye went on to share an apology in Hebrew on his Instagram on December 30, which stated: 'I sincerely apologize to the Jewish community for any unintended outburst'

In October, the New York Times published an expose revealing West 'drew a swastika on a shoe sketch' during a meeting with Adidas execs in 2013, and openly praised 'master marketer' Adolf Hitler for his 'command of propaganda.'

Last March, the Atlanta-born hip-hop star claimed watching Jonah Hill in his 2012 action comedy 21 Jump Street made him 'like Jewish people again' in a bizarre Instagram post.

'No one should take anger against one or two individuals and transform that into hatred towards millions of innocent people,' Kanye - who boasts 42.8M social media followers - wrote.

'No Christian can be labeled anti-Semite knowing Jesus is Jew. Thank you Jonah Hill I love you.'

This came after West tweeted he was going 'death con 3 on Jewish people' in 2022, which got him promptly dropped by his agency CAA, production company MRC, Adidas, Gap, and Balenciaga.

DailyMail.com revealed today that West filmed a 40-minute apology video to the Jewish community after facing pressure from his wife Bianca Censori, who friends claim has been left 'extremely worried' that the controversial star's comments have put 'their safety at risk'.

It came after TMZ revealed that West assembled a camera crew 'several weeks ago' to shoot his apology video, but 'at times it was impossible to decode what he was saying'.

Now, friends close to his architectural designer wife, 29, have revealed to DailyMail.com that the rap star - who also goes by Ye - was pushed to make the apology video by his concerned spouse.

'Kanye was pressured by Bianca to make this video because she was extremely worried that he was putting their safety at risk,' the insider revealed. 'They have had threats and her friends have expressed their fear in several text messages to her.'

West is said to be dropping the mea culpa before he and Ty Dolla $ign's long-delayed Vultures album is finally released February 9 via iTunes, Apple Music, and his website.
Rishi Sunak said there is 'more to come' in terms of tax cuts as he and the Chancellor prepare to start drawing up their Budget next week.

The Prime Minister reiterated yesterday that he wants to slash taxes 'when we can responsibly do so', echoing comments made by Jeremy Hunt this week.

Mr Hunt is expecting forecasts from fiscal watchdog the Office for Budget Responsibility in the coming days, at which point he is likely to sit down with the PM to enable them to plan tax cuts on March 6.

A Treasury source said last night: 'Once we know what headroom we have, we can start piecing the Budget together.'

Yesterday, Mr Sunak said last year's Autumn Statement had delivered a 'tax cut for 27million people in work'.

Mr Hunt is expecting forecasts from fiscal watchdog the Office for Budget Responsibility in the coming days

Prime minister Rishi Sunak said there is 'more to come' in terms of tax cuts



Shop sales go on after bleak Xmas

High street stores are continuing to offer large discounts in the January sales against the background of figures showing a disastrous Christmas for many. Retailers including online stores suffered their biggest monthly fall in sales in December since the pandemic lockdowns. The slowdown was worse than expected as families had a frugal festive season due to the cost of living crisis. The total volume of items purchases plummeted 3.2 per cent in December versus November and the value of those sales fell 3.6 per cent. The volume was also 2.4 per cent less than the same month the year before. The slowdown appears likely to continue through early 2024, taking demand out of the economy which might speed up falls in inflation. As a result, that could allow the Bank of England to go ahead with expected cuts in interest rates. Advertisement

Speaking on a visit to Eastleigh in Hampshire, he added: 'And we do want to cut taxes for future events when we can responsibly do so.

'Our priorities are very clear. It is controlling spending and welfare so that we can cut people's taxes.

'The plan is working, because we are already doing it. Stick with it and there is more to come.'

Mr Hunt cut the main rate of national insurance from 12 per cent to 10 per cent in his Autumn Statement last year at a cost of about 10billion.

With an election expected later this year, the spring Budget will be one of the last opportunities for ministers to announce tax cuts.

There is speculation as to whether the Chancellor could cut the national insurance rate further, reduce income tax rates, unfreeze income tax thresholds, or target inheritance tax and stamp duty.

Speaking earlier this week from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Mr Hunt said that lowering taxes was the 'direction of travel' for the UK.

'The economies that are growing faster than us  North America, Asian economies  tend to have lower taxes,' he said. 'So that's the direction of travel we'd like to go in, but it's too early to know the extent to which we'll be able to do it.'

Tax levels are at a 70-year high and the overall tax burden is still rising due to frozen income tax thresholds.

The Prime Minister and Chancellor are under pressure from their party to reduce taxes to give the Conservatives a chance of winning the next election in the face of a huge lead in the polls for the Labour Party.

Mr Sunak has said that he is planning to go to the country in the second half of this year, fuelling speculation that November 14 could be polling day.

Mr Hunt has also left open the question of whether there will be an additional Autumn Statement on top of the March Budget before the general election is called.

Asked if his priority would be tax cuts for businesses or for households, the Chancellor insisted he did not draw such a firm line between the two categories.

The Prime Minister and Chancellor are under pressure from their party to reduce taxes to give the Conservatives a chance of winning the next election. Pictured: The Bank of England

Mr Hunt highlighted how the national insurance cut he announced in November was expected to boost the workforce and also help fill vacancies, as well as easing pressure on families.

'What I can assure you is that we will prioritise economic growth,' he added.

'I don't make quite the same distinction as you do between business tax cuts and personal tax cuts.'

He said Britain was required to hold two 'fiscal events' in a year, adding: 'We will see where we get to after the spring.'
A new DailyMail.com analysis of federal regulatory data reveals which carmakers were forced to recall the most vehicles last year in the US  and Ford topped the list.

Despite a year filled with recall reports, many of them software patches affecting millions of vehicles in both the US and China, Elon Musk's Tesla Motors did not even enter the top 12 'most recalled' auto companies for 2023.

DailyMail.com also identified the most common reasons behind these recalls, with braking issues, electrical systems, and airbag defects all at the top of the list.

But both Ford and Tesla have stumbled out the gate already in 2024.

This month, Musk's electric vehicle company issued a recall for more than 1.6 million cars in China due to autosteer problems and Ford recalled more than 100,000 vehicles due to an engine oil pressure issue.

A new DailyMail.com analysis of federal regulatory data reveals which carmakers were forced to recall the most vehicles last year in the US. Ford topped the list with 58 specific recalls, but Indiana-based Forest River, makers of motorhomes, RVs and travel trailers, also scored highly

The 2023 rankings were compiled from National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) recall data, to identify the number of 'potentially affected' cars per manufacturer across 2023. Ford recalls last year affected 6,152,738 vehicles, based on this data

The 2023 rankings were compiled from National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) recall data, filtered by DailyMail.com to identify the number of 'potentially affected' cars per manufacturer across 2023.

Ford Motor Company saw more recalls last year than any other brand, reporting 6,152,738 affected vehicles, based on this data.

Findings across the entirety of the NHTSA's database, which begins in the year 1966, were also collated by the personal injury attorneys at John Foy & Associates, who have advised on automotive accidents as part of their law practice.

'Any manufacturer who has been affected by recalls will need to evaluate their production process to rule out any factors that may be decreasing the quality or durability of their vehicles,' the firm's founding attorney John Foy told DailyMail.com.

'This may include,' according to Foy, 'conducting rigorous testing on advanced technologies like sensors, software, and electronic systems'  a reality born out by the federal data for 2023.

Issues with motor vehicle 'electrical systems' impacted nearly 7.7 million automobiles in the United States last year, making it the second largest category of recall in 2023. (Above, a Ford F150 truck)

Issues with motor vehicle 'electrical systems' impacted nearly 7.7 million automobiles in the United States last year, making it the second largest category of recall in 2023.

The NHTSA's definition of an 'electrical system' includes not just a car's battery and its cables, but also other core components like alternators, fuses, main body wiring and the sparking ignition of a traditional combustion engine.

The new findings suggests that its not just Tesla Motors that has had issues with the electric components of their motor vehicles in 2023.

Attorney John Foy believes that some of the systemic, industry-wide problems revealed by this analysis of last year's recall data will only be truly corrected by deeper government scrutiny.

'Regulatory standards may also play a part for some brands,' Foy told DailyMail.com, 'as will transparency, as road safety is only assured when manufacturers adhere to compliance requirements and are honest about faults.'

Issues with motor vehicle 'electrical systems' impacted nearly 7.7 million automobiles in the United States last year, making it the second largest category of recall in 2023. The new finding suggests that its not just Tesla that has had issues with key electric components

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In 2021, in one of the more innovative methods of burying information about automotive problems, Tesla founder Elon Musk was accused of trying to bump down online search results about a federal whistleblower investigation into the electric car company by selling a $50 'Cyberwhistle' online.

Musk's jokey post about the Cyberwhistle came days before a Reuters report revealed the existence of an SEC investigation launched by that whistleblower's testimony.

But, as Foy noted, cars can be recalled for various reasons related to safety concerns or potential defects, not all of them equal in their severity.

These issues can be more purely the product of compliance with state and federal statutes, like emissions standards or environmental laws, or can stem from more serious and concrete car faults that pose a safety risk or render the motor vehicle inoperable.

Software or technology glitches, like those millions of 'electrical system' failures, can fall into any of these categories.

On one end of the spectrum: Chrysler recalled 600,000 Dodge Ram trucks this month after it was discovered that the trucks had software designed to hide pollution emissions.

And on the other: A Tesla crashed into a firetruck in California this time last year, killing the driver and critically injuring a passenger while operating on the company's autopilot software.

A look at the market share held by each of the major automakers whose faulty cars catapulted them to the top of the 2023 recall list, suggests that many of these issues can not be explained away by volume of sales.

Both General Motors (GM) and Toyota surpass Ford in total sales and market share, for example, but ranked lower on total number of recalled vehicles.

GM sold over 2.2 million automobiles in 2022, based on data obtained by GoodCarBadCar.com, earning a 13.16-percent market share compared to Ford's 10.73 percent.

Based on John Foy & Associates analysis, across the 100 most-impacted makers, including Tesla and Land Rover, the average number of recalled vehicles for each company since 1966 was 12,147,944  meaning Ford's total is 1,592 percent higher than the norm.

But those figures can be deceiving.

'While it's easy to take the NHTSA findings and view the manufacturers with the most vehicles affected by recalls as inferior or lacking in some way, it's important to consider what other factors may affect the results,' Foy advised.

'It makes sense that it's the biggest car manufacturers that make up the majority of the ten most affected brands, as they arguably monopolize a large share of the market and, therefore, will naturally be impacted by recalls more than smaller makers due to having more vehicles in production.'

'Those who've operated since the 60s will have higher figures than newer automakers,' he added.

Past those caveats, there's at least one silver lining for Ford: According to Automotive News, the number of recalled Ford vehicles in 2023 was down 30 percent in the US compared to recalls in 2022.
NASA is allowing civilians to become amateur astronomers as they search for the answers about mysterious explosions in space.

Citizen 'Burst Chasers' are being asked to read signals from the events, known as gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), and decode what the universe might be saying.

Gamma rays are bright form of lights that comes from billions of light years away from Earth - and the American space agency believe the cosmic wonder's origins live in the released pulses.

Volunteer scientists will examine any slow bursts of energy that the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory telescope detects and submit their findings through the projects website.

Gamma Rays are a bright form of light that comes from billions of light years away

the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory telescope detects bursts of light, or gamma rays

GRBs were first discovered in the 1960s and have since amazed scientists worldwide  but have also sparked a hunt to find out what causes these violent explosions.

When stars or black holes die, they drive out material at velocities close to the speed of light, and powerful bright, short-lived gamma-ray flashes that can be detected by satellites orbiting the Earth.

The magnetic fields are not seen directly, but telescopes like the Hubble pick up a signature that is encoded in the light produced by charged particles, or electrons, that whiz around the magnetic field lines.

And Earth-bound telescopes have also captured this light, which has travelled for millions of years across the universe.

NASA described the pulses as short flashes in gamma rays and are one of the most energetic explosions in the universe!

The agency added that while they know what gamma rays are connected to, exactly how these events produce pulses with such a variety of characteristics remain a mystery.

In a desperate plea, NASA concluded: We need your help to sort out these pulses to better understand how these powerful gamma-ray pulses are created.

The Burst Chaser projects site gives amateur astronomers directions for what kind of responses theyre looking for.

Volunteers can join the Burst Chaser project to identify pulses emitted from Gamma Rays

The website also provides a tutorial and a task meant to test the persons knowledge of recording and classifying the pulse shapes of gamma-ray bursts.

When a gamma ray explodes, it emits both a noise fluctuation and a pulse, which NASA is classifying as twice the size of the noise.

The bursts could give astronomers insight into what happens in extreme environments that they can't replicate on Earth, and it could provide clues into how the universe formed and evolved.

However, NASA explains that there are no clear-cut definitions between pulses and noise, and requests that volunteers please use your best judgment to distinguish them.

The Burst Chaser project has received more than 1,200 volunteers and nearly 72,000 gamma-ray classifications.

We need your help to classify these pulses for more clues of what they really are!" said Professor Amy Lien from the University of Tampa, the projects Principal Investigator.
READ MORE: NASA reveals more about the inner structure of the Red Planet

Despite once being home to lush oceans of liquid water billions of years ago, any traces of H2O on Mars today are well hidden.

Now, scientists have discovered two miles of water buried beneath the surface in an area of the planet's equator, known as the Medusae Fossae Formation (MFF).

The water is frozen as ice in a layer measuring over two miles (3.7km) thick, according to new data from the Mars Express spacecraft.

If melted, the water would cover the whole of Mars in a layer of liquid up to 8.8 feet (2.7 metres) deep, and would be enough to fill Earth's Red Sea.

Although melting the ice may require an ambitious drilling operation when astronauts land on Mars, it could potentially be used for drinking or growing crops.

The water ice is below the surface at Medusae Fossae Formation, a large geological formation of volcanic origin near the equator of Mars

Map of potential water ice thickness at the Medusae Fossae Formation (MFF). The water ice deposits are up to 2.2 miles (3.7km) thick

Mars: The basics Mars is the fourth planet from the sun, with a 'near-dead' dusty, cold, desert world with a very thin atmosphere. Mars is also a dynamic planet with seasons, polar ice caps, canyons, extinct volcanoes, and evidence that it was even more active in the past. This image taken by NASA's Curiosity Mars rover shows a close-up of the rippled textures on Mars It is one of the most explored planets in the solar system and the only planet humans have sent rovers to explore. One day on Mars takes a little over 24 hours and a year is 687 Earth days. Quick facts and figures Orbital period: 687 days Surface area: 55.91 million mi Distance from Sun: 145 million miles Gravity: 3.721 m/s Radius: 2,106 miles Moons: Phobos, Deimos Advertisement

The top of any ice-rich layers is at least 1,000 feet (300 metres) below the surface, but perhaps as much as 2,000 feet (600 metres) below the surface.

A paper about the new research by a group of international experts will be published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.

'An ice-rich MFF deposit has important implications for the paleoclimate of Mars and could be potentially of great value to future human exploration of Mars,' said study author Thomas R. Watters at the Smithsonian Institution's Center for Earth and Planetary Studies in Washington, DC.

'The MFF deposits are located at the Martian equator along the boundary between the northern lowlands and the heavily cratered highlands  an ideal landing spot for spacecraft as the lower elevation provides more atmosphere to slow a spacecrafts decent.'

The MFF is a large geological formation of volcanic origin, around a fifth of the size of the mainland United States.

From satellite imagery it appears as smooth and gently undulating, but is partially wind-sculpted into ridges and grooves.

These wind-sculpted features measure hundreds of miles across and several miles high.

They're possibly the biggest single source of dust on Mars and one of the most extensive deposits on the planet, according to ESA.

More than 15 years ago, Mars Express found massive deposits up to 1.5 miles (2.5km) deep at the MFF  but it wasn't clear what the deposits actually were.

Now, new observations by the legendary spacecraft finally reveals an answer  frozen water.

'We've explored the MFF again using newer data from Mars Express's MARSIS radar and found the deposits to be even thicker than we thought  up to 3.7 km [2.2 miles] thick,' said Thomas Watters of the Smithsonian Institution.

'Excitingly, the radar signals match what we'd expect to see from layered ice, and are similar to the signals we see from Mars's polar caps, which we know to be very ice rich.'

Like other planetary orbiters, Mars Express can emit radar waves to yield insights about its subsurface, not immediately visible to spacecraft cameras.

Medusae Fossae Formation is a large geological formation of volcanic origin, around a fifth of the size of the mainland United States

Artist's impression of the Mars Express craft above the Red Planet with its with MARSIS antenna deployed

READ MORE: The inner structure of Mars revealed by NASA Mars' core is denser and smaller than previous estimates Advertisement

Initial observations from Mars Express in 2007 showed MFF was low in density and didn't really reflect back radar waves  both characteristics typical of icy deposits beneath the surface.

However, at the time, scientists couldnt rule out the possibility that subsurface features were deep accumulations of windblown dust, volcanic ash or sediment.

Now, the new radar data from Mars Express shows that the density of the features are too low for this  suggestive of water ice.

'Given how deep it is, if the MFF was simply a giant pile of dust, wed expect it to become compacted under its own weight,' said Andrea Cicchetti at the National Institute for Astrophysics in Italy.

'This would create something far denser than what we actually see with MARSIS.

'And when we modelled how different ice-free materials would behave, nothing reproduced the properties of the MFF.'

The scientists are unsure how long ago these ice deposits formed or whether they could be remnant of Marss oceans.

But the MFF could make 'a fascinating target for human or robotic exploration', said Colin Wilson, ESA project scientist for Mars Express.

'The first settlers to the planet will almost certainly need a source of water, and near-surface water ice would be ideal for that,' he told MailOnline.

'Unfortunately, the water-rich layers suggested by this new research lie hundreds of meters underground, so are inaccessible to settlers for until we can get major drilling equipment to Mars.

'It seems that the bulk of this Medusae Fossae region was apparently formed over 3 billion years ago, so massive ice deposits could well date back to that era.'

When NASA does eventually put humans on Mars  possibly in the 2030s  it will have to land at a water-rich part of the planet to keep them alive.

Mars Express radar image (black and white) showing layers of dry material and possible ice in the MFF below the surface

In the top image, the white line on Marss surface shows a stretch of land that was scanned by MARSIS. The graph below shows the shape of the land and the structure of the subsurface, with the layer of dry sediments (likely dust or volcanic ash) in brown and the layer of suspected ice-rich deposits in blue. The graph shows that the ice deposit is thousands of metres high and hundreds of kilometres wide

Scientists think the vast majority of water that exists on Mars today is ice, although recent studies have claimed there is liquid water there too in scant amounts.

Liquid water is an essential ingredient for life, although its presence does not necessarily mean that life exists or existed on the Red Planet.

Speaking to MailOnline in 2022, Professor Brian Cox said that the most advanced life to ever have existed on Mars was likely single-celled organisms 'at best'.

However, scientists are in agreement that liquid water was once abundant on Mars.

About 4.3 billion years ago the Red Planet had enough water to cover its entire surface in a liquid layer about 450 feet (137 meters) deep, according to NASA.

Fast forward to 3.5 billion years ago, and this water was more scarce  channeled around the planet between crater lakes via rivers, much like on Earth today.

Liquid water was last on Mars perhaps as recently as 2 billion years ago, before the Martian atmosphere was lost and the liquid water evaporated.
Hundreds of coins that were discovered in pillowcases and a sock during a routine house clearance have sold for more than 100,000.

Hansons Auctioneers were carrying out the clearance at a house in Leicestershire when they found 331 gold coins while searching a linen chest.

The coins ranged from the 1800s to the 21st century, featuring monarchs such as Queen Victoria, King George V and Queen Elizabeth II.

The collection went under the hammer at Hertfordshire auction house Hanson Ross on January 17, with each coin valued between 300 and 500.

Every single coin was sold for a combined 90,768, with a buyer's premium taking the total to 118,000.

Hundreds of coins that were discovered in pillowcases and a sock during a routine house clearance have sold for more than 100,000

Hansons Auctioneers were carrying out the clearance at a house in Leicestershire when they found 331 gold coins while searching a linen chest

READ MORE: Metal detectorists made 1,378 discoveries in Britain Advertisement

Charles Hanson, owner of Hansons, said: 'It was an amazing find, made after a client instructed us to clear a house.

'Our team are renowned for being thorough.

'They check over every inch of a house.

'It's not just about fine or fragile objects on display, it's the hidden items that are often the most valuable.

'These are found in drawers, wardrobes, cupboards, bags and, in this case, even an old sock.

'People have a multitude of hiding places.

'Sometimes it's a case of hide and seek.

'In this case, workers were checking through the attic and linen in a bedroom chest when the coins were discovered.

'You can imagine their amazement.

'First, they saw the golden glint of one gold coin, then handfuls emerged.

'Some were hidden in a pillowcase and many others were tucked away in a sock.

'Our client was flabbergasted and delighted in equal measure.

'They had no idea the house contained a treasure trove of gold.'

Charles Hanson, owner of Hansons, said: 'It was an amazing find, made after a client instructed us to clear a house'

'Due to long periods on the throne, Victoria and Elizabeth's coin profiles alter through the decades,' Mr Hanson said

Mr Hanson said that the coins were 'in hot demand' sparking a 'white glove sale' where every single lot sells.

He added: 'It was like a walk through 300 years of history.

'The collection captured the passage of time due to different monarchs represented on the sovereigns.

'They also reminded us of the length of their reigns.

'Due to long periods on the throne, Victoria and Elizabeth's coin profiles alter through the decades.'
READ MORE: Chinese billionaire Chen Tianqiao's $85 MILLION purchase of Oregon is missing from government records

The report revealed there at least 40 million acres owned other countries

At least 40 million acres of US farmland, pastures and forests are owned by foreign investors, which officials warn may have consequences for national security.

A new watchdog report found that foreign ownership of US land - including buyers from adversarial nations like China, Russia and Iran - has increased by 40 percent since 2016, with some plots near sensitive military facilities.

As well as espionage concerns, there is growing alarm about the integrity of America's food supply chains.

But the estimates could be the tip of the iceberg because the Government Accountability Office (GAO), which did the report, told DailyMail.com that US officials are not 'reliably' tracking data on land owners.

The new Congressional analysis has caused fury among Democrats and Republicans, who demanded the Biden Administration clamp down on purchases from adversaries' to shore up America's defenses.

Foreign countries own at least 40 million acres of US farmland, pastures and forests, which officials claimed may have consequences for national security. However, a watchdog said the government is not 'reliably' tracking data on land owners. Pictured is only farmland ownership

Democratic Senator Jon Tester said: While we learn more about the specifics around this unfolding situation, it highlights the need for Congress to do more to protect American agricultural security and prevent our foreign adversaries from controlling our countrys food supply while also gaining access to land near sensitive military sites.

Republican Representative Dan Newhouse also shared his outrage after GAO released its findings.

'This report confirms one of our worst fears: that not only is the e United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) unable to answer the question of who owns what land and where, but that there is no plan by the department to internally reverse this dangerous flaw that affects our supply chain and economy,' Newhouse said.

'Food security is national security, and we cannot allow foreign adversaries to influence our food supply while we stick our heads in the sand.'

Chinese firms own 346,915 acres of American agricultural land as of December 2022

The GAO's findings revealed the USDA collects the required data on paper forms and noted the agency 'does not share timely data on foreign investments in agricultural land collected under the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act of 1978, as amended (AFIDA).'

AFIDA requires foreign persons acquiring or transferring agricultural land to report information about the transaction to USDA.

'USDA also does not sufficiently verify and conduct quality reviews to track the accuracy and completeness of its collected data,' the report reads.

'Without improving its internal processes, USDA cannot report reliable information to Congress or the public about where and how much U.S. agricultural land is held by foreign persons.'

While 40 million acres only makes up a small amount of the 1.3 billion acres of private land in the US, the GAO report warned the data was sparse and unreliable.

For example, the GAO pointed out that Chinese billionaire Chen Tianqiao's $85 million purchase of Oregon timberland is missing from government records.

Kimberly Gianopoulos, director of GAO, told DailyMail.com: 'Recent reporting about Chen Tianqiao (pictured) holding 200,000 acres of agricultural land does not appear to be accounted for in USDAs data'

Tianqiao earned his $4 billion fortune from online gaming and spent $85 million of it to purchase 198,000 acres in Oregon in 2015 but did not become known until this week

Kimberly Gianopoulos, director of GAO, told DailyMail.com: 'Recent reporting about Chen Tianqiao holding 200,000 acres of agricultural land does not appear to be accounted for in USDAs data.'

Tianqiao has held executive roles in organizations affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

China-based investors and companies own croplands in 28 states, equating to a total of 186,823 acres, according to a report from the USDA that includes data up to 2022 - the latest available.

The firms own more than $2 billion worth of US farmland, up from just $162 million a decade ago, according to the latest USDA figures.

Most of the land claims are in Texas with 192,000 acres, followed by 49,000 acres in North Carolina and Missouri and Utah with 34,000.

AFIDA data has shown 131,000 acres in Val Verde County, Texas is owned by a Chinese-based billionaire.

Local realtors told DailyMail.com in September that David Frankens, from Lufkin, East Texas, sold the land to Sun Guangxin, a former captain in the Chinese military, for an estimated $110 million between 2016 and 2018.

A report written by former CIA officials, seen by DailyMail.com, suggested the Chinese billionaire could be considered a national security risk by US authorities due to his extensive links to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

Data from the USDA report, released last month, shows that investors from 99 countries have a claim on US land.

The list includes the Republic of Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia and Venezuela.

Combined, investors of those adversarial nations own about 95,000 acres of agricultural land.

Data from the USDA report shows that investors from 99 countries have a claim on US land. The list includes the Republic of Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia and Venezuela

The new Congressional analysis has caused fury among Democrats and Republicans, who demanded the Biden Administration clamp down on purchases from adversaries' to shore up America's defenses

The are four Cuba-based investors who own 858 acres in the US across three states and Puerto Rico.

The Russian Federation consists of four investors who hold 73 acres in four states and North Korea includes a whopping 32 investors who bought 4,839 acres, according to the USDA report.

A total of 22 investors based in Iran own 2,463 acres and Venezuela's 100 investors own 28,218 acres.

In 2022, Chinas Chemical manufacturing company Fufeng Group purchased 300 acres of farmland in North Dakota - 20 minutes from Grand Forks Air Force Base that is home to sensitive military drone technology.

Air Force Major Jeremy Fox wrote a memo shortly after Fufeng Group bought the land for $2.6 million.

Local realtors told DailyMail.com in September that David Frankens (left), from Lufkin, East Texas, sold 131,000 land to Sun Guangxin (right)

Guangxin's land grab means he owns seven percent of all land in Val Verde County. The site of his proposed wind farm sits to the north east of the county, but he already earns royalties from wind turbines operated on his land by a French firm at Rocksprings

He argued that the Fufeng property is located at just the right location for the company to intercept communications coming from the Air Force base.

'Some of the most sensitive elements of Grand Forks exist with the digital uplinks and downlinks inherent with unmanned air systems and their interaction with space-based assets,' Fox wrote.

South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem recently shared a statement regarding foreign land purchasing, while throwing her support for 'Congressman Mike Gallaghers preventing the Chinese Communist Party and other nations that hate America from owning American agricultural land.'

In the last decade, China's holdings of American ag land have increased by 5,300 percent,' Noem shared on X.

She also penned a letter to Gallagher, which reads: The states and Congress must work together to defend our nation from the Chinese Communist Party, especially given the lack of sufficient action from the Biden Administration.

The congressional USDA report determined that Canadian investors own the largest portion of foreign-held US agricultural land with 12.8 million acres.

Following the North American country are investors from the Netherlands (4.9 million acres), Italy (2.7 million acres), the UK (2.5 million acres) and Germany (2.3 million acres).

The total 40.8 million acres covers agricultural land and nonagricultural land.

Forestland accounted for 47 percent of all foreign-owned land, cropland accounted for 29 percent and pasture and other agricultural land for 22 percent. Nonagricultural land (such as homesteads and roads) accounted for two percent.
America's doomed private lunar lander ended its mission with a fiery re-entry into Earth on Thursday, following its failed flight to the moon.

Today, the private NASA contractor behind the project announced plans to impanel 'an Anomaly Review Board' to investigate what exactly had lead to the explosive rupture that drained the craft of fuel and blasted it off course.

Peregrine One had been set to touch down on the lunar surface, but experienced a fuel leak in space last week, forcing the ground team to bring the craft back home.

Just before 4pm EST (9pm GMT) Thursday, Peregrine burned up in the atmosphere somewhere over the South Pacific Ocean, about 400 miles south of Fiji.

NASA contractor Astrobotic, which developed the lander, shared its final updates Friday afternoon, along with stunning video of Peregrine embarking on its mission, which launched January 8.

A thermal-imaging camera also caught the craft this Thursday in another clip, which documented the thwarted moon robot's last moments as the team redirected Peregrine's thrusters hoping to steer the spacecraft away from human habitation.

Doomed private lunar lander, Peregrine One, crashed back to Earth yesterday, burning-up above Australia, but not before snapping one last indelible image. The company also dropped a stunning video of 'spaceship Earth' taken shortly after the probe's January 8th launch (above)

Peregrine's eerie final re-entry image (above), shows an eclipsed 'Crescent Earth' gleaming in the void of space. It posted to X by the Peregrine probe's maker, NASA contractor Astrobotic

(2/2)Peregrine captured this video moments after successful separation from @ulalaunch Vulcan rocket. Counterclockwise from top left center is the DHL MoonBox, Astroscale's Pocari Sweat Lunar Dream Time Capsule, & Peregrine landing leg. Background: our big blue marble, Earth! pic.twitter.com/1y4OsosNDp  Astrobotic (@astrobotic) January 19, 2024

While the hope of the US returning to the moon has been temporarily dashed, Astrobotic CEO John Thornton expressed high hopes for its future Griffin lunar lander missions.

'What a wild adventure we were just on,' Thornton said. 'Certainly not the outcome we were hoping for and certainly challenging right up front.'

Like the Peregrine, these robotic lunar landers are expected to serve as a scout for the NASA's Artemis astronauts before they make their own moon landing in 2026.

The CEO and trained mechanical engineer described 'victory' after 'victory' as his team scrambled to make the most of the scrapped Peregrine mission.

'On the way, out we activated all of the payloads that had power or could use power during the mission,' Thornton told reporters Friday.

'We received successful signals from all of those payloads and we got data back from all of the payloads that could send data. We were very pleased to see that.'

Thornton noted that Germany's space agency, Deutsches Zentrum fur Luft- und Raumfahrt or DLR, expressed gratitude that its payload of scientific instrumentation onboard the Peregrine managed to collect much-needed cosmic radiation data.

'The DLR M42 radiation detector was working perfectly through out the whole mission timeline,' Dr. Thomas Berger, the head of DLR's Biophysics Group and an expert in radiation biology, said in a statement.

The 1.2-ton lander had been carrying $108 million worth of NASA instruments, a hair sample from US President John F Kennedy, and the ashes of 60 other people set to be dropped on the lunar surface (pictured)

READ MORE: Peregrine One mission 'doomed' after critical loss of fuel Take-off on January 8 was deemed a success but it soon encountered troubles Advertisement

'We were able to gather over 92 hours of data measuring the radiation environment in 'free space' ... which is extremely valuable for the scientific community and DLR.'

In a statement published Thursday night, Astrobotic reported that it had lost telemetry signal reception from the Peregrine spacecraft at around 3:50pm EST (8:50pm GMT) 'as expected.'

'While this indicates the vehicle completed its controlled re-entry over open water in the South Pacific at 4:04pm,' the company said, 'we await independent confirmation from government entities.'

But while Astrobotic waits, it is also planning to assemble its own team of industry experts to get to the bottom of what went wrong with the spacecraft in the hours after its January 8th rocket launch.

At a 1pm EST media teleconference today, live-streamed on NASA's YouTube channel, CEO John Thornton told reporters, 'We're going to be looking at this very heavily with an Anomaly Review Board.'

'Our leading theory has not changed at this point,' Thornton noted.

'But what appears to have happened is that valve connecting the helium to the oxidizer did not properly 'reseat' and sent a rush of helium [the 'pressurant' gas designed to move the liquid fuel] into the oxidizer side.'

'And I describe it as a 'rush,'' he added, 'because it was very very fast.'

The result, Thornton said echoing past assessments, was a 'catastrophic loss of propellent' that left Peregrine's lunar landing mission aborted while the team scrambled to redirect the spacecraft and attempt useful fallback objectives.

At around 4:04pm EST Thursday, Peregrine One hit a remote region of the South Pacific, about 400 miles south of Fiji, as caught on thermal cameras (left). This map (right) shows the re-entry area with the orange circle offering a 99 per cent degree of certainty where it crash-landed

Once it became clear that Peregrine One would fail its objective of landing on the moon, Astrobotic redirected the craft back to Earth to avoid space debris.

In the last few days, it's got closer and closer to Earth and is now less than 100,000 miles away.

On Wednesday, the Astrobotic team were able to move the spacecraft and change its projected trajectory so it would hit an uninhabited area of the South Pacific Ocean.

This involved firing the craft's engines with a series of short burns before adjusting the spacecraft's altitude so the force induced by the propellant leak shifted it towards the South Pacific.

Not to be: This illustration from Astrobotic Technology depicts the Peregrine lunar lander on the surface of the moon - but the mission has failed and the lander will soon be gone

A brand new rocket, United Launch Alliance's (ULA) Vulcan Centaur, lifted Peregrine into orbit from Space Launch Complex 41d at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on January 8, 2024 (above)

'The procedures the team executed were to minimize the risk of debris reaching land,' the firm added.

'Astrobotic continues to work closely with NASA and other relevant government authorities to keep everyone informed and to solicit feedback as appropriate.'

Spacecraft are broken up during re-entry into Earth's atmosphere, but the surviving fragments  many larger than vehicles  rain down on Earth's surface and can cause damage if they hit land.

As it re-enters the atmosphere, Peregrine will hit air molecules at about 17,000mph and mostly burn up and disintegrate.

But the surviving pieces will be contained in the nominated zone of the South Pacific, Astrobotic expects.

Under a $108 million contract with NASA, the 1.2-ton lander is carrying 20 payloads including science instruments and DNA samples from US presidents John F Kennedy, Dwight D Eisenhower, and George Washington.

The lander also holds the remains of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry, alongside the ashes of around 60 other individuals that were set to be dropped on the lunar surface.

Unfortunately, these treasured items will likely all be lost when the lander burns up in Earth's atmosphere; MailOnline has contacted Astrobotic for comment.

Despite the failure, Astrobotic said it had been able to power up science experiments that it was carrying for NASA and other space agencies and to gather spaceflight data.
The 20 best European cities for solo travellers have been revealed - and Rhodes in Greece tops the list.

It was produced by a Wizz Air study, with researchers ranking cities based on Tripadvisor reviews - specifically for restaurants and attractions in each destination - tagged 'solo travellers' in 2023.

The budget airline then calculated the percentage of five-star reviews for each city and ranked them accordingly, it explains. This process involved selecting only the highest-scoring city from each country to ensure that each country was represented only once on the list.

Scroll down for the full ranking. Do you agree with it?

1. Rhodes, Greece

Pictured: The best cities for solo travellers, according to a report by Wizz Air that ranks popular cities based on Tripadvisor reviews

Rhodes city, on the island of Rhodes in Greece, tops Wizz Air's list of best European cities for solo travellers

In first place is the Greek city of Rhodes, which saw 76 per cent of its solo-traveller user reviews rated with five stars, according to the Wizz Air study.

Of these, the city's attractions received the majority of five-star reviews (79 per cent), with 73 per cent of restaurants in the city attracting perfect scores.

2. Split, Croatia

Split in Croatia wins the silver medal, with 73 per cent of reviews tagged 'solo travellers' receiving five stars

Runner-up is Split, with 73 per cent of solo travel reviews awarded five stars.

Attractions in the Croatian city received the most five-star reviews (81 per cent), followed by restaurant reviews at 66 per cent, the report reveals.

3= Faro, Portugal

Faro, in Portugal's Algarve region, is joint third with over two-thirds of its reviews being five-star

In joint third place is Faro, Portugal, which saw 67 per cent of its reviews at five stars.

The city, in the Algarve region, earned the bulk of its five-star reviews for its attractions (74 per cent). Fifty-nine per cent of restaurants garnered top marks.

3= Istanbul, Turkiye (Turkey)

Sharing the podium with Faro in third place, it's Istanbul in Turkiye (Turkey)

Tying with Faro is the Turkish city of Istanbul, also with an overall five-star review score of 67 per cent.

The restaurants performed best, with 71 per cent of them attracting perfect scores.

4. Florence, Italy

Florence completes the list of the top five European cities for solo travellers

Rounding off the top five is Florence in Italy, which saw 66 per cent of its solo-traveller user reviews at the five-star level.

Attractions garnered the majority of five-star reviews (71 per cent), with 61 per cent of restaurants clocking up five-star reviews.

5. London, UK

The results for London highlight 'just how great an option the destination is for a trip alone', Wizz Air commented

In fifth place, and the sixth destination in the ranking, it's London, where an overall 63 per cent of reviews relating to travelling solo awarded it five stars.

'Overall, 63 per cent of the English city's reviews relating to travelling solo were five-star - highlighting just how great an option the destination is for a trip alone,' Wizz Air said. In total, 74 per cent of the UK capital's attractions were given five-star reviews, while 51 per cent of restaurants attracted top marks.

6= Reykjavik, Iceland

'Reykjavik ranks as the joint sixth-best destination in Europe for those travelling by themselves in 2023,' Wizz Air said.

Overall, 62 per cent of the Icelandic citys reviews relating to travelling solo were five-star.

6= Seville, Spain

Seville comes joint sixth thanks to 62 per cent of its reviews being awarded five stars on average.

7= Valletta, Malta

Overall, 60 per cent of Valletta's reviews relating to solo travel were five-star.

7= Nice, France

For the French city of Nice, 60 per cent of solo travel-related reviews were five-star, according to the Wizz Air study

Sixty per cent of Nice's reviews relating to travelling solo were five-star, according to Wizz Air, which ranks it joint seventh with Valletta. Sixty-eight per cent of its attractions were deemed five-star versus 51 per cent of its restaurants.

8. Lucerne, Switzerland

Here, 59 per cent of solo travellers left five-star reviews. The split between attractions and restaurants was 66 per cent and 51 per cent.

9= Varna, Bulgaria

Varna earns joint ninth thanks to 58 per cent of its reviews being five-star. The split between attractions and restaurants was 63 per cent and 53 per cent.

9= Riga, Latvia

The Latvian capital of Riga came ninth with an identical overall score, of 58 per cent, to that of Varna. The split between attractions and restaurants was 60 per cent and 56 per cent.

10= Bruges, Belgium

For Bruge, in joint tenth place, 57 per cent of reviews relating to travelling solo were five-star. The split between attractions and restaurants was 62.5 per cent and 51 per cent.

10= Kaunas, Lithuania

For Kaunas (pictured), 57 per cent of reviews relating to solo travel were given five stars by people on Tripadvisor, according to the Wizz Air report, which places it joint 10th

Also sharing the last spot in the top ten ranking is the Lithuanian city of Kaunas, with 57 per cent of reviews marked as five stars. The split between attractions and restaurants was 51 per cent and 63 per cent.

10= Krakow, Poland

The third city to rank joint tenth is Krakow, with an overall score of 57 per cent and a split between attractions and restaurants of 56 per cent and 57 per cent.

11. Bucharest, Romania

Coming in as the eleventh-best city for solo travellers, Bucharest has an overall five-star percentage of 55 with 56 per cent of attractions awarded five stars and 54 per cent of restaurants.

12= Prague, Czech Republic

Prague comes in at joint twelfth-best on the list. The numbers? It has an overall five-star percent of 54, with attractions and restaurants almost neck and neck - 53 per cent and 54 percent respectively.

12= Budapest, Hungary

THE 20 BEST EUROPEAN CITIES FOR SOLO TRAVELLERS 1. Rhodes, Greece 2. Split, Croatia 3= Faro, Portugal 3= Istanbul, Turkiye (Turkey) 4. Florence, Italy 5. London, UK 6= Reykjavik, Iceland 6= Seville, Spain 7= Valleta, Malta 7= Nice, France 8. Lucerne, Switzerland 9= Varna, Bulgaria 9= Riga, Latvia 10= Bruges, Belgium 10= Kaunas, Lithuania 10= Krakow, Poland 11. Bucharest, Romania 12= Prague, Czech Republic 12= Budapest, Hungary 12= Roosendaal, Netherlands Source: Wizz Air Advertisement

Budapest, pictured, ranks in joint 12th position along with Prague and Roosendaal

The capital city of Hungary ranks the same as Prague at 12th. Overall, 54 per cent of reviews were rated five stars. The split between attractions and restaurants? Fifty-one per cent and 57 per cent.

12= Roosendaal, Netherlands

Also in joint 12th place is the Dutch city of Roosendaal with 54 per cent of reviews being five-star. Attractions here (60 per cent) had more critical success than restaurants (48 per cent).

Andras Rado, corporate communications manager at Wizz Air, commented: 'There is a lot to be said about the benefits of travelling on your own  from freedom of location to cheaper travel expenses.

'Of course, those choosing to go on holiday on their own want to ensure that the destinations they're heading off to have plenty to keep them entertained, which is why we have collated a ranking of the best city destinations for solo travellers.

'One of the most reliable ways for travellers to gain information about the realities of travelling to a destination is through the experiences of other travellers that have been there before, which is why we know the importance of basing our ranking on reviews left by prior solo-travellers to ensure that these cities have the most to offer those jetting off alone.'

The list of cities ranked in the Wizz Air report was gathered based on Euromonitors top 100 cities in 2019, Europas list of culture and tourism cities, and Holidu magazines list of European cities with the most tourism.

The study was not officially endorsed by Tripadvisor.
If Britons have the patience to wait, they can save hundreds on their holiday this summer - whether they're after a trip to the sun or a UK cottage break, Which? has revealed.

The consumer watchdog found that the most expensive weeks for booking a package holiday are from 27 July - 3 August and from 3 Aug - 10 August. They are the first two weeks after most English schools break up.

The cheapest week in the summer holidays for a package holiday is the final one, when most children are still off - 24 to 31 August.

Which? also looked at changes in costs for booking a cottage across different parts of the UK, which they found variable dependent on region. However, it was never cheapest to book during the first week of the English and Welsh school holidays.

WHEN AND WHERE ARE THE CHEAPEST SUMMER PACKAGE HOLIDAYS

If Britons have the patience to wait, they can save hundreds on their holiday this summer, whether they're after a trip to the sun, or a UK cottage break, Which? has revealed. The consumer watchdog found that the most expensive weeks for taking a package holiday are from 27 July - 3 August and from 3 Aug - 10 August

AVERAGE COST OF A SEVEN-NIGHT PACKAGE HOLIDAY DURING BRITISH SUMMER, PER PERSON, BASED ON TWO PEOPLE SHARING 13 July 20 July 27 July 3 August 10 August 17 August 24 August 1,139 1,238 1,256 1,262 1,241 1,230 1,133 Source: Which?

Looking deeper at the package holiday data, the consumer group found it is 123 cheaper per person to book a package break during the last week of the summer holiday compared to the first week, and 129 cheaper than the second, on average.

The last two weeks of the summer holidays were cheaper for all the major holiday destinations Which? looked at: Spain, Portugal, Greece, Cyprus, Italy, Turkey, Bulgaria, Malta and Morocco.

The cheapest package holidays on average were in Morocco, with a week's all-inclusive trip costing 962 per person on average.

The second-cheapest were in Malta (1,080 per person), with Bulgaria the third most affordable (1,087 per person).

The cheapest package holidays on average were in Morocco, with a week's all-inclusive trip costing 962 per person on average

AVERAGE COST OF ONE WEEK PACKAGE HOLIDAY, ALL-INCLUSIVE, PER PERSON DURING BRITISH SUMMER 2024 Destination Morocco 962 Malta 1,080 Bulgaria 1,087 Balearics (Ibiza, Mallorca, Minorca) 1,127 Canaries 1,141 Spain (Mainland) 1,163 Croatia 1,213 Italy 1,223 Turkey 1,228 Cyprus 1,253 Greece 1,258 Portugal 1,344 Source: Which?

In this list, the priciest country was Portugal, with a seven-night all-inclusive package setting consumers back 1,344.

Second-most expensive was Greece, though notably cheaper at 1,258, closely followed by neighbour Cyprus, the third-most expensive package holiday destination at 1,253.

Which? notes that these figures were impacted by what kind of holidays were available in each location. Countries with a higher concentration of luxury hotels will, logically, have a higher average cost for package holiday deals  but that does not preclude bargains being available in that destination should consumers search for a less decadent hotel.

Which? collected data on 5,681 TUI and 2,223 Jet2 all-inclusive seven-day holidays, for the period between 13 July 2024 and 31 August 2024. Prices were per person based on two people sharing.

WHEN ARE THE CHEAPEST SUMMER HOLIDAY COTTAGE BREAKS?

Highland robbery: Across all the holiday lets surveyed, from the period of mid-July to early September, the most expensive cottages were in Scotland. Pictured: Buachaille Etive Mor mountain in Glen Etive in the Scottish Highlands

AVERAGE COST FOR A WEEK-LONG HOLIDAY COTTAGE, UK SUMMER 2024 COUNTRY 13/07 20/07 27/07 03/08 10/08 17/08 24/08 31/08 Summer average England 1,109 1,198 1,358 1,267 1,268 1,343 1,290 988 1,233 Northern Ireland 908 911 1,012 1,006 1,033 895 834 736 912 Scotland 1,255 1,308 1,310 1,328 1,327 1,301 1,285 1,129 1,279 Wales 1,121 1,176 1,280 1,304 1,301 1,277 1,219 980 1,202 UK overall 1,124 1,204 1,341 1,279 1,279 1,328 1,278 1,000 1,231 Source: Which?

Which? also looked at where and when the cheapest deals for summer holiday cottage breaks were across the UK.

Again, the first week of the English school holidays proved the most expensive time for a getaway.

Which weeks are the least expensive depends on whether Britons holiday in England, Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland.

In England, cottages were most expensive on the first week of school holidays, week commencing 27 July, with the price of a week's cottage rental averaging 1,358. Wait a week to head off on 3 August, and the rate is at its cheapest - 1,267, a 91 saving.

Prices drop considerably when English schools go back  the average price for the week commencing 31 August is 988. That's 370 cheaper than heading off at the start of the school break.

The fluctuation in prices at Welsh holiday cottages was slightly less pronounced for the holiday period. The most expensive time to book is the week commencing 3 August, when a week's stay will set holidaymakers back an average of 1,304.

Head off on 24 August and they'll shave 85 off that. Similar to England, though, the big saving comes when school heads back: it's 980 on average for a stay week commencing 31 August, 324 less than peak.

Scottish schools break earlier than English, from 1 July to 12 August. If Brits want a holiday home in Scotland the most expensive week of the period surveyed is 1,328, while the least expensive is  as with England and Wales  the week starting 31 August, when a cottage stay can be nabbed for 1,129 a week.

Northern Ireland had the cheapest cottage lets for the summer holiday period across the UK in 2024. Pictured: Families enjoy the Dark Hedges in Ballymoney, Northern Ireland

Across all the holiday lets surveyed, from the period of mid-July to early September, the most expensive cottages were in Scotland.

The least expensive cottages were in Northern Ireland, with properties going for 912 per week on average across the English summer holiday period, as compared to 1,279 on average for the same period in Scotland.

In Northern Ireland school holidays are not standardised and instead set by individual schools. Cottages were at their most expensive on the week commencing 3 August  an average of 1,006 per week (this is 322 cheaper on average than renting on the same week in Scotland).

If Britons can hold out until 31 August, the price for a Northern Ireland cottage stay drops to 736  the cheapest available across the UK.

To collate its data, Which? gathered 303,914 prices for a week's stay in UK cottages of all sizes during summer 2024, from Cottages.com and Holidaycottages.co.uk.
From the treasures of the Holy Land in Israel to the shores of the Black Sea, the wilds of Iceland and the coastline of Ecuador, more of the world is no-go now for tourism than at any time since the pandemic.

MSC Cruises announced this week that it is cancelling any voyages that were due to pass through the Suez Canal and Red Sea, instead sending its ships back to Europe without passengers around the west coast of Africa.

Passengers are being offered refunds or alternative sailings.

Troubles in the Middle East have brought an almost complete stop to tourism in the region, with Israel, Lebanon and North Sinai in Egypt out of bounds to holidaymakers on Foreign Office travel advice.

Meanwhile, mayhem in Ecuador has seen crime gang leaders break out of jail sparking widespread unrest and the declaration of a state of emergency.

In Iceland, volcanic activity has closed the popular Blue Lagoon thermal water attraction  although tourism elsewhere in the country continues.

Throw in the almost two years old Russian re-invasion of Ukraine, closing off what had been the increasingly popular city breaks destinations of Kyiv, Lviv and Odessa on the Black Sea  with Russia itself, the worlds biggest nation, also on the no-go list  and much of the planet is now out of bounds.

Noel Josephides, chairman of Sunvil holidays, who has worked in the travel industry for 53 years, says: Theres just so much volatility. Its not just whether theres a danger or not: its the perception of danger. People see whats going on and think: Oh, well just give it a skip this year. 

Troubles in Sri Lanka, where large-scale political protests resulted in violence and deaths in 2022, has prompted the Foreign Office to warn that violent unrest can happen anywhere across the island at short notice. This comes after an Easter Sunday terrorist attacks in April 2019 during which more than 250 people were killed in churches and hotels.

Enough to put off most, yet Sam Clark, co-founder of Experience Travel Group, which specialises in Sri Lanka, believes the Foreign Office is exaggerating the danger: There were widespread political protests, but not for 18 months and even at the time there was no danger to tourists, he said.

Where there is a real concern for the safety of holidaymakers, Clark says his company will cancel trips.

This week, Lord Cameron, the Foreign Secretary, said it was hard to think of a time when the West faced so many threats and the lights are absolutely flashing red across the the globe.

But, if you do have a taste for adventure, here are some safe ideas...

SOUTH AMERICAN SWOOP

ENJOY the highlights of two of South Americas finest cities: Buenos Aires, Argentinas capital, and Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, on a week-long trip that includes the Iguazu Falls. Six nights from 2,011pp including tours, hotels and transfers. International flights 900 extra (intrepidtravel.com).

CULTURE IN CAMBODIA

JOIN a 13-day trip including visits to the Angkor Wat temples, while enjoying river boat trips and a stop-off at Phnom Penh, the capital. From 1,190pp with some meals. International flights 700 extra (explore.co.uk).

INTO THE HIMALAYAS

VISIT the Taj Mahal, Jaipur and Delhi before moving into Nepal to see Chitwan National Park and the Himalayas on a 16-day trip from 3,549pp including hotels, guides and flights (exodus.co.uk).

CLASSIC COSTA RICA

EXPLORE the jungles, villages and rainforests of Costa Rica on an 11-day trip from 2,595pp including hotels, guides and some meals. International flights 750 return (responsibletravel.com).

SILK ROAD TREASURES

JOIN an escorted tour of Uzbekistan that begins in the capital, Tashkent, and continues into the Kyzylkum Desert and along the Silk Road to Bukhara. From 2,065pp including hotels and most meals. Flights 450 extra (wildfrontierstravel.com).

ARCTIC FJORDS

ON a six-night cruise from Tromso in Norway, get the chance to see the Northern Lights in the Lofoten Islands, with husky sledding, a journey on an Arctic Train, all meals and flights included from 3,561pp (sunvil.co.uk).
EASTENDERS

Forget shining knights, the Knight family have revealed themselves to be very much Knights in tarnished armour.

Theyre making the Vics previous incumbents, the Carters, look like the Waltons. And theres even more trouble ahead when the family learn of daughter Ginas relationship with rapist Dean.

Despite throwing a massive wobbly with her disapproving family, and then another with Dean, Gina eventually hears the latter out and agrees to give him a second chance.

Thankfully, the honeymoon period doesnt last long when the date takes a dark turn and Dean reveals his true colours. Maybe Gina ditching her Marbella crop tops and discovering her winter wardrobe makes her see sense.

Its now only a matter of time before her parents, Cindy and her ex-husband George, get it together, given that they have to keep such a close eye on their daughters bad choice in men.

This week on UK soap opera EastEnders, Gina is in danger as her family learns about her relationship with rapist Dean

Yes, sister Anna hasnt chosen well either, and Cindy is unhappy to see Anna and Bobby leaving number 45 after spending the night together.

Kat's comfort How genuine is the potential romance between Nish and Kat? Theyre both hurting, so are finding comfort in each other, says Navin Chowdhry (Nish). But nothings straightforward with Nish. Advertisement

She tells Anna that she can do much better than Bobby, and Im with her there. With bells on.

But Anna is adamant and insists Bobbys a good guy. Well, apart from the teeny-weeny issues of killing his sister  and Denniss pet spider, lets not forget.

Not to mention his attack on Jane. His worst crime, though? Hes just really boring.

Now, why does Kat agree to a date with Nish, even though Stacey tells her the truth about Eve? Whats she thinking?

OK, mate; you arranged to have your wifes lesbian lover killed and dumped in a forest, and, yes, you went down for killing a man you thought was her lover, but hey-ho, we all have our issues. These arent just skeletons in his closet; hes a veritable walking morgue.

The fact that hes walking at all is not good news for Suki, who is fearful when Nish tells her his memory is returning  but is it?

In return for not going to the police, he wants Suki to sign over their businesses to him. Time for another bottle over his head, I reckon.

CORONATION STREET

Please can Ed just win the lottery? There are even more money worries when bailiffs arrive, though its hard to see what they could take that would cover costs of more than a fiver. When the sale of the builders yard falls through, does Eds hardship have anything to do with it being set ablaze?

Michael rushes in, looking for Ed, but finds himself trapped when the fire spreads. Will he be rescued? Lets hope so. We could do with some hunky firemen to spice things up; how much longer can the show spin out Ken being a major heartthrob?

Theres light in the dark passionless tunnel with the arrival of Tommy Orpington, last seen at the end of 2023 in Prestons Petals. When Tracy hires the ex-Weatherfield striker (seemingly, their only player ever until James Bailey arrived) to do some decorating, its a fresh lick of paint amid the doom and gloom.

Steve is excited by the presence of his hero, but how long before Tracy gets her mucky paws on him? Methinks it wont be only the walls hell be stripping.

In Coronation Street, Michael (pictured) rushes in, looking for Ed, but finds himself trapped when the fire spreads

Dee Dee's despair over Dad's debts

The New Year has started badly for Corries Dee-Dee, who has to contend with Eds debts. With mum Aggie still away (looking after the sickest aunt on the planet), will Dee-Dee have to step up even further to help her dad?

She feels the pressure, says Channique Sterling-Brown, who plays Dee-Dee, because she wasnt there the last time it happened. But things are spiralling out of her control.

EMMERDALE

Angels left terrified after spilling the beans

With Heaths funeral over, attention turns to the police investigation, and Cathy is furious when Bob suggests waiting for the forensic results.

If the cops had trouble tracking down serial killer Meena, dont expect those results to come back in your lifetime, Bob.

This week on Emmerdale, Angel is left terrified after spilling the beans

Jimmy makes Nicola uneasy by telling Angel to keep lying to the police about her guilt, but unable to bear Bobs suffering, the youngster confesses all (below with Nicola and Jimmy) and is terrified when shes arrested for causing death by dangerous driving. Phew. That must be a relief for the forensics team, who can now head for the pub.

Chass kiss with Liam barely had time to dry before things turned sour when he found a lump in her breast, and at the hospital its bad news when she receives a cancer diagnosis. Inevitably, she struggles, but this is the kind of storyline that saves lives in encouraging women to be vigilant.

Nates suspicions are finally aroused about Tracys possible infidelity. Youd have thought that always looking as if shes been dragged through a hedge backwards would have been evidence enough. Bless him. He was never the leanest chop in the flock.
Elizabeth Debicki is no stranger to the spotlight after receiving numerous accolades for her portrayal of Princess Diana in the Netflix series The Crown.

However, despite often turning heads on the red carpet, the Hollywood star, 33, has managed to keep her love life incredibly private.

Little is known about her mystery man Kristian Rasmussen, whom she was first spotted holding hands with in London by Daily Mail Australia in November 2022.

But while the award-winning actress keeps her love out of the spotlight by walking red carpets alone, it seems Kristian isn't above sneaking into prestigious events to support her.

Elizabeth's rarely-seen boyfriend - who bears a curious resemblance to The Crown's former Prince Phillip, Matt Smith - allegedly sneaks into award shows to cheer her on from the crowd.

Despite being a rising star in Hollywood for her portrayal of Princess Diana in The Crown, Elizabeth Debicki (left), 33, has managed to keep her relationship with boyfriend Kristian Rasmussen (right) very private. Pictured together at the SAG Awards

In an effort to avoid cameras and reporters, he flies under the radar as his glamorous girlfriend poses on the red carpet and takes to the stage to accept her awards.

The happy couple were last spotted in February last year as they wandered the streets of London not long after attending the SAG Awards together.

While Elizabeth walked the red carpet as per usual, she hinted during her acceptance speech for Best Supporting Actress that Kristian was in the crowd.

'Thank you so much. Thank you to the creatives of this show for trusting me with this part, to our cast and crew, to my beautiful pretend children, to my mom and my dad and Kush and Tommy who are in Australia, hoping that they're in their pajamas watching this,' she began.

'My partner Kristian who said don't thank me so that I'm not on television but I'm gonna thank you anyway. Who else? Goodness, maybe that's it this is just astonishing to me!'

Elizabeth's rarely-seen boyfriend - who bears a curious resemblance to The Crown's former Prince Phillip, Matt Smith - allegedly sneaks into award shows to cheer her on from the crowd

Just a few months earlier, Elizabeth was accompanied by her very own Prince Charming as she celebrated the series five launch of Netflix drama The Crown in November 2022.

Weeks after they were first spotted together, the talented star was seen leaving the red carpet premiere at London's Theatre Royal Drury Lane with Kristian.

The couple were making their first red carpet appearance and their second in as many days having previously ventured out hand-in-hand just the day before.

Dressed in an elegant black evening gown, Elizabeth climbed into the rear of a waiting cab with her boyfriend after attending an after-show party.

Kristian looked appropriately dapper in a black tuxedo and matching dress shirt as he followed her into the back seat.

In an effort to avoid cameras and reporters, he flies under the radar as his glamorous girlfriend poses on the red carpet and takes to the stage to accept her awards. Both pictured with Elizabeth's co-star Humayun Saeed at The Crown season 5 premiere

The previous day they were hand-in-hand during a shopping trip in London, with Elizabeth seen laughing with her new boyfriend as they enjoyed a hug and a kiss.

In February last year, the lovebirds put on a cosy display as they stepped out in London yet again, wrapped up against the cold as they took a romantic stroll.

Despite rising through the ranks of Hollywood for her starring role in The Crown, which earned her Astra, Critics Choice and Golden Globe awards, Elizabeth has successfully kept her love life with Kristian private.

Elizabeth often takes to the red-carpet in glamorous looks as she attends events, but that doesn't mean she's arriving alone, as Kristian often manages to sneak inside

In 2018, the rising star, who first broke onto the scene in 2014 for her award-winning role in The Great Gatsby, told Vogue Australia about her desire to remain private.

'I've always been a private person. I feel like the thing I want out in the world is my work and I've always believed - and it's the way I approach my work - that me and the work are separate,' she said.

'I think that people with social media can blur it so beautifully, and I respect that, but it's not really how I am and I just want the work to speak and people to receive it the way they will without anything influencing it.'

She finished by saying: 'I just want people to know me for my work.'
An Anthony Kiedis biopic is in the works at Universal Pictures.

The rights to the Red Hot Chili Peppers frontman's 2004 memoir Scar Tissue has been optioned by the movie production company, with Kiedis, 61, set to produce the feature film.

The movie - which is currently in early development - will also be produced by Brian Grazer, and Guy Oseary, reports Deadline.

Scar Tissue went to the number one spot on the New York Times bestseller list when it was first released in 2004.

In Kiedis' acclaimed book, he wrote about his unconventional relationship with his father, who was addicted to drugs and shared them with his son.

An Anthony Kiedis biopic is in the works at Universal Pictures

The rights to the Red Hot Chili Peppers frontman's 2004 memoir Scar Tissue has been optioned by the movie production company, with Kiedis, 61, set to produce the feature film

The group has sold over 120 million records sold worldwide, scored nine Top 10 albums, won six Grammys and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012

The tome also covers the passing of founding Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist Hillel Slovak, who died of a heroin overdose aged 26.

But Kiedis has previously admitted he had regrets about penning the memoir, which once caused a rift with his bandmate Flea after he revealed in the book he had slept with his pal's sister.

In 2016, Kiedis told The Sun newspaper: 'I did regret the book for a while as there was some pain caused.

'But then, I started seeing the long-term positive reverberating. People were reading it in hospitals, in prisons and schools and it was having a positive effect.

'I realised that the whole point of writing that book wasn't for me, but to show that somebody can go all the way down and come all the way back and have a productive, successful happy interesting life.

'And so whatever shame, pain or difficulty or discomfort I went through, then it was worth it because I get so many people coming up to me saying their kids had read it and got their act together because of it.'

Kiedis has fronted the multi platinum selling band, known as the Chilies, since they began in the late 1980s.

He was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan and raised in Los Angeles from the age of 12.

The group - Kiedis, Flea, John Frusciante and Chad Smith - are seen in 2022

In his memoir Kiedis revealed his father sold drugs - with the pair often using marijuana and cocaine together (pictured 2023)

He spent much of his musical career writing lyrics about his experiences in the city.

Kiedis co-founded Red Hot Chili Peppers with guitarist Hillel Slovak, bassist Flea (Michael Balzary) and drummer Jack Irons in 1982.

The group has sold over 120 million records sold worldwide, scored nine Top 10 albums, won six Grammys and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012.

In his memoir Kiedis revealed his father sold drugs - with the pair often using marijuana and cocaine together.

In one shock revelation, Kiedis revealed he accidentally tried heroin for the first time at age 14, mistaking it for cocaine.

He was in a relationship with Heather Christie from 2004 to 2008. They have a son, Everly Bear Kiedis, 16.
Kanye West filmed a 40-minute apology video to the Jewish community after facing 'pressure' from his wife Bianca Censori, who friends claim has been left 'extremely worried' that the controversial star's comments have put 'their safety at risk'.

The outspoken rapper, 46, previously posted a written apology in Hebrew for his string of unhinged and offensive outbursts - which most recently saw him rapping anti-Semitic lyrics in Dubai and praising Hitler in Las Vegas last month.

However, it has since been revealed that the hitmaker - who suffers from bipolar disorder - also assembled a camera crew 'several weeks ago' to shoot his apology video, but 'at times it was impossible to decode what he was saying' - according to TMZ.

Now, friends close to his architectural designer wife, 29, have revealed to DailyMail.com that the rap star - who also goes by Ye - was pushed to make the apology video by his concerned spouse.

'Kanye was pressured by Bianca to make this video because she was extremely worried that he was putting their safety at risk,' the insider revealed. 'They have had threats and her friends have expressed their fear in several text messages to her.'

Kanye West has filmed a 40-minute apology video to the Jewish community after being pressured by his wife Bianca Censori, a source reveals to DailyMail.com

The source continued: 'With everything going on in the world with Israel, Kanye is putting himself in the line of fire and would make a very easy target because of how accessible he is. This terrifies everyone who knows Bianca.'

The insider revealed that the rapper has been left unhappy with messages of concern that friends have been sending Bianca, urging her to break from the marriage in order to keep herself away from any danger.

According to the source, the Gold Digger rapper has taken to reading through Bianca's messages to ensure she hasn't secretly been communicating with another man.

'Kanye is paranoid right now and is skeptical of everyone, including his own wife,' the insider revealed. 'He found her phone the other day and started messaging her friends thinking they may be a man.'

They continued: 'There were a ton of messages from her friends urging her to leave him and get out while she can. There were friends telling her to come back home. He started messaging them and, of course, it was just her friends.'

The source spilled: 'She has zero free time to cheat or even be alone. She is with him every second of the day and he does not let her out of his sight.

'She is suffocated and she knows what her friends want. She is struggling with what she wants right now.'

Kanye is said to be dropping the mea culpa before he and Ty Dolla $ign's long-delayed Vultures album is finally released February 9 via iTunes, Apple Music, and his website.

The insider explained: 'She was extremely worried that he was putting their safety at risk. They have had threats and her friends have expressed their fear in several text messages to her'

On December 15, Kanye unleashed a shocking anti-Semitic rant which saw him scream 'Jesus Christ, Hitler, Ye! Sponsor that!' during an event in Las Vegas (pictured)

The award-winning producer had originally showed no sign of dampening his provocative antics when he donned a black KKK hood during the Vultures listening event in Miami on December 11.

The 24-time Grammy winner - who gets 64.1M monthly listeners on Spotify - then issued an apology written in Hebrew on December 26, which many believed was generated by AI.

It read: 'I sincerely apologize to the Jewish community for any unintended outburst caused by my words or actions, it was not my intention to hurt or disrespect, and I deeply regret any pain I may have caused.'

In November, the Anti-Defamation League called Kanye 'disgusting, unrepentant, and clearly a misogynist' for writing the lyric 'How am I anti-Semitic? I just f***ed a Jewish b****' in the title track Vultures.

Richard Hirschhaut, spokesperson for the American Jewish Committee, said the song lyric 'seems particularly pathetic and sad' and 'unforgivable at this fraught and dangerous time for the Jewish community.'

In October, the New York Times published an expose revealing West 'drew a swastika on a shoe sketch' during a meeting with Adidas execs in 2013, and openly praised 'master marketer' Adolf Hitler for his 'command of propaganda.'

Last March, the Atlanta-born hip-hop star claimed watching Jonah Hill in his 2012 action comedy 21 Jump Street made him 'like Jewish people again' in a bizarre Instagram post.

'No one should take anger against one or two individuals and transform that into hatred towards millions of innocent people,' Kanye - who boasts 42.8M social media followers - wrote.

'No Christian can be labeled anti-Semite knowing Jesus is Jew. Thank you Jonah Hill I love you.'

West - who suffers from bipolar disorder - has also donned a black KKK hood during the Vultures listening event in Miami on December 11

In November, the Anti-Defamation League called Kanye 'disgusting' and 'unrepentant' for writing the lyric 'How am I anti-Semitic? I just f***ed a Jewish b****' in the title track Vultures

Kanye went on to share an apology in Hebrew on his Instagram on December 30, which stated: 'I sincerely apologize to the Jewish community for any unintended outburst'

Kanye is said to be dropping the mea culpa before he and Ty Dolla $ign's long-delayed Vultures album is finally released February 9 via iTunes, Apple Music, and his website

This came after West tweeted he was going 'death con 3 on Jewish people' in 2022, which got him promptly dropped by his agency CAA, production company MRC, Adidas, Gap, and Balenciaga.

The rapper has since been focused on trying to rebuild his brand and company, recently filing paperwork to try and register a new trademark for a phrase inspired by his wife.

The filing revealed plans to use the slogan to launch a bizarre array of good and services including 'biological cloning,' 'moisturizers,' 'plush toys' and 'wireless receivers in the form of jewelry.'

The rapper filed nine separate trademark applications with the United States Patent and Trademark Office on January 11 under the phrase: 'I MISS YOU WHEN I WAKE UP BEFORE YOU.'

Elsewhere, the divorced father-of-four has been showcasing a dramatic new look this week.

Kim Kardashian ex-husband - who boasts 62.7M social media followers - showed off his new custom $850K titanium grill crafted by Beverly Hills dentist Thomas Connelly.

Kanye modeled them off of the steel teeth Bond henchman 'Jaws' (Richard Kiel) wore in The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) and Moonraker (1979).
The Madame Blanc Mysteries

Rating:

Darby And Joan

Rating:

Just for an idle moment, imagine you're a thespian treasure, a much-loved luvvie courted by long-running cosy crime serials offering you a cameo in the sun.

Where will you choose for a murder mystery that's all-inclusive  paycheck, travel expenses, cocktails and a splash of Ambre Solaire thrown in?

There's Guadeloupe in the Caribbean, where Death In Paradise is filmed. Emilia Fox cleverly landed herself an entire serial, Signore Volpe, in the Italian countryside.

And Sir Tony Robinson, unforgettable as Baldrick in Blackadder, has upgraded his bit part in The Madame Blanc Mysteries (Ch5), filmed on the Maltese island of Gozo, by wangling a place on the regular cast.

Returning to the show, playing the jailbird uncle of amiable taxi driver Dom (Steve Edge), he nipped into the kitchen of the local winebar, and by the end of the episode he was running the place  a permanent fixture. Nicely done, Tone.

Crime series in the sun, The Madame Blanc Mysteries (Ch5), is filmed on the Maltese island of Gozo

This blissfully undemanding detective drama, set not in Malta but the fictional village of Sainte Victoire in the South of France, is the creation of former Coronation Street actress Sally Lindsay. She stars as antiques dealer Jean White, combining an eye for brocante ware with a gift for sleuthery.

She met Sir Tony, she says, at a Channel 5 drinkies, and offered him a guest role on the spot. 'Yeah, but you won't remember asking me,' he scoffed. Clearly, she did.

Sally's all-round talents as the showrunner are impressive. Not only does she devise and write the neatly interlocking plots with co-star Sue Vincent, but she recognises the importance of giving viewers faces they recognise as old friends.

Ageing cheeky chappie and star of the Confessions movies Robin Askwith hams up a lovely double act with Sue Holderness, alias Boycie's wife Marlene from Only Fools. They play perma-sloshed expats, living on the fringes of trouble.

Other birds of passage have included Les Dennis, Elizabeth Bourgine, Paul Chuckle and the late Paul O'Grady.

Sally Lindsay's all-round talents as the showrunner are impressive, devising and writing the neatly interlocking plots with co-star Sue Vincent

We aren't supposed to take any of this too seriously. The local police chief, Caron (Alex Gaumond), is exasperated by Jean's amateur investigations, but that doesn't prevent him from letting her interrogate suspects down at the station.

And no one seems too perturbed by the mortality rate in such a sleepy backwater. This time, a young woman was assassinated at the bus stop by a sniper, while the woman standing next to her was living in terror of endless death threats. This was such a minor occurrence in village life that the gendarmes seemed content to put up some blue tape around the scene and left it at that.

Under an even hotter sun, Greta Scacchi and Bryan Brown are meandering their way across the Australian outback in a campervan, solving crimes as they go, in Darby And Joan (Drama channel).

Greta Scacchi and Bryan Brown are meandering their way across the Australian outback in a campervan, solving crimes as they go, in Darby And Joan

He's an ex-cop at a loose end, she's trying to find out what her husband was up to in Oz before he got himself killed. They team up after her mobile home accidentally runs his four-wheeler off the road  though how that is possible, I'm not quite sure. Australian desert highways aren't like English country lanes.

Both stars are competent, though hardly exerting themselves to the limit of their abilities. The chief problem is the editing: each scene stops short very obviously for an ad break every five minutes. so that the narrative feels like a string of disjointed sketches.

Characters appear and vanish, storylines are cut off, and the actors never have a chance to build a rhythm. That makes it impossible for viewers to lose themselves in the mystery  the opposite of cosy crime.
Arnold Schwarzenegger flexed his comedic muscle at the Stanglwirt Resort in his native Austria Thursday, where he appeared at a wildly-successful auction for his charity organization, as a custom Audemars Piguet watch he donated went for $293,000.

The watch was at the center of controversy after The Terminator star, 76, had an hourslong delay at the Munich Airport after he arrived in Germany Wednesday.

The Hollywood stalwart was unfazed by the hassle, as he cracked a series of off-color jokes about the experience at the charity auction Thursday.

'Can you even believe that all of a sudden I was in handcuffs? I was in handcuffs! Not because of the watch or because of the customs office, but I had a hot night with my girlfriend Heather last night,' he said, referring to girlfriend Heather Milligan, 49.

Schwarzenegger continued: 'I mean, it's unbelievable. The woman there at the customs office said, "If you don't behave, I'm gonna put you in handcuffs." [I said,] "That's OK that's a great deal, because usually I pay $500 for that!"'

Arnold Schwarzenegger, 76, flexed his comedic muscle in his native Austria Thursday, where he appeared at a wildly-successful auction for his charity, as an Audemars Piguet watch he donated went for $293,000. Pictured in Kitzbuehel, Austria

The watch was at the center of controversy after The Terminator star, 76, had an hourslong delay at the Munich Airport after he arrived in Germany Wednesday

The FUBAR actor continued, 'This was a wild experience, I can tell you that. Because, here you go, you try to bring this great watch ... this very special watch.

'Now they find it in the luggage, then the guy is looking for a second watch. He couldn't find it. Because I was hiding it. But I cannot tell you where because I cant sit down today.'

According to TMZ, more than 350 people were in attendance at the fundraiser, where the Kindergarten Cop leading man spoke for about eight minutes total.

Schwarzenegger's watch went for a total of 270,000 euros, which is about $293,000 in American currency, the outlet reported, suggesting that the publicity surrounding the actor's adventure with the customs office helped boost its initial estimated value of $100,000.

Customs spokesperson Thomas Meister told the AP that the bodybuilding icon's delay was part of a routine check.

According to the outlet, duty must be paid on items worth more than 430 euros ($467) that are remaining in the European Union.

Schwarzenegger's Audemars Piguet watch, which was not initially declared, had an estimated worth of around 20,000 euros ($21,739), the German newspaper Bild reported.

The Schwarzenegger Climate Initiative told the AP in a statement Wednesday that the reason authorities detained the former California governor was due to 'traveling with a watch he owns, that he might be auctioning at his charity auction in Kitzbuehel.'

The Kindergarten Cop leading man spoke for about eight minutes total at the fundraiser

Schwarzenegger's watch went for a total of 270,000 euros, which is about $293,000 in American currency

The True Lies star 'cooperated at every step even though it was an incompetent shakedown,' and said he would 'prepay potential taxes on the watch,' despite the fact it was his personal watch, the organization said.

The organization said that the watch would still likely be sold at auction, and that it would 'properly report it, as all of Arnolds nonprofits do.'

In all, around 1.3 million euros were raised at the event, with the record-setting haul benefitting the Schwarzenegger Climate Initiative organization.

Its' mission statement says it aims to build 'awareness of the climate crisis and the urgent need for action every day,' with a focus 'on presenting workable solutions, supporting best in class climate action projects and serving as a "matchmaker for climate leaders."'
Hilary Duff enjoyed a solo shopping spree in LA on Wednesday as she gears up for the arrival of her fourth child.

The 36-year-old showed off her growing baby bump in a pair of comfy high-waisted black leggings and a taupe tank top.

She wore black slides on her feet and carried a bag from the gourmet grocery store Jayde's Market in the Beverly Glen neighborhood of Los Angeles.

The Lizzie McGuire alum  who recently found out plans for a reboot were scrapped  climbed into her SUV and got on her way to her next destination.

Hilary Duff got some shopping in before she welcomes her fourth child with her husband Matthew Koma

As the Younger alum, 36, stepped into the bright sunlight, she stripped off her long, white knit cardigan

Hilary has a son, Luca, 11, with her ex-husband Mike Comrie.

She and musician Matthew Koma, 36, welcomed their daughter Banks, five, in 2018 and Mae, two in 2021.

Fans of Lizzie McGuire were disappointed when Disney+ scrapped the plans for a reboot of the series in 2020 that would have followed the life and adventures of an adult Lizzie.

Fortunately, this week one of the writers on the reboot, Jonathan Hurwitz, took to TikTok to reveal the planned plot details.

It was planned that the series would open with a 30-year-old Lizzie moving back home from New York City after she found out her boyfriend had cheated on her with one of her friends.

Then, Hurwitz quickly dashed any hopes of a romantic reunion between Lizzie and her BFF Gordo, despite their kiss at the end of the 2002 Lizzie McGuire movie.

'Lizzie meets up with Gordo and Gordo reveals that he is engaged to a woman, and she's pregnant, and they're really happy,' Hurwitz explained. 'So no, in this version, Lizzie and Gordo would not have ended up together.'

The end of Episode 2, however, featured 'Lizzie getting a text from Ethan Craft, and little animated Lizzie faints,' per Hurwitz.

Ethan was Lizzie's middle school crush, and in the reboot, the writers suggested that the pair might end up spending the night together.

'Episode 3 wasn't filmed, but there was a script for it,' Hurwitz said. 'Lizzie wakes up in Ethan's bed in his water polo t-shirt.'

'Animated Lizzie pops up, and she has this little checklist, like a to-do list, and Ethan is on the list. She checks it off, and I think she says something like, "Well, checked that box [dramatic pause] twice."'

Hurwitz also confirmed that Lizzie was going to have a gay roommate, who was loosely based on himself.

Lizzie McQuire quickly became a huge Disney Channel hit after it debuted in 2001.

It followed the humorous escapades of teenager Lizzie as she navigates adolescence with her animated alter ego offering witty commentary.

She wore black slides on her feet and carried a bag from the gourmet grocery store Jayde's Market in the Beverly Glen neighborhood of Los Angeles

The current mother of three showed off her growing baby bump in a pair of high-waisted black leggings and a taupe tank top

The Lizzie McGuire alum climbed into her SUV and got on her way to her next destination

Duff heavily promoted the reboot via social media, and even delivered the sad news of its cancellation on her Instagram account.

'I know the efforts and conversations have been everywhere trying to make a reboot work, but sadly & despite everyone's best efforts, it isn't going to happen,' she wrote at the time.

'I want any reboot of Lizzie to be honest and authentic to who Lizzie would be today. It's what the character deserves.

'We can all take a moment to mourn the amazing woman she would have been and the adventures we would have taken with her,' she concluded.
Kelly Osbourne revealed her regret over a racist Latino remark she made while appearing on The View in 2015, calling it 'the worst thing I've ever done'.

Osbourne, 39, was on the show during Donald Trump's campaign for president and on the heels of his 'Mexico isn't sending their best' speech, as she declared 'If you kick every Latino out of this country, then who is going to be cleaning your toilets?'

The TV personality quickly received shocked gasps from the audience and co-hosts Rosie Perez and Whoopi Goldberg, followed by backlash, accusations of racism, and death threats.

Looking back, she realizes the remark has 'hurt a lot of people', and told Rolling Stone in a new interview, 'That to me, is by far makes it the worst thing I've ever done... And to be labeled as something you're not is really difficult. But it happened. There's nothing I can do.'

When asked about who she saw when she looked at that video now, she replied: 'A self-righteous little c**t.'

Kelly Osbourne, 39, revealed her regret over a racist Latino remark she made while appearing on The View in 2015, calling it 'the worst thing I've ever done'; Seen 2023 in Los Angeles

Osbourne was on the show during Donald Trump's presidential campaign when she infamously said: 'If you kick every Latino out of this country, then who is going to be cleaning your toilets?'

She went on: 'I hate it. I hate it so much because I look at it and I'm like, "You think you know everything and you know nothing. Nobody wants to hear [your] opinion on this."'

The mom-of-one also revealed that she can now see a bit of the humor in the 'cringe' moment, thanks to a new TikTok trend where users recreate the clip by sharing their own problematic stereotypes.

'If you kick out evert white woman out of this country, who's gonna rescue all the pit pulls?' one user on the app inquired.

'If you kick every lesbian out of this country, whos going to rent your trucks, U-Haul?' another TikToker participating in the trend asked.

Kelly said of the trend: 'It's the most cringe moment of my entire life. But to see people be creative with it does put a smile on my face. It turns something so ugly into something funny.'

Though she did add that seeing the original clip has not gotten any easier: 'I'd be lying if I said I didn't hate myself a little bit more each time I see it.'

The daughter of rocker Ozzy Osbourne and TV personality Sharon Osbourne then clarified what she meant by the words she said eight years ago.

'This whole country is built on immigrants, and if you stop people from coming into this country who do the jobs that make this country exist and thrive and flourish, who's going to do all the jobs that you don't want to do yourself?' she said, adding, 'It came out so wrong.'

Looking back, she realizes the remark has 'hurt a lot of people', and told Rolling Stone in a new interview, 'That to me, is by far makes it the worst thing I've ever done'

When asked about who she saw when she looked at that video now, she replied: 'A self-righteous little c**t'; Pictured in 2015

The mom-of-one said she would one day discuss 'white privilege' with son Sidney, one: 'I'm going to have to play that video for my son at one point and explain it to him. That is probably the cherry on the cake of how painful all of this is'

'I am privileged not just because of who my parents are or the color of my skin, it's that the life that I have is very privileged. And for a long time, I took that for granted because I didn't understand it,' she shared; Pictured with dad Ozzy Osbourne

She described the time period as a 'really hard time in my life', revealing she had just been to rehab and was dealing with her father Ozzy cheating on her mother Sharon.

'I was drinking to numb the pain of everything. I was a trash can when it came to drugs, whatever I could get my hands on. And I was a really broken, scared person,' she shared.

She then touched on the subject of privilege, saying: 'I didnt know what white privilege was because you just go along living your life and until somebody points out that something is, you don't f*****g know.'

'I am privileged not just because of who my parents are or the color of my skin, it's that the life that I have is very privileged. And for a long time, I took that for granted because I didn't understand it.'

Kelly was then asked is she plans to speak to her son Sidney, one, about 'his privilege as a white person.'

'I'm going to have to play that video for my son at one point and explain it to him. That is probably the cherry on the cake of how painful all of this is,' she shared.

Kelly shared that since the incident she's 'learned when to shut up and to stop talking' and that 'nobody wants to hear from a white person about race.'

She also works on 'actively' standing up against racism: 'You know how they have signs now in stores if it's a Black-owned business? My natural reaction is to go to the Black-owned business. When I am employing people, its about giving as much back as you have received.'

Kelly revealed that she can now see a bit of the humor in the 'cringe' moment, thanks to a new TikTok trend where users recreate the clip by sharing their own problematic stereotypes

She said of the trend: 'It's the most cringe moment of my entire life. But to see people be creative with it does put a smile on my face. It turns something so ugly into something funny'

Kelly sparked outrage with her remarks in 2015, as a silence fell over the studio audience while the other co-hosts were clearly taken aback.

After a pause, Rosie mumbled: 'Oh, that's not... oh, no!' as she shook her head in disbelief.

The View's Raven-Symone then told Osbourne: 'There's more jobs than that he can use them for.'

Sensing things were tense, Osbourne clarified: 'In a sense, you know what I mean? In L.A. they always...' But before she could finish, Perez had calmed enough to finally check her.

'Latinos are not the only people doing that,' explained Perez, looking seriously into Osbourne's eyes.

Osbourne backtracked and tried to elaborate. 'I didn't mean it like that! Come on, I would never mean it like that. I'm not part of this argument,' she contested.

As the tension built during the exchange, moderator Whoopi Goldberg stepped back in and tried to take control of the segment, before ultimately going to commercial break.

During the break, Kelly burst into tears. 'Everyone is going to think I'm racist. I can't believe this,' she cried, as producers of the show and her personal handlers ran to her side.

Following her infamous statement the TV personality received shocked gasps from co-hosts later followed by backlash, accusations of racism, and death threats

'Latinos are not the only people doing that,' explained Rosie Perez, looking seriously into Osbourne's eyes

Osbourne backtracked and tried to elaborate. 'I didn't mean it like that! Come on, I would never mean it like that. I'm not part of this argument,' she contested

'Everyone assured Kelly things would be okay. They were trying to calm her down before returning from commercial break. Rosie was still pissed. She stormed off and said, "I want no parts of that mess,"' a source at the show told Mail Online.

The rest of the show resumed and the topic wasn't addressed again until the end of the show. During the last segment, Perez started with: 'I want to apologize to this young woman once again for being very sensitive.'

Osbourne asked: 'Why? You had every right.'

Perez continued: 'Kelly Osbourne is on our side and I was sensitive and my disdain should go to only Donald Trump. Sorry darling.'
Ice Spice has been hit with a copyright infringement lawsuit over claims that her hit track 'In Ha Mood' is a rip-off of another artist's work, as reported by TMZ.

Rapper D.Chamberz is alleging that Ice Spice and her producer Riot copied his song 'In That Mood,' which he said he wrote, produced and then released in January 2022.

Ice Spice's 'In Ha Mood' was released in January 2023 and is certified gold in the United States with 500,000 units sold/streamed.

D.Chamberz claims it has the same 'beat, lyrics, hook, rhythmic structure, metrical placement, and narrative context' as his 2022 track.

He is seeking 'at least half of Ice Spice's song's publishing and other revenue' as well as other unspecified damages.

Ice Spice's attorney Leon Morabia called the claims 'baseless' and said he is confident his client will be vindicated in court.

Ice Spice has been hit with a copyright infringement lawsuit over claims that her hit track 'In Ha Mood' is a rip-off of another artist's work, as reported by TMZ

Rapper D.Chamberz is alleging that Ice Spice and her producer Riot copied his song 'In That Mood,' which he said he wrote, produced and then released in January 2022

'The claim is baseless. We will vigorously defend this case and look forward to our day in court when we will be fully vindicated,' Morabia stated.

DailyMail.com has reached out to representatives for Ice Spice for comment.

In the suit, D.Chamberz theorizes that Riot  who is Ice Spice's collaborator and longtime friend  heard his song on the radio and allegedly used it as a blueprint.

He claimed that 'In That Mood' was being played on Hot 97 FM, a New York City-based radio station. Both Ice Spice and Riot reside in NYC.

He also speculated that the duo may have seen or heard him performing the song at music venues in the area.

In his suit, D.Chamberz alleged that his claims are backed up by 'social media receipts.'

Following a successful year that included a collaboration with pop superstar Taylor Swift, Ice Spice is up for Best New Artist at the upcoming 2024 Grammy Awards.

She will go up against the likes of Gracie Abrams and Jelly Roll in the coveted category.

Ice Spice's 'In Ha Mood' was released in January 2023 and is certified gold in the United States with 500,000 units sold/streamed

Ice Spice's attorney Leon Morabia called the claims 'baseless' and said he is confident his client will be vindicated in court

Past Best New Artist winners included: Mariah Carey, Carly Simon, Christina Aguilera and Adele.

Ice Spice also received a Best Rap Song nomination for 'Barbie World'  her collaboration with Nicki Minaj and Aqua for the Barbie movie soundtrack.

Last but not least, her feature on Swift's Karma remix is up for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance.

Ice Spice gained over 48million Spotify listeners in 2023 with her monthly listeners listed at nearly 25million.

She broke down in tears after being named Best New Artist at last year's VMAs.

She told the crowd: 'Thank you so much! Thank you MTV! Oh, my gosh, this is so cool! I just want to thank my munchkins. I love you guys so much.'

The rapper then thanked her manager and music producer.

'I want to thank my label for always supporting me. And, of course, God. Without God, none of this would be possible. Thank you guys, I love you guys so much!' she concluded.
EXCLUSIVE

Jackie 'O' Henderson has revealed her side of the story after paparazzi photos emerged of her having a seemingly tense exchange with a delivery driver.

The driver had come to Henderson's Sydney mansion to deliver take-away food on Thursday, but there was apparently some confusion as he tried to leave the address.

Photographers caught glimpses of the pair's animated conversation as the driver explained to the radio host he was 'locked' between her front door and front gate.

An onlooker told Daily Mail Australia the man - who had just brought a brown paper bag to the door - called out to Henderson: 'Excuse me, can you let me out?'

Photos taken from the street appeared to show Henderson - the highest-paid woman in Australian media - getting impatient and exasperated with the service worker.

However, the KIIS FM presenter insisted that wasn't the case at all.

Jackie 'O' Henderson has revealed her side of the story after paparazzi photos emerged of her having a seemingly tense exchange with a delivery driver

The driver had come to Henderson's Sydney mansion to deliver take-away food on Thursday, but there was apparently some confusion as he tried to leave the address

'She wasn't frustrated at all,' a spokeswoman said on Friday, adding: 'She was just showing the delivery driver how to turn the lock on the gate to get out.'

The interaction came just hours after Henderson signed off on Thursday's broadcast of The Kyle and Jackie O Show.

During the show, she received a surprise visitor to the studio: a man she had briefly flirted with while on holiday in Bali over the Christmas holidays.

She told listeners the man, a 33-year-old Aussie named Brendan, had approached her in a nightclub and asked for a photo.

But as soon as his friend took the photo, he cheekily put his arms around Henderson from behind and kissed her on the cheek.

Photographers caught glimpses of the pair's animated conversation as the driver explained to the radio host he was 'locked' between her front door and front gate

An onlooker told Daily Mail Australia the man - who had just brought a brown paper bag to the door - called out to Henderson: 'Excuse me, can you let me out?'

"And I said, "No, no, that looks like we are a couple. Can you retake it?"' she said.

Speaking on air that morning, Brendan explained Henderson had 'turned her cheek' when he tried to kiss her. He then asked her out on a proper date.

Henderson admitted Brendan was a 'little too young for her', before enquiring about his relationship history.

'You're so fun and you're really, like, a cool guy, but 33 is just a little young for me,' she told him.

Photos taken from the street appeared to show Henderson - the highest-paid woman in Australian media - getting impatient and exasperated with the service worker

But the KIIS FM star insisted that wasn't the case. 'She wasn't frustrated at all,' a spokeswoman said: 'She was just showing the delivery driver how to turn the lock on the gate to get out'

'When was the last time you had a girlfriend?' she asked, to which Brendan responded by saying he hadn't been in a relationship in a 'few years'.

Henderson's co-host Kyle Sandilands then asked her: 'So you would not date long term?'

'No, but I'm cool to hang out for sure,' she replied.

Henderson returned from her holiday in Bali last Tuesday following several weeks on the Indonesian island with friends and colleagues.
Aussie WWE star Grayson Waller has appeared to post a cryptic warning after a wild interview on Tuesday's Sunrise.

The professional wrestler, 33, was welcomed to the show along with American rival LA Knight, but things quickly devolved into the pair trash talking each other.

After the wild video was shared on X (formerly Twitter), Waller replied with an ominous image.

The picture of wrestler David Schultz might not mean much to non-wrestling fans, but to those in the know it was another aggressive move.

The shot is from a 1988 TV interview with wrestler David Schultz, who slapped journalist John Stossel across the face for claiming wrestling is staged, then asked the interviewer 'you think this is fake?'

Aussie WWE star Grayson Waller has posted a cryptic warning after a wild interview on Tuesday's Sunrise. Pictured

The wrestler was welcomed to the show along with American rival LA Knight (pictured right), but things quickly devolved into the pair trash talking each other. After the wild video was shared on X (formerly Twitter ), Waller replied with a veiled threat to the morning show

On Tuesday's show, Natalie Barr looked visibly uncomfortable as Grayson's verbal insults became heated.

'I'm getting a bit scared here  I'm glad I'm sitting on this side of the couch,' she said.

After Waller and Knight refused to perform a 'signature' WWE move on each other, Natalie suggested that they instead demonstrate using a Sunrise floor manager.

The picture of wrestler David Schultz mightn't mean much to non-wrestling fans, but to those in the know it was another aggressive move. The shot is from a 1988 TV interview with wrestler David Schultz, who slapped journalist John Stossel across the face

The male staffer then confidently strutted onto set and prepared to face off with Waller, who seemed irritated that the man wasn't taking it seriously.

John Cena's iconic WWE entrance theme music began playing as Waller threatened to beat up the man on live television.

'I don't think you understand, because if I go over there we're gonna have the police here, because I'm not gonna give you some fake punch,' Waller ranted at the man, standing up from his seat.

Natalie Barr endured a rather uncomfortable moment while interviewing rival WWE stars Grayson Waller and LA Knight during Tuesday's episode of Sunrise. (Pictured with co-host Matt Doran)

'I'm gonna punch you straight in the jaw. The disrespect that you give me when you act like this isn't real. Don't act tough. You guys disrespect us, are you kidding me?' he continued.

Natalie was visibly shocked by the outburst, nervously telling Waller: 'I'm not disrespecting you.'

Matt meanwhile diffused the situation, doing his best umpire impersonation before escorting the floor manager off set.

Waller however sat down and assured Natalie that he and Knight 'loved' the Sunrise host.

The hosts quickly wrapped up the interview moments later.

Waller became fired up after a floor manager jokingly challenged him to a fight, shouting: 'I'm gonna punch you straight in the jaw. The disrespect that you give me when you act like this isn't real'

WWE stars are known to maintain the guise that WWE wrestling is 'real' by playing up their ring characters during interviews. (Pictured: Waller on WWE)
Jessica Biel found herself stuck on her plane unable to land because of a 'crazy snowstorm' that turned her 'short flight' into a lengthy ordeal.

The 41-year-old 7th Heaven shared a brace of TikTok videos on Tuesday, letting her fans in on her eminently relatable circumstances.

Luckily, she came prepared with a way to occupy her time - a selection of her 'favorite snacks' including a clementine and pistachios, as well as a dark chocolate, nuts and sea salt KIND bar.

Although she neglected to pack a lunch, she had her nibbles on hand, and a brainwave had prompted her to bring 'triple of each' of them.

She also playfully retrieved a mini karaoke machine, joking: 'What do you think? How much would this plane literally want to kill me if I pulled out this microphone to start karaoke with them? Should I try it?'

Jessica Biel found herself stuck on her plane unable to land because of a 'crazy snowstorm' that turned her 'short flight' into a lengthy ordeal

As the day wore on, Jessica shared another update, revealing that she had been diverted to Salt Lake City International Airport.

'Well, this epic journey continues,' she said. 'We're now sitting in an outpost of the Salt Lake City airport, not allowed to get off, trying to refuel and actually get back up in the air, and now I'm really pissed I didn't bring a lunch.'

Jessica reflected: 'So I think the moral of the story is: it literally doesn't matter if you're flying for 20 minutes or 20 hours. Pack your own damn lunch.'

Incidentally, her first video was a 'shoutout to' Mindy Kaling, who once recounted a story of being on a flight with Jessica where the latter had brought a 'plane salad.'

Mindy wrote on Instagram: 'I remembered this one time, maybe like 14 years ago, when I sat next to @jessicabiel on a flight.'

She recalled that an 'hour in, she pulled out this container from her tote bag. It had the most delicious looking homemade salad in it that was definitely a better option than whatever I was eating. I always wanted to ask her what the recipe was!'

Jessica has famously been married to Justin Timberlake since 2012 and they are the proud parents of two sons - Silas, eight, and Phineas, three.

She started dating Justin in 2007, five years after the bitter collapse of his headline-grabbing relationship with Britney Spears.

The 41-year-old 7th Heaven shared a brace of TikTok videos on Tuesday, letting her fans in on her eminently relatable circumstances

Although she neglected to pack a lunch, she had her nibbles on hand, and a brainwave had prompted her to bring 'triple of each' of them

She also playfully retrieved a mini karaoke machine, joking: 'How much would this plane literally want to kill me if I pulled out this microphone to start karaoke with them?'

Justin and Jessica briefly split in 2011 but quickly reunited, and the following year they made it down the aisle in a ceremony in southern Italy.

Their marriage, however, fell under searing scrutiny in November 2019 when Justin was spotted at a New Orleans bar holding hands with actress Alisha Wainwright.

The pair were enjoying their off-hours from shooting a move called Palmer when the public display of affection occurred.

Justin issued an Instagram apology for his 'strong lapse in judgement,' explaining that he 'drank way too much that night and I regret my behavior.'

He wrote on the social networking platform: 'I apologize to my amazing wife and family for putting them through such an embarrassing situation, and I am focused on being the best husband and father I can be.'

Jessica's video was a 'shoutout to' Mindy Kaling, who once recounted a story of being on a flight with Jessica where the latter had brought a 'plane salad'

Jessica and Justin presented a united front in the wake of the scandal, laughing and smiling as they surfaced for a romantic stroll together in New York.

In January 2020, an Us Weekly source claimed they were in therapy and that Justin was 'trying his hardest to prove himself' to his wife.

They secretly welcomed little Phineas into the world together that summer, waiting until January 2021 to break the news to the world.

In October 2022, Jessica celebrated her 10th wedding anniversary by revealing that she and Justin had renewed their vows in Italy that summer.

'Being married to you is the adventure of a lifetime!' she wrote on Instagram .'Run it back, baby. RUN IT BACK. I love you.'

Justin, meanwhile, marked the romantic occasion on Instagram by gushing: '10 years aint enough! You make me a better husband and father every day! I love you so much you beautiful human! Run it back!'
Amazon's Prime Video streaming service has announced that the highly-anticipated prequel series The Terminal List: Dark Wolf is starting production early this year.

Back in February 2023, the streaming service ordered both a second season of The Terminal List and a then-untitled prequel series, with Chriss Pratt starring in both shows as James Reece.

The prequel sereis will focus on Taylor Kitsch's Ben Edwards, following, 'his journey from Navy SEAL to CIA paramilitary operator, exploring the darker side of warfare.'

Now the streaming service has confirmed the prequel series title as The Terminal List: Dark Wolf, with filming slated to begin soon.

Along with Reece and Edwards, the series will feature other memorable characters from the book series written by Jack Carr.

Amazon's Prime Video streaming service has announced that the highly-anticipated prequel series The Terminal List: Dark Wolf is starting production early this year

Back in February 2023, the streaming service ordered both a second season of The Terminal List and a then-untitled prequel series, with Chriss Pratt starring in both shows as James Reece

Characters such as Raife Hastings, Mohammed Farooq, and Ernest "Boozer" Vickers (Jared Shaw) are slated to appear in the series.

Aside from Shaw - a former Navy SEAL himslf - returning as Vickers, no further casting for the new charactrers has been confirmed yet.

The series is described as, 'an elevated espionage thriller,' created by The Terminal List creator David DiGilio.

Both Pratt and Kitsch will also serve as executive producers alongside showrunner DiGilio, Antonie Fuqua, who directed an episode in Season 1, and writer/producer Max Adams - who is a former Army Ranger.

The Terminal List follows Navy SEAL Commander James Reece (Pratt), who vengefully starts investigating the murder of his entire plattoon.

'Free from the militarys command structure, Reece applies the lessons hes learned from nearly two decades of warfare to hunt down the people responsible,' reads the description from the first season.

The end of the first season, while never shown, it is believed that Pratt's James Reece killed Kitsch's Ben Edwards, after Reece learned he was involved in the fatal mission.

Reece is seen setting sail for Mozambique on Edwards' boat, which is where the second book in Jack Carr's novel series - True Believer - is set.

The series is described as, 'an elevated espionage thriller,' created by The Terminal List creator David DiGilio

Both Pratt and Kitsch will also serve as executive producers alongside showrunner DiGilio, Antonie Fuqua, who directed an episode in Season 1, and writer/producer Max Adams - who is a former Army Ranger

The Terminal List follows Navy SEAL Commander James Reece (Pratt), who vengefully starts investigating the murder of his entire plattoon

Carr has written six Terminal List books, with a seventh - Red Sky Mourning - expected to be released later this year.

None of those books are prequels, so this origin story likely won't be adapted from one of the books, though that has yet to be confirmed.

Director Antoine Fuqua revealed in an interview with Collider that he is 'heavily involved' in the prequel series and may direct an episode too.

'That's what I wanna do is I'll direct probably one or two that Chris is in, you know, because it's the prequel with Taylor [Kitsch] as well,' he said.
Taylor Swift was seen in New York City on Thursday amid claims that her boyfriend Travis Kelce has no plans to propose in the near future despite prior reports.

The multi-Grammy Award-winner, 34, bundled up in a black coat over a gray hooded shirt dress as she stopped by Electric Lady Studios for a recording session.

She completed her low-key look with with black leather shoes and a stylish suede Manu Atelier handbag.

The Anti-Hero hitmaker's long, dirty blonde hair was worn down and she was without her signature red lip.

Although he won't be getting down on one knee just yet, DailyMail.com exclusively revealed that Kelce, 34, has gotten a jumpstart on designing Swift a 'special' ring.

Taylor Swift was seen in New York City on Thursday amid claims that her boyfriend Travis Kelce has no plans to propose in the near future despite prior reports

The multi-Grammy Award-winner, 34, bundled up in a black coat over a gray hooded shirt dress as she stopped by Electric Lady Studios for a recording session

On Thursday, Swift was pictured stepping out of a black SUV just steps away from the studio.

The Pennsylvania native was flanked by security.

Swift is a frequent visitor of Electric Lady Studios, where she's produced and re-recorded her last several albums.

She's had plenty of song inspiration since going public with her and Kelce's romance in September.

There have been suggestions that the hot couple - whose romance has become a major talking point during the NFL season - could soon be engaged.

But TMZ reported that an engagement is not 'in the near future' despite claims that he could get down on bended knee this summer.

The outlet also claimed there are, in fact, doubts among some people 'on the inside' about whether the relationship will go all the way.

It's said certain people close to the couple insist it remains too early to tell whether they will ever move beyond this 'honeymoon' dating phase.

But a source close to Kelce told DailyMail.com this week that the NFL star has reportedly been talking to friends and family about how he can make sure that the diamond sparkler he decides to present to the Love Story singer will be 'unique.'

Kelce is said to be toying with the idea of using some of the diamonds from his Super Bowl rings to craft the band, which could also feature a meaningful lyric.

'He isn't going to propose to her anytime soon, so no one should get those hopes up, but he has talked to family and friends about what he could do that would be special for an engagement ring,' the insider said.

She completed her low-key look with with black leather shoes

The Anti-Hero hitmaker was without her signature red lip

Her long, dirty blonde hair was worn down

She looked ready for the songwriting session

She was flanked by security

Swift was pictured stepping out of a black SUV just steps away from the studio

'Travis' career is a major focus for the next several weeks. He has to get the job done. He wants another Super Bowl ring, but it is safe to say that there is room to think about Taylor.

'And when it comes to Taylor, he loves her and sees a future with her and has thought about what a ring for her would be like as well.'

The insider continued: 'He has thought of having a lyric or a quote engraved on the band that is special to both of them, and he has also floated using some of the diamonds from his Super Bowl rings on her band.

'He wants to make sure it isn't something cheesy, but more unique and something that is a part of him that he shares with her to show that forever means forever.'

It is not clear if the lyric is from one of Taylor's songs or a track that is personal to the couple.

There were suggestions that they could be engaged by the summer, less than a year after going public with their relationship.

But the source stressed that fans shouldn't expect a proposal any time soon, adding: 'He isn't popping the question right now, but he has entertained what that moment would look and feel like.'

For now, the couple are focused on making sure they will get to spend their first Valentine's Day together as a couple, but their busy schedules are making planning for the special day incredibly difficult.

She carried a stylish suede Manu Atelier handbag

She looked to be in a blissful mood

Swift is a frequent visitor of Electric Lady Studios, where she's produced and re-recorded her last several albums

She's just weeks away from learning the fate of her Grammy nominations

She's had plenty of song inspiration since going public with her and Kelce's romance in September

Indeed, February will be a particularly busy period for both stars as Taylor will be back on her Eras International tour - while Travis and his team are currently trying to secure another Super Bowl win.

Though the annual event takes place on February 11, a victory for the Chiefs could make it hard for Travis to fly over to meet Taylor - who performs in Tokyo on February 10 before taking to the stage in Australia on February 16.

'They both plan to be with each other on Valentine's Day, they just don't know if it will be overseas or in America,' a separate source previously revealed to DailyMail.com.

'Some pieces have to fall into place and if one of those pieces is Kansas City making the Super Bowl, though it would be extremely tiring, she plans to come back for the Super Bowl for him if he is in the game.'

The insider continued: 'They have tentative plans on what they will actually be doing, but it all will figure itself out once Kansas City is either in the Super Bowl or not. But they highly anticipate they will be together on Valentine's Day.'

Indeed, the NFL playoffs started on January 13 and will continue until February 11 - with the two Super Bowl teams officially locked in by January 28.

Meanwhile, Travis previously revealed he is feeling the pressure to find the right gift for his superstar girlfriend.

He made the revelation while carrying out an advertisement for E-commerce company Etsy on his New Heights podcast.

'Whether you're feeling the Valentine's Day pressure like [brother] Jason and I,' he admitted, 'or trying to figure out the right gift for a significant other, Etsy is the go-to destination for adding that special touch.'

Elsewhere, the pair are fast approaching their one-year anniversary in July, having officially met a few months before Taylor attended her first Chiefs game in September.

The singer and songwriter explained to Time magazine that they began hanging out after Travis admitted trying and failing to give her his phone number on his podcast in July.

Although he won't be getting down on one knee just yet, DailyMail.com exclusively revealed that Kelce, 34, has gotten a jumpstart on designing Swift a 'special' ring

The insider continued: 'He has thought of having a lyric or a quote engraved on the band that is special to both of them, and he has also floated using some of the diamonds from his Super Bowl rings on her band - pictured with Patrick Mahomes wearing his Super Bowl rings

The athlete is also thinking about getting a meaningful lyric engraved on the band when he does finally decide to get down on one knee

However, the Kansas City Chiefs tight-end has not plans to propose in the immediate future

'We started hanging out right after that,' she said. 'So we actually had a significant amount of time that no one knew, which Im grateful for, because we got to get to know each other.

'I think some people think that they saw our first date at that game. We would never be psychotic enough to hard launch a first date.'

The couple recently spent the holidays together and were seen sharing a kiss at a glitzy New Year's Eve party.

Meanwhile, fans are hoping to see if the romance might inspire some new music as Taylor has been seen making multiple trips to Electric Lady Studios in New York this week.

At this time, it is unknown if she is working on new music or making progress on her journey of re-recording all the songs from her first six albums.

She only has two albums left to re-record: Her debut, eponymous album, and sixth release, Reputation.
Strictly Come Dancing's Craig Revel Horwood has defended Giovanni Pernice amid his feud with former celebrity partner Amanda Abbington.

The judge praised the show's dancers as being 'the backbone of the show,' after it was reported that BBC bosses were backing Giovanni amid Amanda's claims.

Amanda claimed that the show left her with PTSD and reportedly demanded footage of her rehearsals with Giovanni.

The Sherlock actress is said to have sought legal advice over the dancer's alleged behaviour towards her and believes video footage could 'back up' her claims.

Speaking to The Sun ahead of the Strictly tour, Craig said: 'The pros not only have to be creative and be able to be good choreographers, they also have to be psychiatrists, doctors, they have to be nurses, they have to be welfare guidance people. It's not just teaching dance.'

Strictly Come Dancing's Craig Revel Horwood has defended Giovanni Pernice amid his feud with former celebrity partner Amanda Abbington

The judge praised the show's dancers as being 'the backbone of the show,' after it was reported that BBC bosses were backing Giovanni amid Amanda's claims

It comes after last week Amanda revealed she was 'sent death threats' by Strictly Come Dancing fans in a new interview.

The star was paired with Giovanni but quit the BBC One programme mid-series last year citing 'personal issues'.

It was then revealed she had been diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder following her stint on the show.

Speaking to The Sun on Sunday, Amanda gave her thanks to both her fans and fellow Strictly stars for their support.

She explained: 'I was diagnosed with mild PTSD after Strictly for several reasons and I told a few people about that, in the utmost confidence, among other things that were happening in my life at the time both professionally and personally.'

Amanda continued: 'I'm very sorry that people felt the need to send me death threats, threaten my children and bring up my past, healthy relationship with an ex-partner as an indicator of my current mental health. I wish those people well.'

She has two children with her actor ex Martin Freeman, a daughter Grace, 15, and son Joe, 17.

Recently it was claimed the show left her with PTSD and demanded footage of rehearsals to highlight the Italian's 'tense' and 'full-on' training methods, which allegedly caused her much grief.

Amanda claimed that Strictly left her with PTSD and reportedly demanded footage of her rehearsals with Giovanni

Amanda left Strictly during week five in October and failed to return for the final, where eliminated celebrities took part in a group dance.

Amanda was praised by the judges for her performances on the show but it was claimed she was struggling behind the scenes.

After her departure, it was alleged she struggled with Giovanni's 'militant approach to training', with her time on the show said to have been 'plagued by difficulties'.

An inside source told The Telegraph: 'It could be that she didn't know what she let herself in for.

'He [Giovanni] was quite tough and she found that difficult. If she wasn't very well, that wouldn't have helped.'

They continued: 'She was with a partner that had a certain training style that she couldn't cope with. Whether that came to a head or whether there's something else going on I don't know.'

It has been reported that she is seeking footage of their rehearsals to back up her claims as she seeks legal advice.

An on-set source told The Sun: 'The BBC have received a request for the footage they hold of Amanda and Giovanni. It is known as a data subject access request.

'There is a feeling that the recordings will lift the lid on what really goes on behind the scenes on Strictly. Things in rehearsals can become very tense.

'Giovanni is a perfectionist and he can be incredibly full-on.'

A friend of Amanda told the publication it has taken her months to recover from her Strictly experience and she has needed therapy.

They said: 'Amanda has been left broken and saddened by the whole experience. She has needed therapy and was left in shock by the behaviour she was exposed to.

'Everyone else was having a fabulous time, but she was really stressed by having to spend eight hours a day with Giovanni. She spent a lot of time crying and couldn't sleep or eat properly.'

The pal added that Amanda found the negative response she got on social media for not mentioning Giovanni in her exit statement difficult, but insisted her family and friends had been there to support her.

It was reported she had quit the show after clashing with Giovanni, but she dismissed claims of a fallout at the time.

Sources at the BBC are ready to fight the Sherlock star over her claims the show had traumatised her, saying that  at the time  she told them she was quitting due to a different medical reason.

A source told the Mail: 'Amanda's reason for quitting Strictly was an entirely different one to her PTSD.

'She told production of a totally different medical condition and they [were] hugely supportive of her and did all they could to help.

'Nobody seems to quite understand what is going on here.'

It is understood that first BBC chiefs knew about her PTSD was late last year when they received a request for the tapes.

There is added confusion because Amanda quickly shot down suggestions  made before the show aired in September  that she and Giovanni had fallen out.

On Instagram, she dismissed the claims as 'bulls****' and told people to, 'Shut up, it's b******s.'

During broadcasts, she and the Italian dancer  who has worked on the show since 2015  were seen hugging and appearing to be friends.

One Strictly source said: 'All you'd see at the studio were the pair of them hugging and kissing.'

Twinkle-toed star Giovanni was also reportedly only given the news of Amanda's exit a few hours before the official statement was released.

Amanda left Strictly during week five in October and failed to return for the final, where eliminated celebrities took part in a group dance

According to reports, BBC bosses are sticking behind Giovanni in the wake of the feud, checking on his mental health and assuring that his place on the show is secure

A source told the Daily Star: 'Amanda didn't tell Giovanni she had decided to quit the show. The first he heard was a call from a producer.

'This has really annoyed him. He's barely heard from her for 10 days. She hasn't been replying to messages or telling him what's happening.

'He's been complaining about it to friends. He's frustrated. He is worried the drama will be damaging for his career and make him look bad.'

However, according to reports, BBC bosses are sticking behind Giovanni in the wake of the feud.

According to The Sun, bosses arranged a call between Giovanni's management and Strictly executives where they offered him their full support and checked in on his mental health.

Giovanni is understood to have been assured that his place on the show is secure.

A source said: 'It's no secret Gio and Amanda had a tricky relationship  but there are two sides to every story.
Love Island's Jake Cornish landed back in rainy London on Thursday after he decided to quit the ITV All Stars spin-off show.

The former contestant, 26, who starred in series seven of the show, appeared to be in good spirits as he touched down at Heathrow Airport.

Sporting a golden tan, Jake dressed for comfort as he sported two of the show's iconic luggage bags.

Braving the UK winter snap, the gym enthusiast sported a crisp white t-shirt, an open black shirt and matching trousers.

Keeping up with the casual ensemble, he paired his beachy look with a pair of sliders and messy hair.

Love Island's Jake Cornish landed back in rainy London on Thursday after he decided to quit the ITV All Stars spin-off show

The former contestant, 26, who starred in series seven of the show, appeared to be in good spirits as he touched down at Heathrow Airport

It comes after he broke his social media silence after quitting the South African villa.

The reality star abruptly decided to leave the All Stars series after just two days on the show, and on Thursday he took to Instagram Stories to reveal he was preparing to board his flight home.

Jake previously revealed that he quit the villa as it wasn't the 'right time' for him to find love, after coming face-to-face with his ex Liberty Poole on the show.

But the star appeared to brush off his early departure while waiting at the airport, writing on his Stories: 'Love to you all. Home time.'

In a statement Jake said he didn't want to 'force a connection' on Love Island, and so decided to leave the show.

He said in a statement: 'After a few amazing days in the villa, I've made the decision to leave 'Love Island: All Stars' as I've realised that now isn't the right time for me to find love as I would never want to force a connection.'

Despite his short stint in the villa, Jake insisted he has 'no regrets' from his time on the brand-new spin-off show.

Jake had an awkward reunion with his ex Liberty Poole in the villa.

Sporting a golden tan, Jake dressed for comfort as he sported two of the show's iconic luggage bags

Braving the UK winter snap, the gym enthusiast sported a crisp white t-shirt, an open black shirt and matching trousers

The pair - who were affectionately known as Jiberty when they became an item in 2021 - were early favourites to win series seven, but their relationship fell apart following a dramatic Movie Night episode, and they ended up walking from the series just four days before the final.

READ MORE: Love Island's Jake Cornish QUITS within days of entering All Stars villa after awkward reunion with ex Liberty Poole Advertisement

But Jake has now admitted living alongside Liberty again on 'Love Island: All Stars' gave him an 'opportunity to clear the air' with her.

He added: 'I have no regrets whatsoever as I'm so glad I got to enjoy my time in the villa reuniting with some familiar faces as well finally getting an opportunity to clear the air with Liberty.

'I wish her and all of the other Islanders the very best and will be cheering them all on from home.'

On Wednesday, Jake announced his departure from the show to his fellow Islanders, leaving Liberty stunned.

He said: 'I don't want to waste time. I don't want to give my energy to someone if it's forced, if it's fake.

'So just to let you know, I'm going to leave tonight.'

He added: 'I love you all, that means you've all got to have fun and find love. Just because I haven't doesn't mean you lot can't.'

Liberty exclaimed: 'Oh, Jake!', as she and the rest of the group jumped up and rushed to give him a hug.

As Liberty and Jake were seen walking off for a chat, Demi said: 'I think Libs feels a little bit responsible but I told her it's not her responsibility.'

As the pair sat together by the fire pit, Liberty burst into tears, prompting Jake to say: 'Don't get upset! What are you getting upset for?'

Referring to their past relationship, she said: 'I know what happened, happened three years ago but you've honestly matured so much and I just feel like I just wanted you to have a good chance at finding love as well.'

Keeping up with the casual ensemble, he paired his beachy look with a pair of sliders and messy hair

It comes after he broke his social media silence after quitting the South African villa

The reality star abruptly decided to leave the All Stars series after just two days on the show, and on Thursday he took to Instagram Stories to reveal he was preparing to board his flight home

Jake said: 'You've definitely matured as well. I just can't fake things for the sake of it. I just can't do it.

'So I thought the best thing for me to do is take myself out of the situation. I've had a wicked time.'

Jake continued: 'I hope you find someone in here because there's going to be plenty of people that walk through that door.'

Referring to her decision to leave the Love Island villa just days before the final when she was first on the show and coupled-up with Jake in 2021, Liberty told him: 'It's weird to think that three years ago I was leaving being true to myself and now you're doing the same thing.'

The pair hugged before Jake made his way to the front door of the villa where he was surrounded by his fellow Islanders as he made his way out.

Jake reportedly decided he 'couldn't stay' after the public voted for the exes to be coupled up together.

'Jake was really shocked to see Liberty in the villa  they had no idea the other person would be there,' a source told The Sun.

'It was clear from the start they wouldn't get back together, then none of the girls wanted to step forward for him.

'Jake had a nice three days in the villa and had a very emotional chat to Maya Jama, he couldn't stay in the villa so he quit the show. It's not his time and it's not the right time to find love.'

Jake and Liberty were among 12 former Islanders who appeared on the new spin-off show. The series sees past contestants head into the villa to try to find love once more.

The pair shared a turbulent relationship on the show in 2021, with Liberty falling hard and fast for Jake, but her feelings seemingly not being reciprocated.

The couple became the first to become official in series seven.

However, during the Casa Amor loyalty test, Jake was seen encouraging his male co-stars to play away from their partners.

Love Island: All Stars continues at 9pm on ITV2 and ITVX.
Keke Palmer expressed her ire over phony people with ulterior motives in an Instagram post Wednesday.

The Emmy-winning actress, 30, posted a stunning selfie alongside a caption that detailed her personal feelings on people who she feels put on a show of being nice to her, with intentions of getting something from her at some point.

'Sometimes people dont want to be your friend, they just dont want to be your enemy,' she said. 'They cant be cool with you but they dont want you to know, even though you already do.

'And if they can keep you close enough, maybe they can use you at an opportune time without having to have shown any loyalty.'

The Harvey, Illinois-born entertainer wrapped up in saying that she would rather deal with people who are forthright with her, even if they are saying things she might not like: 'Its so much easier to be honest, no one trusts a coward.'

Keke Palmer, 30, expressed her ire over phony people with ulterior motives in an Instagram post Wednesday

The Harvey, Illinois-born entertainer was pictured at an industry event in LA earlier this month

In the accompanying photo, the Nope actress was pictured in a textured white robe with a light layer of makeup and her hair elegantly styled.

Palmer did not mention any names in the post, which comes in the aftermath of an extended legal conflict and custody battle with ex Darius Jackson, who she shares son Leodis, 11 months, with.

Palmer said in court docs filed last November that Jackson had been physically and emotionally abusive to her.

Palmer submit to the court footage from a home security video which she said depicted Jackson's physical and emotional abusiveness he's displayed toward her.

Palmer described a November 5, 2023 incident with Jackson in which she said he was physically abusive toward her.

'He lunged at me, grabbing at my neck and face, knocked me backwards over the couch, stole my phone out of my hands and then ran out of the house,' she said in court docs.

Palmer told the court that Jackson behaved in a similar manner in an incident in February of 2022.

'In the bedroom, he slammed me on the floor and slapped my head from side to side,' Palmer said. 'The next morning, he was standing at the bottom of the stairs near the front door, screaming at me as I was coming down the stairs.'

Palmer was pictured at the 75th Creative Arts Emmy Awards held at the Peacock Theater earlier this month

Keke and Darius Jackson were pictured in Atlanta last April with their son Leodis Andrellton

The former couple was seen at an event in Pacific Palisades, California in October of 2021

Palmer was subsequently granted a temporary restraining order, which was recently extended. She has also been granted temporary sole physical and legal custody of Leodis, with Jackson getting no visitation until further modifications from the court.

Jackson last month filed for a restraining order against Palmer, telling the court hat she had, for years, behaved 'verbally and physically' abusive toward him. He said that an 'agitated and aggressive' Palmer 'punched' his face at a party in August of 2021, a short time after they began seeing one another.

Palmer and Jackson are due back in court when the restraining order expires on July 16.
Vincent Cassel and gorgeous girlfriend Narah Baptista put on a loved up display as they attended the Alexandre Mattiussi Menswear show during Paris Fashion Week on Thursday.

The French actor, 57, cut a suave figure in a light grey mackintosh which he layered over matching trousers and a crisp white shirt.

Meanwhile Narah, 27, stunned as she flaunted her long toned legs in a chic black mini dress which she teamed with matching panty hoes.

The stunner accessorised with colour coordinating heels and bag while wearing her dark tresses loose, letting them tumble past her shoulders.

Vincent and Narah appeared in high spirits and shared a giggle as they took their seats in the star-studded front row.

Vincent Cassel. 57, and gorgeous girlfriend Narah Baptista, 27, put on a loved up display as they attended the Alexandre Mattiussi Menswear show during Paris Fashion Week on Thursday

The French actor cut a suave figure in a light grey mackintosh which he layered over matching trousers and a crisp white shirt

Vincent appeared to confirm his relationship with model Narah as they packed on the PDA during a trip to the beach in Rio de Janeiro last November.

They also looked loved-up while enjoying a dinner al-fresco to celebrate her birthday in Rome the following month.

The pair looked smitten and couldn't stop smiling while chatting and enjoying the meal.

Vincent - best known for his roles in Ocean's Twelve and Black Swan - recently gushed about his happiness six months after reportedly splitting from wife of five-years Tina Kunakey, 26.

Taking to Instagram, Vincent has shared numerous snaps and videos from his trip abroad including a selfie, which he captioned: 'Just wanted to be happy... I am'.

While Narah replied: 'Amor' which is Italian for love.

Vincent and wife Tina, who welcomed a daughter, Amazonie, in April 2019, are believed to have separated after he deleted all traces of her from his social media.

A source has told DailyMail.com at the time that the couple are headed for divorce. They said: 'They separated weeks ago. Tina is heartbroken.'

She gazed adoringly at her dashing partner as they posed for the cameras

Meanwhile Narah stunned as she flaunted her long toned legs in a chic black mini dress which she teamed with matching panty hoes

The stunner accessorised with colour coordinating heels and bag while wearing her dark tresses loose, letting them tumble past her shoulders

Vincent and Narah appeared in high spirits and shared a giggle as they took their seats in the star-studded front row

Vincent tied the knot with Tina in 2018, two years after they were first linked, and they welcomed a daughter, Amazonie, in April 2019.

Since their separation, Tina has shared several images from photoshoots, while Vincent has been touted two new movies, The Three Musketeers: D'Artagnan, and Liaison, an Apple TV+ film he features in alongside Eva Green.

And while he failed to post anything about Tina's birthday, the actor did share a tribute to his 19-year-old daughter Deva, whom he shares with his first wife, Monica Bellucci.

Vincent and Monica, 59, wed in 1999 after meeting on the set of their 1996 movie, The Apartment.

They divorced in 2013 after 14 years of marriage.
Jacob Elordi playfully took a sniff of his namesake bathtub water on Thursday during an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on NBC.

The 26-year-old Australian actor was asked by Jimmy, 49, if he had seen the bathtub water candles inspired by his racy scene in the black comedy psychological thriller Saltburn.

'Yes, Cailee, my co-star from Priscilla actually sent me the videos of people doing this,' said Jacob, referencing Cailee Spaeny, 26, who played Priscilla Presley opposite Jacob as Elvis Presley in Priscilla.

'I want to know who's making the money?,' Jacob laughed while wearing a grey sweater, blue jeans and black boots.

'You're like, ''I must be rich'',' Jimmy said.

Jacob Elordi playfully took a sniff of his namesake bathtub water on Thursday during an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on NBC

'My first thing was like, ''Great, where's my money?'',' Jacob said.

Jimmy brought out one of the candles and asked Jacob if he wanted to smell his own 'Jacob Elordi's Bathwater' candle.

Jacob took a big whiff and even stuck his mouth in the candle jar as he inhaled its essence.

'How does it smell? Does it smell anything like you?,' Jimmy asked.

'It smells like a washing room. Like detergent,' Jacob said.

'That's not bad, yeah you have a good scent to you. You smell very clean,' Jimmy said.

'His clothes are clean,' Jacob said.

'Yeah, I guess it's not bad, yeah. I like it,' Jimmy said.

The 26-year-old Australian actor took a big whiff and even stuck his mouth in the candle jar as he inhaled its essence

The Euphoria star received a warm welcome from the studio audience in New York City

'How does it smell? Does it smell anything like you?,' Jimmy asked

'I want to know who's making the money?,' Jacob laughed while wearing a grey sweater, blue jeans and black boots

Saltburn premiered in August at the 50th Telluride Film Festival and was released in theaters in the UK and the US in November.

It became available for streaming on Amazon Prime Video on December 22 and has been wide praised by critics.

Jacob was on the NBC talk show to promote his upcoming hosting gig this weekend on Saturday Night Live.

Olivia Jade Giannulli, 24, has been supporting her boyfriend Jacob at rehearsals despite recent breakup reports.
Fans of '90s R&B and Soul music will be disappointed to hear TLC has cancelled their Australian tour with Busta Rhymes and En Vogue.

In a statement released by TLC on Friday, the artists said 'due to unforeseen circumstances' they will not be going through with their upcoming tour in March.

The girl group, who formed in Atlanta in 1990 and quickly became a worldwide sensation, admitted they 'regret' cancelling, and 'promise to make it up' to fans.

'To our incredible Australian and New Zealand fans, with heavy hearts, we regret to announce the cancellation of our upcoming tour,' the statement read.

'Unforeseen circumstances have made it impossible to proceed, and we sincerely apologize for any disappointment.'

Fans of '90s R&B and Soul music will be disappointed to hear TLC has cancelled their Australian tour with Busta Rhymes (pictured) and En Vogue

It continued: 'Your support means everything, and we promise to make it up to you. We can't wait to be back in your beautiful countries soon.'

TLC finished their message by thanking their fans for their 'understanding and love' before assuring 'tickets will be automatically refunded in full'.

Duo Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins and Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas were set to kick off their tour in Melbourne on March 2 before they cancelled it.

In a statement released by TLC (pictured) on Friday, the artists said 'due to unforeseen circumstances' they will not be going through with their upcoming tour in March

They were then scheduled to hit Adelaide, Sydney, Brisbane and Perth.

The band last performed in Australia during the RnB Fridayz Live tour in November 2022.

Thrift Shop hitmaker Macklemore, who performed at the 2017 NRL Grand Final in Sydney, headlined the event and performed alongside a bevy of other stars.

The huge line-up also included international superstars like Ashanti and Shaggy and Australia's own DJ Havana Brown.
She has said for years that her youngest daughter Chicago looks like her.

And Kim Kardashian amped up the comparison on Thursday when she posted shocking side-by-side photos of herself as a child next to Chicago.

Although the six-year-old girl already has a remarkable resemblance to her mother now, the comparison was even stronger when her photo was juxtaposed against one of Kim at around the same age as her daughter.

'My twin,' the 43-year-old reality star  who teased her SKIMS Valentine's Day collection earlier in the day  captioned the image she shared to her Instagram Stories, although she didn't specify exactly how old she was in the photo.

Young Kim sported modest studded earrings, unlike her daughter, and her dark hair was styled straight, while Chicago had her curly long locks styled in cute top knots.

Kim Kardashian, 43, called her youngest daughter Chicago, six, her 'twin' in a cute side-by-side photo posted to her Insta Stories on Thursday

The photo included a childhood picture of Kim that revealed that she looked even more like Chicago when she was approximately her age

The comparison also highlighted the life of luxury that Chicago has grown up in as the child of one billionaire  Kim  and one former billionaire  her father Kanye West, after he lost hundreds of millions of dollar in business deals due to antisemitic statements.

The younger sister of North West wore a sparkling diamond-encrusted necklace, while Kim's photo was relatively luxury-free.

The photo of Chicago was taken from the KardashianJenner family's 2023 Christmas Eve bash, which previously set Kim's fans and followers buzzing over the shocking lookalikes when she posted the photos.

'Chicago is literally your mini you!' one astounded fan commented on her post, while another raved, 'Chi is your twin, she is beautiful.'

A third user predicted that the Chicago would grow up to become the 'that girl' of her generation.

In addition to her mini-me, Kim and her ex Kanye share daughter North, 10; son Saint, eight; and son Psalm, four.

Back in October of 2018, when Chicago was just eight months old, Kim already was certain that her youngest daughter was her spitting image.

After calling Chicago 'such a doll' on Ashley Graham's now-defunct Pretty Big Deal podcast, Kim said Chicago, 'looks like, honestly, my twin mixed with Saint. Its like the two of us in her.'

Saint is also commonly compared to his mother, whereas Kim's oldest daughter North West is often said to more closely resemble her father Kanye.

Kim likely had Chicago's resemblance to her on the brain in recent days, as she celebrated her daughter's six birthday just days earlier on January 15.

Kim's fans previously noted just how similar Chicago looks to her mother when she posted photos of the two together from her 2023 Christmas Eve bash

After calling Chicago 'such a doll' on Ashley Graham'sPretty Big Deal podcast in 2018, Kim said Chicago, 'looks like, honestly, my twin mixed with Saint. Its like the two of us in her'

On her birthday, Kim reposted a Kourtney Kardashian fan account's post with photos of Chicago still looking just like her mother even as a baby. The resemblance was even stronger in a picture of her in which a topless Kim held a naked Chicago against her chest

In addition to her mini-me, Kim and her ex Kanye share daughter North, 10; son Saint, eight; and son Psalm, four

On her birthday, Kim reposted a Kourtney Kardashian fan account's post with photos of Chicago still looking just like her mother even as a baby.

The resemblance was even stronger in a picture of her in which a topless Kim held a naked Chicago against her chest.

Kim filed for divorce from Chicago's father Kanye in February of 2021, but the divorce wasn't finalized until November 2022 after they came to an agreement on child support and custody.

The exes were married back in 2014.
LeVar Burton made the shocking discovering that he has white ancestors in his family tree on the latest episode of PBS' Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates.

The 66-year-old Reading Rainbow host had questions about his family tree, since he largely grew up without a father and was raised by a single mother in Sacramento, after being born in West Germany.

Host Henry Louis Gates and his team of researchers discovered that the actor had a great-great grandfather named James Henry Dixon, a white man.

Dixon was married with kids of his own, but he had an extramarital affair with a Black woman who was a former slave, and they had a child, Mary, Burton's great-grandmother.

Early on in Tuesday's episode, Burton - who recently signed on to host a Trivial Pursuit TV show - admitted that it was, 'very difficult' to get stories about her heritage from her mother, which lead to the discovery that he has a white great-great grandfather.

LeVar Burton made the shocking discovering that he has white ancestors in his family tree on the latest episode of PBS' Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates

The 66-year-old Reading Rainbow host had questions about his family tree, since he largely grew up without a father and was raised by a single mother in Sacramento, after being born in West Germany

Host Henry Louis Gates and his team of researchers discovered that the actor had a great-great grandfather named James Henry Dixon, a white man

'Impossible. She never wanted to share any of her history,' Burton admitted, as Gates said in the episode that the mystery starts with his great-grandmother, Mary Sills.

It was revealed that Mary may not even have known her own father, since the man listed as Mary's father - Louis Sills - was not actually her father, according to the DNA analysis they ran.

Burton's DNA did have several matches to a man named James Henry Dixon, and as they dug through public records, they learned his mother's heritage was so secretive because his great-grandmother Mary was half-white.

Burton is seen in the episode reading through Burton and his family, all listed as white, as Burton could only respond with, 'Wow.'

Gates explained that Mary's father was married and living with children, as Burton realized, 'She was the other family on the side.'

When Gates asked if he was expecting that, if he had any idea he had a white relative, Burton exclaimed, 'No! No I had no idea. So granny was half-white. Wow.'

Gates went back and examined Dixon's life, revealing he grew up in North Carolina, and he signed up to fight for the North Carolina Confederate Junior Reserves as a teenager.

'Oh my God. Oh my God. I did not see this coming,' Burton said, as Gates added that the Junior Reserves were primarily used for guard duty, so they don't think he actually saw any combat on the front lines.

'Impossible. She never wanted to share any of her history,' Burton admitted, as Gates said in the episode that the mystery starts with his great-grandmother, Mary Sills

It was revealed that Mary may not even have known her own father, since the man listed as Mary's father - Louis Sills - was not actually her father, according to the DNA analysis they ran

Burton's DNA did have several matches to a man named James Henry Dixon, and as they dug through public records, they learned his mother's heritage was so secretive because his great-grandmother Mary was half-white

'Oh my God. Oh my God. I did not see this coming,' Burton said, as Gates added that the Junior Reserves were primarily used for guard duty, so they don't think he actually saw any combat on the front lines

Still, as Gates explained, Dixon, as a child, fought to defend slavery, but as an adult, he had a child with a former slave, which Burton was trying to process.

'I often wonder about white men of the period, and how they justified their relations with Black women, especially those in an unbalanced power dynamic,' Burton said.

Burton wondered if Dixon was, 'conflicted' about defending slavery, at worst, and, 'repentent at best, and then there's the possibility that he didn't think about it at all.'

Gates then showed Burton a photo of his great-great-grandfather, James Henry Dixon, with Burton saying, 'I would have fought you five minutes ago if you told me I had a white great-great grandfather.'

'What?! Kunta got white ancestry. What?! Come on now, Skip!' Burton said, as Gates added Dixon had nine children and over 40 grandchildren before he died in 1906, meaning Burton has, 'an extensive network of white cousins whose roots stretch back centuries.'

'This is insanely surprising. There is some conflict roiling inside of me right now, but oddly enough, I feel a pathway opening up,' Burton said.

'I believe that, as Americans, we need to have this conversation about who we are and how we got here,' Burton admitted.

'I see that we are so polarized politically, emotionally, and racially. We are not talking to each other. So, Ive been looking for an entry point to talk to white America. Here it is,' Burton admitted.
Allison Holker Boss is gaining strength through her children in the wake of her husband's death.

The professional dancer and mother of three, 35, has been out promoting her new picture book Keep Dancing Through: A Boss Family Groove that she created with her late husband, Stephen 'tWitch' Boss, before his tragic death by suicide in December 2022.

During a appearance on The Kelly Clarkson Show, she shared how there was a point that she considered not releasing the book as a way to as a way 'to hold on to it for myself and for my kids just to have something like a time capsule for us to look back on.'

Her promotional travels also took her the Today show and the Viall Files podcast, where she shared how she has been able to lean on her three children that she shared with Boss: daughters Weslie, 15, and Zaia, three, and son Maddox, seven, as a source of love and stability.

'There are so many moments I've learned from my kids, or we've learned on the forefront together no matter what their age is,' Holker told host Nick Viall.

Allison Holker, 35, revealed about the special moment when she and her oldest daughter Weslie, 15, were able to laugh for the first time since the death of Stephen 'tWitch' Boss; the family are pictured in June 2022, six months before Boss died by suicide

The So You Think You Can Dance star went on to reveal how she's been able to learn to be vulnerable in front of her kids, amid her grief, and then proceeded to single out one very special moment she shared with Weslie, the oldest of her children.

'We had a moment, months after everything happened, we were in our kitchen, and we were, for whatever reason, I don't even remember what the memory was that got brought up. I don't even remember. But what I do remember was it was our first laugh, and it was months after it took months before we had that,' she confessed.

Mother and daughter were bursting out in 'wild, wild laughter' when they stopped momentarily to wonder whether it was now okay to start laughing again in life.

'Immediately after we started laughing, we both looked at each other and stopped like almost on a dime 'cause then there was almost immediate regret, and like, a grief from feeling bad about having that laughter. Like, is this okay?' she explained.

'And then we just like hugged it out, and then we cried, and we're like, "Yeah, no, we can laugh." We can do that,' Holker said, while noting that it was a moment she will never ever forget.

'Going through that genuine emote, like, you know, emotion with someone else at the same time was something that I'll never forget with her,' she said of the experience with her daughter. 'And then we almost had to walk each other through it and convince each other for each other that it was okay.'

The choreographer admitted the moment also made her feel even more grateful to have her family like Weslie in her life.

'I'm just really grateful to have her and to champion her through all this and her champion me through it,' she continued. 'But she's lovely, and so I fully believe we can learn more lessons from our own kids and they can sometimes learn from us.'

The choreographer is currently out promoting her new picture book that she wrote with her late husband Stephen 'tWitch' Boss, including a stop on the Today show

The mother of three wrote the book with her late husband, and then wondered whether to halt the release as a way to keep something of their loved one to themselves

Holker and her daughter Weslie have been making the rounds in the promotion of the family's picture book, which is a 'heartfelt celebration of family and their motto: 'keep dancing through'

Part of the story of her kids can also be found within the pages of Keep Dancing Through: A Boss Family Groove, which is a 'heartfelt celebration of family and their motto: 'keep dancing through.'

'It really was a testament to our family. We wanted to write something that shared a day in the life of who we are, what we are, and we really believe in affirmations. So you really follow my kids each go on this journey and how we get through everything,' Holker explained.

Encouraging readers to dance to a beat thats all their own, Mom, Dad, Weslie, Maddox, and Zaia groove through the ups and downs of a typical day in the book.

Mother and daughter shared a moment with Today show hosts Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager after their interview on the talk show

'It feels like we have a new chance for a new beginning as a family to understand and learn and grow,' Holker said of her life moving forward with her their children

Birthday celebration: To mark what would have been Twitch's 41st birthday, his family spend part of their day on September 29 at his gravesite

While contemplating whether to release the book or keep it within the family, Holker 'kept reading the title over and over again' Keep Dancing Through, I was like that's all I can do, and that all I can do with my kids and what I can teach them.'

'I felt like God and universe was like, "No you have to do this" because everyone that's followed my journey and followed his journey and our family coming together, and me having kids with him everyone's been so supportive and lovely and it was a way for me to give back to them that they can "keep dancing through" as well,' the Anoka County, Minnesota native revealed.

In the wake of her appearance on the Today show, Holker shared a photo of herself and Weslie together on the set, along with some words of wisdom to live bu moving forward.

'It feels like we have a chance for a new beginning as a family to understand and learn and grow,' she wrote. 'But to also step into something that is just a new version of who we are now.'
Kendall Jenner must have been feeling the chill when she stepped out in a revealing ensemble for dinner in Aspen, Colorado, on Thursday.

The 28-year-old model had plenty of skin exposed to the falling snow and freezing temperatures as she got out of her car in a sizzling charcoal micro mini dress.

She was meeting up with family, including her older sisters Kim and Khloe Kardashian, who were also spotted out in the winter wonderland.

The group dined out at the upscale Japanese restaurant Matsuhisa, which is the older, more expensive and more exclusive cousin to the KardashianJenner favorite Nobu, which has a location they regularly frequent in Malibu.

Kendall, who was the picture of casual style while out in Los Angeles earlier in the week, completely changed up her look with the figure-hugging dress for her dinner meet-up.

Kendall Jenner must have been feeling the chill when she stepped out in a revealing ensemble for dinner in Aspen, Colorado, on Thursday. The 28-year-old model had plenty of skin exposed to the falling snow and freezing temperatures as she got out of her car in a sizzling charcoal micro mini dress

She was meeting up with family, including her older sisters Kim and Khloe Kardashian, who were also spotted out in the winter wonderland

The group dined out at the upscale Japanese restaurant Matsuhisa, which is the older, more expensive and more exclusive cousin to the KardashianJenner favorite Nobu, which has a location they regularly frequent in Malibu

Kendall looked effortlessly chic in the skimpy dress, which exposed one shoulder.

It had a thick white fleece neckline that rode up at an angle, covering up her other shoulder for slightly more warmth.

The tight look accentuated her hourglass figure, and the short skirt end high up on her thighs, putting the spotlight on the 5ft11in model's long, slender legs, which were clad in sheer black stockings.

The catwalk star had on a set of black pumps with particularly pointy toes, which further emphasized her slender frame.

She left her raven tresses more reserved than the rest of her look. They were parted down the middle and swept back, with part of her hair assembled into a small top knot while the rest cascaded dramatically down her back.

After her swanky JapanesePeruvian dinner, Kendall was seen with her sister Khloe as they browsed hats at Aspen's Kemo Sabe store, a hub for high-end Western clothing and classic hat designs.

The reality star was pictured strutting down an aisle in the store as she browsed wall decked out in colorful fedoras.

Her night on the town appeared to be part of filming for her family's Hulu series The Kardashian, the fancier successor to their iconic reality series Keeping Up On The Kardashians, which had aired on E!.

Kendall looked effortlessly chic in the skimpy dress, which exposed one shoulder

It had a thick white fleece neckline that rode up at an angle, covering up her other shoulder for slightly more warmth

She was seen out with her sister Khloe Kardashian, whose outfit was as luxurious and warm as Kendall's was skimpy

The tight look accentuated Kendall's hourglass figure, and the short skirt end high up on her thighs, putting the spotlight on the 5ft11in model's long, slender legs, which were clad in sheer black stockings

She was seen being filmed in the Kemo Sabe Western clothing store, likely for inclusion on Hulu's The Kardashians

As she walked through the store, a camera crew could be seen following close behind to document every move.

Her sister Khloe's outfit was the polar opposite of Kendall's skimpy micro mini dress.

The 39-year-old Good American co-founder stayed toasty in a luxurious gray coat that looked as if it could have been made of real fur.

She had on a barely visible long-sleeve black top with thumb holes that peaked out from her voluminous sleeves, and she kept herself from slipping on any ice patches with a chunky set of black snow boots that wouldn't have looked out of place on her former brother-in-law Kanye West.

Khloe kept her long blond hair covered by a large, furry black hat with a sloping brim that nearly covered her eyes and appeared to make it difficult to see.

She could be seen comically lifting up the brim just to get a glimpse ahead of her as she stepped out of her car.

Khloe has had a complicated relationship to fur over the years. Back in 2008, she posed nude in an anti-fur campaign for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), but she later denounced the organization after an activist connected to it flour bombed her sister Kim for wearing fur.

Although she denounced the 'bullying' tactics in a 2012 statement, she still declared that she would not be wearing fur in the future.

While some of her sister have also vowed to only wear faux fur  and her sister Kim declared that all of her favorite fur outfits were remade with fake fur  Khloe has left her fans with suspicions that she may still wear fur.

In 2020, she was labeled a 'hypocrite' after she posted an animal rights statement, which led a critic to resurrect a Halloween photo of herself with her daughter True Thompson in which she was dressed as 101 Dalmatian's Cruella de Vil.

Although she lashed out at her critics and declared that the furry parts of her dress were made with faux fur, the dress' own designer suggested otherwise.

A post from two months earlier from a Daniel's Leather account shared the same picture, captioned: '@khloekardashian came to me with this vision i knew it will not be an easy task but i am so glad that the final product came out perfect .

In the accompanying hashtags, they added '#shearlingcoat #shearlingjacket #sheepskinjacket #shearlingvest #furparka #foxponcho #furcollar #FoxCollar #Motojacket #KidsShearling #Fox#Mink #Sheep #kidsmoto #shearlingcoats #coatgoat #kidsleatherjacket #kingoforchardstreet #furparka #furrierofthestars #furrierofthecelebrities #celebritystylist #cashmerecoat,' with many of the hashtags suggesting that the dress may have been partially made of animal fur.

Khloe, 39, stayed toasty in a luxurious gray coat that looked as if it could have been made of real fur. She kept herself from slipping on ice with a chunky set of black snow boots that wouldn't have looked out of place on her former brother-in-law Kanye West

Khloe has previously denied that she wears fur anymore, but her fans and critics have speculated that some of her furry outfits may still feature animal skins

Her older sister Kim was also spotted browsing the Kemo Sabe store. The raven-haired beauty was dressed in a fuzzy black fleece coat with black suede pants with dangling stitching running up the sides of her pant legs

She wore pointy black heels, and she contrasted her dark hair with a playful tan hat

Khloe also subsequently deleted her comment denying that the dress contained real fur.

Her older sister Kim was also spotted browsing the Kemo Sabe store.

The raven-haired beauty was dressed in a fuzzy black fleece coat with black suede pants with dangling stitching running up the sides of her pant legs.

She wore pointy black heels, and she contrasted her dark hair with a playful tan hat.
Kim Kardashian surfaced Thursday amid growing backlash over her now-viral video promoting tanning beds to her millions of TikTok followers.

The reality TV star, 43, was slammed as 'irresponsible' for using her massive platform to spotlight a beauty practice that's known to increase the risk of skin cancer.

But Kim looked unbothered by her critics as she shopped with her sister Khloe, a two-time melanoma survivor, at Kumo Sabe in Aspen, Colorado.

She was photographed wandering around the pricey Western apparel store wearing a beige cowboy hat and a glamorous black fur coat.

Kim completed her cozy look with pointy heels, a low-cut top and flared pants.

Kim Kardashian surfaced Thursday in Aspen, Colorado amid growing backlash over her now-viral video promoting tanning beds to her millions of TikTok followers.

The reality TV star, 43, was slammed as 'irresponsible' for using her massive platform to spotlight a beauty practice that's known to increase the risk of skin cancer

Meanwhile, Khloe, 39, was seen bundled up in a massive fur coat and fur hat as she braved the snowfall with their half-sister Kendall Jenner, 28.

In 2022, Khloe received a 'rare' melanoma diagnosis after having a lump on her cheek biopsied.

She had to have an 'immediate operation' and the tumor was successfully removed.

But it left an indent on one side of her face that she's since had to have filled.

She previously had surgery at age 19 to remove melanoma on her back.

Khloe's most recent skin cancer scare was shown on her family's reality TV series The Kardashians, with the Good American founder warning fans that it's 'deadly.'

In September, Khloe encouraged her own fans to 'be consistent with your skin cancer checks.'

Despite melanoma running in her family, Kim looked at ease as she showed off the massive tanning bed in her office this week.

But Kim looked unbothered by her critics as she shopped at Kumo Sabe

Kim was joined by her sister Khloe, 39, who is a two-time melanoma survivor

Khloe hung out outside the store with their little half-sister Kendall Jenner, 28

In 2022, Khloe received a 'rare' melanoma diagnosis after having a lump on her cheek biopsied and was forced to undergo an 'immediate operation' to remove it

Although the surgery was successful, the removal left a dent in her cheeks that she's since filled with facial filler

Despite melanoma running in her family, Kim looked at ease as she showed off the massive tanning bed in her office as part of a new TikTok trend

She did so as part of the new 'of course' TikTok trend that sees people gently poke fun at common perceptions about themselves.

At one point during the tour, Kim addressed the camera wearing special black goggles while lounging inside a tanning bed.

'I'm Kim Kardashian, of course I have a tanning bed...,' she stated, but paused to jump out and jog over to a $78k red light therapy bed. 'And a red light bed in my office!'

The reality TV star's fans and critics quickly took to social media to express their disappointment.

'still can't get over the tanning bed in 2024,' one X user wrote, with another adding: 'The rich are so out of touch.'

Several fans were shocked to learn that Kim's tanning bed is located in the office of her skincare company, SKKN by Kim.

'why [the f**k] would she use a tanning bed when her family genetics make her predisposed to skin cancer? ' another tweet read.

The reality TV star's fans and critics quickly took to social media to express their disappointment

Dermatologists on TikTok also warned Kim and her fans about the many health risks of using tanning beds.

Studies have shown that indoor tanning increases the risk of developing the two most common types of skin cancer  squamous cell carcinoma by 58 percent and basal cell carcinoma by 24 percent.

Denver-based dermatologist Dr Scott Walter said: 'Kim, no disrespect, but why do you have a tanning bed when your sister has had a history of melanoma herself? [referring here to Khloe].

'If you have a family history of it, your risk for melanoma goes up by 74 percent. And that's on top of the risk of indoor tanning and melanoma alone.

'Let's not promote indoor tanning. There's no such thing as a safe tan.'

Dr Aamna Adel, a London-based dermatologist, simply commented 'Tanning bed' with a crying emoji, which kicked off a series of commenters bemoaning the fact that she promoted an unsafe practice.

The first response to Dr Adel's comment said: 'THANK YOU!! I had to scroll down so far to find this  Completely banned in Australia yrs ago due to skin damage/skin cancer risk.'

Another said: 'In 2024  Does she have an ashtray next to it ?'

And another: 'So can I go back into the tanning beds if Kim Kardashian does ?'

Her defenders were quick to point out that the mogul might be using a tanning bed to treat her psoriasis, an autoimmune condition that leads to inflamed scaly patches on the skin, usually on the scalp, elbows, and knees.

UVB rays, the kind of the sun that cause burns, are believed to help clear psoriasis flare-ups. But tanning beds mainly release UVA light, the type that can lead most readily to wrinkles and other signs of premature aging, according to the National Psoriasis Foundation.

Tanning to treat psoriasis is not recommended because the cancer risk far outweighs any benefit.

As one commenter put it: 'I can't even believe that has to be explained in this day and age.'

Tanning beds are a known carcinogen, so much so that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requires warning labels on all indoor tanning equipment

The American Academy of Dermatology Association strongly advises against going for a tanning bed to achieve the coveted Kardashian glow.

'Indoor tanning can increase the risk of developing the two most common types of skin cancer - squamous cell carcinoma by 58 percent and basal cell carcinoma by 24 percent.'

While tanning bed use rates are decreasing, the AADA reported that roughly 7.8 million Americans have not been dissuaded.
Kristen Stewart cut a stylish figure on Thursday as she lead the stars attending the 2024 Sundance Film Festival Opening Night Gala in Park City, Utah.

The Twilight star, 33, flashed a glimpse of her toned tummy in a chic black and white Chanel set, featuring a button-up jacket and matching pants.

The Los Angeles native  who recently called her famous vampire flick 'such a gay movie'  wore her raven tresses pinned up in a stylishly messy updo. She accentuated her features with a touch of bronze eyeshadow.

The actress was honored with the Visionary Award at the event, presented to her by her co-star of three films Jesse Eisenberg, 40.

'Thank you for lighting a fire under my a**,' she told the crowd as per Deadline, adding, 'Sundance is the f******g s**t!'

Kristen Stewart, 33, cut a stylish figure on Thursday as she lead the stars attending the 2024 Sundance Film Festival Opening Night Gala in Park City, Utah

The Twilight star flashed a glimpse of her toned tummy in a chic black and white Chanel set, featuring a button-up jacket and matching pants

The award was given to her for her influence in the indie film sphere, as well as her long-standing relationship with the festival.

Stewart also has two films screening at the festival: 'Love Me', directed by Sam and Andy Zuchero, and 'Love Lies Bleeding', directed by Rose Glass and produced by A24.

While at the event Stewart also posed for a number of portraits, including some with Jesse.

The actor sported a plaid button-up underneath a black jacket. He paired the outfit with blue jeans and brown boots.

Also at the gala was Jodie Foster, 61, who was there to support wife Alexandra Hedison, 54, and her short film 'ALOK.'

The two-time Academy Award winner happily posed for snaps with her other half, and looked elegant in black coat worn over a patterned shirt. The Silence of The Lambs star accessorized the outfit with a Gucci purse.

Meanwhile Hedison wore a velvet navy jacket and a cream silk blouse.

The couple will celebrate 10 years married this April.

The Los Angeles native wore her raven tresses pinned up in a stylishly messy updo

Kristen posed for a number of portraits at the event

She completed her outfit with white socks and black loafers

The actress was honored with the Visionary Award at the event

The award was given to her for her influence in the indie film sphere, as well as her long-standing relationship with the festival

Stewart also has two films screening at the festival: 'Love Me', directed by Sam and Andy Zuchero, and 'Love Lies Bleeding', directed by Rose Glass and produced by A24

She was presented the award by her co-star of three films Jesse Eisenberg, 40

The duo also posed for a portrait together

Jesse sported a plaid button-up underneath a black jacket. He paired the outfit with blue jeans and brown boots

ALOK, directed by Hedison, is a portrait of Alok Vaid-Menon, a nonbinary author, poet, comedian, and public speaker. The film was executive produced by Foster.

Hedison also posed with the film's protagonist.

Alok, 32, rocked a sleeveless red and black dress and black leather gloves.

The artist accessorized with dangling silver earrings.

Chilean film producer and director Maite Alberdi, 40, was a vision in a semi sheer black gown, which she accessorized with a statement belt.

She received the Vanguard Award at the event.

Robert Downey Jr., 58, attended the event with his Oppenheimer director Christopher Nolan, 53.

The Ironman star was dapper as ever in a black suit and grey collared shirt, while the filmmaker looked suave in a black coat worn over a grey vest and brown pants.

The duo were also joined by Nolan's wife, Emma Thomas, 52, who looked fashionable in a green sweater, which she accessorized with a gold chain.

Also at the event was Jodie Foster, 61, who was there to support wife Alexandra Hedison, 54, and her short film 'ALOK'

The two-time Academy Award winner happily posed for snaps with her other half, and looked elegant in black coat worn over a patterned shirt

The couple will celebrate 10 years married this April

ALOK was executive produced by Foster, who also posed for portraits at the gala

In one snap she was joined by Chilean film producer and director Maite Alberdi, 40. Alberdi received the Vanguard Award at the event

ALOK, directed by Hedison, is a portrait of Alok Vaid-Menon (R) a nonbinary author, poet, comedian, and public speaker

The artist, 32, rocked a sleeveless red and black dress and black leather gloves

Alberdi was a vision in a semi sheer black gown, which she accessorized with a statement belt

Robert Downey Jr., 58, attended the event with his Oppenheimer director Christopher Nolan, 53

The duo were also joined by Nolan's wife, Emma Thomas, 52, who looked fashionable in a green sweater, which she accessorized with a gold chain

The Ironman star was dapper as ever in a black suit and grey collared shirt, while the filmmaker looked suave in a black coat worn over a grey vest and brown pants

Robert and Christopher posed for a portrait together

The duo looked dashing as always

Nolan received the Trailblazer award at the gala

Jennifer Grey, 63, opted for a long-sleeve black top and a high-waisted olive-toned leather maxi skirt

The Dirty Dancing star wore her brunette tresses styled in light curls for the evening

Robert Redford's daughter Amy Redford, 53, opted for a classic look in a black dress that showed off her toned legs

She teamed the outfit with mid-calf black boots

Pat Mitchell, 80, wore a black outfit featuring a number of turquoise accents, including a large heart-shaped necklace

Lio Mehiel cozied up to Dulcinee Deguere at the event

Christine Vachon, 61, posed alongside director and playwright Celine Song, 36

Director Ebs Burnough rocked a black and white blazer and white jeans, while actor David Alan Grier, 67, wore a crochet white and pink sweater with black pants

CEO of Blumhouse Productions Jason Blum, 54, was casual cool in a plaid jacket, grey t-shirt, and khaki pants

Nolan was among those receiving tributes at the gala.

While accepting the inaugural Trailblazer award, the famed director told the crowd: 'It's a quarter of a century later, and I'm still f*****g being discovered by Sundance,' as per Deadline.

'At what point do I move onto bigger things?' he joked.

Robert Redford's daughter Amy Redford, 53, opted for a classic look in a black dress that showed off her toned legs.

She teamed the outfit with mid-calf black boots.

Jennifer Grey, 63, opted for a long-sleeve black top and a high-waisted olive-toned leather maxi skirt.

The Dirty Dancing star wore her brunette tresses styled in light curls for the evening.

Director Ebs Burnough rocked a black and white blazer and white jeans, while actor David Alan Grier, 67, wore a crochet white and pink sweater with black pants.

CEO of Blumhouse Productions Jason Blum, 54, was casual cool in a plaid jacket, grey t-shirt, and khaki pants.

'Thank you for lighting a fire under my a**', Stewart told the crowd as she received her Visionary Award, adding, 'Sundance is the f******g s**t!'

Eisenberg introduced her to the crowd

The duo later posed with her award

Kristen mingled with Jodie and Alexandra inside

Nolan was among those receiving tributes at the gala

While accepting the inaugural Trailblazer award, the famed director told the crowd: 'It's a quarter of a century later, and I'm still f*****g being discovered by Sundance,' as per Deadline

'At what point do I move onto bigger things?' he joked

He was introduced to the stage by Downey Jr.

Robert praised the director

At one point he held up a funny printed photo of Nolan

The duo posed with Nolan's award

They looked thrilled to be celebrating together

Nolan mingled with director Darren Aronofsky

Redford was pictured speaking onstage

She is the director of psychological thriller What Comes Around

Mitchell waved to the crowd

Song was honored with the Vanguard award

Jodie and Alexandra mingled with David

The True Detective: Night Country star also struck a pose with Eisenberg

The two chatted it up

Pat Mitchell, 80, wore a black outfit featuring a number of turquoise accents, including a large heart-shaped necklace.

Also present at the event were Darren Aronofsky, Christine Vachon, Celine Song, Lio Mehiel and Dulcinee Deguere. Song was honored with the Vanguard award.

The festival, held in snowy Park City, Utah, will go on for 10 days.

Nineteen films are playing on the first day, including documentaries about Frida Kahlo, Brian Eno and Lollapalooza.

The Sundance Film Festival will come to an end on January 28.
Howie Mandel on Thursday confronted Andy Cohen about calling him a 'jackhole' nearly a year ago, asking him at one point if he respected him.

The discussion between Mandel, 68, and Cohen, 55, took place Thursday on the SiriusXM show Andy Cohen Live, more than nine months after the initial remarks were made.

The situation began April 11, 2023 when Vanderpump Rules star Tom Sandoval, 50, appeared on Mandel's podcast Howie Mandel Does Stuff during the timeframe in which Sandoval was in the thick of 'Scandoval' - the scandal in which he was caught cheating on longtime girlfriend Ariana Madix with Raquel Leviss.

Mandel's chat with Sandoval marked the 40-year-old reality star's first public interview since his infidelity story broke, and Cohen and Vanderpump Rules viewers at the time were critical of Mandel, saying he was unprepared with proper questions for Sandoval amid the headline-making scandal.

On the April 11, 2023 edition of Watch What Happens Live, Cohen commenced with the name-calling in response to Mandel's Sandoval interview.

Howie Mandel, 68, on Thursday confronted Andy Cohen, 55, about calling him a 'Jackhole' nearly a year ago, asking him at one point if he respected him. Pictured last month in Pasadena, California

Cohen was pictured last month at SiriusXM's New York City studios

'Tonight's jackhole goes to the fact that Howie Mandel apparently didn't know what he was getting himself into with his interview of Tom Sandoval today,' Cohen said. 'Because it seems like maybe he didn't do his homework?'

Cohen said that as result of the interview, 'Both Sandoval and Howie [were] being dragged on social media,' advising the veteran entertainer to exercise caution with Bravo's 'very passionate' fans.

'Howie, you have to be careful before you take a side,' Cohen said.

On Thursday, Mandel told Cohen he had not ever watched Vanderpump Rules at the time he had interviewed Sandoval.

He directly confronted Cohen about the aforementioned name-calling, asking him, 'Don't you respect me for that? Why am I a jackhole?'

Cohen walked back the remark, saying that he didn't feel Mandel was a 'jackhole,' and that Mandel's laid back interview with Sandoval had actually worked 'out well personally' for him, leaving plenty of unasked questions about the scandal for him to capitalize on later.

'It kind of saved the grilling for me later at the reunion,' Cohen said. 'So it actually, as it turns out, maybe I should give you the mazel instead because we do a jackhole and a mazel.'

Mandel told Cohen that he was on the receiving end of 'so much hate' after providing Sandoval with the platform to 'bury himself' deeper amid the cheating scandal, comparing the course of events to 'having a deposition and then watching the courtroom' drama unfold.

On Thursday, Mandel told Cohen he had not ever watched Vanderpump Rules at the time he had interviewed Sandoval

Cohen was pictured earlier this month in Miami

Mandel said Sandoval claimed he had split with Madix amid a spate of relationship problems.

'He told me a story about how she wanted to have kids and he went, "Are you crazy? I broke up with you,"' Mandel said of Sandoval.

Mandel said that 'the next episode' of Vanderpump Rules showed Sandoval and 'his buddy Tom Schwartz' going to a fertility clinic to check on the status of his sperm.

Said Mandel: 'I go, "Well, that's not what he told me. He told me that he broke up with her and it was crazy that she wanted to have kids."'

Vanderpump Rules 11th season debuts January 30 on Bravo at 8/7c.
Gabrielle Union is soaking up the sun this week in Miami, Florida with her husband Dwyane Wade and their five-year-old daughter Kaavia.

The family hit the beach on Thursday and the Bring It On star, 51, eagerly gave fans a look at their idyllic getaway on Instagram.

Gabrielle sizzled in a skimpy purple bikini while sipping on a fancy cocktail and relaxing on a chaise lounger.

The sexy portraits were taken by Wade, 42, who would later join her for a dip in the water.

The couple  who will celebrate 10 years of marriage in August  worried Kaavia as she yelled from the shore: 'Mommy, don't fall in the ocean!'

Gabrielle Union is soaking up the sun this week in Miami, Florida with her husband Dwyane Wade and their five-year-old daughter Kaavia

The family hit the beach on Thursday and the Bring It On star, 51, eagerly gave fans a look at their idyllic getaway on Instagram

Kaavia's warning may have jinxed the actress as she was later knocked over by an incoming wave.

Dwyane did not let go of Gabrielle's hand as they braved the knee-deep water as a couple.

Much of their beach time was spent lounging in their chairs with Kaavia lying between them.

In one adorable clip, Gabrielle's mini-me comes up with the idea to play a tickle game.

But as her parents begin tickling her, Kaavia exclaims: 'Wait, hold on. You guys did too much. Youre only supposed to do a little.'

Gabrielle hilariously replies: 'Oh we were doing too much? Imagine us being extra?'

The doting mom also shared a sweet video of Dwyane holding his youngest daughter's hand as they walked along the beach together.

Gabrielle sizzled in a skimpy purple bikini while sipping on a fancy cocktail and relaxing on a chaise lounger

After spending time in the sand, Gabrielle and Dwyane decided to take a dip in the water

The couple  who will celebrate 10 years of marriage in August  worried Kaavia as she yelled from the shore: 'Mommy, don't fall in the ocean!'

Kaavia's warning may have jinxed the actress as she was later knocked over by an incoming wave

Much of their beach time was spent lounging in their chairs with Kaavia lying between them

The doting mom also shared a sweet video of Dwyane holding his youngest daughter's hand as they walked along the beach together

Gabrielle captioned Thursday's post: 'Extra without the charge'

On Wednesday, the Bad Boys II star uploaded a memorable photo of herself and Kaavia before the family headed out for dinner in Miami.

Gabrielle made jaws drop while modeling a tiny red dress on the balcony of their hotel.

She had legs for days in the halter-neck frock that blew in the ocean breeze as she posed.

'Not a mood more like a whole experience,' she wrote.

On Wednesday, the Bad Boys II star uploaded a photo of herself and Kaavia before the family headed out for dinner in Miami

Gabrielle made jaws drop while modeling a tiny red dress on the balcony of their hotel

She had legs for days in the halter-neck frock that blew in the ocean breeze as she posed

Missing from the Miami vacation photos and videos was Gabrielle's step-daughter Zaya Wade, 16.

Dwyane shares Zaya with his ex-wife Siohvaughn Funches, 42.

The former couple divorced in 2010 after eight years of marriage.
Heartthrob Jacob Elordi has become viral sensation after his star turn in the racy new film Saltburn.

The 26-year-old Australian actor has attracted 786,000 new followers to his Instagram since the movie dropped on Amazon Prime Video in the U.S. last month.

Jacob who plays the character Felix Catton in the black comedy now has a staggering 13.6million followers on the popular social platform.

Meanwhile, according to social poker site Replay Poker, Jacob's Saltburn co-star Barry Keoghan is benefitting from the movies popularity as well.

The Irish-born actor has gained 608,000 new Instagram followers in the last 30 days.

And the movie itself continues to create excitement on line with #Saltburn attracting 4.1billion views on TikTok.

Heartthrob Jacob Elordi has created a viral sensation after his star turn in the racy new film Saltburn. Pictured: The 26-year-old Australian actor on the red carper in Los Angeles in 2023

The new figures, meanwhile, indicate that Jacob could be earning big bucks if he decided to become an influencer.

The sexy star tops the list of a value analysis of the cast of Saltburn's Instagram pages.

Using influencer marketing calculators, Casino Alpha determined which stars had the highest follower boost after the movie's release, and how much they could earn per sponsored Instagram post.

With more than 13 million Instagram followers and an average of 626,176 likes per post, Elordi could earn an estimated AUD $63,000 per post.

Aside from his involvement in Saltburn, the attractive star recently played the role of Elvis Presley in the biographical film Priscilla, released in January of this year.

The actor has attracted 786,000 new followers to his Instagram since the movie Saltburn dropped on Amazon Prime Video in the U.S. last month. Pictured: The hunky star in a scene from the popular black comedy

Elordi first gained recognition for his performances in Netflix's The Kissing Booth trilogy and HBO's Euphoria.

Academy Award nominee Barry Keoghan is the second-highest-earning actor in the Saltburn ensemble.

The Irish actor, who portrays the unassuming but ultimately dangerous Oliver Quick, has the second-highest following of 1.6 million, enabling him to earn up to AUD $7700 per sponsored post.

Keoghan receives an average of 270,504 likes per Instagram post and has gained 493,584 followers in the last 30 days alone.

The third most influential cast member is Rosamund Pike, who plays the role of Felix's mother, Elspeth Catton.

The actress, who is known for her roles in Gone Girl and Jack Reacher, has amassed 1.1 million Instagram followers, and could earn an estimated AUD $5000 per sponsored post.
Michael B. Jordan and writer-director Ryan Coogler are getting set to team up again with a secretive genre project that has Hollywood abuzz.

Jordan, 36, who is under investigation for a Hollywood car crash, is set to star in the untitled project that Coogler has written and will direct, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Secrecy around the project is so tight that prospective buyers have had to visit William Morris Endeavor's (WME) offices in Beverly Hills just to look at the script.

Little else is known about the project except that it has 'genre' elements, which could be anything from sci-fi to horror to fantasy, with sources claiming there is a period element as well.

The initial meetings with prospective buyers to look at the script happened last week, with Coogler meeting with those still interested for him to lay out his vision.

Michael B. Jordan and writer-director Ryan Coogler are getting set to team up again with a secretive genre project that has Hollywood abuzz

The initial meetings with prospective buyers to look at the script happened last week, with Coogler meeting with those still interested for him to lay out his vision

The director will ask for a production commitment from potential buyers, with those meetings happening this week.

Coogler will produce through his company Proximity Media, which he co-founded in 2021 with his wife Zinzi Coogler and Sev Ohanian (Missing, Searching).

Ohanian first worked with Coogler on his breakthrough debut feature film Fruitvale Station, which was also the start of his working relationship with Jordan.

The actor has starred in all of Coogler's feature films - 2013's Fruitvale Station, 2015's Creed, 2018's Black Panther and 2021's Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.

Jordan is also attached to star in another project Coogler is developing entitled Wrong Answer from writers Ta-Neshi Coates and Rachel Aviv.

This project is said to be Coogler's first spec script through his Proximity Media company, and his first spec since his 2013 breakout Fruitvale Station.

Aside from Wrong Answer, Coogler is also developing a Black Panther animated series entitled Eyes of Wakanda.

He's also developing and directing another TV series called Scenes for Minors with Destin Cretton and Chinaka Hodge.

The director will ask for a production commitment from potential buyers, with those meetings happening this week

Ohanian first worked with Coogler on his breakthrough debut feature film Fruitvale Station, which was also the start of his working relationship with Jordan

Jordan is coming off last year's Creed III, which he both starred and made his directorial debut on.

He's set to star in and direct a fourth Creed movie as well, and he's attached to return as John Kelly from his 2021 film Without Remorse for the upcoming Rainbow Six.

The actor is also attached to star in a sequel to Will Smith's 2007 film I Am Legend, playing the actor's son.

He is also in pre-production on another remake of The Thomas Crown Affair, though it's unclear when production will begin.
The Crown's Ed McVey looked like he was enjoying every minute as he was pictured at Paris Fashion Week on Thursday.

The 24-year-old - who plays Prince William in The Crown season 6 part 2 - was all smiles as he arrived at the AMI Alexandre Mattiussi Menswear Fall/Winter 2024-2025 fashion show.

Ed wore a long black satin jacket for the occasion, over a shirt that was lined with dazzling sequins.

The actor teamed it with some baggy black trousers, a semi-sheer top and some patent lace-up shoes.

Celebrities including Norman Reedus and Fran Drescher were also in attendance.

Ed McVey - who plays Prince William in The Crown season 6 part 2 - was all smiles as he was pictured arriving at the AMI Alexandre Mattiussi Menswear Fall/Winter 2024-2025 PFW show

Ed looked the spitting image of young Prince William as he was spotted on set in central London in November 2022

Ed stars as Prince William in sixth season of The Crown, (pictured) with the latest series focusing on the royal's love story with Kate Middleton

Ed's appearance comes after he spoke about starring in The Crown season 6 part 2 alongside Meg Bellamy, 21, who plays Kate Middleton.

He insisted he did not want Kate and William's royal love story on the hit Netflix series to appear as 'smooth sailing'.

The second half of the series, that was released in December 2023, focuses on William and Kate's romance, which blossomed at St Andrews University in Scotland.

Meg mimicked the royal's iconic strut down the catwalk for charity on the show.

Kate - who was an art history student at the time - walked onstage in a sheer dress and captured the Prince's attention.

William watched his future wife from a 200 front-row seat and said: 'Wow! Kate's hot!'

Ed told The Telegraph of playing the royal and sharing his and Kate's love story: 'We didn't want to make it a smooth journey, meeting and falling in love and then getting together.

'We wanted it to be stagnated and weird, as relationships are, because there's never smooth sailing, nothing is ever one thing.'

The 24-year-old looked dapper in an all-black ensemble at the star-studded event

The actor struck a few poses at the event after he shot to fame as William in The Crown after season 6 part 2 was released on Netflix last month

Norman Reedus was among celebrities to attend the PFW show, also donning an all-black ensemble and giving a thumbs up as he arrived at the event

Meg Bellamy plays Kate Middleton alongside Ed in the second part of The Crown season 6

The actor added that he wanted to put 'many bollards and emotional brick walls' in the way of them getting together in the early stages.

'We want the audience to be like, 'oh just say the right thing or just stop being so awkward with each other and just get together' and then luckily you see that in the end,' he added.

In an interview with i-D Magazine, Ed recently spoke about how William was feeling the pressure amid his public role and his mother Princess Diana's tragic death when the actor was first introduced as the royal in the show.

He shared: 'When you find William, he's very much being thrust onto the world stage and is being compared a lot to Diana.

'I think he finds it very, very difficult and doesn't want to be the centre of attention. Fundamentally, he's in lots of pain, and doesn't want to have to keep smiling and be Prince William for everyone.

'He's trying to make himself, from a physical standpoint, as small as possible.'
Isla Fisher showed off her eye-popping assets in a plunging navy mini dress when she arrived at the NBC studios for the Late Night With Seth Meyers show in New York City on Thursday.

The Australian actress, 47, exuded radiance in the very sexy number as she left the studios after filming an appearance there.

The number had fringe embellishments at the hemline and she strutted the city streets as if it was her own runaway, oozing glamour, adding a fur-trim black coat.

The actress added black tights and finished off with a pair of elegant black stiletto heels, turning heads in the jaw-dropping ensemble.

Isla Fisher showed off her eye-popping assets in a plunging navy mini dress as she left the NBC studios for the Late Night With Seth Meyers show in New York City on Thursday

The actress added black tights and finished off with a pair of elegant black stiletto heels, turning heads in the jaw-dropping ensemble.

She maintained her jovial spirits throughout her busy day, as she flashed a cheerful grin to the camera while making her way in and out on NBC studios

She styled her hair in a half-do leaving two locks to frame her features, while she ditched the red lipstick she was wearing earlier in the day for a soft glossy pink.

The wife of Sascha Baron-Cohen looked nothing short than sensational, adding a final touch with chunky gold pendant earrings.

Earlier , Isla flashed a cheerful grin to the camera while making her way in and out on NBC studios in a pretty floral dress with heels as she headed to The Today Show.

The actress has been busy promoting the second season of comedy-drama series Wolf Like Me, where she plays main character Mary - which the synopsis reads is 'an isolated advice columnist recovering from her own complex emotional baggage'

Before juggling between Today's show and the Late Show with Seth Meyers, Isla appeared on The Drew Barrymore Show on Thursday.

She put on a stylish display as she posed for an impromptu photoshoot backstage, looking effortlessly chic in ME+EM green pants, a white buttoned shirt and light brown colour block vest.

The comedy favourite later changed into blue jeans, an orange vest and white shirt as she posed up a storm backstage.

'So fun to be on @thedrewbarrymoreshow and #AVclub Talking #wolflikemeseason2,' she wrote.

Earlier in the day, Isla was the epitome of chic as she arrived in a black floral print dress at NBC studios for The Today Show

The Austactress, 47, exuded radiance as she waved to the crowd beaming while making a stylish entrance
Viewers have reacted in horror to a 'terrifying' BBC documentary about a potential nuclear apocalypse.

The documentary aired on BBC Two last night and follows veteran BBC reporter Jane Corbin as she investigates just how close the world is to Armageddon.

The show came as fears grow that global conflicts could spiral into World War 3 as it is predicted that the Doomsday Clock will tick ever closer to midnight next week.

Next week the board of the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists will announce the latest setting for their symbolic clock which aims to show how close the world is to the end times.

Last year, the clock was set at 90 seconds to midnight which is the closest the world has ever been to midnight since the clock was invented in 1947.

Jane Corbin asks how close are we to nuclear Armageddon? It's a question which could not be more topical as global tensions heat up; there's a growing fear that global conflicts could spiral into World War 3

X user Isitjustme sarcastically thanked the BBC for airing the 'mildly terrifying' documentary

One X user asked if the BBC were going to be making a documentary about an asteroid strike of an alien invasion next

But viewers of the show took to X (formerly Twitter) to find comfort in humour after watching the alarming documentary.

Lee Jordon said: 'Jane Corbin thanks for this jolly little programme. Aren't things bad enough already without yet more pointless fear mongering? What's next? Asteroid strike or alien invasion?'

Another user with the username Isitjustme said: 'Well this is a mildly terrifying watch, very uneasy.'

Meanwhile, Nicholas Cook spotted the similarities between the documentary and shows during the Cold War.

He wrote on X: 'Ahh, I miss the 70s. The Cold War, growing up in the paranoia of a decadent Western government, an impending sense of doom with the threat of nuclear Armageddon.

'Happy days. I might have to cheer myself up with a nice film. Threads anyone?'

Jane Corbin at the United Nations in Geneve. Her documentary aired the week before the board of the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists meet to once again reset the doomsday clock to show how close we are to the end of the world

Nicholas Cook spotted the similarities between the documentary and shows during the Cold War

X user Suz believes in the event of a nuclear war Britain would be one of the 'closest to Russia'

X user Suz agreed that the documentary was 'mildly terrifying' because she lives 'very close' to Lakenheath. RAF Lakenheath is one airbase where the United States Air Force are currently based in the UK

X user Lady Eleanor VC appears to be concerned at how close the doomsday clock is to midnight. With ongoing conflicts across the world it seems likely the clock could be set even closer to midnight

Here, Mr Cook is referring to the BAFTA winning film Threads. The film, released in 1984, shows the devastating impact of nuclear war on Sheffield as well as the long-term consequences of using nuclear weapons.

Other X users struggled to see the light-hearted side of the programme. One X user called Suz said: 'Like the guy on the programme said if Trump got in again and pushed the button, in one of his fits. We'd be closest to Russia and they'd return the actin and we'd be hit, not the US.'

Suz is also concerned about a potential nuclear attack because she lives 'very close' to Lakenheath. RAF Lakenheath is an airbase in Suffolk where the United States Air Force is currently stationed.

In September 2023, Russia warned that the return of American nuclear weapons to RAF Lakenheath would be seen as an escalation.

X user Lady Eleanor VC simply said: '90 seconds to midnight!'
He's best known for starring in a Seventies cult classic that struck fear into the hearts of the nation.

Perfectly transforming into a psychopathic killer, cinemagoers across the world were left terrified by the film and his portrayal.

Since then he has taken on a number of villainous roles and has his own star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame.

Now he's taking on a new role as the undead in The Vampyre: Blood & Ink, adapted from the first vampire story from John William Polidori.

So have you guessed who it is?

This legendary British actor is famed for disturbing the nation with an iconic role and has returned to screens with new terrifying film - but do you know who it is?

That's right, it's Malcolm McDowell.

The 80-year-old English actor is best known for starring in the ultra-violent 1971 film A Clockwork Orange, based on the Anthony Burgess novel.

He played teenage misfit Alex who, along with his gang of 'droogs' roamed the streets in search of victims to torture and murder.

Although it was passed uncut for UK cinemas in December 1971, British authorities considered the sexual violence in the film to be extreme.

The following year, during the trial of a 14-year-old boy accused of the manslaughter of a classmate, the prosecutor referred to A Clockwork Orange, suggesting that the film had a macabre relevance to the case.

In 1973 the late director Stanley Kubrick instructed Warner Bros to withdraw the film from British release.

It was rereleased in 1999 following Stanley's death.

Now Malcolm is set to take on another terrifying role in the feature adaptation of 19th-century gothic novel The Vampyre, where he will star alongside Derek Jacobi. His character has not yet been revealed.

The Vampyre follows Aubrey and Ruthven as two travellers who meet and decide to journey together throughout Europe.

After Aubrey and Ruthven arrive in Greece, Aubrey falls in love with a woman who is killed by a vampire, who Aubrey later learns is Ruthven.

Production on the film is set to start later in the year.

That's right, it's Malcolm McDowell. The 80-year-old English actor is best known for starring in the ultra-violent 1971 film A Clockwork Orange, based on the Anthony Burgess novel

Now Malcolm is set to take on another terrifying role in the feature adaptation of 19th-century gothic novel The Vampyre, where he will star alongside Derek Jacobi

The Vampyre follows Aubrey and Ruthven as two travellers who meet and decide to journey together throughout Europe before Aubrey learns Ruthven is a vampire

Malcolm's last big film role was in 2019's Bombshell with Charlize Theron, Nicole Kidman and Margot Robbie as the women who were harassed by Roger Ailes at Fox News.

Veteran thespian Malcolm - who was born Malcolm John Taylor - played media giant Rupert Murdoch.

Malcolm got his start with small parts for the Royal Shakespeare Company.

His first film was 1968's What If... which led to his role as sadist Alex DeLarge in 1971's A Clockwork Orange.

In the Seventies his career built momentum with in Aces High (1975), Voyage of the Damned (1976), She Fell Among Thieves (1978) and Caligula (1979).

His first big Hollywood film was 1979's Time After Time.
From eerie crime dramas to the return of a classic, check out our critics' picks of the best shows to watch On Demand right now. The experts have chosen their top ten programmes streaming this weekend, as well as reviewing new releases. Read on to find out what to watch this weekend...

Our picks of the week:

True Detective: Night Country

Jodie Foster stars in this eerie, Alaska-set outing for the HBO crime anthology

Year: 2024

Certificate: 18

Watch now on NOW

Watch now on Sky

The big draw of True Detective has always been the actors, and series four has one of the best you can get - Jodie Foster, playing Detective Liz Danvers in the town of Ennis, Alaska. That setting is the other big attraction. As with Louisiana back in series one, Alaska is a very particular place, especially during the states long sunless winter. Thats when Night Country is set, beginning with the disappearance of eight men at a remote research station where bold scientific truths were being sought, and unfolding in an environment where the barrier between our world and the next seems somewhat thin. And people seem just that little bit more prone to madness.

As such, there are moments when it all feels a little like The Thing or Skys Fortitude, but the series always keeps its feet on the ground, and Fosters performance as Danvers - determined, cynical and manipulative with just a chink of vulnerability, very much a true detective and with a very complicated and overlapping work/family life - is a big part of why. Foster is paired with Kali Reis as Detective Navarro, who is very convincing in a different way. Reis is also a world champion boxer, so keep that in mind during her instantly convincing fight sequences. Look out for Fiona Shaw and Christopher Eccleston in the cast, too, but this show is mostly and justifiably about Foster. (Six episodes)

No Hard Feelings

Jennifer Lawrence sets out to seduce a teenager in a raunchy comedy

Year: 2023

Certificate: 15

Watch now on NOW

Watch now on Sky

Thirtysomething down-on-her-luck slacker Maddie (Jennifer Lawrence) is hired by a rich couple to date their teenage son Percy before he heads off to college. She thinks itll be easy to seduce the kid, but Percy is an odd otherworldly 19-year-old who might just end up having a bigger effect on Maddie than she does on him.

The premise feels almost like something from another more cringey age of cinema but somehow it works, playing raunchy sex comedy set-ups off against some genuine moments of warm-hearted loveableness. Its also a great showcase for Lawrences comedic talents as she indulges in everything from snappy dialogue and full-on innuendo to some bruisingly funny slapstick. (103 minutes)

Gladiators

The BBCs hit resurrection of the combative physical contest

Year: 2024

Watch now on BBC iPlayer

Contenders, ready! Gladiators, ready! Fans of the original 1990s series will be pleased by this retro-feeling reboot in which brave members of the public take on 16 new, super-strength Gladiators in a series of physical challenges. Father and son Bradley and Barney Walsh host from the Sheffield Arena, where the excitable crowd cheer and boo during the combat.

You can see why theyre all so enthusiastic, with such an entertaining cast of heroes and villains, and its great fun to join in at home too. More than six million of us did just that on the night the first episode went out, which is a big audience by modern viewing standards. Its nice when TV brings the nation together and, while resurrecting old shows is always a risk - look what happened with Survivor - the BBC has struck a great balance here. (One series)

Big Boys

Comedy about two mismatched boys who strike up an unlikely friendship when they're thrown together at university

Year: 2022-

Certificate: 15

Watch now on Channel 4

From the title, youd be forgiven for thinking that this comedy, set at university, will be all crass humour and testosterone-fuelled antics. Yes, there is sex and the pursuit of it, but the show is, in fact, rather tender and sweet, charting the floundering journey of two boys who are not yet men as they work out who they are and how to make their marks.

Jack (Derry Girls Dylan Llewellyn) is a shy, sensitive fresher whos still struggling with the grief of losing his dad, and is tentatively emerging from the closet. He is assigned a room in a shed, instead of halls, with the more gregarious lads lad Danny (a BAFTA-nominated Jon Pointing), and although Danny seems confident, he's got his own sadness weighing him down.

Its written by Jack Rooke, a comic known for exploring grief and mental health in his work, and the balance between laughter and pathos, between poignancy and toilet humour, and between sex and real emotions, is perfectly executed.

The supporting cast includes Jacks doting, glorious mum Peggy (Camille Coduri, who played Rose Tylers mum in Doctor Who) and Katy Wix, who is perfect as the annoyingly enthusiastic Student Union officer, Jules. (Two series)

Cristobal Balenciaga

Lavish series about the rise of the Spanish fashion designer

Year: 2024

Certificate: 15

Watch now on Disney+

Game Of Thrones's Gemma Whelan is the familiar face in this six-part drama about the rise of Spanish designer Cristobal Balenciaga, a man who went from humble beginnings as the son of a fisherman and a seamstress to become the 'King of Fashion'. Whelan plays the real-life British journalist Prudence Glynn, who secures an interview with the enigmatic Balenciaga near the end of his life after buttonholing him at the funeral of Coco Chanel in 1971.

A well-dressed tale unfolds from there in flashback, in which an initially reticent Balenciaga recalls his move to Paris to present a collection in 1937 and much more besides. If you're interested in fashion, or just fancy a diverting trip into a surprising life story told with some pretty lavish production standards - there were 2,000 extras - give this a whirl. (Six episodes)

The Killing (US)

US remake of a hit Danish noir which follows the day-by-day investigation of a murder in rainy Seattle

Year: 2011-2014

Certificate: 15

Watch now on Channel 4

The American version of hit Danish series Forbrydelsen, or The Killing  the one that gave us Sofie Grabols detective Sarah Lund and her snazzy jumpers  travelled a bumpy road. It was cancelled by its original network AMC after series two before Netflix pitched in to make two more series. While this might suggest the show isnt worth a watch and remakes arent always a good idea, this one has much to recommend it.

For starters, its not an identikit replica of the Danish show but is still a dark and murky crime thriller that follows the languid and queasy aftermath of a teenage girls murder - for both her family and the detectives on the case. Crucially, the killer and the motive of the first case, which are revealed over two series, are not the same as in the Danish show, so no spoilers if youve seen The Killing.

Its now set in Seattle, a city almost as grey and wet as Copenhagen, and the detectives  Sarah Linden and Stephen Holder, evolutions of Lund and her partner Jan Meyer - are played by Mireille Enos and Joel Kinnaman. And while Linden may be marginally less interesting than Lund, Holder has much more to play with. (4 series)

June

A look at the life of country music great June Carter Cash - aka Mrs Johnny Cash

Year: 2024

Certificate: 12

Watch now on Paramount+

Before the 2005 film Walk The Line saw Reese Witherspoon earn acclaim and a Best Actress Oscar for playing June Carter Cash, its fair to say that she was relatively little known by non-country music fans. Which is a pity as she was a hugely accomplished entertainer long before she married Johnny Cash in 1968.

Apart from prodigious musical talent (she won five Grammy awards), she was also a dancer, actress, comedian and author. Featuring archive interviews with June, alongside new material including chats with the likes of Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton and Witherspoon, this documentary looks to shine a light on a forgotten star. (98 minutes)

The Artful Dodger

Oliver Twists light-fingered friend returns for a grown-up adventure

Year: 2023

Certificate: 15

Watch now on Disney+

Having escaped his life as the prince of pickpockets in Victorian London, the now-grown-up Artful Dodger aka Jack Dawkins (Love Actuallys Thomas Brodie-Sangster) is doing very nicely for himself as a surgeon in 1850s Australia. But then a certain old friend by the name of Fagin (David Thewlis) turns up and Jack is dragged back into a life of crime for one last job.

This cheery eight-part adventure owes as much to Indiana Jones as it does to Charles Dickens, as Jack and Fagin duck and dive their way out of perilous scrape after perilous scrape. Thewlis is a drawling scene-stealer as Fagin, while Brodie-Sangster makes certain that his matinee idol looks never completely hide the gleeful twinkle in his eyes. Can we have some more please. (Eight episodes)

Finders Keepers

Keen detectorists finds a hoard and unleash a nightmare in Somerset

Year: 2024

Certificate: 15

Watch now on My5

After recent hit BBC1 thriller Boat Story, about two peoples disastrous plan to steal a cache of drugs they found, comes Channel 5s new thriller, in which a treasure trove leads to a similar nightmare for the men who find it.

The four-parter sees metal detectorist Martin (Neil Morrissey) unearthing a hoard of Saxon gold with son-in-law-to-be Ashley (The Inbetweeners James Buckley). Usually straight as a die, Martins having serious money troubles so is persuaded by Ashley to break the law by not declaring his find to the authorities and trying to sell it instead. Martin makes one bad decision, then it all goes wrong, explains Men Behaving Badly star Neil, 61. Thats how most things happen, which is why this story is so relatable - and such great fun to play.

The plan goes awry when Ashley involves some dodgy characters he knows . . . and a local cop (Rakhee Thakrar) gets wind of it. Meanwhile, Martin has kept his wife Anne (Fay Ripley) in the dark about the dodgy plan until its too late. Neil says he was flattered that his role was written specifically for him by Dan Sefton, the man behind ITV drama The Good Karma Hospital in which Neil starred. (One series)

The Creator

Sci-fi adventure about a soldier and a robot child on the run

Year: 2023

Certificate: 12

Watch now on Disney+

With artificial intelligence an ever-growing concern, this sci-fi flick feels very timely. Set in a future where mankind and machines have gone to war, it follows a crack squad of human soldiers as they set off on a mission to destroy a new AI that could obliterate everyone. When the new machine turns out to be an android in the shape of a little girl, though, soldier Joshua (John David Washington) decides instead to save her and the pair try to escape from the forces of both sides.

Rogue One director Gareth Edwards creates a striking and bittersweet grown-up sci-fi film that offers a visually stunning vision of the future that will live long in the memory. (133 minutes)

New this week:

Olivia Attwoods The Price Of Perfection

The reality star investigates the extreme end of cosmetic procedures

Year: 2024

Certificate: 15

ITVX

You dont have to be in the market for perfection yourself to take a look at the Love Island and Towie reality star's docuseries on cosmetic procedures. Its as much about lifting the veil on what really goes on at the more extreme end of the beauty industry as debating whether the risks and expense are actually worth it. Even if you already know the answer, it's no less jaw-dropping seeing what people are prepared to put themselves through.

Driven by Kim Kardashians famous behind, the BBL, or Brazilian Bum Lift, is in high demand, but has a reputation for being the most dangerous invasive procedure going. Olivia observes a safer version before taking the plunge into other rather niche areas.

There are procedures featured here that go beyond the pale even for Olivia, who's already a convert to so-called tweakments. No body part is left uncovered in a series which explores the latest innovations, not just for the bum, but face, boobs and other unmentionables too.

LOL: Last One Laughing Ireland

Graham Norton hosts as 10 Irish comedians battle to bag a fortune for charity

Year: 2024

Certificate: 15

Watch now on Prime Video

Dreamt up in Japan, the Last One Laughing format is genius: a group of comedians are put together in a Big Brother-style living-room set, crammed with cameras. Theyre then challenged to make each other laugh. The comic who manages to stifle his or her guffaws the longest takes home 50,000 for their charity of choice.

With typical sarcastic brilliance, Graham Norton hosts this six-episode Irish version, with star names such as Aisling Bea, Catherine Bohart, Deirdre OKane and Jason Byrne among the stand-ups trying to crack the stony-faced resolve of their foes by whatever means necessary. (Six episodes)

Zola

Take a crazy wild ride in this energetic crime comedy for the digital age

Year: 2020

Certificate: 18

Watch now on Channel 4

Strictly for those viewers who are wise to the digital age, this comedy is bold, brash and more than a little nasty. It charts a wild, supposedly true story that was effectively live-tweeted in 2015 and went viral. In some ways, this is a seedier version of Jennifer Lopezs slick fact-based comedy Hustlers - but with added danger.

We follow pole dancer Zola (newcomer Taylour Paige) as she goes on a road trip with a woman shes only just met. Stefani (Riley Keough) is a force of nature who promises big money stripping for rich clients in Florida, but whose true colours are more than a little psychotic. The road trip is further complicated for Zola by the presence of Stefanis wimpy boyfriend Derrek (yes, its lanky Nicholas Braun, aka Greg from Succession) plus a deeply creepy dude who is most likely a pimp. (86 mins)

Love On The Spectrum

US reality show following people with autism as they search for romance

Year: 2022-

Certificate: 12

Watch now on Netflix

Finding love in the modern world is never easy, but its even harder for those on the autism spectrum. This show follows neurodiverse men and women across America as they dip their toes in the dating waters with various degrees of success.

Like its Australian predecessor, it takes a light and often soapy approach to the romantic encounters on display, but audiences swiftly become seriously engaged in the struggles and triumphs of its cast. The fact that many familiar faces from series one return in the second run alongside new romantic hopefuls will be welcome news for the shows fans. (Two series)

Mean Girls

Cult classic American teen comedy starring Lindsay Lohan as the new girl in a school full of scary cliques

Year: 2004

Certificate: 12

Watch now on Channel 4

A viciously good high-school comedy written by Tina Fey (30 Rock), who also appears as a teacher. Lindsay Lohan is the girl getting sucked into a storm within her new school's cliques. Yes, it's a teen comedy, but this has the sort of razor-sharp wit that grown-ups will love, too.

It was a massive cult success, a stage musical version debuted in 2017, and to celebrate 20 years since the release of the original film, a new troupe of Mean Girls hits cinemas in 2024, in an adaptation of that musical. (97 minutes)

Black Earth Rising

A legal investigator who survived the Rwandan genocide confronts her past when she takes on war crimes cases

Year: 2018

Certificate: 15

Watch now on BBC iPlayer

Written, produced and directed by BAFTA-winner Hugo Blick, this powerful eight-part thriller stars Harriet Walter as Eve Ashby, a leading human rights lawyer whose adopted daughter Kate (I May Destroy You's Michaela Coel) survived the horrors of the Rwandan genocide as a child.

Kate is now working as a legal investigator in the same chambers as her mother, run by Michael Ennis (John Goodman, who's rather good playing against type). But when Eve agrees to prosecute an African militia leader once regarded as a hero for fighting the genocide, the mother-daughter relationship is strained to breaking point.

Dark, intelligent and totally gripping, this is the kind of thriller that really keeps you on your toes, regularly pulling the rug from beneath your feet. Blick (along with Line Of Duty's Jed Mercurio) is one of our greatest current screenwriters, producing dense, complex stories that confidently blend the personal and the political. Blicks other dramas include The Honourable Woman and The English . (Eight episodes)

American Nightmare

Series investigating whether a US couple faked a headline-grabbing kidnapping

Year: 2024

Certificate: 18

Watch now on Netflix

In 2015, Aaron Quinn told US police that an armed man in a wetsuit had broken in, tied him up and kidnapped his girlfriend Denise Huskins. Just a few days later, though, Denise turned up, with no ransom having been paid, claiming her kidnappers had simply released her.

The sceptical local cops immediately assumed that the couple had faked the kidnapping and began investigating them instead of looking for the alleged kidnappers, as the press likened the whole case to the book and film Gone Girl.

This twisty and intriguing series from the makers of The Tinder Swindler documentary asks if the police were too quick to rush to judgment. Could Aaron and Denise actually have been telling the truth? (Three episodes)

The Marsh Kings Daughter

Daisy Ridley stars as a mother determined to protect her daughter in an atmospheric thriller

Year: 2024

Certificate: 15

Watch now on Prime Video

Living the life of a contented rural mum, Helena (Daisy Ridley) is dragged back into a past she wanted to forget when her violent criminal father escapes from prison. Is he coming to steal her daughter away from her? Not if she can help it as she puts to use every inch of the hunting, tracking and killing wilderness skills he taught her in order to stop him.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens actress Ridley makes an accomplished action lead in this tense and bleakly stylish thriller. The plot builds towards a compelling game of cat and mouse with the great Ben Mendelsohn (Bloodline) as the estranged (and strange) father. (109 minutes)

Murdoch Mysteries

Cosy, funny Canadian detective drama that starts in the Victorian age

Year: 2008-

Certificate: 15

Watch now on NOW

Watch now on Sky

This cosy Canadian series opens in Toronto in 1895 and introduces us to the methods of Detective Murdoch, a fastidious man of science who taps into the emerging techniques of the time to crack crime. The show is based on the novels by Maureen Jennings, and combines decent mysteries with a neat sense of humour and a colourful cast of characters who evolve as the show rolls onwards, out of the 19th and into the early 20th century.

Its a bit like a soap in that respect and Murdochs boss, Inspector Brackenreid, is actually played by an ex-Coronation Street star - Thomas Craig. Murdochs other close associates include fellow scientist (and love interest) Dr Julia Ogden and the wonderful Constable George Crabtree, who goes on quite the journey over the shows many episodes. He starts out looking like an absolute idiot but later becomes an author and even rises up the ranks at the police department.

Look out for various real-life figures across the shows 17 series, too, including Mark Twain (William Shatner) and Winston Churchill (Downtons Thomas Howes). The most recent series opens on an Agatha Christie-style mystery, with Murdoch and Dr Ogden on the run, and Crabtree surprised to find himself in charge. (17 series)

Book Club: The Next Chapter

Diane Keaton and co head to Italy for a jolly film sequel

Year: 2023

Certificate: 12

Watch now on NOW

Watch now on Sky

The original 2018 feel-good comedy drama saw four women (Mary Steenburgen, Jane Fonda, Diane Keaton and Candice Bergen) re-evaluating their lives after reading 50 Shades Of Grey at their book group. For the sequel, the quartet continue to expand their horizons by holidaying in Italy, only for various comic mishaps to land them in legal and romantic difficulties as they visit Rome and Venice.

Its light and life-affirming stuff, given a lift by its fantastic female cast, all of whom are clearly having a great time. Don Johnson and Andy Garcia seem to be having a decent time of it in the male supporting cast, too, and thats the point of movies like this - theyre fun. No ones in danger of winning any Oscars for them, but thats immaterial. (107 minutes)
Liam Neeson has not slowed down with age.

The 71-year-old action hero was spotted filming a fight scene for his new movie on Friday.

The actor has been busy working in Walhalla, a small town in Victoria, while filming his upcoming Hollywood flick, Ice Road 2: Road to the Sky.

The village located approximately two-and-a-half hours (185km) east of Melbourne has been made over to resemble Nepal, where the new film is set.

In dramatic images taken on set, the Irish superstar threw punches at a man dressed as a guard or policeman.

Liam Neeson (pictured) proved this week that he has not slowed down with age

The 71-year-old action hero was spotted filming a fight scene for his new flick on Friday

The actor has been busy working in Walhalla, a small town in Victoria, while filming his upcoming Hollywood movie, Ice Road 2: Road to the Sky

The scenes took place in a run down shed, with Liam raising his first in anger to the uniformed man, who had on a dark red beret.

A huge crew looked on as the cameras rolled, with the star repeated the scene several times.

The Taken star was dressed down for the shoot in a plaid shirt and puffer vest, as well as grey trousers.

Despite the hot summer weather in Melbourne, Liam remained dressed in what looked like a winter ensemble.

In dramatic images taken on set, the Irish superstar threw punches at a man dressed as a guard or policeman

The scenes took place in a run down shed

Liam was seen raising his first in anger to the uniformed man, who had on a dark red beret

He left the man face down after the confrontation

The actor had a soft mattress to land on while performing a reaction to the blow

Liam repeated the scene several times

The Taken star was dressed down for the shoot in a plaid shirt and puffer vest

He was shielded from the light rain by a minder who held an umbrella over him in between takes.

Other cast members could be seen walking around the set, which has had an elaborate market built for the film.

Ice Road 2: Road to the Sky follows Mike McCann (Neeson), an ice road trucker who travels to Nepal to spread his brother's ashes on Mount Everest.

The sequel relocates the action from Canada, where the original blockbuster film was first set.

A huge crew looked on as the cameras rolled

Despite the hot summer weather in Melbourne, Liam remained dressed in what looked like a winter ensemble

A fake gun could be seen being used

The man playing the guard picked up the weapon at one stage

Liam also had on grey trousers and boots

It was a monster sized production with a hoard of crew and extras on hand

Liam carried a flask of a hot beverage between takes

Joining Neeson in the cast are Australian stars Bernard Curry, Geoff Morrell and Grace OSullivan.

The heritage town of Walhalla has been completely transformed to depict a Nepalese marketplace, with some locals and residents finding it 'odd', according to 7News.

Buildings have been painted in bright colours as well as Nepalese props, but production has stated the town will return to its original state once filming wraps on January 24.

Letters were sent to residents and business owners last month with information about the production, informing that up to 90 cast and crew are expected to film in the town.

He was shielded from the light rain by a minder who held an umbrella over him

Ice Road 2: Road to the Sky follows Mike McCann (Neeson), an ice road trucker who travels to Nepal to spread his brother's ashes on Mount Everest

The sequel relocates the action from Canada, where the original blockbuster film was first set

Other cast members could be seen walking around the set, which has had an elaborate market built for the film

Joining Neeson in the cast are Australian stars Bernard Curry, Geoff Morrell and Grace OSullivan

Liam strolled along with a co-star before heading to his next location

'You will notice increased activity in the lead up to and on filming days,' the letter from Servo Productions read.

'During preparations, you will notice changes to Walhalla's Star Hotel and other landmarks on Main Road. Most notably at the Walhalla Rotunda, the Fire Station Museum and carpark.'

Filming will take place from January 16 to 24, with preparation work from January 8 to 15 before ceasing from January 25 to 31.

'During the filming period, there will be stunts involving large vehicles, special effects and prop gun use,' the letter continued.

The heritage town of Walhalla has been completely transformed to depict a Nepalese marketplace

Some locals and residents have reported finding it 'odd', according to 7News

Buildings have been painted in bright colours as well as Nepalese props

Production has stated the town will return to its original state once filming wraps on January 24

Letters were sent to residents and business owners last month with information about the production, informing that up to 90 cast and crew are expected to film in the town

'Traffic Management will be in place to support crew and public vehicles, as well as onsite personnel to guide members of the public.

'We are requesting a temporary slower speed limit and use of traffic management on filming days to ensure safety for our crew and members of the public.'

The letter added: 'Main Rd will remain open, however short delays of up to 10 minutes are to be expected at various times during the filming period.

'We will endeavour to minimise disruption to locals and visitors as much as possible.'

'You will notice increased activity in the lead up to and on filming days,' the letter from Servo Productions read

Filming will take place from January 16 to 24, with preparation work from January 8 to 15 before ceasing from January 25 to 31

'During the filming period, there will be stunts involving large vehicles, special effects and prop gun use,' the letter continued

The film is a sequel to the 2021 flick starring Liam which is currently streaming on Netflix

The film is a sequel to the 2021 flick starring Liam which is currently streaming on Netflix.

In the movie, the veteran star plays the role of Mike, an ice road trucker working under pressure following a diamond mine collapse in northern Canada, putting a group of miners in grave danger.

The motion picture was finished in early 2020 and Netflix picked up its rights for $18 million in March 2021.
His journey to the Strictly final won him millions of fans.

But Bobby Brazier has confessed he felt so lost after the show ended that he found himself eating ice cream all the time as he struggled with his new-found fame.

The star, who narrowly missed out on lifting the glitter ball trophy with professional partner Dianne Buswell, was compared to both Sir Mick Jagger and Harry Styles during the series.

But revealing the downside to his new life, Brazier, told the Mail in an exclusive interview: I felt a little bit lost after the final, I was in no kind of routine at all. I was eating lots of ice cream at times that I shouldnt have been, first thing in the morning.

Id never watched Strictly  of course I knew what it was and stuff  but Id never really imagined what it would be like after.

Bobby Brazier and Dianne Buswell practice their routine yesterday during a rehearsal for the forthcoming Strictly Come Dancing - The Live UK Tour

The EastEnders star made the 2023 Strictly final but lost the Glitterball trophy to actress Ellie Leach and her professional partner Vito Coppola

The pair pose for a photo in their glittery costumes during the Strictly Come Dancing - Live UK Tour dress rehearsal yesterday

But luckily I got out of the house and went to Mauritius last minute and spent Christmas there. There was a buffet and there was the sun and the sea. It was lovely.

Braziers life has changed significantly following the show. But his father Jeff  who raised him as a single dad following his wife Jade Goodys death from cervical cancer in 2009  has refused to let it go to his head.

And instead of treating his eldest son like a superstar, he raised his rent at the family home in Essex.

Asked if television presenter Jeff, 45, is keeping his feet on the ground, Brazier replied: Whenever someone asks me that, I always say I still feel like I havent really even started. I feel like it hasnt really started yet.

Im pretty grounded anyway but hes put my rent up again. He took the liberty, he went to the estate agents. He found out how much that room would cost, and hes charging me that! That keeps me honest!

Since his time on Strictly, Brazier has become a heart-throb  and has girls chasing him for dates.

He insists he is single and that Ms Buswell will always be his number one, two and three but he jokes that he is looking for new girls to be his five, six, seven and eight.

Brazier confides that he has met someone online and is hoping to meet her while he is travelling the country as part of the forthcoming Strictly tour.

Im not looking for it in the same way Im looking to become good at what I do, but I like affection, he said.

Tell you what, theres a lovely girl from Manchester who Im going to invite to the show, but thats it. Full stop. I havent even met her before. Weve just spoken. Anyway, Im getting embarrassed.

Brazier has his hair styled during yesterday's rehearsal of the Strictly Come Dancing - The Live UK Tour as he prepares to get back on stage

Brazier narrowly missed out on lifting the glitter ball trophy with professional partner Ms Buswell in last year's series

Brazier is so popular with girls that during a trip to Londons O2 arena last month he had to call security because he was mobbed by female fans.

I was a little bit shocked Id get mobbed, Brazier explained. There was a time, actually, funnily enough at the O2, I went to the Jingle Bell Ball and Im walking in thinking, Oh, I might get stopped a few times, which is fine.

But me and my best friend, we got backed into a corner for about half hour. Weve had to call security to help us! I went to Winter Wonderland, me and my best friend and that was nuts as well. There were just so many girls everywhere. So many girls.

Oh it was intense. There were all these girls who wanted to chat and take pictures and stuff, which is lovely. It is lovely. It is lovely when someones so enthusiastic to see you.

It is really sweet and I love that. I really do. But Ill tell you, my cheeks were hurting so much because you have to smile in pictures, dont you? By the end of it, I couldnt smile anymore.

Asked if the girls behave themselves or are a little handsy Brazier replied: Well, I dont mind hands. Im affectionate. I dont mind a cuddle. Not at all, not at all. I welcome that.

Brazier will return to BBC One soap EastEnders soon where he will reprise his role as Freddie Slater. But he admits he has bigger plans and that he is already thinking about becoming more of an all-rounder.

He even confesses he is considering singing lessons.

He revealed: I have the intention of learning how to become the best storyteller I can. I think the next couple of years is just about getting experience across the board.

So maybe doing some theatre, some film, maybe learning how to sing, as I say. Maybe doing some more dancing. I think Im still young, so yeah, throwing myself at lots of different things so I can learn my craft. I want to be a craftsman. You cant get good at it unless you try all these different things and thats scary.

Brazier said his father Jeff, pictured, raised the rent of his room at their family home in Essex instead of treating his eldest son like a superstar following his Strictly success

Brazier will once again be partnered with Ms Buswell, 34, and will perform at venues including Londons O2 and Birmingham s Utilita Arena during the Strictly Come Dancing - Live UK Tour

On Friday, Brazier begins the Strictly tour  something he says is like a dream come true.

He will once again be partnered with Ms Buswell, 34, and will perform at venues including Londons O2 and Birminghams Utilita Arena.

Brazier admits he thinks he will get a buzz off of the sheer size of the arenas, saying: I just love having an audience and putting on a show and experiencing that with them.

He will dance the samba and the Viennese waltz  one of which he said is like a party.

He said: We really tell a story of elegance and maturity in the other. I cant wait to be like five or six shows down and its just second nature when you start adding in your own little things.
Shaughna Phillips took a brutal swipe at her ex Callum Jones - after he rowed with his most recent ex Molly Smith on Wednesday's episode of Love Island All Stars.

The media personality, 29, revealed on Instagram stories she's been following the hotly-anticipated ITV series which sees veteran Islanders returning to the villa.

And she didn't shy away from taking a side, after she declared a very unexpected alliance.

Taking to her stories, Shaughna reposted one of the many stunning shots on Molly's social media grid, and captioned: 'A queen,' alongside the namesake emoji and a heart.

Shaughna joined the villa for the first Winter edition in 2020, where she enjoyed a steamy romance with the Mancunian hunk.

Shaughna Phillips took a brutal swipe at her ex Callum Jones - after he rowed with his most recent ex Molly Smith on Wednesday's episode of Love Island All Stars

The media personality, 29, shared on her Instagram stories she's been following the hotly-anticipated ITV series which sees veteran Islanders returning to the villa (Callum is pictured)

But the former democratic services officer was left single on day 26, Shaughna after Callum chose to couple up with Molly.

Callum, 27, and the model, 29, split up in September last year following a three-year relationship as they previously attempted to remain friends.

The former couple brought more drama to the South African villa on Wednesday when they had an explosive argument.

The bombshell arrival gave Callum a piece of her mind after he attempted to woo her by saying how beautiful she looked in the villa.

But Molly was angered by the flattery and accused her ex of never complimenting her during their three-year relationship.

Speculation has been rife as to whether the pair faked their break-up after Callum chose to couple-up with Molly when he was given the option to steal any one of the female Islanders from their partners.

But during the episode of the new series, Molly confronted Callum over his reluctance to commit to their long-term future, saying he lost interest in being with her as he was more interested in his career, while she was keen for them to buy a property together.

After Molly spoke about her past relationship with Callum in the villa, he said: 'I feel like you're making me look bad,' to which Molly protested: 'I don't think I'm intentionally trying to. If it's come across, it's just factual evidence.'

And she didn't shy away from taking a side, after she declared a very unexpected alliance with Callum's ex-girlfriend Molly

Taking to her stories, Shaughna reposted one of the many stunning shots on Molly's social media grid, and captioned: 'A queen,' alongside the namesake emoji and a heart

Shaughna joined the villa for the first Winter edition in 2020, where she enjoyed a steamy romance with the Mancunian hunk

The former democratic services officer was left single on day 26, Shaughna after Callum chose to couple up with Molly

Callum, 27, and model Molly, 29, split up in September last year following a three-year relationship as they previously attempted to remain friends

She added: 'But then to focus on your career if you thought you saw a future.'

He asked: 'So you're saying that's the reason we split up?', to which Molly replied: 'That's what you told me.'

Callum insisted: 'No I didn't.'

Looking angry, Molly asked: 'Am I lying?'

Callum then asked her: 'Was we arguing every day?', to which Molly responded: 'Yeah but then you told me that you needed to focus on your career.'

Callum again insisted: 'No I didn't. I'd never say that.'

Callum signed up to the All Stars series as a bombshell and was shocked to discover his former girlfriend had done the same, with Molly strutting through the villa doors moments after his arrival.

But Callum decided to couple up with Molly, sharing a bed with his ex again for the first time in months, rather than pursue a new romance.

Molly was riled after overhearing Callum tell some of his fellow Islanders that he only paired up with her out of 'respect' while she was looking for something more.

The reality star has already received interest from the likes of Chris Taylor, 33, who admitted he finds her the most attractive female in the villa.

But Callum has so far acted nonchalant towards Molly and the possibility of her dating someone else on the show.

During a game played with the entire cast, Molly took part in a three-way kiss with Chris and Luis Morrison-Derbyshire, 29, with little reaction from her ex.

Molly and Callum met on the first-ever winter edition of the ITV dating show in 2020, where they left before the finale.

The couple moved into a lavish four-bedroom house in Manchester that November after meeting on the show.

Former scaffolder Callum previously revealed that he can see himself marrying model Molly and potentially having children together.

The former couple brought more drama to the South African villa on Wednesday when they had an explosive argument

The bombshell gave Callum a piece of her mind after he attempted to woo her by saying how beautiful she looked in the South African villa

Molly accused her ex of never complimenting her during their three-year relationship and wanting to focus on his career

Molly confronted Callum over his reluctance to commit to their long-term future, saying he lost interest in being with her

In 2022, he gave a now-poignant interview in which he hit back at people who judged them, revealing they have 'proved a few people wrong' after recently celebrating their two year anniversary.

He said: 'We are perfect. We've got two dogs so we've got a proper little family going, it's lovely. There is other things we want to focus on at the minute but obviously in the future it's definitely something we both want together...

'We've just not really decided when. We're just enjoying things that we've got at the minute and then family and marriage will eventually come into it.'
Elle Macpherson is back in Australia and making the most of her time Down Under alongside boyfriend Doyle Bramhall.

The couple looked more in love than ever as they headed out for some shopping at Sydney's Pitt Street Mall on Friday.

The 59-year-old and her beau held hands as they strolled into the Ralph Lauren store together to have a browse.

Elle and her man matched, with the beauty donning a pair of cream linen trousers that matched Doyle's summer suit.

She added a cropped white T-shirt with a blue denim vest on the top, along with brown leather sandals.

Elle Macpherson is back in Australia and making the most of her time Down Under alongside boyfriend Doyle Bramhall. Both pictured

The stunner added to her chic ensemble with a crossbody bag in the same tone as her shoes.

Elle appeared to have on minimal makeup and added a pair of designer sunglasses while wearing her blonde hair down.

Doyle meanwhile opted for a white shirt under his blazer and carried a textured crossbody bag.

The couple appeared in excellent spirits as they walked hand in hand into the upmarket store.

The couple looked more in love than ever as they headed out for some shopping at Sydney's Pitt Street Mall on Friday

The 59-year-old and her beau held hands as they strolled into the Ralph Lauren store together to have a browse

Elle and her man matched, with the beauty donning a pair of cream linen trousers that matched Doyle's summer suit

She added a cropped white T-shirt with a blue denim vest on the top, along with brown leather sandals

Elle is in Australia for the first time in four years to celebrate her health brand WelleCo's 10th anniversary and to show boyfriend Doyle her hometown.

According to a new report, the model and her musician beau may also be Down Under to scope out wedding venues.

New Idea reports that the couple, who have been dating for over a year, have their eye on Australia for a potential 'destination wedding'.

'Elle can't wait to be a bride again and she's found the perfect man in Doyle,' an 'insider' allegedly told the publication.

'They are crazy about each other. They're incredibly laidback and he's come along at the most perfect time in her life.'

Doyle meanwhile opted for a white shirt under his blazer and carried a textured crossbody bag

The couple appeared in excellent spirits as they walked hand in hand into the upmarket store

Elle is in Australia for the first time in four years to celebrate her health brand WelleCo's 10th anniversary and to show boyfriend Doyle her hometown

The source went on to say that 'Doyle's been completely swept away by the Aussie lifestyle'.

While neither Elle, 59, or Doyle, 55, have confirmed an engagement, the supermodel is often seen with a thick gold ring around her left ring finger.

Daily Mail Australia have reached out for comment.

Whether the wedding rumours are true or not remains to be seen, but the couple appear to be having a blast in Australia either way.

They're have been spotted taking in Sydney's most beautiful sights together as Elle, nicknamed 'The Body' in 1989, gives the rocker a tour of her home.
It's something that a lot of Australian's have tried out.

And now funnyman Michael Hing has stepped forward to admit that he too has had a go at brewing his own alcoholic beverages at home.

The 38-year-old comedian made the confession during Friday's edition of The Project and joked his home brew of choice - vodka - was 'probably illegal'.

Michael's surprising revelation came during a segment about next month's tax hike which will send the price of beer and spirits soaring.

Panelist Nick Cody suggested that since the cost of a pint of beer will rise to an average of $12, many drinkers may turn to 'home brewing' to save on cash.

Host Michael Hing (pictured) shocked The Project's panel on Friday when he confessed that he tried 'home brewing' vodka which he joked was 'probably illegal'

After Nick admitted to trying to brew beer in his bathtub, co-host Susie Youssef asked Michael whether ever had tried doing it.

'I had a crack making vodka,' he said, adding: 'also it may have been illegal.'

Currently, it is legal to distil spirits at home, though 'home brewers' of spirits are required to have a license.

Michael meanwhile joined the line-up of Australian current affairs show The Project late last year.

Michael's surprising revelation came during a segment about next month's tax hike which will send the price of beer and spirits soaring

He left Triple J last year after three years of hosting the radio station's popular drive show, Hobba and Hing with Lewis Hobba.

Michael is also the former host of the ABC programs Good Game: Pocket Edition and Good Game Well Played.

In August, the popular celebrity wed his sweetheart Humyara Mahbub in a Bengali ceremony on Sydney Harbour.

The pair looked resplendent in traditional attire as they exchanged vows by the water surrounded by family and friends.
Sir Paul McCartney enjoyed a family dinner at The River Cafe in London, on Thursday with wife Nancy and his daughters Stella and Mary.

The Beatles star, 81, stepped out in typically dapper attire while his Nancy, 64, added a dash of colour to her otherwise muted ensemble, with a bright red scarf.

Sir Paul's fashion designer daughter Stella, 52, toted a studded handbag from her own label, while her elder sister Mary, 54. looked chic in a tailored grey coat. They are Paul's children from his marriage to Linda McCartney, who sadly died of breast cancer in 1998.

The group were joined by American actor Woody Harrelson, 62, who cut a casual figure as he arrived at the venue for the evening.

Woody wore black embellished jogging bottoms and a zip-up hoodie for the occassion,

Sir Paul McCartney, 81, hosted a dinner for some of his famous friends and family members at The River Cafe in London, on Thursday, including wife Nancy, daughters Stella and Mary and Hollywood actor Woody Harrelson

The Beatles star's wife Nancy, 64, added a dash of colour to her otherwise muted ensemble, with a bright red scarf

The musical icon's fashion designer daughter Stella, 52, toted a studded handbag from her own label, while her elder sister Mary, 54. looked chic in a tailored grey coat

Back in 2022, Paul revealed that his signature dance moves were responsible for his lasting romance with his businesswoman wife Nancy.

Writing in his book, The Lyrics, Sir Paul, the Beatles star explained how he knew Nancy was a keeper when she matched his energy on the dancefloor.

Paul, who has previously married to Linda McCartney and Heather Mills, wrote: 'Theres no denying it, I really enjoy dancing.

'Its something my wife Nancy and I are particularly keen on.

'After a show, when the band and crew get together for a drink, were always the first ones on the dancefloor. Certain songs will just get you dancing.'

Paul coupled up with Nancy when the pair were on holiday in Morocco with his brother Mike and the musician serenaded her on the hotel's piano.

The Beatles star detailed how they weren't yet officially a couple and were sleeping in separate bedrooms when he made his move.

Paul explained: 'The piano was sitting in the foyer all day long, and because the rain would not stop, I sometimes went and just noodled on the keys.'

Sir Paul stepped out in typically dapper attire as he headed inside the restaurant

The sisters were spotted arriving at the location for the star-studded dinner

Both Paul and Nancy toned down their classic looks with low-key trainers

Hollywood star Woody Harrelson, 62, cut a casual figure as he arrived at the venue for the evening

The American actor wore black jogging bottoms and a zip-up hoodie for the occassion

'I was thinking all sorts of loving thoughts towards Nancy, and while I was at the piano, I could see that the waiters who were clearing up were listening.

'But it was nice and romantic, it was a perfect moment, and I thought to myself, were not going to stay in separate rooms tonight.'

Paul and Nancy were later wed in 2011 at a London Register Office after he admitted he had already 'fallen in love with my lady' before they were official.

He added in his book: 'If you had to say one word about her, its that shes real.

'I have a beautiful picture of when we went to the White House. Its of Nancy and me talking to Barack and Michelle Obama, and were laughing at something the president said.

'Nancy is paying such attention. Shes a great person. Shes multifaceted.'
Sharon Stone has reflected on near-fatal stroke she suffered back in 2001, admitting it left her with a sense of 'peace'.

The 65-year-old actress admitted the experience was life changing as she chatted with Harper's Bazaar Spain before posing for a striking photoshoot.

She explained: 'My stroke left me with an intense sense of peace. Today I can say that I have known death very closely.

'In those moments I felt that my deceased friends were coming to get me, and that removed all traces of fear.

'I lost my panic to try anything. When you experience something like this, you learn that nothing in life is really important and you understand that failure is just the beginning of success.'

Sharon Stone reflected on near-fatal stroke she suffered back in 2001, admitting it left her with a sense of 'peace' as she chatted with Harper's Bazaar Spain

The 65-year-old actress admitted the experience was life changing as she chatted with Harper's Bazaar Spain before posing for a striking photoshoot

Sharon was just 43 when she suffered her stroke and had to learn to walk, talk, speak and write again following the horrific incident, which 'changed her life forever'.

Doctors initially misdiagnosed her medical emergency and nearly sent her home untreated.

The Basic Instinct star explained the pain in her head as feeling 'lighting bolt-like' just before being rushed to the hospital all those years ago.

She suffered a hemorrhage that left her with a nine-day brain bleed and one percent chance of survival after surgery.

Sharon's vision was also affected and that she suffered memory loss during the initial stages of her recovery.

The toll the whole experience took would also manifest in her experiencing long bouts of depression throughout her decade-long recovery.

Fast forward two decades and Sharon is only now just comfortable in sharing her story because she had been worried about the reaction she'd get both publicly and within the acting industry.

'I hid my disability and was afraid to go out and didn't want people to know,' she previously revealed, crediting Michael J. Fox in encouraging her to share her experience. 'I just thought no one would accept me.'

Barring a few exceptions, the Mosaic star maintains those in Hollywood have not been supportive of her career in the wake of her health scare, and that she doesn't get 'hired a lot' because she's a 'disability hire.'

Sharon said: 'My stroke left me with an intense sense of peace. Today I can say that I have known death very closely. I felt that my deceased friends were coming to get me'

Sharon looked incredible as she posed for a striking cover shoot while opening up about her health woes

Sharon has found some salvation in now being on the board of the Barrow Neurological Foundation, which supports the medical institute her brain surgeon Dr. Michael Lawton leads in Arizona.

With the lack of acting roles coming her way, Sharon's second calling includes a flourishing painting career, where she gets to scratch her creative itch anytime she pleases.

And now, she pushes forward in her life firmly set in not letting her disability define her.

'I think many people identify with their illness as "I am this thing," and it cannot be your identity,' she shared, before opening up about some of the losses she suffered.

'In my case, so much was taken from me. I lost custody of my child, I lost my career and was not able to work, I was going through a divorce and being put through the ringer, I lost so much, and I could have allowed that to define me.

'But you have to stand up and say, 'Okay, that happened, and now what? What am I made of?"'
A popular Netflix reality series is finally returning for a second season five years after its premiere.

The streaming platform released a Season 2 announcement for the music competition series Rhythm + Flow on January 18.

Rappers Ludacris, DJ Khaled, and Latto are the new judges for Season 2.

Eminem will also serve as a guest judge during the upcoming season's battle rounds.

Rhythm + Flow Season 2 is currently filming in Atlanta, Georgia, and will be available to stream later this year.

Netflix announced the second season of Rhythm + Flow on January 18 that will feature Ludacris, DJ Khaled, and Latto as head judges

Rhythm + Flow Season 2 is currently filming in Atlanta, Georgia, and will be available to stream later this year

Season 1 was released on October 23, 2019, and featured judges Cardi B, T.I., and Chance the Rapper.

The trio selected 30 contestants who auditioned in Los Angeles, New York, Atlanta, and Chicago.

Other than rap battles, the rappers were forced to complete tasks involving songwriting, performances, and homemade music videos.

The winner is not guaranteed a record deal, but they do walk away with a whopping $250,000 cash prize.

Season 2 contestants will likely participate in similar tasks with the new judges.

All three of them were hyped up in the Netflix announcement where DJ Khaled called hip-hop 'a lifestyle.'

'First impression is everything... It all comes down to this one moment,' Ludacris stated.

Latto said her opinion holds 'a little weight' since she was a reality show contestant back in 2016.

DJ Khaled talked about his opinion of hip-hop in the Netflix announcement and called the genre 'a lifestyle'

Ludacris believes first impressions are everything. Latto is the only main female judge who was also a contestant on a music competition series when she was a teenager

The female rapper was crowned the winner of Jermaine Dupri's show The Rap Game, where she competed under the name Miss Mulatto.

Ludacris served as a judge on the short-lived ABC reality show Rising Star in 2014.

DJ Khaled was one of the main judges of Fox's music competition show The Four back in 2018.

X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram users have had several opinions about the show but are excited for it to return for Season 2.

X users are excited for Rhythm & Flow returning for a second season and have posted clips of Eminem to celebrate his guest appearance during the battle rounds

Other social media users were particularly excited to find out Latto was a judge, while others questioned why she will be on the show

Social media users have been especially exited to see Latto become a judge after already being a show contestant.

'FULL CIRCLE MOMENT LATTO - Went from being a contestant to the JUDGE,' and Instagram user wrote.

Other users have been excited for the second season all around.

One person wrote: 'The way I shouted ,I really enjoyed the first season....been waiting on the 2nd season ever since.'
Sofia Vergara put on a busty display in a gorgeous black dress as she continued to promote Griselda - as it emerged she and Netflix are being sued over the upcoming series.

The Modern Family alum. 51, looked like she was having a blast with a group of actors, actresses and crew from the upcoming Netflix series.

Her dress showed off her famous curves beautifully with a plunging neckline, figure-hugging silhouette and a small cutout that exposed a flash of her skin.

The Colombian bombshell  who gushed about the variety of single men in New York City  wore her long, lush brown hair parted in the middle and cascading down her torso.

Black heels with a strap around her ankle completed her latest look on the press tour. She captioned her Instagram post: 'What a night!'

Sofia Vergara put on a busty display in a gorgeous black dress as she continued to promote Griselda

Vergara is being sued by Griselda Blanco's estate who want to block the new Netflix series over its alleged 'unauthorized use of their family's image and likeness'

In the series, the America's Got Talent judge plays Griselda Blanco, a Colombian drug lord who grew her cartel into one of the most profitable and notorious in the world.

While Sofia has been enthusiastically promoting the series, the family of Griselda Blanco is seeking to block release of the story about the legendary cartel leader.

The family filed a lawsuit over its alleged 'unauthorized use of their family's image and likeness.'

Blanco's only living son Michael filed the lawsuit, TMZ reported. It names Vergara and Netflix as defendants.

The series is set for release on January 25  but the family has asked a judge for an injunction.

Griselda's son Michael Corleone Blanco claims he has been doing interviews for years to try and get his and his mother's life story on paper in the hopes of developing into a production.

Michael claims the interviews took place between 2009 and 2022.

The lawsuit claims that his partners pitched it to Netflix and he was told the streamer was interested  but didn't have any use for the stories from all the interviews he did.

But now that filming of the series has wrapped and it is almost its release day Michael says the series did use a lot of her stories, anecdotes and material and did not pay him for it.

Michael claims that Netflix essentially stole his family's story for the plot of the series. Additionally, he is upset over the use of his and his late brothers Uber, Osvaldo and Dixon's images and likenesses are in the series and they didn't give Netflix permission for that.

This comes after Michael spoke exclusively to DailyMail.com about his anger and disappointment over the fact Sofia and her team refused his offer to consult on the project.

The Modern Family alum. 51, looked like she was having a blast with a group of actors, actresses and crew from the upcoming Netflix series

Her dress showed off her famous curves beautifully with a plunging neckline, figure-hugging silhouette and a small cutout that exposed a flash of her skin

He labeled the rejection a 'slap in the face'  and said they 'wouldn't have got away with it' if his mother was still alive.

Michael also criticized the 'disrespectful' decision to transform Sofia's gorgeous face with facial prosthetics for her portrayal of his famous mother  the first female criminal billionaire who held a reign of terror during Miami's Cocaine Cowboys drug wars of the 1970s and '80s.

Sofia previously revealed it took two hours in the makeup chair to transform into Griselda, and Michael made it clear he was furious with the interpretation.

'My mother was a beautiful woman and it's crazy that a lot of people say "No, you've got to look more like a drug addict"... The fact that they call her "ugly" that really offends me,' he said.
Lorraine Kelly looked incredible as she took a brave dip in the sea on Friday, with fans praising the 'fabulous' TV host.

The daytime TV host, 64, slipped into a plunging swimsuit while visiting the Orkney Islands, in Scotland.

Standing on the beach in the green one-piece, Lorraine announced she would be releasing her first novel before taking a plunge into the cold water.

Taking to the comments section, fans said she looked 'beautiful' and commanded her bravery.

She captioned the clip: 'BIG NEWS - watch until the end to see if I am brave enough to go in!!'

Lorraine Kelly, 64, looked incredible as she took a brave dip in the sea on Friday, with fans praising the 'fabulous' TV host

The daytime TV host slipped into a plunging swimsuit while visiting the Orkney Islands, in Scotland

Lorraine continued: 'My first novel THE ISLAND SWIMMER set in ORKNEY comes out on February 15th - Hope you like it.

'Pre order - details in my bio. Also dates for book tour. Ticket costs offset when you buy a book. So looking forward to meeting you all.'

One fan commented: 'Looking fabulous there Lorraine.'

Another added: 'Oh wow Lorraine youre such an inspiring woman! Thanks tor all the joy you share.'

'Beautiful as always!' a third penned.

It comes after Lorraine revealed that she isn't a big fan of attending high-profile fancy events despite being one of the biggest stars in daytime television.

The TV presenter, who hosts her own show Lorraine and has spent 40 years on screen, admitted she still considers herself as 'working class' because of her upbringing.

According to The Mirror, Lorraine told Kaye Adams on her How To Be 60 podcast that she is proud of her background but sometimes doubts herself at 'posh events'.

Standing on the beach in the green one-piece, Lorraine announced she would be releasing her first novel before taking a plunge into the cold water

Taking to the comments section, fans said she looked 'beautiful' and commanded her bravery

Lorraine, who lives in Berkshire with her cameraman husband Steve, said: 'I still have working class cringe, that voice if you get an invitation to say go and meet Prince William for some charity thing. You go, "Oh God, I cant go."

'Its weird, I know its silly and I talk to myself about it and say dont be daft, but I still have that kind of feeling... but yes, I do consider myself working class and Im very proud of it.'

The Scottish star also claimed she hates going to red carpet events - despite attending many in previous years.

She said: 'For a start, its a faff, youve got to get ready. Its probably a Scottish thing  dont get too big for your boots, dont draw attention. Im not daft, I know things will stop eventually. But I never take it for granted.'
As part of efforts to consolidate integrated power solutions, the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) signed a tripartite agreement with Daystar Power Solutions Limited (Daystar Power) and The Wood Factory Limited (Wood Factory), to pioneer the delivery of its first grid-connected and solar hybrid power solution for commercial and industrial customers in Nigeria.

Under the agreement, AEDC will provide 18 hours of reliable electricity supply to Wood Factory (furniture manufacturer) while Daystar Power will provide 6 hours of solar powered electricity to Wood Factory, both leveraging interconnected power facilities to deliver seamless electricity supply and great value to the customer.

This integrated power solution is expected to yield an estimated 44% reduction in energy costs and an impressive 76% annual decrease in carbon emissions for Wood Factory.

The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of AEDC, Christopher Ezeafulukwe, stated that "We are excited about the great opportunities that the transformation and turnaround of AEDC is giving us to serve our customers, both new and existing, in more delightful ways. This project is a product of our consistent questioning of the status quo in the resilient push of our conviction and belief in using diversified energy sources to serve our customers better, while closing the supply gap in our market."

He further stated that having previously commissioned an integrated power solution to serve some unserved communities in our network, the current solution for which we signed the agreement today, is focused on serving industrials and commercials, thus repositioning AEDC to serve all bands of customers within its network better.

Jasper Graf von Hardenberg, CEO of Daystar Power, said "Working together with DisCos, we can provide reliable and affordable power to Nigerian businesses which will save on energy costs to reinvest in their operations. Our partnership with AEDC supports this position. It is just the beginning; we are looking forward to developing more hybrid solar projects for C&I customers in partnership with the likes of AEDC."

Mohamed Akar, Director and General Manager of The Wood Factory, expressed his excitement about the transition from self-generated supply to the integrated power supply which AEDC and Daystar offers, adding that it will soon be switching to a reliable integrated power solution to power our factory.
Georgia Kousoulou and her husband, Tommy Mallet, were every inch the doting parents as they watched an adorable bonding moment in the new series of her hit ITVBe reality show.

The former TOWIE star, 32, and her spouse, 31, launched series five of their show Georgia and Tommy: Baby Steps last week.

The couple, who share two-year-old Brody, appeared in an exclusive clip from the upcoming episode of their reality show, featuring a heartfelt moment between Georgia's father, Luke, and their son.

In the charming clip, Brody can be seen getting up to mischief in plain sight as he decides to unleash his inner Picasso.

Ready with a long wooden paintbrush in hand, the toddler finds joy in splurging bright red paint across his grandfather's face.

Georgia Kousoulou and her husband, Tommy Mallet, have shared a sneak peek of an adorable bonding moment in the new series of her hit ITVBe reality show

The former TOWIE star, 32, and Tommy, 31, launched series five of their show Georgia and Tommy: Baby Steps last week

Amused by the child's creativity and playfulness, Luke laughed and happily played along with Brody's play and made himself the canvas for his masterpiece.

Switching it up, Brody decided to chase the rainbow and add in a splash of orange, a slap of blue and a hint of black.

Finding the whole affair hilarious, Georgia and Tommy let their little one explore his inner artist and giggled away to the cameras.

In the exclusive clip, Georgia said: 'My dad is such a good sport. He had his whole face painted by Brody. I think he secretly likes it. He was really enjoying it.'

With the new series picking up in September, they tell their fans about their 'tough few months.'

The actress spoke out on her struggle to conceive a second child in the new series of her hit ITVBe reality show.

The couple had a miscarriage in April 2023, and with the new series picking up in September, they tell their fans about their 'tough few months.'

'Since we lost the baby in April I have had my days,' Georgia explained on the show. 'I get good days and I get bad days which I think is completely normal.'

The couple, who share two-year-old Brody, have shared an exclusive clip of a heartfelt moment between Georgia's father, Luke, and their son

In the charming clip, Brody can be seen getting up to mischief in plain sight as he decides to unleash his inner Picasso

Ready with a long wooden paintbrush in hand, the toddler finds joy in splurging bright red paint across his grandfather's face

'There are still going to be things that trigger me. The last week I feel like I'm in a better place, it's taken a long time though.'

'I would love to be pregnant right now, I thought I would have been by now but you can only want something so much. All we can do is hope and pray that it happens but unfortunately I can't control my body.'

In a teaser for this week's episode, Georgia is seen in floods of tears as she asks a friend 'why aren't I pregnant yet?'

Tommy explained how the couple and their son Brody, two, escaped to Majorca for three months in the summer after the miscarriage.

'Georgia has had a tough few months, but we are coming out the other end of it,' he explained on the show.

'My main priority over the past three months has been Georgia and making sure she gets out of this place that she has been in. It's been hard, and we haven't spoken about it either.'

Tommy revealed that he has turned to crystals for comfort over the past year, telling the camera: 'When you go through trauma, especially at rock bottom, you find things to comfort you, for me its the spiritual side.'

'I just want to make sure Georgia gets what's she wants, it's been enough about me the past few years but the pressure is very very hard.'

Georgia and Tommy tied the knot in a secret, intimate London ceremony on December 1, 2023, but will have a second, more lavish celebration in the sunshine with their wider friends and family this summer.

The couple had previously called off their wedding in May 2023, as the miscarriage occurred in the previous month.

Tommy said at the time: 'The wedding is going ahead bigger than ever next year. We pushed back the planning of the wedding after we lost the baby.

'We were meant to fly to Majorca to plan the wedding and have some alone time but didn't go because we discovered the miscarriage.

'But we haven't cancelled anything. We're going strong, we've got a big day to plan and Georgia needs it as well.

'I want her to have the same second name and she deserves a really good day now and next year we're making it happen.'

In episode three of the new show the stress of planning a wedding and trying for another baby is too much for Georgia and Tommy. They decide to take a trip to Majorca to have some time to themselves.

Whilst out on the sun-soaked island, they meet with their wedding planner to discuss moving the wedding to another date as Tommy admits he feels overwhelmed with trying for a baby at the same time.

Georgia and Tommy: Baby Steps airs Sundays at 9pm on ITVBE and ITVX.
Lily Collins revealed she is back to filming her hit Netflix series, Emily in Paris, just a year after its season three finale ended on a pretty big cliffhanger.

Following a two-month delay due to Hollywood's long, contentious writers' strike, the 34-year-old British-American actress shared a selfie of herself holding a script from a table read, held on Wednesday.

'Did someone say Saison Quatre?! Finally reunited with my @emilyinparis fam back in Paris and it feels so good,' she captioned a slideshow, featuring a number of behind-the-scenes snaps from set.

The two-time Golden Globe nominee continued: 'Although, I may need to brush up on my selfie skills for Emilys sake.'

Lily Collins revealed she is back to filming her hit Netflix series, Emily in Paris, just a year after its season three finale ended on a pretty big cliffhanger

In the images, the daughter of Phil Collins and Jill Tavelman wore a $675 satin dress from HVN, covered in Eiffel Towers, with cuffed sleeves and satin piping.

She paired her chic look with a gold bracelet, multiple rings and long light brown tresses in loose waves.

The script she held up was written by Grant Sloss, who serves as a supervising producer and script writer for Emily in Paris.

He previously wrote two episodes for the show, for the past three seasons.

In 2021, he was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series.

Her post came at the same time Collins' costar, Ashley Park, announced that she nearly died after going into 'critical septic shock' that 'infected her organs.'

The 32-year-old took to Instagram to lay bare her terrifying health scare which began with tonsillitis during a vacation in Thailand for New Year.

She said she was left in 'excruciating pain' and battled 'so much confusion' before going into the intensive care unit.

Following a two-month delay due to Hollywood's long, contentious writers' strike, the 34-year-old British-American actress shared a selfie of herself holding a script from a table read, held on Wednesday

'Did someone say Saison Quatre?! Finally reunited with my @emilyinparis fam back in Paris and it feels so good,' she captioned a slideshow, featuring a number of behind-the-scenes snaps from set

In the images, the daughter of Phil Collins and Jill Tavelman wore a $675 satin dress from HVN, covered in Eiffel Towers, with cuffed sleeves and satin piping

The script she held up was written by Grant Sloss, who serves as a supervising producer and script writer for Emily in Paris

The on-screen star, who plays Mindy Chen on the Netflix show, said she is 'still in the throes of recovery' but is 'safely on the other side of the worst.'

Ashley opened up about her recent struggles to her 2.8 million Instagram followers as she shared startling photos from her hospital bed.

She wrote: 'As I sit here processing and recovering from the first few weeks of 2024, the only word I can think of is grateful.

'While on holiday in December into New Years, what started as tonsillitis spiraled into critical septic shock, which infected and affected several of my organs.

'I am grateful that my health has improved despite what we had initially been told.'

The actress credited boyfriend Paul Forman, 29, for being 'unconditionally' by her side.

She added: 'You calmed my fears and held me through ambulances, three foreign hospitals, a week in the ICU, scary ERs, countless scans and tests and injections, excruciating pain, and so much confusion all while we were alone on the other side of the world far from those we know.

'I love you Paul. More than I can ever say.'

Ashely went on to thank 'every doctor and ICU nurse who worked tirelessly' before concluding: 'I hesitated to share what's been happening as I'm still in the throes of recovery but I now know I'm safely on the other side of the worst.

Her post came at the same time Collins' costar, Ashley Park, announced that she nearly died after going into 'critical septic shock' that 'infected her organs'

'Thanks for reading this. I'm sorry for being so absent recently to so much and to people in my life. I love you all. I'm healing and I promise I'm gonna be okay.'

Gushing further still over Paul, the Beef star took to her Instagram stories to add: 'I love you.

'I can't believe we spend the first weeks of our 2024 in the ICU and hospitals. I'm the luckiest for having you Paul... by my side through the painful and scary parts of life as well as the joy.'

Her post was quickly flooded with comments of support from the likes of Mindy Kaling, Natasha Bedingfield and Glen Powell as well as her Emily In Paris co-stars, including Lily Collins.

She wrote: 'I can hardly look at these without crying. I love you sister and I'm forever grateful you're on the other side of this and for Paul for your incredibly huge heart and for being there every step of the way. I cannot wait to hug you both.'

Paul has also since shared a snap of the pair on his own account alongside a simple caption that read: 'By your side, no matter what.'

Ashley had previously posted a slew of snaps from her sun-soaked vacation in Phuket, Thailand, before it took its terrifying turn.

She had posed playfully with a brass sculpture before embarking on a cooking class to create an authentic Pa Thai.

Ashley had previously posted a slew of snaps from her sun-soaked vacation in Phuket, Thailand, before it took its terrifying turn

She had posed playfully with a brass sculpture before embarking on a cooking class to create an authentic Pad Thai

Ashley has previously spoken out about other health scares she has overcome, including overcoming cancer when she was a teenager.

She was just 15 when she was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia, and she recovered after almost a year in the hospital undergoing chemotherapy.

After being told what she could and couldn't do during her treatment she was inspired to change the way she approached health and wellness.

The Broadway star told Shape magazine: 'Once cancer physically left my body, I made it my mission to not let it affect my life.

'I didn't want it to define me. People were so worried about me, and I became the person that was like, "I'm fine. Don't worry about me. I am going to go after what I want and just do it."'
Elisabeth Moss' father Ron has died aged 79.

Ron, who shares Elizabeth with Linda Moss, passed away 'peacefully' on Thursday in Clearwater, Florida after a brief battle with an infection, his grandson Max told TMZ.

Max, who is the executor of Ron's estate, told the outlet Ron was surrounded by family when he died.

He wrote: 'Ron made so many friends throughout his rich life and we want everyone to know that you all meant so much to him. Thank you for everything that any of you did for him throughout his life.'

Moss' father was a Scientologist, like his daughter Elisabeth.

Elisabeth Moss ' father Ron has died aged 79; Ron pictured with his children Elisabeth and Derek

Ron shares Elizabeth with Linda Moss; his daughter pictured 2019

Her father was a skilled trombone player who performed in jazz bands, TMZ reports.

He was once a member of a jazz band which also consisted of the late Ron Miscavige, the father of Scientology leader David Miscavige, according to The New Yorker.

The elder Miscavige was once a long-time Scientologist, but he defected from the church and was subsequently shunned by his son.

Hailing from England, Elizabeth's father moved to the U.S. in 1974 and became jazz musician Chick Corea's tour manager. Corea was also a Scientologist.

They met at Scientology's UK headquarters in the 1970s and created a label together.

Ron also managed Isaac Hayes, the actor who voiced 'Chef' in South Park. Hayes, also a Scientologist, quit the show after an episode ridiculed Scientology.

Ron told The Birmingham Mail in a 2012 interview that he got his Green Card by training as a Scientology minister.

He said in the interview, 'I found L Ron Hubbards writings extraordinary and became a Scientologist at 21. It just makes sense to me and its a great way to live without having a traditional religion and dogma.'

Her father was a skilled trombone player who performed in jazz bands

Moss passed away 'peacefully' on Thursday in Clearwater, Florida after a brief battle with an infection

Moss has been starring on the hit series The Handmaid's Tale since 2017

Recalling her childhood in a 2017 interview with The Guardian, Moss remembered just how integral music was in her upbringing.

'My earliest memories are at the Blue Note in New York or backstage at different theatres or different clubs,' she explained.

'We grew up with musicians coming over jamming. We had tons of instruments. So holidays were always like, 50 people would come over and there would be a jam session with everyone playing jazz. When I was 12 I didnt know about Nirvana or Oasis or any of those people. I was listening to Ella Fitzgerald and Gershwin.'

In her 2022 interview with The New Yorker, Elizabeth opened up about being brought up as a Scientologist and defended the religion during her first extended interview on the subject.

The Mad Men star previously credited Scientology with teaching her the communication skills that she uses in her acting career

'Its not really a closed-off religion. Its a place that is very open to, like, welcoming in somebody who wants to learn more about it,' she told the magazine in the feature story published online.

'I think thats the thing that is probably the most misunderstood.'

The Mad Men star credited Scientology with teaching her the communication skills that she uses in her acting career.

Moss said that communication was 'Probably one of the No. 1 basic things that I grew up learning and grew up using and use every day.'

The New Yorker reports that Moss took the L. Ron Hubbard Key to Life Course when she was eight and was declared 'Clear' at age 11.

'Clear' is Scientology speak for those who have achieved a state of no longer being bothered by trauma or unwanted emotions.
Millie Bobby Brown was seen reuniting with her Stranger Things costars, Finn Wolfhard, Winona Ryder and David Harbour, on Thursday afternoon in Atlanta.

This marks her first sighting filming season five of Netflix's beloved science fiction horror series, following her past comments about how the show has stifled her from other work that she is 'passionate about.'

While performing in front of the cameras, alongside Wolfhard, 21, who plays her character's love interest, the British actress, 19, appeared to be sharing a sweet moment as they spoke closely together on a rooftop.

At one point, Brown, who sported a blue zip-up over leggings layered over a pair of red shorts, could be seen peering over the edge of the building.

Millie Bobby Brown was seen reuniting with her Stranger Things costars, Finn Wolfhard, Winona Ryder and David Harbour, on Thursday afternoon in Atlanta

This marks her first sighting filming season five of Netflix's beloved science fiction horror series, following her past comments about how the show has stifled her from other work that she is 'passionate about'

While performing in front of the cameras, alongside Wolfhard, 21, who plays her character's love interest, the British actress, 19, appeared to be sharing a sweet moment as they spoke closely together on a rooftop

Wolfhard appeared to be listening intently to what Brown was saying, before heading back inside.

For the scene, he sported black pants and a mint bomber jacket, which kept him warm aganist the breeze.

Later, Harbour, 48, shot his own scene on top the roof, and pointed to the bottom.

Meanwhile, Ryder was spotted outside in a brown trench coat and tote bag hanging over her shoulder.

In October, the actress, who was 12 when she first appeared on screen as telekinetic Eleven, said in a recent interview that she is ready to say 'goodbye' and 'get out' after the fifth and final season.

The British star, who is worth an estimated $14 million, reportedly earned $20,000 per episode of the first season, before receiving a hefty increase to $250,000 per episode by season three, according to Deadline.

Playing Eleven has also spurned a handful of major film roles, including the Enola Holmes franchise in which she is said to have received a $10 million pay check for the second installment - setting a reported record for the largest upfront salary paid to an actor under the age of 20.

So it is perhaps no surprise that her latest comments irritated fans who slammed her for wanting to wave goodbye to the sci-fi hit that enabled her fame and fortune.

In October, the actress, who was 12 when she first appeared on screen as telekinetic Eleven, said in a recent interview that she is ready to say 'goodbye' and 'get out' after the fifth and final season

The British star, who is worth an estimated $14 million, reportedly earned $20,000 per episode of the first season, before receiving a hefty increase to $250,000 per episode by season three, according to Deadline

Playing Eleven has also spurned a handful of major film roles, including the Enola Holmes franchise in which she is said to have received a $10 million pay check for the second installment - setting a reported record for the largest upfront salary paid to an actor under the age of 20

So it is perhaps no surprise that her latest comments irritated fans who slammed her for wanting to wave goodbye to the sci-fi hit that enabled her fame and fortune

Speaking to Glamour, she said: 'Stranger Things takes up a lot of time to film and its preventing me from creating stories that Im passionate about. So Im ready to say, "Thank you, and goodbye"...

'When you're ready, you're like, "All right, let's do this. Let's tackle this last senior year. Let's get out of here".'

She did note her appreciation for 'the tools and the resources' the series gave her 'to be a better actor'.

She bluntly added that she won't be sad because no one is dying, and stresses: 'When it ends, Im going to be able to still see these people.'

Speaking to Glamour, she said: 'Stranger Things takes up a lot of time to film and its preventing me from creating stories that Im passionate about. So Im ready to say, "Thank you, and goodbye"...

'When you're ready, you're like, "All right, let's do this. Let's tackle this last senior year. Let's get out of here'

She did note her appreciation for 'the tools and the resources' the series gave her 'to be a better actor'

Over the years, Millie has voiced her desire for the show to conclude before, telling Seventeen in March: I'm definitely ready to wrap up. I feel like there's a lot of the story that's been told now, and we know of it, it's been in our lives for a very long time.

'But I'm very ready to say goodbye to this chapter of my life and open new ones up. I'm able to create stories myself that are important to me and focus on the bigger picture. But I'm really grateful [for the show].'

In August she reiterated her readiness, telling Womens Wear Daily: 'I think Im ready. Its been such a huge factor in part of my life, but its like graduating high school, its like senior year.

'Youre ready to go and blossom and flourish and youre grateful for the time youve had, but its time to create your own message and live your own life.'

She bluntly added that she won't be sad because no one is dying, and stresses: 'When it ends, Im going to be able to still see these people'

Over the years, Millie has voiced her desire for the show to conclude before, telling Seventeen in March: I'm definitely ready to wrap up. I feel like there's a lot of the story that's been told now, and we know of it, it's been in our lives for a very long time

'But I'm very ready to say goodbye to this chapter of my life and open new ones up. I'm able to create stories myself that are important to me and focus on the bigger picture. But I'm really grateful [for the show]'

Her co-stars have also spoken about their feelings surrounding the conclusion of the megahit series.

Harbour, who plays Jim Hopper, shared similar thoughts to Millie, telling Discussing Film: 'Whats funny is when I started the show, I never ever wanted it to end. Thats why I love the show.

'I think its a great show, even if I wasnt in it. Now were almost nine years from filming the first season, and I think it is time for it to end.'

He added: 'But it is, of course, very bittersweet. You know, theres a sadness there. But also, weve all grown up. It is time for us to leave that nest and try other things and different projects.

'And to let the Duffer Brothers try different things as well. I mean, those guys are so talented. I want to see what they come up with next. So it is bittersweet, but its definitely time.'

In August, she reiterated her readiness, telling Womens Wear Daily: 'I think Im ready. Its been such a huge factor in part of my life, but its like graduating high school, its like senior year

'Youre ready to go and blossom and flourish and youre grateful for the time youve had, but its time to create your own message and live your own life'

Her co-stars have also spoken about their feelings surrounding the conclusion of the megahit series

Harbour, who plays Jim Hopper, shared similar thoughts to Millie, telling Discussing Film: 'Whats funny is when I started the show, I never ever wanted it to end. Thats why I love the show

'I think its a great show, even if I wasnt in it. Now were almost nine years from filming the first season, and I think it is time for it to end'

He added: 'But it is, of course, very bittersweet. You know, theres a sadness there. But also, weve all grown up. It is time for us to leave that nest and try other things and different projects

'And to let the Duffer Brothers try different things as well. I mean, those guys are so talented. I want to see what they come up with next. So it is bittersweet, but its definitely time.='

However, Gaten Matarazzo and Wolfhard have admitted that they are less prepared to say their goodbyes.

Gaten, who plays Dustin Henderson, told Jimmy Fallon in March interview that hes living in 'deep fear' of Stranger Things ending.

He said: 'Theres kind of an excitement there because you always want to wrap it up and see how these characters are going to finally develop one last time, and how theyre going to finish their journeys.

'But also theres like a deep fear. Not only has it been amazing, but its been pretty great job security for a while. Back to freelance.'

However, Gaten Matarazzo and Wolfhard have admitted that they are less prepared to say their goodbyes

Gaten, who plays Dustin Henderson, told Jimmy Fallon in March interview that hes living in 'deep fear' of Stranger Things ending

He said: 'Theres kind of an excitement there because you always want to wrap it up and see how these characters are going to finally develop one last time, and how theyre going to finish their journeys

'But also theres like a deep fear. Not only has it been amazing, but its been pretty great job security for a while. Back to freelance'

While Finn, who plays Mike Wheeler, confessed to Uproxx in January that he was 'not read' for the end, though conceded 'it would be ridiculous' for it to continue beyond a fifth season

He said: '[I'm] not ready but I'm just really excited to start working on it because after I finished watching season four, I just was like, "Damn, let's just go back and film now"

While Finn, who plays Mike Wheeler, confessed to Uproxx in January that he was 'not read' for the end, though conceded 'it would be ridiculous' for it to continue beyond a fifth season.

He said: '[I'm] not ready but I'm just really excited to start working on it because after I finished watching season four, I just was like, "Damn, let's just go back and film now."

'I just want to help finish it off, but not in a way of I want to be done with it. It's just like I want to know what happens. I'm definitely sad about it, but also, I know that it's the next kind of chapter of everyone's life that needs to happen.'

He added: 'I hope we kind of get an ending for each character thats pretty satisfying for fans.'
Jeannie Mai has requested that the court hold off on enforcing her prenup with Jeezy as she claims that she did not have enough time to review it before signing after conflicting statements about their separation.

The 44-year-old television personality filed the request in Fulton County Superior Court in Georgia on Thursday according to a TMZ report on Friday.

In it Jeannie is asking judge to either deny the 46-year-old rapper's motion to enforce the prenuptial agreement or at least hold off on enforcing it until both parties can exchange info about it.

The publication reports that the documents indicate that Jeannie said the prenup process was so quick that she doesn't believe that she had the time to be able to do the proper due diligence on the agreement.

She claims that the two had only started negotiating five days before their wedding.

Jeannie Mai has requested that the court hold off on enforcing her prenup with Jeezy as she claims that she did not have enough time to review it before signing after conflicting statements about their separation

The 44-year-old television personality filed the request in Fulton County Superior Court in Georgia on Thursday according to a TMZ report on Friday; she is seen at the Golden Globes earlier this month

Jeannie alleges that she did not go through Jeezy's - born Jay Wayne Jenkins - financial disclosures as thoroughly as she would have liked in order to make sure that she was getting a fair deal.

According to TMZ, Jeannie says in the documents that the smaller window 'raises significant concerns about the adequacy and thoroughness of the due diligence process.'

Jeannie also said that she believes she has 'significant reservations' about her now ex's financial disclosures.

Her legal team says that the rapper only handed over one personal financial statement with approximate taxes and insists she was legally entitled to a thorough examination of all relevant documents.

Just a month ago Jeannie and Jeezy have made conflicting statements about their separation.

The television personality claimed that she found out about her divorce from the news while the rapper reportedly stated that was not true.

On Monday, December 4, the actress made an appearance on The Jennifer Hudson Show and admitted she was 'gutted' after learning about her now-estranged husband filing for divorce.

Just days after she suggested her ex was allegedly unfaithful, he told the host that finding out 'at the same time as the rest of the world' was 'kinda hard', but the split is something she is 'taking day by day'.

In it Jeannie is asking judge to either deny the 46-year-old rapper's motion to enforce the prenuptial agreement or at least hold off on enforcing it until both parties can exchange info about it; they are seen in New York back in February 2020

Jeannie alleges that she did not go through Jeezy's - born Jay Wayne Jenkins - financial disclosures as thoroughly as she would have liked in order to make sure that she was getting a fair deal; they are seen in New York back in February 2020

The two share a two-year-old daughter named Monaco

That came about two months after it was reported that the pair had split and filed for divorce in September.

'I think I'm doing better now,' she said after Hudson asked how she has been doing since the separation.

However, she admitted that she couldn't say the same for weeks ago when she had been allegedly blindsided by Jeezy, whose real name is Jay Wayne Jenkins.

'At the time, when I found out at the same time as the rest of the world that my marriage was ending in divorce, I was gutted,' she said.

In the aftermath of their split, she said that she has been 'picking up the pieces' and has been focusing on 'discovering' herself.

Most importantly, she said that her main priority is 'being a mom to the best blessing in my life  my little girl.'

About a year ago, Mai had welcomed her daughter Monaco, nearly 11-months-old, with Jenkins.

She also said on the show that she wants to make sure that their child gets to spend time with her father for the holidays.

Just last week, Mai had cited her pre-nuptial agreement in her divorce petition response to Jenkins and suggested that Jenkins had been unfaithful.

Jeannie and Jeezy have made conflicting statements about their separation. On Monday, December 4, the actress made an appearance on The Jennifer Hudson Show and admitted she was 'gutted' after learning about her now-estranged husband filing for divorce

A source close to the couple said the rapper, 46, refuted his ex's claims about him blindsiding her about their separation and her finding out about the divorce filing from the news

This comes about two months after it was reported that the pair had split in September

'I think I'm doing better now,' she said after Hudson asked how she has been doing since the separation. However, she admitted that she couldn't say the same for weeks ago when she had been allegedly blindsided by Jeezy, whose real name is Jay Wayne Jenkins

In the aftermath of their split, she said that she has been 'picking up the pieces' and has been focusing on 'discovering' herself

Most importantly, she said that her main priority is 'being a mom to the best blessing in my life  my little girl.' About a year ago, Mai had welcomed her daughter Monaco, nearly 11-months-old, with Jenkins

A source told TMZ just hours after The Jennifer Hudson Show episode with Mai's guest appearance aired on Monday that those claims were false.

The insider said Jenkins also refuted what his estranged wife said on the show about how he had blindsided her about their divorce.

He alleged that it was something they both knew was coming as they had gone to multiple marriage counselors and therapists in the time leading up to their split, the source told the outlet.

They also claimed that Jenkins is adamantly refuting the cheating allegations.
The halls and bars of Claridge's hotel, London, are all but deserted. Night cleaners move discreetly around a solitary guest who nurses an unfinished drink.

In an instant, the calm is shattered, as Rolling Stone Ronnie Wood bursts into the lobby. His voice bouncing off each marble surface, he announces to everybody and nobody, 'We're in f***ing Claridge's.'

It's Saturday January 17, 2004, and it's 2.30am. Kate Moss's 30th birthday party is in full swing.

What a difference two decades make.

Earlier this week the supermodel turned 'spiritual warrior', a newly minted lifestyle guru, alcohol-free and glowing today despite her infamous hard living of yesteryear, marked her half century with a series of celebrations.

A girls' trip to the Caribbean was followed, last Tuesday, by an evening of dinner and dancing at Laurent restaurant in Paris.

Celebrity guests were seen leaving the opulent venue  which had transformed into a nightclub with makeshift catwalk for the occasion  then climbing into taxis at 2am.

Kate Moss enjoys her 30th birthday party, on a Beautiful And The Damned theme night at Claridges Hotel, London, January 17, 2004

Three years later, Harper's Bazaar magazine would rate Kate's 'The Beautiful And The Damned' birthday bash number three in a top ten of scandalous parties

Kate Moss attends her 30th birthday party with a friend at the home of Agent Provocateur owner Serena Rees

According to reports, Kate wanted her 50th birthday to be a 'night to remember'  or perhaps, more accurately, a night she and her guests could remember.

Because when it comes to unforgettable, well, you can forget your seaside rituals in Mustique and elegant soirees in Paris.

The one for the cultural history books, the party that is still spoken of as one of the most decadent London has ever seen, is the one that took place 20 years ago: Kate's 30th.

And I should know: I was there.

As a night porter showed Ronnie Wood, along with his then-wife Jo and daughter Leah, to the lift that morning, I started the climb up the stairs to the seventh floor and the penthouse suite where Kate and her closest friends would party until long after dawn.

The theme was The Beautiful And Damned and Kate styled herself after Gloria Gilbert, the spoilt, beautiful creature who marries Anthony Patch in F Scott Fitzgerald's book of that title.

Described as a girl who 'goes, goes, goes', who smokes, flirts and sunbathes, who dances all afternoon and night, is exquisitely beautiful, unaffected and spontaneous, it's not much of a reach to see why the Kate of those days might relate to Gloria.

That night she was the ultimate party girl, playing the ultimate party girl.

By the time I made it up the back stairs and into the seventh floor corridor, there was a logjam of extravagantly dressed guests waiting to pass the final hurdle of a clipboard-wielding official who guarded the base of the narrow little staircase that ran up to Kate's penthouse suite.

The late Radio DJ Annie Nightingale leaned on a radiator. 'What did you do for Christmas?' someone asked her. 'Mushrooms. And you?' she replied as she waited her turn along with Anita Pallenberg and Marianne Faithfull.

Thankfully, not everyone was so patient and I found myself carried along with a surge of frustrated guests, past the name-check and up into the inner sanctum.

At the top of the stairs guests dumped their coats and bags with little ceremony in a cubby-hole that had been turned into a cloakroom-cum-bar.

This week it was Nicholas von Bismarck on Kate's arm  at 37 he's not much older today than Jefferson Hack was back then when, as Kate's partner and father of her daughter, Lila, now 21, the magazine publisher welcomed guests at the top of the stairs.

Kate Moss enjoys her 30th birthday party, a Beautiful And The Damned theme night at Claridges Hotel, London in the company of Rolling Stone Ronnie Wood

'Naomi Campbell, her hair slicked into pin curls and decorated with an ostrich feather headband, wearing a tiny peach flapper dress, towered over others in the room'

Fashion Designer Stella McCartney attends Kate Moss' 30th birthday party

Dressed in a fiercely tailored cream suit, he handed me a vodka-soda which I sipped as I took in the room.

There can't have been more than 40 people there at the time, though it got more crowded later. Two bedrooms flanked the suite's main room, along which ran a large balcony overlooking London.

To the far side of the room the door to one of the bedrooms stood open, revealing a four-poster bed.

At one point broadcaster Janet Street-Porter, dressed in a psychedelic mini-dress with lurid purple tights, launched herself on to the bed only to promptly roll off.

As she floundered, giggling helplessly on the floor, legs kicking, Kate screeched: 'Janet Street-Porter's on the f***ing floor! Janet's my intellectual friend! You're such a f***ing intellectual!'

Earlier in the night Kate's friends, Agent Provocateur co-founder Serena Rees and artist Sam Taylor-Wood, then married to gallerist Jay Joplin, had thrown two adjoining parties at their homes.

One was themed 'The Beautiful', the other, 'The Damned'. A heavily pregnant Gwyneth Paltrow was there with her then-husband Chris Martin of Coldplay.

Jools Holland played piano while Kate sang her way through a husky rendition of Summertime and later, when Marianne Faithfull sang I Get A Kick Out Of You, substituting 'Kate' for the word 'You'.

There were scantily-clad waiters, a blacked-out room with a DJ in the corner where, at one point, fashion designer Bella Freud could be found dancing alone.

And there was cake  a towering pyramid of profiteroles dipped in, and glistening with, honey, toasted almonds, cream and rose petals. Kate blew out the candles to cheers and applause.

Kate's hair was styled in a riot of curls that evening. Her eyelids loaded with heavy navy and graphite shadow in a sort of darkly glamorous look that reeked of smudged dishevelment from the get-go.

She completed the aesthetic look with a long, diesel blue, sequined dress out of which she stripped almost as soon as her tanned toes touched the shagpile of her Claridge's suite later that night.

Now, as dawn inched closer, she rocketed around the room, twirling and giggling, braless and wearing a tiny cornflower blue flutter of a dress that showed off her back and limbs, tanned from a recent trip to Jamaica.

Kate Moss is seen leaving the Ritz Hotel to celebrate her 50th birthday on January 16, 2024

Tennis icon Venus Williams makes a stylish appearance at Kate Moss' 50th birthday

Fashion designer, Stella McCartney arriving for Kate Moss' birthday at 'Laurent' restaurant in Paris

Kate Moss is seen leaving her hotel in Paris with boyfriend Nikolai von Bismarck to head out for dinner to celebrate her 50th Birthday

Haider Ackermann was also in attendance for Moss' Golden birthday this year

Earlier in the evening Marianne Faithfull had squeezed into the busy downstairs bar filled with the afterwork crowd of drinkers. She laid claim to a bar stool and rasped her order  a gin and tonic.

Confusion spread over her and the barman as she fumbled in her purse only to tip out a jangle of Jamaican currency, then attempt to pay with it. 'God, I'm jet lagged,' she wailed, pointing at the coins, 'I'm just back from there, you see.'

Moments later she was rescued by an emissary from the seventh floor where Kate and her friends were all getting ready together for the night of partying ahead. 'There you are,' he exclaimed. 'They're all waiting upstairs.'

Several hours later and queues to the seventh floor suite's two bathrooms  one just a small cloakroom  were long as they were being used more as an extension of the party than as places to answer the call of nature.

Certain guests held back their hair as they bent to snort lines of coke off the bathroom's pristine surfaces.

They drank and smoked and chatted and the only person for whom they moved was Kate who, at one point, unceremoniously chucked everyone out, even throwing out the one male guest actually using the toilet for its intended purpose mid-flow.

Clutching a magnum of champagne by the neck and an attractive fellow party guest by the wrist, she commandeered the bathroom and closed the door.

Ronnie Wood sat on a plush sofa, pushed back against a wall. He drank what appeared to be vodka, neat from the bottle while wife Jo and daughter Leah sat at his side.

No doubt the Rolling Stone had seen it all before, and then some  much of it with younger versions of the same cast of characters.

To his right, a heavy drape partially concealed the door to the suite's second, smaller bedroom. For the most part that door remained shut. That, one guest told me with a leer, was where the real party was happening.

At one point, a dark-haired woman flung open the door  behind her a flare of naked limbs and people entwined on the bed was visible, their faces obscured by her body.

She swung around the room yelling: 'Does anyone have a condom?' I don't recall if anyone came to her aid before she disappeared back inside.

The guest who had told me that this room was where the real party was happening was by my side when this occurred. Leaning close to me he nuzzled my shoulder and asked if I wanted to go in.

I declined but I'd be lying if I didn't sometimes wonder just what might have happened had I said yes.

It always struck me as odd that Kate's mother Linda was there in the midst of it all, along with her brother Nick and his friends. Linda chatted and smiled and looked on entirely unfazed.

The room beyond that bedroom door was getting more and more chaotic. Shoes were discarded, glamorous outfits slipped off shoulders before being torn away.

Guests smoked. I don't remember if that was still allowed indoors back then but, as vices go, it ranks pretty low on that night's spectrum.

Besides, back then Kate Moss could do pretty much whatever, with whomever she pleased and so, it seemed, could her guests.

PR supremo, Fran Cutler was dubbed as the 'Party Rottweiler' in the 1990s

British socialite, model, and reality TV star Annabelle Neilson with Naomi Campbell

A young member of Claridge's staff, rumbled for having given up serving champagne in favour of drinking it and mingling with guests, was rumored to have been thrown out at around 4am.

Sisters Stella and Mary McCartney squabbled in the bathroom. Naomi Campbell, her hair slicked into pin curls and decorated with an ostrich feather headband, wearing a tiny peach flapper dress, towered over others in the room.

She looked almost too beautiful to be real until she announced in her Streatham-LA drawl that she was going to bed before she 'f***ing died of hunger'.

As dawn broke over London, Jay Joplin attempted to corral the shambolic scene into some sort of order by encouraging people to step out onto the balcony and watch the sun rise.

I joined them, breathing in the morning air  a stark contrast to the fug inside. But while the rest looked for the sun I turned and looked back inside and tried to imprint the scene of the crumpled, messy suite on my memory.

Kate was nowhere to be seen.

It was almost 8am and it was time to go.

Three years later, Harper's Bazaar magazine would rate Kate's 'The Beautiful And The Damned' birthday bash number three in a top ten of scandalous parties that included all of Babylon, Sodom and Gomorrah and the last days of Rome.

I couldn't say. I wasn't at the others. But I'm damned if Kate's 30th wasn't one hell of a party.
Love Island All Stars viewers are convinced Kaz Kamwi has set herself up for failure after choosing Luis Morrison in the recoupling during Friday's episode.

Luis was seen sharing a kiss with Demi Jones earlier this week and had made it clear to her she was his type.

However, he and Kaz had also shared some flirty chats, with Kaz opting to dump Mitchel Taylor, who she had been paired up with by the public during Monday's launch show, and go for Luis in the recoupling.

Kaz said: 'I'd like to couple up with this boy because I find him really attractive, we've had really good conversations and I feel like I'm ready to share a bed with him now.'

Fans of the show were quick to take to social media to express their shock over Kaz's choice, insisting she had set herself up to fail.

Love Island All Stars viewers are convinced Kaz Kamwi has set herself up for failure after choosing Luis Morrison in the recoupling during Friday's episode

Kaz said: 'I'd like to couple up with this boy because I find him really attractive, we've had really good conversations and I feel like I'm ready to share a bed with him now'

One person wrote on Twitter: 'Im happy Kaz put herself first but shes set herself up for failure yes Luis is at this moment the one guy who could even potentially be something but hes clearly not on it as demonstrated by him snogging Demis face off an hour ago but go off. Just be careful.'

Someone else shared: 'Kaz knew Demi and Luis kissed and still picked him..oh I need her to wake up rn!'

'Kaz must have just picked Luis just for the plot because she cant be serious,' wrote another person.

While someone else commented: 'Does Kaz not feel embarrassed? Luis is upset that she picked him.'

And another show fan remarked: 'Even if Demi had told Kaz she kissed Luis on the terrace I think she still would have picked him lol.'

Someone else posted: 'Kaz please u need to realise luis IS NOT THE ONE RUN FROM THIS MAN.'

Cutting Kaz some slack, someone else posted: 'Tbh I don't know who Kaz should of picked because so far everyone's met there sort of match, so Luis was sort of her only option.'

While someone else posted: 'Its so embarrassing Luis just kissed Demi and then Kaz chooses him when its so obvious hes not interested I could never.'

Fans of the show were quick to take to social media to express their shock over Kaz's choice, insisting she had set herself up to fail

Elsewhere in the recoupling bombshell Joshua Ritchie - who took his ex Georgia Harrison, Hannah Elizabeth and Georgia Steele on dates during Thursday's episode - chose Georgia H, stealing her from Luis.

Joshua said: 'I feel like we have a little bit of history and I want to see where it might go in this villa.'

Georgia Steele chose to remain in her couple withToby Aromolaran, while Liberty Poole chose Mitchel Taylor, saying: 'There's one person I've had more chats with than others and I feel like we've got a really good vibe but recently I'm not too sure so this is actually quit difficult for me.'

Despite their recent argument over the real reason for their split last September, Molly Smith chose her ex Callum Jones.

Molly said: 'I'd like to couple up with this boy because I feel like there are many more one on one conversations we could have. I feel like it could progress and blossom.

'Even though it's a difficult decision, I'm still not 100% decided if it is the right decision or now.'

Finally Hannah chose Anton Danyluk to recouple with.

After the recoupling Kaz was seen chatting to Liberty who broke the news to her that her new man Luis had shared a passionate kiss with Demi just days ago.

Love Island viewers were split following Thursday's show, after watching the toe-curling moment Demi Jones came face-to-face with Kaz Kamwi after sharing a kiss with Luis Morrison

This move came as a surprise to many viewers as Luis had previously planned to take Kaz up to the terrace instead, and Demi awkwardly came face-to-face with Kaz in the bedroom

Kaz's face dropped as it dawned on her, her attraction to Luis may not have been reciprocated as she'd hoped.

And things soon took an explosive turn as Luis learned Messy Mitch had exposed his kiss to the rest of the group.

Luis asked Liberty: 'What has Mitch been chatting s**t about because it's starting to f**king p**s me off if I'm honest.'

Liberty told him: 'Mitch ain't chatting s**t about nothing, he's just stated facts.'

Luis said: 'He's such a s**t stirrer mate. What facts? What did he say?'

'Well, you and Demi kissed on the terrace,' responded Liberty, to which Luis asked again: 'What's he s**t stirring for?'

Liberty protested: 'He's not really s**t stirring. That is what happened.'

Looking disappointed, Kaz then said: 'I was trying to like... a bit like... trying to figure out...'

Things soon took an explosive turn as Luis (right) learned Messy Mitch (left) had exposed his kiss to the rest of the group

As Luis prodded his finger towards Mitch, Mitchel told him: 'Get your hand out my face'

Luis said: 'Yeah, I'm not going to lie, I kissed her on the terrace.'

He added: 'Right now, my head's absolutely scrambled, I'm not going to lie,' to which Kaz replied: 'Nice.'

Luis them marched through the villa and demanded: 'Mitch! Come here bruv!'

He shouted: 'You're a s**t-stirring little p***ck, bruv. You're a s**t-stirring little p***ck. You need to shut up! You know what you did there, bruv!'

As Luis prodded his finger towards Mitch, Mitchel told him: 'Get your hand out my face.'

Luis shouted: 'Or what,' before storming off.

Love Island viewers were split in opinion following Thursday's show, after watching the toe-curling moment Demi came face-to-face with Kaz after sharing a kiss with Luis.

Despite Mitch admitting his interest in her just minutes prior, Demi decided to make a move on Luis, with the pair enjoying a steamy smooch on the villa terrace.

This move came as a surprise to many viewers as Luis had previously planned to take Kaz up to the terrace instead, and Demi awkwardly came face-to-face with Kaz in the bedroom.

After finding her in the middle of a chat in the dressing room, Demi frantically said she needed to 'get her phone' and fled the room.

The pair then sat in awkward silence with Liberty, before it was announced that a recoupling was looming.

Demi's behaviour sparked a flurry of responses from fans, with many shocked by her unexpected decision to make a move on Luis.

One tweeted: 'Didn't expect Demi to be showing Destiny's Chaldish traits like this,' while another added: 'MIND YOU HER PHONE IS IN HER HAND OH DEMI IS MESSY.'

'''Hey girlies'' DEMI IS A SCARY INDIVIDUAL,' a third shared.

One added: 'nah why did demi go over to kaz & libs, how awkward #loveisland,' and another user shared: 'i just know Demi didnt go join them.'

However, others rushed to defend Demi, with one writing: 'All of you hating on Luis right now and calling him a deadbeat and an a*******e! Get a grip! So what if he likes Demi more than Kaz???'

'Aww Demi and Luis are my faves,' another posted.

A third added: 'Why's Kaz vexed at Demi you've known this man two days.'

Love Island: All Stars Unseen Bits airs on Saturday at 9pm on ITV2 and ITVX.
New Girl star Jake Johnson has described how his mother nearly stopped him from going to school after receiving a bad gut feeling - one day before a shooting occurred on campus.

In 1988, 30-year-old Laurie Dann shot and killed a boy and injured five other students at Johnson's elementary school in Winnetka, Illinois.

Johnson, 45, was not physically present at school when the attack occurred, but the memory of his mother's intuition has remained with him to this day.

The feeling struck his mother the day before the shooting took place, but Johnson's mother was eventually persuaded to let him go to school as he would away on a field trip.

'I was sitting next to my mom, I was in fourth grade,' he recalled on the Dope as Usual podcast. 'Out of nowhere, my mother turns to me and goes, "Youre not going to school tomorrow."'

New Girl star Jake Johnson has described how his mother nearly stopped him from going to school after receiving a bad 'gut feeling' - one day before a shooting occurred on campus

'And I go "huh,"' Jake continued. 'But we were going on a field trip tomorrow, we were going to Little Vietnam, we were in the burbs... I really wanted to do it,' he added.

Eventually Jake's mother decided to let him attend.

Tragedy struck the next day, with Jake recalling how Dann entered the school and shot numerous children. One of the students was killed.

'The next day, this is a true story. May 20, 1988  a woman walks into my elementary school through the door that my class was in,' Jake described.

'A woman walked into the school wearing a robe and nothing underneathThe room was empty, she walked through, walked down the hall, walked into another room, shot seven kids, killed one of them. True story.'

Jake's mother remains mystified as to the gut feeling.

'To this day, my mom cannot explain why she did not want me to go to school,' he said. 'I dont know. I had a feeling in my gut if your kid goes to school today, youre never going to see him again.'

Had Jake been in the classroom, he believes he would have been sitting by the door she walked through and would have made a remark about her.

Tragedy struck the next day, with Jake recalling how Laurie Dann entered the school and shot numerous children. One of the students was killed

Johnson pictured in New York in 2017

Johnson has numerous acting credits to his name but is perhaps best known for his role in New Girl

'I used to get in a lot of trouble as a kid and I used to always talk so the teacher pushed me in the far right corner so I sat away from the other kids and I was right by the door,' he said, adding that he 'would have commented' on her.

'I would have said something, I would have tried to show off, I would have tried to get laughs,' he continued. 'There's no question.'

Johnson has numerous acting credits to his name but is perhaps best known for his role in New Girl.

The actor starred opposite Zooey Deschanel as her love interest Nick Miller from 2011 to 2018.

One of his more recent roles was in the HBO series Minx.
Taraji P. Henson hit back at the ongoing rumors about her alleged feud with Oprah Winfrey as she believes that the chatter is taking away from their film The Color Purple amid Awards season and Oscar buzz.

The 53-year-old Academy Award winner - who stunned at the Primetime Emmy Awards earlier this week - got candid about the claimed rivalry between her and the 69-year-old mogul which Oprah also addressed earlier this month.

Taraji told Today.com: 'I hope they can focus back onto this film, because right now, to me, it feels like what I said is now becoming louder than this beautiful film.'

The former star of Empire portrays Shug Avery in the critically acclaimed film while Oprah served as producer and starred in the 1985 original film directed by Steven Spielberg.

Taraji P. Henson hit back at the ongoing rumors about her alleged feud with Oprah Winfrey as she believes that the chatter is taking away from their film The Color Purple amid Awards season and Oscar buzz; they are seen together in New York last month

The 53-year-old Academy Award winner (seen at the Emmys on Monday) got candid about the claimed rivalry between her and the 69-year-old mogul which Oprah as she told Today.com: 'I hope they can focus back onto this film, because right now, to me, it feels like what I said is now becoming louder than this beautiful film'

Taraji continued: 'I hope they can focus back onto this film, because right now, to me, it feels like what I said is now becoming louder than this beautiful film.

'And thats not fair to me, or anybody in the film because the film deals with women who are oppressed  who live in an oppressed system.

'Men and women. And all the characters in that film except for the white people. So that movie is about healing. That movie is about sisterhood.'

Earlier this month Oprah vehemently denied rumors of a feud between herself and Taraji P. Henson after the Color Purple star aired her complaints about the production's attempts to pinch pennies.

While speaking with CBS' Gayle King on Sunday on the red carpet for the 2024 Golden Globe Awards, the 69-year-old talk show host and actress sounded as if she was shocked by the talk of alleged bad blood between her and Taraji.

'Its so disturbing to me. Why is my name even in this conversation? Why is my name in this conversation? Cause I have just been the champion for everybody,' she said defensively.

The rumors of a spat between the women sprouted after Henson publicly complained about a paltry initial salary offer and alleged that she and other cast members were told they would need to drive their rental cars to The Color Purple's set.

While speaking to the New York Times, the Curious Case Of Benjamin Button actress said that not only was the request insulting for an actor of her fame, but that it was also potentially 'dangerous' and an 'insurance liability' issue.

Earlier this month Oprah defended herself against rumors that she and The Color Purple star Taraji P. Henson were feuding due to the actress' treatment on set; seen in Beverly Hills earlier this month

She told her friend Gayle King on Sunday on the Golden Globes red carpet that the rumors of a spat were 'disturbing,' and she said she had been a 'champion for everybody'; seen December 11 in NYC

'The thing that is so upsetting to me is that  something went viral where theyre analyzing us on top of the Empire State Building,' Winfrey continued, referring to a TikTok video that fans had dissected.

The clip, which was taken from a December trip to the iconic skyscraper in which the cast and creative team were able to bathe it in purple lights to advertise their film, shows Winfrey moseying over to the edge of the room where Taraji is leaning against the fence.

The two posed for some photos while standing next to each other, but then Taraji's costars Fantasia Barrino and Danielle Brooks and their director Samuel Bazawule join them for a group photo and Oprah quickly moved from next to Taraji to the outer edge.

Some TikTok users took the move away from Taraji as a sign of some tension between the two, but their earlier smiles and demeanor didn't appear to display that alleged tension, and it was more likely that the Oprah Winfrey Show host was merely moving out of the center to that the three actress could be in the prime location, while the two behind-the-scenes figures were on the outskirts of the photo.

Oprah told her best friend Gayle that any lack of warmth between her and Taraji that day was likely due to the chilly, breezy conditions high above Manhattan.

'We were cold! It was cold,' she added. 'That was the fourth thing we had done that day.'

Winfrey went on to defend her attempts as a producer on The Color Purple to make working conditions more comfortable for Taraji and her costars.

'I heard that Taraji was upset because she had been asked to [use] a rental car,' she explained to King. 'I personally called Toby Emmerich, who was at the time the head of Warner Bros., and he said, "Well that means we have to do cars for everybody."

'The thing that is so upsetting to me is that  something went viral where theyre analyzing us on top of the Empire State Building,' Winfrey continued, referring to a TikTok video that fans had dissected

She's seen walking up to Taraji and posing for photos by the fence, but when costars Fantasia Barrino and Danielle Brooks walked over, Oprah moved away from Taraji

However, she appeared to have just allowed the three actresses to share the prime center spot, while she and the Color Purple's director stood on the outer edge to let them shine

'And I said, "Then we do cars for everybody. And if its necessary, I will pay for the cars myself." He goes, "Well, we dont want you to do that,"' she recounted.

'So that was one thing, trailers were another thing, food was anther thing. And everything got handled,' Winfrey added.

It's unclear if the production ultimately found room in the budget to pay for those amenities, or if she had to try something more creative to get chauffeured cars funded.

Winfrey previously painted herself as a problem solver on the production during an earlier interview with ET.

'Whenever I heard there was an issue or there was a problem  there was a problem with a cars or the problem with their food  I would step in and do whatever I could to make it right. And I believe that [Henson] would even vouch for that and say that is true.'

Despite that, she made it clear that she was 'not in charge of the budget,' and a producer credit can indicate varying degrees of involvement on the project.

Although they may be closely involved in determining the budget and how money is spent on set, Winfrey could have also been more focused on supervising the creative aspects of the film, or it may have largely been a symbolic producer's credit to help market the film.

The Color Purple remake, which is an adaptation of the later stage musical version of the story, was also produced by Steven Spielberg  who directed the non-musical 1985 adaptation of the Alice Walker novel  as well as the original film's producer Quincy Jones and the stage musical's producer Scott Sanders.

Though fans have speculated on a feud between Henson and Winfrey based on supposed clues in Henson's interviews and the Empire State Building, the Empire star has described Winfrey as a supportive force who was in her corner in the same New York Times interview in which she complained about being told to drive herself.

She went further in praising the talk show host in a December Instagram post featuring a photo taken from their Empire State Building photoshoot.

Henson sparked rumors of a feud when she complained about poor accomodations on set and said she was asked to drive her rental car to set; still from The Color Purple

However, she has stressed multiple times that Winfrey was an ally and a champion to her and the rest of the cast; seen together on December 12 at the Empire State Building

'Ms. OPRAH has been nothing less than a steady and solid beacon of light to ALL OF THE CAST of The Color Purple!!!,' she gushed in her caption. 'She has provided ENCOURAGEMENT, GUIDANCE and UNWAVERING SUPPORT to us all.

'She told me personally to reach out to her for ANYTHING I needed, and I did!'

Taraji clarified that, 'It took ONE CALL ONE CONVERSATION and ONE DECISION MAKING BLACK WOMAN to make me feel heard.'

She added: 'Thank You Ms. @OPRAH For ALL That You Do.'
Love Island All Stars fans have hit out at double standards within the villa after Luis Morrison had an explosive argument with Mitchel Taylor during Friday's episode.

Luis fell out with Messy Mitch after learning the former gas engineer had told some of their fellow Islanders of Luis's kiss with Demi Jones.

Series one star Luis was chosen by Kaz Kamwi in the recoupling after they shared a number of flirty chats.

But Luis was seen sharing a passionate kiss with Demi Jones during Thursday's episode, which Mitchel had gossiped about.

Earlier this week, Toby Aromolaran told Callum Jones his ex Molly Smith had kissed Chris Taylor behind his back despite the exes being coupled-up after they both entered the South African villa as bombshells.

Love Island All Stars fans have hit out at double standards within the villa after Luis Morrison (right) had an explosive argument with Mitchel Taylor (left) during Friday's episode

Earlier this week, Toby Aromolaran (pictured) told Callum Jones his ex Molly Smith had kissed Chris Taylor behind his back

However, Callum seemed grateful Toby had told him about Molly's kiss with Chris, while Luis had exploded over Mitch talking about him snogging Demi and not telling Kaz.

And viewers struggled see the difference between the situations despite the two very different reactions from the same men.

One person wrote on Twitter: 'Ok I actually don't think Mitch did anything wrong? Nobody shouted at Toby for snitching on Chris and Molly???'

Someone else shared: 'How come nobody mad at Toby telling Callum about Molly and Chris kiss. Cos nobody cares.'

While someone else posted: 'But nobody cared when Toby spoke about Molly and Chris.'

Another viewer asked: 'Whats the difference between Mitch letting Kaz know about the kiss and when Toby did it with Calum?'

'Ive never been team Mitch but what has he actually done wrong,' someone else asked.

Someone else commented: 'Not a Mitch fan BUT no-one had a go at Toby for telling Callum that Molly kissed Chris!!!'

uis was seen sharing a passionate kiss with Demi Jones during Thursday's episode, which Mitchel had gossiped about

Molly and Chris' lingering kiss on Thursday's show. Molly has been torn since entering the villa only to come face to face with her ex Callum, six months after their split

Callum (pictured) chose to couple up with Molly after they both entered the villa as bombshells earlier this week

Viewers struggled see the difference between the situations despite the two very different reactions from the same men

While someone else posted: 'Icl I know Mitch is messy but how is it worse than Toby telling Callum that molly and Chris kissed???'

Another person wrote: 'Whys everyone kicking off at Mitch for telling the truth but nobody did it to toby when he told Callum the truth??????'

After the recoupling Kaz was seen chatting to Liberty who broke the news to her that her new man Luis had shared a passionate kiss with Demi just days ago.

Kaz's face dropped as it dawned on her, her attraction to Luis may not have been reciprocated as she'd hoped.

And things soon took an explosive turn as Luis learned Messy Mitch had exposed his kiss to the rest of the group.

Luis asked Liberty: 'What has Mitch been chatting s**t about because it's starting to f**king p**s me off if I'm honest.'

Liberty told him: 'Mitch ain't chatting s**t about nothing, he's just stated facts.'

Luis said: 'He's such a s**t stirrer mate. What facts? What did he say?'

Love Island All Stars viewers are convinced Kaz Kamwi has set herself up for failure after choosing Luis Morrison in the recoupling during Friday's episode

Kaz said: 'I'd like to couple up with this boy because I find him really attractive, we've had really good conversations and I feel like I'm ready to share a bed with him now'

'Well, you and Demi kissed on the terrace,' responded Liberty, to which Luis asked again: 'What's he s**t stirring for?'

Liberty protested: 'He's not really s**t stirring. That is what happened.'

Looking disappointed, Kaz then said: 'I was trying to like... a bit like... trying to figure out...'

Luis said: 'Yeah, I'm not going to lie, I kissed her on the terrace.'

He added: 'Right now, my head's absolutely scrambled, I'm not going to lie,' to which Kaz replied: 'Nice.'

Luis them marched through the villa and demanded: 'Mitch! Come here bruv!'

He shouted: 'You're a s**t-stirring little p***ck, bruv. You're a s**t-stirring little p***ck. You need to shut up! You know what you did there, bruv!'

This move came as a surprise to many viewers as Luis had previously planned to take Kaz up to the terrace instead, and Demi awkwardly came face-to-face with Kaz in the bedroom

As Luis prodded his finger towards Mitch, Mitchel told him: 'Get your hand out my face.'

Luis shouted: 'Or what,' before storming off.

Elsewhere in the recoupling bombshell Joshua Ritchie - who took his ex Georgia Harrison, Hannah Elizabeth and Georgia Steele on dates during Thursday's episode - chose Georgia H, stealing her from Luis.

Joshua said: 'I feel like we have a little bit of history and I want to see where it might go in this villa.'

Georgia Steele chose to remain in her couple withToby Aromolaran, while Liberty Poole chose Mitchel Taylor, saying: 'There's one person I've had more chats with than others and I feel like we've got a really good vibe but recently I'm not too sure so this is actually quit difficult for me.'

Despite their recent argument over the real reason for their split last September, Molly Smith chose her ex Callum Jones.

Friday's episode of the show saw a dramatic recoupling

Molly said: 'I'd like to couple up with this boy because I feel like there are many more one on one conversations we could have. I feel like it could progress and blossom.

'Even though it's a difficult decision, I'm still not 100% decided if it is the right decision or now.'

Finally Hannah chose Anton Danyluk to recouple with.

Love Island: All Stars Unseen Bits airs on Saturday at 9pm on ITV2 and ITVX.
Access Bank, a subsidiary of Access Holdings, has agreed to acquire a majority stake in Uganda-based Finance Trust Bank.

Access Holdings disclosed this in a notice to the Nigerian Exchange Limited and the investment public.

In the notice signed by the Company Secretary, Sunday Ekwochi, it noted that the transaction involves Access Bank's acquisition of a majority stake from existing shareholders and a capital injection by Access Bank to increase FTB's capital base, both which are subject to regulatory approvals by the Central Bank of Nigeria and Bank of Uganda.

It added that following the conclusion of customary conditions precedent and the anticipated closing of the transaction in the first half of 2024, Access Bank would own an estimated 80% shareholding in FTB.

Daily Trust reports that the acquisition is coming at a time commercial banks in Uganda are struggling to meet new minimum capital requirements of $40.7 million by end of December 2024.

Commenting on the transaction, Group Chief Executive of Access Holdings, Dr. Herbet Wigwe, said, "The transaction marks an important milestone for Access Bank as it moves us closer to the achievement of our five-year strategic plan through continued expansion into key markets. We are building a strong and sustainable franchise to support economic prosperity, encourage Africa trade, and advance financial inclusion thereby empowering many to achieve their financial dreams. The expansion to Uganda will support the realization of our aspiration to become Africa's payment gateway to the world."

Managing Director of FTB, Annet Nakawunde Mulindwa, said the alliance will fortify its position in the financial landscape and enable it to offer its customers a broader array of innovative products and services.
How much would you pay for a quick fix to bolster your fine, thinning hair?

Shampoos and conditioners costing upwards of $50 claiming to do just that now fill shelves in every pharmacy and supermarket - not to mention cosmetics stores online.

On TikTok, fans sing their praises, modelling long, bouncy locks that they claim is the result of regular use of thickening, anti-bald shampoos.

However, speaking to DailyMail.com, a top haircare scientist has warned customers not to fall for the hype.

The overwheming majority do not work, she says.

This is because the products are washed off the hair, and the ingredients are too diluted, or need to be ingested in supplement form, Anabel Kingsley, New York hair doctor at Philip Kingsley, told us.

The two most common forms of hair loss are androgenetic alopecia or male or female pattern hair loss, and telogen effluvium, which is also known as excessive daily hair shedding

'The two most common forms of hair loss are called androgenetic alopecia and male or female pattern hair loss - and these cannot be treated with a shampoo.

'Really, no hair loss can be treated with a shampoo.'

Even if hair loss could be treated with conditioner, it's an obvious con, because you don't apply the product to your scalp, she adds.

Some examples of 'miracle' products include Pura d'Or Apple Cider Vinegar Thin2Thick Shampoo and Condition set, which has more than 5,000 five-star reviews on Amazon. The duo costs $26, down from $40.

The treatments contain apple cider vinegar, said to deep clean the scalp, reducing itching, flaking and dandruff.

The shampoo and conditioner also contain biotin, keratin, caffeine, castor oil and aloe, which are known to add hydration, said to keep hair thick and growing.

One shopper confessed: 'I have noticed that since I started using this shampoo, my scalp no longer itches and there is definitely less hair in the drain.'

The Watermans Grow Me set has also received more than 6,000 five-star reviews on Amazon with happy shoppers praising the 'miracle' product.

The shampoo and conditioner  which are both sulphate and paraben free  sell for $18.99 each or $37 for the set.

'For hair growth, slowing the rate of hair loss, improving natural growth rate or thickness and condition Watermans is the product for you,' the brand says.

'Clinically proven ingredient for anti-hair loss, maximize hair growth rate.'

Around half of all American men and 20 percent of women will experience patterned baldness.

The main reason shampoos and conditioners will have little impact on hair loss is because they are washed off, explained Kingsley.

'For a product to have the impact on your hair growth cycle and follicles, ingredients need to be left on your scalp for an extended period of time.'

'Some shampoos are great at adding body because they change the texture of the hair, which can help disguise any thinning or hair loss.

'Others are really good at detangling and moisturizing the hair so they reduce breakage. So in that way, they could kind of help you get thicker mid lengths and ends as they allow you to have less breakage.'

Shampoos are also highly dilute; their main ingredient is water, Ms Kingsley said. You apply them to hair that is already fully saturated with water, further reducing their effectiveness, she said.

This means the ingredients will not have any impact because they are too watered down, as well as not being left on the hair for long enough.

'The other type of hair loss that is very common is telogen effluvium, which is also known as excessive daily hair shedding.

It can be chronic, and is often caused by nutritional deficiencies, thyroid imbalances, postpartum changes and stress.

Ms Kingsley suggests that any perceived benefit from a shampoo is likely due to a coincidental change in one of the above, such as the end of a stressful period.

This gives the impression that the product has caused growth, rather than the end of underlying problem.

Many thickening shampoos claim to beat the bald through specific ingredients, which have limited effects, said Ms Kingsley.

'Caffeine has good data behind it for hair growth, but not on wash-off products.

'The health of your scalp plays a very important role in hair shedding. If your scalp is scaly, if it's itchy, if there's flakes there, it can increase daily hair loss.

'If a shampoo is helping to clear your scalp, it's not because it's a hair loss shampoo, it could just have some ingredients in there that are good for your scalp.'

Another common 'miracle' ingredient is biotin.

'For biotin to have any impact, it has to be ingested in pill form. Even then, it's really rare to be deficient in biotin, so if you're losing your hair, it's very unlikely it's because you don't have enough biotin.'

Shampoos cannot prevent hair loss or cause new hair growth spurts, New York hair doctor Anabel Kingsley told DailyMail.com

Of apple cider vinegar, another hyped hair ingredient, Ms Kingsley said: 'There's some evidence that it helps with dandruff.'

Keratin can temporarily thicken hair by making it more textured, she said.

'Your hair might look fuller, but it's just a temporary thing.'

Castor oil won't do anything for hair growth, she said, but it could help make hair feel soft and de-tangle which may help with breakage. If your hair is breaking less, it will grow thicker.
LOS ANGELES (AP) - A Southern California man was sentenced Friday to two concurrent life sentences, plus 30 years, for blowing up his ex-girlfriends spa business with a package bomb in 2018, killing her and seriously injuring two others.

Fridays hearing concluded a case against Stephen Beal, 64, that was fraught with missteps for investigators and prosecutors since the May 15, 2018 bombing in an Aliso Viejo spa, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of Los Angeles.

Ildiko Krajnyak, 48, was killed in the fiery blast when she opened a box with a homemade bomb inside that Beal had slipped into the spa while she was in Hungary visiting family. Two clients she had just treated - a mother and daughter - were knocked off their feet. The blast destroyed the business and tore a large hunk from the building. Body parts were found in the parking lot.

"Mr. Beal will never be able to get out to harm innocent victims again," said E. Martin Estrada, the U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California, at a news conference after the sentencing.

A federal judge sentenced Beal to two concurrent life sentences for the charges of use of a weapon of mass destruction resulting in death and malicious destruction of a building resulting in death.

Beal also received a 30-year sentence for the use of a destructive device during and in relation to a crime of violence, which will run consecutively, and a 10-year concurrent sentence for possession of an unregistered destructive device.

E. Martin Estrada, the U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California, discusses the sentencing of Stephen Beal, Friday, Jan. 19, 2024, in Los Angeles, in connection with the 2018 bombing at his ex-girlfriend's spa that killed her and seriously injured two others. Beal was sentenced Friday to two concurrent life sentences, plus 30 years, in federal prison. (AP Photo/Stefanie Dazio)

Beals federal public defender, Craig Harbaugh, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

"After five years of waiting and wondering, our family and friends have peace knowing that Mr. Beal will spend his remaining days in prison," Eva Boni, Krajnyaks cousin, said at the news conference.

Beal, a partner in the business, was jealous Krajnyak had been dating someone else after their 18-month relationship ended, prosecutors said.

"She was a shining light," Nicole Barrett, her best friend, said at the news conference. "She was an amazing human being."

Beal was arrested shortly after the explosion on a single charge of possessing an unregistered destructive device but was never officially named as a suspect in the blast in the days that followed. The charge was dropped after prosecutors questioned whether material found at his Long Beach home constituted a "destructive device." Beal claimed that explosive material found at his house was for his model rockets.

He was free for nearly 10 months before being re-arrested following a painstaking analysis of the evidence.

Beal's first trial in 2022 ultimately ended in a mistrial after the federal jury deadlocked. He was retried in 2023 and the second jury convicted him of four felonies including the use of a weapon of mass destruction resulting in death.

"Our justice system can sometimes take time," Estrada said on Friday. "The end result is what matters."

Orange County Sheriff Don Barnes said Beal maintained his innocence during Fridays hearing.

"I could not think of anything more insulting," Barnes said during the news conference.

Eva Boni, left, thanks investigators on Friday, Jan. 19, 2024 in Los Angeles, for their work to bring her cousin's killer, Stephen Beal, to justice. Beal was sentenced to two concurrent life sentences, plus 30 years, in federal prison for a 2018 spa bombing that killed Ildiko Krajnyak, Boni's cousin, and seriously injured two others. (AP Photo/Stefanie Dazio)

FILE - This May 15, 2018, file image taken from cellphone video shows a building after a fatal explosion in Aliso Viejo, Calif. Stephen Beal, who was released in 2018 after his arrest on an explosives charge, was arrested Sunday, March 3, 2019, in connection with the May 15 bombing that killed Ildiko Krajnyak in her Orange County spa. Beal has been sentenced Friday, Jan. 19, 2024, to two life sentences to run concurrently, plus 30 years, for blowing up his ex-girlfriend's spa business with a package bomb in 2018, killing her and seriously injuring two others. (Raul Hernandez via AP, File)

FILE - Tape surrounds the home occupied by Stephen Beal in Long Beach, Calif., on May 16, 2018. Beal has been sentenced Friday, Jan. 19, 2024, to two life sentences to run concurrently, plus 30 years, for blowing up his ex-girlfriend's spa business with a package bomb in 2018, killing her and seriously injuring two others. (AP Photo/Amanda Lee Myers, File)
President Biden has announced that his administration is forgiving $5 billion in student debt for another 74,000 borrowers in the latest round of debt cancelation.

The relief will go to borrowers enrolled in income-driven plans who have been paying for at least 20 years, and people who have worked in public service for a decade or more.

This round of forgiveness brings the total number of people who have had their debt erased under the Biden administration to 3.7 million, the White House said in a statement Friday.

It comes just a week after Biden fast-tracked a separate forgiveness plan which wipes out debt for 6.9 million eligible Americans enrolled in the income-driven SAVE plan as soon as next month.

The latest move is part of a push from the Biden administration to provide relief to borrowers - after the Supreme Court struck down its broader student loan forgiveness plan in June 2023, which planned to cancel more than $400 million in debt.

President Biden has announced that his administration is forgiving $5 billion in student debt for another 74,000 borrowers in the latest round of debt cancelation

The relief announced Friday is a result of the US Department of Education's fixes to its 'broken' income-driven repayment plans and the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program.

Around $1.7 billion of the aid will go to 29,700 borrowers enrolled in income-driven repayment plans who have been paying their loans back for at least two decades.

These plans are supposed to lead to relief after a certain time period - and a certain number of payments made by the borrower.

But longstanding issues with servicers keeping accurate track of borrowers' payments mean this has not always happened.

Americans have been left confused by the system, and struggled to get the debt erasure they were promised.

Some 43,900 teachers, nurses, firefighters and others who have worked in public service for a decade or more will receive $3.2 billion in loan cancelation.

The latest round of relief will go to and people who have worked in public service for a decade or more (Pictured: Firefighters in New York City)

The Public Service Loan Forgiveness program has also been long criticized for poor communication between the Education Department, loan servicers and borrowers and errors keeping track of payment counts.

'Since day one we have been passionate about fixing the public service loan forgiveness program so that our teachers don't have to work a second or third job bartending or Ubering to make ends meet and pay off their student loans,' US Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

The announcement did not specify when exactly borrowers may expect to see their debts canceled.

It comes a week after Education Department officials confirmed that certain borrowers who originally took out $12,000 or less for college and have made at least 10 years of qualifying repayments will have their debt completely forgiven in February.

This round of forgiveness brings the total number of people who have had their debt erased under the Biden administration to 3.7 million, the White House said in a statement

Borrowers must also be enrolled in the new income-driven repayment plan, known as SAVE.

The provisions come six months ahead of schedule, and will particularly help community college borrowers, low-income borrowers, and those struggling to repay their loans, a White House statement said.

Consumer advocates have praised Biden's actions - and urged him to do more for those struggling with student debt ahead of the election.

'Student debt cancellation tipped the balance in Democrats' favor in the midterms,' Astra Taylor, co-founder of the Debt Collective, a union for debtors, told CNBC last year.

'Failing to deliver will demoralize and demobilize young people whose votes they cannot afford to lose.'

The Supreme Court struck down President Joe Biden 's $400 billion student loans forgiveness plan in June 2023. The justices ruled 6-3 against Biden's plan

But Republicans have panned Biden's latest relief plans, arguing that taxpayers will ultimately foot the bill as the US national debt surged to $34 trillion.

'President Biden is downright desperate to buy votes before the election - so much so that he greenlights the Department of Education to dump even more kerosene on an already raging student debt fire,' House Education Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., said in a statement after the Biden administration's SAVE plan announcement last week.

Biden's plan to cancel up to $400 million in student loans was blocked by the Supreme Court in June 2023.

The plan to wipe out debts for 26 million Americans was deemed unconstitutional and an overreach of the President's executive power.
The international community must remain vigilant against divisive forces that seek to disrupt the delicate balance of global relations

MIT Professor Norman J. Padelford's insights on International Relations are highly relevant to the current state of world politics. He acknowledges that International Relations involve the interplay of domestic politics, the evolving power dynamics, the contextual framing, and the impact of changing power relationships on global politics. Scenes once confined to Hollywood war movies, such as building explosions, attacks on installations, and warfare atrocities, are resurfacing in the postmodern world order. Recent months have witnessed the rise of international terrorism, regional conflicts in West Asia spilling over into neighbouring regions, ongoing Russia-Ukraine tensions, and simmeing unrest in Pakistan, all contributing to conflict and violence in international politics.

The escalating skirmishes, verging on war-like situations, underscore the role of envy as the source of many global miseries. The key to a peaceful prospectus lies in diplomatic efforts, emphasizing cooperation through transparent and reliable communication, built on trust and coordination. The focus of International Relations should shift toward increasing support and agreement on issues such as limiting climate change, promoting renewable energy, advancing technological know-how, and securing power generation sources. China's Belt and Road Initiatives reflect a subtle strategy to expand influence, while positive cooperation emerges in the strengthening ties between India and the EU, particularly with Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands.

The changing times demand a fresh perspective on international cooperation, emphasizing a mature reliance on diplomatic endeavours to formulate strategies for mutual economic prosperity. A new roadmap is essential to address security concerns arising from the expansionist missions of nations, particularly China. Recent agreements between the US and India, such as the Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement (BECA), mark a significant step in sharing geospatial data and enhancing defence ties. The 2+2 Dialogue further solidifies cooperation, particularly in countering threats from Chinese expansionism in the Indo-Pacific region.

International cooperation, exemplified by BECA and the Communication Compatibility and Security Agreement (COMCASA), can provide a platform for multi-layered security collaboration. Challenges, such as dealing with chemical weapons in the hands of terrorists, call for strict international laws and regulations. Cooperation between India and the US may create a mechanism to counter the spread of weapons like RDX and AK-47 assault rifles. However, framing a strategy to address religiously motivated terrorism remains a significant challenge.

The US-India agreement offers an opportunity to address narco-terrorism and curtail China's expansionist plans. The evolving threat landscape underscores the need for a new framework of security-related information sharing. Smaller countries are also adapting to global dynamics, prompting nations to upgrade methods for economic, strategic, and cultural integration to counter overambitious plans in international relations. The recent recognition of India as a leading mediator in the Russia-Ukraine conflict positions it to shape the direction of international politics in the future. The world is undergoing a major transnational transition, signalling a shift in power dynamics and the emergence of a new order. Recent global developments emphasize the importance of addressing popular aspirations and demands to prevent change and unrest. In conclusion, as the global landscape undergoes unprecedented transformations, it becomes imperative for nations to forge collaborative strategies that extend beyond conventional security concerns. The evolving dynamics of international relations call for a shared commitment to address multifaceted challenges such as terrorism, climate change, and technological disruptions. The agreements between the US and India signify a step towards fostering a collective approach to these global issues, establishing a foundation for sustained cooperation and mutual understanding.

Looking ahead, the success of these initiatives hinges on the ability of nations to rise above geopolitical rivalries and work together for the common good. It is crucial to nurture a global mindset. Embracing this ethos can pave the way for a more secure, stable, and prosperous world. The responsibility lies with nations to uphold the principles of peace, justice, and equality, steering away from the temptations of power politics. Through concerted efforts, a harmonious world order can emerge, where nations collaborate not only for their own interests but for the well-being of humanity.

In this journey towards a brighter future, India's role as a mediator and proponent of cooperation will be instrumental. By championing the cause of inclusive diplomacy, India has the potential to shape a world that truly reflects Louis Armstrong's sentiment  "What a Wonderful World." As nations navigate these complex times, it is the shared commitment to a common destiny that will ultimately determine the course of international relations, ushering in an era of prosperity and peace.

(The author is a professor and a columnist. He is the recipient of the Bharat Gaurav award; views are personal)
As Pakistan grapples with internal challenges and elections looming, Iran's actions may add complexity to an already precarious situation

Over the last ten days, Iran has fired missiles across the Middle East into Iraq, Syria and even towards its south into Pakistan. Yet for all the missiles launched, Iran appears to have stopped short of a major escalation. The attacks are measured, seemingly to warn and flex its muscles and not get into a confrontation with the major players.

However, what has baffled most analysts in India is why a fundamentalist Islamic regime in Iran would hit targets in Pakistan. The much-publicised attack on Jaish al-Adl by Iran has a background. Jaish al-Adl has its origins in an organisation called Jundallah. The execution of Jundallah's leader, Abdolmalek Rigi, by Iran in 2010, led to the rise of Jaish al-Adl in 2012. It has Sunni fighters some of whom have connections to the Sunni triangle in Iraq, with a stated mission to secure the independence of Sistan and Balochistan Province. Pakistan itself is wary of this group but right now hands of the Pakistan Army are full and elections are around the corner, so maybe they let Iran do their dirty work. It may however be very difficult for the normal public in Pakistan to digest this humiliation.

Iran on the other hand has been hyperactive following a dual suicide bombing this month claimed by the Sunni militant group Islamic State that killed over 90 people.

The attack took place on the fourth anniversary of Soleimanis death (a popular Iranian General killed by the US) and came as a blow to Iran's government. Iran by attacking targets in Iraq, Syria and Pakistan is trying to establish that it is a major player in the region and is going to retaliate if it is attacked directly or indirectly. Iran has time and again showcased itself as a Shia State that would fight against Sunni fighters across the region, and so did the attacks. Iran has been championing the Islamic cause in a way in the entire Middle East and will project these attacked elements in Pakistan as a proxy of Israel and the United States.

However, the question is, has Pakistan become so lawless and out of control that various terrorist organisations are mushrooming up here and there? Does the Pakistan government or the army have no power and authority to control non-state actors inside its territory? Is Pakistan losing its significance even in the Islamic World? Is Pakistan the hub centre of global terrorism and do various organisations all over the world find safe heaven inside its territory? Has the failing economy of Pakistan made it even more chaotic than Afghanistan? Is Pakistan on the verge of Balkanisation with POK, the Af-pak border and Baluchistan on the verge of breaking free?

Pakistan is facing the worst existential crisis and is simultaneously facing major challenges on multiple fronts: economic, environmental, and political apart from military challenges. Therefore, the threat of balkanisation is absolutely real. It is almost an economic colony of China right now with religious fundamentalism making matters worse. The feudal setup of the 19th century has not completely died down and administrative (not democratic) institutes except the army have not evolved. The judiciary and parliament in Pakistan are still only an extension of the army and are barely in a nascent stage. The possibility of organisations like Mukti Vahini coming up in POK is very strong in the future due to poor infrastructure development and bad human rights record in the region. Pakistan may balkanise on its own and faster than we think, though Pakistan may unreasonably blame India for it.

Under these circumstances, Pakistan may have been advised by China to do only cosmetic action against the strikes inside its territory by Iran, which they have now carried out. Pakistan is likely to play the victim card and ask some more money from the US to safeguard its borders. It may also ask China and Turkey to provide it with more drones and radars, and ask the US to give it more F16 to safeguard its borders.

The use of existing drones taken from China and Turkey to hit some make-believe targets on the border with Iran is the best Pakistan could have done. Such drone strikes are a fig leaf to prevent humiliation. The reckless retaliation only proves how phoney the Pakistan intelligence and security network has become. If they knew about these so-called terrorists inside Irans territory then why did they not act against them earlier? Why did they wait for a strike inside their territory by Iran to do a so-called pinpoint surgical strike? Pakistan has had friendly relations with Iran at many levels, so much so that Iran's nuclear program is credited to Pakistani scientists. If Pakistan had some intelligence about some terrorist groups operating from Iran's soil the issue should have been flagged much earlier and resolved with a joint action. The bottom line is Pakistan and its border areas are a hub of global terrorism and Pakistan is unable to control these Non-State Acters which operate with impunity from within its territory. It may be recalled that the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan has been also volatile over the last few months. All these factors also point towards a situation where the state of Pakistan can be seen collapsing under its weight.

It is also clear now that China will have an overwhelming say in the coming elections in Pakistan. Whatever the outcome of the election, it looks like Pakistan will be in chaos and will be a headache for India for some time at least. The overall situation in the Middle East looks very disturbing and it's about time a ceasefire comes about there or this conflict could spill over to other areas and regions as well. Considering the evolving situation in the Middle East, both China and the US will want a government that is favourable to them in Pakistan and it looks like both of them are therefore giving the Pakistani army a loose rope. This will only hasten the Balkanisation of Pakistan, as the common man in Pakistan has been fed up with being ruled by the army (directly or indirectly) for the last 75 years.

(The writer is an expert on international relations; views are personal)
Valmikis Ramayana gives us a vivid picture of what Ram Rajya was. It was an efficiently governed welfare State with a strong and responsive Government that cared for all

The ethos of the Hindu polity has been derived from Vedic philosophy, which placed the practice of dharma above everything else. In the Vedic ideal, therefore, there are clear, well-laid-out constraints upon the powers a ruler can wield. It is out of this Vedic idea that the concept of the Ram Rajya was born during the era of Shri Ramachandra, and which is held out the ideal state for the benefit of people. Thinkers and political leaders in India have venerated the Ram Rajya as the ideal to be striven for, and it resonates as the ideal polity in the minds of most Indians.

The realities of human nature do not lend themselves easily to the achievement of such a polity. Realpolitik has taken precedence over any single-minded pursuit of the ideal state. This is exemplified in the Western world by Niccolo Machiavelli and in India by Chanakya, the guru of Emperor Chandragupta Maurya around 310 BC. Machiavelli looked at the pursuit and perseverance of political power, while Chanakya along with Chandragupta, was the co-founder of one of the largest and most powerful empires of the ancient world. His Arthashastra remains even today a seminal treatise on governance.

The pursuit of realpolitik for a strong and powerful, yet ideal and welfare-oriented state precedes even Chanakya. Krishna Rajya, therefore, is as important, as the Ram Rajya that preceded it. Much can be gleaned of the political institutions of the Ramayana era, loosely termed as Ram Rajya, from Valmikis Ramayana. These provide researchers, scholars and lay readers with some idea of what Ram Rajya might have been like, notwithstanding counter-arguments that Valmikis treatment of the political system of his age might have been more ideal than what actually materialized on the ground. As the sage Valmiki was a contemporary of Rama, the polity he described in the Ramayana may be taken to be reflective of the prevailing political system of governance in the era they both lived.

Valmikis work embodies the extant aspects of the ancient Indian polity of the Treta Yuga, the era of Rama. A deeper look at the state of the polity during Vedic times reveals parallels between the Vedic and Ramayanas ideas of government. Seminal work on the likely nature and shape of the polity during the period of Rama was done by Ms Pazhamaneri Chandrashekhar Dharma (1907-1977), a highly accomplished academic and scholar, and former lecturer at the Banaras Hindu University (BHU). Ms. Dharmas work The Ramayana Polity likely remains the only work of research on what the structure of governance and administration in the period of Rama must have been like.

There is a dearth of information on Ram Rajya. The irony is compounded by the fact that there are ample references in Valmikis Ramayana itself, which deal with the socio-political conditions of the Treta Yuga. It is indeed possible to collate such details to derive a picture of the polity that existed during this period. Western interpretations either treat the Ramayana as a myth or an allegorical representation, or talk of a so-called Aryan conquest of southern India. The Ramayana however, nowhere mentions any founding or extension of any Aryan realm in south India. Indeed, there is not even a hint of Rama even attempting any civilizational change outside Ayodhya. In the light of research of later years and ever-new findings on Indias civilizational history, most Western theories and their Indian reproductions are open to questioning and rebuttal.

Valmikis Ramayana gives us insights into social lifehabits, customs, attire, ceremonies, beliefs, castes, tribes, forms of government, the status of women, education, science, commerce, industry, navigation, etc. The term Aryan one comes across in this context is used solely for nobility of character and loftiness of values, and not for any particular race or community. The Ramayana teaches not only the geography of India but also about other countries. The land ruled by the Ikshvaku-Raghu lineage and other dynasties in the north (the dynasty in which Rama was born) stretched from the Panchnad (todays Punjab) in the northwest to Videha, Mithila and Anga in the east (all in present-day Bihar), to Saurashtra in the southwest and to the great Dandaka forest in the south (present-day Andhra Pradesh). The other major communities mentioned in the Ramayana are the Vanaras o and the Rakshasas, who ruled Lanka.

In governance, the monarchy described in the Ramayanaand here the Ikshvaku-Raghu Dynastys monarchy is the most prominent was not an absolute monarchy in any sense. The powers of the emperor or samrat were circumscribed by institutions like the sabha (royal assembly) that comprised princes, ministers, advisors and military officials. The sage advice and counsel of rishis is a striking feature of the epic age in India, a pointer to the fact that ancient Hindu society has always accorded primacy to spiritual and dharmic authority over the temporal one.

Apart from the governing body advising the king, the state also had representative organisations, called the Paura-Janapada in the Ramayana. Paura means the representatives of the citizens within the capital while the Janapada are the representatives of the people in the countryside, both organs suggesting decentralization of power in Ram Rajya. A premium was placed on military organisation and power. It is a measure of the political efficacy of Ramas rule that following his defeat of Ravana, India under him did not have to face any serious military challenge from any other quarter, nor was there any social upheaval that sometimes follows a major conflict. The administration of Ram Rajya will be compared with the administrations of modern times too.

(The writer is a well-known columnist, an author, and a former member of the Rajya Sabha. The views expressed are personal)
Diplomatic tensions emerge as troll armies in the Maldives take on India, sparking an online clash and hinting at a deeper political crisis

During his recent visit to Lakshadweep, Prime Minister Narendra Modi enthusiastically showcased the breathtaking beauty of the archipelago on various social media platforms. The carefully curated photographs highlighted the pristine environment of Lakshadweep, primarily dependent on coral reefs. Modi's penchant for image-centric publicity has been evident, and in this case, he strategically used visuals to position himself as a forward-thinking leader.

In one of his social media posts, Prime Minister Modi encouraged adventure enthusiasts to include Lakshadweep in their travel itineraries. By sharing picturesque images of the tourist attractions in Lakshadweep, he aimed to boost tourism in the region. Many individuals naturally expressed admiration for the beauty of Lakshadweep and praised the initiative.

However, a segment of social media users took an unexpected turn by using the opportunity to criticize the neighboring Maldives. Some suggested refraining from visiting the Maldives due to their perceived anti-India stance, emphasizing the preference for exploring the beauty of their own country. A few even made light-hearted comments about the Maldives' uncertain future. In response, Maldivian ministers engaged in a war of words, with Minister Mariam Shiuna making objectionable tweets linking Prime Minister Modi with Israel.

This exchange triggered a jingoistic campaign from both Indian and Maldivian supporters, with hashtags like #BoycottMaldives gaining traction on social media. Celebrities and public figures, known for their frequent visits to the Maldives, were also targeted.

In a significant development, the Maldivian government took action by suspending the three ministers responsible for the objectionable comments on Prime Minister Modi. They emphasised the importance of expressing views responsibly in a democratic setup.

Looking beyond the social media skirmish, it becomes evident that the Maldivian ministers' comments are not isolated incidents but indicative of prevailing anti-India sentiments in the country. The Maldives, consisting of 1,952 islands with a predominantly Islamic population, relies heavily on tourism, with a substantial portion of its GDP linked directly or indirectly to this sector, with India being a significant contributor.

Historically, India-Maldives relations have seen fluctuations, with periods of close ties alternating with phases of increased proximity to China. The recent shift in sentiment is attributed to the government under Mohammed Muizzu, where anti-India sentiments were exploited for political gains during the 2023 elections.

An anti-India campaign initiated by opposition parties gained momentum after 2020, with the slogan 'India Out' demanding the removal of Indian military deployment in Maldives. The situation escalated in 2022 when a crowd attacked an International Yoga Day event organized by the Indian High Commission in Male, leading to a setback in diplomatic relations. The anti-India sentiment intensified during the 2023 elections, with local issues, perceived failures of the Solih government, corruption, and the anti-India wave playing crucial roles in Dr. Mohammed Muizze's election victory.

In essence, the recent social media spat and political developments highlight the deep-rooted anti-India sentiments in Maldives, fueled by a complex mix of regional politics, historical dynamics, and local issues.

(The writer is a senior journalist, views are personal)
Even as the Government is yet to decide on the launch of a vaccine against Human Papillomavirus (HPV) causing Cervical cancer, doctors from private and government hospitals have underscored the need for early introduction of the shot in the national vaccination campaign along with health education on menstrual hygiene and sexual health to combat the deadly disease.

According to the WHO, 604,000 new cases and 342,000 deaths from cervical cancer occurred in 2020, ranking it as the fourth most prevalent cancer in women. It is the second most common cancer among Indian females with 123,907 new cases and 77,348 deaths estimated in 2020.

Dr Pallavi Shukla, Associate Professor, Preventive Oncology, Dr BRA IRCH, AIIMS, New Delhi told reporters here recently that three three-pronged strategy as per the WHO is the need of the hour for elimination of cervical cancer by the year 2030.

In the early adolescent period- vaccination against HPV along with health education on menstrual hygiene and sexual health is needed while in the reproductive period, there should be screening of sexually active females with any of the 3 screening/early detection tests like Pap test, HPV DNA test or Visual Inspection with Acetic acid (VIA), she said.

Underscoring the gravity of the problem, The Fortis Hospital Greater Noida recently announced the launch of Comprehensive Oncology Services.

Cervical cancer is the fourth most common cancer that occurs in women worldwide. As per global estimates, around 453 million Indian women aged 15 years and older are at risk of developing cancer, said Dr. Jalaj Baxi, Senior Consultant, Oncologist Department.

Although the burden of cervical cancer is increasing largely in the country, deaths can be prevented if it is screened in the early stages, added Dr. Sarika Bansal, Consultant, Medical Oncology at the hospital.

For a successful treatment, it is important for young women to stay cautious of any visible symptoms for early screening and any treatment required. If a girl as young as nine years of age is experiencing any smelly vaginal discharge, yellowish green in color, or blood-stained, then she should get consulted by a gynecologist immediately. If someone has spotting between their regular periods or has bleeding post-intercourse, they must see a doctor. All these are signs of vaginal infections, which, if left untreated, can progress to cancer.

The doctors also said that the HPV vaccine has shown positive results in preventing cervical cancer. Females who are at least nine years of age and not more than 45 years old must get HPV vaccine shots as a prevention measure.

A common screening test for cervical cancer is the pap smear, in which cervical cells from the patient are collected to check for changes that may turn into cervical cancer if left untreated," said Dr. Abhishek Srivastava, Associate Consultant, Medical Oncology at the hospital said while Pramit Mishra, Facility Director of the hospital echoed similar views saying that emphasis should be on early screening to ensure early diagnosis and treatment.
Chhattisgarh Deputy Chief Minister Arun Sao on Friday said respect for India has increased in the world and the day is not far when the country will again be called Vishwa Guru.

He was speaking at the valedictory ceremony of a two-day Vice-Chancellors meet of the Association of Indian Universities (AIU) Central Zone held at the Guru Ghasidas Central University, Bilaspur.

The ceremony was presided over by Prof. G.D. Sharma, President, AIU. Also on the stage were Dr. (Mrs.) Pankaj Mittal, General Secretary, AIU, and Prof. Alok Kumar Chakrawal, Vice-Chancellor.

Sao said the work done by the AIU to make education world class was praiseworthy.

He said Lord Macaulays educational policy had weakened people's mentality. Education in universities must follow the National Education Policy 2020.

"India has the potential to become a world leader," he said.

He appealed the students not to take studies as a source of stress. It is the responsibility of universities to make students patriotic and self-confident citizens, he said.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu yesterday hosted a delegation comprising the leadership of the Kano State Chapter of the All Progressives Congress at the Aso Rock Presidential Villa, Abuja.

The delegation led by the APC Nationaal Chairman and former Kano State Governor, Dr Abdullahi Ganduje, who arrived at the Villa in the company of his former deputy and the party's candidate in the March 18 governorship election, Nasir Gawuna.

Other notable APC leaders from the state that attended the meeting are: Deputy Senate President, Barau Jibrin; Minister of State Housing and Urban Development, Abdullahi Tijjani Gwarzo; the Minister of State for FCT, Mariya Mahmoud Bunkure; the Chairman of Northern Lawmakers Caucus of the House of Representatives, Alhassan Ado Doguwa, the Chairman of House Committee on Appropriations, Abubakar Bichi, the APC chairman from Kano, Abdullahi Abbas, the deputy governorship candidate of the APC, Murtala Sule Garo, and a former House of Representatives members from the state, Hafiz Kawu.

The meeting came barely a week after the Supreme Court ruled in favour of Abba Yusuf of the New Nigeria Peoples Party, as the duly elected governor of the state.

While there was no briefing after the closed door meeting described as private visit, it was however gathered that the meeting was not unconnected with the disappointment suffered by the ruling party with the apex court judgment in the state.

Recall that both the Election Petition Tribunal and the Court of Appeal had sacked Governor Yusuf and declared Nasiru Gawuna of the APC as the winner. The APC leaders in the state, had therefore been very optimistic that the apex court's decision would favour them.
Even today, when one talks of labour unions, workers' demands, idealistic character and practices in the industry, the mention of Pt. Bindeshwari Dubey features prominently. He fought rigorously for the oppressed workforce of the society.

His journey from the labour movement to becoming the Chief Minister of Bihar and Central Minister of Law & Justice and Labour in cabinet of Late. Rajiv Gandhi is an apt example of Pandit Dubey ji's strong will, sacrifice and honesty.

Influenced by Mahatma Gandhi and Pandit Nehru during his student days, he joined the freedom struggle and after this he dedicated his life to the service of the people and supported Mahatma Gandhi, Jawahar Lal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi.

Bindeshwari Dubey (14 January 1921  20 January 1993) was a freedom fighter, efficient administrator and sympathizer and messiah of the poor and workers who served as the Chief Minister of Bihar, Union Cabinet Minister (Law & Justice and Labour & Employment), National President of INTUC.

Bindeshwari Dubey, after being released from jail in 1944 during the freedom movement, worked in Hind Stiff Mines in Bermo. He started raising his voice against the exploitation of workers in the collieries before the management. First of all, he started the trade union from 'Sir Linson Parkinson & Co.', run by a British manager.

Thereafter, a labour leader of that time, Bindeshwari Singh, appointed him as the president of the branch of the Colliery Mazdoor Union, as Dubey Ji was elected by the public in the general meeting. After this, he continued to work for the interests of labourers and with time became the President of Bihar INTUC.

In the 80s, he was elected the National President of INTUC in Dhanbad. Apart from this, he was the President of many unions such as Indian National Mineworkers Federation, Rashtriya Colliery Mazdoor Sangh, Indian Electricity Workers Federation, Mines Workers Academy, HSCL Workers Union, PPCL Workers Union, Bokaro Steel Workers Union, Telco Workers Union, DVC Workers Union, HEC Workers Union, MECON Workers Union etc. which are affiliated to INTUC.

Dubey became the President of INTUC-affiliated 'Rashtriya Colliery Mazdoor Sangh in the 1970s and performed the duties of this post till his last breath (January 20, 1993).

On June 17, 1968, on the appeal of Kanti Mehta, General Secretary of the National Mine Labour Federation and Bindeshwari Dubey, General Secretary of the Colliery Labour Union, a historic strike was held in Dhanbad, to properly implement the recommendations of the Wage Board and to provide dearness allowance to the workers.

And about 1.5 lakh colliery workers of Hazaribagh district remained on strike in heavy rain. Due to non-payment by collieries like Karamchand Thapar, Chanchni, Bird, KBora, Turner Corridion, New Tetulia, Baijna, Madhuban, Amalabad, Putki, Kankani, Bagdigi, Lodna, Bhaunra, Bastakola, Raniganj of Bihar, Bengal, Orissa etc., strike notice was given as a result of which a settlement was reached with them. All the big kings and capitalists' companies had to bow down before his sharp organization.

Dubey, along with the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and the then Coal Minister Mohan Kumaramangalam, played an important role in the nationalization of India's collieries, giving voice to the coal workers. First of all, the coking coal collieries of Dhanbad were nationalized.

Dubey represented India in conferences of the International Labour Organization in many countries like America, Germany, UK, Japan, Belgium, Netherlands, France, Yugoslavia, Switzerland to understand the problems of workers more closely and solve them.

He played an important role in setting up all the units of DVC like Maithon, Tenughat-Lalpania, Koderma and various projects and acted as a link between the public and the government on various issues. He had made rules for 100 percent reservation for the displaced people and natives of the area in third and fourth class services in many industrial plants or projects, mainly Bokaro Steel Plant, DVC, Coal India and Tata Steel.

Legal proposals and amendments related to Lok Adalat, Aadhaar, law against extortion, pension to journalists, establishment of National Law Universities and many other important aspects were made by him as Union Law Minister and Union Labour Minister.

4 codes were implemented by the Central Government in 2019-20 in place of the existing 44 labour laws, which were implemented and protected by Pt. Bindeshwari Dubey, but these Codes fails to recognise that most office and service establishments have very minor concerns relating to safety, health, and working conditions. It made no distinction between hazardous and non-hazardous establishments and subjected all to the same mandatory registration, which is never acceptable.

Under these codes, some states have given permission to increase the work schedule of factories from 9 to 12 hours and allow women workers to work in night shifts, which will have a negative impact on the health and working capacity of the workers.

Hereby, it is extremely important that the agitating workers should ensure through the power of their unity that the government reinstate the beneficial policies and laws. This will be a true tribute to Pt. Bindeshwari Dubey.

The writer is Grandson(Legal Heir) of Late. Bindeshwari Dubey.
In anticipation of a substantial surge in air traffic on January 21 and 22, Maharishi Valmiki International Airport Manager Saurabh Singh has said that the airport administration is fully prepared for a significant influx of charter flights.

With 40 charter flights expected on January 21 and an additional 40 scheduled to land on January 22, the airport is bracing for a logistical challenge that demands meticulous planning.

Expressing concerns about the limited parking bay capacity, Singh highlighted the need to manage the departure of planes efficiently, especially after dropping off the VIP guests. To address this, airports in Lucknow, Varanasi, Gorakhpur and Kushinagar have been put on high alert to accommodate the overflow of aircraft and ensure a seamless operational flow, he said.

The strategic coordination efforts of the Airport Authority of India extend across 12 airports in five states  Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Uttarakhand  with the aim to efficiently manage the influx of charter flights during the specified period.

However, the challenge lies in Ayodhyas capability to accommodate the heightened air traffic, with the airport equipped to park only four aircraft. To underscore the significance of the event, one bay has been exclusively reserved for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is slated to attend the historic consecration ceremony of the new idol of Ram Lalla at the grand Ram Temple on January 22.

A carefully selected network of 12 airports within a 1,000-kilometre range, including Khajuraho, Jabalpur, Bhopal, Dehradun and Lucknow, has been designated to handle the overflow of aircraft. Prayagraj, Kanpur, Varanasi, Kushinagar and Gorakhpur are pivotal in accommodating the increased air traffic during this monumental event, while Gaya and Deoghar airports stand ready for parking arrangements.

The logistical challenge escalates as a request to land 48 charter flights on January 22 has been received. To meet this demand, Lucknow plans to allocate parking for eight aircraft, Kanpur for 10, and Prayagraj and Kushinagar for four each. Dehradun, Khajuraho and Kashi are considering parking four aircraft each, while Indore and Gorakhpur may need space for 10 and 17 aircraft, respectively.

The meticulous planning aims to ensure a smooth flow of air traffic, underscoring the importance of the historic consecration ceremony in Ayodhya, Singh said.
Azim Premji University, Bhopal on Friday unveiled the annual climate festival - Forests of Life - a celebration of forests, brought to life through an ensemble of art installations, photographs from forests captured by young interns, music, movies, artefacts, interactive workshops and more.

The festival, being held at the Azim Premji University's new Bhopal campus, will be open to the public until January 21, and entry will be free. Close to 300 students and members of the public visited the inaugural day of the festival, which began with a tribute to the forests of Satpura in Madhya Pradesh by Shivani Tale, a young environmentalist from Harda district.

She shared how the hills come alive with the cultural expressions of the Gond and Korku tribes, whose festivals, rituals, and traditions contribute to the conservation of nature and forests.

In his address, Sharad Behar, eminent educationist and former Chief Secretary of Madhya Pradesh, spoke on the significance of cultivating a harmonious relationship between communities and the environment, emphasising the importance and management of forests.

As part of the festival, the University selected a large cohort of student interns who travelled through 110 diverse forests across the country. Their narratives have woven together their experiences, challenges of human-animal conflicts and the deep association of indigenous communities with nature. They have also documented successful examples of wildlife relocation and detailed, inspirational conservation stories.

The six-day-long bilingual festival offers an immersive and enriching experience. It will provide diverse perspectives from urban dwellers and indigenous communities and explore the idea of forests with school students from the city."The Forests of Life festival brings to life a tapestry of stories from India's diverse forests. This event underscores our deep relationship with forests and will shine a light on the urgent need to manage our forests better," said Harini Nagendra, Director of the Research Centre and Centre for Climate Change at Azim Premji University.
Animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) on Friday wrote to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, urging him to prohibit certain dog breeds used for "illegal" dogfights. The letter was sent to Kejriwal after a seven-year-old girl received over 15 injuries after she was allegedly attacked by a neighbour's dog in Rohini's Sector-25 area on January 16.

The PETA said that a policy in Delhi aimed at prohibiting the keeping and breeding of pit bulls and similar breeds would protect both the dogs and the citizens from harm.

"This is not an isolated incident. If a policy is introduced in Delhi to prohibit the keeping and breeding of pit bulls and similar breeds, it would protect both the dogs as well as the citizens from harm," the letter said.

The animal rights group further said that breeds, including pit bull terriers, American bullies and Pakistani bully kuttas, are commonly abused for "illegal fighting" and kept on heavy chains as guard.

"This results in a lifetime of suffering and causes them to become fearful and defensive. Many endure painful physical mutilations such as ear-cropping - an illegal process that involves cutting part of a dog's ears to prevent another dog from grabbing them during a fight," the letter added.

Recommending measures to overcome the problem, the PETA suggested that a crackdown on unregistered pet shops and breeders is necessary to stop illegal sales and adoption of community dogs should be promoted by the government.

"Apart from prohibition on dog breeds primarily used for fighting, it must be ensured that pet shops and breeders are duly registered under the law. Encouraging the adoption of local Indian community dogs and cats from animal shelters over the purchase of foreign breeds must be a vital part of any new dog policy," the animal rights group wrote.

"It would help reduce the number of community animals and should be encouraged alongside the sterilisation of all community dogs and cats," they added.
The AAP and the BJP are loggerheads over the de-sealing of shops in the national capital. The AAP has accused the Commissioner, Municipal Corporation of Delhi of not de-sealing the shops at the behest of the BJP-led Central Government despite the order of the Supreme Courts judicial committee. On the other hand, Delhi BJP has said that the AAP leaders should stop fooling the local shop centre (LSC) traders who have been fighting all ends to get their shops desealed.

Delhi BJP President Virendra Sachdeva has said that right from beginning since the day the Judicial Committee recommended desealing of LSC shops that Mayor should allow shopkeepers to deseal by themselves but actually the AAP wanted to extort election fund from LSC traders and so the Mayor Shelly Oberoi instigated Commissioner to move Court but when BJP raised the issue by getting token desealing of Shops done at Hauz Khas then AAP leaders started speaking against the Commissioner as facing saving act.

On the other hand, the AAP leaders alleged that a large number of shops in Delhi have remained sealed since 2017, and asserted that the MCD commissioner, acting under the influence of the BJP-led Central Government, is adamantly refusing to de-seal the shops despite the judicial committees orders and a resolution passed in the MCD House. On the other hand,

Senior AAP leaders and Delhi government Cabinet Ministers Saurabh Bharadwaj and Atishi held a joint press conference at the party headquarters on Friday held the Centre responsible for not desealing the shops in Delhi despite the supreme court orders.

Bharadwaj stated that on December 18, 2023, the judicial committee of the Supreme Court declared sealing unlawful and ordered that conversion charges cannot be levied on shops built on commercial land. The AAP government of the MCD passed a resolution in the House to de-seal the shops; however, the MCD commissioner is refusing to comply with the orders. He said that the MCD had sealed the shops based on the recommendation of the Supreme Court's monitoring committee and is now not de-sealing even on the orders of the Supreme Court's judicial committee.
Gurmeet Ram Rahim gets 50-day parole



Chandigarh: Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh was granted a 50-day parole on Friday. He has been serving a 20-year jail term at Sunaria jail in Rohtak on rape charges. He secured another parole on Friday just 29 days after he walked back into Sunaria jail after spending 21 days out on a furlough. During his parole, Ram Rahim will stay at an ashram in Uttar Pradesh's Baghpat. On November 21, 2023, he walked out of the jail in Rohtak on a 21-day furlough. He walked back to the jail last month. After spending just 29 days in jail, he got another reprieve. In 2023, he came out of the jail thrice. In November, he stayed at Dera Sacha Sauda Ashram in Barnawa in Baghpat. In 2023, he spent nearly three months out of prison. He got a 30-day parole in July. In January last year, he got a 40-day parole. In October 2022, he was granted a 40-day parole. Prior to his October parole, he had come out of the prison on a month-long parole in June 2022. Besides, he was granted a three weeks' furlough from February 7, 2022. In 2021, Gurmeet Ram Rahim and four others were convicted for conspiring to kill Dera manager Ranjit Singh. In 2019, he was convicted for murdering a journalist 16 years ago.



Punjab CM expresses profound grief over Agniveer Jawans martyrdom



Chandigarh: Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Friday expressed profound grief and sorrow over the martyrdom of 23 years old Army Jawan Ajay Singh, who attained martyrdom while performing his duty. Agniveer Ajay Singh, who hailed from Ramgarh Sardaran village near Khanna, attained martyrdom in a landmine blast. Brave jawan laid his life while performing duty at Jammu and Kashmir. It is an irreparable loss for the country in general and for the distressed family in particular, he said, adding that monetary assistance will be extended to the family according to the State Governments policy.



Chandigarh Smart City wins Best Solid Waste Management Practice Award



Chandigarh: Chandigarh Smart City on Friday received recognition for Best Solid Waste Management Practices and provision of SCADA for Solid Waste Management at ninth Smart Cities India Expo. The award was received by Anisha Shrivastav, Additional Chief Executive Officer, Chandigarh Smart City Limited, during the Smart Cities India Award Ceremony at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi. Speaking about the performance of Chandigarh Smart City, Anindita Mitra, CEO said "State-of-the-art Garbage Transfer Stations and Material Recovery Facilities (MRFs) at three locations in the city ensure efficient and segregated handling of municipal waste. These facilities reduce waste volume by recovering reusable and recyclable materials, leading to an annual fuel saving of approximately Rs 1.6 crore. Revenue is being generated by selling the recyclable waste, she added.



National Voters' Day to be celebrated in Hry on Jan 25



Chandigarh: National Voters' Day will be celebrated in Haryana on January 25. Competitions such as debates, discussions, drawings, skits, songs, paintings, essays, etc., will be organized in all schools and educational institutions under the theme "Nothing like voting, I vote for sure." In a circular addressed to Administrative Secretaries of all departments, Heads of Departments, Managing Directors of Boards, Corporations, Deputy Commissioners, Vice-Chancellors, and Registrars of all Universities, Chief Secretary Sanjeev Kaushal directed that all staff under their control should take the NVD pledge. Kaushal mentioned that the Election Commission of India has declared its foundation day as National Voter Day. This day is celebrated every year on January 25 across the country, from the polling station level to the block, assembly constituency, district, and state levels.



PPCC chief distributes parshad in Gidderbaha



Chandigarh: Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee president Amrinder Singh Raja Warring, spreading happiness among the residents of his constituency Gidderbaha, distributed sweets and diyas, ahead of the grand Pran Pratishtha ceremony for the inauguration of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya. Warring visited various neighborhoods in Gidderbaha, sharing joy with the locals with the sole aim of fostering unity and spreading the spirit of brotherhood as the nation gears up for the inauguration of the Ram Mandir.



Clay lamps distributed to sanitation workers



Chandigarh: Ahead of the Ram Pran Pratishtha to be held on January 22 in Ayodhya Dham, Society for Divine Reiki Meditation and Resident Welfare Association Sector 27-D jointly distributed clay lamps to the sanitation workers for Ram Deepotsav, and resolved to celebrate Deepotsav in their homes. Program coordinator and Society secretary Mehak Singh on Friday said that in Shri Rams kingdom, there was a system based on social equality and justice in which every class had the right to live a life with religious respect. Taking inspiration from Shri Ram, we should take a pledge to eliminate social evils from the society and country.



Over 50 women journos participated in cancer awareness session



Chandigarh: Fortis Hospital Mohali, in collaboration with Chandigarh Press Club, Sector 27, held a special session on breast cancer and cervical cancer awareness for more than 50 women members at the club premises on Friday. The session was organized in view of January being Cervical Cancer Awareness Month and upcoming World Cancer Day on February 4, 2024. The workshop was conducted by Dr Naval Bansal, Consultant Endocrine and Breast Surgeon, Fortis Hospital Mohali and Dr Shweta Tahlan, Consultant Gynaec Oncologist and Robotic Surgeon.



Approval of 32 roads to improve traffic in Bawal: Minister



Chandigarh: Haryana Cooperation and Public Health Engineering Minister Banwari Lal said on Friday that the government has approved the strengthening and improvement of 32 roads in the Bawal region to provide better transportation facilities for the people. The estimated cost for the construction and improvement of these roads is around Rs. 30.31 crores. Lal stated that the government is focused on improving and strengthening the road infrastructure in the state and even efforts are made to connect each district to the national highways. Additionally, communications routes have been expanded for farmers to bring their produce to the markets. Many roads have been constructed in the Bawal region for these purposes, and funds have been allocated for the remaining roads. The construction work of these roads will commence soon, he added.



Seminar on Promoting Safety and Health Awareness in Factories and Establishments in Hry



Chandigarh: Haryana Labour Department organized a seminar on 'Creating Awareness on Safety and Health in Factories and Establishments' in Gurugram. An exhibition displaying the latest security equipment was also organized in which various management employees and factory owners were also present in large numbers. The Seminar was driven by the theme "The Best Investment is Investment in Health and Safety" in his address, Rajeev Ranjan, Principal Secretary to the Government of Haryana, Labour Department motivated all the industry owners and Management to make Safety and Health of their workers first priority and highlighted that investing in health and safety not only safeguards employees but also enhances overall business efficiency and productivity of the workers.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, on Friday, inaugurated the rooftop-mounted solar boat service in Ayodhya.

The rooftop-mounted solar boat has been developed by Uttar Pradesh New and Renewable Energy Development Agency (UPNEDA).

This initiative marks the commencement of the first-of-its-kind electric solar technology-based service for inland waterways in the country that will prove to be a game-changer.

On this occasion, the chief minister not only examined the technical aspects of operating the boat but also gathered information about the efforts underway in Ayodhya for the development of inland waterways.

Chief Minister Yogi inaugurated the operation of the solar boat service at the Sarayu Ghat in Ayodhya by cutting the ribbon and pressing the navigation button on the boat. During this event, he navigated the boat on the river Sarayu and also took a boat ride to various ghats, interacting with devotees and learning about the inland waterway facilities being developed.

During the boat ride, the chief minister extended greetings to the sizable crowd of devotees at the ghats and acquired information concerning various aspects of the boats operation.

During this event, the operational e-boat charging station, functioning as a floating jetty, was inspected, including the Ganga-6, and information about it was gathered. It is noteworthy that this floating jetty has been anchored in Ayodhya since December 15 and can serve as a berthing facility for up to 20 boats. Electric power charging plug points have also been developed on the floating jetty, allowing the charging and berthing process for e-boats navigating the river Sarayu.

Chief Minister Yogi provided life jackets to 127 sailors. Under the Ram Bhoomi Swachh Bhoomi campaign, Chief Minister Yogi also inaugurated the plastic deposit refund centres counter. This campaign is being run in collaboration with Ayodhya Municipal Corporation and the private sector company The Kabadiwala.com.

Cabinet Minister Surya Pratap Shahi, Tourism Minister Jaiveer Singh, Mayor Girish Pati Tripathi, MLA Ved Prakash Gupta, Amit Singh Chauhan, Ramchandra Yadav and other public representatives were present in the programme.

According to UPEIDA, this boat has been assembled on the banks of the Sarayu Ghat, and its components and other materials have been imported from various parts of the country. This boat is completely indigenous and has been built under the Make in India initiative. Currently, the construction of one boat has been completed and plans for its regular operation are underway in the coming days.
Chief Minister Mohan Yadav will hand over appointment letters to the candidates selected in Madhya Pradesh Public Service Commission State Services, Examination 2019 and 2020 on January 25. All the concerned departments are getting the process of verification of documents, medical test and other necessary processes completed by the selected candidates. Candidates who have not received information to this effect should immediately contact the concerned department.
Defence minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated 35 infrastructural works built by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) from Joshimath on Friday. These works costing Rs 670 crore include six roads and 29 bridges in seven States. Singh said that the border regions of the nation are part of the national mainstream and that the government doesnt consider these areas as part of some buffer zone.

The works inaugurated by the Defence minister include three bridges in Uttarakhand,one road and 10 bridges in Jammu and Kashmir, three roads and six bridges in Ladakh, one bridge in Himachal Pradesh, two roads in Sikkim, eight bridges in Arunachal Pradesh and one bridge in Mizoram. In Uttarakhand, the Defence minister inaugurated the Dhak bridge and the Bhupkund bridge on the Joshimath-Malari road leading to the Indo-China border region along with Rimkhim Gad bridge on the Sumna-Rimkhim motor road. These bridges will make transport in this border region convenient.

Speaking on the occasion Singh said, We all will have to work together for protecting the borders of the nation. We are receiving everybodys cooperation for this. Appreciating the BRO for completing its projects on time, he stressed that work on national security and welfare should be maximised without compromising on environmental concerns. He said that by constructing roads, bridges and other infrastructure, the BRO is geographically linking the remote areas with the other regions of the nation while also connecting the residents of such remote areas with the rest of the citizens. He said, Our government considers the border regions part of the national mainstream and not some buffer zone. There was a time when little importance was accorded to development of basic infrastructure in border areas. The governments then used to work thinking that only those living in the plains are part of the mainstream. They were bothered about the possibility of the enemy using the developments in the border regions. This narrow mindedness prevented the development of our border areas. This mentality has changed now. Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, our government is committed to development of the border regions considering the security needs of the nation. We do not consider such areas buffer zones but view them as part of the mainstream.

Singh further said that climate change is not simply a meteorological issue but a serious issue related to national security. The Defence ministry is considering it seriously and will seek cooperation from friendly nations on this. The Defence minister also interacted with the BRO labourers in Dhak. He appreciated the effort put in by the BRO to enhance connectivity in the nations border regions amidst difficult conditions.

Chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami thanked the Defence minister for inaugurating the development works in the border area. He said that under PM Modis leadership, work is underway in Uttarakhand on major projects considering the strategic, religious and environmental importance of the region. The BJP State president Mahendra Bhatt, MLAs Anil Nautiyal, Bhupal Ram Tamta and government officials were also present on the occasion.
The Arvind Kejriwal Government is organising a 3-day Ramlila event for the people of Delhi. From Saturday (January 20), a grand 3-day Ramlila event is being organized. The special Ramlila, taking place till January 22 at the Pyarelal Auditorium near ITO, is free for everyone. The Shriram Bharatiya Kala Kendra will present a live 3-hour Ramlila performance from 4:00 PM to 7:00 PM.

Delhi's Minister of Art, Culture, and Language, Saurabh Bharadwaj, stated that initially, they requested permission for the magnificent Ramlila performance at the vast auditorium in Pragati Maidans Bharat Mandapam, and were willing to pay rent. However, the Central BJP government denied permission.

This announcement followed the AAP's decision to host the Sundarkand Path recitation event in Delhi every first Tuesday of the month. The inaugural Sundarkand Path occurred last Tuesday in the national capital, with AAP Chief and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal participating in the recital and havan ceremony in Rohini.

Bharadwaj, released a statement on Friday, expressing sorrow that the BJP, which claims to be a supporter of Bhagwan Shri Ram, has a different character behind the scenes. The Delhi government's Hindi Academy department had been working on this plan for the past few days. Shriram Bharatiya Kala Kendra, known for its beautiful and grand Ramlila performances for over six decades, organizes a nearly 3-hour program.

However, the BJP government at the centre, which has been consistently trying to retaliate against the people of Delhi for their defeat in various ways, have not spared Delhiites even witnessing the grand Ramleela.

The BJP does not want the people of Delhi to enjoy the grand Ramleela of Bhagwan Shri Ram. The behavior of the BJP-led central government is extremely unfortunate. Such conduct emanates a stench of petty politics, he added.

Criticising the Delhi Cabinet Minister Saurabh Bharadwajs statement, Delhi BJP Spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor accused him of creating a controversy.

Kapoor said Bharadwaj was lying as the ITPO has a clear policy of not allotting Bharat Mandapam for religious functions. Kapoor said he had applied to I.T.P.O. for allotment of Bharat Mandapam for a religious function on 24th December 2023 but I.T.P.O. had in writing refused allotment citing policy decision to not to allot for religious functions.

AAP leaders are cleverer then their other INDI alliance colleague parties and trying to portray before the masses that they support the construction of Shri Ram Mandir and to mislead the masses are giving misleading statements, he said
Governor C.P. Radhakrishnan today inaugurated the newly constructed building of 'Centre for Tribal Studies' at Vinoba Bhave University. Addressing the inauguration ceremony, he said that the culture of Jharkhand is historical and glorious. This center will play an important role in promoting this glorious culture.

The Governor said that in Jharkhand, many great men including Lord Birsa Munda, Siddho-Kanhu, Chand-Bhairav, Phulo-Jhanho, Jatra Oraon sacrificed everything for the country and society. On the birth anniversary of Lord Birsa Munda, November 15, 2023, the Prime Minister visited his birthplace Ulihatu and paid homage. He also launched many schemes for the uplift of the tribal community. It was decided by them to celebrate the birth anniversary of Lord Birsa Munda ji as Tribal Pride Day.

The Governor said that knowledge plays an important role in socio-economic progress. In such a situation, it is important that more and more youth pursue higher education. He is happy that the youth of the tribal community are also becoming increasingly aware. He called upon the youth to set their goals and move towards the goal with hard work and dedication, success will definitely be achieved. He said that the shining example of this is the President of India, Draupadi Murmu. She studied under adverse circumstances and became the first woman in the village to go to college.

The Governor said that the art, culture, folklore, traditions and customs of the tribes have been rich. There is no dowry system in the tribal society, which is quite pleasant. They worship nature, which is reflected in their festivals. Sarhul and Karma festivals show the unbreakable relationship between nature and humans. He said that the 'Centre for Tribal Studies' will highlight the various creations of our tribal brothers and sisters, preserve their artefacts, open a new dimension of research and act as a guide.

The Governor also visited Sheikh Bihari Medical College, Hazaribagh before the inauguration of the 'Tribal Study Centre'.
Investing in the leadership development of nurses is not just a commitment to their professional growth; it's a pledge to elevate healthcare excellence, Dr. Sonu Goel, Program Director, and Professor at PGIMER Chandigarh said on Friday during the closing ceremony of  Nursing Leadership & Management program being hosted under the banner of International Public Health Management Development Program, Department of Community Medicine and School of Public Health.

Dr. Kritika Upadhyay, the Program Coordinator, said that senior public health professionals from 7 countries, Tanzania, Maldives, Tajikistan, Seychelles, Botswana, Niger and Argentina not only learnt various soft and hard skills of management and leadership but also develop strategies for its application in their country for strengthening their healthcare system. Over 1200 people from 86 countries have built their capacity through similar programmes in last 8 years in this first of kind program in India, she said.



"As delegates of the Nursing Leadership Management Program, let's replicate the power of gamification in our healthcare journey in our countries, " said Fazla, a senior nursing professional from Maldives while expressing her appreciation for the program and thanking Indian embassy in Maldives.



During the program, the experts taught health management and leadership skills through formal and informal training techniques like group thinking, inciting novice ideas, critical analysis, problem-solving exercises, case studies, and management games. Through ROTTO (Regional Organ & Tissue Transplant Organization), the Neonatal Intensive care unit, National Institute of Nursing Education, the delegates were shown PGIMER's best practices in health care like nurse-led initiatives for preventing Diabetes Mellitus, stroke, head injuries, the establishment and functioning of HumanMilk Bank. Through the visit to Fortis hospital, Mohali and visit at the Government super-specialty hospital, sector 16, delegates witnessed the functioning of private and public healthcare in India.
The Commissionerate police have arrested a man on the charge of online fraud through a matrimonial website. The accused, identified as Nrusingha Pradhan, was nabbed following a complaint by one of the victims.

Pradhan had opened an account in the name of his wife Deepa on Bharat Matrimony. He put up a fake profile picture and then browsed potential candidates and came across a youth with whom he started conversing as a woman. During subsequent chats, he first evinced interest in the boy and then went on requesting for money citing financial hardships and health problems.

The boy fell for the claims and transferred money to Nrusingha in three installments through Gpay. However, when he asked to meet the accused, he did not get any response. Suspecting foul play, he reached out to Cyber Police and filed a complaint.

After a case was registered, police started a probe. Investigation revealed that Nrusingha was impersonating his wife and duping people by extorting money after luring them into fake matrimonial prospects.

A SIM card and an ATM card along with Rs 1.61-lakh cash have been seized from possession of the accused. We have written to the Bharat Matrimony website team as we suspect the accused could have defrauded many people in a similar manner. Investigation is underway, informed Bhubaneswar DCP Prateek Singh.
Just days ahead of Republic Day, pro-Khalistan graffiti was found written on the wall of a Government school in west Delhi's Uttam Nagar area, police said on Friday. The slogan "Khalistan SFJ Zindabad" written on the wall came to notice on Thursday night, they said. The Delhi Police are actively investigating the incident to identify those responsible for the objectionable graffiti.

A senior police officer said a case was registered in Dwarka district under section 3 of the Delhi Prevention of Defacement of Property Act.

Several teams of the district, including special staff, are working on the case to nab the accused, the officer said, adding that CCTV footage of the area was being checked.

Pro-Khalistan leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, the chief of the banned Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), released a video after the incident.

This is the second such incident to take place in less than three days.

On January 16, similar graffiti was found on a pillar in west Delhi's Nihal Vihar. The graffiti read "SJF, January 26, Khalistan". Pannu had released a threatening video then as well. An FIR was registered in connection with the incident on Tuesday.

These incidents came before Republic Day, with Khalistani terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun issuing threats for the occasion. Pannun had warned about hoisting the Khalistani flag in Delhi on January 26. The threats come in the wake of the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada in June 2023.

Pannun, founder of Sikh For Justice (SFJ), a group campaigning for Khalistan, has a history of making threats against India. He was declared a 'designated individual terrorist' by the Centre in 2020, and the SFJ was banned in 2019 for its involvement in "anti-national and subversive" activities.
Industry body, ASSOCHAM Northern Region organized the first-ever Health, Beauty and Wellness Symposium on Friday that brought together industry stakeholders to discuss trends, growth areas, innovation, and more.



The inaugural session of the symposium witnessed the presence of the Governor of Punjab and Administrator of Chandigarh UT, Banwarilal Purohit. In his address, he talked about health consciousness, the effects of stress and benefits of yoga. He said that one should cultivate good habits for overall wellness. He also talked about the immense export potential in this industry and underlined the importance how research and development can advance these sectors further.



Ajay Chagti, Secretary- Health, UT Administration, commended ASSOCHAM, for organizing the event, recognizing the pivotal role these sectors play in shaping both physical well-being and overall quality of life. He expressed the importance of adopting a holistic approach to health and wellness, acknowledging the increasing global recognition of balanced and healthy lifestyle initiatives.



Rakesh Bhalla, Chairman, ASSOCHAM Chandigarh UT Development Council and CFO, SML Isuzu Limited; Manik Batra, Chairman, ASSOCHAM J&K UT Development Council & Director, Director, Batra Group of Companies and Drishmeet Singh Buttar, Co-Chair, ASSOCHAM Chandigarh UT Development Council & Managing Partner, Healing Super Specialty Hospital also presided over the event. The three addressed the media on the events side-lines and shared details of the symposium.
Shiromani Akali Dals Punjab Bachao Yatra will start from the Indo-Pak border in Attari on February 1 and cover 43 constituencies in a month.

Party president Sukhbir Singh Badal will lead the Yatra along with senior party leaders after paying obeisance at Sri Akal Takht Sahib, Amritsar. The Yatra would expose both the Congress and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) as well as showcase the contribution of successive SAD governments in the development of the State, said senior leader Daljit Singh Cheema while sharing details about the yatra.

Cheema said that the SAD president would meet and interact with the people at designated spots in each constituency besides addressing them. As per the feedback received by the party, every section of society is aggrieved. Farmers have not received compensation for repeated crop failures. Social welfare benefits of the weaker sections have been curtailed. Youth from the State have been bypassed in favour of outsiders in government recruitment, he said.

Cheema said that other issues, including political vendetta besides corruption and complete surrender on the core issues of Punjab including its river waters and the State capital by the AAP government, would also be taken up during the Yatra, which is scheduled to culminate on February 28 at Sardulgarh and Talwandi Sabo.
Security has been further tightened in Ayodhya following threat to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanaths life, received a few hours after three suspicious individuals were detained by Uttar Pradesh Anti-terror Squad (ATS) from Ayodhya on Thursday, ahead of the Pran Pratishtha ceremony of the Ram Temple on January 22.

Uttar Pradeshs Special Director General of Police (Law and Order) Prashant Kumar said that the state ATS detained three suspicious persons during checking in Ayodhya district. Kumar said that the suspects were being interrogated.

As part of the checking campaign being conducted on the instructions of the state government and police headquarters, three suspicious persons have been detained by UP ATS from Ayodhya district. These suspects are being interrogated, Kumar said.

Meanwhile, a few hours after the arrest of three suspected youths, Gurpatwant Singh Pannu, head of the banned terrorist organisation Sikh for Justice (SFJ), made objectionable remarks against Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and threatened him with his life late Thursday evening.

Gurpatwant Singh Pannu said in a recording sent on mobile that the UP police had arrested two pro-Khalistan youths from Ayodhya and they were being harassed and a false case was being made against them.

The Khalistan supporters have threatened to target Chief Minister Yogi during the Ram Mandir programme.

In the threat given to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, it has been said that the Ram temple ceremony being held in Ayodhya on January 22 will not be able to save you from SFJ. SFJ will respond to this on 22nd.

Regarding the threat sent from United Kingdom number +447537131903, Kumar said that the matter had come to the notice of the police and it was being investigated.

He said that security had already been tightened in Ayodhya and other adjoining areas in view of alerts made by the sleuths of the Intelligence Bureau.

The consecration of Ram temple in Ayodhya is to be held on January 22 and preparations for this grand ceremony are in their final stages.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath also visited Ayodhya on Friday amidst tight security. He was accompanied by Principal Secretary (Home) Sanjay Prasad and DG (Law and Order) Prashant Kumar.

The chief minister took stock of the preparations for the consecration ceremony of Ram Lalla and also went to Hanuman Garhi and other temples for darshan.

The ATS has come into high alert mode after the arrest of the three suspects associated with Khalistani terrorists. The ATS commandos tested the security of Ramnagari with a convoy of vehicles. Surveillance has been increased at important places from Naya Ghat to Shri Ram Janmabhoomi. The ATS commandos arrived and took over security arrangements.

More than 10,000 security force personnel have been called from different districts in view of the Pran Pratistha ceremony. They include more than 100 DSPs, 325 inspectors, 800 sub-inspectors, three DIGs for VIP security, 17 SPs, 40 ASPs, 82 DSPs, 90 inspectors to meet other law and order issues. Four companies of RAF, two companies of SSB, one company of ITBP and 26 companies of PAC have also arrived in the city.

Sources said that besides the ground security, the state government had also tightened security in the city by bolstering surveillance through drones. The state government has incorporated technologies such as night vision devices (NVDs) and CCTV cameras to monitor activities across the city. Some of the CCTVs cameras are AI-powered.

The entire district has been divided into red zones, and yellow zones. Traffic advisory has been issued and heavy traffic has been diverted around Ayodhya since January 18. All major roads coming towards Ayodhya have been converted into green corridors to ensure smooth flow of traffic. Multilingual policemen are deployed in plain clothes at the Ram Mandir venue. Security around the river Sarayu has also been increased, and security arrangements have been made with the help of power boats, NDRF and SDRF teams and local boatmen.
The traders and shop owners in Delhi's famous Connaught Place market will celebrate the consecration of Ram temple in Ayodhya by holding various programmes, including lighting of 1.25 lakh diyas (earthen lamps) on the historic day, said New Delhi Traders Association (NDTA) joint secretary Amit Gupta on Friday.

Many restaurants in CP have pledged to serve exclusively vegetarian food on the day of "pran pratishtha" ceremony in Ayodhya, said Gupta. The whole Connaught place (CP) market complex will be decorated with saffron flags bearing image of Lord Ram, he added.

A large LED screen will be installed at the inner circle of CP for live broadcast of the "pran pratishtha" ceremony in Ayodhya for the people in the area, said the joint secretary of the New Delhi Traders Association (NDTA).

During the ceremony, the local traders and people will perform puja with blowing of conches, ringing bells, he added. Gupta said a specially prepared "laddoo" weighing 11 KG will be offered during the rituals and taken as prasad, adding a "Sundar Kand" recital programme will also be held.

Gupta further said all those present, including the shopkeepers and the CP visitors, will light "Ram Diyas" in the evening.

Chamber of Trade and Industry (CTI) Chairman Brijesh Goyal and President Subhash Khandelwal said that special programmes will be organised on January 22 in more than 100 retail and wholesale markets.

There will be a Bhandara in Kashmiri Gate, garlands have been put up in Kamla Nagar, and saffron flags have been put up in Khan Market. Sunderkand will be held in Laxmi Nagar. There will be lighting like Diwali in Dariba Kalan, jewellers will give discounts to the customers, Ram concert will be held.

Boxes of laddus will be distributed in Bhagirath Palace and the gates will be decorated. Beautiful lighting arrangements are being made in Naya Bazaar. 21 thousand lamps will be lit in Sarojini Nagar Market. Saffron balloons and flags will be put up in Lajpat Nagar market, Sundarkand path will be recited. Special arrangements are being made in Rohini and shopkeepers of Nehru Place will also celebrate Diwali on the day of Pran Pratistha.

Special decorations will be done in Chandni Chowk and Sadar Bazaar and a Shobha yatra will be held.

The "pran pratishtha" ceremony at the Ram temple in Ayodhya will be performed on January 22 in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
As many as five tribal organisations  Kendriya Sarna Samity, Rajhi Parha Sarna Prarthana Sabha, Adivasi Sena, 22 Parha Samity and Akhil Bharatiya Adivasi Vikash Parishad  and Hatia Visthapith Morcha (a non-tribal outfit fighting for rights of displaced people in Hatia in Ranchi) staged protests Raj Bhavan over Central probe agencyEnforcement Directorate (ED) summons to Chief Minister Hemant Soren

The tribal bodies representatives claimed that the ED is being used by the BJP-led Centre to harass elected governments in non-BJP ruled states. In Jharkhand, they have crossed all limits by repeatedly summoning a tribal chief minister who had already answered them in November 2022, said Kendriya Sarna Samity president Ajit Tirkey.

Since last year, they have been issuing summons and this year, they even threatened that if the chief minister does not attend to their summons, then they will come to him. We have also seen the governor supporting the ED and this is the reason we are staging the protest near Raj Bhavan, added Ajit Tirkey

JMM supporters had enforced a bandh in Sahibganj district on Wednesday in protest against the ED summoning Soren, JMM leaders have already hinted at massive resentment among the tribals against the ED summons to the chief minister.

Soren had on Monday agreed to interrogation and asked the ED to record his statement on January 20 afternoon. There were reports that the ED had written a letter to Soren on Saturday and given him five days (16-20 January) to record his statement and was asked to inform the time and place for recording his statement within two days.

Meanwhile, in view of the questioning of Chief Minister Hemant Soren on January 20, ED has written a letter to the state police headquarters asking them to strengthen the security arrangements. ED has written in a letter to the police headquarters that on January 20, ED officials will go to Chief Minister Hemant Soren to interrogate him at his residential office. It should be ensured that ED officials do not face any security related problems while coming and going for questioning, and that law and order is not disrupted in any way.

After the ED letter, Jharkhand Police Headquarters is also in action. Preparations have been made to make tight security arrangements in Ranchi on January 20. On the other hand, Chief Secretary L Khyangte held a meeting with state officials on this issue on Thursday and gave them instructions.

HC stays CBI probe in mining scam

Sahibganj Deputy Commissioner Ramniwas Yadav and CM's advisor Abhishek Prasad Pintu, who are facing ED action in the Rs 1250 crore mining scam case in the district may get relief after the Jharkhand High Court put a stay on the CBI investigation into illegal mining in Nimbu Pahad in Sahibganj till further orders. Actually, ED had registered ECR on the basis of the same FIR in which CBI was registering the case and investigating. It is noteworthy that the state government had filed a petition in the High Court demanding a stay on the CBI investigation. It was argued that the agency was investigating the case without the consent of the state and the instructions of the High Court. The state government argued that the High Court had directed the CBI to conduct a preliminary inquiry into why Vijay Hansda was insisting on withdrawing his petition and not to investigate illegal mining there. The next hearing of the case will now be on February 9.
Delhis peak power demand hit a record 5,798 megawatts (MW) at 10.20 am on Friday, as the national Capital experienced cold day with the maximum temperature dropping to 14.2 degree Celsius, five notches below the normal while the minimum temperature settled at 7.1 degree Celsius, one notch below the normal. The dense layer of fog kept visibility poor in several parts of the city since Thursday evening. The maximum temperatures in Gurugram and Faridabad was recorded 11.7 degree Celsius and 10.6 degree Celsius respectively. The drop in the maximum temperature has led to cold wave type conditions in Delhi and NCR.

Visibility dropped to 400m at Palam around 10pm on Thursday, dropping further to 25m at 11.30pm; visibility dropped to 200m at Safdarjung around the same time. Dense fog conditions prevailed in parts of the city with the Palam Observatory near the Indira Gandhi International Airport recording a visibility level of 50 metres at 5:30 am.

According to real-time data released by the State Load Dispatch Centre (SLDC) Delhi, it was the third time this month that the peak demand crossed the 5,700 MW mark  5,726 MW on January 17 and 5,701 MW on January 12.The discoms had estimated the peak demand this winter to reach 5,760 MW.A Tata Power Delhi Distribution Limited (TPDDL) spokesperson said the discom met the highest winter peak power demand reaching 1,779.04 MW in its area in north Delhi without any network constraints or power outage. The company is expecting the peak demand to breach 1,800 MW this winter, she said. On their part, the BSES Rajdhani Power Limited (BRPL) and the BSES Yamuna Power Limited (BYPL) successfully met the peak power demand of 2,502 MW and 1,215 MW respectively.
The last 10 years under the Modi government have been a golden era for the Northeast with an unprecedented focus on infrastructure development and conflict resolution, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Friday.

The Northeast is today shifting away from its history of blockades and unrest and is pacing towards peace and development, he said.

Addressing the 71st plenary session of the North Eastern Council (NEC) here, Shah also said that under the leadership of PM Modi, not only the distance from the Northeast to Delhi and the rest of India has reduced due to the creation of infrastructure, but the difference of hearts has also come down.

"The last 10 years under the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been the most significant decade for the Northeast as it has seen most development in the 75 years since independence," he said.

He said the Northeast, which was struggling with various problem caused by ethnic, linguistic, border and extremist groups, also got the beginning of a fresh and durable era of peace in these 10 years.

The home minister said if these 10 years for the Northeast are compared with the 75 years after the country's independence, then this decade will definitely be considered as the golden period for the region.

He said the Modi government has always considered the Northeast as an important part of India.

Shah said that between 2004 and 2014, a total of 11,121 violent incidents took place in the Northeast and it has declined by 73 percent to 3,114 between 2014 and 2023.

Deaths among security forces dropped by 71 per,cent from 458 to 132, while civilian deaths declined by 86 per cent, he said.

He said the incidents of insurgency have come down because in the last five years more than 8,900 members of militant groups have surrendered and joined the mainstream. This has given a message to the entire country that peace and prosperity are interconnected and without them the states cannot develop, he said.

The home minister said that to bring peace and stability in the Northeast, the Modi government has signed nine agreements and many pending law and order issues have been successfully resolved through these.

He said that except some parts of Assam and Manipur, 75 per cent of the areas covered under the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) in 2018 are no longed under it.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday said the BJP and RSS fully support the idea of governing the entire country from Delhi.

Speaking at a public gathering at Gogamukh in Assam's Lakhimpur district on the second day of his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra in the state, Gandhi said his party does not favour such a system.

"The BJP and RSS believe that Hindustan should be governed from Delhi, with one language and one leader. We disagree. Assam will not be governed from Delhi; it will be governed from Assam," he said.

Gandhi emphasized that the Congress values all states equally, which is why he initiated this march from Manipur in the east to Mumbai in the west.

"The Northeastern states and the security of its people are just as important to us as any other state," he added.

He also took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for not visiting Manipur even as the state continues to be rocked by ethnic strife since May last year.

"For the first time in history of India, a civil war-like situation is prevailing in a state. But the PM has not visited the state even for a single time. He cannot go there as it will expose the political reality of the BJP," he claimed.

For the second day in a row, Gandhi criticised Himanta Biswa Sarma and termed him as the 'most corrupt' CM.

Gandhi resumed his second day's Yatra in Assam by covering Majuli and Lakhimpur districts. He will proceed to Arunachal Pradesh on Saturday after night halt at Gogamukh.
Six people were charred to death and one was injured when a fire broke out in a multi-storey building in northwest Delhi's Pitampura area on Thursday evening, officials said.

The cause of the fire, which broke out on the first floor of the building, is yet to be ascertained, they said.

A call was received at 8 pm about the blaze at plot no. 37, ZP block, Pitampura and eight fire tenders were pressed into service, the fire officials said.

Seven people were rescued with the help of local police and rushed to Babu Jagjivan Ram Hospital. Six of them, including four women, were declared dead at the hospital, a Delhi Fire Services (DFS) official said.

Another DFS officer said the fire was doused in an hour and the cooling operation was underway.

A police officer said the fire broke out on the first floor of the building and the smoke engulfed the three floors above it.

According to preliminary information, those killed in the incident were from two different families. The deceased were aged between 25 and 60, he said.

There was a parking area on the ground floor while people lived on the remaining floors, he further said.
press release

Washington  The World Bank Group today released the following statement:

The World Bank Group welcomes the agreement in principle on the key parameters of the proposed debt restructuring for Ghana reached by the Official Creditors' Committee under the G20 Common Framework. This agreement, which is consistent with the Joint WB-IMF Debt Sustainability Framework, represents a critical milestone toward restoring debt sustainability in this country.

"This agreement will help unlock financial support by international financial institutions, including a US$300 million budget support operation supported by IDA, which will be considered by the World Bank's Board of Executive Directors next week. This will help Ghana in its recovery, attracting investments and restoring a sustainable growth path," said Ousmane Diagana, World Bank Vice President for Western and Central Africa.

The Resilient Recovery Development Policy Operation is the first in a series of three operations totaling US$900 million and part of a broad World Bank engagement in support of crisis response and resilience in Ghana. The country implements US$ 4.3 billion in commitments from the World Bank through national and regional projects focused on private sector development and jobs, inclusive service delivery and sustainable resilient development.

Contacts:

In Washington: Caitlin Denise Berczik, (202) 458-9351, cberczik@worldbankgroup.org

In Accra: Kennedy Fosu, (233) 302-221 4142, kfosu@worldbank.org

Related:
If a nation cannot make its own steel, what kind of a country is it? Steel is crucial not only for all manufacturing as well as military use. Without steel, a country is almost useless if any global or regional conflict rears its ugly head. What are you going to make ships and tanks out of  fucking balsa wood?

Well, today is a historical day in British history because Britain will not be able to make crucial high quality virgin steel anymore because theyre closing the last plant that makes the stuff.

Tata Steel, an Indian company probably working with the Russians, is at the bottom of the debacle. The Indian company confirms it is cutting 2,800 jobs across the UK and closing both blast furnaces in Port Talbot, south Wales.

While every other developed nation in the world can produce their own virgin steel, Britain will only be able to create inferior steel which will be of low quality and useless in military terms, or for most manufacturing processes.

Bankrupt Britain is now below the status of many African nations regarding manufacturing, and will be left behind in global capabilities.

Naturally, there was not a single word from the unelected British Indian PM on the horrid news. Britain will have to now import its steel from China which is of poor quality, and if there is war will not be available.

Britain is now the laughingstock of the world, a place which engineered and designed the entire industrial steel-making process in the first place.
Talatona  Over 17 billion Kwanzas were collected in taxes, during the 2023 economic year, by the country's municipalities, as part of the transfer of services from central to local bodies.

Municipalities in the province of Luanda top the list, followed by Huila and Benguela. The municipalities of Dande (Bengo), Sumbe (Cuanza Sul), Saurimo (Lunda-sul), Cuito (Bie) and Malanje had a collection of more than 150 million Kwanzas.

This information was provided on Thursday by the Minister of Territorial Administration (MAT), Dionisio da Fonseca, when he spoke at the launch ceremony of the project to strengthen governance to improve the provision of services in Angola called "Njila".

The government reported that more than 900 services were transferred from central to local bodies, and that, via the citizen portal, they are currently in a position to allocate mining rights for the exploration of aggregates and licenses to provide various services.

The granting of land rights, construction licenses, for advertising, as well as the collection of fines for acts that constitute administrative offenses are part of this range of decentralized services that increase the revenue generation capacity.

Along this path, he said, the management of several irrigated perimeters was recently transferred from the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry to the provincial governments, as well as the return of the management of infrastructured land to local bodies and several projects in the Integrated Plan portfolio. of Municipal Intervention (PIIM), from central to local bodies.

The MAT intends to observe that the competencies of municipalities are strengthened, with efficient management of public resources.

"In other words, it is not enough to increase revenue, it is not enough to devolve more powers, it is imperative to train, monitor and hold people accountable. It is essential that revenues are managed ethically, sparingly, efficiently and, exclusively, to satisfy the public interest," he said.

To this end, the minister made it known that during 2024 municipal accountability forums will be held, an open and participatory governance mechanism, in order to be closer to the citizen, through the Community Auditing Councils, but also through the citizen's budget and the introduction of new forms of citizen participation in governance, reinforcing democratic dialogue.

Along this path, the MAT, according to its owner, will count on the engagement of the National School of Administration and Public Policies (ENAP), which in the period from January to October last year already trained 8 thousand and 590 public servants and administrative agents in the six 6 regional centers.

For Dionisio da Fonseca, in this training chapter, it is important to highlight that within the scope of the Human Capital Development Plan of Angola 2022 - 2035, the MAT has a sub-program for training the municipal administration that aims to equip local decision-making bodies, with competent and qualified human resources.

The aforementioned sub-program, he pointed out, is expected to cover around 60% of municipal administrations by 2035, a goal that will be achieved with the support of the NJILA Project.

He also indicated that the Executive will universalize the attribution of identity at birth, in maternity hospitals, so that MAT will share the services of the Single Public Service Counters (BUAP), with the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights, either for the collection of data for issuing the Identity Card and for its distribution.

The minister describes that strengthening governance has a territorial dimension, focused on the elaboration and implementation of Territorial Planning Plans, at municipal level, as the fourth and final dimension of the Njila project.

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He informed that the country has a general master plan for Luanda, 28 municipal master plans, with emphasis on the provinces of Benguela and Bie, which have master plans in all municipalities.

"The Executive's goal is to reach 60% of municipalities with municipal master plans by 2027, as it is a fundamental instrument for the efficient, harmonious and sustainable management of the territory, and which allows defining and making compatible the various uses of land, ordering the territory, prevent illegal and anarchic occupations and provide quality of life and well-being to the population", he said.

The NJILA Project's vision is to contribute to the implementation of competent, local governance, which promotes citizenship, sustainable management of the territory and efficiency in the management of the State's financial resources.MAG/AC/DOJ
Barely two months after announcing a suspension of all public-funded international trips, President Lazarus Chakwera is tomorrow expected to travel to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where he will attend the inauguration ceremony of DRC leader Felix Tshisekedi and hold one-on-one talks with him.

Chakwera announced a suspension of all public-funded international trips for himself and senior government officials until the end of the current financial year.

A statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which we have seen, indicates the President has temporarily suspended his public engagements in the Southern Region to undertake "this unscheduled trip".

Minister of Information Moses Kunkuyu has confirmed that Chakwera will be travelling to Kinshasa tomorrow.

The President is expected to return home on Sunday.

In his announcement of the ban of public-funded international trips, Chakwera said the move was part of measures to heal Malawi's troubled economy.
Cloudflare, Inc. is a leading cloud-based security and performance solutions provider for websites and internet applications. The company's mission is to help build a better internet by making it faster, safer, and more reliable. Founded in 2009, Cloudflare has become one of the largest and most respected names in the cybersecurity industry. The company offers cloud-based products and services, including website security, performance optimization, content delivery, and domain name services.

Millions of websites and internet applications worldwide use Cloudflare's products, ranging from small businesses to large enterprises. Key customers include Shopify, HubSpot, and Zendesk, among others.

The company is headquartered in San Francisco, California, with additional offices in London, Singapore, and several other locations. Cloudflare has received numerous awards and recognition for its innovative products and services, including being named one of Fast Company's "World's Most Innovative Companies" in 2020.

Cloudflare's leadership team is led by co-founders Matthew Prince (Chief Executive Officer) and Michelle Zatlyn (Chief Operating Officer). Prince has a background in law and technology, while Zatlyn has experience in finance and operations.

Cloudflare's financial performance has been relatively mixed over the past few years. The company's revenue has grown steadily for several years. However, the company has never reported a profit. The company's net income has been negative in the past three years, as it has invested heavily in research and development and sales and marketing to support its growth. Cloudflare's debt levels are relatively high. However, the company does maintain enough assets to cover all liabilities.

Cloudflare's relatively high valuation metrics reflect the company's strong growth prospects and competitive positioning. The company's price-to-earnings and price-to-book ratio are significantly higher than the industry average. Cloudflare's stock has recently been incredibly volatile, ranging between approximately $30 and $80. The significant price movements have been in response to news and events affecting the broader tech industry.

Cloudflare operates in the highly competitive cybersecurity industry, characterized by rapid technological change, intense competition, and evolving regulatory and legal frameworks. The company's main competitors include Akamai Technologies, Incapsula, Imperva, and Fastly.

Cloudflare's competitive advantages include its global network of servers, which enables it to deliver fast and reliable services to customers worldwide and its innovative security solutions that combine multiple layers of protection. The company's cloud-based approach also provides scalability and flexibility, allowing customers to quickly scale their security and performance needs as their businesses grow.

The cybersecurity industry is experiencing strong growth, driven by the increasing number of cyber threats and the growing awareness among businesses of the importance of protecting their digital assets. According to recent research, the global cybersecurity market is expected to reach $326.4 billion by 2027, growing at a CAGR of 10.0% from 2022 to 2027.

However, the industry also faces challenges and risks. Rapid technological advancements can quickly make security solutions obsolete, requiring companies like Cloudflare to continuously innovate and adapt to new threats. Additionally, the industry is subject to evolving regulations and privacy concerns, which could impact how companies handle and protect user data.

Cloudflare has positioned itself well within the industry by offering a comprehensive suite of solutions that address security and performance needs. The company's broad customer base and strong brand reputation give it a competitive edge. Furthermore, Cloudflare's strategic partnerships with leading technology companies, such as Microsoft and Google, enhance its market reach and enable it to tap into new customer segments.

Cloudflare has several growth opportunities that could drive its future performance. One key opportunity lies in the increasing adoption of cloud-based services and the growing demand for secure and performant Internet applications. As businesses continue to shift their operations to the cloud, they require reliable and scalable security solutions, which Cloudflare is well-positioned to provide.

The company also has opportunities for expansion into new markets. Cloudflare has been investing in international expansion to capture the growing demand for its services globally. Expanding its presence in regions like Asia-Pacific and Europe presents significant growth potential.

While Cloudflare has promising growth prospects, it also faces risks and challenges that could impact its performance. One key challenge is the highly competitive nature of the cybersecurity industry. The company faces intense competition from established players and emerging startups, which could result in pricing pressures and the need for continuous investment in research and development to stay ahead.

Another potential risk is the evolving regulatory landscape. Changes in data protection regulations and privacy laws can significantly impact how Cloudflare operates and handles customer data. Compliance with these regulations requires ongoing investment in resources and expertise.

Moreover, as technology evolves, new and sophisticated cyber threats may emerge, which could bypass existing security measures. Cloudflare must remain vigilant and invest in advanced threat detection and prevention technologies to avoid these threats.
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The Derry Branch - Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign (DIPSC)is planning a protest highlighting the number of journalists killed by Israel in Gaza since October 7.

The protest will take place outside BBC Radio Foyle, on Saturday, January 20, at 1.00pm.

According to Catherine Hutton, chair of DIPSC, the protest will also "challenge the BBC on its coverage of the Genocide in Gaza".

She added: "The BBC has failed to cover the ongoing pogroms in the West Bank and there has been a lack of coverage of the South African complaint of genocide against Israel to the International Court of Justice.

"The following day, Israel's defence was livestreamed. Gaza is now the deadliest place on Earth for media workers. By some estimates, over 110 journalists have been killed there since Israel began its assault on the territory following the October 7 Hamas attack, and the Committee to Protect Journalists says more journalists were killed in the first 10 weeks of the war than have ever been killed in a single country over an entire year.

"Israel is killing journalists in Gaza to stop the truth about its atrocities, war crimes and crimes against humanity being witnessed around the world.

"The silence of the BBC towards the killing of Journalist and the ongoing genocide in Gaza is absolutely unacceptable. As TV licence payers and human beings we cannot allow this to go unchallenged. Your comrades in Gaza are dying for the truth. You owe it to them to honour their memory by telling their stories and reporting the unbiased truth of the deliberate destruction of the Palestinian population of Gaza."

Derry News has approached the BBC for comment.
Derry City and Strabane District Council have launched a consultation to hear public views on the Letters to Heaven post box initiative which will be rolled out across the city and district.

Letters to Heaven is an initiative to place letterboxes in four of the largest cemeteries across the city and district, allowing visitors to send letters to loved ones they have lost.

This scheme was brought forward by members as a notice of motion and endorsed by Full Council in March 2023 with the designated locations of the City Cemetery and Ballyoan in Derry as well as Castlederg and Strabane cemeteries. Council is interested in hearing your views on the commencement of the scheme, specifically at Castlederg Cemetery.

Cllr Ruairi McHugh, Chair of the Environment and Regeneration Committee, encouraged local residents and cemetery visitors to engage with the consultation.

Cllr McHugh said: We are keen to hear from as many residents across the city and district, in particular the Castlederg Cemetery visitors, about the proposed installation of the Letters to Heaven letterbox. We understand there will be mixed reviews surrounding the topic and we are interested in hearing all those opinions.

"We understand that each person experiences grief differently and strategies which work for one person may be different to those that work for someone else.

"There is a body of evidence which suggests that one way which may bring comfort through the grief, is the act of writing down feelings or sharing thoughts on paper, whether that is on the day of an important anniversary or any day of the year.

"As a Council we would like to bring as much comfort as we can to our cemetery visitors and we feel the Letters to Heaven initiative is a thoughtful and touching way to do that.

Council endeavours to provide this facility for bereaved people, particularly children, but also adults so they can send messages to their deceased loved ones as evidence shows this profoundly cathartic experience may greatly benefit their emotional and psychological wellbeing.

Three letterboxes have already been established in the City Cemetery, Derry, Ballyoan Cemetery, Derry, and Strabane Cemetery.

The initiative was brought to the attention of the Council earlier this year by former Mayor, Graham Warke who was contacted by a local woman who recently lost a family member, leaving behind a young son.

The woman felt the young boy would benefit if he thought he could write a letter to his father.

They were inspired by a similar scheme which was initially rolled out in Nottinghamshire and then other areas across the UK including Antrim and Newtownabbey Council in Northern Ireland.

The consultation will run for four weeks until Friday, February 16. To take part please visit https://bit.ly/3tW99BP
A Ryanair flight experienced an unsettling event shortly after takeoff from Dublin Airport this Thursday.

The pilot of Flight FR670 reported hearing a "loud bang" and simultaneously received a warning light in the cockpit to Air Traffic Control (ATC).

It has been revealed that a member of the cabin crew informed the pilots that the incident was suspected to be a tail strike.

Possible Emergency



FR670 has just informed ATC that they heard a Loud Bang just after takeoff.



Pilots also received a warning light, but Im unsure what the warning is.



The aircraft is now returning to Dublin.



THREAD#Aviation #dublinairport #AvGeek #emergency pic.twitter.com/mCh5MPHOCP  Shauns_Aviation (@Shauns_Aviation) January 18, 2024

After the incident, the aircraft did not declare an emergency.

The plane then tracked north to burn excess fuel before returning and passengers were accommodated on another plane.

A spokesperson for Dublin Airport has said: "Flight FR670 to Birmingham returned to Dublin Airport shortly after it departed last evening.

"The flight departed at 7:58pm and landed back at 8:31pm, with the support of the Dublin Airport team.

Passengers were transferred to alternate aircraft."

A spokesperson for Ryanair has stated: "The aircraft landed normally and was taken for inspection by engineers."

They added that the replacement aircraft was "quickly arranged to operate this flight, which departed for Birmingham one hour and 40 minutes later."
What's difference between Matter 1.0, Matter 1.1, and Matter 1.2?

In 2019, Amazon, Apple, Google, and Zigbee Alliance members came together to form Project Connected Home over Internet Protocol (CHIP), a working group building a new standard that enables IP-based communication across smart home devices, mobile apps, and cloud services, and ultimately unites the smart home.

In 2021, the Zigbee Alliance rebranded as the Connectivity Standards Alliance (CSA), and Project CHIP rebranded to Matter. These rebrands were necessary as the new Matter mark authenticates devices, ensuring that any object built on this standard is reliable by nature, secure by design, and compatible at scale.

Fast forward to today, and Matter is here! Officially released in October 2022, the Alliance and Matter have seen tremendous growth with 600+ members, 750+ Matter-certified devices, and multiple updates to Matter. Before we dive into these updates, let's learn more about what the Matter standard is and why Matter matters.

What Exactly is Matter?

Matter is an application layer protocol developed specifically to address device interoperability within the smart home, more specifically across different smart home device platforms. That means your Amazon Alexa can work with your Google Home or Apple HomeKit. Beyond interoperability, its other biggest benefits include simplified device setup, significantly better reliability and latency, and improved security through standardization.

Matter is designed to support existing protocols, such as Thread, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth Low Energy, Zigbee, and Z-Wave, allowing flexibility to manufacturers and consumers alike.

For developers, Matter simplifies product development while lowering development and operational costs. Since Matter is completely open source, anybody can read and propose changes to source code, resulting in collaboration from the industry, improved quality, and expedited processes. With Matter, device manufacturers only need a single SKU per product instead of separate ones for each ecosystem, thereby reducing costs, shortening development and production time, and simplifying the entire supply chain.

With Matter, consumers have the power to choose how they want to control their homes and with what devices  not limited to certain ecosystems. Consumers can have peace of mind when using their devices as privacy and security are central to Matter, with built-in encryption, over the air updates, and standardization to keep data safe. Another benefit for consumers is simplified setup for new IoT devices in their homes. Matter uses a simple and secure onboarding process to connect new devices and is as easy as scanning a QR code to add a new Matter device. Lastly, Matter is compatible with existing devices  non-Matter-certified devices  using Matter bridges so that consumers can continue to use the devices they already have.

Matter 1.0: Certification Now Open

In 2022, the CSA launched Matter 1.0., eight authorized test labs for product certification, the test tools needed to certify devices, and the open-source reference design software development kit (SDK) to develop Matter devices.

Consumers started to see the first ever Matter-certified devices. The Matter 1.0 release supported a variety of common smart home products, such as lighting and electrical, HVAC controls, window coverings and shades, safety and security sensors, door locks, media devices including TVs, controllers as both devices and applications, and bridges.

In addition to new devices, Matter 1.0 allowed companies to upgrade existing, already deployed devices, to Matter-certified devices via over the air updates.

Matter 1.1: Enhancements for Developers and Devices

Six months later in May 2023, Matter 1.1 was released. This update enhanced support for many smart home products in the Intermittently Connected Devices (ICDs) category, as known as "sleepy devices." ICDs are usually battery-powered devices like sensors, door locks, and switches that are connected via wireless networks and need to conserve power for optimal operation and lifespan. While ICDs aren't constantly connected, they "wake up" and connect periodically, drawing power and making energy efficiency vital. Matter 1.1 allows ICDs to sleep for longer periods of time before checking in with parent devices without having to reconnect to the network. Fewer check-ins means power conservation and longer battery life.

Matter 1.1 fixed many of the bugs from the initial launch of Matter, especially from the developer side. Given the code is publicly available and relies on open source SDK, it is important that these tools are easy to work with. In this update, the CSA gathered feedback from developers throughout the process to make clarifications on how to make the tools better to work with, helping developers to work with Matter.

The CSA also launched a testing center in Portland offering interoperability testing services to alliance members developing Matter products for certification. Silicon Labs also launched its Connectivity Lab, which simulates a modern Smart Home, with a range of IoT devices, applications, ecosystems, and networks. Customers are able to test their Matter prototypes operating within real-world scenarios across a variety of protocols and device brands.

Matter 1.2: More Device Types

Fast forward another six months, Matter 1.2 introduces new device types and brings other improvements that enhance interoperability and user experience. This release expands device types to washing machines, refrigerators, dishwasher, room air conditioners, robotic vacuums, air quality sensors, air purifiers, smoke/CO alarms, and fans. Matter 1.2 also adds key foundational elements that will enable more device types, such as operational modes, that are important to adding more appliances in the future.

This is exciting as many of these devices tend to be Wi-Fi-enabled but often have limited ecosystem support and require proprietary app control. Matter 1.2 allows manufacturers to simplify the user experience  including commissioning  while enabling integration into key smart home ecosystems.

Matter 1.2 also includes new features that improve the user experience for commissioning to better identify the product and its description. For example, to help the user verify which device is the one they are interacting with, the color of the device is listed in the Matter controller's user interface, or a light with multiple bulbs can describe the location or position in a controller user interface to indicate which bulb is bound to a smart switch.

Final Thought: Matter 1.3 and Beyond Only Gets Bigger

Support for Matter will only continue to get bigger. In fact, Amazon has already added Matter to more than 100 million Echo and eero devices. The CSA has already indicated that it hopes to share new Matter updates every six months, so we can continue to expect more Matter device types, specifically cameras and energy management devices to further unify smart home ecosystems, as well as more updates that helps widespread adoption across the smart home.

Author: Rob Alexander, Principal Product Manager
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It has been said again and again that landlocked countries have less chance of growing and expanding their economies compared to countries with access to sea ports and the numbers support this statement. This is because landlocked countries have to rely on the wishes of the countries that are willing to offer them access to the sea and at their condition at that. Out of a total of about 200 countries in the world only 44 countries are landlocked and studies have shown that the potential growth of these countries has been limited by their being conditioned by their status as compared to the ones with easy access to sea.

It is easy to imagine how much the costs affect the countries with no access to sea ports of their own because they have to pay for the various expenses related to the usage of the ports, the extra kilometers that they are required to cover in order to transport the goods they buy from outside or export goods they sell to foreign markets. These expenses are also susceptible of continuous increments depending on several circumstances some forecasted others not even dreamt of and how the international markets operate with inevitable fluctuations. Hence the dependence of landlocked countries on those who offer them the services is so big that the influence on the overall performance of the economy of a given landlocked country could be immense and cannot be dismissed as simple and negligible.

Having direct access to the sea means a lot of things to any country that especially relies a lot on import-export transactions affecting its economy deeply such as the case of Ethiopia. It means that these countries can have whatever kind of relations with anyone out there choosing whatever clients whereas those landlocked could be affected by the choice of the country that offers it access to a port service. They could limit the number of ships that dock on their ports or ban certain countries' ships that they consider as not friendly or with whom they do not have particularly good relations and this can hamper the kind of relations the landlocked country could entertain freely with their trading partner.

Having or not access to the sea also has direct and substantial security implications because the landlocked country is forced to rely on the security apparatus of the country with the sea access. This means the sovereignty of the landlocked country could very well depend on the kind of defense apparatus it has and what sort of international relations the host country entertains with other countries. For instance in the current case of Ethiopia it is forced to rely on the military and security apparatus and capacity of Djibouti to defend its shores from any eventual threats. This means Ethiopia could potentially be exposed to a foreign attack as it has no say in the military operations or defensive capabilities of Djibouti.

Ethiopia does not enjoy a military base there because its agreement with the host country may not cover that. It would be an infringement on the sovereignty of Djibouti if Ethiopia attempted to have a military presence in that country and given that there are already other countries' presence there, the situation would result in further complications and there could be an issue of stability which is very important in any ongoing commercial transactions that are critical for Ethiopia.

Ethiopia is forced to rely on the good intentions and policies of Djibouti towards it and those that have close security ties with it to keep its shores safe from any potential attacks.

For instance we know that there are a number of armed forces and groups that have extremist views regarding ideological and religious beliefs and there is practically nothing Ethiopia can do to defend its interests except may be interrupt its commercial pacts with Djibouti which currently cannot do because it cannot afford to totally suspend its ties with the only reliable port in which it uses for its import-export trade. For this of course Ethiopia is grateful even if the costs are very burdensome for a growing economy such as Ethiopia with scarce foreign currency and with foreign debt to pay regularly.

On the contrary, if Ethiopia had its own sea port which it could manage in total freedom and with full sovereignty, it would have been up to it to potentially build up the kind of maritime force it deems necessary and adequately prepare itself for any security threat from beyond its coastlines. There are lots of movements in and around Red Sea and it is enough to see what sort of security implications the current war in the Middle East is creating along the sea route that passes near Djibouti.

There are reports that maritime transactions have fallen under serious security threat in a moment when missiles and drones are being used more and more by many parts and the likelihood of ships in the areas being vulnerable even to a non-deliberate attack is high. This presents a challenge to countries such as Ethiopia with no direct say or involvement on these issues. Being a distant observer in things that are crucial for your international commercial relations that have a huge role on livelihoods back home is very difficult and would need a better way of addressing it, not being limited to being a remote observer as things could go out of control.

Ethiopia's defensive capabilities cannot have an adequate say and its role in trying to anticipate and thwart any threats would be restrained due to the fact that it does not have physical presence at the port The security features of a port are very important to any country availing access to sea. Realizing that dangers could come from beyond the port, it could prepare itself to prevent any threat or aggression.

Hence, landlocked countries find themselves in the unique position of having to rely on the countries that accord them the use of their ports just as Ethiopia does with Djibouti. Being landlocked countries, commercial relations with foreign countries are also restrained in a way because trading partners as well are not so enthusiastic or may not feel at ease with relations with landlocked countries that in the end do not have any say in the safety situation of the ports. This could eventually discourage or limit their relations on the grounds of safety and security of the kind of port they use.

Countries offering access to sea to landlocked countries could also have a say on what sort of goods and merchandizes could be permitted to cross their ports. For instance they could prohibit arms and ammunitions to get into the country using their port. They could hence impose certain restrictions on what kind of goods could enter their ports and be transported internally. This can constitute a huge negative condition on the choice and freedom of the landlocked country seeking the services of a port. Hence it is not only about trade and commerce pure and simple but it is also about security issues and sovereignty factors when we talk about having independent access to sea ports.

There have been tendencies to dismiss access to sea as a mere economic issue and hence easily settle it with some financial transaction but the matter is much more complicated than that as we have tried to illustrate above. We have seen that it is not only economic factors that play in this equation. That is why the current Ethiopian government has begun to consider this matter seriously and from various angles, and began to talk about the need to urgently address this critical issue before it becomes too late and may be create further volatility in a region already teeming with various security and stability issues with so many powers involved in the sub region.

The recently announced deal or memorandum of understanding between Ethiopia and Somaliland on it granting a sea access in exchange of benefits from Ethiopia could be put in this critical context. Ethiopia sees this as a very important progress on its way to securing a right to access the Red Sea in exchange for a quid pro quo on the part of Ethiopia to Somaliland.

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Ethiopia's quest for access to sea has become almost an existential issue and it was announced that it would do all it can legally and peacefully as well as diplomatically to earn this right before the burdensome situation in which it finds itself deteriorates and becomes a critical obstacle in its widening and expanding economic trajectory.

Ethiopia has made its points clear on the matter explaining that what it has done does not violate any international rules or customs and its operations are based on a negotiated and fair agreement with the government of Somaliland that has now been operating on its own for the last more than thirty years. In doing so, Ethiopia is not interfering in the internal affairs of other sovereign countries and its intentions are all peaceful and legal. Ethiopia has clearly explained its position on this recent development and is only exercising its right as a sovereign country dealing with others diplomatically and peacefully in a deal that would benefit not only the two parties involved but also eventually the entire region because an active part Ethiopia plays in Red Sea matters would contribute to further stability and hence growth of all the subregion's countries. Ethiopia cannot afford to be conditioned by what certain forces claim or argue against its diplomatic activities as a sovereign country as long as it does not violate UN rules and regulations nor other international pacts and practices. Ethiopia is only using its diplomatic good offices to reach to a deal such as the one it did with the government of a Somaliland.

The more there are such peaceful diplomatic ties between countries of the continent the better for more integration and more growth. Africa would soon be able to win its war against poverty and backwardness rather than be involved in interminable intestinal disputes and conflicts while the rest of the world is advancing forward under every parameter and standards.
Cloud providers take the plunge with underwater data centers

The data center capacity for major cloud providers is expected to nearly triple in the next six years, according to Synergy Research Group.

In 2018, Microsoft initiated the second phase of Project Natick, submerging the Northern Isles data center, a capsule-shaped facility housing 864 servers, about 36 meters deep in the northeast sea off the UK coast. The initiative aimed to harness the cooling properties of seawater, cut costs, mitigate natural disasters, and tap into tidal and offshore wind power for energy.

The sealed underwater placement provided advantages such as proximity to coastal areas. The move reduced data transfer latency and ensured a more stable network for high-computational tasks like gaming and video streaming.

Following a successful two-year submersion, Microsoft raised the Northern Isles data center, boasting a failure rate of only 1/8th of traditional land-based centers. The US Department of Energy recognized Project Natick, proposing that ocean energy, combined with storage and other renewables, could become a viable power source for data centers.

Microsoft is currently exploring integrating underwater data centers with offshore wind power. The company is also considering underwater fiber optic cables for enhanced data transmission.

Subsea data cables carry nearly 99% of intercontinental internet traffic. There are over 550 active or planned submarine cables spanning over 1.4 million kilometers, according to TeleGeography.

China deployed the world's inaugural commercial underwater data center, weighing 1300 tons with the power of 6 million PCs, off the coast of Sanya city on Hainan Island in the south of the country. This installation alone is expected to save 122 million kilowatt-hours of electricity.

China has ongoing projects for constructing underwater data centers in both the Yangtze River Delta. There are also active projects in the country's Pearl River Delta region.

Despite the potential benefits, underwater data centers pose challenges. Underwater data center maintenance and repairs are more complex due to the deep-sea location, requiring designs to account for ocean currents.

Connectivity to renewable energy sources like offshore wind and tidal power holds promise but is subject to seasonal weather and tidal variations. Issues such as obtaining permits, potential environmental impacts, and connectivity between underwater and land-based data centers remain concerns.

While underwater data centers promise energy efficiency, a reduced carbon footprint, and enhanced performance, the industry confronts obstacles, including intricate design considerations, and elevated connectivity costs. As Microsoft and China, venture into the sector, the future of underwater data centers looks bright.

The industry's ability to overcome the challenges will be pivotal for widespread adoption and success. Big tech and increasingly tense geopolitical situations are turning undersea cables into economic and strategic assets.
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SEATTLE  Fitness franchise Pvolve has announced plans to bring five locations to the Seattle market over the next few years, and is seeking franchise business partners.

Pvolve LLC, or Personal Evolution, describes itself as, an innovative fitness company that pairs functional movement with resistance-based equipment to sculpt, tone, strengthen and restore the body while enhancing mobility and stability.





. . .
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OLYMPIA  The state Department of Commerce yesterday announced historic investments totaling $312.6 million to support the construction of more affordable housing in communities throughout Washington.

Commerce is awarding $274 million to 48 projects that will result in 3,443 multifamily/rental housing units, including housing for people with disabilities and those experiencing homelessness.





. . .
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REDMOND  The Park East business park, at 18005-18133 N.E. 68th St. , has sold for $55 million, according to King County records.

The seller was SFERS Real Estate Corp. V, which acquired the property under a different name in 1999 for about $14.3 million. (SFERS is the City and County of San Francisco Employees' Retirement System.)





. . .
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Two men who beat up a man in his 60s in Meath and threatened him at knife point, the day after they attacked a woman in her home in Louth, were given lengthy sentences at Dundalk Circuit Court last week.

Cosmin Mihai (23) and Catalin Jimi Munteanu (43) who had arrived in Ireland days before two separate incidents in the Dundalk and Trim garda districts.

Shortly before 10.30pm on May 15th 2022, the pair entered the sitting room of a woman living on Bachelors Walk Dundalk, wearing medical face masks.

Munteanu was holding a big knife and the younger man had a baton which she was hit over the head with and the victim told gardai she couldnt remember if the older man had hit her with a baton or a fist and when she told him she had children to stop him from hurting her he replied I dont care.

They left with 2,400 in cash, her debit card, two mobile phones and 25 packs of Romanian cigarettes. Some of these items were found when gardai investigating the second incident searched an apartment in Athlone.

The day after the Dundalk aggravated burglary, the pair entered the home of a man in his 60s at the Hill of Down, Enfield.

He told gardai he sustained a blow to the side of his head before the pair jumped on his back and he was beaten on the face and Munteanu stuffed cotton wool into his mouth, causing him difficulty in breathing.

He said the pair kept hitting him and his hands were tied behind his back, and his legs were tied with a pair of tights. The victims 17 year old Jack Russell, who was a bit deaf, came running and the next thing he heard was him being kicked in the kitchen and "going silent".

The man was then picked up and put on a bed, where one of the accused kept demanding money and made a stabbing gesture with a knife.

As they left, Mihai, who had thrown water over him to cool him, had placed the victims rosary beads in his chest pocket and patted his head.

The man said he appeared to have some humanity but the other had none at all.

They stole 200 in cash, over 11,000 worth of jewellery and a mobile phone and the dog, which had suffered a head fracture, was euthanized a week later.

Mihai, who had no previous convictions, told gardai they didnt intend to hurt anyone and had thought the house was unoccupied and he claimed the dog injured itself when he threw him on the floor.

His co-accused had seven previous convictions, including attempted murder.

The court heard the man has not returned to his home since the incident and is now in assisted living accommodation where his wife is his carer.

Judge Dara Hayes sentenced both men to consecutive sentences.

Munteanu was jailed for 15 years and Mihai was sentenced to 12 and a half years with the final 12 months suspended, on him entering a bond to be of good behaviour post release and placing himself under the supervision of the Probation Service for 18 months, and engaging with a restorative justice programme.

The sentences were backdated to when both men went into custody after their arrest in May 2022.
The research noted that despite official rhetoric, sanitation is not prioritised in Lagos, saying no local government area in the state has been declared open-defecation free less than two years to 2025 deadline set by the government.

A new research has identified "spatial injustice" and brain drain, among numerous others, as key factors affecting the provision of quality and affordable public healthcare services in Lagos State, Nigeria's commercial nerve centre.

These were part of the findings of the African Cities Research Consortium (ACRC) in a recent research titled: "Lagos City of Systems: Food Security, Health and Safety, Environmental Sustainability".

ACRC, according to the consortium's Lagos City Lead and Professor of Urban Development and Governance at the University of Lagos (UNILAG), Akoka, Taibat Lawanson, is a six-year investment by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) of the United Kingdom, which is targetted at funding "new, operationally-relevant research to address intractable development challenges in African cities".

Mrs Lawanson presented the research findings during an annual education summit by the Education Writers' Association of Nigeria (EWAN), a body of journalists reporting educational matters in Nigeria and beyond.

On hand to support the researcher was the consortium's Director of Uptake and Professor of Communication, Ismail Ibraheem.

The researcher said apart from the healthcare sector, the research also looked into other areas including transportation, water and sanitation, waste management, energy, food distribution, finance and ICT, law and order, and education.

Findings

Breaking down the findings, Mrs Lawanson said the term "spatial injustice" refers to the city's uneven distribution of health facilities, noting that both the facilities and personnel are skewed towards Lagos Island.

She added that brain drain within the healthcare sector has led to an exodus of health workers from the state abroad, adding that the "demon of papers" are also critical challenges affecting the provision of good health system in the city.

"The demon of papers is another thing that is grinding on us. In the health sector, we were unable to get real-time disease surveillance systems because of paper-based health records," she said.

She said her team raised some fundamental questions about reconciling the brain drain and what interventions are necessary to mitigate against the impact.

The researcher said: "We also considered how healthcare facilities could be more equitably distributed; the role of technology in health management; the effect of the commodification of healthcare on healthcare mandate, and the impacts of the infrastructural gains of COVID-19 on the healthcare infrastructure in Lagos "given extensive investments across the board and Lagos, being a beneficiary of so many health funds towards addressing the pandemic."

She said the research also noted the prevention and non-formal medical systems, and that advocacy for health-promoting behaviour is not well entrenched in the city's health systems planning.

On water, sanitation

Mrs Lawanson said the research revealed that Lagos State has a daily water demand of 3.83 billion litres per day as of 2021 but that only 40 per cent of this is provided by the Lagos Water Corporation (LWC) daily, and that less than 16 per cent of the population gets water from the corporation consistently.

She said informal service providers, "especially at community levels are either unrecognised or criminalised, even though informal water provisioning is more reliable- though largely unsafe."

"Despite official rhetoric, sanitation is not prioritised and no LGA in Lagos State has been declared open-defecation free. There are no clear operational procedures, technologies, facilities, and safety mechanisms in place to oversee sanitation work or workers, and workers have limited access to occupational health and safety protection measures," the research further noted.

The university lecturer urged the government to consider reconciling what she described as the position of "water as an economic good and the view of civil society of water as a social justice."

"How can we recognise, upscale, and regulate the activities of local water and sanitation service providers? This is because unlocking the potential of those who work in the sector will catalyse improvement in that sector," she added.

On waste management

Mrs Lawanson said the research revealed that 50 per cent of waste generated in Lagos is food waste, noting that though the city has the longest history of organised solid waste management in Nigeria, "it has been unsuccessful with waste separation from source."

"The research identified huge informal sector participation in the waste sector, though with recurrent prohibitions by official waste regulators, and found plastics and recyclable products as an emerging resource, largely driven by informal actors."

To address the concerns around waste management, the researcher suggested "mainstreaming the process of informal waste worker formalisation, especially waste pickers, recyclers, dumpsite sorters, among others."

Review

Reviewing the recommendations after the presentation, a Professor of Environmental Law and former Vice-Chancellor of Lagos State University (LASU), Olanrewaju Fagbohun, said apart from the fact that the report is comprehensive, it is captured in very simple language "and you have broken it down into the different sectors."

He said as an outcome of empirical studies, the recommendations must be embraced by all, "particularly the state government."

"If we are going to implement this document, government must be ready to invest in it, and no investment will be too much if we consider the focus as a sustainable city. We must therefore consider participatory cooperative research approach and knowledge cocreation so that the local communities can be carried along," Mr Fagbohun said.

Government reacts

Reacting on behalf of the Lagos State Commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education, Jamiu Alli-Balogun, the Director of Education Resource Centre, Omolayo Akinlade, thanked the consortium for the efforts, and pledged the support of the state in the implementation of the recommendations.

"The administration of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu is is a listening one, and that is clearly evident in the passion and commitment towards achieving the T.H.E.M.E.S plus agenda, which have incorporated almost all the sectors touched in the research," she said.

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Mrs Akinlade said she would make the document available to the commissioner but pleaded with the organisers of the event- EWAN, to provide avenue for all the concerned ministries and agencies to have access to the recommendations.

ACRC target

The research consortium currently operates across 12 African cities of Lagos, Maiduguri in Nigeria; Accra (Ghana), Addis Ababa (Ethiopia), Kampala (Uganda), Dar es Salaam (Tanzania), Freetown (Sierra Leone), Mogadishu (Somalia), Nairobi (Kenya), Lilongwe (Malawi), and Bukavu in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

According to Mrs Lawanson, the consortium is tasked with rethinking approaches to urban policies and programming.

About EWAN Summit

Annually EWAN organises summit on key issues within and around the education sector with the sole purpose of bringing together relevant stakeholders to identify solutions and ensure proper implementation.

The last edition, where ACRC's research findings were presented, was themed: "Research for National Development: Nigeria's Internal Security in Focus". The keynote speaker was the immediate past Vice-Chancellor of the University of Lagos (UNILAG), Akoka, who is currently the Chairman of Lagos State Research and Innovation Council (LASRIC), Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, a professor.

The forum drew critical stakeholders from government, industries, and academia including vice-chancellors and rectors, and representatives of civil society and the labour union.
Creative Spark in Dundalk says it is delighted to be part of Brigid 1500 celebrations through its upcoming exhibition Cruinniu Bhride - Artist-in-the-Community.

Opening its doors to the public on January 27, this exhibition is a testament to the collaborative efforts of 23 groups, each guided by the artistic vision of five lead artists.

Under the guidance of the Creative Spark Print Studio Coordinator, Grainne Murphy, and collaborating with artists Susan Farrelly, Una Curley, Claire McAteer, and Etaoin O'Reilly, Creative Spark hosted a series of engaging workshops as part of Cruinniu Bhride - Artist-in-the-Community project.

Its talented team of artists brought their expertise in various media, including textile and mixed media art, print art, and ceramics. Through collaborative efforts, these workshops will yield an impressive collection of unique artworks, each inspired by the timeless theme of Brigid of Faughart.

The exhibition promises to be a unique presentation of the community's creativity and appreciation for Brigid.

Creative Spark says it is proud to collaborate with groups, including the Irish Sign Language Group, Ashton School, Malta Connect, St John of Gods, Ardee Active Retirement, Gaelscoil Dhun Dealgan, Art as Exchange, Cooley Connect, Drogheda Library Book Club, local artists, AAEX, sea swimming groups, and Faughart School.

The exhibition will run from Saturday 27 January, from 10 am to 5 pm each day, until Monday 5 February and Creative Spark invites the public to visit them at 4-5 Clanbrassil Street, Dundalk, (formerly Houstons), for an experience celebrating Brigid.
Louth TD Peter Fitzpatrick has said that "proper resources and investment are required to deliver social and affordable houses" and called on the Government to "build more houses".

Deputy Fitzpatrick was speaking in the Dail this week, where he said that housing is consistently the number one issue of concern for his constituents in Louth and East Meath.

Commenting on Tanaiste Micheal Martin claims that the Government had delivered more than 100,000 homes since 2020, Deputy Fitzpatrick highlighted that "the number of people living in emergency accommodation has continued to climb and according to the latest figures, more than 13,000 people are without a home.

"On top of that", he continued, "the average rent has increased by 60% since 2015, despite a rent cap on existing tenancies, while house prices have risen by more than 3% in the past year."

The Independent TD continued: "Countless people are being locked out of buying a home because the issue is directly connected to the fact that most of the new-build housing supply is expensive, investor-funded build-to-rent, backed by the Government through tax breaks and incentives.

"The Housing for All plan is completely dependent on private markets and global vulture funds. Government policies have facilitated and incentivised the displacement of struggling home buyers by investment funds in the housing market.

"For example, the State agency set up in 2009 to take over bad property loans from the banks sold off a huge amount of land and large number of apartments at major discounts to global real-estate funds, and social housing schemes were developed for them.

"These vulture fund corporations are getting massive public funds, like the housing assistance payment, HAP, and the rental accommodation scheme, RAS, payments. This encapsulates the disaster of a for-profit market and the communities-driven approach to the housing crisis. This is why the crisis is getting worse day by day.

"The right to housing should come before the supposed right of vulture funds and others to maximise their profits. When it comes to corporate landlords we should take property into public ownership and turn it into public housing on the basis of affordable rent."

The Louth TD went on to say that "Ireland has huge numbers of vacant and derelict properties and available land. We have the wealth and finances to provide sufficient housing.

"We need councils to buy, build or acquire social and affordable houses. We need to fund the tenant in situ scheme and the cost-rental scheme. We play a central role in ensuring there is enough housing and that social housing needs are met. We must keep looking at ways to accelerate house building, which relates to capacity within the housing industry."

Deputy Fitzpatrick concluded by saying, "People come to my constituency office on Mondays and Fridays to discuss this. Money is not the problem. The Government needs to build more houses and look after the people who need housing most of all."
"I'm worried about the future of my children." I'm thinking about returning to Abyei so that I could provide an education for my children. But if the war comes to an end I'll return to Khartoum and my house as soon as possible, and my husband will be able to work." Photographer: Fais Abubakr | 10/12/2023 | Alsafat Camp, Wad Madani

What is happening in Wad Madani, Sudan?

On December 15, 2023, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) launched an attack on Wad Madani, Sudan, and took control of several other cities and areas in Al Jazirah state within days. Since then, more than half a million people have fled the fighting and ensuing insecurity, including about 234,000 internally displaced people who had previously sought refuge in Wad Madani as violence in Khartoum intensified.

The chaos following the evolving conflict dynamics and the severe insecurity and widespread violence created an environment in which Doctors Without Borders (MSF) could no longer operate in Wad Madani. MSF had to suspend all activities and evacuate its staff from Wad Madani on December 19, leaving behind a population with even less access to basic medical services. We also had to evacuate staff from Damazine, Um Rakuba in Gedaref state, and Doka. In Damazine, we reduced activities.

What are the conditions in Wad Madani, and how is MSF helping?

MSF has been present in Wad Madani since May 2023. Conditions were already dire for the half a million internally displaced people living there, which made up 8 per cent of all internally displaced people in Sudanalready the worlds largest internal displacement crisis, with more than 6 million forced from their homes within the country in addition to more than 1.42 million who have fled across borders. Between May and November, MSF teams performed 18,390 medical consultations (40 per cent of them for children under 15 years old) in several of the hundreds of locations hosting displaced people across the state, some in schools or old public buildings.

Through its mobile clinics, MSF diagnosed and referred 66 children suffering from severe acute malnutrition with serious complications in the past six monthscases that could be fatal if not treated in a hospital urgently, says Slaymen Ammar, MSF medical coordinator for Sudan. But health facilities were overwhelmed. As the population of the city had increased by 30 per cent, there were more and more patients, but considerable supply and staffing challenges. As prices soared for all goods, access to lifesaving services was an obstacle for both displaced people and regular residents. Nowadays, with the departure of most international organisationsand despite efforts of local volunteer health workerswe can only assume it has worsened.

What are we witnessing in Wad Madani?

During the last month, MSF teams in Gedaref and Kassala stateswhere MSF has been operational since 2021 in response to the Ethiopian Tigray crisiswitnessed the arrival of thousands of people from Wad Madani and are currently assessing and responding to the escalating health and humanitarian needs. In Tanideba (Gedaref), MSF has started a short-term emergency intervention for newly displaced Ethiopian refugees and Sudanese citizens, covering basic health care, water and sanitation, and food rations. This included one-off distributions and donations. However, it is important to note that activities in Tanideba were temporarily reduced for a short while due to the escalation of conflict in Wad Madani.

The conflict in Sudan has caused immeasurable suffering, displaced millions, killed thousands, and injured countless others. For many displaced people, Gedaref and Kassala are just the latest stops in a long journey to seek safety, during which they have suffered violence and have endured a lack of essential needs such as food, clean water, sanitation, and access to medical care.

Internally displaced people in Wad Madani, Sudan.

We are originally from Darfur, but because of the violent clashes and the crisis over there, we went to Khartoum. But the war followed us to Khartoum, so we went to Wad Madani. And then, the story continues, says Maha, a displaced woman who arrived with her family in Tanideba IDP camp two weeks ago from Wad Madani. Mahas family fled Khartoum eight months ago after a shelling hit their house and severely injured one of her children.

We were six people in the house, and at that time I was nine months pregnant. Our house was destroyed. I was hit on my arm, but my child got a much worse injury on his head. We managed to take him to the hospital because he needed urgent lifesaving surgery. But as soon as he was discharged, we had to flee the city because of insecurity. We arrived in the internally displaced camp in Wad Madani, and I delivered there, she continues.

In mid-December, Maha and her family fled once again to Tanideba: Clashes started, and we started hearing sounds of fires and those armed men fighting again. Immediately, we decided to leave. I started thinking about where we should go now. Nowhere was safe at that time.

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In a region where healthcare and essential medicine were already extremely limited, displaced populations are now suffering from growing health demands stemming from the direct and indirect effects of violence. Basic needs are now further escalating and need an urgent response.

"At the gathering sites in Kassala city, displaced people told our teams they havent received any assistance since their arrival in mid to late December, explains Pauline Lenglart, MSF emergency project coordinator in Sudan. Families are sleeping on the ground, access to healthcare is still severely restricted, there are few working medical facilities, and medicines aren't provided for free. Many people have told us that they are unable to afford items like food and medicine, forcing them to choose between these necessities. The MSF team is constantly evaluating the needs at new sites that are opening to house recently displaced people. In all these places, we see that the amount of humanitarian assistance provided is still woefully inadequate to meet people's basic needs and ensure [their] dignified living conditions."
On 21 November 2023, airport workers hold a box containing vials of malaria vaccine that has just arrived in Yaounde, Cameroon, as part of the first shipment of the first WHO-approved malaria vaccine. Shipments of the worlds first WHO-recommended malaria vaccine, RTS,S, have begun with 331,200 doses landing in Cameroon. The delivery was the first to a country not previously involved in the malaria vaccine pilot programme and signalled the start of the scale-up of vaccination against malaria across the highest-risk areas on the African continent. Nearly every minute, a child under five dies of malaria. In 2021, there were 247 million malaria cases globally, which led to 619,000 deaths. Of these deaths, 77 per cent were children under 5 years of age, mostly in Africa. Malaria burden is the highest on the African continent, which accounts for approximately 95% of global malaria cases and 96% of related deaths in 2021. A further 1.7 million doses of the RTS,S vaccine are expected to arrive in Burkina Faso, Liberia, Niger and Sierra Leone in the coming weeks, with additional African countries set to receive doses in the months ahead.

analysis

These are among the most common counterfeit drugs worldwide. Several promising interventions aim to combat the illegal trade.

Malaria infected 234 million people in Africa in 2021 - 593 000 of whom died, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO). Equally shocking is that counterfeit and substandard antimalarial medicines result in the deaths of as many as 267 000 people in sub-Saharan Africa annually.

Over the years, the antimalarial drugs that were widely recommended and supplied in West Africa - chloroquine and sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine - have lost their efficacy. 'Something needed to be done,' said Dr Sunday Olise at Abuja's Orozo Medical Centre. 'Many governments in the sub-region went with the recommendation of the WHO to shift to artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACT).'

However, because of their efficacy and widespread use, antimalarial medications, especially ACT, were among the most common counterfeit drugs in the world, he said. Globally, China and India are the main producers of ACTs and numerous other drugs. The United Arab Emirates, Singapore and Hong Kong serve as transit hubs in the global supply chain.

This market is constantly evolving. Dr Modu Sonkoh of the Edward Francis Small Teaching Hospital in The Gambia explained that fake malaria drugs were typically produced in illicit laboratories, often in African and Asian countries with weak regulatory systems.

A 2023 United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime report identifies West Africa, especially Guinea and Burkina Faso, as hotspots for the sale of fake medicines. According to the report, unauthorised importers in these two countries request legal and illegal laboratories in India to produce drugs with reduced active ingredients, to cut costs. The supply chain includes employees in authorised distribution centres, pharmacists, private depot sellers, government officials and people involved in healthcare sector corruption.

Malaria killed 593 000 people in Africa in 2021 - and fake antimalarials kill half that number every year

However, African governments are fighting back, including by making use of technological advancements and track-and-trace systems. James Ogoegbulem, Managing Director of Aid Emergency Consolidated Services in Abuja, told the ENACT project that the track-and-trace system required 'a scan at each interaction with a medical product, spanning from its entry point to its [being dispensed].'

In the case of ACTs, he said, 'All reputable pharmacies in Nigeria have signed up to the system. Nigeria is now adopting forensic techniques and systems that can embed unique authentication markers throughout the pharmaceutical distribution chain, ensuring the integrity of products up to the point of patient administration.'

Ifeoma Nnamuchi, a microbiologist at Vintage Pharmacy in Abuja, Nigeria, told ENACT that Nigeria's government had started using medicine authentication technologies such as the Mobile Authentication Service. This text message-based initiative was introduced by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control. Using a code concealed under a scratch panel on drug packages, the authenticity of purchased medication can be confirmed through a free text message service.

Partnerships and information sharing among African countries are vital in combatting counterfeit ACT. According to Lansana Saccoh, a politician who campaigned in Sierra Leone's 2023 elections on an anti-crime platform, 'The effort to eliminate counterfeit ACTs in West Africa necessitates a comprehensive approach involving collaboration.'

He said although the Economic Community of West African States and the West Africa Health Organisation supported the region's pharmaceutical industry, 'more is needed to combat counterfeit ACTs through collaboration to ensure the operationalisation of Africa's Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Plan.'

African governments are making use of technological advancements and track-and-trace systems

A 2021 joint law enforcement operation spanning 20 African countries coordinated by INTERPOL and AFRIPOL, identified hundreds of suspects. It led to the confiscation of over 12 million illicit health products and the imprisonment of seven executives from a multinational pharmaceutical distribution firm in Benin for their involvement in selling counterfeit medicine.

In February 2023, Nigeria and Cameroon signed a cooperation agreement to disrupt the manufacture and distribution of fake medicines by facilitating an exchange of experiences and technical expertise. Such collaboration needs to be supported by robust regulatory frameworks and enforcement mechanisms.

The African Union's (AU) African Medicines Regulatory Harmonization programme is another worthwhile model. It works through regional economic communities to facilitate access to good-quality, safe and efficacious medical products. In support of the AU's programme, The Gambia's Medicines Control Agency is implementing stringent regulations for ACT, including licensing requirements for importers and quality testing of drugs.

The 2020 Lome Initiative, a binding agreement to criminalise the trafficking of counterfeit and substandard drugs in Africa, is also proving useful. For the first time, leaders from the Republic of the Congo, Ghana, Niger, Senegal, Togo and Uganda have elevated fake and substandard medicines to a top-tier political priority.

Limited resources and inadequate techniques for identifying fake drugs are obstacles to tackling the trade

The initiative led to the development of a 'comprehensive strategy to prevent, detect and respond to substandard and falsified medical products, including ... actions from education to border control, from supply chain integrity to transparent legal processes,' said WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

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'More West African countries should join [the Lome Initiative],' says Sonkoh. He noted that education was key to preventing counterfeit ACT, citing the Fight the Fakes Alliance as an example of where information dissemination was working. Led by a coalition of international organisations, the campaign raises awareness among communities and healthcare providers about the risks of fake drugs. The campaign has been active in Ghana since 2020.

In Nigeria, the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control spearheads public awareness initiatives, and since August 2021, has initiated campaigns in eight states. Dr Adebola Ajeye of Karshi General Hospital said they 'educate the public through media campaigns, community dialogues and grassroots engagement to combat counterfeit ACT.'

Tackling counterfeit antimalarial drugs poses a significant challenge, primarily because of the limited resources and inadequate techniques available for detecting and identifying fake medicines. By using appropriate technologies, collaboration and information sharing, countries are moving towards ensuring the availability of authentic ACT. This not only protects consumers but contributes to global action against fake pharmaceuticals.

Dr Feyi Ogunade, West Africa Organised Crime Observatory Coordinator, ENACT, ISS
A YOUGHAL entrepreneur who owns a pre-school facility and recently had a childrens book published, has added another string to her bow - she is running for election.

Alison Curtin, 31, who owns Scamps And Rascals pre-school in Ladysbridge, is hoping to stand as a Fine Gael candidate in the local elections in East Cork.

I love working with young kids, says Alison, who graduated in 2014 with a BA Honours degree in Early Years Education from UCC. Its great fun!

A year ago, she made a New Year resolution to write and publish a childrens book called The Pea and the Pansie start Big School. That was another success story for Alison.

I have worked with young children for many years now and I always wanted to write about my experiences in the form of a childrens book, she said, to hopefully provide comfort during time of change and transition in a childs school life. I completed the book in April and received great feedback about it.

Now she has a new resolution for 2024: to run for office on Cork County Council.

When her book was published she got to meet a few elected representatives.

The book was a really nice project, but I told no-one that I was working on it! said Alison I thoroughly enjoyed working on it and seeing it through to the end.

I held an official book launch in the Walter Raleigh Hotel in Youghal in August, which David Stanton TD, and Cllr Mary Linehan Foley attended.

So she has already rubbed shoulders with the powers-that-be?

Alison laughs.

I have! I really enjoyed meeting David and Mary. It was a lovely occasion.

Why is she now throwing her own hat into the ring and joining the robust world of election politics?

I was thinking about getting involved in the county council because I always had interest in civic affairs, says Alison.

I am always asked questions by parents about how to access various supports for children and I like doing research to come up with good practical advice.

Like many people, Id like our areas where we live to be safe and amenable to everybody with proper footpaths and fewer pot-holes.

Alison has achieved a lot.

I am to this day an entrepreneur, business owner and employer, all by the age of 30.

Youghal is a big part of her life.

I have lived in Youghal all of my life and I had the best childhood there, says Alison.

She has inherited the genes that care for community.

I come from a family with a tradition of public service, says Alison. My mother, known to many as Kay Curtin, was recently elected as President of the Youghal Chamber of Commerce and Tourism in recognition of her work for the good of the town over many years.

To go back a bit further, my great grand uncle William Broderick was Chairman of Cork County Council for 30 years.

I have always had an interest in politics, and I feel honoured to throw my hat into the ring, standing for the council as a Fine Gael representative.

Alison is proud to have the opportunity to represent her community, helping to promote and better it.

My both sets of grandparents, who are no longer with us, as Fine Gael supporters all their lives would be so proud to see me standing for office, she.

Coincidentally, my grandfather would have celebrated his 90th birthday on December 18, the day of my nomination. He would have considered my nomination the best present ever.

Alison Curtin with the childrens book she had published last year - she wants to join the Fine Gael ticket in this years elections to Cork County Council

Alison has rubbed shoulders with the most powerful person in the land too.

During the summer I had a great opportunity to speak to Taoiseach Leo Varadkar during a visit to Youghal and East Cork about concerns in my local area.

What did she say to Mr Varadkar?

I began by commending him for how he carried us through the Covid-19 pandemic and I also highlighted the struggles childcare providers like myself, and others nationwide, are experiencing at the moment due to a particular factor; funding.

Alison has plenty of areas where she wants to advocate for change.

I believe that over the years, especially as a businesswoman working in childcare, that I have gained great qualities that assist me in working well under pressure and in a fast-paced environment.

What are those qualities?

Patience, planning, time-keeping and observational skills, to name a few, says Alison. I also engage regularly with Tusla and Pobal and I have experienced what is involved in adhering to regulations and deadlines.

How would she use all her experience?

If I were to gain a seat as a Cork County Councillor, I would use the above qualities to tackle concerns and issues in the Youghal and East Cork area as well as a milestone approach similar to an approach I use in my everyday career.

For example?

For example, if a child is having trouble reaching a certain milestone for their age, as a childcare provider I observe, intervene, and arrange the relevant early years intervention.

I aim to observe the milestones in Youghal and East Cork that are also not being reached and I will intervene the best I can do to achieve these.

Youghal has gained some great amenities over the years.

Yes, it has, says Alison. The boardwalk and extended boardwalk, the wastewater treatment plant, the greenway, and the clock gate tower - but there is room for more in Youghal.

Alison has a compelling idea.

With a modest budget, we could create a series of small, fun and unique play areas spaced between the front and north main street and market, and market them alongside existing assets such as our picturesque beaches and Perks amusement centre.

This could be advertised as the Youghal Adventure Trail, encouraging families to park at Youghal beach and spend a number of hours exploring, resulting in an increase in spending on the main street. We need to put Youghal back on the map as the place families come to for a day out with the kids.

Alison understands the role of councillor.

I understand both the potential and the limitations of the role of councillor, and I am realistic in my plans, she says.

We all know that road safety on the N25 is a major issue. I believe I could secure, for example, new right-hand turning lanes into the petrol station in the Burgess area to prevent the road accidents which occur there regularly.

Alison knows all about the dangers of the roads.

I myself was involved in a serious collision at Burgess in February, 2022. My jaw was badly damaged by the impact. I am passionate about road safety. I learned quickly from this incident that a vehicle can be replaced but an individual cannot.

Alison learned from the floods in October that towns and villages in East Cork should have access to better flood relief methods.

I believe this is essential, she says.

Alison believes in herself.

The reason I am standing for the county council is that I believe, as a young female candidate with deep roots in Youghal town, that I can attract votes from across the political spectrum to return a fourth Fine Gael seat for the east Cork Municipal District, she says.

Alison, in her ambitious endeavour, has a little help from her friends.

I already have my own loyal team of 30 in training for the door-to-door canvassing, she says, laughing.

Even though their average age may only be three and a half, what they lack in political experience, they make up for in enthusiasm! Enthusiasm goes a long way!
An update from Cork City Council on the development of a new North West Regional Park has been welcomed, but a Cork City councillor said he had hoped for a shorter timeline on its delivery.

A design team should be appointed next month to draft a masterplan for the 100-hectare public park proposed for the northside of the city.

The park is an objective of the council as set out in the City Development Plan 2022-2028.

The development plan proposes a facility that would include recreational areas with interconnected spaces, including parks, ecosystems, greenways, and blueways.

In response to a question asked by Sinn Fein councillor Mick Nugent, at a recent meeting of Cork City Council, the citys head of infrastructure, Gerry OBeirne, confirmed that tenders for the appointment of a multidisciplinary design team to progress the masterplan were issued in November 2023.

Mr OBeirne said that the successful tenderer will be appointed in February and that preparation of the masterplan will be progressed thereafter.

Mr Nugent was informed at the meeting that it may be 12 months before a draft proposal for the new park would be presented to council members in advance of public consultation.

Speaking to The Echo, Mr Nugent said: I would have hoped for, ideally, a shorter timeline on its delivery, but at least there is going to be some movement, in the short term, in getting a masterplan of what is being looked at.

I think it is useful that the council feels that there is an appropriate amount of land there for the park.

Some land had been rezoned and I know city council was looking at speaking to landowners, but they feel there is enough land there to progress now to the next stages, in terms of putting out a tender and then moving on to design; so there is some progress there.

Mr Nugent said he would be keeping the park on the radar, as it is essential for the northwest area.
An animal welfare charity is on high alert following social media exchanges linking Cork to a possible major illegal sulky race.

Kelly Mellerick, who runs animal welfare organisation My Lovely Horse, said she has been in contact with gardai in the hope of preventing any such event from going ahead.

She spoke of how animal rights advocates connected with the charity had managed to infiltrate groups discussing sizeable bets and possible Cork race locations.

Ms Mellerick, who lives in Cobh, said the charity had been liaising with gardai after capturing screenshots relating to the illegal activity.

She opened up about the devastating impacts of illegal sulky racing witnessed by the charity.

Disturbing

The Cork woman said she finds the use of foals to drive sulkies as being particularly disturbing.

Ms Mellerick expressed concern in light of the severely injured animals she has encountered during the course of her work.

Were being told that theres a major race on the way, she said.

There is huge underground money being wagered on this and these events in general. This isnt putting down a tenner for the Grand National. We are talking about thousands of euro in cash thats exchanging hands at these events. We have seen foals that have been used for sulky racing when their bodies arent ready for it.

"A lot of the cases that come into us are never going to be suitable for riding because of the cruelty thats been inflicted on them. Their injuries mean they will only ever be suitable as companions. This is because their joints have been destroyed and will never be fit for a working life.

Horrific

She referred to one horrific case by way of example.

There was one foal we picked up in Cork who had a full set of shoes on, despite being only three months old. His little feet were so soft and baby-like that I dont know how he managed to lift them. The shoes werent done by a professional so they could have caused serious damage. When you look at the hoof of a horse, the outer shell is like our nails. The hard outer shell only has a very thin layer. Everything inside that is very sensitive. Fortunately, that horse was one of the lucky ones. We got the shoes straight off him and he is now in an amazing home with kids.

However, she stressed that not all horses seriously impacted by sulky races have been so lucky.

There are the likes of Trudy who we came across a few years ago and named at the time. When we found her behind some gorse, she was basically lying there dying. When she lifted her head and neighed at us it honestly tore me apart. She was emaciated and had cuts everywhere. It was obvious she was never getting back up. We were taking photographs for documentation purposes and even Gardai at the time were shocked when running cameras over this filly. They couldnt believe what they were seeing. She was already dying. All we could do was put her to sleep. She was destroyed but was still made to work every second up to the day she collapsed and died.

Dangers

Ms Mellerick reiterated the dangers of the underground sport.

There is no examination in advance of the event. When a horse enters a race they are normally checked out by a vet beforehand. Their hearts are checked. Their breathing is checked. Their tack is checked to ensure it is fitting right. None of this happens before an illegal sulky race," she said."

"Over the years we have seen horses dead on the side of roads. We've seen them after impacting parked cars and cars that are travelling. We've seen them just literally kind of discarded as soon as they die. Its rescues that have to come and pick up the pieces.
PEOPLE in Cork have described the proposed Pairc Ui Chaoimh name-change as an utter joke.

Following news earlier this week that the GAA stadium could potentially be renamed, The Echo asked the public for their opinions.

Details of the naming rights decision first came to light on Monday, when it was reported that Corks GAA headquarters was to be rebranded SuperValu Pairc or SuperValu Park under the deal.

The Pairc Ui Chaoimh stadium company filed an operating loss of around 331,000 last year, while Cork GAAs debt stands above 30m.

We know that the debt has to be paid, but this is the wrong way of doing it, Model Farm Rd local Noel Coffey told The Echo.

Northsider Conor Mullane said: Considering that even Micheal Martin has come out against this, you can tell that the people of Cork arent happy about it.

I go to lots of Cork games and I will never call it SuperValu Park.

The Tanaiste had previously stated that he is deeply disappointed and annoyed at the proposal to rename Pairc Ui Chaoimh.

Many members of the public highlighted the importance of the Pairc Ui Chaoimh name and its history, saying that a name change would be like taking away a piece of Cork.

I feel for the family of Padraig O Caoimh, who the Pairc is named after, Peter Connolly told The Echo.

It seems like they are being sold out and forgotten about when there is money being offered.

The grandson of Padraig O Caoimh, Donal O Caoimh, took to X, formerly Twitter, on Monday night to say he had learned of the decision through the media.

When asked, the Patrick St shoppers disagreed with the name change, however, most said they would be more receptive to a compromise, suggesting that SuperValu Pairc Ui Chaoimh would be a better alternative.

Odhran Fahy, Galway

I am actually from Galway, but even I dont think that they should change the name. If I feel like that, I cant imagine what the Cork supporters must be thinking about it. It is a sellout, really.

I would say that they will go and try and keep the Pairc Ui Chaoimh name now after seeing the reaction.

Even if they named it SuperValu Pairc Ui Chaoimh, it would be better.

Peter Connolly, Cathedral Road

Im against a name change. The name was there for the family and it feels like they are being sold out. Why cant they run a good few concerts and wipe the debt that way? Why should the familys name be scrubbed from it, just for a few pounds? Its a disgrace.

"I must congratulate Micheal Martin on nailing his colours to the mast, in fairness. I think it is just a joke, and to tell the truth, if I was asked about the change for Musgrave Park, I would be cribbing about too.

Triona ODonnell, The Lough

Im against it because I dont think the name is actually going to change. Everyone is still going to call it Pairc Ui Chaoimh. If SuperValu want to spend a bunch of money putting their name on it, they are welcome to, but I think it is going to be like the Heineken Cup. They renamed that years ago and it is still known as that.

SuperValu might as well try to get good press as opposed to the bad press this is getting. As well, anything as Gaeilge is nice.

Michael Broughton, Dublin

Its all about the money, at the end of the day. Like they have done with other stadiums, such as Breffni Park, they could make it a double-barrel name, Supervalu Pairc Ui Chaoimh maybe.

The history behind the current name is so important. I listened to the members of the O Caoimh family being interviewed the other day, and I see where they are coming from in all of this. I am all for the sponsorship, but also keeping hold of the history.

Conor Mullane, Mayfield

This is not going to sit right with the people of Cork. We are still going to call it Pairc Ui Chaoimh, we are not going to call it Supervalu Park at all. I cant imagine saying to my friends: Lads, will we head down to Supervalu Park there?.

Do I think it should be changed? No, due to its history, but it might have to be changed, because of the money.

Noreen and Christine, Ballintemple

We thought it was a joke. Why cant they just leave well enough alone? They should just leave it as it is.

You can only hope they will be reversing this decision. I suppose at the end of the day, if it does change, people will adjust to it.

The name SuperValu Park though just sounds like a joke. Lots of people were asking if it was an early April Fools Day joke when they heard it first.

Noel Coffey, Model Farm Road

For the people of Cork, itll always be Pairc Ui Chaoimh. It is nice to see there is a sponsor there, but it will always be Pairc Ui Chaoimh. It was definitely the wrong way of doing things. They should have consulted with clubs first.

At the end of the day, what is more important is putting a decent team on the pitch.

They are in debt, and they do have to pay it off, but why cant they get people in seats and hold big concerts and games there to do that?
A West Cork county councillor has announced he will not be contesting the next election, citing a number of reasons including not even being able to vote for himself.

Speaking to The Echo, Independent councillor Paul Hayes outlined four main reasons for his decision, one of which is the change in constituency which meant that the area he lives in no longer fell under the area he served.

A boundary change in 2019 meant that Courtmacsherry, where he lives, as well as other areas such as Timoleague, Ring and Darrara, were all moved from West Cork into the Bandon-Kinsale Municipal District.

I couldnt even vote for myself, he said.

Im down a lot of votes from family, friends, and people in my area, its a case of even before standing for election, Im on the back foot.

His second reason was the lack of funding given to councillors.

I think more powers need to be given to local government, and they need to properly resourced  given money to build houses, fix roads.

We are constantly writing letters to ministers and the Government asking for more funding to do the basic stuff, he said, noting public toilets, more facilities on beaches and Christmas lights in Clonakilty as issues that they could not provide the funding for.

Its quite frustrating when people are contacting us as their elected representatives, but we havent the funds to provide what I would regard as basic services, and constituents are getting frustrated with us because of it, he said.

He also said that the job was no longer financially viable.

From my own personal point of view, I couldnt afford to make a full-time job of being a county councillor, were not paid a full-time wage, a lot of people think were on the same level as a TD or a senator and that we have secretaries, but we have to do everything ourselves.

Im in Killarney selling coffee at the moment and I have to be back down to Clonakilty for a meeting this evening.

If I want to send a press release or reply to my emails, I have to fit that in around work.

Being a county councillor is a full-time job on a part-time wage, and if theyre trying to attract people into standing for election, they need to pay them more.

For me personally, my day job is getting busier and more demanding  its getting harder and harder to juggle everything, he continued, adding that when he started as a councillor 10 years ago meetings were largely kept to Monday and Friday, meaning he could work the other three days at his other job, but the scheduling of them is a lot less predictable now and they can be on any day of the week.

Finally, he said: Ive had my crack at it, I did 10 years on the Clonakilty town council and two terms in Cork County Council. There comes a time when you have to let new people come into roles with fresh ideas.

Ill probably miss it a lot, its been a part of my life for 20 years, but I have other interests as well and I am looking forward to getting to spend a bit more time at them.
Kampala, Uganda  The summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) got underway this week in Uganda's capital, Kampala, where delegations from Somalia and the Palestinian people are lobbying members for support. While the Palestinians are calling on members to find a way to end the conflict in Gaza, Somalia says it needs support to maintain its territorial integrity.

Ninety-three out of 120 NAM nations are represented in Kampala for the 19th summit of the movement.

For the plenary session that began Monday, Arab nations made clear that Gaza must be the focus of the meeting.

Delegates said the NAM summit must find the right language to address what they called "the violent and savage aggression by the state of Israel in perpetuating a genocide" in Gaza.

A delegate from Mauritius said the summit must make a political declaration on the war, which broke out October 7 after the Palestinian militant group Hamas attacked Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking about 240 hostage, 105 of whom were released in November. Israel's military response reportedly has killed more than 24,000 Palestinians.

Riyadh Mansour, the Palestinian ambassador to the United Nations, said he does not expect any country to disagree with calling for a cease-fire and humanitarian assistance for the 2.3 million Palestinians displaced from their homes.

"We are not asking for anything other than standing with us against this aggression," he said. "We are facing a massive calamity. I don't think it's an exaggeration from us to expect support from our brothers and sisters from the movement."

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Uganda recently took over chairmanship of the Non-Aligned Movement from Azerbaijan.

Vincent Bagiire, the permanent secretary at the Ugandan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, says the agenda for the plenary session will be decided by consensus.

"We have not subjected the matter of Palestine and Gaza to whether it should be the major topic that we discuss," he said. "So, Uganda will focus on creating cohesion within the movement to ensure that we can work together as a movement for the good of humanity."

Delegates from Somalia are calling for the 120-state movement to support its territorial integrity and sovereignty.

Early this month, Ethiopia signed an agreement with Somaliland, a breakaway region from Somalia, giving Ethiopia access to the sea. In return, Ethiopia would consider recognizing Somaliland as an independent country.

Hamza Adan Haadow, permanent secretary in the Somali Ministry of Foreign Affairs, says the agreement "violates our rights, our integrity and our unity." "So, that's why we are pushing, and we believe that the peace that we had will continue if the Non-Alignment Movement stands with us," he added.

Both the Somali and Palestinian representatives have five days to convince delegates to prioritize their concerns and come up with resolutions before heads of state fly to Uganda for the summit at the end of this week.
A WELSH man arrested for his alleged part in a 160,000 drugs transaction in a hotel carpark in Cork has been remanded in custody until February 7.

Julius Sobul, aged 42, of Collingwood Avenue, Newport, Gwent, Wales, appeared at Cork District Court having been charged by Garda Ruairi McGovern with possession of cannabis, having it for sale or supply, and money-laundering in respect of 39,500 in cash.

Judge Mary Dorgan adjourned the case against Mr Sobul, on the application of Sergeant Gearoid Davis at Cork District Court.

It is alleged that on December 19, 2023, gardai observed a transaction taking place in the carpark of the Radisson Hotel in Little Island, Cork, between the occupants of two vehicles and when officers moved in to carry out a search, they found 160,000 worth of cannabis and 39,500 in cash.

A 43-year-old Lithuanian national who has been living in Ireland for the past 17 years, Mindaugas Stancikas, of The Mews, Riverstown House, Glanmire, Co Cork, is also before the court on similar charges of money-laundering, possession of cannabis for sale or supply, and having cannabis for his own use, arising out of the same incident.

The allegations previously outlined in court were that an English-registered Vauxhall and an Irish-registered Range Rover were observed by gardai in the carpark.

It was alleged that one man exited the Range Rover with a package and entered the Vauxhall while the driver of the Vauxhall placed a large bag in the rear of the Range Rover.

At this point they were approached by gardai and informed they were to be searched under the Misuse of Drugs Act.

The package placed in the Vauxhall was recovered and found to contain 39,500 cash, and the large bag was found to contain approximately 8kg of cannabis with an estimated street value of 160,000, it was alleged, Det Gda Crowley said.

Mr Sobul is in custody. Mr Stancikas is on bail on conditions that included substantial cash lodgement and surety.

Defence solicitor Frank Buttimer represents both accused.
EXCITEMENT is building ahead of the unveiling of the 2023 Blarney and District Person of the Year, at a ceremony in the Castle Hotel, Blarney, on Saturday, January 27.

The annual awards, set to be attended by more than 150 guests, are one of the high points on the social calendar.

One of the awards organisers, Kate Durrant, said they aim to recognise achievement, leadership, and altruism in community, sport, business, arts, family or, indeed, from any sector or activity in the local community, so that others may be inspired to follow.

With so many worthy monthly winners during 2023, our panel of judges have, once again, a particularly difficult task on their hands to choose an overall winner, said Ms Durrant.

She said that while the nominees come from a range of backgrounds, they all have one thing in common.

Through their lives and achievements, each and every one of them have excelled in their own special way. In that regard, they are all winners.

The nominees for the award this year include retired home-help assistant Noreen OMahony; best-selling author Michelle McDonagh; Miss Cork Rachel OLeary; World Transplant Games medal winner Mairead OMahony; Catherina Casey, who recently received the Freedom of the City of London in recognition of her work with the Irish community in London; and Micheal Mullins, the Whitechurch midfielder who captained his county at the All-Ireland U20 final.

The winner of last years Blarney and District Person of the Year award was popular Inniscarra man John Connolly.

One of the 2023 monthly nominees will also be entered into the Hall of Fame, joining the All-Ireland-winning theatre group Blue Hat Productions, which was honoured with the prestigious accolade last year.
A VINTAGE motorcycle was stolen at night from an underground car park in Cork and the owner later spotted it for sale on DoneDeal.

The matter came to light at Cork District Court, where 56-year-old Eddie Jones, of Cherry Lawn, Church Road, Blackrock, pleaded guilty to a charge of handling stolen property.

Sergeant Gearoid Kelleher said that on April 20, 2023, the owner of the vintage NSU motorbike, valued at 1,200, reported it was stolen overnight from an underground car park at Hartys Quay, Rochestown Road, Cork. The owner later saw the bike advertised on the DoneDeal website.

Detective Garda Declan Healy spoke with Eddie Jones on May 11, 2023, and he admitted that he bought the motorcycle for 400 from a man he did not know and he knew there was something dodgy about it when he didnt receive the logbook as promised.

He then sold it on for 500 and the bike was recovered in Bantry and returned to the rightful owner, Sgt. Davis said.

Defence solicitor Eddie Burke said Mr Jones bought the bike and was pleading guilty at the earliest opportunity to the single count of handling stolen property, knowing that the property was stolen or being reckless as to whether it was stolen.
Uisce Eireann is working to restore water supply to approximately 200 homes in Mitchelstown following a burst watermain.

The water utility company, formerly known as Irish Water, said the affected properties are along Mulberry Rd in the North Cork town.

In an update this evening, Uisce Eireann said repairs are due to be carried out tomorrow morning from 6am.

It is anticipated that repairs should be completed by tomorrow afternoon.

Speaking about the unplanned outage, Uisce Eireanns, Cormac Bergin said:

We understand how disruptive unplanned outages are and we would like to thank impacted customers in the area for their patience while we work to restore the water supply as quickly as possible.

We regret any inconvenience as a result of this issue.

Customers are advised that it typically takes two to three hours following the estimated restoration time for normal water supply to fully restore to all areas.

The Uisce Eireann customer care helpline is open 24/7 on 1800 278 278 for any customers with queries.

Customers can also contact Uisce Eireann on X, formerly Twitter, @IWCare with any queries.

For updates see the water supply updates section on the companys website, www.water.ie.
A Leeside music and film enthusiast is bringing some joy to January with an innovative festival combining the two passions.

Ronan Leonard, who has been presenting one-off screenings in various venues and festivals in Ireland, Europe and the UK since 2009, is the creative producer and presenter of CineCeoil.

Its a festival celebrating music in film  so thats music documentaries, thats music videos and then its film thats deeply inspired by music, he said of the three-day festival running this weekend.

Ive always wanted to develop my presentation of a live in-person radio show of music videos and hitting a 15th anniversary seems like the right time, its a real if not now, when? moment.

I have selected three feature-length films and four music video programmes that stretch across genres but also cover so much of what both music and film tap into; the personal, the political, the heartfelt, the loud, the quiet, the accessible, the awkward, the fun and the inventiveness of expressing yourself with whatever you have at hand.

The festival, which will be held in The Pavilion on Careys Lane, will feature the Irish premiere of Jacqueline Reem Salloums Slingshot Hip Hop (Saturday, 3.30pm)  a documentary film on the Palestinian Hip Hop movement.

Its about people using their voices in Palestine to express themselves. That was made 15 years ago, but its probably even more relevant now than it was then, Ronan said.

CineCeoil Festival: Love, Gilda

Saturdays lineup will also feature the world premiere of The Year of The Langer (6.30pm), a film directed and produced by Scooter Twomey using footage he recorded over a year with Los Langeros  a group of Irish, Scottish and English musicians who were based in Cork in the late 2000s and early 2010s.

On Sunday evening, CineCeoil will screen the Irish premiere of Love, Gilda (7pm)  a 2018 American Canadian documentary directed and co-produced by Lisa DApolito about the life and career of Gilda Radner using Radners diaries, audio tapes, home movies and interviews with some of her closest friends.

Radner was the very first performer to be hired for the legendary Saturday Night Live in 1975 and what followed was a glittering solo and ensemble comedic journey, her health and her marriage to Gene Wilder until her death in 1989.

Celebrating music videos is the second strand of what CineCeoil is all about, and there will be four shows running for approximately 40 minutes each.

CineCeoil #28 today at 6pm will focus mainly on music videos from the last 12 months, mostly but not exclusively Irish.

This will be followed by CineCeoil #29 at 7pm which will feature a wide range of interesting videos from many corners and genres of the globe.

CineCeoil #30 on Sunday at 4pm will be a mix of music videos and songs selected to entertain all ages and CineCeoil #31 on Sunday at 5pm will be all instrumental music videos.

Music videos are a great way for ideas to be shared, many great film directors have cut their teeth making them, and many musicians have managed to reach audiences in areas that they havent yet played in, he added.

Some have become iconic, more have been memorable and many have been very effective.

Ronan Leonard presents CineCeoil this weekend, featuring Love, Gilda and Slingshot Hip Hop.

Showcasing a diverse range of work on big screens and proper sound systems is at the heart of CineCeoils ethos.

An issue has existed since smartphones became prevalent  but particularly from habits we developed during lockdown  we have got used to sharing YouTube clips on social media and WhatsApp to show we like (or dont like) things but we dont share time watching them together.

CineCeoil is about trying to find a more communal way to give the work of musicians and filmmakers a good listen and concentrated watch, on big screens and proper sound systems, said Ronan. People put so much passion into making things, but as an audience weve got very passive about how we receive it.

And for Mr Leonard, who is also a member of the IndieCork team, entertaining people has been a lifelong pursuit.

Ive always been a putter-onner of stuff and a liker of ideas. My first ever band, our second gig I put on when I was too young to be in the pub!

I get bored when things arent happening, and I just want more things to happen, and this is something I can make happen.

Ticketing for the upcoming festival will be on a pay-as you-can model, which Ronan said has been made possible by the support of Judy Wilkins and Benny McCabe at The Pavilion.

Its incredibly accessible for everyone because Im doing it as a pay-as you-can model.

Theres some people who have nothing in their pocket and theyre more than welcome and theres other people who have a little something in their pocket and theyre more than welcome too.

Its a very modest festival putter-onner, its a complete one man band operation!

Any money raised, says Ronan, will be split towards paying the creators, the festival costs and future projects of CineCeoil.

Its also hoped that CineCeoil will help people to beat the January blues.

This is the worst weekend of the year  everyones bills come in and the back-to-school blues have hit in peoples houses  so Ive deliberately chosen this weekend as the weekend to try it, he concluded.

Booking in advance is advised via Eventbrite - here.
Kenneth Fox

A controlled explosion was carried out at the scene where a man died in a blast at a homeless hostel in Dublin city.

They are assisting gardai with their investigation into a fatal explosion at the hostel in Dublin on Thursday.

One man died in an explosion at the DePaul hostel on Little Britain Street. The man, aged in his 30s, was pronounced dead at the scene.

As the Irish Examiner reports, the explosion was confined to one room within the property, and no one else was injured.

In a statement late on Thursday night, gardai said they are "actively investigating the cause of an explosion" and have commenced a forensic and technical examination with assistance from the Army Explosive Ordnance Disposal service.

An autopsy is due to be carried out on Friday on the man who died.

DePaul confirmed all those who had been staying at the shelter were safely evacuated and alternative accommodation for them has been found.

In a statement, a spokesperson said: "DePaul can confirm that all service users in our Little Britain Street service have been evacuated from the building tonight and alternative placements have been found following the incident today.

"The building was evacuated in an exemplary manner, adhering to our safety protocol.

"Our heart goes out to the service user who lost their life, as well as their family and service users who were in the building at the time.

"This was an isolated incident, confined to one room and no other service users were physically harmed in this incident.

"We wish to thank the emergency services, DRHE (Dublin Region Homeless Executive), and our NGO partners for their assistance in the emergency response."
Alison O'Riordan

Gardai recovered a pair of bloodied boots from a house where a man who is alleged to have kicked his 79-year-old uncle to death was said to have stayed the night before the body was found, the Central Criminal Court has heard.

Thomas Lorigan (34), of no fixed abode, has pleaded not guilty for the murder of widower John O'Neill (79) at St Brendans Road, Lisdoonvarna, Co Clare on a date unknown between January 6th and 7th, 2022.

It is the prosecution's case that the pensioner died after a vicious attack by his nephew, who they submit had repeatedly kicked him to the head while wearing steel-capped boots.

A garda witness has described to the jury the moment she found the body of Mr O'Neill on his kitchen floor. She said he had been "severely beaten" to the point where he was "unrecognisable".

The trial has heard that Mr Lorigan was known by the nickname 'Mossy' in the Clare area and was the deceased's nephew. Mr O'Neill lived alone and previously ran a bed and breakfast at his home with his wife, who passed away in the summer of 2021.

Witness Walter Burke has testified that the accused occasionally came to his home at Gleann Bhreandain in Lisdoonvarna, and had stayed the night at least three times.

He said Mr Lorigan had left his house at one point on the night of January 6th, 2022, and returned before midnight telling him that he had a row with his uncle.

The witness said the accused went to bed, but during the night had mentioned to him that he felt the row "was more serious than he first told me" and that somebody could be hurt.

Mr Burke said after a third conversation about the row the next morning, he rang emergency services as he thought Mr O'Neill might be hurt and need medical help.

Bloodied boots

Giving evidence on Friday, Garda John Costello told Aoife O'Leary BL, for the Director of Public Prosecutions, that he went to a house at Gleann Bhreandain in Lisdoonvarna on January 7th, 2022, where he found a pair of boots behind an armchair inside a patio door.

"There appeared to me to be blood on the boots," he said.

The garda said he also found a pair of blue jeans just outside the patio door. He pointed out the items to Sergeant Joe Fallon later that afternoon, he said.

The next witness, Sgt Fallon, said when he arrived at the house that afternoon, he seized the size 46 'Portwest' boots and the pair of jeans. He said he saw a small splatter of blood under the boots, from which he took a swab.

Sgt Fallon said he noticed a pair of gloves when he went to pick up the damp jeans. "The gloves were covered over in the waist of the pants and they were dry," he said.

The next witness, Sean McNamara, told Eilis Brennan SC, prosecuting, that he was working in his father's pub in Lisdoonvarna, The Irish Arms, on January 6th, 2022.

The witness said he had known Mr O'Neill all his life and was very good friends with him.

Mr McNamara said Mr O'Neill would usually have a couple of pints in the pub around 6pm each day before going home for dinner between 7 and 7.30pm.

The witness said Mr O'Neill was in the pub on the evening of January 6th and in good form. Asked by counsel whether he had noticed any marks on Mr O'Neill, the witness said "absolutely not".

"He was chatting to everyone, a real people's person, he was very well known throughout north Clare," Mr McNamara added.

John said he had spuds boiling and left very quickly.

Referring to an evening in October 2021, Mr McNamara agreed with the barrister that 'a person' had once come into the pub when Mr O'Neill was there.

He also agreed that on that October night, Mr O'Neill had ordered a pint before spotting his nephew sitting on his own.

The witness further agreed that Mr O'Neill had drunk his pint very quickly before leaving the pub and there was no interaction between the pair.

"John said he had spuds boiling and left very quickly," Mr McNamara said.

Jason Whelan said he was in The Irish Arms around 7.30pm on January 6th and that Mr O'Neill had bought him a pint.

"He was in great form and had a big smile as he always had on him," he said.

Mr Whelan said he left the pub with Mr O'Neill around 8pm and walked him to his car. "I said see you soon and that was the last time I saw him," the witness said.

Mr Whelan said he saw Mr O'Neill driving in the direction of his home.

'Fit as a fiddle'

Mr O'Neill's son, Sean O'Neill, told Ms Brennan that the accused has been known as 'Mossy' since he was a baby.

Mr O'Neill said the accused's late mother, Geraldine, was his father's younger sister.

He said his father had regularly helped out and provided financial assistance if needed when Geraldine split up with her husband, adding that his father had become a guardian to the accused when he was younger. However, he said there was very limited contact between Mr Lorigan and the witness's parents.

Under cross-examination, Sean O'Neill told defence counsel Michael Bowman SC that he thought the accused was 12 or 13 when Geraldine had passed away.

The deceased's other son, Graham O'Neill, told the jury that his mother had died in July 2021 and his father had kept the B&B open until September that year.

He said his late father was "as fit as a fiddle", was living independently, and was very capable.

Mr O'Neill added that he was aware the accused was "around the area" but had no contact with him.

The trial continues on Monday before Mr Justice Paul McDermott and a jury of five men and seven women.
Founded in 2005 as an Ohio-based environmental newspaper, EcoWatch is a digital platform dedicated to publishing quality, science-based content on environmental issues, causes, and solutions.

Premier of Nunavut P.J. Akeeagok (seated third from left) at the signing of the Nunavut Lands and Resources Devolution Agreement in the Nunavut capital Iqaluit on Jan. 18, 2024. P.J. Akeeagok / Twitter

The Canadian government made its largest land transfer in history on Thursday when it officially signed over the massive Arctic territory of Nunavut to its own government, who will now have control over the 808,200 square miles of sparsely populated mountains, tundra and vast mineral reserves.

The Nunavut Lands and Resources Devolution Agreement signed by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Premier of Nunavut P.J. Akeeagok, President of Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated Aluki Kotierk and the Minister of Northern Affairs Dan Vandal means the territory will have the right to royalties from any exploration and development that would have otherwise gone to the Canadian government, said a press release from Trudeau and Reuters.

Namminiqsurniq, or devolution, is one more step towards the vision of a self-reliant Nunavut. With the signing of this agreement, we can now bring decision-making about our land and waters home. It means that we, the people most invested in our homeland, will be the ones managing our natural resources. While it has taken generations of our leaders to achieve this work, todays signing of the devolution agreement is primarily for young Nunavummiut across our territory, Akeeagok said in the press release.

The northernmost territory of Canada was created in 1999 and has a population of around 40,000 mostly Inuit Peoples.

With the agreement, Nunavut and its residents will now be able to make decisions about how public lands, freshwater, and non-renewable resources are used in the territory, and reap the benefits of responsible and sustainable resource development, the press release said.

The territory is the coldest Canadian region and is lacking in infrastructure, which pushes operating costs through the roof.

Talks for the transfer of Nunavut to its people began in 2014, Reuters reported. Before the agreement, Nunavut was the only northern territory of Canada that did not have a devolution agreement.

Nunavut, in Inuktitut, means our land. Its creation, through the Nunavut Agreement, was a critical step towards Inuit having meaningful control over the fate of our homeland, Kotierk said in the press release.

Some of the critical minerals used in electric vehicle batteries are found in Nunavut, but local communities are wary of the environmental harm caused by mining, reported Reuters.

A request to double iron mining production on the Mary River in northern Nunavut in 2022 was rejected by Ottowa due to its environmental impact.

The signing of the Nunavut Devolution Agreement marks a new chapter for Nunavut, where decision-making will be in the hands of Nunavummiut, whose culture, economy, and aspirations are closely linked to the lands around them. This historic agreement reflects and supports their needs and priorities and ensures that economic and other benefits of resource development in the region are shared with Inuit and all Nunavummiut, Vandal said in the press release.

The transfer of the territory will be made over the course of the next three years, with a scheduled completion date of April 1, 2027.

Thank you to our precious Elders, leaders, and negotiators for all your hard work to get us to this devolution agreement. Thank you to the youth of our territory for inspiring us. Together, we will carry Nunavut forward to its full potential, Akeeagok said on social media.
(Photo: U.S. National Register of Historic Places)Memorial Hall at Harvard University where satanic occultists had planned to hold a black mass in May that was called off after Catholic Church opposition.

The man elected as chief chaplain at Harvard, Greg Epstein, does not believe in God, but he got the backing of an evangelical pastor.

He will serve a university founded in 1636 to train Protestant clergy with the choice drawing some flak over twitter, but acceptance at the oldest institution of higher education in the United States.

"The Puritan colonists who settled in New England in the 1630s had a nagging concern about the churches they were building: How would they ensure that the clergymen would be literate?," The New York Times reported on Aug. 26.

"Their answer was Harvard University, a school that was established to educate the ministry and adopted the motto 'Truth for Christ and the Church.' It was named after a pastor, John Harvard, and it would be more than 70 years before the school had a president who was not a clergyman."

For its first 70 years, the university did not have a president who wasn't a clergyman.

The appointment is sure to strike a nerve, with some already taking to Twitter to express confusion or outright dissatisfaction with the appointment, Fox News reported.

Evangelist Franklin Graham (@Franklin_Graham) took to Twitter saying "Why would @Harvard  or any other university  hire a head chaplain who doesn't even believe in God?"

A person using the handle, The Panda Detective (@DaveyCLand), tweeted, "It sounds like a grift. At the very least it shows that Harvard regards atheism as a more than suitable alternative to religious belief. No surprise there, but they have deprived the students of a legitimate chaplain."

The Mail Online ran a subhead saying, "Ivy League school says it's catering to the 40% of students who are NOT religious or agnostic."

HUMANIST CHAPLAIN

Epstein has been Harvard's "humanist chaplain" since 2005 and is the author of the bestselling book "Good Without God: What a Billion Nonreligious People Do Believe."

He will lead a group of more than 40 chaplains who represent some 20 different religions and beliefs including Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Sikishm, Hinduism and Buddhism.

His appointment comes as young people in the United States increasingly identify as spiritual but without a religious affiliation.

"There is a rising group of people who no longer identify with any religious tradition but still experience a real need for conversation and support around what it means to be a good human and live an ethical life," Epstein, who was raised in a Jewish household, told The New York Times.

"We don't look to a god for answers," he added. "We are each other's answers."

Margit Hammerstrom, the Christian Science chaplain at Harvard told the Times, "Maybe in a more conservative university climate there might be a question like 'What the heck are they doing at Harvard, having a humanist be the president of the chaplains?'

"But in this environment, it works. Greg is known for wanting to keep lines of communication open between different faiths."

In 2005, Epstein received ordination as a Humanist Rabbi from the International Institute for Secular Humanistic Judaism.

He holds a B.A. (Religion and Chinese) and an M.A. (Judaic Studies) from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and a Masters of Theological Studies from the Harvard Divinity School, and he completed a year-long graduate fellowship at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the Mail Online reported.

Pete Williamson an evangelical pastor wrote in Christianity Today why he voted for Epstein to get the post.

"For seven years, I have worked at Harvard as an evangelical campus minister employed by InterVarsity Christian Fellowship (IVCF). I believe the Bible is authoritative and entirely trustworthy as God's Word.

"I believe that Jesus alone is the way of salvation, and that no one comes to the Father except through him. So why would I vote for an atheist to lead the Harvard Chaplains?"

He said that in

n Harvard's particular case, going back just a few decades, evangelicals were largely excluded from religious life on campus. The group that preceded the Harvard Chaplains was restricted to mainline Protestant church ministers.

"In that historical context, we evangelicals are beneficiaries of Harvard's newfound desire for diverse religious representation." said Williamson.
Hot springs, locally known as 'Amashyuza', are fascinating geographical features and are not commonly found. However, Rwanda has a number of them that serve as national tourist attractions, drawing thousands of people.

These beautiful and unique features are formed when hot water is produced by the emergence of geothermally heated groundwater that rises from the Earth's crust. They are not typical water bodies.

Research indicates that soaking in hot spring water can reduce chronic muscle pain, arthritis, and fibromyalgia, stimulating the immune system. Many Rwandans believe that drinking hot spring water has healing properties, addressing simple illnesses like the flu.

ALSO READ: Rubavu: Residents seek improved facilities at Nyamyumba Hot Springs

According to local tour and travel operators, Rwanda's hot springs are; Bugarama, Nyamyumba, Gisenyi, and Kinigi hot springs.

Bugarama Hot Springs

Bugarama or Nyakabuye hot springs, situated 60 kilometres from Cyangugu, a town in Rusizi District, Western province, is a popular site among locals and foreigners as many believe it has benefits like; curing ailments such as flu, wounds and even headaches; improves the respiratory system due to high level of sulphur in the water, and more.

Located at the base of a limestone quarry, providing service to the Cimerwa, a cement factory 13 kilometres away, these hot springs are recognisable from a distance because of their misty and bubbling appearance, and can also be accessed by road.

The hot springs look like a green pool of water, covered by the beautiful, but rare, water plant known as Nymphaea thermarum, a type of lily.

Kinigi Hot Springs

The Kinigi hot springs, located in Kinigi near Lake Kivu, is a popular attraction for visitors to the Volcanoes National Park. Kinigi is the park's base, known for being the home of the mountain gorillas in Rwanda.

Located near the Iby'iwachu Cultural Center, these hot springs offer guests the chance to enjoy a cultural experience during their visit to the region. The cultural centre showcases a skilled ensemble of Rwandan traditional dancers and drummers, providing an extra cultural delight for visitors to the hot springs.

ALSO READ: The healing hot springs of Nyamyumba

Nyamyumba Hot Springs

The Nyamyumba hot springs, located in Gisenyi, Rubavu District, is just seven kilometres away from Gisenyi town.

This natural attraction is located near Lake Kivu and is frequently visited by the local community living nearby, who highly value the hot springs for their perceived healing and spiritual significance.

Visitors from diverse places go to Nyamyumba to experience the natural healing properties of the springs, seeking benefits such as improved blood circulation, stress reduction, and relief from skin irritations.

Gisenyi Hot Springs

The Gisenyi Hot Springs, situated on the eastern shore of Lake Kivu, are another great site. Just two kilometres from Bralirwa, a local brewery, these hot springs have smaller, well-defined vents emitting water at temperatures ranging from 70 to 75 degrees centigrade--perfect for boiling an egg in about 20 minutes.

ALSO READ: Bugarama natural hot tub

Purpose

It is worth mentioning that hot springs have been scientifically proven to contain numerous minerals that can effectively address various illnesses and complications, including muscle disorders, skin diseases, and infections.

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With a rich composition encompassing sodium chloride, calcium phosphate, potassium chloride, lithium sulphate, calcium sulphate, magnesium chloride, and many other minerals boasting significant medicinal properties, individuals experience healing by immersing themselves in this mineral-rich water. The mixture of these minerals occurs as they enter the body during the water's therapeutic effects.

Hot springs serve as a tourist attraction site, drawing thousands of visitors who come to witness their natural beauty. Some may even choose to swim in the water or conduct experiments, such as boiling eggs.

Residents frequently visit the hot springs to enjoy a warm swim or experience what they believe to be the supernatural properties of the hot springs.
China is no more only following industry leaders but taking leadership in areas such as open-source processor architectures and AI. The concept of light AI offers new opportunities.

With the advancements of new technology such as the Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI), and open-source processor architecture, as well as the popularity of new industrial trends like renewable energy, smart cars, AI big models and AIGC, Chinas embedded system industry has entered a brand-new age. Previously, China have been studying and following foreign industry leaders; today, China can compete on even ground. The industry has also progressed from primarily focusing on hardware and applications to producing processor cores and fundamental software. There are three current notable trends in the industry.

On-device AI: the Coming of the Age of Light Intelligence

Prof. Allan He is deputy director of China software industry embedded System Associations He is the founder of an embedded software company. He frequently speaks in conferences and teaches embedded OS and IoT at universities and corporations.

At the device of IoT, AI is quickly being integrated. An AI-enabled IoT device can be an AIoT (Artificial Intelligence of Things) terminal or an edge gateway/server. The integration of AI and IoT opens up a broad range of new applications, for instance, smart cleaning robots and predictive maintenance of industrial equipment. According to market researchers, AIoT devices will be widely used; the overall demand of chips will rise significantly to tens of trillions of units.

The age of light intelligence is booming thanks to the movement of AI towards the device side. MPUs (microprocessors) such as Cortex-A on devices are being replaced with MCUs (microcontrollers) like Cortex-M/RISC-V. Linux, which is often seen running on MPUs, is giving way to RTOS. According to the research done by the Key Laboratory for Embedded and Network Computing of Hunan University, while it takes the open-source Zephyr RTOS 0.13 second to run the Baidu Paddle Lite image categorization samples on the Rockchip RK3568 platform, Linux needs 0.42 second.

One of the major challenges of developing on-device AI is the lack of AI experts. A development team needs an AI expert to properly provide data and train models. Thus, tools-assisted development has taken hold. Developers can leverage tools provided by vendors like Edge Impulse, SensiML, and Sensory AI to configure device intelligent models and construct the algorithm. These tools solve the problem of lacking AI talent and help the teams to concentrate on AIoT product functionalities and AI features; this is important in shortening the Time to Market of AIoT products. Such tools need to achieve two major goals: improve the adaptivity of models and simplify data gathering and optimization. Global embedded system companies such as ST, Silicon Labs and Renesas are leading the pack in terms of these tools, while companies in China are only getting started. Chinese companies like Canaan, ChipIntelli, and SigmaStar have made progress in intelligent vision and voice wake-up; there is a lot of room to grow.

RISC-V: the Embedded Processor Industry is Flourishing

RISC-V is an open-source Instruction Set Architecture (ISA) that was initially developed at the University of California Berkley in 2010. In 2022, more than 10 billion RISC-V-based chips have been produced globally. Half of these chips have been from China, especially as part of MCU embedded products. For instance, BlueTrums RISC-V TWS earphone chip has reached one billion produced.

_____________________________________________________________________

Submit your paper

embedded world China takes places in Shanghai June 12-14, 2024. Submit your paper now for embedded world Conference China. The Call for Papers is open and deadline for abstracts is March 10, 2024.

_____________________________________________________________________

At the 2023 Shanghai Dishui Lake RISC-V industry summit, the organizer announced that several RISC-V products have reached major production milestones: 10 million for ChipIntelli AI speech chips; one million for XinSheng Technology (China Mobile) low-power RISC-V MCU, Boufallo Lab IoT chip, HPMicro super high-performance MCU respectively; two million for the Canaan K210 series. According to market research companies, MCU, wireless, and automotive will be the three major market for RISC-V.

RISC-V IP (Intellectual Property) has been growing rapidly in China. Nuclei has accumulated more than 150 licensed customers in the four years since its inception. Ali T-Head XuanTie series CPU has seen more than 2.5 billion units produced; they are utilized in applications such as smart speakers, dashcams, printers, and security cameras.

Software ecosystem development is a critical aspect of the development of RISC-V processors. Owing to the open-source movement, significant progress has been made in the RISC-V software ecosystem. In 2023, Google announced support for RISC-V in Android, which means most mainstream OSes now have support for RISC-V, including Debian, Fedora, Ubuntu, Anolis OS, UOS, openKylin, Coolita OS, FreeRTOS, RT-Thread, etc. Software on these OSes is also starting to support RISC-V. For example, the open-source community of the Debian Linux distribution started to support RISC-V in 2019; by 2022, 95% of available Debian software packages have been ported to RISC-V, making RISC-V a Tier-1 architecture in Debian.

RISC-V is attracting big players to invest more in research and development. In 2023, Qualcomm and four industry leaders in semiconductor founded a joint venture dedicated to RISC-V. SiFive predicted the total number of RISC-V chips will reach 80 billion by 2025 at its 2023 China summit.

Embedded Software: Multi-OS Hybrid Deployment

Benefiting from the swift development of integrated circuit (IC) technology and manufacture process, embedded systems are gaining stronger hardware capabilities: faster single-core speed, multi-core transformation, heterogeneous multi-cores, virtualization, and trusted execution environment (TEE). Applications of these technologies lay a solid foundation for executing multiple OSes on the same SoC .

In the meantime, requirements from applications like IoT, intelligent systems, functional safety, and security mean that it is becoming increasingly difficult for one OS to handle all functionalities. One solution is to leverage multiple OSes for different areas. For example, Windows for user interface, Linux for the network and communication stacks, and an RTOS for real-time performance and dependability. The arrangement must also be easy to develop, deploy, and extend; containers and virtualization are key technologies to achieve this goal.

OpenEuler is a free open-source Linux distribution maintained by The OpenAtom Foundation of China. An open community is responsible for developing the OS and the ecosystem around it. OpenEuler has a version specific for embedded systems, as in OpenEuler Embedded. The latest version of OpenEuler Embedded integrates support for OpenAMP. Through an active collaboration, OpenEuler and Zephyr have realized hybrid deployment. OpenEuler Embedded plans to support more RTOSes like UniProton, RT-Thread, Jailhouse (a partitioning Hypervisor based on Linux), and ZVM (an open-source virtualization project in Hunan University based on the Zephyr OS).

Embedded OS is thriving in China. Open-source OS is now mainstream; such as RT-Thread, SylixOS, Intewell, and OneOS have been deployed successfully in many areas, including consumer electronics, IoT, industrial and automotive.

Conclusions

Embedded system is a converging point of multiple academic and professional disciplines, including computer science, electronic and information technology, IC, IoT and AI as well. In China, institutions are joining forces to overcome engineering challenges in embedded system and embrace the era of intelligent connectivity.

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Addis Ababa  Ambassadors and senior officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia deliberated on the investment climate in the country, priority areas of the Government, incentives and challenges of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI).

The annual meeting of Ethiopian ambassadors and senior officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia is underway.

On the third day deliberation the ambassadors and senior officials of the Ministry exchanged views on issues related with investment.

They deliberated on the investment climate in the country, priority areas of the Government, incentives and challenges of FDI.

The Deputy Commissioner of Ethiopian Investment Commission Temesgen Tilahun and the legal advisor to the Commission Habtamu Simachew elaborated the significant legal and institutional reforms introduced under the Homegrown Economic Reform Policy.

Director General of Ethiopian Investment Holdings Abdurahman Tahir has also expounded the practical works done to make the Holdings open to foreign investors.

State Minister for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Mesganu Arga, who moderated the discussions expressed that the Homegrown Economic Reform policy has ameliorated the investment climate and liberalized many economic areas to foreign Investors.

Ambassador Mesganu also appreciated the success of 'Invest Ethiopia-2023' in attracting FDI and mentioned the necessity of making preparations in advance to organize a better event in 2024.

On their behalf, participants of the meeting reflected important practical lessons and challenges of FDI in Ethiopia.
Donald Trump, Melania Trump and Barron Trump were all spotted together at the funeral of Melania's mom.

While mourning the passing of Amalija Knavs, the Trumps put on a united front at her funeral on Thursday. Through rarely seen in public, Barron, 17, was photographed with his dad at the event, and he has noticeably grown taller -- even taller than his father.

Judi James, a leading communication and body language expert who has appeared regularly on BBC News, Sky News, GB News and CNN, commented on the father and son sighting and said the younger Trump tried to comfort Donald, as seen in photographs showing the former seemingly reaching out to the latter.

"It elicits an unusual response from their son Barron, too. Clearly tuned into his father's mood, he extends a hand in what looks like a mimed or truncated embrace that could suggest a desire to show comfort and/or support," the body language expert told Mirror of Barron's gestures captured on camera.

James noted that the funeral was a tough time for the family. It was also visible that the former president was grieving over the passing of his mother-in-law.

"This is an unusual display of emotion from Trump, who appears to be mourning Melania's mother as a personal loss," James added at how Trump acted at the funeral. "Trump seems to have adopted a pose similar to his wife Melania here, looking much more vulnerable than usual, with his arms falling to the front of his torso and a reflective-looking frown on his face."

Trump, who recently won the Iowa caucus, acknowledged Amalija and her husband, Viktor Knavs, as good parents not just to Melania but to him and their son, Barron, in his victory speech.

"She was amazing, so I just want to thank [her for] what she's done for our family and her husband, who's home right now and very lonely. He's a lonely man, but he's going to be okay, Viktor. They're great people, great parents to all of us, really," Trump said of his in-laws.

He even credited Barron's height to Amalija. The businessman-turned-politician said his youngest son only ate Amalija's food, so he grew quite tall.

Melania previously missed the Trump family's Christmas and New Year's Eve celebrations because she was attending to her ailing mom at the time. The former first lady announced her mom's passing last week on social media, and people showered her with prayers, love and support.

"It is with deep sadness that I announce the passing of my beloved mother, Amalija," Melania wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

"Amalija Knavs was a strong woman who always carried herself with grace, warmth and dignity. She was entirely devoted to her husband, daughters, grandson and son-in-law. We will miss her beyond measure and continue to honor and love her legacy."
"Succession" Season 5 is "unlikely" to happen, but HBO's CEO suggested he would be open to a potential revival with series creator Jesse Armstrong at the helm.

During an interview with Variety, HBO and Max Content chairman and CEO Casey Bloys addressed the possibility of a fifth season of "Succession" after the series won big at this year's Emmy Awards.

"The chances of that are pretty unlikely unless Jesse all of a sudden said, 'Oh my God, I have the greatest idea. This is what I want to do.' I would take that very seriously," Bloys shared.

However, the executive suggested that Armstrong is now more interested in pursuing a new project than revisiting "Succession."

"But I think that he told the story he wanted to tell. It doesn't seem to be something that he wants to visit again, and I totally get that. I'm excited about what he's going to do next," Bloys added.

Armstrong confirmed in February 2023 that Season 4 would be the smash hit series' final one.

"Succession" Season 4 concluded with its final episode, "With Open Eyes," on May 28 last year, marking the end of the Roy family legacy.

Despite the open-ended nature of certain storylines, the show provided a fitting conclusion for its main characters, Kendall (Jeremy Strong), Roman (Kieran Culkin), Shiv (Sarah Snook), and Tom (Matthew Macfadyen).

Culkin previously revealed on Variety's "Awards Circuit" podcast that Armstrong had shared "brilliant ideas" for a fifth season when they began filming Season 4.

However, Armstrong made it clear during an interview with The New Yorker last year that Season 4 would be the last, explaining that he had long envisioned how the series would end.

"You know, there's a promise in the title of 'Succession.' I've never thought this could go on forever. The end has always been kind of present in my mind," he said.

While Armstrong hinted at the potential for a spin-off, HBO's head of drama, Francesca Orsi, dismissed the idea.

"At this stage, there is no intention of spinning any one character off," Orsi told Deadline in May 2023.

Orsi suggested at the time that Armstrong would likely create something entirely new and original if he does another series.

"Succession" won six Emmys overall this year, including outstanding drama series, best lead actor in a drama for Culkin, best lead actress in a drama for Snook, best supporting actor in a drama for Macfadyen, and best writing in a drama for Armstrong.
Selena Gomez and David Henrie, who played the roles of Alex and Justin Russo on "Wizards of Waverly Place," are teaming up for the upcoming sequel to the hit Disney series.

Gomez told Deadline that aside from reprising the role of Alex as a guest in the sequel's pilot, she will also executive-produce the new show with Henrie, who will reprise the role of Justin as a series regular.

Gary Marsh, the driving force behind the show, is also an executive producer.

The actress also revealed the new cast members of the "Wizards of Waverly Place" sequel, including Janice LeAnn Brown, Alkaio Thiele and Mimi Gianopulos.

The sequel will follow Justin's life as a grown-up who left his wizard powers behind, opting for a normal human life with his wife and two children.

However, after a mysterious incident at WizTech, a powerful young wizard shows up at his door, leaving him with a dilemma of choosing between maintaining his quiet life or embracing his past as a wizard to ensure the Wizard World's future.

As of press time, the premiere date of the Disney show's sequel is still unknown.

Meanwhile, Selena took to her Instagram Stories to share her excitement for the "Wizards of Waverly Place's" upcoming sequel.

On Thursday, she posted three Stories about the Disney show. In the first Story, she posted a screenshot of Deadline's article and wrote, "So excited!"

Next, she posted an old screen capture of her and Henrie with the caption, "We're back."

Lastly, she shared a photo of the show's pilot script and captioned it, "Home again."

"Wizards of Waverly Place" is a fantasy teen sitcom that aired on Disney Channel from October 2007 to January 2012. It ran for four seasons.

The series, created by Todd J. Greenwald, chronicled the adventures of teenage wizard Alex Russo in Greenwich Village, New York City, while training alongside her siblings Justin and Max to hone their magical abilities.

The main themes depicted in the series included family, friendship and adolescence, alongside fantasy elements.
Recommended AI tools for business growth  Our gift for you:

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Hey there, its Terry Brock here, your host for Stark Raving Entrepreneurs along with my co-host, Gina Carr.

In todays episode, were diving into the world of AI and its impact on sales (very important!).

Well be discussing how big companies are using AI tools like predictive analytics, personalization, automated customer interaction, sales forecasting, lead scoring, sales process efficiency, customer insights, and real-time assistance to supercharge their sales.

Well share examples from companies like Amazon, Dominos Pizza, Coca Cola, and Spotify to help you understand how AI can be leveraged to improve your sales processes and enhance customer experiences.

So grab a beverage of your choice, sit back, and join us as we explore how entrepreneurs of all sizes can harness the power of AI to take their sales to the next level.

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https://youtu.be/dX44Uv7Irn8

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ABOUT

Were Stark Raving Entrepreneurs. We help you with the lifestyle of Live and Let Live. Do whatever you want, but dont hurt others and dont take their stuff. We embrace what is called the Non-Aggression Principle (NAP).

For your convenience here are some time stamps of note-worthy content for this episode:

TERRY

Hall of Fame keynote speaker Terry Brock is a globally connected leading authority who works with organizations that want to leverage technology and social media for more customer engagement, productivity, and increased profitability.

Terry is the former Chief Enterprise Blogger for Skype, former Editor-in-Chief for AT&Ts Networking Exchange blog, and former Chief Retail Advisor for ACE Hardware.

A master at his craft, Terry earned the Certified Speaking Professional designation from the National Speakers Association and was inducted into the Speaker Hall of Fame. He was inducted into the Virtual Speakers Hall of Fame and he was recognized as a Legend by the Veteran Speakers Association.

Terry is also a Cavett Award recipient, recognized as the National Speakers Associations most cherished award (only one per year).

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As the CEO of Stark Raving Entrepreneurs, Gina Carr works with business leaders to leverage AI-powered marketing for more impact, influence, and income. Gina has an MBA from the Harvard Business School and an engineering degree from Georgia Tech. Known as The Tribe Builder, Gina helps passionate people build powerful tribes of raving fans.

A serial entrepreneur, Gina has created several businesses, including an award-winning real estate company, a chain of community magazines, and Video Rock Starz. She is the CEO of TEDxDupreePark. A native Atlantan, Gina now lives in Orlando with her sweetie Terry Brock. Gina is a passionate advocate for animals, freedom, and plant-based living!

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Were a channel devoted to those with an entrepreneurial spirit who believe in freedom and liberty. If you like the idea of living a voluntary life, not initiating force or coercion, and living life peacefully, abundantly, and making a lot of money, this is the place for you!

We look forward to hearing from you and getting your opinions and thoughts. Drop us a note at Terry@TerryBrock.com or Gina@GinaCarr.com.

Thank you for joining us today.

Terry Brock & Gina Carr

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1. [00:00:36] Gina Carr discusses how AI tools previously available only to big companies are now accessible to businesses of all sizes, which is revolutionary.

2. [00:01:38] Terry Brock emphasizes the importance of predictive analytics and how companies like Amazon use them to anticipate buying patterns and stock up or pull back accordingly.

3. [00:02:21] Gina Carr explains the significance of personalization, citing examples such as Netflix customizing recommendations based on user behavior.

4. [00:03:33] Terry Brock discusses how Dominos Pizza and other companies implement automated customer interaction to streamline the ordering process and improve efficiency.

5. [00:04:36] Gina Carr provides insight into how Coca-Cola uses AI for sales forecasting, enabling them to predict demand and reduce waste, which is beneficial for all industries.

6. [00:05:49] Terry Brock emphasizes the value of lead scoring, exemplifying how Salesforces AI tool, Einstein, helps identify the most promising leads and where to focus sales efforts.

7. [00:06:57] Gina Carr discusses how Zara uses AI to predict future trends and manage inventory efficiently, further highlighting the practical application of AI for sales processes.

This podcast episode covers diverse examples and applications of AI in sales, demonstrating its potential to enhance various aspects of business operations.

Spanish Language Summary

En este episodio de Stark Raving Entrepreneurs, Terry Brock y Gina Carr discuten como las empresas de todos los tamanos pueden aprovechar la inteligencia artificial (IA) para impulsar sus ventas. Se exploran ocho ejemplos con ejemplos de empresas como Amazon, Netflix, Dominos Pizza y Coca-Cola, que utilizan herramientas de IA para la analitica predictiva, personalizacion, interaccion automatizada con el cliente, pronostico de ventas, puntuacion de clientes potenciales, vision del cliente, procesos de ventas mas eficientes, y asistencia en tiempo real. Se resalta que estas herramientas estan disponibles para todas las empresas y pueden mejorar la eficiencia, aumentar las ventas y brindar una mejor experiencia al cliente. Gina y Terry invitan a los oyentes a compartir como utilizan la IA en sus propias empresas y a suscribirse al podcast para seguir aprendiendo sobre este tema.

Transcript

For your convenience, here is a complete (unedited) transcript of this episode. Please let us know if this is helpful for you.

Terry Brock [00:00:00]:

Getting sales is one of the most important things that we entrepreneurs can do. You know what Im talking about. In this episode, were gonna give you some real jewels that you can use on what companies are doing right now to boost their sales, and how you can use those same principles, apply them to your business, whatever the size, and be able to get some solid results with AI and boosting sales. Im joined by my partner, Gina Carr. Gina, this is really an interesting thing of seeing what sales can be done, how we can get more sales with AI. Youve been studying this for a while also. What are you observing on the on the marketplace and whats happening.

Gina Carr [00:00:36]:

Well, whats really fantastic is that the tools that big companies have been using for years are now available to the tiniest companies because theyre available for free through tools like ChatGPT, Bard, and other tools that are out there. And when you know how to use these tools, you can harness analytics, you can harness AI, you can harness these Things that, again, previously have been only available to the big companies, and now theyre available for all size businesses, which is really exciting.

Terry Brock [00:01:08]:

Yeah, exactly. Well, what we wanna do in this particular episode is to go through 8 examples of how that is. You wont be able to use all of them maybe, but you might be able to use quite a few of them and move them around. So lets take a look at that. What were gonna do is take a look at these. First of all, is predictive analytics. That is number 1 that we see and being used by a lot of folks, youll probably recognize Amazon. They do some studies to say, okay, at this time of the year, we see this many people buying this, theyve got enough data, theyve collected that, so they can anticipate what they should do.

Terry Brock [00:01:38]:

This is something that you and I can do now with some of the AI tools that are out there, where we start saying, okay, When are people most likely to buy our widgets or that, if youre selling Christmas trees, obviously, during the Christmas season, its strong, but is there any other time of the year when it might be, or are there other things that would be that we could supply that are there? So number 1 is predictive analytics, it helps you to anticipate when theres gonna be a surge and you stock up before that, or when theres gonna be less of it. So you pull back and say, okay, well, were not gonna need that quite as much, and were gonna instead take a look at whats available and how we can use this and put it in there accordingly. Gina, I think weve got another one, available. What is on your mind for that?

Gina Carr [00:02:21]:

Well, the 2nd point that that Id like to share is about personalization. So we many of us have used a service like Netflix. And on Netflix, its a great example where they personalize based on what you watched before. And not just what you Started watching, but what you watched all the way through because then they know that you really liked it. And if you watched it a couple of times, they know you loved it, And theyre more likely to serve you up the next time you log in, or even as youre there on the same session, theyll keep presenting you with options of programs that they think youre going to to love. And so thats one of the beautiful things about Netflix.

Terry Brock [00:03:01]:

Yes. It is. And a third area is with automated customer interaction. Dominos Pizza does that, they let their customers order with voice. Now I kinda have a warm spot in my heart for Dominos given that I grew up in Michigan, not far from where they were founded over in Ann Arbor, I was over in Jackson, and we got a chance to see what theyre doing. But you can do something like this also. Think about how you can automate the process of making it easier for your customer and make it easier for you and your team to implement what needs to be done. Theres a lot of tools that do that.

Terry Brock [00:03:33]:

You can have people input into the AI tools out there. Were finding that these are used extensively by many different companies, and this kind of, capability of automating the customer interactions really can help a lot.

Gina Carr [00:03:47]:

Okay. Well, our 4th area to consider for AI is sales forecasting. And again, these tools are available for all size industries now. The example were gonna share is Coca Cola. I grew up in Atlanta. I know you spent a lot of time in Atlanta and did some work for Coca Cola. Coca Cola is our example of a company thats using AI for sales forecasting. Theyve long been at the forefront of using technology to help sales and production in all areas.

Gina Carr [00:04:15]:

But as it relates to forecasting, With this, they can re forecast their wholesale sales, retail sales, predict which products are gonna be in high demand So that they can really reduce rate waste and help their retailers to plan for these increased sales periods and for these different products.

Terry Brock [00:04:36]:

Yeah. And, Jenny, you know, I think thats a good point that all businesses could. When we start doing the sales forecasting, we know, Hey, its going to be a little greater demand here, were gonna have to start doing this, or theres not as much so they can slack off, or they can say, gee, we need to increase this. Thats sales forecasting, I think is really really nice. And its closely related to the 5th concept of lead scoring. Thats something that we see from, well, Salesforce. They have their component, their AI companion called Einstein, and what it does is it takes a look at scoring these services so that youre focusing your efforts where theres most likely to be a sale. Anyone whos in sales and has been there for a while knows, Hey.

Terry Brock [00:05:16]:

If someones not ready to buy, you cant go in there and beat them over the head. You wanna find the people who are ready to buy, theyre ready, willing, and able to buy it, and you wanna focus with them. I think Salesforce is doing that well, as Ive been studying a little bit about their tool called Einstein, their AI tool, Einstein. Looks really interesting, I havent used it, I dont use Salesforce myself, but I know a lot of people are using that, and you find that when you can focus your efforts on the most promising leads, Hey, Gina. That is a good way to make sure that youre getting the results that you want.

Gina Carr [00:05:49]:

Yes. Well, Ive been using it with with one of our clients who uses it, and it it is a great tool, and its been very effective.

Terry Brock [00:05:58]:

Do they like it? Have they are they pleased with what theyre getting from, Einstein on Salesforce?

Gina Carr [00:06:03]:

Yes. They definitely are.

Terry Brock [00:06:05]:

Very good.

Gina Carr [00:06:07]:

So another area that were seeing AI being used is in the sales processes, so to have greater efficiency in the sales processes. And the example here is Zara, The fashion retailer, which has long been known for fast fashion, theyve been able to take concepts from concept to Produced product within a couple of weeks, so theyve been at the fast fashion forefront for quite some time. And now using AI algorithms, Theyre able to really, predict the future trends and use this to help them with their inventory management so that they make sure they have the popular items ready to go, and they reduce overproducing the items that arent going to be as popular. So this is a really powerful tool for businesses to use.

Terry Brock [00:06:57]:

And the 7th principle is enhanced customer insights. Spotify does that very well. What they do is they or monitoring what you as a user are listening to. What you like, what you dont like, those kind of things. In a way, Gina and I see the same thing with Amazon. Were on Amazon Music, and its nice to be able to know that theyre bringing in music that is a little bit like the kind that we have listened to before. When we like a certain, we like to listen maybe some soft classical music or after instrumental music, well have that and itll bring in other artists that well introduce us to. So this is a concept that weve seen in many areas.

Terry Brock [00:07:31]:

I think Facebook does it as well. They would have a sounds like or similar audience that will be there. They say, hey, if your audience likes this, They might also like that. So what you want to do is start using AI to track those kind of metrics as well. Find out the kind of, things that your customers like. What preferences do they have? What do they like about this? What do they like about that? The more you can get to know your customer, the better your relationships So our relationship marketing ties in very closely with what were doing with AI. AI really turbocharges it, so really what you can do as you let machines take on the heavy grunt work that you gotta do, all the dirty work and the things, the heavy lifting, that kind of thing, and let people focus on being more personable, more human like with people. And this is what Spotify is doing, what Amazon is doing, and several others also.

Gina Carr [00:08:24]:

And our final principle is using real time assistance. You know, in this world where people want what they want when they want it, They want answers immediately to their questions, and I do too. I certainly want quick answers when I have a question, especially if Im considering buying a product and I need to know, Does it have the blue widgets that I want in addition to the yellow widgets that its really clear that that they have? So I wanna know about those different aspects. And Bank of America is an example of a company that is using these sorts of real time assistance AI tools very effectively. So you Youre on their page. Youre thinking about opening a banking account and or opening a getting a new credit card and you wanna know for example, I was researching recently which Credit cards have the best insurance coverage for rental cars, and so I found their chat tool to be very helpful. And thats Something that today, because of the ability of tools that are out there, again, even very small companies can access these Automated chatbots to help in the customer service process, which can definitely increase sales.

Terry Brock [00:09:36]:

Yes. Indeed. I think that were seeing a host of these tool these Eight tools being used by companies that might be larger than yours, but they also have principles that we can learn. And so start looking at tools like this that you can tap into, so that youre able to have an AI bot helping you out on that. And really, thats what AI is about. Its making life easier for humans. Is AI gonna take some jobs? Well, yeah, I think it will, but itll take jobs much like the machines that were using now in farming, tractors and others, or have taken jobs away from people who are using mules and oxen before. We dont wanna go back to using mules and oxen for farming.

Terry Brock [00:10:15]:

Thats not the way to do it. A much safer, a more efficient, a more productive way of doing it is with the machines, and I think AI is coming in there with that as well. So Gina, this is really interesting. What are your thoughts as we, kinda wrap this up and look at whats going on with AI and the tools that are available?

Gina Carr [00:10:33]:

Well, I I think its just so exciting that businesses of all sizes are able to use these tools. Were certainly helping a lot of our clients Figure out how they can use AI in in their business, especially in the areas of sales and marketing. And Theyre ecstatic. Were ecstatic because we know that were helping these business owners to to improve their efficiency and to increase their sales, to serve their customers better, and its just an all around better experience for everyone.

Terry Brock [00:11:02]:

So think about how you can use these kind of tools yourself and put them together, and thats what were all about here at Stark Raving Entrepreneurs. Matter of fact, we would appreciate if you would come over and see us, starkravingentrepreneurs.com, and also Like this video, share it with others, and subscribe. Thatll let the algorithms know, hey, people like this kind of approach and they want to see this kind of thing happening on a regular basis. So we can let you see how this is going to help you in your business, so that youre able to achieve the goals that you want and be able to get the kind of results that youre looking for. So thank you very much for joining us today for another episode of Stark Raving Entrepreneurs. We look forward to hearing from you. Please leave a comment below, that will really help a lot for us to know, hey, you like this, or maybe you had another idea if youve had an experience with it. We wanna hear from you.

Terry Brock [00:11:50]:

You can come come over and see us again, stark raving entrepreneurs.com. Gina, any final words for the folks watching and listening to this before we say goodbye?

Gina Carr [00:11:59]:

Yes. We just love for you to guys to share in the comments how youre seeing AI used or how youre using it in your own company. That would be terrific. And, Haze, while youre here, subscribe, and we would love to hear from you further.

Terry Brock [00:12:12]:

Yes. Indeed. And what were gonna do is were gonna give you an opportunity to continue your studying education in AI. And because what were gonna do is in just a moment, were gonna give you a couple of videos that you can use, and that are gonna help you. And just click on those, and youll be able to get it. Im Terry Brock, Regina Carr. Thank you very much for joining us today.
Friday, January 19, 2024

Summary

Most solar radiation that hits the surface of Earth evaporates water. Because water over land is sporadic compared to the ocean, land warms up faster than ocean creating an energy imbalance. That causes a great 54-year world temperature cycle. The solution to all such differential equations is sinusoidal. The effects on mankind of this cycle are profound in terms of economics and politics, ultimately leading to the chaotic world we have today. The next five sections explain these phenomena.

Solar Radiation 1

The planet's continental lands warm up three times as fast as the oceans do. Why? Water is so easily available and so volatile that 67% of solar radiation (73% over land by my own original estimate) promptly vaporizes any water it hits. We are the water planet, with oceans covering 71% of the earth's surface, and water everywhere over land. Humans are 69% water and plants are 90% water, with ponds streams lakes rivers and morning dew everywhere. Steven Schneider's book "Climate and Life" 1983 stated that evaporation is 85% overall and 90% over ocean.

Energy Balance 2

Water vapor consumes most solar radiation, with the residual warming the planet. Obviously, this leads to much higher warming over land than over water. This obviously creates a growing energy imbalance over time. Why has this been ignored by researchers up until me is probably because the long-term resolution of the fifty-four-year cycle is ignored in favor of shorter-term analysis. Anti-cycle prejudice is everywhere among researchers. This academic prejudice is despite many obvious cycles especially daily, seasonally, ice ages. Examples include sunrise and sunset times, the tides, seasonal changes.

Long Cycle Research 3

Western researchers have long been skeptical about the 1926 book of Lenin's Finance Minister Nicolai Kondratiev, who Stalin murdered in 1938, stopping work on five new books. But the Kondratiev Wave is generally considered economic research, ignoring extensive weather data and Goldstein (1987) on European Wars. The trick is to explain how the climate cycle creates the economic cycle and those two cycles create the major war cycle. Those connections took a lot of thinking and testing to arrive at.

Connection 4

How the climate cycle leads to the economic cycle is because high heat hurts worker productivity. One study shows workers lose 35% of their productivity at 95 degrees Fahrenheit. Many product producing industries suffer from high heat conditions in factories, construction, mining, and agriculture, the same basic industries that move the economy forward, including the crucial capital investment industries. Thus the 27-year warming part of the cycle reduces economic growth and the 27-year cooling cycle boosts economic growth. Together they make the 54-year cycle.

Because of rising tensions from increasing national economic disparities during the high growth phase of the long-term economy, medium size wars tend to occur halfway through the growth phase, and major wars tend to occur about three years after the end of the growth phase. The end of the growth phase has both maximized national economic differences creating tensions and maximized capital accumulation creating an exaggerated sense of power. Wars then tend to confirm who is top dog and who is not. Leaders seek wars to make them great historical figures.

The third connection is directly between climate change and wars. A two- or three-year cooling period leads into six of the seven major wars between 1860 and 1970. Statistically, this is clear cut, why is less clear cut. Volcanoes with enough Sulfur content cause two or three cooling years in a row and polar vortexes are sometimes indicative. One mass murderer attacked during the coldest days of a period. We have the phrase cold blooded murder. Atmospherics can contribute to war.

Turbulence 5

The rising trends of our times include linearly rising anxiety since World War Two (linear not cyclical). The pandemic and rising fascism around the world may be cyclical, reminiscent of two cycles ago, 108 years ago. The Spanish Flu started in 1917 and Covid in 2019, 102 years apart and The Italian Fascist Party started in 1922, 102 years ago this year. The rise of China has been a persistent problem for decades and has led to the recent militarism and threats to Taiwan. The war in Ukraine is 108 years after World War One (1914-2022). The war in Israel is 56 years after the Six Day War (1967-2023) and 50 years after the Yom Kipper War (1973-2023). The current economic growth period was 1994-2021. The two prior economic growth periods were 1886-1913 before the World War and 1940-1967 during the Cold War (Korea 1950 and Vietnam 1965). The coldest February of the twentieth century was February 2004 when the Russian Japanese War started and the coldest Spring of the twentieth century was the three-month period March April May 1917 with America declaring war in April 2017. All these combined pressures and 1200 years of modern European (500 years) American (200 years) and ancient Rome wars (500 years) indicate that 2024 is the average war year projection (17 wars). But 6 of those 17 major wars project to the 2025 modal (most frequent) year.

List of 56 Cycle Events:

https://www.academia.edu/4101856/EVENTS_Weather_Economy_War_List56_54yearCycle_3p_13

Please cite this work as follows: Reuschlein, Robert. (2024, January 19), "Why World Chaos Comes Now" Madison, WI, Real Economy Institute. Retrieved from: https://www.expertclick.com/NewsRelease/Why-World-Chaos-Comes-Now,2024301864.aspx

Dr. Peace, Professor Robert Reuschlein, Real Economy Institute, Nobel Peace Prize nominee 2016-2024 with growing interest from the deciding Norwegians. A consistently growing pattern shows intense interest in my work on my expertclick.com website; daily "hard looks" per year went from 2 to 3 to 48 to 128 to 200 to 322 to 346 to 349 by the October 6th, 2023 Nobel Peace Prize announcement time.

Contact: bobreuschlein@gmail.com

Info: www.realeconomy.com
The Joseph P. Mazurek Justice Building in Helena which houses the Attorney General's Office, the Montana Supreme Court and the state law library (Photo by Eric Seidle/ For the Daily Montanan).

The Montana Attorney Generals Office, led by Republican Austin Knudsen, this week told proponents of a proposed 2024 ballot issue seeking to affirm the right to abortion in the Montana Constitution that the proposal was legally insufficient.

The office, which is required by law to review all proposed initiatives and constitutional amendments, said Ballot Measure #14 logrolls multiple distinct political choices into a single initiative in violation of Article XIV, Section 11, and limits the ability of the State to provide for public health and safety. The Montana Free Press first reported the outcome of the legal sufficiency review on Wednesday.

The measure was proposed in November by Montanans Securing Reproductive Rights, which is led by Planned Parenthood Advocates of Montana, as a way to ensure that abortion rights are protected in Montana. An attorney for the group said Thursday it would continue to fight to get the measure approved for signature gathering.

Make no mistake: We will do everything we can, including taking legal action, to ensure Montanans have the opportunity to vote to secure their rights to make decisions about their own pregnancies, including the right to abortion care, in 2024, said Raph Graybill, an attorney representing Montanans Securing Reproductive Rights.

In recent years, Republican Gov. Greg Gianfortes administration has signed several bills passed by Republican lawmakers seeking to restrict abortion access despite the Montana Supreme Courts decision in Armstrong v. State of Montana, which protects abortion access via the privacy protections contained in the state constitution. Gianforte signed seven abortion-related bills from the 2023 session, some of which have been at least temporarily blocked by courts.

Ballot Measure #14s language says it would, if passed, affirm the right to make and carry out decisions about ones own pregnancy, including abortion, in the state constitution. It would also prohibit the government from denying or putting burdens on abortion access before a fetus is viable.

And it would ensure the government could not deny or add burdens to obtaining an abortion when it is necessary to protect the mothers health or life and keep practitioners safe from punishment for performing abortions.

This constitutional amendment prevents the government from punishing patients, healthcare providers, or anyone who assists someone in seeking reproductive care, including abortion care, the proposed measure reads.

But in the legal sufficiency review memo that Knudsens office sent to the proponents, Deputy Solicitor General Brent Mead said the measure violates the states separate-vote provision and would keep the state from providing for Montanans public health and safety  a reason the administration has previously cited for attempting to restrict abortion access in Montana.

Mead wrote in the memo that the proposed initiative makes it so even regulations that serve a compelling state interest and are narrowly tailored to that interest cannot survive. The memo says the proposal also puts abortion above other medical procedures so that it cant be regulated  which Mead said creates an express right to abortion but denies voters the ability to express their views on the nuance of the right.

Further, Mead wrote that the proposals language injects significant uncertainty into how the state could regulate abortion and said he believed it raised questions about the function of medical licensing boards, malpractice lawsuits, and the states ability to pass new laws in the realm of abortion.

The choice to preclude the State from being able to enforce valid health and safety regulations is different than the choice to expand abortion rights, Mead wrote to the proponents.

He said the Attorney Generals Office believes the multiple statements in the proposed initiative mean they should only be allowed on the ballot as separate issues.

The contradictory language in the various subsections creates a quandary over the actual decision in front of the voters. As stated, Section 36[3] sweeps broadly on issues of enforcement. Section 36[1], [2] amend the existing interpretation of Article II, Section 10, Mead wrote. At minimum, voters are presented with multiple amendments and because of that, Ballot Measure 14 violates Article XIV, Section 11 of the Montana Constitution.

In December, Office of Budget and Program Planning Director Ryan Osmundson prepared a fiscal note saying the measures fiscal impact would cost the state nothing through June 2025, but it said the fiscal impact could not be determined beyond that.

The note said the measure would likely lead to increased litigation but did not elaborate. The note also said the measure could render several bills passed during the 2023 session and signed by Gianforte unconstitutional. And finally, it said the measure, if passed, could require Montana Medicaid to cover broader categories of abortion than is currently allowed, but the extent of the fiscal impact could not be determined by the Department of Public Health and Human Services.

Graybill, the attorney for the group, wrote to Mead on Jan. 11  before Meads determination was written  saying the fiscal note prepared by Osmundson contained improper advocacy in violation of state statute.

Graybill said the fiscal note overlooks other fiscal analyses of some of the 2023 abortion legislation, which found the bills would cost the state money, in order to argue the proposed initiative would lead to increased litigation.

As discussed, if CI-14 were to pass, the DOJ could see a decrease in litigation costs, DPHHS could save money and staff time by foregoing the contemplated additional review of Medicaid claims, and Legislative Services Division could see a decrease in staff time spent drafting, reviewing, and analyzing unconstitutional bills restricting abortion, Graybill wrote. These effects on revenue are just as, if not more, likely to occur than the speculative or inaccurate assertions by some state agencies below the line of the fiscal note.

On Thursday, Graybill said in a statement that the organization was disappointed by the Attorney Generals Office finding of legal insufficiency and pledged to continue to try to get the proposal on Novembers ballot.

In an attempt to keep an abortion rights initiative out of the hands of voters, Attorney General Austin Knudsen has used the power of his office to put personal politics before a fair process to allow Montanans the opportunity to secure their reproductive rights, he said. MSRR is confident in the legality of ballot initiative language that was submitted in 2023.

The group has 10 days to challenge the Attorney Generals Offices decision with the Montana Supreme Court. If the court sides with the group, it would be able to begin collecting signature to try to get the measure on the ballot in November.

Late last year, a group of former Republican lawmakers and central committee members successfully challenged Knudsens offices finding of legal insufficiency for Ballot Issue #12, a top-four primary initiative, which the office had also said violated the states separate-vote provision.

But the Supreme Court disagreed with that finding. In a unanimous decision, the justices said the changes proposed in the initiative go together and dont require voters to make separate choices.

According to the Secretary of States Office, six proposed initiatives have been approved for signature gathering so far, but none have yet qualified for the November ballot. Seven others have been withdrawn or were found to be legally insufficient by Knudsens office.

The post Attorney general says proposed Montana abortion ballot issue not legally sufficient appeared first on Daily Montanan.
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The Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services (Photo by Eric Seidle/ For the Daily Montanan).

Telephone hold times can take three to six hours, but assisted living director of operations Michael Coe said he knows one way to get a resident bumped up the health departments priority list for a Medicaid waiver.

Really, the only way to get service for somebody is to threaten to evict them, said Coe, with Caslen Living Centers, of people who have no source of money.

The waiver allows a person who might be eligible for a nursing home through Medicaid to live in an assisted living facility.

Thursday, the interim legislative committee on children, families, health and human services heard updates from the Department of Public Health and Human Services on Medicaid redetermination and other topics.

DPHHS Director Charlie Brereton said the process is in its final month, and the department has started reviewing eligibility for almost all of the 330,000 Montanans who had coverage during the COVID-19 pandemic.

We are in the last and final month of our 10-month redetermination or unwind process, Brereton said.

DPHHS reported fewer people enrolled in Medicaid than anticipated through October 2023, 6% lower for traditional Medicaid and 12% lower for expansion.

However, Brereton said there may very well be a bounce-back period ahead as people potentially reapply and become enrolled again. Brereton also said just a handful of people have alleged inappropriate terminations through the formal hearing process.

During the pandemic, the federal government ensured people on Medicaid would retain coverage without having to prove eligibility. Last April, however, that protection ended, and states are confirming people on public insurance are in fact eligible for it.

The process in Montana has been messy, drawn out, and financially stressful, according to reports from many health care professionals during the last few months. Thursday, the committee continued to hear concerns from the public, and legislators asked questions of their own.

Rep. SJ Howell, who led the hearing, said the committee sent DPHHS a long list of questions after a hearing in November, and the department answered most of them, but it didnt provide some statistics. The Missoula Democrat wanted to understand the reason.

Brereton said employees are under water, and the data legislators wanted was not easy to provide quickly. He said information lawmakers wanted would require custom reports.

We are strapped, Brereton said. The committee knows  frankly, Montana knows  what a heavy lift this is for DPHHS. And so I am essentially being sensitive to my teams time.

Howell agreed with the agencys priority of ensuring Montanans who are eligible have coverage. However, they pressed for clarity on how the committee could be involved and receive information given the questions legislators are hearing from constituents and ones they have of their own.

What are you reporting to CMS already, for example, that wouldnt be an additional effort that we could tailor our request to? Howell said.

Brereton said spring would be a good time to discuss the matter some more. He said he would be willing to meet in the future, but staff are already working extra duties.

I simply do not have the FTE to assign to these data requests at this point in time, Brereton said (FTE stands for full-time equivalent, or staff hours).

Howell said they would welcome a conversation and also appreciate the capacity crunch that DPHHS is in.

I do want to balance that very real capacity issue with our constitutional right to know and ensuring that the committee gets access to the information that we need, Howell said.

Later in the meeting, Rep. Mike Yakawich, a Billings Republican, said he had asked 12 questions, and DPHHS had provided him 12 pages of responses, and he hadnt had time to review everything, but appreciated the effort.

Yakawich also praised an announcement the Montana State Hospital, which lost federal certification and funding in 2022 after a failure to prevent deaths and falls, plans to seek recertification later this year: I cannot go without saying applying for recertification in December is awesome for the Montana State Hospital.

When it comes to work on Medicaid, Howell and health care professionals have acknowledged staff at DPHHS are over capacity and helpful when available, and earlier, at least one legislator requested a pause on redetermination to allow the agency to catch up on applications. Brereton declined.

In the meantime, providers continue to report problems.

Rose Hughes, with the Montana Health Care Association, said 18 facilities contacted her from Jan. 8 to 17 about long waits for reapplications  even though DPHHS is meeting its 45-day target.

But the facilities that are dealing with this are saying three to six months, Hughes said, noting the facilities and DPHHS may be counting from different starting points.

Either way, she said, the payments being held up as a result amount to at least $2.3 million: So its not a small amount when youre providing services and not getting paid.

She too said facilities reported very long wait times on the phone of hours, not minutes, plus months to get a caseworker assigned, lost applications, and other issues. Hughes said workers are clearly working hard and are are helpful, but the problems exist, too.

Coe said families and providers end up in the dark and confused about the status of their applications as well. He suggested DPHHS offer a way for people to track applications online so they can see a reason for a delay, for instance.

That would save us hours being on hold trying to get that answer, Coe said.

Rep. Jennifer Carlson, a Manhattan Republican, also quizzed Brereton with constituent questions: We get a lot of questions from the public.

She requested a breakdown of the number of children who have lost coverage by county in Montana, and Brereton said he had it handy and would provide it electronically. DPHHS did not have the information available Thursday.

This week, KFF reported data showing Montana saw an 18.5% drop in enrollment for children in Medicaid, one of the steepest declines in the country, from March to September 2023. KFF noted the average decline is 5.5%.

Medicaid eligibility levels are higher for children, raising concerns that they may be losing coverage and becoming uninsured despite remaining eligible, KFF said in its analysis. Medicaid covers 8 in 10 children living in poverty and over half of Black, Hispanic, American Indian, and Alaska Native children.

Carlson also wanted to know what would happen with a child who needs ongoing behavioral health treatment but cant get an appointment because their parent or guardian didnt go through the redetermination process.

I just dont want to see them left in the cracks because they still need ongoing care, but the person responsible for them is not managing the need. And so what can we do to help those people? Carlson asked.

Brereton said he knows many of those circumstances exist. He said the provider network in Montana is supportive and recommended the childs provider work closely with the parent or guardian to offer assistance.

We as an agency are extremely extremely grateful to the health care providers across the state who have already participated in this process and helped those families and Medicaid members navigate the process, Brereton said.

The post Montana health department pushes back on legislators request for data on Medicaid enrollment appeared first on Daily Montanan.
Kaleb Cooper of Clarkson's Farm fame has produced a single to raise awareness of the challenges faced by farmers, with all profits donated to RABI.

The charity track, entitled "I Can't Stand Sheep!", is a tongue-in-cheek reflection of Kaleb's well-known dislike of sheep set to the iconic tune of "The Floral Dance".

The country rap song's lyrics aim to raise awareness of the challenges faced by the farming industry at present.

Kaleb has been working in and around farms since he was a schoolboy and is an avid supporter of UK agriculture.

The farm contractor became a more recognisable face of farming since appearing on the popular Prime Video series, Clarksons Farm.

Kaleb said: "As a community, farmers are only too aware of how pressurised the industry has become - the farming way of life can feel lonely at times.

"I wanted to make sure that if people are struggling they have somewhere to reach out to.

"The RABI offers incredible support to the farming community in a range of different ways and this felt like the perfect solution to get that message out  make the helpline number part of the lyrics!"

The song is available to download online, with all proceedings going to RABI.
Over the festive period and into the first fortnight of 2024 the beef market has remained relatively stable, according to analysis by Quality Meat Scotland (QMS).

R4L steer prices have generally been slightly above the 5/kg threshold in recent weeks, having mostly been slightly below it from late September to early December, suggesting a slight tightening of market conditions.

In the week ending January 16, R4L steers averaged 502.2p per kg at Scottish abattoirs.

Although farmgate prices remain around 2% below the highs reached in May last year, they have opened this year at 8-9% above levels 12 months ago, and 26-27% above the five-year average, says QMS intelligence manager, Iain Macdonald.

He said: Highlighting the rebalancing of recent years, you have to go all the way back to May 2020 to find a time when prices were lower than a year earlier, and prime cattle prices began 2024 around 45% higher than they started 2020.

The indication of a tightening market is interesting in Scotland, where the dominance of spring calving and a most common age at slaughter of 21-22 months signals that prime cattle availability should be around its annual peak.

"This combination therefore suggests that firm demand has supported competition for cattle at the start of 2024.

At GB level, after peaking in late October, weekly slaughter at the price reporting abattoirs trended downwards in the run up to Christmas, and the two short processing weeks over the festive period will have placed further downwards pressure on beef production.

It is therefore possible that firm competition for cattle reflects an attempt to rebuild stocks after a period of lower output.

This year, prime cattle supply is expected to be similar to 2023 in the year as a whole. However, supplies could be stronger in the first half of the year in Scotland before tightening in the second half.

Indeed, as the outflow of store cattle to England fell back in last year from the highs of 2022, this is likely to provide some short-term support to supply along with an increased spring calf crop from 2022.

Last year saw weekly average prime cattle slaughter at the price reporting abattoirs 7% above 2022 levels in the first five full processing weeks, while averaging 9% below 2022 levels in the remainder of the year.

As the year progresses, availability is set to tighten as the reduced spring calf crop of 2023 begins to reach the market. Calf registrations in Scotland were around 2.5% lower between March and May last year than in 2022.

This is expected to reduce availability for slaughter in the autumn when these cattle start dominating the slaughter pool, says Mr Macdonald.

BCMS slaughter data shows that in the final quarter of 2023, 44% of slaughter at 12-29 months in Scotland was in the 18-20 month age range, nearly double the share in England and Wales, highlighting that supply is likely to tighten earlier in Scotland than south of the border.

Store cattle numbers are set to be generally tight throughout this year, he adds. However, there could be a slight uplift in yearling availability at spring sales, with the number of cattle aged 6-12 months on farm in October 2023 up 1% year-on-year, largely reflecting an increase in calf registrations in February 2023.

However, calvings fell sharply in Q2 and Q3 last year, leaving numbers on farm at under six months of age in October down 4.9% year-on-year, signalling a sharp squeeze on longer keep cattle at spring sales and a tight supply of yearlings in the autumn, he says.

Although the number of store cattle leaving Scotland for English farms dipped back from the highs of 2022 in 2023, it remained elevated.

The October population figures for England and Wales show declines of 1.6% at 6-12 months and 4.6% in the under six-month group, suggesting that English finishers will continue to look north.

Looking further afield, Irelands June census reported declines of 1.4% in the one- to two-year old category and a fall of 2.8% in cattle under a year old, so supply is set to reduce this year.

Meanwhile, in the EU as a whole, production has been projected to contract by another one percent this year by the EU Commission, on the back of a 3% reduction in 2023. As a result, imports have been forecast to increase by 5% in 2024.

Globally, beef production has been forecast to rise marginally in 2024 by the USDA, as continuing expansion in Australia and Brazil is offset by a 3% reduction in the US and a steep 6% contraction in Argentina, as well as tight EU supplies.

"However, global consumption has been forecast to fall marginally. Nevertheless, the mismatch between supply and demand in major beef producing and consuming countries will continue to support global trade flows in 2024."
A set of false teeth worn by Sir Winston Churchill are up for sale.

Winston Churchill's false teeth are going under the hammer

Britain's former Prime Minister - who led the UK throughout World War II - wore dentures because he suffered dental problems for much of his life and lost a number of teeth when he was in his 20s - and a set of his falsies which he wore for some of his most famous wartime speeches are going under the hammer with an estimated sale price of 8,000.

A listing by the Cotswold Auction Company in Cheltenham reads: "It is thought that three or four identical sets of dentures were produced ... for Churchill, and one set is believed to have been buried with the leader.

"This set of dentures would have been made around the start of WWII when Churchill was 65."

The teeth were designed by the Prime Minister's dentist Sir Wilfred Fish and made by technician Derek Cudlipp and consist of a partial upper set on a gold mount.

The plate is believed to have been made with a loose fitting to preserve the politician's famous lisp and Churchill is said to have worn this set in 1940 when he gave his famous 'We Shall Fight on the Beaches' speech in the House of Commons.

The auction house's director Liz Poole told the BBC: "Churchill's false teeth must be among the most unusual items we have ever sold."

Other lots going under the hammer at the auction on February 6 include the microphone Churchill used to announce the end of World War II and a Battle of Britain Book of Heroes which has been signed by more than 100 pilots of the Royal Air Force.

Another set of the wartime leader's false teeth previously sold for 15,200 when they went under the hammer back in 2010 when they were snapped up by a collector of Churchill memorabilia.
Arnold Schwarzenegger made a saucy joke about being handcuffed after he was detained at an airport in Germany.

Arnold Schwarzenegger made light of his brush with the law during an appearance at a charity event

'The Terminator' star, 76, flew into Munich from Los Angeles on Wednesday (17.01.24) and was held by customs officers for several hours after they inspected his luggage and found a custom-made watch from Swiss brand Audemars Piguet in his bag worth more than $21,000.

He was later released and allowed to continue on to Kitzbuhel, Austria where he was due to sell off the watch at a fund-raising event for his Schwarzenegger Climate Initiative, and during his turn on stage at the event on Thursday (18.01.24) the actor made light of his experience - joking he was actually put in cuffs by his girlfriend Heather Milligan, 49.

Schwarzenegger told the audience at the event: "You always start things with a lot of drama and that's what we saw yesterday. I mean can you believe that all of a sudden I was in handcuffs. I was in handcuffs.

"Not because of the watch or because of the customs office, but I had a hot night with my girlfriend Heather last night. I mean it was unbelievable."

Schwarzenegger went on to add: "No but seriously, the woman there, the customs officer said: 'If you don't behave, I'm going to put you in handcuffs'. And I said: 'Hey, that's ok. That's a great deal because usually pay $500 for that."

However, the movie star wasn't done with jokes about his brush with the law, adding: "But anyway this was a wild experience, I can tell you that because you try to bring this great watch ... very special watch.

"And now they find it, in the luggage then the guy's looking for a second watch. He couldn't find it. Because I was hiding it. But I can't tell you where because I cannot sit down today."

The watch was sold during the charity auction for $293,000, according to TMZ.com.

German newspaper Bild reported Schwarzenegger was questioned for nearly four hours and was allegedly slapped with a 35,000 fine for failing to declare the watch.

A source told New York Post column PageSix: "[Schwarzenegger was] never asked to fill out a declaration form and he answered every question from customs officers honestly.

"He cooperated at every step even though it was an incompetent shakedown, a total comedy of errors that would make a very funny cop movie.
Marilyn Monroe's former home has been saved from demolition for the foreseeable future.

Marilyn Monroe's house may have been saved

The Hollywood legend purchased the 1929-built Spanish-style hacienda on 5th Helena Drive in Los Angeles just six months before she was found dead in August 1962 at the age of 36 but in September, a permit was approved to tear down the home.

However, on Thursday (18.01.24), the Los Angeles Cultural Heritage Commission voted unanimously to declare the property a historic cultural monument.

The commissioners noted that although Marilyn only spend a few months living at the property - which is where she was found dead in 1962, aged 36 - it was the only home she ever bought for herself, People magazine reports.

However, the house's future isn't secured forever as designation as a historic cultural monument "does not guarantee that the property cannot be demolished" in Los Angeles, but does allow the commission to delay demolition for 180 days while other opportunities for preservation are determined.

The next step to save the property would be a review of the nomination by the city's Planning and Use Committee and then the LA City Council.

Designating the home an historic site also will not stop any idea of potentially relocating the building to a more central location to be viewed easier by the public than its current neighbourhood, but that would be a lengthy and expensive process and it is not known if the house would be able to be moved.

Scott Fortner, who hosts the 'All Things Marilyn Podcast', had played a key role in attempts to saving the house as a member of the Monroe Preservation Group, who were able to uncover historical significance to the property that dated before its iconic resident moved in.

He told People magazine: "Our efforts and research, which was shared with today's deciding body, concluded that famed historic Los Angeles architect Harbin Hunter not only lived at the home, but he also very likely designed it...

The evidence lies in the famous tiles at the front door of the house, which read, "Cursum Perficio," the hunter family motto, which translates to "I will persevere."

"Our group, which consists of authors April VeVea, Gary Vitacco-Robles and Elisa Jordan, film producer and director Remi Gangarossa, and historians Kelly Lecroix and I, are thrilled to have participated in the process to have Marilyns home be recommended for a Historic Cultural Monument designation by the Los Angeles Cultural Heritage Commission today.
Sir Anthony Hopkins is a "loner" who "doesn't have many friends".

Anthony Hopkins doesn't have many friends

'The Silence Of The Lambs' star, 86, has admitted he keeps to himself a lot because he enjoys solitude and doesn't actively seek out company, but he insists he's not "antisocial" as he does have a rich family life and keeps himself busy with his work and hobbies.

He told PEOPLE: "I'm very much a loner. I have very few friends. I'm not antisocial. I'm friendly, but I don't seek out [company] ... I do enjoy solitude. I know that sounds morbid but I do enjoy it."

Despite coming across quite serious, Hopkins has shown off his silly side on TikTok with his goofy dance videos, and he has insisted his wife Stella and 20-year-old niece Tara talked him into joining the platform.

He added: "I'm slightly reluctant. I say: 'Oh no, not again.' But I do something silly because we need humour. We need a laugh in life. For good reason I guess, life is tough.The world is a savage place but life does have its beauty."

Hopkins went on to address his own mortality - insisting he knows he's only got a few more years of work left in him, but he's actually in excellent shape.

He explained: "I'm aware of my mortality. To be realistic, I know that if I have a few more years of work left in me, I can do it. I've just had a medical check-up, I'm in good shape."

It comes after the veteran actor celebrates almost five decades since giving up booze as 2024 will mark his 49th year sober.

In a candid post on social media in 2022, Hopkins sent an inspirational message to help others struggling with addiction.

He said: "This is a message not meant to be heavy but helpful. I am a recovering alcoholic, and to you out there, know that there are people struggling in this day and age of cancel and and hatred and non compromise, children being bullied.

"I say to this be kind to yourself, be kind, stay out of the circle of toxicity with people if they offend you, live your life, be proud of your life."

Hopkins went on to admit he almost lost his life in his gruelling battle with alcohol addiction before cleaning up his act in 1975 - and he insisted anyone struggling with similar problems can turn to a life-saving 12-step program.

He went on: "I was in a desperate situation in despair, and probably not long to live, and I just happen to acknowledge one day that there was something really wrong with me. I didn't realise it was a kind of condition, mental, physical, emotional condition ... called addiction.

"I'm not an expert on drugs I'm not an expert on anything. I know nothing, but I've found a life where no one bullies me. I want to say to all those young people being bullied. Take heed. You be proud of yourself. Don't let yourself be put down."
Tom Sandoval hopes Rachel Leviss can find "peace" in her life.

Rachel Leviss quit the reality show after the cheating scandal

The 40-year-old reality star split from Ariana Madix after it emerged that he had a months-long affair with Rachel - but Tom ultimately hopes that she finds peace and happiness after Rachel quit 'Vanderpump Rules'.

He told PEOPLE: "She obviously didnt come back on the show. Im hoping she just moves on, you know. Finds her peace, and Im wishing her the best."

Tom and Rachel, 29, were both widely criticised after news of their affair became public knowledge.

And Tom admits that he initially struggled to deal with the controversy.

He shared: "It was probably one of the hardest things Ive ever had to face on such a regular basis. It was very, very challenging and very, very just emotional at times.

"I think after everything, I just want people to remember Im definitely not perfect. But I am a human being. Im not a character, you know?"

Meanwhile, Rachel previously took to social media to apologise to Ariana.

She wrote on Instagram: "I want to apologize for my actions and my choices foremost to Ariana, and to my friends and the fans so invested in our relationships. There is no excuse, I am not a victim and I must own my actions and I deeply regret hurting Ariana. (sic)"

Rachel also promised to reflect on her mistakes, admitting that she needed to make "healthier choices".

She said: "I am reflecting on my choices, speaking to a counselor and I am learning things about myself such as my patterns of codependency and addiction to being and feeling loved. I have sought emotional validation through intimate connections that are not healthy without regard for my own well-being, sometimes negatively affecting others and often prioritizing the intimate connection over my friendships. I am taking steps to understand my behavior and make healthier choices. (sic)"
In a significant development, the African nation Kenya has now declared visitors do not need a visa to visit the country

The East African country of Kenya has always been a bucket list destination for many wildlife and culture lovers across the planet. Home to the magnificent Maasai Mara Reserve, famous the world over for its annual wildebeest migrations and its population of lions, rhinos and elephants, it also hosts Amboseli National Park with its stunning views of Mount Kilimanjaro. Its landscape includes the savannah grasslands, lakelands, mountain highlands and the Great Rift Valley as well as bustling cities such as the capital Nairobi.





Safaris  because that is what most people come to Kenya to experience  are undoubtedly expensive, but this new visa-free initiative reduces the burden a little. Last month, with the objective of boosting tourism and building better global connections, Kenyan President William Ruto announced that, this year onwards, international visitors would not require a visa to enter the country.





Tourism is a major contributor to the Kenyan economy.



The entry process is now streamlined through a newly-developed digital platform, which will issue an electronic travel authorisation, eliminating the visa process.



The new initiative is in keeping with President Rutos advocacy for visa-free travel within the continent of Africa, in an effort to strengthen ties between the nations.



Images: Shutterstock



Also Read: 21 Local Secrets To Help You Save On Your Europe Trip
The European Parliament has overwhelmingly approved a new directive aimed at curtailing greenwashing and the dissemination of misleading product information. With an impressive majority of 593 votes in favour, 21 against, and 14 abstentions, the directive represents a significant step towards enhancing consumer protection and promoting more sustainable purchasing decisions.

Central to the directive are measures aimed at improving the clarity and reliability of product labelling. It specifically bans the use of vague environmental claims such as environmentally friendly, natural, biodegradable, climate neutral, or eco unless these claims can be substantiated with proof, the European Parliament said in a press release.

The European Parliament has passed a directive to combat greenwashing and misleading product claims. The directive requires clear, substantiated environmental claims, and regulates sustainability labels. It emphasises product durability, mandates prominent guarantee information, and introduces a label for products with extended guarantees.

The use of sustainability labels will also now be regulated, given the confusion caused by their proliferation and failure to use comparative data. In the future, only sustainability labels based on official certification schemes or established by public authorities will be allowed in the EU. Additionally, the directive will ban claims that a product has a neutral, reduced, or positive impact on the environment because of emissions offsetting schemes.

Another key aspect of the directive is its emphasis on the durability of products. The new law mandates that guarantee information be more prominently displayed. Additionally, a new harmonised label will be introduced to highlight products with extended guarantee periods.

The directive also takes aim at unfounded durability claims, such as unrealistic longevity assertions for appliances under normal usage conditions. It addresses the issue of premature prompts for replacing consumables and bans the practice of falsely presenting goods as repairable.

Parliaments rapporteur Biljana Borzan (S&D, HR) said: This law will change the everyday lives of all Europeans! We will step away from throwaway culture, make marketing more transparent and fight premature obsolescence of goods. People will be able to choose products that are more durable, repairable, and sustainable thanks to reliable labels and advertisements. Most importantly, companies can no longer trick people by saying that plastic bottles are good because the company planted trees somewhere  or say that something is sustainable without explaining how. This is a big win for all of us!

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (KD)
US import prices remained unchanged in December last year, after declining by 0.5 per cent in November, while the price index for exports dropped by 0.9 per cent for the third consecutive month, according to the Bureau of Labour Statistics. Those were the first one-month export declines since June last year.

Prices for US imports fell by 1.6 per cent in the past 12 months. Import prices have not risen on a 12-month basis since January 2023.

US import prices remained unchanged in December 2023, after falling by 0.5 per cent in November, while the price index for exports dropped by 0.9 per cent for the third consecutive month. US export prices fell by 3.2 per cent over the past year. Import prices from China edged down by 0.1 per cent in December, after falling by 0.2 per cent the previous month.

Import fuel prices decreased by 0.3 per cent in December following decreases of 6.4 per cent in November and 3.9 per cent in October, while non-fuel prices remained unchanged during the month after ticking up by 0.1 per cent in November and declining by 0.1 percent in October.

The price index for non-fuel imports declined by 0.8 per cent from December 2022 to the same month last year.

Lower export prices for both agricultural and non-agricultural exports contributed to the December drop. US export prices fell by 3.2 per cent over the past year. Despite the recent declines, the December decrease was the smallest 12-month drop since February last year, a BLS release said.

Import prices from China edged down by 0.1 per cent in December last year, after declining by 0.2 per cent the previous month. Prices for imports from China last increased on a monthly basis in October 2022. Prices for imports from China decreased by 3 per cent between December 2022 and the same month last year.

The price index for imports from Japan also fell by 0.1 per cent in December following 0.1-per cent increases in each of the previous three months. The December drop was the first monthly decrease for import prices from Japan since May last year. Prices for imports from Japan advanced by 0.4 per cent over the last year.

The price index for imports from Canada fell by 1.3 per cent in December, after declining by 2.8 per cent in November and 1.3 per cent in October. It decreased by 6 per cent from December 2022 to the same month last year.

In contrast, prices for imports from the European Union (EU) and Mexico advanced in December last year, rising by 0.3 per cent and 0.1 per cent respectively.

Prices for exports to China decreased by 0.7 per cent in December following a 1-per cent drop the previous month. The price index for exports to China declined by 3.1 per cent between December 2022 and the same month last year.

Export prices to Japan fell by 1.7 per cent in December, after decreasing by 1.8 per cent in November. Prices for exports to Japan declined by 9.5 per cent over the past 12 months.

The price index for exports to Canada remained unchanged in December following a 0.5-per cent drop in November. Export prices to Canada fell by 1 per cent over the past 12 months.

Prices for exports to the EU decreased by 0.3 per cent in December and the price index for exports to Mexico declined by 1.5 per cent over the same period.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)
Fighter Advance Booking: Siddharth Anand's directed India's biggest aerial action drama Fighter is carrying a sky-high buzz among the masses. Following the release of the teaser and the songs 'Heer Aasmani', 'Ishq Jaisa Kuch', and 'Sher Khul Gaye', the film starring the fresh pairing of Hrithik Roshan and Deepika Padukone has added its name in the masses wishlist.

With the release of the recently released action and emotion-loaded trailer, the film promises an adrenaline rush and an edge-of-the-seat action thriller with a patriotism theme attached to it. Since the trailer was released, the masses have been waiting for the advance booking of the film to commence. Taking into consideration the sky-high buzz, the makers will open the pre-sales booking tomorrow.

Fighter advance booking opens in India tomorrow

The massive buzz surrounding the film ensures a gigantic opening of the film and the first and biggest opening of the year 2024. The film, releasing on the eve of the 75th Republic Day, 2024, has all the ingredients to cater to the audiences of every section, and it will surely emerge as the first blockbuster of 2024.

It is to be noted that the film is set to release grandly in worldwide cinemas in 2D and IMAX 3D formats, and it promises a big-screen experience like never before seen. The film is loaded with heavy dialogue, enthralling visuals, and polished VFX.

Fighter Box Office Collection 1st Day Prediction: Hrithik-Deepika To Get 2nd Highest Opener In A Decade

Meanwhile, Fighter has achieved remarkable success in its international market. According to Sacnilk, the film pre-sales started a week earlier than its global theatrical premier and have exceeded the $100,000 threshold.

Trade analyst Nishit Shaw on X wrote, "Fighter has sold 342 tickets at VOX (UAE) across 97 shows so far. Yas Mall Abu Dhabi leading with 180 tickets, CC Deira with 33 tickets, Burjuman with 32."

Fighter to break Bang Bang record

Further, it is estimated that Fighter would surpass Hrithik Roshan's 2014 blockbuster Bang Bang opening record. On day 1, the Katrina Kaif starrer did a business of Rs 27.55 crore. Fighter is poised to make an opening of Rs 30 crore.

About Fighter

Fighter is directed by Pathaan fame Siddharth Anand and bankrolled by Viacom18 Studios and Marflix Pictures. The aerial action thriller is based on the Balakot Air Strike conducted by the Indian Air Force as a retaliation for the 2019 Pulwama attack on the Indian Army.

The movie features Hrithik Roshan, Deepika Padukone, and Anil Kapoor in significant roles. Additionally, starcast includes Karan Singh Grover, Akshay Oberoi, Sanjeeda Sheikh, Rishabh Sawhney, and Ashutosh Rana.

Hania Aamir To Adnan Siddiqui, Pakistani Celebs Lash Out At Fighter Trailer For Anti-Pakistan Tone

It is slated to release on January 25.
Ira-Nupur wedding teaser video: Aamir Khan's daughter Ira Khan married her prince Nupur Shikahre on January 18 in a lavish white ceremony in Udaipur among close family and friends.

The wedding was followed by a grand reception in Mumbai, which was attended by several celebs from all walks of life. Days after the celebration, Ira dropped their wedding video on Thursday night, capturing all of the magical moments.

From Aamir Khan getting emotional, to Nupur crying while delivering his vows, to the couple dancing with their family members after the ceremony, the wedding video is all about love.

Ira-Nupur wedding teaser

Ira Khan recently shared the first official teaser video from her wedding, and in the caption, she mentioned that she wanted to celebrate it in the mountains. The video opens with a scenic view of the location, followed by Ira walking down the aisle with her parents, Aamir Khan and Reena Dutta, in a beautiful white gown.

Ira khan-Nupur Shikhare Reception: Bride Stuns In Embroidered Red Lehenga, Groom Compliments In Black, VIDEO

We also get a glimpse of the groom. Ira sends a flying kiss when she sees Nupur, and he responds to her with the same. The video then takes us inside their intimate Christian-style wedding, where the lovebirds exchange their vows. Nupur gets emotional and cries as he expresses why he loves Ira.

He said, "Marrying you is one of the best decisions of my life." On the other hand, Ira called him her 'safe space' in her speech. Ira's cousin, Zayn Marie, officiated the wedding. Everybody at the venue is moved, including Aamir Khan, who wipes his tears, holding ex-wife Reena Dutta close.

Reena and Aamir held hands during the emotional moment, while Aamir's second wife, Kiran Rao, was seated next to Nupur's mother and held her hand. Both looked emotional.

The couple then kisses each other on the stage, which is followed by a family dance. We see Aamir kissing Ira's forehead, Nupur dancing with his mother, and Aamir and Reena dancing as well.

Sharing the video, Ira wrote, "This is only a teaser but neither Ethereal nor us could wait. We wanted to celebrate in the mountains, with the people we love. And we did. It was stunning when we were there but we didn't realised we were getting married in Rivendell. (@nupur_popeye now we have to watch the third Lord of the Rings). It's difficult to put all the love and feelings of that day into words. Thankfully, we have this video instead."

Ira Khan-Nupur Shikhare Mumbai Reception: Over 2500 Guests Invited, 9 Cuisines, Venue & More Details

Ira-Nupur wedding

Before their Udaipur wedding, Ira and Nupur registered their marriage on January 3 in Mumbai. After dating for a while, they got engaged in 2023.
Sonalika Bhadoria Wedding Date: Sonarika Bhadoria, renowned for her portrayal as Goddess Parvati in Devon Ke Dev - Mahadev, is gearing up to embark on the journey of marital bliss with her fiance, Vikas Parashar. Vikas, a businessman, popped the question in 2022, and the couple has set the date for their wedding on February 18. The extravagant ceremony is planned to take place at Sawai Madhopur Ranthambore.

ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT SONARIKA BHADORIA'S WEDDING

In an interview with Etimes, Sonarika revealed that she and Vikas had been in a relationship for approximately eight years. Recounting the proposal in the Maldives in May 2022, she shared, "When he proposed to me in May 2022 in the Maldives, it was just the two of us. Our families were extremely happy for us, but they also wanted to be a part of the celebration. Vikas prefers everything grand, while I like things simple. As we both love the beach, we had a roka ceremony in Goa. Initially sold at a beach wedding, however, our numerous beach visits led us to opt for Sawai Madhopur, keeping Vikas's immediate and huge extended family in mind."

Sonarika detailed the wedding festivities, starting 15 days prior to the big day with Mata Chowki in Mumbai, featuring a total of five functions. The much-in-love couple will have the Maira ritual on February 16, followed by the evening mehndi. The haldi ceremony will be the next day, and in the evening, they wil host a cocktail party-cum-sangeet.

Additionally, she shared plans for the reception in Faridabad, Vikas' hometown. According to Sonarika, accommodating a large crowd at the marriage isn't feasible and that's why the couple has decided for a reception in Faridabad.

WHO IS VIKAS PARASHAR?

For those who are unaware, Vikas Parashar is a businessman by profession. According to reports, he is an entrepreneur in the real estate sector.

The actress had previously shared news of her engagement through social media, posting photos of Vikas proposing on a picturesque beach. The announcement, made on Vikas' birthday, featured the couple in white attire, with Vikas down on one knee in the romantic setting.

Sonarika Bhadoria made her television debut in 2011 with the show Tum Dena Saath Mera. Rising to fame as Goddess Parvati, she starred alongside Mohit Raina as Lord Shiva in Devon Ke Dev Mahadev. In 2015, she made her Telugu cinema debut with Jadoogadu and returned to Hindi television in 2018, most recently appearing in Ishq Mein Marjawan.
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - January 18, 2024) - International Lithium Corp. (TSXV: ILC) (OTCQB: ILHMF) (FSE: IAH) (the "Company" or "ILC") is pleased to announce the National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI43-101") technical report ("The Report") for the Preliminary Economic Assessment ("PEA") for a proposed lithium mining operation to produce spodumene concentrate at Raleigh Lake, is now filed on SEDAR+.

Further to the Company's news release dated December 4, 2023, the Raleigh Lake Project, located 25 kilometres west of Ignace, Ontario has demonstrated a highly favourable economic scenario based on the production of a spodumene concentrate containing 6% Li2O ("SC6").

The PEA relies on recent metallurgical test work (Phase 1) which indicates that SC6 can be produced using a simple crushing circuit and heavy liquid separation techniques. In the Phase 1 tests lithium recoveries were above 81% while iron oxide content remained within acceptable limits. As originally foreshadowed, the very near proximity of Raleigh Lake to existing service infrastructure along the Trans-Canada Highway corridor affords significant logistical and economic advantages to the project.

This PEA only considers spodumene concentrate, i.e. lithium, as a revenue source. The Company continues to investigate the potential value associated with the extraction of rubidium from the microcline zone within the spodumene deposit.

PEA Highlights

Economics (discounted at 8% p.a., CAD$)

Pre-tax Cashflow = CAD$709.4 million, NPV = CAD$385.1 million, IRR = 46.5% p.a.

After-tax Cashflow = CAD$634.0 million, NPV = CAD$342.9 million, IRR = 44.3% p.a.

Price assumptions: CAD$3,139/tonne for 6% Li2O concentrate (USD$2,325/tonne)

CAPEX/OPEX

Total pre-production capital costs: CAD$111.9 million

Total sustaining capital: CAD$17.5 million

Total life of mine ("LoM") operating costs: CAD$381 million (including concentrate transport)

Average operating costs: CAD$94.38/tonne milled, CAD$993/tonne SC6

Mining Method

Traditional open pit drilling and blasting followed by load and haul

The plant feed production rate is proposed to be 540,000 tonnes per year ("tpy")

This LoM mine plan is proposed to mine 57 million tonnes ("Mt") of material over the mine life, which will be comprised of 4Mt of mill feed and 53Mt of waste with an average strip ratio of 13.2:1

Life of mine is forecast at nine years; project duration is 11 years

Process Plant

The base case process plant is designed to crush 1,500 tonnes per day ("tpd") and process 1,500 tpd in a dense media separation ("DMS") plant to produce a nominal 56,000 tpy of 6% Li2O at 81% recovery

Process engineering and design were developed to a scoping level based on the results of the SGS laboratory testing. The SGS lab tests obtained 22.9 weight percentages of 6% Lithium Concentrate and estimated 81% lithium recovery

A design factor of 10% is applied on nominal requirements to ensure that the process equipment has enough capacity to take care of the expected feed variation

Total production for LoM is 414,904 tonnes of 6% Li2O spodumene concentrate ("SC6")

A copy of The Report, "The Raleigh Lake Project, NI43-101 Technical Report - PEA," was filed on SEDAR on January 18, 2024.

Raleigh Lake is 100% owned by ILC and there are no overriding royalties. The Company's vision for Raleigh Lake is a low-risk, low-impact, small-scale mining operation that can begin to provide critical minerals necessary to fulfil Canada's Critical Mineral Strategy in a shorter time frame than would be required for a much larger scale, longer duration and more remotely located project. Revenues from the mine production would continue to feed back into exploration work to expand ILC's drive to become a significant Critical Minerals supplier in North America.

Executive Comment

John Wisbey, Chairman and CEO of ILC commented:

"As stated in our news release of December 4, 2023, we are really pleased to have brought the first stage of the Raleigh Lake project to the PEA stage in a relatively short time, and it was pleasing to have been able to announce these results despite a considerable fall in the lithium price. Since publication in early December that price has fallen appreciably further owing, we understand, to destocking in the Chinese battery industry. The lithium price is now back to mid 2021 levels having been six times higher in late 2022. It is obvious that destocking cannot continue indefinitely, and we hope for a significant price recovery in 2024-25 given the tremendous progress taking place in new lithium battery technologies and the ever increasing uptake of EVs and battery storage based on lithium. At the same time, as we made clear previously, this PEA takes no account of the considerable amounts of rubidium that we have at Raleigh Lake. Rubidium is on the US critical minerals list. We will be actively researching the market for rubidium in the coming months, and assessing the real likely annual demand. More news releases on that subject will follow at the appropriate time."

PEA Summary

Environmental Resource Management ("ERM") was retained by International Lithium Corp. ("ILC" or the "Company") to prepare a Preliminary Economic Assessment ("PEA") in accordance with National Instrument 43-101 (NI 43-101) for the Raleigh Lake Project (the "Project") located near Ignace, Ontario, Canada.

The Raleigh Lake Project is roughly 25 kilometres west of Ignace and 235 kilometres west of Thunder Bay in the northwestern part of Ontario within the Kenora Mining District. It is adjacent to the Trans-Canada Highway (Hwy 17) with CN Rail, TC Energy natural gas pipeline and Hydro One 235kV power lines transcending the Property. It is owned 100% by International Lithium Canada Ltd., a 100% owned subsidiary of ILC. There are no royalties or other encumbrances on the Property.

ILC identified the opportunity at Raleigh Lake in 2016 but did not begin actively pursuing work on the project until 2021 when an initial test drilling campaign was conducted along with regional lithogeochemical sampling. In 2022 the Company completed sufficient drilling to define a maiden Mineral Resource Estimate ("MRE") with resources reported in the measured, indicated, and inferred categories (see below and Company press releases dated March 1 and April 13, 2023). Upon analyzing the MRE the Company embarked upon some initial metallurgical and economic studies that culminated in the results presented here. It is the Company's opinion that the results to date provide a good basis to pursue a mining operation at Raleigh Lake and such an operation can be considered low impact due to the existence of well-developed and utilized infrastructure and the path to environmental permitting and eventual production would be shorter than if the project were to be more remotely located. The entire operation could be significantly more sustainable than remote operations and have direct economic benefits for the nearby and surrounding communities.

The proposed open pit mining operation would extract 57Mt of material over the mine life, which will be comprised of 4Mt of mill feed and 53Mt of waste with an average strip ratio of 13.2:1. The proposed PEA level mine plan is based around work at a proposed plant feed production rate of 540,000 tpy producing a total of 414,904 tonnes of SC6 concentrate over the mine life. The average mill feed grade is 0.70% Li2O (Table 1).

Table 1: Summary of Base Case Cash Flow Modelling and Project Financial Analysis.

Parameter Value Unit Project Schedule Overall project life 11 years Mine life 9 years Mining, Processing and Economic Parameters Total mill feed 4.4 Mt Average mill feed grade 0.70 % Li2O Open pit mining rate 1,500 tpd Process recovery 81.0 % Total concentrate produced - 6% TG Li2O 414,904 T Commodity price - 6% TG Li2O $2,325 USD/t Exchange Rate 1.35 CAD/USD

A summary of the base case capital and operating costs calculated and used in the economic analysis exercise is shown in Table 2 below. Total costs are based on unit cost rates per tonne mill feed multiplied by the total tonnes of mill feed (4.37Mt).

Table 2: Summary of Base Case Capital and Operating Costs.

Parameter Value Unit Unit Operating Costs -Production Phase Mining CAD$3.55 /t mined Mining CAD$40.98 /t mill feed Milling CAD$28.53 /t mill feed G & A CAD$17.74 /t mill feed Concentrate transportation CAD$7.13 /t mill feed Total CAD$94.38 /t mill feed Project Operating and Sustaining Capital Costs Total operating costs CAD$381.0 million Total sustaining capital costs CAD$17.5 million All operating and capital costs CAD$398.6 million

A summary of the base case revenues used in the economic analysis exercise is shown in Table 3 and a summary of the pre- and post-tax economic analysis results is shown in Table 4.

Table 3: Summary of Base Case Revenues.

Parameter Value Project Revenue, Profit and Pre/Post Tax Cash Flows Concentrate sales revenue CAD$1,302.3 million Concentrate transportation costs CAD$31.1 million Net operating revenue CAD$1,271.2 million Operating and sustaining capital costs CAD$398.6 million EBITDA CAD$872.6 million Payable taxes CAD$75.5 million Net profit after taxes (NPAT) CAD$797.1 million Total pre-production capital costs CAD$163.1 million

Table 4: Summary of Pre- and Post-tax Economic Analysis Results.

Parameter Value Unit Economic Analysis Results Discount Rate 8.0 % p.a. Pre-Tax Cashflow $709.5 CAD$ million Pre-Tax NPV $385.1 CAD$ million Pre-Tax IRR 46.5 % p.a. Post-Tax Cashflow $634.0 CAD$ million Post-Tax NPV $342.9 CAD$ million Post-Tax IRR 44.3 % p.a

Resource Estimate

The MRE for the Raleigh Lake project that the current PEA study was based on was produced by Nordmin Engineering Ltd. ("Nordmin"), based in Thunder Bay, Ontario, who prepared an independent lithium (spodumene-hosted) and rubidium (microcline-hosted) MRE for the Project and Technical Report, "NI 43-101 TECHNICAL REPORT AND MINERAL RESOURCE ESTIMATE FOR THE RALEIGH LAKE LITHIUM PROJECT, IGNACE, ONTARIO" (the " MRE Report") consistent with the standards and guidelines set out by the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum ("CIM") and in accordance with National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects.

In preparation of the MRE and MRE Report, Nordmin applied processes that were appropriate for lithium pegmatite-style deposits. The Report is available on SEDAR. The effective date for the Report was April 13, 2023.

Detailed summaries of the MRE Report can be found in Company news releases dated March 1 and April 13, 2023. A tabulated listing of the MRE for both lithium in spodumene and rubidium in microcline is given in Table 5 and Table 6 respectively.

Table 5: Lithium Open Pit and Underground MRE.

Area Resource Category Mass (kt) Grade Contained

Li (t) Li (ppm) Li2O (%) Open Pit



650ppm

Li Cut-off Measured 80 3,887 0.84% 313 Indicated 2,021 2,919 0.63% 5,897 Measured + Indicated 2,101 2,956 0.64% 6,210 Inferred 3,247 2,595 0.56% 8,427 Underground



2,000ppm

Li Cut-off Measured 3 2,560 0.55% 8 Indicated 189 3,203 0.69% 606 Measured + Indicated 192 3,192 0.69% 614 Inferred 655 3,162 0.68% 2,073 Total Measured + Indicated 2,293 2,976 0.64% 6,824 Inferred 3,902 2,691 0.58% 10,499

Refer to notes on Mineral Resources below.

Table 6: Rubidium Open Pit and Underground MRE.

Area Resource Category Mass (kt) Grade Contained

Rb (t) Rb (ppm) Rb2O (%) Open Pit



4,000ppm

Rb Cut-off Measured 5 5,412 0.59% 29 Indicated 90 6,073 0.66% 547 Measured + Indicated 95 6,036 0.66% 576 Inferred 18 3,005 0.33% 53 Underground



4,000ppm

Rb Cut-off Measured 5 6,547 0.72% 35 Indicated 33 6,474 0.71% 211 Measured + Indicated 38 6,484 0.71% 246 Inferred 106 4,427 0.48% 468 Total Measured + Indicated 133 6,163 0.67% 822 Inferred 123 4,224 0.46% 521

Refer to notes on Mineral Resources below.

Notes on Mineral Resources

The MRE was prepared by Christian Ballard, P.Geo., of Nordmin, who is the Qualified Person ("QP") as defined by NI 43-101 and is independent of ILC. Mineral Resources, which are not Mineral Reserves, do not have demonstrated economic viability. The above Inferred Mineral Resources are subject to potential upgrade to Indicated and Measured Mineral Resources with continued drilling. There is no guarantee that any part of the Mineral Resources discussed herein will be converted to another category or to 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 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 MRE is developed with data from diamond drill holes totaling 13,821 m. The pit constrained mineral resources were defined using a parented block model, within an optimized pit shell with average pit slope angles of 45 in rock and 30 in overburden, a 9.8 strip ratio (waste material: mineralized material) and a revenue factor of 1.0. The pit optimization shells were created using Deswik.AdvOPM software. The lithium resource pit optimization parameters include: 5.5% Li2O spodumene concentrate; US$1,800 Li2O spodumene concentrate price; exchange rate of CAD$1.30/USD$1; concentrate transportation and offsite charges of CAD$175/t, mining cost of CAD$6/t, processing plus general and administration cost of CAD$41/t; and a process recovery of 75%. Only lithium value was used to generate the resource optimized pit shell. Underground constrained mineral resources were defined within 5 x 5 x 5 m minable shape optimization wireframes. The mineable shape optimization constraining wireframes were created using Deswik.SO software. The lithium resource underground minable shape optimization parameters include: 5.5% Li2O spodumene concentrate; US$1,800 Li2O spodumene concentrate price; exchange rate of CAD 1.30/USD 1; concentrate transportation and offsite charges of CAD$175/t, mining cost of CAD$80/t, processing plus general and administration cost of CAD$50/t; and a process recovery of 75%. The rubidium resource was constrained above market value due to the current limited world market. A 4,000 ppm rubidium cut-off grade was selected. The rubidium resource was excluded from (i.e. neither taken into account nor used as a credit for) the underground and open pit lithium resource. A default density of 2.668 g/cm3 was used for the mineralized zones. All figures are rounded to reflect the relative accuracy of the estimates; totals may not add correctly. The effective date of the MRE was February 16, 2023. The effective date for the MRE Report was April 13, 2023, and is available on SEDAR.

Preliminary Economic Assessment

The Project:

Is 100% owned by ILC and is not subject to any off-take agreements, partnerships, or royalties.

Consists of 48,500 hectares (485 square kilometres) of adjoining mineral claims.

Is located approximately 25 kilometres west of the Township of Ignace, Ontario.

Distinguishes itself from other lithium projects in Canada by being very well situated near to major public infrastructure, including: The Trans-Canada Highway, with direct access to Thunder Bay on Lake Superior, is less than six kilometers north of the Project; The Canadian Pacific Railway, natural gas pipelines, and Hydro One power transmission lines (115 and 230 kV) are just a few kilometres from the Project.







Figure 1: Major public infrastructure relative to the Raleigh Lake project.

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/3232/194818_50664e18e4af0a5a_003full.jpg

Mining Methods

The mining method selected for this project will use traditional open pit drilling and blasting followed by load and haul. The primary mining production will be executed using hydraulic excavators, front shovels, and/or wheel loaders as appropriate to the terrain and depending on the major production equipment available for the project. The material will be hauled from the bench to the crusher, ROM stockpiles or waste dump depending on the material type. Furthermore, ancillary equipment, such as bulldozers, graders, and a range of vehicles, is employed to perform functions related to maintenance, support, services, and utilities.

The proposed PEA level mine plan is based around work at a proposed plant feed production rate of 540,000 tpy.

This LoM mine plan is proposed to mine 57Mt of material over the mine life, which will be comprised of 4Mt of mill feed and 53Mt of waste with an average strip ratio of 13.2:1 (Table 7).

The open pit created for the Raleigh Lake deposit covers about 800 metres in length and 450 metres in width at the surface (Figure 2). The pit's lowest point extends to a depth of 330 metres above sea level, while the entrance to the pit is positioned at 475 metres above sea level. The pit incorporates two entrance ramps, with the first granting access to the southern section of the pit and the second facilitating entry to the northern part.

The approach selected for the storage of tailings generated at the concentrator and the waste rock from the mine will be co-disposal. This co-disposal method involves containing filtered tailings within designated waste rock cells. This approach offers the benefit of enhancing overall stockpile stability and the efficiency of water drainage. The primary goal is to guarantee long-term physical and geochemical stability.





Figure 2: General arrangement of the mine site layout for Raleigh Lake showing the final open pit (right) and co-disposal facility (left).

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/3232/194818_50664e18e4af0a5a_004full.jpg

Table 7: Proposed mine production schedule for Raleigh Lake.

Project Year -1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Total Mill Feed

(tonnes) 54,037 324,183 539,881 540,107 539,899 539,895 540,305 539,713 540,312 208,721 4,367,053 Measured

(tonnes) 0 0 5,566 0 6,338 27,854 0 8,927 23,584 2,725 74,994 Indicated

(tonnes) 20,659 112,928 365,731 298,367 265,030 250,939 41,048 152,832 278,257 115,990 1,901,781 Inferred

(tonnes) 33,378 211,254 168,584 241,741 268,531 261,103 499,257 377,954 238,471 90,005 2,390,278 Grade Li2O

(%) 0.67 0.67 0.71 0.94 0.83 0.79 0.49 0.54 0.68 0.65 0.70 Measured

(Li2O%) 0.00 0.00 0.30 0.00 0.63 1.19 0.00 1.13 0.78 0.66 0.92 Indicated

(Li2O%) 0.47 0.51 0.70 0.93 0.67 0.75 0.47 0.63 0.67 0.58 0.70 Inferred

(Li2O%) 0.79 0.75 0.75 0.94 0.99 0.79 0.49 0.48 0.68 0.75 0.70 Waste

(tonnes) 7,572,425 8,641,731 8,930,422 9,147,177 8,855,024 4,651,476 2,979,449 1,530,607 864,285 509,626 53,682,222 Concentrate

(tonnes) 0 34,194 51,828 68,321 60,532 57,726 35,668 38,988 49,323 18,324 414,904

Mineral Processing

The Raleigh Lake Orebody contains two metallurgical domains, the lithium spodumene domain and the rubidium microcline domain. These two separate domains represent zones in the Raleigh Lake orebody that require customized process flowsheets to be developed for each zone. For the lithium domain, the objective is the recovery of spodumene to 6% Li2O concentrate grade, while the rubidium bearing microcline domain objective is to develop a flowsheet for extraction of the rubidium from the microcline.

The current focus was to perform mineralogy and mineral processing testing to develop the flowsheet for the lithium zone (Li-Head) and do a literature review to begin to investigate the flowsheet development of the rubidium zone (Rb Head). Samples of the lithium and rubidium domains were sent to SGS Canada in August of 2023, to perform phase one mineralogy tests with follow-up mineral processing testing and literature review. The Li Head and Rb Head were collected from the Raleigh Lake Deposit and were received by the SGS Lakefield Canada Advanced Mineralogy Facility for mineralogy. Mineralogy was conducted to determine liberation, mineral assemblages which would help to support and guide the metallurgical test work.

The lithium Li head sample assayed 1.59% Li2O and 0.56% Fe2O3, while the rubidium head sample graded 6,580 g/t Rb (equivalent to 0.72% Rb2O) with 0.12% Li2O and 0.24% Fe2O3.

The main objective of the phase one scoping level mineral processing test investigation was to provide a preliminary indication of the lithium beneficiation of the Li head by heavy liquid separation (HLS).

The metallurgical target was the preparation of spodumene concentrate grading >6.0% Li2O while maximizing lithium recovery.

The pegmatite Li Head sample was initially stage-crushed to 100% passing 12.7 mm, homogenized, and split into 10 kg test charges. One of the 10 kg charges was sub-sampled 500 g for head assays and the remaining was screened at 16 mesh to remove the -1 mm fraction for mineralogy.

From the 10kg charges, the minus 12.7 mm +1 mm fraction was further screened at 1/4" (6.3 mm) to generate two fractions of -12.7 mm +6.3 mm and -6.3 mm +1 mm. The two coarse fractions, -12.7 mm +6.3 mm and -6.3 mm +1 mm, were submitted for Heavy Liquid Separation (HLS) testing.

The HLS testing results at SG 2.85, 6.0% Li2O concentrate grade of 14.9 weight % with global lithium recovery of 53.0% was obtained in the fraction of -12.7 mm/+6.3 mm.

The HLS Testing results interpolated to SG 2.83, a 6.0% Li2O concentrate grade of 8.0 wt% with a global lithium recovery of 28.5 % was obtained in the -6.3 mm/+1 mm fraction.

Combining the 6% Li2O concentrates from the two fractions of -12.7 mm/+6.3 mm and 6.3 mm/+1 mm (highlighted in cyan in Table 8) generated a combined global lithium recovery of 81.5%.

Above a tailings SG-cut point of 2.70, the HLS middling from each sample contained between 1.27 - 1.69% Li2O with 2.3 - 8.2% of the global lithium distribution. Therefore, the HLS middling can potentially be stage crushed then mixed with the minus 1 mm fines fraction to produce a flotation feed (or gravity feed) grading 1.19 % Li2O and 0.59% Fe2O3.

The combined HLS middling and fines fraction contained 16.2% of the lithium distribution graded 1.19% Li2O. This is potential feed for a roll crusher and screening, for flotation feed, or a ultrafines DMS gravity circuit to increase the lithium recovery.

The grade of iron in the spodumene concentrate was ~1% Fe2O3, which is acceptable, however, this would likely be reduced by treating the concentrate by magnetic separation.





Table 8: Summary of HLS Global Mass Balance (Interpolated @ 6.0% Li2O).

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

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Recovery Methods

The lithium zone flowsheet development test work showed a viable flowsheet to crush to minus 12.7 mm and screen at 1 mm, followed by screening again at 6.3 mm to make two streams (-12.7 mm plus 6.3 mm and -6.3 mm plus 1mm) for HLS (plant DMS). The minus 1 mm fines and HLS middlings (DMS plant middlings) would be stored for future processing and recovery of additional lithium, and other minerals of interest. HLS floats (DMS floats) may also be considered for road construction projects. The flowsheets developed for Project are shown in Figure 3.

The base case process plant is designed to crush 1,500tpd and process 1,500tpd in a DMS plant to produce a nominal 56,000 tpy of 6% Li2O at 81% recovery.

Engineering and design were developed to a scoping level based on the results of the SGS laboratory testing. The SGS lab tests obtained 22.9 weight percentages of 6% Lithium Concentrate and estimated 81% lithium recovery.

A design factor of 10 % is applied on nominal requirements to ensure that the process equipment has enough capacity to take care of the expected feed variation.

Environmental

The preliminary analysis of the Project indicates it will be subject to multiple Class Environmental Assessments under the Ontario provincial Environmental Assessment Act. The Project is not anticipated to trigger a federal impact assessment under the Impact Assessment Act. Several other permits, approvals or authorizations will be required to continue Project development beyond early exploration, including advanced exploration through closure.

At the time of filing, environmental and socio-economic studies have not been initiated for the Project though will be necessary to support and inform environmental assessment(s) and permitting applications. These studies are required to characterize the existing environmental setting of the Project and to inform design and/or process considerations.





Figure 3: Crushing area flowsheet (A) and DMS area flowsheet (B) for the Raleigh Lake project.

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/3232/194818_ilcfigure3.jpg

Once Project approvals are secured, ILC will be required to comply with any terms and conditions associated with Project-specific authorizations issued by provincial or federal authorities, as well as relevant environmental law and regulation.

First Nation's and Metis communities are situated near the Raleigh Lake property and consider the area part of their traditional territory. ILC has identified Indigenous groups that may have an interest in the Project and has initiated engagement. The lands and community of the Wabigoon Lake Ojibway Nation (WLON) are the closest to the Project, WLON has been the foremost community for communication and involvement by Company representatives.

Capital Costs

The Raleigh Lake Preliminary Economic Analysis Study (PEA) involves the development of an open pit mine, the construction of on-site processing facilities and all infrastructure required to support those activities.

The capital cost estimate for the Raleigh Lake has been prepared to an accuracy of + 30% / - 20% based on a 10% to 40% engineering completion ratio to conform with the requirements for an American Association of Cost Engineers (AACE) Class 3 Estimate.

All capital cost estimates are based on Q4 2023 Canadian Dollars (CAD$) and an assumed US to Canadian Dollar ratio of $1 USD = $1.35 CAD.

Total pre-production capital costs will be CAD $111.9 million as shown in Table 9, which include capitalized operating costs incurred before the open pit mine moves into the production phase.

Table 9: Pre-production Capital Costs.

Cost Centre Description Cost

(CAD$ million) Direct CAPEX Costs 1000 Open Pit Mining 18.2 3000 Mineral Processing 38.5 4000 Power, Electrical and Instrumentation 3.8 5000 Site Infrastructure and Support Services 11.5 6000 Water Management Systems 2.0 7000 Tailings and Mine Waste Management Facilities 1.8 Total Direct CAPEX Costs 75.8 Owner and Indirect CAPEX Cost Summary 8000 Reclamation and Closure 10.0 9000 Indirect and Owner Costs 18.6 Total Indirect CAPEX Costs 28.6 9600 Contingency 7.6 Total Pre-Production CAPEX Costs 111.9

Total sustaining capital costs over the mine production phase will be CAD$17.5 million (Table 10).

Table 10: Total Sustaining Capital Costs (SUSEX).

Cost Centre Description Cost

(CAD$ million) Direct SUSEX Costs 1000 Open Pit Mining 9.1 6000 Water Management Systems 0.2 7000 Tailings and Mine Waste Management Facilities 3.8 Total Direct SUSEX Costs 13.0 Owner and Indirect SUSEX Cost Summary 9000 Indirect and Owner Costs 3.2 Total Indirect Costs 3.2 9600 Contingency 1.3 Total SUSEX 17.5

Operating Costs

The operating cost estimate (Table 11) is based on the total amount of labour, materials and consumables that will be required to fully execute the mining and processing plans as described above.

The total operating costs incurred over the life of the project are based on sufficient mill feed material being available to begin processing plant operations in Year 1 of the overall project schedule, which will include the processing of 54,037 tonnes of mill feed stockpiled in Year -1 of the pre-production schedule.

Total operating costs for the operation will primarily be those for mining and processing.

The total LoM operating cost is estimated to be CAD $412.1 million.

The total LoM operating cost of mining is estimated to be CAD $179 million.

The total LoM operating cost of processing is estimated to be CAD $124.6 million.

The total LoM operating cost of G&A is estimated to be CAD $77.5 million.

The total LoM operating cost of concentrate transport is estimated to be CAD $31 million

Road Transportation Costs

Road transportation costs incurred over the production life of the project assume that the final technical grade concentrate would be transported by truck to a conversion plant located in Winnipeg or Thunder Bay.

A total cost of CAD$75 per tonne of concentrate was assumed based on a conservative truck haulage cost of CAD$60 per tonne and total loading/unloading costs of CAD$15 per tonne of concentrate produced, or CAD$7.13 per tonne of mill feed for a total LoM cost of CAD$31.1 million.

Table 11: Unit Operating and Overall Project Costs.

Parameter Value Unit Unit Operating Costs - Production Phase Mining CAD$3.55 /t mined Mining including Waste (Strip Ratio = 13.2:1) CAD$40.98 /t mill feed Milling CAD$28.53 /t mill feed G & A CAD$17.74 /t mill feed Concentrate transportation CAD$7.13 /t mill feed Total CAD$94.38 /t mill feed Overall Project Costs Total Mining Cost* CAD$179 million

Total Milling Costs CAD$124.6 million

Total G&A Costs CAD$77.5 million

Total Concentrate Transport Costs CAD$31 million

Total Operating Costs CAD$412.1 million



* Does not include capitalized waste mining pre-production

Project Economics

The economic analysis of the Raleigh Lake project is based on cost models prepared for each major component of the overall project, which includes an open pit mine, crushing and processing plants, supporting surface infrastructure and a waste rock / tailings co-disposal facility.

The assumed technical grade 6% spodumene concentrate product and cost calculations are all expressed in Canadian dollars unless otherwise noted, with an exchange rate of 1.35 CAD/USD being used for currency conversions.

The calculated internal rate of return (IRR) of the project does not include potential external financing costs and assumes that all required funding will be equity based. The net present value (NPV) calculations assumed a discounting rate of 8% p.a.

The discounted cash flow model includes revenues, costs, taxes, and other known factors directly related to the project but excludes indirect factors such as financing costs, sunk costs, and corporate obligations.

The results of the economic analysis yielded a post-tax NPV of CAD$342.9 million, an IRR of 44.3% p.a. and a payback period of 4 years after construction begins or 2 years after the start of the production phase of the project.

About International Lithium Corp.

International Lithium Corp. believes that the world faces a significant turning point in the energy market's dependence on oil and gas and in the governmental and public view of climate change. In addition, we have seen the clear and increasingly urgent wish by the USA and Canada to safeguard their supplies of critical battery metals and to become more self-sufficient. Our Canadian projects are strategic in that respect.

Our key mission in the next decade is to make money for our shareholders from lithium and rare metals while at the same time helping to create a greener, cleaner planet and less polluted cities. This includes optimizing the value of our existing projects in Canada and Ireland as well as finding, exploring and developing projects that have the potential to become world class lithium and rare metal deposits. We have announced separately that we regard Zimbabwe as an important strategic target market for ILC, and we hope to be able to make announcements over the next few weeks and months.

A key goal has been to become a well-funded company to turn our aspirations into reality, and following the disposal of the Mariana project in Argentina in 2021 and the Mavis Lake project in Canada in January 2022, the Board of the Company considers that ILC is now well placed in that respect with a strong net cash position.

The Company's interests in various projects now consists of the following, and in addition the Company continues to seek other opportunities:

Name Location Area

(Hectares) Current

Ownership

Percentage

Future Ownership

percentage if options

exercised or work

carried out Operator or

JV Partner Raleigh Lake Ontario 48,500 100% 100% ILC Wolf Ridge Ontario 5,700 0% 100% ILC Avalonia Ireland 29,200 45% 21% Ganfeng Lithium Mavis Lake Ontario 2,600 0% 0%

(carries an extra earn-in

payment of CAD $0.7 million

if resource targets met) Critical Resources Ltd

(ASX: CRR) Forgan Lake

& Lucky Lake Ontario < 500 0% 1.5% Net Smelter Royalty Ultra Lithium Inc.

(TSXV: ULT)

The Company's primary strategic focus at this point is on the Raleigh Lake Project's lithium and rubidium project in Canada and on identifying additional properties in Canada and Zimbabwe.

The Raleigh Lake Project consists of 48,500 hectares (485 square kilometres) of mineral claims in Ontario and is ILC's most significant project in Canada. Drilling has so far been on less than 1,000 hectares of our claims. The exploration results there so far, which are on only about 8% of ILC's current claims, have shown significant quantities of rubidium and caesium in the pegmatite as well as lithium. Raleigh Lake is 100% owned by ILC, is not subject to any encumbrances, and is royalty free.

With the increasing demand for high tech rechargeable batteries used in electric vehicles and electrical storage as well as portable electronics, lithium has been designated "the new oil", and is a key part of a green energy sustainable economy. By positioning itself with projects with significant resource potential and with solid strategic partners, ILC aims to be one of the lithium and rare metals resource developers of choice for investors and to continue to build value for its shareholders in the '20s, the decade of battery metals.

Patrick McLaughlin, P. Geo., and Garth Liukko P.Eng., are Qualified Persons as defined by NI 43-101 and have verified the disclosed technical information and have reviewed and approved the contents of this news release.

On behalf of the Company,

John Wisbey

Chairman and CEO

www.internationallithium.ca

For further information concerning this news release, please contact +1 604-449-6520.

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 Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information

Except for statements of historical fact, this news release or other releases contain certain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities law. Forward-looking information or forward-looking statements in this or other news releases may include: the effect of results of anticipated production rates, the timing and/or anticipated results of drilling on the Raleigh Lake or Wolf Ridge or Avalonia projects, the expectation of resource estimates, preliminary economic assessments, feasibility studies, lithium or rubidium or caesium recoveries, modeling of capital and operating costs, results of studies utilizing various technologies at the company's projects, budgeted expenditures and planned exploration work on the Company's projects, increased value of shareholder investments, and assumptions about ethical behaviour by our joint venture partners or third party operators of projects. Such forward-looking information is based on assumptions and subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties, including but not limited to those discussed in the sections entitled "Risks" and "Forward-Looking Statements" in the interim and annual Management's Discussion and Analysis which are available at www.sedar.com. While management believes that the assumptions made are reasonable, there can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate. Should one or more of the risks, uncertainties or other factors materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described in forward-looking information. Forward-looking information herein, and all subsequent written and oral forward-looking information are based on expectations, estimates and opinions of management on the dates they are made that, while considered reasonable by the Company as of the time of such statements, are subject to significant business, economic, legislative, and competitive uncertainties and contingencies. These estimates and assumptions may prove to be incorrect and are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. Except as required by law, the Company assumes no obligation to update forward-looking information should circumstances or management's estimates or opinions change.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/194818

SOURCE: International Lithium Corp.
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - January 18, 2024) - Scorpio Gold Corporation (TSXV: SGN) ("Scorpio Gold" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that, further to its press release dated November 8, 2023, it has entered into an amalgamation agreement dated January 17, 2024 (the "Amalgamation Agreement") with Altus Gold Corp. ("Altus Gold") and the Company's wholly-owned subsidiary, 1455812 B.C. Ltd. ("Subco"), pursuant to which the Company proposes to acquire all the issued and outstanding shares of Altus Gold by way of a three-cornered amalgamation (the "Transaction"). The Amalgamation Agreement supersedes the amended and restated letter of intent between the Company and Altus Gold dated November 8, 2023. A copy of the Amalgamation Agreement will be filed under the Company's SEDAR+ profile at www.sedarplus.ca.

Under the terms of the Amalgamation Agreement, Altus Gold will amalgamate with Subco, and the Company will acquire all of the outstanding common shares of Altus Gold in exchange for common shares of the Company on the basis of one common share of the Company for every one common share of Altus Gold.

The Amalgamation Agreement contemplates that, upon completion of the Transaction, the board of Scorpio Gold will be restructured to be comprised of five directors, two of which will be Altus Gold nominees, being Zayn Kalyan and Michael Townsend, and three of which will be current directors of Scorpio Gold, being Chris Zerga, Peter Brieger and Ian Dawson. Zayn Kalyan, a director of Altus Gold, will be appointed as Chief Executive Officer of the Company, while Chris Zerga, the current President and CEO of the Company, will become the Company's Chief Operating Officer.

Altus Gold is a private mining issuer with an option to acquire a mineral exploration property in Esmeralda County, Nevada, referred to as the Northstar property, adjacent to Scorpio Gold's Mineral Ridge Mine.

Closing of the Transaction is subject to a number of conditions precedent, including, without limitation:

the completion of a non-brokered private placement of units of the Company to raise gross proceeds of at least $3,200,000 (the "Financing"), as described in the Company's press release dated January 12, 2024; the approval of the Transaction by the shareholders of Altus Gold; the amendment of Altus Gold's option agreement to acquire the Northstar property on terms agreed to between the Company and Altus Gold; the restructuring of outstanding convertible debentures of the Company on terms agreed to between the Company and Altus Gold; the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange (the "Exchange") in respect of the Transaction and the Financing, and compliance with all applicable regulatory requirements and conditions necessary to complete the Transaction; and other customary mutual conditions precedent.

It is anticipated that the second tranche of the Financing to raise gross proceeds of approximately $915,000 will be completed on January 22, 2024.

Altus Gold has provided a non-interest bearing, secured loan (the "Bridge Loan") to the Company in the aggregate principal amount of $1,000,000 in connection with the Transaction, subject to the approval of the Exchange. The Bridge Loan will be forgiven if the Company completes the Transaction with Altus Gold. If the Transaction does not complete, the Bridge Loan will be repayable in cash on demand by Altus Gold, or in certain circumstances, the Bridge Loan may be settled in common shares of the Company, subject to the approval of the Exchange. In the event that the settlement of the Bridge Loan in common shares is not acceptable to the Exchange, it would remain payable in cash. If the Bridge Loan is settled in common shares, for so long as Altus Gold holds at least 5% of the Company issued and outstanding common shares (calculated on an undiluted basis), Altus Gold would have the right to appoint one nominee to the board of directors of the Company.

The securities described herein have not been, and will not be, registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "1933 Act") or any state securities laws, and accordingly, may not be offered or sold within the United States except in compliance with the registration requirements of the 1933 Act and applicable state securities requirements or pursuant to exemptions therefrom. This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation to buy any securities in any jurisdiction.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF SCORPIO GOLD CORPORATION

Chris Zerga, CEO and President

Scorpio Gold Contact

Chris Zerga, President and CEO

Tel: (819) 825-7618

Email: czerga@scorpiogold.com

Altus Gold Contact

Zayn Kalyan, Director

Tel: (778) 938-3367

Email: zayn@altuscapital.ca

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 release.

Forward-Looking Statements

The Company relies on litigation protection for forward-looking statements. This news release contains forward-looking statements that are based on the Company's current expectations and estimates. Forward-looking statements are frequently characterized by words such as "plan", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate", "suggest", "indicate" and other similar words or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur, and include, without limitation, statements regarding the terms and completion of the Transaction and satisfying closing conditions for the Transaction, and the timing and completion of the Financing. There is significant risk that the forward-looking statements will not prove to be accurate, that the management's assumptions may not be correct and that actual results may differ materially from such forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from estimated or anticipated events or results implied or expressed in such forward-looking statements, including financial markets generally, the inability to complete the Transaction, the Financing and related transactions, receipt of all regulatory approvals required for the Transaction and related transactions, and those risk factors outlined in the Company's Management Discussion and Analysis as filed on SEDAR+. Any forward-looking statement 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 statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and accordingly undue reliance should not be put on such statements due to the inherent uncertainty thereof.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/194827

SOURCE: Scorpio Gold Corp
Monaco City, Monaco--(Newsfile Corp. - January 18, 2024) - The MonAsia Association has announced its new "Nurturing Mental Health in Nature's Embrace" event, which will co-occur online and in person on Thursday, January 25th, 2024. The event's goal is to provide education about the role of pollinators and to draw inspiration from the natural world. The event's organizers hope attendees will rediscover their bond with nature by connecting and learning alongside interested peers.

"Inspired by the Bee Camino project, MonAsia brings you a transformative experience connecting nature and mindfulness," says the MonAsia Association. "Join us on this transformative journey named 'Nurturing Mental Health in Nature's Embrace,' as we draw from the enchanting well of the bee's life-a source of wisdom, sustainability, and a profound connection to the intricate rhythms of our planet."





Caption: The MonAsia Association



To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/8798/194678_5db9506a84cc9a56_001full.jpg

The one-day event will feature world-class expert speakers. A morning presentation will occur at 10 am, a half-hour break at 11:30 am, and an afternoon presentation at noon.

Dr. Jeff Ollerton, the Visiting Professor of Biodiversity at the University of Northampton (UK) and the Kunming Institute of Botany (China), has over 30 years of experience as a scientist and educator. He authored two recent books, Pollinators & Pollination: Nature and Society and Birds & Flowers: An Intimate 50 Million-Year-Old Relationship. He has a world-class reputation as an expert in biodiversity and plant-pollinator interactions.

Dr. Ollerton will present "Why Are Pollinators Important?" at 10 am. This presentation will describe and identify pollinators, explore their diversity and pollination process, and reveal their impacts on the planet and human society.

Karin Blak, a writer, qualified facilitator, and therapist with over 20 years of experience, is the author of The Essential Companion to Talking Therapy and The Google Wellness Journal and has published many articles about mental health, relationships, and mindfulness. Her writing specializes in improving quality of life by exploring the connection between the self and the natural world that surrounds the self.

Karin Blak will present "What is a Mindful Connection?" starting at noon. This presentation will help attendees connect with nature mindfully, discuss the benefits of such a connection, provide opportunities to practice this mindfulness and explore how such a connection can be practiced going forward.

Those interested in attending this event should RSVP soon to secure their spot and use the link below: Register Here.

About the MonAsia Association:



The MonAsia Association is a Monegasque non-profit association that aims to "build a better, greener, and fairer new world while preserving, as much as possible, the existing economic and social structure." To this end, MonAsia organizes conferences, debates, and other events inside the Principality of Monaco and beyond. They strive to create an international community of stakeholders committed to implementing Sustainable Development Goals and CSR into the practices and values of people across the world. Through education, cultural projects, and community growth, the MonAsia Association contributes to sustainable development.

Media Contact: Anastasia Lutcenko

Website: http://www.monasia.mc/

Company name: The MonAsia Association

Email: contact@monasia.mc

Source: The MonAsia Association

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/194678

SOURCE: Ascend Agency
Pivot Bio CEO Chris Abbott this week took the leading sustainable agriculture company's expertise to the World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting to seek partnerships and opportunities to accelerate the food system's transformation.

"What's most exciting is the solutions are here, and the solutions are ready to scale. Now it's just about bringing everyone together," said Abbott in a conversation hosted by CNBC.

"Technology is an amazing price deflationary tool. We see that in our business of fertilizer," said Abbott. "We've dislocated from natural gas. Natural gas pricing does not matter to us. We use 1,000 times less water. So, if we can dislocate from those limiting factors, we can bring cost down, which has a benefit for growers, a benefit for the environment and certainly a benefit for consumers downstream."

In a panel hosted by the Forum, Abbott shared how harnessing nature can create technologies like the ones Pivot Bio has developed. They offer better efficiency, performance and pricing than the legacy alternatives. "With the right government incentives and risk appetite, these solutions will scale," he said. "What we need now are partners to help bring them to market quickly."

Ahead of the annual meeting, in an article for the Agenda, Abbott outlined his vision for collaboration. "Crop nutrition is a vital part of any farming operation, requiring active management of the delicate mix of macro- and micronutrients available to crops to ensure maximum productivity," wrote Abbott. "There are many factors that impact plants' productivity, but if we can address these yield-limiting factors in a holistic way, we can unlock a new level of productivity and sustainability in agriculture."

During meetings with other CEOs and investors, Abbott highlighted the need and opportunity for global agriculture to reconsider century-old practices that no longer serve the needs of today's farmers or the planet. He shared how his company's microbial fertilizer is providing farmers with the nitrogen needed to efficiently produce crops to feed a growing population and to do it without the negative impacts of synthetic nitrogen fertilizer.

"From increased volatility and disrupted supply chains to extreme weather events brought about by climate change, farmers in every region of the world are facing challenges that threaten their ability to feed a rapidly growing global population," Abbott said. "Agriculture is incredibly complex, and we won't be able to solve all its challenges on our own. It's going to take everyone, from the input and technology providers to the fertilizer manufacturers and beyond. This was an important moment for Pivot Bio to join critical stakeholders from across the industry to explore solutions that can be complementary to drive progress for the world's growers."

Those looking to explore opportunities for collaboration with Pivot Bio should contact the company by emailing media@pivotbio.com.

About Pivot Bio

Pivot Bio is a leading sustainable agriculture company delivering farmers patented crop nutrition technologies that harness the power of nature to reliably and productively grow the food the world needs in the face of increasing volatility. Currently available in North America and soon in Brazil, the company's products are a breakthrough innovation and among the industry's most promising climate solutions because they deliver nitrogen to plants without the negative impacts of synthetic fertilizer. Pivot Bio's nitrogen is weatherproof, safer to handle, and does not leach or contribute to nitrous oxide pollution. By making this possible for the first time at scale, Pivot Bio is upending the 190 billion USD nitrogen market. Pivot Bio has been recognized twice by Time on its annual list of best inventions, by Fast Company on its World Changing Ideas and World's Most Innovative Companies lists, by CNBC in its Disruptor 50 list of private companies, and by Fortune on its Impact 20 list of startups driving social good. The company recently announced its fourth consecutive year of growth. For more information, visit PivotBio.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240118801359/en/

Contacts:

media@pivotbio.com
Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners ("CIP") is launching Copenhagen Energy Islands ("CEI"), a new development company dedicated to developing energy islands globally with backing from Nordic, European, and North American investors

COPENHAGEN, Denmark, Jan. 19, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Copenhagen Energy Islands will build on CIP's long-standing experience and expertise within offshore wind to develop energy island projects globally, and is currently developing a portfolio of around 10 energy island projects around the North Sea, the Baltic Sea and in South-East Asia.



Energy islands are large-scale offshore energy hubs, which will enable the massive scaling required for the next generation of offshore wind deployment globally. They combine existing, proven technologies in a new and innovative way and at a significantly larger scale, allowing for a cost-efficient build-out and integration of offshore wind. Key value drivers include a substantial reduction in power transmission costs, large-scale offshore green hydrogen production and related synergies between power and hydrogen production.

Copenhagen Energy Islands is an independent company majority-owned by CIP and a group of investors. The founding group includes major Nordic, European and North American investors with a track record of investments in renewable energy infrastructure, including PensionDanmark, PFA, SEB, and Andel.

"Our vision is to provide concrete solutions to the global challenge of scaling up renewables. If we want to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, we will need to scale up the deployment of offshore wind and other renewables to an unprecedented level. Today, the challenge for offshore wind is less about building the incremental offshore wind farm, but more how to integrate large-scale offshore wind energy into the global energy systems. We see energy islands as a key tool in solving this challenge and realizing the ambitious offshore wind targets across the globe," said Jakob Baruel Poulsen, Managing Partner and founder of CIP.

Copenhagen Energy Islands is headquartered in Copenhagen with a team of industry professionals with extensive experience within renewables, infrastructure, and finance.

For more information about Copenhagen Energy Islands, visit copenhagenenergyislands.com.

For further information, please contact:

E-mail: media@cip.com

Oliver Routhe Skov, Head of Media Relations

Phone: +45 30541227

Email: orsk@cip.com

Thomas Knig, Partner - Investor Relations

Phone: +45 7070 5151

Email: tkon@cip.com

Further quotes for editorial use:

PensionDanmark

"We see a great commercial potential in energy islands globally and as a strong contender for the effective rollout of liquid green hydrogen on a large scale. CEI has the potential to become a catalyst and real world leader in the establishment of energy islands making it an attractive investment opportunity for returns to our members' pension savings," said Peter Stensgaard Mrch, deputy CEO of PensionDanmark.

About PensionDanmark

PensionDanmark is Denmark's largest labour market pension fund and one of the 50 largest pension funds in Europe. PensionDanmark administers collective and company-agreed labor market pensions, health schemes and education funds for over 823,000 members employed in 23,200 private and public companies. PensionDanmark is a customer-owned company, where the entire profit goes to the members. PensionDanmark has approximately EUR 40bn under management.

PFA

"We believe that energy islands will play a key role in accelerating the global transition towards future demands for renewable energy and carbon neutrality. PFA already has experience working closely together with CIP on early-stage energy island development and other renewable energy projects, and we expect that our investment in Copenhagen Energy Islands will create value for our customers and contribute to the green transition," said Kasper Ahrndt Lorenzen, CIO at PFA.

About PFA

PFA is Denmark's largest commercial pension provider, and the clear majority of the value that we create is returned to our 1,3 million customers. Founded in 1917 by the labour market operators, PFA's core mission is to provide financial security, a good senior life, health solutions and contribute to a sustainable society.

SEB

"At SEB, we're accelerating the sustainable transition together with our clients and partners. We have always believed that the future depends on making great ideas happen and by investing in Copenhagen Energy Islands, our ambition is to live up to our purpose of positively shaping the future, with responsible advice and capital. Today and for generations to come," says Kristian Skovmand, Country Manager, SEB Denmark.

About SEB

In Sweden and the Baltic countries, SEB offers financial advice and a wide range of financial services. In Denmark, Finland, Norway, Germany and the United Kingdom, we have a strong focus on corporate and investment banking based on a full-service offering to corporate and institutional clients. The international nature of SEB's business is reflected in our presence in more than 20 countries worldwide, with around 17,500 employees. At 30 September 2023, the Group's total assets amounted to SEK 4,134 bn while assets under management totalled SEK 2,194bn. Read more about SEB at sebgroup.com.

Andel

"Climate changes and the consequences of the global energy crisis are becoming increasingly evident. Energy islands is a key driver in establishing large amounts of new renewable energy in an efficient and cost-effective manner, allowing us to phase out fossil fuels and reduce CO2 emissions. As a co-investor in Copenhagen Energy Islands, we contribute to the development of new local energy hubs, taking significant steps towards a greener future," says Jesper Hjulmand, Group CEO of Andel.

About Andel

Andel is Denmark's leading energy and fibre-optic group. We are a cooperative society and a group with subsidiaries. Together, we are involved in the entire energy value chain. We engage in energy production, infrastructure, trading activities, and customer solutions. We invest in activities that support the green transition and produce sustainable energy from our offshore wind farm Rodsand II and Tryggevaelde solar park. Through our part ownership of rsted, Andel takes part in e.g. offshore wind power across most of the world. Andel has 2.8 million customer relationships across Denmark and employs approximately 2.000 colleagues.

About Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners

Founded in 2012, Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners P/S (CIP) today is the world's largest dedicated fund manager within greenfield renewable energy investments and a global leader in offshore wind. The funds managed by CIP focus on investments in offshore and onshore wind, solar PV, biomass and energy-from-waste, transmission and distribution, reserve capacity, storage, advanced bioenergy, and Power-to-X.

CIP manages 12 funds and has to date raised approximately EUR 28 billion for investments in energy and associated infrastructure from more than 160 international institutional investors. CIP has approximately 500 employees and 12 offices around the world. For more information, visit www.cip.com.
Allschwil, Switzerland, January 19, 2024

Basilea Pharmaceutica Ltd, Allschwil (SIX: BSLN), a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company committed to meeting the needs of patients with severe bacterial and fungal infections, announced today that the sales of the antifungal Cresemba (isavuconazole) in 2023 by its partner Knight Therapeutics Inc. ("Knight", TSX: GUD) in Latin America exceeded the threshold triggering the first sales milestone payment for this region.

David Veitch, Chief Executive Officer, said: "We are very pleased with the commercial progress that Knight has made with Cresemba, which has now triggered the first sales milestone payment from Knight for Latin America. The continued growth confirms that Cresemba is serving a high medical need around the world."

By year-end 2023, Cresemba was marketed in more than 70 countries, including the United States, most EU member states, China, Japan and countries in Latin America. According to the latest available market data, total global in-market sales of Cresemba in the twelve-month period between October 2022 and September 2023 amounted to USD 445 million, a 22 percent growth year-on-year.1

About Cresemba (isavuconazole)

Isavuconazole, is an intravenous (i.v.) and oral azole antifungal, commercialized under the trade name Cresemba. Basilea has entered into several license and distribution agreements for isavuconazole covering approximately 115 countries. In the 27 European Union member states, as well as in Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and the U.K., isavuconazole is approved for the treatment of adult patients with invasive aspergillosis and for adult patients with mucormycosis for whom amphotericin B is inappropriate.2 In the United States (US), Cresemba for injection is indicated for the treatment of invasive aspergillosis and invasive mucormycosis in adults and pediatric patients 1 year of age and older and Cresemba capsules are indicated for the treatment of adults and pediatric patients 6 years of age and older, who weigh 16 kilograms and greater.3 Isavuconazole is also approved in several additional countries in Europe and beyond, including Japan and China.4 It has orphan drug designation in the US, Europe and Australia for its approved indications.

About Basilea

Basilea is a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company founded in 2000 and headquartered in Switzerland. We are committed to discovering, developing and commercializing innovative drugs to meet the needs of patients with severe bacterial and fungal infections. We have successfully launched two hospital brands, Cresemba for the treatment of invasive fungal infections and Zevtera for the treatment of bacterial infections. In addition, we have preclinical and clinical anti-infective assets in our portfolio. Basilea is listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange.

Disclaimer

This communication expressly or implicitly contains certain forward-looking statements, such as "believe", "assume", "expect", "forecast", "project", "may", "could", "might", "will" or similar expressions concerning Basilea Pharmaceutica Ltd, Allschwil and its business, including with respect to the progress, timing and completion of research, development and clinical studies for product candidates. Such statements involve certain known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which could cause the actual results, financial condition, performance or achievements of Basilea Pharmaceutica Ltd, Allschwil to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Basilea Pharmaceutica Ltd, Allschwil is providing this communication as of this date and does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements contained herein as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

For further information, please contact:

Peer Nils Schroder, PhD



Head of Corporate Communications & Investor Relations

Basilea Pharmaceutica International Ltd, Allschwil

Hegenheimermattweg 167b

4123 Allschwil

Switzerland Phone +41 61 606 1102 E-mail media_relations@basilea.com (mailto:media_relations@basilea.com)

investor_relations@basilea.com (mailto:investor_relations@basilea.com)

This press release can be downloaded from www.basilea.com.

References

IQVIA Analytics Link, September 2023. In-market sales reported as moving annual total (MAT) in U.S. dollar. European Public Assessment Report (EPAR) Cresemba: https://www.ema.europa.eu/en/medicines/human/EPAR/cresemba (https://www.ema.europa.eu/en/medicines/human/EPAR/cresemba) [Accessed: January 18, 2024] Cresemba US prescribing information: https://www.astellas.us/docs/cresemba.pdf (https://www.astellas.us/docs/cresemba.pdf) [Accessed: January 18, 2024] The registration status and approved indications may vary from country to country.

Attachment
EQS-Ad-hoc: Dexus Finance Pty Limited / Key word(s): Transaction in Own Shares

Dexus Finance Pty Limited: ASX announcements



19-Jan-2024 / 08:15 CET/CEST

Disclosure of an inside information acc. to Article 17 MAR of the Regulation (EU) No 596/2014, transmitted by EQS News - a service of EQS Group AG.

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.





Dexus (ASX: DXS) ASX release 19 January 2024 ASX announcements Dexus today announced the following ASX announcements. Appendix 3Y - Change of Director's Interest Notice for Darren Steinberg Appendix 3G - Appendix 3G - Notification regarding unquoted securities Appendix 3G - Appendix 3G - Notification regarding unquoted securities Appendix 3H - Appendix 3H - Notice of cessation of securities The full announcements are available at www.dexus.com/investor-centre/listed-funds/dexus-dxs/results-and-reporting/asx-announcements Authorised by Brett Cameron, General Counsel and Company Secretary of Dexus Funds Management Limited For further information please contact: Investors

Rowena Causley

Head of Listed Investor Relations

+61 2 9017 1390

+61 416 122 383

rowena.causley@dexus.com Media

Louise Murray

Senior Manager, Corporate Communications

+61 2 9017 1446

+61 403 260 754

louise.murray@dexus.com





End of Inside Information

Information and Explanation of the Issuer to this announcement:



About Dexus Dexus (ASX: DXS) is a leading Australasian fully integrated real asset group, managing a high-quality Australasian real estate and infrastructure portfolio valued at $61.0 billion (pro forma post final completion of the AMP Capital acquisition). We believe that the strength and quality of our relationships will always be central to our success and are deeply connected to our purpose: Unlock potential, create tomorrow. We directly and indirectly own $17.4 billion of office, industrial, healthcare, retail and infrastructure assets and investments. We manage a further $43.6 billion of investments in our funds management business (pro forma post final completion of the AMP Capital acquisition) which provides third party capital with exposure to quality sector specific and diversified real asset products. The funds within this business have a strong track record of delivering performance and benefit from Dexus's capabilities. The group's $17.4 billion real estate development pipeline provides the opportunity to grow both portfolios and enhance future returns. Our sustainability aspiration is to unlock the potential of real assets to create lasting positive impact and a more sustainable tomorrow, and is focused on the priorities of customer prosperity, climate action and enhancing communities. Dexus is supported by more than 34,000 investors from 25 countries. With four decades of expertise in property investment, funds management, asset management and development, we have a proven track record in capital and risk management and delivering returns for investors. www.dexus.com Dexus Funds Management Ltd ABN 24 060 920 783, AFSL 238163, as Responsible Entity for Dexus (ASX: DXS)

Level 30, 50 Bridge Street, Sydney NSW 2000

19-Jan-2024 CET/CEST The EQS Distribution Services include Regulatory Announcements, Financial/Corporate News and Press Releases.

Archive at www.eqs-news.com


SHENZHEN, China, Jan. 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- DAHON, a global leader in folding bicycles, recently introduced a revolutionary Speed Technology, a frame design that enhances the frame stiffness of bicycles in such a way that improves riding efficiency and speed.

DAHON has been committed to developing and innovating folding bikes. During a rigidity test for folding bikes, company founder and CEO, Dr. David T. Hon, and his R&D team made an intriguing discovery: they found that an enhanced folding bike outperformed both road and mountain bikes in speed. Surprisingly, a thorough test of over forty bicycles from multiple brands revealed significant design flaws in standard bicycle frames, leading to a considerable loss of riding power.

DAHON's response to these challenges was the creation of Speed Technology, a suite of patented solutions designed to enhance the rigidity of traditional bicycle frames, forks, and other components. The innovation incorporates an unprecedented testing platform for bike frames, finite element analysis (FEA) software, and materials mechanics. It's designed to significantly boost the speed of bikes regardless of wheel sizes, whether it's a folding bike, a road bike, or a mountain bike, all categories of bicycles can be lighter, faster, more aesthetically pleasing, and more enjoyable to ride.".

Notably, DAHON is poised to launch a new range of aluminum and carbon fiber frames utilizing Speed Technology. These frames boast a 10-20% increase in stiffness compared to traditional road and mountain bike frames.

At Taipei Cycle 2024 (March 6-9, Taipei) and China Cycle 2024 (May 6-9, Shanghai). DAHON will host a science-based, open race across six categories, with a total prize of US$5,000. The event will provide scientific and credible data demonstrating the impressive capabilities of Speed Technology. It is bound to create a buzz across the industry.

Dr. Hon has already published an academic paper ( https://dahon.com/the-folding-bike-problems-and-solutions/ ) on Speed Technology, detailing its experimental and theoretical evaluations and benefits. Three more papers are anticipated this year. Please visit the link and stay tuned for updates.

For media inquiries and further information, please contact: marketing@dahon.com

Company Website: https://dahon.com

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2322091/image1.jpg

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2322092/DSC04789_1.jpg

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/dahon-introduces-speed-technology-for-lighter-faster-and-more-stylish-bicycles-302039279.html
LONDON, Jan. 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- COCA , the cutting-edge fintech platform has won the ' #1 Product of the Day ' award on Product Hunt, a go-to website for discovering the most promising tech products and services.

This significant recognition comes at the same time as the company hits a major achievement of getting over 250,000 wallets just a week after its launch, underlining its rapid adoption and the innovative nature of COCA's offering.

COCA's journey started with an ambitious vision to redefine the crypto wallet experience. Just one week into its official launch in partnership with Wirex , a leading Web3 money app, COCA has not only captivated users globally but has also proved its ability to provide solutions that resonate with the current needs of clients.

At its core, COCA is driven by four innovative pillars that set it apart:

Advanced MPC Technology: COCA's Multi-Party Computation technology ensures unparalleled security, eliminating risks inherent in traditional private key-based wallets.



Anonymous Biometric Backup: Offering a fail-safe recovery system using sophisticated facial recognition technology, COCA ensures user identities remain secure and private.



On-Ramp Aggregator: Simplifying access to crypto markets, COCA's comprehensive platform facilitates easy buying, selling, and trading of digital assets.



Non-Custodial Debit Card & IBAN: Merging the realms of traditional banking and crypto, COCA provides a seamless spending experience, both online and offline.

As COCA continues to grow and evolve, the focus remains on innovation, security, and enhancing the user experience. These early successes are just the beginning of a journey to make COCA an indispensable tool for crypto users worldwide.

For more information about COCA and its innovative solutions, visit COCA's website .

Press kit: https://www.coca.xyz/press

About COCA

COCA is the world's first MPC wallet with a non-custodial card allowing you to spend your stablecoins and cryptocurrency at over 40 million merchants across 200+ countries. The non-custodial nature ensures that you have zero third-party risks and complete control over your funds at all times.

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Media Contact details: mila@coca.xyz, +380666186191

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THE HAGUE, Netherlands, Jan. 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Affidea Group, the leading pan-European provider of integrated healthcare including advanced diagnostics, out-of-hospital services and Centres of Excellence, today announces the appointment of Frans van Houten as a non-executive Supervisory Board Member. A recognised visionary in healthcare innovation and technology sectors, Frans van Houten will leverage his leadership skills and insights to significantly enhance Affidea's aspirations for growth and digital innovation.

Frans van Houten spent nearly 30 years at Royal Philips and is highly regarded for his strategic insights. In his role as CEO, he transformed the organisation from a diversified conglomerate into a focused health technology solutions company. This transformation doubled Philips' organic growth and profitability. Additionally, Frans van Houten currently serves on Novartis' Board of Directors, contributing to one of the world's foremost pharmaceutical companies, and also advises the private equity sector.

Frans van Houten stated: "Affidea stands as a fast-growth European healthcare champion renowned for its innovative spirit-a spirit I am thrilled to support. The company's longstanding dedication to enhancing every aspect of the care pathway and improving patient outcomes through technological innovation resonates with my own. My commitment is to the seamless integration of cutting-edge, patient-centric solutions that promise quality, personalised and efficient healthcare experiences throughout the care continuum. I look forward to collaborating with the Supervisory Board and management team to unlock Affidea's complete growth potential."

Michal Chalaczkiewicz, Chairman of Affidea's Supervisory Board and Investment Partner at GBL, added: "We are delighted to welcome Frans van Houten to Affidea's Supervisory Board, joining the other distinguished members. His appointment represents a significant addition, embodying GBL's commitment as a shareholder in Affidea. We are looking forward to working alongside Frans and leveraging his expertise as we build the future path of this exciting journey together with the teams at Affidea and GBL".

Guy Blomfield, CEO of Affidea Group and Chairman of the Management Board, stated: "We warmly welcome Frans to our Supervisory Board. His expertise in pioneering innovative, connected and patient-focused solutions will be relevant to Affidea's strategic growth plans. His track record in digital transformations is particularly important. The company will benefit from his experience in standardising and optimising processes and data management, leading to optimal care pathways and, progressively, the adoption of AI solutions."

Fran van Houten's expertise in healthcare innovation and advanced technologies is in harmony with Affidea's ambitions to develop connected, patient-centric solutions, including telehealth services and wearable technologies, aimed at enriching the entire care pathway. This strategic direction will enable the company's medical professionals to access and respond to patients' needs remotely, thus enhancing healthcare outcomes.

Frans van Houten joins the Supervisory Board alongside Affidea management, GBL representatives and Dimitris Moulavasilis who joined as a non-executive Director in 2022. Dimitris Moulavasilis is the current CEO of Diaverum and former CEO of Affidea.

Affidea is majority owned by GBL (Groupe Bruxelles Lambert), an established investment holding company committed to strong governance and leadership across its portfolio of businesses. GBL is a leading investor in Europe, focused on long-term value creation and relying on a stable and supportive family shareholder base.

Find out more about Affidea's Supervisory Board members on: www.affidea.com/who-we-are/ownership-leadership

About Affidea Group

Affidea Group is Europe's leading integrated healthcare provider, including advanced diagnostics, out-of-hospital services, and Centres of Excellence in orthopaedics and cancer care. Founded in 1991, the company operates more than 340 medical centres in 15 countries, serving over 13 million patients annually. Due to its high standards in patient safety, Affidea is the most awarded provider of medical imaging services in Europe. More than 90% of the award-winning centres with 5 stars on the Eurosafe Wall of Stars, accredited by the European Society of Radiology in Europe, are Affidea centres.

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The video series is a collaborative effort between Vantage (or Vantage Markets) and Bloomberg Media Studios.

PORT VILA, Vanuatu, Jan. 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Vantage (or Vantage Markets), an award-winning multi-asset broker, is thrilled to launch the second episode of video series, The Vantage View, centred on the circular economy.

The Vantage View continues to break new ground, highlighting the latest key trends and thought provoking subjects that are transforming the economic landscape, backed by the research and support from Bloomberg Media Studios.

This episode features Dr Seeram Ramakrishna, Professor and Director of the Centre for Nanotechnology and Sustainability ,National University of Singapore. Dr Ramakrishna explores the difference between the linear economy which the modern economy is based on, and the circular economy which offers a greater benefit to society.

Dr Ramakrishna delves into why companies within the financial sectors are adopting circular practices to diversify and mitigate risks, while presenting ways in which retail investors can invest in the circular economy and make an impact with their dollar.

"The circular economy is a growing sustainable alternative to the conventional ways of doing business, and this resonates with Vantage's own ESG journey, including our support for UNHCR and the Vantage Foundation," says Marc Despallieres, Chief Strategy & Trading Officer at Vantage.

"Circular economies could reduce their reliance on finite resources, hedge against supply chain risks, and create more job opportunities. We also hope to spur consumers to make sustainable choices in their everyday lives."

Learn more about the circular economy on The Vantage View .

About Vantage

Vantage (or Vantage Markets) is a multi-asset broker offering clients access to a nimble and powerful service for trading Contracts for Difference (CFDs) products, including Forex, Commodities, Indices, Shares, ETFs, and Bonds.

With over 13 years of market experience, Vantage transcends the role of broker, providing a trusted trading ecosystem, an award-winning mobile trading app, and a user-friendly trading platform that empowers clients to seize trading opportunities. Download the Vantage App on App Store or Google Play.

trade smarter @vantage

http://www.vantagemarkets.com/

About Bloomberg Media

Bloomberg Media is the world's leading multi-platform media company for business and finance, which draws on the editorial resources of more than 2,700 editorial professionals globally in more than 120 countries. Bloomberg Media is the consumer-facing media organization of Bloomberg L.P

https://www.bloomberg.com/

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The video series is a collaborative effort between Vantage Markets and Bloomberg Media Studios.

LONDON, Jan. 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Vantage (or Vantage Markets), an award-winning multi-asset broker, is thrilled to launch the second episode of video series, The Vantage View, centred on the circular economy.

The Vantage View continues to break new ground, highlighting the latest key trends and thought provoking subjects that are transforming the economic landscape, backed by the research and support from Bloomberg Media Studios.

This episode features Dr Seeram Ramakrishna, Professor and Director of the Centre for Nanotechnology and Sustainability, National University of Singapore. Dr Ramakrishna explores the difference between the linear economy which the modern economy is based on, and the circular economy which offers a greater benefit to society.



Dr Ramakrishna delves into why companies within the financial sectors are adopting circular practices to diversify and mitigate long-term risks, while presenting ways in which retail investors can invest in the circular economy and make an impact with their dollar.

"The rise of the circular economy presents a sustainable shift from traditional business practices, aligning with Vantage's progression towards ESG principles and bolstering our support for both UNHCR and the Vantage Foundation," said David Shayer, CEO of Vantage UK. "Circular economies potentially lessen dependence on limited resources and mitigate supply chain vulnerabilities, leading to enhanced resource security."

"These economies have the potential to foster job growth in research, innovation, and education while empowering consumers to make sustainable choices in their daily lives. Our aim in initiating this discussion is to inspire others to re-evaluate their current way of life, challenging assumptions and driving meaningful, enduring change."

Learn more about the circular economy on The Vantage View.

About Vantage

Vantage (or Vantage Markets) is a multi-asset broker offering clients access to a nimble and powerful service for trading Contracts for Difference (CFDs) on Forex, Commodities, Indices, Shares, ETFs, and Bonds.

With over 13 years of market experience, Vantage transcends the role of broker, providing a trusted trading ecosystem, an award-winning mobile trading app, and a user-friendly trading platform that empowers clients to seize trading opportunities. Download the Vantage App on App Store or Google Play.

trade smarter @vantage

https://www.vantagemarkets.co.uk/

About Bloomberg Media

Bloomberg Media is the world's leading multi-platform media company for business and finance, which draws on the editorial resources of more than 2,700 editorial professionals globally in more than 120 countries. Bloomberg Media is the consumer-facing media organization of Bloomberg L.P.

https://www.bloomberg.com/

CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 72.93% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading spread bets and CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.

Trading derivatives is risky. It isn't suitable for everyone and, in the case of Professional clients, you could lose substantially more than your initial investment. You don't own or have rights in the underlying assets. Past performance is no indication of future performance and tax laws are subject to change. The information in this website is general in nature and doesn't take into account your or your client's personal objectives, financial circumstances, or needs. Please read our legal documents and ensure you fully understand the risks before you make any trading decisions. We encourage you to seek independent advice.

Telephone calls and online chat conversations may be recorded and monitored. Any views, opinions, technical market information or commentary published on the website are necessarily of a general educational nature only and do not constitute, and should not be considered as, investment advice as they do not take into account any individual client's investment objectives, financial resources or attitude to risk.

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The information on this site and the products and services offered are not intended for distribution to any person in any country or jurisdiction where such distribution or use would be contrary to local law or regulation.

Vantage Global Prime LLP trading under Vantage, is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. FRN: 590299 and its principal place of business is at 7 Bell Yard, London WC2A 2JR, UK'

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GREVIE, Sweden, Jan. 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Lindab has signed an agreement to acquire Airmaster, a leading European company in decentralised ventilation. With the acquisition, Lindab establishes a new product area within the Group, with the ambition that decentralised ventilation will reach sales of SEK 2 billion by 2027.

Airmaster is a fast-growing Danish manufacturer of products for decentralised ventilation. The most important markets today are Germany, Denmark, Benelux, Norway and France. The company had sales of 356 MDKK in 2022 with an operating margin of 18 percent. Airmaster has achieved an average sales growth exceeding 10 percent per annum since 2015.

Decentralised ventilation is an energy-efficient way to ventilate buildings, especially suitable for renovation projects. By installing fresh air ventilation in each room, there is no need for ventilation ducts or a central system. The technology is particularly suitable in properties where ducting can be difficult, such as in older buildings, or where only part of the building is being renovated. Airmaster's new AMX product is also equipped with an integrated heat pump that enables both cooling and heating for optimal indoor comfort.

Buildings account for around 40 percent of total energy consumption in the EU. Ventilation is one of the areas with the highest potential to reduce energy consumption when renovating. Currently, only 1 percent of all buildings are renovated annually, and the renovation rate needs to increase significantly for the EU to meet its climate targets. Property owners prefer renovation solutions that have minimal impact on the existing building and strive to avoid tenant relocation. Decentralised ventilation offers an attractive and efficient option.

"With Airmaster we establish a new product area with focus on decentralised ventilation. We are very pleased to welcome a well-managed company with such an interesting technology, and an established customer base in several countries," says Ola Ringdahl, President and CEO of Lindab. "Renovation, with a focus on energy efficiency, is an attractive growth area. Together with Airmaster, we become even stronger in smart products that reduce energy consumption while creating a healthy indoor climate. Lindab has previously communicated an ambition to reach SEK 20 billion in sales by 2027. Our goal is that the product area for decentralised ventilation will by then amount to approximately SEK 2 billion, through a combination of organic growth and acquisitions."

Airmaster was founded in 1991 by Kim Jensen and Henrik Sthr, who remain the main owners until today. The founders have a passion for technology, which has resulted in the company's leading position in decentralised ventilation. Kim Jensen, who is also the company's CEO, will continue to lead Airmaster as part of Lindab together with his management team. Airmaster has direct sales in Denmark, Benelux and Norway and sells mainly through distributors in other markets. The company has its head office, R&D department and production in Aars on Jutland in Denmark and has approximately 200 employees.

"Airmaster and Lindab fit very well together," says Kim Jensen, CEO and co-founder of Airmaster. "We have many similarities in how we think about quality, customer focus and the long-term strategy, which was important for us when choosing our future owners. We have an exciting journey ahead of us and we very much look forward to continue growing as part of Lindab."

Lindab has today signed an agreement to acquire Airmaster A/S. Closing is expected during the first quarter of 2024, after competition review. Lindab acquires 100 percent of the company, on a cash and debt free basis, for a fixed purchase price of 650 MDKK (990 MSEK), which is paid at closing. An earn-out consideration will be paid if Airmaster reaches ambitious earnings targets for 2024 and 2025. The earn-out can amount to a maximum of 400 MDKK (610 MSEK) and will be settled in 2026. The acquisition is financed through existing credit facilities and newly raised loans.

Read more about Airmaster on their website: https://www.airmaster-as.com/

This disclosure contains information that Lindab is obliged to make public pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation (EU nr 596/2014). The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact person, on 19-01-2024 10:50 CET.

Contacts:

Ola Ringdahl

President and CEO

E-mail: ola.ringdahl@lindab.com

Phone: +46 (0) 431 850 00

Lars Ynner

CFO

E-mail: lars.ynner@lindab.com

Phone: +46 (0) 431 850 00

Catharina Paulcen

Head of Corporate Communications

E-mail: catharina.paulcen@lindab.com

Mobile: +46 (0) 701 48 99 65

The following files are available for download:

https://mb.cision.com/Main/1983/3912232/2550977.pdf Release

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WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - An investigation into the 2022 deadly mass shooting in a school in Texas has found that police response to the tragic incident was a failure.



On May 24, 2022, a teenager carrying a handgun and an AR-15 rifle opened fire at the Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, killing 19 students and two teachers. The children were aged between seven and 10.



The teachers were shielding their students from the attacker when they were shot.



The 18-year-old gunman, Salvador Ramos, was killed by law enforcement at the scene.



It was the deadliest shooting targeting innocent school children in the United States since the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre.



The Justice Department released on Thursday a report on its critical incident review of the law enforcement response to the school shooting.



Releasing the report, Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said the law enforcement response and the response by officials in the hours and days after was a failure. 'As a consequence of failed leadership, training, and policies, 33 students and three of their teachers - many of whom had been shot - were trapped in a room with an active shooter for over an hour as law enforcement officials remained outside. We hope to honor the victims and survivors by working together to try to prevent anything like this from happening again, here or anywhere.'



The report describes the responding officers' most significant failure as not treating the incident throughout as an active shooter situation and using the available and sufficient resources and equipment to push forward immediately and continuously to eliminate the threat.



Although several of the first officers on the scene acted instantly, once they retreated after being met with gunfire, the law enforcement responders began treating the incident as a barricaded subject scenario rather than as an active shooter situation.



The report notes that there was a 77-minute gap between when officers first arrived on the scene and when they finally confronted and killed the attacker.



It also makes clear that clearer and more detailed plans in the school district were required to prepare for the possibility that this could occur.



After the incident, law enforcement officials in Uvalde have been heavily criticized for their response to the shooting.



In response to the report, President Joe Biden said, 'There were multiple points of failure that hold lessons for the future, and my team will work with the Justice Department and Department of Education to implement policy changes necessary to help communities respond more effectively in the future.'



He urged Congress to pass commonsense gun safety laws to ensure that mass shootings like this one don't happen in the first place.



Vice President Kamala Harris called on Congress and state legislators 'to have the courage to act by banning assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, passing red flag laws, and making background checks universal.'



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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
SHANGHAI, Jan. 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- As the new year unfolded, the grand and momentous NETA Auto Strategic Partner Conference 2024 was successfully hosted. This conference, marking a crucial milestone in NETA Auto's decade-long journey, has charted the course for the company's global future, laying the groundwork for in-depth collaboration with worldwide suppliers and dealers.

Leveraging this event, NETA Auto conducted a comprehensive review of its robust past operational performance and delved deep into future trends within the automotive industry. Simultaneously, the company unveiled its latest corporate development strategy, actively calling for global partners to collectively explore the direction of the company's future development and embark on a new era of transformation.

In 2024, NETA Auto is set to continue its global market expansion with an overseas sales target of 100,000 vehicles. In terms of international product offerings, the company plans to establish six major product sales matrices, accelerating product certification, and delivering enhanced configurations and intelligent capabilities. In the realm of operational management, NETA Auto will strengthen process management, enhance efficiency, and gradually transition from international trade to international marketing. Guided by the innovative transformation of "Technological NETA, Global NETA, and Ecological NETA," the company aims to accelerate its shift towards a global high-tech technology company through technological innovation and high-quality intelligent electric vehicles.

The NETA Auto Strategic Partner Conference centered on gratitude towards partners, fostering a theme of shared reminiscence. Looking back at 2023, NETA, alongside its global partners, presented an exceptional performance amidst fiercely competitive market conditions. In just 10 months, NETA Auto achieved cumulative sales exceeding 10,000 units in the Thai market. The official commencement of operations at the Thai Eco-Smart Factory at the end of the previous year marked a significant triumph for NETA Auto in overseas markets. Collaborating with Indonesian partners, NETA Auto plans to initiate the production of new vehicles in Indonesia. In 2023, NETA Auto's cumulative overseas sales surpassed 20,000 units, reflecting an outstanding year-on-year growth of 567%. As of now, NETA Auto has globally delivered nearly 400,000 vehicles.

Over the past year, NETA Auto's global brand momentum has continually risen, setting design trends, rapidly expanding in overseas markets, and flourishing in the field of new energy intelligent connected vehicles. These achievements are a testament to the concerted efforts and dedication of every partner, including global suppliers and dealers.

A multitude of international partners present at the conference voiced their appreciation for NETA Auto's resilient global advancements, articulating hopeful anticipation for the times ahead.

NETA Auto is dedicated to innovation as its driving force, persistently elevating the benchmarks of both products and services. The company is steadfast in its collaboration with global partners, aiming to collectively forge a promising future within the automotive industry.

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CHICAGO, Jan. 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Taste Modulators Market is projected to reach USD 2.0 billion by 2028 from USD 1.4 billion by 2023, at a CAGR of 7.4% from 2023 to 2028 according to a report published by MarketsandMarkets. The taste modulators market is growing due to rising health consciousness, addressing the demand for healthier options by reducing sugar, salt, and fat. The surge in obesity and diabetes cases fuels the need for sugar-free and reduced-calorie products, often utilizing taste modulators. Ongoing innovation and the versatility of taste modulators contribute to their widespread application in diverse food and beverage products.

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Browse in-depth TOC on "Taste Modulators Market"

314 - Tables

47 - Figures

240 - Pages

The taste modulator market is expanding, propelled by global culinary exploration and technological advancements.

The taste modulator market is poised for significant future growth, propelled by a convergence of factors. A primary driver is the escalating consumer interest in global cuisines and exotic flavors, fostering a heightened demand for taste modulators. Consumers increasingly seek diverse and adventurous culinary experiences, prompting the food industry to explore innovative solutions for flavor enhancement. Concurrently, continuous advancements in taste modulation technologies stand as a cornerstone for market expansion. These technological strides inspire product innovation, facilitating a broader spectrum of applications across various food and beverage categories. This evolution aligns with the rising consumer preference for healthier choices, as taste modulators contribute to reducing sugar, salt, and fat content while enhancing flavors. The harmonious interplay between evolving consumer tastes and cutting-edge technology positions the taste modulator market at the forefront of catering to dynamic industry demands, ensuring a future characterized by versatile, health-conscious, and captivating culinary offerings.

The upswing in the Asia Pacific taste modulators market is fueled by the region's robust food and beverage industry evolution. Specifically, the burgeoning demand for healthier and diverse food options, coupled with the rich culinary heritage of countries like India and China, contributes significantly. Both nations stand as key drivers, leveraging taste modulators to align traditional cuisines with contemporary health-conscious trends. This convergence of culinary traditions and modern preferences not only propels local markets but also establishes the Asia Pacific region as a focal point for taste modulator innovations, reflecting a harmonious blend of tradition and innovation in the evolving food landscape.

In Taste Modulators, the surge in sugar substitutes is driven by health-conscious consumers and industry innovation.

The dominance of sweet modulators in the taste modulators market is underscored by an escalating imperative for reduced sugar formulations driven by heightened health-conscious consumer preferences. This trend signifies a strategic response to global health concerns, particularly obesity and diabetes, with sweet modulators serving as key enablers for the development of low-calorie and reduced-sugar products while maintaining an optimal taste profile. Within this landscape, the food industry's unwavering commitment to meet evolving consumer expectations further solidifies the pivotal role of sweet modulators. Their prominence is not merely a reflection of current trends but a strategic imperative in product reformulations and driving innovation across a spectrum of applications.

Key industry players, including Cargill Incorporated (US), are strategically innovating with sweet modulator solutions. Cargill's introduction of C TruSweet and SweetPure in Europe exemplifies the sector's dedication to offering natural and clean-label alternatives. This initiative aligns with the overarching commitment to meet health-conscious consumer expectations. These sweet modulators, particularly their versatility, play a pivotal role in various food and beverage applications, ensuring reduced-calorie options while preserving the desired sweetness. This underscores the dominance of sweet modulators in the Taste Modulators market, where industry leaders leverage innovation to address evolving consumer preferences for healthier and flavorful choices.

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North America dominated the Taste Modulators market during the study period.

The presence of key players such as Ingredion (US), Sensient Technologies Corporation(US), Cargill, Incorporated (US), ADM (US), International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (US), Icon Foods (US), and Carmi Flavor & Fragrance Co., Inc. (US) underscores North America's dominance in the Taste Modulators market. These industry leaders strategically align with the region's dynamic trends, where the surge in demand for clean-label and plant-based products has become increasingly evident. The region benefits from advanced taste modulation technologies, responding to the rising consumer demand for healthier food options. Heightened awareness of health-conscious choices among North American consumers propels the market's growth. Additionally, the region's food industry exhibits a proactive approach to aligning products with evolving preferences, emphasizing reduced sugar, salt, and fat. The strategic response to these trends, coupled with an established infrastructure supporting innovation, positions North America as a leader in the taste modulators market.

Key players in this market include DSM (Netherlands), International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (US), Givaudan (Switzerland), Kerry Group PLC (Ireland), Ingredion (US), Symrise (Germany), Sensient Technologies Corporation (US), Tate & Lyle (UK), Corbion (Netherlands), Takasago International Corporation (Japan), Icon Foods (US), Carmi Flavor & Fragrance Co., Inc. (US), Cargill Incorporated (US), MANE (France), and ADM (US).

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Browse Adjacent Reports @ Food and Beverage Market Research Reports & Consulting

Related Reports:

Food Flavors Market by Labelling/ Regulation (Natural, Nature Identical/ Artificial), Form (Liquid & Gel, Dry), Type (Chocolate & Brown, Vanilla, Fruit & Nut, Spices & Savory, Dairy), Application (Food, Beverage) Region - Forecast 2027

Beverage Flavoring Systems Market by Ingredient (Flavorings, Carriers, Enhancers), Type (Browns, Dairy, Botanicals, Fruits), Origin (Natural, Artificial, Nature-identical), Beverage (Alcoholic, Non-alcoholic), Form, and Region - Global Forecast to 2023

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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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TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / January 19, 2024 / Jaguar Mining Inc. ("Jaguar" or the "Company") (TSX:JAG)(OTCQX:JAGGF) is pleased to announce the appointment of its Chief Executive Officer Vernon Baker to the Company's Board of Directors (the "Board"), effective immediately.

Vernon was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Jaguar on August 6, 2019, following an extensive search conducted by the Company.With today's appointment of Vernon as a Director, the Board now consists of eight members, six of whom are independent. Jeff Kennedy, Chairman, commented that after over four years as Chief Executive Officer, Vernon's additional contributions as a member of the Board will be valuable.

Vernon's appointment as a Director of the Company shall be until the next annual general meeting of the Company's shareholders, when his continuation as a director shall be subject to nomination and election by the Company's shareholders.

Biography of Vernon Baker

Vernon has 40 years of mining industry experience. He has extensive management and operations expertise at globally focused mid-tier and senior mining companies. Prior to joining Jaguar, Vernon was General Manager at Goldcorp's Cerro Negro Mine in Argentina, overseeing 3,000 tonnes per day of high-grade production and implementing programs to reduce costs, grow production and development, and leading strong safety improvement to achieve an AIFR of 0.28 in 2017. Previously, Vernon held management and senior leadership roles with various mining companies including President at Duluth Metals Limited, Vice President of Operations at FNX Mining, General Manager at Barrick Goldstrike Mines Inc., and General Manager of Hemlo Operations, a Joint Venture of Teck Cominco and Barrick Gold.

About Jaguar Mining Inc.

Jaguar Mining Inc. is a Canadian-listed junior gold mining, development, and exploration company operating in Brazil with three gold mining complexes and a large land package with significant upside exploration potential from mineral claims. The Company's principal operating assets are located in the Iron Quadrangle, a prolific greenstone belt in the state of Minas Gerais and include the Turmalina Gold Mine Complex and Caete Mining Complex (Pilar and Roca Grande Mines, and Caete Plant). The Company also owns the Paciencia Gold Mine Complex, which has been on care and maintenance since 2012. The Roca Grande Mine has been on temporary care and maintenance since April 2019. Additional information is available on the Company's website at www.jaguarmining.com.

For further information please contact:

Vernon Baker

Chief Executive Officer

Jaguar Mining Inc.

vernon.baker@jaguarmining.com

416-847-1854

THE TSX HAS NOT REVIEWED AND DOES NOT ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ACCURACY OF THIS NEWS RELEASE.

SOURCE: Jaguar Mining Inc.

View the original press release on accesswire.com
WARSAW (dpa-AFX) - Poland's producer prices declined for the sixth successive month in December, and at a faster rate, largely due to a sharp decrease in prices in the manufacturing sector, data from Statistics Poland showed on Friday. Producer prices declined 6.4 percent annually in November, following a 5.1 percent fall in the prior month. A decrease of 7.9 percent in prices in the manufacturing sector triggered the yearly decline. Data showed that prices for the utility sector dropped 3.7 percent from last year, while those for the mining and quarrying segment rose by 3.3 percent. On a month-on-month basis, producer prices dropped 1.2 percent. Copyright(c) 2024 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.
MAURITI, Brzail, Jan. 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- TrinaTracker has completed supplying a 210MW PV project in Brazil with a complete set of smart tracking solutions including the cutting-edge Vanguard 1P tracker, a self-learning artificial intelligence system, SuperTrack, and the digital tracker-level SCADA platform Trina Smart Cloud.

The project, developed by POWERCHINA, is located in Mauriti, a municipality in the northern state of Ceara. Despite its vast land area and abundant natural resources, the population is sparse, indicating untapped potential for development. Upon completion and commissioning, the project is expected to create more than 2,000 jobs and generate cumulative economic growth valued at $140 million. The project has received considerable attention and has been warmly welcomed by the Brazilian Electricity Regulatory Agency, state and local governments and the local community.

TrinaTracker's three-in-one smart tracking solution, comprising hardware, software and a service platform, is highly popular in the region because of its excellent performance in significantly increasing the overall energy yield of power stations and construction efficiency.

TrinaTracker has a smart tracker manufacturing facility in Brazil and full regional service teams, ensuring high-quality and local manufacturing capabilities, as well as efficient and accurate delivery and services. TrinaTracker's pre-sales, sales and R&D teams collaborated to optimize the scheme in response to the customer's request for customized design. Because of the flood-prone nature of the project site, TrinaTracker proposed an automatic flood protection solution that balances safety and cost-effectiveness.

Brazil, one of the world's sunniest countries, is the most promising PV market in Latin America and the Caribbean region because of the fast-growing demand for installed PV capacity, driven by a range of incentives and local policies. TrinaTracker is a business unit of TrinaSolar, a leader in the PV industry for 27 years and recognized as one of the top five leading tracker suppliers in the region.

The Brazilian project order once again highlights the strong reputation of the TrinaTracker brand in Latin America. TrinaTracker will continue to forge ahead with more partnerships to promote the global transition to clean energy.

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2322069/TrinaTracker.jpg

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/new-year-success-trinatracker-supplies-210mw-pv-project-in-brazil-302039280.html
Maharashtra secures investment MOUs worth $44 billion and receives an expression of interest for an additional $12.5 billion investment, to generate nearly 200,000 jobs across various sectors

DAVOS, Switzerland, Jan. 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Shri Eknath Shinde, concluded his successful visit to the World Economic Forum 2024 (WEF) in Davos, signing MoUs aimed at attracting substantial investments into the state and meeting with international political, media and business leaders.

During his visit, Shri Shinde was accompanied by Minister of Industries, Shri Uday Samant, and signed 19 MoUs with multinational businesses including Hyundai Motors and ABInBev as well as national companies across a range of sectors, laying the groundwork to propel Maharashtra into a phase of rapid growth to achieve its trillion-dollar aspiration. This trip builds on the successes of the WEF Annual General Meeting in 2023 and continues to show the global belief that Magnetic Maharashtra is the stable and dependable gateway into India.

Presenting Maharashtra, which has the largest GSDP in India, as the premier investment hub, Shri Shinde formalised MOUs worth approximately $44.2 billion and received an expression of interest for an $12.5 billion investment, attracting a total investment of $56.7 billion, all with significant FDI components, with the potential to create about 200,000 jobs in various sectors including electronics, IT/ITeS, data centres, gems & jewellery, agriculture, auto and renewables.

These strategic agreements will significantly boost the state's economic landscape. They include setting up a green hydrogen and ammonia plant by Inox Air Product, a battery separator film manufacturing facility by BC Jindal, paper production capacity expansion by a global Natural Resource Conglomerate, brewery business expansion by ABInBev, Dighi Port expansion by Adani Group, JSW Steel in renewables, Godrej Agrovet's investment in cattle feed expansion and chemical segments, CtrlS Data centres setting up solar parks, Web Werk's investment in IT/ITES data centres and Hyundai Motor expansion plans.

Concluding his visit, Shri Shinde, Chief Minister of Maharashtra, said: "My visit to the World Economic Forum proved highly productive. The diverse investments across sectors reaffirm Maharashtra's unique position as India's gateway. I am resolute in leading the state's initiatives to achieve our ambitious $1 trillion GDP goal. The future holds promise, and I am enthusiastic about propelling Maharashtra's ongoing success on the global stage, which is only possible because of the amazing and talented people in Maharashtra."

About Maharashtra:

Maharashtra is one of the most industrialized states in India, contributing to about 16% of the country's industrial output and 25% of its GDP. The service sector contributes the most to the state's economy, accounting for about 62% of its GDP while the manufacturing sector is the second-largest contributor to the state's economy, accounting for about 20% of its GDP. Major industries in Maharashtra include automobiles, engineering, textiles, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, petrochemicals, food processing, and IT/ITeS.

Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC)

MIDC is the Government of Maharashtra's nodal investment promotion agency. The corporation is not only the country's largest Industrial development authority but one of South-East Asia's most competent Investment Promotion Authority. Over the last 5 decades, MIDC has enabled the state to achieve an undisputed leadership position with regard to investments and industries.

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/chief-minister-eknath-shinde-reinforces-maharashtras-trillion-dollar-economic-trajectory-at-the-2024-world-economic-forum-2024-302039460.html
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / January 19, 2024 / Amarc Resources Ltd. ("Amarc" or the "Company") (TSXV:AHR)(OTCQB:AXREF) is pleased to report that results received from the Company's comprehensive surveys across the prospective 722 km2 DUKE district ("DUKE District" or "District") in central British Columbia ("BC"), have identified multiple porphyry copper-gold ("Cu-Au") mineral systems.

Through 2023 Boliden Mineral Canada Ltd. ("Boliden"), under the DUKE District Mineral Property Earn-in Agreement, funded $10 million in exploration expenditures and will continue its earn in during 2024 with a further $10 million of budgeted expenditures (see Amarc release December 13, 2023). Amarc continues as project operator.

"Results from our inaugural district wide surveys are confirming expectations that the DUKE District has important potential for new copper-gold discoveries." said Amarc President & CEO Dr. Diane Nicolson. "We are working closely with our partners, combining the Amarc team's deposit discovery strengths with Boliden's expertise and knowledge, in particular of working in glaciated terrains. Below, we introduce our exciting and drill-ready Svea copper-gold target, which is one of the targets planned for the second phase phase of 2024 drilling this summer. We will continue to release results as planning progresses."

Sixteen prospective deposit target areas were selected for 2023 field assessment based on a comprehensive compilation of government and historical exploration data from over the entire District (see Amarc's DUKE Project 2020 Technical Report, available on the website at https://amarcresources.com/projects/duke-project/technical-report/). Exploration surveys works included extensive airborne magnetic geophysical and LiDAR surveys together with ground Induced Polarization ("IP") geophysical, soils geochemistry and geological mapping surveys (see Amarc release November 21, 2023).

The results of this successful program have defined six deposit targets for drill testing - in addition to the DUKE Deposit and DUKE Deposit Target where drilling is scheduled to recommence early in 2024 (Amarc release December 13, 2023) - and also a pipeline of additional porphyry copper-gold targets for further assessment prior to drill testing (Figure 1).

Figure 1: DUKE District - Comprehensive Exploration Surveys Have Delineated Multiple New Porphyry Cu-Au Targets

Svea Deposit Target

Amarc's 2023 field program significantly advanced and expanded the critical geological, geophysical and geochemical signatures of the Svea deposit target. Importantly, Svea shares many attributes with some of the premier deposits and occurrences within the Babine Porphyry Cu-Au Region (the "Babine"). One of the most mineralized porphyry belts in BC, the Babine hosts the former Bell and Granisle Cu-Au mines that were operated by Noranda Mines, and the advanced stage Morrison Cu-Au deposit.

Shared attributes between Svea and the known Babine Cu-Au deposits include:

An association with regional scale faults and mineralized corridors;

An association with volumetrically significant, Eocene-age biotite-feldspar porphyry ("BFP") intrusions as detailed in geological survey work: the 1,500 m strike length of the BFP intrusions at Svea, is notably larger than historical interpretations, and is comparable with known BFP-related deposits in this district;

An association with widespread hydrothermal fluid flow paths as defined by sheeted and stockwork vein sets, vein density and sulphide development;

An association with a large 7 km 2 IP chargeability anomaly underlying the interpreted mineralized system (Figure 2);

IP chargeability anomaly underlying the interpreted mineralized system (Figure 2); An association with widespread and strong, Cu-Au-Mo-in-soil geochemical anomalies: extensive Cu-in-soil geochemical anomalies exceeding 100 ppm with internal areas of =250 ppm over 1,000 m by 200 m and 500 m by 300 m (Figure 2); and

An association with both Cu and Au in historical drilling1 (Figure 2): limited drilling of 12 short, median 61 m long, drill holes completed in 1969 and 1975 by Texas Gulf Sulphur Co. intersected mineralization, suggesting the BFP's at Svea can be associated with significant Cu and Au contents. Historical Cu assays are available for only nine of these drill holes, and these indicate varying degrees of Cu mineralization which is interpreted to be due, at least in part, to the presence of inter- and post-mineralization intrusions in which many holes terminated early. An example is historical drill hole DDH 69-3, which returned 0.36% Cu and 0.18 g/t Au over 23.7 m within 0.27% Cu over the total drilled length of 57 m terminating in a post mineral intrusion. Nearby hole DDH 69-4 intersected 0.37% Cu and 0.18 g/t Au over 30.5 m.

This combination of geological data suggests excellent potential for important Cu-Au mineralization within the Svea mineralized system. It is Amarc's intent to drill test this exciting emerging target during the summer 2024 drill season.

Figure 2: Svea Target - Important Mineralized System Outlined by a Strong 7 km2 IP Chargeability Anomaly

[1] Copper assays for nine 1969 Texas Gulf drilling are from copies of original drill logs, accessed at https://propertyfile.gov.bc.ca/showDocument.aspx?docno=830869 (BC Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources ("BC MEMPR") Property File Document 830869), and for gold in from Carter, 1992, Geological and Geochemical Report, Sampling of Diamond Drill Cores and Soil Sampling, on the Trail Mineral Claim, 31 pages, BC MEMPR Assessment Report 22719. Assay summaries are available for some of these historical drill hole, but much of the assay data, along with drill logs, is not available. These results are historical in nature and at the time of this release have not been verified by Amarc Resources or its Qualified Person, as the drill core, and original sample material are not available, however, the Company intends to verify this information through drilling during its summer 2024 campaign.

About Amarc Resources

Amarc is a mineral exploration and development company with an experienced and successful management team focused on developing a new generation of long-life, high-value porphyry Cu-Au mines in BC. By combining high-demand projects with dynamic management, Amarc has created a solid platform to create value from its exploration and development-stage assets.

Amarc is advancing its 100%-owned IKE, DUKE and JOY porphyry CuAu Districts located in different prolific porphyry regions of southern, central and northern BC, respectively. Each District represents significant potential for the development of multiple and important-scale, porphyry CuAu deposits. Importantly, each of the three districts is located in proximity to industrial infrastructure - including power, highways and rail.

Freeport-McMoRan Mineral Properties Canada Inc. ("Freeport"), a wholly owned subsidiary of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. at JOY and Boliden Mineral Canada Ltd. ("Boliden"), an entity within the Boliden Group of companies at DUKE, can earn up to a 70% interest in each District through staged investments of $110 million and $90 million, respectively. Together this provides Amarc with potentially up to $200 million in non-share dilutive staged funding for these Districts. In addition, Amarc intends to solo drill the higher grade Empress Deposit in the IKE District with funding from a successful 2023 financing. Amarc is the operator of all programs.

Amarc is associated with HDI, a diversified, global mining company with a 35-year history of porphyry Cu deposit discovery and development success. Previous and current HDI projects include some of BC's and the world's most important porphyry deposits - such as Pebble, Mount Milligan, Southern Star, Kemess South, Kemess North, Gibraltar, Prosperity, Xietongmen, Newtongmen, Florence, Casino, Sisson, Maggie, IKE, PINE and DUKE. From its head office in Vancouver, Canada, HDI applies its unique strengths and capabilities to acquire, develop, operate and monetize mineral projects.

Amarc works closely with local governments, Indigenous groups and stakeholders in order to advance its mineral projects responsibly, and in a manner that contributes to sustainable community and economic development. We pursue early and meaningful engagement to ensure our mineral exploration and development activities are well coordinated and broadly supported, address local priorities and concerns, and optimize opportunities for collaboration. In particular, we seek to establish mutually beneficial partnerships with Indigenous groups within whose traditional territories our projects are located, through the provision of jobs, training programs, contract opportunities, capacity funding agreements and sponsorship of community events. All Amarc work programs are carefully planned to achieve high levels of environmental and social performance.

Qualified Person as Defined Under National Instrument 43-101

Dr. Roy Greig, P.Geo., a Qualified Person as defined under National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed and approved the technical content in this release.

Quality Control/Quality Assurance Program

Soil samples were sent to Activation Laboratories Ltd. (Actlabs), Kamloops, Canada facility for preparation and analysis. At Actlabs Kamloops, samples were dried at 60C and sieved to -177 m (-80 mesh). The -80 mesh fraction for all sample was analyzed for Au at Actlabs Kamloops by fire assay fusion of a 30 g sub-sample with an ICP-OES finish. All samples were also analyzed by multi-element ICP methods. Samples on soil lines in new exploration areas were analyzed for Cu, Ag and 58 additional elements by 4 acid digestion of a 0.25 sub-sample followed by an ICP-OES and ICP-MS finish. Approximately 7% of the samples were taken on extensions of earlier grids. These samples were analyzed for Cu, Au, Ag and 60 additional elements by Aqua Regia digestion of a 0.5 g sample followed by an ICP-MS finish to match the analytical method employed on these grids. All multi-element ICP analysis was done at the Actlabs Ancaster Ontario facility. Both Actlabs facilities are ISO/IEC 17025 accredited. As part of a comprehensive Quality Assurance/Quality Control ("QAQC") program, Amarc control samples were inserted in each soil sample analytical batch at the following rates: standards and/or blanks one in 80 regular samples. The control sample results were then checked to ensure proper QAQC.

For further details on Amarc Resources Ltd., please visit the Company's website at www.amarcresources.com or contact Dr. Diane Nicolson, President and CEO, at (604) 684-6365 or within North America at 1-800-667-2114, or Kin Communications, at (604) 684-6730, Email: AHR@kincommunications.com.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF AMARC RESOURCES LTD.

Dr. Diane Nicolson

President and CEO

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor any other regulatory authority accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Forward Looking and other Cautionary Information

This news release includes certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking statements". All such statements, other than statements of historical facts that address exploration plans and plans for enhanced relationships are forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Assumptions used by the Company to develop forward-looking statements include the following: Amarc's projects will obtain all required environmental and other permits and all land use and other licenses, studies and exploration of Amarc's projects will continue to be positive, and no geological or technical problems will occur. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include market prices, potential environmental issues or liabilities associated with exploration, development and mining activities, exploitation and exploration successes, continuity of mineralization, uncertainties related to the ability to obtain necessary permits, licenses and tenure and delays due to third party opposition, changes in and the effect of government policies regarding mining and natural resource exploration and exploitation, exploration and development of properties located within Aboriginal groups asserted territories may affect or be perceived to affect asserted aboriginal rights and title, which may cause permitting delays or opposition by Aboriginal groups, continued availability of capital and financing, and general economic, market or business conditions. Investors are cautioned that any such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. For more information on Amarc Resources Ltd., investors should review Amarc's annual Form 20-F filing with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission at www.sec.gov and its home jurisdiction filings that are available at www.sedar.com.

Figure 1: DUKE District - Comprehensive Exploration Surveys Have Delineated Multiple New Porphyry Cu-Au Targets

Figure 2: Svea Target - Important Mineralized System Outlined by a Strong 7 km2 IP Chargeability Anomaly

SOURCE: Amarc Resources Ltd.

View the original press release on accesswire.com


BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) - The pound fell against its major counterparts in the European session on Friday, after a data showed that the nation's retail sales declined more than expected in December.



Data from the Office for National Statistics showed that retail sales declined 3.2 percent on month in December, reversing the 1.4 percent increase in November. The decline was also bigger than forecast of 0.5 percent drop.



Excluding auto fuel, the retail sales volume decreased 3.3 percent, in contrast to the 1.5 percent expansion a month ago. Sales were expected to fall moderately by 0.6 percent.



Non-food store sales volumes fell 3.9 percent and food store sales volumes were down 3.1 percent. And automotive fuel sales volumes decreased 1.9 percent.



On a yearly basis, overall retail sales declined 2.4 percent after a 0.2 percent gain. Likewise, sales excluding auto fuel dropped 2.1 percent following a 0.5 percent gain.



Sales volumes fell 2.8 percent in 2023 and were their lowest level since 2018, the ONS said.



The pound edged down to 1.1003 against the franc and 1.2665 against the greenback, from an early high of 1.1037 and a 3-day high of 1.2714, respectively. The currency is poised to challenge support around 1.08 against the franc and 1.24 against the greenback.



The pound weakened to 0.8586 against the euro and 187.40 against the yen, from a previous multi-week high of 0.8550 and a multi-year high of 188.92, respectively. The currency is likely to locate support around 0.88 against the euro and 179.00 against the yen.



Looking ahead, Canada retail sales for November, U.S. existing home sales for December and University of Michigan's preliminary U.S. consumer sentiment index for January will be released in the New York session.



Copyright(c) 2024 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
A3Logics announces strengthening service offerings in APAC with a dedicated team based out of Singapore with a key focus on data science and digital transformation.

CARLSBAD, CA / ACCESSWIRE / January 19, 2024 / A3Logics, a digital transformation and technology consulting company, on Tuesday announced the opening of their new office in Singapore, aimed at serving the Asia Pacific markets. The company's regional investment is strategically designed to diversify IT services, catering to a wide range of clients from startups to publicly traded companies in the APAC market.

Committed to offering value-added consulting services in the region, A3Logics has established a center of excellence dedicated to the practice of digital transformation. This forward-thinking and solutions-oriented approach will not only sustain advancements but also offer quality, cost-effective services, reflecting the company's dedication to the region. The decision to open a Singapore office signifies A3Logics' commitment to growth, diversification, and its aspiration to be a multicultural and inclusive organization.

A3Logics vision encompasses and celebrates local market traditions while empowering clients everywhere to retain their business DNA and identity. This unification of tools and technology with markets and meaning ensures that A3Logics regional presence will measurably promote client interests.

"We view this expansion to newer markets as an opportunity to foster technological innovation that drives sustainable, profitable change for the local community," said Akhilesh Sharma, Chief Executive Officer of A3Logics. "The APAC region is an unmatched business powerhouse that enriches global markets and we're thrilled to synergize our digital transformation and data science services with businesses here."

For A3Logics, every client and their client's customers are central to ideation and decision-making to reinforce unique market needs. Therefore, A3Logics is eager to implement their APAC operations strategy through cutting-edge solutions that nurture growth for regional businesses.

A3Logics has appointed Gaurav Singh as the Vice President of Sales to lead its operations in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region. With over 12 years of extensive experience in navigating and excelling in dynamic markets, A3Logics positions him as a valuable asset in steering the company towards continued success and establishing its presence as a key player in the APAC IT landscape.

"Basing our office in Singapore's energizing business nucleus and expanding across APAC, we're investing in every client's innovations and success," affirmed Gaurav Singh, A3Logics Sales Vice President. "A3Logics Singapore is bringing new digital transformation options to clients and strengthening trademark offerings."

A3Logics, a digital transformation and consulting company has delivered more than 20 years of profitable products and solutions. The Singapore office operates alongside centers in the United States, United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates, Malaysia, and India.

Visit the A3Logics Singapore website for more information on consultations and the comprehensive services offerings.

Contact Information

Akhilesh Sharma

CEO

(442) 615-9676

SOURCE: A3Logics

View the original press release on newswire.com.
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - January 19, 2024) - Skyharbour Resources Ltd.'s (TSXV: SYH) (OTCQX: SYHBF) (FSE: SC1P) (the "Company") is pleased to invite shareholders and the investment community to come to the Vancouver Resource Investment Conference hosted by Cambridge House International on January 21st and 22nd at the Vancouver Convention Centre West. Skyharbour's management will be at the Company's booth #604 throughout the conference and we look forward to greeting investors and conference attendees. You can register for the conference at:

https://cambridgehouse.com/vancouver-resource-investment-conference

During the conference, Skyharbour's President and CEO, Jordan Trimble, will be giving a Skyharbour corporate presentation Sunday, January 21st at 2:40 PM in Workshop 1.

The Vancouver Resource Investment Conference has been the epicentre of junior mining investment in Canada for 25 years and attracts over 5000 mining investors annually. Previous years have been attended by former Prime Minister Stephan Harper and former President of Mexico Felipe Calderon.

The VRIC will include a marketplace of over 300 investment opportunities in the mining industry, spanning early-stage exploration to advanced producing mines. For more information and/or to register for the conference please visit:

https://cambridgehouse.com/vancouver-resource-investment-conference

About Skyharbour Resources Ltd.:

Skyharbour holds an extensive portfolio of uranium exploration projects in Canada's Athabasca Basin and is well positioned to benefit from improving uranium market fundamentals with one of the largest mineral tenure holdings in the region. Skyharbour has acquired from Denison Mines, a large strategic shareholder of the Company, a 100% interest in the Moore Uranium Project which is located 15 kilometres east of Denison's Wheeler River project and 39 kilometres south of Cameco's McArthur River uranium mine. Moore is an advanced-stage uranium exploration property with high-grade uranium mineralization at the Maverick Zone that returned drill results of up to 6.0% U3O8 over 5.9 metres including 20.8% U3O8 over 1.5 metres at a vertical depth of 265 metres. Adjacent to the Moore Uranium Project is Skyharbour's recently optioned Russell Lake Uranium Project from Rio Tinto, which hosts historical high-grade uranium drill intercepts over a large property area with robust exploration upside potential. The Company is actively advancing these projects through exploration and drill programs.

Skyharbour has joint-ventures with industry-leader Orano Canada Inc. and Azincourt Energy at the Preston and East Preston Projects, respectively, whereby Orano and Azincourt earned majority interests in the projects through exploration expenditures, cash payments and share issuances. Skyharbour also has several active earn-in option partners including: ASX-listed Valor Resources at the Hook Lake Uranium Project; CSE-listed Basin Uranium Corp. at the Mann Lake Uranium Project; CSE-listed Medaro Mining Corp. at the Yurchison Project; Yellow Rocks Energy, a private Australian entity, at the Wallee and Usam Island projects; North Shore Energy Metals at the South Falcon Project; and TSX-V listed Tisdale Clean Energy at the South Falcon East Project which is host to the Fraser Lakes Zone B Uranium and Thorium Deposit.

Collectively, Skyharbour has now signed earn-in option agreements with partners that total to potentially over $33 million in partner-funded exploration expenditures, over $26 million worth of shares being issued and over $19 million in cash payments coming into Skyharbour, assuming that these partner companies complete their entire earn-ins at the respective projects.

Skyharbour's goal is to maximize shareholder value through new mineral discoveries, committed long-term partnerships, and the advancement of exploration projects in geopolitically favourable jurisdictions.

Skyharbour's Uranium Project Map in the Athabasca Basin:

https://www.skyharbourltd.com/_resources/maps/SKY_SaskProject_Locator_20231219_V2.jpg

To find out more about Skyharbour Resources Ltd. (TSX-V: SYH) visit the Company's website at www.skyharbourltd.com.

SKYHARBOUR RESOURCES LTD.

"Jordan Trimble"



Jordan Trimble

President and CEO

For further information contact myself or:

Nicholas Coltura

Investor Relations Manager

Skyharbour Resources Ltd.

Telephone: 604-558-5847

Toll Free: 800-567-8181

Facsimile: 604-687-3119

Email: info@skyharbourltd.com

NEITHER THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THE CONTENT OF THIS NEWS RELEASE.

The securities offered have not been, and will not be, registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act") or any U.S. state securities laws, and may not be offered or sold in the United States or to, or for the account or benefit of, United States persons absent registration or an applicable exemption from the registration requirements of the U.S. Securities Act and applicable U.S. state securities laws. This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy securities in the United States, nor in any other jurisdiction.

This release includes certain statements that may be deemed to be "forward-looking statements". All statements in this release, other than statements of historical facts, that address events or developments that management of the Company expects, are forward-looking statements, including the Private Placement. Although management believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance, and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements if management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements, include market prices, exploration and development successes, regulatory approvals, continued availability of capital and financing, and general economic, market or business conditions. Please see the public filings of the Company at www.sedar.com for further information.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/194753

SOURCE: Cambridge House International
Ottawa, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - January 19, 2024) - C-COM Satellite Systems Inc., (TSXV: CMI) (OTCQB: CYSNF) a leading global provider of commercial grade mobile auto-deploying satellite antenna systems, today announced the payment of an eligible dividend in the amount of $0.0125 per common share payable on February 16, 2024, to all shareholders of record as of February 2, 2024. Based on the closing price of $1.21 per share on January 18, 2024, this dividend represents a yield of 4.13% on an annualized basis.

"We are pleased that we can continue to be able to reward our loyal shareholders with this quarterly dividend," said Leslie Klein, President and CEO of C-COM Satellite Systems Inc.

The C-COM iNetVu mobile proprietary antennas, and services associated with these products, are used in mobile applications by corporations, government agencies, the military, law enforcement agencies, homeland security, utility vehicles, oil and gas platforms, police, fire, medical and other security, and emergency services with a need for affordable mobile 2-way high-speed Internet over Satellite connectivity.

About C-COM Satellite Systems Inc.





To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

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C-COM Satellite Systems Inc. is a pioneer in the design, development, and manufacturing of transportable and mobile satellite-based antenna systems. The Company has developed proprietary, auto-acquisition controller technology for rapid antenna pointing to a satellite with just the press of a button, enabling Broadband Internet via Satellite across a wide range of market applications worldwide, including regions unserved or underserved by terrestrial access technologies.

C-COM has sold more than 10,000 antenna systems, in over 100 countries, through a dedicated dealer network that provides service to a wide range of vertical markets such as Oil & Gas Exploration, Military Communications, Disaster Management, SNG, Emergency Communications, Cellular Backhaul, Telemedicine, Mobile Education, Government Services, Mobile Banking, and others. The Company's iNetVu brand is synonymous with high quality, reliability, and cost-effectiveness.

C-COM is in late-stage development of a potentially revolutionary Ka-band, electronically steerable, modular, conformal, flat panel phased array antenna. C-COM is engaged in the design of this unique antenna with the intent of providing low-cost, high-throughput mobility applications over satellite for land, airborne and maritime verticals over LEO, MEO and GEO satellite constellations. For additional information please visit www.c-comsat.com.

iNetVu is a registered trademark of C-COM Satellite Systems Inc.

The Company is publicly traded on the Canadian Venture Exchange (TSXV: CMI) and on the US OTC Exchange (OTCQB: CYSNF).

INVESTOR RELATIONS

C-COM Satellite Systems Inc.

Tel: (613) 745-4110 ext. 4950

Fax: (613) 745-7144

lklein@c-comsat.com

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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. These statements relate to future events or future performance and reflect management's current expectations and assumptions. Statements about C-COM's intentions with respect to its Ka-band antenna version all contain forward-looking information. Several factors could cause actual events, performance or results to differ materially from the events, performance and results discussed in the forward-looking statements. Anticipated benefits of the new technology may not be realized, and new products and services may not be released or, if released may not gain market acceptance. Any of those events and others could influence future performance and C-COM Satellite Systems Inc.'s ability to achieve the results mentioned above. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof and C-COM Satellite Systems Inc. does not assume any obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances. Readers are directed to the risk factors associated with the business of C-COM Satellite Systems in the company's most recent MD&A available at www.sedarplus.ca.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/194810

SOURCE: C-COM Satellite Systems Inc.
Partners Alex Spiro and Avi Perry call all allegations "unproven accusations"

NEW YORK, Jan. 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP announced today that Josip Heit, GSB Gold Standard Corporation AG (GSB Germany), and certain GSB Germany subsidiaries have retained partners Alex Spiro and Avi Perry to represent them in connection with ongoing state civil regulatory and enforcement proceedings in the United States.

"At this stage, the allegations against Mr. Heit and his businesses are unproven accusations. Neither Mr. Heit nor his companies have been charged criminally in any jurisdiction, and no final order has been entered in any of the pending civil matters. Mr. Heit and his companies look forward to working with the state authorities to address their concerns and resolve these matters," Spiro and Perry said.

Quinn Emanuel is a 1000+ lawyer business litigation firm-the largest in the world devoted solely to business litigation and arbitration with 34 global office locations. Surveys of major companies around the world have named it the "most feared" law firm in the world three times. Firm lawyers have tried over 2,500 cases, winning 86% of them. When representing defendants, Quinn Emanuel's trial experience gets better settlements or defense verdicts. When representing plaintiffs, Quinn Emanuel lawyers have won nearly $80 billion in judgments and settlements. Quinn Emanuel has also obtained seven nine-figure jury verdicts, four 10-figure jury verdicts, 51 nine-figure settlements, and 20 10-figure settlements.

Quinn Emanuel has been named the No. 1 "most feared" law firm by The BTI Consulting Group three times in its annual "Most Feared Law Firms in Litigation" guide, in which in-house counsel named 46 firms they "want to steer clear of" when it comes to litigation. The American Lawyer awarded Quinn Emanuel "Litigation Department of the Year" for 2023 and has named the firm top IP litigation firm in the U.S. The UK legal periodical The Lawyer named us "International Firm of the Year." Law360 has most recently selected us as having Banking, Class Action, International Arbitration, and Trials "Practice Groups of the Year." Managing IP twice recognized us as having the "Best ITC Litigation Practice" and honored us with the "Patent Contentious West" award. Legal Business has named us "US Law Firm of the Year" three times, and our German offices have twice been named both "IP Litigation Firm of the Year" and "Patent Litigation Firm of the Year" by JUVE, Germany's most prestigious legal publication. Global Investigations Review, a leading legal periodical covering global white-collar investigations, named us the "Most Impressive Investigations Practice of the Year." Global Arbitration Review named us the 3rd best arbitration practice in the world. Global Competition Review named our antitrust and competition practice among the "25 Global Elite," and has included us in their list of the world's top 10 competition litigation practices.

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View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/josip-heit-and-gsb-germany-retain-quinn-emanuel-302038905.html
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / January 19, 2024 / Blackwolf Copper and Gold Ltd. ("Blackwolf" or the "Company") (TSXV:BWCG)(OTC PINK:BWCGF) is pleased to announce the final assay results from the 7 hole surface drill program and surface sampling at the Harry Property, and the 3 hole, first-ever, drill program at the Cantoo Property completed in 2023. The two properties are strategically located in the prolific Golden Triangle. The Cantoo Property is positioned 15 kilometers north of Hyder, Alaska, neighboring the town of Stewart, British Columbia. It is also 3 kilometers west of the past-producing Premier Gold Mine, currently in development, and 10 kilometers south of the Scottie Gold Mine. The Harry Property, located 30 kilometers north of Stewart, BC, is accessible along the all-season Granduc Road. Situated within a 50 kilometer-long axis featuring high-grade gold occurrences and deposits, including the Valley of the Kings, Brucejack mine.

Key Technical Insights:

Harry Property:

Multiple Mineralization-Styles: Drilling and surface sampling have identified multiple mineralization styles, in all regions of the Property, particularly at the Swann Zone. Two major mineralization styles have been identified, including: The high-grade gold-silver veins contained in an extensive quartz-sericite-pyrite alteration package, as noted in surface sample 4.16 g/t Au and 9.71 g/t Ag, and subsequent in drilling 1.30 g/t Au and 2.90 g/t Ag over 2.0 meters and previously released results312 g/t Au and 101 g/t Ag, over 1.0 meter (refer to Blackwolf's News release of October 30 th , 2023). Multi-ounce silver base-metal veins with gold credits, as noted in surface sample 1 ,049 g/t Ag, 4.447 g/t Au, 1.521% Cu, 8.0% Pb, 1.55% Zn, and subsequent in drilling 374 g/t Ag, 5.34% Pb, 1.41% Zn over 0.47 meters .

Drilling and surface sampling have identified multiple mineralization styles, in all regions of the Property, particularly at the Swann Zone. Two major mineralization styles have been identified, including: Multi-Zone Mineralization: The exploration effort has identified silver and base-metal occurrences, over a 3- kilometer trend, and two areas of intense quartz-sericite-pyrite alteration, each up to 1 kilometer in extent and associated with the previously released new high-grade visible gold vein discovery at the Swann Zone.

Cantoo Property:

The surface exploration highlighted the high-grade mineralization with multiple scree samples from the mineralization above, as noted in samples 29.2 g/t Au, 2,378 g/t Ag, 4.345% Cu, 7.24% Zn , and 19.9 g/t Au and 7.92 g/t Ag.

, and The initial drill program intersected porphyry-style alteration; strong zones of quartz-sericite alteration with sulphide mineralization. The strong mineralized alteration halos are analogue to the confirmed wide surface Cantoo vein mineralization outcropping in cliffs. The mineralization is closely associated with Jurassic-aged Texas Creek Intrusion suite as noted in mineralized interval in hole CT23-003 1.53 g/t Au and 1.01 g/t Au both over 1.5 metre. Further drilling to the southwest is needed to vector into high-grade shoots.

Rob McLeod, Blackwolf's Executive Chairman states, "Encountering Brucejack-style remobilized coarse electrum veins at Harry was the highlight of the 2023 program. Extensive multiphase sulphide-rich veining within a wide halo of strongly anomalous gold and silver is highly encouraging. Drilling in 2024 will target additional high-grade surface values and structural/geochemical traps located up dip from the high-grade veins. At Cantoo, geochemical vectoring and surface sampling are suggesting a northeast strike and steep dip to the wide veins; subsequent drilling will test this concept."

Blackwolf's CEO, Morgan Lekstrom comments, "Having successfully executed a program that stayed within budget, we have significantly expanded on previous results at the Harry Property, made a gold discovery, and gained a comprehensive understanding of the Cantoo Geology. This has led to a tremendous year for our initial drilling endeavors on both properties, and we are eager to build upon the discoveries at Harry and our newfound insights into the Cantoo Property. Mineralized occurrences at Harry have extended from the Swann Zone to several other mineralized occurrences across a 3-kilometer trend, adjacent to one of North America's historically high-grade producers. Our company is fully funded to proceed with an extensive drill program on the Harry Property in 2024, and we have identified multiple areas where we anticipate further high-grade discoveries. With our enhanced understanding of Cantoo, we can now drill more efficiently and cost-effectively in pursuit of what we believe to be a significant new discovery. It's important to remember that mines in the area are often discovered with over 100 drill holes, and with just 3 drill holes, we have obtained the information that uniquely positions us to expand our drilling at Cantoo and awaken this sleeping giant."

Harry Property

Harry Surface Sampling

In the Company's first season of exploration on the Harry Property, a total of 99 surface grab samples were collected, marking a significant step in our understanding of the property. The primary aim was to assess the ten previously defined mineralized zones and establish any relationships between them. The outcomes, as determined by the Company's geological team, provide valuable insights into the mineralization characteristics of the property.

The property exhibits two distinct mineralization styles. The first is characterized by east-trending, steeply dipping high-grade gold-silver precious metal veins within an extensive lower-grade gold, quartz-sericite-pyrite alteration package, comparable to larger Jurassic systems. Additionally, there are younger north-northwest trending, moderately dipping multi-ounce silver-base metal veins with gold credits, analogous to Eocene systems.

Key findings from surface sampling and mapping include the identification of two areas with intense quartz-sericite-pyrite (QSP) alteration, each extending up to one kilometer. These broad alteration areas host lower grade precious metals with notable samples such as B976737 4.16 g/t Au and 9.71 g/t Ag and B0017305 1.756 g/t Au and 21.68 g/t Ag. These areas are also associated with high-grade visible gold vein mineralization in the drill core, as noted in the previously released results (H23-017: 312 g/t Au and 101 g/t Ag, over 1.0 meter from 139 meter to 140 meter, and 277 g/t Au and 118 g/t Ag, over 1.0 meter from 199 to 200 meter - refer to October 30th 2023 news release)

Figure 1: Harry property map showing the prospective QSP alteration extent in light orange and the silver and base metal trend in blue. All zones are color coded in relation the mineralization-style; yellow associated to high-grade gold-silver and blue to silver-base metal veins.

Additionally, the 2023 surface work delineated a 3 kilometer trend with four mineralized zones, revealing multi-ounce silver-base metal veins with gold credits in samples like B976744 1,049 g/t Ag, 4.447 g/t Au, 1.521% Cu, 8.0% Pb, 1.55% Zn, B976724 714 g/t Ag, 14.19% Pb, 16.83% Zn, and B0012762 475 g/t Ag, 9.79% Pb, 10.34% Zn.

Figure 2: Comparative photos multi ounce silver-base-metal mineralization observed at the northern end compared to the southernmost extent of the Harry Property.

The multiple mineralization styles uncovered during this exploration season suggest a long-lived multiphase metallogenic system. These findings contribute to our ongoing understanding of the property's geological characteristics.

Table 1. Selected Surface Results from the 2023 Harry program

Sample No. Easting Northing Area Au_ppm Ag_ppm Cu_% Pb_% Zn_% B0017307 434380 6224629 Harry 1.001 57.72 0.010 1.650 0.116 B976710 434366 6226621 Harry 1.346 4.45 0.003 0.049 0.025 B976736 434150 6223754 Harry 1.07 11.38 0.003 0.325 0.069 B976737 434141 6223695 Harry 4.16 9.71 0.003 0.083 0.021 B976744 434122 6223527 S-1 4.477 1049 1.521 8.000 1.550 B976745 434118 6223566 S-1 3.239 995 1.436 4.330 3.100 B0012768 434023 6223880 Saw Cut 0.158 203 0.253 6.250 18.960 B0012755 434054 6223721 Sheeted Vein 5.676 160 0.041 2.820 8.940 B0012762 434045 6223642 Sheeted Vein 0.195 475 0.562 9.790 10.340 B0012766 434032 6223680 Sheeted Vein 0.04 98.3 0.090 2.570 5.640 B976717 434363 6226626 Sheeted Vein 0.077 3.72 0.103 0.017 1.290 B976721 434165 6226380 Sheeted Vein 0.04 213 0.080 19.68 0.073 B976724 434153 6226370 Sheeted Vein 0.311 714 0.663 14.190 16.830 B0017303 434519 6224862 Ursula 0.86 92.03 0.049 3.610 4.910 B0017305 434498 6224869 Ursula 1.756 21.68 0.016 0.524 0.234 B0017306 434497 6224872 Ursula 1.083 11.02 0.006 0.082 0.016

Harry Surface Drilling

The 2023 drilling program at the Harry property targeted mineralization previously identified in historical drilling at the Swann zone (Optimum Ventures Press Release, April 22, 2022). The primary focus was on targeting silver-base metal veins with gold credits and exploring the extent of precious metal mineralization within the broad quartz-sericite-pyrite alteration halo west of the Swann zone, extending towards the Milestone prospect.

A total of 1,741 meters of drilling across seven holes was completed in September 2023. The outcomes of the program exceeded expectations, as evidenced by the successful intersection of high-grade silver-base metal mineralization at the Swann zone. Results defined a 150-meter mineralized trend of sheeted mineralized veins, ranging from 0.3 to 3.0 meters in width at the Swann zone, as exemplified by H23-012: 0.47 g/t Au, 374 g/t Ag, 5.34% Pb, 1.41% Zn over 0.47 meters.

Moreover, the program showcased the Company's capability to unveil the potential for extensive high-grade gold mineralization within the expansive quartz-sericite-pyrite (QSP) halo. With only three diamond drill holes testing it to date, previously released results from H23-017 (312 g/t Au and 101 g/t Ag, over 1.0 meter from 139 meter to 140 meter, and 277 g/t Au and118 g/t Ag, over 1.0 meter from 199 to 200 meter) and hole H23-018 intersected 1.30 g/t Au and 2.90 g/t Ag over 2.0 meters within a longer low-grade intervals of gold mineralization encountered in the quartz-sericite-pyrite halo 0.42 g/t Au, 5.97 g/t Ag over 17.0 meters.

Table 2. Swann Zone Drill hole Composites

Hole-ID Zone From (meters) To (meters) *Length (meters) Au (gpt) Ag (gpt) Pb (%) Zn (%) H23-012 Swann 67.32 67.79 0.47 0.42 374.00 5.340 1.410 118.10 118.89 0.79 1.62 2.79 0.014 0.001 160.00 161.00 1.00 0.46 14.77 0.265 2.470 H23-013 Swann 55.00 55.50 0.50 0.15 12.08 1.30 0.2091 93.00 96.10 3.10 0.33 13.05 0.057 0.127 H23-014 Swann 66.00 67.00 1.00 0.07 1.09 0.019 0.267 140.00 141.50 1.50 1.31 2.00 0.016 0.040 178.00 179.00 1.00 0.60 1.18 0.002 0.008 H23-015 Swann 74.05 77.19 3.14 0.07 8.35 0.107 0.241 191.42 192.45 1.03 0.68 1.27 0.009 0.012 H23-016 Swann 223.00 224.00 1.00 2.01 4.00 0.010 0.002 H23-018 Swann 176.00 183.00 7.00 0.73 3.07 0.012 0.004 176.00 193.00 17.00 0.41 5.97 0.004 0.08 Inc. 176.00 177.00 1.00 2.03 3.39 0.014 0.005 Inc. 181.00 183.00 2.00 1.30 2.895 0.014 0.005

* True widths are not known as there is not yet enough geological information.

Figure 3: Swann Zone 2023 Drilling Inset with two mineralization styles highlights; in red high-grade Gold-Silver mineralization and blue Silver-Base Metal veins

Cantoo Property

The property has a rich mining history with three adits driven in the early 1920's to follow high-grade gold-silver mineralization with base metal credit breccias, stockworks, and vein structures, reaching up to 30 meters in thickness on surface. The 2023 surface exploration highlighted the high-grade mineralization with multiple scree samples from the mineralization above due to terrain steepness, as noted in sample B0011179 29.2 g/t Au, 2,378 g/t Ag, 4.35% Cu, 7.24% Zn, and B0011169 19.9 g/t Au and 7.92 g/t Ag. The 2023 drilling at the Cantoo was the first ever drill program completed to date on the property with 1,356 meters completed in three holes. The modest exploratory drilling completed highlighted area of intense quartz-sericite-pyrite (QSP) in close to distal telescoping relation with the Premier porphyry, Jurassic-age Texas Creek Intrusive Suite known in the area for association with neighboring, currently in development, Premier deposit. While significant precious metals values were not obtained, the alteration zone intersected closely resemblance with the high-grade surface samples closely related to the Premier porphyry intrusion. Mineralized intersection with the second hole highlighted two gold intervals within the Jurassic-aged Premier Porphyry associated with the prospective alteration as noted in hole CT23-003 with 1.53 g/t Au and 1.01 g/t Au, both over 1.5 meter. This initial drilling effort has significantly advanced our understanding of the complex structural geology in the area, refining our targeting strategy for the upcoming drill season.

Figure 4. Comparative photo from drill core alteration to comparative surface sample alteration with grade

Table 3. Selected Surface Assay Results from the 2023 Cantoo program

Sample Number Easting Northing Type Au _ppm Ag_ppm Cu_% Pb_% Zn_% B0011166 433890 6214868 Float 4.070 2.1 0.001 0.001 0.002 B0011167 433880 6214859 Float 14.600 10.0 0.001 0.004 0.003 B0011168 433801 6214830 Float 4.238 1.8 0.001 0.001 0.001 B0011169 433801 6214830 Float 19.900 7.9 0.001 0.003 0.001 B0011170 433773 6214845 Float 4.548 3.4 0.015 0.017 0.627 B0011172 433807 6214839 Float 2.515 2.3 0.002 0.006 0.018 B0011174 433889 6214870 Float 6.192 115.0 0.484 7.670 0.353 B0011175 433001 6214866 Float 2.982 4.6 0.003 0.006 0.001 B0011176 433912 6215138 Float 0.348 222.0 0.136 35.850 0.630 B0011177 433919 6215145 Float 0.835 146.0 0.008 20.050 0.145 B0011178 433919 6215168 Float 1.980 607.0 1.112 4.370 0.199 B0011179 433919 6215168 Float 29.200 2378.00 4.350 0.527 7.240 B0011301 433803 6214832 Float 4.482 2.1 0.000 0.001 0.000 B0011302 433788 6214830 Float 9.903 6.4 0.001 0.003 0.004 B0011303 433781 6214836 Float 5.582 1.8 0.000 0.001 0.001 B0011304 433769 6214842 Float 5.720 2.4 0.001 0.001 0.000 B0011305 433762 6214842 Float 7.005 3.4 0.002 0.002 0.001

Table 4. Cantoo drill hole Composites

Hole-ID From (meters) To (meters) *Length (meters) Au (gpt) Ag (gpt) Cu (%) Pb (%) Zn (%) CT23-001 No Significant Results CT23-002 No Significant Results CT23-003 433.00 434.50 1.50 1.53 5.58 NC NC NC 439.50 441.00 1.50 1.01 1.22 NC NC NC

* True widths are not known as there is not yet enough geological information.

Next Steps

There are numerous untested targets on the Harry Property; future work will include exploring the west side of the QSP alteration at the Golden Summit prospect. Additionally, the second alteration halo at the Harry and Ursula prospects further south, mirroring the high-grade precious metal veins intercepted this season, represents an exciting opportunity for future exploration. Furthermore, three additional zones hosting silver-base metal veins are yet to be explored, particularly the Sheeted Vein and Saw Cut prospects further south. This underscores the significant potential that occurs on the Harry Property, and Blackwolf is eager to unlock further discoveries as the Company continues to methodically explore and test these promising targets.

Table 5. Swann Zone Drill hole collar locations and orientations

Hole-ID Coordinate System Easting Northing Elevation (m a.s.l) Azimuth (Degrees) Dip (Degrees) Length (m a.s.l) H23-012 UTM_Zone9/NAD83 434390 6226542 890 215 -50 249 H23-013 UTM_Zone9/NAD83 434390 6226542 890 240 -50 250 H23-014 UTM_Zone9/NAD83 434390 6226542 890 230 -60 250 H23-015 UTM_Zone9/NAD83 434390 6226542 890 215 -60 251 H23-016 UTM_Zone9/NAD83 434312 6226610 862 215 -50 242 H23-017 UTM_Zone9/NAD83 434312 6226610 862 230 -50 246 H23-018 UTM_Zone9/NAD83 434312 6226610 862 250 -50 251

Table 6. Cantoo drill hole collar locations and orientations

Hole-ID Coordinate System Easting Northing Elevation (m a.s.l) Azimuth (Degrees) Dip (Degrees) Length (m a.s.l) *CT23-001 UTM_Zone9/NAD83 433247 6214825 858 95 -55 130.2 CT23-002 UTM_Zone9/NAD83 433244 6214839 860 95 -55 676 CT23-003 UTM_Zone9/NAD83 433244 6214839 860 85 -65 550

*Hole abandoned

QA/QC and Qualified Person

Analytical work for the Harry Property drill core samples was completed by two analytical laboratories: MSA Labs of Langley, BC, and Bureau Veritas of Vancouver, BC, both of whom are certified analytical service providers. Analytical work for the Cantoo property was completed by MSA Labs.

At MSA Labs, samples are prepared using procedure PRP-910 (dry,crush to 70% passing 2mm, riffle split off 250g, pulverize split to better than 85% passing 75 microns) and analyzed by method FAS-111 (30g fire assay with AAS finish) for gold and IMS-230 (1.0g, 4-acid digestion and ICP-MS analysis, 48 elements). Any samples containing >10g/t Au are reanalyzed using method FAS-415(30g Fire Assay with gravimetric finish). Samples containing >100 ppm Ag and/or >1% Cu, Pb, & Zn are reanalyzed using method ICF-6 (0.2g, 4-acid digest and ore grade ICP-AES analysis). Samples containing >1000g/t Ag are reanalyzed using method FAS-418 (30g fire assay with AAS finish) and samples containing >20% Pb are reanalyzed using method STI-8Pb (volumetric titration).

At Bureau Veritas, samples are prepared using PRP70-250 (dry, crush to 70% passing 2mm, riffle split off 250g, pulverize split to better than 85% passing 75 microns) and analyzed by method FA-430 (30g fire assay with AAS finish) for gold and MA-200 (0.25, multi-acid digestion and ICP-ES/MS analysis, 45 elements). Any samples containing >10g/t Au are reanalyzed using method FA530 (30g Fire Assay with gravimetric finish). Samples containing >100 ppm Ag and/or >1% Cu, Pb, & Zn are reanalyzed using method MA-370 (1.0g, 4-acid digestion and ore grade ICP-AES analysis). Samples containing >1000 g/t Ag are reanalyzed using method FA-530(30g fire assay with AAS finish) and samples containing >20% Pb are reanalyzed using method GC817. Samples with visible gold are subject to method FS-632, a screen metallics analysis with duplicate minus fractions analyzed, and 30g fire assay for gold.

The 2023 Drilling Program at the Harry Property was completed using industry standard procedures, including a quality assurance/quality control ("QA/QC") program consisting of the insertion of certified standard, blanks,and duplicates into the sample stream. The Qualified Person has reviewed the data and detected no significant QA/QC issues.

Andrew Hamilton, P.Geo., Consultant to the Company,a Qualified Person under NI 43-101,has reviewed and approved the scientific and technical content of this release.

About Blackwolf Copper and Gold Ltd.

Blackwolf's founding vision is to be an industry leader in transparency, inclusion, and innovation. Guided by our Vision and through collaboration with local and Indigenous communities and stakeholders, Blackwolf builds shareholder value through our technical expertise in mineral exploration, engineering and permitting. The Company holds a 100% interest in the high-grade Niblack copper-gold-zinc-silver VMS project, located adjacent to tidewater in southeast Alaska. In addition, the Company holds a 100% interest in five Hyder Area gold-silver and base metal properties in southeast Alaska and an option to acquire an 80% interest in the Harry gold-silver property located in northwest British Columbia in the Golden Triangle. For more information on Blackwolf, please visit the Company's website at www.blackwolfcopperandgold.com.

On behalf of the Board of Directors of Blackwolf Copper and Gold Ltd.

"Morgan Lekstrom"

CEO and Director

For more information, contact:

Morgan Lekstrom

250-574-7350 (Mobile)

604-343-2997 (Office)

MLL@bwcg.c Freddie Leigh

604-609-6132 (Office)

info@bwcg.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

This release includes certain statements and information that may constitute forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. Forward-looking statements relate to future events or future performance and reflect the expectations or beliefs of management of the Company regarding future events. Generally, forward-looking statements and information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "intends" or "anticipates", or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "should", "would" or "occur". This information and these statements, referred to herein as "forward-looking statements", are not historical facts, are made as of the date of this news release and include without limitation, statements relating to the properties located in the Golden Triangle area and the Company's future objectives and plans.Forward-looking statements involve numerous risks and uncertainties, and actual results might differ materially from results suggested in any forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, among other things, market volatility; the state of the financial markets for the Company's securities; fluctuations in commodity prices and changes in the Company's business plans. In making the forward-looking statements in this news release, the Company has applied several material assumptions that the Company believes are reasonable, including without limitation, that the Company will continue with its stated business objectives and its ability to raise additional capital to proceed. Although management of the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements or forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated, or intended. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements and forward-looking information. Readers are cautioned that reliance on such information may not be appropriate for other purposes. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statement, forward-looking information or financial outlook that are incorporated by reference herein,except in accordance with applicable securities laws. The Company seeks safe harbor.

For more information on the Company,investors should review the Company's continuous disclosure filings that are available at www.sedarplus.ca.

SOURCE: Blackwolf Copper and Gold Ltd

View the original press release on accesswire.com
Thunder Bay, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - January 19, 2024) - Benton Resources Inc. (TSXV: BEX) ("Benton" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that its second batch of trenching and prospecting samples has returned several high-grade copper and gold zones at surface up to 14km north from the Great Burnt Main Zone (GBMZ), all part of the Company's recently acquired Great Burnt Copper-Gold Project in Newfoundland (the "Project").

Several surface grab samples located on or near airborne electromagnetic (AEM) conductors have outlined significant mineralized areas at the North Stringer Zone (approximately 0.5km north of GBMZ) and at the South Pond Zone (approximately 14km north of the GBMZ). The surface zones were discovered by prospecting in the vicinity of 1970's drilling that previously identified copper mineralization. Highlights of selective individual grab samples from the zones include:

North Stringer Zone graded up to 4.35% copper, 0.37gpt gold and 0.03% cobalt and 2.67% copper, 0.28gpt gold and 0.01% cobalt.

Trench 13 graded up to 0.14% copper, 3.71gpt gold and 0.01% cobalt and 0.13% copper, 2.14gpt gold and 0.01% cobalt.

A table of the significant results (see Table 1) from the two areas is shown below along with a map showing sample locations (see Figure 1, 2, 3, 4). The Company will proceed to enlarge the exposures of selected mineralized zones to permit geological mapping and channel sampling as much as possible in the 2024 season.

Table 1: Samples from Prospecting/Trenching

Sample # Easting Northing Elevation Target Type Cu (%) Au (g/t) Ni (%) Co (%) 138625 563406 5362963 769 Tr 13 boulder 0.13 2.14 0.023 0.011 138627 563386 5362975 778 Tr 13 boulder 0.14 3.71 0.020 0.009 168057 563118 5354873 858 Prospecting sub-crop 0.24 0.02 0.001 0.001 168058 563112 5354863 861 Prospecting sub-crop 2.67 0.28 0.006 0.014 168059 563116 5354869 861 Prospecting outcrop 1.85 0.13 0.006 0.016 168060 563130 5354851 858 Prospecting sub-crop 0.37 0.03 0.000 0.009 168062 563123 5354853 862 Prospecting boulder 4.35 0.37 0.006 0.028 168063 563123 5354851 862 Prospecting sub-crop 1.66 0.15 0.008 0.068 168064 563105 5354844 865 Prospecting sub-crop 1.41 0.16 0.001 0.007 168095 563487 5362972 777 TR 13 sub-crop 0.19 1.54 0.002 0.005 168096 563487 5362972 777 TR 13 sub-crop 0.20 0.76 0.030 0.009

Figure 1: Sample Location Map 1 (Airborne EM background)

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/3657/194871_7baa6b4cc4c7ca9a_003full.jpg





Figure 2: North Stringer Zone Location Map 2

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/3657/194871_7baa6b4cc4c7ca9a_004full.jpg





Figure 3: Trench 13 Regional Location Map (Airborne EM background)

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/3657/194871_7baa6b4cc4c7ca9a_005full.jpg





Figure 4: Trench 3 Sample Location Map 2

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/3657/194871_7baa6b4cc4c7ca9a_006full.jpg

In addition, the Company is pleased to announce that it has entered into an agreement with Grove Corporate Services ("Grove") to provide investor relations services to the Company, subject to TSX Venture Exchange approval. Grove will be paid $6,000 per month for an initial term of six months following which will continue on a monthly basis unless Grove or the Company provides ninety days written notice of termination. To the knowledge of the Company, Grove does not currently hold a position in Benton.

QA/QC Protocols

Core and rock samples, including standards, blanks and duplicates, are submitted to Eastern Analytical Ltd., Springdale, Newfoundland for preparation and analysis. All samples were acquired by saw-cut (channels/drill core) with one-half submitted for assay and one-half retained for reference, or hand (rocks) and delivered, by Benton personnel, in sealed bags, to the Springdale lab of Eastern Analytical, which is an accredited assay lab that conforms to the requirements of ISO/IEC 17025. Samples are analyzed using Eastern's Au (Fire assay) @ 30g + ICP-34 method that delivers a 35-element package utilizing a 200mg subsample totally dissolved in four acids and analyzed by ICP-OES analytical technique. Overlimits are analysed with Eastern's atomic absorption method, using a 0.200g to 2.00g of sample, digested with three acids. All reported assays are uncut. Eastern Analytical Ltd. achieved ISO 17025 accreditation in February 2014 (for more details on the scope of accreditation visit the CALA website).

QP

Stephen House (P.Geo.), Vice President of Exploration for Benton Resources Inc., the 'Qualified Person' under National Instrument 43-101, has approved the scientific and technical disclosure in this news release and prepared or supervised it's preparation.

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/194871

SOURCE: Benton Resources Inc.
Marula Mining Plc - Tanzanian Exploration Budgets Approved for Project Developments in 2024

PR Newswire

LONDON, United Kingdom, January 19

Marula Mining PLC

("Marula'' or the "Company")

19 January 2024

Tanzanian Exploration Budgets Approved for Project Developments in 2024

Marula Mining (AQSE: MARU), an African focused mining and development company, is pleased to announce that it's 2024 exploration budgets for the advancement and development of the Company's Kinusi Copper Mine and Bagamoyo, Nyorinyori and NyoriGreen Graphite Projects all located in Tanzania, have been approved.

The total cost of the exploration budget is forecast to be approx. US$6.38 million ("Exploration Budget"). This is to be part funded through Q Global Commodities ("Q Global"), a major South African commodity, logistics and mining investment group, with the cost repaid from the funds expected to be received under the subscription agreement announced on 31 January 2023, and from anticipated future free cashflow from its mining and processing activities at Blesberg and the Kinusi Copper Mine. Commencement of certain activities under the Company's Exploration Budget will be dependent upon the Company's application of its forecast free cash flow to progress those activities.

Highlights:

Board approves US$6.38 million total exploration budget ("Exploration Budget') for major project development across its Tanzanian mining and exploration projects including the Kinusi Copper Mine and the Bagamoyo, Nyorinyori and NyoriGreen Graphite Projects

Approval of the Exploration Budget and the associated schedules of exploration and development activities at each of the projects was approved following executive management meetings that took place in Nairobi in Q4 2023 with all key stakeholders and the Company's independent geological consultants, Geofields Tanzania Limited ("Geofields")

Activities to commence in the current quarter across all four of the Company's copper and graphite projects in Tanzania

The exploration programs for these projects will be implemented by Geofields, other approved technical consultants and managed by the Company's recently appointed Head of Exploration in East Africa, Collins Aseto, who will report to the Company's Chairman, Richard Lloyd, and Chief Executive Officer, Jason Brewer

Of the total US$6.38 million Exploration Budget, 38% (US$2.44 million) has been allocated to work at the Nyorinyori and NyoriGreen Graphite Projects, 32% (US$2.04 million) at the Kinusi Copper Mine and 30% (US$1.90 million) at the Bagamoyo Graphite Project

Funding of the Exploration Budget is proposed to be met through up to US$2.5 million of funds under the Company's existing funding agreement with Q Global and the balance funded from forecast free cashflow from the sale of lithium product from the Blesberg Lithium and Tantalum Mine in South Africa in 2024

At the Nyorinyori and NyoriGreen Graphite Projects, the US$2.44 million budget has been approved to be applied to meet the costs of the proposed Phase II Program of exploration activities and additional work which will include the following exploration and development activities: Work will focus on high-grade and jumbo flake graphite mineralisation that has been observed in shallow broad graphite veins at Nyorinyori Additional geological mapping, trenching works and sampling programs Satellite imaging and analysis and electromagnetic geophysics survey Initial 20-hole, 2,000 metre ("m") resource drilling program Upgrade to site infrastructure, office buildings and access and haulage roads ESG and community-based initiatives Mining studies and mine planning, metallurgical testwork and process flow sheet optimisation Economic and discounted cashflow analysis

At the Kinusi Copper Mine, the US$2.04 million, will be used to meet the costs of the previously announced Phase II Program of exploration activities and further work which will include amongst other things, the following: Work will focus on the high-grade copper mineralisation at the main Sasimo Prospect LIDAR and airborne geophysics survey Drill access roads and drill pad preparation Initial 12 -hole, 1,500m as part of a larger planned 5,000m resource drilling program aimed at defining a maiden JORC Compliant mineral resource estimate Upgrade to site infrastructure, office buildings, access and haulage roads ESG and community-based initiatives The planned exploration activities will be completed in parallel with the installation and commissioning of the copper processing plant which is on schedule to be completed in early Q1 2024 and coincide with the commencement of larger scale open pit mining activities

The Bagamoyo Graphite Project has a total budget of US$1.9 million, which will be used to meet the costs of the previously announced phase II program of exploration activities, including optimisation work on the selected mining licenses, additional exploration and development activities including: Work will focus on the high-grade nature of the graphite mineralisation at Bagamoyo and in particular at the Mihuga Prospect Establishment of exploration and office administration facilities Upgrade to site infrastructure, access and haulage roads and general logistics Major trenching program across the Mihuga Prospect Airborne geophysics electromagnetic survey work Initial resource drilling program ESG and community-based initiatives Mine planning and metallurgical studies and economic and discounted cashflow analysis



Jason Brewer, Marula Mining PLC CEO said:

"With the approval of the US$6.38 million exploration budget for our Tanzanian projects, we are committed to accelerating our progress and their development in 2024 so we can deliver on our strategy to return value to our shareholders.

"Following the executive management, key stakeholder and independent geological consultant meetings we had in Nairobi late last year, it was agreed that our exploration work will consist of trenching work, sampling, geological and geophysics surveys and resource definition drilling that will be supported by additional mine planning, metallurgical testwork and processing optimisation studies and financial analysis.

"This broad program of exploration and development work will be overseen and managed by our recently appointed Head of Exploration in East Africa, Collins Aseto, who has over 15 years of experience in mine development and mineral exploration. We anticipate that we will make considerable progress in developing the Nyorinyori, NyoriGreen, Bagamoyo, and Kinusi Projects.

"I am also pleased to share that a portion of our budget has been allocated towards fulfilling our social commitments to the communities near our projects. By improving the roads, upgrading accommodations at the local community girls school and allocating funds to a number of community based initiatives, we are demonstrating that not only are we a battery metals mining and development company based in Africa, but that we are committed to helping to develop the communities in and around the areas in which we operate.

"It is a very exciting and transformative period for our Tanzanian Projects and I look forward to updating shareholders on further developments."

The Directors of Marula are responsible for the contents of this announcement.This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of UK Market Abuse Regulation.

About Marula Mining

Marula Mining (AQSE: MARU) is an African focused battery metals investment and exploration company and has interests in several high value mine projects in Africa; the Blesberg Lithium and Tantalum Mine and Korridor Lithium Project in South Africa, the Kinusi Copper Mine, the Nyorinyori Graphite Project, the NyoriGreen Graphite Project and the Bagamoyo Graphite Project all in Tanzania and the Nkombwa Hill Project in Zambia. As we advance operations at these battery metals focused projects, Marula will continue to build and expand its interests in other high-quality projects in Africa.

Marula's strategy is to identify and invest in advanced and high-value mining projects throughout East, Central and Southern Africa that the Directors believe would deliver returns for its shareholders. The Board and management team aims to establish Marula as a socially and environmentally responsible, sustainable, and profitable producer of critical metals and commodities that are of increasingly strategic importance to modern technologies and the global economy. Marula's shares are traded on the AQUIS Stock Exchange (AQSE), Marula is exploring opportunities to admit its shares to trading on the London Stock Exchange plc's Standard List or AIM Market, Kenya's Nairobi Securities Exchange and South Africa's Johannesburg Stock Exchange.

For enquiries contact:

Marula Mining PLC Jason Brewer, Chief Executive Officer Faith Kinyanjui Mumbi Investor Relations Email: jason@marulamining.com Email: info@marulamining.com AQSE Corporate Adviser Cairn Financial Advisers LLP, Liam Murray / Ludovico Lazzaretti +44 (0)20 7213 0880 Broker Peterhouse Capital Limited,

Charles Goodfellow / Duncan Vasey +44 (0)20 7469 0930 Financial PR and IR BlytheRay Tim Blythe / Megan Ray / Said Izagaren +44 (0)20 7138 3204

Caution:

Certain statements in this announcement, are, or may be deemed to be, forward looking statements. Forward looking statements are identi?ed by their use of terms and phrases such as 'believe', 'could', "should" 'envisage', 'estimate', 'intend', 'may', 'plan', 'potentially', "expect", 'will' or the negative of those, variations or comparable expressions, including references to assumptions. These forward-looking statements are not based on historical facts but rather on the Directors' current expectations and assumptions regarding the Company's future growth, results of operations, performance, future capital and other expenditures (including the amount, nature and sources of funding thereof), competitive advantages, business prospects and opportunities. Such forward looking statements re?ect the Directors' current beliefs and assumptions and are based on information currently available to the Directors.
Prilenia Therapeutics B.V., a clinical stage biotechnology company focused on the urgent mission to develop novel therapeutics to slow the progression of neurodegenerative diseases and neurodevelopmental disorders, will present clinical data supporting a future Phase 3 study in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) during the 14th Annual California ALS Research Summit in Los Angeles. The Company has completed discussions with global regulatory agencies regarding the next stage of development of pridopidine for ALS and is planning for a single pivotal Phase 3 study to start in H2 2024.

Pridopidine is an investigational oral, small molecule, highly selective and potent Sigma-1 Receptor (S1R) agonist being studied as a potential treatment for ALS and Huntington's disease (HD). The S1R is highly expressed in the brainstem and spinal cord, areas implicated in ALS and important for bulbar function and speech.

"Based on the clinical data generated to date, pridopidine has the potential to become a meaningful treatment for ALS, slowing key measures of disease progression, including function, respiration, quality of life and impact on speech, which is very meaningful for patients and caregivers, as well as prolonging overall survival," said Dr. Michael R. Hayden, CEO and Founder of Prilenia. "We believe it is important for Prilenia to advance our clinical program in ALS, and we are actively planning a single, global, pivotal Phase 3 clinical trial. Our sincere appreciation to the many ALS patients, caregivers and healthcare providers who have contributed so much to our clinical studies as well as to those who will participate in future trials. We also are grateful to Dr. Merit Cudkowicz and the entire team at the Sean M. Healey AMG Center for ALS for their innovative and passionate approach to evaluating pridopidine as we continue our close working relationship."

"In the Phase 2 clinical trial, pridopidine showed encouraging results for the potential treatment of ALS across multiple secondary and exploratory measures with an excellent safety profile, and we are pleased to work closely with Prilenia on the advancement of this program into Phase 3," said Merit Cudkowicz, M.D., MSc, principal investigator and sponsor of the HEALEY ALS Platform Trial, Director of the Sean M. Healey AMG Center for ALS, Chair of the Department of Neurology at Massachusetts General Hospital and the Julieanne Dorn Professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School.

While pridopidine did not meet the primary outcome measure, data from the Phase 2 HEALEY ALS Platform Trial evaluating the safety and efficacy of pridopidine as a potential treatment for ALS show in the pre-specified subgroup of participants with definite ALS who were also early in the course of the disease (less than 18 months from symptom onset) that pridopidine was associated with slower disease progression relative to placebo in ALSFRS-R (?2.4, p=0.19), respiratory domain (?1.04, p=0.18), and dyspnea (?1.35, p=0.014). Less worsening was observed on the ALSAQ-40 quality of life scale (?-10.83, p=0.018) and its eating and drinking (?-19.18, p=0.015) and communication (?-13.04, p=0.12) domains.

Pridopidine was also observed to have beneficial effects compared to placebo in speech in the full analysis set (speaking rate, p=0.027, articulation rate p=0.0129, phonation time p=0.076, and articulation precision p=0.1138). Speech is a highly clinically relevant endpoint in ALS, and measures of speech are associated with overall ALS and bulbar disease severity. As ALS progresses, it is common for patients to have difficulty speaking due to weakening muscles (dysarthria). This poses significant communications challenges with family, friends and healthcare providers.

Additional analyses from the same Phase 2 study of participants with definite or probable ALS who were also early and fast progressors were conducted. In this subgroup, there was a significant and meaningful (41 percent) slowing of disease progression compared to placebo at 24 weeks in ALSFRS-R (?5.2, p=0.04). This slowing of disease progression was already observed at 8 weeks (44.5 percent, p=0.02) and 16 weeks (52 percent, p=0.014). This group also showed greatest improvements vs placebo in ALSFRS-R respiratory domain (?1.81, p=0.08), dyspnea (?1.41, p=0.019), speaking rate (?1.08, p=0.00004) and articulation rate (?1.03, p=0.00002).

Furthermore, survival benefits from post-hoc analyses of the placebo-controlled and open-label extension portions of the study show that pridopidine provided an increase in survival time for the specific subgroup consisting of participants with definite or probable ALS who were also early in the course of the disease. A Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed a prolongation of median survival time from ~300 to 600 days in these participants compared to the delayed-start placebo participants (log rank test: p=0.069). The Cox Proportional Hazard Ratio (HR), adjusted for baseline characteristics, was 0.429 (p=0.052), representing a 57 percent improvement in survival benefit.

Altogether, these results are encouraging and further inform the ongoing planning of a Phase 3 study.

In collaboration with Massachusetts General Hospital and the Healey Center and through the ACT for ALS (Accelerating Access to Critical Therapies for ALS Act), the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has provided a grant to support expanded access to pridopidine for 200 persons with ALS in the U.S. who are not eligible for active clinical trials.

Preliminary topline results in the full analysis set of this Phase 2 study were previously announced. Pridopidine was well-tolerated with no serious treatment-related adverse events, with a safety and tolerability profile similar to placebo and consistent with previous clinical studies.

About Pridopidine and the Sigma-1 Receptor (S1R)

Pridopidine (45 mg twice daily) is an oral, highly selective, and potent investigational S1R agonist that has exhibited a safety and tolerability profile similar to placebo in clinical studies to date. The S1R protein is highly expressed in the brain and spinal cord, where it regulates several key processes that are commonly impaired in various neurodegenerative diseases. Activation of the S1R by pridopidine stimulates multiple cellular protective pathways, including autophagy, axonal transport, mitochondrial energy production and calcium homeostasis, which are essential to neuronal function and survival, and may lead to neuroprotective effects.

Mutations in the S1R gene cause ALS with the time of onset related to the expression of the S1R gene. For example, patients with no S1R protein have juvenile-onset ALS, while patients with diminished S1R expression have adult-onset ALS. The S1R positively regulates key cellular pathways that are commonly impaired in ALS and other neurodegenerative diseases. In ALS cell culture and mouse models, pridopidine has been shown to be neuroprotective, specifically mediated via the activation of S1R.

Prilenia holds Orphan Drug designation for pridopidine in ALS and Huntington's Disease (HD) in the U.S. and EU. In addition, pridopidine has received Fast Track designation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of HD. Pridopidine is not yet approved in the U.S. or EU.

About the HEALEY ALS Platform Study Pridopidine Regimen

The Phase 2 clinical study, led by the Sean M. Healey AMG Center for ALS at Massachusetts General Hospital, was designed to evaluate the potential safety and efficacy of pridopidine, along with multiple other investigational products simultaneously, for the treatment of ALS.

Eligible participants had El Escorial possible, probable, or definite ALS, symptom onset <36mo and vital capacity >50%-predicted. Pridopidine 45 mg bid (n=121) was compared to a shared placebo (n=164). The primary endpoint was change from baseline through 24 weeks in ALSFRS-R total (Full Analysis Set, FAS). Secondary and exploratory endpoints included speech, respiration, and quality of life measurements. Prespecified and post-hoc subgroups included definite or probable ALS, early (<18mo symptom onset) and fast progressors (pre-baseline slope>=-1). Nominal p-values are reported.

About Expanded Access for Pridopidine

The Sean M. Healey AMG Center for ALS at Massachusetts General Hospital has been awarded a grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) to conduct an intermediate size Expanded Access Protocol (EAP) in ALS in collaboration with Prilenia Therapeutics. The EAP made possible by this award will allow ALS individuals who are otherwise not eligible for participation in clinical trials of pridopidine to access this investigational drug.

Additionally, this EAP will provide real world safety, biomarker, and clinical data in up to two hundred (200) ALS individuals treated with pridopidine for up to two (2) years, thus contributing to our understanding of the effects of pridopidine in a broad population. The pridopidine EAP will be conducted at up to 45 enrolling centers across the U.S. The enrollment phase is anticipated to start in the Spring of 2024.

Additional information about Prilenia's EAP policy is available on our website.

About Prilenia

Prilenia is a clinical stage biotechnology company founded in 2018 focused on the urgent mission to develop novel therapeutics to slow the progression of neurodegenerative diseases and neurodevelopmental disorders. The initial focus of the company has been on HD and ALS.

Prilenia is backed by a group of well-respected investors including: Forbion, Morningside, Sands Capital, SV Health Investors, Sectoral Asset Management, Talisman, Amplitude Ventures and the ALS Investment Fund. The Company is based in Naarden, the Netherlands, Herzliya, Israel and Waltham, Massachusetts in the U.S.

For more information, visit www.prilenia.com and follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.

2024 Prilenia Therapeutics B.V.

For a copy of this release, visit Prilenia's website at www.prilenia.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240118053094/en/

Contacts:

Prilenia

Kristina Coppola

Head of Corporate Communications

info@prilenia.com


MOSCOW (dpa-AFX) - A U.S. businessman has been arrested for operating an years-long scheme to illegally export semiconductors and sensitive technology to Russia for the use of its military and intelligence services.



66 year-old Ilya Kahn, who also holds Israeli and Russian citizenships, was arrested in Los Angeles, the U.S. Department of Justice said in a statement.



He allegedly used a network of businesses in China and other countries to transfer hundreds of thousands of semiconductors to leading Russian developers of microchips and devices, Elvees.



The joint stock company was sanctioned by the U.S. government following Russia's invasion of Ukraine over its ties with Russian military and the Federal Security Service.



According to court documents, Kahn is the owner of two businesses - California-based Senesys Incorporated and Brooklyn-based Sensor Design Association. It alleges that these firms were involved in 'security software development' and the testing of silicon wafers for military avionics and space users - through which he was exporting sensitive and sophisticated electronics from the United States without acquiring the appropriate licenses.



In 2019, Kahn exported multiple U.S.-origin microcontrollers and in 2022, he exported U.S.-origin network interface controllers and a radio-frequency transmitter to



Elvees through a Hong Kong-based shipping company. These items required an export license from the Commerce Department, as they were highly sensitive due to national security and anti-terrorism reasons.



Kahn also arranged for Elvees to continue to receive semiconductors manufactured in Taiwan following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.



If convicted, Kahn will face a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for conspiracy to violate the Export Control Reform Act.



The FBI and Department of Commerce's BIS New York Field Office are investigating the case with assistance from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California.



Copyright(c) 2024 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
Ready Computing's Channels360 Selected by the Medicaid Innovation Collaborative Out of a Field of Over 100 Applicants

NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / January 19, 2024 / Ready Computing, in partnership with the Staten Island PPS, Healthfirst and Samaritan City, has been selected by the Medicaid Innovation Collaborative to pilot a program to address the health-related social needs of Medicaid beneficiaries in Staten Island, New York.

"We are thrilled to be selected out of a field of over 100 applicants to help connect vulnerable populations on Staten Island with services and incentives to improve their health status," says Mark Taylor, Vice President of Product Strategy at Ready Computing.

The pilot program is part of MIC's second cohort focused on Health-Related Social Needs (HRSN). The cohort launched in 2023 and enables state Medicaid programs, managed care plans and other key stakeholders to identify and implement tech-enabled solutions to address the HRSN of Medicaid beneficiaries in Iowa, Kentucky and New York.

The pilot program will launch an outreach program for underserved Healthfirst Medicaid members on Staten Island. Community navigators will use the Ready Computing Channels360 platform to screen, assess and refer members to community-based organizations to address their social needs. A subset of unhoused members will be enrolled in the Samaritan Membership program to provide financial incentives and support to meet their survival needs.

See the full MIC Press Release here.

About Channels360

Channels360 is a health and social care platform that connects healthcare providers, health plans, social care workers and community organizations with individuals for better health outcomes and long-term support. The comprehensive platform optimizes care and improves health equity across communities. Learn more about Channels360 at readycomputing.com.

Contact Information:

Michael LaRocca

CEO of Ready Computing

info@readycomputing.com

(212) 877-3307

SOURCE: Ready Computing

View the original press release on newswire.com.
NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / January 19, 2024 / Focus Financial Partners ("Focus"), a leading partnership of independent, fiduciary wealth management firms, announced today that it has entered into a definitive agreement under which Wasserman Wealth Management, LLC ("Wasserman Wealth Management" or "Wasserman"), a registered investment adviser based in Farmington Hills, MI, will join Focus partner firm Buckingham Strategic Wealth, LLC ("Buckingham" or "Buckingham Strategic Wealth"). This transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2024, subject to customary closing conditions.

Since 2003, Wasserman has utilized Buckingham's affiliated comprehensive wealth management platform, providing resources, back-office management, thought leadership and a broad toolbox of personalized services, to help their clients achieve a greater sense of financial comfort and security. Managing Member Brad Wasserman, CPA, Member Keith Rybak, CPA and the rest of the Wasserman team currently provide investment management and financial planning advice to clients across the country.

"We pride ourselves on strong client relationships and we are especially honored that generations of families have entrusted us with their financial futures," shared Brad Wasserman. "We are always looking for new ways to serve our clients, and making the move to join Buckingham was the logical, natural step in the evolution of our firm. Because of our long-tenured partnership with their affiliated platform, we knew Buckingham shared our beliefs, investment strategies and core values. We are excited and confident this move will help us support our clients' financial growth and the development of our firm, now and for years to come."

"Welcoming a new team into the Buckingham family is always exciting, but it's even more special when long-time members of our Buckingham Strategic Partners community join the firm," said Adam Birenbaum, Chairman and CEO of Buckingham Strategic Wealth and Buckingham Strategic Partners, LLC. "We share such a deep history with Brad, Keith and the rest of their team, it is a natural fit and we look forward to supporting them as they serve clients in the Detroit metropolitan area and across the country."

"We are delighted that the Wasserman Wealth Management team is joining Buckingham," said Travis Danysh, Head of Mergers and Acquisitions for Focus. "We have seen Buckingham successfully attract like-minded teams to their organization for many years due to their strength in providing fee-only wealth management services. We believe they are well-positioned to have another strong year in M&A."

About Focus Financial Partners

Focus Financial Partners is a leading partnership of independent, fiduciary wealth management firms. Focus provides access to best practices, resources and continuity planning for its partner firms who serve individuals, families, employers and institutions with comprehensive wealth management services. Focus partner firms benefit from the synergies, scale, economics and best practices offered by Focus to achieve their business objectives. For more information about Focus, please visit www.focusfinancialpartners.com.

About Buckingham Strategic Wealth, LLC

Buckingham Strategic Wealth, LLC, helps individuals, families, businesses, trusts, nonprofits, retirement plans and medical practice owners achieve their most important life and financial goals by creating customized, comprehensive, evidence-based financial plans. Buckingham's investment philosophy is rooted in an academic approach tailored to address each client's willingness and ability to accept market risk. As a registered investment adviser, Buckingham has a fiduciary obligation to its clients. Buckingham's investment approach centers on modern portfolio theory implemented through passively managed mutual funds and the firm's fixed income portfolio design and execution capabilities. Headquartered in St. Louis, Buckingham has over 50 offices across the country. For more information, visit www.buckinghamstrategicwealth.com.

Media Contact

Travis Danysh

Managing Director, Head of Mergers and Acquisitions

Focus Financial Partners

P: +1-512-498-7083

SOURCE: Focus Financial Partners Inc.

View the original press release on accesswire.com
DALLAS, TX / ACCESSWIRE / January 19, 2024 / ActivePure , the global leader in sustainable, active, continuous surface and air decontamination systems, today announced its participation as an exhibitor, speaker and participant in the AHR Expo , the essential event for the heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration (HVACR) industry. The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) and the Air Conditioning, Heating, & Refrigeration Institute (AHRI) co-sponsor the event. It is held concurrently with the 2024 ASHRAE Winter Conference . The AHR Expo at Chicago's McCormick Place Convention Center is Jan. 22-24.

The conference, a hub for more than 50,000 HVACR industry professionals, will see Joe Urso, CEO of ActivePure, take the stage at the New Product Theater on Monday, January 22, at 5:15 PM in Theater B. Urso will delve into the future of indoor air quality (IAQ) analysis -focusing on ASHRAE Standard 241 and ActivePure's HEART Chamber (Holistic Environmental Aerosol and Reactive Component Auto Response Testing). This groundbreaking 3000 cubic foot test chamber is designed for comprehensive air quality characterization, encompassing chemical composition, ion density, aerosol size and more, showcasing ActivePure's commitment to advancing indoor air quality.





ActivePure will also have a significant presence at the event with reps from four divisions, and a 20' x 30' booth (S10127) in the South Building of McCormick Place.

"ActivePure remains at the forefront of enhancing indoor air quality, a critical aspect today. Our global partnership with HVAC industry leaders reflects our commitment to pioneering solutions to mitigate indoor airborne and surface pathogens," remarked Urso. "In the evolving landscape of health and safety, particularly post-pandemic, our innovative technologies offer vital protection in diverse indoor environments, demonstrating our ongoing dedication to creating healthier indoor spaces worldwide."

ActivePure is recognized for leading the industry in proactive, continuous surface and air decontamination, catering to healthcare, commercial and residential sectors, with a commitment to safety and efficacy. Products powered by ActivePure Technology have been extensively tested in laboratories and real-world settings, demonstrating their capability to effectively deactivate a wide range of pathogens, including bacteria, mold, fungi, viruses and, notably, the virus responsible for COVID-19.

"ActivePure warmly invites AHR attendees to explore our innovative solutions at our booth and New Product Theater. Engage with our team to discover how we can collaborate in combating airborne viruses and beyond," said Urso.

For more information on ActivePure and their groundbreaking HEART Chamber, visit ActivePure.com .

###

ABOUT ACTIVEPURE:

ActivePure is a global leader in sustainable, active, continuous surface and air decontamination systems for healthcare and educational institutions, commercial and public facilities, hospitality and residential applications. Patented ActivePure Technology has been proven in independent university and laboratory testing to control and neutralize indoor contaminants effectively. It is the only product in its class recognized by the Space Foundation as Certified Space Technology and inducted into the Space Foundation Hall of Fame. In 2022, ActivePure was named on the Inc. 5000 list of most successful and fastest-growing private companies in America. In addition, the ActivePure Medical Guardian is registered and cleared as an FDA Class II Medical Device. ActivePure Technology was developed for space exploration and has since evolved for use in commercial and consumer products that reduce exposure to pathogens, including RNA and DNA viruses, bacteria and molds and fungus, by up to 99.9% in the air and on surfaces. ActivePure is privately held and began business as Electrolux USA in 1924. For more information, please visit ActivePure.com or call 888-217-4316.



NOTE TO JOURNALISTS: To request a meeting with an ActivePure representative, please contact TrizCom Public Relations at 972-247-1369.



MEDIA CONTACTS:

Jo Trizila, TrizCom PR, on behalf of ActivePure

Email: Jo@TrizCom.com

Office: 972-247-1369

Cell/Text: 214-232-0078

SOURCE: ActivePure Technology

View the original press release on accesswire.com
My Body is My Own - Claiming The Right to Autonomy and Self-Determination.

analysis

This piece contains spoilers for Poor Things.

Poor Things can be described in one word: polarising. Yorgos Lanthimos' film follows Bella Baxter (Emma Stone), a scientist's experiment created from a woman's body and a child's mind.

It won two Golden Globes and received a standing ovation at the Venice Film Festival.

Yet others walked out of the Venice screening during its many sex scenes, one which depicts a father teaching his two sons the birds and the bees by letting them watch him and Bella in the act. (This scene has been re-edited for the United Kingdom release to comply with local classification requirements.)

While some critics lauded Poor Things as a feminist exploration of sexual liberation, others saw it as a male director and screenwriter's exploitative attempt to portray female sexuality. Vulture writer Angelica Jade Bastien took the latter view, arguing the film:

is not interested in the sex lives of women as much as the ways in which a young woman's body can be positioned and used [...] I want to see what a grown woman thinks and feels about sex!

But I think it is wrong to read Poor Things as a film about grown women. Its most controversial scene involves children witnessing sex, and Bella begins the movie with a child's brain. Poor Things is about the sexuality of girls. It accurately depicts girls' early sexual feelings and shows us some more positive ways of understanding girlhood sexual desire.

Discovering sexuality

I have interviewed 23 Australians who were teenage girls between 1970 and 2010 about how they learned about sex, and their experiences were echoed in Poor Things.

Early in the film, Bella teaches herself to masturbate and is delighted by her discovery. Many of my interviewees had similar memories, often describing themselves as "exploring" their bodies and finding enjoyable sensations in the process.

Nicole* grew up in the 2000s and told me she did not know what she was doing when she first masturbated, but

somehow when I was pretty young [...] [I] discovered that it felt good.

Interviewees, including Nicole, were normally aged between five and 10 during these experiences (which are normal and common among children).

Interviewees regularly described their early forays into masturbation as disconnected from adult sexuality. These were simply experiments with their bodies.

But this also meant my interviewees often believed nobody else masturbated. Sue, born in the 1960s, even created her own term for masturbation, because she had never heard anyone speak about it before:

It was my bobble wobble. I had no idea that it had a name.

Bella also thinks she is the first person to masturbate, and humiliates her maid by demonstrating her newfound discovery. This is the first of many incidents in which she learns "polite society" does not speak about sex, let alone perform it in public. While Bella mostly ignores these warnings, many of my interviewees were acutely aware of societal expectations about girlhood sexual desire.

Read more: 'Is it normal for girls to masturbate?'

Girls are interested in sex

In the recent past, the media depicted boys as much more sexual than girls, who were supposedly interested in romance instead. Even magazines like Dolly - which catered to girls and spoke openly about sex - assumed girls' sexual impulses would be awakened by their boyfriends' advances.

This is clear even in well-meaning advice to girls about not being "pressured" into sex, which presupposes girls would not initiate sex themselves. Studies about Dolly and Girlfriend have also found their columnists downplayed girls' sexual desires and insisted they were responsible for controlling boys' sexual behaviours.

These ideas clearly influenced my interviewees. Many were deeply ashamed of masturbating by the time they were teenagers. Some were told not to masturbate by their parents. Others became fearful when their friends called masturbation disgusting. Charlotte* even read a book that said masturbating children developed excess phlegm. She concluded:

obviously you're not meant to have fun like that [...] obviously you're not meant to do it yourself.

None of this stopped my interviewees from masturbating. It only stopped them from talking about it or thinking anyone else did it too.

Read more: Goodbye, Dolly, the magazine that helped so many young women grow up

A healthy sexuality

Teen media did not always have a negative influence. Several interviewees told me they learned the word "masturbation" from Dolly, which portrayed it as a normal and healthy practice. "Oh, that's what I've been doing", thought Nicole when she found instructions on how to masturbate in the magazine. This discovery was reassuring; so too were discussions about masturbation with friends (though very few people were brave enough to mention it out loud).

Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Women Africa Health By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later.

But my interviewees still felt conversations about sexual pleasure were missing from their media and their education. Jess, born in the 1990s, told me:

[In] high school, I had a great understanding of the mechanics. But pleasure had never been part of the discussion, you know?

Perhaps Poor Things could be instructive here.

Bella does not feel embarrassed about enjoying sex, nor in talking about it. This allows her to cast aside her controlling lovers and to question the conditions at her brothel workplace. She develops a healthy relationship to her sexuality; she knows sex should be enjoyable for her, not just for men, and that she should not be coerced into it.

Bella Baxter may be a fairy tale character who makes her own sexual rules. But we can learn from her. We can treat girls' masturbation as natural and normal. We can show future generations there is nothing shameful about sexuality. And we can teach girls to know not just their sexual rights, but also their sexual pleasures.

Read more: Poor Things: meet the radical Scottish visionary behind the new hit film

*Names have been changed.

Saskia Roberts, PhD Candidate, School of History, Australian National University
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / January 19, 2024 / Pampa Metals Corp. ("Pampa Metals" or the "Company") (CSE:PM)(FSE:FIRA)(OTCQX:PMMCF) is pleased to advise that follow-up diamond drill testing at the Piuquenes Copper-Gold Porphyry project has commenced. The primary objectives of the program are to test the depth and lateral extension of the high-grade intervals of open mineralization at Piuquenes Central, and its potential to host an orebody of 1,000 m depth and 300 - 500 m diameter.

Follow-Up Diamond Drill Program

The follow-up program consists of up to 4 diamond drill holes, including two priority drillholes of ~850 - 900 m depth, is summarized as follows:

Hole 1 (REC-01) (refer figure 1) is orientated along a northeast-southwest geological section, proximate to the historical P8A (Inmet) and PIU16-DDH01 (Anglo) drillholes and designed to extend the depth of known mineralization at the southwestern edge of Piuquenes Central porphyry.

Hole 2 (REC-02) (refer figure 2) is orientated along an east-west section, proximate to the historical P4 and P2 drillholes (Inmet) and designed to test the lateral extension of the mineralized body, primarily along the western edge of the Piuquenes Central porphyry.

A 3rd and possibly a 4th hole will focus on extending known depth to the northeast and southeast edges of the Piuquenes Central mineral body and seek to validate a potential mineral column of 1,000 m depth and 300 - 500 m diameter.

Joseph van den Elsen, the Company's President and CEO, stated: "We are pleased to have swiftly commenced the first of an aggressive, multi-campaign exploration program testing the Piuquenes Project's exceptional potential. We now look forward to driving significant shareholder value over the short, medium, and long-term as we first test the depth and lateral extension of the reported high-grade intervals of open mineralization at Piuquenes Central (558.2 m @ 0.38% Cu, 0.42 g/t Au & 2.4 g/t Ag (0.73% CuEq)* incl. 130 m @ 0.81% Cu, 0.6 g/t Au & 4 g/t Ag (1.31 % CuEq)* - refer 5 December 2023 News Release), and thereafter Piuquenes East and other targets from our growing pipeline."

Figures 1 & 2: Piuquenes Central Schematic Cross Sections

Piuquenes Porphyry Copper-Gold Project

The Piuquenes Project consists of nine mining titles that cover an area of ~1,880 ha in the San Juan Province of Argentina, adjacent (to the north) with the Altar copper-gold porphyry project (Aldebaran Resources Inc.) and approximately 190 km west of the city of San Juan. Other large porphyry copper projects in the San Juan Miocene porphyry belt include, El Pachon (Glencore), approximately 30 km to the south, the operating Los Pelambres copper mine (60% Antofagasta plc) in Chile, and Los Azules (McEwen Mining) 50 km to the northeast.

The first evidence of copper oxides at Piuquenes was reported in 1970 by MInera Aguilar, who subsequently completed the first exploration program between 1973-1975. Between 1995 and 1997, Inmet Mining Corporation (IMC) completed a heli-magnetic/radiometric survey, surface geology, rock and soil geochemistry, ground magnetics, PD-IP and eight diamond drillholes for a total of 1,894.2m. Subsequently, in 2015-2016, Anglo American Argentina (AAA) completed detailed 1:2,500 geology and geochemistry, 17.8 km of gDAS24 deep 3D PD-IP/NSMT and a single 920.2 m diamond drill hole.

Since its discovery, the Piuquenes Copper-Gold porphyry has until now remained privately held.

Inmet Mining Corporation's (IMC, subsequently acquired by First Quantum in 2013) 8 diamond drill holes for a total of 1,894.2m intersected significant copper and gold mineralization including:

413.5 m (167-580.5 m) @ 0.47% Cu and 0.52 g/t Au (0.87% CuEq)*;

67.5 m (207-274.5 m) @ 0.63% Cu and 0.51 g/t Au (1.02% CuEq)*; and

158 m (3-161 m) @ 0.32% Cu and 0.6 g/t Au (0.78% CuEq)*.

In November 2023, Pampa Metals assayed and re-logged Anglo-American's 2016 diamond borehole of 920.2 m length which had crossed the mineral zones previously drilled by Inmet Mining Corporation (IMC). These results were reported in a 5 December 2023 News Release and included:

- 558.2 m (362-920.2 m EOH) @ 0.38% Cu & 0.42 g/ Au & 2.4 g/t Ag (0.73% CuEq)*

Including:

- 130 m (362-492 m) @ 0.81% Cu & 0.6 g/t Au & 4 g/t Ag (1.31 % CuEq)*.

Piuquenes East Stockwork Zone

Since optioning the Piuquenes Porphyry Copper-Gold Project (refer 30 November 2023 News Release) Pampa Metals has completed a comprehensive review of the project's technical data.

This review, complemented by Pampa Metals' recent drillcore re-logging, field validation and preparatory works for follow-up drilling, has led to the identification of three additional areas of undrilled porphyry intrusives at the Piuquenes Project (refer Figure 3).

One of these zones, referred to as the Piuquenes East prospect, is located immediately proximate to the mineralized Altar North Porphyry held by Aldebaran Resources.

The Piuquenes East prospect is characterized by outcrops of sinuous and banded dark gray quartz veinlets covering an area of 100 x 200m hosted within an altered intermineral porphyry. Alteration is typical of that commonly observed in the epithermal-porphyry transition zone of fully preserved, high level porphyry systems. The mapped stockwork zone is associated with a 400 x 300 m copper-gold soil-rock geochemical anomaly, and co-incident intermediate chargeability and intermediate-high resistivity anomalies in Electrical (IP) Geophysics.

Figure 3: Piuquenes - Altar Porphyry Cluster

Figure 4: Major Copper Projects in San Juan, Argentina

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD

Joseph van den Elsen | President & CEO

INVESTORS CONTACT

Joseph van den Elsen | President & CEO

Joseph@pampametals.com

ABOUT PAMPA METALS

Pampa Metals is a post-discovery copper-gold-molybdenum porphyry exploration company listed on the Canadian Stock Exchange (CSE:PM), Frankfurt (FSE:FIRA), and OTC (OTCQB:PMMCD) exchanges.

In November 2023, the Company announced it had entered into an Option and Joint Venture Agreement for the acquisition of an 80% interest in the Piuquenes Copper-Gold Porphyry Project in San Juan Province, Argentina.

Historical intervals of significant copper and gold mineralization at Piuquenes Central (refer 5 December 2023 News Release) include:

 413.5 m (167-580.5 m) @ 0.47% Cu and 0.52 g/t Au (0.87% CuEq)*; and

 558.2 m (362-920.2 m EOH) @ 0.38% Cu, 0.42 g/t Au and 2.4 g/t Ag (0.73% CuEq)*

including 130 m (362-492 m) @ 0.81% Cu, 0.6 g/t Au and 4 g/t Ag (1.31 % CuEq)*

Qualified Person

Technical information in this news release has been approved by Mario Orrego G. Mr. Orrego G. is a Geologist, a Registered Member of the Chilean Mining Commission and a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101. Mr. Orrego G. is a consultant to the Company.

* %CuEq values are calculated based on copper and gold metal prices: Cu = US$3.20/lb, Au = US$1,700/oz and Ag = US$ 20/oz. The formula utilized to calculate %CuEq is: Cu Eq Grade (%) = Cu Head Grade (%) + [(Au Head Grade (g/t) / 31.104) * (Au Price (US$/oz) / Cu Price (US$/lb) / 22.04) + [(Ag Head Grade (g/t) / 31.104) * (Ag Price (US$/oz) / Cu Price (US$/lb) / 22.0.

Neither the CSE nor the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENT

This news release contains certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking statements". All statements in this release, other than statements of historical fact, that address events or developments that Pampa Metals expects to occur, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects" and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will" or "may" occur. These statements are subject to various risks. Although Pampa Metals believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guaranteeing of future performance and actual results may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements.

SOURCE: Pampa Metals Corp.

View the original press release on accesswire.com
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - January 19, 2024) - Boosh Plant-Based Brands Inc. (CSE: VEGI) (OTCQB: VGGIF) (FSE: 77i) ("Boosh" or the "Company") provided an update on several corporate matters. On August 31, 2023, the Company announced that the Company had entered into an exclusive US licensing agreement (the "agreement") with Simple Yummy Chips, LLC ("Yummy") for the sale and distribution of chips made by Beautiful Beanfields Inc. ("Beanfields"). The terms of the agreement, which were previously announced on August 31, 2023, state that the Company will receive a guaranteed 7% profit on wholesale, as well as the Company was granted a $1,000,000 USD line of credit for Beanfields' Accounts Payable. Although there were some delays with Yummy's execution plan, the Company is very pleased to announce that Yummy is now producing to fill orders as they work to replenish stock across the US in current retailers, as well as opening new accounts.

To ensure smooth production flow, the Company is working on sourcing a secondary supplier for its core ingredient Bean grits. Over the coming months one of the Company's primary focuses will be on increasing Canadian supply and export of Beanfields Chips to new and previous customers in Mexico, Dubai, and Australia.

The Company also announced today the resignation of Mr. Lance Marples with immediate effect and the appointment of Mr. Rob Hall. For the last year, Mr. Hall has been a consultant to the Company and has been instrumental over the past year in assisting in raising the Company's awareness in the Capital markets and connecting the Company with the US licensors. The Company would like to thank Mr. Marples for his contribution and efforts in building the Company and wish him the best in his future endeavors.

About Boosh Plant-Based Brands Inc.:

Boosh Plant-Based Brands Inc., through its wholly owned subsidiary, Boosh Food (www.booshfood.com) offers high quality, non-GMO, gluten free, 100% plant-based nutritional comfort foods for the whole family. Through a separate subsidiary, Beautiful Beanfields, (www.beanfields.com) the Company owns Beanfields, a plant-based chip brand sold in over 7,000 stores throughout North America. Boosh, good for you and good for planet earth.

For further information please contact:

Connie Marples

Founder/CEO

E: connie@booshfood.com

www.Booshfood.com

The information in this news release includes certain information and statements about management's view of future events, expectations, plans and prospects that constitute forward looking statements. These statements are based upon assumptions that are subject to significant risks and uncertainties. Because of these risks and uncertainties and as a result of a variety of factors, the actual results, expectations, achievements or performance may differ materially from those anticipated and indicated by these forward looking statements. Forward-looking statements in this news release include, but are not limited to, the Company's expectations concerning the size of the Financing, its ability to close the Financing in whole or in part or at all and its plan for the proceeds of the Financing. Any number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from these forward-looking statements as well as future results. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in forward looking statements are reasonable, it can give no assurances that the expectations of any forward looking statements will prove to be correct. Except as required by law, the Company disclaims any intention and assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward looking statements to reflect actual results, whether as a result of new information, future events, changes in assumptions, changes in factors affecting such forward looking statements or otherwise.

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/194878

SOURCE: Boosh Plant-Based Brands Inc.
SHANNON, Ireland, Jan. 19, 2024today announced that OsStic has been granted 'Breakthrough Device' designation by the FDA.



The proposed indication statement for this novel new technology is: "OsStic Synthetic Injectable Bone Void Filler is a structural, mechanically enhanced bioadhesive for reduction, provisional fixation, or void filling of peri-articular fractures or defects to enhance structural stability where standard fixation alone cannot provide sufficient support for functional mobilization."

This Breakthrough Designation of our disruptive technology fuels our passion for earlier mobilization of trauma patients. Paul Burke, Director BMI.

The Breakthrough Devices Program is a voluntary program for certain medical devices and device-led combination products that provide more effective treatment or diagnosis of life-threatening or irreversibly debilitating diseases or conditions. [source]

The program is intended to provide patients and health care providers with timely access to medical devices, by speeding up development, assessment, and review for premarket approval, 510

OsStic pioneers the evolution of structural orthobiologics, to the point where surgeons can now use this material as an aid for the reduction, provisional fixation and void filling of peri-articular fractures. This is the first calcium phosphate that meets all these clinical requirements. Dr Thomas A Russell, CMO BMI.

About BMI

Biomimetic Innovations Ltd, is an affiliate of PBC Biomed; a medical device company involved in design, development and manufacturing headquartered in Shannon, Ireland and with offices in Memphis, Tennessee and Chamonix, France.

Contact Details

Bronagh O'Doherty

Global Product Manager, PBC Biomed

Bronagh@pbcbiomed.com

https://ie.linkedin.com/company/biomimetic-innovations-ltd

Reference (Image)

Lundin TPO, Pujari-Palmer M, Svensson G, Hoglund OV. Canine ex vivo tarsal arthrodesis: fixation by using a new bone tissue glue. Front Vet Sci. 2023 Sep 20;10:1250147. doi: 10.3389/fvets.2023.1250147. PMID: 37799403; PMCID: PMC10548131.

Link: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fvets.2023.1250147/full

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/cf36c210-ee96-460f-bf8a-cd2d3d18fd52
EQS-News: North Peak Resources Ltd. / Key word(s): Miscellaneous

North Peak Completes First Drill Hole at Diamond Mine on Prospect Mountain, Eureka; Downhole EM Survey Being Undertaken Shortly; Assay Results Pending



19.01.2024 / 17:01 CET/CEST

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.



Calgary, Alberta--(Newsfile Corp. - January 19, 2024) - North Peak Resources Ltd. (TSXV: NPR) (the "Company" or "North Peak") reports that it has drilled its first deep core hole at Prospect Mountain (the "Property") and that a BHEM survey is being undertaken to identify potential locations for further wedge drilling. This first hole NPR23-01 in Phase 1 of North Peak's program was 3,250 feet in length and targeted the roughly 2 kilometre conductive anomaly, located directly beneath the old oxide gold, silver, lead and zinc historical stopes of the Diamond Mine, as a result of geophysical surveys the Company carried out in the summer of 2023 (see the Company's October 27, 2023 press release). "Eureka is now receiving the exploration focus at depth that other Nevada mining camps have received and will uniquely benefit from a greater understanding of the presence of polymetallic CRD, Skarn and Carlin mineralisation increases," said Brian Hinchcliffe, North Peak's CEO. "This first hole will provide us with greater insights into the structures and mineralisation at depth below the historical workings within the sulphide portion of the mineralisation and downhole surveys play an important role in unlocking these deeper potential areas of the Eureka camp." The drill pad was located at an operational optimal location, at the portal entrance to the Diamond mine. The hole went to a depth of 5,492 feet amsl underneath Shaft 1 of the main workings targeted at the sulphide mineralisation below the water table which is estimated to be at around 6,500 feet amsl. The metal casing was left in the hole to allow for potential wedge holes that would be drilled following the completion of a downhole geophysical BHEM survey. The BHEM survey is being undertaken to evaluate the best orientation for potential wedging of this hole, as it will help to identify the location of the best conductors (sulphides) relative to the position of the original hole. Samples for this first core hole have been submitted to ALS Laboratories and North Peak is awaiting the completion of the full multi-element results and expects results in the next few weeks. Mr. Mike Sutton, P.Geo., a Director of the Company, is the Qualified Person, as defined under National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects, who reviewed and approved scientific and technical disclosure in this news release. The Qualified Person has not reviewed the mineral tenure, nor independently verified the legal status and ownership of the Property or any underlying property agreements. About Prospect Mountain The Property lies in the Battle Mountain Eureka trend, in an area known as the Southern Eureka Gold Belt, where three styles of mineralization have been identified, gold, silver Carlin style mineralization, Carbonate Replacement gold, silver, lead, zinc mineralization (CRD) and carbonate hosted Porphyry Related Skarn lead, zinc and gold mineralization associated with cretaceous intrusions. At the Property, the CRD mineralization is heavily oxidized to depths of at least 610m (2000ft) below the top of the ridge line. A Plan of Operations is in place which covers part of the Property (totalling 81 acres) and entitles an operator to pursue surface exploration, underground mining of up to 365,000 tons per annum and certain infrastructural works. It includes a permit to extract water from a well and to build water containment facilities. About North Peak The Company is a Canadian based gold exploration and development company that is listed on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol "NPR". The Company is focused on acquiring historic sites, with low cost producing gold and other metals properties, with near term production potential and 8+ year mine life in the northern hemisphere. The Company recently acquired an initial 80% interest in the Prospect Mountain Mine complex in Eureka, Nevada (see the Company's May 4 and 23, 2023 and August 25, 2023 press releases). The Company can give no assurances at this time that its properties and interests will fulfil the Company's business development goals described herein. Trading in the securities of the Company should be considered highly speculative. For further information, please contact: Brian Hinchcliffe, CEO

Phone: +1-647-424-2305

Email: info@northpeakresources.com

Website: www.northpeakresources.com Chelsea Hayes, Director

Phone: +1-647-424-2305

Email: info@northpeakresources.com CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS: This news release includes certain "forward-looking statements" under applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, timing and completion of any drilling and work programs on the Property, estimates of mineralization from drilling and geophysical surveys, geological information projected from sampling results and the potential quantities and grades of the target zones, the potential for minerals and/or mineral resources and reserves, and statements regarding the plans, intentions, beliefs, and current expectations of the Property and the Company that may be described herein. Forward-looking statements consist of statements that are not purely historical, including any statements regarding beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions regarding the future. Such information can generally be identified by the use of forwarding-looking wording such as "may", "expect", "estimate", "anticipate", "intend", "believe" and "continue" or the negative thereof or similar variations. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, as there can be no assurance that the plans, intentions or expectations upon which they are based will occur. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve numerous assumptions, known and unknown risks and uncertainties, both general and specific, that contribute to the possibility that the predictions, estimates, forecasts, projections and other forward-looking statements will not occur. These assumptions, risks and uncertainties include, among other things, the state of the economy in general and capital markets in particular, accuracy of assay results, geological interpretations from drilling results, timing and amount of capital expenditures; performance of available laboratory and other related services, future operating costs, and the historical basis for current estimates of potential quantities and grades of target zones, as well as those risk factors discussed or referred to in the Company's Management's Discussion and Analysis for the year ended December 31, 2022 and the quarter ended September 30, 2023, available at www.sedarplus.ca , many of which are beyond the control of the Company. Forward-looking statements contained in this press release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date of this press release. Except as required by law, the Company disclaims any intention and assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Additionally, the Company undertakes no obligation to comment on the expectations of, or statements made by, third parties in respect of the matters discussed above. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Service Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/194884 Click on, or paste the following link into your web browser,to view the associated documents http://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/194884

News Source: Newsfile





19.01.2024 CET/CEST Dissemination of a Corporate News, transmitted by EQS News - a service of EQS Group AG.

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.



The EQS Distribution Services include Regulatory Announcements, Financial/Corporate News and Press Releases.

Archive at www.eqs-news.com


SHENZHEN, China, Jan. 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Resiners, the pioneer and innovator of resin machines, has recently unveiled a budget-friendly bubble removal machine designed specifically for beginners in resin crafting. The AirLess Lite Bubble Removal Machine is available for purchase and local delivery on Amazon's US, UK, and EU sites. It can also be purchased globally and shipped worldwide through the official Resiners website (Amazon's UK, EU will be available at the end of the month).

"Resin crafting's primary difficulty stems from the existence of air bubbles in the resin mixture. Resiners' latest innovation addresses this challenge by leveraging our patented UltraVacu technology. This advanced technology efficiently extracts air from the resin container, ensuring the removal of all bubbles during the extraction process," Chuck, the founder of Resiners said. "With the slogan "Lite Price Ignites Your Bubble-Free Dreams!", Resiners aims to bring the joy of bubble-free resin project to a wider audience."

The new product, a lite version of the previously launched AirLess Bubble Removal Machine, offers unparalleled efficiency and effectiveness. What sets the AirLess Lite apart is its exceptional affordability without compromising on quality. The AirLess Lite excludes real-time vacuum level display and the 5/9-minute timer function, resulting in a more cost-effective solution that does not compromise the overall effectiveness and user experience for beginners.

Some of the other distinguishing features include:

Super-Efficient Bubble Removal: The AirLess Lite stands out in the market with its -93Kpa Ultra-High Vacuum and Advanced Rotor Tech. The -93Kpa Ultra-High Vacuum ensures stability and efficiency during operation, while the Advanced Rotor Tech enhances the durability and reliability of the equipment.

The AirLess Lite stands out in the market with its -93Kpa Ultra-High Vacuum and Advanced Rotor Tech. The -93Kpa Ultra-High Vacuum ensures stability and efficiency during operation, while the Advanced Rotor Tech enhances the durability and reliability of the equipment. User-friendly one-click auto operation: Designed with simplicity in mind, the machine's user-friendly interface is perfect for beginners. With its one-click auto operation feature, beginners can easily trigger the bubble-removing technology.

Designed with simplicity in mind, the machine's user-friendly interface is perfect for beginners. With its one-click auto operation feature, beginners can easily trigger the bubble-removing technology. Medium to low viscosity resin compatibility: The AirLess Lite is more suitable for medium and low viscosity resin, offering effective bubble removal. The AirLess model is suitable for low, medium, and high viscosity resin.

The AirLess Lite is more suitable for medium and low viscosity resin, offering effective bubble removal. The AirLess model is suitable for low, medium, and high viscosity resin. Instructional video: Resiners has also provided beginners with an instructional video on the brand's official website, offering the perfect solution for determining the optimal bubble removal time for the machine.

As the first and top brand of resin machines, Resiners strives to enhance crafting efficiency and improve the overall crafting experience. Resiners' dedication to providing top-quality auxiliary machines for resin craft has earned them recognition and admiration from over 200 influencers and media outlets worldwide.

About Resiners

Resiners, our brand name, stems from the creative fusion of "resin" and "ers," embodying the essence of a vibrant and dynamic community of resin crafting enthusiasts, creators, and artists who breathe life into the captivating world of resin art. Fueled by technology, creativity, and unbridled enthusiasm, we strive to make resin crafting accessible and rewarding to all. We offer innovative and user-friendly resin craft auxiliary machines, including the first-ever resin curing and bubble removal machines, further redefining artistic expression. Empowering resin lovers with innovative products, Resiners is "Where Art and Tech Meet", fostering a supportive space for passion and creativity to flourish, and celebrating the boundless joy of resin craftsmanship. For further inquiries or information about our products, please contact us via email at support@resiners.com.

Official website: https://resiners.com/

https://www.facebook.com/Resiners_official-108613275109382

https://www.facebook.com/groups/973497910427117

https://www.instagram.com/resiner_official/

https://www.youtube.com/c/Resinersofficial

TikTok - Make Your Day

Video - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2322115/video.mp4

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/resiners-introduces-the-ultimate-budget-friendly-airless-lite-bubble-removal-machine-for-resin-crafting-beginners-302039349.html
Finsbury Growth & Income Trust Plc - Transaction in Own Shares

PR Newswire

LONDON, United Kingdom, January 19

For immediate release

19 January 2024

FINSBURY GROWTH & INCOME TRUST PLC

(the "Company")

MARKET PURCHASE OF COMPANY'S OWN SHARES

The Company announces that it has today purchased 107,624 of its own shares ("Ordinary Shares") at a price of 830.24 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 27,667,881; 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 197,323,422.

The figure of 197,323,422 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
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will host a high-level World Economic Forum (WEF) Special Meeting that will focus on global cooperation, growth and energy, on 28-29 April 2024, in Riyadh.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240119826685/en/

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will host a World Economic Forum Special Meeting in Riyadh in April 2024. (Photo: AETOSWire)

Announced by His Excellency Faisal F. Alibrahim, Minister of Economy and Planning, and Brge Brende, World Economic Forum President, at the 54th Annual Meeting of the WEF in Davos, Switzerland, the new event is part of a landmark agreement between Saudi Arabia and the Forum.

The gathering will convene more than 700 global leaders from the public and private sector, international organizations, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), academia and civil society to foster dialogues between countries to revive international cooperation and address current challenges to growth and development.

Announcing the event, His Excellency Alibrahim said: "The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Riyadh is becoming a global capital for progress and thought leadership on the critical topics of our time.

"The World Economic Forum Special Meeting in Riyadh will focus on global collaboration, growth, and energy. We believe this new platform will enable the World Economic Forum, the Kingdom, and our global partners to further engage in cooperative dialogues and find the right answers to the challenges we have at hand."

Brge Brende, President of the WEF, remarked, "At a time of growing divides between developed and emerging economies, there is a pressing need to not only identify areas of shared interests but foster new, impactful partnerships.

"As a critical player at the intersection of many of the world's economies, Saudi Arabia is uniquely positioned to work alongside both developed and developing markets to foster cooperation between the two, and help them reach their long-term commerce, energy, and finance goals."

Being hosted in Riyadh, the capital of the largest economy in the Middle East, a world-leading hub between Asia, Africa and Europe, and a midway point between the Global South and the Global North, the WEF Special Meeting will provide a platform for global leaders to assess current challenges and propose transformative ideas to create a positive global impact.

Following Saudi Arabia's presidency of the G20 in 2020, and building on the long-standing partnership between Saudi Arabia and the World Economic Forum, this latest collaboration underscores the Kingdom's commitment to continue shaping the future agenda, fostering international cooperation, and addressing global challenges.

Watch the announcement: https://bit.ly/3HrpCRA

Source: AETOSWire

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240119826685/en/

Contacts:

Wooud Alquaied

walquaied@mep.gov.sa
Vanilla Unmanned flew a mission for NASA to the inland sheet of Greenland.

HOLLYWOOD, MD / ACCESSWIRE / January 19, 2024 / Vanilla Unmanned flew a mission for NASA to the inland sheet of Greenland. Thule Air Base, now known as Pituffik Space Base, hosted Platform Aerospace to carry a sensor provided by the Center for Remote Sensing of Ice Sheets (CReSIS).

Artic Vanilla

Vanilla recovered on the runway after a successful flight

The scientific goal was to provide validation data for the ICESAT-2 satellite, which can measure terrain height but cannot differentiate between snow and ice. Vanilla flew along the satellite track to measure snow depth on top of the ice, enabling improved calculations of ice volume. This payload was previously flown in Deadhorse, Alaska, in 2021 through a similar mission set.

The flight window in April 2023 presented very challenging weather over Greenland. Vanilla flew over 15-hours duration across two flights, including flying through two in-flight icing events.

Platform Aerospace continues to test and demonstrate environmental hardening technologies and techniques to operate the Vanilla UAV in subfreezing conditions, such as testing an anti-icing coating on the propeller. The Danish Air Authorities, Thule Space Force Base, and NASA all gave airworthiness and airspace approvals, due to the flight paths covering multiple countries' airspace.

Platform Aerospace thanks Pituffik Space Force Base and NASA with their help in airspace coordination, ground logistics, vehicles, and hangar use.

The baseline Vanilla UAS is not ITAR restricted and can be shipped internationally to provide worldwide support and operational capability.

About Platform Aerospace

Platform Aerospace is a service-disabled veteran-owned small business (SDVOSB) dedicated to supporting the warfighter by providing a groundbreaking ISR UAV that empowers warfighters with unmatched situational awareness and actionable intelligence. Through pioneering innovation, we redefine the standards of endurance to meet the ever-evolving needs of global security.

If you are interested in learning more, please contact info@platformaero.com or visit our website at https://platformaerospace.com/.

Contact Information

Allegra Flores

Marketing

info@platformaero.com

301-863-9253

Related Files

01-24_Thule_PR.pdf

SOURCE: Platform Aerospace

View the original press release on newswire.com.
FP Markets' customers around the world can now gain access to TradingView's advanced charts and analysis, powerful trading tools and interact with the world's largest social network of traders.

SYDNEY, Jan. 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- To meet the ever-evolving demands of traders and investors, leading Forex and CFDs broker FP Markets has announced a new partnership with TradingView . Clients with an active Trading Account at FP Markets can now leverage TradingView's cutting-edge charting solutions.

From Forex, Equities and Indices to Commodities , Bonds and Digital Currencies , TradingView is a world-renowned charting provider that delivers the financial markets from one platform and unlocks the door to the largest social trading community in the world. Combining Trading View with FP Markets' consistently tight spreads , rapid market execution, Institutional-grade liquidity and award-winning multilingual Customer Support Team , will enhance the overall trading experience for clients at FP Markets, helping them maximise their trading potential.

FP Markets CEO Craig Allison commented 'We are delighted to partner with TradingView. As a top-tier Forex and CFDs broker, we are committed to providing superior trading tools for our traders. The integration of TradingView into our existing range of trading platforms , including MT4 , MT5 and cTrader , is an exciting addition to our extensive trading technology portfolio.. We believe in offering clients the ability to develop and grow and trade the way they want to trade, catering to all experience levels and trading styles, from the short-term scalper who executes multiple trades daily to the longer-term position trader'.

Key Features of TradingView:

Unmatched charting capabilities, suitable for beginners and advanced traders.

Large social trading community of more than 50 million users.

The ability to design your own indicators and strategies using TradingView's Pine Script programming language.

The option to validate trading ideas using TradingView's bar-by-bar replay function.

Wide selection of fundamental data.

Real-time global news coverage.

Available on Web, Browser and Mobile devices.

To get started with TradingView at FP Markets, clients can simply open a live Trading Account and create a TradingView Account. Once both accounts have been created, clients can link them together and start using TradingView to trade on the FP Markets platform.

Established in 2005, FP Markets is a Multi-Regulated Brand providing clients with over 10,000 tradable instruments across key asset classes and offers aggregate pricing across several top-tier liquidity providers. Additionally, FP Markets deliver Consistently Tight Spreads, Rapid Execution, Unmatched 24/7 Multilingual Customer Support, and various Account Types to suit all trading strategies and styles.

The FP Markets Group's regulatory presence now includes regulated companies authorised by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) of South Africa, the Financial Services Commission (FSC) of Mauritius, the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC), Capital Markets Authority (CMA) of Kenya and the Securities Commission of the Bahamas (SCB).

Notes to Editors

About FP Markets:

FP Markets is a Multi-Regulated Forex and CFDs Broker with over 18 years of industry experience.

The company offers highly competitive interbank Forex spreads starting from 0.0 pips.

Traders can choose from the leading powerful online trading platforms, including FP Markets' Mobile App , MetaTrader 4 , MetaTrader 5 , WebTrader , cTrader , and Iress .

, , , , , and . The company's outstanding 24/7 multilingual customer service has been recognised by Investment Trends and awarded 'The Highest Overall Client Satisfaction Award' over five consecutive years.

FP Markets has been awarded the 'Best Global Forex Value Broker' for five consecutive years (2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023) at the Global Forex Awards.

FP Markets has been awarded the 'Best Forex Broker - Europe' and the 'Best Forex Partners Programme - Asia' at the Global Forex Awards 2022 and 2023.

FP Markets has been awarded 'Best Trade Execution' at the Ultimate Fintech Awards 2022.

FP Markets crowned 'Best CFD Broker in Africa' at FAME Awards 2023.

FP Markets Awarded 'Best Trade Execution' and 'Most Transparent Broker' at the Ultimate Fintech Awards APAC 2023

FP Markets Awarded 'Best Trade Execution' and 'Most Transparent Broker' at the Ultimate Fintech Awards APAC 2023 FP Markets regulatory presence includes the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) of South Africa, the Financial Services Commission (FSC) of Mauritius, the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC), the Securities Commission of the Bahamas (SCB) and the Capital Markets Authority (CMA) of Kenya.

For more information on FP Markets' comprehensive range of products and services, visit https://www.fpmarkets.com/ .

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2322608/FP_MARKETS.jpg

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1574261/4503805/FP_Markets_Logo.jpg

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/fp-markets-partners-with-industry-leading-platform-provider-tradingview-302039686.html
BURLINGAME, Calif., Jan. 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- CoherentMI published a report, titled, Dual Axis Solar Tracker Market was valued at US$ 6.46 Billion in the year 2023, and is anticipated to reach a US$ 13.76 Billion by 2030, with growing at a CAGR of 11.4% during forecast period 2023-2030.

The growth of the Dual Axis Solar Tracker Market can be attributed to several factors driving the demand for renewable energy sources. One of the key drivers is the increasing focus on sustainable development and the transition towards a low-carbon economy. Governments and organizations across the globe are investing heavily in renewable energy projects, with solar power being one of the key focus areas. Dual axis solar trackers play a crucial role in maximizing the efficiency and output of solar panels by tracking the movement of the sun throughout the day. This not only improves the energy yield but also enhances the return on investment for solar power plant owners. Another driver for the market is the declining cost of solar energy systems, making them more accessible to residential, commercial, and industrial customers.

Market Snapshot:

Report Coverage Details Study Period 2023 - 2030 Base Year of Estimation 2022 CAGR 11.40 % Largest Market North America Market Concentration High Major Players Array Technologies, NEXTracker, PV Hardware, Arctech Solar, Convert Italia and Among Others Segments Covered By Product Type, By Technology, By Application, By Geography Report Coverage Revenue Forecast, Competitive Landscape, Growth Factors, and Trends Growth Drivers  Supportive Government Policies and Incentives

 Declining Cost of Solar Power Generation

 Advancements in Solar Cell Technology

 Growth in Emerging Economies Restraints & Challenges  High Initial Costs

 Alternative Renewable Technologies

 Harsh Weather Conditions

Market Takeaways:

Dual Axis Solar Tracker Market Size is anticipated to witness a CAGR of 11.4% during the forecast period 2023-2030, owing to the increasing demand for renewable energy sources and advancements in solar tracking technologies.

during the forecast period 2023-2030, owing to the increasing demand for renewable energy sources and advancements in solar tracking technologies. On the basis of product, the single axis segment is expected to hold a dominant position, owing to its cost-effectiveness and widespread adoption. Single axis solar trackers offer improved energy output compared to fixed-tilt systems, providing a lucrative option for utility-scale installations.

In terms of technology, the solar photovoltaic segment is projected to dominate the market. Solar photovoltaic-based dual axis solar trackers are widely used due to their compatibility with solar PV modules. This unique technology maximizes electricity generation by accurately aligning the solar panels with the sun's position.

Within the application segment, the utility sector is expected to hold the largest market share. The utility industry is increasingly investing in solar power projects to meet the growing demand for electricity while reducing carbon emissions. Dual axis solar trackers enable utilities to enhance the output of their solar installations, making them the preferred choice.

Geographically, North America is anticipated to dominate the dual axis solar tracker market. The region has witnessed significant growth in solar power installations, driven by supportive government initiatives and favorable regulatory frameworks. Countries like the United States and Canada have made substantial investments in solar energy, contributing to the region's market dominance.

Key players operating in the dual axis solar tracker market include Array Technologies, NEXTracker, PV Hardware, Arctech Solar, Convert Italia, SOLTEC, STI Norland, NClave, SunPower, and Solar Steel. These companies are focusing on strategic collaborations, product innovations, and expanding their market presence to gain a competitive edge. Their efforts towards developing advanced solar tracking solutions are expected to drive the growth of the dual axis solar tracker market.

Market Trends:

Two key trends observed in the Dual Axis Solar Tracker Market are the increasing adoption of solar energy in emerging economies and the technological advancements in solar tracking systems. Developing countries such as China and India are witnessing rapid urbanization and increasing energy demands. Solar power offers a viable solution for meeting the energy requirements in a sustainable manner. Governments in these countries are promoting the use of solar energy through various policies and incentives, which is driving the demand for dual axis solar trackers. Furthermore, there have been significant advancements in solar tracking technology, including the development of highly efficient tracking algorithms and the integration of IoT (Internet of Things) enabled systems. These advancements are further enhancing the performance and efficiency of dual axis solar trackers, creating new growth opportunities in the market.

Recent Development:

In January 2203, Voyager 2, a single-axis tracker solution from PV Hardware, is meant to be quick and durable.

In October 2022, in order to maximise energy production, Array Technologies introduced the OmniTrack solar tracker, which uses machine vision technology.

Read complete market research report, "Dual Axis Solar Tracker Market, By Product Type, By Technology, By Application, By Geography, and other Segment Forecast 2023-2030", Published by CoherentMI.

Market Opportunities:

Increasing Demand for Renewable Energy Sources

The dual axis solar tracker market is expected to witness significant growth due to the increasing demand for renewable energy sources. The global focus on reducing greenhouse gas emissions and transitioning towards clean energy alternatives has resulted in a surge in solar power installations. Dual axis solar trackers offer higher energy efficiency compared to fixed-tilt solar panels, as they continuously track the sun's movement throughout the day. This increased efficiency makes them an attractive option for utility, commercial, and residential applications.

Advancements in Solar Tracking Technologies

Another market opportunity in the dual axis solar tracker market lies in the continuous advancements in solar tracking technologies. Manufacturers are investing heavily in research and development to improve the efficiency, reliability, and cost-effectiveness of dual axis solar trackers. Advanced features like real-time tracking, integrated weather sensors, and smart connectivity are being incorporated into these trackers, enhancing their performance and usability.

In conclusion, the dual axis solar tracker market presents significant opportunities for growth, fueled by the increasing demand for renewable energy sources and advancements in solar tracking technologies. The dominance of single axis solar trackers, solar photovoltaic technology, and the utility sector, along with the leading position of North America, further contribute to the market's potential. Key players in the market are actively investing in research and development to deliver superior solar tracking solutions and maintain a strong market presence.

Dual Axis Solar Tracker Market Segmentation:

By Product Type

Single Axis



Dual Axis



Azimuth-altitude dual axis

By Technology

Solar Photovoltaic



Concentrated Solar Power



Concentrated Photovoltaic

By Application

Utility



Commercial



Residential

By Region

North America



Europe



Asia Pacific



Latin America



Middle East



Africa

Buy this premium report now @ https://www.coherentmi.com/industry-reports/dual-axis-solar-tracker-market/buyNow

Top Questions Answered in this Report:

What factors are impeding the growth of the Dual Axis Solar Tracker Market? What are the primary drivers fueling the growth of the Dual Axis Solar Tracker Market? Which segment stands out as the leading component in the Dual Axis Solar Tracker Market? Who are the key players actively participating in the Dual Axis Solar Tracker Market? Which region is poised to take the lead in the Dual Axis Solar Tracker Market? What is the projected CAGR for the Dual Axis Solar Tracker Market?

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About Us:

At CoherentMI, we are a leading global market intelligence company dedicated to providing comprehensive insights, analysis, and strategic solutions to empower businesses and organizations worldwide. Moreover, CoherentMI is a subsidiary of Coherent Market Insights Pvt Ltd., which is a market intelligence and consulting organization that helps businesses in critical business decisions. With our cutting-edge technology and experienced team of industry experts, we deliver actionable intelligence that helps our clients make informed decisions and stay ahead in today's rapidly changing business landscape.

Contact Us:

Mr. Shah

Senior Client Partner - Business Development

CoherentMI

Phone:

U.S.: +1-206-701-6702

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View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/dual-axis-solar-tracker-market-to-reach-us-13-76-billion-by-2030--rising-at-a-cagr-of-11-4--report-by-coherentmi-302039467.html
Though there is an international travel ban, which is being adhered to, President Lazarus Chakwera's DRC trip is a must and a necessity as Malawi has deeper security and investment engagements with DRC which demands the Malawi leader to meet his counterpart as he begins his second term, a governance expert has said.

Weighing in on the debate, Governance and Human Rights Advocate Undule Mwakasungula says he is even surprised with the noise some Malawians are making over the trip President Chakwera has undertaken to Democratic Republic of Congo on Friday.

Centre for Social Accountability and Transparency (CSAT) Executive Director, Willie Kambwandira, told the local media that by undertaking a trip to DRC amidst his own instituted travel ban, President Chakwera demonstrated lack of seriousness.

But Mwakasungula held a different viewpoint, arguing that Chakwera' presence at the swearing-in ceremony for the new leader in DRC should not be perceived with political eyes.

"I don't see any reason to make noise while the President is traveling for the sale of the nation. This is part of his job description, let us appreciate these international trips without politics or hidden agendas. Malawi is not an island.

The importance of the president's international trips, such as the one where President Lazarus Chakwera is breaking international travel suspension to attend the swearing-in ceremony for Felix Tshisekedi in DRC Congo, can be viewed from several angles," he said.

Mwakasungula further stated that presidential visits to foreign countries strengthen diplomatic ties between nations, adding that President Chakwera's presence at the swearing-in ceremony for Felix Tshisekedi indicates Malawi's support and goodwill towards the incoming president of the DRC.

He said this would help in fostering a positive relationship between the two nations, potentially leading to cooperation on various fronts, including trade, security, and regional stability.

"Such trips often provide an opportunity to negotiate and sign bilateral agreements or memorandum of understandings (MOUs) with the host country. These agreements can cover a wide range of areas, including trade, investment, and cooperation in various sectors, which can have long-term economic and political benefits for our country.

"Presidents' participation in international events allows them to engage in discussions on regional and global issues. They can collaborate with other leaders to address common challenges such as peacekeeping and others. These interactions contribute to collective efforts in finding solutions to global problems.

Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Malawi Governance Congo-Kinshasa By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later.

"Presidential visits can also promote economic opportunities for the home country. They can attract foreign investment, open new markets for Malawian products and services, and create a positive image of the country internationally, which can benefit various sectors of the economy. Strengthening International Influence: Being present at important international events allows a country's leader to have a say in shaping the global agenda and representing their nation's interests on the world stage. This can enhance Malawi's influence and visibility in international affairs," he explained.

Mwakasungula further stated that any president's participation in international events demonstrates solidarity and support for fellow nations in times of transition or celebration, such as a presidential inauguration. It can strengthen bonds of friendship and cooperation among nations.

He said it is therefore important to note that international trips by the president can have great benefits to our country and must be planned to ensure they align with the nation's priorities.
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - January 19, 2024) - CDN Maverick Capital Corp. (CSE: CDN) (OTCQB: AXVEF) (FSE: 338B) ("CDN Maverick" or the "Company") announces a strategic shift in its executive leadership. Adam Cegielski has been terminated as CEO, effective immediately, and Simon D. Studer, currently serving as President, COO, and Director of CDN Maverick, has been appointed as Interim CEO.

This leadership transition responds to concurrent corporate and market transformations. In particular, a phase of historically lower trading volumes in the natural resource sector, concurrent with adjustments in lithium and other critical minerals and metals markets and prices globally.

Simon Studer remarks, "Our primary objective remains steadfast: to not just acquire any asset, but to strategically pursue those with distinct potential to add sustainable value to our company, even in adverse market conditions. The current market environment presents unique opportunities for strategic acquisitions and diversifying our approaches within CDN Maverick's generative and investment businesses. Under my leadership, CDN Maverick will navigate these complexities with a long-term perspective and remains committed to its strategy of being commodity-agnostic and asset-independent, seeking synergies that create enduring value for our shareholders. At this point, we thank Adam for his service as CEO and wish him the best in his future endeavors."

About CDN Maverick Capital Corp.:

CDN Maverick Capital Corp. is a diversified exploration Company, with a core focus on critical minerals in North and South America.

Electric Avenue Ontario: Northwind Lake Lithium Property

7,040 hectares in the "Electric Avenue", an emerging lithium pegmatite exploration camp in the Red Lake area of Ontario, near to Frontier Lithium's PAK Lithium Project.

Jame Bay Quebec: Poncheville Lithium Project

Lithium pegmatite prospect spanning nearly 40,000 hectares across the Poncheville and Chabinoche properties.



Rainbow Canyon Nevada:

The Rainbow Canyon Gold Project in Nevada.

Investments

Holds 408,291 shares of NOAL Lithium Brines Inc., a lithium company actively working in the Lithium Triangle and drilling it's maiden resource in the area. Holds over 1,600,000 shares in Noram Lithium Corp.; a lithium clay sands exploration and development Issuer located in Clayton Valley Nevada with a significant lithium resource known as the Zeus project. Noram is working towards a Prefeasibility Study.

As part of its ongoing efforts, CDN is actively expanding its critical minerals portfolio across the Americas, with a firm commitment to sustainable and ESG-friendly investing and exploration.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Sandy MacDougall

Founder, Chairman, and Director

sandyjmacdougall@gmail.com

C: 778.999.2159

Simon Studer

Interim CEO, Director

simondavidstuder@gmail.com

Phone: +41-44-585-2484

FOLLOW US:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/cdnmaverickcorp

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CDNMaverickCorp

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/cdnmaverick

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cdnmaverickcorp

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@cdnmaverickcorp

This news 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. The following are important factors that could cause the Company's actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements; the uncertainty of future profitability; and the uncertainty of access to additional capital. 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 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 expressed qualified in their entirety by this notice. The Company assumes no obligation to update forward-looking information should circumstance or management's estimates or opinions change.

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange ("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.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/194921

SOURCE: CDN Maverick Capital Corp.
WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Atlas Air's Boeing 747 Cargo plane made an emergency landing shortly after its takeoff due to an engine malfunction, according to the Federal Aviation Administration report. According to the agency's early investigation report, a 'softball-size hole' was found above the No.2 engine. It added that the agency would investigate further into the matter. The plane which was bound for Puerto Rico was seen 'shooting sparks' by some witnesses. An airline spokesperson said that the plane was immediately turned back to the airport after experiencing an engine malfunction. The airline reported on Friday that, 'The crew followed all standard procedures and safely returned to the airport'. The New York-based airline maintained that 'At Atlas, safety is always our top priority and we will be conducting a thorough inspection to determine the cause.' This latest incident is another setback for the Boeing company, which has been in the limelight for the past few weeks over quality and safety concerns. In January, an Alaska Airlines-operated Boeing 737 Max plane made an emergency landing after its door panel blew off. Currently, the Max planes are grounded by the FAA for investigation. Copyright(c) 2024 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.


WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - A 36-year old American Airlines (AAL) flight attendant was arrested for covertly recording minors while they used the plane lavatory, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts said.



Estes Carter Thompson III was arrested in Lynchburg for two charges with one count of attempted sexual exploitation of children and one count of possession of child pornography depicting a prepubescent minor.



According to the Department of Justice or DOJ's press release, Thompson allegedly tried to record the video of minors on an American Airlines flight from Charleston to Boston on September 2, 2023.



The document cited that Thompson directed a fourteen year old girl towards an unoccupied bathroom while she was waiting for her turn outside an occupied one. However, before the girl could enter the bathroom, Thompson allegedly claimed that he had to wash his hands and also informed her that the toilet seat was broken.



After Thompson used the restroom, the minor entered it to find that there were red stickers reading 'SEAT BROKEN', 'INOPERATIVE CATERING EQUIPMENT' underneath the toilet seat lid which was in an open position, the court document said.



The documents further stated that the girl found an iPhone stuck inside the toilet seat's lid. She took a photo of the phone before leaving the bathroom.



The girl then showed the picture of the concealed phone to her parents, who complained to the flight attendants and captain, who in turn reported the incident to the law enforcement.



According to the documents, the minor's father confronted Thompson, after which he locked himself in the bathroom with his phone for several minutes.



On that day, Thompson had allegedly recorded four other minors during the flight.



Authorities who took the flight attendant in custody observed that his phone might have been restored to factory settings and also allegedly found the red stickers in his suitcase.



The law enforcement officials then went on to search Thompson's iCloud account where they found recordings of minors using the plane lavatory from January to August 2023. They also found more than fifty images of an unaccompanied minor along with hundreds of AI-generated child pornography images stored on his account, the DOJ documents revealed.



The DOJ had identified all the minors and contacted their families.



An American Airlines spokesperson reacted to the news by saying 'We take these allegations very seriously'. He further commented that, 'They do not reflect our airline or our core mission of caring for people. We have been fully cooperating with law enforcement in its investigation.'



The Airlines said that following the September incident, Thompson was 'withheld from service'.



If convicted on both charges, Thompson could face 20 to 50 years in prison.



Copyright(c) 2024 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
Kelowna, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - January 19, 2024) - Enduro Metals (TSXV: ENDR) (OTCQB: ENDMD) would like to cordially invite you to visit us at Booth #322 at the Vancouver Resource Investment Conference (VRIC) to be held at the Vancouver Convention Centre West (1055 Canada Place, Vancouver) on Sunday January 21 - Monday January 22, 2024.

Notable keynote speakers include former Premier of BC Christy Clark and former Premier of Saskatchewan, Brad Wall. Other keynote speakers will include dozens of globally respected economists, legendary money managers, and investors.

"We are entering a new era of de-globalization. The trust that allowed for global trade over the last 30 years has shifted irreversibly and countries are now scrambling to secure supplies of natural resources as a matter of national security. As a result, demand for key resources, will skyrocket. We have gathered over 300 companies that are exploring for and producing these natural resources so investors can position themselves accordingly," said Jay Martin, Host of the Vancouver Resource Investment Conference.

For more information and/or to register for the conference please visit: https://cambridgehouse.com/vancouver-resource-investment-conference.

We look forward to seeing you there.

About the Vancouver Resource Investment Conference:

The Vancouver Resource Investment Conference has been the epicentre of junior mining investment in Canada for 25 years and attracts over 5000 mining investors annually. Previous years have been attended by former Prime Minister Stephan Harper and former President of Mexico Felipe Calderon.

The VRIC will include a marketplace of over 300 investment opportunities in the mining industry, spanning early-stage exploration to advanced producing mines.

For further information:

Ali Wasiliew

Senior Geologist/Corporate Communications

(250) 307 - 1116

wasiliew@endurometals.com

https://endurometals.com/

SOURCE: Cambridge House International
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - January 19, 2024) - Tony G Co-Investment Holdings Ltd. (CSE: TONY) (the "Company") announces that it has entered into a loan agreement (the "Loan Agreement") dated January 19, 2024 with Antanas (Tony) Guoga (the "Lender"), pursuant to which the Company has obtained a credit facility of up to CAD$2,000,000 to fund the Company's general corporate and working capital requirements from time to time (the "Loan").

Pursuant to the terms of the Loan Agreement, the Lender can make advances to the Company in such amounts and at such times as may be requested by the Company at any time until 5:00 p.m. EST on January 19, 2029 (the "Maturity Date"). The rate of interest per annum on the Loan outstanding will be 12% per annum, calculated on the outstanding principal amount of the Loan from time to time, both before and after any default and shall be payable on the Maturity Date.

Any advances made by the Lender to the Company pursuant to the Loan, shall be made to the Company in Canadian dollars or by transfer of an equivalent amount of Tether USDT. The Company has the right at any time to repay all or any part of the monies outstanding under the Loan, without notice, bonus or penalty.

Upon the occurrence of an event of default (an "Event of Default"), the Lender can take any or all of the following actions against the Company, without any notice to the Company: (i) declare the principal of and accrued interest owing in respect of the Loan to be immediately due and payable without presentment, demand or other notice of any kind, all of which are hereby expressly waived to the extent permitted by law; (ii) proceed by any other action, suit, remedy or proceeding authorized or permitted by the Loan Agreement or by law or by equity; and/or (iii) terminate the Loan Agreement and refuse to make any additional advances thereon.

The transaction contemplated by the Loan Agreement, constitutes a related party transaction within the meaning of and Multilateral Instrument 61-101 - Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions ("MI 61-101") as the Lender is an officer, a director and a 10% insider of the Company. The Company is relying on the exemptions from the valuation and minority shareholder approval requirements of MI 61-101 contained in sections 5.5(b) and 5.7(1)(f) of MI 61-101, as the Company is not listed on a specified market and the board of directors of the Company (the "Board") determined that the terms of the Loan Agreement are on reasonable commercial terms that are not less advantageous to the Company than if the Loan Agreement were obtained from a person dealing at arm's length to the Company, and the Loan is not (i) convertible, directly or indirectly, into equity or voting securities of the Company or a subsidiary of the Company, or otherwise participating in nature; or (ii) repayable as to principal or interest, directly or indirectly, in equity or voting securities of the Company or a subsidiary of the Company. The Company did not file a material change report more than 21 days before the entering into of the Loan Agreement as the terms of the Loan Agreement were not settled until shortly prior to execution, and the Company wished to enter into the Loan Agreement on an expedited basis.

The Loan Agreement was approved by the members of the Board who are independent for the purposes of the Loan Agreement, being all directors other than Mr. Guoga. No special committee was established in connection with the Loan Agreement, and no materially contrary view or abstention was expressed or made by any director of the Company in relation thereto.

For more information, please contact:

Ron Akram

Chief Executive Officer

Tel: +44 786 6464 520

Email: contact@tony.holdings

This press release contains "forward-looking statements", within the meaning of the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation, concerning the business, operations and financial performance and condition of Tony G Co-Investment Holdings Ltd. 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, using words or phrases such as "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate" "plans", "estimates" or "intends" or stating that certain actions, events or results " may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved) 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 materially differ from those reflected in the forward-looking statements.

The forward-looking statements and information in this press release include, but are not limited to, a potential drawdown on and use of proceeds from the Loan, as well as the potential for the Loan to unlock new acquisition opportunities.

Forward-looking statements are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties which could cause actual events or results to materially differ from those reflected in the forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements, including but not limited to statements relating to the Loan and the Company's business strategy, involve risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, among others, that the Loan will not be advanced within the expected timeframe, the ability of the Company to carry out its growth plans and other factors set forth in the Company's publicly filed documents under its profiles at www.sedarplus.ca.

Should one or more of these risks, uncertainties or other factors materialize, or should assumptions underlying the forward-looking information or statement prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described herein as intended, planned, anticipated, believed, estimated or expected.

The forward-looking information contained in this press release represents the expectations of the Company as of the date of this press release and, accordingly, is subject to change after such date. Readers should not place undue importance on forward-looking information and should not rely upon this information as of any other date. While the Company may elect to, it does not undertake to update this information at any particular time except as required in accordance with applicable laws.

None of the Canadian Securities Exchange or its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/194929

SOURCE: Tony G Co-Investment Holdings Ltd.
Karachi, Pakistan--(Newsfile Corp. - January 19, 2024) - Human-Healthcare.com, a Pakistan-based health tech and services startup, is announcing their new launch of a cloud-based secure EMR (Electronic Medical Record) exclusively available to their clients. Through their subscription-based services, Pakistanis who work overseas can enroll their parents back in Pakistan to experience concierge-style, personalized medical care for any matter of needs.





Human-Healthcare.com Logo

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/8668/194609_4b46021734f1ab79_001full.jpg

Human-Healthcare.com uses the help of a team of primary care doctors, nurses, and a care coordination team to navigate cutting-edge medical tools and a secure online medical system. Their team is available 7 days a week to provide preventative primary care to the elderly population, specifically the elderly parents of Pakistanis who work overseas. One founder, Atif Zafar, aided in the launch of this startup to help overseas Pakistanis focus on their jobs, studies, careers, spouses and children, while offering them peace of mind that their parents are taken care of and healthy.

"I, along with a group of other doctors based in the U.S., UK, Canada and Pakistan, decided to launch this startup after experiencing the challenges as doctors living abroad," says Zafar. "We wanted a way to balance our own careers and evolving care needs for our parents back home. We felt spread thin and guilty, but when we launched this for our own parents, we found that many other Pakistanis struggled with the same problem while working and living away from their parents."

Since their launch in 2022, Human-Healthcare.com only offered services in Karachi, but they plan to provide this service in all major cities in Pakistan in 2024. From medicine delivery to routine check-ins, Human-Healthcare.com provides a comprehensive preventative care management that includes physiotherapy at home, cancer screening, fall prevention strategies, bone health, memory assessment, nutritionist involvement, and vaccine administration. One of the co-founders, Dr. Mahwash Siddiqui who is an endocrinologist based in the United States, said, "We know how hypertension, diabetes, cholesterol, and obesity can be smartly managed in this day and age. But for us to be successful, patients, families and clinicians will have to work together for months and years. There is no shortcut to living a healthy, long life."

In the next two years, Human-Healthcare.com hopes to offer aid in all major cities of Pakistan. With stroke being among the top 3 causes of death in Pakistan, they have also begun launching a campaign called BACHAO, aimed at educating the masses on how to identify a stroke. With such a time-sensitive treatment required, Zafar and his team hope to aid in the prevention and identification of strokes in elderly patients in Pakistan.

In January 2024, their cloud-based secure EMR will be launched, available exclusively to their clients. This medical record system will help to modernize community healthcare services in Pakistan and aid in the development of a patient-centric model. "Healthcare systems are in disarray," says Zafar. "We hope to deliver high-quality care experiences in an integrated, connected way. Together, we are building a model of care that is humanistic on the front end and powered by technology and expertise on the back end. Though we are still in the early stages of our journey, our founders passionately believe that we will expand throughout Pakistan in the next year or two and eventually hope to make an impact on the national level."

Dr. Shoib Ghayas, who is the Chief Medical Officer and a successful UK-based General Physician, shares, "We are working hard to bring new innovative ideas to our Pakistani health system, which will revolutionize the health care model in Pakistan. Join the Human Health Care Family as we deliver world-class VIP health care for our loved ones."

About the Company:

Atif Zafar, one of the founders of Human-Healthcare.com, is a physician leader with extensive experience in building clinical programs with high-performing teams in the U.S. and Canada. Human-Healthcare.com was a project launched in Pakistan by Zafar and his friends in order to modernize the healthcare system provided for the elderly in Pakistan. The subscription-based healthcare startup focuses on providing VIP personalized medical care to Pakistan-based parents of Pakistanis working overseas. A portion of profits from annual subscribers will be donated to fund water and plantation projects in Pakistan.

For more information, visit Human-Healthcare.com or contact:

Atif Zafar, Human-Healthcare.com

Service@human-healthcare.com

Phone/Whatsapp +1 3199363574

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/194609

SOURCE: Imperium Group
Bowmark Capital, a London, UK-based mid-market private equity firm, announced the closing of its latest flagship fund, Bowmark Capital Partners VII, at 900M.

The fund was supported by 31 institutional investors, with 48 per cent of the capital coming from Continental Europe, 37 per cent from North America, 7 per cent from the UK and 8 per cent from other countries. Overall, pension funds committed 32 per cent and insurance companies 21 per cent, with 20 per cent coming from funds-of-funds, 17 per cent from other financial institutions and 10 per cent from endowments, foundations and family offices.

The fund will continue Bowmarks proven strategy of active investment in high-quality, high-growth businesses in four core areas of the technology sector: data and insight, managed IT services, software, and technology-enabled business services.

Along with Bowmark Growth Partners, the firms fund focusing on smaller companies, the team now has over 1 billion for new investments.

FInSMEs

19/01/2024
Harbiz, a Madrid, Spain-based provider of a technology platform for fitness professionals, raised 5M in funding.

The round was led by Octopus Ventures, with participation from existing investors including JME Ventures, Athos Capital, and Enzo Ventures.

The company intends to use the funds to accelerate its go-to-market strategy of product-led growth, in addition to continuing to attract international talent.

Led by Mario Morante and Javier Ortega, Harbiz provides a technology platform for fitness and health professionals. The startup offers a personal experience to wellness professionals by enabling them to digitize and manage their services, boosting their personal brand, and reaching a global audience from their smartphone.

Currently present in more than 35 countries, Harbiz has offices in Madrid and London. Currently, the company has more than 6,000 professionals advising more than 120,000 customers.

The company previously closed a 2.5M financing round in May 2022, with participation from funds including JME Ventures, Athos Capital, and Enzo Ventures and business angels such as Hugo Arevalo, Inigo Juantegui and Andreas Mihalovits, among others.

Commenting on the news, Mario Morante said: We are very happy to have reached this milestone for the company and to have a new partner in Octopus Ventures, one of the most experienced VCs in Europe. We are convinced that with the great team that makes up Harbiz and the support of our partners, we will be able to meet our goals and become the global leader in our sector.

FinSMEs

17/01/2024
The thrilling operational scenes have been filmed at the Air Force Station in Tezpur, the Air Force Academy in Dindigul, Andhra Pradesh, and at the Air Force Station in Pune

As the countdown to the release of Siddharth Anands Fighter intensifies, heres a behind-the-scenes revelation that will elevate the anticipation even further! Did you know that the stunning air bases featured in the film is not just a visual feast but is shot at real locations?

The recently unveiled action-packed trailer of  Fighter  has set the stage for Indias biggest aerial action drama, scheduled to release on the eve of Indias 75th Republic Day, January 25th, 2024. Packed with powerful dialogues, unprecedented aerial action sequences, the electrifying chemistry of Hrithik Roshan and Deepika Padukone, and a spine-chilling background score, the trailer has left no stone unturned in signaling a cinematic extravaganza.

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What adds an extra layer to the visual spectacle is the fact that the team shot the film at real locations, with the help of IAF personnel using combat jets and helicopters!

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The thrilling operational scenes have been filmed at the Air Force Station in Tezpur, the Air Force Academy in Dindigul, Andhra Pradesh, and at the Air Force Station in Pune. Shot extensively at the Air Force Station Tezpur, nestled in the lush green valley of Assam, it serves as the backdrop for some of the films most intense fighter jet sequences. Brace yourselves for an immersive cinematic experience as Fighter showcases not just reel drama but also the real-life grandeur of the Air Force.

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Directed by Siddharth Anand and presented by Viacom18 Studios in association with Marflix Pictures, Fighter epitomizes cinematic brilliance, blending heart-thumping action and patriotic fervor. Prepare for takeoff as Fighter soars into theaters on January 25th, 2024, promising a spectacle that redefines and sets the bar for cinematic excellence.
Two police commandos were killed in an attack by armed assailants in Moreh, a town on the border with Myanmar. Manipur Security Adviser Kuldiep Singh has alleged some militants from Myanmar may have been involved

The tensions in Manipur refuse to die down. Ethnic violence erupted in May last year and nine months on, the northeast state continues to be on the edge. At the centre of the latest flare-up is the Moreh, a small but important trading down on the border with Myanmar.

On Wednesday, there was an attack on police personnel, where two were killed. Now Manipur security advisor Kuldiep Singh has hinted at the role of insurgents including those from neighbouring Myanmar.

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What do we know about the attack on police in Moreh?

On Wednesday morning, Manipur police commandos were attacked by armed assailants. The attackers used rocket-propelled grenades (RPGS).

Two personnel died amid the renewed violence in Moreh were 32-year-old Wangkhem Somorjit Meetei, an Indian Reserve Battalion (IRB) jawan attached to Manipur police commandos deployed in the town, and Takhellambam Saileshwore, a havildar. Two other commandos were critically injured and airlifted to Imphal for treatment.

The policemen were deployed at an IRB post when assailants attacked using grenades and continued to fire.

This is the second incident of the killing of police personnel in Moreh in two and a half months.

Also read: Why Manipur crisis may rank among one of the most misinterpreted tragedies in India

The town was tense after two people were arrested on Monday for the killing of another police officer Anand Kumar last October. While Moreh has a mixed population, a majority of the people belong to the Kuki-Zomi community. Kumar was from the Meitei community .

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According to the police, on Monday evening security personnel on patrol saw two people open fire on security vehicles and run into a cluster of homes. The officials fired in retaliation and cordoned off the houses, reports The Indian Express.

During the operation, the two suspicious individuals were chased and overpowered using minimal force and were detained for verification, police said in a statement. A pistol with two live rounds, a hand grenade, 10 live rounds of AK ammunition and 10 detonators were recovered from them, police said.

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After the arrest, a crowd gathered around the Moreh police station demanding their arrest. It was later dispersed.

The renewed tension forced the Tengnoupal district administration to impose a curfew in the district.

Who is behind the attacks?

Manipur security adviser Kuldiep Singh has alleged that some militants from neighbouring Myanmar may have been involved in the recent attack on police commandos.

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Singh said that before Wednesdays attack in Moreh, an intelligence report suggested that insurgents, including reinforcement from Burma could attack security forces. But he clarified that there was no evidence still of the involvement of foreign parties in the incident.

According to him, a large number of Kuki militants started firing at police commandos in three locations in Moreh since Wednesday morning. There was an intelligence report from before that the PDF insurgents operating at Moreh, and maybe some reinforcements from the Burma side also may attack state forces, Singh told the media, referring to Myanmars insurgent group Peoples Defence Force (PDF) that is fighting the junta. The state forces are prepared. Attacks have been happening for many days, but the gunfire had been coming from far areas, not nearby areas.

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There is a possibility they (Myanmar insurgents) may have come, but theres no evidence. There is intelligence that PDF may join, may attack the state forces at Moreh, he said in response to a question from a reporter at the press conference.

Singh also said that the commandos were at a lower elevation and the militants were attacking from higher locations. They (commandos) are sitting ducks. We have decided that the commandos should be located at a higher location," he said, admitting to a shift in tactics.

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Talking to the media, he said that intelligence was gathered after threats by Kuki groups that Manipur police commandos stationed in Moreh would be targeted.

Singh said that there was intelligence for a few days because Kuki Inpi, a traditional administration authority made up of clan and village chiefs, and civil society organisations (CSOs) were coming to security locations in Moreh and saying that the commandos (CDOs) should be removed from there. If CDOs are not moved, the CDOs would be targeted, (the groups warned), he said.

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The Kuki tribes have been accusing the Manipur government of using force against volunteers.

How tense is the situation in Manipur now?

Tension continues to grip the state. Five people belonging to the Meitei community were killed in two separate incidents on Thursday. The firing took place in different areas at the border of Meitei-dominated and Kuki-dominated districts.

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The body of a person suspected to be killed in an exchange of fire between armed miscreants late Wednesday night was recovered in Kangchup, at the border of Imphal West and Kangpokpi district, according to the police. Four people were killed in a separate incident of firing in Bishnupur district.

Three Border Security Force personnel were injured in the Thoubal district on Wednesday night when attempts were made to loot weapons from police establishments. The mobs targeted the 3rd Indian Reserve Battalion in Thoubals Khangabok and Thoubal Police Headquarters and on both the occasions the security forces pushed them back.

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With inputs from agencies
There is no space for mediation with Ethiopia unless it retracts an "illegal" MoU signed with Somaliland on January 1, 2024, reads a statement from Somali Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

It is a response to a statement from the AU Peace and Security Commission released yesterday, calling for dialogue between Addis Ababa and Mogadishu and recommending the deployment of High Representative Olesegun Obasanjo to mediate talks between the two parties as tensions in the Horn continue to climb.

The Somali government says it "welcomes" the AU's affirmation of Somalia's sovereign integrity, but refuses talks with Ethiopia until it retracts its land lease deal with breakaway Somaliland.

The Somali government is "ready to engage... [in] a mutually beneficial relationship that is grounded in international law that can lead to economic development and shared prosperity," according to the statement.
Its Friday and theres a line-up of big events. PM Modi will travel to Maharashtra, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Home Minister Amit Shah will chair the North Eastern Council plenary in Shillong. Election to four Rajya Sabha seats will also take place today

Its the last day of the week and theres a whole lot of headline-generating events waiting to happen.

From Prime Minister Narendra Modis three-state visit to elections being held for four Rajya Sabha seats, heres a guide to all the big events that will take place today, on 19 January.

PM Modi to visit Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Maharashtra, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu on 19 January and launch multiple development projects in the three different states.

According to an official release, PM Modi will visit Maharashtra around 10.45 am and inaugurate and lay the foundation stone of a few projects in Solapur. From Maharashtra, he will travel to Bengaluru in Karnataka.

In Bengaluru, PM Modi will inaugurate the new state-of-the-art Boeing India Engineering & Technology Center (BIETC) campus at Aerospace Park in Devanahalli, near Kempegowda International Airport. Built with an investment of Rs 1,600 crore, the 43-acre campus is Boeings largest such investment outside the US.

In the evening, around 6 pm, the PM will participate in the opening ceremony of Khelo India Youth Games 2023 in Chennai, Tamil Nadu.

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Elections to 4 Rajya Sabha seats

Elections to four Rajya Sabha seats  three from Delhi and one from Sikkim  will be held on 19 January. The six-year term of Sanjay Singh, Sushil Kumar Gupta and Narain Dass Gupta (all from the Aam Aadmi Party) ends on 27 January.

The term of Hishey Lachungpa (Sikkim Democratic Front) ends on 23 February.

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As per established practice, the polling will take place from 9 am to 4 pm and the counting of votes will commence from 5 pm.

Helicopter services from Lucknow to Ayodhya to commence

Ahead of the Pran Pratishtha programme on 22 January, helicopter services from Lucknow to Ayodhya will commence today.

According to the Ayodhya Information Department, a total of six helicopters have been arranged from Lucknow to Ayodhya out of which three helicopters will be flown from Ayodhya and three helicopters from Lucknow.

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The service will start from 19 January from Ramabai Maidan in Lucknow. These helicopters will have the capacity to carry eight to 18 passengers and the devotees will have to pre-book the helicopter ride, a statement issued by the Department said.

Amit Shah to chair NEC plenary in Shillong

Union Home Minister Amit Shah will visit Shillong to chair the North Eastern Council plenary on 19 January. Shah is also the chairman of the Council.

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Governors and chief ministers of all eight northeast states are likely to attend the plenary. The minister for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) G Kishan Reddy and his deputy BL Verma are also scheduled to be present there, an NEC spokesperson was quoted as telling news agency PTI.

The NEC consists of eight states of the region  Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura.

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Non-Aligned Movement summit in Uganda

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will lead the Indian delegation at the 19th Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) to be held in Kampala, Uganda on 19-20 January.

The 19th NAM Summit under the leadership of Uganda is being held under the theme Deepening Cooperation for Shared Global Affluence and brings together more than 120 developing countries on a platform of crucial historic significance.

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On the sidelines of the NAM Summit, Jaishankar is expected to meet with the Ugandan leadership and counterparts from NAM member states.
The idol of Ram Lalla, sculpted by artist Arun Yogiraj, was brought inside the temple of the Hindu deity with the help of a crane. The 51-inch tall statue made from black stone was installed inside the Garbha Griha on Thursday amid the chanting of hymns. More rituals will follow today

The idol of Ram Lalla, sculpted by Karnataka-based artist Arun Yogiraj, was placed inside the sanctum sanctorum of the grand temple in Uttar Pradeshs Ayodhya on Thursday (18 January) afternoon amid chanting of Vedic hymns. This comes ahead of the consecration ceremony at the Ram Mandir on 22 January.

The first images of the newly built idol of Ram Lalla showed the face of the deity covered with a veil. The idol was brought inside the temple on Wednesday night with the help of a crane.

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Lets take a closer look at how the Ram Lalla idol was installed inside the Ram temple.

Ram Lalla idol placed in sanctum sanctorum

The Ram Lalla idol was installed in the Garbha Griha or sanctum sanctorum of the Ram Temple at 1.28 pm Thursday. The members of the Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust including Anil Mishra, Champat Rai and Swami Govind Giri were present during the placement ceremony, as per Indian Express.

Ram Lalla will now sit on his asana (seat), a priest associated with the rituals in Ayodhya told Deccan Herald.

According to the news agency ANI, Vedic Brahmins and revered acharyas led the worship ceremonies inside the temple premises.

Due to the idol weighing between 150-200 kg and limited space inside the sanctum sanctorum, the installation was carried out under the supervision of a team of engineers, an eyewitness told Indian Express.

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Before placing the idol, it was reportedly washed with water brought from several sacred rivers across the country as part of the Jaladhivas ritual. Under Jaladhivas, the idol is, ideally, submerged in water from the river, but given the size of this idol, a water kalash (urn) is kept at the feet of the idol and a cloth soaked in water is draped over it, one of the priests performing the rituals was quoted as saying by the English daily.

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Then, the idol was covered with a special paste made of Chandan and Kesar as part of Gandhadhivas ritual.

VIDEO | Ram Lalla's idol being taken inside the Ram Mandir complex in Ayodhya using a crane. The idol will be kept in the temple's sanctum sanctorum. pic.twitter.com/S2kbRngN8N  Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) January 17, 2024

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Other rituals were also performed along with Ganesh Pujan as the idol was taken to the sanctum sanctorum, reported Deccan Herald.

Speaking to the news agency PTI, Arun Dixit, a priest associated with the Pran Pratishtha ceremony, said pradhan sankalp was performed by Anil Mishra, a member of the Shri Ram Janmbhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, which is tasked with the construction and management of the grand Ram Temple in Ayodhya.

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The idea behind the pradhan sankalp is that the pratishtha of Lord Ram is being done for the welfare of all, for the welfare of the nation, for the welfare of humanity, and also for those who contributed to this work, he added.

The idol of Ram Lalla was brought inside the Ram temple on Wednesday night before which a special puja was held in the sanctum sanatorum. It was carried to the temple in a truck.

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ALSO READ: Why is PM Modi sleeping on floor and drinking only coconut water?

What to know about Ram Lalla idol

The idol of Lord Ram is 51 inches tall and carved out of black stone. It captures the Hindu deity as a five-year-old child standing on a lotus. Due to the halo and lotus, the idol weighs about 150 kg, as per Times of India (TOI).

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Meanwhile, the old idols of Ram Lalla and his three brothers, which have been worshipped for decades, are currently kept at the makeshift temple inside the premises. They would be placed in front of the new idol inside the sanctum sanctorum on 22 January, the general secretary of temple trust said. The worship of the present idol of Lord Ram has been going on since 1950 and it will be seated in the sanctum sanctorum of the original temple along with the new idol.

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Divya Darshans of Bhagwan Shri Ram Lalla, along with his brothers- Ayodhya Dham



Paush Maas, Shukla Paksh, Navami Tithi, Vikrami Samvat 2080 pic.twitter.com/ulEnHSX34v  Shri Ram Janmbhoomi Teerth Kshetra (@ShriRamTeerth) January 19, 2024

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The worshipping of the (original) idol will continue even after 22 January in the same manner as it has been done so far, Rai was quoted as saying by TOI.

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As per Indian Express, rituals have started on the old idol of the Hindu deity as well, which is being called Rajat or Utsav idol.

More rituals before 22 January

Several rituals are being conducted in the run-up to the 22 January consecration ceremony in Ayodhya .

A hawan will be held today at a mandap set up about 100 metres from the Ram temple and will continue until 22 January. Fire from this will be used to light the nine kundas in the nine corners of the temple that will be lit 24X7, Dixit told Indian Express.

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The rituals will continue till 21 January, while only essential rituals will be held on the day of the consecration ceremony, as per Ram temple trust officials.

Thousands of guests, including politicians, actors and sportspersons, have been invited to the main event on Monday.

A team of priests led by Lakshmikant Dixit will perform the main rituals of the consecration ceremony. PM Modi will be the main yajman at the Pran Pratistha, priest Dixit told PTI.

With inputs from agencies
Experts believe Pakistans strikes on Iran were needed due to its domestic compulsions. They say it was also a message to deter its rival India from conducting cross-border attacks in the future. If these tensions trigger a wider conflict in West Asia, it would not be good news for New Delhi

Tensions are high between Iran and its neighbour Pakistan after both countries targeted what they called terrorist camps inside each others soil this week. Islamabad retaliated to Irans Tuesday strikes on two alleged bases of the militant group Jaish al-Adl in Pakistans Balochistan.

Pakistan launched attacks on terrorist hideouts of separatist Baloch militants in southeastern Iran based on credible intelligence, its foreign ministry said on Thursday (18 January). The flare-up between the two neighbours comes against the backdrop of Israels war with Hamas in Gaza and the United States strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen.

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There are concerns that the recent attacks could result in a wider conflict between Pakistan and Iran, stoking further tensions in the already volatile West Asia.

Why did Iran and Pakistan trade strikes? Should India be worried? Lets understand.

Iran-Pakistan border

Iran and Pakistan share an over 900-kilometre border, most of which is lawless and plagued by narcotics trafficking, smuggling and militancy.

An estimated nine million ethnic Balochs live on either side of the Iran-Pakistan border, known as the Goldsmith Line, as per Indian Express. In Pakistan, they are present in the southwestern province of Balochistan, while they dwell in Irans Sistan and Baluchestan province. The neighbouring Afghanistan also houses the Baloch in the north.

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The Baloch people in both Iran and Pakistan have held grievances against their respective states for years. Their marginalisation in both countries in subsequent years fuelled several separatist movements for a Greater Balochistan nation state, reported Indian Express.

Iran and Pakistan have long accused each other of supporting or allowing some militant groups to operate in their respective territory. The insurgents use the porous border between the two nations to travel back and forth after targeting military, or, sometimes, civilians, as per the English daily.

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Jaish al-Adl (Army of Justice), the Sunni separatist group that Iran targeted on Tuesday, is believed to be based in Pakistan. The militant group seeking independence of the Sistan and Baluchestan province is known for targeting Iranian security forces.

The Pakistani military said its Thursday strikes targeted hideouts used by terrorist organisations namely Balochistan Liberation Army and Balochistan Liberation Front. Formed in 2000, the Baluch Liberation Army, which is suspected of hiding in Iran, has launched attacks against Pakistani security forces and Chinese infrastructure projects, reported Associated Press (AP).

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Iran and Pakistans tit-for-tat strikes

Iran and Pakistans tit-for-tat strikes might be a result of internal compulsions, according to observers.

While both countries have had a volatile relationship for long, this is the first significant cross-border intrusions in recent years. As per AP, Tehran had been under immense pressure to act after the deadly bombing earlier this month claimed by the Islamic State group killed nearly 100 people at a ceremony to commemorate slain commander Qassem Soleimani in the southeastern city of Kerman.

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Irans attack inside Pakistan came a day after it launched strikes on Iraq and Syria.

Gregory Brew, an analyst at Eurasia Group, an international risk consultancy, told Reuters that the bombing on 3 January played a large role in Irans Tuesday strikes on Pakistan soil.

Theres a lot of domestic pressure to do something, and the leadership is responding to that pressure, he said.

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As per Brew, Iran has been prodding Pakistan to address the issue of militants present near its border for years. The missile strikes were a sign that Tehran has lost patience, he added.

Iran also has other concerns in West Asia. Tehran-backed Houthi group in Yemen has been attacking commercial ships in the Red Sea since November, saying it was avenging Israels attack on Hamas in Gaza. The spate of attacks have triggered concerns for the global shipping industry. The US has recently intensified strikes against Houthi positions to deter their targeting of ships in the Red Sea.

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Iran is backing the Palestinians in Gaza, and its proxy militant group Hezbollah is embroiled in fighting with Israel along the border with Lebanon.

Domestic pressures seem to have forced the Pakistani militarys hand as well to retaliate. Pakistan is expected to hold general elections in early February.

Speaking to AP, Abdullah Khan from the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies think-tank in Islamabad, said, The government and military have been under immense pressure (since Tuesday). The public perception of a strong army is not as it used to be, so it had to respond.

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Pakistans riposte was also to send a message to Iran and its other neighbours that it can fight back if provoked.

Ejaz Haider, a Pakistan-based political analyst, told Al Jazeera that Pakistan needed to react by force due to its rivalry with India. India has in the past aggressed against Pakistan. India is again going into an election. This incident with Iran should also be seen in the context of Pakistans deterrence against India, he said.

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The tensions between Iran and Pakistan could be contained as both sides have signalled a desire to deescalate. China, which has close economic ties to both nations, has offered to mediate. Only time will tell if the standoff will end here or the world is going to have another war in 2024.

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How it could impact India

Indias relations with Pakistan are strained, especially since the 2019 Pulwama attack. On the other hand, New Delhi has maintained good relations with Iran over the past few decades  a relationship viewed with concern in Islamabad, as per Indian Express.

The Ministry of External Affairs reacted on Wednesday after Irans strikes in Pakistan, saying it was a matter between those two countries. However, New Delhi also said that it understands actions that countries take in their self defence.

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According to strategic affairs expert C Raja Mohan, it was natural for India to support Iran as New Delhi had made similar justifications after carrying out surgical strikes inside Pakistan in 2019.

India has long maintained that Pakistan harbours terrorists. Iran is simply making the same claim. It is but natural that India will support Iran in this case, Indian Express quoted him as saying.

Mohan said that Pakistans quick response was a message for India too. For Pakistan, this is as much a message to India and the Pakistan Taliban as it is to Iran. With its quick and strong response, Pakistan hopes to possibly deter India from carrying out cross-border attacks in the future, the expert said, as per the English daily.

The instability in West Asia is also worrying India, which heavily relies on fuel shipments from the region, especially from Saudi Arabia and Iraq.

The targeting of its shipping in the Arabian Sea pose a threat to Indias commercial interests. New Delhi has already deployed warships to deter further attacks.

About 80 per cent of Indias goods trade with Europe, estimated at nearly $14 billion a month, usually goes via the Red Sea. India also sends goods through this route to the US East Coast, Africa and West Asia, as per The Times of India.

Chinas increasing clout in the Gulf and its presence in Balochistan are some other concerns for India.

Mohan, who is also a contributing editor for Indian Express, wrote for the English daily that the fragility of the Baloch frontier connecting South Asia and the Gulf, Chinas strategic presence in Balochistan, and Beijings growing role in the Gulf are of deep concern to India. Delhi has traditionally stayed neutral in the conflicts within the Middle East (West Asia). But Delhi might find it increasingly hard to do as Indias economic and security stakes rise in the volatile Middle East.

With inputs from agencies
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has declared the South his countrys principal enemy, jettisoned agencies dedicated to reunification and outreach, and threatened war over even 0.001 mm of territorial infringement. But is the fiery rhetoric a sign of a real shift?

The tensions between North Korea and South Korea are only increasing in 2024 with Kim Jong Un recently declaring the South his principal enemy.

The North continues to test its missiles and other warheads. The latest is the test of its underwater nuclear weapons system which Pyongyang says was conducted in response to drills by the United States, South Korea and Japan this week.

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The North has increased its military action in recent weeks. Kim Jong Un has been more aggressive in his approach  ending peace-keeping agreements and threatening war over even 0.001 mm of territorial infringement.

But is the fiery rhetoric a sign of a real shift? Will North Korea invade the South? We take a look at the possibilities.

What is there growing tension between the North and South?

After years of worsening ties, Pyongyang made it official this week: declaring Seoul its main enemy, abolishing agencies dedicated to reunification and threatening to occupy the South during war.

Its a big shift, as in the past when there was risk of an armed conflict, there was a back channel to keep it in control, but now there is none of that, said Hong Min, a senior analyst at the Korea Institute for National Unification in Seoul.

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North Korea has gotten rid of any inter-Korean mechanisms to prevent conflicts from spiralling out of control, he added.

The Norths labelling of the South as its principal enemy isnt just rhetorical  the words could carry into action.

Will Kim invade?

Kim said he had no intention of starting a war  but also none of avoiding one.

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Hes declared he will no longer recognise the de facto maritime border between the two Koreas, known as the Northern Limit Line, and his military recently staged days of live-fire artillery drills in the area.

This has created a growing possibility of the two sides getting into a military skirmish, which could lead to a wider conflict, Hong said.

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In addition, Pyongyang has been drawing closer to Moscow, including  Washington and Seoul claim  sending missiles for Russias war in Ukraine in exchange for help with their satellite program.

Seoul, for its part, has threatened a multiple times stronger response to any provocation, a hawkish approach that carries risks as an editorial in the Hankyoreh newspaper pointed out this week.

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It is never wise for both South and North Korea to take a no-prisoners approach in inter-Korea dealings, it said. As North Korea becomes more reckless, we hope that the government will focus its efforts to manage the situation.

Whats next?

The two Koreas are now at the highest probability of being dragged into armed conflict, said Choi Gi-il, professor of military studies at Sangji University.

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Lets say civilian and military casualties incur from a future Northern provocation. We target the point of origin with shells. But will we also strike them with air power? he said.

In 2010, when the North shelled the remote South Korean border island of Yeonpyeong, killing four, Seouls F-16 jets were in the air ready to strike but then-president Lee Myung-bak called it off to avoid escalating the situation.

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But if we have a similar incident, theres no guarantee that air power will not be used given hawkish calls from Seouls administration, Choi said.

And Pyongyangs response could see the peninsula reach a full-fledged war in the worst case scenario, he said.

No chance of rapprochement?

The prospects for inter-Korean reconciliation have long been dim, but now Kim has told Seoul to its face that he views them as his number one enemy, Soo Kim, policy practice area lead at LMI Consulting and former CIA analyst, told AFP.

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Hes not only closed the door to rapprochement  hes put a padlock on it to make it clear to the South Koreans where he stands on their relationship, she added.

But the new rhetoric from Pyongyang doesnt necessarily change the calculus for North Korea, she said.

Pyongyang has long been developing nukes and missiles , and Kim has been waiting for an opportune moment to conduct his much-anticipated seventh nuclear test.

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These weapons werent developed overnight, and the Kim regimes plans to use them as tools of coercion, threats, and bargaining have been their modus operandi for decades, she added.

Why is Kim doing this?

Kims new messaging on South Korea appears to be an ideological adjustment for regime survival, justifying Kims focus on nuclear missiles, said Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul.

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Despite years of COVID-linked border closures, and strict controls on the flow of information domestically, North Koreans are increasingly aware of their countrys economic failings compared to South Korean successes, he said.

So, Kim is doubling down on military prowess against external threats for his domestic legitimacy, he said.

South Korea is also set for a general election in April, where President Yoon Suk Yeols party is trying to win back control of the countrys parliament.

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Kim may also be trying to politically punish the Yoon administration for its policies toward Pyongyang ahead of South Koreas legislative elections in April, Easley said.

With inputs from AFP
As Ayodhya gets ready for the consecration of the Ram temple, devotees in Thailands Ayutthaya are also preparing to join the celebrations. Founded in 1350, the ancient city, which is 70 kilometres north of Bangkok, is named after Ayodhya because of its connection to Ramayana

Ayodhya is gearing up for the grand consecration ceremony of the Ram Temple.

Along with India, Thailands Ayutthaya, named after Ayodhya, is also preparing to join the celebrations.

Separated by geographical boundaries, the two towns are united not just in name but also in faith with the religious fervour in the home of Ram finding echo 3,500 kilometre away in a foreign land.

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Heres how both cities are connected:

The Ayodhya of Thailand

The ancient city of Ayutthaya, which is 70 kilometres north of Bangkok and is tucked away along the banks of the Chao Phraya River, is one of the UNESCO World Heritage sites because of its dynamic and rich cultural past.

Founded in 1350, the ancient city of Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya (official name) served as the second capital of the Siamese Kingdom.

Siamese King U Thong, also known as King Ramathibodhi, founded it. From the 14th to the 18th century, it was a thriving city for global trade and diplomacy, ranking among the largest and most cosmopolitan in the world.

Went on a trip from #Bangkok to #Ayutthaya today. The ruins of the ancient capital are hauntingly beautiful. #Thailand pic.twitter.com/f5MM1E19wF  nrq (@herrkuhn) January 18, 2024

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In 1767, the Burmese army attacked and destroyed the city, setting it on fire and driving its residents out. It is still an archaeological site even though it was never reconstructed in the same spot.

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The remnants of its tall prang (reliquary towers) and massive Buddhist monasteries provide insight into the grandeur and magnificence of the city in the past.

Champat Rai, general secretary of Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust said Ayutthaya is the Ayodhya of Thailand.

The Ramayana connection

Ayutthaya is named after Ayodhya, the birthplace of Lord Ram, according to Swami Vigyanand, founder and global chairman of the World Hindu Foundation (WHF), creating a link between Hinduism and the Ramayana.

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King Ramathibodi, the first ruler of Ayutthaya, named the city, showcasing the influence of the Ramayana on the regions culture. Subsequent kings, including those of the Chakri dynasty, adopted the name Rama, further solidifying the connection to Lord Ram, he told PTI.

He added, What makes Ayutthaya fascinating is the fact that here we can see that the Ramayana, which was introduced to Southeast Asia by Buddhist missionaries, was adapted into the Thai version known as Ramakien. This happened during the Ayutthaya Kingdom. This is how we see the impact of Ramas life on Thai culture.

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The Thai Ramakien has been translated into Sanskrit by renowned Sanskrit scholar and Padma Bhushan recipient Satya Vrat Shastri.

The Ramakien does not necessarily follow the Valmiki-Ramayana or other versions of the Indian Rama story. It takes an independent line in a number of cases by introducing new episodes not figuring in the former, Shastri had said in the description of his book Ramayana in South East Asia.

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According to Suresh Pal Giri, an Indian professor in Thailand, when Burmese soldiers overran this city in the 18th century, a new king rose.

He called himself Rama I, established the city now known as Bangkok, wrote the epic Ramakien, which is Ramayana in the local language, making it the national epic, and got it painted as murals on the walls of the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, patronised by the royal family, it is believed.

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Though he was a Buddhist, the king established his royal credentials by identifying himself with Lord Ram, who was as much a hero for Buddhists of Southeast Asia as he was for the Hindus of South Asia, he said.

Common festivals and cultural practices

The connection between the two countries is not just limited to Lord Ram and Ayodhya but is also reflected in the festivals and cultural practices.

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Thailand celebrates Loy Krathong, popularly known as the festival of lights, on the same day as India celebrates Kartik Poornima and Dev Deepawali.

Idols of Shiva, Parvati, Ganesha, and Indra are placed at significant locations, where devotees offer their prayers.

There are also enormous sculptures at Bangkoks Suvarnabhumi airport that represent Samudra manthana, as described in the Vishnu Purana.

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Ram Mandir celebrations in Thailand

Besides Ayodhya, Ayuthhaya and other Hindu temples in Thailand are also gearing up for grand pran pratishtha ceremony on 22 January.

According to a Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) member from Bangkok, huge screens are being put up in Hindu temples in Ayutthaya and other cities in Thailand for the live telecast of the grand ceremony.

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Diyas or earthen lamps will be lit at all the temples and the enactment of the epic Ramayana will also take place while people will sing Ram bhajans on the day, she said.

We have put up big screens where the devotees will see the consecration ceremony live. We have made arrangements for lighting diyas and prasad will also be distributed, the VHP leader said.

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The Ayodhya temple trust has also received soil from Ayutthaya and water from Thailands three rivers, including Chao Phraya, Lop Buri and Pa Sak for the Ram temple.

The first phase of the Ram temple in Ayodhya is nearing completion and Prime Minister Narendra Modi will take part in its consecration ceremony on that day.

The Supreme Court delivered a historic verdict in 2019, settling a temple-mosque dispute that dated back more than a century. The court backed the construction of a Ram temple at the disputed site and ruled that an alternative five-acre plot must be found for building a mosque.

With inputs from PTI
PM Narendra Modi is all set to inaugurate American aircraft manufacturer Boeings India Engineering and Technology Centre (BIETC) campus in Bengaluru today. Built at a cost of 1,600 crore, the 43-acre campus is the aviation giants largest investment outside the US

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is all set to inaugurate American aircraft manufacturer Boeings new global engineering and technology centre campus in Bengaluru on Friday.

Built at a cost of 1,600 crore, the 43-acre Boeing India Engineering and Technology Centre (BIETC) campus is the aviation giants largest such investment outside the US, according to PTI.

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Heres all we know about the state-of-the-art facility that will bring in new opportunities for women in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM).

About BIETC

BIETC is Boeings new campus in Indias Bengaluru.

According to a Press Information Bureau (PIB) statement, the campus at Hightech Defence and Aerospace Park in Devanahalli on the city outskirts will become a cornerstone for partnership with the vibrant startup, private and government ecosystem in the country.

The facility will help develop next-generation products and services for the global aerospace and defence industry.

It will create new opportunities in Bengaluru

PM Modi will also launch the Boeing Sukanya Programme," which aims to support the entry of more women from across India into the aviation sector.

According to the press release, the programme will provide opportunities for girls and women to learn critical skills in STEM fields and train for jobs in the aviation sector.

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For young girls, the programme will create STEM Labs at 150 planned locations to help spark an interest in STEM careers. It will also provide scholarships to women training to be pilots.

According to Indian Express, BIETC aims to produce 3,000+ varied engineers who will support the expansion of the aerospace industry globally.

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Boeing will also collaborate with the Indian armed forces to support Aatmanirbhar Bharat and increase the demand for aircraft in the defence industry, the report said.

Prime Minister @narendramodi will inaugurate the new state of the art Boeing India Engineering and Technology Center campus in Bengaluru tomorrow.



Built in 43 acres at the cost of Rs 1600 crore, the #BoeingIndia campus is said to be the largest outside the USA.



The Centre will pic.twitter.com/aFUPcvC9l8  All India Radio News (@airnewsalerts) January 18, 2024

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Boeing states that its engineers are working on global markets, undertaking research and development, and utilising modern technologies including cloud computing, artificial intelligence or machine learning, model-based engineering, and additive manufacturing.

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Recently, Boeing India announced 107 hiring opportunities in various cities, out of which 97 are in Bengaluru.

Software engineers, billing analysts, structure analysis engineers, product review engineers, associate systems engineers, programme analysts, and digital electronics architects are just a few of the talents that BIETC plans to hire in Bengaluru, according to Indian Express.

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Moreover, Boeing also invited applications from university students and early-stage startups in India for its Boeing University Innovation Leadership Development (BUILD) programme (2023-24). Launched in 2019, the programme aims to support Indias robust startup ecosystem by providing a platform for students and startups to innovate in the country.

According to the company website, it continues to partner with seven incubators  IIT Mumbai, Foundation for Innovation and Technology Transfer  IIT Delhi, Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center  IIT Gandhinagar, IIT Madras Incubation Cell, Society for Innovation and Development  IISC Bengaluru, T-Hub Hyderabad, and Technology Business Incubator  KIIT Bhubaneshwar.

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Boeing in India

With its headquarters located in Delhi, Boeing operates in India through a rapidly expanding Boeing India Engineering and Technology Centre (BIETC) in Bengaluru and Chennai, as well as field service offices in Mumbai, Hindan, Rajali, and New Delhi, as per Moneycontrol.

According to Boeing India, the company is focused on delivering value to Indian customers with advanced technologies and is committed to creating sustainable value in the Indian aerospace sector.

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Boeing has improved its supply chain by partnering with over 300 Indian businesses and forming a joint venture to produce vertical fin structures for the 737 family of aeroplanes and fuselages for Apache helicopters, reported Indian Express.

It sources about $1 billion worth of goods from India each year. Currently, Boeing has more than 6,000 employees in India, and it employs more than 13,000 people through its supply chain partners.

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Boeing said last year that it would invest $100 million in pilot training programmes and infrastructure in India. This came after Air India placed firm orders with Boeing for over 200 aircraft, including 190 737 MAX narrowbody aircraft, 10 777Xs, and 20 787 Dreamliners.

According to Moneycontrol, the aerospace industry is concentrating in Devanahalli as Bengaluru expands northward.

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This is because Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) is close by, and the Blue Metro line (KR Pura  Yelahanka  KIA) will be convenient when it opens in 2026.

With inputs from agencies
Rashid Al Haddad, a 19-year-old Yemeni social media influencer dubbed the hot Houthi pirate, has taken over the internet for posing aboard a cargo ship hijacked by Houthi rebels. He has earned the nickname Timhouthi Chalamet for his resemblance to actor Timothee Chalamet

The battle between Western forces and Houthi rebels over Red Sea trade lines is being fought both on land and on the internet.

A young Yemeni social media influencer named Rashid Al Haddad has taken over the internet for posing aboard a cargo ship hijacked by Houthi rebels from Yemen.

He has earned the nickname Timhouthi Chalamet for his resemblance to American actor Timothee Chalamet.

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Heres all we know about him.

Who is Rashid Al Haddad?

Al Haddad is a 19-year-old Yemeni social media influencer dubbed the hot Houthi pirate. He identifies himself as a media personality, actor, and photographer on his Instagram Threads.

In an interview with YouTuber Hasan Piker, he said via a translator that he is a Yemeni who stands with Palestine, adding that the only motivation that [the Houthis> have is their solidarity with Palestine and to stop the attack on Palestine.

On social media, he often shares messages of solidarity with Palestine along with pictures of himself dressed in brown khaki webbing and holding an AK-47 over his shoulder.

Al Haddad has said that he is ready for sacrifice and eager for martyrdom and that the Houthis will bomb all Israeli ships.

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His latest Instagram post read, Unless they resist the Zionists, they do not know that the war will end only with the victory of Palestine, they dream of a dream beyond the sun.

I hope that my message reaches you, a free Palestine, and we ignite it against the Israeli aggression that violates human rights, he said in another video.

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Al Haddad also urged his followers to shift their focus from his appearance to liberating Palestine in one of his videos. In a post shared on X, he said, I didnt talk about beauty or anything else, but our cause is Palestine, and this is not the time to talk about beauty.

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His TikTok account, which is mentioned in the tweet, was taken down on Tuesday morning (16 January), according to media reports.

Is he really a Houthi pirate?

The 19-year-old influencer on 15 January shared a video claiming to be Houthi pirates aboard the Bahamian-flagged, Japan-chartered Galaxy Leader, a cargo ship seized by Yemens militant group Houthis on 19 November last year.

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In the caption of the video that has been viewed more than 13 million times, he wrote, Yemeni pirates posting casual tiktoks while the entire western imperial core are having a meltdown about their blockade on their ships is the funniest shit of 2024, surely.

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The influencer originally posted footage of himself exploring the ship on his Instagram on 29 November.

Other men he saw in his videos appeared to be filming and taking pictures as they approached the ships in little wooden skiffs.

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Nevertheless, theres no clear evidence that he was a part of the raid that resulted in the capture of Galaxy Leader.

The Houthis are using the messaging app Telegram to post videos of their raids on container ships on the internet. Politicians and military leaders in Yemen have also posted speeches and messages on social media.

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Has Galaxy Leader become a tourist destination?

There have been claims that Yemen has turned Galaxy Leader into a tourist attraction.

Groups of men have reportedly been seen exploring and taking selfies on the Israeli-linked cargo ship that the Iran-backed Houthis have seized, as per Dailymail.

Pictures seem to show individuals touring the vast ship, holding up the Yemeni flag, smiling at the camera, and snapping pictures of the ocean views from the deck.

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 The hot Houthi pirate



Here you go ladies  https://t.co/4gazRh91Nn pic.twitter.com/dsUfJ2vyKw  Lord Bebo (@MyLordBebo) January 17, 2024

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While other Yemenis roamed around the ship brandishing firearms, several were seen scrambling up the ships ladders.

The BBC reports that a slogan endorsing Hamas in Gaza appears to have been spray-painted on a section of the ship.

The ship was brought to the port of Hodeidah in the Yemeni north, which is under Houthi control after the siege. This came after threats were made by Houthis to attack Israeli ships due to Israels conflict with Gaza.

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The owner of the ship announced last week that the 25 crew members, most of whom are Filipino, are still being held captive and they have been permitted to have modest contact with their families.

Red Sea attacks

The Houthi pirates are on the verge of destabilising global trade as they continue to target vessels in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.

Only a few days after the militants launched their largest attack on ships in the Red Sea, the US and the UK also retaliated with attacks on over a dozen Houthi-linked targets in Yemen last week.

US forces on Thursday conducted a fifth strike against the Houthis, with Navy warplanes targeting anti-ship missiles that were aimed into the southern Red Sea and prepared to launch, according to US Central Commands statement.

This came after the Central Command said Houthi rebels launched two ballistic missiles at the Chem Ranger, a US-owned, Greek-operated tanker ship. Its crew saw the missiles hit the water near the ship. No injuries or damage were reported, the command said.

The Iran-backed group, which seized much of northern Yemen in 2014, says its attacks are aimed at backing Hamas and Palestinians trapped in the Gaza Strip in Israels war on Hamas.

They claim to have targeted 27 ships to date, as per the New York Post.

With inputs from agencies
The Financial Times, along with several other mainstream platforms whose reportage has been shorn of credibility in recent times, liberally use Analysts/Sources say, to divest responsibility from their own creations

In their latest hit piece against the Indian government, the Financial Times continued their descent into desperation as Indian elections are nearing. Marking the mood of the nation, the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya awaits massive footfall as Hindus across the globe await its grand re-opening and the Pran Pratishthan of Sri Rama after over five centuries.

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It is this symbol of grand reawakening that has the British publication seething this time. As it is reclaimed from the violent history of the Turkic-Mongol invader Babar and his hordes of Islamic zealots who destroyed one of the most important sites of Hinduism and a monument reminiscent of centuries of history, it is important to remember the thousands of Hindus who fought to retain the intergenerational memory of the temple by visiting and conducting prayers even through Islamic rule and British imperialism.

Generations of the citizens of Ayodhya carried on circumambulating the structure as their ancestors did around the temple, invoking all that the precious site stood for. Numerous attempts to retake it over years include the Nihang Sikhs led by Baba Fakir Singh conducting a hawan and installing a symbol of Sri Bhagwan (Sri Rama) and writing Ram Ram on the walls of the then taken temple that had a mosque built over it.

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In a happenstance of fate and faith coming together, the eighth descendant of Baba Fakir Singh, Baba Harjit Singh Rasalpur will be conducting the langar sewa for the thousands of devotees expected on the 22nd of this month. Despite Nihang Sikhs now unfortunately known to kill strangers in rural gurudwaras on mere suspicion of  sacrilege , in ways absolutely unfamiliar to anything preached in Sikhi by the ten Sikh Gurus revered in Sikh and Hindu traditions, the Nihangs are a well-known and respected martial sect who were once looked to for defence of Dharma and desh. Many still retain ancient knowledge and do their best to carry forward necessary traditions .

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Other citizens of Ayodhya kept up prayers and genuflected at the site despite it being a mosque because the temple remained in the minds and hearts of those who carried their culture in their blood, and shed some for it.

In 2002, a train carrying Kar-Sewaks and their wives and children was set afire by Islamist mobs in Gujarat, triggering the riots in Godhra.

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It is always the reaction to violence that has been decried if the victims have been Hindu or Jewish by Western media, a vestige of Anglo imperialism that has held economic and cultural sway over centuries. What is decolonisation in the West, the retaking of native culture celebrated by academicians and intellectuals, is termed barbarism and taught to students of Indology, a colonialist study of a pagan people rising again as an uncomfortable other in a world guarded for some centuries by Abrahamic rules. This is what the Financial Times article exemplifies.

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Three decades after Hindu zealots tore down a mosque at Ayodhya write the authors, without a mention of the destruction of the temple, and the willingness of the Shia Muslim Waqf board to return the site and build a mosque in Lucknow or some metres away due to their understanding of the significance of the revered site for their countrymen. Hindus are termed zealots and nationalists without meaning patriot, echoing the dirty savage Hindoo stereotype carried forward for eons by English dailies for decades before Indian independence. Without fail, this article too sprinkles in its casual anti-Hindu bigotry where Hindu matters of faith are contested, but Muslims and violent conquest may never be questioned  Ayodhya is the most prominent of several contested religious sites, where Hindu nationalists have been fighting to demolish or demote mosques built during Indias centuries of Muslim domination.

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Yet, Ayodhya, despite imperialist despondence, was merely biding its time. Once desolate and racked by raw emotions of politically-instigated communal violence, the city rises again as the abode of Sri Rama awaits his arrival.

The Suryavanshi Thakur Kshatriya clan will finally don their turbans after 500 years as they vowed to eschew the symbol of respect until their beloved Sri Rama returned to the temple. An 85- year old woman, Savitri Devi , will finally speak after three decades as she refused to vocalise until Sri Rama was returned to his abode.

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It is these stories of enduring faith that John Reed, an actively anti-India bureau head for the Times calls zealotry, a term used to describe those who commit lethal violence due to their faith, a term he has never used for Islamists supporting Pakistani terrorism in India that has led to hundreds of Indian lives lost.

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Providing employment to thousands of workers, many of who have specifically chosen to work on the site as an act of devotion , are written of in the disparaging article as toiling day and night, as if they are indentured labour, a difference those working for British interests ought to be more familiar with considering their history of slavery by other means and names.

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Modi, who has ruled India since 2014, rues an early paragraph, dismissing the democratic wave of millions of citizens voting him in, twice, and continuing to make him the most popular political leader in the world for nigh a decade.

The use of minority Muslim appeals to an uneducated audience who wish to believe that a community with more than equal rights in the country and forming the second largest majority in India, are dependent upon western emotional largesse against Hindu zealots.

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The Financial Times, along with several other mainstream platforms whose reportage has been shorn of credibility in recent times, liberally use Analysts / Sources say, to divest responsibility from their own creations.

They are hardly shy about using outright lies to evoke anti-Hindu sentiment in readers such as claiming that Modi rose to power on a wave of Hindu revivalism stoked by the BJP and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the right-wing nationalist movement behind the ruling party.

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In fact, Modi was elected amidst numerous scams involving Congress politicians and terrible inequality marked by rapidly deteriorating economic conditions. He was re-elected on the basis of leakage-free welfarism, globally understood as a Leftist initiative. Despite such, his politics continue to be cited as right-wing a phrase used by Western media to denote anyone who puts the interests of their own citizens over that of globalist agendas. FT cites an author avowedly anti-Hindu, to repeat what they wished reiterated, heavy on Muslim victimhood, light on any facts that would disprove their claims. As cited in my counter to FTs heavily editorialised interview of the Indian Prime Minister some weeks ago, the tone taken is hostile to the Hindus , sympathetic to the Muslim, and patronising to the reader.

A light-on-truth, heavy-on-propaganda affair is easily exemplified by their claim that,  the Supreme Court in 2019 approved the construction of Ram Mandir, despite a lack of conclusive evidence that there had ever been a Hindu temple on the site. Building work began in August 2020.

Thousands of pages of evidence, much of it based on archaeological study, with letters from KK Muhammed of the Archaeological Survey of India, were cited as evidence for the existence of a non-Islamic structure at the site, that finally allowed the construction of a temple awaited by Hindus for centuries. Contrast this with the conversion of the Hagia Sophia in Turkey from a church to a museum, and then to a mosque, receiving measured critique in the Financial Times, where apparently it was an understandable political ploy .

The abuse of Indian freedoms of speech and expression to peddle in propaganda to an unsuspecting readership is an unnecessary effect of an open society. In a nation with a less dysfunctional legal machinery, distributors of communally offensive disinformation could be brought to book by citizens. A stronger stance would mean that repeat foreign offenders who sought to actively harm the nation through indulgence and apologia of anti-majority violence be questioned legally.

After all, a recently post-colonial state can ill-afford further foreign interference. Yet, it is the wont of Indians to bear with little contest the contempt of foreigners as they indulge their bigotry to build upon eons of atrocity literature that even percolates into the unwitting minds of their former colonies, while adding to tomes of material to justify violent action on Indians and Hindus in lands they own and covet. Perhaps it changes, perhaps it remains, but hopefully, more minds are awakened to the design of stooges that operate with ill-disguised ill will.

The author is a columnist at several Indian publications such as NDTV, FirstPost and CNN-News18, and hosts a podcast on geopolitics and culture. She writes about international relations, public policy and history, and posts on X on her handle @sagorika_s. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstposts views

Read all the Latest News _, _ Trending News _, _ Cricket News _, _ Bollywood News _,_ India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook _, _ Twitter and Instagram _._

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On 7 January, at the beginning of the new year, Sheikh Hasina scored a huge electoral victory, thus commencing an unprecedented fifth term as Bangladeshs prime minister. Actually, this was only the beginning. 2024 is the year of elections in democracies the world over. Not in another quarter of a century will so many nations go to the polls in one year. Barely a week after Bangladesh, it was Taiwans turn.

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On 13 January, celebrated as Lohri or the harvest festival in Northern India, Taiwan went to the polls. Lai Ching-te, better known as William Lai, of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), won 40.05 per cent of the votes to become the president-elect of this important island country. He defeated his nearest rival, Hou Yu-ih of the Kuomintang (KMT) by a margin of nearly 6.5 per cent of the popular ballot. Ko Wen-je of the Taiwan Peoples Party (TPP) came third with 26.5 per cent of the votes cast.

Why are these elections important? The answer is obvious. China. Xi Jinping, the supremo of the worlds second most powerful country, has made no bones about his intention to integrate Taiwan with mainland China. In fact, for decades, it was Taiwan, officially known as the Republic of China (RoC), which claimed to be the real and legitimate country. That name itself goes back to 1912 when RoC was founded in mainland China during Japanese colonial rule.

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After Mao Zedong led the Communist revolution and defeated the nationalists in Chinas civil war, the Peoples Republic of China (PRC) was established on 1 October, 1949. The leaders of nationalist China fled to Taiwan, creating their own state there. But the demand and the resolution of the PRC rulers to extend their control over RoC did not weaken with the several passing decades. If anything, the desire to reunify Taiwan with the mainland has become the hallmark of Xis presidency.

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Of course, such a move is bound to be resisted by the United States and its allies, who, despite their professed acceptance in principle of the One China policy, actually favour the status quo. Which is Taiwans virtual autonomy if not complete independence. In these elections, not surprisingly, Chinas shadow loomed large over the small island of roughly 36,000 square kilometres and 23 million people. How to face up to the imminent threat of a Chinese takeover was the central issue.

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Taiwan is proud of its democratic traditions as it is of its educated and prosperous populace. For years, the Taiwanese economic miracle served as a contrast to Red China. But over the last forty years Chinas breath-taking progress in both economic power and military clout has all but eclipsed Taiwans claim to represent a genuine alternative to Chinas single-party authoritarian regime. China, on its part, has never forsworn the military option to take over Taiwan. In fact, since the escalations of tensions between the West and China, which some would call the start of a new cold war, Taiwan has faced repeated demonstrations of its giant neighbours overwhelming martial advantage.

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Lai, currently serving as vice president under President Tsai Ing-wen, is known for his pro-independence stance. He has sometimes used tough rhetoric against China, even while repeatedly calling for dialogue with Beijing. He has insisted, however, that such a dialogue must be carried out with mutual respect and dignity. He has also pledged to defend Taiwans sovereignty and democracy with all means necessary. To this end, he aims to strengthen Taiwans national defence, economy, and strategic ties with the Western world.

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Lai, a medical doctor by profession, is an experienced politician. He has been a legislator for a decade, besides being a former mayor of Tainan. China regards him a hardliner whofavours Taiwans independence. Now that he is slated to be sworn as the head of state on 20 May, 2024, will he soften his stand for pragmatic reasons? Lai has been known for the position that there is no need to campaign for or declare Taiwanese independence because it has always been free of mainland Chinas rule. Never has the Communist Party of China (CPC) exercised control over it. But does that mean that China will stay away from Taiwan. Most certainly not.

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Lai, who succeeds outgoing two-term president Tsai Ing-wen is expected to continue her moderate but principled stance of refusing to accept that Taiwan is a party of China. China has retaliated by increasing both diplomatic and military pressure as well as trying to isolate Taiwan globally. But Lais victory demonstrates, once again, that a majority of the island countrys inhabitants consider themselves Taiwanese rather than Chinese.

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Lais election is likely to have significant implications for Taiwans domestic politics, cross-strait relations, and regional security. Taiwans younger generation, not entirely unlike its counterparts in the mainland, do not find Communist rule attractive. They voted for Lai because they were dissatisfied with KMT and TPPs pro-China or conciliatory approach. Taiwans handling of the Covid-19 pandemic also brought it global recognition and praise as opposed to Chinas secretive clampdown and total lockdown.

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If Lai does not secure a majority in Taiwans parliament, his powers will be considerably curtailed. His party currently has 61 out of 113 seats, which is barely four over the halfway mark. A combined opposition of KMT and TTP would pose a formidable challenge. It is anybodys guess what Lai would do if Beijing ratchets up its aggression by imposing a blockade, economic sanctions, sabotage, and subversion, if not an outright attack or invasion.

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Quite uncannily, the answer may lie not in cross-strait manoeuvres but elsewhere, in the November 2024 United States presidential elections.

The writer is an author, columnist, and professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University. 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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Imran Khans wife, Bushra Bibi, remained in purdah even when Khan became prime minister; however, it was believed that she and her close friends had subtly begun to intervene in administrative matters

The Pakistan army has ensured that former prime minister and founder of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI), Imran Khan, sinks deeper and deeper into the abyss of criminal cases. While most of these are political in nature, one that is now being actively pursued against him is intensely personal.

These include charges of his violating the Official Secrets Act or taking undue financial advantage by retaining expensive official gifts given by foreign dignitaries. In addition, after the PTI supporters rioted and destroyed defence services properties on May 9, 2023, Imran Khan has also been charged with encouraging his supporters to riot. These are all, however, concerned with his political actions.

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Personal attack

The personal case is perhaps unprecedented in Pakistans history against a political leader who has remained the countrys prime minister. It has been filed by his current wife, Bushra Bibis ex-husband, Khawar Maneka, against Khan and Bushra Bibi, alleging that they had possibly engaged in adulterous conduct.

Maneka has also alleged that he divorced Bushra Bibi half-heartedly and that after the divorce, Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi got married within the iddat period; hence, their marriage was not legal. In Islamic law, the Iddat period is one in which a divorced lady or a widow cannot get married. The period varies for both categories of ladies, but a divorced woman has to usually wait for a period of three lunar months before she can remarry.

According to Maneka, he divorced Bushra Bibi on November 14, 2017, and Imran Khan married her in January 2018. However, Bushra Bibi claims that a period of seven monthswell beyond the Iddat periodhad passed before she married Khan.

Manekas case against the couple was filed some months ago but it has now acquired importance because a Rawalpindi court on January 16 indicted Khan and Bushra Bibi under three sections of the Pakistan penal code.

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Manekas case against the couple was filed some months ago, but it has now acquired importance because a Rawalpindi court on January 16 indicted Khan and Bushra Bibi under three sections of the Pakistan penal code. According to Pakistans authoritative newspaper, Dawn, these include Section 496 (the marriage ceremony fraudulently gone through without lawful marriage) and Section 496B, which relates to fornication. These are serious charges that would be deeply embarrassing to Bushra Bibi, who has projected herself as a pirni or spiritual person. They should therefore be distressing to Imran Khan too because they go to his gairat or pride as a husband. That aside, it is unlikely if charges of inappropriate sexual conduct have ever troubled Khan. If anything, he has, since his youth until now, gloried in his image as a playboy who, even with his advancing yearshe has turned seventy nowis irresistible to women.

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Any other leader would have cringed at the release of what can only be called his pornographic conversations with women, but not Imran Khan. Not only he, but his supporters too, took them in stride. These audio tapes also seemed to make no difference to his popularity. That, of course, reveals a lot about Pakistani society and polity.

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Different case

But the Maneka case is different because it does not concern his reputation alone. It has the possibility of landing his wife and him in great legal trouble. The facts of his relationship with Bushra Bibi and his subsequent marriage are, prima facie, bizarre.

Maneka was a Customs officer who rose to senior positions. Bushra Bibi and he got married in 1989 when she was eighteen. They had five childrenthree daughters and two sons. It is said that there was a spiritual side to her personality which became more prominent as she became older. As was her family, she too became a devotee of Baba Farid. Imran Khan began to claim, around a decade ago, that he too had begun to be drawn to Sufism and to Baba Farid.

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Imran Khan was introduced to Bushra Bibi in 2014-15, it is said, in the spiritual context. He began to consult her and spent hours in her company. In his petition Maneka says that Khan did so in his absence and that he found Imran Khans presence at his home offensive and once threw him out with the help of his servants.

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In 2016-17 reports began to circulate that Bushra Bibi had said that Imran Khan would become prime minister provided she married him. All this seemed strange but in 2017 Bushra Bibi, a pirni, forty-six years old, with five grown up children, was divorced by her husband and married Khan.

Photographs of the marriage showed Bushra Bibi veiled and with her children surrounding her. Khan was then sixty-five. It was, of course, the army which manipulated the 2018 elections and ensured that Imran Khan reached the prime ministers chair. But what could not be denied is that Bushra Bibis prophecy proved to be correct!

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Munir warned Khan

Imran Khan became Pakistans prime minister in August 2018. He was known to be a selected PM and the government he ran was called hybrid. The word indicated that the then army chief Gen Qamar Bajwa was the dominant partner in the government enterprise and especially controlled the countrys security and critical foreign policies. In autumn 2018 Bajwa chose Lt Gen Asim Munir as Director- General of the Inter-Services Intelligence (DG ISI). Technically, this post requires the prime ministers approval but no army chief has really ever been happy at any PM interfering in any posting in the army, including that of DG ISI.

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Bushra Bibi remained in purdah even when Imran Khan became prime minister. It was however believed that she and her close friends had subtly begun to intervene in administrative matters and were making money, including through selling expensive official gifts received by Imran Khan in his capacity as PM.

As a conscientious officer Munir warned Khan that his image was taking a beating because of Bushra Bibi and her friends activities. Khan was enraged with Munir for making these charges against his wife and pressed Bajwa to replace him with Lt Gen Faez Hameed. Bajwa agreed. Munir left the ISI in June 2019 and Faez Hameed was appointed DG ISI. He soon became Khans and Bushra Bibis favourite general for he helped them politically.

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It is believed that Bushra Bibi told Khan that as long as Faez Hameed remained DG ISI he would have no trouble in continuing as prime minister. Indeed, Khans troubles began when he resisted Bajwas decision to move Faez Hameed out of the ISI in October 2021. Bajwa and he fell out and by April 2022 the army generals led by Bajwa ensured that Khan was out of power.

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Munir has neither forgotten nor forgiven

What is relevant for Khans present troubles, including the personal case that is bound to drag him and his wife through the mud, is that Munir has neither forgotten nor forgiven Bushra Bibi for having him removed from the DG ISIs job in 2019. But there is another reason why the Pakistani political class and the army have obviously encouraged Maneka to proceed with the case, even though he had divorced Bushra Bibi in 2017.

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This is because Imran Khans personal record of misconduct with women has been intolerable to many. Even more, he had been instrumental in ensuring that the privacy of Nawaz Sharifs daughter, Maryam Nawaz, was brutally intruded upon in October 2020 in Karachi.

Maryam and her husband Safdar were staying in a Karachi hotel when the police broke open the door to arrest Safdar. At that time, both were sleeping in their hotel room. This insult and, in addition, Maryams arrest and incarceration have obviously not been forgotten. It is payback time for Imran Khan, and in the process, Pakistani politics is now reaching a new low.

The elections are just three weeks away, and by now the decks have been so stacked against Imran Khan that he is being pushed into political irrelevance. He continues to be in Adiala Jail, and his party is without a symbol, forcing PTI nominees to contest as independents. Unless a miracle occurs, Khan and Bushra Bibi may well have the linen of their marriage displayed in public, and it may not be clean.

The writer is a former Indian diplomat who served as Indias Ambassador to Afghanistan and Myanmar, and as secretary, the Ministry of External Affairs. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost_s views._

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South West Ethiopia Coffee, Tea and Spices Authority stated that it has planned to deliver over 7,000 tons of tea product to central market this budget year.

Authority Director General Astra Mekuria told the Ethiopian Press Agency (EPA) that some 7,026 tons of tea products has been incorporated in the plan to be supplied to central market. Of the planned amount, so far, some 3,100 has already been delivered to the central market.

As to him, a lot has been carried out on tea and other potential crops with which the local and international markets to make the state in particular and the country in general beneficiary out of such rewarding agricultural products.

"The state has well focused on tea product and Kaffa and Sheka Zones are known for their wide tea farms. East African and Ethio-Agriseft (Wushwush tea, more focus) are widely developing tea in Sheka and Kaffa zones respectively," Asrat added.

According to him, the farming community in these two zones have organized themselves and started supplying the organization with tea products.

He said: "The farmers organizing themselves in contractual bases and provided the organizations with products are 502 in number, and some 446 hectare plots of land have been covered with tea cultivation."

Since the farmers' access to market opportunities, which would potentially help promote the market horizon, is limited, they are expected to accept the offer organizations have given to them, he added.

He further said that though the state is endowed with a variety of tea species, Wushwush tea is widely produced for the time being.

He urged the state structure ranging from the kebele to zone to move in unison and run activities in a well organized manner to help the state be advantageous out of the Coffee, Tea and Spices resources.
Ram was born as a human being and went through so much drama in life  much more than others  but he rose above that. He is like a sage but sits on a throne and runs the nation

In India, people who were worshipped as gods are those who somehow rose to that stature. For example, Ram is worshipped as a god. He rose to that stature because he is considered the best king. His administration was supposed to be the most compassionate and most just administration ever. And in many ways, the time of Ram became a kind of a fulcrum to build this civilisation in these 6,000 years.

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Even when Indias freedom struggle was happening in the early twentieth century, Mahatma Gandhi went on talking about creating a Ram Rajya. That means a kingdom where, irrespective of caste, creed, colour, or whatever else, everyone lives as equal human beings, and everyone has equal opportunity. Even now, in vernacular languages, when someone wants to refer to an ideal nation, he says Ram Rajya.

But there are arguments from some people these days that Ram is a male chauvinist who, because of his pride or insecurity, sent his wife back to the jungle. During the Youth and Truth campaign, in one of the premier educational institutions in the country, one young man asked me, The way Ram treated his wife, he brought her back from Sri Lanka and then sent her to the forest again  I think he was insecure about her being elsewhere for some time. I said, See, you definitely are not competent to be a psychiatrist for Ram. And 6,000 years later, you dont make these judgments.

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If he was an ordinary man, you could question how he treated his wife, but he was a king. For Ram, his praja, or subjects, were most important. And he lived in a time when he was trying to establish the dharma of the land. Essentially, he was trying to make it a law-abiding population. The story goes that a dhobi was asking questions Your wife has been somewhere. How do we know the children that she is bearing are yours? What kind of queen mother is she? It was not just about a dhobi. When they used the term dhobi, they actually meant ordinary people.

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If the king says, I dont care what you think, I love my wife, and keeps her, he would not be considered a good king. Sita was not just another woman for him. He walked 3,000 km and fought a battle for her. He was living for her, but still, he sent her back to the jungle when she was pregnant. A child is a big thing for any man, but for a king, it was especially important. Despite this, he placed the wellbeing of the people and the rule of law of the nation at that time above his personal love.

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Do you want a leader for this nation who puts the people of this nation above their own family and personal love or do you want a Dhritarashtra  At any cost, my son? In that context, Ram should be the leader of the future for the world. We need people who think beyond their biology, their personal likes and dislikes, and their own sufferings and problems, and look at what is best for the people. That is what Ram and this culture signify  a sense of sacrifice. Essentially, dispassion when it comes to oneself, absolute passion when it comes to everyone around you  this is the only thing we value.

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In Sanatana Dharma or the Hindu way of life, the only thing that is important is to become liberated  mukti, moksha, nirvana, whatever you want to call it  essentially, you must become free. So, when we see a human being who is liberated, we worship him. It is not only Ram  there have been many  but a king who is like this is a rare thing. There may be a sage sitting in the hills, but he is not available to the public, and he is not doing much activity. He is wonderful, but a king handling every kind of nonsense daily, fighting battles, managing the administration and doing politics, and yet fully liberated  this is a tremendous inspiration.

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This is why we call him Maryada Purushottam, which means this man deserves everyones respect because he has risen. He was born as a human being and went through so much drama in life  much more than others  but he rose above that. He is like a sage but sits on a throne and runs the nation.

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Ranked amongst the fifty most influential people in India, Sadhguru is a Yogi, mystic, visionary and a New York Times bestselling author. Sadhguru has been conferred the Padma Vibhushan by the Government of India in 2017, the highest annual civilian award, accorded for exceptional and distinguished service. He is also the founder of the worlds largest peoples movement, Conscious Planet  Save Soil, which has touched over 4 billion people. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost_s views._

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The recently held presidential elections in Taiwan were many things to many people. For the United States, a victory for the current vice president Lai Ching-te, or William Lai, of the pro-Independence Democratic Progressive Party is a win for the right man and a defiant rebuke to Beijing. To the Chinese Communist Party, it is the coming to power of a dangerous separatist. To one section of voters in Taiwan, it a mandate to continue with the policies mainstreamed by outgoing president Tsai Ing-wen, while for another section it is an expression of dissatisfaction with the current order of things.

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Before we analyse these cross narratives, it is worth taking a closer look at the results. The DPP, which rejects Chinas territorial claims, resists unification and promotes a Taiwanese national identity, received the mandate for an unprecedented third successive presidential term.

However, president-elect Lai could only get 40 per cent of the polled vote, down from 50 per cent that Tsai had secured in 2020 in a landslide when she received the backing of eight million voters. Hou Yu-ih of Kuomintang, the Beijing-friendly main Opposition, secured 33.5 per cent and Ko Wen-je of the upstart Taiwan Peoples Party (TPP) won 26.5 per cent votes.

Interesting to note, however, that for the first time since 2004, none of the parties won a majority in Taiwans Legislative Yuan. The loss here is stark for the DPP that came down from 62 to 51 legislative seats in the 113-seat Yuan, suffering a net loss of 11 seats. The KMT got 52 and the TPP, eight.

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With DPP losing majority in the Parliament, Lai may find it difficult to push legislation through. The KMT and TPP, whose pre-poll alliance efforts fell through, may join hands to cross the magic figure of 57 and call the shots, and they may start by preventing the DPP from retaining the speakership.

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Now, regardless of the possibilities that this result throws up, the act of holding the elections itself is pregnant with symbolism.

Starting from 1996 when the first direct presidential polls took place, people of Taiwan have consistently been taking part in large numbers in all electoral exercises. The turnout touched 71 per cent this time with 14 million voters casting their ballot, staring down bullying, coercion, disinformation campaigns, cyber and psychological warfare from the Chinese Communist Party that interprets elections as a mutinous act of insubordination and leaves no stone unturned to leave Taiwan diplomatically isolated.

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In some ways, therefore, the simple act of voting in Taiwan, held at the barrel of the CCPs gun, is much more than an electoral exercise. It is both an act of affirmation and negation. It is an affirmation of democracy and a negation of Chinas main ideological plank.

Voters in Taiwan sent two core messages by taking part in the celebration of democracy and choosing their leaders through free and fair elections.

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One, they havent bowed down to Chinas threats of reunification as an inevitability, and while not seeking to be confrontational, have chosen to invest in their future. This demonstrates the audacity of hope. Two, the Taiwanese people have struck at the very root of Communist Chinas propaganda that Chinese people do not yearn for political freedom and are ready to exchange it for prosperity and stability.

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The people of Taiwan have smashed the Chinese Communist Partys ideological plank that democracies are chaotic, corrupt and inefficient, and authoritarian party-state is the only system that may provide effective governance to the people by way of ensuring a political and economic model that works.

Just by its act of existing as a throbbing, thriving democracy that ensures freedom, well-being and growth to its people, therefore, Taiwan poses an existential challenge to the Chinese Communist Partys formidable propaganda machine.

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Considered one of the most free democracies in the world, Taiwan is one of the wealthiest countries in Asia with per capita GDP of $32,679 in 2022 compared to Chinas $12,734.

Taiwans Gini Index labour coefficient, according to Commonwealth Magazine, stands at 0.40, which indicates that income or wealth is distributed quite equally, even better than many European countries such as Norway or France. With many of its citizens from very different sectors and strata earning similar wages, Taiwan is considered by many to be a model of egalitarian capitalism.

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In terms of democratic values and economic freedom, Taiwan ranked sixth among 184 countries in The Heritage Foundations 2022 Index of Economic Freedom where the metrics range from rule of law, limited government, regulatory efficiency, and market openness. Taiwan also ranks as the eighth most vibrant democracy in the world, according to the Economist Intelligence Units Democracy Index, and as Anthony B Kim writes in a Heritage Foundation report, Taiwan has demonstrated to the world that freedom is a stabilizing force, that free enterprise, free association, and free speech lead to entrepreneurship, prosperity, and security.

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When we consider the fact that the self-ruled island of 23 million people had to withstand relentless threat, intimidation, military, diplomatic and economic coercion, that the US had termed gangster tactics from its much larger and the worlds second-most powerful economic and military power, the achievement seems all the more incredible!

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For instance, as Time points out, in 2023 alone, China sent 1,709 warplanes through Taiwans air defense identification zone, on top of waging trade embargos, disinformation campaigns, and other coercive measures.

In fact, just a day ahead of the polls on Saturday (January 13), the Chinese military vowed to smash all Taiwan independence plots, a threat the PLA keeps on repeating. The PLA issued the same threat in February last year and then again in May when it called US move to provide military assistance to Taiwan an extremely wrong and dangerous move.

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When election results didnt go the way China was hoping for, CCP censors clamped down on discussions related to Taiwan elections on Chinese social media platforms, scrubbed the mention of Taiwan from Chinese state media outlets and sent 18 fighter jets and some warships to operate around Taiwan and cross the median line of Taiwan Strait .

China had also warned voters in Taiwan in the run up to the elections to make the right choice since Lai will bring Taiwan closer and closer to war and recession and left no doubt that it wanted the KMT, which supports unification with China at some stage, to win. When voters responded by electing the DPP leader, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said, the DPP authorities in Taiwan disregard the prevailing trend of history, refuse the one-China principle, make every effort to expand the so-called international space, and conduct separatist activities seeking Taiwan independence. This is doomed to failure and will lead nowhere.

Faced with such belligerence, it has been interesting to watch Lais response. Calling the elections a victory for the community of democracies, Taiwans president-elect said, I will act in accordance with our democratic and free constitutional order in a manner that is balanced and maintains the cross-strait status quo At the same time, we are also determined to safeguard Taiwan from continuing threats and intimidation from China.

Lais confidence stems from the fact that Taiwanese have shown themselves to be immune and indifferent to Chinese threats. Theres a deeper and complex reason at play that might scuttle the long-held goal of CCP chairman Xi Jinping who wants to force a unification and lay down his legacy.

Over the course of decades, the nature of Taiwanese identity has slowly shifted towards a greater national identity. Part of it is due to the churn of history, and part of it is politics. Credit must go to outgoing president Tsai, who, as ORF Americas Dhruva Jaishankar writes in Hindustan Times, who has worked assiduously over her two terms to shift Taiwanese public thinking about the prospects of unification with China. She avoided loose talk about independence but worked to make Taiwans politics more resilient and improve its military preparedness.

This led to forging of a hybrid Taiwanese identity through a greater assimilation of disparaging identities  the 1949 immigrants of Chiang Kai-sheks Chinese nationalist regime, immigrants whose ancestors arrived from China centuries ago, and the indigenous Austronesian peoples who were Taiwans only inhabitants for centuries.

Financial Times in an article on this assimilation observes that Tsai Ing-wen, the incumbent president, has tried to keep the balance by rallying the nation behind a hybrid identity, praising the ROCs (Republic Of China) history in Taiwan  its economic miracle, democratisation and tolerant political and social culture  as a common achievement, and frequently calling the country Republic of China Taiwan.

This slow forging of Taiwanese identity is proving to be resilient and resistant to Chinese bullying. In fact, the new generation of Taiwanese people, its youth, no longer see themselves as Chinese. A recent survey by the Pew Research Center, conducted between 2 June to 17 September, 2023, finds that while the Chinese Communist Party considers Taiwan as a breakaway province, only 3% of people in Taiwan think of themselves as primarily Chinese. Nearly 3-in-10 (28%) think of themselves as both Taiwanese and Chinese, but the largest share by far (67%) see themselves as primarily Taiwanese.

While some older adults may still harbour some emotional attachment to the Chinese mainland, the survey found that adult youths under the age of 35 are especially likely to identify as solely Taiwanese (83 per cent). And women are more likely than men to do so (72 per cent vs. 63 per cent).

In light of KMT and TPPs good performance in polls  a combined 60 per cent voters have cast their ballots against the DPP which takes a more openly confrontationist posture against China  some analysts feel that it may provide China with an opening in the future when the pro-China camp comes to power. The KMT, for instance, openly supports unification, and Ko Wen-je of TPP is less of an ideologue and more of an opportunistic figure  a bit like Indias Arvind Kejriwal  whose stance on China is hard to nail down given his flip-flops and frequent shifting of positions.

Kos support base is primarily the youth and the first-time voters, so it may be argued that if China adopts a less confrontational, more generous, less bruising, and nuanced strategy then it might be able to curry favour with the new generation.

This assumption breaks down on the altar of two realities. One, China has proved to be incapable of adopting anything other than a bellicose stance on Taiwan and it has made a habit of frequent strong-arm tactics that may end up triggering internal cohesion and greater prominence of Taiwanese identity. The Pew survey proves that such an eventuality is already taking shape.

Two, given that China sees its relationship with Taiwan through the prism of US-China relationship, the approaching US presidential polls may end up triggering more incendiary rhetoric from China on Taiwan. It seems unlikely, therefore, that Xi will be able to achieve his objective of peaceful reunification, and any use of force is likely to be counterproductive, when it comes to winning hearts and minds of the Taiwanese people.

It wont be easy for Xi to lay down his legacy.

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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While Chinas charm offensive at Davos signifies a strategic move to reshape its global image and attract investments, the initial reactions and skepticism indicate that Beijing faces an uphill battle in rebuilding international confidence in its economic narrative

In a significant diplomatic move, China recently launched a charm offensive at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Led by Chinese Premier Li Qiang and a delegation of 140 individuals, including 10 state ministers, the mission was clear: to court the worlds most influential business leaders and reshape the global narrative surrounding Chinas economy.

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Davos, an annual gathering of world leaders, economic minds, and policymakers, serves as a platform for discussing global economic issues and challenges. Chinas presence at the event was notable, signalling a shift from its previous evasiveness during the pandemic.

Li Qiangs speech and diplomatic engagements

Premier Li Qiang commenced the charm offensive with a speech highlighting Chinas commitment to open up to the world. He emphasized that Chinas doors would only widen further, aiming to attract global businesses. Following the speech, Li engaged in handshake meetings with top business leaders including CEOs from banking institutions such as JP Morgan, Bank of America, Standard Chartered, and Blackstone. Notably, a significant meeting took place between Li and Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Union, focussing on trade and other key matters.

Chinas participation at Davos also aimed to alter the perception of its economy. While Chinese leaders have been relatively reserved in the past, Li Qiang presented a different narrative. He claimed that Chinas economy performed better than expected, citing a growth rate of 5.2 per cent, surpassing the earlier target of 5 per cent.

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We will also listen to the views of foreign businesses regularly. We will actively promote solutions as long as they are reasonable demands, said Premier Li Qiang.

Scepticism and challenges

Despite Lis optimistic claims, economists remain sceptical about Chinas economic data reliability. Historically, China has faced challenges in providing transparent and accurate data. The global sentiment towards China has been wary with investors withdrawing significant sums from the country.

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Chinas charm offensive at Davos seeks to achieve two primary objectives. Firstly, it aims to portray Chinas economy as resilient and growing, countering the prevalent negative perception. Secondly, Beijing is working to restore confidence among investors who have been withdrawing funds from China, as evidenced by the $160 billion pulled out by foreign companies in the previous 18 months.

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Premier Lis pitch to foreign businesses at Davos is a massive public relations exercise designed to enhance Chinas global image. However, initial reactions to Lis speech have been negative, with experts noting the lack of specific measures or details to address investors concerns.

Adding to Chinas challenges, the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken endorsed Indias growth story at Davos, emphasizing the global belief in Indias economic potential. This endorsement further highlights the competitive dynamics between China and India on the global stage.

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While Chinas charm offensive at Davos signifies a strategic move to reshape its global image and attract investments, the initial reactions and skepticism indicate that Beijing faces an uphill battle in rebuilding international confidence in its economic narrative. The contrasting endorsement of Indias growth story adds an additional layer to the complex dynamics in the global economic landscape.

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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 India Out campaign in Bangladesh appears to be a desperate political strategy employed by the BNP to regain relevance

In Bangladesh, a novel political campaign is gaining traction, echoing trends seen in neighbouring nations. While the origins of the movement can be traced back to the Maldives, it has found its way into the political landscape of Bangladesh, particularly within the opposition. This campaign, spearheaded by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), is centred around the call to boycott Indian products, a strategy that seems to be led by Tarique Rahman, the acting chairman of the BNP and the son of former leaders Ziaur Rahman and Khaleda Zia.

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The BNP, a party that once held a significant grip on the nation, faced a decline after losing power in 2009. Subsequent election boycotts and minimal success in the 2019 polls have left the party in a state of crisis. It is within this context that the BNP has adopted the India Out strategy as part of a new political manoeuvre.

Tarique Rahmans role

Reports suggest that Tarique Rahman, residing in exile in London, is orchestrating the India Out campaign from abroad. Rahmans influence adds a unique dimension to the partys initiatives.

The India Out campaign is predominantly playing out on social media platforms. Various accounts, including one with over 50,000 followers, are using hashtags such as #IndiaOut to propagate the message of boycotting Indian products.

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Despite the campaigns momentum, the basis of its narrative appears confusing. Accusations that India is interfering in Bangladeshs affairs are contradicted by the fact that Bangladesh has prospered and is on track to become a developing nation by 2026.

Historical context

Under BNP rule, Bangladesh had closer ties with Pakistan, leading to societal radicalisation and anti-India sentiments. The subsequent leadership of Sheikh Hasina has worked to correct these imbalances, aligning the country with the vision of her father, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who believed in a close association between Bangladesh and India.

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Recent changes in the Bangladesh cabinet have raised eyebrows, with notable pro-India figures like Abdul Momen and Abdur Razzaq being replaced. However, analysts caution against reading too much into these alterations, as the reshuffling involves a broader reset, with some new faces being introduced.

The India Out campaign in Bangladesh appears to be a desperate political strategy employed by the BNP to regain relevance. While social media amplifies the message, the nations history and current political landscape suggest that such tactics may not resonate with the broader population of Bangladesh, a country of 170 million people that stands strong against external intimidation. The future trajectory of this campaign and its impact on diplomatic relations will unfold in the coming months.

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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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Foxconn and HCLs joint venture to set up a chipmaking plant in India, in all likelihood in Tamil Nadu or Telangana. While Karnataka was also considered, insiders suggest that the JV is leaning towards Tamil Nadu or Telangana due to more attractive incentives offered by these states

Earlier this week, the HCL Group and Taiwans Hon Hai Precision Industry, another name for Foxconn jointly announced plans to establish an OSAT or an Outsourced Semiconductor Assembly and Test unit.

The semiconductor testing facility, expected to require an initial investment of up to $150 million, excluding government incentives, will provide third-party chip packaging and testing services to semiconductor fabrication units.

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The HCL-Foxconn joint venture is currently engaged in advanced-level discussions with the states of Tamil Nadu and Telangana regarding the establishment of their recently announced semiconductor assembly and testing unit, according to sources familiar with the matter.

While Karnataka was also considered, insiders suggest that the joint venture is leaning towards Tamil Nadu or Telangana due to more attractive incentive structures offered by these states, as per a report by The Economic Times, as per a report by the Economic Times

Industry executives speculate that Tamil Nadu may have an advantage in securing the project, citing Foxconns significant presence in the state. Foxconn currently manufactures iPhones for Apple at its Sriperumbudur facility near Chennai.

Setting up an OSAT (outsourced semiconductor assembly and testing) near their existing facility (in Tamil Nadu) makes a lot of logistical sense because they can be the technical partners and part consumers of the output from the OSAT facility, the report quoted an industry executive on the potential benefits of choosing Tamil Nadu as saying.

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Foxconn disclosed that it would hold a 40 per cent stake in the joint venture, with an investment of $37.2 million. The Taiwanese companys participation will be through Foxconn Hon Hai Technology India Mega Development, a subsidiary.

Tamil Nadu, during recent global investors meet, unveiled a Semiconductor and Advanced Electronics Policy that offers up to 50 per cent additional financial incentives to semiconductor projects selected under the Centres $10 billion chip subsidy plan. This move is expected to significantly subsidize investments, with government officials highlighting that virtually 75 per cent of the entire investment would be subsidized by the state.

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(With inputs from agencies)
Over 30 employees from the Buy with Prime unit are impacted by the layoffs. This reduction in staff comes on the heels of Amazons recent layoffs in its streaming and studio operations, including Twitch live-streaming platform and Audible audiobook unit

Having laid off hundreds of employees just days into 2024, e-commerce giant Amazon has terminated more people from its workforce from Buy with Prime division, according to a report by Reuters.

Launched in 2022, Buy with Prime provides fulfilment and delivery services to non-Amazon retailers through Amazons expansive logistics network.

Despite the layoffs, Amazon emphasized that Buy with Prime remains a key focus, with ongoing substantial investments in the unit. The company did not disclose the exact number of employees affected by this move.

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However, according to inside sources that the Reuters report quotes, over 30 employees from the Buy with Prime unit are impacted by the layoffs. Amazon clarified that it is actively assisting the affected employees in finding alternative roles both within and outside the company.

This reduction in staff comes on the heels of Amazons recent layoffs in its streaming and studio operations, including Twitch live-streaming platform and Audible audiobook unit, as reported by various media outlets.

Last week, Google, owned by Alphabet, also announced the layoff of hundreds of employees in its advertising sales team.

Amazon has a history of job cuts, having laid off 27,000 employees in two phases in the previous year. The first round eliminated 18,000 roles, followed by a further reduction of 9,000 positions.

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In 2024, the company continued to streamline its workforce, particularly in divisions such as Prime Video and MGM Studios, in addition to job cuts in Twitch and Audible.

Further developments indicate that Twitch is planning to cut approximately 35 per cent of its staff, equivalent to around 500 positions.

CEO Dan Clancy mentioned that the company is reassessing its size in alignment with its business scale. Concurrently, Amazon has announced job cuts in Audible, affecting approximately 5 per cent of its workforce.

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In a memo to employees, Audible CEO Bob Carrigan acknowledged the companys strong position but highlighted the increasingly challenging landscape it faces.

(With inputs from agencies)
Port Talbot steelworks is the UKs single biggest carbon emitter, and the government has been looking to help Tata Steel and British Steel, run by Chinese group Jingye, to replace dirty blast furnaces.

The owners of Port Talbot Steelworks have rejected a trade union plan aimed at maintaining the operation of its blast furnaces, putting nearly 3,000 jobs at risk and potentially leaving the UK as the sole major economy incapable of producing steel from raw materials.

Tata Steel, the Indian-owned parent company of Port Talbot, informed workers representatives that it couldnt sustain production at the loss-making plant in south Wales while implementing a four-year transition plan toward greener production, despite receiving 500 million from the government for the initiative.

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Asked for comment, Tata said it had been engaging regularly and constructively with trades union colleagues and their advisors for some time about the best way forward to create a sustainable green steel future for Tata Steel in the UK.

When we have any formal announcement to make about our proposals for the future, we will always share these with our employees first, it said in a statement.

Towards the end of last year, the UK government provided 500 million ($634 million) to fund the production of greener steel at the countrys biggest steelworks, while saying that 3,000 jobs were still at risk.

The money for an electric furnace safeguarded 5,000 of the more than 8,000 jobs.

Port Talbot steelworks is the UKs single biggest carbon emitter, and the government has been looking to help Tata Steel and British Steel, run by Chinese group Jingye, to replace dirty blast furnaces.

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The Mumbai-based conglomerate had threatened to shut the plant unless it received state aid to help decarbonise production and cut emissions.

The government said replacing the coal-powered blast furnaces at the Port Talbot site would reduce the UKs carbon emissions by about 1.5 per cent.

Experts have said green hydrogen could help the massively polluting steel industry, but producing the clean energy in large enough quantities requires significant investment.

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As well as climate fallout, the steel sector has seen costs soar amid surging energy prices in the wake of Russias invasion of Ukraine.

With inputs from agencies.
Mao was reacting to a reported remark by an Indian official at the World Economic Forum (WEF) at Davos that Indias investment rules for China could change once their relationship at the border stabilises.

The settlement process of the boundary issue should not influence the normal development of ties with India, including trade relations, said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning, adding that China always believes that the issue should be placed and resolved appropriately in our bilateral relations.

The situation on the China-India border has been stable on the whole, and the settlement process should not influence the normal development of our bilateral relationship, Mao said reiterating Chinas stance on India-China ties.

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Mao was reacting to a reported remark by an Indian official at the World Economic Forum (WEF) at Davos that Indias investment rules for China could change once their relationship at the border stabilises.

The India-China relationship is at a standstill since May 2020, when, in the words of External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, the Chinese have literally brought tens of thousands of soldiers in full military preparation mode right to the LAC, (Line of Actual Control) in Ladakh in violation of all bilateral agreements. Tensions peaked with the deadly clash between the militaries of the two countries at Galwan Valley in June 2020.

India has been demanding China pull back all its additional troops deployed in Eastern Ladakh since May 2020 while China has been maintaining the issue should not stall the bilateral ties.

Mao said the two-way trade volume between China and India has exceeded USD 100 billion in recent consecutive years and kept rising annually, which shows the resilience and potential of economic and trade cooperation between the two countries.

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China hopes that India could fully recognize the win-win nature of China-India economic and trade cooperation, and provide a fair, just, transparent and non-discriminatory business environment for Chinese companies investing and operating in India, she added.

According to the latest annual trade data from Chinese Customs covering the period from January to December 2023, India-China trade continues to remain high as the total trade last year climbed to a record USD 136.2 billion.

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With inputs from PTI.
Chairs of the House Energy and Commerce Committee Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.), Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.), and Morgan Griffith (R-Va.) stated in a statement that the discovery raises more concerns about how honest Chinese officials have been about the virus

According to federal documents provided with a US congressional committee and made public on Wednesday, a Chinese scientist attempted to publish the genetic profile of the coronavirus two weeks before Beijing formally revealed the information.

The development of diagnostics, therapies, and vaccinations to fight the virus may have been hampered by the delay.

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The Washington Post reports that while experts cautioned that the report does not provide substantive insight into the pandemics origins, it raises new questions about how Chinese officials and scientists shared information in the early days of the virus as it quickly spread throughout their country.

A virologist at the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences Institute of Pathogen Biology in Beijing submitted the SARS-CoV-2 viruss genetic sequence to GenBank, a freely accessible database of genetic sequences managed by the US National Institutes of Health, on December 28, 2019.

Three days later, the submission was highlighted by GenBanks review procedure. Ren was notified via email that her submission was incomplete and that more annotations were required. On January 16, 2020, Rens submission was removed from GenBanks processing queue because Ren failed to resubmit the data with the necessary annotations.

On January 12, 2020, a different group of Chinese researchers submitted a nearly identical genomic sequence of SARS-CoV-2 to GenBank. This was stated in a letter that House Energy and Commerce Committee leaders received from Melanie Anne Egorin, a top official at the Department of Health and Human Services, which was made public on Wednesday.

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An email seeking comment was sent to Ren on Wednesday, but he did not answer right away. Republicans in Congress who have been looking into the origins of the coronavirus outbreak have made her submission and the email responses she received from GenBank available.

Public health experts who examined the documents said the experience showed how there was a chance to find out more information about the virus early on in the global health emergency.

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Days before Bloom and other experts said they began closely monitoring the novel respiratory virus outbreak in China, Ren attempted to publish the genetic sequence of SARS-CoV-2 in December 2019. However, it was never made publicly available to the researchers and laboratory personnel who browse GenBank, which according to federal officials has more than 3.8 billion published records.

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Chairs of the House Energy and Commerce Committee Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.), Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.), and Morgan Griffith (R-Va.) stated in a statement that the discovery raises more concerns about how honest Chinese officials have been about the virus.

(With agency inputs)
Earlier this week, Trump registered a landslide victory and is expected to win 20 of Iowas 40 delegates. While, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley are estimated to get eight and seven delegates respectively

Former US President Donald Trumps eldest son Donald Trump Jr has said that conservative pundit Tucker Carlson could make a good vice presidential running mate for his father, The Hill reported.

While speaking to cable channel Newsmax about whether he would consider Carlson, Trump Jr said the option was on the table, according to The Hill report.

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Donald Trump Jr said, I mean theyre very friendly, I think they agree on virtually all of these things. They certainly agree on stopping the never-ending wars. And so, I would love to see that happen. That would certainly be a contender. His statement was first reported by Mediaite, The Hill reported.

For six years, Tucker Carlson hosted a prime-time show on Fox News before he was pulled off the air just days after the network paid Dominion Voting Systems to settle claims of defamation in connection with its coverage of Trumps false statements about the elections in 2020.

After departure from Fox News, Carlson has launched his own media company and video show on social media platform X. In 2023, Tucker Carlson rejected the suggestions that he would run for public office, saying it would be kind of hard to envision.

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Donald Trump himself has said that he would consider Carlson as a vice presidential pick as hes got great common sense. During a town hall this week, Trump hinted that he has already made a decision on whom he will choose for the position, The Hill reported.

Earlier this week, Trump registered a landslide victory and is expected to win 20 of Iowas 40 delegates. While, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley are estimated to get eight and seven delegates respectively, CNN reported.

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Trumps victory in his first election since his unusual exit in 2020 has also laid to rest any lingering questions about his hold over the GOP and the potency of his right-wing message.

US President Joe Biden has called former President Donald Trump the front runner of the other side after his landslide victory in Iowa caucuses and termed the 2024 contest as, you and me versus the extreme MAGA Republicans.

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Looks like Donald Trump just won Iowa. Hes the clear front runner on the other side at this point. But heres the thing: this election was always going to be you and me vs. extreme MAGA Republicans. It was true yesterday and itll be true tomorrow, Joe Biden posted on X.
announcement

Burundian farmers told visiting government officials and African Development representatives that they are delighted with the year's great yields thanks to the hybrid, climate-resilient seeds and multi -strand support that has been provided by the Bank.

Several cooperative members expressed their satisfaction. Marie-Therese Nahabaganwa, chair of the Tsindinzara (Combating Hunger in Kirundi) cooperative that works 200 hectares in the Muhara and Kagera-Ruhohera valleys, reported that her cooperative received from six tonnes of hybrid maize seeds, agricultural inputs and technical support. She expects a yield of 800 tonnes of maize, or 4 tonnes per hectare. "We owe all these exceptional yields to the efforts of our local government combined with support from projects financed by the African Development Bank," said Ms Nahabaganwa.

Other cooperative members also benefited. Willy Ndoricimpa, a member of the cooperative, was particularly appreciative of the awareness sessions that had been held on land release. "We didn't initially think that we'd be able to make a profit by pooling our portions of land. But now we feel more than satisfied because, well, my share of the harvest will be 500 kilogrammes, unlike before when I barely harvested 50 kilos of maize." Mr Ndoricimpa went on to say that he would use part of his harvest to feed his family and would sell another part to increase his heads of livestock.

"We have come to congratulate you on agreeing to pool your land," said Emmanuel Niyungeko, Permanent Secretary of the Burundian Ministry of Environment, Agriculture and Livestock. The harvest you have just made is totally in line with the government's vision of increasing agricultural production so that every mouth has food, and every pocket has money." Mr Niyungeko paid tribute to the cooperative's members, who had followed the advice of the agricultural advisers and pooled their land.

The ministerial secretary, project managers and the African Development Bank visited the provinces of Kayanza and Kirundo from 2-5 January 2024 to see the results of projects funded by the Bank and observed the maize harvest in projects that had provided seeds.

To strengthen Burundi's food security and nutrition, the African Development Bank has set up the Burundian Agriculture and Livestock Value Chains Sustainable Development Support Project and the Emergency Agricultural Production Project in Burundi.

In August 2023, under the second of these projects, 571 tonnes of selected hybrid maize seeds were provided to 195,000 households belonging to cooperatives in 14 provinces of the country including Kayanza and Kirundo. In addition to the technical support that has greatly revolutionized the agricultural sector in this northern region, the project has also developed marshlands for farmers.

In July 2022, the Bank granted Burundi $5.4 million to fund the Emergency Agricultural Production Project launched as part of the African Emergency Food Production Facility set up by the Bank to avert a food crisis in Africa due to Russia's war in Ukraine. With its provision of $1.5 billion, the Facility provided agricultural seeds -- wheat, rice, maize, soybeans -- to 20 million African farmers to produce an additional 38 million tonnes of food in two years.

A project beneficiary transporting recently harvested maize.
Bolsonaro frequently minimised the significance of vaccination and social separation measures during the epidemic while in office. He repeatedly declared that he would not be vaccinated against the illness and that he had not had one

Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaros vaccination records are fraudulent, according to the countrys comptroller generals office, following an inquiry into potential manipulation with information on his COVID-19 immunisation card.

According to the data, Bolsonaro, a COVID-19 sceptic who has openly criticised the vaccination, had a shot of the immunizer in a Sao Paulo public healthcare centre in July 2021.

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According to a statement, the inquiry found that the former president departed the city the day before and did not leave Brasilia until three days later.

The nurse mentioned in the documents as administering the vaccination to Bolsonaro denied doing so and was no longer employed at the facility. The listed vaccine lot was also not available on that date, the comptroller generals office said.

It further stated that two further vaccination doses that were supposed to be administered to Bolsonaro were withdrawn from his record before to the start of the investigations, claiming they were also counterfeit.

Last May, Bolsonaros house in Brasilia was raided by the federal police under the vaccine probe. His cell phone was taken and a few of his assistants were taken into custody.

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In the past, Bolsonaro has denied knowing about or directing the insertion of fake material into his immunisation records.

When contacted for comment, his attorney did not get back to me right away.

Bolsonaro frequently minimised the significance of vaccination and social separation measures during the epidemic while in office. He repeatedly declared that he would not be vaccinated against the illness and that he had not had one.

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He also dismissed the effectiveness of vaccines and spread fears about the possible side effects of immunization, going so far as to falsely associate the vaccine with the development of AIDS.

Bolsonaro was infected with COVID-19, opens new tab in July 2020, nearly one year before the record of his first vaccine.
The US military later claimed that the rebels missiles had missed their target, despite the Iran-backed rebels insistence that they had hit the merchant tanker in the Gulf of Aden

Early on Friday morning, the Houthi rebels in Yemen claimed responsibility for yet another attack on a US ship. This came after the US started further attacks on rebel targets due to the rebels aggressiveness towards boats in and around the Red Sea.

The US military later claimed that the rebels missiles had missed their target, despite the Iran-backed rebels insistence that they had hit the merchant tanker in the Gulf of Aden.

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The Houthis claimed that their naval forces carried out a targeting operation against an American ship (the Chem Ranger), with several appropriate naval missiles, resulting in direct hits, in a statement that was shared on social media.

It provided no more information or a time for the most recent strike on international maritime channels.

In its own statement, the US militarys Central Command, which is responsible for the Middle East, said the Houthis on Thursday night launched two anti-ship ballistic missiles at M/V Chem Ranger, a Marshall Island-flagged, US-Owned, Greek-operated tanker.

The crew observed the missiles impact the water near the ship. There were no reported injuries or damage to the ship, the command said on social media platform X.

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Continued Huthi aggression against vessels in and around the Red Sea has led to strikes in Yemen by US and British forces, with the United States reporting its latest attack on Huthi targets on Thursday.

The specialist website Marine Traffic said the Chem Ranger was a chemical tanker sailing from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia to Kuwait.

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British maritime risk management company Ambrey said a Marshallese chemical tanker sailing the same route had reported an incident southeast of the Yemeni port of Aden.

An Indian warship responded to the event, it added.

The British maritime security agency UKMTO, without naming the vessel, also reported an incident in the same area, adding in a bulletin that the vessel and crew are safe, vessel proceeding to next port.

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Continued strikes

The Houthis have launched numerous attacks on shipping in the waters around Yemen since the war in Gaza erupted on October 7 with Hamass bloody attack on Israel.

The Huthi statement said the rebels were acting against the oppression of the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip and within the response to the American-British aggression against our country.

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US President Joe Biden on Thursday conceded the US counterstrikes had yet to deter the Huthi attacks, but added: Are they going to continue? Yes.

US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters that US forces on Thursday had hit a couple of anti-ship missiles that we had reason to believe were being prepared for imminent fire into the southern Red Sea.

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Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh said US Navy warplanes carried out the strikes, and that the air raids that began against the Houthis last week had been able to degrade and severely disrupt and destroy a significant number of their capabilities.

Several major shipping firms have halted their traffic through the area because of the attacks.

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Russia on Thursday said the United States should halt its strikes against the Houthis to aid a diplomatic resolution to the attacks on merchant vessels.

The most important thing now is to stop the aggression against Yemen, because the more the Americans and the British bomb, the less willing the H0uthis are to talk, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters in Moscow.

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Denmark, meanwhile, said Thursday it would join the coalition behind the air strikes against the Houthis.

The Scandinavian country, which has previously said it would send a frigate to the region, is home to shipping giant Maersk, which is among the firms to have rerouted ships away from the Red Sea.
NATO did not mention Russia by name in its announcement. But its top strategic document identifies Russia as the most significant and direct threat to NATO members security

NATO is launching its largest exercise since the Cold War, rehearsing how US troops could reinforce European allies in countries bordering Russia and on the alliances eastern flank if a conflict were to flare up with a near-peer adversary.

Some 90,000 troops are due to join the Steadfast Defender 2024 drills that will run through May, the alliances top commander Chris Cavoli said on Thursday.

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More than 50 ships from aircraft carriers to destroyers will take part, as well as more than 80 fighter jets, helicopters and drones and at least 1,100 combat vehicles including 133 tanks and 533 infantry fighting vehicles, NATO said.

Cavoli said the drills would rehearse NATOs execution of its regional plans, the first defence plans the alliance has drawn up in decades, detailing how it would respond to a Russian attack.

NATO did not mention Russia by name in its announcement. But its top strategic document identifies Russia as the most significant and direct threat to NATO members security.

Steadfast Defender 2024 will demonstrate NATOs ability to rapidly deploy forces from North America and other parts of the alliance to reinforce the defence of Europe, NATO said.

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The reinforcement will occur during a simulated emerging conflict scenario with a near-peer adversary, Cavoli told reporters in Brussels after a two-day meeting of national chiefs of defence.

The last exercises of a similar size were Reforger - during the Cold War in 1988 with 125,000 participants  and Trident Juncture in 2018 with 50,000 participants, according to NATO.

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The troops taking part in the exercises, which will involve simulations of getting personnel to Europe as well exercises on the ground, will come from NATO countries and Sweden, which hopes to join the alliance soon.

Allies signed off on the regional plans at their 2023 Vilnius summit, ending a long era in which NATO had seen no need for large-scale defence plans as Western countries fought smaller wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and felt certain post-Soviet Russia no longer posed an existential threat.

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During the second part of the Steadfast Defender exercise, a special focus will be on the deployment of NATOs quick reaction force to Poland on the alliances eastern flank.

Other major locations of the drills will be the Baltic states which are seen as most at risk from a potential Russian attack, Germany  a hub for incoming reinforcements  and countries on the fringes of the alliance such as Norway and Romania.
The arrangement puts an end to months of heated back and forth between Republicans and the son of President Joe Biden, who has been looking into his international business connections for more than a year in an attempt to link them to his father

Hunter Biden, the presidents son, had insisted on giving a public testimony for months, but now he has consented to go before House Republicans for a private deposition next month.

The two sides have decided that Hunter Biden will give a deposition on February 28. This was revealed by the House Oversight Committee on Thursday.

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The presidents son is a key witness in this investigation and hes gonna be able to come in now and sit down and answer questions in a substantive, orderly manner, Rep. James Comer, chair of the Oversight Committee, told reporters. He added that Hunter Biden will be able to testify publicly sometime after his deposition.

Hunter Bidens legal team verified the arrangement on Thursday night.

Republicans cancelled their plans on Tuesday to allow the lawyers more time to negotiate, even though they were going to bring a contempt resolution against him to the House floor this week. Had they cast a vote on the contempt resolution, the referral would have gone to the Justice Department, where Hunter Bidens prosecution would have been up to the US attorney for the District of Columbia.

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The arrangement puts an end to months of heated back and forth between Republicans and the son of President Joe Biden, who has been looking into his international business connections for more than a year in an attempt to link them to his father.

Republicans, led by Comer and Jordan, first subpoenaed the younger Biden in November, demanding that he appear before lawmakers in a private setting by mid-December. Biden and his attorneys refused to comply with the private interview, saying that it would allow information to be selectively leaked and manipulated by House Republicans and insisted that he would only testify in a public setting.

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When Republicans denied those terms, Hunter Biden and his attorneys made two separate appearances at the US Capitol, further angering congressional investigators. In both instances, Biden again refused to testify privately, instead delivering statements to the press where he defended his business affairs and castigated the yearslong investigations into him and his family.

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There is no evidence to support the allegations that my father was financially involved in my business because it did not happen, the presidents son said in remarks outside the Capitol in December.

He added, There is no fairness or decency in what these Republicans are doing  they have lied over and over about every aspect of my personal and professional life  so much so that their lies have become the false facts believed by too many people.

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But Hunter Biden and his legal team appeared to shift gears late last week when they sent a letter to Comer and Rep. Jim Jordan, the chair of the House Judiciary Committee, indicating a willingness for the first time to come in for a private deposition.

Abbe Lowell, Hunter Bidens attorney, wrote in a letter Friday that his clients cooperation is dependent on the committee issuing a new subpoena, which they will now do given the updated deposition date. They had argued that the two subpoenas sent in last year were not legitimate because they were issued before the full House authorized the impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden.

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The impeachment inquiry into the president, which began in September, has focused heavily on Hunter Biden and his international business affairs, questioning whether the president profited from that work. It has so far failed to uncover evidence directly implicating Joe Biden in wrongdoing involving his sons work.

Meanwhile, Hunter Biden is currently facing criminal charges in two states from the special counsel investigation. Hes charged with firearm counts in Delaware, alleging he broke laws against drug users having guns in 2018, a period when he has acknowledged struggling with addiction. Special counsel David Weiss filed additional charges last month, alleging he failed to pay about $1.4 million in taxes over three years.

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He has pleaded not guilty in both cases.
Across the Gaza Strip, Hamas terrorists are putting up stiff resistance. The conflict, now in its fourth month and showing no sign of ending, has also inflamed tensions across the Middle East.

Israeli cabinet minister and former military chief Gadi Eizenkot said that only a cease-fire deal can win the release of dozens of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza.

Eisenkot said that those claiming hostages could be freed through military pressure were spreading illusions. The former army chiefs comments, broadcast on Israels Channel 12 television station late Thursday, were the latest sign of a growing rift among political and military leaders over the direction of Israels war on Hamas.

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Eizenkot, whose youngest son was killed in fighting in the Gaza Strip last month, also said the fate of the hostages should take priority over other war aims, even if that meant missing out on an opportunity to take out the political leader of Hamas.

Across the Gaza Strip, Hamas terrorists are putting up stiff resistance. The conflict, now in its fourth month and showing no sign of ending, has also inflamed tensions across the Middle East.

Asked if the hostages could be released in a rescue mission similar to the 1976 operation that freed around 100 hostages in Entebbe, when Israeli commandos flew into Uganda at nightfall, he said it was unlikely to happen.

The hostages are scattered in such a way - even underground - that the likelihood (of such an operation) is extremely low, Eizenkot told the Channel 12 programme Uvda.

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We are still making efforts and looking for every opportunity but the likelihood is low and to say that this is how it will happen is to sow an illusion.

While more than 100 of the hostages seized during Hamas cross-border rampage into southern Israel on Oct. 7 were freed during a short-lived November truce, Israel says 132 remain in Gaza and that 27 have died in captivity.

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I think it is necessary to say boldly that it is impossible to bring the hostages back alive in the near future without a deal, Eizenkot said in the interview. Israel has bombarded the Gaza Strip in an air, ground and sea offensive designed to free the hostages and eradicate Hamas from the enclave since the shock attack that killed 1,200 mostly civilians. Nearly 25,000 Palestinians have been killed in the strikes on Gaza, the Gaza health ministry says.

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Asked whether harm to hostages must be avoided even if it means missing an opportunity to hit the political leader of Hamas in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, Eizenkot replied: The answer is yes.

But he added that the broader war aims would still be valid after any temporary ceasefire.

His interview, which was filmed at an earlier date but broadcast on Thursday evening, came hours after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a press conference that Israel would not accept anything less than total victory over Hamas.

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The wider region is also teetering dangerously toward a major escalation, with the Israel-Lebanon frontier seeing daily fighting.

Eizenkot, a war cabinet minister, said he had convinced officials in the grouping to hold off any attack on Hezbollah in Lebanon in the days after the Hamas attack. I think our presence there prevented Israel from making a grave strategic mistake, he said.

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Both Israel and Hezbollah have signalled they want to avoid war, but both say they are ready to fight if necessary.

Gazas Health Ministry says more than 24,400 Palestinians have died, and the United Nations says a quarter of the 2.3 million people trapped in Gaza are starving. In Israel, around 1,200 people were killed during the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas that sparked the war and saw some 250 people taken hostage by militants.

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With inputs from Reuters.
India exported goods worth USD 865.91 million to Peru and imported goods valued at USD 2.25 billion. Key Indian exports to Peru include motor vehicles/cars, cotton yarn and pharmaceuticals, while imports items include gold, copper ores and concentrates.

The next round of negotiations between India and South American nation Peru for a free trade agreement is scheduled to start on February 12, an official said. The proposed agreement is aimed at promoting bilateral trade and investments between the two countries.

In such pacts, two trading partners either significantly reduce or eliminate customs duties on the maximum number of goods traded between them, besides easing norms to promote trade in services.

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The sixth round of negotiations for a proposed trade agreement between India and the South American nation Peru is scheduled from February 12-15, the official said.

Issues which are expected to figure in the negotiations include rules of origin, trade in goods, customs procedures and trade facilitation, technical barriers to trade, sanitary and phytosanitary measures.

Negotiations for the agreement started in 2017 and the fifth round was concluded in August 2019. The negotiations were paused due to the coronavirus pandemic. During 2022-23, the bilateral trade between India and Peru stood at USD 3.12 billion.

India exported goods worth USD 865.91 million to Peru and imported goods valued at USD 2.25 billion. Key Indian exports to Peru include motor vehicles/cars, cotton yarn and pharmaceuticals, while imports items include gold, copper ores and concentrates.

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Peruvian businesses are also looking to export agricultural products like avocados, fresh grapes and blueberries, and natural resources like calcium phosphates to India.
The aim of the alliance is to bring together global good practices, knowledge sharing, investments in the field of womens health, education, and enterprise. It has garnered support from industry leaders such as MasterCard, Uber, Tata, TVS, Bayer, Godrej, SII and over 10,000 partners from CII

India on Friday announced setting up of the Alliance for Global Good-Gender Equity and Equality. The idea of the alliance emerged from the G20 Leaders Declaration and the countrys abiding commitment to the cause of women-led development envisioned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The project was announced on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum, 2024, at Davos.

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The project is a follow up of the activities of the Engagement Group and initiatives drafted under the G20 framework, inter alia, the Business 20, Women 20 and G20 EMPOWER, among others.

This alliance also aims at taking forward the commitments of G20 leaders for the benefit of the larger global community.

The Alliance for Global Good-Gender Equity and Equality is poised to make a profound impact, strategically aligning with a cluster of vital Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This initiative marks a significant stride toward achieving multiple SDGs, including SDG 3 - Good Health and Well-Being, 4- Quality Education, 5 - Gender Equality and Empowerment, 17- Global Partnership for Development and more, underscoring Indias commitment to gender equality and equity as a critical component of global development.

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The aim of the alliance is to bring together global good practices, knowledge sharing, investments in the field of womens health, education, and enterprise. It has garnered support from industry leaders such as MasterCard, Uber, Tata, TVS, Bayer, Godrej, Serum Institute of India, IMD Laussane, and over 10,000 partners from industry through CII.

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Supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the alliance will be housed and anchored by the CII Centre for Women Leadership. The World Economic Forum has come on board as a Network Partner and Invest India as an Institutional Partner.

Given Indias abiding commitment to Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam  One Earth, One Family, One Future and its continued efforts towards Sabka Saath, Sabka Prayaas, the Alliance for Global Good- Gender Equity and Equality is on the verge of being a force to reckon with on all gender-related issues of G20 nations.
Two days after Tehran claimed it had hit the bases of another group inside Pakistani territory, Pakistan on Thursday launched airstrikes against what it claimed to be separatist militants inside Iran in retaliation

Amid heightened tensions in the region, Iran announced on Friday that it had successfully completed an air defense drill utilizing drones intended to intercept hostile targets in an area spanning from its southern to southeastern shores.

Two days after Tehran claimed it had hit the bases of another group inside Pakistani territory, Pakistan on Thursday launched airstrikes against what it claimed to be separatist militants inside Iran in retaliation.

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Since the conflict between Israel and Hamas broke out on October 7, the tit-for-tat strikes have been the most high-profile cross-border incursions in recent memory and have sparked fears about further instability in the Middle East.

Iranian forces have successfully launched a new air defence method that uses drones to intercept and target hostile targets, state-run Press TV quoted an Iranian army spokesman as saying.

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The two-day drills, which began on Thursday, cover an area from Abadan in southwestern Khuzestan province to Chahbahar in southeastern Sistan and Baluchistan province that borders Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Press TV said the armys air force and navy, the aerospace force and the navy of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) participated in the exercises.

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Despite their long history of tense relations, Iran and Pakistan have both expressed a wish to defuse the tensions created by this weeks strikes.

Iran and its Middle Eastern militia allies have been attacking Israeli and American sites in the area in support of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, all against the backdrop of the ongoing conflict in that region.

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Iran has also carried out strikes in Iraq, claiming to have hit an Israeli espionage center, and Syria, targeting what it claimed to be Islamic State locations.

(With agency inputs)
The video depicts what appears to be an abandoned university building before explosions, likely caused by bombs concealed within, erupt and send shockwaves in all directions. The US has requested clarifications from Israel regarding the widely shared footage on various social media platforms

A video allegedly showing the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) targeting Palestine Universitys main campus building in Gaza is viral on social media.

The United States has requested clarifications from Israel regarding the widely shared footage on various social media platforms.

The video depicts what appears to be an abandoned university building before explosions, likely caused by bombs concealed within, erupt and send shockwaves in all directions.

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US State Department spokesperson David Miller refrained from making any comments on the video, citing insufficient information.

Birzeit University condemns the brutal assault and bombing of @Al-Israa University campus by the Israeli occupation south of #Gaza city, this occurred after seventy days of the occupation occupying the campus; turning it into their base, and military barracks for their forces pic.twitter.com/vot9s1z3tz  Birzeit University (@BirzeitU) January 18, 2024

Reports from witnesses in Khan Yunis, the main city in southern Gaza, described gunfire and air strikes. The Israeli military targeted this area, claiming it as a stronghold for members and leaders of Hamas.

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The Palestinian Red Crescent reported intense artillery fire near Al-Amal hospital, with Gazas health ministry, under Hamas control, confirming 77 deaths overnight.

The Israeli militarys Givati Brigade engaged in close-quarters combat, using tank fire and air support, claiming the elimination of dozens of terrorists, news agency AFP reported.

The United Nations warns that the ongoing conflict, which began with Hamas attacks on Israel on October 7, has displaced approximately 85 per cent of Gazas 2.4 million population. Many are now crammed into shelters, facing challenges in accessing essential resources like food, water, fuel, and medical care.

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The World Health Organization (WHO) reported 24 cases of hepatitis A and a significant number of jaundice cases, emphasizing the urgent need for improved aid access.

Since Hamass attacks on October 7, casualties in Israel stand at around 1,140, mostly civilians. Militants also took hostages, with some still held in Gaza. Israel claims that at least 27 hostages have been killed.

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In response, Israel has vowed to annihilate Hamas, launching relentless air and ground offensives. The Hamas-run health ministry reports at least 24,620 Palestinian casualties, comprising approximately 70 percent women, children, and adolescents.
Early on Friday, witnesses in Khan Yunis, the biggest city in the southern Gaza Strip, reported shooting and airstrikes. Israel claims that numerous leaders and members of the Palestinian Islamist movement, Hamas, are sheltering in Khan Yunis

Israel launched bombardment on southern Gaza on Friday following a public spat over the prospect of a Palestinian state, which Washington views as the only route to a sustainable peace, with its principal ally, the United States.

Early on Friday, witnesses in Khan Yunis, the biggest city in the southern Gaza Strip, reported shooting and airstrikes. Israel claims that numerous leaders and members of the Palestinian Islamist movement, Hamas, are sheltering in Khan Yunis.

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The health ministry in Gaza, which is operated by Hamas, stated that scores of people were injured and 77 people had died overnight, while the Palestinian Red Crescent reported intense artillery shelling close to the Al-Amal hospital.

According to the Israeli military, the Givati Brigade was engaged in combat as far south as its forces had advanced in the battle.

The soldiers eliminated dozens of terrorists in close-quarters combat and with the assistance of tank fire and air support, it said.

The United Nations says the war, which began with the unprecedented Hamas attacks on Israel on October 7, has displaced roughly 85 percent of Gazas 2.4 million people.

Many are crowded into shelters where they struggle to get food, water, fuel and medical care. UN agencies say improved aid access is needed urgently as famine and disease loom.

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The World Health Organization (WHO) said overnight it had counted 24 cases of hepatitis A and thousands of cases of jaundice likely linked to the spread of the viral liver infection.

The inhumane living conditions  almost no drinking water, clean toilets or ability to keep the surroundings clean  will allow hepatitis A to spread further, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on X, formerly Twitter, describing the health crisis as explosive.

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Hamass October 7 attacks resulted in the deaths of about 1,140 people in Israel, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

Militants also seized about 250 hostages during the attacks, around 132 of whom Israel says remain in Gaza. At least 27 hostages are believed to have been killed, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli figures.

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Israel has vowed to annihilate Hamas in response and its relentless air and ground offensive has killed at least 24,620 Palestinians, around 70 percent of them women, children and adolescents, according to figures from the Hamas-run health ministry.

We will not be satisfied with anything less than total victory, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a news conference on Thursday, warning that victory will take many months.

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Total victory meant the elimination of terrorist leaders, the destruction of Hamass operational and military capabilities, the return of our hostages to their homes, as well as the demilitarisation of Gaza, he said.

A Palestinian state?

Washington supports Israels campaign in Gaza, but despite otherwise close ties, the two allies publicly aired differences again this week over the way forward.

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US Secretary of State Antony Blinken used the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, to renew his call for a pathway to a Palestinian state.

But Netanyahu again flatly rejected the suggestion on Thursday.

Israel must have security control over the entire territory west of the Jordan River, he said. This is a necessary condition, which contradicts the idea of (Palestinian) sovereignty.

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Netanyahu maintained that a prime minister in Israel should be able to say no, even to our best friends.

Washington believes that the creation and recognition of a viable Palestinian state is necessary to achieve security for Israel.

We obviously see things differently, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said when asked about Netanyahus comments.

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Responding to Netanyahus remarks, the official spokesperson for Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, said that without an independent Palestinian state there will be no security and stability in the region.

The entire region is on the verge of a volcanic eruption due to the aggressive policies pursued by the Israeli occupation authorities against the Palestinian people and their legitimate rights, Nabil Abu Rudeineh said, according to the official Wafa news agency.

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Abbass Palestinian Authority exercises limited rule in the occupied West Bank, where the Israeli army also carried out raids overnight, notably in Tulkarem.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health has counted at least six deaths in the city since Wednesday.

Huthi attacks

The international community already fears that the war in Gaza could spill over into the wider region, with daily exchanges of fire on the Israeli-Lebanese border, an increase in attacks by Huthi rebels on merchant ships in the waters around Yemen and the subsequent intensification of US strikes there in response.

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The Iran-backed Huthis have launched attacks against what they deem Israeli-linked vessels in the vital shipping lanes of the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden in support of Palestinians in Gaza.

They have also said that US- and British-linked ships were fair game since the two countries launched air strikes against targets in Yemen over the past week.

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The Huthis claimed responsibility early on Friday for another attack on a US-owned and operated ship in the Gulf of Aden.

The US militarys Central Command said two missiles were launched at the Marshall Islands-flagged Chem Ranger, but the vessel and its crew were safe and proceeding to the next port.

While vowing the rebels would continue such attacks, a senior Huthi official promised safe passage through the Red Sea for Russian and Chinese vessels in an interview published by the Russian outlet Izvestia on Friday.
announcement

Following a serious diplomatic incident in which two international staff of the African Development Bank Group based in the Bank's Country Office in Ethiopia were severely assaulted by security agents of the Government of Ethiopia, the African Development Bank lodged a formal complaint with the Government of Ethiopia over the incident.

While a high-level mission dispatched by the Bank visited Ethiopia in November 2023 for direct engagement and discussions with senior government officials, the matter remained unresolved. Concerns remained about the security, safety, and the protection of the rights, privileges and diplomatic immunities of the Bank's staff and the respect for the Host Country Agreement with the Bank.

Consequently, the African Development Bank withdrew all its international staff from Ethiopia.

In further pursuance of a resolution of the matter, the President of the African Development Bank, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, travelled to Addis Ababa and held meetings with the Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Abiy Ahmed, from 29 to 31 December 2023.

The meetings were fruitful and have brought a resolution to the matter.

The Bank has subsequently received formal apologies from the Prime Minister on behalf of the Government of Ethiopia, with firm assurances of the security and safety of the Bank and its personnel, the respect for the rights, privileges, and diplomatic immunities of staff and the Host Country Agreement of the Government of Ethiopia with the African Development Bank.

The Bank further received firm commitment by the Government to investigate and share the formal report of the investigations into the incident with the Bank and to ensure full accountability for all involved.

Furthermore, the Government committed to fully cooperate with the Bank on investigations into the issue of missing funds that were to have been transferred to the Bank.

The African Development Bank is delighted with and reassured by the strong personal leadership and firm commitment shown by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, which have led to the resolution of the impasse following the incident.

The African Development Bank has always had an excellent relationship and partnership with the Government of Ethiopia. The Bank's ongoing portfolio in Ethiopia is $1.24 billion covering 22 projects.

In light of the productive meetings between Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and the President of the African Development Bank, Dr. Adesina, and the formal apologies of the government and the firm commitments of the Prime Minister to address the issues related to the incident, the African Development Bank will now resume its normal operations in Ethiopia.

All international staff of the African Development Bank will now return to Ethiopia.

The African Development Bank wishes to thank the general public, the international community and the Bank's shareholders, as well as its staff, management and Boards of Directors, for their concerns, understanding and support over the incident.

The African Development Bank looks forward to a more reinvigorated partnership with the Government of Ethiopia.
Under interim peace accords, Israels finance ministry collects tax on behalf of the Palestinians and makes monthly transfers to the PA, which has limited self rule in the occupied West Bank, but there have been constant wrangles over the arrangement.

The security cabinet of Israel explored the option of transferring funds earmarked for the Palestinian Authority through a third party, which would subsequently transfer the funds to Ramallah. However, no vote was taken to implement this potential solution during a meeting held last night, as reported by Hebrew media outlets.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has refused to hand over the millions of dollars in tax revenues that are owed to the Palestinian Authority since October 7, suspecting that the cash could be transferred to Hamas members.

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Under interim peace accords, Israels finance ministry collects tax on behalf of the Palestinians and makes monthly transfers to the PA, which has limited self rule in the occupied West Bank, but there have been constant wrangles over the arrangement.

Meanwhile, a member of Israels War Cabinet said that only a cease-fire deal can win the release of dozens of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza and that those claiming they can be freed through military pressure are spreading illusions.

Former army chief Gadi Eisenkot, whose son was killed several weeks before while fighting in Gaza, told the investigative program Uvda, broadcast on Israels Channel 12 television station late Thursday, that the hostages will only return alive if there is a deal, linked to a significant pause in fighting.

He said dramatic rescue operations are unlikely because the hostages are apparently spread out, many of them in underground tunnels. Claiming hostages can be freed by means other than a deal is to spread illusions.

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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant have said the fighting will continue until Hamas is crushed, and argued that only military action can win the release of the hostages.

In a thinly veiled criticism of Netanyahu, Eisenkot also said strategic decisions about the direction of the war, now in its fourth month, must be made urgently, and that a discussion about an endgame should have begun immediately after fighting started Oct. 7 in response to the deadly Hamas attack on southern Israel.

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With inputs from agencies.
Throughout the almost two-year conflict, Kyiv has attacked Russian oil and gas infrastructure, claiming that these actions are only reprisal for strikes on Ukrainian territory

According to a source in the Ukrainian security services who spoke to AFP, Ukraine was responsible for the strike that set off a massive fire at an oil facility in western Russia on Friday.

After Kyiv claimed another attack on an oil storage facility in the northern Leningrad area of Russia on Thursday, this is the second strike on a Russian oil stockpile in as many days.

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Throughout the almost two-year conflict, Kyiv has attacked Russian oil and gas infrastructure, claiming that these actions are only reprisal for strikes on Ukrainian territory.

A depot in the town of Klintsy, around 70 kilometres (45 miles) from the Ukrainian border, was the target of the attack on Friday.

The strike was an operation carried out by the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence, a Ukrainian security source confirmed to AFP, without elaborating.

Social media footage showed a massive cloud of black smoke billowing over the Klintsy facility following the attack, which Russian officials said was a drone strike.

Russia said it shot down a Ukrainian drone over the region, but before it was intercepted it managed to drop munitions on the depot, sparking the fire.

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There were no casualties, but 13 fire trucks were deployed to battle the flames, regional governor Alexander Bogomaz said.

A train especially equipped to deal with large fires was also scrambled to the town to help battle the blaze, a local train operator said.

The fire will not affect rail traffic in Klintsy, it said.

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On Thursday, Uraine claimed responsibility for a rare drone attack in the northern Leningrad region, nearly 1,000 kilometres (around 620 miles) from the border.
Israel launched the offensive after an unprecedented cross-border attack by Hamas on Oct. 7 that killed 1,200 people and took some 250 others hostage. Roughly 130 hostages are believed by Israel to remain in Hamas captivity

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rebuffed US proposals on Thursday to reduce Israels military incursion in the Gaza Strip or take moves towards establishing a Palestinian state after the conflict, prompting an instant rebuke from the White House.

The angry exchange underscored what has become a significant schism between the two partners over the extent of Israels assault and its intentions for the future of the besieged enclave.

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We obviously see it differently, White House national security spokesman John Kirby said.

The US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, stated that Israel would never have genuine security if there was no road towards Palestinian independence, the day before Netanyahus speech. Also, the White House said earlier this week that Israel should ease off on its catastrophic military assault in Gaza, citing the right time to do so.

Netanyahu adopted a combative stance during a nationally broadcast press conference, stating over and again that Israel would not stop its attack until it achieved its objectives of eliminating the Hamas militant organisation in Gaza and freeing all of the captives that Hamas had left behind.

He rebuffed assertions made by an increasing number of Israeli detractors that such objectives are unachievable and promised to continue pushing for several months. We will not settle for anything short of an absolute victory, Netanyahu said.

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Israel launched the offensive after an unprecedented cross-border attack by Hamas on Oct. 7 that killed 1,200 people and took some 250 others hostage. Roughly 130 hostages are believed by Israel to remain in Hamas captivity. The war has stoked tensions across the region, threatening to ignite other conflicts.

Israels assault, one of the deadliest and most destructive military campaigns in recent history, has killed nearly 25,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities, caused widespread destruction and uprooted over 80% of the territorys 2.3 million people from their homes.

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The staggering cost of the war has led to increasing calls from the international community to halt the offensive. After initially giving Israel wall-to-wall support in the early days of the war, the United States, Israels closest ally, has begun to express misgivings and urged Netanyahu to spell out his vision for postwar Gaza.

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The United States has said the internationally recognized Palestinian Authority, which governs semi-autonomous zones in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, should be revitalized and return to Gaza. Hamas ousted the authority from Gaza in 2007.

The US has also called for steps toward the establishment of a Palestinian state. The Palestinians seek Gaza, the West Bank and east Jerusalem for their state. Those areas were captured by Israel in 1967.

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Speaking Wednesday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Blinken said the two-state solution was the best way to protect Israel, unify moderate Arab countries and isolate Israels arch-enemy, Iran.

Without a pathway to a Palestinian state, he said, Israel would not get genuine security.

At the same conference, Saudi Arabias foreign minister said the kingdom is ready to establish full relations with Israel as part of a larger political agreement. But that can only happen through peace for the Palestinians, through a Palestinian state, he said.

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Netanyahu, who leads a far-right government opposed to Palestinian statehood, repeated his longstanding opposition to a two-state solution. He said a Palestinian state would become a launching pad for attacks on Israel.

He said Israel must have security control over the entire territory west of the Jordan River, adding: That collides with the idea of sovereignty. What can we do?

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This truth I tell to our American friends, and I put the brakes on the attempt to coerce us to a reality that would endanger the state of Israel, he said.

The comments prompted an immediate rebuke from the White House. Kirby said that President Joe Biden would not stop working toward a two-state solution.

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Before Oct. 7, Israeli society was bitterly divided over Netanyahus plan for a judicial overhaul. Since the attack, the country has rallied behind the war. But divisions have once again begun to surface over Netanyahus handling of the war.

Families of the hostages and their many supporters have called for a new cease-fire that could bring them home. Hamas released over 100 hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners during a weeklong cease-fire in November.

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Dozens of people attended a somber gathering in Tel Aviv in solidarity with the family of Kfir Bibas, the youngest Israeli hostage, marking his first birthday. The red-haired infant and his 4-year-old brother Ariel were taken hostage along with their mother, Shiri, and their father, Yarden. All four remain in captivity.

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Commentators have begun to question whether Netanyahus objectives are realistic, given the slow pace of the offensive and growing international criticism, including genocide accusations at the U.N. world court, which Israel vehemently denies.

Netanyahus opponents accuse him of delaying any discussion of postwar scenarios to avoid looming investigations of governmental failures, keep his coalition intact and put off elections. Polls show that the popularity of Netanyahu, who is on trial for corruption charges, has plummeted during the war.

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Medicines bound for hostages enter Gaza

There was no word Thursday on whether medicines that entered the territory as part of a deal brokered by France and Qatar had been distributed to dozens hostages with chronic illnesses who are being held by Hamas.

The agreement was the first to be brokered between the warring sides since November. The deal includes large shipments of medicine, food and humanitarian aid for Palestinian civilians as well.

Qatar confirmed late Wednesday that the medicine had entered Gaza, but it was not yet clear if it had been distributed to the hostages, who are being held in secret locations, including underground bunkers.

The International Committee for the Red Cross, which helped facilitate the hostage releases, said it was not involved in distributing the medicine.

Fighting in Gaza

Hamas has continued to fight back across Gaza, even in the most devastated areas, and launch rockets into Israel. It says it will not release any more hostages until there is a permanent cease-fire, something Israel and the United States, its top ally, have ruled out.

Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have heeded Israeli evacuation orders and packed into southern Gaza, where shelters run by the United Nations are overflowing and massive tent camps have gone up.

Israel has continued to strike what it says are militant targets in all parts of Gaza, often killing women and children. Early Thursday, medics said an Israeli airstrike on a home killed 16 people, half of them children, in the southern Gaza town of Rafah.

Israel blames the high civilian death toll on Hamas because it fights in dense residential areas. Israel says its forces have killed roughly 9,000 militants, without providing evidence, and that 193 of its own soldiers have been killed since the Gaza ground offensive began.

On Thursday, the Israeli army said it had destroyed the heart of Hamas weapons manufacturing industry near a major north-south road in central Gaza. It said the complex included weapons factories and an extensive tunnel network used to ship arms throughout Gaza.

War reverberates across region

The war has rippled across the Middle East, with Iranian-backed groups attacking US and Israeli targets. Low-intensity fighting between Israel and Hezbollah militants in Lebanon threatens to erupt into all-out war, and Houthi rebels in Yemen continue to target international shipping despite United States-led airstrikes.

The Israeli military said it fired an interceptor at a suspicious aerial target  likely a drone or missile  approaching over the Red Sea on Thursday, triggering air raid sirens in the southern city of Eilat. The Houthis have launched drones and missiles toward Israel that mostly fell short or were intercepted and shot down.

Meanwhile, Iran has launched a series of missile attacks targeting what it described as an Israeli spy base in Iraq and militant bases in Syria.
The comments came after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a press conference he had told Washington that he objected to any Palestinian statehood that did not guarantee Israels security

There is no way to solve Israels long-term security challenges in the region and the short-term challenges of rebuilding Gaza without the establishment of a Palestinian state, US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said on Thursday.

Speaking at a news briefing, Miller said Israel had an opportunity right now as countries in the region were ready to provide security assurances to Israel.

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But there is no way to solve their long-term challenges to provide lasting security and there is no way to solve the short-term challenges of rebuilding Gaza and establishing governance in Gaza and providing security for Gaza without the establishment of a Palestinian state.

The comments came after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a press conference he had told Washington that he objected to any Palestinian statehood that did not guarantee Israels security.

I clarify that in any arrangement in the foreseeable future, with an accord or without an accord, Israel must have security control over the entire territory west of the Jordan River. Thats a necessary condition. It clashes with the principle of sovereignty but what can you do, Netanyahu said in Tel Aviv.

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He added that the lack of Palestinian statehood had not stood in the way of normalization agreements with Arab states a few years ago and that he still intended to add more countries to those accords.

Israel and its biggest backer the United States appear at odds now, with Netanyahu and his right-wing coalition government largely rejecting the establishment of a Palestinian state even though Washington maintains that the two-state solution is the only feasible way to bring lasting peace to the region.

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US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in his fourth trip to the Middle East last week since the October 7 attack by Hamas, took a rough agreement to Israel that its predominately Muslim neighbours would help rehabilitate Gaza after the war and continue economic integration with Israel, but only if it committed to eventually allowing the creation of an independent Palestinian state.

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US-brokered talks on a Palestinian state in territory now occupied by Israel collapsed almost a decade ago.

The latest episode of hostilities in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict started when Hamas militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people and taking 240 hostages. Israel says more than 130 remain in captivity.

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Israel responded to Hamas assault with a siege, bombardment and ground invasion of Gaza that have devastated the tiny coastal territory and killed more than 24,000 people, according to Gaza health officials.

Despite the disagreements, U.S. support for long-time ally Israel remains ironclad, Miller said.

This is not a question of the United States pressuring them to do anything. This is about the United States laying out for them the opportunity that they have.
Early in the new year, Pyongyang announced that it had tested an alleged underwater nuclear attack drone, or Haeil, which translates to tsunami in Korean, many times, and that the drone could release a radioactive tsunami

In reaction to joint naval drills by Washington, Seoul, and Tokyo that featured a US nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, North Korea announced on Friday that it had tested an underwater nuclear weapon system.

In response, Pyongyang conducted an important test of its underwater nuclear weapon system Haeil-5-23 under development in the East Sea of Korea, according to a statement from the defence ministry carried by state news agency KCNA. The statement claimed that the drills were seriously threatening the security of the North.

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Early in the new year, Pyongyang announced that it had tested an alleged underwater nuclear attack drone, or Haeil, which translates to tsunami in Korean, many times, and that the drone could release a radioactive tsunami.

Experts have questioned if Pyongyang possesses one of these weapons.

Earlier this week, South Korea, the United States and Japan carried out joint naval drills in waters off southern Jeju Island, which they said were in response to North Koreas Sunday launch of a hypersonic missile.

The drills involved nine warships from the three countries, including the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson.

Pyongyang said Friday the drills constituted a cause of further destabilising the regional situation, and they are an act of seriously threatening the security of the North, the defence ministry spokesman said, according to KCNA.

North Koreas own test  the exact date of which was not given  ensured our armys underwater nuke-based countering posture is being further rounded off and its various maritime and underwater responsive actions will continue to deter the hostile military maneuvers of the navies of the US and its allies, the spokesman said.

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Recent months have seen a sharp deterioration in long-tense ties between the two Koreas, with both sides jettisoning key tension-reducing agreements, ramping up frontier security, and conducting live-fire drills along the border.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un last week declared the South his countrys principal enemy, jettisoned agencies dedicated to reunification and outreach and threatened war over even 0.001 mm of territorial infringement.

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Drones deployed?

The new announcement on the underwater test is a clear sign of Haeil drones deployment to its navy fleets for use, said Hong Min, a senior analyst at the Korea Institute for National Unification in Seoul.

The Norths statement illustrates Pyongyangs stance that it will respond in proportion to military exercise by the South, Japan and the US, he said, adding that the North didnt appear to be trying to cross the line so as to provoke an armed conflict.

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Ahn Chan-il, a defector-turned-researcher who runs the World Institute for North Korea Studies, told AFP that it was difficult to determine the exact capabilities of North Koreas purported underwater nuclear weapons systems.

Considering North Koreas defence science level and the fact that the weapon is still in a developing stage, it is not yet at a stage to pose a significant threat, he said.

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At Pyongyangs year-end policy meetings, Kim threatened a nuclear attack on the South and called for a build-up of his countrys military arsenal ahead of armed conflict he warned could break out any time.

On Sunday, the North launched a solid-fuel hypersonic missile, just days after Pyongyang staged live-fire exercises near the countrys tense maritime border with South Korea, which prompted counter-exercises and evacuation orders for some border islands belonging to the South.

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Kim also successfully put a spy satellite into orbit late last year, after receiving what Seoul said was Russian help, in exchange for arms transfers for Moscows war in Ukraine.
The rare military actions in the porous border of Baluchistan had stoked regional tensions already enflamed by the Israel-Hamas war. Iran carried out a missile attack on what it called terrorist targets in Pakistan on Tuesday, with Pakistan in turn striking militant targets inside Iran.

Pakistan and Iran agreed to de-escalate tensions and expressed their willingness to work with Iran on all issues in a call between their foreign ministers on Friday after both countries exchanged drone and missile strikes on militant bases on each others territory.

The tit-for-tat strikes by the two countries are the highest-profile cross-border intrusions in recent years and have raised alarm about wider instability in the region since the war between Israel and Hamas erupted on Oct. 7.

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A statement from Pakistans foreign office said Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani had spoken to his Iranian counterpart, Hossein Amirabdollahian, on Friday, a day after Pakistan carried out strikes in Iran.

Iran said Thursdays strikes killed nine people in a border village on its territory, including four children. Pakistan said the Iranian attack on Tuesday killed two children.

Foreign Minister Jilani expressed Pakistans readiness to work with Iran on all issues based on spirit of mutual trust and cooperation, the statement said. He underscored the need for closer cooperation on security issues. The contact follows a call between Jilani and his Turkish counterpart in which Islamabad said Pakistan has no interest or desire in escalation. Amirabdollahian, in comments quoted by Irans state media, said: Pakistans sovereignty and territorial integrity are of great interest to us and bilateral cooperation is essential to neutralise and destroy terrorist camps on Pakistani soil.

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The rare military actions in the porous border of Baluchistan had stoked regional tensions already enflamed by the Israel-Hamas war. Iran carried out a missile and drone attack on what it called terrorist targets in Pakistan on Tuesday night, with Pakistan in turn striking militant targets inside Iran on Thursday.

Pakistan recalled its ambassador from Tehran and said Irans envoy  on a visit home  was blocked from returning to Islamabad.

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The United Nations and the United States appealed for restraint, while China offered to mediate.

But after speaking by phone, Pakistans Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani and his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir-Abdollahian agreed close coordination on counter terrorism and other aspects of mutual concern should be strengthened.

They also agreed to de-escalate the situation, according to a summary of the conversation released by Islamabads foreign ministry.

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After the call, Amir-Abdollahian said in a statement the cooperation of the two countries to neutralise and destroy terrorist camps in Pakistan is essential.

The muted rhetoric matched analysts predictions that both sides would seek to defuse the confrontation.

The upshot of the new situation is that the two countries are seemingly and symbolically even, said Antoine Levesques, of the International Institute for Strategic Studies.

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- Border closure fears -

Meanwhile on Friday, Pakistani Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar held an emergency security meeting with military and intelligence chiefs.

Kakar cut short his visit to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland following the strikes.

His caretaker government is leading Pakistan into general elections in three weeks which have been marred by allegations of pre-poll rigging.

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Tehran and Islamabad have both said they hit their own domestic militants sheltering on foreign territory.

A collective death toll of 11  mostly women and children  was reported from both sides of the border that bisects an arid region where militant movements have simmered for decades.

In the remote villages near the strike site in Panjgur district, where mobile signal is rarely available, farmers pieced together the events from reports passed on from visiting security officials who set up checkpoints in the area.

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Helicopters were flying overhead and going in the direction of where the Iranian strike hit, but we didnt know what had happened, Maulana Mohammad Sadiq, 42, the prayer leader of a small seminary around five kilometres (three miles) from where a missile hit, told AFP on Thursday.

Villagers feared that deteriorating relations between the two sides could lead to border closures and cut off residents from Iranian trade, which the area relies on for employment and food imports.

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If Iranians close the border, the people will starve and it will cause more militancy because youth will join the separatist organisations, said 55-year-old Haji Mohammad Islam.

Baluch separatists have been waging a low-level insurgency against Pakistani authorities from the largely ungoverned, impoverished region fighting for a better share of mineral resources.

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Rights groups say the militarys crackdown on the insurgency has included widespread enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings.

Militancy has also risen sharply along Pakistans border with Afghanistan further north, after the Talibans return to power there in 2021.

With inputs from agencies.
The unprecedented attacks by both Pakistan and Iran on either side of their border appeared to target Baluch militant groups with similar separatist goals. The countries accuse each other of providing a haven to the groups in their respective territories.

With an aim to discuss and repair the ongoing tiff with Iran following their military strikes in each others territory, Pakistans civil-military leadership held a high-level consultative meeting.

According to the media report, caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar presided over the meeting of the National Security Council (NSC) while services chiefs, cabinet ministers, and other officials were in attendance.

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The unprecedented attacks by both Pakistan and Iran on either side of their border appeared to target Baluch militant groups with similar separatist goals. The countries accuse each other of providing a haven to the groups in their respective territories.

The flare-up between Iran and Pakistan comes as the Middle East remains unsettled by Israels war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip, and on the heels of Iranian airstrikes late Monday in Iraq and Syria. Those airstrikes were in response to a suicide bombing in Iran by Islamic State militants in early January that killed over 90 people.

Iran and nuclear-armed Pakistan have long regarded each other with suspicion over militant attacks, but analysts say this weeks tit-for-tat strikes were at least partially prompted by internal political pressures.

Before the meeting, Foreign Ministers of Pakistan Jalil Abbas Jilani and his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir-Abdollahian agreed to the spirit of mutual trust and cooperation and the need for closer cooperation on security issues during a telephone talk.

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The NSC meeting will be followed by a federal cabinet meeting chaired by the Prime Minister.

This weeks airstrikes between Iran and Pakistan that killed at least 11 people mark a significant escalation in fraught relations between the neighbours.

Long-running, low-level insurgencies on either side of the border have frustrated both countries, and the apparent targets of the strikes  Irans on Tuesday and Pakistans response on Thursday  were insurgent groups whose goal is an independent Baluchistan for ethnic Baluch areas in Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

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Irans military on Thursday began a planned annual air defence drill stretching from its port of Chabahar near Pakistan in the east, all the way across the country to its border with Iraq in the west. The drill will include live fire from aircraft, drones and air defence systems.

Fresh strikes by Iran and Pakistan cannot be ruled out, although this weeks attacks raise questions about the preparedness of their own militaries, particularly their radar and air defence systems.

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For Pakistan, such systems are crucial given its constant, low-level tensions with its nuclear-armed rival, India. Its equipment has long been deployed along that frontier, rather than its border with Iran. Separately, Iran relies on radar and air defence systems in the case of potential strikes by its main enemy, the United States.

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With inputs from agencies.
Many commercial shippers have diverted vessels to other routes following attacks in the Red Sea by the Houthis, who control much of Yemen and say they are acting in solidarity with the Palestinians amid the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Belgium will reportedly supply a marine ship to an EU mission to protect ships in the Red Sea from attacks by the Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen.

The Iran-aligned Houthi group has been targeting vessels in the region since November, impacting commerce on a route that accounts for as much as 15% of the worlds shipping traffic. The Houthis say they are acting in solidarity with Palestinians during Israels war with militant group Hamas in Gaza.

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Many commercial shippers have diverted vessels to other routes following attacks in the Red Sea by the Houthis, who control much of Yemen and say they are acting in solidarity with the Palestinians amid the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

While the Iran-backed group claims it only targets ships with ties to Israel, vessels with no clear connection to Israel have been attacked as well.

Recently, European Union member states have given initial backing to a naval mission to protect ships from attacks by Yemens Iran-backed Houthi militia in the Red Sea, European diplomats said on Tuesday, after the launch of a U.S.-led mission in the region.

Many commercial shippers have diverted vessels to other routes following attacks in the Red Sea by the Houthi militants, who control much of Yemen and say they are acting in solidarity with the Palestinians as Israel and Hamas wage war in Gaza.

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With inputs from agencies.
The Israeli onslaught has destroyed much of the Gaza Strip, which is home to over 2.3 million people. It was sparked by an extraordinary Hamas invasion into Israel on October 7, which resulted in the deaths of nearly 1,200 people, largely civilians, and the kidnapping of about 250 more

Top Israeli officials are growing rifts over how the battle against Hamas in Gaza is being handled. The countrys prime minister rebuffed pleas from the US to halt the attack, and a member of the War Cabinet questioned the plan for freeing the captives.

The only way to free the dozens of hostages held by Islamic militants in Gaza is through a cease-fire agreement, and any assertion that they could be set free in any other way is propagating illusions, according to former army chief and one of the War Cabinets four members Gadi Eisenkot, in his first remarks on the wars progress.

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Eisenkots remarks late on Thursday represented the most recent indication of dissent among military and political elites on the course of Israels now-fourth-month-old assault against Hamas.

The Israeli onslaught has destroyed much of the Gaza Strip, which is home to over 2.3 million people. It was sparked by an extraordinary Hamas invasion into Israel on October 7, which resulted in the deaths of nearly 1,200 people, largely civilians, and the kidnapping of about 250 more. More than 130 captives are reportedly still in Gaza, according to Israel, however not all of them are thought to be alive.

According to Gaza health officials, Israels offensiveone of the bloodiest and most damaging military assaults in recent memoryhas killed up to 25,000 Palestinians and displaced more than 80% of the territorys inhabitants.

Israel has also cut off all but a trickle of supplies into the besieged Gaza Strip, including food, water and fuel. Several dozen trucks with critical supplies now enter the territory each day, just a fraction of the pre-war volume of about 500 trucks. Both the United States and United Nations have said more aid needs to be delivered.

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A communications blackout in the territory was in its seventh day Friday, the longest such blackout since the war began. The lack of communications hampers the coordination of aid deliveries and rescue efforts.

The United States, Israels closest ally, has provided strong military and political support for the campaign, but has been increasingly calling on Israel to scale back its assault and take steps toward establishing a Palestinian state after the war  a suggestion Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has soundly rejected.

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Speaking during a nationally televised news conference Thursday, Netanyahu reiterated his longstanding opposition to a two-state solution, arguing that a Palestinian state would become a launchpad for attacks on Israel.

Israel must have security control over the entire territory west of the Jordan River, Netanyahu said, adding: That collides with the idea of sovereignty. What can we do?
Pokusin, who the local media reports has a number of health issues, was accused by prosecutors of having plans to go to Ukraine in order to fight against the Russian army

According to a Russian court, a 61-year-old retired airline pilot was given a sentence of more than eight years in prison on Friday for allegedly plotting to enlist in the Ukrainian army.

Igor Pokusin, who was born in the Ukrainian city of Odesa, scribbled Glory to Ukraine on the wall of a local museum in his home town of Siberia and splattered paint on a flag supporting the armed forces in March 2022.

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Rights groups claimed that after receiving a six-month suspended sentence for those offenses, he was accused of treason based on wiretapped conversations with relatives in Ukraine.

Pokusin, who the local media reports has a number of health issues, was accused by prosecutors of having plans to go to Ukraine in order to fight against the Russian army.

Pokusin was sentenced to three years in prison the day after a human rights activist was found guilty of discrediting Moscows army in a social media post.

(With agency inputs)
analysis

South Africa's government conservation organisations have experienced substantial budget cuts. Even after steps to cut costs, South African National Parks reported a big shortfall (R223 million or about US$11.92 million) for 2021/22. So did the provincial body KZN Ezemvelo Wildlife (R89 million; about US$4.77 million).

South African conservation authorities manage millions of hectares of protected areas. However, recruitment freezes and insufficient funds have reduced their ability to conduct basic operations. One of these is biodiversity monitoring.

Knowing which plants and animals are present in protected areas and where they are is vital for making conservation decisions. You need to know what you have and where it is to monitor and manage it. This kind of information is known as biodiversity occurrence data.

Low data collection

With the current shortage of staff capacity in South African government conservation organisations, this data is not always collected, processed, curated or available.

Through our research and personal experience, we know that many existing species checklists for protected areas are out of date. This is because of species name changes, unrecorded species and changes in species occurrences. When there is capacity to conduct monitoring, it is not always possible to use the data. That's because there isn't capacity to digitise, clean, standardise, curate and analyse the data. Data is also lost when staff leave conservation organisations and data isn't managed or handed over properly.

Our study

With funding from the JRS Biodiversity Foundation, we started a project to improve the management of biodiversity occurrence data at South African National Parks. We reviewed the literature and sources of data and the tools available to manage biodiversity information.

There is a wealth of resources that protected area staff can use. And the public can assist in many ways. In our paper, we provide recommendations for cash-constrained conservation organisations to use these tools to record, collate, standardise, and share information about species locality.

Read more: South Africa is famous for its biodiversity: a new network will store and manage its plant and animal samples

Resources and tools for collating data

The "FAIR" data principles of Findability, Accessibility, Interoperability and Reusability are very important to make data accessible and useful. Biodiversity information standards help make data compatible across different organisations. The Darwin Core standard is commonly used on global data-sharing platforms like the Global Biodiversity Information Facility. This platform includes herbarium and museum specimen records and citizen science records from recording platforms such as iNaturalist. Data from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility is useful for developing and maintaining species checklists.

Maintaining a list of current species is not as simple as it sounds. Names of species change. Scientific discoveries reclassify species in different parts of their range. Taxonomists adjust the alignment of species to related species in other countries. The South African National Biodiversity Institute annually releases an updated South African National Plant Checklist of scientific names. This is a useful source of current accepted plant names for the country.

A national list for animals does not yet exist, so South African scientists use other sources to check animal species names. For example, marine biologists use the World Register of Marine Species as a source of accepted names. The Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) also provides a way to standardise names in checklists. This way you know whether two different names from different places or times refer to the same plant or animal. GBIF makes this possible by indicating whether each name associated with an observation record is the current accepted name.

Ordinary citizens can contribute to collating biodiversity data through internet-based platforms like eBird for bird observations and iNaturalist for pictures of plants and animals. Volunteers can contribute to data processing by identifying species and annotating behaviours for camera trap photographs on Zooniverse. They can digitise herbarium vouchers on DigiVol. There are also artificial intelligence tools, such as TrapTagger and WildID, which identify species in photographs from camera traps.

Scientists also have their role to play. In the past, some researchers have resisted sharing their data, partly because of capacity constraints. This impedes conservation progress. Recently, there has been more pressure from funders and the open science community for researchers to make their data available. Platforms such as GBIF and Dryad Digital Repository make this easier.

Staff of protected area organisations should also be encouraged to publish protected area checklists on GBIF and iNaturalist. The information is then more readily available to inform management.

Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Africa South Africa Environment By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later.

By 2022, the total number of observations on iNaturalist had reached more than 33 million and 40% of these needed further identification. Experts, scientists and protected area staff, who can accurately identify species, can assist. Experts can also verify identifications of species that haven't been recorded before in a protected area.

Read more: Red tape is choking biodiversity research in South Africa. What can be done about it?

Looking forward

Although there are many tools for collating data about the plants and animals occurring in specific places, there is limited awareness in conservation organisations about the wealth of existing historical specimens and the visual and audio data available for download. The capacity to access and use this treasure trove of data needs to be built.

Our paper provides practical guidelines to assist conservation organisations to collate standardised biodiversity occurrence data. This will improve the quality of information used in assessments and ultimately our ability to respond to the highest priority conservation issues.

Dian Spear, University of Cape Town

Nicola van Wilgen-Bredenkamp, Research associate, Stellenbosch University

Tony Rebelo, Scientist, South African National Biodiversity Institute
After Bolivia and Argentina, Thailand now boasts the third-largest lithium reserves, however its unclear how much of these can be used for commercial purposes

According to a government official on Friday, Thailand has found over 15 million tonnes of lithium resources, which is good news for the countrys ambition to become a regional centre for the manufacture of electric vehicles.

After Bolivia and Argentina, Thailand now boasts the third-largest lithium reserves, however its unclear how much of these can be used for commercial purposes.

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According to government deputy spokesperson Rudklao Intawong Suwankiri, the 14.8 million tonnes of lithium are split between two different locations in the southern province of Phang Nga, The Nation television station said.

We are trying to find out how much can we use from the resources we found. It takes time, Rudklao told The Nation.

An essential ingredient in the production of batteries for smartphones and other devices, as well as electric vehicles, is lithium.

Building on the kingdoms history of producing conventional automobiles, the administration of Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, who assumed office in August, has made it a goal to strive to strengthen Thailand as a regional production base for electric vehicles.

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Srettha pressed the deputy chairman of Bosch, one of the industrys top brass, to invest in electric vehicle manufacture in Thailand during their meeting at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

Its good news. Its an opportunity for Thailand to become self-reliant in the production of EV batteries, Rudklao said of the lithium discovery.

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In December 2023, two Chinese EV giants said they would invest 2.3 billion baht ($64 million) to develop Thailand as a production hub.
In addition, the departments civil rights office is investigating a number of University of Minnesota faculty members remarks disparaging Israel in response to a complaint from a well-known Republican law school professor

The US Department of Education has initiated antisemitism investigations in response to complaints of anti-Israel rallies at Temple campus and Brown University, which were made by a Jewish right-wing activist who does not attend either campus.

In addition, the departments civil rights office is investigating a number of University of Minnesota faculty members remarks disparaging Israel in response to a complaint from a well-known Republican law school professor.

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Furthermore, as of this week, the two biggest public school districts in the Bay Area are the subject of investigations by the civil rights office after several families submitted transfer requests citing antisemitic concerns. Additionally, it is investigating a private university where a professor of Jewish anti-Zionist philosophy has openly backed Hamas.

These investigations are part of a fresh round that the department unveiled on Wednesday in an effort to exert pressure on colleges and educational institutions to address antisemitism on their campuses.

After a wave of campus anti-Israel activism was sparked by the October 7 Hamas onslaught in southern Israel, which resulted in the deaths of about 1,200 people and the kidnapping of about 240 more, the departments Office of Civil Rights has now opened more than 50 Title VI shared ancestry investigations.

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The agency states that beginning an inquiry does not always imply that the case has substance, but it does not comment on its current investigations, which span from small rural K12 districts to the most elite Ivy League colleges.

I think its about time, Richard Painter, a law professor at the University of Minnesota who filed the antisemitism complaint that triggered the schools Title VI investigation, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Universities all over America are dealing with this.

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Along with Michael Hsu, a former regent, Painter, a former official of the George W. Bush administration, submitted a complaint in December. The department began looking into the matter on Tuesday. According to the complaint, the university ought to have taken greater action to counter three separate faculty groups specialising in liberal arts that released statements denouncing Israel following the Hamas assault on October 7.

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In a statement, the university said, The University stands firmly in support of speech and actions that provide an atmosphere of mutual respect, free from any form of prejudice and intolerance, as our Board of Regents policies state.

Previously, upon news of Painter and Hsus initial Title VI filing, the school had told local media, The letters broad characterizations of the University are inaccurate and are fundamentally contrary to our mission and values.

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Members of the Department of Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies issued one such faculty statement, which states, in part, that Israels reaction is the continuation of a genocidal war against Gaza and against Palestinian freedom, self-determination, and life, not self-defense.

Painter found this remark particularly offensive since it came from a department that focuses on women, gender, and sexuality, and which ignored the sexual assault offences that Hamas had perpetrated during the onslaught and is being looking into by international and Israeli authorities.

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Painter added that his attempts to get the colleges dean to step in had failed. The other remarks he took issue with were made by instructors in the departments of Comparative Literature, Cultural Studies, and American Indian studies.

Neither Painter nor Hsu are Jewish, and while he was a regent in 2019, Hsu opposed university efforts to rename campus buildings named after antisemites. But Painter said he still sees the fight against campus antisemitism as one he can lead.

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This is a critical issue not just for the Jewish community, but for our democracy, he said. Furthermore, he thinks his efforts at the institution have already paid off: Critics who shared his views organised against the prospective appointment when a candidate for the position of head of the schools Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion office backed down when asked in an interview if Hamas had abused Israeli women during its attack. The individual is no longer a candidate for the position as a result of the negative publicity.

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Regarding the DEI battle, Painter declared, We did win. That went all over.

One individual is the source of two further recent antisemitism investigations: Zachary Marschall, an academic at the University of Kentucky and the main editor of Campus Reform, a website that advocates for conservative college students.

Despite being Jewish, Marschall is unaffiliated with any school. He told JTA that following interviews with Jewish and pro-Israel students across the country who are too afraid to speak out, he independently submitted those complaints along with eighteen more.

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He released excerpts of letters from the Department of Education on Campus Reform, which attested to the fact that the probe had been launched in response to his complaints. A Brown spokesman clarified in a statement that the probe originated beyond Browns campus and cited Marschalls publication as the source.

According to Marschall, his complaint against Temple was motivated by recent pro-Palestinian demonstrations in Philadelphia that targeted an Israeli-owned falafel store and by the students use of the slogan From the river to the sea during marches organised by the schools Students for Justice in Palestine chapter. Tuesday marked the start of the departments Temple investigation.

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A Temple representative issued a statement on the probe, saying, Temple University unequivocally condemns hate and discrimination against any person and will always strive to ensure that all of our students, faculty, and staff feel welcomed and safe in our community and throughout our campus.

The SJP group at that campus, which issued a statement immediately after the October 7 assaults and held the Israeli regime and its allies unequivocally responsible for all suffering and loss of life, Palestinian or Israeli, was also connected to Marschalls Brown complaint.

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His accusation also includes statements from the chapters post-attack campus vigils, during which students allegedly chanted, Glory to our martyrs. On January 9, the department launched its Brown inquiry; since the start of the battle, several institutions have outlawed or suspended their SJP chapters.

Although details about the causes of the other recent Title VI inquiries were not immediately accessible, a number of the concerned schools have lately made news due to incidents involving antisemitism.

Two of the remaining investigations are being conducted at the San Francisco Unified School District and the Oakland Unified School District, two sizable public school systems in the Bay Area. San Franciscos debuted on January 12 and Oaklands on Tuesday.

In recent months, there has been a rash of controversy surrounding Israel in both districts. In Oakland, Jewish parents have started removing their children from public schools following events such as the local teachers union voting on a measure calling for an end to US aid to Israel, and in San Francisco, the district recently reviewed a contract with a local anti-Zionist group that had coordinated a protest and a walkout for Palestinians.

The leader of the local Jewish Community Relations Council called the San Francisco teachers union bigoted after the union passed a resolution in November advocating for a ceasefire in Gaza.

Responding to queries, a representative for Oaklands district said that it does not comment on pending legal matters. However they added that OUSD is a sanctuary district, inside Oakland, a sanctuary city, inside California, a sanctuary state, which means we support all students, families and staff, regardless of religion, heritage, ethnicity, where they came from, or how they got here. We protect all students, and harassment of anyone is never acceptable.

The statement also added that in this time of heightened tensions because of whats happening in the Middle East, we are regularly communicating to our community, reminding them of our core values of love and support, so it should be clear that everyone is welcome and valued in our schools.

When asked for comments, the representatives for the San Francisco district and both teachers unions did not reply.

A spokesman for Ohio State University declined to specify the subject of the probe in response to a question about it that was posted on Tuesday. The spokeswoman stated, Ohio State has never-and will never-tolerate harassment or discrimination against anyone on the basis of their identity, nationality, or religion.

Two incidents involving Jewish students and buildings were reported to have occurred at OSU recently: one involved two Jewish students being punched in the face following a verbal altercation outside a pub, and the other involved trespassers stealing Israeli flags and hurling abuse at university employees.

A representative for the pro-Israel advocacy group StandWithUs, which is involved in campus antisemitism issues, told JTA that while the group had sent a strong letter to university leadership on the same day the investigation began, it was a crazy coincidence and that the group wasnt the reason behind the investigation.

A number of Title VI antisemitism accusations have been made against Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pennsylvania, in recent weeks, Jewish alumni there informed JTA.

An online petition with over 7,700 signatures has been created to ask officials to fire a professor of Jewish anti-Zionist anthropology who has written opinion pieces endorsing Hamas and contesting its culpability for the October 7 bloodshed. The Department of Education opened an investigation into the college on Tuesday, but the specific trigger for the investigation could not be verified.

In a statement, a Muhlenberg spokesperson said, We do not tolerate antisemitism, Islamophobia, xenophobia or any other form of harassment, bigotry or abuse nor any incitement to violence or calls for genocide. If/when there are accusations of conduct violations, these are thoroughly investigated with appropriate actions taken based on the findings.

Ultimately, on January 10, the Department of Education revealed the results of a fresh probe at the University of Illinois Chicago, citing it as the schools second such probe in the previous month. The first was a complaint filed by a pro-Palestinian legal group called Palestine Legal, which claimed the institution had excluded Arab and Palestinian students from a webinar about the Israeli healthcare system in 2021 in order to discriminate against them.

However, its possible that the second inquiry is a correction to the previous one. A representative for Palestine Legal informed JTA that the department of education informed the organisation that same day that, because one of the complainants is Christian, the discrimination allegation in the first inquiry had been changed from shared Muslim ancestry to shared Palestinian ancestry. Requests for comments from the Department of Education and UIC representatives were not answered.
The Department of Justice established that the laptop belonged to Hunter by ascertaining that he had left it at a computer store and that the contents corresponded with what the police had acquired through an iCloud search order

Hunter Bidens laptop is real, the Justice Department (DOJ) said in a court filing on Tuesday. This previously unreported information may have affected the 2020 presidential election.

According to research, 71% of Americans think that truthful coverage of Hunters Laptop from Hell may have changed the outcome of the 2020 presidential contest.

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The Department of Justice established that the laptop belonged to Hunter by ascertaining that he had left it at a computer store and that the contents corresponded with what the police had acquired through an iCloud search order.

Investigators also later came into possession of the defendants Apple MacBook Pro, which he had left at the computer store, prosecutors wrote:

A search warrant was also acquired for his laptop, and the results of the search were mostly duplicative of material gathered from Apple by investigators before.

Hunter Biden had insisted on giving a public testimony for months, but now he has consented to go before House Republicans for a private deposition next month.

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The two sides have decided that Hunter Biden will give a deposition on 28 February. This was revealed by the House Oversight Committee on Thursday.

The presidents son is a key witness in this investigation and hes gonna be able to come in now and sit down and answer questions in a substantive, orderly manner, Rep. James Comer, chair of the Oversight Committee, told reporters. He added that Hunter Biden will be able to testify publicly sometime after his deposition.

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Hunter Bidens legal team verified the arrangement on Thursday night.

Shortly after the New York Post published the laptop story, CNN reporter Natasha Bertrand authored the now-discredited Politico piece, which cited dozens of former intelligence officials to promote a false and deceptive narrative about Hunters laptops origins.

The mainstream media waited more than a year to declare the tale was bogus. Hunters laptop has authentic communications that can be verified, the Washington Post revealed after 532 days of not pursuing the subject.

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After the original report appeared on October 24, 2020, CNN also eventually acknowledged that Hunters laptop from hell was real, while first labelling it as made up and Russian disinformation.

Breitbart News claimed that the New York Times revealed, over two years later, that the emails found on Hunters laptop belonged to him.

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Additionally, fifteen media figures asserted that Hunters laptop emails were probably propaganda from Russia. In 2020, Lesley Stahl, a reporter for CBS News, most notably told President Donald Trump that there was no way to verify Hunters laptop from hell.

President Joe Biden and his press secretary also gave inaccurate statements about the laptops origin, stating that overwhelming evidence from the intelligence community suggests it was Russian disinformation and that Hunters laptop was just a smear campaign and a bunch of garbage. Jen Psaki, the former press secretary also said that the laptop was a part of broad range of Russian disinformation.

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Since it started in September, the presidents impeachment investigation has been largely on Hunter Biden and his dealings with foreign companies, raising concerns about whether the president benefited from that work. Thus far, it has been unable to unearth any proof that explicitly links Joe Biden to misconduct about his sons employment.

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Hunter Biden is now being investigated by the special counsel and is being charged with crimes in two states. In Delaware, he is accused of breaking rules prohibiting drug users from possessing firearms in 2018, a time when he has disclosed that he was battling with addiction. More allegations were brought last month by special counsel David Weiss, who said he had not paid over $1.4 million in taxes over a three-year period.

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In all instances, he entered a not guilty plea.
The almost 600-page report was released Thursday, some 20 months after the massacre, and it leaves a criminal probe by Uvalde County prosecutors as one of the final incomplete assessments by authorities into the Robb Elementary School attack

Reiterating their calls for criminal charges are the families of the students and teachers slain in the Uvalde, Texas, school massacre. This comes after a damning Justice Department study exposed many police lapses during one of the bloodiest classroom shootings in US history.

Im very surprised that no one has ended up in prison, said Velma Lisa Duran, whose sister Irma Garcia was one of the two teachers killed in the May 24, 2002, shooting. Its sort of a slap in the face that all we get is a review  we deserve justice.

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The almost 600-page report was released Thursday, some 20 months after the massacre, and it leaves a criminal probe by Uvalde County prosecutors as one of the final incomplete assessments by authorities into the Robb Elementary School attack. Nineteen kids and two instructors were slain inside two fourth-grade classrooms, as heavily armed police officers waited in the halls for almost an hour before entering to engage the gunman.

US Attorney General Merrick Garland described the police reaction as a failure that should not have happened.

However, the study remains purposefully silent on the subject that many victims relatives continue to ask: Will anybody responsible for the failings face criminal charges?

President Joe Biden said Thursday that he had not yet read the full findings. But I dont know that theres any criminal liability, he said.

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Since the shooting, at least five officers have lost their jobs, including two from the Texas Department of Public Safety and the on-site commander, then-school district police chief, Pete Arredondo. But no one has been charged in the criminal investigation that was led by the Texas Rangers. The Justice Department report says the FBI has assisted the Rangers but is not doing its own investigation.

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The Rangers  part of the Texas DPS, which had more than 90 officers on the scene of the shooting  submitted their initial findings at the start of 2023. Uvalde County District Attorney Christina Mitchell initially said she hoped to bring the case to a grand jury by the end of last year. But she pushed back that timeline in December and said Thursday that she will need time to review the voluminous Justice Department report.

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I am a working DA with a small office, Mitchell said in an email. It is going to take me awhile to go through this report. I am hopeful that it was informative for the community.

The pace of the criminal investigation has long frustrated families of the victims, Uvaldes former Republican mayor and a Democratic state senator who represents the small South Texas town and has called for the head of the Texas state police to be fired.

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Twenty months later, theres no end in sight for this local district attorney to be able to do anything, state Sen. Roland Gutierrez said. We dont know if shes going to indict anybody at all. Its really a shame where we are now.

In the report, federal officials detailed cascading failures by police, from waiting for more than an hour to confront and kill the gunman to repeatedly giving false information to grieving families about what had happened.

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Produced by a Justice Department office that supports local police, the document is among the most comprehensive accountings to date of what went wrong. It says training, communication, leadership and technology problems extended the crisis, even as agonized parents begged officers to go in and terrified students called 911 from inside a classroom where the gunman had holed up.

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Uvalde is a close-knit city of 15,000 about 85 miles (140 kilometers) southwest of San Antonio. Parents of children killed in the shooting grew up and went to school with some of the officers they now blame, and they feel abandoned by local and state leaders who they see as intent on moving past the massacre.

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We need our community, said Brett Cross, who was raising his 10-year-old nephew, Uziyah Garcia, when the boy was killed in the shooting. It is hard enough waking up every day and continuing to walk out on these streets, walk to a (grocery store) and see a cop who you know was standing there when our babies were murdered and bleeding out.

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Cross is among those who hope the Justice Department report will unify Uvalde around a common set of facts and spur criminal charges. During a news conference in the city, Garland stopped short of saying if charges should be filed, leaving that to Mitchell.

The Department of Justice report faults state and local officials with undercutting the publics trust in law enforcement by repeatedly releasing false and misleading information about the police response. That includes Gov. Greg Abbott, who initially praised the officers courage running toward gunfire.

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As what happened has become clear, Jesse Rizo has been among those left looking for more accountability. Rizo, whose niece Jacklyn Cazares was among the shooting victims, still hopes Mitchell will bring charges, but he has little faith in those in power.

You hope for the best, he said, but the past will tell you basically what your outcome is going to be.
Boeing has been engulfed in a crisis since an Alaska Airlines MAX 9 airliner made an emergency landing after part of its fuselage broke off shortly after take-off from Portland, Oregon, on January 5.

An Atlas Air Boeing 747-8 cargo plane was forced to make an emergency landing at Miami International Airport due to an engine malfunction shortly after takeoff. Dramatic footage captured the Boeing 747-8s tail engulfed in flames shortly after departing from Miami International Airport.

The crew followed all standard procedures and safely returned to MIA, Atlas Air said in a statement, adding that it would conduct an inspection to determine the cause of the incident which occurred late on Thursday.

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BREAKING REPORT :  Atlas Air Boeing 747-8 from Miami International Airport CATCHES FIRE MID AIR..



DEVELOPING.. pic.twitter.com/Qk6QLZ6U7E  Chuck Callesto (@ChuckCallesto) January 19, 2024

Unverified videos on social media platform X showed flames shooting out of the left wing of the aircraft while in flight. Reuters could not immediately verify the authenticity of the videos.

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The aircraft involved was a Boeing 747-8, Flightaware data showed. Boeings 747-8 is powered by four General Electric GEnx engines.

Miami-Dade Fire Rescue responded and no injuries were reported, the airport told Reuters. It was not immediately clear how many crew were on board. Boeing declined to comment, while FAA and General Electric did not respond to Reuters requests for comment.

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Boeing has been engulfed in a crisis since an Alaska Airlines MAX 9 airliner made an emergency landing after part of its fuselage broke off shortly after take-off from Portland, Oregon, on January 5.

The incident was the latest in a string of mishaps for Boeing that began in 2018, with the first of two crashes of Max 8 planes in Indonesia and Ethiopia  and more than four months apart  that killed a total of 346 people.

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Max 8 and Max 9 planes were grounded worldwide for nearly two years after the second crash. Since then, various manufacturing flaws have at times held up deliveries of Max jets and a larger Boeing plane, the 787. Last month, the company asked airlines to inspect their Max jets for a loose bolt in the rudder-control system.

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Boeing shares are down about 15% since the Alaska Airlines incident. The planemaker bid farewell to the iconic 747 early last year, delivering the final plane to Atlas Air and marking the end of an era when the first-ever jumbo jet ruled the skies.

With inputs from agencies.
press release

Nairobi  No Justice for Suspicious Death; Detainee Denounces Torture in Court

Rwandan authorities should release journalist Dieudonne Niyonsenga, also known as Cyuma Hassan, and urgently investigate serious torture allegations he has made and ensure his rights to freedom of expression, a fair trial and to freedom from torture and ill treatment are respected, Human Rights Watch said today. The authorities' failure to transparently account for the suspicious death of an investigative reporter, John Williams Ntwali one year ago has compounded Rwanda's poor media freedom record.

"Harrowing accounts of torture in prison and failure to provide justice in the suspicious death of a leading investigative journalist set a somber start to the year for journalists in Rwanda," said Lewis Mudge, Central Africa director at Human Rights Watch. "Rwanda's record on press freedom will most likely continue to worsen unless the judiciary starts to act independently and immediately releases journalists jailed in violation of their freedom of expression, and authorities stop targeting journalists altogether."

With a wound on his forehead and reportedly looking frail, Niyonsenga told a Kigali court on January 10, 2024, that he is detained in a "hole" that often fills with water, without access to light, and is beaten frequently. He said his hearing and eyesight have become impaired due to his three-year long detention in "inhuman" conditions and beatings, according to court transcripts and the Voice of America's reporting. International law strictly prohibits detention in inhuman or degrading conditions, and courts should not permit detention to continue in such conditions.

Niyonsenga, who is the owner of Ishema TV, and his driver, Fidele Komezusenge, were first arrested in April 2020 after reporting on the impact of the Covid-19 guidelines on vulnerable populations, and were accused of forgery, impersonating journalists, and hindering public works. Both were acquitted on March 12, 2021, but the prosecution appealed the verdict and Niyonsenga was rearrested on November 11, 2021, after the High Court in Kigali reversed his acquittal. His case is now before the appeal court after he requested a review of his trial.

During Niyonsenga's detention, Human Rights Watch has received multiple reports from people who saw wounds on his face and body, and said he spoke of frequent beatings. Though Niyonsenga and others have raised this treatment in court, to the best of Human Rights Watch's knowledge, judicial authorities have not acted to investigate or end the abuse.

Niyonsenga and his lawyers also told the court that prison authorities confiscated documents relating to his trial. It is not the first time that Niyonsenga and other prisoners have raised such interference, which violates detainees' fair trial rights. According to the court transcripts, Niyonsenga's lawyers told the court that when they raised this issue with prison authorities, they were told that Niyonsenga does not have the right to access his documents. Confiscating defense documents is commonplace in cases deemed politically sensitive.

The combination of suspicious disappearances and deaths with the constant threat of arrest and prosecution are an effective way of ensuring that journalists in Rwanda practice self-censorship, Human Rights Watch said.

One year after Ntwali's suspicious death, there has been no credible accounting of the alleged road accident that caused his death. Ntwali was one of the few journalists in Rwanda who reported on sensitive issues, including on prison conditions for jailed journalists and critics such as Niyonsenga.

On January 19, 2023, Rwanda police reported that Ntwali died in a road accident in Kimihurura, Kigali on January 18 at 2:50 a.m. and that the driver of the car involved in the collision had been arrested. In the weeks that followed, Rwandan authorities failed to provide the exact location of the alleged accident, any photo or video evidence, or detailed information on others involved in it. A hasty trial was held in the absence of independent observers - including journalists - and the driver was convicted of manslaughter and unintentional bodily harm.

The reasons why Ntwali's death is suspicious are clear. He was regularly threatened and attacked in pro-government media and expressed fear for his safety to friends, fellow journalists, and Human Rights Watch researchers. Human Rights Watch received information that Ntwali was so worried for his safety that he was trying to leave the country.

The lack of details in the verdict suggests there was no effective investigation into Ntwali's death, despite Rwanda's legal obligation to conduct one. Considering the lack of transparency around the trial, scores of civil society organizations and media associations from across the globe reiterated the call on Rwandan authorities to allow an independent, impartial, and effective investigation. This has not happened.

In November 2021, the appeals court found Niyonsenga guilty of forgery, impersonation, hindering public works, and "humiliation of national authorities and persons in charge of public service." The last charge, which was added during the appeal, is no longer a criminal offense in Rwanda. It was struck down from the 2018 Penal Code by the Supreme Court in 2019. A second appeal's verdict maintained his seven-year sentence but overturned his conviction for humiliation of national authorities.

Although Rwanda is a party to the United Nations Convention against Torture, unlawful detention and torture are commonplace. Human Rights Watch frequently receives credible information from former prisoners about torture and ill treatment in Rwandan prisons, including Nyarugenge (Mageragere) prison in Kigali, where some have said they are being held in isolation and beaten.

In 2017, the UN Sub-Committee on the Prevention of Torture was forced to suspend and later, cancel its visit to Rwanda citing obstruction by the authorities and fear of reprisals against interviewees. It was the first time it had cancelled such a visit. Rwanda has also failed to submit its third periodic state report to the Committee against Torture, due since December 6, 2021, preventing its review by the Committee.

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Rwanda's regional and international partners should call on Rwanda to release all unjustly imprisoned journalists and critics and ensure that an effective investigation is conducted into Ntwali's death.

In December 2023, the United Kingdom government introduced a new "Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill" to parliament and signed a treaty with Rwanda, to circumvent the Supreme Court's November 15 ruling that Rwanda that is not a safe third country for the UK to send asylum seekers. The court drew attention to threats to Rwandans living in the UK as well as extrajudicial killings, deaths in custody, enforced disappearances, torture, and restrictions on media and political freedoms in Rwanda.

On December 28, Human Rights Watch made a submission to the UK International Agreements Committee on the UK Government's Agreement with Rwanda detailing its concerns with the bill and treaty, and the overall plan to expel asylum seekers to Rwanda. The UK House of Commons voted in favor of the bill on January 17. The UK House of Lords will now consider the bill, and should reject it entirely while the government should abandon its Rwanda deal.

"The resounding silence and attempts to sugarcoat reality by Rwanda's partners in the face of abuse has left many journalists feeling abandoned," Mudge said. "If local voices in Rwanda have been silenced, regional and international voices need to rise in their place: the safety of other journalists in Rwanda depends on it."
Sony launched INZONE Buds, the companys latest noise-cancelling earbuds in India. These buds are designed in collaboration with professional gamers and support a 2.4 GHz wireless connection through a USB Type-C dongle, ensuring low-latency connectivity for gaming.

Sony has introduced a new design for its buds, making them lightweight, compact, and minimizing contact with the ear. With a new design that reduces contact with the ear, you can game for longer with increased comfort, said the company.

Additionally, the INZONE Buds feature an L1 processor, and AI-assisted microphones, and offer ANC with personalized 360 spatial sound, Bluetooth LE Audio using the codec LC3, and up to 12 hours of battery life with fast charging support.

Sony INZONE Buds specifications

8.4 mm driver

Bluetooth Version 5.3 (LE Audio only. Regular Bluetooth is not supported.) / 2.4 GHz wireless connection through a USB Type-C dongle

Active Noise Cancellation

360 Spatial Sound for Gaming

Customizable touch controls

Customizable touch controls AI-assisted microphones

Compatible with INZONE Hub PC software

IPX4 splash proof

Weight: 6.5 g (each earbud)

Battery Life: USB transceiver connection: Max. 12 hours (ANC OFF)/Max. 11 hours (ANC ON), Bluetooth (LE Audio) connection: Max. 24 hours (ANC OFF)/Max. 18 hours (ANC ON)

Fast charging: 5 minutes for 1 hour of play

Pricing and Availability

The acomes in Black and White colors and is priced at Rs. 17,990. It will be available across Sony retail stores (Sony Center and Sony Exclusive), the ShopatSC.com portal, major electronic stores, and other e-commerce websites such as Amazon in India from 22nd January 2024 onwards.
Nairobi, Kenya  The African Union, European Union, and United States called Thursday for an immediate cease-fire and constructive dialogue between warring factions in Sudan.

The groups also called for an end to tension between Somalia and Ethiopia over an agreement signed between Ethiopia and Somalia's breakaway region Somaliland.

Representatives of the groups, who spoke in Kampala, Uganda, after the meeting of an East African regional bloc, said that the two crises are threatening regional stability in the Horn of Africa.

Sudan's armed forces and the rival Rapid Support Forces have been fighting for control of Sudan since April. Long-standing tensions erupted into street battles in the capital and other areas including the western Darfur region.

The AU, EU and U.S. and U.N. noted that the fighting has displaced 7 million people and kept 19 million children out of school.

Michael Hammer, U.S. special envoy for the Horn of Africa, called on Sudan's factions to adhere to their obligations under international humanitarian law and to fulfill recent commitments to stop fighting.

"It's time for them to take action consistent with their stated claims that they want to stop the fighting and meet the needs of the people," Hammer said.

He spoke after the regional bloc Intergovernmental Authority on Development, or IGAD, held an emergency meeting of heads of states in Kampala to discuss the Sudan war and rising tension between Somalia and Ethiopia.
analysis

The recent national elections in Liberia, conducted in October 2023, followed by a consequential presidential runoff in November of the same year, have yielded valuable lessons for reflection. The collective opinion of international and regional observers and monitors affirms that the closely contested election was conducted with a commitment to freedom, fairness, and transparency. The majority of Liberians exercised their voting rights in a peaceful manner, facilitating a smooth transition from one government to the next. Notably, former Vice President Joseph N. Boakai, Sr. emerged victorious over President George Weah and is poised to be inaugurated on January 22, 2024. Liberia, once again, exemplifies political maturity, showcasing its ability to conduct peaceful elections and transitions, a tradition upheld since 2005, followed by successful instances in 2011, 2017, and now in 2023.

Commendations are due to the Liberian people for their active participation. It is noteworthy that the 2023 elections mark a significant milestone as the first in recent post-conflict times that Liberia managed and financed primarily on its own, with technical support from key donor partners. This stands in contrast to previous years when the United Nations and donors played pivotal roles as both financiers and overseers, including providing security measures.

While the overall atmosphere of the 2023 elections in Liberia maintained a semblance of peace, certain moments were marred by tension, particularly instances of election-related violence involving fervent and exuberant youthful crowds. Notably, on September 29, 2023, clashes erupted between supporters of the Unity Party, led by former Vice President Joseph Boakai, and the CDC, resulting in two fatalities and approximately 20 injuries in Lofa.

Another troubling incident unfolded in Nimba, where violence prompted the suspension of voting during the runoff, compelling the National Elections Commission to order a rerun in district 4, encompassing Beo-Longtuo Town in Nimba County. Adding to the challenges, heated confrontations erupted in Monstserrado in early October, just days before the initial round of voting on October 10th, as supporters of the Congress for Democratic Change (CDC), led by President Weah, clashed with those from the All-Liberian Coalition Party (ALCOP), led by Mr. Lusinee Kamara, resulting in one reported fatality. These instances underscore the need for ongoing efforts to address and mitigate election-related tensions and violence for the sake of fostering a truly peaceful and inclusive democratic process.

Against the backdrop of the recent electoral violence in Sierra Leone in 2022 and the subsequent allegations of rigging and fraud that fueled post-election tensions, parallels were drawn between Sierra Leone and Liberia, given their shared cultural and historical ties. The specter of a potential spillover effect loomed, especially in a region prone to civil unrest and crises. Observers, acutely aware of these risks, collaborated closely with the National Elections Commission (NEC) and political parties to alleviate concerns, working toward reducing tensions and preserving peace. Despite an undercurrent of intensity in the closely contested election, where the ultimate victor emerged with a one percent difference, the culmination was marked by the triumph of peace and stability. This underscores the significance of proactive measures and collaborative efforts in safeguarding democratic processes in the face of regional challenges.

As the nation gears up for the forthcoming inauguration, it is imperative to reflect on the pivotal lessons gleaned from the recent election and delineate the comprehensive initiatives that the Amos Claudius Sawyer Foundation is poised to shape. Aligned with its mission encompassing Democratic Governance, Rule of Law, and Peacebuilding, the Foundation deems it fitting to evaluate election-related activities within this contextual framework. In 2024, the Foundation is diligently crafting major policy initiatives in response to the discerned experiences of the 2023 elections.

1. Enhanced Voter Education and Sustained Public Engagement:

Addressing a significant shortcoming in the 2023 elections, notably the high number of invalid votes, the Amos Claudius Sawyer Foundation advocates for a paradigm shift in voter education. It asserts the necessity of making voter education a fundamental aspect of civics education in senior high schools, well in advance of students reaching voting age. The Foundation challenges the conventional notion of limiting voter education to just months before an election, urging its institutionalization and implementation far in advance. Special emphasis is placed on reaching rural voters, and the consideration of a robust, continual voter education program even in non-election years.

2. Permanent Voter Registration:

The Amos Claudius Sawyer Foundation champions legislation mandating year-round voter registration, ensuring citizens are registered upon reaching voting age, irrespective of election cycles. Critiquing the practice of conducting voter registration shortly before an election, which may encourage fraudulent practices, the Foundation lauds the positive impact of biometric voter registration introduced in 2023. It contends that biometric registration should persist beyond election months, enabling the National Elections Commission (NEC) to register citizens when they come of age, eliminating the need for adult voters to re-register for each national election. The sole management concern lies in updating addresses when individuals relocate.

3. Establishment and Maintenance of a National Election Debate Commission or Secretariat:

The Amos Claudius Sawyer Foundation, in collaboration with other NGOs, vigorously pursues the creation of a sustainable national debate organizing mechanism. It envisions an entity equipped with robust staffing capabilities, adept at conducting data-driven research, polling, and formulating national themes for inclusive debates. Recognizing the shortcomings of previous hastily assembled debate consortia, the Foundation advocates for an established entity that is well-funded and staffed by professionals. This envisioned Commission aims to set standards for candidate participation based on factors including scientific polling of the electorate.

4. Independent Media Consortium for Reporting Vote Tallys:

Acknowledging the legal mandate of the National Election Commission (NEC) for reporting official results, the Sawyer Foundation underscores the role of media organizations in responsible reporting. The Foundation aims to mobilize resources to facilitate the formation of an Independent Media Consortium, operating under a set of standards and guidelines for accurate reporting of tally results. Emphasizing transparency, the Foundation seeks to minimize disparities in tally reports among media organizations, ensuring a coherent and reliable presentation of election results. The aspiration is for media houses to unite under a single consortium, adhering to quality and tracking standards, thereby bolstering the integrity of their reporting and fostering public trust.

Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Liberia Governance By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later.

The Amos Claudius Sawyer Foundation is confident that the amalgamation of these initiatives will not only mitigate election tension and the risk of violence but also position Liberia as a beacon of exemplary democratic practices within the African continent, setting a standard for emulation by others. While Liberians can take pride in their demonstrated political maturity during the 2023 elections, as noted by numerous missions and institutions, the Foundation acknowledges that there is still work to be done. Undeterred, the Sawyer Foundation, in collaboration with its dedicated partners, is resolute in its commitment to propel Liberia forward, ensuring sustained positive strides in the pursuit of democratic excellence.

About the Amos Claudius Sawyer Foundation: The Amos Claudius Sawyer Foundation is an independent, non-profit organization dedicated to advancing social justice, education, and democracy through inclusive and sustainable initiatives. Our mission is to empower individuals and communities to create positive, lasting change by fostering informed citizenship and supporting programs that promote equity, resilience, and responsible governance.

For more information about the Amos C. Sawyer Foundation and its initiatives, visit https://amosclaudiussawyerfoundation.org/
An old freezer and other items were removed from a house in the 2900 block of Pinyon Avenue after the Mesa County Sheriffs Office discovered human remains inside the home on Jan. 12, 2024, when the property was being cleared of its previous tenants. MCSO confirmed Thursday that a head and hands were discovered in the home but have not released after other details.
Chinese drones may pose security risks, US agencies warn

The widespread use of drones in critical infrastructure is a potential threat, the FBI says.

By Alex Willemyns for RFA 2024.01.18 -- Chinese-made drones could pose a national security risk to the United States due to laws in China that force companies to provide authorities access to user data, two U.S. agencies say in a new memo.

These "unmanned aircraft systems," or UAS, are often used by operators of critical infrastructure in the United States without regard to the data they may be sending to Chinese servers, according to the memo from the FBI and the new Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.

That puts security and economic interests at risk by potentially exposing vulnerabilities in key infrastructure or the details of intellectual property to China's intelligence services, and could also put key networks at risk of cyber-attack, the agencies say in the memo.

The 2017 National Intelligence Law, the memo says, "compels Chinese companies to cooperate with state intelligence services," including by providing access to all user data collected anywhere in the world.

"This includes prominent Chinese-owned UAS manufacturers that the Department of Defense has identified as 'Chinese military companies' operating within the United States," it says, adding that the 2021 Data Security Law then introduced "strict penalties" for non-compliance.

The data is essential, it says, to China's Military-Civil Fusion strategy, "which seeks to gain a strategic advantage over the United States by facilitating access to advanced technologies and expertise."

An statement released by the FBI and CISA says the agencies understand that drones "reduce operating costs and improve staff safety." But instead of Chinese-made drones, it suggests alternatives "that are secure-by-design and manufactured by U.S. companies."

Drone wars

It's not the first time that U.S. federal agencies have warned of the dangers of Chinese-made drones, with the Army in 2017 banning the purchase of drones from heavyweight Chinese manufacturer DJI, which has denied working closely with China's government.

U.S. senators in 2022, meanwhile, expressed alarm about "swarms" of Chinese-made drones flying over restricted airspace in Washington, while a Homeland Security official said in 2018 that "hundreds" of drones had violated restrictions meant to protect the president.

In April, Rep. Elise Stefanik, a Republican from New York who chairs her party's House caucus, and Rep. Mike Gallagher, a Republican from Wisconsin who chairs the House Select Committee on China, called for DJI to be banned from using U.S. communications channels.

"Over 50% of drones sold in the U.S. are made by Chinese-based company DJI, and they are the most popular drone in use by public safety agencies," the pair said. "It has been reported that the Chinese government is an investor in DJI, directly contradicting DJI's public statements regarding their relationship with the Chinese government."

More recently, Congress has moved to at least stop federally funded agencies from using Chinese-made drones in their operations.

Last month's 2024 defense authorization bill included the American Security Drone Act of 2023, which bans the federal government and its agencies from procuring or using drones manufactured by Chinese firms or even "entities subject to influence or control by China."

Expensive alternatives

The FBI and CISA memo says U.S. law enforcement agencies and private companies alike should consult the Department of Defense's "Blue UAS Cleared List" for drones that are federally compliant.

However, many of the American-made drones are considered to be of lower quality and higher cost than their Chinese-made equivalents.

Stefanik and Gallagher said in a statement on Wednesday that it was clear the Chinese Communist Party was subsidizing China's drone industry "to destroy American competition and spy on America's critical infrastructure sites" and that a complete ban was needed.

"We must ban CCP-backed spy drones from America and work to bolster the U.S. drone industry," the two lawmakers said.

Copyright 1998-2024, 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 January 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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Norway allocates two billion Norwegian kroner to increase production capacity of ammunition

Government of Norway

Press release | Date: 17/01/2024

The Norwegian government allocates two billion kroner to increase production capacity in the Norwegian defence industry, mainly for artillery ammunition. The government has already allocated approximately one billion NOK to increase the Norwegian capacity of ammunition production through co-financing of ASAP projects.

- The war in Ukraine leads to a spur in demand for ammunition. The government will increase the financial support for the Norwegian defence industry in order to ramp-up ammunition production. One billion NOK will be allocated to specific projects at Nammo, and another One billion NOK will be provided to other projects within the Norwegian defence industry, states Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stre.



The government has previously set aside around one billion kroner to increase Norwegian production capacity through co-financing of so-called ASAP projects. (The Norwegian government will increase the production capacity of ammunition and missiles with one billion Norwegian kroner - regjeringen.no). The total production support is three billion Norwegian kroner.

- Enhancing the capacity in the defence industry is important, both for Ukraine and for our own security. We are now contributing to a significant increase in production capacity at Nammo to meet the needs of Norway, allies, and Ukraine, says Minister of Defence Bjrn Arild Gram (from The Centre Party).

The government has implemented a number of measures to replace donated ammunition and refill Norway's stockpiles in the long term. Over the past year, the Norwegian government has placed several substantial contracts to the ammunition manufacturer Nammo, including the largest contract in the company's history. Norway is also participating in a Nordic ammunition project.

- Norway is part of European defence industry projects such as ASAP. Through these programs, an estimated one billion kroner worth of applications from companies such as Nammo, Kongsberg Defence and Aerospace and Chemring Nobel have been filed, says the defence minister.

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Council of Europe and Georgian authorities launch new Action Plan for 2024-2027

Council of Europe

Deputy Secretary General

Tbilisi

18 January 2024

Council of Europe Deputy Secretary General Bjrn Berge and the First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Georgia, Lasha Darsalia, have jointly launched the Council of Europe Action Plan for Georgia 2024-2027 in Tbilisi. Building on the work of previous years, the new Action Plan aims to support the country's efforts to honour its obligations as a Council of Europe member State.

The Deputy Secretary General underlined that the Action Plan will be based on what has already been achieved: "It builds on the Council of Europe's latest evaluations, monitoring reports and recommendations, as well as the Reykjavik Declaration agreed by Europe's leaders at our Summit of Heads of State and Government last May. But most importantly, the Action Plan is based on the priorities of Georgia itself."

The Action Plan was developed closely with the Georgian authorities. It aims to address reform priorities and help introduce legislative changes that will bring Georgia closer to Council of Europe standards and European Union integration requirements.

Hosting the event, the First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Georgia, Lasha Darsalia, noted: "I would like to sincerely thank the Council of Europe for its fruitful co-operation and support. Their contribution is immeasurable in the process of implementing democratic reforms in Georgia. Consequently, it is important to emphasise the importance of our cooperation today, at this important stage of Georgia's integration into the European Union."

"In conclusion, we express our readiness to continue cooperation with the Council of Europe and all partners, including civil society, in order to implement the Action Plan and to further strengthen the protection of human rights, democracy and the rule of law in Georgia," said the First Deputy Minister.

Under the Action Plan, the Council of Europe and the Georgian authorities have agreed to carry forward jointly, through co-operation programmes, reforms aimed at enhancing the implementation of the European Convention on Human Rights and the European Court case-law at national level, aligning national legislation and the practice of anti-discrimination with European standards, promoting gender equality, enhancing the independence and accountability of the judicial system, improving the electoral legislation and practice, furthering reform of the penitentiary, probation and crime prevention systems, advancing the compliance of national practices with European standards in the field of media and internet, improving the quality of local democracy, strengthening the protection of economic and social rights, furthering the development of youth policies, facilitating the transition of young legal professionals into work, and encouraging civil society participation in decision making at all levels.

The New Action Plan for Georgia is launched in the year when the Council of Europe celebrates its 75th anniversary and when Georgia marks its 25th anniversary of becoming the 41st European nation to join the continent's leading human rights organisation.

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January 18, 2024

Transcript

Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh Holds a Press Briefing

DEPUTY PRESS SECRETARY SABRINA SINGH: Hello. Good afternoon, everyone. Just a few items here at the top and then happy to jump into questions.

As part of our ongoing multinational efforts to protect freedom of navigation and prevent attacks on U.S. and partner maritime traffic, this morning, U.S. Central Command forces conducted strikes on two Houthi anti-ship missiles that were aimed into the southern Red Sea.

Also, last night, the U.S. Central Command conducted strikes on 14 Houthi missiles at over a dozen locations. These missiles on launch rails presented an imminent threat to merchant vessels and U.S. Navy ships in the region and could have been fired at any time.

The defensive actions this morning and last night were taken in accordance with the standing orders of the Secretary and the President, reflecting the inherent right to defend ourselves from attack or threat of imminent attack.

In addition, our actions will degrade the Houthis' capabilities to continue their reckless attacks on international and commercial shipping in the Red Sea, the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait, and the Gulf of Aden.

The U.S. and the international community call on the Houthis to cease their unlawful attacks on commercial shipping vessels and to respect the international community's right to freely and safely navigate international waters.

Switching gears, it's important to remember that the department continues to operate under a Continuing Resolution. We urge Congress to pass a full year appropriations in addition to our urgent request -- our urgent supplemental funding request in order to strengthen national security and support for our allies and partners.

As you know, the last presidential drawdown package for Ukraine was December of last year. It's crucially important that Ukraine has the resources that it needs, including air defense and artillery capabilities, to defend itself against Russia's brutal invasion. And as the President has said, Congress's continued failure to act endangers the United States's national security, the NATO alliance, and the rest of the free world.

So yet again, we urge Congress to send a strong message of support to Ukraine and our partners around the world by approving this additional funding.

And last item here, acting Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Ms. Sasha Baker hosts Australia's Secretary of Defense Mr. Greg Moriarty to discuss key aspects of the U.S.-Australia strategic partnership. Their meeting will reaffirm the strong and enduring alliance between the two nations, who are both committed to addressing current and future security challenges in the Indo-Pacific region and beyond.

And with that, I'd be happy to take your questions. Yeah, Lita?

Q: Hi. Thanks, Sabrina. Two things. One, can you update us on the Secretary? Is he still working from home? And is there an expected release time when he will be able to come back to the Pentagon?

And then -- do you want to do that? Then I have a follow-up.

MS. SINGH: Sure. Of course. So the Secretary remains working from home. He's been participating in meetings since -- I mean, since he's returned to -- resumed full authorities but has been participating in meetings here in the building, joining remotely, either by phone or by video.

I don't have a date of when he'd be back in the Pentagon but I know we're certainly wishing him a speedy recovery and I'm sure he's wanting to come back as soon as he can.

Q: And then secondly, on these strikes on the Houthis...

MS. SINGH: Yeah?

Q: Other than the very first, initial barrage that was U.S. and Brits last Friday, these have all been U.S. strikes. Is the U.S. now sort of unilaterally going its own on all of these strikes? Why has there been no allied participation at this point?

MS. SINGH: Well, I mean, the last time we had allied participation wasn't that long ago, it was just a week ago. We've taken these strikes because they are inherently defensive in nature. The Central Command Commander has the right, when he sees a threat posed to our forces or commercial shipping, to take the action that he needs, which is why you saw the strikes just yesterday and early this morning of what appeared to be missiles that were getting ready or preparing to launch into the Red Sea.

We always work with our partners and have -- certainly inform them of when we are conducting any operations. These are -- just happened to be ones that have been done by the United States. But of course, not forecasting future operations, but the multilateral coalition that came together last Thursday was something that was unique to that day, but that doesn't preclude anything from going forward.

Q: And what was used in these latest strikes today?

MS. SINGH: The latest strikes from -- you mean from the one this morning?

Q: Yes.

MS. SINGH: So it was Navy fighter aircraft that was used, F-18s. Yeah.

Natasha?

Q: Thanks, Sabrina. So President Biden said this morning, in response to a question about whether the strikes are actually working against the Houthis, he said "when you say working, are they stopping the Houthis? No. Are they going to continue? Yes."

Does the Pentagon agree with the President's assessment that these strikes are not stopping the Houthis? And what is the overall strategy here, apart from kind of just preemptively striking them when they appear to launch a missile, for example, or -- or preparing to launch a missile?

MS. SINGH: Well, I think -- and also, I believe the National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan also spoke to a little bit about this this week -- we never said that the Houthis would immediately stop. That is something that they will have to make that decision and that calculation to do.

It's in their best interests, I think, to stop. You've seen that we've been able to degrade and severely disrupt and destroy a significant number of their capabilities since Thursday. But it's really on them when they decide that they want to stop interrupting commercial shipping, innocent mariners that are transiting the Red Sea.

We also expected that there would be some type of retaliation from our first - or our initial strike on -- last week on January 11th. So we are expecting that, but we've seen a lower scale retaliatory, like, one or two missiles going into the Red Sea, nothing like what we saw the previous Tuesday, where that was that largest barrage that we've seen from the Houthis.

Q: (inaudible) that is because of (inaudible) U.S. (inaudible) infrastructure that they're not launching its large barrages because they simply can't?

MS. SINGH: I can't say that they can't, but they certainly have less capabilities than they did yesterday or the day before that. Our initial assessments are that we've been very successful in that we've been able to destroy pretty much all of the targets that we hit. So again, that's like -- that's one less capability, that's one less missile that they're able to use tomorrow. And so it's really up to the Houthis and their own calculations on the actions that -- if they are going to continue. But we will continue to respond if we need to.

Q: (inaudible)...

MS. SINGH: Sure.

Q: To what extent are they continuing to be resupplied by the Iranians? How -- how often is that happening?

MS. SINGH: So I won't be able to get into an intelligence assessment on how often, but we know that the Houthis, along with other militant groups, are, you know, funded, equipped, supported by Iran, but I don't have necessarily a daily, you know, schedule to read out on how often they're resupplied.

As you saw earlier this week, Central Command announced that we interdicted a ship that was likely heading towards Houthi-controlled territory in Yemen that had housed or was carrying warheads, other weapons and capabilities that they've been using to launch weapons into the Red Sea. So while I can't give you more of a timeframe of how quickly they're -- they're being resupplied, we certainly know that Iran is supporting them.

Fadi?

Q: Thank you, Sabrina. So in light of President Biden's statement today that these strikes will not stop the Houthis, what is the strategic aim of the Pentagon? Do you acknowledge that the -- the Pentagon is not able to stop the Houthis?

MS. SINGH: Well, I wouldn't say we're not able to. I mean, we are taking defensive strikes, or they're defensive in nature, because we do not want to see commercial shipping, innocent mariners continue to be targeted and our U.S. forces. So that's why you saw the action that we took earlier this morning and late yesterday to degrade and destroy their capabilities. But when the Houthis decide to stop, that's really going to be a decision that they make.

And again, I mean, a completely valid question, but 10 to 15 percent of the world's commerce is flowing through the Red Sea. Over 50 nations have been impacted, many of which have no connection or you know, affiliation with the -- with the Middle East. But the cost that the Houthis are -- you know, continuing to occur to commercial vessels not only impacts the region; it impacts the entire world. So that's a calculation that the Houthis are going to have to make, if they're going to want to continue going down this path.

Q: And -- and up until last Tuesday, when that complex...

MS. SINGH: Yeah.

Q: ... attack happened, the Pentagon wasn't able to assess whether all the missiles and drones that the Navy was able to intercept were actually targeting the Navy. Now, suddenly, the Pentagon is very confident that all of these strikes against Houthi assets, these assets are actually a threat to the Navy. How -- how did you make that switch in assessment? Are you deploying new capabilities to be able to detect these threats?

MS. SINGH: I think, just taking apart that question a bit, I think what you're implying in the question is that every single missile launched, what you're saying was that the Houthis were targeting U.S. ships. We don't know that to be the case. In some cases, in the Red Sea, it's a very narrow waterway. Multiple ships are in the area. We can't always assess that the U.S. was the target of that intended missile.

So I take a little issue with the premise of that. But we took the actions that -- that Central Command took last night was to destroy missiles that could be launched, and that were preparing to launch either towards U.S. Navy ships that are in the region, that are in that waterway, or other commercial vessels. It wouldn't say that there's been a change in assessment or anything like that. They took the action that they did because these missiles were going to launch and could cause harm to innocent mariners.

Q: And just one last...

MS. SINGH: Sure, of course.

Q: Do you -- does the Pentagon expect the Houthi -- Houthis to carry on with their attacks in the -- in the near future in the region?

MS. SINGH: Well, I can't speak for the Houthis. We...

Q: From a capability point of view.

MS. SINGH: They still retain some -- I mean, they still retain some capabilities. They've been degraded in some areas. You know, we -- we saw that they launched attacks as recently as yesterday, but I can't predict when they'll continue to launch or -- or how long they'll continue this trend for. All we can say is that we continue to urge them to stop. They're interrupting the economy. They're disrupting just commercial vessels from transiting the Red Sea. Innocent lives are being put at risk. And so we can only continue to urge them both, you know, publicly here and through other channels to stop these reckless attacks.

I'm just going to go to the phones, and then I'll come back into the room. Liz Friden, Fox?

Q: Thanks, Sabrina. Do you have an update on -- on how many attacks have been launched on U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria?

MS. SINGH: Sure, give me one second. Liz, to date, there have been approximately 140 attacks on U.S. troops in Iraq and Syria. They have 57 attacks -- attacks in Iraq and 83 attacks in Syria.

Great. Idrees Ali, Reuters.

Q: Hey, Sabrina. Is it now fair to say that the U.S. is at war in Yemen? And secondly, there are some reports about a U.S. MQ-9 being shot down over Iraq by Iranian-backed militia. Is that something you're tracking?

MS. SINGH: Thanks, Idrees. And to your -- I'll take the second -- the last one first. I have seen those reports. I don't have anything for you on that, so I'd have to circle back with you. I just, I've seen those reports, but don't have anything to add.

In terms of your first question, no, we don't seek war. We don't think that we are at war. We don't want to see a regional war. The Houthis are the ones that continue to launch cruise missiles, antiship missiles at innocent mariners, at commercial vessels that are just transiting an area that sees, you know, 10 to 15 percent of world's commerce.

The U.S. is -- what we are doing with our partners is self-defense. We certainly don't want to see this widen out to a regional war and we don't want to see this continue, which is why you have seen the action that we've taken. And as the secretary has stated before, we will continue to take that action if we to.

I will come back in the room. Yeah, Konstantin?

Q: Thank you. Just a follow-up on the -- the question of the Houthis' capabilities. I -- is the Pentagon's assessment that they are sophisticated enough to target a specific ship, you know, meaning, you know, if a U.S. destroyer is escorting some merchant ships along Yemen or the Red Sea, is the Houthis' targeting capability sophisticated enough to differentiate between a U.S. warship and a merchant ship?

MS. SINGH: Well, I don't think we should rule out that they have very sophisticated capabilities. In terms of their precision in targeting, we have seen that these are not precise missile launches. They often land -- you know, they often land in the area where there are many ships. We can't say that, you -- you know, sometimes we can't say who exactly or what ship they are exactly targeting.

So I think there is some imprecision when it comes to the actual targeting of a specific vessel, but again, it still puts many, many lives and many, many ships at risk when you have a ballistic missile traveling that way, that a commander is forced to make a decision in that moment to shoot it down in the vicinity of however many ships are transiting such a narrow waterway.

Q: Well -- right. And so I guess to follow up on that, I mean, is the -- you know, given that imprecision, is the distinction of, you know, the Houthis meant to target a U.S. destroyer or not sort of meaningless?

MS. SINGH: No. I mean, we can do our assessment, and sometimes I -- we believe the assessment is an intended target of whichever MV commercial ship is transiting or sometimes we assess that it is a U.S. destroyer that's in the region or one of our partners in the region.

Again, I don't think we've seen exact precision, but it is -- when we give our assessments and when we read those out to you, it is our assessment that -- of what the target was. Yeah.

Hey, Missy, yeah?

Q: How are you? I know that you guys have said that -- or Pat said yesterday that you may not be able to give precise information about their -- the reduction in their military capability or missile stockpile, but can you guys give any information about casualties? Cause that is something that has been given and information that's been given in the past.

MS. SINGH: In terms of casualties, we have not assessed that there have been any civilian casualties. I can't give you an assessment just yet on any militant casualties. That's some -- that's something that's still ongoing.

Q: Can you give (us ?) eventually? Cause -- cause that -- cause DOD has provided that information in the past for certain kinds of strikes.

MS. SINGH: It's something that we're continuing to assess, and if we can and -- and are able to, you know, conclude that there have been casualties, we will read that out.

Q: OK.

MS. SINGH: Yeah, of course.

Yeah, Brad, in the back?

Q: Yeah, so Congress is calling for a briefing on the Secretary's hospitalization. Is the Secretary committed to sitting down with lawmakers for a briefing or a hearing, like, sometime soon?

MS. SINGH: Well, we'll always work with Congress in addressing what they need, whether that's a briefing or a hearing, whatever it might be. We're always, you know, in touch with our congressional partners. And just, I think, yesterday, we responded to a few letters from lawmakers. So we're always in touch with the Hill but I have nothing to announce or read out, in terms of anything that's scheduled. Great.

I'm going to go back to the phones here. Lara Seligman, Politico?

Q: Hi. Thanks, Sabrina. Just a follow-up on Idrees' question. You said that we are not at war with the Houthis, but if -- you know, this tit-for-tat bombing -- we've bombed them five times now. So if this isn't war, can you just explain this a little -- a little bit more to us? If this isn't war, what is war?

MS. SINGH: Sure, Lara, sure. Great question, I just wasn't expecting it phrased exactly that way. Look, we are -- we do not seek war. We are -- we do not -- we are not at war with the Houthis. In terms of a definition, I think that would be more of a clear declaration from the United States. But again, what we are doing and the actions that we are taking are defensive in nature. I would -- I -- turn back to the fact that there have been over 30 attacks by Houthis on 50 different nations that are transiting the Red Sea at this time.

I can only repeat so many times that we do not seek war with the Houthis but we will take self-defense actions if we need to protect our troops, to protect commercial shipping, and to ensure that freedom of navigation is still allowed through international waterways.

I'll take another question from the phone here. Jared Szuba, Al-Monitor?

Q: Hi, Sabrina, thanks. Just following up on the previous questions on the -- the Houthi engagement -- or engagement with the Houthis and their materiel there. The -- you just mentioned the actions that we're taking -- or the U.S. is taking are -- are defensive in nature. They're also preemptive. I mean, is it fair to characterize this as a sort of conflict of attrition, in terms of Houthi supplies here? I mean, what is the -- the end goal here? Is -- the department seeking to sort of leave the Houthis with nothing left to strike commercial shipping in the end of this?

MS. SINGH: Thanks, Jared. The end goal is for these attacks to stop, for us to deter Houthi strikes, again, from commercial shipping that has been transiting the Red Sea for many, many decades and should be allowed to continue freely without harassment or without fear of bombardment from Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen.

So the ultimate goal is for these attacks to stop. It's up to the Houthis to decide when that occurs. It's their decision to continue to launch these attacks, but again, what they have available to them, the systems, the capabilities that they had available to them yesterday are not the same ones that they have available to them today.

So we're going to continue to take the action that we need to disrupt and degrade the Houthis' availability -- or ability, I should say, to attack, whether it's U.S. personnel or others that are transiting that Red Sea and Gulf of Aden area.

I can go back in the room. Yeah?

Q: ... very much. First, can you -- can you be any more specific than -- with the damage that's been done to the Houthis' capabilities beyond significant?

And then also, you've talked about taking defensive measures, you want the attacks to stop, and deterrence, but it seems like the Houthis so far have not been deterred. So does the Pentagon have any -- any assessment or any plan on how to change the Houthis' calculus and what it will take for the Houthis to be deterred (inaudible)?

MS. SINGH: I think -- I mean, I appreciate the question. I think I've answered that one. Again, it's -- it's up to the Houthis to decide when they want to stop. How much cost are they willing to incur every single time that we disrupt and degrade their capabilities? How much cost are they willing to incur every time they disrupt commercial trade that doesn't just impact that region, the Middle East, but all around the world?

That's really a calculation that they have to make. We can't make that for them. We can continue to urge publicly and privately that these attacks stop, and again -- and reiterate that we always reserve that right to self-defense and will protect our forces where they are located in the Red Sea or all around the world.

In terms of your -- I think you're asking about -- your first question was on BDA. I mean, I think at the top, I said that we assess that our strikes last night destroyed -- or had the intended impacts that it was -- that it was intended -- sorry, that was a bit of a word jarble there -- that it had the intended impacts, with almost all of the missile launchers destroyed.

Q: If I could follow up? If it's up to the Houthis to decide when to stop the attacks, how is that -- how is the U.S. creating any sort of deterrence? If they -- if -- if the U.S. isn't willing to do more to change the Houthis' calculus, where does the deterrence come in?

MS. SINGH: Well, again, I think you are seeing us do more. We are continuing to -- we -- on last Thursday, you saw us take action with coalition partners. Since then, you've seen us take subsequent action and follow-on actions.

I -- we can't -- we don't control the Houthis. The Houthis have to make the decision, the calculation that this is not worth it anymore. We will continue to reserve the right to self-defense to defend our forces but it is up to them at what expense do they want to continue to go down this path?

MS. SINGH: We don't want to continue to see this go. We want to ensure that mariners, that trade can continue to flow through the Red Sea, and that's what you're -- that's why you saw the Secretary in December announce the formation of Operation Prosperity Guardian, which is to ensure that commercial shipping can continue freely and openly of harassment from the Houthis. And then you've seen us since then, since -- I mean, as -- as recently as last week, take self-defense action.

So again, it's up to the calculation on the Houthis of when they want to stop.

I'll come right here. Yeah, Ryo?

Q: Thank you so much. Earlier this week, U.S. Forces Japan issued a statement that started with (inaudible) for the earthquake in Japan. How do you see the significance of this cooperation? And is U.S. Forces Japan ready for further assistance if requested by Japan?

MS. SINGH: So I think General Ryder might have announced that we are assisting. We -- we did receive a formal request of support. Two UH-60 aircraft from U.S. Army Aviation Battalion Japan are assisting Japanese Self-Defense Forces with the delivery of material for those that have been affected by the earthquake. This allows the Japanese Self -- Japanese Self-Defense Forces' aircraft to focus aviation efforts on transporting evacuees from affected areas.

So that's -- that's what we're doing right now. If we are -- receive another request for further support, of course we'll work with the government of Japan to -- to help accommodate that one.

Luis?

Q: Sabrina, we've seen an uptick in these U.S. strikes following incidents where U.S.-owned, operated vessels were struck by either (inaudible) drones or missiles. Are these latest strikes in direct retaliation and direct response to those incidents?

MS. SINGH: In terms of which incidents? Like, just generally or the ones that have ...

Q: ... 24 hours, we've had two and then over the -- on -- earlier in the week.

MS. SINGH: These were self-defense strikes that -- as the Central Command Commander saw that these missile launchers were getting prepared to launch, he took the action that he needed to.

Q: So we should not be making it -- a direct connection between a particular Houthi ...

MS. SINGH: Not necessarily a tit-for-tat every single time. Again, the actions that you saw CENTCOM take early -- early this morning, late last night was in self-defense, because we saw that these missiles were getting ready to launch, they were on those launch rails. And as a matter of being an imminent threat to the Red Sea and to commercial shipping, the Central Command Commander made that decision to take that action.

Q: So does that mean that CENTCOM has been given the authority that whenever they see anything like that, that they will be continuing to carry out these types of actions?

MS. SINGH: The Commander has the right to take action when U.S. forces and -- or -- or when there is a need for self-defense, he does have that authority from the Secretary and the President. Yeah.

Mike?

Q: Yeah, despite -- I mean, despite Prosperity Guardian, there's still a significant percentage of maritime traffic that's avoiding the area, going around (inaudible). Is there any thought in the future of sort of altering the strategy rather than directly have the warships escort these commercial vessels through the area, the chokepoint, rather than this (potentially ?) picket line that you have them set up as?

MS. SINGH: Changing the strategy in terms of what? I'm sorry, I'm not exactly understanding.

Q: ... escorting ...

MS. SINGH: We are doing some escorting of ships in the Red Sea where necessary. That is part of Operation Prosperity Guardian. Where we need or where we feel that ships do need an escort, that is something that they are doing, but their main focus of course is defending and ensuring freedom of navigation in those waters.

Q: (Inaudible) how do they get an escort? Do they have to radio ahead and say "we need an escort" or ...

MS. SINGH: Well, you have to -- part of -- part of the operation is -- is being in touch with the ships that are transiting through there. So of course there's communication with the Commander of Operation Prosperity Guardian and other ships transiting. There's -- there's, you know, advice given of places to avoid.

Admiral Cooper's spoken more about this, and I'm sure more eloquently than I am right now, but of course we're in touch with those ships that are transiting ...

Q: ... they call and -- and the -- and they ...

MS. SINGH: If we feel that they need it or if they feel -- or if we feel or our forces or forces within Operation Prosperity Guardian feel that there needs to be a bolstering of security around ships, they will be escorted. Yeah.

Did I see someone over here? Yes, all the way in the back.

Q: Just a -- a little bit of a different question regarding everything going on in the Middle East.

Since October, Iran-backed Hamas launched that massive attack against Israeli civilians and tourists from other countries, Iran-backed Houthis have attacked international shipping lanes dozens of times, Iran-backed militants have launched attacks on U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria, Iran has supplied Russia with weapons to use against Ukraine, and now Iran is launching strikes in Pakistan.

I was wondering what the Pentagon's message is to Iran? And is deterrence working?

MS. SINGH: So I think our message have -- has been very clear from the beginning. We know Iran funds, supports, equips, trains these groups, the very groups that you just listed out, in places throughout -- whether it be Iraq and Syria, in Lebanon, in -- in Yemen. We know Iran's hand is behind all of these groups.

And so our message has been very clear -- we don't seek a regional conflict, we don't want to see a regional conflict, and we certainly don't want what's happening in Gaza to spill out into a larger regional or wider-scale war.

We know tensions are high in the region. We've -- you know, we certainly acknowledge that. But we also have called on Iran repeatedly to stop, and that's what you're going to see us continuing to do. And we're meeting those words with actions.

That's why you've seen the strikes that we've conducted, you've seen the formation of Operation Prosperity Guardian in December, as a direct response to some of the actions that these Iranian-funded and militia groups are -- the activities that they're continuing to engage in.

So we are -- we are being very public with our message to Iran and we want these -- we -- we certainly want these attacks to stop, not only on our forces but on -- our forces in Iraq and Syria but our forces in the Red Sea and commercial shipping.

Lita, yeah?

Q: Just a quick clarification. Initially, when Prosperity Guardian -- Guardian was sped up to -- it was specifically said that they were not doing escorts, that this was a broader effort to protect the ships in the region because of the amount of traffic that's going ...

(CROSSTALK)

Has there been a change? Have ships actually started requesting ...

MS. SINGH: I'm not aware of ...

Q: ... escorts or -- cause my understanding was, at least initially, they were not doing individual escorts. Have they started doing individual escorts?

MS. SINGH: No, I think Mike's question -- I'm sorry if I didn't phrase it as -- OK. They're not doing individual escorts. If -- if ships or a collective of ships need to be escorted through or have, you know, one of our ships follow them, I believe that's what's been -- been -- because you -- like you said, there's so much traffic, but it's not individual ships necessarily being escorted.

Q: OK. My understanding was that the ships are just going back and forth through the BAM to provide ...

MS. SINGH: Basically in -- securing the highways -- yeah, securing the waterways. No, that has not changed. Yeah.

OK, Fadi, I'll do one more and then we will wrap it up. Yeah?

Q: So when you -- you -- as you mentioned, the Houthis -- it's up to the Houthis to determine when to stop these attacks -- in fact, the Houthis, since the first attack and when they announced every single attack since then, they said when they're going to stop these attacks. It's when Israel stops its war on Gaza and lift the -- its siege on the people of Gaza. Does the Pentagon see this as unrealistic objective?

MS. SINGH: So appreciate the question, Fadi. Again, what's happening in Gaza is -- despite what the Houthis say, is very different from what they're doing. Fifty nations, some of which have no geographic location or connection to the Middle East, are being attacked by the Houthis. I mean, you have Chinese ships going through. You have Russian ships going through. You have all sorts of countries' ships, commercial vessels that are transiting this waterway that have nothing to do with what's happening in Israel and in Gaza.

So I understand what the Houthis are saying in terms of when they -- when -- you know, what they've put out publicly. But again, we have to remember that what's happening in the Red Sea, there is not that connection there. And so we will continue to urge them to stop. We will continue to -- continue to take action that we need to. And as it -- as a reminder, this is action with partners, whether it be through Operation Prosperity Guardian, or what you saw last week that was multilateral.

OK, I'm going to leave it there. Thanks, everyone.

https://www.defense.gov/News/Transcripts/Transcript/Article/3649790/

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USEUCOM hosts Finnish military official to spur closer bilateral relations

The U.S. and Finland signed a Defense Cooperation Agreement in December 2023 to enhance opportunities for the two militaries to collaborate and train together while bolstering NATO's interoperability.

By U.S. European Command Public Affairs , United States European Command Stuttgart, Germany Jan 18, 2024

U.S. Air Force Maj. Gen James Kriesel, director of U.S. European Command's exercises and assessments directorate, hosted Brig. Gen. Manu Tuominen, the Finnish Defence Command's assistant chief of staff for training, and a Finnish military delegation during a visit to the command's Stuttgart, Germany, headquarters Jan. 18, 2024.

As part of the visit, Brig. Gen. Tuominen, was joined by USEUCOM's Finnish foreign liaison officer, Lt. Col. Timo Ronkainen and Finnish staff officer Maj. Ilkka-Maki-Ulakko. During the exchange, the U.S. and Finnish military leaders aimed to bolster the two nations' strategic relationship as NATO Allies. Focused discussion revolved around both USEUCOM's exercise programs and Finland's exercise programs and how Finland, NATO's newest member, might better integrate within U.S.- and NATO-led exercises. Key talking points also involved how the U.S. and Finland can increase interoperability between the two nations as they continue to develop their shared interests in the High North.

The U.S. and Finland signed a Defense Cooperation Agreement in December 2023 to enhance opportunities for the two militaries to collaborate and train together while bolstering NATO's interoperability.

On April 4, 2023, Finland officially became the 31st member of NATO, marking a major shift in the security landscape in northeastern Europe and on NATO's eastern flank by nearly doubling NATO's existing border with Russia.

Military leaders with both nations actively participate in the Arctic Security Forces Roundtable, a flag-and-general-officer level, military-to-military forum designed to promote regional understanding and enhance multilateral security cooperation in the High North. ASFR is the longest-running military forum focused on the Arctic's uniquely challenging security dynamics.

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China, Philippines hold new round of bilateral consultation meeting, agree on improving sea-related communication

Global Times

By Chen Qingqing Published: Jan 18, 2024 08:47 AM

China and the Philippines held the eighth meeting of the China-Philippines Bilateral Consultation Mechanism (BCM) on the South China Sea in Shanghai on Wednesday amid rising tensions, and the two sides agreed on improving the sea-related communication mechanism and handling maritime emergencies, especially the situation on the Ren'ai Jiao (also known as Ren'ai Reef).

Some Chinese experts believed that the continuation of this mechanism and the dialogue is significantly important, indicating that China and the Philippines do have channels and mechanisms to address their differences.

It also sends a strong signal to the outside world that China and the Philippines can resolve their bilateral disputes through bilateral channels, without the need for external interference and involvement, they noted.

Assistant Foreign Minister Nong Rong co-chaired the meeting with Philippine Undersecretary Theresa Lazaro. Both sides reiterated that South China Sea disputes do not define the entire bilateral relationship and emphasized the importance of communication and dialogue in maintaining maritime peace and stability.

Both sides agreed to enhance the sea-related communication mechanism, manage maritime conflicts and differences through friendly consultations, address maritime emergencies, particularly the situation on Ren'ai Jiao, and further promote practical maritime cooperation. These efforts aim to create opportunities for the healthy and stable development of China-Philippines relations.

Since last year, maritime tensions, primarily centered around Ren'ai Jiao, have escalated between China and the Philippines. This escalation has had repercussions on both sides' coast guard communication mechanisms, including those related to Ren'ai Jiao," Chen Xiangmiao, director of the World Navy Research Center at the National Institute for South China Sea Studies, told the Global Times on Thursday.

"It has also impacted bilateral relations. The main objective of this communication is comprehensive conflict management and the prevention of misjudgments," Chen said.

Recent actions by the Philippines, including the declaration of its intention to develop South China Sea islands to make them more habitable for troops, imply a desire to exert actual control. This is viewed by China as a violation of the spirit of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea, experts said.

However, it has been more than a month since the Philippines last sent ships to intrude into the waters around China's Ren'ai Jiao. This marks the longest period without Manila's provocations since August, 2023.

According to some experts, this situation represents a temporary de-escalation of tensions in the South China Sea, following China's display of determination in safeguarding its sovereign security and maritime rights through legitimate measures.

"The primary reason for the persistent tensions between China and the Philippines lies in certain domestic political forces within the Philippines. They aim to use the South China Sea as a significant bargaining chip in negotiations with China while also leveraging the South China Sea issue as a means to deal with the US," Xu Liping, director of the Center for Southeast Asian Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Thursday.

This reflects the complex situation in dealing with the Philippines in the context of the South China Sea, Xu said, noting that the key is to continue advancing negotiations within the existing mechanism. "This is essential for reducing domestic noise and returning bilateral discussions to a normal track."

Although the official communication channel between China and the Philippines on the South China Sea has resumed, some Philippines officials have continued making provocative remarks toward China.

Philippines' Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro on Wednesday accused a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson of insulting President Ferdinand Marcos Jr during a news briefing, stooping to what he called "low and gutter-level talk," according to Reuters.

Teodoro was reacting to Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning's remarks on Tuesday telling Marcos to "read more books to properly understand the ins and outs of the Taiwan issue" after Marcos congratulated Lai Ching-te on his election victory, referring to him as "president-elect," which was a blatant violation of the one-China principle and the communique on the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the Philippines.

Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. also told that the Philippines is building defense alliances with the US and other security partners to help pave the way for resource exploration in the oil-and-gas-rich South China Sea, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday.

On maritime disputes, we always uphold peaceful settlement through negotiation and consultation, and managing disputes through making rules and setting up mechanisms. Before disputes are settled, resource exploration and extraction needs to be conducted through joint development, said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning. Mao reaffirmed that the Philippines' development of alliance and military cooperation with relevant countries should not undermine China's lawful rights and interests in the South China Sea.

Since Marcos Jr. took office in 2022, the fluctuations in China-Philippines relations are primarily attributed to domestic political changes and shifts in the political landscape within the Philippines. Particularly, Marcos Jr. himself has had relatively weak control over various political forces in the Philippines, leading to diverse voices within the country, Chen noted.

"Consequently, the relationship between China and the Philippines often faces the uncertain factor of domestic politics in the Philippines. Some individuals exploit these uncertainties to exaggerate tensions between China and the Philippines, resulting in the escalation of conflicts between the two sides," he said.

"In addition to exerting pressure on the Marcos Jr. government, these discordant voices have also provided opportunities for the US and some other foreign countries to use the Philippines as a pawn in their competition with China," Chen added.

During the Wednesday meeting, China strongly conveyed its position to the Philippines regarding Taiwan-related questions. China demanded that the Philippines sincerely adhere to the one-China principle and promptly cease any incorrect statements or actions related to Taiwan.

The Philippines reiterated its commitment to the one-China policy and affirmed its intention to continue implementing it effectively.

Following the consultation and dialogue, in the short term, there may not be an escalation of maritime tensions between China and the Philippines. However, in the future, there remain unpredictable factors, experts said.

"The crucial point is for both China and the Philippines to maintain their bilateral negotiation mechanism and potentially supplement or improve certain aspects of it. This way, both parties can genuinely resolve their differences through peaceful means, including addressing the issue of Ren'ai Jiao," Xu said.

In particular, the Philippines should refrain from deliberately inflating this issue and avoid seeking support from certain external major powers. Such actions are not conducive to resolving the Ren'ai Reef matter, Xu added.

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ICRC welcomes the agreement to deliver medication to the hostages and medical facilities in Gaza

ICRC - International Committee of the Red Cross

From the onset of the events of 7 October 2023, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has been calling for the unconditional release of the hostages as a priority, while also pressing for access to them and the ability to provide medical care.

News release

18 January 2024

Israel and the occupied territories

With that goal in mind, the ICRC has been engaging with the parties to agree to a mechanism to deliver medicines to the hostages. The ICRC initiated the conversation in its role as a neutral intermediary. The parties negotiated the agreement, including how much medicines would be delivered and by whom, with Qatar brokering the deal. The mechanism that was agreed to does not involve the ICRC playing any part in its implementation, including the delivery of medication.

The ICRC welcomes the agreement to deliver medications to the hostages and to medical facilities for the residents of Gaza as a positive humanitarian step.

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Palestinian resistance rocket attack on Zionist settlements

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Jan 18, 2024

Tehran, IRNA -- News sources reported on Thursday night about the rocket attack of the Palestinian resistance on the Zionist settlements bordering Gaza.

The alarm sounded in the Zionist settlements bordering Gaza. According to this report, the Palestinian resistance forces launched rocket attacks towards occupied Palestine from the north of Gaza.

Al-Qassam battalions also announced that they targeted the Kisofim military base of the Zionist regime with a missile.

The Zionist regime, which, with the aim of destroying the Palestinian resistance groups, including Hamas, and releasing its captives, has been heavily bombarding the Gaza Strip since Mehr 15 and then marching into Gaza, failed to achieve its goals after weeks of crimes in this region.

The extravagance of Tel Aviv in the prisoner exchange program led to the failure of the negotiations and finally the resumption of crimes by the Zionist regime in Gaza.

On Friday morning (10th of Azar) after the expiration of the temporary ceasefire in Gaza, the Zionist occupying army resumed the bombardment of this barricade and the all-out attack on it.

2050

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Iran condemns US decision to blacklist Yemen's Ansarullah

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Jan 18, 2024

Tehran, IRNA -- Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani has condemned the United States' decision to put Yemen's Ansarullah movement back on its so-called list of terrorist organizations, saying the move is in line with the US support for the Israeli regime's genocidal war in the Gaza Strip.

"This unconstructive move by the United States will not have any effect on the resolve of the Yemeni nation to support the oppressed people of Gaza," Kanaani said on Thursday.

The US State Department on Wednesday re-designated Ansarullah as a terrorist organization amid increased attacks against Israeli-linked ships traversing the Red Sea.

The Yemeni armed forces have vowed that attacks against Israeli ships or those bound to the occupied territories will continue until the war against Palestinians in Gaza is stopped.

Kanaani slammed the US unending support for the Israeli regime as the most important destabilizing factor in the West Asia region.

"If the United States is sincere in expressing concerns about the stability and peace in the region, then it must stop backing the Zionist regime's war crimes and genocide in Gaza," he noted.

4353**2050

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NATO Chiefs of Defence discuss deterrence and defence priorities

NATO - North Atlantic Treaty Organisation

18 Jan. 2024

From 17 to 18 January 2024, the NATO Military Committee in Chiefs of Defence Session took place at NATO Headquarters in Brussels. The 31 Allied Chiefs of Defence and Invitee Sweden focused on the executability the Alliance's new defence plans, NATO's warfighting transformation, NATO's continued support to Ukraine and military cooperation with NATO Partners Austria, Australia, Ireland, Japan, New Zealand, Switzerland, and the Republic of Korea. During the two-day meeting, the Chiefs of Defence met for the first time in a NATO-Ukraine Council format.

Opening the NATO Military Committee session alongside NATO Deputy Secretary General Mircea Geoana, Chair of the Military Committee Admiral Rob Bauer stressed that the rules-based international order is under immense pressure: "The tectonic plates of power are shifting. And as a result we face the most dangerous world in decades. In this new era of collective defence we must defend not only the physical safety of our 1 billion people and 31 (soon to be 32) nations, we are defending freedom and democracy".

The Deputy Secretary General, Mr. Geoana highlighted various global security challenges: "Today, our peace is threatened. War, terrorism, instability. Authoritarian states threaten our values. We need a strong NATO more than ever and a strong NATO is what we have."

The first session saw General Cavoli, Supreme Allied Commander Europe - SACEUR, brief on the executability of the DDA Family of Plans and the way ahead regarding NATO's deterrence and defence posture. Allies are actively working on making the new defence plans fully executable.

Regarding NATO's warfighting transformation, Supreme Allied Commander Transformation General Lavigne and Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Transformation General Badia updated the Chiefs of Defence on the progress regarding NATO's transformation, focusing on the future of multi domain operations and the adaptation of NATO's Command and Control.

The session of Integrated Air and Missile defence saw the Chiefs of Defence discuss the improvement of NATO's readiness and interoperability in the Air domain.

The afternoon saw the Chiefs of Defence discuss and provide additional guidance to the two Strategic Commanders regarding NATO's deterrence and defence priorities ahead of the Washington D.C. The new defence plans require more people, more training and exercising, more stockpiles and capabilities, and more planning defence investment.

In the inaugural NATO-Ukraine Council in Chiefs of Defence format, the Ukrainian Military Representative to Ukraine, Major General Serhii Salkutsan briefed the NATO Chiefs of Defence on behalf of Ukrainian Chief of Defence General Zaluzhnyi. Praising the bravery and determination of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, the Chiefs of Defence reaffirmed their unwavering and continued support to Ukraine. Admiral Bauer stipulated: "The outcome of this war will determine the fate of the world. Our support is not charity; it is an investment in our security."

The second day began with the Military Committee gathering with the Chiefs of Defence from the Partner Interoperability Advocacy Group: Australia, Austria, Ireland, New Zealand and Switzerland. The PIAG Nations hold non-NATO Nation Status, which grants an individual security agreement that allows the exchange of classified information and participation in NATO training and exercises. The Chiefs of Defence stated that the current security environment clearly demonstrates the increased importance of cooperation with Partners, especially regarding interoperability.

Meeting with their Indo-Pacific partners Australia, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea, the NATO Chiefs of Defence discussed how regional security issues are increasingly becoming global security issues. Together, they discussed how to develop further training and exercising opportunities amidst closer cooperation.

The final session of the day saw the Chiefs of Defence meet with the NATO Secretary General, Mr. Jens Stoltenberg. The Chiefs of Defence discussed global security issues and the political priorities ahead of the Washington D.C. Summit.

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Nearly 30 years following the end of the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, war victims remain neglected

18 January 2024

Joint Op-Ed by Bojana Urumova, Head of Council of Europe Office in Sarajevo, Johann Sattler, Head of the Delegation of the European Union to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brian Aggeler, Head of the OSCE Mission to BiH, and Ingrid Macdonald, United Nations Resident Coordinator in Bosnia and Herzegovina

The devastation of the 1992-1995 war continues to impact Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) in numerous ways. Amongst other issues, key decision-makers lack the political will to help victims of war deal with lingering trauma and various forms of marginalization. As such, nearly 30 years after the conflict, victims in BiH still lack essential institutional assistance, including compensation. Beyond its grave effects on both individuals and communities, these failures also hinder BiH's progress toward genuine and lasting reconciliation.

As recently noted by the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, confronting past gross human rights violations is central to achieving long-term peace and security in cohesive, pluralist democratic societies. That said, moving forward to achieve durable peace and security respectful of human rights and the rule of law requires full recognition of the depth and breadth of the suffering of all victims of war, including the challenges that hinder access to adequate support, reparation, protections and justice. Chronic neglect and widespread denial of their suffering compound the physical and psychological trauma inflicted during the war. Responses totrauma, therefore, must reflect the realities of these timelines and the evolving needs of victims.

Despite these challenges, some progress has been made. Notably, as a result of years of advocacy by victims' associations, both the Brcko District (BD; 2022) and the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH; 2023) adopted laws that recognize children who were born as a consequence of wartime rape as victims.

Most recently, on 1January 2024, application of the new FBiH Law on the Protection of Civilian Victims of War (FBiH Law) began. The adoption of this law was an essential step in ensuring the recognition and rights of civilian victims of war and in providing support to a historically neglected and marginalized group.

While important, the FBiH Law and comparable legislation in the Republika Srpska (RS) and BD are insufficient to address these issues.

As consistently recommended by United Nations (UN) human rights mechanisms and the Universal Periodic Review, a unified BiH-wide framework should be established to replace the patchwork of existing laws and ensure the provision of readily accessible and sufficiently and sustainably financed institutional and legal support to victims, free from any form of discrimination, including based on place of residence.

The statutory deadlines enshrined in the various laws regulating the status of victims of war imposearbitrary and undue burdens on victims' ability to obtain recognition and are inconsistent with BiH's international legal obligations and human rights norms.

Decisions by international mechanisms affirming the rights of civilian victims of war to effective forms of redress, including compensation, remain unimplemented. This includes recommendations by several UN treaty bodies as well as the 2019 Decision by the UN Committee Against Torture (UNCAT) requiring that BiH issue a public apology and secure payment of compensation to a victim of wartime rape as awarded by the Court of BiH, as well as to establish a comprehensive and effective national-level reparation scheme for all victims of war crimes. Over four years after UNCAT issued its decision, the authorities have yet to fulfil their obligations.

Compounding these difficulties around compensation, RS authorities have engaged in the deeply unfairpractice of seeking reimbursement for court costs from victims of war who were barred by statutes of limitations from seeking compensation through civil proceedings. Moreover, despite the availability of formal mechanisms allowing victims to seek compensation through criminal proceedings, judicial authorities throughout BiH have not ensured that victims are able to exercise that right. Indeed, according to the OSCE's comprehensive trial monitoring program, compensation has been awarded in just 19 of nearly 700 adjudicated war crimes cases.

This unjust situation also creates serious impediments to genuine reconciliation. One of the Key Priorities that determines BiH's path to the European Union calls for concrete steps to promote an environment conducive to reconciliation and overcome the legacies of the war. In this regard, BiH should implement received and accepted recommendations related to justice and reparation for victims of war, including of conflict-related sexual violence, before its 4th Universal Periodic Review in January 2025.

Authorities in BiH at all relevant levels must take meaningfuland prompt action to improve the status of victims who remain vulnerable and marginalized nearly three decades after the war. In this respect, with urgency, we call on:

The FBiH, RS and BD authorities to ensure that all victims can have their status recognized and can effectively access comparable social, financial and medical support, regardless of their place of residence or ethnicity and without fear of intimidation or discrimination or undue burden. This should include the harmonization of the respective approaches and the immediate elimination of all deadlines for obtaining recognition of the status of victims of war.

The BiH authorities, including the Council of Ministers, to ensure the prompt and comprehensive implementation of the 2019 UNCAT decision, including compensating and offering public apologies to the complainant and establishing an effective national-level reparation scheme for all victims of war crimes.

The FBiH authorities to implement the FBiH Law promptly, meaningfully and comprehensively, including the allocation of adequate budgetary resources.

The RS authorities to undertake the legal and policy reforms necessary to ensure a formal end to the practice of seeking reimbursement for costs of proceedings from victims of war who sought and were denied compensation through civil litigation.

Judicial authorities to identify and address any obstacles to awarding compensation to victims in both criminal and civil proceedings. Simultaneously, legislative authorities should promptly remedy any existing laws contrary to international standards relied on by judicial authorities to avoid awarding compensation as part of such proceedings.

The Council of Europe Office in Sarajevo, the European Union Office in BiH, OSCE Mission to BiH, and the UN in BiH remain committed partners to victims, victims' associations and authorities across the country in order to improve the status and well-being of all victims of war.

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Press Statement on the 8th PH-China Bilateral Consultation Mechanism on the South China Sea

Republic of the Philippines - Department of Foreign Affairs

SHANGHAI 18 January 2024 -- The Philippines and China convened the 8th Bilateral Consultation Mechanism on the South China Sea in Shanghai on 17 January 2024. This is pursuant to the agreement reached between President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and President Xi Jinping in San Francisco last November 2023 to ease and manage tensions in the South China Sea. This was followed by a phone call between Philippine Secretary for Foreign Affairs Enrique Manalo and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in December 2023.

Philippine Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Ma. Theresa P. Lazaro and Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister Nong Rong had frank and productive discussions to de-escalate the situation in the South China Sea and both sides agreed to calmly deal with incidents, if any, through diplomacy. They also agreed that continuous dialogue is important to keep peace and stability at sea. Both sides presented their respective positions on the Ayungin Shoal and assured each other of their mutual commitment to avoid escalation of tensions.

The Philippines and China agreed to improve maritime communication mechanism in the South China Sea. This includes communications between foreign ministries and coast guards of the two countries.

The Philippines and China agreed to initiate talks on possible academic exchanges on marine scientific research between Filipino and Chinese scientists. END

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Biggest war exercises of NATO to begin next week

Iran Press TV

Thursday, 18 January 2024 8:27 PM

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is going to launch its largest military drill since the Cold War next week with about 90,000 personnel set to take part in the months-long combat exercises.

Top commander of NATO General Chris Cavoli said on Thursday that the drills would rehearse NATO's execution of its regional plans, the first defense plans the alliance has drawn up in decades, detailing how it would respond to a Russian attack.

Moscow has not been mentioned by name but the top strategic document of NATO identifies Russia as the most significant and direct threat to member states.

As per the military alliance more than 50 ships, from aircraft carriers to destroyers; more than 80 fighter jets, helicopters and drones; and at least 1,100 combat vehicles, including 133 tanks and 533 infantry fighting vehicles will be taking part in the military drills.

The combat rehearsals will contain a "simulated emerging conflict scenario with a near-peer adversary," Cavoli told reporters in Brussels after a two-day meeting of national chiefs of defense.

The war games are expected to last until the end of May.

Earlier on Wednesday the chairman of the NATO military committee Rob Bauer had warned the member states to be "ready for anything" and "expect the unexpected."

In a meeting of NATO military chiefs in Brussels, Bauer said, "The tectonic plates of power are shifting and as a result: We face the most dangerous world in decades."

"In order to be fully effective, also in the future, we need a war-fighting transformation of NATO," he added.

Bauer said NATO allies need to "focus on effectiveness" and ramp up defense readiness with more joint exercises, industry partnerships and troops on high alert.

"In order to strengthen our collective defense and at the same time support Ukraine in its existential fight, we need a whole of society approach. We need public and private actors to change their mindset from an era in which everything was plannable, foreseeable, controllable, focused on efficiency ... to an era in which anything can happen at any time. An era in which we need to expect the unexpected," Bauer added.

Citing Ukraine, NATO's Military Committee Chief noted, "Ukraine will have our support for every day that is to come because they will determine the fate of the world."

Since the start of the Russia-Ukraine conflict NATO countries have sharply increased their military budgets. The countries have also been delivering billions of dollars of worth arms to Ukraine and have pledged to help Kiev militarily in its war against Moscow.

Meanwhile, Ukraine's war minister has told Kiev's Western allies that the military forces in the country were facing a "very real and pressing" ammunition shortage.

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Al-Houthi: Yemen's Ansarullah to 'keep hitting' ships headed to occupied territories

Iran Press TV

Thursday, 18 January 2024 6:32 PM

Leader of Yemen's resistance movement Ansarullah Abdul-Malik al-Houthi says attacks on ships bound for Israeli ports will continue despite recent airstrikes on the Yemeni territory by US and UK warplanes.

Abdel Malek al-Houthi said in an hour-long televised speech on Thursday that the attacks would "also include American and British ships."

He said Yemen will continue to strengthen its military. The recent airstrikes by the United States and Britain, he said, are not going to "scare us."

"The issue that America and Britain have joined the war directly and that we are now in direct confrontation with the Americans, British and Israelis does not scare us at all," he said.

"The aggression towards our country and our people will enhance the development of our military capabilities."

Houthi also made it clear that the US-UK strikes will not influence Yemen's position in supporting the Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip.

"First, this aggression will not change anything in the stance of our people and its spiritual obligation in supporting the Palestinian people and the residents of Gaza as well as the continuous targeting of ships linked to Israel, and this is clear in our continuous operations and the last one was last night against the ships, but it will also include the American and British ships."

Elsewhere, the Yemeni leader said the US-led aggression against Yemen has been meant to divert the world's attention from Israel's genocidal campaign in Gaza.

"The Americans need to be sure that by continuing the aggression they meant to protect the Zionist crimes against the Palestinian people."

Since the start of the Israeli hostilities in early October, the United States and its Western allies have been providing financial and logistical support to Israel in its ferocious military campaign which many observers have described genocidal.

As part of support for the Palestinians, Yemen's Armed Forces and Ansarullah have targeted several Israeli ships and those bound for Israeli ports in the strategic Red Sea after multiple warnings.

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YEREVAN, JANUARY 19, ARMENPRESS. Armenian Minister of Defense Suren Papikyan has met with U.S. Ambassador to Armenia Kristina Kvien to discuss defense cooperation, the Ministry of Defense said in a statement.

The meeting took place on January 18 over dinner at the invitation of the U.S. Ambassador.

Minister Papikyan and Ambassador Kvien discussed issues pertaining to the Armenian-American cooperation in the defense sector and regional security, as well as issues of mutual interest, according to a readout issued by the Ministry of Defense. Papikyan thanked the U.S. Ambassador for the warm reception.
WHO reports nearly 600 Israeli attacks on medical targets across Gaza

Iran Press TV

Thursday, 18 January 2024 5:48 PM

The World Health Organization (WHO) says the Israeli regime has staged nearly 600 attacks against medical targets across the Gaza Strip, which the regime has brought under an unrelenting genocidal war.

The attacks, WHO said on Friday, have affected 94 healthcare sites, including 26 out of the territory's 36 hospitals.

According to the United Nations health body, at least 613 people have been killed, and more than 770 others injured during the strikes.

WHO spokesperson Christian Lindmeier condemned the continuing bombardment and said that the "ongoing reduction of humanitarian space plus the continuing attacks on healthcare are pushing the people of Gaza to breaking point."

More than 22,600 people have died since October 7, when the Israeli regime launched the war in response to an operation staged by Gaza's resistance groups.

On Thursday, Gaza's Government Media Office said the regime had dropped more than 65,000 tons of missiles and bombs on Gaza throughout the war.

Plight of amputees

Also on Friday, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus wrote on X, former Twitter, that many of Gaza's amputees would receive treatment days after suffering an injury, reducing the chance that their limbs can be saved.

"Amputees require early physiotherapy and rehabilitation, and proper nursing care, along with optimal nutrition and mental health support - essential services that are currently unavailable due to the heavy toll on health facilities during the conflict," he wrote.

He added that the WHO was working to provide medical supplies to Gaza, but that "so much more is required."

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US launches 4th round of missile strikes on Yemen in a week

Iran Press TV

Thursday, 18 January 2024 5:01 AM

The US military has launched new strikes on Yemen, marking the fourth time in a week that it has illegally bombed the war-torn country.

The Yemeni Saba news agency reported early Thursday that the aerial assault hit the provinces of Hudaydah, Taizz, Dhamar, al-Bayda, and Saada.

It added that British aircraft were also involved in the act of aggression.

In a statement, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) said that its strikes took place at approximately 11:59 p.m. Sana'a time on Wednesday, alleging that they targeted 14 missiles that were loaded to be fired from Yemen.

It also claimed that the strikes, along with other actions, will "degrade" the "capabilities" of the Yemeni armed forces to continue their attacks in the Red Sea, the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait, and the Gulf of Aden.

Two US officials said that during the raid, Tomahawk missiles were launched from US Navy surface vessels and the USS Florida, a guided-missile submarine.

Meanwhile, Lebanon's al-Mayadeen news channel reported that the aggression was accompanied by the presence of surveillance aircraft over the western part of Yemen.

The US strikes came on the same day that it re-designated Yemen's Ansarullah resistance movement as a "terrorist" group amid frustration with anti-Israel naval operations by the Yemeni armed forces in the Red Sea.

The United States and its allies have also launched illegal attacks on Yemen in violation of the country's sovereignty and territorial integrity, as well as international law.

Israel waged its genocidal war on Gaza on October 7 following a historic operation by the Palestinian Hamas resistance group against the occupying entity.

The US has offered untrammeled support for Israel during the onslaught that has so far killed over 24,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured at least 61,000 others.

In solidarity with the Palestinians in besieged Gaza, the Yemeni armed forces have targeted ships in the Red Sea with owners linked to Israel or those going to and from ports in the occupied territories.

The most recent incident was against the US-owned Genco Picardy bulk carrier in the Gulf of Aden on Wednesday.

In response to Yemen's maritime campaign in support of Palestine, the US has formed a military coalition in the Red Sea and endangered maritime navigation in the strategic waterway.

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US, UK cannot hold regional security hostage for Netanyahu's sake: Iran FM

Iran Press TV

Thursday, 18 January 2024 11:09 AM

The United States and Britain cannot hold the security of the region hostage for the benefit of Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, says Iran's foreign minister.

In a post on his X account on Thursday, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said he discussed bilateral and regional issues with his British counterpart, David Cameron, on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Wednesday.

"I asserted that the US and the UK must immediately stop supporting the war crimes of the apartheid Zionist regime against the Palestinians," he wrote.

"They do not have the right to hold the security of the region hostage for the benefit of Netanyahu," the Iranian foreign minister added.

Cameron said earlier via X that he had told Amir-Abdollahian that Iran must use its influence to stop the attacks of Yemen's Ansarullah resistance movement in the Red Sea.

Since the start of the Israeli military aggression on Gaza in early October 2023, the United States and its Western allies have been providing financial and logistical support to the occupying regime in its ceaseless bombardment campaign against Palestinians in the besieged territory.

As part of their support for Palestinians, the Yemeni armed forces, run by Ansarullah, have in recent weeks targeted several ships owned by Israel or bound for ports in the occupied territories in the strategic Red Sea after multiple warnings.

Tehran has repeatedly dismissed Western allegations about the Islamic Republic's involvement in Ansarullah's attacks in the Red Sea, saying that raising the issue is meant to divert public attention from the complicity of Western countries, led by the United States, in Israel's genocidal war on Gaza.

"The United States cannot deny or cover up the incontestable reality that recent incidents in the Red Sea are directly related to Israel's continued atrocities against the Palestinian people in Gaza," wrote Amir Saeid Iravani, Iran's permanent ambassador to the United Nations, in letters to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and rotating President of the UN Security Council Nicolas de Riviere on Monday.

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US propping up 'terrorist' Israel by blacklisting Yemen's Ansarullah: Tehran

Iran Press TV

Thursday, 18 January 2024 11:03 AM

Tehran has denounced Washington's "provocative" blacklisting of Yemen's Ansarullah resistance movement, saying the move is in line with the United States' support for the "terrorist" Israeli regime.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kan'ani said in a statement on Thursday that Ansarullah and the Yemeni nation are subject to the wrath of the US because of their support for the oppressed people of Palestine.

This is "a provocative move aimed to fulfill the supportive role of the US for the crimes of the child-killing Zionist regime," Kan'ani said.

On Wednesday, Washington re-designated Ansarullah as a "terrorist" group amid frustration with anti-Israel naval operations by the Yemeni armed forces in the Red Sea.

The designation, which takes effect in 30 days, requires American financial institutions to freeze Ansarullah funds and bars members of the resistance group from traveling to the US.

It followed several rounds of illegal strikes by the United States and its allies on Yemen in violation of the country's sovereignty and international law.

"The US's unlimited support for the wicked Zionist regime as the world's most hated terrorist organization is the main important cause of instability in West Asia and the strategic Red Sea region," Kan'ani said.

By blacklisting Ansarullah, he added, the US showed once again that it is not willing to rectify its "wrong" and "destructive" policies in the region and is still part of the problems facing regional countries.

Israel waged a bloody war on the besieged Gaza Strip on October 7 following a historic operation by the Palestinian Hamas resistance group against the occupying entity.

The US has offered untrammeled support for Israel during the onslaught that has so far killed over 24,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured at least 61,000 others.

In solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza, the Yemeni armed forces have targeted ships in the Red Sea with owners linked to Israel or those going to and from ports in the occupied territories.

In response, the US has formed a military coalition against Yemeni forces in the Red Sea and endangered maritime navigation in the strategic waterway.

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Israeli minister calls for occupation of Gaza, 'encouraging' Palestinians to leave

Iran Press TV

Thursday, 18 January 2024 9:32 AM

Far-right Israeli minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has reiterated his call for "encouraging" Palestinians to leave the Gaza Strip, saying the regime's occupation of the besieged enclave is the only way to restore security to Israel.

Ben-Gvir made the remarks during an interview with Israel's Channel 13 news on Wednesday, weeks after he called for the displacement of the people of Gaza and reoccupation of the besieged territory to build new Israeli settlements.

"There is no other way to restore security to Israel other than a full occupation of the Palestinian territory," he said, adding, "Voluntary immigration of the residents of Gaza should be encouraged."

He further criticized the Israeli cabinet for not properly supporting Israeli forces that he claimed are doing an "excellent job" in the ongoing war in Gaza.

"I hope that Likud elements do not set us back in terms of achievements," he said of the war.

In recent months, several Israeli officials have called for the occupation of Gaza as well as genocide against the Palestinian people.

Earlier this month, Amichai Eliyahu said the residents of Gaza should be left with no option but to immigrate to other countries as part of revenge measures against them in the wake of the surprise Operation Al-Aqsa Storm operation.

Back in November, Eliyahu called for dropping a nuclear bomb on Gaza.

Israeli finance minister Bezalel Smotrich has also called for encouraging the "emigration" of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip in order for extremist settlers to return to the area after the war.

The United Nations has already said it's "deeply alarmed" by statements from Israeli leaders about the forced displacement of Palestinians from Gaza.

According to the UN, 85% of the population of Gaza is already internally displaced amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine.

Most Palestinians displaced from their homeland after the Nakba (Catastrophe), when Israel proclaimed its illegal existence on May 15, 1948, have ended up in neighboring Arab states.

Arab leaders have maintained that any latter-day move aimed at forced expulsion of the Palestinians would be absolutely unacceptable.

800,000 Palestinians experiencing real famine

Meanwhile, a senior official of the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas has noted that 800,000 Palestinians are experiencing a real famine due to Israel's devastating war and prevention of the entry of necessary supplies into Gaza.

Osama Hamdan, Hamas's representative in Lebanon and a member of the group's politburo, made the remarks a day after UN experts warned that "every single person" in the war-torn Gaza is facing hunger amid Israel's war and blockade against the territory.

He also noted that the medicines that the resistance group is providing to the captives are running out due to the Israeli blockade and aggression, stressing that any initiative to bring medicines to the captives must include bringing medicines to the Palestinians in Gaza.

Hamdan also reiterated that the prerequisite for any prisoner exchange deal is the complete cessation of aggression on Gaza.

The Israeli regime waged the war on Gaza on October 7 after the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas carried out the surprise Operation Al-Aqsa Storm against the occupying entity in response to the Israeli regime's atrocities against Palestinians.

Since the start of the aggression, Israel has killed more than 24,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children.

The Tel Aviv regime has also imposed a "complete siege" on the territory, cutting off fuel, electricity, food, and water to the more than two million Palestinians living there.

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Iraqi resistance fighters attack US military base in northeast Syria: Report

Iran Press TV

Thursday, 18 January 2024 7:50 AM

Iraqi resistance fighters have reportedly launched drone strikes on a military facility occupied by US forces near the northeastern Syrian city of Qamishli on the Turkish border.

Lebanon's al-Mayadeen news channel reported that the attacks targeted Hemo base, situated west of Qamishli Airport, early on Thursday.

The report added that Hemo was also a US spy base housing elements of the Zionist regime.

Hemo base, which hosts close to 350 American soldiers, is believed to be a vital one for the US occupation forces in Syria since it serves as a special training camp for the US-backed so-called Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

This comes as news reports by Arab media said two days ago that troops were evacuated as a result of attacks by resistance factions in Iraq.

Meanwhile, Sabereen News, a Telegram news channel associated with Iraqi anti-terror Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), said that Thursday's operation was the second raid on Hemo base since October 7, when Israel launched a genocidal war on the Gaza Strip.

Iraqi resistance forces have conducted dozens of strikes on the US-run military installations in both Iraq and Syria amid growing anti-US sentiments in the region over Washington's support for the Israeli aggression against besieged Gaza.

Israel waged its brutal war following a historic operation by the Gaza-based Hamas resistance group against the occupying entity in retaliation for its intensified atrocities against the Palestinian people.

However, more than 100 days into the offensive, the Tel Aviv regime has failed to achieve its objectives in Gaza despite killing over 24,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injuring at least 61,000 others.

The US is a partner in the Gaza carnage as it has supplied Israel with weapons and intelligence support, and blocked UN resolutions calling for a humanitarian ceasefire in the Palestinian territory.

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Israeli strikes on Rafah kill 19 Palestinians, including children

Iran Press TV

Thursday, 18 January 2024 6:45 AM

At least 19 Palestinians, including small children, have been killed in the latest Israeli airstrikes on the southern city of Rafah, as the regime continues its brutal war against the besieged Gaza Strip.

According to local sources and video footage verified by Al Jazeera, the civilians were killed after Israeli warplanes targeted a house east of Rafah on Wednesday.

Earlier, footage showed the bodies of three children killed in the Israeli attack arriving at Abu Youssef Al Najjar Hospital in the city.

Rafah has been packed with tens of thousands of displaced civilians.

Israeli airstrikes have been pounding locations across Gaza, including southern parts that Israel had declared as safe zones.

Homes, hospitals, cemetery targeted

Meanwhile, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says the occupying regime's artillery has targeted residential buildings, a cemetery and hospitals in Khan Yunis over the past two days, as the southern Gaza Strip is reeling under heavy Israeli bombardment.

"Initial reports and video footage show that much of the al-Namsawi cemetery was destroyed and graves empty with some corpses reportedly missing," the OCHA said.

It went on to say that an Israeli missile had reportedly struck the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) health clinic in the Daraj neighborhood in Gaza City, but noted that "further details on the impact of the projectile are yet to be established."

The report comes as an ongoing telecommunications blackout has limited the latest update from OCHA, with information from northern Gaza even further limited by highly restricted access.

Fierce fighting in Khan Yunis

Separately on Wednesday, Israeli troops and members of the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas engaged in the most intense fighting so far in Khan Yunis, two US-based think tanks reported, as resistance groups in Palestine continue their operations against Israel amid the regime's genocidal war on Gaza.

The Critical Threats Project (CTP) and the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) also reported that a senior Hamas official has called for Palestinian fighters from other resistance groups to escalate their attacks on Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank.

The monitors also said Gaza is experiencing its longest and most widespread internet blackout since Israel's war on the enclave started in early October.

The Israeli regime waged the war on Gaza on October 7 after Hamas carried out the surprise Operation Al-Aqsa Storm against the occupying entity in response to the Israeli regime's atrocities against Palestinians.

Since the start of the aggression, Israel has killed more than 24,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children.

The Tel Aviv regime has also imposed a "complete siege" on the territory, cutting off fuel, electricity, food, and water to the more than two million Palestinians living there.

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Bosnian High Court Finds Republika Srpska's Jail Terms For Defamation Unconstitutional

By RFE/RL's Balkan Service January 18, 2024

The Constitutional Court of Bosnia-Herzegovina ruled on January 18 that recently added provisions of the Criminal Code of Republika Srpska criminalizing defamation in the majority Serb entity "are not unconstitutional" but at the same time said prison sentences in the controversial new law are unconstitutional.

The court struck down the article of the law that provides long prison terms for people convicted of violating the law. The prison terms ranged from three years for "gross disparagement" of Republika Srpska symbols to 15 years for more egregious violations.

The National Assembly of Republika Srpska passed amendments criminalizing defamation in July despite criticism from journalists and free speech advocates who said the changes would stifle freedom of speech.

Republika Srpska President Milorad Dodik, a divisive figure who is also the leader of the ruling Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD), signed the amendments into law in August.

Some provisions of the legislation were watered down during debate in the legislature, but the sentences remained in the bill.

Denis Zvizdic, deputy speaker of the House of Representatives of the Bosnian parliament, filed an appeal to annul the criminalization of defamation shortly after Dodik signed the amendments. He also requested a temporary measure suspending the law until the court ruled.

Zvizdic said the criminalization of defamation violates the provisions of Bosnia's constitution that protect human rights and democratic principles. The change in the Criminal Code also violates the European Convention on Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, he said.

Zvizdic stressed in his appeal that criminalization of defamation would have negative consequences for freedom of speech in all of Bosnia, not just in Republika Srpska, and would make the work of the news media particularly difficult.

The amendments say that making malicious or untrue statements about a person amounts to defamation and that violators can be fined from 500 euros to 3,000 euros.

The European Union and the Organization for Security and Cooperation In Europe were among the groups that warned Republika Srpska against passing the amendments, also saying they threatened freedom of speech and freedom of expression.

Dodik, who has been pursuing increasingly nationalist and secessionist policies, said the aim of the amendments was to protect the interests of Republika Srpska and its government in the face of "special warfare" involving journalists.

Dodik currently faces charges related to allegations that he has defied the rulings of High Representative Christian Schmidt.

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/bosnia-court-rules-republika-srpska- defamation-law-unconstitutional/32782403.html

Copyright (c) 2024. 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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Press release on humanitarian aid to Afghanistan

18 January 2024 10:57

49-18-01-2024

On January 18, a special flight of the Russian Ministry of Emergencies delivered another shipment of humanitarian aid from the Ramenskoye airfield to Kabul. It consisted of 33 tonnes of food products.

The shipment was collected by the House of Friendship Volgograd regional public organisation for cultural development. This humanitarian action confirms that a special positive potential exists for interaction between the states, including via regional organisations that provide assistance to the friendly Afghan people who are suffering from the devastating earthquake in Herat province in October 2023.

Russia, for its part, will continue to provide free assistance to the people of Afghanistan.

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Houthis Attack US Ship Chem Ranger in Gulf of Aden

Sputnik News

20240118

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Yemen's Ansar Allah movement, also known as the Houthis, has attacked a US ship, the Marshall Islands-flagged chemical tanker Chem Ranger, in the Gulf of Aden with naval missiles, "resulting in direct hits," Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said Thursday.

"The naval forces of the Yemeni Armed Forces carried out a targeting operation against an American ship (Chem Ranger) in the Gulf of Aden with several appropriate naval missiles, resulting in direct hits," Saree said in a statement on X (formerly Twitter), adding that "a retaliation to the American and British attacks is inevitable, and that any new aggression will not go unpunished."

The spokesman added that Yemen's armed forces "confirm that navigation traffic in the Arab and Red Seas will continue to all destinations around the world except for the ports of occupied Palestine" while vowing to continue blocking "Israeli navigation" and ships "heading to the ports of occupied Palestine" until a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip is achieved.

The US Central Command (CENTCOM) confirmed on Thursday that the Ansar Allah movement has attacked the Marshall Islands-flagged, US-Owned and Greek-operated tanker ship Chem Ranger in the Gulf of Aden, but there was no damage to the ship and no one was injured.

"On Jan. 18 at approximately 9 p.m. (Sanaa time), Iranian-backed Houthi terrorists launched two anti-ship ballistic missiles at M/V Chem Ranger, a Marshall Island-flagged, U.S.-Owned, Greek-operated tanker ship. The crew observed the missiles impact the water near the ship. There were no reported injuries or damage to the ship. The ship has continued underway," CENTCOM said on X (formerly Twitter).

 Sputnik

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YEREVAN, JANUARY 19, ARMENPRESS. Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan met on Thursday in Zagreb with Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic.

Mirzoyan and Plenkovic noted that the latest high-level contacts have intensified the bilateral cooperation which is based on friendship, mutual understanding and common values, the Armenian Foreign Ministry said in a readout. Mirzoyan and Plenkovic also noted that the visit is taking place in the year marking the 30th anniversary of establishment of diplomatic relations between Armenia and Croatia.

The Armenian FM and the Croatian Prime Minister discussed possibilities to further develop the agenda of cooperation between the two countries, deepen political dialogue and develop trade-economic ties, as well as enhance cooperation in other areas of mutual interest. The development of partnership in the context of strengthening Armenia-EU cooperation was also highlighted and the existing dynamics in this direction was emphasized.

Mirzoyan and Plenkovic also discussed issues pertaining to security and stability. FM Mirzoyan presented to the Croatian Prime Minister the Armenian sides approaches based on the well-known principles regarding the Armenia-Azerbaijan normalization process and the establishment of peace in the South Caucasus.

Speaking about the ethnic cleansing perpetrated by Azerbaijan in Nagorno-Karabakh, the Armenian Foreign Minister emphasized the need for restraining the approach of the use of force to resolve issues in the region, and for ruling out Azerbaijans ongoing aggressive rhetoric and territorial ambitions.

The Crossroads of Peace project developed by the Armenian government, namely its political and economic components, were also discussed.
Yemen's Houthis Claim New Attack on US Ship in Arabian Sea - Reports

Sputnik News

20240118

DOHA (Sputnik) - The Shiite movement Ansar Allah (Houthis) ruling in northern Yemen said they attacked a US ship off the Yemeni coast near the town of al-Mukalla. It marks the third attack on US ships since the launch of strikes on Houthi positions in Yemen a week ago, the Al Jazeera broadcaster reported Thursday, citing a Houthi military source.

Earlier on Thursday, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations said it had received information about a new incident 85 nautical miles (NM) southeast of the Yemeni town of Ash Shihr. The vessel approached by drones was a Marshall Islands-flagged tanker sailing near Mukalla. However, the tanker did not suffer any damage, UK broadcaster Sky News reported, citing UK maritime security firm Ambrey.

"Yemen's naval forces attacked an American ship in the vicinity of the Yemeni port city of Mukalla," the source told the broadcaster.

Late on Wednesday, the Houthis said they had attacked a US ship in the Gulf of Aden in response to the recent US and UK airstrikes against their positions. The US Central Command later specified that it was the Marshall Islands-flagged and US-owned bulk carrier Genco Picardy that had been hit by a Houthi drone at 8:30 p.m. Sanaa time (17:30 GMT) on Wednesday.

On Monday, the US Central Command said that a US-owned and operated container ship had been hit in the Gulf of Aden by a missile fired from the Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen. The Houthis confirmed later confirmed the strike.

The Houthis, who control large territories in Yemen's center-west and north, vowed in November 2023 to attack any ships associated with Israel until it halts military actions in the Gaza Strip. This led US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin to announce the creation of a multinational operation to secure navigation in the Red Sea. US and UK forces launched major strikes against Houthi positions last week in a bid to degrade the rebels' ability to target commercial vessels.

 Sputnik

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US Launches New Round of Strikes on Houthi Positions in Yemen - Reports

Sputnik News

20240118

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The United States has launched new strikes on the Houthi positions in Yemen, CBS reported citing a US official.

The report said on Wednesday that the US military targeted sites where the Houthis were preparing to launch new attacks.

Later in the day, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) that the United States military has carried out strikes on 14 Houthi missiles that were loaded to be fired at "any time" in Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen and presented an "imminent threat" to merchant vessels and US navy ships in the region.

"In the context of ongoing multi-national efforts to protect freedom of navigation and prevent attacks on U.S. and partner maritime traffic in the Red Sea, on Jan. 17 at approximately 6 p.m. (EST) [23:00 GMT], U.S. Central Command forces conducted strikes on 14 Iran-backed Houthi missiles that were loaded to be fired in Houthi controlled areas in Yemen. These missiles on launch rails presented an imminent threat to merchant vessels and U.S. Navy ships in the region and could have been fired at any time, prompting U.S. forces to exercise their inherent right and obligation to defend themselves," CENTCOM said on X (formerly Twitter).

CENTCOM added that the US strikes "will degrade the Houthi's capabilities to continue their reckless attacks on international and commercial shipping in the Red Sea, the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait, and the Gulf of Aden."

The command quoted US CENTCOM Commander Gen. Michael Erik Kurilla as saying that the US military "will continue to take actions to protect the lives of innocent mariners and we will always protect our people," adding that the Houthis' actions "continue to endanger international mariners and disrupt the commercial shipping lanes in the Southern Red Sea and adjacent waterways."

Earlier in the day, US Central Command (CENTCOM) said Houthi rebels hit a US-owned and operated commercial vessel Genco Picardy in the Gulf of Aden. There were no injuries, and the ship was still operable despite sustaining some damage from the attack, according to CENTCOM.

 Sputnik

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Acting Deputy Secretary Nuland's Meeting with Nigerian National Security Advisor Ribadu

US Department of State

Readout

Office of the Spokesperson

January 18, 2024

The below is attributable to Spokesperson Matthew Miller:

Acting Deputy Secretary Victoria Nuland met with Nigerian National Security Advisor Nuhu Ribadu on January 17 in Washington, D.C. Acting Deputy Secretary Nuland and National Security Advisor Ribadu discussed the importance of the U.S.-Nigeria security partnership and Nigerian efforts to support regional stability in West Africa. They further agreed on the importance of protecting civilians, safeguarding human rights, and promoting accountability and transparency in the aftermath of security operations.

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Recent Actions Against Independent Media in the Kyrgyz Republic

US Department of State

Press Statement

Matthew Miller, Department Spokesperson

January 18, 2024

The United States is deeply concerned by reports of recent actions taken by the government of the Kyrgyz Republic against independent media outlets and journalists. These actions contribute to a pattern of government activity that appears aimed at stifling public debate and free expression. We encourage the Kyrgyz authorities to ensure journalists can operate without undue pressure or harassment. A free and independent press is essential for protecting human rights, maintaining effective democratic institutions, and promoting peace and security.

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No: 10, 18 January 2024, Press Release Regarding the Latest Incidents in our Region

Republic of Turkey Ministry of Foreign Affairs

We are concerned with the recent developments in our region that started with Iran's attacks against targets in Iraq, followed and expanded by Iran's strikes on targets inside Pakistan, and further escalated by attacks by Pakistan this morning (18 January) on targets in Iran.

Problems should be resolved within the framework of the fundamental principles of international law, including the UN Charter, in mutual respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of countries and with an understanding of friendship and brotherhood. We hope that all issues will soon come to an end through dialogue and cooperation without further threatening regional security and stability.

We call on brotherly Iran, Iraq and Pakistan to act with common sense and show restraint. Turkiye is ready to contribute to the peaceful resolution of those disputes.

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Daily Press Briefing by the Office of the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General

Department of Public Information . News and Media Division . New York

18 January 2024

The following is a near-verbatim transcript of today's noon briefing by Stephane Dujarric, Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.

Alright, good afternoon. I have quite a bit of stuff for you, some of it may be useful, hopefully.

** Secretary-General's Travels

The Secretary-General left Davos early this morning and he is now in Thun, which is also in Switzerland, where he is spending the day with his Special Representatives and Special Envoys, who gathered for their annual retreat with him.

Tomorrow, the Secretary-General will leave Switzerland and will travel to Kampala, in Uganda, where two very important summits will be held over the weekend  the Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), and the Third South Summit of Heads of States and Governments of the Group of 77 plus China. The Secretary-General is expected to address the NAM summit on Saturday and the G77 plus China Summit on Sunday. We will share those remarks with you in advance.

And we expected the Secretary-General to emphasize the critical role that both the NAM and the G77 plus China play in fostering international cooperation, at a moment of deep division and the rising of geopolitical tensions.

His messages will focus on support to multilateralism and the renewed efforts for peace, financing for sustainable development and climate action, and the need for reforms of our global institutions. He will also urge Governments to consider his proposal of a New Agenda for Peace.

While in Kampala, we expected the Secretary-General to have bilateral meetings with a number of attendees of the Summit, and he will of course also meet with the President of Uganda, Yoweri Museveni.

** Israel/Gaza

Turning to Israel and to Gaza: The Secretary-General welcomes the announcement of an operation to deliver additional and much-needed medicines and medical supplies to the civilian population in the Gaza Strip and to deliver vital medicines to hostages currently held in Gaza.

The entry of these critical supplies and humanitarian aid to Gaza is encouraging, however much more aid needs to come into the Gaza Strip. He commends the State of Qatar and France for all their efforts.

The Secretary-General also reiterates his appeal for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire and he also reiterates his call for the immediate and unconditional release of hostages and for their humane treatment.

The Secretary-General urges all relevant actors to ensure that sufficient humanitarian aid gets into and where it is needed in the Gaza Strip and calls for the reactivation of the private sector to bring basic commodities into the Gaza Strip.

The Secretary-General expresses his continued concern about heightened tensions in the region and calls for an urgent de-escalation.

** Gaza

Also on Gaza, I want to flag that Philippe Lazzarini, who, you all know, is the Commissioner General of UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency), issued a statement as he ended his latest visit to Gaza.

He said that in southern Gaza, around Rafah, makeshift structures of plastic sheeting have mushroomed everywhere, including on the streets, with people trying to protect themselves from the cold and rain. Each one of these flimsy shelters can be home to over 20 people.

He said that the population of Rafah has almost quadrupled since the start of the hostilities to 1.2 million men, women and children. He added that everyone he met had a personal story of fear, death, loss, and trauma to share. Over the 100 days, the people of Gaza have moved from the sheer shock of losing everything, in some cases every member of their family, to a debilitating struggle to stay alive and protect their loved ones.

Mr. Lazzarini noted that UNRWA staff are equally impacted. Despite this, they work tirelessly to support the people around them, adding that he was not able to reassure them that they, let alone their families or UN facilities, would be safe.

Initial reports yesterday indicated that a missile reportedly struck the UNRWA health clinic in Ad Daraj, in Gaza City. Further details on the impact of the projectile are yet to be established.

For their part, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, OCHA, reports that telecommunications services in Gaza remain disrupted for a seventh day. As we have said repeatedly, these outages significantly hinder our efforts to adequately respond to the humanitarian crisis and to assess the full extent of needs in Gaza.

The capacity of humanitarian agencies to operate safely and effectively anywhere in Gaza also remains heavily compromised by Israeli restrictions on the import of critical equipment, including appropriate telecommunication devices.

Meanwhile, access denials for humanitarian missions to areas north of Wadi Gaza are impeding efforts to scale up the provision of life-saving assistance in those areas, which adds significant to the cost of the overall response. When planned aid convoys are denied, it is also a missed opportunity for alternative missions that could be undertaken to other areas in the Gaza Strip.

** Syria

Moving up to Syria, our humanitarian colleagues tell us that they are deeply concerned by ongoing attacks on civilian infrastructure and the safety of civilians in the north-east of Syria as the security situation there deteriorates.

Over the past week, multiple airstrikes in Al Hasakeh have led to civilian casualties and caused significant damage to several civilian facilities, including power stations and oil production fields, which could negatively impact the availability of gas, fuel and electricity going forward.

Meanwhile, in north-west Syria, OCHA warns that increased flooding is putting displaced populations at risk. More than 1,500 family tents have been damaged by floods over the past two weeks, including shelters provided to survivors of last year's devastating earthquakes.

Humanitarian partners also report that tents in Afrin and Salqin were particularly affected by persistent rainfall. They say that additional shelters, food, ground insulation, heating materials, and road repairs are urgently needed. Muddy conditions are disrupting children's access to school and families' ability to reach critical services within the displacement camps.

We and our partners on the ground are carrying out assessments and providing essential relief items, including tents, repair kits, and plastic sheeting for insulation. Psychosocial support is also being mobilized for affected families.

However, the humanitarian response is significantly underfunded. We have received just one third of the $160 million needed for last year and for this year to help provide winter assistance to more than 2 million people in Syria.

** Sudan

And moving to Sudan, I just want to flag that the UN Fact-Finding Mission on Sudan began its work this week. Speaking after several days of talks with officials and civil society organizations, Mohamed Chande Othman, the Chair of the Fact-Finding Mission, said today that investigations into human rights and international humanitarian law violations are now under way.

The UN Human Rights Council, as you will recall, established the Fact-Finding Mission in October of last year to investigate all alleged human rights violations in the conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), as well as other warring parties, and their mandate allows them to look into violations that have occurred since 15 April of last year. The Mission will pay particular attention to violations targeting women and children, especially those concerning sexual violence.

The Mission also called on all parties to cooperate with their investigations. It invited individuals, groups and organizations to confidentially submit relevant information on human rights violations in Sudan.

The Mission is also due to present an oral update on its initial findings at the fifty-sixth session of the Human Rights Council, which takes place starting in June of this year.

** Red Sea

And turning to the Red Sea: During a meeting with shipping industry representatives that took place today at the headquarters of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) in London, the Secretary-General of the IMO, Arsenio Dominguez, warned that seafarers are innocent victims in the volatile Red Sea situation and that seafarer safety is paramount.

He also emphasized that freedom of navigation must be upheld to guarantee global trade and the flow of goods by sea. He stressed that there must be caution and restraint to avoid further escalation in the situation in the area.

** Republic of the Congo

A quick humanitarian update from the Republic of Congo. Our humanitarian colleagues tell us that the country is grappling with the worst flooding in 60 years, and that has impacted 1.8 million people.

The Government declared a state of emergency on 29 December and announced that more than 350,000 people need urgent life-saving assistance.

The Government, with the support of UN agencies on the ground, is rolling out a humanitarian response plan which urgently needs financial support. Humanitarian organizations are carrying out assessments to clarify what's needed, where, and how to deliver aid.

Yesterday, Martin Griffiths, our Emergency Relief Coordinator, allocated $3.6 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund to address the most pressing needs of 270,000 people.

** Children

And two reports I want to flag, one by UNICEF (United Nations Children's Fund), which says that nearly half a million children across Europe and Central Asia live in residential care facilities, including large-scale institutions. This is double the global average.

UNICEF called for adequate investments to support early identification and early intervention for children at risk, family support services to prevent unnecessary family separation, and quality foster care for children in need of protection.

** Afghanistan

And the UN Development Programme (UNDP) in Afghanistan today released a report depicting a bleak socioeconomic scenario for the country, since August 2021. The report notes that restrictions on women's rights and an almost collapsed banking system are identified as major areas of concern, needing international cooperation.

According to the report, the [proportion] of women in employment across all sectors has dropped dramatically, nearly halved from 11 per cent in 2022 to just 6 per cent in 2023. UNDP also points out that 7 out of 10 Afghans are unable to fulfil their basic needs for food, health care, employment and other daily requirements.

Interesting report. Please look on the UNDP website.

** Ecuador

I also want to flag that, regarding Ecuador, the Secretary-General strongly condemns the killing of the Ecuadorian prosecutor Cesar Suarez, and that took place yesterday in the city of Guayaquil. He sends his heartfelt condolences to his family and colleagues and reiterates his concern over the security situation currently in Ecuador.

** Department of Global Communications

And lastly, at this time of the year, we look back again to 2023. I wanted to mention one more useful analytical tool regarding the work of the Security Council.

Our colleagues in the Meetings Coverage Section in the Department of Global Communications (DGC)  those are the people who write up those very useful and detailed daily round-ups of the open meetings  they published in English and French its 2023 work summary of the Security Council. Take a look at it.

It is organized thematically; this summary offers an overview of the issues discussed in [...] the 271 Security Council's official meetings in 2023, during which 50 resolutions and 6 presidential statements were adopted.

Useful tool for delegations, but especially for the media and the staff of the United Nations.

** Questions and Answers:

Spokesman : Margaret and then Pam?

Question : Steph, Prime Minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu just gave a press conference in Israel, and he said he's informed the Americans that he opposes the establishment of a Palestinian State as part of any post-war scenario, and he said any future arrangement, Israel needs security control of, overall, the territory west of the Jordan River. Reaction, please? Concern?

Spokesman : I will let you do the compare and contrast. The Secretary-General's backing of the two-state solution is unchanged. I think as he said repeatedly, he believes that out of the tragedy that is unfolding in Gaza, we should use as an opportunity to get things back on track so that the aspirations, the hopes, and the legitimate concerns of the Israeli people and Palestinian people are met  and with ultimately two [States] living side by side.

Question : Secondly, you mentioned the medications going into the hostages. The Secretary-General welcome that. I'm seeing a report that says the ICRC (International Committee of the Red Cross) says they were not involved in transporting them. Do you know anything further about how the medications come to them?

Spokesman : No. This was... we welcome this. We also were not involved in negotiating, so I would suggest you speak to Qataris, the French or others. Pamela Falk, CBS News, because I see your microphone next to so I know you work for them.

Question : Oh, yes, sitting there. Unattached. Thank you so much, Steph. Given all that's going on and all you've said about Gaza, there is a meeting coming up on Tuesday, a lot of Foreign Ministers and parties to the conflict coming to the Security Council. What... is there anything that the Secretary-General, other than calls for a ceasefire, and his other calls to, to set up a negotiating framework, because the Quartet seems to be stalled? There seems to be no negotiating network. Everyone's meeting wherever they are. Any suggestions?

Spokesman : I mean, I think, you know, the Secretary-General's focus right now is on seeing a humanitarian ceasefire as quickly as possible; seeing more humanitarian aid going; seeing the release, unconditional release of all the hostages. He continues to push for that in meetings and in discussions that he's having, and he will continue to do so. I think we need to see an end to the violence. There are different frameworks that exist and I think perhaps, especially, we need to get commitments from the most interested parties or parties to move towards that goal, and then we can see what the best framework is to get there. And just as a programming note, the Secretary-General will address the Council next week at the meeting. Yes, ma'am? Okay. Yes, sir?

Question : Hi. It's Eric Peters with Kyodo News, a Japanese newswire. So ASG (Assistant Secretary-General Khaled) Khiari briefed the Council today. Can you tell us what he brought up?

Spokesman : He briefed on the democratic... on the situation on the Korean Peninsula. I think he reiterated what we've been saying publicly, which is a call for de-escalation and for dialogue. I mean, basically, I think, he said privately what we've been saying publicly.

Question : And if you have the SG's reaction to the ballistic missile that was launched?

Spokesman : What?

Question : The ballistic missile that was launched last weekend?

Spokesman : I mean, I think we've answered that question and the issue is our concerned at the combination of these continuing, of these continuing launches and a call for return to dialogue as the only way to bring sustainable peace and verifiable denuclearization to the Korean Peninsula.

Question : Thank you.

Spokesman : Let me go to Alan, then Dezhi, and I'll come back to you, madam.

Question : Sorry. Thank you, Stephane. The minister. [Sergey] Lavrov, will be among the other ministers next week here attending the Security Council meetings. Is the SG going to meet him and what is he going to discuss?

Spokesman : Yes, he will be meeting him.

Question : What is he going to discuss with him?

Spokesman : Whatever, obviously, whatever the Foreign Minister wishes to discuss, but I think it would not be, I think one can easily imagine the number of agenda items that we'll need to go through. Dezhi?

Question : Hopefully, you can hear me?

Spokesman : Faintly, but I see you in bright purple.

Question : One minute.

Spokesman : Can we try to pump up the volume, Tom? Try it again, Dezhi.

Question : Can you can you hear me now?

Spokesman : And how.

Question : Alright. Okay. I'll try my best. Anyway, so we know that Secretary-General has finished his trip in Davos. Has he met with the Israeli president, [Isaac] Herzog?

Spokesman : I have nothing to share with you on that. He did meet with the representatives of hostages that are being held in Gaza, as well as people who had been held... as hostages who had been freed. He met with them yesterday. I think he was very moved by what he heard, but also reiterated that he was working and his efforts on getting all of the hostages freed unconditionally.

Question : My question is, President Herzog, during his Davos visit, said that Israelis are now not considering the peace process, which means two-State solution, I believe, but more than, how to say that, but more concerned about the security of Israel. I know you just mentioned a little bit to Margaret; what do you think is the relationship between two-State solution and the real security for Israel as well as Palestine?

Spokesman : Well, I mean, it's what we've always called for. It's for two states to live side by side in peace and in security.

Question : So a totally unrelated question. It's also in Davos. The Iraqi Prime Minister, Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani, urge the US-led coalition, which is anti-terrorism coalition, to leave his country. What is the position of the United States for that?

Spokesman : Sorry, which oh, the Iraqi, the Iraqi, you mean?

Question : Yeah, the Iraqi Prime Minister.

Spokesman : Yeah. I mean, that's an issue that has to be dealt bilaterally between the Iraqi Government and those members of the multinational force.

Question : But yesterday, we discussed quite a lot about the sovereignty and territorial integrity. If the Iraqi Prime Minister urged them to leave, so supposedly, they should have to, right?

Spokesman : Well, my understanding and my reading of what has been said over the last few weeks is that the Iraqi Government was engaged in a dialogue with those countries and I'm sure the dialogue will be fruitful. Margaret?

Question : Steph, I know yesterday you spoke about Iran striking Pakistan. Now Pakistan has fired back at Iran. Are how concerned is the Secretary-General about this escalation?

Spokesman : He's very concerned about this escalation, about the exchange of fire, of rockets between Iran and Pakistan. We've seen reports of casualties on both sides. Again, he urges both countries to exercise maximum restraint, avoid any further escalation. Any security issues, any diplomatic, any issues, concerns, between Iran and Pakistan must be addressed through peaceful means, through dialogue, through cooperation, and again, in accordance with the principles of sovereignty, national integrity, and good neighbourly relations, I mean, we are seeing heightened tensions grow in that region, and that is something that is of worry.

Question : I know you said he spoke by phone, I believe, with the Iranian Foreign Minister in the last few days. There's reports the Iranian Foreign Minister will be here Tuesday for Gaza. Do they have a meeting scheduled?

Spokesman : I will let you know. If a meeting is requested, we will obviously... the Secretary-General, as long as the schedule permits it, we'll do it. I will check the schedule.

Question : Does, does the Secretary-General ever request the meeting?

Spokesman : Yes. It's sometimes... I mean, we will I'm sure they will see each other. On that... oh, oh Iftikhar, I see waving your hand. Go ahead, Iftikhar.

Question : Thank you. Yeah. Thank you, Steph. And following up on Margaret's question on Iran and Pakistan, does the Secretary General... is the Secretary-General playing any role to de-escalate the tensions between the two countries?

Spokesman : Well, as always, his good offices are available as in any point of tension in the globe, if both parties request it, but I can tell you that he is keeping very much informed of what is going on. C'est tout. That's all, folks, as we say.

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Statement by UNICEF Deputy Executive Director Ted Chaiban upon conclusion of his visit to the Gaza Strip

UNICEF

18 January 2024

GAZA/ NEW YORK, 18 January 2024 - "I have just finished a three-day visit to the Gaza Strip, where I have been able to coordinate with local and international organizations about the emergency response and take stock of humanitarian operations since the last time I was in the Gaza Strip two months ago. But more than that, I was able to meet with children and their families suffering some of the most horrific conditions I have ever seen.

"Since my last visit, the situation has gone from catastrophic to near collapse. UNICEF has described the Gaza Strip as the most dangerous place in the world to be a child. We have said this is a war on children. But these truths do not seem to be getting through. Of the nearly 25,000 people reported to have been killed in the Gaza Strip since the escalation in hostilities, up to 70 per cent are reported to be women and children. The killing of children must cease immediately.

"On Tuesday, I met an 11-year-old girl called Sama at Al-Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis. She was skipping with friends when they were hit by shrapnel from a bombardment. The shrapnel sliced through Sama's abdomen, forcing her into surgery to remove her spleen. She is recovering in hospital, isolated from everyone around her because she is now immunocompromised in a war zone full of disease and infection.

"10 minutes later I met 13-year-old Ibrahim. He was in a designated shelter with his family, in an area they were told was safe, when everything collapsed around them. Ibrahim's hand was badly damaged and quickly became infected. Without medicine, gangrene took hold and he ultimately lost his arm during an amputation without anaesthetic. Ibrahim's mother, Amani, who accompanied him to the south of the strip for life-saving treatment in Al-Nasser asked for help reaching her remaining six children and husband who had remained north of Gaza City. She has not heard from them in two months.

"A matter of hours after we left, many families fled Al-Nasser hospital as fighting closed in on the area.

"Over 1.9 million people, or nearly 85 per cent of Gaza's population, is now displaced including many who have been displaced multiple times. Over a million of them are in Rafah, resulting in a patchwork of makeshift shelters and sites that have made the small town nearly unrecognisable.

"The sheer mass of civilians on the border is hard to fathom and the conditions they live in are inhumane. Water is scarce and poor sanitation is inescapable. The cold and rain this week created rivers of waste. The little food that is available doesn't meet children's unique nutritional needs. As a result, thousands of children are malnourished and sick.

"Two months ago, cases of diarrhoea were up 40 per cent from before the escalation in hostilities. By mid-December, 71,000 cases were recorded among children under five, a more than 4000 per cent increase since the war began.

"This is nothing short of a staggering decline in conditions for the children of Gaza. If this decline persists, we could see deaths due to indiscriminate conflict compounded by deaths due to disease and hunger. We need a major breakthrough.

"This starts with an end to the intense bombardment, which is not only killing thousands, but is also impeding the delivery of aid to survivors. We have to get more trucks in, do so via more crossings, and with far more efficient inspection processes. Before the conflict more than 500 trucks entered the Gaza Strip every day. When I was there in November, about 60 aid trucks a day entered. Now, it is about 130 trucks a day alongside an average of 30 commercial trucks a day. This is with the opening of a second crossing point but it still remains wholly inadequate. We are trying to drip assistance through a straw to meet an ocean of need.

"There must be fewer restrictions on the kind of aid we can bring in, such as generators for water pumps and pipes to repair water facilities, which are critical to restore the water and sanitation services essential for people's survival.

"Once aid gets into the Gaza Strip, our ability to distribute it becomes a matter of life and death. It is imperative that access restrictions are lifted, reliable ground communications ensured, and movement of humanitarian supplies facilitated to ensure those who have been without aid for days receive desperately needed assistance. And, we have to get commercial traffic flowing in Gaza, so that markets can reopen and families can be less dependent on relief.

"Finally, we need access to the north. The estimated 250,000 to 300,000 people living in north Gaza have no access to clean water and barely any food. In the first two weeks of January, only 7 of 29 planned aid deliveries have successfully reached their destinations in northern Gaza. Not a single UNICEF convoy has accessed the north of the Gaza Strip in 2024.

"Where we have access, we can make a difference. I visited one of the two desalination plants in Khan Younis that UNICEF is supporting and that is providing some water to about 250,000 people. I saw children wearing the winter clothes we brought in and families using soap and sanitary products from hygiene kits that have gotten through.

"We cannot wait any longer for a humanitarian ceasefire to end the daily killing and injuring of children and their families, enable the urgent delivery of desperately needed aid and the safe and unconditional release of the two remaining Israeli children still held hostage in Gaza. This cannot go on."



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Gaza aid obstacles continue to delay vital relief

18 January 2024 - Medicines for Israeli hostages were reportedly allowed into Gaza for the first time on Thursday along with a consignment of relief supplies for Palestinians, under an agreement brokered by Qatar and France.

UN humanitarians are warning the level of assistance for many Gazans is now "almost catastrophic".

The development came as UN aid coordination office OCHA in its latest update on Wednesday evening reported ongoing "intense" Israeli bombardment of the occupied territory and rocket fire into Israel by Palestinian armed groups.

Rafah strife

According to the UN World Food Programme, WFP, the continuing violence has made it nearly impossible to distribute aid relief much beyond Rafah in the south of the Strip, where well over 1.2 million people now shelter in dangerously overcrowded conditions under plastic sheeting.

"Areas beyond Rafah, it's almost catastrophic assistance", said WFP MENA Senior Communications Officer and Spokesperson Abeer Atefa. Her comments echoed repeated appeals for greater access by other UN agencies working to reach all five Gaza governorates.

In the first two weeks of the year, humanitarian agencies planned 29 missions to deliver lifesaving supplies north of Wadi Gaza; only one in four made it after Israeli authorities denied the rest, according to OCHA.

The UN aid wing further noted that two additional missions originally coordinated with the Israeli authorities "could not be completed due to the non-viability of allocated routes or excessive delays at checkpoints, which did not allow the missions to succeed during the safe operating windows".

Of the more than 100 Israelis still believed held in Gaza, it's been reported that around 45 require treatment for chronic diseases or other lifesaving medicines.

Mounting toll

Meanwhile, amid ongoing bombardment and heavy clashes in Gaza, more than 160 Gazans died in the last two days and another 350 were injured, OCHA said, citing health officials in the enclave, bringing the total number of Palestinians confirmed killed since the war erupted to well over 24,400.

Three Israeli soldiers were also reportedly killed in clashes in Gaza on Tuesday and Wednesday, OCHA noted, meaning that 191 Israeli fighters have died since 7 October, when a coordinated Hamas-led incursions into Israel left around 1,200 dead and some 250 taken hostage, sparking massive Israeli retaliation.

The devastation caused by the war has now left "only one of the three water pipelines from Israel into Gaza" functioning, OCHA also warned earlier this week.

Amid already record levels of diarrhoea and other diseases caused by poor sanitation and hunger, the UN aid office noted that the Deir al Balah water pipeline - whose capacity is close to 17,000 cubic metres of water per day - urgently needs repairs.

"Water, hygiene, and sanitation (WASH) partners have estimated that repairs could take up to four weeks, even allowing for sustained access and the necessary supplies," OCHA said.

War on children continues, warns UNICEF deputy chief

The deputy chief of UN children's agency UNICEF, Ted Chaiban, warned on Thursday that on a three-day visit to Gaza this week he had witnessed "some of the most horrific conditions I have ever seen."

"Since my last visit, the situation has gone from catastrophic to near collapse", he said in a statement.

"UNICEF has described the Gaza Strip as the most dangerous place in the world to be a child. We have said this is a war on children. But these truths do not seem to be getting through.

"Of the nearly 25,000 people reported to have been killed in the Gaza Strip since the escalation in hostilities, up to 70 per cent are reported to be women and children. The killing of children must cease immediately."

Among those he met was an 11-year-old girl called Sama at Al-Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis.

"She was skipping with friends when they were hit by shrapnel from a bombardment. The shrapnel sliced through Sama's abdomen, forcing her into surgery to remove her spleen. She is recovering in hospital, isolated from everyone around her because she is now immunocompromised in a war zone full of disease and infection."

He also described meeting 13-year-old Ibrahim: "He was in a designated shelter with his family, in an area they were told was safe, when everything collapsed around them. Ibrahim's hand was badly damaged and quickly became infected. Without medicine, gangrene took hold and he ultimately lost his arm during an amputation without anaesthetic."

He said these children and their families "can't wait any longer for a humanitarian ceasefire", also reminding that there are two Israeli children still being held hostage by Palestinian militants, who must be released safely and unconditionally.

"This cannot go on."

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UNRWA Situation Report #65 on the situation in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem (All information from 14-15 January 2024, is valid as of 15 January 2024 at 22:30)

UNRWA

18 Jan 2024

Key points

The Gaza Strip

As of 15 January 2024, the total number of UNRWA colleagues killed since the beginning of hostilities has increased by one to 151. As of 16 January, up to 1.7 million* people (over 75 per cent of the population) have been displaced across the Gaza Strip, some multiple times. Families are forced to move repeatedly in search of safety. Following intense Israeli bombardments and fighting in Khan Younis and Middle Areas in recent days, a significant number of displaced people have moved again further south.

*This includes 1 million individuals residing in or near emergency shelters or informal shelters. As of October 12, approximately 160,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) were recorded in north Gaza and Gaza governorates. The ability of UNRWA to provide humanitarian support and updated data in these areas has been severely restricted. The ongoing hostilities, evacuation orders issued by Israeli Forces, and the constant need for safer locations have resulted in people being displaced multiple times.

**UNRWA has reported in Situation Report 64 that up to 1.9 million IDPs are either residing in 154 UNRWA shelters or near these shelters. Due to the continued escalation of fighting and evacuation orders, some households have moved away from the shelters where they were initially registered.

There are instances where the same IDPs are registered in multiple shelters due to the fluid movement of populations; hereafter, estimates are used for these shelters. UNRWA plans to conduct a more accurate count of IDPs in shelters, including informal shelters, as soon as the security situation allows.

The West Bank, including East Jerusalem

West Bank updates are provided twice weekly and cover updates from 11 -15 January.

On January 11 and 12 the following Israeli Security Forces (ISF) search and arrest operations occurred:

Continuation of search and arrest operations in Tulkarm city, Tulkarm camp and Nur Shams refugee camp, northern West Bank on 11 January. ISF closed all entrances to Nur Shams Camp, and snipers reportedly occupied the rooftops around the camp. Early in the morning on 12 January, ISF reportedly blocked the main streets of Tulkarm refugee camp with earth mounds. Severe destruction of infrastructure was reported in the city and camps. ISF reportedly opened fire in the vicinity of Adora settlement, near Idhna, southern West Bank. Three Palestinians, including two children, were killed. Overnight on 13 January, ISF conducted a search and arrest operation in the houses of the three Palestinians killed. ISF reportedly assaulted their family members, detained several Palestinians and confiscated vehicles.

On 13 January the following ISF search and arrest operations occurred:

ISF conducted a search and arrest operation in Far'a Camp, northern West Bank. ISF vehicles reportedly surrounded the camp for several hours, entered multiple houses and buildings, and positioned snipers. An ISF bulldozer reportedly damaged infrastructure in the camp, including the wall opposite a health centre. Five people, including one minor, were injured during the exchange of fire. At least nine men were detained and released. ISF reportedly fired live ammunition towards an Al Jazeera journalist's vehicle. The operation ended in the late evening. UNRWA operations in the camp were severely affected. An exchange of fire took place between Palestinians and ISF in Jenin city and Jenin refugee camp, northern West Bank. ISF reportedly surrounded all hospitals in Jenin city and a military bulldozer destroyed infrastructure.

On 14 January the following ISF search and arrest operations occurred:

ISF conducted a search and arrest operation in Biddya, northern West Bank, and detained 15 Palestinian labourers from Gaza. One Palestinian child was shot dead in clashes between Palestinians and ISF, during a search and arrest operation in Ein el -Sultan Camp, central West Bank. Palestinian chidlren were shot dead in clashes between Palestinians and ISF near Beit El/DCO checkpoint, north of Al Bireh city, central West Bank.

On 15 January the following ISF search and arrest operations occurred:

An exchange of fire took place between ISF and Palestinians in the vicinity of Annab and Jbara checkpoints, south of Tulkarm, northern West Bank. One Palestinian Security Forces Officer was killed and another two were injured with live ammunition. ISF conducted a search and arrest operation in Dura, southern West Bank. Two Palestinians, including a woman, were killed, and 10 Palestinians, including a journalist, were injured with live ammunition. A general strike was declared to mourn the deaths.

Two Palestinians reportedly carried out a ramming attack and stabbed Israelis in Ra'anana city, Israel. One woman was killed and some 19 others were reported injured. ISF conducted a search and arrest operation in the city and detained two Palestinians.

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Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group Returns from Historic Deployment

US Navy

18 January 2024

From Petty Officer 1st Class Brian Glunt

NORFOLK, Va. -- USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) returned to its homeport of Naval Station Norfolk, January 17, 2024, following an 8-month deployment.

Gerald R. Ford is the flagship of Carrier Strike Group (CSG) 12 and deployed to the U.S. Naval Forces Europe area of operations.

"I am incredibly proud of every member of the strike group, especially the triads who led their teams of exceptionally talented sailors with professionalism and perseverance," said Rear Adm. Erik Eslich, commander of CSG 12. "Due to our collective efforts, we excelled during a very challenging deployment, demonstrating the capabilities of a U.S. Navy carrier strike group, assuring our partners and allies, and deterring our adversaries with our operations in the U.S. Naval Forces Europe area of operations."

While in the Mediterranean, the carrier strike group participated in and supported numerous multinational exercises and vigilance activities to increase NATO capability and deter aggression in the region. The carrier visited ports in Croatia, Greece, Italy, Norway and Turkiye. Other ships in the strike group visited Belgium, Cyprus, Montenegro, Spain, and Sweden.

The Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group (GRFCSG) was extended 76 days following the outbreak of conflict in Israel and operated in the Mediterranean Sea to deter further escalation and support Israel in its right to self-defense. Two of the strike group's ships, the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers USS McFaul (DDG 74) and USS Thomas Hudner (DDG 116) deployed to the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations in support of maritime security objectives.

In total, the GRFCSG worked with 17 nations throughout its deployment during exercises Baltic Operations, Air Defender, Bomber Task Force Viking Trident, Neptune Strike, and Sage Wolverine. The strike group operated with Standing NATO Maritime Groups 1 and 2, conducted dual-carrier operations with USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69), and exercised with navies from France, Greece, Norway, Turkiye and the United Kingdom.

In 239 days underway, the ship's crew conducted 43 underway replenishments, logged more than 17,826 flight hours and 10,396 sorties, sailed more than 83,476 nautical miles, and safely transferred 20.7 million gallons of fuel with zero mishaps. The Ford crew conducted 33,444 flight deck moves, 3,124 hangar bay aircraft moves, 2,883 aircraft elevator moves, 16,351 aircraft fueling evolutions, and transferred 8,850 pallets of cargo and mail. The Gerald R. Ford culinary team prepared and served 3.1 million meals, which included approximately 48,000 dozen eggs, 24,000 gallons of milk, 131,000 hamburgers, 367,000 pounds of chicken, and Gerald R. Ford's favorite, 79,000 chocolate chip cookies.

"The Gerald R. Ford is everything our nation hoped it would be, and more. I am so proud of the crew, who breathed life into the world's most technologically advanced warship and stood the watch in defense of our national interests," said Capt. Rick Burgess, Gerald R. Ford's commanding officer. "Though extended, we were the right ship at the right time to answer the call, and our Sailors performed admirably. Ford Sailors honored our namesake's legacies of hard work, integrity, and courage."

Sailors and resiliency were at the forefront of Gerald R. Ford's first combat deployment. The ship offered an array of services, including chaplain support, a deployed resiliency counselor and educator, a shipboard Wolverine TV program and daily Wolverine newspaper - an homage to President Ford's alma mater - and command associations and clubs. The Gerald R. Ford deployment also introduced the first military facility working dog to deploy with a U.S. Navy ship, pioneering a pilot program meant to address operational stress and promote morale and resiliency.

Notable visitors to the Gerald R. Ford included U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III, U.S. Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro, commanders of Naval Forces Europe-Africa, U.S. 6th Fleet, Naval Striking and Support Forces NATO, the director of exercises and assessments and advisor on reserve component affairs for U.S. European Command, crown prince of the Kingdom of Norway, chief of the Norwegian fleet, and commander in chief of the Italian Navy.

In addition to the carrier, the GRFCSG consists of CSG 12 staff, Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 8, Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 2 staff and units, and the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Normandy (CG 60). In total, the GRFCSG deploys with more than 5,000 Sailors across all platforms ready to respond globally to combatant commander's tasking.

The ships of DESRON 2 are the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers USS Ramage (DDG 61), USS McFaul (DDG 74) and USS Thomas Hudner (DDG 116).

The squadrons of CVW-8 embarked aboard Gerald R. Ford are the "Tridents" of Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 9, the "Bear Aces" of Airborne Command and Control Squadron (VAW) 124, and the "Rawhides" of Fleet Logistics Support Squadron (VRC) 40 located in Norfolk, Va.; the "Ragin' Bulls" of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 37, the "Blacklions" of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 213, the "Golden Warriors" of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 87, and the "Tomcatters" of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 31 located in Virginia Beach, Va.; the "Gray Wolves" of Electronic Attack Squadron (VAQ) 142 based in Whidbey Island, Wa.; and the "Spartans" of Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron (HSM) 70 from Mayport, Fla.

Gerald R. Ford is the U.S. Navy's newest, largest, and most advanced aircraft carrier. As first in its class, the ship represents a generational leap in the U.S. Navy's capacity to project power on a global scale. Ford-class aircraft carriers introduce 23 new technologies, including Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS), Advanced Arresting Gear and Advanced Weapons Elevators. The new systems on Ford-class ships are designed to generate a higher sortie rate with a 20% smaller crew than a Nimitz-class carrier, paving the way for future naval aviation.





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YEREVAN, JANUARY 19, ARMENPRESS. Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia Vahan Kostanyan on January 18 met with Javier Colomina, the NATO Secretary General's Special Representative for the Caucasus and Central Asia.

Kostanyan and Colomina discussed the issues on the Armenia-NATO cooperation agenda and touched upon the continued involvement of peacekeeping units of Armenia in international peacekeeping missions, including under the NATO auspices, the foreign ministry said in a readout.

During the meeting, issues of international and regional security were also discussed. Vahan Kostanyan touched upon the security situation in the South Caucasus, the recent developments in the normalization process of Armenia-Azerbaijan relations and briefed on the main approaches to the draft peace agreement in line with the well-known principles. The Deputy Minister noted that the recent statements of the President of Azerbaijan contradict the entire logic of the negotiations. In this context, Deputy Minister Vahan Kostanyan emphasized the need for targeted actions by the international partners aimed at maintaining stability and peace in the South Caucasus, the ministry added.
White House Dismisses Netanyahu's Opposition to Palestinian Statehood

By Patsy Widakuswara January 18, 2024

The Biden administration appears unswayed from its emerging vision for a postwar Gaza Strip despite Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's rejection Thursday of a key element of that plan  the establishment of a Palestinian state.

The White House hopes at the same time to broker a normalization of relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia, a long-sought prize with broad economic and security implications for the region.

But Netanyahu turned his back on the scheme at a nationally broadcast news conference Thursday, insisting on Israeli security control over all of what now comprises the Palestinian territories.

"This collides with the idea of sovereignty," he said. "What can you do?"

National Security Council spokesman John Kirby brushed off the remark.

"This is not a new comment by Prime Minister Netanyahu. We obviously see it differently," he said to reporters Thursday onboard Air Force One. "We believe that the Palestinians have every right to live in an independent state with peace and security."

Netanyahu said he had informed the Biden administration of his position, highlighting deep divisions between the Israeli government and the staunchest backer of its military campaign against Hamas in the Palestinian enclave.

Washington has urged Israel to scale back its offensive, which has killed more than 24,000 people in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry. The October 7 attack by Hamas killed 1,200 people in Israel  the bloodiest episode for Israel in the decadeslong conflict.

Biden administration officials have been increasingly public with their pressure on Israel, with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken warning that without a pathway to a two-state solution, Arab countries won't be involved in rebuilding Gaza.

"If Israel wants its Arab neighbors to make the tough decisions necessary to help ensure its lasting security, Israeli leaders will have to make hard decisions themselves," Blinken told reporters in Tel Aviv after meeting with the Netanyahu war Cabinet earlier this month.

Israel-Saudi normalization

The U.S.-Israel rift comes as more details emerge about the Biden administration's push for a normalization agreement between Israel and Saudi Arabia in exchange for a pathway toward Palestinian statehood.

"The strategy post-October 7 is that we want to see normalization [between Israel and Saudi Arabia] tied to a political horizon for the Palestinians," White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said this week at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. "As we respond to this crisis, we are actively pursuing a pathway to normalization and integration with our regional partners."

Washington has been working on the framework since before the October 7 attacks, avoiding direct negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians but pushing for a regional deal instead. The approach is an extension of the Trump administration's Abraham Accords that secured normalization with some Arab states. Biden's approach, however, adds a political horizon for Palestinians.

U.S. officials and lawmakers have met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in recent weeks with the same goal of reaching a framework to end the Israel-Hamas war and work toward Palestinian self-governance in Gaza.

Sullivan laid out four principles guiding the U.S. vision for a postwar Gaza: that the Palestinian enclave never again become a launch pad for terror attacks on Israel; peaceful relations between Israel and its Arab neighbors; an independent Palestinian state; and security assurances for Israel.

Possible exit strategy?

Netanyahu and far-right members of his government have for months dismissed the idea of a Palestinian state. Some, including National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, are advocating for full control of Gaza and the expulsion of Palestinians.

However, with the military campaign costing Israel an estimated $220 million a day and waning international support, Netanyahu may be looking for an exit strategy.

Normalization could be seen as a political win for the embattled prime minister, who is facing corruption trials and charges of sidestepping accountability for failing to prevent the attack by Hamas despite warnings from Israeli intelligence.

"It could provide some cover," said Virginia Page Fortna, a professor of U.S. foreign and security policy at Columbia University whose research focuses on the postwar durability of peace.

"But the signs I have seen are that he has no incentive to try to end the war quickly," she told VOA. "It's really the U.S. pressure that would be making a difference, not the carrot of normalization."

While Riyadh keeps its eye on what it considers the prime reward for normalization  a defense treaty with the U.S. to protect it against Iran  the kingdom has suspended normalization talks as images of mounting Palestinian deaths inflame the Arab world.

Also from Davos, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan said that while his country is still interested in a normalization deal, it "can only happen with a Palestinian state" and that a cease-fire is a "starting point for peace."

Washington remains opposed to various international calls for a cease-fire in Gaza, saying it will allow Hamas to regroup.

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Indonesia Sends Hospital Ship With Aid for Gaza

By VOA News January 18, 2024

Indonesian Thursday dispatched a hospital ship with humanitarian supplies for Palestinians in Gaza.

The hospital aid ship KRI dr. Radjiman Wedyodiningrat 992 is for now only assigned to send aid to Gaza, not to function as a floating or field hospital.

Indonesian Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto said that "this is not an easy mission since the ship will have to pass quite dangerous waters," but said his ministry has coordinated with related parties. He added that "as a country that supports Palestine, we do not feel that the group in Yemen [Houthi rebels] will consider us as their enemy; the same as other several countries who understand Indonesia's position as a nonaligned country."

This ship will dock at Al-Arish Port in northeastern Egypt for approximately four days to deliver the aid to the Egyptian Red Crescent, which will deliver it to Gaza. The 200 tons of humanitarian aid consists of food, medicine, tents and clean water.

Middle East Director of the Foreign Affairs Ministry Bagus Hendraning Kobarsih said Indonesia continues to coordinate with relevant parties so a permit for a field hospital or operation of a hospital auxiliary ship can be issued.

"We are all in talks with the Egyptian authorities to obtain the permit. I think it takes time because the conditions on the ground are not conducive yet," Bagus said.

The KRI Radjiman dr. Wedyodiningrat 992 is Indonesia's third hospital ship. It can be used for major and minor medical procedures, including brain surgery, neurosurgery, eye surgery, and dental examinations, and has psychiatric clinic facilities.

Supporting medical equipment such as CT scanners and panoramic X-ray machines, as well as laboratories are also available. The ship has an emergency room and an isolation room and can house approximately 150 patients.

It has a staff of about 16, including two general practitioners and other health personnel, such as pharmacists and nurses. However, the team can be modified for humanitarian missions outside Indonesia.

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US Says Houthis Launched Missiles at American-Owned Tanker

By Carla Babb January 18, 2024

Iranian-backed Houthi terrorists launched two anti-ship ballistic missiles at a U.S.-owned ship in the Gulf of Aden, the U.S. Central Command said in a statement late Thursday.

The statement said the crew saw the missiles land in the water near the ship. There were no reported injuries or damage to the ship, the M/V Chem Ranger, a Marshall Island-flagged, U.S.-owned, Greek-operated tanker ship, U.S. Central Command said.

Yemen's Houthi rebels said they had carried out the attack, claiming "direct hits," a statement on the group's social media said.

On Thursday, U.S. forces carried out more strikes against targets inside Iranian-backed, Houthi-controlled territory in Yemen, as concerns grow that the Israel-Hamas conflict could expand into a full-blown war across the Middle East.

"We don't seek war. We don't think that we are at war. We don't want to see a regional war," Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh told reporters on Thursday.

Singh said Thursday's airstrikes were launched by F-18 fighter jets in "self-defense," destroying two anti-ship missiles that were still on the ground but aimed into the southern Red Sea, posing an imminent threat to merchant vessels and U.S. Navy ships in the region.

It marked the fifth time the U.S. struck Houthi targets inside Yemen in the past week.

"It's up to the Houthis to decide when they want to stop," she told reporters. "How much cost are they willing to incur every time they disrupt commercial trade?"

The airstrikes came hours after U.S. Navy ships used Tomahawk missiles late Wednesday to strike 14 Houthi missiles in western Yemen, according to U.S. Central Command.

The military said those missiles had been loaded to be fired.

"The actions by the Iranian-backed Houthi terrorists continue to endanger international mariners and disrupt the commercial shipping lanes in the southern Red Sea and adjacent waterways," said General Michael Erik Kurilla, USCENTCOM commander.

"We will continue to take actions to protect the lives of innocent mariners, and we will always protect our people," Kurilla said.

In an earlier round of strikes, British forces joined U.S. forces to target Houthi sites in Yemen in response to attacks and threats to vessels in the Red Sea.

On Wednesday, a one-way attack drone launched from the Houthi-controlled part of Yemen struck the Marshall Islands-flagged, U.S.-owned and -operated M/V Genco Picardy in the Gulf of Aden.

The ship's operator reported damage, but no injuries from the attack.

A spokesperson for India's navy said Thursday an Indian destroyer responded to a distress call from the M/V Genco Picardy and provided assistance to the crew of 22 people, which included nine Indians. An explosive ordnance disposal specialist also inspected the damaged area and rendered it safe for the ship to travel to port.

Jeff Seldin and Chris Hannas contributed to this report.

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Readout of National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan's Meeting with Nigerian National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu

January 18, 2024

National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan met today with Nigerian National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu about bilateral security cooperation, efforts to counter terrorism in West Africa, and the importance of respect for human rights, strengthening democratic institutions, and good governance across the continent. Mr. Sullivan reiterated President Biden's commitment to Africa and underscored the strength of the U.S.-Nigerian relationship, including welcoming Nigeria's strong leadership of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). Mr. Sullivan also raised areas where the United States and Nigeria share interests, particularly in supporting peace and stability in countries that have recently experienced political transitions. Both decided to maintain close coordination and continue to deepen our partnership to advance shared interests.

###

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Press Gaggle by Principal Deputy Press Secretary Olivia Dalton and NSC Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby En Route Morrisville, NC

January 18, 2024

Aboard Air Force One

En Route to Morrisville, NC

12:36 P.M. EST

MS. DALTON: Well, good afternoon, everyone.

We are on our way to Raleigh, where the President will announce $82 million in investments from the American Rescue Plan's Capital Project Fund to connect thousands more North Carolina homes and businesses to high-speed Internet as part of the Biden-Harris administration's Investing in America agenda.

A couple of reasons why this is really significant.

Stepping back, you may recall, when the President entered office, 24 million Americans lacked access to the Internet. Period. Millions more lacked access to affordable, reliable

Internet access  had limited or spotty connectivity.

The President crisscrossed the country during the 2020 campaign and heard from families about how they were driving their kids in the throes of a pandemic to the back of fas-  fast-food restaurants to get Wi-Fi to complete their online homework; heard from seniors about their limited access to tel-  telehealth visits; and how badly small businesses needed access to reliable, affordable Internet.

That's why, when the President entered office, he made a commitment to endin-  ending that digital divide and ensuring that every single American and small business would have affordable access to reliable Internet, high-speed Internet by the year 2030.

Today's announcement in North Carolina is a step forward in doing that. North Carolina is a state where one in three people lives in a rural area, so expanding high-speed, reliable Internet to thousands more homes and businesses is a very big deal.

And beyond that, the President will talk about how the American Rescue Plan has made it possible for more than 880,000 North Carolinians already to save money on their  their monthly Internet bills.

But beyond that, we're going to North Carolina for another reason. Many of you may not know that North Carolina currently produces 40 percent of the fiber-optic cable we use here in America. And so, for a place like, you know, Hickory, North Carolina, which is responsible for producing all of that fiber-optic cable, the investments that we're making here in North Carolina are very significant, as well as the investments we're making all across the country, because private sector companies like CommScore [CommScope] and Corning are making more than $550 billion of investments and expanding production locally so that  so that that fiber-optic cable can be manufactured locally with the attendant 650-plus jobs that are coming to the state.

So, this is really a win the President will be talking about for the workers of North Carolina. It's a win for families and small businesses. And certainly, it's a win for the econ-  economy of the state.

And the  the President is also delighted, as always, to be joined by Governor Cooper for this day.

So, with that news at the top, I'm going to turn it over to Admiral Kirby, who has some updates to share with you about the goings-on in the world. John.

MR. KIRBY: Thanks, Olivia.

Man, it's cold back here.

Q It is.

MR. KIRBY: You should turn the heat up. (Laughter.)

So, just a couple of things off the top. I know you saw reports out of Central Command last night about some additional strikes that we took to knock out a range of Houthi missiles that were prepared to fire into the Southern Red Sea.

We did it again this morning, striking at some anti-ship missiles  a couple of anti-ship missiles that we had reason to believe were being prepared for imminent fire into the Southern Red Sea. Central Command 

(A reporter gestures for Mr. Kirby to speak louder.)

MR. KIRBY: Louder? Nobody ever asks me to talk louder. (Laughter.)

Central Command will have a statement out soon. So, you'll  you'll see all that. But that  that happened this morning.

Obviously, you've all seen the reports out of Pakistan that they  they fired some missiles in  into Iran. We're monitoring this very, very closely. We don't want to see an escalation, clearly, in South Asia  South and Central Asia. And we're in touch with our Pakistani counterparts, as you might expect.

We'll let the Pakistanis speak to  to their military operations. I'm not going to parse that or do any  or try to, you know, operationalize it here from  from Air Force One.

And then lastly, Jake Sullivan, our national security advisor, will be meeting this afternoon with families of the American hostages that are still being held by Hamas.

And we suspect that most, if not all, of the families will be represented in that meeting. The manifest is still being worked out. But we'll have more to say after  after that meeting occurs.

That's it.

Q John, just to start things off. What are the U.S. concerns about the situation between Pakistan and Iran? And why would you see possible risks of escalation?

MR. KIRBY: Well, I mean, these are two well-armed nations. And again, we don't  we don't want to see an escalation of  of any armed conflict in the region, certainly between those two countries.

I want to let Pakistan speak to their military operations. I want to be careful about that. As you know, they were struck first by  by Iran, which was obviously a-  another reckless attack, another example of Iran's destabilizing behavior in the region. So, again, I think I'll leave it at that.

Q Did the United States  was the United States aware of those attacks before they happened? Did the Pakistanis give 

MR. KIRBY: I am not aware of any prenotification that we received at all.

Q Does the United States intend to support Pakistan, seeing that it's a major non-NATO ally of the country?

MR. KIRBY: I don't have an update for you on that.

Q What's  what about just arms control? I mean, this is  the President said that this shows that Iran is not well-liked. I mean, isn't that why they want a nuclear weapon?

MR. KIRBY: Who? Iran?

Q Yes.

MR. KIRBY: I'll let the Iranians and the regime speak to their  to their ambitions. We still maintain and our policy is that we  we do not want to see an Iran with nuclear weapons, because an Iran with nuclear weapons is bad for the whole region, if not globally.

Now, as the President said when he first came into office, certainly would have preferred to achieve that outcome through diplomacy. Obviously, that's not going to happen anytime soon.

So, we will make sure that we have the capabilities and the options available to the Commander-in-Chief to prevent that outcome if it comes to that. He has said clearly, we will not allow them to achieve a nuclear weapon capability.

Q John, as a long-term strategy, should Americans just expect the regular airstrikes to be the  the  at least the near term, if not the long term?

MR. KIRBY: Well, we certainly don't want that to be case, J.J. We're not  we're not looking for a conflict with the Houthis. We're not looking for a conflict in the region. But we have to be able to act in our own self-defense, not just for our ships and our sailors but for merchant ships and merchant sailors and international shipping in the Red Sea.

And, as you heard the President say this morning right before he came out here, these  these strikes will continue for as long as they need to continue to  to try to disrupt and degrade the Houthis' ability to continue to cot-  conduct these attacks.

Q But he also said, "No," they're not working. So, why continue with the same strategy if the Houthis are still continuing to attack?

MR. KIRBY: With each and every one of these strikes, we are taking away capability from the Houthis. With each and every one of these strikes, we are making it harder for them to continue to propagate these attacks.

Again, as we've said many times, they have a choice to make. The choice ought to be to stop these reckless attacks. If they don't, then we  we have additional options available to us, and we won't be  we won't be shy about using them.

Q And then can you talk about what other things are on the table? Could  I mean, could there be a change in tactics, a strike on Iran? Can you talk about what could be on the table in the future?

MR. KIRBY: No. No, I'm not going to telegraph punches one way or another, except to say is  what the President said this morning, that if the Houthis continue to  to go down this path, we will continue to  to do what we can to disrupt and degrade their ability to  to make those  to make those choices.

Q And one more on Pakistan. Has the United States assessed that these were legitimate targets?

MR. KIRBY: I don't have any military assessment independent here to talk about. As I said, we'll let the Pakistanis speak to their operations.

Q On the Iran, do you have any reaction to the Taliban calling for peace between the countries?

MR. KIRBY: Between Iran and Pakistan? Is that what you're saying?

Yeah, look, I'll let  I'll let  I'll let the Taliban speak for themselves. I'll let other nations that have weighed in here speak for themselves. You've heard from us: We're watching this closely. We don't want to see an escalation. We're in touch with our  our Pakistani counterparts, as you might expect that we would be.

If the Taliban want to be taken seriously on the world stage, they need to meet the commitments that they said they would meet when  when they took over the governing structure: to treat women and girls appropriately, to abide by international law. And we haven't seen them meet those commitments.

Q Do you have any reaction to Netanyahu rejecting a Palestinian state in a post-war scenario for Gaza?

MR. KIRBY: I would just tell you that nothing has changed about President Biden's desire that a two-state solution is really in the best interest of not only the Israeli people but  but, of course, the Palestinian people. In fact, it's in the best interest of the region. And we're not going to stop working towards that goal.

This is  this is not a new comment by Prime Minister Netanyahu. We obviously see it differently. We believe that the Palestinians have every right to live in an independent state with peace and security. And the President and his team is going to continue to work on that.

Obviously, the focus right now is making sure that Israel has what it needs to defend itself against Hamas and  and that humanitarian aid and assistance continue to get to the desperate people of  of Gaza.

But there's going to be a post-conflict Gaza. And we have been exceedingly clear about what we want to see that look like. And we want governance in Gaza that's representative of the aspirations of the Palestinian people, that they have a vote and a voice in what that looks like and that there's no reoccupation of Gaza.

Q But what reason do you have to believe that he's not actively working against that outcome, if that's his view?

MR. KIRBY: Again, he's been very clear about his view. We've been very clear about our view. That's not going to change, and we're going to continue to have those discussions not just with our Israeli counterparts but with our other counterparts in the region.

We still think  Trevor, this is a  we still think it's viable. We still think it's possible. We still think it's the  it's the best outcome for the Israeli people as well as the Palestinian people.

Q The Wall Street 

Q You said he's been "very clear" on that before. When  when has he specifically said he does not want 

MR. KIRBY: He has said in  in recent comments that he's not  not in support of that.

Q Publicly or privately, do you mean?

MR. KIRBY: Publicly.

Q Okay.

Q The Wall Street Journal reported that the Iraqi Prime Minister had asked the U.S.-led military leadership to leave the United  to leave Iraq. Is that something that you guys have heard formally? Is there any comment that you can 

MR. KIRBY: I'd say  I'd say a couple of things on this.

I mean, first of all, I'm not going to disclose diplomatic conversations that we're having with the Iraqis. We are there at their invitation. We continue to be there at their invitation to go after  to help them, the Iraqi security forces, go after ISIS, which is still a viable threat in Ir-  in Iraq and  and in Syria, quite frankly, as well.

And we're  we're grateful for the cooperation that we get, the support that we get. We're grateful for the relationship that we have with the Iraqi security forces. And we'll be in constant consultations with the Iraqi government as this moves forward.

Q But it  were  were those comments a surprise to the administration? I mean, they were on-the-record comments.

MR. KIRBY: I'm not going to  I'm not going to characterize diplomatic conversations one way or the other. We  we know we're at the  we're there at the invitation of the Iraqis, and  and we'll consult with them appropriately about what that  what that mission looks like going forward and, therefore, what posture and resources have to be applied to that mission going forward.

Q Kirby, on the Hill, there is a growing number of Democratic lawmakers who have said it's maybe time to rethink the strategy with Israel, given that Netanyahu has repeatedly ignored U.S. guidance and advice. There's more people who have favored conditioning aid. I just wonder what the administration's responses to that are.

MR. KIRBY: I  I think the  the record does not bear out that the  that the Israelis have ignored American advice or  or U.S. leadership's views and perspectives and  and counsel. That just  the record just doesn't bear that out.

Whether it's tailoring their military operations in the north, adding additional humanitarian corridors, opening up the Kerem Shalom gate, providing information to  to folks on the ground about where they're operating, relying a little less on airstrikes than they were on the outset  I could go on and on.

All of these things were really driven by President Biden and by the national security team in terms of urging the Israelis to take a different tack than maybe what they would  would have otherwise done.

Now, again, they're a sovereign nation. They get to choose what military operations they conduct. We understand that. But as Secretary Blinken has said many, many times: How they do that matters, and we are talking to them about the "how." And they have been receptive to those messages.

I also want to say, while I'm on this topic: One civilian casualty is one too many. And there have been too many. And we have talked to them about that as well, in terms of tailoring their operations to be more  more discriminant, more cautious, more careful.

And, as a matter of fact, one of the things that we've ur-  we had been urging them to do and you're now starting to see them do is transition to lower-intensity operations, particularly up in the  up in the north. They've announced, just over the last couple of days, the removal of a whole division of troops. That's the beginning of what we hope will be this transition to lower-intensity operations. And that is something that we have been urging them to do.

Q And  and if I could just ask on that. Does the administration plan to go to Congress to authorize any of the strikes that it needs to take against the Houthis, or do you feel that these don't need congressional authorization?

MR. KIRBY: These  these strikes are being done in keeping with the President's Article 2 authorities under the Constitution of  as Commander-in-Chief and also being conducted in accordance with U.N. Charter Article 51, self-defense.

Q On the hostage meeting today that Jake Sullivan is doing, is there a particular reason for it? Does he have something to announce to them? Is he just reassuring them that you're still on it? Or is  what's the reason for it?

MR. KIRBY: We don't  we don't have an announcement. I wouldn't lead you to think there's going to be some announcement coming. I think it's an opportunity to keep the conversation going and to make sure that they know, from our perspective  and I don't want to get ahead of Jake here  but that they know, from our perspective, how  how hard we're working to try to get their loved ones back home with them where they belong, and  and, as I said the other day in the briefing, that we are working this very, very hard. There are serious discussions go-  ongoing about trying to get another hostage deal in place.

Q Can we go to yesterday's meeting after  with congressional leaders? Afterwards, Speaker Johnson talked about how he was in touch with former President Trump. Does the White House have any concerns about the influence of the former President on its ability to make a deal with Congress and how that dynamic works?

MS. DALTON: Right. Well, look, I think, as you know, as federal officials, we can't speak to Trump as a candidate under the Hatch Act.

But what I can say is that, as the President has repeatedly said, there is strong bipartisan agreement on the need for action on the border. The President has continued to be clear about that since he introduced comprehensive immigration reform on day one, since he has continued to stress his openness to working with congr-  congressional  Senate Democrats and Republicans together to find compromise and common ground on the border in good faith, and as he's consistently asked Congress for more resources to deal with the border.

Q Is 

MS. DALTON: And so 

Q Is it possible, though, to act in good faith? Does 

MS. DALTON: Well 

Q Does Trump's presence complicate that in any way?

MS. DALTON: Look, I think you've heard from the President, even this morning on the South Lawn just a few moments ago. He believes that our work with Senate Democrats and Republicans on the border, while we haven't reached a final agreement on funding and policy, is moving in the right direction. He is optimistic that the conversations are productive and positive, and we're going to keep at it.

But, look, here's the bottom  bottom line: We've, right now, put forward a national security supplemental request that not  let's not forget, if  if Congress is really serious  congressional Republicans are serious about the border, they could act tomorrow and pass the President's request to put a thousand more border agents on the border, to get a thousand more  over a thousand more law enforcement agents down on the border to stop the flow of fentanyl.

But what we're seeing is, instead, this conversation. Now, the President is willing to have this give-and-take, have this conversation, and work in good faith across the aisle. But what he would really like to do is see Republicans reach back across the aisle and seize the opportunity at hand to work in good faith to come to an agreement here.

(Cross-talk.)

Q Given the urgency that  that you spelled out with especially Ukraine aid, has there been any discussion with Congress on decoupling these issues, maybe breaking up that  that security supplemental to deal with these issues separately?

MS. DALTON: Well, look, I'm not going to get into the private discussions with Congress.

But, as you saw yesterday, the President met with key leaders in Congress to discuss the stakes for Ukraine. He went around the table, gave everybody the opportunity to speak. It was a robust discussion where everybody had the opportunity to make input. And you better believe the President was very clear about the stakes for Ukraine in this moment, the urgency of that funding.

As you know, I think, the NSA Jake Sullivan, DNI Director Haines both laid out very clearly and in detailed fashion some specific examples of what the stakes would be in Ukraine if we weren't able to get Congr-  get  get past this point of Congress obstructing the flow of aid to Ukraine very  very soon.

And one of the critical things the President underlined was not just about our concerns with respect to Ukraine and the national security stakes there but also with respect to what we've seen in the past from, you know, unchecked brutal aggression by dictators. Learning the lessons of history, we know that they don't stop when they are left to their own devices and left unchecked.

And so, certainly, the President conveyed a sense of urgency about the stakes for our  our NATO partners in the region, what  what it would mean for our NATO partners in the region if  if we don't get Ukraine the aid that they need. And certainly, we don't want to see, you know, our own troops put in a position where we might need to put boots on the ground.

Q Olivia, the President said that there's no sticking points in the border talks. So, why don't we have a deal? I mean, what's the next step there?

MS. DALTON: Look, I think you heard from the  I'm not going to, you know, go farther than what the President said this morning. But as I just said a moment ago, the President remains very  you know, these conversations have been productive and they are moving in the right direction. The President thinks that those conversations with  that the  that our team has been having with Senate Democrats and Senate Republicans has been fruitful so far. And we're  we remain, you know, cautiously optimistic that we'll get there.

Q Are we on to you now? Are we done with Kirby?

MR. KIRBY: It can be, if you want. (Laughter.)

Q I just didn't want to start asking 

MS. DALTON: (Inaudible) 

Q  domestic questions if (inaudible).

MS. DALTON:  J.J.

Q Okay. On electric vehicles. There has been  with the extreme weather, there's been some difficulty in getting those battery charged. Do you have any thoughts on that? As you know, the  the administration has been really pushing for EVs to be the future of car transportation. Do you have any thoughts on the  the troubles with charging those batteries?

MS. DALTON: Well, as a car owner, I can promise you that whether you have a gas-powered vehicle, a hybrid-powered vehicle, and a fully electric vehicle, extreme weather temperatures impact the  the functioning of your car. Right? So, that is not unique to electric vehicles.

And certainly, we are contin-  we're always concerned about making sure that electric vehicles  we continue the progress we're making to make them affordable and reliable for every American.

We saw EV sales quadruple last year [since President Biden took office]. We think that's good progress. And we want to see that continue.

Certainly, again, with respect to some of the  the reporting that we've seen this week in Chicago and elsewhere, we think these are isolated incidents, but we are looking into them and seeing where we can make an impact.

Q Could you say something about the Uvalde report? In particular, you know  you know, what can communities do around the country to prevent this from happening in the future? And then on the criminal penalty issue, in particular.

MS. DALTON: Well, look, so, as I came out here, the Attorney General's press conference was still ongoing. I know the  the President spoke to this very briefly on the South Lawn just a moment ago to underscore that we are committed to taking action to address some of the recommendations that are in  contained in that DOJ report. And I expect that very shortly, as soon as that press conference is completed, you will all receive a more detailed statement from the President.

But without getting ahead of that, I think the report today lays out very clearly and in heartbreaking detail some of what these families have been going through for the last two years. These families  we can only imagine how today's report adds to the heartbreak that they've felt.

And I would just say that, you know, one thing that has been particularly remarkable about Uvalde and the community here  which, of course, the President and the First Lady were able to visit in person in May of 2022  is how in the immediate aftermath of that they all traveled to Washington and were a very critical catalyst in the passage of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, which is, today, saving lives.

They turned their pain into purpose in a very real way and are  are saving others' lives today as a consequence of their courageous advocacy.

That's cold comfort to a parent that's lost a child. But part of what you'll hear from the President in his statement today is a commitment to moving forward and implementing the lessons learned here and also making sure that our White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention is equipped to better support communities in the aftermath of these attacks going forward.

And I would be remiss if I didn't add that his perennial call for Congress to act is really the only, you know, way to stop future Uvaldes from happening. We need to see congressional action on a national red flag law, on universal background checks, on ending assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, and so much more.

Anybody else? I think we're landing, so 

Q Yeah, you need to get back to your seat.

MS. DALTON: I think we all do.

Q On congressional talks. After yesterday, do you think that the talks are now close enough for the Senate to vote next week?

MS. DALTON: I'm not going to make any forecasts. But I think  as I've said, I think, you know, you've heard optimism from the President this morning that there has been productive conversations with Senate Democrats and Republicans both. And we  without, you know, forecasting or making any predic-  predictions here, you know, we think things are moving in a positive direction.

So, I'll leave it there. See you all.

Q Thanks, Olivia.

12:59 P.M. EST



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Iran condemns U.S. "provocative" move to blacklist Yemen's Houthi group

People's Daily Online

(Xinhua) 08:58, January 19, 2024

TEHRAN, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani on Thursday condemned the U.S. "provocative" move of designating the Yemen-based Houthi group as a "terrorist organization."

He made the remarks in a statement published on the Iranian Foreign Ministry's website, reacting to the U.S. re-designation on Wednesday of the Houthi group as a "terrorist organization," set to officially take effect in 30 days.

Including the Houthi group in the list of terrorist organizations "is a condemned and provocative move and in line with complementing the U.S. role in supporting Israel's crimes" in the Gaza Strip, Kanaani said.

He said that the U.S. unconstructive move "will fail to have any impact on the Yemeni people's determination to support the oppressed people of Gaza."

Kanaani blamed the U.S. "unlimited support" for Israel as the most important reason for the instability in West Asia and the strategic Red Sea, calling on Washington to stop backing the Israeli "war crimes" and killing of civilians in Gaza.

The Houthis have launched several attacks against the "Israel-affiliated and -bound" ships in the Red Sea over the past months, prompting the U.S. to form a multinational task force to protect shipping safety in the important global trade route. The U.S. and Britain have also launched airstrikes on Houthi targets in Yemen in response to its attacks on ships in the Red Sea.

U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said in a statement that the designation was in response to the Houthis' continued threats to and attacks on the U.S. military forces and international vessels operating in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.

He added that the decision would be reversed if the Houthis ceased their attacks.

In January 2021, the Houthi group was designated a terrorist group as the U.S. administration of then-President Donald Trump rolled out a slew of its last foreign policies. However, the designation was revoked by the Joe Biden administration in February 2021.

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Jandullah

Jondallah

Jondullah

Jondollah

Jundallah

Jundollah

Jundullah

Former Jundallah of Iran



Army of God (God's Army)

Army of Justice

Baloch Peoples Resistance Movement (BPRM)

Fedayeen-e-Islam

Jaish al-Adl [Army of Justice]

Jaish Aladl

Jaish ul-Adl

Jaysh al-Adl

Jeish al-Adl

Jeysh al-adl

Jonbesh-i Moqavemat-i-Mardom-i Iran

People's Resistance Movement of Iran (PMRI)

Popular Resistance Movement of Iran

Soldiers of God



Jaish al-Adl or Jaish ul-Adl, meaning Army of Justice (AoJ), is a Salafi Jihadist terrorist organisation based in Pakistan and the Sistan and Baluchestan Province of Iran, responsible for several attacks against civilians and military personnel in Iran. The group claims that it is a separatist group fighting for the independence of Sistan Baluchistan province and greater rights for the Baluch people. The group was founded in 2012 by members of Jundallah, a Sunni militant group that had been weakened following Iran's capture and execution of its leader, Abdolmalek Rigi in 2010. After that, the group splintered into several elementsof which JAA became the most active and influential. Iran considers JAA to be Jundallahs successor and the leader of Baluch resistance in Iran.

The headquarters of the Pakistan-based terrorist group, Jaish al-Adl, was pounded by a barrage of missiles late on 16 January 2024, which destroyed the groups terror infrastructure. The long-anticipated military operation against the dreaded terrorist group based in the border region of Pakistan  southwestern Pakistans Balochistan province  generated intense debate on social media about the terrorist group, its activities and origins.

Jaish al-Adl is a Sunni militant group, which was fighting against what it said was discrimination against Sunni Muslims and ethnic Baluch in the Iranian province of Sistan and Baluchestan. The region was known as home to drug smugglers, as well as Sunni militants, both of whom regularly clash with Iranian security forces. Iran shares a 1,000-kilometer-long border with Pakistan. Ties between the two countries have been tense over Islamabad's alleged support to anti-Shiite militant groups operating from its soil and its closeness to Iran's regional rival Saudi Arabia.

The present leadership of the Jaish e Adl group isnt publicly known except for Salahuddin Farooqui and his deputy Mullah Omar Darakhshan, who are believed to be running the day-to-day militant activities of the group. Farooqui was born in 1979 in Rask, Sistan and Baluchestan province, and has strong tribal connections with Baloch groups in Pakistans Balochistan province. He openly voiced opposition to the Iranian government, vowed to divide the country and also unapologetically backed the Israeli-American aggression on Syria.

Darakhshan is the brother of Mullah Mauluk Darakhshan, the slain Iranian Baloch separatist who was the founder of Sipah-e-Rasool Allah in the 1990s, a key ally of Pakistan-based anti-Shia outfits.

There have also been reports about the groups close affiliation with the Daesh terrorist group and Al-Qaeda, as they share the same Takfiri and terror ideology and see Iran as the main adversary. In a November 2023 interview with Midstone Centre, Jaish al-Adl spokesman Hossein Baloch refused to comment on the October 2023 Shah Cheragh shrine attack that was claimed by Daesh. We do not want to answer this question at this time, he stated, pointing to the groups close alliance with Daesh and possible involvement in the dastardly attack.

Jandullah [ie, jund Allah] was an anti-Shia militant group which mostly operated in Baluchistan but had ties with LeJ, ASWJ, and TTP. Its militants were accused of killing 40 Shias in a bomb blast at Karachi in 2009. Jandullah had also been involved in attacks against states security forces. Jandullah, headed by Abdul Malik Ragi, emerged with the stated goal of establishing an Islamic state encompassing Iranian, Afghan and Pakistani Balochs.

Jundullah was composed of Sunni Muslims primarily from the Baluchistan region bordering Pakistan. The region is inhabited by members of the Baluch minority and was far less developed than other parts of Iran. On the grounds that Jundullah had attacked civilians in the course of violent attacks in Iran, the State Department formally named it an FTO on November 4, 2010. Some saw the designation as an overture toward the Iranian government, while others saw it as a sign that the United States supported only opposition groups that are committed to peaceful methods. Jundullah has conducted several attacks on Iranian security and civilian officials, including a May 2009 bombing of a mosque in Zahedan and the October 2009 killing of five IRGC commanders in Sistan va Baluchistan Province.

The regime claimed a victory against the group in February 2010 with the capture of its top leader, Abdolmalek Rigi. The mastermind of several deadly terror attacks in Iran, Rigi was arrested in February 2010 while on a flight from Dubai to Kyrgyzstan and subsequently executed at Evin Prison on June 19, 2010. In a statement at the time, the Iranian judiciary said the terrorist group leader was "responsible for the killing of 154 members of security forces and other innocent people and wounding of 320 people since 2003" and was "linked to members of foreign intelligence services. The the group retaliated in July 2010 with a Zahedan bombing that killed 28 persons, including some IRGC personnel. The group was responsible for a December 15, 2010, bombing at a mosque in Chahbahar, also in Baluchistan, that killed 38.

Since its inception in 2003, Jundallah, a violent extremist organization that operated primarily in the province of Sistan va Balochistan of Iran, engaged in numerous attacks resulting in the death and maiming of scores of Iranian civilians and government officials. Jundallahs stated goals were to secure recognition of Balochi cultural, economic, and political rights from the government of Iran and to spread awareness of the plight of the Baloch situation through violent and nonviolent means. In October 2007, Amnesty International reported that Jundallah had by its own admission, carried out gross abuses such as hostage-taking, the killing of hostages, and attacks against non-military targets.

Pakistan-based militant group Jaish al-Adl, or the Army of Justice, has been involved in a number of deadly attacks on Iranian soldiers and installations in the past few years. The Jaish al-Adl terrorist group has been directly involved in a number of deadly attacks on the soil of the Islamic Republic of Iran, mostly in the southwestern Sistan and Baluchestan province. The group has claimed responsibility for all these attacks through its social media channels.

18 January 2024 - IRGC Colonel Hossein-Ali Javdanfar was killed when armed men opened fire on the car near the Pakistan borde. Jaish al-Adl Sunni militant group has claimed responsibility for his killing, adding that two of his "bodyguards" were also killed by their forces. The incident occurred a day after the IRGC conducted a missile and drone strike in Pakistan against the Sunni militant group.

Jaish al-Adl attacked a police station in Rask on December 15, 2023, killing 11 police officers. Iran called the January 16 attack on the Jaish al-Adl groups headquarters in Pakistan another decisive step taken by Iran in response to the aggression against the security of our country.

4 OCTOBER 2022 Sistan-Baluchistan province, Iran - JAA attacks police stations, banks, and stores, killing 19 people and injuring at least 20.

In December 2019, Jaish al-Adl claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing in the port city of Chabahar, which killed two police officers and injured 40 others.

13 FEBRUARY 2019 Sistan-Baluchistan province, Iran - One of the biggest attacks came when JAA detonates a suicide car-bomb against a bus carrying Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps personnel, killing 27 and wounding 18, which drew strong condemnation from the Iranian leadership.

In October 2018, the terrorist group kidnapped 12 security personnel and took them to Pakistan, five of whom were released a month later and four others in March 2019.

In April 2017, the group claimed responsibility for an ambush that led to the martyrdom of nine border guards who had been patrolling the PakistanIran border at the time of the attack.

Jundallah did not publicly claim any attacks in 2016.

On 13 May 2015, armed gunmen stopped a bus carrying members of the Ismaili Shia community in the Safoora Goth neighborhood of Karachi and killed 45 people on board. Jundullah also claimed responsibility for this attack. Seven days later, police arrested four individuals accused of planning the attack. Subsequently, two senior government prosecutors resigned from the Safoora Goth case, stating the provincial government was not providing them with adequate security and compensation to continue the prosecution.

In April 2015, eight Iranian border guards were martyred in a cross-border attack from the Pakistan-based terrorist group, which was followed by another attack days later that killed two IRGC officers.

In January and February 2015 the TTP splinter group Jundullah claimed responsibility for a string of deadly bombings at Shia religious centers in Shikarpur, Peshawar, and Rawalpindi, which killed a total of 86 Shia worshippers.

In October 2014, three security personnel were killed in the Sistan and Baluchestan province.

In February 2014, five Iranian policemen were abducted by the Pakistan-based terrorist group, which prompted Iranian authorities to issue stern warnings to the group as well as Pakistani authorities.

In November 2013, the group attacked a border police patrol, killing 14 and wounding 6 others.

In October 2013, the terrorist group claimed responsibility for an attack that led to the martyrdom of 14 Iranian border guards in the city of Saravan in Sistan and Baluchestan province.

15 DECEMBER 2010 Chabahar, Iran - Jundallah detonates a suicide bomb in the Iman Hussein Mosque, killing 40 civilians and wounding nearly 100. In a statement on its website, Jundallah claimed responsibility for the suicide bomb attack.

In July 2010, Jundallah attacked the Grand Mosque in Zahedan, killing approximately 30 and injuring an estimated 300.

18 OCTOBER 2009 Pishin, Iran - A Jundallah suicide bomber attacked a marketplace in the city of Pishin in the Sistan va Balochistan province, killing more than 40 people. This was reportedly the deadliest terrorist attack in Iran since the 1980s.

28 MAY 2009 Zahedan, Iran - A Jundallah suicide bomber attacks the crowded Shiite Amir al-Momenin Grand Mosque in Zahedan, destroying the mosque and killing 30 worshippers while injuring 300.

Jundallah seized 16 Iranian police officers near the border with Pakistan in 2008. When the Iranian government refused to release 200 Jundallah prisoners in exchange for the hostages, Jundallah killed them.

In 2007, Jundallah killed 18 border guards on the Iranian-Afghan border.

In May 2006, Jundallah barricaded a road in Kerman province and killed 11 civilians and burned four vehicles. The assailants then killed another civilian and wounded a child by firing at a passing vehicle.

In March 2006, Jundallah attacked a motorcade in eastern Iran, which included the deputy head of the Iranian Red Crescent Security Department, who was taken hostage. More than 20 people were killed in the attack. The governor of Zahedan, his deputy, and five other officials were wounded, and seven others were kidnapped in the attack.

A Notice by the State Department published in the Federal Registar on 02 July 2019 concluded that there is a sufficient factual basis to find that Jundallah, also known as People's Resistances Movement of Iran (PMRI), also known as Jonbesh-i Moqavemat-i-Mardom-i Iran, also known as The Popular Resistance Movement of Iran, also known as Soldiers of God, also known as Fedayeen-e-Islam, also known as Former Jundallah of Iran, also known as Jundullah, also known as Jondullah, also known as Jundollah, also known as Jondollah, also known as Jondallah, also known as Army of God (God's Army), also known as the Baloch Peoples Resistance Movement (BPRM), uses the additional alias Jaysh al-Adl, also known as Jeysh al-adl, also known as Army of Justice, also known as Jaish ul-Adl, also known as Jaish al-Adl, also known as Jaish Aladl, also known as Jeish al-Adl, as its primary name.

It amended the designation of Jundallah as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist to include the following new aliases: Jaysh al-Adl, Jeysh al-adl, Army of Justice, Jaish ul-Adl, Jaish al-Adl, Jaish Aladl, Jeish al-Adl,

Based on a review of the Administrative Record assembled pursuant to Section 219 of the Immigration and National Act, as amended (8 U.S.C. 1189) (INA), and in consultation with the Attorney General and the Secretary of the Treasury, US Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo concluded 27 June 2019 that the circumstances that were the basis for the designation of Jundallah (and other aliases) as a Foreign Terrorist Organization have not changed in such a manner as to warrant revocation of the designation and that the national security of the United States does not warrant a revocation of the designation. He also concluded there was a sufficient factual basis to find that Jundallah (and other aliases) uses the additional alias Jaysh al-Adl, also known as Jeysh al-adl, also known as Army of Justice, also known as Jaish ul-Adl, also known as Jaish al-Adl, also known as Jaish Aladl, also known as Jeish al-Adl, as its primary name.

Therefore, he determined that the designation of the aforementioned organization (and other aliases) as a Foreign Terrorist Organization, pursuant to Section 219 of the INA, as amended (8 U.S.C. 1189), shall be maintained. Additionally, pursuant to Section 219(b) of the INA, as amended (8 U.S.C. 1189(b)), Pompeo amended the designation of the aforementioned organization as a Foreign Terrorist Organization to include the following new aliases: Jaysh al-Adl, Jeysh al-adl, Army of Justice, Jaish ul-Adl, Jaish al-Adl, Jaish Aladl, Jeish al-Adl.

Strength

Reports of Jundallah membership vary widely from 500 to 2000.

Location/Area of Operation

Throughout Sistan va Balochistan province in southeastern Iran and the greater Balochistan area of Afghanistan and Pakistan

External Aid

Unknown

The group, according to Iranian intelligence sources, receives financial and military support from the Israeli regime as well as the United States and other Western countries for its terror activities inside Iran. Interestingly, it is a designated terrorist organization in the United States, apart from Japan, New Zealand and Iran. In Iran, its known as Jaish al-Zulm (the party of injustice).

In February 2007, then vice president, Dick Cheney, made a trip to Pakistan to meet with President General Pervez Musharraf. According to PBS, the secret US-backed campaign against Iran by the terror group known as Jundullah was high on Cheneys agenda. A few months later, ABC News reported that Jundallah, which was responsible for a series of deadly guerrilla raids inside Iran has been secretly encouraged and advised by American officials since 2005. The report explained that US relationship with Jundullah is arranged so that the US provides no funding to the group, which would require an official presidential order or finding as well as congressional oversight.

In 2008, Pakistans former army chief retired General Mirza Aslam Baig claimed that the U.S. supports the Jundullah terrorist group and uses it to destabilize Iran. He claimed the US was militarily and financially supporting the Jundullah, the parent organization of Jaish al-Adl. He said the US military was providing training to Jundullah fighters to stoke unrest in the border region of Iran and affect the cordial ties between Iran and its neighbor Pakistan.

On 18 February 2020 senior Iranian commander says Saudi Arabia has provided at least three planeloads of weapons and equipment to a Pakistan-based terrorist group conducting acts of terror against the Islamic Republic. Brigadier General Mohammad Pakpour, the commander of Irans Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC)'s Ground Forces, said members of the so-called Jaish ul-Adl terrorist group operating on the northwestern, western and southeastern borders of the country are well-armed and equipped, which shows the terrorists enjoy the all-out backing of the US, Saudi Arabia and their regional allies.

Riyadh is believed by Iran to be a key sponsor of Takfiri terrorists, who are inspired by Wahhabism, the ideology preached by Saudi clerics. The ideology promoted by Riyadh has put Saudi Arabia and Iran on the opposing sides of various conflicts across the Middle East.

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Operation Marg Bar Sarmachar

See new posts Conversation Michael P Pregent @MPPregent I informed members in Congress about this IRGC tactic in March of 2022. This is a new IRGC tactic designed to look like a military strike against a threat - instead - it is an intimidation message to those doing business with the West. Iran has targeted influential Kurdish businessmen not under their control with precision missile strikes twice now. Dizayee was the target - now the regime will say they were targeting Mossad UAV launch sites conducting targeting operations in Iran from his compound - they will say this is in response to the IDF hitting IRGC-QF advisors in Syria. Why a missile barrage? Because, it disguises the real target and has strategic benefits. This disguised attack is so successful in this way: The attack was close enough to the U.S. consulate to send a warning to a feckless WH. This was a "response against Mossad operatives in the KRG" - a message to their proxies that they are targeting Israeli activities in Iraq. The real target: This attack sends a loud and clear message to wealthy Kurdish entrepreneurs to cease business with the West and comply with Iran's puppet government in Baghdad. Quote OSINTdefender @sentdefender  Jan 16 Aerial Image taken earlier today of the Family Home of Peshraw Dizayee, a Kurdish Businessman and Real Estate Investor who was Killed yesterday alongside 4 Members of his Family in an Iranian Ballistic Missile Attack on the City of Erbil in Northern Iraq.

The operation Marg Bar Sarmachar is specifically used with reference to Pakistan's strike on Iran on 18 January 2024, but is also used here to referr more generally to Iran's [seeminglly un-named] missile strikes a few days earlier, which seemed to have the same theme. The operation codename Marg Bar Sarmachar loosely translates to 'death to guerrillas'. Marg Bar is a Persian phrase which means death to -- historically used in the anti-American slogan "Marg bar Amrika" during Irans 1979 Islamic Revolution. In the Baloch language, "sarmachar" translates to guerrilla or insurgent. The sarmachars or insurgents referred to here are militants belonging to the separatist groups Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) and the Balochistan Liberation Front (BLF). Sarmachar is used by the BLA to refer to their militants, as synonyms include brave; valiant; bold. The significance of the given name Sarmachar includes determination, courage, sincerity and activity. Like a warrior who marches into war, Sarmachar never want to submit to the will of others. The phrase is kindred to Smersh (a blend of Russian words Smert' Shpionam which translates into English as death to spies).

By mid-January 2024 the Israeli war with the HAMAS was threatening to mutate into a regional confrontation. Initially, since the 07 October 2023 attack by the HAMAS on Israel, the war was a war of proxies - the HAMAS, Hizballah, Islamic Resistance in Iraq, and the Houthis were clearly Iranian proxies, while Iran and some others counted Israel [the Lesser Satan] as a proxy of America [the Great Satan]. This threshold was initially breached by the Islamic Resistance in Iraq attacks on American facilities, notably in Iraq. The "proxies only" threshold was further eroded by Houthi attacks on shipping in the Red Sea, to include American vessels.

And this rung on the escalation ladder was passed by the US and UK attacks on Houthi targets in Yemen. On 12 January 2024 American and British warplanes targeted with 73 missiles in five regions of Yemen, including the capital Sana'a, and the provinces of Hudaydah, Taizz, Hajjah, and Saada, killing at least five people and wounding six others. Follow-up strikes were a daily occurrence.

Iran firmly embraced the next rung on the escalation ladder on 16 January 2024 when elements of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps [IRGC], stationed in Iran itself, attacked targets in Syria, Iraq, and Pakistan. While Syria and Iraq are Iranian clients, and offered only verbal complaints, Pakistan is another matter. On 18 January 2024 Pakistan retaliated by attacking targets in Iran.

It was not initially clear if either Iran or Pakistan wanted to engage in full-blown hostilities over separatist groups that they both regard as an enemy. Both sides issued statements that hinted at a desire not to see things escalate. Pakistans foreign ministry called Iran a brotherly country and emphasized the need to find joint solutions. This echoed the Iranian foreign minister, who called Pakistan a friendly country earlier this week and said their strikes were proportionate and only aimed at militants.

On 16 January 2024 Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps [IRGC] conducted strikes on Pakistans Balochistan province, killing two children and wounding several others, according to Pakistani authorities. The IRGC also launched ballistic missiles targeting an alleged Mossad base in Erbil, Iraq, and anti-Iran terror groups in Syria. Iran said this was in retaliation to Israeli attacks that killed Iranian Revolutionary Guard commanders. It also claimed that the targets in Syria were involved in the recent dual bombings in the city of Kerman during a memorial for the slain Quds Force Commander Qasem Soleimani that left scores dead and wounded. The international terror group ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack on the Soleimani memorial.

At least three ballistic missiles hit the private residence of a renowned Kurdish businessman Peshraw Dizayee in northern Erbil city during a family gathering, resulting in four causalities among his family, including 11-months and 18-months children. Six others have been wounded. The government of the Republic of Iraq expresses its strong denunciation and condemnation of the Iranian aggression against the city of Erbil, represented by the bombing of safe residential places with ballistic missiles, a statement from the Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs read. The Iraqi government described the attack as aggression against sovereignty and the principle of neighborliness, according to the statement. Baghdad will submit a complaint at the United Nations Security Council, as Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani has already launched an investigation into the matter. Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani on Monday condemned the IRGC attacks, urging the international community not to remain silent in the face of the repeated attacks. The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) will work with the international community to stop the attacks, he added. The IRGC similarly targeted another residence of a Kurdish businessman in 2022, resulting in significant material damage to the mansion. Omar Majid Dizayee, brother of Kurdish businessman Peshraw Dizayee, who was killed in the Iranian missile attack on Erbil with his daughter, denied the rumors about that his brother worked in the oil field amidst rumours spread by pro-Iranian government media that he he facilitated the export of oil to Israel. Dizayees Falcon Group, on its website, says it's involved in Security, Construction, Agriculture, General Trading, Oil and Gas, Technology and Beauty Services, including Empire World. Founded in 2007, Empire World is a real estate company that has built several high-rise buildings, villas and apartments in Erbils golden zone. Falcon Oil and Gas services do not include any exports, only warehousing and equipment rental services. Iraqi National Security Advisor Qasim al Araji led a high-level security delegation to Erbil to assess the consequences of the Iranian bombing of the city. After inspecting the site of the attack, Al Araji concluded that claims about the presence of a Mossad base in Erbil are "baseless". The accusations shocked us more than the attack, Dizayee's press office told the Kurdish-Iraqi news agency Rudaw, underlining that the man was not involved in political and partisan activities , and had no ties to intelligence agencies. He was purely neutral. The Baloch militants in Pakistan operating against the interests of Iran are members of three different groups: Jundullah, Jaish-ul Adl, and Harakat Ansar Iran. Their stated goals include the independence of Sistan and Baluchistan. Jaish-ul Adl, which means "Army of Justice, attacked a police station in Rask on December 15, 2023, killing 11 police officers. Iran called the January 16 attack on the Jaish al-Adl groups headquarters in Pakistan another decisive step taken by Iran in response to the aggression against the security of our country.

Pakistan Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani firmly underscored that the attack conducted by Iran inside Pakistani territory, on January 16, 2024, was not only a serious breach of Pakistans sovereignty but was also an egregious violation of international law and the spirit of bilateral relations between Pakistan and Iran.

Iranian security forces had previously launched numerous rocket attacks at the Pakistani towns of Panjgur and Mashkil in Balochistan over the years. Iranian border forces, in some instances, targeted civilians with mortars and direct gunfire in districts like Kech, Panjgur, Musakhel, and Washuk. Pakistani authorities confirmed multiple instances of Iranian border violations, with reports of rockets being fired around 11 to 12 times a month. Balochistan Chief Minister Dr Abdul Malik Baloch expressed his frustration over these cross-border attacks and called on the Pakistan government to address the issue. Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said his country only targeted Iranian terrorists on Pakistan soil and that none of the nationals of the friendly country of Pakistan were targeted by missiles and drones of Iran.

Irans proxies had launched attacks on Israeli forces and its allies. Houthi rebels have launched a series of attacks on commercial ships and Western military vessels in the Red Sea, a major artery for international trade. And Iranian-backed forces in Iraq and Syria have launched dozens of attacks aimed at US military positions in those countries. Following the Israeli offensive in Gaza, the militant group Hezbollah has engaged in daily confrontations with Israeli forces on the Lebanon-Israel border. On January 17, Israels military chief said the likelihood of war on the countrys northern border was now much higher and Israel was increasing its readiness for fighting in Lebanon.

Pakistan stated 18 January 2024 that it "undertook a series of highly coordinated and specifically targeted precision military strikes against terrorist hideouts in Siestan-o-Baluchistan province of Iran. A number of terrorists were killed during the Intelligence-based operation  codenamed *Marg Bar Sarmachar'*. Over the last several years, in our engagements with Iran, Pakistan has consistently shared its serious concerns about the safe havens and sanctuaries enjoyed by Pakistani origin terrorists calling themselves *Sarmachars* on the ungoverned spaces inside Iran. Pakistan also shared multiple dossiers with concrete evidence of the presence and activities of these terrorists.

"However, because of lack of action on our serious concerns, these so-called Sarmachars continued to spill the blood of innocent Pakistanis with impunity. This mornings action was taken in light of credible intelligence of impending large scale terrorist activities by these so called Sarmachars. This action is a manifestation of Pakistans unflinching resolve to protect and defend its national security against all threats. The successful execution of this highly complex operation is also a testimony to the professionalism of the Pakistan Armed Forces. Pakistan will continue to take all necessary steps to preserve the safety and security of its people which is sacrosanct, inviolable and sacred.

"Pakistan fully respects the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The sole objective of todays act was in pursuit of Pakistans own security and national interest which is paramount and cannot be compromised. As a responsible member of the international community, Pakistan upholds the principles and purposes of the UN Charter including territorial integrity and sovereignty of member states. Guided by these principles, and in exercise of our legitimate rights within international law, Pakistan will never allow its sovereignty and territorial integrity to be challenged, under any pretext or circumstances.

"Iran is a brotherly country and the people of Pakistan have great respect and affection for the Iranian people. We have always emphasized dialogue and cooperation in confronting common challenges including the menace of terrorism and will continue to endevaour to find joint solutions."

The BLA and BLF are ethno-nationalist militant organisations that operate from within "ungoverned" parts of Iran against the interests of Pakistan. With a majority of their members being drawn from the Marri and Bugti tribes of the Balochistan plateau, the group has been spearheading insurgency against Pakistan since the 2000s, and has been behind several violent attacks in the country.

The attacks this week mean that both countries have now taken up attacking militants on each others soil along its 900-kilometer border. The Baloch people are the indigenous inhabitants of the land where three countries--Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iran--meet. The Baloch people have historically resisted being ruled by both Islamabad and Tehran, with insurgencies bubbling across the porous border for decades.

The Sistan and Baluchistan province of Iran is characterised by its significant poverty and deprivation. In recent years, it has faced severe challenges such as droughts and extreme weather conditions. This province exhibits Iran's lowest statistics in key areas, including life expectancy, adult literacy, primary school enrollment, access to clean water and sanitation, and infant mortality. But the region is also rich in natural resources and Baloch separatists complain that their people, some of the regions poorest, have benefited little from its resources.

The Baloch insurgency in Pakistan has implications for stability across South Asia. Aside from the historical grievances of political and economic subjugation, the construction of the Gwadar mega port, expanded natural gas exploration, the war in Afghanistan, and the militarys harsh response to nationalist demands have fueled the insurgency.

Irans strikes on Pakistan sparked a diplomatic spat, with the latter recalling its ambassador and suspending all high-level visits from its neighbour. After Pakistans strikes, Iran demanded an immediate explanation from its neighbour. Nearby nations have weighed in, with India saying it has zero tolerance towards terrorism, and that the attack was a matter between Iran and Pakistan. China urged both nations to exercise restraint and avoid escalating tensions further. US State Department spokesperson Matt Miller said Washington DC was working to prevent the Middle East from erupting into full-scale conflict.

On 17 January 2024 the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated: "Pakistan strongly condemns the unprovoked violation of its airspace by Iran and the strike inside Pakistani territory which resulted in death of two innocent children while injuring three girls. This violation of Pakistans sovereignty is completely unacceptable and can have serious consequences. "It is even more concerning that this illegal act has taken place despite the existence of several channels of communication between Pakistan and Iran. Pakistan's strong protest has already been lodged with the concerned senior official in the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Tehran. Additionally, the Iranian Charge daffaires has been called to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to convey our strongest condemnation of this blatant violation of Pakistan's sovereignty and that the responsibility for the consequences will lie squarely with Iran. "Pakistan has always said terrorism is a common threat to all countries in the region that requires coordinated action. Such unilateral acts are not in conformity with good neighbourly relations and can seriously undermine bilateral trust and confidence. On 18 January 2024 the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Spokesperson stated at a Press Briefing: "Over the last several years, in our engagements with Iran, Pakistan has consistently shared its serious concerns about the safe havens and sanctuaries enjoyed by Pakistani-origin terrorists calling themselves Sarmachars on the ungoverned spaces inside Iran. Pakistan also shared multiple dossiers with concrete evidence of the presence and activities of these terrorists. "However, because of lack of action on our serious concerns, these so-called Sarmachars continued to operate against Pakistan with impunity. This mornings action was taken in light of credible intelligence of impending large scale terrorist activities against Pakistan by these terrorists. "This action is a manifestation of Pakistans unflinching resolve to protect and defend its national security against all threats. The successful execution of this highly complex operation is also a testimony to the professionalism of the Armed Forces of Pakistan. Pakistan will continue to take all necessary steps to preserve the safety and security of its people which is sacrosanct, inviolable and sacred. "Pakistan fully respects the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The sole objective of todays act was in pursuit of Pakistans own security and national interest which is paramount and cannot be compromised. "As a responsible member of the international community, Pakistan upholds the principles and purposes of the UN Charter including territorial integrity and sovereignty of member states. Guided by these principles, and in exercise of our legitimate rights within international law, Pakistan will never allow its sovereignty and territorial integrity to be challenged, under any pretext or circumstances. "Iran is a brotherly country and the people of Pakistan have great respect and affection for the people of Iran. We have always emphasized dialogue and cooperation in confronting common challenges including the menace of terrorism and will continue to endevaour to find joint solutions."" Iran condemned Pakistans attack on the southeastern Iranian province of Sistan and Baluchestan and summoned the Pakistani charge d'affaires in protest against the incident. The Pakistani diplomat was summoned to the ministry on Thursday in the absence of the country's ambassador to Tehran for an explanation regarding several explosions in different areas around the city of Saravan in Sistan and Baluchestan province, close to the border with Pakistan earlier in the day. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani later condemned the attack and confirmed that the Pakistani charge d'affaires had been summoned by the ministry to convey Tehrans protest to Islamabad and provide an explanation about the attack.

Iran's Foreign Minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, attending the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, issued a strong warning on 17 January 2024, threatening a robust response to any attack on Iran's national security. He affirmed that Iran maintains very positive relations with both Iraq and Pakistan. On the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Amir-Abdollahian also mentioned that Iran had shared intelligence with Iraq regarding Mossad's espionage activities in Iraq's Kurdistan region. He emphasized that "Jaish ul-Adl, a terrorist group linked to Israel, was targeted," pointing out that none of the nationals of the friendly and brotherly country of Pakistan were targeted by Iranian missiles and drones.

Iran addressed the friendly and brotherly government of Pakistan after a dispute over Islamabads drone attack on an Iranian village near their border, calling on the neighboring state to prevent the establishment of "terrorist bases" on its soil. In a statement issued on 18 January 2023, Irans Foreign Ministry said it condemns the unbalanced and unacceptable action of Pakistan in the drone attack on non-Iranian citizens in a village on the border wall of the two countries.

Nine people, including four children, were killed after Islamabad admitted attacking a village in Saravan in Irans southeastern Sistan and Baluchestan province, characterizing it a response to Tehrans operation against terrorist bases inside Pakistan. While the Islamic Republic adheres to the policy of good neighborliness and brotherhood between the two nations and the two governments of the Islamic Republic of Iran and Pakistan and does not allow the enemies to darken the good and fraternal relations between the two countries, it considers the security of the people and the territorial integrity of the country as its red line, the statement said.

And it strongly expects the friendly and brotherly government of Pakistan to adhere to its commitments in preventing the establishment of bases and armed terrorist groups on Pakistan's soil, it added.

Iran said on 16 January 2024 it had hit bases of Jaish al-Adl inside Pakistan to prevent another attack after 11 Iranian policemen were killed by the terrorist group in its hit-and-run raid on a police station in the city of Rask in Deember 2023. In this incident, the ministry said, the border outpost of the IRGC upon seeing the preparation of a terrorist group to leave for the territory of the Islamic Republic of Iran to carry out another terrorist operation similar to the criminal act in Rask, took preventive action against the terrorist group in its barracks and headquarters in the heights of the region and kilometers away from residential areas.

The ministry said This procedure is part of the inherent duties of the border forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran to deal with any imminent terrorist threat against the people and citizens of the country. It concluded The account of the government of Pakistan as a friend and brother is separate from armed terrorists and the Islamic Republic of Iran always adheres to its neighborly policy and does not allow its enemies and terrorist allies to strain these relations, especially when the genocide and crimes of the Zionist regime are the first issue of the Islamic world.

Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian told his Pakistani counterpart that Iranian attacks on terrorists based in Pakistan's territory were meant to remove security threats to both nations, reiterating Iran's respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of its eastern neighbor. In a phone call with Jalil Abbas Jilani on Wednesday, Amir-Abdollahian said that the so-called Jaish al-Adl terrorist group that was targeted in Iranian missile and drone attacks a day earlier has been working against the security of both Iran and Pakistan for the past years.

He reiterated the fact that no Pakistani national had been affected by the attacks which he said had solely targeted terrorists of Iranian origin operating against the Islamic Republic's security from the Pakistani territory. Irans security has repeatedly been threatened by this Iranian terrorist grouplet from the Pakistani soil and the grouplet had repeatedly claimed responsibility for terrorist moves on the Iranian soil, said the top Iranian diplomat.

The minister also touched on Irans attack into Iraqs Kurdistan region, saying they were retaliation for recent anti-Iran attacks staged by Israels Mossad. The Iranian minister said Tehran has shared intelligence with Iraq about Mossad activities in Iraqs Kurdistan, adding that Israel is an enemy of both Iraq and Iran. He cited a 2023 security pact between Iran and Iraq, saying it obliges Iraqi officials not to allow Irans security to be threatened from their soil. The top Iranian diplomat said Iran respected the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Pakistan and Iraq but would strongly react to any attack on its national security.

Pakistani President Arif Alvi said that Pakistan and Iran were brotherly countries and should resolve issues through dialogue and mutual consultation. In a statement, Alvi added that terrorism was a common challenge that should be eliminated through global efforts. He said that Pakistan fully respects the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all states and expects the same from other nations. The president, however, emphasized that Islamabad would not compromise its national security and territorial integrity and would take all necessary measures to defend its soil.

Pakistan decided to end the diplomatic rift with Iran and approved the re-establishment of full diplomatic relations with Tehran, the Pakistani broadcaster Geo TV reported 19 January 2024. The news coincides with a top-level extraordinary session of the country's Cabinet Committee on National Security, which the Pakistani Caretaker Prime Minister, Anwar ul Haq Kakar, called for on Friday. The Pakistani Prime Minister had cut short his visit to the World Economic Forum in Davos due to the recent events, in order to chair the meeting, the local Dawn newspaper reported, citing interim Information Minister, Murtaza Solangi. Moreover, the Prime Minister's Office said the two neighboring countries will be mutually able to overcome "minor irritants" through dialogue and diplomacy, The Times of India reported. The Iranian Foreign Minister stressed that Iran's security forces will strike any terror group aiming to launch an attack on the country, at their operational bases. He added that security forces will not allow terrorists the luxury to carry out attacks on Iran. "This operational action is in line with the immediate duties of the operational headquarters in Sistan and Balochistan and in order to neutralize the terrorist threat, according to the evidence and documentation, more than fifty terrorists were preparing to carry out a terrorist attack against Iran in that site [inside Pakistan], which failed due to the timely action of the Iranian forces," Amir-Abdollahian stressed during the phone call.

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Operation Iron Swords - Day 104 - 18 January 2024

The Israeli army found the bodies of 21 Israeli soldiers in Bani Suhaila in Khan Yunis and transferred them to Israel, according to what was announced by the Hebrew Channel 14. This report was not widely attested. The IDF appeared to confirm reports that its soldiers dug up some of the graves in a Gaza cemetery, explaining that it took the action in order to confirm that the bodies of hostages were not buried there. Responding to an NBC query on the matter, the IDF says in a statement that it is committed to fulfilling its urgent mission to rescue the hostages and find and return the bodies of hostages that are held in Gaza.

About half of the soldiers of a reserve battalion in the Israeli occupation army refused to fight in the Gaza Strip. Hebrew radio said that reserve soldiers were called in to form a new brigade to carry out protection missions in the areas surrounding Gaza and the West Bank. The radio added that the soldiers left the battalion with the approval of the officers responsible for them after it became clear that the army intended to bring them into the Gaza Strip to carry out combat missions for which they were not qualified. The reservists who were called for training were harshly criticized about serious gaps in equipment, professionalism and lack of human resources.

On the 105th day of the war on Gaza , the Al-Qassam Brigades , the military wing of the Islamic Resistance Movement ( Hamas ), announced that it had killed and wounded dozens of Israeli soldiers in separate operations. Jabalia, in the northern Gaza Strip, witnessed clashes between Al-Qassam members and the occupation forces, and fierce battles took place in Khan Yunis in the south.

Operational Update

Israel's war is entering its "most dangerous phase" in the Gaza Strip, where "the army aims to control the vast maze of tunnels under the city of Khan Yunis, with refugees accumulating in the south of the Strip, and international anger over the death toll growing," according to a report by the Wall Street Journal. The Israeli army assigned General Dan Goldfus, who commands the 98th Parachute Division, to control Khan Yunis, the largest city in the southern Gaza Strip. According to the newspaper, the mission in the city of Khan Yunis "is to destroy Hamas above ground, and within the complex network of tunnels beneath it."

Israeli forces, which are still exploring the tunnel network, seek to "encircle Hamas fighters, and are maneuvering above and below ground to expel them." It's a messy process, Goldfus, a war veteran, said of the underground battle. The Israeli army largely controls the northern Gaza Strip, after heavy bombardment turned many urban areas into rubble, along with many tunnels as well. Tens of thousands of civilians also fled to the south of the Strip.

But the progress Israel is making in the south faces a dead end, according to a Wall Street Journal report. The army is tightening its grip on a large number of displaced Palestinians who cannot find places to flee again, at a time when international protests are escalating due to the large number of deaths and injuries among civilians, which increases pressure on Israel to change its tactics. The newspaper's report stated that Hamas is "capable of moving underground," likening its movements to those carried out by nearly two million displaced civilians above ground, in the Gaza Strip, since the outbreak of the war.

The war broke out after an unprecedented attack by Hamas on Israel on October 7, which led to the killing of about 1,140 people, the majority of them civilians and including women and children, according to an Agence France-Presse count based on official Israeli sources.

On the other hand, Israel declared war with the aim of "eliminating Hamas" and launched devastating air strikes on the Gaza Strip, accompanied by a large-scale ground intervention that began on October 27, resulting in 24,448 deaths, the majority of whom were women and children, according to the latest toll from the Ministry of Health in Gaza.

The Israeli operation risks ending in a bloodbath greater than what happened in the north, while the ceasefire allows Hamas to survive and recover, which represents a strategic defeat for Israel, according to the newspaper. Now that people have gathered in the south, Israel cannot do what it did in the north without hundreds of thousands dead, something the United States will not support, said Hasit Ibish, a senior researcher at the Gulf States Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank. "United."

Meanwhile, the political impasse between the Israeli government, the United States and key Arab states over who should run Gaza after Hamas further complicates the war. According to the Wall Street Journal report, The lack of any government in Gaza makes it difficult to provide humanitarian aid, restore order and basic services, or facilitate the return of residents to the north.

The Israeli army fears that Hamas will try to exploit the vacuum and return again to the areas vacated by the army. Khan Yunis, the second-largest city in the Gaza Strip, is where many senior Hamas leaders come from, including Yahya Sinwar, the mastermind of the October 7 attacks on Israel. Israeli officials believe that Sinwar is hiding somewhere in the tunnels under Khan Yunis, with some of the remaining hostages. The maze here is more expansive and wider than in Gaza City, Goldfus said of the underworld in Khan Yunis.

Of the four Hamas brigades [as receieved - probably battalions] in Khan Yunis, Goldfus said that his forces destroyed or reduced the brigades in the east of the city, adding that there is an active brigade in the south. Regarding the fourth region in the west, which includes a growing number of refugees, the Israeli general said: We will have to make decisions.

Israeli Defense Minister Galant said that there are developments that he described as dangerous, requiring Israel to be drawn into war on its northern borders to ensure the return of residents to their homes. Galant added - during his speech regarding military developments in Gaza - that Israel does not want to fight a war in the north, but it must prepare for the deterioration of the security situation there, referring to the ongoing confrontations for months between the Israeli army and the Lebanese Hezbollah.

Regarding the situation in Gaza, he said that there is no complete solution to what he called pockets of resistance in Gaza. The Israeli minister considered that Hamas is trying to manipulate the emotions of Israelis to divide society. He also considered that Hamas has become more weak in obtaining supplies and controlling matters in Gaza, saying that Israel destroyed the organizational frameworks of the Hamas movement in the northern Gaza Strip and killed thousands of its militants, as he put it.

Fighter jets of the Air Force attacked a terrorist infrastructure and a launch site of the terrorist organization Hezbollah in the areas of Eitaron and Al Adisa in southern Lebanon. In addition, IDF forces attacked during the day a number of launching positions of the terrorist organization Hezbollah, including a building from which an anti-tank missile was fired at the Manara area yesterday. Also, during the day, a number of launches were detected towards the Shtula, Malkiah, Menara and Har Dov areas. The IDF attacked the sources of the shooting.

Fighter jets of the Air Force attacked terrorist infrastructures of the Hezbollah terrorist organization in the Al Adisa region in southern Lebanon. In addition, the IDF attacked earlier today in the areas of Kfar Kila and Marj Eyon in southern Lebanon. Also, earlier today, two launches from Lebanese territory toward the Arab Al Aramsha area were detected that fell in open areas.

The combat teams of the 36th Division, in cooperation with Yehlam and Shelad fighters, exposed and destroyed the heart of the Hamas munitions manufacturing industry near the Salah al-Din axis. The area consists of factories and lathes, surface and underground that provided ammunition and weapons to the Hamas terrorists.

The IDF troops operating in the Khan Yunis area have killed about 40 terrorists in the last day. With a tip, the fighters of the Egoz unit raided a terrorist's house and found ten grenades, a Kalashnikov rifle, military equipment and technological means. Cartridges, grenades, Kalashnikov rifles and maps were also located in the Khan Yunis area by the forces. Fighters from the 7th Brigade Combat Team eliminated four terrorists who advanced towards them using tank fire.

In the north of the Gaza Strip, the 5th Brigade Combat Team eliminated two armed terrorists who were in ambush against Israeli forces using armored force. Also, several air strikes were carried out using an aircraft that attacked and eliminated armed terrorists who posed a threat to the forces, some of whom were operating near a school in the sector. In the Zabara neighborhood area, fighters from the 179th Brigade Combat Team located anti-tank charges, RPG munitions, military equipment and technological means.

In an operation in the northern Gaza Strip, the fire complex of the Yiftach Brigade detected terrorists booby trapping a vehicle and entering a building known as belonging to GAP activity. A short time later, when one of the terrorists left the building, an Air Force aircraft attacked the terrorist and killed him. Later, shots were fired at the vehicle , and the thrust created by the explosion indicates that the vehicle was a booby trapped vehicle.

The military and strategic expert, Major General Fayez Al-Duwairi, said that the return of qualitative resistance operations against the occupation forces in the northern Gaza Strip comes as a translation of redrawing the lines of contact to develop the defensive battle. Al-Duwairi explained - during his analysis to Al-Jazeera - that the resistance, according to its new tactic, allows the occupation forces to enter and go deeper into the areas of northern Gaza, before confronting them with a new reality based on luring, ambushes, and killing.

Despite their withdrawal from the northern Gaza Strip, the occupation forces - according to Al-Duwairi - remained in a state of combat readiness through systematic bombing from a distance or pushing forces into Gaza, indicating that the first option is bad for the resistance because it will receive strikes without any reaction.

He pointed out that there are two brigades in northern Gaza that include 12 battalions with an average of 800 to 1,250 fighters per battalion, indicating that the Al- Qassam Brigades - the military wing of the Islamic Resistance Movement ( Hamas ) - have returned with combat readiness that enables them to successfully manage the defensive battle, although not with the same absolute readiness before. October 27, which makes sense. But he said that the talk about rehabilitation applies more to the Israeli 36th Division, which was withdrawn from northern Gaza, where it is currently in a defensive standby position, and the damage it sustained is being compensated.

Regarding the Al-Qassam video east of the Al-Tuffah and Al-Daraj neighborhoods in Gaza, he said that it is linked to the entry of an Israeli armored battalion, stressing that the video shows that the management of the battle changed and became dependent on defensive complexes and lures. He also praised the accuracy of the filming and monitoring of the projectiles movement until the military vehicle was hit.

Commenting on Israel's return to demolishing entire residential squares in Beit Hanoun in the north, Al-Duwairi stated that the step came after the reactivation of the Beit Hanoun Al-Qassam Brigade and restoring its combat readiness so that it would be similar to other Al-Qassam brigades. Regarding what was stated by Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant , who said that there is no complete solution to the pockets of resistance in Gaza, Al-Duwairi described the statements as a rare moment of honesty with himself, in defiance of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu , who uses his convictions to serve personal purposes in order to avoid going to prison.

It should be noted that the Al-Qassam Brigades announced - throughout the day - several specific operations in the northern Gaza Strip, such as the bombing of an Israeli troop carrier with an  Al-Yassin 105  shell near the Eastern Cemetery, east of Jabalia, as well as a clash with an Israeli foot force of 12 soldiers, and the killing of 4 soldiers. From a distance of zero near the same area. Al-Qassam also announced that it had targeted a second Israeli force barricaded inside a building in the Sheikh Ajlin area, southwest of Gaza, with an anti-fortified shell and clashed with it, in addition to blowing up a tunnel mouth with an Israeli foot force east of the Al-Tuffah neighborhood in Gaza.

The French newspaper Le Monde said that residents of the neighborhoods occupied by Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip are subjected to mass arrest campaigns, including men from their teens to their sixties, where they are stripped of their clothes and subjected to beatings, intimidation, and humiliating treatment, according to some of those who were released.

The newspaper began - in a report written by Clotilde Mravko from occupied Jerusalem - the occupation soldiers took the residents of Beit Lahia out of their homes at gunpoint, one after the other, and stripped the men of their clothes, so that the lawyer and researcher at the Palestinian Center for Human Rights, Ayman Labad (31 years old), found himself in his underwear, kneeling. On the sidewalk among all his neighbors.

Dozens of video clips, often filmed by the soldiers themselves - as the newspaper says - have revealed mass arrests in Gaza, where soldiers surround a group of homes, chant the names of families in the area over loudspeakers, isolate children aside, and sometimes women are separated from them. Some of them remove their veils and are arrested.

He systematically stripped the men of their clothes to make sure they were not wearing explosive belts, and then allowed them to get dressed as quickly as possible, the occupation army claims. But videos and testimonies collected by Le Monde show that prisoners remained half-naked for hours, and the head of the commissioners office said. United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territories Ajith Songai said: Some of the videos are extremely offensive and are a clear violation of international law.

Once the Palestinian detainees are collected, they are identified using a facial recognition system - according to the newspapers report - and then most of the time they are transferred outside the neighborhood in which they live. Some of them reported that they heard gunfire and that the people who were with them did not return, and the director of the Palestinian Center for Human Rights assumes Raji Al-Sourani said that many of them were killed in extrajudicial executions. We have no video clips and no direct witnesses, he says from Cairo, but naked bodies were found, riddled with bullets.

For its part, the High Commissioner for Human Rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territories stated that it received disturbing reports indicating that Israeli forces killed at least 11 unarmed men in front of their family members in the Al-Rimal neighborhood in Gaza. The statement referred to other incidents of targeting and killing of civilians in a manner Deliberately committed by Israeli forces.

Freelance photojournalist Saeed Kilani, who was arrested in the Israeli raid on Kamal Adwan Hospital, says that one of the soldiers threw his press card on the ground before transporting him to a nearby field with other Palestinians. He was released after 24 hours without being interrogated, and he says, Two soldiers beat me in an ugly way. He threatened to kill me."

The newspaper quoted the testimony of Ayman Labad, who was transferred with his companions in distress from one street to another, then the soldiers blindfolded him and tied his hands. He believes that they were transferred first to the Zikim military base in northern Gaza, then they were transferred on a bus in a cold atmosphere, stripped of their clothes, and they were placed In the hallway with my hands behind my back and my head down, the soldiers walked over my body, over my shoulders and over my head. I was their rug. After a long journey, the prisoners arrived at the Sde Teman camp, which is three pens built in the middle of the desert between Beersheba and Gaza in southern Israel. The army transports the men to it, while the women are detained in the Anatot military camp near Jerusalem.

In Sde Timan, the lawyer who was sent to be punished three times without knowing why says, From five in the morning until midnight you have to stay on your knees. They force you to stand in front of the fence with your arms raised for two or three hours, and one of them answered to the soldiers We heard the sound of gunfire, but we don't know what happened to him."

A man said that he was subjected to torture with electricity, and added, Two of us died due to the cold and lack of care. Indeed, the army admitted the death of a number of prisoners in Sde Timan without specifying their number, and confirmed that an investigation had been opened in each case, knowing that all Prisoners spoke of lack of food, difficulty accessing toilets, and being beaten. Although the army denies these accusations, the testimony of an Israeli reserve soldier in charge of security adds credibility to the prisoners story.

Israel refuses to talk about prisoners, but the Israeli Prison Service reported the detention of 661 unlawful combatants as of January 1, and this situation is outside the scope of international law, as Israel is holding detainees that it does not recognize as prisoners of war, and the International Committee of the Red Cross has not been able to From contacting any Palestinian detainee in Israeli prisons since October 7, 2023. The newspapers report mentioned many cases of journalists or doctors who were arrested and whose families knew nothing about them since last October 7. However, Ayman Labad was released after a week of arrest at the Kerem Shalom crossing between Gaza and Israel, and he walked several kilometers in the open to reach Rafah. He cannot join his family, which remains in closed northern Gaza.

The HAMAS spokesman for the Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip, Dr. Ashraf Al-Qudra, said that the Ministry recorded more than 8,000 cases of viral hepatitis A infection as a result of overcrowding and low levels of personal hygiene in displacement sites monitored by government medical teams only. He said that the Ministry expects the number of hepatitis A infections to double in places. Various displacements in the Gaza Strip.

Al-Qudra confirmed that the Ministry of Health recorded hundreds of cases of miscarriage and premature birth as a result of panic and forced flight under brutal bombing. He pointed out that the lack of health care in places of displacement and the difficulty of reaching hospitals put the lives of about 60,000 pregnant women at risk due to pregnancy complications.

The Ministry of Health warned of the serious repercussions of running out of nitrous gas in operating rooms, which endangers the lives of hundreds of wounded and life-saving cases. It added: We warn of serious health complications to which 350,000 chronic patients are exposed as a result of the lack of availability of medicines and their failure to enter the Gaza Strip.

The Ministry of Health pointed out that hospital laboratories are unable to conduct the laboratory blood test (CBC) as a result of the shortage of materials for it, as well as the exhaustion of 60% of the materials for various laboratory and viral tests. It said that 10,000 cancer patients are still exposed to serious complications that kill dozens of patients every day as a result of the lack of medicines. And the lack of health care in places of displacement after the Turkish Friendship Hospital went out of service.

Al-Qudra added that the direct and continuous targeting of the vicinity of Al-Wusta and Khan Yunis hospitals threatens the lives of thousands of wounded, sick, premature and displaced children, and causes the loss of the lives of dozens of them as a result of their families being forced to flee with them under bombardment.

For years, the West Bank has witnessed a noticeable escalation of military resistance against the occupation. Over these years, environments and incubators of resistance have grown, especially in the cities and camps of the northern West Bank. Several military formations and groups affiliated with Palestinian and cross-factional factions have also emerged. These groups have posed a real challenge to the occupation in recent years, which prompted it to launch military operations to confront the growth of military groups, similar to Operation Breakwater, which began at the end of March 2022 with the aim of dismantling the resistance structure in the northern West Bank.

With the start of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood - launched by the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Islamic Resistance Movement ( Hamas ) in the Gaza Strip - and despite the major shock suffered by the Israeli security services, they kept their eyes open on the West Bank, strengthened their procedures, and carried out thousands of arrests in the first days of the Battle of Al-Aqsa Flood.

In light of the continued fear that the situation would explode in the West Bank, the occupation forces carried out a series of special operations and raids into the camps and cities of the West Bank, which are home to resistance groups. These raids and attacks resulted in more than 371 martyrs and approximately 3,720 wounded. The Prisoners Club and the Prisoners Affairs Authority reported - last Sunday - that the number of arrests rose after last October 7 to about 5,875 people.

More than 100 days after the start of the war in the Gaza Strip and the accompanying massive attack by the occupation army in the West Bank, the Chief of Staff of the Israeli occupation army Herzi Halevy and a number of senior officers repeated their warnings to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the war ministers on several occasions that the West Bank is about to explode.

According to a report by Israeli Channel 12, the military level specifically warned of the explosion in the West Bank, which means another front that the occupation must deal with with high intensity. Senior officials in the military establishment told the political echelon in closed rooms that "the West Bank is on the verge of exploding in a third and comprehensive intifada, due to the deterioration of economic conditions and the prevention of workers from entering to work in Israel."

The main significance of the repeated warning by the military and security levels about an imminent explosion in the West Bank is based on the limited military and security operations carried out by the occupation in the West Bank in eliminating the Palestinian resistance as a national culture and groups as organizational formations.

The basis for the assessment of the Israeli security services is their realization that the military solution is not effective in light of the continuing settler attacks, the continued aggression against the Gaza Strip, the deteriorating economic conditions in the West Bank, and the decline of the Palestinian Authoritys control in the camps in the northern West Bank, which witness the presence of resistance groups.

This warning also comes after a noticeable increase in the number of operations carried out by resistance fighters in the West Bank, in addition to the development witnessed in operations to confront Israeli incursions into camps and cities in the northern West Bank, as a noticeable increase began months ago in the use of homemade explosive devices by resistance factions, which began It poses a real threat to the invading forces.

The operation to detonate a homemade explosive device in Nour Shams camp resulted in the death of a female soldier and the wounding of a number of other occupation soldiers as the resistance confronted them. The West Bank and Jerusalem also witnessed a number of specific operations carried out by the resistance, some of which carried signs of organized action, instead of the Qassam Brigades in the West Bank adopting a number of these operations. Raanana operation resulted in the death of a female settler, 4 seriously injured, and 9 moderately injured.

The most prominent of these operations, according to data from the Palestinian Information Center, were:

On October 19, the resistance fighters carried out a shooting operation and detonated an explosive device in an occupation army force near the town of Burqa, north of Nablus, wounding a number of its soldiers.

A resistance cell from Tulkarm carried out a shooting operation on November 2, followed by an operation to lure and detonate an explosive device with occupation soldiers near the Beit Lid settlement near Tulkarm, which resulted in the killing and wounding of 6 soldiers and settlers. The Qassam Brigades claimed responsibility for the operation in a video recording.

On November 6, the martyr Muhammad Omar Al-Faroukh (16 years old), from the town of Sair, north of Hebron, carried out a stabbing attack near a police station at Bab Al-Sahira in the Old City of occupied Jerusalem, which resulted in the death of a female soldier and the serious injury of another.

A resistance group that included Abd al-Qadir Abd Allah al-Qawasmi, Hassan Mamoun Qafisha, and Nasr Abd al-Af al-Qawasmi carried out a shooting operation at the military tunnel checkpoint separating the city of Bethlehem and southern occupied Jerusalem, which resulted in the death of a soldier and the injury of 6 others - some of them in serious condition - and the perpetrators were martyred by bullets. The occupation forces, and the Al-Qassam Brigades claimed responsibility for the operation.

The freed prisoners, brothers Murad and Ibrahim Nimr, carried out a shooting operation in occupied Jerusalem that resulted in the killing of 4 settlers, the injury of 12 others - including serious cases - and the martyrdom of the perpetrators. The operation was claimed by the Al-Qassam Brigades.

It was followed by a ramming attack near the Baqaot settlement in the northern Jordan Valley, carried out by the martyr Karem Bani Odeh from Tammoun in Tubas, which resulted in two soldiers being injured.

On December 28, the martyr Ahmed Adeeb Alyan carried out a stabbing attack in occupied Jerusalem, which resulted in two occupation soldiers being moderately injured and the perpetrator being martyred.

It was followed by a ramming attack carried out by the martyr Amr Abdel Fattah Abu Hussein, targeting occupation soldiers near Dura, south of Hebron, resulting in the injury of 4 of them.

On December 30, the martyr Muhammad Hussein Masalmeh carried out a run-over attack targeting occupation soldiers at the entrance to Al-Fawwar in Hebron, resulting in the injury of two soldiers.

On January 13, three Palestinian youths carried out a storming operation into the Adora settlement, west of Hebron, which resulted in the death of the three young men and the wounding of a number of settlers.

On January 15, a female settler was killed and 4 were seriously injured and 9 were moderately injured in stabbing and ramming attacks in the city of Raanana in Tel Aviv.

Warnings from the security and military levels of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu regarding the situation in the West Bank indicate a difference in views within the Israeli government about allowing Palestinian workers to enter to work. The Israeli Channel 13 published a report talking about a dramatic warning from the Shin Bet to Netanyahu indicating the fear of an immediate escalation in the West Bank.

This dispute comes in a broader context of disagreements and discrepancies between the leaders of the government and the war council in the Israeli occupation state. The security services are exploiting the escalation of resistance in the West Bank to put pressure on Netanyahus allies from the extreme religious right who want to put more pressure on the Palestinians in the West Bank and expand settlement projects.

The assassination of Sheikh Saleh Al-Arouri, Deputy Head of the Political Bureau of the Hamas movement , constituted a defining moment in the course of the war on Gaza and in the confrontation related to the West Bank, as he heads the West Bank region in Hamas. The Israeli occupation accuses Sheikh Al-Arouri of being responsible for restoring the resistance infrastructure in the West Bank and arming resistance groups and formations in the West Bank, instead of accusing him of direct responsibility for a number of operations that targeted settlers and occupation soldiers in the West Bank and the formation of cells spread throughout all West Bank cities.

Given the symbolism and status of Sheikh Al-Arouri among the resistance movements in the West Bank, it is expected that the West Bank will witness more operations in response to his assassination, the harbingers of which began with the Adora and Raanana operations, which is the opposite of the trend promoted by the Israeli political and security leadership that The assassination of Sheikh Al-Arouri will weaken the resistance in the West Bank.

In this context, the continued warning by the military and security institutions of the imminent explosion in the West Bank indicates the limited impact of the assassinations on the rising trend of resistance, rather than considering them among a large sector of Palestinians as a reason for continuing and escalating resistance.

All the drivers for the escalation of resistance action in the West Bank remain present and their influence is strengthening, but the two factors of the war on Gaza and the escalation of settler attacks will make the West Bank an arena of open confrontation between the Palestinians and the occupation. In previous experiences, such as in the 2014 war, the West Bank witnessed a major popular uprising in the summer of the following year, and in analyzing the outbreak of the uprising, the effects of the war on Gaza in 2014 were one of the most important inspirations for young Palestinians who took the initiative to carry out operations in the following months.

The Palestinians in the West Bank receive two images from the war in Gaza: the massacres, killing, siege, and humiliation to which the Palestinians are exposed in the Gaza Strip, and the images of battles and targeting published by the resistance factions and the inspiration they represent for youth in the West Bank. In light of the growing conviction among Palestinians that the security system and the Israeli army failed miserably on October 7 and beyond, the courage of Palestinian youth to carry out more operations increases.

The Leader of Yemens resistance movement Ansarullah Abdul-Malik al-Houthi said attacks on ships bound for Israeli ports in the occupied Palestinian territories will continue despite recent airstrikes on the Yemeni territory by US and UK warplanes. Abdel Malek al-Houthi said in an hour-long televised speech on Thursday that the attacks would also include American and British ships. He said Yemen will continue to strengthen its military. The recent airstrikes by the United States and Britain, he said, are not going to scare us.

The issue that America and Britain have joined the war directly and that we are now in direct confrontation with the Americans, British and Israelis does not scare us at all.... The aggression towards our country and our people will enhance the development of our military capabilities.

Houthi also made it clear that the US-UK strikes will not influence Yemens position in supporting the Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip. First, this aggression will not change anything in the stance of our people and its spiritual obligation in supporting the Palestinian people and the residents of Gaza as well as the continuous targeting of ships linked to Israel, and this is clear in our continuous operations and the last one was last night against the ships, but it will also include the American and British ships.

The Yemeni leader said the US-led aggression against Yemen has been meant to divert the world's attention from Israels genocidal campaign in Gaza. The Americans need to be sure that by continuing the aggression they meant to protect the Zionist crimes against the Palestinian people.

The military spokesman for Ansar Allah Houthis, Yahya Saree, confirmed that a response to the American and British attacks is inevitably coming. Saree indicated that they are continuing to implement defensive and offensive measures within the legitimate right to defend Yemen. He announced that the American ship Kim Ranger was targeted in the Gulf of Aden with naval missiles and that it was being hit directly.

Ansar Allah Houthi spokesman, Mohammed Abdel Salam, stressed freedom of maritime navigation for all ships in the world except for ships heading to Israel. Abdel Salam said, on the X platform, The continuation of the American-British aggression in launching raids with approximately 13 missiles last night on our country represents an insistence on continuing the aggression for a week in order to protect the Zionist enemy entity. He added, "This will not prevent our dear people from continuing support operations for the Palestinian people and the steadfastness of Gaza."

A US official told Al Jazeera, "We are following a security incident related to an attack on a ship from areas controlled by the Houthis in Yemen." A Yemeni military source had told Al Jazeera that Ansar Allah Houthi forces targeted an American ship near the Yemeni coast of Mukalla. A short while ago, the British Maritime Trade Operations Authority said that it had received a report of an accident 85 miles southeast of the Yemeni city of Al-Shihr.

The " Houthi " group in Yemen announced that it targeted and directly hit an American ship in the Gulf of Aden, in a naval attack in a region of strategic importance. The military spokesman for Ansar Allah "Houthis", Yahya Saree, said on the "X" platform that the group's fighters targeted the American ship "Kim Ranger" with naval missiles in the Gulf of Aden and hit it directly. The spokesman added that the response to what he described as American and British attacks is inevitably coming, as he put it. Sarie reiterated "the continuation of navigation traffic in the Arab and Red Bahrain to all destinations except the ports of occupied Palestine."

Earlier, the British Maritime Trade Operations Authority said on Thursday that it had received a report about an incident 115 nautical miles southeast of the city of Aden in Yemen, and added in a warning note that the authorities were investigating the matter. For its part, Embrey Maritime Security said in a memorandum it issued that a tanker of chemical products flying the flag of the Marshall Islands reported what was described as a suspicious approach of drones 103 miles southeast of Aden.

During the past weeks, the Houthis in Yemen launched attacks on ships in the Red Sea that they said were linked to Israel and American ships that support Tel Aviv in its ongoing war on the Gaza Strip. On the other hand, the United States and Britain launched several rounds of raids against Houthi sites in Yemen, which they said were targeting the group's missile capabilities to protect global shipping traffic in the region. Washington had announced the re-listing of the Houthis in Yemen as a global terrorist organization, in light of the recent attacks launched by the group on ships in the Red Sea.

Iraqi resistance fighters launched drone strikes on a military facility occupied by US forces near the northeastern Syrian city of Qamishli on the Turkish border. Lebanons al-Mayadeen news channel reported that the attacks targeted Hemo base, situated west of Qamishli Airport. The report added that Hemo was also a "US spy base housing elements of the Zionist regime". Hemo base, which hosts close to 350 American soldiers, is believed to be a vital one for the US occupation forces in Syria since it serves as a special training camp for the US-backed so-called Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). This comes as news reports by Arab media said two days ago that troops were evacuated as a result of attacks by resistance factions in Iraq.

Maps

All maps are lies. Not only is it easy to lie with maps, it is essential, wrote cartographer Mark Monmoneir in his book How to Lie with Maps. He showed that condensing complex, three-dimensional spaces onto a two-dimensional sheet of paper is bound to be reductive. But it is impossible to comprehend the war in Gaza without reference to maps, otherwise the entire conflict is reduced to an endless series of meaningless acts of random violence and the suffering of civilians. The first characteristic of guerrilla warfare is the loss of a front line. Evidently, different mappers have different ideas of how to depict the war in Gaza, notably those that seek to depict Israeli progress in the ground campaign. Part of the problem is latency. The news that forms the basis of the maps takes time to filter out to mappers, and the cartographers take time in crafting their maps, and it takes time to curate them. These processes are uneven among mappers, so their maps may differ in detail. Probably there is some ideological bias, or at least thematic apperception, which is understandable in wartime. It may come as no surprise that al-Jazeera maps depict rather less Israeli territorial progress than other sources. Finally, there remains the epistemological question of just exactly what are the colored in areas depicting. Naively, this might be understood as areas of Israeli control, that are no longer contested by the HAMAS. Or possibly these are areas of Israeli presence, in many of which the possibility of an RPG-wielding HAMAS militant popping out of a tunnel unexpectedly remains a live possibility. With the "zero-range" combat characterized by small unit tactics on both sides, maps may be prey to a fallacy of misplaced concreteness.

Bystanders

Axis of Resistance

Iran called on members of the Non-Aligned Movement to renew their solidarity with the Palestinian nation, as the Israeli regimes onslaught on Gaza continues to claim innocent Palestinian lives in the besieged coastal territory. Irans Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs, Reza Najafi, made the remarks addressing the 19th Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) foreign ministers in Kampala, Uganda.

The message of the Non-Alignment Movement must be loud and clear so as to show that the movement stands with the Palestinian nation, Najafi stated. The Iranian diplomat further said that the summit shows the solidarity between NAM members and the promotion of cooperation between them to protect their nations interests.

Najafi pointed out that the emerging challenges facing the world require concerted efforts by NAM members to be resolved in an effective and appropriate manner. The Non-Aligned Movement has to have an active role in forming the new world order, he said, adding that solving global issues requires global solutions. He further explained that strengthening solidarity between NAM members and making joint progress toward resolving global issues require the true political will of all Non-Alignment Movement members.

Elsewhere in his remarks, Najafi rebuked unilateral US sanctions as a tool of Western hegemony, urging NAM members to firmly oppose the sanctions. Najafi also called for an immediate and unconditional end to the Israeli regimes genocide of Palestinian people, highlighting the NAMs support for South Africas filing of a genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

Palestinian presidential spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeina said that there will be no security and stability in the region without the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital on the 1967 borders. Abu Rudeina's statements came in response to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said that there will be no Palestinian state.

Arif Al-Amiri, spokesman for the coalition of Yemeni anti-aggression political forces and parties, confirmed that the Yemeni authority in Sanaa does not care about the decisions issued by the American administration, as Washington is trying to blackmail Sanaa by using classification decisions, whether in the past or in the future. The Ansar Allah movement confirmed that the American decision is politicized, and it is a badge of honor that it wears for its position in support of the Palestinian people.

Al-Amiri pointed out that Washington pushed and instructed the former Yemeni regime to fight six battles against the group, all of which resulted in a huge loss for that regime. It also paid the Saudi and Emirati regimes to fight a global war of siege, destruction and killing that lasted for more than eight years and we are at the end of the ninth year.

Al-Amiri pointed out that after the failure of all these systems and after the failure of the American military policy in the region, the American administration and the British regime came today for direct entry, and this happened after they sensed that there was a danger affecting the security of the Zionist entity, which had become threatened, as today the Republic of Yemen is threatening this. The entity threatens its presence in the region by leading this battle by preventing, stopping, and cutting off the lifeline that is trying to extend to the Zionist entity if it continues its aggression against the Palestinians and its aggression in its systematic killing of the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip.

Allied for Democracy

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the war in Gaza will continue for additional months, while his Defense Minister Yoav Galant spoke about the possibilities of a comprehensive confrontation with the Lebanese Hezbollah. Netanyahu added - in statements published by Israeli media - that the war on Gaza will continue until its goals of decisive victory over Hamas and the recovery of those he described as kidnapped are achieved. He added that stopping the war before achieving the goals would be a message of weakness and harm Israel for generations to come.

The Israeli Prime Minister also said that the war will continue on all fronts until the goals that have been set are achieved, indicating that a huge budget has been passed to achieve those goals. He pointed out that he informed the United States that he opposes the establishment of a Palestinian state as part of any post-war scenario. Regarding what was said about disagreements within his government, he denied that he had initiated the removal of Defense Minister Gallant.

On another topic, Netanyahu accused Iran of being behind Hezbollah attacks on the northern border and Houthi attacks in the Red Sea .

For his part, member of the Security Ministerial Council, Gideon Sa'ar, said that stopping the war now means complete surrender to Hamas, adding that this is the greatest strategic harm to Israel. On the other hand, Israeli member of the Knesset from the Labor Party, Efrat Raitin, expressed her support for stopping the fighting in Gaza in order to return the Israelis detained there, and called for taking what she described as strict and courageous decisions on the part of the war government. Raitin said that since Israel was dragged into the ground war, many Israeli soldiers have lost their lives, adding that detainees return dead and even their bodies remain in Gaza.

Meanwhile, Israeli Minister of National Security Itamar Ben Gvir said that his vision for the day after the war on Gaza is for continued control of the Strip, and he repeated his call for the displacement of hundreds of thousands of residents of the Strip, in addition to the elimination of the head of Hamass political bureau in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar. Ben Gvir believed that Netanyahu must choose between the old method of War Council member Benny Gantz and opposition leader Yair Lapid and the method of decisiveness in the north and south and achieving victory over those he described as Israel's enemies. Regarding the West Bank , the Israeli minister said that Palestinian workers should not be allowed to return to work in Israel because this poses a danger to the lives of Israelis, as he put it.

Itamar Ben Gvir directed settlers and the Israeli occupation army in the West Bank to shoot Palestinians even if they did not pose a threat to their lives. After that, be sure that the Israeli people will thank you. He said: When you see a terrorist, even if he does not endanger you, shoot him. According to what was reported in the Hebrew newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth.

These statements were in conjunction with 150 weapons that were distributed in the West Bank to settlers, meaning that Ben Gvir is now giving the Israeli settlers a green light to kill any Palestinian present in the occupied West Bank, whether he puts their lives in danger or not, which may open the door to the killing of more innocent Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.

Israeli media continued to highlight the escalating dispute between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Defense Minister Yoav Galant , which analysts said creates a security and existential risk to Israel. The Israeli Channel 13 discussed the crisis of Gallants recent withdrawal from the War Council meeting, where the channels correspondent Moria Wahlberg said that the head of the National Security Council, Tzachi Hange, asked the head of the Defense Ministers office to leave the meeting, noting that Gallant said that he did not accept that and left with his aides after he attacked Netanyahu and Hange.

Walberg said that Gallant asked them (Netanyahu and Henge) to stop obstructing his work, describing the matter as evidence of the extent of tension between the prime minister and the defense minister. He added, "This tension began long before October 7, but it has become increasing these days more than ever before."

During a discussion on the same channel, Ariel Kahane, a journalist for the "Israel Today" newspaper, said that the War Council had recently witnessed an unkind situation, stressing that "this is not the first time. We know that there are accumulations and tensions between the two men." He added, "While we are in the hundredth day of the war, the war council is considered an asset to Israel, and the two men must act as adults." Kahane continued, "Try to rise above the personal differences between you, and preserve this council for the sake of victory and for the sake of the people of Israel."

As for Avigdor Lieberman, former Minister of Defense and head of the Yisrael Beytenu party, he said that he had never witnessed an event like this before in which a defense minister left the war council during battles. Lieberman said, When I follow the discussions, I find that what is happening sends two messages about a war between the Jews to both Hassan Nasrallah (Secretary General of the Lebanese Hezbollah ) and Yahya Sinwar (head of the Islamic Resistance Movement ( Hamas ) at home), adding, This is not how the war is managed.

In the same context, former Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi said, Do not give the enemy a chance to touch us again because of the lack of unity, adding, All those who take the path of division - led by influential people elected by the public - undermine the principle of unity and create a security and existential threat.

Commenting on this dispute, Yaron Abraham said on Channel 12 that there is tension between the political elite due to stopping or continuing the war, and the method of recovering the kidnapped (prisoners). He added, "The state set these two goals as one and equal package in the past three months," while the channel confirmed that "after many quarrels in closed rooms, tension exploded between Likud and the official camp inside the Knesset."

Israeli philosopher and researcher Asa Kasher said that incidents in which poor military order was used during the October 7 attack , which caused the deaths of civilians or military personnel by friendly fire, must be investigated immediately. On the "The Week" program broadcast by the Israeli newspaper "Haaretz", Kasher - a senior researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies and the architect of the Israeli army's ethics code known as the "Hannibal Directive" - discussed the issue of using the code's rules in an attack by the Islamic Resistance Movement ( Hamas ).

Kasher wrote the IDF Code of Conduct, which was developed by the Israel Defense Forces in 1986 in response to an attempt by Lebanese Hezbollah to kidnap two soldiers in southern Lebanon. In the original version, the directive specified the procedures that must be followed when a soldier is at risk of capture in enemy territory. The directive - which was drafted by the commander of the IDF's Northern Command at the time, Yossi Peled, along with Colonel Gabi Ashkenazi and Colonel Yaakov Amidror - stressed the priority of rescuing captured soldiers. from their captors, even if it means risking harm to the captured soldiers themselves.

It is noteworthy that the directive was drafted without consulting legal experts. For years, the content of the Hannibal Directive and its use by the Israeli military was shrouded in secrecy, and it is rumored to have been invoked only a few times between 1986 and 2016 when it was officially rescinded by the military.

According to Kasher, one of the difficulties in assessing the legality and morality of the Direct of Hannibal is the wide range of versions and interpretations. There are several different versions depending on the unit or forces that have to deal with it, and it changes depending on the command or region. He explained that there are contradictions between the versions, but he said that there is absolutely nothing in all versions that allows someone to kill any Israeli, whether civilian or military.

But accounts of what happened at one site on Kibbutz Be'eri during the Hamas attack indicate that no code of conduct was implemented. Kasher wondered whether Hannibal's directives had been misunderstood in a previous incident that occurred at the Cohen family home, where 14 Israelis were held hostage, according to the testimony of Yasmin Porat and Hadas Dagan, the only survivors of the incident.

According to Porat, after a Hamas fighter released her, she was interrogated by the polices anti-terrorism unit, who told them that there were about 40 Palestinian fighters and 14 Israeli civilian detainees still in the house. Dagan was among the hostages inside the house, where an Israeli tank fired two shells at him, according to what she said. She was the only Israeli who survived the incident, and she confirmed Borats story.

The families of the dead demanded that the Israeli army open an investigation into the incident, and according to a New York Times report, the commander of the 99th Division, General Barak Hiram, said that he ordered a tank commander to fire on Cohens house, even at the cost of civilian casualties. Kasher hesitated to confirm the details of the incident before conducting the investigation, but he raised a different point, saying, "I have looked at all copies of Hannibal's directive and I have never seen any mention of its use," referring to attempted kidnappings of civilians.

Kasher strongly agreed with the families on the need for an immediate investigation, starting with the Military Defense Council and, if necessary, moving it to the State Attorney General. How could a high-ranking military official in the Israeli army issue an order that would certainly put the lives of many Israeli civilians in danger? While the army said it would investigate the incident after the war ended, Kashir responded, "This is their approach. We hear it all the time from the army spokesman."

But Kasher believes that this incident calls for an immediate investigation, just as happened when 3 detainees held by Hamas were mistakenly killed by the Israeli army. Kasher spoke about another incident that occurred last October 7 on the Israeli border with Gaza, and according to an investigation conducted by the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, the forces received orders to prevent detainees from being taken to Gaza by force if necessary. At noon on October 7, Israeli army helicopters bombed cars trying to cross the border, and there is unconfirmed evidence that detained Israeli civilians were injured. Kasher believes that the entire culture of the Israeli army needs to change.

A US State Department spokesman said that there is no way to end the long-term security challenges facing Israel in the region and the short-term challenges of rebuilding Gaza, without establishing a Palestinian state. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that he informed Washington of his refusal to establish a Palestinian state.

US Senator Bernie Sanders said that the United States is complicit in the nightmare experienced by the Palestinian people. Sanders added that he finds it difficult to understand why Congress does not act to stop the suffering of the Palestinians and deal with the humanitarian catastrophe.

For her part, US Senator Elizabeth Warren described Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's refusal to establish a Palestinian state within any post-war arrangements as "dangerous." She said that this refusal contradicts American policy. Warren stressed that Washington supports the two-state solution because it is the only way to guarantee peace, security, and dignity for Israelis and Palestinians.

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.

The HAMAS Ministry of Health in the besieged sector announced that the number of victims of the Israeli operation its beginning had risen to 24,620 martyrs, and the killing of nearly 10,000 Palestinian children and 6,600 women killed. The ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.

The number wounded was 61,830. The Palestinian Government Media Office in Gaza had said much earlier that the number of missing people had risen to more than 8,000, including including 4,700 children and women, amid expectations that the toll will be double thi figures.

The IDF intensified its military operations in the West Bank, and increased the pace of incursions and raids into cities, towns, and camps, resulting in the martyrdom of 342 Palestinians, the injury of about 3,950, and the arrest of 5,780, according to official HAMAS sources. As of 17 January 2023, the Israeli escalation in the West Bank led to the death of 360 Palestinians, the injury of nearly 2,200, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, and the arrest of about 6,000, according to the Palestinian Prisoners Club.

More than 130 Hezbollah fighters were killed in Lebanon during exchanges of bombing operations with Israel.

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 officially announced number of deaths among the Israeli army since the start of the ground incursion on October 27th to 195, and 529 deaths since the Al-Aqsa Flood operation on the 7th of the same month. Among them are 56 with the rank of platoon commander, 43 with the rank of company commander, 9 with the rank of battalion commander, and 5 with the rank of brigade commander. These officers constitute 23% of the total deaths of the Israeli army in the war on Gaza.

Israeli media reported that 27% of the Israeli military casualties in the war were officers. In detail, the media highlighted that three brigade commanders, four battalion commanders, and other senior officers have been killed in the war so far.

The Israeli Broadcasting Corporation reported that 29 of the army's deaths were caused by "friendly fire" and operational incidents since the start of the ground war in Gaza, late last October. The Israeli authority explained that "18 army soldiers were killed by friendly fire, two were killed as a result of gunfire (without explanation), and 9 Israeli soldiers were killed in ammunition, weapons, or run-over accidents." The Jerusalem Post newspaper revealed that 15 soldiers were killed in the Strip without their bodies being found.

According to some reports statistics indicate that 20% of the Israeli losses were due to friendly fire. Because the nature of the battle has become completely different from what was expected, and it lacks a front line.

According to the latest data published by the army, the number of wounded soldiers and officers has risen to 1,152 since the start of its ground attack on Gaza on October 27, including 228 seriously wounded, while the total number has reached 2,602 wounded since the outbreak of the war on the 7th of October.

The Israeli army reported that 2,438 soldiers - including 355 seriously injured - have been injured since the beginning of the war on Gaza, including earlier reports of 576 moderate, and 1,161 minor. The number of wounded since the start of the ground operation in the Gaza Strip on October 27 had risen to 1,042.

At least 12,957 Israelis were injured, according to i24 TV.

Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper had reported that 5,000 soldiers had been wounded since the beginning of the war on October 7, and that the Ministry of Defense had recognized 2,000 soldiers as disabled so far.

An estimate by the Israeli Ministry of Defense expected that the number of soldiers with disabilities in the war taking place in the Gaza Strip since October 7 of last year would reach 12,500 soldiers. The Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth said that the Soldiers' Rehabilitation Department of the Ministry of Defense has dealt with 3,400 soldiers who were classified as disabled in the army since last October 7.

The Israeli army revealed that about 9,000 of its soldiers have received psychological assistance since the beginning of the war on the Gaza Strip on October 7, and about a quarter of them have not returned to combat. This came according to a new statement revealed by the Army Medical Corps, according to Channel 12 and the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth. According to the statement, nearly 9,000 soldiers have applied for psychological assistance since the beginning of the war, and approximately a quarter of them have not returned to combat.

The statement continued, "In total, about 13,000 regular and reserve soldiers required accompaniment or medical treatment at some level during the fighting, and thousands of them were injured in the battles."

Al Jazeera military and strategic expert Major General Fayez Al-Duwairi expressed his conviction that the numbers of dead and wounded announced by Israel cannot represent the truth, due to a discrepancy between the Israeli armys data and the Walla website, which is close to the army itself.

Hostages

Al-Qassam Brigades publishes a video clip of Israeli prisoners and hostages: Tomorrow we will inform you of their fate. In the clip, the prisoners called on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to stop the war in order to return them to their families. An Israeli prisoner said in the clip: Stop this madness and return us to our families.

Earlier, Abu Ubaida, spokesman for the Al-Qassam Brigades, said in an audio recording, The fate of many of the enemys prisoners and detainees has become unknown in recent weeks, but the rest have all entered the tunnel of the unknown due to the Zionist aggression. He added, "Most likely, many of them will have been killed recently, while the rest are still in imminent and great danger every hour, and the enemy's leadership and army bear full responsibility."

Abu Ubaida continued, "We were informed from several parties on the resistance fronts that they are seeking to expand their strikes against the enemy in the coming days in light of the continued aggression against Gaza." He declared, "After a hundred days of battle, confrontation, and confrontation of aggression, this is the enemy's leadership swallowing pain and wading through the mire of failure and failure."

Israel had previously estimated there were 116 living hostages in Palestinian custody. Israel declared 20 out of 136 people in Gaza captivity dead in absentia, after announcing its forces had recovered the bodies of two hostages. By another count, 132 of them are still being held in Gaza, and 25 of them have been confirmed dead. Israel considers those still held by Hamas to be hostages regardless of whether they are dead or alive.

Israeli government spokesperson Eylon Levy earlier had told reporters that Hamas still held 137 captives. The resistance released 10 Israeli detainees, 4 Thais and 2 Russian women, who were released outside the agreement. Over the course of 6 days, Israel has received 102 detainees, women and children, including 78 Israelis, in exchange for the release of 234 Palestinian prisoners, women and children.

Eylon Levy, the Israeli government spokesperson, told reporters 01 December 2023:

Hamas still held 137 hostages from the October attacks, in addition to four others who went missing before the war

The hostages include two children aged four and 10 months, who, Hamas now claims, are dead

117 male hostages are still kept in Gaza, including the two children, as well as 20 females

126 hostages are Israelis, and 11 others are foreign nationals

Foreign nationals are eight Thais, one Nepalese, one Tanzanian and one French Mexican citizen

Ten of the remaining hostages are 75 and older.

There are seven missing people since the October 7 attack

Hamas had released 110 hostages so far  86 Israelis and 24 foreign nationals.

Some of the rest are soldiers, seized when Hamas raided military bases in Israel. They may end up being held the longest. The Israeli military had not specified how many soldiers were captured, nor their ranks.

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 Palestinian Prisoners' Club revealed that about 11,000 arrests were carried out by the Israeli army during the year 2023 in the West Bank, including occupied Jerusalem, in addition to arrests from the Gaza Strip before the seventh of last October. The total number of prisoners in Israeli prisons is 8,800, as documented by the club until the end of December 2023. The Prisoners' Club explained that arrests after the 7th of October amounted to more than 5,975, in contrast to the detainees in Gaza after the 7th of the same month. The Prisoners' Club stated that cases of arrest among women amounted to (300), and this toll includes women from the occupied interior detained after October 7, while the number of cases of children reached 1,085. The arrest campaigns affected all groups, including women and children, as the number of women who were arrested reached about 200, while the number of arrests among children until the end of last December exceeded 355 children. The number of administrative detainees in Israeli prisons reached more than 3,290, which is the highest percentage since the years of the 1987 Intifada.

Israel said on 14 January 2024 that, since the beginning of the war, approximately 2,650 wanted persons have been arrested throughout the Judea and Samaria Division and the Bekaa and Valleys Division, approximately 1,300 of whom are affiliated with Hamas. On 08 January 2024 it was reported that more than 1,350 wanted persons had been arrested throughout the Judea and Samaria Division and the Bekaa and Valleys Division, more than 870 of whom are associated with the terrorist organization Hamas.

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Illegal Drugs Seized by CMF French-led Combined Task Force 150 in Arabian Sea

US Navy

18 January 2024

From Combined Maritime Forces Public Affairs

MANAMA, Bahrain -- A U.S. Coast Guard cutter operating under the French-led Combined Task Force 150 of the Combined Maritime Forces seized about $8.1 million worth of illegal drugs from a vessel in the Arabian Sea, Jan. 16.

The Sentinel-class fast response cutter USCGC Emlen Tunnell (WPC 1145) seized 173 kilograms of methamphetamines following a search. The Coast Guardsmen properly disposed of the drugs and released the vessel.

This is the second interdiction by CTF 150 of the year and marks the 14th time they have seized illegal narcotics at sea since France took command in July 2023. During their tenure, more than 16 tons of illegal narcotics with a street value of over $600 million were seized and disposed of, preventing criminal and terrorist organizations generating income from drug smuggling. The seizure came one day before France turned over command of the task force to the Royal Canadian Navy.

The mission of Combined Task Force 150 is to disrupt the ability of non-state actors to move weapons or drugs, or engage in other illicit activities, in the Gulf of Oman, Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean.

CTF 150 is one of five task forces under Combined Maritime Forces, the world's largest multinational naval partnership, and focuses on maritime security operations in the Gulf of Oman, Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean.

The 39-nation naval partnership upholds the international rules-based order by promoting security and stability across 3.2 million square miles of water encompassing some of the world's most important shipping lanes.

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YEREVAN, JANUARY 19, ARMENPRESS. Azerbaijan is obstructing the unblocking of regional infrastructures, Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister Vahan Kostanyan told Toivo Klaar, the EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus and the crisis in Georgia, during a meeting on Thursday.

In a readout, the foreign ministry said Kostanyan and Klaar discussed the recent developments on regional security and establishment of peace.

In this context, the Deputy Foreign Minister drew the attention of interlocutors to the destructive statements made by the President of Azerbaijan in his recent interview, which aim to deviate from the peace agenda. Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Vahan Kostanyan stressed that the former USSR member states, including Armenia and Azerbaijan, recognize each other's borders in accordance with the Alma-Ata Declaration of December 1991, and the delimitation work should be carried out on the basis of the latest maps available at the time of the dissolution of the USSR. The Deputy Minister also emphasized the imperative of the withdrawal of the Azerbaijani armed forces from the sovereign territory of Armenia. Vahan Kostanyan noted that Azerbaijan is hindering the process of unblocking regional infrastructures, the 4 well-known principles of which  sovereignty, jurisdiction, reciprocity and equality  have been previously agreed between the parties, the ministry said.
January 18, 2024

Release

Dr. John F. Plumb, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Space Policy, Holds an Off-Camera, On-the-Record Press Briefing

Dr. John F. Plumb, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Space Policy

STAFF: Good afternoon, everyone. Today Dr. John Plumb, assistant secretary of defense for space policy, is holding an off-camera, on-the-record press briefing to discuss the space policy portfolio, what it provides for the department and how it covers the strategic capabilities of integrated deterrence, including space, cyber, missile defense, electromagnetic warfare, nuclear weapons and countering weapons of mass destruction. Dr. Plumb.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF DEFENSE (SPACE POLICY) JOHN F. PLUMB: Hi. Thanks, Commander Anderson.

Good afternoon. Thanks, everybody, for joining us. I've got an opening statement, and then we can get to your questions, all right?

So today the U.S. faces a world with two near-peer competitors. As the first assistant secretary of defense for space policy, with a policy portfolio that, despite the name of "space policy," covers all the strategic capabilities of integrated deterrence, I just wanted to take this opportunity to share how my team is supporting the National Defense Strategy and getting after the challenges posed by the current and emerging security environment.

So the National Defense Strategy has four top-level priorities for the department, defend the homeland, with China as our pacing challenge; deter strategic attacks against the United States and our allies and partners; deter aggression and be prepared to prevail in conflict when necessary; and build a resilient joint force and defense ecosystem.

Well, my offices support every one of these priorities in multiple ways. And my teams help shape policy and the investments that result from that policy to maintain our U.S. military's military and technological edge.

So, as just one example, across my portfolio, we are deepening cooperation with allies and partners. Our network of allies and partners is an asymmetric advantage and a force multiplier that neither China nor Russia could ever hope to match.

And we work very closely with our military men and women to support integrated deterrents. My team and I are in near-daily contact with Space Command, Cyber Command, Strategic Command and the Space Force and the Joint Staff, really at all levels.

I believe having strong relationships with our military colleagues is essential to our jobs and essential to navigating the emerging security environment. As a matter of fact, just before this meeting, I just met with the new commander of Space Command, General Whiting.

And I'd like to note one thing, as you think about my portfolio here, keep focusing on China, conflict with China is not inevitable. And, frankly, a fundamental measure of success is our ability to deter such a conflict in the first place.

Let me just, kind of, walk through some of my main lines of effort in my different offices. I'll start with Space. So for Space, I've continued to hammer away on my three Cs priorities: space control, space cooperation and space classification, by which I continue to mean over-classification.

On space control, we've worked very closely with the White House, and that has resulted in clear guidance to protect and defend our national security interests in space and to protect and defend the joint force from space-enabled attack. And so my team is working to make sure we can do just that.

On cooperation, we've been working to achieve true combined space operations through the expanded and reinvigorated 10-nation, now a it was seven, but it's now 10 a Combined Space Operations Initiative.

We're also working on a new DoD international space cooperation strategy, which will also help, kind of, further support this a this need to help allies and partners and to work together.

And my team is also working on this first commercial space integration strategy I've talked about in the past, to more effectively leverage the commercial space sector's innovation and speed throughout the spectrum of conflict.

And on space over-classification, I'm quite happy to say that Deputy Secretary of Defense Hicks recently signed a memo that removes legacy classification barriers that have inhibited our ability to collaborate across the U.S. government and also with allies on issues related to space. And so I think that will pay dividends, over time, that are overdue.

In the cyber domain, we're undergoing several efforts to shape the future of our cyber forces, including how we generate, train and organize for maximum effect, what some of us have started calling Cyber Command 2.0. We're developing options for the secretary of defense that will be informed by multiple independent studies, many of which have been requested through the Congress, and we'll also be developing those options in coordination with the COCOMs and the services.

And while that's under way, we continue to disrupt and degrade malicious cyber actors' capabilities and forge deeper cooperation with allies and partners. We're learning how to work more closely with them in the cyber domain, and we're also working to enhance their own capacity to do so.

And then, on my nuclear weapons portfolio, we are strengthening our extended deterrence commitments and security architectures, and we're doing that across the globe. We're deepening the integration between our military capabilities and those of our allies and partners. That's our NATO allies in Europe, and in the Indo-Pacific, our allies, Australia, Japan, and the Republic of Korea, have all had a much deepened and strengthened relationship, which is a tremendous amount of work, and it's absolutely valuable and worthwhile. And we're really proud of the work we're doing.

We also continue to support the full-scope modernization of all three legs of our triad to ensure our continued ability to deter large-scale attacks and also to deter limited nuclear employment by our adversaries. And we're closely studying the findings of the Strategic Posture Commission to ensure the U.S. is postured to confront a more complex security environment defined with two major nuclear-armed competitors for the first time.

That's not all my team does. We work on missile defense, electronic warfare, countering weapons of mass destruction. It's a big portfolio.

My experience over the last two years has been that functional offices like mine have had increasing visibility and increasing interest across the department and the interagency at the highest levels of government. And I expect that trend to continue. I think that is one of the hallmarks of this part of the 21st Century, is that these strategic capabilities are increasingly in demand.

I'm really proud of the work we're doing to advance integrative deterrence, ensure we're ready for the challenges of the next decade and beyond.

And with that, I'd be happy to take your questions.

Q: Thanks. A question a and thanks for doing this a a question on missile defense and missile tracking. So you've got SDA, MDA, SSC all working on different missile warning, missile tracking systems. Can you articulate why they all have to be working on something? Is there any danger of duplication there? And how are they going to work together once they get all up there? And what is your role inside this department on ensuring, not just on missile tracking efforts like that but across these other platforms, that there's not duplication in a in space capabilities?

DR. PLUMB: Thanks, Chris, for the question. First of all, avoiding duplication is actually important for all of us, right? We don't want to waste money. And so how do we make sure that different lines of effort are filling different gaps?

I do not see duplication of effort here. I will say the thing that you're on to here is, especially when you add Derek's shop in SDA, is that we're looking at how can we do missile warning and missile track from a proliferated constellation?

And so that's a different thing, right? Right now, most of our capabilities are large steering objects from GEO. And so how do we do this from LEO to have a more resilient architecture so it can survive better in a conflict with a near peer and also how do we figure out a way to do that in an effective cost?

And so that's kind of what you're seeing. This is one of the priorities of the President, frankly, to get after missile warning, missile track from a resilient constellation standpoint, and I think the balance is about right but it is we're always looking for that to make sure we don't have duplication of efforts.

Q: And just to follow up on the proliferation point, that's kind of now become ingrained in this Department as I'd think you'd be happy to see, but what's the next step here? We're hearing talk of dynamic space operations, moving around. Where do you see dynamic space operations going into the future, moving around orbits?

DR. PLUMB: So I think a well, I think it is realistic because the commercial sector is developing ways to refuel in space. It turns out that a and this is mostly for the geosynchronous belt, where it's easy to kind of move between objects a I would say that it's become clear over decades that a lot of the things that lead to the lifetime exhaustion of a satellite is often fuel. And so if the only thing that is stopping you from ringing another year or three or five years out of a capability, especially as a commercial provider, is fuel and you could refuel, that's a cost effective tradeoff.

So I think for the military, this issue of, delta-V a is what we call how much gas you have left in the tank, which, is your ability to change velocity a that little piece, every time you maneuver to reposition for a new mission, move over here because you had a a every time you do that, you're exhausting the life of a satellite. And being able to get after that, even for basic operations, I think would be a real win.

And so we're really interested in seeing this emerge.

Q: Thank you. Mr. Secretary, thank you for doing this. A question on the Commercial Base Integration Strategy. Can you explain what is the difference between the DOD Commercial Strategy and the one that the Space Force is doing? That's what we're hearing, that they're working on a separate document. Why do you have to have two separate strategy documents?

DR. PLUMB: Yes, so first of all, thanks for the question. And we are working together to develop these two documents, just so we're clear. And frankly, I met with the CSO several times on these pieces to make sure that we're kind of hand-in-hand.

I would say we're hoping that they will be released in the near future as we kind of push them up through the building and get approval for the most senior folks. But a Secretary document, a little more strategic focused for the entire department looking out. I think that the Space Force document, a little bit more focused towards acquisition. And I actually think the way we've been developing them together is going to be a nice combination. And so I do think there's a space for both.

Q: And have you approved to the commercial reserve that the CASR a they call it the CASR?

DR. PLUMB: So that's a so that's the CASR you're raising, which is out of Space Systems Command. And I just had a great conversation with their lead on that. I am not an approval mechanism for that. One of the things that we are wrestling with as a department is there an analogy to the craft for the air domain or the VISA program for the maritime domain that might apply to space?

Space Systems Command has developed this CASR piece in a way that is independent of additional statutory language. And so it's a piece we're struggling with. Is the time right now? Probably not. Maybe there's a time in the future. I think getting after a lot of these problems through contractual mechanisms is our current a our current goal.

Q: Thank you for doing this. And my question was about the classification strategy. Could you clarify when exactly that was signed by Deputy Secretary Hicks?

And could you also elaborate a little bit on what it does? Is it especially focused on special access programs and making them a opening old ones or is this future focused on reducing the use of such things so that you can share better with NATO and other allies? Thank you.

DR. PLUMB: Great. Thanks, Theresa. So the classification strategy was signed at the end of 2023. And roughly a couple things. One, it's a a it's a classified document, so I can't go into any of the eaches with you here, but I've talked about classification multiple times and I know that was kind of funny for some of you, but it's not.

So this issue, we have about a inside the Beltway, people always ask me about how can I make things unclassified? And that is not actually a thing I'm all that concerned about. I'm concerned about making things a reducing the classification of things where they are over-classified to the point that it hampers our ability to get work done or hamper the ability of the warfighter to do their mission.

And so in kind of our world of classification, programs that are in the SAP, special access programs, have additional controls, which makes it very difficult to talk back and forth, even between components.

And so anything we can bring from a SAP level to a top secret level, for example, massive value to the warfighter, massive value to the department. And frankly, my hope is over time it will also allow us to share more information with allies and partners that they might not currently have a be able to share that information with at the SAP level.

So what the classification memo does generally is it overwrites a it really completely rewrites a legacy document that had its roots 20 years ago. And it's just no longer applicable to the current environment that involves national security space. The fundamental roots of that document were written when we still had a space shuttle program. It makes no sense.

And so we are assigning minimum classifications to a various number of things, which will then allow services to examine their own programs and determine, should this really be SAPed anymore. And the general point that I have made clear is policy is not a reason a is not the only reason to hide something in a SAP program. There have to be technical aspects to it. And I do think this will take time for the building to absorb. I know there are many folks looking forward to getting started on it. It is part of the deputy's SAP reform. It is part of the way we are going to bring space into the normal a you know, and just one more operational domain we have to kind of normalize the classification of our systems.

Long answer. I hope I hope that helped, Theresa.

Q: It did. Can I just ask a quick follow-up? Have you planned -or do you have plans to brief our allies and partners on these changes?

DR. PLUMB: I will be briefing some close allies and partners on these changes. And I will leave it at that.

Q: Hi. Thank you for doing this. Dr. Plumb, I was wondering if you could update us on OSD's efforts to get alternatives to Starlink for helping allies, partners get satellite connectivity, and also, if there have been any concerns in kind of what the department's doing about maybe an over-reliance on SpaceX, given some of Elon Musk's recent behaviors. Thank you.

DR. PLUMB: Thanks, Tara. I think there's a little bit of a balance here, so let me just say what I tell everyone when they ask me these general questions. There's just two points. One, SpaceX has done some remarkable things. Starlink is the first proliferated kind of LEO constellation for satellite Internet connectivity, and that is a remarkable achievement. And of course, the department wants access to this kind of commercial innovation that adds capability.

The second statement is, competition is good, and we need more competition in this space, and it is coming. You know, SpaceX and Starlink have been first to market, and of course, we take advantage of that. But I think part of the commercial space strategy, as Ari asked about here, is how can we make sure that we're harnessing all the different aspects of the commercial market that might provide opportunities for the warfighter? Because of course, we don't want to be over-reliant on any one source, and that's actually a that's true of any situation.

Q: Just as a quick follow-up, could you talk about maybe some of the challenges that up-and-coming companies are having in creating their own, you know, LEO-type of satellite train that you might see with Starlink?

DR. PLUMB: I guess that's a little bit outside of my lines of responsibility. I'm happy to kind of do a follow-up with you on that if you like, but I don't a I don't have an immediate answer to that. Sorry, Tara.

Q: Hi. I was wondering if you could provide any detail on China and Russia's current space capabilities. Like, are you guys tracking any new adversarial systems? And I guess, which, you know, specific adversary capability are you guys most concerned about right now?

DR. PLUMB: Thanks. One a you know, one of the jobs the department and our community is to track whatever counter-space or space capabilities China and Russia, or others are developing, so kind of look at that constantly. At the unclassified level, we are concerned about their direct sent a ASAT capabilities. We're concerned about their highly maneuverable systems like the SJ-21 in GEO that look like they could very easily be used as weapon systems. Obviously, there's ability to do cyber-attacks, is an issue, as well. At the kind of one level above that, really concerned about the pace of the threat and the scale of it, and those are the two things that I think really, you know, keep us working.

Q: And in terms of a a question on international norms. I guess, do the current a do a would the Pentagon say that current international norms are enough to stop an adversary from attacking a U.S. or allied satellite? Or would you say they need to evolve?

DR. PLUMB: So if I may, let me just answer that in two parts. One, I would not suggest that a norm stops anybody from attacking anything, right? That's not a I mean, norms at sea are to prevent collision. If you're at war at sea, you know, I guess you're trying to avoid collision, but you're still trying to sink the other guy.

So I think the norms, however, done correctly, both enhance the stability and security of the space domain for all operators, not just militaries; militaries, governments, civilian, you know, commercial a all these different operators a more norms that actually are enforceable and can promote kind of that safe peace, I think a be helpful, and I don't think we're all the way there yet. I will say that as a military thinking about it, norms are a way to say, what is normal behavior? So it helps us and others identify what is out of the norm, and now this attracts interest. What is the intent of this craft that's maneuvering (inaudible)?

Q: Hi. Lauren Williams. Thank you for doing this. You mentioned that you were developing some options for the secretary with respect to CYBERCOM 2.0. Can you speak a little bit more about what you're developing and what changes you're seeing specifically not just on the cyber realm, but also in the a the spectrum realm with current global threats? Thanks.

DR. PLUMB: So in this case a we're talking about cyber a the Congress has laid on, you know, really, multiple studies over the past few years to look at what things should the department do or could be doing to improve our ability to generate cyber forces, train cyber forces, retain cyber forces for maximum effect? One study in particular from, I think, the '23 NDAA is Section 1533, which had the advantage of giving us enough time to actually work on the problem and think about it, and not just come back in three months or six months, which is great. That's a good partnership with the Congress.

And so we have been slowly working through various options, and the question is, like, how much would need to change? What should you look at? They have asked us to specifically look at a cyber service, for example. But I really think, like, what are we after for readiness? How can we make readiness better? We have this issue where it takes us a long time to train operators, and then they time out. So how can we get more return on that training investment? And also, how can we make sure that they aren't just languishing in quals because one magical thing didn't happen the day they were on watch?

And so we're trying to figure out, how are all the tools we could get at that? And it turns out that when you look at all the things that are coming, we know we have to present the Secretary a set of options, really, to this one large kind of significant study. We've got a bunch of other studies coming in.

And so the point is, what we should absorb all of those studies, find the best recommendations, and then try to present a more comprehensive set of options to the Secretary so we stop doing these things piecemeal and absorb or reject recommendations or options as they come. So how can we do this altogether?

And this is a because the timelines work out, we're starting to think about this could be a really great opportunity for us to go to that next level of evolution for Cyber Command.

Q: Thank you. North Korea launched military satellite last year and then announced the plan to launch three more satellites this year. So how do you see the North Korea space capability? And then how do you deter North Korea space threats?

DR. PLUMB: So I think the question is how do we a I'm sorry, did you say how do we deter their space capability or how a what a how do I consider their space capability?

Q: Yes, the second a two questions a how do you consider North Korea's space capability and then how do you a how do you deter such North Korea space threat?

DR. PLUMB: So a couple things. One, obviously there's a host of problems with North Korea, including their ballistic missile programs and all of the violations against UN resolutions. But those things aside, I will say, you know, most nations seek access to space.

And so it's not clear that just launching a satellite constitutes a threat. It's also not clear that launching a satellite that may not have capabilities commensurate with what you could buy in the commercial market constitutes a threat either.

As far as the idea of North Korea as a threat from space, if there are things that a that enable their ability to do a war fight, that is a thing we take seriously and track and and build into our plans.

Q: Hi, Dr. Plumb, thank you for doing this. I wanted to ask you about the Deep Space Advanced Radar Capability program the U.S. is working on with the UK and Australia. Can you just provide some insight into how your office is collaborating with your UK and Australian counterparts? And kind of a if you could also provide some insight into what types of objects you guys are hoping to identify and track in deep space? Is this potential adversary threats? Is this asteroids, meteors, debris, or all the above? Thank you.

DR. PLUMB: Sure. So thanks, Josh. My office works closely with Australia and the UK a and the Space Force who is the other part of that conversation there a both for continuing to advance our partnerships with different allies, and a thing that we've been working on of course is making space just one more domain in which we can cooperate with allies.

DARC provides a really interesting opportunity geographically, right? Between the UK, the U.S., and Australia, once it's complete, really have 360 degree coverage of the GEO belt and beyond. I think, you know, probably leave it at that.

I haven't heard anyone mentioning asteroids until you just said that. That doesn't mean you're not right, I just a that's not really where my head is when I think about what I need to do for space domain awareness and what we need to do as allies to understand the domain, what's happening in it, what's maneuvering, when.

Q: Understood, thanks. Just a quick follow-up a with these three sites in the different countries, do you foresee any challenges kind of sharing any intel and data from the different locations?

DR. PLUMB: You know, I don't. These are always hard to work through but one of the points is to work through it. So I think that will be helpful, right? We have to be able to figure out how to move information around at speed. And of course, you know, the UK and Australia, you couldn't have closer allies.

So it's maybe a little bit of an easier button there but I don't see that. I'm not saying it's 100 percent solved yet but we will solve that. That's one of the forcing functions of this architecture.

Q: a Yemen related a Space Force, Yemen related. A couple of years ago, Space Force established a a an element at CENTCOM. Fast forward a year later, what benefits are you seeing in the current conflict with Yemen, in terms of space assets being used to help monitor, queue, against missile warning and protecting maritime shipping? And I have a follow-up.

DR. PLUMB: Okay. So we'll do that, then we'll do your follow-up. So I guess I would say I don't have any specifics for you on the Yemen situation. I could say in general, space is absolutely essential to any mission the United States military does. You know, I like to say a I'm not the only one a it's in our DNA, it's just part of the way we fight, it's part of the way we think, it's part of the way we operate.

SPACECENT is just like NAVCENT, AFCENT. The whole point is services provide effects to COCOMs when the COCOM calls for them, right? And the services are the ones that execute them. And so SPACECENT is really kind of the realization of that a is we have a service, we have space effects. The space service a Space Force, in this case a should be providing those effects to the different combatant commanders.

And just on the value of space in general, yes, absolutely right, the missile warning, the imagery, whatever you could do better all sorts of things available from space, from an ISR to a SATCOM to a warning level, that affect that particular scenario, as well as scenarios around the world.

Q: Just one follow-up. I want to make sure I hear you right. Do you feel there's enough competition right now in the launch world with SpaceX a ULA, for an example a and Starlink, which is unprotected commercial satellite communications? Does the DOD need more competition to prevent this perception of over-dependence on Starlink or is it about right? I just wanted to make sure you clarified that.

DR. PLUMB: So recognizing that I am not an acquisition authority, I think I speak for the building when I say competition is good. So it'd be better if we had a more competitive market on some of these cases, but if someone's the first to that market and they are providing a valuable service, of course we're going to try to figure out how to use it.

So I think in the long run, you can see these coming with other companies are generating these pieces. I think there will be more options for SATCOM from LEO, for example. An I am sure that eventually the department will move to also include those in their a in their plans just for better resilience.

Q: a From Vulcanalevel of competition?

DR. PLUMB: I think it's improving a I think it's improving. I think the Vulcan launch a the launch part itself looked great. You know, it's been a while coming and I think they got that right and I think you'll see more entrance there with this new version of an SSO over time.

Q: Hi. Shelley Mesch with Inside Defense. We've talked a little bit about dynamic space capabilities, and you mentioned commercial businesses working on that. Do you think the DOD should be part of leading the way in development on that or is that something that you would want to take from commercial later? And are there any other capabilities that you see coming in the future that DOD can maybe wait on until they're fully developed in the commercial world to bring them in?

DR. PLUMB: So that question has a lot of layers but I will say this a it's not like we've launched satellites that are ready for this future architecture where you can be refueled.

Now, some of the things you've seen done already in space at the commercial level is taking advantage of, like, a known thruster engine that they have figured out a way to connect to, but what we're talking about emerging, and I think emerging reasonably soon is, designing the satellite bus so that it is ready to be refueled, possibly even ready to have a payload swapped.

That's very interesting. I mean, I think there's just a whole lot of pieces, right? You send less mass up that you don't need and only send more a and you can send more mass up that you do need.

I think this issue of, you know, DOD's not developing this capability. There's a commercial market for it. Of course, if we developed it, we wouldn't be able to sell on the commercial market, so I think we're trying to reverse it here and say this commercial market is going to help us take advantage of a capability that now that someone told us we might be able to do, that looks really interesting, and we'd like to be able to be ready for it.

The one piece on all of that is this issue of standards. Now, you're going to have a standard way for these types of craft to interact and I think that would be pretty useful. We don't want to pick winners, so I think ideally it would just be an open standard that then folks could use to make too.

Q: And then, can you speak about any effects an ongoing CR might have on your area of work, if that's what are you tracking with that and what are your concerns if it goes past March?

DR. PLUMB: I mean, in general, we need an appropriations bill. And I just like CRs are very difficult to work with. It would be better if the government operated with an appropriations bill for the year in which it requires them.

Q: Yes, hi. Just wanted to follow up on Starlink. Just, does DOD a who has the actual contract with SpaceX to a for Starlink provision to Ukraine? Is it DOD? Is it USAID? How much is it for? Is it a is it an open-ended contract? I mean -

DR. PLUMB: Sorry Frank. You're beyond my a you're beyond my sphere of knowledge on that one. I don't have acquisition authority. I don't do contracts. So, if I knew that it would be incidental to my job anyway. Sorry.

Q: Oh, that's okay. Just, I wondered also if you could give us any insight on space-to-space radar, just in terms of what your a what your involvement has been. How you think it's progressing so far in the collaboration between Space Force and (inaudible), and basically looks as if we're going to maybe see some mix if the program goes forward in air and space assets and what your insights are regarding that?

DR. PLUMB: I am uncomfortable addressing that at the unclassified level.

Q: Hi, thank you for doing this. A few months back, the commander of the Army Space Missile Defense Command highlighted that you have been charged with the role of missile defeat policy in addition to missile defense, focusing on denying the capability left of launch before the need for warning and tracking. Can you talk a little bit about how this policy is evolving? What you're working on in this area? And any need for a single integrator, such as maybe SPACECOM taking on this role? Thanks.

DR. PLUMB: Sure. Thanks. So, being charged with is a interesting way of putting it. You know, the Missile a Space and Missile Defense Office we write a the Department, I guess, writes, I should say, a missile defense review roughly at the same pace as the nuclear posture reviews.

And what this particular missile defense review found was that it's time to just stop thinking about the last part of the missile defense chain and look at missile defeat as a larger enterprise because, frankly, if you can stop a missile from being launched at you in the first place, you don't have to use an interceptor to shoot it down. So, that is a policy change that has been coming for some time and I think just finally cementing it with this latest Missile Defense Review.

As far as a single integrator, the Unified Command Plan, UCP, has made Space Command in charge of trans-regional missile defense with the latest change, and so that is where I guess those discussions are being held. From a missile-defense standpoint, I'm part of the Missile Defense Executive Board that is run here in the building by, I think it's a I think it's run by Bill LaPlante only, although I can never remember if Heidi Shyu also cochairs it. But I will just say all of these elements come there. We discuss them there and look for ways forward. So it's it's built in. I don't know if that's satisfactory, but that's where it stands.

Q: OK, and if I could follow up on another policy-level question, the Department of the Air Force wants to shift moving target indication to Space in collaboration with the NRO. Naturally, there's a kind of a difference in what the intel community wants versus what the defense community would want, Title 10 versus Title 50 data. Can you talk about how you're setting this up policy-wise so the warfighter can get what its need a it needs while the intel community gets what it needs?

DR. PLUMB: Yeah, I just told Frank Wolfe that I'm uncomfortable having this conversation on an unclassified level, so I'll just tell you that also.

Q: Could I ask you to circle back and maybe give us a couple of firm examples? You spoke about, you're worried about the pace and scale of Chinese counterspace capabilities. Can you talk about that a little bit, so actually, what it means?

DR. PLUMB: Sure, and let me a so let me clarify. It's not just counter-space; it's also space, all right? So roughly speaking, China has developed a wartime space architecture, and they have been developing it at a rapid pace. They continue to launch multiple satellites with the express purpose of countering the United States of America's Joint Force, right? So that is a problem for us that we have to be ready to deal with. And so that is, frankly, one of the reasons that the Space Force was created, one of the reasons that Space Command was elevated, one of the reasons my position exists, is how do we get after this particular problem?

So the scale of that is one thing. The scale and scope of the counterspace is a thing that we just are always tracking. There are a and it's really good work done by the DIA in particular on putting out kind of unclassified assessments of, you know, China's space capability, Russia's space capability for the counterspace side, and that just continues to grow. So we have to be aware a space is a warfighting domain. It's a domain we absolutely need to rely on in order to do our missions as a U.S. military. And so how are we going to both protect our ability to do that, and how are we going to protect the Joint Force from threats from space, or through space that the adversary poses?

Q: And I suspect I know what the answer to this is, but what actually a can you give any examples of what actually changed as a result of your unclassification memo?

DR. PLUMB: Declassification, not unclassification. So re- a think of it as reducing classification. In the fullness of time, hopefully not too much time, I believe various programs will come out of SAP and down to top secret, which will then enable better cross-communication with different warfighter IT architectures.

Q: Could you say anything about how that sort of a at what point partners and allies could actually cooperate more seamlessly?

DR. PLUMB: So that is really a separate effort that we are working on. We're working on that, frankly, with Space Command and through our combined space operations initiative and our close allies and partners that are, you know, space-capable. So we are working on that separately, and I say "separately" because it isn't dependent on this or any other document. But the more things that can be shared with allies and partners, I think, the deeper that relationship could be, and that's not going to happen overnight, but I a you know, that is the path that hopefully, we have set ourselves on. Thank you.

STAFF: That concludes our briefing. Any questions that weren't able to be asked, please see me. Thank you, everyone, for coming.

https://www.defense.gov/News/Transcripts/Transcript/Article/3648649/

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Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning's Regular Press Conference on January 17, 2024

Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the People's Republic of China

2024-01-17 19:03

At the invitation of the President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo FAlix-Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo, President Xi Jinping's Special Envoy and Vice Chairperson of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference Shen Yueyue will attend the inauguration of President Tshisekedi in DRC's capital Kinshasa on January 20.

CGTN: Taiwan media claimed that sources say Nauru's surprise break of "diplomatic ties" with Taiwan was achieved through behind-the-scenes manipulation by a former president of the country. While Taiwan was still assessing and having consultations on Nauru's demand for economic aid, the mainland took the opportunity to persuade Nauru to switch ties. What is the Foreign Ministry's comment on this?

Mao Ning: To recognize the one-China principle, break "diplomatic ties" with Taiwan and seek to restore diplomatic relations with China is the collective decision of the Nauru cabinet and a right choice independently made by Nauru as a sovereign country. We noted that the parliament of Nauru unanimously adopted a resolution yesterday, supporting, endorsing and affirming the Nauru government's decision to resume diplomatic relations with China and committing itself to strengthening Nauru's diplomatic ties with China and the cordial relations between the two sovereign nations. This once again shows that the one-China principle is where global opinion trends and where the arc of history bends.

The "sources" of the so-called claims are nothing but ill-intentioned speculation. Those who see "dollar diplomacy" as a go-to tool need to understand that there are things that money cannot buy. The one-China principle is a fundamental principle that cannot be traded and a prevailing international consensus.

China is the world's second largest economy. Restoring and developing diplomatic relations and carrying out practical cooperation in various fields with China promise broad prospects and will bring unprecedented development opportunities for Nauru.

China Daily: The World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2024 held in Davos, Switzerland receives world attention. There are two voices at the meeting. One is for de-risking with export controls and other measures in trade for national security. The other is for cooperation as it's the only way to rekindle dynamism and solve problems. What's your comment?a

Mao Ning: Premier Li Qiang attended the annual meeting and delivered a special address. He stressed that in today's world with very close economic linkages between countries, fragmented and separate responses will only leave the world economy more fragile. China believes that what truly serves the common interests of all is to fully respect the laws of international industrial specialization, firmly advance trade and investment liberalization and facilitation, tighten the bond of cooperation, and make the pie of mutual benefit bigger. Countries need to step up dialogue and communication, take more coordinated and effective measures, firmly uphold the multilateral trading system, jointly improve global economic governance, and foster new drivers of global growth.

As the second largest economy in the world, China is an important engine of global development with its contribution to world economic growth at around 30 percent over the years. China is now advancing Chinese modernization on all fronts through high-quality development and will continue to provide strong impetus for the world economy. China has a supersize market with rapidly unlocked demand. In face of weak global demand, market becomes the most scarce resource. The Chinese market, with its vast space and growing depth, will play an important role in boosting aggregate global demand. China will remain firmly committed to opening up, share our opportunities and develop together with all in the world.

As underlined by Premier Li Qiang, China embraces investments from businesses of all countries with open arms, and will work tirelessly to foster a market-oriented, law-based and world-class business environment. Choosing the Chinese market is not a risk, but an opportunity. China will open its door still wider to the world.a

Reuters: Nauru had ties with China in 2002, but it switched to Taiwan in 2005 and now it has switched back to China. Our question is, when will China establish an embassy in Nauru and vice versa, when will Nauru establish an embassy in Beijing?

Mao Ning: We will release the specific arrangements on the reestablishment of diplomatic ties between China and Nauru in due course.

I want to stress that as a collective decision made at the cabinet meeting, Nauru recognizes the one-China principle, breaks "diplomatic ties" with Taiwan and seeks to reestablish diplomatic relations with China. This meets the aspiration of the people in Nauru, serves Nauru's long-term interests, and is on the right side of history.

Reuters: Does China see Nauru as a reliable partner given it has switched ties before? What guarantees does China have from Nauru for the country not to go back to Taiwan again?

Mao Ning: China appreciates and welcomes Nauru's decision to break "diplomatic ties" with Taiwan and seek to resume diplomatic relations with China. We believe this is a right choice. China is ready to work with Nauru to open up a new chapter in our bilateral relations on the basis of the one-China principle.

AFP: Canada unveiled on Tuesday restrictions on research funding citing national security concerns. Canada said it wants to prevent the sharing of advanced technologies with the entities of some countries, including China. What's your response to this?

Mao Ning: The Canadian government has gone after some universities and research institutions of China under the pretext of so-called national security risks. This seriously undermines sci-tech exchange and cooperation between China and Canada and is not conducive to improving and stabilizing the bilateral relations. China strongly deplores and firmly opposes this.a

Sci-tech exchange and cooperation between China and Canada are two-way and mutually beneficial. The relevant policy of Canada is short-sighted and unwise and hurts others as well as itself. We urge Canada to abandon ideological bias and Cold War mentality, stop overstretching the concept of national security, stop politicizing sci-tech cooperation issues and using them as a tool, stop setting up barriers hindering normal sci-tech exchange and cooperation between China and Canada, and create conditions and atmosphere for the improvement and growth of bilateral relations, instead of doing the opposite.

Reuters: Will China offer to help Nauru in security and policing matters in the way that China has helped in their pact with the Solomon Islands?

Mao Ning: After resuming diplomatic ties, the two sides will carry out cooperation in various fields on the basis of equality, mutual respect, mutually beneficial cooperation, openness and inclusiveness. We will not set restrictions for fields of cooperation, and the fields will be determined through talks between the two sides.

Anadolu Agency: Pakistan condemned an air strike inside its territory yesterday. What is China's comment about tensions between two Shanghai Cooperation Organization allies?

Mao Ning: China believes that the relations between countries should be handled based on the basic norms governing international relations underpinned by the purposes and principles of the UN Charter and international law, and all countries' sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity should be earnestly respected and protected. Iran and Pakistan are close neighbors and major Islamic countries. We call on the two sides to exercise restraint, avoid actions that escalate the tension and jointly keep the region peaceful and stable.

NHK: Last November, Australia accused a Chinese destroyer of causing injuries to Australian naval divers by operating its sonar. China's Ambassador to Australia just said that it's the Japanese warship that launched the attack. What's your comment?

Mao Ning: I didn't know what exactly Ambassador Xiao Qian said.aWhen the incident happened last November, the Chinese military made a response and clarification.a

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Wang Yi starts trip to LatAm after 'new year visits' in Africa

Global Times

By Wang Qi Published: Jan 18, 2024 09:44 PM

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi kicks off his trips to Brazil and Jamaica on Thursday following his first overseas tour in 2024 to four African countries which started from January 13, a tradition that began in 1991.

Analysts believe that the Chinese top diplomat's trip to Latin America is expected to focus on further strengthening mutual political trust and practical cooperation with partners in various fields, especially in the current context of rising geopolitical risks, and make plans and arrangements for high-level meetings that may be held this year.

Regarding Wang Yi's visits in both Africa and Latin America, analysts believe it showed that China, as part of the group of developing countries, has always attached importance to cooperation with the Global South nations, which are a healthier, more stable, and more sustainable positive force in the international order.

Enhancing mutual trust

The year 2024 marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and Brazil and the fifth anniversary of the China-Jamaica strategic partnership. Before Wang's departure, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said Brazil and Jamaica are China's important cooperation partners in Latin America and the Caribbean.

"We enjoy a deep traditional friendship and engage in fruitful cooperation in trade, people-to-people exchanges and other fields. We share identical or similar positions on many regional and international issues," Mao said.

According to Mao, China will take this opportunity [of Wang's visits] to further cement the foundation of political mutual trust, deepen mutually beneficial and friendly cooperation across the board and enhance communication and coordination on major international and regional issues for sustained and substantive growth of China's relations with Brazil, Jamaica, and Latin America and the Caribbean as a whole.

Zhou Zhiwei, an expert on Latin American studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Thursday that cooperation between China and Latin American countries has maintained a good pace, and China, Brazil and Jamaica are all willing to enhance cooperation for post-pandemic recovery.

During a state visit to China in April 2023 by Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, the two sides signed several bilateral cooperation documents covering trade and investment, the digital economy, and information and telecommunication.

The momentum is expected to be continued during Wang's visit, and we can even expect the possibility of signing on new cooperation, said Zhou.

During Lula's latest visit to China, he paid a visit to the Huawei site in China's financial hub Shanghai, and also called on developing countries to reduce their dependence on the US dollar by using their own currencies and China's RMB in international trade.

China and Brazil may also coordinate their positions on the diversification of foreign-exchange reserves, and this includes reducing the hegemony of the US dollar, Zhou said.

The two sides are very likely to discuss the settlement of trade in local currencies and RMB, the scale and scope of application of which are also likely to further expand in 2024, Zhou noted.

In addition, the two sides may further explore cooperation in cutting-edge technology, according to Zhou. "The independent development of technology is of vital importance to developing countries."

Brazil is an important member of BRICS, and is also taking over the G20 presidency in 2024. In November this year, the G20 Summit is scheduled to be held in Rio de Janeiro. Analysts believe that cooperation and coordination between China and Brazil go beyond the bilateral scope and have taken on an international dimension.

Whether it is regarding the agenda of the G20 Summit or BRICS cooperation, China and Brazil will have a direct communication of positions, Zhou said. Around the important time node of the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties, the two sides may discuss plans and arrangements for high-level meetings that may be held this year.

In general, Wang Yi's visit will further strengthen political mutual trust between China and Latin America, especially at a time when global geopolitical and economic risks are rising. As two large developing countries, the interaction between China and Brazil is crucial to maintaining the shared position and common interests of the countries of the Global South, Zhou stated.

'South-South cooperation'

Global South friendship and cooperation was also highlighted during Wang's trip to the African nations of Egypt, Tunisia, Togo and Cote d'Ivoire from January 13 to 18.

During his meeting with Togolese President Faure Gnassingbe on Wednesday, Wang hailed the China-Togo friendship, which was forged by the older generation of leaders and has become a model of South-South cooperation.

Wang said China will enhance the synergy of development strategies with Togo and support the country in achieving sustainable development. He stressed that China will always stand firmly with Africa, support it in accelerating its independent development, and promote the upgrading of China-Africa cooperation to deliver more fruits of China-Africa cooperation to Togo and other African countries.

China has deep friendship and common interests with Africa and Latin America, Li Haidong, a professor at the China Foreign Affairs University, told the Global Times on Thursday.

According to Li, making Africa and Latin America the first two destinations of the top diplomat's overseas visits in 2024 shows that countries of the Global South, which China is also part of, occupy a prominent position in China's diplomacy.

The countries of the Global South are a dynamic and active force in the international community, and have a strong desire for a more equitable, balanced and sustainable world order, Li said.

As Wang concluded his trip in Africa, some Western media such as VOA hyped the "debt trap" narrative and claimed that "not all African countries are as keen on China as they once were."

In response, Li criticized the VOA report as having a strong sense of ideological confrontation by coordinating with the tone of the US government as a tool of propaganda warfare against China.

The international community is well aware of the lies and hype of the US media, which is unlikely to have a large audience, Li noted.

Song Wei, a professor from the School of International Relations at Beijing Foreign Studies University, told the Global Times on Thursday that Wang's visits reflected China's attention to African affairs and its support for Africa to independently resolve its own affairs.

China will host the 9th meeting of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in 2024, and it will be the first time Chinese and African leaders will be gathering in China after the FOCAC Beijing Summit in 2018.

It is an event that both China and Africa are looking forward to. One of the important aspects of Wang's Africa visits is coordinating with the African nations on FOCAC and consolidating the momentum of China-Africa solidarity and cooperation, Song said.

Both FOCAC and the Chinese foreign minister's new year visits have all been normalized, in addition to several institutionalized exchanges between the two sides, Song noted.

The relationship between China and African countries is based on a high degree of mutual trust and convergence of interests, said Li, noting that Wang's visits have made the relationship more robust.

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China's ruling party takes direct control of country's universities

Presidents' offices are being merged with embedded party committees to form a 'unified' leadership for higher education.

By Gu Ting for RFA Mandarin 2024.01.18 -- The Chinese Communist Party is taking a direct role in the running of universities across the country amid ongoing mergers of embedded party committees with presidents' offices, Radio Free Asia has learned.

While the ruling party already has branches and committees embedded in universities and other academic institutions, commentators said it has never actually merged itself with administrative structures before, not even during the political turmoil of the Cultural Revolution.

The party committee at Beijing's Tsinghua University issued a notice on Jan. 14 announcing that its office had merged with the office of the university president to form a new Party Committee Office that would run the school.

Tsinghua's website was recently updated to reflect the changes, on a page titled "Departmental Overview."

An employee who answered the phone at the new office on Jan. 15 confirmed that media reports about the change were accurate.

"[The merger happened] last year," the employee said.

And it's not just Tsinghua. University employees and a review of school websites revealed that their announcement was just the latest in a nationwide movement that is being dubbed, "one institution, two brands."

Similar changes have been afoot in major universities across China, including Shanghai Jiaotong University, Southwest Jiaotong University, Sichuan University and Nanjing University, Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Harbin Engineering University, Nanjing University of Science and Technology and Fuzhou University, among others, according to a review of their official websites by RFA Mandarin.

'Socialist universities'

An employee who answered the phone at the Party and Government Office of Henan Normal University on Jan. 17 confirmed that the merger had already happened at that school, too.

"We now have the school office and the party office together, like party and government," she said, adding that the merger was completed "last year."

According to one official website, Shanghai Jiaotong University Party Secretary Jiang Sixian told an event in May 2023 that a similar merger at his school had been "efficient and orderly."

Jiang said that the party's Central Ideological and Political Conference on Colleges and Universities "has clearer and clearer requirements for running universities," and called on comrades to unify their thoughts and actions to reflect "socialist universities with Chinese characteristics."

An alumnus of Guizhou University who gave only the surname Chen for fear of reprisals said that the mergers were unprecedented, and that party and administration were run out of separate offices even during the political turmoil of the 1966-1976 Cultural Revolution, when he was a student.

"Back then, the party office was the party office, the school office was the school office, and academic and administrative affairs were all the preserve of the school office," Chen said.

"Each department had a party branch, and the party office handled the development of party members by the party branches in each department, making ideological reports, developing party members or convening party committee meetings," he said. "Now the two offices are integrated into one."

'Two brands into one'

Veteran political journalist Gao Yu confirmed Chen's account, saying there was a clear division of labor between the two.

"I really didn't expect that they would merge like this, turning two brands into one, under the unified leadership of the party," she said. "Now, the whole university must respond to education by the party and integrate politics into the core curriculum."

"It's the first time this has happened since the founding of the People's Republic of China," Gao said.

An alumna of Shanghai's Fudan University who gave only the surname Sun for fear of reprisals said she remembers the move first being mooted in 2021, when the Ministry of Education set up an expert panel governing "ethics" in teaching.

The Chinese Communist Party started campaigning to end "immoral" behavior among its 98 million members in 2015, after General Secretary Xi Jinping took power.

More recently, university lecturers have been accused of "unethical" behavior if they criticize the government on social media.

"The National Expert Committee on building morality and good conduct among university lecturers met last year and they created this merger of university and party offices," Sun said.

The ministry last week wrapped up its 2024 National Education Work Conference second plenary session with a communique calling for greater participation by the Chinese Communist Party in "global education governance."

"[We must] accelerate the high-level opening up of education to the outside world, effectively participate in global education governance, and make full use of various platforms and stages to break new paths and create new space in the new international situation," it quoted education minister Huai Jinpeng as saying.

Huai said China had sounded a "clarion call" to "build a powerful country through education," which would be the top priority for the ministry this year.

Translated with additional reporting by Luisetta Mudie. Edited by Malcolm Foster

Copyright 1998-2024, 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 January 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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Nearly Half of Journalists Jailed in China Are Uyghurs, Report Says

By Liam Scott January 18, 2024

Nearly half of the 44 journalists imprisoned in China in 2023 were Uyghurs, according to a report released Thursday.

Data from the Committee to Protect Journalists, or CPJ a which offered a global snapshot of journalists jailed for their work as of December 1 a found China had the most media workers imprisoned.

The high proportion of Uyghurs detained in the country highlights the intersection between Beijing's poor press freedom record and its human rights abuses against the majority-Muslim ethnic group, analysts said.

An examination of the cases of the 19 Uyghurs held showed that critics of the Chinese government often face charges of separatism and terrorism.

The academic and blogger Ilham Tohti, for instance, this week marked 10 years in custody. The scholar, who was arrested in January 2014, is serving a life sentence for so-called separatism.

In jailing him, a court cited his interviews with foreign news outlets and his work as the founder of the Xinjiang news site Uighurbiz, which authorities shuttered in 2014.

"For the Chinese government, Uyghur journalists are a dangerous group of people. They don't want them to say anything," said Zubayra Shamseden, who works at the Uyghur Human Rights Project, or UHRP, in Washington.

"They [Beijing] try to crack down on Uyghur journalists particularly because they want to shut the Uyghur voice off," Shamseden told VOA.

Multiple governments, including that of the United States, have accused China of committing genocide against Uyghurs and other ethnic groups in the northwestern region of Xinjiang. The U.N. Human Rights Office has warned that Beijing may be perpetrating crimes against humanity against Uyghurs.

Beijing denies any wrongdoing in Xinjiang, which some Uyghurs prefer to call the Uyghur Region or East Turkistan.

Silencing critical reporters is often the goal behind journalist arrests, according to CPJ Chief Executive Jodie Ginsberg.

That tactic is seen across the global data CPJ collected on jailed journalists, with 320 held around the world.

"The message is clear. Journalists hold the powerful to account," Ginsberg told VOA. "And those in power often find that incredibly threatening."

Three out of the five new China cases in CPJ's 2023 database were of reporters accused of espionage, inciting separatism or subverting state power.

"Particularly in authoritarian regimes, we see this use of the law a or misuse of the law a to detain and silence journalists. And that's exactly what it's intended to do. It's intended to silence critical voices," Ginsberg said.

The targeting of Uyghur reporters and bloggers parallels the persecution of other Uyghur intellectuals and cultural figures in Xinjiang.

Over 300 Uyghur and other Turkic Muslim intellectual and cultural elites have been detained in the region, according to a 2021 report by UHRP.

"As a component of genocide, the assault on intellectual and cultural elites may constitute a new form of 'eliticide' meant to exterminate Uyghur (and other) cultural identity," the UHRP report said.

Even abroad, Uyghurs a especially journalists and activists a find themselves and their close relatives harassed or intimidated in a process known as transnational repression.

"For Uyghur journalists, whether they are inside China, inside East Turkistan or outside of China, it doesn't matter," Shamseden said. "They [Beijing] try to put pressure on them so they don't speak out, so they don't disclose all the information that China doesn't want the world to know."

CPJ's Ginsberg said the Chinese government "has shown remarkable inflexibility in responding to allegations of human rights abuses."

In response to VOA's email requesting comment, a spokesperson at the Chinese Embassy in Washington rejected reports that Beijing does not respect media freedom.

"The Chinese government protects press freedom in accordance with law, and gives full play to the role of media and citizens in supervising public opinion," the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson said that some in the U.S. "smear and attack China," which, the person said, "in itself is spreading disinformation."

Hong Kong case

Hong Kong authorities have also pushed back at Western criticism of the trial of pro-democracy publisher Jimmy Lai.

The founder of the now-shuttered Apple Daily newspaper is currently standing trial in Hong Kong under the National Security Law that China introduced in 2020.

Many view Lai's case as emblematic of the rapid decline in press freedom and broader civil liberties in Hong Kong.

"Jimmy Lai's case is an incredibly powerful and important test of Hong Kong's commitment to a free press," Ginsberg said. "It's really, really important that we see the international community speak out in support of Jimmy Lai, in support of a free press."

Lai, a British national, is accused of "collusion with foreign forces" under the National Security Law and sedition. If convicted, he faces up to life in prison.

Western governments and human rights groups have called for the 76-year-old's immediate release.

Lai's case highlights how the Chinese government tends to use national security charges to target journalists, a trend that is mirrored globally.

That tactic was used to target Australian journalist Cheng Lei. A former anchor at the Chinese state-run TV channel CGTN, Cheng was detained in Beijing in 2020.

The reporter was later accused of "illegally supplying state secrets overseas," and a closed-door national security trial took place in 2022.

Cheng was released from prison and deported to Australia in October 2023. She said she was jailed for breaking an embargo by just a few minutes.

In an interview with VOA's Mandarin Service, Cheng said despite China's economic growth, press freedom has only regressed.

"When you are able to think enough to analyze things, to read, to change yourself, to help others, you are free," she said. "I have a new appreciation for freedom."

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Press release on Foreign Minister of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea Choe Son-hui's official visit to the Russian Federation

18 January 2024 10:22

48-18-01-2024

On January 14-18, Foreign Minister of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea Choe Son-hui was in Moscow on an official visit, during which she met with President Vladimir Putin.

Talks with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov presented a meaningful exchange of opinions on topical matters dealing with developing bilateral ties with a focus on implementing the agreements resulting from the September summit between the leaders of the two countries at the Vostochny Space Launch Centre, including the schedule of future political contacts. The two ministers agreed on the need to keep up the current momentum in terms of cooperation on practical matters, further improve the contractual legal framework and step up humanitarian and cultural exchanges.

They discussed the situation on the Korean Peninsula and in Northeast Asia, reaffirming their mutual commitment to political and diplomatic means of settling tensions in the region, which have been escalating due to the irresponsible and provocative actions by the United States and its satellites.

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Spokesman for Ministry of National Defence of DPRK Issues Press Statement

Korean Central News Agency of DPRK

Pyongyang, January 19 (KCNA) -- A spokesman for the Ministry of National Defence of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea released the following press statement "We will never tolerate the reckless military confrontation hysteria" on Friday:

The U.S., Japan and the Republic of Korea are getting frantic in their provocative military exercises from the outset of the year.

Joint maritime exercises were staged again in the waters off Jeju Island for three days from Jan. 15 with the involvement of the U.S. nuclear carrier Carl Vinson and Aegis cruiser Princeton and warships of the Japanese maritime "Self-Defense Force" and the ROK navy.

The exercises, which followed the joint establishment of a tripartite multi-year drill plan by military gangsters of the U.S., Japan and ROK in December last year, constituted a cause of further destabilizing the regional situation, and they are an act of seriously threatening the security of the DPRK

In response to it, the Underwater Weapon System Institute under the DPRK Academy of Defence Science conducted an important test of its underwater nuclear weapon system "Haeil-5-23" under development in the East Sea of Korea.

Our army's underwater nuke-based countering posture is being further rounded off and its various maritime and underwater responsive actions will continue to deter the hostile military maneuvers of the navies of the U.S. and its allies.

We strongly denounce the U.S. and its followers for their reckless acts of seriously threatening the security of the DPRK from the outset of the year and sternly warn them of the catastrophic consequences to be entailed by them.

The armed forces of the DPRK will strike horror into their hearts through responsible, prompt and bold exercise of its deterrent and firmly defend the security of the state and regional peace by dint of great strength, never tolerating the reckless military confrontation hysteria of the enemies. -0-

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DPRK Government Delegation Returns Home

Korean Central News Agency of DPRK

Pyongyang, January 19 (KCNA) -- The government delegation of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea headed by Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui returned home on Friday after paying an official visit to the Russian Federation.

The delegation was greeted by Vice Foreign Minister Pak Chol Jun, Charge d'Affaires ad Interim Vladimir Topeha and Military AttachA Valeri Isaenko of the Russian embassy here at Pyongyang International Airport.

Earlier, the DPRK government delegation left Moscow on Thursday.

The delegation was seen off at the airport by officials concerned of the Russian Foreign Ministry, the ambassador and members of the DPRK embassy in Moscow. -0-

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DPRK Foreign Minister Meets Russian Deputy Prime Minister

Korean Central News Agency of DPRK

Pyongyang, January 18 (KCNA) -- Choe Son Hui, foreign minister of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea who is leading the DPRK government delegation on an official visit to the Russian Federation, met and had a talk with Alexandr Nobak, deputy prime minister of the Russian Federation, on Wednesday.

Present there were members of the DPRK government delegation and the vice-minister of Transport and other officials concerned of the Russian Federation.

The talk discussed the practical issues for revitalizing and expanding the bilateral exchange and cooperation in various fields including trade and economy as the DPRK-Russia friendly and cooperative relations have reached a new strategic level.

The talk proceeded in a friendly and warm atmosphere. -0-

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Transcript of Weekly Media Briefing by the Official Spokesperson (January 18, 2024)

India - Ministry of External Affairs

January 18, 2024

Shri Randhir Jaiswal, Official Spokesperson: Good afternoon friends. Welcome to this Press engagement. I do not have any announcement to make, so we will straight away go in for question and answers. So the floor is open.

Umashankar: Kal hamne aapka statement dekha jismai Pakistan mai Iran ke hamle par kaha gaya hai ki Bharat ki zero tolerance ki neeti hai, aur hum jaante hain aatmaraksha ke liye kai desh karyawahi karte hain. Thoda sa ispe agar roshni daalain ki...aatmaraksha mai ki gayi karyawahi, kya hum endorse kar rahe hain Iran ke Pakistan par hamle ko?

[Question in Hindi: Approximate Translation] Yesterday, we saw your statement on the attacks by Iran in Pakistan, stating that India follows a policy of zero tolerance and we understand that many countries take action for self-defense. If you can throw light on this line...the actions taken for self-defense, are we endorsing the attack by Iran in Pakistan?

Kadambini Sharma: Kadambini Sharma from NDTV. Kal aapne jo Iran ne attack kiya tha Pakistan ke andar terrorist hideouts par uspe jo statement diya tha, aaj jo Pakistan ne retaliation mai kiya hai us par koi statement hai?

[Question in Hindi: Approximate Translation] Kadambini Sharma from NDTV. Yesterday, you issued a statement on Iran's attack on terrorist hideouts inside Pakistan, is there any statement today on what Pakistan has done in retaliation?

Sidhant: Sir, we have seen the situation in Maldives. We have seen comments by the Maldivian President and a deadline also of 15th of March for Indian troops to leave. What's India's assessment on the developments coming from Maldives?

Parikshit: Sir, in the light of what has happened between Iran and Pakistan, do you see any correlation with the drone attacks that had taken place in the Indian Ocean region? Was any kind of evidence related to the drone attacks, the origin, shared with the Iranian Foreign Minister when External Affairs Minister Jaishankar travelled there?

Shri Randhir Jaiswal, Official Spokesperson: So first we will take these questions and then we will come back for more.

Umashankar ji aapka jahan tak sawal hai Pakistan ko le ke, Iran ko le ke, kal jo hua; usmain hum logon ne apni Press Release jaari ki thi, usmai hum logon ne kaha tha ki ye mamla toh waise Pakistan aur Iran ka hai, lekin jahan tak aatankvaad ka sawal hai, wahan par hum logon ne apni baat ki pushti ki hai. Toh main yahi par, is baat ko yahi khatam karna chahunga.

[Answer in Hindi: Approximate Translation] Umashankar ji, as far as your question regarding Pakistan and Iran is concerned, about what happened yesterday; we had issued our Press Release, in which we said that this is a matter between Pakistan and Iran, but when it comes to the issue of terrorism, we have reiterated our position. So, I would like to leave it at this.

Kadambini ji ye jo Pakistan ka mamla hai, Iran ka mamla hai; ispe hum log koi comment dena nahi chahte hain, ye unka apna mamla hai.

[Answer in Hindi: Approximate Translation] Kadambini ji, regarding the matter concerning Pakistan, and Iran; we would not like to make any comments. This is their matter.

Regarding Maldives, Sidhant, you would have seen that on 14th, we had a meeting of the Core Group. In the Core Group, we had detailed discussions on several aspects of the bilateral relationship. We also made available what was discussed in the meeting through a Press Release, and then in that Press Release, we mentioned that both sides held discussions on finding mutually workable solution to enable continued operation of Indian aviation platforms that provide humanitarian and medvac services to the people of Maldives. The next meeting is to be held in India to take discussion forward. So that is where the situation as far as Maldives is concerned is.

Parikshit, on your question in regard to what's happening in the Red Sea area, we have made our position very clear. It's a matter of concern to us. We give a lot of importance to freedom of navigation and freedom of commerce in that region. Whatever is happening there not just impacts us, but impacts the economic interests and several other interests of so many people across the world. So that is where we are. We are closely monitoring the situation and looking at the unfolding situation with a constant watch.

Ayushi Agarwal: Sir, this is Ayushi Agarwal from ANI. I wanted to follow up on Maldives. I just wanted to know, has India received a formal request by Male when it comes to the withdrawal of Indian personnel, because we saw the press release, it did not mention about the withdrawal of Indian military personnel, but the Maldives' press release mentioned about that. So if you can talk about that? Also there were reports that Maldivian President Muizzu wanted to travel to India last year, but he was still waiting for a confirmation from Indian side, if you can tell us something about that as well?

Yeshi Seli: Yeshi Seli from the New Indian Express. Last Sunday, on the 14th of January, India got another consular access with the eight Indian naval veterans in Qatar. What's the update? When is the next date of hearing?

Pia: Pia with the Print. The Palestine Ambassador to India has told certain sections of Indian media that he hopes India supports South Africa's case against Israel at the International Court of Justice. Just wanted to know, what is India's stance on this case? Are we supporting South Africa's case against Israel? Thank you.

Srinjoy: Sir, three drones are with the armed forces, the ones that hit certain ships and they have been examined. Can you tell us what the origin of the drones are, who has manufactured these drones, who gave it to the Houthis, if they have actually fired them? Do we have details on origin and the people who fired them? Do we know it for sure?

Shri Randhir Jaiswal, Official Spokesperson: So let me answer these questions and then we will come back for more.

Ayushi, regarding your question on Maldives, whatever was discussed was put out in the press release. That is where the situation actually stands. It is an ongoing process. As I told you, both sides held discussions on finding mutually workable solutions, so you must look at that, to enable continued operation of Indian aviation platforms that provide humanitarian and medvac services to the people of Maldives. And this is an ongoing discussion, so things will go forward or things will be discussed in the next meeting of the Core Group subsequently, soon.

Yeshi, regarding the consular access, yes, our Ambassador along with our Embassy officials met the eight detained. As we had conveyed to you last time, the legal team is looking into the appeal aspect. There is a period of 60 days within which they have to file this appeal. So on 28th December, the Court of Appeal had given their verdict. Now the matter is to go to the Court of Cassation, which will be decided by the legal team. So that is where it is. We still have some time. In the consular access we had, our Ambassador went and met, and looked after their well-being, and that is where it is.

Pia, on your question regarding...does India support South Africa's case against Israel? Look, our position on Israel-Gaza issue has been very clearly articulated on multiple occasions. Our position on the conflict, the Israel-Hamas conflict is...it has been consistent and steadfast. We have condemned terrorism, we have called for release of hostages, we have sought protection of civilians and we have also provided...we have called for provision of humanitarian assistance and of course we stand for a long-term two-state solution. So this is India's position and this is the position that we support.

Srinjoy, the question regarding drones etc., we do not have...this is what we are hearing from you, but this is something that does not pertain to the Ministry of External Affairs. So I don't have any comments to offer at this point of time. These are very specific issues. I would say that if you could take these questions to the relevant Ministries or relevant departments. Thank you.

Samira Hussain: Samira Hussain with the BBC. I'm wondering about the Minister's visit to Iran. It was said that he did raise the issue of the Red Sea with Iran. What specifically was requested and has there been discussions about, let's say, sparing Indian ships or Indian vessels; and whether or not there are ongoing discussions happening in the background with regards to protecting India's economic interests in the area?

Emerson: Good afternoon. Mera naam Emerson hai (my name is Emerson). I'm from Taiwan Central News Agency. Taiwan just concluded its Presidential election last week. So may I know India's reaction or view on the election result, its possible impact on the region and the prospect of India-Taiwan relations in various fields. Thank you.

Suhasini Haidar: This is Suhasini Haidar from The Hindu newspaper. Just following up on a story the Hindu had actually done. This week, we have seen Haryana and next week I think its Uttar Pradesh beginning, screening of Indians wishing to travel to Israel to take up labour jobs over there. My question is, is the Ministry of External Affairs that has a list of Emigration Check Required countries of 18, which include the Gulf, they include Thailand, Indonesia, anywhere where there's either a conflict or labour standards are not quite up to India standards; is there any proposal by the MEA to add Israel to that ECR list, given that the conflict in Israel still continues and these workers may be going into dangerous areas?

Vineet Dixit: Vineet Dixit from NewsGate. Sir, hamara sawal hai ki jo India ka West Asia Economic aur Europe wala corridor hai uske implementation mai... halaki woh hamara dusra route hai, Suez Canal wala nahi hai, par jo West Asia mai uthapatak chal rahi hai, uspe kahin aanch toh nahi aa rahi? Woh economic corridor jo BRI ke competitive nature ka hai, woh abhi safeguard hai? Sare economic interest hamare safeguard hai? What is the assessment?

[Question in Hindi: Approximate Translation] Vineet Dixit from Newsgate. Sir, my question is regarding the implementation of the West Asia Economic Corridor connecting India, West Asia and Europe. Although our route is different and not the one through the Suez Canal; but given the ongoing developments in West Asia, is there any threat to it? The economic corridor, which is considered of having competitive nature to the BRI, is it currently secure? Are all our economic interests safeguarded? What is the assessment?

Shri Randhir Jaiswal, Official Spokesperson: Sawal ek baar phir se dohrayenge?

[Question in Hindi: Approximate Translation] Can you repeat the question?

Vineet Dixit: Jo India-West Asia Economic Corridor hai, halaki hum log Suez Canal wala route nahi istemaal kar rahe hain, par jo bhi uthapatak, jo bhi harkatain waha ho rahi hain, jaise incidences aa rahe hain, uske chalte hamare jo route pe koi aanch toh nahi aa rahi, hamare economic interest, jo hum log abhi safeguard kar rahe hain, Haifa port hum logon ne abhi develop karna shuru kar diya hai, so how safe is our investment there in this area and whatever is happening in West Asia, is it going to adversely affect? What is the assessment, what would you like to say?

[Question in Hindi: Approximate Translation] The India-West Asia Economic Corridor, although we are not using the Suez Canal route, but given the developments, activities and incidents taking place there, is there any threat to our route? Our economic interests, which we are currently safeguarding, we have started developing the Haifa port recently, so how safe is our investment in this area? And whatever is happening in West Asia, is it going to adversely affect? What is the assessment, what would you like to say?

Shri Randhir Jaiswal, Official Spokesperson: Okay. Let me take these questions and then we will come back for more.

On the question of Red Sea and discussion in Iran when External Affairs Minister had visited, you would have seen, he made a detailed Joint Press Statement while he was there. This issue of Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, the violence there, the destabilized nature of things there was discussed and we are deeply concerned about the whole situation. It does impact not just us, but it's an important shipping lane, for not just India but for the world. So we have our own interests there which are being impacted; but at the same time, we have Indian Navy which is patrolling the area. They're trying to secure the sea lanes and do their best so that our economic interests are not impacted.

Emerson, on Taiwan, our position is that we have taken note of the recent developments in Taiwan. India has strong and growing people-to-people ties, cultural, educational, trade and investment links with Taiwan. Government of India facilitates these exchanges and looks forward to continuing them for shared prosperity and development.

Suhasini, regarding your question on labour mobility, we have labour mobility partnerships with several countries across the world, and we have an agreement now with Israel as well. The agreement itself started long before the conflict erupted. We concluded it, initiated it much before. The idea behind this agreement was that we put in place an institutional mechanism which regulates migration to that country. We already have a large number of people, especially in the caregiving sector in Israel and through this agreement, we want to ensure that there is regulated migration and the rights of the people who go there are protected. Insofar as the question of whether putting Israel on the list of ECR countries so that, you know, they come and emigrate is concerned, let me tell you that labour laws in Israel are very strict, robust. It's an OECD country, therefore labour laws are such that it provides for protection of migrant rights, labor rights. On our part, of course, we are very conscious of our responsibility to provide security and safety to our people who are abroad. When the conflict erupted in Israel, you saw that we launched Operation Ajay so that we could evacuate all those people who wanted to come back from there. Having said that, we remain committed to safe and legal mobility and migration of our people.

Vineet ji aapka sawal khaadi ko le kar hai, aapka sawal lal sagar ko le kar hai, ye toh chintajanak baat hai jo wahan ho rahi hai, aur isse hamare jo aarthik interest hain us par fark padta hai. Ye khaadi ka keshtra jo hai, isse duniya ke ek mahatvapurna...ek commercial line hai, shipping line hai, sea lane hai. Toh waha jo gatividhi chal rahi hai woh chintajanak hai aur hum log is par nirantar apni najar banaye hue hai. Aur hamare jo apne nausena bal ke log, nausena bal ke jahaj hain, wo jo bhi waha humare commercial vessels chalte hai, usko kis prakar surakshit kare us par hum log kaam kar rahe hain, aur waha lage hue hain.

[Answer in Hindi: Approximate Translation] Vineet ji, your question is regarding the issue of Gulf, the Red Sea; the ongoing activities there are indeed a matter of concern, and it affects our economic interests. An important commercial route, a shipping line, sea lane of the world, passes through this Gulf region. So, the ongoing developments there are matter of concern, and we are consistently monitoring the situation. Our naval forces, naval vessels are engaged in ensuring the safety of our commercial vessels passing from there.

Krishn Kaushik: Hi Sir, Krishn Kaushik from Reuters. Sir, my question is about Iran again. You have mentioned the larger maritime security aspect that was discussed during the meeting. What I want to ask is, did the EAM specifically raise the issue of the two ships that were attacked close to India's EEZ during his conversation in Iran, because one more ship was attacked yesterday again which was supposed to be headed towards India. So were these issues specifically addressed in the meeting?

Nayanima: Nayanima from ABP Live. If you can give us an assessment as to what is happening to India's projects that are going on in Maldives, do you foresee any hurdles in executing them? Thank you.

Shubhajyoti: Yeah, Shubhajyoti from BBC News. My question is on Bangladesh. There are reports of attacks on minority Hindu community in several places of the country, and that happened immediately after the election. Would you like to make any comments, Sir?

Ganesh: My name is Ganesh. I'm from BBC News Marathi. I have a question regarding World Economic Forum Summit taking place in Davos, Switzerland. Sir, Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Shri Eknath Shinde, along with his delegation, is attending the Summit; but the opposition leader, Shri Aditya Thackeray, has accused Shinde of taking a large delegation of around 35 people. Thackeray has raised questions about whether the Ministry of External Affairs has granted political clearance to all these 35 people to attend the Summit. If not, then for how many people MEA has granted the clearance, and what is the criteria to give political clearance to State governments while attending international events? Thank you.

Shri Randhir Jaiswal, Official Spokesperson: Kaushik, to your question regarding the matter being raised specifically or not, you see, all aspects of regional importance and global importance were discussed. Maritime security, what's happening in Red Sea area, what's happening with the security of the area, obviously they were discussed. It is very difficult to say that, you know, these specific things were discussed or not. I don't know. But all aspects of mutual concern to both countries were discussed.

Nayanima regarding the projects in Maldives, obviously, the Core Group meeting happened on 14th. On our part, we remain committed to our projects to take them forward. We have been an important development partner of Maldives. We remain committed to doing all things that we can do as a development partner of Maldives, in keeping with their priorities. So that is where I leave it.

Shubhajyoti, your question was regarding Bangladesh. Elections were held recently. The verdict came out. People of Bangladesh voted in a particular fashion. Prime Minister congratulated Sheikh Hasina on the victory. As far as law and order is concerned, these are issues that pertain to Bangladesh, it is for them to take things in their stride.

Ganesh, your question regarding delegation to Davos; now, you know, when we have State governments and other government people going abroad, obviously, political clearance is given by the Ministry of External Affairs.

Akhilesh Suman: Sir, I am Akhilesh Suman. On 22nd of January, there is an inauguration of Ram Temple in Ayodhya. Can you give us any idea that whether you have invited any foreign dignitary? And is there any arrangement in Indian Embassies or Missions all over the world to show that ceremony live?

Megha: Hi, I am Megha from NewsX and my question is, amidst these multiple attacks that have happened in the Gulf of Aden or even in the Indian Ocean or the Arabian Sea, are there any restrictions or SOPs that the Ministry of External Affairs has issued to the Indian nationals who are aboard these ships? Second of all, are these rescue measures or counter-attack measures with Destroyers being sent to Gulf of Aden or other parts of the Indian Ocean region, restricted to vessels that contain Indian nationals only?

Speaker 1: My question is that at the invitation of EAM, Bangladesh Foreign Minister is visiting India on 7th February, just after one month, the general election is over in Bangladesh. So my question is whether any specific agenda you have or it's a routine bilateral visit, because just he has been appointed one month or a few days ago rather?

Manas: This is Manas Pratim Bhuyan from PTI. I would like to ask you about India's overall assessment of the current scenario arising out of Iran's attack on Pakistan and then Pakistan's counter-attack actually. Your reaction was yesterday's reaction. But how do you see today's situation, Pakistan again retaliating the Iranian attack and it comes against the backdrop of the very volatile situation in the Red Sea. I mean, there have been global concerns about what is happening in the Red Sea and then now we have the attacks and counter-attacks between Iran and Pakistan. So how do you see this scenario? And just a little clarification, did you say that Indian Navy is also carrying out patrols in the Red Sea? And related, not related... but on Maldives actually, when you say, we are working on a mutually workable solution. So, are we suggesting that in fact some portion of our troops would stay back or what kind of mutually workable solution that we are looking at?

Jayprakash: Sir, Jayprakash Dainik Jagran se. Sir, jo Iran aur Pakistan mai jo bhi abhi issue hain usmai jin aatankwadi sangthano ke naam aa rahe hain; BLF, BLA ya Jaish ul-Adl, isko lekar Bharat ka aadhikarik position kya hai?

[Question in Hindi: Approximate Translation] Sir, Jayprakash from Dainik Jagran. Sir, in the current issue between Iran and Pakistan, the names of terrorist organizations such as BLF, BLA, or Jaish ul-Adl are coming up. What is India's official position on it?

Shri Randhir Jaiswal, Official Spokesperson: Akhilesh ji aapka sawal Ayodhya ko leke tha. Iske baare hum logon ne pahle hi bataya tha, ki Ayodhya ka jo karyakram hai, uske host wahan ke Trust hai. Toh kaun videsh se aa raha hai, nahi aa raha hai, unko jyada pata hoga aur unka ye aadhikarik keshtra hai, ki usme kinko bulaye ya nahi bulaye. Jahan tak videsho mai isko dikhane ki baat hai, uspe bhi main yehi kehna chahunga, ki ye jo karykram hai, Trust jo hai isko organize kar raha hai, aur main yahi par baat ko rakhna chahta hoon.

[Answer in Hindi: Approximate Translation] Akhilesh ji, your question was regarding Ayodhya. We have already stated that the programme in Ayodhya is being hosted by the Trust there, so they would have more information about who is coming from abroad or not, and it is their official domain to decide whom to invite. Regarding the question of showcasing it abroad, I would like to say the same, the Trust is organizing the programme, and I would like to reiterate that.

Megha, your question was regarding... could you repeat once again, your questions?

Megha: The Indian nationals who are traveling, who are sailing on these merchant vessels, are there any restrictions that are going to be imposed by the MEA or SOPs and guidelines be given to them, because their life is at risk? Second of all, the number of patrol ships, the Destroyers that at this point of time are navigating the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden from the Indian side, from the Indian Navy side; are we only responding to rescue calls of merchant ships that contain Indian nationals?

Shri Randhir Jaiswal, Official Spokesperson: So, to answer your question, you know, Indian Navy is doing patrolling in the region to secure the lanes. They are there to protect Indian shipping lines, of course. But at the same time, today also there was a report that they reached out to a ship that had a flag of some other country. So, they are also providing support to ships of other countries as well. That is where it is. On the question of advisory, this is a very technical, very specific issue. I don't have any update on that, so I'll come back to you subsequently.

Megha: [inaudible] has been rescued or a clarion call has gone out to the Indian Navy. They have all contained Indian nationals. Indian nationals were aboard in all those specific incidents.

Shri Randhir Jaiswal, Official Spokesperson: I don't have very specific details in regard to that; but obviously, they have responded to several calls.

Gautam ji, your question regarding visit of Foreign Minister of Bangladesh; on our part, of course, these visits, any such visits we announce at an appropriate time, when the time comes. We have seen some reports in that regard. So, you'll come to know more about the details etc., as we come closer to the date.

Manas, regarding your question on Pakistan-Iran, Iran-Pakistan; yesterday we gave a statement which was very clear what our position is on that particular issue, our position on terrorism. And on the question of today's Pakistan's strikes, we don't want to make any comment. What is your question on Maldives?

Manas: [Inaudible]

Shri Randhir Jaiswal, Official Spokesperson: As I told you, first Core Group meeting happened on 14th. The second meeting is to happen soon, hopefully, in India. These are discussions which are ongoing. We should not prejudge the outcome of it. So, hopefully, both sides will come to some sort of understanding.

Jayprakash ji aapka sawal wahi Iran-Pakistan ko lekar tha. Toh usmai ye hai ki jo hum logon ne kaha hai, kal ki humne jo press vigyapti nikali thi, usmai jo kaha hai, wahi hamara position hai. Uske aage main koi comment karna nahi chahunga is mudde pe.

[Answer in Hindi: Approximate Translation] Jayprakash ji, your question was regarding Iran-Pakistan. In this regard, our position remains what was stated in the Press Release we had issued yesterday. I would not like to make any further comments on this matter.

Abhishek Jha: Hi, Sir I am Abhishek Jha from CNN News18. My question is regarding this BRICS expansion. Sergey Lavrov, the Russian Foreign Minister has said that 30 more countries are interested in having membership of this organization. And Pakistan has also expressed its interest in the past to join this organization. Your take on both, expansion of the BRICS and of Pakistan's keenness on being member?

Amiti Sen: Hi, Sir. Sir, I'm Amiti Sen. I work for the Hindu Business Line. So, on the Red Sea crisis, you said that India is doing its best to secure its trade sea routes. So, to my understanding, our Navy operates only in the Arabian Sea, right? So, in the Red Sea, are we hoping that this US-led coalition, it would somehow, like, it would basically look after our cargo, whatever goes through that route, or are we now just focusing on the Cape of Good Hope and are not thinking of using the Red Sea for the time being?

Sudhi Ranjan: Sir, Sudhi Rajan from Bloomberg. Associated question with Amiti, Sir. I mean, we have our Navy operating in the Arabian Sea and the multinational force in the Red Sea. We did not, kind of, openly, or join them. We were operating on our own. Given that these attacks are increasing, are there any institutional level talks between the US, UK and India on this, if you could give us an understanding, Sir?

Manish Jha: Ji main Manish Jha bol raha hoon TV9 Bharatvarsh se. Mera sawal President Macron ki visit ko lekar hai. I am sure ki us par aap alag se briefing jarur karenge. Lekin bahot saari suchnaye jo sources ke base par aa rahi hain ki President Macron Jaipur land karenge, Shahi palace mai unka swagat hoga, Prime Minister waha rahenge. Agar aap kuch share kar sake ki kya is baar Jaipur mai dono netaon ki meeting hogi aur phir wahin par unka roadshow bhi hoga. Thank you.

[Question in Hindi: Approximate Translation] This is Manish Jha speaking for TV9 Bharatvarsh. My question is regarding President Macron's visit. I am sure you will do a separate briefing on that. However, a lot of information based on sources is coming in, that President Macron will land in Jaipur, will be accorded a royal welcome at the Royal Palace, and the Prime Minister will be present there. If you can share any details on whether there will be a meeting of both leaders in Jaipur followed by their roadshow there. Thank you.

Shri Randhir Jaiswal, Official Spokesperson: Toh Manish sabse pahle main aapke sawal ka jawab dena chahunga. President Macron ka Bharat mai intezar hai, lekin unke program ka kya swaroop hai woh abhi tay nahi hua hai. Jab tay hoga toh aapko bataya jayega, aapse saajha kiya jayega.

[Answer in Hindi: Approximate Translation] So Manish, first I would like to answer your question. India is awaiting President Macron, but the details of his schedule have not been finalized yet. Once it is finalized, it will be shared with you.

Sudhi regarding your question on Arabian Sea and Red Sea, what's happening; our position has been very clear. We are looking at the unfolding situation there, we are concerned about what's happening, deterioration in the security situation. Our Navy vessels, Navy ships are there, patrolling the area and they are trying to do their best to secure the Indian shipping lines and also giving support to others. So that is where we are, we are looking the unfolding situation. We are not part of any multilateral arrangement as of now.

Abhishek, your question was on BRICS expansion. As you know, the last BRICS Summit was held in Johannesburg, where six members were admitted. There is established procedure in the BRICS system of working on how to get more members to join. It is a matter which the Group decides. It is a matter which is for the BRICS member countries to take forward. Who becomes a member, when it becomes a member, is a question which the established procedure will be...I mean, the BRICS member countries will be looking at, as and when the time comes.

The question from the Hindu was on similar lines as Sudhi's, so I hope it answers your question as well.

Amiti Sen: [Inaudible] so would you want that for the time being only the Cape of Good Hope be used and the Red Sea be avoided?

Shri Randhir Jaiswal, Official Spokesperson: See the situation is precarious, is risky in the Red Sea area, this area. I understand that there are international shipping lines which are taking the Cape of Good Hope. Obviously, it is impacting the flow of commerce, it's delaying commerce. It is impacting interests of people across the world. It is impacting availability of products and services, delaying things; so that is where it is. But Cape of Good Hope route is open for anybody and everybody who wants to use it. The situation is a little risky in this part, closer to Red Sea, closer to the Gulf of Aden, Arabian Sea, etc.

Huma Siddiqui: Sir, I am Huma Siddiqui from the Financial Express. There are reports that the UNGA President is coming, so what would be...would the situation in the Red sea be discussed with him? And South Africa set to file a case against US and UK regarding the Israel conflict.

Samira: I just want to follow up on the question from one of my colleagues here, with regards to whether or not India is going to be joining any kind of coalition in the Red Sea? You said that, right now, India is not part of any coalition as of now. Does that mean that there are conversations happening of joining some sort of coalition, is this being discussed at all?

Pia: Sir, just a clarification. Did the Indian government receive any communication from the Muizzu government last year about a potential State visit? Just a yes or no will be greatly appreciated.

Vineet Dixit: Sir, couple of days back, there was a news report that Indian Army has given medals of valor to two reported incidents along the Line of Actual Control. 7 January ko aur 27 November 2022 ko ye do incidents hue aur inke gallantry awards diye gaye abhi 2-3 din pahle. Galwan ke baad ye do bade incidents hue hain, unke baare mai bahot kam jankari hai, hamare jawano ne bade acche se... hum logon ne kya protest kiya formally China ko, aur ispe kuch prakash dalenge Sir?

[Question in Hindi: Approximate Translation] Sir, couple of days back, there was a news report that Indian Army has given medals of valor to two reported incidents along the Line of Actual Control. These two incidents happened on 7th January and 27th November 2022 and gallantry awards were given just 2-3 days ago. These two significant incidents happened post the Galwan incident, and there is very limited information about them. Our soldiers have done exceptionally well... have we protested with China formally? Can you throw some light on this, Sir?

Shri Randhir Jaiswal, Official Spokesperson: So Huma, regarding the visit of the President of the UN General Assembly, that visit will be announced as and when we get more details. Obviously, the agenda of the visit also will be known to you or will be shared at an appropriate time.

Samira, regarding your question, look, the situation in the region, Red Sea and Gulf of Aden; we have seen all that has happened, all that is happening. We are keeping a close watch at the unfolding situation. That is where I would like to leave it.

Pia regarding the visit that you asked, you know, both India and Maldives we've remain engaged always to facilitate high level engagements, whenever high level engagements are in the offing with a constructive agenda on mutually convenient dates and timelines. So, I would leave it at that. Both sides remain engaged to facilitate high level engagements with a constructive agenda on mutually convenient timelines.

Vineet, jahan tak China ka sawal hai, pichle bhi presser mai humne kaha tha ki hamare relations jo hain, woh normal nahi hain, hamare videsh mantri ne ye kaha hai ki ye normal nahi hain. Aur do tarike se... jo hum chahte hain ki jo border areas pe shanti ka mahaul bane, iske liye hum logon ne do tarike se pahal kiya hai. Ek hai ki military to military level par batchit chal rahi hai, aur dusra hai ki rajnaik level pe batchit chal rahi hai, diplomatic level pe batchit chal rahi hai. October ke mahine mai pichle saal aur November ke mahine mai pichle saal, hum logon ne ye batchit ki; taki hum log, aane wale dino mai ye meetings aur aage jayengi aur dekha jayega kis prakar se hum log sthiti ki behtar kar sakte hain. Toh main is sawal ko yahin par rakhna chaunga, vishesh tippani nahi dena chahunga, jo aapne specific baatain kahin.

[Answer in Hindi: Approximate Translation] Vinit, regarding the question about China, in the last presser also, we had said this, that our relations with China are not normal. Our External Affairs Minister has made it clear that relations are not normal. To ensure peace in the border areas, we have taken initiative in two ways. One is the talks at the military to military level and the second is the talks at the political, diplomatic level. In the months of October and November last year, we had these talks to take things forward in the coming days, and see how to improve the situation. So, I would like to leave it at that and not provide specific comments on the details you mentioned.

Speaker 2: Can you repeat the answer in English please?

Shri Randhir Jaiswal, Official Spokesperson: On India-China relations, we have made ourselves...in the last presser also, this question had come up. Our External Affairs Minister has made it clear that the relations are not normal. Presently, we are engaged both diplomatically and militarily. We have talks at the military to military level and at the diplomatic level. In the months of October and November last year, we had these talks to take things forward. We will have the next round of Military and diplomatic talks later as and when both sides agree to convene them. So that is where we are.

Preeti: I am Preeti, independent journalist. Sri Lankan Navy has captured 18 Indian fishermen along with two trawlers. Any reaction from the MEA?

Shri Randhir Jaiswal, Official Spokesperson: I am not aware of this particular incident, but I can share with you more details as I get them. Good that you have brought to my attention. I will check and revert back to you.

So with that, we can conclude the press engagement. We look forward to having more discussion with you subsequently.

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YEREVAN, JANUARY 19, ARMENPRESS. President of Armenia Vahagn Khachaturyan has held brief meetings with Argentinas President Javier Milei, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, as well as U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

President Khachaturyan and President Milei of Argentina discussed the bilateral agenda of mutual interest, as well as implementation of programs and the opportunities to further develop relations between the two countries, Khachaturyans Office said in a readout. President Mileis economic reforms were also discussed. Efforts aimed at deepening the Armenian-Argentinian friendly relations were highlighted.

During the meeting with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, President Khachaturyan presented details about the latest developments in the region and the principled approaches of Armenia regarding the establishment of sustainable and lasting peace in the South Caucasus. Guterres expressed hope that the regional conflicts will be swiftly resolved, which will guarantee stability and development for the entire region. Both sides emphasized the imperative for establishing final peace and good-neighborly relations in the region.

During the meeting with U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, former U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, the Armenian President spoke about the situation in the Caucasus region and the prospects and opportunities for withstanding security challenges. Khachaturyan and Kerry emphasized the importance of principled positions aimed at protecting democratic values and strengthening democratic institutions.
Exporter Sentenced to Prison for Shipping Heavy Equipment to Iran in Violation of U.S. Sanctions

Thursday, January 18, 2024

For Immediate Release

Office of Public Affairs

A Virginia man was sentenced yesterday to 24 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release for criminal conduct in connection with a scheme to unlawfully export heavy equipment from the United States to Iran by routing the shipments though the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Jalal Hajavi, 60, of Sterling, was convicted by a jury in September 2023, of conspiring to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) and the Iranian Transactions and Sanctions Regulations (ITSR), smuggling, and unlawfully exporting and reexporting goods from the United States to Iran without a license.

"Mr. Hajavi illegally shipped industrial equipment to the Iranian regime, smuggled restricted goods through the UAE to Iran, and caused a shipping company to submit false information to the U.S. government. He has been held to account for his crimes," said Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department's National Security Division. "As this case shows, the Justice Department remains committed to enforcing U.S. sanctions and export control laws to deny Iran the commodities that fuel its malign activities abroad and threaten our nation's security."

"Shipping items to Iran is against the law, regardless of whether done directly or by way of a third country," said Assistant Secretary for Export Enforcement Matthew S. Axelrod. "As demonstrated by this sentencing, when proliferators falsify export records to support illicit Iranian procurement schemes, they get caught and they do prison time."

"Hajavi's conduct was particularly egregious because he was previously informed on at least two occasions that his conduct was prohibited," said U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Buchanan for the Northern District of Georgia. "Instead of heeding the warnings, he continued to divert U.S. goods to Iran. Trade sanctions against Iran comprise a critical component of U.S. foreign policy designed to keep our country and citizens safe. Criminal actors like Hajavi, who seek to profit by evading these prohibitions and jeopardize our national security, will be prosecuted."

According to court documents, Jalal Hajavi and a co-conspirator located in Iran conspired to evade U.S. sanctions by exporting U.S. heavy machinery through the UAE to Iran without first obtaining the required licenses from the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). Hajavi, through his company JSH Heavy Equipment LLC, located heavy equipment for sale in the United States, such as bobcats and wheel loaders, and sent information about his findings to the co-conspirator in Iran. Hajavi purchased the items from U.S. sellers and used freight forwarding companies to ship the heavy equipment from the United States to the UAE, where his Iranian co-conspirator diverted the machinery to Iran in circumvention of the U.S. export license requirement.

In addition to evading OFAC licensing requirements, Hajavi concealed his activities with the co-conspirator by causing false information to be entered into the Automated Export System (AES), a U.S. government database containing information about exports from the United States. Hajavi falsely claimed that the items were destined for his supposed UAE customers, which typically were general trading companies located in free trade zones in the UAE, but in reality, the items were destined for Iran.

At one point, Hajavi met with a Special Agent from the Bureau of Industry and Security who informed Hajavi about the U.S. sanctions against Iran, including the prohibition to transship U.S. goods through third countries to Iran. Undeterred, Hajavi continued his unlawful conduct.

One of the items that Hajavi purchased and unlawfully caused to be shipped was an Ingersoll Rand Blasthole Drill, which is a type of heavy machinery used in construction to drill holes in the ground usually filled with controlled charges. Hajavi purchased the drill from a U.S. company and, as part of a sham transaction, purportedly sold the drill to a UAE company. Hajavi hired a U.S. freight forwarder to arrange the drill's export from the United States to the UAE. During the shipping process, the freight forwarder submitted information provided by Hajavi to AES about the shipment. Hajavi falsely told the freight forwarder that the UAE company was the ultimate consignee and provided the false ultimate destination of the UAE, when Hajavi knew that the Iranian co-conspirator was the true buyer and that Iran was the ultimate delivery destination. The Iranian co-conspirator subsequently shipped the drill from the UAE to Iran.

The Department of Commerce Bureau of Industry and Security's Office of Export Enforcement conducted the investigation, with valuable assistance provided by the FBI.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Tracia M. King for the Northern District of Georgia and Trial Attorney Emma Dinan Ellenrieder of the National Security Division's Counterintelligence and Export Control Section prosecuted the case.



Topics: Countering Nation-State Threats

Export Control

National Security

Components: National Security Division (NSD)

USAO - Georgia, Northern

Press Release Number: 24-61

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Iran's territorial integrity a 'red line': Foreign Ministry

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Jan 18, 2024

Tehran, IRNA -- Iran's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has condemned Pakistan's cross-border drone attack as "unacceptable", reiterating that the country's territorial integrity is "a red line."

"The security of the people and the territorial integrity of the country are considered Iran's red lines. Iran expects its friendly and brotherly neighbor, Pakistan, to adhere strongly to its commitments in preventing the establishment of bases and groups of armed terrorists on Pakistani soil," the ministry said in a statement on Thursday.

The statement said that Iran's Tuesday missile attack on a terrorist position in Pakistan's Balochistan was a "preemptive operation" after the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) forces in southeastern Iran observed that a terrorist group was preparing to infiltrate Iranian territory to carry out an attack.

"The IRGC conducted preemptive operations against this terrorist group at their base.... kilometers away from residential areas. This action is part of the inherent duties of Iranian border forces to counter any imminent terrorist threats against the people and citizens of the country," it added.

"Iran consistently adheres to its neighborly policy and will not permit enemies and terrorist sympathizers to obscure these relations, especially at a time when the issue of genocide and crimes of the Zionist regime is a primary concern for the Islamic world," the statement said.

The full text of Iran's foreign ministry is as follows:

In the Name of God, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful

The Statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran regarding the recent incidents on the Pakistan border

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran condemns Pakistan's unbalanced and unacceptable drone attack on non-Iranian villagers on the border of the two countries.

At the same time, the Islamic Republic of Iran adheres to the policy of good neighborliness and brotherhood between the two nations and the two governments of the Islamic Republic of Iran and Pakistan. It does not allow enemies to strain the amicable and brotherly relations of Tehran and Islamabad.

The Islamic Republic of Iran considers the security of its people and its territorial integrity as a red line and strongly expects the friendly and brotherly government of Pakistan to adhere to its obligations in preventing the establishment of bases and the deployment of armed terrorist groups on its soil.

On Tuesday, 16 January 2024, the Border Taskforce of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Ground Force, situated in Sistan and Baluchistan Province, took a preventive action against a terrorist group preparing to infiltrate the territory of the Islamic Republic of Iran to carry out another terrorist operation similar to the criminal and terrorist attack in Rask. The action was carried out against the terrorist group's barracks and headquarters located in the heights of the region, kilometers away from residential areas--a procedure which is part of the inherent duties of the border forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran to "proportionately deal" with any "imminent terrorist threat" against the people and citizens of the country.

It is emphasized that the Islamic Republic of Iran differentiates between Pakistan's friendly and brotherly government and armed terrorists. The Islamic Republic of Iran always adheres to its policy of good neighborliness and does not allow its enemies and terrorist allies to strain these relations, especially when the genocide and crimes of the Zionist regime are the foremost issue affecting the Islamic world.

4353**2050

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Tehran condemns Pakistan attack on border point with Iran

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Jan 18, 2024

Tehran, IRNA -- The Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman has condemned Pakistan's attack on a border point in southeastern Iran.

The Iranian foreign ministry has summoned Pakistan's chargA d'affaires to protest against the missile attack, Nasser Kanaani said on Thursday.

Following the missile attack from Pakistan, nine, including three women, four children and two men who had not had Iranian nationality were killed.

After the attack, Pakistan's foreign ministry issued a statement in which it reiterated that the country fully respects territorial integrity of the Islamic Republic.

In the statement read by Pakistani Foreign Ministry's spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra, Pakistan described Iran as a brotherly country and said it continues to endeavor to find joint solution to the question.

The statement reiterated that the Thursday attacks followed Pakistan's security and its national interests.

1483**2050

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Number of the killed after Pakistan attack rises to 9

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Jan 18, 2024

Zahedan, IRNA -- Number of those who were killed after Pakistan's Thursday missile attack on a border village in southeastern Iran reached 9.

Two men were added to the number of the dead, Ali Reza Marhamati, the deputy governor general of Sistan-Baluchestan province in southeastern Iran announced.

Earlier, the official had confirmed the killing of three women and four children during the missile attack who were all non-Iranians.

Saravan located 347 km southeast of Zahedan, the capital city of Sistan-Baluchestan, borders with Pakistan.

1483**2050

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Iran summons Pakistan chargA d'affaires to protest missile attack on Saravan

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Jan 18, 2024

Tehran, IRNA -- Iranian Foreign Ministry has summoned Pakistan's chargA d'affaires to protest against the missile attack from the neighboring country to a southeastern Iranian village near Saravan on Thursday.

Following the missile attack from Pakistan, nine, including three women and four children who had not had Iranian nationality were killed.

After the attack, Pakistan's Foreign Ministry issued a statement in which it reiterated that the country fully respects territorial integrity of the Islamic Republic.

In the statement read by Pakistani Foreign Ministry's spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra, Pakistan said it continues to "endeavor to find joint solution" to the question.

Reports said on Tuesday night (two days before today) that positions of Jaish al-Adl terrorist group had come under attack in the restive Baluchistan region, which borders Iran.

In a related development, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Wednesday, that the target of the cross-border airstrikes on Tuesday night were "Iranian terrorists present on Pakistani soil".

"We targeted Jaish al-Adl, not Pakistani citizens."

1483**2050

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Iran's armed forces launch specialized joint air defense exercises

Iran Press TV

Thursday, 18 January 2024 2:48 PM

Iranian armed forces have launched specialized joint air defense exercises in the country's southwest, south and southeast regions.

Dubbed Defenders of Velayat Skies 1402, the drill began Thursday with the participation of the Air Defense Force of the Army, the Aerospace Force of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), the Air Force of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Navy of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Navy of the IRGC, and parts of the Army's ground forces under the operational control of the Khatam al-Anbiya Joint Air Defense Base.

The exercises are held in an area spanning 583 km, which stretches from the southern coast strip to 400 km deep inside the country and up to air surveillance areas.

"The exercise is conducted in a completely realistic environment, where in the first stage, defense systems carry out the assigned mission with a quick response approach of the operational forces in accordance with the principles of passive defense," its spokesman Brigadier General Abbas Farajpour said.

"Meanwhile, the establishment of secure and multi-layered communications among the defense systems and the command and control centers of the integrated air defense network of the country to make timely decisions in the event of threats" is practiced, he added.

In the first stage of the drill, held in one third of the country's airspace, intelligence and reconnaissance flights were conducted by manned and unmanned aircraft of the Army and the IRGC.

Also, operational and defensive measures were carried out by indigenous detection, interception and engagement systems against hypothetical attacking aircraft.

Gen. Farajpour said the use of completely indigenous air defense systems are one of the remarkable features of the exercise.

The command and control centers in the exercise use highly advanced and indigenous active and passive radar systems which utilize signal and electro-optical readouts to monitor the exercise area.

"As soon as they discover the hostile target using the observation network in the discovery, they enact the defense system appropriate to the target in the operational circuit to counter it," he added.

According to Gen. Farajpour, all the detection, identification, interception and engagement systems used by the air defense units of the army and the IRGC in the exercise have been produced by the young industrialists of Iran's armed forces and defense industries.

"With their firm belief in the slogan 'We can', they have been able to achieve eye-catching success under the heaviest sanctions and pressures," he added.

The aim of the exercise, Gen. Farajpour said, is to "show the strength, high morale, faith and martyrdom-seeking of the armed forces, so that the noble nation of Iran can see this authority and strength and be more proud of it".

"The formation of safe layers of air defense to protect the air borders of the Islamic Republic of Iran as well as the all-round defense of the sensitive and vital centers of the country is one of the goals of this exercise," he said.

This "is achieved with the skill and intelligence of the young staff and operational forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran Army and the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps under the guidance and operational control of the integrated network of the country's joint air defense base on a 24-hour basis," he added.

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Iran says will not tolerate 'any Israeli operation from any country'

Iran Press TV

Thursday, 18 January 2024 7:19 AM

Iran says it will not tolerate any operation against the Iranian nation and government by the Israeli regime from any country.

Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Ali-Akbar Ahmadian made the remarks in a phone call with Iraqi National Security Adviser Qasim al-Araji on Wednesday.

During their conversation, the two officials highlighted joint efforts to provide and maintain the security of the two neighboring countries.

"Any action against the Iranian nation and government by the Israeli regime, no matter which country the threats come from, will not be tolerated in any way," Ahmadian told his Iraqi counterpart.

Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Ashtiani said in similar remarks on Wednesday that the Islamic Republic will respond to threats "no matter where they come from," adding that the country's response would be "proportionate, decisive and strong."

On Tuesday, the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) carried out missile strikes against the bases of anti-Iran terrorists and facilities run by the Israeli Mossad spy agency in Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdistan region and Syria.

The IRGC said in a statement that the Mossad center was used "to develop espionage operations and plan acts of terrorism" across the region, especially in Iran.

The missile strike against the Mossad center, the statement said, was in retaliation for the recent assassinations of the resistance front's commanders, especially those of the IRGC, by the Zionist regime.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kan'ani also said the attack was a retaliatory operation in defense of the country's sovereignty and security against the threat of terrorism.

Iran has, on countless occasions, warned Iraqi Kurdistan's local authorities that it will not tolerate the presence and activity of terrorist groups along its northwestern borders, saying the country will give a decisive response should those areas become a haven for anti-Tehran terrorists.

Since September 2022, the IRGC has launched several rounds of strikes against terrorist positions in Iraq's Kurdistan, vowing to continue the attacks until the groups are disarmed.

On March 19 last year, Iran and Iraq signed a security agreement in Baghdad, encompassing coordination in protecting the shared border.

Under the deal, the Iraqi government promised to disarm terrorist and separatist groups based in the Kurdistan region by September 19, vacate their military barracks, and transfer them to the camps established by the Baghdad government.



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Iran condemns Pakistan's border attack, summons Pakistani chargA d'affaires

Iran Press TV

Thursday, 18 January 2024 7:18 AM

Iran has condemned Pakistan's attack on the southeastern Iranian province of Sistan and Baluchestan and summoned the Pakistani chargA d'affaires in protest against the incident.

The Pakistani diplomat was summoned to the ministry on Thursday in the absence of the country's ambassador to Tehran for an explanation regarding several explosions in different areas around the city of Saravan in Sistan and Baluchestan province, close to the border with Pakistan earlier in the day.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kan'ani later condemned the attack and confirmed that the Pakistani chargA d'affaires had been summoned by the ministry to convey Tehran's protest to Islamabad and provide an explanation about the attack.

Deputy governor of the province Alireza Marhamati said nine non-Iranian nationals, including two men, three women and four children, were killed in the attack.

He added that Iranian security officials are investigating the issue.

Iranian Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi confirmed the figures later in the day.

Meanwhile, an informed source strongly condemned the attack and said Iran has demanded Pakistan's "immediate explanation" about the attack.

In a press release on Thursday, Pakistan's Foreign Ministry confirmed that the country undertook "a series of highly coordinated and specifically targeted precision military strikes against terrorist hideouts" in Iran's Sistan and Baluchestan province.

Pakistani president urges dialogue, mutual consultation with Iran to resolve issues

Pakistani President Arif Alvi said on Thursday that Pakistan and Iran were brotherly countries and should resolve issues through dialogue and mutual consultation.

In a statement, Alvi added that terrorism was a common challenge that should be eliminated through global efforts.

He said that Pakistan fully respects the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all states and expects the same from other nations.

The president, however, emphasized that Islamabad would not compromise its national security and territorial integrity and would take all necessary measures to defend its soil.





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Iran Tries To Allay Fears Of Rising Tensions Following Pakistan Cross-Border Attacks

By RFE/RL's Radio Farda, RFE/RL's Radio Mashaal January 18, 2024

Iran has condemned what it called a "disproportionate and unacceptable" attack by Pakistan on its territory, which came in response to an Iranian strike, raising fears of escalating military exchanges between the two neighbors.

While criticizing Islamabad for the scale of the attack, Iran's Foreign Ministry also appeared to try and allay concerns of rising tensions, striking a conciliatory tone in its statement on January 18 by referring to Pakistan as a "friend and brother."

Pakistani warplanes launched air strikes early on January 18 on alleged militant targets in Iran, an attack that Tehran said killed at least nine people, including six children and two women, according to Iran's Foreign Ministry.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry said it had summoned Pakistan's charge d'affaires in response to the attack, the first by another country on Iranian soil since the end of the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq War.

The strikes in Sistan-Baluchistan Province came after an attack by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) in Pakistan's southwestern Balochistan Province on January 16 that killed two children.

In a statement on January 18, Turkey's Foreign Ministry expressed concern with "recent developments that started" with Iran's attacks against targets in Iraq on January 16 before it attacked Pakistan.

"We hope that all issues will soon come to an end through dialogue and cooperation without further threatening regional security and stability," the ministry said, adding that Ankara "is ready to contribute to the peaceful resolution" disputes.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry later said Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and Turkey's top diplomat Hakan Fidan had spoken on the phone, with the Iranian official expressing his country's desire to "expand relations with neighboring countries."

In Beijing, a Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said China was ready to mediate between Iran and Pakistan.

"The Chinese side sincerely hopes that the two sides can exercise calm and restraint and avoid an escalation of tension," spokeswoman Mao Ning said.

"We are also willing to play a constructive role in de-escalating the situation if both sides so wish," she said.

UN chief Antonio Guterres urged both countries "to exercise maximum restraint to avoid a further escalation of tensions," spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.

U.S. President Joe Biden said the air strikes by Pakistan and Iran on each other's territory showed Tehran was not "particularly well-liked in the region."

The United States is trying to understand how the situation will develop, Biden said. The White House also warned against any escalation.

Iranian Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi told reporters that none of the people killed was Iranian. Some reports said all of those killed were Pakistani citizens.

Alireza Marhamati, an official in Iran's Sistan-Baluchistan Province, said Pakistan used three drones to target a border village. He added that all of those killed were citizens of Pakistan.

Pakistan's Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the strikes targeted "terrorist" bases.

"This morning Pakistan undertook a series of highly coordinated and specifically targeted precision military strikes against terrorist hideouts in Sistan-Baluchistan Province of Iran. A number of terrorists were killed during the intelligence-based operation codenamed Marg Bar Sarmachar," the statement said.

The Pakistani retaliatory strike came hours after Islamabad recalled its ambassador from Iran in protest to the IRGC's attack, and said it "reserves the right to respond" to Iran's "illegal attack."

The statement also said that Iran bears responsibility for the "consequences" of the attack.

The IRGC claimed its January 16 strike targeted sites in Balochistan that were linked to the Sunni Baluch militant group Jaish al-Adl.

Following the IRGC's strikes, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian told his Pakistani counterpart on a call that Tehran "strongly respects" Islamabad's territorial integrity and sovereignty and described Pakistan as a "brother."

The porous, 900-kilometer border between Iran and Pakistan has proved difficult to control, allowing various militant groups, particularly those who harbor Baluch nationalist ideologies, to operate in the area.

On January 16, Iraq also recalled its envoy from Tehran after civilians were killed in an IRGC missile strike in Irbil in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region. Iranian missiles also struck Idlib in Syria.

The IRGC said the attacks in Iraq and Syria had targeted "spy headquarters" and "terrorist" targets.

The exchange of strikes is likely further strain relations between Iran and nuclear-armed Pakistan while also raising the prospect of wider conflict in the Middle East amid the ongoing war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, which has been designated a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union.

With reporting by AFP and AP

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/iran-pakistan-strikes- baluchistan/32780717.html

Copyright (c) 2024. 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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Stockholm Says Swedish-Iranian Man Detained in Iran

By RFE/RL January 18, 2024

Iranian authorities arrested a Swedish-Iranian man in his 60s last year, Stockholm said on January 18, as tensions between the two countries continue to build.

Without identifying the man, Sweden said he had been arrested at the end of November 2023 "without a clear reason" and called for his release. Iran has not yet commented on the issue.

The news comes a day after the Swedish Foreign Ministry summoned the Iranian charge d'affaires and demanded the release of all Swedish prisoners "who are arbitrarily detained."

The unnamed man is the latest Swedish citizen to be arrested by the Islamic republic, which is accused by Western powers and rights groups of detaining foreign nationals to use as bargaining chips.

At least two other Swedish citizens are detained in Iran, including Ahmadreza Djalali, who also holds Iranian citizenship, and Johan Floderus, who worked for the European Union's diplomatic corps.

Djalili, a medical doctor, was arrested in 2016 and was sentenced to death in 2017 for allegedly spying for Israel, a charge he has denied. Floderus, who was detained in April 2022, is accused of the same charge and his trial is ongoing.

Iran is said to be trying to put pressure on Sweden to release Hamid Nouri, a former Iranian prison official who has been sentenced to life in prison for crimes committed during the mass execution of political prisoners in 1988. His appeal was rejected last month.

Iran warned that it "reserves the right to take appropriate measures" after a Swedish court of appeals upheld Nouri's sentence.

Tehran recalled its ambassador from Stockholm after Nouri's initial conviction in 2022. In 2023, it said it would not allow a new Swedish ambassador to enter the country in the wake of a Koran burning row.

With reporting by AP

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/stockholm-says-swedish- iranian-man-detained-in-iran/32782235.html

Copyright (c) 2024. 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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YEREVAN, JANUARY 19, ARMENPRESS. The United States hopes Armenia and Azerbaijan will sign a durable peace treaty that recognizes each others sovereignty and territorial integrity, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller has said.

We welcome the work towards peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan, Miller said at a press briefing. We support the sovereignty and territorial integrity of both countries. We hope they will sign a durable peace treaty that recognizes such sovereignty and territorial integrity, the sooner the better. The parties have made significant progress over the past year, and we encourage them to maintain momentum building on past negotiations and conclude an agreement.

Miller declined to give details about U.S. Senior Advisor for Caucasus Negotiations Louis Bonos meetings in Armenia last week.
Iraq's prime minister wants immediate withdrawal of US forces

Iran Press TV

Thursday, 18 January 2024 3:37 PM

Prime Minister Mohammad Shia al-Sudani says Iraq wants the immediate withdrawal of the US-led foreign forces from his country due to their destabilizing activities.

The Iraqi prime minister made the demand during a televised event at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Thursday.

Sudani said the "end of the US-led coalition was a necessity for the security and stability of Iraq."

"It is also a necessity for preserving constructive bilateral relations between Iraq and the coalition countries."

The prime minister said it was also necessary to "immediately begin a dialogue, to reach an understanding and a timetable regarding the end of the mission of international advisers."

Elsewhere in his remarks, Sudani lauded sacrifices made by the Iraqi military forces in the fight against terrorism.

Longstanding calls by Iraqi factions for the US-led coalition's departure have gained steam in the wake of a series of US strikes on Iraq's Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), which are part of Iraq's security forces.

Iraq has condemned the US strikes, not least a recent attack against a senior PMU commander in the heart of Baghdad.

Senior officials in Baghdad says only an end to Israel's genocidal campaign in the besieged Gaza Strip would stop the risk of a regional escalation.

Iraq says Israel's mass killing and displacement of the Palestinians is a "textbook example of genocide.".

Iraq's Islamic Resistance, an umbrella group of anti-US armed groups in the country, has conducted dozens of attacks on US bases in support of Gaza's resistance.

According to the Pentagon, US military forces have come under attack at least 118 times in Iraq and Syria since the Israeli onslaught on Gaza began last October.

The US maintains some 2,500 troops in Iraq under the pretext of fighting the Daesh terrorist group, which in 2014 seized large swathes of Iraq and Syria.

Daesh was defeated when in November 2017, then commander of the Quds Force of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani declared the end of the terrorist group's domination of Muslim lands.

In 2020, Iraq's parliament voted for the departure of US forces. Days earlier, General Soleimani and deputy PMU commander Abu Mahdi Al-Muhandis had been assassinated in a cowardly drone strike ordered by then President Donald Trump of the United States outside the Baghdad airport.

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UK National Dies From Iranian Strikes in Iraq's Erbil - Foreign Ministry

Sputnik News

20240118

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - A dual UK-Iraqi national died during the Iranian strikes on the Iraqi Kurdistan region earlier this week, the UK Foreign Office said in a statement following a meeting between UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron and Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian in Davos.

"The Foreign Secretary condemned the attacks in Erbil in Iraq, which killed UK-Iraqi dual national Karam Mikhael. Attacks like this violate the sovereignty of other states," a Foreign Office spokesperson said in a statement on Wednesday.

During the meeting on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum, Cameron also told Amirabdollahian that the attacks by Yemen's Houthi rebels on commercial ships in the Red Sea were "illegal and unacceptable" and that Iran "must use its influence with the Houthis to prevent further threats."

On Tuesday, Iran fired missiles at what it said was the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad's headquarters in the Iraqi Kurdistan region. Local authorities said four people died and six others were wounded. The Iraqi Foreign Ministry said that Iraq considered Iran's strikes at its Kurdistan region as an aggression against its sovereignty and security.

A Sputnik

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January 18, 2024

Release

Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III's Call With Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant

Pentagon Press Secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder provided the following readout:

Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III spoke with Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant today to discuss Israel's shift to low-intensity operations in Gaza, the distribution of humanitarian assistance in Gaza, instability in the West Bank, and a range of regional security matters. The Secretary emphasized the need to accelerate humanitarian assistance across Gaza and protect civilians. Secretary Austin also acknowledged Israeli concerns about the Lebanon border and reiterated U.S. resolve to prevent the situation from escalating.

https://www.defense.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/3649688/

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Statement by PM Netanyahu

Israel - Prime Minister's Office

The 37th Government

18.01.2024

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, this evening, at the Kirya in Tel Aviv:

"Today I received a message from Neta, the mother of the late Yinon Tamir, a soldier in the Paratroop Brigade, who fell in the battles in Gaza. She wrote to me: 'So that we know that they did not fall in vain, destroy the evil.'

Neta, I would like to tell you and all of the bereaved families: Yinon and his heroic friends did not fall in vain. We will destroy the evil of Hamas.

In the last 48 hours, our soldiers have conducted battles in Khan Yunis, in which they eliminated dozens of terrorists. In the northern Gaza Strip, our soldiers have destroyed rocket launchers and eliminated dozens of additional terrorists. Also, in recent days, we have destroyed a major rocket production facility, and it is not the only one. Contrary to what is being said, the war is continuing on all fronts, and it will continue on all fronts - until all of the goals that we set are achieved.

This is my directive. This is the political leadership's directive to the military leadership. This is the directive of the Government of Israel to the IDF and all of the security services, and they are carrying out - and will carry out - their assignment.

To this end, we passed an immense war budget, which will enable the military and the security services to meet the goals of the war and achieve victory. Now I say this simply and with candor: Victory will yet take many long months, but we are determined to achieve it. And there is another 'but', a very difficult 'but': While our soldiers are giving their lives in order to complete the victory over Hamas, I hear other voices which are trying to weaken them. There are those in the studios who claim: 'Victory is impossible'. I utterly reject this.

Israel under my leadership will not compromise on less than total victory over Hamas, and we will win. I say this again, so that no one will be in doubt: We are striving for total victory, not just 'to strike Hamas' or 'to hurt Hamas', not 'another round with Hamas' but total victory over Hamas.

We will continue to fight will full force until we achieve all of our goals: Returning our hostages, and I say - only continued military pressure will lead to their release, eliminating Hamas and ensuring that Gaza never again constitutes a threat to Israel, that there will be no element in it that educates for terrorism, finances terrorism and sends terrorists against us.

Halting the war before our goals are achieved will harm Israel's security for generations. I tell you, citizens of Israel, we are not working just to ensure our security today - we are working to ensure our security for generations. Halting the war before the goals are achieved will broadcast a message of weakness and encourage our enemies to think that they can defeat us, and then the next massacre will be only a matter of time; therefore, we will not compromise on less than total victory.

Total victory requires eliminating the terrorist leaders and destroying Hamas's military and governing capabilities. Total victory requires returning our hostages home. Total victory requires that Gaza be demilitarized, under Israel's full security control, with Israeli control over everything that enters Gaza. These are also the fundamental conditions for 'the day after'. But I would like to emphasize: 'The day after' is the day after the elimination of Hamas, and therefore victory comes first of all. It will be achieved only if we stay focused on achieving victory, and on staying united behind our heroic soldiers who are giving their lives to achieve it.

We will yet have difficulties and challenges along the way, but after the terrible massacre of October 7, we have no other choice. This is a victory that we must achieve for the security of Israel, for our future and for true peace in our region.

I promise here before our soldiers, I promise before the bereaved families who have lost what is dearer to them than anything, and I promise before the families of the hostages - we will not stop. We will not finish the war before returning our loved ones home; we will not finish the war before total victory.

Together we will fight, and with G-d's help - together we will win."

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Stepping away from pacifism, Japan to buy 400 Tomahawk missiles from US

Iran Press TV

Thursday, 18 January 2024 3:09 PM

Japan has signed a deal with the United States to buy 400 long-range Tomahawk missiles as the country ramps up its military capacity.

The defense agreement was inked in Tokyo on Thursday as Japan plans to double its military spending to 2 percent of its GDP ($68 billion) by 2027.

The record military spending would make Japan the world's third-biggest military spender after the United States and China.

A sale of up to $2.35 billion for two types of Tomahawks, which have a 1,600-kilometre (995-mile) range, was approved by America in November.

Tokyo has been saying that it is facing growing military threats from China and North Korea causing it to increase its military capabilities to counter the threats.

"The conclusion of this signing starts the procurement of the Tomahawk missiles," a Japanese defense official told reporters after the deal was signed.

"Through sound implementation of the (defense) budget, we will extensively strengthen our defense capacity," the official added.

Japan has approved a record defense budget worth $56 billion for the next fiscal year from April.

Horrors of the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945 by the US had made the country adopt a pacifist post-war constitution. Article 9 of Japan's Constitution renounces war as a right of the state and forbids the country from using force to settle international disputes and from possessing the tools to wage war.

The country is now pivoting away from the decades-old policy of pacifism. Japan's former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's efforts to make amendments to Article 9 of the constitution were frustrated but he was successful in restructuring the Japanese defense system.

With the East Asian country planning to increase its defense power exponentially, American military contractors are cashing on the opportunity.

At a press conference on Thursday, US Ambassador Rahm Emanuel lauded Japan's growing military spending.

"As aggressors grow more and more belligerent, Japan is at the forefront of countries rallying to protect peace and prosperity by raising the costs of aggression," Emanuel said.

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Arakan Army wins control of 2 major junta camps in Rakhine state

Nearly 300 infantry troops surrendered in Kyauktaw days after a nearby artillery battalion gave up.

By RFA Burmese 2024.01.18 -- Nearly 300 junta troops surrendered to the Arakan Army this week as the ethnic rebel group took control of a major Myanmar military encampment in northern Rakhine state, residents told Radio Free Asia.

The Arakan Army's victory in Kyauktaw township on Tuesday came two days after it captured a nearby artillery battalion, a resident told RFA on condition of anonymity.

The advances are the latest in a series of victories for the Arakan Army and two other rebel groups that make up the Three Brotherhood Alliance, which launched a campaign in October on junta forces in the northern and western parts of the country.

In northern Rakhine and neighboring Chin state, the Arakan Army has seized arms and ammunition during several attacks on junta positions this month.

The junta's Light Infantry Battalion 539 was located at the eastern foot of a hill next to the Sittwe-Yangon highway, local residents said. Junta forces had recently made serious efforts to fortify both the infantry and artillery battalions, they said.

"I closely witnessed the fierce fighting," the resident said. "The military carried out air strikes with three jet fighters in the attack, while the AA used drones and artillery."

A resident of Rakhine's Rathedaung township told RFA that almost all Burmese military camps in the township have been captured by the Arakan Army, with only some urban areas still under junta control.

Residents told RFA that the armed clashes are intensifying in Maruk-U and Minbya townships, where the Arakan Army has been attacking three military battalions and one police battalion.

The junta has responded with jet fighters, a Mrauk-U resident told RFA on condition of anonymity.

Junta troops 'will surrender gradually'

The junta has targeted residential areas with airstrikes at least three times a day in Minbya, a local resident who wished to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals told RFA.

"The military council conducted aerial attacks by various fighter planes and artillery shelling," he said. "They often fired from Mrauk-U."

In the Pi Chaung area of Kyauktaw township on Wednesday, junta airstrikes killed five locals and injured 19 others, a resident told RFA on condition of anonymity due to security concerns.

A local observer who is monitoring the situation in Rakhine said the Arakan Army is close to controlling all of northern Rakhine state and seems to be only getting stronger and smarter about combat strategy.

"They have also captured Paletwa township, and now the flow of arms and ammunition will be easier," he said. "Except one or two places, the AA has seized the entire Mrauk-U city. So, it is expected that the military council will surrender gradually."

RFA contacted Arakan Army spokesperson Khaing Thukha for further details on the two victories in Kyauktaw township, but he didn't immediately reply.

A junta statement on Tuesday denied reports of a surrender of 100 soldiers in its Yae Soe Chaung strategic camp in Rathedaung. The statement also blamed the media for destroying the dignity of their security forces through spreading misinformation.

The military junta has not made a statement this week about the military situations in Rakhine state or about Tuesday's surrender of the infantry battalion in Kyauktaw township.

Calls to Rakhine state's junta spokesperson Hla Thein by RFA went unanswered this week.

Translated by Aung Naing. Edited by Matt Reed and Malcolm Foster.

Copyright 1998-2024, 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 January 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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Residents flee Myanmar's delta as junta steps up recruitment efforts

Regime continues its search for troops days after threatening to burn down villages to procure more soldiers.

By RFA Burmese 2024.01.18 -- Villagers in southwest Myanmar are fleeing from forced military recruitment, locals told Radio Free Asia on Thursday. With the country's regime forces increasing the quota of recruits per village, some have begun hiding to avoid service.

Soldiers are now ordering 10 people per village to attend the junta's military training, residents from Ayeyarwady region's Kyonpyaw township said. Recruiters have been heavily campaigning and pressuring residents in small villages, such as Moe Kyoe Pyit and Aing Ma, since Monday, they added.

If junta soldiers keep up their current quota, hundreds of people from the township will be forced to attend militia training, said a Kyonpyaw resident who wished to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals.

"They are [targeting] sections in the township's capital and surrounding villages. Ten people could be selected in a section, and there are more than 100 households in a section," he said. "So about 200 or 300 people will be selected in the whole city."

Rather than take their chances with the raffle, many are choosing instead to leave the area altogether. However, the exact number of residents who have fled is not yet known.

RFA contacted Ayeyarwady region's junta spokesperson Aung Thein Win to learn more about the recruitment process, but calls went unanswered on Thursday.

In October, residents said local administrators chose five people per village across at least seven Ayeyarwady villages, including Dee Du Kone, Thea Hpyu, and Moe Tein Pyin villages in Ngapudaw township. They accused junta forces of recruiting teen soldiers from the delta and bribing locals with cash.

In December, the regime was again accused of recruiting former resistance fighters with offers of cash, food, and awards for surrendering.

Since Friday, western Bago's Nattalin and Thea Kone townships and eastern Bago's Hpa Yar Gyi, Daik-U, and Taungoo townships have also reported being pressured into forced military training.

After attempting to recruit up to 50 people per village, soldiers threatened to burn down villages and demanded fines upward of 800,000 kyat (US$ 380) from those unwilling to serve.

Bago township authorities ordered village administrators to recruit up to 30 men per village. In villages that cannot meet the recruitment requirements for militia training, locals said local men are being pressured to enlist through a raffle system.

Translated by RFA Burmese. Edited by Mike Firn.

Copyright 1998-2024, 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 January 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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Pakistan used 3 drones in Iran border attack: Local official

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Jan 18, 2024

Tehran, IRNA -- An Iranian local security official has said that Pakistan's attack on a border point in southeastern Iran was carried out with three drones.

Alireza Marhamati, deputy security and law enforcement officer of the Governor of Sistan and Baluchestan Province said on Thursday that the Pakistani army used three unmanned aerial vehicles in its overnight cross-border attack on the Iranian city of Saravan.

He added, "In these attacks, four residential houses were destroyed, and around 10 women and children were killed."

The official emphasized that the casualties were Pakistani nationals and that an investigation is underway to determine how they had come to reside on the Iranian side of the border.

"The motive behind this attack is under examination, and the results will be announced shortly," he emphasized.

4353**2050

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Transcript of the Press Briefing by the Spokesperson on Thursday 18th January 2024

Pakistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Assalam-o-Alaikum,

Thanks for joining us for the Weekly Briefing.

This morning Pakistan undertook a series of highly coordinated and specifically targeted precision military strikes against terrorist hideouts in Sistan-o-Baluchistan province of Iran. A number of terrorists were killed during the Intelligence-based operation - codenamed 'Marg Bar Sarmachar'.

Over the last several years, in our engagements with Iran, Pakistan has consistently shared its serious concerns about the safe havens and sanctuaries enjoyed by Pakistani-origin terrorists calling themselves Sarmachars on the ungoverned spaces inside Iran. Pakistan also shared multiple dossiers with concrete evidence of the presence and activities of these terrorists.

However, because of lack of action on our serious concerns, these so-called Sarmachars continued to operate against Pakistan with impunity. This morning's action was taken in light of credible intelligence of impending large scale terrorist activities against Pakistan by these terrorists.

This action is a manifestation of Pakistan's unflinching resolve to protect and defend its national security against all threats. The successful execution of this highly complex operation is also a testimony to the professionalism of the Armed Forces of Pakistan. Pakistan will continue to take all necessary steps to preserve the safety and security of its people which is sacrosanct, inviolable and sacred.

Pakistan fully respects the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The sole objective of today's act was in pursuit of Pakistan's own security and national interest which is paramount and cannot be compromised.

As a responsible member of the international community, Pakistan upholds the principles and purposes of the UN Charter including territorial integrity and sovereignty of member states. Guided by these principles, and in exercise of our legitimate rights within international law, Pakistan will never allow its sovereignty and territorial integrity to be challenged, under any pretext or circumstances.

Iran is a brotherly country and the people of Pakistan have great respect and affection for the people of Iran. We have always emphasized dialogue and cooperation in confronting common challenges including the menace of terrorism and will continue to endevaour to find joint solutions.

Prime Minister of Pakistan Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar who is currently in Davos to attend the 54th Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF), has decided cut short his visit in view of the ongoing developments.

At WEF, the Prime Minister participated in the Informal Gathering of the World Economic Leaders (IGWEL), and delivered keynote address at the event titled "Trade Tech's Trillion-Dollar Promise" and held meetings with participating leaders on the sidelines.

Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani is in Kampala, Uganda, to participate in the 19th Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Non-Aligned Movement and the Third South Summit of the Group of 77 & China. His participation in these important summits is a reflection of the high priority Pakistan attaches to promoting cooperation among the Global South, including on issues related to sustainable development. The Foreign Minister has also cut short his visit in light of recent developments.

The 14th of January 2024 marks a painful milestone for the human conscience. It was the 100th day of Israel's war on Palestine, which has taken over 24,000 lives in Gaza - a toll that is escalating with each passing day. The indiscriminate violence by Israel has to end. Humanity must prevail. The international community must play its part in saving the people of Palestine from the barbaric acts of the occupation authorities.

The month of January carries painful memories of three massacres committed by the Indian forces in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) during 1990s.

Over 50 innocent people were martyred and hundreds were injured when the Indian troops had opened indiscriminate fire on peaceful protesters in Gaw Kadal area of Srinagar on 21 January 1990. A few days later, on 25 January 1990, at least 21 unarmed Kashmiris were martyred by the Indian troops in north Kashmir's Handwara town. On 27 January 1994, a day after India's Republic Day, Indian troops massacred 27 civilians in Kupwara town.

We remember the martyrs of these massacres and pay rich tribute to their sacrifices. The perpetrators of these massacres should be held accountable.

Pakistan will continue to extend political, diplomatic and moral support to our Kashmiri brothers and sisters for the just and peaceful settlement of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute in accordance with the UN Security Council Resolutions.

Thank you!

***

Spokesperson: Let's start with Khalid sb.

Khalid Mehmood, Express News: Ma'am, Iranian forces are again preparing and there are some reports that they are preparing missiles. If they attack again then will Pakistan's response be the same as today's response?

Spokesperson: I would not like to indulge in speculation. Pakistan has said that we would like to have peaceful relations with all countries in the region, including with our neighbour Iran. And, we have also said that Pakistan's security and sovereignty is sacrosanct and Pakistan remains ready and is willing to protect itself.

Mateen Haider, G News: There was an earlier statement made by you that Pakistan carried out strike. First, you'd like to share details of these strikes, whether it was through regular Pakistan Air Force or through drones or missiles and what are the details of casualties?a

Spokesperson: It is my understanding that these details will be coming soon from ISPR. So, I will not indulge in operational details.

Spokesperson: Ji Azaz sb

Azaz Syed, Geo News: Iranian State Media has recently reported that they have also sought explanation from Pakistan. Although, they attacked first and we have retaliated, but their state media is saying that they have sought some kind of explanation from Pakistan. Have you received any kind of communication from Iran?

Spokesperson: As you know, this incident took place this morning. And, at this point, I'm not aware of any contact that took place in the last two three hours.

Spokesperson: Yes, our friend from IRNA.

Afzal Reza, IRNA: Ma'am, there are some reports regarding some countries trying to deescalate the tension between two brotherly countries. Comments?

Spokesperson: As I said earlier, Pakistan considers the people of Iran as our friends and brothers and we have no interest in escalating any situation and we hope that others understand this. And we also believe that acts like the one which took place a couple of nights ago, create difficulties and give the adversaries of our friendship the pretext to create more difficulties in the region.

Ali Hussain, Business Recorder: Ji thank you ma'am. Iran violated Pakistan's sovereignty and carried out strikes inside Pakistan and Pakistan in response retaliated and carried out the same strikes inside Iran. What's next? Is there any channel of communication between the two countries currently to de-escalate the situation? Or, where both the countries are heading toward?

Spokesperson: As I said earlier, Pakistan has also always emphasized dialogue and cooperation. And, we have always chosen a path of dialogue. We also believe that dialogue and cooperation is essential for confronting common challenges, including the menace of terrorism. And, we would like to continue to engage with our neighbour to combat this menace and to ensure that peace prevails and...

Ali Hussain: Including Iran?

Spokesperson: Sorry?

Ali Hussain: We will continue to engage with our neighbours including Iran?

Spokesperson: Including Iran. We are talking about Iran. We will continue to engage with our neighbour Iran to ensure that peace prevails and that the two countries make concerted and coordinated efforts to combat the threat of terrorism.

Anas Mallick, Capital TV: Thank you so much ma'am. Has there been any efforts for third party mediation by regional stakeholders? And if so, what is Pakistan's response? Any countries that you would want to mention if there has been any at all? Thank you.

Spokesperson: I am not aware of third-party mediation as you mentioned, Pakistan and Iran do have several channels of communication. And, at this point, I am not aware of any third parties stepping forward in this context.

Jaleel Akhtar, VOA: China has urged Pakistan and Iran to exercise restraint. Has China approached Pakistan and Iran for any mediation because the China is very close friend of both Pakistan and Iran. And earlier they also mediated to de-escalate the situation between Saudi Arabia and Iran. What are your comments please?

Spokesperson: As I just said, I am not aware of any mediation by any third party that has taken place or is on the horizon.

Rashida Sial, Abb Takk TV: Thank you so much Ma'am. In this Operation Sarmachar, have the hideouts of BLA or BLF been targeted or not?

Spokesperson: Again, on this question, please wait for an advice from ISPR which will be coming shortly.

Adil Nizami, Hum News: Ma'am, we've already heard about Marg Bar America, Marg Bar Israel and now you have used a new name which is Marg Bar Sarmachar. Is there any special reason to name it in Persian? As it is an interesting name.

Spokesperson: I am not an expert in Persian language. So, I cannot comment on how interesting it is. But, this is a codename which is as you know, it was an intelligence based operation and our military authorities and ISPR would be better positioned to respond to this question.

Sara Zaman, VOA: So, in your opening remarks, you said that the terrorists that were killed were Pakistanis. So, how has that already been established? How have their identities been established already?

Spokesperson: Pakistan, for the last several months and years, have been in contact with Iran authorities and we have shared with them concrete evidence of the presence of these terrorist hideouts inside Iran and that is why we are very confident of the statement that we have made. For further details, please wait for an advice from ISPR.

Sumaira Khan, Samaa News: Thank you Ma'am, I just wanted to know right after Operation Marg Bar Sarmachar, did we receive any official contact from the Iranian authorities in Islamabad and Tehran, vis a vis the Foreign Office of Pakistan?

Spokesperson: As far as I know, until I came to this podium, I'm not aware of any contact. I underline, I am not aware of any contract.

Naveed Siddiqui, Dateline Islamabad: Ma'am thank you very much. After India and Afghanistan, how do you see the situation and growing tension with the close, next-door and brotherly country Iran?

Spokesperson: As I said in our opening remarks, Pakistan considers Iran as a close friend. We have great respect and affection for the Iranian people. Pakistan fully respects the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the sole objective of today's act was in pursuit of Pakistan's own security. And it was not targeted against Iran; it was targeted against certain individuals, terrorist groups, who were having hideouts and sanctuaries inside Iran. So, we should not see it as something that is targeted against Iran. It is clearly focused and targeted against a terror outfits, which call themselves Sarmachars.

Siyar Ali Shah, Khyber News: Indian Foreign Ministry yesterday issued a statement justifying Iran attack in Balochistan saying that we understand the actions that countries take in self-defence. What is your take on it?

Spokesperson: I'm sure they will understand the action that Pakistan took in its self-defence today.

Nazim Tasci, Anadolu Agency: Thank you, ma'am. Since yesterday, what kind of response did you get in your talks with Iranian side? And secondly, have there been any developments to reduce the tensions?

Spokesperson: This question has been asked, and as I said, since until I arrived on this podium, since this morning, I am not aware of any contacts that have taken place between Pakistan and Iran.

Ghazala Noureen, Suno TV: Ma'am, it has been said by the Iranian Foreign Minister that before attacking the borders of Pakistan he held talks with Pakistani Foreign Minister. Do you confirm this? Secondly, after the Operation Marg Bar Sarmachar and returning of Prime Minister to Pakistan, is there any possibility to take back the decision of calling back the Ambassador?

Spokesperson: I'll answer your first question as per the ground rules that we set in the beginning. (For) the first question that you asked our response is absolutely not. There was no such information which was shared with Pakistan prior to the act that took place two nights ago.

Anwar Abbas, Bol News: Ma'am, what is the reason that during these attacks no soldier from both sides was martyred?

Spokesperson: I think I will speak about the operation that we conducted, Operation Marg Sarmachar. This operation was not conducted against the State of Iran against institutions of Iran or any military targets inside Iran. It was against terror targets and that is the reality I hope you would underline.

Kamran Raja, Huashang News: Ma'am, there is already unrest at the borders of neighbouring countries of Pakistan, especially if we talk about India and Afghanistan. The same practice can be seen from Iran on the borders now. So, how does Pakistan see this? Will this unrest situation at borders continue in the future?

Spokesperson: I think your question is not based on facts. Pakistan has demonstrated time and again, that it has the capacity and the willingness to defend itself against all threats that it faces and it has the willingness and the resolve to protect its sovereignty.

Shaukat Piracha, Aaj News: A long impression has been that Iran is very difficult neighbour, and especially the countries in the Middle East from Yemen to Syria or Lebanon, they've been complaining Iranian interference into their internal matters and now Pakistan has faced it ultimately. Whether there is any retrospection about Pakistan in itself that why Pakistan was so proactive in dealing with Iran vis-a-vis the pressure from the Western world because for 10, 15 years Pakistan has been one or the other way, siding with Iran. A small brief just one-liner, those killed today in Pakistani action, whether they were Pakistani citizens or Iranian citizens.

Spokesperson: Okay, first regarding Iran, Pakistan enjoys cordial friendly ties with Iran. These are historic ties, and we have remained engaged in a number of dialogues to enhance cooperation between Pakistan and Iran, that includes in the areas of trade, connectivity, people-to-people contacts and energy. Pakistan also believes that this year, we saw some very positive trends in our relationship and there were some key milestones. These include the inauguration of the Mand-Pishin border sustenance market, the 220KV Polan-Gabd electricity transmission lines, the signing of trade agreements. And we also saw that Pakistan and Iran worked closely and consulted with each other on a number of regional and global issues, including in the context of OIC. That is why it was very surprising for us what happened two days ago. And, we believe that there are channels of communication between Pakistan and Iran, and all aspects of concern can be shared between the two countries and we hope that such acts are not repeated again, because such acts only undermine trust and confidence between neighbourly countries.

Asim Ali Rana, Voice of America: Operation Marg Sarmacher, is this operation still continuing or it's over? Have you achieved your targets or is it still continuing?

Spokesperson: I don't want to sound like a broken record but please wait for an advice from ISPR which will be coming shortly and it will share these operational details that you're all very keen to find.

Mudassar Chaudhary, The Destination: Ma'am my question is based on the second part of Mr. Paracha's question, were those who were killed in the recent attack there Pakistanis, some pictures of BLF have also emerged, or was there any Iranian killed too?

Spokesperson: As I said earlier in my opening remarks, our target was these hideouts and sanctuaries of those so-called Sarmachars, who are Pakistan-origin terrorists, and currently based in Iran. And, that was the target of our operation and it was an intelligence-based operation.

Khawaja Nayyar Iqbal, Media Today: Regarding the situation developed after the violation of Pakistan's airspace by Iran, does Pakistan think that India would take advantage from this situation and start a propaganda? Secondly...

Spokesperson: Your first question is based on speculation so I can't respond to that.

Zeeshan Yousafzai, Dunya News: Ma'am, my question is that when Iran attacked, the former Foreign Ministers, Khawaja Asif, Hina Rabbani Khar and other personalities said that we should stay on diplomatic level and not take a knee-jerk action instead. How do you see this? Don't you think that there could be a war in the region with a little mistake? How do you see this?

Spokesperson: Pakistan believes that there should be peace in the region and especially there should be peace between friendly countries and neighbours. And, that is what we have emphasized all along and we hope that this is a message that all countries in the region will adhere by so that we all live in peace.

Abdullah Mohmand, Dawn TV: As Iran claimed that Pakistan was informed, similarly, Ambassador of Afghanistan to Pakistan Ahmed Khan Shakeeb claimed in an interview to the television that the information Pakistan was given regarding terrorism or the use of Afghan soil to us is not enough and true. And if any Afghan citizen is involved in terrorism in Pakistan, that is his individual act. It has no relation with Afghanistan.

Spokesperson: Can you please repeat the question? Is it on Afghanistan or Iran?

Abdullah Mohmand: It is the same thing.

Spokesperson: No, it is not the same thing. Please repeat your question because I got confused in your question.

Abdullah Mohmand: Ambassador of Afghanistan to Pakistan Ahmed Khan Shakeeb claimed in an interview to the television that the information Pakistan has given regarding terrorism or the use of Afghan soil to them is untrue. And if any Afghan citizen is involved in terrorism in Pakistan, that is his individual act. It has no relation with Afghanistan.

Spokesperson: We have shared concrete intelligence and information with Afghan authorities about the terror hideouts and sanctuaries inside Afghanistan. They are fully aware of the individuals that we are talking about. And, it is important that the Afghan authorities take action against these terrorists and hand them over to Pakistan and ensure that the soil of Afghanistan is not a springboard of terrorism against Pakistan and the wider region.

Abdul Hadi Mayar, Hum Pashto-1: Thank you, Ma'am. As you said that Pakistan has targeted the Pakistani Sarmachars then should there be any reciprocal conflict between Iran and Pakistan?

Spokesperson: I don't understand your question.

Abdul Hadi Mayar: The Sarmachars, against whom Pakistan carried out the action, they were not Iranians, but they were Pakistanis. And Pakistan took action against them as Iran claims that it carried out action against its militants in Balochistan. Then there does not seem any direct conflict between Pakistan and Iran. The same as Pakistan, we say that Afghanistan is hosting our rebels and the same has been claiming by Afghanistan. So, there does not seem any direct conflict between Pakistan and Iran. What is your take on this?

Spokesperson: Pakistan has said that we fully respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. And, the sole objective of today's act was in pursuit of Pakistan's own security and national interest, which is paramount. And it was directed and targeted against Pakistan-origin terrorists who call themselves Sarmachar and are currently based inside of Iranian territory.

Fida Hussain, RNN/ Daily Sada e Himalaya: Thank you very much madam. Before asking questions, I would like to thank. I've been covering Foreign Office previously but I was shifted to my village for quite some time which is in district Ghanche, located near Siachen, in Gilgit-Baltistan. Our delegation of journalists is visiting here which you have so kindly facilitated and I wholeheartedly thank you on behalf of my team. As so many questions have been asked on Iran and Pakistan's tensions. Whereas, there are stranded families of Gilgit-Baltistan of whom family members are divided between the two countries. Why is there no step taken on humanitarian grounds regarding this issue?

Spokesperson: Thank you very much first for joining us today and for coming to listen to us and sharing your concerns. I think what you just stated is a policy proposal, which we can take back to our concerned departments. I can generally speak about the importance of ensuring that the people of Gilgit-Baltistan or of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, who have divided families, have a right to meet with their family members and for that, there is a need to facilitate such interactions.

Zeeshan Yousafzai, Dunya News: Ma'am, Torkham border is closed from 4 to 5 days and the Chamber of Commerce also held meetings there and they said that there should be two months of relaxation in visa policy for Afghan traders. Chaman border is also closed due to protest and in North Waziristan there is an Angoor Adda route which is also closed from 70 days for trade. What do you think, Pakistan is already facing economic crisis and the trade is also closing with the neighbouring countries? Secondly, Afghan Taliban have also threatened to close the Torkham border permanently. What is your take on this?

Spokesperson: So, regarding the border crossings and the issues that you have underlined, Pakistan has said that the movement of people between Pakistan and Afghanistan should take place on the basis of a valid visa and a valid identity document which is the passport. This is a normal immigration practice around the world. And Pakistan has now identified and ensured that the movement of people across the border should take place on the basis of the passport. And, we hope that our Afghan neighbours would understand the importance of possession of valid documentation when they travel to Pakistan.

Thank you!

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Iran calls on 'brotherly' Pakistan to check terrorist bases on its soil

Iran Press TV

Thursday, 18 January 2024 4:52 PM

Iran has addressed "the friendly and brotherly government of Pakistan" after a tiff over Islamabad's drone attack on an Iranian village near their border, calling on the neighboring state to prevent the establishment of "terrorist bases" on its soil.

In a statement issued on Thursday, Iran's Foreign Ministry said it "condemns the unbalanced and unacceptable action of Pakistan in the drone attack on non-Iranian citizens in a village on the border wall of the two countries".

Nine people, including four children, were killed after Islamabad admitted attacking a village in Saravan in Iran's southeastern Sistan and Baluchestan province, characterizing it a response to Tehran's operation against terrorist bases inside Pakistan.

"While the Islamic Republic adheres to the policy of good neighborliness and brotherhood between the two nations and the two governments of the Islamic Republic of Iran and Pakistan and does not allow the enemies to darken the good and fraternal relations between the two countries, it considers the security of the people and the territorial integrity of the country as its red line," the ministry statement in Tehran said.

"And it strongly expects the friendly and brotherly government of Pakistan to adhere to its commitments in preventing the establishment of bases and armed terrorist groups on Pakistan's soil," it added.

Iran said on Tuesday it had hit bases of Jaish al-Adl inside Pakistan to prevent another attack after 11 Iranian policemen were killed by the terrorist group in its hit-and-run raid on a police station in the city of Rask last month.

In the Tuesday incident, the ministry said, the border outpost of the IRGC "upon seeing the preparation of a terrorist group to leave for the territory of the Islamic Republic of Iran to carry out another terrorist operation similar to the criminal act in Rask, took preventive action against the terrorist group in its barracks and headquarters in the heights of the region and kilometers away from residential areas".

"This procedure is part of the inherent duties of the border forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran to deal with any imminent terrorist threat against the people and citizens of the country," the ministry said.

"The account of the government of Pakistan as a friend and brother is separate from armed terrorists and the Islamic Republic of Iran always adheres to its neighborly policy and does not allow its enemies and terrorist allies to strain these relations, especially when the genocide and crimes of the Zionist regime are the first issue of the Islamic world," it concluded.

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YEREVAN, JANUARY 19, ARMENPRESS. Russia is ready to maximally contribute to the establishment of peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan, according to Russian Ambassador to Armenia Sergey Kopyrkin.

In an interview with RIA Novosti, Kopyrkin said Russia continues to actively, decisively and consistently work in that direction.

I want to say that Russia is determined to maximally contribute to the process of establishing truly sustainable and fair peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan, the Russian Ambassador said, adding that Moscow is also willing to assist the two countries in demarcation and delimitation of the border, as well as to develop trust.
'War-Like': Cross-Border Strikes A Major Escalation In Long-Running Iran-Pakistan Row

By Abubakar Siddique January 18, 2024

Iran and Pakistan have been battling insurgencies in a large swathe of desolate territory along their 900-kilometer-long shared border for decades.

The two neighbors have occasionally attempted to cooperate. But more frequently they have accused each other of sheltering militants who carry out deadly attacks on the other country.

In a major escalation, Tehran and Islamabad both launched deadly cross-border attacks this week in the worst-ever flare-up of violence involving the two countries.

The tit-for-tat strikes have plunged relations between Iran and nuclear-armed Pakistan into crisis and threatened to ignite a full-scale war in the volatile region, experts said.

"The situation after the attacks is war-like," said Kiyya Baloch, a Pakistani journalist and commentator who tracks militancy in the region. "It will have grave consequences."

Iran carried out a drone and missile attack on Pakistan's southwestern province of Balochistan late on January 16, killing two children. Tehran said it had targeted Jaish al-Adl, a Baluch militant group believed to be operating out of Pakistan.

In response, Islamabad said it conducted air strikes on January 18 in Iran's southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchistan targeting the hideouts of the Baloch Liberation Front (BLF) and the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), two separatist groups suspected of hiding out in Iran.

Iranian officials said the strikes killed at least nine people, including six children and two women. The attack was the first time that a foreign country had launched an assault inside the Islamic republic since the devastating 1980-88 Iran-Iraq War.

Underscoring the breakdown in relations, Pakistan recalled its ambassador from Iran and blocked Tehran's envoy from returning to Islamabad.

"It is a new twist and a major diplomatic setback, which was not expected in their bilateral relations," Baloch said.

Experts said the neighbors had appeared to be improving ties after years of mutual mistrust.

Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and Pakistan's acting prime minister, Anwar ul-Haq Kakar, met at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, this week. Meanwhile, a Pakistani delegation visited Iran's southeastern Chabahar Port on January 16 in a bid to boost bilateral trade.

History Of Suspicion

Pakistan and Iran's relations have long been overshadowed by the low-level insurgencies simmering in predominately Baluch areas spanning both countries.

Pakistan's resource-rich but impoverished province of Balochistan has been the scene of a separatist insurgency and a brutal state crackdown that have killed thousands of people since 2004.

Meanwhile, separatists and militant groups operating in Sistan-Baluchistan, one of Iran's poorest provinces, carry out sporadic attacks against Iranian security forces.

Jundallah, a Baluch militant group, began carrying out bomb and gun attacks against Iranian security personnel after it was formed in 2005. After a deadly government crackdown and the execution of Jundallah leader Abdolmalek Rigi in 2010, Jaish al-Adl emerged as its successor.

Since 2013, Tehran has launched cross-border missile attacks and carried out assassinations of Jaish al-Adl leaders in Pakistan and accused Islamabad of sheltering them. In turn, Pakistan has accused Iran of supporting the BLA and BLF.

Experts said the recent cross-border strikes could prompt Tehran and Islamabad to boost their alleged support to their militant allies.

"This, in turn, will prolong and intensify the [Baluch] conflicts in these two countries," said Baloch.

A Wider War?

There have been concerns that the recent flare-up could trigger a full-blown war. But experts have played down that possibility, saying the two countries have little appetite for a costly conflict as they grapple with a litany of internal and external challenges.

"The Islamic republic has enough on its plate in the region and is overstretched," said Hamidreza Azizi, a visiting fellow at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs in Berlin. "A new war on its eastern border is the last thing they want."

Experts said Tehran has been flexing its muscles in the region since Israel, Iran's archenemy, launched a war in the Gaza Strip against Hamas, which has been designated a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union. Hamas, which is backed by Iran, launched an unprecedented attack inside Israel on October 7.

Prior to its air raids on Pakistan, Tehran recently conducted missile attacks in Syria and Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region. The former was seen as retaliation against the Islamic State (IS) extremist group for its deadly suicide bombings inside Iran on January 3 that killed nearly 100 people.

Pro-Iranian militant groups, including Lebanon's Hizballah and the Huthi rebels in Yemen, meanwhile, have hit Israeli and U.S. targets in the Middle East, putting the region on edge.

Azizi said Tehran's decision to hit targets in Pakistan was a miscalculation, adding Iran was not prepared for Pakistan's retaliatory attack.

"It was a grave strategic mistake by Iran to create unnecessary conflict while it is already struggling with an array of different conflicts in the region," he said.

Although experts said new strikes by Iran and Pakistan cannot be ruled out, they expected Tehran and Islamabad to pursue deescalation.

In statements issued on January 18, Tehran and Islamabad both called for good neighborly relations, even as they urged each other to tackle militancy in their territories.

China, which has ties with both Pakistan and Iran, has urged restraint. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said on January 18 that Beijing "would like to play a constructive role in cooling down the situation."

"Being the main ally of Islamabad and a close partner of Tehran, Beijing is trying to calm the situation down," said Azizi.

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/iran-pakistan-strikes- cross-border-escalation-region/32782339.html

Copyright (c) 2024. 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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Comment by Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on tensions between Iran and Pakistan

18 January 2024 14:32

50-18-01-2024

We are closely monitoring the growing tensions on the Iranian-Pakistani border areas with great concern. We urge both parties to exercise ultimate restraint and resolve the situation through political and diplomatic means. Once again, we emphasise the importance of conducting any counter-terrorist operations outside of sovereign territory only after reaching an agreement and coordinating with the authorities of the states involved.

It is discouraging that these events are occurring between friendly states, members of the SCO, with whom we are developing partnership relations. The further escalation will only benefit those who are not interested in peace, stability and security in the region.

We hope that Iran and Pakistan will soon find a way to settle the conflict in the spirit of traditional neighbourliness, including by addressing the elimination of terrorist threats originating from their respective territories. We underscore Russia's unwavering readiness to cooperate in the fight against international terrorism in all its forms and manifestations.

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Pakistan Launches Strikes on Iran's Saravan Region, Sistan, Balochistan Provinces - Reports

Sputnik News

20240118

The sounds of explosions were heard in several areas of Saravan County in Iran's southeastern province of Sistan and Balochistan, which borders Pakistan, said Alireza Marhamati, the province's deputy governor for security and law enforcement.

"The sound of several explosions was heard in several areas around Saravan," Iranian news agency Mehr quoted Marhamati as saying.

According to reports, the strikes appear to be retaliation for Iran's attacks, and are the first on Iranian territory since the Iran-Iraq war.

Following reports of a "missile and drone attack" by Pakistan on several targets in the areas around Saravan in the southeastern province of Sistan and Balochistan, bordering Pakistan, Iranian state television confirmed several explosions in Saravan, citing security officials in the province.

"Three women and four non-Iranian children were killed in the incident," Iranian state television and radio quoted the deputy governor of Sistan and Baluchistan as saying.

Pakistan's military carried out overnight attacks in the territory of Iran against "anti-Pakistan militant groups," AFP reported Thursday, citing a senior intelligence source not authorized to give information to the media.

"I can only confirm that we have conducted strikes against anti-Pakistan militant groups that were targeted inside Iran," the source told the agency, adding that the government would provide official information in a statement later in the morning.

Pakistan has carried out a series of precision strikes against "terrorist hideouts" inside Iran, which killed a number of "terrorists," the Pakistani Foreign Ministry said Thursday.

"This morning Pakistan undertook a series of highly coordinated and specifically targeted precision military strikes against terrorist hideouts in Siestan-o-Baluchistan province of Iran. A number of terrorists were killed during the Intelligence-based operation - codenamed *'Marg Bar Sarmachar'*," the ministry said in a statement on the website.

The ministry also said Islamabad "fully respects the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Islamic Republic of Iran," adding that "the sole objective of today's act was in pursuit of Pakistan's own security and national interest which is paramount and cannot be compromised."

Pakistani aircraft have entered the airspace of Iran and successfully returned after delivering strikes on hideouts on its territory, Reuters reported on Thursday, citing a source.

On Tuesday, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps launched ballistic missiles and drones at a base of the terrorist group Jaish al-Adl in Pakistan's southwestern Balochistan region in retaliation for terrorist attacks on its own territory.

This was the first missile strike by the Iranian Armed Forces on Pakistani territory. Islamabad said that the attack left two children dead and three people injured, and condemned Iran's actions as well as voiced concerns over Tehran not forewarning Islamabad about the strikes via existing communication channels.

In a call with his Pakistani counterpart on Wednesday, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said that Tehran respects the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Pakistan. He also expressed hope that the two countries would continue cooperation, particularly on security.

A Sputnik

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US, China Call on Pakistan, Iran to Avoid Escalation

By Akmal Dawi January 18, 2024

Tensions between Pakistan and Iran have reached a boiling point following reciprocal airstrikes across their shared border, leaving civilians dead and raising fears of further escalation. The situation has drawn the attention of the United States and China, with both calling for no further escalation in violence.

On Thursday, Pakistani airstrikes in Iran's Sistan and Baluchistan provinces killed several people, including four children and three women, Iranian officials said.

Pakistan justified the airstrikes as targeting "hideouts used by terrorist organizations" in Iran, a claim strongly rejected by Tehran.

The strikes took place two days after Iran bombed targets on Pakistan's side of the border, killing two children in an attack it said was aimed at a Sunni "terrorist" group.

Both sides vehemently deny violating international law and each accused the other of breaching its territorial sovereignty. Pakistan recalled its ambassador to Iran on Wednesday.

On Thursday, the White House said it was monitoring the situation closely.

"We don't want to see an escalation of any armed conflict in the region, certainly between those two countries," John Kirby, a spokesperson for the U.S. National Security Council, told reporters.

U.S. officials have long blamed Iran for its "destabilizing behavior" in the region, charges Iranian officials have repudiated.

China has also called for calm and restraint.

"If there is need from the two sides, we would like to play a constructive role in cooling down the situation," Mao Ning, a spokesperson for China's foreign ministry, told reporters in Beijing on Thursday.

China's offer to mediate stems from its significant economic and political ties with both nations. It has invested heavily in resource extraction and infrastructure projects in Pakistan, particularly in the restive Baluchistan province, where the recent airstrikes took place.

Additionally, both Pakistan and Iran are members of several Chinese-led regional enterprises, including the Belt and Road infrastructure initiative and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.

While both Pakistan and Iran claim their airstrikes targeted terrorists, independent observers paint a picture of civilians caught in the crossfire.

"Both parties are targeting Baloch civilian population on both sides of the border," the Human Rights Council of Baluchistan, an organization advocating for the rights of Baluch people, said in a statement on Thursday.

VOA White House Bureau Chief Patsy Widakuswara contributed to this report.

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US sanctions target UAE shipping firm for Russia oil price cap 'violations'

Iran Press TV

Thursday, 18 January 2024 5:39 PM

The United States has imposed sanctions against a shipping company based in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for violating the $60-per-barrel price cap on Russian crude oil exports.

The Treasury said in a statement released on Thursday that the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) had imposed sanctions on Hennesea Shipping Co Ltd, which it said was the beneficial owner of 18 mostly older tankers acquired in late 2022.

"The US Department of the Treasury's OFAC is taking its first oil price cap enforcement action of 2024, targeting a shipping company linked to a price cap violation," the statement from the Treasury read.

Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyemo said, "Today's actions once again demonstrate that anyone who violates the price cap will face the consequences."

"No one should doubt our coalition's commitment to stopping those who help the Kremlin."

The HS Atlantica, one of the vessels owned by Hennesea, was previously identified by the Treasury for transporting Russian-origin crude oil that exceeded the $60 cap.

The objective of the price limit on Russian crude oil, which was implemented by the G7 in December 2022, is to reduce the funds accessible to Russia amid the conflict in Ukraine. This will be achieved by permitting Western-provided insurance and other services solely on shipments that are priced below $60 per barrel.

"The price cap is intended to maintain a reliable supply of crude oil and petroleum products to the global market while reducing the revenues the Russian Federation earns from oil after its own war of choice against Ukraine inflated global energy prices," the Treasury statement said.

The decision is said to block Hennesea's dollar-based transactions, which will place the firm on the Specially Designated Nationals list.

"All property and interests in property of (Hennesea) that are in the United States or in the possession or control of US persons are blocked and must be reported to OFAC.," the Treasury stated.

Washington first banned the violators of the price cap in October 2023, targeting two companies and two of their tankers. Several other entities and vessels have been subject to sanctions over cap violations since.

The European Union has also joined the sanctions campaign.

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Prosecutor Seeks Almost Five Years In Prison For Russian Nationalist Putin Critic Girkin

By RFE/RL January 18, 2024

The prosecution has asked a court in Moscow to convict and sentence Igor Girkin (aka Strelkov), once a leader of Russian-backed separatists in Ukraine's east, to almost five years in prison on a charge of making public calls for extremist activities.

Girkin's lawyer, Aleksandr Molokhov, told reporters on January 18 that the prosecutor asked the Moscow City Court to sentence Girkin, who pleaded not guilty to the charge, to four years and 11 months in prison in the trial that started in mid-December.

The 53-year-old was arrested in July after he sharply criticized President Vladimir Putin in online statements for his handling of the Ukraine invasion, referring to the Russian leader as a "nonentity" and accusing him of "cowardly mediocrity."

He also has called out Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu for "mistakes" in the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which is nearing the two-year mark, and has accused both of "incompetence," saying a total military mobilization is needed for Russia to achieve victory.

In one of his harshest rants, Girkin said in a July 18 post on his official Telegram channel that Putin should transfer power "to someone truly capable and responsible." The post has garnered almost 800,000 views.

A former officer of Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB), Girkin was a key commander of Russian-backed separatists in Ukraine's eastern Donbas region in 2014 and helped Russia annex Ukraine's Crimea that year.

Shortly after his arrest, Girkin made a statement from pretrial detention, saying he plans to take part in the upcoming presidential election in March.

In November 2022, a court in the Netherlands sentenced Girkin and two other defendants to life in prison in absentia in the case of the 2014 shooting down of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 over Ukraine. All 298 people onboard died in the crash.

In February, international investigators said there were "strong indications" that Putin was personally involved in the incident.

The Boeing 777 flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was blown out of the sky on July 17, 2014, amid a conflict between Russian-backed separatists and Ukrainian armed forces. The victims came from more than a dozen countries, although more than two-thirds of them were Dutch citizens.

Russia has denied any involvement in the shooting down of the plane.

With reporting by TASS and Interfax

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-putin-critic-girkin- strelkov-prison-sentence-ukraine/32782030.html

Copyright (c) 2024. 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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Eight Men In Russia's Bashkortostan Handed Jail Terms Amid Unprecedented Rallies

By RFE/RL's Idel.Realities, RFE/RL's Russian Service January 18, 2024

UFA, Russia -- A court in Ufa, the capital of Russia's Republic of Bashkortostan, has sentenced eight men to up to 14 days in jail for taking part in an unprecedented rally earlier this week to support the former leader of the banned Bashqort movement, Fail Alsynov, who has criticized Russia's full-scale aggression against Ukraine.

The Kirov district court on January 18 sentenced activists Salavat Idelbayev and Rustam Yuldashev to 14 and 13 days in jail, respectively, after finding them guilty of taking part in "an unsanctioned rally that led to the disruption of infrastructure activities and obstructed the work of a court" on January 15.

A day earlier, the same court sentenced Ilnar Galin to 13 days in jail, and Denis Skvortsov, Fanzil Akhmetshin, Yulai Aralbayev, Radmir Mukhametshin, and Dmitry Petrov to 10 days in jail each on the same charges.

The sentences were related to a January 15 rally of around 5,000 people in front of a court in the town of Baimak, where the verdict and sentencing of Alsynov, who was charged with inciting ethnic hatred, were expected to be announced. But the court postponed the announcement to January 17 to allow security forces to prepare for any reaction to the verdict in the controversial trial.

On January 17, thousands of supporters gathered in front of the court again, and after Alsynov was sentenced to four years in prison, clashes broke out as police using batons, tear gas, and stun grenades forced the protesters to leave the site. Several protesters were injured and at least two were hospitalized.

Dozens of protesters were detained and the Investigative Committee said those in custody from the January 17 unrest will face criminal charges -- organizing and participating in mass disorder and using violence against law enforcement.

Separately on January 18, police detained two young men in Baimak on unspecified charges. Friends of the men said the detentions were most likely linked to the rallies to support Alsynov.

The head of Bashkortostan, Radiy Khabirov, made his first statement on January 18 about the largest protest rally in Russia since Moscow launched its ongoing invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, saying he "will not tolerate extremism and attempts to shake up the situation," and promising to find the "real organizers" of the rallies.

It was Khabirov who initiated the investigation of Alsynov, accusing him of inciting ethnic hatred as well as calling for anti-government rallies and extremist activities and discrediting Russia's armed forces.

In the end, Alsynov was charged only with inciting hatred, which stemmed from a speech he gave at a rally in late April 2023 in the village of Ishmurzino in which he criticized local government plans to start mining gold near the village, as it would bring in migrant laborers.

Investigators said Alsynov's speech "negatively assessed people in the Caucasus and Central Asia, humiliating their human dignity." Alsynov and his supporters have rejected the charge as politically motivated.

Bashkortostan's Supreme Court banned Alsynov's Bashqort group, which for years promoted Bashkir language, culture, and equal rights for ethnic Bashkirs, in May 2020, declaring it extremist.

Bashqort was banned after staging several rallies and other events challenging the policies of both local and federal authorities, including Moscow's move to abolish mandatory indigenous-language classes in the regions with large populations of indigenous ethnic groups.

With reporting by RusNews

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-bashkortostan-alsynov- protests-sentences/32781970.html

Copyright (c) 2024. 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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Russian Defence Minister General of Army Sergei Shoigu inspects fulfilment of state defence orders in Moscow region

18.01.2024

Russian Defence Minister General of the Army Sergei Shoigu inspects the fulfilment of state defence orders at the State Machine-Building Design Bureau Raduga named after. A. Ya. Bereznyak in Moscow region.

The Russian Defence Minister inspected the enterprise's production workshops and the technological process of development, production and modernisation of guided missiles of various classes.

Director General of the State Machine-Building Design Bureau Raduga named after. A. Ya. Bereznyak Sergei Bogatikov reported that the range of one of the products, the production of which has been increased in accordance with the state defence order, is 250 kilometres.

Minister of Defence of the Russian Federation General of the Army Sergei Shoigu demanded to increase the range to 300 kilometres or more.

Director General of the Tactical Missiles Corporation Boris Obnosov reported to General of the Army Sergei Shoigu that a new product with a range of 310 kilometres had already been tested. 'We reduced the cost of the missile and doubled the power of the product,' he added.

'The warhead of the missile is now 800 kilograms. It was 450, it became 800,' said Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Aerospace Forces for Armaments Colonel General Yuri Grekhov.

'We must make sure that we have a reliable supply of this type of missiles,' Sergei Shoigu stated.

'The Russian Armed Forces daily launch the missiles, the enemy daily suffers losses. The production here must be organised in a similar way,' Sergei Shoigu said.

Director General of the Tactical Missiles Corporation Boris Obnosov reported to General of the Army Sergei Shoigu that the enterprise has fully completed the state defence order for 2023, and since the beginning of the special military operation, the output of high-precision weapons has been multiplied, eight times for some nomenclatures of products.

'In general, we will fulfil the task of the state defence order in terms of individual elements for the first half of the year and move directly to 2025,' Director General of the State Machine-Building Design Bureau Raduga named after. A. Ya. Bereznyak Sergei Bogatikov reported.

'We doubled the workforce, purchased new technological equipment and tooling, increased production areas, and also established 12-hour shifts, which allowed us to reach a round-the-clock work schedule and thereby fulfil the task of multiplying the production of high-precision weapons,' he said.

The Minister of Defence of the Russian Federation was presented with air-to-surface cruise missiles, anti-radar and anti-ship missiles, as well as promising samples of guided missile weapons.

Department for Media Affairs and Information

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Russia's Oil Exports Up by 500,000 Bpd in December

Sputnik News

20240118

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The International Energy Agency (IEA) believes that Russia in December increased exports of oil and petroleum products month-on-month by 500,000 barrels per day to 7.8 million barrels per day, while its revenue fell to a six-month low of $14.4 billion, according to a fresh IEA report published on Thursday.

"Russian oil exports rose by 500 kb/d to a nine-month high of 7.8 mb/d in December. Crude shipments were up by 240 kb/d m-o-m to 5 mb/d while product flows rose by 260 kb/d. At the same time, estimated export revenues slumped to a six-month low of $14.4 billion, as Russian oil price discounts increased and benchmark oil prices declined," the report read.

At the same time, Russia decreased its oil production in December by 20,000 barrels per day compared to the previous month to 9.48 million barrels per day, the IEA added.

The IEA said on Thursday that it expects the global oil demand in 2024 to reach 102.96 million barrels per day.

"Global oil demand is forecast to increase by 1.2 mb/d y-o-y in 2024 - a pronounced slowdown from last year's 2.3 mb/d growth," the IEA said in its report.

The reserves of the commercial oil and oil products of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have decreased by 1.3 million barrels in November, the (IEA) said.

"OECD industry stocks rose by a modest 1.3 mb in November, to 2 790 mb, which covered 61.3 days of forward demand. Commercial inventories remained 92 mb below the five-year average with all categories in deficit, except other products, which include LPG," the IEA said.

The oil production in the OPEC+ alliance decreased by 60,000 barrels per day in December compared to the previous month and reached 35.07 million barrels per day, the International Energy Agency said.

"Supply from OPEC's current 12 members rose by 50 kb/d in December to 27.02 mb/d, while flows from the 10 non-OPEC nations edged 20 kb/d lower to 14.83 mb/d. Overall output from the 18 producers subject to quotas was 390 kb/d below an implied target of 35.46 mb/d. That left the group's effective spare capacity, excluding sanctions-hit Iran and Russia, at 5.4 mb/d, with Saudi Arabia accounting for around 60% of the cushion," the report read.

The International Energy Agency has upgraded its estimate for the global oil production in 2023, recording an increase by 1.9 million barrels per day to the record 102 million barrels per day, according to its report.

"In 2023, global oil supply rose by 1.9 mb/d to an average annual 102 mb/d. US oil output accounted for two-thirds of the 2.3 mb/d increase from non-OPEC+," the report read.

The observed oil reserves in the world fell by 8.4 million barrels in November to a record low level since July 2022, the International Energy Agency said.

"Global observed oil inventories were down by 8.4 mb in November, to their lowest since July 2022, with crude oil and middle distillates particularly tigh," the report said.

The IEA also upgraded the estimate for global oil production in 2023 to 102 million bpd.

"In 2023, global oil supply rose by 1.9 mb/d to an average annual 102 mb/d," the report said.

A Sputnik

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Designating Violator of Price Cap Policy on Russian Oil

US Department of State

Press Statement

Matthew Miller, Department Spokesperson

January 18, 2024

The United States is taking additional action today to enforce the Price Cap Coalition's policies, designating the shipping company Hennesea Holdings Limited, whose fleet includes the HS Atlantica, a vessel that was blocked last year after it transported Russian crude oil priced above the cap while using a U.S.-based service provider.

Today's action demonstrates that violating the price cap will result in consequences. Alongside our Price Cap Coalition partners across the G7, European Union, and Australia, we are steadfast in our commitment to hindering evasion that helps Russia fund its illegal war against Ukraine.

The price cap policy prohibits Price Cap Coalition services related to the maritime transport of oil of Russian Federation origin unless that oil is bought and sold at or below specific price caps established by the Coalition. The Department of the Treasury actions were taken pursuant to Executive Order 14024 for operating or having operated in the marine sector of the Russian Federation economy. For more information on today's action, see Treasury's press release.

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YEREVAN, JANUARY 19, ARMENPRESS. Rhetoric and statements of the high-level Azerbaijani officials continue challenging the rule-based order, territorial integrity, sovereignty of Armenia and, hence, the prospects of lasting peace in the region.

Armenian Minister of Foreign Affairs Ararat Mirzoyan announced this on January 19, in Zagreb, during a joint press conference with the Croatian Foreign Minister Gordan Grlic Radman.

Today we exchanged views on international and regional security topics. I thoroughly updated my counterpart on the situation in the South Caucasus. As mentioned, we had earlier opportunities to discuss Armenias vision of establishing stability and peace in the region, efforts aimed at overcoming the challenges and developing regional connectivity. Unfortunately, we see rhetoric and statements of the high-level Azerbaijani officials that continue challenging the rule-based order, territorial integrity, sovereignty of Armenia and, hence, the prospects of lasting peace in the region, the foreign ministry quoted Mirzoyan as saying.

We believe our partners interested in stability in the South Caucasus share the same approach, that peace requires unwavering commitment and genuine interest in lasting solutions. Armenias position has been very clear on possible solutions based on well-known principles and agreements. Countries should recognize each other's territorial integrity without any ambiguity.

The peace treaty should provide clear foundations regarding the further delimitation process, which, according to our belief, should take place in accordance with the Alma-Ata Declaration and based on the freshest and legitimate Soviet Union maps. We also are sure that the connectivity that can be unlocked in the region, the economic and transport infrastructures could also help to advance lasting peace in the region.

We believe that all the infrastructure should be unlocked according to and under the sovereignty and national jurisdictions of the countries and in accordance with the principles of equality and reciprocity.

Moreover, to promote this idea of peace and connectivity, the Government of the Republic of Armenia came up with the initiative of Crossroads of Peace, which is, as I said, about unblocking the infrastructure, increasing the interconnectivity in the region, the Foreign Minister Mirzoyan said.
Eleven People Killed in Jordanian Airstrike on Southern Syria - Source

Sputnik News

20240118

DAMASCUS (Sputnik) - Eleven people, including women and children, were killed in a Jordanian airstrike on the province of As Suwayda in southern Syria, a local source told Sputnik on Thursday.

"Eleven people, including children and women, were killed in Jordanian air strikes on As Suwayda province," the source said.

The shelling took place on the night from Wednesday to Thursday, the source added.

A Sputnik

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PLA warplanes, warships spotted in nighttime patrols around Taiwan island

Global Times

By Liu Xuanzun Published: Jan 18, 2024 10:16 PM

Recent nighttime exercises and patrols by the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) around the island of Taiwan are routine and aim to safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity from "Taiwan independence" secessionists and external interference forces, Chinese mainland experts said on Thursday, amid foreign media hype over the "first large-scale military activity" after the island's regional election.

The defense authority on the island of Taiwan said in a press release on Thursday morning that it detected 24 PLA aircraft and five PLA vessels around the island over the past day, 11 of which crossed the so-called median line of the Taiwan Straits or entered the island's self-proclaimed southwestern and northern air defense identification zone.

Some 18 of the detected PLA aircraft, including Su-30 fighter jets and Y-8 special mission aircraft, operated at night after 7:50 pm on Wednesday, and conducted joint combat patrols with the PLA vessels, according to a separate notice released by the defense authority on the island of Taiwan on Wednesday evening.

Foreign media outlets including Reuters said that it marks the first large-scale PLA military activity after the island's regional election, which voted for the Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) Lai Ching-te as the next regional leader.

The PLA regularly holds exercises and patrols around the island of Taiwan, and they have become routine in recent years, so there is no need to hype or link the drills to the election, a Chinese mainland military expert who requested anonymity told the Global Times on Thursday.

Compared with peak numbers, 24 warplanes and five warships on Wednesday are not significant figures, the expert said.

For example, on September 18, 2023, the defense authority on the island reported the presence of 103 PLA aircraft and nine PLA vessels around the island over the previous day.

The highlight of the latest drills is that they were conducted at night, which showed a high level of round-the-clock combat readiness and training level of the PLA facing the Taiwan Straits, the expert said.

The PLA's routine exercises and patrols send warnings to "Taiwan independence" secessionists and external interference forces and also practically enhance the PLA's combat capabilities, with the goal being to safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity, the expert said.

Beside regular trainings and patrols, the PLA organized three major island blockade exercises as countermeasures to US-Taiwan collusion activities in recent years. The first was in August 2022 countering then US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's provocative visit to the island, the second was in April 2023 countering outgoing Taiwan regional leader Tsai Ing-wen's "stopovers" in the US and her meeting with then US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, and a third in August 2023 countering "stopovers" in the US by Lai, who was then the island's deputy regional leader and a candidate in the DPP 2024 regional leader election.

Analysts said that the PLA could take further countermeasures if Lai makes further "Taiwan independence" secessionist moves following his election.

The election of Lai, who is deemed a hardline "Taiwan independence" separatist and has been colluding with external forces, raises concerns online that the Chinese mainland will be left with no choice but to use force in order to safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity.



The Chinese mainland pledges utmost sincerity and greatest efforts for the prospect of peaceful reunification, but it makes no promise to renounce the use of force and reserve the option of taking all necessary means against interference of external forces and the very small number of "Taiwan independence" separatists and their activities, observers said.

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Only 3% of Taiwanese see themselves as primarily Chinese: US survey

A new poll by Pew Research Center found two thirds of adults consider themselves primarily Taiwanese.

By RFA Staff 2024.01.18 -- Only 3% of adults in Taiwan see themselves as primarily Chinese, despite Beijing insisting that Taiwan is a Chinese province and should be reunified with the mainland, a new survey has found.

Some 67% of respondents to the survey said they were primarily Taiwanese and not Chinese, while 28% think of themselves as both Taiwanese and Chinese, U.S. Pew Research Center said in its report on Tuesday. 2% did not respond.

In total, 2,277 people took part in the survey which focused on how people in Taiwan think of their identity.

Interviews were conducted via telephone, and the margin of error was 2.64.

To the question "How emotionally attached do you feel to the country of China," 11% of respondents said they are "very emotionally attached" while 32% answered "not at all attached."

Adults under the age of 35 are especially likely to identify as solely Taiwanese (83%), and women are more likely than men to do so (72% vs. 63%).

Pew conducted the survey in the period between June 2 to Sept. 17, 2023, several months before the election that saw Lai Ching-te from the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) elected president.

The DPP, however, lost its majority in the 113-seat legislature after the Jan. 13 election to the more pro-Beijing Kuomintang.

Tied to politics

"Identity in Taiwan is tied to politics," Pew's researchers said, "Those who consider themselves primarily Taiwanese are most likely to align themselves with the DPP."

"Meanwhile, those who regard themselves as both Chinese and Taiwanese, or as primarily Chinese, are more aligned with the Kuomintang (KMT)," they said.

At the parliament, the KMT won 52 seats to the DPP's 51 seats.

"Few in Taiwan are happy with how things are going there today," the report said.

Some 24% of respondents expressed satisfaction, while 32% were dissatisfied and 37% were neither satisfied nor dissatisfied.

Those who support the ruling DPP, as well as those who consider themselves primarily Taiwanese, were more likely to express satisfaction with how things are going in Taiwan. Only 10% of those who support the opposition KMT said they were content with the current situation.

Most people across age groups and political alignments, even those who identify as primarily Chinese, consider China's power and influence a threat to Taiwan, according to the survey.

The survey found that 66% categorize it as a major threat, more than those who said the same about the United States (45%) or Russia (25%).

Earlier research found DPP supporters favor the U.S. over China, while KMT supporters favor China over the U.S., the report added.

Edited by Mike Firn and Taejun Kang.

Copyright 1998-2024, 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 January 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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Ukraine warns of ammo shortage as Russia announces capture of village

Iran Press TV

Thursday, 18 January 2024 7:17 PM

Ukraine has warned its US-led Western allies that the Kiev forces were running out of ammunition, while Russian troops have made fresh military advancements on the war front.

Ukraine's war minister told Kiev's Western allies on Thursday that the Kiev forces were facing a "very real and pressing" ammo shortage.

"A shortage of ammunition is a very real and pressing problem that our armed forces are facing at present," Ukraine Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said in a message posted on X, formerly Twitter, after speaking by video link to a gathering of allies led by France and the United States.

The Ukrainian official claimed that Kiev's Western allies had formed a new "artillery coalition" to supply Kiev's troops with more ammo. "The artillery coalition is aimed at solving this issue."

Since Russia launched its special military operation in Donbas in February 2022, the US-led Western allies have supplied Kiev with multiple shipments of guns and ammo worth billions of dollars.

However, Kiev has been asking for more.

In this regard, French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu announced on Thursday that Paris will take charge of Kiev's ammo shortage issue, leading an ammunition and missile production coalition to meet the ammunition demands of the Kiev forces.

Lecornu added that the newly-formed "artillery coalition aimed to strengthen military support for Kiev, both in the short and long term."

"We need to switch to a logic of production, which makes it possible to connect the North American and European defense systems, and the Ukrainian army," Lecornu further added.

"It is an important shift that depends on our ability to go into a war economy which is a way of production, management of stocks, organization of workload, to respond to meet the delivery delays requirements of a customer at war," he added.

The step comes after Western countries vowed this autumn to better organize their armaments and ammunition production in a bid to not only keep up the huge supply of arms and ammunition to Ukraine but also, increase the provision of weaponry and munitions to the Kiev forces fighting a proxy war against Russia on behalf of the US-led Western countries.

Despite, the ally countries' huge shipments of weapons and munitions to Ukraine, the Kiev forces have failed to make any significant progress on the frontline, prompting Western politicians to raise doubts and cost-and-benefit questions regarding continuing the proxy war against Russia.

Russia has repeatedly warned Western politicians against the continued supply of arms and munitions to Ukraine, pointing out that such measures will not stop Russian troops from reaching their military objectives and that arming Kiev would only prolong the conflict.

Meanwhile, the Russians announced on Thursday that their troops had captured the small village of Vesele, 20km northeast of Bakhmut, in eastern Ukraine.

"In the Donetsk direction, as a result of successful actions of Southern Group troop units, the settlement of Vesele in the Donetsk People's Republic was liberated," Russia's Defense Ministry announced.

The pro-Moscow Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions in Donbas held referendums in September 2022, separating from eastern Ukraine and joining Russia.

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'Artillery Coalition' For Ukraine Gathers In Paris As France Pledges 78 Howitzers For Kyiv

By RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service January 18, 2024

An "artillery coalition" for Ukraine is being launched in France on January 18 by 23 nations as the war-wracked country struggles to ensure continued deliveries of heavy weapons and ammunition to stave off Russia's nearly two-year all-out invasion.

The U.S.- and France-led initiative is part of the Ramstein Contact Group of more than 50 allies of Ukraine.

Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu, who is to launch the "artillery coalition' at a ceremony in Paris, said ahead of the gathering that France will produce and deliver to Ukraine 78 truck-mounted Caesar howitzers by early next year to beef up Kyiv's artillery capability in the face of Russia's ongoing all-out invasion.

Speaking to Le Parisien newspaper, Lecornu said the first six Caesars, the flagship gun of French artillery that can strike targets at a distance of more than 40 kilometers, will be delivered in the following weeks.

Ukraine received a first batch of Caesars in May 2022 and has been using them on the front line since.

Ukraine was to be represented at the ceremony by Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, but his ministry said in a statement on Telegram that he won't be able to travel to Paris as announced due to a meeting with Ukraine's military commanders. He will attend via video link, the ministry said.

Earlier, the French government said Umerov had canceled the trip the last moment due to unspecified "security reasons."

The launching of the artillery coalition comes a day after French President Emmanuel Macron said Paris will deliver to Ukraine a fresh batch of about 40 long-range SCALP cruise missiles, as well as "several hundred" bombs.

Macron also announced that next month he will visit Kyiv where he and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy are to sign a bilateral agreement on security guarantees similar to the agreement agreed between Kyiv and London.

Umerov has said Ukrainian forces are running out of ammunition.

"A shortage of ammunition is a very real and pressing problem that our armed forces are facing at present," Umerov said.

The French Defense Ministry said the artillery coalition "aims to combine efforts to help Ukraine have an artillery force that meets the needs of its counteroffensive and its army of the future, in the short and long term."

It is also regarded as another crucial step in Ukraine's transition from Soviet-era to Western artillery equipment.

But the transition has faced a main obstacle in the shortage of ammunition for the Western equipment. To deal with the shell shortage, the European Union has pledged to deliver 1 million shells by spring, but so far only some 300,000 have been delivered.

Meanwhile, Russian shelling on January 18 killed one person and wounded two others in Kupyansk, Kharkiv regional Governor Oleh Synyehubov said on Telegram.

Earlier in the day, Russia launched 33 Iranian-made drones and two S-300 guided missiles at Ukrainian targets, the military said, adding that it had shot down 22 of the drones.

Separately, the Defense Forces of Southern Ukraine said one person was wounded and material damage was reported after drones attacked Kherson and Mykolayiv regions. A total of nine drones were downed in the two regions, the military said on Telegram.

On the battlefield, Russia's Defense Ministry said on January 18 that its troops had captured the small village of Vesele near Bakhmut in Ukraine's eastern region of Donetsk, but the claim could not be independently verified.

With reporting by AFP

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-russia-air-raid- missiles-drones/32780837.html

Copyright (c) 2024. 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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Biden Warns Congress Lack of Ukraine Aid Could Lead to US Troops on Ground

Sputnik News

20240118

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - President Joe Biden met with congressional leaders and warned them that not approving additional funding for Ukraine could possibly result in the deployment of US troops to that country, White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre said on Thursday.

"The president conveyed a sense of urgency about the stakes for our NATO partners in the region, what it would mean for our NATO partners in the region, and certainly we don't want to see our own troops put in a position where we might need to put boots on the ground," Jean-Pierre said.

On Wednesday, US House Speaker Mike Johnson said that the United States' status quo on Ukraine is unacceptable.

Johnson also said Congress needs a clearer explanation from the Biden administration about its strategy in Ukraine, the endgame and accountability for US funds. The speaker also added that US border security must be the top priority.

Biden's supplemental request includes more than $60 billion for Ukraine.

A Sputnik

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Russian Troops Liberate Veseloye Settlement in Donetsk People's Republic - MoD

Sputnik News

20240118

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Ukraine has lost more than 260 soldiers both killed and injured in the Donetsk area over the past 24 hours, the Russian Ministry of Defense said on Thursday.

Russia's Ministry of Defense (MoD) reported on the progress of the special military operation. Over the given period, the Russian armed forces have repulsed six attacks near Kupyansk, the ministry said in a statement.

"As a result, over 260 military personnel, a tank, two infantry fighting vehicles and 17 vehicles were destroyed [in the Donetsk region]," the ministry outlined.

MoD also added that Ukraine's military losses amounted to more than 220 soldiers in the Krasny Liman region and up to 155 soldiers near Kupyansk. In the Zaporozhye and Kherson regions, the total losses of Ukrainian forces amounted to 95 people and four tanks.

In one day, Russian air defenses shot down two Tochka-U missiles, 18 HIMARS and Vampire MLRS shells and 91 drones.

"In the south of the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), Russian units repelled a Ukrainian assault attack. The enemy lost more than 130 people," MoD concluded.

A Sputnik

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French Senators Say Ukraine's Battlefield Position Worsening Amid Excessive Use of Munitions

Sputnik News

20240118

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - A group of French senators have drafted a report in which they said Ukraine's position on the battlefield is deteriorating while the supply of munitions from France could not keep up with the pace of their use by Ukrainian troops.

The report is based on data received from Ukrainian and Polish officials during a visit by a French delegation to Warsaw and Kiev in December. It was published by the French Senate's Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defense and the Armed Forces.

The discussions that took place in Kiev confirmed the "impression of a worsening military situation," which also involved increased pressure from Russian troops, the report read. An unnamed senior Polish official was cited as voicing the same opinion.

The French delegation pointed to shortages of munitions in Ukraine, saying their use by Ukrainian troops outpaced production both domestically and in the countries supporting Kiev militarily.

Every day Ukrainian troops fire about 5,000-8,000 NATO-standard shells while their production in France totals about 20,000 per year, which means the yearly output of 155mm shells in France is enough for only three to four days on the battlefield in Ukraine, the commission's head, Cedric Perrin, said.

A Sputnik

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World Lacks Defense Industry Resources for Ukraine to Wage War Against Russia - Zelensky

Sputnik News

20240118

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Wednesday that the world's defense industry lacks enough resources for Ukraine to withstand a war against the Russian army, adding that Kiev is facing a shortage of drones and shells.

"Artillery, for example, 155 caliber. The whole world, the production of all the companies that generate the production of 155 caliber artillery shells is not enough to sustain a war with artillery in Ukraine... There is not enough production in the world today, using artillery as an example, enough for the Ukrainian army to withstand a war against the Russian army," Zelensky told a news conference in Davos, Switzerland, posted by his office on YouTube.

The Ukrainian leader said that Kiev "is lacking drones and shells," adding that there is "a deficit" to achieve "certain goals that we are working towards."

Ukrainian Strategic Industries Minister Alexander Kamyshin said last week that Kiev's arms production would never fully cover arms needs.

"We will be weak on the battlefield, we will have a big shortage of artillery, we will not be able to repel ballistic missile strikes, there will be a large number of killed and wounded people... There will be a big crisis for the whole Europe. Without help from the United States and the European Union, Ukraine will struggle, will be weaker, and Russia will have the opportunity to take us over," Zelensky said when asked what could happen if Western aid stops.

Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Ivan Havryliuk told BBC in December that the Ukrainian army had a serious shortage of artillery shells, adding that Kiev was accelerating the production of kamikaze drones to compensate for the lack of artillery shells.

Western countries have been providing military and financial aid to Kiev since the start of Russia's operation in Ukraine in February 2022. The Kremlin has consistently warned against continued arms deliveries to Kiev, saying it would lead to further escalation of the conflict. In April 2022, Russia sent a diplomatic note to all NATO countries on the issue of arms supplies to Ukraine. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has warned that any cargo containing weapons for Ukraine will become a legitimate target for Russian strikes.

A Sputnik

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Blocking Russia's ways to circumvent sanctions means blocking terror - address by the President of Ukraine

President of Ukraine

18 January 2024 - 20:01

I wish you health, fellow Ukrainians!

Briefly about this day.

A very positive, truly inspiring conversation with President of France Macron.

I thanked him for the creation of an artillery coalition within our Ramstein defense format and for France's willingness to supply Ukraine with dozens of very effective CAESAR artillery systems and ammunition for them this year.

We will further bolster our air defense as well, and I thank France for its powerful decisions.

Of course, today we discussed the situation on the battlefield in Ukraine - the details at the moment, and the prospects. Accordingly, we discussed what is important to include in the new defense package that France is currently preparing.

And, on top of all that, we discussed the work with France on security commitments for Ukraine. We are preparing a bilateral agreement.

Emmanuel, Mr. President, thank you once again.

We continue our communication with partners on sanctions against Russia - their full effect. All of our diplomatic representatives must step up their efforts to ensure that our partners respond more actively to every instance of Russia's circumvention of sanctions.

This is not just an abstract question - it's about how a terrorist state produces weapons, including missiles. All Russian missiles have dozens of critical components manufactured abroad, many of them by companies from the free world. Today, the Head of the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine, Oleksandr Lytvynenko, made a report on this. These are clear facts. So blocking the ways Russia circumvents sanctions is literally blocking terror. I am grateful to all partners who understand this and to everyone in the world who helps us in this work.

Today I also held a meeting with the head of our government, Denys Shmyhal. First of all, we discussed the energy sector, the protection and capabilities of our energy system. Consumption is high now, and the threats from the enemy are extremely high, but the professional work of our power engineers and all those responsible for the protection of energy facilities makes it possible to provide the country with light and heat. And this is important. There was also a separate report on the protection of strategic energy facilities. The report was made by Deputy Prime Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov.

The Prime Minister also reported today on the situation in our financial system. The situation is stable, and social payments are being disbursed in full. Moreover, this is being done without issuance. And by the way, I would like to thank all our taxpayers in the country - everyone who keeps jobs in Ukraine, ensures production, and works legally and cleanly. Last year, despite the war, we had economic growth of 5% and an increase in tax payments that corresponds to the growth in the economy. This is a clear sign of Ukraine's strength. And the state really appreciates everyone who works, pays taxes, and thus contributes to our common ability to defend the state and independence despite all the difficulties.

A separate report by the Prime Minister was made on the construction of fortifications. The work is ongoing, and I am grateful to everyone involved. The results are exactly what we need.

Glory to everyone who defends our country, who fights and works for Ukraine and who is as active as possible to ensure that Ukraine, Ukrainian companies, and Ukrainians get the results they need.

Glory to Ukraine!

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The strategic interests of the Russian Federation and Armenia coincide, the relations between the two countries continue to be allied, Russian ambassador to Armenia Sergey Kopyrkin said in an interview with RIA Novosti, news.am informs.

January 19, 2024, 10:43 Sergey Kopyrkin: Strategic interests of Russia, Armenia coincide

STEPANAKERT, JANUARY 19, ARTSAKHPRESS: "I proceed from the fact, and not only me, but it is naturally the position of the leadership of the Russian Federation, that our relations continue to be allied in nature. You know, there are many things that connect us [i.e. Armenians and Russians] historically. It is unnecessary to mention what connects our peoples during centuries of history," Kopyrkin said.

According to him, in addition to this, Armenia and Russia today have a very broad practical agenda of mutual relations, and this agenda refers to the key aspects of the lives of the two countries and people.

"I am convinced that this is a solid foundation that gives a supply of strength to our relations. I am also sure that in terms of the main parameters, our strategic interests also objectively coincide; both ancient and modern history have proven this again. Therefore, I believe it is quite right that the Russian side clearly notes that our bilateral relationsdespite all the problems, some misunderstandings, attempts by external players to create cracks between our relations, based on their opportunistic, geopolitical interestsmaintain their allied, strategic nature," said the Russian envoy to Armenia.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy discussed the launch of the artillery coalition with Emmanuel Macron

President of Ukraine

18 January 2024 - 14:56

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy had a phone call with President of the French Republic Emmanuel Macron.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked for the launch of the Artillery Coalition initiative and for France's commitment to produce dozens of advanced CAESAR artillery systems and ammunition for Ukraine in 2024.

The parties discussed in detail the battlefield situation and Ukraine's defense needs. In particular, the priorities for inclusion in the next military aid package from France. Volodymyr Zelenskyy emphasized the importance of further bolstering Ukraine's air defense system.

The President of Ukraine also thanked for the active support of French business, which is investing and is willing to increase investments in Ukraine despite the war.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke about the start of preparations for the Global Peace Summit. The interlocutors noted the importance of involving the widest possible range of countries in it.

The leaders instructed political and military advisors to start preparing for the French President's upcoming visit to Ukraine and to expedite negotiations on a bilateral agreement on security commitments within the Vilnius G7 Declaration.

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Hwasong-16 LRBM

The suspected former HS-16 is officially the HS-17.

The HS-16 was shown for the first time at the exhibition in October 2021. North Korea said it has tested a new solid-fuel intermediate-range ballistic missile on 14 Janury 2024 fitted with a hypersonic warhead capable of striking Guam or Okinawa in Japan, as it continued efforts to develop more powerful, harder-to-detect weaponry. Detected by neighbouring Japan and South Korea, the launch was designed to test the reliability of new multi-stage, high-thrust solid-fuel engines and an intermediate-range hypersonic manoeuvrable controlled warhead, the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on 15 Janury 2024. KCNA added that the test-firing never affected the security of any neighbouring country and had nothing to do with the regional situation.

The launch came as the North's Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui headed to Moscow, amid concerns in the United States and elsewhere that Pyongyang was selling weapons to Russia for use in Ukraine in return for Russian technological expertise. The North's state media also said her visit was at the invitation of her Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov. The two isolated governments have been forging ties, following a rare summit between their leaders last September. The North appears to be supplying military equipment to Russia for use in its war with Ukraine, while Russia was providing technological support for the North's satellite and missile programs.

The missile flew towards the East Sea, Seouls Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement on 14 Janury 2024, adding that authorities in Seoul, Washington, DC and Tokyo were analysing the specifications. In the meantime, the top nuclear envoys from the three nations held a phone call on Sunday and strongly condemned the launch. They said the latest launch has once again shown that North Korea's illegal provocations are the causes of instability in the region, and warned that the security cooperation between the three countries will only become stronger as the regime continues to engage in more provocations.

The South Korean military assessed that the missile, launched from an area near Pyongyang, appears to have been an intermediate-range ballistic missile that traveled about 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) before landing in the East Sea. It added that it shared information on the missile with the U.S. and Japan, and that it's analyzing further details of the launch.

The Japanese Ministry of Defense stated, in a statement on 14 January 2024, that : North Korea launched a ballistic missile at 14.53 (8.53 Moscow time) in the northeastern direction. The information is currently being analyzed, but it is believed that the flight altitude of the ballistic missile was more than 50 kilometers, and its flight range was at least 500 kilometers. According to the statement, The North Korean missile fell on the eastern coast of the Korean Peninsula in the Sea of Japan, outside Japans exclusive economic zone. The fall of the missile did not cause any damage to Japanese aircraft or ships. The statement indicated that a crisis headquarters had been formed in the Japanese Prime Minister's Office to follow up on the consequences of the launch. The Japanese government filed a protest with North Korea regarding the launch.

North Koreas last missile test was of a Hwasong-18 solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), which it fired into the East Sea on 18 December 2023. It previously tested new solid-fuel engines for an intermediate ballistic missile on November 11 and November 14. Leader Kim Jong Un last week branded Seoul his principal enemy and warned he would not hesitate to annihilate South Korea. The historic time has come at last when we should define as a state most hostile toward the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea the entity called the Republic of Korea [South Korea], Kim was reported as saying by KCNA.

Analysts said the timing of the latest test was a concern. This launch is more than just a test as it comes immediately after the Kim regime escalated warlike rhetoric toward South Korea and just before North Koreas foreign minister travels to Russia, Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul said in emailed comments. Pyongyangs show of force should be of concern beyond Seoul, as its military cooperation with Moscow adds to the violence in Ukraine, and because it may be more willing to challenge the U.S. and its allies while global attention is fixed on the Middle East.

In separate KCNA commentary on 15 Janury 2024, North Korea accused Seoul of escalating tensions in the region with military drills and calls for more armaments by South Korean officials. Even a little spark can be a catalyst for enormous physical conflicts between the two most hostile countries, the commentary said. Analysts say Kims move to designate South Korea as a separate, enemy state, could potentially help justify the use of nuclear weapons against Seoul in a future war.

Despite its difficult economic situation, Pyongyang conducted a record-breaking series of weapons tests in 2023, including its first solid-fuel ballistic missile, which experts called a major technological breakthrough. It also put its first spy satellite into orbit, after two failed attempts. Analysts say it benefitted from Russian expertise after Kim travelled to Russias Vostochny Cosmodrome to meet President Vladimir Putin. Kim detailed a wish list of sophisticated military equipment, including hypersonic weapons multi-warhead missiles, spy satellites, solid-fuel long-range missiles and submarine-launched nuclear missiles in 2021.

Solid-fuel missiles can be launched more quickly and are easier to move and conceal, which theoretically makes them harder to detect. Hypersonic weapons are designed to fly at speeds in excess of Mach 5, or five times the speed of sound. If perfected, such systems could potentially pose a challenge to regional missile defence systems because of their speed and manoeuvrability.

The first launch was on 04 January 2022. This short missile, derived from the HS-12, has a simple RV with stabilizing fins. The missile achieves a higher velocity in climb thanks to the approximately one-third lower amount of fuel, but has a shorter burning time and also a shorter range.

North Korea conducted an apparent missile test, South Korea and Japan reported, just days after an end-of-year speech in which leader Kim Jong Un focused on domestic economic woes rather than military advancements. North Korea fired at least one projectile toward the sea off its east coast early Wednesday, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement. Japan's coast guard said the launch may have involved a ballistic missile. No further details were available, including how many missiles were launched, how far they went or where they landed.

Japanese Defense Chief Nobuo Kishi has since indicated that the projectile flew over a standard trajectory for roughly 500 kilometers. He further stated there were no reports of damages caused by the launch. It was the first missile test by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) since October, when it fired off a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM).

Despite the latest missile test, Moon said he would not give up hope for dialog with North Korea, according to his office. "We should not give up the hope for dialogue in order to fundamentally overcome this situation," he said. "If both Koreas work together and build trust, peace would be achieved one day."

According to Rodong Sinmun, the official paper of the ruling Workers Party of Korea, the test accelerated the task of "modernizing the national strategic force." The paper says the test verified the ability of the fuel ampoule system to operate "under winter weather conditions" and demonstrated an increased ability to stabilize and control the hypersonic glide vehicle, "which combined a multi-stage gliding jump flight and a strong lateral movement." The glide vehicle is boosted by a rocket engine during the initial stage of a hypersonic weapon's launch before detaching and gliding toward its target, adopting an unpredictable flight path to avoid interception.

"In the test launch, the [Academy of Defense Science] reconfirmed the flight control and stability of the missile in the active-flight stage and assessed the performance of the new lateral movement technique applied to the detached hypersonic gliding warhead," the Sinmun said. "Having detached after its launch, the missile made a 120 km lateral movement in the flight distance of the hypersonic gliding warhead from the initial launch azimuth to the target azimuth and precisely hit the target 700 km away," it added.

The January 2022 launch was the DPRK's second test of a hypersonic weapon. The first, an unrelated glide system, was held in September, timed to coincide with the socialist nation's envoy to the United Nations taking the podium at the General Assembly in New York to speak about the DPRK's right to self-defense but willingness to talk peace, which has eluded the peninsula for 72 years. That other weapon is named Hwasong-8.

In the continuing race between the designers of attack missiles and the designers of countermeasures, missiles are improved by becoming more sophisticated. Among such improvements is the introduction of missile maneuvers during exo-atmospheric and endo-atmospheric flight. Such maneuvers may defeat ballistic missile engagement systems which are predicated on ballistic motion of the target. One option for countering U.S. missile defenses would be the development of a maneuvering reentry vehicle (MARV). The maneuvering capability could be used to complicate hit-to-kill or conventional warhead ballistic missile defense systems.

One type of atmospheric re-entry vehicle (RV) is a ballistic RV which, after an initial launch and boost phase, follows a substantially purely ballistic path after separation from a launch vehicle. That is, the position of the RV target can be predetermined if the velocity of the RV and if the boost phase trajectory is known. One disadvantage associated with a purely ballistic RV is that, inasmuch as the target position can be predetermined after separation, interception of the RV can be readily accomplished.

To improve survivability, it is thus desirable to provide an improved type of RV which is an evader maneuvering RV (EMRV) capable of executing in-flight evasive maneuvering operations after re-entry. Inasmuch as the trajectory of the EMRV after re-entry would not be required to be purely ballistic, the position of the EMRV's target would remain uncertain until the completion of the maneuverers. Thus, interception of the EMRV would be made difficult to accomplish.

Such an EMRV would include a suitable maneuvering capability and also a three-axes navigation system for guidance. Preferably, the navigation system would employ a strap-down inertial navigator having ring laser gyroscopes (RLGs) which are inherently more rugged and capable of executing high-G maneuvers than are conventional mechanical gyroscopes. One purpose of the navigation system is to maintain EMRV position information during evasive maneuvering such that the EMRV can be guided to a target at the completion of maneuvers. The EMRV would also typically include an altitude measuring system, such as a radar altimeter, in order to fuse the EMRV's ordinance at a predetermined altitude.

Following the boost phase, and during a coast phase, an EMRV is spin stabilized. As can be appreciated, even with the greatly improved scale factor stability which is obtainable with modern RLGs, a high-G EMRV maneuvering phase will result in a significant EMRV position error at the completion of maneuvering due to the loss of altitude reference during the spin stabilized coast phase. If uncorrected, the computed position of the target relative to the EMRV will also be in error. Known techniques of compensating for the altitude reference error prior to high-G maneuver, or alternatively for the position error following the high-G maneuver are generally inappropriate in an EMRV due to at least the increased weight and complexity associated with such correction systems.

Generally, the hypersonic reentry vehicle enters the atmosphere of the Earth at an altitude of about 100~120 km. The full flight trajectory ranges from the high orbital reentry interface to the terminal area at 20~30 km in altitude. The reference trajectory is typically generated offline and preloaded on the hypersonic glide vehicle before launching. It is often required to correct the reentry trajectory for tracking errors during the reentry flight and even to replan a reference trajectory onboard for reaching a new target or aborting. It is a challenging task to optimize a reference trajectory in real-time for hypersonic glide vehicle, since the dynamics model is highly nonlinear along with limited control authority in the reentry flight.



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NEW YORK, Jan. 18, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --

WHY: Rosen Law Firm, a global investor rights law firm, reminds purchasers of securities of ChargePoint Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: CHPT) between June 1, 2023 and November 16, 2023, both dates inclusive (the Class Period), of the important January 29, 2024 lead plaintiff deadline.



SO WHAT: If you purchased ChargePoint securities during the Class Period you may be entitled to compensation without payment of any out of pocket fees or costs through a contingency fee arrangement.

WHAT TO DO NEXT: To join the ChargePoint class action, go to https://rosenlegal.com/submit-form/?case_id=20727 or call Phillip Kim, Esq. toll-free at 866-767-3653 or email pkim@rosenlegal.com or cases@rosenlegal.com for information on the class action. A class action lawsuit has already been filed. If you wish to serve as lead plaintiff, you must move the Court no later than January 29, 2024. A lead plaintiff is a representative party acting on behalf of other class members in directing the litigation.

WHY ROSEN LAW: We encourage investors to select qualified counsel with a track record of success in leadership roles. Often, firms issuing notices do not have comparable experience, resources or any meaningful peer recognition. Many of these firms do not actually litigate securities class actions, but are merely middlemen that refer clients or partner with law firms that actually litigate the cases. Be wise in selecting counsel. The Rosen Law Firm represents investors throughout the globe, concentrating its practice in securities class actions and shareholder derivative litigation. Rosen Law Firm has achieved the largest ever securities class action settlement against a Chinese Company. Rosen Law Firm was Ranked No. 1 by ISS Securities Class Action Services for number of securities class action settlements in 2017. The firm has been ranked in the top 4 each year since 2013 and has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for investors. In 2019 alone the firm secured over $438 million for investors. In 2020, founding partner Laurence Rosen was named by law360 as a Titan of Plaintiffs Bar. Many of the firms attorneys have been recognized by Lawdragon and Super Lawyers.

DETAILS OF THE CASE: According to the lawsuit, defendants throughout the Class Period made materially false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (1) ChargePoint was experiencing higher component costs and supply overruns for first generation direct current (DC) charging products; (2) as a result, ChargePoint was likely to incur impairment charges; (3) as a result of the foregoing, ChargePoints profitability would be adversely impacted; and (4) as a result of the foregoing, defendants positive statements about ChargePoints business, operations, and prospects were materially misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis. When the true details entered the market, the lawsuit claims that investors suffered damages.

To join the ChargePoint class action, go to https://rosenlegal.com/submit-form/?case_id=20727 or call Phillip Kim, Esq. toll-free at 866-767-3653 or email pkim@rosenlegal.com or cases@rosenlegal.com for information on the class action.

No Class Has Been Certified. Until a class is certified, you are not represented by counsel unless you retain one. You may select counsel of your choice. You may also remain an absent class member and do nothing at this point. An investors ability to share in any potential future recovery is not dependent upon serving as lead plaintiff.

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Miami, FL, Jan. 18, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ibogaine by David Dardashti sheds light on the relief of opiates from the administration of ibogaine hydrochloride. While opiates are commonly used to treat physical pain, they have been found to have a significant impact on emotional pain as well. Research suggests that opiates enhance the production of opiate receptors, creating interconnected pathways that regulate both physical and emotional pain. However, once a person stops taking the drug, the extra receptors begin to fade, leading to physical and emotional distress.



Short term opiates such as fentanyl, oxycodone, and hydrocodone cause opiate receptors to expand, long term opiates such as Suboxone and methadone, treat opiate addiction by creating a binding affinity to the receptors. These drugs create interconnected pathways that regulate both emotional and physical pain, providing relief to individuals struggling with opioid addiction.

However, the study also revealed that once a person stops taking Suboxone, the extra receptors begin to fade, leading to physical and emotional pain. This finding highlights the importance of proper medical supervision and support during the recovery process. It is likely that opiate receptors play a crucial role in regulating both physical and emotional pain, and their sudden decrease can cause significant distress to individuals in recovery.

According to the study, enhancing a person's stress tolerance can also increase their resilience towards physical pain. This means that individuals who are able to handle emotional stressors are more likely to withstand physical pain. This finding is especially relevant in today's fast-paced and high-stress society, where chronic stress has become a common issue. Furthermore, the study also suggests that engaging in physical fitness can also improve a person's resilience towards emotional stressors. Regular exercise has been shown to reduce stress levels and improve mood, making individuals more equipped to handle emotional challenges. This highlights the importance of incorporating physical activity into one's daily routine for not only physical health but also mental well-being.

Doctor Ashok Bharucha , lead researcher of the study, stated, "Our findings show that there is a strong connection between stress tolerance and physical pain resilience. This highlights the importance of managing stress levels and engaging in physical fitness to improve overall well-being." This study serves as a reminder that taking care of one's mental and physical health go hand in hand.

David Dardashti , a renowned expert in the field of addiction treatment, has introduced a groundbreaking approach to treating opiate addiction through the use of ibogaine . This innovative treatment protocol focuses on proper dosing and procedures used to eliminate all duplicated opiate receptors, rather than keeping them active like traditional methods such as Suboxone and Methadone . This not only helps individuals recover without having to undergo physical and emotional discomfort, but also stabilizes the brain and body, improving communication between physical and emotional pain. Having knowledge of this information offers the background needed to understand the true extent of ibogaine Hydrochloride.

Unlike traditional methods that focus on managing withdrawal symptoms and cravings, David Dardashti's ibogaine treatment targets the root cause of addiction by eliminating all duplicated opiate receptors. This not only helps individuals recover without complete disorientation of the brain and body, but also stabilizes the functionality of the kappa mu, and sigma opiate receptors. These receptors function as electroconvulsive neuropathways. A smooth and stabilized electric current among these receptors enhances communication between both physical and emotional pain. This approach has been proven to be highly effective in helping individuals achieve long-term recovery from opiate addiction.

David Dardashti' s revolutionary approach to opiate addiction recovery has gained widespread recognition in the field of addiction treatment. With his innovative use of ibogaine, David Dardashti continues to change the landscape of addiction treatment and provide hope for those struggling with opiate addiction.

For more information on David Dardashti's ibogaine treatment and its success in helping individuals overcome opiate addiction, please visit his website at www.ibogaineclinic.com or call 1-800-818-4511.

Ibogaine By David Dardasht i is an ibogaine detox and research center. Newly found progress in treatment protocol is improved through each and every person who enters the facility.





KISS PR Team and Partners:

The information provided in this press release is for informational purposes only. This information does not constitute advice or any endorsement by KISS PR and its partners. KISS PR and its partners assume no responsibility for any decision made or action taken based on the information provided. Any action you take upon the information from this press release is strictly at your own risk. Always seek the source company issuing the press release for further information.

Legal Disclaimer (Medical):

Disclaimer: The information provided in this press release is for informational purposes only and should not be construed as medical advice. Neither KISS PR or its partners are responsible for any decisions made based on this information. People making any decision related to their health and wellness should consult with a medical professional and the source company issuing the content.

Source Company: David Dardashti

City: Miami

Phone: 1-800-818-4511

Email: incoming@ibogaineclinic.com

Ibogaine By David Dardashti offers information to those seeking help with addiction and mental health disorders.

Attachment
Newark, Jan. 18, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Brainy Insights estimates that the USD 2.31 billion in 2022 global aircraft evacuation market will reach USD 4.29 billion by 2032. Incorporating smart technologies, such as sensors, IoT (Internet of Things) devices, and connectivity solutions into evacuation systems presents an opportunity. Smart technologies can enhance real-time monitoring, provide data analytics for predictive maintenance, and improve overall system efficiency. Furthermore, the use of advanced materials, such as composites and lightweight alloys, can contribute to the development of evacuation systems that are not only robust but also lightweight. This aspect can enhance fuel efficiency and overall aircraft performance. Additionally, with a growing emphasis on sustainability in the aviation industry, there's an opportunity to develop environmentally friendly and sustainable evacuation systems. Manufacturers can explore eco-friendly materials, energy-efficient designs, and recyclable components. In addition, as urban air mobility (UAM) becomes a reality, there's an opportunity to develop evacuation systems specifically tailored for vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) and electric aircraft. Customized solutions for these emerging aircraft types will be in demand. Adopting advanced VR and AR technologies for training also presents an opportunity. VR simulations can provide realistic training scenarios for cabin crew members, improving their readiness for emergencies.



Download Report Sample (230+ Pages PDF with Insights) at: https://www.thebrainyinsights.com/enquiry/sample-request/13947



Key Insight of the global Aircraft Evacuation market



Asia Pacific is expected to witness the highest market growth over the forecast period.



The Asia Pacific has been experiencing a rise in air travel demand due to rising disposable income, urbanization, and an expanding middle class. As more people in the region choose air travel, there is a corresponding need for increased safety measures, including advanced aircraft evacuation systems. Many countries in the Asia Pacific are funding heavily in the expansion and evolution of their aviation infrastructure. New airports, runways, and terminals are being developed to accommodate the rising count of aeroplanes and passengers, driving the demand for aircraft evacuation systems. In addition, airlines in the Asia Pacific are expanding their fleets to meet the growing need for air travel. Introducing new aircraft generally includes incorporating the latest safety technologies, including advanced evacuation systems. Furthermore, governments in the Asia Pacific region recognize the importance of aviation safety and are actively enhancing safety standards. This focus creates opportunities for the aircraft evacuation market to provide cutting-edge safety solutions in compliance with international standards. Additionally, as air travel becomes more prevalent in the Asia Pacific, there is an increasing awareness of the importance of safety among passengers and regulatory authorities. Thus, heightened awareness increases the demand for advanced and efficient aircraft evacuation systems. Emerging economies in the Asia Pacific region, along with the presence of several airline start-ups, further create a conducive environment for adopting modern aviation technologies. New entrants in the market often prioritize the latest safety features, including advanced evacuation systems.



In 2022, the evacuation slide segment held the largest market share at 42.13% and a market revenue of 0.97 billion.



The equipment type segment is divided into ejection seat, emergency flotation system, evacuation raft, evacuation slide and life vest. In 2022, the evacuation slide segment held the largest market share at 42.13% and a market revenue of 0.97 billion.



In 2022, the narrow body aircraft segment dominated the market with the largest share of 32.19% and revenue of 0.74 billion.



The aircraft type segment includes narrow body aircraft, wide body aircraft, very large aircraft, regional transport, aircraft, business jet, helicopter and fighter jet. In 2022, the narrow body aircraft segment dominated the market with the largest share of 32.19% and revenue of 0.74 billion.



In 2022, the linefit segment dominated the market with the largest share of 62.84% and revenue of 1.45 billion.



The fit segment is split into linefit and retrofit. In 2022, the linefit segment dominated the market with the largest share of 62.84% and revenue of 1.45 billion.



Advancement in market



In January 2023: United Technologies Corporation (UTC) has unveiled its new Inflight Training Centre in Texas (Houston), USA. The facility spans 56,000 square feet and encompasses updated classrooms, door trainers, an additional cabin, and an aquatic centre with a huge pool (125,000 gallons). The Inflight Training Centre also features dedicated inflight service training spaces, mock seats, an auditorium accommodating over 400 seats, and a public address room for rehearsing onboard announcements. Furthermore, the centre includes a mock fuselage for aircraft evacuation drills.



In January 2022: Collins Aerospace, a division of RTX Corporation, has secured its initial support agreement for evacuation slides with Spairliners, an independent aftermarket service provider specializing in E-Jet aircraft family support. Collins will deliver comprehensive testing and inspection services for evacuation systems and repair, modification, and replacement services as part of this agreement.



Report Attribute Details



Report Attribute Details Revenue forecast in 2022 USD 2.31 Billion Market size value in 2032 USD 4.29 Billion Expected CAGR Growth 6.39% Base Year 2022 Forecast Year 2023 - 2032 Top Market Players Cobham PLC, Dart Aerospace, Collins Aerospace, EAM Worldwide, GKN Aerospace Services Limited, Martin-Baker, Mustang Survival, NPP Zvezda PAO, Survival Equipment Services Ltd., Switlik Parachute Company, Inc., Survitec Group Limited, Trelleborg AB, The MEL Group, TULMAR Safety Systems, Zodiac Aerospace Segments Covered Equipment Type, Aircraft Type, and Fit Customization Options Customized purchase options are available to meet any research needs. Explore customized purchase options

Market Dynamics



Driver: The rising threat of terrorism and security concerns.



The global concern over terrorism and security threats has prompted a strategic shift within the aviation industry towards bolstering emergency response capabilities. This shift involves a twofold approach: substantial investments in advanced evacuation technologies to enhance the physical means of evacuation and comprehensive training programs to empower aviation personnel with the skills and knowledge necessary to navigate and manage emergencies effectively. This multifaceted strategy underscores the industry's commitment to ensuring the safety and protection of air travel in an environment where threats may be dynamic and unpredictable.



Restraint: Limited awareness and training.



Adequate training for cabin crew and passengers is paramount for ensuring the effective use of evacuation systems in the aviation industry. The proper functioning of evacuation procedures during emergencies relies heavily on the preparedness and knowledge of those on board. More training programs are needed to ensure the overall effectiveness of evacuation processes, potentially leading to increased risks and challenges during critical situations. Cabin crew members play a central role in managing and coordinating evacuations. Their training is comprehensive and encompasses various aspects of emergency response, including the operation of evacuation systems, communication with passengers, and executing evacuation procedures in different scenarios. The training covers the proper use of evacuation slides, life rafts, escape routes, and other safety equipment. It also emphasizes coordination among crew members to ensure a swift and organized evacuation process.



Opportunity: Global events and safety awareness.



High-profile aviation incidents often receive extensive media coverage, increasing public scrutiny and concern regarding aviation safety. The public's heightened awareness of the risks associated with air travel can demand more advanced and reliable safety technologies. Furthermore, governments and aviation regulatory bodies may respond to high-profile incidents by intensifying their focus on safety enhancements. This regulatory attention can result in introducing new safety standards or reinforcing existing ones, influencing market dynamics and encouraging the adoption of advanced evacuation systems. Additionally, market players can leverage high-profile incidents to demonstrate their commitment to passenger safety. By showcasing advancements in evacuation systems and emphasizing their role in enhancing overall aircraft safety, companies can build trust and credibility among industry stakeholders and the travelling public.



Challenge: Economic fluctuations and airline budget constraints.



Economic downturns often lead to budget constraints within airlines and aircraft operators. Organizations may implement cost-cutting measures to manage financial challenges, including delaying or reducing capital expenditures. Investments in new aircraft and safety equipment, including advanced evacuation systems, may be deferred as part of these cost-cutting strategies. Additionally, airlines facing economic challenges prioritize essential expenses such as fuel, maintenance, and operational necessities over non-immediate investments. Safety equipment, while crucial, may be considered a longer-term investment, and its priority may be impacted during periods of economic uncertainty. Furthermore, economic downturns often raise concerns about financial stability and liquidity within the aviation industry. Airlines may opt to conserve cash and maintain liquidity, leading to a conservative approach to major investments, especially in new aircraft and safety technologies.



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Some of the major players operating in the global Aircraft Evacuation market are:



 Cobham PLC

 Dart Aerospace

 Collins Aerospace

 EAM Worldwide

 GKN Aerospace Services Limited

 Martin-Baker

 Mustang Survival

 NPP Zvezda PAO

 Survival Equipment Services Ltd.

 Switlik Parachute Company, Inc.

 Survitec Group Limited

 Trelleborg AB

 The MEL Group

 TULMAR Safety Systems

 Zodiac Aerospace



Key Segments cover in the market:



By Equipment Type



 Ejection Seat

 Emergency Flotation System

 Evacuation Raft

 Evacuation Slide

 Life Vest



By Aircraft Type



 Narrow Body Aircraft

 Wide Body Aircraft

 Very Large Aircraft

 Regional Transport Aircraft

 Business Jet

 Helicopter

 Fighter Jet



By Fit



 Linefit

 Retrofit



By Region



 North America (U.S., Canada, Mexico)

 Europe (Germany, France, the UK, Italy, Spain, Rest of Europe)

 Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, India, Rest of APAC)

 South America (Brazil and the Rest of South America)

 The Middle East and Africa (UAE, South Africa, Rest of MEA)



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About the report:



The market is analyzed based on value (USD Billion). All the segments have been analyzed worldwide, regional, and country basis. The study includes the analysis of more than 30 countries for each part. The report analyses driving factors, opportunities, restraints, and challenges to gain critical market insight. The study includes Porter's five forces model, attractiveness analysis, Product analysis, supply, and demand analysis, competitor position grid analysis, distribution, and marketing channels analysis.



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EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn., Jan. 18, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Winnebago Industries, Inc. (NYSE: WGO) (the Company), a leading outdoor lifestyle product manufacturer, priced $300 million aggregate principal amount of 3.250% convertible senior notes due 2030 (the notes) in a previously announced private offering to persons reasonably believed to be qualified institutional buyers pursuant to Rule 144A under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the Securities Act). In connection with the offering, the Company has granted the initial purchasers a 13-day option to purchase up to an additional $50 million aggregate principal amount of notes.



The notes will bear interest at a rate of 3.250% per year, payable semi-annually in arrears on January 15 and July 15 of each year, beginning July 15, 2024. The notes will mature on January 15, 2030, unless repurchased, redeemed or converted in accordance with their terms prior to such date. Prior to July 15, 2029, the notes will be convertible only upon satisfaction of certain conditions and during certain periods, and on and after July 15, 2029, at any time until the close of business on the second scheduled trading day immediately before the maturity date.

The Company will settle conversions in cash and, if applicable, shares of its common stock, based on the applicable conversion rate(s). The notes will be redeemable, in whole or in part (subject to certain limitations), for cash at the Companys option at any time, and from time to time, on or after January 15, 2028 and on or before the 40th scheduled trading day immediately before the maturity date, but only if the last reported sale price per share of the Companys common stock exceeds 130% of the conversion price for a specified period of time. The redemption price will be equal to the principal amount of the notes to be redeemed, plus accrued and unpaid interest, if any, to, but excluding, the redemption date. Holders of the notes will have the right to require the Company to repurchase all or any portion of their notes at 100% of their principal amount, plus any accrued and unpaid interest, upon the occurrence of certain fundamental changes.

The conversion rate will initially be 11.3724 shares of common stock per $1,000 principal amount of notes (equivalent to an initial conversion price of approximately $87.93 per share of the Companys common stock), subject to adjustment. The initial conversion price of the notes represents a premium of approximately 30.0% over the $67.64 per share closing price of the Companys common stock on January 18, 2024. The sale of the notes is expected to close January 23, 2024, subject to customary closing conditions.

The Company estimates that the net proceeds from the offering will be approximately $291.1 million (or approximately $339.8 million if the initial purchasers fully exercise their option to purchase additional notes), after deducting the initial purchasers discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses. The Company intends to use approximately $32.0 million of the net proceeds to fund the cost of entering into the convertible note hedge transactions described below (after such cost is partially offset by the proceeds from entering into the warrant transactions described below). The Company expects to use approximately $295 million of the net proceeds to repurchase approximately $241 million aggregate principal amount of its outstanding 1.50% Convertible Senior Notes due 2025 (the 2025 Notes) concurrently with the offering in privately negotiated transactions effected through one of the initial purchasers of the notes or its affiliate, as the Companys agent. The Company intends to use the remainder of the net proceeds from the offering for general corporate purposes. If the initial purchasers exercise their option to purchase additional notes, then the Company intends to use a portion of the additional net proceeds to fund the cost of entering into additional convertible note hedge transactions as described below (after such cost is partially offset by the proceeds from entering into the additional warrant transactions described below). Holders of the 2025 Notes that are repurchased in the concurrent repurchases described above may purchase shares of the Companys common stock in the open market to unwind any hedge positions they may have with respect to the 2025 Notes. These activities may affect the trading price of the Companys common stock and the initial conversion price of the notes.

In connection with issuing the 2025 Notes, the Company entered into convertible note hedge transactions (the existing convertible note hedge transactions) and warrant transactions (the existing warrant transactions, and, together with the existing convertible note hedge transactions, the existing call spread transactions) with certain financial institutions (the existing option counterparties). If the Company repurchases any of its 2025 Notes, then the Company may enter into agreements with the existing option counterparties to terminate a portion of the existing convertible note hedge transactions in a notional amount corresponding to the amount of 2025 Notes repurchased. The Company may also enter into agreements with the existing option counterparties to terminate a portion of the existing warrant transactions. In connection with the termination of any of the existing call spread transactions, the Company expects the existing option counterparties or their respective affiliates to unwind their related hedge positions, which may involve the sale of shares of the Companys common stock in the open market or other transactions with respect to the Companys common stock. This hedge unwind activity could offset or exacerbate the effects of the purchase, sale or other activity that holders of the 2025 Notes that participate in the repurchase transactions may effect in connection with those transactions.

In connection with the pricing of the notes, the Company entered into privately negotiated convertible note hedge transactions with one or more of the initial purchasers or their respective affiliates or other financial institutions (the hedge counterparties). The convertible note hedge transactions cover, subject to customary anti-dilution adjustments, the number of shares of the Companys common stock that will initially underlie the notes. The Company also entered into one or more separate, privately negotiated warrant transactions with the hedge counterparties collectively relating to the same number of shares of the Companys common stock, subject to customary anti-dilution adjustments, and for which the Company will receive premiums to partially offset the cost of entering into the hedge transactions. If the initial purchasers exercise their option to purchase additional notes, the Company may enter into one or more additional convertible note hedge transactions and one or more additional warrant transactions with the hedge counterparties, which, if executed, will initially cover, collectively, the number of shares of the Companys common stock that will initially underlie the additional notes the Company sells to the initial purchasers.

The convertible note hedge transactions are expected generally to reduce the potential dilution to the Companys common stock upon any conversion of the notes and/or offset any potential cash payments the Company is required to make in excess of the principal amount of converted notes, as the case may be. However, the warrant transactions could separately have a dilutive effect with respect to the Companys common stock to the extent that the market value per share of the Companys common stock exceeds the strike price of the warrants evidenced by the warrant transactions. The strike price of the warrants will initially be $135.28 per share, which represents a premium of 100% over the per share closing price of the Companys common stock on January 18, 2024, and is subject to certain adjustments under the terms of the warrant transactions.

In connection with establishing their initial hedges with respect to the convertible note hedge transactions and the warrant transactions, the hedge counterparties or their respective affiliates expect to enter into various cash-settled, over-the-counter derivative transactions with respect to the Companys common stock concurrently with, or shortly after, or purchase shares of the Companys common stock shortly after, the pricing of the notes, and may unwind these cash-settled over-the-counter derivative transactions and purchase shares of the Companys common stock in open market transactions shortly after the pricing of the notes. These activities could increase, or prevent a decline in, the market price of the Companys common stock concurrently with, or shortly after, the pricing of the notes.

In addition, the hedge counterparties or their respective affiliates may modify their hedge positions with respect to the convertible note hedge transactions and the warrant transactions from time to time after the pricing of the notes, and are likely to do so during any observation period, by purchasing or selling shares of the Companys common stock or the notes in privately negotiated transactions or open market transactions or by entering into or unwinding various over-the-counter derivative transactions with respect to the Companys common stock. Any of these activities could, however, adversely affect the trading price of the Companys common stock and, consequently, the value of the consideration that noteholders receive upon conversion of the notes, the trading price of the notes or noteholders ability to convert the notes.

The offer and sale of the notes and the shares of common stock, if any, issuable upon conversion of the notes have not been registered under the Securities Act or any state securities laws, and the notes and such shares may not be offered or sold absent registration or an applicable exemption from, or in a transaction not subject to, the registration requirements of the Securities Act and applicable state laws.

This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy the securities described herein, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of such jurisdiction. Any offers of the notes will be made only by means of a private offering memorandum. The notes being offered have not been approved or disapproved by any regulatory authority, nor has any such authority passed upon the accuracy or adequacy of the applicable private offering memorandum.

About Winnebago Industries

Winnebago Industries, Inc. is a leading North American manufacturer of outdoor lifestyle products under the Winnebago, Grand Design, Chris-Craft, Newmar and Barletta brands, which are used primarily in leisure travel and outdoor recreation activities. The Company builds high-quality motorhomes, travel trailers, fifth-wheel products, outboard and sterndrive powerboats, pontoons, and commercial community outreach vehicles. Committed to advancing sustainable innovation and leveraging vertical integration in key component areas, Winnebago Industries has multiple facilities in Iowa, Indiana, Minnesota and Florida. The Companys common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange and traded under the symbol WGO. For access to Winnebago Industries' investor relations material or to add your name to an automatic email list for Company news releases, visit http://investor.wgo.net.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Investors are cautioned that forward-looking statements are inherently uncertain. A number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from these statements, including, but not limited to risks related to the offering of the notes, general economic uncertainty in key markets and a worsening of domestic and global economic conditions or low levels of economic growth; availability of financing for RV and marine dealers; competition and new product introductions by competitors; ability to innovate and commercialize new products; ability to manage the Companys inventory to meet demand; risk related to cyclicality and seasonality of the Companys business; risk related to independent dealers; risk related to dealer consolidation or the loss of a significant dealer; significant increase in repurchase obligations; ability to retain relationships with the Companys suppliers and obtain components; business or production disruptions; inadequate management of dealer inventory levels; increased material and component costs, including availability and price of fuel and other raw materials; ability to integrate mergers and acquisitions; ability to attract and retain qualified personnel and changes in market compensation rates; exposure to warranty claims; ability to protect the Companys information technology systems from data security, cyberattacks, and network disruption risks and the ability to successfully upgrade and evolve the Companys information technology systems; ability to retain brand reputation and related exposure to product liability claims; governmental regulation, including for climate change; increased attention to environmental, social, and governance ("ESG") matters, and the Companys ability to meet its commitments; impairment of goodwill and trade names; and risks related to the Companys Convertible and Senior Secured Notes including its ability to satisfy its obligations under these notes. Additional information concerning certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from that projected or suggested is contained in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") over the last 12 months, copies of which are available from the SEC or from the Company upon request. The Company disclaims any obligation or undertaking to disseminate any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements contained in this release or to reflect any changes in the Company's expectations after the date of this release or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any statement is based, except as required by law.

Contacts

Investors: Ray Posadas

ir@winnebagoind.com

Media: Dan Sullivan

media@winnebagoind.com
Dublin, Jan. 18, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Global Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) Market Report 2023" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The latest industry report detailing the significant upswing in the global Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) market is now available, providing valuable insights into the rapidly evolving financial sector.

Projected to expand from its previous valuation of $516.17 billion in 2022, the market is poised for a robust compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 19.1%, reaching $614.62 billion in 2023. Despite global economic challenges posed by the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, such as rising commodity prices and disrupted supply chains, the BaaS sector maintains a positive growth trajectory, estimated to soar to $1,231.49 billion by 2027, progressing at a consistent CAGR of 19.0%.

Digital banking adoption has been identified as a critical driver fueling this market growth. Financial institutions are rapidly embracing digital platforms, with customers increasingly seeking flexible, personalized banking services. A survey conducted by MagiClick UK Ltd. in September 2021 verified this trend, noting significant hikes in online banking use since March 2020 across various demographics.

Another trend spotlighted within the report is the prevalent use of cloud-native architecture amongst leading BaaS providers. This focuses on end-to-end software infrastructure employing state-of-the-art cloud technology to deliver superior banking services. Companies like Oracle are at the forefront, having recently introduced an extensive suite of cloud-native banking services designed to facilitate a microservices architecture and promote agility within the sector.

Key Features of the Global BaaS Market Report:

In-depth analysis of market size and segmentation

Forecasted growth trends and emerging opportunities

Insight into cloud-native architectures and digital banking adoption

Comprehensive regional and global market insights

Profiles and strategic developments of key market players

Key Attributes:

Report Attribute Details No. of Pages 175 Forecast Period 2023 - 2027 Estimated Market Value (USD) in 2023 $614.62 billion Forecasted Market Value (USD) by 2027 $1231.49 billion Compound Annual Growth Rate 19.0% Regions Covered Global



A selection of companies mentioned in this report includes





Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A.

PayPal Holdings Inc.

Square Inc.

Green Dot Corporation

Paytm Payments Bank

Marqeta Inc.

Starling Bank Ltd.

Cross River Bank

Mambu GmbH

10x Future Technologies

ClearBank Ltd.

Currency Cloud

Thought Machine

Railsbank Technology Ltd.

FinXact

MatchMove Pay Pte. Ltd.

Fidor Bank AG

Bnkbl Ltd.

Treezor SAS

Bankable

Treasury Prime

Movencorp Inc.

Bankifi

Solaris Bank LLC

Project Imagine Ltd.

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/axzgcq

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.

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Dublin, Jan. 18, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Global Esophageal Cancer Market Report 2023" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

According to recent industry analysis, the market for esophageal cancer treatments is forecasted to increase from $1.13 billion in 2022 to approximately $1.77 billion by 2027, fueled by a rise in demand for diagnostic and therapeutic services.

Increasing Incidence of Esophageal Cancer Catalyzes Market Growth

As cases of esophageal cancer continue to climb, with projections indicating a significant rise in the coming years, the market for esophageal cancer diagnostics and treatments is set to expand correspondingly. Indeed, the growing need for endoscopic procedures, imaging tests, and biopsies to detect this malignancy is a primary driver behind the market's anticipated growth.

Trends in Esophageal Cancer Treatments: Focus on New Drug Approvals

Among the advancing trends within the sector, new drug approvals remain at the forefront. Pharmaceutical companies are securing FDA approvals for innovative therapies, aimed at enhancing patient outcomes, particularly for those with advanced or metastatic esophageal cancer. Recent approvals have solidified the competitive landscape, heralding promising developments in treatment protocols.

Geographically, North America has historically dominated the market, hosting a substantial share of esophageal cancer treatments and research. However, the Asia Pacific region is rapidly emerging as the fastest-growing market segment, underscoring a heightened focus on addressing this critical healthcare challenge.

The market is buttressed by a robust roster of key players including leading pharmaceutical and biotech firms committed to advancing esophageal cancer therapeutics. Research and development efforts are complemented by strategic acquisitions, aimed at improving early diagnostic measures and fostering timely interventions.

The comprehensive analysis features a detailed examination of esophageal cancer types, including esophageal squamous-cell carcinoma and esophageal adenocarcinoma.

The report explores an array of treatment modalities, from chemotherapy to emerging targeted therapies.

It delineates the distribution channels facilitating access to these treatments, encompassing hospital pharmacies, online pharmacies, and retail pharmacies.

The study analyzes the broad spectrum of service providers and associated goods, capturing the full scope of the market's revenue streams.

The esophageal cancer market's upward trajectory is elucidated by an in-depth report that offers a panoramic view of current and future market dynamics. This critical research offers stakeholders the data and insights required to navigate this evolving landscape successfully.

Key Attributes:

Report Attribute Details No. of Pages 175 Forecast Period 2023 - 2027 Estimated Market Value (USD) in 2023 $1.25 billion Forecasted Market Value (USD) by 2027 $1.77 billion Compound Annual Growth Rate 9.1% Regions Covered Global

A selection of companies mentioned in this report includes

Pfizer Inc.

Johnson & Johnson

F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd.

Merck & Co. Inc

AbbVie Inc.

Bayer AG

Novartis AG

Sanofi S.A

Bristol-Myers Squibb Company

AstraZeneca PLC

GlaxoSmithKline Plc.

Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited

Eli Lilly and Co Ltd.

Boehringer Ingelheim International GmbH

Gilead Sciences Inc.

Amgen Inc.

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.

Astellas Pharma Inc.

Daiichi Sankyo Company Limited

Servier Pharmaceuticals

Eisai Co. Ltd.

Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Limited

Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd.

Ipsen SA

Dr. Reddy's Laboratories Ltd.

Seagen Inc.

Exelixis Inc.

BeiGene Ltd.

Clovis Oncology Inc.

Aslan Pharmaceuticals Ltd.

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/thxnsl

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.

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Dublin, Jan. 18, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "U.S. Agriculture Drone Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report By Type (Fixed Wing, Rotary Wing), By Component (Hardware, Software, Services), By Farming Environment, By Application, And Segment Forecasts, 2023 - 2030" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



The U.S. agriculture drone market size is estimated to reach USD 1,758.4 million by 2030, expanding at a CAGR of 22.8% from 2023 to 2030. The agriculture drone industry in the U. S. experienced remarkable growth as farmers recognize the immense potential and efficiency gains these unmanned aerial vehicles offer. With the country's expansive farmland, traditional methods of monitoring and managing crops have been time-consuming and labor-intensive. However, agriculture drones provide a comprehensive solution by offering aerial perspectives that enable farmers to identify issues and allocate resources effectively. By covering large areas efficiently, drones save valuable time and effort, enhancing productivity in the agricultural sector.







Government initiatives have played a pivotal role in fostering the rapid growth of the agriculture drone industry in the U. S. The U. S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) have stepped forward to provide grants and funding opportunities, facilitating the integration of drones into farming practices. Technological advancements in drone hardware, sensors, and data analysis have further propelled the adoption of agriculture drones in the U. S.



These advancements have empowered farmers with precise and timely information, allowing them to optimize farming practices, improve efficiency, and increase productivity. Integrating drones with sophisticated farm management systems enables seamless data integration and analysis, enabling informed decision-making. The convergence of cutting-edge technology and agricultural expertise is revolutionizing farmers' monitoring and management of their crops, resulting in enhanced yields and sustainable farming practices.



However, the agriculture drone industry was not immune to the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Disruptions in global supply chains led to delays in drone production and delivery, causing shortages and increased prices. Additionally, economic uncertainties dampened investments in the industry, slowing down innovation and research. The pandemic also hampered field testing, demonstrations, and trade shows, limiting opportunities for companies to showcase their latest drone technologies and engage with farmers. Despite these hurdles, the agriculture drone industry continues to thrive, proving to be an indispensable tool for modern farmers in their pursuit of efficiency and sustainability.



The market players are introducing innovative solutions for the U. S. agriculture drone industry. For instance, in November 2022, DJI announced the launch of Mavic 3 Multispectral for organizations, individual growers, and agronomists engaged in precision agriculture activities worldwide. The advanced drone has a highly efficient multispectral imaging system that swiftly captures crop growth data, facilitating more productive and effective crop cultivation.



Key players in the industry are adopting various strategic initiatives, such as product launches and mergers & acquisitions, to expand their market share and presence. For instance, in 2022, Trimble Inc. announced that it had signed a definitive agreement to acquire Bilberry, a privately held technology company, to expand its capabilities in selective spraying methods to improve sustainable farming. The acquisition would expand Trimble Inc.'s crop protection solution portfolio by incorporating Bilberry's AI technology and comprehensive global weed database, enabling selective spraying for discerning plant variations (green-on-green). This capability can be utilized throughout the entire spraying season and before new crops emerge.



U. S. Agriculture Drone Market Report Highlights

The growth of precision farming practices, driven by the benefits offered by agricultural drones, has fueled the expansion of the market

The rotary wing segment dominated the market in 2022 with a revenue share of 62.9% and is expected to expand at a CAGR of 22.0% from 2023 to 2030

The services segment is projected to grow at the fastest CAGR of 23.8% over the forecast period

The outdoor farming segment held the largest revenue share in 2022 and is expected to expand at a CAGR of 22.6% from 2023 to 2030

The field mapping segment is projected to grow at the fastest CAGR of 24.1% over the forecast period

Key Attributes:

Report Attribute Details No. of Pages 100 Forecast Period 2022 - 2030 Estimated Market Value (USD) in 2022 $347.9 Million Forecasted Market Value (USD) by 2030 $1758.4 Million Compound Annual Growth Rate 22.8% Regions Covered United States

Companies Mentioned

AeroVironment, Inc.

AgEagle Aerial Systems Inc.

DJI (SZ DJI Technology Co., Ltd)

Parrot Drone SAS

PrecisionHawk

Trimble Inc.

DroneDeploy

Sentera

Sky Drones Technologies LTD

Draganfly Inc.

Pix4D SA

Autel Robotics

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/e4o854

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.

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Dublin, Jan. 18, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Global Minimally Invasive Glaucoma Surgery Devices Market by Target (Suprachoroidal Space, Trabecular Meshwork), Surgery (Glaucoma in Conjunction with Cataract, Stand Alone Glaucoma), Product, End-User - Forecast 2024-2030" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

A recent market intelligence report has been added to a prestigious repository, providing a strategic analysis of the rapidly evolving Minimally Invasive Glaucoma Surgery (MIGS) Devices Market. The comprehensive study is designed to help stakeholders understand the market's landscape, offering substantial insights into the market size, share, trends, and forecast for the period of 2024-2030. Industry experts estimate the market size at USD 1.33 billion in 2024, expecting a robust CAGR of 16.92%, culminating in an anticipated USD 3.42 billion by 2030.

Providing a thorough dissection of the MIGS Devices Market, the report covers key company profiles contributing to the industry's growth. These major players are at the forefront of technological advancements and innovative procedures, revolutionizing glaucoma treatment worldwide.

Segmentation Dynamics & Regional Outlook



The analytical report offers a segmentation analysis of the market, with detailed coverage of various areas including:

Target Areas: Suprachoroidal Space, Trabecular Meshwork

Type of Surgery: Glaucoma in Conjunction with Cataract, Stand Alone Glaucoma

Products: MIGS Shunts, MIGS Stents

End-Users: Ambulatory Surgical Centers, Hospitals, Ophthalmology Clinics

With a region-specific outlook, the study provides granular understanding across key locations such as the Americas, Asia-Pacific, and the Europe, Middle East & Africa regions. This segmentation assures stakeholders have the necessary data to tailor their strategies to specific markets and yield more targeted results.

Strategic Insights for Market Leaders & New Entrants



The research report not only delivers on comprehensive market penetration data but also provides an extensive examination of the competitive landscape. Acknowledging the continual need for innovation, the document highlights product development and cutting-edge technologies, ensuring market players remain at the forefront of industry advancements. It instructively addresses key market queries, allowing stakeholders to plan and execute market entry and expansion strategies effectively.

Key Attributes:

Report Attribute Details No. of Pages 180 Forecast Period 2024 - 2030 Estimated Market Value (USD) in 2024 $1.33 Billion Forecasted Market Value (USD) by 2030 $3.42 Billion Compound Annual Growth Rate 16.9% Regions Covered Global

Companies Mentioned

Abbott Medical Optics, Inc.

Alcon Inc.

Allergan PLC

Bausch & Lomb Inc.

Carl-Zeiss AG

Ellex Medical Lasers Ltd.

Glaukos Corporation

InnFocus Inc.

IOPtima

iSTAR Medical

Ivantis, Inc.

Lumenis Be Ltd.

Neomedix Corporation

New World Medical, Inc.

Optonol Ltd.

Santen Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.

Topcon Corporation

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/jxvcff

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.

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January 19 marks the 17th anniversary of the assassination of prominent Armenian-Turkish journalist Hrant Dink.

January 19, 2024, 17:52 Today marks anniversary of Hrant Dink's assassination

STEPANAKERT, JANUARY 19, ARTSAKHPRESS: 52-year-old Dink, the editor-in-chief of Istanbul-based Agos newspaper, was shot dead in broad daylight outside the newspapers headquarters in central Istanbul on January 19, 2007 by Ogun Samast, a 17-year-old Turkish nationalist.

Photographs of the assassin flanked by smiling Turkish police and gendarmerie, posing with the killer side by side in front of the Turkish flag, surfaced. The photos sparked a scandal in Turkey, prompting a spate of investigations and the removal from office of those involved. Samast was later sentenced to 22 years in prison by a Turkish court. He was released on parole for "good behaviour" on 15 November 2023, after spending 16 years and 10 months in prison.

Dink was one of Turkey's most prominent Armenian voices. Despite threats on his life, he refused to remain silent. He always said his aim was to improve the difficult relationship between Turks and Armenians. Active in various democratic platforms and civil society organizations, Hrant Dink emphasized the need for democratization in Turkey and focused on the issues of free speech, minority rights, civic rights and issues pertaining to the Armenian community in Turkey.

Meanwhile, he believed that Diaspora Armenians should be able to live free of the weight of historical memory. "Turkish-Armenian relations should be taken out of a 1915 meters-deep well."


Public Health Alert Congressional and Public Affairs

Jackson Collier

202-720-9113

FSISpress@usda.gov







FSIS ISSUES PUBLIC HEALTH ALERT FOR READY-TO-EAT CHARCUTERIE PRODUCTS DUE TO POSSIBLE SALMONELLA CONTAMINATION





Washington, D.C., Jan. 18, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --

WASHINGTON, Jan. 18, 2024  The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is issuing a public health alert out of an abundance of caution due to concerns about Salmonella illnesses that may be associated with ready-to-eat (RTE) charcuterie meat products in Busseto brand Charcuterie Sampler and Fratelli Beretta brand Antipasto Gran Beretta.

The Fratelli Beretta brand Antipasto Gran Beretta was sold at Costco in a 24-oz. twin-pack (two 12-oz. trays). The Busseto brand Charcuterie Sampler was sold at Sams Club in an 18-oz. twin-pack (two 9-oz. trays). Any lot code associated with either product is potentially contaminated. The products are no longer available for purchase at Costco and Sams Club.





The products of concern bear establishment number EST. 7543B and/or EST. #47967 inside the USDA mark of inspection or printed on the package. Label images can be found in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Food Safety Alert.



FSIS has been working with the CDC and state public health partners to investigate a multistate outbreak of 47 Salmonella I 4:i:- illnesses in 22 states with onset dates ranging from November 20, 2023, through January 1, 2024. In the ongoing outbreak investigation, the state of Minnesota identified the outbreak strain from an unopened Busseto brand charcuterie sampler, which led to recall 01-2024 on January 3, 2024. FSIS will continue the investigation and issue new information as it becomes available.

Consumption of food contaminated with Salmonella can cause salmonellosis, one of the most common bacterial foodborne illnesses. The most common symptoms of salmonellosis are diarrhea, abdominal cramps, and fever within 6 hours to 6 days after eating the contaminated product. The illness usually lasts 4 to 7 days. Most people recover without treatment. In some persons, however, the diarrhea may be so severe that the patient needs to be hospitalized. Older adults, infants, and persons with weakened immune systems are more likely to develop a severe illness. Individuals concerned about an illness should contact their health care provider.

FSIS is concerned that some product may be in consumers refrigerators. Consumers who have purchased these products are urged not to consume them. These products should be thrown away or returned to the place of purchase.



Media with questions regarding the public health alert can contact Marco Lastrico, Public Relations, Busseto Foods, at 917-634-1685 or m.lastrico@barabinousa.com. Consumers with questions regarding the public health alert can contact the Busseto Recall Hotline at 866-552-4916.

Consumers with food safety questions can call the toll-free USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline at 888-MPHotline (888-674-6854) or send a question via email to MPHotline@usda.gov. For consumers that need to report a problem with a meat, poultry, or egg product, the online Electronic Consumer Complaint Monitoring System can be accessed 24 hours a day at https://foodcomplaint.fsis.usda.gov/eCCF/.

###

NOTE: Access news releases and other information at FSIS website at http://www.fsis.usda.gov/recalls.

Follow FSIS on X at twitter.com/usdafoodsafety or in Spanish at twitter.com/usdafoodsafe_es .

USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer and lender. To file a complaint of discrimination, write: USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20250-9410 or call 800-795-3272 (voice), or 202-720-6382 (TDD).
Company announcement 02/2024 (19.01.2024)

Today, European Energy A/S (European Energy) has signed an investment agreement with Mitsubishi HC Capital Inc. (Mitsubishi HC Capital), a Japanese company listed on the Tokyo and Nagoya Stock Exchanges.

Pursuant to the investment agreement, Mitsubishi HC Capital will subscribe for around 72 million ordinary new shares and purchase, in aggregate, around 3 million ordinary shares from the three major shareholders in European Energy ultimately controlled by Knud Erik Andersen, Mikael D. Pedersen and Jens-Peter Zink. As a result, Mitsubishi HC Capital will at closing of the transaction hold 20% of the outstanding shares and voting rights in European Energy.

Through the transaction, European Energy will raise gross proceeds of approximately EUR 700 million. The capital raise will strengthen European Energy's balance sheet and will be used to contribute to the continued growth of European Energy.

As part of the transaction, Mitsubishi HC Capital will actively collaborate towards the value creation and strategic growth of European Energy, including through representation on the Board of Directors of European Energy.

Closing of the transaction is subject to fulfillment of certain customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals and is expected to take place in H1 of 2024.

Jens Due Olsen, Chair of the Board of Directors at European Energy, comments: "The partnership with Mitsubishi HC Capital represents a significant milestone for European Energy. Their international presence and strategic mindset are key to boosting our company's growth, especially with the increasing demand for capital in this industry. This transaction will further enhance our role in the green energy transformation."

Knud Erik Andersen, CEO and co-founder of European Energy, adds: "I am very pleased to welcome Mitsubishi HC Capital as part of our shareholder group. Their strategic focus aligns perfectly with our current strategy and goal of expanding European Energy's impact in the fight against climate change. The capital injection more than triples our equity, offering us increased opportunities to accelerate our business."

Takuji Naruse, Managing Executive Officer and Head of Environment & Energy Business Division of Mitsubishi HC Capital states: "We are most delightful to enter into this strategic partnership with European Energy. Mitsubishi HC Capital finds significant growth potential in European Energy and room to create synergies. Mitsubishi HC Capital by leveraging our expertise and strengths in the market will work together with European Energy to realize value creation and decarbonization."





About European Energy

European Energy, founded in 2004 in Denmark, is a leading developer of renewable energy in Europe, with activities in the entire value chain. The company is present in 28 countries, with a development pipeline surpassing 60 GW. European Energy is a pioneer in Power-to-X (PTX) innovation and is currently constructing the world's largest e-methanol facility and maintaining a significant PTX project pipeline.







About Mitsubishi HC Capital Groups Business

Mitsubishi HC Capital Group (the Group) globally operates and develops a variety of business with seven business segments; Customer Solutions, Global Business, Environment & Energy, Aviation, Logistics, Real Estate and Mobility. In Environment & Energy, the Group is already one of the leading players of renewable energy in Japan and has been investing in renewables in Europe and North America since 2017. It intends to strengthen and make the renewable energy business a growth driver for the group by actively expanding its presence overseas.

Mitsubishi HC Capital Inc. (TSE, NSE: 8593), incorporated in 1971, has achieved a solid and stable business growth backed by its strong financial position and long-term credibility.

Please visit https://www.mitsubishi-hc-capital.com/english/ for more information.







Investor and media enquiries

Investor Relations: Martin Graa Jennum, Director and Head of Corporate Finance, FP&A and Investor Relations: mgj@europeanenergy.com, +45 2114 6107 or investor.relations@europeanenergy.com.

Press: Ming Ou Lu, PR Manager: miol@europeanenergy.com, +45 3126 9376.




Dublin, Jan. 19, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Dental Water Flosser Market - Global Outlook & Forecast 2023-2028" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



The global dental water flosser market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 6.20% from 2022-2028. The market is characterized by significant fragmentation, featuring many local and global participants. This fragmented nature emerges from the coexistence of domestic and international market contenders.

Among the prominent frontrunners in this sector are industry giants like Procter & Gamble, Koninklijke Philips, Shenzhen Relish, Church & Dwight, and others. This landscape fosters intense competition among these entities. The swiftly evolving technological landscape further amplifies the competitive dynamics, which could challenge vendors. Customers' expectations for consistent innovations and enhancements in dental water floss products add to the pressure. This current backdrop necessitates vendors to adapt and refine their distinct value propositions to establish a robust foothold within the dental water flosser market.

North America dominated the global dental water flosser market share, valued at over USD 300 million in 2022. The demand for dental water flossers in the region, particularly in the United States and Canada, has been relatively high. Consumers in these regions are often willing to invest in oral hygiene products that offer convenience and advanced cleaning capabilities. Factors like a higher awareness of oral health and disposable income contribute to the popularity of dental water flossers.







MARKET TRENDS & OPPORTUNITIES

Rising Shift Towards Travel-Friendly Products



Rising tourism can increase the demand for dental water floss products in the market for several reasons. When people travel, they often prioritize their personal hygiene and oral care routines. This heightened awareness of oral health and the desire to maintain a clean and presentable appearance can lead to increased interest in products like dental water flossers. Additionally, exposure to new cuisines and eating habits during travel may make individuals more conscious of their dental hygiene, further driving the demand for oral care products. Many companies focus on manufacturing water floss products for travel in the market.



Significant Demand for Teeth Whitening Products



Various teeth-whitening products are available in the market, including whitening toothpaste, whitening strips, whitening gels, and professional treatments offered by dentists. The market's demand for teeth whitening products, including dental water floss, can rise due to various factors, including increased awareness about dental aesthetics, social media influence promoting brighter smiles, advancements in whitening technology, celebrity endorsements, and the desire for improved self-confidence. Additionally, the availability of more accessible and affordable products and successful marketing strategies can contribute to the industry's growth in demand for dental water floss products.



INDUSTRY RESTRAINTS

High Threat of Substitute



The presence of alternative oral hygiene products within the market has the potential to influence the dental water flosser market. Water flossers can potentially reduce market demand by providing alternative solutions that people perceive as more convenient or budget-friendly. For example, if traditional floss, interdental brushes, or other dental care tools are promoted as effective alternatives, some consumers might opt for those instead of purchasing water flossers. Additionally, if these substitutes are perceived as equally effective, some individuals may choose to forego buying water flossers altogether, impacting the overall demand for such products.

SEGMENTATION INSIGHTS

INSIGHTS BY PRODUCT



The global dental water flosser market by product segments can be categorized as portable and countertop. The portable segment has dominated the global industry and is expected to witness the highest CAGR of over 6% during the forecast period. The demand for dental water floss has been higher for portable water flossers because they are easy to carry, making them suitable for travel or people constantly on the go. They offer a convenient alternative to traditional string floss and are more accessible outside the home.



The demand for countertop dental water floss in the dental water flosser market is also growing steadily. This growth rate is relatively healthy and signifies that the need for countertops is increasing over time. The rise in demand could be due to individuals with braces, dental bridges, or other orthodontic appliances often finding it challenging to floss effectively using traditional methods. Countertop water flossers provide an efficient way to clean around and under such devices, leading to increased demand from this demographic.

INSIGHTS BY AGE GROUP



The adult age segment held the highest global dental water flosser market share in 2022. The increasing awareness about the importance of oral hygiene and preventive dental care could drive more adults to adopt dental water flossing as part of their daily routine. Moreover, as the global population ages, there may be an increased emphasis on maintaining oral health, which could contribute to the growth in demand for dental water flossers.



Apart from the adult segment, the dental water flosser market has risen in the children segment due to technology and innovation, parental influence, and fun factors. Furthermore, advances in water flosser technology have led to the development of models specifically designed for children. These models may have smaller nozzles, lower pressure settings, and child-friendly designs, additionally driving the demand in this segment. Moreover, many modern water flossers have colorful designs, adjustable pressure settings, and various nozzle options.

INSIGHTS BY DISTRIBUTION CHANNEL



The global dental water flosser market by distribution channel can be categorized as online and offline. The offline channels include dental clinics, pharmacies, and retail stores. Dental care stores serve as a specialized and targeted distribution channel for products like water flossers. These stores cater to individuals conscious of their oral health and hygiene. Further, the dental water flosser market through online channels is increasing due to the rising internet penetration worldwide. Moreover, the number of smartphone users is rapidly growing, contributing to the success of online sportswear sales. Various vendors are expanding their presence in other countries by collaborating with e-commerce players or through their proprietary websites.

Market Opportunities & Trends

Rising Shift Toward Travel-Friendly Products

Rising Popularity of Water Flossers in Dental Practices

Rapid Technological Advances in Oral Care Products

Market Growth Enablers

Rising Awareness for Dental Health

Significant Demand for Teeth Whitening Products

High Demand from Developed Nations

Rising Prevalence of Dental Problems

Market Restraints

Lack of Awareness & Consumer Skepticism

Low Affordability in Low Middle-Income Countries

High Threat of Substitute

Key Company Profiles

Church & Dwight

Colgate-Palmolive Company

Fly Cat Electrical Co.

Ginsey Home Solutions

Jetpik

Koninklijke Philips

MySmile

Procter & Gambel

Panasonic Holdings Corporation

Shenzhen Relish

Other Prominent Vendors

Aquapick

Caresmith

Candeon Technologies

Gurin Products

Hydro Floss

Oracura

Oratec Corp

Oral Breeze

Shenzhen BFT Electrical Appliances Manufacturing

SmileDirect Club

ToieltTree Products

COSLUS

Bitave

AZSmile

Tovendor

Key Attributes:

Report Attribute Details No. of Pages 259 Forecast Period 2022 - 2028 Estimated Market Value (USD) in 2022 $0.89 Billion Forecasted Market Value (USD) by 2028 $1.28 Billion Compound Annual Growth Rate 6.2% Regions Covered Global

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/bwzmed

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.

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Dublin, Jan. 19, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Robot-assisted Endoscope Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report By End-use (Hospitals, Outpatient Facilities), By Region (North America, Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America, MEA), And Segment Forecasts, 2023 - 2030" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



The global robot-assisted endoscope market size is expected to reach USD 2.36 billion by 2030, registering a CAGR of 8.2% from 2023 to 2030. Age-related medical disorders requiring endoscopic operations are more prevalent as a result of the world's aging population. Endoscopes with robotic assistance assist in overcoming the difficulties of complex procedures on elderly people. Due to their advantages, such as less trauma, shorter hospital stays, and quicker recovery times, minimally invasive surgical methods have become increasingly popular. Surgeons can carry out intricate treatments with more precision and through smaller incisions with the help of robot-assisted endoscopes.







Factors, such as the demand for minimally invasive surgical (MIS) treatments, new product approvals by regulatory bodies like the U.S. FDA, and the prevalence of chronic illnesses are boosting the market growth. Moreover, the increasing collaboration activities among key players for the development of laparoscopy instruments drive market growth. For instance, in February 2021, Asensus Surgical Inc. and the Amsterdam Skills Centre, Netherlands partnered to create a second European Surgical Training Site for Senhance Digital Laparoscopy. The use of this robotic system in general surgery, including endoscopic operations, is recommended. Thus, it is anticipated that the market in this region will rise at a faster rate during the projected period as a result of the rising prevalence of bowel disorders, the growing elderly population, and the presence of major players with ongoing product advancements.



To prioritize COVID-19 patients and lower the danger of transmission during the pandemic, several healthcare facilities put off elective operations. The lack of urgent endoscopic treatments temporarily decreased the demand for robot-assisted endoscopes. To shorten hospital stays and lower the danger of infection, there was a growing emphasis on adopting minimally invasive surgical methods. As robot-assisted endoscopes provide advantages in terms of smaller incisions and quicker recovery times, this shift in desire may have had a favorable impact on their uptake. The COVID-19 pandemic raised attention to the value of cutting-edge medical technologies and sped up research and development initiatives within the healthcare sector. System improvements for robot-assisted endoscopy may have resulted from this greater emphasis on innovation and technology.



In addition, the market growth is driven by an increase in the number of mergers & acquisitions in the healthcare sector as well as significant investments for its improvement. In May 2022, Creo Medical Group, a significant manufacturer of medical devices, signed a long-term partnership agreement with Intuitive, a leader in robotic surgery and a global pioneer in less-invasive care, to promote compatibility among Creo surgery technology and therapeutic robotic systems. Patients will have more state-of-the-art treatment options due to the combination of Creo's Kamaptive technology and Intuitive's robotic platform. On the other hand, the market growth is likely to be hampered by the high cost of endoscopic treatments and a shortage of qualified personnel. The market will be challenged by a scarcity of qualified workers and a lack of healthcare facilities in developing nations.



Robot-assisted Endoscope Market Report Highlights

Based on the end-use, the outpatient facilities segment dominated the market with a market share of 53.31% in 2022

Robotic systems are employed to perform endoscopic treatments with more accuracy and dexterity, improving patient outcomes and diagnostic precision

North America dominated the global market with a revenue share of 41.81% of the revenue share in 2022

Both the United States and Canada have established regulatory frameworks for medical devices, including robot-assisted endoscopes, which have facilitated their entry into the market

The FDA clearance of the robotic endoscopy devices creates a positive impact on enhancing the product portfolio for the industry's key players

For instance, in March 2021, the Senhance Surgical System was approved by the FDA in the U.S., according to a statement from Asensus Surgical Inc. It was advised to use this robotic system for endoscopy and other general surgery procedures

Key Attributes:

Report Attribute Details No. of Pages 250 Forecast Period 2022 - 2030 Estimated Market Value (USD) in 2022 $1.24 Billion Forecasted Market Value (USD) by 2030 $2.36 Billion Compound Annual Growth Rate 8.2% Regions Covered Global



Key Topics Covered:



Chapter 1. Methodology and Scope



Chapter 2. Executive Summary

2.1. Market Snapshot

2.2. Segment Snapshot

2.3. Competitive Landscape Snapshot



Chapter 3. Market Variables, Trends, & Scope

3.1. Market Lineage Outlook

3.2. Market Dynamics

3.2.1. Market Driver Analysis

3.2.1.1. Increasing incidence of chronic disease

3.2.1.2. Technological advancements of robot-assisted endoscopes

3.2.2. Market Restraint Analysis

3.2.2.1. High cost of endoscopic systems

3.3. Industry Analysis Tools



Chapter 4. End-use Business Analysis

4.1. Robot-Assisted Endoscopes Market: End-use Movement Analysis

4.2. Hospitals

4.3. Outpatient Facilities



Chapter 5. Regional Business Analysis

5.1. Robot-Assisted Endoscopes Market Share By Region, 2022 & 2030

5.2. North America

5.3. Europe

5.4. Asia Pacific

5.5. Latin America

5.6. MEA



Chapter 6. Competitive Landscape

Asensus Surgical US

Intuitive Surgical

Auris Health

Johnson & Johnson Services

Brainlab

Medtronic

Boston Scientific

Stryker

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/z5s3jl

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.

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Tallinn Circuit Court dismissed today the appeal submitted by Tallinn University of Technology against the interim decision of the Harju County Court of 09/06/2023, which dismissed the claim brought by Tallinn University of Technology against AS Tallinna Vesi for the compensation of an allegedly overpaid price for the water services consumed. Companys earlier announcement regarding this claim is available here .

The claimant had joined the claims from various persons from 2011 to 2019 in the amount of EUR 743,854.70 plus interests. Tallinna Vesi did not admit this claim and disputed it in full from the start, by affirming that the company has always acted legitimately and applied fair tariffs in accordance with the law in force.

The judgement of the Tallinn Circuit Court has not entered into force and the claimant has 30 days to appeal to the Supreme Court.

The company does not consider the ongoing proceedings of action to have any significant impact on the companys financial results.



Taavi Groon

AS Tallinna Vesi

Chief Financial Officer

(+372) 626 2271

taavi.groon@tvesi.ee
Park City, Utah, Jan. 19, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Vitruvius Design+Build, the leader in technological innovation in the luxury custom residential construction industry, sponsored an exclusive experience at Old Town Cellars on January 18, 2024 at the Sundance Film Festival. The soiree, a celebration of the 40th anniversary of the Sundance Film Festival, coincided with the opening day premier of the independent film Ghostlight.

Known for their tech-driven and experience-focused approach to luxury residential construction, Vitruvius Design+Build is leading a paradigm shift in innovation by developing the worlds first design+build experience software platform. The Sundance Film Festival experience at Old Town Cellars is a testament to the brand's dedication to supporting Park City's vibrant arts and film culture scene and embodies their approach to luxury experiences.

"At Vitruvius Design+Build, we are relentless in our pursuit of understanding the intersectionality of technology and luxury residential construction, both in its design and execution, emphasizes Charles Ochello, Founder+CEO of Vitruvius Design+Build.

Leveraging our AI-driven experience software platform combined with an advanced understanding of luxury aesthetics, our firm is striving for nothing short of executional perfection.

Event Highlights:

- Reception for premiere of Ghostlight  Members of the cast and production team were in attendance, including the films directing duo Kelly OSullivan and Alex Thompson.

- Venue: Old Town Cellars  An iconic Park City tasting room provided an intimate setting for an unforgettable experience.

- Arts, Culture, and Philanthropy  Vitruvius Design+Build not only supports the thriving film culture in Park City, but also the philanthropic efforts of Chicago-based non-profit Elevated Films.

About Vitruvius Design+Build:

Based in Park City, Utah, Vitruvius Design+Build is a tech firm focused on revolutionizing the luxury custom residential industry. Through technological innovation, Vitruvius Design+Build actualizes evolved excellence through a curated design+build experience.

About Ghostlight:

Ghostlight centers on Dan (Keith Kupferer), a melancholic middle-aged construction worker grieving a family tragedy. Cut off from his devoted wife, Sharon (Tara Mallen), and talented but troubled daughter, Daisy (Katherine Mallen Kupferer), Dan finds comfort and community in a misfit company of amateur actors. While moonlighting in a low-rent production of Shakespeares most protean tragedy, Dan is forced to confront his buried emotions. Real-life family Mallen, Kupferer, and Mallen Kupferer bring tenderness and authenticity to this poignant portrait, while Dolly de Leon  last seen stealing the scene in Triangle of Sadness  is hilarious as Dans irascible, improbable co-star.

For more information, please visit vitruvius.design and follow @vitruviusdesign on Instagram, LinkedIn, and X.

Media Contact:

Avery Vogelzang

Brand Strategist

avery@vitruvius.design

(435) 565-0171

Disclaimer: There is no offer to sell, no solicitation of an offer to buy, and no recommendation of any security or any other product or service in this article. Moreover, nothing contained in this PR should be construed as a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any investment or security, or to engage in any investment strategy or transaction. It is your responsibility to determine whether any investment, investment strategy, security, or related transaction is appropriate for you based on your investment objectives, financial circumstances, and risk tolerance. Consult your business advisor, attorney, or tax advisor regarding your specific business, legal, or tax situation. For more info, please contact brandnewsproject@gmail.com.

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Westford USA, Jan. 19, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- According to SkyQuest's latest global research of the Smoke Detector market , increased adoption of advanced sensing technologies like photoelectric and ionization sensors, the integration of wireless connectivity for remote monitoring and alerts, the development of interconnected and networked smoke detection systems, the incorporation of artificial intelligence and machine learning for improved fire detection accuracy, the demand for smaller and more aesthetically pleasing smoke detector designs, and the increasing use of long-life batteries and energy-efficient solutions to reduce maintenance and operational costs are the trends that aid in the market's growth.

Browse in-depth TOC on "Smoke Detector Market"

Pages - 157

Tables - 63

Figures - 75

A smoke detector is a device that senses smoke, typically as an indicator of fire. Smoke detectors are usually housed in plastic enclosures, typically shaped like a disk about 150 millimeters (6 in) in diameter and 25 millimeters (1 in) thick, but shape and size vary. Smoke can be detected either optically or by physical process.

Prominent Players in Smoke Detector Market

Honeywell International Inc.

Johnson Controls

Siemens

Robert Bosch GmbH

NEC Corporation

Google LLC

Schneider Electric

Emerson Electric Co.

Halma PLC

BRK Brands Inc. (Resideo Technologies, Inc.)

Hochiki America Corporation

Kidde

First Alert

Nest Labs

Calex Electronics

X-Sense

Sprue Safety

Universal Security Instruments

Smartwares

Intermatic

Aico

Hekatron

Ei Electronics

Get a sample copy of this report:

https://www.skyquestt.com/sample-request/smoke-detector-market

Photoelectric Smoke Detectors Demand to Grow Substantially in the Forecast Period

Photoelectric Smoke Detectors dominate the global online market as they are known for their effectiveness in detecting smouldering fires and visible smoke particles. This feature is particularly valuable for early warning, critical for fire safety. Some safety standards and regulations favour photoelectric smoke detectors, especially in residential applications.

Browse summary of the report and Complete Table of Contents (ToC):

https://www.skyquestt.com/report/smoke-detector-market

Residential Applications is the Leading Application Segment

In terms of application, the individual consumer is the leading segment due to the increasing awareness of fire safety among homeowners and tenants encouraging the installation of smoke detectors in residences. Integrating smart smoke detectors into home automation and security systems enhances their appeal in residential applications.

North America is the leading Market Due to Technological Advancements

North America, particularly the United States and Canada, has well-established safety regulations that mandate the installation of smoke detectors in residential and commercial buildings. This regulatory environment drives consistent demand for smoke detectors. The high population density in urban areas contributes to the demand for residential and commercial smoke detectors.

A recent report thoroughly analyzes the major players operating within the Smoke Detector market. This comprehensive evaluation has considered several crucial factors, such as collaborations, mergers, innovative business policies, and strategies, providing invaluable insights into the key trends and breakthroughs in the market. Additionally, the report has carefully scrutinized the market share of the top segments and presented a detailed geographic analysis. Finally, the report has highlighted the major players in the industry and their ongoing endeavors to develop innovative solutions that cater to the ever-increasing demand for Smoke Detector.

Speak to Analyst for your custom requirements:

https://www.skyquestt.com/speak-with-analyst/smoke-detector-market

Key Developments in the Smoke Detector Market

Kidde launched their Smoke + Carbon Monoxide Alarm, which boasts several smart features and Wi-Fi connectivity and can be administered via a new mobile app. The new smoke alarm from the firm would be one of the first smart systems that could be used to convert existing Kidde hardwired interconnected alarms into smart ones with a full and readily integrated solution that gives whole-home safety.

Key Questions Answered in Smoke Detector Market Report

What specific growth drivers are projected to impact the market during the forecast period?

Can you list the top companies in the market and explain how they have achieved their positions of influence?

In what ways do regional trends and patterns differ within the global market, and how might these differences shape the market's future growth?

Related Reports in SkyQuests Library:

Global Gas Water Heater Market

Global Tobacco Market

Global Smoking Accessories Market

Global Vape Cartridge Market

U.S. Tobacco Market

About Us:

SkyQuest Technology is leading growth consulting firm providing market intelligence, commercialization and technology services. It has 450+ happy clients globally.

Address:

1 Apache Way, Westford, Massachusetts 01886

Phone:

USA (+1) 617-230-0741

Email: sales@skyquestt.com
Dublin, Jan. 19, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Gene Expression Global Market Report 2024" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



The global gene expression market size has grown rapidly in recent years. It will grow from $10.54 billion in 2023 to $11.68 billion in 2024 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10.9%. The growth observed in the historical period can be attributed to factors such as an increasing focus on precision medicine, a rise in cancer research and biomarker discovery, the application of gene expression in disease diagnosis and prognosis, integration with systems biology approaches, and the evolving needs in drug discovery and development.

North America was the largest region in the gene expression market in 2023. Asia-Pacific is expected to be the fastest-growing region in the gene expression market in the forecast period.



The gene expression market is expected to see rapid growth in the next few years. It will grow to $18.07 billion in 2028 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11.5%. The anticipated growth in the forecast period can be attributed to the emergence of spatial transcriptomics, an increase in epigenomic studies, global health events and pandemic preparedness efforts, a heightened focus on non-coding RNA exploration, and increased utilization in immunotherapy research. Major trends expected in the forecast period include the widespread adoption of single-cell RNA sequencing, advancements in next-generation sequencing technologies, the integration of multi-omics data, progress in gene editing technologies, the development of liquid biopsy techniques, and the application of spatial omics in drug discovery.



The anticipated increase in emphasis on precision medicine is set to drive the growth of the gene expression market in the future. For example, in 2021, precision medicines accounted for over 25% of FDA approvals in the last seven years, with an additional 35% of medicines approved in 2021 being precision medicines, as reported by the Personalized Medicine Coalition. Hence, the heightened focus on precision medicine is a driving force behind the gene expression market.



The increase in chronic diseases is expected to contribute to the growth of the gene expression market in the future. For instance, a report by the National Library of Medicine in January 2023 projected a 99.5% increase in individuals aged 50 years and older with one or more chronic illnesses by 2050 in the United States, reaching 142.66 million, up from 71.522 million in 2020. Therefore, the rise in chronic diseases is poised to drive the growth of the gene expression market.



Technological advancement stands out as a notable trend in the gene expression market, with major companies progressing towards RNA gene expression technology. For instance, in September 2022, Enzo Biochem, Inc., introduced AMPIVIEW, a new platform leveraging RNA gene expression technology for superior sensitivity in detecting and visualizing biomarkers in cells and tissue samples, specifically targeting HPV and SARS-CoV-2.



Major companies in the gene expression market are concentrating on innovative product development, such as gene detection assays, to gain a competitive edge and enhance revenue. Gene detection assays involve methods for identifying and quantifying the presence of genetic molecules, offering insights into the activity and abundance of specific genes. In January 2023, Bio-Techne Corporation expanded its Advanced Cell Diagnostics (ACD)-branded RNAscope in situ hybridization (ISH) portfolio by introducing the RNAscope Plus smRNA-RNA detection assay. This assay allows simultaneous fluorescent detection of a small regulatory RNA along with three target RNAs or RNA biomarkers in a single tissue section, providing single-cell and subcellular resolution.



In October 2021, Bionano Genomics Inc. acquired BioDiscovery for a deal value of $100 million. This strategic acquisition enables Bionano to offer additional structural variations and methylation analysis, providing end-users with a comprehensive genomic view of the sample. BioDiscovery is a company based in the US that specializes in genomic software for clinical and research applications using NGS and/or microarrays.



Report Scope

Markets Covered:

1) By Product: Kits and Reagents; DNA Chip Or Microarray; Other Products.

2) By Process: Sample Collection; Purification; cDNA Synthesis and Conversion; PCR Analysis; Data Analysis and Interpretation.

3) By Technique: RNA Exp; Promoter Analysis; Protein Exp. and Posttranslational Modification Analysis.

4) By Application: Drug Discovery and Development; Clinical Diagnostics; Biotechnology and Microbiology; Other Applications.



Companies Mentioned: Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.; Qiagen NV; Illumina Inc.; Bio-Rad Laboratories Inc.; Agilent Technologies Inc.



Countries: Australia; Brazil; China; France; Germany; India; Indonesia; Japan; Russia; South Korea; UK; USA; Canada; Italy; Spain.



Regions: Asia-Pacific; Western Europe; Eastern Europe; North America; South America; Middle East; Africa.



Time Series: Five years historic and ten years forecast.

A selection of companies mentioned in this report includes:

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.

Qiagen NV

Illumina Inc.

Bio-Rad Laboratories Inc.

Agilent Technologies Inc.

PerkinElmer Inc.

GE Healthcare

F Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd

Oxford Gene Technology IP Limited

Promega Corporation

Quest Diagnostics Inc.

Interpace Biosciences Inc.

OriGene Technologies Inc.

Luminex Corporation

Takara Bio Inc.

Danaher Corporation

ELITechGroup

AutoGenomics Inc.

Biocartis Group NV

Integragen SA

Oxford Nanopore Technologies Limited

Phalanx Biotech Group

QIAGEN Inc.

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated

Roche Holding AG

Sengenics Corporation Pte Ltd.

GenoSensor Corporation

GenXPro GmbH

Twist Bioscience Corporation

Zymo Research Corporation

Abcam plc

Bio-Techne Corporation

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/7xogis

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.
Westford,USA, Jan. 19, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- According to SkyQuest, these solutions encompass many critical functions, including transport management systems, strategic planning and analytics, precise manufacturing execution, and integrating relevant business data for informed decision-making in the supply chain management market .

Get sample copy of this report:

https://www.skyquestt.com/sample-request/supply-chain-management-market

Browse in-depth TOC on the "Supply Chain Management Market

Pages - 157

Tables - 117

Figures  77

The adoption of supply chain management market is experiencing a widespread expansion across diverse enterprises and organizations. This trend is driven by the software's capacity to empower businesses to efficiently manage every facet of their supply chain operations, from sourcing raw materials to overseeing manufacturing and assembly processes.

Prominent Players in Supply Chain Management Market

SAP

Oracle Corporation

IBM Corporation

JDA Software

Kinaxis

Manhattan Associates

Infor

Blue Yonder

Descartes Systems Group

BluJay Solutions

E2open

LLamasoft

Elemica

GT Nexus

MercuryGate International

One Network Enterprises

Sage Group

Plex Systems

SAP Ariba

Zycus

Browse summary of the report and Complete Table of Contents (ToC):

https://www.skyquestt.com/report/supply-chain-management-market

Solution Segment is Expected to Grow the Market Due to the Increased Efficiency

Solution category emerged as the dominant player in the supply chain management market in 2022, holding the largest market share, and it is poised to maintain its leadership throughout the forecast period.

The market in North America is poised to maintain its dominance in the supply chain management market throughout the forecast period, building on its position as the leader in market revenue in 2022. Several factors contribute to North America's strong market presence, including the region's substantial number of software adopters who recognize the benefits of SCM solutions for their operations.

Transport Management System Segment is Expected to Dominate the Market Due to its Pivotal Role in Optimizing Logistics

Transport management system segment has maintained its position with the highest supply chain management market share. TMS is pivotal in optimizing logistics and transportation operations across the supply chain. It facilitates the planning and execution of goods movement, enabling clients to manage transportation processes more efficiently.

Regional markets in the Asia Pacific are poised to experience the most substantial growth in the supply chain management market during the forecast period. This surge in market expansion can be attributed to several key factors.

A comprehensive analysis of the major players in the supply chain management market has been recently conducted in a report. The report encompasses various aspects, including collaborations, mergers, innovative business policies, and strategies, providing valuable insights into key trends and breakthroughs in the market. Furthermore, the report scrutinizes the market share of the top segments and presents a detailed geographic analysis. Lastly, the report highlights the major players in the industry and their endeavours to develop innovative solutions to cater to the growing demand.

Key Developments in the Supply Chain Management Market

SAP recently made a significant move in the supply chain management arena by announcing its acquisition of Signavio, a renowned business process intelligence and process management software provider. This strategic acquisition aims to bolster SAP's supply chain management portfolio, offering customers enhanced visibility and deeper insights into their business processes. By integrating Signavio's expertise in process management with SAP's robust suite of solutions, customers can expect more efficient and data-driven supply chain operations.

IBM recently unveiled the IBM Sterling Business Transaction Intelligence, a cutting-edge AI-powered solution that provides real-time visibility and invaluable insights into supply chain transactions. This innovative offering addresses the growing need for enhanced transparency and decision support in the supply chain domain.

Speak to Analyst for your custom requirements:

https://www.skyquestt.com/speak-with-analyst/supply-chain-management-market

Key Questions Answered in Supply Chain Management Market Report

What specific growth drivers are projected to impact the market during the forecast period?

List the top companies in the market and explain how they have achieved their positions of influence.

In what ways do regional trends and patterns differ within the global market, and how these differences shape the market's future growth?

Related Reports in SkyQuests Library:

Global Application Hosting Market

Global Managed Mobility Services Market

Global Operational Analytics Market

Global Artificial Intelligence for IT Operations Platform Market

Europe Debt Collection Software Market

About Us:

SkyQuest Technology is leading growth consulting firm providing market intelligence, commercialization and technology services. It has 450+ happy clients globally.

Address:

1 Apache Way, Westford, Massachusetts 01886

Phone:

USA (+1) 617-230-0741

Email: sales@skyquestt.com
RICHMOND HILL, Ontario, Jan. 19, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Volvo Car Canada launches the Volvo Recharge Lounge at the Interior Design Show (IDS). The space was designed with sustainability in mind, reflecting the brands core ethos and commitments. Volvo Cars design approach reinterprets luxury as the brand looks to the future with a keen focus on materials that elevate functional design. Excess and conventional fabrics are replaced with materials from natural, recycled and renewable sources, with circularity prioritized. These essential qualities can be found within the Volvo Recharge Lounge, along with the brands roster of vehicles available for test drives at IDS. Running from January 20-21 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, IDS celebrates and promotes the best in global and Canadian design.



Volvo Recharge Lounge

Inspired by clean lines and organic textiles, the lounge features contemporary Scandinavian furnishings from Gus* Modern and Stylegarage. The fabric drapery showcased in the exhibit will be repurposed and contributed back into the local design community to maximize its lifecycle and reduce environmental impact. A fleet of Volvo vehicles (including the Volvo XC90 T8, C40 and XC40 Recharge) are available for guests to take out for a test drive around Torontos downtown core throughout the weekend.

Inspired Design

A focus on materials that feel good and do good are foundations of Volvo Cars design approach. In 2024 this commitment reaches new heights with the introduction of two new fully electric models: the Volvo EX90 seven-seat flagship SUV and the companys smallest ever SUV, the Volvo EX30.

Both vehicles offer progressive Nordico upholstery, created from textiles made from recycled products such as PET bottles, as well as bio-attributed polymer from forests in Sweden and Finland, setting a new standard for premium interior design.

The Volvo EX90 and EX30 will allow you to choose from distinct interior rooms - each expression including a thoughtful selection of colour, upholstery and material finish. Responsible design is embedded in the heart of each room, with a variety of recycled and renewable materials incorporated; including wood, denim, flax and wool. With the introduction of the EX90 and EX30, Volvo Cars now has four fully electric vehicles as part of their lineup, all available with Volvo Cars One Price Promise.

Sustainability Ambitions

By 2030, Volvo plans to be a fully electric car company and is currently making excellent progress. In 2023, sales for Recharge models - those with a fully electric or plug-in hybrid powertrain  made up 35 per cent of Volvo Car Canadas overall sales.

The global brand is also striving for the following targets by 2030:

Reduce its CO2 emissions per car by 75 per cent (compared to 2018 levels).

Reduce energy usage in its operations per average car by 40 per cent (compared to 2018 levels).

Reach 30 per cent average recycled content across its fleet, with new car models having at least 35 per cent recycled content.

Reduce water use in its operations by 50 per cent average per car (compared to 2018 levels).

At least 99 per cent of all waste from its operations to be either reused or recycled.



By 2040, Volvo aims to reach zero greenhouse gas emissions and be a fully circular business.

Volvo Car Canada assets can be found here.

About Volvo Car Canada Ltd.

Volvo Car Canada Ltd. (VCCL) is a subsidiary of Volvo Car Group of Gothenburg, Sweden. VCCL provides marketing, sales, parts, service, technology, and training support to the 37 Volvo automobile retailers across Canada. For more information, please refer to the Volvo Cars Canada media website at www.media.volvocars.com/ca/en-ca.

For more information:

Holly Wilks, Narrative, holly.wilks@narrative.ca
An Aldi worker has been shot dead in the supermarket by her ex-partner in front of horrified shoppers.

The victim, identified only as Aysel I, had chillingly previously predicted her demise at the hands of her partner. According to reports, she'd told family she'd "go to work and wont come home". "He will come and kill me."

The 38-year-old was stacking shelves in the budget store when she was approached by her ex, identified as Plamen P, when the pair began arguing. A few minutes later, he pulled a semi-automatic gun and allegedly fired several shots at her.

At least one of the bullets hit her in the head, killing her instantly in front of dozens of shocked shoppers, their young children, and employees.

Aysel hadn't worked at the Aldi store long when she was shot dead by her ex-partner. Source: Jam Press/ Google Maps

The gunman then turned his weapon on himself, and he died at the supermarket on January 15.

Police officers quickly arrived in Morfelden-Walldorf near Frankfurt, Germany, and cordoned off the store. Those who witnessed the bloodbath were offered counselling.

Aysel, 38, was a Bulgarian of Turkish descent but had lived in Germany for 13 years. Plamen was also from Bulgaria.

The police believe he shot her because he was bitter that their relationship had ended. He had no criminal record.

Ex-partner allegedly harassed victim for months

Plamen, 48, was in a relationship with the victim for just five months. Aysel separated from him about six months ago while the two were on holiday in their homeland.

After their breakup, he allegedly began stalking her.

Her family and friends say shed gone to the police on several occasions to report him, while hiring a lawyer and is even reported to have taken out a restraining order on him.

Plamen was reportedly due to attend a court hearing in February about an alleged assault on the victim.

He is believed to have turned up to her flat uninvited and choked her.

Story continues

He destroyed her. He didnt leave her alone," her brother, Altanay, told local media.

She told me, One day, Ill go to work and wont come home. He will come and kill me.

Aysel had only been working at Aldi for a year.

Prosecutors will investigate how Plamen obtained the gun as he did not have a firearms license.

The supermarket in question was closed for cleaning on Tuesday and candles were placed at the entrance.

- Jam Press

Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com.

You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube.
EL SEGUNDO, Calif., Jan. 19, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- This year, Fabletics , the worlds most fashionable, high-performance active wear brand, is celebrating its 10-year anniversary in style. In honor of this momentous milestone, Fabletics is releasing an exclusive Luxe 360 Archive Collection, designed by co-founder Ginger Ressler, that revives some of the brands most beloved looks of all time.



This exclusive archival collection features redesigned pieces from the vault - creating an opportunity to offer even better versions of these already loved styles. From Fabletics most iconic sweatpant and hoodie, to everyones favorite PowerHold legging, to one of the brands most famous prints, the twelve-piece collection proves that a decade never looked so good, all while continuing to deliver on the brands promise to produce high-quality, feel-good style, at an accessible price point.

Being able to celebrate a decade of Fabletics is truly a humbling experience, said Ginger Ressler, co-founder, Fabletics. Looking back at what weve created, and the loyal Members who have championed Fabletics from the start, makes me so proud of what weve accomplished over the last ten years. As a thank you to our Members, this celebratory Luxe 360 Archive Collection pays homage to some favorites, with a reimagined design we know our fans will love even more than the originals.

The anniversary Luxe 360 Archive Collection includes:

Clara Tank with Build-In Bra , VIP MSRP $44.95, Non-Member MSRP $59.95 Made for maximum movement, with structured support - back and better than ever with a built-in bra

, VIP MSRP $44.95, Non-Member MSRP $59.95 Define High-Waisted Legging , VIP MSRP $59.95, Non-Member MSRP $74.95 The Legendary PowerHold Define legging is back in the all-time favorite archival print, Starry Night

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The entire archival collection is size-inclusive, with available sizes ranging XXS to 4X, and prices will range from $29.95 to $84.95 USD. Starting today, this Luxe 360 collection is available to purchase in Fabletics physical stores across the globe and at Fabletics.com/collections/10-year .

To learn more, or to stay in the loop on future news, follow @Fabletics and @GingerRessler on Instagram.

About Fabletics

Founded in 2013 and headquartered in El Segundo, CA, Fabletics is the largest digitally native activewear brand in the world*. By fusing style-centric designs with high-performance technology, Fabletics is creating the worlds most fashionable, high-performance active lifestyle products at an accessible price. Driven by its innovative VIP membership program serving over 2 million loyal members and powered by analysis from its Fashion OS tech platform enabling deep customer understanding, Fabletics has evolved activewear beyond the gym into every walk of life, guided by its foundational belief that everyone and every body deserves to look and feel their best. See and shop Fabletics collections in the US, Canada, Europe and in person at the brands state-of-the-art retail stores in over 90 locations.

*Source: Euromonitor International Limited; Based on total global retail sales in the calendar year 2020 from custom research conducted in October 2021.

Media Contacts:

Meghan Chisholm, MChisholm@techstyle.com

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/3cd5d42f-d514-4e5c-9e7d-f4954fe4bee0
NEWTOWN, Pa., Jan. 19, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The law firm of Edelson Lechtzin LLP is investigating securities fraud claims on behalf of all purchasers of Cummins Inc. (Cummins or the Company) (NYSE: CMI) securities between April 30, 2019, and December 21, 2023, inclusive (the Class Period).



Investors who purchased Cummins Inc. common stock may move the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California to appoint them as lead plaintiff, no later than March 15, 2024 . Current holders of Cummins stock may pursue corporate governance reforms. Please contact Edelson Lechtzin LLP at 844-696-7492 to discuss your investment losses, or by e-mail at elechtzin@edelson-law.com. A copy of the Class Action Complaint can be viewed HERE.

Background on Cummins Inc.

Founded in 1919 and headquartered in Columbus, Indiana, Cummins is a globally recognized multinational corporation that specializes in designing, manufacturing, and distributing a broad range of engines, filtration, and power generation products.

The Securities Fraud Claims

The Complaint alleges that throughout the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and/or misleading statements and/or omissions regarding Cummins business, operations, and prospects, including that: (i) contrary to its post-April 2019 assurances about its commitment to compliance, Cummins continued to produce engines with unlawful emission-defeating devices from 2019 to 2023; (ii) accordingly, Cummins understated its legal and regulatory risk, and misrepresented its commitment to environmental protection; and (iii) as a result, Defendants statements about its business, operations, and prospects, were materially false and misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis at all relevant times.

On Dec. 22, 2023, Cummins issued a press release announcing an agreement in principle with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the California Air Resources Board (CARB). On the same day, the United States Department of Justice released a press release titled Attorney General Merrick Garland Statement on the Agreement in Principle with Cummins to Settle Alleged Installation of Illegal Defeat Devices in Engines. On this news, Cumminss stock price fell by $7.01 per share, or 2.87%, to close at $236.99 on December 22, 2023.

For more information, please contact:

Marc H. Edelson, Esq.

Eric Lechtzin, Esq.

EDELSON LECHTZIN LLP

411 S. State Street, Suite N-300

Newtown, PA 18940

Phone: 844-696-7492 or 215-867-2399 ext. 1

Email: medelson@edelson-law.com

Email: elechtzin@edelson-law.com

Web: www.edelson-law.com

Edelson Lechtzin LLP is a national class action law firm with offices in Pennsylvania and California. In addition to cases involving securities and investment fraud, our lawyers focus on class and collective litigation in cases alleging violations of the federal antitrust laws, employee benefit plans under ERISA, wage theft and unpaid overtime, consumer fraud, and dangerous and defective drugs and medical devices.

This press release may be considered Attorney Advertising in some jurisdictions. No class has been certified in this case, so you are not represented by counsel unless you retain one. You may select counsel of your choice. You may also remain an absent class member and do nothing at this point. Your ability to share in any potential future recovery is not dependent upon serving as lead plaintiff.


Naples Florida, Jan. 19, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Music Licensing, Inc. (OTC: SONG) is pleased to announce significant steps taken on January 19, 2024, aimed at fortifying its position in the market and ensuring sustained growth. The Company has successfully secured the consent of Jake P. Noch Family Office, LLC, a holder of preferred J shares, providing 80% of all voting power, in a move to increase its authorized common stock shares. This decision aligns seamlessly with the state of Nevada and sets the stage for a robust future.

The motivation behind this strategic initiative stems from careful consideration and guidance received from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). Recognizing the potential challenges associated with a lengthy timeline for a reverse stock split  estimated to be over 14 months  Music Licensing, Inc. is committed to maintaining its growth trajectory without unnecessary delays.

In pursuit of this goal, the Company is set to acquire approximately $5 million worth of Music IP royalty stakes. This strategic move is designed to not only generate substantial revenue but also ensure a positive cash flow, setting the groundwork for a seamless uplisting to the NYSE American. Exiting the over-the-counter market is a pivotal step towards achieving greater visibility and market presence.

The decision reflects the proactive approach of Music Licensing, Inc.'s management in addressing the current challenges within the US OTC market. The regulatory timelines, notably the extended duration for even the simplest of corporate actions by FINRA, have prompted the Company to take decisive measures. By expanding its authorized common stock shares and strategically investing in Music IP royalty stakes, Music Licensing, Inc. is positioning itself for a future marked by sustained growth and enhanced market prominence.

The Company remains steadfast in its commitment to delivering value to shareholders and stakeholders alike.

About Music Licensing, Inc. (OTC: SONG) (ProMusicRights.com)

Music Licensing, Inc. (OTC: SONG), also known as Pro Music Rights, is the 5th public performance rights organization (PRO) to be formed in the United States. Its licensees include notable companies such as TikTok, iHeart Media, Triller, Napster, 7Digital, Vevo, and many others. Pro Music Rights holds an estimated market share of 7.4% in the United States, representing over 2,500,000 works that feature notable artists such as A$AP Rocky, Wiz Khalifa, Pharrell, Young Jeezy, Juelz Santana, Lil Yachty, MoneyBagg Yo, Larry June, Trae Pound, Sause Walka, Trae Tha Truth, Sosamann, Soulja Boy, Lex Luger, Trauma Tone, Lud Foe, SlowBucks, Gunplay, OG Maco, Rich The Kid, Fat Trel, Young Scooter, Nipsey Hussle, Famous Dex, Boosie Badazz, Shy Glizzy, 2 Chainz, Migos, Gucci Mane, Young Dolph, Trinidad James, Chingy, Lil Gnar, 3OhBlack, Curren$y, Fall Out Boy, Money Man, Dej Loaf, Lil Uzi Vert, and countless others, as well as Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) Created Music. Additionally, Music Licensing, Inc. (OTC: SONG) owns royalty stakes in musical works by artists such as Elton John, Lil Nas X, Miley Cyrus, Lil Wayne, XXXTentacion, Halsey, and numerous others.

Forward-Looking Statements:

This press release contains certain 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, which are intended to be covered by the safe harbors created thereby. Investors are cautioned that, all forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, including without limitation, the ability of Music Licensing, Inc. & Pro Music Rights, Inc. to accomplish its stated plan of business. Music Licensing, Inc. & Pro Music Rights, Inc. believes that the assumptions underlying the forward-looking statements contained herein are reasonable, any of the assumptions could be inaccurate, and therefore, there can be no assurance that the forward-looking statements included in this press release will prove to be accurate. In light of the significant uncertainties inherent in the forward-looking statements included herein, the inclusion of such information should not be regarded as a representation by Pro Music Rights, Inc., Music Licensing, Inc., or any other person.

Non-Legal Advice Disclosure:

This press release does not constitute legal advice, and readers are advised to seek legal counsel for any legal matters or questions related to the content herein.

Non-Investment Advice Disclosure:

This communication is intended solely for informational purposes and does not in any way imply or constitute a recommendation or solicitation for the purchase or sale of any securities, commodities, bonds, options, derivatives, or any other investment products. Any decisions related to investments should be made after thorough research and consultation with a qualified financial advisor or professional. We assume no liability for any actions taken or not taken based on the information provided in this communication

Contact: investors@ProMusicRights.com

SOURCE: Music Licensing, Inc.
PASCAGOULA, Miss., Jan. 19, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Global all-domain defense provider HII (NYSE: HII) announced today that its Ingalls Shipbuilding division awarded $100,000 in grants to 24 STEM-related initiatives from schools and educational organizations located in Mississippi and Alabama. The STEM awards are currently distributed on an annual basis each school year and are used to further the education of science, technology, engineering and math.



Every year we look forward to honoring the outstanding work of our regions educators and supporting them in preparing their students to be the next generation of critical thinkers, Ingalls Shipbuilding President Kari Wilkinson said. Innovation and critical thinking skills are vital in the shipbuilding process and we are proud to play a role in encouraging students to pursue a STEM related career.

In the past decade, Ingalls has awarded more than $1.1 million for teacher training and projects allowing for continued support of STEM in the local education system. The funds distributed will go toward STEM-related equipment, such as lab supplies or software, to be used in hands-on research.





Photos accompanying this release are available at: https://hii.com/news/hii-ingalls-shipbuilding-awards-stem-grants-2024/.

Today we celebrate the future of STEM and the 24 award recipients who are planting seeds of inspiration within their students, Ingalls Shipbuilding Corporate Stewardship & Community Relations Manager Lisa Bradley said. These teachers go above and beyond to demonstrate how their students can excel in STEM careers and it is our hope that every one of their students is inspired to one day become a member of our shipbuilding family.

Multiple schools from the Moss Point School District in Mississippi were recipients of this years STEM grant and have various plans for how they will use the award.

Moss Point School District Superintendent Dr. Oswago Harper was in attendance for the award ceremony and shared in the excitement of the day saying, These awards provide an extra boost to our STEM efforts and we are so grateful for the continued support of Ingalls. The awards allow our educators to strengthen our students skills by focusing on projects such as developing effective test preparation for ACT WorkKeys, the creation of metal flower planters, and the design and construction of cooling systems.

The Ingalls STEM awards attracted nearly 80 applications this grant cycle from the region. The next application cycle will open in August 2024 at the beginning of the 2024-2025 academic school year and end in October.

HII is committed to shaping the future of engineering, science and technology and makes investments in STEM education programs through partnerships with local elementary, middle and high schools, community colleges and technical schools, summer internships, and industry-leading apprentice schools at the companys two shipyards.

The following 24 organizations have been honored by Ingalls Shipbuilding with STEM grants for the 2023-2024 school year:

Alabama School of Mathematics and Science (Ala.): Exploring Natural History in the Digital Age  This will allow an opportunity to offer a full-term course for high school students in paleontology focused on using modern technology such as 3D printers to create digital fossils and will be used to investigate the fossilized remains of plants and animals.

Arlington Elementary School (Miss.): Engineered for Greatness  Project designed to expose 2nd graders to engineering as they hone their math, science, problem-solving and social-emotional learning skills using hands-on learning activities created to embrace different learning styles.

Baldwin County High School (Ala.): Project Anatomy in Clay  Will purchase the Anatomy in Clay learning system for students in grades 10-12. This system features a hands-on strategy for learning anatomy and physiology.

Bay High School (Miss.): Air Quality Ins and Outs  This allows for students to collect data and compare air quality conditions within the classrooms, cafeteria, between buildings, and outdoor quality daily and repeat yearly.

Colmer Middle School (Miss.): School Beautification/Reproduction Project  This is a beautification project of school grounds for their eighth grade science classes. They will complete plant research and learn about forms of plant reproduction while taking care of the seeds and cuttings until the spring.

East Central High School (Miss.): Racing Into Space This project involves high school students mentoring approximately 300 fourth and fifth graders to explore the moon's surface features, experiment with different types of wheels, and design and build model cars to race over a simulated lunar surface.

East Central Middle School (Miss.): Underwater Robotics  Students will research, design, and build a working underwater remote operating vehicle (ROV) and work as a team, of driver and spotter, to complete tasks with the ROV under water. A robotics team will be created in the spring for any students who would like to participate.

Fairhope High School (Ala.): Utilizing Technology for Scientific Inquiry in the Physical Science Classroom  This project aims to enhance the learning experience for 10th grade students with hands-on, inquiry-based learning opportunities by integrating specific technological tools into the curriculum.

Gulfport High School (Miss.): Coastal Water Health  Students will collect water samples from different locations in Gulfport and run laboratory tests to determine if there are common pollutants present and to determine the overall health of the local water.

J. Larry Newton Elementary School (Ala.): Producers of Our Future  This project includes the use of creation technology, 3D printing and 3D laser printing to allow students to make their ideas come to life!

Lyman Elementary School (Miss.): Lyman Leaders  Future Entrepreneurs  Students will use the CorelDraw program and Laser Engraver to create student designed and student produced products as part of their Future Entrepreneurs Unit. Students will create a business plan and write and produce advertisements to pitch their patented products  this gives each student an experience in showing what it takes to build a business from the ground up.

Magnolia Middle School (Miss.): Cool Down  Students will use their mathematical skills to design and build a cooling system for use during hot days. Members of the schools TSA program will help to create a how-to video on how math is used in the real world with this engineering project.

Morningside Elementary School (Ala.): Airplane Trials and Speed Calculation  Provide students with a hands-on experience in physics, building and revising models, and applying math to solve problems as it relates to building and flying airplanes.

Moss Point Career & Technical Education Center (Miss.): Fueling STEM Futures: Investing in Career Pathways  This project directly addresses the pressing educational need for effective ACT WorkKeys test preparation to ensure students are well-prepared for the workforce as they complete year two of their career & technical education (CTE) programs. The hope is to improve students scores on this assessment and empower them to pursue meaningful STEM-related careers, contribute to the regional workforce, and realize their full potential.

Moss Point Career & Technical Education Center (Miss.): Metal Flower Planters  The creation of metal flower planters offers a multifaceted learning experience that encompasses academic knowledge, technical skills, safety awareness, and practical life skills. Students will be provided with a tangible and engaging educational platform that allows them to become proficient in metalworking techniques and design competency.

North Baldwin Center for Technology (Ala.) Sustainability Synergy: Merging Environmental Studies with Career Tech and Core Pathways  This project creates and establishes a learning lab at Baldwin Preparatory Academy for CTE pathway students in grades 10-12. It integrates STEM concepts into hands-on activities and science experiments, connecting career tech pathways and fostering collaboration among students, enhancing practical skills, interdisciplinary knowledge, and environmental science proficiency.

North Bay Elementary (Ala.): Techtots: Building Tomorrows Innovators with Robotics and 3D Printing  Will provide teachers with the resources to bring computer science into their daily curriculum by bringing a unique experience and learning opportunity using robots and 3D printers in the classroom.

Ocean Springs High School (Miss.): Watch Out  HERE COME THE ROBOTS!  Using Bittle Robotics kits, students in the Computer Science and Engineering class will learn to assemble the kits and code them to operate.

Ocean Springs Upper Elementary (Miss.): Engineering in Action! Understanding & Building Functional Equipment  This project will teach students how to construct and operate large equipment, ships, and cars used on construction sites especially in civil, mechanical, and electrical engineering.

Perkinston Elementary School (Miss.): 3D Printing, Coding and the Shark Tank  Students will use a 3D printer and software to build a prototype of a STEM related product that they will design and create with their team.

Robertsdale High School (Ala.): Setting Sail With Odysseus  Starting with reading the Odyssey in English class, students will continue exploring in each class the world Odysseus and his men encounter on their voyage  and through foundations of engineering will design and create a 3D-printed ship prototype and test it against wind and waves to evaluate the effectiveness of their design.

St. Martin High School (Miss.): Filling in the Gaps in our STEM lab  STEM Lab students will be introduced to resin printing and vinyl cutting. Students will create stickers relating to topics that they are studying in this or other classes. Students will create 3D items that solve a problem in their life using SolidWorks and print them out on the resin printer. This equipment will also be used with younger students during their annual summer camps.

West Wortham Elementary School (Miss.): Take Charge  In the project Take Charge, students will construct their own solar power station kit and conduct solar science experiments such as the angle in degrees, the time of day, and the voltage output of solar energy.

WP Davidson High School (Ala.): Building Computer Technologists from Gamers  This project is designed to give students in the gaming/e-sports class the opportunity to build gaming PCs from the ground up. Computer-building from scratch provides opportunities for students to enhance communication, leadership, teamwork, time management, goal setting, and self-monitoring.

About HII

HII is a global, all-domain defense provider. HIIs mission is to deliver the worlds most powerful ships and all-domain solutions in service of the nation, creating the advantage for our customers to protect peace and freedom around the world.

As the nations largest military shipbuilder, and with a more than 135-year history of advancing U.S. national security, HII delivers critical capabilities extending from ships to unmanned systems, cyber, ISR, AI/ML and synthetic training. Headquartered in Virginia, HIIs workforce is 44,000 strong. For more information, visit:

HII on the web: https://www.HII.com/

HII on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TeamHII

HII on X: https://www.twitter.com/WeAreHII

HII on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/WeAreHII

Contact:

Kimberly K. Aguillard

228-355-5663

Kimberly.K.Aguillard@hii-co.com

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/0ff5813b-eb85-4730-ad75-f9ea99c0bb82
Washington, D.C., Jan. 19, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today, the New Civil Liberties Alliance filed an amicus curiae brief in Elon Musk v. Securities and Exchange Commission urging the Supreme Court to grant Musks cert petition and strike down SECs Gag Rule censoring every American with whom it settles a regulatory enforcement case. For over 50 years, SEC has forbidden all enforcement targets from even truthfully criticizing their cases in public.

SEC is limiting Mr. Musks future speech and ability to speak publicly without preclearance or criticize the agency as a condition of settlement. This is a quintessential instance of prior restraint, which the Supreme Court has called the most serious and the least tolerable infringement on First Amendment rights. But SEC has no power to regulate the future speech of those with whom it settles! Musks case is emblematic of a much larger problem: imposing this restriction on all Americans who settle enforcement cases with SEC under its Gag Rule forces them to abandon their constitutional rights, an action that is itself blatantly unconstitutional. Supreme Court precedent forbids the government from conditioning anyones ability to receive a benefit on surrendering their constitutional rights. NCLA is confident that the Court will recognize this fatal flawamong othersin SECs gag orders.

In December, NCLA, its client Christopher Novinger, and former clients Barry Romeril and Ray Lucia filed a renewed petition asking SEC to eliminate the Gag Rule. SEC has ignored NCLAs original 2018 petition for more than five years, effectively nullifying the constitutional right to petition, which has no meaning if government can simply fail to respond. The longer SEC ignores NCLAs petition, the more it infringes the rights of Musk and other Americans bound by its gag orders, some of whom are currently in their 70s and 80s and hope to finally speak out about the enforcement proceedings they endured and as to which they have been silenced for decades.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit decided to uphold the SEC gag order imposed on Musk, concluding that he voluntarily waived his First Amendment rights, or should have negotiated a different agreement. That decision conflicts with First Amendment precedents set by at least four other circuit courts and the Second Circuit itself. SEC consistently admits that its gag orders are non-negotiable. Musk and the thousands of others censored under the Gag Rule had no choice.

The Gag Rule also far exceeds the scope of SECs powers; no agency has any inherent power to make law. Article I of the Constitution vests all legislative power in Congress, barring agencies from acting without Congressional authorization. Securities laws simply do not permit SEC to seek this type of relief in federal court, nor authorize courts to order it.

Thanks to NCLAs unrelenting work, several federal judges have openly questioned the constitutionality of SECs gag orders in recent years. The Supreme Court should take this opportunity to get rid of them once and for all.

NCLA released the following statements:

Congress itself could not pass a law requiring that Americans who settle their cases with the government agree to be gagged for life. The Supreme Court has long recognized that even murderers retain their First Amendment rights to speak and publish about their prosecutions. SECs self-arrogated power to concoct such tyrannous penalties infringes the First Amendment and the publics right to hear what SECs targets have to say.

 Peggy Little, Senior Litigation Counsel, NCLA

SECs practice of gagging settling parties is not only antithetical to the First Amendment, but it also deprives investors and the public from receiving critical information about SECs enforcement actions. It is telling that only two federal agencies, SEC and CFTC, employ this unconstitutional tactic. The Court should grant certiorari and put an end to SECs systematic silencing.

 Kara Rollins, Litigation Counsel, NCLA

For more information visit the amicus page here.

ABOUT NCLA

NCLA is a nonpartisan, nonprofit civil rights group founded by prominent legal scholar Philip Hamburger to protect constitutional freedoms from violations by the Administrative State. NCLAs public-interest litigation and other pro bono advocacy strive to tame the unlawful power of state and federal agencies and to foster a new civil liberties movement that will help restore Americans fundamental rights.

###
NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Jan. 19, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ExGen Resources Inc. (TSX.V: EXG; OTC: BXXRF) (ExGen, the Company) is pleased to provide an update on its DOK project in northern British Columbia which is currently under option to Mountain Boy Minerals Ltd. Under the terms of the option Mountain Boy may acquire a 60% interest in the DOK claims by paying $230,000 and issuing 1,500,000 shares to ExGen and by spending $2,500,000 on the DOK claims by January 2026.



Jason Riley, CEO of ExGen commented: We are encouraged to see the drilling program at Telegraph advance the project and its potential for the discovery of a large porphyry system comparable to other deposits within the Golden Triage. We look forward to the 2024 exploration season and the next steps for the project.

In a news release dated January 17 ,2024, Mountain Boy reported assays from drill holes DOK2023-02 and DOK2023-03. It noted that these holes partially define an area of interest for 2024 drilling and that the step-out drilling confirms a a large copper-gold porphyry system. Highlights included:-

A 700-meter step out from drill hole DOK2023-01 intersects several copper-gold intervals.

Drilling spans 3.3 kms of the open ended Dok Trend.

3DIP Geophysics provides guidance for next round of drilling.



Mountain Boy reported The third hole from the 2023 program successfully expanded the strike-length and width of mineralization along the Dok Trend. The hole cut several copper-gold intercepts including 21 meters of 0.68% Cu Eq and 8.6 meters of 0.57% Cu Eq. (Table 1).

Lawrence Roulston, CEO, stated: These initial holes have confirmed the presence of a porphyry hydrothermal system spanning at least 3.3 kilometers. This is a large, complex, multi-phase system is located in the same geological setting as four other world class deposits located in the area. Significant exploration potential exists along the Dok Trend. This premise is supported by drilling, a continuous induced polarization (IP) chargeability anomaly, fertile porphyry intrusive units, and anomalous copper and gold in soil geochemistry. Continued compilation of the drilling results together with the late-season 3DIP and other geological information will provide a basis for vectoring toward the core of the system with subsequent drilling.

DOK2023-03 targeted a moderate IP chargeability anomaly, underneath an outcrop which returned high-grade grab samples including 3.22% copper with 4.62 g/t gold. The hole was placed along the most easterly line from the 2012 IP program and the 2023 3DIP data had not been collected. Table 1 highlights the significant assays from the hole.

This hole encountered sedimentary-volcanic Stuhini host rocks, post mineral rhyolitic dykes and several variably mineralized monzonite dykes. Potassium feldspar and secondary biotite alteration is noted in several phases of the monzonite dykes. Of note are the five monzonite dykes up to 1 metre wide encountered between 230.9 and 237.7 metres. Clots of secondary coarse biotite and potassium feldspar is clearly recognizable and assays of up to 3.14 % occur within the dyke. The section hosting the dykes assayed 0.57% Cu Eq over 8.6 metres (Figures 1, 2, and 3).

Table 1  Highlighted assay results from drill hole DOK2023-03

Drill Hole From To Width Cu (%) Au (gpt) Ag (gpt) Mo (ppm) Cu Eq (%) DOK2023-03 5.0 26.0 21.0 metres of 0.23 0.16 35.30 5.25 0.67 including 11.0 14.0 3.0 metres of 0.22 0.148 229.00 7.1 2.37 DOK2023-03 192.9 196.2 3.3 metres of 0.18 0.05 1.64 1.95 0.23 including 192.9 193.5 0.7 metres of 0.41 0.077 5.35 2.7 0.52 DOK2023-03 229.1 237.7 8.6 metres of 0.46 0.06 6.99 7.17 0.57 including 232.7 237.7 5.0 metres of 0.70 0.09 11.2 4.36 0.87 including 232.7 233.6 0.9 metres of 1.60 0.23 13.3 6.11 1.90 including 233.3 233.6 0.3 metres of 3.14 0.05 27.4 9.21 3.42 DOK2023-03 279.8 299.0 19.3 metres of 0.15 0.08 1.15 5.24 0.22 DOK2023-03 533.4 534.3 0.9 metres of 0.58 0.234 2.86 3.8 0.79

The copper equivalent calculation utilizes the standard equation and is based on current (January 11, 2024) spot metal prices of copper at US$3.78 per pound, gold at US$2,032 per ounce, silver at US$23.03 per ounce, and molybdenum at $19.50 per pound. Recoveries are set at 100% for all metals for purposes of the copper equivalent calculation as no metallurgical test data is available. Cu Eq is used for illustrative purposes only and does not imply that the metals are economically recoverable.





Figure 1 - DK2023-03 from 229.1 to 237.7 meters yielding 8.6 meters of 0.57 Cu Eq (%).

DOK2023-02 (Figure 2 and 4) tested the Red Creek zone, 3 km southeast of DOK2023-01 and was the first hole drilled in that area. The hole encountered low grade copper and gold mineralization from surface to 500 meters and zones of up to 30% disseminated and semi-massive pyrite mineralization. DOK2023-02 is surmised to be within the peripheral zone of a magmatic hydrothermal porphyry system, based on both vertical and lateral distribution of porphyry related trace elements; significant sericite, silica, and chlorite alteration; and multi-percent pyrite.

DOK2023-02 demonstrates that the magmatic hydrothermal footprint at Telegraph extends for several kilometers and that the Dok and Red Creek areas have the potential to host several porphyries. The drill hole mainly intersected the sedimentary-volcanic host rocks and did not intersect any fertile intrusive units, which are an important contributor to increased copper values.

Moving forward, MTB is working with the Mineral Deposit Research Unit at the University of British Columbia (MDRU) to characterize the many porphyritic intrusive phases encountered in drilling and on surface with the objective of identifying the more fertile phases of intrusions and develop a better understanding of the geology overall.

MTB contracted Dias Geophysical to conduct a 16 line-km 3D Induced Polarization (3DIP) ground geophysical survey which links the previously completed 2022 3DIP and the 2012 IP surveys. The three surveys are currently being integrated. Initial interpretations show a significant northwest-southeast trending chargeability anomaly (Figure 2 and 5). This anomaly is interpreted to map out the extent of the Dok Ridge sulphide-bearing hydrothermal system which extends at least 5 km. These systems host or have significant potential to host porphyry copper-gold mineralization. DK2023-01 and DK2023-03 are at the northwest end of the chargeability anomaly. The trace of the chargeability anomaly shown in Figure 2 suggests the extent of untested prospective ground. Initial 2024 plans include further soil sampling along the north facing slope of Dok Ridge where several large IP chargeability anomalies occur, in particular those that overly mapped structures. Additional future work would include drilling of selected targets (Figure 5).





Figure 2 - Plan view of chargeability merged from the 2014, 2022 and 2023 IP surveys. The merged data has not been leveled by a geophysicist and is for illustrative purposes only. Cross sections B-B, and C-C in figures 3 and 4, respectively.





Figure 3: Cartoon Cross Section through drill hole DK-2023-003 and chargeability. The merged data is from 3 programs, conducted in 2012, 2022 and October of 2023. It has not been leveled by a geophysicist and is for illustrative purposes only.





Figure 4: Cartoon Cross Section through drill hole DK-2023-002 and chargeability. The merged data is from 3 programs, conducted in 2012, 2022 and October of 2023. It has not been leveled by a geophysicist and is for illustrative purposes only.





Figure 5: Long section through 2023 drilling with merged IP data plotted sub-surface, darker pinks representing higher chargeability.

Lucia Theny, Vice President, Exploration, noted: Our first ever drill program at Telegraph successfully delivered results supporting our thesis that the Dok target area has significant room to grow and that there is potential for the discovery of large porphyry systems comparable to other deposits within the Golden Triangle. We look forward to continued drilling in 2024 at this underexplored porphyry district within the prolific Golden Triangle.

Property Ownership

The Telegraph project is located within the traditional territory of the Tahltan First Nation. MTB has a 100% interest in 23,989 ha, an option to acquire a 100% interest in 2,972 ha and an option to acquire a 60% interest in 7,478 ha from ExGen Resources Inc. (Dok Option, which covers a portion of the Dok Trend). The recent drilling was conducted on the Dok Option property.

QA/QC

Analytical work for samples was completed by ALS Canada Ltd, with sample preparation and geochemical analyses in North Vancouver, BC. Core samples were fine crushed before a 250-gram split was pulverized to better than 85% passing 75 microns. Gold was determined for core samples by the PGM-ICP24 procedure which involves fire assay preparation using a 50-gram charge with an inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectroscopy finish (ICP-AES). Soil samples were dry screened at 180 microns, with analysis conducted on the fine fraction. Gold was determined for soil samples by the Au-ICP21 method, which involves fire assay preparation with a 30-gram charge followed by an ICP-AES finish. Multi-element data for 48 elements was determined for all samples by the ME- MS61 procedure, which involves a four-acid digestion followed by ICP-AES and inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry.

Rigorous procedures are in place regarding sample collection, chain of custody and data entry. Certified assay standards, duplicate samples and blanks are routinely inserted into the sample stream of diamond drill samples to ensure integrity of the assay process. All diamond drill samples included in this news release have passed the QA/QC procedures as described above. Core was sampled using a diamond saw, with half of each interval sent to the lab for analysis, and the other half retained.

Results referenced in this release represent highlight results only. Below detection values for gold and copper have been encountered in drilling, rock, and soil samples in these target areas.

The technical disclosure in this release has been read and approved by Andrew Wilkins, B.Sc., P.Geo., a qualified person as defined in National Instrument 43-101.

QUALIFIED PERSON

Kieran Downes, Ph.D., P. Geo., a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed and verified the technical information provided in this release.

ABOUT EXGEN RESOURCES INC.

ExGen, formerly Boxxer Gold Corp, is a project accelerator that seeks to fund exploration and development of our projects through joint ventures and partnership agreements. This approach significantly reduces the technical and financial risks for ExGen, while maintaining the upside exposure to new discoveries and potential cash flow. The company intends to build a diverse portfolio of projects across exploration stages and various commodity groups. ExGen currently has 5 projects in Canada and the US.

For more information on ExGen please contact ExGen Resources Inc.

Jason Tong

Chief Financial Officer

Email: jason@catapultgroup.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.

Forward-Looking Information: This news release contains certain forward-looking information. All statements included herein, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking information and such information involves various risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate, and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information. In particular, this news release contains forward-looking information in relation to: the observations made on drill core from the diamond drilling program on the Empire Mine Project; the further exploration and development of the Empire Mine Project; the exploration and development strategy of the Empire Mine Project, including the exploration program, drilling, mine development, and permitting. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate, and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information. There can be no assurance that the development of the Empire Mine Project will be completed, and if development is completed, that such development will result in a producing mine. In the forward looking information contained in this news release, ExGen has made numerous assumptions, based upon practices and methodologies which are consistent with the mineral industry. In addition, ExGen has assumed: the continued market acceptance of its joint venture partnership model; the ability of ExGen and its partners to raise future equity financing, if needed, at prices acceptable to ExGen or its partners; ExGen's current and initial understanding and analysis of the Empire Mine Project; the ability of ExGen or third parties to discover viable exploration targets and the results of exploration on the Empire Mine Project; the ability of Phoenix to explore and develop the Empire Mine Project; the cost of exploration, including sampling, drilling and assaying, on the Empire Mine Project, the costs of developing the Empire Mine Project and the costs and the ability of Phoenix to produce a feasibility study in compliance with NI 43-101; and ExGen's general and administrative costs remaining sustainable. While, ExGen considers these assumptions to be reasonable, these assumptions are inherently subject to significant uncertainties and contingencies. Additionally, there are known and unknown risk factors which could cause ExGen's observations, actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking information contained herein. Known risk factors include, among others: the possibility that the analytical results from future core sampling does not return significant grades of copper, gold, silver, zinc, lead or any other molybdenum by-products; uncertainties relating to interpretation of drill results and the geology; continuity and grade of mineralization; there is no certainty that the ongoing work programs will result in significant or successful exploration of the Empire Mine Project or development of the Empire Mine Project into a producing mine; uncertainty as to the actual results of exploration and development or operational activities; uncertainty as to the availability and terms of future financing; uncertainty as to timely availability of permits and other governmental approvals; ExGen may not be able to comply with its ongoing obligations regarding its properties; the early stage development of ExGen and its projects, and in particular, the Empire Mine Project; general business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties; capital market conditions and market prices for securities, junior market securities and mining exploration company securities; commodity prices, in particular copper, gold, silver, and zinc prices; competition; changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined; accidents and other risks inherent in the mining industry; lack of insurance; delay or failure to receive board or regulatory approvals; changes in legislation, including environmental legislation, affecting ExGen; conclusions of economic evaluations; and lack of qualified, skilled labour or loss of key individuals. A description of additional assumptions and risk factors used to develop such forward-looking information that may cause actual results to differ materially from forward-looking information can be found in ExGen's disclosure documents on the SEDAR website at www.sedar.com. Although ExGen has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. ExGen does not undertake to update any forward-looking information except in accordance with applicable securities laws.

Photos accompanying this announcement are available at

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/72e712ba-9183-4b93-aebd-e58110bd1f0f

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/2e3a8172-21b1-47c2-b56c-15741a0b664e

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/c355ad6f-0980-421a-9c49-bf6110627ad2

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/084868cd-ace5-4003-a1a6-0bb0018faf4c

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/d5595312-5ec0-4e9f-b7ef-b52cc681cfe6






An Australian state will become the latest to introduce mobile detection cameras after a trial busted more than 66,000 drivers distracted behind the wheel.

Motorists in Western Australia have been warned the new cameras will be rolled out this year after a successful six-month test that ended last February. It caught a driver using their phone every four minutes, The West Australian reports.

The cameras  placed at 94 different locations  nabbed 66,787 people for verified mobile phone offences, however none of them received a fine because they were being used in a trial. Mobile road safety cameras can also detect speeding and seatbelt offences.

Western Australia will become the latest to introduce mobile detection cameras after a trial nabbed 66,000 drivers. Source: AAP

Road Safety Minister David Michael told the publication the Cook Government is working towards having a number of these cameras operational this year. This technology will dramatically increase the likelihood of phone-distracted drivers getting caught, he said. But the fear of getting caught should not be the motivator for good driving practice.

Despite the state seeing the number of mobile phone infringements dropping by almost half last year last year, there are still concerns too many people are using them illegally. In WA, it is a $1,000 fine and four demerits if you are caught texting or using social media, or $500 and three demerits if you touch a phone not in a cradle.

States gain millions of dollars from mobile camera fines

Drivers have seen an increase in the number of yellow or white boxes on the side of the road since speed cameras were first introduced in Australia in 1985, Simon Raftery the Centre for Automotive Safety Research at the University of Adelaide said in an article for The Conversation just days before Christmas.

In the past three years, mobile detection cameras have been implemented in NSW, Queensland, Victoria, the ACT and Tasmania.

Story continues

Queensland and Tasmania also use the cameras for seatbelt infringements. Source: Transport for NSW via AP

South Australia will join WA this year with plans to roll out mobile phone detection cameras as part of an initiative to reduce road trauma as the state tries to tackle its gruesome spike in road deaths. Queensland and Tasmania are the only states that also use the cameras for seatbelt infringements. NSW will too from mid-2024.

In their first month of use in 2020, new mobile phone detection cameras in Sydney netted $7 million in fines, increasing revenue by 1500 per cent. In the year since its traffic cameras were set up, Queenslands revenue has jumped by $200 million for speeding and seatbelt fines, the ABC reports.

According to the Victorian Government, in the 2021-22 financial year, fines issued from road safety cameras amounted to $404 million.

Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com.

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Vancouver, January 18, 2024 - Scorpio Gold Corp. (TSXV: SGN) ("Scorpio Gold" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that, further to its press release dated November 8, 2023, it has entered into an amalgamation agreement dated January 17, 2024 (the "Amalgamation Agreement") with Altus Gold Corp. ("Altus Gold") and the Company's wholly-owned subsidiary, 1455812 B.C. Ltd. ("Subco"), pursuant to which the Company proposes to acquire all the issued and outstanding shares of Altus Gold by way of a three-cornered amalgamation (the "Transaction"). The Amalgamation Agreement supersedes the amended and restated letter of intent between the Company and Altus Gold dated November 8, 2023. A copy of the Amalgamation Agreement will be filed under the Company's SEDAR+ profile at www.sedarplus.ca.

Under the terms of the Amalgamation Agreement, Altus Gold will amalgamate with Subco, and the Company will acquire all of the outstanding common shares of Altus Gold in exchange for common shares of the Company on the basis of one common share of the Company for every one common share of Altus Gold.

The Amalgamation Agreement contemplates that, upon completion of the Transaction, the board of Scorpio Gold will be restructured to be comprised of five directors, two of which will be Altus Gold nominees, being Zayn Kalyan and Michael Townsend, and three of which will be current directors of Scorpio Gold, being Chris Zerga, Peter Brieger and Ian Dawson. Zayn Kalyan, a director of Altus Gold, will be appointed as Chief Executive Officer of the Company, while Chris Zerga, the current President and CEO of the Company, will become the Company's Chief Operating Officer.

Altus Gold is a private mining issuer with an option to acquire a mineral exploration property in Esmeralda County, Nevada, referred to as the Northstar property, adjacent to Scorpio Gold's Mineral Ridge Mine.

Closing of the Transaction is subject to a number of conditions precedent, including, without limitation:

the completion of a non-brokered private placement of units of the Company to raise gross proceeds of at least $3,200,000 (the "Financing"), as described in the Company's press release dated January 12, 2024; the approval of the Transaction by the shareholders of Altus Gold; the amendment of Altus Gold's option agreement to acquire the Northstar property on terms agreed to between the Company and Altus Gold; the restructuring of outstanding convertible debentures of the Company on terms agreed to between the Company and Altus Gold; the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange (the "Exchange") in respect of the Transaction and the Financing, and compliance with all applicable regulatory requirements and conditions necessary to complete the Transaction; and other customary mutual conditions precedent.

It is anticipated that the second tranche of the Financing to raise gross proceeds of approximately $915,000 will be completed on January 22, 2024.

Altus Gold has provided a non-interest bearing, secured loan (the "Bridge Loan") to the Company in the aggregate principal amount of $1,000,000 in connection with the Transaction, subject to the approval of the Exchange. The Bridge Loan will be forgiven if the Company completes the Transaction with Altus Gold. If the Transaction does not complete, the Bridge Loan will be repayable in cash on demand by Altus Gold, or in certain circumstances, the Bridge Loan may be settled in common shares of the Company, subject to the approval of the Exchange. In the event that the settlement of the Bridge Loan in common shares is not acceptable to the Exchange, it would remain payable in cash. If the Bridge Loan is settled in common shares, for so long as Altus Gold holds at least 5% of the Company issued and outstanding common shares (calculated on an undiluted basis), Altus Gold would have the right to appoint one nominee to the board of directors of the Company.

The securities described herein have not been, and will not be, registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "1933 Act") or any state securities laws, and accordingly, may not be offered or sold within the United States except in compliance with the registration requirements of the 1933 Act and applicable state securities requirements or pursuant to exemptions therefrom. This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation to buy any securities in any jurisdiction.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF Scorpio Gold Corp.

Chris Zerga, CEO and President

Scorpio Gold Contact

Chris Zerga, President and CEO

Tel: (819) 825-7618

Email: czerga@scorpiogold.com

Altus Gold Contact

Zayn Kalyan, Director

Tel: (778) 938-3367

Email: zayn@altuscapital.ca

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 release.

Forward-Looking Statements

The Company relies on litigation protection for forward-looking statements. This news release contains forward-looking statements that are based on the Company's current expectations and estimates. Forward-looking statements are frequently characterized by words such as "plan", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate", "suggest", "indicate" and other similar words or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur, and include, without limitation, statements regarding the terms and completion of the Transaction and satisfying closing conditions for the Transaction, and the timing and completion of the Financing. There is significant risk that the forward-looking statements will not prove to be accurate, that the management's assumptions may not be correct and that actual results may differ materially from such forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from estimated or anticipated events or results implied or expressed in such forward-looking statements, including financial markets generally, the inability to complete the Transaction, the Financing and related transactions, receipt of all regulatory approvals required for the Transaction and related transactions, and those risk factors outlined in the Company's Management Discussion and Analysis as filed on SEDAR+. Any forward-looking statement 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 statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and accordingly undue reliance should not be put on such statements due to the inherent uncertainty thereof.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/194827
Vancouver, Jan. 19, 2024 - NevGold Corp. ("NevGold" or the "Company") (TSXV:NAU) (OTCQX:NAUFF) (Frankfurt:5E50) announces the issuance (the "Share Issuance Payment") of 10,000,000 NevGold common shares to GoldMining Inc. (TSX:GOLD, NYSE:GLDG) ("GoldMining") pursuant to the Nutmeg Mountain Option Agreement dated June 13, 2022 (see June 14, 2022 News Release). The total Share Issuance Payment of 10,000,000 shares equates to $3.0 million issued at $0.30 per share representing the 30-day VWAP share price as of market close on December 18, 2023.



NevGold has now exercised the option under the Nutmeg Mountain Option Agreement to acquire 100% of the Nutmeg Mountain Gold Project in Washington County, Idaho (the "Project", "Nutmeg Mountain", see Figure 1). NevGold announced a Mineral Resource Estimate ("MRE") at the Project on August 17, 2023 (News Release Link) of 1,007,000 Indicated ounces of gold (51.7 Mt @ 0.61 g/t Au), and 275,000 Inferred ounces of gold (17.9 Mt @ 0.48 g/t Au) (see Note 1).

NevGold CEO, Brandon Bonifacio, comments: "Completing the acquisition of 100% of Nutmeg Mountain from GoldMining is a monumental milestone for the Company. We have diligently advanced our efforts since closing the transaction on Nutmeg Mountain in August-2022. After less than 12 months of working on the project we released our initial Mineral Resource Estimate in August-2023, where we delivered an open-pit, oxide, heap-leachable gold Indicated Mineral Resource of 1.01Mozs and Inferred Mineral Resource of 275kozs. We will continue to focus our future efforts on drilling the many high priority drill targets both on the private ground and fully permitted Bureau of Land Management ("BLM") unpatented claims to unlock further value at the Project. We are fortunate to now own 100% of one of the very few open-pit, oxide, heap-leach gold projects of scale and grade with mineralization starting at surface in the Western USA. Nutmeg Mountain's location in Western Idaho (Washington County) also offers many benefits as it is a premier mining jurisdiction with excellent infrastructure in place, which will allow for rapid project advancement."

The Share Issuance Payment is subject to the final approval of the TSX Venture Exchange (the "Exchange"). The securities issued to GoldMining are subject to a four-month hold period ending on May 19, 2024 in accordance with applicable securities laws and the policies of the Exchange.

GoldMining, a shareholder owning over 20% of the outstanding common shares, was issued 10,000,000 shares through the Share Issuance Payment. Prior to the closing of the Share Issuance Payment, GoldMining held, and had control and direction over, 16,670,250 common shares and 1,488,100 warrants of the Company exercisable into 1,488,100 common shares, representing approximately 20.6% of the Company's outstanding common shares on an undiluted basis and approximately 22.1% on a partially-diluted basis assuming the exercise of the warrants held by GoldMining. On completion of the Share Issuance Payment, GoldMining holds, and has control and direction over, 26,670,250 common shares and 1,488,100 warrants, representing approximately 29.4% of the Company's outstanding common shares on an undiluted basis and approximately 30.5% on a partially-diluted basis assuming the exercise of the warrants held by GoldMining.

Figure 1 - Nutmeg Mountain District Map To view image please click here

Note 1: Nutmeg Mountain - 2023 Mineral Resource Estimate

Details of the MRE are provided in a technical report entitled "Technical Report on the Nutmeg Gold Property" with an effective date of June 22, 2023, prepared in accordance with National Instrument 43-101 ("NI 43-101") standards, which is filed under the Company's SEDAR+ profile.

Classification Cutoff Grade (g/t) Tonnes Gold Grade (g/t) Ounces Gold Indicated 0.30 51,660,000 0.61 1,006,000 Inferred 0.30 17,860,000 0.48 275,000

Notes:

Effective date of this mineral resource estimate is June 22, 2023. All mineral resources have been estimated in accordance with Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum definitions, as required under NI 43-101. The Mineral Resource Statement was prepared by Greg Mosher, P. Geo (Global Mineral Resource Services, "GMRS") in accordance with NI 43-101. Mineral Resources reported demonstrate a reasonable prospect of eventual economic extraction, as required under NI 43-101. Mineral Resources are not Mineral Reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability. There is no certainty that all or any part of the estimated Mineral Resources will be converted into Mineral Reserves. The potential development of the Mineral Resources may be materially affected by environmental, permitting, legal, marketing, and other relevant issues. Mineral Resources are reported at a cut-off grade of 0.30 g/t Au for an open-pit mining scenario. Cut-off grades are based on a price of US$1750/oz gold, and a number of operating cost and recovery assumptions, including a reasonable contingency factor. Metallurgical recoveries of 80% were used. Densities based on lithology were assigned. Ounce (troy) = metric tonnes x grade / 31.10348. All numbers have been rounded to reflect the relative accuracy of the estimate. The quantity and grade of reported Inferred Mineral Resources are uncertain in nature and there has not been sufficient work to define these Inferred Mineral Resources as Indicated or Measured Mineral Resources. It is reasonably expected that many of the Inferred Mineral Resources could be upgraded to Indicated Mineral Resources with continued exploration, however, there is no assurance that further exploration will result in all or any part of the Inferred Mineral Resources being converted into Indicated Mineral Resources. Tonnages and ounces in the tables are rounded to the nearest thousand and hundred, respectively. Numbers may not total due to rounding.





ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD

"Signed"

Brandon Bonifacio, President & CEO

For further information, please contact Brandon Bonifacio at bbonifacio@nev-gold.com, call 604-337-4997, or visit our website at www.nev-gold.com.

About the Company

NevGold is an exploration and development company targeting large-scale mineral systems in the proven districts of Nevada and Idaho. NevGold owns a 100% interest in the Limousine Butte and Cedar Wash gold projects in Nevada and the Nutmeg Mountain gold project in Idaho.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward Looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking statements that are based on the Company's current expectations and estimates. Forward-looking statements are frequently characterized by words such as "plan", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate", "suggest", "indicate" and other similar words or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the final approval of the Exchange to the Share Issuance Payment and further exploration and development work on the Nutmeg Mountain project, estimates of mineral resources, and the potential upgrade of inferred mineral resources to indicated mineral resources. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from estimated or anticipated events or results implied or expressed in such forward-looking statements. Such risks include, but are not limited to, general economic, market and business conditions, and the ability to obtain all necessary regulatory approvals. There is some risk that the forward-looking statements will not prove to be accurate, that the management's assumptions may not be correct or that actual results may differ materially from such forward-looking statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements. Any forward-looking statement 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 statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and accordingly undue reliance should not be put on such statements due to the inherent uncertainty therein.
TORONTO, Jan. 19, 2024 - Power Nickel Inc. (the "Company" or "Power Nickel") (TSXV: PNPN) (OTCBB: PNPNF) (Frankfurt: IVV) is pleased to announce it has started the 2024 winter Drill Program at the Nisk Nickel Sulfide project in Nemaska Quebec.

"We are excited to start our ambitious 2024 Drill Program. The Program will have multiple objectives. First, to test the four new target zones that were identified from the interpretation of our Ambient Noise Tomography (ANT) program. These targets are hosted in areas showing a similar "ANT signature" to Nisk Main. Given the right geology, each target represents a potential volume varying from 50% to 100% of the volume we have identified at Nisk Main (See Figure 1).

Second, we will be testing the extension of our PGM hole that hit on over 1 ounce of PGM over 7.75 metres as outlined in Figure 2.

Finally, we will look to continue to extend the known resource at Nisk Main (Figure 3).", - said Power Nickel CEO Terry Lynch.

Power Nickel's plan is to finish drilling hole PN-23-042B on Nisk Main and then to start testing the ANT Target number 3. In February, a second rig will be added to follow up on the successful PGM hit at the Wildcat Target, which is a full 5.5 Kilometres from Nisk Main.

On January 18, 2024, Power Nickel held a Podcast to discuss our 2024 plans; a replay of this event is located below.

https://events.6ix.com/preview/exploration-highlights-drilling-and-2024-outlook

Qualified Person

Kenneth Williamson, Geo, M.Sc., VP Exploration at Power Nickel, is the qualified person who has reviewed and approved the technical disclosure contained in this news release.

About Power Nickel Inc.

Power Nickel is a Canadian junior exploration company focusing on developing the High-Grade Nickel Nisk project into Canada's first Carbon Neutral nickel mine.

On February 1, 2021, Power Nickel (then called Chilean Metals) completed the acquisition of its option to acquire up to 80% of the Nisk project from Critical Elements Lithium Corp. (CRE: TSXV). Subsequently, Power Nickel has exercised its option to acquire 50% of the Nisk Project and delivered notice to Critical Elements that it intends to exercise its second option to bring its ownership to 80%. The last remaining commitment to activate this exercise is delivering a NI 43-101 Technical Report, which is anticipated to completed in January.

The NISK property comprises a significant land position (20 kilometers of strike length) with numerous high-grade intercepts. Power Nickel is focused on expanding the historical high-grade nickel-copper PGM mineralization with a series of drill programs designed to test the initial Nisk discovery zone and to explore the land package for adjacent potential Nickel deposits.

In addition to the Nisk project, Power Nickel owns significant land packages in British Colombia and Chile. Power Nickel is expected to reorganize these assets in a related public vehicle through a plan of arrangement.

Power Nickel announced on June 8, 2021, that an agreement had been made to complete the 100% acquisition of its Golden Ivan project in the heart of the Golden Triangle. The Golden Triangle has reported mineral resources (past production and current resources) in 130 million ounces of gold, 800 million ounces of silver, and 40 billion pounds of copper (Resource World). This property hosts two known mineral showings (Gold Ore and Magee) and a portion of the past-producing Silverado mine, reportedly exploited between 1921 and 1939. These mineral showings are Polymetallic veins containing quantities of silver, lead, zinc, plus/minus gold, plus/minus copper.

Power Nickel is also 100% owner of five properties comprising over 50,000 acres strategically located in the prolific iron-oxide-copper-gold belt of northern Chile. It also owns a 3-per-cent NSR royalty interest on any future production from the Copaquire copper-molybdenum deposit sold to a subsidiary of Teck Resources Inc. Under the terms of the sale agreement, Teck has the right to acquire one-third of the 3-per-cent NSR for $3 million at any time. The Copaquire property borders Teck's producing Quebrada Blanca copper mine in Chile's first region.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor it's Regulation Services Provider accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This message contains certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking statements" concerning the Company within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects," "plans," "anticipates," "believes," "intends," "estimates," "projects," "potential," "indicates," "opportunity," "possible" and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will," "would," "may," "could" or "should" occur. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance, are subject to risks and uncertainties, and actual results or realities may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Such material risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, among others, the timing and ability to complete the 2024 drill program plans identified and the risk that such programs do not complete; raise sufficient capital to fund its obligations under its property agreements going forward; to maintain its mineral tenures and concessions in good standing; to explore and develop its projects; changes in economic conditions or financial markets; the inherent hazards associates with mineral exploration and mining operations; future prices of nickel and other metals; changes in general economic conditions; accuracy of mineral resource and reserve estimates; the potential for new discoveries; the ability of the Company to obtain the necessary permits and consents required to explore, drill and develop the projects and if accepted, to obtain such licenses and approvals in a timely fashion relative to the Company's plans and business objectives for the applicable project; the general ability of the Company to monetize its mineral resources; and changes in environmental and other laws or regulations that could have an impact on the Company's operations, compliance with environmental laws and regulations, dependence on key management personnel and general competition in the mining industry.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/power-nickel-commences-2024-drill-program-302039434.html

SOURCE Power Nickel Inc.
Sainz's father says 2024 Ferrari must be better

Ferrari's 2024 car "must be better", Carlos Sainz's famous father insists.

Carlos Sainz, Singapore GP 2023

 Ferrari

Carlos Sainz senior, 61, is currently on course to win his fourth Dakar Rally, but comments he has made from the event might be interpreted as criticism of Ferrari, according to Italy's Autosprint.

What I appreciate about Carlos is that he always keeps improving, Sainz snr told the publication.

He is still young, but he already has a lot of experience behind him. I think it's his best moment even for his age, said Sainz, whose son is 29.

There are drivers who stop growing at a certain point, but he manages to progress every year, Sainz's father continued.

Ferrari's Sainz is currently pushing the fabled Maranello team to urgently extend his contract beyond 2024, but there are rumours boss Frederic Vasseur may want to keep his options open for now.

As for Sainz senior, he says Ferrari's main responsibility is giving his son a better car this year that he had at his disposal in 2023.

I have faith in the fact that Ferrari will be able to take the missing step, he declared. The 2024 car must be better and we hope that leap forward will come.

Italian media sources report that Ferrari has at least hit its target of getting the 2024 car's weight all the way down to the legal minimum of 798kg.

(GMM)
As supermarkets face scrutiny over their decision to sell Australia Day merchandise, Coles has remained steadfast in their mission to facilitate celebrations next week. But an awkward detail has emerged  the supermarket has admitted their Australian-themed products are foreign-made.

Some items are manufactured in Bangladesh and the rest are made in China. The revelation comes as Woolworths sparked uproar this month by announcing it would no longer stock Australia Day items.

Coles told Yahoo News Australia that while it tries to support Australian made as much as possible but conceded many of these products are manufactured overseas.

Australia Day merchandise at Coles Bondi Junction was all made in China. Source: Yahoo

The issue of whether Australia Day products should be made overseas has made ripples online, with one shopper posting a video to TikTok lambasting the supermarket for stocking Chinese made items.

While some respondents agreed with his criticisms, others suggested Australian made products are simply too expensive. "Our wages are way higher than Asia and we're over regulated," one person snapped back.

Research by pollsters Roy Morgan in 2023 found four in five shoppers think buying Australian made is important. Over 65 per cent said they "often" or "always" buy Australian-made products, with many saying supporting local jobs and the economy was why.

How the Australia Day merchandise saga began

The decision by Woolworths to pull Australia Day merchandise prompted Opposition Leader Peter Dutton to call for a boycott of the supermarket, telling 2GB its position went against the national spirit. A store was later vandalised by a furious shopper who sprayed boycott Woolies across its doors.

While some Australians insisted on their rights to buy $3 flags and $4 novelty glasses, few were initially discussing whether retailers who choose to support Australia Day should be stocking locally made merchandise.

Albanese accuses Dutton of being 'obsessed' with Woolies boycott

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told Yahoo the opposition appeared obsessed with calling for boycotts of Woolworths and questioned what would happen to the jobs of the 20,000 Aussies the supermarket employs if shoppers snubbed the retailer.

Story continues

The Opposition is all about saying no - they have nothing positive to offer Australians. No ideas on jobs or manufacturing or how to build a stronger economy that works for Australians, he added.

While many of the Australia Day products on Coles shelves were designed in Australia, all appeared to be foreign made. Source: Yahoo

Albanese added that the Liberal Party was more interested in a different type of manufacturing.

The only thing that the Liberal Party has manufactured over the last decade is outrage. Outrage about a whole range of cultural war issues, he said.

Dutton accused of flaming Australia Day culture wars

Assistant Minister for Trade Tim Ayers told Yahoo the Albanese Government has the biggest policy in Australia peacetime history and this would result in more Australian made goods being produced in the regions and outer suburbs.

Peter Dutton is big on culture wars with supermarkets, but he has been invisible when it comes to stocking Australian made products on our supermarket shelves, he said.

Peter Duttons office has been contacted for comment. Woolworths indicated it didnt wish to comment further on the Australia Day issues raised in this article.

Where can I buy Australian made products?

Asked where it's possible to buy locally made products for Australia Day, the gatekeepers of the Australian Made Australian Grown kangaroo logo had a number of suggestions. They include:

Love Australia's weird and wonderful environment? Get our new newsletter showcasing the weeks best stories.
With temperatures set to soar in some parts of eastern Australia this weekend, starting from today, millions of swimmers looking to cool off at the beach have been urged to reconsider.

Thanks to the wild weather and heavy rain experienced across NSW this week, a surge of sewerage and pollution has swept across popular beaches and ocean pools, prompting health warnings for swimmers.

Sydnersiders have sweat through near-record humidity levels with a hot and sunny day forecasted for Friday. Temperatures are expected to hit a high of 28C, with the mercury rising to 31C in Penrith, in the citys west with temperatures increasing through the weekend.

Millions of Aussies are being warned to stay away from popular beaches this weekend. Source: Getty

But while the sun is shining with no sign of further rain, it can take up to three days for the water to clear after the storms so some beaches should be avoided with the risk of getting sick.

"A large number of swimming sites in the Sydney and Central Coast regions may be impacted by stormwater pollution today," NSW government's BeachWatch warned on Friday. Waters are tested for bacteria known as enterococci to determine faecal contamination. Exposure to the bacteria can cause infection which can lead to nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, and fever.

Which beaches are contaminated?

On Friday morning, beach warnings were in place at more than 25 beaches that are likely contaminated according to the latest official BeachWatch forecast. The contamination zone stretches from Bateau Bay on the Central Coast to Bundeena in Sydneys south, with the worst-affected area between Narrabeen and Cronulla, with swimmers being warned.

Several beaches and pools around Sydney are likely contaminated, according to Beachwatch NSW. Source: Beachwatch NSW

Professor Ian Wright, a water researcher, warned against swimming at Bronte Beach this weekend which likely has a slower water cycle than other popular swimming spots in Sydney. Other locations such as Bright Le Sands Baths and Tamarama Beach have a pollution possible warning. Meanwhile Cabarita Beach and many baths have a 'pollution likely' warning currently in place.

Story continues

"If I was going to swim at a beach in Sydney, I would probably be avoiding Bronte, based on the advice BeachWatch gave today," he told Yahoo News Australia. "Their advice for Bronte is pollution is possible. So I'm pretty cautious at the moment. I would not swim there".

Enclosed waters are most at risk of contamination the Western Sydney University lecturer explained. He advised Aussies to steer clear of swimming spots around the harbour or at Botany Bay and Pittwater.

"Enclosed waters take a lot longer to have all contamination from the rain flush out. Whereas if you're on the coast, two tides a day of saltwater, it's probably going to be okay," he said. "I would go down the road to Cronulla or Bondi instead".

A large number of swimming sites in the Sydney and Central Coast regions may be impacted by stormwater pollution today.

Head to our website for details in your area: https://t.co/Dx4NbXcajq  Beachwatch NSW (@BeachwatchNSW) January 17, 2024

Swimmers urged to check water before jumping in

For those wanting to try their luck this weekend, swimmers are urged to look out for discoloured water or bad odours before jumping in. "If it smells crook and it looks discoloured, I would probably avoid swimming there," Professor Wright said.

BeachWatch also advised people looking to cool down to "check for signs of pollution such as flowing drains, open lagoons, odours, litter and debris".

You can monitor beaches in your area here.

Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com.

You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube.
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Back in September of last year we first heard that Xiaomi was working on a flip-style foldable to complement the Mix Fold line in its portfolio. This was to be called Xiaomi Mix Flip, and it was rumored to arrive alongside the Mix Fold 4 at some point later this year.

Today, the Mix Flip has been certified in China by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. The certification reveals what might be a surprising fact: the Mix Flip will have support for satellite connectivity.

The fact that it's going to be running Android is also confirmed, as is its 5G support, but neither of those are surprising revelations of course. While this certification doesn't reveal any of the device's specs, a couple of those have already been leaked in the past.

It's said to come with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset and a triple camera setup like Oppo's Find N3 Flip, with a 3x telephoto no less. Hopefully the Mix Flip borrows from the Mix Fold line's slimness. Unfortunately, it might also borrow the availability limited to just China. Let's wait and see.

Via | Image source
J&B Modern Tech president Generoso Bangayan said the company is fulfilling the requirements of its air conditioning contract with the Guam Department of Education in a timely manner.

He is responding to concerns raised by education and elected officials about its contract with GDOE in recent weeks which was reported in the Pacific Daily News. He said information shared was not accurate and sent a letter to clarify facts about the situation.

I can fully understand the frustration of any student or teacher who does not have functioning air conditioning in a classroom. The condition of air conditioning in the schools was in a very unfortunate state when J&Bs contract began. It was not possible to waive a magic wand and replace all of those air conditioners in a short time frame, Bangayan said.

He said the contract with GDOE is for installation of new air conditioners to replace old units that can no longer function.

The contract does not include repairing or fixing broken air conditioners, he said.

He clarified procedures mandated by J&Bs contract with DOE. The DOE project manager gives J&B a schedule specifying which schools, and which rooms in each school, require replacement of air conditioners.

J&B must follow this schedule. If an air conditioner breaks in a room not on the schedule, J&B cannot divert workers and units from the schedule work to address that, Bangayan said.

J&B has completed the scheduled work in a timely manner, and the project manager has been giving J&B new schedules in a timely manner, he added.

The contract specifies the number of new units to be installed in a year and J&B is on target to meet that number within the time frame, he said.

The company has also maintained a sufficient supply of units to meet the installation schedule and was able to begin installation on the first day of the contract, Oct. 12, 2023, with units already on hand.

Since then, J&B has been receiving regular shipments of new units, a total of 11 containers to date, which have arrived in ample time to meet contractual requirements and deadlines, Bangayan said.

And while J&B is seeking to hire additional workers so it can perform at an even faster pace, the company has sufficient workers to install new units in accordance with contractual procedures and deadlines, he said.

There is no potential vendor on island with an unlimited workforce and unlimited supply of air conditioning units on hand. DOE issued a request for bids for replacement to be done as quickly as reasonably possible under existing circumstances. J&B met the requirements of the bid and has been fulfilling the requirements of the contract for installation of new units in a timely manner, Bangayan said.

Oversight

Guam DOE officials told senators during an oversight hearing last month that the vendor suffers from a shortage of workers to install aircons, as well as not having enough supply on island because some schools have big air conditioners that need to be replaced and they are not available on island.

Officials said they were looking at installing smaller units instead to get relief quicker to students.

Tamuning Elementary School Principal Geraldine Quejado sent a letter to parents about why the school isnt able to have in-person classes  a result of not having enough working air conditioners.

Although contractor J&B Modern Tech installed one new split unit in all of the A-building classrooms in early December 2023, there arent enough classrooms with working air conditioners to resume traditional in-person learning, she wrote.

The school tried to work around the air conditioners that were still up and running in both A and C buildings, she added.

However, just when we thought we could make it work, more classroom A/Cs went down over the course of the Christmas break at C-building. This resulting in us back to where we started, Quejado wrote.

She said between Dec. 11 and Dec. 21, the school worked closely with the Guam Department of Educations Capital Improvement Project office to get five classrooms in the C-building assessed for the installation of split units so they could get enough classrooms to resume in-person learning with a target date of Jan. 2.

With much communication, this plan did not come to fruition, as the contractor has not yet been able to assess the classrooms, Quejado wrote.

Bangayan said there were problems with A/C units previously installed in those classrooms by a prior vendor.

J&B commenced the assessment but was instructed to put the matter on hold while DOE decides whether to replace those units with a 5-ton unit or mini-split units.

He also said the contract doesnt cover repairs of old units that break down. But if the units that went down over Christmas break were new units installed by J&B in recent months, the units would be covered by a five-year warranty.

The company didnt receive any calls involving warranty claims from DOE and will respond promptly if informed of a problem with a unit covered by this warranty.

Sen. Chris Barnett, oversight chairman on education, last week said the vendor and GDOE are in hot water with school stakeholders.

The issue has Barnett questioning why the contract was awarded in the first place. Barnett, in a letter to Superintendent Kenneth Swanson, asked GDOE what performance clauses are in place with the contract.

Swanson on Wednesday said the issue is complex, including some schools having large 10-ton units that are not able to be manufactured as quickly as theyd like. But the contractor does have units up to 5 tons on island, he added.

He said GDOE is only able to move at the rate the contractor is able to do, but is working with their procurement channels to move as fast as possible.

Swanson explained that the contract is divided up in four zones around the island and teams work in each zone.

They have facility priorities which include the cafeterias, libraries, special education classrooms and the nurses office, he said. Those areas are first priority and then the rest of the school campus.

He said the contract doesnt have the contractor go from one campus to the next because whos to say whos number one.

Thats not reasonable, Swanson said.

He said other priorities for GDOE are campuses that are on alternating schedules within themselves so that they can get back open and back to full schedules.
Local officials traveled to the nations capital to provide support for a bill that would help Guam host migrants from the region.

Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero and Piti Mayor Jesse Alig both testified in favor of a bill introduced by Del. James Moylan, H.R. 6273, the Guam Host Community Compensation Act, which was heard by the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Indian and Insular Affairs Friday Guam time in Washington, D.C.

The bill would address costs associated with hosting regional migrants due to the Compact of Free Association, or COFA, agreements.

Moylan in his opening remarks said he hopes his bill can alleviate the stresses host communities have in hosting migrants.

Alig, president of the Mayors Council of Guam, told members of the committee that in 2018 COFA migrants were about 10% of the islands population. In 2024, they estimate there are about 24,000 migrants or close to 15% of Guams population, he said.

Guam continues to host the most migrants from Freely Associated States which include the Federated States of Micronesia, Palau, and the Marshall Islands, Alig said.

But the island continues to not get full federal support to host migrants who come to Guam and local officials made the long journey to the U.S. capital to provide testimony and answer questions to the congressional members.

The bill seeks the following:

It would require the continuation of annual reimbursements to Guam, which were replaced by the Compact Impact Fairness Act, which makes all COFA migrants eligible for federal benefits.

It would require that a memorandum of understanding be established, which would require that any COFA migrant convicted of a federal crime be either handed over to the federal authorities for incarceration or that the federal government reimburse Guam for incarcerating them.

It would mandate evidence of work or education requirements for COFA migrants to relocate to Guam.

The COFA agreement enacted in 2003 ended on Sept. 30, 2023, and Congress continues to discuss funding for the Freely Associated State nations under the new agreements.

In 2022, host communities agreed to replace reimbursements with the Compact Impact Fairness Act, as it would provide federal benefits for COFA migrants upon their arrival, hence reducing the burden on the states resources.

While Moylan has expressed his support for CIFA as an option, he has expressed that it is not a one size fits all option and would not entirely offset Guams unique situation.

The delegate said Guams prison faces overcrowding and 17% of the population are COFA migrants. He said the overcrowding could turn into a crisis and having the federal government help house some of the inmates would help.

The requirement to show migrants are coming here for work or education would also help ensure the island gets migrants who will work hard and make a good living when they come to Guam, Moylan said.

Guam received a share of $30 million in annual reimbursements based on the 20-year COFA agreement, which was enacted in 2003 and ended in 2023.

Governor speaks

Leon Guerrero said the U.S. has treated the COFA agreements as a foreign policy issue, but it needs to understand the impact on the domestic policy front. Places like Guam and other states and territories are adversely affected by the woefully underfunded mandate of the COFA agreements. Now the federal government seeks to make it an unfunded mandate that will negatively impact the local governments coffers, the governor said.

Reimbursements to the government of Guam have been insignificant, she said.

Before fiscal year 2024, Guam received between $12 million and $16 million annually from the federal government in providing public services and programs to COFA citizens and between $1.4 million to $2.8 million annually in Compact Impact Discretionary Funds, she said.

The government of Guam estimates it spends between $132 million to $150 million each year providing services and programs. The Compact Impact Fairness Act alone cannot reduce the cost that COFA migrants have on host communities which includes education and public safety costs, Leon Guerrero said.

She strongly urged the committee to provide funding to host communities to defray costs incurred as a result of increased demands placed on public services due to the COFA agreements.

She told lawmakers that Guam welcomes brothers and sisters from the region who want a better quality of life and that the island does benefit from migrants. But GovGuam doesnt want migrants to become wards of the state and they want every migrant to be able to strive on island, the governor said.

Migrant example

Alig shared an example of one COFA migrant from Chuuk who came to Guam for a better opportunity for his wife and children. The migrant doesnt speak much English and has a hard time finding a job when he first arrives on Guam. He lives with his 15 relatives in a substandard wood and tin home and finally gets a job as a yard maintenance worker, but only makes about $500 a month. The man longs for his wife and children and reunification becomes complicated so he turns to alcohol to numb his pain.

One day the man commits vehicular homicide after getting behind the wheel inebriated and becomes part of the Guam judicial system, Alig said. This example is more common than you think, Alig told federal lawmakers.

He said if you Google crimes involving COFA migrants the list can go on. Many migrants are also homeless which causes issues throughout the island, he said.

The island has been gracious hosts for four decades and acknowledges the many good COFA migrants who have made Guam home, Alig said. The reality is Guam is impacted by the migration of thousands of people and the U.S. needs to provide financial support to help take care of them.

Alig suggested establishing a welcoming process for new migrants upon arrival so they can better address potential issues before they start their new journey on Guam.
Florida Commissioner of Education Manny Diaz Jr. says he wants to prevent college students from exposure to radical woke ideologies  and on Wednesday, the states Board of Education voted unanimously to pass a rule that effectively bans diversity, equity and inclusion programs and activities from Floridas 28 state colleges.

The State Board of Education also voted to replace the course Principles of Sociology with a course in American history. In announcing the change, board members agreed it was necessary in order to provide students with an accurate and factual account of the nations past, rather than exposing them to radical woke ideologies, which had become commonplace in the now replaced course.

Higher education must return to its essential foundations of academic integrity and the pursuit of knowledge instead of being corrupted by destructive ideologies, Diaz said in a news release. These actions today ensure that we will not spend taxpayers money supporting DEI and radical indoctrination that promotes division in our society.

The new rule implements strict regulations that limit the use of public funds for diversity, equity and inclusion programs, activities and policies within the Florida college system  prohibiting these institutions from using state or federal funds to administer the programs.

On Friday, NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson responded, decrying what his organization calls a step backward for educational justice in Florida.

Todays actions by the Florida state government are an attempt to bring our country back to a 19th century America where Black life was not valued, nor our rights protected. It is imperative that we understand that the horrors of slavery and Jim Crow were a violation of human rights and represent the darkest period in American history, Johnson said in a news release. We refuse to go back. The NAACP has been fighting against malicious actors such as those within the DeSantis Administration for over a century, and were prepared to continue that fight by any means necessary. Our children deserve nothing less than truth, justice, and the equity our ancestors shed blood, sweat, and tears for.
Florida is witnessing an unprecedented influx of new residents, outpacing every other state in the nation  and millennials are driving the surge.

Long hailed as a haven for retirees, a new analysis of the latest migration trends from StorageCafe reveals that Florida is experiencing a shift as millennials (those between the ages of 28 and 43) are taking center stage as the primary age demographic favoring the Sunshine State.

Overall, among the top 10 states for net migration gains, Florida took StorageCafes top spot as the countrys leading moving destination.

According to the research, overall, 736,000 people moved to Florida in 2022 and 497,000 left the state, leading to a population upswing of nearly 240,000 people  including a net gain of 34,000 millennials.

Why are millennials moving to Florida?

According to Aura Michelle Mogosanu of StorageCafe, among the roughly 2,015 people who moved to Florida every day, 27% were millennials  and the inviting weather isnt the only reason. Young professionals and families are likely attracted to Floridas beaches, the absence of a state income tax and abundant job prospects in hubs like Tampas burgeoning technology sector and Miamis thriving business centers.

Mogosanu also says home affordability is a top driving force behind these relocations.

Even though the explosion in popularity was accompanied by steep home price increases of up to 31% in the past five years in Florida, homes are still about 13% and 18% more affordable than those in New York and New Jersey, Mogosanu said. But the most substantial benefits await those trading California for Florida, as they are halving their home buying costs. They could potentially save approximately $364,000 in home acquisition costs by making the swap. It may come as no surprise then that an amazing 56% of Californian transplants become homeowners during their first year in Florida.

The ongoing vitality of Floridas real estate construction industry continues to play a crucial role in maintaining the states competitiveness in the realm of homeownership.

In Jacksonville, more than 37,000 permits were issued for single family homes from 2013 to 2022, the fourth-highest number among the 100 biggest urban hubs. Further, the apartment market experienced significant growth, marked by the issuance of approximately 28,000 permits for multifamily units during the same period.

Where are Floridas new residents moving from?

In Americas ever shifting residential landscape, the five states with the most households that moved to Florida are New York, California, New Jersey, Georgia and Texas.

Among the top three, about 90,000 New Yorkers made the move to Floridas sunny shores. Not surprising, given that on average single renters in the Big Apple must allocate just over 71% of their median annual salary of $55,810 to afford the $3,308 average monthly rent. In fact, former city dwellers moved to Florida from New York at a rate 1.84 times higher than from California, which contributed 49,000 new Floridians, followed by 47,000 from New Jersey.

StorageCafe analysis of data from U.S. Census, BLS and Yardi MatrixStorageCafe

What area of Florida are new residents moving to?

A recent report from Zillow placed Orlando and Tampa among the top 10 hottest real estate markets for 2024 for their blend of job growth relative to new construction, swiftly selling homes on the market, an abundance of potential buyers and the expectation of stable home values. Orlando, Jacksonville and Tampa also secured a spot among the best locations for real estate development.

According to a report from Redfin, more people across the country researched Miami property listings than any other metro area in the country. Four other Florida cities  Tampa, Orlando, Cape Coral and North Port Sarasota  also made the top 10.
There's no point crying over spilt milk police learned this morning as they were made to clear 19 crates of it off a busy road in South Australia.

Locals were urged to "take care" while driving through the area after the mammoth load fell off a truck travelling through the busy Britannia roundabout in Adelaide. But authorities will be searching 'til the cows come home for the unknown driver who somehow "didn't stop" following the incident.

Photos shared by Adelaide Police show close to two dozen black crates filled with various types of milk accumulated on the side of the road near what was once dubbed "Adelaide's worst intersection". There also appears to be juice and other refrigerated items. Police were left to moooove the spilt cargo from the roundabout after it fell and smashed at around 6am, a spokesperson told Yahoo News Australia.

Not your typical road hazard this morning. Source: South Australia Police

Unfortunately there are no details of the culprit who drove off in the early hours of Friday, police said. But whoever they are, there's no doubt they'll be buttering someone up to apologise for their costly mistake.

Given the early hour, there were "only very minor delays", SA Police told Yahoo. "Police were able to pick up the crates and milk bottles and move them off the road".

Britannia roundabout was once dubbed the 'worst intersection in Adelaide'. Source: Google Images

Alerting locals to the incident, South Australia Police posted photos of the aftermath to X, formally Twitter, warning residents to "please take care if driving through the area". It's understood there are no further delays in the area but some drivers will no doubt be keen to milk it for all it's worth as an excuse for rocking up to work a little late this morning.

Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com.

You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube.




Haiti - EU Sanctions : Lanmo San Jou Leader of the 400 Mawozo Gang and reasons for the sanctions (3-4)





Friday January 12, 2014, the European Union added to its sanctions list 4 Haitian gang leaders, included on the UN list by the Sanctions Committee on December 8, 2023:



Johnson Andre alias alias "Izo" Leader of the "5 Segond" Gang (1-4)

Renel Destina aka "Ti Lapli" Leader of the "Grand Ravine" Gang (2-4)

Wilson Joseph alias "Lanmo San Jou" Leader of "400 Mawozo" (3-4)

Vitelhomme Innocent aka "Vitelom" Leader of the "Kraze Barye" gang (4-4)



For each of these individuals, the UN Sanctions Committee provided a summary of the reasons for the listing. We invite you every day to discover each of these gang leaders and the reasons for their registration.



Wilson Joseph aka "Lanmo San Jou" :



Function : Leader of the 400 Mawozo gang

Date of birth : February 28, 1993

Place of birth : Haiti

Nationality : Haitian

Date of designation by the United Nations : December 8, 2023

Gender : male



Additional information from the narrative summary of reasons for listing provided by the Sanctions Committee:



Wilson Joseph (aka Lanmo San Jou), is the leader of the 400 Mawozo gang, which is an active gang in the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area, notably in Croix-des-Bouquets commune, and an ally of the G-Pep coalition of gangs (see UN document S/2023/674, Section III(A)(2.3)).



Wilson Joseph is responsible  either directly or through orders to his gang members  for the commission of human rights abuses and crimes, including those involving attacks against defenseless individuals causing death and injury, disrupting or impeding humanitarian aid (e.g. medical services), rape (including rape of minors), the recruitment of children, robbery, looting, and destruction of public property such as prisons and police stations, kidnapping, and hijacking of trucks (see UN document S/2023/674, Annex 4). These attacks have resulted in large numbers of internal displacements. Joseph is also wanted by the Haitian National Police for crimes including murder, attempted murder, vehicle theft, and kidnapping (see UN document S/2023/674, Annex 20).



On July 24, 2022, a Croix-des-Bouquets Police Commissioner was killed and mutilated by members of 400 Mawozo gang (see UN document S/2023/674, Annex 6). In February 2023, the Higgins Brothers Surgicenter for Hope in Fonds Parisien, located in an area controlled by 400 Mawozo, reported multiple incidents of surgeons, doctors, and nurses being shot, robbed, and kidnapped while on their way to work in the past two years (see UN document S/2023/674, Annex 44). Joseph is also implicated in the high-profile kidnapping case that occurred in October 2021, when 17 foreign Christian missionaries and family members, including five minors, were abducted in Haiti (see UN document S/2023/674, Annex 32).



400 Mawozo gang is actively involved in trafficking arms and ammunition (see UN document S/2023/674, para. 104). Several members known to be responsible for arms and ammunition trafficking have been arrested by the Haiti National Police, including in Malpasse on April 26, 2022, and Nippes in the southwest of the country on May 14, 2022 (see UN document S/2023/674, Annex 32). In May 2022, three Haitian nationals and one United States citizen were charged with firearms trafficking in support of 400 Mawozo in Haiti (see UN document S/2023/674, Annex 32).



See also :

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-41462-haiti-eu-sanctions-ti-lapli-leader-of-the-grand-ravin-gang-and-reasons-for-the-sanctions-2-4.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-41453-haiti-eu-sanctions-izo-leader-of-the-5-segond-gang-and-reasons-for-the-sanctions-1-4.html



HL/ HaitiLibre






















Haiti - Politic : The OIF mobilizes on the Haitian crisis





Thursday January 18, 2024, Louise Mushikiwabo, the Secretary General of La Francophonie, brought together the restricted ad hoc advisory committee of the OIF on the situation in Haiti : a massive international mobilization in support of the stability of the country.



Objectives of the restricted ad hoc advisory committee :

1 - Strengthen the understanding of the crisis : The Committee will enrich the understanding of the OIF by combining the views of researchers, political actors, civil society, development partners and international observers, thus contributing to adjusting action in favor of a return to constitutional legality and peaceful political life in Haiti.



2 - Encourage greater mobilization: The Secretary General encourages mobilization of the French-speaking community and the African Union in support of Haiti. Priority areas include the Multinational Security Support Mission (MMAS) and political prospects for ending the crisis.



As part of this meeting, representatives of member States and Governments of La Francophonie, as well as partner organizations of the OIF involved in promoting peace and stability in Haiti: the Organization of American States (OAS), the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), the United Nations (UN), the African Union. The United States of America, a key player, was also represented by Michele Sison, Under Secretary of State for International Organizations at the United States Department of State.



The intense exchanges and testimonies highlighted the scale of the challenge ahead and the need for concerted collaboration to implement urgent and effective action in favor of the Haitian people.



A pressing appeal was launched by all the representatives present in favor of collective mobilization in support of the Multinational Security Support Mission (MMAS), aimed at responding quickly and effectively to urgent needs in terms of security and humanitarian assistance to Haiti.



Announcements and pledges of contributions were made by representatives of the States and Governments present including France, Canada, Quebec, Benin among others, as well as non-member States invited for the occasion such as Japan, Brazil and the United States of America, to contribute to the security of the Haitian populations and promote a democratic process towards an end to the crisis.



All participants recalled that the solutions belong, first and foremost, to Haitians but also expressed their support for the initiative carried by the Secretary General of La Francophonie in favor of coordinated and active international solidarity for peace and stability in Haiti.



Speakers :

Olushegun ADJADI BAKARY, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Benin

Ms Michele ORIOL, doctor in sociology

Ms. Maria-Isabel SALVADOR, Special Representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations and Head of BINUH

Ms. Liliane MASSALA, Personal Representative of Gabon to the OIF, Ambassador of the Gabonese Republic to France

Cristobal DUPOUY, Special Representative of the Secretary General of the OAS in Haiti

Colin GRANDERSON, Special Advisor to the Secretary General of the initiative of the Jose Julio GOMEZ, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Dominican Republic Mr. Bankole ADEOYE, Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security of the Commission of the African Union



HL/ HaitiLibre






















Haiti - News : Zapping...





"Yonyon" renounces trial by jury

Wednesday January 17 Germine Joly, alias "Yonyon", the former leader of the "400 Mawozo" gang in an unusual request to US District Court Judge John D. Bates renounces his right to a trial by jury in the United States and instead requests a bench trial (without a jury, the decision then being up to the judge).



FAdH : The PM inquires about the needs of the army

Wednesday, January 17 Prime Minister a.i. Ariel Henry went to the General Headquarters of the Armed Forces of Haiti (FAdH), where he had a meeting with the senior staff. This meeting aimed to assess the needs of the army in order to deal with widespread insecurity.



Mirlande Manigat uncomfortable

Jean Ardouin Louis-Charles, eminent member of the Rally of Progressive National Democrats (RDNP) formally asked the Honorary President of the party Mirlande Manigat to withdraw from the High Council of Transition (HCT) which did not honor the RDNP because the HCT brought nothing to the country...



USA : Arms trafficking, Eliande Tunis pleads guilty

Wednesday January 17, 2024 Haitian-American Eliande Tunis co-accused with "Yonyon", rather than going to trial, pleaded guilty to all 48 counts of having helped members of the "400 Mawozo" gang obtained assault weapons and high-powered ammunition from gun dealers in Florida. Her lawyer is asking for a sentence of 5 years, but she risks life in prison.



UN : State of civil war in Haiti

Thursday January 18, 2024, the crisis in Haiti was described as a state of civil war by the Secretary General of the United Nations.



The Professional Association of Magistrates is concerned

The Professional Association of Magistrates (APM) expresses its concerns as the end of the mandate, during this month of January, of several dozen judges approaches, while currently there is already a considerable lack of judges in courts.



HL/ HaitiLibre


















As millions of Aussies sweat through another scorching summer, there's a rare but fatal threat emerging in the West. At least two popular swimming spots were found to harbour a deadly "brain-eating" bug forcing swimmers out of the water  and it's a "very real threat" across the nation, one expert told Yahoo News Australia.

Concerns were raised after naegleria fowleri  a deadly amoeba, which thrives in heat  was detected in Brunswick Pool  a freshwater swimming spot in WA's southwest  during a routine water quality test. And 100km south of Perth in the Shire of Waroona, swimmers have been warned to avoid Drakesbrook Weir as it too was at risk of being contaminated.

Rising temperatures and the current heatwave are to blame for the emergence of the amoeba, which is commonly known as the "brain-eating amoeba". Inhaling bacteria can cause a rare infection known as amoebic meningitis  and in most cases is fatal.

Drakesbrook Weir, 100km south of Perth, is the latest swimming spot to close over fears it contains the deadly 'brain-eating amoeba' known as naegleria fowleri. Source: Google Images

"Its a horrible, horrible thing and it's a very real threat in lots of areas [across Australia]," water researcher Professor Ian Wright told Yahoo News Australia. He said while it's "really, really rare" the "consequences are terrible".

"You could probably have a thousand people swim in that waterway and not get it. But if you get infected, it's likely fatal. It takes between one and 18 days to die".

Accidentally swallowing the water is often fine, according to the Western Sydney University professor, but inhaling the pathogen is problematic.

"It has a really strange pathology. There's some kind of a barrier between the nose, nasal cavity and the brain, and the amoeba can get through," he said. "So just never put your head underwater. Avoid getting water up your nose. That seems like a stupid thing to say, but it's really sensible advice."

Story continues

Concerns grow as temperatures rise

Extreme conditions have blanketed WA this summer with The Shire of Waroona president Mike Walmsley admitting, "it feels like the hottest summer we've had for some time," the ABC reported.

WA Health Department water scientist Richard Theobold said a growing number of freshwater pools might harbour deadly naturally occurring amoebas as the climate got hotter  and nothing can be done to avoid it, but Aussies can be aware.

"As the temperatures rise, you'll find that natural water bodies will increase in temperature  so, more areas that are nice and warm and fresh, it's more likely you'll get Naegleria and Naegleria fowleri," he said, according to the ABC.

It's feared the deadly bacteria could start to pop up across the country as temperatures rise. Source: ABC/Mike Walmsley

Signs have been erected at a number of swimming spots across the state warning visitors to stay out of the water  but it's a nationwide problem. Wright warns against swimming in freshwater pools, lakes, rivers or dams across the country.

"This is a really big problem right across inland Australia. It can get really hot away from the coast," he said. "Putting your head underwater is an act of faith in water quality. I will only swim in well-managed,well-treated, chlorinated pools, not freshwater spots".

Australia is getting hotter

2023 was the hottest year on record, with global temperatures rising close to 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial records. Temperatures last year were substantially worse than 2016 which previously held the title as the warmest year.

Dr. Simon Bradshaw told Yahoo News Australia, that we would expect 2024 to end up hotter than 2023 as the year after an El Nino has developed will usually be the hottest. Last year it was predicted that western Sydney would soon be the "hottest place on earth".

Love Australia's weird and wonderful environment? Get our new newsletter showcasing the weeks best stories.
An Aussie driver caught sporting two number plates could attract a hefty fine of almost $800 and the loss of three demerit points.

The Sydney motorist, driving a Toyota ute, was snapped up earlier today cruising along a road with one number plate slapped on top of a second. A yellow plate can be seen placed over a white one, seemingly in an attempt to cover it, with the latter dangling, half fallen off.

While some Aussies were quick to share theories as to why the driver decided to "chuck their other plates on it hoping no one will notice", if they're caught by police or highway patrol, the act could attract a whopping fine of $772 and the loss of three demerit points.

The driver could attract a hefty fine, if caught. Source: Reddit

Road act could attract hefty fine, loss of three demerits

According to the NSW Government when it comes to number plate offences, vehicles without correctly fixed plates, that are obscured, defaced or illegible, could cop the fine. Vehicles with plates that are "unauthorised" could also be in for a grilling from authorities.

Online, people speculated over reason behind the driver's stunt  though the motive is unclear.

"So old mate's rego expired and instead of parking the car and renewing it, they've chucked their other plates on it hoping no one will notice," a person hypothesised. "I am fairly certain the cops [will] pick up on this as they'll notice the description doesn't match the car."

A NSW Police spokesperson told Yahoo News Australia the driver would be facing "potentially multiple offences here.

Driver faces 'a world of hurt'

Other Aussies pointed out that it wouldn't be long before the act was caught out. "Highway patrol cars (HWP) are fitted with scanners, that can check something like 10 cars a second or something crazy like that. It probably won't be long before this driver comes to the attention of an attentive HWP officer and then he's in for a world of hurt fine and points wise," wrote another person.

Story continues

"That would instantly get picked up by a passing HWP as their cars constantly scan plates as they drive. People who try stuff like this are just stupid," a third said.

Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com.

You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube.
The Havre Public Schools Board of Trustees will meet Tuesday Jan. 23, 2024, at 12:15 p.m. in the Robbins School Administration Building.

The agenda for the meeting is:

A. Call to order

1. Pledge of Allegiance

2. Roll call

3. Welcome to visitors

4. Agenda deletions or corrections, and additions allowed by policy, if any

B. Old business

C. New business

1. Personnel

Public comment  An opportunity for any member of the audience to bring to the attention of the board questions or relevant comments concerning district matters not on the agenda. The board will not discuss or tak...
The local acting troupe is bringing their acting knowledge to the youth of Havre.

Montana Actors' Theatre Youth Activities directors Angela Pratt and Tylyn Turner, as well as other MAT volunteers, are traveling to schools around Havre to teach children some basic acting skills.

The first session was Wednesday.

"We are just doing small acting workshops with the K-3 graders," Pratt said. "Workshops are free to the participants. We started last week and will continue through the end of the month. We will then be starting another set of workshops at the 4-8 grade levels, running the month o...
David Wilcox Executive editor Follow David Wilcox 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

Simple Roast Coffee Co. in Auburn has built a loyal base of fans over the last eight years. On Tuesday, the company finally announced something many of them have been thirsting for: a cafe.

In a Facebook post that has received almost 900 likes and 200 comments, the company announced plans to open Roast & Toast this year at 99 Genesee St. downtown, formerly Rudolph's Sugar Shack.

But a cafe is only half of the business model. By night, the space will serve cocktails in what Simple Roast founder Matt Peirson described to The Citizen as an elevated, speakeasy-style experience.

"We want it to be a warm, cozy, inviting cafe space," he said, "and a more elevated cocktail bar at night without feeling like you're in a cafe."

Peirson said a cafe has long been an idea at Simple Roast, which began with a drive-thru location in Grant Avenue Plaza in Sennett in 2016, expanded with a second drive-thru in Towne Center Plaza on the west side of Auburn in 2019, and now employs almost 30 people. He roasts the company's coffee beans  about 850 pounds a week  at a West Street facility where online orders can be picked up.

Roast & Toast will be the new place to pick up those orders, Peirson said, and he expects his staff to grow by about 10. Some of his longer tenured drive-thru baristas will be the first servers downtown.

The name and concept for the new business came from Peirson's wife, Kristen, during what he called a "company research" road trip on the Pacific Coast Highway in California. As the name suggests, the cafe will boast a menu of seven or eight toast-based items, such as avocado toast. Lemon ricotta with blueberry compote will be another, Peirson said  "anything we can think of and develop."

The cocktail menu, meanwhile, will consist of traditional beverages and originals that rotate on a regular basis. The bar's decor will also evoke the Prohibition era with items like velvet furniture.

Peirson and his wife began experimenting with cocktails during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, he said. So when he was told last fall that 99 Genesee St. was available by its owners, Prison City Brewing's Dawn and Marc Schulz, the idea for Roast & Toast came naturally. Construction is now underway, and Peirson hopes to open the next stage of Simple Roast sometime this spring.

"We're not looking to have a crazy, rowdy bar experience, just something elevated before or after a fancy dinner," he said. "It seemed like a good fit and a good new project."

To learn more For more information about Simple Roast Coffee Co. and Roast & Toast, call (315) 878-1993, email info@simpleroastcoffee.com, visit simpleroastcoffee.com, follow @simpleroastcoffeecompany on Facebook or follow @simpleroastcoffee on Instagram.

Simply successful: Auburn coffee company opens second location AUBURN  Matt Peirson didn't have to say a word Tuesday afternoon about the success of his business, Simple Roast Coffee Co. It was the first 
As if Americans didn't have enough to worry about, our closest ally, Israel, has been dragged into the International Court of Justice on a charge of genocide against the people of Gaza.

Ominously for our friend's defense, not only has South Africa been able to document plenty of criminal action, as specified by the genocide convention, such as killing members of the group (as opposed to combatants) and deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about their destruction (as in blockading supplies of food and water, then bombing all the houses), b...
When its seeding time on our farm, we seed. When its haying time, we put up the hay. And when its harvest time, we bring in the crop. We dont sit around and hope that somebody else will do the job for us. We handle it the Montana way: rolling up our sleeves and getting to work.

Thats the kind of mentality that small business owners, farmers, ranchers, and hardworking Montanans all across our state bring to their jobs every single day. And its the type of mentality that my colleagues in Congress and President Biden urgently need to bring to the table to secure our border....
The Finnish Industrial Union on Thursday announced it will stage a two-day work stoppage covering roughly 60,000 employees at 700 workplaces between 1 and 2 February. The announcement signals a major escalation from the stoppage the union announced at two industrial sites in Kokkola and Porvoo in December.

Hopefully the large strikes will return the government back to earth. The unreasonable cuts and negative amendments to the position of employees are undoubtedly wrong, stated Riku Aalto, the chairperson at the Industrial Union.

Also Trade Union Pro revealed about 10,000 white-collar workers will go on strike in a strike at workplaces in, for example, the chemicals and technology industries.

Orpo on Thursday said to YLE the strikes are oversized and will cause serious damage to the national economy. Trade unions, he added, have been offered both time and solutions to break through the gridlock in the labour market.

Its been possible to discuss the government proposals. For example, there are task forces for discussing the contents of the legislation on industrial peace and local bargaining. We should now focus on working rather than striking, he stated during a visit to an industrial site in Seinajoki, South Ostrobothnia.

Jarkko Ruohoniemi, the managing director of the Technology Industries of Finland, said to the public broadcaster that workplaces participating in the strikes will inevitably experience production losses and supply chain challenges. The strikes are very broad and target a number of companies represented by the interest group.

For us, the list [of affected companies] starts at A and ends at W, he said.

Ruohoniemi declined to provide an estimate of the effects and damage, though, saying employer organisations in the export industries will evaluate the situation together and express their views on the issue in a joint press release to be released later.

Jyri Hakamies, the director general of the Confederation of Finnish Industries (EK), viewed that the newly announced strikes are regrettable. Although the situation continues to develop, he added, the currently available information indicates that the strikes will have a considerable price tag.

He added that employer organisations consider the labour market reforms necessary even though the political strikes target the central government rather than companies.

Id prefer that patience and democracy prevailed because the government naturally has the parliaments mandate to move forward on these issues, commented Hakamies.

Aleksi Teivainen  HT
Mika Aaltola , serves as the director of the Finnish Institute of International Affairs and has entered the presidential race in Finland as an independent candidate, despite lacking political experience. Born on May 2, 1969, in Jamsankoski, Finland, Mika Aaltola stands out as a candidate with a distinct mission to challenge existing norms. Renowned for his leadership at as a political scientist, Aaltola brings a unique perspective, focusing on combating corruption and redefining Finland's role in global affairs.

Aaltola rose to prominence in the political sphere of Finland with his insights as a TV commentator on the Ukraine war, Aaltola stresses the urgency of a fresh foreign policy vision following Finland's shift towards NATO post-Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Early Life

Aaltola spent his high school years in the U.S. during the late 80s. Aaltola volunteered as an election worker during George H.W. Bush's presidential campaign in the early 1990s, marking his early exposure to political processes.

He was a visiting professor at the University of Minnesota from 2006 to 2008 and conducted research at Cambridge University, Sciences Po University of Paris, and Johns Hopkins University in U.S.

Aaltola, a docent of international politics at the University of Tampere, served as a part-time professor at Tallinn University from 2013 to 2023. With seven published books, his academic background contributes to his nuanced understanding of global affairs. Aaltola, with an extensive experience in foreign and security policy, aligns himself with Finland's Secured Future Association.

Political journey

Aaltola's foray into politics is unconventional, marked by his resolute confidence in offering a unique perspective. Dismissing concerns about his political inexperience, he asserted, "no one else has been president for a day."

In March 2014, Aaltola estimated that Finland couldn't join NATO without some understanding with Russia. He referred to this as a "storm-weather model," suggesting that Finland would need a green light from Russia, especially considering the negative stance Russia had towards Finland joining NATO. However, his stance on Finlands membership in NATO gradually evolved, supporting the membership, especially against the backdrop of Russias invasion of Ukraine.

In 2019, Aaltola assumed the role of director at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs. Aaltola's dissertation, "The Rhythm, Exception, and Rule in International Relations," explored the European Union's resilience during internal crises, with a focus on mad cow disease. His research extends to humanitarian politics and power dynamics, evident in works like "Western Spectacle of Governance and the Emergence of Humanitarian World Politics."

Mika Aaltola emerged into the public eye, gaining respect for his expert commentary on Russia-Ukraine conflict, characterized by a direct and soothing communication style. Despite delivering candid statements, Aaltola is perceived as a reassuring and dependable expert, and his direct communication approach has resonated with the public. However, Aaltola acknowledged the scrutiny that accompanies public visibility but views it as an opportunity for individuals to gain insights into the personalities influencing their perspectives.

In an April Ilta Sanomat support-poll on presidential elections, Mika Aaltola, garnered 35% support, third in the race, despite not expressing interest in the presidential race. Aaltola previously considered it implausible to be elected president without party affiliation, but the support he received marked a significant turn in his consideration for running for presidential elections. Later in October, he rose to the top of presidential survey conducted by the newspaper, however recent polls suggest that his support has declined.

Presidential elections 2024

Mika Aaltola's presidential candidacy represents a shift towards a more assertive and strategic approach in Finland's foreign policy, along with a commitment to national values, equality, and sustainable development.

Aaltola ensures a robust emphasis on foreign policy, highlighting the president's need to grasp global events and their impact on Finland. Aaltola's proficiency over foreign policy has also been exemplified with his well-established connections with foreign officials from different countries like U.S., Germany, and France.

Pointing out the destabilization of Europe, particularly in Northern Europe and the Baltic Sea region, Aaltola attributes this instability to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. He advocates for robust support for Ukraine and increasing defence spending up to 3 percent of the GDP, marking a departure from the country's traditionally reserved stance.

Addressing the complex geopolitical situation with Russia, Aaltola emphasizes the need for immediate action and envisions creating a zone of stable states from the Arctic Ocean to the Black Sea.

Aaltola underscored his concerns about China's increasing influence, highlighting the binding ties it has established with multiple countries. He proposes a shift in production back to the West to open up new markets for Finland.

On sustainable development and economic growth, Aaltola emphasizes innovation as a key driver. Finland's focus on clean energy, digitalization, and green transition places it at the forefront globally. While the president doesn't decide on the national economy, Aaltola sees their role in supporting companies pivotal to addressing environmental challenges.

Politics and persona

Mika Aaltolas politics is identified at the more conservative side of the spectrum. Positioning himself as a supporter of the Nordic welfare state, Aaltola emphasizes equality, defending minorities, and pride in Finnishness and nationalism. His stance prioritizes national well-being over partisan interests, forming a central theme in his presidential campaign.

Aaltola boldly critiques corruption within party politics, emphasizing connections to political appointments across different parties.

He underscores the importance of mutual acceptance and understanding, with a focus on love, acceptance, and Christian virtues. Aaltola recognizes the president's crucial role as a value leader in Finnish politics.

The presidential candidate remains deeply rooted in his Christian faith, and finds solace and inspiration in prayer, especially evening prayer, which he sees as a means to nurture community. He emphasizes the church's crucial role as a unifying force during challenging times, extending beyond doctrinal debates.

Despite enduring bullying in school due to his shy and introverted nature, Aaltola had earlier reflected on how these experiences contributed to building resilience. He also discussed his struggles with a chronic illness, highlighting the importance of fortitude and determination.

Challenges

Aaltola has often been criticized over perceived arrogant remarks, which he has called as misinterpretations. One such incident happened during an Yleisradio interview following the press conference, he remarked on the electoral landscape, stating If you have knowledge and you have skill and you have courage, and it seems that others don't have that, that vision - then it's a bit like an obligation to run (for election). He clarified that his comments regarding knowledge, skill, and courage were not directed at fellow candidates.

Aaltola encountered backlash for his remarks on media visibility and ad space purchases throughout his presidential campaign. His assertions, suggesting a correlation between media approaches and favorable coverage tied to ad space, sparked ethical concerns and triggered discussions on the independence of journalism.

Presidential candidate Mika Aaltola faced criticism for participating in a conservative Christian gospel festival organized by SLEY, the Finnish Lutheran Evangelical Association, which opposes female priesthood and homosexuality. Social media reactions questioned his positions and criticized his association with views against homosexuality and female priesthood. In response, Aaltola defended his involvement and clarified his stance, supporting female priesthood and affirming tolerance of diverse views.

Aaltola's visit to Turkey in February 2023 stirred domestic controversy, as allegations arose that the researcher had trespassed onto the grounds of political decision-makers. Drawing insights from this trip, Aaltola recommended signaling Finland's capacity to independently handle NATO applications, distinct from Sweden's.

Aaltola's part-time professorship at Tallinn University became a focal point of controversy as students expressed dissatisfaction with his irregular attendance. This incident led to Aaltola's resignation, citing the burden of responsibilities.

Interesting quotes

Media are calling to ask if we have the resources to buy ad space. Theyre pretty clearly bringing up that itd also bring other visibility in the paper or on the channel. Of course [it isnt done] explicitly but by hinting that this kind of coupling is possible.

That is clearly the basic state of things in Turkey. As far as Finland is concerned, we don't see a problem. As for Sweden, the problems are seen as caused by Sweden itself. Furthermore, Turkey sees that Finnish legislation is in better shape. Regarding Sweden, there is a wait-and-see attitude.

There were whispers in the corridors of power that people wouldnt have the courage to invest in Finland if you drew attention to the threat in Northern Europe and Baltic Sea. Or if you look at energy dependencies as geopolitics.

We have reduced the number of abortions from the 70s to a third. (...) Life situations are difficult and a woman's right to her own body and her own health is a very important freedom in Finland. We have achieved good results. Why should that system be changed so much?

We can negotiate with Russia if we are in a strong position. This is a lesson about the time of Finnishization. It's not worth getting into a position where Russia can exploit us.

What is right and left? Apparently, many candidates strive to be pretty much there in the middle. It's the most tactically sensible way for them to move things forward, because the majority can somehow identify with it.

There are broader processes in the background in that area. Iran is one of the main sponsors of such cross-border violence and a supporter of Hamas.

Boundaries exist for the sake of demarcation. The amount that is needed and can be integrated should be taken, but no more.

HT
A suspect in a 2019 murder in Auburn has been in a relationship with a woman who taught at Southern Cayuga High School while he was a student there, a Friday hearing in his case revealed.

Gage Ashley, 26, who has been charged with first-degree murder in the November 2019 shooting death of Joshua Poole, has been in a relationship with former Southern Cayuga teaching assistant Mary Ferro, 61, she said during the hearing in Cayuga County Court. Ferro took the stand because the hearing concerned the legality of a police search of her home in Aurelius during the murder investigation.

Ferro told Cayuga County Chief Assistant District Attorney Chris Valdina that her romantic relationship with Ashley began "sometime after 2017." She had known him since 2014, and gave him rides. Asked by Valdina whether she had actually known Ashley since 2012, Ferro said she had not. It was not asked whether Ferro directly taught Ashley at Southern Cayuga during her testimony.

In February 2015, Ferro continued, Ashley began living with her at her previous home, also in Aurelius. She and her husband separated that year as well. Ashley moved out that fall, and transferred to Auburn High School. The romantic relationship began after he graduated, Ferro said, when he sought her help studying for a test to enlist in the Army. In 2018, her husband filed for divorce.

Ashley would go on to have a relationship with another woman, and have a baby with her in August 2018. When they broke up, however, he moved back in with Ferro, she said. By that point she had begun living at the Aurelius home that police would search in November 2019. Prior to the search, she said, he was sleeping there three or four nights a week, and they were having a sexual relationship.

Police then arrested Ashley, along with Tyree Anglin, Christian Rivera and Lucciano Spagnola, on murder charges. Ashley was convicted of first-degree murder, second-degree murder, first-degree attempted robbery and second-degree criminal weapons possession, and sentenced to 21 years to life in December 2021. But his conviction was overturned after a state appeals court determined the grand jury that indicted him was illegally constituted because a member had a criminal conviction. Ashley was arraigned again on the same charges in June, and his second trial is set to begin in March.

Asked by Valdina whether she's still in a relationship with Ashley, Ferro said, "Insomuch as you can call having a relationship with someone who is incarcerated a relationship." She smiled at Ashley, who was seated next to his attorney, several times during her testimony. When asked to identify him, she raised her eyebrows while noting that he was wearing orange, as if she was poking fun at him.

"I care for him deeply and I am trying to be a support system for him," she said.

Ferro then said she has been banned from visiting Ashley at the Cayuga County Jail. An officer told her she was recorded on video passing Ashley contraband, she continued, and shortly thereafter he was removed from his cell because officers smelled smoke in his block. She also confirmed that she sent $295 to the commissary account of Spagnola, a friend of Ashley's, between July 2022 and May 2023.

Toward the end of her testimony, Ferro said she was asked to resign from Southern Cayuga in December. The school district told her it had been contacted by reporters about her relationship with Ashley following a Dec. 14 story in The Citizen about Friday's hearing. Due to the murder suspect's "notoriety," she continued, she was told that "it'd be best for everyone if I just took a full retirement."

According to records obtained through a Freedom of Information Law request by The Citizen, Ferro began at Southern Cayuga as a math aide in September 1982 and retired as a teaching assistant in June 2021. She returned to the district as an English language learner tutor that October, and became an after-school supervisor in June 2023. Her resignation was approved by the school board Jan. 8.

Additional FOIL requests by The Citizen concerning Ferro and Ashley's relationship have been denied by the school district. Asked by The Citizen on Friday whether the district has investigated the relationship, or otherwise has any comment on Ferro's testimony about it, Superintendent Patrick Jensen said he is unable to comment on personnel matters.

'Destroyed my family': Sister of 2019 Auburn murder victim addresses shooter Looking straight at a person who had shot and killed her brother, Sarah Reed told Lucciano Spagnola about how his actions have affected her family.
Police said a Wayne County man assaulted his girlfriend and her father in the town of Sterling.

The Cayuga County Sheriff's Office said that Robert N. Devey, 34 of Newark, attacked the two while in the presence of children on Jan. 13.

He was charged with first-degree criminal contempt, a felony, third-degree assault, and two counts of endangering the welfare of a child.

Police said Devey was picked up on arrest warrants by the Newark Village Police Department and turned over to the Cayuga County Sheriffs Office. He was arraigned and remanded to the Cayuga County Jail without bail.

Anyone with information regarding the incident is asked to contact the sheriffs office at (315) 253-1222, or tips can be left at cayugacounty.us/452/send-a-tip. Tipsters may remain anonymous.
Gurugram, Haryana, India  Business Wire India According to a recent Capterra survey, 82% of organisations with a heightened awareness of cyber threats reported increased cybersecurity spending from 2022 to 2023, while a mere 1% reported a recognition of the critical need for robust cybersecurity measures. Companies across various sectors in India have implemented a range of technical and procedural safeguards such as:

1. 61% of surveyed organisations conduct formal cybersecurity risk assessments.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

2. Nearly half (48%) of respondents indicated the implementation of network segmentation to isolate specific sections of their IT infrastructure.



3. 46% of surveyed companies apply data classification techniques to safeguard sensitive information.

4. Another critical cybersecurity measure adopted by 46% of organisations is the implementation of zero-trust network policies.



94% say their company uses AI for cybersecurity



94% of cyber-aware respondents in our survey revealed that their companies actively employ AI to fortify their defence mechanisms. Key insights from the survey highlight the profound impact of AI on cybersecurity:

65% of respondents emphasized that AI plays a crucial role in real-time monitoring , swiftly detecting threats as they unfold.

, swiftly detecting threats as they unfold. 54% reported that AI significantly improves data integration by seamlessly merging threat intelligence feed data with internal network behaviour analysis.

by seamlessly merging threat intelligence feed data with internal network behaviour analysis. Over half (52%) acknowledged the role of AI in automating routine security tasks , including alert triage, incident response, and patch management.



However, the press for AI adoption in cybersecurity does not come without challenges. 48% acknowledged challenges related to the quantity and quality of data affecting the efficacy of AI. 46% recognised the need for additional human expertise to complement AI systems. 37% expressed concerns about attackers manipulating AI systems to evade detection.



Organisations defend against ransomware surge: Two-thirds witness attacks, yet resilience prevails



66% of respondents reported encountering ransomware attacks, showcasing the pervasive nature of this cybersecurity menace. 48% of cyber-aware employees said their company fell victim to at least one ransomware attack in the past 12 months. An alarming 18% faced the challenge of dealing with multiple ransomware attacks during the same period.



In the majority of reported cases, organisations resiliently avoided paying ransoms. However, despite the resilience displayed, the cost of retrieving data post-ransomware attacks remains a significant concern. Among respondents aware of the resolution, 33% faced ransom demands in the Rs. 8,01,000 - Rs. 20,00,000 range, while 16% encountered demands exceeding Rs. 41,01,000. 48% dealt with ransoms below Rs. 8,00,000, while a small percentage (3%) were uncertain about the ransom amount.



Commenting on the survey, Sukanya Awasthi, analyst of the study, said: The upward trend in cybersecurity investments highlights a response to the growing frequency of data breaches and cyber-attacks. Employees who are well-versed in cybersecurity express apprehension about the diverse threats in the digital realm. Organisations, in turn, employ a spectrum of advanced techniques to fortify their defences against cyber threats. AI plays a crucial role in these defences, yet its optimal functionality hinges on integrating human expertise.



For more information and in-depth survey findings, please visit:

https://www.capterra.in/blog/4423/what-indian-businesses-can-do-to-reduce-the-risk-of-cyberthreats-in-2024



About Capterra



Capterra helps organisations around the world find the right software for their needs. Founded in 1999, Capterra's global product footprint, verified user reviews backbone, independent research, and tailored comparison tools provide more than five million in-market buyers with a confidence-building discovery experience every month. For more information, visit: https://www.capterra.in/



Survey Methodology



The data for Capterras 2024 Data Security Survey was collected between November 10th and 26th, 2023 and comprises answers from 1264 respondents. We selected our survey sample based on the following criteria:

, including alert triage, incident response, and patch management. However, the press for AI adoption in cybersecurity does not come without challenges. 48% acknowledged challenges related to the quantity and quality of data affecting the efficacy of AI. 46% recognised the need for additional human expertise to complement AI systems. 37% expressed concerns about attackers manipulating AI systems to evade detection. 66% of respondents reported encountering ransomware attacks, showcasing the pervasive nature of this cybersecurity menace. 48% of cyber-aware employees said their company fell victim to at least one ransomware attack in the past 12 months. An alarming 18% faced the challenge of dealing with multiple ransomware attacks during the same period. In the majority of reported cases, organisations resiliently avoided paying ransoms. However, despite the resilience displayed, the cost of retrieving data post-ransomware attacks remains a significant concern. Among respondents aware of the resolution, 33% faced ransom demands in the Rs. 8,01,000 - Rs. 20,00,000 range, while 16% encountered demands exceeding Rs. 41,01,000. 48% dealt with ransoms below Rs. 8,00,000, while a small percentage (3%) were uncertain about the ransom amount. For more information and in-depth survey findings, please visit: https://www.capterra.in/blog/4423/what-indian-businesses-can-do-to-reduce-the-risk-of-cyberthreats-in-2024 Capterra helps organisations around the world find the right software for their needs. Founded in 1999, Capterra's global product footprint, verified user reviews backbone, independent research, and tailored comparison tools provide more than five million in-market buyers with a confidence-building discovery experience every month. For more information, visit: https://www.capterra.in/ The data for Capterras 2024 Data Security Survey was collected between November 10th and 26th, 2023 and comprises answers from 1264 respondents. We selected our survey sample based on the following criteria: India resident

Aged between 18-65 years-old

Full-time employee

Works for a company that uses cybersecurity software tools for protection and has some awareness of which tools are used

Media Contact Details

Palash Bhattacharjee (PR and Marketing Specialist), Gartner Inc, palash.bhattacharjee@gartner.com

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The much-awaited triple digit order from Akasa Air was finally signed at Wings India yesterday. Akasa Air and Boeing announced the signing of the order which includes 150 aircraft. Visitors gathered near an Akasa Air aircraft during the 'Wings India 2024', an exhibition and conference on civil aviation, at the Begumpet Airport in Hyderabad on January 18, 2024.(AFP)

This comes amid the backdrop of another round of controversy about the MAX, as the MAX 9 remains under investigation following the incident with Alaska Airlines, which saw the aircraft lose a door while in the air. Akasa Air currently has a fleet of 22 aircraft, 21 of which are MAX 8 while one is the high density MAX 8-200.

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The airline has 54 more aircraft awaiting delivery from the previous order. The total aircraft yet to be undelivered to Akasa Air now stands at 204.

This is a big win for Boeing as it makes further inroads in the narrowbody market in India, which has been primarily dominated by Airbus. After the fall of Jet Airways, there were less than 100 Boeing narrowbodies in India as Air India Express did not grow its fleet awaiting privatisation and SpiceJet continued its financial spiral. While the MAX of SpiceJet remains on order, it has not seen any delivery since 2019 when the aircraft were grounded worldwide. Some have also left the fleet since then.

Numbers don't lie

At the end of 2023, there were 539 narrowbody passenger planes with scheduled carriers on DGCA register. Only 15% of these were Boeing, with the rest 85% being Airbus led largely by IndiGo. These numbers do not include the fleet of Go FIRST which is grounded since May last year. The numbers are even more skewed in favour of Airbus if Go FIRSTs grounded fleet is included, as it is not yet de-registered from the Indian register.

Both Airbus and Boeing have problems with groundings. The one with Airbus is driven by Pratt & Whitney engines while those of Boeing is driven by the finances of the airline. Thus the operational fleet in India is less than the 539 planes which are part of the civil registry.

Also read: Jhunjhunwala-backed Akasa Air orders 150 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft

Good news for Boeing

Boeing has been plain unlucky in a few ways. Jet Airways went down, while SpiceJet continued with its financial troubles leading to the lack of ability to grow. In fact, SpiceJet has lost fleet and market share in the country and all its promises to induct additional MAX aircraft have not materialised. While Airbus, too, took a hit from the fall of Kingfisher Airlines; IndiGo more than compensated for the dominance to continue for Airbus.

Boeing's first breakthrough was with Akasa Air in November of 2021 while the next big one came with Air India group. The Tata group is not new to Boeing and vice versa. Both the companies have been working and are Joint Venture partners too in both defence and civilian programs.

With the mega order from IndiGo, Airbus maintains a lead when it comes to backlog from India in the narrowbody segment but Boeing is making inroads.

What does it mean for Akasa Air?

Akasa Air has had the misfortune of losing its primary financial backer Mr Jhunjhunwala exactly a week after the first flight. The going has not been good for a while. The airline has lost market share, filed cases against its former pilots, closed a station within days of starting it and announced the triple digit order by the end of the year which did not happen.

A fleet plan and order gives confidence to the market and ecosystem that the airline has plans to expand which helps it attract pilots and helps airports make their plans for expansion and allocate slots.

Also read: Alaska incident: Which airlines in India are flying the Boeing 737 MAX and should you be worried?

Tail Note

The order gives further boost to fleet renewal efforts in India where 70% of the narrow body fleet is either MAX or NEO, the new generation planes from Being and Airbus respectively. Both large aircraft manufacturers are working hard towards moving to Sustainable Aviation as a future and investing billions towards research with the first phase being improvement of fuel consumption led by a re-engined version of their popular planes.

Both the NEO and the MAX have their own share of problems, how long does it finally take to solve them is anybodys guess. For now it is Akasa Airs turn to bask in the glory.

Ameya Joshi is an aviation analyst
Cognizant is just 'doing its business' and must become an employer of choice, CEO Ravi Kumar S has said, making his first remarks on the company's poaching of top-level executives from rival firms. Cognizant CEO Ravi Kumar S (Image courtesy: Cognizant)

I am just doing my business. I want to make Cognizant an employer of choice, Kumar told CNBC TV18 at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos. He was responding to a question on Cognizant CFO Jatin Dalal, whose previous employer, Wipro, has sued Dalal over breach of contract, seeking 25.15 crore in damages.

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Mohd Haque, another arrival at Cognizant from Wipro, too has been sued by the Rishad Premji-led giant.

Kumar, meanwhile, said Cognizant is continuing to build on it, on the question of there being more additions to its leadership team.

It's a constant process. I've always said it, right from day one, that my first choice is to look for people inside the company; if they fit the bill, I would like to make sure that they become an integral part of the leadership team. We're a phenomenal platformour entrepreneurial spirit is priceless. Our agility in the market is priceless. We have a DNA of client centricity. I'm restoring all that heritage of this company, which made Cognizant, what Cognizant is today, he added.

We will always have gaps on our leadership, and we'll look up to the market. And we will look for teams who want to join on this journey, the former Infosys President further stated.

Infosys too sent a notice after Cognizant onboarded as many as four executives from the IT firm.
Beijing (Gasgoo)- On January 17, Chinese automaker Changan Automobile, under the strategic guidance of its "Vast Ocean" overseas market expansion plan, officially signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Thai Excise Department in Bangkok, Thailand.



Signing ceremony; photo credit: Changan Automobile

This milestone makes Changan the first automotive brand officially approved under the Thai government's EV3.5 policy, aligning with Thailand's "30/30" initiative. The signing reflects Changan Automobile's commitment to actively contribute to Thailand's green mobility transformation.

The EV3.5 policy, part of Thailand's electric vehicle promotion plan's second phase, spans from 2024 to 2027. Aimed at ensuring sustained electric vehicle sales in Thailand and supporting the government's "30/30" targets, the policy serves as a catalyst for the continuous growth of Thailand's electric vehicle industry.

Thailand's 30/30 initiative represents a strategic commitment to expedite the local adoption of electric vehicles. The initiative sets a specific target that by 2030, 30% of all vehicles produced in Thailand will be electric.

Reflecting on Changan's journey into Thailand, the company officially established three entities in August 2023, laid the foundation stone for the Rayong factory, held the brand launch event, as well as successfully launched the two signature DEEPAL new energy vehicle models at the Thailand International Motor Expo 2023 in November. On January 10, 2024, the Chinese automaker delivered its first batch products to Thai customers.

Changan's sales and service channels in Thailand already cover key provinces such as Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Chonburi, and Chiang Rai. Plans for 2024 include expanding to 80-100 sales and service points, said the automaker.
In anticipation of the Ayodhya Ram Temple 'Pran Pratishtha' ceremony, Reliance Industries has declared a holiday for all its offices nationwide on January 22, ANI reported. Mukesh Ambani, chairman of Reliance Industries Limited

The consecration ceremony of the Ram temple, known as the 'Pran Pratishtha,' is scheduled for January 22 in Ayodhya. The consecration ceremony will begin at 12.20 pm and is expected to end at 1 pm.

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ALSO READ- Photo of Ram Lalla's face as 5-year-old emerges ahead of pran-pratishtha

Centre has declared a half-day closure for all Central Government Offices, Central Institutions, and Central Industrial Establishments across the country on Monday, January 22.

"The Ram Lalla Pran Pratishtha at Ayodhya will be celebrated on 22nd January 2024 across India. To enable employees to participate in the celebrations, it has been decided that all Central Government Offices, Central Institutions and Central Industrial Establishments throughout India will be closed for half a day till 1430 hours on 22 January 2024. All Ministries/Departments of Government of India may bring the above decision to the notice of all concerned," read the central government order undersigned by Parveen Jargar Deputy Secretary to the Govt. of India.

On Friday, Reliance Industries Ltd announced a 9.3 per cent increase in its net profit for the December quarter, propelled by the strong performance of its retail and telecom sectors.

ALSO READ- Reliance Q3 results: Net profit rises 9% to 17,265 crore

The net profit for October-December, the third quarter of the 2023-24 fiscal year, reached 17,265 crore, marking a 9.3 per cent growth from 15,792 crore in the same period the previous year, as per the company's stock exchange filing.

Reliance Industries reported a consolidated revenue increase of 3.2 per cent, reaching 248,160 crore. The capital expenditure for the quarter ending in December 2023 amounted to 30,102 crore, directed towards the pan-India 5G rollout, expansion of retail infrastructure, and ventures in the new energy sector. This figure excludes spectrum-related costs and is adjusted for capital advances and asset regrouping.

ALSO READ- Amazon gets notice over sale of products claiming to be Ayodhya's Ram Temple prasad

However, revenue from the oil-to-chemicals unit experienced a 2.4 per cent decline, primarily attributed to lower price realization. Additionally, planned maintenance and inspection shutdowns at units in the Jamnagar refinery complex impacted yields and profitability, as stated by Reliance.
Reliance Jio Q3 results: Reliance Jio's standalone net profit rose 12.3 per cent to 5,208 crore in the December quarter compared to 4,638 crore a year ahead, the telecom giant said in a regulatory filing on Friday. Reliance Jio Q3 results: A man walks across the LED board showing the logo of Jio at India Mobile Congress 2022, at Pragati Maidan, in New Delhi, India, October 3, 2022. (REUTERS)

Its profit growth had slowed from 28.3% to 11.95% in the past four quarters.

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Follow- Reliance Industries Q3 results LIVE updates

Jio's revenue from operations increased 10.3 per cent to 25,368 crore in the third quarter against 22,998 crore in the year-ago period, snapping five straight quarters of slowing growth.

Its total expenses increased by just under 10%, almost aligning with its revenue growth.

Jio has been focused on enhancing user growth through the recent introduction of a budget-friendly 4G phone and wireless broadband service called Jio AirFiber.

Also read- Paytm Q3 results: Revenue jumps 38% to 2,851 crore

Jio's subscriber additions and Average Revenue Per User (ARPU), a crucial performance metric for telecom companies, will be disclosed along with the results of its parent company, Reliance, later on Friday.

The company's ARPU is estimated to have increased by approximately 2% sequentially, reaching 185 rupees in the quarter, as per brokerage firm Ambit Capital.

(Inputs from Reuters)
On the side-lines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, MB Patil, Minister for Commerce & Industries Karnataka, announced a slew of investments in Karnataka with a potential deal size of 22,000 crores. Karnataka Congress leader MB Patil. (File Photo)

The Karnataka Minister said that the trip to Davos, which was undertaken with the aim of increasing job creation and capital investment in the state, has been successful.

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Speaking to ANI the Karnataka Minister said "It's a great visit, Karnataka has always been at the forefront of attracting investment and this is a platform where we meet CEO's of various companies. Karnataka has participated in Davos for many years and this year so far we have attracted 22000 cr investment."

READ | PM Modi inaugurates new Boeing India centre in Bengaluru. 6 things to know

"Karnataka is a global competitor, Bengaluru is known as the Silicon Valley of India and it is competing globally in various sectors like electronic design, clean mobility etc. We have a strong ecosystem and a strong heritage, many major PSUs like BHEL, ISRO are present in Bengaluru. We are also looking at leveraging on ISRO's achievement to make strides in the space sector. Karnataka is the innovation capital with many educational institutions" the Minister added.

According to the Karnataka Minister some of the key investments signed at Davos include deals with companies like ABInBev and NTT.

"Talked to many reputed companies including Data, Cisco, Swiggy and attracted more investment. #ABInBev India company spends 400 crore to increase its production. Agreed to invest. NTT has already invested USD 900 million. The data company has decided to invest another USD 2 billion in the coming years. HP has decided to create an additional 4,000 jobs and will open 2 new fully equipped offices in Mahadevpur, Bengaluru. Petronas (Genatri), a clean energy company, aims to produce 30 gigawatts of energy by the end of this year. Companies like Cisco in cyber security, Swiggy in urban traffic systems and Volvo in electric vehicles have come forward to invest heavily. Our efforts to make Karnataka a leading state in the country in the field of industry are continuously progressing." MB Patil said in his post on X.

READ | Ram Temple event: BJP leader says Congress possessed with Macaulay, Marx, Mao

On January 17, Karnataka inked an MOU with Web Werks India Pvt Ltd at the World Economic Forum. Web Werks will invest a massive 20,000 crore investment for a new Data Centre Park in Bengaluru.

"The summit witnessed industry giants like Web Werks, Microsoft, Hitachi, Lulu Group, Hewlett Packard (HP), Honeywell, Inox, Volvo, Nestle, Coinbase, Takeda Pharma, BL Agro and many more have expressed eagerness to invest in Karnataka's Development Vision. As, our delegation engages with industry leaders, more partnerships are on the horizon. From game-changing tech investments to social impact initiatives, Karnataka's impactful presence resonates throughout the summit." MB Patil had said on Wednesday.

With its demographic capital and resource availability the Karnataka minister believes that Karnataka now competes globally when it comes to attracting investments.
A retired officer of the Indian Air Force (IAF), a crucial eyewitness in killing of four IAF personnel in 1990, on Thursday identified JKLF chief Yasin Malik as the main shooter. He was deposed before a special TADA court in Jammu pertaining tot he case of the killings that happened Rawalpora on the outskirts of Srinagar. Yasin Malik (HT File)

Squadron leader Ravi Khanna was among the four IAF personnel killed in the attack that also left 40 injured on January 25, 1990.

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Also Read: Yasin Malik's long history of struggle

Senior public prosecutor Monika Kohli said, retired IAF officer, who is an eyewitness in the case, identified JKLF chief Yasin Malik as the shooter who opened fire on January 25, 1990 on IAF personnel. The retired officer had also sustained four bullet injuries in the attack.

The retired officer pointed to Malik in the courtroom as the main shooter. Malik attended the court proceedings on video from Delhis Tihar Jail where he has been incarcerated since 2019 in a terror funding case.

The eyewitness deposed before the court that they were all standing by the roadside when Yasin Malik appeared on the scene, lifted his pheran and opened indiscriminate fire from an automatic rifle, said Kohli.

This is an important development and a big achievement in the case for the prosecution, she added.

The next dates of hearing are February 15 and 16. Malik is facing two trials before the special TADA court in Jammu.

Also Read: Hurriyat, Apni Party oppose NIAs plea for death penalty to Yasin Malik

In March 2020, the TADA court had framed charges against Yasin and six others allegedly involved in the killing of the four unarmed IAF officials.

Besides Malik, others accused in the killing of the IAF personnel are JKLF operatives Ali Mohammed Mir, Manzoor Ahmed Sofi alias Mustafa, Javed Ahmed Mir alias Nalka, Showkat Ahmed Bakshi, Javed Ahmed Zargar and Nanaji.

Apart from the shooting in Srinagar, Malik is also facing a case pertaining to the kidnapping of Rubaiya Sayeed, daughter of then Union home minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed and sister of Peoples Democratic Party president Mehbooba Mufti, for getting five of the outfits terrorists released from custody in exchange of her release. She was kidnapped on December 8, 1989, and was released on December 13.

Malik was given an offer to cross-examine the eyewitness but he refused and has been pressing for physical appearing in court.

With PTI inputs
The accused in the rape and murder of the 4-year-old girl in Daba last month had lured the victim inside the house, strangled her and then raped the dead body before stuffing it into a box bed, police said on Thursday. Accused raped victim after strangling her, say cops. (HT)

Sonu Singh was arrested by police on Wednesday from Fatehpur in Uttar Pradesh. He was remanded in three-day police custody by a court here on Thursday.

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According to the police, the accused was under the influence of liquor when he executed the heinous crime. A comprehensive investigation is underway to gather evidence and ensure speedy justice to the victim. The locals, grappling with the news, have expressed outrage and demanded stringent punishment for the perpetrator.

Singh, who is from Uttar Pradesh, was visiting his relative in Ludhiana when he committed the crime. On December 23, he lured the girl with chocolates and took her inside the house. After the girl started crying, he strangled her to death and later raped the body. He then stuffed the body inside a box bed before escaping and locking the house.

Deputy commissioner of police (DCP, Rural) Jaskiranjit Singh Teja said the accused was arrested from Pehrwapur village of Fatehpur in Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday. He said that the accused was planning to flee to Nepal.

During interrogation, the accused told police that after executing the crime, he reached Ludhiana railway station. He boarded a train and reached Haridwar. He stayed in Haridwar with a group of godmen for a few days and then moved to Rishikesh. On January 16, he reached Kanpur. On Wednesday, he reached Pehrwapur village of Fatehpur seeking shelter at the house of one of his relatives. Following a tip-off, the police arrested him, the DCP said.

The accused was aware that the police would trace him by locating his mobile phone. After reaching Ambala railway station, he had sold his mobile phone to a stranger for 200 and threw the SIM, he said.

Further the DCP added that though the past criminal record of the accused has not been discovered yet, the police found that he was disowned by his family for his capers. He is jobless and had come to Ludhiana four days before executing the crime to see his relative.

The girl, who was from Bihar, was visiting her grandparents, who are neighbours of the relative of the accused.
New Delhi: The Bihar Police on Thursday arrested a 24-year-old man from Patna for allegedly duping a senior citizen of Rs.1 lakh. (Representative Photo)

Police on Friday said that the man, identified as Sunil Kumar, a native of Jamui in Bihar, impersonated a police officer to cheat the elderly.

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Kumars arrest came following an investigation into a cyber cheating case registered on the complaint of 72-year-old Bhram Singh, a resident of Delhis Shahdara, who was duped of Rs.1 lakh, deputy commissioner of police (DCP) (Shahdara) Surendra Choudhary said.

Singh in his complaint alleged that on December 31 last year, he received a WhatsApp call from an unknown number and the caller identified himself as a police officer. The caller told Singh that his brothers son was in police custody and he would be arrested and demanded money for his release, the DCP said. Out of fear, Singh transferred Rs.1 lakh into the bank account shared by the caller.

Singh later found out that he was conned, following which he filed a police complaint, and accordingly, a case was registered at the cyber police station of Shahdara district on January 8, said the DCP.

Upon his arrest, two cell phones were found in his possession that were used in cyber crime, police said.

During the probe, the investigating team collected details of the phone number that was used to call Singh and also the details of the bank accounts to which the money was transferred.

The police tracked Kumars location to Patna and a team was sent to arrest him.

About the modus operandi, DCP Shahdara said that the cyber cheats contacted victims, mostly elderly people, by threatening to arrest their loved ones or close relatives in false cases.

Kumar is a Class 12 pass and he earlier ran a tea stall in Patna. Later, he came in contact with some people who were involved in cyber crimes. He joined them and began duping people using a similar modus operandi, the DCP added.
Jaipur: Governor Kalraj Mishra on Friday said the policy and intentions of the new government are very clear and it is committed to making Rajasthan a developed state. Rajasthan Governor Kalraj Mishra (File Photo)

The governor was addressing the newly constituted 16th Assembly. He said the new government will fulfil every promise of its Sankalp Patra.

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The policy and intentions of the new government are very clear. We are committed to creating a developed Rajasthan with the resolve of Developed India 2047, the governor said.

We can better implement efficient and smart good governance, moral value system, Gandhijis Ram Rajya and Suraaj, rule of law, inclusive and sustainable development, accountability in administration, effective efficiency and transparency, good governance, and fulfil every promise of the resolution letter, Mishra added.

Taking a dig at the previous Congress government, Mishra said that the previous government was involved with its contradictions and ego battles and was not successful in making development-oriented policies and decisions for the state. As a result, it could not live up to the expectations of the people.

He said that making Rajasthan free from corruption and crime is the main goal of the present government which is committed to establishing the rule of law in this peace-loving state.

He said, Unfortunately, during the last five years of the governments tenure, the governance remained derailed due to contradictions and conflicts. But now this stable government with full majority and double engine will not only create a new Rajasthan by setting new records of development in the state but will also fulfil the resolution of developed Rajasthan and developed India 2047.

He, however, said that the public welfare schemes run by the previous government will not be stopped, but the schemes announced at the last moment will definitely be reviewed.

The governor, however, said the public welfare schemes run by the previous government will not be stopped, but the schemes which were hastily announced without any budgetary provisions at the last moment of the previous government tenure will definitely be reviewed.

He said that work will be done to implement welfare schemes on the ground in a concrete and practical new form by giving them a proper financial base.

The governor said that the imprudent policies, short-sighted decisions and economic mismanagement of the previous government have led Rajasthan towards an economic emergency in the last five years.

He said, The top priority of the government will be to bring the inherited states ruined economy back on track. The path to economic progress will be paved by making the environment of ease of doing business in the state.

Regarding the agriculture sector, the governor said in his address that the contribution of the agriculture sector to Rajasthans GDP is about 30%.

Our farmers are food providers, our government is committed to providing them economic support and empowering them, Mishra said.

He said that tall claims were made by the previous government regarding loan waivers for farmers. But the government, contrary to its promise, Instead of a loan waiver, auctioned the lands of more than 19,000 farmers.

He said that it is a matter of great sadness that due to land auction, many farmers were forced to commit suicide.

The governor said, Protecting the interests of farmer brothers is the top priority of the present government. The farmers whose lands were auctioned during the tenure of the previous government will be given appropriate and respectable compensation without any delay.

The governor in his address also mentioned the Eastern Rajasthan Canal Project (ERCP).

Our government will develop ERCP as the lifeline of Eastern Rajasthan and the implementation of this scheme will be done at a rapid pace on mission mode. Now with the coming of double engine government in both the states of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, it will be easy to give concrete shape to the project as soon as possible by signing an MoU regarding ERCP, he said.

An attempt was made by the previous government to steal applause by naming the Centres Ayushman Yojana as Chiranjeevi Yojana. The state government is committed to ensuring health services for all. The government will now review Chiranjeevi Yojana and make Ayushman Yojana people-centric and implement it effectively, Mishra added.

Commenting on the governors speech, former Rajasthan cheif minister Ashok Gehlot wrote on X, The schemes of the previous Congress government were such that they were discussed and appreciated not only in the state but the entire country. The general public and many experts are of the opinion that these schemes should be implemented in the entire country. It is the duty of the new government to benefit the public through these schemes in a better way and present its vision to the public through the Governors address. Instead of doing this, the government made the Governor read out false allegations against the previous Congress government in its address. This is not right. Such actions are exposing the thinking of this new government to the public.

Meanwhile, Rashtriya Loktantrik Party party chief Hanuman Beniwal raised the demand for the dissolution of the Rajasthan Public Service Commission.

Beniwal entered the well and raised slogans to dissolve the RPSC, which faced charges of paper leak soon after the governor began addressing the house.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders opposed his disturbance, which led to a heated verbal exchange.
West Bengal forest officials on Thursday arrested a retired Sikkim Police officer from Darjeeling in north Bengal for smuggling deer musk and skin of a flying squirrel worth around 2.7 crore in the illegal market, officials said. Elephant tusks seized from the smugglers in West Bengal. (HT Photo/ Sourced)

In another incident, a joint team of officers from the state forest department, police and Wildlife Crime Control Bureau arrested three persons from Birbhum district with two elephant tusks weighing around 14.2kg.

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Daney Bhutia, a retired deputy superintendent of Sikkim Police was apprehended from Siliguri. Two deer musk pods and a skin of flying squirrel were seized from him, a senior official said.

The accused had come to Siliguri from Nepal with the animal parts. A man from Delhi was supposed to come to Bagdogra to receive the consignment, said Sonam Bhutia, ranger of Bagdogra wildlife division.

Meanwhile, the joint team intercepted an SUV in Birbhums Nalhati on Wednesday after it entered West Bengal from Jharkhand and busted the other smuggling gang.

All three are residents of Jharkhand and had come to West Bengal with the intention to sell the ivory tusks in either Kolkata or Siliguri, said an official.

Officials believe the elephant was killed in Jharkhand.
LUCKNOW Chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday said loans of 86 lakh farmers in Uttar Pradesh had been waived since his government came to power while before 2017, mounting debts compelled farmers to commit suicide. Chief minister Yogi Adityanath arrives at Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Temple, ahead of its consecration ceremony, in Ayodhya, Friday. (PTI Photo)

Prior to 2017, there was no arrangement for electricity, fertilizers, and irrigation for farming in UP, he said interacting with a group of sugarcane farmers here. a day after the Cabinet approved increase in the State-Advised Price (SAP) for sugarcane.

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He said sugar mills faced challenges due to neglect of previous governments, leading to the closure of numerous mills. When our government came to power, about 110 sugar mills were barely operational. They also had pending sugarcane payments from 2010 to 2017. We prioritized clearing the pending payments to sugarcane farmers and got 120 sugar mills operational, he said.

During the event, cane farmers expressed gratitude, stating they were happy over the increase in SAP of sugarcane by 20 per quintal.

The CM mentioned that when his government came to power in 2017, the SAP for sugarcane was set at Rs. 315 per quintal, but the farmers were not even receiving that amount.

In a gesture before the consecration ceremony in Ayodhya, the government has increased the SAP for sugarcane as a gift to farmers. This decision was made keeping in mind the tradition of offering food to the deity Annapurna before the worship of God, he added.

He said the current generation was fortunate to witness the consecration ceremony of Lord Ram on January 22 after 500 years. Adityanath instructed farmers to organise bhandara at various places in the village and participate in the sankirtan (devotional singing) in temples.

The CM also directed them to clean temples in the morning and light diyas in homes and temples in the evening as part of the grand celebration of Deepotsav.

In the programme, state president of Kisan Morcha Kameshwar Singh expressed happiness over the increase in sugarcane SAP by 20 per quintal. He said the Yogi governments decision to increase cane prices was historic.

Omveer Choudhary, a farmer from Meerut, said the Yogi government had given new direction to the state and expressed gratitude for the large-scale UP Police recruitments and employment to the youth.

He mentioned that before the consecration program, the increase in sugarcane prices had stirred the emotions of farmers in the state. Other sugarcane farmers like Anil Choudhary from Meerut, Dhananjay Ram Tripathi from Kushinagar, Rahul from Muzaffarnagar, and Shubham Tripathi from Gonda also expressed gratitude to the chief minister for the increase in cane prices.
Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) has expressed series concern over rising incidents of suicide by students at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur. Three incidents of suicide have been reported on the IIT Kanpur campus in the past five weeks. (For Representation)

ABVP has demanded the IIT Kanpur administration to create a joyful, enthusiastic, meaningful and positive environment among the students and take initiative for proper counselling system so that a quick solution can be found to this sad problem which is increasing among the students, said senior office bearer of ABVP Ankit Shukla in a statement on Friday.

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This comes a day after a research scholar at the IIT Kanpur allegedly committed suicide by hanging herself in her hostel room on Thursday. It was the third such incident on the IIT Kanpur campus in the past five weeks. ABVP condoled the death of the PhD student and demanded a prompt investigation into the incident. Shukla said such incidents cause hindrance to a positive environment on the educational campus.

Educational institutions need to make the campus and academic work interesting by encouraging students to engage in self-study, sports, art and other exciting activities. The institute must hold proper counseling sessions on the campus. It also seems necessary to initiate regular communication with students in hostels, he said. ABVP demands appropriate steps to prevent such incidents on educational campuses, Shukla added.
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.

Venucia launches commercial demonstration operation of hydrogen-powered V-Online in Guangzhou

In collaboration with the Huadu District Committee and Government, Dongfeng Motor Corporation, Dongfeng Motor Co., Ltd., and Lanyou Mobility, Dongfeng Nissan's Venucia brand officially initiated the commercial demonstration operation of the hydrogen-powered V-Online vehicle. This collaborative effort spans 36 months and aims to cover various areas in Guangzhou city.

Photo credit: Venucia

Baolong Automotive allies with Bebest (Shanghai) Automotive Electronics

Shanghai Baolong Automotive Technology Co., Ltd. and Bebest (Shanghai) Automotive Electronics Co., Ltd. recently signed strategic cooperation and investment agreements. Under this collaboration, the duo will deeply cooperate in the automotive intelligent chassis field, accelerating the localization process of core components in intelligent chassis.

Lotus ELETRE introduces entry-level model

Lotus, on January 18, introduced the entry-level configuration for the existing all-electric SUV model, the ELETRE, priced at 728,000 yuan. With three different configurations now available, the entry-level ELETRE brings a 100,000-yuan reduction in price compared to the previous ELETRE S+, offering customers more options at a competitive price point.

Baidu IDG, Geely co-introduce AI conversational assistant in Galaxy L6 Model

Recently, the collaborative efforts of Baidu's Intelligent Driving Group (IDG) and Geely Auto have come to fruition with the successful mass production of an AI conversational product embedded in the automakers Galaxy L6 model.

Chery EXEED rolls off first STERRA ET mass-produced units

On January 19, Chery's EXEED brand saw the first batch of the mass-produced units of its STERRA ET electric SUV roll off the production line.

Chinas inaugural self-driving police patrol vehicles start road tests in Beijing

On January 16, the inaugural fleet of 15 unmanned police patrol vehicles received approval to conduct road tests in the Beijing High-level Automated Driving Demonstration Area (BJHAD).

Newrizon ships first intelligent connected electric light trucks to Middle East

Newrizon, a startup player in the Chinese new energy commercial vehicle sector, recently shipped its first batch of intelligent connected electric light trucks, the iC1, to the Middle East.

SVOLT rolls off 400,000th PHEV-dedicated battery pack

On January 19, SVOLT Energy Technology Co., Ltd. ("SVOLT"), one of the Chinese main power battery suppliers, celebrated a significant milestone with the production of its 400,000th PHEV (plug-in hybrid electric vehicle) battery pack at its headquarters in Changzhou city, Jiangsu province. It took the company only four years to reap the achievement.

BYD, DJI join hands to develop vehicle-integrated UAV

The 2024 BYD Dream Day held on January 16 showcased BYD's prowess in intelligent technology and future strategic initiatives. Among the revelations was the groundbreaking collaboration with DJI to create the world's first vehicle-integrated UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle).

Ganfeng Lithium signs long-term supply agreement with Hyundai Motor Company

On January 18, Ganfeng Lithium Group Co., Ltd. ("Ganfeng Lithium") announced that it recently signed a "Long-Term Supply Agreement" with Hyundai Motor Company, marking a strategic collaboration between the two entities.

Chinas annual locally-made passenger vehicle retail sales likely to surge 70.2% YoY in Jan. 2024: CPCA

China's domestic passenger vehicle ("PV") retail sales are anticipated to reach 2.2 million units in January 2024, which should drop 6.5% over the previous month, but surge 70.2% year on year mainly due to the low base for the year-ago period, according to the China Passenger Car Association ("CPCA").

Changan Automobile receives Thai government's EV3.5 policy approval

On January 17, Chinese automaker Changan Automobile, under the strategic guidance of its "Vast Ocean" overseas market expansion plan, officially signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Thai Excise Department in Bangkok, Thailand.

Dongfeng Nissan Pathfinder kicks off pre-sale, starting at 239,800 yuan

On January 18, Dongfeng Nissan officially opened pre-orders for the Pathfinder. Coming with three trim levels and two seating options, the Pathfinder features a pre-sale price range from 239,800 yuan to 279,800 yuan.
Hero Future Energies (HFE), part of the Hero Group, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Uttar Pradesh government on Wednesday for investing 4,000 crore in a renewable energy and clean technology project. For Representation: Union Minister for Women and Child Development Smriti Irani with South African Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana at WEF Annual Meeting, in Davos, Switzerland. (PTI)

Agriculture production commissioner and infrastructure and industrial development commissioner, Uttar Pradesh, Manoj Kumar Singh and chairman and managing director, Hero Future Energies, Rahul Munjal, signed the MoU, on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum meetings at Davos, Switzerland.

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The company currently has a portfolio of 3 GW of grid-connected wind, solar, and rooftop solar power generating assets operating in India and Europe, with another 2 GW of projects in the pipeline across India, Vietnam, Bangladesh, and the UK.

Besides this, the delegation also met the top officials of HCL Technologies, Unilever, Nestle, Microsoft and ReNew.

In another development, the states delegation met Ranveer Chandra, MD, Industry Research, Microsoft and discussed the possibility of setting up an AI (artificial Intelligence) hub in the state. It also engaged in a productive meeting with Paul Bulcke, chairman, Nestle Global, in which Manoj Kumar Singh discussed the possibility of setting up a plant of Nestle in Uttar Pradesh.
Mumbai: The Maharashtra government has declared a one-day public holiday to celebrate the consecration of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya on January 22. An order to this effect was issued on Friday. Ram Temple in Ayodhya (File Photo)

The state government is declaring a one-day public day as Shri Ram Lalla Pran-Pratishtha Din on January 22, states the order issued by the state general administration department.

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The order will be applicable to all state government offices and undertakings.

The state general administration department has moved a proposal for a one-day which was pending with the chief minister Eknath Shinde for approval as the latter was in Davos, Switzerland to attend the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum. The proposal was cleared today and the order has been issued accordingly, said a senior official from the ministry of general administration said, wishing anonymity.

The chief minister has already directed Mumbai civic commissioner IS Chahal to put up decorative lights on temples and buildings across the city to prepare for Diwali like celebrations on January 22.

The decision comes a day after the central government announced a half-day closing of all government offices and institutions on January 22 so that the employees can participate in the celebrations.

According to an order issued by the Centre, all Central government establishments, including public sector banks, insurance companies, financial institutions and regional rural banks across the country will observe a half-day off on January 22 due to the consecration of the Ram temple.

The first glimpse of the face of Ram Lalla was shared on Friday ahead of the pran pratishtha on January 22. Covered with a veil, the first photo of the idol was revealed during the placement ceremony in the sanctum sanctorum on Friday.

In the photos that appeared on social media, the five-year-old Lord Ram can be seen standing with a golden bow and arrow in his hand.
In the heart of Ayodhya, a town currently under the global spotlight ahead of the consecration ceremony for Ram Lalla on January 22, every corner echoes with fascinating tales. Plaque at Amaniganj Gurudwara that states it was built by Jagmag Devi in memory of a police inspector. (Manish Chandra Pandey/ht)

Amidst the whispers of Amaniganj, the Jagmag dharmshala for instance emerges as a living testament to a love story that transcends the shackles of pre-independence times.

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While the Rampath witnesses a seamless flow of traffic, only a few pause to acknowledge the silent narratives embedded within the dharamshala and the adjacent gurudwara. The dharamshala, having lost its plaque during the makeover, finds itself in the background, unlike the gurudwara at Amaniganj, formerly part of Faizabad and renamed Ayodhya in 2018.

A plaque at the gurudwara captures attention, bearing the inscription, Sikh Gurudawara has been built by Jagmag Devi in memory of S Tara Singh Saheb, late sub-inspector police, UP. 1940. A natural inquiry arises: Who was Jagmag Devi?

According to Harendra Singh Kharbanda, an octogenarian retired Chemistry teacher and the treasurer of the Amaniganj gurudwara, She was a courtesan of Faizabad who shared a profound connection with the then police inspector, Sardar Tara Singh Saheb. In his memory, she later undertook the construction of the Gurudwara, generously contributing the land behind it. Kharbanda further reveals, Jagmag not only facilitated the creation of the gurudwara but also generously donated the adjoining land.

In contrast, the dharamshala, partially dismantled by earthmovers, remains nearly empty and in legal disputes. A plaque stating its construction in 1933 succumbed to the renovation efforts on the Rampath, one of Ayodhyas main corridors amidst its ongoing transformation. Arvind Kumar Arora, a 70-year-old retired bank employee residing opposite the dharamshala, shares the intimate details of the love story, that unfolded during pre-independence times and withstood the test of time and earthmovers. This century-old tale of timeless love may be unfamiliar to many today, but a story that has endured for over a century carries a weight of authenticity, Arora reminisces.

He continues, Sardar Tara Singh ji commissioned the construction of the dharamshala for Jagmag, reciprocated by her building the gurudwara in his memory. We were privy to the lore of Sardar Tara Singh jis meticulous efforts to ensure the finest bricks were employed in constructing the dharamshala. Sadly, the unique bond between the cop and the courtesan has faded from public consciousness. Perhaps, we are the last of our generation to hold knowledge of this century-old affair. As the town evolves, the tale stands as an enduring testament, telling us that Ayodhyas essence resides not just in its grandeur today but in timeless stories etched deep within its soul.
Patna and Darbhanga are among the eight cities in the country which will have flights to and from the newly built airport at Ayodhya from February 1, according to a press release issued by SpiceJet airlines on Friday. The Patna airport. (HT file)

According to people familiar with the matter, Ayodhya will be the sixth destination directly connected by flights from the Darbhanga airport. Currently, SpiceJet operates flights from Darbhanga to Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru while Indigo flies to Kolkata and Hyderabad.

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Darbhanga airport was brought on the civil aviation map on November 8, 2020. Close to 18 lakh passengers have travelled to and from this airport so far, making it the most successful airport under the regional connectivity scheme.

According to booking details of the SpiceJet, the flight (Q-400) operating between Darbhanga and Ayodhya will have 90 seats. It will take off from Darbhanga airport at 11.20 am and land in Ayodhya at 12.30 pm.

Likewise, the Darbhanga-bound flight from Ayodhya will take off at 9.40 am and land at Darbhanga at 10.50 am.

From Patna, the flight will take off at 2.25 pm and land at Ayodhya airport at 3.25 pm.

From Ayodhya, it will take off at 1pm and land at Patna at 2 pm.

The bookings for Ayodhya-bound flights from both airports have opened at a starting price of 3,000.

To cater to the devotees who wish to attend the auspicious Pran Pratishtha ceremony at the Ram temple in Ayodhya, SpiceJet has also announced a special flight from Delhi to Ayodhya on January 21, 2024. The airline will operate a return flight on the same day to ensure a smooth travel experience for the passengers.
Panaji: A Goa court on Friday remanded the judicial custody of 13 days to Suchana Seth, the chief executive officer of an Artificial Intelligence start-up who is accused of killing her four-year-old son. Suchana Seth, CEO of Bengaluru-based The Mindful AI Lab, who is accused of killing her son, being brought to Mapusa Court in North Goa (PTI Photo)

Seth, 39, was on Friday produced before the childrens court as her police remand ended. She had been in police custody since January 8.

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As the police did not seek further remand of the accused, the court sent her to 13 days in judicial custody.

Speaking to the media, Seths advocate said that as of now, he has no instructions to file a bail application.

Also Read: I love my son, but: What Bengaluru CEO Suchana Seth wrote on note recovered from suitcase

Seth is currently lodge in the Central Jail at Colvale in North Goa. She has been booked under various offences, including murder, destruction of evidence and section 8 of the Goa Childrens Act.

Seth is accused of killing her four-year-old son at a resort in Candolim in north Goa. She then stashed his body in the trunk of a taxi she hired to escape from Goa to Bengaluru, before getting arrested en route on January 8.

The police, meanwhile, said that they have substantially completed the investigation, including the recording of statements of crucial witnesses but are awaiting the results of the viscera which are crucial in knowing whether the victim was fed cough syrup before being smothered to death, as well as the forensic analysis of whether the blood stains found in the hotel room.

In her statement to the police, Seth has denied killing her son but admitted to attempting to die by suicide by slashing her left wrist.
The Varanasi Nagar Nigam House, on Thursday, approved a proposal to ban the sale of meat within a two-kilometer radius or in the periphery of Shri Kashi Vishwanath Dham. Devotees offering prayers at the Kashi Vishwanath temple are seen from a newly constructed structure, part of of Kashi Vishwanath Dham Corridor project in Varanasi. (AP File)

During the session at the Townhall auditorium, Adi Vishweshwar ward corporator Indresh Singh presented the proposal to ban meat sales in the open within a two-kilometer radius of Baba Kashi Vishwanath Dham. The proposal successfully passed in the VNN house meeting.

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Varanasi Mayor Ashok Tiwari said that the house has passed the proposal to ban the sale of meat within a two-kilometer periphery of Baba Kashi Vishwanath Dham. The proposal will now be forwarded to the state government for approval.

Upon approval by the state government, measures to enforce the ban on meat sales in the specified periphery will be implemented.

The areas falling within a two-kilometre radius from Vishwanath Dham include New Road, Beniyabagh, Dalmandi, some areas of Laksa, Ramapura, Dashashwamedh, Maidagin, some part of Dara Nagar, Vishweshwarganj, Hartirath, etc.
Last week, the American electoral cycle kicked off with the first Republican primary battle in Iowa. Former President Donald J Trump decisively triumphed with 51% of the vote of registered Republicans. The win makes Trump the favourite to become the Republican presidential candidate against Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee, this November. Florida governor Ron DeSantis came a distant second in a state where he invested all his political capital, and his campaign is now on the brink of a collapse. Former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley came third and is now betting on New Hampshire where, unlike Iowa, independents can vote in the Republican primaries. But at the moment, her candidacy doesnt look viable enough to withstand the Trump juggernaut. Vivek Ramaswamy, who came fourth, dropped out of the race and endorsed Trump, having achieved his objective of becoming a visible energetic Republican face at the age of 38 and betting on a future role in a Trump administration.

Iowa has decisively shown that the modern Republican Party is Trumps party. Think of it. Here is a candidate who refused to accept the legitimacy of the 2020 electoral results going against the wisdom of the rest of the Republican Party leadership and his own vice president, Mike Pence. He then allegedly encouraged a mob to march to the US Capitol, seeking to block the certification of the results. He allegedly took away classified files and refused to return them when asked. Trump now faces four indictments and 91 criminal charges. And under him, the Republicans have lost the 2018 midterms, the 2020 presidential polls, and the 2022 midterms.

Yet, Trump is back. This shows the overwhelming role of personality-centric politics in the US where, for his supporters, primarily among the White working class in rural America, Trump can do no wrong. It shows the resonance of Trumps rhetoric on illegal immigration, often driven by bigotry and faith in his ability to secure Americas borders. It speaks to the strong isolationist impulse guiding a segment of the American electorate that views the USs global alliances as a liability rather than as a source of American global power and is frustrated by the countrys involvement in distant wars. Trumps candidacy shows that his diagnosis linking liberal trading arrangements to unemployment and promise of an America-centric economic and manufacturing strategy has widespread appeal, even if the Biden administration has done more to translate that into policy. It reveals the depth of anti-incumbency against Biden. And it shows that even as his appeal among minorities grows, Trumps core base is the White Right.

None of this means Trump is about to become the next US president. Nine and a half months is a long time in politics. His legal challenges are serious. Close to half of America is strongly opposed to him. The anger against the US Supreme Court verdict on abortion, enabled by judges appointed by Trump, is real. The complex electoral college system means that eventually, the outcome will depend on the mood in a few swing states. And while Biden is down, he isnt necessarily out. But just the fact that one big party, indeed Americas Grand Old Party, is likely to go again with Trump as a nominee, after his disturbing track record, speaks of a dramatic degeneration in the worlds oldest democracy.
Rajasthan Staff Selection Board, RSMSSB has reopened the registration process for RSMSSB Animal Attendant Recruitment 2023 on January 19, 2024. Candidates who want to apply for the Animal Attendant posts can do it through the official website of RSMSSB at rsmssb.rajasthan.gov.in. RSMSSB Animal Attendant Recruitment 2023: Registration reopens for 5934 posts, link here (rsmssb.gov.in)

The last date to apply for the posts is till February 17, 2024. This recruitment drive will fill up 5934 posts in the organisation.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

Candidates who should have passed secondary or its equivalent examination from a recognized Board established by law in India can apply for the post. Knowledge of working in Hindi written in Devanagari script and knowledge of the culture of Rajasthan. The age limit should be between 18 to 40 years of age. To apply online, candidates can follow the steps given below.

Direct link to apply for RSMSSB Animal Attendant Recruitment 2023

RSMSSB Animal Attendant Recruitment 2023: How to register

Visit the official website of RSMSSB at rsmssb.rajasthan.gov.in.

Click on login link available on the home page.

A new page will open where candidates will have to register themselves.

Once the registration is done, login to the account.

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.

For more related details candidates can check the official website of RSMSSB.
Anubhav Sinha recently spoke about collaborating with Rishi Kapoor on Mulk (2018). The filmmaker said he had an 'altercation' initially with the late actor. He was speaking at a masterclass event for the Ajanta Ellora International Film Festival. During the interaction, Anubhav also said that people, including filmmaker Sudhir Mishra, had earlier suggested that he should approach Amitabh Bachchan for the part, but he did not think he would be suitable for the role. Also read: Rishi Kapoor was certain Mulk would be banned, was on tenterhooks during CBFC screening, Anubhav Sinha says Rishi Kapoor and Anubhav Sinha in BTS picture from Mulk.

What Anubhav told spoilt Punjabi boy Rishi Kapoor

Speaking in Hindi, Anubhav Sinha said, "Sudhir Mishra told me to talk to Amit ji, which will help the film get funded. But I said I dont see Amit ji in this part, because Amit ji can look after himself. We needed a guy who cannot look after himself. So then, Rishi Kapoor.

The filmmaker said he wrote Mulk's script in only three days. Further talking about working on the film with Rishi Kapoor, Anubhav said, He was a bit of a spoilt Punjabi boy, and we had a slight altercation. I told him, You dont scare me, Ive handled your uncle in my debut!' Anubhav worked with late Shammi Kapoor on the television show Shikast, which aired in the 90s.

About Mulk

Mulk was a 2018 film headlined by Rishi Kapoor and Taapsee Pannu. The film also featured Ashutosh Rana, Prateik Babbar, Rajat Kapoor, Manoj Pahwa and Neena Gupta.

The intense courtroom drama was principally about Murad Ali Mohammed (Rishi Kapoor), whose life was thrown into disarray when his nephew is drawn into a terror conspiracy that kills many innocent people. After his nephew's death, his family members are branded traitors and are put on trial. Taapsee plays the role of the lawyer committed to prove the family's innocence.

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Main Atal Hoon review: Apni aadhi aankhen band karke, jab woh puri baat bolte the, toh saat samandar paar har koi sunta tha. That's one of the lines from the introduction scenes of Main Atal Hoon  a biopic on India's 10th prime minister, late Atal Bihari Vajpayee  that pretty much sums up why his illustrious life and career deserve to be shown on the big screen. (Also Read: Main Atal Hoon new trailer: Pankaj Tripathi's film touches upon Emergency, Babri Masjid demolition, Pokhran nuclear test) Pankaj Tripathi as Atal Bihari Vajpayee in Main Atal Hoon

Starring Pankaj Tripathi in the titular role and directed by National Award-winning director Ravi Jadhav, Main Atal Hoon does not ride on chest-thumping patriotism or clearing any one politician's or party's image. It stays true to showcasing Atal's journey across decades. From his formative years, having a keen interest in poetry to studying law, becoming the editor of a newspaper and then a freedom fighter, and eventually joining politics, the film is a sincere homage to Atal's illustrious journey and rise as a politician. All credit to Pankaj's pitch-perfect performance that brings Atal's legacy to life on the big screen with such conviction and confidence.

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Capturing a life well lived

I like how the film shows an elaborate build-up of Atal's journey, though it's quite inconsistent in the second half and seems a bit rushed towards the end. Through a flashback scene showing his childhood, Ravi sets the tone for the story where a young Atal is shown reciting a poem on the Taj Mahal in his captivating style. A few years later, all grown up, he quietly climbs a building at midnight, and replaces England's flag with India's tricolour  this scene shows an element of mischief in his personality. As a part of Rashtriya Seva Sangh (RSS), Atal is one of the most vigilant and active members, who wants his actions to make a difference. Finally as a politician, his speeches in the Parliament call for thunderous applause.

The story, co-written by Jadhav and Rishi Virmani lacks pace, impact and intrigue. The film opens with a very crucial scene where PM Atal is discussing with his ministers a peace proposal or an impending war with Pakistan. And in those few minutes, we are shown how Atal's personality was a fine blend of calmness and aggression. An idealist and as someone who believes in mending relations with the neighbouring countries, he always put his country first, but if the enemy is up in arms, he'd go to any lengths. These traits of the late PM are shown in a much nuanced manner throughout the film, but it's the sluggish and sloppy writing that doesn't do full justice to showing them in an impactful manner. The Hindi dialogues might be a little too much to understand at some places, but thankfully, it's never to an extent that you have to Google the meaning.

For most part, Main Atal Hoon restricts itself to being a documentary of major events that acted as a catalyst in Atal's career. At several places, the film turns out to be a leaf from our history books, showing incidents such as Mahatma Gandhi's assassination, the Kashmir attack in 1953, war with China in 1962, war with Pakistan in 1963, the Emergency in 1975 and so on. While it must have been important to incorporate all these events briefly to show Atal's journey and contribution, it results in slowing down the pace of the film, and not letting the narrative form any emotional chord or leave a lasing impact.

In the second half, after the formation of Bhartiya Janata Party, Main Hoon Atal showcases key events, including India becoming a nuclear power after Pokhran tests in 1998, bus ride from Delhi to Pakistan, and the Kargil War, which remain key landmarks in Atal's career. Since the attempt is to cover as much as possible in the 2-hour-19-minute runtime, there's barely any time to do context setting of these events, and they appear to look like a montage put one after the other. It often turns into a snoozefest if you are not interested in history or politics.

Pankaj Tripathi's stellar performance

Despite all the flaws and loopholes, it's Pankaj's solid performance that doesn't make you blink an eye and keeps you invested in the film. As Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the actor puts a terrific show and displays a myriad of emotions. I loved the fact that though Pankaj has been made to look exactly like Atal physically, there's minimal effort to copy his voice modulation or mannerism while delivering dialogues. However, Pankaj's hand movements while giving speeches, body gestures while casually having a conversation, eyes and smile will make you see the real Atal on the screen most of the time. Pankaj delivering a speech in Ramleela Maidan with rain pouring is one of the most well-written and beautifully shot sequences in the entire film.

Then there's Piyush Mishra as Krishna Bihari Vajpayee, Atal's father and a school teacher, who wins you over with his impeccable screen presence, even though for a limited time. Piyush and Pankaj's father-son scenes are so endearing, and often crack you up. Scenes where Krishna goes to the same school as his son Atal to study law, or when Atal is confiding in his father that he wishes to devote his life to the upliftment of the country are some of the highlights. Among other cast members, Raja Rameshkumar Sevak as LK Advani and Gauri Sukhtankar as Sushma Swaraj lend an able support to Atal's portrayal, and their near-perfect looks as the former ministers are too good to be missed.

The film has several silhouette and long shots of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Jawahar Lal Nehru and Indira Gandhi, and they serve as a visual treat. Also, the black-and-white archival footage of past events make the narrative look more authentic and real. Adding to the experience, aptly placed background score by Monty Sharma is one constant in the film that you can't get enough of.

Main Atal Hoon is an earnest and humble effort to showcase Atal's journey and tell his story, but it's Pankaj's stellar act that takes the cake, as the storytelling remains average.

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Shanghai (Gasgoo)- On January 18, Ganfeng Lithium Group Co., Ltd. ("Ganfeng Lithium") announced that it recently signed a "Long-Term Supply Agreement" with Hyundai Motor Company, marking a strategic collaboration between the two entities.

Photo credit: Ganfeng Lithium

The agreement outlines that Ganfeng Lithium and its subsidiaries will supply lithium hydroxide products to Hyundai Motor for electric vehicle (EV) battery production. The annual supply quantities will be executed according to the terms of the agreement, with actual purchase quantities and sales amounts subject to the final purchase orders. The pricing of the products will be determined based on a pricing formula specified in the agreement. The performance period of the contract extend from January 1, 2024, to December 31, 2027.

This collaboration reflects a mutually beneficial partnership between the two parties, considering the current state of the lithium market, said Ganfeng Lithium. By signing this long-term supply agreement, Ganfeng Lithium not only meets Hyundai's crucial demand for lithium, a key raw material for battery production, but also enhances the company's sustained profitability and contributes to its long-term development.

Ganfeng Lithium noted that the signing of this agreement is expected to have positive impact on the company's operational performance during the contract's validity term.
Rashmika Mandanna opened up about one of the intense scenes in her latest hit, Animal, where she slapped her onscreen husband, played by Ranbir Kapoor. Talking about it, the actor told Pinkvilla that she ended up crying and screaming after the scene was over. She also recalled what director Sandeep Reddy Vanga told her before the scene, which helped her. Also read: Konkona Sen Sharma explains why she didn't watch Animal Rashmika Mandanna on slap scene in Animal with Ranbir Kapoor.

Rashmika on slapping Ranbir Kapoor in Animal

Rashmika Mandanna said, "The whole sequence was one take because there was a lot of moving. It wasnt predictable. I didnt know what I was going to do. Sandeep told me just to feel how a person in this situation would feel. I remember only this. I dont remember anything between the action and the cut. I just cant process it. My brain was just going blank."

In the scene, Rashmika's character Gitanjali slaps her husband Rannvijay after he reveals that he slept with Zoya, played by Triptii Dimri. He tells her that he had to do it to find out about Zoya's intentions. Gitanjali slaps him, and they end up having a fight.

How Rashmika cared for Ranbir

Rashmika added how she comforted Ranbir Kapoor after the dramatic scene, After the sequence, I was crying for real. I have slapped him, I am screaming, the chaos is happening, and I go to Ranbir, and I am like, Was that okay? Are you okay?' We finished that sequence in half a day. I loved it, and at that moment, I realised that this is the high of being an actor. People dont write sequences like this every time. I am so glad that I did this movie and this sequence. I was surprised with myself.

Animal

Directed by Sandeep Reddy Vanga, Animal was released on December 1. It earned over 900 crore worldwide and became one of the highest grossers of last year. It also starred Anil Kapoor as Ranbir's father. Bobby Deol played the antagonist, a muted gangster in the film.

The crime drama film showcases a violent world set against the backdrop of a troubled relationship between Rannvijay Singh and his father Balbir Singh (played by Anil Kapoor). The film has been labelled as misogynistic and brutally violent by a section of viewers and critics.

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Hrithik Roshan and Deepika Padukone-starrer Fighter is set against the backdrop of Indian Air Force's air strike on Pakistan after a terror attack. Fighter's trailer dropped recently, following which Hania Aamir, Adnan Siddiqui and many other Pakistani actors criticised the Siddharth Anand directorial. Now, the director has seemingly reacted to the criticism of Fighter by celebs across the border. Also read: Pakistani celebs slam Javed Akhtar's comment Hania Aamir and other Pakistani actors criticised Hrithik Roshan-starrer Fighter for portraying Pakistan as villains, prompting director Siddharth Anand to react.

Siddharth Anand reacts to tweets about Hania Aamir

He reacted with a thinking face emoji to a tweet about Hania Aamir's recent Instagram Stories. The tweet read, "Didn't she literally work in a movie which was anti-India? If indian celebs have no issue with the anti-India stuff Pakistani celebs do in movies, why do Pak celebs care so much?"

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Siddharth Anand responded with "Oh!!" to another person, who had tweeted, "Was 'art' breathing here?" The original tweet was about the 2018 Pakistani film Parwaaz Hai Junoon. It read, "Parwaaz Hai Junoon was an anti-Indian Air Force movie and Hania Aamir starred in it." Agreeing with it, an X user also said, Yes, they portrayed Indian Air Force as villain...

Director Siddharth Anand indirectly responds to criticism of Fighter by Pakistani actors and their concern about anti-Pakistan content in his film.

What Hania Aamir said

"So sad and unfortunate to know that there are artists out there in this day and age who are aware of the power that the cinema holds and still go ahead and feed the riff between the two countries. I feel sorry for the artists who try to bridge the gap by trusting their art as a medium. Distasteful; let art breathe," Hania Aamir wrote on Instagram Stories soon after Fighter trailer was release on January 15.

Others celebs slammed Fighter trailer too

Without mentioning the name of the movie, Pakistani actor Adnan Siddiqui said that it was 'disheartening' to see Bollywood portray Pakistanis as villains. He had tweeted recently, "Once celebrated for love, Bollywood now crafts hate-filled narratives, portraying us as villains. Despite our love for your films, it's disheartening. Art transcends boundaries; let's use it to promote love and peace. Two nations, victims of politics, deserve better."

Reacting to Fighter's trailer, Pakistani actor Zara Noor Abbas said on Instagram Stories, "Aren't you guys tired of selling the same false crap?! Grow up, guys! The world is moving on and getting mature but why do you want to sell this cheap story of hatred? Could have also promoted peace. Don't we have enough hatred in the world that you had to boost more hate through this global medium of movies?"

Apart from Deepika and Hrithik, Fighter also stars Anil Kapoor, Karan Singh Grover, Akshay Oberoi, Ashutosh Rana, and Sanjeeda Sheikh, among others. The film has been directed by Siddharth Anand of War and Pathaan fame. Fighter is all set to be released in theatres on January 25, 2024.

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One of 2023's biggest blockbusters, Ranbir Kapoor's Animal has reportedly grossed more than 912 crore worldwide. While it did set the cash registers ringing, Animal was slammed by a section of critics and audience for making heroes out of misogynistic, violent men. Now, in an interview with with Raj Shamani on his YouTube channel, Taapsee Pannu has weighed in on the film's success and why she would never have done such a movie. Also read: Nimrat Kaur says she liked Animal but was scared to talk about it Taapsee Pannu in a still from Thappad, which was about a woman leaving her husband after he slaps her; Ranbir Kapoor in a still from Animal.

Taapsee reacts to Sandeep Reddy Vanga's Animal

When asked about Animal, Taapsee Pannu said even though she has not watched the Sandeep Reddy Vanga directorial, she 'has a take on it'. The actor said, Lot of people told me too much about it (Animal). Look, I am not an extremist, so I agree to disagree to a lot of people... don't compare it to Hollywood and say 'If you liked Gone Girl, how can you not like Animal'? You are catering to a different audience. In Hollywood, people don't start copying actors' hairstyles from movies or using a film's line in real life. They also don't start stalking women after seeing it in a movie. But all this happens in our country. This is our reality. You cannot compare our film industries with Hollywood and say 'Why are these pseudos talking like this about Animal, when they can enjoy Gone Girl as an art'? Understand the difference.

Ranbir Kapoor plays the lead in Sandeep Reddy Vanga's Animal.

Taapsee Pannu on why she would not do such films

Taapsee's statement comes days after Animal's team slammed veteran lyricist Javed Akhtar's comment about the film, where he called its success 'dangerous'. Asked if movies like Animal should be made, Taapsee said such films should be made but with a 'different outcome that you want the society to be influenced by'. The actor said people should not get influenced by films and have a 'solid moral compass' but that was 'unfortunately not the case'.

Speaking about why she would not do a film like Animal, Taapsee said, "Keeping the reality (of society) in mind, I need to exercise my power because Bollywood or being a star and actor gives you that soft power. And with power comes responsibility. So it is my opinion, and I am not one of those, who will tell XYZ actors that they should not do these films. They have their own choice; we are in a free country and we have a freedom of choice. I wouldn't do it (Animal) is what I am saying."

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Earlier, Taapsee, who has worked in films like Thappad, had also spoken against Kabir Singh, directed by Sandeep Reddy Vanga. One of the biggest grossers of 2019, the Shahid Kapoor-starrer received flak for its misogynistic gaze and normalising violence in a romantic relationship. It was the Hindi remake of Sandeep's Telugu film Arjun Reddy.

More about Animal

Besides Ranbir, Animal also stars Anil Kapoor, Rashmika Mandanna, Bobby Deol and Triptii Dimri in pivotal roles. The movie is produced by Bhushan Kumar and Krishan Kumar for T-Series, Murad Khetani for Cine1 Studios and Pranay Reddy Vanga for Bhadrakali Pictures.

Animal boasts of extreme violence and has been slammed by many for glorifying toxic masculinity. It revolves around a troubled father-son relationship between Anil's Balbir Singh and Ranbir's Ranvijay Singh aka Vijay. The film stars Rashmika opposite Ranbir and Bobby Deol is the prime antagonist.

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Anyone But You review: Friends with Benefits director Will Gluck's new romantic comedy starts like a good ol' New York rom-com does: the two leads meeting in a cafe. However, here, their rendezvous is awkward. Bea (Sydney Sweeney) wants to go to the loo, but can't wait to stand in the long queue to buy something because toilets are only for customers. So Ben (Glen Powell) comes to her rescue, buying her a peppermint tea so she can rush to relieve herself. Glen Powell and Sydney Sweeney in Anyone But You

(Also Read: Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell star in enemies-lovers rom-com Anyone But You | Watch Trailer)

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What's different?

But as soon as Bea and Ben go on their first date and wake up in the morning, their commitment phobia kicks in. She slips out, and he bitches about her to a friend  which she happens to overhear. As destiny would have it, they reunite six months later because her sister is dating his friend. There's no love lost between them, as they are quick to level sarcastic barbs at each other. Then the script goes all Destination Wedding or Ticket To Paradise as the two who love to hate are stuck on an island for their loved ones' wedding.

It's refreshing to see that this wedding is a lesbian one, and there are no bells and whistles about it. In fact, it's the gay couple that's having a smooth ride while the cis couples seem to be all over the place. The same parents who support their younger daughter in this wedding aggressively pursue the elder one to reconsider her broken engagement. And what a lovely sight to see the two fathers of the brides share a joint on the wedding day.

But these markers aside, there's nothing much that suggests which year or time this rom-com belongs to. Except a flash of what looks like Facebook, there's no reference to social media, which has become every rom-com writer's love language today. Co-writers Will Gluck and Ilana Wolpert keep things casual, as they say. The relevance of the rom-com really stems from its central conflict of commitment phobia. It's not by any stretch a novel one for any rom-com, but it permeates every part of this movie, from the title to its choice of anthem.

The rest is still unwritten

Natasha Bedingfield's all-time smash hit Unwritten is used so smartly and effectively in the story that it lends an old-world charm to this modern rom-com. Firstly, the song released in 2004, 20 years ago when romantic comedies had just started evolving into rom-coms. Secondly, it's invoked as the serenity song for Ben, who is scared of heights. So Bea uses it at a certain point when the two find themselves being ferried over the Sydney Opera House. Yes, that happens.

Before Natasha Bedingfield, James Cameron's 1997 cult romance Titanic also gets a tribute. But only because of how the film has invaded pop culture in the Instagram age. Ben and Bea pose as Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet on the edge of a yacht in order to make their former lovers jealous. Little do they know that seconds later, they'd end up hanging on to the same floating piece in the middle of the ocean like Jack and Rose do. Yes, that happens too.

Needless to say anymore, Anyone But You is filled with oddball physical comedy like this, which even includes a koala. But when one sees the impossibly gorgeous leads in Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell go through the beats of everything batshit crazy, one hopes to have a romance that's as whimsical, messy, stupid, and pure. It's how Bea describes to Ben when she asks him to 'Titanic me': It's lame, but that's what people in the first stage of love would do, because they're so comfortable with each other's lameness.

In the age of social media validation, all one really needs is someone who can share one's crazy. Anyone But You may not influence pop culture like Will's 2011 directorial Friends With Benefits did even before the advent of social media, but it's truly a rom-com of today. In Natasha Bedingfield's words, it implores you to go all Titanic with someone and Drench yourself in words unspoken, Live your life with arms wide open.

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The BAFTA nominations yesterday shook up the awards race with some surprising inclusions and omissions. In recent years, the BAFTAs have not been a very accurate predictor of the Oscars, but they have been indicative of the final results. (Also Read | BAFTA full list of nominations: Oppenheimer leads over Barbie with 13 nods) Leonardo DiCaprio in Killers of the Flower Moon, He did not get a BAFTA nomination in Best Actor category.

The BAFTAs have a somewhat convoluted way of picking nominees in the directing and acting races. After the top two or three (depending on the race) vote-getters are ascertained, there are juries in place that will select the rest of the nominees for each of those categories. This makes the results a little difficult to parse, but that doesnt stop anyone from speculating.

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The BAFTAs had been criticised locally in the past for not being British enough. After a review in 2020, the Academy took steps to rectify that with measures like jury intervention in major races, the introduction of viewing groups (where each voting member is given a group of 15 films that they are encouraged to watch before voting), as well as multiple British-only categories - allowing for movies like All of Us Strangers, Rye Lane, and How to Have Sex to shine.

Surprise - Best Director

This category was full of shockers. Even though he was unlikely to win, its notable Martin Scorsese was snubbed for Killers of the Flower Moon. Yorgos Lanthimos was also shut out even though Poor Things landed 11 nominations. Most surprisingly, Greta Gerwig wasnt nominated here in spite of Barbie being shot and produced in the United Kingdom. Two of those spots were taken by Andrew Haigh for All of Us Strangers, and Jonathan Glazer for The Zone of Interest, both British filmmakers. And the surprise nomination here was Justine Triet for Anatomy of a Fall, the only woman director in the category.

Lily Gladstone and Leonardo DiCaprio in Killers of the Flower Moon.

Snub - Killers of the Flower Moon

Its more than a little odd to say that a movie with nine nominations (the third-highest haul this year) was snubbed, but here we are. Scorsese didnt get a nomination. Neither did Leonardo DiCaprio in lead, but he also wasnt nominated for the SAG Awards. At this point, it's safe to assume hes not going to get an Oscar nomination. Most shockingly, Oscar frontrunner and Golden Globe winner Lily Gladstone was snubbed by the BAFTAs. This is a major blow, considering her closest rival, Emma Stone, was nominated and will likely win.

Ryan Gosling and Margot Robbie in Barbie. (Film still)

Snub - Barbie

Looks like the Barbenheimer train has decoupled; Oppenheimer is surging ahead with 13 nominations, while Barbie landed only five nominations in spite of being on 15 longlists. Importantly, the doll movie was left out of the Picture and Directing races, despite many considering those categories to be locks for the biggest movie of the year. Greta Gerwig went from a potential triple nomination to just one for Original Screenplay with partner Noah Baumbach. Its been a slow but steady decline for Barbies fortunes in the last couple of weeks. But consider that both the Globes and BAFTAs are international compared to the Oscars, so all hope is not lost yet.

Surprise - Sandra Huller

German actress Sandra Huller landed an impressive double nomination - Lead Actress for Anatomy of a Fall and Supporting Actress for The Zone of Interest. Double nominations are rare but not impossible. That being said, Huller is the first double nominee for films not in the English language. Theres been a growing trend in the last few years favouring foreign films in major categories outside the Foreign Film ghetto. Huller could be a beneficiary of that trend, with a potential historic double nomination next week at the Oscars as well.

The BAFTA ceremony will be held on February 18, streaming on Lionsgate Play.

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Penelope Cruz may have taken on the role of co-owner of Ferrari in her latest project, yet surprisingly, she isn't a enthusiast of driving cars. In a recent ELLE interview, the actress disclosed a childhood trauma that has instilled in her a "fear of driving," stemming from a harrowing incident where her sister was run over by a car in front of her when she was just eight or nine. Actress Penelope Cruz at the Oscars (AFP Photo)(AFP)

Reflecting on the moment, Cruz recalled that "time stopped" during that traumatic experience.

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(Also Read: BAFTA nominations: Snubs and surprises, and what it means for the Oscars)

Navigating Trauma

However, the memory continues to exert its influence on her to this day. When it came to portraying Enzo Ferrari's wife, Laura, in Michael Mann's Ferrari, Cruz expressed her reluctance to take on the role of being behind the wheel.

In general, she revealed having a specific hypersensitivity encompassing various aspects, from visual perception to sound and people's emotions. She considers herself lucky to have this sensitivity in the context of her career, yet it also means she tends to feel or suffer things more.

Cruz on playing Laura Ferrari

Discussing her recent role, Cruz shared with the publication that bringing Laura Ferrari to life alongside Adam Driver's Enzo involved embodying the grieving mother's sorrow down to the smallest details, including clothing.

"Every day is a question of how she makes it through the day," Cruz explained regarding her portrayal of Laura, whose only son, Dino, passed away off-screen in the Michael Mann film.

The actress conveyed that her character carries the weight of a tragedy, one she thinks she will never overcome. This poignant situation acts as the trigger for the breakdown of their marriage, as both she and Enzo hold onto a feeling of failure in their attempts to save their son.

Unveiling the Intricate Plot of Ferrari

In the movie, the renowned Italian car manufacturer faces a period of crisis, mirroring the tumultuous state of Laura and Enzo's marriage, as described in the official synopsis. Amidst Enzo's affair with Lina Mardi (Shailene Woodley), the tragic loss of their son Dino, and the impending financial bankruptcy of the company, the outlook appears grim.

Yet, in the summer of 1957, Enzo makes a crucial decision, appointing racecar driver Piero Taruffi (played by Patrick Dempsey) to champion the company in the arduous Mille Miglia, a 1,000-mile race weaving through Italy.

(Also Read: Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom to begin streaming post a month of its theatrical release, here's where to watch it online )

Similar to Cruz, her co-star Adam Driver also refrained from getting behind the wheel on the set of the film, which premiered at the Venice Film Festival in September. During a press conference, the actor explained that the production team "wouldn't let me drive the cars for insurance reasons."
Even as the awards season for last year's films carries on with full force, new films are already set to break out, thanks to the 2024 Sundance Film Festival. The 40th version of the festival, that has become the go-to place for first-time directors, micro-budget features, and fascinating documentaries to watch out for, returns to Park City, Utah on January 18-28. Here are our top 10 picks from the from this year's Sundance line-up. (Also read: Skywalkers: A Love Story makers Jeff Zimbalist, Maria Bukhonina on shooting rollercoaster ride of events for six years) Sundance Film Festival programs feature films, short films and documentaries.

Girls State

The sequel to Boys State? Count us in. In Girls State, which is helmed by Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss, teenage girls from wildly different backgrounds across Missouri assemble to immerse themselves in a week-long experiment in American democracy, to build a government from scratch.

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Thelma

Oscar nominee June Squibb gets the first leading role of her career at the age of 94. The actor stars as Thelma Post, who gets duped by a phone scammer pretending to be her grandson. From here on, Thelma turns from an elderly grandmother to an unlikely action hero as she sets out to reclaim what was taken away from her.

Nocturnes

Sundance has been a big hit with Indian documentaries in the last few years (take note of Against the Tide, All That Breathes and Writing with Fire). This year, we are excited to see how Nocturnes fares at the festival. Directed by Anirban Dutta and Anupama Srinivasan, Nocturnes locates to the dense forests of the Eastern Himalayas to decode the secret and mystifying lives of moths, who are whispering something to us in the dark of the night.

Black Box Diaries

In Shiori Ito's Black Box Diaries, that premieres at the World Cinema Documentary Competition, journalist Shiori Ito embarks on a defiant investigation of her own sexual assault to prosecute her high-profile offender. This one sounds brave and unflinching in its honesty, and promises to be a landmark entry in the post #MeToo movement canon of cinema.

Girls Will Be Girls

The maiden production venture of Richa Chadha and Ali Fazal, Girls Will Be Girls tells the story of 16-year-old Mira (played by Preeti Panigrahi) and the complex relationship she shares with her mother Anila (Kani Kusruti, last seen in Killer Soup). Directed by Shuchi Talati, this is a coming-of-age story that shows only some women have had the chance to come of age in a society that rarely provides agency to its women.

The Outrun

Saoirse Ronan stars as Rona, a woman who returns home to Scotlands Orkney Islands after 10 years in London, in this adaptation from the bestselling memoir by Amy Liptrot. Directed by Nora Fingscheidt, The Outrun tracks Rona's road to recovery through a strict rehab program.

Frida

Iconic artist Frida Kahlo's life and unforgettable art finds a new lease of life in Carla Gutierrez's documentary, that premieres in the U.S. Documentary Competition. Frida locates her journey through her own words for the very first time, which are taken from her diary, collection of letters, essays, and print interviews. The documentary also includes animation inspired by her artwork through the years. Sounds utterly fascinating, and we cannot wait to watch it!

Love Bleeds

Among the two features which Kristen Stewart brings to Sundance this year is Love Bleeds, the feature film directed by Sam and Andy Zuchero. It chronicles the fascinating relationship that evolves when a buoy and a satellite meet online and fall in love after humanity has gone extinct. Sundance is perhaps the perfect spot for a wacky premise like this one to showcase, and we can't wait to know more about this film that pairs Kristen with recent Emmy Award winner Steven Yeun.

Never Look Away

Premiering at the World Cinema Documentary Competition, New Zealandborn groundbreaking CNN camerawoman Margaret Moth chronicles the reality of war from inside in Never Look Away, which marks the debut of actor Lucy Lawless behind the camera.

Skywalkers: A Love Story

Shot over six years and in six countries, Skywalkers: A Love Story chronicles the impossible love story combined with the illegal practice of a Russian couple, Angela and Vanya, as they climb the world's highest skyscraper. Directed by Jeff Zimbalist, this project places the metaphor of extreme climbing to develop the central relationship of the two protagonists.

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Prabhas has been in the news the last few days with claims being made that he donated 50 crore to Ayodhyas Ram Mandirs consecration. There was also speculation that he came forward to sponsor expenses for the food on the consecration day, January 22. Prabhas team however spoke to India Today and set the record straight. (Also Read: Jackie Shroff mops temple stairs ahead of Prana Pratishtha ceremony. Watch) Here's some clarity on whether Prabhas donated to Ram Mandir

The claims

Adding fuel to the fire was Andhra Pradesh MLA Chirla Jaggireddy claiming at an event that Prabhas did step forward to donate towards the upcoming ceremony for Ram Mandir. He said at an event, The one who earns money and decides to share it with others is great. Prabhas is one such person, he has agreed to donate money to Ram Mandir in Ayodhya. He has agreed to sponsor the food for the people attending.

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However, Prabhas team spoke to India Today and called it all fake news. The Salaar and Adipurush actor neither donated a large sum to the temple nor agreed to sponsor food on d-day, they confirmed to the publication.

Ram Mandir invite

While south stars like Rajinikanth, Chiranjeevi, Ram Charan, Dhanush and others received an invite to Ayodhya, its not known if Prabhas received one too. The Ram temple will be open for darshan for the general public from January 23 onwards after its consecration on January 22. Akshay Kumar, Kangana Ranaut, Jackie Shroff, Amitabh Bachchan, Alia Bhatt, Ranbir Kapoor, Ayushmann Khurrana, Anushka Sharma and several other Bollywood celebs, politicos, sportsmen are expected to attend the ceremony.

Upcoming work

Prabhas recent release Salaar Part 1: Ceasefire saw him share the screen with Prithviraj Sukumaran, Shruti Haasan, Jagapathi Babu and Sriya Reddy. The Prashanth Neel directorial performed well at the box office and will be released on Netflix soon. Prabhas will soon star in Nag Ashwins Kalki 2898 AD with Deepika Padukone and Amitabh, Sandeep Reddy Vangas Spirit, apart from Maruthis The Raja Saab, with Malavika Mohanan and Nidhhi Agerwal.

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Indian Police Force Review: Rohit Shetty claimed that he didn't have to change any gears while making his debut series, Indian Police Force. He said the scale was as life-sized, and the small screen didn't prevent him from going big. But when you watch the show, you soon realise it's not your regular Rohit Shetty fare. Of course, cars blow up and cops walk in slow motion, but not throughout the seven episodes. Indian Police Force review: Sidharth Malhotra makes his series debut in Indian Police Force.

(Also Read: Rohit Shetty reacts to claims of glorifying police brutality with his films: Darr hona zaruri hai, okay to get trolled')

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Long shot

For starters, there's no hero worship in Indian Police Force. Or even if there is, it's of the entire force, instead of a singular cop like Singham, Simmba or Sooryavanshi. In that case, it's a smart choice to cast Sidharth Malhotra, who doesn't really own a large personality, but makes for an efficient representation of the police force. He gets the physicality, gait, posture, and the default economy of expressions just right for any young, aspiring police officer out there.

Secondly, for a Rohit Shetty directorial, Indian Police Force has its fair share of surprisingly intimate moments. There's one where Sidharth's character of Kabir and his mother (played by Mrinal Kulkarni) discuss how it's like to bounce back from a loved one's death. And how Kabir then passes on the same wisdom to his fellow officer's wife after he dies on duty. Also, while we've seen Simmba, Sooryavanshi, and Singham team up to take on the bad guys, rarely do we see them share a quick breather over cutting chai like folks in Indian Police Force do, while leaning against their SUVs in signature Rohit Shetty fashion.

Thirdly, Rohit Shetty did show a backstory for the bad guy Omar (Jackie Shroff) in Sooryavanshi, but it felt a bit rushed through. In the show though, Rohit and his co-writers Vidhi Ghodgaonkar, Anusha Nandakumar, and Sandeep Saket get the chance to flesh out the villain's backstory in detail. But the aesthetic and impact of that track feel so sub-par as if helmed by a lesser director.

Rohit and his former AD Sushwanth Prakash have co-directed the show. The pale personality of the villain is eclipsed only by the smart casting of Mayyank Tandon, another member of Rohit's AD team who makes his acting debut. He's the kind of villain whose superpower lies in his ability to merge into the crowd, instead of a menacing larger-than-life supervillain persona.

Fourthly, if you run an eye through that writers list again, you won't be surprised when I say that women have more than a precious little to do in this Rohit Shetty world. For starters, it's a much-awaited breath of fresh air to see Shilpa Shetty get the hero's entry. She's the no-nonsense tough cop who unleashes herself on the bad guys whenever she gets a chance. While she's been strategically awarded a senior position so that she doesn't jump into the field that often, one hopes to see more of her in bare-knuckled action.

Beyond the dead wife (Isha Talwar) and the loving mother of the hero, we do see some flashes of minor women characters making a mark. These include Shweta Tiwari in an unexpectedly moving bit as a cop's wife, Shruti Panwar as a terrorist who takes on a male cop, Vaidehi Parshuramani as a terrorist's wife who wants her husband to be punished, and a terrorist's mother who disowns her son's corpse. But yet, one craves to see a full-fledged Rohit Shetty cop, which Deepika Padukone might just give us in the upcoming Singham Again.

It's a cop's life

Rohit Shetty's cop universe so far has been fronted by invincible men. But in Indian Police Force, it happens for the first time in the cop-verse that a major character dies. It immediately raises the stakes and justifies the long-form storytelling. This is a Rohit Shetty world where cops die on field, officers are penalised for breaking protocol, and nabbing the most wanted criminal isn't a quick-fix job. The long format shows the actual pace of a cop's life: a lot of obstructions for every small win.

There are exciting action sequences with fascinating settings: Chandni Chowk, Dona Paula in Goa, a car chase sequence in Dhaka, in a fishing warehouse, and even on a yatch. Most of these are shot with handheld cameras, lending an urgency and tangibility to the proceedings. But many of these are fast-forwarded on the editing table. That's not ideally how you ensure pace, especially in a show that, for most part, just chugs along.

Do we really turn to Rohit Shetty to watch a realistic cop drama? For that, we have Delhi Crime on Netflix India. The fact is that when one zooms in, all these obstructions only hamper a ride that could've been far smoother. We don't want SUVs to manoeuvre through the hurdles in a Rohit Shetty production. We want them to either race through the obstacle course or get bowled over in the process. What's even a Rohit Shetty SUV that waits for the green light at a traffic signal?

Indian Police Force is streaming on Prime Video India.

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The picturesque backdrop of Purana Qila (Old Fort) and Delhiites chanting Ram naam is how the vibe kicks in as one visits the ongoing seventh edition of the India International Ramayana Mela 2024. Artistes from Varanasi present a dance drama, Ram Ki Shakti Puja, at Purana Qila (Old Fort).(Photo: Atul Yadav/PTI)

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A sculpture of Lord Vishnus Dashavatara is displayed at the venue.(Photo: Raajessh Kashyap/HT)

City-based artists from all age groups have come together to paint a 30 feet long canvas here. Scenes from the Ramayana are being depicted on this, shares Karan Kushwaha, a fine arts student of Jamia Millia Islamia.

An artist from Indore paints a portrait of Ram Lalla at the mela.(Photo: Raajessh Kashyap/HT)

Many Delhiites are turning up to avail themselves of free workshops on Madhubani, Bhil, Gond and Warli art. Not just this, even yoga sessions and puppet and magic shows are piquing their interest. Since the opening event of this year-long fest coincides with the establishment of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya (Uttar Pradesh), we were excited to come over and participate, says Anita Sethi, a Delhi-based fashion design student.

Remi Poddar, a Noida-based visual artist explains the relevance of her painting scenes from the Ramayana.(Photo: Raajessh Kashyap/HT)

Remi Poddar, a Noida-based artist, shares, Ive painted Surasa (the female demon in the Ramayana) because I wanted to convey the message that, just as Hanumanji overcomes all challenges with humility, we too can in our lives.

Young artistes from Sri Lanka rehearse to present the Ramayana through Bharatanatyam.(Photo: Raajessh Kashyap/HT)

Im playing Ram on stage, and feel its my good fortune to get to portray Him around this time when the whole world is experiencing the good vibes of the Ram Temple coming up in India, says I Sajith, a Bharatnatyam dancer from Sri Lanka.

Luang Prabang Royal Ballet Theatre troupe from Laos perform Phra-Lak Phra-Lam, the Lao version of Ramayana.(Photo: Atul Yadav/PTI)

There are also free yoga sessions being conducted as part of this event. Yoga instructor, Meenakshi, says, We look at yoga as it was practised in that yuga. As we breathe in, we inhale good energies and as we breathe out, we cleanse the negative energies inside us, which in a way represent Ravana.

Catch It Live

What: India International Ramayana Mela 2024

Where: Purana Qila (Old Fort), Mathura Road

On till: January 21

Timing: 11.30am to 7pm

Nearest Metro Station: Supreme Court on the Blue Line

For more, follow @htcity.delhijunction
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BoyForSale released the second chapter of The Boy Bastian series,  International Buyer , as Legrand Wolf has his sights set on seizing this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity with Bastian Karim from the hands of Apolo Andrii.

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New Delhi: Former president Ram Nath Kovind-led high-level panel, which is looking into the feasibility of holding simultaneous elections in the country, is planning to submit its report, which is in the final stages, to the Union government before the upcoming Lok Sabha polls are announced, people familiar with the matter told HT. The deadline for formal submission of suggestions ended on Thursday. (Vipin Kumar/HT PHOTO)

The report is likely to be submitted anytime in February or March, one of the members of the panel said, requesting anonymity.

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Also Read | Against countrys federal structure: Banerjee on one nation, one election

The major task before the panel  High Level Committee (HLC) on One Nation, One Election  in finalising its report will be to include suggestions from various stakeholders, including the Election Commission (EC), prominent jurists like former judges of constitutional courts, former chief election commissioners, various political parties, citizens and the report of the 22nd Law Commission, the person said.

A consultation process has already been initiated by the HLC, with its chairperson Kovind on Wednesday meeting Justice Munishwar Nath Bhandari, former chief justice of Madras high court, in Delhi. On Thursday, Kovind and panels secretary Niten Chandra held discussions with Justice Gorla Rohini, the former chief justice of Delhi high court, and Sushil Chandra, the former chief election commissioner of India, the person said.

The panel, after its second formal meeting in October last year, had written to six national parties and 33 state parties asking for their suggestions on holding simultaneous three-tier elections to the Lok Sabha, state assemblies and local bodies.

Also Read | Will be a disaster for Indian democracy: AIMIM chief Owaisi on One Nation, One Election

The deadline for formal submission of suggestions ended on Thursday.

Several opposition parties such as the Communist Party of India (CPI), CPI(Marxist), Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), Trinamool Congress (TMC), All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) and the Naga Peoples Front (NPF) have opposed the proposal in their suggestions to the panel. The Congress, too, has opposed the idea of simultaneous polls.

Though the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its allies have not written to the panel, they have supported the proposal in principle in the past.

To be sure, the BJPs manifesto for the 2014 general elections had also mentioned proposal to hold simultaneous polls. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and several senior leaders of the ruling BJP have also advocated the idea time and again.

Till January 15, the panel had received over 15,000 responses via emails and another 12,000 via the one nation one election website from public, with around 70% responders backing the idea of simultaneous polls, HT had reported on Tuesday, citing the person quoted above.

The panel has also approached the EC for its suggestions but it is yet to get a response, the person added.

Third meeting of Kovind-led panel on Jan 21

Meanwhile, the HLC is likely to hold its third formal meeting under Kovind on Sunday, people familiar with the matter said. The panel, constituted by the Centre in September last year, had previously met on September 23 and October 25.
The Supreme Court on Thursday agreed to hear on Friday a batch of applications filed by 10 of the 11 men convicted in the Bilkis Bano gang rape case, seeking more time to surrender, days after the top court quashed their early release. New Delhi, Jan 10 (ANI): A view of the Supreme Court building, the apex judicial body of India, in New Delhi on Tuesday. (ANI Photo) (Sanjay Sharma)

A bench of justices BV Nagarathna and Sanjay Karol agreed to take up the matter on Friday after one of the convicts pointed out that the deadline to surrender expires on Sunday. The court, however, said the bench that scrapped the remission on January 8 will need to be reconstituted.

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Also Read: Why we fought against Bilkis Bano remissions

Since the bench has to be reconstituted, registry to seek orders from the Chief Justice of India (CJI) for reconstitution of bench as the time (to surrender) expires on Sunday, the bench said.

On January 8, a bench of justices BV Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan of the top court scrapped the remission granted to the 11 convicts in the case and directed them to surrender in two weeks. The bench said Gujarat usurped the power of Maharashtra, where the original trial of the convicts happened, to grant remission, and nullified a 2022 judgment by another bench of the top court, which had directed Gujarat to consider the remission applications of the 11 convicts, saying it was obtained by playing fraud on court.

Senior advocate V Chitambaresh, who appeared for convict Ramesh Rupabhai Chandana, sought an urgent hearing of the application since the deadline to surrender expires on Sunday. The counsels for the remaining eight convicts told the court that they too shall file similar applications during the course of the day, following which the court allowed all the applications to be listed together. Till Thursday evening, 10 of the 11 convicts had approached the top court in the matter.

All the 10 convicts sought more time to surrender, citing reasons such as meeting family responsibilities, care for aged parents, harvesting of winter crops and health conditions.

While one of the convicts, Govindbhai Nai, has sought an additional time of four weeks, the remaining nine  Chandana, Mitesh Chimanlal Bhatt, Pradip Ramanlal Modhiya, Bipinchand Kaniyalal Joshi, Radheyshyam Bhagwandas Shah, Rajubhai Babulal Soni, Jaswantbhai Chaturbhai Nai, Kesharbhai Khimabhai Vohania and Shaileshbhai Chimanlal Bhatt  sought six more weeks.

As the winter crops produced by the applicant are ready for harvesting and other processes, the applicant needs five to six weeks for such harvesting and other processes. to be completed, Mitesh Bhatt said in his application filed on Wednesday night.

Another applicant, Chandana (58), said he has undergone angiography and is on medication for heart ailment. In this condition to surrender within time directed by this court will be adverse not only to his mental health but will affect him physically severely, he said.

Relief on similar grounds was also sought by Joshi, who said he has undergone a leg surgery, resulting in partial handicap, and Modhiya, who underwent a lung surgery.

Also Read: Govt will consider SC remarks if Bilkis Bano convicts apply for remission, hint Maharashtra officials

Some convicts said their children are of marriageable age and if additional time is granted, they will be in a position to discharge this responsibility. Most convicts said they earn a living through agriculture and that their crops are ready for harvest. Stating that they were the only male dependent members, the petitioners sought additional time to make financial arrangements for their families. The applicants also told the court that their parents were growing old and suffering from multiple age-related ailments, and sought time to make viable arrangements for them before surrendering.

Fifty-five-year-old Nai, in his application, said he is the only caretaker of his ailing 88-year old father and 75-year old mother. The respondent (Nai) himself is an old man who is suffering from asthma and in really poor health...was recently operated upon and had to undergo an angiography, the application said.

The convict has two children who are completely dependent on him for financial and other needs, it added.

All the 11 convicts are residents of Gujarat and said that since the grant of remission on August 15, 2022, they stayed with their family and during his period of release, have committed no offence.

Bakabhai Khimabai Vohania is the only convict who remains to move an application in this regard.
The last 10 years under the Modi government have been a golden era for the Northeast with an unprecedented focus on infrastructure development and conflict resolution, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Friday. Union Home Minister Amit Shah(ANI)

The Northeast is today shifting away from its history of blockades and unrest and is pacing towards peace and development, he said.

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Addressing the 71st plenary session of the North Eastern Council (NEC) here, Shah also said that under the leadership of PM Modi, not only the distance from the Northeast to Delhi and the rest of India has reduced due to the creation of infrastructure, but the difference of hearts has also come down.

"The last 10 years under the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been the most significant decade for the Northeast as it has seen most development in the 75 years since independence," he said.

He said the Northeast, which was struggling with various problem caused by ethnic, linguistic, border and extremist groups, also got the beginning of a fresh and durable era of peace in these 10 years.

The home minister said if these 10 years for the Northeast are compared with the 75 years after the country's independence, then this decade will definitely be considered as the golden period for the region.

He said the Modi government has always considered the Northeast as an important part of India.

Shah said that between 2004 and 2014, a total of 11,121 violent incidents took place in the Northeast and it has declined by 73 percent to 3,114 between 2014 and 2023.

Deaths among security forces dropped by 71 per,cent from 458 to 132, while civilian deaths declined by 86 per cent, he said.

He said the incidents of insurgency have come down because in the last five years more than 8,900 members of militant groups have surrendered and joined the mainstream. This has given a message to the entire country that peace and prosperity are interconnected and without them the states cannot develop, he said.

The home minister said that to bring peace and stability in the Northeast, the Modi government has signed nine agreements and many pending law and order issues have been successfully resolved through these.

He said that except some parts of Assam and Manipur, 75 per cent of the areas covered under the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) in 2018 are no longed under it.

The home minister said that priority was accorded to the development of the Northeast during the time of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee when a separate ministry was created for the region. And today, the three mantras of 'Act East, Act Fast and Act First' are being implemented under the leadership of PM Modi, he said.

Along with this, impetus is being given to the Northeast by giving priority to it in all ministries of the government, he said.

He said the Modi government has allocated 4,800 crore from 2022-23 to 2025-26 for the Northeast and there is an increase of about 162 per cent in the budget for the region.

Shah said the 10 per cent Gross Budgetary Support scheme has greatly benefited the development of the region. An allocation of 1,500 crore has been made in PM-DevINE (Prime Minister's Development Initiative for North Eastern Region) for 2022-23 and 6,600 crores for 2025-26.

An inter-ministerial task force has been formed for agriculture, eight ropeways have been taken up under the National Ropeway Development Programme, and the budget of the DoNER Ministry has increased by 153 per cent, he said.

Under the National Edible Oil Mission, 234 crore have been allocated in the Northeast alone to give priority to palm oil. Along with this, 32 projects worth 1,713 crore have been approved under the Special Infrastructure Development Plan of Northeast, the home minister said.

Among the achievements of North Eastern Development Finance Corporation, schemes worth 5,490 crore have been approved from January 2023 to December 2023 and under the SAMBHAV scheme, work is being done to provide basic facilities to 75 Gram panchayats and councils of 42 districts of the eight states in the region.

The home minister said that in the last 10 years, the Modi government has invested 81,000 crore in the railways, 48,000 crore in road connectivity and 5,196 km road length have been constructed in the Northeast under the Bharat Mala project.

Under the UDAN scheme, eight new airports have been constructed and 71 new air routes started in these 10 years, he said.

He said that under the leadership of PM Modi, the role and scope of the North Eastern Council (NEC) has increased under the Act East Policy.

He said everyone will have to give thrust to create a flood-free and drug-free Northeast and work for strengthening water management by using the expertise of the North Eastern Space Applications Centre.

Referring to the three recently enacted criminal justice laws, Shah said these have been brought to take the country's criminal-justice system into the 21st century.

Within three years of the issuance of the notifications, the country's criminal justice system will become the most modern and scientific in the whole world, he said.
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday conferred the designation of senior advocate on 56 distinguished lawyers, following a thorough selection process that focussed on including unprecedented number of women, first-generation lawyers and domain experts for bestowing the prestigious gown on a diverse set of practitioners of law. The committee received over 280 applications for the designation, and called 199 for an interaction with the members on January 16 (Sonu Mehta/HT PHOTO)

The top court administration on Friday afternoon released the list of 56 lawyers, including 11 women and 34 first-generation lawyers, chosen for the designation by the committee for designation of senior advocates (CDSA), which is headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud. The other members of the CDSA comprised justices Sanjiv Khanna and Bhushan R Gavai (two senior-most judges), attorney general R Venkataramani and senior advocate Kiran Suri (a nominated member of the Bar).

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According to people aware of the matter, the committee followed a rigorous selection mechanism that considered the candidates on a range of factors, including total years of standing at the Bar, reported judgments, academic articles, publication of books and columns, guest lectures and pro-bono work. For marking the lawyers for their academic work, the CDSA sought the opinion of independent academicians.

While the committee received over 280 applications for the designation, 199 were called for an interaction with the members of the CDSA on January 16. The committee sat for over six hours on the day interacting with the applicants.

An unprecedented number of women lawyers  11, have been designated as senior advocates this year. It is more than all the women senior advocates, who have been given the designation till date, put together, said the people cited above.

Some of the women lawyers figuring in the list included advocates Shobha Gupta, who represented Bilkis Bano in all her cases in the top court; Karuna Nundy, who has appeared in the same-sex marriage and marital rape cases; and Swarupama Chaturvedi, who has represented several state governments and the national child rights body.

The CDSA also wanted to promote the first-generation lawyers, said those in the know of the matter, adding the idea was to send a message that the structure of the legal profession is changing and that those without access to the corridors of power in the Supreme Court have equal opportunities.

Some of the first-generation lawyers in the list included Sunil Fernandes, Amit Anand Tiwari, Sanjay M Nuli, Shoeb Alam, Abhinav Mukerji and Joseph Aristotle and Shirin Khajuria. A total of 34 first-generation lawyers were designated as senior advocates.

This time, the CDSA has also designated several lawyers with domain expertise. Advocate Pratap Venugopal, who has expertise in tax laws; Sitesh Mukherjee, who has mastered litigation in telecom; and G Saikumar, who has expertise in electricity matters, among other, have been conferred the designation.

Diversified allotment of the senior advocate gown was at the centre of the process, said the people cited above, adding a great deal of emphasis was also laid on pro-bono work. Advocates Gaurav Agrawal and S Janani, who have assisted the court in a spree of matters as amicus curiae and as pro-bono lawyers, were among the lawyers designated on Friday.

Six lawyers made the cut though they were less than 45  the minimum age prescribed under the guidelines for designation that can be relaxed in the wisdom of the CDSA in select cases. Advocates Ardhendumauli Kumar Prasad, Shailesh Madiyal, Saurabh Mishra, Nikhil Goel, Shikhil Suri and Archana Pathak Dave ranked among the list of under-45 lawyers designated as senior advocates.

The Supreme Court had last designated lawyers in December 2021.

The titles senior counsel, senior advocate, and Kings counsel are traditionally bestowed on distinguished lawyers practising in current or former Commonwealth countries or jurisdictions who the court feels deserve such an honour and recognition owing to their exceptional competence, contribution to the development of law, advocacy, among other relevant factors.

Section 16 of the Advocates Act creates a class of senior advocate, who will be designated so by the constitutional courts by virtue of their ability, standing at the Bar or special knowledge or experience in law. Section 23 (5) of the Act prescribes that senior advocates shall have pre-audience over other lawyers and their right of pre-audience inter se shall be determined by their respective seniority.
At least 14 people  12 schoolchildren and two teachers  were killed after a seemingly overcrowded boat carrying a school group on a picnic overturned into the Harni lake in Gujarats Vadodara on Thursday evening, local officials said. People gather during a rescue and search operation near a lake in Vadodara on Thursday. (PTI)

Rescuers from National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) looked for survivors and bodies late into the evening as darkness fell, with 13 children having been rescued.

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Initial investigations suggested that the boat was loaded far beyond its capacity and that there were no life-jackets on board, senior government officials said.

The incident took place around 5pm when children from New Sunrise School located on Waghodia Road in Vadodara were out for a picnic. The children were from Class 1 to Class 6. The maximum capacity of the boat is around 14 passengers, but more than 31 people were crammed on it at the time of the accident besides the four operators, local officials, who did not wish to be identified, said.

Videos taken shortly after the incident showed rescuers on inflatable boats trying to guide at least half a dozen divers look for survivors or bodies.

The lake was re-developed by the Vadodara civic body for recreational purposes.

This is the deadliest boating accident in the city since August 11, 1993, when 22 people were killed after an overloaded boat capsized in the Sursagar lake, which is also maintained by the Vadodara civic body.

A first information report, or FIR, has been filed against five individuals, including the promoters of the company operating the boats. The state government has also initiated a high-level inquiry into the matter, to be headed by the Vadodara district magistrate. A comprehensive report is to be filed within the next 10 days in this regard.

The contract for operating the boat was with a firm called Sri Kotiya Project, which was promoted by a person named Paresh Shah, Anupam Singh Gahlaut, commissioner of police, Vadodara told HT.

We have booked the owners of the boat and its management under various sections, including section 304 of the Indian Penal Code (punishment for culpable homicide not amounting to murder), Gahlaut said.

So far, we have recovered 12 bodies of schoolchildren and two of teachers... NDRF officials and others are still carrying out search operations. The water level is about 25 feet deep. The students had gone on the boat in batches and the accident happened with the final batch. There were 27 students, four teachers and four operators in the boat that sank, said Gahlaut, adding that based on early estimates, all students appeared to be accounted for.

An investigation has been initiated into the incident, Gehlaut said, adding that while their immediate focus was on rescue efforts, they will also probe the role of the school management for negligence.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced an ex-gratia relief of 2 lakh from the Prime Ministers National Relief Fund for the families of each of the deceased, and 50,000 each for the families of those wounded in the accident.

Distressed by the loss of lives due to a boat capsizing at the Harni lake in Vadodara. My thoughts are with the bereaved families in this hour of grief. May the injured recover soon. The local administration is providing all possible assistance to those affected, PM Modi wrote on X.

Gujarat chief minister Bhupendra Patel, who arrived at the site in the evening and was monitoring the rescue operation, said in a post on X that the state government will give a solatium of 4 lakh for the family of the deceased and 50,000 for the family of the injured. At present, emergency relief-rescue and treatment operations are going on through the system. We all feel and pray that more and more lives can be saved, he said.

Asma Mansuri, 39, whose seven-year-old son was part of the picnic group but on another boat, said that her son is in a state of shock and has been silent since his return. He has seen his friends and schoolmates drown in front of his eyes. The school did not ensure that there are enough people on the boat who could swim to save the children, which appears to have been the main cause of the high death toll, she said.

She blamed the school management for being careless. I am really shocked. How can the school management be so careless? I can only feel grateful that my son is alive, said Mansuri.

She said the school authorities never informed them about the accident, and that they only learnt of it when the news broke on local news channels. When my sons grandfather went to pick him up from the school on Thursday evening, as was planned, he was told that the bus carrying the children had not yet returned. He came back home alone and said that the bus had not returned and that there were no children at school. Then around 5.30pm I saw the news on TV about a boat being capsized at the lake. I was relieved only when my brother-in-law rushed to the scene and discovered that my son was safe, said Mansuri.

Sohanlal Kahar, another parent of a surviving student, said that he was waiting for a text message from the school to pick up his son. When he did not get the text, he decided to go to the school, where authorities told him to collect his child from Harni lake. My son told us that the boat made several trips to ferry the children, and on the third trip it overturned. My son is in second class, and this is all he has told us so far.

Gujarat education minister Kuber Dindor was quoted as saying by PTI that a probe has been ordered after he learnt that the boat was carrying more persons than the stipulated number. I have also learnt students were not wearing life jackets at the time of the accident. We will take action against those found guilty (of lapses), Dindor said.
With only three days left for the grand opening of Ram Temple in Uttar Pradesh's Ayodhya on January 22, people from across the country are gearing up to visit the temple town to witness the monumental consecration ceremony of Lord Ram. Devotees wait in a queue to visit the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Temple, in Ayodhya,(PTI)

Ayodhya has been decked up with all sorts of decorations to welcome visitors as well as Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who will attend the ceremony as a special guest and inaugurate the temple. The city is adorned with vibrant flowers on Thursday in preparation for the 'Pran Pratishtha' ceremony.

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Check out routes to reach the city

By air:

PM Modi launched a dedicated Ayodhya International Airport in December 2023. Several airlines have announced special flights to the city on the occasion of the consecration ceremony.

Meanwhile, visitors can take flights to Mahayogi Gokrakhnat Airport, Gorakhpur or Chaudhary Charan Singh International Airport, Lucknow, and Prayagraj or Varanasi airports.

By train:

Depending on the states or cities where the visitors are arriving, several trains are available. In line with the airport, a dedicated Ayodhya railway station is well-connected by railways of different zones.

By road:

Several public and private service buses that operate regularly to Ayodhya are available. The Uttar Pradesh Transport Corporation buses run from Lucknow, Gorakpur, Delhi and other major cities.
Five civilians were killed and three Border Security Force (BSF) personnel were injured in fresh violence that spread through several districts in Manipur on Wednesday night and Thursday morning. This comes a day after two police personnel were killed and six others injured in an attack by armed militants in Tengnoupal on Wednesday morning, taking the toll over the two days to seven dead and nine injured. Across Thursday, there were violent protests in several parts of the state that continued to be tense, with security personnel and the administration struggling to put a lid on violence that has now lasted eight months. Police personnel fire tear gas at protesters in Imphal on Thursday. (PTI)

Also Read: Amid the violence, a search for Manipurs missing

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Senior police officials confirmed that in Bishnupur district, four people, all Meiteis, were killed by armed miscreants at Ningthong Kha Khunou around 2pm on Thursday. The deceased have been identified as Ningthoujam Nabadeep (40), Oinam Bamonjao (63), Oinam Manitomba (37) and Thiyam Somen (56). Four persons were killed in an attack by armed miscreants on Thursday afternoon. We have managed to recover all the bodies and sent them to Regional Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) in Imphal for postmortem and other formalities, Meghachandra Singh, Bishnupur superintendent of police said.

The four killed were reportedly tilling a farm when they came under attack, and after the deaths, there were protests that erupted in several places in parts of the Imphal Valley. In a separate incident earlier in the morning, a gunfight broke out between armed village volunteers at Kangchup in Imphal West district, where a 23-year-old identified as Takhelambam Manoranjan, a Meitei, was killed.

Also Read: CBI files chargesheet against five in Manipur arms loot case

Since May 2023, Manipur has been in the throes of ethnic violence between the majority Meitei community and the tribal Kukis, with other communities increasingly sucked into the violence that has continued unabated. Over the past eight months, at least 207 people have lost their lives, and over 50,000 people have been displaced. The fallout of the long-running ethnic hostilities has meant that the Meiteis, who live largely in the plains of the Imphal valley, and the Kukis, who predominantly live in the hills, have withdrawn to their respective strongholds. In response, security forces have created buffer zones in different border districts, which have also been divided on ethnic lines. They have also set up camps and are posted on the highway to ensure that the groups remain separated, do not enter each others districts, and trigger violence. But often, militants from both groups use the hills and the jungle area to cross into other districts and attack each other, according to security officials. The sweeping ethnic violence has also led to the creation of community based armed defence volunteers, underlining how faultlines have deepened beyond the Meitei-Kuki divide, pitting different communities and groups against each other.

Thursdays incidents come after a violent Wednesday night, when three BSF personnel sustained bullet injuries after a mob attacked security forces and police installations in Thoubal. An irate mob targeted the 3rd Indian Reserve Battalion (IRB) in Khangabok, Thoubal district. Security forces repelled them using minimum necessary force, said a statement issued by Manipur Police around 1am on Thursday.

Also Read: 3 BSF men injured in mob attack in ethnic violence-hit Manipurs Thoubal

The statement added that the mob attempted to breach Thoubal police headquarters and that armed miscreants from among the mob fired with live rounds. As a result, three personnel from BSF sustained bullet injuries namely constable Gourav Kumar, ASI Sobram Singh, and ASI Ramji. The injured security forces have been evacuated to Raj Medicity for medical treatment, the statement said. Following the attack, total curfew was imposed in Thoubal.

Officials said that the attack was a reaction to events earlier on Wednesday morning when two police commandos, both Meiteis, were killed and six others were injured after they came under an RPG attack by armed militants in Moreh, bordering Myanmar. In view of the deteriorating law and order situation in the district, where total curfew was imposed from Tuesday, the Manipur government had even sought a helicopter from the union home ministry to airlift security personnel and ammunition to Moreh.

Also Read: 2 Police commandos shot dead in Manipur gunfight

Kuldiep Singh, security adviser to the Manipur government admitted that the heightened tension was a cause for concern, and said that forces across the state have been alerted. Forces are trying to tighten things but somehow or the other, Kuki militants are taking an active role in targeting innocent civilians and security forces all over, he said.
Lucknow: The Samajwadi Party and the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) on Friday announced an alliance for the upcoming general elections. Per the agreement, the Akhilesh Yadav-led party will leave seven seats in Western Uttar Pradesh for Jayant Chaudhary's party. Jayant Chaudhary with Akhilesh Yadav.

"Congratulations to everyone on the alliance of RLD and SP. Let us all unite for victory," Yadav said in a post on X.

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Chaudhary said he os always ready to protect national and constitutional values.

"We expect all workers of our alliance to move forward together for the development and prosperity of our region," he wrote on X.

An RLD leader told PTI that his party will contest seven seats in western Uttar Pradesh.

Uttar Pradesh has 80 Lok Sabha seats. The Bharatiya Janata Party has been scoring landslide victories in the state since 2014.

Also read: Akhilesh responds to Mayawati's chameleon jibe, reveals SP's 2024 dream

RLD and SP contested the 2022 assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh. The alliance proved to be beneficial for both the parties -- the SP 111 seats while the RLD bagged 8 seats.

In the 2019 general elections, RLD was part of the SP-BSP alliance. It contested from Mathura, Baghpat and Muzaffar Nagar seats but lost all three seats. The SP and the BSP won 5 and 10 seats respectively.

The announcement of the alliance comes amid efforts by the Opposition's INDIA bloc to stitch alliances in several states, including UP, Delhi and Punjab.

Also read: Akhilesh Yadav dissolves Samajwadi Party's Madhya Pradesh unit

Several Opposition leaders, including TMC chief Mamata Banerjee, had skipped the bloc's meeting this month.

RLD is very popular among the Jat community and has influence in Jat-dominated constituencies like Muzaffarnagar, Kiarana, Bijnor, Mathura, Baghpat, Amroha and Meerut.

During the Madhya Pradesh assembly election, Akhilesh Yadav had a public spat with the Congress after the latter denied the SP seats saying the INDIA bloc was meant for national politics. Yadav had called the move "betrayal".
The Congress party on Friday sharpened its attack on Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma after the BJP leader threatened to arrest two bad elements participating in the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra. Jairam Ramesh, Congress general secretary in charge of communications, said that the chief minister is rattled by the tremendous response the party's outreach programme has received over the past two days in the northeastern state. Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma launched a counterattack and termed the Gandhi family "the most corrupt" one in the country.(ANI)

The Assam CM can abuse and defame, he can threaten and intimidate but we are not afraid. He is obviously disturbed by the huge impact of the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, which will continue in Assam for another six days in spite of his continuing efforts to derail it, Ramesh said in a social media post on X.

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Sarma was asked if the yatra would would pass through Guwahati, to which he said the participants had been told not to travel through the city as it has medical colleges and hospitals.

"We will give permission for any alternative route if they seek," he added.

If the Congress reach Guwahati without permission, no case will be filed then as "I don't want to give them unnecessary limelight in the national media", he said.

A case will be filed later and two "bad elements" participating in the rally will be arrested 3-4 months after the Lok Sabha elections, the chief minister said without divulging the identity of his "targets".

Ramesh insisted that no rules have been broken during the Assam leg of the yatra.

Assam CM is making all attempts to stop people from joining the Bharat Jodo Nyaya Yatra. No one can stop this yatra. We are in Assam for the next 7 days. Let them arrest us, we accept the challenge, he told ANI.

Reacting to Sarma's remark, Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi said, The people are with us. We will not be scared of anyone of any FIR. In a democracy, no government can stop us.

On Thursday, the Assam chief minsiter launched a counterattack on Rahul Gandhi after the Congress leader called him the most corrupt CM in India.

Speaking to reporters in Guwahati after a function of BJP workers at its state headquarters, Sarma said: "This is not a 'Nyay Yatra', it's a 'Miya Yatra'. Wherever there are Muslims, there will be a crowd. Wherever there are no Muslims, there will be no crowd."

'Miya' is originally a pejorative term used for Bengali-speaking Muslims in Assam and the non-Bengali speaking people generally identify them as Bangladeshi immigrants. In recent years, activists from the community have started adopting this term as a gesture of defiance.

"Even their women will not come out, only the men will be there. In Assam, it will be a Miya Yatra minus women. I am not giving much importance to this Yatra because a handful of Miyas will participate in it," the BJP leader said.
Various public sector entities across the country, including banks, insurance companies, financial institutions, and regional rural banks (RRBs), are set to remain closed for half a day on January 22 on the occasion of Ram Lalla Pran Pratishtha ceremony in Ayodhya. Several BJP-ruled states have also declared a public holiday or half-day on January 22 to allow people to actively participate in the festivities surrounding the consecration of the Ram temple. Cutouts of Lord Ram and Prime Minister Narendra Modi put up ahead of the consecration ceremony of Ram Mandir, in Ayodhya, Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024. (PTI)

Central govt half-day closure

The Department of Personnel and Training (DOPT) issued an order on Thursday, mandating a half-day closure for central government establishments on Monday. The order extends to central government offices, institutions, and industrial establishments throughout India and will be in effect until 2:30pm on January 22. The ministry of finance confirmed that the same applies to public sector banks, insurance companies, financial institutions, and RRBs.

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Several state governments have taken similar steps to honour the historic event.

Uttar Pradesh

Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath has given instructions for a statewide holiday in all educational institutions on January 22. He said the liquor shops would also remain shut in the state on the day of the ceremony.

Madhya Pradesh

Madhya Pradesh chief minister Mohan Yadav has announced that all schools will remain closed on January 22, encouraging people to celebrate the day like a festival. Yadav also declared a dry day in the state on the day of the consecration ceremony.

Keeping in view the public sentiments, we have decided that January 22 will be a dry day in the state. All types of shops including liquor, and Bhang outlets will remain closed, Yadav wrote on X.

Rajasthan

Rajasthan government has declared a half-day holiday in the state in view of the consecration ceremony of Ram temple. Cabinet Minister Kanhaiya Lal Choudhary said that he has sent a request to the chief minister to change it to a full-day leave on January 22.

Chhattisgarh

The Chhattisgarh government has declared January 22 as a holiday for all state government schools and colleges.

The whole world knows Siyaram. I salute you as much as I can. There will be a holiday in all government and non-government schools and colleges of Chhattisgarh on 22 January, the day of the consecration of Prabhu Shri Ram Temple in Ayodhya, Chief minister Vishnu Deo Sai said in a social media post on X.

Haryana

The Haryana government has also announced the closure of schools and a dry day on the occasion of the consecration ceremony.

Assam

The state of Assam announced a half-holiday for all government offices and educational institutions until 2:30pm.

Tripura

The government of Tripura also announced that all state government offices and educational institutions in the state will remain closed until 2:30pm on January 22.

Goa

The Goa government has declared a public holiday for government employees on January 22.

Legal fraternity requests judicial holiday

Chairman of the Bar Council of India, Manan Kumar Mishra, has requested Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud to declare a judicial holiday across all courts on January 22. This request is to ensure that the legal fraternity can also participate in the Ayodhya Ram Mandir 'Pran Pratishtha' ceremony.
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New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday said that it is conscious of governments commitment to generate solar power while implementing steps to preserve the endangered bird specie, the Great Indian Bustard (GIB), and gave three weeks to the Centre to propose a way forward that can balance the twin issues. The GIB is listed as Critically Endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature in its Red List of threatened species. (File photo)

Monitoring implementation of its earlier order of April 19, 2021 directing the installation of bird diverters and undergrounding of overhead transmission lines in areas of Gujarat and Rajasthan, where the bird is predominantly found, the Court questioned the efficacy of bird diverters and said that any order passed by Court should be judicially manageable. The order was passed in a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by environment and wildlife activist MK Ranjitsinh and four others seeking measures to protect the GIB.

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A bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud on Friday was confronted with applications filed by solar and wind energy producing companies who found the top courts order to come in the way of setting up their business. Even the Centre conveyed to the Court practical difficulties and the enormous cost involved in implementing the decision.

We are conscious that we are dealing with an issue involving development where India has to achieve alternate energy goals. Our order has to balance both interests, said the bench, also comprising justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra.

The Court asked Attorney General R Venkataramani to propose a way forward by February 9, the next date of hearing in an order which said, The AG states that a comprehensive status report will be filed indicating the various steps by the Union government for preservation of GIB and ensure solar power is made available, considering Indias commitment at the international level.

The ministry of new and renewable energy (MNRE) had in the past filed an application to modifiy the April 19 judgment and had stated that it is working towards achieving the target set by Government of India to install 1,75,000 MW (excluding large hydro) of renewable energy capacity by 2022 and further increase it to 4,50,000 MW by 2030. Under the Paris Agreement, India is committed to achieve about 40% cumulative electric power installed capacity from non-fossil fuel-based energy resources by 2030.

The ball is now in your Court, the bench told AG, adding, Once the government states what the way forward can be, we will not be groping in the dark. The top law officer agreed to file a comprehensive affidavit before the next hearing.

Also Read: CEA regulations violate SC rules: Activists on Great Indian Bustards protection

The solar energy producers represented by senior advocates Abhishek Manu Singhvi and Mukul Rohatgi noted practical difficulties in implementing the Courts order. The entire area where the Courts order is to operate has solar power generating units. There are high tension wires running overhead. Undergrounding of wires will require them to be joined at places which can be hazardous, Singhvi said.

The Court said, Anything we do must be judicially manageable. We dont want to blame anyone but we are faced with a slew of applications while implementing our orders which is not feasible for us to manage. Do we have scientific study tracing deaths to transmission lines. Also, one has to be aware of practical realities as undergrounding will involve agricultural land.

The associations of solar power generators and power developers in the region estimate that it would cost 55,000 crore to lay underground cables.

Even on bird diverters, Rohatgi pointed out that since these birds have low vision they tend to collide with the transmission lines. As directed by the Court, bird diverters have been installed along the overhead wires. These diverters can be seen easily by these birds. But undergrounding of these lines is not feasible, he said.

The Court wished to know if any credible study was conducted on how effective the bird diverters are to prevent further bird casualties. We directed installation of bird diverters but we must be cognizant of what impact it is having on ground. Should we be spending public money on it without knowing its efficacy, the Court remarked.

Senior advocate Shyam Divan who represented the petitioners informed the Court that despite all efforts by Centre and states, there was recently another death of a GIB due to collision. The Court enquired, Has any government mandated study been done so far on as to what extent the bird diverters are efficacious. While awaiting the Centres response, the bench said that the government could benefit by considering action taken by other countries such as UAE where these birds are found.

The Court further directed the chief secretaries of Rajasthan and Gujarat to place an updated status report on the steps taken pursuant to its April 2021 order.

A three-member expert committee constituted by the Court to consider feasibility of laying underground power cables was also directed to provide an updated report of its work by the next date. This committee comprised Rahul Rawat of the ministry of new and renewable energy (MNRE), Sutirtha Dutta of Wildlife Institute of India (WII) and Devesh Gadhavi, deputy director of Corbett Foundation.

As per the Union government, at the time when the expert committee was constituted, there were 150 GIBs and 16 more were added by breeding them in captivity. Predators preying on the eggs laid by these birds was seen as a major factor requiring their protective breeding

The GIB is listed as Critically Endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in its Red List of threatened species. They are also protected under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.

According to WII, the potential GIB habitat in Rajasthan and Gujarat extends to 80,688 square kilometers, which includes approximately 13,550 square kilometer priority habitat area. The WII report also recommended undergrounding of around 200 km of overhead power lines and installing bird diverters on all other power lines to make them prominent for GIB.

The GIBs habitat in Rajasthan covers heritage districts of Jaisalmer and Jodhpur and parts of Bikaner and Barmer. As this region is also crucial for developing renewable energy, the state government and Centre felt that the laying down of underground power lines will prove to be counter-productive.
All the 11 men convicted in the Bilkis Bano gangrape case of 2002, who are currently out on remission, are under police watch and are not missing, PTI reported on Friday, quoting a senior Gujarat Police officer. A file photo of Bilkis Bano, who was gangraped during the 2002 riots in Gujarat.(PTI)

They have been under police watch ever since the SC gave its verdict (on January 8, quashing the remission granted by the Gujarat government), Assistant Superintendent of Police, Limkheda division, Bishakha Jain said. "We contacted all of them on that day itself and it did not appear that they had any intention of going incommunicado after the verdict."

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On January 8, a bench of justices BV Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan of the Supreme Court scrapped the remission granted to the 11 convicts in the case and directed them to surrender in two weeks.

The bench said Gujarat usurped the power of Maharashtra, where the original trial of the convicts happened, to grant remission, and nullified a 2022 judgment by another bench of the top court, which had directed Gujarat to consider the remission applications of the 11 convicts, saying it was obtained by playing fraud on court.

Also Read | Understanding the remission guidelines set out in the Bilkis Bano case by the Supreme Court

Some media reports thereafter had claimed that most of the convicts were missing and that their families were unaware of their whereabouts.

On Friday, Jain, however, refuted the claims and said that the convicts knew that they had to surrender and that they voluntarily came to the police station after the Supreme Court order on January 8, reported PTI.

"They knew that they had to surrender, and they voluntarily came to the police station after the SC order (of January 8) to inform us about their whereabouts. It is not true that they have gone missing," said the IPS officer.

The convicts belong to Singvad and Randhikpur villages in Singvad taluka of Dahod. Days before the deadline to surrender, they petitioned the Supreme Court to seek more time to surrender, citing reasons such as meeting family responsibilities, caring for aged parents, harvesting winter crops and health conditions.

However, earlier today, the Supreme Court rejected the applications by the 11 convicts in the case seeking more time to surrender.

A bench of justices BV Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan said that the court already gave them two weeks to surrender. We gave you enough time to arrange your affairs. The reasons cited by the applicants for postponement of surrender and report back to jail have no merit as these reasons do not prevent them from complying with our direction of January 8, it said.
Civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Thursday said that the country domestic air passenger traffic will double in the next six years, reaching 300 million by the end of 2030. Civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia addresses the inaugural session of Wings India 2024 in Hyderabad on Thursday. (ANI)

The domestic traffic in the last calendar year was 153 million. The number went from 60 million in 2014, to 153 million in 2023, just within nine years. Well grow to 300 million by 2030, Scindia said.

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That is the potential that India holds not only to herself, but also to Asia and to the world, he added.

The minister added that even with 300 million domestic passengers by 2030, India will still be one of the most under-penetrated markets across the top 20 countries in the world.

Highlighting the potential of the sector in India during the Wings India event in Hyderabad on Thursday, the minister said, Looking at the potential that this market holds for the decades to come from an Indian perspective, under the guidance of our prime minister, we are preparing for this potential. We are preparing for the potential by creating capacities, removing bottlenecks, simplifying procedures, so that by 2047, when India achieves her 100th year of independence, this civil aviation sector is able to support not a current $4 trillion economy but a $20 trillion economy.

The minister also launched another phase of the regional connectivity scheme UDAN 5.3.

This regional connectivity scheme has truly transformed the arena and our sector... today under Udan, infrastructure has been built at 76 airports, waterdromes and heliports. Close to 517 new routes have been operationalised that could not have been dreamt of in the past, he said.

Talking about the governments plans for last-mile connectivity, Scindia said, It is our aim in the future to expand the capability of a heliport so that every district in our country has a modern heliport that is put in place. We have also enhanced safety and security.

The minister added that domestic air traffic has surpassed the peaks recorded in the pre-Covid period.  Domestic traffic in the last 10 years has grown at a CAGR of 15.3%. International traffic has grown at a CAGR of 6.1%

The minister said that India is now the third largest domestic civil aviation market in the world and the seventh largest international civil aviation market in the world. If both domestic and international are combined, then India is the fifth largest civil aviation market in the world, he said.

He added that today, India has become the largest purchaser of aircraft in the world after the US and China. Our fleet size is going to grow from 713 to upwards of 2,000 in the next decade.

In 2023 alone, Indias airlines placed orders for 970 aircraft.

In February last year, Air India placed orders for 470 aircraft, including from Airbus and Boeing.

In June 2023, IndiGo placed an order for 500 A320Neo aircraft.

Speaking about the growth in the cargo sector, Scindia said, Our domestic cargo traffic over the last 15 years has grown by close to 60% and our international cargo traffic by close to 53%.
The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) on Friday issued a notice to e-commerce platform Amazon Seller Services Private Ltd following a complaint by a traders body that several food companies were selling Shri Ram Mandir Ayodhya Prasad online, which constituted fraud. (Representative Photo)

Authorities examined samples of such brands, selling snacks such as ladoo, and found the label prasad (consecrated offering to the deity) from the Ram temple, Ayodhya, to be misleading.

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An official statement said such foods violated provisions of the Consumer Protection Act 2019, including those against misleading claims and unfair trade practices. The CCPA has sought a response from the e-commerce giant within a week.

Also Read: SC judges who gave Ayodhya verdict invited to Ram Lalla pran-pratishtha ceremony

The CCPAs action has come amid Ayodhyas preparations for the January 22 inauguration ceremony of the Ram temple by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The temple town is expected to get an economic boost as it gears up for millions of devotees who will visit it.

While the CCPA has targeted four food products, three contain the words Shri Ram Mandir Ayodhya Prasad, while one of the snack brands did not use these wordings but advertises its ladoos as a memorable offering that can be taken to the deity in Ayodhya. Even that is potentially liable for action, a senior official said.

CCPA chief commissioner and Union secretary of consumer affairs Rohit Kumar Singh said, You cannot mislead in the headings. Most people dont read the fine print.

The CCPAs action came after a written complaint by the Confederation of All India Traders Praveen Khandelwal to Union consumers affairs minister Piyush Goyal regarding Amazons Unscrupulous Trade Practices in the name of Lord Ram, which HT has reviewed. Amazons reaction was not available till the time of filing this report.

CCPAs Singh said no penalties had been slapped on Amazon, but it had been only been called to explain the products.
A prominent government autonomous college in Kochi was shut down indefinitely on Thursday following the stabbing of a faculty member and a student in separate incidents on the campus, officials familiar with the matter said. Police said no arrests have been made and the investigation is going on to find out what exactly happened and the reasons behind the incidents of stabbing in Maharajas College in Kochi. (HT Archives)

The incidents of violence occurred in the span of a few hours at the Maharajas College, an institution located in the heart of Kochi known for its frenetic campus politics and academic rigour.

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An officer at the Ernakulam Central police station, where multiple cases have been registered, said Abdul Nasser, the unit secretary of the Students Federation of India (SFI), was stabbed allegedly by members of the Fraternity Movement around 1 am on Thursday near the hostel premises. SFI is the student wing of the CPI(M).

Nasser was rushed first to a government hospital and then to a private hospital in the city where he is under treatment. His condition is said to be stable.

Hours earlier, on Wednesday, Assistant Professor Nizamudheen KM of the Department of Arabic was stabbed with a sharp weapon within the college premises allegedly by a student who also belongs to the Fraternity Movement. The professor was suspected to be attacked for his bias towards SFI and its members.

Both SFI and Fraternity Movement members have given complaints against each other on the basis of which cases have been registered. In both cases, section 307 (attempt to murder) and section 308 (attempt to commit culpable homicide) have been used among other charges. The students involved and the professor are under treatment and their statements are being taken, said the police officer.

No arrests have been made and the investigation is going on to find out what exactly happened and the reasons behind the incidents of stabbing, the officer said.

The officer added that a skirmish was also reported on the premises of the government hospital between the students of both parties and a case has been registered on the basis of the duty doctors complaint.

Dr VS Joy, principal of the college, said, Following the incidents of violence, the governing body council was convened today to assess the situation and a decision was taken to shut down the college and the hostel indefinitely. Let the police investigation take place on the reasons behind the violence.

Maharajas College has a chequered history of political violence which reached a high in July 2018 when Abhimanyu, a second-year B.Sc Chemistry student and a member of the SFI, was stabbed to death within the college premises allegedly by members of Campus Front, the student wing of now-banned PFI.
The Congress on Friday repeated its corrupt CM attack on Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. In a post on social media platform X, the Congress said that the CM had filed an FIR against the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra after he was rattled by Rahul Gandhi exposing his corrupt regime. Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma (HT File)

The party wrote on X, The BJP could not stop Shri @RahulGandhi from starting the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra in Manipur and questioning the destructive politics of the BJP in the state. Rahul ji also highlighted the empty promises made by the PM to the people of Nagaland."

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The Yatra now travels through Assam, and CM Himanta Biswa Sarma seems rattled as Rahul ji is exposing the corruption under BJP's rule. The BJP CM is now resorting to intimidation tactics by filing an FIR against the Yatra. We will not let the BJP deter Rahul Gandhi ji from demanding NYAY for the people of Assam, it added.

On Friday, the Assam Police took legal action against Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Nyaya Yatra, alleging that the organizers had strayed from the officially approved route.

Launching an attack on CM Himanta Sarma earlier in the day, Cong general secretary Jairam Ramesh said, The Assam CM can abuse and defame, he can threaten and intimidate but we are not afraid. He is obviously disturbed by the huge impact of the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, which will continue in Assam for another 6 days inspite of his continuing efforts to derail it, Jairam Ramesh wrote on X.

On being asked if he would let the yatra pass through Guwahati, Assam CM said on Thursday, We will give permission for any alternative route if they seek.

Sarma said that if the Congress reaches Guwahati without permission, a case will be filed against them later. He said two "bad elements" participating in the rally would be arrested 3-4 months after the Lok Sabha elections. Reacting to his remark Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi said, The people are with us. We will not be scared of anyone of any FIR. In a democracy, no government can stop us.

Speaking to reporters in Guwahati Himanta Biswa Sarma had said, "This is not a 'Nyay Yatra', it's a 'Miya Yatra'. Wherever there are Muslims, there will be a crowd. Wherever there are no Muslims, there will be no crowd."

"Even their women will not come out, only the men will be there. In Assam, it will be a Miya Yatra minus women. I am not giving much importance to this Yatra because a handful of Miyas will participate in it," the BJP leader added.
Bengaluru: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday taunted Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah at an event in Bengaluru, where the two leaders shared stage. As the crowd began chanting 'Modi-Modi', the Prime Minister turned towards the Congress leader and said such things happen. Bengaluru: Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses the gathering during the inauguration of Boeing India Engineering and Technology Centre (BIETC).(PTI)

"Mukhyamantri ji, aisa hota rehta hai (Mr Chief Minister, such things often happen)," he said.

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The viral video of the exchange shows the Congress leader smiling uncomfortably.

The two leaders attended the inauguration of Boeings new global engineering and technology campus in Bengaluru.

After inaugurating the facility, PM Modi addressed a gathering, where the crowd chanted his name.Siddaramaiah is one of the most bitter critics of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government's policies.

Built at a cost of 1,600 crore, the 43-acre state-of-the-art Boeing India Engineering and Technology Centre (BIETC) campus is the firm's biggest investment outside the United States.

The campus at Hightech Defence and Aerospace Park in Devanahalli on the city outskirts will become a cornerstone for partnerships with the vibrant startups, private and government ecosystem in India, and will help develop next-generation products and services for the global aerospace and defence industry, Boeing said.

PM Modi also launched Boeing's social programme aimed at supporting the entry of more girl children from across India into the countrys growing aviation sector. The programme will provide opportunities for girls and women from across India to learn critical skills in the science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields and train for jobs in the aviation sector, a company statement said.

With inputs from PTI, ANI
The Election Commission of India on Wednesday ordered suspension of senior IAS officer P S Girisha, presently collector and district magistrate of Annamayya district of Andhra Pradesh, for the alleged malpractices during the by-election to Tirupati Lok Sabha seat held on April 17, 2021, people familiar with the matter said on Thursday. The Election Commission had ordered an inquiry into a BJPs complaint that more than 35,000 bogus electoral photo identity cards were supplied to the people to impersonate as genuine voters during the Tirupati Lok Sabha bypoll on April 17, 2021. (REUTERS)

Girisha was the commissioner of Tirupati Municipal Corporation and returning officer for the by-election to the Tirupati Lok Sabha seat, when the alleged irregularities took place during the polling.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

A senior official in the state secretariat said on condition of anonymity that the ECI had ordered a detailed inquiry into a complaint lodged by the Bharatiya Janata Party stating that more than 35,000 bogus electoral photo identity cards (EPICs) were supplied to the people to impersonate as genuine voters during the polling.

In a letter written to BJP Andhra Pradesh unit president Daggubati Purandeshwari on January 8, chief electoral officer Mukesh Kumar Meena said the ECI had inquired into the complaint that thousands of fake voters were given fake EPIC cards for voting by impersonation during the by-election to Tirupati parliamentary constituency.

The ECI had verified the data of such digital printouts of the EPIC cards submitted by the BJP, which alleged that the 35,000 such EPIC cards were illegally downloaded and printed with real photo blurred for use by the bogus voters transported from other places, he said.

The ECI instructed district election officer (DEO), Tirupati, to conduct an enquiry. As per the information given by the DEO, a criminal case has been filed under Sections 417 (cheating by inducement), 420 (cheating), 409 (criminal breach of trust by public servant), 109 r/w 34 (abetment of crime) of Indian Penal Code, besides various sections of Information Technology Act.

A First Information Report (FIR) was registered on January 7, 2024 in Tirupati East police station and investigation initiated, Meena said.

Speaking to reporters in Vijayawada, BJP state general secretary Matta Prasad told reporters that during the enquiry, it was found that the login ID and password of IAS officer Girisha, who was acting as the returning officer for Tirupati LS by-election, were used by somebody else to download the fake EPICs.

Nearly 35,000 voter ID cards were downloaded from the system using the login and password of the returning officer. The photographs of these EPICs were morphed and used for impersonation during the polling, the BJP leader said and alleged that similar irregularities had taken place in almost all the districts in Andhra Pradesh.

The secretariat official quoted above said the ECI had instructed the chief electoral officer to identify other officials involved in the downloading of the EPICs using the returning officers login ID and password.

While Meena did not responded to calls and text messages, Girisha could not be reached for his comment.
National Conference president Farooq Abdullah on Friday hit out at the Bharatiya Janata Party for allegedly sending out invitations for the Ram temple consecration ceremony, to be held on January 22, in Ayodhya. Does Lord Ram belong only to the BJP? Who are they to send invitations to people? Do I need an invitation to visit Umrah if I want to? Does anybody need an invite to visit the Ram temple? Farooq Abdullah said while interacting with reporters. Jammu and Kashmir National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah (ANI)

Farooq Abdullah added that anybody who wants to visit the Ram temple could do so without any invitation. The National Conference leader has earlier expressed happiness about the making of the Ram temple in Ayodhya, saying brotherhood was diminishing in India and there was a need to revive it.



"Ayodhya Ram temple is about to be inaugurated. I would like to congratulate everyone who made the effort for the temple. It's ready now I also want to say to the entire nation that Lord Rama doesn't only belong to Hindus. He belongs to everyone in the world. He is the Lord for all the people across the world. It's written in the books," Abdullah had earlier said.

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Asserting that Lord Ram was not just the God of Hindus but everyone, Farooq Abdullah said, Lord Ram is the god of everyone, Muslims, Christians, and others. Similarly, Allah is also everyone's God, not just of Muslims.

A very prominent writer from Pakistan, who passed away recently, wrote that Ram was also sent by Allah to show the right path to the people. So, those who say that we are the only devotees of Ram, are fools. They only want to sell Ram, they don't have any affection for him he added.

The Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust has sent invitations to the people of all walks of life for the consecration ceremony of the Ram temple. The list of people invited included politicians, celebrities, industrialists and the like.

Earlier on Friday, the CEO of the Serum Institute of India Adar Poonawalla confirmed that he was invited to attend the pran-pratishtha ceremony.

In a post on X Adar Poonawalla wrote, I am humbled to receive the invitation to the Prabhu Shri Ram Lalla Mandir at Ayodhya through senior RSS functionaries like Shri. @Manojpochat, Pracharak Shri. Kedar Kulkarni & Shri. Prasad Lawalekar. Wholeheartedly I have accepted the invitation and it will be an honour to visit the Shri. Ram Mandir soon.

Others, including senior Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge, sportspersons Virat Kohli, Sachin Tendulkar and businessmen Mukesh Ambani, Ratan Tata, and TS Kalyanaraman, have received the invitation to attend the Ram temple consecration ceremony.

However, Sonia Gandhi, Kharge, Lalu Prasad Yadav and several other opposition leaders have decided to skip the grand ceremony, calling it a BJP's political event.

"While abiding by the 2019 Supreme Court judgment and honouring the sentiments of millions who revere Lord Ram, Shri Mallikarjun Kharge, Smt. Sonia Gandhi and Shri Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury have respectfully declined the invitation to what is clearly an RSS/BJP event," the statement issued by Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh read.

Meanwhile, opposition leaders such as Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal accepted the invitation.

The consecration ceremony of Ram Lalla is scheduled to take place in Ayodhya on Monday, Janaury 22. The trust has sent out invitations to more than 11,000 guests from across the country, and special preparations are in progress to ensure that all attendees receive gifts during the ceremony.

(With inputs from ANI)
The sadhus in saffron with their gamchas (cotton towel) are out on the streets before the break of the dawn, silently walking to the Saryu for a holy dip  an age-old daily routine. Many then visit the Nageshwarnath temple, believed to have been built by Rams son Kush, or Hanuman Garhi. Rarely do they walk to the heavily barricaded makeshift Ram temple. A devotee on the banks of the Saryu river in Ayodhya. (HT Photo)

Now, after the consecration ceremony on January 22, many plan to start their day with prayers at the Ram Temple. The last time the city was buzzing this way was in the 1980s, the decade that changed the course of the 150-year-old dispute.

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The saga began on March 6, 1983, when at its Muzaffarnagar convention, the Hindu Jagran Manch passed a resolution for the liberation of Ram Janmabhoomi in Ayodhya, Krishna Janmabhoomi in Mathura and the Kashi Vishwanath Temple in Varanasi.

In 1984, 500 Hindu saints gathered at Delhis Vigyan Bhawan and endorsed the demand. Dharmacharyas decided to lead the movement, pressing for a shilanyas or groundbreaking. The BJP, formed in 1980, was still nascent. Only in 1989 would it formally adopt the emotive issue as part of its charter.

Sadhus started countrywide yatras, demanding the unlocking of the disputed shrine. Minorities were alarmed. In 1986, a Faizabad court judge unlocked the gates. The Babri Masjid Action Committee was formed.

As pressure built, Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi succumbed and sent then home minister Buta Singh for an early morning dialogue with Vishwa Hindu Parishad leaders. The VHP signed an agreement with the UP government to abide by the directives of the high court and ...not change the nature of the property in question.

As a result, the shilanyas was held outside the disputed site on November 10, 1989. A seven-cubic-feet large pit was prepared to lay the symbolic foundation of the singhdwar -- the main entrance of the sanctorum. On August 30, 1990, the karyashala (workshop) was set up, and stone consignments started coming in from Rajasthan.

After the shilanyas, the public was unstoppable. I remember meeting a very old couple carrying some broken bricks and mud on their heads. We dont mind dying after performing kar sewa for the temple, they said to me. In the general elections held in 1989, the BJP grew from two seats to 85, and supported the National Front government led by Vishwanath Pratap Singh.

In Uttar Pradesh, Mulayam Singh Yadav became the chief minister. The dispute raged. The BJPs national leader, LK Advani, started the Somnath-Ayodhya yatra, and was arrested by then Bihar chief minister Lalu Yadav. Mulayam felt betrayed as he had decided to take on the BJP with a firm hand. And then the 1990 firing on the kar sevaks happened.

In the 1991 Lok Sabha and UP elections , the BJP won 120 seats and 221 respectively . The Congresss PV Narsimha Rao became PM and Kalyan Singh took over as UP chief minister .

Soon after its formation in 1991, the Kalyan Singh government acquired land opposite the disputed shrine through a notification, ostensibly to promote tourism and provide amenities to the pilgrims. The acquisition was challenged in the court, which disallowed the transfer of land or construction of a permanent structure. The government continued to demolish various temples and buildings -- Sankat Mochan, Sakshi Gopal Mandir, Falahari Baba, and Sumitra Bhawan among them -- to level the ground near the plot. In early 1992, the government gave 42 acres of land to the Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas, the trust overseeing the movement then, on a 99-year lease for an annual rent of 1 per year, for the construction of Ram Katha Park. The trust also bought some land.

Kalyan Singh also assured the courts and the National Integration Council that status quo would be maintained and the disputed structure, protected. Calls for handing over the undisputed land to the Nyas grew louder.

In December 1992, kar sevaks assembled on this land. Mobs demolished the Babri Masjid. They also built a makeshift temple, installed Rams idol there, before dispersing from Ayodhya. The Centre, thereafter, acquired 67.703 acres of land, including the plot belonging to the trust.

Heavy iron barricades were built and forces deployed for the security of the makeshift temple. For some time the issue remained shelved. But after the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government took over in 1999, the demand to hand over land to the trust intensified. A symbolic bhoomi puja was held in 2002 by Digamber Akhara Mahant Ramchand Paramhans who dodged the police and reached the site with a brick.

The Supreme Courts 2019 order finally ended the dispute. The construction of the temple also brought true VHP stalwart Ashok Singhals words from decades ago :Yes, Ram temple will turn into a reality; it may not happen in our lifetime, but it will
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday rejected applications by the 11 men convicted in the Bilkis Bano gang rape case seeking more time to surrender, saying the top courts January 8 order already gave them two weeks to surrender. Bilkis Bano was gang-raped during the Gujarat 2002 riots (PTI Photo)

We gave you enough time to arrange your affairs. The reasons cited by the applicants for postponement of surrender and report back to jail have no merit as these reasons do not prevent them from complying with our direction of January 8, a bench of justices BV Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan said.

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According to the January 8 order that quashed the Gujarat governments decision to grant remission to the convicts, the 11 men are required to surrender before the Gujarat jail authorities on or before January 21.

Also Read: 10 Bilkis case convicts ask Supreme Court for more time to surrender

Days before the deadline, they petitioned the top court to seek more time to surrender, citing reasons such as meeting family responsibilities, caring for aged parents, harvesting winter crops and health conditions.

At Fridays hearing, the lawyers appearing for the convicts, one by one, presented their reasons to seek an extension.

But the bench was unmoved. We had already given you two weeks to organise your affairs, the court said.

Another convict, Bakabhai Khimabai Vohania, - he filed his application just before the case came up on Friday - said he was an agricultural labourer and needed to harvest crops.

Senior advocate V Chitambaresh appearing for one of the convicts, Ramesh Rupabhai Chandana, said that he was 62 years old, unmarried and had to take care of his aged parents. I need some breathing time to surrender.

That gives you all the more reason to surrender, the court replied.

Also Read: In Bilkis Bano order, the rule of law is upheld

The release of the 11 men and their public felicitation just months ahead of the Gujarat elections in 2022 sparked widespread condemnation. The January 8 verdict scrapping the remission held that Gujarat usurped the power of Maharashtra, where the original trial of the convicts happened, to grant remission. The bench also nullified a 2022 judgment by another bench of the top court that directed Gujarat to consider the remission applications of the 11 convicts, saying it was obtained by playing fraud on court.

Bano, 21 was gang-raped and her seven family members were killed during the 2002 riots in Gujarat. The top court had in December 2003, transferred the probe to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the next year, shifted the trial to Mumbai. The convicts were sentenced to life imprisonment by the Mumbai court in 2008 and the Bombay high court upheld their conviction and sentence in 2017.
New Delhi: Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, who is serving a 20-year-jail term in Rohtak's Sunaria jail for raping two disciples, has been granted a 50-day parole on Friday. This comes just 29 days after he walked back into Rohtak's Sunaria jail after spending 21 days out on a furlough. Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh is serving a 20-year jail term at Rohtaks Sunaria jail.

During his parole, Gurmeet Ram Rahim will stay at an ashram in Uttar Pradesh's Baghpat.

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On November 21, 2023, he walked out of the jail in Haryana's Rohtak on a 21-day furlough.

He walked back to the jail last month. After spending just 29 days in jail, he got another reprieve.

In 2023, he came out of the jail thrice.

Also read: Dera chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim to walk out of jail again, but with a rider

In November, he stayed at Dera Sacha Sauda Ashram in Barnawa in Uttar Pradesh's Baghpat. Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee president Harjinder Singh Dhami had strongly objected to the Haryana government's move to grant the furlough to the Dera chief, saying he was serving a sentence for heinous crimes like rape and murder.

Dhami had said it was fostering an atmosphere of mistrust among the Sikh community. He had said the Dera chief was repeatedly being granted temporary release from the jail but governments were not listening to the voice raised by the Sikh community for the release of 'Bandi Singhs' (Sikh prisoners).

Last year, he spent nearly three months out of prison.

He got a 30-day parole in July. In January last year, he got a 40-day parole.

In October 2022, he was granted a 40-day parole. Prior to his October parole, he had come out of the prison on a month-long parole in June 2022. Besides, he was granted a three weeks' furlough from February 7, 2022.

In 2021, Gurmeet Ram Rahim and four others were convicted for conspiring to kill Dera manager Ranjit Singh. In 2019, he was convicted for murdering a journalist 16 years ago.

With inputs from PTI
Ram Tapeshwar Das stands in the shadow of the gleaming stone-and-marble building that he has called home for decades, busy barking instructions. The 70-year-old is frenetic; only a few days remain for the opening of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, but a lot of work remains to be done. And for Das, the chief priest of Nepals biggest temple, the Janaki Mandir, its not just a religious exercise, it is also a personal one. Last week, everyone in Janakpur saw off a team of around 300 leave with 10,000 pieces of Gharbasak bhar or gifts for housewarming, to mark the entering of Ram and Sita in their new abode in Ayodhya. (HT Photo)

After all, for Das, and the roughly 100,000 residents of Janakpur, believed to be the birthplace of Sita, she is not a queen or maiya (mother) but only a didi (sister). In accordance with the Maithili culture, it is customary to send offerings from the daughters maternal home on auspicious occasions taking place in her husbands home. Upholding this tradition, Janakpur, as the maternal home of Sita, who was married to the then crown prince of Ayodhya, Rama, is sending offerings to Ayodhya, said Das.

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Last week, everyone in Janakpur, from newborns to nonagenarians, saw off a team of around 300 leave with 10,000 pieces of Gharbasak bhar or gifts for housewarming, to mark the entering of Ram and Sita in their new abode in Ayodhya. The offerings encompass various types of jewellery, utensils, clothing and sweets, decoratively arranged in specially crafted bamboo baskets, said Das.

The white marble arches, domes, turrets and screens of the magnificent three-storey temple tower over the town. The walls are adorned with Madhubani paintings depicting scenes from the Ramayana, and 60-odd rooms feature coloured glass, engravings, paintings, and lattice windows and turrets.

Today, the town  located roughly 20km from the Indian border in northern Bihar  serves as the most important node of Hindu faith in Nepal. Most people are farmers and small businessmen, the incomes are low and industrialisation nascent, as is the case across the vast stretch of the countrys Terai region.

Our didis marriage was solemnised here. So, what can be a more proud day for us than our brother-in-law entering a new home? I know our pahun (brother-in-law) doesnt need any help in getting a home but Narendra Modiji has become the medium of his gharwas or grih-pravesh, Das said.

Das is busy making preparations to travel to Ayodhya, but is certain that Janakpur will celebrate the consecration with fervour. At least 125,000 lamps will be lit. The women will sing badhai-geet for the celebrations. They will also undertake cultural processions, he added.

The festive sentiment is palpable across the Mithila region that stretches across the India-Nepal international boundary and is framed by the Ganga on the southern side and the foothills of the Himalayas in the north. In Bihars Sitamarhi town, which is believed to be where King Janak found Sita while ploughing a field, the fervour has reached fever pitch.

Over the weekend, a team of over 500 people, including sages and devotees, left the village in 150 vehicles to Ayodhya. Four trucks and two chariots carried gifts for Ram and Sita from Paunahi Dham, the local temple. Every household sent laddu, khaja, ganja, khajuri, pidukia, gold and silver jewellery, clothes, sacred thread, copper, brass, steel and silver utensils. Seeing the enthusiasm of the devotees, the gifts kept increasing. Earlier, we had decided to send 1,001 gifts but it reached 10,001 by the time we left for Ayodhya, said Kaushal Kishore Das, the chief priest of Paunahi.

One of the people leading the mobilisation programme is Kameshwar Chaupal, a former Bharatiya Janata Party lawmaker who laid the first brick of the figurative shilanyas of the temple on November 9, 1989. I come from a poor scheduled caste family in Supaul district. January 22 will be the start of Rama-RajyaAnd since Ram cant be complete without Sita, being the residents of Mithila, well leave no stone unturned to make him complete, he said.

Across Mithila, Sita and Ram are household names who bring communities together across caste or religious lines. My religious belief apart, Ram is our brother-in-law. I shall pray for the safety and security of his new abode, said septuagenarian Mohammad Mustafa, adding that he will observe a fast on January 22. His wife Bibi Zubeida said that every year, she watches Vivah Panchami, or the day Ram and Sita were believed to have wed. I wish I could see our Bihariji entering his new home, said the 68-year-old.
MUMBAI: Maratha activist Manoj Jarange-Patil on Friday rejected an appeal by chief minister Eknath Shinde to put off his march to Mumbai to demand inclusion of the Maratha community in the Other Backward Classes (OBC) for quotas in government jobs and education Maratha reservation activist Manoj Jarange Patil plans to begin an indefinite hunger strike after the march reaches Mumbai on January 26 (PTI FILE PHOTO)

There is a limit to everything. The youth (from the Maratha community) are coming to seek justice. CM Shinde and deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis should closely watch as we are leaving for Mumbai tomorrow morning, Jarange-Patil said on Friday.

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The statement was his response response to the chief minister Eknath Shinde who asked him to review the decision to march to Mumbai when the government was still making efforts. We have made the promise and are working on it. I urge and request Jarange-Patil to take a conciliatory stand when the government is positive. He should avoid holding a protest, Shinde said.

The government was bringing legislation in February for reservation to the Maratha community, Shinde said, underlying that this would be done without affecting reservation to the OBC and other communities. This reservation will pass legal scrutiny... A curative petition has also been filed before the Supreme Court, he said.

The Maratha activist has previously announced that the march, which will start from Jalna on Saturday, will reach Mumbai on January 26 after covering 400 km in seven days.

In Mumbai, Jarange-Patil plans to sit on an indefinite hunger strike, either at Azad Maidan or at Shivaji Park. His supporters insist that lakhs of people from the community would join him in the agitation. It is planned that the protesters will walk three to four hours every day, and then switch to vehicles for the second half of the day after lunch.

On Saturday, the march will start from Antarwali Sarathi village in Jalna to Shirur of Beed district covering over 82 km. The following day, the march will reach Karanji Ghat in Ahmednagar. By the end of day three, The march is expected to reach Ranjangaon in Pune by the end of day three, Chandan Nagar in Pune by day four, Lonavala by day five and Panvel by the sixth day. On January 26, they will start walking either from Panvel or from Chembur to Azad Maidan or Shivaji Park to start an indefinite hunger strike.

For how much time can I take a conciliatory stand as we have given a total of seven months to the government to fulfil the promise? Last time, a march to Mumbai was declared on December 23 but the government failed to issue certificates to 54 lakh Marathas, he said.

I was positive for so many months. But there is a difference between being positive and implementation, he said.
The Supreme Court observed on Thursday that petitions on the validity of immunity to husbands from marital rape represent an important issue that will have to be heard and decided, agreeing to consider listing the matter on an early date. Chief Justice of India Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud said, It is an important issue that will have to listed (PTI)

The case has not been effectively heard since January 2023.

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We will hear the matter. Give me time until evening. We will try and see where we can give a slot between the Constitution bench hearings. It is an important issue that will have to listed, Chief Justice of India Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud told a bunch of lawyers associated with the case.

In January, matters pertaining to marital rape were listed at least four times before a three-judge bench, which also included justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra. However, they could not be heard because the CJIs court has been hearing some important Constitution bench matters, including the minority status of Aligarh Muslim University.

On Thursday, senior counsel Indira Jaising mentioned the matter before the CJI, requesting a fixed date of hearing. Advocate Karuna Nundy, who appears for one of the petitioners in the case, made the same request on Wednesday.

The court is seized of a batch of petitions that relate to the exception to section 375 of the Indian Penal Code, which exempts forcible sexual intercourse by a man with his wife from the offence of rape.

While a set of public interest litigation (PILs) have challenged the validity of the immunity clause in the IPC on the grounds of discrimination against married women who were sexually assaulted by their husbands, the split verdict by the Delhi high court in May 2022 is also pending before the top court for a final word.

The judges of the Delhi high court disagreed with each other in their 2022 judgment with one of them terming the clause protecting husbands from prosecution for non-consensual sex with their wives as morally repugnant, while the other saying it did not violate any law and could continue to exist.

One petition before the Supreme Court is an appeal by a man whose trial for raping his wife was approved by the Karnataka high court in a March 2022 ruling. While the top court in July 2022 stayed the trial in this case, the then Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled Karnataka government filed its affidavit in November last year, supporting the criminal prosecution of the husband. The then Basavaraj Bommai-led government contended that the IPC permits the prosecution of a man for raping his wife and therefore, a husbands trial under section 375 is valid. The new government in Karnataka has so far not clarified whether it abides by the stand of the BJP government.

By an order on January 16, 2023, the court appointed advocates Pooja Dhar and Jaikriti S Jadeja as nodal counsel in the matter to prepare a common compilation and collaborate with all the lawyers in the matter to facilitate the proceedings.

On that day, the Union government told the court that making marital rape a criminal offence would have social ramifications, which is why it has commenced the process of consultation with states and other stakeholders.

Solicitor general Tushar Mehta maintained during the proceedings last year that the subject cannot be looked at only through the prism of legalities and that its social impact must also be considered. The Centre, however, is yet to file its affidavit to bring on record its final stand.

While delivering a judgment in a case related to the medical termination of pregnancy, the Supreme Court said in September that the pregnancy of a married woman due to forcible sex by her husband can be treated as rape under the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, in what was the first legal recognition of marital rape under an Indian statute.

In 2017, the top court interfered with exception 2 of section 375, but only to the extent that it protected husbands from prosecution under the rape charge if the wife was not below 15 years. The Supreme Court read down the exception clause to hold that a wife must not be below 18 for the immunity to operate. At the same time, it clarified that no opinion was being rendered on the issue of marital rape.
Hyderabad: Boeing does not expect any significant delays in its 737 MAX aircraft deliveries to India due to the problems following the recent Alaska Airlines 737 MAX-9 plane incident, Darren Hulst, vice president of commercial marketing of Boeing said on Friday. (Representative Photo)

Hulst while speaking at the Wings India event on Friday here said, We dont anticipate any meaningful delay in aircraft delivery due to the B737 MAX 9 crisis. Our focus is on improving quality...and so our focus is not on numbers necessarily, but its on achieving the best aircraft every single time

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He added that the American aircraft manufacturer has installed an additional layer of quality checks in place to ensure that all future planes meet the highest standard of quality.

This comes a few days after Boeing said that it would bring in an outside party to assess its production practices.

Inspection of Boeing planes has been enhanced after the door plug of the Alaska Airlines craft blew off mid-air when it was flying from Portland to California (in the US), forcing the plane to make an emergency landing minutes after take-off.

A few days before this, an international operator, on December 28, had discovered a bolt with a missing nut while performing routine maintenance in their Boeing aircraft. As a result of this, Boeing recommended all the airlines inspect their B737 Max fleet.

The aircraft manufacturer has been struggling to restore passengers confidence after the two crashes involving planes of the 737 Max group crashed in 2018 and 2019. Many passengers lost their lives in the crash, forcing authorities to ground the 737 Max fleet globally for over 18 months.

According to Boeings estimations, airlines based in South Asian countries, including India, will add more than 2,700 aircraft over 20 years  quadrupling the regions current fleet.

The South Asia market is expected to quadruple its fleet over the next two decades to meet passenger demand. Boeing forecasts the region will require 37,000 pilots and 38,000 maintenance technicians over the next 20 years, driven primarily from growing demand in India, the company said.

In its forecast, Boeing said that the South Asia region will become the fastest-growing commercial aviation market with more than 8% annual traffic growth over the next 20 years.

Also Read: PM Modi inaugurates new Boeing India centre in Bengaluru. 6 things to know

According to Boeings Commercial Market Outlook (CMO), to meet rising passenger and cargo demand, South Asian carriers are projected to quadruple the size of their fleets over the next two decades.

Carriers will require more than 2,700 new airplanes to address growth and fleet replacement, the aircraft manufacturer said.

Hulst said that the Indian low-cost carriers continue to stimulate demand and connect emerging regions with low fares, holding nearly a 90% share of all domestic seats in the region. ...This reflects the rapid pace of the regions recovery and economic activity, as traffic and capacity now exceed pre-pandemic levels, he added.

Long-haul traffic and capacity to and from India and South Asia will lead the way globally, relative to 2019, as nonstop services to North America, Europe, East Asia, and Oceania continue to be added, Boeing said.

Strong economic growth and confidence in the commercial aviation market have led to record orders for new, more efficient airplanes in India, the company added.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday was overwhelmed with emotions as he dedicated more than 90,000 houses completed under PMAY-Urban in Maharashtra. A total of 15,000 newly constructed houses of Raynagar Housing Society in Solapur were handed over to beneficiaries, including handloom workers, vendors, power loom workers, rag pickers, Bidi workers, drivers, and others. Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Addressing a gathering in Solapur, the prime minister said, Under the PM Awas Yojana, the inauguration of the country's largest society has taken place."

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Fighting back his tears, he added, I went to see it and wished if I had a chance to live in such a house when I was a kid. I feel content when I see that the dreams of thousands of families have been fulfilled. And their blessings are the biggest asset for me.

The Prime Minister went on to highlight the transformative impact of the PMAY-Urban scheme on the lives of countless families.

"This marks a significant milestone in our commitment to providing affordable housing to the underprivileged. The completion of these houses is a testament to the government's dedication to uplifting the living standards of those who have historically been on the fringes of society," he added.

The housing project, part of the ambitious PMAY-Urban scheme, aims to address the housing needs of the urban poor by providing them with pucca houses with basic amenities.

Prime Minister Modi asserted that his government is inspired by Lord Rams principles of governance with honesty and urged people to light Ram Jyoti on January 22.

Modis guarantee means guarantee puri hone ki guarantee. Lord Ram taught us to honour commitments made and we are fulfilling all goals we set for the welfare of the poor and their empowerment, he said.

Lord Ram did the work that made his people happy. My government is dedicated to the welfare and empowerment of the poor. We launched schemes to mitigate their hardships, he said, adding that the role of middlemen has been completely eradicated in his governments welfare schemes.

PM Modi also inaugurated various development projects under the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) 2.0 scheme in Solapur. These projects are designed to enhance the urban infrastructure and quality of life in the region.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday inaugurated the new Boeing India Engineering and Technology Centre (BIETC) campus in Bengaluru. The Boeing India Engineering and Technology Centre in Bengaluru.(ANI)

The prime minister said that the facility will serve as a hub for innovation and drive advancements in aviation. He also said that the campus will strengthen the identity of Bengaluru.

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Bengaluru is a city that connects aspirations with innovation and achievement. Bengaluru connects India's technological capability with global demand, he said at the launch.

Here's everything you need to know about the new Boeing centre:

Spread across 43 acres, the Boeing India Engineering and Technology Centre (BIETC) campus was built using an investment of  1,600 crore.

1,600 crore. The new campus is said to be Boeing's largest investment outside the United States.

According to the government, Boeings new campus in India will become a cornerstone for partnership with the vibrant startup, private and government ecosystem in India.

It will help develop next-generation products and services for the global aerospace and defence industry

According to media reports, the BIETC will hold a 3,000+ diverse engineering workforce that would contribute to global aerospace growth.

Boeing will also partner with the Indian armed forces to boost the aircraft demand in the defence sector and contribute to Aatmanirbhar Bharat, they said.

At Friday's launch, PM Modi also launched the Boeing Sukanya Programme which aims to support the entry of more girl children from across India into the countrys growing aviation sector.

Also Read | Boeing makes further inroads in the Indian aviation market with big Akasa Air order

The programme will provide opportunities for girls and women from across India to learn critical skills in the science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) fields and train for jobs in the aviation sector.

Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah was also present during the launch ceremony. He said that occasion adds yet another feather to the illustrious cap of Karnataka, a state that has consistently stood at the forefront of technological advancement in India.
Police are investigating allegations that 21 girls aged four to 14 at a private orphanage in Indore were abused and tortured in horrifying ways such as being branded with iron tongs, forcibly made to inhale smoke from burning red chillies, and hung upside down from a railing, officials said on Thursday. Another inmate told officials that the management would hang them upside down from the railing on the first floor, and forced them to inhale chilli smoke as punishment (Getty Images)

An FIR under Sections 323 (physical assault) of the Indian Penal Code and Section 75 of the Juvenile Justice Act (punishment for cruelty to a child) was registered a week after the Indore child welfare committee and the district administration inspected the orphanage.

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Senior officials of the committee said they were intimated of the allegations of abuse at the orphanage run by the Vatsalyapuram Jain Trust on January 12, after which they raided the premises on January 13.

We rescued 21 girls who have now been shifted to two other shelters in Indore. On Wednesday, committee chairperson Pallavi Porwal filed a complaint at the Vijay Nagar police station against four persons, including the manager and caretakers, the official said. The accused are yet to be arrested.

Sangeeta Chaudhary, a CWC member who is part of the probe, said there were 25 girls registered at the orphanage and 21 were present in the premises on the day of the raid.

Of the 21, there are only three that belong to Madhya Pradesh while the others are from Gujarat, Odisha, Maharashtra and Rajasthan, Chaudhary said. She added that the trust, which also has orphanages in Bengaluru, Surat, Jodhpur and Kolkata, was running without being registered under the JJ Act for the past three years.

Officials said statements by the inmates suggested they all lived in a single hall, where they would sleep, eat and study. There was only one changing room, and mattresses were laid out on the floor.

The girls have said that if they did not complete their homework, they were often locked up in the washroom for two days without food and water, and were sometimes branded with iron tongs, the official said. In a medical examination on Thursday, at least two girls showed signs of burn injuries on their bodies, officials said.

One statement registered with the committee, which HT has seen,documented that the caretaker and managers of the orphanage would give the children stale food and rotten fruits. If we refused to consume them, the caretaker would force us to eat them and thrash us, the statement said.

Another inmate told officials that the management would hang them upside down from the railing on the first floor, and forced them to inhale chilli smoke as punishment.

Bhagwan Das Sahu, child protection officer of the women and child development department, said, We have found that there was no restriction on the visits of outsiders. There are several pictures of men in the orphanage. The girls have said that a male partner of the caretaker spent at least five days at the orphanage a few weeks ago. This is all against the existing norms.There has been no allegation of sexual harassment but we are continuing counselling and medical examinations, and we will know more then.

CB Singh, town inspector of the Vijay Nagar police station said, The FIR has been registered under IPC section 323 and section 75 of the JJ Act. The medical examination was carried out on Thursday of all the 21 girls who were rescued and we may add more stringent sections based on the medical reports. The investigation is underway.

Shikha Jain, director of the trust, rejected the allegations of abuse and said while the Madhya Pradesh government wanted them to register under the Juvenile Justice Act, they did not take aid from the government and therefore did not need to do so. The trust is 40-year-old and runs orphanages in five dates. All these allegations are false and fabricated, Jain claimed.

CWC chairperson Pallavi Porwal said, The JJ Act came into force to protect the minors from all kind of harassments and give them safety and security. What do they mean by that they didnt want to register under the Act. In India, laws are equal for all and they are receiving financial aid in the name of protection and shelter of child. All the orphanages and shelters have to register under the JJ Act so that officials can visit the place for monitoring.
Slogans and graffiti supporting Khalistan was found on the boundary wall of a government school in Delhi's Uttam Nagar area on Friday, news agency ANI reported. The Delhi Police have initiated a thorough investigation to identify those who sketched the objectionable graffiti. Pro-Khalistan graffiti found written on the boundary wall of a government school(X/@ANI)

In a similar incident earlier this week, pro-Khalistan graffiti was found on a pillar in West Delhi's Nihal Vihar area and an FIR was lodged in connection with the incident.

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A senior police officer said the graffiti reading 'SJF, January 26, Khalistan' was painted on the pillar by an unidentified person in a very secluded area.

"The area where the graffiti has been painted is very secluded and hardly anyone goes there. We suspect that the person painted the graffiti on Monday night," the officer had said.

The official further said that the police are probing the incident and checking the CCTV footage of the area to identify the person who painted the graffiti.

The incidents came ahead of the Khalistani terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun's threats for 75th Republic Day. Pannun had warned about hoisting the Khalistani flag in Delhi on January 26.

Several photos of pro-Khalistani graffiti reportedly painted across the national capital threatening to "avenge" the death of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

Nijjar was killed outside a Gurdwara in Canada's Surrey in June 2023. Pannun has been actively exhorting gangsters and young people over social media to stand for Khalistan.

The Sikh For Justice (SFJ) founder, who was declared a 'designated individual terrorist' by the Centre in 2020, has issued such threats against India in the past, too.

Last month, Pannun released a video in which he threatened to attack Parliament on or before December 13, the anniversary of the 2001 Parliament attacks.

The government has banned the SFJ-- a group campaigning to establish Khalistan carved out of India -- as an "unlawful association" in 2019 citing its involvement in "anti-national and subversive" activities.

Pannun has been on NIA's radar since 2019 when the probe agency lodged its first case against the terrorist, who has been playing a major role in promoting and commissioning terror acts and activities.

(With inputs from agencies)
The idol of Ram Lalla was placed inside the sanctum sanctorum of the Ram temple in Ayodhya on Thursday, ahead of the Ram Janmabhoomi mandir 'pran-pratishta' ceremony on January 22. The 51-inch Ram Lalla idol, sculpted by Mysuru resident, who has a family background of five generations of famous sculptors, was brought to the temple on Wednesday. The first photo of the Ram Lalla idol, which is covered with a veil, was revealed during the placement ceremony (X)

The first photo of the Ram Lalla idol, which is covered with a veil, was revealed during the placement ceremony in the sanctum sanctorum on Thursday. The photographs were shared by media in-charge of Vishwa Hindu Parishad Sharad Sharma.

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News agency ANI reported that Vedic Brahmins and revered acharyas were seen leading worship ceremonies inside the sacred precincts of the temple. The Vishwa Hindu Parishad said members of the Ram Janmabhoomi Tirth Kshetra also participated in the prayers.

Arun Dixit, a priest associated with the consecration ceremony, told news agency PTI that the Ram Lalla idol was placed in the sanctum sanctorum on Thursday afternoon. This was done amid the chanting of prayers, the Shri Ram Janmbhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust said.

The idol of Ram Lalla being taken inside Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Temple complex through a crane, ahead of its consecration ceremony, in Ayodhya, on January 17. (PTI)

Arun Dixit said the 'pradhan sankalp' was performed by Anil Mishra, a member of the trust. The idea behind the 'pradhan sankalp' is that the 'pratishtha' of Lord Ram is being done for the welfare of all, for the welfare of the nation, for the welfare of humanity, and also for those who contributed to this work, PTI quoted Arun Dixit as saying.

He added that other rituals were also performed. Vastras were also given to Brahmins and work has been assigned to everyone, he added.

Devotees at 'Havan Kunds' prepared for the consecration ceremony of Ram Temple, in Ayodhya on January 18.(PTI)

Ram temple pran-pratishtha ceremony on January 22

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend the January 22 'pran pratishtha' ceremony at Ayodhya's Ram temple. A team of priests led by Lakshmikant Dixit will perform the main rituals. Several celebrities and noted personalities have also been invited to the ceremony.

The temple is expected to be opened to the public on January 23.

Rituals leading to the consecration ceremony have already started at the temple, constructed at what many devout believe marks the spot where Lord Ram was born. In 1992, 'kar sevaks' demolished the Babri Masjid that stood there.

In 2019, a historic Supreme Court judgment on the temple-mosque dispute paved the way for the construction of the temple.

(With inputs from agencies)
Twelve students and two teachers lost their lives after a boat capsized in Harni Lake on the outskirts of Vadodara city in Gujarat on Thursday evening. The victims were part of a larger group of 29 individuals on the ill-fated boat. Gujarat chief minister Bhupendra Patel inspects the accident site of Harani Lake after a boat carrying children capsized, in Vadodara on Thursday.(ANI)

The boat, with a designated capacity of 14 people, was overloaded with nearly double that number. The alleged absence of essential safety equipment like life jackets and the lack of personnel designated for rescue operations have raised serious questions about the preparedness and adherence to safety regulations at the popular recreational spot.

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Atul Gamechi, a prominent social activist, expressed outrage over the tragic event, alleging various lapses in safety measures.

"This is a very sad incident for the city of Vadodara. The boat had a capacity of 14 people; however, 27 people were made to sit in it. Ideally, there should have been two rescuers in the boat, but they were not present. Also, no life jackets were provided. There are no CCTV cameras here. The Vadodara Municipal Corporation and the contractor are involved in corruption," Gamechi said, calling for accountability.

The Gujarat government has ordered a high-level probe into the incident, with the Vadodara district collector directed to submit a detailed inquiry report within 10 days. The inquiry aims to identify the reasons and circumstances leading to the tragedy, assess potential negligence, and suggest measures to prevent similar incidents in the future.

An FIR (First Information Report) has been registered under sections 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and 308 (attempt to commit culpable homicide) of the Indian Penal Code, and two individuals have been arrested so far in connection with the case.

Gujarat home minister Harsh Sanghavi told reporters that teams have been formed to apprehend any other individuals found responsible for the incident, and a comprehensive investigation is underway to determine the circumstances that led to the tragedy.

In a message on social media platform X, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, "Distressed by the loss of lives to a boat capsizing at the Harni lake in Vadodara. My thoughts are with the bereaved families in this hour of grief. May the injured recover soon."

"The local administration is providing all possible assistance to those affected. An ex-gratia of 2 lakh each from PMNRF would be given to the next of kin of each deceased. The injured would be given 50,000," the PM further said.
The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed an appeal filed by the Punjab government against the bail granted to Congress MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira in a case registered against him in 2015 under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. Kapurthala, Jan 15 (ANI): Congress MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira gets bail from Kapurthala court in a criminal intimidation case, in Kapurthala on Monday. (ANI Photo) (ANI)

We are not inclined to interfere with the impugned order passed by the high court, said a bench of justices Bela M Trivedi and KV Viswanathan, refusing to stay the bail order.

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On the materials you have relied on and in the background of the case, when the high court has already applied its mind, we dont think its a fit case for interference by this court, the bench held.

While the allegations are indeed serious, the bench added, it was not inclined to review the high court order of granting bail to Khaira in the facts and circumstances of this case. This is a case registered in 2015. We are now in 2024. The high court has already looked into everything and granted bail, it added.

On a contention that Khaira could be a threat to witnesses and that he has been making controversial statements after his release, the bench said that the state government was at liberty to bring all the relevant facts to the notice of the trial court or the high court.

Subsequent events cannot be a reason to interfere with the order now...We are not interfering nor are we going to comment on anything. We are not granting anything in this matter, it further remarked.

The Punjab and Haryana high court on January 4 granted bail to the Congress MLA from Bholath in the 2015 drugs case. However, the reprieve was short-lived as he was arrested by the Kapurthala police in another case, for allegedly threatening and intimidating a witness in the NDPS case.

A Kapurthala court on January 15 released Khaira on bail in the second case, paving the way for the three-time MLA to walk out of Nabha jail four months after he was arrested in the 2015 drugs case on September 29 last year.

In its appeal before the top court, senior counsel Sidharth Luthra, representing the Punjab government, argued that the bail order completely ignored section 37 of the NDPS Act, mandating the court to be satisfied that there were reasonable grounds for believing that the accused was not guilty of such offence and that he was not likely to commit any offence while on bail.

Senior advocate PS Patwalia, representing Khaira, contended that the state government had malice against the Congress leader as Patwalia cited his clients arrest in another case hours after he was released on bail by the high court in the 2015 case.

The drugs case was registered in March 2015 at Jalalabad in Fazilka. Nine people, including Gurdev Singh, allegedly a close aide of Khaira, were booked and later convicted. The police reportedly seized two kg of heroin, 24 gold biscuits, a country-made pistol, a .315-bore pistol and two Pakistani SIM cards from them.

Khaira was arrested in September in connection with the 2015 case following a further investigation, triggering accusations of political vendetta against the states ruling Aam Aadmi Party from the Congress.

Khaira was also arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in 2021 on charges of money laundering linked to the 2015 case. He was, however, granted bail in 2022.
The Supreme Court on Friday declined to stay the expulsion of former Tamil Nadu deputy chief minister O Panneerselvam (popularly known as OPS) and three others from the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagham (AIADMK) during a general council meeting of the party in July 2022, saying the injunction at this stage will lead to a huge chaos. The top court further addressed the issue of pending trial to determine the intra-party dispute. (File photo)

How can we stay the resolution at an interim stage? It will be virtually allowing the suit. Even a prima facie case wont be enough to grant you an injunction... It will lead to a huge chaos, remarked a bench of justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta, dismissing the plea moved separately by the leaders.

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Adding that there was apparently a split in the party, the bench observed that the dispute will have to work itself out in a trial by leading evidence and staying the resolution of expulsion will spark different problems.

Continue with the suit. We cannot pass any order at this stage. If we interfere at this stage, it will amount to decreeing and allowing the suit at this stage... You will have to succeed in the suit for the relief you ultimately want, it told a bunch of senior advocates appearing for OPS and his three supporters  JCD Prabhakar, R Vaithilingam, and PH Manoj Pandian.

Also Read: HC to hear OPSs appeal against order over use of AIADMK name and symbol

Senior advocates KK Venugopal, Guru Krishnakumar and Gopal Sankaranarayanan, representing the petitioners, complained that the expulsion has resulted in a political death for the leaders and that they have been unjustly forced out of their own party.

The decision in the trial in the suit may take five years. Should we be left in limbo indefinitely? This court has the power to undo any injustice, Venugopal argued.

But the bench remained unmoved.

We know what we are doing. We will not interfere. There are two reasons. First, by allowing your plea at this stage, we will be allowing your suit. Second, it does appear to us that theres a split which will have to work itself out in a suitable way, it responded.

In its dismissal order, the bench recorded that granting injunction will have its own unpalatable consequences.

At the same time, the bench clarified that the observations by the Madras high court in its order refusing to stay the expulsion will not be treated as expression of merits on the case.

The top court further addressed the issue of pending trial to determine the intra-party dispute and the order of expulsion, recording in its order that it expected that the trial in the civil suit will proceed expeditiously and that parties will not take unnecessary adjournments.

It granted three weeks to the AIADMK general secretary and former chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami (popularly known as EPS) three weeks to file written submissions in the pending suit. Senior lawyer CA Sundaram represented the EPS camp in the apex court.

By an order on August 25, 2023, the Madras high court had refused to stay the expulsion of OPS and three others from the AIADMK, noting the bylaws of the party made it clear that the general council is the ultimate authority to take disciplinary action against any party members and that the merits of their decision in expelling the leaders is necessarily a matter for trial.

On July 11, 2022, the partys general council meeting elected EPS as the interim general secretary and expelled OPS. In the days that followed, all of OPSs supporters, including his two sons, were removed from the AIADMK.

On September 2, the high court upheld EPSs appointment; this was also done by the Supreme Court on February 23, 2023. Later, in March 2023, EPS was elevated as AIADMK general secretary.

The AIADMK had a dual leadership model following former party president and chief minister J Jayalalithaas death in December 2016. Both EPS and OPS had merged their warring factions and functioned as joint coordinator and coordinator, respectively, in the party. In the government, they were chief minister and deputy chief minister, respectively.

After the party lost the 2021 assembly elections, EPS became leader of the opposition and OPS, the deputy leader. But EPS and his supporters started pitching for a unified single leadership because the dual leadership arrangement was not working.

Matters came to a head at a June 23 meeting last year when OPS wanted a resolution backing the dual leadership structure, and the EPS camp wanted to discuss a return to a unified leadership. After a court ruling restricted the meetings scope, preventing it from discussing the latter, the council vetoed all items on the agenda (including the one backing the dual leadership model).

A subsequent meeting on July 11 saw OPSs expulsion, along with several others, and EPSs appointment as interim general secretary.
The Supreme Court on Friday refused to extend the deadline of surrender by 11 convicts of the Bilkis Bano gangrape case. Earlier, a batch of petitions was filed by 10 of the convicts, seeking more time to surrender, citing reasons such as family responsibilities, care for aged parents, harvesting of winter crops and health conditions. Supreme Court of India (ANI File Photo)

While rejecting the plea, the apex court said reasons cited in the application do not prevent them from complying with the January 8 order to surrender within two weeks.

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Also read: Why Bilkis Bano remission verdict makes crucial legal points

In their petition, nine convicts sought an extension of six more weeks, whereas one asked for an additional time of four weeks.

As the winter crops produced by the applicant are ready for harvesting and other processes, the applicant needs five to six weeks for such harvesting and other processes. to be completed, one of the convicts, Mithilesh Bhatt, said in his application.

On January 8, the top court scrapped the Gujarat government's remission, allowing the premature release of all 11 people convicted for raping Bilkis Bano and murdering her family members during the 2002 communal riots. The court observed that the Gujarat government didn't have jurisdiction over the remission of a sentence awarded in Maharashtra. It said the Gujarat government had usurped the power of the Maharashtra government by not filing the review petition against the May 2022 judgment.

"We need not have gone into the other issues. But for the sake of completion, we have. The rule of law is breached because the Gujarat government usurped power not vested in it and abused its power. On that ground, the remission orders also deserve to be quashed. We strike down the remission orders on the ground of usurpation of power by the Gujarat government," the bench said.
The Directorate of Estates has sent a team to evict former Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra from her government bungalow in Delhi, reported PTI quoting an official. The team was sent a day after the Delhi High Court refused to stay the eviction notice issued to the TMC leader asking her to vacate the bungalow. Former TMC MP Mahua Moitra.

"A team has been sent to evict the TMC leader from the government bungalow allotted to her as an MP," PTI quoted an official as saying.

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Moitra's counsel Shadan Farasat, however, insisted that "no eviction took place at all" and that her lawyers handed over the possession of the house to the Directorate of Estates.

"House number 9B Telegraph Lane occupied by Ms. Mahua Moitra was fully vacated by 10 am this morning 19/1/2023 and possession handed over by her lawyers to Directorate of Estates who are inspecting and engaged in due process. Premises were vacated before authorities arrived and no  eviction took place at all," the lawyer said in the statement.

Moitra, in her plea challenging the eviction notice from the DOE, had cited medical reasons to urge the high court to restrain the authorities from evicting her from the government bungalow following her expulsion.

Senior advocate Brij Gupta, representing Moitra, submitted she had undergone a surgical procedure and was admitted to a private hospital.

Justice Girish Kathpalia said no specific rule has been brought before the court which dealt with the eviction of MPs from government accommodation after they cease to be lawmakers. The court said Moitra was allotted government accommodation which was incidental to her status as a MP, and the status having ceased upon her expulsion that has not been stayed by the Supreme Court despite the hearing afforded to her, she currently has no right to continue in the bungalow.

 accordingly, under Article 226 of the Constitution, she cannot be granted protection as sought. The allotment of government accommodation to the petitioner was co-terminus with her status, which has come to an end upon her expulsion. No specific Rule has been brought before this court which would deal with the eviction of Members of Parliament from the government accommodation after they cease to be the members, it said.

"To conclude, in view of the pendency of the issue of expulsion of petitioner (Moitra) before the Supreme Court and the issue of extension of time to vacate the government accommodation being inextricably linked with that, coupled with the fact that as on date petitioner has no right, this court is not inclined to invoke jurisdiction under Article 226 of the Constitution of India at this stage to restrain the operation of the impugned eviction order. Accordingly, the application stands dismissed," the court said in its order.
What are the perks of booking a holiday in Lakshadweep? Experience serene white sand beaches, vibrant coral reefs, soothing melody of crashing waves amid lush green landscapes, and receive a complimentary plate of 'chole bhature' from a restaurant in Uttar Pradesh. Mr. Bhatura  a restaurant chain in Noida and Ghaziabad  is offering a plate of its 'special chole bhature' free for those who have booked a trip to Lakshadweep or cancelled their visit to the Maldives.(HT file)

Yes, that's right! A restaurant in Uttar Pradesh's Noida has introduced an enticing offer  a free plate of chole bhature with every Lakshadweep booking or any cancelled trips to the Maldives, amid India's diplomatic row with the island nation.

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Joining the #BoycottMaldives campaign, Mr. Bhatura  a restaurant chain in Noida and Ghaziabad  is offering a plate of its 'special chole bhature' free for those who have booked a trip to Lakshadweep or cancelled their visit to the Maldives, India Today reported.

"Through this, we want to promote tourism in Lakshadweep. We started this scheme on Saturday and the response has been very good. In the NCR region itself, 10 people have availed the scheme and they have appreciated it. We now plan to extend the scheme till the end of January," Vijay Mishra, owner of the restaurant, was quoted as saying by India Today.

He added that it is not only about doing business but about showing support to the country and its tourism sector.

Speaking about the unique ad, the restaurant chain owner said he came up with the idea after Maldivian ministers started making derogatory remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The India-Maldives relations came under some stress as President Mohamed Muizzu, widely seen as a pro-China leader, maintained after assuming charge as the president in November last year that he would keep his election promise of evicting Indian military personnel from his country.

The Maldives is one of India's key maritime neighbours in the Indian Ocean Region and the overall bilateral relationship including in areas of defence and security witnessed an upward trajectory under the previous government in Male.

Earlier, the Maldives media reported that Mohamed Muizzu has asked India to withdraw the Indian troops from the island nation before March 15.

Muizzus latest move comes a week after a social media storm in which three of the islands ministers were suspended for alleged derogatory comments made against Indians and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Indian leaders, celebrities and tour companies responded by cancelling holidays to the island and vowing to boost tourism to domestic islands instead.
Mumbai: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said that welfare upliftment of the poor is Modi ki Guarantee as he distributed keys of the houses built in one of the largest workers townships in India to the beneficiaries at Solapur on Friday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was in Solapur in Maharashtra on Friday for an event (Twitter Photo)

During a ceremony at Kumbhari in Maharashtras Solapur district on Friday, Modi dedicated 90,000 houses built under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna (PMAY) in Maharashtra. He also handed over keys to houses in the RAY Nagar Housing Society of 15,000 homes to the beneficiaries, who include textile workers and workers from unorganised sectors such as beedi workers and rag pickers.

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This township was promoted by Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader and former Solapur MLA Narsayya Adam, who shared the dais with Modi.

Urging people who got the houses to light Ram Jyoti on January 22, when the consecration of the Ayodhya Ram temple will be held, Modi said it will be an inspiration to eradicate poverty from their lives.

My government gave home to the 4 crore (40 million) people who did not have their own home. Now, today we are giving 90,000 homes under PMAY. I urge all 90,000 people who got home today across Maharashtra in Prime Minister Awas Yojna to celebrate Ram temple inauguration on January 22 by lightning Ram Jyoti in their new home, said Modi.

Speaking at the event, Modi called upon the economically weaker sections to dream big and assured that he would work to fulfil their dreams, adding that India will be among the top three economies in the world soon.

He emphasised how the schemes implemented by his government have been beneficial for the poor and how their lives have changed in the last 10 years.

Modi said Garibi Hatao was just a slogan earlier because schemes did not reach beneficiaries. He said that the welfare of the poor and the dignity of labour have been his governments focus.

Earlier governments only gave slogans of Garibi Hatao. My government implemented various schemes like housing, building toilets, and medical insurance for free treatment. Welfare-upliftment of the poor is Modi ki guarantee, he said.

He added that only after his government came to power in 2014 and started the Jan Dhan Scheme did millions of people get bank accounts and become eligible for various loan benefits like PM-SVANIDHI.

The PM also laid the foundation stone of eight Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) projects worth around Rs.2,000 crore and initiated the distribution of first and second instalments of PM-SVANIDHI to 10,000 beneficiaries in Maharashtra.

Governor Ramesh Bais, chief minister Eknath Shinde, deputy chief ministers Devendra Fadnavisa and Ajit Pawar attended the function.

Addressing the gathering, Modi reached out to the Padmashali community by sharing his ties with a family from the community in Ahmedabad and how they used to invite him for meals.

He said he has had food with the Padmashali community hailing from Solapur and living in Ahmedabad.

He also paid respect to the Yogi Siddheshwar, a deity worshipped by the Lingayat community. Both Padmashali and Lingayat communities have a strong presence in Solapur and adjoining districts in western and central Maharashtra. Modi also urged the Vishwakarma community to get the benefits of the scheme made for them.

CM Shinde said there will be again Modi Sarkar again in the Centre and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led alliance will win more than 400 Lok Sabha seats.

Meanwhile, the Maharashtra Congress said that the PM is touring the state frequently since the BJP is not getting support in Maharashtra. It was an indication that the BJP was not doing well and hence he himself had to woo voters here.

Maharashtra follows the ideology of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, Shahu Maharaj, Mahatma Phule and Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar. Whenever there was an attempt to finish democracy Maharashtra stood by democracy and constitution. PM Modi is visiting Maharashtra again and again as he realised that BJP will face big defeat in the state in LS elections. said state Congress president Nana Patole.
The Sword of Damocles continues to hang over Telugu Desam Party president and former Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu ahead of the upcoming assembly elections in the state, as a Supreme Court bench earlier this week delivered a split verdict on his plea to quash a First Information Report (FIR) that names him in a multi-crore skill development scam.

What that means is that the FIR, first filed in December 2021, will remain in place till a higher judge bench decides on an interpretation of a law to probe public servants for corruption. Naidus remand order will also remain in place as he was also charged under other sections of the Indian Penal Code. Naidu, currently out on bail, will still have to face the CID investigation into the skill development scam and he can be called by the investigation officer for questioning whenever it is required.

The bench of justices Aniruddha Bose and Bela M Trivedi delivered different judgements on the applicability of section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption (PC) Act and referred the matter to the Chief Justice of India to decide whether the issue would be heard by a three-member bench or five-member bench.

Section 17A, introduced by an amendment, came into effect on July 26, 2018, and made it mandatory for the police to seek prior approval from the competent authority (in this case, the governor of the state) to conduct any investigation into any offence alleged to have been committed by a public servant under the PC act.

The scam in question

A few months after coming to power in 2014, the Andhra Pradesh government led by Chandrababu Naidu proposed to establish the Andhra Pradesh State Skill Development Corporation (APSSDC) to develop the employability skills of students studying non-professional courses.

The corporation was to serve as an executive agency for the department of skill development, entrepreneurship and innovation of the Andhra Pradesh government.

As part of the public-private sector model, the Naidu government signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Siemens India in January 2015 to set up six skill development centres across the state in collaboration with Design Tech Systems Pvt Ltd.

The total project cost was 3,356 crore [as mentioned in the FIR], out of which the state government offered to provide 10% as a grant-in-aid, while the rest would be invested by Siemens. Accordingly, a government order (dated June 30, 2015) was issued about releasing 371 crore to Siemens and DesignTech for the setting up of six Centres of Excellence.

The scam came to light when YS Jagan Mohan Reddy-led YSR Congress party came to power in May 2019  two years after Naidu had stepped down. The state Crime Investigation Department (CID) filed an FIR in December 2021 against the officials of Siemens and DesignTech for allegedly syphoning off a large part of the 371 crore released by the Naidu government and not using any of it for skill development centres.

According to CID authorities, the Naidu government had established the corporation through an executive order without the approval of the council of ministers. The money was released to Siemens and DesignTech for setting up six Centres of Excellence, but no tender was called for the project. The funds were released even before identifying the places where the skill development centres had to be set up. No performance guarantee or bank guarantee was sought from Siemens and DesignTech, before releasing the amount.

The CID said senior IAS officers in the Naidu government, including then chief secretary IYR Krishna Rao, PV Ramesh and K Sunitha, had written in the note-files raising objections to the release of funds in advance to DesignTech. They also indicated that the funds were being released as per the instructions of the then-chief minister.

The CID said two of these senior IAS officers were also deposed to this effect under Section 164 of the Criminal Procedure Code before a magistrate during the investigation later. The CID also said that the investigation revealed that Siemens and Design Tech had not spent a single rupee of their own resources on this project, but in fact, syphoned off a major portion of 371 crore contributed by the state government.

Investigations revealed that the money was diverted to shell companies like Allied Computers, Skillers India Pvt Ltd, Knowledge Podium, Cadence Partners and ETA Greens.

In June 2018, the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) received complaints from a whistleblower. However, the people in power blocked any investigation from taking place and started removing key documentary evidence from the state secretariat, the CID charged.

In 2018, Central agencies like the Enforcement Directorate, Goods and Services Tax intelligence wing and Income Tax Department also initiated a probe into the case acting on a complaint from a whistleblower (it is unclear whether it was the same person or another.)

In fact, Siemens Global Corporate Office had conducted an internal investigation into the project and found that the then MD of Siemens India Suman Bose had acted on his own without authorisation from the global headquarters or its legal team. He was later fired, and the government informed the state assembly.

Investigations revealed that Suman Bose and Vikas Khanvilkar, MD of DesignTech, used a network of shell companies to issue fake invoices, without the actual delivery of the goods and services and syphoned off the funds to the extent of 241 crores. Siemens received only 58.8 crore out of the 371 crore paid to Designtech by APSSDC.

While the CID is continuing its investigation to trace the end-beneficiaries of the misappropriated monies, the ED, too, launched an investigation on the aspect of money laundering involved in the issue.

The ED authorities arrested Bose, Khanvilkar and two others in a money laundering case for diversion and misutilization of funds. The ED provisionally attached properties amounting to 31.20 crore belonging to DesignTech Systems. All the accused were released on bail by the Andhra Pradesh high court in 2021.

Naidu caught in the net

On the night of September 9, 2023, the CID arrested Naidu at Nandyal, where he was addressing a public rally. He was brought to Vijayawada and produced before a special court for Anti-Corruption Bureau cases. His name was included in the FIR, which had not previously named him in 2021.

He was charged with Sections 120(B) (criminal conspiracy), 166 (public servant disobeying law), 167 (public servant framing incorrect document), 418 (cheating a person to cause wrongful loss), 420 (cheating), 465 (forgery), 468 (forgery of an electronic document), 471 (fraud), 409 (criminal breach of trust), 201 (destruction of evidence), 109 (bribe) under the IPC, apart from the PC act.

The ACB court sent him to judicial remand for 14 days and he was immediately taken to Rajahmundry central jail on September 11. The judicial remand was extended three times, even as his bail plea was rejected.

After being in jail for nearly 50 days, Naidu finally obtained a four-week interim bail from the state high court on October 31 on medical grounds as he was suffering from skin infections and other complications. On November 20, the high court granted him regular bail.

Meanwhile, the state high court had also rejected Naidus plea to quash the FIR filed against him. Naidus counsel argued that the CID did not take the prior permission of the Governor before initiating the probe as per Section 17A of the PC Act.

Naidu moved the Supreme Court challenging the high court verdict. The case was heard through the first couple of weeks of October last year and the judgement, which was reserved on October 22, was delivered on January 16.

Two interpretations

Justice Bose said prior approval for conducting a probe for the alleged offences under the PC Act against Naidu was needed. He said the police could seek such approval from the competent authority even now to proceed with the case. Justice Trivedi, however, said section 17A would not apply retrospectively. However, she refused to quash the FIR and the police could still seek Naidus remand.

The benchs unanimous view that arrest and remand of Naidu are in accordance with law clearly upheld the state governments contention of the scam, said additional advocate general Ponnavolu Sudhakar Reddy, who argued the case in the Supreme Court on behalf of the state government.

He said the Supreme Courts refusal to quash the FIR against Naidu clearly indicated that there was merit in the case and there was no political vendetta behind the prosecution of the TDP chief.

Senior TDP leader and Rajya Sabha member Kanakamedala Ravindra Kumar said the judgement was solely about the applicability of section 17A and not on the merits and facts of the case. The status quo in the skill development case will continue, he said, adding that the CJI will decide on the merits of the case.
IndiGo will be working on ways to work better avoid chaos that the airlines passengers had to face on Sunday due to dense fog in northern India, CEO Peter Elbers said. Pieter Elbers, CEO of IndiGo airlines at the Wings India 2024 aviation event at Begumpet airport, Hyderabad. (Reuters photo)

We are going to collectively... not only in Indigo itself, but even with the ecosystem; air traffic control, airports, airports authorities, operators, security personnel, evaluate ways on how we can do better, Elbers said, two days after the aviation authorities slapped a fine of 1.2crore on IndiGo for violating norms on Sunday.

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We had tough days since the fog arrived in the Northern part of India... we probably had the worst fog in many years. From our 86 destinations, roughly one third is in northern India. Hence, if northern India is under the blanket of fog, then we have a challenge together. We had to collectively deal with accumulation of flights and its cascading effects, he said.

On Sunday, passengers on an Indigo flight from Goa to Delhi refused to get off the aircraft after it was diverted to Mumbai due to poor visibility in Delhi, they instead sat on the tarmac and had dinner. The flight eventually left for Delhi after a delay of 12 hours.

Also Read: Passengers eating on tarmac shameful incident, dont mind saying that: Scindia

The Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) on Tuesday then issued notices to the Mumbai airport operator for violating norms and to IndiGo for mistreating passengers by not providing basic amenities during flight diversions after the viral video showed passengers dining on the tarmac.

We will review our operations along with the industry to avoid operational disruptions going forward... We have updated our navigation system two days ago, he said.

The CEO said that while the network of 2,000 daily flights may still be seeing delays, the flight operations are expected to be completely normal by next week.

According to the data issued by the civil aviation ministry, the airlines on time performance (OTP) was noted to be the lowest; 43.7%, as on Wednesday.

Flight cancellation and delays on January 14 have caused a cascading effect on our OTP over the last week, he said, adding that the airline needs to expand its digital network to make sure its frontline staff is aware correct information that must be passed on to customers.

On Thursday, Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Thursday said Sundays tarmac incident was a shameful one and he does not mind accepting it.

Safety and the security of the passengers is the primary focus of civil aviation and hence a meeting was convened past midnight after the incident came to light, the minister said.

The fact the passengers were inconvenienced, the fact that they had to eat on the tarmac, the fact that security had been compromised across all points was unacceptable. Within 3-4 hours, notices were issued and within 24 hours of the notices being issued, the necessary penalties have been levied, Scindia said.
[Photo/Xinhua]

Global Times--At a hearing held in the US Congress on Wednesday local time, American space experts, government officials, and members of Congress reached or reinforced a unified understanding: "For the US and its partners not to be on the moon when others are on the moon, is unacceptable." The US and its allies should win the 21st century "space race" and lead a "rules-based international order" there before China creates its own "undesirable norms."

In plain language, this statement suggests that after the US, along with its allied nations, has used the banner of the so-called "rule-based international order" to engage in geopolitical efforts to contain China on Earth, they now want to apply the same tactics in outer space. They view the moon as the first "arena" for competition among nations beyond Earth. From this perspective, the true purpose of the US "return to the moon" plan is far from pure. It goes against the universal human desire to explore and utilize outer space for peaceful purposes. The extension of US geopolitical strategies from "land" to "space" is not just a significant escalation in competition but, in a sense, a step backward.

The US' "return to the moon" plan has just experienced two setbacks. First, the Peregrine lunar lander failed to soft land on the moon due to a reported propulsion system problem. On the same day, the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) announced a one-year delay for the planned manned lunar orbit mission Artemis II and the planned manned moon landing Artemis III respectively, citing safety concerns with the existing spacecraft.

Certainly, no one should underestimate US aerospace capabilities due to these setbacks. Aerospace technology represents the culmination of some of the most advanced human achievements, and crewed spaceflight is among the most challenging aspects of aerospace technology. Experiencing setbacks or even failures is inevitable. However, the current anxiety and sense of urgency displayed by the US due to these setbacks are abnormal and unhealthy.

It is not driven by technological thinking and logic, but rather geopolitical thinking and logic, particularly that of a "new cold war." According to this line of thinking, outer space, including the moon, has become a strategic target for competition between the US and China. Should the US fall behind, China would seize the opportunity and emerge victorious in this "important space race." Consequently, space exploration, an area that greatly needs international cooperation, has unfortunately transformed into a zero-sum game.

The thinking of geopolitical competition with China deeply influences Washington politicians. Bill Nelson, administrator of NASA, warned moon's south pole may become "another South China Sea" in August of last year. As early as 2011, the US Congress passed the Wolf Amendment, which prohibits NASA from cooperating with Chinese government agencies without explicit authorization from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the US Congress. In contrast, China has never had any document, regulation, or provision restricting cooperation with the US. In October last year, China even announced that lunar samples brought to Earth by China's Chang'e 5 mission would be open for inter-national applications. The facts clearly show who stands on the side of openness in space exploration and who stands on the side of closure.

The US possesses the world's most advanced aerospace technology and has achieved great accomplishments in space exploration. People around the world, including the Chinese, are happy to see representatives of humanity delve deeper into outer space, whether they are Americans or people from other countries. However, the US has become so narrow-minded that it not only undermines confidence in its ability to achieve greater success in space exploration but also raises concerns that it may hinder the progress of other aspiring space explorers. NASA employees are scientists and belong to the top scientific community. They are a group who are supposed to look up at the starry sky. If even they become infected with Washington's pathological and vulgar atmosphere, it would be extremely disappointing.

China has no intention of participating in the "space race" imagined by the Americans. China's development of aerospace technology emphasizes three aspects: peaceful utilization, equal mutual benefit, and inclusive development. It has always led by example in promoting international space communication and cooperation. However, the US has been excluding and guarding against China in various aspects, from satellite navigation to the International Space Station. China's aerospace industry can only rely on independent innovation. China's "lunar exploration" and "lunar landing" projects are based on years of independent innovation and accumulated technological foundation, and will not be swayed by the attitudes and positions of the US and the West. In comparison, the US' renewed steps toward the moon seem to be increasingly mixed with interests and a mentality of competition. If the US has impure intentions in landing on the moon, it would be a form of pollution to the moon.
A 25-year-old woman killed her two children before attempting suicide thrice in Tamil Nadus Kallakurichi district. She survived and was booked on murder charges, police said. Police Tamil Nadus Kallakurichi district said the woman booked on murder charges. (HT Archives)

On January 15, after a fight with her husband, the woman left her marital home with her children aged 3 and 2, and went to her grandmothers house in the district. Her mother is working in Coimbatore and her father is no more, police said. She wanted to die by suicide, so she jumped into a well along with her children, a police officer said. The children drowned but since the woman knew swimming, she survived. She then went to a nearby lake and jumped into it but she survived again. The third time, she climbed onto a high-tension electric wire and she fell down injured and unconscious.

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The woman is undergoing treatment at a government hospital in Kallakurichi. She has been booked under section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), police said. First, we will be taking a government-appointed counsellor to the hospital to ascertain her state of mind, said Samay Singh Meena, superintendent of police (SP), Kallakurichi. We have to enquire if she was abused. Her husband will also be brought in to be questioned.

The couple hail from a backward community in Thyagadurgam village in Kallakurichi, and are daily-wage workers.

Police said that a fight happened between the husband and wife after the former had asked her to boil water. When she didnt pay heed, her husband asked her to leave.
Orders for beer, courtroom arguments and refugees from France have helped a team of scholars begin to answer questions that have drifted, suspended, around the world for over 400 years: What is Shakespeares true linguistic contribution? Which words did he really coin?

Jonathan Culpeper, 57, a professor of English language and linguistics at Lancaster University, first began work on what is now an evolving encyclopaedia of Shakespeares language, 27 years ago.

He found it rather odd, he says, that a trip to the average university library yielded vast amounts of literary criticism, but very little on the linguistics of the Bard. So he began trying to understand what Shakespeares language might have meant to his contemporaries.

Culpeper started by studying plays by other Early-Modern English writers, then sourced transcripts from courtroom trials and referenced spoken-English self-help books of the time. This was the easiest way to discover what mundane everyday dialogue looked like, he says. There were several books written for French refugees fleeing religious oppression at that time, for instance, to help them learn conversational English. Those were a goldmine of information.

As Culpeper immersed himself in the project, it got bigger and bigger, becoming the first comprehensive account of Shakespeares language to use a corpus linguistics software program  where computers analyse large-scale collections of texts (or corpora) to address questions of meaning and structure. Eventually working with a team of 25, and a 2016 grant of 1 million pounds from the Arts and Humanities Research Council (funded by the UK government), he has now had Volumes 1 and 2 of The Arden Encyclopedia of Shakespeares Language published by Bloomsbury in August.

It has 20,000 dictionary-style entries, featuring words that were likely coined by the Bard; words that were used unusually in his plays; given new meaning by him; or were commonly used in his time, in ways that would be unfamiliar today.

These words were identified with the help of the software program, which was fed the million-odd words from Shakespeares acknowledged corpus of 38 plays (written between c. 1590 and 1613), as well as a similar million-word corpus drawn from contemporary plays by other writers, and 320 million words gathered from various writings of the period (such as the courtroom transcripts and self-help books).

What emerges is perhaps less dramatic than Shakespeare-lovers would like. The playwright certainly did not invent the 1,000-odd words often attributed to him, Culpeper says.

But what the encyclopaedia offers in place of such legend is more interesting: a scientific account of a towering intellect, and a contribution unlike most others.

***

As things stand, Shakespeare can be said to have coined about 400 words that have endured, Culpeper says. For perspective, he offers a reminder that writers, even from the classical literary cannon, do not generally invent any; and might count themselves unique if they coin a single word that gains a life outside their writing.

Shakespeare entered several words from spoken usage into the literary canon, of course, which is why so many are attributed to him incorrectly.

He also used words so differently as to twist them into new meanings that carried far greater weight. He used bone-ache for syphilis in Troilus and Cressida, for instance. This term for the medical condition was a far more vivid way of describing the horrible agonies of this disease eating away at the bones, Culpeper says.

The Bard married words with remarkable effect; as in ear-kissing, also not found elsewhere in the corpus, but then sadly dropped by the Bard too. The delicious metaphor for a whisper occurs just once, in King Lear.

***

As he worked to untangle myth from legacy, Culpeper came up against some distinct challenges. A key one was the lack of standardised spelling.

He and his team realised that they were missing instances of the use of sweet, for instance, because it was sometimes spelt sweete, swete or svveet. Similarly, very was sometimes ferry, vary or vara, to represent Welsh, Scottish or rustic English accents, respectively. Along with linguists Andrew Hardie and Jane Demmen of Lancaster University, Culpeper worked to reconcile such differences through the software program.

Robert Cawdreys Table Alphabeticall, first printed in 1604, is generally regarded as the first dictionary, but it was essentially only a selection of tricky words. Its one of the reasons why spellings werent standardised during Shakespeares time: they didnt have a dictionary to fall back on, Culpeper says.

It is important to acknowledge that Shakespeares language is not an island of its own, he adds. It was designed, in fact, to be all-encompassing, playing to the people in the one-penny seats and the nobility in their boxes.

The approach worked. The Bard wasnt raised wealthy (his father was a glove-maker; his mother a farmers daughter, though they did earn gentility status over time). But his work certainly made him so. He was well-respected; his theatre company, Kings Men, was often invited to perform at the court of Queen Elizabeth I.

After he died in 1616, his comedies, tragedies and dramas  with their sonnets and soliloquies, universal themes, roots in timeless folk tales, and profound psychological insight  continued to be staged, retold, reinterpreted. They remained popular.

By the 18th century, the British began to use this as a tool of soft power, the ultimate literary challenge. And so, amid imperialism, Bardolatry, or veneration of the Bard, intensified. By the late-19th century, the more the British Empire began to decline, the more the British tried to pump up their national poet. It was during this period that many of the myths about Shakespeare were cemented, Culpeper says.

As it grew in status, and as the language itself changed, the Bards work came to be viewed as inaccessible. But unlocking his language is what I am aiming to do with all five volumes of the encyclopaedia, Culpeper says.

***

The two-volume dictionary is the first building block in this plan.

Future volumes, set to be published over the next three years, focus on larger concepts such as what the language used can unlock about characters and themes in these works.

Such study will examine, for instance, how Juliet uses words that are statistically unusual in Shakespeares work. How some of the words most frequently used by Romeo are love, beauty, and lips; while those used by Juliet are laden with doubt  if, yet, and or.

Words like alas and ah were also heavily used by Shakespeares female characters, who did all the emotional work of lamentation in his plays, Culpeper says.

Another interesting theme set to be explored is the poets use of colour to create metaphorical patterns. The green-eyed monster of jealousy in Othello, however, much against popular notion, was far from original, in use by at least three other writers before Shakespeare, says Culpeper.

We must remember that he had an added advantage over the other writers at the time, being someone who produced a lot of words that actually survived. Only about 6,000 words of his contemporary, the English playwright and poet George Peele, have survived, for instance, compared to Shakespeares million-word corpus.

Culpeper likes to compare the Bard, in this respect, to The Beatles. He wasnt a one-hit wonder but was consistent with his hits, he says. Though there is also a sense among scholarship today that he has possibly caused other Early-Modern writers to be overlooked, especially female playwrights such as Aphra Behn.

.

Fresh of the Folio: Words likely coined by Shakespeare

Unearthly (adj.): Shakespeare had a love of words beginning with un-. This word neatly captures the sense of something beyond or above the ordinary world. Its still used to describe something that is strange, not natural and therefore frightening.

Its first known usage is in The Winters Tale.

Unsex (v.): To lose the traits traditionally associated with ones given sex and / or gain traits of a different sex. The term was first used and made famous by Lady Macbeth.

Come, you spirits, that tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here. And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full. Of direst cruelty! she says, as she tries to summon the supposed courage of a man, to commit the murder of King Duncan.

The word illustrates Shakespeares ability to create surprise meanings. It is rarely used today.

Self-abuse (n.): Self-deception. Today it is more likely to be used in the context of an action or practice of physically or verbally maltreating oneself. The term illustrates Shakespeares affinity for creating compound words through the use of the addition of self.

Self-harming, self-loving and self-neglecting were all first used in his plays.

Champion (v.): To challenge.

The playwright created a fair number of verbs, from nouns. Champion is still in use, to describe someone who has defeated an opponent, or, figuratively, someone who advocates or defends a cause.

Unvarnished (adj.): Something plain, straightforward, not adorned. It also invokes a metaphor, with the sense of a shiny surface distinguishing something beneath it.

First known usage: Yet, by your gracious patience, I will a round unvarnished tale deliver. Of my whole course of love. (Othello).

Many of Shakespeares un- words were created to generate an element of shock, and associated with conditions that could not typically be reversed. These included: unpregnant, undeaf, unseduced and unpay.

Airless (adj.): Shakespeare created a number of words that ended with -less. This word captures the sense of being stuffy, unventilated. The word is in common use.

It first known use was in Julius Caesar: Nor stony tower, nor walls of beaten brass, nor airless dungeon, nor strong links of iron. Can be retentive to the strength of spirit.

Heat-oppressed (adj.): Affected negatively by heat; metaphorically, a person who may not be thinking clearly. Its a simple, evocative term first used in Macbeth: ...art thou but a dagger of the mind, a false creation, proceeding from the heat-oppressed brain? But it never took off.

Words to which he gave new meaning

Beef (n.): The meat of cattle (as opposed to fowl and venison) was seen as food for the lower ranks, and thought to reduce intelligence. In Shakespeares work, it was often used as a reference to the penis, or to a woman prostitute, as in Measure for Measure:

Lucio: How doth my dear morsel, thy mistress? Procures she still? Ha?

Pompey: Troth, sir, she hath eaten up all her beef, and she is herself in the tub.

Lucio: Why, tis good; it is the right of it; it must be so...

Bone-ache (n.): Used for syphilis, in Troilus and Cressida. This term for the medical condition was a far more vivid way of describing the horrible agonies of this disease eating away at the bones, says Jonathan Culpeper.

Ear-kissing (v.): A delicious substitute for whisper, sadly dropped by the Bard. It occurs just once, in King Lear. I mean the whispered ones, for they are yet but ear-kissing arguments.

Wherefore (adv.): It simply means why, and is in little use today. But the word remains instantly recognisable, mainly from one line it was used in: O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo? (Romeo and Juliet).

Phrases he coined

These are among Culpepers favourites, for the ways in which they have endured, he says. He is currently studying them as part of his research for the three remaining volumes of the encyclopaedia.

Band of Brothers: First used in Henry V. Nearly two centuries later, by 1798, it was being used in newspaper reports on the Battle of the Nile (fought by the British and the French). It remained popular through the Crimean War of the 1850s. It was recently re-popularised by a 2001 American war drama miniseries of the same name.

Brave new world: First used in The Tempest and then, of course, as the title of a dystopian novel by Aldous Huxley, published in 1932. A wonderstruck Miranda, seeing shipwrecked men from a world beyond her little island in The Tempest, introduces it to the world: How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world, that has such people int.

Sea change: A major change or transformation, as could be brought about by the action of the sea. It was used in The Tempest to inform Ferdinand that his father has died in a shipwreck. By the 1980s, it was becoming popular again, as a way to describe the fluctuations of financial markets.
Illinois is adding tens of thousands of people to its population total, and California is getting misplaced sailors on an aircraft carrier put in the right location, after successfully asking for a review of their 2020 census figures. HT Image

New York City also appears to have gotten an additional 1,090 people added to its population total recently after asking the Census Bureau to double-check the city's numbers from the head count of every U.S. resident, city officials said.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

The once-a-decade census produces population figures that help determine political power and the annual distribution of $2.8 trillion in federal funding. The Census Bureau has two programs giving governments opportunities to have their population totals reviewed and adjusted if need be. Nearly 200 requests for reviews were filed by tribal, local and state governments for the 2020 census.

Changes from the reviews will be applied only to future annual population estimates used for the rest of the decade in determining federal funding. They cant be used to change how many congressional seats each state was allotted during the apportionment process, nor for the data used for redrawing political districts.

Here's a look at how two of the most populous U.S. states, and the nation's largest city, had their reviews resolved recently.

For the nation's most populous state, with 38.9 million residents, it was more about putting things in the right place rather than adding people.

The placement of the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, along with its more than 5,000 crew members, was corrected so that it's in National City, rather than in neighboring San Diego. Although part of the ship is located in San Diego, what matters is where crew members get off and on the ship, and that part of Naval Base San Diego is in National City, state officials said.

The 4,000 prisoners at the Mule Creek State Prison also were reallocated from Amador County to the city of Ione after California requested that change.

The reviews for California were just an opportunity to suggest to the bureau that some things are in the wrong place, Walter Schwarm, the state's chief demographer, said in an email.

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker announced this month that the nation's sixth most populous state was getting an additional 47,000 people to its population total after the state asked for a review of its census figures. Illinois officials believed that the 2020 census had overlooked more than 40,500 people living in care homes or senior living facilities and more than 5,800 college students living in dorms, the governor's office said.

These group quarters were among the most difficult places to count as campuses closed and prisons and nursing homes were locked down at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Census Bureau created a separate program to handle these challenges.

This correction will bring in millions in additional federal funding for crucial programs and help to ensure future counts reflect the true number of Illinois residents," Pritzker said in a statement.

Despite the gains from the review, they won't come close to making up for the loss of almost 264,000 residents since the 2020 census due to people moving from Illinois to other states, according to estimates released in December by the Census Bureau. Only California and New York have had greater population losses from 2020 to 2023.

Illinois also was one of six states that were undercounted in the 2020 census. The Census Bureau estimated that a little less than 2% of Illinois' 12.5 million residents were missed.

The Census Bureau appears to have added 1,090 people to New York City, the most populous city in the U.S. The exact figure is unknown since the bureau doesn't tell governments precisely how much the total was changed, only that all or part of their review was approved. City officials estimated the adjustment by comparing changes in numbers that are released annually with population estimates from the Census Bureau, said officials in the city's Department of City Planning.

New York City officials believed hundreds of inmates and students at Hunter College, Pace University and Wagner College were missed in its 2020 count. The issue is moot at this point since apportionment is off the table when it comes to adjusting the numbers, but New York State wouldn't have lost a congressional seat if an additional 89 people had been counted during the 2020 census.

Although the adjustment is comparatively small in a city of 8.3 million residents, New York City officials believe it could amount to an additional $6.5 million each year in federal funding that the city receives.

Through grit, rigorous study, and careful tabulations, we were able to correct the census count and deliver more federal dollars for New York City," Dan Garodnick, director of the Department of City Planning, said in an email.

___

Follow Mike Schneider on X, formerly known as Twitter: @MikeSchneiderAP.
In its decision to not attend the Ram Mandir pran pratishtha in Ayodhya, is the Congress opposing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)s day of political domination or standing up for an ideological principle?

The question becomes relevant because several well-respected public intellectuals on the ideological Left have hailed the Oppositions response as a stand that takes the party back to its Nehruvian secularism roots.

Lets for a moment put aside the question of whether Nehruvian secularism  as distinct lets say from Gandhis embrace of faith  is politically counter-intuitive for the times. The truth is that you cannot invoke both Nehru and the Shankaracharyas to explain your position and then argue that you are ideologically distinct from the BJP.

And that is what the Congress  and several other Opposition leaders  have done.

The four Shankaracharyas, who have declined to attend the Ayodhya ceremony, head mutts established by the 8th-century Hindu philosopher Adi Shankara. Based in Uttarakhand, Odisha, Karnataka and Gujarat, these pontiffs are seen as the custodians of the scriptures, in particular the Vedas.

But if religion is a personal matter, which is what the Congress press statement argued when announcing that its leaders would not be in Ayodhya, then politicians should not be quoting seers to rationalise their choice.

Congress supporters and BJP critics  not necessarily the same people  have hailed the Oppositions stand to argue, as one friend said to me, that it is the right choice, even if for the wrong reasons.

But if it is Hindutva politics that the Opposition is rejecting, how can you buttress your view by falling back on comments by the Shankaracharyas? Swami Nischalananda Saraswati, the Shankaracharya of Puri, for instance, has long advocated for India to become a Hindu rashtra. In recent television interviews, he also reinforced the place of caste in the social order. The point is that you cant make a case for the separation of politics and religion if you are going to depend on religious seers to make that case!

The mandir moment has revealed ideological chaos within the INDIA bloc and the Opposition ranks. Uddhav Thackerays party wants to take credit for being one of the early architects of the Ram Janmabhoomi movement. His colleagues will remind the media that he offered one crore rupees in his personal capacity as a bhakt to the mandir trust in 2020 when he was still chief minister (CM) of Maharashtra. The Delhi CM, Arvind Kejriwal, has led the Sunderkand recitation at a temple in the Capital ahead of the consecration ceremony. Sunderkand is a chapter from the Ramcharitmanas dedicated to the prayer of Hanuman. The Aam Aadmi Party has announced that such recitations will be organised across all 70 assembly segments of Delhi, with a special party team dedicated to the cause.

Udhayanidhi Stalin of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, pulling the ideological band in the exact opposite direction, has effectively questioned the Supreme Court verdict by declaring that he cannot accept the temple where a mosque once stood. This will add greater grist to the mill after his contentious remarks on sanatana dharma. Sharad Pawar and Akhilesh Yadav have been understated in their responses, only saying they will visit with their families at a later date.

And then theres the Congress whose leaders are perhaps the most confused. Do they want to claim credit for Rajiv Gandhi opening the locks in Ayodhya or enabling the first shilanyas to take place  as Kamal Nath did during his (failed) Madhya Pradesh campaign  or disassociate from those years of playing both the Hindu and Muslim communities? The visit by the UP Congress leaders to Ayodhya ahead of the consecration tells you that the party is worried about being seen as anti-Hindu after the decision it has taken.

Now, of course, the Opposition is correct about one thing. The day may be a deeply religious and sentimental one for millions irrespective of their voting choice, but it is also an epochal political moment. It marks the culmination of one phase of the BJPs Hindutva project. And of course, the party will look to maximise the political benefits in an election year.

Theres no question that the Opposition would have been in the long shadows of the Prime Minister had they attended the event.

But, in battle, you also duck some bullets, so that you have ammunition to fight another day.

It would have been much smarter for the Oppositions own electoral fortunes to participate in the mandir ceremony and inevitably be the also-rans on a day that politically belongs to the BJP. In turning down the invite, they have revealed vacillation, contradictions, and inconsistencies and have also ensured that Hinduism and Hindutva become the central talking points in the election season.

Barkha Dutt is an award-winning journalist and author. The views expressed are personal
Turkey's first astronaut and three other crew members representing Europe were launched from Florida on Thursday on a voyage to the International Space Station in the latest commercially arranged mission from Texas startup Axiom Space. Turkey's first astronaut and three other crew members representing Europe were launched from Florida on Thursday on a voyage to the International Space Station in the latest commercially arranged mission from Texas startup Axiom Space.(NASA)

A SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule carrying the Axiom quartet lifted off atop a Falcon 9 rocket about an hour before sunset from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, beginning a planned 36-hour flight to the orbiting laboratory.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

The launch was shown live on an Axiom-SpaceX joint webcast.

The autonomously operated Crew Dragon was expected to reach the International Space Station (ISS) early on Saturday morning and dock with the outpost orbiting some 250 miles (400 km) above Earth and currently occupied by seven regular crew members.

ALSO READ| First tests for Indian Space Station expected next year: ISRO chief

Live video showed the two-stage 25-story-tall launch vehicle streaking into partly cloudy skies over Florida's Atlantic coast atop a fiery, yellowish tail of exhaust.

Cameras inside the crew compartment beamed footage of the four men strapped into their pressurized cabin, seated calmly in helmeted white-and-black flight suits as the rocket soared toward space.

Nine minutes after launch, the Falcon 9's upper stage delivered the crew capsule to its preliminary orbit.

Responding to congratulations from mission control, flight commander Michael Lopez-Alegria radioed back from the Crew Dragon, "As I was saying, it's a team sport. Thank you, guys."

Minutes earlier, the rocket's reusable lower stage, having detached from the rest of the spacecraft, flew itself back to Earth and safely touched down on a landing zone near the launch site, eliciting cheers audible from the control room.

The mission was the third such flight organized by Houston-based Axiom over the past two years as the company builds on its business of putting astronauts sponsored by foreign governments and private enterprise into Earth orbit.

The company charges its customers at least $55 million for each astronaut seat.

TWO WEEKS OF ORBITAL RESEARCH

Plans for the Axiom-3 mission call for the crew to spend roughly 14 days in microgravity aboard the ISS conducting more than 30 scientific experiments, many of them focused on the effects of spaceflight on human health and disease.

More symbolically, the mission reflects the growing number of nations venturing to Earth orbit as a way of enhancing global prestige, military prowess and satellite-based communications.

Turkey, a longtime applicant for EU membership, was poised to enter the exclusive-but-expanding club of ISS-guest countries by sending Alper Gezeravc, 44, a Turkish Air Force veteran, on his nation's debut human spaceflight as an Ax-3 mission specialist.

He was being joined by: Italian Air Force Colonel Walter Villadei, 49, Ax-3's designated pilot; Swedish aviator Marcus Wandt, 43, another mission specialist; and Lopez-Alegria, 65, a retired NASA astronaut and dual citizen of Spain and the United States. Lopez-Alegria, an Axiom executive, also commanded the company's first mission to the ISS in April 2022.

Axiom billed the flight as "the first all-European commercial astronaut mission" to the space station.

If all goes smoothly, they will be welcomed aboard ISS early on Saturday by the seven members of the station's current regular crew - two Americans from NASA, one astronaut each from Japan and Denmark and three Russian cosmonauts.

In May 2023, Axiom-2 launched a guest team of two Americans and two Saudis, including Rayyanah Barnawi, a biomedical scientist who became the first Arab woman ever sent to orbit, on an eight-day mission to the ISS.

SpaceX, the privately funded rocket and satellite company of billionaire Elon Musk, provides Axiom's launch vehicles and crew capsules under contract, as it has for NASA missions to the ISS. SpaceX also runs mission control for its rocket launches from the company's headquarters near Los Angeles.

NASA, besides furnishing the launch site at Cape Canaveral, assumes responsibility for the astronauts once they rendezvous with the space station.

Axiom, an eight-year-old venture headed by NASA's former ISS program manager, is one of a handful of companies building a commercial space station of its own intended to eventually replace the 25-year-old ISS, which NASA expects to retire around 2030.
The world of electronic digital safes offers an abundance of options for increasing security measures without sacrificing convenience. Whether it is cash, personal things, or important papers, these innovative safes provide an effortless method for safeguarding your valuables. This guide highlights the best electronic digital safe on the market, each with a unique combination of features and functions to meet a range of security requirements. Best electronic digital safe: Protect your valuables in a digital safe.

Examining the variety of top-rated home security safes shows that they are much more than just valuable devices. The best options come with extra features like fire resistance, strengthened steel structure, electronic safe pin code security, and biometric access. Customers may get a thorough understanding of the cutting-edge technology included in the top best portable safes for home for protecting valuables with this guide. By providing a more detailed look at the distinctive characteristics of each safe, consumers may better grasp the range of security upgrades that are offered. These electronic safes combine cutting-edge technology with functionality so users can make well-informed decisions about how best to safeguard their belongings.

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This in-depth analysis is a valuable tool for anybody looking for a reliable security solution. It gives people the information they need to make wise choices according to their own needs, whether that be safeguarding property in a commercial setting or keeping essential records in a domestic context. This research simplifies the decision-making process and guarantees that security investments are both efficient and customised to meet specific demands by exploring a variety of factors. These are some of the best electronic digital safes, which offer a safe sanctuary for your belongings while adopting the most recent developments in the industry, perfectly capturing the development of security technology.

Also Read: Amazon Sale: Secure your savings with safe lockers, up to 60% off

1. Godrej Security Solutions Forte Pro 20 litres Digital Electronic Safe Locker for Home & Office with Motorized Locking Mechanism (Light Grey)

B0BJ27RPBL

The Godrej Security Solutions Forte Pro is the best electronic digital safe option for use at home or in the workplace. Its motorised locking system guarantees safe storage, giving assets peace of mind. The Godrej digital lockers have a light grey finish that gives its strong structure a modern touch. The safe has digital access that is straightforward to use, making it quick and simple to operate. This safe combines Godrej's proven security knowledge with an ideal level of convenience and security. This is the best portable safes for home and is a wise option for anybody looking for a trustworthy electronic safe for their possessions since it prioritises protection without sacrificing usable performance, making it perfect for protecting cash, jewels, or essential papers.

Specifications of Godrej Security Solutions Forte Pro 20 litres Digital Electronic Safe Locker for Home & Office with Motorized Locking Mechanism (Light Grey):

Brand: Godrej Security Solutions

Product Dimensions: 37D x 42W x 20H Centimetres

Lock Type: Electronic, Key

Colour: Grey

Capacity: 20 litres

Material: Wood

Pros Cons Electronic PIN code access Limited capacity Compact design Price may be higher compared to some brands.

2. Lifelong Locker for Home & Office 56L - Digital Safe for Security with Electronic Keypad- Safety for Jewellery, Money & other valuables - Tijori Box (1 Year Manufacturer's Warranty, Black)

B09D8JZDQ8

The Lifelong Locker is a spacious 56-litre digital safe made to meet security requirements for both homes and offices. This top-rated home security safe, with its electronic keypad, guarantees the security of cash, jewellery, and other valuables. Any area is made more sophisticated by its elegant black design. A one-year manufacturer's guarantee is included with the safe, adding to the peace of mind. It offers an easy-to-use, secure storage solution with digital access that is user-friendly. Because Lifelong places a high priority on asset security, this digital safe is an excellent solution for anybody looking for a dependable electronic safe locker and an attractive way to protect their belongings at home or work.

Specifications of Lifelong Locker for Home & Office 56L - Digital Safe for Security with Electronic Keypad- Safety for Jewellery, Money & other valuables - Tijori Box (1 Year Manufacturer's Warranty, Black):

Brand: Lifelong

Product Dimensions: 30D x 35W x 50H Centimetres

Lock Type: Electronic, Key

Colour: Black

Capacity: 56 litres

Material: Carbon Steel

Special Feature: Portable Portable

Mounting Type: Floor Mount

Item Weight: 14400 Grams

Pros Cons 56 litres capacity Limited storage space Portable option Limited security features

3. Valencia- Crux Electronic Digital Security Safe for Home & Office, 16 Litres, Black (Crux 250), 16

B08RDWKXGH

Valencia Crux Electronic Digital Security Safe (Crux 250), with its 16-litre capacity and stylish black exterior, is a dependable option for both home and workplace applications. This is the best electronic digital safe that guarantees the protection of your belongings. It is perfect for keeping tiny objects, cash, or essential papers safe while balancing ease of use and security. Its small size allows it to fit in a variety of places and gives consumers peace of mind. The Crux 250 model is made with longevity in mind, demonstrating a dedication to security and quality. The Valencia Crux Digital Security Safe stands out as an affordable secure storage and secure option for protecting your valuables at home or at work thanks to its easy-to-use features and strong frame.

Specifications of Valencia- Crux Electronic Digital Security Safe for Home & Office, 16 Litres, Black (Crux 250), 16:

Brand: Valencia

Product Dimensions: 25D x 35W x 25H Centimetres

Lock Type: Electronic

Colour : Black

Capacity: 16 litres

Material: Alloy Steel

Special Feature: Digital Display

Mounting Type: Floor Mount, Tabletop

Pros Cons Streamlined design Small capacity Anti-theft Limited security features

4. Plantex 10 Litres Digital Safe Locker for Home Security with Electronic Keypad and Double Safety Key Lock for Office/Hotel(Black)

B0C1JL59FY

The Plantex Digital Safe Locker, with its classy black style and 10-litre capacity, is a dependable security option for use in both the home and business. Its double safety key lock and electronic keypad provide improved security for your belongings. The integration of contemporary technology with conventional locking systems offers a two-pronged security solution for your belongings. Because of its small size, it can be used in a variety of environments and provides convenience without sacrificing security. This is the best portable safes for home with electronic keypad that makes entry simple and quick, which further enhances this safe's user-friendliness. For those looking for additional security in an office or hotel setting or for adequate home security, the Plantex Digital Safe Locker offers a safe and helpful alternative for keeping cash, valuables, or essential papers.

Specifications of Plantex 10 Litres Digital Safe Locker for Home Security with Electronic Keypad and Double Safety Key Lock for Office/Hotel(Black):

Brand: Plantex

Product Dimensions: 20D x 31W x 20H Centimeters

Lock Type: Combination

Colour: Black

Capacity: 8.7 litres

Material: Metal

Item Weight: 4.74 Kilograms

Pros Cons Dual Security Measures Bulky design Compact and Versatile Electronic components may require upkeep.

5. Ozone Safety Solutions, Digital Safe, 24 Months Warranty by Ozone, Electronic Locking System User PIN Code Access (16.11 Liter)

B0BDVP1ZXN

With a 16.11-litre capacity and an electronic locking mechanism that requires a PIN for entry, the Ozone Safety Solutions Digital Safe provides guaranteed security. This is the best electronic digital safe, having a comprehensive 24-month warranty from Ozone, which guarantees its reliability as well as its effectiveness. Its easy-to-use PIN code access allows for quick and straightforward operation while providing hassle-free valuables security. Its small size allows it to fit into many areas and hold a wide range of objects. A considerable warranty duration is indicative of Ozone's dedication to high-quality products. The Ozone Safety Solutions Digital Safe is a top-rated home security safe and the best option for anyone looking for an electronic safe that is dependable, has easy-to-use features and comes with a considerable guarantee.

Specifications of Ozone Safety Solutions, Digital Safe, 24 Months Warranty by Ozone, Electronic Locking System User PIN Code Access (16.11 Liter):

Brand: Ozone

Product Dimensions: 25D x 35W x 25H Centimeters

Lock Type: Electronic

Colour: Black

Capacity: 16.11 litres

Material: Alloy Steel

Special Feature: PIN Code Access

Mounting Type: Floor Mount, Tabletop

Pros Cons PIN Code Access Limited security features Visual alarm for added security Potential Dependence on Electronic System

6. Ozone Wifi Enabled 30 Litre Premium Safe Locker for Home 4 in 1 Unlocking Way Tijori for Office Cash Jewellery and Document

B0CP85ZCY1

With its 30-litre capacity, the Ozone WiFi Enabled Premium Safe Locker meets the demands of both homes and offices while introducing a new degree of protection. With its 4-in-1 unlocking system, this unique safe provides a multitude of unlocking choices. This electronic safe locker offers a variety of options for user comfort, ranging from conventional approaches like keys and PIN codes to state-of-the-art WiFi connectivity. It blends large capacity with cutting-edge protection, making it perfect for protecting valuables like jewellery, cash, and papers. An additional degree of accessibility is provided by the ability to monitor and manage remotely, thanks to WiFi connectivity. The Ozone WiFi Enabled Premium Safe Locker has the best-rated home safe reviews and an adaptable option that combines conventional security measures with intelligent technology to provide anyone looking for a comprehensive, proactive strategy to protect their valuable assets.

Specifications of Ozone Wifi Enabled 30 Litre Premium Safe Locker for Home 4 in 1 Unlocking Way Tijori for Office Cash Jewellery and Document:

Brand: Ozone

Product Dimensions: 30D x 38W x 30H Centimeters

Lock Type: Electronic

Colour: Black

Capacity: 30 litres

Material: Alloy Steel

Special Feature: Anti-theft

Mounting Type: Floor Mount, Wall Mount

Pros Cons Anti-theft alarm Small capacity Emergency Battery Backup Limited fireproofing

7. Godrej NX Pro Digital (25L) Ebony Home Locker

B0BPHW1YZF

With a 25-litre capacity and a combination of modern technology and durable construction, the Godrej NX Pro Digital Home Locker is an advanced security solution. The black finish gives its strong structure an air of refinement. With its digital locking technology, this is the best electronic digital safe that guarantees the safe keeping of valuables. Among the cutting-edge features is motorised locking, which facilitates safe and convenient entry. There is enough room in the 25-litre capacity for cash, papers, and other valuables. With its NX Pro Digital Home Locker, Godreja reputable name in securityoffers comfort. This stylish and helpful locker is perfect for home usage because it fits in well with a variety of settings. The Godrej NX Pro Digital Home Locker demonstrates Godrej's dedication to quality and creativity.

Specifications of Godrej NX Pro Digital (25L) Ebony Home Locker:

Brand: Godrej Security Solutions

Product Dimensions: 37D x 35W x 20H Centimetres

Lock Type: Electronic

Colour: Ebony

Capacity: 25 litres

Material: Iron

Special Feature: Portable

Mounting Type: Wall Mount

Control Type: Push Button Control

Pros Cons Anti-theft features Key-only lock system Durable stainless-steel construction Limited capacity for more oversized items

8. Maxwel Safe (30 Litres) Digital Electronic Locker w/Touch Screen Panel | Home Safe with Keypad for User Pin | Keys for Emergency

B09CNZPMGN

The 30-liter size and elegant design of the Maxwel Safe make it an easy-to-use and safe storage option. This is the best electronic digital safe, featuring a touchscreen connection for easy use and a digital electronic locker. While traditional keys are used to secure emergency access, users can add further protection by setting a personalized PIN. The touchscreen panel makes things more convenient by offering a contemporary and easy way to keep valuables safe. This safe is ideal for protecting cash, jewels, and essential papers at home because of its roomy 30-litre chamber. The security features are more adaptable now that digital and key access alternatives are available. For those looking for a modern home safe with user-friendly features, the Maxwell Safe is an excellent option as the top-rated home security safes since it finds a compromise between cutting-edge technology and classic durability.

Specifications of Maxwel Safe (30 Litres) Digital Electronic Locker w/Touch Screen Panel | Home Safe with Keypad for User Pin | Keys for Emergency:

Brand: Maxwel

Product Dimensions: 30D x 32W x 40H Centimetres

Lock Type: Electronic, Key

Colour: Black Matte Texture

Capacity: 13 Kilograms

Material: Alloy Steel

Special Feature: Electronic Keypad

Mounting Type: Wall Mount

Control Type: Touchpad Control

Pros Cons System auto-lock feature Limited size options Electronic keypad for easy access May lack advanced security features

9. Amazon Basics Digital Safe with Electronic Keypad Locker for Home, Gross Capacity - 39L (Net - 33L), Black

B078K4W8N9

With a net capacity of 33 litres (gross capacity of 39 litres), the Amazon Basics Digital Safe is a top-rated home security safes solution that blends efficiency and simplicity. This safe's traditional black colour fits in well with a variety of home decor styles. Valuable items are kept safe with the electronic keypad's user-friendly and safe locking system. It has a sizable capacity and plenty of room to store cash, other valuables, and vital papers. This is the best electronic digital safe that is prioritised over security. Because of its electronic keypad and simple design, people with varying degrees of security system experience may use it. This safe is an excellent option for anybody looking for a durable and valuable home locker that strikes a balance between ease of use and efficient safety for their valuables.

Specifications of Amazon Basics Digital Safe with Electronic Keypad Locker for Home, Gross Capacity - 39L (Net - 33L), Black:

Brand: amazon basics

Product Dimensions: 36.1D x 33W x 33H Centimetres

Lock Type: Electronic, Key

Colour: Black

Capacity: 34 litres

Material: Alloy Steel

Special Feature: electronic keypad locker

Mounting Type: Floor Mount, Wall Mount

Control Type: Touchpad Control

Pros Cons Ample Storage Limited Portability Electronic Keypad Security Dependence on Electronic System

Also Read: Google announces 4 new initiatives for digital safety in India: All you need to know

10. Home Fireproof Safe Locker (2 Cubic | 45 Litres), FFUNX Cabinet Security Safe Box with Sensitive Alarms, Dual Key System with LCD Digital Screen for Money, Jewellery Document Valuables (Battery required)

B0B6FTNT8T

The Home Fireproof Safe Locker, with a generous 45-litre capacity (2 Cubic), stands as the best electronic digital safe for safeguarding valuables. Featuring FFUNX Cabinet Security, this safe box offers a comprehensive approach to security. The inclusion of sensitive alarms enhances protection, alerting users to any unauthorised access attempts. The Biometric fingerprint scanning dual key system, coupled with an LCD digital screen, ensures secure and user-friendly operation. This fireproof safe is designed to protect money, jewellery, documents, and other valuables, providing peace of mind during emergencies. Battery-operated, it remains functional even in power outages. The Home Fireproof Safe Locker is a versatile and advanced security option, integrating modern technology with durable construction to create a reliable storage solution for the secure keeping of essential belongings.

Specifications of Home Fireproof Safe Locker (2 Cubic | 45 Litres), FFUNX Cabinet Security Safe Box with Sensitive Alarms, Dual Key System with LCD Digital Screen for Money, Jewellery Document Valuables (Battery required):

Brand: F FUNX

Product Dimensions: 33D x 38W x 45H Centimetres

Lock Type: Combination, Key

Colour: Black

Capacity: 17.5 Kilograms

Material: Alloy Steel

Special Feature: Alarm System

Pros Cons Customisable features Limited warranty period Modern design, light grey colour It may have a steeper learning curve.

Top 3 features for you

Product Feature 1 Feature 2 Feature 3 Godrej Security Solutions Forte Pro Electronic PIN code access Compact design Motorised locking mechanism Lifelong Locker for Home & Office 56 litres capacity Portable option 1-Year Manufacturer's Warranty Valencia Crux Electronic Digital Security Safe Streamlined design Anti-theft Stylish black exterior Plantex Digital Safe Locker Dual Security Measures Compact and Versatile Electronic keypad for easy entry Ozone Safety Solutions Digital Safe PIN Code Access Visual alarm for added security 24 Months Warranty Ozone Wifi Enabled 30 Litre Premium Safe Locker Anti-theft alarm Emergency Battery Backup 4-in-1 Unlocking Way Godrej NX Pro Digital (25L) Ebony Home Locker Anti-theft features Durable stainless-steel construction Portable design Maxwell Safe (30 Litres) Digital Electronic Locker w/Touch Screen Panel System auto-lock feature Electronic keypad for easy access Elegant design with Touch Screen Panel Amazon Basics Digital Safe, 39L Gross Capacity Ample Storage Electronic Keypad Security Dependence on Electronic System Home Fireproof Safe Locker 45 Litres Spacious Storage Advanced Security Features

Best overall product

The Ozone Wifi Enabled 30 Litre Premium Safe Locker is the best electronic digital safe overall out of all the electronic safes that are presented. With its sizeable 30-litre capacity and cutting-edge security features, this modern safe is perfect for use in both the home and workplace. With features like keys, electronic safe pin code security, and cutting-edge WIFI connection, its unique 4-in-1 unlocking mechanism offers consumers a flexible and safe storage alternative. Its dependability is increased by the anti-theft alarm and emergency battery backup, and convenience is increased by the ability to monitor and operate the safe from a distance. The Ozone WIFI Enabled Safe is the best portable safes for the home because it provides complete safety for valuables while striking the ideal balance between contemporary technology and conventional security.

Best value for money

The best electronic digital safe in this selection is the Amazon Basics Digital Safe with Electronic Keypad Locker. With a gross capacity of 39 litres (net - 33L), it offers enough storage for valuables at an affordable price range. Your possessions are secured because the electronic keypad provides a locking mechanism that is both user-friendly and secure. This electronic safe locker can fit into a variety of home decor types thanks to its basic design and black colour. Because of its ability to blend simplicity and efficiency, it is usable by users with different levels of security system expertise. For those looking for a safe and valuable home locker, the Amazon Basics Digital Safe is an affordable option since it puts an emphasis on critical functions and offers solid protection without unnecessary details.

How do you find the Best Digital Security Safe Options in the Market?

It takes careful study of essential features and factors to identify the best electronic digital safe available on the market. To begin, determine your unique requirements, including the quantity of items to be kept and the necessary level of protection. For increased security, look for safes with cutting-edge locking systems like electronic keypads or biometric access. Consider extra characteristics like anti-theft and fire resistance. Gaining knowledge about the dependability and performance of various safes may be achieved by analysing best-rated home safe reviews and professional perspectives. Finally, make a pricing comparison to be sure the safe you have selected is the finest deal for the money. You may choose the best digital security safe for your needs by doing extensive research and considering your unique demands.

Disclaimer: At Hindustan Times, we help you stay up-to-date with the latest trends and products. Hindustan Times has an affiliate partnership, so we may get a part of the revenue when you make a purchase. We shall not be liable for any claim under applicable laws, including but not limited to the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, with respect to the products. The products listed in this article are in no particular order of priority.
Japan hopes to make the world's first pinpoint landing on the moon early Saturday, joining a modern push for lunar contact with roots in the Cold War-era space race between the United States and the Soviet Union. JAXA spacecraft to attempt landing on Friday.(Representative Image/AP)

Japan's attempt to bring down its lander at a precise location follows the April failure of a Japanese company's spacecraft that apparently crashed while attempting to land on the moon.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

As Japan and others look to enter a club so far occupied by only the United States, the Soviet Union, India and China, victory means international scientific and diplomatic accolades and potential domestic political gains.

Failure means a very expensive, and public, embarrassment.

Here's a look at high-profile recent and upcoming attempts, and what they might mean, ahead of Japan's moon landing.

ALSO READ- Chandrayaan-3's Vikram lander now serving as Moon's South Pole location marker

India

India last year became the first country to land a spacecraft near the moon's south pole, where scientists believe that perpetually darkened craters may hold frozen water that could aid future missions.

In 2019 a software glitch caused an Indian lander to crash on its lunar descent. So the $75 million success in August brought widespread jubilation, with people cheering in the streets and declaring India's rise as a scientific superpower.

Indian scientists said the next step is a manned lunar mission.

The success is seen as key to boosting Prime Minister Narendra Modi's popularity ahead of a crucial general election this year.

India has been pushing for a space program since the 1960s and aims to visit to the International Space Station next year in collaboration with the United States.

New Delhi also sees victory in space as important in its rivalry with nuclear-armed neighbour China. Relations between India and China have plunged since deadly border clashes in 2020.

ALSO READ- Astronauts for Gaganyaan mission ready and waiting for flight to happen in 2025: ISRO chief

The United States

NASA plans to send astronauts to fly around the moon next year, and to land there in 2026.

Just this week, however, a US company, Astrobotic Technology, said its lunar lander will soon burn up in Earth's atmosphere after a failed moonshot.

The lander, named Peregrine, developed a fuel leak that forced Astrobotic to abandon its attempt to make the first US lunar landing in more than 50 years. The company suspects a stuck valve caused a tank to rupture.

NASA is working to commercialize lunar deliveries by private businesses while the US government tries to get astronauts back to the moon.

For now, the United States' ability to spend large sums and marshal supply chains give it an advantage over China and other moon rivals. Private sector players such as SpaceX and Blue Origin have made crewed space missions a priority.

Another US company, Intuitive Machines, plans to launch its own lunar lander next month.

China

China landed on the moon in 2013 and last year launched a three-person crew for its orbiting space station. It hopes to put astronauts on the moon before the end of the decade.

In 2020, a Chinese capsule returned to Earth from the moon with the first fresh lunar rock samples in more than 40 years. China's first manned space mission in 2003 made it the third country after the USSR and the United States to put a person into space.

China's space ambitions are linked to its rivalry with the United States as the world's two largest economies compete for diplomatic, political and military influence in Asia and beyond.

China built its own space station after it was excluded from the International Space Station, in part because of US objections over the Chinese space program's intimate ties to the military.

China and the United States are also considering plans for permanent crewed bases on the moon. That has raised questions about competition and cooperation on the lunar surface.

Russia

Also last year, Russia's Luna-25 failed in its attempt to land in the same area of the moon that India reached.

It came 47 years after the Soviets landed on the moon, and Russian scientists blamed that long break, and the accompanying loss of space expertise, for the recent failure.

The Soviets launched the first satellite in space in 1957 and put the first human in space in 1961, but Russia's program has struggled since the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union amid widespread corruption and Western sanctions that have hurt scientific development.

ALSO READ- Luna 25 crashes: Russian spacecraft collides onto Moon's surface, says Roscosmos

Russia is planning for another moon mission in 2027.

Russia's failures and the growing role of private companies like Elon Musk's SpaceX have cost Russia its once-sizable niche in the lucrative global space launch market.

Just as India's success was seen as evidence of its rise to great power status, Russia's failure has been portrayed by some as casting doubt on its global influence and strength.
While the amount of digital payments across India has grown, the scams surrounding Unified Payment Interface (UPI) have also seen a significant increase over the last couple of years. Making payments on the go is now making it easier for scammers to steal money and personal information from UPI users. A QR code of Paytm is seen at a mobile repairing shop in Kolkata. (Reuters)(Reuters)

Quishing scams across India have seen a massive spike as fraudsters are now using QR code scanning and UPI to steal money, personal information and identity of the users, leaving next to no digital footprint behind.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

What is quishing scam?

While phishing scams have been around in India for decades now, quishing is a new method being used by scammers to digitally siphon off money from citizens. Quishing involves scammers using fake QR codes to lure people to fraudulent websites to steal their bank account details.

The number of complaints related to UPI frauds has increased from 15,000 cases in 2022 to over 30,000 in 2023, reported Times of India. Out of this number, around half of these complaints are related to QR code scams.

However, quishing is not just exclusive to scanning QR codes for UPI payments. In fact, scanning any kind of QR codes that take you to a third-party website can put your money and personal data at risk.

How does quishing work and how to protect yourself

The scammer will generally ask the user to scan a QR code using their phone camera, which then redirects them to another website. This website can be a duplicate of a genuine e-commerce or bank website, asking for personal information or bank details of a person.

Apart from this, some QR codes ask the user for the UPI PIN for verification, which is then sent to the scammer who uses it to drain the bank account of the victim. Some QR codes also contain malicious files or mirroring software, which gives access to all the information in your phone to the scammer.

To avoid such scams, it is advised that one does not scan any QR codes sent to them by unfamiliar sources. Scanning QR codes on social media platforms should also be avoided as they can contain malicious files.

It is advised that one does not click on any unfamiliar links that appear after scanning a QR code. If the QR code includes a shortened URL, avoid clicking on it unless you trust the source.
Bengaluru, known for its tech-savvy culture, never fails to amaze people. Every now and then, interesting stories brew from the city and go viral on social media. This time, an Uber driver's unique paddle shifter became the talk of the town as it impressed many. When X user Parth Parmar was travelling in the driver's cab, he noticed the paddle shifter and shared about it on the microblogging platform. Customised paddle shifter by Bengaluru Uber driver. (X/@Parth Parmar)

In his tweet, Parmar wrote, "This Uber driver designed paddle shifter himself cause he was having shoulder pain while changing gears. The whole thing cost him 9,000! This could be huge. I wish he gets the right support and guidance to make it big. No dearth of talent in India." (Also Read: Cab driver watches videos while behind the wheel. Uber, Mumbai Police react to distressing incident)

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

He also explained about the mechanism in another tweet and wrote, "He turned the stick behind the steering into a paddle shifter, connected with a chip which activates the relays which drives the motor assembly to shift the gear."

Take a look at his post here:

This tweet was shared a few days ago on social media. The post has since received close to 11,000 views and numerous likes. Many even took to the comments section to express their fascination with such technology. (Also Read: Uber ride for 6? Bengaluru womans tweet leaves netizens in disbelief)

Check out what people said about it here:

An individual wrote, "It's fascinating how personal experiences can drive inventive solutions. This Uber driver's ingenuity highlights the power of addressing discomfort with creative engineering. Forget the Batmobile, we've got the 'Shoulder Saver' @Uber_India. Kudos to the driver for turning gear changing into a pain-free, customized experience.

It's like upgrading your ride and your well-being simultaneously."

A second commented, "He could have opted for an automatic system. Innovative thinking nevertheless."

"Sounds cool. I'm reminded of a car of James Bond," posted a third.

A fourth shared, "Excellent."
An hireress has decided to give away her wealth, amounting to nearly $27 million. And how does she plan to do that? By taking advice from 50 strangers out of 10,000 invitations that she sent to random Austrians over the age of 16. Marlene Engelhorn, an Austro-German heiress, who decided to give away her fortune of $27 million. (Instagram/@goodnews_movement)

Marlene Engelhorn, the 31-year-old Austro-German heiress, decided to give away the inheritance she received from her grandmother, reports the BBC.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

I have inherited a fortune, and therefore power, without having done anything for it. And the state doesn't even want taxes on it, Engelhorn told the outlet. The inheritance tax was abolished in Austria in 2008, and Engelhorn believes that this is unfair. The decision to give away her fortune is her way of fighting wealth inequality.

How will she choose her advisors?

She has launched a project named Guter Rat (Good Council) to find 50 people who will help her. According to the mission statement on the projects website, 10,000 randomly selected people are contacted. Anyone who wants to take part fills out a survey - and from all the responses, a council of 50 people is put together that reflects the Austrian population as accurately as possible. Gender, age, education, job and so on.

Over six weekends between March and June, these 50 people come together to meet. They receive input from experts from scientific and field experts. All discussions are professionally moderated and accompanied, the statement reads.

Engelhorn also mentioned on the website that the 50 chosen people will be doing their service to the society so they will be compensated for their efforts.

The news soon made it to Instagram and created a chatter among netizens. While some were surprised by this decision, a few suggested ways the heiress should spend her fortune.

How did netizens react to the millionaire's decision?

Dont donate it to any charities cause itll go right back into the government's pocket. Hand it out to the poor yourself so you see where it goes, posted an Instagram user. Wow. Imagine if all billionaires/ millionaires did this, added another. What an amazing woman. May she live a long, healthy, and fulfilling life, joined a third. Or she could invest it, and use the interest to help charities for years on end. Someone please help her, wrote a fourth.
Editor's note: An earlier online version of this story incorrectly listed Romero's conviction.

A Yellowstone County jury convicted a Billings man Friday of sexually assaulting a schoolgirl.

The charges against Robert Romero followed that same child coming forward with her account of abuse to counselors, police and eventually a courtroom jury.

Robert Romero is not an imaginary monster, said Lauren Griffin, one of the prosecutors assigned to the case in her closing argument. He is a very real, living nightmare.

In November 2021, the survivor of the abuse, then still under 10 years of age, attended a lesson on inappropriate contact hosted by her Billings elementary school. The course included a section which taught the students good touch and bad touch, court documents said.

After the lesson, the girl told a school counselor that Romero had molested her while the two lived together in a South Side apartment about a year prior. The counselor, per state law, forwarded the information to the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services.

During subsequent interviews at the Yellowstone Valley Child Advocacy Center, investigators with the Billings Police Department learned the abuse happened over a period of about a year, with the girl describing Romero sexually assaulting her at least three times. When police interviewed Romero, he said the allegations were crafted by the girls mother, with whom he had previously been in a relationship.

County prosecutors filed criminal charges against Romero in July 2022. He pleaded not guilty to three counts of sexual intercourse without consent, and was released from custody on a $100,000 bond.

Romeros trial began Tuesday, during which jurors heard testimony from specialists in child abuse treatment, the survivor and Romero himself. The 44-year-old consistently denied the charges, testifying that he could not explain why the girl would fabricate the account of sexual abuse.

In her closing argument to jurors, Griffin asked why the survivor would testify to something so damaging, so outside the realm of what a 7-year-old should know about.

What reason would she have to lie? Griffin said.

Romero attended the trial dressed in slacks, a button-up shirt and hoodie. The jury reached its verdict after about three-and-a-half hours of deliberation, convicting Romero of the lesser included offenses of sexual assault. The jurys decision caused some of those in the gallery to weep.

District Judge Thomas Pardy, who presided over the trial, ordered that Romero be taken into custody upon being found guilty. Romero remained stoic through the reading of the verdict. However, he briefly turned to mouth Im sorry, to a woman in tears behind the bar before a detention officer placed him in cuffs.

In September of last year, an Indiana man was sentenced to 70 years in prison for molesting a girl in Laurel several times. The conviction of Robert Lee Morrissey Jr. came after the survivor attended a sex education course in middle school, which she testified helped her understand that Morrissey had abused her.

That same month, Judge Pardy sentenced 51-year-old Kenneth Rowe to 60 years in prison, with 25 years suspended, for raping an underage girl while she slept and secretly recording hundreds of videos of the girl. Rowe's sentencing came after he reached an agreement with county prosecutors in which he pleaded guilty to sexual intercourse without consent, two counts of sexual assault and one count of sexual abuse of children.
A trending phrase on X in Brazil has created confusion among international netizens. Justice for Bin Laden is a top trend on the micro-blogging platform with thousands sharing their opinions using the phrase. Before you jump to any conclusions, netizens in Brazil are not showing support for the terrorist Osama bin Laden. They are tweeting to show their support for MC Bin Laden, a Brazilian rapper and hip hop artist, who is a participant in the reality game show Big Brother Brasil - the Brazilian version of the Big Brother reality franchise television show. The screenshot shows the phrase 'Justice for Bin Laden' trending on X in Brazil. (X)

'Justice for Bin Laden' is trending on X in Brazil. (X)

Heres an X user who shared screenshots of tweets where people are wondering why Brazilians are showing support for Osama bin Laden. One of them, however, clarifies that people are talking about the rapper and not the terrorist.

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Besides Justice for Bin Laden, Bin Laden merece respeito is also trending. It translates to "Bin Laden deserves respect". An individual, confused by the trend on X, shared, Brazilians are defending bin Laden with the tag BIN LADEN MERECE RESPEITO, translating to "Bin Laden deserves respect". I'm trying to understand what will lead them to defend a terrorist who killed thousands of people.

Some people also took it upon themselves to clarify the confusion by sharing that the rapper has nothing to do with Osama bin Laden except the similarity in their names.

Check out one such tweet here:

Who is MC Bin Laden?

MC Bin Ladens real name is Jefferson Cristian dos Santos de Lima, reports ISTOE Gente. When he debuted he chose the stage name in reference to the terrorist Osama bin Laden.

It worked for the first few years of his career, but, as per the outlet, the stage name turned into an issue during his international performance, with one of his shows getting cancelled in the US solely because of his name.

According to the outlet, before entering the Big Brother Brasil 24 house, the rapper expressed that he would change his stage name. However, he hasn't yet decided on a new name.
A couple in New Zealand landed in a battle with Qantas Airways after they claimed that they had to sit in someone elses urine during their trip from Bangkok to Sydney. As per reports, the couple demanded a full refund of what they paid for the 10-hour-long flight but the airline initially refused. Afterwards, Qantas Airways addressed the issue by apologising to the couple and issuing a refund. A couple claimed that the incident took place on their 10-hour-long flight from Bangkok to Sydney. (Unsplash/@laowai66)

When the couple took their seats on the flight, they kept their belongings on the floor, in front of their seat, reports NZ Herald. However, when they picked the items, including a Qantas pillow, they realised that the items were wet. They kept the other items in the overhead bin and got a replacement for the pillow, which was wet and stained on one side.

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According to the outlet, it was after finding a childs underwear beneath their seat that the couple concluded that the liquid that stained their belongings was not water but urine.

How did the airline respond?

According to the NZ Herald, the supervisor initially offered the couple 10,000 Qantas points. The travellers refused stating that they want a full refund and the points wont help them as they are planning not to travel by Qantas Airlines again. They further added that it does not make up for the fact we were sitting in biohazard waste.

As per the outlet, after angry exchanges between the couple and the airline over email, the company agreed to refund their ticket fare. They also issued an apology. However, the airlines didnt issue any statement on the nature of the liquid that was on the airline floor.

We have apologised to the customer and will be providing a refund as a gesture of goodwill, a Qantas spokesperson told NZ Herald. The couple also told the outlet that though they are disappointed that it took so long for the matter to be resolved, they are really happy about the full refund.
MORONI, Comoros (AP)  A second day of unrest in the Indian Ocean island nation of Comoros on Thursday left one person dead and at least six others injured, a health official said. HT Image

The protests came after incumbent President Azali Assoumani was declared the winner in an election held over the weekend that was denounced by the countrys opposition parties as fraudulent.

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The announcement late Tuesday that Assoumani had won a fourth term triggered violent protests that started Wednesday, when a government ministers house was set on fire and a car at the home of another minister was burned.

People also vandalized a national food depot. Several roads in and around the capital, Moroni, were barricaded by protesters who burned tires. Riot police clashed with the demonstrators.

The government ordered a curfew on Wednesday night, until 6 a.m. Thursday.

The person who died was a young man, said Dr. Djabir Ibrahim, the head of the emergency department at the El-Maarouf Hospital in Moroni. He said that the man likely died of a gunshot wound. One of the injured was in a serious condition, he said.

U.N. human rights chief Volker Turk appealed for calm and urged authorities to allow people to protest peacefully. His office said that it received reports of security forces firing tear gas at peaceful protesters, including on a march by a group of women earlier this week. Turk also said that he was concerned with repression in Comoros in recent years.

Opposition parties have claimed that Sunday's vote was fraudulent and say the national electoral commission is biased toward Assoumani, a former military officer who first came to power in a 1999 coup. The opposition has called for the election results to be canceled.

Comoros has a population of around 800,000 spread over three islands and has had a series of coups since independence from France in 1975.

Assoumani, 65, was reelected with 62.97% of the vote after changing the constitution in 2018 to allow him to sidestep term limits. He has been accused of cracking down on dissent and previously banned protests. He chairs the African Union, where his one-year largely ceremonial term will end next month.

The government said that a number of protesters were arrested, without offering specifics, and accused the opposition of finding it difficult to accept defeat and inciting the unrest.

We know the instigators," government spokesperson Houmed Msaidie said. Some of them are in the hands of law enforcement. We will continue to look for them, because there is no question of the state giving way to violence.

A coalition of opposition parties denied the accusations, saying the unrest shows that people are fed up with the government.

When Assoumani changed the constitution in 2018, the move triggered mass demonstrations across the nation and an armed uprising on one of the islands that was quelled by the army.

After taking power in a coup, Assoumani was first elected president in 2002. He stepped down in 2006, but returned to win a second term in 2016.

___

AP Africa news: https://apnews.com/hub/africa
China's embassy in Seoul has warned citizens against the dangers of having plastic surgery done in South Korea, from the risk of death to major facial changes that make it difficult to pass through immigration checks. The Chinese national flag is seen in Beijing, China. (File)

South Korea is one of the world's most popular destinations for medical tourism, canvassing foreign patients in the past decade, the bulk of whom come from China and the United States, data provider Statista says.

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"In recent years, many foreigners have come to South Korea for cosmetic surgery, and some people have been involved in medical disputes and surgical failures and even deaths have occurred," the Chinese embassy said in a note to the public.

The note follows the death this month of a Chinese woman after receiving liposuction surgery three times at a plastic surgery clinic in the Gangnam area of the capital, the Yonhap news agency said on Wednesday, citing police.

Reuters could not immediately reach a representative of the Korean Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons to seek comment outside business hours.

The embassy asked citizens to be wary of advertising and take note of the risks, while choosing intermediaries carefully and checking the legitimacy of medical institutions or surgeons, signing clear contracts and retaining full records.

"If there is a major change in (your) postoperative appearance, or if you are still in the postoperative recovery stage, you should bring the surgical certificate when you leave the country," the embassy added.

Such a precaution would help avoid complications with check-in or subsequent entry and exit procedures, it said.

South Korea had 2,718 plastic surgeons in 2022, according to the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, a number similar to China's estimated 3,000 surgeons, despite a population that is 28 times the size of South Korea's.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Friday that Israel had financed the creation of Palestinian militant group Hamas, publicly contradicting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who has denied such allegations. European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell speaks.(AFP)

Opponents of the Israeli government and some global media have accused Natanyahu governments of boosting Gaza rulers Hamas for years, including by allowing Qatari financing of Gaza.

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"Yes, Hamas was financed by the government of Israel in an attempt to weaken the Palestinian Authority led by Fatah," Borrell said in a speech in the University of Valladolid in Spain without elaborating.

Borrell added the only peaceful solution included the creation of a Palestinian state.

"We only believe a two-state solution imposed from the outside would bring peace even though Israel insists on the negative," he said.

Hamas carried out a surprise attack on southern Israel from Gaza on Oct. 7, killing 1,400 people and seizing around 240 hostages in the deadliest day in Israel's history.

The Israeli government launched a counteroffensive in which more than 24,700 Palestinians have since been killed, according to the Gaza health ministry.

Hamas has run the Gaza Strip since 2007 after a brief civil war with forces loyal to the Fatah movement led by President Mahmoud Abbas, who is based in the West Bank and also heads the Palestine Liberation Organization.

Israel has criticised different countries, including Borrell's native Spain, for what it says is showing sympathy for Hamas.
Europe is talking too much about Donald Trump instead of getting ready for his potential second term as U.S. president, German Finance Minister Christian Lindner said on Friday. Former US President Donald Trump (Bloomberg)

"We are talking too much about Donald Trump in Europe and we should prepare ourselves for a possible second term for Donald Trump by fostering our European competitiveness," Lindner said.

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"Doing our homework is the best preparation."

Lindner also expressed his concerns about EU policymakers wanting to follow the U.S. in subsidizing "almost everything," something he considers unsustainable.
WASHINGTON (AP)  A top No Labels leader said Thursday that Republican presidential contender Nikki Haley would deserve serious consideration for the group's nomination if it decides to run a third-party candidate for president. HT Image

Joe Lieberman, a former Connecticut senator and co-chair of No Labels, said Haley's record as governor of South Carolina and U.N. ambassador would be a good fit for the group's plan to find a candidate in the likely event that the 2024 election becomes a rematch between Democrat Joe Biden and Republican Donald Trump.

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I think Im speaking for a lot of No Labels members. Gov. Haley would deserve serious consideration, Lieberman said. But thats a decision for her to make, and its not an easy one. So well have to wait and see.

Haley's team said she wasn't interested in the offer.

Nikki has no interest in No Labels, shes happy with the Republican label, said Haley campaign spokesperson Olivia Perez-Cubas.

Haley came in third in the Iowa caucuses and is banking on a strong showing in New Hampshire's primary next week to give her a path to surpass Trump, the overwhelming front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination.

Lieberman last week said hed like former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who recently ended his own GOP presidential campaign, to consider running on the No Labels ticket, calling him the kind of candidate No Labels is looking for.

Meanwhile, former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan quit his role as a No Labels co-chair in a move that prompted speculation he was preparing for a possible presidential campaign in the No Labels ticket. He later sought to squelch that speculation, endorsing Haley for Republican nominee.

Lieberman's comments about Haley came in response to a question before the abrupt end of a news conference in Washington where No Labels leaders called for the Department of Justice to investigate their critics. Several groups aligned with Democrats have aggressively criticized No Labels and are discouraging candidates and political operatives from working with the group, warning a third-party candidate can't win but would help Trump return to the White House.

In a letter to the head of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, No Labels leaders allege the campaign against them is an illegal conspiracy designed to interfere with their constitutional right to seek access to the ballot. They distinguish attacks on them from typical political commentary, which is speech protected by the First Amendment, by comparing their work to the civil rights movement.

The alleged conspiracy to stop No Labels is a brazen voter suppression effort, Benjamin Chavis Jr., a former head of the NAACP and a co-chair of No Labels, said during the news conference.

The letter cites an array of events, most of them common political tactics or governmental decisions. A mobile billboard with a picture of Trump alongside photos of No Labels CEO Nancy Jacobson and her husband, Mark Penn, drove through their Georgetown neighborhood. A No Labels staffer said she was warned by a friend that she was endangering her career in Democratic politics by working with the group.

The Arizona Democratic Party filed an unsuccessful lawsuit challenging No Labels ballot access in the battleground state. The Maine secretary of state sent a letter to members of the new No Labels party telling them how they could change parties. A letter from the liberal group MoveOn asked other secretaries of state to investigate the group. And various critics have held meetings to discourage lawmakers, donors, candidates, political operatives and others from working with No Labels.

This is a desperate attempt to salvage their failing campaign and keep their fleeing supporters who have finally seen through their facade, the Lincoln Project, one of the groups targeted in the letter, said in a statement.

No Labels, which has refused to disclose its donors, has qualified for the ballot in 14 states, including the battlegrounds of Arizona, Nevada and North Carolina, and is working in more than a dozen others. It plans to offer its ballot line to a bipartisan unity ticket as an alternative to Trump and Biden if they remain the front-runners to win their parties' nomination, saying Americans are crying out for another option.

___

Cooper reported from Phoenix. Associated Press writer Meg Kinnard contributed from Columbia, S.C.

___

The Associated Press coverage of race and voting receives support from the Jonathan Logan Family Foundation. See more about APs democracy initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
Yemen's Houthis said that will not expand their attacks on shipping in and around the Red Sea except blocking Israel and responding to United States and Britain for air strikes. Spokesman Mohammed Abdulsalam- chief Houthi negotiator in peace talks- told news agency Reuters that the group does not intend to target Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Houthis Red Sea attacks: Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Carney (DDG 64) defeating a combination of Houthi missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles in the Red Sea.(AFP)

"We do not want the escalation to expand. This is not our demand. We imposed rules of engagement in which not a single drop of blood was shed or major material losses," Mohammed Abdulsalam said, adding, "It represented pressure on Israel only, it did not represent pressure on any country in the world."

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Houthis have attacked ships in the Red Sea since October in a show of solidarity with Palestinians by targeting vessels linked to Israel.

"What the Yemeni people did in the beginning was to target Israeli ships heading to Israel without causing any human or even significant material losses, just preventing ships from passing as a natural right," he said, asserting, "Now, when America joined in and escalated the situation further, there is no doubt that Yemen will respond," he said.

"We do not want the conflict to expand in the region and we do not prefer that, and we are still working on non-escalation, but the decision is up to the Americans, as long as they continue to attack," Mohammed Abdulsalam said.

He continued, "Yemen is concerned with responding, and is interested in verifying or maintaining its position by preventing Israeli ships from heading to the occupied Palestinian territories."

This comes as the US has accused Iran of trying to spread conflict across the Middle East amid Israel's Hamas war in Gaza.

Referring to Gulf Arab powers, he said, We do not find justification for taking any action against them, and we call on them to reject the militarization of the Red Sea or the presence of military forces inside the region.
India could assist in investigating links to gangs operating there and conducting extortion targeting Indo-Canadians, but only if there is a formal request from Ottawa along with evidence. Image of a vehicle believed to be involved in an extortion-linked shooting incident in Edmonton. (Edmonton Police Service)

This was indicated by Indias High Commissioner to Ottawa Sanjay Kumar Verma even as police in Edmonton, the capital of the province of Alberta, said on Thursday that it believed these crimes, 27 of which are being investigated locally, were being orchestrated from India.

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Canada has yet to contact Indian authorities in this regard, as Verma said, Canadians are yet to request, with evidence.

However, he added that there were existing mechanisms between the two governments to cooperate on organized crimes.

He stated, If specific and relevant evidence  not merely unsubstantiated allegations  are shared with us, pointing to links between Canadian extortionists and Indian gangsters, we shall act accordingly.

Edmonton Police Service or EPS is investigating 27 events linked to an extortion series that have taken place in the region since October last year. These include 5 extortions, 15 arsons and 7 firearms offences, a release from EPS said on Thursday.

A dedicated project team continues to investigate this series and its connection to organized crime, it added.

At a press conference on Thursday, EPS Staff Sgt Dave Paton said, Its our belief that these crimes are being orchestrated from India.

Typically our victims receive WhatsApp communication, and then from there, theres a request that comes along with that for compensation to allow those victims to remain safe, he said.

On January 4, in a statement, EPS said six persons had been arrested so far in this connection for shooting and arson incidents that have been connected to the extortion series. They included 20-year-old Parminder Singh, who faces 12 firearms-related charges connected to an October 19 shooting at a residence in the city. He remains in custody. Others were identified as Hassan Dembil, 18, Manav Heer, 18, Ravinder Sandu, 19, who were charged with arson-related offences linked to a December 19 residential fire. They have since been released. Also arrested and then released was Arjun Sahnan, 19, who faces five firearms-related charges. One of these suspects has left Canada, police said on Thursday, without identifying who that was.

While the violent tactics of the gangs, including shootings, have not resulted in injuries, an estimated CA$ 9 million in property damage has been reported due to those incidents.

A spate of similar extortion attempts have been reported from the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia and the Greater Toronto Area since late last year.
After an alarming flare up, Pakistan and Iran have shown signs that they don't want the situation to escalate. Pakistan's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mumtaz Zahra Baloch told Bloomberg on Friday that they don't want an escalation. "We also got similar kind of sentiments from their side. So we are taking it further," she said. A local resident shows a mountain at the Koh-e-Sabz area of Pakistan's south-west Baluchistan province where Iran launched an airstrike, on January 18, 2024. Pakistan launched deadly strikes on January 18 against militant targets in Iran in retaliation.(AFP)

The two Muslim nations bombed 'militant' targets in each other's territory, prompting the United States and China to play peacemakers. Here's a look at the underlying causes that triggered the conflict.

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The Iranian strike on Pakistan was driven by the country's efforts to bolster its internal security and not in furtherance of its Middle East ambitions, Reuters reported, citing three sources.

Iran on Tuesday targeted the Sunni militant group Jaish al-Adl. The Shia-dominated country claims the group has links with the Islamic State as many of its militants were part of now-defunct, ISIS-linked Jundullah.

The flare up was a result of a long struggle between Iran and Pakistan over separatist groups and Islamist militants operating out of remote borderlands. They often attack government targets, and the two countries accuse each other of having involvement in the bloodshed.

Gregory Brew, an analyst at Eurasia Group, told Reuters that Iran's strikes were triggered by its concerns on domestic violence perpetrated by militants. The flare up comes days after the Islamic State carried out the January 3 attack in Iran.

Also read: Iran-Pakistan battle theatre: How will it impact India?

He said the Iranian leadership is responding to domestic pressure to do something.

On Thursday, Iran said it considers the security of its people and territorial integrity as a red line. It also asked Pakistan to prevent armed militants from making bases on its soil.

Pressure on Iran

Over 100 people died on January 3 after a bomb exploded at a ceremony in the southeastern city of Kerman to commemorate commander Qassem Soleimani. Iran vowed revenge against the Islamic State, a Sunni terrorist organisation.

Iran's ruling clerics found the bombing as an embarrassment as it showed the country's security to be vulnerable, a confidante of the leadership told the agency.

The strike against Pakistan showed the administration and the security agencies' capabilities, it added.

It sent out a message that terrorist attacks will get a crushing response from Iran.

Also read: Pakistan says killed terrorists in Iran through 'precision military strikes': Top Updates

Inaction from Pakistan

A security official told the news agency that Iran had been providing Pakistan with evidence that Jaish al-Adl was involved in the Kerman attack. He said Iran also found proof that they were planning more attacks on Iran. They wanted Pakistan to act against the group. However, since no action was taken, they had to launch the strike.

The anonymous security official told the agency that Iran has warned the world that action against its national security won't go unanswered.

The officer also said Iran had been pressing Pakistan for years to resolve the issue of the presence of terrorists near its border.

"The missile strikes were a sign that Tehran has lost patience," Brew said.

The analyst said Iran also showed the world its resolve to defend itself amid regional tensions over the Gaza war.

Michael Kugelman, director of the South Asia Institute at the Wilson Center, a Washington-based think tank, said bilateral tension on border security was a longstanding problem for Iran and Pakistan.

He said de-escalation would be difficult in the immediate term, "given the high tensions and temperatures at play", he said.

With inputs from Reuters
This New Year, discussion about the future of charter schools in Montana continues. One charter bill, HB 549, expands existing pathways for truly public charter schools, and the Montana Board of Public Education is responsible for reviewing applications for these charters at their January meeting. The other, HB 562, opens Montana up to privatization schemes that spell disaster, especially for our rural communities.

The applications received by the Board of Public Education for charters under HB 549 highlight the diversity of educational approaches already taking place in our public schools. Most of the applications would require the state to step up and fund existing innovative programs, such as Montessori in Helena, or help public schools to expand their current creative work, such as through the Multilingual Academy in Billings. These charter schools are unequivocally public, in that they are governed by publicly elected school boards, accountable to state education laws, and required to provide services to students with all types of disabilities.

In contrast, community choice schools, set up under HB 562, are decidedly unconstitutional and do not meet the definition of public. As described in the preliminary injunction that halted the progression of these schools, the commission that would authorize these charters circumvents the constitutionally established powers of the Montana Board of Public Education, community choice boards circumvent the authority of the publicly elected school boards in the districts in which they operate, and boards are not elected by all taxpayers in a resident district. Furthermore, HB 562 allows public funds to be diverted to for-profit institutions for management of these charter schools, effectively sending your hard-earned tax dollars to private companies, rather than to educate our Montana kids.

Guest speakers at the new Community Choice School Commission meetings acknowledge the challenges charters have in contracting with for-profit Education Management Organizations that are more interested in profits than supporting kids, particularly when serving students in rural communities, and providing equitable access to students with disabilities. The 2023 Stanford CREDO study, often used by charter proponents to tout the successes of charter schools in comparison to Traditional Public Schools, nevertheless underscores the lack of equitable outcomes for students with disabilities and Native American students attending charter schools. Additionally, even if charter schools did accept the same percentage of students with disabilities as TPS (which they dont), they do not provide adequate services to students with higher support needs. On the other hand, Traditional Public Schools serve ALL students, but are left with fewer resources to do so as charters steal per-pupil state funding.

A recent Middle Fork Strategies poll showed that 58% of Montanans know their schools are chronically underfunded. If the legislature cannot now meet its constitutional mandate to provide a basic system of free quality public elementary and secondary schools, why is it then setting up a costly parallel system of pseudo-public schools that will not benefit all Montana students? That will result in the closure of our small rural schools that are the economic and social hearts of their communities? That will result in fewer resources for the kids remaining in their traditional public school?

As the future of charter schools in Montana is decided in the coming years, it is important that we do not lose sight of the true fight here: whether Montanans will allow their tax dollars to be allocated to for profit, unaccountable, out of state institutions rather than to their neighborhood schools. Even with insufficient funding, our public schools differentiate for individual students and innovate every day. Its time we put our focus where it belongs: how we can support our creative and resourceful public educators and how we can adequately fund a public school system that benefits all kids.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog has been targeted with a criminal complaint during a visit to Switzerland, Swiss prosecutors said Friday, amid allegations of crimes against humanity over the war in Gaza. Israeli President Isaac Herzog(REUTERS)

The Federal Prosecutor's Office (BA) confirmed that it had received a criminal complaint against the Israeli president, who was at the World Economic Forum's annual meeting in Davos on Thursday to discuss the Gaza war.

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"The criminal complaints will now be examined in accordance with the usual procedure," BA said in a statement, adding that it was in contact with the foreign ministry "to examine the question of the immunity of the person concerned".

It did not say what the specific complaints were, or who had filed them.

But a statement allegedly issued by the people behind the complaint, entitled "Legal Action Against Crimes Against Humanity" and obtained by AFP, said several unnamed individuals had filed charges with federal prosecutors and with cantonal authorities in Basel, Bern and Zurich.

The statement said the plaintiffs were seeking a criminal prosecution in parallel to a case brought before the UN's International Court of Justice by South Africa, which accuses Israel of genocide in its offensive in Gaza.

Addressing the issue of immunity, the statement suggested that it could be lifted "in certain circumstances", including in cases of alleged crimes against humanity, adding that "these conditions are met in this case".

South Africa launched the emergency case at the ICJ in The Hague this month, arguing that Israel had breached the 1948 UN Genocide Convention.

South Africa demanded that the judges order Israel to halt its offensive in the Palestinian territory. Israel has denounced the case as "distorted".

Fighting has ravaged the Gaza Strip since Hamas's attacks on Israel on October 7 that resulted in the deaths of about 1,140 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

Israel responded with a relentless offensive that has killed at least 24,762 Palestinians, around 70 percent of them women, children and adolescents, according to Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry.

Herzog told the Davos forum that Israel had launched its campaign in "self-defence" and again condemned the South Africa case as "outrageous".

"They (South Africa) basically support the atrocities and barbarism that we have seen on October 7," he said, adding that Israel was concerned about the destruction in Gaza.

"We care. It is painful for us that our neighbours are suffering so much," he said.

"But how else can we defend ourselves if our enemies decided to entrench themselves in an infrastructure of terror of unbelievable size and scope?" he said.
Asked at a Tel Aviv press conference why Israel is attacking Iran's proxies and not Iran, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu replied, "Who told you we're not hitting Iran?" Israel-Hamas War: Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu is seen. (AFP)

Recently, Netanyahu told the US that he opposes the establishment of a Palestinian state as part of any post-war scenario, Al Jazeera reported.

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Netanyahu in a nationally broadcast news conference on Thursday, pledged to press ahead with the offensive until Israel realises a "decisive victory over Hamas" and said he had relayed his positions on Palestinian statehood to US officials.

"In any future arrangement ... Israel needs security control over all territory west of the Jordan River," Netanyahu said. "This collides with the idea of sovereignty. What can you do?"

"The Prime Minister needs to be capable of saying no to our friends," he added, as per Al Jazeera.
HEARING GUNFIRE, Leonildo Pistoni ran from the stables of his farm on the outskirts of Monchio, a mountain village in central Italy. He did not get far before he was shot dead. His killer was a rifleman of the Hermann Goring 1st Paratroop Panzer Division. The date was March 18th 1944. Mr Pistonis only crime was to live in Monchio: the rifleman belonged to a detachment sent to avenge the nearby killings by local partisans of German soldiers, who had occupied Italy after it withdrew from the Second World War the previous September.

The echoes of that lethal shot will reverberate again next month when the victims granddaughter, Walda Pistoni, presents a petition for compensation to a judge in Rome. It is the latest in an avalanche of applications to a 61m ($66m) fund set up by the Italian government. The issue has become enormous, says Giulio Arria, a lawyer representing several applicants, including Ms Pistoni. He estimates that up to 1,500 claims have been submitted.

Petitioners include descendants of victims of arbitrary killings, like Mr Pistoni; of executed partisans; of Jews and Roma who died in Nazi concentration camps; and of Italian soldiers, sailors and airmen sent to Germany to work as forced labourers. In cases already judged, the descendants of those forced to labour have received payouts of 30,000-40,000. The kin of those who died have been awarded much higher sums. Two sisters orphaned when their father died in a massacre in Tuscany got 270,000 each. That has raised questions over the adequacy of the fund, which was created to avert a crisis in relations between EU partners.

Germany has long argued that its liability for the actions of its armed forces in Italy was settled in 1962 when it handed over 40m D-marks (worth around 1.5bn today). But the cash was not primarily intended to compensate individuals and, to the extent it did, only applied to then-existing claims. Italian judges subsequently ordered the German government to pay awards to numerous survivors and descendants of victims, but Germany refused. Polands previous government has levelled vastly larger claims against Germanyit wanted 1.3trn. But there too, Germany says all debts were discharged in agreements struck decades ago.

In 2012 the International Court of Justice ruled in Germanys favour on the grounds that governments were not subject to decisions by the courts of other countries. But two years later Italys constitutional court ruled that they were liable if the underlying offences violated international law. Italian judges continued issuing verdicts and in 2022 a court in Rome was poised to order the confiscation of German government-owned properties, including the Goethe Institute, a cultural agency. Italys previous government, headed by Mario Draghi, then stepped in and created the new fund. It was originally intended for outstanding claims, and set a 30-day deadline to file any new ones. But that deadline was pushed back in stages to the end of 2023, enabling hundreds more to be submitted.

Meanwhile, Italian government lawyers have taken the place of the German governments representatives, fighting the applicants at every turn. Their objections have drawn fire from some politicians. Theyve put up arguments that make your skin crawl, says Dario Parrini, a senator for the opposition Democratic Party. Last May he submitted a bill to rein in the governments lawyers. It attracted cross-party support but has since languished in committee.

Since the government appeals against every judgment, and appeals in Italy take years, some of the cash is unlikely ever to be disbursed. The two orphaned daughters, now in their eighties, may never see a euro cent. From a juridical standpoint, I am not surprised, says Mr Arria, the lawyer. But as the grandson of a Jew who was deported to Auschwitz and never came back, I am horrified.

 2023, The Economist Newspaper Limited. All rights reserved. From The Economist, published under licence. The original content can be found on www.economist.com
King Charles III's decision to have a "slimmed-down" monarchy was challenged as questions arose as to who will stand for in for him while he undergoes prostate surgery next week which forced him to cancel public engagements. At the same time, Prince William's wife Princess of Wales Kate Middleton is recuperating in hospital after abdominal surgery, Kensington Palace said as she will be an in-patient for two weeks' convalescence period after which she will spend several months recuperating at home. King Charles Surgery: Britain's King Charles III waits on the church steps after attending the Royal Family's traditional Christmas Day service.(AFP)

Prince William has postponed some engagements as the situation leaves three out of four of the royal family's most senior members out of action. The focus is now on the counsellors of state -- members of the royal family who can officially carry out duties in the absence of the monarch. Usually there have been four most senior adults over the age of 21 in the line of succession who act as counsellors of state. But UK parliament passed a legislation which restricts those who can act as substitute to "working members of the royal family".

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This eliminates Prince Andrew and Prince Harry even though they are both counsellors of state. But Princess Anne and Prince Edward can act in place of King Charles, the monarch said as per the legislation.

In the legislation, Charles added his sister Princess Anne and other brother Prince Edward to the members of the royal family who can act for him.

Royal commentator Richard Kay wrote in the Daily Mail, How prophetic Princess Anne's words now seem when she was asked ten months ago about the new King's plans to reduce the royal workforce.

Earlier Princess Anne had said that the plan for a "slimmed down" group of working royals was conceived when there were a few more people around.

It doesn't sound a like a good idea," she had then said.
Dutch lawmakers are set to vote on the first step towards requiring King Willem-Alexander and his family to pay income tax. The plan would require an amendment to the constitution but the initial motion is expected to be put to the vote and will need only a simple majority to pass. As per the new law, the government wants a constitutional change which would then need backing from two-thirds of both houses of parliament to be cleared. The proposal appears to have enough support as a lawmaker from the left-wing Socialistische Partij said during a debate on the issue that a blue envelope for blue blood is needed, while referring to blue envelope in which tax letters arrive in Dutch mailboxes. King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima arrive at the Royal Palace for the traditional New Year's reception in Amsterdam.(AFP)

Far-right Dutch politician Geert Wilders, whose party won a parliamentary election in November but lacks majority, favours the change, although outgoing premier Mark Rutte denied it during his 13-year term. Mark Rutte said that a constitutional amendment was too complicated but members of parliament who support taxing the royal family hope that a new coalition government might lead to a change.

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What has been the rule so far?

The Dutch royal family receives tax-free money from taxpayers on top of their private income. In 2024, the king, his wife Queen Maxima, his daughter and future heir Princess Amalia, and his mother, the former Queen Beatrix, received 11.6 million euros altogether. Princess Amalia said she would reimburse her share. The royal family has lost their popularity for travelling during the Covid pandemic as only 55% now support the monarchy, down from 70% right before it broke out, as per a recent poll.

In 1992, Britain's then-Queen Elizabeth offering to pay income tax for the first time as she faced criticism.
North Korea has conducted a test of its underwater nuclear weapons system in a protest against this week's joint military drills by South Korea, the United States and Japan, state media KCNA said on Friday. North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un speaking at a session at the Mansudae Assembly Hall in Pyongyang.(AFP)

The test of the "Haeil-5-23" system, a name North Korea has given to its nuclear-capable underwater attack drones, was carried out by the defence ministry's think tank in the waters off its east coast, the report said, without specifying a date.

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The ministry's unnamed spokesman accused the United States, South Korea and Japan of "getting frantic" with military exercises, warning of "catastrophic consequences."

The three countries' navies held their three-day regular drills until Wednesday, alongside the U.S. aircraft carrier Carl Vinson, as part of efforts to improve their responses to Pyongyang's evolving nuclear and missile threats.

"Our army's underwater nuke-based countering posture is being further rounded off and its various maritime and underwater responsive actions will continue to deter the hostile military manoeuvres of the navies of the U.S. and its allies," the North Korean ministry spokesman said in a statement, according to KCNA.

North Korean state television has aired previous atmospheric explosion tests, which have been monitored by U.S. and South Korean authorities, but the reported underwater weapon has not been independently verified.

Later on Friday, South Korea's defence ministry issued a warning against the North's recent series of weapons tests, calling for an immediate halt.

"Our military is thoroughly prepared for North Korea's provocations under a solid joint defence posture with the United States," it said in a statement, vowing "overwhelming" responses if North Korea stages a direct provocation.

Japan's foreign minister Yoko Kamikawa, when asked about the North's latest test at a news conference, declined to comment on "each and every one of those activities" but pledged continued efforts to curb its weapons development.

Dubbed "Haeil", which means tsunami, the new drone system was first reportedly tested in March 2023, and state media said it was intended to make sneak attacks in enemy waters and destroy naval strike groups and major operational ports by creating a large radioactive wave through an underwater explosion.

The latest reported underwater test came days after North Korea fired a new intermediate-range, solid-fuel hypersonic missile, which Washington, Seoul and Tokyo condemned as a serious violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions.

The three allies' nuclear envoys gathered in Seoul on Thursday, also condemning Pyongyang's arms trade with Russia and increasingly hostile rhetoric, just as North Korea's foreign minister visited Moscow and met with President Vladimir Putin.
Pakistan's Prime Minister will hold an emergency security meeting on Friday with military and intelligence chiefs after trading deadly air strikes with Iran on militant targets this week. Commuters ride along a street at Panjgur district in Balochistan province after an Iranian air strike killed two children in the west of the country (AFP)

The rare military actions in the porous border region of Baluchistan -- shared between the two countries -- has further stoked regional tensions already enflamed by the Israel-Hamas war.

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Pakistan's prime minister will hold an emergency security meeting on Friday with military and intelligence chiefs after trading deadly air strikes with Iran on militant targets this week.

The rare military actions in the porous border region of Baluchistan -- shared between the two countries -- have further stoked regional tensions already enflamed by the Israel-Hamas war.

Iran carried out a missile and drone attack on what it called "terrorist" targets in Pakistan on Tuesday night, with Pakistan in turn striking militant targets inside Iran on Thursday.

Pakistan has recalled its ambassador from Tehran and said Iran's envoy -- on a visit home -- is blocked from returning to Islamabad.

The United Nations and the United States have appealed for restraint, while China has offered to mediate.

"The prime minister has summoned a meeting of the National Security Committee set to take place today," a spokesperson in his office told AFP.

An Islamabad security official said the Chief of Army Staff and head of the intelligence services will attend the mid-afternoon meeting.

Pakistan's leader Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar cut short his visit to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland following the strikes.

His caretaker government is leading Pakistan into general elections just three weeks away and has been marred by allegations of pre-poll rigging.

Tehran and Islamabad have both said they hit their own domestic militants sheltering on foreign territory.

Border closure fears

A collective death toll of 11 -- mostly women and children -- was reported from both sides of the border that bisects an arid region where militant movements have simmered for decades.

In the remote, arid villages near the strike site in Panjgur district where mobile signal is rarely available, farmers pieced together the events from reports passed on from visiting security officials who set up checkpoints in the area.

"Helicopters were flying overhead and going in the direction of where the Iranian strike hit, but we didn't know what had happened," Maulana Mohammad Sadiq, 42, the prayer leader of a small seminary around five kilometres from where a missile hit, told AFP on Thursday.

Villagers feared that deteriorating relations between the two sides could lead to border closures and cut off residents from Iranian trade, which the area relies on for employment and food imports.

"If Iranians close the border, the people will starve and it will cause more militancy because youth will join the separatist organisations," said 55-year-old Haji Mohammad Islam.

Baluch separatists have been waging a decades-long low-level insurgency against Pakistan authorities from the largely ungoverned, impoverished region fighting for a better share of mineral resources.

Rights groups say the military's crackdown on the insurgency has included widespread enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings.

Militancy has also risen sharply along Pakistan's border with Afghanistan further north, after the Taliban's return to power there in 2021.
Pakistan and Iran "agreed to de-escalate" tensions, Islamabad said, after trading deadly air strikes on militant targets in each other's territory. Miniature soldiers are seen in front of Iranian and Pakistani flags in this illustration taken,(Reuters)

"The two foreign ministers agreed that working level cooperation and close coordination on counter-terrorism and other aspects of mutual concern should be strengthened," a summary of a phone call between Islamabad and Tehran's top diplomats, issued by Pakistan's foreign office, noted.

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Pakistan's cabinet decided to end a standoff with Iran that saw the countries exchange missile and drone strikes at what they each said were militant targets, news agency Reuters reported citing broadcaster Geo TV. The cabinet headed by Pakistan's caretaker prime minister endorsed a move to re-establish full diplomatic relations with Iran, Geo TV reported.

This comes as Pakistan's foreign minister Jalil Abbas Jilani said that Islamabad does not wish to escalate the standoff with Iran ahead of the cabinet meeting where Pakistan's caretaker PM Anwaar ul Haq Kakar met with military services chiefs as he aimed at a broad national security review in the aftermath of the Iran-Pakistan incidents.

Iran said the strikes killed nine people in a border village on its territory, including four children while Pakistan said that the Iranian attack in its territory killed two children.

During the meeting, Jalil Abbas Jilani spoke to his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir-Abdollahian by phone and expressed Pakistan's readiness to work with Iran on all issues based on [a] spirit of mutual trust and cooperation. A foreign ministry statement said that, "He underscored the need for closer cooperation on security issues."

Amir-Abdollahian said in a statement, after the call, that "the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Pakistan is of great concern to us and the cooperation of the two countries to neutralise and destroy terrorist camps in Pakistan is essential".
Pakistan does not wish to escalate the standoff with Iran, the country's foreign minister Jalil Abbas Jilani said as Islamabad's top leadership gathered to review the situation after both countries exchanged strikes on each other's territory. Pakistan's caretaker PM Anwaar ul Haq Kakar met with all the military services chiefs in attendance, news agency Reuters reported, adding that the meeting aims at a broad national security review in the aftermath of the Iran-Pakistan incidents. Pakistan-Iran Dispute: A woman carries water cans in a wheelbarrow at the Koh-e-Sabz area of Pakistan's south-west Baluchistan province where Iran launched an airstrike.(AFP)

The strikes are the highest-profile cross-border intrusions in recent years which have raised alarm about wider instability in the Middle East amid Israel's Hamas war in Gaza. As both sides have already signalled a desire to cool tensions, Pakistan's foreign minister told his Turkish counterpart, Pakistan has no interest or desire in escalation.

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Iran said the strikes killed nine people in a border village on its territory, including four children while Pakistan said that the Iranian attack in its territory killed two children.

United Nations secretary-general Antonio Guterres urged the two nations to exercise maximum restraint while US president Joe Biden said that the clashes showed that Iran is not well liked in the region.

Meanwhile, former Pakistan foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that Islamabad had the right to defend itself but called for dialogue with Iran moving ahead. Jailed former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan also condemned Iran, but termed the strikes on Pakistan a failure of the caretaker government. We seek "an immediate explanation from the unconstitutional, illegal, unrepresentative and unelected government for its complete failure to safeguard the integrity, security and defence of Pakistan," Imran Khan's party said in a statement.
Miniature soldiers are seen in front of Iranian and Pakistani flags in this illustration taken,

Pakistan-Iran attack LIVE Updates: Nine people were killed in retaliatory attacks by Pakistan on a border region in Iran's southeast on Thursday, escalating regional tensions. Three women and four children were among those killed in the strikes, according to the deputy provincial governor of Iran's Sistan-Baluchistan province. The development comes two days after Iran carried out strikes against "terrorist" targets in Pakistan which left at least two children dead. Islamabad expelled the Iranian envoy to the country and recalled its ambassador from Tehran....Read More

Meanwhile, amid tensions between Iran and Pakistan, the US is concerned about the escalating tensions in the region and has urged restraint on all sides, US State Department of State Matthew Miller said.

Iran and Pakistan share around 900-km border that enables militants to move freely between nations. Notably, it was the first missile attack on Iranian soil since the end of the gruelling eight-year Iran-Iraq War in 1988.

The attack and counter-attack raise the threat of violence spilling over to other parts of the Middle East, which is already reeling under the ongoing Israel-Gaza war.
I produce interview format television shows. And Ive told many people many times that I can do a story about anyone on this planet, and itll be a good one.

Thats not arrogance. Thats a fact because everyone has value, no matter who they are or what they are. Their life is going to teach you something because God never wastes a gift.

You see, God gives us all gifts and then tasks us to discover what those gifts are. Still, we must go a step further and figure out how to use those gifts properly. Which should be quite easy because, inside of you, those gifts feel more like an urge or a burning desire than a gift.

But here comes the tricky part and that is, first, differentiating between an urge and your ego at work, because Gods gifts and egos dont mix. And then you must have the courage to follow through, because your gifts can take you down some difficult roads thatll require a lot of perseverance. In other words, just because you have a gift doesnt mean itll be easy.

Ive mentioned her before but my high school English teacher, Edna Bakke-Danielson, in my opinion, could have been the head of the communications department at Harvard University if she wanted to, because she was that good. Instead, she elected to stay in my little North Dakota hometown a stones throw from the Canada and Montana borders and raise a family because she fell in love.

Is that a wasted gift? No, because God doesnt waste gifts.

She had a profound influence on hundreds of former students whove gone on to make a global impact. Plus, there are thousands of you reading this article right now in this and other newspapers, simply because she had enough insight to nurture a gift in me.

Thats the most miraculous thing about Gods gifts. A gift can still be a gift, for someone, no matter the circumstances.

For example, there was a young man in my hometown who was an incredible athlete in high school, admired by many, who went off to fight in war, served admirably, came back home, and forever fought an alcohol addiction. He was my dads age.

His obituary says this: A handsome, brilliant, likable, and charismatic young man, he took the death tolls of his comrades in the war to heart. And he spent time in the mental health hospital prior to returning to America when the war was over.

It goes on to say: The toll of the war was too great for him, as it was for many. He spent his last months at the Veteran's Hospital in Fargo, ND where he died. He had no children, and never married.

War can kill during or after. Today we call it (PTSD) Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. But back then we called it failure.

Was his life a waste? No, because God doesnt waste gifts. His sacrifice was his gift, which he paid for from that point on.

You see, your gift can be your lifes greatest or worst moment. And yet, for some reason, decades later, Im still writing about this mans sacrifice, hoping to help someone even today, because gifts live on forever.
Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, withdrew his libel claim against Associated Newspapers, the publisher of the Mail, a spokesperson for the company said. King Charles' younger son sued the publisher over a 2022 article which alleged that he only offered to pay for police protection after bringing a separate legal fight against the UK government. Prince Harry-Meghan Markle: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, Duke and Duchess of Sussex are seen.(AP)

The story claimed that Prince Harry tried to keep details of his legal battle to reinstate his police protection secret from the public and was published under the headline: "Exclusive: How Prince Harry tried to keep his legal fight with the government over police bodyguards a secret... then - just minutes after the story broke - his PR machine tried to put a positive spin on the dispute."

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Prince Harry's lawyers claimed the story "purported to reveal, in sensational terms" that information from court documents "contradicted public statements he had previously made about his willingness to pay for police protection for himself and his family whilst in the UK".

But the publisher contested the claim, arguing that the article expressed an "honest opinion" and did not cause "serious harm" to Prince Harry's reputation.

In December, Prince Harry lost his attempt to have the publisher's defence to his libel lawsuit thrown out. This meant that he would have likely had to give evidence at London's High Court later this year.
Ukraine asked the West to "get serious" about curbing Russia's arms production by closing loopholes which are still allowing Moscow to keep sourcing key parts amid war. West has already sanctioned most of Russia's weapons industry and have also banned the export of military goods and parts. Russia-Ukraine War: Rescuers work at the site of a Russian missile strike in an area in the village of Rivne near the Pokrovsk town, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Donetsk.(Reuters)

What Ukraine claimed about Russian weapons?

Ukraine said that Russia is still getting hold of crucial components made by Western firms owing to which "the West must get serious about strangling Russia's ability to produce weapons," Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba said.

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"According to some data, up to 95% of the foreign-produced critical components found in Russian weapons destroyed in Ukraine come from Western countries," he added.

Private firms are exporting civilian -"dual use" goods that contain parts that can be used for arms, he said, without providing evidence for the claim.

Kyiv regularly disassembles Russian missiles and drones that fall on its territory to analyse their components.

"Ukraine would require less assistance and would lose fewer lives if all of the murky schemes and sanction evasion loopholes were thoroughly tracked down and completely closed," the foreign minister said.

Has Ukraine made similar claims earlier?

Earlier, Ukraine has claimed that Iran has supplied Moscow with drones while US said that North Korea is sending artillery shells and rockets to Russia. Amid war, Moscow has reportedly increased its domestic arms production.

Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky said at the World Economic Forum in Davos that the West needed to ensure that sanctions work 100% while conceding that Ukraine is also facing its own shortage of ammunition. Ukraine's defence minister Rustem Umerov posted on X, A shortage of ammunition is a very real and pressing problem that our armed forces are facing.
Launching an appalling misogynistic attack against Nikki Haley, controversial British-American influencer Andrew Tate on Friday said he is genuinely terrified of the Republican presidential candidate and her possible win in the 2024 White House race would spell the end of the world. British-American influencer Andrew Tate(AP)

The self-proclaimed misogynist Tate is renowned for consistently expressing polarising opinions that spark controversy among many.

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In a post on social media platform X (formerly Twitter), Tate referred to women as vindictive, evil, short sighted and psychotic in an indirect attack towards Haley.

Im genuinely terrified of Nikki Haley. Any man who knows how vindictive, evil, short sighted and psychotic women can be. Coupled with a basic understanding physiognomyTakes a single look at Nikki Haley and is terrified. I genuinely believe her victory would spell the end of the free world, the 37-year-old former kickboxer wrote.

Tate has recently won an appeal in a Romanian court as he urges the return of assets which have been seized by officials. He is being probed in Romania over allegations of human trafficking and rape, which he disputes.

This is not the first time that Tate has targetted the former South Carolina Governor. Earlier on January 9, when Haley wrote on X that she will no longer provide aid to nations who hate the United States, the former quick boxer quickly asked, Like Israel?

Andrew Tate puts forward a conspiracy theory about US elections

Tate has recently advanced a conspiracy theory regarding US elections in which he claims that the government's endorsement of open borders isn't intended to facilitate the voting of undocumented individuals.

Tate asserted that the goal of the US government's open-border policy is not to permit undocumented persons to vote but rather to bring in millions of strangers in order to rig elections. In line with his hypothesis, these anonymous voters might be utilised to cast fictitious names at random on postal ballots in order to produce fraudulent votes.

The self-proclaimed 'Top G' further stated that if more people were allowed admission, officials might take advantage of this and use votes from people who don't exist to rig elections.

Nikki Haley hits back at Trump for promoting birther conspiracy theory

Haley on Thursday hit back at Donald Trump for spreading a birther conspiracy theory about her eligibility to serve as the United States president, stressing that the former commander-in-chief feels insecure and threatened.

This comes as Trump recently invoked a racist theory suggesting Indian-American Haley was ineligible to be the country's president because her Indian immigrant parents were not yet US citizens.

Appearing at a CNN town hall in New Hampshire, the former UN ambassador said she is the proud daughter of Bamberg, South Carolina, so I love my sweet town and I'm proud to say I'm from there.

The name calling? I know Trump well. That's what he does when he feels threatened. That's what he does when he feels insecure, the former South Carolina Governor said.
January 22 is a historic moment for Hindus all over the world. On Monday, the consecration of Ram Temple will take place in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh. The grand occasion will be broadcast live across all Indian states. As millions of Hindus eagerly await the day, those in the United States will be able to join the festivities as the event will be live-streamed at Times Square in New York City. Ayodhya, Jan 19 (ANI): A glimpse of the beautification work at the Ram Temple ahead of the 'Pran Pratishtha' ceremony, in Ayodhya on Friday. (ANI Photo)(Shri Ram Janmbhoomi Teerth Kshet)

How to watch Ram Temple inauguration in US?

The consecration ceremony, which is also known as Pran-Pratishtha, is scheduled to be held on Monday, January 22. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will remove the eye cover of the 51-inch Lord Ram idol. The event will be broadcast live across India. Meanwhile, international audiences can watch the livestream on the YouTube channel Doordarshan National.

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Three different types of rituals will be performed throughout the day on January 22, starting from 6:30 am IST as per Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra trust. However, the timings differ for international viewers. You can check the date and time according to your timezone below:

Shringar aarti

CST: 7:30 pm on Sunday, January 21

PST: 5:00 pm on Sunday, January 21

EST: 8:00 pm on Sunday, January 21

Bhog aarti

CST: 12:30 am on Monday, January 22

PST: 10:30 pm on Sunday, January 21

EST: 1:30 am on Monday, January 22

Sandhya aarti

CST: 8:30 am on Monday, January 22

PST: 6:00 am on Monday, January 22

EST: 9:00 am on Monday, January 22

Live from Ayodhya in Times Square, New York

The Ayodhya Ram Temple consecration ceremony will be broadcast live at Times Square, New York. From Boston to Washington, more than 40 billboards featuring Lord Ram and the Ram Temple have been erected across 10 US states. Recently, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad of America hosted an event with Teslas lit up and in sync to the tunes of Jai Shri Ram.
US President Joe Biden, who earlier acknowledged Donald Trumps 2024 Iowa Republican caucus win, has now poured cold water on Republican frontrunner's momentous victory, stating that it wasn't very significant. Donald Trump is leading president Joe Biden in as many as five key states, it has been revealed by a new poll from The New York Times and Siena College (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack, AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

In the Hawkeye State, Trump won by a margin of 30 percent as he received 51 percent of the votes.

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Even though the extreme cold had an adverse effect on voter turnout, Trump managed to garner 56,260 votes, exceeding Ted Cruz's record of 51,666 votes in 2016. Even with the sharp decline in voter turnout, Trump received 45,427 votes in 2016, an increase of 10,833 caucus attendees.

I dont think Iowa means anything. The president got 50-some-thousand votes  the lowest number of votes anybody whos won got, Biden told reporters on Thursday.

You know, this idea that its been a runaway, I think he can characterize it any way he wants. Ill let them make that judgment, the POTUS added.

The 45th president won the Iowa Caucus by the widest margin since it was the country's first presidential nominating contest. While Trump's supporters celebrated the win as a validation of his political supremacy, Biden seemed skeptical.

Also Read: It's Haley vs Trump in New Hampshire as DeSantis withdraws from next primary

Biden calls Trump a clear Republican frontrunner

Biden noted Trump's domination in the GOP field shortly after the latter's resounding victory, as the two candidates seem to headfor a rematch in November 2020. He even called the ex-US president a clear front runner on the other side and urged his supporters to donate to his campaign in the wake of Trump's win.

Looks like Donald Trump just won Iowa. Hes the clear front runner on the other side at this point, Biden posted on X.

US elections 2024: Is it Trump vs Biden?

The next Republican presidential race is scheduled to take place in New Hampshire on Tuesday. A falling out between the Democratic Party and the Granite State has prompted Biden to launch a write-in campaign there.

According to the RealClearPolitics aggregate, Trump currently has a narrow 0.9 percentage point advantage nationally when environmental attorney Robert Kennedy Jr. is included.

More significantly, surveys indicate that Trump and Biden will face off in a thrilling general election in the crucial battleground states, which will decide the outcome of the election.
E. Jean Carroll, the writer and the former magazine columnist who accused former President Donald Trump of raping her in a department store dressing room, faced a barrage of questions from Trumps lawyer on Thursday in a New York court. Columnist E Jean Carroll (L) demands $10 million from Donald Trump in defamation suit(AFP)

Carroll, 80, is suing Trump for defamation, seeking more than $10 million in damages, after he denied knowing her and called her a liar. She claims that Trump sexually assaulted her in 1996 at Bergdorf Goodman, where he allegedly forced his fingers inside her.

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Trump, 77, who was attending his mother-in-laws funeral in Florida, did not appear in court on Thursday, but his lawyer Alina Habba tried to undermine Carrolls credibility by suggesting that she had benefited from the publicity of her accusation.

ALSO READ| Donald Trump says he would love it after judge threatens to kick him out of E Jean Carroll defamation trial

Habba asked Carroll if she had enjoyed the attention and praise she received from celebrities like Bette Midler, who congratulated her on winning a $5 million verdict in a separate trial last May. That trial found Trump liable for sexual abuse and defamation, but did not confirm that he raped Carroll.

Is Carroll really getting more social attention?

Carroll admitted that she liked the compliments, but denied that her social status had improved. She said that she had also faced a lot of hatred and threats from Trumps supporters, who sent her hundreds of abusive messages online.

Im more well known, but Im hated by a lot more people, Carroll testified.

She also said that she had been invited to two parties hosted by Vanity Fair writer Molly Jong-Fast, where she met other celebrities, after she came forward with her allegation in June 2019.

But she insisted that her main motive for suing Trump was to restore her reputation and status, which had been lowered by his false denial.

Im partaking in this trial to get my old reputation and status back, she said, wearing a white blazer and a brown turtleneck shirt.

The trial, which is expected to last a week, is overseen by US District Judge Lewis Kaplan, who has already ruled that Trump acted with malice when he defamed Carroll by saying that she accused him of rape to get publicity.

ALSO READ| Trump deals major blow as Biden retakes lead over ex-US President in two new polls

The jury of nine New Yorkers will decide how much money Trump will have to pay Carroll, who is also seeking punitive damages to deter him from continuing to slander her.

The trial will resume on Monday, after a break on Friday. Judge Kaplan has said that Carrolls claim that Trump raped her is still substantially true in the modern sense of the word, even though the jury in the previous trial was not convinced that he used his penis.
Hunter Biden, the son of US President Joe Biden, has finally agreed to appear before a Republican-led committee that is conducting an impeachment inquiry against his father. In this courtroom sketch, President Joe Biden's son Hunter Biden, centre, appears alongside attorney Abbe Lowell, right, in front of Judge Mark C. Scarsi, left, in federal court, Thursday,(Bill Robles via AP)(AP)

The House Oversight Committee announced the decision on Thursday, after months of resistance from Hunter to testify in any closed-door hearing.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

The impasse had pushed Hunter, 53, to the edge of being charged with contempt of Congress.

The committee said the hearing would take place on 28 February.

However, it is not clear where and how Hunter would give his testimony.

According to the Associated Press (AP), Republicans postponed their plan to hold Hunter in contempt this week as they negotiated his testimony.

ALSO READ| Cocaine residue found on Hunter Biden's gun pouch in 2018 case: Prosecutors

His deposition will follow several interviews with members and associates of the Biden family, said Chairman James Comer and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan in a joint statement.

We are eager to hear from Hunter Biden.

They added that they were still in talks with the lawyers of the presidents brother, James Biden, to secure his testimony.

AP also reported that Hunters legal team had confirmed the news.

Hunter declined private testimony, citing GOP history

A source close to the first son told the Washington Post that he had previously refused to attend a private deposition because Republicans had a history of selectively leaking closed-door sessions.

The presidents son caused a stir last week when he unexpectedly showed up at one of the hearings, disrupting the session and infuriating Republicans.

He entered the oversight committees hearing shortly after it started with his lawyer, Abbe Lowell, and remained quiet with his arms folded as a number of lawmakers attacked him.

In a written statement, Lowell repeated that his client declined to testify in private so that Republicans could not twist, exploit, and abuse his testimony.

Lowell also accused the Republican party of using Hunter as a proxy to target his father.

ALSO READ| House Republicans reveal plan to issue new subpoenas for Hunter Biden in coming weeks

The younger Biden was charged last month with nine criminal offences, including not paying his taxes on time from 2016 to 2019, submitting false tax returns in 2018 and tax evasion.

He could face up to 17 years in jail if found guilty of these charges.

Hunter is also facing federal charges over illegal gun possession, to which he has already pleaded not guilty.
Biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, who endorsed ex-US President Donald Trump after dropping out of the White House race and finishing fourth in the in Iowa caucuses on Monday, spent millions on his unsuccessful campaign. Despite that, the Indian-American businessman is now richer than he was eleven months ago when he entered the contest for Republican presidential nomination, according to a Forbes report. Former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy(Getty Images via AFP)

His fortune increased by more than $100 million during his Iowa campaign for the Republican nomination.

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When Ramaswamy declared his candidacy, his estimated net worth was $840 million, which jumped to $960 million after his campaign kicked off. According to his filings with the Federal Election Commission, he invested $17 million in his campaign during the first nine months of 2023 that is $1.8 million in cash and $15.25 million classified as loans.

According to Ramaswamy's camp, he is significantly wealthier with a worth of at least $1 billion. However, it hasn't been clarified yet how much money Ramaswamy spent on the campaign in the last quarter and in early 2024.

Also Read: Vivek Ramaswamy backs 'America-First patriot' Donald Trump for 'next US president'

The rich becoming richer: A deeper look at Ramaswamy's wealth

Before the Iowa caucus, Ramaswamy liquidated $33 million worth share of Roivant Sciences, his largest asset, and informed that he intended to use a portion of the earnings to fund a substantial investment in his campaign, as per news outlet Axios.

The publicly traded pharmaceutical development company that Ramaswamy established in 2014 and oversaw as CEO until 2021 ended Tuesday's trading at $10.86 per share, up 25% from the day he announced his candidacy for the president on February 21, 2023. Ramaswamy owns 6.4% stake in the firm which is around $565 million.

Last year on September 27, the stock reached an all-time high of $13.19, and it concluded the year up 42%. According to CNN, eleven of Roivant's twelve stock analysts are still bullish on the company, with an aggregate price target of $15.50. Pharma behemoth Roche purchased a subsidiary of Roivant, an inflammatory bowel medication named Televant, for $7.1 billion in December.

Then there is Strive Asset Management that was founded by Ramaswamy in 2022, following publication of his best-selling book Woke, Inc. and his resignation as CEO of Roivant. After starting his campaign, he left his position as executive chairman of Strive, the investment firm that offers institutional and individual investors exchange-traded funds.

However, he is still the company's largest shareholder with $150 million at stake. This estimate is based on the company's last financing round in November 2022, when investors like Bill Ackman and Peter Thiel valued Strive at around $300 million.

Strive more than doubled its assets under management during Ramaswamy's campaign, rising from over $500 million in early 2023 to over $1.1 billion as of this week. The majority of that increase occurred during the spring and summer of last year, when Ramaswamy's popularity was on the surge. Just two weeks after the first Republican debate, in September, Strive received $1 billion in assets from investors.

In public tax filings, Ramaswamy revealed that he possesses over $240 million in cash and personal assets. After selling a portion of his Roivant share in a private market transaction, he made $39 million (pre-tax) in 2015, and $176 million in 2020, when Japanese giant Sumitomo Dainippon paid $3 billion to purchase five of Roivant's drugs and a 10% stake in Roivant.

Ramaswamy endorses Trump as crowd chants VP, VP

The friendly equation between Ramaswamy and Trump was recently witnessed when the 38-year-old displayed his desire to act as a devoted MAGA attack dog throughout the campaign. He even asked other Republican hopefuls to drop out from the race and endorse Trump.

In New Hampshire, Trump held a rally with Ramaswamy and thanked him for endorsing him for the November presidential runoff.

"There is not a better choice left in this race than this man right here. And that is why I am asking you to do the right thing as New Hampshire and to vote for Donald Trump as your next president," Ramaswamy said.

"It's an honor to have his endorsement. He's gonna be working with us and he'll be working with us for a long time. Thank you," Trump responded, as the crowd shouted "VP, VP", a sign that Trump may pick Ramaswamy as his vice presidential candidate.
Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley on Thursday hit back at Donald Trump for spreading a birther conspiracy theory about her eligibility to serve as the United States president, stressing that the former commander-in-chief feels insecure and threatened. Ex-US President Donald Trump (right) and Republican leader Nikki Haley.(Reuters)

This comes as Trump recently invoked a racist theory suggesting Indian-American Haley was ineligible to be the country's president because her Indian immigrant parents were not yet US citizens.

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Appearing at a CNN town hall in New Hampshire, the former UN ambassador said she is the proud daughter of Bamberg, South Carolina, so I love my sweet town and I'm proud to say I'm from there.

The name calling? I know Trump well. That's what he does when he feels threatened. That's what he does when he feels insecure, the former South Carolina governor said.

Nikki Haley brushes off Donald Trump's name-calling

During the town hall, she was also asked about how Trump misspelled her Indian name -- Nimarata Nikki Randhawa -- while targeting his Republican presidential contender on Truth Social.

She said Trumps race-baiting broadside "doesnt bother" her.

I know that I am a threat. I know thats why hes doing that. So its not going to waste any energy from me. Im going to continue to focus on the things that people want to talk about and not get into the name-calling back with him," she asserted.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump misspelled Haley's Indian name that was given to her at the time of birth.

"Anyone listening to Nikki 'Nimrada' Haley's wacked out speech last night, would think that she won the Iowa Primary. She didn't, and she couldn't even beat a very flawed Ron DeSanctimonious, who's out of money, and out of hope," the Republican frontrunner wrote.

Earlier, biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, who dropped out of White race after finishing fourth in the Iowa primary, also targetted the former UN ambassador over her birth name.

Nikki Haley's campaign releases video showing Trump praising her

As the White House race between Republican candidates continues to become intense, Haley's campaign this week released videos mocking Trump and ones that featured his complimentary remarks about Haley during her tenure in his administration. She and her team have made it abundantly evident that Haley is acting as if Trump is her lone opponent, regardless of the fact she was unable to overtake Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in Iowa.
Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin, who was recently discharged from Walter Reed Medical Center, has been urged to testify before the House Committee on Armed Services on his recent 'secret' hospitalisation. US Defence chief Lloyd Austin was hospitalised due to complications from prostate cancer surgery (REUTERS/Violeta Santos Moura/File Photo)(REUTERS)

Austin got discharged on Monday, January 15 after two-week of hospitalisation due to complications related to prostate cancer surgery.

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He has been asked to testify in Congress on February 14. "The committee expects to hear your direct testimony regarding decisions made to withhold information from the President, Congress, and the American people," the House Armed Services Committee Chair, Mike Rogers (R-Ohio), said in a letter to the US Defence Secretary.

Earlier, Rogers spoke with Austin about his hospitalisation, but some key concerns raised by the committee chair were not addressed.

I am alarmed you refused to answer whether you instructed your staff to not inform the President of the United States or anyone else of your hospitalisation. Unfortunately, this leads me to believe that information is being withheld from Congress. Congress must understand what happened and who made decisions to prevent the disclosure of the whereabouts of a cabinet secretary," the letter reads.

Rogers has sought Austins full cooperation regarding the hearing, asserting, Anything short of that is completely unacceptable.

In the meantime, it is my expectation that you promptly answer all outstanding questions so the Committee can review the necessary information in preparation for the upcoming hearing, the letter added.

Also Read: Lloyd Austin's aide demanded ambulance lights and sirens be turned off during medical emergency, 911 call reveals

Lloyd Austin thanks hospital staff after discharge, set to work remotely

After his discharge, Austin expressed gratitude to the staff of Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, adding that he is eager to fully recover and return to the Pentagon as early as possible.

Meanwhile, the Pentagon in a statement said that Austin has full access to required secure communications capabilities as he works remotely.

Pentagon's internal watchdog to review Austins secret hospitalisation

Last week, the Pentagon's internal watchdog said it will review the secrecy surrounding Austins hospitalisation and why the Defence Department waited days to inform the White House that he had transferred authority to his deputy.

His failure to disclose his hospitalisation was sharply criticised by members of both political parties and even led to some calls for his resignation. President Joe Biden and senior administration officials were not told about Austins hospitalisation until Jan. 4, and the US Defence Secretary kept his cancer diagnosis secret until January 9.

Austin (70) was admitted to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on Dec. 22 and underwent surgery to treat the cancer, which was detected earlier in the month during a routine screening. He developed an infection a week later and was hospitalised on January 1 and admitted to intensive care.
An electric service rates case before federal regulators could spell the end for a number of coal units operated by one of North Dakota's largest electric cooperatives.

State regulators at the Public Service Commission are intervening in the case to try to thwart that possibility.

Bismarck-based Basin Electric Power Cooperative faces three challenges to its rates request before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. What caught the eyes of state regulators in November were filings by representatives from the Sierra Club, a nonprofit environmental advocacy organization, which argue that reimbursements for operations and upgrades at some of Basin's coal-fired power plants should not be allowed in its rates.

In FERC filings, Basin has argued that not being allowed to collect reimbursements for the units could cause the co-op to default on some contracts -- lowering its credit rating -- and that closures, or changes to the operations, of the coal plants could hinder electric reliability in the area.

The state PSC does not regulate power cooperatives' rates, but in its intervention in the case, commissioners share Basin's view that closure of coal units in the region could harm reliability for the utilities they do regulate. The intervention was accepted by FERC in December. The commission has hired John Shepherd, an attorney with Washington, D.C.-based Hunton Andrews Kurth, to provide legal services for the case.

PSC attorney John Schuh told the Tribune that outside counsel is necessary due to the specialized and intensive nature of FERC proceedings. The 2023 Legislature allocated $120,000 to the PSC to contract services for representation at FERC. Schuh said the final cost will depend on the level of representation necessary, which is still being evaluated.

The Sierra Club's filings argue that Basin should have retired at least three of the units at its coal-fired power plants by 2020, exited the lease for another unit in 2021 and begun to plan for the retirement of a fifth by 2030, due to various cost considerations to keep them running. The units under contention include Unit 1 and Unit 2 of Stanton-based Leland Olds Station, Unit 1 of Wyoming-based Laramie River Station, and Unit 1 and Unit 2 of Beulah-based Antelope Valley Station. The Sierra Club argues it would have been cheaper to replace these with renewable energy resources.

Sierra Club North Dakota Chapter Chair Todd Leake told the Tribune that the Sierra Club is asking FERC to not let Basin charge rates that would be higher than what it would have cost if Basin had taken these steps and replaced the coal with wind and power purchasing agreements. The organization also wants some of the costs from recent years to be refunded to ratepayers.

Basin argues that renewable resources are not reliable enough to make up for the baseload energy that its coal plants provide to the electrical grid, especially for an area such as northwest North Dakota which has seen more electricity demand due to increased oil production and population growth.

Baseload refers to a source of electricity that provides a continuous output. A coal plant can run constantly whereas wind and solar are intermittent to varying degrees due to being weather-dependent, though advocates argue this can be offset by expanding the grid, improving forecasting, and utilizing storage technologies such as batteries.

Leake said that electric generation from more flexible natural gas plants could make up for the demand that renewables alone cannot handle. He added that the Sierra Club is not asking Basin to shut the units down overnight.

Andy Buntrock, vice president of strategic planning and communication for Basin, noted to the Tribune that the cooperative already has a substantial portion of renewables in its portfolio and that many of its member co-ops have filed in support of Basin's rates plans. He said Basin does not view the Sierra Club's model as feasible.

The costs of utility-scale electric generation from both wind and solar power have dipped below coal and other forms of generation in recent years, according to financial advisory firm Lazard's Levelized Cost of Energy analysis. Generation, however, is just one element of getting electricity to a consumer. There are other costs including connecting the resource to the grid and balancing for demand and supply mismatches. Both Basin and Sierra present arguments regarding whether replacements would have been the best move for ratepayers in this instance.

Basin provides power to 3 million customers across 141 member co-ops in nine states. The coal plants under contention provide 3,260 megawatts of electricity to the grid, according to numbers from Basin's website, though the Sierra Club is not challenging the continued operations of all of the plants' units, just the ones it argues would be less costly to replace with wind power than not, according to Leake.

When the PSC decided to involve itself in the case, Commissioner Julie Fedorchak said if FERC were to grant Sierra Club's request, 2,500 megawatts of coal-generated power would be impacted.

Coal was once the dominant source for electric generation in the U.S., but it has been displaced over the last decade due mostly to an abundance of cheap natural gas. A number of other factors have also been attributed to the past and projected future decline of the fuel's use. These include increased emission regulations on coal plants, falling prices for renewable power, growing storage capacity, and pledges to increase both renewable and nuclear generation. Nuclear can provide baseload power as well without directly producing planet-warming carbon dioxide emissions that have prompted increased scrutiny of coal in recent years, though it is costly and creates other environmental concerns.

Still, coal has held on strong in North Dakota. It was responsible for 55% of the state's electric generation in 2022, compared to around 20% of electric generation across the U.S as a whole that year, according to numbers from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. This is in part due to the wet nature of the state's lignite coal, which dissolves quickly and has required operators build power plants close to mines, taking away transportation costs that the industry encounters elsewhere.

Other challenges

Basin faces two other challenges to its rates, though the PSC said it is not involving itself in these issues as they do not impact matters in its jurisdiction.

One involves a dispute between Watford City-based McKenzie Electric Cooperative and Basin regarding the Great Plains Synfuels Plant in Beulah, operated by Basin's private subsidiary Dakota Gasification Co. McKenzie Electric, which purchases power from Basin, argues that some of Basin's rates increases were used to make up for losses at the plant that produces synthetic natural gas among other products derived from coal gasification. McKenzie wants these rates to be disallowed.

McKenzie also wants FERC to allow it to exit its contract with Basin. Buntrock said McKenzie is free to do so when the contract expires in 2075. McKenzie's FERC filings argue that Basin misled member co-ops into signing contract extensions by saying it would raise rates if members did not sign and then proceeding to raise rates the following year after members did.

Buntrock told the Tribune that the rates McKenzie wants to disallow were appropriately considered and approved by the co-op's board which McKenzie Electric has input in through elections.

Another challenge comes from the Denver-based Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association, a member and customer of Basin. The Tri-State challenge is more technical than the other two. It concerns the structure of how Basin's rates for the cost of transmission and the recovery of depreciation expenses for generation and transmission assets vary by customer.

McKenzie Electric and Tri-State did not respond to email requests for comment from the Tribune.

The case is ongoing.
US President Joe Biden raised eyebrows Thursday after claiming that he took a photo backstage with a Democrat North Carolina Congresswoman Deborah Ross who wasn't in attendance. An old picture of US President Joe Biden and Democrat North Carolina Congresswoman Deborah Ross(Congresswoman Deborah Ross/Istagram)

"I want to mention Congresswoman Deborah Ross, where's Deborah?" Biden asked the North Carolina crowd while searching for the two-term Congresswoman during a Thursday speech.

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"I just had my picture taken with her, thats probably why she left," the POTUS continued, prompting a laugh from the audience.

"Oh, she couldn't be here, actually. Thats not true. I got her mixed up," Biden said while realising his mistake. You know, she fights very hard for the people of this district and shes up in Washington right now.

Later in his speech, the President mispronounced the word "country" and instead referred to the United States as a "major company."

The confusion over Ross was reminiscent of Biden's mistake from 2022, when he inquired about the whereabouts of the late Representative Jackie Walorski (R-Ind.) during an event, even though he had called her family and ordered the flags to be lowered one month prior in honor of her passing.

Also Read: Joe Biden Trolled For 'Looking Lost' On Stage With World Leaders, Fumbling Over Tech Firm's Name

Biden conducting secret meetings with donors to ease concerns around his age: Report

Since taking office, Republicans have publicly questioned Biden's mental capacity and also heavily criticised him for his age.

According to a study conducted late last year, 76% of people thought that Biden was "too old" to serve a second term, while 48% said the same of Trump.

According to a Washington Post report, Biden has routinely arranged multiple private meetings with his major backers to allay their fears before the 2024 election, particularly concerns regarding his age and strength.

In November, White House Press Secretary Jean-Pierre has stated on several occasions that she "would put the president's stamina, the president's wisdom, ability to get this done on behalf of the American people against anyone, anyone on any day of the week."

Joe Biden receives flak on being forgetful

The 81-year-old incumbent received harsh criticism from voters on X, formerly Twitter, for his forgetfulness while continuing to campaign for a second term in office.

Dementia Joe!, one X user wrote.

Another user remarked, "#Biden doesnt even know where he is, much less the whereabouts of anyone else!!!"

Joe was obviously in one of the 54 states that he says there is...His own mindless state ..seems to be his favorite ..to be in all the time.. one more user quipped.

Another X user said, "Wow! Biden is clearly unfit to hold office."
Differences between the US and Israel over the establishment of a Palestinian state after the ongoing Israel-Hamas war are out in the open. US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby has reacted to Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's remarks on the ongoing war and postwar scenario in context of Palestinian independence. US President Joe Biden(left) and Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu(AFP)

We obviously see it differently, said Kirby. On Thursday, Netanyahu had reiterated that his country's victory over Hamas would take many more months and thus rejected US calls to lower the intensity of its ongoing military offensive in Gaza. Weighing in on the issue of complete Palestinian independence, Netanyahu rejected the idea. Netanyhu highlighted that Israel "must have security control over all the territory west of the Jordan (River)."

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"This is a necessary condition, and it conflicts with the idea of (Palestinian) sovereignty," said Netanyahu in a nationally televised news conference.

ALSO READ| Turkey's first astronaut launched on flight to International Space Station

Earlier, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had emphasised the need of Palestinian independence for ensuring the genuine security of Israel. Earlier this week, the US had also urged scaling back of Israel's military operations in the Gaza Strip.

In an apparent rebuttal to the US, Netanyahu said: "a prime minister in Israel should be able to say no, even to our best friends -- to say no when necessary, and to say yes if possible."

Notably, the international community is worried about the fate of the Gaza Strip and the Palestinian territory after the Israel-Hamas war ends. Prior to the ongoing war, Hamas was controlling the government in the Gaza Strip region.

During his trip to the Middle East last week, Blinken highlighted to Israeli authorities that Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia, were willing to help reconstruct Gaza and aid with future Palestinian governance, but only on the condition that Israel clear the path for Palestinian statehood.

With inputs from news agencies
The US military said Iran-backed Houthis launched two anti-ship ballistic missiles at an American-owned tanker ship in the Red Sea on Thursday night that hit the water near the vessel, causing no injuries or damage. Photo for representational purpose only(AFP)

Third Houthi Terrorists Attack on Commercial Shipping Vessel in Three Days. On Jan. 18 at approximately 9 p.m. (Sanaa time), Iranian-backed Houthi terrorists launched two anti-ship ballistic missiles at M/V Chem Ranger, a Marshall Island-flagged, U.S.-Owned, Greek-operated tanker ship. The crew observed the missiles impact the water near the ship. There were no reported injuries or damage to the ship. The ship has continued underway, the US Central Command said in a post on social media platform X (formally Twitter).

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The development comes as Yemen-based Houthis claimed earlier on Friday that they had launched a missile attack on a US ship in the Gulf of Aden. In a statement, Houthis said their "naval forces... carried out a targeting operation against an American ship"  identified as the Chem Ranger  "with several appropriate naval missiles, resulting in direct hits".

The Houthis, however, did not give more details about the time of the attack.

Houthis aggression in Red Sea

Houthi attacks against vessels in and around the Red Sea have led to strikes in Yemen by United States and British forces in recent days.

According to Marine Traffic, the Chem Ranger is a Marshall Islands-flagged chemical tanker sailing from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia to Kuwait.

British maritime risk management company Ambrey said a Marshallese chemical tanker sailing along the same route had reported a "suspicious" approach by drones southeast of the Yemeni port of Aden.

Indian warship responds

Ambrey said one drone fell into the sea approximately 30 metres from the tanker. "An Indian warship responded to the event," it said.

"There were no crew casualties or damage reported," it added.

The British maritime security agency UKMTO, without naming the vessel, also reported an incident in the same area in which a drone approached a merchant ship, with an explosion reported in the water about 30 metres away.
Chaos ensued on a domestic Air Asia flight in Thailand after a live snake was discovered by passengers in an overhead bin. The incident took place on a flight from Bangkok to Phuket on January 13.(X)

The incident took place on a flight travelling from the capital city of Bangkok to the southern province of Phuket on January 13, according to CNN.

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A video of the incident showed the snake slithering over the cabin lights above the overhead compartment. A flight attendant was seen trying to capture the snake with a water bottle.

"Passengers on an Air Asia plane flying from #Bangkok to Phuket found a #snake in the cabin crawling along the overhead bin," an X user wrote while sharing the video on social. HT could not verify the authenticity of the video.

In a statement to CNN, Air Asia Thailand said it was aware of an incident onboard flight  FD3015  that departed from the Don Mueang International Airport in Bangkok on January 13.

The company said that the aircraft was immediately inspected by the relevant engineering and safety teams upon landing. It, however, made no mention of what happened to the snake thereafter.

Meanwhile, the head of corporate safety for the airline, Phol Poompuang, said that the sighting of the snake was a "very rare incident". He added that flight attendants are "well trained to handle" such an occurrence.

Flight attendants were notified before landing in Phuket after a passenger noticed a small snake in the overhead luggage compartment, he said in the statement, according to CNN. "AirAsia crew were well trained to handle an occurrence of this nature and relocated passengers from the area as a precautionary measure.

This is the second incident when a snake was found onboard an AirAsia plane.

In February 2022, a spotted python was found onboard Air Asia's domestic flights in Malaysia travelling from the capital Kuala Lumpur to Sabah, according to CNN. After the discovery, the plane was re-routed to Kuching International Airport.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday expressed deep concerns over the exchange of military strikes between Iran and Pakistan and urged both countries to exercise maximum restraint to avoid a further escalation of tensions. Miniature soldiers are seen in front of Iranian and Pakistani flags in this illustration taken, January 18, 2024.(Reuters)

He underlined that all security concerns between the two countries must be addressed by peaceful means, through dialogue and cooperation, in accordance with the principles of sovereignty, territorial integrity, and good neighbourly relations, according to a statement released by Stephane Dujarric, the spokesperson for the Secretary-General.

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The Iranian airstrike inside Pakistan's territory and a rapid military riposte by Islamabad have deepened worries about Middle East instability that have spread since the Israel-Hamas war erupted in October.

Why are Iran and Pakistan fighting?

Iran on Tuesday struck what it described as militant targets in southwest Pakistan, sending shockwaves around the region. Tehran alleged that the Sunni militant Jaish al-Adl group, the claimed target of its attack, has links to Islamic State and played a role in the January 3 bombing in Kerman.

Within 24 hours, Pakistan responded in kind and targeted what it said were separatist militants backing an insurgency in its restive southwestern province of Baluchistan. It was the first air strike on Iranian soil since the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war.

While Pakistan said two children were killed in the Iranian airstrike, Tehran said nine people, including women and children, died in the retaliatory attack. Islamabad recalled its ambassador from Iran in protest and Tehran summoned Pakistan's most senior diplomat in Iran to give an explanation.

The exchange of airstrikes occurred in remote borderlands where separatist groups and Islamist militants have long carried out attacks on government targets, with officials in Pakistan and Iran often accusing each other of complicity in the bloodshed.

According to a Reuters report, the trigger for the flare-up was the January 3 bombing that killed nearly 100 people at a ceremony in the southeastern Iranian city of Kerman to commemorate slain commander Qassem Soleimani, who was killed by a U.S. drone in 2020. Tehran vowed revenge against Islamic State, the ultra-hardline Sunni Muslim militant group that claimed responsibility for the bombing.

A senior Iranian security official revealed that Iran provided Pakistan with evidence linking Jaish al-Adl to the Kerman attack, urging Pakistan to take action against the group, reported Reuters.

Gregory Brew, an analyst at Eurasia Group, points to domestic pressure on Iran's leadership to act in response to the growing threat of militant violence within its borders. The January 3 bombing was deemed an embarrassment, exposing vulnerabilities in Iran's security apparatus.

The Iranian strike on Pakistan aims to showcase the capabilities of Iran's security forces and issue a clear warning against any actions perceived as threats to national security.

(With inputs from agencies)
Bismarck Park Board member Jennifer Odell has launched a campaign to continue serving in the seat to which she was appointed a year ago.

Odell joined the Park board through an application and interview process following the resignation of Wayne Munson, who resigned from the board in late 2022 following his election to the Burleigh County Commission.

Odell works as a communications officer for the state Department of Public Instruction and is a former North Dakota Army National Guard member. She holds bachelors and masters degrees from the University of Mary. She is married with three children.

My family is one of thousands in Bismarck who use our outstanding parks system and who know how important it is to our quality of life, Odell said in a statement Friday. I want to continue representing our large community of families who enjoy our park facilities.

Three other Bismarck residents -- Associated General Contractors of North Dakota Executive Vice President Russ Hanson, Bismarck Downtown Business Association Chief Operating Officer Kate Herzog and retired Bismarck Parks and Recreation District Community Relations Manager Paula Redmann -- are vying for a seat on the board. Odells seat and Andrew Jordans seat are up for election this year. Park Board members serve four-year terms.

All candidates will need to gather at least 300 valid signatures from Bismarck residents by April 8 to get on the June 11 ballot.
On the evening of January 17, the Anhui Provincial Drama Theater and Ma'anshan Art Theatre's drama "The Light Illuminates the World" was brilliantly staged at the Anhui Grand Theatre, with more than a thousand audiences in Hefei watching. This is also the first performance launched by the "Beautiful Anhui Celebrate Chinese New Year" series of cultural activities for the benefit of the people in Anhui to welcome the Spring Festival in 2024. "I will base myself on the technical position, be brave in overcoming difficulties." said Wang Weixian, an employee at Anhui JAC Group Light Commercial Vehicle Branch. Being in the manufacturing industry as well, she was particularly impressed by this drama. It is understood that the drama "The Light Illuminates the World" performed this time is the first industrial theme drama in Anhui Province, which has been staged in Hefei, Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou and other places. The play focuses on the process of Chinese steel workers adhering to the spirit of "great craftsmanship" and reflects the vivid practice of Anhui vigorously promoting new industrialization and accelerating the construction of intelligent and green manufacturing province. "We have created a major drama that praises the new era of Chinese steel workers, and at the same time organically integrates the hardness of steel with the emotional temperature of people, striving to create a good drama that is popular with the audience and thought-provoking." Said Li Bonan, director of "The Light Illuminates the World". During the Spring Festival, the Publicity Department of CPC Anhui Provincial Committee, Anhui Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism, Anhui Provincial Radio and Television Bureau, and the Anhui Provincial Federation of Literary and Art Circles jointly organized the "Beautiful Anhui Celebrate Chinese New Year" 2024 Anhui Spring Festival series of cultural activities for the benefit of the people. They organized literary and artistic teams at all levels from all over the province to show movies, send books and newspapers to villages, towns, communities, schools, and other places at or below the county level, and carried out training, lectures and paired guidance.

Source: anhuinews.com




Gov. Doug Burgum has eased some driving restrictions for truckers hauling propane.

North Dakota faces "extremely low" inventories of the fuel due to a supply crunch attributed to seasonal weather and increased heating fuel demands, according to Burgum's executive order granting a waiver of hours-of-service requirements.

The governor said the goal is to help carriers avoid delays and deliver propane to meet the needs of state residents.

The 30-day waiver took effect Thursday. All road safety and vehicle compliance regulations still apply.
King Kamehameha Kona Beach Resort is pleased to announce the appointment of Revell Newton as the new director of sales and marketing of the 455-room property, set on 13 idyllic beachfront acres on the Island of Hawaii. With a remarkable 25-year career in Hawaii's hospitality industry, Newton brings a wealth of experience and local expertise to his new role.

Prior to joining King Kamehameha Kona Beach Resort, Newton held key leadership roles at luxury resorts across Oahu, Kauai and Maui, including general manager of Aqua-Aston Hospitality and vice president of sales, marketing, and business development at Castle Hospitality Group. Before that, Newton's journey in the hospitality sector also led him to serve as the General Manager of the Outrigger Waikiki, hotel manager at the Sheraton Kona Resort, where he played a pivotal role in enhancing guest experiences, as well as director of sales and marketing for Starwood Hotels and Resorts, Waikiki, and director of sales and marketing for Sheraton Keauhou Bay Resort & Spa and Kapalua Bay Hotel (a Luxury Collection Resort).

Newton's dedication and contributions to the industry have been recognized through his membership in Meeting Professionals International, serving on the USS Missouri Memorial Association Board of Directors, and as a past board of director with the Aloha Membership Chapter and the Professional Conference Managers Association.

At King Kamehameha Kona Beach Resort, Newton will spearhead sales and marketing efforts, ensuring guest satisfaction, boosting revenue, achieving property goals, and optimizing opportunities for leisure, business, and group travelers, leveraging his dedication to the destination and proficiency in hotel management and sales strategy. Newton looks forward to enhancing strategy and reinforcing the resort's dedication to community, culture, and people in his new role.
Justin Taillon high school guidance counsellor nailed his professional path when she called him a hospitality personality when handing him his diploma. Mr. Taillon subsequently spent a decade in hospitality operations including stints with Starwood, Marriott, and Hilton. In 8 years he opened 4 properties, in roles varying from intern in the housekeeping department to Assistant General Manager. In fact, his lodging career began in Food & Beverage operations while he was still in high school, he moved into hotel operations while earning his bachelor's degree from the University of Houston, and his applied lodging career culminated in an Assistant General Manager posting with Hilton. He then moved into academia, working toward higher education degrees from the University of Guelph (MBA) in Toronto and Texas A&M University (PhD). The dichotomy of applied and academic work remains integral to Mr. Taillon. Justin Taillon can be contacted at +1 206-878-3710 or [email protected]
CHICAGO - First Hospitality, a national hotel operating and development company, witnessed significant growth in 2023, increasing its hotels and restaurants under management by nearly 40%. In addition, First Hospitality continued its focus on upscale, soft brand and lifestyle properties which is now approaching 40% of its portfolio. Last year, the company entered five new markets, bringing its diverse portfolio to more than 70 independent and branded properties, with over 10,000 keys, and 3,500 world-class associates.

The successes of First Hospitality in 2023 can be attributed directly to the exceptional talents of our associates, a strong culture, and our superior operating platform. The growth we have experienced has allowed us to bolster our team and strategically expand our geographic presence. As part of this growth, we welcomed new sophisticated owners to our portfolio and augmented our collection of restaurants and bars. David Duncan, president and CEO of First Hospitality

First Hospitalitys expanded its business into California, Texas, Florida, and other markets throughout the southern states including a new property under development in Oklahoma, while the company continues to further grow and strengthen its footprint in the Midwest.

With a strategic segmentation shift, revenue management focused on improving profitability for owners through minimizing business through OTAs, this shift resulted in a 122% of brand.com share. Newly managed properties grew RevPAR Index YoY an average of 3.2%.

Recognized as a Great Place To Work by Fortune in 2023, First Hospitality embraces a people first culture with a turnover rate of less than 10% under the industry average.

Duncan added, The strategic steps and actions in 2023 has positioned First Hospitality extremely well to drive strong performance for all of our ownership groups in 2024 and beyond. As we continue to grow, we will reach new communities, strengthening our bench of resources and offering more opportunities to our entire team.

For more information about First Hospitality and its portfolio of hotels, please visit: firsthospitality.com.

About First Hospitality

First Hospitality is a top-ranking development, investment, and third-party operating company with a portfolio of branded and independent properties throughout the United States. Founded nearly 40 years ago, the organization fosters opportunities for associates, investors, owners, and partners to prosper together. The foundation of First Hospitality's success is built on an individualized approach that puts people first, encourages a strong ownership culture, and consistently demonstrates astute business acumen. The company and its hotels are frequently recognized by the industry and media for high guest service and associate satisfaction, including accolades from Forbes, Conde Nast, TripAdvisor, and AAA. For more information, visit www.firsthospitality.com.
North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum will deliver his 2024 State of the State address on Tuesday at Dickinson State University.

His address will be at 10 a.m. Mountain time, or 11 a.m. Central time, in Dorothy Stickney Auditorium on campus. It's open to the public. Doors open an hour before the speech. A reception will follow on the main level of May Hall.

The speech also will be livestreamed on the governor's office website, at governor.nd.gov.

Door access to the event will be limited to one entry point, between May Hall and Stoxen Library. Members of the public will need to go through a screening process at the entry point. Attendees are encouraged to leave backpacks and purses at home. People will be asked to remove phones, keys and larger metal objects as they go through security. Parking information is at bit.ly/47DdpDT.
Japan Hotel REIT Acquires 170-key Hotel JAL City Kannai Yokohama For JPY4 Billion

Japan-based Japan Hotel REIT has bought the 170-key Hotel JAL City Kannai Yokohama (The hotel) for JPY4 billion. Located in central Yokohama, the limited-service hotel is in close proximity to Yokohamas Chinatown, seaside attractions, and the Nihon-Odori railway station. The acquisition comes after a steady recovery of business and leisure demand in the Kannai area. The purchase was funded with a JPY1.2 billion loan from Japan-based MUFG Bank and a JPY2.8 billion loan from the Development Bank of Japan. The hotel is expected to be leased to a wholly owned subsidiary of Japan Hotel REITs strategic partner, Hotel Management Japan.

82-key Shanghai Bulgari Hotel Sold For RMB2.4 Billion

Chinese state-owned developer Overseas Chinese Town (OCT) has sold the 82-key Bulgari Hotel (The hotel) in Shanghai, China, to China-based Jiangsu Jinfeng Cement Group, for RMB2.4 billion. Built in 2016, the hotel comprises of 63 standard rooms and 19 suites that occupies the top eight floors of the 48-storey tower. The sale took place via a public tender, and includes ancillary buildings associated with the hotel, three commercial segments, and parking spaces, which adds up to 35,247 square metres of gross floor area. The transaction is expected to be completed in the first half of 2024, with the continued use of the Bulgari brand being subject to further negotiation.

Shanghais 193-key Wanda Reign on the Bund Hotel Acquired

Singapore-based Pacific Eagle Real Estate (PERE) has acquired the Wanda Reign on the Bund hotel, in Shanghai, China, from China-based Dalian Wanda Group. PERE is the property investment and development arm of Singapore-based RGE Group, owned by Indonesian billionaire Sukanto Tanoto. While the transaction price remains undisclosed, it is estimated that the hotel was acquired at an amount ranging between RMB1.44 to 1.66 billion. Located in Shanghais Bund waterfront district, the 193-key luxury hotel was built in 2016 and occupies 36,000 square metres of floor area. Moving forward, it is expected that the hotel will continue to operate under the Wanda brand and be managed by the companys hotel division.

About HVS

HVS is the world's leading consulting and valuation services organization focused on the hotel, restaurant, shared ownership, gaming, and leisure industries. Established in 1980, the company performs more than 4,500 assignments per year for virtually every major industry participant. HVS principals are regarded as the leading professionals in their respective regions of the globe. Through a worldwide network of over 50 offices staffed by 300 experienced industry professionals, HVS provides an unparalleled range of complementary services for the hospitality industry. For further information regarding our expertise and specifics about our services, please visit www.hvs.com.
Hyatt Hotels Corporation (NYSE: H) highlighted today its expected growth trajectory for 2024 and beyond, underscored by a record year of deal signings in 2023. Hyatts commitment to be the preferred brand for guests, customers and owners has resulted in a record pipeline of 127,000 rooms worldwide as of year-end 2023, which is expected to fuel asset-light earnings into the future. This record pipeline represents nearly 40% of existing rooms in the Hyatt portfolio.

"We have been very intentional in our growth strategy and acquisitions, always prioritizing guest, customer and owner preference as well as differentiation, and taking bold steps to stay ahead of market trends, said Mark Hoplamazian, president and chief executive officer, Hyatt. Guided by our purpose of care, we believe our most exciting chapter is ahead of us, and we are committed to reinforcing our position as the preferred hospitality brand.

Since going public, Hyatt has experienced remarkable growth; its portfolio of hotels has nearly tripled while its development pipeline has quadrupled. This expansion, driven by organic growth, conversions, and strategic acquisitions funded by real-estate dispositions, has resulted in Hyatts premium portfolio of brands serving guests at the high-end of each segment.

This has directly translated into significant growth in the World of Hyatt platform which has quadrupled in membership in the last five years. With more than 30% more members per hotel than its larger hotel competitors, the fastest-growing loyalty program in the industry focuses on more personalized guest care and increased revenue for owners.

Strategic Growth in Luxury, Resort, and Lifestyle Portfolios

Hyatt is uniquely positioned in the industry to be the preferred brand for the high-end guest, driven by significant expansion of luxury, resort and lifestyle hotels. Since the end of 2017, the addition of nearly 90,000 rooms in these categories now represents 45% of Hyatt's total portfolio. This growth has doubled the number of luxury rooms, tripled resort rooms, and quadrupled lifestyle rooms. By the end of 2025, Hyatt plans to add more than 35 hotels globally within its diverse collection of luxury brands. Growth highlights in luxury, resort, and lifestyle portfolios include:

The Park Hyatt brand is set to enter key global markets in 2024 with Park Hyatt London River Thames (United Kingdom), Park Hyatt Johannesburg (South Africa), Park Hyatt Changsha (China) and Park Hyatt Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia). The brand will also expand its presence in Mexico with Park Hyatt Cancun and Park Hyatt Los Cabos at Cabo Del Sol expected to open in 2025, and Park Hyatt Mexico City , expected to open in 2026.

(United Kingdom), (South Africa), (China) and (Malaysia). The brand will also expand its presence in Mexico with and expected to open in 2025, and , expected to open in 2026. Hyatt continues to strengthen its position as the worlds largest portfolio of luxury all-inclusive resorts, including the recent launch of the ultra-luxury brand, Impression by Secrets. The Inclusive Collection is also set to expand brand presence in Europe with two new market entries in 2024: Zoetry Halkidiki Resort & Spa in Greece and Dreams Madeira Resort, Spa & Marina in Portugal.

in Greece and in Portugal. The Thompson Hotels brand is also gaining significant momentum in Europe, with upcoming brand debuts in highly sought-after destinations such as Thompson Rome (Italy), Thompson Vienna (Austria) and Thompson Seville (Spain). Additionally, Hyatt plans to bring the Thompson Hotels brand to Asia Pacific with Thompson Shanghai Expo (China), expected to open in 2025. The brand continues to grow across the Americas with Thompson Houston, Thompson Palm Springs and Thompson South Beach, all expected to open this year, and Thompson Puerto Vallarta (Mexico) in 2027.

New Markets and New Developers with Hyatt Studios

To serve Hyatts guest base on more stay occasions and introduce new guests to the Hyatt portfolio, Hyatt is rapidly growing its first upper-midscale extended-stay brand in the Americas, Hyatt Studios. Leveraging Hyatt's proven success in select-service hotels, the Hyatt Studios brand extends the renowned Hyatt experience and commitment to quality into markets where traditional Hyatt properties may not be located. Announced just last year, the Hyatt Studios brand has gained significant interest, with approximately 200 deals in various stages of negotiation with both single-unit developers and multi-unit developers, including executed deals representing approximately 2,000 pipeline rooms across North America. This is a testament to the desire from both developers and guests for a Hyatt brand that can operate in secondary, suburban and tertiary markets alike.

Upcoming properties, nearly half of which represent new markets for Hyatt and deals with first-time Hyatt owners, include:

Hyatt Studios Foley in Alabama

Hyatt Studios Huntsville in Alabama

Hyatt Studios Mobile / Tillmans Corner in Alabama

Hyatt Studios Marysville in California

Hyatt Studios Murrieta in California

Hyatt Studios Denver Airport 68th & Yampa in Colorado

Hyatt Studios Bensenville in Illinois

Hyatt Studios Greenwood in Indiana

Hyatt Studios Kokomo in Indiana

Hyatt Studios Louisville in Kentucky

Hyatt Studios Portland ME Airport in Maine

Hyatt Studios Flowood in Mississippi

Hyatt Studios Mississauga in Ontario, Canada

Hyatt Studios Knoxville Cedar Bluff in Tennessee

Hyatt Studios Sevierville in Tennessee

Hyatt Studios Texarkana in Texas

Global Expansion: Brand Growth Across All Collections

In many cases, were working with owners who either own or plan to develop properties across all four of our brand portfolios, said Jim Chu, executive vice president and chief growth officer, Hyatt. Our growth is only possible because of our strong relationships with both managed and franchised owners. Whether its winning deals in highly competitive markets like Park City, Utah with Grand Hyatt Deer Valley or innovating with one-of-a-kind projects like Grand Hyatt Kuwait Residences, we work tirelessly to be the preferred brand for owners and developers.

Independent Collection

hotels are all unique  from storied properties and vibrant neighborhood locales to immersive retreats. Growth updates include:

The Unbound Collection by Hyatt brand is growing globally, including Hotel Fluela Davos, which opened in 2023 as the brands entry into Switzerland and the only European Hyatt property in an alpine ski destination. Additionally, Kennedy 89 in Frankfurt, Germany is slated for fall of 2024 and The Keraton at the Plaza in Jakarta is slated for 2025, which will mark the debut of The Unbound Collection by Hyatt brand in Indonesia.

which opened in 2023 as the brands entry into Switzerland and the only European Hyatt property in an alpine ski destination. Additionally, in Frankfurt, Germany is slated for fall of 2024 and in Jakarta is slated for 2025, which will mark the debut of The Unbound Collection by Hyatt brand in Indonesia. The JdV by Hyatt brand, which includes the exclusive collaboration with Lindner Hotels, will expand further in Germany this year with me and all hotel berlin east side and Lindner Hotel Boltenhagen, which opened in October 2023. The JdV by Hyatt brand is a prime opportunity for boutique conversions and continues to extend Hyatts brand presence in new markets such as Southampton, NY with the Bentley Hotel slated to open in 2024.

and which opened in October 2023. The JdV by Hyatt brand is a prime opportunity for boutique conversions and continues to extend Hyatts brand presence in new markets such as Southampton, NY with the slated to open in 2024. The Destination by Hyatt brand is expected to debut in Canada this summer in the year-round outdoor adventure destination of Ramara, Ontario, as well as in Saint Lucia with Cas En Bas Beach Resort, expected to open in 2024 as the first Destination by Hyatt branded resort and residences on the island.

Timeless Collection

hotels deliver the comforts of a home away from home with a consistently elevated experience. Expansion of the collection is expected around the following:

Fueled by a recent brand refresh, the Hyatt Regency brand will continue its growth with Hyatt Regency Panama City , the first Hyatt Regency hotel in Panama, expected to open in 2024.

, the first Hyatt Regency hotel in Panama, expected to open in 2024. The Grand Hyatt brand is entering new destinations with the recently opened Grand Hyatt Kuwait Residences pioneering residential offerings in the country, and the highly anticipated Grand Hyatt Deer Valley , expected to open later this year as the newest luxury hotel in the famed ski destination of Park City, Utah. Grand Hyatt Mexico Santa Fe is slated to open in 2025, as the first urban Grand Hyatt property in Mexico and Grand Hyatt Los Cabos (Mexico) is expected in 2026.

pioneering residential offerings in the country, and the highly anticipated , expected to open later this year as the newest luxury hotel in the famed ski destination of Park City, Utah. is slated to open in 2025, as the first urban Grand Hyatt property in Mexico and (Mexico) is expected in 2026. The Hyatt Place and Hyatt House brands continue to be key organic drivers for Hyatt across the globe. In Asia Pacific, the brands are marking the first entry into new cities with Hyatt Place Kuala Lumpur Bukit Jalil (Malaysia), which opened in the fall 2023, and Hyatt Place Ha Long Bay Bai Chay (Vietnam), Hyatt Place Makassar (Indonesia), and Hyatt House Tokyo Shibuya (Japan)  all expected to open before 2025. In the United Kingdom, Hyatt Place Leeds and Hyatt House Leeds will be the citys first dual-branded Hyatt development (opening in fall of 2024), and in North America, new Hyatt Place and Hyatt House hotels are expected to open soon in key U.S. leisure markets such as Orlando, Fla., Raleigh, NC, Mariposa, Calif. near Yosemite, Casper, Wyo., Nashville, Tenn. and Daytona Beach, Fla. In Latin America, Hyatt Place Piedras Negras (Mexico), is expected to open in 2026, and Hyatt Place San Jose Cariari (Costa Rica) is expected to open in 2025.

Boundless Collection

hotels deliver best-in-class offerings and compelling experiences designed to excite and inspire. New properties in global markets include:

The Hyatt Centric brand is expected to expand in Canada with Hyatt Centric Toronto City Centre, anticipated to open this summer, Hyatt Centric Victoria  Old Town slated to open in 2026, and Hyatt Centric Winnipeg Downtown , an adaptive reuse project slated for 2025. The brand will debut in new Asia Pacific markets in 2024 with Hyatt Centric Zhongshan Park Shanghai (China) and Hyatt Centric City Centre Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), a 311-room property located on Jalan Sultan Ismail. In Latin America, the brand will also debut in two countries with Hyatt Centric Escazu San Jose (Costa Rica) and Hyatt Centric Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic)  both expected to open in 2024. In 2025, Hyatt will add a hotel in a new market in Mexico with Hyatt Centric Queretaro.

anticipated to open this summer, slated to open in 2026, and , an adaptive reuse project slated for 2025. The brand will debut in new Asia Pacific markets in 2024 with (China) and (Malaysia), a 311-room property located on Jalan Sultan Ismail. In Latin America, the brand will also debut in two countries with (Costa Rica) and (Dominican Republic)  both expected to open in 2024. In 2025, Hyatt will add a hotel in a new market in Mexico with The Caption by Hyatt brand continues to gain momentum globally with the brands planned debut in Asia Pacific with Caption by Hyatt Zhongshan Park Shanghai (China) and in Japan Caption by Hyatt Namba Osaka in 2024 , followed by Caption by Hyatt Kabutocho Tokyo in 2025. In addition, Caption by Hyatt brand presence in Tennessee continues to grow with Caption by Hyatt Downtown Nashville/The Gulch, expected to open in 2025, and Caption by Hyatt Chattanooga Downtown, expected to open in 2026.

(China) and in Japan in 2024 followed by in 2025. In addition, Caption by Hyatt brand presence in Tennessee continues to grow with expected to open in 2025, and expected to open in 2026. Through the integration of Dream Hotel Group, 2024 is expected to bring Dream Valle de Guadalupe, the brands first property in Mexico and a new market for Hyatt.

Inclusive Collection

resorts deliver immersive, elevated experiences where everything is seamlessly included. Upcoming expansion includes:

Secrets Resorts & Spas is expected to expand its footprint in Mexico and the Caribbean in 2024 with Secrets Tides Punta Cana (Dominican Republic), a 668-suite seaside haven in Uvero Alto, and Secrets Playa Blanca Costa Mujeres , a 507 all-suite resort 12 miles north of Cancun in Mexico.

(Dominican Republic), a 668-suite seaside haven in Uvero Alto, and , a 507 all-suite resort 12 miles north of Cancun in Mexico. Dreams Resorts & Spas is expected to add two new resorts in Mexico in 2024 with the upcoming Dreams Grand Island in Cancun and Dreams Estrella Del Mar Mazatlan , a 350-room property, which also marks a new destination for the brand.

in Cancun and , a 350-room property, which also marks a new destination for the brand. Hyatt Vivid Grand Island, which will be the first property under the recently announced adults-only Hyatt Vivid brand, is expected to open in 2024 adjacent to Dreams Grand Island, combining 19 culinary concepts, a 26,000 square foot spa, multiple pools, a beach club, and more.

The term Hyatt is used in this release for convenience to refer to Hyatt Hotels Corporation and/or one or more of its affiliates.

About Hyatt Hotels Corporation

Hyatt Hotels Corporation, headquartered in Chicago, is a leading global hospitality company guided by its purpose  to care for people so they can be their best. As of September 30, 2023, the Company's portfolio included more than 1,300 hotels and all-inclusive properties in 76 countries across six continents. The Company's offering includes brands in the Timeless Collection, including Park Hyatt, Grand Hyatt, Hyatt Regency, Hyatt, Hyatt Vacation Club, Hyatt Place, Hyatt House, Hyatt Studios, and UrCove; the Boundless Collection, including Miraval, Alila, Andaz, Thompson Hotels, Dream Hotels, Hyatt Centric, and Caption by Hyatt; the Independent Collection, including The Unbound Collection by Hyatt, Destination by Hyatt, and JdV by Hyatt; and the Inclusive Collection, including Impression by Secrets, Hyatt Ziva, Hyatt Zilara, Zoetry Wellness & Spa Resorts, Secrets Resorts & Spas, Breathless Resorts & Spas, Dreams Resorts & Spas, Hyatt Vivid Hotels & Resorts, Alua Hotels & Resorts, and Sunscape Resorts & Spas. Subsidiaries of the Company operate the World of Hyatt loyalty program, ALG Vacations, Mr & Mrs Smith, Unlimited Vacation Club, Amstar DMC destination management services, and Trisept Solutions technology services. For more information, please visit www.hyatt.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

Forward-Looking Statements in this press release, which are not historical facts, are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by the use of words such as "may," "could," "expect," "intend," "plan," "seek," "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "predict," "potential," "continue," "likely," "will," "would" and variations of these terms and similar expressions, or the negative of these terms or similar expressions. Such forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable when made, are inherently uncertain, and are subject to numerous assumptions and uncertainties, many of which are outside of Kiraku, Inc. or Hyatt's control, which could cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those expressed in or implied by such statements. Forward-looking statements made in this press release are made only as of the date of their initial publication and neither party undertakes an obligation to publicly update any of these forward-looking statements as actual events unfold, except to the extent required by applicable law. If one or more forward-looking statements is updated, no inference should be drawn that any additional updates will be made with respect to those or other forward-looking statements.
Hudson, NY (12534)

Today

Overcast. High 46F. Winds WNW at 10 to 20 mph..

Tonight

Mostly cloudy skies this evening will become partly cloudy after midnight. A few flurries are possible. Low 32F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph.
6 ways musicians can use an EPK

Electronic press kits (EPKs) offer musicians a simple way to bring their accomplishments on social media, streaming, live, and more together in an attractive package that can be shared with bookers, broadcasters, bloggers, and other music industry decision-makers.

By Melanie Kealey from Bandzoogle

An electronic press kit (EPK)  sometimes also called a digital press kit  is essential for making a strong first impression on promoters, bookers, media, and other music industry professionals.

You can think of it as your interactive artist resume, where anyone interested in your music can find all the information they need in one place. This isnt just for convenience, though  your EPK is crucial for showcasing your professionalism and commitment as an artist.

You can use your EPK in several different ways, depending on your goals. Whether youre eyeing press coverage, securing your next gig, or ready to pitch to labels, your press kit serves as a dynamic tool for every stage of your career.

Fortunately, its easy to create a stunning EPK with Bandzoogle, and it only takes a few clicks to update it with new music, photos, videos, and other content.

So, how exactly can you use your EPK to help your music career?

1. EPK to book shows

One of the best ways to put your EPK to work is by using it to book gigs and tours. Music venues and festivals love to see them, especially when they need to compare many different acts to book the right talent and build a cohesive lineup.

But EPKs are also useful for private showcases, benefit concerts, and corporate gigs. It all comes down to professionalism and making sure you convey an accurate, organized, and enticing snapshot of who you are as an artist.

2. Media EPK for journalists and reviewers

This one should be pretty obvious  they dont call it an electronic press kit for nothing!

Hoping for a music reviewer to write about your latest single? Or perhaps your hometown newspaper wants to interview you about your musical journey? Theyre all going to want your media assets quickly accessible in your EPK to make their jobs easier.

If you present journalists and bloggers with a current bio, your latest music, your career highlights, links to active social media pages, and complete contact info, youll stand out as a professional artist whos worth paying attention to.

3. EPK for radio curators and playlisters

You can also use your EPK to promote your music to radio curators, podcasts, and playlisters. Its possible youll come across some radio stations that still prefer the old-school method of mailing a physical press kit, but the majority of the time, EPKs are preferred  theyre easier and more efficient all around.

If youre ever in doubt, check the submissions section of the stations website, or find a relevant contact and shoot them an email to ask about their submission process. Wed recommend starting out by pitching to niche playlists, community radio, college radio, internet radio, and podcasts.

4. EPK to pitch to labels

If youre ready to take the next step in your music career, your EPK is a great tool for building your team. All kinds of industry folks  including managers, publishers, record label executives, and publicists  will be nothing short of impressed to see a beautiful EPK on your website.

5. EPK for venues to advance shows

As any seasoned artist knows, the success of a live show involves so much more than just the

performance itself. Collaborating with the venue to boost promotion and guarantee a smooth event experience is key.

A detailed EPK for venues will help make your next tour seamless. Be sure to include a concise yet engaging bio, your best videos, high-resolution photos, an accurate stage plot, and a list of the inputs youll need.

6. General EPK (online artist portfolio)

A general EPK works perfectly as an online artist portfolio that any promoter, venue, or fan might come across. Use it to host high-quality marketing assets and content that you wouldnt necessarily post on social media.

The more you flesh it out beyond the basic necessities, the more youll showcase your dedication to your music career. Besides high-quality promo photos and your latest music videos, consider incorporating quotes from notable reviews, or perhaps even a testimonial or two. This will not only impress promoters and venues, but it will also allow fans to delve deeper into your artistry.

Having your EPK readily available and up to date isnt just about preparation; its about being proactive. Whether its snagging that opening slot or impressing a potential collaborator, craft your press kit with intention. Have a specific goal in mind when sharing your EPK to make it that much more impactful.

Even if youre still in the early stages and you dont have a ton of buzz yet, you just never know when an opportunity might arise  and when it does, youll be glad you have that EPK link ready to go.

Melanie Kealey is the Director of Communications at music website platform Bandzoogle. In addition to overseeing the Bandzoogle blog, she regularly writes posts with helpful website tips for musicians.





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Featured Executive: A talk with Beatdapp cofounder Pouria Assadipour

Pouria Assadipour discusses his journey, leading the Beatdapp team, and what hed advise other up-and-coming music professionals to do next in their careers.

via A2IM

Name: Pouria Assadipour

Title: Chief Technology Officer and Co-Founder

Company: Pouria has been at the helm of the Beatdapp technology team for five years! Beatdapp is an innovative royalty-tracking system that identifies and fights against streaming fraud in real time.

What do you do at Beatdapp?

My day-to-day is all about empowering our tech team to innovate and deliver great results. I keep an eye out for the sharpest minds working in the AI/ML arena to join Beatdapp. I work side by side with our team leads to make impactful technology decisions that drive the business forward.

How do you hold yourself accountable?

There are two main strategies I use to keep myself accountable. At Beatdapp, we have a channel in Slack where everyone (including management) posts their daily goals. Additionally, I use my calendar to book time for tasks so its very clear to myself whether Im getting meaningful work done.



What is the biggest challenge youve faced in this role since you started?

My responsibilities at Beatdapp continuously evolve. From the early days of developing alone, to stepping up as a team lead of a few software engineers. Now focusing on being an enabler for our amazing team of 50+ engineers and data scientists, my job has been all about growing with the company.



What life experiences have shaped your career?

While I love to travel, Ive spent most of my life living in Vancouver BC. Its given me the chance to create lifelong bonds with fellow tech enthusiasts, many of whom have joined us in shaping Beatdapps future.



What is the proudest moment in your career so far?

The proudest moment in my career was when we made our first sale. I was proud of my co-founders Morgan Hayduk and Andrew Batey who did the hard work of getting and closing the deal. Personally, I was proud of myself for helping to build something that had value to our clients.



What is your connection to the music industry?

At a previous role, I would play foosball with one of the executives who used to be an agent for music talent. While our foosball-fueled friendship didnt get me a record deal, it was enough for him to want to start a company with me.



What advice would you give to aspiring industry professionals?

Being a tech leader isnt just about keeping your technical skills sharp. You need to improve on your leadership skills as well.

Keep up with Beatdapp below!

About A2IM: A2IM is a 501(c)(6) not-for-profit trade organization headquartered in New York City that exists to support and strengthen the independent recorded music sector. Membership currently includes a broad coalition of more than 700 Independently-owned American music labels. A2IM represents these independently owned small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) interests in the marketplace, in the media, on Capitol Hill, and as part of the global music community. In doing so, it supports a key segment of Americas creative class that represents Americas diverse musical cultural heritage. Billboard Magazine identified the Independent music label sector as 37.32 percent of the music industrys U.S. recorded music sales market in 2016 based on copyright ownership, making Independent labels collectively the largest music industry sector.

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Lanesborough Planning Board Considers Reworking Rejected Articles

LANESBOROUGH, Mass.  In its first meeting of the year, the Planning Board discussed ways to make rejected town meeting articles more palatable for residents.



The panel had supported drafting language for a 2,500-square-foot cap on the size of an accessory dwelling unit in response to the lack of housing availability in the community.



Voters rejected an article at the annual town meeting to remove the 900 square-foot cap on ADUs with concerns that people would build large structures on their property. With this new cap, the planners feel there is a chance of receiving support from townspeople.



"What we tried to do last year was just lift that max because why hold somebody back? If they have the land and everything else, let them build however big they want to build," Chair Joe Trybus said.

"Well, a lot of people in the annual town meeting didn't think that that was a good idea so the only way I feel to get this to go through this time around was to put a cap on it."



Residents with homes around 1,200 square feet who want to build 1,600 or 1,800 square feet for their older children cannot do that right now, he added.



According to the town's code:

"Rear and side yards may contain accessory buildings or structures, provided they cover not more than 30% of the combined area of such yards and are located not less than 10 feet from any lot line. Front yards may contain accessory buildings or structures, provided they meet the front setback requirements of this bylaw, that they cover not more than 30% of the area between the front setback line and the front of the main building, and that they are located not less than 10 feet from either side lot line, where such is deemed necessary and not detrimental to the neighborhood."

The new proposal would lift percentage requirements and just limit the second structure to 2,500 square feet.

A big issue that residents had at the town meeting was a fear of people building mega-mansions, a board member pointed out, and the cap would take the wind out of that conversation.


At its last meeting, the CPA committee chose not to consider two late eligibility applications that came forward. One of which was a funding request for a condominium and rental housing project at 55 Linden Street, the former Polish Community Club.

Pittsfield Housing Trust to Collaborate with CPA Applications

PITTSFIELD, Mass.  The Community Preservation Committee and Affordable Housing Trust will collaborate for housing applications to clear up confusion and ensure that funds are being used wisely.

After discussion amongst themselves and with the committee that handles Community Preservation Act funds, the trust mapped out a path forward of assisting with the process.



"When the city envisioned this affordable housing trust, one of the things we were responding to was the Community Preservation Committee saying that it would be helpful to have a board specifically focused on housing and housing projects," Director of Community Development Justine Dodds said.



"Because as we all know, as we've learned over the last year and a half, they are very complicated."



This year there are two CPA applications for community housing: $350,000 from Allegrone Companies for the redevelopment of the Wright Building on North Street and $350,000 from The Westside Legends to support a $5.8 million affordable housing project on Columbus Avenue for first-time homebuyers.



Earlier this month, Dodds and chair Betsey Sherman attended the CPA committee's meeting to discuss the partnership. Rather than having the trust waive its $150,000 ask and being the designee of CPA funds for housing, the committee would like it to review the applications and provide feedback for this cycle.



The trust will have a presentation from the proponents and develop feedback before funding applications are due on February 9.



The total ask for FY24 is about $1.7 million and the city has around $966,000 in CPA funds to disperse. Dodds pointed out that the funding is lower than in previous years for different reasons, one being that the "amount of requests is significant."



"They have a difficult task for them this year," she explained.



"In previous years, they've had enough reserves and enough resources to be able to fully fund whatever came before them if they felt that it was worthy and eligible for Community Preservation funds. That will not be the case this year."



At its last meeting, the CPA committee chose not to consider two late eligibility applications that came forward. One of which was a funding request for a condominium and rental housing project at 55 Linden Street, the former Polish Community Club.
Pittsfield to Host Webinar for the Pontoosuc Lake Park Project

PITTSFIELD, Mass.  The City of Pittsfield Department of Community Development is hosting a Zoom webinar on Thursday, January 25 at 7:00 p.m. to discuss planned improvements to Pontoosuc Lake Park.

The city was recently awarded a Massachusetts Parkland Acquisitions and Renovations for Communities (PARC) grant to begin the plan implementation. Attendees at this virtual meeting will hear about what is being considered as part of the master plan that was developed in 2021.
State officials were informed Thursday of the spill at a pipeline operated by Chord Energy around 6 miles northwest of Alexander. The leak caused the spill of 3,800 barrels or 159,600 gallons of freshwater used for oil and gas operations along with an estimated 13 gallons of methanol and 20 gallons of ethylene glycol, according to the spill report on file with the state.

Some of the spill impacted agricultural and rangelands, DEQ said. The pipeline has since been isolated, according to the spill report.

Officials are inspecting the site, and will continue to monitor an investigation and cleanup, Environmental Quality said.




iciHaiti - Crisis : Algeria will politically and financially support the Kenyan Mission in Haiti





Thursday January 18, 2024, during a meeting with Ahmed Attaf, Algerian Minister of Foreign Affairs, on the sidelines of the 19th Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement, which was held Thursday in Munyonyo, Uganda (East Africa), Musalia Mudavadi, the First Cabinet Secretary of the Republic of Kenya expressed Kenya's appreciation for Algeria's political and financial support to the Multinational Security Support Mission (MMSS) in Haiti.



Dr. Mudavadi affirmed Kenya's commitment to leading international efforts to support the quest for peace and stability in Haiti. Minister Attaf promised the continuation of Algeria's collaboration with Kenya on this issue.



The two ministers also discussed the conflict between Israel and Hamas and jointly called for the imperative to de-escalate hostilities and end the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.



Both Kenya and Algeria have stressed the need for a two-state solution, in line with the UN declaration for a lasting resolution of the conflict.



See also :

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-41382-haiti-insecurity-the-international-crisis-group-warns-kenya-against-its-intervention-in-haiti.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-41365-haiti-kenya-news-about-the-multinational-security-support-mission.html



IH/ iciHaiti


















70% of online fraud is accomplished through mobile platforms.

So, how can you ensure strong security at your organization as employees leverage such platforms in their day-to-day operations?

This webcast  featuring Senior Analyst at Forrester, Janet Worthington, and CRO and Co-Founder at Build38, Pedro Hernandez  delves into mobile app security strategies and leaders top concerns.

Watch now to unlock these findings as well as about global security recommendations.
Friday 19 January 2024, 17:00 - Last updated: 20 January, 07:31

Bunkers and defensive systems at the borders with Russia and Belarus to counter a possible offensive by Moscow's forces. The Defense Ministers of the Baltic countries Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have today approved the construction project of defensive installations: the Riga agreement aims to deter and, if necessary, defend against military threats.

"Building defensive installations is a carefully considered and weighed project, the need for which stems from the current security situation. Russia's war in Ukraine has shown that, in addition to equipment, ammunition, and manpower, physical defenses are also necessary. Like these installations at the border to defend Estonia", stated Hanno Pevkur, Estonian Defense Minister. The purpose of the defense installations is "to prevent a military conflict in our region. We are making this effort so that the Estonian people can feel safe, but if the slightest risk emerged, we would be ready for various developments more quickly", Pevkur added.

The concept of defensive installations is based on the decisions made at the NATO summit in Madrid, which emphasized that allies must be ready to defend the territory from the first meter and that new regional defense plans must be developed, according to the official note released by the ministries. The concept combines prevention and security measures on the field. "The elements on the ground support the units in defense to stop, if necessary, the aggressor's troops. The elements are positioned in the landscape, taking into account the results of the enemy's intentions analysis, the environment, and the defense plan. The Baltic countries represent an area of operations and therefore the defense installations will be built in coordination with Latvia and Lithuania".

On the border with Estonia, no explosives, barbed wire, or other obstacles are positioned. Instead, a network of bunkers (about 600, made of concrete, which will protect the military from enemy fire and missile fragments), support points, and distribution lines are being created. The construction process is carried out in collaboration with local communities and with the agreement of the landowners.

"The Defense Ministers - it reads - have also signed a letter of intent for the HIMARS multiple rocket launchers, with the aim of creating a framework for the joint use of the system both in peacetime and in wartime. The defense ministers of Estonia and Latvia have also signed a cooperation agreement to conduct NATO air policing from the Latvian air base of Lielvarde while the runway of the Amari air base is under repair.
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A prosecution witness accused media tycoon Jimmy Lai of trying to fuel anti-government protests by highlighting the case of an exiled bookseller through his now-defunct Apple Daily newspaper.

Mr Lai, a 76-year-old UK citizen, is facing the prospect of life in prison if found guilty of the charges brought against him under the draconian national security laws. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges of sedition and collusion.

Cheung Kim-hung, a former Apple Daily chief executive, on day 13 of the landmark national security trial in Hong Kong said Mr Lai instructed the newspaper's editorial staff to contact bookseller Lam Wing-kee for an article that would mobilise the mass, South China Morning Post reported.

Mr Lam was detained in 2015 and later abducted for selling controversial publications about China's leaders that were banned in the mainland. He moved to Taiwan after a bill was proposed which would have allowed people in Hong Kong to be sent to China to face trial in courts controlled by the Chinese Communist Party.

The bill was later withdrawn by the government. But mass demonstrations over the bill evolved into pro-democracy protests that rocked the city for months.

In a Whatsapp message shown in court, Mr Lai told Mr Cheung: "We will use Lam Wing-kees story to boost the mass rally on the 28th".

However, in order to make it a headline story, [we] must approach Lam for a telephone interview. Please contact Lam and make this happen. Thanks," the message read.

Mr Lai also approached former Hong Kong governor Chris Patten through British human rights activist, Benedict Rogers, for a comment on the proposed bill, the court heard.

A day after running the report on Mr Lam in April 2019, the newspaper published a statement from Mr Patten, calling the bill an "assault on Hong Kongs values, stability and security.

Mr Cheung, who worked for Mr Lai for nearly 30 years, testified that the media mogul pushed two more stories to bring more people onto the streets. He added that Mr Lai also supported his proposal to donate one-third of the newspaper's subscription proceeds to the protesters.

Defence counsel Steven Kwan Man-wai during Friday's proceedings said Mr Laid had difficulty keeping up with the evidence displayed in court due to an eye problem that had deteriorated following an operation.

Mr Cheung previously testified that his boss had instructed the editorial staff to use the newspaper to encourage people to join protests in Hong Kong and draw the attention of Western nations.

On Thursday, she said Mr Lai instructed him via WhatsApp to highlight the meeting between then vice president Mike Pence and Hong Kongs former chief secretary Anson Chan to "use it to the maximum effect".

Mr Cheung is one of the six former Apple Daily staff to plead guilty in November 2022 to conspiracy to commit collusion with a foreign country.

Other prosecution witnesses include former associate publisher Chan Pui-man, former editorial writer Yeung Ching-kee, activist Andy Li and paralegal Chan Tsz-wah. They have all pleaded guilty and will be sentenced at the end of the trial.
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North Korea said it conducted an "important" test of its underwater nuclear weapons system off the nations east coast amid fresh tensions with South Korea.

The test of the "Haeil-5-23" system was carried out by the defence ministry's think tank, reported state media KCNA, without specifying a date. Haeil, which means tsunami, is a name the North has given to its nuclear-capable underwater attack drones.

The alleged nuclear attack drone, which was first tested in March 2023 is among a broad range of weapon systems demonstrated in recent years amid fears of Kim Jong-un expanding his nuclear-capable weapons arsenal.

The latest test was reportedly conducted in protest against this week's joint military drills by South Korea, the US and Japan, whom the North have accused of "getting frantic with military exercises".

The three allies held their three-day regular drills until Wednesday, alongside the US aircraft carrier Carl Vinson, as part of efforts to improve their responses to Pyongyang's evolving nuclear and missile threats.

An unnamed North Korean defence ministry spokesperson threatened the three nations of "catastrophic consequences", according to the state media.

"Our army's underwater nuke-based countering posture is being further rounded off and its various maritime and underwater responsive actions will continue to deter the hostile military manoeuvres ...," the spokesperson added.

"We strongly denounce the US and its followers for their reckless acts of seriously threatening the security of the DPRK (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) from the outset of the year and sternly warn them of the catastrophic consequences to be entailed by them."

The state television aired previous atmospheric explosion tests, which have been monitored by US and South Korean authorities, but the reported underwater weapon has not been independently verified.

The alleged drone test followed Mr Kim's declaration of scrapping his country's long-standing goal of a peaceful unification with South Korea. He threatened to rewrite the North's constitution to define the South as its most hostile foreign adversary, in a move that would further damage the fragile relation between the nations.

The relations between the two Koreas have torpedoed to the worst in recent history following Mr Kims rare visit to Russia and the subsequent launch of North Koreas spy satellite into orbit last year in November.

The historic step to discard the decades-long pursuit of a peaceful unification, which was based on a sense of national homogeneity shared by both Koreas, comes at at time when Pyongyang is strengthening its partnerships with Moscow and Beijing.

The closer ties with Russia and China are seen as attempts to break out of diplomatic isolation and create a united front against the West.

South Korea on Thursday called on the UN Security Council to break the silence over the North's escalating missile tests and threats. Its a big question, South Koreas UN ambassador Hwang Joonkook told reporters after an emergency closed meeting of the council on the Norths first ballistic missile test of 2024.
Eight days. Over 40 phone calls and 30 emails, back and forth, back and forth, back and forth.

My bag is still missing. It should be somewhere in the world; it cannot evaporate. Hopefully it is not at the Bermuda Triangle. It is a large suitcase with a name tag and my huge initials on it. It is heavy, bulky, and eye-catching; not a needle in a haystack. And yet Air Canada has not been able to reunite me with it. I have lots of priceless items in it that no money can buy.

On January 10, 2024, I was flying AC112 and AC8749 from YVR (Vancouver) to CLT via YYZ (Toronto). At the YVR boarding gate, Air Canada staff announced several delays due to "maintenance" issues, and finally announced flight cancellation.

An insider told me that that was a common trick used by major airlines: When they find out that multiple flights are under-booked, they will cram passengers into one flight in order to maximize profit, citing "maintenance" or "technical issues."

So, they crammed me into another flight from YVR to YYZ as a standby, sent me to the Sheraton Hotel for the night to catch the flight from YYZ to CLT the next day. Then the next day at YYZ, not surprisingly but habitually, Air Canada had another long delay, this time again, citing "maintenance issues."

Intuition told me that my bag would be in trouble, and I was right. At the CLT's baggage collection, I waited for hours with my eyes wide open, till all the passengers had left with their collected bags, till the baggage carousel became empty, and I never saw my bag coming out.

I rushed to the American Airlines baggage office. No answer. I rushed to the United baggage office; they said they did not handle Air Canada's bags. I went to the information desk. The woman put down her dinner box and paged Air Canada, but no one would ever show up at the Air Canada counter.

While all the fellow passengers were already home, reunited with family, enjoying dinner, laughter, and a rest, I was alone at the baggage carousel, browsing my cell phone to figure out what to do next.

I found the toll-free phone number of Air Canada's Central Baggage Department, 1 888 689-BAGS (2247), and dialled. It was a woman with a heavy Indian accent I had difficulty understanding. Frustrated, I hung up and dialled again. Then, it was another Indian woman whose accent was slightly better so that I could file a delayed bag claim. I described my bag and got my reference number, and was told to go home and wait for delivery.

No news the next day.

On the third day, I received an automatically generated email from Air Canada that my bag would arrive with AC8749 on that day. Then, I received an automatically generated email from a third-party company called "Where's My Suitcase," informing me that they would be retrieving my bag and delivering it to my door as soon as possible, and asking me to confirm my address and phone number.

Relieved. Liberated. Overjoyed. It was almost like I was going to receive a huge Christmas present out of nowhere.

But that present never came. Sadly, no news the next day. No delivery. No phone calls. No one showed up.

Then the next day, again, nothing turned up.

Then the next day, "Where's My Suitcase" posted a message on their portal, "Baggage Not Delivered. Contact Your Airline Directly!"

All these days were spent making phone calls to Air Canada's Central Baggage Department. Everyone was reading a script--

"Your bag was last scanned at CLT. Your bag has been signed up for delivery. Rest assured it will be delivered to you."

But one day, one of them did not read the script, but told me a bizarre story: It was United's baggage office that was handling my bag. She asked me to call United in the future, instead of Air Canada!

Well, I dialled that 800 number that would never be answered. Music was running on and on for hours and no one picked it up. On a lucky day, one agent answered the phone call. I gave her my bag tag number and delayed bag reference number. After a few minutes of searching on her computer, she apologized, "No, United does not have your bag. Contact your airline directly."

Back to Air Canada's Central Baggage Department. The same script--"Your bag was last scanned at CLT. Your bag has been signed up for delivery. Rest assured it will be delivered to you."

Determined to file a lost bag claim, but Air Canada requires all receipts for all listed items in the bag. Oh dear, who would travel with receipts?
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Pakistan and Iran launched air strikes into each others territories this week in most significant escalation of tensions between two neighbours, inflaming the already strained ties at a time of rising turmoil in the Middle East.

The latest developments are threatening to escalate into a major conflict in the region and spiral out of control as rising tensions in the Middle East with the Israel-Hamas war are having repercussions all over the world despite intensified diplomatic efforts.

The risk of unprecedented escalation is exacerbated as Iran had been flexing its muscle in the region even before it hit Pakistan.

Iran conducted airstrikes on Syria against what Tehran said were Islamic State sites and Iraq, where it said it had struck an Israeli espionage centre.

Iran and Pakistan  sharing a 900km (559-mile) long volatile border  have a long history of fighting militancy with restive Balochistan province on one side of the border and Irans Sistan on another.

The situation is heating up as the US and UK launched strikes on Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen, who had been targeting vessels in the Red Sea over Israels assault on Gaza.

The Israel-Gaza war has continued for more than 100 days since 7 October attacks by Hamas on Israel, inflaming the long-standing conflict to dangerous levels while Tel Aviv also fought with Iran-backed group Hezbollah across the Lebanon border.

(Independent )

What we know so far

It began on Tuesday with Iran launching strikes on Pakistans Balochistan province, killing two children and causing injuries to three others, according to Pakistani authorities. Iran claimed it targeted Jaish al-Adl, the Sunni separatist group.

Iran claimed that its strikes only targeted Iranian terrorists on the soil of Pakistan and that no Pakistani citizen was the target of its strikes.

But Islamabad condemned the attack furiously, calling it an illegal act and "unprovoked violation of its airspace by Iran".

This violation of Pakistans sovereignty is completely unacceptable and can have serious consequences, a foreign office spokesperson said.

It prompted the Pakistani government to recall its ambassador to Iran and blocking the envoy from returning.

Two days later, on Thursday, Pakistan conducted retaliatory airstrikes in Iran, apparently targeting militant hideouts, killing at least nine people and injuring others.

View more

Pakistan used its "killer drones, rockets, loitering munitions and stand-off weapons in the strikes, according to Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the media wing of the military.

The operation was given a code name Marg Bar Sarmachar which means death to guerrilla in Iranian Farsi. It is a famous saying in Iran since its 1979 Islamic Revolution used to refer to both the United States and Israel.

Pakistan reportedly used Chinese-built fighter jets JF-17 Thunder and J-10C Vigorous Dragon. The JF-17 Thunder fighter jets belonged to the Number 2 Minhasians Multirole Squadron from the Pakistan Air Force (PAF).

Following the attacks, Islamabad attempted to dial down the tensions and said it conducted a series of highly coordinated and specifically targeted precision military strikes in the Sistan-Baluchistan province.

It added: Pakistan fully respects the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

The sole objective of todays act was in pursuit of Pakistans own security and national interest, which is paramount and cannot be compromised.

Pakistan said it struck militant hideouts of Baluch Liberation Army, an ethnic separatist group thats operated in the region since 2000.

The group confirmed in a statement that the strikes killed its people and vowed that Pakistan will have to pay a price for it.

"Now the Baluch Liberation Army will not remain silent. We will avenge it and we announce war on the state of Pakistan."

Who are the militants targeted by Pakistan?

Both Tehran and Islamabad targeted militant groups that operate in the area that includes Pakistans southwestern province of Balochistan and Irans southeastern Sistan-Baluchestan province. Both are restive, mineral-rich, and largely underdeveloped.

Pakistan said it struck militants of the Baluch Liberation Army (BLF) which is waging an armed insurgency against the Pakistani state.

Formed in 2000, the ethnic Baloch rebels say they are fighting the government in Pakistan for better share of resources and self-autonomy and demand a separate state.

The group has claimed that the the central government unfairly exploits the provinces rich gas and mineral resources of Balochistan province, which borders Afghanistan and Iran.

The western province of Balochistan in Pakistan is a vast province of roughly 15 million people is mostly arid desert and mountainous territory holding untapped mineral wealth.

It is Pakistans largest of the four provinces by size, but the smallest by population.

It has strongly opposed the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and blamed it for targeting the projects and occasionally killing Chinese workers despite Pakistans assurances that it is doing all it can to protect the Chinese projects.

They have been also blamed for attacks on gas projects, infrastructure, and security posts there.

Who did Iran target in Pakistan?

Iran said it targeted two bases of a Baloch Sunni militant group, Jaish al-Adl, in Pakistan.

Jaish ul-Adl, also referred to as Jaish al-Adl meaning Army of Justice in Arabic, is a separatist militant organisation that mainly comprises of the Sunni militant Jundullah group, which was weakened after Tehran launched a crackdown it, arresting most of its members.

The anti-Iranian group that is predominantly active in Southeastern Iran has been waging rebellion to seek independence from Irans eastern Sistan and Pakistans southwestern Baluchistan provinces.

It was formed in 2012 by former members of Jundallah, whose head Abdol Malek Riki was executed in 2010.

Jaish al-Adl has been designated as terrorist organisation by Iran, Japan, New Zealand and the US.

The group whose members are from the ethnic Baluch community and live on both sides of the border have strongly opposed Iranian involvement in Syrian civil war.

Iranian state media has often blamed the US and Saudi Arabia for backing these outfits for carrying out attacks against the leadership in Iran. The government has also blamed Pakistan for harbouring the terrorists, a claim Islamabad denies.

Pakistan insists the group has no organised presence in the province or elsewhere but acknowledges that some militants might be hiding in remote areas of Baluchistan, which is the countrys largest province by area and its most sensitive because of a long-running insurgency.

Additional reporting by agencies
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On Monday, 19 February, the US will honour Presidents Day.

Every year, millions of Americans have the day off to celebrate the achievements of the countrys past leaders. Originally, the third Monday in February was meant to solely recognise just one - George Washington. In the 1880s, Presidents Day was known to be the birthday (12 February) of the first president of the United States. Yet, over time, a widespread appreciation for the countrys many vanguards was adopted.

When Congress deliberated the Uniform Monday Holiday Bill in 1968, the name switch from Washingtons Birthday to Presidents Day was discussed. The motivation behind the new title was to recognise Abraham Lincolns 22 February birthday as well. However, the moniker change wasnt accepted by the masses until 1971.

Though the law recognises specific federal holidays, this does not mean that individuals working for private businesses are required to have work off.

From Veterans Day to Christmas, here are the dates of the 2024 federal holidays.

New Years Day: Monday, January 1

Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr.: Monday, January 15

Presidents Day: Monday, February 19

Memorial Day: Monday, May 27

Juneteenth National Independence Day: Wednesday, June 19

Independence Day: Thursday, July 4

Labor Day: Monday, September 2

Indigenous Peoples Day (also observed as Columbus Day): Monday, October 14

Veterans Day: Monday, November 11

Thanksgiving Day: Thursday, November 28

Christmas Day: Wednesday, December 25

Other important days to note:

Valentines Day: Wednesday, February 14

St Patricks Day: Sunday, March 17

Good Friday: Friday, March 29

Easter: Sunday, March 31

Passover: Monday, April 22
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It can be easy to conflate the common cold with the more serious flu when we're hiding under a duvet feeling worse for wear. But how can we actually tell the difference between the two?

While a cold and the flu share several symptoms, there are clear ways of differentiating between them - and this can be vital when deciding how to treat your illness.

From prevention to treatment, heres everything you need to know about distinguishing between the prevalent winter illnesses:

Symptoms: Cold

Both the cold and the flu are respiratory illnesses with very similar symptoms. However, these symptoms can be less severe if youre suffering from the cold.

The common cold and flu are different conditions, but often share some of the same symptoms in the early stages, such as a headache, runny nose, or a sore throat, says Professor Helen Stokes-Lampard, chair of the Royal College of General Practitioners.

The first sign of a cold can appear in the form of a sore throat, the NHS says. This will typically be accompanied by a runny nose and slight congestion of the sinuses.

You may then develop a cough after a few days, with children more likely to also experience a fever.

While it isnt pleasant to experience symptoms of a cold, you may still feel as though youre well enough to carry on with normal everyday activities such as going to work.

Symptoms: Flu

The symptoms of the flu run pretty much along the same lines as the cold, although they may be more acute and materialise rapidly.

The difference is that flu is potentially much more serious, particularly for children and the elderly, and tends to leave people feeling unwell for much longer, sometimes taking a week or two to fully recover, Professor Stokes-Lampard explains.

Additional symptoms that people may experience when suffering from the flu include a fever, headaches, achy muscles, an upset stomach and nausea.

If youre experiencing the flu, then youre far more likely to feel overly fatigued and unable to continue with your everyday routine as usual.

Prevention: Cold

The NHS recommends that you wash your hands with warm water and soap regularly (Getty Images)

Colds spread extremely easily, especially when you spend a lot of time in close proximity with other people. This can be particularly relevant if you work in an open-plan office or if you take public transport to work.

Germs that are spread from coughs or sneezes can survive for up to 24 hours, which is why taking some simple precautionary measures could do you and those around you a whole lot of good.

The NHS recommends that you wash your hands with warm water and soap regularly and avoid sharing items such as towels or cups with people who may be infected.

If youre in the early stages of a cold, make sure you use tissues when you cough or sneeze and then discard them in a bin as soon as possible. Also wash your hands regularly to avoid spreading the germs.

Prevention: Flu

To safeguard yourself from the flu, Vicks advises that you boost your immune system by sticking to a regular bedtime and keeping yourself fit and healthy.

Due to the unpredictable nature of the flu, having the flu jab is also a wise course of action if youre more vulnerable to the illness than others.

Those who are deemed as being high-risk, including people who are over 65, pregnant or have a serious health condition, are eligible for a free flu vaccine through the NHS.

The flu jab will provide you with greater protection from the various strains of the flu that spread on an annual basis.

Longevity: Cold

One of the symptoms of a cold is a high temperature (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Symptoms of a cold such as a high temperature and fatigue dont usually last longer than seven to 10 days in adults and older children, the NHS explains.

For children under the age of five, colds can last for up to 10 to 14 days.

While you may start to feel better a week or so after contracting a cold, you may still experience coughing and a buildup of mucus for around two to three weeks.

As long as you have any symptoms of a cold, whether its the slightest cough or occasional sneeze, you will still pose the risk of infecting others with the virus.

Longevity: Flu

If you have the flu, your symptoms may start to abate after a week, although the NHS states that you might still feel weakened for a longer period of time.

While you may make a full recovery in the space of a week or two, catching the flu could lead to a variety of other health problems if youre particularly susceptible to infection.

Consequences: Cold

The common cold does not usually lead to other serious health conditions.

However, symptoms of a bacterial infection can sometimes be mistaken for those of a cold, in which case you could be at risk of further illness.

These bacterial infections include conditions such as bronchitis and sinusitis.

Consequences: Flu

Those who are classified as being high-risk may find themselves more prone to developing severe illnesses following a bout of flu.

While it is unlikely that a cold will manifest into pneumonia, bacterial infections or hospitalisation, this is a greater possibility for people with the flu than those suffering from a cold, as explained by the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.

Treatment: Cold

You can buy over-the-counter cough or cold medicines or pain relief from your local pharmacy to ease your symptoms (Getty Images)

If you catch a cold, youll ordinarily be capable of treating yourself with a few simple measures.

While the common cold and the flu can be very unpleasant, they are unfortunately the result of viruses, which means they have no cure and patients are usually better off treating them at home with simple self-care remedies, Professor Stokes-Lampard outlines.

The NHS has advised that anyone with a cold has plenty of rest, keeps themselves warm and drinks lots of fluids to avoid dehydration.

You can also buy over-the-counter cough or cold medicines or pain relief from your local pharmacy to ease your symptoms and ensure your comfort.

If you have a cough, drinking hot lemon with honey can have the same effect at soothing your throat as cough medicines, the NHS states.

Treatment: Flu

As with the cold, flu symptoms can often be treated from home by having lots of rest and taking medicine such as paracetamol or ibuprofen to lower your temperature.

According to the NHS, GPs wont recommend you take antibiotics for flu as contrary to popular belief, they dont speed up your recovery.

"Antibiotics are medicines used to treat infections caused by bacteria. Antibiotics don't work against infections caused by viruses, such as colds and flu," writes the Health Service Executive of Ireland.

"So there's no point taking antibiotics to treat a cold or flu, and no point asking your doctor to prescribe them for a cold or flu."

Your local pharmacist can provide you with any additional advice on flu treatment should you need it.

If you're suffering from the flu, Professor Stokes-Lampard advises taking some time to consider whether or not you need to visit a doctor or can be treated from home.

We encourage patients who are ill to think hard about whether they do need to see a GP  not just in terms of reducing pressures on the NHS, but to minimise the possibility of passing viruses, such as flu, to other people, particularly in at-risk groups, such as those with long-term conditions or pregnant women," the professor says.

If your flu symptoms dont improve after seven days, then the NHS recommends arranging an appointment with your GP.
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Fans have fawned over Jacob Elordis willingness to sniff his personal bathwater candle inspired by his new movie, Saltburn.

On 18 January, the Australian actor appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, where he discussed his role in director Emerald Fennells most recent movie. Film viewers were left enamored by his assumption of the alluring English University student, Felix, who attracts the attention of Barry Keoghans character, Oliver.

In the two-hour thriller, Oliver becomes increasingly obsessed with Felix, leading to the infamous bathtub scene, where he drinks leftover drain water from the bath Felix pleasured himself in.

(Getty Images)

But while viewers experienced discomfort from the intimate footage, the film moment went viral on social media, with some TikTokers taking videos of their reactions watching the scene.

On The Tonight Show, Fallon presented the Priscilla lead with the famed Saltburn souvenir  the Jacob Elordi bathwater candle.

There is a bathtub scene, and it inspired people to release Jacob Elordi Bathwater candles, the host said as Elordis cheeks flushed. Have you seen these at all?

The 26-year-old Hollywood star admitted his Priscilla co-star, Cailee Spaeny, had shown him videos of people with the candles. I want to know whos making the money, Elordi added.

Fallon and The Kissing Booth star joked about how he should be loaded for all the fans making and selling the scented gift.

I thought it would be kind of fun to have you... Do you want to smell your own candle? Fallon asked.

Elordi grabbed the candle off Fallons desk and brought it close to his nose, mimicking the motions Keoghan had made during the scene with his mouth.

He noted: Smells like a washing room, like detergent. Yeah, I guess its not bad. Yeah, I like it.

Admirers flocked to the comments section below an Instagram clip of the show, confessing their love for the actor and indicating their interest in owning the candle.

Hes iconic for that, one viewer wrote, while another commented: Wow he really gave the people what they want in that moment.

Dude slurped the candle like he was trying to win the danimals Sweet life of Zack and Cody sweepstakes, a third quipped.

One woman remarked: Play this at my funeral.

Others pointed out how the candle scent has now evolved into a cocktail.

It inspired someone to create a drink, a superfan noted.
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The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has called for urgent action to be taken to stop further outbreaks of measles across the country.

The health body has urged parents to check if their children have had the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccinations as cases surge.

There have been 216 confirmed and 103 probable measles cases in the West Midlands since last October. Around 80 per cent of cases were identified in Birmingham and about 10 per cent in Coventry, with the majority being in children aged under 10.

Now, professor Dame Jenny Harries has stressed immediate action must be taken to boost MMR uptake.

Here, we take a look at everything you need to know about measles, from signs and symptoms to treatment options.

What is measles?

Measles is a highly infectious viral illness that if left untreated can lead to serious complications, the NHS states.

Anyone can get measles if they have not been vaccinated or havent had it before. However, it is most common in young children.

What are the symptoms?

Symptoms of measles develop 10 to 14 days after exposure to the virus, the World Health Organisation (WHO) says.

The first symptoms, which usually last 4 to 7 days include:

 A running nose

 A cough

 Red and watery eyes

 Small white spots inside the cheeks.

Some children develop Kopliks spots  tiny white spots on a red background inside the mouth  a day or two before a blotchy red-brown skin rash may appear

This usually starts on the head or upper neck before spreading outwards to the rest of the body, the NHS states.

Map reveals where measles cases are surging across the UK

What are some of the complications of measles?

The NHS says measles can lead to serious problems if it spreads to other parts of the body, such as the lungs or brain.

Complications of measles can cause:

Pneumonia

 Meningitis

 Blindness

 Seizures (fits)

How does measles spread?

According to the NHS, the measles virus is contained in the millions of tiny droplets that come out of the nose and mouth when an infected person coughs or sneezes.

This means you can easily catch measles by breathing in these droplets or by touching a surface the droplets have settled on and then placing your hands near your nose or mouth.

People with measles are infectious from when the symptoms develop until about four days after the rash first appears.

Can measles be prevented?

The most effective way of preventing measles is through the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine.

Most children in the UK receive the MMR immunisation; the first dose is offered at 13 months and the second at three years and four months.

Adults and older children can be vaccinated at any age if they haven't been fully vaccinated before.

For more information about the vaccination, the NHS advises to consult your GP.

You can find out more about the dangers of unvaccinated children here.

How is it treated?

The NHS says that there are several things you can do to help relieve your symptoms and reduce the risk of spreading the infection.

These include:

Taking paracetamol or ibuprofen to relieve fever, aches and pains (aspirin should not be given to children under 16 years old)

Drinking plenty of water to avoid dehydration

Closing the curtains to help reduce light sensitivity

Using damp cotton wool to clean the eyes

Staying off school or work for at least 4 days from when the rash first appears

In severe cases, especially if there are complications, you or your child may need to be admitted to hospital for treatment.

For more information, visit the NHS website here.
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School officials in Las Vegas have released police reports and body camera footage of a campus officer kneeling on a Black student last year, an incident that drew accusations of police brutality after bystander video of it circulated widely on social media.

In his incident report, Clark County School District police Lt. Jason Elfberg said the teen, whose name is redacted, refused to move away from officers who were handcuffing another student while investigating a report that a gun had been brandished the previous day and a threat had been made to shoot up a Las Vegas school. No weapon was found.

The actions of Elfberg, who is white, pinning the teen beneath his knee next to a patrol vehicle drew public protests, comparisons to the 2020 police killing of George Floyd, calls for Elfbergs firing and an American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada lawsuit seeking to force school officials to release information.

A student who said police handcuffed him during the encounter for jaywalking told KVVU-TV at the time that the incident reminded him of the killing of Floyd, a Black man who died after a white Minneapolis police officer kneeled on his neck for nearly 10 minutes.

School officials late Thursday complied with a court order to release the reports and footage of the Feb. 9, 2023, incident near the Durango High School campus. The six videos total more than two hours and include footage of officers talking with the parents of one detained teen before they released him with a citation.

The Las Vegas-area school district argued that most records of the encounter were confidential because of the age of the people who were detained and denied media requests for them, including one submitted by The Associated Press.

The ACLU on Friday called the resistance to its 11-month fight to obtain the records shameful and characterized officers' accounts that the teenagers were stopped during a gun investigation an attempt to spin the events and avoid accountability for attacking school children.

Executive Director Athar Haseebullah said in a statement that this fight is far from over," noting that a lawsuit by two students who were detained is still active.

The cellphone video of the encounter that went viral last year began with several district police officers detaining two students. As another student walked by recording them with his cellphone, Elfberg yelled to the student, You want next, dude?

The video showed the student backing away and lowering his phone before Elfberg shoved him to the ground next to a patrol vehicle. Students in the background could be heard yelling to the officer, You cant have him on the ground like that!

The officer kneeled on the students back as he lay face-down on the pavement and kept his knee there until the cellphone video ended about 30 seconds later. At one point, the student could be heard asking his friends to call his mother.

In his report, Elfberg wrote that he had ordered the student to start walking, at which point he said no.

I then grabbed (the teen) who immediately pulled away and started pulling his hands from my grasp, and yelling at me not to touch him," Elfberg said. He wrote that he then pushed the teen up against a fence, but "he attempted again to remove himself from my grasp, so I then spun him around and took him down to the ground.

Elfberg's attorney, Adam Levine, told the AP ahead of the release of the polices that his client, a 14-year police veteran, has been cleared of wrongdoing by the district and remains on the school police force.

This case highlights the dangers of jumping to a wrong conclusion based upon snippets of video viewed out of context, Levine said in a statement. The attorney also represents the school district's police union.

Levine said the bodycam video actually shows that Lt. Elfberg defused what could have been a very volatile and dangerous situation for both the officers and the involved students, adding that once Elfberg brought that situation under control he was courteous and professional to both the students and a parent who attempted to get involved.

Clark County's school district has its own police department and is the fifth-largest in the U.S. with more than 315,000 students. District police have the authority to make arrests and issue traffic citations on and off campus.
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The prosecutor in the case of an Indiana man charged in the killings of two teenage girls asked a judge Thursday to allow new two new counts each of kidnapping and murder while kidnapping.

Carroll County Prosecutor Nicholas McLeland said the amended charges against Richard Allen of Delphi more accurately aligns the charging information with the causes discovery and probable cause affidavit.

Allen was arrested in October 2022 and charged with two counts of murder in the 2017 slayings of 13-year-old Abigail Williams and 14-year-old Liberty German of Delphi. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Meanwhile, the Indiana Supreme Court, after hearing arguments in the case Thursday, ordered the reinstatement of Allen's original court-appointed attorneys, Andrew Baldwin and Brad Rozzi. Baldwin and Rossi had withdrawn from the case last October amid a leak of information from Baldwin's office by a friend of his.

A request to Baldwin, the lead defense attorney, for comment on McLeland's bid for new charges was denied because Special Judge Fran Gull has imposed a gag order in the case.

The Supreme Court, in its order, also denied a request to remove Gull as judge.

A relative of one of the teenagers  known as Abby and Libby  dropped them off on Feb. 13, 2017, at a hiking trail near their hometown of Delphi, about 60 miles (100 kilometers) northwest of Indianapolis. They were reported missing that evening after they didnt show up at a meeting place to be picked up. Their bodies were found the next day in a rugged, heavily wooded area near the trail.

The killings have haunted Delphi, a city of about 3,000 where Allen worked at a drugstore, and the case has been closely watched in the state and nationwide.

Gull issued the gag order in December 2022, barring attorneys, law enforcement officials, court personnel, the coroner and the girls family members from commenting on the case to the public or the media in any form, including social media.

Prosecutors had sought the order, citing intense public scrutiny and media attention. Gull was brought in as a special judge to oversee the case after a Carroll County judge recused himself.
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Former Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams faces a lawsuit by three people who were wounded in bombings attributed to the Irish Republican Army that date back more than 50 years, a judge said Friday.

Adams can be sued as an individual but not as a representative of the IRA, Justice Michael Soole ruled. The judge also threw out a claim against the IRA, saying the group could not be sued because it was not a legal entity.

Adams is one of the most influential figures of Northern Irelands decades of conflict and led the IRA-linked party Sinn Fein between 1983 and 2018. He has always denied being an IRA member, though former colleagues have said he was one of its leaders.

The three claimants are seeking to prove Adams was responsible for bombings in England during "the Troubles, referring to three decades of violence involving Irish republican and British loyalist militants and U.K. soldiers. Some 3,600 people were killed  most in Northern Ireland, though the IRA also set off bombs in England.

The three claimants are John Clark, a victim of the 1973 Old Bailey courthouse bombing in London, Jonathan Ganesh, a 1996 London Docklands bombing victim, and Barry Laycock, a victim of the 1996 Arndale shopping center bombing in Manchester. They allege Adams was a leading member of the IRA during those events and was on its decision-making Army Council.

Adams acted together with others" to "bomb the British mainland and was directly responsible for decisions to place devices in 1973 and 1996, they said in court.

If they prevail, they are seeking only 1 pound ($1.27) for vindicatory purposes.

The case is likely to be the one of the final court efforts by victims of the Troubles to seek any type of justice in court after the controversial Legacy and Reconciliation Act set a cut off last May to file lawsuits.

Attorneys for the victims said this case  filed in 2022  was the last to make it.

The judge ruled that Adams cannot recover his lawyers' fees if he wins at trial, though he'd be on the hook for paying the victims' legal costs if he loses.

Adams had challenged that protection to claimants in personal injury cases. The bombing victims had said the move was an effort to bully them into dropping the case.

This is an unequivocal victory for all victims and survivors of IRA terrorism," attorney Matthew Jury said. Adams and his legal teams apparent attempt to intimidate them into withdrawing their claims has rightly failed and their case will continue.

Seamus Collins, a lawyer for Adams, told the BBC that they would address the legal costs in court next week.
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Immediate action is needed across the country to ensure children are vaccinated against potentially deadly measles amid a surge of the infection, the UKs top health body warned.

Professor Dame Jenny Harries, chief executive of the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), urged parents to check if their children have had the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) jab as hundreds of cases were confirmed in the West Midlands.

There have been 216 confirmed cases and 103 probable cases of measles in the West Midlands, with 80 per cent in Birmingham, between October 2023 and January 2024.

Immediate action is needed to boost MMR uptake across communities where vaccine uptake is low. We need a long-term concerted effort to protect individuals and to prevent large measles outbreaks, Prof Harries said.

But where have measles cases been confirmed? And which region has the highest outbreak of the infection? The Independent has put together a map below.

View more

Between January 2023 and November 2023, 104 cases were confirmed in London. Eight cases were found in the North West of England, with the same number for the East Midlands.

Meanwhile, there were 24 cases across the South West and South East of England. Seven cases were confirmed in the East of England and there were three in the North East.

In the West Midlands, 28 cases were confirmed over the same period. But the region has seen a surge of 216 cases over five months between October 2023 and January 2024.

Prof Harries warned low vaccine uptake in the region now presented a very real risk of the virus spreading to other towns and cities.

Colleagues across the West Midlands have worked tirelessly to try to control the outbreak, but with vaccine uptake in some communities so low, there is now a very real risk of seeing the virus spread in other towns and cities, she said.

The West Midlands has seen a surge of 216 cases over five months between October 2023 and January 2024 (PA)

Measles can spread very easily among the unvaccinated, especially in nurseries and schools. According to the UKHSA, it can be a very unpleasant illness and can lead to hospitalisation and death in some cases.

People in certain at-risk groups including babies and young children, pregnant women, and people with weakened immunity, are at increased risk of complications from measles, the health body said.

Measles usually starts with cold-like symptoms, followed by a rash a few days later. Some people may also get small spots in their mouth. A rash usually appears a few days after the cold-like symptoms, according to the NHS.

Over 99 per cent of those who have two doses of the MMR vaccine will be protected against measles and rubella. The vaccine also provides protection against mumps.

Although mumps protection is slightly lower, cases in vaccinated people are much less severe, highlighting the importance of the MMR vaccination.

In the 1990s and 2000s there was a fall in children receiving the jab due to false claims the vaccine was linked to autism, and the UK lost its measles-free status three years after virus transmission was eliminated.

The World Health Organisation declared the UK measles-free in 2016, but this has not been maintained. From 2022-2023, the percentage of children vaccinated by their second birthday was 89.3 per cent.

Professor Sir Andrew Pollard, Chair of the UK health departments Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, previously told The Independent: The main reason for this new outbreak is the increase in unvaccinated children in the last few years.

Vaccinations have decreased below 90 per cent and this is dangerous. The vaccine is powerful if we use it, and it will protect our children.

We must act now and the increased cases are a warning that there will be consequences if we dont. There will be children with severe infections, brain damage and even death.
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Jesse Eisenberg had not seen Succession when he was writing his new film A Real Pain. But his sister Hallie Eisenberg knew from years of watching Roman Roy that Kieran Culkin would be perfect.

The film, which premieres at the Sundance Film Festival on Saturday, follows two very mismatched cousins, one anxiety ridden and rule following and the other a more spontaneous spirit, on a trip to Poland. Theyre reuniting to see where their late grandmother was from and also explore some Holocaust locations.

Eisenberg had wanted to play the spontaneous one, which was similar to a character he'd played on stage in The Spoils in England. But he was gently talked out of it. It was, he realized, a taxing role that might be too much to handle while also directing. And so, Culkin became aspirational.

Theyd met previously through their mutual friend Emma Stone, who also produced A Real Pain, but he really didnt know him well. And hed quickly discover that casting Culkin and directing him, even getting him on set, was a different kind of challenge that he hadnt expected.

Three weeks before shooting, when Eisenberg was knee-deep in securing locations, Culkin told him he was thinking of dropping out. He didnt drop out, but he also arrived on set only a day before filming, telling Eisenberg simply that he understood the character and that he also works best without blocking.

I had spent months blocking out the scenes with Polish actors, Eisenberg said. Halfway through day one we had to change our plan. And it was completely to the advantage of the movie because Kieran is such a live wire. Hes such a spontaneous actor and hes so brilliantly funny. To kind of hem him in with my pre-planned shot list would have killed the spontaneity and the energy of the movie.

It both flummoxed and elated his cinematographer who had never worked with an actor who didnt adhere to marks. But, Eisenberg said, the scenes where they could ditch the dolly and just follow Culkin sparkled.

I love both characters so much, Eisenberg said. I suspect audiences will just assume Im very much like the character I play. But both are people I know. At once I am kind of the nervous person in the room who wishes I can get out of my own head. And on the other hand, I am a performer.

A Real Pain, which is seeking distribution at the festival, is both funny and profound  an odd couple trip and an exploration of ideas of modern pain in the face of historical family traumas.

Eisenberg has been wanting to set a movie in Poland for about 18 years. The first play hed written was about a self-centered young American who goes to Poland to stay with his cousin, a survivor of the war, to take advantage of a free room in an exotic locale. It was based in part on an experience hed actually had. On stage, Vanessa Redgrave played his cousin.

I tried for years to adapt that into a movie, and it was never good, Eisenberg said.

It took on various iterations too, including one about cousins who are more contemporaries going to Mongolia for Tablet Magazine. But it wasnt until he saw an advertisement that said Auschwitz Tour (with lunch) that the story cracked open.

I remember thinking, oh, thats the story. Its these kind of middle-class trips to the most horrific places on Earth where the interpersonal dynamics of the group could be explored against a backdrop of real historical trauma, he said You can explore the dramatic irony of taking one of these trips, but staying in the Radisson Hotel. Seeing Auschwitz during the day and drinking wine at night with your group.

He enlisted the help of renowned Polish film producer Ewa Puszczynska, who was fresh off The Zone of Interest, which would be essential both in legitimizing this American production abroad and in managing logistics for a very complex shoot.

We are in a different location every day and every location has challenges. We are in airports, on trains, in city centers, at monuments, at a concentration camp. The first feature film to be able to film at this concentration camp, he said. It was just this incredibly ambitious production. And thank goodness we had the best producers in the country shepherding it.

Those in the tour group, led by a character played by White Lotus star Will Sharpe, are mostly retired Jewish Americans (Jennifer Grey among them). But Eisenberg also wanted to broaden the story and included a character, Eloge, (Kurt Egyiawan) based on a friend of his who survived the Rwandan genocide and later converted to Judaism in Winnipeg. His hope is that A Real Pain speaks to a cross-cultural, universal experience  though hes also worried that sounds too much like a commercial. What he really wants, though, is for audiences to find it funny.

It plays lighter than the themes might imply, he said.

A Real Pain is his second as a director, after the mother-son film When You Finish Saving the World which premiered at the festival a few years ago. Its a busy Sundance for Eisenberg. In addition to trying to sell A Real Pain, Eisenberg is also starring in Sasquatch Sunset, about a family of Sasquatches. And on opening night he presented a tribute award to his friend and oft-co-star Kristen Stewart, who said she hopes that he gets behind the camera more often.

He been a real reluctant filmmaker. Hes always like, Oh, I could never, Stewart said. Im like, no, no, you are a born storyteller. And thats the way that his acting comes across. Like some actors really service other peoples stories. And then some people are writers themselves, even within their acting. Jesse is just like a kind of virtuoso artist.
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The family of a California college student who vanished nearly three decades ago sued the school on Thursday, alleging it caused Kristin Smart's murder through negligence.

Smart, then 19, disappeared from California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo on the states scenic Central Coast over Memorial Day weekend in 1996. Her remains have never been found, but she was declared legally dead in 2002.

Paul Flores was arrested in 2021, convicted of first-degree murder in 2022 and sentenced last year to 25 years to life in state prison.

Prosecutors say Flores killed Smart during an attempted rape on May 25, 1996, in his dorm room at the university, where they were both first-year students. He was the last person seen with Smart as he walked home with her from an off-campus party.

On Thursday, Smart's parents, brother and sister sued the university for wrongful death and negligence, alleging that officials could have prevented her death if they had properly dealt with university police reports filed by four other female students. Those students said Flores had stalked and harassed them in the months leading up to Smart's disappearance.

In one case, Flores allegedly tried to break into a student's apartment, according to the lawsuit.

The reports should have prompted the university to investigate, and suspend or expel Flores, removing him from on-campus housing and sending him back home miles away from Kristin and the dorm room where he murdered her, the lawsuit said.

Had the university acted properly, conducted a thorough investigation into Flores past concerning behavior, and implemented appropriate disciplinary measures, Kristin would likely still be alive today. Instead, our family has been left to grieve her absence for 27 agonizing years, a family statement said.

The suit also contends that the university failed to pursue a proper and timely investigation into Smarts disappearance, including failing to seal Flores dorm room and allowing it to be cleaned before it was finally searched 16 days after Smart vanished.

In an email, Cal Poly spokesperson Matt Lazier said the university had no comment because this is a pending legal matter.

However, last May, university President Jeffrey Armstrong publicly apologized to the family for how it handled the investigation into her disappearance.

While it is a different administration now than was in place in 1996, we recognize that things should had been done differently  and I personally wish that they had," he said.

The family only realized Cal Poly's alleged negligence after that apology because relatives didn't have any access to the university's investigative file, according to the lawsuit.

Even now, the Smart family still does not know what information, in the possession of Cal Polys president, and uniquely available to him and or Cal Poly, led him to make the apology, the suit said.
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Sir Keir Starmer has described Benjamin Netanyahus opposition to the establishment of a Palestinian state when the war in the Middle East ends as unacceptable.

In a hardening of tone towards the Israeli prime minister, the Labour leader said it was wrong to suggest that statehood was in the gift of a neighbour.

Mr Netanyahu has vowed to press ahead with the offensive in Gaza for many months despite mounting pressure on Israel to rein in its military action as the scale of death and destruction intensifies.

In a press conference earlier this week, he also said he opposed US calls for the establishment of a Palestinian state when the conflict comes to an end.

Palestinian statehood is not in the gift of a neighbour. It is the inalienable right of the Palestinian people Sir Keir Starmer

Asked about the Israeli prime ministers remarks on Friday, Sir Keir told broadcasters: The comments (made by) Prime Minister Netanyahu are unacceptable and they are wrong.

Palestinian statehood is not in the gift of a neighbour. It is the inalienable right of the Palestinian people.

Its also the only way to a secure settlement and a secure future.

It comes amid a wider rift between Israel and the US over the scope of Israels war and plans for the future of Gaza.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said Israel would never have genuine security without a pathway towards Palestinian independence.

In response to the comments made by Mr Netanyahu in his press conference, White House national security spokesman John Kirby said: We obviously see it differently.

Earlier this week, the White House also announced it was the right time for Israel to lower the intensity of its military action in Gaza.

Israel launched the offensive after an unprecedented cross-border attack by Hamas on October 7, in which 1,200 people were killed and some 240 others taken hostage.

Roughly 130 hostages are believed by Israel to remain in Hamas captivity.

Nearly 25,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israels assault  one of the deadliest and most destructive military campaigns in recent history, according to health authorities in Hamas-controlled Gaza.

Mr Netanyahu struck a defiant tone this week, repeatedly saying the offensive will not be halted until it realises its goals of destroying Hamas and bringing home all remaining hostages.

Both the UK Conservative government and the Labour opposition, along with the US, have said they back Israels right to defend itself following Hamas October 7 attacks.

Both have expressed support for a two-state solution to the conflict and a sustainable ceasefire  but have resisted calls to back an immediate one.

However, the Israeli government has been urged by western allies to limit the scope of its offensive and act within the parameters of international law.

The country currently faces a case at the UNs International Court of Justice (ICJ) brought by South Africa, which accuses it of genocide over its actions in Gaza  a charge Israel denies.

UK Foreign Secretary Lord David Cameron on Sunday said Britain has been incredibly firm in urging Israel to show restraint but that it was nonsense to suggest the country intends to commit genocide.
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People who steal dogs or cats could face up to five years in jail if convicted of a new criminal offence being presented to Parliament on Friday.

The private members bill, drawn up by Tory MP Anna Firth, would recognise animals as companions and as sentient beings, rather than solely as property, as the law currently does.

Crucially, the bill is expected to get the backing of the government after ministers failed to get through similar legislation for dogs in 2021.

Under current law, pets are labelled as property and so are covered by the 1968 Theft Act, with a maximum jail term of seven years for those convicted.

However, by creating legislation which specifically focuses on pet abduction, campaigners say those sentencing would have more power to consider the emotional impact on the owner.

It would apply for England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

There were more than 2,500 dog thefts in the UK in 2021 (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

The offence for dog theft had been included in the Kept Animals Bill set out by the government in 2021 following recommendations from a pet theft taskforce that said there were around 2,000 dog thefts reported in the UK in 2020. More recent figures show there were 2,760 dog thefts in 2021.

However, the bill was dropped in May last year.

Ms Firth, MP for Southend West, told the BBC, that the current lack of legislation had made the crime appealing to criminals.

She said: Taking a pet is a particularly cruel crime, but it adds insult to injury when a devastated family calls the police and they do very little about it, because the pet is considered as no more significant than a power tool or mobile phone under the present law.

The bill has been put forward by Tory MP Anna Firth

Anyone who has had a cat or a dog knows that they are members of your family.

And the move has been supported by groups such as charity Cats Protection, who say the law could drive down the number of incidents.

Annabel Berdy, the charitys senior advocacy officer, said: If you included dogs from the outset without cats, given that those are the two companion animals, it might drive exploitative criminals or people looking to steal animals for money towards cats.

A private members bill can be a challenge to turn into law. However, with government having already provided a supportive stance on the subject, it has a good chance of being passed through the Commons and Lords before a general election is called.
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Britains counter terror chief has warned the war in Israel-Gaza was a radicalisation moment and the country faces a dangerous climate amid unprecedented surges in terror referrals.

Matt Jukes, the head of Counter Terrorism Policing, has revealed his teams have seen a 13 per cent spike in referrals to Prevent programs and 15-fold increase in reports of extremist online content since Hamas launched its attack on Israel on October 7.

The surge in activity comes as the risk from state threats is at the most acute level since the Cold War, he said, as he echoed David Camerons warning that Britain faces very unstable, uncertain and dangerous times.

Officers have received 3,000 referrals to the Counter Terror Internet Referral Unit of objectionable material since October 7, some 700 of which have been identified as having a UK link and potentially breaching terror legislation.

Initially this represented a 15-fold increase on previous reporting levels, but later levelled off to a seven-fold rise.

That is extraordinary and demonstrates the volume and intensity of online rhetoric around the ongoing conflict, the counter terror chief said.

What we have seen since 7th October is a spike which is higher and more sustained than ever before.

Characterising the ongoing war on the Middle East as a radicalisation moment, he said the event had the potential to push the susceptible towards terrorism.

He added: This is not simply rhetoric. We are seeing signs of that intense risk across a number of our areas of activity.

Although the countrys terror threat level remains unchanged at substantial, Mr Jukes said it is important recognise that radicalisation can have a long tail.

Head of Counter Terrorism Policing Matt Jukes (Jonathan Brady/PA) (PA Wire)

Since the conflict broke out there have been 33 arrests for alleged terrorism offences, seven of which have been charged.

In the period from October 7 to the New Year there was also a 13 per cent increase referrals to Prevent programs, aimed at stopping individuals being from being drawn into extremism, compared to the same period last year. The rise is directly related to the conflict, he said.

He also urged the public to trust their instincts and report any concerns. In the two weeks following 7 October, calls to the terror hotline doubled, with the number of helpful calls up four-fold.

There was also a 25 per cent surge in intelligence flowing through police channels in the aftermath of the conflict.

At the same time counter terror police have seen four-fold increase in case work relating to hostile state threats from countries including Iran, China and Russia  leading Mr Jukes to agree with foreign secretary Lord Camerons recent comments at Davos that the UK is facing very unstable, uncertain and dangerous times.

A new investigative team has been launched dedicated to state threats as we head into a year which will see major elections in both the UK and the US.

Of around 20 arrests for alleged official secrets breaches in the past five years, more than half took place in 2023, he said, adding that they are seeing a growing overlap between state threats and organised crime groups.

Our sense is that the challenge is greater now than since the days of Cold War, the chief said.
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An online sex blackmailer who subjected dozens of victims to mental torture  forcing them to film degrading sexual acts including the abuse of a seven-year-old girl  has been jailed for 24 years.

Anthony Burns, 39, used dating and so-called sugar daddy sites to identify victims, having learned online blackmail techniques from Abdul Elahi, who was jailed for 32 years in 2021 after targeting around 2,000 people globally.

A court heard how Burns, originally from Lowestoft in Suffolk, had a perverse interest in sexual activity, including with animals, and demanded sexual videos from victims after tricking them into sending their personal and social media details and addresses.

He was jailed at Birmingham Crown Court on Friday, having admitted more than 40 charges, including 26 counts of blackmail, six relating to indecent images of children and two of causing a child to engage in sexual activity.

He also has previous convictions for grooming a 14-year-old schoolgirl when he was aged 25, in 2010, the court heard.

In her sentencing remarks, Judge Sarah Buckingham said Burns had displayed depravity and callousness - while his offending has caused some of his victims to self-harm or makes attempts on their own lives.

You did not care about the anguish you caused and had complete disregard for your victims suffering, she said, adding he had shown no remorse for his crimes.

In one case, he directed a woman in the United States to perform sex acts, before the woman was ordered to sexually abuse a seven-year-old girl as he recorded a 25-minute video, the judge said.

Birmingham Crown Court (Joe Giddens/PA) (PA Archive)

Describing Burns online offending between 2018 and 2020 against 35 victims in the USA, UK and Australia, prosecutor Kate Temple-Mabe told the court: Behind every communication was a desire to force women to perform sexually degrading acts online, which he would screenshot.

The carefully thought-out process of the blackmail offences, including threats to post videos and images online or contact family members, terrified victims into meeting his demands, the court heard.

According to the National Crime Agency, Burns attempted to contact approximately 600 people in total with the intention of sexually exploiting them after being tutored by Elahi, who is described as one of the most dangerous sexual predators ever investigated.

He shared tips with Burns on the psychology of blackmail, including scripted wording to help gain the trust of victims, and provided instruction on how they would respond to threats and what to say to them.

The first of eight women who read out victim personal statements told the court she feared that Burns was capable of visiting her house, and might sexually attack her or even murder her.

The businesswoman, who cannot be identified, said: I could not stop thinking about it. Everything I had planned was tainted.

Turning to face Burns in the glass-fronted dock, the woman, who read her statement from the witness box, added: He doesnt have any control over me any more. I dont care about him.

I want him to feel the fullest force of the law. He needs to be punished for what he did.

Seven other women attended court to read their statements in person, with some saying they had considered taking their own lives or taken overdoses, and others telling how they had struggled to breathe due to the shock of threats and the mental torture perpetrated by Burns.

Another woman told the judge she no longer felt safe in her home and had fallen victim to Burns while struggling financially.

She ended her statement by saying: Its not an understatement to say that this incident has ruined my life.

Another complainant, who suffered crippling panic attacks after being targeted while looking for a partner on a dating site, said: The person I began to communicate with was Anthony Burns.

He blackmailed me to produce this disgusting video. I felt physically sick. It was a vicious cycle I could not break.

Burns, two of whose blackmail offences involved Elahi as an online accomplice, was also the subject of a sexual harm prevention order imposed for previous offences, the court heard.

Offering mitigation, defence barrister Hugh Forgan said Burns, who was addicted to pornography, had experienced traumatic events earlier in his life, including the death of a partner in a car crash.

Seeking to distinguish Burns offending from that of Elahi, Mr Forgan said: These images (obtained by blackmail by Burns) were not being sold on or distributed.

It wasnt a business, no matter how distressing or depraved.

National Crime Agency operations manager Robert Slater described Burns as a revolting sexual offender.

Mr Slater said: My first thoughts go out to his victims, many of whom showed immense courage by providing vital evidence to secure his conviction.

The control he sought over them, some of whom were young children, was sinister, manipulative and heartless.

In a message to anyone who falls victim to similar crimes, he added: Anyone being pressured or threatened into sending sexual images or videos online should try to remove themselves immediately from the conversation, not respond further to any contact, and report the matter to police.

You are not alone, you are not to blame and help is always available.

Bethany Raine, specialist prosecutor for the Crown Prosecution Service, added: Burns belittled and humiliated women.

They became trapped in a web of fear where their own images became tools of manipulation and extortion, leaving them vulnerable to his depraved demands.

His conviction sends a clear message that the CPS is committed in bringing offenders like Burns, who sexually abuse and exploit victims, to justice, wherever that abuse takes place.
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The Duke of Sussex has withdrawn his libel claim against Associated Newspapers, the publisher of The Mail on Sunday.

Prince Harry sued Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL) over a February 2022 article about his legal challenge to the Home Office following a decision to change his publicly funded security arrangements when visiting the UK.

The story claimed Harry, 39, tried to keep details of his legal battle to reinstate his police protection secret from the public.

The dukes lawyers claimed it purported to reveal, in sensational terms that information from court documents contradicted public statements he had previously made about his willingness to pay for police protection for himself and his family whilst in the UK.

ANL contested the claim, arguing that the article expressed an honest opinion and did not cause serious harm to his reputation.

The duke now reportedly faces having to pay the newspapers costs of 250,000 along with 500,000 of his own legal fees (Reuters)

The civil claim had been heading towards an estimated three-day trial scheduled to be held between 17 May and 31 July this year. But Harry has admitted defeat, abandoning his case just hours before a deadline for his lawyers to pass over a list of relevant documents.

The duke now faces having to pay the newspapers costs of 250,000 along with 500,000 of his own legal fees, meaning a total bill of more than 750,000, the Mail said.

In a ruling last month, Harry lost a bid to have ANLs honest opinion defence thrown out by a judge and was ordered to pay 48,447 towards the publishers legal bills.

High Court judge Mr Justice Nicklin ruled that ANL could proceed with the honest opinion defence. He said if the case went to trial, the newspaper may well submit that this was a masterclass in the art of spinning which was successful in misleading and/or confusing the public.

A spokesperson for the publisher confirmed that Harry had withdrawn his case.

Harry is still awaiting a ruling from a different judge in his separate claim against the Home Office over a decision to change the degree of his personal protection.

He is challenging the decision by the Royal and VIP Executive Committee (Ravec) not to grant him automatic police protection in the UK since stepping down as a senior member of the British royal family and moving to California with his family.

In written submissions, Harrys lawyer Justin Rushbrooke KC had argued that the newspapers defence should be thrown out because it rested on two provably false premises relating to a press statement released by Harry when he made the legal challenge.

His statement read: The duke first offered to pay personally for UK police protection for himself and his family in January of 2020 at Sandringham.

That offer was dismissed. He remains willing to cover the cost of security, as not to impose on the British taxpayer.

However, Ravec said his offer of private funding notably was not advanced to the department.

The Mail described this as a crushing rebuttal to Harrys initial public statement that implied he had always been willing to foot the bill while adding that the press statement issued on behalf of the duke confused the media and misinformed the public.

A spokesperson for the Sussexes said the duke was focusing on the safety of his family and his legal case against the Home Office.

As is the nature with legal proceedings, years have lapsed since this complaint was first filed, the spokesperson said. In the time since, the main hearing relating to the dukes judicial review has taken place and we are awaiting the final decision as to whether Ravec acted lawfully with regard to his security.

His focus remains there, and on the safety of his family, rather than these legal proceedings that give a continued platform to the Mails false claims all those years ago.

The news came on the day it was reported Harry may not have learnt of King Charless health condition before it went public. Buckingham Palace revealed earlier this week that the King would be admitted to hospital next week for treatment for an enlarged prostate.
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A Syrian family who fled Isis and were accepted for UK resettlement are struggling to support their young epileptic son as they wait years for relocation.

The family have been waiting nearly four years to be brought to the UK and are running out of money to buy medication for their seven-year-old, who has been unable to receive proper hospital care in Iraq.

The UK government initially accepted the familys application for help in December 2019 and gave them final approval in February 2020 under the UK Resettlement Scheme, a relocation programme for vulnerable refugees who have been referred by the UN.

But they are still waiting to be brought to Britain.

Speaking to The Independent from their home in Erbil, Iraq, the 40-year-old father, Yawar, described how the agonising wait was affecting his ill son. My eldest son needs special drugs because of his epilepsy and it is a struggle to get this medication, but I would do anything I can for my child.

The medication is not controlling his epileptic bouts completely and for the past two days we havent gotten any sleep, neither he nor us. The last time we saw the doctor he increased my sons dosage to the highest possible and said that if that doesnt work then there is nothing else for him. His epilepsy is still not controlled.

His eldest son is not able to communicate with other children and also suffers from hydrocephalus, a condition in which fluid accumulates in the brain and causes delayed development. The youngest son, who is four years old, has also had problems with his development and suffers from social isolation, lawyers aiding the family have said.

Yawar and his family are unable to get the medical help they need in Iraq (Supplied)

Yawar and his wife fled Syria in 2014 after Isis attacked his hometown city of Kobani in the north of the country. The success of Isis in the region generated a wave of some 400,000 refugees into Turkey. His two sons were born after the couple fled to Iraq.

Launched in 2020, the UKs Resettlement Scheme (UKRS) initially aimed to bring around 5,000 vulnerable refugees to Britain in its first year from countries such as Syria and Sudan.

However, the Home Office scrapped the target and said that the numbers would be kept under review. Since 2020, only 2,407 people have been relocated and many are forced to wait years before they are moved.

According to a report by the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, the UK has not provided the agency with a quota for the UKRS since 2020 and the agency has been told to restrict any new referrals. Any refugee referrals have been limited to highly exceptional cases on an ad-hoc basis, amounting to a handful per year.

The International Organisation for Migration has carried out an assessment of the familys needs, and told the UK government that they would need a home without stairs and with wheelchair access. The Home Office told the family that they did not have any suitable accommodation for them to live in the UK.

In June 2021, NHS England assessed the familys case and told the government that the eldest son would also need treatment at a regional paediatric neurosciences/surgery centre.

Lawyers supporting the family have told the Home Office that Iraqs state-run hospitals are deeply inadequate and the only proper support available is at private hospitals, which [our client] cannot afford. They added that even the private hospitals in Iraq cannot treat hydrocephalus.

Amid the worsening security situation in the Middle East, Iran fired missiles into Erbil, Iraq this week, near where the family are living. On hearing the missile attacks, Yawar fled with his family to the street. He said: It was very scary in the middle of the night for children to live in this fear.

He and his family have now been able to return home. He added that, while he works during the day at a market, he struggles to afford his sons medication and has got into debt trying to pay the familys bills.

His 33-year-old wife is also struggling with her mental health as she is left to look after their two sons. He added: When I first received the news that my application was accepted I was over the moon because I just wanted my children to have a better life, but now with the delays I am gradually feeling frustrated as the process is prolonged. I just want my children to get the treatment they need, for them to go to school, and for them to live a normal life like other children.

Neither of his children are able to go to school and his family are shunned by others when they take their disabled son outside the house, he said. When we go out, people look at us in a strange way. It just makes us feel very bad. They look at our children because of how they behave. There is not much acceptance of disability.

In October 2022, officials at the Home Office told the familys lawyers that they were aware of the urgent nature of this case and that they would continue to take steps to source suitable accommodation for the family.

Shortage of safe and legal routes for migrants, Suella Braverman told by Tory MP

Analysis by the charity Refugee Council found that the number of refugees being resettled by the UK is at the lowest level for a decade. In the year to September 2023, only 766 were resettled.

Jon Featonby, chief policy analyst at the charity, said: This familys case is a clear illustration of the urgent need to improve resettlement, which is one of the only existing safe routes for refugees to come to the UK but is at its lowest level for over a decade.

He said that the Refugee Council have been calling on the government to expand safe routes for refugees to come to the UK but instead there has been no meaningful commitment to help.

Mr Featonby added: The government must make it a priority to reduce dangerous Channel crossings by providing safe passage to our shores.

Fionnuala Gregan, a solicitor at Duncan Lewis, which has been supporting the familys case, said: We are extremely concerned for the welfare of this family of four, including two children with disabilities, which include delayed development, epilepsy and cerebral palsy.

We are concerned that while the family experiences ongoing delay in their being resettled to the UK, they face food scarcity, growing debt and are unable to access adequate healthcare for their childrens disabilities.

While the family await resettlement to the UK, they bear witness to a deteriorating security situation in Iraq, which has included drone strikes to a US military base located just a few kilometres from their home and recent Iranian missile attacks which targeted residential areas in Erbil, Iraq. Should the delays continue, the family fear the risk of becoming trapped in an increasingly precarious situation in Iraq.

A Home Office spokesperson said: The UK has a proud history of providing protection for those who genuinely need it through our safe and legal routes. Since 2015, we have offered a place to almost half a million men, women and children seeking safety, including those from Hong Kong, Syria, Afghanistan and Ukraine, as well as family members of refugees.

We are committed to finding accommodation to support ongoing resettlement, but for certain cases where specific housing is required, the speed at which individuals can be resettled in the UK can be impacted.
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Boris Johnson has said a second Donald Trump presidency could be a big win for the world and just what the world needs as he backed the Republican party favourite.

The former PM mocked the caterwauling orgy of concern in Britain about the prospect of Mr Trump winning Novembers US presidential contest.

Mr Johnson said his old ally was not a would-be dictator, despite his role in inciting a riot which saw the unprecedented attack on the US Capitol building.

The ex-Tory leader also claimed that Mr Trump wont betray Ukraine  arguing that his sheer unpredictability is a major deterrent to the enemies of the west.

Britains former top diplomats have warned that Britain faces massive security risks if Mr Trump defeats Democrat Joe Biden and is re-elected later this year.

Two ex-Washington ambassadors and a former diplomatic chief said ministers should draw up plans in the event Mr Trump were to end support for Ukraine and withdraw from Nato.

Boris Johnson with Donald Trump in 2019 (Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

But in his latest column for the Daily Mail, Mr Johnson claimed the hysterics were unmerited as he offered a shaky defence of the former Republican president.

He mocked Church of England, the BBC and much of the UK establishment for a caterwauling orgy of nose-holding abhorrence  claiming Trumps success in the polls had driven some people to the brink of virtue-signalling derangement.

The former PM also said the global wokerati have been trembling so violently that you could hear the ice tinkling in their negronis at the Davos summit in Switzerland.

Mr Johnson claimed he did not minimise Trumps egregious error of encouraging supporters to refuse to accept the result of the last presidential election and the riot that followed on Capitol Hill.

Despite the legal cloud surrounding Mr Trumps presidential run, he claimed the American people do not believe that he should be debarred from holding office again.

He wrote: Reasonable people can see that Trump is not, actually, a would-be dictator, and they have come to resent what look like legalistic ruses to axe him as a candidate. The more frenzied the effort to cancel him, the stronger he becomes.

And despite Mr Trumps hesitancy to support Ukraine, Mr Johnson said I simply cannot believe that Trump will ditch the Ukrainians  pointing to his record supplying Kyiv with Javelin anti-tank weapons.

He said the world needed a leader whose willingness to use force and sheer unpredictability is a major deterrent to the enemies of the west.

Mr Johnson wrote: If he does the right thing and backs the Ukrainians  and I believe he will  a Trump presidency can be a big win for the world.

He added: You can actually make a case  and I may as well make it now  that a Trump presidency could be just what the world needs.

The former PM also claimed the Republican was more likely than Mr Biden to offer a post-Brexit free trade deal to the UK. Trump is your man.

Mr Johnson worked at No 10 while Mr Trump was president for around 18 months without getting any closer to a free trade deal with the US.
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Rishi Sunaks government has made a U-turn on residency rights of EU citizens which makes it easier for them to stay in the UK.

New guidance from the Home Office says it will no longer block Europeans making late applications for settled status if they were unaware of the Brexit scheme.

But campaigners have warned that most of those who missed a 2021 deadline will still need legal support to make case for settled status  calling on the government to make its guidance more explicit.

The3million campaign group said the Home Office would still expect people to beg, bend their knee and show remorse for not knowing about the scheme.

The Home Office said in August it would not allow people to make a late application for the EU Settlement Scheme if they had applied in error for a residency card, or mistakenly relied on a residency card.

The residency cards  no longer valid after a June 2021 deadline for the EU Settlement Scheme  have caused a series of problems for Europeans living in Britain after Brexit.

The 3million group, which advocates for the rights of EU citizens, said people waiting on a decision on settled status have had problems in applying for jobs, moving house and  in some cases  getting in and out of the country.

The Independent has previously spoken to EU nationals who have been held up in airports since Brexit because they have been unable to provide physical proof of their residency in the UK.

Campaigners have fought for EU citizens rights in UK after Brexit (AFP via Getty Images)

Lack of awareness of the EU Settlement Scheme was not considered to be good enough grounds for a late application, the Home Office had said.

But in new guidance published this week, the department says late applications from people with the previously-valid residency cards who were unaware of the rules are now reasonable grounds for an application after the deadline.

Andreea Dumitrache, the3million groups interim co-chief executive, said she was glad to see this change after months of pressure. But she warned the guidance for case workers should be much more explicit.

Were disappointed the Home Office still does not accept that having an EEA permanent residence card in itself is sufficient evidence for reasonable grounds for applying late.

She added: People are also expected to beg, bend their knee and show remorse for not knowing. We are concerned this will lead to only people with access to legal advice to be able to get their application through.

Ms Dumitrache said most people who have yet to sort out their settled status would likely need legal support in dealing with the Home Office.

And the change only applies to people who were granted permanent residence cards before Brexit, campaigners made clear.

There are also many others who were not granted these permanent residency cards, may still have rights under the [Brexit] Withdrawal Agreement, and vulnerability has prevented them from making an in time application, said Ms Dumitrache.

She added: They are now very likely to be refused, if they do not access legal advice.

Meanwhile, the Republic of Ireland has formally lodged its lawsuit against the UK government in the European Court of Human Rights over its offer of immunity for Troubles-era crimes.

Designed in part to protect former British soldiers from prosecution, the Irish government argued the change in the law is incompatible with the UKs obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).

The Irish premier Leo Varadkar told the BBC he rejected the idea of hypocrisy over the lack of any prosecutions in the Republic of Ireland for Troubles-era violence. And he said his government would be happy to engage with the UK authorities on cases.
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Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has signalled he wants to cut taxes in the Budget, as the Tories gear up for an election in the face of dire poll ratings.

Tory MPs are clamouring for a move that would win votes as the latest opinion poll by YouGov shows support for the Tories is at its lowest level since Liz Trusss final days as prime minister.

Holding out the prospect of more money for the NHS, families and the armed forces, Mr Hunt said he wanted to focus on growth in the Budget on 6 March.

Hunt at Davos (AP)

The chancellor made clear that only unexpected bad news would prevent him from announcing a generous giveaway before a general election, expected in the autumn.

The new YouGov survey found that only 10 per cent of voters under the age of 50 intended to vote Conservative in the next general election.

Only 20 per cent of more than 2,000 adults polled said they would vote for Rishi Sunaks party, while fewer than half (49 per cent) of those who backed the Tories in 2019 intend to support them again.

At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Mr Hunt said that while he had yet to see the fiscal numbers before the budget, he was hopeful of reducing taxes.

I look around the world and I see that the parts of the world like the United States, like Asia, that are growing the fastest, have the most dynamic economies, tend to be places with lower taxes, he told Sky News.

And that was why in the autumn statement, we decisively cut taxes.

So my priority in the budget will be growth, because if I can grow the economy, that will mean that then we have more money for the NHS, we can relieve the pressure on families, we can invest in our brilliant armed forces.

He said cutting taxes was the direction of travel we would like to go in but it was too early to say what he would do.

The chancellor told political and business leaders at the summit that the UK was on the up and open for business.

The chancellor arrived at the summit in Davos later than other world politicians because he stayed in London to vote on the Rwanda bill on Wednesday night.

He said that by the time the vote was over the only way to get to Davos in time for his meetings on Thursday was to charter a private jet.

Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves said: You see leaders from other countries around the world are here and without that leadership from the government, were missing out on investment, were missing out on jobs and prosperity.
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According to the latest YouGov public opinion poll the Tories are supported by a mere 20 per cent of voters.

It comes as Rishi Sunaks party descended into chaos this week, divided by his controversial Rwanda bill.

Meanwhile, the Labour Party is enjoying a commanding lead of near-unprecedented proportions in recent times.

With a general election looming over the UK, we wanted to hear your predictions for the dramatic months ahead in the political sphere.

While some were ready to say goodbye to a Conservative Government and welcome Sir Keir Starmer to Downing Street, others were not convinced of the Labour leader.

Heres what you had to say:

The polls are an absolute disaster for Labour

This seems to be rather strange and none of it makes sense.

I can see glaring assumptions being made and herds of elephants are being ignored.

The polls are an absolute disaster for Labour.

The polls have been showing 20% plus leads for months.

The sheer number of Dont knows and will not vote , over and above the normal level renders any analysis of the polls meaningless. It looks the Tory voters have move from the Conservative to the do not know column to try and oust Sunak. They may be holding out hope for a Priti Patel or another unhinged Libertarian to swiftly move in.

In any case the Tories are both pragmatic and loyal. Even if they go into the election with the hared Sunak up top, they will troop into polling booths. They might not want Sunak, but they do want the Tories to stay in power.

Labour have no idea what is going on. A 20 point lead without doing any thing at all appears so seductive and believable. When polls start to tighten as they must surely do, Labour will have no idea what to do, given they have no idea why they are twenty points ahead.

They assume that wavering Tories find the Rwanda scheme and Sunak as repugnant for the same reasons we do.

I think this is wrong.

As well as that, the left will see that 20 point lead as permission to Send a message by voting fringe or not voting.

Theresa May suffered by being too far in front of Corbyn to be able to use fear to motivate voters. Once May dropped her social care clanger, she lost what was looking like close a three figure majority.

Jim987

Sunak has prided himself on all the wrong points

While its true that a single poll doesnt necessarily equate to results, the question of can Sunak win? The answer is a resounding no. This isnt by any special charisma or likability on Starmers part.

Sunak has prided himself on all the wrong points in an attempt to win over the UKs far right, and effectively made himself hated by everyone else. He keeps touting the Rwanda bill as the solution to all the conservatives problems, and while news articles point to inner party rebellions undermining his projection of power, it misses the broader point that the majority of the UK doesnt even want it or anyone outside of his bubble thinks immigration is the single most important problem.

When Sunak kept a single seat in the House of Lords after losing 2/3, he looked at the one he kept where the overwhelming majority said it was the climate tax and what he took away from that that is trans people and immigrants.

Sunak absolutely cant win due to his dedication to pick out all the most perfectly wrong topics and wrong sides of them, finding ways to annoy everybody who isnt already a loyal conservative voter.

Their hope is by waiting for longer this will suddenly make everyone change their minds but its actually more likely to do the opposite because it continues to give more time for Sunak to simply open his mouth and find new ways to remind people how much they hate him. He can keep trying to cling to the idea, Its just a media narrative people hate me, and if he tells people to start liking him, they will, but that has failed to persuade or convince anybody, except for Sunak himself.

Short summary, it doesnt take any special competence or charisma on Starmers part, but for Starmer, simply not being Sunak is enough.

AliYis

Its all about Brexit

Its all about Brexit. The pro-Europe parties currently poll about 60% - which also ties up with Brexit/Rejoin polling. A small Labour working majority is currently the most likely outcome - and also pressures Starmer to pivot back to the SM and CU.

sensitiveman

Starmer will not fix much

Predictions!?

1. It will take years for the country to recover from the damage caused by Brexit and the Tory government.

2. Starmer will not fix much but will win the next election.

3. Jenrick will position himself as leader

4. Life will continue...

Freedom

He may as well be wearing a blue tie

I wouldnt trust Starmer as far as I could throw him tbh. He may as well be wearing a blue tie, but honestly, what other options are there? In my opinion the only thing possible is get Thatchers sibling in then get shot of him! Chance would be a fine thing, but some of his ideas are verging upon the Tory songbook and Im pretty sure if he goes any further towards the right he will rightly get the backlash.

Terts

Any change is better than the current mess

It is time for a change. The Tories are destroying themselves and the country. Time for a new chapter hopefully after the general election (sooner the better). There will be party with a clear majority to allow for a fresh start. Any change is better than the current mess.

sameoldsameold

Boot this awful, horrid government out

If we listen to the polling of the last 15 months, we would be looking at a 1997 Blair landslide, if we listen to Skys Sam Coates it suggests Labour needs a electoral swing of historic proportions to gain power, which one is the likely scenario?

Personally all l want is for the electorate to boot this awful, horrid government out of power for a long, long time.

Witchking

The illusion of choice

I think it will be close, we currently have the illusion of choice with Starmer who is just a humourless version of Johnson to me.

Many people who would have voted Labour or Conservative will be voting for different players, like Lib Dem, Greens, or Reform, which may well dilute the effect of the Torys ineptitude.

Nicko

An October election at the earliest

It seems that the disgraced philanderer Johnson still has supporters in the Tory party, probably the same ones who support the return of the rather stupid Truss - no surprise there, then..... Does this gang of corrupt incompetents who have ruined Britain and its international reputation really expect to win an election, now, or for a generation to come?

I predict Sunak will hang on for as long as he can; hes too careful to make any serious mistakes, and he loves the power and the helicopters that come with it... which suggests an October election at the earliest.

Sarbu

Better to lose to Labour than chucked by your own side

I think the election will happen quite soon. The Tories are focused on self-canibalisation rather than running the country and Sunak is desperate to protect his image in the history books. So I think Downing St will have its ear to the ground and, if they detect that nearly enough have written a letter to Graham, Sunak will dash for the palace to ask for Parliament to be dissolved.

Better to lose an election to Labour than to be chucked on the scrap heap by your own side.

Dean

Closer than the pollsters are predicting

The election will be closer than any of the pollsters are predicting. They havent been correct for the past 10 years and the electorate seems to have consistently pushed further to the right in what can only be considered as a collective act of self-harm.

The gerrymandering with the boundary changes doesnt help anyone except the Conservatives. And Starmer isnt doing himself any favours by not taking bigger steps to distinguish Labour from the Conservatives. Therell be a lot of apathetic voters out there considering whether its even worth going out to vote.

What may be the biggest factor is the timing so here is my theory. Sunak has no mandate for the Rwanda policy. Regardless of what happens in the Commons, the House of Lords knows this, is largely against the policy and can simply slap the brakes on it for a year. Sunak will then try and call a snap election to get a mandate while also claiming how the undemocratic Lords are obstructing the will of the people.

TheMadGeologist

Voters have simply switched off

Id suggest the opinion out there is way worse for the Conservatives than the one commissioned by right-wing Tories.

Havent they realised that voters have simply switched off and are no longer listening? Every household has an NHS calamity. Nobody knows where they stand with their finances. Good luck with those seats you think are safe.

Readyforchange

To think we only had Brexit to stop the Tory Party splitting apart... now that we have left our trading partners, friends and neighbours in the EU and have only a cold, lonely future to look forward to, the Tory Party may well split into two as their minority but nasty rightwing again want total control of everything to push their narrow minded agenda on all of us.

14U

Whatever happens struggling remains on the cards

The path the Tories are walking has lost them a lot of support of the voters. The only realistic alternative, thanks to FPTP, is Labour, but Starmer is following Tory policies with a few minor changes ... and thats it!

So, the electorate has to ask themselves, do I want to keep the blue incompetence and infighting or do I want the reds that are still drifting into the wrong direction and have no rock solid plan, more of some wishy-washy ideas.

Any other party, e.g. Lib Dems and Greens, have no chance in a FPTP system to reach government, especially with undemocratic tactical voting practice.

Neither Tories nor Labour want a change to PR (Labour had it high on their list, but Starmer pushed it off) and arent interested in the EU single market/custom union, when those two subjects are needed turning points for the British democracy and economy.

Whatever happens struggling remains on the cards, prosperity and proper democracy remain unreachable targets.

Rasputin007

14 years of disastrous policies

All anyone needs to do to decimate any Conservative vote is to remind the public that 14 years of disastrous policies has made the vast majority both poorer and with reduced opportunities, while a few have benefited, getting very much richer, while exploiting everyone else.

Meanwhile, it is becoming apparent that their supposed prior successes have actually produced short term but unsustainable gains, damaging the country for generations.

Topsham1

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All of former SNP leader Nicola Sturgeons pandemic-era WhatsApp messages have been deleted, the Covid public inquiry has heard.

At a hearing in Edinburgh, the official investigation into the Covid crisis was told that the former first minister of Scotland had retained no messages whatsoever.

Jamie Dawson KC, counsel to the inquiry, revealed a document provided by the Scottish government about which WhatsApp messages it could provide and said that all Ms Sturgeons messages had been deleted.

He said: Under the box Nicola Sturgeon, it says that messages were not retained, they were deleted in routine tidying up of inboxes or changes of phones, unable to retrieve messages.

The counsel said it showed that Ms Sturgeon had retained no messages whatsoever in connection with her management of the pandemic.

Lesley Fraser, the director general corporate of the Scottish government, agreed, saying: Thats what that indicates to me.

Nicola Sturgeon had refused to say whether she deleted WhatsApps (PA Wire)

Labour MSP Jackie Bailie said the revelation was nothing short of horrifying and shows the lengths that Nicola Sturgeon is prepared to go to in order to prevent justice for Covid-bereaved families.

And the Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton said: This is one of the biggest scandals in Scottish political history.

Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross said both Ms Sturgeon had huge questions to answer over their conduct in the wake of this devastating revelation.

Mr Ross said Ms Sturgeons reputation now lies in tatters, adding: Secrecy and evasion were the hallmarks of her government  and this shameful cover-up, which amounts to a digital torching of vital evidence, is the most scandalous example of it.

Ms Sturgeon had repeatedly refused to reveal whether she deleted messages. The ex-SNP chief had also given an assurance about transparency when she will grilled a Covid briefing back in August 2021.

The then-Scottish first minister was asked if she could guarantee to the bereaved families that you will disclose emails, WhatsApps, private emails if youve been using them.

Ms Sturgeon replied: I think if you understand statutory public inquiries you would know that even if I wasnt prepared to give that assurance  which for the avoidance of doubt I am  then I wouldnt have the ability.

Nicola Sturgeons reputation in tatters, say Scottish Tories (Getty Images)

The inquiry also saw a message from Scotlands national clinical director Prof Jason Leitch, which suggested he deleted WhatsApp messages every day.

In the message exchange, Ken Thomson, the former director-general for strategy at the Scottish government, said he felt moved to remind you at this point that this channel is FOI-recoverable.

Prof Leitch  after another member of the group recommended they clear the chat  said: WhatsApp deletion is a pre-bed ritual.

Mr Dawson asked Mr Thomson if there was a culture of senior figures in the Scottish government deleting messages in order to defeat the very purposes for which the policies are set up.

The former senior civil servant replied: I need to give you a longer answer to this question, but the short answer is no.

Aamer Anwar, the lead solicitor for the Scottish Covid Bereaved campaigners, said: The fact that deletion took place on an industrial scale is a devastating betrayal of the many promises made by the Scottish government for full transparency and disclosure.

The Covid inquiry is currently carrying out three weeks of hearings focusing on decisions in Scotland during the pandemic, with Ms Sturgeon set to be the star witness.

Last month, Rishi Sunak said he had no messages remaining from the pandemic period. The prime minister said he was not advised that he should save WhatsApp messages from his phone.

Boris Johnson also told the inquiry he had been unable to retrieve his WhatsApp messages for a crucial period at the beginning of the crisis, suggesting this was because his phone had been reset.

Responding to the outrage on Thursday, a spokesperson for Ms Sturgeon said on Thursday: In the interests of everyone who has been impacted by the Covid pandemic, Nicola is committed to full transparency to both the UK and Scottish Covid inquiries.

Any messages she had, she handled and dealt with in line with the Scottish governments policies, the spokesperson added, saying Ms Sturgeon will answer all questions put to her when she appears at the inquiry.
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Rishi Sunak was accused of being out of touch with voters after he was captured laughing as he was challenged in the street by a woman who expressed her anger over the dire state of NHS waiting lists.

Cameras caught the awkward exchange as the PM was confronted by voters in Winchester town centre about problems in the health service during a walkabout in Winchester town centre.

Mr Sunak burst out laughing as the woman  a former NHS worker  told him he could solve the problems and make it all go back to how it used to be.

Labour pounced on the uncomfortable clip and said it showed that the Tory leader has no idea of the misery NHS patients are going through.

In an exchange caught on camera during his visit to the southern blue-wall constituency, Mr Sunak blamed striking junior doctors for the NHS backlog, telling the woman that the recent dip in the number of people waiting just shows that when there arent strikes, we really can make progress.

Rishi Sunak challenged over NHS waiting lists in Winchester (Getty)

Mr Sunak laughed as she said: You could make it all go back to how it used to be ... where if you had a problem, you could go to the hospital.

However, Mr Sunaks laugh appeared to be at a brief remark made about the former NHS workers comments from someone else in the background.

The woman then confronted Mr Sunak about lengthy waiting times for hospital treatment, telling him: My daughter spent seven hours waiting.

Mr Sunak appeared to turn his back on the woman when she began talking about her daughter. But he then turned to continue the conversation  saying he was sorry to hear that her daughter had spent seven hours in A&E.

The PM reiterated that all of the disputes behind NHS strikes had now been resolved, apart from the one with junior doctors. The woman said she hoped so and shook his hand.

Sir Keir Starmer said that the clip of Mr Sunak laughing at a voter who was worried about the NHS reinforces what people think about the government.

The Labour leader said: The prime minister doesnt understand what people are going through, adding: We engage with our plan  we dont laugh and walk away.

Wes Streeting, the shadow health secretary, said the encounter showed that Mr Sunak has no idea of the misery NHS patients are going through. When Sunak asks for their vote later this year, he will get a taste of his own medicine, he said.

Liberal Democrat MP Christine Jardine said that laughing in the face of a former health worker as they try to explain NHS problems is frankly shocking.

She added: Out of touch does not even begin to describe Rishi Sunaks attitude to the NHS. The prime minister either does not care or he does not get it.

Sunak speaking to voters in the blue-wall seat (Getty)

Labour has maintained its narrow lead over the Conservatives in crucial blue-wall seats, a new Redfield & Wilton poll has found. The survey has Sir Keirs party on 31 per cent ahead of Mr Sunaks party on 30 per cent in 42 seats in the south of England that were won by the Tories in 2019.

Mr Sunak has promised to get waiting lists down as one of his five big pledges ahead of the 2024 general election, which he is planning to call in the second half of the year.

Some 6.39 million patients across England were waiting for routine hospital treatment in November, figures suggest, which is down slightly from 6.44 million in October. But the data indicates that the NHS is still failing to hit most of its key performance targets, despite the overall drop.

Just over 11,000 people in England were waiting for more than 18 months to start routine hospital treatment at the end of November, up from just over 10,500 at the end of October.

A&E waiting times also worsened, with 69.4 per cent of patients in England seen within four hours in December, down from 69.7 per cent in November and against a target set for March this year of 76 per cent.

Meanwhile, a leading Boris Johnson supporter has claimed that at least 29 Conservative MPs have submitted letters of no confidence against Mr Sunak.

Andrea Jenkyns  a Tory backbencher who has been a consistent critic of Mr Sunak  said that more than two dozen colleagues had told her they had handed in letters.

Talk of letters is always nonsense  only Sir Graham [Brady, chair of the 1922 Committee] knows how many are in, one Sunak ally told The Independent. The senior Tory said it would be madness to replace the current leader before the general election.

The fresh rows came as Mr Sunak again urged peers to crack on with the Rwanda bill in the House of Lords  saying he wanted to get the deportation flights up and running as soon as possible.

In a pointed message to the Lords, the PM said on Friday: I would urge them strongly to crack on with it, because we all just want to get this done ... the country is fed up and frustrated with the merry-go-round on this topic.

However, peers have rejected the Tory leaders bizarre demand to rush through the legislation. The upper chamber has approved a two-month timetable to scrutinise the bill  refusing to move any more quickly than usual.
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Rishi Sunak has said there is more to come in terms of tax cuts as he prepares a pre-election bid to win votes.

The prime minister is plotting a tax giveaway in his March Budget, which could be the last before voters head to the polls this autumn.

With Britains tax burden at a post-war high, despite a national insurance giveaway in November, Mr Sunak has signalled he wants to make a fresh offer to voters.

He said on Friday the 2p cut to the main rate of national insurance that came into force this month had been a tax cut for 27 million people in work.

He added: And we said that we do want to cut taxes for future events when we can responsibly do so.

Our priorities are very clear. It is controlling spending and welfare so that we can cut peoples taxes. The plan is working, because we are already doing it  stick with it and there is more to come.

Mr Sunak hopes a giveaway will help eat into Labours 18-point poll lead over the Tories.

Rishi Sunak has said there is more to come in terms of tax cuts (PA Wire)

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has also fuelled speculation about further tax cuts on the horizon. Just weeks after the influential Institute for Fiscal Studies warned that personal taxes are still going up despite the national insurance cut, Mr Hunt said lower taxes was the direction of travel we would like to go in.

Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Mr Hunt said: I look around the world and I see that the parts of the world like the United States, like Asia, that are growing the fastest, have the most dynamic economies, tend to be places with lower taxes, he told Sky News.

And that was why in the autumn statement, we decisively cut taxes.

So my priority in the budget will be growth, because if I can grow the economy, that will mean that then we have more money for the NHS, we can relieve the pressure on families, we can invest in our brilliant armed forces.

Speculation about tax cuts has been rife since Novembers autumn statement, with Tory backbenchers clamouring for the government to ease the burden.

Mr Hunt had been considering cutting inheritance tax ahead of that statement, and could revive the plan before Marchs statement.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt (PA) (PA Wire)

He may also opt for a personal tax cut such as lowering the rate of income tax.

Labour has accused Mr Sunak and the chancellor of offering voters a raw deal, claiming the PM has given out 2 worth of tax cuts for every 10 taken through higher taxes. Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves described the tax cut as a cynical giveaway.

And Adam Corlett, principal economist at the Resolution Foundation think tank, said: For many, particularly those earning less than 26,000, the [national insurance cut] will be offset by the tax rise that is effectively coming in April, when personal tax thresholds are frozen again.

While chancellor, Mr Sunak controversially froze the thresholds at which taxes come into effect, dragging more households into paying tax or even into higher tax brackets.

Under current plans, the Resolution Foundation says anybody earning under 26,000 will be worse off, with the tax cut benefiting those earning 50,000 a year the most  to the tune of almost 500.

The IFS said a worker earning the average salary of 35,000 would be 440 worse off by 2028.

And overall, the tax burden is still on course to be the highest since the Second World War.
 Close MP's anger at Tata Steel Port Talbot closure

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Tatas decision to axe 3,000 jobs at its plant in South Wales will leave the UK reliant on foreign steel imports for years to come, as an MP warned the move raised serious questions about national security.

Stephen Kinnock, the shadow minister for immigration and Labour MP for Aberavon - home of the Port Talbot steelworks - said the move leaves the UK the only G20 country unable to make its own steel from scratch.

Earlier Tata confirmed plans to close blast furnaces at the plant, with the loss of more than 3,000 jobs. About 2,800 jobs will go over the next 18 months, with a further 300 to be lost after. The Indian-owned firm said the plans were aimed at reversing more than a decade of losses.

The move also sparked outrage among several unions.

A statement by the GMB and Community said: It is an absolute disgrace that Tata Steel, and the UK government, appear intent on pursuing the cheapest instead of the best plan for our industry, our steelworkers and our country.
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The Home Office has hired an aircraft hangar and a dummy plane for security officials to practise forcing asylum seekers onto flights to Rwanda, it has emerged.

As the government prepares for deportation flights to take off, security guards have undergone special training programmes to deal with disruptive people.

Migrants are to be escorted one by one from a detention facility on an airbase, The Times reported, before staff mimic scenarios the Home Office expects them to encounter when putting them onboard.

The first Rwanda flight is expected to take off from the Ministry of Defence airfield at Boscombe Down near Salisbury, Wiltshire, where a flight in June 2022 was grounded (Getty)

Scenarios staff are practising for include migrants violently refusing to board planes, Extinction Rebellion-style play dead protests to block flights and even dirty protests by campaigners outside the airbase.

The Home Office believes five officers will be needed for each migrant being deported, The Times said.

The training is taking place in an aircraft hangar normally hired for use as a film studio by production firms.

The Home Office told the paper it is vital in order to ensure escorts can respond professionally to the challenges of removing people with no right to be in the UK.

A spokesman added: This includes practical sessions so escorts have the skills they need to deal with different scenarios. As we ramp up removal activity we will continue to ensure new escorts have the training facilities necessary.

The training emerged as Rishi Sunak gears up for a battle with the House of Lords in a bid to get planes off the ground as soon as possible.

Almost two years after the deportation plan was initially announced, Mr Sunak wants to rush through a bill he believes will finally see asylum seekers deported to the east African nation.

The PM said on Thursday his controversial plan is an urgent national priority and told the upper chamber it is now time to pass this bill.

The prime minister urged peers to get on and pass his Rwanda bill (Reuters)

But peers are expected to challenge the Safety of Rwanda bill, which rules the country a safe place to send asylum seekers - despite prior attempts to do so being blocked by the Supreme Court.

In a sign of the depth of opposition the prime minister faces, leading lawyer and crossbench peer Alex Carlile denounced the bill as a step towards totalitarianism.

Mr Sunak has refused to say when flights to Rwanda will finally take off, declining to commit to them beginning before the general election expected this autumn.

But Downing Street has insisted the government is planning on a timeline for the first planes to be in the air this spring.

Tory former minister Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg said he thought it was unlikely deportations would take place before the election because of potential legal challenges.
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The closure of two blast furnaces at Britains biggest steelworks will lead to thousands of job losses and leave the UK reliant on foreign steel imports for years to come.

In a fresh blow to Rishi Sunak, Tata Steel said it was cutting 2,800 jobs at its plant in Port Talbot in south Wales as it confirmed the closing of both blast furnaces at the site.

Amid outrage at the scale of the job losses, the Indian-owned steel giant said it was not feasible or affordable to adopt a plan put forward by the GMB and Community unions to keep the furnaces open.

It means that 2,500 workers will lose their jobs in the next 18 months, with another 300 to come. As well as having a devastating impact on the local community, the closures will leave Britain reliant on foreign steel imports, including from India and China.

Labour said foreign powers wont always have Britains best interests at heart, as the party condemned Rishi Sunak for failing to take up a better union-led plan to transition to greener production.

A replacement so-called electric arc furnace, a greener way of making steel, will not come online until 2027 at the earliest. In the meantime, Britain will be forced to plug the gaps left by the Port Talbot closures with imports from abroad, which critics say will lead to higher emissions until the replacement comes online.

Experts said the UKs domestic emissions would be as much as 3 per cent lower because of the closures, but that this would be offset and could even be surpassed by an increase in Britains global carbon footprint once imports are accounted for.

A steelworker wears a badge on his jacket outside the UKs largest steelworks in Port Talbot (PA)

Roz Bulleid, research director at the Green Alliance think tank, told The Independent: Exactly what happens to the UKs wider carbon footprint during the transition depends on where we get the steel from to replace British production.

Europe has a mixture of blast furnaces and lower-carbon production, while Asia has more blast-furnace production. But over time, we will see European emissions fall. This is a race to low-carbon steelmaking that the UK risks missing out on.

And, in a damning indictment of UK industry, the closures will also mean that Britain is the only G20 country that cant make virgin primary steel. Virgin steel is used in everyday products such as tin cans. These will now have to be produced abroad, and it is unlikely that they will be manufactured in the UK again in future.

The closures and job cuts come despite Tata being promised up to 500m by the UK government in a bid to keep the plant open and produce steel using more environmentally friendly methods.

The Port Talbot plant is the largest steelworks in the UK and currently employs 4,000 of the companys 8,000-strong UK workforce. The move means almost 75 per cent of workers will lose their jobs. The GMB union said the job losses are a crushing blow to Port Talbot and UK manufacturing in general.

Charlotte Brumpton-Childs, national officer for steel, said: It doesnt have to be that way  unions provided a realistic, costed alternative that would rule out all compulsory redundancies. But she said the plan has fallen on deaf ears and that steelworkers and their families will now suffer.

Andrew Gutteridge, chair of the Multi Unions Llanwern works, said it would cause absolute ruin in the community, with unions estimating that each job at the steelworks creates another three in the wider economy.

Your local newsagents, your chip shops, your supermarkets  everything in this area will be affected, he said. This is a massive, massive kick for the whole of south Wales, really.

Tata Steel said it was not feasible or affordable to adopt a union plan to keep the furnaces open (Getty)

Sir Keir said he was very concerned by the job losses at Tata Steel  urging Mr Sunak to listen to the better plan offered by unions to prevent so many redundancies.

The government said it had a plan for steel. It transpires the plan involves thousands of redundancies. Theres a better plan  a multi-union plan  that the government needs to look at again, the Labour leader told broadcasters.

Asked if he agreed that the governments 500m investment had helped limit redundancies, Sir Keir said: Im not against the government investment ... but their plan involves all of these redundancies when theres a different and better plan on the table.

Under the so-called multi-union plan put forward by the GMB and Community unions, it was hoped that Tata Steel could transition Port Talbot towards greener steelmaking over a longer timeline.

Had it been adopted, there would have been no compulsory redundancies, and Britains domestic steel supply would have been protected.

In a joint statement, GMB and Community said they were extremely disappointed that Tata had rejected the alternative plans they presented. The unions met Tata representatives on Thursday in a last-ditch attempt to push the multi-union plan.

Rishi Sunak insisted the government is absolutely committed to British steelmaking (PA Wire)

The two unions lashed out at Unite, which also represents workers at the plant, for undermining the plan and for unilaterally campaigning for discredited fantasy solutions.

And they took aim at Tata and the UK government, saying it was a disgrace that they appeared to be intent on pursuing the cheapest instead of the best plan for our industry, our steelworkers and our country.

Mr Sunak said the government is absolutely committed to British steelmaking, adding: I know first of all that it will be a worrying time for everyone affected.

He said the alternative was the entire plant being closed, leading to 8,000 job losses overall. But the government worked with the company, he said.

Welsh first minister Mark Drakefords office condemned Mr Sunak after No 10 said he was not available for urgent talks requested about the potential loss of thousands of jobs.

Labours shadow business secretary Jonathan Reynolds has previously attacked the government over the funding package, saying: Only the Tories could spend 500m of taxpayers money to make thousands of British workers redundant.

Stephen Kinnock said the job cuts will be utterly devastating to the community in Aberavon (Getty)

Stephen Kinnock, the Labour MP for Aberavon, home of the Port Talbot steelworks, said the losses will be utterly devastating as he described the situation as deeply frustrating and unnecessary.

He said: Global demand for steel is actually growing, but by pursuing a narrow electric-arc-furnace-only model, Tata Steel will be unable to seize the commercial opportunities of the future, while at the same time leaving Britain more dependent on imported steel from countries whose governments wont always have Britains best interests at heart.

Tata chief executive TV Narendran said the decision was difficult but we believe it is the right one.

We recognise this proposed restructuring would have a major impact on the individuals and communities concerned, whom we will support with dignity and respect, he added.

Mr Narendran told Times Radio that the steel giant had been struggling to survive for the last 15 years, adding: Obviously all that we did was not enough.

He claimed that the union plan would have cost 800m more  600m to keep one blast furnace running, while 200m would have gone on the cost of building the electric arc furnace.
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Four people have been arrested in connection with the kidnapping and fatal stabbing of an American comic and community activist who was on vacation in Colombia.

Fifty-year-old Tou Ger Xiongs remains were found on 11 December in the city of Medellin after he reportedly went out with a woman he had met on social media. Just days before his remains were discovered, he had called family members asking for them to send the money his alleged kidnappers demanded.

The local prosecutors office said on Thursday that a woman and two men have been charged with aggravated kidnapping for extortion and aggravated homicide. The suspect denied the charges during a court appearance, a statement said.

A minor who was also charged with the crimes admitted to participating in the kidnapping plot and was transferred to a juvenile centre.

The US Embassy in Bogota said that eight suspicious deaths of US citizens in Medellin had been reported in the last two months of 2023. According to the embassy, the deaths have resulted from drugging, involuntary overdose, and several involve the use of online dating applications.

Criminals use dating apps to lure victims to meet in public places such as hotels, restaurants, and bars, and then later assault and rob them, the statement read. Numerous US citizens in Colombia have been drugged, robbed, and even killed by their Colombian dates.

Xiong arrived in Medellin on 29 November and had been posting snippets of his trip on social media. On Facebook, he shared a video seemingly recorded at a Karol G concert, as well as another video of himself enjoying a sunny pool day and listening to upbeat music.

Xiongs brother Eh Xiong told Kare11 that he received a call from his slain brother asking for $20,000.

Eh, Xiong said he didnt find the request unusual as his brother often borrowed money from him while on vacation, but he couldnt send the money right away because he was about to catch a flight. According to Colombian prosecutors, a friend of Xiongs later sent more than $3,000 to the account of one of the kidnappers.

However, the victim was brutally stabbed and his body was thrown off a cliff before it was found by authorities on 11 December.

Family members of Xiong told Kare11 that they have planned a three-day memorial to commemorate his life.
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An American Airlines flight attendant has been arrested for allegedly filming children in the bathroom of an aircraft, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) has said.

Estes Carter Thompson III, 37, is accused of taking a video of a 14-year-old girl by concealing his iPhone in the toilet during a flight in September 2023.

He is also alleged to have possessed recordings of four additional minor female passengers using lavatories aboard the aircraft he had worked on previously.

Mr Thompson, of Charlotte, North Carolina, was charged with one count of attempted sexual exploitation of children and one count of possession of child pornography depicting a prepubescent minor.

Prosecutors alleged that during the incident on September 2, Mr Thompson duped the child, who had been waiting to use the toilet, midway through the flight. He allegedly escorted her to an unoccupied lavatory in first-class.

Before the child entered the bathroom, Mr Thompson said he needed to wash his hands and that the toilet seat was broken, entering briefly, prosecutors claimed.

The teenager then entered the lavatory and observed red stickers on the underside of the toilet seat lid, which was in the open position, that stated, inoperative catering equipment and remove from service written on them.

The words seat broken was also written in black ink on one of the stickers, according to the charging documents, cited by the DOJ.

It is alleged that, beneath the red stickers, Mr Thompson had concealed his iPhone to record a video. The minor victim used her phone to take a picture of the red stickers and the concealed iPhone she found in the lavatory before exiting, at which time Mr Thompson allegedly re-entered it immediately.

The alleged victim reportedly returned to her seat and informed her parents who, in turn, informed the other flight attendants onboard, who notified the captain, who in turn notified law enforcement on the ground.

The childs father also allegedly confronted Mr Thompson who proceeded to lock himself in the lavatory with his iPhone prior to the flights descent.

Upon arrival in Boston, law enforcement discovered that Mr Thompsons phone appeared to have been restored to factory settings. A search of his briefcase found 11 stickers similar to those seen by the child in the aircraft lavatory.

A later search of Mr Thompsons iCloud account allegedly revealed four additional instances between January and August 2023 in which he recorded a minor using the lavatory on an aircraft.

The minor victims allegedly depicted in the surreptitious recordings were seven, nine, 11 and 14 years old at the time.

Additionally, over 50 images of a nine-year-old unaccompanied minor were allegedly found in Mr Thompsons iCloud. The images included photos taken while the minor victim was seated in her seat pre-flight and close-ups of her face while sleeping.

According to the DOJ, all minor victims involved in this matter have been identified and their families contacted by law enforcement.

Mr Thompson was arrested on Thursday in Lynchburg, Virgina, and will remain in custody pending his initial appearance in the Western District of Virginia. He will appear in federal court in Boston at a later date.

The alleged incident occurred on an American Airlines flight in September 2023 (Getty Images)

Acting United States Attorney Joshua S Levy said: The deeply disturbing conduct alleged here is something no parent or child should ever have to worry about when they travel.

Mr Thompson allegedly used his position to prey on and surreptitiously record innocent children, including unaccompanied minors, while in a vulnerable state aboard flights he was working.

Everyone  especially children  should feel safe and secure as airline passengers, and parents should feel comfortable traveling with their children. Protecting children is a paramount priority for this office and we will aggressively investigate and hold accountable people who victimize children.

Today, the FBI arrested Estes Carter Thompson III after he repeatedly targeted unsuspecting children to sexually exploit them for his own gratification.

Jodi Cohen, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division added: What Mr Thompson is accused of doing is disgraceful, and we believe, calculated, given that this alleged conduct occurred on at least five flights.

This case should make it crystal clear that the FBI takes crimes aboard aircraft and the sexual exploitation of children seriously. If youve been the victim of a crime aboard an aircraft or have witnessed one take place, we ask you to report it to both your flight crew and the FBI.

The charge of attempted sexual exploitation of children provides for a sentence of at least 15 years and up to 30 years in prison.

The charge of possession of child pornography depicting a prepubescent minor provides for a sentence of at least five years and up to 20 years in prison.

Both charges also provide for at least five years and up to a lifetime of supervised release, a fine of up to $250,000 and restitution.
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Delphi murders suspect Richard Allen has been hit with new murder and kidnapping charges in the 2017 killings of Libby German and Abby Williams.

The 51-year-old Indiana man had previously only been charged with two counts of murder while committing a felony in his October 2022 arrest, but on Thursday, Carroll County Prosecutor Nicholas McLeland filed the kidnapping and additional murder charges.

In the filing, Mr McLeland argued that the previously released investigative findings include cause that Mr Allen kidnapped 14-year-old Libby and 13-year-old Abby by force prior to their murders near the Monon High Bridge, and in the process, the girls were killed.

But with that charge, prosecutors wouldnt necessarily have to prove Mr Allen was the one who actually killed the girls.

So in addition to the kidnapping charges, prosecutors also added two counts of murder, which is defined as knowingly or intentionally killing another person, according to Indiana law.

Mr Allen, 51, now faces a total of four counts of murder and two felony counts of kidnapping  with prosecutors claiming that the newly amended charges more accurately aligns the charging information with the causes discovery and in the probable cause affidavit.

Richard Allen was arrested in October 2022, more than five years after the murders (Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

The attorneys dramatically quit the case in October 2023 amid a scandal over the leak of graphic crime scene photos.

In a bombshell twist, it emerged that the leak originated from a man close to the defence team. However, he had never worked on the Delphi case and left the firm years ago. The individual died by suicide after a police investigation into the leak was launched.

While the two attorneys voluntarily withdrew from the case, they have since claimed that Judge Fran Gull coerced them to quit in what they described as a pre-meditated ambush and called for the judge to be removed.

On Thursday, the Supreme Court denied this request and ruled against the defences attempts to have the trial commence within 70 days. The trial was originally set for 24 January 2024 but has been pushed back until 15 October 2024.

The Delphi murders have haunted the Indiana town for years.

It began back on 13 February 2017 when Libby and Abby set off on a walk along the Monon High Bridge in their hometown of Delphi.

Libby German (left) and Abby Williams (right) pictured together (Facebook)

During the walk, Libby posted a photo of her best friend on Snapchat as they walked along the Monon High Bridge.

Minutes later, Libby captured a video of a man  known as bridge guy  dressed in blue jeans, a blue jacket and a cap walking along the abandoned railroad bridge.

In the footage  found on Libbys phone following their murders  the man tells the two girls: Guys, down the hill.

Later that day, the teenagers were reported missing when they failed to return to a spot where a family member was picking them up.

The next day  Valentines Day 2017  their bodies were discovered in a wooded area less than half a mile off the trail along the side of Deer Creek.

In October 2022  over five years later  Mr Allen was arrested and charged with their murders.

Following his arrest, the case has continued to be fraught with controversies.

In September, his legal team made a bombshell claim that Libby and Abby were killed  not by the suspect  but as part of a ritualistic sacrifice at the hands of a white nationalist cult called Odinists.
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A Los Angeles socialite accused of fatally ploughing into two young boys in a crosswalk, was racing her lover, a former Los Angeles pitcher, who she had drinks with earlier that day, prosecutors have claimed as her trial got underway this week.

Jury selection in Rebecca Grossmans trial began on Tuesday, but before testimony could even begin, her defence attorney is attempting to shift the blame for the boys tragic deaths to the ex-MLB player she was with, who also sped through the intersection seconds earlier, The Los Angeles Times reported.

Ms Grossman, 60, faces two counts of second-degree murder for the deaths of Mark Iskander, 11, and his brother Jacob Iskander, eight, who were killed when she struck them with her Mercedes-Benz SUV as they walked in the marked crosswalk with their mother Nancy Iskander and five-year-old brother Zachary, on 29 September 2020.

Prosecutors say Ms Grossman had been drinking cocktails at a nearby establishment with Scott Erickson before engaging in a street race through a residential neighbourhood of Westlake Village, where she slammed into the two boys at a speed upwards of 70mph.

She had been driving behind Mr Erickson when the crash happened on Triunfo Canyon Road, according to testimony from Los Angeles County sheriffs investigators during a preliminary hearing in 2022.

Rebecca Grossman, pictured in 2014, is on trial for charges she faces in the deaths of two boys who were hit and killed when she sped through an intersection near LA in 2020 ((Grossman Burn Foundation - YouTube))

But in court this week, defence attorney Tony Buzbee claimed the Los Angeles Sheriffs investigators never checked Mr Ericksons black Mercedes SUV for damage, even though witnesses claim they saw him drive through the marked crosswalk a few seconds before Ms Grossman.

Mr Buznee said Mr Erickson had produced the vehicle he was driving for examination in civil litigation after the deadly crash, but alleged that the investigator took his word in a phone interview that he was driving his 2007 Mercedes SUV at the time.

He then showed a photo of a 2016 Mercedes-AMG that Mr Erickson acquired in May 2019, alleging that it was the SUV he was driving that day.

Why would law enforcement not look at this vehicle that he was driving that night? Mr Buzbee asked. Why wouldnt they, especially when you had a witness, the first witness that provided a witness account, said there were two collisions three to five seconds apart? Why wouldnt they go look at his vehicle?

Jury selection in the trial began on Tuesday in the Van Nuys courtroom more than three years after the brothers deaths.

Eleven-year-old Mark Iskander died at the scene of the crash and his eight-year-old brother Jacob died in hospital (ABC 7/screengrab)

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Joseph Brandolino, who is now overseeing the trial, ruled this week that the court will be allowed to prove to jurors that Ms Grossman was in the midst of a love affair with Mr Erickson at the time of the crash.

Ms Grossman, co-founder of the Grossman Burn Foundation, is married to prominent surgeon Dr Peter Grossman.

At emotional pre-trial hearings in 2022, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Shellie Samuels determined the defence attorneys argument that Ms Grossman was rushing home was not accurate.

The defendant was not rushing to get home; she was playing a high-speed game of chicken with Mr Erickson, Judge Samuels said, according to The Los Angeles Times. I believe the defendant went well beyond gross negligence.

The crux of the judges ruling for the socialite to stand trial for the murder of the two brothers came from detailed testimonies about the speed her car was travelling at in a residential area, where the posted limit was 45mph.

Data extracted from her Mercedes SUV revealed that she had hit 81mph just 1.5 seconds before the fatal crash.

Sheriffs Deputy Robert Apodaca, a traffic crash specialist, provided testimony in the preliminary hearings to state that he calculated the socialites SUV to be travelling at 71.7mph when she first hit the boys, which was a slight adjustment from the 81mph speed she was allegedly tearing through the neighbourhood at before approaching the crosswalk.

Grossmans white Mercedes-Benz is seen after the motorist allegedly struck and killed two young brothers in September 2020. (Lost Hills Sheriffs Office/Facebook)

The boys mother, Nancy Iskander, provided a harrowing account of what she witnessed during that fatal crash in the fall of 2020, during which she said the pair of SUVs were zigzagging with each other as if they were playing or racing.

They didnt stop before the intersection. They didnt stop at the intersection. They didnt stop when an 11-year-old was on the hood of the car  Nobody stopped, she recounted in a tearful account at the time.

Ahead of this weeks trial, Ms Iskander posted a birthday tribute online to her son, Jacob. He wouldve been 12 years old.

Happy Birthday in Heaven Jacob, I miss you, not a second has gone by without me wishing I am with you, she wrote. Jacob mattered, say his name today as he turns 12.

Ms Grossman is charged with two counts of second-degree murder, two counts of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence and one count of hit-and-run driving resulting in death.

Mr Erickson, 55, was charged with misdemeanor reckless driving. In February 2022, a judge ordered him to make a public service announcement geared toward high school students about the importance of safe driving. Mr Erickson has denied any wrongdoing.
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The LA Innocence Project has reportedly taken up the case of Scott Peterson, who was convicted of murdering his pregnant wife in 2004.

The organisations mission is to exonerate the wrongly convicted and free the wrongfully incarcerated. Peterson, 51, was sentenced to death following his conviction, but this was overturned in 2020.

ABC reports that the LA Innocence Project is seeking new evidence from the original trial. Peterson pleaded not guilty to the charges and his legal team has maintained his innocence.

In a statement shared with The Independent, a spokesperson for the group said: The Los Angeles Innocence Project (LAIP) represents Scott Peterson and is investigating his claim of actual innocence.

Laci Peterson was 27 years old and eight months pregnant at the time of her death in December 2002. She and Peterson had been married for five years.

According to prosecutors, Peterson dumped his wifes body in the Berkeley Marina on Christmas Eve of that year and attempted to make it seem as if she had gone missing.

Scott Peterson was denied a new trial in 2022 (AP)

In 2004, Peterson was convicted of murder, and he was sentenced to death in 2005. The sentence was overturned in 2020 by the California Supreme Court.

He was resentenced in 2021 to life in prison without the possibility of parole and moved off death row in October 2022.

Peterson was denied a new trial two months later.

The decision came more than a year after the California Supreme Court ordered Superior Court Judge Anne-Christine Massullo to review if juror misconduct led to Peterson getting an unfair trial.

His legal team argued that juror seven, a woman called Richelle Nice, had not been telling the truth and had concealed information regarding her private life which they claimed was conflicting.
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Police have arrested a suspect in the grisly stabbing death of an American art dealer in Brazil, according to authorities.

Investigators in the state of Rio arrested a man named Alejandro Triana Trevez near the city of Uberaba, located in the neighbouring state of Minas Gerais. The suspect is a Cuban national who was allegedly on the run.

Police found him resting at a gas station and took him into custody, according to a statement from law enforcement, according to CBS News.

He is accused of killing Brent Sikkema, 75, who was found in his Rio de Janeiro apartment on Monday stabbed 18 times.

Mr Trevez is also accused of taking $3,000 from Mr Sikkema's home.

Detective Felipe Curi, the head of Rio's police homicide unit, told CBN Rio that they currently believe the robbery led to the homicide.

"Initial findings of our investigation indicate that Alejandro [Trevez] came from Sao Paulo specifically to commit this crime," Mr Curi said.

Mr Sikkema was a founder of a New York art gallery near Chelsea Piers. The Sikkema Jenkins & Co gallery issued a statement confirming Mr Sikkema's death.

"It is with great sadness that the gallery announces the passing of our beloved founder, Brent Sikkema," the statement read. "The gallery grieves this tremendous loss and will continue on in his spirit."

Mr Sikkema opened his first gallery in 1976 in Boston.

He previously expressed his love for locations like Cuba and Brazil, noting that he was a "chaos kind of guy," in an Instagram post.

Mr Sikkema previously told IdeaFix that his apartment in Rio de Janeiro was an "oasis" away from New York City, where he lived most of the time.

Yancey Richardson, a friend of Mr Sikkema and the owner of a nearby art gallery, spoke with The New York Times about his contemporary.

"I'm shocked," he said. "Brent had a terrific eye and thought outside of the box. He wasn't just mounting one painting show after another."
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A roundup of some of the most popular but completely untrue stories and visuals of the week. None of these are legit, even though they were shared widely on social media. The Associated Press checked them out.

___

A panel of healthcare experts discussed Disease X at Davos. But its only a hypothetical illness

CLAIM: A deadly contagion known as Disease X is emerging and under discussion at the World Economic Forums 2024 annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland.

THE FACTS: Disease X is not real. It is the name given to a hypothetical pathogen that is being used to help plan for future health crises. Global healthcare experts this week spoke on a WEF panel called Preparing for Disease X. The name was coined by the World Health Organization in 2018. In the days leading up to Wednesdays panel on the topic, social media users began sharing a range of posts misrepresenting Disease X as real, and portraying it as an imminent threat to society. Disease X is the mystery contagion that the World Economic Forum is having a meeting about TODAY! reads one Instagram post that had received more than 2,000 likes as of Thursday before it was deleted. Apparently it could have 20 times more fatalities than COVID. Remember they always tell us whats coming. But Disease X is not an actual illness. The WHO introduced the concept as part of its 2018 list of diseases that pose the greatest public health risk. The information helps guide global research and development in areas such as vaccines, tests and treatments. Disease X represents a hypothetical pathogen that could one day cause an epidemic or pandemic, according to a 2022 announcement about the WHOs intent to update its list. An initial version of the list, which did not include Disease X, was published in 2017 and another update is planned for the first half of 2024. Actual diseases on the current list include COVID-19, Zika, Ebola and SARS, among others. Targeting priority pathogens and virus families for research and development of countermeasures is essential for a fast and effective epidemic and pandemic response, Dr. Michael Ryan, executive director of the WHOs Health Emergencies Programme, said in the 2022 press release. Asked for comment on false claims about Disease X, the WHO sent The Associated Press an updated copy of the release, which was nearly identical to the one from 2022. The Davos panel discussing Disease X on Wednesday featured global healthcare leaders, including WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus; Nisia Trindade, Brazils minister of health; and Nancy Brown, CEO of the American Heart Association.

___

Migrants in NYC were temporarily housed in a local school during a storm. The school has not shut down

CLAIM: A New York City high school was shut down to house migrants who entered the U.S. illegally.

THE FACTS: News that migrants living in a temporary shelter at Floyd Bennett Field, a former airport, would wait out out a storm at James Madison High School led to false claims on social media that the move would be long term. Nearly 2,000 migrants housed in tents at the Brooklyn shelter were moved temporarily to the high school in the boroughs Midwood neighborhood on the evening of Jan. 9. All of the migrants had left the school by early the next morning. Classes were held remotely on Jan. 10 and resumed in person the next day. (Heart)BREAKING: New York has shut down a highschool so that it can become a shelter for illegal aliens, reads one post on X, formerly Twitter. But the move was temporary, the migrants were at James Madison High School for less than 12 hours. To be clear, this relocation is a proactive measure being taken out of an abundance of caution to ensure the safety and well-being of individuals working and living at the center, Kayla Mamelak, a spokesperson for New York City Mayor Eric Adams, said in a statement on Jan. 9, referencing the Floyd Bennett Field shelter. The relocation will continue until any weather conditions that may arise have stabilized and the facility is once again fit for living. Aries Dela Cruz, a spokesperson for the New York City Office of Emergency Management, told The Associated Press that migrants began loading onto buses at Floyd Bennett Field at about 4:50 p.m. on Jan. 9 and arrived at the school starting about 5:30 p.m. The last buses arrived about 8 p.m. Some families arrived on their own after hearing about the relocation. The agency wrote on X that the migrants had all returned to Floyd Bennett Field by 4:27 a.m. on Wednesday, after winds had subsided. Fabien Levy, another Adams spokesperson, wrote on X Wednesday that as the rain died down early this AM, we were able to move all the migrants out of James Madison High School by 4:15 this morning, and all headed back to Floyd Bennett Field. James Madison High School wrote in a Facebook post late Tuesday that all classes would be remote the next day. Regular in-person instruction resumed the next day. The decision to house migrants at James Madison High School led to widespread anger, including a protest outside the school and a bomb threat directed at the institution. But Adams stressed at a press conference on Jan. 10 that using schools in emergency situations was nothing new.

___

Starbucks watermelon mug was part of its UK summer collection, not a show of support for Palestinians

CLAIM: Starbucks has begun selling a watermelon mug to signal its support for Palestinians amid the Israel-Hamas war and appease those boycotting the chain.

THE FACTS: The mug was part of Starbucks U.K. summer collection, which launched in May 2023, months before the conflict broke out, a company spokesperson told The Associated Press. Starbucks, as well as many customers, featured the mug in socialmediaposts around that time. While fighting continues in the third month of the Israel-Hamas war, some on social media are falsely claiming that Starbucks is selling the watermelon mug to mitigate damage caused by a boycott of the company over the conflict. Posts spreading online include photos and videos of the mug, which features a watermelon design on each side  green on the bottom with a white stripe through the middle and red with black seeds near the rim. its giving were so sorry pls come, reads one post on X, formerly Twitter, that had received approximately 58,000 likes and more than 18,600 shares as of Friday. yall aint fooling us. we still boycotting. But the mug has nothing to do with the Israel-Hamas war and was launched months before the fighting began, according to Jaci Anderson, a Starbucks spokesperson. Any stores still selling the product would simply have leftover stock from its May 2023 release, Anderson said. The mug can be seen in social media posts from around the time it became available for purchase. A June 22 post on Starbucks U.K. Facebook page, for example, shows the mug as part of a beach picnic. Multiple TikTok users postedvideos, starting in May, that showed the watermelon mug among the companys other summer merchandise. Colors found in a slice of watermelon, the green and white rind, red pulp and black seeds, also appear in the Palestinian flag. For years watermelon has been used as a sign of defiance against Israeli actions. Watermelon imagery has more recently become a symbol of solidarity in protests against the Israel-Hamas war, particularly where displaying the flag has been banned. In October, Starbucks sued Workers United  the union organizing its employees  over a pro-Palestinian message on social media that used Starbucks name and a circular green logo resembling that of the coffee chain, saying that customers might be confused about its origin. The lawsuit was refiled in November, adding language about workers rights to express political views and emphasizing a desire to protect worker safety and Starbucks reputation. Starbucks has not taken an official stance on the conflict, but those boycotting the chain have said they see this as a failure to offer more support to the people of Gaza. The company says of its position on the war:  Starbucks stands for humanity. We condemn violence, the loss of innocent life and weaponized speech. Despite false statements spread through social media, we have no political agenda.

___

Find AP Fact Checks here: https://apnews.com/APFactCheck
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The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is investigating Boeing and Atlas Air after a 747 plane taking off from Miami experienced an engine fire.

Atlas Air flight 95 was departing from Miami International Airport around 10.30pm on Thursday heading to Luis Munoz Marin International Airport in Carolina, Puerto Rico, three miles southeast of San Juan.

In a statement, the airline said, At Atlas, safety is our core value and always our top priority, and we will be conducting a thorough investigation.

According to a preliminary report released by the agency, officials discovered a softball-sized hole above the second engine. The plane later turned around and made an emergency landing at the Miami airport. No injuries were reported.

Its the second time this month that the agency has launched an investigation against the company. The FAA previously announced a probe against the company after a door plug blew off an Alaska Airlines flight midair on 5 January.

After the incident, United Airlines and Alaska Airlines found loose bolts on their models of the Boeing 737 Max 9, which was used for the flight. Only 40 out of 171 planes have been inspected, the FAA said this week.

The agency has grounded the aircraft until they undergo proper inspections, resulting in hundreds of flight cancellations daily. The safety of the flying public, not speed, will determine the time of returning these aircraft to service, the agency said.

The National Transportation Safety Board is also investigating the Alaska Airlines flight in addition to the Atlas Air incident.

Responding to the accident, a Boeing representative said, We are supporting our customer and will support the NTSB investigation into this incident.

GE Aerospace, which manufactures the engines used on the 747-8 plane, said, Safety is our first priority, and GE Aerospace is providing technical assistance to our customer, the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board as they investigate the incident.

In a video posted to social media, flames can be seen spouting from the aircraft as an onlooker gasps.

Oh my god! Its on fire, a woman be heard saying in the footage.
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Iguanas may once again be falling from the sky in southwest Florida over the weekend.

Matt Devitt, the chief meteorologist for WINK News in Florida, shared a graphic on Thursday warning residents "from Sanibel to Cape Coral to Naples" to keep an eye open for raining reptiles.

The temperature in the state's southwest is expected to drop into the 40s  30s with windchill  over the weekend. The cold snap is part of a broader system that brought snow and ice to huge swaths of the US this week.

Iguanas typically prefer hot climates, ideally no lower than 75 degrees Fahrenheit. But every so often temperatures drop enough  45F or lower  to essentially force the cold-blooded lizards into a flash hibernation until warmer air returns.

This can cause tree-dwelling Iguanas to fall from branches and onto the ground. Residents in Florida are regularly warned to leave the stiff iguanas alone. Even though the reptiles aren't moving, they're still alive, and can recover once the climate suits their scales.

Because iguanas are an invasive reptile species in Florida, residents are permitted to humanely kill the creatures. However, those hoping to use them as a snack are warned they do so at their own risk.

Human Iguana Control, an iguana removal service operating in Florida, warned that eating iguana meat or iguana eggs can be hazardous to humans.

We highly advise against consuming these wild reptiles. Iguanas are herbivores and primarily feed on landscaping plants and fruits found around homes and businesses. Unfortunately, the flora in these areas is often treated with pesticides, which can pose significant health risks, the service said on its website.

The website recommends only eating iguana at restaurants serving up food grade meat.

Eating wild iguanas can be risky because they may have been exposed to pesticides and diseases. If you want to try iguana dishes, its best to look for places where iguanas are raised for people to eat," it said.

So, to recap: its going to get cold, and iguanas may fall from the sky. If they do, leave them alone, they aren't dead, they're freezing. If a resident kills them, they should do it humanely, and not eat them. When it gets warm again, they'll wake back up and get back to doing iguana business until the next big chill.
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Another lawsuit has been filed against Panera Bread, an American bakery-cafe chain, relating to its Charged drinks.

Lauren and Christopher Skerritt sued the restaurant giant on Tuesday in the Deleware Superior Court allegeding that the company was negligent in creating their Charged drinks, calling the design defective and dangerous.

According to the complaint, Ms Skeritt went to the companys Greenville, Rhode Island location on 8 April 2023 and consumed two and a half Panera Charged Lemonades. She said she ordered the drink because it was advertised as plant-based and clean.

The company reportedly markets the drink as having the same amount of caffeine as its dark roast coffee.

After drinking the beverages, the woman said she suffered from three palpitations and almost fainted while at church. Based on the court filings, shed never experienced those symptoms before.

The following day she went to the Emergency Department at Rhode Island Hospital and told medical professionals what shed recently consumed. The nurse attending to Ms Skeritt noted that the drink had high levels of caffeine.

While at the hospital, the woman reportedly fainted and her heart rate started to increase and she was subsequently moved to the critical care unit. Sudden episodes of rapid heartbeat continue to occur without pattern, the documents state.

Ms Skeritt was later diagnosed with early onset atrial fibrillation. She continues to experience symptoms she says are related to the experience, including shortness of breath, palpitations, brain fog, body shakes, weakness and difficulty thinking and concentrating.

She has also reportedly developed a tremor in her left hand and is currently taking daily medication to regulate her heart rate and rhythm. Court documents state that she can no longer function at her previous capacity.

Defendants knew or should have known that the Panera Charged Lemonade, as designed and formulated, once consumed, could injure children, pregnant and breastfeeding women, people with underlying heart conditions, and poeple sensitive to caffeine by causing catastrophic injuries and/ or death.

The Independent has reached out to Panera Bread for comment.

Ms Skeritt is suing the company for negligence, fraud and two other business-related counts.

Hers is the third lawsuit to be levelled against the company in regards to the beverages, which come in the flavours Fuji Apple Cranberry, Strawberry Lemon Mint or Mango Citrus.

In August, Jill and Michael Katz, the parents of 21-year-old Sarah Katz, filed a lawsuit against the company following their childs death in 2022 which they believe stemmed from her consuming the beverage.

Based on the lawsuit, Ms Katz suffered a cardiac arrest and was transfered to Pennsylvania Presbyterian Hospital, where she went into cardiac arrest a second time and died. She also suffered from a heart condition.

In December, family members of Dennis Brown, a 46-year-old man, sued the company over his death after he drank the beverage and suffered a cardiac arrest on 9 October 2023 in Florida. He was found unresponsive on the sidewalk and pronounced dead at the scene, the lawsuit states.

Elizabeth A Crawford, the attorney representing the families, said the Katz case is currently in discovery and the lawsuit filed by Mr Browns relatives is soon to be in discovery.
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Remarks made by Donald Trump lawyer Alina Habba in a recent interview about faking being smart resurfaced after she endured two tough days in court during her clients civil trial for defamation damages.

Ms Habba repeatedly clashed with New York judge Lewis A Kaplan in court on Tuesday and Wednesday, during the former presidents civil trial to determine damages for defaming columnist E Jean Carroll.

These included the response to repeated objections, and her failure to stand up when making them, as well as continuing to petition for a postponement of the trial so that the former president can attend the funeral of his mother-in-law.

After a further attempt of the latter on Wednesday, Ms Habba was issued a sharp rebuke from Judge Kaplan. She responded by asking the judge not to speak to her in that way.

I dont like to be spoken to that way. And we are going to be here for several days, she said. I am asking your honour to please refrain from speaking to me in that manner.

Alina Habba (AFP via Getty Images)

Social media users were quick to return to a clip of Ms Habba during a recent interview on a 4 January episode of the PBD podcast, in which she said she would rather be pretty than smart.

Discussing her looks, Ms Habba said: I dont think Id be on TV or sitting here if I didnt look the way I look. I think I caught attention.

Im very honest about that and I dont mind. Im not a feminist, I believe in strong women but I want my door opened [for me].

She continued: Somebody said to me Alina, would you rather be smart or pretty? and I said Oh easy, pretty I can fake being smart.

Sharing the clip on Wednesday, Ron Filipkowski, editor-in-chief of Meidas Touch, wrote: Alina Habba proved in court today that this statement is categorically false.

Former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen also responded to Ms Habbas performance, predicting another bigly loss for the former president, while US political blogger Jeff Tiedrich wrote: f****** shocked to learn that Alina Habba cant fake being smart.

Elsewhere in court, Ms Habba appeared to struggle when referring to documents that had not been put into evidence. Judge Kaplan ordered a recess in proceedings so that she might refresh her memory on how to.

Donald Trump and Alina Habba in court (REUTERS)

She later asked the judge how should I proceed? when questioning Ms Carroll about tweets she had received and then requested a mistrial on grounds that evidence had been deleted  which was immediately denied.

Ms Habba ended her cross-examination of Ms Carroll by pointing out that the gun the writer had bought to defend herself against hundreds of death threats was unlicensed. Dont even start, Judge Kaplan told her.

Mr Trump has already been found liable for sexually assaulting Ms Carroll in the 1990s and for defaming her. The current trial is to establish how much the former president must pay for repeating the defamation.
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Donald Trumps attorney, Alina Habba, arrived at the federal courthouse in downtown Manhattan on Thursday dressed in all black with her hair pulled back in a tight bun  a noticeable deviation from her colourful, trendy outfits and typical hairstyle.

It was day three of the defamation trial between writer E Jean Carroll and Mr Trump, in which a jury is being asked to determine how much, if any, damages the former president owes Ms Carroll for defaming her in statements he made in 2019 denying he knew her or sexually assaulted her.

Last year, a jury found Mr Trump liable for sexual abuse and defaming Ms Carroll in statements he made in 2022.

So far the trial has been contentious. On Wednesday, Ms Habba was reprimanded multiple times by Judge Lewis Kaplan.

Shortly after 9.30am on Thursday, Ms Habba took to the lectern to finish her cross-examination of Ms Carroll. Almost immediately her questioning resulted in a sidebar and sustained objections. That pattern continued most of the morning.

Ms Habbas numerous attempts to enter old tweets into evidence were objected to and sustained. One of her questions to Ms Carroll was struck from the record. Judge Kaplan asked Ms Habba to move on multiple times and had to remind her to respect his rulings.

At one point, the judge interrupted Ms Habbas questioning of Ms Carroll to direct her to be more clear.

This is evidence 101, he said exasperatedly.

Ms Habba was clearly frustrated with the number of sustained objections. At times, she shook her head, subtly lifted her hands in exasperation and at once let out an audible sigh.

Though Thursdays trial contained less palpable tension between the defence and the judge (whether or not that has to do with the former presidents presence is up to interpretation), it was unmistakable that Ms Habba was not making friends in the courtroom.

Alina Habba, attorney for former President Donald Trump leaves Manhattan Federal Court on January 18, 2024 in New York City. (Getty Images)

Much of Ms Habbas approach to defending her client consisted of using social media posts, specifically from X, where people sent mean messages to Ms Carroll, criticising her for coming forward with allegations of sexual assault.

Each time Ms Habba presented a post, she asked Ms Carroll to read the time it was sent. Seemingly, a tactic to show that the former Elle columnist was receiving hate mail before Mr Trump defamed her in a June 2019 statement.

Later on, she showed several of Ms Carrolls old tweets  specifically ones where Ms Carroll was writing unreservedly about sex or relationships.

Toward the end of her cross-examination, Ms Habba asked Ms Carroll about her social status and notoriety after she came forward with rape allegations against the former president. Ms Habba mentioned notable people who congratulated Ms Carroll after winning damages in her trial last year like Kathy Griffin, Jamie Lee Curtis and Alyssa Milano.

Thank you for reminding me, Ms Carroll said when recalling the kind messages she received after her trial last year, leading the courtroom to giggle.

E. Jean Carroll enters Manhattan Federal Court, in the second civil trial after she accused former U.S. President Donald Trump of raping her decades ago, in New York City, U.S., January 18, 2024 (REUTERS)

After Ms Carrolls cross-examination, the court moved on to hear testimony from Ashlee Humphreys  a professor at Northwestern University who specialises in consumer behaviour and marketing.

Ms Humphreys testified that she analysed the impact of Mr Trumps statements on Ms Carrolls reputation. She estimated that 21 to 24 million people saw the former presidents defamatory statements and believed them.

She estimated it would cost at least $12 million to repair Ms Carrolls reputation.
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Nikki Haley is going all in on what she sees as the safest line of attack against Donald Trump  questions about his mental fitness and temperament in a year where the incumbent Democratic president is facing similar concerns.

The former South Carolina governor and UN ambassador sat down with NBCs Craig Melvin for an interview with the Today show on Tuesday as she prepares for a showdown with Mr Trump in her home state that is a litte more than a week away. The primary election in South Carolina could be a jolt in the arm of her campaign as she continues to steeply trail the frontrunner  or, it could be the death knell of her presidential bid. It could also be neither of those things, as she plods along towards Super Tuesday in March.

Ms Haley made some of her most forceful criticism of Mr Trumps mental state yet during the interview.

The problem now is, he is not the same person he was in 2016. He is unhinged; he is more diminished than he was, just like Joe Bidens more diminished than what he was, Ms Haley told NBC.

We have to see this for what it is, she went on. This is a fact: he is now saying things that don't make sense.

She contrasted Mr Trumps mood and temperament now with what she experienced during his administration, when the former UN diplomat said that Mr Trump was responsive when his deputy came to him with concerns. Two of those concerns she named directly: his response to a white nationalist riot in Charlottesville, Virginia, as well as his pattern of rhetoric about women.

If something was wrong ... I had a conversation with him about Charlottesville, I had a conversation about something that he would say about women, I had a conversation with him about multiple things, said Ms Haley.

Ms Haley has made her opponents age an issue the same way Trump-aligned Republicans have sought to cast doubts about Mr Bidens focus and mental clarity. Some of the ex-presidents more rabid supporters have even taken things a step further and openly suggested that the incumbent president has dementia.

Concerns about Mr Bidens memory were energised by the release last week of a report authored by Justice Department Special Counsel Robert Hur regarding the investiation into the presidents handling of classified documents. During interviews, Mr Hur described the president as severely forgetful and unable to recall details about major events from his life, including the death of his son Beau. Mr Biden would go on to angrily rebut that criticism at a press conference.

"You've got Joe Biden, where the special counsel said he was diminished, and he's not the Joe Biden he was two years ago," Ms Haley told NBC on Tuesday. "You've got a Donald Trump who's unhinged, and he's more unhinged than he ever was.

[W]hy are we settling for that when the country is in disarray and the world is on fire?" she aked. We don't want these two old men running. We want someone who's going to go and fight for us and work for us, with no drama, no vendettas."

The no vendettas line was a clear reference to Mr Trump frequent vows of revenge against his political enemies; he has told supporters that he will direct the Justice Department to prosecute Joe Bidens family if he is elected for a second term, and a group of conservative organisations is purportedly working on plans to seriously diminish the independence of the Justice Department to allow him to do so.

Ms Haley continues to trail Mr Trump according to all available polling, both in South Carolina and nationwide. Her campaign has begun looking ahead to primary states voting in March even as she hopes for a shock performance in her home state similar to the stronger-than-expected showing she had in New Hampshire.
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Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene was furious on Thursday after Congress passed a bill that will prevent a partial government shutdown.

Ms Greene told The Independent that she opposed enacting a continuing resolution  necessary to avoid this weekend's deadline to have budgets in place  based on her opposition to US funding for Ukraine in its defence against Russia.

The Democratic-led Senate voted 77-18, and the Republican-led House followed suit, voting 314-108, in favour of the bill.

(Getty Images)

"I'm voting no to this funding bill, absolutely. I'm not going to vote for the CR," she said.

She then claimed the war in Ukraine was "pretty much over."

The vote split the House GOP in half, with 107 members voting for the bill, and 106 opposing its passage.

Republicans have long opposed continuing resolutions and a handful of conservatives joined a motion to vacate former speaker Kevin McCarthy when he passed a continuing resolution in September. In response, his replacement, Speaker Mike Johnson, pledged that he would not govern through continuing resolutions.

Rather, shortly after his election, Mr Johnson shepherded the passage of a laddered CR where part of the government spending would lapse on 19 January and the other half on 2 February.

But Republicans in the House failed to muster enough votes to pass 12 individual spending bills. Ms Greene said that voting for continuing resolutions essentially keeps spending levels passed during the previous Congress when Democrats controlled the House majority.

We've been passed a single appropriation bill since we've got a new speaker, she told The Independent, noting how this was the second stopgap spending bill to pass under Mr Johnson.

Under the new spending bill, spending for one half of the government will expire on 1 March and the other half will do so on 8 March.

The House Freedom Caucus also opposed to continuing resolution.

Its failure for the American people to, once again, pass a significant piece of legislation that keeps in place with predominant Democrat votes, the policies that we ran against, and campaigned against, Congressman Bob Good of Virginia, the chairman of the hard-right faction in the House of Representatives told The Independent.

But Mr Good, one of the eight Republicans who voted to remove Mr McCarthy in October, did not answer when asked whether he would entertain a motion to vacate.

The only people out here talking about that is you guys, he said.

Similarly, Ms Greene said that her red line to oust Mr Johnson would be additional funding for Ukraine.

For me, it's the United States Congress, in the entire federal government would really be waging a war against Russia itself in Ukraine at this point, funding this war when it's pretty much over, she said.

Like previous continuing resolutions, the stopgap spending bill does not include aid for Ukraine because Republicans  who largely oppose supporting the country in its war against Russian aggression  and have mandated that it be linked to measures restricting immigration.

At issue is that many conservatives oppose the top lines negotiated between President Joe Biden and House Republican leadership in bipartisan legislation to raise the debt limit.

Were negotiating our top lines and we need the House to negotiate theirs with us, Senator Patty Murray, the Democratic Chairwoman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, told The Independent. Well, that's been frustrating. You know, we all need to get this done. And there's only one way to do that.

Congressman Tim Burchett of Tennessee, who also voted to eject Mr McCarthy as speaker, expressed frustration but he did not say Mr Johnson had gone back on his word.

Votes aren't there apparently  people don't think like I do and that's the situation, he told The Independent.
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Hunter Biden will testify behind closed doors before the House Oversight and Judiciary Committees, as part of the ongoing Republican impeachment inquiry into his father.

Mr Biden will sit for a deposition on 28 February according to Republican sources. The announcement appears to have resolved a dispute over demands for his testimony that had escalated in recent weeks. The presidents son had previously insisted on testifying publicly.

His deposition will come after several interviews with Biden family members and associates. We look forward to Hunter Bidens testimony, said Representatives James Comer of Kentucky and Jim Jordan of Ohio, the committees respective chairmen.

Republicans had been set to advance a contempt resolution against him to the House floor this week but called it off on Tuesday to give the attorneys additional time to negotiate.

The agreement concludes months of contentious back-and-forth between Mr Biden and Republicans who have been investigating his overseas business dealings for over a year in an effort to connect it to his father.

Republicans, led by Comer and Jordan, first subpoenaed the presidents son in November, demanding that he appear before lawmakers in a private setting by mid-December.

Mr Biden and his attorneys had refused to comply with the private interview, saying that it would allow information to be selectively leaked and manipulated by House Republicans and insisted that he would only testify in a public setting.

When Republicans denied those terms, he and his attorneys made two separate appearances at the US Capitol.

In both instances, Mr Biden again refused to testify privately, instead delivering statements to the press where he defended his business affairs and castigated the yearslong investigations into him and his family.

The impeachment inquiry into the president Biden which began in September, has focused heavily on his sons international business affairs, questioning whether the president profited from that work.

It has so far failed to uncover evidence directly implicating the president in wrongdoing involving his sons work.

Hunter Biden, President Joe Biden's son, accompanied by his attorney Abbe Lowell, left (AP)

Meanwhile, Democratic members of Congress have published evidence showing that former Donald Trumps hotel properties earned more than $7m from foreign governments, mostly from China, during his presidency. Mr Trump has declined to deny those claims.

The Republican-led committees have so far refrained from opening investigations into Mr Trump and his familys business dealings during his time in the White House.

News of Hunter Bidens private testimony next month comes as he faces several other courtroom battles.

He previously pleaded not guilty to charges accusing him of lying about his drug use in October 2018 on a form to buy a gun.

His lawyers have said that he did not break the law despite struggling with addiction to crack cocaine during the same period of 2018. Mr Biden has since said he has stopped using drugs.

He also pleaded not guilty to federal tax charges in Los Angeles last week, with prosecutors in California alleging he took part in a four-year scheme to not pay at least $1.4m in self-assessed federal taxes he owed for tax years 2016 through 2019.
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A lawyer for the Hollywood attorney who lent Hunter Biden money to cover a multi-million dollar debt to the Internal Revenue Service says staff working for House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer lied to him and his client, Kevin Morris, when they asked that Mr Comer not selectively leak portions of his testimony given during a deposition on Thursday.

In a letter to Mr Comer which was obtained by The Independent, Mr Morris lawyer, Bryan Sullivan, slammed the Kentucky Republican for reneging on assurances given after Mr Sullivan asked that the GOP-led panel release the entirety of Mr Morris testimony and accused him of leaking cherrypicked, out of context and totally misleading descriptions of what his client actually said behind closed doors.

When we started todays interview of my client Mr. Kevin Morris, I specifically pointed out the practice of Republicans in making partial leaks of witness statements rather than releasing the actual transcript so the public would know the truth and not your often inaccurate spin and misstatements. I specifically asked that this not to be done with Mr. Morris transcript and, if such were done, that the entire transcript be released, he wrote, adding that in response, Mr Comers staff had promised that Mr Morris would be treated fairly.

And, then you did not treat Mr. Morris fairly and engaged in your standard practice of partially and inaccurately leaking a witnesss statements, he continued before pointing out that Mr Comer had chosen to issue a statement that mischaracterised his clients comments not two hours after the deposition had concluded.

So much for the promise of your staff that Mr. Morris would be treated fairly, he wrote.

Mr Sullivan also noted that he was writing to correct the record in response to Mr Comers statement, citing nine separate examples of the Oversight panel chair deliberately misstating what had transpired during the closed-door deposition.

In one instance, he said Mr Comers claim that Mr Morris decision to loan Hunter Biden funds to cover a debt to the IRS was driven by a desire to insulate thenpresidential candidate Joe Biden from politcal liability was a deliberate mischaracterisation of what hed testified to.

Mr Morris was concerned only that people like you not drag him into things like former President Trumps impeachment, began helping Mr. Hunter Biden for that reason, and Mr Morris testified that he never thought about President Bidens campaign that he was only focused on helping his client, Mr Hunter Biden, he said.

Mr Sullivan also took issue with Mr Comers use of quotation marks around the word loan in the statement, writing that appeared the Bluegrass State representative had made that stylistic choice to give the impression that Mr. Morris loans to Mr Hunter Biden were somehow not real.

To the contrary, Mr Morris repeatedly testified he actually loaned the money to Mr Hunter Biden, that these loans were reviewed by lawyers for each of them, that they have proper loan terms such as interest and a term, and that he expected Mr Hunter Biden to repay these loans, he said, adding later that Mr Comer had falsely claimed that the loans made to Mr Biden arent due until after this years election.

Continuing, he added that Mr Comer had also falsely characterised Mr Morris interactions with President Biden as some form of meaningful access rather than cursory greetings delivered at events he attended as a guest of Hunter Biden, including the November 2022 wedding of Naomi Biden at the White House.

These minimal interactions and attendance at large events are hardly the impression that you intended with your false and misleading description, he said.

Mr Sullivan concluded his letter by calling on Mr Comer to release the full transcript of the deposition, writing that a dueling rendition of what Mr Morris actually said is unnecessary.

Just release the full transcript. Why would you be reluctant or afraid to do that, other than it will disprove your spin? Let the public see the truth, he said.

In a statement, an Oversight Committee spokesperson said the panel intends to release the transcript soon once it is completed by the stenographer.

The transcript will affirm Chairman Comers readout of the interview with Kevin Morris, the spokesperson added.
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US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has been summoned to testify in front of a House committee over why his recent hospitalisation was kept a secret from the president.

A letter sent by House Armed Services Chair Mike Rogers demanded that Mr Austin appear before a committee on 14 February to explain why decisions to withhold the information were made.

Mr Austin was hospitalised on New Years Day with complications resulting from prostate cancer treatment after undergoing a procedure to treat his prostate cancer on 22 December. He was subsequently transferred to intensive care on 2 January.

In his letter, Mr Rogers said that the Defense Secretarys full honesty and cooperation were expected in the matter, adding that anything short of that is completely unacceptable.

When you and I last spoke, you promised full transparency into questions regarding the secrecy of your recent hospitalization. While you did respond to some of my questions I had for you, a concerning number of questions were not addressed, the letter read.

Specifically, I am alarmed you refused to answer whether you instructed your staff to not inform the President of the United States or anyone else of your hospitalization.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press All rights reserved)

Unfortunately, this leads me to believe that information is being withheld from Congress. Congress must understand what happened and who made decisions to prevent the disclosure of the whereabouts of a cabinet secretary.

At the hearing next month Mr Austin is expected to provide direct testimony regarding decisions made to withhold information from the President, Congress, and the American people.

The letter from Mr Rogers also included a series of written questions for the committee to review in preparation for the hearing.

Mr Austin was heavily criticised after it was revealed that neither President Joe Biden nor Mr Austins deputy secretary, Kathleen Hicks, knew about the surgery or subsequent intensive care admission until 4 January.

Mr Austin also kept his cancer diagnosis a secret from Mr Biden and senior officials until 9 January.

Mr Austin, who lives in Virginia, later apologised for keeping his surgery a secret, saying he takes full responsibility and that he could have done a better job ensuring the public was appropriately informed.

The summons to the House Committee hearing comes shortly after the release of a 911 call revealing details of the night an ambulance was called for Mr Austin.

The aide who placed the call had asked the dispatcher to have first responders discreetly arrive on the scene.

Can the ambulance not show up with lights and sirens? Were trying to remain a little subtle, said the caller, whose identity was redacted, according to an audio recording obtained by The Daily Beast.

The dispatcher responded by saying the ambulance, which arrived at Mr Austins home, could do that, noting that usually when they turn into a residential neighborhood, theyll turn them off.

She added that the ambulance is required by law to run the sirens and lights on main streets.
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US Attorney General Merrick Garland said he agrees with Special Counsel Jack Smiths request for a speedy trial in Donald Trumps federal election interference case  citing an increased public interest ahead of the 2024 election.

In an interview with CNN this week, Mr Garland provided few, but firm, comments on the special counsels investigation and upcoming trial against Mr Trump related to the former presidents alleged involvement in conspiring and working to overturn the 2020 election results.

The special prosecutor has said from the beginning that he thinks public interest requires a speedy trial, which I agree with, Mr Garland said.

While facing criminal and civil trials, Mr Trump is also the 2024 Republican frontrunner.

He and his campaign have used the cases against him as leverage to appeal to potential voters by painting Mr Trump as innocent, unfairly targeted and a martyr.

The matter is now in the hands of the trial judges to determine when the trials will take place, Mr Garland said.

Mr Trump and Mr Smith were slated to go to trial on 4 March for his federal election interference trial  one of the most consequential cases hes facing.

Former US president Donald Trump after attending the civil fraud trial against the Trump Organisation in New York City on 11 January 2024 (AFP via Getty Images)

However, that date will likely be pushed back as the former presidents immunity appeal makes its way through the court system.

The appeal is one of many that Mr Trumps legal team has invoked to delay or dismiss the case. The former president and his allies have been highly critical of Mr Smith, Mr Garland and the Department of Justice for their investigations into the former president.

But Mr Garland told CNN that the investigations and indictments against Mr Trump were done through proper procedure.

We have reasserted and clarified the norms of this Justice Department, we follow the facts and the law wherever they lead. Politics is not a part of our determination, it would be improper, Mr Garland said.

Special Counsel Jack Smith delivers remarks on a recently unsealed indictment against former president Donald Trump on 9 June 2023 (Getty Images)

One of the ways Mr Garland has made sure politics do not play a role is by appointing several special counsels to investigate political figures like Mr Trump, Joe Biden and Hunter Biden  the son of President Biden.

In each case, we have appointed people who are formerly veteran career prosecutors, Mr Garland said.

Special counsels are appointed by Mr Garland to investigate and possibly prosecute a case where the justice department may have a conflict of interest. They are independent from Mr Garland, though they operate under the same department.

With respect to the public, I hope they will see and not only from what weve done but the outcomes of the cases and the way in which special counsel has proceeded that we have kept politics out of this, Mr Garland said.
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Swarms of protesters descended upon a Moms for Liberty event in New York City.

The far-right organisations Thursday night event, which featured former Rep George Santos and Rudy Giulianis son, was advertised as a town hall to have an honest conversation on the state of education in New York City.

Moms for Liberty  which the Southern Poverty Law Center has described as an extremist group  largely focused on their old standards at the event, fearmongering about transgender youth and antiracist education in schools.

According to The Daily Beast, panelists included community education council member Maud Maron , who has called trans children a social contagion, Paul Rossi , a former private school teacher who was fired for opposing the schools antiracism curriculum, and Wai Wah Chin, whose advocacy against affirmative action helped to end it.

Mr Santos  who was ousted from Congress in December and now faces prosecution  told The Daily Beast he thought Moms for Liberty did good work.

They advocate for common sense in schools amid all this insanity, Mr Santos said.

The event, held on Manhattans Upper East Side, was flanked by protesters, many holding signs and chanting Love, not hate! outside the venue.

One of the protesters, a Bronx-based public school teacher named Jo Macellaro, held up a sign that read, Im the trans teacher youre so scared of.

Trans kids I know just want to be kids, they told The Daily Beast.

Several local lawmakers showed up for the demonstration. Among them were Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine, who addressed the crowd, saying Moms for Liberty had met its match in Manhattan.

We believe in children. We believe in teachers. We believe in librarians. We love books. We treasure our precious LGBTQ young people, Mr Levine said. And we know that Moms for Liberty are a bunch of hypocrites.
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The Department of Justice has asked for a six-month prison sentence for former Trump aide Peter Navarro for contempt of Congress.

On Thursday, federal prosecutors argued in a 20-page filing that Mr Navarro put his loyalty to former President Donald Trump above the law when he declined to work with the House Select Committee looking into the Capitol riot on 6 January 2021.

Mr Navarro, who was a trade and pandemic adviser in the Trump White House who later pushed baseless claims of voter fraud, acted without a lawyer as he defied a subpoena from the House, instead relying on a press statement issued by former President Donald Trump in November 2021 saying that he didnt have to work with another committee that was looking into the handling of the pandemic, prosecutors argued.

The 74-year-old was found guilty of two charges of contempt in September last year after he refused to testify or hand over documents after receiving a House subpoena in February 2022.

In a cover letter accompanying the subpoena, the Committee gave the Defendant some examples of why the Committee believed the Defendant had relevant information, including that it had been reported that the Defendant had worked with various individuals to change the outcome of the 2020 presidential election and that the Defendant had publicly repeated discredited claims of election fraud, DoJ prosecutors write in their filing.

The sentencing memo begins with DoJ noting that when Peter K Navarro was served with a subpoena from the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, he thumbed his nose at Congressional authority and refused to comply  even before knowing what information the Committee sought. He cloaked his bad-faith strategy of defiance and contempt behind baseless, unfounded invocations of executive privilege and immunity that could not and would never apply to his situation.

The Defendant, like the rioters at the Capitol, put politics, not country, first, and stonewalled Congresss investigation, they added.

The prosecutors argued that Mr Navarros refusal to comply worsened the damage made to Congress.

The rioters who overran the Capitol on January 6, 2021, did not just attack a building  they assaulted the rule of law upon which this country was built and through which it endures. By flouting the Committees subpoena and its authority to investigate that assault, the Defendant exacerbated that assault, following the attack on Congress with his rejection of its authority, they write in their conclusion.

Prosecutors have already requested a six-month sentence for right-wing podcaster Steve Bannon, a former Trump White House chief strategist. In October 2022, he was sentenced to four months in prison, but the sentence is suspended pending an appeal.

Mr Navarro or Mr Bannon could become the first person in more than 50 years sent to prison for defying a congressional subpoena under a statute thats seldom used, The Washington Post noted.

US District Judge Amit Mehta scheduled the sentencing hearing for next Thursday. Mr Navarros lawyers asked for probation, noting that their client didnt think he had to comply with the subpoena because Mr Trump had invoked his executive privilege over his testimony.

Mr Navarros attorneys John Irving, John Rowley III and Stanley Woodward III argued that Dr Navarros trial and conviction involves a series of firsts: the first time an incumbent President waived the executive privilege of a former President; the first time a senior presidential advisor was charged with contempt of congress by the Justice Department, let alone the Justice Department of a political rival.

Dr Navarros sentence should not be disproportionate from those similarly situated individuals, they added about those who have previously defied congressional subpoenas.

Mr Rowley has said that Mr Navarro is planning on appealing his conviction.

Mr Navarros plan to overturn the 2020 election included getting Trump allies in both chambers of Congress to contest ballots from six states won by Mr Biden to drag out the process of certifying his electoral college victory and eventually throwing the election to the House, where Mr Trump had many supporters, according to his memoir and interviews with media outlets, including The Daily Beast.

Mr Navarro said his responsibility was to hand evidence of fraud to lawmakers to make the challenges to the ballots justified, while Mr Bannons role was to build support for the plan among the GOP members, The Post noted.
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Attorneys for Donald Trump told the US Supreme Court that a ruling to disqualify him from 2024 ballots would unleash chaos and bedlam.

The nations highest court will hear oral arguments next month to consider whether Mr Trump is ineligible for the presidency under the scope of Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, which bars anyone who has sworn an oath to uphold the Constitution and engaged in insurrection or rebellion from holding public office.

Last months historic Colorado Supreme Court decision at the centre of the case determined that his actions on January 6 during the attack on the US Capitol constituted overt, voluntary, and direct participation in the insurrection.

The case was appealed to the Supreme Court as Trump v Anderson, among dozens of challenges from voters and state officials to Mr Trumps eligibility under the provisions of the 14th Amendment. A decision from the high court could have sweeping impacts for Mr Trumps campaign as he seeks the Republican nomination for president while battling criminal cases and lawsuits across the US.

The Court should put a swift and decisive end to these ballot-disqualification efforts, which threaten to disenfranchise tens of millions of Americans and which promise to unleash chaos and bedlam if other state courts and state officials follow Colorados lead and exclude the likely Republican presidential nominee from their ballots, Mr Trumps attorneys wrote in their brief to the court on Thursday.

Mr Trump is not even subject to Section 3, according to his attorneys, pointing to language that applies to an officer of the United States.

And even if President Trump were subject to Section 3 he did not engage in anything that qualifies as insurrection, his attorneys wrote. The Court should reverse on these grounds and end these unconstitutional disqualification efforts once and for all.

Among more than a dozen filings to support or oppose the parties in the case, a group of Republican secretaries of state warned that the justices could unleash an unfortunate parade of horribles unless they reverse the Colorado decision.

Dozens of Republican members of Congress  including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who has previously held Mr Trump practically and morally responsible for January 6, when a mob assaulted the halls of Congress in his name  also urged the court to reverse the Colorado decision.

Justices will hear oral arguments in the case on 8 February.

The case is one of two major constitutional challenges involving Mr Trumps campaign and the volatile aftermath of the 2020 presidential election, which fuelled the attack at the Capitol that informs the 14th Amendment challenges against him. Justices are also likely to review whether Mr Trump has presidential immunity from charges connected to his attempts to overturn election results, pending an imminent decision from a federal appeals court.

A three-judge federal appeals court panel appeared sceptical of Mr Trumps arguments during a hearing earlier this month. An appeal of that case would likely head to the high court.

Section 3 of the 14th Amendment holds that no person who took an oath to support the Constitution can hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State if they engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same or gave aid or comfort to the enemies thereof.

A lawsuit filed by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington on behalf of a group of Colorado voters in September argued that Mr Trump had failed Section 3s test, rendering him constitutionally ineligible to appear on any Colorado ballot as a candidate for federal or state office.

In November, in a decision following a trial and arguments stemming from the lawsuit, Colorado District Judge Sarah Wallace found that not only did Mr Trump incite the attack on the Capitol in an effort to block the peaceful transfer of power after the 2020 election, he also engaged with it.

Mr Trump acted with the specific intent to incite political violence and direct it at the Capitol with the purpose of disrupting the electoral certification, she wrote.

After an appeal to the states highest court, Colorado justices wrote in a 4-3 majority opinion on 19 December that President Trump did not merely incite the insurrection.

Even when the siege on the Capitol was fully underway, he continued to support it, they continued. These actions constituted overt, voluntary, and direct participation in the insurrection.
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The US is carrying out airstrikes in three countries across the Middle East. It has sent billions of dollars in military hardware and is providing tactical support for its closest ally in the region, which is embroiled in a war against one militant group and almost daily skirmishes with another on its northern border. US forces in two of those countries have been attacked more than 150 times in the last three months, and the de-facto ruling power in an impoverished country in the Red Sea has brought international shipping there to a grinding halt.

It was not announced with great ceremony, as previous American adventures in the Middle have been  in fact, it was not announced at all. But the US is now embroiled in a regional war against an alliance of Iran-backed militant groups spread from Syria to Yemen. That war is being conducted with little congressional oversight, and with little acknowledgement from the Biden administration of the scale of the fighting.

It is an outcome that the Biden administration has claimed to have worked hard to prevent, but analysts say that the presidents unconditional support of Israels war against Hamas, in retaliation for the Palestinian groups attack on 7 October, has ignited a tinderbox that will be difficult to contain.

Unfortunately, we are now deep into a regional war and all the parties involved have made the worst possible miscalculations, says Thanassis Cambanis, senior fellow and director of Century International, who warned of such an eventuality in the early days of the Israel-Hamas war.

Indeed, the Biden administrations two main priorities in the aftermath of the Hamas attack seemed incompatible from the start. Mr Biden promised unconditional support for Israels war in Gaza, and to prevent that conflict spiralling into a wider regional war. But Mr Cambanis argues it was precisely the Biden administrations support for the war in Gaza, and refusal to use its leverage to pressure Israel to end it, that fuelled the regional escalation.

The Islamic Republic has spent years building a network of allied militant groups (AP)

The most important step to calming the wider regional conflict is ending the war in Gaza. It has been thus from the very beginning, he tells The Independent. The US retains a lot of leverage it has sadly chosen not to use and it continues to be a central driver of the conflict.

In the early days of the conflict, Mr Biden achieved the first of his objectives  supporting Israels ability to attack Hamas in Gaza  by sending hundreds of millions of dollars of military supplies to Israel, bypassing Congress to do so speedily.

Then, to deter any Hamas allies from joining the fray, the US sent two aircraft carrier strike groups to the eastern Mediterranean. The US was particularly concerned about the Lebanese group Hezbollah, which fought a devastating war against Israel in 2006. In an interview given just days after the Hamas attack, Mr Biden issued a stark warning: To any country, any organisation, anyone thinking of taking advantage of the situation, I have one word: Dont.

Those words would fall on deaf ears, however.

Israels fight with Hamas in Gaza is at the centre of this conflict, but it is also just one part of a greater proxy war between rivals Israel and Iran. The Islamic Republic has spent years building a network of allied militant groups opposed to Israel under a concept referred to as unity of the fronts. Those groups  which include the Syrian government, Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in Gaza, Houthi rebels in Yemen and various Shia militant groups in Iraq and Syria  have been furnished with military training, financial support, missiles, and the ability to make their own missiles. All of them have now been drawn into the fight in some form.

As Israel pursued its war against Hamas with increasing ferocity, and the civilian toll rose by the day in the thousands, attacks against US interests spiked across the region. US military officials have counted more than 150 attacks against its troops in Iraq and Syria since 17 October. In early December, the US embassy in Baghdad was targeted with rocket fire.

Those attacks have continued as a steady drumbeat in the background of the devastating Gaza war. But it was the Lebanese group Hezbollah that gave the US the most concern.

Hezbollah and Israel have fought increasingly fierce skirmishes on the border for some months now. So far, the two have managed to prevent an all-out war, but that may not last forever. Speaking in early January, Benny Gantz, a member of Israels war cabinet and former defence minister, told reporters that the stopwatch for a diplomatic solution is running out.

If the world and the Lebanese government dont act in order to prevent the firing on Israels northern residents, and to distance Hezbollah from the border, the IDF will do it, he said.

Houthi rebels demonstrate against strikes on military sites near Sanaa, Yemen (AP)

The US might have been able to deal with the small-scale attacks against its forces in Iraq and Syria. It was involved in Gaza, but only indirectly. And Hezbollah was largely avoiding action that could spark a wider conflict. But the biggest problem for the US came from an unexpected place.

The entry of Yemens Houthi rebels has opened a new front in the region for US forces. The Houthis, an Iran-backed group that controls most of Yemen and has survived a years-long US-backed bombing campaign by Saudi Arabia, inserted itself into the fray on 19 October, nearly two weeks after the Hamas attacks, when Israels bombing campaign against Gaza was well underway. On that day it fired a barrage of missiles and drones towards Israel and said the attacks would continue until the war stopped and humanitarian aid was delivered to Gaza.

For weeks these missiles, supplied by Iran, continued to be fired towards Israel. All of them were intercepted either by Israeli air defence or US warships in the region. Then, on 14 November, Houthi leader Abdulmalik al-Houthi warned his group would target Israeli ships in the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandeb Strait. Less than a month later, the group started attacking all ships that it claimed were heading to Israel. In reality, it also targeted ships with tenuous or no links to the country at all.

Many shipping companies suspended passage through the Strait and global shipping was severely disrupted as a result. Global trade dropped by 1.3 per cent in December as a result of the disruption, and the number of shipping containers passing through the Red Sea fell by 60 per cent.

On 11 January, after the Houthis ignored repeated warnings, the US and the UK carried out air and missile strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen. The strikes targeted the capital Sanaa, as well as Saada, Hajjah, Hudaydah, and Taiz governorates. The Pentagon says 60 targets were hit using more than 150 precision-guided munitions. These targeted strikes are a clear message that the United States and our partners will not tolerate attacks on our personnel or allow hostile actors to imperil freedom of navigation, US president Joe Biden said.

Iranian-made missile components bound for Houthi members seized off a vessel in the Arabian Sea (AP)

With that, the US went from indirect involvement to a new bombing campaign in the Middle East. President Biden, outlining the justification for the strikes, said they intended to send a clear message that the United States and our partners will not tolerate attacks on our personnel or allow hostile actors to imperil freedom of navigation in one of the worlds most critical commercial routes.

The US also redesignated the Houthis as a terror group, after the Biden administration had taken the group off the list in one of the first acts after entering the White House.

The strikes dont seem to have halted the attacks, however. In the last week, there have been 30 attacks by the Houthis on shipping in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.

Farea Al-Muslimi, a Yemeni writer and research fellow at Chatham House who has spent years writing about the US-backed Saudi bombing campaign of Yemen, and US strikes against Al Qaeda before that, believes the US is fighting a losing battle.

Biden is in one of these moments where its damned if you do, and damned if you dont. If you let the Houthis get away with this, its dangerous and bad for business. Then if you bomb them, you are escalating and opening another front line, he said.

The US-owned carrier ship Gibraltar Eagle, which was targeted by Houthi rebels on Monday (AP)

But they have tried bombing for many years, with al-Qaeda. The Saudis tried it. And it doesnt work in Yemen. So it seems to be that the policy of the current US administration is to be in a regional war without calling it one, he added.

Mr al-Muslimi believes the US and others may have misunderstood, and perhaps underestimated the Houthis. Far from being a mere proxy of Iran, they have their own strategic reasons for stepping forward at this moment.

First, when they say they support Palestine, they really mean that. They ideologically believe in that and think they can help, he said.

For them, Gaza is a chance to re-emerge as a power player. Can you think about it right now? Twenty years ago they were in flip-flops, now they are demanding the withdrawal of forces from Gaza and halting shipping in the Red Sea.

Despite the continuing airstrikes against Houthi targets on Thursday, the Biden administration has downplayed the idea that the US is already engaged in a regional war.

"We dont seek war, we dont think we are at war. We dont want to see a regional war," the Pentagons deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh said at a briefing on Thursday.

Colin P Clarke, senior fellow at the Soufan Center, described the many overlapping crises in the Middle East as a perfect storm for the Biden administration, and believes the reason why they are reluctant to concede the seriousness of the conflict may lie with domestic concerns.

The stated goal of the administration from early on in the Gaza war was to prevent the conflict from spreading and becoming a regional war. Admitting were in a regional war would be akin to admitting a policy failure, not something you want to hand your opponents in an election year, he said.

So they just dont admit it, and continue to plod forward while hoping this winds down, that seems to be the strategy.

In the meantime, President Biden appears to be committed to continuing to bomb Yemen until the attacks in the Red Sea are halted.

When he was asked by a reporter if the airstrikes in Yemen were working, he replied tersely: Well, when you say working are they stopping the Houthis? No. Are they going to continue? Yes.
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The worlds oldest ever dog has had his title suspended as his owners claims about his age are investigated by officials.

Bobi the Portuguese mastiff was supposedly 31 years old when he died in in October after being awarded the title in February last year.

Not only Bobi crowned the oldest dog alive at the time, he was also deemed to be the oldest dog that had ever lived, beating out an Australian cattle dog called Bluey, who lived 29 years and five months before his death in 1939.

Bobis age came under scrutiny soon after he was crowned by Guinness World Records, with many questioning the difference in Bobis paws over the years and while genetic testing confirmed the pup was elderly, it did not determine an exact age.

Bobis age came under scrutiny soon after he was crowned by Guinness World Records, with many questioning the difference in Bobis paws over the years (Screengrab/ Guinness World Records)

In December, an investigative article from Wired re-sparked the speculation over Bobis real age - which is the equivalant to 200 human years - with information about official records coming to light.

Now, Guinness World Records have suspended the dogs title. A spokesperson said: While our review is ongoing we have decided to temporarily pause both the record titles for Oldest dog living and ever just until all of our findings are in place.

According to the report in Wired, SIAC - a Portuguese government database for the registration of cats, dogs, and ferrets - does indeed have Bobis records registered.

However, an official said that while Bobis owners declared he had been born in 1992, they had no registration or data that can confirm or deny this statement.

Experts have also cast doubts over Bobis legitimacy. Danny Chambers, a vet and council member of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons previously told The Guardian that not a single one of my veterinary colleagues believe Bobi was actually 31 years old.

Bobi with his owner Leonel Costa (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

Several vets were also consulted in the investigative article, with one saying Bobis coat appeared to differ between red and brown in some photographs and another casting doubt on how he had been able to live so long when he appeared to be overweight.

The Guinness World Records told The Independent that the investigation is still ongoing and the title removal is temporary until the review has been completed.

At the time he was bequeathed his title, Bobi was described as a calm and sociable pet who enjoys relaxing by the fireplace on particularly cold days.

The dogs owner, Leonel Costa, said: Bobi has been a warrior for all these years, only he knows how hes been holding on  it must not be easy because the average dogs life span is not that high.

If he spoke only he could explain this success.
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An Italian province is set to track down dog owners who dont clean up after their pets  by using DNA testing on the mess.

A dog DNA registration database will be set up so that street cleaners and health officials in Bolzano can collect poop to be sent for genetic testing.

Owners of dogs traced from the DNA will face fines of 50 to 500 euros (43 to 430).

Any owner who refuses DNA profiling for their dog will face fines of up to 1,048 euros.

The provincial government covering Bolzano city and surrounding towns in the picturesque Dolomites region is creating the database for the almost 40,000 dogs in the area, veterinary department director Paolo Zambotto said. About 10,000 have already been registered.

Bolzano receives a few hundred complaints a year from citizens about improper management of public land. More than half are for dogs, he said.

Law enforcement could only catch three or four of them because they have to go there and set up some kind of stakeout.

Mr Zambotto said other Italian cities had been in touch to potentially replicate the law.

Trials of similar schemes have been carried out in some parts of London, the Spanish city of Tarragona, Seattle, USA, and Tel Aviv in Israel.

Barking and Dagenham council, the first UK authority to use the new technology, reported a 50 per cent drop in dog faeces left in parks.

Last year, a trial scheme in the southern French town of Beziers required dog owners to carry their pets genetic passport to tackle the problem.

In Bolzano, a mountainous German-speaking province near Austria, tourists and non-residents will exempted from the regulation.

DNA registration will become compulsory from around late March. Owners will be expected to have blood tests for their dogs, in municipal dog shelters or vet clinics, costing up to 100 euros or more.

Mr Zambotto did not give an estimated cost for the project, but the fines are expected to cover detection and administration expenses.
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Vladimir Putin could launch an attack on Nato in the next five to eight years, Germanys defence minister has said  with one top officer within the alliance even calling on nations to be ready for an all-out war with Moscow within two decades.

With the Russian presidents rhetoric towards Nato nations becoming increasingly hostile, conflict could come at any time.

We hear threats from the Kremlin almost every day ... so we have to take into account that Vladimir Putin might even attack a Nato country one day, Boris Pistorius said.

While a Russian attack is not likely for now, the minister told German outlet Der Tagesspiegel, he added: Our experts expect a period of five to eight years in which this could be possible.

On Thursday, top Nato military commander Admiral Rob Bauer said private citizens need to be ready for a possible conflict within 20 years.

We have to realise its not a given that we are in peace. And thats why [Nato forces] are preparing for a conflict with Russia, Admiral Bauer, a Dutch naval officer who chairs the Nato Military Committee, said. He warned that a large number of civilians will have to be mobilised if a wider war breaks out in Europe and the process of recruiting much larger reserve forces should be put in place by governments now.

The discussion is much wider... people that have to understand they play a role... The realisation that not everything is plannable and not everything is going to be hunky dory in the next 20 years.

Ukrainian soldiers on the eastern frontline against Russias forces (AP)

Admiral Bauer was speaking after a committee meeting in Brussels. It comes with Nato set to launch its biggest military exercises in decades next week. Around 90,000 personnel are set to take part in months of drills aimed at showing the alliance can defend all of its territories up to the Russian border.

The admiral praised Sweden for asking all of its citizens to brace for war ahead of the country formally joining the alliance. Stockholms move, announced earlier this month, has led to a surge in volunteers for the countrys civil defence organisation and a spike in sales of torches and battery-powered radios.

Carl-Oskar Bohlin, Swedens minister for civil defence, had told a security conference that war could come to Sweden. The commander-in-chief, Micael Byden, then warned the same gathering that Russias war against Ukraine is just a step, not an end game.

We need to realise how serious the situation really is, and that everyone, individually, need to prepare themselves mentally, he said. Opposition politicians accused the government of seeking to play up the threat of war for political gain.

In his interview with Der Tagesspiegel, Mr Pistorius said the Swedish warnings were understandable from a Scandinavian perspective, adding that Sweden faced an even more serious situation, given how close it is to Russia. Stockholm has applied to join Nato but is waiting for approval from Turkey and Hungary to join. Finland was approved last year.

We also have to learn to live with danger again and prepare ourselves  militarily, socially and in terms of civil defence, Mr Pistorius warned.

Stockpiles of weapons and ammunition have been drained across Europe, the US and beyond in supporting the defence of Ukraine, and will take years to replenish at the current rate of production.

We need to be readier across the whole spectrum, Admiral Bauer said. You have to have a system in place to find more people if it comes to war, whether it does or not. Then you talk mobilisation, reservists or conscription.

You need to be able to fall back on an industrial base that is able to produce weapons and ammunition fast enough to be able to continue a conflict if you are in it.

The Nato exercises next week  dubbed Steadfast Defender 24  will show that Nato can conduct and sustain complex multi-domain operations over several months, across thousands of kilometres, from the high north to central and eastern Europe, and in any condition, a statement from the 31-member organisation said.

Troops will be moving to and through Europe until the end of May in what is described as a simulated emerging conflict scenario with a near-peer adversary  essentially Russia.

The alliance will demonstrate its ability to reinforce the Euro-Atlantic area via transatlantic movement of forces from North America, Natos supreme allied commander, US General Christopher Cavoli, said earlier this week. General Cavoli said it will demonstrate our unity, our strength, and our determination to protect each other.

Britains defence secretary, Grant Shapps, has said that the UK will send 20,000 troops backed by advanced fighter jets, surveillance planes, warships and submarines, to take part in the exercises  with many being deployed in eastern Europe from February to June.

A day earlier, Admiral Bauer said the alliance needed a warfighting transformation and asked the public and private actors in the West to gear up for an era in which anything could happen at any time, including fighting a war.

Nato governments and companies should adjust their thinking to an era in which anything can happen at any time, an era in which we need to expect the unexpected, an era in which we need to focus on effectiveness in order to be fully effective, he said.

Admiral Bauer also pledged the alliances backing for Ukraine and said that the nation facing a Russian invasion will have our support for every day that is to come, because the outcome of this war will determine the fate of the world.

Nato as an organisation is not directly involved in the conflict, except to supply Kyiv with non-lethal support, although many member countries send weapons and ammunition individually or in groups, and provide military training.
 Close Moment Russian plane carrying Ukrainian prisoners of war appears to crash

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At least seven people, including three children, have been killed overnight after a Russian drone hit a petrol station in the north-eastern city of Kharkiv.

The strike caused a massive fire that burned down 15 private houses, while 50 people were evacuated as emergency workers tackled the blaze.

It comes as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky sacked army chief Valeriy Zaluzhny and replaced him with Oleksandr Syrsky.

It follows days of speculation that Zelensky was considering dismissing Zaluzhny, who is seen by many Ukrainians as a national hero for overseeing the war effort since February 2022.

We discussed what renewal the Armed Forces of Ukraine need. We also discussed who could be in the renewed leadership of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The time for this renewal is now, Zelenskys statement said on Telegram.

In other developments, Ukrainian troops have shot down a Russian attack helicopter in eastern Ukraine near the city of Avdiivka as soldiers step up street fighting, Kyiv claimed.

Meanwhile, Russian forces launched the second largest combined drone and missile strike on Ukraine this year with around 64 munitions hitting the country, according to a US think tank.
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Increasing tensions between Israel and the US have burst into the open, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu angrily rejected any moves to establish a Palestinian state when the conflict in Gaza ends.

Despite some lukewarm endorsements of a two-state solution across his political career, Mr Netanyahu has mostly sought to obstruct the idea, but this is his sharpest rebuttal of what is foreign policy for staunch ally the US. It comes as Mr Netanyahu is under increasing international pressure to rein in Israels military operations in Gaza, that health officials in the Hamas-run territory has left almost 25,000 Palestinians dead.

The prime minister repeatedly said on Thursday that Israel would not halt its offensive in Gaza until the goal of absolute victory over Hamas is fulfilled. Mr Netanyahu, whose domestic political support has plummeted since Hamass 7 October attack on southern Israel that killed about 1,200 Israelis and saw another 240 people taken hostage, appeared to explicitly tie his own political survival to operations inside Gaza.

In a nationally televised news conference, Mr Netanyahu said: "We will not settle for anything short of an absolute victory."

He also said Israel must have security control west of the River Jordan, which would include the territory of any future Palestinian state. "This is a necessary condition, and it conflicts with the idea of [Palestinian] sovereignty. What to do? I tell this truth to our American friends, and I also stopped the attempt to impose a reality on us that would harm Israel's security," he said.

He added that the offensive would take "many more months" and would include the return of the remaining 130 Israeli hostages. Israel's war on Hamas in Gaza has uprooted around 85 per cent of the territory's 2.3 million people from their homes, with aid agencies warning of the increasing toll that airstrikes, ground operations and a blockade are taking on residents.

Mr Netanyahus statement triggered a sharp response from Washington  with President Joe Biden having expended plenty of political capital in supporting Israels war.

"We obviously see it differently," said John Kirby, the White House national security spokesperson, adding that Mr Biden would "not stop working" toward a two-state solution.

US secretary of state Antony Blinken on Wednesday said the two-state solution was the best way to protect Israel, unify moderate Arab countries and isolate Israel's arch-enemy, Iran.

Without a "pathway to a Palestinian state" Israel would not "get genuine security", he said at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

Hardline members of Mr Netanyus coalition government has long opposed the two-state solution, arguing that a Palestine state would become a launching pad for attacks on Israel.

Mr Netanyahu's opponents accuse him of delaying any discussion of postwar scenarios to avoid looming investigations of governmental failures, keep his coalition intact and put off elections. There has also been increasingly visible frustration among senior Biden officials with the Israeli prime minister.

Mr Netanyahu certainly appears to have tied his own political survival to events in Gaza.

The day after Netanyahu, he said on Thursday. Its the day after most of Israels citizens. For 30 years, I have been consistent, saying one simple thing: this conflict is not about a lack of a state, but about the existence of a state.

Every territory we pull out from, we get terror, terrible terror against us. It happened in southern Lebanon, it happened in the Gaza Strip, and it happened in [the occupied West Bank] when we did it, in parts, he added.
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As conflicts in the Middle East rage on social media has become the new battleground for misinformation and propaganda.

And one Yemeni social media user who went viral on TikTok has now had his videos removed after attracting millions of views by promoting Houthi rebels.

In a video that could be an attempt to echo the dramatic flair of Disneys Pirates of the Caribbean films, the attractive, well-groomed Yemeni influencer can be seen posing to the camera as music plays in the background, while he holds the national flag and looks out to sea.

A video of a Yemeni pirate posing onboard a boat in the Red Sea has gone viral (X )

While it has been removed from TikTok for breaching their community guidelines, his videos continue to appear on Instagram and X, formerly known as Twitter.

Introducing himself as the Pirate King, Rashid Al Haddads hashtags include #PalestineIsOurCause and #AbuObeida, a reference to the military spokesperson for Hamas al-Qassam Brigades.

Despite the group wreaking havoc on the global market by attacking commercial cargo ships crossing the Red Sea in support of Gaza, comments underneath his videos are largely positive or trivial.

Supporters of the Houthi movement rally to denounce air strikes launched by the US and Britain on Houthi targets, in Sanaa, Yemen 12 January 2024 (Reuters)

Trending under hot Houthi pirate, the video has racked up 11m views on X alone, with users writing this man looks like a movie star and one asking Where can I find those pirates? Asking for a friend.

Others have compared him to American actor Timothee Chalamet, while others have expressed support for their cause, with videos of demonstrators singing in protest in the capital Sanaa also attracting millions of views and being widely shared across Instagram.

The influencer, who has previously posted pictures with an AK-47 over his shoulder, has now called for his tens of thousands of followers to turn their attention to Gaza.

While his account has been banned from TikTok, Al Haddads also runs numerous social media accounts on Facebook, Instagram and Threads, with 26,000 subscribers to his Youtube channel.

The video of the Yemeni pirate has been viewed over 11 million times (X/Twitter)

Dr Christine Cheng, a senior lecturer in war studies at Kings College London, said: They (the Houthis) have really seized an advantage here and an opportunity to get their message out.

They are using the media in quite a strategic way, we have seen this in Russia - not so much with the most recent attacks in Ukraine but earlier when we were looking at 2014. They really pulled off something specuatular in the region around Crimea, they really harnessed the social media landscape to change the narrative.

The videos came just days after the US and the UK led airstrikes against Houthi bases in retaliation for the targeting of international trade, with 60 targets in 28 locations hit by missiles.

Houthi fighters and tribesmen stage a rally against the U.S. and the U.K. strikes on Houthi-run military sites (Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

On Monday, Rishi Sunak said the government would not hesitate to protect UK security and that the aim of the action was to de-escalate tensions in the region and actually restore stabillity back to the area.

In their most recent update on 12 January, TikTok said they had removed more than 1.5million videos and suspended more than 46,000 livestreams in Israel and Palestine for violating their community guidelines, which included promoting Hamas, terrorism and misinformation.

Meanwhile, tens of millions of pieces of content have been removed across the globe and moderators have prevented teen accounts from viewing more than 1.5million videos containing graphic violence.
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The dispute between the train drivers union, Aslef, and 14 train operators in England is into its third calendar year.

With no settlement in sight to the long and bitter row over pay and working arrangements, the union has begun its first strikes for 2024.

Train drivers belonging to Aslef are stopping work region-by-region over the course of a week between Tuesday 30 January and Monday 5 February. Thousands of trains will be cancelled on each day.

The effect is exacerbated by a nine-day ban on overtime running from 29 January to 6 February.

Mick Whelan, general secretary of Aslef, says some members have not had a pay rise for five years  and ministers have refused to engage with the union for a year.

He told The Independent: Any industrial action is incredibly damaging, but after 18 months out on strike, and after a year with no one in the government or the [train operating] companies talking to us, we are forced to raise the profile of our issues.

Rail minister Huw Merriman told The Independent: Strikes just hold the railway back. We believe a fair and reasonable offer is there on the table for Aslef if they put it to their members.

These are train drivers that paid an average 60,000 for a 35-hour, four-day week, That pay deal would take them up to 65,000.

We hope that they will take the opportunity to take it. Then we can all talk about the positives of rail.

Separately, the 14 train operators have reached a tentative agreement with the RMT union that has put an end to walk-outs while talks continue on a local level. But the RMT has called two 48-hour strikes in February and March on the London Overground.

These are the key questions and answers.

Which rail firms are affected?

Aslef is in dispute with the train operators that are contracted by the government to provide rail services. They are:

Intercity operators:

Avanti West Coast

CrossCountry

East Midlands Railway

Great Western Railway (GWR)

LNER

TransPennine Express

Southeast England commuter operators:

C2C

Greater Anglia

GTR (Gatwick Express, Great Northern, Southern, Thameslink)

Southeastern

South Western Railway (including the Island Line on the Isle of Wight)

Operators focusing on the Midlands and north of England:

Chiltern Railways

Northern Trains

West Midlands Railway

ScotRail, Transport for Wales, Transport for London (including the Elizabeth Line), Merseyrail and open-access operators such as Grand Central, Hull Trains and Lumo are not involved. But their services are likely to be extremely crowded on stretches where they duplicate strike-hit companies.

What is the strike schedule?

Monday 29 January: overtime ban begins.

Tuesday 30 January: South Western Railway, Southeastern and GTR (Southern, Gatwick Express, Great Northern and Thameslink).

Wednesday 31 January: Northern and TransPennine Express.

Thursday 1 February: no strike but overtime ban continues.

Friday 2 February: Greater Anglia, C2C and LNER.

Saturday 3 February: West Midlands Trains, Avanti West Coast and East Midlands Railway.

Sunday 4 February: no strike but overtime ban continues.

Monday 5 February: Great Western, CrossCountry and Chiltern.

Tuesday 6 February: no strike but overtime ban continues for a final day.

What are the likely effects of the strikes?

These predictions are based on latest statements from rail firms and The Independents observation of previous strikes. They should be confirmed before travel.

Great Northern (30 January): Shuttle service calling at London Kings Cross and Cambridge only (and probably branded Thameslink) with limited operating hours.

Thameslink (30 January): Shuttle service calling at St Pancras, Luton Airport Parkway and Luton only. The firm says its trains will be extremely busy and that queueing systems will be in place.

You may not be able to board your chosen service, says Thameslink. If you are planning to travel on one of the last trains of the day, please be aware that, depending on the size of the queue, you may not be able to board a service at all, and no alternative transport options will be provided after the last train departs. Please plan ahead and leave plenty of time to reach your destination.

Southern (30 January): No trains except a nonstop shuttle service between London Victoria and Gatwick airport, from 6am to 11.30pm.

Gatwick Express (30 January): The Southern airport shuttle, above, is doing the work.

Southeastern (30 January): No trains.

South Western Railway (30 January): The service is relatively extensive compared with other train operators.

Up to four stopping trains per hour between London Waterloo and Woking.

Hourly semi-fast trains between Waterloo and both Guildford and Basingstoke. A shuttle will run from Basingstoke to Salisbury every 90 minutes.

Two trains per hour will also run between Waterloo and Feltham via Richmond and Twickenham. No trains on the Isle of Wight.

Northern (31 January): No trains. The operator says that it expects two key routes to be very busy on 3 February when East Midlands Railway is on strike: Leeds-Sheffield-Nottingham and Sheffield-Manchester.

TransPennine Express (31 January): No trains. There will be some alterations to evening services on Tuesday 30 January and to early morning services on Thursday 1 February, the company says.

C2C (2 February): No trains. The company warns: Upminster car park will likely become full and close early in the day. Upminster is the eastern end of the District Line of the London Underground, which will be running normally.

Greater Anglia (2 February): Limited service linking London Liverpool Street with Norwich, Ipswich and Colchester; Southend Victoria; Cambridge; and Stansted airport.

LNER (2 February): Regular trains on core routes linking London Kings Cross with Doncaster, York, Newcastle and Edinburgh. First trains will depart at around 8am, with most journeys finished by 7pm. Leeds will have a limited direct service, but connections are available from Doncaster.

Avanti West Coast (3 February): No trains. The operator says: Services on the days either side of the strike will also be affected.

East Midlands Railway (3 February): No trains. The train firm warns: No rail replacement bus services will be provided. Other train operators may be running a reduced service due to an overtime ban.

West Midlands Railway (3 February): No trains, and a warning that services on Sunday 4 February will see widespread delays and cancellations.

Chiltern (5 February): No trains either on the strike day or on the previous day, Sunday 4 February, as the train operator is dependent on drivers working overtime on Sunday to operate any trains at all. The overtime ban means no services will run.

CrossCountry (5 February): No trains.

Great Western Railway (5 February): On the actual strike day, a core service will run between London Paddington and Oxford, Bath and Bristol, with a link from Bristol to Cardiff. A limited service on branch lines in Devon and Cornwall. The Night Riviera sleeper service from London to Penzance will not run for a number of nights.

In addition to the disruption on strike days, trains on adjacent days may be affected. Services on these days are also likely to be extremely busy due to passengers moving their journeys to avoid industrial action.

What about the new minimum service levels law?

Legislation now allows the transport secretary to stipulate minimum service levels (MSLs) on strike days amounting to 40 per cent of the normal service. The government says the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act 2023 aims to ensure that the public can continue to access services that they rely on, during strike action.

No train operator is seeking to impose the new law on the train drivers union. LNER said it might do so, and opened consultations, at which point Aslef called a separate five-day strike on LNER alone. Then the train operator said it would not require drivers to work, and the strike was called off.

The BBC reports that the prime minister is disappointed that train operators had not implemented minimum service levels. A Downing Street spokesperson said: Yes, its something that we and the public expect them to use.

Weve been repeatedly been clear that this legislation is available for train operators to use.

The Transport Select Committee has previously warned of potential unintended consequences of the legislation. The Conservative chair, Iain Stewart, said: There is a risk of MSLs worsening worker-employer relations and that, as a result, MSLs could end up making services less reliable.

The minimum service level rules do not apply to union bans on non-contractual rest-day working.

Is there a worst day?

Yes. In terms of sheer number of passengers hit, Tuesday 30 January is the most disruptive. It is aimed at commuters in southeast England, the majority of whom use the affected train operators. Normally Southern, Thameslink, Great Northern, South Western Railway and Southeastern carry around 40 per cent of all passengers.

Intercity travellers will be worst affected on Friday 2 and Saturday 3 February, when the main operators on the East Coast and West Coast main lines, plus the Midland main line, will be hit.

Sunday 4 February is also likely to be severely disrupted mainly because of the ban on rest-day working. Chiltern Railway, which would normally run trains between London and Birmingham, says no services will run at all due to the overtime ban.

Disruption will be heightened by planned engineering work between Birmingham and Wolverhampton on the West Coast main line and between London Kings Cross and Stevenage on the East Coast main line.

What will be the wider impact of the overtime ban?

The overtime ban alone will cause thousands of cancellations. Aslef says no train operator employs enough drivers to provide the service they promise passengers and businesses they will deliver without asking drivers to work their days off.

Sunday is still not part of the working week at a number of train operators, so 4 February will be particularly disrupted by the ban on rest-day working.

GWR says: There will be significant disruption to services and customers should travel on alternative days. No trains will operate on long-distance routes between London Paddington and Bristol, South Wales and Exeter/Plymouth/Penzance.

Several rail firms have announced pre-emptive cancellations due to the previous overtime ban, as follows:

C2C: Severely reduced service at weekends, with many trains also cut on weekdays.

Chiltern: Significantly reduced service on most routes, with no trains at all on some branch lines. Services on all routes will finish earlier than usual. No trains will run on Sunday 4 February.

Gatwick Express: No trains during the overtime ban. Southern trains will link London Victoria and Gatwick airport throughout the industrial action.

London Northwestern Railway/West Midlands Railway: Branch lines between Bletchley and Bedford, Watford Junction and St Albans Abbey, and Leamington Spa and Nuneaton, will be closed on most or all days.

Southern: An amended timetable with fewer services will run. Services may start later and finish earlier than usual.

Thameslink warns: A reduced frequency amended timetable will be in operation.

Some trains may restrict either boarding or leaving trains at certain stations to avoid overcrowding.

What if I need to reach an airport?

London Heathrow will remain accessible at all times on the Heathrow Express, the Elizabeth Line and the Tube.

Passengers using London Gatwick will be significantly affected on the first day of strikes, Tuesday 30 January, when no Gatwick Express nor Thameslink trains will run. But passengers between London and Gatwick will be able to travel on a Southern shuttle service, nonstop between Victoria and the airport. The GWR link from Gatwick to Redhill, Guildford and Reading will run normally on 30 January but not on 5 February.

London Stansted will have an hourly skeleton service from the capital on Tuesday 2 February, with service alterations on all the other days of the overtime ban. The link to Norwich will be axed on 2 February, but CrossCountry trains to Cambridge (and on to Birmingham) will still run. On 5 February, though, no CrossCountry trains will run to Stansted airport or anywhere else.

Luton airport will remain accessible by rail, at least from London, on all days: on the Thameslink strike day, 30 January, Thameslink will have a reduced service from London St Pancras to Luton Airport Parkway. In addition, the East Midlands Railway link will be running. On 3 February, when no East Midlands Railway services are likely to run, Thameslink will be operating.

Southend airport: hourly trains on Friday 2 February with restricted hours.

Southampton airport will not be served by South Western Railway on Tuesday 30 January nor by CrossCountry on Monday 5 February.

Manchester airport will have a drastically reduced rail service on Wednesday 31 January. With Northern and TransPennine Express drivers on strike, there will be only an hourly link on Transport for Wales to and from central Manchester, Chester and North Wales.

Birmingham airport is likely to be inaccessible by rail on Saturday 3 February, except for Transport for Wales from Birmingham New Street.

Will Eurostar be affected?

No. Trains will continue to run as normal between London St Pancras International and Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam. But connecting journeys will be difficult on strike days  particularly Tuesday 30 January, when Thameslink and Southeastern are out, and on Saturday 3 February when no East Midlands Railway services are likely to run.

What does Aslef say?

In an exclusive interview with The Independent, Aslef general secretary Mick Whelan said: When we get to February, itll be half a decade without a pay rise. What do we do? Do we do nothing?

The only thing that is going to get us out of this is a clean deal.

Without an agreement, he says: Its going to get messier. Its going to get worse.

What do the rail firms say?

A spokesperson for Rail Delivery Group, representing the train operators, said: There are no winners from these strikes that will unfortunately cause disruption for our customers. We believe rail can have a bright future, but right now taxpayers are contributing an extra 54m a week to keep services running post-Covid.

Aslefs leadership need to recognise the financial challenge facing rail. Drivers have been made an offer which would take base salaries to nearly 65,000 for a four-day week before overtime  that is well above the national average and significantly more than many of our customers that have no option to work from home are paid.

Instead of staging more damaging industrial action, we call on the Aslef leadership to work with us to resolve this dispute and deliver a fair deal which both rewards our people, and makes the changes needed to make services more reliable.What does the government say?

What does the government say?

A Department for Transport spokesperson said: Its very disappointing to see Aslef continuing to target those who travel to work, school or important medical appointments by train.

Aslef is now the only rail union that is continuing to strike while refusing to put a fair and reasonable offer to its members. The offer that remains on the table and would bring the average train drivers salary up to 65,000.

The Aslef leadership should do the right thing and let their members decide their own future, instead of deciding it for them.

What does the Labour Party say it would do if elected?

Louise Haigh, Labours shadow transport secretary, said: It is a staggering dereliction of duty that the transport secretary hasnt got around the table with the unions to try to resolve it since the Christmas before last.

Labour will take an unashamedly different approach to the Tories, and will work with both sides to reach a deal in the interests of passengers and workers. If the transport secretary took this sensible approach then perhaps we wouldnt still be having strikes on our railways.

The shadow rail minister, Stephen Morgan MP, has previously said: Labour will bring our railways back into public ownership, as contracts expire, and ensure services work in the interests of the passenger.

What are the London Overground strikes about?

Pay. More than 300 members of the RMT will stage two 48-hour walkouts on the London Overground on Mondays and Tuesdays two weeks apart: 19-20 February 2024 and 4-5 March 2024. Among those taking action are security, station, revenue and control staff.

The RMT said that Arriva Rail London, which has the contract for London Overground, has offered a below inflation pay offer.

Mick Lynch, general secretary of the RMT, said: If this dispute cannot be resolved then RMT is more than prepared for a sustained period of industrial action to get London Overground workers the pay rise they deserve.

The Independent has contacted the Department for Transport and Arriva Rail London for comment.
Police seized 74 sets of an alleged drug traffickers prized Lego collection during a raid in Melbourne, Australia, on Wednesday (17 January).

During the raid, officers also seized more than AU$600,000 worth of 1,4-Butanediol - a chemical that mirrors the drug GHB when ingested - and amounts of Iodine and Hypophosphorus Acid with the potential to make around AU$2 million worth of methylamphetamine.

Police uncovered the Lego boxes - which included a Star Wars Millennium Falcon model which retails for AU$1,299 - as well as one Rolex watch and four Breitling watches during their investigation.
Emergency services were called to the scene of an explosion at a hostel in Dublin city centre on Thursday night (18 January).

Gardai (Irish police) confirmed that a man died in the blast inside the Depaul homeless hostel.

There were no reports of other injuries and the explosion was confined to one room within the premises.

Dublin Fire Brigade and gardai were called to the scene on Little Britain Street, off Capel Street.

Residents were evacuated and a wide cordon was established around the building, with traffic diversions in place and a heavy garda presence around the scene.
An Irish MEP known for her controversial views has criticised Joe Biden over his support for Israel, telling him that his Irish ancestors disown you.

Irish Member of the European Parliament, Clare Daly, accused Biden of enabling Israeli aggression while speaking in a plenary session in Strasbourg on Tuesday, 16 January.

She repeatedly called the US President butcher Biden in her speech, saying: So take notes butcher Biden: the ancestors of the Ireland that you claim to be from disown you. Keep our country out of your mouth.

Ms Daley, a member of the left-wing Irish party Independents 4 Change, has sparked criticism for her foreign policy views.

She previously advocated for limiting military aid to Ukraine, and voted against a European Parliament resolution condemning Russian aggression against Ukraine.
Hong Kong: Health chief tours SZ medical school

Secretary for Health Prof Lo Chung-mau today visited the School of Medicine of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen (CUHK-Shenzhen).

He met the school's Founding Dean Prof Davy Cheng and received a briefing on the college's efforts in teaching and scientific research as well as its future development plans.

Prof Lo then visited two research laboratories led by Nobel laureates, namely the Arieh Warshel Institute of Computational Biology and the Kobilka Institute of Innovative Drug Discovery, to learn about their research outcomes in various areas and talent strengths.

He also toured the direct affiliated hospital of CUHK-Shenzhen, currently under construction.

Additionally, Prof Lo took the opportunity to get a better grasp of the latest developments in healthcare services and medical talent training in Shenzhen, with a view to further enhancing the exchange and co-operation between the two places.

The health chief said: Under the principle of complementarity and mutual benefits, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government strives to drive the city's healthcare exchanges and collaboration with the Mainland on all fronts, particularly on nurturing medical talent and advancing research in medical technology, with a view to enhancing the quality and efficiency of healthcare services of both places to give a strong impetus for building a 'Healthy China'.

Under Secretary for Health Dr Libby Lee and Director of Health Dr Ronald Lam accompanied Prof Lo during todays visit.

This story has been published on: 2024-01-19. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
DUBLIN, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- Switzerland and Ireland have become the latest of a handful of countries to benefit from China's much-celebrated visa-free policy. The special treatment was announced by Chinese Premier Li Qiang in his official visits to the two European countries from Sunday to Wednesday, his first overseas trip this year, during which he also attended the opening plenary of the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting at Davos, Switzerland. The overtures, widely reported by media outlets in both countries, sent an unmistakable signal that against the headwinds of mounting protectionism, the world's second-largest economy will open its door even wider to the outside world. This cordial posture has been the hallmark of the premier's four-day tour which kicked off the high-level exchanges between China and Europe this year. In Bern, Switzerland, Li and President of the Swiss Confederation Viola Amherd announced the completion of the joint feasibility study on the augmentation of their Free Trade Agreement. Signed in 2013, it marked the first free trade deal between China and an economy in continental Europe. "The meeting with Chinese Premier Li Qiang renewed our close bilateral ties and paved the way for further negotiations on a reciprocal free trade agreement," Amherd wrote on X, formerly Twitter. She pledged more visa facilitation for Chinese citizens as well as Chinese enterprises investing in Switzerland. In Dublin, Li and Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar pledged that the two countries will regard each other as "development opportunities" and continue to expand trade and two-way investment. Ireland wants to have "a very strong and constructive relationship with China," said Varadkar, "one based on trust and respect, and one informed by our values and the multilateral system in which we're both stakeholders." "The pledges to uphold openness and the steps taken are sure to further boost the economy of both China and these European countries," said Feng Zhongping, director of the Institute of European Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. More importantly, he said, they will inject positive energy into a world fraught with divisions and uncertainties. "As long as China and Europe join hands, there will be less chances of so-called de-coupling." Ireland was the fourth European country Li has visited since taking office as China's premier last March. He visited Germany and France in June last year, making Europe the destination for his first trip abroad. The island nation, whose development is underpinned by trade and openness, played a special part in China's reform and opening-up. In 1980, two years after the reform and opening-up policy was launched, a group of Chinese officials landed in Shannon, a tiny Irish town some 189 km southwest of Dublin. With a population of less than 10,000, Shannon is nonetheless famous for its economic development and widely recognized as the headstream of modern special economic zones (SEZ). "They were very engaged," said Brian Callanan, then a strategic planning officer at Shannon Development, referring to the Chinese delegation. "I felt they were absorbing everything." Soon afterward, China set up four SEZs, which became a major driving force for its economic growth. The changes taking place in China are commended by economists as "one of the most miraculous changes" in world history. "In the past four decades and more, China has achieved development and shared benefits with the world through opening up," Li said Tuesday on the podium of the WEF in the Swiss ski resort of Davos. "China remains firmly committed to opening up." China, he said, embraces investments from businesses of all countries with open arms, and will work tirelessly to foster a market-oriented, law-based and world-class business environment. Addressing the global business audience, the premier pledged, among others, to continue to shorten the negative list for foreign investment, follow through on removing all restrictions on access for foreign investment in the manufacturing sector, and guarantee national treatment for foreign businesses. The premier's speech revealed Beijing's unswerving determination to promote an open world economy and share China's development opportunities with other countries, Deloitte China Chair Jiang Ying told Xinhua on the sidelines of the WEF. She anticipated more opportunities for global economic growth and employment as China further opens up its market and facilitates international trade and investment. "Standing at a crossroads in the history of mankind, choices made by countries, especially major ones, hold global significance," Feng said. "China's firm commitment to further opening up and multilateral cooperation demonstrates a strong sense of international responsibility as a reliable force."
This is the moment flames shoot out of a plane mid-air over Miami.

The Boeing 747-8 cargo jet appeared to suffer an engine fire shortly after leaving Miami International Airport on Thursday (18 January).

The Atlas Air aircraft was forced to make an emergency landing and returned to the airport 14 minutes after take-off.

No one was injured.

Bosses blamed a malfunction for the incident and said the crew followed all standard procedures.

The incident comes just days after Boeing said it would increase quality inspections of its 737 Max 9 aircraft after a panel blew out from an Alaska Airlines aircraft as it climbed from Portland, Oregon.
For what seems like the umpteenth successive day, Europe woke up to the news of overnight air strikes causing deaths, injuries and damage in one of many volatile regions further to the east.

The latest attacks were launched by Pakistan on a border region of Iran, and were explained as reprisals for Iranian attacks on a border region of Pakistan two days before. The reported casualties in both attacks were in single figures, so  by any military, if not simple human, standards  relatively small.

It is hard, nonetheless, to escape the impression of a theatre of military conflict that is inexorably growing  to the east and the south, if not yet to the north and the west. And if you look backwards, rather than forwards, the Hamas massacres of Israelis on 7 October, and Israels all-out military response, can be seen as turning the tiny sliver of the Gaza Strip into the epicentre of a conflict that could embrace regions many hundreds of miles further afield.
Ireland is likely to pay other EU governments to house refugees rather than agreeing to relocate them from other countries in the bloc, the Taoiseach said.
Paul Burgess of Ruefrex on writing anti-sectarian songs, turning loyalist heads and blowing a live session with Dave Fanning

There are 60 cities around the world that have been given the Unesco designation World City of Music, and Belfast is the only place to be bestowed with that honour on the island of Ireland.

Few could argue with Belfasts place in a club that includes Liverpool, Glasgow, Havana and many more. Northern Irish acts have punched well above their weight thanks to the likes of Van Morrison, the Undertones, Stiff Little Fingers, Ash and Two Door Cinema Club. And, love or loathe them, Kneecap have been the most talked-about band north of the border for several years.

But theres one name thats seldom mentioned when it comes to the pantheon of Northern Irish music  Ruefrex. Often, when discussing the great Belfast and Derry punk bands of the late 1970s, early 1980s, they are conspicuously absent. The band, from the loyalist Shankill district, released uncompromising songs about sectarian conflict  many of those songs stand up exceptionally well today  but theres none of the recognition enjoyed by, say, the Undertones, who remain one of Derrys most enduring cultural exports.

That may be about to change. The bands drummer and songwriter, Paul Burgess, has written an engrossing memoir, Wild Colonial Boys, that captures Ruefrexs rollercoaster ride. At one point, in the mid-1980s, a British music reviewer suggested they had the potential to be the UKs best band.

The author, who has called Cork city home for the best part of 30 years, says he hopes the book, inspired by the title of the best-known Ruefrex song, will encourage a rediscovery and reappraisal.

I think political and cultural factors went against us, he says, arguing that their Protestant, unionist roots were unpalatable to many of the gatekeepers in the Irish and British music scene. We were seen as part of the oppressor community, when in fact, many of the social and economic problems experienced by working-class people in the Shankill mirrored those of people on all sides of the religious divide.

Burgess, who had been a senior lecturer at University College Cork until his retirement last year, has written several academic books and a pair of novels. He says he approached the writing of Wild Colonial Boys with great trepidation. It was having to write about real people and to be absolutely truthful about what happened  how would they react to that?

He pulls no punches when it comes to several well-known figures in the industry. Elvis Costello comes out of it particularly badly. When Ruefrex were supporting the Pogues on a UK tour, Costello  who had produced Shane MacGowans bands seminal Rum Sodomy & the Lash  is said to have loudly dismissed the Northerners as orange bastards.

The greatest criticism is reserved for Terri Hooley, the Belfast visionary behind the Good Vibrations label. Hooley has long been deified and was the subject of an acclaimed 2012 feature film, Good Vibrations, with Richard Dormer taking on the part, but Burgesss experience of the man was very different.

We had a fairly antagonistic relationship with Hooley and with a few of the other bands who were on Good Vibrations, he says.

Burgess believes many of those bands espoused a non-sectarian approach, whereas Reufrexs music was defiantly anti-sectarian. He cites the example of the celebrated Undertones motto of writing more songs about chocolate and girls, to quote the title of the opening track on their second album, Hypnotised, whereas the songs he wrote for Ruefrex were highly politicised.

Theyre songs that Im proud of: Paul Burgess. Photo: Tomas Tyner/UCC

His childhood and teenage years coincided with the early part of the Troubles. He writes with great candour about the rough and tumble of life in the shadow of the paramilitaries. Music, he says, saved many from their clutches. But danger was never far away.

When BBC Northern Ireland made a documentary on the band, Cross the Line  which can be viewed on YouTube  much of the footage was shot in a community centre near the Shankill Road. We later found out that the [loyalist murder gang] Shankill Butchers had used the Tyndale hall in north Belfast and it sends a chill down my spine just to think of it, he says. It was a rough place. They didnt like punk, they didnt like young fellas turning up with mascara on their faces.

Despite his strong sense of Britishness at the time, Burgess was fascinated with the south and its culture. He was voracious reader; James Plunketts Strumpet City was a favourite and an early single was inspired by the book.

There were gigs in Dublin, too, including a fraught, wild and violent show in  of all places  the Mansion House, home to the citys lord mayor. And on a trip to Dublins long-gone Dandelion Market near Grafton Street, he met a figure who would go on to worldwide fame. He told me he was in a band called U2 and they were playing the Dandelion Market that day. It was Bono. Soon, Burgess would see U2 play Belfast. The were sharing the stage with Stiff Little Fingers and things were really happening for them.

Unfortunately for Ruefrex, it seemed to be a case of one step forward, two steps back. The charismatic frontman, Allan Clarke, didnt seem nearly as motivated for the big time as Bono or, indeed, Burgess.

Wild Colonial Boys offers an unvarnished portrait of a band that werent seizing the opportunities that came their way.

A case in point arrived in 1983 when they were invited to RTE to record a coveted live session with Dave Fanning. It happened to be on July 12  the Glorious Twelfth for Orangemen everywhere, including Burgess, who had played drums in a Protestant pipe band in his teens  and, irked to find themselves in the Republic on that very day, they put in a lacklustre performance. We werent invited back.

The band were in danger of petering out until Burgess wrote the coruscating Wild Colonial Boy  its name borrowed from a song made famous by the Clancy Brothers  about Irish Americans who were sending money to the IRA.

The song made a huge impression on its 1985 release and earned the band a deal with the seminal indie label Stiff Records. It had been co-founded by the larger than life Dubliner Dave Robinson and signings had included the Damned, Madness and the Pogues. Here, finally, was their chance. And yet Clarkes erratic behaviour didnt help matters. Stubbornly refusing to move to London to record an album, he insisted on being flown back and forth to Belfast using the advance money provided by the label. He could be very unprofessional and really hard to work with, Burgess says. In the book, he is at pains to capture all that was special about Clarke, too. Its one of the things that gave me sleepless nights. I dont have a bad voice and I used to sing all the backing vocals, but I didnt have the confidence to be a frontman. I couldnt have done what Clarkey did  climb up PA stacks and strip to the waist.

Despite their 15 minutes of fame  or two batches of seven-and-a-half minutes, as Burgess drolly puts it  the band petered out and few noticed. A world of academia  including a detour to Oxford  beckoned, before Burgess eventually settling down in Cork.

Its been quite a journey from the son of the Shankill. His wife is from Kerry and he has long been holder of an Irish passport, as well as a British one.

It would be great, he says, if people whod never heard of Ruefrex got to hear some of our songs as a result of the book. Theyre songs that Im proud of.

As well he should be. Time to rewrite the history books for one World City of Music.

Wild Colonial Boys by Thomas Paul Burgess

Wild Colonial Boys (Manchester University Press) is out on January 30
Andrew Scott, Paul Mescal and Andrew Haigh at All of Us Strangers special gala screening at Dublin's Lighthouse Cinema

Paul Mescal and Andrew Scott were all smiles for the hundreds of starry-eyed fans who braved the bitter cold to catch a glimpse of the duo at the Irish premiere of All of Us Strangers.

The film, which also looks into the grief of Scott's character losing his parents, was nominated for a total of six Baftas, including Best Director for Andrew Haigh, as well as Outstanding British Film.

Arriving on the red carpet, amidst family and friends, Haigh said Mescal and Scott both had slightly different processes but were such good actors.

When you work with really good actors, that makes it easy for the director. Its just about working out what they need and when they need it, he told the Irish Independent.

The 50-year-old British filmmaker described the filming experience with both actors as beautiful.

Mescal and Scotts on-screen chemistry has been causing quite a stir, leading to numerous five-star reviews and blushes among the pair when the prospect of their parents watching their steamy scenes comes up.

The pair, speaking before entering the screening at Dublins Lighthouse Cinema last night, both said having their Irish families watch their sex scenes in the cinema was a difficult prospect to navigate.

Mescal, known for his intimate and revealing scenes in romantic drama series Normal People, stressed that he was dreading having his extended family see all there was to see in the movie last night.

They have seen my bum before but there is a little more going on in this movie, I would say, Mescal said, while Scott added: "I don't want to be there when my parents watch it."

The Irish actors star in the romantic fantasy drama in which they play neighbours who strike up a relationship.

Speaking on the red carpet, Paul Mescal, draped in a dapper black suit with golden designs, said: Andrew Scott is an extraordinary human being and anybody that comes into his orbit will probably say very similar things.

In return, 47-year-old Dubliner Scott described Mescal as the future of cinema adding that it was incredible to act alongside the Kildare man and strike up a deep friendship.

Mescal, who just wrapped up filming for Gladiator 2 in Malta and Morocco, received a Bafta nod for supporting actor on Thursday for All Of Us Strangers.

On why Irish stars are garnering such attention in film and television at the moment, Mr Haigh said it was true that audiences adore Irish actors.

I cant tell you why. Its probably like why everyone loves Ireland. Everyone wants to come here and visit here, so there is obviously something about the culture of this country that people love, he added.

The film, produced by Searchlight Pictures, officially premiered in the United States on December 22 last year and is due for official release across Ireland and the UK on January 26.

Scott said: It is a hard film to talk about because it sounds nuts, but it is beautiful and very emotional. There is a coming-out story within it and it's about how to love and how to love with courage. It has really been embraced by so many people.

To see the film is to love the film and we are very proud of it.
Public sector workers take part in a rally in Omagh, Co Tyrone. Photo: PA

Thousands of public sector workers have taken to the streets across Northern Ireland in the biggest strike action in the regions recent history.

A mass rally in Belfast heard calls for Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris to release pay awards for workers and for the DUP to end its boycott of Stormont.

Other demonstrations took place at Guildhall Square in Derry, Omagh court house and Enniskillen town hall.

An estimated 150,000 public sector workers took part in the walkouts over pay, with trade unions warning action will escalate if their pay demands are not met.

Police mounted a significant security operation and said the rallies passed off without incident.

pay uplifts given to counterparts elsewhere in the UK, due to the political impasse at Stormont.

The government has offered a financial package worth more than 3bn (3.5bn) to accompany the return of a devolved executive in Belfast.

While the package includes money to make the outstanding pay awards, Mr Heaton-Harris has made clear it will not be made available unless Stormont returns.

Following early morning pickets at hospitals, schools and public buildings, a number of feeder parades marched towards Belfast City Hall where a large crowd gathered for a rally addressed by multiple trade unions representatives.

Irish Congress of Trade Unions assistant general secretary Gerry Murphy called on Mr Heaton-Harris to end his failed political strategy and award a pay rise to workers.

Mark McTaggart of the Irish National Teachers Organisation said DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson was keeping Stormont in suspension because of his concerns over the Irish Sea border.

He added: Yet he is more than happy to have a sea border for pay for public sector workers.

Justin McCamphill from the NASUWT added: To the DUP, we say get back into government. We fully understand that there are issues arising from Brexit that are problematic, but these issues must be addressed within the agreed political framework.

The Tories have taken our money, the DUP should not take our hope.

major impact, with schools closed, hospitals offering only Christmas Day-level services, public transport cancelled and limited gritting of the roads.
A controlled explosion was carried out by the army bomb disposal unit following an explosion in which one man died in a Dublin city centre homeless hostel on Thursday.

The man in his 30s, originally from Eastern Europe, was pronounced dead by emergency services at the scene.

The Armys bomb squad was deployed to the scene of the explosion in a Depaul homeless hostel on Little Britain Street after 7pm on Thursday evening.

A bomb disposal unit robot was deployed as examinations of the scene took place in an attempt to find what caused the explosion which claimed a mans life.

The scene remained sealed-off late on Thursday night.

"Tonight, Defence Forces Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) experts responded to a request for assistance from An Garda Siochana to Little Britain St., Dublin. EOD was requested following the death of a man in an explosion. EOD carried out post blast analysis and clearance, which included a controlled explosion. Once the scene was cleared the scene was handed back to An Garda Siochana, a Defence Forces spokesman said.

Gardai are continuing to investigate the circumstances of the explosion in which considerable structural damage was caused inside the room where the blast occurred.

"The precise cause of the explosion is currently under investigation, and the Garda Technical Bureau have commenced a forensic and technical examination with assistance from Army EOD.

The Coroner has been notified, and a post-mortem examination is due to be carried out by the State Pathologist at Dublin City Morgue tomorrow.

Anyone with information that can assist investigating Gardai is asked to contact the Bridewell Garda Station on 01 6668200 or the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111, a Garda spokesperson said late on Thursday night.

The Army Bomb Disposal Unit on the scene in Dublin this evening. Photo: Stephen Collins /Collins Photos

The incident occurred at the property on Little Britain Street, Dublin 1, after 3pm.

Gardai and Dublin Fire Brigade attended the scene and traffic was diverted away from the area.

The explosion happened in the Depaul building which was used to accommodate homeless people.

No other injuries were reported, and other residents of the homeless hostel were evacuated, with Depaul saying they are now trying to accommodate them elsewhere with the help of other organisations.

It is understood that initial inquiries at the scene have determined the explosion was confined to one room, and gardai are not treating the incident as suspicious.

The Irish Independent has learned that the deceased man is originally from Eastern Europe.

Early garda investigations have established that the fatal explosion originated from an item or items that were underneath the mans bed.

At this stage the case is still not being treated as a criminal investigation but senior sources say that the matter will not be resolved until a full garda technical examination takes place.

This explosion originated from underneath that mans bed, a source said.

It is understood gardai at this stage do not believe the explosion was as a result of the manufacture of illegal drugs.

Emergency services at the scene of the suspected explosion on Little Britain Street in Dublin's north city. Photo: Owen Breslin

First responders remained at the scene into the evening and an investigation into the cause of the explosion is under way.

One resident of the Depaul homeless shelter told the Irish Independent a wall dividing the mens and womens sections of the building collapsed as a result of the explosion.

I heard an alarm and I heard a bang. As I came out the whole wall just went, the resident said.

They used fire extinguishers so they could enter the room but it wasnt a fire, it was just with dust and everything else.

The woman said she was one of the last people to leave the building, along with two other women who were unsure what had happened.

Everything is still back in there, I have nothing. No meds, no nothing. Everything is in there now and I dont know what Im going to do.

The woman said she had no idea where she was going to stay and had no way of being contacted as she had no phone. Depaul confirmed late on Thursday night that all service users had been allocated a bed to sleep in following the incident.

A spokesperson for the shelter released a statement saying Depaul are working with the Dublin Region Homeless Executive and NGO partners to ensure no person will be left without accommodation this evening following the explosion.

The woman pointed down at her shoes and indicated they werent suitable for the nights freezing temperatures.

Another woman at the scene of the incident said she is a friend of a woman who was injured in a separate incident at the same shelter, a fire that took place in March 2022.

We live in Focus Ireland Georges Hill, the residents are all in our church now because it doesnt get used. So if they have to put sleeping bags on the floor they probably will, the woman said.

Depaul provides 82 bed spaces at the Little Britain Street shelter.

The scene of an explosion at a homeless shelter in Dublin city. Photo: Mark Condren

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Emergency services at the scene of the suspected explosion at Little Britain Street in Dublin's north city. Photo: Owen Breslin

In a statement, the Depaul said: Depaul can confirm that there was an incident this afternoon in our Little Britain Street service. It was a localised incident confined to one room.

"Our heart goes out to the service user who lost their life, as well as their family and service users who were in the building at the time. This was an isolated incident, confined to one room and no other service users were physically harmed in this incident. We wish to thank the emergency services, DRHE, and our NGO partners for their assistance in the emergency response.

In a statement, gardai said: Gardai and the Dublin Fire Brigade responded to an incident at a residential premises on Little Britain Street, Dublin 7, shortly after 3:30 pm on Thursday, 18th January 2024, following reports of an explosion inside the property.

One adult male sustained fatal injuries, and there are no reports of any other injuries.

Residents at the premises have been evacuated, and a cordon, along with local traffic diversions, are currently in place.

The precise cause of the explosion is currently under investigation, and the Garda Technical Bureau will examine the scene.

No further information is available at this time.

The scene of a suspected explosion at a homeless shelter in Dublin city. Photo: Mark Condren

Dublin Fire Brigade and the Dublin Region Homeless Executive (DRHE) this evening said: At 1515 hours today Dublin Fire Brigade received an emergency call reporting a serious incident at a premises on Little Britain Street. Firefighter/Advanced Paramedics from Phibsborough, Tara Street and North Strand fire stations responded and the incident was under control by 1535 hours.

"In total five fire engines were mobilised to the scene along with a District Officer. The assistance of ESB Networks, Gas Networks Ireland and An Garda Siochana was requested and the scene was handed over to Gardai at 1615 hours.

The DRHE was notified this afternoon of a serious incident at a supported hostel in the city. The incident occurred within the building and was confined to one room. All residents are being evacuated on a temporary basis to allow for a full assessment. Our priority is to safely re-accommodate all residents tonight. Our sincere thanks to our NGO partners, An Garda Siochana and Dublin Fire Brigade who are assisting on the ground.
Two fifth-year students whose BT Young scientist project focused on bathroom graffiti said it was heartbreaking to see the negative effect the writing could have on pupils.

Hollie Service-Thorpe and Erin Hayes, from Roscommon Community College, took part in this years young scientist competition. They analysed the graffiti found in both the male and female bathrooms in their school, as well as an all-boys school, and compared their findings.

As transition-year [students] at the time, we were kind of oblivious to the fact that it was on the wall. Actually going in and reading it all, seeing how much of a negative impact it can have on other students is pretty heartbreaking, Ms Service-Thorpe said.

The students said it was an overheard conversation that inspired them to choose this research for their competition entry.

We were struggling a little bit to come up with an idea for a project, Ms Hayes said on RTE Radio Ones Nine OClock Show.

We were outside our vice-principals office...when a young boy, we overheard his conversation. He was really upset because he had just started in school, he was a first year...and he had seen some really nasty messages in the school bathrooms.

That really piqued our interest but also deeply upset us to know that this was still a prevalent issue and that there were people out there that are genuinely affected by people writing things on the school bathroom wall, Ms Hayes said.

The project took a year and a half and the students conducted three separate research pieces. The first step was going into the male and female bathrooms in their school where they took pictures of any graffiti they could see.

We grouped them by coding. So we made a code such as a sexualised image or statement. Then we would go through all the images and put them into this code so we could see the trends and the differences between male and female bathrooms, Ms Service-Thorpe said.

One of the main differences the two students noted were gang signs, which were found in the male bathroom.

That was pretty interesting because we live in Roscommon. You kind, of expect it in a bigger city but not in a small town, Ms Service-Thorpe said.

Male students were also less likely to hide away their graffiti, compared to the female students.

The boys tend to not hide their graffiti as much as the females, such as putting it on their toilet seats. Whereas females hide it above stall dividers.

An interesting fact about our project. We found graffiti last year that dated back to 2011 in our female bathrooms because it was hidden so well, Ms Service-Thorpe said.

The project also found that there was a big trend in sexualised graffiti in both bathrooms, which to the students wasnt a shocking surprise of any sort.

Ms Hayes and Ms Service-Thorpe, who go to a mixed secondary school, also expanded their research to look at an all-male school. When they gathered the data, they compared the graffiti found in the bathrooms of that school to that found in the male bathrooms in their school.

While the fifth-year students said the content of the male bathrooms in both schools was similar, the boys in their school were more open about the fact that the graffiti could hurt somebody.

Whereas in the all-boys school, they would say they [also] had this but most would laugh it off and say its not that deep and things like that, Ms Hayes said.

It wasnt all negative though. During their research,Ms Hayes and Ms Service-Thorpe noted that the female bathroom had an amazing amount of positivity.

[This was] really nice to see especially because in our male bathrooms it was all so negative. Whereas in our female bathrooms, there is positive messages like you got this or its just school, you can get through the day, Ms Service-Thorpe said.
All-Ireland-winning Limerick hurling manager John Kiely personally appealed to a Circuit Court judge to offer star hurler Kyle Hayes (25) a second chance after the young man was convicted of two charges of violent disorder.

Hayes  a five-time All-Ireland winner  was convicted on two counts of violent disorder before Limerick Circuit Criminal Court last December following a trial in which he was acquitted of assault causing harm.
A protester has been acquitted of public order charges following a Dublin rally against the coronation of King Charles in which a union jack was burned and an effigy of the British monarch beheaded.
A worker who stole 1,200 from a cash management company had been a model employee for over three years and his colleagues had been surprised by what he had done, a court heard.
A tribunal has thrown out claims of racist discrimination taken by a homeless academic with a sense of entitlement who took to bedding down in campus buildings at University College Dublin while he spent seven years working on his PhD.
Dr Cormac Walsh says the deposit-return scheme works very well

Germanys deposit-return scheme is 21 years old this year, but nobody is talking about it.

Its not something anybody really thinks about, said Dr Cormac Walsh. Its just something they do.

When youre shopping, you bring your empty cans and bottles with you. There isnt really any discussion about it.

Dr Walsh, a consultant in geography, planning and environmental policy, moved from Ireland to Germany 12 years ago and now lives in Hamburg with his wife and daughter.

In that time, the scheme has grown so much that Germany now claims a world-best recycling rate of 98pc for single-use beverage containers.

Glass bottles are also accepted, which Dr Walsh said would make sense in Ireland too.

If glass bottles are thrown into a recycling bottle bank, they are broken and need to be converted into useful bottles again, he said.

New Deposit Return Scheme for plastic drinks bottles and cans comes into effect from February

With the reverse vending machines, they are reused, so theres far less waste and less energy involved.

In Germany, its common for homeless people to collect bottles and cans for return.

Dr Cormac Walsh says the deposit-return scheme works very well

Its a source of income, so you will see homeless people looking through rubbish bins in public places or asking people on public transport for their empties, Dr Walsh added.

There are different opinions about that and whether its something that should be encouraged, but there is an acceptance of it.

You see signs asking people to leave their bottles beside the bin so that a homeless person can take them. Thats what a lot of people do when they are on the move and dont want to carry a bottle around with them.

Shoppers can also opt to let their deposit go to charity when they return their containers.

Dr Walsh was surprised to hear arguments against the deposit-return scheme in Ireland.

One I heard is that people will think twice about buying a 12-pack of half-litre bottles of water now, he said. My response would be yes, absolutely, they should. We shouldnt buy this much plastic.

Another argument is that people will cycle less when doing shopping because they will have more to carry, but thats not my experience.

We dont have a car. We do everything with a cargo bike and its no problem.

People can adapt very quickly. I would say, similar to when the plastic bag levy was introduced in Ireland, people will get used to it before long.
A total of 270,000 tenants have yet to claim the 500 renters tax credit for last year, Revenue figures show.

Around 400,000 tenants are eligible for the tax credit of 500, and this is set to increase to 750 for this year.

I am advised by Revenue that, to date, over 130,000 claims for Rent Tax Credit have been made by PAYE taxpayers for the 2023 tax year, Finance Minister Michael McGrath said.

It is expected that the number of claims for 2023 will continue to increase, particularly in the first quarter of 2024, as PAYE taxpayers file their Income Tax Returns after the end of the year.

The renters tax credit was increased to 750 as part of Budget 2024, or 1,500 per couple. It has been put in place until 2025.

Even though a significant number of taxpayers are owed unclaimed money back, they still have a number of years to claim the tax credits they are entitled to.

Taxpayers have until December 31, 2026, to claim the Rent Tax Credit for 2022 and until December 31, 2027, to claim for 2023, the minister said.

In addition, 140,000 tenants still have to claim the tax relief for the 2022 tax year, Revenue says.

Taxpayers can go back four years to file income tax returns if they have forgotten to do so in recent years.

Opposition politicians have often raised concerns that tenants are discouraged from claiming the tax back as they may have to provide the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) number under which the rented property is registered.

However, not all landlords may be registered and tenants may be afraid to ask them to do so for fear of being evicted, politicians have said.

Taxpayers can claim the money back for 2022 through filling in Revenues income tax return.

For 2023 onwards, it can also be claimed back through the Revenue Commissioners real-time credit facility on the myaccount online service. This means the money can be claimed back in real time.

Once eligible, the tax credit is paid out to renters who meet the criteria within a few days of claiming.

The latest figures were released to Labour leader Ivana Bacik, who said there was slow take-up because renters did not know how to go about claiming the relief.

She called it a scattergun approach from the Government and said the amount offered was not enough to cover Dublin rents.

From its very introduction we called on Government to ensure ample information was available for renters to claim this credit. Theres no doubt in my mind that theres a slow take-up because people simply dont know how to go about it, she said.

The rent credit always represented paying lip service to renters. The amount doesnt even cover half a months rent for anyone renting in Dublin.

For too long, this Government has failed to take renters and their concerns seriously. Renters are not transient and theyre not just young. Renting is a crucial option for everyone in the housing system.

Rather than addressing the core problem of supply, in tandem with improving renters protections in the market, the Government instead continues to apply a scattergun approach.
Desperate healthcare providers are going to extraordinary lengths to entice workers

The HSE is expected to take on more than 2,000 staff this year. Picture posed

Sign-on bonuses of up to 5,000, longer holidays and housing are being offered by some desperate health employers in a bid to coax workers to take up jobs.

Employers are having to offer perks to prospective staff as healthcare facilities such as private hospitals are finding it increasingly difficult to find and retain workers.

Overall, there have been 17pc pay increases for junior healthcare staff in the last 12 months, but more experienced workers salaries are largely unchanged, according to the Excel Recruitment Healthcare Salary Guide 2024.

A spokeswoman said that some private hospitals are offering a starting bonus or relocation allowance of up to 5,000 to staff nurses.

Today's News in 90 Seconds - January 19th

The HSE, which imposed an embargo on recruitment last autumn, with a number of exceptions including hospital consultants and graduate nurses, is expected to increase its staff by over 2,000 this year in targeted areas.

However, private employers struggle to find staff is leaving them leaning more on agency and overseas workers with incentives to tempt them to take on jobs.

The staffing crisis has also prompted many healthcare providers to become landlords for their employees, with rental accommodation increasingly being offered by employers in an attempt to secure workers, the spokeswoman also said.

This is also a feature for some of the public maternity hospitals in Dublin including the National Maternity Hospital, which has secured a number of houses to offer short-term accommodation to nurses coming here from abroad.

Shane McLave, managing director at Excel Recruitment, said: Recent increases in the national minimum wage have had a knock-on effect on pay rates across the sector, with many junior healthcare staff being paid more than this time last year, while the pay rates of more experienced or senior staff have not moved.

Organisations are exploring various strategies, including offering competitive benefits such as pension options, sick leave, extra holidays, and sign-on bonuses of up to 5,000.

The Irish housing crisis has become a significant concern for employers, and many healthcare providers, particularly outside of Dublin, are offering accommodation to attract professionals.

The average hourly rate for a kitchen porter working in a healthcare catering setting is up 17pc on last year, from 11.80 to 13.80.

The average hourly rate of a cleaner working in healthcare is up 12.5pc on last year  from 12 in 2023 to 13.50 today.

Most healthcare assistants have seen an improvement in pay rates of 10pc or more.

For example, the average hourly rate for a daytime healthcare assistant with between one and two years experience is now 15.90  15pc higher than last years rate of 13.80.

A director of nursing is now earning 88,000, up from 86,000 last year, and there has been a 2,000 increase to 68,000 for an assistant director of nursing.

Average salaries for medical social workers are the same as last year at 45,000, and speech and language therapist wages also remain at 46,000.

Looking ahead, staffing and recruitment pose significant challenges in the healthcare sector, with factors like mandatory sick pay, pension scheme changes, an additional bank holiday, and a minimum wage increase contributing to rising costs, Mr McLave said.
Gardai believe a man was killed in an explosion at a Dublin hostel after a pipe bomb detonated underneath his bed.

An army bomb disposal team carried out a controlled explosion at the scene last night while gardai are investigating all the circumstances in relation to the fatal blast.

The incident happened at the property on Little Britain Street, Dublin 7, shortly after 3pm yesterday.

More than 50 residents were evacuated from the Depaul hostel after the explosion, which was confined to one room and caused significant structural damage.

The victim, a Lithuanian man aged in his 30s, was in the room at the time and died instantly.

Emergency services at the scene of the explosion on Little Britain Street in Dublin's north city. Photo: Owen Breslin

Initial inquiries identified the blast as originating from underneath a bed in the room and the Armys bomb squad were called in to carry out a controlled explosion in the early hours of this morning.

Gardai now suspect the blast was caused by an improvised explosive device that detonated underneath the deceased mans bed.

Sources said the IED was a pipe bomb and inquiries into how and why the device exploded are ongoing.

Depaul Ireland chief executive David Carroll said the building was evacuated within two to three minutes and beds were found for the other service users.

We had people on walking frames who were evacuated from the building, he said, adding that he had a great degree of pride for how well staff and service users responded.

He said he doesnt have any details about how the explosion occurred and wouldnt be revealing details about the man who died.

Were hoping to get back into the building as soon as possible, he told RTEs News At One programme.

He said that damage was confined to one room, but hopes to return to the building soon.

Our main objective really is to kind of support those individuals until we can get back in. They are all dispersed throughout temporary accommodation right through the city.

Weve set up an incident management centre within our central office and Dublin city centre to be able to support those individuals over the weekend, he said.

What were focusing on at the moment is making sure everybody has their medication, making sure everybody has access to medical self-services and obviously, welfare emergency payments because people left money and possessions behind.

So our Little Britain Street team will be supporting people right through that accommodation throughout the weekend until we can get back into the building.

There are 73 people who are accommodated in the Little Britain Street hostel (Brian Lawless/PA)

Emergency services including the Dublin Fire Brigade (DFB) and gardai were notified of the explosion about 3.15pm on Thursday.

No other injuries were reported, with Depaul saying it was trying to accommodate the evacated residents elsewhere with the help of other organisations.

A Defence Forces spokesperson last night said: Tonight, Defence Forces Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) experts responded to a request for assistance from An Garda Siochana to Little Britain Street, Dublin. EOD was requested following the death of a man in an explosion. EOD carried out post blast analysis and clearance, which included a controlled explosion. Once the scene was cleared, the scene was handed back to An Garda Siochana. This operation concluded at approx. 0030hrs.

One resident of the Depaul homeless shelter said a wall dividing the mens and womens sections of the building collapsed as a result of the explosion.

I heard an alarm and I heard a bang. As I came out, the whole wall just went, the resident said.

They used fire extinguishers so they could enter the room but it wasnt a fire, it was just with dust and everything else.

The woman said she was one of the last people to leave the building, along with two other women who were unsure what had happened. Everything is still back in there, I have nothing. No meds, no nothing. Everything is in there now and I dont know what Im going to do, she added.

In a statement last night, a garda spokesman said: Gardai at the Bridewell are actively investigating the cause of an explosion at a property on Little Britain Street, Dublin 7, on Thursday, 18th January, 2024.

Gardai and emergency services responded to an incident at a residential premises on Little Britain Street shortly after 3pm, following reports of an explosion inside the property. An adult male aged in his 30s sustained fatal injuries and was pronounced deceased at the scene.

The explosion was confined to one room within the property, and no one else was injured.

Residents at the premises were evacuated, and a cordon, along with local traffic diversions, remain in place.

The precise cause of the explosion is currently under investigation, and the Garda Technical Bureau have commenced a forensic and technical examination with assistance from Army EOD.

The coroner has been notified, and a post-mortem examination is due to be carried out by the State Pathologist at Dublin City Morgue tomorrow.

Anyone with information that can assist investigating gardai is asked to contact the Bridewell Garda Station on 01 6668200 or the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111.

The investigation is ongoing. 

The charity service that operates the hostel said in a statement: Depaul can confirm that all service users in our Little Britain Street service have been evacuated from the building tonight and alternative placements have been found following the incident today.

"The building was evacuated in an exemplary manner, adhering to our safety protocol. Our heart goes out to the service user who lost their life, as well as their family and service users who were in the building at the time. This was an isolated incident, confined to one room and no other service users were physically harmed in this incident. We wish to thank the emergency services, DRHE, and our NGO partners for their assistance in the emergency response.
'Were seeing the shocking results coming back' - Irish medics call for ban of 'unethical' advertisements for surgery in Turkey

Procedures abroad linked to 10 deaths here in last three years

High level of Irish patients returning from Turkey with severe complications following surgical procedures

Amy Molloy Fri 19 Jan 2024 at 03:30

Medics are calling for the banning of completely unethical adverts used by companies promoting weight-loss and cosmetic surgeries abroad.
Mourners react next to the bodies of Palestinians killed in an Israeli strike in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip yesterday. Photo/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters

Palestinians look at the destruction after an Israeli strike in Rafah in the Gaza Strip. Photo AP

Day after day, we are seeing the evidence on our TV screens and social media feeds of horrific civilian deaths, including children, mass displacement and destruction, and entirely inadequate access for the UN and international organisations to provide vital humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza.

This is not acceptable. It cannot continue. The brutality of the terrorist attack by Hamas in Israel on October 7 and the continued indiscriminate rocket fire by Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups into Israel cannot justify the horrifying impact on Gazas civilians of Israels military operation.

South Africas action against Israel under the Genocide Convention is taking place against the backdrop of deep concerns across the world at what is unfolding in Gaza.

The proceedings initiated by South Africa deserve to be treated with the utmost seriousness. Genocide is the gravest of crimes. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) was established by the UN Charter in 1945, in the ashes of World War II. Its decisions are final and binding on the parties concerned.

Mourners react next to the bodies of Palestinians killed in an Israeli strike in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip yesterday. Photo/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters

It is a central pillar of the rules-based international order and is key in ensuring adherence to international law and accountability  for all states, large and small, weak and powerful.

I listened carefully to the proceedings last week. I expect the court will make its decision on the provisional measures that South Africa has requested by the end of January.

The case itself will take years, but the courts decision on provisional measures will indicate whether it considers that there is any basis under the Genocide Convention to limit or suspend Israels military operations.

To date, the hearings have involved only the two parties to the case  South Africa and Israel  which is the norm. Other states that are parties to the Genocide Convention, including Ireland, can subsequently choose to intervene. None have done so yet, although a number have stated publicly that they plan to at an appropriate point.

So what should, and will, Ireland do? One thing is certain  if we judge that an intervention is warranted, we will submit one. We have a clear track record on this.

Interventions by states are not about joining one side or another. Rather, they aim to assert a legal interpretation of the issue at hand

We have already participated in two advisory opinion cases at the ICJ related to Israeli actions in Palestine, one in 2004 and one last year. The oral proceedings on this recent advisory opinion are scheduled to take place next month, and Ireland will be participating.

Ireland also filed an intervention in 2022, in the case taken by Ukraine against Russia under the Genocide Convention. In this case, Ukraine was refuting Russias wholly incorrect allegation that its invasion of Ukraine was justified in order to prevent genocide. It was on this point that Ireland intervened.

It is important to clear up misconceptions and misinformation about this process.

Interventions by states are not about joining one side or another. Rather, they aim to assert a legal interpretation of the issue at hand. This is a legal process, in front of a court, that has a unique role in interpreting and upholding international law. It is not a political forum. It is not a debating society.

'Entire multigenerational families will be obliterated' - Irish lawyer Blinne Ni Ghralaigh at The Hague

Any state party that takes the Genocide Convention seriously has the responsibility to make a thorough, rigorous analysis of the legal issues and make decisions accordingly.

It is also important to remember that any provisional measures that could be imposed by the court would not apply to Hamas or any other non-state armed group involved in the conflict. This speaks to the centrality of the diplomatic, political and humanitarian tracks being pursued by Ireland to address the immediate needs of Palestinian civilians. There are two parties to this conflict  both need to take immediate measures to end this. The ICJ alone cannot do so.

In the Ukraine v Russia case, we did not let political expedience distract from the need for rigorous legal analysis

Once the court has issued its decision in relation to provisional measures, we will analyse this carefully and consult with other like-minded partners, as well as with South Africa.

This analysis and consultation will take place alongside a rigorous analysis of the multiple legal aspects of this case by the Department of Foreign Affairs, in consultation with the Attorney General. Once this is completed, the Government will take a decision whether to intervene in this case.

This is precisely the route we took in the Ukraine v Russia case. We did not let political expedience distract from the need for rigorous legal analysis and extensive diplomatic consultation on that occasion; we will not allow this either in the South Africa v Israel case.

Ireland will continue to be a leading voice within the EU in calling for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire. Not all member states agree with this position but I believe that perspectives are shifting.

An overwhelming majority of UN states, including a majority of EU states, voted for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire at the UN General Assembly last December.

The UN General Assembly at UN headquarters in New York City, US, October 27 2023. Photo: Mike Segar/Reuters

Maintaining this momentum is vital. I will meet my EU counterparts, as well as the foreign ministers of Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Israel, and the secretary general of the League of Arab States, at the EU Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels next Monday.

I will continue my advocacy and efforts to build consensus to stop this terrible conflict. The Irish people expect nothing less.
Citizens Bank has an atypical branch network in the region.

Many  but not all  of its branches are located inside of Tops supermarkets, giving customers the option to combine their grocery shopping with their banking.

But now, changes are coming.

The Rhode Island-based bank is expanding its use of technology it refers to as the "Citizens Virtual Assistant." It's an interactive banking system, including an ATM, that gives customers the option of talking virtually to Citizens employees working from hubs in Pittsburgh and Rhode Island. Customers can also make unassisted transactions with the ATM.

So far, Citizens has announced plans to replace seven of its in-store branches here with the virtual assistant system from January through March. Once the switch is made, those particular in-store branches will no longer have on-site employees. Citizens is also planning to close five other branches in the region, without installing the system at those locations.

Some other banks serving the region, Bank on Buffalo, have also introduced interactive ATMs as another feature of their brick-and-mortar network. Evans Bank formerly had interactive teller machines but stopped using them in 2019. Banks say these types of systems give customers another option for conducting transactions, and are usually available beyond regular branch business hours.

Lisa McGraw, Citizens' retail director for the Buffalo area, describes herself as a big fan of branches, and said the virtual assistant systems complement the brick-and-mortar network.

She cited the example of two current Citizens locations in Buffalo: a standalone branch at Elmwood and Hertel, and a branch inside a Tops supermarket a half mile away.

"The reality is, there's so many digital options and customers want convenience but they still want advice," McGraw said. "I don't necessarily give the best experience when I have two different locations that feel different."

That particular North Buffalo Tops branch will be converted to a digital assistant system in March. Citizens is also installing a digital assistant system in the Elmwood-Hertel branch, to expand the services available there.

What about the employees of the in-store branches that are being consolidated? McGraw said in other markets she oversees, she has been successful retaining employees who want to stay with Citizens.

"I'm going to work very hard to take the folks at the branch that's consolidating and move them to the branch that we feel their customers are going to migrate to," she said.

McGraw added: "I'm very confident that we'll place over 95% of the colleagues in these [affected] branches."

Citizens' virtual assistant systems are capable of handling 90% of the transactions taken care of by a person inside a branch, she said. And customers can use the system to set up a meeting with a banker to handle something more in-depth, either in a branch or virtually at home.

Citizens Bank's presence in Tops stores goes back to when Charter One was expanding into the Buffalo market. McGraw guided that expansion into Tops stores, when she was with Charter One.

"Charter One felt the fastest way to accelerate growth and win customers was to partner with a good, strong partner where people had to go: the grocery store," she said. The relationship with Tops has continued since Citizens bought Charter One in 2004.

"Their shoppers like the convenience of banking with us," she said. "We'll continue to have a great partnership with (Tops)."

Of course, consumers have a lot more choices nowadays for how they shop and bank. Both industries are changing with the times.

"When we started this partnership, there was no Instacart," McGraw said. "There was not ordering your groceries and picking them up in the stores."

Straight Talk time

The U.S. Small Business Administration's Buffalo district office and SCORE Buffalo Niagara chapter are teaming up for the 26th edition of the Straight Talk program on Saturday at the Buffalo Niagara Convention Center.

It's a signature event for the two organizations, aimed at providing information to entrepreneurs and small business owners.

"We are in the middle of the largest small business boom in American history, and we are looking forward to introducing a new cohort of entrepreneurs to the Straight Talk program, said Victoria Reynolds, SBA Buffalo district director.

This is the first Straight Talk held since Reynolds officially took the helm of the SBA Buffalo district from Franklin Sciortino, who retired last September at age 90. Straight Talk was launched under Sciortino's leadership, as a way to boost outreach to all kinds of entrepreneurs.

The event has continued to grow and evolve. This year's agenda includes, for the first time, a session offered entirely in Spanish.

Want to know more? Three stories to catch you up:

WHAT'S HAPPENING WITH...

Bank on Buffalo's new branch in Depew.

Then: Bank on Buffalo two years ago announced plans to build a branch at 4781 Transit Road in Depew, near French Road. The branch was to be part of a redevelopment of a site where a restaurant once stood, but that project faced numerous delays.

Now: Bank on Buffalo stuck with the project through the delays with the larger development, and now plans to begin construction in spring, according to a spokesman. At a time when many other banks have been trimming their networks, the division of CNB Financial continues to add locations in the market.

THE LATEST

Independent Health unveils a succession plan.

The secondary market for Bills-Chiefs tickets has turned chilly.

Which local health agencies got grants from a big foundation?

A plan to revive a closed airport in the Southtowns is finally inching forward.

With another storm on the way, the mad dash was on to stock up on groceries.

Gov. Hochul put numbers behind her economic development proposals.

Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center is in line for state money for mobile screenings.

More self storage is coming to Amherst.

AKG workers will vote on forming a union soon.

Ellicott Development proposes apartment project in South Buffalo.

Spectrum customers brace for a rate increase.

Benderson to move regional headquarters from Buffalo to Amherst.

Clarence glass shop expands; Hilbert adds playing field.

Tommyrotter distillery is closing its Seneca Street production facility.

Ciminelli is scrapping a Lackawanna warehouse project.

A former Noco executive is planning a housing project on Grand Island.

The state is planning a workforce development program to train tech workers.

A new consortium could boost UB's artificial intelligence capabilities.

ICYMI

Five reads from Buffalo Next:

1. A cannabis potency tax is coming under fire.

2.. The grand plan for UB's medical school.

3. Is Buffalo Niagara really the nation's hottest housing market? Here's why Zillow says it is.

4. Ski bummer: It's been a rough year for local ski areas.

5. Here are five ways shopping could change this year

The Buffalo Next team gives you the big picture on the regions economic revitalization. Email tips to buffalonext@buffnews.com or reach Buffalo Next Editor David Robinson at 716-849-4435.

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Tanaiste Micheal Martin refers today to the horrific civilian deaths and mass destruction in Gaza. He says it is unacceptable and must not continue. Lawyers in the Hague can parse and rehearse legal arguments as to whether genocide has been committed in the besieged territory.

But to the widowed, orphaned and homeless of the conflict, all that matters is that the carnage ceases.

Intense fighting in the south in Khan Younis, near the citys Nasser Hospital, has forced patients and displaced people sheltering there to flee in terror.

A total of 24,620 Palestinians have been killed and 61,830 have been injured in Israeli strikes on Gaza since October 7, the Gaza health ministry claims.

Although their tendrils are still flimsy, there is a chance peace efforts could take root if an initiative taken by Arab states is supported.

For as Qatars finance minister Ali Al Kuwari said in Davos, the conflict urgently needs a non-military solution. Media reports say Arab states are working on a broader plan that could offer Israel a normalisation of relations. It would mean agreeing to irreversible steps towards the creation of a Palestinian state.

Most agree the Israeli-Palestinian conflict can only be resolved by two states living side-by-side.

Deep though enmities may be, the practicalities of mutual survival demand that accommodation will have to be found by reaching an accord. The urgency for finding such cannot be overstated.

There can no longer be any illusions  unless things get immediately better, they could become irredeemably worse. Flashpoints on the Israel-Lebanon border are developing. Meanwhile, Pakistan has launched missile attacks into Iran, killing nine people, after Iran carried out strikes in Pakistan this week.

In the occupied West Bank, violence has also soared. Raids in the regions shipping lanes have disrupted global trade. US strikes in the Houthi-controlled parts of Yemen represent a new level of American involvement. Washington is applying a blend of limited military strikes and sanctions aimed at preventing a wider Middle East conflagration, but the situation is too volatile for complacency.

Given the consequences for global stability, diplomatic efforts need to be far more robust. The Financial Times reported yesterday that Arab officials have discussed a plan with the US and European governments. It hinges on Western nations agreeing to formally recognise a Palestinian state.

The real issue is you need hope for Palestinians  it cant just be economic benefits or removal of symbols of occupation, an official said.

Clearly, Hamas must be made to pay, Hezbollah must end its missile attacks and all hostages must be released. But after 105 days of indiscriminate killing, there is a need to intensify international pressure on Israel to end its offensive. Until then, as Mr Martin stated, Ireland must continue to be a leading voice within the EU in calling for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire.
Cork Airport has revealed a newly wrapped sound-proof sensory pod, which aims to act as a calm oasis for passengers with hidden disabilities.

The sensory pod was installed at Cork Airport last year and is one of the many measures they have taken to assist passengers with hidden disabilities. It features padded walls and benches, ambient mood lighting, mirrors and a tall bubble tube.

Sensory pods help to prevent and manage the disruption caused by sensory overload events, through pre-emptive usage when stress or anxiety is bubbling, which can be especially heightened at busy airports.

The pods provide a cocooned, safe, haven for users when needed and are proven to continually reduce the frequency and severity of disruptions.

The Cork Airport sensory pod is for use by reservation only and is free of charge. For reservations, passengers should contact OCS, the passenger mobility services provider at Cork Airport in advance of travel with 48 hours notice recommended.

Airports can be busy places and for some passengers, may be a challenging environment which we recognise, so we are pleased to provide a sensory pod for use by our passengers, a spokesperson for Cork Airport said.

In addition to the sensory pod, passengers can also avail of two other free-of-charge initiatives such as the sunflower lanyards.

Cork Airport was the first airport in Ireland to use the now internationally recognised sunflower lanyard scheme which allows staff to assist passengers who require special assistance in a discreet and comfortable way.

Also available are a series of children's stories intended to help children cope with the new situations that can be obtained free of charge at the airport's OCS desk. The two specially tailored books are called Suzy Goes On An Aeroplane and Sammy Goes On An Aeroplane.

The Cork Airport sensory pod is located upstairs in the departure lounge and can be accessed once passengers have passed through security.
Councillors criticised the limited scope in the eligibility criteria and they also expressed their concerns that only three grants were issued in County Cork last year for a total of 10,000.

Fianna Fail councillor Bernard Moynihan said clarity is required regarding the septic tank grants for 2024 This is a huge issue in Blackwater Valley. We are talking about water quality. We need to know the maps and the whole eligibility criteria. People are ringing and we are telling them we dont know. We need to get clarity. This grant is very limited in its availability to people. Only 10,000 was paid out for the upgrading of septic tanks last year. We need to write to the minister to expand this scheme, he said.

As of 2024, there are three different types of septic tanks grant schemes in Ireland, all providing grant aid up to 12,000.

Fianna Fail councillor Deirdre OBrien welcomed the increase in the grant amount, but said only a small portion of households meet the required criteria. We welcome the increase in the grant amount, but by not increasing the high status or priority areas it is very limited. In my area there is only a small portion that qualify. We need to be encouraging households because there is issues with houses going back years and where they were built. They dont come under these high status or priority areas so that needs to be extended.

We should write to the minister and ask him to re-look at this. We need to get them to extend the areas that qualify for this grant. A lot of people want to upgrade their septic tanks but are in no position financially to do this. We need to give them the support. We need to get it sorted, she added.

We need to open it up to everybody to apply, said Fine Gael councillor John Paul OShea. Very few people qualify for this grant. People want to upgrade their tanks. Three grants were issued in County Cork last year. That is deplorable giving the size of the county. Changes must be made. We need to write to the minister to open it up. We have drawn down a total of 10,000. The biggest county in Ireland only cost the department 10,000 in the last 12 months.

The Mayor of the County of Cork, Cllr Frank OFlynn agreed saying the grant is far too restrictive. When Croi Conaithe came out first it was limited to the towns. When we put the pressure on the minister it worked. Everyone now can apply for the Croi Conaithe grant. This grant is far too restrictive. Id say you could nearly count the number of inspections carried out in North Cork last year in two hands. What good is the grant unless you can access it. We need to ask the minister to extend it so everyone who needs it should qualify.

Fine Gael councillor Gerard Murphy said the system should be simplified to ensure more septic tanks are inspected. If a person themselves know that they are beside a river or a steam and they know they are doing harm to the water quality, they should be able to contact the council informing them they need to upgrade their septic tank. The council should make a decision once they have inspected it. The amount of septic tanks the council will pick up in the current system is relatively small.

Director of Service with Cork County Council Louis Duffy provided the councillors with an update on the septic tank grants scheme. In ten years of the programme, there were 800 inspected. There is no change in the eligibility criteria. The only ones that can be notified to the council are where you are in the high status objective priority area. It is very limited. There were no additional areas introduced for this.

Cork County Councils Divisional Manager for North Cork, Kevin Morey told members. The core issue here appears to be the designation of the relevant sensitive areas that the department has attached to the scheme. That is where the members need to direct their focus because the council cant independently take a different approach to a grant scheme which is a national department scheme.

It was subsequently agreed that a letter would be sent to the Minister for Housing Darragh OBrien seeking an extension of the areas that qualify for the septic tank grants.
Planning has been approved for residential units to be built at the site of the school

Existing entrance to the former St Joseph's National School from Blind Gate Street.

Computer-generated image of the entrance to the development from Blind Gate Street.

The former St Josephs National School in Kinsale is set to be demolished after permission was granted for a residential development to be constructed on its site.

Cork County Council has granted conditional planning permission to Dublin developer Rafden Limited to remove the former National School, situated off of Blind Gate Street and Rampart Lane, and build 18 housing units at its location.

The units will consist of ten four-bedroom houses, three three-bed duplex apartments, three two-bed simplex apartments and two five-bedroom houses.

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Planning was also approved for the construction of ancillary works such as car and bike parking, footpaths, lighting, drainage, landscaping and amenity areas.

Vehicular and pedestrian access to the development will be provided from Blind Gate Street while pedestrian access is also facilitated from Rampart Lane.

Rafden Limited applied for permission for the residential development and associated facilities in May 2023.

In a planning report submitted with its application to the Local Authority, a consultancy firm acting on behalf of Rafden said the proposed development will form a vibrant and resident centre extension to the inner suburban fabric of the Kinsale area and will facilitate the development of a vacant brownfield site.

However, some local residents submitted concerns about the development.

They claimed it may cause traffic congestion in the area and that the developments 32 proposed car parking spaces was insufficient. The height of some of the proposed buildings and their proximity to existing property also led residents to raise concerns about privacy.

One submission objected to the aforementioned aspects of the development.

Following a request from the council, the applicant submitted further information on December 8, which included some revisions to its original plans.

Revisions included the addition of an extra car parking to ensure each proposed house would have two spaces and the modification of one proposed buildings layout to reduce the overbearing effect it would have on an existing house on Rampart Lane.

On Monday, January 15, the Local Authority granted permission for the development. This is subject to 53 conditions yet to be published by the council.
The 100m plan to redevelop St Stephens Green shopping centre has hit a potential roadblock after an appeal was lodged with An Bord Pleanala.

Permission for the redevelopment was granted on December 14 last year after the applicants reduced the scale and massing of the scheme.

However, the proposal faced a backlash from the community, sparking concerns about the potential loss of certain iconic features in the current building.

The ambitious project aims to replace the current glass dome and facade, elements that have graced Dublins skyline since 1988, making it one of the citys most recognisable structures.

Public react to proposed redevelopment of St. Stephen's Green Shopping Centre

An artists impression of the proposed development shows a complete transformation for the buildings exterior, replacing its dome roof, arched windows and flower baskets.

The new building will have up to 8 floors, including a proposed cinema and gallery space.

In a statement, An Bord Pleanala confirmed the decision to give the redevelopment the green light has now been appealed.

The development has been appealed within the normal appeal period as is an appellants right under law. As the case is ongoing An Bord Pleanala has no further comment to make, they said.

An online petition was also launched to preserve the current design, while prominent figures, including TV presenter James Kavanagh, voiced their disapproval.

The podcaster and social media star likened the proposed redevelopment to a car park, hospital, or something from Sandyford Industrial Estate, saying it was not the vibe for the areas character.

Im not opposed to new buildings at all. However, I do favour old-styles of buildings, he said.

Those are the ones that tend to make it on our postcards when we advertise Dublin, and Grafton Street is the essence of our capital, which I feel is slightly fading away.

The glass dome and facade would be replaced under the proposed redesign

He believes the proposed design has nothing interesting or beautiful about it.

This is our Oxford Street and if I was a tourist, I think the building is one that would make me take out my phone and take a picture. But with the new one, I certainly wouldnt, he added.

The Irish Independent took to the streets of Dublin to gauge opinion on the redevelopment plans.

Sean Leahy, a documenter of Dublins busking scene, said he favoured maintaining the shopping centres current state instead of the new design.

It looks a little square. If its not broken, then why fix it? I think its one of the nicest buildings in Dublin, and I thought that when they first built it, he said.

Brian Hogan, with 42 years of experience working in the Royal College of Surgeons, is opposed the 100m redevelopment and said the existing design is already appreciated for its charm.

In a statement, a spokesperson for Dublin City Council said: An appeal has been lodged with An Bord Pleanala which means that the Bord will assess the application now and make a determination. Their decision will supersede Dublin City Councils decision.

If An Bord Pleanala approve and uphold Dublin City Councils decision, then the applicant can proceed with a commencement notice assuming all of their pre commencement compliance conditions have been met.

An Bord Pleanala can also refuse the application which would overturn Dublin City Councils decision.
The Funeral of John McSweeney  whose body was discovered last Sunday following a nine-day search in the Athea area  heard of a man who lived a free, independent life; loved walks in the forest; and enjoyed a few pints on a Sunday night in Athea.

An extensive search operation after the 73-year-old went missing on January 6 has been widely praised, being described as community at its best. Hundreds of people took part in the search daily, with others preparing food for the hardy souls who put their shoulder to the wheel in bitterly cold conditions.

Symbols of Johns life brought to the Altar at his Funeral in St Marys Church, Carrickerry, County Limerick, included a branch from a forest tree. John was a regular walker and went to the forest daily.

His glasses and paper symbolised his love of reading, and a pint glass was a not to his weekly visit to Athea for a few social pints. A television remote represented his love of sport; and Connect 4 his competitive side, most obvious at Christmas time.

His sister, Mary, said the much-publicised search for John was at odds with a man who never sought attention.

After attending national school in Carrickerry, he worked in Ardagh for a number of years and took part in FAS courses, Mary said.

He enjoyed a free, independent life, and loved his daily walks in the forest, she said. He had a daily routine, a certain time for everything he did.

The highlight of his week was a trip to Athea on Sunday nights for his few pints.

He was a very religious man, but this was put to the test when, as he would say himself with temper, that COVID put an end to his social outing for far too long.

He had a great memory, and loved to reminisce on the good old days, and never forgot the characters who visited his grandmothers house in Carrickerry. He would often recall, in great detail, with exact dates, events that occurred up to 50 years ago. If you asked him about something that happened last week, well, that was a different story.

He was laid to rest afterwards at Calvary Cemetery in Newcastle West.
The HSE has still not provided the family of a woman who died after giving birth to a baby girl at University Hospital Kerry (UHK) the completed external review into her death  almost two years after the tragedy.

An external review commenced immediately after the death of Kenmare resident Tatenda Mukwata, who died hours after giving birth at UHK on April 21, 2022.

However, it has still not been completed, and there is no date as to when the family will receive the report conducted by an external team into the medical circumstances surrounding her death at the hospital. The report was originally due in January 2022.

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The Mukwatas family is represented by solicitor Conor Murphy of Murphy Healy & Co, Kenmare, and he has long campaigned for answers for the family. This includes her three eldest daughters  Rutendo, Munashe and Sherley  and her mother, Catherine.

On December 22 , University Hospital Kerry's General Manager, Mary Fitzgerald, confirmed that she had received the external review, but it had to be independently quality assured before being released to the family. The letter also indicated they wanted to meet the family to discuss same.

However, further correspondence from Ms Fitzgerald, dated January 12, has said the draft report cannot be accepted in its current format and it has been returned "for additional consideration". She apologised to the family for the further delay.

Their solicitor said the family is upset at this development.

We do not know what was in the draft report, we did not get a copy, we do not know why it failed some quality test, why that test was necessary, how long it will take to correct, etcetera, Mr Murphy said. All we know is that, a year after it was supposed to be furnished, and three months after the new deadline of October that they gave to the Coroner, we still don't have it or an indication as to when we might get it.

The inquest into the 34-year-old Zimbabwean nationals death in September heard that Ms Mukwata  an asylum-seeker and resident at Atlantic Lodge Direct Provision Centre in Kenmare, where she resided with her three children  died by medical misadventure on April 21, 2022.

During the inquest, it was indicated that the report would be ready in October. This did not materialise.

The family has received an apology from the HSE for the failings in the care afforded to Tatenda at this hospital [University Hospital Kerry] on 20th and 21st April 2022.

Civil proceedings have also been issued by the family.

Following Ms Mukwatas death, her young family had to move to the UK to be raised by their grandmother, Catherine.
Pupils from Murhur NS in Moyvane were this week awarded a second place finish in the Best Overall Learning Journey category in what was an All Ireland, 3D Printing Sustainability Challenge.

A little over a month since they were last rewarded for their proficiency in the area of 3D printing, the pupils and staff at Murhur NS in Moyvane had more cause for celebration this week.

Proving that the first win wasnt a fluke, the school has backed Decembers win a second place finish in the Best Overall Learning Journey category in what was an All Ireland, 3D Printing Sustainability Challenge.

For this latest test of their schools, the Murhur NS pupils had either use the printer to fix something that was broken and destined for the bin or design and print something to add a second life to something that already exists.

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The competition saw 16 schools from across nine counties entered with a total of 61 projects submitted; of these 61, only four projects received an award, thus enhancing the North Kerry schools reputation even further. As this is an Erasmus funded project, the school went forward to represent Ireland in an online European Showcase where they will get to see what children in France, Estonia, Lithuania and Hungary did for their projects.

For their efforts, the children won a 3D Printing Toolkit, a 300 voucher for science equipment as well as a special trip to Stryker Medical Manufacturing Plant in Cork. The school currently share their 3D printer with three other schools who are all part of a STEM Cluster but they said that hope to buy their very own 3D printer soon through fundraising to continue their fantastic learning journey.

As for how the children feel about bagging themselves another win in such a short space of time, one child said "I'm shocked because there were so many schools and we already won in Mullingar, I didn't expect it! while another spoke of being filled with pride."

Others said that they were are over the moon with this news" and that they felt so proud and speechless when our names were called out."
A Sligo GP has been honoured by Dublin City University for achieving excellence in his profession.

DCU presented 2023 Alumni Awards to outstanding alumni, including Sligo GP Dr. John Cannon at a ceremony in Dublin on Friday.

The DCU Alumni Awards honour alumni who, through their exceptional ability and leadership, have achieved excellence in their chosen fields of endeavour.

Dr. Cannon is President of the Irish Medical Organisation (IMO), the representative body for medical doctors in Ireland. He is only the sixth junior doctor to hold the position in the near 200-year history of the organisation

A practising GP in Sligo, Dr Cannon holds first class honours degrees in both Physics and Medicine, and previously worked in commercial banking.

The 2023 Alumni Award recipients represent all five faculties of study at DCU (Business School, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Institute of Education, Faculty of Science and Health and Faculty of Engineering and Computing.

The achievements of these eight graduates were celebrated at a ceremony in The Helix on DCUs Glasnevin campus.

DCU President Prof Daire Keogh said: I am delighted to present these awards to a special group of DCU alumni who have done exceptional things in diverse fields including healthcare, tech, diversity, housing, business and sport.

Our alumni are changemakers who consistently deliver on our Universitys mission to transform lives and societies. In celebrating these great individuals we celebrate the impact of DCUs more than 100,000 alumni worldwide.

Ross Munnelly, Director of Alumni Relations at DCU, said: Our alumni continue to represent the strong values and high expectations of the university. Each awardee through their own contribution helps to make the world and society a better place for us all. We have seen this through their achievements to date, they are proven leaders and who continue to inspire the next generation of graduates at DCU.
The introductions were made by Mary Kearney from Gorey Library during the launch of the book 'Distant Summers: Remembering Philip Casy' in Gorey Library on Tuesday evening. Pic: Jim Campbell

Philip was a very popular man in Wexford which was evident as over 80 of Philips family, friends and fellow writers were in attendance at the launch.

"He was a very generous person, with a great sense of humour. He had a positive impact on a lot of human beings and he was a mentor to many other writers. This all came through in the contributions to the book, said Michael Considine who was MC on the night of the launch.

Many of his fellow poets paid tribute to Philip in the form of specially composed poems. The book also contains analytical essays which explore Philips work as a poet and novelist.

Terry McDonagh launched the book and numerous attendees spoke very highly of Philip such as Cllr Fionntain O Suilleabhain, Publisher Allen Hayes and Philips brother John Casey. In his tribute John said, Philip only said good things behind your back.

Philips other siblings Karina and Peter were also present on the night. The literary gene is clearly present in Philips siblings John, Peter and Karina who also contributed many memories of Philip and of growing up in north Wexford to the book.

Although Philip eventually settled in Dublin, Wexford influenced a lot of Philips work. Philips first book of poetry was Those Distant Summers which was published in 1980. He went onto a publish three more books of poetry, which were all critically acclaimed. His final book of poetry was Tried and Sentenced which was published in 2014. Philip was also a gifted writer and the publication of his first novel in the Bann River trilogy The Fabulists brought him to the attention of a wider audience. The Fabulists won the inaugural prize at the Listowel Writers Festival in 1995 for novel of the year. He went on to write the second novel in the trilogy the Water Star which was published in 1999 and the final book in the trilogy the Fisher Child was published in 2001. These novels were highly acclaimed and established his reputation of one of the finest and most gifted writers of his generation.

Philips talents were not exclusively confined to fiction and poetry, he also published a childrens book titled the Coupla and before he passed away he was working on a book on the history of Irish Slavery and Irish history. Extracts from this book will be published for the first time in Distant Summers. Distant Summers includes many paintings by local artists, Robert Armstrong and Eamonn Carter and the photography of one of Philips oldest friends, Sean Halford. The book has been edited by writers and poets Eamonn Wall, Katie Donovan and Michael Considine.
When Eastern Niagara Hospital closed in mid-June, it led to questions about what would become of the massive, 200,000-square-foot property in the city.

How long would it sit vacant? Could such a structure, built for a prior generation of health care, be reused for a new purpose? Or was demolition more likely?

The roughly 6-acre property at 521 East Ave. has caught the attention of a Long Island developer, who envisions purchasing the site and converting the building into a combination of senior living and assisted living, according to an application filed with the City of Lockports Zoning Board of Appeals.

Charles Regensburg of Stitched Development is requesting a variance to use the building as an assisted living and senior living facility. The citys zoning for the site allows single-family detached dwellings, public parks and playgrounds and public schools there.

Regensburgs request is scheduled to be heard during the citys Zoning Board of Appeals meeting at 5 p.m. Tuesday. A public hearing at that meeting also will give affected property owners an opportunity to speak.

'The end of an era': After more than 100 years, Eastern Niagara Hospital closes Saturday Eastern Niagara Hospital will close Saturday, ending a 115-year run for the East Avenue health care facility in Lockport. As the end nears, longtime employees say goodbye.

If the variance is granted, Regensburg wrote in his application, the property will go on the tax rolls and his project would lead to the creation of about 100 jobs, including for nursing positions, physical therapy roles, kitchen staff, facility engineers and security staff.

The building space would be 100% utilized, he wrote.

Regensburg would expect the facility to have about 120 rooms: about 40 rooms each for senior housing and assisted living, around 30 rooms for a rehabilitation center and some rooms for administrative, maintenance and physical therapy. An urgent care center would be on the first floor.

The application notes that there would be one full-time resident per room in the senior and assisted living units and one temporary resident per room in the rehabilitation center.

We plan to beautify the original building with paint, awnings and accessory details as well as purchase the adjacent 1-acre property for a parking area, Regensburg wrote.

Without the variance, Regensburg wrote that his company could not purchase the property.

This building, if not utilized, will no doubt fall into disrepair, the application reads. The proposed use as senior housing and assisted living is a viable use in a building with many of the systems and attributes of the facilities contemplated.

Regensburg did not return a request seeking further comment.

The application does not list a purchase price, though it makes several references to a purchase price in the context of scenarios under the current single-family zoning. For instance, the application notes it would cost about $3 million if the property was demolished and used for land as a single-family zoned property: $2 million to purchase the property and $1 million to clear the land.

But doing so would be cost-prohibitive, with the combined purchase price and demolition cost exceeding the lands value, the application notes.

The property is currently in the hands of a court-appointed receiver as Eastern Niagara Hospital continues to work its way through the bankruptcy process.

It's finally here: $70 million Lockport Memorial Hospital to open to patients Tuesday The 60,000-square-foot Lockport Memorial Hospital, which cost $70 million and will be a campus of Mount St. Mary's Hospital in Lewiston, will open at 8 a.m. Tuesday.

Eastern Niagara filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in November 2019, seeking relief from debt that grew over time as the hospital tried to maintain services with low patient volume.

Then in October 2020, Catholic Health System announced a management agreement with Eastern Niagara, as well as plans to construct a right-sized hospital nearby. Eastern Niagara closed June 17.

Catholic Health, in turn, opened a temporary emergency department on South Transit Road until Lockport Memorial opened Oct. 10.

Eastern Niagaras East Avenue property was built in three stages, with the five-story South building constructed in 1936, the three-story center building built in 1960 and then the three-story North building completed in 1980. The roots of the hospital date to 1908, when it was founded as Lockport City Hospital.

Regensburgs application noted that his senior housing project should have very little impact on the neighborhood over the previous hospital use.

News Business Reporter Jonathan D. Epstein contributed to this story.Jon Harris can be reached at 716-849-3482 or jharris@buffnews.com. Follow him on Twitter at @ByJonHarris.
Ann Cushen pictured with Holly and Conor Clifford at the community walk in Duffry Rovers GAA.

Co Wexford woman Anne Cushen had a stellar week on this week's episode of Operation Transformation.

Now into the third week of the show Anne, who suffers with her mobility due to osteoarthritis and has had two hip replacements, has found her mobility to have improved significantly.

Working in the kitchen Anne found she was much more mobile and able to do more tasks by her self or without the support of a stool. She was even able to bend down and fill the stove with logs.

Ann Cushen pictured with Holly and Conor Clifford at the community walk in Duffry Rovers GAA.

I can bend over now and actually fill it," she said, delighted with her progress.

Its great to me able to move around pick up things and bend over without having to sit down, I used to have a stool, she said.

It just makes me feel like this is working.

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During the episode viewers got to watch as Anne who lives in Kiltealy headed to Duffry Rovers GAA pitch for a walk with those in her community.

The walk was a part of the shows partner programme, Ireland Lights Up.

Ireland Lights Up encourages GAA clubs across the 32 counties to light up and bring communities together to walk and talk in a safe environment during the dark winter evenings.

Anne was shocked by the huge turn out on the evening and was overwhelmed by the amount of support she received.

It is amazing that everybody has turned up, its a great community and I knew they would be backing me, but to actually see it is a bit of a shock to the system, she said.

Anne saw major improvement s this week and was even able to take a steeper walking route that she hadnt walked in over five years.

Im not going to give into osteoarthritis, cause I give in to nothing, but this helping hand will get me on top of it," Anne said.

During this weeks assessments Anne saw all-round improvements  with an improvement in both her upper and lower body strength and the distance she is now able to walk.
The stickers have been placed throughout the centre of Wexford town.

The stickers contain a link to a speech made by Nick Griffin, former chair of the British National Party (BNP).

Slogans promoting a far-right, anti-Semitic, white genocide, conspiracy theory have begun appearing across south Wexford as the county grapples with the issue of immigration.

The stickers have been placed throughout the centre of Wexford town.

Bearing a picture of Austrian-Japanese politician Richard von Coudenhove-Kalergi (1894-1972), the stickers refer to a conspiracy theory named in his honour, The Kalergi Plan, and are littered throughout Wexford town with some also appearing in Rosslare Harbour.

The theory claims that Kalergi concocted a plot to mix white Europeans with other races via immigration and stems from a section of Kalergi's 1925 book Praktischer Idealismus in which he predicted that a mixed race of the future would arise: "The man of the future will be of mixed race. Today's races and classes will gradually disappear owing to the vanishing of space, time, and prejudice. The Eurasian-Negroid race of the future, similar in its appearance to the Ancient Egyptians, will replace the diversity of peoples with a diversity of individuals."

The Kalergi Plan.

Modern far-right individuals have frequently sought to draw relationships between contemporary European policy-making and this quote.

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The sticker contains a URL which links to a YouTube video of Nick Griffin, former chairman of the British National Party (BNP), speaking in the European Parliament in 2014. In the video, Mr Griffin, who was convicted of distributing material likely to incite racial hatred in 1998, directly references The Kalergi Plan as he warns of the white people of Europe being bred out of existence.

An unholy alliance of leftists, capitalists, and Zionist supremacists have schemed to promote immigration and and miscegenation with the deliberate aim of breeding us out of existence in our own homelands, he says in his speech.

The stickers have also been spotted in Rosslare Harbour.

As indigenous resistance to this human genetic modification industry grows, the criminal Elite seeks new ways to camouflage their project; first their immigrant pawns were temporary guest workers, then it was a multi-racial experiment, then they were refugees, then the answer to a shrinking population.

"Different excuses, different lies and asylum is just another one. But the real aim stays the same; the biggest genocide in human history the final solution of the Christian European problem.

Following an admonishment from one of his fellow MEPs, Mr Griffin doubled down on his statement and vowed to return to parliament to continue his anti-immigration campaign.

Mr Griffin lost his seat in Europe in the May 2014 European election and stepped down as BNP leader on 19 July 2014. He is a founder-member of the European far-right party, the Alliance for Peace and Freedom (APF) in 2015. In 2018, a new APF board was elected with Griffin as the vice-president.

The stickers contain a link to a speech made by Nick Griffin, former chair of the British National Party (BNP).

Condemning the individual or group responsible for spreading the stickers across the county, local Labour councillor George Lawlor said it was clearly the work of a conspiracy theorist who is concocting hoaxes to turn people against those arriving into Ireland.

"We are now a diverse nation and, just as other nations have celebrated diversity, it is incumbent upon us to do the same, said Cllr Lawlor. As a nation we have a rich history of emigration ourselves and have a played a role in the development of so many countries, if every white Irish person was turned away at the gates we would now have a population of over 50 million.

Asked about the motivations of those responsible for spreading this message and others like it, Cllr Lawlor said there was probably some highly-intelligent but misguided individuals involved. I would question the need to peddle this kind of vitriol and hope that this agenda will not be picked up by others and spread further across our societies.
A KPMG volunteer reads to a group of children involved in the Junior Juries' Programme for the 2023 KPMG Children's Books Ireland Awards. Photo: childrensbooksireland.ie

Children's Books Ireland is inviting Wicklow schools, libraries and book clubs to register for their 2024 Junior Juries Programme, which encourages reading for pleasure  and offers the enticing possibility of getting some free books.

The KPMG Children's Books Ireland Awards Junior Juries' Programme is a unique activity for schools, libraries and book clubs, designed to encourage children and young people to read widely and to engage with reading in an innovative and exciting way.

Young readers shadow the adult judges of the book awards panel in reading, discussing and assessing the shortlisted books each year.

Participating groups make their own selection of suitable titles from the books shortlisted for the KPMG Children's Books Ireland Awards, which will be announced on February 7, using a specially devised activity pack to guide them in their reading.

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At the end of this process, each group is asked to collectively vote for their favourite book, with the deadline for submitting scores on May 10.

Children's Books Ireland then invites some of our Junior Juries to attend the official winners' ceremony in May and to announce the Junior Juries' Award, a Children's Books Ireland spokesperson said.

The KPMG Children's Books Ireland Awards Junior Juries' Programme is ideal for class groups, book clubs or reading groups and even groups of friends. Group leaders are invited to sign up from January 2024.

Some lucky Junior Juries will receive free copies of the shortlisted titles or even an event with a shortlisted author or illustrator!

To register for the 2024 Junior Juries Programme or for more information, visit childrensbooksireland.ie
The Irish Writers Centre has invited applications from ambitious Wicklow writers aged 18 to 26 to attend and contribute to Cuirt International Festival of Literature 2024 as Irish Writers Centre/Cuirt Young Writer delegates.

Now in its seventh year, the Irish Writers Centre (IWC) Young Writer Delegates Programme was created to give young writers an opportunity to immerse themselves in and contribute to a literature festival, soak up the atmosphere and experience the Irish literary landscape first-hand.

The young writer delegates will spend five days (four nights) at the Cuirt International Festival of Literature 2024 from Wednesday, April 24 to Sunday, April 28.

Delegates will be supported by local writer-mentor Alan McMonagle for the duration of the festival, helping delegates develop a (new or in-progress) piece of work and supporting the delegates through their public showcase.

Delegates will have access to as many festival events as theyd like to attend (depending on individual event availability), excluding workshops.

Each delegate will take charge of the official Young Writer Delegates Instagram for one day. Post-festival, each delegate will write a piece in response to their experience of the festival, which will be published on the IWC website.

Delegates will also read a piece of their work (new or in progress) at a public showcase as part of the festival programme. The festival provides a small honorarium for this event, which will be paid in cash to the delegates at the festival.

Accommodation will be provided for three participants from outside the Galway area, with a fourth dedicated place for a YWD living in Galway. This year, accommodation is located at The House Hotel in the city centre, where breakfast will be provided.

The programme is open to writers aged 18-26 living anywhere on the island of Ireland with a strong interest in writing and reading and an ambition to connect with and contribute to the Irish literary scene. To be eligible for this programme, it is not essential for applicants to have been published.

To apply for the programme, submit a short cover letter (approx. 1 page) including your home address and Eircode/postcode before the deadline at midnight on Wednesday, January 31.

In your cover letter, applicants should explain why they would like to be selected as an Irish Writers Centre/Cuirt Young Writer Delegate and how the opportunity benefits their writing practice.

Applicants should submit a Curriculum Vitae (max. two A4 pages), including any written work which may have been published online or in print and two differing samples of work (max. 500 words each)

Compile all of the above into a single attachment in Word Doc or PDF and email projects@irishwriterscentre.ie with Application for Cuirt Young Writer Delegates 2024 as the subject line.

If you have not received an acknowledgement email within three working days, contact (+353) 1 872 1302.
Lifestyle

Wicklow artists sought for All Together Now 2024 installations

All Together Now 2024 is welcoming proposals from Wicklow artists who want to showcase their art installations and immersive experiences at the festival this August Bank Holiday weekend.
The Duke of Sussex may not have found out about the Kings prostate diagnosis before the news was made public, its understood.

Buckingham Palace did make efforts to inform all senior members of the Royal family and that included relaying a message to Prince Harry.

However, the public announcement was made at 3.25pm UK time, which is 7.25am in California, and it is thought the Duke may have seen the news alerts before any private message.

Both the palace and a spokesman for the Sussexes declined to comment.

Each side is keen not to stir up further tensions, aware that any kind of declaration could plunge relations to a new low.

But the development was reminiscent of the breakdown in communications when Britains Elizabeth II died in September 2022.

As first revealed by the Telegraph, the Duke found out via a news alert, as he was mid-air en route to Scotland when the public announcement was made.

Today's News in 90 Seconds - January 19th

Britains King was diagnosed with an enlarged prostate on Wednesday, when he received the news following a check-up earlier in the week.

The palace was forced to put out a public statement relatively quickly as he had to cancel public engagements scheduled for the coming days.

As the monarch prepares to undergo treatment in hospital next week and the Princess of Wales continues her recovery from abdominal surgery at the London Clinic, the Sussexes will continue with the day job much like other royals.

On Friday night, both will attend the Living Legends of Aviation award ceremony in Beverly Hills, where the Duke will be honoured.

The glittering red carpet event will mark the couples first public engagement of the year. But they are expected to keep a relatively low profile in the coming months as they focus on long term strategy and continuing their work behind the scenes.

Meanwhile, the Prince of Wales has visited the hospital where the Princess of Wales is recuperating after undergoing

William drove himself away from the London Clinic in an Audi e-Tron GT Carbon Vorsprung, followed by a Land Rover Discovery, and left by the back entrance during the low-key, private visit.

Simmering resentments

The relationship between the Duke and his father is barely thought to have improved. Simmering resentments were recently brought to the fore in two royal books, each containing revelations that did little to repair the cracks.

The first, published in November, revealed that both the King and the Princess of Wales had made comments about the colour of Prince Archies skin, information that threatened to severely dent the senior royals reputations and caused undeniable fury at the palace.

Omid Scobie, the author, who has positioned himself firmly in the Sussex camp, also suggested that the Princess of Wales was a Stepford-like royal wife who was content to be a voiceless symbol. He said the Princess was cold and that other royals were intimidated by Meghans confidence.

Meanwhile, a second royal book published this week claimed that the Sussexes decision to call their daughter Lilibet had infuriated Queen Elizabeth.

King Charles III, by Robert Hardman, quoted a source as saying that the late Queen was as angry as Id ever seen her after the couple said she had given them her blessing to use her childhood nickname.
Emily In Paris star Ashley Park has revealed that she spent her new year in hospital after a bout of tonsillitis spiralled into critical septic shock.

The 32-year-old actress, known for her portrayal of Mindy Chen on the hit Netflix series, shared details of how several of her organs got infected during a holiday in an Instagram post on Friday.

Alongside a series of photos of her in hospital, she said she was grateful that her health had improved despite what she had initially been told.

She wrote: As I sit here processing and recovering from the first few weeks of 2024, the only word I can think of is grateful.

While on holiday in December into New Years, what started as tonsillitis spiralled into critical septic shock, which infected and affected several of my organs.

I am grateful that my health has improved despite what we had initially been told.

Septic shock is a life-threatening condition that happens when your blood pressure drops to a dangerously low level after an infection, according to the NHS Inform website.

The actress said she was most grateful to her Emily In Paris co-star Paul Forman, praising him for being unconditionally by my side through all this.

Forman plays Nicolas de Leon, a businessman and Mindys love interest, in series three of the Netflix series.

Among the photos, Forman could be seen kissing Parks forehead and in another holding her hand while she lay in a hospital bed.

In another clip, Park captured Forman braiding her hair for her.

She added: You calmed my fears and held me through ambulances, three foreign hospitals, a week in the ICU, scary ERs, countless scans and tests and injections, excruciating pain, and so much confusion all while we were alone on the other side of the world far from those we know.

I love you Paul. More than I can ever say.

Park also thanked the medical staff who worked tirelessly with her as well as her personal team of heroes at home who supported her.

She added: I hesitated to share whats been happening as Im still in the throes of recovery but I now know Im safely on the other side of the worst.

Thanks for reading this. Im sorry for being so absent recently to so much and to people in my life. I love you all. Im healing and I promise Im gonna be okay.

Friends and famous faces were among those to send support to Park including her Emily In Paris co-star Lily Collins who said she could hardly look at the pictures without crying.

She added: I love you sister and Im forever grateful youre on the other side of this and for @peforman for your incredibly huge heart and for being there every step of the way. I cannot wait to hug you both.

Crazy Rich Asians actress Gemma Chan wrote wishing you a full recovery, sending love, while filmmaker and actor Dan Levy commented with a heart emoji.

Park has previously opened up about how she was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia, a type of cancer of the blood and bone marrow, when she was aged 15.

She previously told fitness magazine Shape that after spending nearly a year in the hospital going through chemotherapy, she made it her mission for it not to affect her life.

Park has starred in the last three series of hit drama Emily In Paris, which is set to return for a fourth season.

Collins, who plays the titular character, revealed that the team were back working in Paris on the new series in an Instagram post on Friday.

The actress shared a picture of her posing with the script while wearing a navy outfit which featured small Eiffel Towers on it.

Alongside the post, she wrote: Did someone say Saison Quatre?! Finally reunited with my @emilyinparis fam back in Paris and it feels so good.

Although, I may need to brush up on my selfie skills for Emilys sake
The rising music stars said they had cancelled a number of tours and concerts due to ongoing personal issues affecting the band over the past year and would only be doing one-off concerts for the rest of 2024.

The band, made up of brothers Ian and Daragh Lynch, Cormac MacDiarmada and Radie Peaton, confirmed dates in Paris on February 12 and in Rennes on February 24 will still go ahead but we must cancel all dates in between.

In an announcement on social media, the group said it was an exceptionally hard decision to make coming off the success of their latest album False Lankum.

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The incredible response to False Lankum has made this an exceptionally hard decision to make but the wellbeing of the band remains steadfastly our primary concern.

"Although we were able to complete two short tours towards the end of 2023, they just confirmed to us that touring is simply not an option for us currently.

"We apologise profusely to all those with tickets. We will be back at some point in the future but we cannot commit to something concrete at this time.

"We would like to underline that Lankum will continue to play concerts, and we are not planning any further cancellations this year. Thank you for your patience and understanding.

False Lankum has brought huge success for Lankum, including a nomination for the Mercury Prize in the UK and two nominations at the Choice Music Prize for Artist of the Year and Album of the Year. The Guardian also chose the record as its album of 2023.

Lankum are scheduled to headline the inaugural one-day Dublin festival The Meadows on June 8 and play a gig at Barcelonas Primavera Sound.

They had a show at the TransCentury Festival in Leipzig, Germany, cancelled by organisers last year after expressing support for Palestine. At the time the organisers said: Lankum represents a political stance that we as a venue and festival do not represent.
A cocktail dress from the collection of Diana, Princess of Wales, and an ensemble worn by Princess Grace of Monaco to meet John F Kennedy at the White House, went under the hammer for 325,000 dollars (256,000) each.

The high-profile fashion looks were sold as part of an auction titled Unstoppable: Signature Styles Of Iconic Women In Fashion at Juliens Auctions in Los Angeles.

The Diana-worn black velvet dress with nautical inspired accent, designed by Catherine Walker and worn to a private event in 1993, far exceeded its estimate of 100,000 and 200,000 dollars.

It comes after a Jacques Azagury designed dress worn by Diana in Florence, Italy in 1985 set a new world record for the most expensive dress worn by the former royal at auction  selling for more than one million dollars in December.

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Meanwhile a tweed green ensemble worn by the Academy Award winning actress Grace Kelly, from the golden age of Hollywood, also far exceeded its estimate of 60,000 to 80,000 dollars.

The US star, who would later retire from acting at the age of 26 to become the Princess of Monaco, wore the Givenchy outfit in 1961 with her husband Prince Rainier III to meet President Kennedy and First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy at the White House.

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Other items which topped the sale include the three-tiered tutu worn by Sarah Jessica Parker in her Emmy award-winning role as Carrie Bradshaw in the opening credits of Sex And The City.

The tutu, found by Patricia Field who was the creative maven behind all the looks on the hit show, also far exceeded its estimate of 8,000 to 12,000 dollars, selling for 52,000 dollars (41,000).

While a John Galliano for Christian Dior newsprint silk strapless dress, which became a fashion must-have when Parker wore a similar version on Sex And The City, sold for 11,430 dollars (9,000).

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The collection of high-profile outfits also included a Burberry trench coat worn by late pop star Whitney Houston to a Moroccan music festival in 2008, which sold for 4,550 dollars (3,600).

Martin Nolan, co-founder and executive director of Juliens Auctions, said: This showstopping collection of exquisite garments adorned on the Royals, Princess Diana and Princess Grace of Monaco, and the street wear style tutu worn on Hollywood icon Sarah Jessica Parker that made fashion statements at the time of their appearances, are now a part of auction history.

Todays auctions results amplify the value and collectability of these fashion looks that became some of the most iconic style moments of our time.
There were dozens of CCTV cameras, but no clue where she is  disappearance of Jean Tighe four years ago was plagued by confusion from the start
In the history of American murder, few killers deserved the death penalty more than Payton Gendron, the racist killer of 10 Black Buffalonians. Nevertheless, and like some family members of the victims, we hope hes condemned to stew in a prison cell for the rest of his miserable life.

Thats the conundrum that a jury will need to confront, following the decision of Attorney General Merrick Garland to seek the death penalty in the federal case against Gendron, and given the incontrovertible evidence of the murderers guilt. Hes already admitted it in state court, where a judge sentenced him to life in prison without possibility of parole. He cant be wrongfully convicted. With malice and planning aforethought, he gunned down 13 people on May 14, 2022, at Tops supermarket on Jefferson Avenue. Three survived the onslaught, but 10 were taken from their families, their friends and their community.

Even death penalty opponents can acknowledge that some people commit crimes so heinous and so brutal that, in a more perfect world, it wouldnt be unfair to demand that they pay with their own lives. Gendron surely fits that profile.

The problem arises with the knowledge that its beyond human capacity to craft a foolproof system of justice  one that never gets it wrong or that never applies the death penalty unfairly. But we know that many people, including Western New Yorkers, have served hard time after being convicted of crimes they didnt commit. Its all but guaranteed that innocent people have been executed. We know that minorities  Black people, especially  have been disproportionately sentenced to death. We know that defense lawyers and prosecutors sometimes fall short of their obligations, through inattention, incompetence or ambition. We know that juries can get it wrong. But even after decades in prison, a wrongfully convicted person can have his freedom restored. Thats happened in Western New York, too. But the possibility is forfeited with execution.

These issues dont apply to Gendron. We know he did it. Instead, the questions are:

Whether a society, understanding the overarching problem of unfairness, should forswear capital punishment, knowing ahead of time that it will eventually be misapplied.

Whether justice is sufficiently served in condemning this killer to spend his life in prison. It did the job for Al Capone. David Berkowitz, aka the Son of Sam, remains in prison after 47 years. So does Robert F. Kennedys assassin, Sirhan Sirhan after 56 years. That list is long.

Here, the survivors of those who were murdered have differing opinions on what would count as federal justice for this killer. Mark Talley, the son of Geraldine Talley, put the conflict like this: He does deserve to die. But I want something worse than that. For Talley, something worse includes the ever-present fear for his own safety during a lifetime in prison.

What is more, he said, the announcement that prosecutors would seek the death penalty offered no comfort. Theres no such thing as healing when you see your mother die 15 times, he said.

John Elmore, an attorney who represents three families who lost loved ones, has said that some of his clients want Gendron put to death while others are satisfied with a lifetime served in prison.

What doesnt matter in this evaluation is the killers alleged and conveniently timed remorse. Even if its real  doubtful  it was too late for that from the moment he pulled the trigger of his AR-15, protecting himself in body armor and wearing a helmet-mounted camera that live-streamed his horror.

It will be up to a jury. We hope its members give this terrible responsibility the full attention that it requires. Anything less will fall short of justice.

Whats your opinion? Send it to us at lettertoeditor@buffnews.com. Letters should be a maximum of 300 words and must convey an opinion. The column does not print poetry, announcements of community events or thank you letters. A writer or household may appear only once every 30 days. All letters are subject to fact-checking and editing.
Photo courtesy: Screen grab from video posted on X by @AshwiniVaishnaw

Davos: Union Minister for Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw highlighted the focused initiatives undertaken by India in semiconductor development during the World Economic Forum annual meeting.

He underscored Indias commitment to talent development and the ambitious goal of designing the entire chip.

Within a short span of nearly 24 months, India has forged partnerships with 104 universities, undertaken a comprehensive redesign of the course curriculum, and collaborated with renowned international institutions, such as the University of Purdue.

India semiconductor mission has a holistic focus - on talent development and designing to developing entire chip.#WEF2024 pic.twitter.com/j6vKu0Wrts  Ashwini Vaishnaw (@AshwiniVaishnaw) January 17, 2024

In the coming five years, India will become a major semiconductor destination. The way the world is developing trust in India, that trust is major because of the way our foreign policy has been conducted by our Prime Minister, Vaishnaw was quoted as saying by Moneycontrol.

These strategic alliances are poised to provide substantial impetus to India's semiconductor mission.

Vaishnaw underscored India's suitability for semiconductor development, citing a vast talent pool that includes nearly 3 lakh design engineers responsible for crafting intricate chips manufactured globally.

India's vision extends beyond talent development to establishing a complete semiconductor ecosystem, covering design capabilities, and the software and hardware components of manufacturing.

As part of the semiconductor mission, India is dedicated to nurturing 85,000 talents, spanning engineers, BTech, MTech, PhD candidates, and technicians proficient in managing clean rooms and operating machinery across the entire spectrum of semiconductor production.

Vaishnaw identified trust as India's most significant asset and highlighted the substantial trust the world has vested in the country.

To strengthen global collaborations, India has signed a Memorandum of Cooperation with the United States, Europe, and Japan.

Active engagements with the South Korean government and companies further underscore India's commitment to advancing semiconductor capabilities.

In an interview with Moneycontrol, he said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has very clearly said that the semiconductor industry is a 20-year journey. "So, it's a long haul; we must keep working step-by-step. His focus has always been on developing the entire ecosystem."
A Sunday morning Church Service attended mostly by servicemen and their families. Photo courtesy: Jonathanvarunbenjamin /Wikipedia Creative Commons

Christ Church of Mhow (now Dr Ambedkar Nagar) in Madhya Pradesh is a reflection of the towns 19th century architectural gems, writes Major General Binoy Poonnen, AVSM, VSM.

As the church choir sang Heavens came down and glory filled my soul, they were joined by the congregation, which also included the Commandant of the Army War College of Mhow and other senior serving officers as well as military veterans.

Because the prayer service on that pleasant Sunday morning in December last year was very special.

People of all faiths had gathered to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the towns popular attraction, the Christ Church (Church); some of the attendees were closely associated with the restoration of the landmark.

About 25km away from Indore, a popular business city of Madhya Pradesh, Mhow nestles amid the Malwa Plateau, between the basins of Chambal and Narmada rivers.

There are several views about the name Mhow.

While many claim that it is an acronym for Military Headquarters for War, others claim that the place was called Mhow Gaon much before the British arrived.

Mhow has now been renamed as Dr Ambedkar Nagar as a mark of respect to the architect of the Indian Constitution, Dr B R Ambedkar, who was born here.

With a large number of veterans from the Indian armed forces having settled down in Mhow, it is often called a Pensioners Paradise.

The cantonment

The little known village shot to fame in 1818 when Maj Gen John Malcolm established a cantonment here after defeating the Holkar ruler in the Battle of Mahidpur (1817) and the signing of the Treaty of Mandsaur.

Mhow was the headquarters of the 5th (Mhow) Division of the Southern Army under the British.

The British chose Mhow as a cantonment for several reasons.

The salubrious climate, its strategic location in central India, the availability of large areas of land for training, and an area which was not likely to get affected by floods, were some of the key reasons behind the choice.

After independence, the Indian Army established three important training institutions in Mhow  The Infantry School, The Army War College, and the Military College of Telecommunications Engineering (an area earlier occupied by the British Infantry Barracks).

Christ Church

The Church was built between 1818 and 1823 by the troops of the Warwickshire and Brecknockshire regiments, the first British army units to be based in Mhow.

According to records, to differentiate it from Mhows Church of Scotland and the Church of Ireland, it was called the Church of England and rechristened as the Christ Church in 1947.

Reverend WB Parmer, the Veterinary Doctor of the Cantonment Board, Mhow, was appointed as the minister in 1947.

Architectural highlights

The Church building appears to follow a modified version of early English Gothic style of architecture.

The single transept is at the front of the building while the steeple stands approximately 10 metres high to the aft, topped by a spire and belfry, which houses the bell.

Initially, the roof was made of canvas, which was later replaced by a wooden structure and tiles.

The Church was said to be the tallest building of Mhow at the time of construction.

A framework of teak supports the central portion of the Church while the walls are made of brick and lime mortar.

The marble altar was added in 1881.

There are two large stained glass windows above the altar at the east end; one depicts Jesus on the Cross and the other shows Jesus with his apostles.

In 1877, two wings (with steel girders supporting the roof) were added to the building to accommodate the expanding congregation.

Interestingly, after the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857, rifle holders were added to the pews of the Church because the British soldiers were required to carry their weapons at all times.

The British soldiers of both battalions would march in through the northern and southern gates led by their bands, remove their headgear, place their weapons in the holders, and join the prayer service.

Commemorative and memorial plaques

The walls of the church are adorned with commemorative and memorial plaques, which stand as a testimony to the people who lived and worked in Mhow.

The tablets commemorate units and their tenures in Mhow, individuals of units who died while serving in Mhow and individuals or families who died due to malaria and other diseases while stationed in Mhow.

Even today the Church is held in high esteem by British, Scots, Irish and Australians as well as members of the Indian Army who visit this church for various sentimental reasons.

The pipe organ

One of the key features of the Church is the pipe organ.

It was installed by the Second Battalion of the Suffolk Regiment in 1936, following the construction of an additional room for the bellows, the wind-chest and other equipment.

The organ has 14 pipes; unfortunately, it is not in working condition any more.

A period of decay

Between 1947 and 1971, the Church was supervised by the Bishop of Nagpur while the repairs and upkeep of the building was done by the Military Engineer Services (MES).

During the Indo-Pak War of 1971, the military personnel were moved out of Mhow.

However, after their return after the war, MES did not take up the responsibility of maintaining the Church.

Until 1992, the Church not only suffered considerable decay but also lost many of its artefacts and furniture.

Restoration

In 1992, Major Samuel Paul, an old resident of Mhow, returned to town upon retirement from the Indian Army and took up the responsibility of taking care of the Church on an honorary basis.

Paul continues to be the pastor of the Church till date.

Presently, the Church has a multi-denominational attendance, with a significant transient membership of service personnel and their families who visit Mhow for military duties.

In 2004, members pooled in contributions for repairing and restoring the building.

Following large-scale renovation works since February 2023, especially of the roof and the side walls, it has been possible to bring back the old architectural glory of the Church.

A granite memorial plaque commemorating the bicentenary now adorns the outer wall at the entrance of the church.

Presently, the Church has a multi-denominational attendance, with a significant transient membership of service personnel and their families who visit Mhow for military duties.

(Editing by Uttara Gangopadhyay)




Photo courtesy: Facebook/Mahua Moitra

New Delhi/IBNS: Expelled Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra on Friday vacated her government bungalow in the national capital Delhi following a fresh eviction notice served to the firebrand politician.

Moitra, who was expelled from Parliament's lower house Lok Sabha due to unethical conduct, vacated the bungalow of address 9B Telegraph Lane at 10 am.

The Directorate of Estates (DoE) had sent an eviction notice to Moitra after she lost her parliamentary membership over "cash-for-query" allegations.

On January 4, the Delhi High Court had asked Moitra to approach DoE if she wants to continue staying in the bungalow.

Moitra, who was the MP from West Bengal's Krishnanagar constituency, pleaded in the court to set aside the December 11 order of Directorate of Estates or allow her to continue occupying the government bungalow till the declaration of the results of 2024 General Elections.

The DoE had sent three eviction notices to the TMC leader on January 12 and 17.

#WATCH | Expelled TMC MP Mahua Moitra vacates her Government allotted accommodation in New Delhi pic.twitter.com/bXMM2yD9xy  ANI (@ANI) January 19, 2024

Moitra was expelled from the Lok Sabha on Friday over a report by the Ethics Committee on the 'cash for query' charges against her.

The TMC leader is accused of taking bribes from businessman Darshan Hiranandani in exchange for asking questions that are critical of the Narendra Modi-led government in the Centre.

The Krishnanagar MP was even accused of surrendering log-in credentials to a confidential account on the parliamentary website which would enable Hiranandani to post questions directly.

She denied the bribery charges but admitted sharing login details.

Though Moitra had challenged the expulsion in the Supreme Court, the top court said it will first examine whether it has the jurisdiction to hear the case.

The next hearing will take place on March 11.
Photo courtesy: X/@AmitShah

Shillong/UNI: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday visited the Headquarters of Directorate General Assam Rifles at Laitkor here in Meghalaya.

The Home Minister was given a windshield tour of the well laid out garrison.

Shah also laid a wreath at the War Memorial at Headquarters Directorate General Assam Rifles and paid homage to the supreme sacrifice of the bravehearts of Assam Rifles.

The sacrifices made by the Bravehearts of Assam Rifles for the security of our nation are unparalleled.



Laid a wreath at the War Memorial at Headquarters Directorate General Assam Rifles and paid homage to the martyrs who laid down their lives in the line of duty. pic.twitter.com/UqEOBXT71N  Amit Shah (@AmitShah) January 19, 2024

The Home Minister commended the morale of the troops of Assam Rifles and said that the role played by Assam Rifles as Sentinels of North East is unparalleled and the nation will always be indebted to their sacrifice.

On Thursday, Shah inaugurated the Cyber Security Operations Center in the Headquarters of Directorate General Assam Rifles which will provide the Force with a fighting edge to ward off cyber attacks.
Image Credit : UNI

New Delhi/IBNS: The Supreme Court on Friday refused to give any extra time to 11 convicts for surrender in the case pertaining to rape of Bilkis Bano during the 2002 Gujarat communal riots, media reports said.

The order implies the convicts will have to surrender by Sunday.

In a verdict on January 8, the Supreme Court overturned the Gujarat government's decision to release 11 convicts in the case.

The top court said the Gujarat government is not competent to grant remission to the convicts.

Bano was 21 years old and was five months pregnant when she was gang raped.

The 11 convicts allegedly killed seven members of her family, including her three-year-old daughter during the 2002 Gujarat riots.

The state government and the convicts, however, argued that the remission was considered after the May 2022 judgment by the Supreme Court, which directed the Gujarat government to decide the remission of one of the convicts, Radheshyam Bhagwandas Shah, under the 1992 remission plea within two months.

This triggered action by the state government to consider the release of all convicts under the 1992 policy, the state submitted.

The state took the opinion of the presiding judge of Godhra court on June 3, 2022, and formed a jail advisory committee, which considered the opinion of the local police, jail superintendent, and the trial court judge to recommend the release of the prisoners on August 10, 2022.

A public interest litigation was filed by former Communist Party of India MP Subhashini Ali and others challenging the remission. Later, now expelled Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra also joined in challenging the remission.

Bilkis Bano told the apex court that she was not informed about the remission and came to know about it from the media.

She approached the top court in November 2022 against the remission.
Photo Courtesy: Unsplash

Unidentified assailants opened fire on a vehicle in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region of Pakistan which left at least one polio programme official dead, media reports said.

They also left a policeman injured.

Station House Officer (SHO) of Mamond Police Station Dilawar Khan told Dawn News that unknown persons opened fire on Dr Abdul Rehmans vehicle when he was coming back from the District Headquarters (DHQ) Hospital Khar in the Tarkhoo area of Mamond Tehsil.

The SHO said the doctor was the coordinator of the polio immunisation programme in Bajaur.

According to Rescue 1122 Media Coordinator Ibraheem Khan, the teams provided medical aid to the injured persons and shifted them to DHQ Khar in critical condition, the Pakistani newspaper reported.
Photo Courtesy: Unsplash

Vietnamese police, in coordination with Chinese cops, arrested a Chinese national on the international wanted list for human trafficking on January 17, media reports said.

He was arrested in Binh Duong province of Vietnam.

Liu Peiguang, 34, is being investigated in a human trafficking case by public security authorities in Liaocheng City, China's Shandong Province, reported VN Express International news portal.

Investigation results showed that from June 2016 to March 2019, Liu and his accomplices won the trust of 13 Vietnamese women with promises to help them find jobs or introduce them to wealthy Chinese men and arranged for these women to enter China illegally, the news portal reported.

He then sold these victims.
Photo Courtesy: Unsplash

China's population has declined for the second consecutive year, triggering concern about the future growth of the country.

Data released on Wednesday showed a population of 1.409 billion at the end of 2023 - a 2.08m decrease from 2022, reported BBC.

Experts claim the reason behind the decline is the country's expanding urban class and record-low birth rate.

China said the birth rate has declined to 6.39 per 1,000 people, which is on par with other major nations like Japan and South Korea.

The country has seen falling birth rates for decades - after imposing a controversial one child-policy in the 1980s to control over-population at the time, BBC reported.

To tackle the problem of population fall, the government lifted the policy in 2015.

The government even introduced a series of other incentives to encourage people to start families.

"My husband and I do want to have a kid but we can't afford it for now," Wang Chengyi, a 31-year-old woman in Beijing, told BBC.

She told the British media that she and her partner needed to save money for another three years to provide for the costs of having a child - taking into account school expenses in particular.

"I do want to get pregnant while I'm young as it's better for my health. However, I just don't have enough money for now so I have to postpone. It's a shame and I feel panic over it sometimes," she said.
Attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea have severely disrupted international shipping. (file) Photo Courtesy: Unsplash/Angus G

The US Central Command on Thursday said Houthi launched two anti-ship ballistic missiles at an American-owned tanker ship in the Red Sea.

No damage was caused due to the attack.

"On Jan. 18 at approximately 9 p.m. (Sanaa time), Iranian-backed Houthi terrorists launched two anti-ship ballistic missiles at M/V Chem Ranger, a Marshall Island-flagged, U.S.-Owned, Greek-operated tanker ship," the US Central Command posted on X.

Third Houthi Terrorists Attack on Commercial Shipping Vessel in Three Days



On Jan. 18 at approximately 9 p.m. (Sanaa time), Iranian-backed Houthi terrorists launched two anti-ship ballistic missiles at M/V Chem Ranger, a Marshall Island-flagged, U.S.-Owned, Greek-operated tanker pic.twitter.com/moBkH0Al5B  U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) January 19, 2024

The crew of the vessel observed the missiles impact the water near the ship.

"There were no reported injuries or damage to the ship. The ship has continued underway," read the post on X.

The recent attacks against vessels in and around Red Sea by Houthi led to strikes by the UK and the UK on Yemen.

National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan earlier described the attacks on Red Sea as acts of 'terrorism'.

The US recently designated Houthis as 'Global Terrorist' organization.

On January 17, Jake Sullivan said in a statement: "Over the past months, Yemen-based Houthi militants have engaged in unprecedented attacks against United States military forces and international maritime vessels operating in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. These attacks fit the textbook definition of terrorism."

"They have endangered U.S. personnel, civilian mariners, and our partners, jeopardized global trade, and threatened freedom of navigation. The United States and the international community have been united in our response and in condemning these attacks in the strongest terms," he said.

He said: " Today, in response to these continuing threats and attacks, the United States announced the designation of Ansarallah, also known as the Houthis, as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist."
Indira Gandhi, India's first and only female Prime Minister, was a force to be reckoned with. In fact, on this day she was made the Prime Minister of India. But beyond the realm of policy and power, Indira Gandhi also carved a unique niche in the world of fashion. Her embrace of the traditional Indian saree became a powerful tool for shaping public perception and challenging stereotypes.

1. Saree as a political statement

Indira's sarees were carefully chosen statements. She favoured simple, handloom cotton weaves, often adorned with understated borders and minimal embellishments. This deliberate choice resonated with the ideals of self-reliance and swadeshi (supporting domestic products) championed by her father, Jawaharlal Nehru.





2. Her signature hairstyle

It wasn't just her sarees that became iconic  her short, ironed hair became a distinctive feature, symbolizing efficiency, pragmatism, and a departure from traditional gender norms.



amarujala





3. How she styled her attire

While the sarees themselves were unassuming, Indira's way of wearing them added a touch of regality and power. She draped the pallu (loose end) over her head, a practice uncommon for politicians at the time. This created a distinct silhouette, one that exuded authority and gravitas. Her minimal jewellery often limited to a string of rudraksha beads, further emphasized her understated elegance.

Twitter

4. Occasional Glimpses of Western Influences

While the saree remained her signature garment, Indira occasionally ventured into Western wear. For formal occasions, she would don elegant gowns, often crafted by Indian designers and incorporating subtle Indian motifs. These sartorial choices showcased her ability to navigate different cultural spheres while maintaining her unique identity.

5. Her sarees broke stereotypes making them a global phenomenon

Her wardrobe choices humanized her in the eyes of the public, breaking stereotypes and challenging the conventional expectations of how a female political leader should present herself.



6. Indira Gandhi's unique style was portrayed by several Bollywood actors in various movies as well.

Many Indian actors including Kangana Ranaut in 'Emergency', Lara Dutta in 'Bell Bottom' and recently Fatima Sana Shaikh in 'Sam Bahadur' have portrayed her and her unique style in movies as well. They have accurately shown her signature hairstyle and beautifully draped sarees.

Twitter

Her legacy continues to inspire generations of women in India and around the world to embrace their heritage and rewrite the narrative of leadership in the public eye.
Days before the Pran Pratishtha, the consecration ceremony of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, the first photos of the Ram Lalla idol inside the sanctum sanctorum--garbhagriha, have emerged.

BCCL

Photos showed the 51-inch tall idol, made in black stone -- depicting the deity as a five-year-old child in a standing posture.

TWITTER

Ram Lalla idol installed inside sanctum sanctorum

The photos shared by Vishwa Hindu Parishad media in-charge Sharad Sharma showed the idol, with its face covered with a veil.

The photos were reportedly taken during the placement ceremony in the sanctum sanctorum on Thursday.

The idol, sculpted on Krishna Shila, by renowned sculptor Arun Yogiraj from Mysuru was brought inside the temple in the early hours of Thursday.

TWITTER

Ram Lalla installed with special prayers

In the afternoon, it was placed in the sanctum sanctorum, Arun Dixit, a priest associated with the consecration ceremony, said.

This was done amid the chanting of prayers, according to the Shri Ram Janmbhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust.

Dixit said the 'pradhan sankalp' was performed by Anil Mishra, a member of the trust.

"The idea behind the 'pradhan sankalp' is that the 'pratishtha' of Lord Ram is being done for the welfare of all, for the welfare of the nation, for the welfare of humanity, and also for those who contributed to this work (related to the temple).

BCCL

"Apart from this, other rituals were also performed. 'Vastras' were also given to Brahmins and work has been assigned to everyone," he said.

Pran Pratishtha of Ram Lalla idol

The 'Pran Pratishtha' which means imbibing the idol with divine consciousness, and is a must for every idol that is worshipped in a temple will be held on January 22.

Temple Trust General Secretary Champat Rai had said on Monday that the consecration ceremony will begin at 12:20 pm and is expected to be completed by 1 pm on January 22.

AFP

Following this, the Ayodhya Ram Temple will be open to millions of devotees from the next day.

Rituals before Pran Pratishtha

The seven-day-long rituals leading to the consecration ceremony have already begun at the temple on January 16.

Vedic Brahmins and revered Acharyas are leading worship ceremonies inside the sacred precincts of the Sri Ram Temple.

According to the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), members of the Ram Janmabhoomi Tirth Kshetra also participated in the prayers.

For more news and current affairs from around the world, please visit Indiatimes News.
Rajasthan Forest Department has captured a leopard, that had strayed into the staff room of a heritage hotel in Jaipur on Thursday.

The leopard entered the heritage hotel Kanota Castle, located on the outskirts of Jaipur on Agra Road, on Thursday morning.

Inside Ratan Singh, the driver's room at @KanotaHotels

Castle Kanota.

Chased in there by their hound Gallop. It's a juvenile. The forest department must have rescued him by now. #Jaipur pic.twitter.com/og8X99mtt8  Kaveri  (@ikaveri) January 18, 2024

Leopard enter Jaipur hotel staff room

It was first spotted at around 9 am in the hotel's staff room. According to a spokesperson of the hotel, no one was present in the room when the leopard entered it and no one was attacked by the big cat.

After being alerted by the hotel administration, a team from the forest department and Jaipur Zoo reached the spot.

BCCL/REPRESENTATIONAL IMAGE

Leopard to be released into forest

The adult male leopard was captured and shifted to Nahargarh Rescue Centre after tranquilisation.

Prithviraj Meena, Bassi area Ranger of the Forest Department, said that the leopard could have slipped through the forest in the morning and will be released back into the wild after first aid.

Leopards are the most adaptive among the big cats and can even share space close to humans.

Due to their shrinking habitat and prey base, leopards have been increasingly spotted in human settlements, including in urban areas like Bengaluru, Mumbai, and Delhi.

Leopard with two cubs in Indore Infosys campus

Recently, a leopardess was spotted near the offices of IT giant Infosys and TCS in Indore.

The leopardess was first spotted on Tuesday between 11 am and 12 pm in the Super Corridor area, where the Infosys' campus is located, prompting the forest department to launch a rescue operation.

BCCL/ Representational Image

Later, a local farmer told the forest department he had spotted two leopard cubs in an agriculture field located adjacent to the premises.

Since it was first spotted, the Forest Department has launched an operation to capture it, but the big cat has remained elusive so far.

STORY | Leopard spotted near campuses of TCS, Infosys in Indore; rescue ops on



READ | https://t.co/k0m6Hrtt2V



WATCH: pic.twitter.com/8luh3f5Ppx  Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) January 16, 2024

"We have been searching for the leopard since Tuesday in and around the Infosys campus. We were told by a farmer on Wednesday morning that he spotted two leopard cubs in a wheat field adjacent to the compound," Indore Forest Divisional Officer (DFO) MS Solanki said.

He said that the female leopard is roaming in the Infosys premises and has kept her cubs in a wheat field with standing crops so that they can be safe there.

A cage has been placed at the Infosys campus and drone cameras are being used in the rescue operation for the leopardess and her cubs, he said.

For more news and current affairs from around the world, please visit Indiatimes News.
Have you come across the heartwarming video produced by Christ Presbyterian Academy in Nashville, Tennessee? If not, read on and find out why it's been taking the internet by storm recently, capturing people's attention from all walks of life.

400 students gather outside the home of their cancer-stricken teacher to sing for him. He passed away 10 days later pic.twitter.com/raYmpK1196  Historic Vids (@historyinmemes) January 18, 2024

The reason behind the gathering of around four hundred students and teachers outside the home of their beloved teacher, Ben Ellis, was to sing religious songs and hymns for him, creating a heartfelt moment captured in a video.

Dedicated teacher was battling cancer

An inspiring educator, Ben Ellis poured his heart and soul into teaching at Christ Presbyterian Academy. Even while fighting cancer, he was determined to impact his students' lives positively.

Unfortunately, he was confined to his home during his battle, but his dedication to education remained unwavering. In a display of genuine affection and thoughtfulness, the students and staff organized a surprise visit to uplift their cherished instructor in a truly unique way.

Representational Image| Lexica

Although the video was recorded a few years ago, it recently resurfaced on X (formerly Twitter). This heartwarming act of compassion gained global attention after being shared on social media platforms.



Internet hailed dedicated teacher

History In Memes shared the video on X, prompting numerous social media enthusiasts to express their sentiments. Viewers commended the participants' efforts, with one person stating, "This is the most glorious moment in this teacher's life, and it is really the best thank you gift for his lifelong teaching of students! At this moment God approves of him".

Another commented, " That meant more to him then they could possibly know. He has touched them and taught them well in life."

An X user wrote, " What a wonderful way to pay respect to a much-loved educator. We pray that his legacy will endure in the hearts of people whose lives he touched." Another added, "That breaks my heart."

When brother shaved his head for sister battling cancer

This is not the first time an empathetic act toward a cancer patient has gone viral online.

A heartwarming video shared on X by the Goodnews Movement on October 13, 2022, moved people online and gained widespread attention.

NO ONE FIGHTS ALONE: Brother shaves his head in solidarity with sister who is fighting cancer.  pic.twitter.com/ExX69N3P1a  GoodNewsMovement (@GoodNewsMVT) October 13, 2022

The emotional clip featured a big brother shaving his head in solidarity with his sister, battling cancer and appearing bald in the video. The viral video captured the brother initially shaving his sister's head but unexpectedly paused to shave his head.

This gesture brought his sister to tears in this touching moment. She later joined in to help her brother complete the head-shaving process but remained tearful throughout. The video's caption read, "NO ONE FIGHTS ALONE: Brother shaves his head in solidarity with sister who is fighting cancer.."

For more news and current affairs from around the world, please visit Indiatimes News.
In a surprising twist, a Mumbai resident enthusiastically reserved what he thought was his ideal villa in Goa, investing a substantial Rs 1.2 lakh in the lavish lodging.

Regrettably, his enthusiasm transformed into disappointment as he uncovered the disconcerting realitythe villa didn't exist.

This intricate deceit underscores the risks associated with online reservations and prompts inquiries about the trustworthiness of specific lodgings in well-visited tourist spots.

This narrative acts as a clear caution to travellers, emphasising the importance of thorough research and verification to ensure the authenticity of bookings before committing significant financial resources.

Who Is This Man Who Booked The Villa In Goa?

Saurabh from Mumbai is the man who booked a villa in Goa that does not exist.

What Happened With The Man Who Booked A Villa In Goa?

The revelation that a reserved vacation property is, in reality, non-existent can transform an anticipated holiday into a distressing ordeal.

This unfortunate situation occurred to Saurabh, who, with assistance from a local friend, found out that the lavish villa booked in Goa was nothing more than a deception.

It's a representative image of a villa in Goa created by using an AI | Image: Binge

Expressing his dissatisfaction, the individual took to social media, accusing the travel booking company Homestays and Villas, along with its founder, Siddharth Bakaria, of engaging in fraudulent activities.

As per Saurabh's social media post, he had even disbursed Rs 1.2 lakh to Bakaria for securing the villa in Goa for the last week of December, only to be met with disappointment in the end.

The user disclosed that they reserved a villa in Goa on December 12, making a payment of Rs 1.2 lakh. Fortunately, a friend who checked the location in advance informed them that the place did not exist.



Man tweets about his scam where he booked a villa in Goa for Rs. 1.2 Lakh and it does not exist | Image: X

The user posted a screenshot showing the company cancelling the booking and ensuring a refund of Rs 40,000 by December 27, with the remaining amount pledged within 14 days.

However, the user asserted that they only received Rs 40,000 and criticised Bakaria for neglecting calls and delaying payments with various excuses. Saurabh then alleged that Bakaria advised him to pursue a legal complaint.

Where Can You Check Out The Post?

You can check out the full post on X posted by Saurabh.



Fraud Alert 



Booked a villa in Goa on 12 Dec 2022 through @SidBakaria & @thehomestays for the last week of December for 1.2L. Fortunately, a friend who lives in the area could check out the location a couple of days in advance only to find that the villa didn't exist. (cont'd)  Saurabh (@saubstoryy) March 7, 2023

How Did The Internet React?

Reacting to the post, a user recounted a comparable encounter with the company, asserting that Siddharth Bakaria provided them with incomplete information regarding a Himachal trip, creating suspicions of a potential scam.

The Internet reacts to the story where a man is being scammed to book a villa for Rs. 1.2 Lakh in Goa and finds out that it does not exist | Image: X

The Internet reacts to the story where a man is being scammed to book a villa for Rs. 1.2 Lakh in Goa and finds out that it does not exist | Image: X

What do you think about it? Do let us know in the comments.



For more trending stories, follow us on Telegram.
Greece will adopt the Finnish model for conscription, with career and reserve training, National Defense Minister Nikos Dendias told Skai FM on Friday.
A High Court sitting in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, has sentenced three men, identified as Boma Thompson, Emelike Mathias, and Daniel Thankgod, to death by hanging.

It was gathered that the four suspects were charged for the kidnapping and murder of Chief Abbot Ogbobula in June 2017, but the court discharged and acquitted one of them while three others were sentenced to death.

INFORMATION NIGERIA learnt that in the above mentioned year, the late Ogbobula was kidnapped in Ahoada, Rivers State and moved to Manikin Bush in Degema LGA of the state, where he later died in the hands of the kidnappers.

According to Vanguard report, his abductors buried him in a shallow grave in the bush, his body was later exhumed by the police during investigations.

READ MORE: Over 20 Passengers Feared Dead In Rivers Boat Mishap

The convicts were found guilty of four-count bordering on conspiracy to kidnap, kidnapping, conspiracy to murder, and murder.

On conspiracy to kidnap, Justice Monina Danagogo, in a copy of the judgment he delivered on Thursday, convicted and sentenced the first, second and fourth defendants to seven years imprisonment without an option of fine.

On the kidnapping, the judge convicted and sentenced the first, second and fourth defendants to death by hanging.

On conspiracy to murder Late Chief Abbot Ogbobula, he sentenced them to 14 years imprisonment with no option of fine.
Sunday Dayo Asefon, Senior Special Assistant (SSA) to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on student engagement, on Thursday, posited that a lot of students are not in the know of Federal Governments social investment schemes.

During unveiling the Nigerian Students flag and the 15-point Renewed Hope Students agenda in Abuja, Asefon, according to Daily Trust, expressed that numerous deserving students eligible for these schemes and scholarships remain uninformed about the application process and availability of forms.

Asefon outlined various agendas, including the enforcement of the Nigerian Student Leaders Regional Dialogue, Annual All Nigerian Tertiary Institution Students Affairs Conference, Foreign and Local Digital Skill Scholarship Scheme, Academic Excellence Reward Scheme, and National Students Competition and Readership Campaign, among others.

The SSA assured that the hurdles associated with the student loan scheme had been eliminated, with disbursements set to commence this month.

READ ALSO: Nothing Is Working, Future Is No Longer Bright For Our Kids  Toyin Lawani

The loan will reach indigent students, and my office will ensure that it is accessible to students, avoiding any hijacking by a select few.

Acknowledging campus challenges, Asefon expressed confidence that the loan would assist students in pursuing education without financial constraints.

He addressed the prevalent scepticism among Nigerian students, assuring that Tinubus commitment aims to revitalize education, ensuring an uninterrupted academic calendar and timely completion of four-year courses without additional years.

In light of these initiatives, Asefon urged students to regain hope in education, emphasizing Tinubus dedication to reshaping the educational landscape in recent months.

Majority of Nigerian students have lost hope and said education is a scam but Tinubu has been able to revive and change the face of education in the last few months. Tinubu is committed to uninterrupted academic calendar, he wants to ensure that four years course finishes in four years without additional year, he said.
Barely few hours after the Supreme Courts verdict on Kano states governorship election, the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) presidential candidate in the 2023 poll, Rabiu Kwankwaso, has bragged that nobody can outsmart him in politics.

Kwankwaso led this out during an interaction with local newsmen in the state, on Thursday evening, while reacting to the outcome of the apex courts judgement on the March 18 governorship election.

The NNPP presidential candidate, disclosed that political opponents in Kano plotted to incite violence in the state and blame it on him so he could be arrested.

READ MORE: Kano Residents Storm Streets As SCourt Affirms Gov Yusufs Election Victory

He added that the Supreme Court justices not only affirmed the election of Governor Abba Kabir Yusufs election but also reprimanded the lower courts judges for erring in law, noting that if it were in other climes, they should have resigned.

He said, Politics is not dirty as many are saying. Politics is a clean game. With my experience, I can assure you, someone cannot outsmart me in this game.

The ministerial appointment they are talking about, I spoke to the President (Tinubu) that my willingness to accept the position is to assist him.
An unidentified woman was on Friday shot in Lafia, the Nasarawa State capital, while protesting against the Supreme Courts verdict that upheld the election of Governor Abdullahi Sule.

Information Nigeria had reported that protests broke out in Lafia and other parts of the State over the court verdict, which threw out the case of Peoples Democratic Party and its candidate, Emmanuel Ombugadu.

In a video sighted on X, the woman was seen walking naked and alone when an unidentified person shot at her.

The woman, was seen rolling on the floor after being shot at.

However, as at time of this report, it could not be ascertained if she was shot by security men or hoodlums.

A background voice commenting in Hausa language after the woman fell said, Lafia has become what it has become.

Meanwhile, the Governor appealed for calm in the State, urging the citizens to respect democracy and be law-abiding.

Speaking to State House correspondents after the apex Court verdict, Governor Sule thanked President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for the role he played in the apex court judgement, saying that the President has ensured fairness without due interference in the justice system.

We must thank Mr President, that is what brought us here. We thank him for the role he has continued to play in all of these by ensuring that fairness is done without due interference, allowing the justice system to work the way it is supposed to work so we must express our appreciation to him for doing all that and now all the issues as far as elections are concerned are over today.

As far as we are concerned, we have won at the Court of Appeal. We also won with the five justices led by Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun; we also had the five justices; they were in support of us, that is why.

READ ALSO: Supreme Court Upholds Election Victory Of Kaduna, Gombe, Kebbi, Nasarawa Govs.

Accompanied by the former governor of Nasarawa State, Tanko Almakura and the former chairman of the All Progressives Congress Party, APC, Abdullahi Adamu, Sule acknowledged that opposition reactions to the verdict are not unexpected.

While stating that irrespective of peoples objections, the Supreme Court judgement remains the final verdict, he said: This is a state where we had 600,000 votes and we won with over 340,000 votes so you will know that over 200,000 people did not vote for us, so out of these 200,000, another 50 people are protesting somewhere, saying a thousand people are protesting somewhere, so you should know that it is a day that not everybody will be happy in every state.

Where the Supreme Court passed judgement in every one of these states, you will find some people happy and some other people not happy.

But I think people who understand what democracy is all about will understand that the Supreme Court is the ultimate and final; and those who appreciate and respect democracy should leave it right there.

Protest or no protest will not change anything; the Supreme Court has already passed the judgement. In our case, when we lost at the tribunal, we told everybody nobody should protest; that is why nobody protested; that is the level of maturity you see from one political party to another.

The Governor further extended an olive branch to his political opponents, urging them to join hands in building a better Nasarawa State.

We call on our opponent without any grudges so that we can build our state. Nasarawa State is next to Abuja. Nasarawa State today is in the North Central, the only state that has a commercial quantity of crude oil and the only state so far with mineral processing plants. We already have one of the lithium factories, which is almost complete, and as you know, it is also a state where agriculture is flourishing, Sule added.
The Supreme Court, on Friday, dismissed the appeal filed by Ladi Adebutu of the Peoples Democratic Party, challenging the election victory of Governor Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State.

Recall that Adebutus appeal asserted that the election of Governor Abiodun did not comply with the electoral laws and he did not score the lawful majority votes, however, asked the court to void his victory.

Meanwhile, the apex court, in a unanimous decision by a five-member panel, dismissed the appeal by the PDP and its candidate as lacking in merit.

In its lead judgement that was prepared by Justice Tijjani Abubakar, the apex court said that it found no reason to nullify the election victory of Governor Abiodun, who was the candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress.

READ MORE: Were All Tinubus Men, Stop Intimidating Us  Adebutu To Ogun APC

The court also upheld the earlier verdict of the Court of Appeal, which on November 22, 2023, dismissed the case the PDP and its candidate raised against the election.

This appeal is unmeritorious, and it is accordingly dismissed, the court held.

INFORMATION NIGERIA had earlier reported that the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, had declared that Governor Abiodun polled a total of 276,298 votes to defeat his closest rival, Adebutu of the PDP, who garnered a total of 262,383 votes.

Dissatisfied with the outcome of the poll, Adebutu approached the Ogun State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal, insisting that he was the valid winner of the gubernatorial contest.

He alleged that the election was marred by irregularities and corrupt practices,the PDP candidate also alleged that over 40,000 voters from his strongholds were disenfranchised due to violence.
The Supreme Court, on Friday, upheld Uba Sani of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the duly elected Governor of Kaduna State.

A five-member panel of the apex court unanimously dismissed the appeal filed by Mohammed Ashiru of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for lacking merit.

Tijjani Abubakar, who read the lead judgment, held that the appellant has nothing useful to ask this Court.

He further described the appeal as frivolous and vexatious and went ahead to dismiss it.

Recall that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared Sani as winner of the poll after he scored 730, 001 votes to defeat Ashiru, who polled 719, 196 votes in the March 18 governorship election.

Not satisfied with the outcome, the PDP and Ashiru approached the Tribunal and in September 2023, two of the three judges on the tribunal panel dismissed the petition on technical grounds.

Victor Oviawie, who led the panel, deemed the petition abandoned, noting that the PDP and its candidate did not file their pre-hearing application within the time prescribed by law.

Similarly, in November 2023, the court of appeal affirmed Sanis election.

Also, the apex Court affirmed Inuwa Yahayas re-election as the Governor of Gombe State.

The five-member panel led by Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, held that the appeal by Jibrin Barde, candidate of the PDP, lacks merit.

Affirming the verdict of the court of appeal which upheld Yahayas victory, Kekere-Ekun held that the concurrent findings were not shown to be perverse enough to warrant being set aside.

Yahaya was however declared winner of the March 18 governorship election after he scored 342,821 votes to defeat his closest rival, Barde who polled 233,131 votes.

PDP and its candidate went on to file a petition claiming that Yahaya, who contested on the platform of the APC, was not re-elected by a majority of lawful votes.

The opposition party alleged cases of ballot box stuffing and thumbprinting done by Yahayas supporters in nine of the states 11 Local Government Areas (LGAs) .

The Tribunal dismissed the suit filed by the party and Barde.

Displeased, Barde and PDP approached the Appeal Court.

The appellate court equally dismissed the appeal filed by the governorship candidate.

For Kebbi State, the Court dismissed the appeal by PDP and its candidate, Aminu Bande, seeking to sack Nasir Idris as the Governor.

The apex Court held in its ruling that the appeal lacked merit.

My conclusion is that this appeal lacks merit and it is dismissed, Uwani Abba-Aji, who read the lead judgment, said.

Recall that I March 2023, INEC declared the Kebbi gubernatorial election inconclusive owing to massive vote cancellation and over-voting in 20 of the 21 LGAs in the State.

READ ALSO: SCourt Reverses Yusuf, Lawal, Mutfwangs Sack; Upholds Nwifuru, Otu, Bala Mohammeds Election

The Commission, which later fixed April 15, 2023 for a supplementary election, declared Idris of the APC winner, having scored 409,225 votes to beat PDPs Aminu Bande, who got 360,940 votes.

However, Bande and PDP rejected the result and filed a petition before the Tribunal.

The petitioners alleged that there was over-voting in some polling units and that Idris was not qualified to contest the poll.

They also alleged that the Deputy Governor, Umar Abubakar Tafida had submitted a fake secondary school testimonial to INEC.

In the judgment, Ofem Ofem, the chairman of the Tribunal, held that the petitioners failed to prove beyond doubt that the third respondent (deputy) presented a fake certificate to INEC.

On the issue of over-voting, Ofem said out of the 59 polling units being questioned, irregularities were discovered in nine.

The panel deducted 1,735 votes from APC while over 900 votes were also taken away from PDPs results.

Ofem, however, said the deduction of the votes would not affect the margin between the election winner and the runner-up.

He added that there was no substantial evidence to prove over-voting and irregularities in other polling units.

Other allegations were dismissed and Idris was affirmed as the duly elected governor of the state.

The Court of Appeal also affirmed the Governors election.

Lastly, Abdullahi Sule was announced as the duly elected Governor of Nasarawa State.

In the judgment, Kekere-Ekun, who read the lead judgment, held that the verdict of appellate court, which affirmed Sules election, was comprehensive and well considered.

Consequently, all five-member panel of the apex court dismissed the appeals filed by David Ombugadu, candidate of the PDP.

INEC had declared Sule as winner of the election with 347,209 votes in March 2023, with Ombugadu polling second with 283,016 votes.

However, the PDP candidate expressed dissatisfaction with the outcome of the governorship election, citing alleged irregularities.

But in October 2023, the election petition tribunal in Lafia nullified Sules victory and declared Ombugadu as winner of the poll.

Sule and the APC sought to overturn the verdict of the tribunal.

The Court of Appeal faulted the verdict of the Tribunal later in November 2023 and affirmed Sules election as Governor.

Meanwhile, a group of youths took to the streets to protest the verdict affirming Sule as Governor

The protesters burnt tyres at the PDP secretariat in Lafia, as disclosed by Channels Television.

They also erected bonfires and blocked a highway that leads to Jos, the Plateau State capital.

The activities of the protesters led to the sudden closure of schools and businesses in Lafia, a town connecting with the Federal Capital Territory.
No fewer than two persons have been killed as 70 houses reportedly set ablaze in a communal clash between two communities in Kogi State.

It was gathered that the communities involved in the communal clash are Oturpo-Ojile and Ochi-Ibadan under Ankpa Local Government Area of the state.

INFORMATION NIGERIA learnt that the crisis started when some members of Ochi-Ibadans village allegedly killed a man from Oturpo-Ojile who was returning from Lagos to his own town.

However, in reaction to the death of their son, youths from Oturpo-Ojile, went straight to Ochi-Ibadan and allegedly burnt down over 70 houses.

Confirming the clash, the member representing Ankpa I state Constituency, Hon. Akus Lawal, disclosed the incident during the Kogi State House of Assembly plenary on Thursday.

READ MORE: Joint Security Operatives Rescue 21 Kidnapped Victims In Kogi

He said: The sad incident occurred on January 14, 2024. The communal clash between two communities is very worrisome and should not repeat itself again.

We were informed that the death of one man from Oturpo-Ojile while returning from a journey led to a reprisal by his people on Ochi-Ibadan village, who they accused to have caused the death of their son. Over 70 houses and many properties in Ochi-Ibadan were burnt down.

We must commend the Commissioner of Police who went to this community for an on the spot assessment and the Kogi State Government under Alhaji Yahaya Bello for the quick response. We are praying that such a communal clash will not happen in our land again.
The family of Al-Kadriyah, who tragically lost their daughter, Nabeeha to bandits due to ransom payment delay, says they are awaiting the release of the remaining five siblings still in captivity.

Sherifdeen Al-Kadriyar, an uncle of the deceased, disclosed this on behalf of the family, while expressing gratitude to Nigerians for their concern and support since the incident.

Giving an update, he mentioned that the family refrains from discussing the situation extensively to ensure the safety of the girls and others still held captive.

We have no problem with the remaining siblings again or with the deadline. The last time we heard from them, they were okay, and we are hoping that we would meet them in good condition and faith. This is only what I can say for now, Sherifdeen told Daily Trust on Thursday.

The siblings still in captivity include Najeeba, a 500-level Quantity Surveying student, her younger sister Nadherah, a 300-level Zoology student, both studying at Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) Zaria, and their twin sisters, Habeeba and Haneesa.

READ ALSO: Nabeeha: Backlash As Force PRO, Adejobi Asks Nigerians Not To Cry More Than The Bereaved

Although reports indicate that the N100 million ransom has been raised, ongoing negotiations between the family and the bandits involve other aspects of the situation.

Recall that the siblings were abducted along with their father, Alhaji Mansoor Al-Kadriyar, from their home at Zuma 1 on the outskirts of Bwari town in Abuja.

An uncle of the deceased, Alhaji Abdulfatai, who led a potential rescue mission, was killed by the bandits.

Two policemen, who were hit by bullets during the exchange of fire, also lost their lives.

Efforts to secure the release of the victims have involved the former Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami, who led fundraising initiatives for the ransom.

However, this action has faced condemnation from some government officials.

The spokesperson of the Nigeria Police Force, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, emphasized that the police and other security agencies are actively involved in efforts to rescue all the victims of the kidnapping.
Buy a used or new car recently? If you have, you understand the issues with junk fees that some dealers insist on tacking on.

Junk fees refer to additional charges that car dealers may include in the purchase agreement. These fees are often unrelated to the actual cost of the car, and they can significantly inflate the overall price. Im sure youve seen them before: administrative fees, document processing, and my favorite, advertising fees, meaning they want you to pay for their marketing expenses. They have some nerve to try that one, but it happens all the time.

Now, what if junk fees are starting to appear on your cloud bill? This is becoming more common, and enterprises are beginning to push back.

Hidden cloud fees

Shortly after the mass move to the cloud during the pandemic, I began to get concerned calls about fees that enterprises did not expect. These are not really hidden. They are part of the lengthy agreements that cloud provider make their customers sign, analogous to the Terms of Service agreements we routinely accept on our phones.

Fees here and there, such as egress fees, initially dont cause concern. But, now that enterprises are full speed ahead with the cloud and moving data out of a public cloud as part of their daily processing, these fees are starting to add up.

Fees can complicate cost management more so when transferring data across different cloud platforms, which is typical for multicloud deployments. Also, various factors such as location, geography, and data type can significantly impact the size of these charges.

Focus on egress

Egress charges, levied for data transferred out of a cloud service providers network, are now a hot button, even though theyve been a part of cloud bills for years.

High egress charges can inflate operational costs and restrict organizations from transitioning between cloud providers or moving their data to more cost-effective alternatives, even back to their enterprise data centers. As one of my clients put it, they feel their data is being held for ransom.

This issue has attracted the attention of regulators, including the United Kingdoms communications regulator, Ofcom. Indeed, they started investigating users barriers when attempting to change cloud providers, primarily high egress charges.

What to do?

Businesses are exploring strategies to mitigate the impact of egress charges. Of course, using finops comes to mind. Finops cant do much to minimize hidden costs, but it can tell you in advance how much the charges will be. Hidden no more.

One approach involves optimizing data transfer processes. This reduces the volume of outbound data flows and thus can lower egress fees. When designing cloud systems, Im always looking for events where data is moved out of a cloud provider, and I try to minimize the impact. This is new to many because moving data in and out of any system has been routine.

Another approach is using direct connect cloud services. These can leverage a dedicated private connection between a companys on-premises infrastructure and the cloud. This minimizes egress charges since youre bypassing the public internet for data transfers. A cost is also associated with this: circuit changes. However, a higher volume of data moving out of the cloud can make better economic sense.

Other networking tricks, such as software-defined networks and cloud interconnects, provide a less costly way to work around the changes for data connectivity and egress. Although it can be expensive to set up, businesses gain greater control over their data traffic. Efficient routing can help minimize egress charges.

Cloud providers are responding

Of course, many are looking to the cloud providers charging these fees to fix the issues. They may not be legally obligated to remove these fees, but they are listening to cloud users and have taken steps to reduce egress fees. Many enterprises are questioning their need to be in the cloud in the first place and could move to other platforms if costs are too high.

Much of the repatriation thats occurring is purely for cost issues. All things being equal, companies would rather stay in the cloud. If enterprises could get relief from annoying fees, this could keep some companies in place on the public cloud providers.

I would make that call were I a public cloud exec right now. With the cost of hardware becoming dirt cheap, the business case for public cloud computing is more complex than it was just five years ago. If the cloud doesnt prove its cost-effectiveness, enterprises do have other options.
File: A worker cleans fish at Lunds Fishery in Cape May, N.J. Monday April 6, 2021. Wayne Reichle, President of Lunds Fisheries, is one of three local commercial fishing enterprises involved in a lawsuit before the U.S. Supreme Court in January, 2024, that could greatly curtail the power of federal regulators. Read more

The U.S. Supreme Court is weighing what could be one of the most important decisions it makes this term: whether to uphold a 1984 legal precedent known as Chevron, which states that federal courts must defer to regulatory agencies when a law is ambiguous.

But a lawsuit filed by three commercial fishermen at the Jersey Shore could sink Chevron.

Environmentalists fear that would greatly curtail the power of federal regulators such as the Environmental Protection Agency, as well as a broader spectrum of agencies handling public health and safety.

In short, the fishermen are objecting to a regulation that requires them to pay observers to ensure their vessels comply with federal regulation while at sea. Cape May-based commercial fishing operations, run by Bill Bright, Wayne Reichle, and Stefan Axelsson, filed a suit, Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, which is backed by conservative groups seeking to overturn Chevron.

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This case has nothing to do with politics and everything to do with protecting the livelihoods of my family and crew, Bright said in a statement forwarded to The Inquirer by August, a public relations firm. There are substantial costs for every fishing trip we take, and if we catch nothing or the catch is small, we can actually lose money. Monitors are paid regardless of the catch, and under this rule they would make more than me and my crew on many trips, which isnt financially feasible or fair.

Bright has said a single observer costs him $700 a day.

Whats facing the Supreme Court?

On Wednesday, the justices heard arguments in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo. The justices are deciding whether to uphold or overrule the four-decades-old Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council decision.

The justices heard three-and-a-half hours of oral arguments. Multiple media outlets reported the justices asked questions indicating that the Chevron doctrine is unlikely to remain fully intact. A majority of the justices appeared to lean toward scrapping it altogether or limiting its scope.

If the justices do scrap Chevron, the opinion could impact multiple agencies that count on using their own experts to interpret and enforce federal laws.

Why are the Cape May anglers suing?

The fishermen are challenging the National Marine Fisheries Service for requiring the herring industry to take on the cost of paying observers.

The Fisheries Service is allowed under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA) to require an observer on board a vessel to make sure an area isnt overfished. However, fishermen say that requiring them to pay observers salaries is an extraordinary step. They say that the Fisheries Service, citing ambiguity in the statute, began declaring that herring fishery vessels would have to cede upward of 20% of their returns to pay the salaries.

A lower court upheld the policy, citing Chevron. The fishermen appealed to the Supreme Court.

What is the precedent?

Chevron created a two-step method used to examine whether a federal agencys interpretation of a statute is lawful. First, a court needs to decide whether a laws language is clear. A second step is required if the court finds a law silent or ambiguous.

That second step mandates that a court defer to the agency involved. The court reasoned decades ago that made sense because some laws need highly-trained staffs to interpret and enforce them. Congress does not have such experts on staff.

Who is supporting the fisherman and why?

But conservative groups backing the fishermen arent just asking for relief from the pay-for-observers rule  they want the court to overturn Chevron altogether. The fishermen are represented by the Cause of Action Institute and New Civil Liberties Alliance. Both groups have deep ties to other conservative groups, including those funded by billionaire Charles Koch, the New York Times has reported.

Groups such as the Cato Institute, Christian Employers Alliance, and members of Congress such as Sen. Ted Cruz and Speaker of the House Mike Johnson have filed briefs in support of the fishermen.

The gist of their argument: Congress never granted the executive branch the authority to create a rule that mandates the fishermen pay for an observer, and that the Chevron doctrine gives agencies too broad a power to define laws. Only Congress should be making such laws, and the courts should be empowered to interpret them, they say.

Whats the implication?

The National Resources Defense Council (NRDC), a large environmental nonprofit, warns that overturning Chevron would upend decades of precedent agencies rely on to function smoothly. It cautions that Congress cant micromanage all the legislation that it passes and must rely on federal agencies, which fall under the president, to carry out laws and policies.

Jeff Turrentine wrote a commentary on the NRDC website, warning that the Supreme Court could seize for itself and lower-court judges a policy-making role the Constitution did not intend for them to have. Turrentine said overturning Chevron would strip many federal agencies of power to interpret laws they have to carry out. That role, he wrote, would be turned over to federal judges.

Who are the Cape May fishermen involved in the case?

Bill Bright, who has been fishing for 40 years and is based in Cape May, owns two vessels, Retriever and Defiance, that run along the Atlantic Coast. His wife, two sons, and two daughters help run the operation, according to a website set up for the case. Bright also owns and operates Hooked Up Seafood, a restaurant on Rio Grande Avenue in Wildwood.

One of his sons is training to be a ship and fishing equipment engineer, and the other works alongside him as a fisherman on the Retriever. Meanwhile, his wife and daughters manage the restaurant, which serves seafood caught from his vessels and other local boats. Other than herring, Bright fishes for tuna, swordfish, mahi-mahi, and tilefish that are also sold in the restaurant.

Wayne Reichle, a third-generation fisherman, is president of Cape May-based Lunds Fisheries, which has more than 200 employees. He purchased Lunds in the early 90s and his father serves as the companys chairman.

Reichles operation has workers on both the East and West coasts and 19 vessels using 34 ports. Six of his vessels are licensed and outfitted for Atlantic herring fishing. Those include the Jersey Cape, Eva Marie, Golden Nugget, Enterprise, Anya Jo, and Nancy Elizabeth.

Stefan Axelsson, is a third-generation commercial fisherman and was born and raised in Cape May. His grandfather came to Cape May from Sweden in 1954 to start the family-owned fishing operation. Axelsson owns the herring boat Dyrsten, and his daughter accompanies him on fishing trips.
There was no bigger star than Stone Cold Steve Austin when WrestleMania last came to Philadelphia in 1999. Read more

WrestleMania, the hallmark annual event of professional wrestling, is coming to Philadelphia this spring and is expected to draw large crowds. Throughout the five days of wrestling programming in April, over 200,000 attendees are expected.

Well have eyes on Philadelphia from literally around the globe, said Larry Needle, executive director of PHL Sports, a division at the Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau. For thousands, it will likely be their introduction to our city and a chance to bring many new visitors here.

WrestleMania 40 will take place at Lincoln Financial Field over two nights, on April 6 and 7. Other events throughout the week will be hosted at the Wells Fargo Center and the Pennsylvania Convention Center. Interactive fan activities and a superstore where fans can purchase official merchandise will be available at the Convention Center.

A ticket to a single night of the showcase at the Linc can run from $211 to over $5,000 on Ticketmaster. All events throughout the week are expected to sell out, Needle said.

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Fans of WrestleMania have stayed an average of four nights in the host area, according to data WWE made available to Needles team from the past couple of years. Many fans also come to the event each year, he says, regardless of which city is hosting.

This is their Mecca, said Needle.

Last year, WrestleMania took place near Los Angeles and had an economic impact of $215 million for the region, according to the Los Angeles Times. It was the highest grossing and most attended WrestleMania to date, beating the previous years record when 156,352 people attended the event in the Dallas/Arlington region. The event in Texas drew attendees from every state in the country as well as international audiences from 53 countries, according to the Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau. The event created a $206.5 million economic impact on the region according to a study released by the mayor of Arlington, Texas.

Im not going to say that our stadium attendance numbers are gonna be able to exceed Dallas or L.A. necessarily just based on size of the venue, Needle said.

The AT&T Stadium in Arlington has over 80,000 seats, while the SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles has over 70,000 seats, compared to the Lincs 67,594 seats.

Still, Philadelphia managed to set a record when tickets went on sale in August. WWE sold over 90,000 tickets and in one day exceeded the gross record of $21.6 million in sales from the previous year.

We want to bring things that are not only financially successful, but events that local fans want to have here, Needle said.

Bringing WrestleMania to Philadelphia was no easy feat, said Needle, who is part of the sporting commission for the city charged with attracting these kinds of events.

There literally are hundreds of similar commissions around the country  battling it out for the big event, Needle said. Its an incredibly competitive process.

The effort will pay off for locals. Although many fans will be coming to Philadelphia for WrestleMania, some are already here.

We know historically we are one of WWEs biggest markets, and we consistently deliver big audiences for them for the different shows that come to town, Needle said. They are well aware of the rabid fan base that we have in Philadelphia. "
While reporting my six-month follow-up on Phillys public bathroom pilot project this month, I got wind from a source that a Portland Loo unit was installed in Vernon Park in Germantown.

Thats odd, I thought, because the citys pilot project  which began last year and will place six standalone Portland Loo bathrooms across the city over five years at an annual cost of $656,864  doesnt include a unit in Germantown.

Two Portland Loos (which the city renamed Philly Phlushes) are up and running in Center City and North Philly, a third is slated for Clark Park in West Philly this year, and the remaining three locations havent been chosen yet.

So in the name of doo diligence, I drove over to Vernon Park to check out the tip. Loo and behold, there it was, a shiny new Portland Loo bathroom behind fencing, with a fancy new water fountain nearby.

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Had I stepped in some great latrine scheme happening at the highest echelons of city government?

While anything is possible in Philly, after days of digging to the bottom of this mystery like a honey dipper in a privy, it appears this may be a classic case of the left cheek of city government not knowing what the right cheek is doing.

Those aware of the Portland Loo in Vernon Park told me they were surprised to learn of the citys public bathroom pilot project through media coverage last year, and those involved in the citys pilot project were surprised to learn about the restroom in Vernon Park from me.

What actually happened?

Thats because the Vernon Park Portland Loo isnt part of the citys pilot project, which was spearheaded by the Managing Directors Office and is run by the Department of Public Health. Its an outlier, a rogue public bathroom if you will. Like the cheese, it stands alone  and like forgotten cheese, some worry that it may start to stink if more attention isnt paid to it.

According to Angela Miles, president of Friends of Vernon Park, a Portland Loo was first proposed for the park back in 2019 (before the citys pilot project) by Councilmember Cindy Bass office.

Rebuild  former Mayor Jim Kenneys soda-tax-funded investment project to improve parks, rec centers, and libraries  was getting underway, and Vernon Park was identified as a Rebuild site. Bass requested a bathroom as part of renovations and said the citys Parks and Recreation Department recommended the Portland Loo.

Community members were excited to get a much-needed bathroom at the park, Miles said, but first, they wanted to know if there was a plan to maintain it.

We know the city is big and a lot of projects can focus on capital improvements, but not a whole lot towards maintenance, she said. Our concern we expressed to all stakeholders is that if its locked, broken, or smells bad, its almost worse than there not being a restroom.

After delays due to COVID-19, site improvements began at the park. The bathroom was considered phase II, but ongoing questions about maintenance remained, Miles said.

When the Friends of Vernon Park saw my coverage last summer about the launch of the citys public bathroom pilot project and read that a team of dedicated public restroom specialists are budgeted to keep those bathrooms clean, they reached out to Rebuild to see if their bathroom would be included, only to be told their loo wasnt part of the pilot project.

 READ MORE: Loo review No. 3: How Phillys new public bathrooms are dooing after six months

Were trying to understand why this particular unit is outside the projects scope, Miles said.

Bass said she was also surprised to learn about the citys public restroom pilot project through media reports. She said she tried to find out why the Vernon Park bathroom wasnt included in it, but got no real answer.

Im looking at the news just like everybody else and Im like What? Excuse me? she said. Vernon Park was supposed to be the first. It seems as if the Managing Directors Office was not talking to Parks and Rec, but everybody in the Kenney administration probably was not communicating effectively, thats the best I can offer  I think its lack of coordination.

Miles said her group reached out to Bass office at least five times for answers about a maintenance plan but got no response. In August, the group sent a letter to Bass, Rebuild, and Parks and Rec, asking that the planned bathroom be put on hold until a maintenance plan was in place.

Think of it like this on a smaller scale: You wouldnt purchase a cell phone with no service plan  it would be useless, the letter read.

Bass acknowledged receiving a letter about some concerns, but they were the same concerns from some time ago. She said she didnt recall the letter asking for a response (it does) but is open to speaking with the group. Beyond that, she didnt say why requests by Friends of Vernon Park went unanswered by her office.

I dont want to lose time focusing on Theres no maintenance plan,  Bass said, adding that shed rather have the unit in place and figure out a plan later than have no bathroom at all.

The loo arrived

In September, construction began on the Portland Loo at Vernon Park  seemingly without a maintenance plan  and it remains behind fencing and inaccessible today. The bathroom, which cost $180,000, and the water fountain, which cost $13,000, were approved by Parks and Rec, paid for with Rebuild funds, and supported by City Council, Parks and Rec spokesperson Charlotte Merrick said via email.

According to a November 2023 report from Rebuild to City Council, $310,000 has been allocated for installation of the unit, including new water and sewer lines, demo of the sidewalk, and protective bollards. Merrick said that is a do not exceed number, and installation may come in under that.

As for maintenance, Bass said her office has suggested only opening the bathroom for permitted events so people wouldnt have to rent port-a-potties, but that seems to go against the very idea of a public bathroom, especially one in which the city is investing $500,000.

When asked, Merrick said Parks and Rec will maintain and support the Vernon Park loo through the departments operating budget, but for the first few months the health departments public restroom specialists will service the bathroom. Merrick said Parks and Rec has no plans to install other Portland Loos.

If we dont want these public bathrooms to go down the toilet, the city needs to get on the same page.
The six defendants plotted to kill a neighborhood rival over an Instagram post he had made about a previous shooting, according to prosecutors. Read more

Seven people set out in August to attack a neighborhood rival, prosecutors in Chester County said Friday, out for blood over an Instagram post their target had made.

But during that planned ambush, a member of the group was dealt a fatal injury, while the man they were gunning for survived. Dametirus McClain-Jackson, 20, was killed by one of his accomplices, according to prosecutors. It remains unclear which one fired the deadly shot.

Now, the six survivors have been charged with conspiracy, first-degree murder, and related crimes in their friends death, according to prosecutors.

One of the suspects, Victor Lara-Ortiz, allegedly helped carry out the shooting months after expressing remorse to a county judge in connection with the death of his young brother, who fatally shot himself with a loaded gun Lara-Ortiz left on his nightstand. The 19-year-old pledged to change his ways and work on improving his life.

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Investigators said Friday that Lara-Ortiz wasnt sincere: Pictures found on a cell phone after he allegedly participated in the shooting that led to McClain-Jacksons death in August show him wielding a handgun.

Charged alongside Lara-Ortiz are Markel Jones, 21; Richard Rochester-Cottle, 21; Garry White, 19; Zaire Harley, 19; and a juvenile suspect that prosecutors identified only as QL.

All six remain in custody, denied bail due to the nature of the charges they face.

Attorneys for White, Jones, and Rochester-Cottle did not immediately return requests for comment. It was unclear if the other defendants had hired attorneys.

The group targeted their victim, Elijah Green, after seeing an Instagram post in which he took credit for an earlier shooting at a party that some of them had attended, according to the affidavit of probable cause filed for the six suspects arrests. One of the group had been grazed by gunfire in that shooting, the affidavit said.

A witness told police that Lara-Ortiz had urged the group to find Green, and suggested some locations where he might be found, the affidavit said.

The group rode together Aug. 23 in a Chevrolet Traverse reported stolen out of Berks County in search of Green. The cars owner had left it running while inside a Sheetz, and had left his loaded .308 handgun inside the vehicle  that gun, witnesses told police, would later be used by Lara-Ortiz during the shooting.

When the group saw Green and his friends in the driveway of a home on Community Lane, Lara-Ortiz, McClain-Jackson, Rochester-Cottle, and White got out of the vehicle and opened fire, the affidavit said. During the shooting, McClain-Jackson yelled Vic, you shot me, according to the witness account.

The six suspects fled the scene, leaving the stolen Traverse, and McClain-Jackson, behind. Medics later transported the wounded man to Paoli Hospital, where he was later pronounced dead. An autopsy revealed he had been shot once in the back, and that the bullet had hit his lungs.

Lara-Ortiz denied being involved in the shooting, saying he was at Lincoln University at the time, the affidavit said. But cell phone data reviewed by detectives showed that he was in Coatesville when McClain-Jackson was killed.

At the time, Lara-Ortiz was on probation after pleading guilty in February to involuntary manslaughter, endangering the welfare of children, and gun offenses in connection with the death of his 4-year-old brother, Roman Aguilar-Ortiz. The gun Roman shot himself in the head with was an illegal weapon that Lara-Ortiz had left unsecured in his bedroom.

During his sentencing in that case, Lara-Ortiz told Chester County Judge Analisa Sondergaard that he was aware and saddened by the pain he had put his mother through, and said his careless actions got the best of [him].

Sondergaard seemed hopeful that Lara-Ortiz would learn from his mistakes.

Without minimizing the defendants dangerous behaviors, this court believes that jail is not the place for this defendant, Sondergaard said. I want you to graduate. I want you to have dreams. I want you to succeed.

Eight months later, Sondergaard revoked Lara-Ortizs bail, ordering him to serve 11  to 23 months in county jail after investigators discovered a photo of him holding an AR-15 pistol while executing a search warrant.

It was made crystal clear to you that you were never to possess a firearm, Sondergaard said after that hearing, according to a report by Michael Rellahan in the West Chester Daily Local. It is clear you have not learned your lesson.
Police investigate on Borbeck Avenue, between Roosevelt Boulevard and Bradford Street, where a man in his 70s was shot and killed by police after firing shots from his truck. Read more

Philadelphia Police on Friday identified the man who was fatally shot by SWAT officers during a standoff near Roosevelt Boulevard earlier this week as 73-year-old Lawrence Packard of Jenkintown.

Authorities also provided new details about the confrontation with Packard, including the identities of the two officers involved in the shooting: Lt. William Schmid, 42, a 21-year veteran of the force; and Officer Patrick Saba, 38, a 17-year veteran. Both were assigned to the SWAT unit, police said.

Still, a number of questions remained unanswered, including why Packard, in the early hours of Wednesday, had apparently driven his truck toward Gary Barberas car dealership on the Boulevard and Borbeck Avenue, parked on a sidewalk nearby, and then allegedly shot at two different sets of officers who approached his vehicle  first a patrol officer, then the SWAT team.

A relative of Packards said by phone Friday that her family did not want to comment.

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Barbera said there was no indication that Packard had bought his car from the dealership or been in any kind of ongoing dispute with anyone there.

And Deputy Commissioner Frank Vanore said investigators havent really found a true motive for Packards actions.

Police gave this account:

The incident began just before 5 a.m., when a patrol officer responded to the 7800 block of East Roosevelt Boulevard looking for a reported car crash. Instead, the officer  whom police did not identify  noticed a truck parked on nearby Borbeck Avenue with its horn steadily blowing.

The officer approached the truck and spoke with Packard, but, after deciding Packard didnt need assistance, drove away. The officer then heard gunshots coming from behind his patrol car.

His car wasnt struck, but he drove back and noticed Packard seated in his truck with a gun in his hand. The officer called for backup.

SWAT officers arrived and declared the scene a barricade. During the barricade incident, Packard fired in the direction of officers while still seated in the truck, police said.

Authorities said Packard shot at Schmid and Saba, who returned fire, fatally wounding him. Packard was declared dead at the scene around 6 a.m.

A revolver was later recovered inside Packards truck, and the vehicle had at least seven bullet holes in the front windshield.

The patrol officers bodycam was on during the episode, but police said it did not capture the shooting itself.

Schmid and Saba will be placed on desk duty as police continue their investigation.
District Attorney Larry Krasner speaks at a Jan. 11 news conference about filing to block implementation of a new state law that creates a special prosecutor for crimes on SEPTA, saying its an unconstitutional usurpation of his authority. Read more

The Pennsylvania Attorney Generals Office has missed the deadline to appoint a special prosecutor to handle cases involving crimes around SEPTA property in Philadelphia, raising new questions about the future of a controversial law that has already sparked a legal challenge from District Attorney Larry Krasner.

The stalled rollout also comes as crime has continued on the citys transit lines. A man was stabbed at the 15th Street Station early Thursday morning, and last week, 16-year-old Tyshaun Welles was shot and killed by a stray bullet at the same station on the Market-Frankford Line platform.

The attorney generals office was supposed to have appointed someone to the newly created special prosecutor position by Jan. 13, according to legislation that outlines the role. The person is expected to investigate and prosecute crimes around SEPTA property in the city through 2026  the duration of Krasners current term.

But Brett Hambright, a spokesperson for Attorney General Michelle Henry, said the position remains posted as of Thursday. He did not elaborate or answer additional questions about where the hiring process stands.

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Few other key players in the political drama were eager to discuss the delayed rollout, either  despite some Republicans having hailed the measure as a crucial way to bolster public safety in the city.

We continue to evaluate our options regarding this matter and remain confident that a special prosecutor will be appointed swiftly, Senate Majority Leader Joe Pittman (R., Indiana), said in a statement.

A spokesperson for Gov. Josh Shapiro declined to comment on the fact that a bill Shapiro signed into law had not been implemented. (Shapiro, a Democrat, previously said he approved the measure as part of an overall state budget package).

Krasner has called the law authoritarian and sued in an attempt to have it overturned. He also held an hour-long news conference last week to call the law a politically motivated and unconstitutional attempt to strip powers away from his office and undermine the will of Philadelphia voters.

You normalize that and then you normalize something else, Krasner said. Whats that? Selectively picking on the biggest urban center in Pennsylvania.

Jane Roh, a spokesperson for Krasner, said Thursday that Henry should not follow through with appointing anyone because she is required to oppose unconstitutional laws by her oath to uphold the constitution.

Republicans in the state Capitol for years have taken aim at Krasner, a Democrat, and accused him of being too soft on crime and endangering city residents. Still, few of their efforts to undermine him have led to tangible changes. They impeached him in the state House in 2022, but the effort to remove him from office in a Senate trial is now caught up in the courts.

GOP members have also previously proposed laws that would bar Krasner from seeking a third term or allow for recall elections, though none has passed. One bill that did become law gave the attorney generals office equal jurisdiction in prosecuting some city gun cases, but it has had little impact in the years since.

Krasner said last week that the SEPTA bill was another part of the GOPs continued war on his office, and a host of supporters  including some elected officials  also cast it as a dangerous attempt by out-of-county Republicans to disenfranchise city residents.

Henry, the attorney general, said in a statement last week that her office was having trouble filling the role because of the narrow requirements for eligible candidates outlined in the bill.

The law says the special prosecutor must be a Philadelphia resident with at least five years of prosecutorial experience in Pennsylvania. But it also says the person cannot have worked in either the attorney generals office or Philadelphia District Attorneys Office within the past six years (the entirety of Krasners time as district attorney).

Hambright, the attorney generals spokesperson, declined to say how many people had applied for the job, or when he expected it to be filled.
Transit police entering 15th Street Station at 15th and Market Streets in Center City, where a stabbing took place early Thursday morning. Read more

A 33-year-old man who authorities say stabbed a man in the back multiple times in the 15th Street SEPTA subway station on Thursday morning has been charged with aggravated assault and related crimes.

Jason Howard attacked the 28-year-old victim after a confrontation around 4 a.m., a spokesperson for the District Attorneys Office said Friday.

Both men were experiencing homelessness and likely taking shelter in the subway station when they apparently got into an argument and Howard pulled out a knife, authorities said.

The victim ran to the street and was able to get to a hospital, where he was treated for his injuries, authorities said. Initially, authorities had said Thursday the stabbing happened on the street and that the victim then ran into the subway station.

Police reviewed surveillance footage and a SEPTA police officer later spotted Howard at the station, wearing the same clothing as the assailant in the video, as he stepped off a train on the Market-Frankford Line, said SEPTA spokesperson Andrew Busch. Philadelphia police arrested Howard on the 1500 block of Walnut Street shortly after, he said.

Police recovered a knife that Howard was carrying, authorities said. He is being held on $275,000 bail.
Up to 6 inches of snow was predicted to fall on Friday. Philadelphia public schools, as well as a number of suburban districts, will be closed. Read more

With a snowstorm forecast to bear down on the region, all Philadelphia School District school buildings will be closed Friday.

The news was announced by Superintendent Tony B. Watlington Sr. as Mayor Cherelle L. Parker stood behind him. Managing Director Adam Thiel urged all nonessential city residents to stay home, saying it appeared that Philadelphia was in the bulls-eye of the storm that was expected to begin dumping snow on the city Friday morning.

Though the district prioritizes in-person learning, the well-being of our students, staff and working families is our top priority, Watlington said.

 READ MORE: Expect up to 6 inches of snow in Philly, forecasters say, then a weekend freeze

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Pennsylvania requires all districts to have 180 instructional days; Philadelphia had 181 scheduled. It will use Friday as a full day off, with no virtual learning planned.

Were inviting our young people to get out and play in the snow, Watlington said. But, he said, after tomorrow, any time we have inclement weather that results in the closure of schools, we will move immediately into remote learning.

A citywide snow emergency goes into effect at 7 a.m., officials said.

Archdiocese of Philadelphia schools had announced earlier in the day that their high schools and parish schools in the city would not open Friday; students will have a virtual instruction day.

A number of suburban districts, including Cheltenham and Cherry Hill, will also close Friday.

The Friday closures come at the end of what has already been a tough weather week. On Tuesday, a smaller snowstorm caused widespread delays in suburban districts and closed archdiocesan schools, but the citys public schools opted to stay open with no delays.

That move was unpopular and caused significant staff callouts and student absences.
After workers at Ultimo shops in Germantown and Graduate Hospital signed petitions to decertify their unions, only two of the cafe's four locations are still negotiating for first contracts. Ultimo's Rittenhouse location, pictured, is one of them. Read more

Two of four Ultimo coffee shops are no longer unionized this week, after workers at the Germantown and Graduate Hospital cafes filed petitions to vote on decertification. Before any votes took place, the Philadelphia Joint Board Workers United filed respective disclaimers of interest, effectively ending union representation at both shops.

Workers at Ultimos Rittenhouse and South Philadelphia stores remain unionized. The split in the Ultimo union comes weeks after fellow Local 80-represented unions at Elixr and ReAnimator approved respective first contracts.

Ultimo workers first moved to unionize in September 2022, and the four shops  each treated individually  showed signs of split sentiments from the beginning. Owners Aaron and Elizabeth Ultimo voluntarily recognized unions at the Center City and South Philly locations, while the Grad Hospital and Germantown employees went on to vote on unionization in November 2022. Both stores, with seven and eight employees at the time, respectively, voted to unionize 4-2.

Ultimo workers have been in contract negotiations for about a year, but unionized employees can file a request to decertify one year after certification if no contract has been reached. Ultimo Germantown employee Sam Tarasenko, a coffee quality manager whos been at the cafe for roughly three years, moved to do so in December 2023 in a petition filed with assistance from the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation.

In an interview Friday, Tarasenko said he was open-minded to the idea of unionization when Ultimo co-workers first pitched him on it in 2022, but he was subsequently put off by their response.

When I was first interviewed by somebody ... who was one of the people going to employees houses, I had an hour-long conversation with them, and I said to them, Help me sympathize with you. Give me tangible grievances, give me a resolution, because I want to support you, Tarasenko recalled. And they said to me, Youre either with us or against us. I said to them, That is a false binary. ... Just because I might disagree with the way youre going about this does not mean Im going against the workers.

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As much as I wanted a dialogue, I was shut down, said Tarasenko, whose mom is a unionized postal worker.

Kate Lord, a barista at Ultimo Rittenhouse and co-lead negotiator on the bargaining committee, shared a statement with The Inquirer on behalf of the Ultimo union. Its certainly unfortunate and disappointing to see Ultimo associated with the National Right to Work Foundation, but as a democratic and worker-led union its our responsibility to respond to what workers at Ultimo are saying they want. Workers at Graduate Hospital and Germantown have expressed they dont want to be included in this first contract, and out of respect for their wishes we have walked away from those two bargaining units. We are excited to continue working with Aaron and Elizabeth to settle contracts for the workers at the remaining two units in the near future.

Representatives from Local 80 did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The employees made a decision. We respected their wishes when they wanted a union. We respect their wishes now that they dont. Most importantly, we appreciate their trust, their hard work and the value that they add to our company, the Ultimos said in a statement.

Tarasenko said he did not mention his intent to file a decertification petition to the owners or any managers. When approaching his fellow Germantown colleagues for signatures, he asked them one question, he said: With the current tentative agreements that we have, is it worth the union dues to you? (He estimated the union dues  which are collected only after a contract has been ratified by workers  would be about $44 a month based on the contracts signed at Elixr and ReAnimator cafes.)

Tarasenko said about half of the staff in Germantown, which has grown to 10, had turned over in the past year. Eight employees total signed the petition to decertify.

At Ultimos Graduate Hospital location, all but one employee signed the petition, filed earlier this week by an employee who was also assisted by the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation.

This is the second independent coffee shop union to decertify in Philadelphia. Employees at two Good Karma Cafe locations voted to decertify their union last September.
When Jeannine A. Cooks landlord raised the rent for Idas Bookshop, the intrepid entrepreneur started a GoFundMe and, within five days, raised $23,000, enough to pay the rent at her Haddon Avenue location in Collingswood through the end of 2024.

The community raised it, said Cook, whose Idas location is named after journalist Ida B. Wells. Im so grateful. Its very hard to be creative and innovative when your head is barely above water.

Cook, also the owner of Harrietts Bookshop in Fishtown, treats bookselling as a form of resistance and self-care. Her bookshops are safe spaces for writers and activists to commune and create. In addition to Harrietts and Idas, shes created installations in honor of Toni Morrison and Alice Walker, and last year her Paris installation, Josephines  named after dancer and civil rights activist Josephine Baker  drew international attention.

While Cook, 40, has made a name for herself in literary circles worldwide, the rising cost of real estate, marketing, and event planning has made it hard for her to stay afloat. Small businesses face an uphill battle against corporate giants and million-dollar developers, she wrote in an on-line pamphlet requesting the communitys support. The struggle for survival and growth is not just economic, but also a fight to preserve the uniqueness and character of local communities.

Owners of businesses in Collingswood and neighboring towns have sustained higher than average rent increases as of late, explained Pip Haxby-Thompson, who sits on sits on the board of Haddon Township Equity Initiative, a non-profit that supports marginalized businesses and people who live in South Jersey and South Jersey realtor.

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We recognized [if Idas moved] it wouldnt just be a big loss to the community, said Isis Williams, HTEIs board president. It would support where the world is right now, that people have moved on since COVID. Its the responsibility of the community not just to march and celebrate [MLK Day], but to show up when the businesses needs help.

With the money, Cook says shes now free to strategize and plan a sustained future for Idas Bookshop within Collingswood without the additional stressors of making ends meet from month-to-month... Our overall goal is to purchase a building in Collingswood and stick around for generations.

Cook said she had faith in her community but she was surprised she raised the needed funds so fast. The GoFundMe went live on Sunday, Jan. 14 and by Wednesday there were 342 donations, totaling $23,800. Donations ranged from $15 to more than $4,000.

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for what weve done TOGETHER and what we will continue to do together, she wrote in her Instagram post.
Pedestrians navigate an icy sidewalk in the Northern Liberties section of Philadelphia on Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024. Read more

In Philadelphia, residents are supposed to shovel and clear the sidewalk in front of their homes whenever it snows. This is to make sure the sidewalks are usable for all, especially for those with limited mobility. Icy walks translate to icy spills, and that can land you a $50 to $300 fine if you dont clear your sidewalk.

For those uninitiated to Northeast weather, or who simply dont clear their sidewalk, youre going to want to get something to put down on the pavement. Not only will it make your job a lot easier, but it does the job better and makes it safer for passersby than just shoveling.

Who are you going to call when you need advice on snow removal? A landscaping company.

In Philly, we have arguably the most famous landscaping company of all time: Four Seasons Total Landscaping. Yes, the location where Rudy Giuliani, acting on behalf of then-President Donald Trump, mistakenly booked a news conference, instead of the intended location of the Center City Four Seasons hotel, to discuss the (failed) legal challenges to the vote-counting process during the 2020 election.

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Not only has the landscaping company become a historical landmark to Philly and national politics, but it is also a landscaping company with more than 30 years of experience in snow removal.

Vice president Mike Sivaro shares his best tips for salting and snow removal in Philadelphia.

Get calcium chloride instead of salt

While salting the sidewalks is most associated with sodium chloride or rock salt, there are better products for residential snow and ice removal, according to the experts.

I recommend a calcium chloride mixture or blend because it breaks ice down easier, it works better, and it melts snow at much lower temperatures, said Sivaro, who has been in the snow removal business for 15 years.

Calcium chloride pellets are the best, and often come in such colors as blue, pink, and purple. Sivaro doesnt recommend using classic rock salt, though, as it wont be as effective as the calcium mixtures. He uses calcium chloride on his residential property, as well.

Calcium products are usually called blends, mixes, or shields.

You can pick up these products at Home Depot, Lowes, Walmart, and most hardware stores.

Get a metal-edged shovel and dont lift with your back

Sometimes that snow and ice are packed in and hard to lift. Sivaro advises not to put your back into it. Let the shovel do the heavy lifting.

You want to try to get a good shovel that has like a metal edge on it, something thats easy to use and push. Itll also last a lot longer, youll throw it in your shed and youll have it for a long time, Sivaro said. Some of the snow shovels have a bend in the handles to help you get leverage to lift the snow. Its a lot easier on your back.

Add another layer of ice melt before heading in for the night to prevent refreeze

The sneaky part of snow and ice maintenance is what happens the night after the first snowfall. People clear and shovel their sidewalk on the morning of the snowfall, then go to work, school, or other obligations.

Overnight, however, any snow or ice left over will freeze and become even more slick the day after.

To prevent this, Sivaro said, just add another layer of salt or calcium chloride to the sidewalk and steps before heading in for the night. Calcium chloride will work better through the night than traditional rock salt.

The sun comes out and itll melt the ice and snow a little bit, but as soon as the temperature starts dropping and the sun goes down, I would recommend maybe throwing a little bit more, as we call product, calcium chloride down. You want to definitely keep an eye on it for the next couple days after the snowfall, Sivaro said.
Darryl speaks to The Inquirer about his experiences of being homeless during an interview on Friday, Jan 19, 2024, at the Hub of Hope shelter in Philadelphia, Pa. Read more

Some intake centers designed to help people experiencing homelessness closed during Philadelphias snow emergency, outreach workers told The Inquirer on Friday, while other shelters across the city reported being at capacity and having to turn people away at the door.

Its typical for city offices, including some homeless intake centers, to close during weather emergencies. On Friday, three out of the six intake centers in the city were open and accepting people seeking shelter.

Still, city officials said there is adequate space, and deputy managing director Mary Horstmann said there are available shelter beds.

We have outreach workers on the streets, urging people experiencing homelessness to come in from the cold, city spokesperson Joe Grace added. Everyone is working around the clock to assist people who most need assistance.

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The severe winter weather Friday presented a significant challenge for the citys Office of Homeless Services, which was already this month facing budgeting issues and questions about its fiscal responsibility.

Now, the office  operating under whats called a Code Blue  must work with shelter providers across the city and deploy outreach workers to search for people still outside. Those workers often refer people to intake centers, where they are evaluated by social workers, offered food, and supported in finding a safe place to stay.

The Red Shield Family Residence, an after-hours intake center at 715 N. Broad St., typically only operates through the night until 7 a.m. It remained open during the day Friday and was accepting women, children, and families seeking shelter, according to Kelly Devlin, the director of Philadelphia social service ministry for the Salvation Army.

In addition, the Mike Hinson Resource Center, an intake for single men at 17th and Lehigh Avenue in North Philadelphia, was open and accepting clients on Friday morning.

Staff at the after-hours center for single women, Gaudenzias House of Passage at 48th and Haverford in West Philadelphia, said Friday morning that the center was open, but full. City officials later said that House of Passage was open and not turning people away.

Some Philly shelters reached capacity

Outreach workers said Friday that there was some confusion about where people seeking shelter should go.

The citys own news release on the snow emergency directed people seeking shelter to a list of six intake centers, three of which were closed Friday. The list on the citys website, however, did not indicate which shelters remained open.

Closed centers included the Appletree Family Center in Center City and the Roosevelt Darby Center in Francisville, which are both operated by the city, and the Veterans Multi-Service Center in Old City, which is operated by Veterans Affairs.

The Office of Homeless Services home page similarly directed people to those intake centers. It also provided a phone number for a homelessness prevention hotline, then noted that the office no longer has funds for homelessness prevention. Officials said Friday they were updating the citys website.

An additional challenge as the snow event continues could be placing people in shelters after they go through the intake process. Some shelters are at capacity after taking in dozens of people during the cold weather this week.

 READ MORE: Some Philadelphia homeless shelters have gone months or years without being paid by the city

Jeremy Montgomery, president and CEO of Philly House, the citys largest and longest-running shelter, said they took in 84 people over the past week seeking emergency housing during the Code Blue. Montgomery said the shelter, which is only for single men, is now at capacity and had to turn away people Friday morning.

But he said despite the situation, providers are optimistic that they can reach new people during the cold snap and winter storm.

Theyre with us right now, and we have the chance to change their life, he said.

Love and hope still in high supply

At the Hub of Hope, Project HOMEs daytime drop-in center in Suburban Station for people experiencing homelessness, clients lined up for a meal of roast chicken, rice, and vegetables and clustered around tables to watch the afternoon news.

Many said they were grateful to have a seat out of the elements on a snowy day.

I cant complain about the services we get here. It dont get too much better than love and hope, said Tyrik Dowling, whos been staying in a shelter recently.

Valerie Scott, whos getting ready to move into a new apartment after a landlord refused to fix a carbon monoxide leak at her previous home, said the Hub has helped her to navigate a precarious time in her life. She was especially happy the center was open on Friday.

They came out  and they didnt have to come out today, she said.

On Friday, Hub of Hope staff were planning to stay open until about 4 p.m. The transportation company that they normally contract with to drive clients to shelters after closing had shut down for the day because of the weather.

Charles Pringle, a senior program manager at Project HOME, was hoping to find another way to ensure his clients were able to make it to shelters. City officials said that Hub clients could call their homeless outreach line at 215-232-1984 to get a ride to shelters.

Right now, we want to make sure that we can help them stay warm and get out of that cold weather, Pringle said. We want to help in any way, shape, or form.

During cold snaps, people without reliable housing spend much of their day figuring out how to stay warm  a task that can become harder depending on which services are open.

A Hub of Hope client who gave his name as Darryl said hed sworn off shelters entirely because some make clients leave each morning, sometimes as early as 4 a.m.

Id rather go fend for myself, he said.

During a Code Blue, people are allowed to stay in emergency housing all day, but some services only operate during certain hours.

The Navigation Center, a lower-barrier overnight drop-in center in West Philadelphia, for example, is open from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m., even during a Code Blue, as part of an agreement with the community to accommodate nearby child care programming, city officials said.

The city is also operating a warming center during the Code Blue at Scanlon Recreation Center in Kensington between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m.

Several people who spent the night at the Navigation Center made the trip to the Hub of Hope early Friday morning, and were planning on heading back that night. Though its standard practice at many shelters, Scott said that having to leave early in the morning  and line up at night to get a spot inside  becomes much more difficult in cold weather.

They should have somewhere for people to be warm while they wait, she said.
Icy walkways leading to a dog park and playground around Columbus Square Park at 13th and Wharton Streets in South Philadelphia on Thursday. Read more

With another winter storm imminent, some Philadelphians are saying that the city still hasnt finished cleaning up the mess from the last one.

Social media users have reported ice-glazed sidewalks and walkways in city parks, as well as on bridges the city is responsible for clearing and the Schuylkill River Trail. Those slippery conditions are persisting days after this weeks snowfall, which brought up to 3.3 inches of snow to the city.

The city ought to enforce snow shoveling requirements and fine itself for not clearing sidewalks on the third day after the snow, one social media user wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. Another user tweeted a photo of icy conditions at Chew Park in Point Breeze, writing that it was really fun pushing a stroller over sheets of ice.

So, what gives?

During storms, crews from the Philadelphia Department of Parks and Recreation are initially deployed to assist in snow-clearing efforts on streets and roads citywide, communications director Charlotte Merrick said. They also work to clear as soon as possible the areas and make safe the paths at our recreation centers and trails, she added, prioritizing facilities with programming.

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But this time, weather after the storm added to the ice issues. Following the snow, freezing rain came in alongside frigid temperatures Tuesday, leading to icy conditions on both uncleared and already-treated streets and sidewalks.

Unfortunately, with some areas, such as the Schuylkill River Trail during the most recent storm, salted areas were again impacted by subsequent precipitation and thus freezing, Merrick said. We are working to get to all park areas and Parks and Recreation properties cleared as soon as our staffing allows.

Merrick added that residents can email the department at parksandrecreation@phila.gov with specific complaints, and it will work to address the issues.

Bridges like Walnut Street and Market Street, meanwhile, are the responsibility of the Philadelphia Streets Department, as are most other roads in the city, a PennDot representative said. PennDot and its contractors, meanwhile, handle expressways like I-76, I-95, I-676, and the Roosevelt Expressway.

The Streets Department did not immediately respond to request for comment. Earlier this week, the department said street plowing and salting operations went smoothly, even after 716 snowless days in Philadelphia.

But if youre slipping on sidewalks elsewhere in the city, youll likely have to take it up with the property owner. Businesses and residents are generally responsible for clearing off their own sidewalks, and they technically have to do so within six hours of the end of a storm. Otherwise, the city can impose fines ranging from $50 to $300.
Tysha Melton cries as she visits a memorial to her late son, Travys Taylor, in his old room in her home in an April 11, 2022 file photo. Read more

Philadelphia Sheriff Rochelle Bilal is facing a federal lawsuit stemming from a botched raid in which her deputies barged into a West Oak Lane home with a bench warrant for a man who had been shot to death five months earlier.

The officers were looking for Travys Taylor, 28, on the morning of March 25, 2022, for failing to appear in court on what the lawsuit stated were drug and trespassing charges.

Instead, they found Taylors distraught mother, Tysha Melton, and a memorial she had built in her sons upstairs bedroom, with smiling photos of Taylor and a replica Eagles helmet sitting atop a box with his ashes.

Taylor had been killed in October 2021 after leaving a Kensington restaurant.

Melton said after she opened the door the officers charged into her home wearing tactical gear, guns in hand, and pushed her into a television stand. After realizing that her son was dead, they quickly left the house, covering their badges as they scrambled out the door, according to the lawsuit.

 READ MORE: April 2022: Philly officers raided a home looking for man who had died five months earlier

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Meltons lawsuit was filed last month against Bilal, one of her sergeants, unnamed law enforcement officers, and the city of Philadelphia. It alleges that Bilals staff failed to conduct a proper records search before the raid to determine that Taylor was deceased. Meltons husband, Eliacin Juarbe, is also a plaintiff in the suit.

Bilal and lawyers for the city declined to comment on the lawsuit this week.

Bilal spokesperson Teresa Lundy has previously said that the operation had been initiated by the warrant unit of the Sheriffs Office, which was joined by Probation and Parole and city police in conducting warrant sweeps.

The Sheriffs Office didnt fail, Lundy said in April 2022. She contended there was no mechanism for checking in advance of a raid to see whether someone wanted on a warrant had died.

But Meltons suit contends that even the public-facing court docket stated at least as early as January 2022 that Taylor was dead.

The Sheriffs Department is responsible for these constitutional violations because they dont give the proper training to their officers, said Meltons attorney, Mary LeMieux-Fillery.

It is unclear what changes, if any, the Sheriffs Office made to reduce the likelihood of a similar mistake happening again.

Lundy said in 2022 that the office is looking into having a conversation with the District Attorneys Office and the courts to figure if a database can be created to combat this issue.

Jane Roh, a spokesperson for District Attorney Larry Krasner, said on Friday that such a conversation never took place because the DAs office has no authorized role in that process.

Philadelphia police had launched an Internal Affairs investigation to determine which police officers were involved in the raid and to what extent. Sgt. Eric Gripp, a police spokesperson, declined to comment this week on the outcome of that investigation, or the lawsuit. The Police Department is not named as a defendant in the suit.

Philadelphia Homicide Capt. Jason Smith said in 2022 that Taylors death was still under active investigation. Homicide detectives were not part of the raid, he said, but law enforcement officials should have checked to see whether Taylor was still alive or in custody.

These are checks that are supposed to be made prior to any kind of warrant being served, Smith said.

Gripp said this week that police are still seeking tips in Taylors October 2021 murder.

Since Bilals first term as sheriff, which began in 2020, the city has paid out more than $1 million to settle three whistle-blower lawsuits filed by former Sheriffs Office staffers who said they were retaliated against for raising concerns about unauthorized spending, alleged theft, sexual harassment and attempts to hire employees without performing background checks.

Millions of dollars in tax revenue has gone uncollected in recent years because the Sheriffs Office has not held auctions for chronically tax-delinquent properties since April 2021. Bilal has blamed the citys Law Department.

In 2022, records show, the Sheriffs Office floated a proposal to boost pay for senior staffers, including increasing Bilals $136,083 salary by 109% to $285,000.

Bilal, whose salary is set by the city charter, later told The Inquirer that her staff had attempted to double her salary without her knowledge.

She was easily reelected to a second term in November.
From left, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, President Bill Clinton, and PLO chairman Yasser Arafat at the signing of the 1993 peace accords between Israel and the Palestinians. To fully grasp the current conflict, it's essential to acknowledge the contrasting narratives about Israel-Palestine, Jonathan Zimmerman writes. Read more

In 2009, the Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie gave a TED Talk on the danger of a single story. Exploring the myths she heard about Africa as a child, she warned against embracing simplistic narratives about the continent  an enormously diverse place  or anywhere else. The speech went viral, becoming one of the most popular TED Talks in history. It has been viewed over 35 million times.

We need to watch it one more time, with an eye to the most divisive question on American campuses right now: Israel-Palestine. And if were honest, well admit that theres no single story about that, either.

The Israeli narrative describes the triumphal birth of a new state in 1948, following the murder of six million Jews in the Holocaust. The Palestinian narrative calls the same event the nakba, or catastrophe, which displaced half of the Arabs living in Palestine from their homes and communities.

The Israeli narrative celebrates the Six-Day War of 1967 as the heroic defeat of three Arab armies bent on its destruction. To Palestinians, by contrast, it marks the start of Israels military occupation of the West Bank and Gaza.

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Israel blames Yasir Arafat and the Palestine Liberation Organization for the violence that enveloped the region during the Second Intifada of the early 2000s. Palestinians blame Ariel Sharon and his provocative visit to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, one of the holiest Muslim sites. And so on.

Guess what? Theyre both right.

Both of these peoples have suffered deep historical traumas. Both of them have legitimate claims to land, dignity, and self-determination. But if we only tell one of their stories  and deny the other one  we will scream past each other. And we wont learn much of anything.

Thats precisely what happened last fall at most American colleges and universities, following the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel. Students on both sides of the divide released statements and staged protests, but there was almost no meaningful conversation between them. Whats there to talk about, really, when you know youre right?

Pro-Israel groups urged universities to shut down chapters of Students for Justice in Palestine, which has called Israel an apartheid state. The critics of SJP dont want to debate that proposition; instead, they want to ensure that no such discussion takes place.

Many pro-Palestine students dont want the debate, either. A University of Maryland student said he would stay away from dialogues that seek to paint the two sides as equal because we see this relationship as a colonized/colonizer relationship. Its not two equal sides beefing it out.

The student refused to give his full name, fearing that hed be doxxed or blacklisted. Likewise, some Jewish students involved in the issue have declined to identify themselves. And that, too, speaks volumes about the low quality of conversation on our campuses. Even as we shout past each other, were afraid of being shouted down ourselves.

Thats why universities need to sponsor structured dialogues about Israel-Palestine, as our students return to campus from their winter break. Some students wont want to talk, of course. But we cant let them dictate the tone for everyone else.

And weve got a great model in Dartmouth College, where professors from Jewish and Middle Eastern studies led several forums last fall. The goal was to present both the Israeli and the Palestinian perspectives, not just one or the other.

We wanted to explain to the students that we cant be reductionist, we have to think in complexity, that this is not a single narrative, one of the professors said. You can condemn, but you also have to understand.

At the first Dartmouth meeting, 600 people joined by livestream; the next forum drew 1,300 listeners, at a college of fewer than 5,000 undergraduates. Even as campus bullies try to block dialogue and understanding, many students are hungry for it. And the only way we can teach them is by presenting multiple stories.

That brings us back to Adichie, who warned us about the danger of a single one. To move beyond our current impasse, we need to acknowledge the contrasting narratives about Israel-Palestine. And we need to resist the loudest voices  on both sides  who want to prevent a real discussion of them.
Former Mayor John F. Street attends the inauguration of Mayor Cherelle Parker on Jan. 2. This week, he sent letters to Democratic city committeepeople asking them to send some business his way. Read more

Were you punched in the eye by a fellow member of Philadelphia City Council or caught up in a brawl outside a mayoral inauguration ceremony? Call the law offices of Fine, Staud and Levy to talk to an attorney who will fight to get YOU what you deserve.

Because he knows just what youre going through.

Thats sort of the message that former Philadelphia Mayor John F. Street sent in a letter this week to Democratic committeepeople across the city.

A handful of city committee members  the elected foot soldiers of the Democratic Party  told Clout they got a letter in the mail from Street advertising the personal-injury law firm where hes worked since fall 2022.

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 READ MORE: Former Mayor Streets grandson was arrested for protecting his grandfather during a scuffle at Parkers inauguration

In the letter, Street recalled his own time as a committeeperson and said he used to have a file of businesses to refer neighbors to when they asked him for recommendations. And he apparently wants these committee members to send some business his way.

When you have a constituent who has been injured, have them talk to us before they select a lawyer, the ex-mayor wrote. I have seen horrible cases where the suffering from an accident never ends because a struggling family, under immense pressure at a desperate time, got a lawyers name from the tow truck driver.

Clout is unclear what Street has against tow truck drivers and why he put their noble profession in scare quotes, but we digress.

Some of the committeepeople who received the letters were surprised  typically they only hear from lawmakers or party officials asking them to take actions like explaining an upcoming ballot question to residents in their division. Being asked to refer business to a former mayor now in private practice was a new one.

Then again, the addresses of Democratic committepeople are public and, other than it being a weird way of ambulance chasing, theres no rule barring a former mayor from sending them all letters about a law firm.

Street and the partners at Fine, Staud and Levy didnt respond to Clouts messages. The firm, based in Old City, mainly takes up cases involving medical malpractice, workers comp, car crashes, and slip-and-falls.

Street, whos 80 years old, works as of counsel at the firm, meaning hes got a relationship with the partners, but not a workload like a full-time attorney would.

Maybe that will change if every committeeperson in the city starts sending slip-and-fall victims his way.

Meek Mill drops a Biden diss track

The 2024 election season is upon us, and Meek Mill has some thoughts.

The 36-year-old rapper retweeted a clip of ex-presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy endorsing former President Donald Trump this week.

Mill commented on it: Wait til yall see who the black people in poverty voting for!!!

In the clip, Ramaswamy, who came in a distant fourth in the frozen Iowa caucuses, tells the crowd Trump, 77, is going to be your next president. He then offered a series of truths, including: Fossil fuels are a requirement for human prosperity and reverse racism is racism.

Also this week, the rapper and criminal-justice reform advocate retweeted a video of President Joe Biden, 81, at a stop in Allentown and weighed in on the presidents age.

In a post about the video, Mill wrote: Joe Biden is too old to be our president respectfully wtf is going on in the American system that yall pushing this through like its okay to trust what we seeing.

Taken together, it sounded a little like a Meek Mill endorsement of Trump  or at least an argument that the former president has appeal among some Black men. But we couldnt reach the rapper through an agent to clarify.

The Biden campaign cant be too happy about the takes. Recent polls show Biden hemorrhaging support among younger Black men.

And Mill is a beloved artist in Philly, where Biden  well aware of the citys importance in November  visits so often that hes basically taken up dual residency.

Stacy Garrity says shes no Insurrectionist Barbie

Barbie has a great day every day. Candidates for Pennsylvania treasurer only have a great day when voters look at them.

Perhaps thats why treasurer candidates Ryan Bizzarro, a Democratic state representative from Erie, and incumbent Stacy Garrity, a Republican from Bradford County, got into a public spat this week. It started when one of Bizzarros campaign staffers held a sign at an event earlier this month calling Garrity an Insurrectionist Barbie.

Garrity did not attend the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol but was at an event the day before on the Harrisburg Capitol steps during which attendees said the 2020 election results were bogus. (They were not.)

At first, Garrity decried the Barbie title as sexist  without rejecting the insurrectionist part. She posted on X: Im no Barbie. Im an Iraq War veteran, an accomplished businesswoman, and, above all, a fighter.

She added that Bizzarros campaign should move away from insults and tell voters how hed actually do the job of Money.

Garritys campaign later followed up with a statement from campaign adviser and fellow veteran Sen. Tracy Pennycuick (R., Berks), who said Garrity is neither an insurrectionist nor a childrens doll and that Bizzarros campaign should apologize.

In response, Bizzarro said Garrity should be barred from public office. Then  no surprise  he pivoted to focus his message on a man with a horse, saying: Benedict Arnold was a patriot before he was a traitor.

Clout provides often irreverent news and analysis about people, power, and politics.
Former President Donald Trump beat his closest two opponents in Iowa by 30 points on Monday, a commanding showing from the GOP front-runner as the contest heads to New Hampshire next week.

But Republicans hoping for an alternative to the twice-impeached Trump say they still see a window, as narrow as it might be, for former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley or Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

I think she does need to do very well in New Hampshire, Ill be the first to acknowledge that, former U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey, who backs Haley, said this week. She has put a lot of time and effort in there. ... Its well-suited for her to do well. Im pretty confident she will.

DeSantis supporters dont mention New Hampshire much  skipping ahead, as the candidate largely has, to a South Carolina contest where hes polling better but still significantly behind Trump.

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The governors planned this race for the long haul, said former U.S. Rep. Lou Barletta, who endorsed DeSantis. I know that by the work theyre doing in Pennsylvania, which is well after Super Tuesday.

Across the country, anti-Trump Republicans see the next few weeks of the GOP primary as crucial for an alternative to break through in a race where voting has only just begun but the trajectory has seemed set for months. Pennsylvanians are unlikely to have much of a say with a late April primary, the nomination petitions for which start circulating next week.

Since Iowa, both Haley and DeSantis have shifted to take on Trump more directly. Haley this week announced that she wont debate unless the former president joins her on stage  a move some New Hampshire supporters have criticized, wary of her short runway to close the gap with Trump in the state.

DeSantis, who received 21% of the vote in Iowa, declared victory, given that Trump received only about 51% of the vote. The campaign laid off staffers this week as the contest moved forward.

Not everyone who wins Iowa goes on to be the nominee, Barletta said. I dont buy that. Listen, Trump has a lot of support, theres no denying that  but theres more people watching and pulling for DeSantis than people might think.

Haley supporters, including Toomey, insist its now a two-person race between her and Trump  despite her third-place finish.

DeSantis campaign threw everything but the kitchen sink into Iowa, said Emily Greene, a senior adviser for Americans for Prosperity Action, which backs Haley. And for Trump to predict hed win with 60% and come in with 51% and for Nikki to almost best Ron, that shows momentum to me.

Presidential primaries are all about momentum, but it is true that Iowa winners have not predicted much.

Its 100,000 people who came out in a snowstorm at exactly 8 p.m., political consultant Chris Nicholas said of the Iowa results. They are not representative of the Republican Party in Iowa or in the country.

The last person in a competitive contest who won the GOP nomination and the Iowa caucuses was George W. Bush in 2000. Trump came in second in the 2016 caucuses before going on to win New Hampshire and the nomination.

I would readily concede the polls so far are good for Trump but this is an odd situation where you have a former president running and facing 90-some criminal counts, so its all brand new, Nicholas said.

Looking downstream

In Pennsylvania some Republican leaders have expressed concern about what Trumps name at the top of the ticket could mean for GOP candidates down-ballot in November.

I do feel a little nervous heading into Tuesday, acknowledged Philadelphia GOP chair Vince Fennerty, a Haley supporter. If its another Trump runaway, it seriously hurts the prospects of the alternatives.

I think it has significant down-ballot implications, Toomey, who voted to convict Trump in his 2021 impeachment trial, said of a Trump nomination, which he thinks would make it harder for Republicans to win the Senate and House.

Former U.S. Rep. Keith Rothfus spent the days before the Iowa caucuses trudging through frozen neighborhoods knocking on doors with DeSantis mother.

Rothfus, who represented the Western Pennsylvania district now held by Democratic Rep. Chris Deluzio, served with DeSantis in Congress and is volunteering for his campaign. He encouraged Iowans to look downstream, a similar argument he plans to make while stumping for DeSantis in South Carolina.

You have to take a look at whats happening in swing states like Pennsylvania and I just remain very skeptical as to whether President Trump would be able to win those states, Rothfus said.

Republicans started losing county-level elections in Pennsylvania in 2017, the year after Trump was elected, Rothfus noted.

It hasnt changed and the same has been true in other states. Donald Trump is the number-one motivator for Democrats and theres a lot of folks in the suburbs who arent gonna vote for him.

Theyll get him there

Trump supporters note that Trump eclipsed his 2016 raw vote total in Pennsylvania in 2020 and point to polls showing him neck and neck with Biden here.

U.S. Rep. Dan Meuser (R., Pa.), who endorsed Trump, said that before a single vote was cast in Iowa he saw the party coalescing around Trump.

He called Haley a solid candidate but said she lacked the peoples trust in the way Republicans trust Trump.

They want him there. They know he can do the job and they know how to get him there.

Meuser, whose district stretches from Berks County to the New York border, said he thinks the former president is taking a more coolheaded approach in speeches and interviews, aware of bringing in some skeptics.

Hes talking about uniting. Hes talking about the things that those who arent yet maybe there appreciate and thats a side of President Trump that I see more  not the combative Trump, Meuser said.

Even if Haley wins New Hampshire, Meuser said, he has a hard time seeing a threat to the front-runner for the nomination. If that actually happened that would be a little concerning, he said. Until he goes into South Carolina and wallops her.
Gov. Josh Shapiro talks with a child care youngster as he hosts a press conference the YWCA in York, Pa. Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2024, part of his GSD Tour (get stuff done) highlighting the Expanded Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit, as he finishes his first year in office. Read more

HARRISBURG  Gov. Josh Shapiro promised to work across the aisle to get things done.

In his first year, Shapiro rose in his popularity and national profile, in large part thanks to his swift reopening of a collapsed portion of I-95 within 12 days, showing his administrations ability to creatively solve problems. The 50-year-old Democrat from Abington also cites more than a dozen smaller wins as he worked with the divided legislature, including a long-sought increase in property tax and rent rebates for seniors and probation reforms.

But he floundered at the negotiating table when he was unable to convince Democratic lawmakers to support a school voucher plan he helped create  leading to a monthslong budget standoff  and his administration faced scandal, paying a $295,000 settlement to a woman who accused his top legislative liaison and close confidant of sexual harassment.

The next year, however, will be a critical test of Shapiros ability to make bipartisan deals, and it could define his leadership in Pennsylvania  and nationally. Debates over the states education system and how to fund it will be at the center of the action.

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Shapiro will propose during his budget address next month a new way to fund Pennsylvanias public schools after the Commonwealth Court ruled the current system unconstitutional. Hes also expected to again work to pass a private-school voucher program  a long-held Republican priority that Shapiro supports, but that put him at odds with the state teachers union and members of his own party last year.

As you know, Im very competitive, Shapiro said in an interview last week. This year, I want to do even more than we did last year, and so were going to continue to work really hard, put an aggressive agenda out there and find common ground.

Those debates will play out in Harrisburg during a critical election year, as Pennsylvania attracts national attention as a key swing state in the presidential election, and as a slate of down-ballot races will determine the balance of the legislature and state row offices for the remainder of the governors term.

Pennsylvanias ambitious first-term governor  who is rumored to be eyeing a 2028 run for president  will likely be a frequent surrogate for President Joe Biden. And his agenda and accomplishments will play a role in shaping the states national image as the national Democratic Party looks for potential successors to Biden.

An effort to get stuff done  and support some GOP priorities

Shapiro, unlike some of his predecessors, has no singular focus for his administration. For former Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf, it was public education. For former Republican Gov. Tom Corbett, it was cutting government spending. But Shapiro has focused his administration more broadly and says his priorities include slashing red tape for businesses to put more money back into Pennsylvania residents pockets.

He goes back and forth between saying his administrations motto is Get stuff done and Get sh done, depending on the crowd.

Shapiro is good at what he does: He works hard for the handful of Republican issues he agrees with, like school choice or keeping the William Penn statue in Philadelphias Welcome Park, to the chagrin of some Democrats. He publicly challenged the University of Pennsylvania over comments about antisemitism on campus from its former president Liz Magill, drawing national attention and adding to pressure for her resignation.

He remains consistent in pushing top Democratic priorities, too, like raising the states $7.25 minimum wage or passing statute of limitations reform for child sex abuse survivors. These are among his top priorities going into this years legislative session, he said.

But education will take center stage during budget negotiations as lawmakers in the Republican-controlled Senate and the House, where Democrats hold a one-seat majority, work to replace the unconstitutional school funding system. Its not yet clear what solution Shapiro will propose in his budget address, and he declined to discuss details in an interview ahead of the Basic Education Funding Commissions report released last week. That commission ultimately recommended a $9 billion plan over seven years to redo how the state funds its public schools.

Senate President Pro Tempore Kim Ward (R., Westmoreland), who has been one of Shapiros biggest critics since the July budget breakdown over school vouchers and has spoken only once to the governor since then, said she hopes Shapiro can work with Republicans on school funding. (Senate Majority Leader Joe Pittman usually negotiates with the administration on behalf of Senate Republicans.)

I hope this year proves that were able to communicate and work together to actually get stuff done, not just say it, Ward said Thursday. We have a great opportunity to put our education system as the best in the nation. We have a chance to do that. I hope were able to come together.

Ward and other Republican leaders have emphasized they still want Shapiro to show his support for school vouchers by ensuring theyre made into law this year.

Rep. Peter Schweyer (D., Lehigh), who chairs the House Education committee and opposed private school vouchers, still said Shapiro had a great first year.

We had that disagreement early on in his tenure, yet we still passed a budget that had a remarkable increase in education funding that included some big priorities for the governor, including free [school] breakfast, he said.

However, Schweyer said hes still a hard no on vouchers, after his committee held hearings across the state about vouchers and existing tax scholarship programs. That leaves Shapiro another uphill battle if he wants to make a name for himself and his future ambitions as a bipartisan leader willing to take on powerful teachers unions.

If anything, the hearings galvanized my opposition to vouchers, Schweyer said. Theres not much more to say about that topic. I know where I am and I know where my caucus is.

Shapiro maintains high approval ratings, despite conflicts

Shapiro said hes not worried about the hand-wringing in Harrisburg. He believes Pennsylvanians are happy with the results  and polls seem to agree.

While Bidens approval ratings are hovering around 40% in Pennsylvania, according to a poll released this month by Quinnipiac University, Shapiros have topped 59%.

The governors ratings remained high, despite a lengthy budget standoff and a sexual harassment scandal in his administration.

His first misstep occurred in June, when he cut a deal with Senate Republicans to create a private-school voucher program, but couldnt get the Democrat-controlled House to support the proposal, so he line-item vetoed the program he helped create.

Then in September, when news broke that his former secretary of legislative affairs and close friend Mike Vereb resigned months after facing sexual harassment complaints from another Shapiro staffer, the governor faced criticism from female legislators.

But by December, Shapiro ended the year with a late-night press conference celebrating a final budget deal with legislative leaders from both parties. (Two top Republican leaders, Ward and House Minority Leader Bryan Cutler, notably did not attend.)

Shapiro still has some trust to re-earn among Republicans, Ward said.

You need to not really pay attention to what someone says, you need to watch their feet, Ward said. You need to see what they do, not what they say.

The governor, meanwhile, said he strives to keep improving his leadership  and the state.

I constantly grade against myself, and always want to do better, always want to reach higher, always to be stronger, always want to get more stuff done, Shapiro said. And Im glad that people have high expectations of our administration. And whatever your high expectations are, I have an even higher expectation of myself and our team.
Philadelphia can be seen in the background as snow and ice forms in the Delaware River off Camden. Read more

Have you checked the Philadelphia weather lately? No matter where in the region you are, the forecast is coming from Mount Holly, N.J.

But why do we turn to New Jersey for information about the weather in Philly? And why is the local National Weather Service office located in Mount Holly?

That is what one reader asked Curious Philly, The Inquirers forum for questions about the city and region.

The government agency has 122 weather forecast offices nationwide, with the Mount Holly office serving much of eastern Pennsylvania, including Philadelphia, as well as most of New Jersey, Delaware, and the eastern shore of Maryland.

Five weather offices cover Pennsylvania. Depending on your location within the state your report might be coming from Cleveland; Pittsburgh; State College, Pa.; Binghamton, N.Y.; or Mount Holly.

Why Mount Holly?

Simply put, the local weather service office moved there because its closer to the radar.

Our office was moved from Philadelphia to Mount Holly to be closer to the radar that serves the Philadelphia region, National Weather Service meteorologist Amanda Lee said.

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Thats right, the regional National Weather Service office was located in Philadelphia until 1993.

According to Lee, the Philadelphia office was among the first to open in 1870, when President Ulysses S. Grant approved the creation of a weather-monitoring service.

The office had four locations throughout the city until it landed at the Philadelphia International Airport in 1940.

In 1969, the weather service opened a different office for the radar, for forecast operations, at the Fort Dix military base in New Jersey.

By 1993, according to Lee, it was decided to close the Philadelphia office and move to Mount Holly to be closer to the radar that helps the National Weather Service monitor potential flooding, precipitation, and weather elements including tornados and thunderstorms. Mount Holly is within 15 miles of the radar, 30 miles closer than when the office was in Philly.

Today, the 25 Mount Holly forecasters, managers, and technicians keep Philadelphians weather savvy. With two to six forecasters on daily duty, their mission is to provide weather and climate data forecasts [...] so that way we can protect lives and property, Lee added.

What else do you want to know about the weather?

With a winter storm bringing several inches of snow to Philadelphia, we want to know what else youre wondering about the snow and weather in the region. Let us know by filling out the form below.
In his new capacity at Fidelity, Brard is set to collaborate with the heads of distribution across the Asia-Pacific region. His primary focus will be on devising and executing strategies aimed at fulfilling the investment needs and objectives of insurance clients.
These forums offer a valuable opportunity for policyholders to connect directly with their insurer, learn about the claims process, and access resources to navigate their recovery, said Andrew Hall, CEO of the ICA. The ICA and insurers are committed to supporting insurance customers through this difficult time. Our representatives will be available at the forums to provide assistance and ensure everyone receives the support they need.
The demands, however, did not end there. Matthews, along with other venue proprietors, experienced a drastic surge in liability insurance costs, with his annual bill skyrocketing from $10,000 to $60,000. Invoices obtained by The Age confirm this substantial jump, leaving business owners like Matthews and his partners no choice but to take pay cuts to cover the escalating expenses.
Steven Miles, the Queensland premier, has urged residents of parts of the state to be prepared for an incoming cyclone following warnings from the BoM. Felim Hanniffy, senior meteorologist at the BoM, said models suggested the system could form into a severe tropical cyclone with wind gusts in excess of 165km/h, but that major uncertainties about whether it would cross Queenslands coast and, if so, when, remained. The bureau said it could become a category three system or even stronger before hitting land.
GFIA calls for unique approach to insurance regulation

The GFIA has contended that insurance functions differently to NBFIs such as Archegos Capital as well as banks, and regulators must acknowledge the unique way in which it operates and is already regulated, including on solvency and transparency, to avoid any impending action being detrimental not just to insurance companies, but to customers.
Our new product will stand out from the market, not just for the extended coverage but also the embedded expertise we can offer with Crisis24 and HFW. Through this new offering, we look forward to providing West Members and other shipowners with the support to manage the ever-present threat of piracy, Turner said.
A fishing trawler that wrecked on rocks off the Maine coast during a powerful storm, requiring a harrowing early-morning rescue, is a total loss and will be removed over the next few days, a salvage business owner said Wednesday.

The Tara Lynn II crashed into the rocks early Saturday off Trundy Point, a few miles (kilometers) south of the Portland Head Light. The vessel came to a rest too close to shore for traditional boats to get close enough to retrieve the crew, as winds gusted to 50 mph (80 kph) and 6-foot (2-meter) waves pummeled the shore.

In the end, the Cape Elizabeth Fire and Rescue Departments Water Extrication Team used an inflatable boat to reach the trawler. It took two trips to shore to rescue all four crew members.

On Wednesday, the vessel remained in place about 300 feet (91 meters) offshore in Cape Elizabeth. The demolition and removal will take several days, said Parker Poole, who runs the towing and salvage company Determination Marine.

The fishing vessel was heading to Portland Harbor to avoid a coastal storm when it came too close to shore and crashed onto the rocks. Poole heard the mayday call at 12:30 a.m. Saturday and rushed to the scene.

On a nice day, the commercial fishermen couldve made it to shore easily and the vessel could have been towed away at high tide, but the dangerous surf and rough winds made for a difficult rescue, Poole said.

Poole was unable to get his tug boat close enough to help, so he watched from a distance. It had a good ending. We were very lucky that the (rescue) team was able to get them off the boat, he said.

The Tara Lynn II was damaged beyond repair. The Maine Department of Environmental Protection and U.S. Coast Guard already signed off on the demolition plan, Poole said.

For the demolition and removal, Poole said he plans to create a path for excavators to cross private property to reach the vessel at low tide. The process will take several days.

Photo: A fishing boat that had run aground at Trundy Beach on Saturday morning, Jan. 13, 2024, in Cape Elizabeth, Maine. A salvage business owner says the fishing trawler that wrecked off the Maine coast during a powerful storm, requiring a harrowing early-morning rescue, is a total loss. The Tara Lynn II crashed into the rocks early Saturday off Trundy Point, a few miles south of the Portland Head Light. (Derek Davis/Portland Press Herald via AP)

Copyright 2024 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Maine
Online brokerage Robinhood on Thursday agreed to pay a $7.5 million fine and overhaul its practices to resolve allegations by Massachusetts securities regulators that it encouraged inexperienced investors to place risky trades.

Massachusetts Secretary of State Bill Galvin filed an enforcement action in 2020 alleging Robinhoods app-based service used strategies that treated trading like a game to lure young, inexperienced customers into placing risky trades.

Galvin, the states top securities regulator, said such gamification strategies including having confetti rain down for each trade made on Robinhoods app.

The settlement also addresses issues uncovered through another investigation by Galvins office into a 2021 data security breach and allegations Robinhood failed to maintain reasonable cybersecurity policies.

Lucas Moskowitz, deputy general counsel and head of government affairs at Robinhood, said in a statement the deal resolves historical matters dating back to 2021 that do not reflect Robinhood today.

We are pleased to put this matter behind us and move forward steadfast in our commitment to providing access to the markets for our Massachusetts customers, he said.

Robinhood discontinued the confetti in 2021 after regulators filed the case, the first enforcement action under a state fiduciary duty rule that raised the investment-advice standard for brokers operating in Massachusetts.

Regulators through the case sought to revoke Robinhoods license to operate in Massachusetts. Robinhood denied wrongdoing and went to court to challenge the fiduciary duty rule.

The Massachusetts Supreme Judiciary Court in August upheld the regulation, which stated that broker-dealers have a fiduciary obligation to provide investment advice without regard to the interests of anyone but their customers.

The company faced a Monday deadline to appeal that decision to the U.S. Supreme Court. It instead agreed to settle the case.

(Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston; Editing by Richard Chang)

Topics Massachusetts
Blood tests of a construction worker who collapsed Wednesday outside a building owned by Yale University led emergency crews to uncover potentially lethal levels of carbon monoxide inside. Another 13 people were hospitalized, but the discovery may have prevented a much larger catastrophe, officials said.

There was a disaster averted here, said Rick Fontana, New Havens emergency operations director. You could have had a lot more sick or a lot more death had this gone on for a longer period of time.

Emergency crews initially thought they were responding to a regular medical call Wednesday morning when they brought the collapsed unconscious man to the hospital, Fontana said. However, an hour-and-a-half later, the hospital informed them that the worker had extremely high levels of carbon monoxide in his bloodstream.

Crews then returned to the location and found 13 people at the building with elevated carbon monoxide levels and complaining of headaches. It was later determined that the construction workers had been using a propane-fueled saw to cut concrete inside the structure. Even though they were venting it, Fontana said the fumes were not exiting the building.

Of the 14 people who were hospitalized, nine were construction workers and five were members of Yale Security Department, which is located in the same facility, said a spokesperson for Mayor Justin Elicker.

The man found lying outside of the building, which is a couple of blocks from Yales New Haven campus, was taken to Jacobi Medical Centers hyperbaric chamber in the Bronx, New York City, where he was in critical condition, Fontana said. He said another worker was also in pretty serious condition but was uncertain where he was taken.

That carbon monoxide, its not like you could smell it or see it or feel it, he said. Everybody thought that it was being vented properly until we were notified of this group of people.

Fontana said a typical home carbon monoxide detector sounds an alarm when it detects 35 parts per million. In this situation, there were 350 parts per million, or 10 times the permissible level.

Inhaling carbon monoxide fumes hinders the body from properly using oxygen and can harm organs, including the heart and brain.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating the incident. A Yale spokesperson said in an email it took about a half-hour for carbon monoxide levels in the building to reach a safe level. Yale first responders also checked adjacent areas but did not detect any of the gas.

___

Copyright 2024 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
A television news helicopter that crashed in a southern New Jersey forest last month, killing the pilot and a photographer, had no engine problems that would have prevented normal operation, federal investigators said Wednesday.

The National Transportation Safety Board released a preliminary report on the crash of WPVI-TVs Chopper 6 helicopter on the evening of Dec. 19 in the Wharton State Forest in Washington Township, Burlington County.

Investigators said the helicopter was returning to the Northeast Philadelphia Airport after an assignment to report on Christmas lights just after 8 p.m. that night. Preliminary data provided by the Federal Aviation Administration showed that it was flying at about 1,000 feet (300 meters) when it drifted right, then began to descend, picking up speed for the next couple of minutes before crashing.

The report described the wreckage of the American Eurocopter Corp. AS350B2 and said the engine had separated from the airframe and was damaged by the post-impact fire.

No anomalies of the engine were discovered that would have precluded normal operation, the preliminary report said. A final report could take a year and a half to complete, investigators said last month.

Killed in the crash were the pilot, 67-year-old Monroe Smith of Glenside, Pennsylvania, and a photographer, 45-year-old Christopher Dougherty of Oreland, Pennsylvania.

The flight was the third of the day for the helicopter and crew and the helicopter had been refueled before the accident flight, investigators said.

The crash site is part of the New Jersey Pinelands, a million-acre (400,000-hectare) wilderness area that stretches across more than seven counties and features dense woods, rivers and rare plant species.

Copyright 2024 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
The Greenland ice sheet, an expanse of frozen water about three times the size of Texas, is disappearing much faster than previously thought, according to new research, and the difference may already be affecting the distribution of heat around the world.

The mass of ice lost between 1985 and 2022 has been underestimated by as much as 20%, or more than 1,000 gigatons (1 trillion metric tons). Thats due to the overlooked impact of calving around Greenlands perimeter, where the sheets glaciers meet the sea, scientists wrote in an article published Wednesday in Nature.

Using several public datasets, the research team combined more than 235,000 observations of glacial end points to create an ice mask showing the extent of the ice sheet every month from 1985 to 2022.

The surprise was just the ubiquity of the signal, said Chad Greene, a glaciologist with NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, and lead author of the study. With the exception of one minuscule little glacier that grew modestly, Greene said, theres just been retreat everywhere weve looked. Its on every corner of the island.

The shrinking of Greenlands ice sheet is already contributing to higher seas, but the melting studied by Greene and his team likely had minimal impact because it occurred in deep fjords leading into the ocean, where the ice was already mostly underwater. However, as that part of the glaciers disappears, inland melting is likely to accelerate and will raise sea levels as that water flows into the ocean.

What were seeing is that the clog in this bottleneck has been removed, and as a result, the glaciers all around Greenland have been able to speed up the melting process, he said. You take the ice out of the fjord and glaciers speed up and start contributing to sea level rise.

Figuring out how much more ice is going to be lost, and how quickly, also depends on the sensitivity of various glaciers to climate change. The extent of the glaciers fluctuates seasonally, growing in winter and retreating in summer. Those that consistently changed the most are likely the most sensitive to environmental change and global warming, the scientists surmised.

This finding is sort of laying a roadmap of where to look for which glaciers that are going to be potentially the biggest players over the next few decades in sea level rise, Greene said.

Greenlands ice sheet is retreating because of warmer global temperatures caused by the human combustion of fossil fuels.Prior to this study, the total mass loss from the sheet so far was estimated at about 5,000 gigatons, according to IMBIE, a collaboration of polar scientists. Were it all to melt, sea levels could rise more than 7 meters (23 feet).

Meanwhile, the loss through calving  when icebergs break off the glacier and float out to sea  is already significant enough that it may be affecting ocean circulation and the distribution of heat energy around the globe, the study suggests. This could have particular importance for Atlantic Meridian Overturning Circulation, or AMOC.

AMOC can be described as a planetary conveyer belt of energy that circulates warm water from lower latitudes up to the North Atlantic and back again. In addition to warming much of Europe and the UK, that circulation carries nutrients with it that are key to sustaining ocean life.

The annual freeze of the surface of the Arctic Ocean is a driver of the conveyer belt. Ice cannot contain salt, and so as Arctic sea ice freezes, the salt is pushed out and sinks to the bottom of the sea. That denser salt water then flows south, which in turn pulls warm water north.

Scientists are divided as to whether AMOC is approaching a tipping point when even a relatively small amount of melting fresh water could disrupt the cycle. But it seems likely that a larger inflow could have an impact.

We found an extra thousand gigatons [of lost ice] and now were saying to ocean modelers, Put this in your models and see if it affects things,' Greene said.

That 1,000 gigatons figure is significant  much larger than I would have hypothesized, said Julienne Stroeve, chief science officer at Arctic Basecamp, a non-profit group of Arctic experts, and a professor of polar observation and modeling at University College London. The impact it may be having on ocean circulation warrants investigation, Stroeve said.

The only region of the planet thats kind of cooling is actually off the southeastern coast of Greenland, in the ocean, and that could be due to freshening of the ocean from more melt water from Greenland.

Whether its also contributing to larger changes in ocean circulation partly depends on where the fresh water ultimately ends up, as the icebergs float away from Greenland and melt and, more importantly, on the quantity of fresh water entering the ocean, she said. Until now, scientists have believed most ice loss in Greenland is caused by increased surface melting and runoff, not calving.

I do wonder now what the mass balance between calving and surface melt is, because many scientists have been saying that surface melt was more important, said Stroeve. But this might change that story.

Photograph: A glacier in northern Greenland. Photo credit: Thomas Traasdahl/AFP/Getty Images

Copyright 2024 Bloomberg.
Ukraine is working intensively with partners to restore air travel suspended for nearly two years, with the main focus on Boryspil International Airport outside the capital Kyiv, a presidential official said on Thursday.

Ukraines airspace was abruptly closed by Russias invasion in February 2022 due to the security risk for civil aviation and anyone visiting has to make their way by road or rail from a neighboring country.

Kyiv sees a restoration of air travel as a goal towards victory for the economy.

Ukraine in Talks With Marsh on War Risk Insurance for Air Transport

I dont want to create over-expectations  but I can tell you we are working very intensively to recover the air connection in Ukraine, Rostyslav Shurma, deputy head of Ukraines presidential office, said during a panel discussion in Davos.

Shurma declined to give a timeline for the possible restoration of air travel but said Ukraine had an internal roadmap and schedule.

He said Kyiv was consulting Israeli colleagues on technical specifications to enable the restoration process, without elaborating. Israel has long experience in deploying air defense systems to protect its infrastructure.

We need to get approvals from the IATA (International Air Transport Association) and FAA (the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration) which is not an easy case. And it depends more on the bold decisions of international partners that we believe well get, Shurma said.

An insurance program for grain shipments through the Black Sea corridor, run by broker Marsh McLennan with other insurers and Ukrainian state banks, could be used as a blueprint for restoring air travel, Marsh McLennan CEO John Doyle said.

The near-term focus is moving past that Unity facility (for grain shipments), using that as a blueprint to support other aspects of the economy. As we discussed, travel is an important part of it. Thats going to be part of our focus over the coming months, he told the same panel in Davos.

Shurma said Ukraine was considering reopening either Boryspil airport or another in the western region of Lviv, but the international hub near Kyiv was the priority.

In December, Boryspil saw the departure of a Boeing 777-300 on a technical flight, a sign the infrastructure remains in working condition.

(Reporting by Yuliia Dysa; Editing by Andrew Heavens and Alison Williams)

Topics Ukraine
European boutique managing general agent (MGA), Alta Signa Europe B.V., announced the launch of a new European marine underwriting business.

The new unit will focus on core marine lines of business, backed by Alta Signas panel of insurance partners: Axeria IARD, SiriusPoint, and Sompo International.

The team brings a wealth of specialist insurance expertise and is headed up by Francesco Dubbioso, head of Technical Underwriting for Marine and branch manager for Italy, based in Genoa. Dubbioso, who joined Alta Signa in September 2023, has a broad range of insurance leadership experience in a career spanning over 20 years, most recently as CEO of Mediterranea Underwriting. He will be supported by:

Danilo Fiore joined Alta Signa as acting head of Technical Underwriting for Hull and Yachts, effective Dec. 18. Previously, Fiore was a senior marine hull underwriter with Swiss Re Corporate Solutions for over 10 years and prior to this, he held a similar position with Assicurazioni Generali.

Barbara Vida recently joined the team as a senior cargo underwriter, bringing a wealth of international cargo insurance experience having worked previously for Mediterranea Underwriting, Liberty and XL.

Marie Lepelletier, a highly qualified marine insurance law practitioner, is group claims manager. Previously Lepelletier worked with Generali Global Corporate & Commercial.

Simona Ballestrero is marine technical accounting and operations manager. She joined Alta Signa from Mediterranea Underwriting.

The arrival of this brilliant new marine underwriting team adds a new strategic arrow to the Alta Signa bow, and I am thrilled they decided to join our MGA family. With the new marine line of business, we aim to become even more meaningful to our distribution partners by broadening our portfolio beyond the financial, professional and cyber lines of business, commented Gerard Van Loon, chief executive officer, of Brussels-based Alta Signa

I am delighted to be launching our new Marine underwriting business and am extremely proud of the quality of the team we were able to attract, said Dubbioso. The European Marine market is expected to present niche growth opportunities in 2024 and beyond for those MGAs who are agile enough to address the unique challenges in this sector.

Source: Alta Signa

Topics Europe New Markets
This edition of International People Moves details appointments at Liberty Specialty Markets and HDI Global.

A summary of these new hires follows here.

Liberty Specialty Markets Names Bolanos as CUO, Moreno as President US, LatAm

Liberty Specialty Markets (LSM), part of Liberty Mutual Insurance Group, announced the appointment of Ronald Bolanos to the role of chief underwriting officer (CUO). He will report to both Matthew Moore, president of Underwriting, Global Risk Solutions (GRS), and Phil Hobbs, president and managing director, LSM.

Manuel Moreno becomes president, LSM, US and Latin America, while maintaining his existing role of CUO, LSM US and Latin America. In his new position, Moreno reports to both Bolanos and Hobbs. Bolanos and Moreno will remain based in Miami and the appointments are effective immediately.

Bolanos will be responsible for driving high performance underwriting across all LSM products. His focus is on leveraging global expertise and resources to meet the complex risk needs of LSMs clients and broking partners.

Moreno will lead the continued high-performance of LSM in the US and Latin America. He will be responsible for building on existing and developing new partnerships in the region.

Many congratulations to Ronald and Manuel on their promotions. Both combine great leadership skills and in-depth technical ability. Ronald has led LSMs US and Latin America business since 2020 and has built a strong, market-leading team, commented Hobbs. His underwriting expertise and significant business and market knowledge make him the ideal candidate for LSM CUO.

He went on to say that Moreno has delivered excellent underwriting results as CUO and an in-depth understanding of the diverse market in the region. He is perfectly placed to continue LSMs growth and development in the US and Latin America.

***

HDI Global Names Tarantino MD of Singapore Branch Office as Silton Retires

HDI Global SE announced it will appoint Alex Tarantino as managing director HDI Global SE Singapore, succeeding Graham Silton who plans to retire in mid-2024, after more than four decades in the insurance industry.

Andrew Cochrane will succeed Tarantino as Liability head for Australasia.

Tarantino, currently regional underwriting manager Liability and Cyber, Asia Pacific, will continue in his current role until he moves to Singapore as managing director, Singapore, and Asia Pacific Liability head from July 1, 2024. With more than 20 years of international underwriting experience across the UK, Canada and Australia, Tarantino joined HDI Global SE in 2019. His assignment to Singapore reflects HDIs ambitions to continue expanding its reach in the growth regions of Asia Pacific.

Cochrane, currently liability underwriting manager, Northern Region, will become underwriting manager, Liability Australasia, in the Sydney office, effective January 2024. Cochranes career began in London in 2002 as an international liability broker, focused on Australia, Canada, Africa and Latin America business before moving to Australia in 2015 to pursue liability underwriting opportunities. In 2019, Cochrane joined HDI Global where he has been instrumental along with Tarantino in growing the liability book and establishing HDI as one of the leading liability markets in Australia, the company affirmed.

Silton joined HDI Global SE Australia in May 2015 and successfully grew the property portfolio in Australia before being appointed as managing director for Singapore in 2017. Since then, Silton has played a pivotal role in transforming the reputation of the Singapore branch office and developing a strong following in the marketplace, contributing also to the positive overall result of the German-based industrial insurer, HDI Global, the company said. Following four decades in the insurance industry as a leader and expert property underwriter with international experience, Silton will retire at the end of June 2024.

Topics USA Excess Surplus Maryland
The Tanzania-Zambia Railway Authority (TAZARA) managing director Bruno Ching'andu extended his gratitude for Chinese assistance and the deceased Chinese experts during the construction of the railway in a recent interview with Xinhua.

The Tanzania-Zambia Railway was constructed as a turnkey project between 1970 and 1975 through an interest-free loan from China, with commercial operations starting in July 1976.

The 1,860-km-long railway served as a reminder of the longstanding relationship.
The Houthis launched anti-ship ballistic missiles at a US-owned ship late on Thursday as Joe Biden admitted that American airstrikes have failed to deter the militants attacks in the Red Sea.

The Iran-backed rebels said they launched two missiles targeting the Chem Ranger that caused "direct hits" on the ship. The US officials claimed the missiles hit the water, without damaging the tanker or causing injuries to those onboard.

The "fairly small chemical tanker left the Red Sea port of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia for Kuwait, but her AIS (automatic identification system) went offline on (Tuesday) before proceeding south past Yemen", according to monitoring service TankerTrackers.com.

The recent attack is seen as a response to the American military's weeks-long airstrikes in Yemen targeting the Houthis amid the growing tension in the Red Sea that has disrupted global trade and raised fears of supply bottlenecks.

The Houthi militia has been targeting Israel-associated ships in and around the Red Sea for several weeks in an escalation of the war in Gaza.

(The Independent/Datawrapper)

President Biden on Thursday said his military would continue strikes against the Houthis but acknowledged that the airstrikes have failed to stop the militants. When you say working, are they stopping the Houthis, no. Are they going to continue, yes," Mr Biden said.

A US official said the American military conducted a fifth strike Thursday morning that targeted another missile launcher site. A day before it fired another wave of ship-and-submarine-launch missile strikes against the militant-controlled sites.

The strikes were launched from the Red Sea and hit 14 missiles that the command deemed an imminent threat".

The strikes followed an announcement that the US has put the Houthis back on its list of specially designated global terrorists. The sanctions that come with the formal designation are meant to sever violent extremist groups from their sources of financing, while also allowing vital humanitarian aid to continue flowing to impoverished Yemenis.

Story continues

Despite sanctions and military strikes, including a large-scale operation carried out by US and British warships and warplanes that hit more than 60 targets across Yemen, the Houthis keep harassing commercial and military ships. The US has strongly warned Iran to cease providing weapons to the Houthis.

British prime minister Rishi Sunak said the situation remained concerning as attacks on commercial shipping in the region persisted despite the joint military action.

"...together with allies, we have been very clear in our condemnation of their behaviour. We will continue to urge them to desist from carrying out what are illegal attacks, putting peoples lives at risk," he told reporters.

Separately, the US and its allies have formed Operation Prosperity Guardian to protect ship traffic, and currently, warships from the US, France and the UK are patrolling the area.

These strikes will continue for as long as they need to continue," said John Kirby, the national security council spokesperson. Im not going to telegraph punches one way or another.

The crisis in the Middle East was escalated by Iran after it fired missiles targeting alleged terrorist hideouts in Pakistan this week, killing at least two children on Pakistani soil.

Islamabad responded with counter-strikes on Thursday, which Iran said killed at least nine people, including four children.

Pakistan was the third country to be struck by Tehran this week after earlier attacks on targets in Iraq and Syria, in a move that has further escalated the fears of conflict spreading across the Middle East.

The attacks were condemned by the US, which accused Iran of violating the sovereign borders of three of its neighbours in just the past couple of days.

Additional reporting by the agencies
The owner of a Michigan insurance agency has been charged with embezzling money from employees by misappropriating payroll deductions, announced Attorney General Dana Nessel.

Nancy Caviston, 76, of Superior Charter Township, was arraigned Thursday on charges of embezzlement and wage and benefit violations before the 35th District Court in Wayne County. Caviston is owner of The Caviston Agency in Plymouth, a suburb of Detroit.

Caviston is alleged to have misappropriated payroll deductions of two long-term employees meant to serve as IRA contribution withholdings toward her personal and business expenses, it is alleged. Caviston also allegedly failed to make the required employer matching contributions toward those IRA accounts.

The U.S. Department of Labors Employee Benefits Security Administration conducted the investigation into Caviston.

Caviston faces two counts of Embezzlement by an Agent, $1,000-$20,000, a 5-year felony, and two counts of Wages and Fringe Benefits Violations, a 90-day misdemeanor.

Caviston was given a $5,000 personal recognizance bond and will next appear before Judge James Plakas in the 35th District Court for a probable cause conference on February 2nd, 2024, the Attorney Generals office announced.

Payroll fraud is an insidious offense that can go undetected for years without the victim employee becoming aware, said Nessel. Working Michiganders should be able to trust that their deductions are going toward their rightful purposes, especially retirement funds they intend to rely on in their post-career years.

The Caviston Agency was founded in 1981 and has access to over 50 carriers from property, liability, health, life and long-term healthcare insurance. The agency has four employees on its staff including Caviston, according to its website.

Topics Michigan
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP)  The Kansas court system needs at least $2.6 million in additional funds to recover from an October cyberattack that prevented the electronic filing of documents and blocked online access to records for weeks, the states top judicial official told legislators Tuesday.

State Supreme Court Chief Justice Marla Luckert included the figure in a written statement ahead of her testimony before a joint meeting of the Kansas House and Senate Judiciary committees. The Republican-controlled Legislature must approve the funding, and Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly also must sign off.

Luckerts written statement said the courts needed the money not only to cover the costs of bringing multiple computer systems back online but to pay vendors, improve cybersecurity and hire three additional cybersecurity officials. She also said the price tag could rise.

This amount does not include several things: recovery costs we will incur but cannot yet estimate; notification costs that will be expended to notify individuals if their personal identifiable information has been compromised; and any services, like credit-monitoring, that the branch may decide to provide for the victims, Luckerts statement said.

The attack occurred Oct. 12. Judicial branch officials have blamed a ransomware group based in Russia, saying it stole data and threatened to post it on a dark website if its demands were not met.

Judicial branch officials have not spelled out the attackers demands. However, they confirmed earlier this month that no ransom was paid after responding to an Associated Press request for invoices since Oct. 12, which showed as much.

Luckert said little about the costs of the cyberattack during Tuesdays joint committee meeting and did not mention the $2.6 million figure. She and other judicial branch officials also met with the House committee in private for about 15 minutes to discuss more sensitive security issues.

The forensic investigation is ongoing, she said during her public testimony to both committees.

Luckert said courts costs include buying a new firewall as well as software and hardware. She said the court included the three new cybersecurity jobs in its proposed budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1 but now wants to be able to hire them in April, May or June.

State Rep. Stephen Owens, a Republican from rural central Kansas who serves on both the House judiciary and budget committees, said the courts are asking for an awful lot of money because of the cyberattack.

That being said, I also think that we have to prioritize cybersecurity, he said after Tuesdays meeting. We have to prioritize safeguarding of the information that we store on behalf of Kansans.

Separately, Kelly is seeking $1.5 million to staff an around-the-clock, 12-person cybersecurity operations center, hire an official to oversee the states strategy for protecting data and hire someone to create a statewide data privacy program.

Copyright 2024 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Cyber Kansas
Zurich North America names Chai Chief Risk Officer

Zurich North America appointed Ann Chai as chief risk officer. She is based in Zurich North Americas Schaumburg, Ill., headquarters.

Chai, who previously served as head of finance for U.S. Middle Market at Zurich, succeeds Colleen Zitt, who returned to Zurich North Americas Finance team in the new role of vice president of end-to-end process controls.

Chai previously served as vice president & actuary for Zurich North Americas Finance & Actuarial team. She joined Zurich in 2010 after working in several actuarial roles in both finance and data. She will be a member of Zurichs global leadership team, the risk management executive committee and Zurich North Americas executive committee.

World Insurance Associates Names Peterson Chief Growth Officer and Costa National Growth Leader

World Insurance Associates LLC, headquartered in Iselin, N.J., named John Peterson chief growth officer.

Peterson comes to World with over 30 years of leadership experience, including several leadership roles at Aon Risk Services. He is based in Chicago, Ill.

Frank Costa, Worlds current chief growth officer, will move to the newly created national growth leader role.
A U.S. appeals court on Wednesday wrestled with whether the video-based social media platform TikTok could be sued for causing a 10-year-old girls death by promoting a deadly blackout challenge that encouraged people to choke themselves.

Members of a three-judge panel of the Philadelphia-based 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals noted during oral arguments that a key federal law typically shields internet companies like TikTok from lawsuits for content posted by users.

But some judges questioned whether Congress in adopting Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act in 1996 could have imagined the growth of platforms like TikTok that do not just host content but recommend it to users using complex algorithms.

I think we can all probably agree that this technology didnt exist in the mid-1990s, or didnt exist as widely deployed as it is now, U.S. Circuit Judge Paul Matey said.

Tawainna Anderson sued TikTok and its Chinese parent company ByteDance after her daughter Nylah in 2021 attempted the blackout challenge using a purse strap hung in her mothers closet. She lost consciousness, suffered severe injuries, and died five days later.

Andersons lawyer, Jeffrey Goodman, told the court that while Section 230 provides TikTok some legal protection, it does not bar claims that its product was defective and that its algorithm pushed videos about the blackout challenge to the child.

This was TikTok consistently sending dangerous challenges to an impressionable 10-year-old, sending multiple versions of this blackout challenge, which led her to believe this was cool and this would be fun, Goodman said.

But TikToks lawyer, Andrew Pincus, argued the panel should uphold a lower court judges October 2022 ruling that Section 230 barred Andersons case.

Pincus warned that to rule against his client would render Section 230s protections meaningless and open the door to lawsuits against search engines and other platforms that use algorithms to curate content for their users.

Every claimant could then say, this was a product defect, the way the algorithm was designed, he said.

U.S. Circuit Judge Patty Schwartz, though, questioned whether that law could fully protect TikTok from having to make a decision as to whether it was going to let someone who turned on the app know theres dangerous content here.

The arguments come as TikTok and other social media companies, including Facebook and Instagram parent Meta Platforms META.O, are facing pressure from regulators around the globe to protect children from harmful content on their platforms.

U.S. state attorneys general are investigating TikTok over whether the platform causes physical or mental health harm to young people.

TikTok and other social media companies are also facing hundreds of lawsuits accusing them of enticing and addicting millions of children to their platforms, damaging their mental health.

(Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston; Editing by Alexia Garamfalvi and Jonathan Oatis)

Topics Lawsuits
South Austin Nissan, a car dealership in Austin, Texas, operated by NICPA Central Auto Group, LLC, subjected female employees to sexual harassment and retaliated against employees when they reported the harassment the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit announced recently.

According to the EEOCs lawsuit, three managers at South Austin Nissan engaged in egregious and persistent sexual harassment towards female employees. These managers regularly touched or attempted to touch female employees. They also made sexual comments about female employees, critiquing their physical appearance and referring to the employees personal relationships.

Managers encouraged female salespeople to show more, sell more, suggesting the women wear revealing clothing at work to succeed in sales opportunities. The sales managers created a culture in which discussing vulgar sexual encounters and watching sexual videos was fairly commonplace. Several female employees who suffered harassment were forced to leave their jobs because of the managers conduct.

Several employees, including a male manager, reported the harassers behavior to both the NICPA Central Auto Groups director of human resources and chief operating officer. However, no appropriate investigation, effective corrective action, or remedial action was taken in response to the complaints. Instead, the reporting employees were transferred to other dealerships managed by NICPA Central Auto Group. One reporting manager was transferred, received a reduction in pay, and was subsequently terminated for standing up against harassment.

Such alleged conduct violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits sexual harassment in the workplace. EEOC filed suit, Civil Action No. 1:23-cv-01541, in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, Austin Division, after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process. In this case, EEOC seeks back pay damages, compensatory and punitive damages, and injunctive remedies, including implementation of stronger oversight over investigations into sexual harassment and discrimination.

Source: EEOC

Topics Lawsuits Texas Auto
Alera Group, an insurance and financial services firm in the U.S., announced the acquisition of CLS Healthcare Liability Specialists.

Based in North Palm Beach, Florida, CLS provides malpractice coverage for physicians, surgeons, hospitals, locum tenens firms, nurse staffing firms and others in the healthcare sector, the companies said in a news release. Mark Ledger is president of CLS. The CLS team will continue serving clients, Alera said.

Terms of the deal were not announced. It follows Aleras December acquisition of CBM Insurance Agency in Delaware.

Alera, with headquarters in Deerfield, Illinois, has some 180 offices around the country.

Topics Mergers & Acquisitions Carriers Medical Professional Liability
Tennessee health officials have confirmed at least 14 weather-related deaths from the icy storm that has gripped much of the country. Memphis-Shelby County Schools, the states largest public school system with about 100,000 students, canceled Thursday classes.

The Tennessee Valley Authority, which provides electricity to seven Southern states, reported a preliminary all-time record for peak power demand Wednesday morning as the region dropped to an average of 4 degrees Fahrenheit.

The storm dumped more than 9 inches of snow since Sunday on parts of Nashville, a city that rarely sees big accumulations, the AP, the Independent and other news outlets reported. Temperatures also plunged below zero in parts of the state, creating the largest power demand ever across the seven states served by the Tennessee Valley Authority.

Thursdays freezing rain added to the problems. Many schools and government offices have closed, and the state Legislature also shut down.

The deceased in Tennessee included a truck driver who slid into a tractor-trailer on an interstate, a man who fell through a skylight while cleaning a roof, and a woman who died of hypothermia in her home. The deaths occurred in nine Tennessee counties, news sites noted.

The Tennessee Highway Patrol said it also investigated three fatal car wrecks caused by the storm, more than 200 wrecks involving injuries and more than 600 others without injuries.

Shelby County had the most deaths but officials have declined to release details. Tennessees Department of Health also refused to confirm accounts provided by local authorities of deaths likely tied to the 14-death total.

In Mississippi, five winter weather-related deaths were reported and an estimated 12,000 customers in the capital city of Jackson were dealing with low water pressure, Mississippi Today and the AP reported. It was the latest problem for the citys water system.

Pipe breaks accelerated when the frozen ground began to thaw and expand, putting pressure on buried pipes, Jackson water officials said, according to local news reports.

Memphis power and water company also asked customers to avoid nonessential water use because of low pressure, citing leaks. The utility said it had repaired 27 broken water mains since Saturday.

Photo: People help a driver after his vehicle was stranded after the winter storm in Nashville earlier this week. (Denny Simmons/The Tennessean via AP)

Topics Auto Windstorm Mississippi Tennessee
The California Department of Insurance is urging business owners to verify the insurance coverage for any subcontractor or vendor they do business with after trucking company owner and operator Raymond Youash, 37, of Encino, appeared in court this week on 30 felony counts of unauthorized use of personal identifying information and forgery.

The charges follow a CDI investigation, which found Youash allegedly created and distributed fraudulent insurance documentation to the businesses that employed him. The department launched the investigation against Youash after receiving a complaint from an insurance broker, finding that for nearly a year, Youash created at least 13 fraudulent certificates of insurance and submitted them to 12 different employers and/or prospective employers. Each of the fraudulent certificates contained forged signatures of licensed insurance agents as well as false information regarding insurance coverage.

Youash allegedly created and submitted the fraudulent insurance certificates to deceive businesses into believing he had the proper insurance coverage as required by law, put these businesses at risk of great financial loss.

Youash appeared this week in court for a preliminary hearing. This case is being prosecuted by the Los Angeles County District Attorneys Office.

Topics California
A lawsuit accused a deputy director of the California Governors Office of Emergency Services of sexual harassment and retaliation against a senior employee while the agency did nothing to stop it.

Ryan Buras, an appointee of Gov. Gavin Newsom, harassed Kendra Bowyer for a year beginning in 2020 despite the agencys knowledge of similar previous allegations made by other women employees, the lawsuit contends. Newsom named Buras in 2019 as deputy director of recovery operations, a role that includes wildfire and other disaster response. Bowyer was a senior emergency services coordinator.

This administration swept a predators campaign of sexual and psychological abuse under the rug, Bowyer said in a statement released by her lawyers. A workplace that centers around supporting disaster survivors became a terrifying and nightmarish disaster zone in and of itself because they enabled his disgusting behavior.

An email seeking comment from Buras wasnt immediately returned.

Burass alleged harassment included crawling into bed with Bowyer while she was asleep during a gathering at his home, touching her nonconsensually, attempting to get her alone in hotel rooms, grabbing her hand in public, calling and texting her nearly every night and more, according to the release from her lawyer.

Bowyer believed her career would be over the moment she told Buras to stop his advances, so she tried to come up with the politest way to stop his behavior, according to the lawsuit, which was filed in Superior Court in Sacramento County.

But eventually, after rebuffing his advances, Bowyer faced retaliation from Buras that included restricting her access to resources needed to do her job, the suit contends.

His alleged behavior kept Bowyer from providing essential services to disaster survivors and caused her so much stress, anxiety and depression that in 2021 a doctor determined she was totally disabled, according to the lawsuit.

While Cal OES launched an investigation, Bowyer received a letter later that year stating that Buras didnt act inappropriately, the lawsuit said.

This man is untouchable, Bowyer told The Associated Press in an interview.

In an emailed statement, Cal OES said it hired an outside law firm to investigate harassment allegations and took appropriate action after the investigation determined that no policy was violated.

The statement didnt provide other details.

In an earlier statement, the agency said that sexual harassment in the workplace is an affront to our values as an organization. It has no place in Cal OES and it will not be tolerated in any form.

Austin is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.

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Topics Lawsuits California
January 19, 2024 (Investorideas.com Newswire) Dolly Varden Silver (TSXV:DV, OTC:DOLLF) has put out more encouraging results from drilling at the Homestake Silver deposit, part of its Kitsault Valley project in northwestern British Columbia.

According to the Vancouver-based company, the 23 drill holes reported a total 12,150m of drilling, targeting priority zones within the deposit, and have significantly expanded the width and extent of the reinterpreted high-grade silver and gold mineralized plunge.

"The 2023 drilling at Homestake Silver has identified a substantial zone of exceptional precious metal grades, often typified by multiple phases of silver and gold mineralization, over wide, continuous intervals that are potentially amendable to bulk underground mining methods," CEO Shawn Khunkhun stated in the Jan. 16 news release. "Results from additional step-out holes to the north of these intercepts are being finalized and are expected to be announced shortly."

"Applying what was learned from the structural reinterpretation work at the Homestake Main gold zone to the existing wider spaced drilling at Homestake Silver Zone has led to the discovery of high-grade pathways within a continuous mineralized envelope with average precious metal grades above the average resource grades and over much wider intervals than expected", said Rob Van Egmond, Dolly Varden's vice president of exploration.

Core length highlights included:

315 g/t AgEq (2.57 g/t Au and 102 g/t Ag) over 79.20 meters, including internal breccia vein intervals grading 1,508 g/t AgEq (9.53 g/t Au and 718 g/t Ag) over 9.22 meters length, 7,572 g/t AgEq (36.66 g/t Au and 4,533 g/t Ag) over 1.05 meters.

357 g/t AgEq (1.74 g/t Au, 213 g/t Ag) over 93.95 meters length, including internal breccia vein intervals grading 2,802 g/t AgEq (11.80 g/t Au and 1,824 g/t Ag) over 9.16 meters length, 4,176 g/t AgEq (13.16 g/t Au and 3,085 g/t Ag) over 2.26 meters and 9,422 g/t AgEq (55.40 g/t Au and 4,830 g/t Ag) over 1.02 meters.

630 g/t AgEq (5.11 g/t Au and 206 g/t Ag) over 22.80 meters, including internal breccia vein intervals grading 1,754 g/t AgEq (14.38 g/t Au and 562 g/t Ag) over 6.80 meters length, 4,617 g/t AgEq (43.40 g/t Au and 1,020 g/t Ag) over 0.88 meters.

226 g/t AgEq (1.40 g/t Au and 110 g/t Ag) over 40.00 meters, including internal breccia vein intervals grading 668 g/t AgEq (3.05 g/t Au and 415 g/t Ag) over 3.96 meters, 1,998 g/t AgEq (6.49 g/t Au and 1,460 g/t Ag) over 0.63 meters.

246 g/t AgEq (2.32 g/t Au and 54 g/t Ag) over 55.90 meters length, including internal breccia vein intervals grading 932 g/t AgEq (8.94 g/t Au and 191 g/t Ag) over 10.72 meters length, 2,149 g/t AgEq (24.38 g/t Au and 129 g/t Ag) over 0.57 meters and 1,883 g/t AgEq (17.78 g/t Au and 410 g/t Ag) over 2.20 meters.

Expansion step-out hole to the southeast; 445 g/t AgEq (0.91 g/t Au and 369 g/t Ag) over 10.55 meters including 2,068 g/t AgEq (1.73 g/t Au and 1,925 g/t Ag) over 0.55 meters.



Figure 1. Location along Dolly Varden's Kitsault Valley trend of deposits

Drilling targeted the high-grade plunge within the Homestake Silver deposit. These holes focused on defining and expanding the wide gold and silver (+/- lead and zinc) mineralized zone along the low-angle, northerly plunge of the high-grade mineralization. The reinterpretation concluded that the wider mineralization zone at Homestake Silver is at a similar plunge orientation as that of the Homestake Main deposit, located 300m to the northwest. The average grades are higher, on a silver-equivalent basis, than the average grade of the silver deposits at the Dolly Varden property to the south, due to the increased gold content at the Homestake Ridge deposits.

The Homestake Ridge deposits are interpreted as structurally controlled, multi-phase epithermal vein stockwork and vein breccia system hosted in Jurassic-aged Hazelton volcanic rocks. Mineralization consists of pyrite, +/-galena and sphalerite in a breccia matrix within a silica breccia vein system (see Figure 2). The northwest orientation of the main Homestake structural trend appears to have numerous subparallel internal structures that are interpreted to form the controls for higher-grade gold and silver shoots within a broader mineralized envelope at the Homestake Silver deposit. The main structural corridor dips steeply to the northeast at Homestake Main and rolls to vertical or steeply southwest at Homestake Silver (see Figure 5).

Figure 2. Drill hole HR23-416 from the Homestake Silver deposit. A 12.60-meter section from the 93.95-meter mineralized envelope highlighting the 1.02-meter high-grade multi-pulse vein breccia pathway. Strong alteration and stockwork with local multi-pulse vein and vein breccias can be seen throughout the interval.



Figure 3. Homestake Silver long section looking southwest with 2023 drill hole highlights. 100m wide window.



Figure 4. Homestake Silver plan view with current mineral resource block model, primarily of inferred resource classification with 2023 drill collar locations highlighted.



Figure 5. Homestake Silver cross section (A-B) with 2023 and historic drill holes.

Finalized results are still to be released for 47 of the 115-drill-hole, 51,454.90-meter 2023 Kitsault Valley project drill program. These include 25 drill holes at Homestake Main (11,054.90m), four drill holes (2,478.00m) from Homestake Silver northern extension, and six drill holes (1,627m) from Homestake Ridge, and 12 drill holes (7,400m) from the southern Dolly Varden property.

Kitsault Valley project

Located at the southern end of the Golden Triangle, the Kitsault Valley project represents the amalgamation of Dolly Varden's original namesake silver property and its Homestake Ridge gold-silver property.

This 163-square-kilometer land package hosts one of the largest undeveloped high-grade precious metals projects in Western Canada. Its combined mineral resource is estimated at 34.7 million oz of silver and 166,000 oz of gold in the indicated category and 29.3 million oz of silver and 817,000 oz of gold in the inferred category.

The project has a rich history, which can be traced back to the early 20th century when Scandinavian prospectors first made the silver discovery in what is now the Stewart Complex.

Within the boundaries of the company's original property are two past-producing silver mines: Dolly Varden and Torbrit, which formed a prolific silver mine camp starting in 1919 that produced more than 20 million ounces in the span of 40 years, with assays as high as 2,200 ounces per tonne.

It should be noted that Dolly Varden was among the most important silver mines in the British Empire during its heyday.

Other historically active mines in the area include North Star and Wolf, which remain underexplored to this day. Together, the four deposits comprise about 90 square kilometers within the Stewart Complex.

While these deposits were already enough to work with, DV always believed that the Kitsault Valley property is prospective for hosting further precious metal deposits, being on the same structural and stratigraphic belts that host numerous other high-grade deposits on the same trend such as Eskay Creek and Brucejack.

Towards the end of 2021, the company further consolidated its position with the acquisition of Homestake Ridge, which occupies the northern half (~75 sq km) of Kitsault Valley. This project features a high-grade gold and silver resource from three known deposits that the company believes can be converted into higher-confidence categories.

Results of the 51,454.90-meter 2023 Kitsault Valley project drill program include 19 drill holes from early-season drilling at the Wolf Vein.

In mid-September, Dolly Varden Silver put out more encouraging results from drilling at Wolf. The highlight of the bunch was hole DV23-368, a 75m step-out down plunge that intersected 1,898 g/t over 1.00m within 381 g/t Ag over 29.34m core length. The hole was drilled along plunge from the earlier hole DV22-320, which graded 321 g/t Ag over 12.85m.

Dolly Varden Silver hits 1,898 g/t Ag from step-out drilling at Wolf Vein area  Richard Mills

In November, Dolly Varden announced that Hecla Canada will purchase 15,384,616 shares at $0.65 per share for gross proceeds of $10 million. Hecla's share percentage increases from 10.6% to 15.7%, calculated on an undiluted basis.

Hecla Mining invests $10M in Dolly Varden Silver, upping stake to 15.7%  Richard Mills

In December, Dolly Varden announced that it intends to acquire a 100% undivided interest in the southern portion of the Big Bulk Project from Libero Copper & Gold. Dolly Varden will issue Libero 275,000 common shares at a deemed value of $0.78 to close the deal.

"Big Bulk is located about 10 kilometers east of the Kitsault Valley Project," VP Exploration Rob van Egmond told Guy Bennett, CEO of Global Stocks News. "Prior to this transaction, we controlled the northern part of it. It's a property that we haven't done a lot of work on because we've been focusing on the high-grade silver to the west."

The southern portion of the Big Bulk property that DV is acquiring rights to earn 100% ownership in, contains seven mineral claims making up 3,025 hectares. When combined with DV's northern portion, this doubles the size of the Big Bulk Project to approximately 6,000 hectares.

The option will give DV a new consolidated copper-gold porphyry project in the Golden Triangle region of northwestern British Columbia.

Dolly Varden Silver (DV.V) V.P Exploration and Geologist Rob van Egmond Explains the Big Bulk Consolidation Strategy

Dolly Varden Silver Corp.

TSXV:DV, OTC:DOLLF

Cdn$0.75, 2024.01.18

Shares Outstanding 254.6m

Market cap Cdn$202.5m

DV website

Richard (Rick) Mills

aheadoftheherd.com

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Chinese filmmaker Jia Zhangke, who humanizes Chinas modern history  and turns it into poetry, according to one critic, will be the guest of honor at Visions du Reel. The documentary film festivals 55th edition runs April 12-21 in Nyon, Switzerland.

Jia, a leading figure in independent Chinese cinema, will present a masterclass exploring his body of work, and a retrospective of his films will run throughout the edition. The tribute is made possible thanks to the collaboration with the Cinematheque suisse and ECAL, the university of art and design in Lausanne.

More from Variety

Since the outbreak of COVID-19, I havent left China for almost four years, Jia said. I feel like embracing the world again, as excited as a child about to go on a long trip for the first time. I am heading to Nyon for cinema that reveals the world as it really is.

Jia belongs to a generation of Chinese filmmakers who were profoundly affected by the Tiananmen Square protests. His diverse filmography, which comprises more than 20 short and feature works, borrows elements from both genre and non-fiction cinema.

His work has received many accolades, including the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival and the best director award at the Asian Film Awards for Still Life (2006), and the award for best screenplay at the Cannes Film Festival for A Touch of Sin (2013). His entire career has also been honored at some of the worlds most renowned film festivals, including Locarno, where he received the Golden Leopard in 2010, and Directors Fortnight at Cannes, which awarded him the Carrosse dOr in 2015.

Emilie Bujes, artistic director of Visions du Reel, said: Switching from taught thrillers to documentaries and encompassing a myriad hybrid formats, woven together by non-professional actors, fictional works on a canvas of reality, and fantasies bypassing otherwise restrained stories, Jia Zhangke has spent two decades creating a filmography as coherent as it is shifting.

Story continues

Graduating in 1997 from the Beijing Film Academy, Jia returned to his home city of Fenyang in the Shanxi province to create his first full-length feature, Pickpocket (1997). Conceived with meager resources and without authorization, the film cast a disillusioned eye, in a distinct documentary style  like several of his other titles  on Chinese society, landing it with a national broadcast ban.

His next three works met the same fate: Platform (2000), The Condition of Dogs (2001) and Unknown Pleasures (2002). However, the latter was included in the Cannes Film Festivals Official Selection. His melodrama The World (2004) was the first of his films to be screened in Chinese theaters, and starred his wife, the actor Zhao Tao, who has appeared in all of his fiction films since 2000. She won numerous awards for her performances in Mountains May Depart (2015) and Ash Is Purest White (2018).

Starting with 2006s Dong, the filmmaker then embarked on an expansion into non-fiction cinema, by adopting the viewpoint of the painter Liu Xiaodong. He followed this up with Useless (2007), an exploration of the textile industry in China, and 24 City (2008), which examines the disappearance of workers towns and the countrys modernization. He recounted the history of Shanghai in I Wish I Knew (2010) and gave voice to three Chinese writers on the changes taking place in their country in Swimming Out Till the Sea Turns Blue (2020).

Best of Variety

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The board of the countrys largest private landlord Irish Residential Properties Reit (Ires) has accused an activist investor shareholder, seeking additional control over the company, of publishing a misleading letter containing inaccuracies ahead of its EGM next month.

This is just the latest volley of attacks between the board of Ires and the firm Vision Capital which is seeking a number of changes to the landlord. On Thursday, Vision Capital published a letter refuting a number of accusations raised by the board of Ires to which the board has now fired back.

Vision Capital owns 5% of Ires and in December it requisitioned the company to convene an EGM for shareholders to consider and vote upon the removal and replacement of five directors of the Ires board of directors.

The firm is also seeking a review which could result in a forced sale of the Ires and its assets so that it is no longer publicly traded within the next two years.

The board of Ires recommended shareholders reject Vision Capitals resolutions saying that by seeking five of the nine available board seats it is looking to take control of the company from a minority position and force the liquidation of the company.

The board said that this puts the value of the company and its assets at risk. Early last week, it published a circular to its shareholders laying out its opposition to Visions resolutions.

Visions letter on Thursday refuted a number of accusations made by the board saying many of its claims, including a number made in a circular Ires published, were misleading.

It said its resolutions only require the board to use its best endeavours to affect a value-maximising transaction when it comes to a potential sale of the company.

It also pushed back on suggestions by the board that its nominees for the board lack independence saying this is unfounded saying they possess exceptional expertise, competence, and independence, aligning with UK Corporate Governance Code standards.

In response, the board of Ires said Visions letter is misleading and contains inaccuracies and depends on unsupported statements attributed to unidentified third parties.

It said that it stands by the circular it published last week in support of its position.

The Vision Response highlights the risks to shareholders of implementing Visions narrowly focused plan to sell the company or its assets, the board said.

As set out in the circular, Ires has sought to engage constructively with Vision and avoid the unnecessary costs and potential damage which Visions actions risk for I-RES shareholders.

The board also said that the Vision letter is under legal view and it will respond in due course ahead of the EGM which is due to take place on February 16.

It pointed out that Ires is subject to more stringent rules as a public company than Vision which has no such requirement or standard to which they must adhere.

The board continues to recommend that Ires shareholders vote against Visions resolutions.

Earlier this month, the board announced a comprehensive strategic review to consider the full range of strategic options in order to maximise the value for shareholders.

This could include new strategic initiatives, consolidation, combination, merger or other corporate action, a review of the companys listed status, the sale of the entire issued share capital of the company, and selling the companys assets and returning capital to shareholders.

This review will commence sometime over the next three months after the company posts the full year results for 2023.

Ires owns 3,734 apartments and houses for private rental in Dublin and Cork.
The convoluted ceremonies of male bonding have previously been explored in Alexander Paynes Sideways (2004) and Nebraska (2013), and he returns to the theme again in The Holdovers (15A), which is set at Barton, a New England boys boarding school, over the Christmas holidays in 1970.

This years batch of Christmas orphans with no homes to go to include Angus Tully (Dominic Sessa) and Teddy Kountze (Brady Hepner), who arent pleased to learn that their Classics teacher, Mr Hunham (Paul Giamatti), will be overseeing their grim festivities.

A principled man disliked by students and peers alike, Hunham laments the slipping standards of the current generation and the ongoing corruption of the Barton ethos. Written by David Hemingson, with Payne directing, The Holdovers isnt especially innovative in terms of plot: expecting to discover that the enforced proximity and humdrum schedule causes teacher and boys to learn some lessons from one another, we are not disappointed.

And yet The Holdovers is a genuinely absorbing tale, in large part because the performances are superb. Giamatti has been taking home awards for his portrayal of the hypocritical man-out-of-time Hunham, and he gets strong support from Dominic Sessa as the troubled teen Angus. Even so, the best performance of the film is that of DaVine Joy Randolph, who is sensational as Mary Lamb, a grieving mother who rules Bartons kitchen with a rod of iron.
Andrew Scott and Paul Mescal have both said that having their Irish families watch their sex scenes in the cinema will be a difficult prospect to navigate.

The Irish actors star together in romantic fantasy drama All Of Us Strangers, which sees them play neighbours who strike up a relationship.

Mescal, known also for his intimate scenes in romantic drama series Normal People, told BBC Ones The Graham Norton Show: With the Irish premiere, trying to allocate tickets to all the aunties and uncles is a tricky business.

They have seen my bum before but there is a little more going on in this movie I would say.

Paul Mescal, who starts in All Of Us Strangers (Matt Crossick/PA)

Scott, also known for Sherlock and Fleabag, said: I dont want to be there when my parents watch it.

Mescal, from Maynooth, received a Bafta nod for supporting actor on Thursday for All Of Us Strangers after last year being nominated at the awards show for best actor for Aftersun.

The film, which also looks into the grief of Scotts character losing his parents, was nominated for a total of six Baftas, which also includes best director for Looking series writer Andrew Haigh and outstanding British film.

Dublin-born Scott said: It is a hard film to talk about because it sounds nuts, but it is beautiful and very emotional.

There is a coming out story within it and its about how to love and how to love with courage.

It has really been embraced by so many people. To see the film is to love the film and we are very proud of it.

Mescal, who was also nominated for a best actor Oscar for Aftersun about a father coping with mental health challenges while on holiday with his daughter, is also about to star in Gladiator 2.

The original film, released in 2000, became a global hit and received 12 Academy Award nominations, taking home five gongs including best actor for Russell Crowe as the Roman general Maximus Decimus Meridius.

In Gladiator 2, Sir Ridley Scott returns to direct as does Connie Nielsen, who plays Lucilla, the sister of emperor Commodus.

Actor Russell Crowe with his Oscar for best actor in the film Gladiator (William Conran/PA)

Mescal, who will reportedly play Lucillas grown-up son Lucius, said: I finished filming yesterday and survived. Its done. I am not allowed to say anything, but it will be out at thanksgiving this year.

Also joining Graham Norton on the couch was The Holdovers star DaVine Joy Randolph and Barbie and High Fidelity star Kingsley Ben-Adir.

Ben-Adir, who is starring this year in biopic Bob Marley: One Love as the reggae musician, said he was scared on the first day of filming on set.

The 37-year-old British actor said: I didnt know much about his story, so I talked to a lot of his friends and family. He was such an icon and a hero, but I wanted to find out who he was as a man and as a father.

Nortons show also saw performances from Indie rock band The Last Dinner Party.

The Graham Norton Show airs on BBC One on Friday at 10.40pm.
As you set off on your first adventure as a married couple, it's only natural to want your honeymoon to be extra special.

Planning a honeymoon you'll remember fondly for the rest of your life may sound like a tall order, but in fact it's never been easier for Irish couples, with a range of fairytale-worthy destinations to choose from just a short, direct flight away or even on home soil!

Waterford: The plaudits are coming thick and fast for Irelands oldest city  it was recently named European City of Christmas for 2024, and was also the only Irish destination on the New York Times 52 Places to Go list for this year.

Once you stroll through the citys atmospheric streets and explore the county's stunning scenery, you can see why. The Viking Triangle, the restored core of the city, is perfect for a promenade a deux, and also home to an impressive selection of museums, craft shops, and cafes.

Discover for yourself why Waterford is so beloved by visitors from all across the world.

Go wild with windswept walks on the many beaches that line the Copper Coast or take a hike up the Comeragh mountains, home to one of the most spectacular lakes in Ireland, Coumshingaun.

Not too far away, near the town of Cappoquin, you will find Dromana Gate, a striking Hindu Gothic gate lodge, with a suitably romantic back story. It was originally constructed from wood and papier mache to greet the owner of the Dromana Estate, Henry Villiers-Stuart and his wife, Theresia Pauline Ott of Vienna, on returning from their honeymoon in 1826, and was later rebuilt in stone.

Derry: The Northern city has come into its own in recent years, not least because of the huge popularity of the television show Derry Girls, which has inspired a range of themed tours.

The still-intact historic city walls are among the citys most famous attractions, along with the Peace Bridge and Guildhall Square, where Bill Clinton made his famous address in 1995, poignantly recreated by Derry Girls writer Lisa McGee.

Now a vibrant and welcoming city, drawing tourists from all over the world, Derry is also a gateway to the Causeway Coast and Wild Atlantic Way. Venture out into the county to Downhill Demesne, where you will find Mussenden Temple, now popular as a wedding venue. Perched dramatically on the cliffs overlooking Downhill Strand, the circular folly was built in the 18th century and inspired by the Temple of Vesta in Rome.

Doolin, Co Clare: The Clare village is a great base from which to explore the many outstanding sights of this underrated county. A bustling hive of restaurants and top hotels, its the place to go if you enjoy a trad session along with your creamy pint.

Nearby are the legendary Cliffs of Moher, a sight which never fails to impress. In a romantic twist, the legendary geological feature also played a starring role in the classic movie The Princess Bride, where they doubled as the Cliffs of Insanity.

Explore Co Clare and take in beautiful sights of the Burren and the Cliffs of Moher.

There is an abundance of beautiful beaches dotted along the coast, including the buzzy surfing spot of Lahinch and the more laidback Fanore, with the Burren on its doorstep.

Bordeaux: The French city has all the charm, architectural grandeur and culinary attractions of Paris, not to mention one of the worlds most famous wine regions on its doorstep.

With short direct flights from Cork, its easy to get to and even easier to navigate, thanks to an enviable tram system.

Splash around to your hearts content in the highly Instagrammable Miroir dEau, the worlds largest reflecting pool, in front of the Place de la Bourse. The fashionable seaside resort of Arcachon is only a short train trip away, and is home to Dune du Pilat, the largest sand dune in Europe. What could be more romantic than chilling out at one of the many restaurants which line the beach, sipping champagne and slurping the regions famous oysters?

San Sebastian: Not as easy to get to but worth the effort is this gem of a northern Spanish city, which, while famous for its culinary culture, has so much more to offer.

There are no direct flights from Cork, so fly to either Bilbao or Biarritz just across the border in France, from where it's a short trip by car or bus. Theres also the option of getting the ferry from Rosslare to Bilbao or Santander.

Explore the three beaches which skirt the city of San Sebastian before taking to the old town for a txikiteo  a Basque-style bar crawl where you indulge in some pintxos (Basque tapas) accompanied by a glass of beer or the delicious local wine txakoli.

London: We take it for granted because its on our doorstep but as one of the worlds greatest cities, London truly has something for everyone, especially culture-loving couples.

Sipping on champagne aboard the London Eye is just one of many romantic adventures the city has to offer.

Who needs Broadway when there is a wealth of plays and musicals starring top-notch talent less than an hour away? Take your pick of romantic adventures  sip champagne on the London Eye, go stargazing at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich or have a picnic in one of the citys many well-appointed parks. And thats before you even begin to explore the vast array of bars, cafes and restaurants on offer!

The options range from afternoon tea in a high-end hotel to great street food in places like Borough Market. No matter how many times you visit, youll always find something new.
Irelands foreign minister on Thursday (January 18) urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to end the war in Gaza as "quickly as possible" adding that a military solution will not resolve the conflict.

During a visit to Berlin, Micheal Martin also reacted to local media reports in Israel quoting Netanyahu as saying the war will "continue until the end, until we complete all our goals: the return of the hostages, the elimination of Hamas, and the promise that Gaza will no longer pose a threat to Israel."
Files concerning a number of different arson attacks on buildings for asylum seekers have been submitted by gardai to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) while other files are at an advanced stage.

Gardai said while a breakdown of which arson attacks the files relate to is not available at this time, however, there have been around 20 incidents of suspected arson since 2018.

The latest fire occurred at a convent in Longford on Tuesday which was earmarked to accommodate about 80 Ukrainian refugees.

A spokesperson for An Garda Siochana said more criminal investigations are ongoing into a large number of potential arson attacks on buildings.

Arson is a very serious offence, carrying a penalty, following conviction on indictment, of up to life imprisonment, they said.

They said several locations have been targeted which were never intended to be used as accommodation for international protection applicants (IPAs) at any time.

This includes a pub in Ringsend in Dublin which was which was to accommodate homeless families but fell victim to false rumours that it would be used to accommodate IPAs. It was set alight on New Year's Eve.

An Garda Siochana is acutely aware that the majority of public gatherings and persons attending them are peaceful and their intent is peaceful, but An Garda Siochana is also aware that such gatherings, and in effect those persons attending them, are used by a small minority with extreme and potentially criminal and dangerous intent to spread misinformation, disinformation and fake news, they said.

The spokesperson said gardai must respect the right for citizens to exercise their constitutional rights, including where on occasion such activities may be considered abhorrent to most, but not necessarily a breach of criminal law.

Several criminal investigations concerning activities at protests, potential harassment at public facilities including libraries and online incitement are also ongoing.

More than 50 arrests relating to potential illegal activity at anti-migration protests were made by gardai in 2023 in the Dublin area alone.

An extensive investigation into the Dublin riots on 23 November remains ongoing with gardai saying further arrests are expected, in addition to the 38 people already arrested.
A Welsh man who was arrested for his alleged part in a 160,000 drugs transaction in a hotel carpark in Cork was remanded in custody until February 7.

Julius Sobul, 42, of Collingwood Avenue, Newport, Gwent, Wales, appeared at Cork District Court having been charged by Garda Ruairi McGovern with possession of cannabis, having it for sale or supply, and money-laundering in respect of 39,500 in cash.

Judge Mary Dorgan adjourned the case against Mr Sobul, on the application of Sergeant Gearoid Davis at Cork District Court.

It is alleged that on December 19, 2023, gardai observed a transaction taking place in the carpark of the Radisson Hotel in Little Island, Cork, between the occupants of two vehicles and when officers moved in to carry out a search they found 160,000 worth of cannabis and 39,500 in cash.

A 43-year-old Lithuanian national who has been living in Ireland for the past 17 years, Mindaugas Stancikas, of The Mews, Riverstown House, Glanmire, Co Cork, is also before the court on similar charges of money-laundering, possession of cannabis for sale or supply and having cannabis for his own use, arising out of the same incident.

The allegations previously outlined in court were that an English-registered Vauxhall and an Irish-registered Range Rover were observed by gardai in the carpark that Tuesday morning.

It was alleged one man exited the Range Rover with a package and entered the Vauxhall while the driver of the Vauxhall placed a large bag in the rear of the Range Rover. At this point, they were approached by gardai and informed they were to be searched under the Misuse of Drugs Act.

The package placed in the Vauxhall was recovered and found to contain 39,500 cash and the large bag was found to contain about 8kg of cannabis, with an estimated street value of 160,000, it was alleged.

Mr Sobul is in custody. Mr Stancikas is on bail on conditions that included substantial cash lodgement and surety.

Defence solicitor Frank Buttimer represents both accused.
Higher Education Minister Simon Harris says he will not sign off on any sale of student accommodation unless alternatives are found.

The Irish Examiner reported on Thursday that the Government is eyeing up a 57m student accommodation complex in Cork to house international protection applicants (IPAs).

The privately-owned property in Cork City is currently accommodating third-level students but if the Government agrees to buy the site, it will be used to house up to 400 IPAs.

Speaking to RTE's News At One, Mr Harris said that he "does not believe" the facility will be purchased.

"The Department of Integration has a job to do and they do it well in difficult circumstances. But I too have a job to do and that's to make sure students have somewhere to live."

He said that if student accommodation was to be used, he would "need to have a clear line of sight in advance as to where the students were going to live, how they'd have rents at the same price and when it would be available."

Mr Harris said that the Department of Integration has had discussions on the Cork site, but said that as a Cabinet member, he would need "clear answers" about what would happen to the students currently living in the apartments.

The Irish Examiner understands Department of Integration officials are to bring the proposal back to the table, having first proposed it in October last year.

If the Government signs off on the deal, it would be included in the revised white paper which will outline the States long-term plan on housing asylum seekers.

Mr Harris said that he would like to see accommodation for housing students become less reliant on the private sector and that 48,000 beds in student accommodation have been built in recent years.
Turkeys first astronaut, a Swede and an Italian have set off for the International Space Station on a chartered SpaceX flight.

The Falcon rocket blasted off from Nasas Kennedy Space Centre in late afternoon, carrying the three men, all with military pilot experience and representing their homelands.

Their escort on the trip is a retired Nasa astronaut who now works for the company that arranged the private flight.

Their capsule should reach the space station on Saturday.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Kennedy Space Centres Launch Pad 39-A in Cape Canaveral, Florida (Chris OMeara/AP)

They will spend two weeks performing experiments, chatting to schoolchildren and soaking in the views of Earth, before returning home.

It is costing each of the three countries $55 million dollars (51m) or more.

That is the rough per-person price for the trip, the third such journey organised by the Houston company Axiom Space with Nasa and SpaceX.

Russia has been welcoming paid visitors to the space station for more than two decades, but Nasa did not until two years ago.

Turkeys Alper Gezeravci, a former fighter pilot and captain for Turkish Airlines, is the first person from his country to rocket to space.

He noted Turkey just celebrated its 100th anniversary, and, until now, the nations view of the sky has been limited to what we could see with our bare eyes.

Now this mission is opening that curtain all the way, he told reporters before the flight.

Axiom-3 mission astronauts, from left, mission specialist Marcus Wandt, of Sweden, mission specialist Alper Gezeravci, of Turkey, pilot Walter Villadei, of Italy, and Commander Michael Lopez-Alegria at the Kennedy Space Centre in Cape Canaveral, Florida (

This is the beginning of our next centennial.

Also flying are Swedens Marcus Wandt, a former fighter pilot and test pilot for Swedish Aeroplane Corporation who was chosen in 2022 as a reserve astronaut by the European Space Agency, and Italian Air Force Colonel Walter Villadei, who flew to the edge of space last summer with Virgin Galactic.

Among the symbolic items they are taking up are a Nobel Prize medal from Sweden, fusilli pasta from Italy and tokens of Turkeys nomadic culture.

With them is Michael Lopez-Alegria, who launched four times as a Nasa astronaut before joining Axiom Space and escorting its first chartered flight.
A Ukrainian drone has hit an oil storage depot in western Russia, causing a blaze, officials said as Kyivs forces apparently extended their attacks on Russian soil ahead of the wars two-year anniversary.

Four oil reservoirs with a total capacity of 6,000 cubic metres (1.6 million gallons) were set on fire after the drone reached Klintsy, a city of some 70,000 people located about 40 miles from the Ukrainian border, according to the local governor and state news agency Tass.

Fridays strike is apparently the latest in a recently intensified effort by Ukraine to unnerve Russians and undermine President Vladimir Putins claims that life in his country is going on as normal before its March 17 presidential election.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has vowed to hit more targets inside Russian border regions this year.

Latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine  19 January 2024.



Find out more about Defence Intelligence's use of language: https://t.co/0npPvd2nrM #StandWithUkraine  pic.twitter.com/0lR7vlO9RH  Ministry of Defence  (@DefenceHQ) January 19, 2024

Russias air defences are concentrated in occupied regions of Ukraine, Kyiv officials say, leaving more distant targets inside Russia more vulnerable as Ukrainian forces develop longer-range drones.

The Russian city of Belgorod, also near the Ukrainian border, cancelled its traditional Orthodox Epiphany festivities on Friday due to the threat of Ukrainian drone strikes.

They are the first major public events known to be called off in Russia because of the drone threat.

Ukrainian national media, quoting an official in Ukraines Intelligence Service, said Ukrainian drones on Friday also attacked a gunpowder mill in Tambov, about 370 miles south of Moscow.

But Tambov governor Maxim Yegorov said the plant was working normally, according to Russias RBC news outlet.

An apartment building damaged in a Russian rocket attack is seen in Kharkiv, Ukraine, in the early hours of Wednesday (Kharkiv Regional Administration via AP)

The Mash news outlet had earlier reported that a Ukrainian drone fell on the plants premises on Thursday but caused no damage.

In another strike fitting the pattern, the Russian defense ministry said a Ukrainian drone was downed on the outskirts of St Petersburg on Thursday.

Wreckage fell on the premises of the St Petersburg Oil Terminal on the citys southern edge, according to Vladimir Rogov, who is in charge of co-ordination of the Russian-annexed regions of Ukraine.

Mikhail Skigin, the terminal co-owner, confirmed the drone was targeting the terminal.

St Petersburg, Russias second-largest city, is about 560 miles north of the border with Ukraine.

In Klintsy, air defences electronically jammed the drone but it dropped its explosive payload on the facility, Bryansk regional governor Alexander Bogomaz said.

There were no casualties, he added.

Russian telegram channels shared videos of what they said was the blaze at the depot, which sent thick black plumes of smoke into the air.

The same depot was hit by a Ukrainian drone last May but the damage was apparently less significant.
Colfax Health and Rehabilitation Center is now Colfax Senior Living LLC, which is managed by Frontida Management Group, according to a press release.

Frontida, a family-owned and Wisconsin-based company, manages 10 other long-term care communities throughout Wisconsin, the release says.

My team and I are excited to continue to serve the community of Colfax and Dunn County and support executive director Amber Parzyck and her amazing staff, CEO Crystal J. Miller said in the release.

Colfax Senior Living serves 70 residents through long-term assisted living with memory care services, including for those experiencing advanced aging, dementia, Alzheimers, physical disabilities and terminal illness.

Colfax Senior Living has also started to offer outpatient therapy through Paxxon Healthcare Services, which provides physical, occupation and speech therapy services.

The community is now accepting referrals for assisted living and long-term care, including memory care, Miller said. All applications are screened to determine whether the level of care needed corresponds with what Colfax Senior Living offers, the release says.

To assist Parzyck  a registered nurse who grew up in the area and has been at the location in various roles since 2021  Frontida hired long-time local resident Kayla Kunsman to help families during their loved ones decision-making and move-in experience, the release says.

We are thrilled to have hired Kayla, who knows this community and will be an asset to them and us, Miller said.

Miller encourages those interested in Colfax Senior Living to call 715-962-3186 to schedule a tour. To schedule an outpatient therapy assessment, contact Samantha Lucas, area clinical coordinator, at 414-837-8824 or slucas@westongroupinc.com.
A man who fell through the ice on a frozen lake in the US state of Michigan was rescued after a quick-thinking state police officer used the stranded mans dog to get rescue equipment to him and pull the man to safety.

Bystanders called emergency services on Thursday after the 65-year-old man, from Traverse City, fell through ice-covered Arbutus Lake, state police said.

The body camera worn by Michigan State Police motor carrier officer Kammeron Bennetts captured the rescue, initially showing the man trapped in frigid waters with just his head and shoulders above the thin ice, and his dog standing at his side.

It shows Mr Bennetts first trying to throw a rescue disc tethered to a rope out to the man.

Grand Traverse County: Body-cam footage captures daring ice rescue by MSP Motor Carrier Officer Kammeron Bennetts with the help of the victims dog Ruby. Great team work and well done! https://t.co/uTblTv3bhV pic.twitter.com/NDKKHZnysu  MSP Seventh District (@mspnorthernmi) January 18, 2024

When it fails, Mr Bennetts asks the man to send his dog to him.

Send your pup here. Will she come to me? he calls to the man, who replies that his dogs name is Ruby.

Ruby come here! Come here Ruby! Mr Bennetts shouts in the video before whistling for the canine, which runs to him and arrives tail wagging.

The officer ties the rescue disc to the dogs collar and asks the man to call Ruby back to him.

When she returns to her owner, Mr Bennetts tells the man to take the disc from Ruby and to start kicking his legs.

Bring your feet up to the surface by kicking your feet, he shouts, pulling the man on to the lakes icy surface and urging him to hold on to the disc as he keeps pulling on the rope, dragging him on to safer ice near the lakes edge.

Mr Bennetts and a local firefighter are then able to grab his arms to complete the rescue, with Ruby still attached to the rope.

Officers work to extricate a man from the waters of frozen Arbutus Lake in Grand Traverse County, Michigan (Michigan State Police via AP)

State police said the man was taken by ambulance to hospital for treatment and later released.

The agency cheered the rescue in a posting on X, formerly Twitter, praising Ruby in particular.

What a good girl!!! Amazing ice rescue from 7th District, MCO Bennetts. Creative thinking helped save a life!! EXCELLENT JOB MCO Bennetts and RUBY!! the tweet states, adding: Great team work and well done!
The Palestinian Red Crescent accused Israel of firing on Friday at a hospital in Khan Younis, as a major advance in the main city in the southern Gaza Strip threatened the few healthcare facilities still open.

The Red Crescent said displaced people were injured "due to intense gunfire from the Israeli drones targeting citizens at Al-Amal Hospital" as well as the rescue agency's base. The military said it was checking the report.

Nearby in the same city, Israeli tanks were also approaching Gaza's biggest remaining functioning hospital, Nasser, where people reported hearing shellfire from the west.

Residents also reported fierce gun battles to the south.

Israel has launched a major new advance in Khan Younis this week to capture the city, which it says is now the primary base of the Hamas fighters who attacked Israeli towns on October 7, precipitating a war that has devastated the Gaza Strip.

The Gaza health ministry said 142 Palestinians had been killed and 278 injured in Gaza the past 24 hours, taking the death toll from more than three months of war there to 24,762.

The World Health Organization says most of the enclave's 36 hospitals have stopped working.

Palestinians mourn their relatives killed in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip, outside a morgue in Rafah, southern Gaza. Picture: AP Photo/Fatima Shbair

Only 15 are partially functioning and those are operating at up to three times their capacity, without adequate fuel or medical supplies, it says.

Israeli officials have accused Hamas fighters of operating from hospitals, including Nasser, which staff deny.

More than 1.7 million people - around 75% of Gaza's population - are estimated to be displaced, many forced to move repeatedly, according to UN Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA) figures.

Many have sought refuge in tents that do little to protect them from the elements and disease.

Among them, Mohammed al-Ghandour wanted to give his bride a beautiful wedding but they had to flee their homes in Gaza City and the couple finally got married this week in the tent city in Rafah, near the Egyptian border, where they now live.

"My happiness is maybe at 3% but will get myself ready for my wife. I want to make her happy," Ghandour said.

Netanyahu rejects statehood

While saying he was not shying away from the "human tragedy" inflicted on Gaza civilians, Israeli President Isaac Herzog cast the offensive as a step towards more peaceful relations with the Palestinians in the future, and bolstering global security, during his appearance at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

In the north, where Israel says it has started pulling out troops and shifting to smaller scale operations, 12 people were killed in Israeli strikes on a residential building near the largely non-functioning Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, Palestinian health officials said.

An Israeli strike on a house in Al-Nusseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip killed five Palestinians, health officials said.

Israel's onslaught on Gaza was triggered by Hamas attacks in which around 1,200 people were killed and 253 taken hostage, of whom about half are still in Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.

Washington has had scant success in persuading its ally to alleviate the plight of the civilian population, deprived since October of most of the regular aid on which they had depended, let alone of adequate medical care for the more than 62,000 people who have been wounded.

Palestinians look at the destruction after an Israeli strike in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip. Picture: AP Photo/Fatima Shbair

Israel says it will fight on until Hamas is eradicated, an aim Palestinians call unachievable because of the group's structure and deep roots in an enclave it has run since 2007.

Diplomats were dealing on Friday with the repercussions after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared to rule out an independent Palestinian state, rejecting a long-standing pillar of US strategy in the Middle East.

"Israel must have security control over the entire territory west of the Jordan River," Netanyahu told a briefing in Tel Aviv on Thursday.

"It clashes with the principle of sovereignty, but what can you do?"

US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller responded at a news briefing that the establishment of a Palestinian state was the only way to provide lasting security to Israel itself, along with reconstruction, governance and security for Gaza.

Russia pushes for hostage release

In one of countless protests in Israel since October 7 to push for action to secure the release of the hostages, some 200 women marched in Tel Aviv on Friday, including one pulled along in a cage. They chanted "Their time is running out, bring them back".

Israeli cabinet minister and former military chief Gadi Eizenkot has said a deal will soon be needed if the hostages are to be released alive.

"I think it is necessary to say boldly that it is impossible to bring the hostages back alive in the near future without a deal," Eizenkot told the Channel 12 programme Uvda.

Smoke rises following Israeli bombardments in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip. Picture: AP Photo/Mohammed Dahman

The Russian foreign ministry said on Friday it had received a delegation from Hamas and had urged it to release the hostages, including three Russian nationals.

Hamas said both sides emphasized the importance of reaching a ceasefire.

Apart from Gaza, Israel has also carried out raids in the occupied West Bank, which has seen the worst violence in many years.

A Palestinian-American teenager was killed by Israeli security forces there on Friday, Palestinian health officials said.

The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
A grand jury has indicted Alec Baldwin on an involuntary manslaughter charge over a fatal shooting during a rehearsal on a film set in New Mexico in 2021.

Special prosecutors brought the case before a grand jury in Santa Fe this week, months after receiving a new analysis of the gun that was used.

They declined to answer questions after spending about a day-and-a-half presenting their case to the grand jury.

Defence lawyers for Baldwin indicated they will fight the charges.

We look forward to our day in court, said Luke Nikas and Alex Spiro, defence lawyers for Baldwin, in an email.

While the proceeding is shrouded in secrecy, two of the witnesses seen at the courthouse included crew members  one who was present when the fatal shot was fired and another who had walked off the set the day before due to safety concerns.

Baldwin, the lead actor and a co-producer on the Western movie Rust, was pointing a gun at cinematographer Halyna Hutchins during a rehearsal on a movie set outside Santa Fe in October 2021 when the gun went off, killing her and wounding director Joel Souza.

Baldwin has said he pulled back the hammer, but not the trigger, and the gun fired.

Judges recently agreed to put on hold several civil lawsuits seeking compensation from Baldwin and producers of Rust after prosecutors said they would present charges to a grand jury.

Plaintiffs in those suits include members of the film crew.

Special prosecutors dismissed an involuntary manslaughter charge against Baldwin in April, saying they were informed the gun might have been modified before the shooting and malfunctioned.

Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was killed in the fatal 2021 film-set shooting. File picture: AP Photo/Andres Leighton

They later pivoted and began weighing whether to refile a charge against Baldwin after receiving a new analysis of the gun.

The analysis from experts in ballistics and forensic testing relied on replacement parts to reassemble the gun fired by Baldwin, after parts of the pistol were broken during testing by the FBI.

The report examined the gun and markings it left on a spent cartridge to conclude that the trigger had to have been pulled or depressed.

The analysis, led by Lucien Haag of Forensic Science Services in Arizona, stated that although Baldwin repeatedly denied pulling the trigger, given the tests, findings and observations reported here, the trigger had to be pulled or depressed sufficiently to release the fully cocked or retracted hammer of the evidence revolver.

The weapons supervisor on the movie set, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, has pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter and evidence tampering in the case.

Her trial is scheduled to begin in February.

Rust assistant director and safety coordinator David Halls pleaded no contest to unsafe handling of a firearm last March and received a suspended sentence of six months of probation.

He agreed to cooperate in the investigation of the shooting.

Aerial photo shows the Bonanza Creek Ranch in Santa Fe, New Mexico, on October 23, 2021, used for the film Rust. Picture: AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File

An earlier FBI report on the agencys analysis of the gun found that, as is common with firearms of that design, it could go off without pulling the trigger if force was applied to an uncocked hammer, such as by dropping the weapon.

The only way the testers could get it to fire was by striking the gun with a mallet while the hammer was down and resting on the cartridge, or by pulling the trigger while it was fully cocked. The gun eventually broke during testing.

The 2021 shooting resulted in a series of civil lawsuits, including wrongful death claims filed by members of Hutchins family, centred on accusations that the defendants were lax with safety standards.

Baldwin and other defendants have disputed those allegations.

The Rust Movie Productions company has paid a $100,000 fine to state workplace safety regulators after a scathing narrative of failures in violation of standard industry protocols, including testimony that production managers took limited or no action to address two misfires on set before the fatal shooting.

The filming of Rust resumed last year in Montana, under an agreement with the cinematographers widower, Matthew Hutchins, that made him an executive producer.
The Chippewa Falls police chief job has been offered to Ryan Douglas, the department's current lieutenant of field operations, according to a press release.

Douglas, who has been with the Chippewa Falls Police Department since 2002, was one of four finalists to replace Matt Kelm, who announced in November he would resign after almost eight years as chief and 24 years within the Chippewa Falls Police Department.

Nothing bad happened. Its just time. I feel Ive done what I can with this position, Kelm previously told the Herald. I feel like I've done what I set out to do as police chief, and it's time to turn the reins over to the next person and to take a look at a new challenge and some other things I want to try.

Kelm also told the Herald he believes the department is on steady ground.

I think we're in great shape. Also since 2019, we were able to add three more positions to the police department. Prior to that we had just been going down, eliminating positions for many years before that. But from 2019 to 2022 with the referendum we were able to add three positions, including a middle school SRO, which was huge, he said.

The police department has 26 officers, up from 23 in 2019. Kelm said he thinks the next chief will need to focus on recruitment and tackling the rising drug epidemic in rural Wisconsin.

Douglas supervises the patrol division, which includes all patrol officers and parking enforcement and is the largest division in the department.

The Chippewa Falls City Council will hear Douglas' decision at its meeting scheduled for Feb. 6.
Because of its location in a floodplain, Chippewa Falls officials say they may not be able to renovate the Bernard F. Willi pool as planned.

The city of Chippewa Falls pool committee and parks department recently learned that concern about possible future flooding prevents them from planning a remodel or rebuild at the existing location.

For the last few years, a pool committee has been investigating ways to upgrade the pool at 1 Bridgwater Ave. in Chippewa Falls across from Irvine Park and the Chippewa Area History Center. The only remaining option appears to be building at a new site.

Chippewa Falls District 5 alderperson Heather Martell said Tuesday during a Chippewa Falls City Council meeting that the situation with the pool is really not good.

We can't rebuild in the floodplain. We can't put up a slide. We can't fix the bathhouse, Martell said.

New location

Marshall Park, which sits next to the pool site in downtown Chippewa Falls, cant sustain a rebuild because of concern about flooding, Martell said.

The pool committee is now seeking options to build a new facility elsewhere in the city but wants to ensure the new pool remains in a central, downtown location.

Kids have to be able to ride their bikes there, said Chippewa Falls Mayor Greg Hoffman. If we move it too far outside of downtown, then people will have to drive.

The current pool is showing its age. The water slide is closed until it can be torn down or repaired. Other repairs, including upgrades to the bathhouses and remodels to meet ADA compliance, are sorely needed and have been discussed in listening sessions and shared by the pool committee and public officials.

Hoffman said the city invested in equipment last year that gave the city a five-year buffer to determine next steps.

We can use the pool right now. It could actually last another 10 years. Won't be a waterslide. There won't be any amenities, but the pool itself is usable. But we're looking down the road, Hoffman said.

More options

The pool has had issues for years, which prompted a pool committee to take charge and work alongside the Chippewa Falls Parks, Recreation and Forestry Department to establish options.

Director of the Chippewa Falls Parks, Recreation and Forestry department John Jimenez said Wednesday department officials hoped the pools location would be viable for updates.

Heading into this project, I think we knew that there were going to be some obstacles with it being in the floodplain. But I think we were under the impression that even with those obstacles that we would be able to kind of navigate that to build something new or remodel, Jimenez said.

When it reviewed state and city ordinances, as well as Department of Natural Resources requirements, Burbach Aquatics found too many hurdles at the present location.

Burbach Aquatics came back to us and said that they don't feel confident that this site is viable, Jiminez said. At that point, I started to look at alternative options. If we can't rebuild, we have to look at what other property, land, would be available and how that would look.

Martell said she thinks it is worth asking the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources to reassess the floodplain.

Martell said the idea of building a new facility in a new location seems extremely costly.

I don't think that the community can raise $12 million. It seems pretty unlikely in this economy. Everybody is tightening their belts, she said Wednesday. I have some concerns. We had dumped money into the pool getting more equipment to make the pool work last year and now what?

YMCA property

The city has owned and operated a public swimming pool since 1969. While the facility continues to provide a recreation spot, it also serves as a programming and teaching venue. But the pool has experienced an increase in needed repairs and system failures.

Apparently, our parks director and the YMCA director have been having meetings and decided to see about moving the pool to the YMCA property where the fairs overflow parking is, Martell said. Even though the city wouldn't own it, we would still be paying for the upkeep. We would give the equipment that we just purchased to the YMCA in order to facilitate the entire pool build.

Martell said she takes issue with the idea.

If the YMCA wants to build an aquatic center, that shouldn't be something that we're paying for, she said.

The land next to the YMCA and the entrance to the Northern Wisconsin State Fairgrounds that is up for consideration for a new pool is in an easement.

The city has no claim over that property. It's not a city easement. It's one company and another company has an easement on that so it would be up to those two organizations to come to some kind of agreement or understanding if they do move forward. But the city really can't be a part of that conversation because we don't have a dog in that race, Martell said.

Hoffman said: I have actually instructed John (Jiminez) to talk to the YMCA. We'd have to acquire land. We'd have to do all this. And that's a tremendous investment for two and a half months. That's what frustrates me. This pool was open last year for barely two months.

Martell said the city paid for five meetings with a pool engineer to provide renovation designs and options and she doesnt think the city is getting its moneys worth.

The entire last committee meeting was devoted to what it's going to look like with this $12 million pool on this site by the YMCA. There was no talk of any other sites. There was no mention of the easement, Martell said. You can't just willy nilly say, Oh, we're going to build something here. They didn't check the legal description. It was very much putting the cart before the horse.

Pool features

Pool committee member Katie Crise said the group has been exploring options for the pools future for over a year.

We have been researching what our citizens want in a pool and what would be beneficial for the community. We have looked at what would make our pool attractive to people and have researched other pools around the Midwest with the support of Burbach Aquatics, Crise said. There are many factors to consider when thinking about where a pool should be built, such as accessibility and cost to name a few.

The pool committee considered partnering with the YMCA throughout the process in various capacities, Crise said.

She said the Bloomer Aquatic Center partnered with the YMCA when that center was being considered.

Crise said a combined effort with the YMCA could help with pool staffing shortages, which are rampant across the state.

A few of our challenges happen to be challenges of the Chippewa Falls YMCA as well, such as employing enough lifeguards and other support. So, talking with the YMCA about options shouldn't be a surprise. But that is not our only option, nor have we ruled anything out. We continue to consider all options as we move forward, Crise said.

Chippewa Valley YMCA CEO Derek White said Wednesday the YMCA is simply there to help.

We knew that the pool in Chippewa Falls continued to be a topic of discussion for that parks and recreation team in the city. So really how it started was us just reaching out to John (Jiminez) and offering to help and that could be figuring out a training plan for lifeguards or a staffing plan or something broader. That's just the kind of organization that we are. We're a small community, and we want to be helpful, White said.

White said one of the benefits of the YMCA is its familiarity with the aquatic industry.

We do a lot of work every day with pools, I just offered my assistance, White said. Our current YMCA site in Chippewa Falls could have potential for a pool built down the road and so we, of course, are happy to entertain what that could look like. It's very preliminary. But we're just studying that site.

White said the YMCA is in the habit of collaborating with others to help improve local communities.

Doing things alone is really challenging, and I don't believe that best serves our community, White said.
WASHINGTON  Congress sent President Joe Biden a short-term spending bill on Thursday that would avert a looming partial government shutdown and fund federal agencies into March.

The House approved the measure by a vote of 314-108, with opposition coming mostly from the more conservative members of the Republican conference. Shortly before the vote, the House Freedom Caucus announced it strongly opposes" the measure because it would facilitate more spending than they support.

Nevertheless, about half of Republicans joined with Democrats in passing the third stopgap funding measure in recent months. The action came a few hours after the Senate had voted overwhelmingly to pass the bill by a vote of 77-18.

The measure extends current spending levels and buys time for the two chambers to work out their differences over full-year spending bills for the fiscal year that began in October.

The temporary measure will run to March 1 for some federal agencies. Their funds were set to run out Friday. It extends the remainder of government operations to March 8.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the president would sign the resolution and urged Republicans to quit wasting time on partisan spending bills.

House Republicans must finally do their job and work across the aisle to pass full-year funding bills that deliver for the American people and address urgent domestic and national security priorities by passing the Presidents supplemental request, Jean-Pierre said.

Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has been under pressure from his right flank to scrap a $1.66 trillion budget price tag he reached with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer earlier this month. Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, said the continuing resolution passed Thursday will facilitate that agreement.

It's Groundhog Day in the House chamber all the time, every day, yet again spending money we don't have, Roy said.

Johnson has insisted he will stick with the deal, and moderates in the party have stood behind him. They say that changing course now would be going back on his word and would weaken the speaker in future negotiations.

Rep. Rosa DeLauro, the ranking Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, said Americans expect Congress to govern and work in a bipartisan fashion.

Some of my colleagues would see that this government would shut down and don't care how hurtful that would be, DeLauro said.

House Republicans have fought bitterly over budget levels and policy since taking the majority at the start of 2023. Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., was ousted by his caucus in October after striking an agreement with Democrats to extend current spending the first time. Johnson has also come under criticism as he has wrestled with how to appease his members and avoid a government shutdown in an election year.

We just needed a little more time on the calendar to do it and now thats where we are, Johnson said Tuesday about the decision to extend federal funding yet again. Were not going to get everything we want.

Most House Republicans have so far refrained from saying that Johnsons job is in danger. But a revolt of even a handful of Republicans could endanger his position in the narrowly divided House.

Virginia Rep. Bob Good, one of eight Republicans who voted to oust McCarthy, has been pushing Johnson to reconsider the deal with Schumer.

If your opponent in negotiation knows that you fear the consequence of not reaching an agreement more than they fear the consequence of not reaching an agreement, you will lose every time, Good said this week.

Other Republicans acknowledge Johnson is in a tough spot. The speaker was dealt with the hand he was dealt, said Kentucky Rep. Andy Barr, noting the constraints imposed by the party's slim majority.

The short-term measure comes amid negotiations on a separate spending package that would provide wartime dollars to Ukraine and Israel and strengthen security at the U.S.-Mexico border. Johnson is also under pressure from the right not to accept a deal that is any weaker than a House-passed border measure that has no Democratic support.

Johnson, Schumer and other congressional leaders and committee heads visited the White House on Wednesday to discuss that spending legislation. Johnson used the meeting to push for stronger border security measures while Biden and Democrats detailed Ukraines security needs as it continues to fight Russia.

Biden has requested a $110 billion package for the wartime spending and border security.

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UVALDE, Texas  A Texas prosecutor has convened a grand jury to investigate the Uvalde school shooting that killed 21 people, multiple media reported Friday.

Uvalde County District Attorney Christina Mitchell told the San Antonio Express-News that a grand jury will review evidence related to the Robb Elementary School shooting in 2022 that left 19 children and two teachers dead. She did not disclose what the grand jury will focus on, the newspaper reported.

Mitchell did not immediately respond to emailed questions and calls to her office. The empaneling of the grand jury was first reported by the Uvalde Leader-News.

Families of the children and teachers killed in the attacked renewed demands for criminal charges after a scathing Justice Department report released Thursday again laid bare numerous failures by police during one of the deadliest classroom shootings in U.S. history.

Im very surprised that no one has ended up in prison, said Velma Lisa Duran, whose sister Irma Garcia was one of the two teachers killed in the May 24, 2022, shooting. Its sort of a slap in the face that all we get is a review ... we deserve justice.

The release of the nearly 600-page report  roughly 20 months after the shooting  leaves a criminal investigation by Uvalde County prosecutors as one the last unfinished reviews by authorities into the attack at Robb Elementary School.

Nineteen students and two teachers were killed inside two fourth-grade classrooms, while highly armed police officers waited in the hallways for more than hour before going inside to confront the gunman.

U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland called the police response a failure that should not have happened.

But the report is deliberately silent on the question that still burns in the minds of many victims families: Will anyone responsible for the failures be charged with a crime?

President Joe Biden said Thursday that he had not yet read the full findings. But I dont know that theres any criminal liability, he said.

Since the shooting, at least five officers have lost their jobs, including two from the Texas Department of Public Safety and the on-site commander, then-school district police chief, Pete Arredondo. But no one has been charged in the criminal investigation that was led by the Texas Rangers. The Justice Department report says the FBI has assisted the Rangers but is not doing its own investigation.

The Rangers  part of the Texas DPS, which had more than 90 officers on the scene of the shooting  submitted their initial findings at the start of 2023. Mitchell initially said she hoped to bring the case to a grand jury by the end of last year. But she pushed back that timeline in December and said Thursday that she will need time to review the voluminous Justice Department report.

I am a working DA with a small office, Mitchell said in an email Thursday. "It is going to take me awhile to go through this report. I am hopeful that it was informative for the community.

The pace of the criminal investigation has long frustrated families of the victims, Uvalde's former Republican mayor and a Democratic state senator who represents the small South Texas town and has called for the head of the Texas state police to be fired.

Twenty months later, theres no end in sight for this local district attorney to be able to do anything, state Sen. Roland Gutierrez said. "We dont know if shes going to indict anybody at all. Its really a shame where we are now.

In the report, federal officials detailed cascading failures by police, from waiting for more than an hour to confront and kill the gunman to repeatedly giving false information to grieving families about what had happened.

Produced by a Justice Department office that supports local police, the document is among the most comprehensive accountings to date of what went wrong. It says training, communication, leadership and technology problems extended the crisis, even as agonized parents begged officers to go in and terrified students called 911 from inside a classroom where the gunman had holed up.

Uvalde is a close-knit city of 15,000 about 85 miles southwest of San Antonio. Parents of children killed in the shooting grew up and went to school with some of the officers they now blame, and they feel abandoned by local and state leaders who they see as intent on moving past the massacre.

We need our community," said Brett Cross, who was raising his 10-year-old nephew, Uziyah Garcia, when the boy was killed in the shooting. "It is hard enough waking up every day and continuing to walk out on these streets, walk to a (grocery store) and see a cop who you know was standing there when our babies were murdered and bleeding out.

Cross is among those who hope the Justice Department report will unify Uvalde around a common set of facts and spur criminal charges. During a news conference in the city, Garland stopped short of saying if charges should be filed, leaving that to Mitchell.

The Department of Justice report faults state and local officials with undercutting the public's trust in law enforcement by repeatedly releasing false and misleading information about the police response. That includes Gov. Greg Abbott, who initially praised the officers courage running toward gunfire."

As what happened has become clear, Jesse Rizo has been among those left looking for more accountability. Rizo, whose niece Jacklyn Cazares was among the shooting victims, still hopes Mitchell will bring charges, but he has little faith in those in power.

You hope for the best," he said, but the past will tell you basically what your outcome is going to be.

This is a breaking news story and will be updated.

Read more:

Yes, it's getting worse: New data shows mass shootings are more frequent Yes, it's getting worse: New data shows mass shootings are more frequent Mass shootings have been on the rise steadily for the past 40 years While shooting incidents show a gradual upward trend, the number of those killed is rising at an alarming rate Injuries have likewise risen significantly; one contributing factor: assault weapons
( Tomdispatch.com)  All Americans owe them a debt for  if nothing else  releasing the idealism locked so long inside a nation that has not recently tasted the drama of a social upheaval. And for making us look on the young people of the country with a new respect. Thats how Howard Zinn opened his book The New Abolitionists about the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee of the 1960s. Zinn pointed out a truth from the Black freedom struggles of that era and earlier: that young people were often labeled aloof and apathetic, apolitical and uncommitted  until suddenly they were at the very forefront of justice struggles for themselves and for the larger society. Connected to that truth is the reality that, in the history of social-change movements in the United States and globally, young people almost invariably find themselves in the lead.

I remember first reading The New Abolitionists in the 1990s when I was a college student and activist. I had grown weary of hearing older people complain about the inactivity of my generation, decrying why we werent more involved in the social issues of the day. Of course, even then, such critiques came in the face of mass protests, often led by the young, against the first Iraq war (launched by President George H.W. Bush), the Republican Contract With America, and the right-wing family values movement. Such assertions about the apathy of youth were proffered even as young people were waging fights for marriage equality, the protection of abortion, and pushing back against the attack on immigrants, as well as holding mass marches like the Battle for Seattle at the World Trade Organization meeting as well as protests at the Republican National Convention of 2000, and so much more.

Another quote from Zinn remains similarly etched in my mind. Theirs, he wrote, was the silent generation until they spoke, the complacent generation until they marched and sang, the money-seeking generation until they gave it up for the fight for justice in the dank and dangerous hamlets of the Black Belt.

And if it was true that, in the 1990s and 2000s, young people were so much less complacent than was recognized at the time, its even truer (to the nth degree!) in the case of the Millennials and Gen Z today. Younger generations are out there leading the way toward justice in a fashion that they seldom get credit for.

Dont Look Up

Let me suggest, as a start, that we simply chuck out the sort of generalizations about Millennials and Gen Z that pepper the media today: that those younger generations spend too much money on avocado toast and Starbucks when they should be buying real estate or paying down their student loans. Accused of doing everything through social media, its an under-recognized and unappreciated reality of this century that young people have been showing up in a remarkable fashion, leading the way in on-the-ground movements to ensure that Black lives matter, dealing vividly with the onrushing horror of climate change, as well as continued conflict and war, not to speak of defending economic justice and living wages, abortion access, LGBTQ rights, and more.

Take, for instance, the greatest social upheaval of the past five years: the uprising that followed the murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, with #BlackLivesMatter protests being staged in staggering numbers of communities, many of which had never hosted such an action before. Those marches and rallies, led mainly by teenagers and young adults, may have been the broadest wave of protests in American history.

When it comes to the environmental movement, young people have been organizing campaigns for climate justice, calling for a #GreenNewDeal and #climatedefiance from Cop City to the March to End Fossil Fuels to a hunger strike in front of the White House. At the same time, they have been bird-dogging politicians on both sides of the aisle with an urgency and militancy not previously associated with climate change. Meanwhile, a surge of unionization drives, whether at Walmart, Starbucks, Amazon, or Dollar General, has largely been led by young low-wage workers of color and has increased appreciation for and recognition of workers rights and labor unions to a level not seen in decades. Add to that the eviction moratoriums, mutual-aid provisions, and student-debt strikes of the pandemic years, which gained ground no one had thought possible even months earlier.

And dont forget the movement to stop gun violence that, from the March for Our Lives in Florida to the protests leading to the expulsion and subsequent reinstatement of state legislators Justin Jones and Justin Pearson in Tennessee, galvanized millions across racial and political lines. Teenagers in striking numbers are challenging this society to value their futures more than guns. And most recently, calls for a #ceasefirenow and #freepalestine have heralded the birth of a new peace movement in the wake of Hamass attacks on Israel and the Israeli destruction of much of Gaza. Although university presidents have been getting more media attention, Palestinian, Jewish, and Muslim students have been the ones organizing and out there, insisting that indiscriminate violence perpetrated against Palestinians, especially children, will not happen in our name.

From Unexpected Places

An observation Zinn made so many years ago about young people in the 1960s may have lessons for movements today: They came out of unexpected places; they were mostly black and therefore unseen until they suddenly became the most visible people in America; they came out of Greensboro, North Carolina, and Nashville, Tennessee, and Rock Hill, South Carolina, and Atlanta, Georgia. And they were committed. To the point of jail, which is a large commitment.

Todays generation of activists are similarly committed and come from places as varied as Parkland, Florida, Uvalde, Texas, Buffalo, New York, and Durham, North Carolina. Below the surface, some deep stuff is brewing that could indeed continue to compel new generations of the young into action. As we approach the first quarter mark of the twenty-first century, were stepping firmly into a new technological era characterized by unparalleled levels of digital power. The Fourth Industrial Revolution, as elite economists and think-tankers like to call it, promises a technological revolution that, in the words of World Economic Forum founder Klaus Schwab, is likely to occur on a scale, scope, and complexity never before experienced. That revolution will, of course, include the integration of artificial intelligence and other labor-replacing technology into many kinds of in-person as well as remote work and is likely to involve the deskilling of our labor force from the point of production all the way to the market.

Residents of Detroit, once the Silicon Valley of auto manufacturing, understand this viscerally. At the turn of the twentieth century, the Ford River Rouge Plant was the largest, most productive factory in the world, a private city with 100,000 workers and its own municipal services. Today, the plant employs only a fraction of that number  about 10,000 people  and yet, thanks to a surge of robotic innovation, it produces even more cars than it did in the heady days of the 1930s. Consider such a shift just the tip of the spear of the kind of change coming to a city near you, as one veteran auto worker and union organizer once told me. All of this is impacting everything from wages to health-care plans, pensions to how workers organize. Indeed, some pushback to such revolutionary shifts in production can be seen in the labor strikes the United Auto Workers launched late in 2023.

Overall, such developments are deeply impacting young people. After all, workers are now generally making less than their parents did, even though they may produce more for the economy. Growing parts of our workforce are increasingly non-unionized, low-wage, part-time and/or contracted out, often without benefits like health care, paid sick leave, or retirement plans. And not surprisingly, such workers struggle to afford housing, childcare, and other necessities, experiencing on the whole harsher lives than the generations that preceded them.

In addition, the last 40 years have done more than just transform work and daily life for younger generations. They have conditioned so many to lose faith in government as a site for struggle and change. Instead, Americans are increasingly dependent on private, market-based solutions that extol the wealthy for their humanitarianism (even as they reap the rewards from federal policymaking and an economy rigged in their favor).

Crises upon Crises

Consider the social, political, and economic environment thats producing the multi-layered crises faced by todays younger generations. When compared to other advanced countries, the United States lags perilously behind in almost every important category. In this rich land, about 45 million people regularly experience hunger and food insecurity, nearly 80 million are uninsured or underinsured, close to 10 million live without housing or on the brink of homelessness, while the education system continues to score near the bottom compared to the other 37 countries in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. And in all of this, young people are impacted disproportionately.

Perhaps most damning, ours is a society that has become terrifyingly tolerant of unnecessary death and suffering. Deaths by poverty are an increasingly all-American reality. Low-wage jobs that have been found to shorten lives are the norm. In 2023, researchers at the University of California, Riverside, found that poverty was the fourth-leading cause of death in this country, right after heart disease, smoking, and cancer. While life expectancy continues to rise across the industrialized world, its stagnated in the U.S. since the 2010s and, during the first three years of the Covid pandemic, it dropped in a way that, according to experts, was unprecedented in modern world history. That marks us as unique not just among wealthy countries, but among poorer ones as well. And again, its impact was felt above all by the young. What we call deaths of despair are also accelerating, although the label is misleading, since so many overdoses and suicides are caused not by some amorphous social malaise but by medical neglect and lack of access to adequate care and mental-health treatment for the under- or uninsured.

Nor are low wages, crises of legitimacy, and falling life expectancy the only significant issues facing our younger generations. Just last week, the New York Times reported that 2023 was the hottest year on record (with climate chaos worsening yearly and little chance of the elimination of our reliance on fossil fuels in sight). Add to that the fact that anyone born in the last three decades can hardly remember a time when the United States was not in some fashion at war (whether declared or not) and pouring its taxpayer dollars into the Pentagon budget. In fact, according to the National Priorities Project, this country has spent a staggering $21 trillion on militarization since September 11, 2001, including increased border patrols, a rising police presence in our communities, and various aspects of the Global War on Terror that came home big-time. Add to all that, the rise of Trumpian-style authoritarianism and attacks on our democratic system more extreme than at any time since the Civil War.

What Time Is It?

Thousands of years ago, the ancient Greeks taught that there were two ways to understand time  and the times in which we live. Chronos was quantitative time, the measured chronological time of a clock. Kairos, on the other hand, was qualitative time: the special, even transformative, time of a specific moment (and possibly of a movement). Kairos is all about opportunity. In the days of antiquity, Greek archers were trained to recognize the brief kairos moment, the opening when their arrow had the best chance of reaching its target. In the Bible (and as a biblical scholar I run into this a lot), Kairos describes a moment when the eternal breaks into history.

German-American theologian Paul Tillich introduced the modern use of kairos in describing the period between the First World War and the rise of fascism. In retrospect, he recognized the existential stakes of that transitional moment and mourned the societal failure to stem the tide of fascism in Germany, Italy, and Spain. There was a similar kairos moment in apartheid South Africa when a group of mainly Black theologians wrote a Kairos Document noting that for very many in South Africa, this is the KAIROS, the moment of grace and opportunity a challenge to decisive action. It is a dangerous time because, if this opportunity is missed, and allowed to pass by, the loss will be immeasurable.

2024 may well be a kairos moment for us here in the United States. Theres so much at stake, so much to lose, but if Howard Zinn were with us today, I suspect he would look at the rise of bold and visionary organizing, led by generations of young leaders, and tell us that change, on a planet in deep distress, is coming soon.

Copyright 2024 Liz Theoharis

Via Tomdispatch.com
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment)  The Israeli newspaper Arab 48 reports on the press conference in Tel Aviv on Thursday evening of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. He vowed to continue the war on Gaza and vowed to attack Iran. Who says we wont attack Iran? We will attack it.

At one point Netanyahu insisted that in any foreseen arrangement for the future, Israel must control all the lands west of the Jordan.

(It is worth noting that such a massive annexation of Palestinian territory would expand Israel from the river to the sea, and would permanently destroy any possibility of a Palestinian state.

When supporters of Palestinian rights use this phrase, Zionists allege that it is murderous toward Israelis. They are wrong  it is a demand for political rights for Palestinians. Marc Lamont Hill was actually fired from CNN for using this phrase in a pro-Palestinian speech at the United Nations. The odious Rep. Elise Stefanik got Claudine Gray fired as president of Harvard because she would not categorize the phrase, used in pro-Palestinian student demonstrations, as Antisemitic.

But when Netanyahu says it, we should in fact understand it to be murderous toward Palestinians, since no one in history has killed as many Palestinian civilians as Netanyahu.)

Middle East Eye Video: Netanyahu: In the future, Israel has to control the entire area from the river to the sea.'

Netanyahu said, Complete victory requires the return of our hostages to their homes, the disarming of Gaza, and security oversight over what enters Gaza. He emphasized that ending the war before achieving our goals will harm the security of Israel for generations.

He said that his government had passed an enormous military budget that would help the army realize its war aims and achieve victory. He cautioned, Victory will take more long months, but we are determined to accomplish it.

He completely rejected the repeated assertions by present and former Israeli political officials in television interviews that victory is impossible. Faced with protests over his failure to bring back Israeli hostages, he insisted that it was military pressure that would free them. He said that ending the war would broadcast a message of weakness and it would then be only a matter of time until there was another bloodbath. He was referring to the sickening Hamas attack of October 7, the bulk of whose victims were innocent civilians.

Regarding reports that he had rejected the American suggestion of establishing a Palestinian state, the embattled prime minister, who is deeply unpopular, attempted to tie his fate to that of the nation, replying, What the political parties call in Israel the day after means for them the day after Netanyahu. . . . Whoever speaks of the day after Netanyahu in reality is speaking of the establishment of a Palestinian state via the Palestine Authority. That isnt the day that follows Netanyahu but is the day after for the majority of Israeli citizens.

He said of US influence in Israel that the Israeli prime minister must be able to say no even to the dearest of friends.

Barak Ravid reported this week at Axios that US President Joe Biden is deeply frustrated with Netanyahus intransigence and has not spoken with him in nearly a month. Ravid says during that last conversation, Biden was pressing Netanyahu to restore the funding he had cut from the Palestine Authority (the West Bank rival of Hamas). Netanyahu rejected all of Bidens suggestions for a workaround. Biden allegedly said, This conversation is over. And, it has been over ever since.

On Sunday, some 400,000 protesters demonstrated in Washington, DC, against the ongoing war, alleging that Biden is facilitating genocide. Democratic Party leaders such as Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer have expressed anxiety about the impact of Biden losing the Arab and Muslim American votes, which have sometimes been swing votes in Michigan and some other key states.

Netanyahu is on trial for corruption and fears going to jail if he loses his current position. Opinion polling suggests that he and his coalition partners would be crushed at the polls if the government fell and new elections were held now. Some polls show that only 15% of Israelis want Netanyahu to remain at his post once the war on Gaza ends. Many Israelis blame him for the security failures attendant on the October 7 terrorist attack. He in turn has represented himself as the only one who can stand up to pressure for the establishment of a Palestinian state.
Vancouver, BC, Jan. 18, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Skyharbour Resources Ltd. (TSX-V: SYH) (OTCQX: SYHBF) (Frankfurt: SC1P) (the Company) is pleased to announce that it has acquired several new prospective uranium exploration claims through online staking and through an agreement with Eagle Plains Resources Ltd. (Eagle Plains), contributing to Skyharbours large property portfolio. These 100% owned claims are located in Northern Saskatchewan, adding an additional 30,184 hectares to Skyharbours existing holdings in and around the Athabasca Basin, which is host to the highest-grade uranium deposits in the world and is consistently ranked as a top mining jurisdiction by the Fraser Institute. As the Company remains focused on its co-flagship Russell Lake and Moore uranium projects, these new claims will become a part of Skyharbours prospect generator business as the Company will seek strategic partners to advance them.

Skyharbours Uranium Project Map in the Athabasca Basin:

New Property Summaries:

Foster Property:

The drill-ready Foster property consists of 15 claims totaling 6,362 hectares approximately 20 km east of Camecos Key Lake operation and adjoining the southwestern end of Skyharbours Falcon Project, currently optioned out to North Shore Energy Metals Ltd. The Foster claims are situated in the Wollaston Domain just outside of the currently mapped extent of the Athabasca Basin, with several small outliers of sandstone located regionally in the area. The basement geology consists of psammopelite, calc-silicate, diorite, pelitic gneiss and graphitic pelitic gneiss of the Daly Lake Group, accompanied by minor felsic orthogneisses.

Skyharbour recently acquired these claims through online staking as well as acquiring additional claims from Eagle Plains. The claims acquired from Eagle Plains host geology favourable for uranium and REE mineralization with two significant mineralized areas including the Great Plains Showing and the Red October Zone. There are numerous untested coincident geochemical and geophysical anomalies, many of which are drill ready, with significant encouraging exploration to date for pegmatite- and fault-hosted uranium mineralization. Exploration in the Eagle Lake area at these claims between 1969 and the early 1980s resulted in the discovery of the Great Plains Showing. Exploration programs, including diamond-drilling, intersected intense alteration and shearing as well as high Radon 222 values. Notably, pitchblende mineralization was discovered in veins associated with fault structures; however, a comprehensive program was recommended but never carried out due to changing uranium market fundamentals . Another mineralized zone, the Red October Zone, was discovered in 2008 by Eagle Plains, and consists of a 400 m intermittent uranium and REE-mineralized outcrop within a 1 km coincident soil geochemical and ground magnetic anomaly. The Red October Zone was drill-tested in 2012, with all 6 holes encountering anomalous uranium, and REEs.

Elsewhere on the broader property package, prospective graphitic pelitic gneiss packages are exposed at the surface. In addition to the two aforementioned zones, the Foster project contains several other uraniferous occurrences, which often also host elevated REEs and/or thorium, and with samples collected on the property returning up to 657 ppm U, 6644 ppm TREE, and 344 ppm Th. Significant untested potential exists on the Foster project for basement-hosted, unconformity-related uranium deposits like those further to the north in the Wollaston Domain (i.e. Eagle Point, Rabbit Lake, Key Lake and others), as well as for additional pegmatite-hosted uranium, thorium, and REE mineralization.

Skyharbour plans to seek a partner company to option and advance Foster as a part of its prospect generator business. Eagle Plains will retain a 2% Net Smelter Return (NSR) royalty, subject to reduction on certain claims by underlying NSR agreements.

Other Properties Recently Staked:

Skyharbour recently acquired other uranium properties consisting of 7 claims totaling 23,822 hectares in and around the Athabasca Basin. One claim was staked on the northern edge of Skyharbours Karin Project, increasing the extent of the Karin project to a total of 25,165 hectares in the Highrock Lake area. The new claim is underlain by prospective Wollaston Supergroup metasedimentary gneisses, including pelitic to psammopelitic gneisses, which host uranium, thorium, and REE mineralization elsewhere in the Wollaston Domain. No modern geological work has been undertaken on this new claim, with the most recent work consisting of airborne INPUT EM and magnetic survey and prospecting in 1980, which detected a weak EM anomaly on this claim.

Four additional claims totaling 13,026 hectares were staked at the Pluto Bay Project area located approximately 14 km north of the Athabasca Basin, just east of the Snowbird Tectonic Zone/ These claims are underlain by Archean tonalitic to granitic gneisses, with local Paleoproterozoic amphibolites, metaquartzites, calc-silicates, marbles, and pelitic, psammopelitic, and psammitic gneisses. Minimal modern exploration has been undertaken on the property, which is prospective for basement-hosted unconformity-related uranium mineralization.

Another two claims totalling 9,896 hectares were staked in the Newham Lake area. The claims are underlain by Athabasca Sandstone ranging in thickness from less than 80 to just over 200 m. Several historical and modern EM conductors are present on these claims, which are along trend of EM conductors extensively drill tested by SMDC, JNR Resources Inc., and ALX Resources Corp. were subject to a variety of geophysical surveys, prospecting, geochemical surveying, and geological mapping between 1969 to 1983, when work was paused until the mid-2000s. Several modern EM, magnetics, radiometrics, and gravity surveys were flown over portions of the property between 2005-2011, however no modern ground exploration has taken place on the property, which is highly prospective for unconformity-related uranium mineralization.

Skyharbour Engages Marketing Firms:

Skyharbour announces that it has engaged Winning Media LLC (Winning Media) to provide marketing and digital advertising services to the Company. Winning Media is a Houston, Texas based marketing agency that specializes in digital and corporate brand marketing services to enhance corporate visibility and retail investor awareness. The engagement with Winning Media will extend for a period of six months. Winning Media will be paid a fee of USD $40,000 payable in advance of the initiation of services to commence in mid-January. Neither Winning Media nor any of its principals currently own any interest, directly or indirectly, in the Company.

Additionally, the Company has entered into an agreement with Plutus Invest and Consulting ("Plutus"), a German based communications and media services provider, pursuant to which Plutus will provide the Company with marketing services. The consulting agreement has a term of nine months commencing in mid-January. The marketing services provided by Plutus will be in consulting with the Company's management in building investor awareness of the Company through Plutus's network in Europe. The Company has agreed to pay Plutus a total initial cost of EUR 75,000 upon the commencement of services. Plutus is an arm's length from the Company and Plutus does not have any interest, direct or indirect, in the Company or its securities. The Company's engagement of Winning and Plutus are subject to the acceptance of the TSX Venture.

Option Agreement with Yellow Rocks Energy:

Skyharbour announces the termination of the proposed option agreement with Yellow Rocks Energy Ltd, which was to provide Yellow Rocks an earn-in option to acquire up to an 80% interest in the Wallee and Usam Island Uranium Properties (see news release dated September 28th, 2022).

Qualified Person:

The technical information in this news release has been prepared in accordance with the Canadian regulatory requirements set out in National Instrument 43-101 and reviewed and approved by David Billard, P.Geo., a Consulting Geologist for Skyharbour as well as a Qualified Person.

*SMDI refers to the Saskatchewan Mineral Deposits Index and AF refers to Saskatchewan Mineral Assessment File.

About Skyharbour Resources Ltd.:

Skyharbour holds an extensive portfolio of uranium exploration projects in Canada's Athabasca Basin and is well positioned to benefit from improving uranium market fundamentals with one of the largest mineral tenure holdings in the region. Skyharbour has acquired from Denison Mines, a large strategic shareholder of the Company, a 100% interest in the Moore Uranium Project which is located 15 kilometres east of Denison's Wheeler River project and 39 kilometres south of Cameco's McArthur River uranium mine. Moore is an advanced-stage uranium exploration property with high-grade uranium mineralization at the Maverick Zone that returned drill results of up to 6.0% U 3 O 8 over 5.9 metres including 20.8% U 3 O 8 over 1.5 metres at a vertical depth of 265 metres. Adjacent to the Moore Uranium Project is Skyharbours recently optioned Russell Lake Uranium Project from Rio Tinto, which hosts historical high-grade uranium drill intercepts over a large property area with robust exploration upside potential. The Company is actively advancing these projects through exploration and drill programs.

Skyharbour has joint-ventures with industry-leader Orano Canada Inc. and Azincourt Energy at the Preston and East Preston Projects, respectively, whereby Orano and Azincourt earned majority interests in the projects through exploration expenditures, cash payments and share issuances. Skyharbour also has several active earn-in option partners including: ASX-listed Valor Resources at the Hook Lake Uranium Project; CSE-listed Basin Uranium Corp. at the Mann Lake Uranium Project; CSE-listed Medaro Mining Corp. at the Yurchison Project; Yellow Rocks Energy, a private Australian entity, at the Wallee and Usam Island projects; North Shore Energy Metals at the South Falcon Project; and TSX-V listed Tisdale Clean Energy at the South Falcon East Project which is host to the Fraser Lakes Zone B Uranium and Thorium Deposit.

Collectively, Skyharbour has now signed earn-in option agreements with partners that total to potentially over $33 million in partner-funded exploration expenditures, over $26 million worth of shares being issued and over $19 million in cash payments coming into Skyharbour, assuming that these partner companies complete their entire earn-ins at the respective projects.

Skyharbour's goal is to maximize shareholder value through new mineral discoveries, committed long-term partnerships, and the advancement of exploration projects in geopolitically favourable jurisdictions.

Skyharbours Uranium Project Map in the Athabasca Basin:

To find out more about Skyharbour Resources Ltd. (TSX-V: SYH) visit the Companys website at www.skyharbourltd.com.

SKYHARBOUR RESOURCES LTD.

Jordan Trimble



Jordan Trimble

President and CEO

For further information contact myself or:

Nicholas Coltura

Investor Relations Manager

Skyharbour Resources Ltd.

Telephone: 604-558-5847

Toll Free: 800-567-8181

Facsimile: 604-687-3119

Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

NEITHER THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THE CONTENT OF THIS NEWS RELEASE.

The securities offered have not been, and will not be, registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act") or any U.S. state securities laws, and may not be offered or sold in the United States or to, or for the account or benefit of, United States persons absent registration or an applicable exemption from the registration requirements of the U.S. Securities Act and applicable U.S. state securities laws. This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy securities in the United States, nor in any other jurisdiction.

This release includes certain statements that may be deemed to be "forward-looking statements". All statements in this release, other than statements of historical facts, that address events or developments that management of the Company expects, are forward-looking statements, including the Private Placement. Although management believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance, and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements if management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements, include market prices, exploration and development successes, regulatory approvals, continued availability of capital and financing, and general economic, market or business conditions. Please see the public filings of the Company at www.sedar.com for further information.
TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / January 19, 2024 / Jaguar Mining Inc. ("Jaguar" or the "Company") (TSX:JAG) (OTCQX:JAGGF) is pleased to announce the appointment of its Chief Executive Officer Vernon Baker to the Company's Board of Directors (the "Board"), effective immediately.

Vernon was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Jaguar on August 6, 2019, following an extensive search conducted by the Company.With today's appointment of Vernon as a Director, the Board now consists of eight members, six of whom are independent. Jeff Kennedy, Chairman, commented that after over four years as Chief Executive Officer, Vernon's additional contributions as a member of the Board will be valuable.

Vernon's appointment as a Director of the Company shall be until the next annual general meeting of the Company's shareholders, when his continuation as a director shall be subject to nomination and election by the Company's shareholders.

Biography of Vernon Baker

Vernon has 40 years of mining industry experience. He has extensive management and operations expertise at globally focused mid-tier and senior mining companies. Prior to joining Jaguar, Vernon was General Manager at Goldcorp's Cerro Negro Mine in Argentina, overseeing 3,000 tonnes per day of high-grade production and implementing programs to reduce costs, grow production and development, and leading strong safety improvement to achieve an AIFR of 0.28 in 2017. Previously, Vernon held management and senior leadership roles with various mining companies including President at Duluth Metals Limited, Vice President of Operations at FNX Mining, General Manager at Barrick Goldstrike Mines Inc., and General Manager of Hemlo Operations, a Joint Venture of Teck Cominco and Barrick Gold.

About Jaguar Mining Inc.

Jaguar Mining Inc. is a Canadian-listed junior gold mining, development, and exploration company operating in Brazil with three gold mining complexes and a large land package with significant upside exploration potential from mineral claims. The Company's principal operating assets are located in the Iron Quadrangle, a prolific greenstone belt in the state of Minas Gerais and include the Turmalina Gold Mine Complex and Caete Mining Complex (Pilar and Roca Grande Mines, and Caete Plant). The Company also owns the Paciencia Gold Mine Complex, which has been on care and maintenance since 2012. The Roca Grande Mine has been on temporary care and maintenance since April 2019. Additional information is available on the Company's website at www.jaguarmining.com.

For further information please contact:

Vernon Baker

Chief Executive Officer

Jaguar Mining Inc.

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

416-847-1854

THE TSX HAS NOT REVIEWED AND DOES NOT ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ACCURACY OF THIS NEWS RELEASE.
Calgary, Alberta--(Newsfile Corp. - January 18, 2024) - Canadian Critical Minerals Inc. (TSXV: CCMI) (OTCQB: RIINF) ("CCMI" or the "Company") hereby announces the appointment of Chris Stewart as an independent Director of the Company.

Mr. Stewart holds a B.Sc. in Mining Engineering from Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario. He has over 30 years of experience in the mining industry in engineering, operations, permitting, performance improvement, safety and ESG stewardship. Mr. Stewart has held various senior management roles as President, CEO, COO and Vice President Operations at Canadian mining companies including Lakeshore Gold, Kirkland Lake Gold, McEwen Mining, Treasury Metals and Minto Metals. He has significant underground mining experience with gold and copper and has raised monies in the capital markets. He has successfully implemented turnaround strategies at several Canadian mines. Mr. Stewart is registered as a professional engineer with the Association of Professional Engineers of Ontario ("PEO").

Chris Stewart commented, "I am excited to join Canadian Critical Minerals at this time as an independent Director. The Company has assembled an impressive suite of mineral properties and I look forward to working with management and the Board in unlocking the value of these assets."

Ian Berzins, President, CEO and Interim Chairman commented, "We are delighted to welcome Chris Stewart to our Board given his significant practical experience in the mining industry in mine engineering, mine operations, project development, permitting and startup and turnaround implementation. Our top priority remains the restart of the Bull River copper, gold and silver mine. We are extremely fortunate to add a seasoned mining executive of Chris' calibre to further strengthen the depth of our Board."

About Canadian Critical Minerals Inc.

CCMI is a mining company primarily focused on two near-term copper production assets in Canada. CCMI's main asset is the 100% owned Bull River Mine project (>135 million lbs of copper) near Cranbrook, British Columbia which has a Mineral Resource containing copper, gold and silver. CCMI also owns a 34% interest in the Thierry Mine project (>1.3 billion lbs of copper) near Pickle Lake, Ontario which has a Mineral Resource containing copper, nickel, silver, palladium, platinum and gold.

Contact Information

Canadian Critical Minerals Inc.

Ian Berzins

President & Chief Executive Officer

M: +1-403-512-8202

E: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Website: www.canadiancriticalmineralsinc.com

Caution Regarding Forward-Looking Information



This news release includes certain information that may constitute "forward-looking information" under applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking information includes, but is not limited to, statements about strategic plans, future work programs and objectives and expected results from such work programs. Forward-looking information necessarily involve known and unknown risks, including, without limitation, risks associated with general economic conditions; inability to access sufficient capital from internal and external sources, and/or inability to access sufficient capital on favourable terms; and other risks.

Forward-looking information is necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable, are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors which may cause the actual results and future events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information and the risks identified in the Company's continuous disclosure record. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. All forward-looking information contained in this news release is given as of the date hereof and is based upon the opinions and estimates of management and information available to management as at the date hereof. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Service Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this new release.
TORONTO, Jan. 19, 2024 /CNW/ - Power Nickel Inc. (the "Company" or "Power Nickel") (TSXV: PNPN) (OTCBB: PNPNF) (Frankfurt: IVV) is pleased to announce it has started the 2024 winter Drill Program at the Nisk Nickel Sulfide project in Nemaska Quebec.

"We are excited to start our ambitious 2024 Drill Program. The Program will have multiple objectives. First, to test the four new target zones that were identified from the interpretation of our Ambient Noise Tomography (ANT) program. These targets are hosted in areas showing a similar "ANT signature" to Nisk Main. Given the right geology, each target represents a potential volume varying from 50% to 100% of the volume we have identified at Nisk Main (See Figure 1).

Second, we will be testing the extension of our PGM hole that hit on over 1 ounce of PGM over 7.75 metres as outlined in Figure 2.

Finally, we will look to continue to extend the known resource at Nisk Main (Figure 3).", - said Power Nickel CEO Terry Lynch.

Power Nickel's plan is to finish drilling hole PN-23-042B on Nisk Main and then to start testing the ANT Target number 3. In February, a second rig will be added to follow up on the successful PGM hit at the Wildcat Target, which is a full 5.5 Kilometres from Nisk Main.

On January 18, 2024, Power Nickel held a Podcast to discuss our 2024 plans; a replay of this event is located below.

https://events.6ix.com/preview/exploration-highlights-drilling-and-2024-outlook

Qualified Person

Kenneth Williamson, Geo, M.Sc., VP Exploration at Power Nickel, is the qualified person who has reviewed and approved the technical disclosure contained in this news release.

About Power Nickel Inc.

Power Nickel is a Canadian junior exploration company focusing on developing the High-Grade Nickel Nisk project into Canada's first Carbon Neutral nickel mine.

On February 1, 2021, Power Nickel (then called Chilean Metals) completed the acquisition of its option to acquire up to 80% of the Nisk project from Critical Elements Lithium Corp. (CRE: TSXV). Subsequently, Power Nickel has exercised its option to acquire 50% of the Nisk Project and delivered notice to Critical Elements that it intends to exercise its second option to bring its ownership to 80%. The last remaining commitment to activate this exercise is delivering a NI 43-101 Technical Report, which is anticipated to completed in January.

The NISK property comprises a significant land position (20 kilometers of strike length) with numerous high-grade intercepts. Power Nickel is focused on expanding the historical high-grade nickel-copper PGM mineralization with a series of drill programs designed to test the initial Nisk discovery zone and to explore the land package for adjacent potential Nickel deposits.

In addition to the Nisk project, Power Nickel owns significant land packages in British Colombia and Chile. Power Nickel is expected to reorganize these assets in a related public vehicle through a plan of arrangement.

Power Nickel announced on June 8, 2021, that an agreement had been made to complete the 100% acquisition of its Golden Ivan project in the heart of the Golden Triangle. The Golden Triangle has reported mineral resources (past production and current resources) in 130 million ounces of gold, 800 million ounces of silver, and 40 billion pounds of copper (Resource World). This property hosts two known mineral showings (Gold Ore and Magee) and a portion of the past-producing Silverado mine, reportedly exploited between 1921 and 1939. These mineral showings are Polymetallic veins containing quantities of silver, lead, zinc, plus/minus gold, plus/minus copper.

Power Nickel is also 100% owner of five properties comprising over 50,000 acres strategically located in the prolific iron-oxide-copper-gold belt of northern Chile. It also owns a 3-per-cent NSR royalty interest on any future production from the Copaquire copper-molybdenum deposit sold to a subsidiary of Teck Resources Inc. Under the terms of the sale agreement, Teck has the right to acquire one-third of the 3-per-cent NSR for $3 million at any time. The Copaquire property borders Teck's producing Quebrada Blanca copper mine in Chile's first region.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor it's Regulation Services Provider accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This message contains certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking statements" concerning the Company within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects," "plans," "anticipates," "believes," "intends," "estimates," "projects," "potential," "indicates," "opportunity," "possible" and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will," "would," "may," "could" or "should" occur. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance, are subject to risks and uncertainties, and actual results or realities may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Such material risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, among others, the timing and ability to complete the 2024 drill program plans identified and the risk that such programs do not complete; raise sufficient capital to fund its obligations under its property agreements going forward; to maintain its mineral tenures and concessions in good standing; to explore and develop its projects; changes in economic conditions or financial markets; the inherent hazards associates with mineral exploration and mining operations; future prices of nickel and other metals; changes in general economic conditions; accuracy of mineral resource and reserve estimates; the potential for new discoveries; the ability of the Company to obtain the necessary permits and consents required to explore, drill and develop the projects and if accepted, to obtain such licenses and approvals in a timely fashion relative to the Company's plans and business objectives for the applicable project; the general ability of the Company to monetize its mineral resources; and changes in environmental and other laws or regulations that could have an impact on the Company's operations, compliance with environmental laws and regulations, dependence on key management personnel and general competition in the mining industry.
Redeemer Lutheran Preschool is celebrating National Lutheran Schools Week for the 21st year in David City.

The theme this year is Connected which stems from the Bible verse, John 15:1-5.

Here at Redeemer Preschool we strive to provide a curriculum along with activities that children and their families can make that connection with Christ, a press release said.

Redeemer Preschool will kick off celebrating the week by hosting a preschool open house from noon to 1 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 21. The preschool is located in the church basement at 695 N. 9th St. in David City.

This traditional style preschool serves families of children ages 3-5 in David City as well as surrounding counties. Everyone is welcome to attend the open house for cupcakes and more information on how Redeemer Preschool can help keep their family connected with Christ.

Find the preschool on Facebook at Redeemer Preschool (David City) or call the director Jennifer Wood at 402-367-3089.
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / January 19, 2024 / Pampa Metals Corp. ("Pampa Metals" or the "Company") (CSE:PM) (FSE:FIRA) (OTCQX:PMMCF) is pleased to advise that follow-up diamond drill testing at the Piuquenes Copper-Gold Porphyry project has commenced. The primary objectives of the program are to test the depth and lateral extension of the high-grade intervals of open mineralization at Piuquenes Central, and its potential to host an orebody of 1,000 m depth and 300 - 500 m diameter.

Follow-Up Diamond Drill Program

The follow-up program consists of up to 4 diamond drill holes, including two priority drillholes of ~850 - 900 m depth, is summarized as follows:

Hole 1 (REC-01) (refer figure 1) is orientated along a northeast-southwest geological section, proximate to the historical P8A (Inmet) and PIU16-DDH01 (Anglo) drillholes and designed to extend the depth of known mineralization at the southwestern edge of Piuquenes Central porphyry.

Hole 2 (REC-02) (refer figure 2) is orientated along an east-west section, proximate to the historical P4 and P2 drillholes (Inmet) and designed to test the lateral extension of the mineralized body, primarily along the western edge of the Piuquenes Central porphyry.

A 3rd and possibly a 4th hole will focus on extending known depth to the northeast and southeast edges of the Piuquenes Central mineral body and seek to validate a potential mineral column of 1,000 m depth and 300 - 500 m diameter.

Joseph van den Elsen, the Company's President and CEO, stated: "We are pleased to have swiftly commenced the first of an aggressive, multi-campaign exploration program testing the Piuquenes Project's exceptional potential. We now look forward to driving significant shareholder value over the short, medium, and long-term as we first test the depth and lateral extension of the reported high-grade intervals of open mineralization at Piuquenes Central (558.2 m @ 0.38% Cu, 0.42 g/t Au & 2.4 g/t Ag (0.73% CuEq)* incl. 130 m @ 0.81% Cu, 0.6 g/t Au & 4 g/t Ag (1.31 % CuEq)* - refer 5 December 2023 News Release), and thereafter Piuquenes East and other targets from our growing pipeline."

Figures 1 & 2: Piuquenes Central Schematic Cross Sections





Piuquenes Porphyry Copper-Gold Project

The Piuquenes Project consists of nine mining titles that cover an area of ~1,880 ha in the San Juan Province of Argentina, adjacent (to the north) with the Altar copper-gold porphyry project (Aldebaran Resources Inc.) and approximately 190 km west of the city of San Juan. Other large porphyry copper projects in the San Juan Miocene porphyry belt include, El Pachon (Glencore), approximately 30 km to the south, the operating Los Pelambres copper mine (60% Antofagasta plc) in Chile, and Los Azules (McEwen Mining) 50 km to the northeast.

The first evidence of copper oxides at Piuquenes was reported in 1970 by MInera Aguilar, who subsequently completed the first exploration program between 1973-1975. Between 1995 and 1997, Inmet Mining Corporation (IMC) completed a heli-magnetic/radiometric survey, surface geology, rock and soil geochemistry, ground magnetics, PD-IP and eight diamond drillholes for a total of 1,894.2m. Subsequently, in 2015-2016, Anglo American Argentina (AAA) completed detailed 1:2,500 geology and geochemistry, 17.8 km of gDAS24 deep 3D PD-IP/NSMT and a single 920.2 m diamond drill hole.

Since its discovery, the Piuquenes Copper-Gold porphyry has until now remained privately held.

Inmet Mining Corporation's (IMC, subsequently acquired by First Quantum in 2013) 8 diamond drill holes for a total of 1,894.2m intersected significant copper and gold mineralization including:

413.5 m (167-580.5 m) @ 0.47% Cu and 0.52 g/t Au (0.87% CuEq)*;

67.5 m (207-274.5 m) @ 0.63% Cu and 0.51 g/t Au (1.02% CuEq)*; and

158 m (3-161 m) @ 0.32% Cu and 0.6 g/t Au (0.78% CuEq)*.

In November 2023, Pampa Metals assayed and re-logged Anglo-American's 2016 diamond borehole of 920.2 m length which had crossed the mineral zones previously drilled by Inmet Mining Corporation (IMC). These results were reported in a 5 December 2023 News Release and included:

- 558.2 m (362-920.2 m EOH) @ 0.38% Cu & 0.42 g/ Au & 2.4 g/t Ag (0.73% CuEq)*

Including:

- 130 m (362-492 m) @ 0.81% Cu & 0.6 g/t Au & 4 g/t Ag (1.31 % CuEq)*.

Piuquenes East Stockwork Zone

Since optioning the Piuquenes Porphyry Copper-Gold Project (refer 30 November 2023 News Release) Pampa Metals has completed a comprehensive review of the project's technical data.

This review, complemented by Pampa Metals' recent drillcore re-logging, field validation and preparatory works for follow-up drilling, has led to the identification of three additional areas of undrilled porphyry intrusives at the Piuquenes Project (refer Figure 3).

One of these zones, referred to as the Piuquenes East prospect, is located immediately proximate to the mineralized Altar North Porphyry held by Aldebaran Resources.

The Piuquenes East prospect is characterized by outcrops of sinuous and banded dark gray quartz veinlets covering an area of 100 x 200m hosted within an altered intermineral porphyry. Alteration is typical of that commonly observed in the epithermal-porphyry transition zone of fully preserved, high level porphyry systems. The mapped stockwork zone is associated with a 400 x 300 m copper-gold soil-rock geochemical anomaly, and co-incident intermediate chargeability and intermediate-high resistivity anomalies in Electrical (IP) Geophysics.

Figure 3: Piuquenes - Altar Porphyry Cluster

Figure 4: Major Copper Projects in San Juan, Argentina

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD

Joseph van den Elsen | President & CEO

INVESTORS CONTACT

Joseph van den Elsen | President & CEO

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

ABOUT PAMPA METALS

Pampa Metals is a post-discovery copper-gold-molybdenum porphyry exploration company listed on the Canadian Stock Exchange (CSE:PM), Frankfurt (FSE:FIRA), and OTC (OTCQB:PMMCD) exchanges.

In November 2023, the Company announced it had entered into an Option and Joint Venture Agreement for the acquisition of an 80% interest in the Piuquenes Copper-Gold Porphyry Project in San Juan Province, Argentina.

Historical intervals of significant copper and gold mineralization at Piuquenes Central (refer 5 December 2023 News Release) include:

 413.5 m (167-580.5 m) @ 0.47% Cu and 0.52 g/t Au (0.87% CuEq)*; and

 558.2 m (362-920.2 m EOH) @ 0.38% Cu, 0.42 g/t Au and 2.4 g/t Ag (0.73% CuEq)*

including 130 m (362-492 m) @ 0.81% Cu, 0.6 g/t Au and 4 g/t Ag (1.31 % CuEq)*

Qualified Person

Technical information in this news release has been approved by Mario Orrego G. Mr. Orrego G. is a Geologist, a Registered Member of the Chilean Mining Commission and a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101. Mr. Orrego G. is a consultant to the Company.

* %CuEq values are calculated based on copper and gold metal prices: Cu = US$3.20/lb, Au = US$1,700/oz and Ag = US$ 20/oz. The formula utilized to calculate %CuEq is: Cu Eq Grade (%) = Cu Head Grade (%) + [(Au Head Grade (g/t) / 31.104) * (Au Price (US$/oz) / Cu Price (US$/lb) / 22.04) + [(Ag Head Grade (g/t) / 31.104) * (Ag Price (US$/oz) / Cu Price (US$/lb) / 22.0.

Neither the CSE nor the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENT

This news release contains certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking statements". All statements in this release, other than statements of historical fact, that address events or developments that Pampa Metals expects to occur, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects" and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will" or "may" occur. These statements are subject to various risks. Although Pampa Metals believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guaranteeing of future performance and actual results may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements.
Two human rights organisations said Thursday they had filed a legal case in Germany calling for an investigation into crimes committed by pro-Turkish militias against the Kurdish population in northern Syria.

Since 2018, armed militias with the support of Turkey have been "committing crimes under international law" in Afrin in northern Syria, the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR) and Syrians for Truth and Justice (STJ) said in a statement.

The organisations have filed a criminal complaint with the German federal prosecutor's office, they said.

Syria has been plagued by civil war since 2011 when the government repressed peaceful protests, triggering a conflict that has killed more than 500,000 people and displaced millions.

Turkey has strongly supported the dissidents in the war and since 2016 has carried out successive ground operations to expel Kurdish forces from parts of northern Syria.

Turkey and its Syrian rebel proxies seized Afrin in a 2018 offensive that drove Kurdish-led fighters -- and much of the resident Kurdish civilian population -- from the area.

"Afrin's population, and especially its Kurdish citizens, have faced widespread and systematic violations since 2018," said Bassam Alahmad, executive director of STJ.

"These abuses range from forced disappearances, arbitrary arrests and torture, to sexual violence," he said.

Germany has in the past repeatedly prosecuted atrocities committed abroad, including in Syria.

It does so using the legal principle of universal jurisdiction -- which allows countries to try people for crimes of exceptional gravity, including war crimes and genocide, even if they were committed in a different country.

One of the most high profile cases to be brought to trial was that of a former Syrian colonel who was found guilty in January 2022 of crimes against humanity committed in Damascus.

Other such cases have also sprung up against Syrian government forces in Germany, France and Sweden.

"However, the suffering experienced by the predominantly Kurdish civilian population in north-western Syria has not yet been addressed," the organisations said.
A Bosnian military commander and former defence minister was charged on Thursday over alleged war crimes linked to the murder of Croat prisoners of war, a Sarajevo-based tribunal said.

The official was the latest in a long line of former military commanders and combatants tried for crimes committed during Bosnia's civil war in the 1990s that saw roughly 100,000 people killed.

Selmo Cikotic was charged on allegations of "not having done all within his responsibilities to prevent the crimes" the court said in a statement.

The indictment is linked to Cikotic's alleged role in the killing of between 23 and 26 ethnic Croat prisoners of war in July 1993 near the central Bosnian town of Bugojno.

During that time, Cikotic commanded several Bosnian army brigades made up mainly of Bosnian Muslims.

According to court documents, the Croat prisoners of war were first tortured before being executed by military police forces.

Cikotic was also charged with using the prisoners as forced labour.

After serving as a brigade commander, Cikotic held a litany of official positions over the years.

Those posts included serving as military attache at Bosnia's embassy in Washington and later the country's defence minister from 2007 to 2012. He was also security minister from 2020 to January 2023.

In December, he was sentenced to three years in prison for abuse of power over his role in a scheme involving the sale of weapons.
Israel has broken international law with its "relentless" bombardment of Gaza that has levelled neighbourhoods and killed thousands of Palestinians, a UN rights expert said Thursday.

The comments by Francesca Albanese, an Italian lawyer who is the UN special rapporteur on the Palestinian territories, came as Israel confronts a case brought by South Africa to the UN's International Court of Justice accusing it of genocide.

"Israel has done a number of things that are highly illegal, highly unlawful," Albanese told a Madrid news conference.

While Israel has the right to self-defence, international humanitarian law must be respected "to protect people who are not actively involved in combat. Civilians, prisoners of war and the sick and wounded," she added.

This meant distinguishing between combatants and civilians and ensuring military attacks are proportionate to avoid excessive harm to civilians, Albanese said.

"Instead what has happened is over 100 days of relentless bombing -- the first two weeks using 6,000 bombs per week, bombs of 2,000 pounds, in highly crowded area." she said.

"Most hospitals have been made dysfunctional. A good number of them, the major ones, have been closed, bombed or taken over by the army. People are dying now not only because of the bombs but because there is not sufficient health infrastructure to cure them of wounds.

"The number of kids who get amputated every day is shocking, one or two limbs. During the first two months of this (war) 1,000 kids were amputated without anaesthesia. It is a monstrosity," she added.

Fighting has ravaged the Palestinian territory since Hamas fighters launched an attack in southern Israel that resulted in the death of about 1,140 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.

Israel has responded with a relentless bombardment and a ground offensive, killing at least 24,620 Palestinians, around 70 percent of them women, children and adolescents, according to Gaza health ministry figures.

Special Rapporteurs are not UN staff but are independent experts named by the UN human rights commission who monitor rights areas.

Albanese said she "firmly condemned" the violence carried out by Hamas, which she said amounted to war crimes and may also be crimes against humanity, but "nothing justifies what Israel has done".

South Africa took its case to the International Court of Justice last week. But it has been fiercely resisted by Israel with support from the United States and other allies.

Israel has insisted its military response was in self-defence after the brutality of the Hamas attacks and that the genocide case is "distorted".

It's representatives have highlighted how the militants also seized about 250 captives on October 7. Israel says 132 remain in Gaza, including at least 25 believed to have been killed.
3 January 2024, 12 pm, Shevchenkivskyi District Court of Kyiv. A dozen journalists and a few informal attendees have already gathered in the corridor. They will be the first to hear the verdict for the man investigators have described as the chief torturer of the illegal prison "Izolyatsiya" in Donetsk, Eastern Ukraine.

Accompanied by security guards, Denys Kulikovskyi entered the courtroom. He had a dedicated seat  the defendant's dock inside a glass box (the bars were replaced with these transparent walls to make not yet convicted people feel more comfortable). In the so-called "aquarium," the accused stood with his head down and did not look at the journalists trying to take pictures of him. Most of Kulikovskyis preliminary hearings over the past three years have been held without any audience. But journalists and the public were allowed to hear his sentencing. The presiding judge Yevhen Martynov read out the judgment for six minutes, providing only limited information about the accused  findings that were essential to the verdict.

Hellish testimonies from "Izolyatsiya" prison

Denys "Palych" Kulikovskyi is a native of Maryinka district, Donetsk oblast, in Eastern Ukraine. From 2014 to 2018, he was allegedly in charge of the "Izolyatsiya" prison, established by supporters of the self-proclaimed "Donetsk Peoples Republic" (DPR), after the beginning of the war in Ukraine in 2014, with support from Russia.

The war crimes that "Palych" is accused of were first revealed by prisoners of "Izolyatsiya" who were released in December 2019. They claimed that Kulikovskyi not only directed the guards but also personally beat Ukrainian prisoners, tortured them with electric shocks, raped them in unnatural ways and practiced other methods of assault against them. Eyewitnesses added: "Kulikovskyi often drank, so he would also inflict torture while intoxicated."

"There were tortures. There were electric shocks. There were regular beatings. They were pouring boiling water on my head. Do you know what a "karcher" is? asked former prisoner Stanislav Pechonkin in an interview with Free Radio. It's a pump, a device for washing cars, it sends a jet of water under high pressure. They used it to spray me outside. In the cold. It was a very unpleasant sensation, I must say. Well, this is some of what was happening there."

"I was tortured with electric shocks. Then, for some reason, they inserted a catheter in the area of my carotid artery, connected a wire to my genitals, turned it on and then off, I don't know why  maybe they didn't give me enough voltage. I lost consciousness, and I remember being dragged down the stairs. Four times I "went for tapik, to drink coffee," Ukraines Public Broadcasting company Suspilne quoted Valeriy Sokolov, another former prisoner of "Izolyatsiya" who spent almost two years in captivity. ("tapik" is a military field telephone, its wires were used to wind around people's fingers, toes or genitals for torture. Kulikovskyi would first offer a cup of coffee before the torture starts.)

A full conviction and civil damages

In 2018, the DPR occupiers dismissed Kulikovskyi from the prison's command, and later Kulikovskyi himself was allegedly subjected to torture there. In 2021, he was arrested in Kyiv by the SBU, Ukraines security services. According to Kulikovskyi, he had been living there since 2019. He was then placed in a pre-trial detention center, and during one of the hearings, when journalists were allowed inside, he said: "I did everything, I am guilty, I repent."

On December 22, 2023, the court gave Kulikovskyi the opportunity to say a final word before the sentencing, but he refused to say anything.He was found guilty of "terrorist act", "committing a crime by a group of persons, a group of persons by prior conspiracy, an organized group or a criminal organization and "violation of the laws and customs of war". He was acquitted, however, of "human trafficking".

"Basically, the court found him guilty of committing all the actions that the pre-trial investigation authorities and the prosecutor had charged him with. However, the court concluded that one of the incriminated crimes was actually covered by another criminal offence, so he was not convicted under this article," explained Maryna Antoniuk, the speaker judge of the Shevchenkivskyi District Court.

"There are 22 victims in these proceedings. These are people who have been tortured and abused during their illegal detention and imprisonment in this torture chamber. Two victims filed civil lawsuits, and they were partially successful," the speaker judge added. Kulikovskyi will have to compensate the two survivors with 95,000 Hryvnia (about 2,300 euros) and 400,000 Hryvnia (about 9,700 euros) in moral damages.

"Palych" was sentenced to 15 years in prison with confiscation of property. Exactly the sentence requested by the prosecution. The former warden of "Izolyatsiya" showed no emotions.

- "Kulikovskyi, do you understand the content of the verdict? asked the judge.

- Yes.

- Is the procedure for filing an appeal clear?

- Yes."

The dissatisfaction of Nobel Prize Oleksandra Matviychuk

"Since the crimes were committed during the so-called Savchenko law, the provisions of the law apply to this person and the time in custody is counted as one day of detention for two days of the preliminary imprisonment," Antoniuk said. As a result, "Palych" has about eleven years left to serve.

The announcement of Kulikovskyis sentence was attended by human rights defender and Nobel Prize winner Oleksandra Matviychuk, who documented the testimonies of people who had survived the torture in prison. In her opinion, "Palych" should have been given a more severe sentence. "I truly don't understand why the public prosecution requested only 15 years. The judge has granted this request in full, but part 2 of Article 138 of the Criminal Code still provides for the possibility of requesting life imprisonment. I will confer with the victims' lawyers and others on procedural nuances. I have been gathering testimonies from people who survived "Izolyatsiya". For me, these stories indicate that based on the totality of his crimes, he should be in prison for the rest of his life. We need to find a procedural solution, she commented.

"This trial should have been highly publicized. This is not an ordinary trial," - Oleksandra Matviychuk, director of the NGO Centre for Civil Liberties, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2022.  Free Radio

Oleg Gorbachev, lawyer of one of the prisoners of "Izolyatsiya", journalist Stanislav Aseyev, disagreed. "The court granted in full what the Prosecutor General's Office requested. Therefore, we do not have the possibility to file an appeal, as we will not be able to request more. In other words, the verdict was delivered in full compliance with what the prosecutor's office had submitted to the court. Let's look at other high-profile cases. Recently, there was the Pushilin's case, who was also sentenced to 15 years in absentia. Therefore, we must deal with the existing circumstances. And for me, it is actually very important that this verdict exists at least in some form," the lawyer said.

Not an ordinary trial

Kulikovskyi's public defender was not present at the court hearing. According to Gorbachev, he had previously requested that his client be acquitted of all charges and was present at most of the closed hearings. "We have these torture chambers in Olenivka [in Russia-occupied Crimea] and Horlivka [in Donetsk region]. It is crucial that those citizens of Ukraine who have betrayed their oath of allegiance to Ukraine [Kulikovskyi holds a Ukrainian passport] see that Ukrainian justice will get to all of them sooner or later. And it is very important that other people receive relevant notifications of suspicion. So that these people would not end up in foreign countries other than the aggressor state," continued Gorbachev.

"This trial is very important to me, says Matviychuk. It should have been highly publicized. I understand that there is a lot of pain now, and there are not many people here who came to listen [to Kulikovskyis sentence]. But this is not an ordinary trial, and I think Ukraine needs to show that those who torture, rape and kill [Ukrainians] will be pursued, found and punished."

This report is part of our coverage of war crimes justice produced in partnership with Ukrainian journalists. A first version of this article was published on the "Free Radio" website.
The installation of a backup generator at 1601 Ritner Highway would enable Cumberland County to develop a backup facility for 911 phone communications.

Brent Durham, county director of facilities management, on Thursday briefed county commissioners on the need for the $350,000 project.

The Ritner Highway building has become a critical location for the operations of both the elections office and the forensics lab of the criminal investigation division of the District Attorneys office, Durham said.

The elections office needs continuous power to keep its equipment fully charged, he said. The forensics lab has a significant number of sensitive equipment and need to store evidence in refrigerators or freezers, he said. Both offices also need a dependable power source to support their security systems.

Where the concept has the most merit is with the construction of a communications tower at the back of the property, Durham said. Were working towards creating a backup room for 911 phone communications. Thats where this backup generator makes sense for this property. Im proposing we install a generator capable of handling the full electrical load of that building.

Facilities management has already been advised that money from an election integrity grant could fund half the installation cost, Durham said. His department is also working with the Department of Public Safety and the forensic lab to line up additional funding.

Im bringing this to you now because theres a 36-week lead time to get generators right now, he told the commissioners. Until we go through the process of writing the bid specs, going out to bid and awarding a contract, this project will probably not finish until early next year.

The commissioners voted unanimously to approve the request.

In other action, the commissioners approved deck replacement work on two county bridges as part of the Bridge Capital Improvement Plan. The project cost of the Foxlea Bridge in Lower Allen Township is estimated at $1,113,650 while the project cost of Grahams Bridge in Upper Frankford Township is estimated at $646,200.

Neither bridge is at the point where the structure is in poor condition and needs a weight limit posted, county Director of Planning Kirk Stoner said. Were looking ahead.

He said that since the Foxlea Bridge extends into York County, theres a cost-sharing agreement in place. Cumberland County owns and maintains 19 bridges and shares joint ownership and maintenance responsibilities with York County for an additional nine bridges. Under its plan, Cumberland County monitors the conditions of its bridges.

The primary funding source for bridge replacement and repair work is the $5 per vehicle registration fee that the county approved in early 2015. The fee generates about $1.1 million per year and allows the county to address critical bridge needs.

The commissioners also:

Approved a retainer agreement with Herbert, Rowland & Grubic Inc., the Harrisburg-based engineering firm that serves as the county bridge engineer. The five-year agreement, for an amount not to exceed $140,000, is meant to cover other services HRG provides the county on an on-call, time-and-materials cost basis, Stoner said.

Accepted a grant in the amount of $83,955.92 from the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency. The grant will be used by the planning and public safety departments to complete an update of the countys hazard mitigation plan, Stoner said.
Second lead syndrome is a phenomenon in Korean dramas where viewers develop a strong attachment to the second male lead, often rooting for him to end up with the female lead instead of the main male lead. Here are five Kdramas that have been known to evoke the worst second lead syndrome among fans, according to Quora users:

5 Kdramas with the Worst Second Lead Syndrome

1. "King: The Eternal Monarch"

In this fantasy romance drama, Kang Shin-jae, played by actor Kim Kyung-nam, captur

es the hearts of viewers with his unwavering loyalty and unrequited love for the female lead, Jeong Tae-eul, portrayed by Kim Go-eun.

According to a Quora user, Kang Shin-jae "cared a lot for Jeong Tae-eul, making sure she is safe, and had a long-time crush on her." Despite his genuine feelings, Kang Shin-jae's love remained unrequited, leaving fans sympathizing with his character.

2. "The Heirs"

Choi Young-do, played by actor Kim Woo-bin, is the second male lead in this popular high school drama. Initially portrayed as a bully, Choi Young-do's character undergoes a transformation when he falls in love with the female lead, Cha Eun-sang, portrayed by Park Shin-hye. Fans were drawn to Choi Young-do's complex and misunderstood nature, as well as his growth throughout the series. Many viewers expressed their support for him, hoping that he would find happiness despite not being the main male lead.

3. "True Beauty"

Han Seo-jun, played by actor Hwang In-yeop, becomes the source of second lead syndrome in this romantic comedy series. Known for his caring and protective nature towards the female lead, Joo Kyung, portrayed by Moon Ga-young, Han Seo-jun captures the hearts of viewers with his sincerity and unwavering support.

A Quora user mentions that they couldn't find enough reasons why Joo Kyung didn't fall for Han Seo-jun, who was always there for her. The intense chemistry between the two characters made fans root for Han Seo-jun's happiness throughout the drama.

4. "Cheese in the Trap"

Baek In-ho, portrayed by Seo Kang-joon, creates second lead syndrome in this campus romance drama. Baek In-ho's character is portrayed as talented and caring, which makes it hard for viewers not to fall for him. According to a Quora user, anyone would fall for Baek In-ho except for the one he likes. This unrequited love storyline tugs at the heartstrings of viewers and leaves them hoping for a different outcome.

5. "Hwarang"

TThis historical drama features a star-studded cast and introduces viewers to the character of Park Ban-ryu, played by Do Ji-han. Despite being initially portrayed as arrogant and haughty, Park Ban-ryu's character undergoes development throughout the series, leading to second lead syndrome among fans.

In "Hwarang," Park Ban-ryu's unrequited love and growth as a character resonate with viewers, evoking sympathy and support for him despite not being the main male lead.

These five Kdramas have left viewers experiencing the worst second lead syndrome due to the compelling performances of their respective actors and the complex relationships portrayed on screen. The emotional rollercoaster that comes with rooting for the underdog is a testament to the power of storytelling in Korean dramas.

Kdramastars owns this article.

Michelle Williams wrote this.
In a riveting showcase of talent and anticipation, the first script reading for MBC's upcoming Friday-Saturday drama, "Wonderful World," unfolded on January 18th.

The drama, set to premiere on March 1st, revolves around the compelling story of a mother, portrayed by Kim Nam-joo, who embarks on a journey for justice after the legal system fails her following the tragic loss of her son.

A Stellar Cast Unveiled

The script reading brought together a star-studded ensemble, featuring the director Lee Seung-young, writer Kim Ji-eun, and an array of talented actors including Kim Nam-joo, Cha Eun-woo, Kim Kang-woo, Im Se-mi, and more.

The diverse cast promises a gripping narrative that explores themes of justice, healing, and maternal love.

Actors Dive into the Emotional Depths of "Wonderful World"

As the script reading unfolded, the cast delved into the emotional depths of their characters, immersing themselves in the powerful lines that steer the intense narrative.

Despite it being their first joint acting rehearsal, the actors showcased seasoned modulation and ensemble acting, creating an atmosphere akin to watching the drama unfold in real-time.

READ ALSO: Cha Eun Woo & Kim Nam Joo's Age Gap Sparks Curiosity- Will They Deliver Chemistry?

Kim Nam-joo's Explosive Return to the Small Screen

Kim Nam-joo, making a highly anticipated return to the small screen after six years, takes on the role of Eun Soo-hyun, a successful psychology professor and writer.

The actress's portrayal of a mother undergoing a profound transformation after the loss of her son left a lasting impression, showcasing her explosive acting skills.

Cha Eun-woo's Multidimensional Performance

Cha Eun-woo, playing the enigmatic character Kwon Seon-yul, demonstrated his acting prowess by seamlessly embodying the multidimensional persona.

Raised in wealth but navigating a rough life after the loss of his parents, Cha Eun-woo's delicate expressions and nuanced dialogue breathed life into the complex character of Kwon Seon-yul.

High Expectations and Determination from the Cast

Kim Nam-joo expressed her high expectations for the drama, emphasizing the profound maternal love that resonated with her as a mother.

Cha Eun-woo highlighted the story's ability to evoke various emotions through the healing process of characters with shared pain. Kim Kang-woo, Im Se-mi, and the rest of the cast conveyed their commitment to delivering a compelling and heartwarming drama.

READ ALSO: Cha Eun Woo & Kim Nam Joo's Wonderful World' Announces 2024 Premiere - More Details Inside!

Kdramastars owns this article.

Michelle Williams wrote this.
Disney Plus' new drama "A Shop for Killers" starring Lee Dong Wook made a successful debut as it immediately topped the drama ranking during its pilot week.

'A Shop for Killers' Ranks First in Content Integrated Ranking After Release

Based on a news cited by a media outlet on January 19, Disney Plus' original series "A Shop for Killers" ranked first in the 'Content Integrated Ranking' after the release of episodes 1 and 2.

The thriller drama graced the small screen last January 17, and with just two episodes released, it surprisingly topped the charts, outshining other famous series.

In addition to the report, viewers who have watched the pilot week of "A Shop for Killers" shared their honest opinions about the series. According to some, the drama has a powerful beginning. The tension in the beginning already caught the viewers' interest.

Lee Dong Wook Attracts More Global Viewers With His New Character in 'A Shop for Killers'

Others said that it has a powerful and captivating narrative. Lee Dong Wook, who is the main protagonist of the drama also received praise from fans, who called him 'Uncle Lee Dong Wook' because of his new role. He again attracted the attention of global fans through his newly released work.

It has been said that the special uncle-nephew chemistry presented by notable actor Lee Dong Wook and the genius transformation of Kim Hye Jun stand out in the drama.

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE: Lee Dong Wook's Intense Acting in 'A Shop for Killers' Garners Anticipation

The acting ensemble is presented by talented actors namely Seo Hyun Woo, Jo Han Sun, Park Ji Bin, and Geum Hae Na, and the eye-catching and stylish actions they perform are completely immersive.

'A Shop for Killers' Receives Positive Feedback From Viewers

With just two episodes released, the drama already received positive feedback from the audience. In this way, "A Shop for Killers" has proven its strong presence and successfully captivated the interest of the viewers at home and abroad. Since the drama is gaining popularity, many have high expectations for the upcoming episodes 3 and 4, which will be released on January 24.

"A Shop for Killers" is a new-wave of action series about the survival story of Jung Ji An (Kim Hye Joon), who becomes the target of suspicious killers due to the dangerous legacy left behind by her uncle Jin Man (Lee Dong Wook).

Furthermore, following the release of episodes 1 and 2, a total of 8 episodes, 2 of them every Wednesday will be released exclusively on the famous online streaming platform Disney Plus.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Lee Dong Wook Reveals Secret to Maintaining Good Image in Showbiz: 'You just have to not...'

What can you say about Lee Dong Wook's new drama? Share your thoughts/replies in the comments!

For more K-Drama, K-Movie, and celebrity news and updates, keep your tabs open here at Kdramastars.

Kdramastars owns this article.

Shai Collins wrote this.
In a recent episode of comedian Tak Jae Hoon's YouTube show, actor Kim Ji-hun opened up about a statement he made twelve years ago that has lingered in the corridors of his past.

The revelation unfolded during a candid discussion on love and life, shedding light on a personal regret that has been weighing on the actor's mind.

Kim Ji-hun Reflects on a Controversial Statement from the Past Actor's Regretful Admission

As the conversation delved deeper, Kim Ji-hun shared a pivotal moment in his career influenced by Tak Jae Hoon's candid advice.

The actor disclosed that Tak Jae Hoon's observation about his perceived lack of humor served as a catalyst for a significant career pivot.

Acknowledging the comedian's words, Kim Ji-hun chose to redirect his focus, opting to step back from the limelight of television and concentrate on honing his craft as an actor.

YOU MIGHT ALSO INTERESTED IN: This Sweet Home Actor Reminds Fans to Raise Their Standards for THIS Reason

Global Recognition and Marriage Proposals

Beyond the realms of past controversies, the discussion veered towards Kim Ji-hun's recent global success, particularly his role in Netflix's 'Money Heist: Korea - Joint Economic Area.'

The actor revealed that a remarkable 80% of the messages flooding his social media accounts come from fans in Brazil.

Tak Jae Hoon, ever the witty host, probed into the actor's personal life, asking about rumors of marriage proposals from admirers worldwide.

With a chuckle, Kim Ji-hun confirmed the reality, attributing the surge in attention to the popularity of his recent projects in the vibrant South American nation.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Jeon Jong Seo In White Actress Creates Buzz With Ethereal Beauty In Wedding Impossible Teaser

For more K-Drama, K-Movie, and celebrity news and updates, keep your tabs open here at Kdramastars.

Kdramastars owns this article.

Michelle Williams wrote this.
In an interview with Elle Korea magazine, Han So Hee revealed her reasons for choosing "Gyeongseong Creature" as her comeback drama. Keep on reading to know more.

Han So Hee Shows Gratitude To 'Gyeongseong Creature' Fans

Earlier this month, Han So Hee returned to the spotlight as a bounty hunter in the action horror series "Gyeongseong Creature" with Park Seo Joon.

The Netflix series follows the struggles of South Koreans in 1945, and their fight against the monsters created by humankind's greed.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Han So Hee Breaks Silence Amid 'Gyeongseong Creature' Hate - Here's What She Said

Since its premiere, the work received rave reviews among viewers and critics around the world. It also took hits from various criticisms but its influence and impact were still well-regarded.

Han So Hee, who headlined the work, thanked the viewers for supporting the show. She said, "It's my first drama in two years. It was an honor playing Yoon Chae Ok for years [because of the support]."

Han So Hee promised a more complex and more exciting narrative that is about to come with "Gyeongseong Creature 2," which is scheduled to air in the second half of 2024.

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE THIS: Han So Hee Gets Candid About K-drama Characters: 'I want to play a role that doesn't...'





Regarding her reason for choosing the Netflix show, Han So Hee simply said that it's a drama that she "needed to do" as an actress.

Han So Hee Dishes Reasons For Choosing 'Gyeongseong Creature'

"I love action dramas," said Han So Hee. "I had to do it so I wouldn't have any regrets in the future."

When asked what's the most memorable scenes in the show, Han So Hee mentioned the adrenaline during fight scenes, especially the rehearsals of throwing punches while trusting each other on set.

ALSO READ: Park Seo Joon Jeopardized Career With 'Gyeongseong Creature'? Here's What Fans Think

"I learned many things through "Gyeongseong Creature" and I will move forward with a grateful heart," the actress concluded.

Catch the full interview with Han So Hee on the February 2024 issue of Elle Korea magazine. On the other hand, "Gyeongseong Creature" is available for worldwide streaming on Netflix.

Have you seen "Gyeongseong Creature" yet? Share your thoughts on the drama with us in the comments down below!

RELATED CONTENT: Han So Hee Shares Relatable Experience As Homebody: 'I get so anxious'

KDramaStars owns this article.

Written by Elijah Mully.
Eduardo Montes-Bradley looks forward to Friday evenings screening of his Black Fiddlers film about the work and legacy of Black violinists  and to the conversation to follow.

Theres going to be a Q&A after the film, which is usually quite heated, Montes-Bradley said. Thats because his film traces a vibrant art form back to the lives and careers of Black fiddlers from the nations early years  including musicians from the Hemings and Scott families at Monticello, before and after enslavement  and because viewers tend to hold and voice strong feelings about agency, artistry and autonomy that the film can draw to the surface.

Emotions can be strong because it has to do with Jeffersons enslaved children who were fiddlers, Montes-Bradley said. Other viewers share a more Africanist view that sees the violin as an African instrument, noting that the European violin performance tradition is not the only one, he said.

The film can be seen at 7:30 p.m. Friday in the V. Earl Dickinson Buildings Main Stage Theatre at Piedmont Virginia Community College. The screening is part of PVCCs new Films Talk Back documentary series.

Audience members will learn about the work of Joe and Odell Thomson, cousins and practitioners of the Black string band tradition, and also will be introduced to musicians Rhiannon Giddens, Justin Robinson and Earl White, who help make sure more than three centuries of Black musical traditions and contributions are not forgotten.

Piedmonts Films Talk Back series takes place on the third Friday of the month. Film buffs can expect to see a documentary, hear a talk by the filmmaker or another expert, and take part in question-and answer time. Montes-Bradley said thats where the magic happens.

Montes-Bradley said a screening and fruitful discussion on Nov. 4 during the Virginia Film Festival helped demonstrate the value of using film as a springboard for diving into complex topics  and making the most of opportunities for people to listen and learn from each other.

When we can have a serious conversation to find common ground and differences, it is welcome, Montes-Bradley said. Its when I get to have the most fun. Its very stimulating. Its something you dont get when youre in your basement for a year editing your film.

The directors hour-long 2022 documentary came together after an intense year of research and valuable time spent with contemporary musicians who care about keeping history alive for future generations of listeners.

Research and reflection often led to more questions. Whose music is it? Why are some viewpoints accepted over others? How can expression and exploitation be separated? The director believes that answers need to be reached together.

The film changed me, Montes-Bradley said. Im not trying to convince anyone of anything. Im not an evangelist.

I want to educate myself so I can help educate others. The way it works for me is, Lets think about this together. I want to learn, too.

Admission is free, and there will be plenty of free parking available. Black Fiddlers was made possible with a local donation from the Joseph and Robert Cornell Memorial Foundation. For information, go to www.pvcc.edu, email boxoffice@pvcc.edu or call (44) 961-5376.
It may be only a matter of time before invasive zebra and quagga mussels are transported into Okanagan Lake on the hulls and propellers of boats towed into the province, a Lake Country town councillor said this week.
A welcome sign is shown in Norwich, Ont., on Wednesday, May 3, 2023. A township in southwestern Ontario has voted to allow Pride flags on a community flagpole, essentially overturning a controversial decision made last year to ban the flags on municipal property. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nicole Osborne
A parole hearing is scheduled today for a man sentenced to 10-years in prison for decades of sex offences against members of a young people's performance group. A patch is seen on the shoulder of a corrections officer in Abbotsford, B.C., on Thursday Oct. 26, 2017. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck




Friday, January 19, 2024

 President William Rutos daughter, Charlene Ruto, has landed a job in Kenya Kwanza government.

Health Cabinet Secretary Susan Nakhumicha appointed Charlene as the Kenya Blood Ambassador.

In a statement, the CS acknowledged Charlene's efforts in consistent campaigns for blood donation, advocating the public to join the initiative.

Through her efforts, CS Nakhumicha noted that more Kenyan youth are joining the campaigns in a bid to save lives.

"The Ministry of Health recognizes and appreciates your selfless contribution to Kenya through your consistent blood donation, advocacy, educating and mobilizing your family members, community, peers and the general Kenyan citizens to engage in blood donations," the statement read in part.

"Special recognition is on your efforts to mobilize resources that support blood donation activities and blood establishments."

"This letter is to appoint you as a Kenya Blood Ambassador and ask that: you continue to be a spokesperson to your friends, Kenyan Youth family, peers and Kenyan citizens and to engage and encourage people to give blood to save lives; from time to time collaborate with the Kenya Tissue and Transplant Authority or partners in blood-related events including public education and resource mobilization."

Following President Ruto's ascent to office after the August General Election, Charlene stirred some controversies and sparked debate after conducting several meetings with key political players.

In one of her meetings, Charlene mentioned the Office of the First Daughter, which prompted observers to speculate that the office was funded using taxpayers' money.

Following the uproar, Charlene later explained that the office is a private initiative that facilitates her advocacy programs.

She added that it is not a constitutional office.

The Kenyan DAILY POST
Friday, January 19, 2024 - A Nigerian woman has welcomed triplets after struggling with childlessness for six years.

Media personality, Omotunde Adebowale David, better known as Lolo, took to her Instagram page and shared the good news with her followers.

She posted a photo of the woman holding the newborns and said she is overly excited.

My former Manager and his beautiful wife after 6 years gave us triplets . I have cried and danced and Im just deliriously happy  If you are waiting God is coming through! I know like I know my name @emmaoffei and wifey congratulations again! she wrote.

The Kenyan DAILY POST.




Friday, January 19, 2024 - Chief Government Pathologist, Johansen Oduor, has expressed shock over the brutal killing of University student Rita Waeni, who was lured to an Airbnb along TRM Drive by an unidentified man last weekend and murdered in cold blood.

Oduor said he had never encountered such a brutal murder during his long stint as a pathologist.

"This is the first time I have come across such an incident. I have never come across such in my forensic life," said Dr Oduor.

Oduor further said that the killer looked like he knew what he was doing and tried to leave no trace after he murdered Rita.

He even tried to extract her fingernails in a bid to eliminate traces of his DNA from the victim's body.

The killer looked like he knew what he was doing because when you look at the skin it looks like it was cut by a sharp object but when you look at the bone it was sawed off with what looked like a hacksaw, he said.

Another thing that we noticed is that the killer tried to clip off her fingernails for reasons which I may not be able to know and as a scientist when we see this we think that the person was trying to hide evidence so that we are unable to get his DNA from his victim'', he added.

However, he was able to collect samples from some of Waeni's fingernails that were not damaged by her killer.

The samples have been sent for further forensics analysis.

Below is a video of Oduor addressing the press.

I have never seen something like this, Chief Government Pathologist Johansen Oduor narrates how Rita Waeni was brutally murdered in Roysambu. pic.twitter.com/xjIRrkohPI  Citizen TV Kenya (@citizentvkenya) January 19, 2024

The Kenyan DAILY POST.




Friday, January 19, 2024 - A Nigerian man who was arrested at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) in connection to the brutal murder of 20-year-old University student Rita Waeni has been released.

The foreigner was arrested as he was preparing to board a flight to Abuja, Nigeria after his travel documents raised suspicion.

He was travelling to Nigeria on a Mozambican passport, prompting security agents at JKIA to arrest him.

He was taken to Kasarani Police Station for identification but he was released after witnesses failed to identify him as the man seen on CCTV booking an Airbnb along TRM Drive, where Rita was murdered and her body dismembered.

According to detectives, the suspect did not speak Swahili and had been staying at South C.

The family of the slain lady told detectives that the suspect who murdered their daughter spoke Swahili when he demanded Sh500,000 ransom.

The owner of the Airbnb also told detectives that the suspect spoke fluent Swahili when he called her to book the room.

Witnesses including the owner of the Airbnb said that the suspect spoke Swahili when he called her.

"The family of the victim shared the same information, saying the suspect spoke Swahili during their interactions while also demanding the Sh500,000 ransom, police revealed.

They also said he appeared young, light, and well-versed in the area, prompting police to release the Nigerian man because he did not fit the description.

The Kenyan DAILY POST.


Friday, January 19, 2024  French authorities searched the offices of the Ministry of the Economy and Finance on Monday as part of an investigation into allegations of favours given to Paris Saint-Germain over the 200million transfer of Neymar Jr from Barcelona in 2017.

The Brazil international enjoyed a spell at the Catalan giants before PSG signed the player in what remains a world-record deal.

After five years at Parc des Princes, the 31-year-old made the move to Saudi Pro League side Al-Hilal.

According to French outlet Mediapart, Neymar's initial transfer is under scrutiny as part of a wider investigation into influence peddling that has been ongoing since September 2022.

The club's former communications director Jean-Martial Ribes is alleged to have sought the advice of then-vice president of the National Assembly Hugues Renson on potential 'tax advantages' that could be found for the transfer.

Renson claims to have consulted former Minister of Public Accounts Gerald Darmanin over the possible taxation the deal would undergo.

Ribes, who is alleged to have used his position at the club to gain sensitive information for both PSG and personal advancement - resigned from his role in 2022.

Monday's investigation was carried out by France's Central Office for the Fight against Corruption and Fiscal Fraud in the department of the General Directorate of Public Finances, and in the presence of investigating magistrates Vincent Lemonier and Serge Tournaire.


Friday, January 19, 2024  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has opposed the United States demand to establish a Palestinian state once the conflict in Gaza comes to an end.

In a news conference, Netanyahu vowed to press on with the offensive in Gaza until complete victory, the destruction of Hamas and return of the remaining Israeli hostages, adding that it could take many more months.

With almost 25,000 Palestinians killed in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, and 85% of the strips population displaced, Israel is under intense pressure to rein in its offensive and engage in meaningful talks over a sustainable end to the war.

Israels allies, including the US and it's enemies have urged a revival of the long-dormant two-state solution, in which a future Palestinian state would sit side-by-side with an Israeli one.

The hope in many circles is that the current crisis could force the warring parties back to diplomacy, as the only viable alternative to endless cycles of violence.

During Thursdays news conference, he said Israel must have security control over all land west of the River Jordan, which would include the territory of any future Palestinian state.

This is a necessary condition, and it conflicts with the idea of (Palestinian) sovereignty. What to do? I tell this truth to our American friends, and I also stopped the attempt to impose a reality on us that would harm Israels security, he said.

Netanyahu has spent much of his political career opposing Palestinian statehood, boasting just last month that he was proud to have prevented its establishment.

But the very public rebuttal of Washingtons advice, and determination to continue the current military course, might cause tensions with Israels western allies.

Since the 7 October attacks  the worst in Israels history, when Hamas gunmen killed about 1,300 Israelis and took some 240 hostage, the US has supported Israel's right to defend itself.

Responding to Netanyahus latest comments, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said his government would not stop working towards a two-state solution, adding there would be no reoccupation of Gaza.


Friday, January 19, 2024  President William Ruto has secured another loan hours after landing a Ksh150 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Trade and Development Bank (TDB) has advanced a Ksh33 billion loan to Kenya to bolster the country's foreign exchange reserves ahead of the Eurobond's maturity in June 2024.

This forms part of a series of loans the country is expected to secure from the Pan-African bank.

Last year, the Central Bank Governor Kamau Thugge disclosed the country was expected to secure about Ksh47 billion from TDB within the 23/24 financial year.

According to Thugge, a large share of the money would be used in servicing the Ksh323 billion (USD2 billion) Eurobond set to mature in June this year.

The current Eurobond set for maturity this year is an amount of money that was borrowed by Kenya in 2014 from the European money market and Kenya was obligated to service it after a time lapse period of ten years.

In December last year, Kenya settled about Ksh10 billion (USSD68.7 million) accrued interests on the Eurobond.

Treasury Cabinet Secretary Njuguna Ndung'u noted the country remains dedicated to fulfilling all debt obligations with international lenders.

Ruto has on various occasions given assurance that the government is committed to honouring all the country's debt obligations and that he has formulated measures to help manage and balance the nation's rate of borrowing and debt repayment.

The Kenyan DAILY POST.
In a recent forum commemorating the 45-year diplomatic legacy between the United States and China, economic experts contended that trade relations have shifted from cooperation to competition, and that the governments need a more strategic approach to risk management. The business relationship has often been described as the ballast of bilateral ties since China and the US established diplomatic relations in 1979, and the win-win philosophy has been a mainstay of that history over the past 45 years. The US and China have developed a high level of economic interdependence since China's reform and opening-up to the world. China rapidly developed to be a major center of manufacturing and supply chains in the world, becoming the US' third-largest trading partner. In the forum hosted by The Carter Center in Atlanta, Georgia, last week, Anna Ashton, director of China corporate affairs and US-China at Eurasia Group in New York, said there has been a definite "philosophical shift" in the US from the concept that economic interdependence is good for conflict deterrence, to the idea that economic interdependence increases vulnerability. Arthur Kroeber, founding partner and head of research at the Hong Kong-based financial research company Gavekal Dragonomics, said the economies of the US and China were largely complementary 15 or even 10 years ago, and that is changing rapidly now. Chinese companies are now seen as a "direct competitor" to US companies, especially "in the cutting-edge industries", he said. The business relationship has proved to be a key cornerstone of US-China relations during the early years of China's opening-up, said Ka Zeng, a professor and director of international and global studies at the University of Arkansas. However, increasing economic interdependence has also generated domestic backlash in the US, Zeng said, and the country's politicians have blamed China for "a host of economic problems". "This has paved the ground for (former US) president (Donald) Trump to launch the great trade war against China," she said. "It is an important political implication in the trade relationship when the (US) threatened to impose sanctions against China for its 'unfair' trade practices." There have been persistent issues around fairness, market access, third markets and intellectual property protection. The trade conflict between the two sides has continued for more than five years as a new normal, with current US tariffs on more than $300 billion worth of Chinese goods. Continuing connectivity On the other hand, data showed that US companies continue to be connected to the Chinese market through China's trade and investment activities with third parties, even though US sourcing is increasingly switching to low-cost manufacturing countries such as Vietnam. Last year, a business climate survey conducted by the American Chamber of Commerce in China found 73 percent of US companies are not moving their supply chains outside of China, while 23 percent of them are either considering relocating or are already doing so. "We can see a bit more stickiness that China is the second-largest economy in the world," Zeng said. "It offers huge market opportunities for American companies; it will be harder for American companies to completely shut themselves out of the Chinese market." Craig Allen, president of the US-China Business Council, suggested a review of US-China economic relations from a historical perspective. Trade and investment between the two countries have experienced cycles of cooperation and tension. China has a population 4.5 times larger than the US' and has had to cope with a long semicolonial history, Allen said. "And therefore, the domestic changes and demands in China had enormous impact on the bilateral economic relationship for many years," he said. Although China's dual circulation policy has a potential impact on US-China trade and investment, he said the policy is really something that "we should applaud", because it aims to expand domestic consumption while promoting self-reliance among China's innovative industries. In talks with her Chinese counterpart before the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in San Francisco in November, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the US "has no desire to break economic ties with China", and that imports from China benefit US companies and consumers. "So, the most recent signals are very positive, (except) that we're going to maintain restrictions around tech. Other trade is very, very welcome," Allen said. "We hope the trade will flourish in both imports and exports between the two countries, as both governments have signaled their willingness to bring more stability to the relationship." renali@chinadailyusa.com
Virginia legislators on both sides of the aisle are working together to pass legislation that aims to improve youth mental health. Charlottesvilles own Creigh Deeds is helping to lead that charge in the Virginia Senate.

Virginia students, especially females, reported disconcertingly high levels of mental health issues during the pandemic, according to a late 2022 report from the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission.

The prevalence of serious mental illness among Virginias youth has grown faster than the rest of the nation, on average. The estimated prevalence of severe major depressive episodes among Virginias youth increased from 7% to 16% between 2011 and 2020. Some of the increase might be explained by a growing willingness to seek mental health services because of better societal awareness of mental illness, according to the report, but there is some evidence that the actual prevalence is increasing.

Gov. Glenn Youngkin, along with a bipartisan group of legislators, have made recommendations that, if passed, would revamp the commonwealths behavioral health system by adding more school-based mental health programs and putting more money toward crisis response programs.

Seventy percent of people that have serious mental illness have their first crisis some time between the ages of 14 to 24, Democrat Deeds said.

Deeds lost his son to mental health struggles at the age of 24.

He joined a group of lawmakers speaking to youth mental health advocates on Tuesday, hosted by Voices for Virginias Children.

We have a lot of work to do on behalf of our youth, Voices for Virginias Children CEO Rachael Deane said.

The challenges that we face in our schools are deep and pervasive, said Democratic Del. Sam Rasoul of Roanoke at the press conference. You can look at many different reasons why that is, but theyre the socioeconomics, the lack of emphasis on social-emotional growth and development, the rise in how addicted we are to social media and maybe our cell phones, and how weve grown away from each other.

Rasoul, the new chairman of the House Education Committee, introduced legislation that would allow state psychiatric hospitals to delay admission of anyone under a temporary detention order until the hospital determines that the person doesnt have potentially life-threatening medical needs that require immediate treatment that the state psychiatric hospital cannot provide.

A bill from Del. Michael Feggans, a Virginia Beach Democrat, would decrease the student-to-school counselor ratio from one counselor for every 325 students to one counselor for every 250 students. The legislation came before the House K-12 Subcommittee Tuesday morning, which voted unanimously to report and refer the bill to appropriations.

Legislation from Sen. Lamont Bagby, a Henrico Democrat, would require that emergency services, with respect to an emergency medical condition, include a screening examination by a behavioral health crisis service provider and any further treatment that is required to stabilize the patient. The bill also adds crisis receiving centers to locations that would be covered by health insurance.

Youngkins proposed budget includes $15 million for the school-based mental health integration pilot, $10 million to establish additional comprehensive psychiatric emergency services programs and $10 million to establish additional mobile crisis teams in underserved areas, among other proposed investments.

The new Chesterfield Recovery Academy, Virginias first recovery high school program, is fully funded in Youngkins proposed budget.

But we dont stop there, said Republican Del. Carrie Coyner of Chesterfield, just because we have one amazing recovery academy for high school students open to one region. We have a lot more kids throughout the entire commonwealth that deserve the same opportunity to be in a safe environment, that they can graduate on time, they can have support in their recovery journey, and that whatever goals they have for their future., they can attain.




Friday January 19, 2024

 Former Prime Minister Raila Odinga has continued to reap from President Wiliam Rutos blunders ahead of the 2027 contest.

This is after members of The Pamoja African Alliance (PAA) allied to Senate Speaker Amason Kingi decamped from Rutos Kenya Kwanza and joined Raila Odingas ODM Party.

Raila received the 27 members in Nairobi. The leaders claimed that they were unsatisfied by being part of the Kenya Kwanza administration.

According to the politicians who changed loyalty, only Kingi's voice was heard and involved in crucial government matters despite them being part of the party.

John Mwamutsi, a former Member of the County Assembly thus complained that Kenya Kwanza lacked inclusivity.

Additionally, the leaders explained that one of the reasons they decamped to ODM was due to the unfulfilled promises made by Ruto.

The politicians lauded Raila for allowing them to join ODM, a party they argued was looking out for the well-being of Kenyans.

Some argued that they were forced into joining Kenya Kwanza as they followed their party leader, Amason Kingi who decamped before the 2022 General Election.

"He came and told us all of us are going into Kenya Kwanza. I tell you were all shocked since he had assured us PAA would never join hands with Ruto," one of the members stated.

Raila presented the members with official ODM merchandise including a cap and a sash.

Speaker Moses Wetangulas brother also ditched Ford Kenya (Kenya Kwanza) and joined ODM yesterday.

The Kenyan DAILY POST.




Friday, 19 January 2024 - Khalif Kairo, a popular Nairobi car dealer with a heavy social media presence, has been accused of betraying his former boss, Clement Kinuthia, by breaking his marriage.

Kairo was employed by Clement Kinuthia, a multi-million city car dealer, as a marketing manager in his company but they fell out in 2022.

Kairo resigned and started his own car yard along Kiambu Road.

According to popular blogger Rein Asamoh, Kairo betrayed his boss by sending photos of him cheating to his wife.

He would secretly take photos of his boss with different women whenever they hung out together and later blackmailed him.

Hahaha @KhalifKairo. is indeed a woman.

"So he was taking pictures and sending messages to wife of clement how he was cheating on her.

"The wife divorced the husband. Men used to be men.

"The truth will come out and folks will understand the  car  business, wrote Asamoh.

Kairos lavish lifestyle has been raising eyebrows, with reports emerging that he is involved in money laundering.









The Kenyan DAILY POST.


Friday, January 19, 2024  A court has heard how a prison officer derailed a murder trial after being lavished with gifts by a defendant.

Former Belmarsh guard, Wiktoria Bujko, 30, pleaded guilty to perverting the course of justice for reporting a false confession by a man awaiting trial for the murder of Iron Miah.

Mr Miah, 40, was shot in the head on November 19, 2019, in east London, and died in hospital two days later.

The Prosecutor, Crispin Aylett KC said Ali had put Bujko up to creating an entirely false account of a confession by Aaron Campbell.

Ali had repeatedly shown himself to be an outrageous liar and rewarded Bujko with money, gifts and promises, Mr Aylett said.

At the time, she was working at high-security HMP Belmarsh in south-east London where all three defendants were being held ahead of trial.

On October 17, 2022, shortly before a retrial was due to begin, Bujko made a statement about a conversation she claimed to have overheard the previous weekend in the prison healthcare unit between Campbell and another inmate.

The court was told that someone paid 500 into Bukjos bank account the day after she submitted her witness statement, however.

Bujkos statement suggested that Campbell and Afflick-McLeod had planned to rob Ali of drugs, but had encountered Mr Miah when Ali sent him to a meeting in his place.

An examination of CCTV footage of the unit revealed that Campbell was not there when she claimed to have witnessed the exchange.

A jury heard that Bujko had known Ali since he was first remanded to HMP Thameside where she had been working.

While on bail, she applied to be a probation officer and worked one day as a trainee in February 2023 before her employment was terminated.

Bujko and Ali both pleaded guilty to conspiring to pervert the course of justice, and all defendants will be sentenced at the Old Bailey on February 28.




Friday, January 19, 2024 - President William Ruto has admitted that he made a blunder by not listening to former Prime Minister Raila Odinga on the Saudi government-to-government oil deal.

This is after he confessed that the oil deal had failed terribly to stabilize the Shilling and announced that he will exit the deal.

In a statement, the Kenya Kwanza administration said it would exit the governmentgovernment oil deal with select Saudi Arabia companies in December this year after admitting that the agreement was creating distortions in the foreign exchange market.

Documents signaling the end of the deal, which was touted as one of Ruto's fiscal policies, were captured in the latest report by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Kenya's plan to revive the economy.

Treasury was said to have argued that the controversial G2G deal had flopped as it failed to stabilise the exchange rate in favour of the Kenyan currency.

The G2G deal, introduced in April 2023, was brokered by Kenyas Ministry of Energy and Saudi Aramco, Abu Dhabi National Oil Corporation Global Trading (ADNOC), and Emirates National Oil Company (NOC).

The G2G deal replaced the open tendering system that allowed oil marketers to be paid upon five days of delivery. This created unnecessary pressure on the foreign exchange market.

The Saudi oil deal provided a six-month credit for oil imports.

According to the Treasury, the average monthly import volumes failed to attain the monthly minimums agreed upon.

The government's move to exit the deal comes after months of President Ruto defending the deal amid criticism over graft claims.

Raila had warned Ruto against the deal but the president would hear none of it, and now as it turns out, the former PM was right all along.

The Kenyan DAILY POST.


Friday, January 19, 2024  American rapper, Tekashi 6ix9ine has been arrested in the Dominican Republic.

According to The Associated Press, Tekashi, 27, was arrested on Wednesday, January 18, by authorities in Santo Domingo on charges of domestic violence.

The recording artist whose real name is Daniel Hernandez) is reportedly being held in jail in the Dominican Republic capital and scheduled to appear in court on Thursday. Per the AP, a judge will decide at the hearing if Tekashi 6ix9ine must remain in jail or be freed on bond as authorities carry out an investigation.

The rapper has had run-ins with the law multiple times before.

He was previously arrested at a seaside hotel in the Dominican Republic in October after being accused of assaulting a local music producer.

Hernandez and his partner, a Dominican rapper known as Yailin la Mas Viral, had been recording at the producer's studio.

Hernandez was also previously accused in the U.S. of using a violent gang as a "personal hit squad," but he avoided prison after providing testimony against the Nine Trey Gangsta Bloods, which operate in the U.S. East Coast. A judge at the time deemed him a likely danger to the community and held him in jail without bail during the case on racketeering and firearms charges.


Friday, January 19, 2024 - Renowned Nairobi lawyer, Ahmednasir Abdullahi, has been permanently banned from appearing before the Supreme Court over his foul mouth.

In a statement on Thursday, the countrys apex court which consists of seven judges, unanimously agreed to bar Ahmednasir and his law firm from appearing before it.

The Martha Koome-led court accused the lawyer of "relentlessly and unabashedly conducting a campaign in the broadcast, print and social media aimed at scandalizing, ridiculing and out rightly denigrating the Court."

Given the foregoing, it is the decision of this Court, that henceforth and from the date of this Communication, you shall have no audience before the Court, either by yourself, through an employee of your law firm, or any other person," read part of the statement drafted by Letizia Muthoni Wachira, the Registrar of the Supreme Court.

Wachira stated that she was authorized by the full seven-judge bench of the Supreme Court of Kenya to address SC Ahmednasir alias the Grand Mullah.

"Through social media posts, media interviews, and write-ups, you have accused the Court either in its constitutive persona, or individual membership, of acts of corruption, incompetence, and outright bribery.

"This, you have done with reckless abandon, paying scant regard to the reputations of those who tirelessly serve on the Court in accordance with their Oath of Office.

"Notwithstanding the damage to the reputation of the Court, and the Judges who have served thereon over the years, both in its corporate and individual posture and to render justice to those you represent, the Court has exercised restraint by not deploying the punitive tools available to it against you," the registrar stated.

The Kenyan DAILY POST.


Friday, January 19, 2024 - President William Ruto and other Heads of State who attended the 42nd Extraordinary Assembly of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), unveiled strategies to bring an end to the ongoing conflict in Sudan.

In a communication, the Heads of State called for a face-to-face meeting between military leader General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan (Sudanese Armed Forces) and his paramilitary rival General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (Rapid Support Forces) within 14 days.

Fattah al-Burhan and Dagalo initially worked together but their battle for supremacy has seen Sudan etched in violence and conflicts.

The assembly, chaired by Djibouti President Ismail Omar Guelleh, stressed that IGAD member states would utilise all means to bring an end to the conflict in Sudan.

"We emphasized that the Republic of Sudan does not belong to the parties but to the Sudanese people and reiterated their call for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire as well as the cessation of hostilities to end this unjust war affecting the people of Sudan to pave way for a political dialogue," the statement read in part.

Further, the IGAD Secretariat was directed to revise the roadmap for resolution of the conflict and within one month convene a process towards a democratic Government in the country.

Moussa Faki, chairperson of the African Union Commission, called on the panel to collaborate with the members of the High-Level Panel for Sudan to facilitate the peace process in Sudan.

Faki also appointed the following as members of the High-Level Panel; Mohamed Chambas, AU High Representative for Silencing the Guns, Speciosa Wandira-Kazibwe, former Vice President of the Republic of Uganda and Francisco Madeira, former Special Representative of the Chairperson of the Commission (SRCC) to Somalia.

The Kenyan DAILY POST.
Friday, January 19, 2024 - Defence Cabinet Secretary, Aden Duale, has spoken after the Supreme Court of Kenya banned renowned Nairobi lawyer, Ahmednasir Abdullahi, from appearing before it.

In a statement on Friday, January 19, 2024, Duale accused the Supreme Court of contravening Article 33 of the Constitution, which provides for freedom of expression.

"The Constitution of Kenya 2010 under Article 33 provides for the freedom of expression, explicitly stating that every person has and shall enjoy this right," Duale stated.

"Ahmednasir Abdullahi, like any other Kenyan, is entitled to this and the Judiciary will not gag him in this day and age of our country, guided by Constitutionalism and the Rule of Law."

The Supreme Court on Thursday permanently barred Ahmednasir from appearing before it over his consistent disparaging remarks made against the institution and its judges on various media platforms

Supreme Court judges led by Chief Justice Martha Koome, her Deputy Philomena Mwilu, and Justices Mohamed Ibrahim, Smokin Wanjala, Njoki Ndungu, Isaac Lenaola and William Ouko said Ahmednasir's attacks destroyed the individual judges reputations.

The Kenyan DAILY POST




Friday, January 19, 2024- Renowned Nairobi lawyer, Ahmednasir Abdullahi, has spoken out after the Supreme Court banned him from appearing or filing cases before it.

The seemingly unbothered lawyer took to the X platform to term the ban against him and his law firm, at large, as a badge of honour.

He further went ahead to blast the Supreme Court as being corrupt, an allegation that largely contributed to his blacklisting.

Isn't it a badge of honour for the most corrupt court in Kenya to refuse me and my law firm an audience? He posed.

The Supreme Court, in a strongly-worded letter drafted by Registrar L.M Wachira on Thursday, barred Ahmednasir and employees of his law firm from filing cases before it over what it termed as incessant attacks.

The Registrar noted that it defeats the purpose for Grand Mullah, as Ahmednasir is popularly known, to appear before the very institution and individuals that he constantly berates in his media engagements.

It is the decision of this Court, that henceforth and from the date of this Communication, you shall have no audience before the Court, either by yourself, through an employee of your law firm, or any other person holding brief for you, or acting pursuant to your instructions, read the letter.

The Kenyan DAILY POST.


Friday, January 19, 2024  The police in South Africa have made a major breakthrough following the arrest of a 30-year-old Sangoma (traditional healer) who is linked to murder of an 18-year-old girl, Modjadji Niccol Thoka.

Thoka's lifeless body was found on the 8 January 2024, at Mokomene, Ga-Thoka village in Botlokwa policing area, Limpopo a few days after she went missing.

She was found with several body parts missing, including her head, breasts, both hands and legs missing. Only her torso was discovered on the scene.

The incomplete body was only recognised by a family member after residents alerted them.

According to police spokesperson, Colonel Malesela Ledwaba, members of Provincial detectives and Botlokwa detectives activated an operation to trace and arrest the suspect.

In the early hours of Wednesday, 17 January 2024, the suspect was arrested at Mokomene village, he said.

"Through the intensive investigation the suspect allegedly took the team to the place where he buried the head of the deceased.

"He was immediately arrested for murder. His arrest comes after Police were notified about the discovery of the lifeless body of a woman at an abandoned house.

"Upon arrival at the scene, they found a body of the woman in an advanced state of decomposition. Further investigations, revealed that the body was dismembered, Colonel Ledwaba added.

The Acting Provincial Commissioner of the South African Police Service in Limpopo, Major General Jan Scheepers has praised the Police team that ensured that this ruthless criminal is put behind bars.

He further commended the community and Police collaboration that resulted in the providing of crucial information.

"We are now relieved that the suspect is arrested and expect more arrests," concluded Major General Scheepers.

The suspect will appear before Morebeng magistrate's court soon.

The police investigations are still ongoing.
DULLES  A small passenger plane made an emergency landing on a northern Virginia highway after taking off from nearby Washington Dulles International Airport on Friday afternoon, but no injuries were reported, authorities said.

Police responded to a call just before 1 p.m. about a small aircraft making an emergency landing on Loudoun County Parkway, Virginia State Police said in a news release.

Dulles Airport received reports of a departed aircraft, Southern Airways Express flight 246, that landed off airport property on a nearby roadway, Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority spokesperson James Johnson said by email. The airport remains open for takeoffs and landings, Johnson said.

A Southern Airways Express plane was scheduled to depart Dulles for Lancaster, Pennsylvania, at 12:45 p.m., according to FlightAware.

There were seven people on board the single-engine Cessna 208 Caravan, according to Federal Aviation Administration. The airline confirmed that five were passengers, in addition to two crew members. The FAA will investigate.

#Dulles: there is in fact a small plane in the roadway and blocking all lanes of Loudoun County Pkwy at Arcola Mills Dr. Please use alternate routes. #VaTraffic pic.twitter.com/QJjQCv3TiP  VDOT Northern VA (@VaDOTNOVA) January 19, 2024

In a statement, the airline's CEO, Stan Miller, said, We are relieved to report there were no injuries, and all passengers are safe and sound. We are thankful to our pilots, who did exactly what they were trained to do -- to put the safety of our passengers first. We are working closely with the authorities to thoroughly investigate the situation.

Southern Airways Express was founded in 2013 and is based in Palm Beach, Florida. The commuter airline serves 40 U.S. cities stretching from Nantucket Island in Massachusetts to Honolulu, according to its website.


Friday, January 19, 2024  The US military has said its forces conducted strikes on 14 Houthi missiles that were loaded to be fired from Yemen, on the fourth day of airstrikes.

In a statement on social media platform X, U.S. Central Command said the Houthi missiles presented an imminent threat to merchant vessels and U.S. Navy ships in the region.

'These missiles on launch rails ... could have been fired at any time, prompting U.S. forces to exercise their inherent right and obligation to defend themselves,' it added.

'These strikes, along with other actions we have taken, will degrade the Houthi's capabilities to continue their reckless attacks on international and commercial shipping in the Red Sea, the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait, and the Gulf of Aden.'

Attacks by the Iran-allied Houthi militia on ships in the region since November have slowed trade between Asia and Europe and alarmed major powers.

The U.S. strikes are meant to degrade the Houthis' ability to carry out attacks in the Red Sea.

But the Houthis, who control most of Yemen, say they are acting in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza and have threatened to expand their attacks.

Earlier on Wednesday, U.S. Central Command said a drone launched from areas controlled by the Houthi rebels in Yemen had struck a U.S.-owned vessel in the Gulf of Aden.

There was some damage but no injuries in the attack, it added on X. The vessel, M/V Genco Picardy, is a Marshall Islands-flagged flagged, U.S.-operated bulk carrier ship, it said

The Biden administration has re-listed the Houthi rebels in Yemen as a terrorist group, drawing harsh criticism from Republicans who slammed the move for not going far enough.

Former President Donald Trump had previously listed Houthis as foreign terrorist organizations (FTO) and specially designated global terrorists (SDGT).

But Biden's Secretary of State Antony Blinken de-listed them in 2021 to make it easier to get humanitarian aid into Yemen.

Three years later, Biden bowed to increasing pressure to re-list the group - as SDGT only after Houthi rebels attacked U.S. ships in the Red Sea.


Friday, January 19, 2024  An American lady who claimed she was assaulted by a man after she refused to give her number to him, has been accused of faking the assault to raise money on GoFundMe.

Roda Osman, 33, is accused of committing felony theft by deception.

Back in September, Osman went viral on social media after making claims a man assaulted her with a brick outside the club in September. But, according to court documents, Osman used the made-up story to fraudulently raise at least $40,000 on GoFundMe.

The fundraiser claimed she was the victim of a similar attack more than three years ago.

Reports state Osman changed her story about being hit by authorities, and a friend police contacted stated off the record that she did not believe Osman was hit with a brick.

Footage obtained by detectives shows that Osman was struck in the face, however, it was by what appeared to be a plastic water bottle.

Texas Detectives contacted the Minneapolis Police Department to inquire about Osmans 2020 GoFundMe titled Help Black Muslim Mother Pay Her Medical Bill, with the same narrative of a Black man hitting her.

Minneapolis Police told the Houston Police Department they have not received any reports of Osman being assaulted in 2020.

Osman is currently on bail for a separate offence from September 2023 for felony assault and domestic violence. She was charged with two accounts of misdemeanour domestic violence in Steele County, Minnesota.

Harris County District Attorneys Office is asking the court to enter a $50,000 bail on the theft by deception charge.

Woman who claimed she was attacked by a man with brink, charged with faking the assault to raise money on GoFundMe (VIDEO 1) pic.twitter.com/CrXxAq92Q4  DAILY POST  (@TheKenyanPost) January 19, 2024

Woman who claimed she was attacked by a man with brick, charged with faking the assault to raise money on GoFundMe (VIDEO 2) pic.twitter.com/aZNR8vx9Rs  DAILY POST  (@TheKenyanPost) January 19, 2024

Woman who claimed she was attacked by a man with brick, charged with faking the assault to raise money on GoFundMe (VIDEO 3) pic.twitter.com/KPGZvSvRBd  DAILY POST  (@TheKenyanPost) January 19, 2024

Woman who claimed she was attacked by a man with brick, charged with faking the assault to raise money on GoFundMe (VIDEO 4) pic.twitter.com/VhrYFXcMVQ  DAILY POST  (@TheKenyanPost) January 19, 2024
Two people died in a nasty road crash last evening at Bukomba along the Luweero-Kiwoko road in Luweero District

The incident happened after two motorcycles on which they were traveling collided head-on and were subsequently crashed by a Fuso truck.

One of the deceased has been identified as Denis Ssenyondo, a resident of Ziroobwe in Luwero district who died on the spot. Police have identified the second victim as James Kakuru, 30.

Savannah regional police spokesperson Mr Sam Twiineamazima says observations suggest that the motorcycle registration number UFW 191X which was being driven by Kakuru overtook the low-bed Fuso truck loaded with an excavator.

He says that both the driver and rider were heading to Kiwoko side, and in the process, Kakuru collided with another oncoming motorcycle.

Late December last year, an accident along the Kampala-Gulu highway in Luweero town council claimed the life of Sergeant John Bosco Ssenyimba, a police officer at Luwero Central Police Station (CPS).
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The Board of Tirlan Co-operative Society Limited has announced that after leading the organisation through its recent transformation and a highly successful 40-year career, Jim Bergin will retire from his position as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) on 31 July 2024.

The Board is delighted to announce Offally man Sean Molloy as CEO Designate. Sean has been an outstanding strategic leader within the business for the past 18 years.

Todays announcement follows a comprehensive recruitment process, which was initiated when Jim Bergin informed the Board in June 2023 of his intention to retire from his position as CEO and to step down from the Board in 2024. The process was led by Tirlans Nominations & Governance Committee, with the independent guidance of a global Executive Search Firm.

Sean Molloy, who is currently Chief Ingredients and Agribusiness Officer and a director of Tirlan for the past 12 years, will assume the role of CEO on 1 August 2024, allowing for a smooth transition. In his current role he is responsible for revenues of over 2.5 billion, exporting across 100 countries.

John Murphy, Chairperson of Tirlan, expressed his deep appreciation to Jim Bergin for his outstanding contribution to the Co-op and the broader Irish agricultural sector.

On behalf of the Board, our farm families and the 2,300 employees of Tirlan, I wish to express our deep gratitude to Jim for his huge contribution to our organisation over the course of his 40-year career. He can be particularly proud of his success in establishing Tirlan as an independent, 100% farmer-owned Co-op, culminating in the 307 million buyout of the Glanbia Ireland business.

Highly respected for his authentic leadership style, and for his advocacy on behalf of Irish farmers, Jim always remained true to his farming roots and relished his engagement with our 5,000 farm families. In recent years he has successfully overseen the investment of 600 million by our organisation to expand milk processing capacity, which facilitated significant growth in milk output at farm level following the abolition of EU milk quotas in 2015. This now results in annual milk and grain payments from Tirlan of 2 billion, which, based on an analysis by EY, supports 19,000 jobs in the rural economy.

John Murphy said that the Board had a number of excellent candidates to choose from and was delighted that an internal candidate of the outstanding calibre of Sean Molloy emerged from the process.

Sean has a tremendous track record of delivery within the organisation. He played a central role in the transformation of the business, culminating in the formation of Tirlan. Sean has led award-winning innovation projects and built strategic relationships with leading international customers. An excellent communicator, he is highly respected by his colleagues and is renowned for his deep knowledge of the agricultural sector. From a farming background in Co. Offaly, he is passionate for the well-being of Tirlan farm families.

It is an appropriate time for leadership transition at the Co-op with the business in a very strong financial position, led by an excellent team.

ABOVE: Jim Bergin is retiring as CEO of Tirlan

Jim Bergin, CEO of Tirlan said: It has been a unique privilege to play a leadership role in what has been my local co-op for 40 years. The close engagement of our farmer shareholders and customers with our workforce brings a unique level of accountability and dialogue which I enjoyed greatly. Having commenced my career in a co-op, transitioned to a plc for 34 years and progressed to a co-op again in 2021, has been a wonderful corporate adventure while the organisation created 2 billion of additional value for our farm families. The greatest constant has been the wonderful people Ive met and the lifelong friends I have made.

I would like to wish my colleague Sean every success as he takes the helm later in 2024 and I look forward to working with him on the transition over the coming months. I know how passionate and committed he is to Tirlan and our farm families, and I have no doubt he will drive the Co-op forward with the support of a great team.

Sean Molloy said that he was honoured and delighted to be appointed as CEO Designate. I look forward to leading our superb team and I am grateful to the Board for placing its trust in me. I extend particular appreciation to Jim Bergin for his mentorship and support over the past 18 years. As we navigate the opportunities and challenges ahead in partnership with my 2,300 colleagues, I will focus on what is important to our farm families and customers as we lead an ambitious business into the future.

ABOVE: Sean Molloy, CEO Designate of Tirlan

Mr Molloy graduated from University College Dublin in 1994 with a degree in Agricultural Science. Prior to joining the Glanbia Group in 2006, Sean worked as a corporate development executive with the Irish Dairy Board (now Ornua) and strategy consultant with PwC.

He has held a number of senior management positions in Glanbia Ireland including Director of Strategy & Supplier Relations from 2006 to 2018 where he was responsible for strategy formulation and execution during a period of rapid growth in the business. He was appointed as an Executive Director of Glanbia Ireland (now Tirlan) in 2012. In addition, Sean assumed additional responsibility as Company Secretary from 2012 to 2017.

In 2018 he was appointed Chief Agri and Supplier Relations Officer with responsibility for the Ingredients category added to his remit in 2022. In his role he is responsible for commercial revenues of over 2.5 billion across 100 countries.

Sean is from County Offaly where he lives on a family farm with his wife Fiona and their three children, Katie, Jack and Andy.
An information session on the new forestry programme is to take place, next week.

The event is organised by the Irish Wood Producers in cooperation with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and Teagasc Forestry.

It will be held in the Rhu Glenn, Slieverue, Co. Kilkenny, next Wednesday, January 24, from 10am to 12noon. Registration starts at 9:30am.

Presentations from Robert Windle, Forestry Inspector and Frances McHugh, Teagasc Forestry Advisor will be followed by refreshments and an opportunity to ask one to one questions about planting / management / thinning / certification at information stands.

Irish Wood Producers is a not for profit forestry producer group covering the South East and based in New Ross. They deliver events and training, and manage all forestry operations for members.

Those interested in the upcoming Forestry Knowledge Transfer Groups (two hours every week for seven weeks) will also be able to sign up on the day.

The new forestry programme provides more opportunities for diverse silvicultural practices with better grant supports for many aspects of forestry, which many forest owners are not aware of. There has also been great interest in the newly launched native Tree Area Scheme. All are welcome. For more information see the Irish Wood Producers Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/IrishWoodProducers/
The 2024 EY Entrepreneur Of The Year (EOY) programme is officially open for nominations today. Entrepreneurs from emerging, established, and international businesses operating across all industry sectors in Kilkenny invited to submit their nominations between now and February 29.

The theme for this years programme is The Trailblazers. Entrepreneurial trailblazers are true leaders with the courage and capacity to plot and follow their own path, pushing conventional boundaries and limits.

Through their exploration of new technologies, sciences, applications and markets, Irelands entrepreneurs provide innovative answers and solutions to many of todays greatest challenges. They are often pioneers within their respective industries both in Ireland and across global markets. They forge their own unique trail to enable their companies, people, and the wider economy to reach new heights and aspirations.

EOY Alumni, Sam Moffett, CEO and Founder, Moffett Automated Storage and 2023 Entrepreneur of the Yea commented: Being selected as a finalist for the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year programme was such an honour. Winning my category and the overall award was a dream come true, however the programme is so much more than an awards night.

"The EY Entrepreneur Of The Year alumni includes over 600 previous finalists. They are an incredible group of leading entrepreneurs from all sectors throughout the island of Ireland. They understand what it is like to run their own business and have experienced many of the highs and lows that come with it.

"Everyone in the group is willing to share their experience and insights as well as provide practical advice and support. I feel so privileged to be part of this group and would wholeheartedly recommend this programme to any entrepreneurs who are thinking about getting involved.

Roger Wallace, Partner Lead for EY Entrepreneur Of The Year Ireland said: We are very excited to invite entrepreneurs from across Ireland to submit their nominations for the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2024 programme. Now in its 27th year, the programme exists to acclaim, drive, and inspire entrepreneurship across our island.

"This year we are celebrating the trailblazing entrepreneurs who are spearheading incredible businesses that are contributing to the growth of Irelands economy and local communities. Irish entrepreneurs continue to have a disproportionate global impact, reflecting an international scaling mindset and innate capacity to grow and succeed across borders and cultures.

One of the greatest strengths of Irelands entrepreneurial ecosystem is its diverse composition. For this reason, we are actively seeking and encouraging nominations from entrepreneurs of all ages and from all industries and locations.

24 finalists will be selected for this years programme. As finalists they will participate in an exciting strategic growth programme over a 10-month period, including a week-long CEO Retreat to South Africa. They will also be welcomed into our acclaimed alumni community where they will have the opportunity to learn from and be inspired by many of Irelands leading entrepreneurs who remain the heartbeat of the programme.

The EY Entrepreneur Of The Year alumni community comprises more than 600 entrepreneurs representing some of the greatest business minds across the island of Ireland. Collectively these businesses employ more than 250,000 people and generate revenues in excess of 23billion.

About the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year programme

The EY Entrepreneur Of The Year programme is open to entrepreneurs from all sectors and growth stages in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The awards programme is divided into three categories - Emerging, Established and International - with eight finalists chosen per category.

The EY Entrepreneur Of The Year Sustainability Award will also be presented to one of the finalists in recognition of their business significant contribution towards achieving and ensuring environmental sustainability.

EOY Judging Panel  Harry Hughes of Portwest to lead this years judging panel

The 24 finalists will be selected by an independent judging panel, comprising former winners, and chaired by Harry Hughes CEO of Portwest, who takes over the role from Anne Heraty CEO of CPL Resources plc.

The EY Entrepreneur Of The Year Ireland programme is supported by Premium Corporate Sponsor Julius Baer International, and Government sponsors Enterprise Ireland and Invest Northern Ireland.

Anyone interested can find out more or complete an online nomination form at www.eoy.ie. Those nominating someone else must do so with the entrepreneurs consent.
The upgrade of the N24 will improve 'connectivity between the towns and cities across the South Eastern Region' according to Chief Executive of Kilkenny County Council, Lar Power.

The local authority, in partnership with Tipperary County Council, Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) and the Department of Transport (DoT) are developing the N24 Waterford to Cahir Project. A project which is expected to be of benefit to a large number of Kilkenny drivers.

The project is included in the National Development Plan 2021-2030.

Following the Public Consultation to inform the Constraints Study in May/June 2021, and the second Public Consultation on Alternatives and Options in May 2022, a Public Display of the Preferred Transport Solution will begin on Tuesday, January 23 following a briefing to elected representatives and will run until February 9.

"I am delighted to see we are now at route option selection stage for this scheme and I wish to commend Transport Infrastructure Ireland for their engagement with us in advancing this critical piece of transport infrastructure. The development and completion of a transport solution along the N24 is critical to sustain and grow the economy of the region as a whole and further to enhance the safety of all road users.," Mr Power said.

"The upgrading of the N24 is a priority for Tipperary County Council. This infrastructure will improve connectivity between the towns and cities across the South Eastern Region and we acknowledge the significant economic and social benefits that derive from such investments," the Kilkenny Chief Executive concluded.

The Preferred Transport Solution will be showcased locally at an in-person public display in the Mooncoin Community Hall on Thursday, January 25 from 2pm to 8pm.

Events will also be hosted in Cahir, Clonmel and Carrick-on-Suir.

All of the information presented at the in-person events will be available through the dedicated website: www.n24waterford2cahir.ie throughout the display period from January 23 until February 9.

Project brochures will be available at the four events or you can request a brochure by contacting us on 056-779-4380 during office hours, Monday to Friday or by emailing: N24waterford2cahir@kilkennycoco.ie.

Maps of the Preferred Transport Solution Corridor will also be available to view at Kilkenny County Council Library, Belmont Road, Ferrybank (Ferrybank, via Waterford, X91 D211) and Tipperary County Council Civic Offices (Emmett Street, Clonmel, E91 N512) from January 29 until February 9.

Property owners or reputed property owners whose property lies within the Preferred Transport Solution Corridor will be notified directly and will have an opportunity to meet with the project team throughout the display period.
Angola, IN (46703)

Today

Snow likely. Temps nearly steady in the mid 30s. Winds NW at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of snow 70%..

Tonight

Partly cloudy this evening, then becoming cloudy after midnight. A few flurries are possible. Low 26F. Winds W at 10 to 20 mph.
Kendallville, IN (46755)

Today

Occasional snow showers. Temps nearly steady in the low to mid 30s. Winds NW at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of snow 80%. Snow accumulations less than one inch..

Tonight

Partly cloudy early followed by cloudy skies overnight. A few flurries are possible. Low 27F. Winds W at 10 to 20 mph.
Auburn, IN (46706)

Today

Snow likely. Temps nearly steady in the mid 30s. Winds NW at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of snow 80%. Snow accumulations less than one inch..

Tonight

Partly cloudy early followed by cloudy skies overnight. A few flurries are possible. Low 27F. Winds W at 10 to 20 mph.
The nominees for the upcoming iHeartRadio Music Awards 2024 have been announced.

Read more for further details.

2024 iHeartRadio Music Awards Nominees Announced: NewJeans, Stray Kids, BTS Jungkook, More Mentioned

On January 18, the K-pop community was thrilled to learn about which K-pop artists have been nominated for the 2024 iHeartRadio Music Awards.

The nominee list of iHeartRadio contained various artists around the globe. In the long list of nominees and groupings, it has also released specific categories dedicated to K-pop.

This included the K-pop Artist of the Year, K-pop Song of the Year, and Best New K-pop Artist.

[INFO] SEVENTEEN is nominated for KPOP ARTIST OF THE YEAR at the iHeartRadio Music Awards. 



 https://t.co/Gyz2eiE5IV



Note: Voting for the K-Pop categories is not open and only people from USA , Canada , New Zealand , and Australia  can vote.#SEVENTEEN # pic.twitter.com/vWPXxOCSMb January 19, 2024

(G)I-DLE is nominated for "Duo/Group of the Year" and "K-Pop Artist of the Year" on 2024 iHeart Radio Music Awards



They are the only K-Pop act nominated for "Duo/Group of the Year"#GIDLE # pic.twitter.com/uicfGp4UwI  (G)I-DLE Charts (@idlecharts) January 18, 2024

YOU MIGHT BE INTERESTED IN: BTS Bags Two Trophies at the 2022 iHeartRadio Music Awards

Meanwhile, some K-pop acts also managed to land spots in the categories Best Music Video, Duo/Group of the Year, TikTok Bop Of The Year, Favorite Debut Album, Best Fan Army, and Favorite On Screen awards.

See the full list of K-pop nominees below:

K-pop Artist of the Year

Stray Kids

BTS Jungkook

SEVENTEEN

(G)I-DLE

NCT DREAM

K-pop Song of the Year

"Cupid" by FIFTY FIFTY

"Super Shy" by NewJeans

"S-CLASS" by Stray Kids

"BOUNCY (K-HOT CHILLI PEPPERS)" by ATEEZ

"Seven" by BTS Jungkook (feat. Latto)

Best New K-pop Artist

NewJeans

ZEROBASEONE

RIIZE

BOYNEXTDOOR

xikers

Best Music Video

"3D" by BTS Jungkook (feat. Jack Harlow)

"FLOWER" by BLACKPINK Jisoo

Duo/Group of the Year

(G)I-DLE

TikTok Bop Of The Year

"Cupid (Twin Ver.)" by FIFTY FIFTY

Favorite Debut Album

"GOLDEN" by BTS Jungkook

"Layover" by BTS V

Best Fan Army

ATINY - ATEEZ's fandom

ARMY - BTS's fandom

Favorite On Screen

"j-hope IN THE BOX" by BTS J-Hope

BTS Dominates 2023 iHeartRadio Music Awards, Group Snags 2 Trophies

In other news, the world's biggest K-pop boy group trended on social media for their wins at the 2023 iHeartRadio Music Awards. The event was held on March 27, in Los Angeles, California.

The septet, who made an impact with their online presence and music releases, was initially nominated for Best Music Video, and Best Fan Army, alongside youngest member Jungkook's solo nomination for "Left and Right" with Charlie Puth.

In the end, BTS won the trophy for Best Music Video with "Yet to Come," marking their fourth consecutive time to achieve the award.

The group wasn't the only one who secured a win, but their fandom ARMY as well, who won the Best Fan Army for the sixth consecutive time.

Who among the nominees are you rooting for? Let us know in the comments below!

Read KpopStarz for more K-pop news.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: BTS and BLACKPINK Earn Multiple Nods in the 2021 iHeart Radio Music Awards

KpopStarz owns this article

Written by Riely Miller
Johnson's role may be in danger after CR passes with more Democrat than GOP votes in House
Davos [Switzerland], January 19 (ANI): Union Petroleum Minister Hardeep Puri met Nigerian minister of state for petroleum resources Heineken Lokpobiri, and CEO of Nigerian oil major NNPC Limited, Mele Kyari, on the sidelines of the ongoing World Economic Forum 2024 in Davos, Switzerland.

Nigeria is a major hydrocarbons producer in Africa and its production is the mainstay of the country's economy. Oil and natural gas revenue is the country's primary source of foreign exchange earnings.

Also Read | HC on Religious Conversion: Person Undergoing Conversion for Marriage Must Be Fully Informed of Legal Consequences, Says Delhi High Court.

On the contrary, India, the world's third-biggest oil importer and consumer and is dependent on crude oil from various sources in the global market to meet its domestic demand.

During the WEF 2024 earlier this week, Puri said the energy consumption in India is growing at three times the global average and will account for 25 per cent in the next decades or so.

Also Read | Ransomware Attack: India Saw 15% Spike With 2,138 Weekly Cyberattacks per Organisation in 2023, Says Report.

"If you look at the global scenario today, India's consumption is growing at three times the global average. In the next 20 years or so, India will account for 25 per cent of the energy demand globally," the minister said.

"Today what happens in India is important for the rest of the world...all these new challenges that we have to face, we have to face them pragmatically. I say this not to provoke anyone, but to just mention. If India had chosen in that point of time not to be pragmatic, we would have had a situation where oil would have gone beyond USD 200 dollars. Why? We import 85 per cent of our crude, and we have to deal with the issues of availability, affordability, and sustainability. If India had allowed itself to be put into a situation where we were to draw on the same sources." (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
PNN

Mysore (Karnataka) [India], January 19: Turingcode Technologies Pvt Ltd, a rising name in real estate technology, launched its service, HiBroker, with the help of the National Real-Estate Association / CREA(I) and the Mysore Real-Estate Association event held On December 10-12, 2023. HiBroker, touted as India's first Super App for the real estate industry, promises to transform the way brokers manage their businesses and clients.

Also Read | DMK Leader in Soup After Dalit Youth Files Complaint Against Him, In-Laws for Abducting His Wife.

"We are thrilled to introduce HiBroker, a comprehensive solution designed to empower real estate professionals," said Mr. Ramesh Mariyappan, founder and CEO of Turningcode Technologies and the key speaker at the event. "HiBroker goes beyond just a CRM, offering a one-stop platform for every aspect of property management, lead generation, and client engagement."

The speech at the event focused on the following key factors, detailing about the app:-

Also Read | Main Atal Hoon Movie Review: Pankaj Tripathi Mimics His Way Through This Sanitised Wiki-Biopic (LatestLY Exclusive).

* Seamless Contact and Lead Management: Organise contacts, track leads, and match them with suitable properties effortlessly.

* Advanced Property Module: Manage property listings, schedule site visits, and facilitate efficient property-led matching.

* Integrated Marketing Tools: Leverage WhatsApp, email, SMS, and IVR marketing for targeted outreach and lead nurturing.

* Secure Document Verification: Ensure authenticity through UID, PAN, RTO, and passport integration.

* Real-time Agreement Generation: Streamline deal closure with instant agreement generation and e-signing capabilities.

* Comprehensive Complaint and Ticketing Management: Address client concerns promptly and efficiently.

* Powerful PG and Property Management Software: Manage finances, track payments, and simplify property upkeep.

* Data-driven Marketing and Campaign Management: Design targeted campaigns and track their performance for optimal ROI.

* Detailed Report Generation and Distribution: Gain valuable insights into business performance through comprehensive reports.

* Dedicated Lead Tracking and Attendance Management App for Property Owners: Empower owners to stay informed and engaged.

* User-friendly Interface and Configuration: HiBroker customises to fit everyone's needs with intuitive controls and API integration.

HiBroker is a game-changer for real estate professionals, offering a complete ecosystem for managing the entire property lifecycle. From lead generation and nurturing to property management and client communication, HiBroker simplifies and streamlines every step of the process.

"HiBroker is a boon for real estate brokers," said Menaka Ramesh, Co-Founder of HiBroker. "It eliminates manual tasks, saves time and resources, and ultimately helps them close more deals and build stronger relationships with clients."

As a new company established in 2023-24, Turningcode Technologies is poised to disrupt the real estate landscape with innovative solutions. HiBroker's comprehensive features and user-centric design will empower brokers and shape the industry's future.

For more information, please visit:-

www.hibroker.in

(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)
Kadapa (Andhra Pradesh) [India], January 19 (ANI): Former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu on Friday promised that all the schemes announced in the name of 'Babu Surety-Bhavishaythuku Guarantee' will be implemented if Telugu Desam Party-Jana Sena coalition government is voted to power.

The mass contacting programme --'Babu Surety-Bhavisyathuku Guarantee'-- was launched in September last year, as part of which the opposition TDP reached voters in the state and highlighted the failures of the YSRC government on various fronts.

Also Read | Madhya Pradesh Holiday on January 22: MP Government Declares Holiday for All Colleges and Universities for Ram Temple Inauguration in Ayodhya.

Chandrababu Naidu promised that all the schemes announced in the name of 'Babu Surety-Bhavishaythuku Guarantee' will be implemented in letter and spirit by the coming TDP-Jana Sena government. He also promised to complete all the pending in Rayalaseema and supply 200 units of free power for handloom workers.

Exhilarated at the huge response from the public, who attended the meeting called at Kamalapuram of Kadapa district as part of the 'Raa Kadalira', the TDP president said that the entire Kadapa district is getting ready for the battle.

Also Read | Ram Mandir Consecration Ceremony: 56 Bhog Prasad Reaches Ayodhya, To Be Offered to Ram Lalla 'First' After Pran Pratishtha (Watch Video).

"I will remember this forever and all those who assembled for this meeting here should know that my fight is not for myself but to see to it that all sections, including women, youth, and farmers should feel happy," the TDP supremo said.

Chandrababu also asked them whether they were getting drinking water and said that except for Jagan and his family members, no one else in the Rayalaseema region was happy.

Expressing happiness at the public response, Chandrababu predicted that this clearly indicates that the TDP will certainly emerge victorious in the Pulivendula Assembly segment too.

The people of Kadapa, the home district of Jagan, are questioning him as to what he did for them in these five years while the Pulivendula voters are regretting having elected such a person, Chandrababu observed.

Pointing out that the prices of all the essential commodities are skyrocketing now, he said that the poor are totally being neglected. "The Chief Minister has mastered the art of looting the public, he said that the Chief Minister has minted hundreds of crores through sand smuggling from the Pennar river. Liquor sale has become a money spinner for Jagan," he remarked. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
North Lakhimpur (Assam), Jan 19 (PTI) Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday said the BJP and RSS fully support the idea of governing the entire country from Delhi.

Speaking at a public gathering at Gogamukh in Assam's Lakhimpur district on the second day of his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra in the state, Gandhi said his party does not favour such a system.

Also Read | Ram Mandir Pran Pratishtha Ceremony Ceremony: All Government Offices Under Chandigarh Administration To Stay Closed on January 22 on Occasion of Ram Temple Consecration Ceremony in Ayodhya.

"The BJP and RSS believe that Hindustan should be governed from Delhi, with one language and one leader. We disagree. Assam will not be governed from Delhi; it will be governed from Assam," he said.

Gandhi emphasized that the Congress values all states equally, which is why he initiated this march from Manipur in the east to Mumbai in the west.

Also Read | Ram Mandir Pran Pratishtha Ceremony: UK Parliament Echoes With Chants of 'Shri Ram' in Celebrations for Ram Temple (Watch Video).

"The Northeastern states and the security of its people are just as important to us as any other state," he added.

He also took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for not visiting Manipur even as the state continues to be rocked by ethnic strife since May last year.

"For the first time in history of India, a civil war-like situation is prevailing in a state. But the PM has not visited the state even for a single time. He cannot go there as it will expose the political reality of the BJP," he claimed.

For the second day in a row, Gandhi criticised Himanta Biswa Sarma and termed him as the 'most corrupt' CM.

Gandhi resumed his second day's Yatra in Assam by covering Majuli and Lakhimpur districts. He will proceed to Arunachal Pradesh on Saturday after night halt at Gogamukh.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Kolkata, Jan 19 (PTI) West Bengal BJP president Sukanta Majumdar on Friday wrote to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, urging her to declare holiday on January 22 so that people can participate in the celebrations marking the Ram temple consecration ceremony in Ayodhya.

Central government establishments, public sector banks, insurance companies, financial institutions and regional rural banks (RRBs) across the country will remain closed for half a day on January 22. Several states, including neighbouring Assam and Odisha, have also declared half-day holiday to mark the consecration ceremony.

Also Read | DMK Leader in Soup After Dalit Youth Files Complaint Against Him, In-Laws for Abducting His Wife.

"I have requested our Hon'ble CM @MamataOfficial (Mamata Banerjee) to kindly consider declaring 22nd January 2024 to be a school holiday, so that the youth of West Bengal gets to rejoice in the Ram Mandir consecration celebrations," Majumdar posted on X, sharing a copy of the letter he wrote to the chief minister.

In his letter, he said the chief minister has declared holidays on several special occasions in the past.

Also Read | CTET Admit Card for January 2024 Exam Released at ctet.nic.in, Know Steps to Download Hall Ticket.

"So we think that on the occasion of the Ram Temple inauguration, the people of the state should also be allowed to participate in the festivities. We therefore request you to officially declare the day as a holiday," he said.

Banerjee, who is also the chief of the ruling TMC, will lead a 'rally for harmony' on January 22 from the Hazra Crossing in south Kolkata to Park Circus, where a public meeting will also be held.

She will start the all-faith march after offering 'puja' at the centuries-old Kalighat temple, and visit places of worship of different religions during its course.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
New Delhi, January 19: As Ayodhya prepares for the 'Pran Pratishtha' ceremony of the Ram Mandir on January 22, the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) on Friday announced substantial initiatives aimed at enhancing medical preparedness in the temple town, an official statement said. In view of the 'Pran Pratishtha' ceremony, expectations are also high for a massive turnout, with hundreds of thousands of pilgrims and about 8,000 invitees, including distinguished guests.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will perform the rituals around the 'Pran Pratishtha' ceremony on January 22. This historic event holds immense significance for millions of devotees, necessitating robust healthcare measures to ensure the well-being of all attendees. Ram Mandir Pran Pratishtha Ceremony: UK Parliament Echoes With Chants of 'Shri Ram' in Celebrations for Ram Temple (Watch Video).

According to the statement, the government of Uttar Pradesh is bolstering the existing medical infrastructure through various measures. These include the establishment of a control room in the mela area, the installation of 16 first aid booths and two fully equipped temporary field hospitals, with a 20-bed hospital at Tulsi Udyan and a 10-bed hospital at Tent City Ayodhya, which will be functioning 24 hours a day.

Several vector control and disease surveillance measures have also been undertaken to prevent any outbreaks. The Secretary (HFM) and Director General of Health Services, MoHFW, recently visited Ayodhya to assess and fortify the medical infrastructure, ensuring a comprehensive healthcare system for the monumental event.

Recognising the importance of providing quality healthcare services during this mega-gathering event, the Ministry of Health is collaborating closely with the Uttar Pradesh government to develop a comprehensive medical preparedness and response plan. The Government of India supported the expansion of Rajarshi Dashrath Rajkiya Medical College from 350 to 550 beds, a move inaugurated by the Prime Minister on December 30, 2023. Ram Mandir Pran Pratishtha Ceremony Ceremony: All Government Offices Under Chandigarh Administration To Stay Closed on January 22 on Occasion of Ram Temple Consecration Ceremony in Ayodhya.

Additionally, a team from the JPNA Trauma Centre, AIIMS, New Delhi, has conducted capacity-building exercises, imparting training on basic life support (BLS), cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), triage techniques, and emergency and trauma care for all healthcare workers deployed in Ayodhya.

"Further, the MoHFW is pleased to announce that we were instrumental in launching the first of its kind, the Arogya Maitri Disaster Management Cube-BHISM (an indigenous portable hospital), which is equipped with several innovative tools designed to enhance disaster response and medical support during emergencies," the statement said.

"This state-of-the-art technology uses integrating artificial intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT), and data analytics and will facilitate effective coordination, real-time monitoring, and efficient management of medical services in deployed areas," it added.

As per the official statement, Central Government hospitals in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, and neighbouring states will also remain on alert during this period to address any unforeseen emergencies. The International Health (IH) Division, MoHFW, is also enhancing health facilities for Ayodhya International Airport from an international health perspective. "A designated, earmarked team is ready for rapid deployment in the event of exigencies. The Government of India stands ready to enhance the availability of specialists in critical categories should the need arise during this period," it added.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Shimla (Himachal Pradesh) [India], January 19 (ANI): Chief Minister Thakur Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Friday presided over the 'Sarkar Gaon Ke Dwar' programme at village Nakki of Pragpur area in Kangra district. The State Government has launched this programme to resolve the grievances of the people at their doorstep and to make them aware of policies and programmes of the state government to benefit the masses.

The Chief Minister also inaugurated four projects worth Rs. 11.32 crore viz. Mandwara to Karol via Chanauriya Basti, Baba Balotu Mandir and Sukar and Dadri link road including causeway over Nalsuha Khad and two bridges on Bani to Pragpur via Dangra Sidh road on Lagbaliana and Sehri Khad.

Also Read | Ram Mandir Consecration Ceremony: 56 Bhog Prasad Reaches Ayodhya, To Be Offered to Ram Lalla 'First' After Pran Pratishtha (Watch Video).

The Chief Minister announced to upgrading of the tehsil Pragpur to tehsil and merging Kadoha, Chalali, and Samnoli Patwar circles from Dehra tehsil in Pragpur. He announced rupees one crore for the re-opening of the Community Health Center, Rakkad, rupees one crore for Dadasiba College, rupees three crores for Kotla College and rupees six crore for Rakkad College, rupees one crore for Joint Office Building, Dadasiba, Rs. 25 lakhs for Government Senior Secondary School, Saleti, Rs. 20 lakh for AHC Saleti, rupees two crore for Academic Block of Pharmacy College Kuhna and rupees one crore for ITI Terrace.

He also announced upgrading Police Post Dadasiba to the Police station, starting BBA and BCA classes in Rakkar College, Kotla Behad College and Dadasiba College, starting science and commerce classes in Government Senior Secondary School Nalsuna and Kaloha from the next academic session and opening Ayurvedic dispensary at Chamukha.

Also Read | Ram Temple Consecration Ceremony To Be Telecast Live on NDMC Public Screens; Markets To Be Lit Up on January 22.

The Chief Minister also announced providing adequate funds for the new building of PMCH Pragpur, restarting the Pathankot-Chintpurni bus service, starting the Terrace-Shimla via Kotla night bus service and extending the Shimla-Pragpur bus service route upto Seulkhad and to provide adequate funds for construction of roads in Kotla Behad as well.

During the program, the Chief Minister also presented cheques of financial assistance of Rs 31,000 each to 10 beneficiaries under the Shagun Scheme.

CM Sukhu said that the state government is organizing Revenue Lok Adalats up to the tehsil and sub-tehsil level and till now 65 thousand mutation cases have been settled. So far, 15,362 mutation and 742 partition cases have been settled in the Revenue Lok Adalats in Kangra district as well.

The state government stands firmly with the people on the issue of notifying the area adjacent to Pong Dam as an eco-sensitive zone, remarked the Chief Minister. He said that efforts were being made to promote tourism activities in the Pong Dam area and schemes worth Rs 100 crore were being commenced in the times to come, he added.

The Chief Minister said that due to the financial mismanagement of the previous government, today every Himachali has a debt of more than one lakh rupees. The present state government inherited a burden of thousands of crore from the previous BJP government and now we are working hard to bring the economy back on track.

He said that efforts were being made to strengthen the rural economy. Milk purchase rates have been increased by six rupees and a Rs 250 crore milk processing plant is being constructed at Dhagwar in Kangra district. Besides announcing 20 thousand jobs in the government sector, steps were also being taken towards providing self-employment opportunities to the youth and Rs 680 crore Rajiv Gandhi Self-Employment Start-up Scheme has been launched. So far, 1200 youth applied for e-taxi permits under this scheme and the government is providing a 50 per cent subsidy. Financial assistance for setting up solar energy projects would also be provided under the second phase of the scheme and electricity produced would be purchased from them for 25 years, to provide them a fixed income.

Himachal Pradesh CM Sukhu said that the standard of education has declined due to the negligence of the previous BJP government. Various reports on the reading ability of the students were alarming. He said that from the next academic session, English medium from class first in government school will be started and resources will be used better by creating clusters.

The Chief Minister said that despite having a debt of Rs 75 thousand crore and liabilities of government employees worth Rs 10 thousand crore, the state government released a special relief package of Rs 4500 crore for the disaster affected.

He said that the state government has fulfilled its election guarantee by reinstating the Old Pension Scheme. The government provided Children of the State status to 4000 orphans, under which the state government will bear the expenses of their care, education and hostel. He said that the state government will also bear the expenses of education of widows' children and the scheme for this will be finalized in the upcoming budget. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Chennai, Jan 19 (PTI) Amid showering of flowers and petals by BJP supporters, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a road show here on Friday before inaugurating the Khelo India Youth Games.

Beginning his three-day Tamil Nadu visit, Modi waved to enthusiastic supporters from his car and along the about 4-km route, he was welcomed by performers of Bharathanatyam and folk arts and traditional music was played.

Also Read | Ram Mandir Pran Pratishtha Ceremony Ceremony: All Government Offices Under Chandigarh Administration To Stay Closed on January 22 on Occasion of Ram Temple Consecration Ceremony in Ayodhya.

The Ram Mandir consecration on January 22 was a key theme that was displayed in banners by saffron party workers.

The Prime Minister was accorded a rousing reception by BJP workers who lined up on both sides of the roads, leading to the Nehru Indoor Stadium at Periamet here.

Also Read | Madhya Pradesh: Policeman Shot Dead During Chase To Nab Miscreants in Seoni District; Three Arrested (Watch Video).

Modi arrived at the airport here and later reached INS Adyar, near the Marina beach by a helicopter and arrived at the venue of the youth games by road. Governor RN Ravi and Chief Minister M K Stalin welcomed him.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Chennai, Jan 19 (PTI) Police on Friday registered an FIR against the son and daughter-in-law of an MLA belonging to the ruling DMK for allegedly beating and verbally abusing their 18-year old domestic help, a Dalit.

Police said a government hospital at Ulundurpet in Kallakurichi district informed them that a young woman had come for treatment who alleged that she was beaten and verbally abused in Chennai by 'a legislator's son and his wife'.

Also Read | TMC MP Mahua Moitra Vacates Government Bungalow Over a Month After Expulsion From Lok Sabha (Watch Video).

Hospital authorities said, during examination, injuries were observed on her body.

Subsequently, a woman inspector from the Neelangarai All Women Police Station here visited the Ulundurpet hospital.

Also Read | Gurmeet Ram Rahim Gets Furlough: Dera Sacha Sauda Chief Gets 50-Day Parole, Say Official Sources.

During questioning, she said that she used to work as a domestic help in the house of the legislator's son at Tiruvanmiyur in Chennai. She alleged that she was beaten by the MLA's son Andro and his wife Marlina. Also, they verbally abused her.

Based on her complaint, a case has been registered and a probe is on, a city police release said.

She told reporters that she faced physical torture for about seven months at the hands of the man and his wife. She said her idea was to save some money so that it would be of help to her to pursue her educational goals.

On X, Tamil Nadu BJP President K Annamalai alleged that the girl, belonging to the Scheduled Caste, was branded using cigarettes and brutally beaten by Andro and Marlina, son and daughter-in-law of I Karunanidhi, DMK MLA of Pallavaram constituency in Chennai. The Saffron party leader demanded a detailed probe and quick, appropriate action.

The MLA has said that he and his son lived separately and he had no idea about the allegation.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
New Delhi, January 19: In a move to allow employees to partake in the upcoming Ram Mandir Pran Pratishtha ceremony in Ayodhya, the Indian government has declared a half-day closure for all Central Government Offices, Central Institutions, and Central Industrial Establishments across the country on Monday, January 22. The closure will go into effect at 2:30 PM, permitting employees to attend the Ram Lalla Pran Pratishtha of the idol of Lord Ram in the newly constructed Ayodhya temple.

The Ministry of Personnel and Training issued an official memorandum on Friday, January 19th, informing all Ministries and Departments of the government about the half-day closure. This directive applies to central offices in New Delhi and throughout the country, ensuring uniformity in honouring the important occasion. Ram Temple Inauguration: Notice Issued to Amazon for Sale of Sweets Claiming Sri Ram Mandir Ayodhya Prasad.

"The Ram Lalla Pran Pratishtha at Ayodhya will be celebrated on 22nd January 2024 across India. To enable employees to participate in the celebrations, it has been decided that all Central Government Offices, Central Institutions and Central Industrial Establishments throughout India will be closed for half a day till 1430 hours on 22nd January 2024. All Ministries/Departments of Government of India may bring the above decision to the notice of all concerned," read the central government order undersigned by Parveen Jargar Deputy Secretary to the Govt. of India.

Earlier, Govind Dev Giri, a member of the Shri Ram Janmbhoomi Teertha Kshetra Trust, said that the 'Netronmelan' (unveling of Ram Lalla's statue) will be done by applying honey to a gold bar. The 'Pran Pratishtha' of Shri Ram Lalla at Ayodhya's temple will take place on January 22.

"The basic method of 'netronmelan' is that by applying honey to a gold bar, the eyes become anointed, which looks like 'kajal' to the people," Acharya Giri said while speaking to ANI. "Ram Lalla has been enshrined in his grand temple. Today, the holy fire will be established for worship. However, the resolution for the Pran Pratishta was taken on Thursday itself. The resolution has been taken with the Vedic thoughts by sitting with the block Vedic scholars. Today, the fire will appear," he added. Maharashtra Holiday on January 22: Schools, Colleges and Government Offices to Remain Closed as State Declares Public Holiday for Ram Temple Inauguration in Ayodhya.

Acharya Govind Giri further explained, "After this, the method of worship will become dynamic. In the ancient knowledge of worship, all the Gods and Goddesses are invoked first and fire is considered to be the supreme of all these gods. That is why offerings are made in the fire in the same way as with the recitation of mantras. Offerings are made and that offering automatically reaches the God or Goddess. Now that the deity has been enshrined, a bandage is tied in front of its eyes, which will be opened on January 22 after the completion of the puja with complete Vedic rituals."

Meanwhile, Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) media-in-charge Sharad Sharma shared glimpses of the Ram Lalla idol, which was placed inside the sanctum-sanctoram of the temple on Thursday. The idol of Lord Ram was placed inside the sanctum sanctorum of the temple in Ayodhya on Thursday. Covered with a veil, the first photo of the idol was revealed during the placement ceremony in the sanctum sanctorum on Thursday.

The idol of 'Ram Lalla' is carved by Arun Yogiraj, a famed sculptor from Karnataka. The idol is 51 inches tall and weighs 1.5 tonnes. The idol portrays Lord Ram as a five-year-old child standing on a lotus also crafted from the same stone. The Pran Pratishta ceremony will be held in Ayodhya on January 22.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will perform rituals to mark the 'Pran Pratishtha'; a team of priests led by Lakshmikant Dixit will lead the main rituals. Several celebrities and noted personalities have also been invited to the ceremony.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Jaipur (Rajasthan) [India], January 18 (ANI): The first session of the sixteenth Rajasthan Legislative Assembly will begin on Friday.

A day before the Assembly session on Thursday, Rajasthan Assembly Speaker Vasudev Devnani called an all-party meeting and said that the House would run peacefully with the cooperation of all political parties.

Also Read | Amit Shah Inaugurates Cyber Security Operations Centre at Assam Rifles Campus in Shillong (Watch Video).

On Thursday, a meeting of the BJP Legislature Party was also held at the Rajasthan BJP headquarters, where preparations and strategies for the upcoming assembly session were made.

Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma, along with his cabinet members and BJP MLAs, were present in the meeting of the legislature party held at the Rajasthan BJP headquarters.

Also Read | Bihar Shocker: Two Shot Dead by Five Bike-Borne Assailants in Katihar, Probe Underway.

Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma said that all the members of the party and the opposition have the same feeling about presenting their views in the House. He said that every effort should be made to ensure that all members get a chance to express their views.

Members should also try to present their views within the time limit, the CM said.

Cabinet Minister Avinash Gehlot, who attended the meeting, said, "The Governor will address the House on Friday in the Rajasthan Assembly session. After that, there will be a meeting of the Business Advisory Committee in which the work of the House for the coming days will be decided. The government is ready to answer every question of the opposition."

Vasudev Devnani, while presiding over the all-party meeting, said that there should be a meaningful discussion in the House. All members will get a chance to speak.

"For the House of Legislative Assembly to function for a maximum number of days, all the members of all parties will have to have positive thinking," said Vasudev Devnani. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Jaipur, Jan 19 (PTI) Congress leader Sachin Pilot on Friday claimed that the Rajasthan government's move to discontinue the previous regime's internship programme was an act of "vengeance".

The BJP government scrapped the 'Rajiv Gandhi Yuva Mitra Internship' scheme, a flagship programme of the previous Congress regime, weeks after coming to power in Rajasthan.

Also Read | UGC NET Result 2023: Final Answer Key and Cut-Off List of National Eligibility Test December Examination Out at ugcnet.nta.ac.in, Know Steps To Check.

Pilot met the beneficiaries of the scheme who were demonstrating against the state government at the Shaheed Smarak here and sat with the protesters.

Speaking to reporters at the martyr memorial, Pilot said the BJP-led state government is snatching employment from the youth.

Also Read | Ram Temple Consecration Ceremony: Health Ministry Announces Substantial Initiatives To Enhance Medical Preparedness in Ayodhya During 'Pran Pratishtha' Ceremony.

The present BJP government has announced to stop the programme which was aimed to develop a pool of intellectual and self-motivated youths, he said.

"The action of the state government to discontinue the scheme is a step taken out of vengeance," the Congress leader said.

He said if the government wants to change the name of the scheme, terms and conditions, or wants to change the provisions, there is no problem in discussing it.

"But the educated youth who have already got employment and you snatch their jobs. I consider this a wrong step," Pilot added.

He said that the government should come forward and address the demands of the protesting beneficiaries.

"I have come here today to support the demands of all these youths and hope that the government will use prudence to restore their jobs," the party leader said.

He added that this issue will be raised in the House and outside.

"We have always raised the issue whether we are in power or in the opposition. These are such issues on which we cannot compromise," he said.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Ayodhya (Uttar Pradesh) [India], January 19 (ANI): Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath declared on Friday that the consecration ceremony of Lord Ram is scheduled for January 22, graced by the presence of the Prime Minister in Ayodhya. CM Yogi emphasized that this event is a significant step toward re-establishing India's trust, faith, and pride.

According to the CMO, the Chief Minister provided insights about administrative arrangements in Ayodhya in a press conference with journalists at the International Ram Katha Museum.

Also Read | HC on Religious Conversion: Person Undergoing Conversion for Marriage Must Be Fully Informed of Legal Consequences, Says Delhi High Court.

Yogi said, "There is an atmosphere of enthusiasm regarding the upcoming consecration ceremony in the entire Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh, and the country. Devotees will feel joy after seeing this moment, which is coming after many centuries."

He expressed confidence that just as all the programs have been completed successfully till now, similarly the program of January 22 will also be historic. With the cooperation of the public, the blessings of saints, and the grace of Lord Ram, this program will be completed safely.

Also Read | Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra: Rahul Gandhi Dons Hanuman Mask, Visits Sri Auniati Satra in Assam (Watch Video).

He further informed that the local-level administration and state government ministers have already made preparations for all the arrangements.

"Through better coordination at the local level, coordination with the trust, facilities, traffic management, security, etc., the historic event on January 22 has been prepared to be conducted in a grand, divine, secure, and well-organized manner. The remaining tasks will also be completed in a time-bound manner", he said.

The Chief Minister said that even after January 22, any plan for the darshan of Lord Ram prepared by the Teerth Kshetra Trust will receive full support from the state government at the local level. The state government is providing complete assistance to ensure that devotees coming here have the opportunity to witness with devotion.

The Chief Minister emphasized that comprehensive arrangements have been made, including provisions for tent cities, dharamshalas, and hotels. He highlighted the establishment of improved green corridors for the convenience of visitors from cities like Lucknow, Gorakhpur, Varanasi, and Prayagraj, ensuring a smooth and hassle-free experience. Robust security measures have also been implemented to guarantee the safety of devotees.

"After five centuries, this opportunity has come, and therefore, there is enthusiasm and excitement in everyone's hearts. Every devotee wants to have the darshan of the Lord. The emotions that are in your hearts are also in our hearts. My appeal is that with better coordination and harmony, darshan will be possible. No one should face any difficulties in Ayodhya," he added.

Considering the cold waves, he instructed against coming on foot and assured that the government is making arrangements for districts and states. The Chief Minister underscored the collective responsibility to prevent any chaotic situations.

The Chief Minister earnestly appealed to individuals not to arrive without a scheduled program. He urged patience, requesting everyone to wait for their designated turn and follow the prescribed schedule. He provided assurance that comprehensive arrangements are in progress, ensuring that no one will face inconvenience. Local-level arrangements are being orchestrated in collaboration with the state government and local administration.

He further added that the implementation of the beat system is suggested in the state, aiming to engage with people at the grassroots level to facilitate organized darshan. Local arrangements are being made for bus services from the state. The specific details of when and how the darshan will occur will be decided by the Trust, and corresponding arrangements are being meticulously planned and implemented. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
HARBIN  With the temperature outside nearing  25 C, Jin Lei planted his foot on the accelerator and drove along a test road on a frozen river, turning and braking occasionally as snow flew up behind the wheels.

Since November, Jin has been working in Heihe, a city in China's northernmost province of Heilongjiang, to test vehicles.

Before a new car goes on sale, it has to undergo cold-weather testing.

"We come to Heihe to test all the parts of the vehicle, and their performance in frigid conditions," said Jin, a test engineer at an unnamed car company.

The data he collects provides important references for adjustments to vehicle parameters.

Heihe has various favorable conditions for cold-area car testing, including diverse landforms and cold, dry weather in the winter. Its high-quality services have drawn more and more carmakers to test their latest models in the city in recent years.

Back in 1989, the Jiefang truck division of China FAW Group held its first car test in Heihe.

Over the following 30-plus years, the city has seen a rapid increase in car testing companies and personnel.

Zhao Xinhong, general manager of Heilongjiang Red Valley Automotive Test Co, said the company has more than 10 cold-area car testing bases that can facilitate dozens of cold-area car testing projects.

He said the company has cooperated with over 100 domestic and foreign brands, vehicle parts manufacturers and research institutions.

In recent years, Heihe has improved its infrastructure and services to boost its car-testing industry.

Wang Yulong, director of the Heihe industry and information technology bureau, said the city has 12 car testing enterprises and more than 120 testing roads, which can meet requirements for different conditions.

He said Heihe has opened facilities including a reception service center for car testing enterprises, and introduced regulations for cold-area car testing industry services.

Statistics show the city's cold-area car testing business volume accounts for more than 80 percent of China's total.

According to Chen Gang, an expert from the China Society of Automotive Engineers, the number of new vehicles is increasing, and the research and development cycle is becoming shorter, which provides more space for the development of Heihe's cold-area car testing industry.

The booming industry has also injected vitality into local economic development.

Data shows that during the annual car testing season, Heihe's car testing industry generates hundreds of millions of yuan in revenue for sectors such as accommodation, catering, retail and transportation.

Xinhua
Vodacom parent company Vodafone and Microsoft signed a 10-year strategic partnership deal in a move for the operator to tap deeper into generative AI, digital services and cloud.

In a statement, Vodafone said the deal will bolster each sector to boost service for over 300 million businesses, public sector organisations, and consumers across Europe and Africa.

Vodafone detailed that Microsoft's generative AI will be used to enhance customer service, hyperscale its managed IoT connectivity platform and develop new digital and financial services for businesses, particularly SMEs across Europe and Africa. Lastly, it will overhaul its global data centre cloud strategy.

As part of the deal, Vodafone will invest US$1.5 billion over the next decade in cloud and customer-focused AI services developed in partnership with the American technology giant. Additionally, Micoaofrt will use Vodafones fixed and mobile connectivity services.

Vodafones managed IoT connectivity platform will become a separate standalone business by April 2024 and Microsoft will invest an unspecified amount in it.

By tapping into the latest generative AI technology, Vodafone said it will provide a highly personalised and differentiated customer service experience across multiple channels.

Vodafone added newly developed AI technologies will be built on unbiased and ethical privacy and security policies, under the operators framework from ethical AI.

Vodafone CEO Margherita Della Valle said: Today, Vodafone has made a bold commitment to the digital future of Europe and Africa. This unique strategic partnership with Microsoft will accelerate the digital transformation of our business customers, particularly small and medium-sized companies, and step up the quality of customer experience for consumers.

This new generation of AI will unlock massive new opportunities for every organisation and every industry around the world, added Satya Nadella, Microsoft chairman and CEO.

We are delighted that together with Vodafone we will apply the latest cloud and AI technology to enhance the customer experience of hundreds of millions of people and businesses across Africa and Europe, build new products and services, and accelerate the companys transition to the cloud.






Guwahati (Assam) [India], January 19 (ANI): Security has been beefed up across Assam in view of Union Home Minister Amit Shah's visit to the northeastern state on Saturday.

Heavy security personnel have deployed at Sarusajai Stadium, Srimanta Sankaradeva Kalakshetra and other parts of Guwahati.

Also Read | Money Markets To Remain Shut on January 22 on Occasion of Ram Mandir Consecration Ceremony, Says RBI.

Senior police officials are monitoring the security arrangements in the capital city of Assam.

Amit Shah will attend three programmes in Guwahati on January 20.

Also Read | UGC NET Result 2023: Final Answer Key and Cut-Off List of National Eligibility Test December Examination Out at ugcnet.nta.ac.in, Know Steps To Check.

He will first attend the passing out parade of 2551 Assam police commandos at Sarusajai Stadium in Guwahati.

The Union Home Minister will also launch a book named "Assam's Braveheart Lachit Barphukan" at Srimanta Sankardeva International Auditorium in Guwahati.

On January 20 evening, the Union Home Minister will inaugurate the Brahmaputra Riverfront in Guwahati.

The Union Home Minister will also attend the 61st Raising Day celebrations of the SSB at the SSB complex in Tezpur on January 20.

On the same day, he will the 13th triennial conference of the All Bathou Mahasabha at Dhekiajuli in Sonitpur district.

Security has been beefed up across Mizoram in view of Union Home Minister Amit Shah's visit to the northeastern state, a senior police officer said.

Amit Shah's Assam visit is likely to coincide with Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, which will commence from Nagaland for Assam. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Chamoli (Uttarakhand) [India], January 19 (ANI): Defence Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated 35 infrastructure projects of the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) to the nation in Joshimath at Chamoli district and said that the timely completion of projects has been possible due to the commitment of the organisation.

The project, which includes six roads and 29 bridges in seven states, was completed by the BRO at a cost of Rs 670 crore.

Also Read | Ram Mandir Consecration Ceremony: 56 Bhog Prasad Reaches Ayodhya, To Be Offered to Ram Lalla 'First' After Pran Pratishtha (Watch Video).

Speaking about the infrastructure projects, the Defence Minister said, "We all have to work together to protect India's borders. Praising the service of the Border Roads Organisation (BRO), the Defence Minister said that timely completion of projects has been possible due to the commitment of the organisation.

He also called for working in an environment-friendly manner with the mantra of maximum national security and welfare and said that climate change is not just a weather-related phenomenon but a very serious issue related to national security.

Also Read | Ram Temple Consecration Ceremony To Be Telecast Live on NDMC Public Screens; Markets To Be Lit Up on January 22.

He also said that the Defence Ministry is taking the weather-related phenomenon very seriously and will seek cooperation from friendly countries in this regard.

State Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami and Garhwal MP Tirath Singh Rawat were also present along with the Defence Minister, on the occasion.

Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, while welcoming and congratulating the Defence Minister on his arrival at Devbhoomi, expressed his gratitude for the inauguration of development projects in border areas.

The projects of seven states inaugurated by the Defence Minister include 3 bridges in Uttarakhand, 1 road and 10 bridges in Jammu and Kashmir, 3 roads and 6 bridges in Ladakh, 1 bridge in Himachal Pradesh, 2 roads in Sikkim, 8 in Arunachal Pradesh and 1 bridge in Mizoram.

Uttarakhand's Dhak Bridge and Bhapkund Bridge on the Joshimath-Malari road connecting the India-China border and Rimkhim Gadh Bridge on the Sumna-Rimkhim motor road have been built by Shivalit Project at a cost of Rs 33.24 crore. Due to this, transportation in border areas has become easier.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh also made special mention of the contribution of BRO in the recently launched Silkyara Tunnel Operation to rescue stranded labourers in Uttarakhand.

Rajnath Singh also met the soldiers of the Border Roads Organisation in Joshimath Dhaka and boosted their morale by talking to them.

He also praised the work of BRO in strengthening connectivity on the country's borders in adverse circumstances.

In the occasion, Chief Minister Dhami said that under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, work on big projects has started while also taking into consideration the strategic, religious and environmental importance of the state.

"Schemes like Chardham All Weather Road, Rishikesh-Karnprayag Railway Line, Frontier Area Development Project and Mountain Range are important from the point of view of development as well as security," he said.

The Chief Minister further said that, under the guidance of the Prime Minister, work is being done to rapidly advance the development work in the state of Uttarakhand.

"To make Uttarakhand the best state in the country, the state government is working with full determination and without any option," he added.

The Chief Minister also congratulated the entire BRO team for giving impetus to the infrastructure development work in the border areas. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
New Delhi, Jan 19 (PTI) Realty firm Anant Raj Ltd has raised Rs 500 crore through issuance of shares to institutional investors on a private placement basis to reduce debt and meet working capital requirements.

In a regulatory filing on late Thursday, the company informed that it had launched Qualified Institutional Placement (QIP) on January 12 and closed on January 18.

Also Read | Netizens Celebrate Ram Mandir Pran Pratishtha Ceremony Preparations in Ayodhya! Check Out Posts, Pics & Videos Online Capturing the Excitement Leading Up to the Event.

The Finance and Investment Committee approved the allotment of 1,68,91,891 equity shares to eligible qualified institutional buyers at the issue price of Rs 296 per equity share, aggregating to about Rs 500 crore.

The shares have been issued to Tata Indian Opportunities Fund, Tata Mutual Fund-Tata ELSS Tax Saver Fund, Bofa Securities Europe, Aditya Birla Sun Life Insurance Company, Discovery Global Opportunity (Mauritius), Aditya Birla Sun Life Trustee, Mahindra Manulife Small Cap Fund, and Mahindra Manulife Business Cycle Fund.

Also Read | Ayodhya Dham Junction Railway Station Facts: Know All About New Ayodhya Railway Station That Has Airport-Like Amenities and More.

In November last year, Anant Raj Ltd planned to raise up to Rs 500 crore through issuance of securities to institutional investors.

In October, Delhi-based Anant Raj announced plans to launch three new housing projects in Gurugram and Andhra Pradesh in the next 6-9 months with an estimated sales value of Rs 4,000 crore.

Anant Raj will launch a luxury group housing project in Sector 63A Gurugram, comprising over 1 million sq ft of developable area. The company also has plans to launch plots and villas, having a saleable area of around 1 million sq ft, in its nearly 200-acre township 'Anant Raj Estate' in Gurugram.

The company has also started the construction of 1,900 affordable housing projects at Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
New Delhi, Jan 19 (PTI) AquaExchange, an aquaculture technology and fintech startup, has raised USD 6 million from investors for expansion.

In a statement, the company said it has raised the amount in Series A funding led by Ocean 14 Capital with participation from existing investors including Endiya Partners and Accion Venture Labs.

Also Read | Netizens Celebrate Ram Mandir Pran Pratishtha Ceremony Preparations in Ayodhya! Check Out Posts, Pics & Videos Online Capturing the Excitement Leading Up to the Event.

Headquartered in Vijayawada (Andhra Pradesh), AquaExchange is helping transform aquaculture through technology.

The company leverages its technology to increase crop yields, mitigate crop risks and combat rising input costs. Their devices enable farm automation and improve crop visibility for lenders and customers leading to premium prices and reduced costs for farmers.

Also Read | Ayodhya Dham Junction Railway Station Facts: Know All About New Ayodhya Railway Station That Has Airport-Like Amenities and More.

The fund will be used to scale adoption of the company's full-stack business model including farm automation, crop financing and harvest procurement. The company also plans to focus their efforts on a few international markets for device exports.

Pavan Kosaraju, Founder of Aqua Exchange, said this round of funding strengthens the company's position as leaders in the aquaculture technology and fintech sectors.

"We plan to refine and scale our unique reinforcement framework, wherein farmers are immediately incentivised for sustainable practices through reduced input costs and higher offtake prices, emphasizing our commitment to sustainable practices in the industry," Kosaraju said.

With this funding round, he said the company aims to equip many more aquaculture farmers with the right technology to reduce costs and increase productivity while enabling global protein sustainability.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Portland (Maine, USA), Jan 19 (AP) A former Republican legislative candidate pleaded guilty to assaulting law enforcement officers during the US Capitol riot, officials said.

Matthew Brackley, 40, of Waldoboro, Maine, travelled to Washington for former President Donald Trump's Stop the Steal rally on January 6, 2021, entered the US Capitol and asked for the location of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office before shouting Let's go! and using his elbows to push past police officers, according to prosecutors.

Also Read | North Korea Tests 'Underwater Nuclear Weapons System' Amid US Drills With South Korea.

His group was stopped by again by police before chemical spray was used to break up the demonstrators, prosecutors said.

Brackley will be sentenced May 14 in Washington, DC, after reaching an agreement in which he pleaded guilty Thursday to assaulting, resisting or impeding law enforcement officers. The crime carries a maximum penalty of eight years in prison.

Also Read | Pakistan: 18 Children Die of Pneumonia in Punjab Province Due to Freezing Cold.

Defense lawyer Steven Levin said his client has accepted full responsibility for his actions.

His aberrant conduct, which lasted less than an hour and for which he is extremely remorseful, stands in stark contrast to his otherwise lifelong law-abiding character, Levin said Friday in an email.

Brackley tried unsuccessfully to unseat Democratic state Sen. Eloise Vitelli of Arrowsic last year. His campaign website described him as a Maine Maritime Academy graduate whose approach would be to have respectful, thoughtful conversations on the issues. (AP)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Davos [Switzerland], January 19 (ANI/TPS): Sitting with a photo of Kfir Bibas on his one-year birthday, Israeli President Isaac Herzog brought attention to the plight of the hostages in Gaza during an interview at the World Economic Forum's annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland on Thursday.

"Many Israelis are asking themselves in many debates, and correctly, so, how come such huge humanitarian aid goes in, and Kfir Bibas and all of the other hostages are not even getting any help at all in any way, form or manner," Herzog said.

Also Read | North Korea Tests 'Underwater Nuclear Weapons System' Amid US Drills With South Korea.

Hamas terrorists took Bibas, his 4-year-old brother Ariel, and their parents, Shiri and Yarden, from their home in Kibbutz Nir Oz along with some 240 others during the Oct. 7 assault on the northwestern Negev. Another approximately 1,200 persons were murdered and thousands more were wounded. According to IDF estimates, 136 hostages remain in Gaza, although many are believed to be dead.

Badly needed medicines prepared for 45 hostages in a French-Qatari deal entered the Gaza Strip from Egypt on Wednesday.

Also Read | Pakistan: 18 Children Die of Pneumonia in Punjab Province Due to Freezing Cold.

"Now we are praying that the medication that is being supplied with France and Qatar and the international agencies and others in Gaza will reach them. But that's only the beginning," Herzog continued. "Israelis are asking themselves, 'How come the hostages are not getting anything?'"

Herzog emphasized that before the international community pushes for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the legitimate security concerns of the Israeli people must be addressed.

"Of course, it's a must that we must work as hard as possible to find new ways and means to have a dialogue with our neighbors, the Palestinians, and offer a future. But for that, the basic question of every Israeli will be, especially after October 7: What guarantees our well-being and safety?

"This is a big thing. This is an emotional state we are in. And I think that when nations come forward and say, 'two-state solution,' they have to first deal with a preliminary question, which is a core question for human beings: Are we offered real safety? What will be the safety? What is the outcome of any process and can we guarantee safety for ourselves and our people?" Herzog said.

"And I must tell you, in the last two years, before October 7, there was a huge wave of terror that the world ignored. And Michal and me, we went to bereaving families who had suffered horrible terror attacks and nobody gave a damn in the world," he continued.

"So we have to understand. That's why I'm saying, guys, terror is off. The world has to fight terror with no mercy in order to hope and to bring real hope for the future." (ANI/TPS)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Chennai, January 19: A Scheduled Caste youth from Tirupattur district of Tamil Nadu has filed a complaint with the police that his wife was abducted by her parents and relatives with the support of a local DMK leader.

The youth M. Thiyagu (21) from Shankarapuram village of the district filed a complaint at the Amballur police station stating that his wife was kidnapped by her parents with the help of DMK's local leader.

Thiagu in his complaint lodged on Thursday (January 18) stated that he was from the Adidravidar community, which is a Scheduled Caste community, and had married R. Narmadha (22), who is from the upper caste Vanniyar community, after six years of love. Trouble For DMK Leader's Son: Domestic Help Files Complaint Against Pallavaram MLA's Daughter-in Law, Alleges Torture & Harassment.

He said that there were strong objections from Narmadhas family but they married on December 3, 2023. The family of Narmadha filed a missing person complaint the next day and the couple appeared before the Vaniyambadi court on December 7 and Narmadha said that she wanted to live with Thiagu, her husband.

The Dalit youth in his complaint said that ever since they had been facing harassment from Narmadha's family. He further said that on Wednesday (January 17) Narmadhas parents and relatives were forced into his house at Shankarapuram accompanied by Elumalai, DMK's leader and local panchayat council president. DMK Leader A Raja Arranges Flight Tickets To Transport Body of Three-Year-Old Killed by Leopard to Jharkhand.

In his complaint, the youth accused Narmadhas father Rajendran, mother Vasantha and brothers, Govinda Raj, Prabhu, and Rajesh and Elumalai. The Amballur police registered a case under IPC sections 448, 294(b), and 365 against the accused.

Police said the womans father, Rajendran, has been questioned and the other suspects are on the run. When IANS contacted Tirupattur Superintendent of Police, Albert John , he informed that police were tracing Narmadha and would soon find her out.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 19, 2024 10:53 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
Lucknow, January 19: The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has decided to forecast its weather updates in as many as 140 Indian and foreign languages, in view of the fact that devotees from across the globe will be visiting Ayodhya in the coming days and are eager to learn about weather conditions. On its official website, the IMD has created a special webpage that offers weather reports of Ayodhya and places around the town in different languages.

The link to the page pops up as soon as one opens the IMD website, which on clicking, takes one to the forecast section. The webpage has been created by the UP wing of the IMD ahead of the Pran Pratishtha ceremony event to be held at the newly constructed Ram temple on January 22. The webpage is hosted by IMD of all the states, said an official. Ayodhya: Three Detained by UP Anti-terrorism Squad Ahead of Ram Temple 'Pran Pratishtha' Ceremony.

Since people from across the country and abroad are planning to visit Ayodhya for the Pran Pratishtha ceremony, and darshan thereafter, the Lucknow Met Centre has created a webpage to flash weather reports, said senior scientist Mohammad Danish. The special webpage carries weather predictions of Ayodhya and nearby places like Milkipur, Manakpur, Harraiya, Bhiti and Bhanpur. Ram Mandir Pran Pratishtha Ceremony: All Central Government Offices to Remain Closed for Half Day on January 22.

Also, weather reports of Prayagraj, Varanasi, New Delhi and Lucknow have been made available on the same page since many tourists are likely to visit these places of religious significance also. The webpage provides a complete picture of the weather conditions of Ayodhya, including temperatures, humidity, wind patterns, precipitation and others.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 19, 2024 12:09 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
A head constable died after he was shot while chasing a group of miscreants in Madhya Pradesh's Seoni district, police said on Friday.
Aruba, located in the Dutch Caribbean, stands out as a sought-after cruise destination, boasting picturesque tropical beaches, crystal-clear waters, and thrilling adventures.

Complementing the sun, sand, and sea experience is the island's diverse and flavorful cuisine, influenced by a fusion of Dutch, Spanish, Portuguese, South American, and Caribbean culinary traditions.

Aruba's gastronomy reflects its rich cultural tapestry, offering a delightful array of dishes that cater to a variety of tastes.

From local seafood specialties to Dutch-inspired treats, visitors can embark on a culinary journey that captures the essence of the island.

Here are some of the best Aruba dishes to try when you visit the country:

Pastechi

Aruba's national snack, the pastechi, is a popular choice for those seeking a tasty treat after sightseeing or beach activities, per Celebrity Cruises.

Unlike traditional empanadas, pastechis feature a crescent-shaped pastry shell filled with a variety of options such as beef, chicken, tuna, cheese, ham, or vegetables.

Enhanced with flavors like raisins, cumin, nutmeg, and occasional heat from hot peppers, pastechis cater to diverse tastes.

Whether enjoyed at vendor stalls, grocery stores, or snack bars, these snacks highlight Aruba's culinary diversity and provide a convenient way for families to satisfy their appetites while exploring the island.

READ NEXT: Aruba: 5 Mesmerizing Tourist Spots

Sopi

Aruba's culinary scene boasts a variety of soups, each reflecting the island's diverse cultural influences.

Notable among them is the cool island soup, a refreshing blend of pineapple, cantaloupe, apricot, and papaya with a hint of lime for a zesty kick-ideal for hot days.

For heartier appetites, erwtensoep, a thick Dutch pea soup, is a local favorite. This substantial dish combines split peas, smoked sausage, and ham hocks, offering a comforting and satisfying option.

Sopi mondongo, or tripe soup, is another beloved choice, featuring a cow's stomach and cow's heel.

Enriched with onion, sweet potato, plantains, and West Indian pumpkin, this soup provides a flavorful and unique culinary experience.

These soups showcase the diverse and vibrant offerings in Aruba's food scene, highlighting the island's multicultural influences and culinary creativity.

Keshi Yena

Influenced by Dutch cuisine, keshi yena is a prominent dish in Aruba that revolves around cheese, in line with the Dutch emphasis on this dairy product, according to Carnival.

The name itself, "keshi yena," suggests its focus on cheese. These savory treats take the form of cheese balls filled with a spicy meat combination and coated with Gouda or Edam cheese.

The appeal of keshi yena extends beyond its rich flavors, encompassing diverse variations.

Whether stuffed with prunes, raisins, cashews, or other ingredients, there's a version to suit every palate.

This culinary offering invites indulgence in the different iterations of keshi yena, allowing one to savor the unique combinations of flavors.

Bolita di Keshi

When cruising in Aruba with kids, you may be contemplating what to eat, especially if the little ones have discerning palates.

Fortunately, the island offers a delightful and kid-friendly snack known as "bolita di keshi," or fried cheese balls.

These savory treats are a popular choice among local children, providing a delicious and accessible option for youngsters after disembarking from the ship.

Bolita di keshi, featuring fried cheese balls, can be a flavorful and satisfying snack for both children and adults alike.

The cheesy goodness of these treats is sure to appeal to a wide range of tastes, making them a convenient and enjoyable option while exploring the culinary offerings of Aruba.

READ MORE: Mexico: 5 Delicious Vegetable Dishes

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Written by: Bert Hoover

WATCH: What LOCALS EAT?! 24 Hour ARUBA FOOD TOUR - From Let's go with Hyro
Somalian operator Hormuud Telecom revealed its offices and sister company Salam Somali Bank had been raided by government agents, over a data privacy dispute where the government allegedly demanded subscriber information.

In a translated statement, Hormuud accused Somalias National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA) of storming its offices on January 14, demanding personal information of subscribers and bank account holders.

The companies refused, and this resulted in NISA against arresting three members of staff from two separate locations.

Hormuud said the governments act was one of intimidation and suppressive action and it felt pressure in supplying personal customer data. The operator stressed Nisas intimidation tactics were a violation of Somali law.

Horn Observer reported the dispute between both parties has ended after talks yesterday (Jan 17).

A government statement from the Horn Observer stated: The Somali government is committed to protecting the security and safety of Somali citizens and their property by always following the law.

The publication reported NISA had arrested staff of Hormuud in the past and closed offices in Mogadishu.
The latest US government shutdown has been averted, which means hundreds of thousands of federal workers will still get paid. Federal government functions will still be working as Congress finally passed a stop-gap bill to prevent this latest shutdown from happening.

The stop-gap measure passed in the House of Representatives with bipartisan support, with an overwhelming 314-108 vote on Thursday afternoon. It also cleared the Senate overwhelmingly, with bipartisan support at a 77-18 vote earlier in the day.

"We have good news for America - there will not be a shutdown on Friday," said Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York. "It's precisely what Americans want to see - both sides working together and governing responsibly. No chaos, no spectacle, no shutdown."

The new bill means that the funding remains at current levels for some government agencies until March 1, with some extending until March 8. This two-step deadline was originally conceived by House conservatives to avoid a massive omnibus spending bill to fund the government, per CBS News.

Despite wide Republican support for the bill, several far-right House Republicans still opposed the measure, even after House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana met with them. They reportedly attempted to add a border security amendment to the continuing resolution, raising concerns that the bill would not pass because of the far-right's demands.

With opposition from his far-right colleagues, however, Mike Johnson went to the Democrats to keep the government funded temporarily, as the Republican Party only has a razor-thin majority at the House, with several moderates voting with the Democrats.

READ MORE: Marjorie Taylor Greene Might Get Censured for Racism and Anti-Semitism

Far-Right Republicans Not Happy With Deal Averting the Government Shutdown

Meanwhile, as many were able to make a huge sigh of relief, some conservatives criticized the proposal for a short-term funding extension, many coming from the ultra-conservative and far-right House Freedom Caucus.

"This is what surrender looks like," said the Republican group's account on social media. House Republicans have been divided over the short-term funding extension, with many toeing the line with Speaker Johnson while others, such as Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, have been threatening to oust him.

According to CNN, Johnson still defended the bipartisan agreement, saying that the short-term spending bill "is required to complete what House Republicans are working hard to achieve: an end to governance by omnibus, meaningful policy wins, and better stewardship of American tax dollars."

What Happens If the Government Shuts Down?

When the government shuts down due to Congress not agreeing to a bill that would fund the government, federal agencies must discontinue all non-essential discretionary functions until new funding legislation is passed and signed into law, according to the Committee on Responsible Budget.

Several functions, such as border protection, in-hospital medical care, air traffic control, law enforcement, and power grid maintenance will continue to operate and will be funded via appropriations, as well as Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. However, it will mean bad news for air travel as TSA agents would essentially be working without pay and National Parks will be closed. Environmental and food inspections will also be stopped, and several federal employees will not be paid.

READ MORE: Marjorie Taylor Greene Calling Lauren Boebert a Wh*re to Other Republicans

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Written by: Rick Martin

WATCH: Congress passes spending bill to avert government shutdown - Fox 32 Chicago
The political drama happening in Guatemala continues even after new President Bernardo Arevalo was sworn in and embattled former President Alejandro Giammattei left office, as the ex-president has been barred from entering the United States just three days after losing power.

The United States has accused Giammattei of "significant corruption," and that was the reason why the US State Department banned him from entering the country. This comes as the Biden administration continued to slam the Giammattei administration as its prosecutors continued to harass and try to prevent the inauguration of then-President-Elect Bernardo Arevalo.

"The State Department has credible information indicating that Giammattei accepted bribes in exchange for the performance of his public functions during his tenure as president of Guatemala, actions that undermined the rule of law and government transparency," said US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller.

Throughout his presidency, Alejandro Giammattei has been hounded by corruption allegations. However, he was not investigated as the embattled Attorney General Consuelo Porras, who has been sanctioned twice by the US government, did not let any inquiries into the then-president advance any further.

The US government previously warned the Guatemalan government last week, ahead of the Arevalo inauguration, that the United States will "continue identifying and holding accountable those who tried to undermine Guatemala's democracy."

Meanwhile, the former Guatemalan president has maintained that the cases filed by prosecutors against Bernardo Arevalo were "not politically motivated" and that he could not intervene because of the separation of powers. In public, he stated that the transition of power was moving forward despite attempts by his AG to undermine the process.

Guatemala Citizens Express Cautious Optimism With the New Bernardo Arevalo Administration

With a new president that few people saw coming last year, Guatemala is now facing uncertainty after decades of corruption from a string of administrations marred by scandals. The attacks against new President Bernardo Arevalo ahead of his inauguration have also shaken public trust in the government.

READ MORE: Latin America Politics 2023: Election, Conflicts, Other Major Issues in the Region

However, there is still some cautious optimism on the part of Guatemalans. Luis Mendez Salinas, 37, author and co-owner of the publisher Catafixia from Guatemala City, spoke with Al Jazeera News about how many felt about the new government.

"It's strange to say, but every [legal attack] that has been made from June 25 until today - and probably until January 14 - has filled me with optimism. Because every attempt that has been made by these corrupt political elites and political clients has failed," he said.

Rights Group Credits EU for Helping Protect Democracy in Guatemala

Before Arevalo was hounded by prosecutors from the Guatemala Attorney General's Office with various accusations that led to various investigations that sought to disqualify him and prevent him from taking office, many believed this targeted attempt was to keep the status quo in Guatemala, with corruption rampant.

However, these efforts failed, with Bernardo Arevalo finally taking office earlier this week. However, Human Rights Watch noted that the European Union (EU) should be credited for helping preserve democracy in the country.

"Sustained engagement by the US government, the OAS, and the EU was instrumental in safeguarding the election result," wrote the rights group, adding, "During the election, the EU's observation mission played an important role in debunking false allegations of fraud and in speaking up against attacks on electoral integrity. And the EU's support didn't end when its observers left the country."

READ MORE: Guatemala Elections: Observers Say Political Parties and Justice System Interfered

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Written by: Rick Martin

WATCH: Guatemala: Why does the new President enjoy so much international support? | DW News
The US Department of Justice (DOJ) probe into the Uvalde school shooting has now been released, and it showed a failure on the part of authorities to act and prevent the killing of innocent children at the Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas.

The report found that "Officers had many opportunities as the 2022 school massacre in Uvalde, Texas, was still unfolding," agreeing with the previous findings by the Texas legislature regarding the massacre that left 19 elementary school children and two of their teachers dead.

The damning report, obtained by CNN, noted that "Bursts of gunfire, reports a teacher had been shot, then a desperate call from a student trapped with the gunman could - and should - all have prompted a drive to stop the bloodshed far sooner."

It took 77 minutes from the time the 18-year-old shooter walked into Robb Elementary School to the time he stopped shooting, and this was enough time for police to step in and stop him from killing 22 people inside the school.

"Critical Failures in leadership" is also blamed by the Justice Department in its damning 575-page report, which came out almost 20 months after the tragic Uvalde school shooting. It has been described as the "fullest official accounting of what happened," as the DOJ had access to more resources than the state government did when the state legislature launched its investigation.

The DOJ Uvalde Report also found that there were problems that arose after the 18-year-old gunman's death. These include getting students away from the school and reuniting with families, as well as how authorities informed parents that their children were killed and how therapy services were provided.

"The response to the May 24, 2022, mass casualty incident at Robb Elementary School was a failure," the DOJ report concluded bluntly.

READ NEXT: Uvalde Families Lash Out Against Greg Abbott, Throw Their Support Behind Beto O'Rourke

AG Merrick Garland Reacts to DOJ Uvalde Probe Findings

With the release of the DOJ Uvalde probe findings, Department of Justice Secretary, Attorney General Merrick Garland, held an emotional press conference and stated, "Their loved ones deserved better."

"The law enforcement response at Robb Elementary School... and then the hours and days after, was a failure that should not have happened," he stated. "Had law enforcement agencies followed generally accepted practices in an active shooter situation and gone right after the shooter to stop him, lives would have been saved, and people would have survived."

The DOJ sent investigators into Uvalde nine times, spending a total of 54 days on-site and conducting more than 260 interviews with individuals, with members of the mostly Latino community expressing their thanks for pursuing the truth.

President Joe Biden Also Reacts To DOJ Probe Findings About Uvalde School Shooting

President Joe Biden also reacted to the report and called on Congress to pass "commonsense" gun laws. These include universal background checks and a national red flag law, which allows courts to order the removal of firearms from a person deemed potentially dangerous, according to ABC News. He also asked Congress to ban assault-style weapons and high-capacity magazines.

"No community should ever have to go through what the Uvalde community suffered," he said in a statement.

READ NEXT: Marjorie Taylor Greene Twitter Account Restricted Over Transphobic Response to Tennessee Shooting

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Written by: Rick Martin

WATCH: DOJ report on Uvalde shooting cites 'cascading failures' - ABC News
The life of 75-year-old art dealer Brent Sikkema came to a tragic end on Monday when he was discovered dead in his Rio de Janeiro, Brazil apartment, having suffered multiple stab wounds.

The suspect, identified as Alejandro Triana Trevez, was apprehended at a petrol station in the neighboring state of Minas Gerais, according to BBC.

Authorities allege that Trevez, reportedly a Cuban national according to local media, stole $3,000 from Brent Sikkema's home.

The suspect had traveled to Sao Paulo, Brazil, before the killing and returned there afterward, attempting to flee.

Law enforcement successfully caught the alleged Bent Sikkema killer between the cities of Uberaba and Uberlandia on Thursday, leading to his arrest.

A 30-day prison warrant has been issued against Trevez, who police believe was captured on security camera footage outside Brent Sikkema's residence around the time of the murder.

Authorities, addressing the media at a press conference, indicated that the assumption is that Trevez was acquainted with Sikkema.

They characterized the killing as a "premeditated and cruel action," revealing that the suspect had meticulously monitored Sikkema for several hours, choosing the opportune moment to enter his residence where he remained for 15 minutes.

READ NEXT: Brent Sikkema Brutally Murdered

Sequence of Events Unraveled through Surveillance Footage

Reports reveal that Trevez, Bent Sikkema killer, utilizing a car borrowed from a friend in Sao Paulo, had been in Rio de Janeiro during the tragic incident, per ARTNews.

The car was later found to contain money stolen from Brent Sikkema and a gold chain taken from the victim.

Trevez allegedly used some of the stolen money to purchase another vehicle upon his return to Sao Paulo.

Surveillance timestamps unveiled a detailed sequence of events.

The borrowed car was seen parked outside Sikkema's residence in Rio around 2:20 PM on Saturday, with a flash of light observed in the back seat during a two-and-a-half-hour period.

Footage captured Sikkema entering his home at 4:36 PM, marking the last time he was seen alive.

The suspected Brent Sikkema killer was observed getting out of the car for the first time at 10:42 PM, seemingly cautious of security cameras.

He spent hours inside the vehicle, only leaving at 3:43 AM on Sunday to enter Sikkema's home for 14 minutes.

The suspect then left the property, removed a pair of gloves, and returned to the car.

Brent Sikkema's Personal Struggles and Possible Motive to His Killing

Brent Sikkema's recent discussions with friends unveiled personal struggles, with claims that he felt secure enough in Rio to leave his door unlocked, The Daily Beast noted.

The art dealer had expressed distress over his ex-partner, a Cuban named Danny, who allegedly refused an amicable divorce and demanded $6 million along with significant spousal support.

Friends speculated that the multimillion-dollar dispute might have been the "real trigger" for the brutal killing.

Sikkema's friends recounted the ex-partner, Danny, obtaining a protective order preventing Sikkema from seeing their 12-year-old son, Lucas.

Despite notification of Sikkema's death, Danny will reportedly not be traveling to Brazil.

In addition to being a renowned art dealer who co-created the Chelsea contemporary art gallery, now known as Sikkema Jenkins and Co., Brent Sikkema represented internationally acclaimed artists such as Jeffrey Gibson, Kara Walker, and Vik Muniz.

The art community mourns the loss of a figure who played a significant role in shaping the art landscape for several decades.

READ MORE: Ecuador Prosecutor Shot Dead

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Written by: Bert Hoover

WATCH: Suspect? NYC Art Dealer Brent Sikkema Killed In Brazil - From Gotham Art News
A popular shopping mall on the outskirts of downtown Kansas City, Missouri, Crown Center, became the scene of a shooting on Wednesday evening, resulting in six people sustaining injuries, as authorities reported.

The Missouri mall shooting erupted around 5:45 PM, leaving shattered glass inside the mall, according to KRCG.

Two injured individuals were discovered in a food court on the lower level, while four others sought medical attention at a hospital in a private vehicle.

Fortunately, all six victims are expected to survive, according to Sgt. Jake Becchina, a police spokesperson.

The majority of the wounded were in their late teens or early 20s, with one victim aged at least 50.

It remains unclear whether the injured were directly involved in a dispute or were bystanders caught in the crossfire.

Witnesses recounted a verbal argument between two groups preceding the incident, causing damage to businesses within the mall.

John Gaston, a witness, described the chaotic scene with people screaming and running.

While several individuals were detained for questioning at the scene, as confirmed by Becchina, no arrests have been announced thus far.

One person was initially held on a 24-hour investigative hold but was released on Thursday, pending further investigation.

Kansas City, Missouri's Crown Center reopened on Thursday after being temporarily closed for the police investigation.

READ NEXT: Texas Mall Shooting

Security Personnel and a Bystander Respond to Missouri Mall Shooting

In response to the shooting, an on-duty security employee and a bystander at Crown Center reportedly fired weapons, according to the police, per The Kansas City Star.

Both individuals have been identified and are cooperating with the ongoing investigation.

Sgt. Jake Becchina emphasized the importance of the public's assistance, urging anyone with additional information to come forward.

The security worker and the mall visitor are said to have played a role in responding to the Missouri mall shooting, and detectives have shared their findings with prosecutors as the investigation unfolds.

Reactions from Witnesses and Community Leaders

Witnesses, including Jackson Clemens, an employee at Shang Tea near the incident, expressed their concerns about the root causes of gun violence, KCUR noted.

Clemens hopes for increased reforms to address the underlying issues contributing to such incidents. He stressed the lingering trauma experienced by employees and patrons.

Despite the unfortunate event, Clemens believes Crown Center remains a safe place, considering the shooting as an isolated incident.

Community leaders and experts, like Paul Carrillo from the Giffords Center for Violence Intervention, emphasize the need for preventive measures.

Carrillo points out the effectiveness of ground-level groups in preventing arguments from escalating into violence, citing a study conducted in 2022 that showed successful intervention programs, such as Aim4Peace, in Kansas City, Missouri.

Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas, currently in Washington for the US Conference of Mayors, did not address the shooting during a live-streamed conversation with Vice President Kamala Harris, focusing on gun violence prevention on Thursday.

The incident at Crown Center highlights the ongoing challenges communities face in addressing and preventing gun-related violence.

READ MORE: California: 4 Dead Following Electric Plane Crash

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Written by: Bert Hoover

WATCH: Police investigating after multiple people shot at Kansas City's Crown Center - From FOX 4 Kansas City
Even if a president crossed the line, people would just have to deal with it. That is the latest claim made by former President Donald Trump as he doubled down on his absolute immunity claims during an all-caps rant on his social media platform, Truth Social.

"A PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES MUST HAVE FULL IMMUNITY, WITHOUT WHICH IT WOULD BE IMPOSSIBLE FOR HIM/HER TO PROPERLY FUNCTION," he claimed. "ANY MISTAKE, EVEN IF WELL INTENDED, WOULD BE MET WITH ALMOST CERTAIN INDICTMENT BY THE OPPOSING PARTY AT TERM END."

"EVEN EVENTS THAT 'CROSS THE LINE' MUST FALL UNDER TOTAL IMMUNITY, OR IT WILL BE YEARS OF TRAUMA TRYING TO DETERMINE GOOD FROM BAD," he added as he faces over 90 felony charges. "SOMETIMES YOU JUST HAVE TO LIVE WITH 'GREAT BUT SLIGHTLY IMPERFECT."

This rant came after his own attorneys struggled to defend their position, with one of his attorneys arguing that even if a president were to order the assassination of a political rival, he would still be immune. This argument raised eyebrows all over the legal community.

As Business Insider noted, Trump's attorneys argued that unless Congress had already impeached and convicted him of a crime, he could not be prosecuted and was therefore immune. However, this is the opposite of what his lawyers previously argued in his second impeachment case in 2021, claiming that a former president should answer to the courts, not to Congress.

The DC Federal Court of Appeals expressed skepticism of Trump's absolute immunity argument, noting that a president would not be held accountable for his actions if that were the case, especially if his allies held the Senate and Congress.

READ MORE: Donald Trump Gets Laughed at in Court During Latest Rape Trial in New York

Prosecutors Say Donald Trump Being Above the Law Because of Presidential Immunity is 'Awfully Scary'

Donald Trump wants the US Circuit Court of Appeals to throw out special counsel Jack Smith's criminal case against him regarding his election interference leading up to the events of January 6. According to CNN, the former president has been charged with four counts related to his efforts to stay in power after losing the election to Joe Biden, with the ex-POTUS pleading "not guilty" on all charges.

The special counsel's prosecutors argued that a president is not above the law and that it would be "awfully scary" if there were no mechanisms in place to prevent future presidents from intentionally breaking the law. This includes what Trump is accused of doing, and that is using illegal moves to try and stay in power.

Donald Trump Rape Case Takes Bizarre Turn in New York During E. Jean Carroll Cross-Examination

Trump is facing multiple court battles as he campaigns for office again, and these trials include his latest civil rape case in New York, where former Elle Magazine columnist E. Jean Carroll is suing him for defamation again.

Carroll was at the stand and testified before being cross-examined by Trump attorney Alina Habba, whose questioning soon turned to sexual commentary, leading to Carroll's lawyers objecting, with the judge sustaining that objection.

"Ms Carroll, what does this say: 'What CAN be done about the penis? It gets large when you want it small, and stays small when you want it large,'" she asked the former writer. "Those were your words, correct?" Carroll replied, "Yes," to which the discussion turned to be more about penises rather than Trump defaming her.

READ MORE: Donald Trump Received Millions of Dollars From China, Other Countries While US President

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Written by: Rick Martin

WATCH: Trump's Presidential Immunity Claims are as Dumb as Trump Himself (w/ Ben Wittes) | Bulwark Podcast
Lai Ching-te's victory in Taiwan is a clear message from citizens there about the future they want for the island, an endorsement of recent decades' democratic system of government, political and economic freedom, and social advances.

Almost everyone has taken note of the triumph of these pro-freedom policies, except Beijing, Havana and similar allies.

"The results of the two elections held in Taiwan show that the Democratic Progressive Party does not represent majority opinion of the island," alleged Chen Binhua, a spokesman for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council of China.

Xi Jinping, meanwhile, scoffed at the resounding endorsement of more democracy, while leading the world's largest dictatorship with an iron fist. Around them, authoritarian countries reacted as expected.

Venezuela, meanwhile, reiterated its support for a "full-fledged, unwavering partnership" with China; Nicaragua expressed its "support for the Communist Party of China" and rejected Taiwan's "separatist acts;" while Iran declared its "firm support for the right of the People's Republic of China to defend its national sovereignty and territorial integrity."

Vietnam, in a more nuanced way, due to its historical conflicts with Beijing, supported the "One China" policy, but admitted that it "maintains popular, non-governmental relations with Taiwan in the fields of economics, trade, investment, science and technology, culture and education."

The most unexpected reaction came from Javier Milei, in Argentina. During his campaign he threatened to sever all relations with Beijing, in his typical no-holds-barred style, but now he supports "the one-China principle".

In Havana there was no room for nuance. Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez ratified an "invariable adherence to the 'One China' principle." And, to avert any democratic debate on the question, he stated that "the question of Taiwan is an internal matter for China."

Cuba and Taiwan: two islands, two paths

"In 1949, Taiwan was about ten times poorer than Cuba. Like Cuba, it emerged from a long period of colonial rule, and its economy was agricultural, almost entirely based on sugar. Taiwan went through a long period of authoritarian rule under a nationalist regime. Nevertheless, it developed its own economic model, based on free enterprise, which it successfully advanced for the benefit of the Taiwanese,"explains Orlando Gutierrez Boronat.

The president of the Cuban Democratic Directorate points out that, while this was taking place in Taiwan, "Mao was disrupting Chinese society and strangling its economy" and "Cuba was devolving towards communist totalitarianism."

Gutierrez Boronat and other exiles met in 2019 with outgoing President Tsai Ing-wen. Therefore, Lai Ching-te's triump is also a source of hope for Cuban democrats.

"Historically, Taiwan has had a special appreciation for the cause of freedom and democracy in Cuba. At different congresses and conferences, the Republic of China has always understood the Cuban people's quest to be free. And we have found openness, solidarity and friendship with your authorities," added the leader of the community of exiles, in a conversation with DIARIO DE CUBA.

A lesson for Cubans

In the presidential elections, the Progressive Democratic Party (PDP) garnered 40.1% of the vote, thus breaking the "curse" of no ruling party being able to retain power for more than eight years, ever since the first democratic elections in 1996, local public radio acknowledges.

The PDP is not just any party, but rather "a pro-democratic political force, progressive on social issues, that supports the struggle against authoritarianism," says Cuban political scientist and historian Armando Chaguaceda.

The academic, who collaborates with Taiwanese civil society, especially on issues against disinformation and for the democratization of Cuba, highlighted the "advances in terms of women's, youth and social rights; the environment, and the technological transition."

In 2019, Taiwan became the first country in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage. Currently, their extreme poverty rates are below 1%, according to official figures.

"In addition, it is important that the PDP has been led by a woman, concluding two periods of government, with high popularity," Chaguaceda told DIARIO DE CUBA.

In his opinion, an "important lesson" of the PDP's victory "is having resisted blackmail, pressure, and disinformation, as well as direct intimidation, from China."

"It shows Cubans the value of pragmatism, of the capacity to forge alliances, beyond their own ideology. The Government of Taiwan thanked both Trump and Biden for their support. Obviously, the PDP is closer to the Democrats than to the Republicans, but this reveals the importance of consensus in the defense of democracy, transcending ideologies," said Chaguaceda.
A new plan to reopen a key Laois agricultural business in Laois that could have a valuable economic spin-off for Mountrath is well advanced with details to be revealed at an upcoming meeting in the town.

Some five years after Mountrath Mart shut in 2019 due to high costs, the Mountrath Co-Operative Livestock Sales Ltd committee has convened a meeting to get support for the plan to spark the business back into life.

After a failed attempt to involve a third-party operator in 2023, the committee itself intends to run the mart.

A planned reopening of the land in March is just one aspect of the rejuvenation of the site. It's anticipated that upwards of 30 acres around the mart that's owned by the Co-op would be freed up for housing or other development if a rezoning of the site is successful at Laois County Council this year.

Ken Holmes is the chairman. More below picture.

Mountrath Mart was also a community support as can be seen from the Clonenagh Group of Parishes Wellie auction for Daffodil Day in March 2007. Picture: Alf Harvey

I am very happy to announce that the Committee is being proactive in its efforts to reopen mart complex for business. To this end the committee is hosting a public meeting to outline our plans for reopening the sale complex. This meeting is open to all shareholders, businesses, interested parties, the general public etc, he said in a statement.

He continued: Mountrath mart had a proud tradition of hosting livestock sales and providing a vital service to the agricultural community and providing a social outlet. Adding business to the town. Now the opportunity to bring stock to a local mart will be available again.

Mountrath was a thriving mart with weanling sales drawing people and stock from all over Ireland, he said.

He outlined the first steps in resuming operations. MORE BELOW PICTURE.

A great attendance for the Mountrath Mart 50th Anniversary celebrations, 8th November 2017. Picture: Alf Harvey.

It is hoped that with the support of the community that a full sales program will be reintroduced on a planned basis starting with a calf sale on March 6 onwards and then possibly sheep sales and then general cattle sales and then weanling sales later in the year.

With all other compatible uses up for consideration, the reactivation of the complex offers great opportunities to support the community, he said.

Mr Holmes added that Mountrath has, over the years, hosted many diverse events to support not only farmers, but the community at large.

He said the mart had been used as the starting post for the annual St Patrick's Day parade and charity runs amongst other things and will continue to be available to help and support the community and any organisation going forward.

The public meeting takes place on Thursday, February 1 at 8pm in Bloom HQ Mountrath. All shareholders, local businesses and interested parties are asked to attend.

I encourage each and every one to come to our open meeting, said Mr Holmes.

He also told the Leinster Express / Laois Live funding is in place to get the mart operational with more details to be revealed at the public meeting. More below picture.

When it closed in January 2019, the then Committee said the mart was solvent and farmers were not owed any money. It had been open for 51 years when the gates closed.
A man was arrested after attending Portlaoise Garda Station to lodge a complaint about being assaulted.

Philip Kavanagh, 37, of 11 Convent Lawns, Kylemore Road, Ballyfermot, Dublin 10 admitted being drunk, abusive and causing criminal damage at Portlaoise Garda Station on December 28 last.

Garda Sergeant JJ Kirby said the accused was intoxicated and abusive and had a cut over his eye when he arrived at the public office of Portlaoise Garda Station.

He headbutted the perspex screen causing himself an injury, said Sgt Kirby.

He said the defendant had 13 previous convictions.

Solicitor Josephine Fitzpatrick said her client had been seeing a lady in Portlaoise. On the night in question he was the victim of an assault in Harpurs Lane and his phone was stolen.

He had been drinking because he was on a social visit, Ms Fitzpatrick said.

Its not often that people present at the Garda Station with a view to committing offences, she said.

He got more frustrated and he started to use bad language, she explained.

He will accept that he headbutted the perspex screen, Ms Fitzpatrick said.

She said her client believes he should have had medical attention but was instead detained and released the following day.

She said her client now hopes to get a forklift qualification in order to find work.

Judge Nicola Andrews said she would strike out the charges on condition that the man paid 50 to the court poor box. Once the money was paid, Judge Andrews struck the case out.
A Judge refused to strike out an assault charge at a sitting of Portlaoise District Court.

Wayne ODonoghue, 22, of 7 Old Knockmay Road, Portlaoise is accused of assault causing harm at his address on June 19 last.

The case was adjourned for directions from the DPP and a decision on jurisdiction.

Garda Sergeant JJ Kirby said the directions are we dont have directions yet, judge.

Solicitor Michael Byrne asked Judge Nicola Andrews to consider striking out the charge due to the delay in directions.

Sgt Kirby told Judge Andrews that it was a serious allegation. He said a medical report was awaited.

Sgt Kirby said it is alleged the injured party received a cut to the top right hand side of her head.

She was allegedly kicked in the stomach and hit on the head with a cup, Sgt Kirby explained.

Judge Andrews said she wouldnt strike the matter out but would instead mark it peremptory and against the State. She said the matter was going on too long.

The case was adjourned back to Portlaoise District Court on February 12.
The fall in numbers of people getting Covid-19 vaccines are a cause of 'concern' for the former chief medical officer (CMO), Dr Tony Holohan.

Dr Holohan also said the government should consider having an additional workforce on stand-by in the possibility that another pandemic arises.

The ex-CMO was speaking at a conference in Dublin, which examined the effects of the pandemic on essential workers, where he said that we cannot expect the general population to be vaccinated if healthcare workers are not.

Dr Holohan suggested a trained workforce, such as a lifeboat crew or the Civil Defence, could be deployed to do minor duties such as swabbing, for when another pandemic happens - which he believes to be rather inevitable.

He says that healthcare workers need to manage their health now, in the possibility that another pandemic does arise.

Speaking at the same event, the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) said they would like to see a full public inquiry into the Covid-19 pandemic.

The event, entitled 'Working in Essential Services: Lessons from Working during Covid-19, saw experts, academics and businesspeople address audiences. The findings from the University College Dublin (UCD) 'Working in Ireland Survey' provided statistics and research for the conference.
I've heard it said that Irish people don't protest enough; we just roll over and put up with bad Government policies on housing, health and everything else. We don't mobilise like our continental cousins like the French yellow jackets or the German farmers. That's not true of 2024 which has started with a flurry of protests against asylum centres in towns across Ireland, from Baillinrobe to Carlow to Roscrea this week.

But where we have really failed to mobilise on big ticket items like health and housing, save for the odd march on the Dail in relatively small numbers, we seem to have come into our own now protesting against men, women and children seeking a better life in Ireland.

'Roscrea is full' was the slogan on a placard outside the Racket Hall Hotel in the Tipperary town this week as at times hundreds, mostly dozens, of people gave rousing speeches about 'the good of the town' around a campfire at the gates. The same protesters were there when soft cap public order gardai were required to move a small number of asylum seekers, women and their crying children, from a bus into the building.

There had been mistruths bandied around before those arrivals and they followed very similar lines to other protests in other parts of the country. The perennial fear of large groups of foreign men moving into an old hotel or disused building appears to be the catalyst for protest in Ireland. And yet when those women and children moved into the Racket Hall, the protesters didn't go home.

With that in mind you have to assume the protest is then targeted at the people now living in the hotel and not the owners or the Department of Integration or the Government. And yet the placards are still displayed proudly and microphones are turned up to the last as locals bemoan the lack of services in their town. As they say themselves, 'Roscrea is full,' 'Carlow is full,' Ballinrobe is full,' all linking back to that vile trope pushed on social media by high-profile far right figures.

If you were to take that slogan as genuine, along with the issues raised by protesters; the lack of GP places for people, dentists, schools and so on, then it begs the question - why are these same people not objecting to every planning permission submitted for new housing estates or apartments in their towns? By the same token, there won't be services available for the people moving into those homes either.

And yet we don't see makeshift pickets set up at the gates of building sites up and down the country because the person buying the resultant house might have a school of child-going age, and God forbid they may be entitled to free GP care. Wouldn't they use the very same services people are saying are 'full'? But no campfire protests for them. It's no great mystery why; it's the same attitude that led to people saying foreigners were 'taking our jobs' in the early 2000s. It's anti-immigrant, plain and simple. Dress it up any way you like.

Protests about services like those mentioned would not have to take place at a centre for asylum seekers as they were issues before those people ever moved in. Don't conflate them to somehow make your anti-immigrant protest semi-respectable. If you have a grievance over services like GPs and schools, take it up with your politicians, don't direct it at some of the most vulnerable people in our country. Similarly, if you have an issue with the Government's immigration policy, protest that government, not a community of people already marginalised and isolated.

Politicians have also attached themselves to these protests and you had a clip circulating of TD Mattie McGrath labelling the asylum seeker situation as a "colonisation of our country, a takeover of our country." He said: "It'd frighten you what's going on with the unvetting and the people coming straight in, no documentation." This sort of language from an elected official is dangerous. He encouraged people in his next breath to "keep your vigil" and that he would support them.

It's language like "colonisation" and "unvetting" that whips up fear in communities all over Ireland. It's the kind of rhetoric trumpeted by people at these protests and circulated online as some sort of justification. There have been instances in the last few weeks and months where buildings earmarked, or even just rumoured to be earmarked, for asylum seekers, have been burnt to the ground. We can't keep distancing ourselves from these things in our communities; they're happening and it's disgraceful and too many politicians tell people what they want to hear from one side of their mouth and then condemn the end result from the other. It's populism of the lowest form and it's happening all over the country.

Protesters in these towns are protesting because of fear-mongering that so often spreads on social media. They are afraid because people have told them these asylum seekers are all "unvetted" and "have burned their documents" and are going to rape and kill our women and children. That's why they are on the streets outside these buildings but they won't admit that and therein lies the problem. This fear is being perpetuated by far-right agitators online with very consistent language. Rather than a 'plantation' of asylum seekers, there's a 'plantation' of misinformation taking place and the Government is doing very little to stop it.

The one criticism above all others that can be squarely landed at the Government's door is the lack of communication and lack of clear immigration policy. You can't put a fence around your house without filling in some form or looking for planning permission so your neighbours can have a look at the plans first. People are acutely aware of this and that's why it's so hard to swallow when a building of any kind and any condition can be turned around in days as a place of accommodation without any planning permission or consultation. People are rightly outraged over that but the government, without admitting it, fears if it does communicate these plans, the buildings will be burnt down before anyone is moved in. It's a vicious circle and there are two things to blame; racism and bad governance.

Those two things festering together is like mixing vinegar and bleach. What we're left with is a toxicity that promotes an 'us and them' mentality. One placard in Roscrea labelled the Government as 'traitors.' That's the attitude that prevails now in these rural towns and in the chasm created between people and Government sits the likes of the far-right commentators who set upon these towns, even when not welcomed, to drive fear and fan the flames of hate. The scary thing is it's working.

At the end of the day, the whole thing boils down to people. Locals with grievances about how their communities are treated and asylum seekers fleeing persecution and arriving off a bus to a heaving protest held back by a line of gardai. Neither group deserves the treatment they receive and a solution to appease both seemingly impossible to find.
The death has occurred of well known Laois woman Betty O'Brien from Donaghmore in south Laois.

Betty (nee Bracken) of Willowfern, Donaghmore passed away on January 18, in her 98th year, peacefully at Ballard Lodge nursing home in Portlaoise.

She was surrounded by her loving family and wonderful staff at Ballard Lodge on her death.

Predeceased by her husband Billy and son John. Sadly missed by her adoring family,daughters Mary and Jacintha, son Liam, sons-in-law John and James, daughter-in-law Deirdre, her grandchildren Barry, David, Gavin, Nicola, Shell, Yvonne, Bill and Aoibhe, her 13 great-grandchildren, her wonderful neighbours and large circle of relatives and friends.

The deceased was involved in a multitude of organisations in Laois down the years helping many people also along the way. She also acted as the voice of her community through her role as local notes correspondent for local newspapers including the Leinster Express. More below picture.

Pictured: Billy and Betty O'Brien of Donaghmore, Rathdowney centre with their children at theirt 50th weding anniversary.

Many tributes were paid though RIP.ie by people extending sympathy to her family.

"She was a wonderful community woman and great to have a good chat with. A long life well lived- rest in peace Betty & you will be reunited with Billy & John," wrote the Lee family.

"She was one of a kind and feel privileged to have known her. May she rest in peace and may her family find solace in the days and weeks ahead," said Brian Scott.

"Betty was such a powerhouse of energy in everything she did. She was always a pleasure to meet and would always greet you with a beaming smile," wrote Nicholas and Ann Bergin, Portlaoise.

"A lovely lady who will be sorely missed in the community," wrote Pat and Bridie Dowling Errill. MORE BELOW PICTURE.

Pictured: Betty O'Brien and Patricia Holland at the Bulfin Cycle visit to Aghaboe Abbey as part of Heritage week. Photograph: Alf Harvey.

"What a great woman, she befriended so many and did so much good over all her years," was the tribute from Margaret Powell.

"You were one in a million Aunty Betty," wrote Nuala Bracken.

Pictured: Funds raised by Betty O'Brien, Donaghmore,were presented to Hughie Milmoe, John Hosey and Peter Dunne of the Laois Association in London for the Irish Centre in London at its gala evening in the Montague Hotel. Also pictured Sean Cotter, AIB, Rathdowney. Pic: Alf Harvey

Betty's remains repose at her residence Eircode R32 AX51 all day Friday, January 19, pausing for prayers at 7pm. Removal on Saturday morning to the Church of the Most Holy Trinity, Rathdowney arriving for Requiem mass at 12. noon. Interment afterwards in Bealady Cemetery.

Betty's funeral mass can be viewed by pressing the following link www.parishwebsites.ie/rathdowney/
Extra classrooms at primary and secondary levels have been confirmed for the wider Newbridge area.

The Department of Education said the extensions to existing school buildings will take place at at Milltown National School and St Conleth's Community College.

Kildare South Fine Gael TD and Minister Martin Heydon has welcomed the news from the Department of Education which he said will help with future demand in the area.

St Conleth's Community College is to get a large extension of 8 mainstream classrooms, 6 special resource rooms along with a home economics room, science room, graphics room and ancillary accommodation.

This will allow the school to increase its capacity from the current 730 pupils to 1,000 pupils.

Milltown NS is to get an extension of one mainstream classroom and two special education classrooms to cater for increase demand in that area at primary level.

Mr Heydon said: "Both of these extensions will be very welcome in the area as capacity continues to grow for school places.

"I have continued to highlight the need for additional school places in the South Kildare area to the Department of Education and it is important now that these extensions as well as other planned extensions in the area would move quickly to ensure sufficient capacity for all those who need it in the year ahead."
TFI Local Link Kildare South Dublin is enhancing bus services from Naas to Carlow, from Monday the 29th of January.

This enhancement is part of the Connecting Ireland Rural Mobility Plan which is a major national public transport initiative developed and funded by the National Transport Authority (NTA) as part of the Transport for Ireland (TFI) Network.

Route 880 will now operate seven daily return services Monday to Saturday and five daily return services on Sunday with a late evening return service on Friday and Saturday.

The route will offer enhanced connectivity to villages and areas such as Castledermot, Moone, Timolin, Balitore, Carrig Glen, Ballyshannon, Kilcullen, Two Mile House and Killashee.

The route will also provide an enhanced commuter service to and from Carlow and will offer improved connectivity to Naas Hospital and regional bus and rail services.

Speaking ahead of the launch, TFI Local Link Kildare South Dublin General Manager Alan Kerry, said: We are confident the enhanced route 880 will offer a real and tangible alternative to private car dependency for those people resident along the route.

In partnership with the NTA, we have planned the timetable to offer connectivity to local train services, along with peak time arrivals into both Carlow and Naas to accommodate employment and education needs along with evening and weekend schedules to provide people with sustainable access to their social activities. Along with recent reductions in public transport fares and the expansion of the Young Adult Card for those up to the age of 25, we are hopeful that the route will provide an additional catalyst to allow people to adopt public transport usage as part of their daily lives in rural Kildare.

The success of local bus services is dependent on usage and Id encouraged local communities to spread the news about the positive enhancements added to our route 880 service.
The long waited new library has opened this morning in Naas.

Situated in the town hall building in the middle of the town, it is known as a Naas Library and Cultural Centre and was developed at a cost of some 6m.

It is a highly impressive project and ideally suited to that building because the town hall has been underutilised for some years. It no longer accommodated any Kildare County Council offices.

The chamber hosted meeting of Naas Town Council and its predecessor Naas Urban District Council for many many years and staff assigned to to those local authorities were based there.

However town councils were abolished everywhere in Ireland in 2014.

It will cater for adults and young people with the necessary resources to accommodate, recreational, information, cultural and educational needs in an inviting and modern space.

There will be a multifunctional childrens library which will provide various media and also provide wet facilities for cultural activities, IT services, access to digital technologies, console stations and toddler storytelling zone.

A digital suite will support digital skills development by providing access to the latest technologies including 3D printing, virtual reality and digital and audio editing, offering space for technology, training and innovation. Study, work and research zones will be distributed through the facility and will provide dedicated quiet workspaces.

Read more Kildare news
POLICE in Northern Ireland are searching for an Irish man convicted of the manslaughter of a PSNI officer, who is unlawfully at large.

Detectives say Shane Frane, 36, who is originally from County Limerick may have travelled to the Republic of Ireland.

Frane was convicted in February 2014 of the manslaughter of Constable Philippa Reynolds, following a road traffic crash in February 2013, in the Waterside area of Derry.

A PSNI spokesman said he has since breached the conditions of his temporary prison release by absconding from the Northern Ireland Prison Service.

Constable Philippa Reynolds was killed in 2013 (PSNI/PA)

Frane is described as being 6ft 3in tall, of medium build with blue eyes with a left eye disfigurement.

He has tattoos on his upper right arm, has fair hair and speaks with a Republic of Ireland accent.

The spokesman said: Despite attempts to arrest Frane, police have been unable to locate him. He may have travelled to the Republic of Ireland.

Officers are appealing to anyone who has seen him or who knows of his whereabouts not to approach him, but to contact police on 101 quoting reference 1425 on 17/01/2024.

Police would also appeal directly to him to hand himself in.

The funeral of Constable Philippa Reynolds in 2013 (Niall Carson/PA)

Ms Reynolds, 27, was a passenger in a police vehicle which was hit by a stolen car driven by Frane in 2013.

Frane pleaded guilty to eight offences including manslaughter, causing her death by driving without a licence or insurance, driving when unfit through drink or drugs, and failing to remain at the scene and report an accident.

The officer was the back seat passenger in an unmarked police car that was hit by the stolen 44 vehicle that had been travelling at up to 80mph.

Mourners at Ms Reynolds funeral were told that she had touched many lives and had been killed in her prime.
Minister MacAulay concludes productive visit to Washington, D.C.





OTTAWA, ON, Jan. 18, 2024 /CNW/ - Agriculture connects so many communities in Canada and the United States, and both countries depend on our strong trade relationship and ongoing cooperation. Earlier this week, the Honourable Lawrence MacAulay, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, travelled to Washington, D.C. for meetings with key industry and agri-food stakeholders and U.S. officials, aimed at strengthening those ties and advancing shared priorities.

While in Washington, Minister MacAulay met with the United States Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack. During their meeting, they highlighted the importance of continuing to work collaboratively on mutual priorities with an emphasis on the resiliency of Canada-U.S. food supply chains, food security, environmental sustainability, and rules-based international trade.

During the meeting, Minister MacAulay raised proposed changes in voluntary "Product of USA" labelling regulations for meat and livestock and California's Proposition 12. The Minister reaffirmed Canada's concerns that these rules have the potential to restrict trade and disrupt supply chains.

The Minister and Secretary Vilsack took the opportunity to discuss the importance of sustainable agriculture. Canada and the U.S. are working together to accelerate global agricultural innovation on climate change through increased research and development. This includes efforts to identify innovative tools to support decision making, monitoring and measurement of enhanced sustainability and resiliency in agricultural landscapes.

Minister MacAulay also sat down with representatives from the National Cattlemen's Beef Association and the Canadian Cattle Association to discuss reducing trade barriers and the important integrated nature of our beef supply chains.

To conclude his visit, the Minister took part in a reception with key U.S. stakeholders, featuring food and drinks made with both Canadian and U.S. ingredients.

Quote

"Canada and the U.S. have a bond like no other in the world. My discussions with our American partners highlighted the important and unique agricultural partnership between our two countries. This is a connection based on shared geography, common values, mutual interests and economic ties, with the shared goal of building a sustainable agricultural sector that strengthens our rural economies, and feeds folks at home and around the world."

- The Honourable Lawrence MacAulay, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food

Quick facts

This is the first ministerial outreach to the U.S. by Minister MacAulay since his reappointment as Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food on July 26, 2023 .

. Canada and the U.S. have highly integrated and mutually beneficial supply chains.

and the U.S. have highly integrated and mutually beneficial supply chains. In 2022 Canada-U.S. trade in agriculture and food rose by 14 percent to over USD $70 billion ? nearly USD $200 million a day.

? nearly USD a day. Canada is the second largest agricultural customer of the United States ? and the number one agriculture export market for over half of U.S. states.

is the second largest agricultural customer of ? and the number one agriculture export market for over half of U.S. states. On July 1, 2020 , the Canada -United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) entered into force, reinforcing Canada's strong economic ties with the United States and Mexico .

Associated links

Follow us on? Twitter ,? Facebook ,? Instagram , and? LinkedIn

Web:? Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada

SOURCE Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada

18 january 2024 at 19:39

News published onand distributed by:
LARAMIDE SIGNS AGREEMENT WITH THE UNITED STATES FOREST SERVICE TOWARDS THE REINITIATION OF THE EIS FOR THE LA JARA MESA PROJECT IN NEW MEXICO





TORONTO, Jan. 19, 2024 /CNW/ - Laramide Resources Ltd. ("Laramide" or the "Company") (TSX: LAM) (ASX: LAM) (OTCQX: LMRXF) is pleased to announce the recommencement of the review process of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement ("DEIS") for La Jara Mesa, which will ultimately lead to the completion of the Final Environmental Impact Statement and a United States Forest Service ("USFS") Record of Decision ("ROD"). Laramide has signed an agreement with the USFS, Cibola National Forest and National Grasslands to fund the services required to restart the USFS National Environmental Policy Act ("NEPA") analysis.

The DEIS for the La Jara Mesa Mine Project was originally published in May 2012 on the Federal Register and was available for public review as announced by the Company on May 22, 20121. The public review process was the final step towards the EIS. However, due to progressively unfavourable uranium market conditions, Laramide elected to pause the permitting process.

Today's announcement recognizes that Cibola National Forest and National Grasslands of the USFS is in receipt of the La Jara Mesa Mine Plan of Operations, developed by Laramide, which proposes to build and operate an underground mine on their unpatented mining claims on La Jara Mesa in the Mount Taylor Ranger District. The Cibola National Forest will prepare an environmental impact statement in accordance with NEPA to assess the development of a uranium exploration and mining operation.

A copy of the DEIS can be found at Laramide's website (www.laramide.com) or through the following link: https://laramide.com/projects/la-jara-mesa-uranium-project/

La Jara Mesa Overview

The La Jara Mesa project is in the prolific Grants Mineral Belt, ten miles northeast of the town of Grants in Cibola County, New Mexico, USA. The deposit was discovered in 1980 and developed through 1983 by Power Resources on behalf of Midas International, the then project owner. Both Homestake Mining Company and Laramide Resources subsequently performed validation drilling of the deposit. To date over 700 holes have been completed.

La Jara Mesa is a sandstone hosted, roll- front style deposit. Laramide's NI 43-101 compliant mineral resource estimate2 for La Jara reports 7,257,817 pounds of uranium (U 3 O 8 ) in the Measured and Indicated classifications, contained in 1,555,899 tons at an average grade of 0.23% U 3 O 8 . In addition, there are 3,172,653 pounds of U 3 O 8 in the Inferred mineral resource classification, contained in 793,161 tons at an average grade of 0.20% U 3 O 8 on the property.

Qualified Person

The technical information presented in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Rhys Davies (M.Geol, MSc, MAIG, RPGeo, FGS) who is a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101, Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects.

Follow us on Twitter @LaramideRes

About Laramide Resources Ltd.:

Laramide is focused on exploring and developing high-quality uranium assets in Australia and the western United States. The company's portfolio comprises five advanced uranium projects in districts with historical production or superior geological prospectivity. Each asset has been carefully chosen for their size, production potential, and are considered late-stage, low-technical risk projects.

The Westmoreland project in Queensland, Australia, is one of the largest uranium development assets held by a junior mining company. This project has a PEA that describes an economically robust, open-pit mining project with a mine-life of 13 years. Additionally, the adjacent Murphy Project in the Northern Territory of Australia is a greenfield asset that Laramide strategically acquired to control the majority of the mineralized system along the Westmoreland trend.

In the United States, Laramide's assets include the NRC licensed Crownpoint-Churchrock Uranium Project, which is proposed to be developed using in-situ recovery ("ISR") production methodology. The Company also owns the La Jara Mesa project in the historic Grants mining district of New Mexico and an underground project, called La Sal, in Lisbon Valley, Utah.

Forward-looking Statements and Cautionary Language

This release includes certain statements that may be deemed to be "forward-looking statements". All statements in this release, other than statements of historical facts, that address events or developments that management of the Company expect, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are frequently, but not always, identified by words such as "expects", "anticipates", "believes", "plans", "projects", "intends", "estimates", "envisages", "potential", "possible", "strategy", "goals", "objectives", or variations thereof or stating that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved, or the negative of any of these terms and similar expressions. Actual results or developments may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements. Laramide disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, save and except as may be required by applicable securities laws.

Since forward-looking information address future events and conditions, by their very nature they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results could differ materially from those currently anticipated due to a number of factors and risks. These include, but are not limited to, exploration and production for uranium; delays or changes in plans with respect to exploration or development projects or capital expenditures; the uncertainty of resource estimates; health, safety and environmental risks; worldwide demand for uranium; uranium price and other commodity price and exchange rate fluctuations; environmental risks; competition; incorrect assessment of the value of acquisitions; ability to access sufficient capital from internal and external sources; and changes in legislation, including but not limited to tax laws, royalties and environmental regulations.

SOURCE Laramide Resources Ltd.

19 january 2024 at 07:30

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A delegation led by Quai Branly-Jacques Chirac museum's president Emmanuel Kasarherou (C) visit a future museum's construction site in Ouidah, on March 26, 2021. YANICK FOLLY/AFP

Defense, energy, trade: There is no shortage of sensitive issues between France and Germany. With the aim of revitalizing a deteriorating bilateral relationship, former culture minister Rima Abdul Malak and her German counterpart Claudia Roth found a small area of collaboration: The creation of a research fund to investigate the provenance of cultural goods from sub-Saharan Africa. Managed by the Marc Bloch Franco-German Social Science Research Center, this new fund is due to be officially launched on Friday, January 19, in Berlin.

On both sides of the Rhine, requests for restitution from Africa are pouring in and the subject is hotly debated. Eric-Andre Martin, secretary general of the study committee on French-German relations at the French Institute of International Relations (IFRI), commented: "France and Germany have understood that this issue is essential for today's dialogue with African countries. And despite their differences, France and Germany have a lot to learn from each other's experiences and mistakes."

Each country will contribute 360,000 per year to the three-year fund, which will operate based on a demand for projects. To be eligible, researchers will have to set up a French-German network with a partner in Africa. The aim is also to intensify collaboration with African professionals, to avoid biased narratives. "Only they can tell us whether objects may have been donated or sold spontaneously by a community, or whether it is impossible that they were simply voluntarily given away," said researcher Felicity Bodenstein, a member of the fund's scientific committee.

Recent colonial awareness

Projects involving objects from Cameroon and Togo, two countries colonized by both France and Germany, should be given priority. "However, the methods of extraction were not the same," said historian Benedicte Savoy, who sits on the scientific committee for the new fund. "The Germans helped themselves first in Cameroon, and a lot of blood was shed to constitute the German collections coming from that country. Whereas the French, who arrived in the 1920s and 1930s, conducted scientific expeditions." The differences do not end there.

Germany is several steps ahead when it comes to provenance research. The scale of collections is also unparalleled. Across the Rhine, every federal state and every town holds thousands of objects. Colonial awareness, on the other hand, is more recent. "Until 2016-2017, Germany did not see itself as a colonial power, and felt that the French and English should put their own house in order," said Savoy.

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A forklift unloads one of Qatar's two military aircraft containing aid for Gaza, including medicine for the hostages, at el-Arish airport, Egypt, January 17, 2024. QATARI MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS / AFP

A special shipment entered Gaza on Wednesday evening, January 17, with five truckloads of humanitarian aid: medicine for 45 of the 132 hostages still held captive by Hamas. The journey of negotiations that made this possible was a long one. It began in Israel, then passed through France and Qatar, to finally reach the enclave ravaged by the war between Israel and the Islamist organization.

It all began with David Sprecher, a lawyer specializing in aviation law and admitted to the Brussels and Israeli bars. He is a member of the Hostages and Missing Persons Families Forum, an Israeli non-governmental organization that coordinates the mobilization around the 250 or so people to have been kidnapped during the October 7 Hamas attack. In the aftermath of the massacre, which resulted in the deaths of some 1,140 people, this French-speaking lawyer was appointed to head the forum's activities in France, Belgium, Luxembourg and the European Union. In October 2023, he brought three families of missing persons to Europe, including the nephew of an Israeli hostage who was suffering from a brain pathology. "I set myself a mission: To provide the hostages with medicine," said Sprecher.

The lawyer explained that he had been put in touch with President Emmanuel Macron, who directed him to the crisis and support center at the French foreign ministry, headed by Philippe Lalliot. An initial list of medication drawn up by Dr. Hagai Levine of the Forum was then submitted to the crisis center. 85 captives were selected before the first truce  which lasted from November 23 to December 1, 2023  enabled the release of 105 hostages; the list was then reduced to 45. The medicine was purchased, gathered and packaged in France. For Sprecher, the medication needed to be supplied by France, not by Israeli, so as not to arouse Hamas' mistrust. The parcel was then sent to Qatar on Saturday in a diplomatic bag.

Read more Subscribers only Israel-Hamas war: On board the 'Dixmude,' where the French navy treats Palestinian civilians

At the same time, Doha made contact with the Islamist organization. The latter would trade the delivery of aid to the hostages for greater assistance to Gaza's Palestinians, who are being killed by Israeli bombings at a rate unprecedented for the 21st century  almost 25,000 victims, of whom the majority are women and children, in just over 100 days. Moussa Abu Marzouk, Hamas's foreign affairs representative, declared on X that for every box of medicine given to the hostages, a thousand would go to the Palestinians.

Israeli inspections

On Tuesday evening, the Qatari foreign ministry announced that "medicine along with other humanitarian aid is to be delivered to civilians in Gaza Strip, in the most affected and vulnerable areas, in exchange for delivering medication needed for Israeli captives in Gaza." The next morning, two planes from Qatar landed at el-Arish airport in Egypt, 40 kilometers from Gaza. Abu Marzouk asserted that it was agreed that the contents of this delivery would not be inspected by the Israeli authorities, like all goods entering the enclave. To no avail: The trucks, loaded with 11 tons of humanitarian aid, passed through the Israeli Kerem Shalom checkpoint for examination, before finally entering the enclave, where they were received by the Palestinian health ministry.

You have 20.4% of this article left to read. The rest is for subscribers only.
Gaza residents have been largely without internet and telephone services for a week, an internet monitor said on Friday, January 19, the longest outage since the Israel-Hamas war broke out on October 7.

Internet services in the Gaza Strip have been constantly disrupted throughout the war, with telecom firms blaming Israel's bombardment of the besieged territory for the outages. The "near-total telecoms blackout" has now lasted for 168 hours, NetBlocks posted on X.

The United Nations has warned that the blackouts are worsening the Palestinian territory's already dire humanitarian situation. "The blackout of telecommunications prevents people in Gaza from accessing lifesaving information or calling for first responders and impedes other forms of humanitarian response," the UN humanitarian agency OCHA said on Thursday.

Read more Subscribers only 'Living through a war is like having to renew your contract with life every day': Palestinian writer Atef Abu Saif's diary from Gaza
A photograph taken during the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos on January 18, 2024, shows the logo of Meta, the US company that owns and operates Facebook, Instagram, Threads, and WhatsApp. FABRICE COFFRINI / AFP

Psychological harm suffered by people moderating graphic online content should be considered a work-related injury, a Spanish judge has ruled in a case involving a subcontractor for Facebook's parent company Meta.

Content moderators examine images, videos and comments posted by users to decide whether or not to remove them in line with a company's policy  in this case Meta. Lawyers said it was the first time a court had recognized that sick leave taken by a content moderator was the result of his job monitoring disturbing content.

Read more Subscribers only Content moderation: Key facts to learn from Facebook, Instagram, X and TikTok transparency reports

The case, which was first reported by La Vanguardia newspaper on Thursday, January 18, concerns an employee working for CCC Barcelona Digital Services, which monitors disturbing content on Facebook and Instagram. He was identified by the paper as a 26-year-old Brazilian who was still under ongoing psychiatric care.

The ruling, which was released this week and has been seen by Agence France-Presse (AFP), said he monitored extreme content such as self-harm, torture, decapitations by extremist groups and suicide. Eight months into the job, he signed off sick with serious psychological side effects, it said, citing medical reports of issues including panic attacks, nightmares, sleep problems and an overwhelming fear of death.

Read more Subscribers only 'I want to kill people': When jihadist and Nazi ideologies resonate with the torment of troubled teenagers

'The unquestionable trigger'

Despite CCC arguing his psychological problems were down to "common illness," magistrate Jesus Fuentes found that "work-related issues were the sole, exclusive and unquestionable trigger."

Spain's labor inspectorate had already published a damning report in 2022, imposing a fine and sanctions on CCC for its inaction "despite being aware of its workers' psychological problems due to their work."

The employee's lawyer, Francesc Feliu, who also represents around 20 other CCC staff, told AFP his legal firm had separately filed a criminal complaint "against CCC and Facebook Spain" over the serious infractions cited in the report and the psychological harm suffered.

"The company is trying to avoid liability[...] by saying the mental illness suffered by content moderators has no connection with their work so this ruling is extremely important because it rejects that argument," he told AFP. "We are seeking a criminal conviction for company officials because they were aware of the risks to which the moderators are exposed yet the firm has not acted to minimize the potential risk."

Read more Subscribers only Metaverse becomes latest online arena of sexual assault

CCC, which has worked for Meta since 2018, was acquired by Canada's Telus International in 2020 and has 2,000 staff at its Barcelona operations. Telus told AFP it was "disappointed with the verdict" and would appeal. "For these types of illnesses to be considered occupational accidents, they must exclusively result from the execution of that work, which we feel was firmly refuted," it said. Work-related mental health concerns accounted for "between one and two percent of total absences," it added.
Russia on Friday, January 19, summoned France's ambassador in Moscow and issued a formal complaint over his country's alleged "growing involvement" in the conflict in Ukraine. The move comes just days after Moscow claimed  without providing evidence  that it had killed a group of French mercenaries in a strike on the northeastern town of Kharkiv.

"On 19 January, French Ambassador P. Levy was summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry and presented with evidence of Paris's growing involvement in the conflict over Ukraine," Russia's foreign ministry announced in a statement.

Moscow said dozens of fighters were killed in the late-night attack Tuesday in Kharkiv, which Russian forces have been shelling since February 2022. Kyiv said more than a dozen civilians were wounded in the attack and that residential buildings had been damaged.

France's foreign ministry on Thursday denied it had mercenaries in Ukraine, a spokesman dismissing the claim as "another clumsy Russian manipulation." France has been one of Ukraine's staunchest allies since Russia's assault, and President Emmanuel Macron this week announced Paris was sending dozens of long-range missiles to Ukraine.

Read more Subscribers only France and US head coalition to strengthen Ukraine's artillery
GARDAI recovered a pair of bloodied boots from a house where a man who is alleged to have kicked his 79-year-old uncle to death was said to have stayed the night before the body was found, the Central Criminal Court has heard.

Thomas Lorigan, aged 34, of no fixed abode has pleaded not guilty to murdering widower John O'Neill (79) at St Brendans Road, Lisdoonvarna, Co Clare on a date unknown between January 6 and 7, 2022.

It is the prosecution's case that the pensioner died after a vicious attack by his nephew, who they submit had repeatedly kicked him to the head while wearing steel capped boots.

A garda witness has described to the jury the moment she found the body of Mr O'Neill on his kitchen floor. She said he had been "severely beaten" to the point where he was "unrecognisable".

The trial has heard that Mr Lorigan was known by the nickname 'Mossy' in the Clare area and was the deceased's nephew.

The jury has heard that Mr O'Neill lived alone and previously ran a bed and breakfast at his home along with his wife, who passed away in the summer of 2021.

Witness Walter Burke has testified that the accused occasionally came to his home at Gleann Bhreandain in Lisdoonvarna and that he had stayed the night at least three times. He said Mr Lorigan had left his house at one point on the night of January 6 2022 and returned before midnight telling him that he had a row with his uncle.

The witness said the accused went to bed but that during the night had mentioned to him that he felt the row "was more serious than he first told me" and that somebody could be hurt. Mr Burke said after a third conversation about the row the next morning he rang emergency services as he thought Mr O'Neill might be hurt and need medical help.

Giving evidence this Friday, Garda John Costello told Aoife O'Leary BL, for the Director of Public Prosecutions, that he went to a house at Gleann Bhreandain in Lisdoonvarna on January 7 2022, where he found a pair of boots behind an armchair inside a patio door. "There appeared to me to be blood on the boots," he said.

The garda said he also found a pair of blue jeans just outside the patio door. He pointed out the items to Sergeant Joe Fallon later that afternoon.

The next witness - Sgt Fallon - said when he arrived at the house that afternoon he seized the size 46 'Portwest' boots and the pair of jeans. He said he saw a small splatter of blood under the boots which he took a swab from.

Sgt Fallon said he noticed a pair of gloves when he went to pick up the damp jeans that day. "The gloves were covered over in the waist of the pants and they were dry," he said.

The next witness, Sean McNamara told Eilis Brennan SC, prosecuting, that he was working in his father's pub in Lisdoonvarna called 'The Irish Arms' on January 6 2022. The witness said he had known the deceased Mr O'Neill all his life and was very good friends with him.

Mr McNamara said Mr O'Neill would usually have a couple of pints in the pub around 6pm each day before going home for dinner between 7pm and 7.30pm.

The witness said Mr O'Neill was in the pub on the evening of January 6 and in good form. Asked by counsel whether he had noticed any marks on Mr O'Neill, the witness said "absolutely not" adding: "He was chatting to everyone, a real people's person, he was very well known throughout north Clare."

Referring to an evening in October 2021, Mr McNamara agreed with the barrister that 'a person' had once come into the pub when Mr O'Neill was there. He also agreed that on that October night Mr O'Neill had ordered a pint before he [Mr O'Neill] spotted his nephew sitting on his own.

The witness further agreed that Mr O'Neill had drunk his pint very quickly before leaving the pub and that there was no interaction between the pair. "John said he had spuds boiling and left very quickly," said Mr McNamara.

Jason Whelan said he was in 'The Irish Arms' around 7.30pm on January 6 and that Mr O'Neill had bought him a pint. "He was in great form and had a big smile as he always had on him," he said.

Mr Whelan said he left the pub with Mr O'Neill around 8pm and walked him to his car. "I said see you soon and that was the last time I saw him," said the witness. Mr Whelan said he saw Mr O'Neill driving in the direction of his home.

Mr O'Neill's son, Sean O'Neill, told Ms Brennan that the accused has been known as 'Mossy' since he was a baby. Mr O'Neill said the accused's late mother Geraldine was his father's younger sister.

He said his father had regularly helped out and provided financial assistance if needed when Geraldine split up with her husband. He said his father had become a guardian to the accused when he was younger but in later years there was very limited contact between 'Mossy' and the witness's parents.

Under cross-examination, Mr O'Neill told defence counsel Michael Bowman SC that he thought the accused was 12 or 13 years old when Geraldine had passed away.

The deceased's other son Graham O'Neill told the jury that his mother had died in July 2021 and his father had kept the B&B open until September that year. He said his late father was "as fit as a fiddle", was living independently and was very capable.

Mr O'Neill said he was aware the accused was "around the area" but had no contact with him.

The trial continues on Monday before Mr Justice Paul McDermott and a jury of five men and seven women.
IRISH RAIL has been warned by council for a second time over its works at a historic bridge in Adare.

As revealed by the Limerick Leader, the semi-State company first attracted the local authoritys attention when it removed the access across the River Maigue last September.

This was done in order to repair the crossing and as a step towards reopening the Limerick to Foynes rail line to freight, and potentially passengers in time for the 2027 Ryder Cup at Adare Manor.

However, it had not received planning permission to do this, sparking the warning letter from the council.

Since the bridge is a protected structure dating back to 1856, councils contention is any work on it must have approval.

Now, with the rail firm having continued work around this area, a second warning letter has been issued by the authority.

The communication, seen by this newspaper, confirmed the council had sent the warning out after it had been alerted to work taking place around the area of the bridge, which had been removed.

This was sent, the letter said, for the widening of an access/entrance, the construction of a metal fence, the installation of a large hardcore area, the installation/construction of a container-type structure and the carrying out of works on a protected structure.

The bridge itself has been out of use since 2001 when freight services along the Limerick to Foynes line ceased.

Irish Rail has previously said its default position is the bridge will be reinstated in April.

Irish Rail did seek planning permission to raise the height of the crossing over the River Maigue in order to protect it from flooding.

Although it received approval from local planners, two appeals were lodged to An Bord Pleanala.

A date of next month has been set to decide on this case.

Separately, Irish Rail has also asked the planning appeals body to decide whether its works at the railway bridge comprise a material change of character to a protected structure.

In effect, An Bord Pleanala is deciding whether Irish Rail actually needed planning permission to remove the bridge.

A decision is due by April 24 next.

Irish Rail said it had not received the latest warning letter.

If and when we do receive it, we are happy to review. We have ongoing engagement with council on this project, a spokesperson said.

Council declined to comment.
A LIMERICK-based criminal gang features prominently in a new documentary series highlighting the worldwide illicit rhino horn trade.

The Great Rhino Robbery on Sky Documentaries is a three-part documentary from director Jesse Vile, that highlights raids carried out across Europe on museums that were orchestrated to acquire ancient rhino horns.

According to the documentary, the price of the horns, driven by an illicit black market trade, can fetch upwards of 170,000.

The documentary covers all aspects of the trade, from the thefts in museums in Europe to illegal poaching in South Africa.

The makers of the documentary, through interviews with experts and officials from Europol, tied many museum raids to the Limerick-based gang, the Rathkeale Rovers.

This criminal organisation is understood to be responsible for a number of illicit operations across Europe, including tarmacadam scams, fake Covid-19 test results, and of course, rhino horn smuggling.

In 2016, 14 men with links to the Rathkeale-based gang were found guilty of masterminding a plot to steal rhino horns and rare Chinese artefacts worth 76m from several museums across Britain.

This included raids on museums in Cambridge, Norwich, Glasgow and Durham as well as an auction house in Sussex.

One of those who features in the documentary series is Paolo Viscardi, who is now the Keeper of Natural History at the National Museum of Ireland, and has written extensively about the illegal trade of rhino horns.

In a paper sent to the Limerick Leader by Mr Viscardi, he suggests that an Irish gang, not directly identified as the Rathkeale Rovers, may be acquiring horns by offering cash to petty criminals who commit the thefts.

The publication, titled The Horns of Dilemma: The Impact of Illicit Trade in Rhino Horn, also mapped out several thefts or attempted thefts of rhino horn in Europe, during 2010 and 2011, which saw several European countries affected - including England, France, Italy and Sweden.

According to Mr Viscardi, traditionally, the rhino horn has been used to treat fever and a variety of conditions including gout and rheumatism in a number of Asian countries - while the increasing belief that it can be used as a cancer cure rumours in China, Vietnam and Taiwan have created a booming illegal trade.

In his publication, he states the first signs that the black market in rhino horn was starting to have an impact on historic material came in 2008 when an unknown number of horns were stolen from Grahamstown Observatory Museum and Oudtshoorn Museum in South Africa.
ALMOST 9,000 people are now employed by companies which have received backing from Enterprise Ireland in Limerick.

Officials at the agency, which exists to support manufacturing businesses among others, have revealed its end-of-year report.

It shows that a total of 8,924 people are employed through Enterprise Ireland supported companies locally.

Over the last 12 months, there have been 275 net job gains, which is equivalent to a 3% growth. Nationally, the agency has helped create 15,530 new positions.

Taking into account job losses last year, the new jobs translate to a net jobs gain of 5,011 across the State.

Jerry Moloney, Enterprise Irelands regional director for the Mid-West said: Irish export-focused companies are continuing to create quality employment across Ireland, despite a challenging business environment. Employment in companies supported by Enterprise Ireland is now at its highest ever level at over 225,000 people, with over two thirds of the new jobs outside the Dublin region.

He said the increase in jobs in Limerick is a testament to the hard work of our client companies who are hungry to achieve greater scale and expand their global footprint.

Mr Moloney added: At Enterprise Ireland we are determined to support both the start-up sector and established companies to increase sales and exports in global markets which results in increased employment.
The mood of the global elite meeting in Davos, Switzerland, is a useful indicator for investorsas long as they do the opposite.

When the elite are depressed, buy. When theyre positive, sell. When theyre focused on crypto, as in 2021, get out. This year it was impossible to move in the snow-blanketed resort without having artificial intelligence pushed at you.

Does this mean the AI excitement is overdone? Anything AI-related boomed last year following the launch of ChatGPT, so Davos Man (and increasingly Woman) is a little late to the party. Investors thinking about buying now have also missed some stunning gains, as AI stocks soared from January to June, and some of the biggest have carried on up, albeit at a much slower pace.

Im inclined to think it is hyped, as I said in June; since then there has been more discrimination by investors, with some of the smaller AI stocks pummeled. But then Im always cynical about the crowd.

To make a proper assessment, we need to consider both the reality of AI and what is already priced in.

It is real what is happening in AI right now," said Nicolai Tangen, head of Norways $1.5 trillion sovereign-wealth fund. You speak to Sam Altman and you see whats happening to their business, and you speak to Microsoft, and so it is happening." But in spite of this he has sold off the funds overweight position in Microsoft and the rest of the Magnificent Seven big tech stocks.

The reality distortion field in Davos is strong, but companies are increasingly excited about the prospects for productivity gains in their businesses from using AI.

BlackRock Chief Operating Officer Robert Goldstein is one of the most bullish. He said large language modelsthe technology behind ChatGPTwould have a phenomenally quick return on investment.

I believe that the next year, 2024, is going to be a year when you start getting return on investments in a very tangible way from these technologies," he said.

He said BlackRock staff will be given AI co-pilots" to help them do their jobs betterrather than to replace their jobs. One example: First drafts of reports could be produced in minutes instead of days, before being reviewed by humans.

Daniel Pinto, president and chief operating officer of JPMorgan, expects a slower payoff, but at two to three years its still very fast.

Technologys probably the area that will get most of the benefit20% more, 30% more output. But it will take time, it will take a lot of training to understand how they [programmers] can use it."

These behind-the-scenes uses will be felt by employees much earlier than they are rolled out into consumer-facing applications that might help boost revenue, Pinto said. His view is echoed by Bejul Somaia, partner at the venture-capital firm Lightspeed, who thinks the last place AI will make itself felt is for customers of regulated industries such as finance and healthcare.

Pretty much every company is at least experimenting with AI. This explains the stock-market excitement about the providers of AI services to business, most obviously Microsoft, partner of the ChatGPT maker, OpenAI, and of the hardware used for AI, most obviously the chip maker Nvidia.

Is the excitement already priced in? At the start of June, I argued that a minibubble had developed, with indiscriminate buying of any AI-related stock.

Since then investors have become more selective. Nvidia carried on up, albeit at a slower pace, as its earnings powered ahead of Wall Streets already superbullish forecasts. But shares in smaller AI companies that had been big beneficiaries of the first-half boom have collapsed.

Big losers in the second half include SoundHound AI, down 60% since June, C3.ai, down a third, and the robotics company Symbotic, which peaked a month later before dropping around 35% from the end of July.

This is good news for investors thinking of getting in now, as it suggests less-frothy pricing (if still not cheap: Symbotic trades at about 250 times forecast earnings for this year).

Meanwhile, some other providers of AI services to companies have failed to gain traction, with International Business Machines stock lagging behind the S&P 500 last year and trading at less than 17 times forecast earnings.

Nvidia is no longer expensive compared with earnings, because earnings have risen so fast and are expected to soar again this year. Microsoft hasnt yet had the earnings boost from AI that investors anticipate, and at 32 times forecast earnings is more expensive than any time from 2002 to 2020.

None of this feels obviously wrong. There is clearly money to be made from selling picks and shovels to those playing with AI, and it might last a long time, helping Nvidia and Microsoft. Equally, there are plenty of ways of applying AI in spite of all the unpredictability and problems that large language models still have, such as inventing things and presenting them as facts.

But to make money from here Im in the same position as I was in June: Investors cant just bet on AI in general because there are too few listed AI stocks to allow proper diversification when there are likely to be huge winners and losers. Altman, CEO of OpenAI, seemed to be everywhere in Davos, but even its early lead in large language models is far from guaranteed to last.

The minibubble of the first half of the year has partially deflated; valuations arent extreme, but expectations are still high. Contrarians who want to bet against the Davos Consensus" should steer clear of AI stocks. Gamblers can pick individual winners and losers. Everyone else should hope that AI does indeed boost productivity, helping earnings in the welter of big companies that are adopting it and expanding the economy.

Write to James Mackintosh at james.mackintosh@wsj.com
According to a recent Capterra survey , 82% of organisations with a heightened awareness of cyber threats reported increased cybersecurity spending from 2022 to 2023, while a mere 1% reported a recognition of the critical need for robust cybersecurity measures. Companies across various sectors in India have implemented a range of technical and procedural safeguards such as: 1. 61% of surveyed organisations conduct formal cybersecurity risk assessments .

2. Nearly half (48%) of respondents indicated the implementation of network segmentation to isolate specific sections of their IT infrastructure.



3. 46% of surveyed companies apply data classification techniques to safeguard sensitive information.



4. Another critical cybersecurity measure adopted by 46% of organisations is the implementation of zero-trust network policies.

94% say their company uses AI for cybersecurity



94% of cyber-aware respondents in our survey revealed that their companies actively employ AI to fortify their defence mechanisms. Key insights from the survey highlight the profound impact of AI on cybersecurity:

65% of respondents emphasized that AI plays a crucial role in real-time monitoring , swiftly detecting threats as they unfold.

, swiftly detecting threats as they unfold. 54% reported that AI significantly improves data integration by seamlessly merging threat intelligence feed data with internal network behaviour analysis.

by seamlessly merging threat intelligence feed data with internal network behaviour analysis. Over half (52%) acknowledged the role of AI in automating routine security tasks, including alert triage, incident response, and patch management.

However, the press for AI adoption in cybersecurity does not come without challenges. 48% acknowledged challenges related to the quantity and quality of data affecting the efficacy of AI. 46% recognised the need for additional human expertise to complement AI systems. 37% expressed concerns about attackers manipulating AI systems to evade detection.



Organisations defend against ransomware surge: Two-thirds witness attacks, yet resilience prevails



66% of respondents reported encountering ransomware attacks, showcasing the pervasive nature of this cybersecurity menace. 48% of cyber-aware employees said their company fell victim to at least one ransomware attack in the past 12 months. An alarming 18% faced the challenge of dealing with multiple ransomware attacks during the same period.



In the majority of reported cases, organisations resiliently avoided paying ransoms. However, despite the resilience displayed, the cost of retrieving data post-ransomware attacks remains a significant concern. Among respondents aware of the resolution, 33% faced ransom demands in the Rs. 8,01,000 - Rs. 20,00,000 range, while 16% encountered demands exceeding Rs. 41,01,000. 48% dealt with ransoms below Rs. 8,00,000, while a small percentage (3%) were uncertain about the ransom amount.



Commenting on the survey, Sukanya Awasthi, analyst of the study, said: The upward trend in cybersecurity investments highlights a response to the growing frequency of data breaches and cyber-attacks. Employees who are well-versed in cybersecurity express apprehension about the diverse threats in the digital realm. Organisations, in turn, employ a spectrum of advanced techniques to fortify their defences against cyber threats. AI plays a crucial role in these defences, yet its optimal functionality hinges on integrating human expertise."



For more information and in-depth survey findings, please visit:

https://www.capterra.in/blog/4423/what-indian-businesses-can-do-to-reduce-the-risk-of-cyberthreats-in-2024



About Capterra



Capterra helps organisations around the world find the right software for their needs. Founded in 1999, Capterra's global product footprint, verified user reviews backbone, independent research, and tailored comparison tools provide more than five million in-market buyers with a confidence-building discovery experience every month. For more information, visit: https://www.capterra.in/



Survey Methodology



The data for Capterras 2024 Data Security Survey was collected between November 10th and 26th, 2023 and comprises answers from 1264 respondents. We selected our survey sample based on the following criteria:

India resident

Aged between 18-65 years-old

Full-time employee

Works for a company that uses cybersecurity software tools for protection and has some awareness of which tools are used

Media Contact Details

Palash Bhattacharjee (PR and Marketing Specialist), Gartner Inc, palash.bhattacharjee@gartner.com

Disclaimer: This article is a paid publication and does not have journalistic/editorial involvement of Hindustan Times. Hindustan Times does not endorse/subscribe to the content(s) of the article/advertisement and/or view(s) expressed herein. Hindustan Times shall not in any manner, be responsible and/or liable in any manner whatsoever for all that is stated in the article and/or also with regard to the view(s), opinion(s), announcement(s), declaration(s), affirmation(s) etc., stated/featured in the same.

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In the fast-paced world of investments, the Strifor Broker platform has emerged as a transformative force, redefining how individuals engage with financial markets. Strifor, initially founded in 2020 as a B2B cryptocurrency exchange, has undergone substantial evolution. Presently, the platform extends its services to private investors worldwide. Strifor Broker, housed under the umbrella of Strifor.org, has swiftly garnered attention as a premier investment platform.

But what exactly is Strifor? At its core, Strifor is a revolutionary financial ecosystem that seamlessly integrates cutting-edge technology with traditional investment strategies. Strifor Broker, a key component of this ecosystem, serves as the conduit for individuals seeking to navigate the complexities of the financial markets. Strifor guarantees unimpeded access to funds for traders, irrespective of their location or the kind of digital currency they engage with. In the contemporary interconnected world, where trading transcends geographic boundaries, such accessibility proves to be paramount.

Significance of Strifor Broker

View Full Image Strifor Broker

Investors are drawn to Strifor Broker for its user-friendly interface, making it accessible to both novices and seasoned players. The platform provides real-time market insights, ensuring that users make informed decisions through secure and transparent transactions. Its robust analytics tools empower investors, mitigating inherent risks associated with online trading. It offers the following advantages:

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Impacts on Investment Practices:

The advent of Strifor Broker has dismantled geographical barriers, allowing investors to manage portfolios from anywhere. Leveraging artificial intelligence, the platform tailors recommendations based on individual risk tolerances, enhancing the overall investment experience. Strifor also offers some instruments that appeal to investors to trade on, such as Forex, Gold & silver, Oil, Stocks, Indexes, Agriculture, Soft commodities, Metals, Energies, and Crypto. Regulated by SVGFSA 1779, it also provides payment with Ethereum, USD Coin (USDC), Tether (USDT), and Dai (DAI).

Navigating Strifor.org

Strifor.org is a centralized hub that offers a comprehensive suite of financial tools. It complements the functionality of Strifor Broker for a holistic approach to financial empowerment. The platform offers 250 different trading instruments including both fiat and cryptocurrency pairs, stocks, and metals to its traders and theres no minimum deposit restrictions.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Strifor has emerged as a groundbreaking force in the fast-paced world of investments. Since the days of its inception, it has undergone significant evolution, now extending its services globally. At its core, this platform represents a revolutionary financial ecosystem that seamlessly integrates cutting-edge technology with traditional investment strategies. Strifor Broker, a key component, facilitates user-friendly access to financial markets, offering real-time market insights and transparent transactions. Its impacts on investment practices are profound, dismantling geographical barriers and leveraging artificial intelligence to enhance the overall investment experience. With a regulated status and diverse trading instruments, Strifor positions itself as a global leader in the financial empowerment landscape, providing a comprehensive suite of tools through the broader Strifor.org ecosystem. The platform's starting capital, coupled with a maximum leverage of 1:500, and a diverse array of trading instruments, make it a compelling choice for investors seeking a holistic approach to financial empowerment.

For more information, please visit https://www.Strifor.org.

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. The article does not constitute financial advice.

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There was a significant drop in deal values in India for the year 2023, reaching $66 billion, marking a decrease of over 50 percent, a recent report from consultancy firm Grant Thornton Bharat found. Released on January 19, the report found a decline of over 20 percent in deal volume, with 1,641 deals compared to the previous year.

Shanthi Vijetha, a partner at Grant Thornton Bharat, pointed out several factors contributing to this. The lack of liquidity in international markets, volatile market conditions, and cautious investor sentiment were identified as key hindrances to deal activities throughout 2023.

"While India's focus on sustainability and environmental responsibility positions it as an attractive hub for global economic opportunities, overcoming challenges such as currency strength and global instability is crucial," added Vijetha.

Merger and Acquisition Impact

The report indicates a significant impact on merger and acquisition (M&A) deal values, which plummeted by 72 percent to $25.2 billion across 494 transactions. Outbound M&As were particularly affected, dropping to $3.2 billion from $17.9 billion in the previous year.

The sluggish M&A trend in the first half of 2023 recorded deal values of only $7.8 billion. The largest transaction during this period was Suraksha Group's $2.5 billion acquisition of Jaypee in the real estate sector.

Private Equity and IPO Trends

On the private equity (PE) front, 2023 witnessed a 23 percent decline in both deal volume and value, with 1,045 deals amounting to $27.4 billion. The most significant deal in this category was Temasek Holdings' $2 billion investment in Manipal Health Enterprises.

While 57 companies went public in 2023, raising $6.2 billion, Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) values saw a nearly one-fourth decrease compared to the year-ago period.

However, Qualified Institutional Placements (QIP) showed improvement, with 45 companies raising $7 billion, a substantial increase from $1.5 billion raised by 14 companies in 2022.

(With inputs from PTI)

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Unable to scale up and with existing investors unwilling to pump in more funds, WestBridge Capital-backed interior solutions provider DesignCafe has been put on the block. The company, which was last valued at close to 700 crore, has held talks with strategic and financial investors, three people with knowledge of the development said.

The company has not been able to scale up beyond the initial traction it saw. Merging with a larger player seems to be on the cards," the first person cited above said on condition of anonymity as the talks are private.

The company has so far held talks with two large peers in its segment, Accel-backed HomeLane and KKR-backed Livspace, for a merger, the second person cited above said. The third person said the company has also engaged with Saint-Gobain-held MyHome and the JSW Group, too. It was not immediately clear which entity within the JSW Group was pursuing this acquisition.

In an emailed response to queries, a Livspace spokesperson declined to comment, and a HomeLane spokesperson said, We dont comment on speculation. If anything comes up, we will let you know."

The company has run out of financial runway, and existing investors are not ready to pump in money anymore," the second person cited above said. The third person said that consolidation is likely in this segment, with large players armed with more capital expanding their businesses.

A JSW spokesperson declined to comment. A Saint-Gobain spokesperson, too, declined to comment on Mints queries. A DesignCafe spokesperson did not respond to emailed queries.

Founded in 2015 by Gita Ramanan and Shezan Bhojani, DesignCafe has raised close to $30 million in funding so far. In 2021, it raised $25 million from investors led by WestBridge Capital and Sixth Sense Ventures as part of its extended Series B round.

In 2023, DesignCafe raised another $4.8 million in a bridge round as a mix of debt and equity from investors including WestBridge, Mirabilis Investment and Alteria Capital. The company also counts early-stage firms such as Fireside Ventures among its investors.

DesignCafe has been focusing on the home interiors category, which it believed was a billion-dollar opportunity. The company has a vertically integrated business model, with its own designers, workforce and a factory in Bengaluru manufacturing all its products.

The company, which also operates the Qarpentri brand of mass home interior solutions, is present in 10 cities across the country. It had an annualized revenue run rate of 200 crore in March 2023.

The home interiors segment, pegged to be a $20 billion industry, is largely driven by unorganized local players and has seen very few businesses of scale emerge. Companies such as HomeLane and Livspace have been able to achieve some scale and cross the 1,000 crore revenue mark.

With the real estate market bouncing back, the home interiors and renovation segment has also got a fillip. Mint recently reported that Livspaces plans to flip back to India to list locally. The company is on the verge of achieving profitability. Meanwhile, HomeLane has hit operating cash profitability and is on a 1,000 crore-plus revenue run rate.
Chinese officials said they adjusted the way they calculate the rate to arrive at a more accurate figure, but economists are skeptical it will do much to dispel the gloom hanging over the economy. And some say they are still scratching their heads over how China came up with the new figure.

On Wednesday, China released a youth unemployment rate of 14.9% for December, a substantial drop from the rate of more than 20% in June that spawned headlines about record high youth unemployment as the economy struggled to regain its footing last year. Chinese officials suggested they arrived at the number by changing the way they incorporate students in their calculations.

Economists said a revised youth jobless rate for a single month likely wouldnt sufficiently reassure the public about improved job market conditions or erase longstanding doubts about the accuracy of the countrys official statistics.

Adjusting how they calculate the figures at this moment may even exacerbate the publics distrust in official data," said Dan Wang, chief economist at Hang Seng Bank China.

The release of the new figure comes as Chinese leaders have sought to rally the nation in recent weeks to view the economy more positively. Earlier this month, a senior party official urged the countrys propaganda chiefs to promote the bright prospects of Chinas economy," echoing a message from a Party conference that Chinese leader Xi Jinping presided over last month.

Chinas National Bureau of Statistics said the calculation of the youth unemployment rate now excludes nearly 62 million students aged 16 to 24 studying full-time on campuses in an effort to focus on those with actual demand for jobs," such as those who have finished education or those who are only studying part-time.

The NBS didnt provide complete details of its new methodology or how it compares with the old one. One key puzzle is that the NBS previously indicated it didnt count most students anyway: Before it stopped publishing the old data, the agency said in June there were around 96 million people in the 16 to 24 age group in total, but only 33 million either in work or looking for a job, leaving some 63 million outside the labor force definition.

Another problem for economists is the NBS hasnt recalculated past youth unemployment rates, as is common when statistical authorities rewrite their rules. It has only published a single month of data.

Economists say the upshot is that it is hard to figure out if youth unemployment in China is getting better or worse, and why, until there is greater clarity on who is being counted as unemployed, and until there is a longer series for them to scrutinize.

Theres quite a bit of murk," said Duncan Wrigley, chief China economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics in London. They havent given enough info to really assess it."

Excluding full-time students from unemployment rolls altogether is unusual. Other countries, including the U.S. and nations in Europe, treat full-time students much the same as anyone else. In the U.S., if a student has been looking for a job within the past month, and is able to start work within two weeks, then they count as unemployedeven if they are enrolled in high school or college. If they arent looking for work, they are categorized as outside the labor force.

Statistical standards on how to measure joblessness and other labor market indicators are set by the International Labor Organization, a United Nations agency based in Geneva, Switzerland. A spokeswoman for the agency said that excluding students from the measure of unemployment isnt in line with ILO standards, though she added the ILO doesnt have enough information to make a complete evaluation of how the changes affect Chinas labor market data.

Chinas statistics bureau didnt respond to a request for comment.

Bruce Pang, chief China economist at Jones Lang LaSalle, said officials in China have solid reasons to exclude students from the calculation, given that only a fraction of Chinese students seek part-time work compared with many Western countries such as the U.S.

But adopting a new methodology prevents the public from making direct comparisons with historical figures, he said, adding that the jobless rate among young people is typically lower in the winter and higher in summer during the graduation season.

Its hard to argue that the new data necessarily points to an improvement or not," he said.

China has battled persistent skepticism about the reliability of its economic data. On Wednesday, the country reported 5.2% economic growth for 2023 over the previous year, hitting the governments goal. But many research firms have questioned the number. Rhodium Group, a research firm based in New York, estimates that Chinas actual growth rate last year was closer to 1.5%.

Economists have long held misgivings about the quality of data on Chinas labor market, in particular how it measures joblessness. For example, the countrys official unemployment survey leaves out hundreds of millions of rural people who seek jobs in cities, because the authorities say that they can return to farming if they are out of work.

China stopped publishing its youth unemployment rate in August, as the challenges facing Chinas young people had become a focus of international attentionand potentially embarrassing for the ruling Communist Party.

The decision deprived businesses, investors and economists of an important data point on the worlds second-largest economy. Xi has given priority to national security, leading to greater opacity around Chinas economy and corporate landscape as authorities tighten their grip on information.

China has restricted access to a range of information on the economyeverything from corporate financials to data on ship movements and coal usage. A 2021 data-security law expanded the scope of what constituted sensitive information, leaving foreign firms struggling to persuade their Chinese counterparts to share information.

Setting aside the fog surrounding Chinas new figure, some economists see few signs elsewhere that point to a stronger labor market. The country is wrestling with persistent deflationary pressure, which weakens overall demand and tends to lead to higher unemployment. New investment by private firms, which supply about 80% of jobs in cities, shrank last year.

Without a major improvement in companies profitability, Chinas job market condition may stay soft in the near term," said Larry Hu, chief China economist at Macquarie.

Write to Stella Yifan Xie at stella.xie@wsj.com and Jason Douglas at jason.douglas@wsj.com
NEW DELHI : Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the countrys development aid agency, is working with India on a roadmap to reduce carbon emissions in the power sector, Saito Mitsunori, the chief representative of the agencys India Office said.

JICA is also in talks with the central and state governments to fund more projects to improve connectivity with Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan, Mitsunori said.

The Japanese agency, one of the largest bilateral funders for India, is financing large infrastructure and connectivity projects like the Mumbai-Ahmedabad Bullet Train project, Mumbai Trans Harbour Link Project, and road connectivity improvement projects in the North-east, apart from projects in water and sanitation, power, forestry, agriculture, health, education and sustainable development goals (SDGs).

A decarbonization road map (for the power sector) will be formulated by the government with JICAs support in the coming years," Mitsunori said.

JICA is also working with the Central Electricity Authority to help it with planning policy formulation and terms of the power sector development, apart from funding renewable sector development in the country, he added.

India has an ambitious goal of decarbonizing energy to 50% and achieving 500 GW of fossil fuel-free generating capacity by 2030. This would require the country to meet 50% of its electricity requirements from renewable energy sources by 2030.

Meanwhile, JICA is also financing large infrastructure connectivity projects in India and Bangladesh.

As things stand, India, Japan, and Bangladesh have come together in the form of the ambitious Bay of Bengal Northeast Corridor project to transform connectivity in the Bay of Bengal region through multiple connectivity corridors and industrial value chains.

While on the Bangladesh side, JICA is financing the development of Matabaris deep seaport in Coxs Bazar district, on the Indian side. In India it is financing road connectivity improvement projects in the North-east region, totalling more than 750km in length.

Looking into the future, we are very much keen to fund more projects to improve connectivity with Bangladesh or Nepal or Bhutan," Mitsunori said. We are yet to unveil a plan but Id like to convey JICAs keenness and willingness to do more for that direction," he added.

Mitsunori added that JICA is interested in improving institutional connectivity between India and its neighbours, which includes streamlining customs clearances and other policy instruments to accelerate cross-border goods and services trade.

JICA is currently conducting a study to consider the possibilities in this sector. It is also in touch with central and state ministries regarding this matter," he added.

Japan has been instrumental in improving connectivity infrastructure between India and its neighbours like Bangladesh.

In 2023, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida unveiled the Bay of Bengal Northeast Industrial Value Chain project during his visit to India.

This project envisions improving physical connectivity and policy tools to attract more investment to Indias northeast region and Bangladesh.

In December, Mint reported that India is considering proposals to connect Bangladeshs strategically important Matarbari port to northeastern states.

The objective of the project is to strengthen the ports cargo-handling capacity and to facilitate logistics operations with neighbouring countries.

India is making great progress, reporting record economic growth, lifting people out of poverty, and in sectors like space and technology, Mitsunori said.

We are really excited to continue working with the Government of India for economic and social development of in the country," he added.
NEW DELHI : India will not negotiate on any farm issue at the World Trade Organization (WTO) until the body finds a permanent solution to the issue of public stocks of foodgrains, a government official said, signalling a hardening of position ahead of the world bodys next ministerial meeting.

India wants the matter settled as it prepares for the WTOs 13th ministerial meeting in Abu Dhabi from 26-29 February. The ministerial is the highest decision-making forum at the 164-member rule-setting body.

The public stocks issue goes to the heart of Indias food distribution system. Wealthy nations claim Indian subsidiesin the form of minimum support prices for farmers and free food for the poorbreach WTO subsidy thresholds.

New Delhi says these subsidies are necessary in an overwhelmingly agrarian society and a country with a large number of people living in poverty.

According to the government official cited above, India will also try to negotiate for a better understanding of issues related to export of agricultural products, saying New Delhi has the support of 80 countries, including African nations.

Besides public stockholding for food grains, WTO members, particularly developed countries, want India to provide information on export restrictions in advance, which the official argued is not possible. We do notify it, but there are some countries who dont even issue notifications about export bans," the official said, adding that a 30-day prior notification is not feasible".

The public stockpiling of food grain is the longest pending issue. The promise was made by the members in Bali ministerial and then later endorsed by subsequent conferences. Without that, we will not take part in any discussion on any other issue on agriculture, unless the mandated issue is settled. This is our first ask," the official said, who wished not to be named.

Developed countries have been red-flagging Indias food security programmes such as buying rice and wheat from farmers at a minimum support price for distribution through the public distribution system (PDS). They have been alleging that procurement of grains at subsidized rates and storage distorts global agriculture trade," the official added.

We have made it clear to WTO members that India has to protect the interest of poor and vulnerable farmers along with ensuring food security needs of a large section of the population," the official maintained.

The government provides 5 kg of foodgrains every month free of charge to around 800 million poor under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY).

India has also suggested changing the formula to calculate food the subsidy cap and inclusion of programmes implemented after 2013 under the ambit of a Peace Clause.

WTO members at the Bali ministerial meeting in 2013 agreed to put in place a mechanism popularly called a Peace Clause and committed to negotiating a permanent solution.

Under the Peace Clause, WTO members agreed to refrain from challenging any breach in the prescribed ceiling by a developing nation at the dispute settlement forum of the WTO. This clause is in force until a permanent solution is found.

India has also conveyed that support measures given by it to its poor farmers like input subsidies on electricity, irrigation, fertilizer and even direct transfers are non-negotiable.

Under global trade norms, a WTO member-countrys food subsidy bill should not breach the limit of 10% of the value of production based on the external reference price (ERP) of 1986-88.
Public sector banks (PSBs), insurance companies, financial institutions, and regional rural banks will have a half-day off on January 22 for the Ram temple consecration ceremony scheduled in Ayodhya, as per an order issued by the Ministry of Finance on January 18.

The order specifies a half-day closing, effective until 2:30 PM, for Central Government Offices, Central Institutions, and Central Industrial Establishments on January 22, 2024.

The Department of Personnel and Training (DOPT) has also released an order allowing employees to participate in the 'Pran Pratishtha' celebration. This extension is in alignment with the finance ministry's notification.

Also Read | Schools closed on January 22 in honour of Ram Temple Pran Prathishtha Ceremony. Check full list here

The finance ministry's notification states, "This is...to inform that DoPT's order in respect of Central Institutions and Central Industrial Establishments shall also apply to all Public Sector Banks/ Public Sector Insurance Companies/ Public Sector Financial Institutions and Regional Rural Banks to enable employees to participate in the Ram Lalla 'Pran Pratishtha' celebrations."

Officials told PTI the decision came in response to widespread requests from employees across the country seeking time off. "Various activities have been planned by organisations and groups of people across India and abroad to coincide with the ceremony," the official said.

January 2024 Holidays

January has a total of 16 holidays including, Saturdays and Sundays off. Moreover, the holidays will be as per the local customs of different regions in India and will vary in different states.

See | Maharashtra Bank Holidays in 2023

Here are the weekend dates where banks will be shut  January 7 (Sunday), January 13 (Second Saturday), January 14 (Sunday), January 21 (Sunday), January 27 (Fourth Saturday) and January 28 (Sunday).

Below is the full list of other bank holidays in January 2024:

Date Day Occasion Region 1 January Monday New Year Aizawl, Chennai, Gangtok, Imphal, Itanagar, Kohima, Kolkata and Shillong 2 January Tuesday New Year celebrations Aizawl 11 January Thursday Missionary Day Aizawl 12 January Friday Swami Vivekananda birth anniversary Kolkata 15 January Monday Uttarayana Punyakala/Makara Sankranti Festival/Maghe Sankranti/Pongal/Magh Bihu Bengaluru, Bhubaneswar, Chennai, Gangtok, Guwahati, Hyderabad 16 January Tuesday Thiruvalluvar Day Chennai 17 January Wednesday Uzhavar Thirunal/Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji Birthday Chandigarh and Chennai 22 January Monday Imoinu Iratpa Imphal 23 January Tuesday Gaan-Ngai/Netajis Birth Day Imphal and Kolkata 25 January Thursday Thai Poosam/Birthday of Md. Hazarat Ali Chennai, Kanpur and Lucknow 26 January Friday Republic Day All across India

Bank Holidays List

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) releases the list of bank holidays, which is based on various factors including national/state holidays, cultural or religious observance, operational requirements, government announcements, and coordination with other banks. It's important to note that the RBI communicates its holiday schedule through official channels, including its website and notifications to banks and financial institutions.

Also See | Stock market holiday 2024: Check days, dates, and trading holidays in the new year

Nationwide access to online banking services will persist despite the shutdown of either private or public sector banks. It becomes imperative for individuals to cultivate a heightened awareness of scheduled bank holidays, taking note of the specific dates, thereby enabling them to meticulously plan their visits to their nearby branches.

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When Emillie Mendez was axed from her accounting job late last year, she took to TikTok.

Im pissed and Im sad and Im scared," she said in a two-minute video, which was viewed 40,000 times and has 280 comments.

Losing a job used to be a career low that was largely kept private, one that workers sometimes fretted even telling their families about. Now, as the viral video of one tech workers firing shows, its often fodder for a social-media post.

While technology allows companies to deliver the bad news in more depersonalized ways, such as through Zoom or email, workers are taking it personally. For some, publicizing losing their job is a form of therapy and an effort to control the narrative of how they became unemployed. The flood of sympathy, or outrage, helps relieve the stigma, they say. Plus, it might just help them get a new job.

Getting laid off, especially remotely, is a very disempowering experience and often leaves employees feeling shocked and helpless," said Moshe Cohen, senior lecturer at Boston Universitys Questrom School of Business. What can people do to take back some power when they feel completely disempowered? One thing is to go public with what happened to them."

Mendez, who worked remotely from her Miami home, said she was told she was being let go on an online video call. I was crying the whole time," said the 31-year-old.

She was home alone the next day, and needed to vent. Inspired by other layoff video posts she had seen, she turned to TikTok.

Talking about getting laid off is way more open today than it was," said Mendez, who started a new job this month. She said the response from strangers made her feel less alone. A few years ago, I probably would have never ever talked about it publicly, especially not on the internet," she said.

Brittany Pietsch, the tech employee who went viral last week, went a step further than Mendez. She recorded her actual firing from tech company Cloudflare. In the video she posted to TikTok, Pietsch asked the two Cloudflare representatives why she was being let go and why her manager wasnt on the call, without getting answers.

Pietsch said she didnt intend for her video to go viral, and didnt mention her employer by name in the caption of the video. But someone else took the video, added her name and her ex-employers, and shared it on X and other social-media sites. It has since generated millions of views.

One viewer was Cloudflares chief executive, Matthew Prince, who said in a post on X that the video was painful to watch, and that the company will learn from it.

Cloudflare didnt make the other people in the video available for an interview.

Pietsch said she has received a flood of comments from people, including potential employers, about her video.

I dont regret sharing that," she said about the video.

The openness about getting canned comes as companies are still cutting jobs in an effort to be more efficient, even after the larger-scale layoffs that took place last year. Companies including Amazon, BlackRock, Citigroup, Google, Macys and Xerox this month have announced plans to trim their workforces.

Chloe Shih went public about being laid off from internet-messaging platform Discord, which said earlier this month it was cutting 17% of its staff. Shih talked about losing her senior product manager job on TikTok, X and LinkedIn. Her messaging on each platform demonstrates how these announcements can be tailored for different audiences.

On TikTok, where Shih has more than 76,000 followers, she was more emotional and unfiltered, filming her reaction to reading an email about the layoff in real time.

She gasps, gawks, holds her hand over her mouth, nervously smiles, laughs in shock and shouts, Oh my God" while also using vulgar language. She featured Discords name in the video caption, which she also put on X.

Discord declined to comment.

Her posts on LinkedIn, where people post and look for jobs, were generally more subdued. At one point, though, she did post a video of her telling her parents about the layoff, prefacing it with not sure if this belongs on LinkedIn, but wanted to spread some [emoji for sunny] vibes during this absolute bloodbath of a layoff season."

Her parents dont seem too concerned, with her mother saying, Isnt it very normal? A lot of people get laid off."

Shih wrote in the same post that she has received a lot of positive feedback. Real talk though  the amount of support Ive received has been tremendous."

In an email, Shih said things had been really hectic lately" and didnt think she could commit to a phone interview. She didnt return a follow-up email with questions.

Some commentators have criticized her layoff-reaction video as being a stunt or unprofessional. Sometimes commenters are divided, like in Pietschs case, on whether the company representatives handled themselves well.

Anyone thinking of posting a layoff video should think twice, said Cohen of Boston University. Some employers could view work oversharers as loose cannons, he said, especially if the employer is considering two candidates with similar credentials.

Its likely theyll go with the safer bet," he said.

Andrea Darrow wanted to empower herself and others in a LinkedIn post after she and her team were laid off in December.

Im not ashamed of what happened," she said, referring to being laid off from her remote role in Tampa as a senior manager of quality and compliance for a Michigan-based company. She was inspired to write the post because I felt like I wasnt the only one and not a lot of people feel empowered to talk about their feelings as far as getting laid off, so I wanted to share my thoughts with others."

She said she isnt worried about how potential employers might react to her post.

Im very straightforward, and will tell you like it is," she said.

Write to Joseph Pisani at joseph.pisani@wsj.com and Ray A. Smith at Ray.Smith@wsj.com
New Delhi: After having stagnated in viewership and brand interest on television, non-fiction is emerging as a new draw on video streaming platforms.

Thirteen Indian non-fiction shows had viewership of more than five million in India in 2023, according to media consulting firm Ormax. In 2021, there were only four shows.

Over the past few weeks, shows like Koffee With Karan, Temptation Island India and MasterChef India have been topping viewership charts.

Not only are some of these shows cheaper to produce and put together than fiction, brand interest is also strong in terms of integrations, and the genre offers a break from the routine for viewers.

In Ormaxs latest report on top streaming originals in India in 2023, the second season of Bigg Boss OTT on JioCinema is the most watched Hindi-language unscripted web show across platforms with a viewership of 19.5 million. It was followed by the eighth season of Koffee With Karan (15.4 million), Temptation Island India (13.5 million) and Dance + Pro (8.8 million).

This is quite unlike not too long ago, when the weekly list of most watched OTT originals in India would be dominated by fiction shows. The trend changed in the last quarter of 2023, when three or four non-fiction shows made it to the top five list for several weeks.

Unlike linear television, where non-fiction shows can be at least four to five times more expensive than fiction shows on a per-episode cost comparison, the picture looks quite different on OTT. Some of the bigger fiction shows on OTT can cost upward of 2 crore per episode, making non-fiction shows a more cost-effective proposition," a recent Ormax report said.

In general, reality shows have a higher new user-to-returning user ratio compared to fiction, owing to their wider appeal and limited supply of non-fiction shows on OTT, Ormax said. Further, they provide more avenues from an advertising revenue perspective, due to brand integration and sponsorship possibilities.

Unlike fiction shows, which have six to eight episodes in a typical season, reality shows have seasons of 30-60 episodes. This means higher ad inventory for AVoD (advertising video on demand) platforms and a stronger potential to drive subscriptions for SVoD (subscription video on demand) platforms, whereby such shows can lead to at least two, if not three, monthly renewals.

Tanya Bami, series head, Netflix India, said unscripted is a format the platform has been investing in since it began programming in India. While its documentary The Elephant Whisperers won an Oscar, Vir Dass comedy special bagged an International Emmy.

Audiences are genre-agnostic. They are looking for a story or an experience that engages them deeply, and it is on us as the creative community to deliver the freshest, most distinct stories. Non-fiction is an integral part of our slate. In fact, we are always looking for stories and ideas to take this genre wider, quite like the approach for our fiction series," Bami said.

She added that this year, the company will diversify further by bringing a show with Kapil Sharma and his team, along with new offerings in the documentary space, and the third season of the Fabulous Lives of Bollywood Wives.

In a recent interview with Mint, Saugata Mukherjee, head of content at SonyLIV, had also referred to non-fiction as a big focus area.

Non-fiction is a big part of our digital expansion plan and one where weve already tasted success. We may not be looking at many unscripted shows, but they will all be high-quality titles," Mukherjee had said, adding that reality programming on SonyLIV has remained ad-supported all this while without seeing any dip in viewership. Shows such as MasterChef will now see Tamil- and Telugu-language versions.

Non-fiction had played a big role in building TV viewership in its early days, and will definitely see a thrust from OTT going forward, said Barin Mukherjee, co-founder and chief executive officer at Digital Refresh Network, a content solutions company that is working on shows in the infotainment space. Unlike fiction, which requires greater commitment, this is often snackable content where the viewer can tune out and come back easily," Mukherjee said.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR Lata Jha "Lata writes about the media and entertainment industry for Mint, focusing on everything from traditional film and TV to newer areas like video and audio streaming services. She loves movies and spends a lot of her free time watching them, which makes her job both fun and a bit of a challenge. Lata tries to find and write about things in the entertainment world that most people don't notice, even though a lot of people in her country are really into movies and entertainment news often just talks about the glamorous side of things. " Read more from this author
UltraTech Cement Q3 Result Preview: UltraTech Cement, the countrys largest cement manufacturer, will be reporting today, its financial performance for the quarter ending December' 2024.

Industry Dynamics

The cement prices in the country that started rising in the July-August though moderated post start of festive season in November. Nevertheless, for the quarter, the All-India average Cement prices per 50 Kg bag at 370 were higher compared to 357 in the previous quarter and 359 in the year ago quarter.

The quarter also saw some moderation in raw material costs. Though demand in certain pockets and regions saw temporary impact due to state elections, labor availability in festive season, rains and floods in the South India, and construction bans in Delhi NCR and some other regions to curb pollution. Overall demand trend in the country remains strong and is expected to pick pace.

Also Read- Reliance share price dips ahead of Q3 results today. Opportunity to buy?

It is the better realizations .lower costs are likely to support earnings for Cement manufacturers as UltraTech

Q3 result Expectations

UltraTech already had announced its volume growth numbers. The Sales volume in the domestic markets for UltraTech during the quarter at 26.06 9million ton) grew 5% year on year and 2% sequentially. Consolidated sales volume for UltraTech (including overseas) at 27.32 were up 6% year on year and 2% sequentially.

Analysts at Motilal Oswal Financial Services estimate blended realization to increase 3% year on year and sequentially too.

Hence the net revenues at around 16810 Crore are estimated to rise 8.3% year on year. The Ready-mix Concrete (RMC) revenue is expected to increase 26% year on year and the white cement revenue is expected to increase 18% YoY

With raw material costs on the decline, the operating performance is likely to get a further boost. Variable cost per tonne is expected to decline 10% year-on-year (4% sequentially). They expect Operating Expensed per tonne to decline 4% YoY and (3% sequentially for UltraTech.

Not surprising that MOFSL expects Ebitda (earnings before interest tax depreciation and amortization to grow 45% YoY and Operating margins to surge 5 per cent points YoY to 20%.

The per tonne Ebitda is estimated to come at 1,236 versus 903 in the year ago quarter and 956 in the previous quarter.

MOFSL pegs net profits for UltraTech to come at 1910 Crore rising 80.9% year on year.

Elara Securities India Pvt Ltd pegs Net profit growth of 60% for UltraTech.

Also Read- IndusInd Bank share price falls over 2% after Q3 results; Time to buy the stock? Heres what analysts say

Kotak Institutional Equities factors in volumes at 26.1 million tons ( up 5.7% yoy and1.5% sequentially) for UltraTech during the quarter with strong growth in October 2023 offset by weakness in November 2023. They estimate blended realizations to rise 3% sequentially (up 2.1% yoy) on account of price hikes during the start of the quarter.

Kotak estimates costs per ton for UltraTech to decline by 1.3% sequentially (3.1% year on year ) led by lower power-fuel costs, operating leverage partly offset by higher freight costs on a sequential basis. They estimate Ebitda per ton to increase to Rs1,200 a ton (up 32% year-on-yeat and 26% sequentially) mainly led by higher prices.

Disclaimer: The views and recommendations made above are those of individual analysts or broking companies, and not of Mint. We advise investors to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions

MOTILAL OSWAL FINANCIAL SERVICES More Information

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR Ujjval Jauhari Ujjval Jauhari is a deputy editor at Mint, with over a decade of experience in newspapers and digital news platforms. He is skilled in storytelling, reporting, analysing and writing about stocks, investment ideas, markets, corporates and more. He is based in New Delhi. Read more from this author
Ayodhya Ram Mandir: The seven-day religious rituals for the Ayodhya Ram Temple 'Pran Pratistha' ceremony began on 16 January and will continue till 21 January. On Wednesday night, the idol of Ram Lalla was brought inside the sanctum sanctorum of the Ram temple, Shri Ram Mandir Construction Committee chairperson Nripendra Mishra had said. Ram Mandir Live A special puja was held in the sanctum sanctorum before the idol was brought inside. Rituals are being performed in the run-up to the January 22 consecration ceremony at the Ram temple. A 'Kalash Pujan' was held earlier on Wednesday. The Ram temple 'Pran Pratishtha' will begin at 12:20 pm on January 22 and is expected to end by 1 pm. Catch all LIVE updates here 6:25 am: UK celebrates Ram Mandir Pran Pratishtha ceremony The UK declaration, signed by over 200 mandirs, community organizations, and associations nationwide, will be presented to the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust in Ayodhya before the Pran Pratishtha ceremony on January 22. The powerful statement from Dharmic communities in the UK highlights shared joy and solidarity with the 1.5 billion global celebrants, warmly embracing the inauguration ceremony of the Ram Janmabhoomi Mandir in Ayodhya. 6:42 am: MHA sends high-level team to Ayodhya to deal with cyber threat The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has sent a high-level team to Uttar Pradesh's Ayodhya to deal with cyber threats ahead of the inauguration of the Ram Temple in the historical town on January 22. As per sources, the joint team includes officials of MHA's Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C), Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITy), Intelligence Bureau (IB), Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) and experts in cyber matters. 6: 54 am: Preparations for Pran Pratishtha ceremony complete, says UP Dy CM Brajesh Pathak Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak on Wednesday said that all the preparations for the Pran Pratishtha of Ram Lalla scheduled later this month in Ayodhya are completed. "This is a wonderful moment, an unforgettable moment. Lord Ram is coming. All preparations are complete," he told ANI. 7:11 am: These states declared a holiday or half day on January 22 The upcoming 'Pran Prathishtha' ceremony for the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, scheduled for January 22, has prompted several states or central governments to declare it a public holiday or half day in honor of this significant Hindu event. The Department of Personnel and Training on Thursday announced that all central government offices will be closed for half day on January 22 on the occasion of the Pran Pratishta ceremony of Ram Lalla idol at Ayodhya Ram Temple. 7:23 am: All India Matua Mahasangha to distribute 22k lamps, sweets across Nadia Ahead of the Pran Pratishtha ceremony of Lord Shri Ram Lalla in Ayodhya, the All India Matua Mahasangha of Krishna Nagar constituency in West Bengal will distribute 22,000 lamps and sweets across the Nadia North organizational district on January 21, a statement from the Mahasangha said. According to the statement of Matua Mahasangha, this initiative is aimed at uniting the community in joyful preparation for the historic occasion. 7:56 am: Punjab artist makes 10-foot-tall painting of Lord Ram The excitement of every devotee is increasing as the Pran Pratishtha of Ram Mandir comes near. An Amritsar-based artist has made a 10-foot painting of Lord Ram which he wishes should be installed in the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya. "I have made this painting with great devotion for January 22. India had a dream when would the Ram temple be built? The size of this painting is 7 feet by 10 feet and I started making it on January 1. It is my wish that this painting should be installed in the Ram Mandir," the artist said. 8:17 am: First photo of Ram Lalla inside Ram Temple Ahead of Ayodhya's Ram temple consecration ceremony, the idol of Lord Ram was placed inside the sanctum sanctorum of the temple. Covered with a veil, the first photo of the idol was revealed during the placement ceremony in the sanctum sanctorum. After various rituals were performed in the sanctum sanctorum throughout the day on Thursday, the child form of the Lord was placed at its appointed place. Now the cover has been removed from all places except his Shri Mukh. The full unveiling of the idol is likely to be done on the occasion of Pran Pratistha only. 8:53 am: Yogi govt to initiate helicopter services to Ayodhya Dham To facilitate the pilgrimage for Ram devotees and tourists visiting Ayodhya Dham by helicopter, the Uttar Pradesh government under Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is introducing helicopter services from six districts in the state with a fixed fare. "Ram devotees and tourists will be offered helicopter services from Gorakhpur, Varanasi, Lucknow, Prayagraj, Mathura, and Agra. Plans are underway to expand this service to additional districts in the state shortly," it said. 9:05 am: 500 kg kumkum leaves sent from Amravati for Pran Pratishtha Five hundred kilograms of kumkum leaves have been sent from Amravati in Maharashtra to Ayodhya for the idol consecration of the Ram temple on January 22. Spiritual leaders Rajeshwar Mauli and Jitendranath Maharaj are taking the kumkum leaves to the holy town in UP. The function to mark their departure to Ayodhya on Thursday was attended by local MP Navneet Rana. Kumkum leaves carry profound social and religious significance in India. 9:10 am: Idol of Lord Ram placed inside sanctum sanctorum of Ram Temple In a significant prelude to the forthcoming Pran Prathishta ceremony on January 22, the idol of Shri Ram Lalla was installed in the sanctum sanctorum of the newly built grand temple with full rituals on Thursday evening. According to the CMO, various rituals and worship were performed before enshrining Shri Ram Lalla. The priests who specially came from Kashi for the consecration of life conducted the program successfully. Now on January 22, in the presence of Prime Minister Modi and Chief Minister Yogi, a program of consecration of life will be organized among various institutions. 9:24 am: Rajasthan govt declares a half-day holiday on January 22 Rajasthan government on Thursday declared a half-day holiday in the state on January 22 given the consecration ceremony of the Ram temple in Ayodhya. Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma announced the BJP Legislature Party meeting held at the partys headquarters here on Thursday night, a spokesperson said. The state's order comes after the Centre announced a half-day holiday for all its employees on January 22. Cabinet Minister Kanhaiya Lal Choudhary said that he has sent a request to the chief minister to change it to a full-day leave on January 22. 9:47 am: Ayodhya gears up for 'Pran Pratishtha' of Ram Temple with floral splendor The city of Ayodhya is adorned with vibrant flowers in preparation for the 'Pran Pratishtha' ceremony of the Ram Temple scheduled on January 22. In visuals captured by ANI, workers can be seen showcasing their creativity as they decorate the temple premises with a variety of flowers, predominantly marigolds. 9:58 am: Former Indian skipper Mithali Raj receives invitation to Ram Temple event Legendary Indian batter Mithali Raj on Thursday received an invitation to attend the Ram Temple 'Pran Pratishtha' ceremony in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh on January 22. After star cricketers Sachin Tendulkar, MS Dhoni, and Virat Kohli, Mithali, the most decorated batter in women's cricket history, has become the latest cricketer to receive an invitation to the event. Mithali announced that her mother received the invitation on her behalf. "Blessed to have received the invitation to the Pran Pratishtha Mangal Vidhi in Ayodhya. My mother accepted it on my behalf," tweeted Mithali. 10:19 am: VHP members set up stall to offer tea free of cost to devotees Members of Vishva Hindu Parishad set up a stall to offer free of cost tea to devotees coming to Ayodhya, ahead of Ram Temple Pran Pratishtha.

10:48 am: Gujarat govt declares half-day holiday for its offices on January 22

All government offices in Gujarat will remain closed for half a day on January 22 to celebrate the consecration of Ram temple in Ayodhya, officials said on Friday.

A notification regarding the closure of offices till 2.30 pm on January 22 was issued by the state government late on Thursday night, they said.

The entire country will be celebrating the Ram temple consecration ceremony on January 22. All offices and institutes of state government will remain closed till 2.30 pm on January 22 so that people of the state can participate in the celebrations," the notification said.

11:28 am: Banks across India to remain closed during January 22 half-first

In line with central government offices, all banks across India will be closed for half-day on January 22 for the 'Pran Patishtha' of Ram Temple in Ayodhya.

Department of Financial Services under the Union Ministry of Finance in a notification said on Thursday that Public Sector Banks, Public Sector Insurance Companies, Public Sector Financial Institutions, and Regional Rural Banks will remain closed in the first half of January 22, to enable employees to participate in the 'Ram Lalla' Pran Pratishtha celebrations.

11:43 am: BJP writes to Mamata, urges her to declare holiday on January 22

West Bengal BJP president Sukanta Majumdar on Friday wrote to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, urging her to declare a holiday on January 22 so that people can participate in the celebrations marking the Ram temple consecration ceremony in Ayodhya.

Central government establishments, public sector banks, insurance companies, financial institutions, and regional rural banks (RRBs) across the country will remain closed for half a day on January 22. Several states, including neighboring Assam and Odisha, have also declared half-day holidays to mark the consecration ceremony.

11:55 am: Ram Janmabhoomi chief priest opens up on significance of 'Pran Pratishtha' ceremony

Shri Ram Janmbhoomi Teerth Kshetra chief priest Acharya Satyendra Das Maharaj on Friday said the 'Pran Pratishtha' ceremony on January 22 will mark the ritualistic transference of the soul and spirit of the deity into the idol.

Speaking to ANI on Thursday, the chief priest at Ayodhya's Ram Janmbhoomi said, "The soul and spirit of Lord Ram, which are worshipped by one and all, will pass on to the idol through the 'Pran Pratishtha' ceremony. The ritual would involve the chanting of verses from the Vedas."

The energy of Lord Ram that we worship, which helps in our well-being and keeps us in good spirits and of sound body and mind at all times, will be transferred to the idol. So, worshipping this idol of Shri Ram Lalla will bring good health and tidings," the seer said.

12.32 pm: Skating, cycling, walking the journeys people are taking to reach Ayodhya

Walking, cycling, and even skating! Covering long distances amid bone-chilling cold, people from all over the country and cutting across religions are flocking to the temple town of Ayodhya ahead of the consecration ceremony on January 22.

Driven by their faith in Lord Ram and carried through by the overwhelming religious mood in the country, they say they desire to be a part of the historic day and want to send out a message of love and unity.

12:38 pm: 400 kg lock from Aligarh sent to Ayodhya Ram Mandir

As devotees countdown to the opening of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya on January 22, the world's largest lock, weighing 400 kg, was sent from Aligarh to Ayodhya on Friday.

After worshipping as per the rituals, Mahamandaleshwar Annapurna Bharti Puri, a resident of Norangabad, Aligarh, left for Ayodhya with the lock. A crane was called to place the 400-kg lock in a vehicle. People gathered to see the lock and chanted 'Jai Shri Ram'.

The lock was made two years ago by an elderly couple, Satya Prakash Sharma and his wife Rukmini Sharma, who were residents of Norangabad, Aligarh. Satya Prakash Sharma passed away recently. His wish was that this lock should be gifted to Ayodhya Ram Mandir.

1:15 pm: MP govt declares half-day holiday for its offices on Jan 22

All government offices and institutions in Madhya Pradesh will remain closed for half a day on January 22 to celebrate the consecration of Ram temple in Ayodhya, officials said on Friday. The state government issued a notification late on Thursday night regarding the closure of offices till 2.30 pm on January 22, they said. The entire country will be celebrating the Ram temple consecration ceremony on January 22.

1:35 pm: PM Modi urges people to light Ram Jyoti on January 22

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said his government is inspired by Lord Rams principles of governance with honesty and urged people to light Ram Jyoti on January 22, stressing that it will be an inspiration to remove poverty from their lives.

Modis guarantee means guarantee puri hone ki guarantee. Lord Ram taught us to honour commitments made and we are fulfilling all goals we set for the welfare of the poor and their empowerment," he said.

2:05 pm: CM Yadav flags off trucks carrying 5 lakh laddus for Ram temple consecration from Bhopal

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav on Friday flagged off five trucks carrying five lakh laddus, prepared at the Mahakaleshwar temple in Ujjain, to Ayodhya for the consecration of the Ram temple.

Yadav, accompanied by his cabinet colleagues, waved saffron flags to roll out the trucks, shaped like chariots and decorated with pictures of Lord Ram, amid chants of 'Jai Shri Ram'.

The laddus weigh about 50 gm each, and the entire consignment is 250 quintals, an official of Ujjain's Mahakaleshwar Temple told PTI.

2:34 pm: CM Yogi takes stock of arrangements in Ayodhya

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday reached 'Ram Nagri' to take stock of the arrangments and preparations for the mega 'Pran Pratishtha' ceremony. He also offered prayers at Hanuman Garhi temple, one of the popular shrines dedicated to Lord Hanuman.

Thereafter, the CM reached the Ram Mandir, where he performed 'Aarti' and 'Parikrama' of Shri Ram Lalla.

The visit on Friday marked Chief Minister Adityanath's third to Ayodhya within 11 days. He was seen making enquiries about preparations for the 'Pran Pratishtha' event from officials of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust during this visit.

3:10 pm: Tripura govt announces half-day holiday on January 22

The Tripura government declared a half-day holiday in the state on January 22 in view of the consecration ceremony of Ram temple in Ayodhya, officials said on Friday.

The state government issued a notification late on Thursday night regarding the closure of offices till 2.30 pm on January 22, they said.

3:40 pm: Chariot from Lord Hanuman's birthplace Kishkindha reaches Ayodhya

A chariot from Lord Hanuman's birthplace Kishkindha, traced in the region of present-day Hampi in Karnataka, has arrived in Ayodhya ahead of the consecration ceremony at the Ram temple on January 22.

Visiting temples across the country, the chariot went to Goddess Sita's birthplace Janakpur in present-day Nepal before arriving in Ayodhya. A group of 100 devotees travelled with the chariot, singing and dancing, raising slogans of "Jai Shree Ram" and waving saffron flags with Lord Ram's pictures.

After touring the temple town of Ayodhya, the chariot has been parked on the banks of the Sarayu river where it is catching the attention of tourists and devotees.

The huge chariot looks like a temple with carvings in golden colour. On one side of the chariot are pictures of various places it has visited as well as from the day of the start of its tour. (PTI)

4:10 pm: VHP patron Dinesh Chandra invites Brahma Kund Gurudwara head for Pran Pratishtha ceremony

As the Vedic rituals ahead of the 'Pran Pratishtha' of Shri Ram Lalla at Ayodhya's temple entered its fourth day today, International patron of Vishwa Hindu Parishad Dinesh Chandra on Friday reached Brahma Kund Gurudwara in Ayodhya where he met Giani Maharaj Ji of the Gurudwara and gave him an invitation letter to attend the Pran Pratishtha ceremony to be held on January 22.

Vishwa Hindu Parishad International Patron Dinesh Chandra said, "This is a historic moment, and now Lord Ramlala has been seated in his place. This moment has been awaited for 500 years. Many people were yearning to see this moment. This moment is historical. Preparations are being made for the Pran Pratishtha ceremony to be held on January 22. Now only a few days are left when Prime Minister Narendra Modi will come to Ayodhya and consecrate the life of Lord Ramlala."

Govind Dev Giri, a member of the Shri Ram Janmbhoomi Teertha Kshetra Trust, said that the 'Netronmelan' (unveling of Ram Lalla's statue) will be done by applying honey to a gold bar.

The 'Pran Pratishtha' of Shri Ram Lalla at Ayodhya's temple will take place on January 22. (PTI)

4:40 pm: Haryana govt announces to close offices, educational institutions till 2:30 pm on January 22

In view of the Pran Pratishtha ceremony of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, the Haryana government has issued a notice announcing that all government offices, including boards, schools, colleges, corporations and universities, will remain closed on January 22 until 2:30 p.m.

The notice issued on Thursday read, "It is hereby notified that half day (till 2.30 P.M) of January 24, 2024 (Monday) shall be observed as a Public Holiday for all departments, boards, andCorporations, schools, colleges, universities, etc. of the Haryana Government to enable itsemployees to participate in the celebration of Ram Lalla Pran Pratishtha at Ayodhya."

Earlier, the Madhya Pradesh government issued a notice announcing that all government offices will remain closed on January 22 until 2:30 pm in view of the Pran Pratishtha ceremony of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya. (PTI)

5:30 pm: Ambanis to Bachchan among those in state guest list of invitees

Billionaire Mukesh Ambani and his family as well as Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan are among those who feature in a select state guest list of invitees to the consecration of the Ram temple next week.

While about 8,000 people are in the long list of invitees, the select list features just a few hundred people, including prominent politicians, leading industrialists, top film stars, sportspersons, bureaucrats and diplomats.

According to the list, which PTI has accessed, Bachchan will fly into Ayodhya in a private chartered plane for the opening of the 161-feet tall pink sandstone shrine.

From the film industry, the list features actors Ajay Devgn, Akshay Kumar, Allu Arjun, Mohanlal, Anupam Kher and Chiranjeevi. Besides, sarod maestro Amjad Ali, lyricist and poet Manoj Muntashir and his wife, lyricist and writer Prasoon Joshi, and directors Sanjay Bhansali and Chandraprakash Dwivedi are invited too.

Also on the list are billionaire Mukesh Ambani, his mother Kokilaben, wife Neeta, sons Akash and Anant, daughter-in-law Shloka and would-be-daughter-in-law Radhika Merchant. Other prominent industrialists invited include Aditya Birla Group chairperson Kumar Mangalam Birla and his wife Nirja, Piramal Group chairperson Ajay Piramal, Mahindra and Mahindra's Anand Mahindra and DCM Shriram's Ajay Shriram and TCS CEO K Krithivasan.

K Satish Reddy of Dr Reddy's Pharmaceuticals, Zee Entertainment Enterprises CEO Punit Goenka, L&T CEO S N Subrahmanyan and his wife, Durali Divi of Divis Laboratories, Infosys founder N R Narayana Murthy, Jindal Steel & Power head Naveen Jindal and Naresh Trehan of Medanta Group are there as well.

Former Lok Sabha speaker Meira Kumar and former Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia are also on the list.

India's G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant, former diplomat Amar Sinha, former attorney generals K K Venugopal and Mukul Rohtagi, and Indian women cricket captain Mitali Raj are among others finding mention on the list. (PTI)

6:00 pm: Puducherry govt declares public holiday on January 22

Puducherry Chief Minister N Rangasamy on Friday announced that January 22 would be a public holiday in the Union Territory in view of consecration of Ram Mandir at Ayodhya scheduled on that day. He said that all state government offices, educational institutions and undertakings would remain closed on January 22. The centrally administered JIPMER here also announced a half-day holiday, till 2.30 PM on January 22, due to the consecration of the Ayodhya Ram temple and advised patients to avoid coming to the outpatient department during the time period. (PTI)

6:15 pm: Beds reserved at city, district hospitals, AIIMS docs train medics in Ayodhya

Ahead of the consecration ceremony at the Ram temple, beds have been reserved at city-based, district hospitals and the medical college here, and specialists from the AIIMS have provided focused emergency response training to the doctors at healthcare institutions in Ayodhya.

These beds have been reserved for the guests, who will attend the the 'pran pratishtha' ceremony at the newly-built Ram temple in Ayodhya on January 22, officials said.

Over 7,000 guests have been invited to attend the consecration ceremony.

In view of the massive gathering in the temple town, the Ayodhya district administration has made arrangements to deal with any health emergency situation, especially in view of the biting cold in the holy city.

Ayodhya city has one government healthcare centre -- the over 120-year-old Sri Ram Hospital -- which is located near the Ramjanmabhoomi temple site along Ram Path. (PTI)

6:30 pm: Uttarakhand announces half-day for govt offices on January 22

In preparation for the 'Pran Pratishtha' ceremony at the Ayodhya Ram Temple, the Uttarakhand government has announced that all government offices and educational institutions in the state will be shut till 2:30 pm on January 22.

The decision aims to facilitate the participation of employees in the historic event.

Likewise, educational institutes in the State will also be shut, the State government said. (PTI)

6:45 pm: NDRF deploys G20 procured HAZMAT trucks, diving teams in Ayodhya

'Multiple NDRF teams trained to tackle chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear attacks, drowning incidents and disasters like earthquakes have been deployed in Ayodhya ahead of the Ram temple consecration ceremony, an official said on Friday.

National Disaster Response Force Director General (DG) Atul Karwal told PTI that the teams are undertaking continuous familiarisation exercises and conducting simulation drills in the temple town to respond to any contingency.

"Multiple NDRF teams, few HAZMAT (hazardous material) vehicles that were procured by the force during the recently concluded G20 summit in Delhi have been stationed in Ayodhya to effectively deal with any kind of disaster or trouble," Karwal said on the sidelines of the 19th Raising Day event of the NDRF here.

"A commanding officer of our battalion that is permanently based in Varanasi has been sent to Ayodhya and is camping there," he said.

The DG said the teams will continue to be stationed in Ayodhya after the January 22 consecration ceremony, till the hectic activity and rush of pilgrims in the city continues. (PTI)

7:15 pm: Jamia Millia Islamia to remain half-day closed on January 22

The Jamia Millia Islamia and its schools will remain closed for half-day till 2.30 pm on January 22 due to the Ram temple consecration ceremony in Ayodhya, an official statement said on Thursday.

In an official notification, the university said that all its maintained institutions, centres and offices shall observe half-day on Monday on account of Ram Lalla Pran Pratishtha at Ayodhya.

However, the examinations and meetings already scheduled for the day will be held as usual, it added. (PTI)

7:45 pm: Money markets to remain closed on January 22, says RBI

Money markets will remain closed on January 22, with the Maharashtra government announcing a holiday in connection with the consecration of the Ram temple in Ayodhya. The Maharashtra government has declared January 22 as a public holiday. So, there will be no transactions and settlements in government securities (primary and secondary), foreign exchange, money markets and rupee interest rate derivatives on that day, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said in a fresh circular on Friday.

The central bank modified its earlier circular wherein it had said that trading in money markets will open at 2.30 pm instead of 9 am on January 22.

According to RBI, the three-day Variable Rate Repo (VRR) auction conducted on Friday with date of reversal on January 22 will now be reversed on January 23.

Further, it said the three-day VRR auction announced earlier in the day stands cancelled.

Instead, a two-day VRR auction will be conducted on January 23.

Public sector banks, insurance companies, financial institutions and Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) across the country will remain closed for half-day on January 22.

The Department of Personnel and Training has also issued an order for a half-day closure for central government establishment on January 22. (PTI)

8:15 pm: Notice issued to Amazon for sale of sweets claiming 'Sri Ram Mandir Ayodhya Prasad'

The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA), headed by Chief Commissioner Rohit Kumar Singh, has initiated action against Amazon Seller Services, concerning the sale of sweets on www.amazon.in under the name 'Shri Ram Mandir Ayodhya Prasad.'

As per an official statement of the Department of Consumer Affairs, the action has been initiated based on a representation made by the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) alleging that Amazon is engaging in deceptive trade practices involving the sale of sweets under the guise of 'Shri Ram Mandir Ayodhya Prasad'.

The products highlighted are Raghupati Ghee Ladoo, Khoya Khobi Ladoo, Ghee Bundi Ladoo, Desi Cow Milk Peda

It has been observed that various sweets/food products are available for sale on the Amazon e-commerce platform (www.amazon.in) claiming it to be "Shri Ram Mandir Ayodhya Prasad".

It is notable that under Consumer Protection (e-commerce) Rules, 2020, enabling the sale of food products online that make false representations misleads consumers regarding the genuine characteristics of the product.

Such practice falsely influences consumers to make purchase decisions they might not have otherwise taken, had the accurate attributes of the product been mentioned. (PTI)

8:40 pm: UP jails to live telecast 'Pran Pratishtha' ceremony

Ram temple fever has gripped not just the outside world but also the prisoners of Uttar Pradesh where the inmates are eagerly awaiting the 'Pran Pratishtha' ceremony in Ayodhya on January 22 as it will be shown to them live inside their barracks.

The inmates are busy preparing various items which are being sent for the ceremony. 'Katha' (recitals) and 'bhajans' have also been organised for the jail inmates on the occasion, jail officials said.

Asked about the arrangements to telecast the ceremony inside the jails, Uttar Pradesh Prison Minister Dharmveer Prajapati told PTI, "We are making arrangements inside the prisons to show the ceremony live to the inmates."

"Not everyone inside the jail is a hardcore criminal. The prisoners are very much keen to watch the ceremony live," he added. (PTI)

9:10 pm: SpiceJet to start more direct flights to Ayodhya

SpiceJet on Friday said it will start direct flights to Ayodhya from the national capital, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Patna, and Darbhanga starting February 1.

In a statement, the carrier said the strategic expansion will also contribute to the growth of regional air connectivity.

Earlier, the airline had announced non-stop flights to Ayodhya from Chennai, Bengaluru, and Mumbai.

The carrier will also be operating a special flight from Delhi to Ayodhya on January 21, catering to passengers attending the consecration ceremony of the Ram temple. (PTI)

9:40 pm: Reliance Industries announces holiday for all its offices on January 22

Billionaire Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries has announced a holiday for all its offices across the country on Monday, January 22, in the wake of the Ayodhya Ram Temple 'Pran Pratishtha' ceremony, reported news agency ANI. The announcement comes hours after the oil-to-telecom conglomerate released its October-December quarter results for fiscal 2023-24 (Q3FY24) earlier today.

10:10 pm: Rajasthan govt issues order to close all slaughterhouses, meat, fish shops on January 22

In view of the Ayodhya Ram Temple 'Pran Pratishtha' ceremony, the Rajasthan government has issued an order to close all the slaughterhouses and meat and fish shops in the state on January 22. (ANI)
SpiceJet on Friday announced that flight operations may be affected in Bengaluru due to poor visibility caused by dense fog and cold weather conditions. The airline advised the passengers to check their flight status on its official website.

In a post on X (formerly Twitter), SpiceJet wrote, Due to bad weather (poor visibility) in Bengaluru (BLR), all departures/arrivals and their consequential flights may get affected. Passengers are requested to keep a check on their flight status."

IMD predicts dense fog in these states

The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) on Friday forecasted that the dip in temperatures is likely to abate from 25 January. Northern India experienced severe cold wave conditions for the first time this winter, the weather office said.

Very dense fog conditions very likely to prevail over some parts of Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh during 19 January night to 20 January morning. Dense fog will prevail in isolated pockets during 21-23 January," IMD said in its latest bulletin.

Dense fog conditions very likely to prevail in East Uttar Pradesh during 19-22 January; over Odisha, Jharkhand, Sub-Himalayan West Bengal, Sikkim, Assam, Meghalaya and Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura during 19-20 January," it added.

Flights delay in Delhi

As dense fog continues to envelop Delhi and the Indira Gandhi International Airport, flight delays continue to take place. A few flights got canceled while several were delayed.

Several flight operations were delayed at IGI airport due to low visibility amid the fog. "I have come from Dubai. My flight was delayed due to fog," said a passenger at IGI airport.

The Delhi airport is set to boost its operational capacity during low visibility conditions like fog, as it activates its third CAT-III compliant runway28/10this week.

Category III, or CAT III, in aviation, refers to an advanced instrument landing system (ILS) approach that facilitates landing in extremely low visibility conditions caused by fog, rain, or snow. A CAT III system supports a precision approach and landing, even when runway visibility is as low as 50 feet (15m) and the visual range is 50-200m.

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The Supreme Court of India refused to extend the time for surrender to the 11 convicts in the Bilkis Bano gangrape case. The court held that the reasons cited in their application do not prevent them from complying with the January 8 order to surrender in two weeks.

The convicts will now have to surrender by Sunday.

All 11 convicts in the case of gangrape of Bilkis Bano and the murder of seven of her family members during the 2002 riots in Gujarat moved the Supreme Court on Thursday requesting more time to surrender before jail authorities.

The convicts have sought an extension of time due to 'ill health', 'harvest of winter crops', and 'son's marriage', Bar and Bench reported.

The matter seeking an extension of time was mentioned before a bench of Justices B V Nagarathana and Sanjay Karol on Thursday which asked the Registry to place the plea before CJI.

This came after the Supreme Court of India last week quashed the Gujarat government's decision, taken in August 2022, to prematurely release 11 convicts facing life terms. It ordered all the convicts, who were released prematurely on Independence Day in 2022, back to jail within two weeks.

In its 251-page judgment, the Supreme Court said the Gujarat government had no jurisdiction to entertain the applications for remission of sentences and only the government of the state where the offenders were sentenced was competent to consider an application for remission and pass an order.

The 11 convicts released prematurely were: Bakabhai Vohania, Bipin Chandra Joshi, Kesarbhai Vohania, Govind Nai, Jaswant Nai, Mitesh Bhatt, Pradeep Mordhiya, Radheshyam Shah, Rajubhai Soni, Ramesh Chandana and Shailesh Bhatt.

Bilkis Bano was 21 years old and five months pregnant when she was gang-raped while trying to escape the horror of the communal riots that broke out after the Godhra train burning incident in February 2002. Her three-year-old daughter was among the seven family members killed.

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The West Bengal government should declare a holiday on January 22 so that people can participate in the celebrations marking the Ram temple consecration ceremony in Ayodhya, the state unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) urged Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday.

In his letter, BJP state president in Bengal, Sukanta Majumdar, said that the chief minister has declared holidays on several special occasions in the past. Hence, he wrote a letter requesting the same to the West Bengal CM, who is set to carry out an all-faith rally on January 22. The rally is receiving strong opposition from the saffron party. "So we think that on the occasion of the Ram Temple inauguration, the people of the state should also be allowed to participate in the festivities. We therefore request you to officially declare the day as a holiday," he said. Central government establishments, public sector banks, insurance companies, financial institutions, and regional rural banks will remain closed for half a day on January 22. Several states such as Assam and Odisha have declared half-working days on the occasion of the Ram Temple ceremony. "I have requested our Hon'ble CM @MamataOfficial (Mamata Banerjee) to kindly consider declaring 22nd January 2024 to be a school holiday, so that the youth of West Bengal gets to rejoice in the Ram Mandir consecration celebrations," Majumdar posted on X, sharing a copy of the letter he wrote to the chief minister.

On January 22, Mamata Banerjee is set to take out a rally for harmony from the Hazra Crossing in south Kolkata to Park Circus, where a public meeting will also be held.

She will also start the all-faith march after offering puja' at the ancient Kalighat temple. The all-faith march is scheduled to pass through different places of worship of different religions.

Responsibility rests on police, TMC if.. Opposition Leader on interfaith rally in Bengal

Mamata Banerjee's interfaith rally in West Bengal on Pran Pratishtha Day has been flagged by the BJP as a threat to harm peace in the state. Recently, Opposition leader Suvendu Addhikari's plea to postpone West Bengal CM's interfaith rally was rejected by the Calcutta High Court. In response to the HC's decision, the BJP leader said that now the responsibility for any violence on that day lies with the West Bengal government and the police.

"The court has included the condition to hold the programme peacefully. Moreover, the chief justice has fixed the liability on the police. Partially, it is a good result. I am happy. If something happens, the responsibility rests on the police and the ruling state party," Adhikari said, speaking to reporters on Thursday.

He said the Trinamool Congress has organised a public event on the day of the Pran Pratishtha ceremony in Ayodhya and he believes that it may lead to untoward incidents in the state.

"I had filed a prayer before the court for a peaceful situation. January 22 is an auspicious day. On this day Hindu organisations and countrymen have organised many programmes, including every corner of West Bengal. The Trinamool has organised another programme on that day. I believe it will hamper peace in our state and may lead to many untoward incidents. I had filed a petition to alter the date. The court has not considered the case," Adhikari stated.

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STATESBORO, Georgia  Heaven Divinity of New Brockton is among approximately 2,350 students recently recognized approximately 2,350 students on the Georgia Southerns Fall 2023 Presidents List for excellence in academics.

To be eligible for the Presidents List, a student must have at least a 4.0 grade point average and carry a minimum of 12 hours for the semester.

Georgia Southern University, a public Carnegie Doctoral/R2 institution founded in 1906, offers approximately 155 different degree programs serving more than 26,100 students through 10 colleges on three campuses in Statesboro, Savannah, Hinesville and online instruction.

A leader in higher education in southeast Georgia with expert faculty, the University is focused on public impact research and engaging learning opportunities through knowledge and know-how that prepare our students to take ownership of their lives, careers and communities. Visit GeorgiaSouthern.edu.
To mark celebrations on the day of the inauguration of Ayodhya Ram Temple, several traders in Gujarat have decided to gift their employees "one day's salary" as a bonus, the Times of India reported on Friday. Many other traders have plans to distribute sweets and gifts to mark this "historic" day.

A textile trader based in New Cloth Market was quoted by TOI as saying, "I employ 25 people and will give them a day's salary as a bonus so that they can celebrate on January 22." Meanwhile, the former chairman of JITO Ahmedabad told the media, "We give bonuses to our employees on Diwali, so I decided to give a small token to mark this day."

Follow Ayodhya Ram Mandir LIVE Updates here

This idea of giving bonuses to employees was reportedly embraced by around 100 traders, the report said, adding that sweet shop owners are hoping to join the celebration by offering discounts on purchases.

One Jatin Patel said he has announced a 10 percent discount on January 22 and 30 percent discount on orders above 5 kg on January 21 and 22. Moreover, Adani Wilmar, under its Fortune brand, reportedly plans to distribute over 25,000 jalebis over seven days.

ALSO READ: Ayodhya news: First photo of 'Ram Lalla' inside Ram Temple | See pics

In the wake of the much-awaited Ram temple ceremony, several states across the nation have declared public holiday and holiday for half-day on January 22.

Besides this, telecom companies are beefing up the number of cellular towers to ensure better connectivity. Business Standard reported that Reliance Jio "has upgraded its network in Ayodhya and increased the number of towers in the city for both 4G and 5G networks so that pilgrims who come for the inauguration ceremony do not face any issues with connectivity".

ALSO READ: Ayodhya Ram Mandir opening ceremony: Who's invited, who's left out, who is planning to give it a miss? Read here

According to the report, Ayurveda major Dabur India also plans to donate a portion of the profits from all Dabur products sold between January 18 and January 31 to Shree Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra. ITC is also likely to donate its dhoop (incense cones) for a period of six months from the temples opening date.

The Pran Pratishtha ceremony will be held in Ayodhya on January 22. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will perform rituals to mark the 'Pran Pratishtha', a team of priests led by Lakshmikant Dixit will lead the main rituals. Several celebrities and noted personalities have also been invited to the ceremony.

ADANI WILMAR More Information

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The upcoming 'Pran Prathishtha' ceremony for the Ram Temple in Ayodhya , scheduled for January 22, has prompted several states or central governments to declare it a public holiday or half day in honour of this significant Hindu event.

The Department of Personnel and Training on Thursday announced that all central government offices will be closed for half a day on January 22 on the Pran Pratishta ceremony of Ram Lalla idol at Ayodhya Ram Temple.

Ayodhya Ram Mandir Live

"The Ram Lalla Pran Pratishtha at Ayodhya will be celebrated on January 22, 2024 across India. To enable employees to participate in the celebrations, it has been decided that all central government offices, central institutions and central industrial establishments throughout India will be closed for half day till 1430 hours on January 22," the memo read.

ALSO READ: Ayodhya Ram temple Pran Pratistha: Markets, schools, offices to stay shut on Jan 22  what's open and what's closed

Take a look at the list of states here:

1) Tripura: All the government offices and educational institutions across Tripura will remain closed until 2:30 pm on January 22 to enable employees to participate in the celebrations of Ram Lalla Pran Pratishtha at Ayodhya, officials said. The order was issued by Asim Sahai, Deputy Secretary to the Government of Tripura.

2) Chhattisgarh: Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai announced on Thursday that all government offices will remain closed on January 22 till 2:30 pm, given the Pran Pratishtha ceremony of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya.

3) Uttar Pradesh: Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has directed the closure of educational institutions, and liquor shops will remain closed throughout the state on that day.

4) Madhya Pradesh: Chief Minister Mohan Yadav has declared a school holiday, encouraging people to celebrate the day like a festival. A dry day has also been announced, closing all types of shops, including liquor and Bhang outlets. All government offices and institutions in Madhya Pradesh will remain closed for half a day on January 22 to celebrate the consecration of Ram temple in Ayodhya, officials said on Friday. The state government issued a notification late on Thursday night regarding the closure of offices till 2.30 pm on January 22, they said.

5) Goa: The Goa government has declared a holiday for government employees and schools on January 22 in light of the 'pran pratishtha' ceremony at the Ram Janmabhoomi Temple in Ayodhya.

6) Haryana: The Haryana government has announced the closure of schools on January 22 given the Ram Temple Inauguration. Liquor consumption will not be permitted anywhere in the state on the day of the consecration ceremony.

7) Odisha: All the Odisha government offices will remain closed for half a day on January 22 on the occasion of the Ram temple consecration ceremony to be held in Ayodhya. Given Ram Lalla Pran Pratishtha at Ayodhya, the government of Odisha has been pleased to declare that the state government offices, as well as the revenue and magisterial courts (executive), will remain closed for half a day till 2.30 pm on January 22, 2024 (Monday)."

8) Assam: The Assam government on Thursday declared a half-holiday on January 22 on the occasion of the Ram temple consecration ceremony to be held in Ayodhya. All state government offices and educational institutions in the state will remain closed till 2.30 PM on January 22 because of the half-holiday.

9) Rajasthan: Rajasthan government on Thursday declared a half-day holiday in the state on January 22 given the consecration ceremony of the Ram temple in Ayodhya. Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma announced the BJP Legislature Party meeting held at the partys headquarters here on Thursday night, a spokesperson said.

10) Gujarat: All government offices in Gujarat will remain closed for half a day on January 22 to celebrate the consecration of Ram temple in Ayodhya, officials said on Friday. A notification regarding the closure of offices till 2.30 pm on January 22 was issued by the state government late on Thursday night, they said.

11) Chandigarh: To mark the celebration of the Ram Temple ceremony, the Chandigarh Union Territory administration on Friday declared the closure of all its offices on January 22, while the Haryana government declared a half-day holiday. "The Ram Lalla Pran Pratishtha at Ayodhya will be celebrated on January 22 across India," stated the order issued by the Chandigarh UT's Home Department on Friday.

12) Uttarakhand: To mark the celebration of the Ayodhya Ram Temple 'Pran Pratishtha' ceremony, all government offices in Uttarakhand will remain closed till 2:30 pm on January 22. All educational institutions in the state will remain closed, announced the Uttarakhand government on Friday.

13) Maharashtra: The Maharashtra government on Friday announced a public holiday in the state on January 22 when the Pran Pratishtha ceremony will be held in Ayodhya. Following in the footsteps of the central government, which declared a half-day on the day of the Lord Shri Ram 'Pran Prathistha' ceremony, the General Administration Department in Maharashtra issued a notification for the public holiday on Friday. Later in the day, Indian stock market exchanges announced a trading holiday on Monday and a full working day on Saturday.

14) Puducherry: Following the steps of other steps and the central government, Puducherry Chief Minister N Rangasamy on Friday announced that January 22 would be a public holiday in the Union Territory because of the consecration of Ram Mandir at Ayodhya scheduled on that day.

15) Delhi: Delhi's Lieutenant Governor approved half-day holiday for all Delhi government offices on January 22 on account of Ram Temple event in Ayodhya, a Raj Niwas official told ANI on Saturday. Earlier, the Jamia Millia Islamia University in Delhi will remain closed for half-day, till 2:30 pm, on January 22.

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Serum Institute of India (SII) Chief Adar Poonawala has been invited to attend the Ayodhya Ram Temple consecration ceremony on January 22, the industrialists shared via a post on social media site X (formerly known as Twitter), adding that he has accepted the invitation.

"I am humbled to receive the invitation to the Prabhu Shri Ram Lalla Mandir at Ayodhya through senior RSS functionaries like Shri Manoj Pochat, Pracharak Shri Kedar Kulkarni & Shri Prasad Lawalekar. Wholeheartedly I have accepted the invitation and it will be an honour to visit the Shri. Ram Mandir soon," he wrote.

Also Read | Ram Mandir Opening: Is January 22 a bank holiday? Check here

Several politicians, industrialists, sportsmen, and celebrities have been invited to the Pran Pratishta ceremony which will also see Prime Minister Narendra Modi in attendance.

Who is invited?

Among the other industrialist invitees include Mukesh Ambani, Anil Ambani, Ratan Tata, Gautam Adani and TS Kalyanaraman, MD of Kalyan Jewellers.

Also Read | Ayodhya Ram Mandir: From politicians to celebrities, who all are invited to the consecration ceremony? Check full list here

Among politicians, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar has decided to skip the event and in a letter to General Secretary of Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Champat Rai said he will take time out after the ceremony and visit Ayodhya for darshan".

Congress, too, has decided to skip the Ram Mandir pran pratishtha ceremony of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya, accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of making it a political project".

The Congress statement said, Lord Ram is worshipped by millions in our country. Religion is a personal matter. But the RSS/BJP have long made a political project of the temple in Ayodhya. The inauguration of the incomplete temple by the leaders of the BJP and the RSS has been obviously brought forward for electoral gain."

Also Read | Ayodhya Ram Mandir opening ceremony: Who's invited, who's left out, who is planning to give it a miss? Read here

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on January 13 confirmed that he received an invite to the Ram Temple consecration ceremony and said that he would visit the temple along with his family after the event.

Thousands of VIP guests receive an invitation

The 'Pran Pratishtha' ceremony of the Ram Temple will be held on January 22. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to attend the installation of the idol of Ram Lalla at the grand temple on that day. As per temple officials, the ceremony will be held for seven days starting on January 16.

Also Read | Ayodhya Ram Mandir: First look of invitation cards for consecration ceremony out! Watch video

Thousands of VIP guests have received invitations from Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust for the ceremony. The Trust has made elaborate arrangements to welcome and honour all attendees, presenting them with gifts that include 'Ram Raj.' As part of the celebration, Teerth Kshetra Trust will also distribute special 'Motichoor laddus' made from desi ghee as 'Prasad' to the guests.

A member of the Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust shared that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, set to attend the event, will be presented with a 15-meter picture of the Ram temple enclosed in a jute bag featuring an image of the sacred structure.

Also Read | Ram Mandir Inauguration: These states declared a holiday or half day on January 22. Check full list here

More than 11,000 guests nationwide have received invitations from the Trust for the Pran Pratistha ceremony, with special arrangements underway to provide memorable gifts to all attendees.

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The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has announced that the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) will heighten security checks for passengers across metro stations from January 19 to 27 as part of preparations for Republic Day .

The DMRC has also advised passengers to plan their journeys considering the possibility of long queues at certain metro stations during the specified period.

Also Read | Republic Day 2024: Here's how to book parade tickets online, offline from January 10

"In view of the enhanced security arrangements ahead of Republic Day on 26th January, the security checks for passengers will be further intensified by CISF across the Metro stations starting from tomorrow--19th January (Friday) till 27th January," stated the DMRC in a released statement.

Passengers have been requested to cooperate with security personnel during the security checks.

City-Wide Security Boost by Delhi Police

In tandem with the metro security measures, the Delhi Police has enhanced security arrangements across the city in preparation for Republic Day celebrations and the Ram temple event.

Also Read | Republic Day 2024: 'Actual reason for Delhi, Punjab tableaux to be rejected is...,' BJP leader responds

A police official told PTI that night patrol staffers have been instructed to inspect hotels, guest houses, and dharamshalas, particularly in proximity to railway stations and inter-state bus terminals, to monitor individuals visiting Delhi.

Over 8,000 police personnel have already been deployed across Delhi to ensure security during the January 26 parade, according to the official.

Airspace Restrictions Enforced

Airspace restrictions are set to be in place in the national capital for 11 days January 19 to 25, as well as on January 26 and 29, ANI reported.

According to officials, non-scheduled flights of scheduled airlines and chartered flights will not be allowed to land or take off from 10 am to 1.15 pm during January 19-25. However, scheduled flights will not be affected during this time.

Also Read | Republic Day 2024: DU to offer missed exam opportunity for parade participants

The notice to airmen (NOTAM) issued by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) states that these restrictions will be in effect from 6 am to 9 pm between January 26 and 29. On Republic Day, January 26, flights will be prohibited from taking off or landing from 0600 hours to 2100 hours.

It's important to note that the NOTAM restrictions will not impact the operations of the Indian Air Force (IAF), Border Security Force (BSF), Indian Army aviation helicopters, and state-owned aircraft/helicopters flying with the Governor/Chief Minister of a state, according to officials.

(With inputs from PTI and ANI)

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An Indian woman living in Australia was charged with contempt of court after she reportedly abused a Delhi High Court judge during the hearing of a case via virtual conference.

The Delhi High Court initiated a sou motu criminal contempt of court case against the woman living abroad for her derogatory remark against a judge.

During the online hearing of cases on January 10, Anita Kumari Gupta took part in the online court hearing and was waiting for her case to be taken up by the Judge. However, she lost her cool after the case that was listed after her case was taken first and used profane language against the court and the judge, Justice Neena Bansal Krishna, reported legal news website Bar and Bench

How Could Item No. 11 Be Taken Before Item No. 10 Ye saali kya kar rahi hai? (What is she doing?) What the f*** is going on in this court," Bar and Bench quoted the woman citing the courts order.

After the incident, Justice Krishna issued a show cause notice to Gupta and ordered her to be present in person before the court on April 16. In addition to this, the Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO) has been ordered to impound the passport/visa on the arrival of Anita Kumari Gupta, in case of her arrival to India before the hearing date.

Keeping in view such derogatory remarks lowering the dignity of the Court, the suo moto contempt is taken. Accordingly, the show cause notice is issued to the plaintiff/Anita Kumari Gupta, who is stated to be, at present, living in Sydney, Australia, as to why she be not punished under the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971," the court ordered, according to the report.

She is also not allowed to leave India without the high court's permission. The court, in its order, stated that the High Commission of India in Canberra, Australia has been directed to communicate this Order to Anita Kumari Gupta.

The order was passed noting that Gupta's remarks came even though the counsel representing parties drew consensus on the date given for final arguments.

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RAMALLAH, West BankThe Israeli-occupied West Bank has become an increasingly deadly front in a Middle East conflict that has spread beyond the war in Gaza, with near-daily Israeli raids into Palestinian villages and cities which Israel says are aimed at uprooting growing militant activity and preventing new attacks.

Early on Friday, Israeli security forces ended a two-day raid in Tulkarem, a West Bank city straddling the wall separating Palestinian communities and Israel that hasnt been known as a hotbed of militancy in recent years, leaving at least eight Palestinians dead.

The raids, which lasted for more than 35 hours, occurred in the city and its two refugee camps, Tulkarem and Nour Shams, where residents said Israeli forces destroyed homes and damaged infrastructure, including roads. The Israeli military said it uncovered explosives, weapons and a bomb factory.

Since Israel launched its response to the deadly Hamas-led Oct. 7 attack, 357 Palestinians, of whom 90 were children, have been killed across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, according to the United Nations. Five Israelis, including four members of the security forces, have been killed in the West Bank over the same period, the U.N. said.

Israeli security officials refer to the West Bank as a third front in the war, after Gaza and the countrys northern border with Lebanon, where Israeli forces clash routinely with Hezbollah fighters and Palestinian militants. Yet its crackdown in the West Bank presents a security conundrum.

Militants in the West Bank are fewer than in Gaza and not as well armed. Hamas has a more tenuous foothold there. But Israel says it is seeing a higher level of militant activity in the area and that its strikes are aimed at both thwarting imminent attacks and sending a message that it will crack down hard on such activity. Some analysts, however, say the crackdown risks having the opposite effect by stoking militancy.

Civilians are being killed in these raids, which seems to be inviting more people to join militant groups rather than the opposite," said Khalil Shikaki, director of the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research, a Ramallah-based think tank.

Shalom Ben Hanan, a former senior Israeli intelligence official said that the level of militancy in the West Bank is at its highest level since the second intifada, which ran from 2000 to 2005, with hundreds of intelligence alerts about likely attacks from the West Bank every day. Many of these attempted attacks are thwarted by Israel in time, he said.

During clashes in Tulkarem, Palestinians threw pipe bombs and Israeli forces conducted airstrikes. The Israeli military said it had killed eight terrorists during the raids, but the U.N. said at least two of the killed were children.

Israel says it has detained about 2,700 people throughout the West Bank since the start of the war, including over 1,300 who it says are linked to Hamas. The Palestinian Prisoners Society, a nongovernmental organization that supports detainees in Israeli prisons, says the number of Palestinians who have been detained by Israel since Oct. 7 is around 6,000.

While a majority of Palestinians dont support Hamas, polling shows that the Oct. 7 attack and the Israeli war in Gaza have increased the groups popularity, particularly in the West Bank where 75% prefer the group to remain in power in Gaza. By comparison, 36% of Gazans said they preferred Hamas to stay in power, according to a poll released by the PCPSR in December.

The war has also eroded the standing of the Palestinian Authority, which governs the West Bank and was widely unpopular among Palestinians before the current war partly due to their security coordination with Israel aimed at preventing violence.

Militant groups in the West Bank, which some analysts say include hundreds of members, tend to be made up of ill-trained and ill-equipped Palestinians in their teens and 20s, many of whom live in densely populated and impoverished refugee camps.

Refugee camps in the Palestinian territories are longstanding communities, initially set up to temporarily house hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who were driven from their homes during the 1948 Arab-Israel war following the establishment of the state of Israel. The camps arent tent cities but include more durable housing, albeit with poor infrastructure, and often schools and community centers.

New militant groups have formed in recent years, as the Palestinian-Israeli peace process has stalled, an increasingly right-wing Israeli government has empowered an imposing Israeli settler movement and the Palestinian political leadership has proven ineffective.

There are really no viable alternatives that people see to changing the status quo of continued occupation and creeping annexation," Shikaki said. In this environment, Israels military means are able to achieve little."

Michael Milshtein, a former head of the Department for Palestinians Affairs in Israeli military intelligence, said that Tulkarem was a strong center of violence" during the second intifada but that in the last decade it was relatively quiet." He said that in the last year or two, however, tensions had been growing there.
India-Canada Row : Indias High Commissioner to Ottawa Sanjay Kumar Verma said Delhi could assist in investigating the links to gangs operating in Canada and conducting extortions targeting Indo-Canadians . However, the envoy set a rider  if there is a formal request from Ottawa along with evidence".

According to a report by Reuters, police in Canada are investigating a series of extortions and related crimes that they believe are orchestrated by a suspect in India and involve criminals in Edmonton, Alberta, targeting the region's affluent South Asian people.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government is yet to approach India over the extortion crimes. Canadians are yet to request, with evidence", Hindustan Times quoted Sanjay Kumar Verma.

Verma also informed that there were existing mechanisms between the two governments to cooperate on organized crimes."

If specific and relevant evidence  not merely unsubstantiated allegations  are shared with us, pointing to links between Canadian extortionists and Indian gangsters, we shall act accordingly." HT quoted Verma as saying.

According to media reports, Edmonton Police have said that they so far have reports of 27 incidents between October and January, including extortions, arson, and drive-by shootings, and asked others who may have been targeted to come forward.

Edmonton Police described a new trend in Canada -- victims typically receive a WhatsApp message along with a request for compensation for the victims' safety, reports Reuters.

The Canadian police said that no injuries from these crimes were reported. However, one firefighter was injured in one of the arsons, and at least $6.7 million in property damage had been recorded.

Canadian Police said six young males were arrested in connection with the arson and firearms offenses.

The arrested include 20-year-old Parminder Singh, who faces 12 firearms-related charges connected to an October 19 shooting at a residence in the city. He remains in custody. Others were identified as Hassan Dembil, 18, Manav Heer, 18, Ravinder Sandu, 19, who were charged with arson-related offences linked to a December 19 residential fire. They have since been released. Also arrested and then released was Arjun Sahnan, 19, who faces five firearms-related charges. One of these suspects has left Canada, police said on Thursday, without identifying who that was.

Diplomatic relations between India and Canada have frayed in recent months over Canada's allegations linking Indian agents to the murder of Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia last year. India has rejected that allegation. Canadian authorities are yet to charge anyone for the killing.

About 4% of the Canadian population is of Indian heritage, making Canada home to one of the largest communities of Indian origin, according to the Canadian foreign ministry.

(Note: The names of those arrested were reported by Hindustan Times)

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New Delhi: India and the US are in talks to launch joint development initiatives in the Philippines, with plans to finalize targeted sectors later this year, according to persons aware of the matter.

India and America have worked on education, energy, agriculture and health-related development projects in Africa and Southeast Asia in the past. New Delhi and Washington have partnered for projects in Cambodia, Afghanistan, Laos, Mongolia, Myanmar and Vietnam.

Mint had earlier reported that this cooperation will now extend to the Pacific Islands as well.

The Philippines, a key political and security ally of the US, has recently increased its defence procurement from India, including the BrahMos missile, amid strained relations with China over maritime disputes. Manila has accused China of using aggressive tactics and condemned the actions.

Under the India-U.S. Triangular Development Partnership, our countries are partnering to address global development challenges. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and Indias Ministry of External Affairs Development Partnership Administration II (MEA-DPA-II) are leveraging their respective experiences and areas of expertise for the global good," the US Embassy spokesperson said in response to a query from Mint.

"We recently partnered with Fiji to support mental health and emergency care services during disasters and in post-disaster settings, and we look forward to new initiatives in the coming months with other countries in the Indo-Pacific," the embassy added.

Queries mailed to the India's external affairs ministry went unanswered at press time.

Energy project cooperation could be a potential sector for collaboration as a 2022 research report supported by USAID, Americas official international development agency, pointed out.

The Philippines has received support from America on several energy projects under the Energy Secure Philippines" program. The report, authored by Indian think-tank TERI, called for increased stakeholder consultations and recommended greater dialogue under the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed between Indias Ministry of New and Renewable Energy

India has been actively engaging in triangular development efforts with other countries. It is contemplating a drive to strengthen communication and commercial ties with Japan and Bangladesh to establish a new regional supply chain.

India has also established projects in Ghana, Cameroon, Malawi, Peru with Germany. The initiatives range from using agri-tech to increase potato production in Cameroon to encouraging agri-business among women in Malawi.

According to Chaman Dhanda of GIZ, Germany's official technical assistance agency, projects in Ethiopia and Madagascar are also being evaluated.

India is exploring a similar proposal with the UK under the Global Innovation Partnership to harness innovation in India to deliver development in strategic third countries. Mint reported that a list of target countries under this programme will be finalized by early next year.

France and India are also set to make further progress on this front through a triangular development fund for Indo-Pacific countries.

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Pakistan and Iran ministers on 19 January agreed to de-escalate the situation as the tensions mounted after both the countries exchanged missile and drone strikes this week at what they each said were militant targets.

Earlier on 16 January night, Iran had launched airstrikes in Pakistan's Balochistan on Tuesday night in a bid to target militant bases in the region. Later, Pakistan on Wednesday retaliated the strikes by hitting militant targets inside Iran's south-eastern Sistan-Baluchestan province, killing nine people. Iran condemned the Pakistan attack, saying it killed three women, two men and four children who were not Iranian. Releasing an official statement, Pakistan's Minitry of Foriegn Affiars said, "Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jinlani spoke with the Foreign Minister of Iran, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, today." ALSO READ: Don't have any private conversations.., US on Pakistan consulting before retaliatory strikes on Iran "Understanding the close brotherly relations between Pakistan and Iran, the Foriegn Minister expressed Pakistan's desire to work with Iran based on spirit of mutual trust and cooperation. The Foreign Minister stressed that respect for the territorial integrity and sovereignity must underpin this cooperation," the statement said. Adding more, it said, "The two Foreign Ministers agreed that working level cooperation and close coordination on counter terrorism and other aspects of mutual concern should be strenghtened. They also agreed to de-escalate the situation. The return of Ambassadors of the two countries to their Capitals was also discussed."

MFA briefs caretaker Pakistan government

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on 19 January briefed the caretaker federal government about the situation arising from the Iranian attack on Pakistan on Tuesday, reported Reuters.

Pakistan's Prime Minister's Office (PMO) on Friday said it and Iran could mutually overcome minor irritants through dialogue and diplomacy, after both countries exchanged drone and missile strikes on militant bases on each other's territory.

The Pakistan PMO said that in the interest of both countries to take steps to restore the relationship to what it was prior to 16 January, adding, Pakistan would welcome and reciprocate all positive measures from the Iranian side.

Pakistan retaliatory attack:

Iran said on Tuesday it had hit targets inside Pakistan that it alleged were bases of Jaish al Adl (JAA). All the targeted groups are ethnically Baloch, but it was not clear if JAA has links with the other two, reported Reuters.

To which Pakistan claimed in the attack civilians were hit and two children killed. Following this, Islamabad recalled its ambassador from Iran on Wednesday, in protest against a 'blatant breach' of its sovereignty.

On Thursday, Pakistan launched strikes on separatist militants inside Iran. The media in Iran claimed several missiles hit a village in the Sistan-Baluchestan province that borders Pakistan, killing at least nine people, including four children.

ALSO READ: Iran strikes terrorist group bases in Pakistan, Islamabad says 2 dead, warns of 'consequences'

Tehran strongly condemned the strikes and summoned Pakistan's charge d'affaires, its most senior diplomat in Iran, to explain.

"The information received indicates that four children, three women and two men, who were foreign nationals, have been killed in the explosion that occurred in a village," Iran's Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi told state TV.

While a foreign ministry spokesperson said Pakistan's caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar would cut short a visit to the World Economic Forum in Davos and return home.

"The precision strikes were carried out using killer drones, rockets, loitering munitions, and stand-off weapons," a Pakistani military statement said. It said the targets were bases used by the Baloch Liberation Front (BLF) and the associated Baloch Liberation Army.

With agency inputs.

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The Iran-backed Houthi militia launched two anti-ship ballistic missiles at a US-owned tanker ship late on Thursday that hit the water near the vessel but caused no injuries or damage, the US military said. This came amid growing tensions in the Red Sea that have disrupted global trade and raised fears of supply bottlenecks.

Here are top 10 updates on Houthis-Red Sea crisis,

1) The Houthis, who control most of Yemen, earlier on Thursday claimed responsibility for the attack, saying they targeted the ship Chem Ranger with naval missiles that caused "direct hits".

2) The United States is not at war with Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis, the Pentagon said on Thursday, even as it detailed its fifth round of strikes against the group in the past week.

3) Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh said the strikes, including Thursday's targeting of anti-ship missiles, were purely defensive. "We are not at war with the Houthis," said Singh.

4) Pakistan launched airstrikes against alleged militant hideouts inside Iran on Thursday, killing at least nine people as it retaliated for a similar attack days earlier by Iran and raising tensions with its neighbor as conflict across the region escalates.

5) The unprecedented attacks by both Pakistan and Iran on either side of their border appeared to target Baluch militant groups with similar separatist goals. The countries accuse each other of providing a haven to their territories' groups.

6) Iran is dealing with unrest against its theocracy and has faced pressure for action ever since the Islamic State suicide bombing. It is also seeking to flex military power at a time when militant groups it supports in the region  Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, and Houthi rebels in Yemen  are engaged in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

7) Pakistan, meanwhile, could not leave Tuesday's airstrikes by Iran unchallenged, and it faces a crucial February general election in which its military is a powerful political force.

8) Pakistans Foreign Ministry described its attack Thursday as a series of highly coordinated and specifically targeted precision military strikes."

9) The United States, China, the United Nations, and others urged the two countries to de-escalate.

10) The United States has designated Yemen-based Houthi rebels as a terrorist group after the militants claimed their second attack this week on a US-operated vessel in the Red Sea region.

(With inputs from agencies)

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JACKSONVILLEMore than 1,300 students have been named to the Deans List for their outstanding academic performance at Jacksonville State University in Fall 2023, including:

Founded in 1883 as a state teachers college, Jacksonville State University has grown from humble beginnings into the Alabama regional university with the highest percentage of accredited programs. Located in the Appalachian foothills midway between Birmingham and Atlanta, JSU offers more than 150 courses of study, including over 40 online programs, at the undergraduate and graduate level. To learn more, visit www.jsu.edu, call 1-800-231-JAX1 or e-mail jaxfacts@jsu.edu.
The UK Parliament "resonated with chants of Lord Ram" just ahead of the Ram Temple 'pran prathista' ceremony set to be held in India on January 22. "Who could have dreamt that the UK Parliament proceedings would one day begin with the holy sound of shankh (conch shell) and their parliament would resonate with Jai Shri Ram?" said Union minister Pralhad Joshi.

Pralhad Joshi took to social media to share a video, purportedly shot inside the UK Parliament. The video shows a woman reciting bhajan inside the British Parliament.

The event began with a soulful bhajan, followed by SSUK members giving a presentation of the Kakbhushundi Samvad. Additionally, SSUK paid homage to the life of Shri Krishna by delving into the 12th Chapter of the Gita, news agency ANI reported. Harrow MP Bob Blackman, along with Raj Rajeshwar Guru ji and Swami Surya Prabha Didi from Brahmarishi Ashram, Hunslow, presided over the event.

ALSO READ: Ram Mandir Inauguration: These states declared a holiday or half day on January 22. Check full list here

According to the report, a UK declaration will be presented to the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust in Ayodhya before the Pran Pratishtha ceremony. The declaration was signed by over 200 temples, community organisations, and associations nationwide on Thursday.

The statement from Dharmic communities in the UK highlights shared joy and solidarity with the 1.5 billion global celebrants. "Before the consecration ceremony, the UK declaration, a testament to unity, will be presented to the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust in Ayodhya," a statement said.

In a statement reported by ANI, the Dharmic communities in the UK were said to have expressed their delight to welcome the inauguration ceremony of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya.

The Pran Pratishta ceremony will be held in Ayodhya on January 22. Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with several other leaders will attend the event. Several celebrities and noted personalities have also been invited to the ceremony.

PM Modi is set to attend the ceremonial installation of the idol of Shri Ram Lalla on January 22. The ceremony, spanning seven days from January 16, will include Vedic rituals for the Pran-Pratishtha ceremony of Ram Lalla in Ayodhya.

(With inputs from ANI)

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Last week, I watched at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) the launch of a product called Rabbit R1. At the end of the 30-minute video, I paid $200 and became one of the 10,000 people who ordered it on Day Zero. It looks like a small boxy phone, with a camera (called the Rabbit Eye), but what makes it special is the interface. Instead of a grid of apps which smartphones have gotten us used to, Rabbit is an AI assistant that conveys what you want to your favourite app and makes it happen (bit.ly/48SMEfN).

This is just not about a Siri or Alexa like voice-command. What breakout products like the Rabbit or Humanes AI Pin herald is a completely new era of computing. No less than Bill Gates says so. He foresaw the era of the PC with a graphical user interface (GUI) on every desk a few decades back, and he is again predicting a fundamental shift in how humans work with machinesthis time with AI and a natural language interface (NLI). Thus far, you had to learn the language of a computer to communicate with it and have it do your bidding; this is why we have computer languages like Python, JavaScript, etc. With AI and Large Language Models, that changes to using human languagesEnglish, French or Bengali. To do any task on a computer," writes Bill Gates (bit.ly/3tSMNkB), you have to tell your device which app to use. You can use Microsoft Word and Google Docs to draft a business proposal, but they cant help you send an email, share a selfie, analyse data, schedule a party, or buy movie tickets. In the next five years, this will change completely. You wont have to use different apps for different tasks. Youll simply tell your device, in everyday language, what you want to do." To put it simply, AI is the interface.

You can see that happening in another such innovation: the AI Pin. Launched last year to great acclaim, Humane revealed its AI Pin, which you wear on your chest and summon it when you need something done. There are no screens and no apps; to get things done, you speak to it. It is expensive, priced as high as a phone, and maybe it will not succeed, and nor will Rabbit. But what these products presage is our move from apps to agents. Apps are the universal user interface today, and they help us do a lot of stuff, but they are actually dumb and clunkyyou need to tell them what to do, and it takes a while navigating through them. Agents are intelligent, and they do stuff for you. As John Koetsier writes in Forbes (bit.ly/48NUsA5): Apps are an interface to accomplish a task, but the best interface is simply doing the requested action. Star Treks virtual omniscient ship AI didnt ask Captain Picard to install an app when he asked a question." You can use an app to order a pizza, an agent will know that you want something to eat based on your history, and that you like a kind of pizza, and it will offer to order one for you. Bill Gates explains how agents will go farther than todays AI bots: bots are limited to one app and generally only step in when you write a particular word or ask for help. Because they dont remember how you use them from one time to the next, they dont get better or learn any of your preferences. Agents are smarter. Theyre proactivecapable of making suggestions before you ask for them. They accomplish tasks across applications. They improve over time because they remember your activities and recognize intent and patterns in your behavior. Based on this information, they offer to provide what they think you need, although you will always make the final decisions."

We can see the beginning of this revolution with Rabbit and AI Pin, and even with Microsofts Windows Copilot, which can boost human productivity. This profound shift to AI will upend smartphone platforms, much like these disrupted feature phones. Gates expects that natural language interfaces and agents will bring about the biggest revolution in computing since we went from typing commands to tapping on icons Agents will be the next platform." As Microsofts current CEO Satya Nadella says: It was about us understanding computers, but now its about computers understanding us."

ChatGPT and other bots, however impressive, are just the very beginning of the AI era. AI goes far beyond a technology. As Gartner says: It is not just a technology or business trend. It is a profound shift in how humans and machines interact." The power of natural language AI agents will reshape Big Tech, fundamentally upend computing, and change our lives the same way that PCs and smartphones did, as we go down this new Rabbit hole.
Fog in Delhi is an annual event, and extraordinarily long lasting this winter. It has delayed flights, trains, caused accidents on roads and created heartburn all around. So far, so expected. But we have also had some unexpected consequences: a passenger assaulting pilot announcing that the flight would be delayed yet longer, passengers having their meal, sitting on the tarmac, in protest.

The government has issued a show-cause notice to the airline and the Bureau of Civil Aviation Safety has slapped hefty fines on the airline and the airport where the tarmac picnic occurred, for endangering safety. Such fines might help to send out the message that the government is not asleep at the wheel, but do not address the problem at hand.

The root cause, of course, the Met departments inability to create accurate short-term forecasts on fog episodes. If Met could forecast the onset of fog and the lifting of fog better, airlines could tailor their schedules around these certainties. But we are far from having a handle on the behaviour of fog and the factors underlying it.

If this is a piece of forecasting technology that is missing, the technology to fly in poor visibility is missing, too. Instrument landing systems, several generations of them, are available. Both the runway and the planes have to be equipped with the capability for landing with poor visibility.

While airports in India have up to CAT III B capability, yet more advanced systems that make use of GPS, corrected for minor errors with inputs from other earth stations and geostationary satellites, are still in the process of deployment. India has developed GAGAN or GPS-aided, Geo Augmented Navigation System; but few aircraft are capable of utilizing the technology.

But all this technobabble is beside the point, when it comes to mitigating the harassment that passengers are put through. That calls for some changes to aviation rules, some softening of their stiff upper lips by Air Traffic Control and readiness on the part of airlines to work a little extra to prioritise passenger comfort over possible five minutes of extra time for takeoff once fog has cleared.

Why are passengers forced to huddle inside an aircraft grounded by fog for hours on end? Why are they not taken back to the airport holding area from where they boarded the planes in the first place?

The rules in place right now do not allow passengers who have boarded a plane to get back to the airport through the same route by which they boarded the plane; they have to be taken to the arrival terminal, from where they have to go through check-in and security once again, before they can board their flights again, once fog clears. That is extra time and effort for the airline.

This rule must be relaxed for contingencies such as fog and engine trouble. Rules are made to facilitate smooth operations, they are not laws of nature that cannot be improved. Let passengers come back to the waiting area in front of the boarding gates, which are generally equipped with eating joints, rest rooms and space for cramped passengers to stretch their legs. Once the flight is cleared for takeoff, let them swiftly get back into the plane.

Being cooped up in a plane does not encourage calm reflection on the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune. Once they are allowed to spread themselves out in the holding area before the boarding gates, passengers are likely to take a more reasonable view of factors beyond anyones control. People missing vital deadlines, thanks to flight delay, would still fume, but are still unlikely to blow a fuse.

Another concern of a fog-immobilised airliner is that the plane has to protect their position in the queue for take-off, once fog lifts and ATC starts letting planes fly. For this, all that is required is for ATC to hold out the prospect of preserving the queue as it was before fog cast its shadow on everyones flight plans for resumption of flights after the fog lifts. There is no reason to stew passengers inside an aircraft while it waits for the fog to clear just to save those extra few minutes in the take-off queue.

Technologies that allow driverless cars to navigate rush-hour traffic are being perfected in the world of automobiles. Some of these could be transferred to aid taxiing aircraft. Every plane and every runway on every airport could be readied to make use of GAGAN and its more advanced iterations.

While these technological solutions are readied, some readiness to modify rules and conduct of operations would go a long way to avoid Indian fliers treating fog and fog-induced delays as a personal vendetta against them on the airlines part.

In advanced economies, flight operations remain unaffected even in far more adverse weather and even zero visibility conditions.
The scene at The Hague is straight out of Hollywood. The government of South Africa, heroic slayer of apartheid, has petitioned the august International Court of Justice to condemn Israel for the crime of genocide. It sounds like high drama, but its a farce.

The African National Congress dismantled the evil of apartheid without great bloodshed, thanks largely to the grace of Nelson Mandela. But for all his greatness at home, Mandela was hypocritical when it came to other countries.

He was buddies with Libyas megalomaniacal tyrant, Moammar Gadhafi, and supported other brutal dictators such as Cubas Fidel Castro and Zimbabwes Robert Mugabe. He sold weapons to Syrias Hafez al-Assad and nurtured a bond with the Palestine Liberation Organizations Yasser Arafat.

His successors embrace Hamas and equivocate on Russia. Pretoria was unmoved when the court issued a preliminary finding in March 2022 ordering Russia to cease all military action in Ukraine. The United Nations General Assembly repeatedly voted by huge margins to reprove Russia, but South Africa always abstained, joining paragons such as China, Cuba and Vietnam.

The court, part of the U.N., reflects the organizations fecklessness and hypocrisy. Current justices represent China, Somalia, Uganda, Morocco, Lebanon, India and Russia, and the body shares the U.N.s egregious anti-Israel bias. In 2004 it issued an advisory opinion" against the security barrier with which Israel blocked the entry of the terrorist bombers who took the lives of more than 1,000 Israelis during the second intifada of 2000-05.

Israel argued that it was acting in self-defense, a right outlined in Article 51 of the U.N. Charter: Nothing in the present Charter shall impair the inherent right of individual and collective self-defense if an armed attack occurs against a member of the United Nations." But the courts ruling dismissed this, saying Article 51 . . . recognizes the existence of an inherent right of self-defense in the case of armed attack by one State against another State. However, Israel does not claim that the attacks against it are imputable to a foreign state."

This was preposterous. The article speaks of an attack against a state; not that the attack must be by a state instead of by terrorists. If there were any doubt of anti-Israel bias here, three years earlier the U.N. Security Council responded to the attacks of 9/11 by unanimously adopting a call on all states to take all necessary steps" to combat all forms of terrorism," basing this explicitly on the inherent right of individual or collective self-defense in accordance with the Charter."

Today the stench surrounding Pretoria and the court has grown even more nauseating. Hamas, not Israel, is guilty of genocide. Hamass charter, issued in 1988, says that Israel will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it," adding that our struggle against the Jews is very great and very serious."

It portrays Jews as diabolical: They were behind World War I, when they were able to destroy the Islamic Caliphate. . . . They obtained the Balfour Declaration, formed the League of Nations through which they could rule the world. They were behind World War II . . . and paved the way for the establishment of their state. It was they who instigated the replacement of the League of Nations with the United Nations and the Security Council to enable them to rule the world through them."

Fittingly, citing the Quran, the charter aspires to the realization of Allahs promise" to exterminate the Jews. Hamas issued another document in 2017, omitting its blatant antisemitism but not its determination to destroy Israel. While some have called it a new charter, it isnt labeled as such and it supplements rather than replaces the earlier document.

Hamass genocidal intent isnt mere words. Its Oct. 7 invasion targeted primarily civilians: women, infants and the elderly. Hamas murderers made ecstatic phone calls home in celebration. Soon after, senior Hamas leader Ghazi Hamad declared, There will be a second, a third, a fourth" similar massacre.

South Africa charges that Israel is violating the Genocide Prevention Convention, which prohibited acts committed with intent to destroy in whole or in part, a national . . . group." But if that has been Israels intent, it has botched the job. The population of Gaza has increased sixfold since Israel captured it in 1967. It is growing by 2.07% annually, according to the CIAs World Fact Book. Life expectancy is 74.8, nearly that of America. Until Oct. 7, thousands entered Israel each year for medical care.

After Oct. 7, Israel swore to destroy Hamas, a task complicated by Hamass disregard for the laws of war. Its fighters rarely wear uniforms to distinguish them from civilians and use protected spaces like hospitals and ambulances to store and fire weapons. Its tunnels lie beneath the civilian infrastructure.

Hamas says 23,000 Gazans have died; Israel says about 8,000 were Hamas fighters. If these numbers are accurate, this ratio of civilian to military casualties is comparable to other recent wars that werent fought in an urban environment, which speaks to Israels efforts to minimize harm to noncombatants.

Perhaps now Hamas will claim that Israel was behind Oct. 7, just as it blames Jews for the world wars, as another excuse for its genocidal attacks. That would be a fitting addition to South Africas farce.

Mr. Muravchik, a professor at the Institute of World Politics, is author of Heaven on Earth: The Rise, Fall and Afterlife of Socialism" and of Making David Into Goliath: How the World Turned Against Israel."
On Jan. 5, a few hundred linguists gathered in a ballroom in midtown Manhattan to mull various nominations for the American Dialect Societys 2023 Word of the Year. As chair of the societys new words committee, I oversaw the lively colloquy, which attracted many members of the group and the larger Linguistic Society of America.

Winning words were also selected in such categories as Most Creative" and Political Word of the Year." And this time we added a special ad-hoc category related to one of the most buzzed-about stories of 2023: artificial intelligence.

Our new category included an array of AI heavy hitters. There was ChatGPT," the name for OpenAIs chatbot, which is so successful it often gets used generically for any generative AI system. There was LLM," short for large language model," the machine-learning algorithm trained on mountains of text that powers AI programs. And there was hallucination," for AI-generated responses that are untethered from reality.

Triumphing over all of these was stochastic parrot," used by AI skeptics to point out that large language models are not capable of understanding language but instead have been programmed to parrot back plausible-sounding synthetic text.

The term was coined by University of Washington computational linguist Emily M. Bender in a widely cited 2021 paper. As it happened, Bender was in attendance at the Word of the Year event and spoke about how her coinage of stochastic parrot" took off.

The first part of the phrase, stochastic," means randomly determined," and is derived from the ancient Greek word stokhastikos" meaning based on guesswork." A stokhastes" was someone aiming to predict the future through divination. The word is recorded in English from 1662, when the theologian John Owen wrote of the stocastick faculty," meaning the power of conjecture.

It would take until the 20th century for the term to get applied to modern statistical modeling. The Russian statistician A.A. Chuprov used the word stochastical" in a 1923 paper to mean based on the theory of probability," and the shorter form stochastic" became a standard way to refer to probabilistic distributions and patterns.

Bender put a new spin on the word when she and her co-authors published their paper on the risks of stochastic parrots," or large language models that are impressive in their ability to generate realistic-sounding language but ultimately do not truly understand the meaning of the language they are processing."

Parrot" has referred to the mimicking bird since the 16th century, and soon after it entered the lexicon, it came to be used for someone who repeats words without understanding, as well as a verb meaning imitate like a parrot."

That unusual combination of words, stochastic parrot," quickly circulated in the AI community, proving useful to those seeking to puncture the hype surrounding ventures like ChatGPT. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman himself gave the term an ironic boost when he tweeted i am a stochastic parrot, and so r u" in December 2022, just days after ChatGPT was released.

As stochastic parrot" snowballed in popularity, Bender witnessed how her creation swiftly spun out of her control. She notes bemusedly how the term often gets attributed to other (male) researchers, and how it has been interpreted as a slur against AI. People who are invested in the idea that LLMs can achieve artificial general intelligence, Bender told me via email, take stochastic parrots as an insult to the machines that they have anthropomorphized (and maybe identified with)."

Such is the peril of the word-coiner: if a neologism like stochastic parrot" takes flight, there is nothing you can do to get it back in its cage.
Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra reached Majuli island in Assam on Friday. The verbal jibes between Congress leaders in the yatra and Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma surged on the second day in the state. On Friday Jorhat Police registered a case against some individuals associated with the Congress' ongoing Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra for alleged deviation from its original route.

On Friday, sharpening his dig at the Miya Yatra", Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma said that he had asked the Congress leaders not to pass through Guwahati, as it has medical colleges and hospitals".

"We will give permission for any alternative route if they seek," he added.

On being prodded further by media personnel, Himanta Biswa Sarma said, "If the Congress reach Guwahati without permission, no case will be filed then as I don't want to give them unnecessary limelight in the national media".

A case will be filed later and two "bad elements" participating in the rally will be arrested 3-4 months after the Lok Sabha elections, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said without divulging the identity of his "targets".

On Friday morning, senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh alleged Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma was trying to derail the Rahul Gandhi-led Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra in the state, because he was rattled by the response from the people.

Ramesh, the party's general secretary, asserted that the Yatra will, however, continue with its itinerary in the state for another six days as scheduled.

"The Assam CM can abuse and defame, he can threaten and intimidate but we are not afraid. He is obviously disturbed by the huge impact of the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, which will continue in Assam for another 6 days in spite of his continuing efforts to derail it," Jairam Ramesh added.

Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra commenced from Manipur on 14 January and will culminate on 20 or 21 March in Mumbai.

Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra is scheduled to cover 6,713 km in 67 days while passing through 110 districts in 15 states. In Assam, it will continue till 25 January, travelling 833 km across 17 districts.

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TAIPEIBeijings closest political partner in Taiwan is fighting to remain relevant in an island democracy where voters increasingly see a future that is detached from an authoritarian China.

The Kuomintang, or Nationalist Party, once governed China and had dominated Taiwanese politics for decades. It is now on its longest losing streak in presidential elections since this self-ruled island started choosing its leader by popular vote, consigned to a third straight term in opposition.

Whether the century-old party can get back on its feet has ramifications for Taipeis rocky relationship with Beijing, which claims Taiwan as its territory and considers the KMT a useful partner in efforts to assimilate the island. The prospect that Taiwanese voters may never elect a Beijing-friendly government again could tilt China toward harsher methods to seek unification, including military force.

KMT leaders have put on a brave face, saying they still have the clout to keep Taiwans ruling party in check over the next four years. But many members worry that, without decisive reforms, one of Asias oldest political parties could fade into irrelevance, as more Taiwanese embrace a local identity separate from China and reject the KMTs perceived coziness with Beijing.

The middle class has already given up illusions on China," said Jason Hsu, a 45-year-old former KMT lawmaker who became a fellow at Harvards Kennedy School. The Kuomintang, in the next four years, must change its China strategy, if it is ever to come back to power."

The KMT faces a dilemma. Backing away from its founding goal of governing a unified Chinese nation could prompt an aggressive response from Beijing. But a KMT unable to regain power would do little to halt the coalescing of an entrenched Taiwanese identityan outcome that some party grandees, and Beijing, want to avoid.

In some ways, the KMT has already been toughening its stance on China. It picked a presidential candidate, Hou Yu-ih, who came from a family with deep Taiwanese roots andon the campaign trailpromised to be forceful in dealing with Beijing and defending Taiwans democracy. Ive never had an unrealistic idea about mainland Chinas attitude toward us," Hou told The Wall Street Journal in December.

Even so, Hou came second in the presidential race with 33% of the vote, trailing the ruling Democratic Progressive Partys Lai Ching-te, the current vice president, by about 7 percentage points. A third-party leader, Ko Wen-je, received roughly 26%.

Although the KMT lost by a slimmer margin than before, insiders and political analysts say the result confirmed the partys inability to appeal to young Taiwanesemany of whom flocked to the third party that Ko, a former Taipei mayor, founded less than five years ago.

Defeat has triggered introspection and infighting within the Kuomintang. Some members criticized the party leadership and called on KMT Chairman Eric Chu to resign. Others faulted Ko for splitting the opposition vote, after a last-ditch attempt to pair Hou and Ko on a joint ticket collapsed in public view.

Chu, a former presidential candidate who represents a moderate voice within the KMT, pointed to the partys improved showing in this years legislative races. It clinched 52 seats to form the largest caucus in Taiwans 113-member Legislative Yuan, compared with the ruling DPPs 51.

Chu refused to step down, saying he plans to stay on as chairman until the end of his term next year. The Kuomintang must continue to reform," particularly by refreshing its ranks with younger members, Chu said on Wednesday. I will continue to endure humiliation and bear burdens, push reforms, and nurture more talent."

Failure to change, some insiders say, means the Kuomintang could get supplanted by other groups with stronger appeal to younger voterssuch as Ko and his Taiwan Peoples Party, which casts itself as a pragmatic force focused on bread-and-butter issues and better placed to deal with China than Taiwans two main parties.

Ko Wen-je is the dangerous factor that has a chance to threaten or even replace the Kuomintang, and become the second-largest party," Hsiao Ching-yen, a former KMT spokesman and onetime director of the partys youth department, wrote on Facebook.

Officially known as the Kuomintang of China, the party traces its roots to a patriotic revolutionary group that Sun Yat-sen formed in the 1890s. It ruled mainland China from the 1920s to 1949, when Chiang Kai-shek relocated his government to Taipei to escape Mao Zedongs Communist forces.

The KMT gained control of Taiwanthen a Japanese colonyat the end of World War II. It went on to rule the island for 55 years, including nearly four decades of military dictatorship, before losing the presidential election in 2000 in a three-way fight against the DPP, whose candidate won, and another party formed by a KMT defector.

Analysts say the KMTs more recent losses in the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections stemmed largely from public disillusionment with the partys central pitchdelivering prosperity through peaceful and stable ties with China, Taiwans largest trading partner.

In 2020, after President Tsai Ing-wen of the DPP won re-election in a landslide thanks to widespread Taiwanese sympathies with anti-Beijing protesters in Hong Kong, the Kuomintang elected a new chairman who advocated a tougher line against China. But he was unseated the following year, amid resistance from KMT heavyweights who held firm to the partys pro-unification platform and close ties with Beijing.

The KMT has tried to freshen up its aging membership, only 3% of whom were below 40 years old in 2020. It brought in about 6,200 new members younger than 40 in 2022, up from nearly 3,700 two years earlier, according to party data. The party also fielded a younger slate of candidates for this years legislative election and will form the youngest caucus in the new parliament among Taiwans three biggest parties.

Still, some KMT officials say, the party must do more to address livelihood issues that affect young Taiwaneseincluding access to affordable housing and educationas well as social values that youth care about. Its not about using slogans or propaganda," said Richard Chen, a retired Taiwanese admiral who was elected as a KMT legislator last week.

Hsu, the former KMT lawmaker, said the party declined to renominate him for legislative elections in 2020 after he crossed the aisle the year before to vote in favor of legalizing same-sex marriagea position opposed by the KMTs socially conservative base.

The Kuomintang shouldnt be absent on progressive issues," otherwise it risks fading out as its core constituents of older Taiwanese dwindle in numbers, said Hsu.

Whatever the Kuomintang does, however, it will struggle to regain public support unless it also makes fundamental changes to its China policy, some political experts say.

For the KMT, the room for maneuvering is so limited," said Chen Ming-chi, an associate professor at Taiwans National Tsing Hua University and a former national-security adviser to Tsai. Their constituents care about China [and] believe in China as a solution for most of Taiwans problems."

Powerful conservatives could also hamper change. Former KMT Chairman Ma Ying-jeou, who was Taiwans president from 2008 to 2016, has continued to defend his record of promoting economic integration with Chinaan effort that sparked student-led protests in 2014 and stoked public wariness of the Communist Partys authoritarian influence.

Days before the election, Ma argued in an interview with German broadcaster Deutsche Welle that Taiwan, in trying to maintain peace with Beijing, should put trust in Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

The remarks sparked a media storm in Taiwan. The KMT kept Ma away from its final campaign rally on the eve of the electionan unusual move widely seen as Hous attempt to distance himself from the former presidents views.

The old guard should just stay out," said Hsu, the former KMT lawmaker. The page has turned in history."

Joyu Wang contributed to this article.

Write to Chun Han Wong at chunhan.wong@wsj.com
In recent weeks, Russian forces have fired short-range ballistic missiles in Ukraine provided by North Korea, according to assessments from Washington, Seoul and Kyiv. Pyongyang has provided Moscow with dozens of the weapons, the U.S. says.

Officials concluded that North Korean weapons were being used by analyzing debris collected in Ukraine. Russia is believed to have used Pyongyangs new KN-23 and KN-24 short-range missiles, defense experts say. Both countries have denied engaging in arms transfers.

Despite a barrage of test launches, North Korea hasnt been able to gauge how its new generation of short-range ballistic missiles performs on the battlefieldparticularly against Western defensesuntil now.

The high-profile battlefield exposure is likely to afford the regime of leader Kim Jong Un new proliferation opportunities, security experts say. The countrys illicit-arms business stretches back decades, though it has trailed off in recent years. Traditional customers in the Middle East, Africa and elsewhere shifted to lower-cost drones, which performed better than Pyongyangs outdated offerings. Tighter sanctions elevated the risk that shipments en route would get intercepted.

The use of the short-range missiles hands fresh endorsement to North Koreas weapons sales, as militarization is rising globally and creating new demand from nations without access to legitimate arms sales.

North Korea will be able to command a premium for these systems in ways it wasnt before," said Toby Dalton, senior fellow and co-director of the Nuclear Policy Program at the Carnegie Endowment. This is the cash cow."

Kim, the 40-year-old dictator, recently toured the countrys largest munitions factories, ordering officials to ramp up production. An increase in arms sales could provide a much-needed boost for a North Korean economy still recovering from the pandemic.

The countrys precise missile-production capacity is difficult to assess, given the Kim regimes penchant for secrecy. But North Korea is believed to operate more than 300 munitions factories, including another 100 civilian facilities that can shift to weapons production, according to South Korean estimates.

North Korea does have some advantages over the West, where arms makers have struggled to keep up with the demand created by the Ukraine war. Pyongyangs weapons manufacturing is state-controlled. Kim can put people to work in factories if he wants to ramp up production.

Pyongyang leans on homegrown producers and illicit networks to feed its missile industry. But it also leans heavily on Russia and a few other allies for certain supplies and technological know-how, said Tushar Sudesh Mangure, a defense analyst at analytics firm GlobalData. To supercharge production further, Russia could provide the raw materials that North Korea struggles to access, he added.

That Russia, a United Nations Security Council permanent member, has used North Korean missiles with apparent success sends some very clear messages to potential customers who may have been on the fence about conducting arms business with the Kim regime, said Darya Dolzikova, a research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, a London-based defense and security think tank.

One such message is that Russia remains unlikely to interdict any such transactions shipped through its borders or greenlight punishment at the U.N. for buyers, she said. The other is that the North Korean missile systems may be more reliable than previously believed.

If I were a potential customer of this, the technology is being used by the Russians, possibly improved by the Russians," Dolzikova said. I would assume these technologies are going to get better."

The two countries closeness was on full display this week, as North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui visited Moscow, meeting with her counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, and Russian leader Vladimir Putin. Lavrov expressed gratitude for North Koreas support for Russias fight in Ukraine. Following a Putin-Kim summit last September, the two countries had pledged greater partnership in all areas.

North Korea has a long history of arms deals. In the 1980s, Pyongyang exported small arms to other authoritarian governments such as Libya and Iran, going on to sell tanks and armored vehicles to Zimbabwe. The Kim regimes missile program is almost entirely modeled on Soviet weapons and technology. North Korea supplied Yemens Houthi rebels with Scud missiles in the 1990s as part of its efforts to secure foreign currency, according to South Korean intelligence.

More recently, North Korean grenade launchers have been used by Hamas fighters in the war with Israel, while its 122 mm artillery shells might also be in use by Hamas, according to South Koreas military. North Korea has denied any weapons-supply ties with the group.

The North Korean leader also hasnt shied away from showing off new weapons technology at military parades, including some gear that might seem unusual for use on the Korean Peninsula. At a 2021 parade, North Korean soldiers marched through downtown Pyongyang in desert camouflagedespite a lack of such terrain locally.

North Korea often publishes photos and video footage of its illicit weapons launches, too. In recent years, Pyongyang has conducted dozens of missile tests and flaunted its military drones.

The North Korean missiles used by Russia are far more advanced than the Scud missiles or other munitions exported in the past. The new missiles, based on Soviet designs, use solid propellant, allowing them to be deployed more quickly and covertly, and were unveiled at a splashy military parade about six years ago. In recent years, North Korea honed the missiles accuracy and flight maneuverability with frequent tests. The missile can carry a nuclear warhead and change direction midflight. It has a range of roughly 550 miles.

The West has provided Ukraine with many different systems to shoot down Russian drones and missiles, but the supply of systems specifically targeting ballistic missiles has been less common. The U.S., the Netherlands and Germany have sent five full or partial American-made Patriot systems. France has also sent a Samp/T system capable of destroying ballistic missiles.

The performance takeaways could improve the Kim regimes know-how if war erupts on the Korean Peninsula. North Korea has increased its saber-rattling with the South, which has U.S. missile systems deployed in the country.

Russia and North Korea border each other and remain connected by railroad. But attempts to transfer weapons to other countries face higher risks of interception due to international monitoring, said Yang Uk, a military expert at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies in Seoul. In 2002, North Korean missiles destined for Yemen were seized by Spanish forces and weapons equipment on a North Korean ship from Cuba was seized by Panama in 2013.

It all depends on which countries are willing to implement sanctions," Yang said.

Alistair MacDonald contributed to this article.

Write to Dasl Yoon at dasl.yoon@wsj.com and Timothy W. Martin at Timothy.Martin@wsj.com
An FIR has been lodged against the ' Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra ' and its chief organizer KB Byju for reportedly straying from the approved route within Jorhat town, Assam, on Thursday, PTI reported citing police sources.

According to an official statement, the march took an unauthorized direction in the town, deviating from the permitted KB Road route, causing a "chaotic situation" in the area.

Some people fell due to the sudden rush of people and a stampede-like situation was created. A suo motu FIR has been registered at Jorhat Sadar Police Station against the Yatra and its chief organiser," he added.

Also Read: 'Idea of Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra is...', says Congress MP Rahul Gandhi in Nagaland

As per the official, the FIR states that the Yatra failed to adhere to the norms set by the district administration and violated road safety regulations. In response, Leader of the Opposition Debabrata Saikia informed PTI that the FIR is a strategic move aimed at generating unwarranted obstacles for the Yatra.

There was no police manning the traffic diversion at the PWD point. The assigned route was too small and we had a huge gathering. So, we took a detour for just a few metres. Himanta Biswa Sarma is scared of the Yatra's success on the first day (in Assam) and now wants to derail it," he added.

Also Read: Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra: You will need THIS to hop on to Rahul Gandhi's 'Mohabbat Ki Dukaan' bus. Read here

Furthermore, Congress' Bharat Jodo Nyaya Yatra reached Assam's Majuli. Party leader Jairam Ramesh said, No rules have been broken. Assam Chief Minister is making all attempts to stop people from joining the Bharat Jodo Nyaya Yatra. No one can stop this yatra. We are in Assam for the next 7 years. Let them arrest us, we accept the challenge."
The descriptions are harrowing, the suffering unimaginable. Earlier this month, genocidal gunmen went from home to home for three days in a refugee camp in Darfur, Sudan, looking for Masalit men and killing them. It was not the first such attack, but by the time they had finished, say locals, between 800 and 1,300 members of the black-African ethnic group had been killed. Unverified videos show streets filled with corpses and terrified people crowded into what appears to be a mass grave, or being beaten by fighters from the mainly Arab Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary group, which denies the allegations. There is a genocide happening around us," says a weary aid worker. It feels pretty hopeless." This ethnic cleansing is just one of four horrors afflicting Sudan.

The second is civil war. Fighting broke out seven months ago between the RSF and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), the official army, flattening parts of Khartoum, the capital, and claiming more than 10,000 lives. Front lines that had largely been stable have begun to shift rapidly . Armed by regular shipments of weapons flown in from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the RSF has since gained control of most of Darfur, where it seems intent on eradicating the Masalits. It also seems to be gaining control of Khartoum, where the remaining civilians are besieged.

The conflict has forced about 6.3m people from their homes (in addition to the 3.7m who had fled during previous bouts of violence) and caused what the UN describes as one of the worst humanitarian crises in recent history". Almost three-quarters of hospitals and clinics in Khartoum have been shut because of bombing or fighting. The few still functioning in parts of the city controlled by the RSF have been starved of food and medical supplies by a blockade imposed by the rival SAF. Now we are really seeing a siege situation," says Claire Nicolet of Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), an aid group.

There is little hope that either side will agree to a ceasefire. Each still thinks it has more to gain from fighting than talking. This is because the entire war is little more than a fight for absolute power between General Abdel-Fattah al-Burhan, who heads the SAF, and Muhammad Hamdan Dagalo (known as Hemedti), the leader of the RSF. The two had previously worked together in 2021, staging a coup to block the emergence of a civilian-led government after the ousting of the long-serving dictator, Omar al-Bashir. But in April each made a bid for absolute power.

The third affliction is hunger. The civil war has devastated Sudans economy, destroyed its banking system, displaced its people and divided it into rival areas of control, disrupting supply chains and driving up food prices. As a result, 20m people do not have enough to eat. Of these, 6m are on the verge of famine, with 40% of pregnant women and breast-feeding mothers already near to starving. Without help in the coming months, tens of thousands of people are at risk of starving. But aid agencies are struggling to bring in supplies. The SAF controls Port Sudan, the main import hub, and is blocking the flow of aid workers and supplies to RSF-controlled territory.

The SAF is able to starve its people and the RSF is able to ethnically cleanse Darfur largely because of Sudans fourth affliction: the wider worlds utter indifference. The African Union appears to be unmoved by the catastrophe and is retreating to a policy of non-interference" in the affairs of its members, having previously sat idle while 385,000-600,000 people died during a civil war over the Tigray region in Ethiopia. The UN Security Council has been just as toothless and held only informal consultations on Sudan. This is not because its hands are tied by strategic interests or deep divisions between great powers, as with Ukraine or Syria, but because of gross neglect. America has paid little attention, largely because it is distracted by Ukraine and, more recently, Gaza. The silence has been deafening," says Mathilde Vu of the Norwegian Refugee Council.

Yet the world need not helplessly watch a disaster unfold. Governments should meet aid agencies requests for funds. Ahead of the climate-change summit in Dubai, America and its allies should press the UAE to halt its supply of weapons to a genocidal militia (the UAE claims the flights carry assistance). African leaders should redouble their diplomatic efforts. The Security Council, divided as it is, ought to be able to pass a resolution urging Sudans warring parties to protect civilians and let in aid. This would also signal that war crimes will be prosecuted.

The world is not short of crises. But it is more complex and America holds less sway than in the 2000s, when it belatedly led efforts to curb ethnic cleansing in Darfur. Yet great powers are great in part because they pay attention. And Sudan is dying from neglect.

 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 State Board of Veterans Affairs (SBVA) and Alabama Department of Veterans Affairs (ADVA) are pleased to announce the non-profit organizations and higher-education institutions to receive funding through Supporting Alabamas Veterans Grant program.

The one-time grants are designed to make a positive difference in the lives of Alabama veterans and their families. They will fund programs and services that directly address mental health issues, aiming to provide accessible and quality services to those who have served our nation.

The State Board of Veterans Affairs is honored to approve this funding opportunity for these 33 organizations, said SBVA Vice-Chairman Scott Gedling. You cant say enough about all the work taking place in and for the veterans communities around the state. The Supporting Alabamas Veterans Grant program is designed to elevate these efforts and to ensure that the Veterans of this State continue to receive all the resources and support that we can provide.

Added ADVA Commissioner Kent Davis: Alabama is continuously coming together to address the needs of the veterans community and strengthen its service for those who have served. This opportunity, made possible through an appropriation of American Rescue Plan funds by the Alabama Legislature and Governor Kay Ivey, aids in our collective mission to care for veterans and their families. We eagerly anticipate the impactful services that these non-profits and higher-education institutions will produce.

Recipients of the Supporting Alabamas Veterans Grant are:

Alabama Council of Chapters Military Officers Association of America;

Alabama Head Injury Foundation Inc.;

Alabama Veteran;

Americas Heroes Enjoying Recreation Outdoors;

Auburn Student Veterans Association;

Auburn University;

BondFire Ranch;

Chattahoochee Valley Community College;

Council on Substance Abuse;

Drake State Community and Technical College;

Drug Education Council, Inc.;

Family Counseling Center of Mobile Inc.

Faulkner University;

Forging A Difference, Inc.;

Gadsden State Community College;

Jacksonville State University;

Krulak Marine Alliance of Alabama;

Mother Mary Mission, Inc.;

Samsons Strength Sustainable Veterans Project, Inc.;

Selah Christian Counseling and Wellness;

Shelton State Community College;

Sojourn Counseling;

Southern Alabama AHEC;

SpectraCare Health Systems, Inc.;

University of Alabama;

University of South Alabama;

Veteran Impact Services;

Veterans 4 Veterans, Inc.;

Veterans Memorial Park Association;

Veterans Recovery Resources;

Visualize Everyone That Serves;

WarHawgs; and,

Wings Across Alabama.
Realme has confirmed that its Realme 12 Pro series will launch in India on January 29. While it was earlier expected that Realme 12 Pro and Realme Pro+ models were earlier expected to debut on the launch date, a listing on the Flipkart website revealed the specifications and expected pricing for the upcoming device.

Realme 12 Pro Max specifications:

The Flipkart listing was spotted by 91mobiles which gave a glimpse at the details of the upcoming mid-range smartphone. The listing also revealed that Realme 12 Pro Max will be available in the Submarine Blue" colour, feature a curved display and start with 8GB RAM variant.

Meanwhile, a leak from tipster Yogesh Brar revealed the key specifications and the pricing of the Realme 12 Pro Max variant. According to the X (formerly Twitter) post by Brar, Realme 12 Pro Max could start at a price of 33,999 for the 8GB RAM/256GB storage variant while the 12GB RAM/256GB storage variant could be priced at 35,999.

The leak further suggested that Realme 12 Pro Max may feature a 64MP OIS portrait camera and a 50MP Sony IMX890 OIS camera sensor. Furthermore, the smartphone could feature the same Rolex-inspired luxury watch design that the Chinese smartphone maker has earlier teased.

While other display specifications of the Reame 12 Pro Max haven't yet been revealed, the leak suggests that the new smartphone could feature a Curved vision display with support for 120Hz refresh rate. The smartphone may run on Realme UI 5.0 based on Android 14.

Realme 12 Pro and Realme 12 Pro+ 5G specifications:

The Reame 12 Pro 5G is expected to be powered by the octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 chipset and could be available in India in three storage variants: 8GB RAM/128GB storage, 8GB RAM/256GB storage and 12GB RAM/256GB storage. The smartphone could be available in two colour options: Submarine Blue and Navigator Beige.

The Realme 12 Pro may feature a triple camera setup with a 50MP Sony IMX890 sensor primary sensor with OIS, a 32MP telephoto lens with 2x optical zoom and an 8MP ultra-wide-angle lens.

The Realme 12 Pro+, on the other hand, could be powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 7s Gen 2 chipset and have two storage variants: 8GB RAM/128GB storage and 8GB RAM/256GB storage. The smartphone is expected to be available in three colour variants: Explorer Red, Navigator Beige and Submarine Blue.

The Realme 12 Pro+ is also likely to have a triple rear camera setup with a 50MP Sony IMX890 primary sensor, a 64MP telephoto lens with support for 3x optical zoom, 6x in-sensor zoom and 120x digital zoom, and an 8MP ultra-wide angle lens.

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Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has announced that his company is entering the race to make an artificial general intelligence system or AGI, reported The Verge. The 39-year-old tech leader did not provide an exact definition or a timeline for creating AGI but did mention that he is making some changes in the Meta's AI research group.

While providing the reasoning behind creating AGI, Zuckerberg told The Verge, Weve come to this view that, in order to build the products that we want to build, we need to build for general intelligence," Zuckerberg tells me in an exclusive interview. I think thats important to convey because a lot of the best researchers want to work on the more ambitious problems."

When being asked about a definition for AGI, Zuckerberg said, I dont have a one-sentence, pithy definition You can quibble about if general intelligence is akin to human-level intelligence, or is it like human-plus, or is it some far-future super intelligence. But to me, the important part is actually the breadth of it, which is that intelligence has all these different capabilities where you have to be able to reason and have intuition."

Zuckerberg's take on AI talent wars:

Zuckerberg also shared his take on the intense talent wars in the artificial intelligence industry. He said, Were used to there being pretty intense talent wars But there are different dynamics here with multiple companies going for the same profile, [and] a lot of VCs and folks throwing money at different projects, making it easy for people to start different things externally."

According to a report by AFP, AI companies including Elon Musk's xAI, OpenAI and others are battling it out to attract programmers and thinkers to develop generative AI models.

The report, citing The Information, noted that Google offers its researchers stock compensation to prevent them from being poached, while OpenAI offers its employees multi-million dollar packages.

In addition, the report noted that these employees want to work at companies that are committed to the idea of creating human-level AI

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In a world often dominated by well-known tourist spots, there are hidden treasures waiting to be discovered. These underappreciated travel destinations offer a unique blend of culture, natural beauty, and authenticity. If youre a traveler seeking something off the beaten path, consider adding these remarkable destinations to your bucket list.

1. Bhutan: The Kingdom of Happiness

Tucked away in the eastern Himalayas, Bhutan is a kingdom that often goes unnoticed. Renowned for its stunning landscapes, ancient monasteries, and a commitment to Gross National Happiness, Bhutan provides a serene escape for those seeking tranquility.

2. Georgia (the Country): A Tapestry of History

Nestled between Europe and Asia, the country of Georgia is a captivating blend of ancient history and modern charm. With its diverse landscapes, from the Caucasus Mountains to the Black Sea coastline, Georgia offers travelers a unique cultural experience and warm hospitality.

3. Colombia: Beyond Cartagena

While Cartagena attracts attention, Colombia has so much more to offer. Cities like Medellin and Bogota showcase vibrant street art scenes and thriving local cultures, while the Coffee Triangle provides a lush and serene escape.

4. Oman: Arabian Nights Come to Life

For a taste of the Middle East that often flies under the radar, consider Oman. This Arabian gem boasts ancient forts, stunning deserts, and pristine coastline. Muscat, the capital, welcomes travelers with open arms and a rich cultural tapestry.

5. Mongolia: Vast Steppes and Nomadic Traditions

Escape to the vast steppes of Mongolia for an unparalleled adventure. This land of nomads offers a glimpse into a lifestyle that has remained largely unchanged for centuries. Explore the Gobi Desert, visit ancient monasteries, and experience the hospitality of the nomadic people.

6. Madagascar: A Biodiversity Hotspot

For nature enthusiasts, Madagascar is a paradise of biodiversity. From lemurs in lush rainforests to unique chameleons, this island nation is a haven for wildlife lovers. Explore its diverse ecosystems, pristine beaches, and unique rock formations.

7. Slovenia: Europes Hidden Gem

Nestled between Italy, Austria, and Croatia, Slovenia is a small European country with a big heart. Lake Bled, Triglav National Park, and the charming capital, Ljubljana, offer a delightful mix of outdoor activities and cultural exploration.

8. Turkmenistan: Ancient Silk Road Wonders

Venture off the traditional tourist trail to Turkmenistan, where the remnants of the ancient Silk Road await. The city of Merv, the Darvaza Gas Crater (the Door to Hell), and the unique capital, Ashgabat, showcase the countrys rich history and contemporary eccentricities.

9. Tonga: Serenity in the South Pacific

Escape to the remote island kingdom of Tonga in the South Pacific. Known for its untouched beauty, friendly locals, and vibrant coral reefs, Tonga offers a tranquil escape for those seeking pristine beaches and a slower pace of life.

Conclusion: Explore the Unexplored

These underappreciated travel destinations are more than just places on a map; they are invitations to uncover hidden wonders and create unforgettable memories. Whether you crave cultural immersion, natural beauty, or a combination of both, these destinations promise a unique and authentic travel experience. Venture beyond the well-trodden paths and discover the magic that awaits in these underappreciated gems.
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OZARK-Authority for the city to award certain contracts to local bidders who are within five percent of the lowest responsible bid received was approved, by majority, at the Ozark City Council meeting Jan. 16. The exception to the amendment to Alabama Code Title 41 are public works contracts.

In 2015, the Alabama Legislature approved a bill providing local preferences in government procurement in the event a bid is received for an item of personal property or services from a person, firm, or corporation deemed to be a responsible bidder, having a place of business within the local preference zoneand the bid is no more than five percent greater than the bid of the lowest responsible bidder, the awarding authority may award the contract to the resident responsible bidder, according to Title 41. In the event only one bidder responds to the invitation to bid, the awarding authority may reject the bid and negotiate the purchase or contract, providing the negotiated price is lower than the bid price.

Tuesday Ozark Mayor Mark Blankenship asked the council to reconsider his request made at an earlier council meeting to approve the 5 percent local preference amendment to the citys accounting policy. At that meeting, the citys chief financial officer, the director of leisure services, and an out-of-town business contractor asked the council not to make the change and the issue died after no council member made the motion to accept the mayors recommendation.

We spend hundreds of thousands of dollars a year promoting business and industry and bringing them into our city but at the last (council) meeting we took a vote not to support our local businesses, Blankenship said Tuesday. Its state law that allows us to do it. Every city and county Ive talked to makes shopping local a priority. Our small businesses are absolutely the backbone of our city. If you want to know where our tax revenues are coming from, thats where its coming from.

When I built the amphitheater (in downtown Ozark) and when I built this (Ozark-Dale County) library, I cant tell you how many local businesses stepped up, donated to that project with materials and labor and never charged us a penny, Blankenship told the council. But then were going to turn around and not give them an opportunity to do business in the city of Ozark when the law allows us to do it.

Blankenship talked about two Ozark businesses and their impact on the community. One business employs 23 people. Most of them live and shop in Ozark, Blankenship said. The company has 12 vehicles. They are tagged here. They are taxed here, they pay an EMS tag fee to support our EMS services every time they renew those tags. He purchases $10,000 worth of fuel in the city of Ozark every single month. He purchases insurance at a local insurance company at $50,000 a year and that insurance company, I happen to know, does a lot in the community, Blankenship said. The growth of his business is one of the reasons you are seeing a growth in our sales tax.

A second Ozark company Blankenship cited as having a positive impact on the citys revenue has 72 full time employees, 30 subcontractors, and operates 60 vehicles in Dale County. He has given over 35 scholarships to first responders in the last 10 years, Blankenship said. He buys all the equipment for the entire state of Alabama here in Ozark, which means he pays sales tax on every penny of that money.

I want to point out that we get all this investment in our city and then we want to take the position that were not going to give them any special treatment because they are here in the city of Ozark, Blankenship said, adding that in a recent demolition project, the out-of-town contractor bid $58 less than the local contractor. Were going to give a contract to an out-of-town contractor on two houses to save $58? he said. I am asking you to put this on the agenda and vote to support the city of Ozark.

Councilwoman Leah Harlow made the motion to allow a 5 percent local preference, as allowed by state law, which was approved by majority. Councilman Winston Jackson cast the single dissenting vote, saying that he wanted more information on the issue.

The Ozark City Council meets the first and third Tuesday of each month on the second floor of the Municipal Building. A work session begins at 5 p.m. and is followed by a voting meeting. Both meetings are open to the public.
Over 1,000 Volkswagen workers have launched a campaign to join the United Autoworkers Union (UAW). One employee says she loves working at Volkswagen, but says she wants a seat at the table.
The Chattanooga Library is celebrating Dolly's birthday by following her love of books and reading.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced he will bring legislation to the Senate floor Tuesday to fund the government into March as a shutdown deadline looms Friday.
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A man who threatened to burn down the house of a Garda while his wife and kids were inside and to rape the Gardas wife and kids, has been sentenced to 26 months in prison with the final eight months suspended for the section 3 assault of that Garda.

Sean Taaffe (31), with an address at St Matthews Park, Ballymahon, Co Longford, was previously jailed in the District Court for similar offences towards the same Garda in 2021 and is currently serving a 16 month sentence following a District Court appeal.

Judge Kenneth Connolly of Longford Circuit Court heard evidence of how Gardai were called to a public order incident in Lanesboro, following the theft of a pack of cigarettes in a local shop.

Sergeant Philip OByrne of Roscommon Garda station described how an interaction on March 5, 2023, between attending Garda Keith OBrien and Mr Taaffe escalated from public order to very personal threats to the Garda and his family, to section 3 assault.

When he saw Garda OBrien, Mr Taaffe shouted: You, you b*stard, you got me locked up for 18 months, referring to his previous convictions for threats towards Garda OBrien.

Mr Taaffe then made threats such as Ill burn your house to the ground with your wife and kids in it, I will rape your wife and kids and I will burn Ballymahon Garda Station with you in it.

While in the custody of a Garda vehicle, Mr Taaffe attempted to bite Garda OBrien on the hand and stated he would bite the Garda on the neck. He also spat on the floor of the vehicle and headbutted Garda OBrien, causing him headaches which lasted 24 hours.

When questioned by Gardai once he had sobered up, Mr Taaffe explained that he had been drinking since the previous evening and had consumed two bottles of whiskey and injected coke.

When he was declared fit for interview by a doctor, he spoke freely with two Gardai and said he couldnt remember any of the altercation with Garda OBrien. He asked if the Garda was alright and said, Im a scumbag when Im drinking - a pure tramp. Im disgusted with myself.

Garda OBrien, when delivering a victim impact statement, said his wife was anxious after the incident and questioned whether or not Mr Taaffe would be capable of carrying out his threats to her and her family.

He said this was the second time hed had an altercation of this nature with Mr Taaffe and that, while his wife was also a member of An Garda Siochana and had a thick skin, she took the threats very seriously.

I feel the incident genuinely affected her, he said.

He explained that he will likely interact with Mr Taaffe again in the course of his duties and that he is concerned that Mr Taaffe would be able to find out where he lives.

Hes a very troubled individual, said Garda OBrien, adding that Mr Taaffe needs to be aware that I didnt choose to be at his side on those occasions, but that the accused chose that himself through his actions.

He needs to accept his mistakes are what led to him being arrested and leave my family out of it, he said.

Mr Taaffe became emotional when he took to the witness box to read an apology letter.

Id like to apologise to Keith OBrien and his wife, he said, stating that he turned to drink and drugs when his children moved to England in January 2021.

He explained that the children returned to Ireland in July 2023, and that it made him so happy as a father. He also met a girl in August 2023, with whom he hopes to build a future.

For my family, my kids and the girl I love, Im sorry for the pain you all feel, he said, before promising that he will do as many programmes as possible in Castlerea.

Judge Connolly, having heard the evidence, said that the threats made to Garda OBrien were absolutely vile and repugnant in nature and utterly unforgivable.

He noted that a large number of Mr Taaffes previous convictions took place before his children moved to England and that his actions could therefore not be attributed to that.

He said his greatest regret is that he is limited to sentencing Mr Taaffe for the section 3 assault only, and not the other charges, due to a guilty plea being entered to the section 3 on a full facts basis, with the state deciding not to proceed with prosecution on the other charges.

Section 3 assault is very serious, with a maximum tariff of five years in prison, said Judge Connolly, but in this courts view, a section 3 assault on a member of An Garda Siochana is even more serious.

Gardai dont have a choice, they have to deal with whatever arises and they should receive the utmost respect for that.

Referring to Mr Taaffes apology, Judge Connolly said he did not want to be mean-spirited, but I have to say, it sounded more of a self-focused remorse rather than an apology to Garda OBrien. He did, however, acknowledge that there was some expression of remorse.

Taking all offences into consideration, he proceeded to sentence Mr Taaffe to 26 months in prison, suspending the final eight months on a number of conditions, including that he abstain from all alcohol and drugs, and submit himself to the supervision of a probation officer for one year post-release.
A controlled explosion was carried out at the scene where a man died in a blast at a hostel in Dublin city, as gardai ruled out a gas leak theory.

Emergency services attended the Depaul homeless hostel on Little Britain Street, located off Capel Street, following reports of a blast inside shortly after 3pm.

The explosion was confined to one room within the hostel and there are no reports of any other injuries.

A wide cordon was established around the area as a technical examination was carried out.

The cordon and traffic diversions remain in place on Friday.

The Irish armys explosives ordnance disposal (EOD) unit attended the scene late on Thursday night and its robot was deployed.

The EOD carried out a post-blast analysis and clearance of the scene, which included a controlled explosion.

The operation concluded at around 00.30am.

Gardai said the precise cause of the explosion is under investigation, and the Garda Technical Bureau is carrying out a forensic and technical examination with assistance from the army.

It is understood that Gardai have ruled out the blast being caused by a gas leak or gas heater, and are examining what is in the room.

The coroner has been notified, and a post-mortem examination is due to be carried out by the State Pathologist on Saturday.

Those with information are being asked to contact the Bridewell Garda Station on 01 6668200 or the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111.
Local News

By Chris Boyle Published: January 19 2024

Smithtown-Kings Park to Receive $10 Million from Downtown Revitalization Initiative; Brookhaven-North Bellport and Mineola to Receive $4.5 Million Each from NY Forward Program.

Governor Kathy Hochul today announced Smithtown-Kings Park as the Long Island winner of the seventh round of the Downtown Revitalization Initiative, receiving $10 million, as well as Brookhaven-North Bellport and Mineola as this years Long Island region NY Forward winners, receiving $4.5 million each. For Round 7 of the Downtown Revitalization Initiative, each of the state's 10 economic development regions are being awarded $10 million, to make for a total state commitment of $100 million in funding and investments to help communities boost their economies by transforming downtowns into vibrant neighborhoods. Building on the momentum of the successful Downtown Revitalization Initiative, the $100 million NY Forward program adopts the same "Plan-then-Act" strategy as the DRI, which couples strategic planning with immediate project implementation to support a more equitable downtown resurgence for New York's smaller and rural communities. With the Governors commitment this year of $100 million each for the Downtown Revitalization Initiative and NY Forward, the State has now invested a combined total of $1 billion in both programs since their inception.

Through the Downtown Revitalization Initiative and NY Forward, we are investing in New Yorks downtowns  the heartbeat of our communities, Governor Hochul said. With this funding, Smithtown-Kings Park, Brookhaven-North Bellport and Mineola will have the tools they need to reimagine their downtowns to enhance the quality of life for residents, draw visitors, and spur economic opportunity throughout their communities.

$10 Million Downtown Revitalization Initiative Award for Smithtown-Kings Park

The Town of Smithtown has already taken significant steps toward revitalizing Kings Park that will support Governor Hochuls housing and economic development goals and catalyze future transformation through the DRI. The Town has begun to make zoning changes in the DRI designated area that will allow for 300 more housing units and enable future development. And the Town has applied for a Pro-Housing Community designation from the New York State Office of Homes and Community Renewal. To complement these efforts, the County has begun construction on a sewer expansion project in the DRI area of Kings Park through $20 million state grant, managed by the Environmental Facilities Corporation, to support the Towns vision to create a walkable, mixed-use business district centered around the LIRR station with access to restaurants, commercial development, community space and new diverse housing opportunities.

Smithtown-Kings Park has been awarded $10 million in state funding and investments to revitalize its downtown neighborhood and generate new opportunities for long-term growth following the local planning process. Smithtown-Kings Park joins Westbury, Hicksville, Central Islip, Baldwin, Amityville, Riverhead and Huntington Station, which were Long Islands winners in the rst six rounds of the DRI.

Smithtown-Kings Park will begin the process of developing a Strategic Investment Plan to revitalize its downtown with up to $300,000 in planning funds from the $10 million DRI grant. A Local Planning Committee made up of municipal representatives, community leaders and other stakeholders will lead the eort, supported by a team of private sector experts and state planners. The Strategic Investment Plan will examine local assets and opportunities to identify economic development, transportation, housing, and community projects that align with each community's vision for downtown revitalization and that are poised for implementation. The Strategic Investment Plan will guide the investment of DRI grant funds in revitalization projects that will advance the community's vision for its downtown and that can leverage and expand upon the state's $10 million investment. Plans for the DRI's seventh round will be complete in 2024.

$4.5 Million NY Forward Awards for Brookhaven-North Bellport and Mineola

The Town of Brookhaven will use public/private partnerships to overcome inequities and strengthen the community through the development of new affordable housing close and accessible to the LIRR station; creation of a mixed-use business district, which will include both fresh food and financial establishments; building facade improvements; and streetscape enhancements to improve pedestrian safety.

The Village of Mineola has taken significant steps toward reinvigorating its downtown in preparation for this NY Forward award. The Village has engaged in thoughtful planning and supportive zoning changes to attract new businesses and people to the downtown, which has helped create over 1,400 housing units during the last decade. With this NY Forward award, the Village will build on these important prior efforts by creating more public spaces in the downtown; developing vacant parcels into mixed-use buildings; and completing placemaking and pedestrian improvements.

Brookhaven-North Bellport and Mineola will now begin the process of developing a Strategic Investment Plan to revitalize their downtowns. A Local Planning Committee made up of municipal representatives, community leaders and other stakeholders will lead the eort, supported by a team of private sector experts and state planners. The Strategic Investment Plan will examine local assets and opportunities to identify projects that align with each community's vision and that are poised for implementation. Funding will be awarded for selected projects from the Strategic Investment Plan that have the greatest potential to jumpstart revitalization and generate new opportunities for long-term growth.

New York Secretary of State Robert J. Rodriguez said, The Downtown Revitalization Initiative and NY Forward programs are proving to be incredibly transformational for so many New York communities looking to reinvigorate and energize their downtowns. These awards will provide the jumpstart needed to drive their revitalization efforts forward and improve their communities economically and socially. The Department of State looks forward to working with you and seeing your progress. Congratulations!

Empire State Development President, CEO and Commissioner Hope Knight said, The Downtown Revitalization Initiative will breathe new life into downtown Smithtown-Kings Park by enhancing housing, business growth, and job opportunities while transforming the area into a transit-oriented hub that will catalyze economic prosperity. NY Forward mirrors our DRI efforts by rejuvenating smaller, rural downtowns like Brookhaven-North Bellport and Mineola through strategic investments in affordable housing, pedestrian accessibility, and public spaces. Together, these efforts support targeted, holistic plans for inclusive growth that will make a positive difference in the lives of Long Island residents and businesses.

Homes and Community Renewal Commissioner RuthAnne Visnauskas said, Todays announcement shows what can happen when our partners at the local level are willing to do the careful planning required to effectively boost the supply of housing, create new commercial opportunities, and reimagine their downtowns. Through NY Forward and the Downtown Revitalization Initiative, Governor Hochul continues to demonstrate that New York is rewarding communities that are serious about expanding housing and economic opportunities in the areas where people want to live and work. Smithtowns Kings Park, Brookhaven-North Bellport and Mineola now have access to the type of funding that helps turn goals into reality. We applaud these communities for developing plans that will benefit New Yorkers far into the future and help make progress addressing the States housing shortage on Long Island and beyond.

LIREDC Co-Chairs Linda Armyn, President & CEO at Bethpage Federal Credit Union and Dr. John Nader, President of Farmingdale State College said, The $10 million Downtown Revitalization Initiative will ignite suburban renewal in Smithtown-Kings Park, unlocking its potential as an innovative economic hub with new housing, amenities and infrastructure centered on walkability and transit access. Additionally, the NY Forward award marks a transformative opportunity for Brookhaven-North Bellport and Mineola to revitalize their communities. Brookhaven-North Bellport will begin an ambitious planning process for transformation and revitalization of its business district. Mineola will use the funding to fully implement and enhance existing plans. These strategic investments will further equitable development across Long Island for generations to come.

Assemblymember Michael Fitzpatrick said, The Smithtown and Kings Park downtowns will not only be revitalized with the help of this grant but will, essentially, be repurposed. The modern suburban downtown, or Main Street, to be viable and successful today, must be able to meet the needs and desires of a changing economy and society. Thanks to Governor Hochuls initiative, the Kings Park and Smithtown downtowns will move boldly, and smartly, toward a more active, prosperous, and vital future. Good things are happening in Kings Park and Smithtown and I want to thank Governor Hochul for helping us get to where we need to be for a brighter future.

Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine said, I thank the Governor for her continued commitment to Suffolk County. This funding is vital to the ongoing downtown revitalization efforts in both Kings Park and North Bellport and will help create jobs and jumpstart local economic growth in our communities.

Smithtown Town Supervisor Edward R. Wehrheim said, This is a historic moment for the hamlet of Kings Park and the people of Smithtown. It is the culmination of years of community-based planning, working together with dedicated planning and environmental experts, local businesses, civic leaders, our great school districts, and our partners Government. I want to thank Governor Hochul for recognizing our unwavering commitment in building a vibrant, sustainable downtown together.

Village of Mineola Mayor Paul A. Pereira said, The Village of Mineola has been leading the way in downtown revitalization, smart growth, and transit-oriented development for nearly two decades. Mineola has served as an example to other communities as to how you can both meet housing demands on Long Island while still protecting a suburban quality of life. This award not only validates the work that the Village has been doing for the last 20 years, but it also prepares us for the next 20 years. It will help the village better prepare its infrastructure for the continued growth and development of our downtown. The village is grateful to Governor Hochul and her staff, the Empire State development office, and all those that saw the Village of Mineola as a worthy recipient of this award. This award will be put to good use for the continued growth and development of Mineolas downtown.

Town of Brookhaven Supervisor Daniel J. Panico said, My administration has made the redevelopment of North Bellport a priority and we are deeply appreciative of the Governors commitment to this mutual goal. We must work to lift up our communities and the people who reside within them, and this grant will take us a step closer to realizing the bright future that North Bellport so rightfully deserves.

The Long Island Regional Economic Development Council conducted a thorough and competitive review process of proposals submitted from communities throughout the region and considered all criteria below before recommending these communities as nominees:

The downtown should be compact, with well-dened boundaries;

The downtown is able to capitalize on prior or catalyze future private and public investment in the neighborhood and its surrounding areas;

There should be recent or impending job growth within, or in close proximity to the downtown that can attract workers to the downtown, support redevelopment and make growth sustainable;

The downtown must be an attractive and livable community for diverse populations of all ages, income, gender, identity, ability, mobility and cultural background;

The municipality should already embrace or have the ability to create and implement policies that increase livability and quality of life;

The municipality should have conducted an open and robust community engagement process resulting in a vision for downtown revitalization and a preliminary list of projects and initiatives that may be included in a Strategic Investment Plan;

The municipality has identied transformative projects that will be ready for near-term implementation with an infusion of DRI or NY Forward funds; and

The municipality has the local capacity to manage the planning process and implementation of projects, including the ability to oversee contracts for awarded municipal projects.

About the Downtown Revitalization Initiative

The Downtown Revitalization Initiative was created in 2016 to accelerate and expand the revitalization of downtowns and neighborhoods in all ten regions of the state to serve as centers of activity and catalysts for investment. Led by the Department of State with assistance from Empire State Development, Homes and Community Renewal and NYSERDA, the DRI represents an unprecedented and innovative "plan-then-act" strategy that couples strategic planning with immediate implementation and results in compact, walkable downtowns that are a key ingredient to helping New York State rebuild its economy from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as to achieving the State's bold climate goals by promoting the use of public transit and reducing dependence on private vehicles.

In the rst six years of the program, the state committed $700 million investing in 69 downtowns ripe for revitalization and that have the potential to become magnets for redevelopment, business, job creation, greater economic and housing diversity and opportunity. Participating communities are nominated by the state's 10 Regional Economic Development Councils based on the downtown's potential for transformation. Each community is awarded $10 million to develop a downtown strategic investment plan and implement key catalytic projects that advance the community's vision for revitalization and leverage additional private and public investments. More information on the DRI is available here.

About the NY Forward Program

NY Forward is a central component of the State's economic development policy. The program works in concert with the DRI to accelerate and expand the revitalization of smaller and rural downtowns throughout the State so that all communities can benefit from the States revitalization efforts, regardless of size, character, needs and challenges. Both programs are creating a critical mass of vibrant downtowns in every region of the State that is enhancing economic development, quality of life and socio-economic diversity.

Once awarded, NY Forward communities are supported by a professional planning consultant and team of State agency experts led by the DOS to develop a Strategic Investment Plan that includes a slate of transformative, complementary and readily implementable projects. NY Forward projects are appropriately scaled to the size of each community; projects may include building renovation and redevelopment, new construction or creation of new or improved public spaces and other projects that enhance specific cultural and historical qualities that define and distinguish the small-town charm that defines these municipalities.

The Strategic Investment Plans and projects are driven by a Local Planning Committee, which conducts extensive community outreach and engagement. The Department of State also provides expansive technical assistance and capacity-building webinars  featuring staff, experts and peers from DRI communities  which are geared toward supporting communities that may have less resources and capacity than larger, more urban communities.
HARBIN -- A wild Siberian tiger has been spotted in a forest area in Northeast China's Heilongjiang province, indicating the ongoing improvement of the local ecological environment, according to forest rangers.

The footprints and excrement of a suspected Siberian tiger were found by forest rangers during regular patrols at Heping forest farm under the Muling Forestry Bureau Co Ltd, said ranger Wang Daohui.

Wang said the rangers later checked the infrared cameras in the area and saw what appeared to be an adult wild tiger.

A DNA test of the tiger's excrement by the Feline Research Center of the National Forestry and Grassland Administration confirmed that it is a new adult male tiger, rather than one rescued and later released into the wild in 2021.

"This is the fifth adult wild Siberian tiger spotted in the Muling forest area in recent years, indicating the rich biodiversity and effectively restored ecological environment here," said Guo Jianjun, head of the Liufeng Mountain National Forest Park Management Office of the Muling Forestry Bureau Co Ltd.

Also known as the Amur tiger, the Siberian tiger is one of the most endangered animals in the world, mainly living in Russia's Far East and Northeast China. About 500 Siberian tigers are believed to be living in the wild.
An Abbeville therapeutic camp supervisor is facing numerous child abuse charges after he allegedly beat several male juveniles, according to police.

Kenyatta Dewayne Danzey, 45, is charged with 17 counts of child abuse. He is currently in the Henry County Jail on a $255,000 bond.

On Monday, Jan. 10, the Henry County Sheriff's Office Task Force began investigating reports of child abuse at Sayla Therapeutic Resources.

According to Henry County Sheriff Eric Blankenship, it was determined multiple male juveniles were abused over the course of several months.

Six days later, investigators arrested Danzey, who was already in the Henry County Jail after patrol officers took him into custody on Friday, Jan. 12, for probation violation warrants unrelated to this incident.

Court documents allege from November to January, Danzey beat the juveniles with a potato-filled sock and broom handles, and slapped, hit, and punched them on different parts of their bodies.

Sayla Therapeutic Resources was established in 2001 and provides discipline and leadership to troubled youth throughout Alabama, according to the company's website.

Court records show Danzey is due back in court for a preliminary hearing in front of Judge James D. Peterson on Tuesday, Mar. 12.
Crime

By Chris Boyle Published: January 18 2024

Carlos Lauro Pleaded Guilty Exactly One Week After His Arrest.

Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney today announced that Carlos Lauro, 76, of Riverhead, pleaded guilty to fatally shooting a German Shepherd with a rifle and was sentenced to one year in jail and a 20-year ban on owning or possessing animals.

Our Biological, Environmental, and Animal Safety Team, the Suffolk County Police Department, and the Riverhead Police Department put together a solid case, and the defendants only recourse was to plead guilty, said District Attorney Tierney. This kind of cruelty will not be tolerated by my office, nor the people of Suffolk County, and the swift sentence of one year in jail demonstrates that. Let this serve as a warning to anyone seeking to injure animals.

Thanks to the swift action of the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office and its Biological, Environmental, and Animal Safety Team, animal abuser Carlos Lauro will spend the rest of 2024 in jail and won't be allowed to own another companion animal until he is nearly 100 years old, said John Di Leonardo, anthrozoologist and Executive Director of Humane Long Island. Humane Long Island has removed nearly 100 animals, including three cows, 10 freezing piglets, a dozen waterfowl, and dozens of sick and injured chickens, sheep, goats, and a bunny from Carlos Lauro's slaughterhouse and an adjacent property, but the public can save twice as many animals annually simply by going vegan. Learn more at HumaneLongIsland.org."

The investigation was launched on January 10, 2024, when a one-year-old German Shepherd was taken to the VCA Veterinary Hospital in Westbury and found to be paralyzed from a gunshot wound to the head. According to a witness, the dog, named Blitzkrieg, was allegedly found shot at about 5:30 p.m., laying in a pen on Lauros property next to a dead goat. When detectives with the SCDAs Biological, Environmental, and Animal Safety Team (BEAST) arrived at Lauros home, they learned that approximately one month prior, Lauro had shot and killed another German Shepherd, a six-month old puppy named Cranky. Lauro shot Cranky in the back, and when another resident of the house took the dog back inside the home in an attempt to console and treat his wounds, Lauro dragged the dog back outside and shot Cranky in the head, killing her.

At Lauros home, BEAST detectives found five surviving Belgian Malinois/Dutch Shepherd mix dogs, a Border Collie dog, two German Shepherd dogs, and numerous other animals including a multitude of goats, pigs, cows, chickens, and geese. Multiple other deceased farm animals, including a baby goat and pig, were observed at the scene.

On January 11, 2024, BEAST detectives with the assistance from the the Riverhead Police Department, executed a search warrant against the premises and arrested Lauro.

On January 18, 2024, Lauro pleaded guilty before Riverhead Town Justice, the Honorable Lori M. Hulse, to the unjustified killing of an animal, a Class A misdemeanor. Lauro also pleaded guilty to Aggravated Unlicensed Operation of a Motor Vehicle in the Third Degree, an Unclassified misdemeanor, stemming from an unrelated case. As conditions of his plea, Lauro was sentenced to one year in jail, was issued a 20-year ban on owning or possessing animals, and all the surviving animals owned by Lauro were surrendered. Lauro was represented by the Legal Aid Society of Suffolk County for both cases.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Brooke Salvatore of BEAST, with investigative assistance from Suffolk County Police Department BEAST Detective Joanna Westrack.
An ostensible Sinai-based armed group calling itself Kitaib al-Farouq (KF) has recently released a statement asserting its intention to carry out offensive operations against Israel as a response to the ongoing war in Gaza.

The statement published by KF notes the war in Gaza and the number of Palestinian casualties as the reason for the formation of the new organization. The speaker urges Arabs, Muslims, and others to take up arms and fight Israel due to the injustice that is occurring in Gaza. The group goes on to threaten attacks on the border area of southern Israel, including Eilat.

Since the Oct. 7 Hamas-led terrorist attacks, there have not been any reported assaults by Egyptian insurgents against southern Israel due to the war. However, on Jan. 15, gunmen injured an IDF soldier following an attempt to cross into Israel from Egypt. Though Egyptian officials said that the incident was related to drug smuggling.

By all indications, KH appears to be a newly formed group that does not have any apparent associations with well-known terrorist groups such as the Islamic State, al-Qaeda, or Palestinian armed factions. Additionally, the presence of Muhammed Salahs image hanging in the background suggests that the members of this group are most likely a local Egyptian cell.

Nevertheless, it is unlikely that this seemingly emerging organization poses a direct threat to Israels southern border with Egypt. However, it is noteworthy to acknowledge that the conflict in Gaza has stirred up fervent calls among jihadist groups urging violence against Israel and Jewish targets worldwide.

Joe Truzman is a senior research analyst at FDD's Long War Journal focused primarily on Palestinian armed groups and non-state actors in the Middle East.
Images of hostages held in Gaza at Israels Ben-Gurion International Airport on January 17, 2024. (Seth J. Frantzman)

On January 18, Kfir Bibas turned one year old while in captivity, a reminder of the 136 men, women, and children still being held hostage in Gaza. Hamas originally took 240 hostages during its October 7 attack on Israel, but more than 100 have been freed as a result of the November deal. Since then, there have been no additional hostage deals. As the war proceeds, Israel continues to state that bringing these hostages home remains a top priority. It is also investigating the reported deaths of multiple hostages in recent weeks.

Reports on January 18 indicated that medicine for certain hostages had arrived at the Gaza border as part of a larger package of medical supplies for Gazans. However, there was confusion as to whether the trucks entering Gaza could be searched and how exactly the medicine could verifiably be delivered to the hostages. Meanwhile in Israel, family members of hostages have continued to speak out. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres met several of the recently freed hostages on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos.

Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said on January 17 that we are making every effort to produce intelligence about the hostages and adjust the operational activity according to the intelligence available to us. It must be said to the public  there is no complete picture of the hostages. We are in a continuous intelligence effort to complete this picture, to build it, to achieve it all the time. His comments illustrate how, even after 100 days of fighting in Gaza, the issue of the hostages continues to be a complex challenge for the IDF.

The IDF is rotating forces in Gaza, after many reservists have now seen three months of training and fighting. Many of them have not been home for the entire three-month period, creating economic challenges for Israel as more than 300,000 jobs are vacant after Israelis were called up for military service.

In Gaza, the IDF continues to dismantle terrorist infrastructure. The focus has partially shifted to an area in central Gaza. In addition in Khan Yunis, heavy fighting continued this week. The IDF said that over 40 terrorists were killed between January 17 and 18. Israel also revealed that the Givati infantry brigade is now fighting in the southernmost area that IDF ground troops have operated in so far. The soldiers eliminated dozens of terrorists in close-quarters combat and with the assistance of tank fire and air support. This area is in Khan Yunis. Givati infantry, one of several Israeli infantry brigades, had been operating there since late December. They are bolstering paratroopers, commandos and elements of an armored brigade that are in Khan Yunis, as well. The southern area has been a tough battle since the IDF entered the area in a rapid maneuver in early December. It is the home town of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.

A major focus in Gaza continues to be the dismantling of terrorist infrastructure. The IDF said on January 18 that soldiers from the elite Yahalom combat engineers and the Shaldag unit exposed and destroyed the heart of Hamas weapons manufacturing industry near the Salah Al-Din Road in the Gaza Strip. The area consists of weapons factories and lathes, both above and below ground, that were used to produce ammunition and weapons for Hamas operatives. The IDF did not say when the site was exposed or how long it took to dismantle it. It was one of a number of terrorist infrastructure sites the IDF mentioned on January 18. In addition, the IDF provided new details on its estimate of the total number of rockets launched near schools in Gaza. The total number is estimated to be 370, and the Israeli military provided an infographic and footage related to the claims.

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.
Heres a recap of recent funding developments from Australia, India, the US and beyond.

Prota Therapeutics Secures $32 Million in Series A1 Funding

Melbourne-based biotech startup Prota Therapeutics has successfully raised $32 million (US$21 million) in a Series A1 funding round in preparation for its Phase 3 clinical trial on an oral therapy for peanut allergy treatment. The funding, a blend of equity and debt financing, was spearheaded by SPRIM Global Investments (SGI), a Singapore-based firm. OneVentures, an early supporter of Prota Therapeutics and a major shareholder through the OneVentures Healthcare Fund III, also participated in the round.

Claxon Founder Launches One03 Ventures, a VC and Growth Advisory Firm

Daniel Willis, the chairman and CEO of advertising agency Claxon, has unveiled One03 Ventures, a new venture capital and growth advisory firm aimed at assisting startups in their transition to scale-up. The firm will specialize in providing venture capital and growth advisory services to Australian businesses and brands with annual revenues ranging from $2.5 million to $25 million.

National Renewable Network (NRN) Secures $13.5 Million for Solar and Battery Solutions

The National Renewable Network (NRN) has secured $13.5 million in funding to make solar and battery solutions accessible to all Australians. NRN has obtained a significant funding facility of up to $10 million and formed a partnership with Catalytic Impact Capital, a renowned Australian impact-focused private credit institution. This $10 million is in addition to the $3.5 million raised by the company since its inception.

Element Zero Secures $10 Million in Seed Funding

Australia-based green materials platform company, Element Zero, has successfully raised $10 million in seed funding, as announced on Wednesday. The funding round was led by Playground Global, an early-stage venture capital firm based in the United States.

Sakana AI Raises $30 Million in Seed Funding

Sakana.ai, founded by former Google researchers David Ha and Llion Jones, is establishing a cutting-edge research lab in Tokyo to develop smaller and more efficient foundation models. Known for breakthroughs such as Transformers, World Models, and LoRA, Sakana AI has raised $30 million in seed funding from Lux Capitals Brandon Reeves and Khosla Ventures Jon Chu. The funding will propel the companys efforts to pioneer advancements in artificial intelligence and establish Tokyo as a significant player in the AI landscape.

Keep up to date with our stories on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
Manchester, VT (05254)

Today

Flurries and a few snow showers throughout the day. Temps nearly steady in the mid to upper 30s. Winds W at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of snow 30%..

Tonight

Variably cloudy with snow showers. Low 27F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of snow 50%. Snow accumulations less than one inch.
A new fast-casual pasta concept has debuted at one of Bostons food halls, giving guests a chance to order fresh pasta in a matter of minutes.

Makaroni Pastaria, which opened earlier in January at High Street Place in Boston, specializes in made-to-order pasta. Guests can choose from one of eight dishes that are started right after they order them.

Makaroni Pastatria offers fresh take on classic Italian dishes, but with a twist. There is Bolognese Linguine that is made with beef and veal, and Italian Sausage Orecchiette made with fresh broccoli rabe.

Fancier options include the Spicy Seafood Tagliatelle that is served with calamari, clams, white anchovies, cured olives and capers in a spicy tomato broth, and Burrata Truffle Ravioli served with Pomodoro and olive oil.

Makaroni Pastaria is a heartfelt endeavor to share the authentic taste of Italy with a broader audience, said Chef Nina Festekjian, who oversees the stand as well as other High Street concepts Humoveh and Kutzu.

Festekjian and General Manager Aleks Bakhrakh thought High Street was the perfect place to introduce the concept to workers, travelers and food enthusiasts in the city who are looking for a fast-casual pasta option.

High Street Places diverse and dynamic dining scene, along with its engaged and welcoming community, make it the perfect destination for our vision of relaxed Italian excellence, Festekjian said in a press release.

Were thrilled to bring our passion for Italian cuisine to High Street Place, where every dish reflects our commitment to quality, flavor, and the joy of sharing food, she continued.

Makaroni opens at 11 a.m. daily and closes at 8 p.m. Monday through Wednesday and at 10 p.m. Thursday through Saturday. The stand is closed on Sunday. High Street Place is located at 100 High St. in Boston.

More information about Makaroni Pastaria can be found on High Street Places website.
Hungary PM to help speed up EU-Vietnam investment pact

Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and his Hungarian counterpart Viktor Orban shake hands in Budapest, Hungary on Jan. 18, 2023. Photo by Nhat Bac

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who will become president of the European Council later this year, has promised to push for a key EU investment agreement with Vietnam.

He was meeting with the visiting Vietnamese PM, Pham Minh Chinh, in Budapest on Thursday.

The European Union-Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement, which will replace bilateral investment agreements between Vietnam and 21 EU countries, has to be ratified by the EU and the parliaments of each member country.

Hungary became the first member to approve it, and also actively helped the two sides sign the landmark EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement in 2019.

Chinh called on Hungary to create favorable conditions for more Vietnamese goods to enter its market, especially agricultural, forestry and seafood items.

Vietnam is willing to act as a gateway for Hungarian products to Southeast Asia, he said.

Orban said his country welcomes investment by Vietnamese businesses in the information technology and auto industries.

Chinh arrived in Budapest at noon Thursday for a three-day visit after attending the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. His official visit to Hungary will end on Saturda

Vietnam and Hungary have a history of cooperation for more than 70 years.

In 2018 they upgraded their relationship to Comprehensive Partnership.

In Southeast Asia, Vietnam is the only country with major exports to Hungary, which reached US$1 billion in 2020 and has remained there since.

Hungary has invested $50.66 million in 15 projects to rank 55th out of 105 countries and territories investing in Vietnam.
Concert season is slowly approaching and there are a handful of country superstars performing in Massachusetts.

Weve compiled a list of all the best country shows coming to Massachusetts and where to buy tickets. Big names like Kane Brown, Kenny Chesney and Zach Bryan will be returning to venues like Gillette Stadium and Fenway Park.

Morgan Wallen had to postpone his tour at the beginning of May of 2023 after doctors at the Vanderbilt Voice Center in Nashville diagnosed him with vocal fold trauma and told him to go on vocal rest. This came two weeks after he canceled his performance in Mississippi just moments before he was set to take the stage. He has set his rescheduled tour dates for this year and fans can still purchase tickets to those shows.

Fans can shop for the best tickets by using reliable resale ticket vendors like StubHub and VividSeats. Check out the list below for all the best country music concerts coming to Massachusetts in 2024:
A Boston judge will hear arguments Friday afternoon, Jan. 19, to decide whether to dismiss the infamous Harvard University morgue scandal, The Boston Globe reported.

Harvard attorneys argue they are immune from liability under Massachusetts anatomical gift law, which states that an individual may arrange for the donation of their remains by executing the Instrument of Anatomical Gift.

Essentially, the university is calling for immunity because it was not the one actually trafficking the body parts.

The master is ultimately responsible for the sins of the servant, Douglas Snook, a lawyer who represents relatives of four people who donated their bodies to Harvard, told the Globe.

Of course Harvard didnt hire [Lodge] to sell body parts, but they were in charge of vetting him and overseeing him on a continuing basis, he continued. They didnt know that it wasnt going on for years?

Harvard Medical Schools former morgue manager Cedric Lodge, 55, is accused of stealing dissected portions of cadavers that were donated to the school, such as heads, brains, skin, bones and more, according to court documents. He then took them to his home in New Hampshire, officials claim.

Using social media, Lodge and his wife, Denise Lodge, sold the stolen body parts, according to an indictment that was filed in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania on June 14, 2023.

Read More: Report recommends Harvard morgue improve oversight following body part scandal

A report released by Harvard in December reviewed the policies and procedures at Harvard Medical Schools morgue and recommended changes including a new oversight structure and an overhaul of its records-keeping and cadaver-tracking systems.

The report didnt accuse Harvard Medical School of any wrongdoing, but its recommendations imply that the schools morgue lacked formal documentation and procedures, and that the morgues three-person staff was subject to little oversight.

Read more: Harvard Medical School morgue manager indicted in connection with stealing body parts

In the report, the three-person expert panel recommended that the morgue improve and broaden its record-keeping and cadaver-tracking systems, and that the university establish an operational committee and governing board to increase oversight of the morgue. It also suggested the school require ethics training for morgue employees and stringent employee screening, including background checks.

According to Harvards website, it has already implemented many of the proposed recommendations. In a public letter from Dec. 7, 2023. the university said it has appointed a task force to review the panels suggestions and develop an implementation plan.

Read more: Harvard Medical School speaks out on body parts stolen from morgue, sold

We take our responsibility for oversight of the Anatomical Gift Program seriously. We owe it to our community, and especially to our anatomical donors and their loved ones, to ensure that Harvard is worthy of those who, through selfless generosity, have chosen and will in the future choose to advance medical education and research, the letter reads.

The revelation that donors bodies had been mishandled devastated their families, leading several to sue Harvard Medical School. One lawsuit detailed how several donors had hoped that donating their bodies for medical and scientific research would help save lives. It said the families trusted Harvard to treat their loved ones remains with respect because of its prestigious reputation.

Read more: From heads to brains and bones: What we know about body parts stolen from Harvard morgue

However, to their absolute shock and horror, the families who placed this deep trust in Defendants have learned that, instead of caring properly for and protecting the remains entrusted to them, Defendants abandoned them in a facility that was a place of freakish desecration, where, according to the indictments, criminals were allowed to roam and pick over loved ones remains for bits like trinkets at a flea market, the lawsuit reads.

According to Harvards website, Lodge worked at the morgue from February 1995 to May 2023 when he was fired. No other Harvard employees have been charged in connection with the case.

Harvard Medical Schools Anatomical Gift Program was paused after the accusations against Lodge were revealed. According to the schools website, it began accepting donations again last November.
The death of a man who was killed while working at a Brockton hospital construction site was caused by inadequate safety measures set forth by his employer, according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

OSHA found that LMA Services Company LLC, a general contractor based in Stoughton, could have prevented the death of Roger Porter, 63, of East Sandwich if it had followed proper safety precautions.

In a press release sent to MassLive Friday, OSHA said that the contractor failed to adequately protect its employees. It went on to say that the company should have followed required safety regulations and trained workers on the safe operation of heavy equipment at a Brockton work site.

LMA Services Company LLC now faces $142,000 in penalties, according to the release.

Read More: Boy rushed to hospital after hit by truck leaving parking garage in Malden

Porter died after he was pinned under a Bobcat Skid Steer loader at the construction site at Signature Healthcare Brockton Hospital on June 13, 2023, Plymouth County District Attorney Tim Cruzs office said in a statement.

First responders found him in an 8-foot-deep foundation trench while trapped under the loader, which had fallen on him. Porter died at the site, Cruzs office said.

Read More: Third man convicted in 2021 fatal stabbing of Boston man protecting girlfriend

OSHA investigators found that the loaders bucket was elevated and being used to load and unload crushed stone on uneven ground as Porter was working in the trench, the release read.

OSHA later served subpoenas for documents and for managers from LMA Services Company to testify, but the company was unable to respond to OSHAs request within the mandated four hours, according to the agency.

The citation noted that the company could have protected its employees, and prevented Porters death, by training them to follow the manufacturers safety warnings, being aware of hazards in the work area and establishing a site-specific safety plan, OSHA continued.

OSHA also issued another citation to the LMA Services Company for its failure to provide the requested OSHA logs within the required time period.
A California man is going to prison over a year after he pled guilty to embezzling over $1.2 million from his Massachusetts employer for almost two decades, Acting United States Attorney Joshua Levys office announced Thursday.

Darrell Pike, 57, of Hesperia, Calif., was sentenced to three months in prison followed by three years of supervised release, with the first nine months consisting of home confinement, Levys office said in a statement. In addition, U.S. District Court Judge Myong Joun ordered Pike to pay restitution and forfeiture of $1,232,001.

Read more: Taunton woman bribed RMV test examiner for a license going to prison

Pike worked as the general manager of a subsidiary, based in Ontario, Calif., of a supply and service company located in Wilmington. Between 2005 and 2021, Pike turned in fraudulent invoices to the company on behalf of a fake temporary staffing company called Consumer Information Systems, Levys office said.

He added approving initials of company personnel to the invoices without his employers knowledge or consent, Levys office added. Through these invoices, Pike caused the company to pay approximately $1,271,206 to Consumer Information Systems, which were then deposited into a bank account he controlled.

In October 2022, Pike pleaded guilty to one count of mail fraud.
A child sustained a head injury after he was hit by a truck that was exiting a parking garage in Malden on Wednesday, according to the Malden Police Department.

The mother and child were walking north on Summer Street when the boy was hit by a truck leaving the Mountain Ave. Garage at 81 Summer St. just after 7 p.m. on Jan. 17, according to a police report sent to MassLive Friday.

When officers arrived at the scene, the boy had a large head laceration to the right side of his head, the report read. He was brought to an area hospital for treatment, according to police. The boys mother was not hurt.

Read More: Third man convicted in 2021 fatal stabbing of Boston man protecting girlfriend

The report indicated that the driver of the vehicle was pulling out of the parking garage when he struck the boy. The report said the driver looked both ways, and did not observed any vehicles or persons walking by.

After realizing that he hit something, the driver pulled over to the side of the road. The driver said his truck belonged to his company and that he was doing work inside the garage prior to the incident.

A witness who was walking by told police they heard screams, but did not see the truck hit the child, according to the report. No other witnesses were said to have come forward.

While at the hospital, the mother told officers that her and her son were walking past the garage exit and saw the truck pulling out. She thought the driver saw her and her son, the report said.

The mother tried pulling her son out of the way, but it was too late. She told police that the trucks tire went over her sons head. The boy was conscious and alert before be was brought to the hospital. His injuries did not appear to be life-threatening, according to the report.

The childs name, as well as the name of the driver, were not released. Police did not say if any charges have, or will, be filed.
February is going to be a shuttle bus kind of month for the tens of thousands of strap-hangers who use the MBTAs subway and commuter rail services to get around Greater Boston.

On Friday, the public transit agency announced a slew of repair work and service interruptions for its Red, Orange, and Green lines, along with the Fitchburg and Lowell commuter rail lines.

The Red Line will go first on Feb. 5, with work on the other subway and commuter rail lines continuing throughout the month, the agency said in a statement. The newly announced work, which is intended to improve service reliability across the system, comes on top of repair work that started earlier this month.

The MBTA apologizes for the inconvenience of these scheduled service changes and appreciates the understanding and patience of riders as this critical and necessary work to maintain, upgrade, and modernize the system takes place, the agency said in its statement.

Heres a breakdown of where the work is happening, when it will start, and your commuting alternatives.

On the Red Line:

As the agency had previously announced, service on the Red Line will be suspended between Alewife and Harvard stations all day from start to end of service for 10 days from Feb. 5-14.

Beginning at approximately 8:45 p.m. through the end of service every day during the same period from Feb. 5-14, this Red Line service suspension will be extended to Park Street. That means that evening service will be suspended between Alewife and Park Street, the agency said in its statement.

Free shuttle bus service will make all the stops between those stations. You can find more information here.

Free commuter rail service will run between Porter Square and North Station. Riders will be on the hook for regular fares beyond Porter Square, the agency said in its statement. Riders should also plan for longer wait times.

Red Line service also will be suspended between the Harvard and Broadway stations all day from start to end of service during the weekend of Feb. 24-25, according to the MBTA. Shuttle buses will make all stops between the Harvard and Broadway stations, the agency said,

There also will be free fares at Harvard and Broadway stations with the fare gates open.

The Commuter Rail will be fare-free between Porter Square and North Station. Once again, regular fares should be purchased beyond Porter Square.

This service change is in place to allow crews to perform necessary inspections of Red Line tunnel infrastructure, according to the MBTA. Crews will also maximize the unencumbered access to the work area by performing power and signal work along the Red Line in the work area as well as station amenity upgrades like new lighting, painting, tiling, and power washing.

On the Orange Line:

Orange Line service will be suspended between Forest Hills and Ruggles stations all day from start to end of service during the weekend of Feb. 17-18. Free shuttle buses will make all stops between those stations, the agency said.

The Commuter Rail will be free between Forest Hills, Ruggles, Back Bay, and South Station, but riders will have to pay for stops beyond Forest Hills.

This service change is in place for crews to perform critical signal improvement work, the MBTA said in its statement.

On the Green Line:

As the agency has previously announced, Green Line service on the B branch between Copley and Babcock Street, on the C branch between Copley and Cleveland Circle, and the D branch between Copley and Brookline Hills will be suspended all day from start to end of service for 18 days from Feb. 20 through March 8, according to the MBTA. You can find more information here.

Heres a more detailed breakdown:

B Branch: The MBTA said it will run free shuttle buses between Babcock Street and Copley stations. Outbound B branch riders wont be charged a fare at Babcock Street. There also will be free fares at Copley Station, with the fare gates open. Riders can also hop on free Route 57 bus service for travel between Kenmore and Babcock Street.

C Branch: Free shuttle buses will make stops between the Cleveland Circle and Copley stations. There will be free fares at Copley Station, with the fare gates open.

D Branch: Free shuttle buses will run between the Brookline Hills and Copley stations. Outbound D branch riders wont be charged a fare at Brookline Hills. There also will be free fares at Copley Station.

The Commuter Rail will be free between South Station, Back Bay, and Lansdowne stations during this Green Line service change. But riders will be on the hook for regular fares beyond Lansdowne, according to the MBTA.

On the Fitchburg Commuter Rail Line:

Fitchburg Commuter Rail Line service will be suspended between Littleton/Route 495 and Alewife stations from start to end of service during the weekend of Feb. 3-4, according to the MBTA.

A dedicated diversion schedule will be in effect and available on mbta.com soon.

Free shuttle buses will replace service between Littleton/Route 495 and Alewife. Local shuttle buses will make all stops between Littleton/Route 495 and Alewife. Express shuttle buses will also make stops at Littleton/Route 495 and South Acton, and will then operate express to Alewife, the MBTA said.

There will be no service at Kendal Green. Strap-hangers are being encouraged to local bus routes at Brandeis/Roberts. Passengers also will be asked to purchase a regular subway fare and/or a Commuter Rail interzone fare, the agency said.

This service change allows crews to perform Automatic Train Control (ATC) work. ATC is a federally mandated safety system that sends signals to trains about potentially unsafe conditions, automatically slowing and stopping a train if needed, the agency said in its statement.

On the Lowell Commuter Rail Line:

Lowell Commuter Rail Line service will be suspended between Lowell and North Station from the start to end of service during the weekend of Feb. 10-11. Free shuttle buses will run between Lowell and North Station. A dedicated diversion schedule will be in effect and available on mbta.com soon.

This service change allows crews to perform Automatic Train Control (ATC) work. ATC is a federally mandated safety system that sends signals to trains about potentially unsafe conditions, automatically slowing and stopping a train if needed, the agency said.

Know More:

Riders can also find more information on service changes through in-station signs, in-station public announcements, and at mbta.com/alerts.

Transit Ambassadors and MBTA staff will be available on-site to offer information and assistance during these service changes, the MBTA said in its statement. Riders are further being encouraged to subscribe to T-Alerts or to follow the MBTA on X (the site formerly known as Twitter) @MBTA, @MBTA_CR, and @MBTA_CR_Alerts for up-to-date service information.

If you want to learn more, the agency will hold an in-person open house on Thursday, Jan. 25, at Cristo Rey Boston High School in Dorchester from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
A hiker with extensive experience traversing the White Mountains of New Hampshire died this week when he was caught in an intense snowstorm near a mountain summit, state authorities said.

Christopher Roma, of Thornton, N.H., was killed Tuesday in the area of Mount Bond and Mount Guyot, in the remote Pemigewasset Wilderness, the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department said in a statement. He was 37.
An American Airlines flight attendant was arrested and changed with secretly attempting to record a girl using an airplane bathroom during a Boston-bound flight, according to U.S. Attorney Joshua S. Levys office.

Estes Carter Thompson III, 37, of Charlotte, N.C., was charged with attempted sexual exploitation of children and possession of child pornography depicting a prepubescent minor.

Levys office added that Thompson is alleged to have had recordings of four other girls using bathrooms on a plane he had previously worked on.

Read more: Third man convicted in 2021 fatal stabbing of Boston man protecting girlfriend

What Mr. Thompson is accused of doing is disgraceful, and we believe, calculated, given that this alleged conduct occurred on at least five flights, said Jodi Cohen, special agent in charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division. This case should make it crystal clear that the FBI takes crimes aboard aircraft and the sexual exploitation of children seriously. If youve been the victim of a crime aboard an aircraft or have witnessed one take place, we ask you to report it to both your flight crew and the FBI.

The incident took place on a flight from Charlotte to Boston on Sept. 2, 2023, according to Levys office.

Thompson approached a 14-year-old girl as she waited for the bathroom, telling her that the first-class bathroom was unoccupied and taking her there, according to Levys office.

Thompson then told her he needed to wash his hands before she used the bathroom, and that the bathrooms toilet seat was broken.

When the teen entered the bathroom, she saw red stickers on the bottom of the toilet seat lid in the open position that were securing an iPhone to the seat lid that was recording video, Levys office said.

The girl used her own phone to take a picture of the phone. Thompson re-entered the bathroom immediately after the girl left, Levys office said.

In this photo provided by the law firm Lewis & Llewellyn LLP, an iPhone is taped to the back of a toilet seat on an American Airlines flight from Charlotte, N.C., to Boston, Sept. 2, 2023. (Lewis & Llewellyn LLP via AP, File)AP

The girl told her parents what she had seen, who told other airline crew, who in turn notified police. Police at Boston Logan Airport found that Thompsons phone was restored to factory settings , but in a search of his suitcase, 11 similar stickers to the ones securing the iPhone to the seat were discovered, Levys office said.

A search of Thompsons iCloud account revealed four additional instances between January and August 2023 in which he recorded a minor using an airplane bathroom, Levys office said. Their ages were 7, 9, 11 and 14, according to Levys office.

There were also 50 images of a 9-year-old unaccompanied minor including close-up photos of her face while she was sleeping, Levys office said.

The charge of attempted sexual exploitation of children carries a sentence of between 15 and 30 years in prison, while the charge of possession of child pornography carries a sentence of between 5 and 20 years. Both charges also can have up to a lifetime of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000.

Thompson is being held in Lynchburg, Virginia, where he was arrested. He will appear in federal court in Boston at a later date.
The Chelsea man at the center of a 2015 cold case that started with a shooting and ended with a Malden mother dead appeared in court on Thursday, WCVB reported.

Henry J.R. Del Rio, 27, was ordered held without bail on a first-degree murder charge in connection with the shooting of Ashlee Berryman following a concert in August 2015, the new station wrote. A grand jury indicted him on Friday, Jan. 12.

Read more: Norfolk DA under federal investigation due to Karen Read murder case

On Jan. 12, Middlesex County District Attorney Marian Ryan announced that a persistent investigation by her offices Cold Case Homicide Unit looked further into the details of the case. This eventually led to Del Rios arrest.

Berryman, 21, was at the restaurant to see her boyfriend, who performed at a concert. Concert-goers went outside to meet in the parking lot. Del Rio and another man were in the parking lot to meet with two men. Del Rio and the man he was with are associated with the Eastside Money gang in Chelsea, Ryan said.

At around 12:50 a.m., Del Rios associate and one of the men got into an intense argument. After they split up, Del Rio fired nine times from a .40 caliber semi-automatic pistol toward the two men as they ran off, Ryan said. Bullets struck parked cars, business windows and a local sign, but one hit Berryman in the back, leading to her death.

In court on Thursday, Berrymans family, including her now 11-year-old son, spoke out, according to WCVB.

She was a wonderful person, said Nico Guerrero, Berrymans sons father. Always smiling, very happy, supportive in every way. (She) didnt like violence, always wanted to stop violence.

Berrymans sons grandmother, Lenneice Jordan, said Berryman was loving, outgoing never mad or angry.

Read more: Rhode Island man going to prison for 2021 stabbing in Fall River

Justice wont be served until this man is behind bars serving the rest of his life in jail, Jami Monahan, Berrymans cousin and her sons godmother, told WCVB.
The Senate passed legislation to prohibit cat declawing and similar procedures, saying it can cause a variety of long-term problems in the animals.

The bill, which was proposed by Sen. Mark Montigny, D-2nd Bristol/Plymouth, and co-sponsored by Sen. Adam Gomez, D-Hampden, was passed unanimously. It will now be sent to the House of Representatives for approval.

Co-sponsoring this bill was a no-brainer as it reaffirms the legislatures responsibility to curb animal abuse across Massachusetts while ending this inhumane practice, Gomez said. Each of the advocates who dedicated their time to this initiative played as much of a role in this victory as my Senate colleagues did, so I am grateful to all of them for their commitment.

The bill continues to allow declawing in cases of medical necessity, but in most cases, the procedure is requested by pet owners to prevent a cat from damaging furniture. The legislation should help veterinarians because they will no longer have to weigh the choice of saying no when they know they dont provide the procedure an owner is likely to just look for someone who will, officials said.
Melvin Heng, CEO of Thomson Medical Group, speaks at an event Jan. 17, 2024. Photo courtesy of the group

Thomson Medical Group, which has recently bought FV Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City for VND9 trillion ($381 million), plans to make Vietnam a gateway to other Southeast Asian markets.

The purchase, which marks the biggest deal in the history of Vietnams healthcare sector, helps the Singaporean company access Vietnams developing market and its abundant resources of talent, Thomson Medical Group executive vice chairman Kiat Lim said at an event Thursday morning.

CEO of the firm Melvin Heng, who directly examined 20 hospitals before deciding to buy FV Hospital, said that Vietnams healthcare market was very diverse with a big gap in quality between facilities.

The gap, however, will narrow gradually and there will be increasing demand for high quality services, he said.

By purchasing FV Hospital, Thomson Medical Group is now present in the three most important locations in Southeast Asia (according to its criteria): Singapore, Malaysia and Vietnam.

It now eyes making Vietnam the gateway to reach Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar.

The staff of the FV Hospital will be kept the same, including Dr Jean-Marcel Guillon, the founder of the hospital, who has been training doctors and staff for the last two decades.

FV Hospital is the first wholly funded foreign hospital in Vietnam, which began operation in November 2003. It has 36 departments and over 200 hospitals.

It has 1,500 staff with 236 Vietnamese and foreign doctors.

The hospital, along with its additional facilities in HCMC, Hanoi and Da Nang City, serves 250,000 patients annually, with 25% among them foreigners who live in Vietnam.

The hospital posted a revenue of VND1.9 trillion in 2022, up 26% from 2021. Its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization rose 44% to VND450 billion.

Thomson Medical Group was established in 1979 and is among the biggest private healthcare groups for women and children in Singapore.
A Taunton woman was sentenced to prison on Wednesday after she pled guilty of bribing a Registry of Motor Vehicles test examiner for a drivers license, Acting United States Attorney Joshua Levys office announced Thursday.

Neta Centio, 56, pled guilty on Aug. 21 to one count of conspiracy to commit honest services mail fraud, Levys office said in a statement. U.S. District Court Judge Leo T. Sorokin sentenced her to 15 months in prison, one year of supervised release, a fine of $10,000 and forfeiture of $19,305.

She paid the RMV road test examiner at the Brockton RMV service center to say that certain drivers license applicants had passed their road tests when they did not even show up at all, Levys office said. Thus, the RMV mailed drivers licenses to the unqualified applicants.

Centio paid the examiner using CashApp in exchange for fake passing scores on road tests, which paid for over 40 individual bribes to the examiner.

Dont say nothing about the CashApp... Break the phone, Centio told the examiner after the fraud attempts were uncovered.
SPRINGFIELD  A sushi bar, a Thunderbirds-themed restaurant and a boutique hotel. Those are ideas that didnt advance for the high-stakes transformation of a trio of city-owned South End buildings near the MGM Springfield casino, according to proposals The Republican obtained in a public records request.

The city and Springfield Redevelopment Authority went looking for developers for the Clock Tower building, 113-117 State St., the neighboring Colonial Block at 1139-1155 Main St. and 11-21 Stockbridge St. In September, they announced a Chicago company, McCaffery Interests Inc., will develop the properties into apartments and retail space in a project expected to cost $68 million.
A third man has been charged with the fatal stabbing of a 34-year-old Boston man who died while protecting his girlfriend in 2021, Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden said Thursday, Jan. 18.

Dravon Robison, 39, of Everett, was convicted of involuntary manslaughter under the theory of wanton and reckless conduct for his role in the death of Ricardo Garcia in August 2021, a release from Haydens office said.

Robins cousin, Karonn Brown, 51, was convicted of first-degree murder in November 2023, the release stated. Meanwhile Browns son, Derrell Sanford, 29, pleaded guilty to manslaughter earlier this month.

On Aug. 8, 2021, the three men were driving in Roxbury and approaching women in the area, according to a previous news release from Haydens office. They went up to Garcias girlfriend, left their car, and confronted her.

Read More: Norfolk DA denies being told he is target of federal investigation

Garcia ran over to defend his girlfriend and the three men beat and stabbed Garcia to death, according to the district attorneys office. Video surveillance captured a majority of the incident.

Robinson was the driver of the car during the incident and participated in the attack, the office said. Sanford also participated in the beating and stabbing of Garcia.

There were three men involved here and not one of them chose to de-escalate the situation, Hayden said. Im grateful for all who worked to hold each of them accountable for this shocking attack. I can only hope these convictions will bring some sense of justice to Mr. Garcias family.

Sentencing for both Robinson and Sanford is scheduled for Monday, Feb. 5 at 9:30 a.m. in Suffolk Superior Court.
An investigation is underway after a woman was struck by a vehicle in Revere on Friday, leading to her death, Massachusetts State Police confirmed with MassLive.

The woman was hit on Oak Island Street just before noon, State Police said. She was taken to Whidden Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

The vehicle that hit her was a Toyota Highlander, WCVB-TV reported. State Police told MassLive that the driver remained at the site of the crash.

It was unclear if the driver would face any charges following the crash.

State Police did not release the woman and the drivers names.
Three months after Gov. Maura Healey filed a massive, $4.12 billion housing bond bill which would provide funding for numerous programs to address the housing crisis in Massachusetts, the governor is pushing for legislative approval.

In a hearing before the Joint Committee on Housing Thursday, Healey testified before legislators and a packed auditorium of supporters about the impact the bill would have on easing the burden of high housing costs across the commonwealth.
A state senator found a way to deliver on his offer last year to pay for Worcester students to visit Old Sturbridge Village, after the citys school committee essentially banned annual field trips there in response to a conflict with the museums proposal to open a charter school in Worcester.

Months after he said he would cover students and families admission to the living museum, state Sen. Ryan Fattman, R-Worcester and Hampden County, and state Rep. Todd Smola, 1st Hampden District, presented a $15,000 check in December to Old Sturbridge Village to help schools afford the cost of a visit and encourage new visits, according to a statement issued Tuesday.

Fattmans budgetary efforts came after Worcester school field trips to Old Sturbridge Village were, themselves, seemingly history.

The Board of Elementary and Secondary Educations approval of Worcester Cultural Academy Charter Public School in February 2023 stirred controversy, with critics suggesting there were conflicts of interest, that the school would take money away from the district and amass revenue for Old Sturbridge Village, with which it is affiliated, while also not being able to live up to promises it made to serve English language learners and students with disabilities.

Jim Donahue, Worcester Cultural Academys founding executive director, is also CEO of Old Sturbridge Village, and executive director of Old Sturbridge Academy Charter Public School, which serves as a model for the Worcester school, according to its website.

At odds with the museum, the Worcester School Committee last April, at the urging of former School Committee member Tracy OConnell Novick, essentially banned field trips to Old Sturbridge Village  at least for the 2023-24 school year  in a motion passed unanimously that asked for alternative spring field trip locations for the districts annual Culture Learning through Education & Partnerships program.

Museum educators Taylor Ewald and Aibhlin Hannigan teach a "young artists" group about drawing and painting during the Discovery Adventures programs at Old Sturbridge Village on Thursday, July 22, 2021. (Hoang Leon Nguyen / The Republican)

Donahue told the Boston Globe in April that while the museums $15 million budget would not be hurt by the School Committees decision, students would be greatly affected.

It is a shame that students would miss out on learning about local history and culture in the name of politics and students being used as political pawns, Donahue said in a statement obtained by MassLive at the time. Worcester students would be the ones to bear the brunt of a boycott.

Fattman stepped in days after the April decision, saying in a statement, Should Worcester children be denied the opportunity to experience OSV by their elected leaders ... I will ensure your complimentary admission to the village for you and your child, whether that be through the state budget process or the wonderful philanthropic efforts of the people in our area.

It was not clear last spring how that would be accomplished, although Fattman told MassLive then it would likely be through a budget earmark.

According to Fattman in the Jan. 16 Old Sturbridge Village press release, the $15,000 that will cover Worcester County students admission came from the states 2024 budget.

This is the first time Senator Fattman has acquired a budget earmark for Old Sturbridge Village, the museum said in the release.

Read more: Old Sturbridge Village CEO accuses Worcester officials of using students as political pawns

Despite the intention to stop going to Old Sturbridge Village, it appears Worcester students are still shuffling along the dirt paths, poking around the circa-1800s buildings and watching crafts people make pots and other wares of the time.

Worcester Public School field trips to Old Sturbridge Village continue, with several booked already for this spring, museum spokesperson Christine Freitas told MassLive.

A Worcester Public Schools spokesperson told MassLive on Thursday that in June, two School Committee motions focused on finding alternative field trip locations were passed and went to the district for review.

An exterior shot of the Salem Towne House, the crown jewel of Old Sturbridge Villages town common.

The money from Fattmans grant will go toward Worcester Days at the museum on March 13 and 15, Freitas said.

Kids from Worcester public schools come on a $14,000 grant from the district and we are using the donation to offset the remaining costs, she continued.

On the days when Worcester Public School students are at the museum, they will have exclusive access to field trips with exclusive Worcester-related programming, Freitas said.

Read more: Worcester Cultural Academy to split classrooms between two diocese sites

There are a number of gems within my district and there is no doubt that Old Sturbridge Village is one of those, Fattman said in the museums statement. Allowing students to visit and experience OSV is critical to their understanding of the history of our area. This funding through the state budget will provide students in the greater area the ability to see history come alive.
AND so, the white flag has been raised for two referendums to change the constitution, to be held in March. And already, the battle lines are being drawn for a campaign that, predictably, will see facts and truth stretched to their limits, and all kinds of red herring being served up on the national dinner plate.

In summary, the first referendum proposes that the old definition of family, based on marriage, will be extended to include those based on other durable relationships. The other referendum will remove reference to a womans life in the home with the addition of a new article on the provision of care by members of a family to each other.

Tampering with the constitution is an exercise usually embarked on with trepidation by the government of the day, for two good reasons.

The first is the tendency of the electorate to use a referendum vote to give the administration a knuckle rap, a coded message to those in power that, whatever about the merits of the proposal, we dont like the way the country is being run.

The second, more serious reason, is that referendums tend to be voted down because, for diametrically opposed reasons, they fail to satisfy the demands of both supporters and opponents. Those who support the intent of the proposal tend to vote for its rejection because it fails to go far enough; those at the other end of the ideology spectrum vote against because they never agreed with the proposal from day one.

It is the latter fear that, as of now, is engaging the attention of those most eagerly promoting the constitutional changes.

Already, six major national groups  including the National Womens Council and trade union SIPTU  have given the measures their backing, but even they are conscious of the undercurrent of unrest fuelled by the belief that the measures do not go far enough. The groups leaders argue that a splintering of support, merely on the grounds that the measures are not potent enough, would be counter productive. Better a bird in the hand than total rejection, they say. Incremental advances can always be built on in the future, and making haste slowly is better than no forward movement at all.

If, as seems likely, the measure on redefining the definition of family proves the more contentious, then we can expect much muddying of the waters on both sides. Such tactics will, unfortunately, be greatly enabled by the vague, imprecise wording we will be asked to cast judgement on.

There is nothing in the proposal to determine what exactly constitutes an other durable relationship, so that it may well be left to the courts to answer that question on a case by case basis. At first glance, quite clearly, the provision is intended to give legal recognition to couples who live together in a mutually supportive relationship but who, for whatever reason, choose to remain unmarried. All of which, to most people, would be perfectly reasonable.

In Ireland, we are said to be preoccupied with property and inheritance rights. That being so, and if a durable relationship becomes the definition of family, may we expect that the courts will soon become weighed down under competing claims to land and title?

More ominously, opponents of the measure have been warning of unintended consequences, one of which concerns family reunification. At present, somebody granted residency here may bring their spouse and children to Ireland. But if family comes to mean other durable relationship, does that open the door to unrelated outsiders being granted entry under the new definition?

And if that smacks of a playing of the race card, then there will be much more to come.
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Here at Iconic Media Group  Irelands biggest local digital and newspaper publisher  we have a fantastic new opportunity for a media sales representative to contribute to the groups exciting development strategy. Youll learn the ropes and start building up your skills as part of the highly experienced and supportive advertising sales team working across Mayo News and MayoLive.ie

Youll be expected to hit the ground running and to take on responsibility for a portfolio of existing customers, as well as for developing new relationships with potential advertisers. Of course, well also give you all the training and encouragement you need to hit your targets and grow in your role.

So what are we looking for? Above all else, the communication and relationship-building skills to present well and persuade customers of the immense value of advertising. It would be great if youve already sharpened those skills in a customer-facing or telesales role (retail or call centre), but relevant experience is not essential. If youre ambitious, confident, able to think on your feet  and able to inspire others  youve got this.

Come and join this expanding team at an exciting time for the entire media industry. An attractive salary and industry-leading holiday entitlements are available for the right candidate.

To apply please email your CV with a covering letter to Olivia Cooper at ocooper@iconicnewspapers.ie
February 1 marks La Fheile Bride, and there are many traditions and customs dedicated to Ireland's one and only female patron saint.

The crafting of St Brigids Crosses is still a popular custom in many Irish homes today, and the National Museum of Ireland - Country Life, has set up a drop-in activity to help keep the tradition alive. On the 27 and 28 of January, from 2pm to 4pm, call into Turlough park and learn, or refresh your memory, on making St Brigid's Crosses.

The Museum has an ongoing display which explores St Brigid's Day customs, as well as a temporary display of St Brigid's Crosses demonstrating regional styles and variations throughout Ireland with a variety of different materials used.

Additionally, there will be free guided tours of the Irish Folklife Collection on both days, with a focus on objects, customs and traditions associated with St Brigid.

St Brigid's Day (and the older Celtic festival of Imbolc) is an important seasonal marker, according to folk tradition, the day signifies the start of spring, new life, fertility and growth.

Clodagh Doyle, Keeper of the Irish Folklife Collection at the National Museum of Ireland - Country Life, outlines some interesting customs associated with the female saint, including the festive meal; no celebration would be complete without it! The traditional meal of the day consisted of a supper of potatoes and freshly churned butter, with apple cakes or barm-brack served with tea. The family would eat this meal together while constructing their St Brigids crosses.

The free, walk-in event is for people of all ages. For further information see here.
Members of the public and local businesses are invited to attend a free information event in Ballyhaunis next Saturday, January 27.

From 12pm to 2pm attendees will hear about simple ways they can make energy savings, as well as a range of grants available to assist homes, businesses or community buildings to reduce their energy and heating costs, while test drives of electric vehicles will also be provided.

The event comes as a result of recent revelations that the average home in Ballyhaunis spends 3,600 per year on home energy. Despite this significant annual expense, according to Census data provided by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI), almost half of the houses in the area do not have a Building Energy Rating Certificate (BER).

Other key statistics relating to energy efficiency in households in Ballyhaunis revealed that less than 1 percent of homes have a heat pump installed, more than nine in ten homes have substandard windows, and The majority of homes (56 percent) have less than optimal roof insulation in place.

The event, which has been organised by Ballyhaunis Sustainable Energy Community (SEC) in collaboration with the SEAI, will include a number of speakers, including SEAI County Mentor, Dr. Orla Nic Suibhne, Alma Gallagher, Manager with Claremorris Irish Centre for Housing (Clar ICH), Lorna Dennehy of Mayo County Council, and Dr. David Connolly, CEO of Heat Grid Ireland, and many more.

Additionally, Liam Rochford of Rochford Motors, will showcase electric vehicles, and provide attendees with test drives of the cars.

Speaking ahead of the event, Gallagher said We have all seen how expensive it can be to heat our homes in recent times. Energy and heating bills rose considerably over the last couple of years.

She continued, Thankfully there are measures that can be easily taken to help reduce energy or heating costs by making homes and buildings more energy efficient. There is also significant funding available to those who want to take these steps. That is why Ballyhaunis SEC was keen to organise this event.

Entry to the event is free, and anyone who wants to cut their costs or who is curious about how they can make their home or business more energy efficient is invited to come along.
Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh (center), Vietnamese officials, and investors pose for a photo at a forum in Davos, Switzerland on Jan. 17, 2024. Photo by Nhat Bac

South Korean industrial machinery manufacturer Hyosung wants to increase its investment in Vietnam by US$2 billion this year.

Hyosungs investment in Vietnam has proven to be among the most profitable, the companys deputy chairman, Cho Hyun-sang, told Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh at a meeting in Davos, Switzerland, Wednesday.

"The effective leadership of the central government, support from local authorities and the hardworking attitude of the Vietnamese people are the [countrys] strengths."

The company has invested $3.5 billion to build factories in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Dong Nai, and Ba Ria  Vung Tau that employ over 9,000 workers.

Vietnam has the potential to become a regional financial hub, other investors said at the meeting including Claudio Cisullo of Switzerland-based bank UBS, who said it develop through the use of technology.

HCMC chairman Phan Van Mai said the southern metro aims to establish a regional financial hub by 2030, and would present the proposal to the National Assembly this year.

Chinh called on investors to help develop the financial hub, restructure ailing banks and create a pool of high-quality talent for the financial sector.

Vietnam would do everything possible to make its business climate conducive for foreign investors, he promised.
Theres a new addition to the Rice College family 

Travis, the Community Dog, is a Labrador Retriever who has recently moved, with his handler, Donnacha McCarrick, to the Westport school.

The furry friend had been serving the students and staff of St Peter's Community College in Dunboyne, Co Meath, since 2020.

Travis is the pilot for the Community Dog programme by Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind, which provides specially trained dogs to support individuals in a range of community settings.

As a community dog, Traviss primary role is to provide companionship and support to students, particularly those with autism or other sensory needs. His tender nature and calming presence have been instrumental in reducing anxiety, promoting social interaction, and enhancing the overall well-being of students and staff.

The labs company has been particularly beneficial for students with autism. His soft demeanor and gentle touch provide a sense of security and comfort. Additionally, Traviss presence can foster social interaction and engagement among students, encouraging them to interact and connect with other pupils in a supportive environment.

Beyond his interactions with students, the new addition also brings joy and comfort to staff members. His presence brightens the school day and provides a welcome distraction from the daily routine. His enthusiasm and playful spirit can help to lift spirits and boost morale among staff.

The impact of the dog extends beyond the school walls, as he has become a beloved member of the community. His presence at community events and gatherings has brought smiles to people of all ages, showcasing the positive impact that dogs can have on human lives.

Travis, the Community Dog, is a shining example of the transformative power of dogs. He has enriched the lives of countless individuals in Co Meath and now in Rice College, Westport. He is a true ambassador for the beneficial influence that dogs can have on our communities.
A man, 30s, has died following an explosion at a homeless hostel in Dublin city centre.

The incident occurred at the Supported Temporary Accommodation operated by Depaul Ireland at Little Britain Street, Dublin 1, shortly after 3.30pm this Thursday afternoon.

Emergency responders are attended the scene and local diversions are in place.

No other injuries have been reported and the cause of the explosion has not been confirmed.

Other residents at the hostel are currently being evacuated, a spokesperson for the Dublin Fire Brigade and Dublin Regional Housing Executive (DRHE) said "Al residents are being evacuated on a temporary basis to allow for a full assessment. Our priority is to safely re-accommodate all residents tonight."

A spokesperson for Depaul said: "Depaul are working with the DRHE and our NGO partners to ensure no person will be left without accommodation this evening."

The spokesperson continued: "Firefighter/advanced paramedics from Phibsborough, Tara Street and North Strand fire stations responded and the incident was under control by 15.35pm. In total five fire engines were mobilised to the scene along with a District Officer. The assistance of ESB Networks, Gas Networks Ireland and An Garda Siochana was requested and the scene was handed over to Gardai at 16.15pm.

"The incident occurred within the building and was confined to one room. Our sincere thanks to our NGO partners, An Garda Siochana and Dublin Fire Brigade who are assisting on the ground."
EU to check for pesticide residues in Vietnamese durian

Opened durians seen on a table. Photo by Unsplash/Jimmy Teo

The European Union will begin testing frozen and fresh durian imported from Vietnam for pesticide residues starting in February.

It will examine 10% of consignments as part of efforts to increase food safety, according to the European Commission.

Chili and instant noodles shipments from Vietnam will also be subject to examination from February at 50% and 20% rates.

Okra and dragon fruit continue to be tested at 50% and 20%.

The latest regulations include heightened examinations of over 100 products from 27 countries.

Vietnam exported nearly $2.2 billion worth of durian in the first 11 months of last year, up 4.8 times from 2022, to China and 20 other markets.

Some European markets such as Czechia and France saw huge jumps in imports.
USAAs newest national spot has been done in partnership with Apple TV's upcoming series "Masters of the Air."

The nine-part drama, which streams Jan. 26, centers on the 100th Bomb Group of the U.S. Army Air Forces that fought the Nazis during World War II. Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg and Gary Goetzman produced the series.

The 160/90 agency, USAA's cultural marketing AOR, created the spot, which runs on national cable, streaming and social.

USAA values honor, courage and service, traits exemplified by the series. The organization handles insurance, banking, investment and retirement options for the military, veterans and their families.

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Mike Lewinsky, senior vice president, 160/90, told Agency Daily: "When evaluating brand and content partnerships, it is easy to focus on thematic alignment, but what is truly special here with USAA and "Masters of the Air"is the synergy in values, commitment to quality and a dedication to the military community."

The partnership is amplified via influencer/creator marketing, experiential and consumer sweepstakes.

As part of the campaign, USAA is offering exclusive experiences to members of the military community with a national sweepstakes running Jan. 22-Feb. 21. There are 100 prize packs, including Apple AirPods and an Apple TV+ subscription, and advance screenings of the series at the National WWII Museum in New Orleans, Louisiana, on Jan. 19 and the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force in Dayton, Ohio, on Jan. 25.

"Masters of the Air" is the third and final installment in Hanks-Spielbergs WWII trilogy that began with Band of Brothers and The Pacific.
This month marks the tenth year of detention for Uighur human rights activist Ilham Tohti. Tohti remains in detention simply for advocating for the rights of Uighurs and other minority groups in the Peoples Republic of China, or PRC. His life sentence demonstrates the PRCs efforts to silence those brave enough to speak out against the governments discriminatory practices and other human rights abuses, which include genocide and crimes against humanity in Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region.

A respected scholar in China, Ilham Tohti was an economics professor at Central University for Nationalities in Beijing. He had worked for decades to improve relations between Uighurs and Han Chinese. He rejected separatism and violence and tried to reconcile differences between these ethnic groups. Uighurs, a mainly Muslim Turkic ethnic group, have faced widespread discrimination in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region.

In his writings, Tohti highlighted government policies that restrict the use of the Uighur language, severely curtail Uighurs ability to practice their faith, limit their chances of employment, and encourage Han migration into the region - all of which fuel ethnic tensions. Tohti was the founder and director of the website Uighur Online, which reported on human rights violations suffered not only by Uighurs but also by ethnic Han Chinese.

On January 15, 2014, Ilham Tohti was taken from his home in Beijing by police. For five months, he was held incommunicado. On September 23, following an unfair trial, he was sentenced to life imprisonment on charges of separatism.

Rights groups estimate that more than 1 million Uighurs and other mostly Muslim ethnic minorities have been rounded up in internment camps in the northwest region of Xinjiang. China initially denied the existence of the camps, but now says they are "vocational training schools" necessary to combat terrorism.

The United States once again condemns the PRCs ongoing atrocities in Xinjiang, and calls on the PRC to respect the human dignity of members of ethnic and religious minority groups and to immediately and unconditionally release Tohti and all those arbitrarily detained in Xinjiang and throughout all of China.
by Dave Morgan , Featured Contributor, January 18, 2024

I grew up in a small coal town in the mountains of western Pennsylvania, and more of my high school classmates went into the military than to college. I am really proud of them and the lives they built, and know the military played a big part in that. Im also thankful for their service over some pretty tough decades where many of them have spent time in conflicts.

There is almost no better example of the amazing leadership exhibited by our veterans than Major Tom Deierlien (retired), one of our industrys and countrys true heroes. Tom is a West Pointer, Airborne Ranger, member of the Berlin Brigade and the Civil Affairs Officer who (literally) took a bullet for all of us helping win the Surge in the Iraq War and rebuilding Sadr City. Since returning from the war, Tom has built one of the hottest cybersecurity companies in the world, along Thundercat, along with the TD Foundation, a very special charity supporting families of wounded and fallen heroes.

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Why am I writing today about my respect for military leaders, military training and my good friend Tom Deierlien?

Because we can learn so much from them. Among the many amazing things they do, the military develops leaders and strategists, folks who know how to get things done, and people who care, who are principled and do the right thing.

I love to read and learn so much from reading. Over the past two weeks, I read two books by recent U.S. military leaders that we business leaders can learn so much from: Conflict," co-authored by David Petraeus, the much-decorated retired U.S. Army General and former director of the CIA, and By All Means Available by Mike Vickers, a former special forces enlisted man, officer, CIA operative and former Assistant Secretary of Defense.



I recommend them both. Petraeus details the key wars that have been fought around the world from 1945 to Ukraine, and focuses on the importance of strong strategic leadership, both where its presence brought victory and saved nations and lives, and where its absence brought the reverse. His lessons on getting the Big Idea right, communicating those objectives and strategy, and then analyzing and optimizing against the right metrics translate directly from the battlefield to business.



Vickers book not only recounts his amazing career, but focuses on principles in career development, leadership and strategy that can help leaders in all fields. They include the importance of taking only jobs you like and where you can make a difference, developing expert power, seeking job enlargement and finding great mentors -- all factors related to success in business or almost any job or organization.



These lessons are told through very powerful military histories, which give them a historical context that really drives them home.

These reads wont be for everyone. You need to care about the history of conflicts and geopolitics, and have a desire to learn and grow. If you do, you will find both of these books valuable investments of your time.
by Wendy Davis @wendyndavis, January 18, 2024

Two advocacy groups are calling on the Federal Trade Commission to investigate Google for allegedly reneging on a promise to shed data that could reveal smartphone users' visits to abortion clinics and other sensitive locales.

Promising to implement a policy of deleting sensitive location records (including reproductive health-related location records) and failing to effectively implement that policy is a material misrepresentation that would likely mislead a reasonable consumer, the Electronic Privacy Information Center and Accountable Tech write in a complaint filed Thursday.

The complaint largely stems from Google's July 2022 announcement that it planned to delete certain sensitive entries from smartphone users' Location History files.

Some of the places people visit -- including medical facilities like counseling centers, domestic violence shelters, abortion clinics, fertility centers, addiction treatment facilities, weight loss clinics, cosmetic surgery clinics, and others -- can be particularly personal, Google senior vice president Jen Fitzpatrick wrote at the time. If our systems identify that someone has visited one of these places, we will delete these entries from Location History soon after they visit.

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The watchdogs claim Google failed to live up to that promise. They point to anecdotal evidence, including a May 2023 Washington Post article by Geoffrey Fowler who reported that Google wasn't deleting sensitive location data in any consistent way.

To test Googles privacy promise, Ive been running an experiment. Over the last few weeks, I visited a dozen abortion clinics, medical centers and fertility specialists around California, using Google Maps for directions, Fowler wrote.

In about half of the visits, I watched Google retain a map of my activity that looked like it could have been made by a private investigator.

Accountable Tech also alleged that its own recent investigation -- which involved sending people to eight Planned Parenthood clinics -- found Google deleted the name Planned Parenthood from people's Location History, but not their routes.

Google lacks a 'reasonable basis' to support the claim that it safeguards personal health location data by consistently and reliably deleting sensitive location records, the advocacy groups allege in their complaint.

A Google spokesperson said the company is upholding its promise to delete "particularly personal" places from Location History if its systems identify them.

"Any claims that were not doing so are patently false or misguided," the spokesperson stated.

The company also disputes Accountable Tech's conclusions from its own investigation.

Google said last month that it will store location data on people's devices, instead of its servers -- a move praised by digital rights advocates.
by Wendy Davis @wendyndavis, January 19, 2024

Meta Platforms is asking Supreme Court to review a decision allowing users to proceed with a lawsuit over prior ad-targeting options that allegedly violated discrimination laws.

In a petition quietly filed last week, Meta contends that the users lack standing to sue in federal court because their complaint didn't specify how they were injured by the former ad-targeting options.

The company's petition marks the latest development in a battle dating to 2019, when New York resident Rosemarie Vargas and other Facebook users alleged in a class-action complaint that the former ad-targeting options unlawfully allowed advertisers to block housing ads from people based on race, sex, age or other protected characteristics.

The case was one of several lawsuits against Facebook over allegedly discriminatory ads.

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By the time Vargas and the others sued, Facebook had already agreed to prohibit advertisers of housing, employment or credit offers from targeting ads based on age, gender, ZIP code and ethnic affinity.

U.S. District Court Judge William Orrick in the Northern District of California dismissed Vargas's complaint in 2021. He ruled that the allegations in the complaint, even if true, wouldn't show how the users were affected by Facebook's former ad-targeting options.

Orrick described the complaint in a written opinion as the sort of generalized grievance that doesn't give people the right to sue in federal court.

Orrick also ruled that Facebook was also protected by Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act for any illegal ads posted by outside parties. That law broadly immunizes web companies from liability for material created by third parties.

Vargas and the others then appealed to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, which reversed Orrick's ruling and reinstated the lawsuit.

That court ruled both that the users' allegations warranted further proceedings, and that Meta might not be protected by Section 230.

Plaintiff Vargas alleges a concrete and particularized injury -- deprivation of truthful information and housing opportunities -- whether or not she can establish all the elements of her claims later in the litigation, the judges wrote.

They added that the allegations in the complaint, if proven true, could show that Facebook was a co-developer of the ads -- in which case it wouldn't be immunized by Section 230.

Meta is now asking the Supreme Court to review the portion of the 9th Circuit decision that found Vargas had standing to proceed.

The company writes that the 9th Circuit wrongly allowed the case to move forward based on only general factual allegations of injury, instead of requiring specifics. The company adds that Vargas and the others failed to allege how they, personally, were affected by the former ad-targeting options.

They do not allege that any housing matching their specific (and often plainly unrealistic) criteria actually existed, Meta writes. Nor do they allege that such housing was available during the specific periods they searched for housing on Facebook.

Attorneys for the plaintiffs on Friday waived their right to file a response.
Highlights: Cervical cancer ranks fourth among women's cancers globally, with India contributing significantly to new cases and deaths

Understanding the stages of cervical cancer is vital for effective treatment and improved outcomes

Preventive measures like HPV vaccination and regular screenings help in the fight against cervical cancer

  Trusted Source

Cervical Cancer Awareness Month 2023



Go to source Trusted Source

  Trusted Source

Cervical cancer



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Every 8 minutes, a woman loses her life to cervical cancer in India. The urgency for awareness, prevention, and early detection cannot be overstated. Let's unite against cervical cancer and prioritize regular screenings. #CervicalCancerAwareness #PreventCervicalCancer #medindia

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What is Cervical Cancer?

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Stages of Cervical Cancer

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Stages of cervical cancer



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Stage 0 (Carcinoma in situ): In this initial stage, abnormal cells are developing, confined to the inner lining of the cervix. Treatment options include surgery or localized procedures, offering a high chance of cure.

In this initial stage, abnormal cells are developing, confined to the inner lining of the cervix. Treatment options include surgery or localized procedures, offering a high chance of cure. Stage I: Cancer is limited to the cervix, and treatments may involve surgery, radiation therapy, or a combination to remove or destroy the tumor.

Cancer is limited to the cervix, and treatments may involve surgery, radiation therapy, or a combination to remove or destroy the tumor. Stage II: Cancer extends beyond the cervix but does not reach the pelvic sidewall. Treatment strategies may include surgery, radiation, or a combination to address the spreading malignancy.

Cancer extends beyond the cervix but does not reach the pelvic sidewall. Treatment strategies may include surgery, radiation, or a combination to address the spreading malignancy. Stage III: At this stage, cancer involves the lower vagina or the pelvic sidewall. A comprehensive approach, combining surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy, is often employed.

At this stage, cancer involves the lower vagina or the pelvic sidewall. A comprehensive approach, combining surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy, is often employed. Stage IV: Cervical cancer reaches an advanced stage, spreading to adjacent organs like the bladder or rectum. Treatment options become more complex, requiring a combination of surgery, radiation, and systemic therapies.

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Importance of Early Detection of Cervical Cancer

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Human papillomavirus vaccine for cancer cervix prevention: Rationale & recommendations for implementation in India



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Theme for Cervical Cancer

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IARC marks Cervical Cancer Awareness Month 2024



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Cervical Cancer Awareness Month 2023 Theme: A commitment to "Ending cervical cancer within a few generations."

A commitment to "Ending cervical cancer within a few generations." Cervical Cancer Awareness Month 2022 Theme: An emphasis on the "elimination of cervical cancer."

Urgency for Cervical Cancer Awareness

Significance of Cervical Cancer Awareness Month

Preventing Cervical Cancer

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What Can I Do to Reduce My Risk of Cervical Cancer?



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HPV Vaccination: Guard against the human papillomavirus through vaccination.

Guard against the human papillomavirus through vaccination. Screening and Early Diagnosis: Detect and treat pre-malignant lesions through regular screenings.

Detect and treat pre-malignant lesions through regular screenings. Abstain from Smoking: Reduce risk by avoiding smoking.

Reduce risk by avoiding smoking. Safe Sexual Practices: Minimize exposure to HPV, which spreads through skin-to-skin contact.

American Cancer Society (ACS) Guidelines for Cervical Cancer Detection

Commence cervical cancer screening at the age of 25.

Women aged 25 to 65 should undergo a primary HPV test every five years. Alternatively, if a primary HPV test is unavailable, screenings may occur through a combination of an HPV test and a Papanicolaou (PAP) test every five years or a PAP test alone every three years.

Individuals over 65 can discontinue screening under specific conditions, such as routine screenings with negative results in the past decade, no history of Cervical Intraepithelial Neoplasia (CIN2), or an absence of significant diagnoses in the past 25 years.

Women who have undergone a total hysterectomy can cease screening unless the procedure was for treating cervical cancer or severe pre-cancer.

Those who have undergone a supra-cervical hysterectomy should continue screenings as per ACS guidelines (   Trusted Source

The ASCCP Cervical Cancer Screening Task Force Endorsement and Opinion on the American Cancer Society Updated Cervical Cancer Screening Guidelines



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Cervical Cancer Awareness Month 2023 - (https://www.emro.who.int/noncommunicable-diseases/campaigns/cervical-cancer-awareness-month-2023.html) Cervical cancer- (https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/cervical-cancer) Stages of cervical cancer - (https://cancer.ca/en/cancer-information/cancer-types/cervical/staging) Human papillomavirus vaccine for cancer cervix prevention: Rationale & recommendations for implementation in India - (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5761024/) IARC marks Cervical Cancer Awareness Month 2024 - (https://www.iarc.who.int/news-events/cervical-cancer-awareness-month-2024/) What Can I Do to Reduce My Risk of Cervical Cancer? - (https://www.cdc.gov/cancer/cervical/basic_info/prevention.htm) The ASCCP Cervical Cancer Screening Task Force Endorsement and Opinion on the American Cancer Society Updated Cervical Cancer Screening Guidelines - (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34138787/)

January is a crucial month on the health calendar, marked as Cervical Cancer Awareness Month ). According to the World Health Organization (WHO), global cervical cancer incidence in 2020 reached an estimated 604,000 new cases, causing 342,000 deaths and securing its position as the fourth most prevalent cancer in women ().Alarmingly, India contributes nearly a quarter of global cases each year, coupled with a mortality rate approaching one-third. According to a recent report from Tata Memorial Hospital (TMH) in Mumbai, the impact of cervical cancer in India is stark, claiming the life of one woman every eight minutes. In 2020, low- and middle-income nations bore the brunt of this disease, with almost 90% of new cases and deaths reported in these regions. Globally, cervical cancer remains a significant health concern affecting women, with India ranking high in the prevalence of this disease. Cervical cancer specifically targets the cervix, the passage between the vagina and the uterus. 99% of cases are linked to high-risk Human Papillomavirus (HPV), a common virus transmitted through sexual contact. While most HPV infections resolve spontaneously, persistent infection can lead to cervical cancer.Following breast cancer, cervical cancer stands as the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths among Indian women. Cervical cancer, often associated with Human Papillomavirus (HPV), is one of the most common cancers in our country. Regular screenings, such as Pap smears and HPV tests, play a pivotal role in early detection.Understanding the stages of cervical cancer helps to enhance awareness and early detection ():A multidisciplinary approach, involving medical and radiation oncologists and surgeons, is vital to treat this cancer correctly. HPV vaccination is important in preventing cervical cancer (). Timely vaccination can prevent this infection and thereby prevent cervical cancer. All girls between the ages of 11-26 years should be vaccinated.In the year 2024, the thematic focus of Cervical Cancer Awareness Month resonates with the imperative message of "Learn. Prevent. Screen" (). This main idea emphasizes how crucial it is to spread information to reduce the chances of getting cervical cancer. It also points out how important it is to have regular screenings, which can save lives.Over the years, the themes of Cervical Cancer Awareness Month have evolved with a dedicated purpose:High-income nations benefit from awareness programs, including HPV vaccination and regular screening, the same preventive methods are limited in low- and middle-income countries. Consequently, cervical cancer often remains undiagnosed until symptoms have advanced, necessitating urgent awareness initiatives, particularly in these resource-constrained settings.Regular cervical screening emerges as a powerful preventive tool against both localized and non-localized cervical cancer. Since the 1960s, screening has demonstrated success in preventing cervical cancer on a community scale. A study conducted in 2016 revealed that individuals undergoing three-yearly screenings experienced an 83% reduction in non-localized cancers and a 48% reduction in stage I cancers compared to those unscreened for five years.In comparison, women attending screenings at least every ten months witnessed a 90% reduction in non-localized cervical cancer odds and a 57% reduction in stage I cervical cancer odds compared to their counterparts who did not attend screenings for five years.Several precautionary measures can contribute to the prevention of cervical cancer ():As we observe Cervical Cancer Awareness Month, the call to action is clear  equip ourselves with knowledge, embrace preventive measures, and ensure regular screenings. By doing so, we contribute to the global effort to eliminate cervical cancer and build a healthier future for generations to come.Source-Medindia
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[Galaxy Unpacked 2024] Highlights From Galaxy Unpacked: The Promise of a New Beginning With Galaxy AI



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Stay tuned for Samsung's Galaxy Ring launch, promising innovative features in smart health technology later this year. #samsung #medicaldevice #smartdevices

Samsung Acknowledges Limitations of Galaxy Watch for Continuous Health Monitoring

[Galaxy Unpacked 2024] Highlights From Galaxy Unpacked: The Promise of a New Beginning With Galaxy AI - (https://news.samsung.com/in/galaxy-unpacked-2024-highlights-from-galaxy-unpacked-the-promise-of-a-new-beginning-with-galaxy-ai)

This year, Samsung Electronics intends to introduce a new digital healthcare device, the Galaxy Ring. (Details of the new smart ring are scant, but Samsung released a surprise teaser for the device during the Unpacked event for its latest Galaxy S series smartphones at the SAP Center in San Jose, California.After the event, Roh Tae-moon, head of the mobile division at Samsung Electronics, shared the release plan of the company's ring-shaped health device with reporters, reports Yonhap news agency."The Galaxy Watch has its own benefits, but some consumers feel uncomfortable having to wear a watch all the time, and that is why the Galaxy Watch is not enough to send essential health information to Samsung Health and analyse it 24/7, all week and 365 days a year," Roh said."This is why we need the form factor of a ring to complete the digital health system, or Samsung health."The Galaxy Watch is Samsung's smartwatch, which features various health and fitness features, as well as serving as a remote control for the smartphone. Roh said the Galaxy Ring is more suitable to be worn for long periods of time than the Galaxy Watch and has a better battery life since it only focuses on health features.Source-IANS
Ever since the invitation for Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchants alleged pre-wedding festivities has been circulating around, people cant help but speculate just how much the Ambanis will be looking to shell out for the wedding of their youngest child Anant Ambani.

The track record shows that the Ambanis are known to spare no expense when it comes to marking a celebration. Whether it is a Diwali puja, Ganesh Chathurthi, their grandchildrens 1st birthday or their own birthday.

And a testament to that was when a business tycoon and one of the richest men in all of Asia chose to spend hundreds of crores of rupees on his wife Nita Ambanis wedding.

Nita Ambanis 50th birthday was celebrated in Jodhpur on 1st November 2013 and it was a grand, grand affair. The location for this soiree was Umaid Bhawan Palace in Jodhpur, which qualifies as one of the most luxurious places. Reports shared that over 250 guests were invited for the celebration, all of whom were flown in by 32 private chartered jets of the Reliance group. The flowers to decorate the entire place were called in from Thailand and the place looked magnificent.

The guests included actors like Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan, Priyanka Chopra and many more along with businessmen like Mittals and Anand Mahindra. The guest list also included the entire team of Mumbai Indians.

Performances by Priyanka Chopra and AR Rahman stole the show and Isha Ambani, Nita Ambanis daughter also gave a special performance for her mother. All in all, reports claim that the Ambanis spent a whopping Rs 220 crores on the entire affair making it Indias most expensive birthday party ever.

Considering the Ambanis are known to spend crores on everything from jewellery to a wedding lehenga to even a party, we wont be surprised to know if Anant Ambanis wedding with Radhika Merchant turns out to be one of the costliest weddings ever.
Soil is at the root of many pressing national security challenges that we face, declared Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

Without good soil, crops fail, prices rise, people go hungry. Eroding soil also worsens the impact of droughts, of floods, of other climate-driven extreme weather, making crop yields even lower  and as a result, food even scarcer, he said.

There are 700 million people presently who do not know if they will have enough food to eat tomorrow. Thats why the United States has been working to tackle this food crisis and support those who are most affected by it, said Secretary Blinken:

Going back to January of 2021, the U.S. Government has devoted $17.5 billion to provide vital sustenance to people in need. We are honored to fund over one third of the World Food Programs budget.

The United States is also partnering to produce better, stronger, and more resilient crops. Indeed, the U.S. Agriculture Innovation Mission for Climate initiative with the UAE has mobilized $17 billion to invest in efforts to regenerate degraded crop land and capture carbon in soil.

Together with the African Union and the Food and Agriculture Organization, the United States has launched a new program called Vision for Adapted Crops and Soils, or VACS. It is part of the USAIDs flagship Feed the Future initiative, explained Secretary Blinken:

This is our comprehensive response in the U.S. Government to food insecurity around the world, and the approach that we have is two-pronged. And it really boils down to this, two very basic things: First, were investing above ground, identifying the indigenous African crops that are most nutritious and most resilient to climate change, improving these varieties, delivering them to the world; at the same time, were investing below ground, mapping, conserving, building healthy soils. If you get this right, if you get the seeds right, if you get the soil right, then you have your agricultural foundation for the future.

There are few things more important to humanity, than figuring out how to cultivate this planet so that it can feed and support all of us, said Secretary Blinken. We have an opportunity in this moment to actually deliver better for people today while actually building a sustainable tomorrow.
The Space Force can start allowing some Guardians to choose between full-time and part-time active-duty service under a new law passed last month.

As part of the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act signed into law by President Joe Biden, the new Space Force Personnel Management Act offers active-duty Guardians and Air Force reservists working on space-related missions the option to serve either full time or part time.

The initiative was a top priority for the Space Force, which hopes to retain skilled service members tempted by higher-paying civilian jobs in at least a part-time capacity. Similarly, it could be a way to entice civilians in the private sector to consider military service.

Read Next: Navy Redesigns Its Pregnancy Policy to Give Sailors More Choice, Career Stability

The change creates a new way for the service to handle personnel management and will help it "attract, as well as recruit and retain, the top talent we need to prevail in the increasingly contested space domain," Maj. Tanya Downsworth, a Space Force spokeswoman, told Military.com in an emailed statement.

The Space Force, created in 2019, now has nearly 9,000 Guardians, but has never had a reserve or National Guard component like the other military branches.

Several ideas to establish either a part-time service model or even a Space National Guard were stymied by the White House and Congress over the last two years. The Space Force Personnel Management Act represents the first legislative breakthrough, but more work to figure out the particulars remains.

Under active status, Guardians can be on sustained duty or "not on sustained duty." Sustained duty is normal full-time, active-duty status.

"Not on sustained duty," or part time, requires Guardians to "participate in at least 48 scheduled drills or training periods during each year and serve on active duty for not less than 14 days (exclusive of travel time) during each year; or serve on active duty for not more than 30 days during each year," according to the NDAA text.

There is also inactive status, which would be comparable to Individual Ready Reserve status in the Air Force, in which a service member does not receive pay and does not drill unless called upon to do so or they volunteer to return to the active-duty force.

What the new structure could mean for the 1,000 National Guard soldiers and airmen who do space-related missions is still being ironed out. The Space Guard plan has drawn opposition from critics, as well as the White House, over the years stating that the tiny service branch doesn't need the extra cost or logistical complications that come with creating a new Guard force.

The NDAA asks the Pentagon to "conduct an independent study to assess the feasibility and advisability of moving all units, personnel billets, equipment, and resources performing core space functions under the operational control of the Space Force, or otherwise integral to the Space Force mission that may exist in the National Guard  into a single-component Space Force," the law states. That report is due by Feb.1, 2025.

Brig. Gen. Mike Bruno, chair of the space task force at the National Guard Association of the United States, said in an interview with the Federal News Network on Thursday that he believes that a Space National Guard could be useful.

"We think that they can do both at the same time. So, the Space Force Personnel Management Act is pretty much encompassing the reserve status of having a Space Force reserve. ... But you could also have a Space National Guard, which would be your surge to war capability," Bruno told the outlet. "And that's our hope, is that's what happens."

Downsworth said it will take several years to figure out additional details of the policy.

"The Space Force Management Act proposal included a multi-year transition period to allow the Department of the Air Force and Department of Defense to publish implementing policies and ensure the necessary systems are in place for personnel," Downsworth said. "All transfers from the Air Force Reserve will be voluntary."

The Space Force and Marine Corps were the only two service branches who met their enlistment recruiting goals last fiscal year.

Downsworth added that the new structure will also help improve quality of life for Guardians.

"When fully implemented, this new construct will allow us to manage our military force more effectively, improve quality of life and retention, and capitalize on skill sets developed outside the military to continue delivering unmatched space capabilities," she said in a statement.

Related: Space Force Could Get a Guard Force and Part-Time Guardians, If House Lawmakers Get Their Way
The senior enlisted leaders for each military service, including the top noncommissioned officer in the military, will testify in front of Congress at the end of the month about quality-of-life issues for troops -- a raft of recently exposed problems including squalid living conditions, subpar dining facilities and access to health care.

The leaders will appear before the House Armed Services Committee's military quality-of-life panel, a bipartisan group of lawmakers who assembled last summer with the aim of keeping the services accountable for issues that affect the lives of troops and military families. The hearing will be Jan. 31, the Marine Corps and the office of House panel Chairman Don Bacon, R-Neb., told Military.com.

"Chairman Bacon believes it's important that the members of the military quality-of-life panel hear directly from the nation's senior enlisted leaders on the challenges currently facing the all-volunteer force," Danielle Jensen, a spokesperson for Bacon, said in an emailed statement. "Chairman Bacon looks forward to hearing their insight and experience as the panel completes its work and prepares its final report and legislative recommendations to the House Armed Services Committee."

Read Next: Navy Redesigns Its Pregnancy Policy to Give Sailors More Choice, Career Stability

The upcoming hearing is the first public meeting of the panel since a September hearing on housing conditions, and for some of the recently appointed military leaders, this will be the first time that they will appear before Congress to testify on the issue.

The senior enlisted leaders who were invited are:

Sergeant Major of the Army Michael Weimer

Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy James Honea

Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps Carlos Ruiz

Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force JoAnne Bass

Chief Master Sergeant of the Space Force John Bentivegna

Senior Enlisted Adviser to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Troy Black

Military.com reached out to each of the services and asked what they expected to speak about, but not all answered the inquiry. Specifically, the publication asked about living conditions, one of the top problems that the military is grappling with as images, accounts and investigations reveal moldy and vermin-infested barracks and housing.

"Sgt. Maj. Carlos Ruiz will be prepared to answer questions from panel members regarding quality-of-life issues that affect Marines, their families and civilian employees," Master Sgt. Michael Cifuentes, a spokesperson for the Marine Corps, told Military.com on Wednesday. "Housing and barracks are among the many factors that affect the morale, welfare and readiness of the Marine Corps, and Sgt. Maj. Ruiz will represent the service in ensuring those matters are discussed appropriately with our elected leaders."

The Navy confirmed that Honea will attend the hearing later this month and that he "is prepared to discuss multiple topics that impact [quality of life] to include pay and compensation, child care, housing, support programs for spouses of service members, and health care," according to a spokesperson for the Navy.

The office of the senior enlisted adviser to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, also known as SEAC, said that Black "looks forward to attending the House Armed Services Committee [quality-of-life hearing] and addressing the issues affecting service members and their families."

"Black cares about the everyday housing, barracks and facilities struggles that DoD families face," Tech. Sgt. Brycen Guerrero, a spokesperson for the office, told Military.com on Friday. "With 36 years of service and assignments around the world, SEAC Black and his family have lived in and utilized some of the best and worst of what military and privatized housing and facilities have to offer.

"Black continues to urge the panel to invest additional funding and resources supporting housing and facilities. Service members and their families deserve to live in comfort and safety with the financial security necessary to retain our talent and focus on executing the mission," Guerrero said.

The senior enlisted leaders of the Army, Air Force and Space Force will be attending the hearing, spokespeople for the services told Military.com, but did not provide comment on what they expect to talk about before publication.

The senior enlisted leaders of the military services routinely testify before Congress as part of the annual budget process. But the House Armed Services Committee's personnel subcommittee, typically the forum for military quality-of-life discussions, has increasingly become entangled in political fights, and the senior enlisted leaders' appearance there last year was overshadowed by GOP attacks on "wokeness."

The quality-of-life panel was set up last year as a refuge from the political fights and is tasked with providing recommendations on improving military pay, housing, health care and family life that could be included in the defense policy bill Congress will consider later this year. In addition to September's public hearing on housing, the group has held several closed-door briefings with Defense Department officials, military service organizations and military spouses. Panel members have said they are aiming to produce a final report with recommendations in February.

Bacon, the panel's chairman, has previously said he wants the senior enlisted leaders to testify publicly before the group wraps up its work.

The senior enlisted advisers "will tell you what's really going on," Bacon said at a November event hosted by With Honor, a political action committee that supports veterans running for office. "The idea of right-sizing enlisted pay didn't come from [the Office of the Secretary of Defense]. It came from one of the senior enlisted advisers, and he made a compelling case. Actually, two of them have."

At the same event, Bacon, a retired Air Force brigadier general, and the panel's top Democrat, and Air Force veteran Rep. Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania, previewed some of the unconventional ideas the group is considering, including making junior enlisted pay tax-exempt and allowing parents to take two-year leaves of absence without hurting their military careers.

Typically, the Armed Services Committee announces hearings a week in advance. This event has not been publicly announced yet, but panels are usually livestreamed on the committee's YouTube page, which can be found here.

Editor's note: This article has been updated with comments from the SEAC and a link to where the HASC hearings are typically found.

-- Steve Beynon contributed to this report.

Related: Barracks Repairs, Other Military Quality-of-Life Improvements Slam Into Congress' Upcoming Budget Fight
A two-star general who was relieved from command of the 19th Air Force at Joint Base San Antonio in Texas last year amid charges of sexual assault and other crimes is seeking to retire instead of facing a court-martial.

Maj. Gen. Phillip A. Stewart's attorney -- Jeffrey Addicott, a professor of law and director of the Warrior Defense Project at St. Mary's University School of Law -- told Military.com late Thursday evening that they "submitted a request for retirement in lieu of court-martial" earlier in the week. Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall will be in charge of approving or denying the request.

"When you have a retirement request in lieu of court-martial then that will be approved by the Secretary of the Air Force," Addicott said. "And then you have a grade determination board to determine what grade you're going to retire at."

Read Next: Top Enlisted Leaders for Each Service Set to Testify on Quality-of-Life Issues at House Hearing

Stewart's case marks the second time in history that a U.S. Air Force general officer has been formally charged with a sexual crime. A projected start date for the trial is June 17.

In May, Air Education and Training Command announced that Stewart was being removed from his role as commander of the 19th Air Force "due to a loss of confidence in his ability to lead, related to alleged misconduct which is currently under investigation." In October, he then faced an Article 32 hearing -- a preliminary hearing similar to a grand jury proceeding for civilians.

Addicott told Military.com in December that the judge for the Article 32 hearing had recommended that the sexual assault charges be dropped and the other charges not go to trial, but Lt. Gen. Brian Robinson, head of Air Education and Training Command, referred the charges to a court-martial.

"They rendered a report saying that, in his opinion, he recommended to the convening authority that the more serious charges ... not go forward at all, and that the other charges be disposed of administratively against Gen. Stewart," Addicott said in December. "That was his recommendation. It wasn't followed. ... It's highly unusual that convening authorities do not follow what the Article 32 officer recommends."

Starting Dec. 28, the Department of the Air Force's Office of Special Trial Counsel became fully operational and was tasked with investigation and prosecution of 14 categories of offenses under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, including sex-related crimes. Had Stewart faced charges this year, that office would have recommended whether the charges should face court-martial instead of the head of Air Education and Training Command.

A redacted charge sheet provided to Military.com in October by Air Education and Training Command outlines the alleged misconduct.

Under the dereliction of duty charge, Stewart is accused of failing to refrain from "pursuing an unprofessional relationship." Additionally, the charge sheet details that he allegedly "failed to refrain from assuming control of an aircraft after consuming alcohol within 12 hours prior to takeoff."

Regarding the sexual assault charges, Stewart is alleged to have committed a sex act on a person at or near Altus Air Force Base in Oklahoma "without her consent."

Stewart is also alleged to have committed conduct unbecoming an officer near Denver, Colorado, "while on official travel," where he allegedly wrongfully invited an individual to "spend the night alone with him in his private hotel room," the charge sheet adds.

Stewart also faces an extramarital sexual conduct charge.

The charge sheet redacts the names of those involved in the alleged incidents. Military.com does not identify victims of sexual assault.

"Just as in civilian proceedings, Stewart is presumed innocent until proven otherwise by competent legal authority," Marilyn Holliday, a spokesperson for Air Education and Training Command, said in an emailed statement.

It's rare for general officers to face court-martial. The first Air Force general to face court-martial proceedings was Maj. Gen. Donald Kaufman in 1992 over allegations that he took war trophies from the Persian Gulf War and went on unnecessary temporary-duty trips, Stars and Stripes reported. He was arraigned, but the case was dismissed and he did not face a jury. Kaufman was demoted in rank to colonel through nonjudicial punishment and allowed to retire.

In 2022, Maj. Gen. William Cooley, formerly the head of the Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio, was convicted of abusive sexual contact in a court-martial. He was the first-ever Air Force general to be tried for sexual crimes and convicted in a court-martial.

Military judge Col. Christina Jimenez sentenced Cooley to forfeit $10,910 of pay for five months, and he was given a letter of reprimand from the court-martial convening authority, then-Air Force Materiel Command chief Gen. Arnold Bunch. Cooley was not sentenced to jail.

Cooley had faced a maximum sentence of seven years of confinement, separation, and loss of pay and benefits. He retired as a colonel.

Stewart was commissioned in 1992 through the Reserve Officers' Training Corps after graduating from the Georgia Institute of Technology, according to his official Air Force biography. He served as an instructor and evaluator pilot in multiple aircraft, and he holds the rating of command pilot with more than 2,600 flying hours. He also has 600 hours of combat time over 168 combat missions.

The 19th Air Force has more than 30,000 personnel and 1,530 aircraft assigned to 17 wings located across the country. In his role, Stewart was responsible for more than 45% of the Air Force's annual flying-hour program, according to his biography.

Prior to his role with the 19th Air Force, he served as the deputy chief of staff for strategic employment at Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe in Belgium.

Maj. Gen. Clark Quinn assumed command of the 19th Air Force on June 5, nearly a month after Stewart's firing.

Related: Second Air Force General Ever to Be Charged with Sexual Assault Will Face Court-Martial
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has been formally called to testify before Congress about his hospitalization for complications from prostate cancer surgery that he initially kept secret.

In a letter Thursday to Austin, House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mike Rogers, R-Ala., said his panel would hold a hearing on the matter Feb. 14 and that he expects Austin to appear at the hearing after what he described as the defense secretary's "unwillingness to provide candid and complete answers" in private.

"Specifically, I am alarmed you refused to answer whether you instructed your staff to not inform the president of the United States or anyone else of your hospitalization," Rogers wrote in the letter. "Unfortunately, this leads me to believe that information is being withheld from Congress. Congress must understand what happened and who made decisions to prevent the disclosure of the whereabouts of a cabinet secretary."

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Asked whether Austin would agree to testify, as well as for a response to Rogers' charge that the secretary has withheld information from him, the Pentagon did not directly answer.

"On Wednesday, the department provided the committee three letters in a good-faith effort to respond to the committee as expeditiously as possible, recognizing that there is an internal 30-day review underway, and the DoD inspector general is conducting his own review," a Pentagon spokesperson said in an emailed statement Friday.

"The department looks forward to continuing to work with the committee to accommodate its legislative needs," the statement added. "As always, we will respond to congressional requests as appropriate, to include requests for the secretary to testify."

If Austin agrees to testify, it could be the first public airing of his thought process since the Pentagon disclosed earlier this month that he had been in the hospital for days without telling even the president.

On Jan. 5, the Pentagon announced Austin had been in the hospital since Jan. 1, and the department later acknowledged that the White House hadn't been informed of Austin's hospitalization until Jan. 4. Congress didn't learn of the hospitalization until just before the public disclosure Jan. 5.

The hospitalization stemmed from complications from an earlier surgery to treat prostate cancer. While Austin was diagnosed with cancer in early December and had the initial surgery Dec. 22, President Joe Biden and the public were not told about the diagnosis until Jan. 9.

The revelation that Austin kept his health issues secret from even the White House for weeks prompted fury and bewilderment on Capitol Hill.

Rogers opened an investigation into the episode last week, sending letters to Austin, his chief of staff and Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks demanding a stack of documents and answers to a slew of questions.

In his Thursday letter, Rogers said several questions from his earlier letters remain unanswered. He also said several new questions have been raised since last week, pointing to a 911 call obtained by news outlets in which an aide to Austin asked for the ambulance to be "subtle" when it arrived at the defense secretary's home Jan. 1.

"This is a time of immense global instability," Rogers wrote. "Our country deserves reliable leadership at the department. Maintaining the most ready and lethal force possible requires that everyone in the national security community be able to rely upon the secretary of defense's availability and transparency. Regrettably, you have not exhibited these attributes throughout this most recent string of events."

In addition to Rogers' investigation, the Pentagon is conducting an internal review into the breakdown in communications; the White House has instructed every Cabinet agency to review their protocols for notifying the White House about an absence; and the Pentagon's inspector general is conducting its own probe into the episode.

Pressed at a Pentagon briefing this week on why Austin's aide asked the ambulance to approach quietly, Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder declined to answer amid the ongoing investigations.

Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., the ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, has also demanded a public hearing with Austin, but as a member of the minority party in the upper chamber, he does not have the power to schedule one. Senate panel Chairman Jack Reed, D-R.I., has not ruled out calling Austin in for testimony but has said he wants the committee to gather more facts and for Austin to be fully recovered first.

Austin was released from the hospital Monday, but he said in a written statement that day that he is continuing to recuperate at home.

While several Republicans and at least one House Democrat have called on Austin to resign, Biden said last week that he remains confident in his defense secretary, though he considers Austin's failure to inform his boss about his hospitalization a lapse in judgment.

Related: Austin's Secret Hospitalization Prompts Congressional Inquiry, Calls for Hearings
Moviegoers have seen it all by now. We've seen tornadoes full of sharks, trucks fighting jets and Nic Cage swap faces with John Travolta after landing a helicopter on an airplane. Such outlandish mayhem gets a little ridiculous after a while, but the real world is full of its own unbelievable stories. Audie Murphy's one-man fight against the Nazis in Europe might seem like something straight out of a modern action movie, but his movie was actually made a decade after the battle ended -- and it still stands up today.

In January 1945, Allied victory in Europe was anything but assured. The German military launched a major offensive in December 1944 that had pushed Allied lines back into Belgium and France, but the resulting Battle of the Bulge forced the Nazis into a retreat. They were far from finished, however: on New Year's Eve, Nazi Germany launched what would be its last major offensive on the Western Front. Operation Northwind was an attempt to bolster its forces in the Bulge and destroy two Allied armies.

American and French forces would fight for more than a month to not only prevent a German advance, but to push the Nazi Wehrmacht back into Germany. Though they finally succeeded, a powerful force of some 30,000 or more Germans were centered around the city of Colmar, forming a pocket of resistance in Eastern France that American troops would have to retake. Not only was it the last major Nazi foothold on French soil, but control of Colmar also allowed freedom of movement into Germany itself.

An American map showing the reduction of the Colmar Pocket in 1945.

One day late that January, near the village of Holtzwihr, northeast of Colmar, German forces struck out at advancing American infantry. This is where Lt. Murphy would single-handedly hold the strategically important forest outside the town, despite being outmanned and outgunned by a veteran German Army.

It's safe to say Murphy knew his way around a battlefield and had a pretty reliable intuition when it came to taking risks. By the time the U.S. Army advanced on the Colmar Pocket, Audie Leon Murphy had already received the Distinguished Service Cross, two Silver Stars and two Bronze Stars. He had enlisted at the tender age of 16, joining the Army in 1942 because it was the only branch that would accept his underweight frame. He was first sent to North Africa, then landed at Sicily, mainland Italy and eventually southern France. He then fought his way across Europe, earning a battlefield commission in October 1944.

Audie Murphy stars as himself, recreating how he received the Distinguished Service Cross as part of the first assault wave landing in Southern France near Ramatuelle, in August 1944.

The danger the Colmar Pocket posed to the Allied advance into Germany was real. If the Nazis broke out, they could have routed the overstretched Seventh Army and then hit the advancing Third Army in the rear, potentially destroying it, too. From there, the Wehrmacht could have retaken the port of Antwerp and pushed the Allies back into the English Channel. That was the reason the Allies couldn't just hole up such a powerful pocket of enemy troops and armor. Something had to be done.

On Jan. 23, 1945, the U.S. 3rd Infantry Division's 30th Infantry Regiment advanced through the Bois de Riedwihr, a forest near Holtzwihr, when it was suddenly attacked by a large force of enemy tanks, tank destroyers and infantry. The 30th was caught in an open ground and was unable to dig into the frozen earth, ending up mangled by the attacking Germans and ordered to withdraw. To fill the gap, the Americans ordered the 15th Infantry to take its place.

The very next day, on the southern edge of the woods, German tanks and infantry hit the regiment's Company B hard, wounding 102 of its 120 enlisted men and killing all of its officers except one: Lt. Audie Murphy.

That same day, Murphy led what was left of his company into the woods, where they, too, were unable to dig any kind of foxhole. They worked through the night but couldn't make any progress in the snow and cold. The next morning, Murphy was reinforced with two tank destroyers from the 601st Tank Destroyer Battalion and used them, along with five armored vehicles, to form a defensive position. It was better but it was still weak, and they could see the heavily defended village of Holtzwihr from this spot.

It was now Jan. 26, 1945. Murphy had made the most of what was available, but was informed that his reinforcements had not yet arrived -- and they wouldn't make it that day. At 2 p.m. that day, six tanks and 250 elite German mountain troops moved out of the village toward their position. Murphy only had time to get to a phone and call for artillery before the shooting started. It turns out the road to a German victory in the Colmar Pocket ran right through the road his company was holding.

The American tank destroyers opened up on the oncoming German tanks immediately, but their fire was ineffective. They were taken out either by enemy tank rounds or poor maneuvering, which scattered surviving anti-tank troops into the forest. The only silver lining was the M10 tank destroyers' mounted guns, which tore into the German infantry, but even that didn't last long. Company B's machine gun crew was hit next. Murphy knew his unit couldn't hold this vital stretch and ordered his men to fall back into the forest. He would cover their retreat while directing artillery fire.

With the Germans advancing and his carbine out of ammunition, Murphy spied a burning tank destroyer and its remaining .50-caliber gun. Instead of going back into the forest, he climbed aboard the turret and began pouring fire into the oncoming enemy advance. He believed the tanks could not advance without infantry, so he began mowing them down. Murphy was right; as he cut down enemy troops, the German tanks were forced to fall back to their own treeline. He fought on as enemy tank shells and artillery exploded around him.

Murphy killed an estimate 50 German troops from atop the tank destroyer on Jan. 26, 1945. (Universal Pictures)

For an hour, Murphy was obscured by smoke and firing the machine gun, stopping only to reload, call in artillery fire or recover from the exploding 88-millimeter shells. After what must have seemed like days, the clouds parted and he was able to get close-air support from Allied air power. In the face of all that firepower, the Germans finally began a retreat toward the village. It was great timing for Murphy, because his phone to Allied artillery suddenly went dead. He left the tank destroyer and rejoined his men in the relative safety of the forest. After he reached the treeline, the turret on which he stood for that entire hour blew up, tossing it sky high.

Refusing to be evacuated or deterred, Murphy then began to plan a counterattack, retaking their original position from the remaining Germans. Company B held its ground throughout that night and the reinforced 30th Infantry Regiment captured the village the next day. Had Murphy not made his stand atop the burning armored vehicle, it's likely the entire company, undermanned and demoralized, would have been annihilated.

Murphy was promoted to first lieutenant and received the Legion of Merit for his leadership during the Colmar Pocket operation. On June 2, 1945, Lt. Gen. Alexander Patch, commander of the Seventh Army, presented the 19-year-old Murphy with the Medal of Honor for his actions outside of Holtzwihr. By the war's end, he would famously receive every medal for valor the United States offered, along with three Purple Hearts for his trouble.

Lt. Gen. Alexander Patch awards the Legion of Merit and Medal of Honor to Lt. Audie Murphy. (Audie Murphy Research Foundation)

After the war, Murphy went off to Hollywood, where he began a slow but lucrative film career, landing his first leading role in 1949's "Bad Boy." That film led to a contract with Universal Pictures, where he was particularly known for his war movies (whether they were his story or not) and for his westerns. He later parlayed his success in western film into making country music and western television series.

As the most decorated soldier of World War II, he not only wrote his popular autobiography "To Hell and Back," but also played himself in the 1955 movie of the same name, along with some 40 other films, including "The Unforgiven," "The Quiet American" and "A Time for Dying." His performance in "To Hell and Back" was so solid that the movie made him a massive star, one of Universal's "Big Four" leading men alongside Tony Curtis, Rock Hudson and Jeff Chandler.

Murphy would go on to join the Texas National Guard and Army Reserve while being an outspoken advocate of post-traumatic stress disorder research and treatment, from which he personally suffered for the rest of his life. He died at age 45 in 1971, a passenger on a private plane that crashed into a mountain near Roanoke, Virginia, and was interred at Arlington National Cemetery.

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Today (Jan 18) the New York State Public Service Commission voted to authorize the construction of Con Edison's proposed Reliable Clean City - I. . .
The Brewers are known to be looking for additions at first base, with general manager Matt Arnold having admitted last month that both infield corners could use some work, listing a reunion with Carlos Santana as one move they have interest in. Today, Robert Murray of FanSided reiterates that interest in Santana but adds that the Brewers have also considered Garrett Cooper.

Cooper, 33, has plenty of success as a big league hitter but just had an ill-timed down year as he was heading into free agency. He hit .274/.350/.444 from 2019 to 2022, with that production translating to a wRC+ of 117, indicating he was 17% better than the league average hitter. Due to the pandemic and some injuries, he only played 331 games over that four-year stretch, but it was nonetheless a solid run of work at the plate.

But as mentioned, his production took a bit of a dip last year. Between the Marlins and the Padres, having been traded to the latter prior to the deadline, he hit .251/.304/.419 for a wRC+ of 96. On the plus side, he did stay healthy enough to play in 123 games, a career high. But it was obviously not the ideal platform season for him to take into free agency.

Nonetheless, the interest from the Brewers is sensible, as they didnt have anyone firmly established at first base last year. Santana and Rowdy Tellez got most of the plate appearances, but the latter hit just .215/.291/.376, which led to him being non-tendered and signing with the Pirates. Santanas line of .240/.318/.429 was right around league average but hes now a free agent and going into his age-38 season. The club also gave some playing time to guys like Owen Miller, Luke Voit, Jon Singleton and Mike Brosseau, without any of them staking a firm claim to the job.

The club has made one addition at first base this offseason, acquiring Jake Bauers from the Yankees. But he has hit just .211/.302/.361 in his 1,398 major league plate appearances thus far in his career and shouldnt stand in the way of Cooper joining the roster. Cooper hits right-handed and Bauers a lefty, but even Coopers weaker side is stronger than Bauers with the platoon advantage. Cooper has hit .286/.338/.478 against lefties in his career for a wRC+ of 120 and .262/.337/.419 against righties for a wRC+ of 107. Bauers has a paltry .210/.276/.330 line and 65 wRC+ against southpaws and then .211/.310/.371 and 89 wRC+ against righties.

Cooper isnt a burner on the basepaths but is considered solid on defense. His time at first base has resulted in three Defensive Runs Saved, eight Outs Above Average and a grade of 2.1 from Ultimate Zone Rating. Hes also been sent out to the outfield corners at times but with his work there generally being considered subpar.

The Brewers are the defending champions in the National League Central but they won the division despite a rather tepid offense. As a whole, the club hit .240/.319/.385 for a wRC+ of 92, which was better than just six other teams. They could get a boost when prospect Jackson Chourio reaches the majors but not all prospects immediately hit the ground running when they make it to the show. Meanwhile, the other clubs in the division have all been active in upgrading their rosters for 2024.

There are other big bats available in free agency but the Brewers might want to use the designated hitter slot on Christian Yelich as they are loaded with young outfielders like Chourio, Sal Frelick, Garrett Mitchell, Joey Wiemer and others. They have William Contreras at catcher and Willy Adames as anchors at catcher and shortstop, respectively. Brice Turang will likely get another shot at second base since the free agent market for that position is fairly weak.

At first base, there are other options out there. Rhys Hoskins would be considered by most to be the top available name, despite missing all of 2023 due to a torn ACL. MLBTR predicted him for a two-year, $36MM deal, which would be a little rich for the Brewers. In the last five years, the largest free agent deal theyve given out was $24MM over two years for Jackie Bradley Jr., as shown on MLBTRs Contract Tracker.

Of the other names available at first, a lot of them are on the older side and likely couldnt handle a full-time gig at first. Brandon Belt is coming off a strong season at the plate but hes about to turn 36 and only made 28 starts at first on the year. Joey Votto is now 40 and was trying to come back from shoulder surgery last year. C.J. Cron is 34 but coming off an injury-marred year where he only played 71 games and wasnt at his best when healthy.

Cooper has never really been the picture of health, having spent time on the injured list in his career due to a wrist sprain, a calf strain, a lumbar strain, an elbow sprain, a concussion, an inner ear infection and more. Hes only twice played more than 107 games in a season, but both of those instances were the last two seasons.
ALCONA COUNTY, MI -- A jury needed just two hours of deliberation this week to convict a Glennie man in the 2022 murder of his girlfriends 2-year-old daughter. Aaron Trout was convicted on charges of second-degree murder and first-degree child abuse in 23rd Circuit Court Wednesday, according to The Alpena News.

Trout was arrested just days after the deceased body of 2-year-old Jayde McDonnell was brought to the MyMichigan Hospital in Alpena on July 22, 2022. McDonnells mother and Trouts then girlfriend Adrienne Pavelka was also arrested in the matter. Last year, Pavelka pleaded guilty to a charge of first-degree child abuse and agreed to testify against Trout in his case.

Prosecutors alleged that Trout severely beat the toddler for days prior to her death and while Pavelka was responsible for part of the abuse, Trout was ultimately the one who killed McDonnell. Trout is due back in court on Feb. 7 to be sentenced. He faces up to life in prison for the murder conviction.
The countrys largest brick-and-mortar retailer says it is increasing the salary of store managers and expanding bonuses opportunities that could increase their total salary significantly. In a letter issued Thursday, Walmart says it is increasing the base salary of store managers so that the average salary jumps from $117,000 to $128,000 a year.

On top of the salary increase, Walmart is also restructuring its bonus program for te store managers so that store profits along with sales help determine a managers bonus. The company estimates that if a manager hits all their targets, they could earn up to 200% of their base salary in a bonus.

Related story: Walmart adds buy now, pay later option to self-checkout registers across the U.S.

Along with manager salary increases, Walmart says it is in the process of increasing the average hourly worker wage to more than $18 an hour. Walmart estimates that 75% of the companys field management team starts their careers as hourly workers before moving into management positions.

This investment is about belief. We believe in you. We believe youre the keepers of our culture today while youre also helping to identify and grow the future leaders of our company. Youre the reason our associates can build something special working at Walmart  just like many of us have. You make the difference, and we could not be more excited to continue this journey with you, wrote Cedric Clark, executive vice president, store operations for Walmart in a letter sent to store managers.
Editors note: This story has been corrected. The assistant attorney general on the case was Danielle Russo-Bennetts and not Danielle Hagaman-Clark.

ANN ARBOR, MI -- A judge outside Washtenaw County has been assigned the cases of three former Eastern Michigan University students accused of sexual assault.

Judge Michael R. Osalver from the 39th Circuit Court in Lenawee County was assigned the cases as of Wednesday, Jan. 17, according to court records. The assignment comes after multiple Washtenaw County judges recused themselves.

The cases will still be heard at the Washtenaw County Trial Court in Ann Arbor.

Both the defense and prosecution agreed to move the case to an out-of-county judge on Dec. 15.

Dustyn Durbin and DAngelo McWilliams, both 27, face several felony sexual assault charges including first-degree-criminal sexual conduct, a potential life offense. Both were bound over to trial court back in the fall of 2020. Thomas Hernandez, 25, is charged with four counts of first-degree criminal sexual misconduct and was bound over in Sept. 2022.

Judge Tracy Van den Bergh disqualified herself on Friday, Dec. 15 over an appearance of impropriety. Van den Bergh only briefly presided over the case. It was the third time the cases had been reassigned.

Judge Patrick Conlin was previously assigned to Durbins case. Judge Arianne Slay was presiding over the cases of Hernandez and McWilliams. Both judges recused themselves as of Oct. 30, according to court records, also over an appearance of impropriety.

The potential conflicts are with a witness the defense is calling  former Washtenaw County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney John Vella, the initial prosecutor on the case  for an evidentiary hearing.

Van den Bergh said at the Dec. 15 hearing that she initially took the cases because she doesnt have a criminal docket and does not normally interact with people and attorneys in the criminal realm. However, she said she generally presides over family cases and Vella is now a family law attorney, raising some issues.

Assistant Attorney General Danielle Russo-Bennetts said the courts are clear that its not about if a judge can be fair, but rather whether it appears that they may not be. Russo-Bennetts also said relationships have been disclosed regarding another witness Kelly Carter, the former Assistant Attorney General on the case, making way for a further appearance of impropriety.

Defense attorney Douglas Gutscher, representing McWilliams, added that because the defense raised concerns with the integrity of Washtenaw Countys prosecution in general, the case would be better taken outside the county.

Van den Bergh agreed and recused herself saying she did not believe she was biased, but would not want to create the appearance of there being any bias. She also said that as members of the bar, relationships between prosecutors, defense attorneys and judges are going to be there wherever you go, unless the case were to be taken outside the county.

The evidentiary hearing has to do with motions filed by the three defendants to dismiss the cases, alleging that police deleted evidence, according to court records. The motions state Vella told the court that the Ypsilanti Police Department never recorded their interviews of the alleged victims. However, it was later found that Ypsilanti Police Department detectives Jessica Lowry and Annette Coppock recorded the interviews for notetaking material and disposed of them afterward, according to court records.

Prosecutors from the Michigan Attorney Generals Office responded to the motion by saying that none of the parties knew of these recordings, according to court records, and that they were not deleted in an attempt to jeopardize the defenses cases.

The three former students are also mentioned in a federal civil rights lawsuit filed against EMU in 2021 claiming the school mishandled sexual assault reports against several male students.

Durbin was originally arraigned in 2020. He was a member of the Alpha Sigma Phi fraternity at EMU where, according to victim testimony at his preliminary examination, he allegedly sexually assaulted multiple women in the fraternity house. Durbin was immediately and permanently expelled from his membership and will never be involved with the fraternity again, fraternity officials told MLive/The Ann Arbor News in 2020.

McWilliams was a member of EMUs chapter of the Delta Tau Delta fraternity. He was hired as a deputy with the Washtenaw County Sheriffs Office in 2019 after graduating, officials said, before the alleged crimes occurred. McWilliams was placed on unpaid administrative leave after Washtenaw County Sheriffs Office officials became aware of the charges filed against him.

All three men remain free on bond. Their next hearing dates have not been set, according to court records.

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.
ELKO  A man was flown to Utah for medical treatment after stabbing himself during a traffic stop on Wednesday afternoon.

Elko police pulled over the 69-year-old man at 12:12 p.m. at the East End Mall on a warrant for a Nevada Parole and Probation violation.

According to police, the driver did not cooperate and refused to get out of his vehicle. While speaking to the officer, he rolled up the window, retrieved a knife and plunged it into his chest.

Officers broke the window and used an electronic control device to get the man to release the knife.

The man was given first aid and transported to Northeastern Nevada Regional Hospital. He was later flown to Salt Lake City for advanced medical care.

The mans name was not released by police. But Elko Police Chief Tyler Trouten said the man was not from the Elko region. His condition was unavailable.

Police detectives are conducting the investigation.
WASHTENAW COUNTY, MI - Felony embezzlement charges announced Thursday, Jan. 18 against long-time Superior Township Trustee Nancy Caviston came as a surprise to many of her fellow elected leaders.

Twenty eight years shes been serving the people, and shes always been a very cordial and friendly person, so Im shocked and saddened to hear that shes got herself into trouble here, said fellow Trustee Bill Secrest.

Secrest and four other township board members interviewed by MLive/The Ann Arbor News on Friday, Jan. 19 said they had no advance knowledge of the charges, publicly announced by Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel on Thursday afternoon.

Read more: Superior Township trustee charged with embezzlement at insurance company

I was totally taken aback by it, said township Clerk Lynette Findley, who has served alongside Caviston since 2016.

Caviston, a Democrat first elected in 1996 in the Washtenaw County township east of Ann Arbor, is accused of embezzling from employees at the Plymouth-area insurance agency she operates, The Caviston Agency, Inc., according to the AGs Office.

The 76-year-old faces two felony counts of embezzlement of an amount between $1,000 and $20,000 and two misdemeanor wage and benefit violations.

Prosecutors allege she misappropriated the payroll-deducted retirement account contributions of two long-term employees and failed to meet the required employer matching contributions toward those accounts.

Caviston did not immediately return a voicemail left at her insurance office or an email from MLive/The Ann Arbor News on Friday morning.

Findley said the trustee had not communicated with the township regarding her position on the township board. Caviston was last reelected in 2020 for a seventh four-year term, running through the 2024 election cycle.

Trustees dont have any direct supervision of township funds, and Findley said she wasnt aware of any alleged malfeasance related to Cavistons township office.

My personal opinion, since she has not been proven guilty yet, it would be up to her to tender her letter of resignation, Findley said.

Township Supervisor Ken Schwartz said the board is limited in the action it can take. Caviston may leave office only by resigning, through a citizen-initiated recall effort or by action of the Michigan governor, he said.

Other township leaders said they hoped the board would address the charges.

Trustee Bernice Lindke, in her fourth year in township elected office, said she was flabbergasted to learn of the accusations and thought the board should convene to discuss the situation.

Fellow trustee Rhonda McGill, also elected in 2020, said she was sad and a little disappointed by the news.

I think that shes got to search in her soul and do the right thing at this particular point because we definitely have a lot of business in Superior that needs to be taken care of and I just dont know that we are in need of any additional distractions, McGill said.

All I can do I just pray for her situation and hope that things get resolved quickly for those that were impacted as a result, she said.

Want more Ann Arbor-area news? Bookmark the local Ann Arbor news page, the Ypsilanti-area news page or sign up for the free 3@3 Ann Arbor daily newsletter.
WASHTENAW COUNTY, MI  A Superior Township woman accused of embezzling from employees at an insurance agency she operates was arraigned on Thursday, Jan. 18, according to Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessels office.

Nancy Caviston, 76, has been charged with two counts of embezzlement by an agent of an amount between $1,000 and $20,000  a felony with a sentence up to five years.

She was also charged with two counts of wage and benefit violations in the 35th District Court in Wayne County  a 90 day misdemeanor.

Caviston is on the Superior Township Board of Trustees. She has been a trustee since 1996 and is currently serving her seventh term, according to township documents.

Caviston is also the operator of the Plymouth-area insurance agency The Caviston Agency. She allegedly misappropriated the payroll-deducted IRA contributions of two long-term employees, according to Nessels office. It is also alleged that Caviston failed to meet the required employer matching contributions toward those IRA accounts.

Payroll fraud is an insidious offense that can go undetected for years without the victim employee becoming aware, Nessel said in a press release. Working Michiganders should be able to trust that their deductions are going toward their rightful purposes, especially retirement funds they intend to rely on in their post-career years. I am thankful for the investigative efforts of the federal Department of Labors Employee Benefits Security Administration for their watchful eye on the hard-earned wages and benefits of employees, and to the prosecutors in my office for bringing these significant charges of embezzlement.

Cavistons attorney did not immediately respond for comment

Her bond is set at $5,000.

The next hearing is scheduled on Feb. 2 in front of Wayne County Judge James Plakas.

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.
GENESEE COUNTY, MI -- A Michigan hop farm located in the Flint area was recently recognized for having the best Chinook hops in the state.

The Hop Growers of Michigan hosted the 7th annual Michigan Chinook Cup last week at the 2024 Michigans Great Beer State Conference & Trade Show at the Radisson Plaza Hotel in Kalamazoo.

The Jan. 10-12 conference, which hosted nearly 500 attendees including more than 50 industry speakers, was presented by the Michigan Brewers Guild, Master Brewers Association of the Americas  District Michigan and Michigan State University Extension.

Alec Mull, General Manager at Bells Brewery and past president of the Hop Quality Group presented the first Place award to Mark and Sean Trowbridge of Top Hop Farms in Genesee Countys Atlas Township, near Goodrich.

For the third time in seven years, Top Hops will have their farm name engraved on the Chinook Cup and will receive a Keepsake Cup to proudly display at their facility.

It means a lot to us because there is a lot of competition in the state, Mark Trowbridge told MLive-The Flint Journal. Chinook hops has become very popular with the brewers.

The Michigan Chinook Cup is patterned after the The Cascade Cup, a yearly national competition, and awards the states best hop grower.

The competition is determined by a panel of brewery experts through a series of blind sensory tests. This year, six Chinook entries were ranked with scoring provided for aroma, appearance/color and brewing values, a news release said.

The hops have oils that provide an aroma and brewing properties and some flavoring for the beer, Mark Trowbridge said. A dried hop is submitted for judgement.

Although there are over 100 different varieties of hops used by craft brewers across the U.S., three of the top publicly available hop varieties have consistently been Cascade, Centennial and Chinook, a news release said.

Michigan is ranked first in the Great Lakes Region and fourth in the nation (behind three states in the Pacific Northwest) with nearly 500 acres in hop production, the news release said.

Mark Trowbridge said he and his son have owned the farm in Goodrich for 15 years, which consists of 20 acres of hops and 65 acres of farm land.

They directly sell their hops to brewers in the state, a majority in southeastern Michigan as well in Ohio and Indiana.

Id say we have somewhat of a unique soil type, said Mark Trowbridge, explaining why his farm is different from others. We are small enough to do things in a manual way. And when we dry our hops, we dry them at a lower temperature than a lot of people do. We dry our hops at 100 degrees. We feel like drying at a lower temperature gives us a competitive advantage over farms drying at 130 degrees.

Hops are part of Michigans overall $104 billion agricultural industry, according to a news release.

We just hope it gets some recognition with the brewing industry that the state of Michigan is growing good hops, Mark Trowbridge said.
GRAND RAPIDS, MI  A federal judge dismissed an effort to stop state prosecution of one of the Republicans accused in a false-elector scheme in Michigans 2020 presidential election.

Clifford James Frost Jr., 75, of Warren, said in his lawsuit that state Attorney General Dana Nessel, a Democrat, filed criminal charges as punishment or retaliation against Republican electors.

He is among 15 Republicans facing felony charges in state court in an alleged effort to keep former President Donald Trump in office after he lost the election to President Joe Biden.

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel leaves the capitol building after the Electoral College vote in Lansing on Monday Dec. 14, 2020. Nicole Hester/Mlive.com

Nessel said the defendants knowingly lied on a false document with intent to defraud despite Biden winning Michigan by 154,000 votes.

Related: Republican sues Nessel: False-elector scheme was futile political protest, not a crime

A former defendant, James Renner, 76, of Lansing, had charges dismissed as part of a cooperation agreement.

U.S. District Judge Robert Jonker in Grand Rapids said Frost will have the opportunity to challenge the charges during an upcoming preliminary examination or potential trial.

Related: Judge will not throw out false elector suits over Nessels brainwashed comments

The Michigan state criminal courts are also competent to decide any potential constitutional challenges Frost raises regarding his prosecution. Only decisionmakers infected by personal or pecuniary bias have failed this competency standard, and there is no evidence in the record suggesting that either type of bias exists here, Jonker wrote in an opinion issued Thursday, Jan. 18.

Related: Michigan GOP, after a pause, excoriates Nessel over Trump elector charges

Frosts argument that the prosecution cannot prove its case against him or has failed to state an actionable claim is akin to the claims by almost every defendant contesting liability in any criminal case, the judge said.

The state cases, alleging forgery, conspiracy to commit uttering and publishing and conspiracy to commit election fraud forgery, are pending in Lansing.
GRAND RAPIDS, MI - My late parents had demanding fulltime jobs, but they always had a side job or hustle to make sure their six kids had everything they needed.

Most of that money went into an emergency fund in case of layoffs, illness or car repairs but with six mouths to feed and clothe, they couldnt put thousands into it. But the little they set aside gave them peace of mind.

Fortunately, mom and dad never got laid-off, so my family never experienced the financial hardship that can lead to, but we knew other families who did and struggled for a while. They were helped by the church, family, friends and neighbors.

I thought about them when I read reporter Brian McVicars story about Atlanta-based Graphic Packaging International closing its plant in Wyoming in March, resulting in 111 employees being laid off.

The plant manufactures folding cartons for food and other household products. After an assessment, the decision was to consolidate the Wyoming production into our broader network of packaging facilities, Brian was told in a statement. The company says it will provide outplacement services and assist those employees, who are encouraged to apply for other positions. The only other Michigan location is in Kalamazoo.

Readers were also interested this week in John Tunisons article about Kent County Circuit Judge Mark Trusock going above the state guidelines when sentencing a man for his 12th drunken driving offense. Police determined Joseph Kilchermanns blood-alcohol level was 0.17, more than twice the states legal limit.

He pleaded guilty to third-offense operating while intoxicated. Trusock said he was going to kill himself or someone else, about sentencing him to eight years, with a maximum release date of 60 years depending on any future state parole board decision. Thats well above the minimum 58 months under the guidelines.

Allendale Public Schools Superintendent Garth Coopers apology to parents for keeping school open amid sub-zero wind chills that Melissa Frick wrote about was another story that resonated with readers.

He received some backlash for the Tuesday decision during the winter storm that led to some students standing out in the cold longer due to busing issues on treacherous roads. Cooper said conditions worsened after the initial decision and in hindsight, he wished he had opted for a snow day.

Take a look at those headlines and others below. Monica Scott is the editor for MLive/The Grand Rapids Press, who previously was a reporter who covered the city, county and schools in the community.

Superintendent apologizes for keeping school open in sub-zero wind chill

Despite 12 drunk driving convictions, man sought leniency. Appeals court says no.

Packaging company to close Grand Rapids area plant, 111 workers to lose jobs

John Gibbs threatens legal action against Ottawa County if hes fire

Bar with rooftop seating, backyard food trucks could replace vacant lot

Whats being built along Harvey Street? Its got 4 operating rooms.

How the decision is made to cancel school in West Michigan

Ottawa County commissioner gets own lawyer ahead of hearing on disputed $4M deal

Fisherman who broke through bayou ice escaped on his own, police say

Grand Haven icon Pronto Pup opening its doors for one winter weekend only

Woman convicted of lying to police after son, 7, brought gun to Grand Rapids school

West Michigan brewery opening Michigans first indoor pickleball restaurant

3 Grand Rapids students win awards for essays, artwork commemorating Martin Luther King Jr.
UPDATE: The judge closed the hearing to the public and media.

UPDATE 2: Judge rules that she wont enforce the alleged $4 million settlement offer.

OTTAWA COUNTY, MI -- Several Ottawa County commissioners could testify Friday, Jan. 19 in a hearing to determine whether Ottawa County will be on the hook for a $4 million settlement with the county health officer.

Muskegon County Judge Jenny McNeill could hear testimony from Ottawa County Board Chair Joe Moss, County Clerk Justin Roebuck and commissioners Roger Bergman, Doug Zylstra and Jacob Bonnema.

The case hinges on whether Ottawa County commissioners approved a $4 million settlement deal with Health Officer Adeline Hambley following a Nov. 6 closed session.

Ottawa County Corporate Counsel David Kallman said a vote, following the closed session, was simply to continue negotiations with Hambley and her attorney, Sarah Howard.

But Howard said a deal was in place and she believes the vote solidified it.

Related: Ottawa County commissioner gets own lawyer ahead of hearing on disputed $4M deal

Bonnema told MLive Tuesday he believed the vote was to write up the $4 million settlement agreement. The vote was 7-3.

A majority of commissioners in January 2023 voted to replace Hambley with another person. The majority on the board is affiliated with an ultra-conservative group called Ottawa Impact.

Hambley stymied the effort when she filed a wrongful termination lawsuit.

Commissioners held a lengthy termination hearing in late October, but then in early November revealed they were trying to reach a settlement with Hambley.

In wanting to replace Hambley, Board Chair Joe Moss alleged Hambley is incompetent and engaged in neglect of duty and misconduct.

The charges of incompetence, neglect of duty and misconduct against Hambley largely stem from her warning the public that the health department may have to shut down if commissioners passed proposed budget cuts that wouldnt allow the department to fulfil state-mandated public health services.

County leaders later walked back the severity of the cuts but said Hambley made false representations to the public about the budget process.

Moss and Ottawa Impact commissioners campaigned in 2022 on frustrations over how the county health department and state enforced COVID-19 masking mandates.

Hambley was not the leader of the health department when the county implemented a mask mandate for pre-K through sixth grade schools. She has been the administrative health officer since December 2022.

At the first meeting of the new board in January, Ottawa Impact commissioners attempted to replace Hambley with a safety manager at a local HVAC company.

Hambley later sued the board for trying to remove her without a termination hearing and cause, as required by state law, and on allegations of whistleblower act violations.

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.
MUSKEGON COUNTY, MI  A Muskegon County judge wont enforce an alleged $4 million settlement for Ottawa Countys Administrative Health Officer Adeline Hambley.

The judge made the ruling Friday, Jan. 19, after hearing testimony from Ottawa County Clerk Justin Roebuck. Hambleys attorney, Sarah Howard, intended to question four county commissioners during the Friday evidentiary hearing, but Judge Jenny McNeill dismissed the hearing after Roebuck gave testimony for approximately two hours.

The hearing took place after the Ottawa County Board of Commissioners backed out of agreeing to pay Hambley $4 million in exchange for her resignation. After lengthy deliberations in a closed-door meeting on Nov. 6, 2023, commissioners voted to accept a recommendation from the countys attorneys regarding settlement negotiations. No details of that recommendation were made available to the public.

Howard argues the board voted to approve paying out the alleged $4 million settlement to Hambley, but Ottawa County Attorney David Kallman argues the board only voted to continue the settlement negotiations.

McNeill previously requested to see a copy of the minutes from the Nov. 6 closed session, which were provided to the judge by Roebuck. Howard said she still has not seen a copy of those minutes.

RELATED: Judge kicks public out of hearing over disputed $4M Ottawa County settlement

Earlier on Friday, McNeill decided to close the hearing to the public, making media and members of the public leave the courtroom before testimony began. After the judge made her ruling not to enforce the $4 million figure, attorneys spoke with media about her decision.

Kallman said he was happy the judge sided with his argument both that the additional testimony from commissioners wasnt needed and that the board did not approve the settlement when it voted.

Were very pleased with todays outcome and hopefully we can get to a real settlement, Kallman said.

Howard said its likely she and Hambley will appeal the judges decision to a higher court.

The judge decided after the first witness that the board intended to but didnt effectively ratify the decision when they werent specific in that (Nov. 6) motion, Howard said. Because they werent specific, they didnt effectuate what they intended to do.

(Hambley) and I are going to talk about options for appeal and make that decision in the next couple of days.

RELATED: Lawsuits, childhood innocence, $4M settlement talks: How far-right board shook up Ottawa County

In the meantime, Hambley and the county will move forward with trying to reach a settlement on her termination through mediation. Grand Rapids attorney Tom Behm of the Gruel Mills Nims & Pylman law firm has been selected as mediator out of a list of 10 options Howard provided to Kallman.

Mediation is currently tentatively scheduled to begin on Friday, Feb. 26, in a closed session with the full board of commissioners at the Ottawa County Fillmore Street complex.

I have no opposition to continuing with mediation to see if we can come to a new agreement, Howard said. If we dont settle, litigation will continue, so well see what that looks like as we go forward.

Want more Grand Rapids-area news? Bookmark the local Grand Rapids news page or sign up for the free 3@3 Grand Rapids daily newsletter.

More from MLive:

One more day of bitterly cold wind chills in store for Michigan

Luxury watch manufacturer Shinola opens downtown Grand Rapids store

Lake Michigan beach park near Holland to nearly double in size
LAKETOWN TOWNSHIP, MI  A Lake Michigan beach park near Holland will nearly double in size thanks to a recent property purchase.

The property purchased Jan. 11 by Laketown Township wont add any further shoreline to Laketown Beach, but it does have a view of the water and will add more room for visitors to recreate while visiting the park.

The beach is located at 6710 142nd Ave. about five miles southwest of Holland.

The township over the next few years will decide on a best use for the new property, which is 3.17 acres and connected to the parks southeastern edge. Before the purchase, the beach park measured 4.45 acres.

It is important to acquire as much land as possible near Lake Michigan for our residents, said Township Manager Al Meshkin. There are no plans for the property yet, but the parks commission will work on plans over the next few years.

The purchase was made possible by a $640,000 state grant and a donation from the landowner, J.P. Oosterbaan. The townships share of the costs was $1,453.40 in closing and transfer fees.

The total purchase price was not immediately available from the township.

Laketown Beach is the townships oldest park, with the original land acquired in 1926. Over the past several years, the township added three properties to the park, with the three of them totaling about three-quarters of an acre.

We have been working to acquire land near the township beach since 2016. This is our fifth, and largest, acquisition, he said.

People can learn more about Laketown Beach at this link.
KALAMAZOO, MI -- A Kalamazoo church built in 1929 is being demolished to make way for a new development.

A demolition crew has been tearing down the former North Westnedge Church of Christ at 1101 N. Westnedge Ave., this week. There are plans to build new housing on the site.
LAGRANGE COUNTY, INDIANA -- A Sturgis, Michigan, man was killed in a crash in the median of the Indiana Toll Road, police said.

The Indiana State Police is investigating a crash on the Indiana Toll Road (I-80/90) that led to the death of a tow truck driver on Thursday, Jan. 18.
You cant see radon. Or taste it, or smell it. But you can die from it.

Exposure to radon, which comes from the ground and is naturally occurring, kills about 21,000 people nationally each year. It is the leading cause of lung cancer among people who have never smoked and kills more people than secondhand smoke, drunk driving and house fires combined, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

And in Nevada, more than a quarter of houses tested for radon showed higher than safe levels for the odorless gas, nearly four times the national average.

But deaths from radon exposure are preventable, according to Chris Kelly, Nevada radon education program officer University of Nevada, Reno. Simple tests can detect radon levels in businesses, homes and other areas where people spend significant amounts of time indoors.

Free test kits Test kits are free through Feb. 29, while supplies last! (Free kits are available for pick up only.) Elko County Extension, Elko County * 701 Walnut St. Elko, NV 89801 Phone: 775-738-7291 West Wendover City Hall 1111 N. Gene L. Jones Way PO Box 2825 West Wendover, NV 89883 Phone: 775- 664-3081 Eureka County Extension, Eureka County 461 S. Main St. Eureka, NV 89316 Phone: 775-237-6134 Humboldt County Extension, Humboldt County * 1085 Fairgrounds Rd. Winnemucca, NV 89445 Phone: 775-623-6304 Lander County Extension, Lander County * 815 N 2nd St. Battle Mountain, NV 89820 White Pine County Extension, White Pine County 995 Campton St. Ely, NV 89301 Phone: 775-293-6599 * Long-term test kits are also available at these locations Short-term test kits are available at all locations listed * Partner locations ONLY have free test kits during Jan/Feb.

Its the only cancer thats 100 percent preventable, because if a persons not a smoker and they get lung cancer, then it most likely comes from radon, she said. And its easy to test for radon and its easy to mitigate.

But radon levels and mitigation are largely unregulated. There are no federal regulations governing acceptable levels for schools or other public buildings, only nonbinding guidelines and recommendations issued by the EPA.

And other than requiring sellers to disclose known radon levels when selling a property, Nevada lawmakers have largely ignored more stringent radon regulations as well. The state doesnt require testing in day care centers and schools, as some other states do, and it doesnt require radon-resistant new construction. It also doesnt require a public education program or have any other mitigation laws adopted by other states.

When she talks to lawmakers and local officials, they are generally shocked we dont have any regulations, but none of them want to make it their platform, Kelly said.

Theres no reason for a child to sit year after year in a classroom with high radon levels and the state doesnt require the school to be tested.

Like smoking half a pack a day

Nevada has the most surface uranium of any state in the nation, according to the U.S. Geological Survey, and uranium naturally produces radon as it decays. As radon breaks down, it produces radioactive particles that can embed themselves in peoples airways, potentially leading to lung cancer, according to the World Health Organization.

And while only about 11% of Americans smoke, about 15% of Nevadans smoke. Smokers are 25 times more at risk from radon exposure than nonsmokers because of the synergistic effects of smoking and radon exposure.

Smokers or not, when it comes to testing for lung cancer, Nevada ranks near the bottom.

The state is 47th nationally for preventative screenings, with only about 1% of high-risk Nevadans getting screened each year, well below the national rate of 4.5%.

In 2022, an estimated 2,030 Nevadans were diagnosed with lung cancer and nearly 1,200 people died from the disease.

Lung cancer claims more lives each year than any other form of cancer  and [poses] a higher risk to Nevadans compared to the national average, Kelly said.

Testing houses and businesses is the first step toward preventing radon-caused lung cancer. Through February, free test kits are being offered statewide by the University of Nevada, Reno Extensions Nevada Radon Education Program in recognition of National Radon Action Month. Since the program started in 2007, more than 31,000 homes have been tested.

Tested houses show some alarming numbers  more than a quarter of those tested have radon levels at or above those recommended by the EPA, the 12th highest in the nation.

The U.S. surgeon general suggests testing for radon every two years. While exposure to any amount of radon can be risky, the EPA recommends mitigation if the radon concentration is 4 picocuries per liter of air (pCi/L). A pCi is a measurement of the rate at which radon decays, emitting particles that can embed themselves in peoples airways. At a radon concentration level of 4 pCi/L, there will be nearly 12,700 radioactive disintegrations of radon particles in one liter of air over the course of a 24-hour period.

Regularly breathing air at that level is the equivalent of smoking a half pack of cigarettes per day  or higher.

Mitigation measures include increasing underfloor ventilation, installing a radon sump pump in the basement, improving ventilation and adding fans. Such mitigation measures can more than halve indoor radon levels.

Nevadas average indoor radon level is 3.61 pCi/L, although many properties test much higher than that. Kelly receives quarterly updates on the results of radon testing in the state, and some reported radon levels are often in the teens or much higher.

In 2015, a Reno property was found with radon levels of 195 pCi/L, and last year, a Spanish Springs property tested at 152 pCi/L.

And while the highest numbers in the state have been in Northern Nevada, Kelly is also seeing an increase across Southern Nevada.

As we are doing more testing in Southern Nevada, the numbers are coming up, she said.
MUSKEGON COUNTY, MI  A man with previous convictions for capturing images of an unclothed person is accused entering girls locker rooms at Mona Shores Middle School.

Norton Shores police were concerned that the suspect, Jarrid Percy-Lahaie, 23, of Roosevelt Park, had hidden electronic devices in the locker rooms but none were found after an extensive search.
This is not the first time former Rep. Justin Amash, the Republican-turned-Independent west Michigan congressman, has flirted with a run for higher office.

In 2020, before declining to seek reelection, he mulled an independent run for president before announcing an exploratory committee as a libertarian. In 2022, amid a congressional leadership crisis, he floated himself as an alternative, independent Speaker of the House.

Now, hes considering jumping into the already-crowded race Republican primary for U.S. Senate in Michigan, announcing Thursday he created an exploratory committee for the race.

Amash said on X, formerly known as Twitter, that the current candidates are uninspired, unserious and unprepared to tackle the chief impediment to liberty and economic prosperity  an overgrown and abusive government that strives to centralize power and snuff out individualism.

The people of Michigan and our country deserve better, he wrote.

Republican candidates running include Amashs successor in Congress, former U.S. Reps. Peter Meijer and Mike Rogers, former Detroit police chief James Craig, businessman Sandy Pensler, businessman Michael Hoover, State Board of Education member Nikki Snyder, lawyer Alexandria Taylor, J.D. Wilson and Sherry ODonnell. On the Democratic side, candidates include U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin, actor Hill Harper, Nasser Beydoun and Zack Burns.

Rogers and Meijer alike have been attacked for their past criticisms of former President Donald Trump and Amash, like Meijer, had voted for Trumps impeachment, though they voted in separate trials.

Rogers recently endorsed Trump for president and Thursday Meijer filed an amicus curiae brief in U.S. Supreme Court, arguing against efforts in some states to remove Trump from the ballot on Fourteenth Amendment grounds, writing the United States Constitution and democratic process should prioritize the will of the voters  not judges and partisan secretaries of state.

Democratic candidate Leslie Love, a former state representative, also announced on Thursday she was suspending her campaign.
President Vo Van Thuong meets representatives of the persons featured in the "Viec tu te" programme of Vietnam Television on January 18. (Photo: VNA)

Launched in 2014, the show has told more than 2,200 stories about the kindness of people of all ages, from various regions, and with different backgrounds, including teachers dedicating their entire life to the education of disadvantaged children in remote areas, those donating all of their property to care for the homeless and orphans, and the ones actively engaging in community activities.

President Vo Van Thuong said goodness is a virtue treasured by Vietnamese people throughout history. He described the stories in the Good deeds programme as great sources of inspiration that encouraged people, regardless of their jobs and ages, to believe in and do good things for themselves and the society.

Expressing his admiration for the deeds introduced in the show, he noted that Vietnam is now in a new development period with a great vision and aspirations, including the developed nation status by 2045, prosperous development, and wealth and happiness for people, so it needs many more good deeds.

The State leader voiced his belief that with the Vietnamese peoples tradition of humanity, solidarity, and mutual assistance, along with the highly inspiring stories, there will be more good deeds in the future.

He asked the Party Central Committees Commission for Mass Mobilisation, the Vietnam Fatherland Front, socio-political organisations, and central and local agencies to consider launching a movement which encourages each person to do a good thing so that the country can have tens of millions of such deeds and many good communities.

President Vo Van Thuong also ordered the show organisers to seek and introduce many other examples of good deeds nationwide to encourage actions in the community and build up images of a Vietnam with rich kindness and humanity./.
This photo taken on Jan. 10, 2024 shows Yang Qinfeng's signature "Happy New Year" cake at his studio in Liantang Town of Qingpu District of Shanghai, east China. Zhuang Rice Cake, made with sticky rice and polished round-grained rice, is a representative of Liantang Rice Cake, whose making craft has been listed as an intangible cultural heritage of Qingpu District in Shanghai.

In the hearts of local people, the cake is not only a must-have during the lunar new year, but also a hometown snack reminding them where they come from.

Yang Qinfeng, 43, is the fourth generation inheritor of the making craft of Zhuang Rice Cake. His great grandfather, once making a living on the sales of the cakes, passed down the craft in his family.

Once working as an architecture designer in the city of Shanghai, Yang missed his life in the countryside and returned to his hometown in 2012 to start his own business.

Based on the traditional making technique from his great grandfather, Yang set up his own brand and studio. He often holds various experience events, in an effort to bring the traditional food back to the tables of modern people.

With the approaching of the Spring Festival, his signature "Happy New Year" cake once again becomes a hot snack for the beautiful meaning it conveys. (Xinhua/Liu Ying)

A girl eats a Zhuang rice cake made by herself during an experience event in Liantang Town of Qingqu District in Shanghai, east China, Jan. 13, 2024. Zhuang Rice Cake, made with sticky rice and polished round-grained rice, is a representative of Liantang Rice Cake, whose making craft has been listed as an intangible cultural heritage of Qingpu District in Shanghai.

In the hearts of local people, the cake is not only a must-have during the lunar new year, but also a hometown snack reminding them where they come from.

Yang Qinfeng, 43, is the fourth generation inheritor of the making craft of Zhuang Rice Cake. His great grandfather, once making a living on the sales of the cakes, passed down the craft in his family.

Once working as an architecture designer in the city of Shanghai, Yang missed his life in the countryside and returned to his hometown in 2012 to start his own business.

Based on the traditional making technique from his great grandfather, Yang set up his own brand and studio. He often holds various experience events, in an effort to bring the traditional food back to the tables of modern people.

With the approaching of the Spring Festival, his signature "Happy New Year" cake once again becomes a hot snack for the beautiful meaning it conveys. (Xinhua/Liu Ying)

Yang Qinfeng makes Zhuang Rice Cake at his studio in Liantang Town of Qingpu District of Shanghai, east China, Jan. 10, 2024. Zhuang Rice Cake, made with sticky rice and polished round-grained rice, is a representative of Liantang Rice Cake, whose making craft has been listed as an intangible cultural heritage of Qingpu District in Shanghai.

In the hearts of local people, the cake is not only a must-have during the lunar new year, but also a hometown snack reminding them where they come from.

Yang Qinfeng, 43, is the fourth generation inheritor of the making craft of Zhuang Rice Cake. His great grandfather, once making a living on the sales of the cakes, passed down the craft in his family.

Once working as an architecture designer in the city of Shanghai, Yang missed his life in the countryside and returned to his hometown in 2012 to start his own business.

Based on the traditional making technique from his great grandfather, Yang set up his own brand and studio. He often holds various experience events, in an effort to bring the traditional food back to the tables of modern people.

With the approaching of the Spring Festival, his signature "Happy New Year" cake once again becomes a hot snack for the beautiful meaning it conveys. (Xinhua/Liu Ying)

Yang Qinfeng gives a lesson on Zhuang Rice Cake during an experience event at Liantang Town of Qingpu District in Shanghai, east China, Jan. 13, 2024. Zhuang Rice Cake, made with sticky rice and polished round-grained rice, is a representative of Liantang Rice Cake, whose making craft has been listed as an intangible cultural heritage of Qingpu District in Shanghai.

In the hearts of local people, the cake is not only a must-have during the lunar new year, but also a hometown snack reminding them where they come from.

Yang Qinfeng, 43, is the fourth generation inheritor of the making craft of Zhuang Rice Cake. His great grandfather, once making a living on the sales of the cakes, passed down the craft in his family.

Once working as an architecture designer in the city of Shanghai, Yang missed his life in the countryside and returned to his hometown in 2012 to start his own business.

Based on the traditional making technique from his great grandfather, Yang set up his own brand and studio. He often holds various experience events, in an effort to bring the traditional food back to the tables of modern people.

With the approaching of the Spring Festival, his signature "Happy New Year" cake once again becomes a hot snack for the beautiful meaning it conveys. (Xinhua/Liu Ying)

Yang Qinfeng makes Zhuang Rice Cake at his studio in Liantang Town of Qingpu District of Shanghai, east China, Jan. 10, 2024. Zhuang Rice Cake, made with sticky rice and polished round-grained rice, is a representative of Liantang Rice Cake, whose making craft has been listed as an intangible cultural heritage of Qingpu District in Shanghai.

In the hearts of local people, the cake is not only a must-have during the lunar new year, but also a hometown snack reminding them where they come from.

Yang Qinfeng, 43, is the fourth generation inheritor of the making craft of Zhuang Rice Cake. His great grandfather, once making a living on the sales of the cakes, passed down the craft in his family.

Once working as an architecture designer in the city of Shanghai, Yang missed his life in the countryside and returned to his hometown in 2012 to start his own business.

Based on the traditional making technique from his great grandfather, Yang set up his own brand and studio. He often holds various experience events, in an effort to bring the traditional food back to the tables of modern people.

With the approaching of the Spring Festival, his signature "Happy New Year" cake once again becomes a hot snack for the beautiful meaning it conveys. (Xinhua/Liu Ying)

Yang Qinfeng makes Zhuang Rice Cake at his studio in Liantang Town of Qingpu District of Shanghai, east China, Jan. 10, 2024. Zhuang Rice Cake, made with sticky rice and polished round-grained rice, is a representative of Liantang Rice Cake, whose making craft has been listed as an intangible cultural heritage of Qingpu District in Shanghai.

In the hearts of local people, the cake is not only a must-have during the lunar new year, but also a hometown snack reminding them where they come from.

Yang Qinfeng, 43, is the fourth generation inheritor of the making craft of Zhuang Rice Cake. His great grandfather, once making a living on the sales of the cakes, passed down the craft in his family.

Once working as an architecture designer in the city of Shanghai, Yang missed his life in the countryside and returned to his hometown in 2012 to start his own business.

Based on the traditional making technique from his great grandfather, Yang set up his own brand and studio. He often holds various experience events, in an effort to bring the traditional food back to the tables of modern people.

With the approaching of the Spring Festival, his signature "Happy New Year" cake once again becomes a hot snack for the beautiful meaning it conveys. (Xinhua/Liu Ying)

Yang Qinfeng makes Zhuang Rice Cake at his studio in Liantang Town of Qingpu District of Shanghai, east China, Jan. 10, 2024. Zhuang Rice Cake, made with sticky rice and polished round-grained rice, is a representative of Liantang Rice Cake, whose making craft has been listed as an intangible cultural heritage of Qingpu District in Shanghai.

In the hearts of local people, the cake is not only a must-have during the lunar new year, but also a hometown snack reminding them where they come from.

Yang Qinfeng, 43, is the fourth generation inheritor of the making craft of Zhuang Rice Cake. His great grandfather, once making a living on the sales of the cakes, passed down the craft in his family.

Once working as an architecture designer in the city of Shanghai, Yang missed his life in the countryside and returned to his hometown in 2012 to start his own business.

Based on the traditional making technique from his great grandfather, Yang set up his own brand and studio. He often holds various experience events, in an effort to bring the traditional food back to the tables of modern people.

With the approaching of the Spring Festival, his signature "Happy New Year" cake once again becomes a hot snack for the beautiful meaning it conveys. (Xinhua/Wang Xiang)

Yang Qinfeng makes Zhuang Rice Cake at his studio in Liantang Town of Qingpu District of Shanghai, east China, Jan. 10, 2024. Zhuang Rice Cake, made with sticky rice and polished round-grained rice, is a representative of Liantang Rice Cake, whose making craft has been listed as an intangible cultural heritage of Qingpu District in Shanghai.

In the hearts of local people, the cake is not only a must-have during the lunar new year, but also a hometown snack reminding them where they come from.

Yang Qinfeng, 43, is the fourth generation inheritor of the making craft of Zhuang Rice Cake. His great grandfather, once making a living on the sales of the cakes, passed down the craft in his family.

Once working as an architecture designer in the city of Shanghai, Yang missed his life in the countryside and returned to his hometown in 2012 to start his own business.

Based on the traditional making technique from his great grandfather, Yang set up his own brand and studio. He often holds various experience events, in an effort to bring the traditional food back to the tables of modern people.

With the approaching of the Spring Festival, his signature "Happy New Year" cake once again becomes a hot snack for the beautiful meaning it conveys. (Xinhua/Liu Ying)

Yang Qinfeng prepares to cool down the steamed Zhuang Rice Cake at his studio in Liantang Town of Qingpu District of Shanghai, east China, Jan. 10, 2024. Zhuang Rice Cake, made with sticky rice and polished round-grained rice, is a representative of Liantang Rice Cake, whose making craft has been listed as an intangible cultural heritage of Qingpu District in Shanghai.

In the hearts of local people, the cake is not only a must-have during the lunar new year, but also a hometown snack reminding them where they come from.

Yang Qinfeng, 43, is the fourth generation inheritor of the making craft of Zhuang Rice Cake. His great grandfather, once making a living on the sales of the cakes, passed down the craft in his family.

Once working as an architecture designer in the city of Shanghai, Yang missed his life in the countryside and returned to his hometown in 2012 to start his own business.

Based on the traditional making technique from his great grandfather, Yang set up his own brand and studio. He often holds various experience events, in an effort to bring the traditional food back to the tables of modern people.

With the approaching of the Spring Festival, his signature "Happy New Year" cake once again becomes a hot snack for the beautiful meaning it conveys. (Xinhua/Liu Ying)

Children learn to make Zhuang Rice Cake during an experience event in Liantang Town of Qingqu District in Shanghai, east China, Jan. 13, 2024. Zhuang Rice Cake, made with sticky rice and polished round-grained rice, is a representative of Liantang Rice Cake, whose making craft has been listed as an intangible cultural heritage of Qingpu District in Shanghai.

In the hearts of local people, the cake is not only a must-have during the lunar new year, but also a hometown snack reminding them where they come from.

Yang Qinfeng, 43, is the fourth generation inheritor of the making craft of Zhuang Rice Cake. His great grandfather, once making a living on the sales of the cakes, passed down the craft in his family.

Once working as an architecture designer in the city of Shanghai, Yang missed his life in the countryside and returned to his hometown in 2012 to start his own business.

Based on the traditional making technique from his great grandfather, Yang set up his own brand and studio. He often holds various experience events, in an effort to bring the traditional food back to the tables of modern people.

With the approaching of the Spring Festival, his signature "Happy New Year" cake once again becomes a hot snack for the beautiful meaning it conveys. (Xinhua/Liu Ying)

Yang Qinfeng makes Zhuang Rice Cake at his studio in Liantang Town of Qingpu District of Shanghai, east China, Jan. 10, 2024. Zhuang Rice Cake, made with sticky rice and polished round-grained rice, is a representative of Liantang Rice Cake, whose making craft has been listed as an intangible cultural heritage of Qingpu District in Shanghai.

In the hearts of local people, the cake is not only a must-have during the lunar new year, but also a hometown snack reminding them where they come from.

Yang Qinfeng, 43, is the fourth generation inheritor of the making craft of Zhuang Rice Cake. His great grandfather, once making a living on the sales of the cakes, passed down the craft in his family.

Once working as an architecture designer in the city of Shanghai, Yang missed his life in the countryside and returned to his hometown in 2012 to start his own business.

Based on the traditional making technique from his great grandfather, Yang set up his own brand and studio. He often holds various experience events, in an effort to bring the traditional food back to the tables of modern people.

With the approaching of the Spring Festival, his signature "Happy New Year" cake once again becomes a hot snack for the beautiful meaning it conveys. (Xinhua/Wang Xiang)

Yang Qinfeng shows his signature "Happy New Year" cake at his studio in Liantang Town of Qingpu District of Shanghai, east China, Jan. 10, 2024. Zhuang Rice Cake, made with sticky rice and polished round-grained rice, is a representative of Liantang Rice Cake, whose making craft has been listed as an intangible cultural heritage of Qingpu District in Shanghai.

In the hearts of local people, the cake is not only a must-have during the lunar new year, but also a hometown snack reminding them where they come from.

Yang Qinfeng, 43, is the fourth generation inheritor of the making craft of Zhuang Rice Cake. His great grandfather, once making a living on the sales of the cakes, passed down the craft in his family.

Once working as an architecture designer in the city of Shanghai, Yang missed his life in the countryside and returned to his hometown in 2012 to start his own business.

Based on the traditional making technique from his great grandfather, Yang set up his own brand and studio. He often holds various experience events, in an effort to bring the traditional food back to the tables of modern people.

With the approaching of the Spring Festival, his signature "Happy New Year" cake once again becomes a hot snack for the beautiful meaning it conveys. (Xinhua/Liu Ying)

Yang Qinfeng makes Zhuang Rice Cake at his studio in Liantang Town of Qingpu District of Shanghai, east China, Jan. 10, 2024. Zhuang Rice Cake, made with sticky rice and polished round-grained rice, is a representative of Liantang Rice Cake, whose making craft has been listed as an intangible cultural heritage of Qingpu District in Shanghai.

In the hearts of local people, the cake is not only a must-have during the lunar new year, but also a hometown snack reminding them where they come from.

Yang Qinfeng, 43, is the fourth generation inheritor of the making craft of Zhuang Rice Cake. His great grandfather, once making a living on the sales of the cakes, passed down the craft in his family.

Once working as an architecture designer in the city of Shanghai, Yang missed his life in the countryside and returned to his hometown in 2012 to start his own business.

Based on the traditional making technique from his great grandfather, Yang set up his own brand and studio. He often holds various experience events, in an effort to bring the traditional food back to the tables of modern people.

With the approaching of the Spring Festival, his signature "Happy New Year" cake once again becomes a hot snack for the beautiful meaning it conveys. (Xinhua/Liu Ying)

Yang Qinfeng makes Zhuang Rice Cake at his studio in Liantang Town of Qingpu District of Shanghai, east China, Jan. 10, 2024. Zhuang Rice Cake, made with sticky rice and polished round-grained rice, is a representative of Liantang Rice Cake, whose making craft has been listed as an intangible cultural heritage of Qingpu District in Shanghai.

In the hearts of local people, the cake is not only a must-have during the lunar new year, but also a hometown snack reminding them where they come from.

Yang Qinfeng, 43, is the fourth generation inheritor of the making craft of Zhuang Rice Cake. His great grandfather, once making a living on the sales of the cakes, passed down the craft in his family.

Once working as an architecture designer in the city of Shanghai, Yang missed his life in the countryside and returned to his hometown in 2012 to start his own business.

Based on the traditional making technique from his great grandfather, Yang set up his own brand and studio. He often holds various experience events, in an effort to bring the traditional food back to the tables of modern people.

With the approaching of the Spring Festival, his signature "Happy New Year" cake once again becomes a hot snack for the beautiful meaning it conveys. (Xinhua/Liu Ying)

Yang Qinfeng makes Zhuang Rice Cake at his studio in Liantang Town of Qingpu District of Shanghai, east China, Jan. 10, 2024. Zhuang Rice Cake, made with sticky rice and polished round-grained rice, is a representative of Liantang Rice Cake, whose making craft has been listed as an intangible cultural heritage of Qingpu District in Shanghai.

In the hearts of local people, the cake is not only a must-have during the lunar new year, but also a hometown snack reminding them where they come from.

Yang Qinfeng, 43, is the fourth generation inheritor of the making craft of Zhuang Rice Cake. His great grandfather, once making a living on the sales of the cakes, passed down the craft in his family.

Once working as an architecture designer in the city of Shanghai, Yang missed his life in the countryside and returned to his hometown in 2012 to start his own business.

Based on the traditional making technique from his great grandfather, Yang set up his own brand and studio. He often holds various experience events, in an effort to bring the traditional food back to the tables of modern people.

With the approaching of the Spring Festival, his signature "Happy New Year" cake once again becomes a hot snack for the beautiful meaning it conveys. (Xinhua/Wang Xiang)

Children learn to make Zhuang Rice Cake during an experience event in Liantang Town of Qingqu District in Shanghai, east China, Jan. 13, 2024. Zhuang Rice Cake, made with sticky rice and polished round-grained rice, is a representative of Liantang Rice Cake, whose making craft has been listed as an intangible cultural heritage of Qingpu District in Shanghai.

In the hearts of local people, the cake is not only a must-have during the lunar new year, but also a hometown snack reminding them where they come from.

Yang Qinfeng, 43, is the fourth generation inheritor of the making craft of Zhuang Rice Cake. His great grandfather, once making a living on the sales of the cakes, passed down the craft in his family.

Once working as an architecture designer in the city of Shanghai, Yang missed his life in the countryside and returned to his hometown in 2012 to start his own business.

Based on the traditional making technique from his great grandfather, Yang set up his own brand and studio. He often holds various experience events, in an effort to bring the traditional food back to the tables of modern people.

With the approaching of the Spring Festival, his signature "Happy New Year" cake once again becomes a hot snack for the beautiful meaning it conveys. (Xinhua/Liu Ying)

Editor: ZAD
A Long March-7 Y8 carrier rocket carrying cargo spacecraft Tianzhou-7 blasts off from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in south China's Hainan Province, Jan. 17, 2024. (Xinhua/Liu Jinhai)

WENCHANG, Hainan, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) -- China launched cargo spacecraft Tianzhou-7 on Wednesday night to deliver supplies for its orbiting Tiangong space station, according to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA).

The Long March-7 Y8 rocket, carrying Tianzhou-7, blasted off at 10:27 p.m. (Beijing Time) from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in the southern island province of Hainan, the CMSA said.

After about 10 minutes, Tianzhou-7 separated from the rocket and entered its designated orbit. Its solar panels soon unfolded. The agency declared the launch a complete success.

Wednesday's launch is the first mission of China's manned space project this year. It is also the 507th mission of the Long March rocket series.

The mission is the sixth flight of the space station cargo delivery system consisting of the Tianzhou cargo craft and the Long March-7 carrier rocket.

The cargo craft and launch vehicle were respectively developed by the China Academy of Space Technology (CAST) and the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, both of which are affiliated with the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation.

Tianzhou-7 will take three hours for the rendezvous and docking with the space station. Previous Tianzhou missions regularly took about 6.5 hours in rendezvous and docking. The exception was the Tianzhou-5 mission, which only took about two hours.

Tianzhou-7 will adopt a new mode of rendezvous and docking yet to be verified in orbit, which is expected to give better play to the guidance, navigation, and control systems of the spacecraft, according to Li Zhiyong, a researcher at the CAST.

Tianzhou-7 is the seventh cargo craft developed by the CAST. "As an improved fully-sealed cargo craft, it has the largest cargo transport capacity, the highest cargo-delivery efficiency, and the most complete in-orbit support capability in the world," said Li.

Tianzhou-7 carries more than 260 items of supplies, including those for the astronaut system, space station system, application tasks, and cargo spacecraft system, as well as other engineering goods, featuring a variety of cargo and large-sized items. The total weight of onboard materials reached about 5.6 tonnes.

Customized cargo packages for experiment payloads and other large-scale goods, each weighing over 100 kilograms, will be applied in the operation of the space station, space science experiments, and astronaut life support.

Tianzhou-7 also sends 2,400 kilograms of living supplies for the astronauts, including Lunar New Year goods and fresh fruits and vegetables. The packaging design has been optimized to ensure longer storage time and freshness.

The application system has loaded Tianzhou-7 with a total of 61 items weighing 473 kilograms, including experiment payloads, experiment units and samples, consumable items, and spare parts, to support continuous space experiments, according to Liu Wei, a researcher at the Technology and Engineering Center for Space Utilization under the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

The items also contain a set of life support devices to keep cell samples in good condition during this mission and a set of microfluidic chips with the temperature kept at 4 degrees Celsius, said Liu.

Those items will be transferred to the space station's experiment facility to carry out a total of 33 scientific experiments, such as the effect of space microgravity on human bone cells, the propellant fluid transport and stability under variable gravity, and the growth of nano precious metals in solution under microgravity. The experiments cover fields such as space life science, space material science, microgravity fluid physics, and combustion science, Liu added.

According to the plan, China will launch the Tianzhou-8 cargo spacecraft from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site this year. The site is the country's fourth launch site and the only one by the seaside. 

People watch as a Long March-7 Y8 carrier rocket carrying cargo spacecraft Tianzhou-7 blasts off from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in south China's Hainan Province, Jan. 17, 2024. (Xinhua/Pu Xiaoxu)

A Long March-7 Y8 carrier rocket carrying cargo spacecraft Tianzhou-7 blasts off from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in south China's Hainan Province, Jan. 17, 2024.

China launched cargo spacecraft Tianzhou-7 on Wednesday night to deliver supplies for its orbiting Tiangong space station, according to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA). (Xinhua/Pu Xiaoxu)

A Long March-7 Y8 carrier rocket carrying cargo spacecraft Tianzhou-7 blasts off from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in south China's Hainan Province, Jan. 17, 2024.

China launched cargo spacecraft Tianzhou-7 on Wednesday night to deliver supplies for its orbiting Tiangong space station, according to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA). (Xinhua/Liu Jinhai)

A Long March-7 Y8 carrier rocket carrying cargo spacecraft Tianzhou-7 blasts off from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in south China's Hainan Province, Jan. 17, 2024.

China launched cargo spacecraft Tianzhou-7 on Wednesday night to deliver supplies for its orbiting Tiangong space station, according to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA). (Xinhua/Liu Jinhai)

A Long March-7 Y8 carrier rocket carrying cargo spacecraft Tianzhou-7 blasts off from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in south China's Hainan Province, Jan. 17, 2024.

China launched cargo spacecraft Tianzhou-7 on Wednesday night to deliver supplies for its orbiting Tiangong space station, according to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA). (Xinhua/Pu Xiaoxu)

A Long March-7 Y8 carrier rocket carrying cargo spacecraft Tianzhou-7 blasts off from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in south China's Hainan Province, Jan. 17, 2024.

China launched cargo spacecraft Tianzhou-7 on Wednesday night to deliver supplies for its orbiting Tiangong space station, according to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA). (Xinhua/Pu Xiaoxu)

A Long March-7 Y8 carrier rocket carrying cargo spacecraft Tianzhou-7 blasts off from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in south China's Hainan Province, Jan. 17, 2024.

China launched cargo spacecraft Tianzhou-7 on Wednesday night to deliver supplies for its orbiting Tiangong space station, according to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA). (Xinhua/Yang Guanyu)

A Long March-7 Y8 carrier rocket carrying cargo spacecraft Tianzhou-7 blasts off from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in south China's Hainan Province, Jan. 17, 2024.

China launched cargo spacecraft Tianzhou-7 on Wednesday night to deliver supplies for its orbiting Tiangong space station, according to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA). (Xinhua/Zhang Liyun)

A Long March-7 Y8 carrier rocket carrying cargo spacecraft Tianzhou-7 blasts off from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in south China's Hainan Province, Jan. 17, 2024.

China launched cargo spacecraft Tianzhou-7 on Wednesday night to deliver supplies for its orbiting Tiangong space station, according to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA). (Xinhua/Liu Jinhai)

A Long March-7 Y8 carrier rocket carrying cargo spacecraft Tianzhou-7 blasts off from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in south China's Hainan Province, Jan. 17, 2024.

China launched cargo spacecraft Tianzhou-7 on Wednesday night to deliver supplies for its orbiting Tiangong space station, according to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA). (Xinhua/Li Gang)

A Long March-7 Y8 carrier rocket carrying cargo spacecraft Tianzhou-7 blasts off from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in south China's Hainan Province, Jan. 17, 2024.

China launched cargo spacecraft Tianzhou-7 on Wednesday night to deliver supplies for its orbiting Tiangong space station, according to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA). (Xinhua/Yang Guanyu)

A Long March-7 Y8 carrier rocket carrying cargo spacecraft Tianzhou-7 blasts off from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in south China's Hainan Province, Jan. 17, 2024.

China launched cargo spacecraft Tianzhou-7 on Wednesday night to deliver supplies for its orbiting Tiangong space station, according to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA). (Xinhua/Zhang Liyun)

A Long March-7 Y8 carrier rocket carrying cargo spacecraft Tianzhou-7 blasts off from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in south China's Hainan Province, Jan. 17, 2024.

China launched cargo spacecraft Tianzhou-7 on Wednesday night to deliver supplies for its orbiting Tiangong space station, according to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA). (Xinhua/Yang Guanyu)

A Long March-7 Y8 carrier rocket carrying cargo spacecraft Tianzhou-7 blasts off from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in south China's Hainan Province, Jan. 17, 2024. (Xinhua/Zhang Liyun)

People watch as a Long March-7 Y8 carrier rocket carrying cargo spacecraft Tianzhou-7 blasts off from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in south China's Hainan Province, Jan. 17, 2024. (Xinhua/Pu Xiaoxu)

A Long March-7 Y8 carrier rocket carrying cargo spacecraft Tianzhou-7 blasts off from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in south China's Hainan Province, Jan. 17, 2024. (Xinhua/Pu Xiaoxu)

A Long March-7 Y8 carrier rocket carrying cargo spacecraft Tianzhou-7 blasts off from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in south China's Hainan Province, Jan. 17, 2024. (Xinhua/Zhang Liyun)

A Long March-7 Y8 carrier rocket carrying cargo spacecraft Tianzhou-7 blasts off from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in south China's Hainan Province, Jan. 17, 2024. (Xinhua/Liu Jinhai)

A Long March-7 Y8 carrier rocket carrying cargo spacecraft Tianzhou-7 blasts off from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in south China's Hainan Province, Jan. 17, 2024. (Xinhua/Liu Jinhai)

A Long March-7 Y8 carrier rocket carrying cargo spacecraft Tianzhou-7 blasts off from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in south China's Hainan Province, Jan. 17, 2024. (Xinhua/Fan Yuqing)

A Long March-7 Y8 carrier rocket carrying cargo spacecraft Tianzhou-7 blasts off from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in south China's Hainan Province, Jan. 17, 2024. (Xinhua/Li Gang)

A Long March-7 Y8 carrier rocket carrying cargo spacecraft Tianzhou-7 blasts off from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in south China's Hainan Province, Jan. 17, 2024. (Xinhua/Li Gang)

A Long March-7 Y8 carrier rocket carrying cargo spacecraft Tianzhou-7 blasts off from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in south China's Hainan Province, Jan. 17, 2024. (Xinhua/Yang Guanyu)

A Long March-7 Y8 carrier rocket carrying cargo spacecraft Tianzhou-7 blasts off from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in south China's Hainan Province, Jan. 17, 2024. (Xinhua/Yang Guanyu)

Editor: JYZ
The Polish Ministry of Infrastructure will soon submit its proposals to the European Union on amendments to the agreement on the liberalization of transportation between Ukraine and the EU, Deputy Head of the department Pawe Gancarz told Ukrainian Ambassador to Poland Vasyl Zvarych.

Pawe Gancarz informed his interlocutor that Poland will soon present its proposals on amendments to the agreement on the liberalization of transportation between Ukraine and the EU at the EU forum and invited the Ukrainian side to cooperate. The Deputy Minister stressed that Poland's efforts in this direction are aimed at developing favorable conditions for both sides, the official website of the Polish Ministry of Infrastructure says.

It is indicated that the meeting also discussed the need for the Ukrainian side to fully implement the agreements reached during bilateral meetings and contained in the agreement signed on January 16, 2024 between Infrastructure Minister Dariusz Klimczak and representatives of Polish carriers. In exchange for their fulfillment, the protesters agreed to unblock checkpoints on the Ukrainian-Polish border by March 1.
During 2023, UAH 38 billion out of the UAH 61.7 billion of the Fund for the Elimination of Armed Aggression were used, the Ministry of Finance said in a response to a request from Interfax-Ukraine.

"According to operational data, the total volume of cash expenditures of the state budget for the programs for which funds from the fund were allocated in 2023 amounted to 38 billion UAH. According to the Treasury, the balance of the fund for eliminating the consequences of armed aggression as of January 1, 2024 is 23. 7 billion UAH," First Deputy Minister of Finance Denys Uliutin said.

As reported, by government resolutions, during 2023, UAH 58.2 billion out of a total of UAH 61.7 billion were allocated to the Fund for Elimination of the Consequences of Armed Aggression. In particular, UAH 9.3 billion was allocated to the Ministry of Reconstruction for the implementation of 336 regional projects, the Restoration Agency UAH 18.9 billion to protect energy infrastructure facilities, another UAH 8.5 billion to eliminate the consequences of the explosion of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant's dam for the construction of main water pipelines, as well as UAH 3.6 billion for 47 regional projects. UAH 8.4 billion was allocated for compensation under the eRecovery program, more than UAH 5 billion was allocated for the restoration of 165 high-rise buildings, and UAH 3.35 billion for the restoration of a number of affected populated areas within the framework of a pilot project.

The budget program "the Fund for Elimination of the Consequences of Armed Aggression" is provided for by the law On the State Budget of Ukraine for 2024 as part of the special fund of the state budget for the Ministry of Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development. The source of its replenishment is determined to be funds received in connection with the implementation of the law "On the basic principles of forced seizure of facilities with property rights of the Russian Federation and its residents in Ukraine" and the law "On sanctions" (clause 8 of Article 11), as well as the balance of funds, the source the replenishment of which were funds received into the Liquidation Fund in 2022-2023 (Clause 5 of Article 12).
Adrija Chatterjee is an Assistant Editor at Moneycontrol. She has been tracking and reporting on finance and trade ministries for over eight years.
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Jinit Parmar is a correspondent based out of Mumbai covering the banking sector, fintechs, NBFCs, insurance and more, tweets @jinitparmar10
The State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) on Thursday conducted searches at the office of one of the largest investment companies in Ukraine, Concorde Capital, in Kyiv, a law enforcement source told Interfax-Ukraine.

According to it, investigative actions took place in the case of the legality of obtaining land rights for the construction of the premium cottage community Goodlife Park near the Kyiv Sea and the bypass canal near Kyiv in Vyshgorod district.

We associate such actions of the SBI with the position of (the founder and head of the company) Ihor Mazepa regarding the pressure of the security forces on business, the company issued such a comment on Thursday evening.

It is alleged that the searches were carried out without a court order, and during them, the doors of the business center were knocked down.

They are confiscating all documents that are not related to the case, but related to all areas of Ihor Mazepas business activity. Personal belongings of employees working in other projects are confiscated, the comment says.

It is clarified that in parallel with this, Mazepa himself was detained at the Shehini crossing on the Ukrainian-Polish border, although previously he often traveled abroad on work and volunteer matters. In particular, it is reported that he notified investigators and law enforcement agencies about this departure, since he was supposed to attend the World Economic Forum in Davos, which was the reason for his detention without a court order.

The security forces searched the car without a court order. Also, other investigative actions were carried out without a lawyer being allowed to see them, although the latter arrived at the scene, the company added.

Searches were also carried out on the premises of company employees without a court order, personal belongings and money were confiscated.

Concorde Capital clarified that the criminal proceedings relate to the construction of real estate (cottage communities) back in 2013.
Yash Sadhak Shrivastava is an aspiring voice in the Journalistic forefront with experience in covering financial markets & geopolitics.
Preeti Kulkarni is a financial journalist with over 13 years of experience. Based in Mumbai, she covers the personal finance beat for Moneycontrol. She focusses primarily on insurance, banking, taxation and financial planning
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba discussed with Somali Foreign Minister Ali Omar the possibility of releasing Ukrainian citizens captured by anti-government forces in Somalia in January.

I spoke with Somalias Acting Foreign Minister Ali Omar on the situation regarding the Ukrainian citizens captured in Somalia and ways to resolve it. We also agreed to sign a memorandum to establish diplomatic relations at the earliest occasion. When this happens, there will not be a single African country with which Ukraine has not established diplomatic relations, he said on X.

We also discussed ways to deepen the cooperation between Ukraine and the African Union, Kuleba added.

As reported on January 12, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry confirmed the capture of four Ukrainians in Somalia, controlled by anti-government forces. This was announced by spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Oleh Nikolenko.
Thank you for being part of Moneycontrol Pro family! Watch the Moneycontrol Pro Masters Virtual online webinar on Investing in Multi Asset Allocation Funds with Chintan Haria.

Key Highlights:

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An investor education and awareness initiative.

Visit www.icicipruamc.com/note to know more about the process
Mehul R Thakkar is Special Correspondent, Moneycontrol, Indias leading financial news platform, based in Mumbai where he is focussed on covering the real estate sector.
On the night of January 18-19, Pechersky District Court of Kyiv chose a measure of restraint for head and representative of companies controlled by Ihor Hrynkevych, who appear in the case of the supply of substandard clothing for the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Suspilne reports.

"At 00:05 on January 19, at the request of the Prosecutor General's Office, the court chose a preventive measure for one of the heads of companies controlled by Hrynkevych, Volodymyr Tymkiv, in the form of detention or bail posture in the amount of more than UAH 500 million," the message says.

Earlier, at about 22:00 on January 18, it was reported that "one of the suspects in the case, Andriy Kolotylo, was chosen a preventive measure - detention for 60 days with the possibility of posting a bail in the amount of UAH 500 million."

The suspect's lawyer, Serhiy Pushkarsky, told Suspilne that they would prepare an appeal against the court's decision and the amount of bail, according to him, was "too big for the status of a participant."
January 19, 2024 / 08:56 PM IST





Dr Naresh Trehan, Chairman and Managing Director, Medanta Medicity, on the increasing cases of heart attacks among young people, says, "There are multiple reasons. We know that India is the capital of coronary artery disease. But in addition to that, the modern lifestyle where we have a lot of consumption of food, which is very rich preserved junk food in special, all the beverages have high sodium content and all that, that's also creating problems. Then in addition, the stress of daily existence and the pollution is taking its toll. So all these things put together, we know that people who are living in an environment like Delhi where the AQI is very poor, the incidence of high blood pressure and lung diseases are going up usually and then heart is not behind. So that is why we really need to understand that in this current environment how we cope with the different elements that are producing higher and higher incidences of heart disease and also younger and younger patients collapsing from it. So this is a main concern to us."
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Tim Culpan is a technology columnist for Bloomberg Opinion. Based in Taipei, he writes about Asian and global businesses and trends. Views are personal, and do not represent the stand of this publication
Amitabh Tiwari Is a former corporate and investment banker-turned political strategist and commentator. Twitter: @politicalbaaba. Views are personal and do not represent the stand of this publication
Raj Shukla Lt. General (Retd.) , till very recently, was Army Commander, ARTRAC (The Army Training Command). Views are personal. He can be reached on Twitter @Gen_RajShukla or at rajshukla35@yahoo.com. Views are personal and do not represent the stand of this publication.
After the loss of the A-50 MAINSTAY aircraft over the Sea of Azov, the Russians transferred the remaining A-50 to work from Russian territory, the British Ministry of Defense reports, citing intelligence data.

On January 17, 2024, the Russian Air Force appears to have begun operating another A-50 MAINSTAY, but this time over land within Russian territory near Krasnodar region, farther eastwards from Ukraine. This activity is highly likely indicative of a reduced risk appetite for the airframes and an attempt to preserve remaining A-50 MAINSTAY at a loss to its overall effectiveness over Ukraine, the message posted on X reads.

At the same time, it is noted that such a decision by the Russian command indicates the success of the Ukrainian operation.

Despite no official position from Russia on the loss of the MAINSTAY, this activity likely demonstrates a tacit Russia acknowledgement of a successful targeting operation by the Ukrainians against a high value air asset. If the loss of a MAINSTAY was an accident, then such a decision is unlikely to have been required, the British ministry said.
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Sohil Sehran is a journalist with 10 years of experience in print, broadcast, and digital media. He covers politics and national affairs at Moneycontrol. He tweets @SohilSehran
Law enforcement officials are proposing that the founder and head of the investment company Concorde Capital, Ihor Mazepa, who was detained on January 18, post a bail of UAH 700 million, and his brother  UAH 500 million, the company told Interfax-Ukraine on Friday.

"For the alleged damage of UAH 7 million, Ihor Mazepa's bail was set at UAH 700 million, and his brother's at UAH 500 million," noted Concorde Capital.

The company recalled that Mazepa was detained in a criminal case regarding the allocation of land plots with a total area of 2.4 hectares, which were allegedly provided in violation of the law.

As reported, the day before, Mazepa was detained on the Ukrainian-Polish border, and at the same time, the State Bureau of Investigation conducted searches at the company's office and places of residences of its employees.
Nivedita Jayaram Pawar is a Mumbai-based freelance journalist, who writes on food, art, design, travel and lifestyle.
Deepali Singh is a Mumbai-based freelance journalist who writes on movies, shows, music, art, and food. Twitter: @DeepaliSingh05
Zelenskyy on conversation with Albanian PM: Today our common task is to prepare Global Peace Summit

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Prime Minister of Albania Edi Rama discussed ways to deepen the Ukraine-Balkans dialogue and continue defense cooperation.

"I spoke on the phone with Prime Minister of Albania Edi Rama. I am grateful to him for Albania's clear position regarding the Russian invasion of Ukraine, support for our state in the UN Security Council, as well as defense and political support," the President of Ukraine said on the Telegram channel on Friday.

The president noted the participation of the Albanian representative in the fourth Meeting of Councilors in Davos. "Today our common task is to prepare the Global Peace Summit. We count on active support from our partners, in particular Albania," the head of the Ukrainian state said.

"In addition," as Zelenskyy said, "we discussed ways to deepen Ukraine-Balkans dialogue and continue defense cooperation. I noted the importance of continuing and expanding programs for training Ukrainian military personnel with the participation of Albania."
A disaster response team of the Chernihiv Regional Organization of the Ukrainian Red Cross Society (URCS) is engaged in assistance to people affected by the rising water levels in the region's rivers due to snowmelt.

"The increasing complexity of the hydrological situation and transportation are now observed in some districts. In particular, the water level in the Snov River rose by more than a meter [...] the road connecting the villages of Velyky Dyrchyn and Maly Dyrchyn in the Sedniv community was flooded," the URCS said on Facebook on Friday.

The disaster response team and employees of the State Emergency Service used a Bohun swamp vehicles to deliver humanitarian aid, including food, hygiene kits, baby diapers, to the residents of Maly Dyrchyn.

Ten adults and one child, born in 2022, are currently trapped due to flooded roads, the URCS said.
The Supreme Court on Thursday ordered Jalan Kalrock Consortium (JKC) - the successful resolution professional bidder for cash-strapped Jet Airways - to deposit an amount of Rs 150 crore within a period of two weeks.

A bench, headed by CJI D.Y. Chandrachud said that this amount will be kept in an escrow account jointly held by the State Bank of India and JKC.

The bench, also comprising Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, cautioned that legal consequences will follow if the JKC fails to furnish the bank guarantee by January 31.

The apex court asked the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) to decide by the end of March 2024 the lenders' plea challenging the ownership of grounded Airways to JKC.

The consortium had undertaken an infusion of Rs 350 crore equity as per the court-approved resolution plan to assume ownership of Jet Airways.

In its impugned order, a three-member bench of the NCLAT had agreed for adjustment of Rs 150 crore from the Performance Bank Guarantee (PBG) towards the payment of Rs 350 crore. The appellate tribunal had also accepted an undertaking given by the consortium committing to pay Rs 100 crore by August 31 last year and another Rs 100 crore by September 30, 2023.

Disclaimer: Information, facts or opinions expressed in this news article are presented as sourced from IANS and do not reflect views of Moneylife and hence Moneylife is not responsible or liable for the same. As a source and news provider, IANS is responsible for accuracy, completeness, suitability and validity of any information in this article.
Some security measures are just plain silly.

Please dont get me wrong  I am as concerned about security as the next chap. I support, very strongly, all procedures taken to keep me, my dear ones, my surroundings and my money safe from the grasp of any genuine miscreant.

Like any other law-abiding fellow, I subject myself to all the weary security procedures that all of us have to endure in our daily lives, such as:

- Checking shoes at the airport security counter. As far as I can remember, the only known case of a bomb in a shoe occurred some 20 years ago. Technology has moved on since then, but the procedure is here to stay.

- The metal detector at the entrance to a mall. If anyone plans to bring a high-power machine gun to a shopping mall to kill people at random, will he wait for a weary security guard to wave a device around him?

When it comes to money, everyone is paranoid about security.

Most of us have seen the TV series Jamtara in which felons with falsetto voices persuade innocent (and wealthy) people to disclose OTPs and thereby clean out their bank accounts.

Yes, I can understand that precautions are necessary when there is a possibility of crooks getting hold of your money.

But why the paranoia when there is no real risk involved?

Take the case of payment of electricity bills.

Do you think anyone, even the wiliest Jamtara crook, would go into the electric companys website and pretend to be you? After all, what can one do at such a website except pay money into ones own account?

If someone is foolish enough to pay my electricity bills... well, I would say to this person Thank you very much, my friend, and please dont forget to tell your fellow crooks to have a go as well!

But no The venerable Calcutta (not Kolkata yet, one of the old die-hards) Electric Supply Company, popularly known as CESC, seems to be very worried that some crook will pose to be me and put money into my account.

Hence, CESCs website is full of security precautions.

Every month, I get an email enclosing my monthly bill. The email states the amount payable, and also has a link saying 'Pay Bill'.

Very helpful  so far.

I click on 'Pay Bill', and I get no less than 13 options, including 'burnt meter' and 'solar grid connectivity'.

Hello, I just want to pay my bill. If my meter had been burnt, I wouldnt have waited for my bill to arrive before informing you, would I?

All right, all right, I decide to play along and click on 'monthly bill'.

Now comes the first booby trap.

I need to key in my 11-digit customer ID. Not the consumer number, mind you, which is also 11 digits and starts with the same two digits as the consumer number.

If I key in my consumer number, the website saysgotcha!

I cannot but wonder why the smart geeks at CESC cant figure out who I am by checking my laptops IP address, given that I pay my bill, every month, using the same laptop.

I cross this hurdle and face the next oneconfirm that I am not a robot.

In order to do this, I have to key in some letters and numbers. These are usually written in a somewhat confusing way, so that one can be fooled into keying in an upper case instead of a lower case, and thereby  gotcha, again!

More steps follow, such as confirming my personal details, and agreeing to all the 'terms and conditions'.

Hello, why should there be any 'T & C'? I am paying in money, am I not?

The point is  there is absolutely no risk in this transaction, as far as CESC is concerned. It is receiving money, not paying out anything. If anyone is at risk, it is I, because I am trusting CESC to apply my money to my own account, and not credit it somewhere else.

Moreover, I am paying by card, and thereby trusting CESC with all the vital card information, including the CVV.

Therefore, if there are any terms and conditions they should contain provisions whereby CESC will pay me compensation if it erroneously applies my money to someone elses account, or worse  do a Jamtara on my card using the information I have submitted.

But, no, that will never happen.

CESC will always, but always, have a secure position, namely, it will be immune to any blame or consequence that may arise from the transaction going awry.

Lets not forget that I am doing CESC a favour by paying the money through a website, because the company will be saving the costs of providing pay-in counters, employing cashiers, counting the money, carrying it to the bank, and all of that.

The bottom line iswhen an organisation has zero risk in any type of financial transaction, it should not impose a whole bunch of processes, and many separate steps, which the customer has to undergo.

CESC, or any similar organisation, should be happy to accept money with the minimum of formality. Just a login with a username and password, followed by a payment mechanism, should suffice. Padding up the transaction with a whole lot of unnecessary steps just adds to the customers burden, without providing any additional value.

It is about time every organisation takes a critical look at its website and weeds out the unnecessary and pointless steps that have been laid down in the name of security.

If the website is meant to provide more convenience to the customer and, at the same time save the company money by automating many processes, why complicate the whole thing with silly security measures?

Do you agree?

Never mind. It doesnt really matter whether you agree or disagree.

You have no real option, do you? After all, electricity bills have to be paid.

Gotcha!!!!!
he RBI has asked internal ombudsmen of banks, NBFCs, and credit information companies (CICs) to provide inputs for enhancing internal systems and processes in order to ensure a more effective redress of customer grievances.

As part of the Reserve Bank's continuing engagement with regulated entities, the second Conference of Internal Ombudsmen on the theme 'Orchestrating Customer Delight through an Empowered Internal Ombudsman', was held in Mumbai on January 16, according to an RBI statement issued on Thursday.

Deputy Governor Swaminathan J., in his keynote address, emphasised the pivotal role of Internal Ombudsmen as the vigilant observers and facilitators in a fair and just dispute resolution process, for ensuring effective and impartial redress of customer grievances within the regulated entity itself, the RBI said.

He called upon the Internal Ombudsmen to provide valuable inputs for enhancing internal systems and processes as well as to proactively guide the regulated entity in taking remedial measures to address recurring complaints, it said.

Besides, Swaminathan outlined RBI's expectations from the top management of the regulated entities by emphasising that a well-functioning Internal Ombudsman mechanism is beneficial for all stakeholders.

The conference was attended by MD & CEOs, executive directors in charge of customer service verticals, Internal Ombudsmen, principal nodal officers of select regulated entities from among banks, NBFCs and CICs, besides senior officials from the Reserve Bank of India.

The conference included a presentation on the context, challenges and coordinated approach for an empowered Internal Ombudsman and experience-sharing sessions by Managing Directors, Executive Directors and Internal Ombudsmen of regulated entities.

Disclaimer: Information, facts or opinions expressed in this news article are presented as sourced from IANS and do not reflect views of Moneylife and hence Moneylife is not responsible or liable for the same. As a source and news provider, IANS is responsible for accuracy, completeness, suitability and validity of any information in this article.
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has imposed a penalty of Rs84 lakh on five cooperative banks, including NKGSB Cooperative Bank Ltd and New India Cooperative Bank Ltd from Mumbai, for non-compliance with the directions issued by the banking regulator.

The highest penalty of Rs50 lakh has been imposed on NKGSB Cooperative Bank. Other banks fined by RBI are New India Cooperative Bank from Mumbai and Patdi Nagarik Sahakari Bank Ltd, Idar Nagarik Sahakari Bank Ltd and Mehsana Nagrik Sahakari Bank Ltd from Gujarat.

NKGSB Cooperative Bank was penalised for being non-compliant with the RBI directions on know your customer (KYC) norms.

"The statutory inspection of the bank conducted by RBI with reference to its financial position as of 31 March 2021 and examination of the inspection report (IR), risk assessment report (RAR) and all correspondence revealed that the bank had opened and allowed transactions in current accounts of a company without undertaking customer due diligence procedure," RBI says.

New India Cooperative Bank was penalised Rs15 lakh for non-compliance with the directions issued by RBI on donations or contributions for public or charitable purposes out of profits of urban cooperative banks (UCBs). The Bank had breached the prescribed ceiling on donations during FY20-21, RBI says.

Gujarat-based Patdi Nagarik Sahakari Bank was slapped with a fine of Rs10 lakh as the Bank had made donations to a trust in which a relative of one of the directors of the Bank was interested. The Bank sanctioned loans to relatives of one of its directors and also approved loans wherein relatives of its directors stood as guarantors.

Further, RBI says Patdi Nagarik Sahakari Bank breached the prudential inter-bank gross exposure limit and counterparty exposure limit and accepted interest-free deposits other than the current account deposits.

Statutory inspection for the year ending 31 March 2022 and examination of the IR, RAR and all related correspondence revealed that Mehsana Nagrik Sahakari Bank from Gujarat sanctioned loans, wherein a relative of one of the Bank's directors stood as guarantor and did not pay interest on overdue matured term deposits from the date of maturity till the date of their repayment at the applicable rate. The Bank also did not transfer the eligible amount to the depositor education and awareness fund (DEAF). RBI imposed a penalty of Rs7 lakh on Mehsana Nagrik Sahakari Bank.

Idar Nagarik Sahakari Bank was penalised Rs2 lakh for non-compliance with the directions issued by RBI on placement of deposits with other banks by primary UCBs. The Bank had breached the prudential inter-bank counterparty exposure limit, RBI says.

Further, RBI says its action against these five banks is based on deficiencies in regulatory compliance and is not intended to pronounce upon the validity of any transaction or agreement entered into by the banks with their customers.
Polish farmers to block roads across the country on Jan 24 to protest grain imports from Ukraine

From 12:00 to 14:00 on January 24, Polish farmers will block roads throughout the country; it is possible that on this day protesters will block the Polish-Ukrainian border, inpoland.net.pl reported.

According to the report, the representative of the agricultural organization Solidarnosc, Adrian Wawrzyniak, called on all farmers and agricultural unions in Poland to join the protests on January 24. Farmers will take to the streets to protest against grain imports from Ukraine, against the European Union and ideas that, in their opinion, want to significantly limit crop and livestock production in Poland and the EU.

The National Council of Agricultural Chambers supported the upcoming protests, Polish media reported.
Jolij took on the challenge and found that feel-good songs have an average tempo of 140 to 150 beats per minute (bpm), are usually in major key and the lyrics are either about positive events or make no sense at all.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy held a phone conversation with President of the United Arab Emirates Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan to thank him for support to Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity as well as assistance with prisoner exchange.

"Returning people home is a priority for Ukraine, that is why we count on further active role of the Emirates," Zelenskyy said on the Telegram channel on Friday.

"Ukraine is also grateful for humanitarian aid. Last week, we received a large batch  more than 1,500 units  of power generators. Such assistance is critical in the context of Russia's air terror," he said.

The presidents also discussed a possibility of long-term financial assistance from the UAE and implementation of the Peace Formula.

"I told about the launch of preparations for the Global Peace Summit and invited the UAE to join the process. The voice of the Gulf countries is very important to us," the president of Ukraine said.
Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine Ivan Havryliuk, during a visit to Paris, signed a technical agreement on the mutual acceptance of government quality assurance of goods, works and services for defense purposes between the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine and the French Ministry of Armed Forces.

"The signing of a technical agreement regulates the interaction between the Ministry of the Armed Forces of the French Republic as a NATO member state and the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine as a partner state in the field of ensuring the quality of goods, works and services for defense purposes and further cooperation in ensuring mutual government quality assurance of goods, works and services defense purposes under requirements of the NATO Standardization Agreement STANAG 4107," the Defense Ministry said, citing Havryliuk.

This will also reduce the financial costs of the Defense Ministry of Ukraine when purchasing goods, works and services for defense purposes.

The department said interaction between NATO member states, agencies, institutions in the field of quality of goods, works and services for defense purposes is carried out in accordance with the NATO Standardization Agreement STANAG 4107 "Mutual Acceptance of Government Quality Assurance and Usage of the Allied Quality Assurance Publications."

The purpose of STANAG 4107 is to meet interoperability requirements.
A number of generators are seen running at the Guam Power Authority Yigo power plant on Wednesday, Aug. 2, 2023.
Chief of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Defense Ministry of Ukraine Kyrylo Budanov has said it is necessary to continue posing pressure on Russian, particularly in the temporarily occupied Crimea, through airstrikes, sea drones and secret special operations.

Budanov told the Financial Times about the current situation in the aggressor state and the immediate priorities in the war.

"Our units entered Crimea numerous times [last year]," he said, adding that the special forces will continue to conduct active operations.

One of the key tasks of such missions is to destroy the logistics of the Russian occupation army in the temporarily occupied peninsula.

Russia's ongoing attempts to conduct an offensive at the eastern front have not brought any breakthroughs since the of autumn 2023, Budanov said.

"Their latest attempt [to conduct an offensive] has been lasting for two months already. In fact, without result," he said.

The chief of the Ukrainian intelligence also said that losses of the Russian forces near Avdiyivka has significantly increased in the past few weeks. He expressed doubt of Russia's ability to equivalently cover its own army's losses even with North Korea's assistance.
President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen has described Russia's aggression against Ukraine as a "wake-up call for Europe" that is making the EU rethink its defense policy.

"We have to rethink our own defense and defense industrial base, and we must ramp up our defense industrial base. This will not only give us more access to the necessary military systems, but it will also, of course, improve very much the interoperability of the armed forces of the different member states in the European Union," Von der Leyen said at a news conference she attended on Friday together with Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson and Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo in Stockholm.

"In March, the [European] Commission will present a defense industrial strategy," she said.

She revealed that she had discussed security and defense interaction at the EU level with Kristersson and Orpo.

They also talked about further supporting Kyiv, both militarily and economically, she said.

"We have stood by Ukraine since day one, and we will continue to do so. Crucial is for Ukraine support, not only military support  this is very important  but also economic support. We discussed, indeed, upcoming special European Council [meeting on February 1, 2024], where we aim to find an agreement for EUR 50 billion for Ukraine for the next four years," she said.

This would provide Ukraine with "predictable economic and budgetary assistance," Von der Leyen said.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP)  A California judge says a nearly 65-year-old law does not give the state permission to borrow the billions of dollars it would need to build a large water project, a decision that could threaten a key source of funding for a controversial plan backed by Gov. Gavin Newsom to build a massive underground tunnel that would reroute a big part of the states supply.

The Department of Water Resources approved a resolution in 2020 to borrow money for an unspecified Delta Program. The agency said it could borrow this money without asking for permission from the state Legislature because a law, last amended in 1959, says it can make changes to a portion of the State Water Project  a complex system of dams and canals that supplies water to about 27 million people.

But environmental groups and several Central Valley counties say that resolution was too broad. They say what the agency wants to build is a tunnel that would be outside the scope of the law. DWRs latest proposal is to construct a tunnel about 45 miles (72 kilometers) long and 36 feet (10.9 meters) wide, able to carry 161 million gallons of water per minute out of the Central Valley and to the densely populated southern portion of the state.

On Tuesday, after years of lengthy court proceedings, Sacramento Superior Court Judge Kenneth C. Mennemeier agreed with the counties. He said the states definition of the project leaves the door open for the state to build whatever it wants, which he said is not allowed under the law.

Although the Legislature plainly delegated broad authority to DWR, it did not delegate infinite authority, Mennemeier wrote.

Mennemeier emphasized that his ruling was quite narrow, only applying to the Newsom administrations unspecified Delta Program as defined in the DWR resolution.

Thomas Keeling, an attorney who represents six counties and various public water agencies, said its clear to him that the purpose of the bond resolutions approved by the Newsom administration in 2020 was to provide financing for the Delta tunnel project. He agreed the ruling is narrow because it doesnt prevent the administration from finding other ways to pay for the project.

That said, it would be a mistake to downplay the significance of this decision or to understate the obstacles that lie ahead for DWR in any subsequent effort to finance this taxpayer boondoggle, he said.

Environmental groups and counties that oppose the project cheered the ruling as a blow to the tunnels financing. The projects price tag was once put at $16 billion, but that was an old estimate for a previous plan. The state has not released updated estimates.

The DWR downplayed the significance of the ruling, although it said it disagreed with the decision and is considering an appeal. Margaret Mohr, deputy director of communications for the department, said the judge essentially rejected the broadness of the definition of the Delta Program and did not make a ruling specific to the tunnel.

The judge has not said that DWR doesnt have the authority to build the project or borrow money to pay for it, Mohr said. Mohr added that the Delta Conveyance Project is a critical part of Californias strategy to ensure a reliable water supply for millions of Californians  modernizing our water infrastructure to protect against the impacts of earthquakes, climate change, and more.

The tunnel has been proposed  and disputed  for many years, earning widespread opposition from Central Valley communities that say it would harm their economies and the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Deltas fragile ecosystem. The Newsom administration says the tunnel is a necessary upgrade of aging infrastructure that would help the state capture more water during intense rainstorms.

Its not clear what other options the Department of Water Resources could pursue to pay for the project. Asking for approval from voters or the state Legislature would be difficult. Just last year, lawmakers insisted on exempting the tunnel project from a law Newsom signed aimed at speeding up how long it takes to build large infrastructure projects.

Newsom, however, has been steadfast in his support for the project. Last month, his administration completed a key environmental review  the final step of a lengthy state regulatory process. But the project still must complete a federal environmental review and obtain various state and federal permits  a process that is expected to last until 2026.

By ADAM BEAM

Associated Press
Yves here. My first GP, who was board certified in internal medicine and cardiology, was chatty and would often complain to me how women were seldom given as many diagnostics for heart disease as men, as if having more estrogen somehow made that impossible. In fact, heart disease is the #3 cause of death for women aged 20-44. Thats a minor example of the misdiagnosis risk described below.

While this piece gives a profile of the problem, it provides no advice to patients as to what to do. In fact, it reinforces the idea that they are powerless: My doctor didnt listen.

Of course, one problem is that doctors are likely to be particularly disinclined to listen to patients that are less educated and/or from the wrong class. That overlaps with race but is not just a function of race. For instance, I have a friend who is a very successful businesswoman, brought up kids who went to Ivy League schools, but has a thick Southern accent and does not affect speech that goes with her level of smarts (playing dumb was a big advantage in her male-dominated industry). She recently was sent to the ER by her regular doctor (an over-reaction by them) and was patronized and abused verbally by the ER docs on the incorrect assumption that she was a yahoo.

I dont get much of that but I have the luxury of having an insurance plan that does not lock me into a network or GP gatekeeping, so I can (and sometimes have had to) shop for doctors until I find one who has the right balance of sensible but rigorous when needed. Not being able to fire your doctor sets patients up for indifference or worse. And even if you have a friendly policy or are a very big network, it is tiring and time consuming to search for practitioners.

Even with that advantage, I found myself continuing to go to New York for regular care when I was in Alabama, clearly not a great situation cost and practicality-wise, because the local doctors were not so hot: very unwilling to listen to women, particularly direct womenand I could not get certain tests done in Birmingham that you could get done on an outpatient basis in NYC and pretty much any normal-ish non-podunk location (despite Birmingham having the best med school in the South). IM Doc confirmed that these tests should be available and I could have gotten them done in even the very very small city in which he practiced. They just do not value womens health like they should in the Deep South.

So it appears there actually are care deserts for women. Imagine what its like to be black in a not-moneyed part of town.

Any reader advice very much appreciated.

By Liz Szabo, a former senior correspondent for KFF Health News. Originally published at KFF Health News

Charity Watkins sensed something was deeply wrong when she experienced exhaustion after her daughter was born.

At times, Watkins, then 30, had to stop on the stairway to catch her breath. Her obstetrician said postpartum depression likely caused the weakness and fatigue. When Watkins, who is Black, complained of a cough, her doctor blamed the flu.

About eight weeks after delivery, Watkins thought she was having a heart attack, and her husband took her to the emergency room. After a 5-hour wait in a North Carolina hospital, she returned home to nurse her baby without seeing a doctor.

When a physician finally examined Watkins three days later, he immediately noticed her legs and stomach were swollen, a sign that her body was retaining fluid. After a chest X-ray, the doctor diagnosed her with heart failure, a serious condition in which the heart becomes too weak to adequately pump oxygen-rich blood to organs throughout the body. Watkins spent two weeks in intensive care.

She said a cardiologist later told her, We almost lost you.

Watkins is among 12 million adults misdiagnosed every year in the U.S.

In a study published Jan. 8 in JAMA Internal Medicine, researchers found that nearly 1 in 4 hospital patients who died or were transferred to intensive care had experienced a diagnostic error. Nearly 18% of misdiagnosed patients were harmed or died.

In all, an estimated 795,000 patients a year die or are permanently disabled because of misdiagnosis, according to a study published in July in the BMJ Quality & Safety periodical.

Some patients are at higher risk than others.

Women and racial and ethnic minorities are 20% to 30% more likely than white men to experience a misdiagnosis, said David Newman-Toker, a professor of neurology at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and the lead author of the BMJ study. Thats significant and inexcusable, he said.

Researchers call misdiagnosis an urgent public health problem. The study found that rates of misdiagnosis range from 1.5% of heart attacks to 17.5% of strokes and 22.5% of lung cancers.

Weakening of the heart muscle  which led to Watkins heart failure  is the most common cause of maternal deathone week to one year after delivery, and is more common among Black women.

Heart failure should have been No. 1 on the list of possible causes for Watkins symptoms, said Ronald Wyatt, chief science and chief medical officer at the Society to Improve Diagnosis in Medicine, a nonprofit research and advocacy group.

Maternal mortality for Black mothers has increased dramatically in recent years. The United States has the highest maternal mortality rate among developed countries. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, non-Hispanic Black mothers are 2.6 times as likely to die as non-Hispanic white moms. More than half of these deaths take place within a year after delivery.

Research shows that Black women with childbirth-related heart failure are typically diagnosed later than white women, said Jennifer Lewey, co-director of the pregnancy and heart disease program at Penn Medicine. That can allow patients to further deteriorate, making Black women less likely to fully recover and more likely to suffer from weakened hearts for the rest of their lives.

Watkins said the diagnosis changed her life. Doctors advised her not to have another baby, or I might need a heart transplant, she said. Being deprived of the chance to have another child, she said, was devastating.

Racial and gender disparities are widespread.

Women and minority patients suffering from heart attacks are more likely than others to be discharged without diagnosis or treatment.

Black people with depression are more likely than others to be misdiagnosed with schizophrenia.

Minorities are less likely than whites to be diagnosed early with dementia, depriving them of the opportunities to receive treatments that work best in the early stages of the disease.

Misdiagnosis isnt new. Doctors have used autopsy studies to estimate the percentage of patients who died with undiagnosed diseases for more than a century. Although those studies show some improvement over time, life-threatening mistakes remain all too common, despite an array of sophisticated diagnostic tools, said Hardeep Singh, a professor at Baylor College of Medicine who studies ways to improve diagnosis.

The vast majority of diagnoses can be made by getting to know the patients story really well, asking follow-up questions, examining the patient, and ordering basic tests, said Singh, who is also a researcher at Houstons Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center. When talking to people whove been misdiagnosed, one of the things we hear over and over is, The doctor didnt listen to me.

Racial disparities in misdiagnosis are sometimes explained by noting that minority patients are less likely to be insuredthan white patients and often lack access to high-quality hospitals. But the picture is more complicated, said Monika Goyal, an emergency physician at Childrens National Hospital in Washington, D.C., who has documented racial bias in childrens health care.

In a 2020 study, Goyal and her colleagues found that Black kids with appendicitis were less likely than their white peersto be correctly diagnosed, even when both groups of patients visited the same hospital.

Although few doctors deliberately discriminate against women or minorities, Goyal said, many are biased without realizing it.

Racial bias is baked into our culture, Goyal said. Its important for all of us to start recognizing that.

Demanding schedules, which prevent doctors from spending as much time with patients as theyd like, can contribute to diagnostic errors, said Karen Lutfey Spencer, a professor of health and behavioral sciences at the University of Colorado-Denver. Doctors are more likely to make biased decisions when they are busy and overworked, Spencer said. There are some really smart, well-intentioned providers who are getting chewed up in a system thats very unforgiving.

Doctors make better treatment decisions when theyre more confident of a diagnosis, Spencer said.

In an experiment, researchers asked doctors to view videos of actors pretending to be patients with heart disease or depression, make a diagnosis, and recommend follow-up actions. Doctors felt far more certain diagnosing white men than Black patients or younger women.

If they were less certain, they were less likely to take action, such as ordering tests, Spencer said. If they were less certain, they might just wait to prescribe treatment.

Its easy to see why doctors are more confident when diagnosing white men, Spencer said. For more than a century, medical textbooks have illustrated diseases with stereotypical images of white men. Only 4.5% of images in general medical textbooks feature patients with dark skin.

That may help explain why patients with darker complexions are less likely to receive a timely diagnosis with conditions that affect the skin, from cancer to Lyme disease, which causes a red or pink rash in the earliest stage of infection. Black patients with Lyme disease are more likely to be diagnosed with more advanced disease, which can cause arthritis and damage the heart. Black people with melanoma are about three times as likely as whites to die within five years.

The covid-19 pandemic helped raise awareness that pulse oximeters  the fingertip devices used to measure a patients pulse and oxygen levels  are less accurate for people with dark skin. The devices work by shining light through the skin; their failures have delayed critical care for many Black patients.

Seven years after her misdiagnosis, Watkins is an assistant professor of social work at North Carolina Central University in Durham, where she studies the psychosocial effects experienced by Black mothers who survive severe childbirth complications.

Sharing my story is part of my healing, said Watkins, who speaks to medical groups to help doctors improve their care. It has helped me reclaim power in my life, just to be able to help others.
Yves here. This article by Poor Peoples Campaign co-founder Liz Theoharis, argues that young activists have been far more effective than is widely acknowledged. Perhaps that is because the press has been very deliberate in burying stories initiatives they do not like, like labor rights or pro-Palestine protests, as well as presenting the image of young people as self-absorbed and disengaged. The latter furthers the impression that any young rabble-rousers are rare, meant to imply not effective so as to discourage that sort of thing.

Reader sanity checks welcome!

By Liz Theoharis. Originally published at TomDispatch

All Americans owe them a debt for  if nothing else  releasing the idealism locked so long inside a nation that has not recently tasted the drama of a social upheaval. And for making us look on the young people of the country with a new respect. Thats how Howard Zinn opened his book The New Abolitionists about the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee of the 1960s. Zinn pointed out a truth from the Black freedom struggles of that era and earlier: that young people were often labeled aloof and apathetic, apolitical and uncommitted  until suddenly they were at the very forefront of justice struggles for themselves and for the larger society. Connected to that truth is the reality that, in the history of social-change movements in the United States and globally, young people almost invariably find themselves in the lead.

I remember first reading The New Abolitionists in the 1990s when I was a college student and activist. I had grown weary of hearing older people complain about the inactivity of my generation, decrying why we werent more involved in the social issues of the day. Of course, even then, such critiques came in the face of mass protests, often led by the young, against the first Iraq war (launched by President George H.W. Bush), the Republican Contract With America, and the right-wing family values movement. Such assertions about the apathy of youth were proffered even as young people were waging fights for marriage equality, the protection of abortion, and pushing back against the attack on immigrants, as well as holding mass marches like the Battle for Seattle at the World Trade Organization meeting as well as protests at the Republican National Convention of 2000, and so much more.

Another quote from Zinn remains similarly etched in my mind. Theirs, he wrote, was the silent generation until they spoke, the complacent generation until they marched and sang, the money-seeking generation until they gave it up for the fight for justice in the dank and dangerous hamlets of the Black Belt.

And if it was true that, in the 1990s and 2000s, young people were so much less complacent than was recognized at the time, its even truer (to the nth degree!) in the case of the Millennials and Gen Z today. Younger generations are out there leading the way toward justice in a fashion that they seldom get credit for.

Dont Look Up

Let me suggest, as a start, that we simply chuck out the sort of generalizations about Millennials and Gen Z that pepper the media today: that those younger generations spend too much money on avocado toast and Starbucks when they should be buying real estate or paying down their student loans. Accused of doing everything through social media, its an under-recognized and unappreciated reality of this century that young people have been showing up in a remarkable fashion, leading the way in on-the-ground movements to ensure that Black lives matter, dealing vividly with the onrushing horror of climate change, as well as continued conflict and war, not to speak of defending economic justice and living wages, abortion access, LGBTQ rights, and more.

Take, for instance, the greatest social upheaval of the past five years: the uprising that followed the murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, with #BlackLivesMatter protests being staged in staggering numbers of communities, many of which had never hosted such an action before. Those marches and rallies, led mainly by teenagers and young adults, may have been the broadest wave of protests in American history.

When it comes to the environmental movement, young people have been organizing campaigns for climate justice, calling for a #GreenNewDeal and #climatedefiance from Cop City to the March to End Fossil Fuels to a hunger strike in front of the White House. At the same time, they have been bird-dogging politicians on both sides of the aisle with an urgency and militancy not previously associated with climate change. Meanwhile, a surge of unionization drives, whether at Walmart, Starbucks, Amazon, or Dollar General, has largely been led by young low-wage workers of color and has increased appreciation for and recognition of workers rights and labor unions to a level not seen in decades. Add to that the eviction moratoriums, mutual-aid provisions, and student-debt strikes of the pandemic years, which gained ground no one had thought possible even months earlier.

And dont forget the movement to stop gun violence that, from the March for Our Lives in Florida to the protests leading to the expulsion and subsequent reinstatement of state legislators Justin Jones and Justin Pearson in Tennessee, galvanized millions across racial and political lines. Teenagers in striking numbers are challenging this society to value their futures more than guns. And most recently, calls for a #ceasefirenow and #freepalestine have heralded the birth of a new peace movement in the wake of Hamass attacks on Israel and the Israeli destruction of much of Gaza. Although university presidents have been getting more media attention, Palestinian, Jewish, and Muslim students have been the ones organizing and out there, insisting that indiscriminate violence perpetrated against Palestinians, especially children, will not happen in our name.

From Unexpected Places

An observation Zinn made so many years ago about young people in the 1960s may have lessons for movements today: They came out of unexpected places; they were mostly black and therefore unseen until they suddenly became the most visible people in America; they came out of Greensboro, North Carolina, and Nashville, Tennessee, and Rock Hill, South Carolina, and Atlanta, Georgia. And they were committed. To the point of jail, which is a large commitment.

Todays generation of activists are similarly committed and come from places as varied as Parkland, Florida, Uvalde, Texas, Buffalo, New York, and Durham, North Carolina. Below the surface, some deep stuff is brewing that could indeed continue to compel new generations of the young into action. As we approach the first quarter mark of the twenty-first century, were stepping firmly into a new technological era characterized by unparalleled levels of digital power. The Fourth Industrial Revolution, as elite economists and think-tankers like to call it, promises a technological revolution that, in the words of World Economic Forum founder Klaus Schwab, is likely to occur on a scale, scope, and complexity never before experienced. That revolution will, of course, include the integration of artificial intelligence and other labor-replacing technology into many kinds of in-person as well as remote work and is likely to involve the deskilling of our labor force from the point of production all the way to the market.

Residents of Detroit, once the Silicon Valley of auto manufacturing, understand this viscerally. At the turn of the twentieth century, the Ford River Rouge Plant was the largest, most productive factory in the world, a private city with 100,000 workers and its own municipal services. Today, the plant employs only a fraction of that number  about 10,000 people  and yet, thanks to a surge of robotic innovation, it produces even more cars than it did in the heady days of the 1930s. Consider such a shift just the tip of the spear of the kind of change coming to a city near you, as one veteran auto worker and union organizer once told me. All of this is impacting everything from wages to health-care plans, pensions to how workers organize. Indeed, some pushback to such revolutionary shifts in production can be seen in the labor strikes the United Auto Workers launched late in 2023.

Overall, such developments are deeply impacting young people. After all, workers are now generally making less than their parents did, even though they may produce more for the economy. Growing parts of our workforce are increasingly non-unionized, low-wage, part-time and/or contracted out, often without benefits like health care, paid sick leave, or retirement plans. And not surprisingly, such workers struggle to afford housing, childcare, and other necessities, experiencing on the whole harsher lives than the generations that preceded them.

In addition, the last 40 years have done more than just transform work and daily life for younger generations. They have conditioned so many to lose faith in government as a site for struggle and change. Instead, Americans are increasingly dependent on private, market-based solutions that extol the wealthy for their humanitarianism (even as they reap the rewards from federal policymaking and an economy rigged in their favor).

Crises upon Crises

Consider the social, political, and economic environment thats producing the multi-layered crises faced by todays younger generations. When compared to other advanced countries, the United States lags perilously behind in almost every important category. In this rich land, about 45 million people regularly experience hunger and food insecurity, nearly 80 million are uninsured or underinsured, close to 10 million live without housing or on the brink of homelessness, while the education system continues to score near the bottom compared to the other 37 countries in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. And in all of this, young people are impacted disproportionately.

Perhaps most damning, ours is a society that has become terrifyingly tolerant of unnecessary death and suffering. Deaths by poverty are an increasingly all-American reality. Low-wage jobs that have been found to shorten lives are the norm. In 2023, researchers at the University of California, Riverside, found that poverty was the fourth-leading cause of death in this country, right after heart disease, smoking, and cancer. While life expectancy continues to rise across the industrialized world, its stagnated in the U.S. since the 2010s and, during the first three years of the Covid pandemic, it dropped in a way that, according to experts, was unprecedented in modern world history. That marks us as unique not just among wealthy countries, but among poorer ones as well. And again, its impact was felt above all by the young. What we call deaths of despair are also accelerating, although the label is misleading, since so many overdoses and suicides are caused not by some amorphous social malaise but by medical neglect and lack of access to adequate care and mental-health treatment for the under- or uninsured.

Nor are low wages, crises of legitimacy, and falling life expectancy the only significant issues facing our younger generations. Just last week, the New York Times reported that 2023 was the hottest year on record (with climate chaos worsening yearly and little chance of the elimination of our reliance on fossil fuels in sight). Add to that the fact that anyone born in the last three decades can hardly remember a time when the United States was not in some fashion at war (whether declared or not) and pouring its taxpayer dollars into the Pentagon budget. In fact, according to the National Priorities Project, this country has spent a staggering $21 trillion on militarization since September 11, 2001, including increased border patrols, a rising police presence in our communities, and various aspects of the Global War on Terror that came home big-time. Add to all that, the rise of Trumpian-style authoritarianism and attacks on our democratic system more extreme than at any time since the Civil War.

What Time Is It?

Thousands of years ago, the ancient Greeks taught that there were two ways to understand time  and the times in which we live. Chronos was quantitative time, the measured chronological time of a clock. Kairos, on the other hand, was qualitative time: the special, even transformative, time of a specific moment (and possibly of a movement). Kairos is all about opportunity. In the days of antiquity, Greek archers were trained to recognize the brief kairos moment, the opening when their arrow had the best chance of reaching its target. In the Bible (and as a biblical scholar I run into this a lot), Kairos describes a moment when the eternal breaks into history.

German-American theologian Paul Tillich introduced the modern use of kairos in describing the period between the First World War and the rise of fascism. In retrospect, he recognized the existential stakes of that transitional moment and mourned the societal failure to stem the tide of fascism in Germany, Italy, and Spain. There was a similar kairos moment in apartheid South Africa when a group of mainly Black theologians wrote a Kairos Document noting that for very many in South Africa, this is the KAIROS, the moment of grace and opportunity a challenge to decisive action. It is a dangerous time because, if this opportunity is missed, and allowed to pass by, the loss will be immeasurable.

2024 may well be a kairos moment for us here in the United States. Theres so much at stake, so much to lose, but if Howard Zinn were with us today, I suspect he would look at the rise of bold and visionary organizing, led by generations of young leaders, and tell us that change, on a planet in deep distress, is coming soon.
A special inter-committee working group on the protection of cultural heritage sites is being created in the Verkhovna Rada, Head of the committee on the organization of state power, local self-government, regional development and urban planning, Olena Shuliak (Servant of the People party) said.

As Shuliak told Interfax-Ukraine, the task of the special working group is to develop legislative changes that will help solve the problem of arbitrary destruction of monuments, which, although aggravated as a result of Russian armed aggression, is not new for Ukraine due to the actions of developers and dubious decisions of local councils.

"It is important for our country to prevent the destruction of cultural heritage monuments at the legislative level. In Kyiv, dozens of facilities became the target of encroachments by unscrupulous developers last year. Now the estate 1893 on 18 Mykhailivska Street, a 140-year-old architectural monument  the house of Osip Rodin, is under threat on 71 Honchara Street, a 150-year-old cultural heritage site located on 2/21/19 Voloshska Street. Kyiv City Council, in turn, periodically supports the demolition of architectural monuments to allocate land for development," the head of the committee said.

The working group will include members of the parliamentary committee on the organization of state power, local self-government, regional development and urban planning, as well as the committee on humanitarian and information policy. In addition, MPs, representatives of the Verkhovna Rada apparatus, the Ministry of Development of Communities, Territories and Infrastructure (Ministry of Reconstruction), the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy, the President's Office, central and local authorities, as well as specialized associations, scientists and experts will be involved in its work in the field of cultural heritage.

"Our goal is to find all legislative loopholes that allow the destruction of landmarks for the sake of new construction. Find, eliminate them and formulate a new, clear and understandable legislative field without cracks to bypass it," Shuliak said.

She said the need to develop legislative changes to solve problems and challenges in the field of protection of cultural heritage has been repeatedly discussed both in the relevant ministries and with the public. Moreover, in recent years, it was thanks to public publicity that the destruction of some important monuments was prevented.

In addition to the developments of new legislation that provides a decent level of protection for cultural heritage sites, it is necessary to create conditions for the synchronization of the Unified State Electronic System in the field of construction as part of the electronic urban planning cadastre with the State Register of Immovable (Tangible) Monuments of Ukraine, work on the creation of which has been ongoing for about two years, noted in the statement. At the end of last year, the developers presented their developments for it  an information and communication system, the filling of which is now being completed by the regional state administrations. They enter the memos themselves and the accounting data for each of them, and check the availability of the necessary documentation for them.

"For this system to become a full-fledged register, into which anyone can go and view data on a particular attraction, a colossal amount of work still needs to be done. First of all, enter all the memos and documentation on them into it, then the data on the memos from paper media will need to be checked for accuracy, that is, verified. It is also necessary to legalize the procedure for maintaining this register so that extracts from it can be used to carry out management activities (for land managers, construction projects, protection of cultural heritage, etc.), and to develop the necessary by-laws for this," the MP said.
On Monday, 22 January 2024, the NATO Secretary General, Mr Jens Stoltenberg, will receive the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Czechia, Mr Jan Lipavsky, at NATO Headquarters.

There will be no media opportunity.

Photographs will be available on the NATO website after the event.



For more information:

Contact the NATO Press Office

Follow us on X (formerly Twitter): @NATO, @jensstoltenberg and @NATOPress
In 2020, U.S. companies spent a whopping $8 billion on anti-white DEI propaganda

In a 2021 interview with Robin DiAngelo, formerhost Mehdi Hasan of the "Mehdi Hasan Show" stated that companies spent an astounding $8 billion in 2020 alone on "diversity and inclusion" (DEI) programs that discriminate against white people while propping up non-whites.

The resurfaced clip, which is circulating on X (formerly Twitter)  you can also watch it below  comes at a pertinent time when DEI is getting slammed in popular culture as a sham.

NBC reports, US companies spent $8 billion dollars on DEI programs in 2020. The DEI grift creates a toxic racist workplace and simultaneously bankrupts the company. pic.twitter.com/wLnq5gAhth  Mythinformed (@MythinformedMKE) January 7, 2024

The episode of the Mehdi Hasan Show from which the above clip was taken was called "Why White Progressives are Part of the Problem." It called out DEI, critical race theory (CRT), and other anti-white trends that have emerged in recent years to denigrate and minimize whites throughout American society.

(Related: Be sure to check out what less than three decades of diversity, equity, and inclusion did to Johannesburg, South Africa, which has turned into a "crumbling hellscape.")

Anti-white racism is trendy

In the interview, Hasan asked DiAngelo about her book, called "Nice Racism," and what it has to do with corporations spending money on DEI and anti-white race workshops. What Hasan wanted to know is whether or not all that spending actually works towards company goals, allowing them to play "racism get out of jail free" cards.

"Well, I don't think it does work if it's not sustained and consistent," DiAngelo responded. "So, if it's a one-time thing  a check the box kind of approach  it's not going to keep going. It has to be sustained."

"I really would have us question why we think there would be a simple answer or solution. We can take this workshop  or we should be able to take this workshop  and figure out something as perennially complex and deep and enduring and highly adaptive as racism."

The latest iterations of alleged racism are now being called things like "voter suppression" and "laws enacted that say you can't acknowledge that racism exists," as well as efforts to "teach the history of the civil rights movement."

This ever-moving target known as "racism" has to constantly be addressed by racial training, otherwise the average person would miss it. In other words, "racism" as it is currently defined in popular culture does not exist  unless, of course, we are talking about anti-white racism, which is being institutionalized at the corporate and academic level across America.

DiAngelo endorses what are known as "affinity groups" that she says are an advanced technique used in DEI training. In short, affinity groups are groups of people who are separated by race because there "are aspects" of DEI reprogramming that require people of different races to be taught "separately."

The people who are hired to lead DEI brainwashing programs typically make a lot of money  upwards of hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars annually goes to each and every DEI leader.

The Chief Diversity officer and related support staff at the University of Florida, for instance, are paid a whopping $750,000 a year. The University of Central Florida's Vice President for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, as well as the president's assistant, together boast a combined salary of $445,000 per year.

MEMO: All state university & college systems in Florida have been required to report expenditures and resources utilized for campus activities related to diversity, equity, and inclusion and critical race theory. Stay tuned. pic.twitter.com/E4Z4zLuJgC  Bryan Griffin (@BryanDGriffin) January 4, 2023

The latest news about the anti-white takeover of corporate America can be found at RaceWar.news.

Sources for this article include:

ThePostMillennial.com

NaturalNews.com

ThePostMillennial.com
Ursula von der Leyen hopes the EU Digital Services Act will tackle WEFs top concern: The truth getting out

For the global business community, the top concern for the next two years is not conflict or climate, it is disinformation and misinformation, Ursula von der Leyen said.

(Article by Rhoda Wilson republished from Expose-News.com)

The President of the European Commission said this while giving a special address on the second day of the World Economic Forums (WEFs) annual meeting being held in Davos this week. The theme of the meeting this year is rebuilding trust, which is wishful thinking.

These risks, [disinformation and misinformation], are serious, von der Leyen said, because they limit our ability to tackle the big global challenges we are facing. Changes in our climate and our geopolitical climate shifts in our demography and in our technology.

You can watch von der Leyens special address on WEFs website HERE and you can read a transcript published by WEF HERE, although its probably not advisable to trust that WEF has transcribed it accurately, completely and/or truthfully.

WEFs table of top risks for the next two years compared to the longer term of 10 years shows WEF believes they will be able to successfully tackle what they call misinformation in the next few years with misinformation and disinformation dropping from top spot to sixth. We can assume that means, at the very least, even more censorship from now on.

It must be remembered that what WEF calls misinformation and disinformation translates into information that does not agree with their approved narrative.

Source: Ursula von der Leyens speech to Davos in full, World Economic Forum, 16 January 2024,

retrieved 16 January 2024

Von der Leyen provided a solution for the risks WEF is concerned about: This is a time to drive global collaboration more than ever before  I believe it can be done, and I believe that Europe can and must take the lead in shaping that global response. The starting point for that is to look deeper at [WEFs] Global Risk Report to map out a way forward.

In what follows, text contained within quotation marks are excerpts from von der Leyens speech. It begins with von der Leyen describing WEFs much-touted public-private partnership model. The merging of public and private interests, where the state becomes business and business becomes the state.

While governments hold many of the levers to deal with the great challenges of our time, business have the innovation, the technology, the talents to deliver the solutions we need to fight threats like climate change or industrial-scale disinformation. Europe is uniquely placed to show how this can work 

And this is more important than ever as we start 2024, the biggest electoral year in history. Democracies across the world will head to the polls and half of the global population will be affected. This includes over 450 million people in the European Union, a union of 27 democracies 

Of course, like in all democracies, our freedom comes with risks. There will always be those who try to exploit our openness, both from inside and out. There will always be attempts to put us off track. For example, with disinformation and misinformation.

Von der Leyen then proceeded to provide details about Russia in the context of Ukraine as an example of disinformation and misinformation which she spoke of as fact. However, according to RT, von der Leyens facts featured outright economic falsehoods as well as fresh reports from the Ukrainian frontline  circa 2022.

Let me go back to the number one concern of the Global Risk Report: disinformation and misinformation. Tackling this has been our focus since the very beginning of my mandate. With our Digital Services Act, we defined the responsibility of large internet platforms on the content they promote and propagate, she said.

The Digital Services Act is the most ambitious regulation in the world. There is no other legislative act in the world having this level of ambition to regulate social media, online marketplaces, very large online platforms (VLOPs) and very large online search engines (VLOSEs), the website for the Act states.

Kanekoa The Great noted some highlights from an All-In Podcast discussing what this means in practical terms.

The All-In Podcast on the European Unions Digital Services Act Censorship Regime Controlling the Internet

David Friedberg: The era of the open internet as a decentralised technology platform for the benefit of individuals, and not to be overseen and run by governments, is over.

Chamath Palihapitiya: Europe has such a checkered past on these things, which is that they somehow try to find this moral high ground, and there is just this overreach and this quasi-central planning that never works.

David Sacks: This is a censorship regime The problem is the vagueness of this, which says social media companies have to take down illegal content but does not say what illegal content is. It delegates the power to define it to this group of Eurocrats.

David Friedberg: The Digital Services Act is one of the most overreaching threats to any open, transparent, democratic opportunity on the internet

It gives this EU government the legal right to go into my computer, pull information out of it, scrutinise it, and make decisions about what Im doing and whether or not Im compliant with whatever their commissions enforcement standards are that day.

This is about as 1984 as you can get. Its a really serious threat, and I dont think people are recognising the second-order and third-order effects of what this is going to do over time to the quality of services and experiences we get on the internet.

You can watch the All-In Podcast below. We have embedded it to begin at the section relating to the EU Digital Services Act (timestamp 50:42).

All-In Podcast: E150 | Israel/Gaza escalating or not? EU censorship regime, Penn donors revolt, GLP-1 hype cycle,

20 October 2023

Read more at: Expose-News.com
Electric vehicle (EV) owners are now struggling with depleted batteries and long lines at charging stations as the freezing temperature in Chicago drains batteries and reduces driving range.

Javed Spencer, a 27-year-old Uber driver, shared the impact of extreme weather on EV functionality. "When it's cold like this, cars aren't functioning well, chargers aren't functioning well, and people don't function so well either," he said as he recounted how he had to tow his Chevy Bolt to a charging station after it unexpectedly died due to the cold weather. "When I finally plugged it in, it wasn't getting any charge."

Charging his EV, which usually takes an hour, took Spencer about five hours.

In another incident in a frigid Chicago parking lot on Jan. 15, Tesla drivers endured freezing temperatures, waiting in a long line for their turn at the charging station. Nick Sethi, a 35-year-old engineer, even struggled to open his frozen Tesla Model Y, spending an hour in minus 5-degree temperatures chiseling out the embedded trunk handle.

"Its been a roller-coaster ride. I'll go through the winter and then decide whether I keep it," Sethi said.

Joshalin Rivera, a Tesla Model 3 owner, voiced her concerns about the long lines: "If you're waiting in that line and you only have 50 miles, you're not going to make it." She mentioned witnessing a Tesla attempt to cut the line and ultimately die.

The recent polar vortex hitting Chicago, along with other parts of the United States and Canada, brought wind chills near -30 degrees on Jan. 16, causing further strain on EVs. This harsh weather has exposed the vulnerability of EVs in freezing conditions. Tesla, one of the major EV manufacturers, acknowledged the increased energy consumption in cold weather on its website and offers tips to mitigate the impact, including keeping the charge level above 20 percent and using the "scheduled departure" feature.

Moreover, the extreme cold temperature badly affects the low-voltage and high-voltage batteries of EVs. Albert Gore III, the executive director of the Zero Emission Transportation Association, suggests that the charging infrastructure in Chicago might have been overwhelmed by the unprecedented cold weather. Jack Brouwer, the director of the Clean Energy Institute and a professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at the University of California, Irvine, supports the claims of Gore III.

"It ends up being very difficult to make battery electric vehicles work in very cold conditions. You cannot charge a battery as fast or discharge a battery as fast if its cold. Theres no physical way of getting around," Brouwer said.

EVs have failed to match expectations

Throughout the years, EVs have failed to match the expectations of their buyers due to the manipulative and exaggerated advertisement of EV capabilities in the market.

The disparity between advertised performance and real-world conditions, especially during the winter, has led to a significant disconnect between expectations and reality. In reality, drivers need to cut that range in half during the winter to have a more accurate reading.

Eric Peters Autos, a prominent voice in this critique, points out the misleading information regarding the ease and speed of recharging EVs. While it is true that recharging can be done at home, the time it takes has been downplayed. Buyers were led to believe they could quickly resume their journeys in 30-45 minutes, without being adequately informed that such fast charging facilities are not typically available at home.

The initial surge in demand for EVs, largely driven by early adopters embracing new technology and the associated lifestyle changes, now appears to be waning. Consumers, having experienced the harsh economic realities of EV ownership, are second-guessing their decisions. This shift in sentiment is reflected in the increasing backlogs of unsold EVs at dealerships.

As the cold temperature continues to grip Chicago, EV owners like Spencer are questioning the economic viability of driving EVs for ride-sharing services in the harsh winters.

"The payout is the same, but the cost to drivers, with all these extra charges, is much more," he said. (Related: Canadian electric truck owner describes his EV experience as a frustrating SCAM.)
Outrage as Fed caught asking banks to flag financial transactions containing terms like MAGA and Trump

Representative Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) is demanding answers after it was revealed that federal investigators instructed financial institutions to search for terms such as MAGA and Trump when looking through customer data following the Capitol riots of January 6, 2021.

Jordan, in his capacity as the chairman of the House Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government, is investigating why the Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCen) asked banks to conduct this type of search. He is demanding testimony from the former director of FinCens Strategic Operations Division, Noah Bishoff, as part of their probe into what he termed an alarming case of pervasive financial surveillance that appears to have been performed on the basis of protected political speech.

In a letter to Bishoff, Jordan explained: The Committee and Select Subcommittee have obtained documents indicating that following January 6, 2021, FinCEN distributed materials to financial institutions that, among other things, outline the typologies of various persons of interest and provide financial institutions with suggested search terms and Merchant Category Codes (MCCs) for identifying transactions on behalf of federal law enforcement.

He added that they were told to search payment messages in the app Zelle for terms like MAGA and TRUMP.

Religious text purchases also considered a flag for potential Jan. 6 participation

FinCen also appeared to be using peoples religious beliefs against them. In their analysis of Lone Actor/Homegrown Violent Extremism Indicators released to banks to help them identify Capitol riot suspects, they listed the purchase of books (including religious texts) and subscriptions to other media containing extremist views, along with travel-related purchases that did not have an apparent purpose, including rental cars and plane and bus tickets.

Jordan said: In other words, FinCEN urged large financial institutions to comb through the private transactions of their customers for suspicious charges on the basis of protected political and religious expression.

Other terms they were told to search for included small arms and sporting goods stores like Cabelas and Dicks. Pawn shops, specialty retailers and other sporting good providers were also singled out.

Bank of America helped FBI identify people who may have been connected to events of J6

Jordan also sent a letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray requesting an interview with a senior official from their Strategic Partner Engagement Section, Peter Sullivan, to find out more about cooperation between the agency and the nations second-biggest bank, Bank of America, in the aftermath of January 6.

He intends to inquire about the FBI's engagement with the private sector in matters related to law enforcement as well as their mass accumulation and use of Americans private information without legal process and any protocols used by the FBI to protect Americans privacy and constitutional rights in the receipt and use of such information.

According to Jordan, the bank looked through the information of customers who made certain types of purchases in the Washington, D.C. area in the days surrounding January 6. He said that Sullivan gave a list of terms to Bank of America to search for, many of which were related to hotels, firearms, airline tickets and Airbnb purchases. In response to this request, Bank of America supplied the FBI with 211 customers' information. However, only one is said to have been brought in for questioning and no one was arrested.

Jordan has asked that both interviews be scheduled by January 31 so the subcommittee can proceed with its investigation.

America is meant to be the land of the free, but apparently buying religious books and sporting goods is enough to get you flagged by the Biden administration as a potential threat.

Sources for this article include:

ZeroHedge.com

NYPost.com
Former Space Force officer tells House panel he was FIRED for criticizing DEI policy

An erstwhile officer of the U.S. Space Force (USSF) recounted to Congress that he was terminated for criticizing the branch's diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policy

Former USSF Lt. Col. Matthew Lohmeier testified before a panel of the House of Representatives on Jan. 17 about "the ongoing Marxist inspired efforts to subvert and weaken our military and broader American society." His criticism of these endeavors led to his termination in May 2021.

During his testimony, Lohmeier said he was fired from his command "for writing a book trying to reverse the trend of the overt politicization of the uniformed services." This book, titled "Irresistible Revolution: Marxism's Goal Of Conquest & the Unmaking of the American Military," was eventually published and even became an Amazon best-seller.

"Specifically, I criticize the military's DEI trainings which, at my own base, were illegally occurring despite an executive order from the commander-in-chief," he told lawmakers. "The DEI industry is steeped in critical race theory (CRT) and is rooted in anti-American Marxist ideology."

Lohmeier recounted that prior to promoting his book, he "submitted a formal written complaint" to the USSF's Office of the Inspector General. He outlined several violations that were occurring because of the DEI training, such as illegal race-based discrimination.

Unfortunately, his complaint was never investigated and was ultimately dismissed by Lt. Gen. Stephen Whiting, the head of U.S. Space Command. Lohmeier later "received a written dismissal of [his] complaint from Whiting personally" after just two months.

According to the former USSF officer, top officials at the Department of Defense "requested $140 million to expand work diversity initiatives in fiscal year 2024." This amount, he continued, is "double what it's been the previous two years."

But Lohmeier ultimately warned lawmakers that such initiatives come with dire consequences. "I watched DEI trainings divide our troops ideologically and, in some cases, sow the seeds of animosity toward the very country they had sworn an oath to defend," he said.

Woke agenda dividing the U.S. military

Last June, Lohmeier spoke with the Epoch Times about the dangers of the woke agenda in the military. He said then that the woke agenda backed by the Biden administration weakens and divides the military  ultimately compromising national security. (Related: Former Space Force officer: WOKE AGENDA weakening, dividing US military.)

"Americans should know that when someone signs up to wear the uniform of their country, they're trained early on to leave political baggage at the door and to be rather apolitical while acting in an official capacity," Lohmeier said. "There is something that supersedes those topics for men and women in uniform  and that's a particular mission in support of national security."

He pointed out that service members often avoid discussing political topics as they focus on the sole mission of protecting the nation. But nowadays, most service members striving to remain apolitical "are finding themselves in a hyper-politicized and sexualized work environment at the moment." If they oppose the environment, "they are labeled as politically partisan and simply 'part of the problem' and are ostracized for it."

Lohmeier noted that under the Biden administration, "left-wing activists have essentially been given a bully pulpit" they use to promote ideas such as CRT, DEI standards and the LGBT agenda. "These agendas strike at the values of the military and its role in defending the Constitution," he said.

Moreover, he continued that such ideas are "divisive in nature because not everyone aligns with or agrees with those agendas" and are viewed by some as a distraction from the military's proper priorities.

"While the military has always been  by and large  a reflection of broader American society, there is something very different going on right now in this current administration," Lohmeier said. "At the forefront of the cultural dialogue in the military is what has been driven by policy."

Visit Wokies.news for more stories about woke DEI initiatives in the U.S. military.

Watch this InfoWars segment explaining how a woke military proves America is under attack from within.

This video is from the InfoWars channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

Woke Left moving to take over last functional, patriotic institution  the military: Whistleblowers detail hundreds of cases of 'anti-American indoctrination.'

Americans shun Biden's woke military, as all service branches except the USMC see recruiting shortfalls.

Brannon Howse: US military under Biden is prioritizing WOKENESS over READINESS  Brighteon.TV.

Woke U.S. military failing to recruit because nobody wants to defend American degeneracy.

Sources include:

ThePostMillennial.com

TheEpochTimes.com

Brighteon.com
Iran claims missile strikes targeting Iraq and Syria destroyed Israeli spy base

The Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps launched ballistic missiles at targets in Syria and Iraq, hitting what they claim is a spy base for the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad in northern Iraq as well as anti-Iran terror groups in Syria.

One missile strike hit near the American consulate in Erbil, although U.S. officials have said that no American facilities were affected by the strikes. Iranian forces said that they were targeting an Israeli intelligence headquarters there. A rocket fell on the home of a senior Kurdish intelligence officer and a Kurdish intelligence center, and air traffic at the nearby Erbil airport was halted.

Four civilians were reportedly killed in the attack, but none of them were American. The Erbil strikes killed Kurdish businessman Peshraw Dizayi and his one-year-old daughter; his wife and two sons sustained serious injuries and his villa was destroyed. It is not known if the building was a target of the attack.

The United States has condemned the strikes, with White House National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson saying in a statement that the "initial indications are that this was a reckless and imprecise set of strikes."

"The United States supports the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Iraq," she added.

The Iraqi government also condemned the attacks and has ordered an investigation into what happened. The country has also recalled its ambassador from Tehran for consultations on the strikes.

The foreign minister of Iraq, Fuad Hussein, told CNN that there arent any centers associated with the Mossad in Erbil and called the strikes a violation of international law.

The IRGC also fired ballistic missiles at the bases of what they claim are anti-Iran terror groups in occupied territories of Syria.

Iran said the attacks were a response to a terrorist attack that took place in Kerman, Iran, last week. It consisted of two bombings that hit minutes apart during a commemoration ceremony for an Iranian general, Qassem Soleimani, who was killed by an American drone strike in 2020. Nearly 90 people died in the attack. Although some Iranian leaders blamed Israel for the attack at first, ISIS took responsibility for it. It now appears that they have returned to the narrative that Israel is to blame for the attack, however.

Tensions continue to rise in the Middle East, fueling fears of a broader conflict

Irans attacks mark a major escalation of hostilities in the Middle East that many fear could spark a broader conflict that involves other nations. Israels ongoing bombings of Gaza in response to the deadly terror attacks in Israel on October 7 have killed at least 24,000 people, according to the Hamas-run Gazan Ministry of Health, while the Gazan population is also dealing with fear, disease, starvation and other problems.

Attacks have been taking place throughout the region, with allies and proxies of Iran responsible for much of the damage. Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen have been carrying out strikes on commercial ships in the Red Sea, hitting an American-owned cargo ship there on Monday. The U.S. Navy seized ballistic and cruise missiles made by Iran that were being delivered to Houthi rebels from a vessel situated off the Somalian coast; two navy SEALs went overboard and remain missing.

Fighting has also intensified between Israel and another Iran-backed terror group, Hezbollah, near the Lebanon border. Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah has promised to continue the fighting until Israel withdraws from Gaza. Meanwhile, Israel recently killed a senior Hezbollah commander in a drone strike on his vehicle in Lebanon.

Sources for this article include:

ZeroHedge.com

CBSNews.com
US intelligence: Russian war against Ukraine to last at least two more years, both sides too exhausted

Regardless of what happens in U.S. politics in the current year 2024, representatives of American and Western intelligence believe that the Russian war against Ukraine is likely to last at least two more years, and some U.S. and Western officials say that fighting could last up to five more years, CNN said on Friday.

The U.S. military representative in Europe predicts that another attempt at a major Ukrainian counter-offensive to split Russian forces in occupied Melitopol will occur no earlier than two years from now. According to him, Ukraine or Russia will not be able to achieve any significant successes on the battlefield in 2024, since both sides are "too exhausted in terms of troops and equipment to see huge moves in 2024," this person said. The Ukrainians have discussed 2025 being "a more feasible option in terms of what they can generate to start another offensive," the publication said.

The United States' and Western officials indicate that continued Western support for Ukraine is critical. However, in the short term, U.S. intelligence officials do not believe that cuts in U.S. funding will have a major impact on Ukraine. However, in the long term, the lack of U.S. assistance may allow Russia to regain its strength by increasing arms supplies and taking advantage of the support of Iran and North Korea.

"More immediately, an end to US funding for Ukraine could limit Ukraine's ability to conduct long-range strikes into Russian-occupied Crimea and the Black Sea  strikes that have been supported by Western weapons, including US-provided Army Tactical Missile Systems, also known as ATACMS," the newspaper said.

The U.S. officials note the withdrawal of U.S. support could have an impact on other allies, especially if the U.S. would demonstrate a lack of political will to support allies and partners in the long term. There is also a risk that EU countries may follow the example of the United States and begin to refuse to provide assistance.

CNN said all eyes are on 2025. Ukraine is expected to spend this year working to strengthen its defense industrial base and rebuild its forces in anticipation of more fighting in 2025, the U.S. official said. At the same time, Russia can also focus on this strategy.

"That's why continued Western support is so critical, as this next year will be when everything is done that will decide how 2025 and possibly beyond play out," the source said.
North Koreas Kim Jong Un deems South Korea Pyongyangs ENEMY NO. 1

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has deemed South Korea the hermit kingdom's top enemy , eschewing any chances of reunification between the two nations divided by the 38th parallel.

In a Jan. 15 speech, Jong Un said he concluded that peaceful reunification was no longer possible. He added that Pyongyang would scrub any reference to South Koreans as fellow countrymen or partners for reconciliation. Instead, North Korea's constitution would deem the South as a foreign country and a hostile state  one that should be occupied, subjugated and reclaimed in the event of war.

The third-generation leader also accused Seoul of seeking the collapse of the Kim regime, which was established by his grandfather Kim Il Sung and continued by his father Kim Jong Il. Alongside this accusation, Jong Un ordered the abolition of three government agencies working on inter-Korean affairs. He also vowed to tear down the Arch of Reunification that Jong Il had commissioned to symbolize eventual reunification.

"The change would break with decades of North Korean doctrine under [Il Sung and Jong Il] that sought to unify with the South through peaceful means, even while signaling a readiness for war," the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) pointed out. "North Korea has drawn closer to Russia, supplying its war effort in Ukraine, and revived trade with China." (Related: South Korea accuses North Korea of supplying Russia with over 1M ARTILLERY SHELLS in exchange for advanced technologies.)

"The possibility that the sharp shift in North Korean rhetoric and doctrine could translate into action remains a top concern among U.S. and South Korean officials. Inter-Korean clashes have occurred between the two Koreas in the past, notably with the shelling of a border island and the sinking of a South Korean naval ship in 2010."

Seoul ready to respond to Pyongyang

"We do not want war, but we also have no intention of avoiding it," Jong Un addressed the Supreme People's Assembly  North Korea's legislative body  on Jan. 15. "Explicitly speaking, we will never unilaterally unleash a war if the enemies do not provoke us."

Meanwhile, South Korea has expanded its military cooperation with the U.S. and Japan. South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, a conservative, also reiterated that Seoul will respond to military action by the North  formally the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

"Should North Korea provoke us, we will punish them multiple times as hard," the South Korean leader said during a Jan. 16 cabinet meeting, a day after Jong Un delivered his remarks. Yoon added that he believes peace can only be achieved through strength.

The WSJ pointed out that the discord between the two Koreas, mainly driven by the North's aggression, has been building. In June 2020, Pyongyang blew up an inter-Korean liaison office operating in the southern border town of Kaesong. Both Koreas backed away from an inter-Korean accord meant to tone down hostilities in November, leading to both rearming soldiers near the two nations' Demilitarized Zone.

Ties between Seoul and Pyongyang further worsened after Yoon took office in May 2022, replacing his leftist predecessor Moon Jae-in. Within months, North Korea blasted Yoon's proposal to revive inter-Korean ties as an "absurd dream." Jong Un ultimately admitted in an end-of-year plenary speech in 2023 that he had abandoned hope in the South as a partner for peace.

In turn, the Yoon administration has sought to take a tough stance against the North. The South Korean president has admonished Pyongyang over its spree of weapons tests and accelerated the rollout of the country's new missile defenses. Moreover, a South Korean defense white paper released last year cast North Korea as the enemy for the first time in six years.

Visit WWIII.news for more stories about a potential new conflict between the two Koreas.

Watch this video about South Korea invalidating its buffer zone with the North after Pyongyang fired several artillery shells.

This video is from the American Patriots God Country channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

Kim Jong-Un dismisses top general, calls for WAR PREPARATIONS.

North Korea's launch of multiple ballistic missiles threatens South Korea.

Kim Jong-Un to NoKor military: ANNIHILATE South Korea and the U.S. if provoked.

South Korea ready to parry North Korea's military threat with $2.6B "Iron Dome" defense system.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un warns of nuclear war, orders military to get ready for possible U.S.-led invasion.

Sources include:

WSJ.com

Brighteon.com
Over HALF of Americas 24,295 cities could experience MAJOR DEPOPULATION by 2100

Over half of the 30,000 cities, towns, villages and boroughs in the United States could become ghost towns by 2100

This is according to a study published in Nature Cities and conducted by researchers from the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC). The researchers  who looked into population projections for cities, towns, villages and boroughs alike  found that the populations of half of America's 24,295 cities could experience major population declines, with every state in the country except Hawaii and the District of Columbia being affected.

"The way we're planning now is all based on growth, but close to half the cities in the U.S. are depopulating," said senior author Sybil Derrible, an urban engineer at UIC. "The takeaway is that we need to shift away from growth-based planning, which is going to require an enormous cultural shift in the planning and engineering of cities." (Related: The globalist vision: "15-minute" prison cities and the end of private property.)

Derrible and the study's co-authors were originally commissioned by the Illinois Department of Transportation to analyze how the state's cities are projected to change over time and what the transportation challenges will be for places that are depopulating.

The further they got into the research, the more data they uncovered that allowed them to make depopulation predictions for cities across the entire U.S.  and not just major cities like New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago and Houston, but all the other places in the country officially designated as cities.

"Most studies have focused on big cities, but that doesn't give us an estimation of the scale of the problem," said lead study author Uttara Sutradhar, a civil engineering doctoral candidate at UIC.

Most major cities to experience high rate of population decline

By analyzing current population trends in America's cities and modeling them among five possible future scenarios that model how demographics, societal factors and changing economics could alter populations by 2100, the study authors found that around half of the major population centers analyzed experience depopulations of between 12 to 23 percent by 2100. Notable cities in this category include Cleveland, Ohio, Buffalo, New York and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Other cities like Louisville, Kentucky, New Haven, Connecticut and Syracuse, New York are currently not showing declines, but are likely to experience significant depopulation in the future.

"You might see a lot of growth in Texas right now, but if you had looked at Michigan 100 years ago, you probably would have thought that Detroit would be the largest city in the U.S. now," commented Derrible.

Regionally, the Northeast and the Midwest are the likeliest to experience heavy depopulation. On a state level, Vermont and West Virginia will likely be hit the hardest, with more than 80 percent of cities in both states shrinking to some degree. Illinois, Kansas, Michigan, Mississippi and New Hampshire could see about 75 percent of their cities experience population declines.

Current population trends note that around 43 percent of the populated places in the U.S. are losing residents, while around 40 percent are growing, including major cities like New York City, Chicago, Houston and Phoenix. The researchers noted that many of these places will be experiencing massive depopulation, and only parts of the American South and West are projected to most likely gain population by 2100.

The study's authors hope their research serves as a wake-up call for policymakers to consider moving away from growth-based planning and begin to find and prepare place-specific solutions for cities that are likely to experience depopulation in the years ahead and the problems associated with loss of residents, including diminished tax revenue.

"We should see this not as a problem but as an opportunity to rethink the way we do things," said Derrible. "It's an opportunity to be more creative."

"These are not isolated problems to the Detroits of the world," warned Justin Hollander, an urban planning scholar at Tufts University who was not involved in the research and called for more depopulation research. "Depopulation is everywhere, and the paper is right to demand that cities face this fact and begin to honestly prepare for this possible future."

Watch this video discussing how a confluence of different factors like rising homelessness and corporate greed are causing the collapse of American cities.

This video is from the ThisIsJohnWilliams channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

10 Examples from 10 different cities of the "Mad Max" environment that now reigns in America's streets.

Washington, D.C. and other U.S. cities becoming war zones as crime skyrockets under Democrat control.

Big Democrat-run cities just keep getting more dangerous as homicide rates rise another 10%.

Mobile phone data shows that post-pandemic cities like San Francisco, Chicago and Boston are MUCH less busy  where did the people go?

More people are rapidly leaving crime-ridden, high-cost cities like New York, San Francisco and Chicago.

Sources include:

DailyMail.co.uk

ScientificAmerican.com

Brighteon.com
New York Times report: Israel needs YEARS to dismantle Gaza tunnels

The Israeli military is reportedly being overwhelmed by the extent and sophistication of Hamas tunnel network underneath the Gaza Strip, and a New York Times report published on Tuesday, Jan. 16, suggests that it may take years for Israel to fully dismantle these underground networks

The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) initially estimated the tunnel network to contain around 250 miles of underground passages and bunkers. The IDF has since amended these estimates, believing that the tunnels may now be 350 to 450 miles long  and possibly even more than that.

Two military officials who spoke on condition that they remain anonymous claimed that the IDF has found 5,700 separate shafts heading into the tunnels all over Gaza. These figures could not be independently verified due to Israel's tight grip on information coming out of Gaza.

The New York Times reported that the tunnels' vastness is "extraordinary" given that Gaza's longest point only stretches about 25 miles.

"Hamas has used the time and resources over the last 15 years to turn Gaza into a fortress," Aaron Greenstone, a former Central Intelligence Agency officer who has worked widely in the Middle East, told the news outlet.

Below the city of Khan Younis in southern Gaza alone, the IDF claims there are about 100 miles of tunnels. One 2022 document claims that Hamas allotted about $1 million just for tunnel doors and underground workshops in Khan Younis alone. The IDF has fully occupied the city and are presently concentrating their efforts here as they search the region for Hamas military leader, Yahya Sinwar.

Hamas tunnels played a key role in Israel's ground offensive on the Gaza Strip

Hamas tunnels have played a pivotal role in the militant group's defense against Israel's ground offensive on the Gaza Strip. It is believed that there are still around 130 hostages left in Gaza, with almost all of them likely to be hidden away in Hamas tunnel network, if the group hasn't already squirrelled them away south across the border into Egypt.

Recent intelligence gathered from the computers of Hamas operatives who were involved in the digging of the tunnels that the IDF found during Israel's ongoing campaign in the region suggests that it is not a lot easier for the IDF to locate a branch of the tunnel network.

The information gathered also included a list of families that "hosted" tunnel shafts underneath their homes.

One Israeli official told the New York Times that it could take "years" to locate and disable the tunnels because of all the work that needs to be done once these sections of the tunnels are discovered.

"They need to be mapped, checked for Israeli captives and made irreparable," said the official, who admitted that the latest attempts to destroy the tunnels by flooding them with seawater "have failed." (Related: WAR CRIME: Israel considering FLOODING Hamas tunnel networks under Gaza with seawater, possibly drowning Israeli hostages in the process)

Another official stated that Israel is utilizing a "triangle" model to find the tunnels, which presumes they will be discovered under any hospital, school or mosque in Gaza.

The Israeli military has overlooked the "extent and importance" of the tunnels to Hamas, which the New York Times described as an "intelligence failure."

The IDF has not revealed the number of soldiers killed and wounded in tunnel warfare. Officially, nearly 200 IDF soldiers have been killed during the offensive, and 240 or so have been wounded.

One soldier interviewed by the New York Times reported participating in the demolishing of about 50 tunnel branches in Beit Hanoun in northeastern Gaza. All of them were filled with bombs and other explosives that were wired and ready to be triggered remotely.

Follow WWIII.news for more news about the ongoing war in Gaza.

Watch the video below about the Israel Defense Forces working to navigate and destroy Hamas tunnels in Gaza.

This video is from the NewsClips channel on Brighteon.com.

More related articles:

Hezbollahs tunnels in Lebanon more sophisticated than Hamas in Gaza, warns expert.

Hezbollahs "initial" response to assassination of top-ranking Hamas leader involved striking Israeli intelligence base with more than 60 rockets.

Those hidden tunnels underneath al-Shifa hospital in Gaza where Israel says Hamas militants are hiding? Israel BUILT them in 1983.

Hamas sophisticated tunnel networks pose a significant challenge for Israel.

Israel held Gaza civilians in torture camp, new evidence shows.

Sources include:

RT.com

NewYorkPost.com

Brighteon.com
Southwest Airlines deletes X post celebrating all female flight crew

(Article by Paul Joseph Watson republished from Modernity.news)

The post featured an on-board photo of two female pilots and four air hostesses, two of whom are black.

All female flight Crew? Go off, queens! stated the post.

Southwest just took down this tweet after it failed to land with X users pic.twitter.com/TU1lMQhmLe  End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) January 12, 2024

Go off what, the plane?

After other X users began ridiculing the post, the company swiftly deleted it.

Apparently, the queens didnt get a chance to go off after all.

Respondents expressed satisfaction at the companys quick reversal.

Just shows the power of the people. Companies are petrified of being cancelled. As long as we spread the word about the woke companies theyll get the message. Otherwise theyll go out of business. We have the power.  Paul A. Szypula ?? (@Bubblebathgirl) January 12, 2024

The poor DEI-hired intern saw airlines trending and thought this was a good post to make ??  MemenOnLibs (@MemeNonLibs) January 12, 2024

The woke companies are getting roasted and sued with their DEI programs. It really shows total lack of awareness of their customers and the issues today.  floridanow1 (@floridanow1) January 12, 2024

Their social media manager pic.twitter.com/uTpkBgxiap  Fight Club Central (@Fight_Club_1999) January 12, 2024

These companies are completely out of touch with the people they allege to serve.  Overton (@OvertonLive) January 12, 2024

I think they realized that they were heading for a Budweiser fiasco  Old School Eddie (@Old_SchoolEddie) January 12, 2024

If they would just stop pandering and just fly the plane no one would care...  HardBoiledEgg? (@HarderBoiledEgg) January 12, 2024

Southwest Airlines recently hit the headlines for its policy of giving obese people a free neighboring plane seat if they demand it, even if someone else has already booked and paid for the seat.

Meanwhile, Alaska Airlines, fresh from the controversy of a faulty door blowing off their plane in mid-air, is also facing ridicule for its own obsession with gay virtue signaling.

Lets start with @AlaskaAir and where they place their focus and money. pic.twitter.com/EgC6T8QVYa  Courage Is A Habit (@CourageHabit) January 11, 2024

As we highlight in the video below, Spirit AeroSystems, the company responsible for the faulty door and other parts of the Boeing 737 Max 9, is also facing a backlash for pandering to woke cliches.

Read more at: Modernity.news
TruNews: U.S.-led Yemen strikes escalate Middle East conflict

Attacks against Houthi targets in Yemen spearheaded by the U.S. only serve to intensify the conflict in the Middle East

This was the opinion of "TruNews" hosts Rick Wiles and Dr. Raymond "Doc" Burkhart. The latter cited a news story from Military.com about the retaliatory strikes carried out by the U.S. military and its allies in Yemen. According to the piece, the strikes followed many months of drone and missile attacks by the Iran-backed Houthis that have threatened merchant shipping in the Red Sea.

A senior military official told reporters on Jan. 11 that the U.S. and the United Kingdom directed strikes launched from aircraft, ships and submarines against the Houthi rebels. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, who was apparently hospitalized at the time of the strike, said the operation was conducted with support from Australia, Bahrain, Canada and the Netherlands.

But Wiles pointed out that Austin never said a word during the military action. He added that Americans have no idea if the defense secretary was even aware of what was going on.

Wiles, the founder of "TruNews," also cited a Wall Street Journal (WSJ) piece warning that the U.S.-led strikes in Yemen had heightened the risk of a wider conflict in the Middle East. Burkhart agreed, adding that it is now moving to the next phase.

Wiles: U.S.-led strikes only strengthened the Yemenis' resolve

"Yemen's Houthi rebels responded defiantly to the U.S.-led strike against them, saying that the attacks had failed to cause significant damage and that they remained undeterred from launching more attacks in the region," the WSJ article said.

"The strikes  and fresh promises of retaliation  threaten to escalate months-long violence in the Middle East into a much broader conflict and turn the Red Sea into a new flashpoint between Washington and the various Iran-backed groups arrayed across the region."

Mohammed Abdul Salam, spokesman for the Houthi movement, said the offensive "isn't going to deter us." He added that attacks in the Red Sea, primarily on shipping lanes, would continue in solidarity with Gaza following Israel's invasion. (Related: Yemens Houthi rebels join war against Israel to protect Palestinians in Gaza.)

According to the Houthis, the U.S.-led forces had conducted 73 strikes that killed five and injured six militants. Damage to their infrastructure was limited, the rebel group added.

Wiles commented that the people of Yemen had responded with defiance with about a million people coming out to stand with the Palestinians and denounce both the U.S. and the United Kingdom. "So, it looks to me all it did was strengthen the reserve of the Yemeni people," he said. "You get to understand from their viewpoint: They are taking this action of attacking Israel-bound ships in the Red Sea as a way to force Israel to stop the war in Gaza."

Burkhart pointed out that with the U.S. and U.K. already entering the fray with attacks on Yemen-based targets, the Yemenis are saying that they are now targets as well. Wiles agreed, expressing belief that the Biden administration isn't naive that this was going to happen.

Wiles said he had never really paid attention to the military strength of Yemen until recently. The nation's arsenal  which includes ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and drones  are mostly made with Iranian equipment or components. One such ballistic missile in Yemen's arsenal is called Typhoon, which has a range of about 1,200 miles.

Meanwhile, Burkhart admitted to initially assuming that Yemen was a poor country with little to no military strength. This is despite the country being in conflict with Saudi Arabia for a decade now. He added that the Houthis have been steadily developing their military capabilities since 2014 when they seized the Yemeni capital Sanaa.

Follow WWIII.news for more news about the ongoing Houthi attacks in the Red Sea.

Watch this "TruNews" segment about U.S.-led strikes against several Houthi targets in Yemen.

This video is from the TruNews channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

Major shipping giants HALT Red Sea route following Houthi attacks on shipping vessels.

U.S. destroyer intercepts drone, missile attacks launched by Houthi rebels toward Israel.

West steps up activities in Red Sea as Iran warns against U.S. adventurism.

Houthi rebels warn that ALL Israeli ships will come under fire if war continues.

U.S. Navy warship shoots down missiles and drones fired by Iran-backed militants in Yemen  possibly toward Israel.

Sources include:

Brighteon.com

Military.com

WSJ.com
Drag queen CEO of United Airlines accused of mocking employees who applied for religious exemptions from COVID-19 vaccine mandate

The "drag queen" CEO of United Airlines Scott Kirby and the company's upper management have been accused of mocking employees who sought religious exemptions for the airline's stringent Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine mandate

Kirby, known for advocating diversity and inclusion in the airline industry, reportedly proposed treating those with religious accommodations differently than vaccinated employees.

United Airlines implemented one of the most stringent COVID-19 vaccine mandates in the private sector in August 2021, requiring its more than 60,000 employees in the United States to get vaccinated or face termination.

Approximately 96 percent of the company's employees complied, but several hundred who refused were reportedly fired. Another 2,300 employees received religious and medical exemptions, but they were placed on unpaid leave and stripped of their health benefits.

A group of these employees who received exemptions filed a lawsuit against United Airlines, alleging violations of their rights under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Americans with Disabilities Act. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled that the mandate inflicted irreparable harm and remanded the case to the district court.

The legal brief filed on Jan. 13 as part of an ongoing lawsuit against the airline states that Kirby warned employees considering religious accommodations to "be very careful" as "very few" would successfully navigate the exemption process. The CEO allegedly derided these employees, claiming that they were "all of a sudden deciding that I'm really religious."

The documents suggest that Kirby set a "high bar" for accommodation requests, turning it into a "Scott-level initiative." Higher-ups were reportedly instructed to emphasize the difficulty of obtaining exemptions, a move acknowledged to deliberately upset some employees.

"Making his plans clear, Kirby warned that anyone who applied for an accommodation was 'putting [their] job on the line,'" the document stated.

The employees who were granted "reasonable accommodation" reported severe consequences, including mental anguish, financial distress and emotional hardship. Some faced the risk of homelessness, while others had to forgo a spouse's cancer treatment.

Moreover, Kirby suggests that employees with religious exemptions must wear a special symbol on their badges. However, the airline's legal team rejected the idea, citing potential conflict among the workforce. Surprisingly, some HR employees were reportedly taken aback, likening the proposal to the historical concept of the scarlet letter, where an alleged adulteress in Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel was marked to shame her for committing a perceived sin.

Drag queen CEO's religious mockery faces backlash

The controversy has sparked criticism from legal experts and union leaders.

For instance, Craig Symons, union president of the United Airlines branch of the Professional Airline Flight Control Association, reportedly expressed concerns that United was going "over the line" and attempting to institute a "purge of religious orthodoxy."

Even Mark Paoletta from Schaerr Jaffe LLP, the attorney for the plaintiff, condemned Kirby's actions.

"These employees love their jobs, and its appalling that United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby would try to force these good people to violate their faith or put their health at risk as a condition for being able to keep their jobs," said Paoletta. "Kirbys hostility and utter contempt for his employees faith and health are despicable and violate their civil rights, and he should be held accountable, both in the court of law and the court of public opinion."

Captain Sherry Walker, co-founder of Airline Employees for Health Freedom, joined the criticism.

"Literally thousands of United Airlines employees lost their paycheck when they were illegally denied reasonable accommodations for their religious beliefs, hurting their ability to put food on the table and pay family medical bills because of CEO Scott Kirby's punitive mandate, which we now learn arose from Kirbys shocking disdain for people of faith."

Learn more about COVID-19 vaccines and vaccine mandates in the U.S. at MedicalTyranny.com.

Watch this episode of the "Health Ranger Report" as Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, talks to Ed Dowd about how around 7,500 Americans have died or become disabled every day after the implementation of COVID-19 vaccine mandates.

This video is from the Health Ranger Report channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

Study: Many health care clinics in Oregon lost workers due to COVID-19 vaccine mandate.

Houston Methodist, the first hospital in the U.S. to require COVID-19 vaccines, has finally ended its vaccine mandate.

Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs vetoes bill protecting employees from bosses who refuse to grant COVID-19 vaccine mandate exemptions.

BREAKING: Los Angeles School District rescinds covid-19 vaccine mandate  over 1,000 employees who were wrongfully terminated now await justice.

CLAIM: Arizona's Democrat governor, Katie Hobbs, accused of taking bribes from Mexican cartel through complex real estate scheme.

Sources include:

ThePostMillenial.com

Breitbart.com

Brighteon.com
Assassination attempts ON THE RISE around the world  and a target in the United States COULD BE NEXT

Political assassination attempts are on the rise around the world  and a prominent political figure in the United States could be targeted next.

The most recent prominent assassination attempt occurred in South Korea on Jan. 2, when opposition leader Lee Jae-myung of the Democratic Party of Korea was stabbed in the neck by an assailant seemingly motivated by a corruption scandal surrounding Lee.

Lee's stabbing is the latest in a growing line of assassination attempts against political leaders. Some of these have unfortunately been successful.

In August 2023, Ecuadorian presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio, a journalist and an anti-crime and anti-corruption campaigner, was assassinated by Colombian hitmen hired by local drug cartels. In September 2022, a man sporting Nazi tattoos tried to shoot a pistol at Argentine Vice President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner only for his gun to jam.

In June 2022, former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was killed by a lone gunman with a homemade firearm due to the leader's ties to a controversial religious group. A year later, current Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida was himself targeted by another would-be assassin who threw a pipe bomb at him.

American politicians could be targeted by would-be assassins next

Thankfully, political leaders in the U.S. have avoided successful high-profile assassinations. But this does not mean American leaders have not been targeted.

In 2022 alone, serious plots were uncovered targeting former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and conservative Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. In both cases, the would-be assassins even made it all the way to the homes of their targets.

As political divisions and antagonistic rhetoric by certain groups increase, the possibility of political violence targeting some of the most prominent political figures in the U.S. is only going to increase.

President Joe Biden has already been targeted. Last year, a 19-year-old man from St. Louis drove a rented truck into a barrier that separated the White House grounds from the public. During interrogation, the man was found to have a Nazi flag in his truck, an admiration for the Third Reich and confessed his intention to "kill the president" and "seize power."

Perhaps just as worrying is if a would-be assassin targets his main political opponent: Former President Donald Trump.

Authorities have already uncovered at least five plots that targeted Trump during his presidency and right before. While he was the presumptive Republican nominee at a campaign rally in Las Vegas in 2016, a man tried to snatch a police officer's gun to shoot and kill Trump. (Related: INSANITY: Mainstream media want Trump to be ASSASSINATED to prevent him from winning the election.)

During his presidency, at least four serious attempts to kill the president were uncovered. Two of these, in 2018 and 2020, were attempts by individuals to mail Trump letters laced with the biotoxin ricin. Another, in 2017, came in the form of an individual who was plotting to flip Trump's presidential limousine with a stolen forklift.

The most serious case, in November 2017, involved operatives of the Islamic State who plotted to assassinate Trump while he was visiting Manila, Philippines. The individuals who wanted to "ambush" the president were lying in wait just blocks away from the hotel where Trump was going to stay. The plot was uncovered and stopped by Secret Service agents just minutes before Air Force One landed in the country.

As the election draws nearer and Trump's political opponents become even more desperate to avoid a second Trump presidency, they may feel like they have no choice but to attempt to kill him. Fortunately, political figures in the U.S. are very aware of these dark possibilities and are already spending greater resources on their protection.

Jacob Ware, a research fellow on domestic terrorism and counterterrorism at the think tank the Council on Foreign Relations, suggests that parallel to increased security efforts, politicians should continue to promote the strength of the "democratic order."

"Assassinations are typically chosen by 'accelerationist' extremists who are particularly desperate to change the course of history, and should also, therefore, be interpreted precisely as a reflection of the strength of  [the] democratic order," said Ware. "The most critical counterterrorism measure, then, is to continue reinforcing democratic institutions, including free elections and the free press, that isolate extremism to the fringes of society."

Watch this episode of "Man in America" as host Seth Holehouse invites author and investigative journalist Jack Roth over to discuss Trump's surging popularity and how the Deep State may resort to assassination to stop him from taking back the presidency.

This video is from the Man In America channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

Palestinian National Authority's Mahmoud Abbas targeted in ASSASSINATION attempt, leaving one of his bodyguards dead.

Co-head of German populist AfD Party hospitalized after being attacked with a SYRINGE at a campaign event.

Armed man pretending to be federal agent ARRESTED at RFK Jr. campaign event in L.A.  was this an ASSASSINATION attempt?

Ecuador declares 60-day state of emergency following ASSASSINATION of presidential candidate.

Medvedev calls for "physical elimination" of Zelensky following failed assassination attempt on Putin.

Sources include:

TheHill.com

CBSNews.com

TheGuardian.com

NBCNews.com

Grunge.com

Newsweek.com

Brighteon.com
Big Brother Biden administration monitors financial transactions with MAGA and TRUMP tags, even flagging people who shop at sporting goods stores

Ohios 4th District Representative Jim Jordan, who also happened to be the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, recently revealed that their investigations found the federal government was surveilling banking transactions

"We now know the federal government flagged terms like "MAGA" and "TRUMP" to financial institutions if Americans completed transactions using those terms. What was also flagged? If you bought a religious text, like a BIBLE, or shopped at Bass Pro Shop," the Republican congressman disclosed in an X post. The potential alarm does not end here, the committee raised, as even purchases of "religious texts" are seen as indicative of extremism in the eyes of the investigators. The report further revealed that the investigators suggested banks filter transactions using keywords such as names of popular merchandise stores including Dick's Sporting Goods and Bass Pro Shops, among others.

The said move was part of an investigation into the events of January 6, 2021. Jordan's committee and its subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government was reported to have focused on federal law enforcement's acquisition of information about U.S. citizens without legal procedures as well as its engagement with the private sector. (Related: 20 Combat-ready FBI agents raid a "J6 protester" who merely entered Capitol's open door.)

According to Jordan, the papers they gathered pointed to actions from the Treasury Departments Office of Stakeholder Integration and Engagement in the Strategic Operations of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). After the alleged "violent" J6 "riot" at the Capitol, the department provided search terms to banks to identify transactions on behalf of federal law enforcement. These materials suggested generic keywords to search Zelle payment messages amidst other instructions. Jordan further stated that FinCEN relied on large financial institutions to scrutinize their customers' private transactions for suspicious activities that might stem from protected political and religious expression.

In light of these revelations, the representative requested transcribed interviews of Peter Sullivan, senior private sector partner for Outreach in the Strategic Partner Engagement Section of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and Noah Bishoff, former director of the Office of Stakeholder Integration and Engagement in the Strategic Operations Division of FinCEN. "Pervasive financial surveillance of American citizens' private transactions, coordinated with federal law enforcement, raises serious concerns about FinCEN's attitude towards fundamental civil liberties," Jordan remarked.

Meanwhile, people on the internet are starting to grow weary as they learn about these "surveillance efforts" and gross disrespect of their privacy.

An X user replied to Jordan's expose, saying: "I am once again begging Congress to do its job for once and stop just telling us all the bad and illegal things Joe Biden is doing and instead impeach him." Another one emphasized that the American people have a mountain of evidence already confirming federal law enforcement targets American citizens based on political and religious beliefs. "The question is, what is Congress going to do about it?" said the Righteous Crusader. Someone else commented: "They want to literally eliminate the middle class."

Bank of America voluntarily snooped through private information

It was further revealed by Jordan that at the request of the FBI, Bank of America "voluntarily and without any legal process" snooped through the information of anyone making certain purchases in and around Washington before and after the January 6 protests. As per the Ohio Republican, Sullivan provided the U.S.'s second-largest bank with specific search terms to look for as it looked over customer data. Federal investigators also reportedly asked the bank for information on customers who made debit or credit card purchases in D.C., reserved hotels and Airbnbs in and around the capital, patronized weapons stores and made airline reservations within the timeframe surrounding the attacks.

Bank of America reportedly handed over the information of 211 people to the FBI, Fox News reported in February 2021. Only one of the 211 was brought in for questioning but none were arrested, according to the media outlet's report.

The financial establishment released a statement back then saying: "We do not comment on our communications with law enforcement. All banks have responsibilities under federal law to cooperate with law enforcement inquiries in full compliance with the law. If clients reach out to us and raise concerns, we'll certainly speak to them about their concerns," its spokesman William Halldin told the New York Post. The Post cited that under the 1970 Bank Secrecy Act, financial institutions are required to cooperate with law enforcement to detect money laundering, terrorist financing and other criminal acts.

Head to Surveillance.news to read more about how the U.S. government is still "watching" Jan. 6 Capitol protesters.

Watch the video below where a former FBI agent exposed illegal spying on Americans.

This video is from the Vigilent Citizen channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

The terror watchlist prepared the way to tyranny.

THE ENEMY WITHIN: The FBI is a criminal terrorist organization operating inside America, warns Jeffrey Prather.

Soulless GOP demons use whistleblowers FBI weaponization testimonies for political advantage, betray informant by approving budget for new FBI HQ

FBI Director Wray: Threats of terror attacks against the U.S. have reached a whole other level amid ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

Sources include:

ReclaimTheNet.org

Judiciary.House.gov

NYPost.com

Brighteon.com
Biden regime threatens WAR with Texas over border security: Give us access, or else

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has sent a strongly worded letter to the State of Texas demanding access by January 17 to the United States-Mexico border on land seized by the Lone Star State in Eagle Pass 

DHS is ordering Texas to cease and desist in blocking Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) access in and around Shelby Park, and to "remove all barriers to access" by end of day on January 17.

According to DHS General Counsel Jonathan E. Meyer, who sent the letter to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, the actions of Texas in blocking federal government access to the land in Eagle Pass "are clearly unconstitutional and are actively disrupting the federal government's operations."

"We demand that Texas cease and desist its efforts to block Border Patrol's access in and around the Shelby Park area and remove all barriers to access in the Shelby Park area," Meyer wrote.

"The recent actions by the State of Texas have impeded operations of the Border Patrol. Those actions conflict with the authority and duties of Border Patrol under federal law and are preempted under the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution."

(Related: Mitch McConnell is pushing for 5,000 illegal aliens per day to enter the U.S. in order to secure $735 million in additional U.S. taxpayer funding for Ukraine.)

Is the federal government planning to SUE Texas for protecting its southern border?

Meyer's use of the word "impeded," in this context, seems to imply that DHS will take criminal action against officers and agents of the State of Texas for carrying out the order of Gov. Greg Abbott in securing Shelby Park and preventing Border Patrol from entering the area.

According to 18 U.S. Code  111, it is a federal crime to "impede" or "interfere" with certain officers or employees of the federal government. Those who do could face serious charges.

"Whoever forcibly assaults, resists, opposes, impedes, intimidates, or interferes with any person designated in section 1114 of this title while engaged in or on account of the performance of his official duties, shall be fined not more than $5,000 or imprisoned not more than three years, or both," read the sentencing guidelines of the statute.

As a little background, the Texas Military Department seized Shelby Park in Eagle Pass while expelling Border Patrol agents. Immediately afterwards, Texas National Guard units moved into the park and set up barriers, ordering all remaining Border Patrol agents to leave the park.

Reports also indicate that Eagle Pass Mayor Rolando Salinas signed an affidavit last June declaring the park to be his personal property, a move that was recently rescinded, unanimously, by the Eagle Pass City Council.

Shelby Park also served as the staging area for Abbott's floating wall, a 1,000-foot string of buoy barriers designed to deter illegal immigration. The Department of Justice (DoJ) and a local business owner sued Abbott over the buoys, arguing that they are a public safety hazard and a threat to both the environment and to diplomatic relations with Mexico.

The night after Texas Nationals Guardsmen erected barriers around the park and told Border Patrol agents to leave, a Mexican migrant woman with two small children drowned in the Rio Grande. Other migrants who waded into the water and became distressed also had to be rescued by Mexican officials.

Biden regime officials and U.S. Representative Henry Cuellar (D-Tex.) say the drownings are the direct result of Abbott's decision to block Border Patrol agents from accessing the park, to which Abbott responded that the claim is "wholly inaccurate."

More related news coverage can be found at InvasionUSA.news.

Sources for this article include:

Breitbart.com

NaturalNews.com

TPR.org
British Defense Secretary warns of WORLD WAR with China, Iran, North Korea and Russia in FIVE YEARS

British Secretary of State for Defense Grant Shapps has warned that the world has entered a new "pre-war" era and that the United Kingdom must be ready for a global conflict that could break out within five years

Shapps, who became Defense Secretary last year, noted in his first public speech at an event in London's historic Lancaster House that the West is dealing with a "much more troubled world" than it has since the end of the Cold War and it could no longer be categorized as "post-war."

"We find ourselves at the dawn of this new era  the [fall of the] Berlin Wall is a distant memory  and we've come full circle, moving from a post-war to a pre-war world," said Shapps.

"An age of idealism has been replaced by a period of hard-headed realism," he continued. "Today, our adversaries are busily rebuilding their barriers. Old enemies are reanimated. New foes are taking shape. Battle lines are being drawn."

Shapps claimed that the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and the Middle East are forerunners of future deadlier strife, with the "era of the peace dividend" which came to be with the end of the Cold War being truly over.

"The era of the peace dividend is over," said Shapps. "In five years time, we could be looking at multiple theaters [of conflict] involving Russia, China, Iran and North Korea."

"Ask yourself, looking at today's conflicts around the world, is it more likely that [the number of ongoing conflicts] grows or reduces?" he continued. "I suspect we all know the answer: It's likely to grow, so 2024 must mark an inflection point."

Shapps calls for more defense spending

In his wide-ranging address, Shapps called on members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to increase their defense spending to at least two percent of their gross domestic product  a commitment that all NATO members agreed to back in 2006. Only 11 of the 31 NATO members have reached this target as of 2023  Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, the U.K., the United States and new NATO member Finland.

"We made the critical decision to set out our aspiration to reach 2.5 percent of GDP on defense, and as we stabilize and grow this economy, we'll continue to strive to reach that as soon as possible," said Shapps. The U.K. is currently spending around 2.1 percent of its GDP on defense. "Now is the time for all allied and democratic nations across the world to do the same thing and ensure their defense spending is growing too." (Related: Unable to recruit more troops, undermanned British Royal Navy forced to DECOMMISSION WARSHIPS.)

In the short term, Shapps said the West must continue to aid Ukraine, where Russia has already "parked its tanks." To let Ukraine fall to Moscow would supposedly reward President Vladimir Putin's special military operation in the country and send a signal to the world that the West is weak  a signal that Shapps claims China would be all too ready to pounce on.

He further noted that North Korea is supplying Moscow with missiles and ammunition, Iran is providing arms and technology to Russia and also increasing hostilities through proxy forces in the Middle East. And in all this, China is watching to see the West's reaction.

"China is assessing whether the West loses its patience," said Shapps.

Shapps also foresees further military clashes in the Red Sea region, where the U.S. and the U.K. are leading a coalition of nations patrolling the sea with warships. Britain and America have also escalated tension by carrying out airstrikes against Houthi positions within Yemen.

And with continued attacks against the Houthis, their main ally and supporter  Iran  will likely retaliate. Shapps hopes continued attacks against the Houthis will have the opposite effect on Tehran.

"We see that the connection [between Iran and the Houthis] is very clear," said Shapps. "We really want Tehran  to be reining in these proxies who are trained by Iran, equipped by Iran, often [with] intelligence passed to them by Iran. We want to see them step in here and say, 'look, enough is enough because we don't want to see this escalate.'"

Watch this episode of "New American Daily" from The New American as host Paul Dragu discusses a revelation from German newspaper Bild discussing how Europe is preparing for a world war between Russia and NATO.

This video is from the channel The New American on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

Swedish government calls for population to be READY FOR WAR with Russia.

West steps up activities in the Red Sea as Iran warns against U.S. adventurism.

War between the U.S. and China over Taiwan could cost the global economy a staggering $10 TRILLION.

Iran has developed a new, high-tech combat drone for Russia to use in Ukraine.

Kim Jong-Un to NoKor military: ANNIHILATE South Korea and the U.S. if provoked.

Sources include:

Breitbart.com

FoxNews.com

Independent.co.uk

NATO.int

Euronews.com

Brighteon.com
BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 19. The captain of a National Airlines aircraft flying on the Siyan-Istanbul route requested an emergency landing at Heydar Aliyev International Airport due to a technical reason, Trend reports.

The American carrier's plane landed safely at Baku airport at 07:23 local time.

All necessary measures are currently being taken to eliminate the technical problem.
SUPPRESSED: CDC scrapped draft alert warning of link between COVID-19 vaccines and myocarditis, deliberately keeping Americans in the dark about vaccine dangers

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) wrote a draft alert to warn local and state health officials about a potential link between COVID-19 vaccines and an increase in cases of myocarditis but then pulled it before it could be published.

According to documents obtained by the Epoch Times, the alert was aimed at informing officials of the connection between the mRNA vaccines made by Moderna and Pfizer BioNTech and heart inflammation.

The draft alert was intended for transmission through the Health Alert Network, or HAN, which the CDC uses to disseminate notices to hospitals, doctors and health agencies throughout the nation.

The existence of the draft was exposed by an e-mail written by Dr. Demetre Daskalakis to a pair of his senior CDC colleagues, Dr. John Brooks and Dr. Henry Walke. The subject line of the e-mail was draft alert on myocarditis and mRNA vaccines.

A spokesman for the doctors said that rather than sending the notice, officials with the CDC chose to include the draft alert's information in its clinical consideration guidance document. However, they did not explain how the CDC could ensure that the same parties who would have received the HAN would receive this document.

The email with the draft was dated May 21, 2021, just three days before a workgroup for the CDC admitted that myocarditis cases following the jab were higher than expected. A week later, the CDC was still recommending that most Americans aged 12 and older get the jab.

The HAN system was used to distribute a warning about links between the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine and serious health complications, such as low platelet levels and blood clotting in some patients, just a month before the CDC decided not to send the draft alert about myocarditis.

At the time, hundreds of cases of myocarditis linked to the vaccines had been reported in the U.S., Israel and other countries, some of which were fatal.

Epidemiologist questions why draft was never released

A California epidemiologist who has long been trying to challenge the CDC on its claims that the jabs arent linked to myocarditis, Dr. Tracey Hoeg, told The Epoch Times she felt there was a double standard at play.

Why would they issue one for the J&J vaccine for the blood clots but not for myocarditis post-mRNA vaccination? We had data from our own Department of Defense at this time indicating it was a real safety signal and two fatal post-Pfizer vaccination myocarditis cases had already been reported in Israel, she asked.

She believes that the CDC officials who were involved in the draft and the decision not to release it should be held accountable.

In multiple subsequent alerts sent by the CDC encouraging people to get the jab, none of them mentioned myocarditis.

Government and Big Pharma colluded with social media to censor vaccine concerns

In fact, there was a concerted effort between the government and pharmaceutical companies to censor discussions of myocarditis and other vaccine injuries and side effects during the pandemic. In just one example, the Biden administration was caught working with employees of YouTube, which is owned by Google, to target what authorities claimed was misinformation about the vaccines. Other documents have demonstrated the collusion between social media platforms and the government to censor discussions about vaccine effects.

The co-chair of an advocacy group for people who suffered from COVID-19 vaccine injuries known as React19, Dr. Joel Wallskog, told The Epoch Times: "This censorship of a proposed alert in May of 2021 is just one more example of our regulatory agencies' repeated pattern of behavior to censor any information that serves to counter the narrative that the COVID-19 vaccinations are 'safe and effective."

Sources for this article include:

TheNationalPulse.com

TheEpochTimes.com
China urges U.S. to exercise restraint against Houthi rebels as Red Sea conflict poses threat to Beijings economic and diplomatic interests

China has issued a warning to the United States, urging restraint in its actions against Houthi rebels in Yemen as the conflict in the Red Sea intensifies, posing potential threat to Beijing's economic and diplomatic interests.

The Houthis' persistent campaign to disrupt maritime traffic through crucial Middle East waterways, such as the Suez Canal and Bab-el-Mandeb Strait, raises significant concerns for China, which heavily relies on these routes to transport its products to European markets.

China's economic stakes in the region are notably high, as it is more dependent than the U.S. on oil and gas imports from countries like Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Iran and Qatar. (Related: Beijings shipping firm halts Israel operations despite strong ties with Houthi backer Tehran amid rising Red Sea tensions.)

The escalating tensions in the Red Sea have prompted China to emphasize the importance of all relevant parties exercising calm and restraint to prevent further escalation of the conflict.

Beijing's Foreign Ministry spokesman, Mao Ning, highlighted China's apprehension. "China is concerned about the escalating tension in the Red Sea and calls on relevant parties to exercise calm and restraint to prevent the conflict from escalating," Mao said. He further urged all parties involved to play a constructive and responsible role in maintaining the safety and stability of the Red Sea, aligning with the common interests of the international community.

Despite the escalating situation, China has chosen not to join the U.S.-led coalition known as Operation Prosperity Guardian, which commenced efforts to police the Red Sea last month. This decision underscores China's diplomatic approach to conflict resolution, advocating for peaceful dialogue and cooperation.

On a broader scale, the intensifying military exchanges between the U.S. and the Houthi rebels pose challenges to China's diplomatic interests in the Middle East.

In a surprising move last spring, Beijing successfully brokered a normalization of relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran, the primary military supporter of the Houthi rebels. The agreement was partly based on Iran committing to China to curtail military supplies to the Yemeni militia and restrain Houthi attacks on Saudi and international targets.

However, recent developments indicate a shift in Iran's stance, with Tehran praising the Houthi rebels' operations in the Red Sea.

Reports suggest that Iran's elite military unit, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, has embedded personnel among the Yemeni militia forces.

Chinese media: U.S. and U.K have underestimated the Houthi rebels

Meanwhile, Chinese state-run media warned that both the U.S. and U.K. have underestimated the Houthi rebels in Yemen amid the ongoing conflict in the Red Sea. In a comprehensive op-ed, the state-run Global Times critiqued recent military actions taken by the U.S. and the U.K. against the Houthis, cautioning of potential retaliatory measures.

The editorial argued that the recent military operations carried out against Houthi targets in Yemen were deemed "unsatisfactory" as they failed to curtail Houthi attacks on shipping.

The Global Times highlighted a specific incident where a Houthi anti-ship ballistic missile targeted a U.S.-owned and operated cargo ship, questioning the rationale behind the escalation.

The op-ed emphasized the escalating cycle of retaliation and counter-retaliation in the Red Sea, underscoring that both the U.S. and the U.K. had miscalculated the military capabilities of the Houthi militants.

In December, officials from the U.S., European Union, and United Nations confirmed Houthi-led attacks in the Red Sea, including assaults on commercial vessels from various nations.

Over the past weeks, the U.S. and U.K. military forces executed multiple attacks against the Houthi rebels in the Red Sea and Yemen, drawing criticism from China.

On January 11, U.S. President Joe Biden confirmed additional strikes against the Houthi rebels with backing from Australia, Bahrain, Canada and the Netherlands. Biden asserted that these strikes were in response to unprecedented Houthi attacks on international maritime vessels in the Red Sea that endanger personnel, civilian mariners and global trade.

Watch this video showing Houthi missiles hitting an American warship.

This video is from the channel The Prisoner on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

Houthi rebel attacks prompt British Petroleum to pause all fuel shipments in Red Sea

Major shipping giants HALT Red Sea route following Houthi attacks on shipping vessels

West steps up activities in Red Sea as Iran warns against U.S. adventurism

Sources include:

SEMAFOR.com

Newsweek.com

Brighteon.com
With Disease X the cover story for the coming mass deaths from the release of the globalists new bioweapons, their blood lust wont end until they are stopped

According to Klaus Schwab's ',' '' is a 'that the WEF will be holding a meeting about in just days, on January 17th, with the WEF warning this' could kill 20 times more people than '' has (substitute '' for COVID if we want to be more accurate!,) with the United Nations claiming the only way to stop the spread of this mystery contagion would be the rapid development of a new

(Article by Stefan Stanford republished from AllNewsPipeline.com)

Claiming in this December of 2021 story over at the UN's website that "the faster an effective vaccine is developed and deployed, the faster an incipient pandemic can be contained and controlled," as that story also reported, "the aspiration of the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) is for the world to be able to respond to the next Disease X with a new vaccine in just 100 days."

Also claiming that delivering a new vaccine in just a little over 3 months time "would give the world a fighting chance to extinguish the existential threat of a future pandemic virus," take note that in the past, it's taken decades and decades of researching various diseases to develop 'vaccines' for them, with this Business Insider story reporting virtually NO DISEASES have ever been completely eliminated through 'vaccine' efforts, although they report that a vax for Smallpox had come close.

Meaning that these people hope to do in 100 days what has been pretty much impossible to do in human history, this must-read new story over at The Expose puts everything into perspective for us about what the globalists are unfolding now, and it's not pretty for people who choose to make our own health decisions.

And with the mainstream media totally jumping on the 'Disease X' bandwagon as the globalists must tell us what they're planning to do to us before they do it, check out the titles of these recent stories.:

From Bloomberg: "What Is Disease X? How Scientists Are Preparing for the Next Pandemic"

From Forbes: "What Is Disease X? Right-Wing Circles Slam Hypothetical Pandemic"

From Fortune: "Disease X could cause the next pandemic, according to the WHOor Ebola, SARS, or Nipah. 9 pathogens researchers are keeping a watchful eye on"

From The Independent: "World leaders to meet to discuss threat of hypothetical Disease X pandemic in Davos"

From Azer News: "Disease X which can cause 20 times more deaths than Covid-19 to be discussed in Davos"

Meaning the globalists are busy creating 'vaccines' for 'something,' while they have no idea what that 'something' even is, even believing in their warped minds that that 'something' will kill off 20 times more people than 'COVID,' the WEF and WHO never even bother to address the fact that the 'vaccines' created (in WARP SPEED) for COVID have been killing people all across the planet and that those 'vaccines' have been proven to be a 'military operation,' run by the Pentagon, with the Pentagon ONLY GOOD at one thing; killing people.

And as we'll explore in the rest of this story, with US Congress back in June of 2023 proposing a new Bill called "The Disease X Act" while the origins of 'Disease X' go back at least as far as March 15th of 2018 and this story from the WEF's website titled "The World Health Organization is worried about Disease X and you should be too," we see this latest psyop from those working to kill us has been a long time running, at least 6 years in the making, if not much longer.

According to this alarming new story over at The Express (saved at Archive,) 'heart disease' is the leading cause of all of the 'excess deaths' being seen across the planet, with 'heart failures' called the 'driving force' in what they call 'an alarming surge' in 'excess deaths,' what they called the most deadly non-pandemic year since 1945, though they never mentioned the 'vaccines' as being the cause.

Reporting that an additional 1,000 excess deaths PER WEEK happened in 2023 compared to 2022, their story did report that these 'excess deaths' are now often occurring among young people who are dying far way before their time, the story also reported the largest jump in 'excess deaths' among young people is from heart disease, with young people dying from heart diseases at a rate of 16% above the rates they were dying from the same thing in the past.

With young people also dying suddenly and mysteriously from 'cancers' as this Wall Street Journal story recently reported, and doctors allegedly 'baffled' as to what is causing all of these cancer deaths, particularly among the young and previously healthy, would it be too much of a stretch to suggest that all of these 'excess deaths' are an intentional effort to 'depopulate' the planet, with the globalists long believing in their insane and warped minds that the planet Earth is vastly 'overpopulated'?

As this previously mentioned story over at The Expose argues, we don't have to look too deeply to see that these globalists have been working on ways to depopulate the planet Earth for decades. From that story.:

The World Economic Forums (WEF) annual meeting starts this week in Davos where they will give center stage to their unelected health counterparts to warn about a non-existent virus that they claim could be twenty times worse than COVID. The Unelected WEF and WHO are priming Disease X in the final push for the Pandemic Treaty and are joining forces to persuade world leaders to relinquish their sovereignty in preparation for a nonexistent virus they claim could result in 20 times more fatalities than the coronavirus pandemic.

Could this be the pandemic that will get everyones attention that Bill Gates gleefully warned of and is it the time Bill Gatess Final Solution is ushered in?

Read more at: AllNewsPipeline.com
DISGUSTING: FBI entraps a kid with AUTISM in the name of national security

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has now resorted to recruiting teenagers, even those with autism, and arresting them later  all in the name of "fighting terrorism" and "upholding national security."

Thailand-based independent journalist Ben Bartee expounded on this scheme by the federal law enforcement agency. He cited a Jan. 10 piece by Murtaza Hussain of the Intercept, which tackled the arrest of 18-year-old Humzah Mashkoor.

FBI agents arrested Mashkoor at the Denver International Airport on Dec. 18. At the time of his arrest, the teen had been planning to fly to Dubai and transfer to either Syria or Afghanistan to join the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). According to Hussain's piece, Mashkoor's flight had been spurred by conversations he had with four alleged ISIS members beginning when the teen was 16 years old.

But the four ISIS members were actually undercover FBI agents, according to the Department of Justice's criminal complaint against Mashkoor. "As a result of his conversations with the FBI, Mashkoor could face a lengthy sentence for attempting to provide material support to a terrorist organization," the Intercept pointed out.

Family members said at an initial court hearing that Mashkoor, who had turned 18 just a few weeks before the arrest, had intellectual difficulties and had been diagnosed with autism. In July 2022, local police were called to his home following an alleged assault of a family member during a dispute. Court filings at the time said a relative disclosed Mashkoor's mental issues and autism diagnosis to law enforcement.

Despite law enforcement being aware of the teenager's autism diagnosis, the judge overseeing the case ordered that Mashkoor be detained while awaiting trial. (Related: FBI entrapped neurodiverse teenager in sinister terrorism scheme, mom alleges.)

"It's not lost on this court that Mashkoor is a young man with possible mental illness and the diagnosis of high-functioning autism. It is [also] clear he has a sea of familial support," the magistrate said. "But based on this evidence, there's no reasonable assurance here that the court can simply chalk all this up to the defendant simply being a young man."

FBI agents befriend Mashkoor online

"Law enforcement agents first became aware of Mashkoor's online activities in support of ISIS in November 2021," the Intercept article stated. "But instead of alerting his family,  FBI agents posing as ISIS members befriended him a year later and strung him along until he became a legal adult."

Joshua Herman, a defense attorney representing Mashkoor, said: "It is appalling that the government never once reached out to his parents, even while they were sending undercover agents to befriend him online starting when he was 16 years old. Almost all of the conduct he is alleged to have committed took place when he was a juvenile."

Sahar Aziz, a law professor at Rutgers University in New Jersey, described Mashkoor's arrest as a "waste of government resources." He continued: "If there was a serious terrorist threat in America, the FBI would not be spending its time entrapping a mentally ill minor."

"This case appears consistent with a common fact pattern seen in tens, if not hundreds, of terrorism-related cases in which the FBI has effectively manufactured terrorist prosecutions. In this case, it was a 16-year-old kid who otherwise would have just sat in his relatives' basement posting offensive content in a manner similar to a White supremacist or Proud Boy  people whom the FBI does not spend enormous resources to entrap just so they can get a high-profile press release."

"Appalling, perhaps, but not shocking," Bartee remarked. "Why would the FBI agents try to prevent crime, when they can get a promotion out of egging it on? There's no money or prestige in quietly extinguishing terror in the womb."

Head over to FBICorruption.news for similar stories.

Watch Kyle Seraphin exposes the FBI's abuses on "Triggered with Donald Trump Jr." below.

This video is from the GalacticStorm channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

PROOF the FBI used unethical entrapment technique to "catch" Michael Flynn dishonest, lawless "justice" now the norm in America.

FBI now an entrapment agency, setting innocent Americans up in schemes like Capitol riot, Whitmer 'kidnapping.'

FBI's massive pattern of entrapment going back years is finally exposed in eye-opening research document.

FBI 'entrapment' tactics questioned in web of phony terror plots and paid informants.

Sources include:

BlacklistedNews.com

TheIntercept.com

Brighteon.com
FDA fighting to dismiss federal lawsuit challenging its illegal ivermectin warnings that sought to INCREASE deaths from COVID

In a sealed motion this week, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) asked the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas to dismiss a lawsuit challenging the agency's handling of ivermectin as an effective treatment for the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19).

The FDA wants the court to dismiss the suit, which was filed in 2023 by three doctors who outed the FDA for providing illegal warnings against ivermectin, which the FDA itself approved for human use back in 1996.

The reason the motion was sealed, according to a government brief, is because it allegedly contains "confidential information" from a separate legal proceeding. There were supposed to be redacted versions of the motion released for public perusal, but this has not yet occurred.

In response to the FDA's call for the case to be tossed, the three doctors who filed it said on January 12 that the court should reject the FDA's request.

"The FDA exceeded its authority by repeatedly issuing public directives not to use ivermectin for COVID-19, even though the drug remains fully approved for human use," the doctors wrote in their request.

(Related: Did you catch what Dr. Mary Talley Bowden said about how ivermectin is helping her patients overcome damage caused by COVID jabs?)

FDA overstepped its jurisdictional bounds with ivermectin theatrics

You may recall that one of the illegal directives issued by the FDA during the "pandemic" came through a then-Twitter post in which the federal agency mocked people for using FDA-approved ivermectin.

"You are not a horse," the FDA deceptively mocked, implying that ivermectin is strictly for cattle and livestock, which is false. "Stop it with the #Ivermectin. It's not authorized for treating #COVID."

An appeals court already found that the FDA likely overstepped its bounds with this type of ridiculous messaging.

"FDA can inform, but it has identified no authority allowing it to recommend consumers 'stop' taking medicine," wrote U.S. Circuit Judge Don Willett, an appointee of President Donald Trump, in his appeals ruling.

The appeals court then remanded the case back to U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Brown, who said in 2022 that the three doctors who filed the suit failed to prove their allegations, in his opinion.

Judge Brown, another appointee of President Trump, is the person whom the FDA is now asking to dismiss the case entirely.

The FDA's argument as to why the case should be dismissed argues that the plaintiffs have not suffered injuries that are traceable to the FDA, and that cannot be remedied by a ruling in favor of the plaintiffs.

"The FDA is wrong," the lawyers for the doctors say against the FDA's argument.

"Plaintiffs have suffered interference with their practice of medicine and the doctor-patient relationship, economic harm, reputational harm, and increased exposure to malpractice liability, and have been subject to disciplinary proceedings and forced resignations, all of which clearly trace to the FDA's campaign against ivermectin and would be remedied by equitable relief."

The law as it currently stands under the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetics Act only enables the FDA to authorize or approve drugs for a specific use. Doctors are still allowed to freely prescribe FDA-approved drugs for other purposes if they choose under a form of prescribing known as "off-label."

It cannot be stated enough that the law does not grant the FDA the authority to regulate off-label prescriptions as it repeatedly did with regard to ivermectin all throughout the "pandemic."

"The FDA is the common thread through all of [the] plaintiffs' injuries, which began only after the FDA embarked on its campaign to stop the use of ivermectin for COVID-19 and which often involve explicit invocation of the FDA's directives and recommendations," the plaintiffs' lawyers further said.

The latest news about the cancer known as the FDA can be found at FDA.news.

Sources for this article include:

TheEpochTimes.com

NaturalNews.com

NaturalNews.com
Joe Bidens approval rating in DUMPSTER as Trump trounces opponents to win Iowa caucus

It is official: President Biden's approval rating, which hovers at a mere 33 percent, is the lowest for any United States president in the past 15 years  the second-lowest rating goes to George W. Bush from 2006-2008  this as Donald Trump sweeps the Iowa caucus

These two things happening at the same time, Biden's dumpster-level approval rating coupled with Trump's landslide victory in Iowa, speak volumes about what America has to look forward to in the November 2024 general election.

In the event that a rematch does not occur, the reason will likely not have anything to do with Trump failing to secure the nomination, which he probably will. Instead, it will be because Biden quits the race, according to Fox News contributor Tammy Bruce.

"A unique aspect of this presidential year is that there really is no primary season for either party," Bruce said.

"Biden has managed to keep challengers off the ballots and Trump's lead amongst GOP voters is astronomical. Trump's landslide in Iowa is a statement. And while the debates and this process is important for people to get to know the GOP talent bench, the fact is we are in the midst of the general election between Biden and Trump."

The closer we get to election day, the more likely that Biden will drop out or be replaced, Bruce says.

Check out the episode below of "War Room with Owen Shroyer" to hear what Owen Shroyer has to say about these latest developments:

(Related: According to Bloomberg, elections are a "threat to democracy" and should probably be abolished.)

Trump wins all but one of Iowa's 99 counties

All but one of Iowa's 99 counties went to Trump. The one outlier, Johnson County, went to U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley who ultimately came in third place in the Hawkeye State.

Trump would then deliver a victory speech in which he congratulated Haley and fellow rival Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who took second place in Iowa. During his speech, Trump stated that he and the others were "having a good time together."

"Donald Trump's crushing victory over his opponents in the Iowa caucuses isn't quite enough to wrap up the Republican nomination before the first primary contest has even taken place  but it very nearly is," said Fox News contributor Gerry Baker.

"The results confirmed the grip the former president has on GOP primary voters."

The only chance Haley has at potentially upsetting Trump is if she wins in New Hampshire, which as usual is the first state in America to hold a primary. Should Haley lose in New Hampshire, her race will likely be finished.

"So Trump is set to wrap things up quickly and will then be free of GOP opposition to concentrate his fire on Joe Biden," Baker added.

"This only adds to the escalating bad news for Biden, already struggling with some of the lowest approval ratings for any president in recent history. With an uncertain economic outlook, chaos at the border and rising insecurity in the world, Biden faces overwhelming headwinds."

"Don't be surprised if the calls within his own party for him to stand down and for a Democratic nominating contest to take place at this summer's convention grow much louder."

These latest developments spell disaster for Democrats this year. With an incumbent that is wildly unpopular and with strong momentum for Trump going into the 2024 election cycle, it looks increasingly likely that Trump will soon take the White House for a second term.

The latest news about Trump's bid for the presidency can be found at Trump.news.

Sources for this article include:

FoxNews.com

Infowars.com

NaturalNews.com
The winter conditions can bring significant risks to animals, especially pets. The main concerns are slippery road conditions, hypothermia and frostbites. Prolonged exposure to the weather will be life-threatening to pets.

In the recent weather forecasts, parts of the US have experienced challenging weather conditions, from heavy snow, freezing rain, blizzards and winter storms.

The wind chills and heavy snow can become difficult for pets. As a result, homeowners should never leave them unattended to avoid cold-related health concerns.

Meanwhile, homeowners should keep updated with the latest weather reports in the US. Prolonged outdoor plans are not recommended, especially if they bring their pets.

Pet Preparedness in Winter

With the colder weather and winter beginning, pets are at risk of heavy snow and other weather threats.

Here are essential cold reminders to keep them safe from the below temperatures this week.

Also Read: Winter Conditions, Ice-Covered Roads Can Become Dangerous to Pets After Dog Fell From 60-Foot Cliff in Michigan's Lake Superior

Check For Signs of Hypothermia

The report warned that hypothermia can become very dangerous to pets. Owners should stay alert for signs of hypothermia, such as being anxious or whining.

Remove Snow on Pets

After any outdoor activities, pet owners should remove any snow in their pets' food pads. Protecting their paws is also recommended to prevent potential irritation due to ice.

Wearing a Pet Sweater and Coat

Customized sweaters or coats will ease the extreme to-freezing temperatures in the US. Homeowners should check their coats and skin, which can become dry due to the cold outlook.

Microchip and Updated Pet Identification

The challenging weather will become more difficult for dogs, and they can escape from leash. Microchip and pet identification are life-saving when they become missing due to winter storms.

Keep Out of Ice-covered Roads or Ponds

When homeowners bring their pets, they should watch out for ice-covered roads and ponds. Limiting activities in the said areas can keep them safe.

Pet Safety

In the recent NWN report, the ice conditions can become dangerous to pets, especially adventurous dogs. A three-year-old dog managed to escape from his owner. The young dog accidentally fell from a 60-foot cliff in Lake Superior in Michigan.

The National Park Service (NPS) reported that a young dog called Dancer escaped and ran away from his owner near the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. With the help of rescuers, the pet was immediately rescued.

As a result, the American Red Cross warned of potential health risks of colder temperatures in the US. Homeowners should not let them roam outside or without any supervision

Related Article: Dangerous Cold in the US Threatens Millions of Americans With Winter Warnings, Cold-Related Health Risk

For more similar, don't forget to follow Nature World News
A deep freeze has blanketed the United States once again, as observed during the 2023-2024 North American winter season since December. As the US becomes a freezing nation, most parts of the world are experiencing unprecedented warm weather, according to research.

Amid these conditions, climate scientists are blaming climate change again. However, this time is different due to several factors.

Weather experts point out that the US deep freeze is potentially being triggered by multiple natural factors, including the melting Artic Sea ice, the expanding polar vortex, or general repercussions caused by climate change. Among these factors, scientists from previous studies are concerned with the polar vortex, a large area of cold air and low-pressure air surrounding both of Earth's poles.

US Deep Freeze

Based on data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), all states in the continental US have experienced a temperature drop below zero degrees Fahrenheit, with Hawaii the only state not experiencing subzero temperature. The data consists of record-breaking US deep freeze temperature since recordings started in the late 1800s or 19th century.

Even the heat-stricken states in the Southwest and South US are also susceptible to the gradual cooling of the country over the past several decades. For instance, Texas recorded its lowest temperature of -23 degrees Fahrenheit in 1933. Meanwhile, Arizona had -40 degrees Fahrenheit back in 1971 and New Mexico -50 degrees Fahrenheit in 1951.

Also Read: Climate Change: Deadly Texas Cold Wave Linked to Warming Arctic

Cold Outbreak

Rising global temperatures or a warming weather across the world is a recurring data, often seen in climate studies and even long-term weather outlook. In this context, while greenhouse gas emissions and fossil fuel burning have been in the center in the issue of the climate crisis, there are other factors at play often ignored.

According to climate scientists, including those from the Woodwell Research Center and Atmospheric Environmental Research, rapid arctic warming and polar vortex are forces that contribute to the current cold outbreak being experienced in North America, where cold air is being pushed toward the US through Canada.

Why is the Polar Vortex a Problem?

The polar vortex always exists near the Earth's poles but weakens during the summer season and strengthens during the winter season, according to the National Weather Service (NWS). This is the case both for the northern hemisphere and southern hemisphere, wherein each region has a different timeline of meteorological seasons.

Since polar vortexes are not weather systems like tropical cyclones, including storms and hurricanes, these low-pressure, cold air masses have always been around. Yet, scientists in previous years have become concerned since notable changes have been observed, particularly in the Arctic polar vortex.

In a report back in January 2023, not only the US but also Canada has experienced extreme cold temperatures due to the Arctic polar vortex. This phenomenon is not necessarily caused by a reversal or slowing down of climate change, but the vortex has become unstable and migrated from its usual place over the pole.

Related Article: Big Freeze Triggered by Flood Path Reckon Climate Scientists
American and British forces have recently carried out multiple airstrikes (and it is likely not yet over) on Houthi positions in Yemen in an attempt to halt their attacks in the Red Sea. Belgium will participate in the European mission aimed at ensuring freedom of navigation against Houthi rebel attacks from Yemen, according to sources following Friday's Belgian restricted ministerial committee meeting.

Follow Navy Recognition on Google News at this link

Contextual illustration: Belgian Navy's F930 BNS Leopold I, a Karel Doorman-class frigate. The actual form of the Belgian participation in the European mission in the Red Sea has not been decided yet, though (Picture source: Mark Harkin/Wikipedia) (Picture source: Mark Harkin/Wikipedia)

The European mission in the Red Sea, aimed at countering the activities of the Houthi rebels, represents a multifaceted international effort dedicated to addressing the complex security situation in the region. This mission employs a combination of strategic approaches, including naval presence, intelligence sharing, diplomatic engagement, and humanitarian assistance, all designed to achieve its overarching objectives.

One of the prominent aspects of the mission involves the deployment of naval assets from European nations to the Red Sea. These assets, which include warships, patrol vessels, and maritime surveillance aircraft, serve the crucial role of monitoring and securing vital sea lanes. Their presence ensures the safe passage of commercial shipping traffic and prevents the illicit movement of arms and supplies to the Houthi rebels.

In addition to the military component, intelligence sharing plays a pivotal role in the European mission. European countries and their allies engage in the exchange of intelligence regarding Houthi activities, arms trafficking, and the dynamics of the region. This collaborative effort enables the mission to stay ahead of emerging threats and respond effectively.

Diplomatic engagement forms another integral part of the mission's strategy. European diplomats actively interact with various stakeholders in the Red Sea region, including neighboring countries. Their goal is to foster dialogue, promote conflict resolution, and seek political solutions to the Yemeni crisis. Diplomatic initiatives aim to de-escalate tensions and encourage a peaceful resolution to the conflict.

Recognizing the humanitarian dimensions of the crisis, the European mission also endeavors to provide essential aid to alleviate the suffering of civilians affected by the conflict. Humanitarian organizations work in conjunction with military and diplomatic efforts to deliver aid, food, and medical assistance to those in need, particularly in areas directly impacted by the conflict.

Furthermore, the European mission operates in close coordination with the United Nations, aligning its efforts with the global peacekeeping initiatives in Yemen. This collaboration ensures that international efforts are well-coordinated and mutually reinforcing, with the ultimate aim of achieving a lasting ceasefire and a comprehensive political settlement to the Yemeni conflict.

Lastly, safeguarding critical infrastructure, such as ports and oil installations, remains a top priority of the mission. Ensuring the security of these facilities is paramount not only for regional stability but also for preventing the Houthi rebels from profiting from illegal activities.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 19. President Ilham Aliyev has united the Azerbaijani people in an unprecedented manner, British political scientist Neil Watson told Trend.

President Ilham Aliyevs versatility and capabilities in many languages have made him an adept politician and diplomat on the world stage, and his charismatic approach has united the Azerbaijani people, both at home and abroad, in an unprecedented manner, Watson said.

Furthermore, Watson mentioned that over the last 20 years, Ilham Aliyev has invested in the latest technological weaponry and built crucial alliances, particularly with Israel and Turkiye. These alliances have empowered Azerbaijan to respond briefly and effectively to Armenian provocations.

He highlighted that over the past 20 years, President Ilham Aliyev has successfully established strong bilateral relations with European countries, particularly in the energy sector.

Watson mentioned that the relationship with the UK in the energy sector has been notably significant, largely due to BP's role in developing and exploiting Azerbaijan's hydrocarbon potential. Azerbaijan, with its wealth in hydrocarbons, has established itself as the most independent former Soviet republic.

"Azerbaijani-Italian relations are also very strong, and it is notable that the Southern Gas Corridor delivers its resources to an Italian interconnector. The only issues arise where there are significant Armenian diaspora groups or where there is significant Islamophobia and/or Turcophobia, the prime example being France. This has also led to some pro-Armenian, anti-Azerbaijani sentiments being expressed in the European institutions," Watson said.

In addition, he emphasized the significance that these elections, for the first time since gaining independence, will be conducted across the entire territory of Azerbaijan, including the liberated territories from Armenian occupation.

"Since the Second Karabakh War and the brief conflict that led to the eradication of the illegal regime headquartered in Khankendi, Azerbaijan has regained control over all its territories and no longer needs to be in a state of war preparation. The time is now right for Azerbaijan to take this step and undertake a nationwide election," the export said.

He noted that it is the duty of all Azerbaijani citizens of voting age to participate in the elections.
Google has announced an investment of $1 billion in a new data center in the UK that will boost AI innovation and support Google Cloud customers in the region. This would be Googles first data center in the UK.

This new data centre will help meet growing demand for our AI and cloud services and bring crucial compute capacity to businesses across the UK while creating construction and technical jobs for the local community, said Ruth Porat, chief financial officer of Alphabet and Google. The company has been present in the UK for two decades and employs about 7,000 people in the country.

To be located on a 33-acre site in Waltham Cross, Hertfordshire, near London, the data center comes at a time when the UK is trying to position itself as a leader in technology.

The UK is a fantastic place to invest, and Googles $1 billion investment is testament to the fact that the UK is a center of excellence in technology and has a huge potential for growth, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said in press statement. This announcement comes close to Microsofts investment of $3.2 billion over the next three years in the UK to boost its AI data center infrastructure.

The new data center facility will deploy an air-based cooling solution, in line with its commitment to run its data center on Carbon-Free Energy (CFE). Capturing data center heat represents an opportunity for energy conservation and can benefit the local community, said the press release. Google has set the target of net-zero carbon emissions across its operations by 2030.

Googles growing investments in Europe

In the past, Google has invested in Grace Hopper subsea cable that connects the UK with the US and Spain. In addition, the company also announced the purchase of the Central Saint Giles site in London for $1 billion in 2022.
Amazon Web Services (AWS) on Friday said it is committing about $15.24 billion to expand its cloud infrastructure in Japan by 2027 in order to meet growing customer demand for its cloud services, including generative AI.

The company made its generative AI service, Amazon Bedrock, available in Japans Tokyo region last year while also investing $100 million to start a new global program, dubbed the Generative AI Innovation Center, to help enterprises accelerate the development of generative AI-based applications.

The investment in Japan will be used to expand the cloud service providers infrastructure in the country, especially the facilities in Osaka and Tokyo, the company said in a statement.

AWS said it has invested over $8 billion in Japan between 2011 and 2022 in order to grow its data center footprint in the country. Moreover, it claims to have trained over 400,000 individuals in cloud computing skills.

Earlier in 2021, the company had said that the Japanese government selected it to be one of the cloud service providers to support the Government Cloud  the common cloud infrastructure that central government agencies, local governments, and other government organizations use.

The investment in Japan is even larger than the companys investment in India, which was announced last year.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 20. Today Azerbaijan commemorates the 34th anniversary of the January 20, 1990 tragedy. This day went down in history of Azerbaijan's fight for independence and territorial integrity.

On January 20, 1990, the Soviet army forces entered Baku to suppress the masses protesting the USSR-supported Armenian aggression based on territorial claims against Azerbaijan.

The entry of Soviet troops resulted in an unprecedented tragedy for Azerbaijan. Valiant sons and daughters of Azerbaijan put the countrys freedom, honor and dignity above everything else, sacrificed their lives and became martyrs.

During the tragedy, 147 people were killed, 744 were severely injured and 841 were illegally arrested. As a result of the Soviet army's operations, 200 apartments, houses, private and state property were destroyed.

While delivering speech at a meeting held on January 21, 1990 at the Permanent Mission of Azerbaijan in Moscow in connection with the tragedy, Heydar Aliyev sharply criticized the perpetrators of this incident. Heydar Aliyev stressed that the incident did not correspond to the law, democracy, humanism and the principles of rule of law in Azerbaijan.

Despite that many years have passed since those bloody days, Azerbaijanis remember the dreadful night that took many innocent lives and mark the anniversary of the January 20 tragedy every year.

January 20 is immortalized in the memory of Azerbaijani nation as a Day of the Nationwide Sorrow.
Google plans to bring AI image generator to Bard: Report

San Francisco, Jan 18

Google is reportedly planning to add its own image generator directly to its AI chatbot Bard.

"Here's what's coming next in Bard. . . tomorrow. Image generation with Bard will use Imagen, Google's Text-to-Image "diffusion technology," Roussel wrote.

However, the developer also noted that the "content of this changelog may still be changed until officially released".

Similar to other tools, it will allow users to create images by simply describing their imagination in words to the chatbot.

This tool should be powered by Googles Imagen family of models, the report mentioned.

Meanwhile, Google has added a new feature in Maps that will let users navigate in tunnels or other satellite dead zones. The company added support for 'Bluetooth beacons' and has rolled out widely on Google Maps for Android, however, it still missing in the iOS version of the app.

Bluetooth beacons are not new as the Google-owned Waze has long supported the technology in tunnels globally, including major cities like New York City, Chicago, Paris, Brussels, and many more.

Those beacons, though, have only ever functioned within the Waze app.

(IANS - Posted on 18 January 2024)

Google plans to bring AI image generator to Bard: Report

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BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 19. On December 11, 2023, during the 28th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP28) in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the international community unanimously decided to hold COP29 in November 2024 in Azerbaijan.

The COP29 conference, scheduled for 2024, was to be organized by a country in the Eastern European Group, making it a unique historical event where all political poles unanimously supported Azerbaijan as the host.

The global significance of Baku's geopolitical position and Azerbaijan's versatile diplomatic initiatives played a crucial role in the choice to hold the conference in the country.

Several key factors contribute to Azerbaijan being chosen as the host for COP29. To begin with, besides its abundant hydrocarbon resources, Azerbaijan also obtains potential in the realm of cutting-edge renewable energy. As Europe stands on the brink of transitioning to next-generation energy, Azerbaijan is recognized as a dependable and strategic partner in this crucial shift.

According to research conducted by specialists, the Caspian Sea, ranking second only to the North Sea in wind energy potential, boasts a wind energy capacity of 157 GW in its Azerbaijani sector. Meanwhile, the onshore renewable energy potential of the country, encompassing wind and solar energy, is estimated at 27 GW.

In recent years, notable steps have been taken in the field of green energy. Notably, the liberated Karabakh and Eastern Zangazur, as well as the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic have been declared as green energy zones to attain zero emissions status by 2050.

Moreover, Azerbaijan aims to reach 30 percent renewable energy share in the installed electricity production capacity by 2030. Currently, Azerbaijan produces renewable energy through the 240 MW Khizi-Absheron wind power plant, the 230 MW Garadagh solar power plant, the Shafag solar power station, and the Khudafarin and Giz Galasi hydropower plants.

Renewable energy plants in Azerbaijan

Increasing the production of green energy and transporting it to global markets is a priority in Azerbaijan's energy policy. In the Caspian Sea, which experts consider the second-highest in wind energy potential after the North Sea, several green energy projects are in the pipeline.

One notable project is the Black Sea Energy Submarine Cable, which aims to bolster Europe's energy security and is recognized as a vital global green energy initiative.

The primary focus of this project, conducted predominantly beneath the seabed, is to transmit green energy generated in Azerbaijan to Europe, with the possibility of Central Asia joining the project through Azerbaijan. This highlights Azerbaijan's role as an exporter and transit country in the shift towards new energy.

As President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev emphasized, the country will soon commence hydrogen exports to Europe.

"But in general, if we talk about the European Commission, of course, we have excellent relations. We highly value this relations, they are of strategic importance and not only energy, not only gas, not only oil, soon it will be hydrogen. You know very well the project, which involved Georgia, Azerbaijan, Romania and Hungary. So, it's a big game changer, and we are already in the face of implementation," the head of state said.

Notably, on December 28 of last year, SOCAR Green company was established, and the year 2024 was declared by President Ilham Aliyev as the "Green World Solidarity Year". According to SOCAR, SOCAR Green will collaborate with the Masdar company in the initial stage of a mega project to implement onshore wind and solar energy projects with a capacity of 1 GW.

Additionally, within the Shafag project, in cooperation with bp, solar energy projects with a capacity of 240 MW in Azerbaijan's Jabrayil district will be implemented. The company, in partnership with ACWA Power, Masdar, and Energy China, also plans to implement solar and wind energy projects in Nakhchivan.

On the other hand, Azerbaijan is a country that was under occupation for 30 years and extensively mined. The presence of mines in the soil increases the level of carbon dioxide. Currently, the country is engaged in a major demining process.

Thus, Azerbaijan is adapting to the transition to new energy with projects planned and implemented in recent years, aligning with the agenda in the field of green energy. With European support for green energy projects, Azerbaijan will become a renewable energy producer shortly and will continue to play a role in Europe's energy security. All of the above indicates that Azerbaijan is an important player in the field of green energy.

Stay up to date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
Samsung to launch smart health device Galaxy Ring this year

San Jose, Jan 19

Samsung Electronics plans to launch a new digital health care device, the Galaxy Ring, this year, a senior company executive has said.

After the event, Roh Tae-moon, head of the mobile division at Samsung Electronics, shared the release plan of the company's ring-shaped health device with reporters, reports Yonhap news agency.

"The Galaxy Watch has its own benefits, but some consumers feel uncomfortable having to wear a watch all the time, and that is why the Galaxy Watch is not enough to send essential health information to Samsung Health and analyse it 24/7, all week and 365 days a year," Roh said. "This is why we need the form factor of a ring to complete the digital health system, or Samsung health."

The Galaxy Watch is Samsung's smartwatch, which features various health and fitness features, as well as serving as a remote control for the smartphone.

Roh said the Galaxy Ring is more suitable to be worn for long periods of time than the Galaxy Watch and has a better battery life since it only focuses on health features.

(IANS - Posted on 19 January 2024)

Samsung to launch smart health device Galaxy Ring this year

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Australian Open: Sabalenka trounces Tsurenko; Gauff eases past Parks

Melbourne, Jan 19

Defending champion Aryna Sabalenka moved into the final 16 with a 6-0, 6-0 win over Lesia Tsurenko in Rod Laver Arena on Friday.

Sabalenka is the first woman to reel off 10 consecutive wins at the Australian Open since Serena Williams from 2017 to 2019.

The 25-year-old is the first woman to reel off 10 consecutive wins at the Australian Open since Serena Williams from 2017 to 2019.

Despite her recent dominance at the Australian Open, Sabalenka will have to be focused in her next match when she faces an opponent she has historically struggled against -- Amanda Anisimova of the United States.

Anisimova has beaten Sabalenka in four of their five career meetings. Their first clash came at the 2019 Australian Open, which Anisimova won 6-3, 6-2 to reach that year's Round of 16.

In other match, Coco Gauff swiped aside compatriot and one-time childhood training partner Alycia Parks to reach the fourth round.

After surviving an early scare to fend off another American Caroline Dolehide in the previous round, the fourth seed had no such difficulties this time as she surged through 6-0 6-2.

Gauff will now take on either Magdalena Frech or qualifier Anastasia Zakharova for a place in the quarterfinals.

With her win over Parks, t19-year-old Gauff extended her win streak at the Grand Slams to 10 consecutive matches dating back to her triumphant title run in New York last fall. She is the fifth teenager since 2000 to win 10 consecutive matches at Grand Slam events, joining Serena Williams, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Maria Sharapova and Iga Swiatek , WTA reports.

In the Open Era, she is also only the fourth American teenager to win 10 consecutive Grand Slam singles matches, after Chris Evert, Tracy Austin and Serena Williams.

Gauff remains undefeated in the new season, moving her record to 8-0. She has lost just one set this year.

(IANS - Posted on 19 January 2024)

Australian Open: Sabalenka trounces Tsurenko; Gauff eases past Parks

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14 killed in boat tragedy in Vadodara; Gujarat govt launches probe

Vadodara, Jan 19

At least 14 people -- 12 students and two teachers -- lost their life when their overloaded boat capsized in a Lake on the outskirts of Vadodara city, Gujarat, after which, the state government launched a probe.

An FIR has been filed under sections 304 and 308 of the Indian Penal Code and two individuals have been arrested in connection with the case.

State Home Minister Harsh Sanghavi has announced the formation of teams to nab any other responsible parties, emphasising a thorough investigation.

The boat, designed to carry only 14 people, was overloaded with almost twice that number, sources said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his sorrow over the tragedy on social media platform X, extending condolences to the families of the deceased and wishing the injured a swift recovery.

Prime Minister Modi also mentioned that the local administration is providing necessary support to those affected and has announced financial aid from the PMNRF for the families of the deceased and the injured.

He announced a solatium of Rs 2 lakh from the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund for the family of the deceased and Rs 50,000 each for the families of the injured.

Atul Gamechi, a social activist, accused the Vadodara Municipal Corporation and the contractor of corruption and demanded action against them.

(IANS - Posted on 19 January 2024)

14 killed in boat tragedy in Vadodara; Gujarat govt launches probe

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Hrithik Roshan works his magic, gives makeover to 'Indian Idol 14' contestant

Mumbai, Jan 19

Bollywoods Greek God Hrithik Roshan, known for his impeccable style, appeared on the stage of Indian Idol 14, and gave a spectacular transformation to contestant Piyush Panwar.

The episode has put the spotlight on select Top 10 contestants, who will continue singing their way to win the coveted title of Indian Idol.

But it was Rajasthans Piyush, who took over the stage and impressed one and all by singing the title song of Kaho Na Pyaar Hai and You Are Soniya from the movie Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham.

The episode took an unexpected turn when Hrithik, acknowledged Piyushs previous performances and expressed his intention to modify Piyush's look.

Amidst heightened anticipation, Piyush unveiled his new appearance, leaving everyone in awe of the unique and stunning transformation.

Acknowledging the compliments graciously, Piyush thanked Hrithik for his remarkable transformation.

Showering praises on Piyush, Hrithik said: India is already a fan of the old Piyush, the world is now poised to become enamoured with his new version.

Vishal Dadlani and Shreya Ghoshal also echoed the sentiment, commending both Piyush's appearance and his stellar performance.

Piyush also expressed his wish for Hrithik to perform with him on the iconic song from 'Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai.'

In a heart-warming gesture, Hrithik along with the Judges came on stage, fulfilling Piyush's wish and creating a magical and unforgettable experience for both the contestants and the audience.

Indian Idol Season 14 airs on Sony.

(IANS - Posted on 19 January 2024)

Hrithik Roshan works his magic, gives makeover to 'Indian Idol 14' contestant

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The Red Hearts Foundation, which plays a significant role in shaping the culture of philanthropy in our country, disclosed its annual report for 2023. The president of Red Hearts Foundation, Sevda Haqverdiyeva, noted that 31 934 donors contributed 1 521 238 manats in 3 different directions, with the involvement of 4 028 beneficiaries and 242 volunteers.

At the same time, she presented specific indicators for all directions: in the Community category, 31 430 donors contributed 1 489 351 manats, in the Environment category, 281 donors contributed 27 047 manats, and in the Animal protection category, 223 donors contributed 4,705 manats.

The donations were utilized in various social projects throughout the year, including initiatives such as Turkiy ucun bir urk olaq! campaign to support those affected by the earthquake in Turkey, providing fully renovated homes for for martyr families, organizing seminars and training in orphanages and shelters, providing supports for low-income families, educational scholarship programs, health-related projects, tree planting campaigns in regions, coastal area cleanups, and providing shelters for animal.

Red Hearts was established in December 2019 by employees of Kapital Bank. The organization, which currently operates as a foundation, primarily assists orphans, shelters, and people in need. On the foundation's official website, https://redhearts.az , you may learn more about the foundation's activities, existing humanitarian projects and initiatives, future plans, and other interesting details.
Champaign, IL (61820)

Today

Some snow flurries during the morning hours will give way to cloudy skies this afternoon. High 39F. Winds NW at 10 to 20 mph..

Tonight

Mainly clear. Low 27F. Winds WSW at 10 to 15 mph.
In a recent review published in the journal BMC Global and Public Health, researchers explored the current evidence on nutritionally acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (N-AIDS). They discussed why N-AIDS needs to be recognized as a crucial determinant and comorbidity among tuberculosis (TB) patients across the globe. They have emphasized the importance of addressing nutrition with a priority equivalent to human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) to mitigate the TB pandemic and improve overall outcomes.

Perspective: Nutritionally acquired immunodeficiency must be addressed with the same urgency as HIV to end tuberculosis. Image Credit: Kateryna Kon / Shutterstock

Background

Research in the past few decades has helped establish HIV as a determinant and comorbidity of TB, leading to integrated screening and care protocols. However, malnutrition, or N-AIDS, emerges as the primary cause of secondary immunodeficiency. Malnourished individuals, akin to those with HIV, face increased infection risks, and the association between malnutrition and TB has been established for a century. The current review emphasizes the recognition of malnutrition as a significant determining factor and comorbidity of TB to accelerate detection, treatment, and prevention efforts aimed at addressing the TB pandemic.

Detection of TB

Early detection and treatment of TB are essential for eliminating the disease, especially considering that more than four million TB cases go undiagnosed globally. Individuals with active TB remain contagious for months before diagnosis, underscoring the need for earlier intervention. Weight loss is a subtle yet significant symptom, with over 50% of TB patients in high-burden countries being malnourished at diagnosis. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends systematic TB screening in populations where prevalence exceeds 0.5%. Studies in Myanmar and India reveal higher TB prevalence among malnourished individuals, justifying systematic screening in this vulnerable group. However, current screening primarily focuses on clinical TB, overlooking subclinical disease and hidden nutritional deficiencies. Malnutrition's impact on test performance, especially in triage tests, necessitates optimization for accurate diagnosis in malnourished populations. Concurrent screening for malnutrition and TB involving better indicators than body mass index (BMI) is crucial, calling for improved detection strategies targeting the at-risk population.

Treatment of TB

Despite the proven impact of weight gain on TB therapy outcomes, malnourished individuals continue to experience worse health outcomes post-treatment. Severely malnourished individuals face a twofold higher risk of unfavorable treatment outcomes, including death. Malnutrition impairs the immune response to TB, leading to more severe disease manifestations. Pharmacotherapy effectiveness is compromised in malnourished individuals, impacting drug exposure and toxicity risks. Lack of access to food during TB therapy can result in treatment discontinuation. Nutritional status assessment should be a standard part of TB therapy, comparable to HIV testing. The neglect of malnutrition in TB management is evident in the absence of tailored nutritional interventions and tools for assessing nutritional status. Nutritional support for individuals with TB has demonstrated improved treatment success rates, thereby aiding adherence and reducing financial strain. Addressing malnutrition in TB management is important, not only for disease outcomes but also for individuals' overall well-being and potential.

Prevention of TB

Natural experiments during World Wars I and II highlighted the inverse relationship between malnutrition and TB rates. Prospective analyses, such as NHANES I, reveal a 12-fold increase in TB among underweight individuals. While studies often use BMI, compelling data also link micronutrients to TB risk. The RATIONS study in India demonstrated a 40% reduction in incident TB with nutritional support. Health-economic models project significant reductions in TB incidence and mortality with population-scale malnutrition reduction, emphasizing the cost-effectiveness of such interventions. Recognizing food as an adjunct to TB vaccines, research should explore the immunology of malnutrition to enhance vaccine efficacy, ensuring effectiveness in malnourished populations.

Conclusion and Future Perspectives

Recognition of malnutrition as a critical TB comorbidity is essential, demanding integrated nutritional screening in TB programs akin to HIV testing. Adhering to the WHO guidelines and reporting malnutrition rates among persons with TB (PWTB) in global TB reports may help address the issue. TB programs should provide nutritional counseling alongside in-kind or cash support, leveraging existing infrastructure. Coordination across sectors and collaboration with international bodies are imperative for a holistic approach. Researchers should include nutritional screening in studies, addressing variations in nutritional needs across demographics. Increased funding for operational research on nutrition and TB is the need of the hour.

For decades, data have consistently linked malnutrition to the TB pandemic, yet N-AIDS lacks prioritized assessment and care, unlike HIV. Acknowledging malnutrition as a dominant TB driver is key to the End-TB strategy's success. With simple interventions, significant reductions in TB incidence and mortality are achievable through nutrition investments. The global health community, having tackled one form of AIDS, can similarly address N-AIDS in detecting, treating, and preventing TB.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 19. The conduct of presidential election for the first time in the history of Azerbaijan, after ensuring territorial integrity and restoring state sovereignty, has special historical significance, Azerbaijani MP Sevinj Huseynova told Trend.

"This marks the beginning of a new stage in the socio-political history of our country, and there is no doubt that the presidential elections, which will take place on the platform of victory, will proceed in an atmosphere of great enthusiasm and emotional uplift," she said.

"The author of these realities is President Ilham Aliyev, a worthy successor to the political school of the great leader Heydar Aliyev. From the first day of his leadership of the country, he has taken fundamental steps to ensure the sustainable development of Azerbaijan," the MP noted. "Over the past period, President Ilham Aliyev has transformed our country into a regional leader. Today's Azerbaijan is the most stable country in the region with a strong economy and army."

"The goal of President Ilham Aliyev's visionary policy is the comprehensive development of the country and the well-being of the people. The purposeful policy pursued, and every step taken, brought Azerbaijan closer to liberating its lands from occupation, which eventually happened," Huseynova explained.

She emphasized that the presidential election will take place for the first time in a united and sovereign Azerbaijan.

"In this sense, the extraordinary presidential election scheduled for February 7, 2024, won't only go down in history as the victory election but will also serve as the foundation for the realization of new goals set by Azerbaijan, the development of the country on new horizons," added the MP.

On December 7, 2023, the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan signed a decree calling for an extraordinary presidential election in the country on February 7, 2024.

On December 19, the Central Election Commission (CEC) of Azerbaijan approved the candidacy of Ilham Aliyev, nominated by the ruling New Azerbaijan Party (YAP), for participation in the extraordinary presidential election.

Azerbaijan has registered 7 candidates to run in the extraordinary presidential election.

Stay up to date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
In a recent study published in JAMA Surgery, a group of researchers evaluated the safety and feasibility of a single-port (SP) robotic-assisted approach for performing nipple-sparing mastectomies (NSM).

Background

Since its introduction in 1985, robotic-assisted surgery has evolved beyond gastrointestinal, urologic, and gynecologic surgeries to include areas like thyroidectomy and reconstructive surgeries. Offering the same safety and efficacy as open surgery but with faster recovery and improved cosmetic results, it has advanced to robotic nipple-sparing mastectomy (rNSM).

First described in 2015, rNSM has shown comparable safety and oncologic outcomes to traditional methods. Challenges with the multiport system led to the SP da Vinci system, enhancing maneuverability and reducing complications. Despite its proven safety and potential for better sensation preservation, the SP system's adoption is limited by the surgical learning curve, reconstruction variability, and insufficient patient-reported outcomes.

Further research is needed to address the limitations of the SP robotic system, particularly in understanding its long-term oncologic outcomes, optimizing the surgical learning curve, and evaluating patient-reported outcomes for breast reconstruction.

About the study

The study conducted at a large university hospital involved 20 patients undergoing bilateral SPrNSM with tissue expander reconstruction from February 1, 2020, to January 4, 2023. Candidates for this procedure included women who were eligible for NSM according to standard care, with specific exclusion criteria such as tumor involvement of the skin, large breast size, and heavy smoking.

The surgical procedure began with an axillary incision to facilitate sentinel lymph node dissection using the da Vinci SP Robotic Surgical System. The breast tissue was dissected from the pectoralis muscle, and the procedure was performed in a 12 reverse Trendelenburg position for better visualization and ease of gland removal. The single-port system, equipped with a flexible 3D camera and robotic arms, allowed for a more streamlined operation with fewer complications from arm collisions.

Post-surgical reconstruction was handled by a plastic and reconstructive surgeon using a prepectoral expander covered in acellular dermal matrix. These were secured to the chest wall, and the amount of expander filling was based on the skin envelope laxity and pocket size. The final reconstruction step involved either breast implant placement or autologous reconstruction surgery, based on the patient's choice and the surgeon's discretion.

The study assessed post-surgical nipple and skin sensation using the Semmes-Weinstein Monofilament test and recorded clinical outcomes, including Body Mass Index (BMI), breast size, age, tumor characteristics, lymph node status, and early complications classified by the Clavien-Dindo system.

Study results

Between February 1, 2020, and January 4, 2023, a cohort of 20 female patients aged 29 to 63 years underwent bilateral SPrNSM with immediate reconstruction using prepectoral implants. The group's demographic and clinicopathological features varied, including 5 Hispanic/Latina, 13 White, 1 African American/Black, and 1 other who preferred not to disclose their race. No insurance issues were encountered. In the study, twenty patients with preoperative breast sizes ranging from A to D cup underwent bilateral SPrNSM for either risk reduction (11 patients, mostly with genetic predispositions) or existing breast cancer (9 patients).

Preoperative procedures included sentinel lymph node biopsies and axillary lymph node dissections, with three patients receiving neoadjuvant chemotherapy for invasive ductal carcinoma. The final pathology showed benign conditions in 11 patients and carcinoma in others, with most being estrogen/progesterone receptor positive and Erb-B2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinase 2 (ERBB2) negative. Surgical times varied from 205 to 351 minutes without any conversions to open procedures, and median robotic console times improved, indicating increased surgical efficiency. Median incision size was 4 cm, and blood loss was minimal.

In terms of complications, there was one instance of bilateral skin necrosis attributed to excessive postoperative ice pack use, requiring surgical revision. Another patient developed a unilateral expander infection, leading to its removal and washout. Overall, the complication rate was low.

Postoperative Nipple Areolar Complex (NAC) and breast skin sensation were also assessed. In the latter half of the cohort, measurable NAC sensation was preserved in 65% of the breasts two weeks post-surgery, and 50% retained sensation at six months. Skin sensation was even more favorable, with 90% and 100% preservation at two weeks and six months, respectively. In the first half of the cohort, prior to routine sensation testing, 65% reported measurable NAC sensation.

Conclusion

This study underscores the effectiveness and safety of SPrNSM, indicating its potential as a viable option for patients seeking breast cancer treatment or risk reduction, with promising outcomes in terms of operative efficiency, complication rates, and preservation of breast and NAC sensation.
It took little more than an hour for Deborah Hackler to dispense with the tall stack of debt collection lawsuits that McAlester Regional Medical Center recently brought to small-claims court in this Oklahoma farm community.

Hackler, a lawyer who sues patients on behalf of the hospital, buzzed through 51 cases, all but a handful uncontested, as is often the case. She bantered with the judge as she secured nearly $40,000 in judgments, plus 10% in fees for herself, according to court records.

It's a payday the hospital and Hackler have shared frequently over the past three decades, records show. The records indicate McAlester Regional Medical Center and an affiliated clinic have filed close to 5,000 debt collection cases since the early 1990s, most often represented by the father-daughter law firm of Hackler & Hackler.

Some of McAlester's 18,000 residents have been taken to court multiple times. A deputy at the county jail and her adult son were each sued recently, court records show. New mothers said they compare stories of their legal run-ins with the medical center.

"There's a lot that's not right," Sherry McKee, a dorm monitor at a tribal boarding school outside McAlester, said on the courthouse steps after the hearing. The hospital has sued her three times, most recently over a $3,375 bill for what she said turned out to be vertigo.

In recent years, major health systems in Virginia, North Carolina, and elsewhere have stopped suing patients following news reports about lawsuits. And several states, such as Maryland and New York, have restricted the legal actions hospitals can take against patients.

But with some 100 million people in the U.S. burdened by health care debt, medical collection cases still clog courtrooms across the country, researchers have found. In places like McAlester, a hospital's debt collection machine can hum away quietly for years, helped along by powerful people in town. An effort to limit hospital lawsuits failed in the Oklahoma Legislature in 2021.

In McAlester, the lawsuits have provided business for some, such as the Adjustment Bureau, a local collection agency run out of a squat concrete building down the street from the courthouse, and for Hackler, a former president of the McAlester Area Chamber of Commerce. But for many patients and their families, the lawsuits can take a devastating toll, sapping wages, emptying retirement accounts, and upending lives.

McKee said she wasn't sure how long it would take to pay off the recent judgment. Her $3,375 debt exceeds her monthly salary, she said.

"This affects a large number of people in a small community," said Janet Roloff, an attorney who has spent years assisting low-income clients with legal issues such as evictions in and around McAlester. "The impact is great."

Settled more than a century ago by fortune seekers who secured land from the Choctaw Nation to mine coal in the nearby hills, McAlester was once a boom town. Vestiges of that era remain, including a mammoth, 140-foot-tall Masonic temple that looms over the city.

Recent times have been tougher for McAlester, now home by one count to 12 marijuana dispensaries and the state's death row. The downtown is pockmarked by empty storefronts, including the OKLA theater, which has been dark for decades. Nearly 1 in 5 residents in McAlester and the surrounding county live below the federal poverty line.

The hospital, operated by a public trust under the city's authority, faces its own struggles. Paint is peeling off the front portico, and weeds poke up through the parking lots. The hospital has operated in the red for years, according to independent audit reports available on the state auditor's website.

"I'm trying to find ways to get the entire community better care and more care," said Shawn Howard, the hospital's chief executive. Howard grew up in McAlester and proudly noted he started his career as a receptionist in the hospital's physical therapy department. "This is my hometown," he said. "I am not trying to keep people out of getting care."

The hospital operates a clinic for low-income patients, whose webpage notes it has "limited appointments" at no cost for patients who are approved for aid. But data from the audits shows the hospital offers very little financial assistance, despite its purported mission to serve the community.

In the 2022 fiscal year, it provided just $114,000 in charity care, out of a total operating budget of more than $100 million, hospital records show. Charity care totaling $2 million or $3 million out of a $100 million budget would be more in line with other U.S. hospitals.

While audits show few McAlester patients get financial aid, many get taken to court.

Renee Montgomery, the city treasurer in an adjoining town and mother of a local police officer, said she dipped into savings she'd reserved for her children and grandchildren after the hospital sued her last year for more than $5,500. She'd gone to the emergency room for chest pain.

Dusty Powell, a truck driver, said he lost his pickup and motorcycle when his wages were garnished after the hospital sued him for almost $9,000. He'd gone to the emergency department for what turned out to be gastritis and didn't have insurance, he said.

"Everyone in this town probably has a story about McAlester Regional," said another former patient who spoke on the condition she not be named, fearful to publicly criticize the hospital in such a small city. "It's not even a secret."

The woman, who works at an Army munitions plant outside town, was sued twice over bills she incurred giving birth. Her sister-in-law has been sued as well.

"It's a good-old-boy system," said the woman, who lowered her voice when the mayor walked into the coffee shop where she was meeting with KFF Health News. Now, she said, she avoids the hospital if her children need care.

Nationwide, most people sued in debt collection cases never challenge them, a response experts say reflects widespread misunderstanding of the legal process and anxiety about coming to court.

At the center of the McAlester hospital's collection efforts for decades has been Hackler & Hackler.

Donald Hackler was city attorney in McAlester for 13 years in the '70s and '80s and a longtime member of the local Lions Club and the Scottish Rite Freemasons.

Daughter Deborah Hackler, who joined the family firm 30 years ago, has been a deacon at the First Presbyterian Church of McAlester and served on the board of the local Girl Scouts chapter, according to the McAlester News-Capital newspaper, which named her "Woman of the Year" in 2007. Since 2001, she also has been a municipal judge in McAlester, hearing traffic cases, including some involving people she has sued on behalf of the hospital, municipal and county court records show.

For years, the Hacklers' debt collection cases were often heard by Judge James Bland, who has retired from the bench and now sits on the hospital board. Bland didn't respond to an inquiry for interview.

Hackler declined to speak with KFF Health News after her recent court appearance. "I'm not going to visit with you about a current client," she said before leaving the courthouse.

Howard, the hospital CEO, said he couldn't discuss the lawsuits either. He said he didn't know the hospital took its patients to court. "I had to call and ask if we sue people," he said.

Howard also said he didn't know Deborah Hackler. "I never heard her name before," he said.

Despite repeated public records requests from KFF Health News since September, the hospital did not provide detailed information about its financial arrangement with Hackler.

McAlester Mayor John Browne, who appoints the hospital's board of trustees, said he, too, didn't know about the lawsuits. "I hadn't heard anything about them suing," he said.

At the century-old courthouse in downtown McAlester, it's not hard to find the lawsuits, though. Every month or two, another batch fills the docket in the small-claims court, now presided over by Judge Brian McLaughlin.

After court recently, McLaughlin, who is not from McAlester, shook his head at the stream of cases and patients who almost never show up to defend themselves, leaving him to issue judgment after judgment in the hospital's favor.

"All I can do is follow the law," said McLaughlin. "It doesn't mean I like it."

About this project

"Diagnosis: Debt" is a reporting partnership between KFF Health News and NPR exploring the scale, impact, and causes of medical debt in America.

The series draws on original polling by KFF, court records, federal data on hospital finances, contracts obtained through public records requests, data on international health systems, and a yearlong investigation into the financial assistance and collection policies of more than 500 hospitals across the country.

Additional research was conducted by the Urban Institute, which analyzed credit bureau and other demographic data on poverty, race, and health status for KFF Health News to explore where medical debt is concentrated in the U.S. and what factors are associated with high debt levels.

The JPMorgan Chase Institute analyzed records from a sampling of Chase credit card holders to look at how customers' balances may be affected by major medical expenses. And the CED Project, a Denver nonprofit, worked with KFF Health News on a survey of its clients to explore links between medical debt and housing instability.

KFF Health News journalists worked with KFF public opinion researchers to design and analyze the "KFF Health Care Debt Survey." The survey was conducted Feb. 25 through March 20, 2022, online and via telephone, in English and Spanish, among a nationally representative sample of 2,375 U.S. adults, including 1,292 adults with current health care debt and 382 adults who had health care debt in the past five years. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 3 percentage points for the full sample and 3 percentage points for those with current debt. For results based on subgroups, the margin of sampling error may be higher.

Reporters from KFF Health News and NPR also conducted hundreds of interviews with patients across the country; spoke with physicians, health industry leaders, consumer advocates, debt lawyers, and researchers; and reviewed scores of studies and surveys about medical debt.
Joyce Shen was devastated when doctors said her firstborn, Emory, hadn't passed her newborn hearing screening. Emory was diagnosed with profound sensorineural hearing loss in both ears as an infant, meaning sounds are extremely muffled.

But Shen and her husband, who live in Ontario, California, faced a horrible situation. Without intervention, they were told, their baby daughter's hearing impairment would prevent her from acquiring age-appropriate language skills and likely leave her with developmental problems affecting her education. Pediatric hearing aids can look like modified earbuds and sometimes come in pink, blue, and other bright colors. The ones Emory needed can cost more than $6,000 a pair, and she would require a new pair about every three years as her ears grow. But the family's work-based insurance does not cover those costs.

Shen said she knows all too well what's at stake for her daughter, who was born in February 2023. "If she had hearing aids, I could start all the speech therapy right now, get her access to most of the sounds. But right now, I can't do anything. Just waiting."

The family is not alone in this predicament. California and 17 other states don't require private insurance plans to cover hearing aids for kids, so many don't. But about two or three of every 1,000 babies in the U.S. are born with detectable hearing loss in one or both ears, according to the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders.

"You have to learn to hear before you can learn to speak, and we all speak how we hear," said Brooke Phillips, a Los Angeles audiologist who co-chairs the volunteer coalition Let California Kids Hear.

Grassroots action, often led by mothers, helped steer legislatures in 32 states to pass bills that would require private insurance to cover hearing aids for children. Vermont, Virginia, and Washington are the most recent.

The fix, however, is not always an easy one. Bills died at the end of the most recent legislative sessions in New York and Hawaii. And, in California, where only 9% of children and young adults enrolled in commercial plans have coverage for hearing aids and services, Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed a measure in October that would have required such coverage.

"There's real disappointment among professionals and our California families," said Phillips.

Newsom, who, by the end of 2023, faced a projected $68 billion state budget deficit, explained in his veto letter that the bill would "increase ongoing state General Fund costs" and "set a new precedent by adding requirements that exceed the [state's] benchmark plan" under the Affordable Care Act. Adding kids' hearing aids to the essential benefits package would trigger a provision of the ACA that requires state coffers to offset the additional expense. Newsom was wary that this "could open the state to millions to billions of dollars in new costs" for expanded coverage.

Nationally, there's pressure to pass such state mandates because health plans often don't cover hearing aids for kids, calling them elective or cosmetic. Dylan Chan, a pediatric ear, nose, and throat physician at the University of California-San Francisco Benioff Children's Hospitals, said hearing aids should be covered the way glasses and tooth fillings are.

Efforts on the ground suggest the push has slowly been gaining momentum.

Jocelyn Ross of Columbia, South Carolina, founded Let South Carolina Hear in 2010 after her daughter Alyssa was diagnosed with congenital hearing loss when she was just a few months old. Although South Carolina has yet to mandate coverage of hearing aids, the coalition has become a model for other such advocacy groups across the nation. Let Georgia Hear was launched a year later by Kelly Jenkins, an Atlanta mom whose daughter has worn hearing aids since she was 18 months old. Legislation requiring the state's private insurers to cover kids' hearing aids passed in 2017. Advocates in Ohio and Michigan are also pushing for legislative relief.

Though progress in various states is coming in fits and starts, Newsom's veto in progressive California was surprising.

Stephanie Wittels Wachs, who founded Let Texas Hear, has two children who are hard of hearing. Her organization helped push the 2017 passage of kids' hearing aid legislation. But when she moved from Houston to California in 2020, she was "completely shocked" to learn no such mandate had been approved there. "California usually leads the way, and we are falling behind some more conservative states that have prioritized pediatric hearing loss," she said.

Newsom's veto was especially surprising to many advocates because in 2019 he had created the Hearing Aid Coverage for Children Program, or HACCP, which offers supplemental coverage of up to $1,500 for hearing aids for families earning up to 600% of the family poverty threshold. Last year's legislation would have replaced that program, which has proved so far to not be particularly successful, enrolling only 297 kids since it began accepting patients in 2021. Provider participation in HACCP is also low. Meanwhile, it's estimated that 20,115 California enrollees under age 20 need hearing aids and don't have coverage for them, according to a 2023 report by the California Health Benefits Review Program.

"We do a great job of diagnosing these kids, we really do," said Daniela Carvalho, Emory Shen's audiologist at Rady Children's Hospital-San Diego. "About more than 99% of kids that are born here are screened. But how can that be a good thing if we're not following up at six months and giving them what they need to be able to hear? It makes no sense."

In November, after nearly 10 months, Emory was enrolled in HACCP. Soon she was given loaners, and then she received her own hearing aids in December.

"We talk to her about everything we are doing," Joyce Shen said. "We tell her about her highchair and her food and the spoon and bowl. Just anything to help develop her speech."
An advisory group formed to help Michigan tackle high rates of opioid overdoses in communities of color has been disbanded by Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's administration, leading to hard feelings among some members who say their work is being buried.

The Whitmer administration is "trying to  silence in a systematic way the voices of the Racial Equity Workgroup," said Native American activist Banashee "Joe" Cadreau, a member of the work group. "For two years, we put our blood, sweat, tears, thoughts, time, to . [come] up with these recommendations."

The frustration comes at a critical time as state and local governments debate how to spend $1.5 billion over 18 years to address an opioid crisis that kills thousands of Michiganders a year and destroys countless other lives.

The dissolution of a work group made up primarily of racial and ethnic minorities struck a nerve among some members, because the opioid epidemic has hit those communities hard in the state. In 2021, for instance, non-Hispanic Black men in Michigan died of overdoses connected to opioids at more than twice the rate of non-Hispanic white men. Another study showed racial and ethnic minorities are prescribed opioids for pain relief at lower rates than white patients.

A major point of contention, some members say, is the state Department of Health and Human Services' insistence that the work group's recommendations on combating the opioid crisis  as well as plans to hold public hearings  be reviewed by state officials before being made public.

That is "beyond frustrating and disingenuous," Sheyonna Watson, a work group member, told state health department officials at a December meeting, according to an audio recording of the meeting obtained by Bridge Michigan.

"Whats been brought [to us] as questions or recommendations or feedback feels like directives, feels like silencing, feels like censoring, feels like bottlenecking," said Watson, an African American minister and health consultant in Ann Arbor.

State officials deny they are trying to erase the work group's proposals, which include recommendations that are likely to be controversial, such as drug decriminalization, a ban on pre-employment drug testing in the workplace, "mandatory racial equity and cultural humility training" for state health staffers, and "racial equity training on bias on opioid prescribing [for] all prescribers of opioids."

Although the work group is finished, the state will "focus on embedding equity  in every action we take" going forward, rather than through the work of a single group, the state health department said in an email to Bridge Michigan on the evening of Jan. 15.

"Given our reorganized structure and focus on embedding equity in all of our efforts, we will be working more closely with our local regional partners to help us design and deploy engagement efforts best suited for their regions," health department spokesperson Lynn Sutfin wrote in the email.

Sutfin added that work group members can continue to have a voice by participating in subcommittee work linked to a Whitmer-appointed task force advising on opioid settlement funds.

Whitmer's office said the health department's statement represented its position as well on work group complaints.

Mounting frustrations

The complaints are the latest example of tensions that have played out mostly behind the scenes as the state works to distribute $1.5 billion in national opioid settlement funds earmarked for Michigan.

Last fall, the state Opioid Advisory Commission, created by the legislature, told lawmakers that it had struggled to get details from the health department on how opioid money was to be spent.

In December, Racial Equity Workgroup members had a heated meeting with the state's chief medical executive, Natasha Bagdasarian, in which they accused the health department of attempting to censor their proposals, according to the audio recording.

Then, last week, a scheduled meeting of the work group was canceled with just a few hours' notice, and a consulting group hired by the state to run the meeting was issued a work stop order by the health department.

Work group members were stunned largely because there was no explanation, Watson said.

More troublesome, she said, is the uncertainty over the future of the group's recommendations.

Theres frustration. There is concern. There is a lot of skepticism that the work that weve done is actually going to be integrated into state efforts.

Impact on diverse communities

The money comes from settlements of lawsuits against drugmakers, pharmaceutical distributors, and retail pharmacies accused of downplaying the risks and ignoring the perils of prescription painkillers, fueling today's opioid crisis. By agreement, half of Michigan's funds go to the state to finance efforts to curb drug use, and half to counties, townships, and cities across the state.

The first settlement checks arrived in early 2023. How well those funds address Michigan's crisis depends largely on understanding and meeting the needs of minority communities. And advocates say spending in the first years sets the tone for future spending.

State health officials recognized from the beginning the outsize impact opioid addiction has had on minority communities. Michigan Department of Health and Human Services officials are part of the state's Opioids Task Force, which Whitmer created in 2019 to advise the governor's office on how to best address the opioid crisis.

It was the task force that created the Racial Equity Workgroup two years ago, to "hear from people with lived experience" and represent voices in the Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) communities, according to a state webpage. A state document shows more than $148,000 has been spent on the work group.

The work group, originally 15 members, was composed primarily of harm reduction and overdose prevention experts of color. It was meant to ensure "all the relevant stakeholders are at the table," said Jonathan Stoltman, director of the Grand Rapids-based Opioid Policy Institute, a national nonprofit. "To disband this group  I just don't understand it."

In the past week, Bridge Michigan and our reporting partners at KFF Health News spoke with 10 people who were either in the work group or familiar with the group's frustrations. Many wished to remain anonymous, some because they have financial ties to state government or because they hope to take part in future discussions on opioid-related spending.

Two said on the record they were frustrated that the Whitmer administration appeared to be ignoring their recommendations, which also included calls to expand drug recovery housing, include minority voices in the creation of drug prevention materials, and make the work group a permanent part of the advisory structure for settlement funds.

You can read the group's draft report here.

The work group had recommendations to share at community meetings for feedback, but Jared Welehodsky, a senior policy analyst for the state health department, told the group the department would need to review recommendations first. Members told Bridge they understood that the department would also need to preapprove the group's notices of public meetings.

At the December meeting, Bagdasarian, who chairs the governor's opioid task force, addressed frustration about the rules. She told the work group it's standard practice for communications staff members to review recommendations before they go public, according to the recording. And she said there were legitimate requests for more data to support some recommendations and measure outcomes.

Bagdasarian insisted the state was not trying to "tokenize" the group.

"I will move mountains to get things done," she said. "Tell me what to do and how to do it and how it will save lives, and I will do it."

But early last week, a work group meeting was abruptly canceled through an email from Welehodsky. The next day, the consulting firm that managed the work group received the stop work order.

A day after that  on Jan. 10  work group members received another email, this one signed by Bagdasarian and Tommy Stallworth, a senior adviser to Whitmer, saying the state "will be restructuring our approach."

While disbanding the group, the email asked for its members' "continued commitment and support," and invited them to stay on as volunteers in the work.

With feelings so raw, it's unclear if that will happen.

Teresa Springer, director of operations at Wellness AIDS Services in Flint, accused state officials at the December meeting of "gaslighting" the group.

"Were stuck in this space with more white people telling us that we need more proof that this has happened, and it just is so frustrating," she said on the recording.

Bagdasarian, who was born in India, noted that she, too, is a "woman of color."

When it comes to sorting out how to spend the settlement funds, she said, the state's intention is to "make sure that racial equity is part of everything we do. We want to make sure that the right folks are at the table in all of these conversations moving forward."

KFF Health News senior correspondent Aneri Pattani contributed to this report.
In a recent study published in the eBioMedicine Journal, researchers began a discovery program for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)-neutralizing antibodies (nABs) potentially targeting its resistant strains.

They used a classical workflow, where an artificial intelligence (AI)-based prediction tool enabled rapid selection of antibodies binding different regions (epitopes) of the SARS-CoV-2 receptor-binding domain (RBD).

Subsequently, they performed biolayer interferometry (BLI), mutational screening, and cryogenic-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) analyses to establish their potency in vivo (in female Syrian hamsters).

Study: Integrating artificial intelligence-based epitope prediction in a SARS-CoV-2 antibody discovery pipeline: caution is warranted. Image Credit: Andrii Vodolazhskyi/Shutterstock.com

Background

Early during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, the rollout of potent vaccines against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was uncertain, but therapeutic antibodies showed great promise. However, most emerging SARS-CoV-2 mutant strains were resistant to these nABs.

Thus, developing SARS-CoV-2-nAB cocktails targeting non-overlapping epitopes of its spike (S) receptor-binding domain (RBD) and their preclinical selection remains crucial.

Numerous studies published between 2013 and 2023 have described computational methods for sequence-based antibody modeling; however, experimental validation of these is lacking.

About the study

In the present study, researchers first established a library of anti-SARS-CoV-2 nABs for passive immunization of patients with varying COVID-19 severities.

Next, they used a surrogate neutralization assay for screening SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing activity in serum samples collected from these patients.

Based on assay results and the availability of adequate peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), the team selected 14 patients for further investigation, wherein they sorted out B-cells binding the SARS-CoV-2 RBD using a B cell mining platform adapted from previously established methods.

Then, they sequenced 398 paired light and heavy chain AB sequences from 1,069 viable B-cells. This approach was unique because it employed an additional MAbSilico AI-based method early in the workflow to generate a similarity matrix between the 398 AB epitope sequences.

Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) showed that 249 of these 398 Abs bound the SARS-CoV-2 S1 protein, and 188 ABs could decimate vesicular stomatitis virus(VSV)-based pseudotyped viruses with Wuhan SARS-CoV-2 S.

Based on the evidence from these analyses, two antibodies, UZGENT_A3 and UZGENT_A5, underwent further antibody epitope characterization and in vitro evaluations to establish potency against Wuhan SARS-CoV-2.

The team also evaluated the therapeutic potential of UZGENT_A3 and UZGENT_G5 in a hamster model.

The team used MAbTope, a docking-based method, for in-depth epitope mapping, where AI-optimized scoring functions ranked docking poses.

The number of residues in the interface in the top-ranked docking poses helped identify paratope-epitope interaction regions.

They used BLI to establish their epitope binding against the REGN-COV2 cocktail comprising REGN10933 (casirivimab) and REGN10987 (imdevimab) and cryo-EM to study the paratope-epitope interactions of UZGENT_A3 and UZ_GENT_G5 with the SARS-CoV-2 S protein.

Results

The affinities of UZGENT_A3 and UZGENT_G5 for the Wuhan SARS-CoV-2 RBD exceeded that of the commercially available REGN-COV2 cocktail, with an apparent affinity of UZGENT_G5 being over 40-fold higher. UZGENT_A3 and UZGENT_G5 competed with REGN10933 and each other.

UZGENT-COV2, a cocktail of UZGENT_A3 and UZGENT_G5, markedly reduced viral load compared to a placebo group.

It also exhibited high therapeutic efficacy in vivo but had slightly lower efficacy than the REGN-COV2 cocktail.

However, UZGENT-COV2 lost effectivity against several variants of concern (VOCs) of SARS-CoV-2, including Beta and Omicron variants, especially B.1.351 and B.1.1.529 with mutations in E484K and E484 residues but not the Delta variant.

Despite not being identified as significant in in silico epitope predictions, residue 484/485 was crucial for binding UZGENT_A3 and UZGENT_G5 antibodies, indicating partially overlapping epitopes.

While mutation K417N had little impact on neutralization, the K417N and E484K mutants showed decreased neutralization, and the L452R mutation had no effect.

The actual epitope footprint of UZGENT_A3 and UZGENT_G5 is likely to include more residues than identified by the assay used in this study; however, it only detected strong contributors to the interaction and no residues outside the RBD or in quaternary structures.

The levels of UZGENT-COV2 antibodies were lower in hamsters compared to the isotype control and REGN-COV-2, suggesting that modifying their fragment crystallizable (Fc) region could improve virus neutralization or extend their half-life.

In cryo-EM analyses, UZGENT_A3 and UZGENT_G5 antibodies showed the same binding pose and epitope, with glycosylated asparagine at position 59 contributing to the epitope/paratope interaction surface, suggesting glycosylation may not be a contributing factor in antibody binding affinity.

Conclusions

The study highlighted that AI-based tools for de novo predictions of paratope-epitope interactions for SARS-CoV-2-nABs lacked accuracy; thus, while they identified a potent antibody cocktail comprising UZGENTG5 and UZGENTA3 antibodies, predicted epitope regions were incorrect.

Thus, there is a need for experimental validation to improve the accuracy of these AI-based methods. Experimental validation also remains crucial for successful nAB lead selection.
Researchers from Miami Cancer Institute, part of Baptist Health South Florida, today published a study in Trends in Cancer that analyzes the use of tissue-agnostic therapeutics in patients with primary brain tumors (PBTs). The publication describes the current and potential impact of tissue-agnostic therapies on the management of PBTs. As part of the publication, the researchers discuss data from clinical trials of tissue-agnostic targets for PBTs in the context of challenges in managing these tumors. They also describe additional tissue-agnostic targets that hold promise for benefiting patients with PBTs.

Novel tissue-agnostic therapeutics targeting driver mutations in tumor cells have been recently approved by the FDA and other regulatory bodies across the world, driven by trials that have demonstrated their efficacy and safety across diverse tumor histology. However, the relative rarity of primary brain tumors has limited their representation in early trials of tissue-agnostic medications." Manmeet S. Ahluwalia, M.D., MBA, FASCO, chief of medical oncology, chief scientific officer, deputy director, and Fernandez Family Foundation Endowed Chair in Cancer Research at Miami Cancer Institute, and first author of the study

Basket trials  which test a targeted therapy on the molecular profiles of a broad spectrum of cancers  have recently led to the next frontier of precision medicine, that is tissue-agnostic approvals. These enable the use of targeted therapies based on molecular alterations that are present regardless of the tissue of origin of the tumor. There is a substantial genetic, epigenetic, and immunological heterogeneity of PBTs, which adds to the complexity of the tissue-agnostic therapies. Innate differences between various types of PBTs must be considered carefully because even within the same tumor, multiple subtypes within the same spectrum can exist, adding to the histological heterogeneity. However, the concept of tissue-agnostic therapies evolved in the first place from arguments that common molecular profiles can limit the impact of those inter and intra-tumor heterogeneities from a therapeutic perspective by targeting common molecular alterations.

By gaining a better understanding of tumor biology, several therapeutics with broad efficacy across diverse cancer types have been developed and approved in the last decade. Increasing utilization of next-generation sequencing and biomarker-driven basket trials has helped identify several actionable genetic alterations and their clinical utility. Consequently, this has led to approvals for tissue-agnostic malignancies by the FDA and others, many of which have already demonstrated utility in PBTs.

"However, the limited number of patients with different PBTs in published studies hampers their widespread uptake," added Ahluwalia. "Therefore, it is becoming increasingly crucial for individuals with primary brain tumors to undergo molecular profiling, enabling the maximization of therapeutic options based on individualized characteristics and for real-world analytics to capture this data. These tissue-agnostic approvals, as the new frontier of precision oncology, hold promise for improved treatment outcomes of gliomas."
ARIES

Ganesha says though the morning brings a few bumps, the day unfolds like a blooming rose. Long-held tasks find their completion, and nagging worries dissolve into newfound solutions. However, keep business matters under wraps with loved ones  their well-meaning advice might inadvertently create obstacles. A fleeting concern about your childrens future fades as their success blooms.

Lucky Number: 14

Lucky Colour: Red

TAURUS

Sweetness drips from your tongue today, Taurus, melting hearts and mending fences within the family. The discord fades, replaced by harmonious unity and delightful moments with your loved ones. Business partnerships shine, promising good news and financial fortification. Consider venturing into a joint project with your spouse  success awaits!

Lucky Number: 6

Lucky Colour: Cream

GEMINI

Buckle up, Gemini! Todays a whirlwind of activity. Unfinished business, both professional and domestic, beckons. With your childrens help, you can conquer those lingering tasks. But first, banish laziness  focus and determination are key. A surprise gift from your maternal side sweetens the day. However, a trip triggered by unpleasant news from a relative looms. Take your brother or father along for emotional support.

Lucky Number: 13

Lucky Colour: Purple

CANCER

Fruitfulness blossoms for you, Cancer! Students, focus and dedication are your magic potions for academic success. Neglect them, and failure might lurk. Youll indulge in some extravagant spending, which will ignite envy in your enemies. Ignore their whispers, dear Crab! Lovebirds, a romantic escapade beckons, but seek family blessings first. Recovering borrowed funds from a relative is a pleasant possibility today.

Lucky Number: 5

Lucky Colour: Violet

LEO

For knowledge, brave Leo, you may have to leave your comfort zone. But fret not, your teachers and seniors will be your guiding stars, smoothing your path to educational triumph. Business ventures abroad might bring exciting proposals, igniting your joy. Hold on to property investments for now  a wrong move could lead to losses. Good news awaits you in the office, Leo, but keep a watchful eye on your mothers health.

Lucky Number: 9

Lucky Colour: Black

VIRGO

Family discord might leave you feeling unsettled, Virgo. Silence and introspection are your allies. Decisions made hastily, influenced by family members, will bring regret. Be wise, be discreet, and trust your own judgment. A long-standing property issue finally finds resolution. Later, you and your spouse might splurge on some home decor, perhaps even embarking on a shopping spree together.

Lucky Number: 1

Lucky Colour: Green

LIBRA

The day unfolds with promising results, dear Libra! Your social endeavors will bear fruit, and youll be busy tackling important tasks at work. However, your cheerful nature can attract both friends and envious rivals in the professional realm. Remain discerning and navigate these interactions with wisdom. Clearing old debts brings a sense of relief, and witnessing your childs progress fills you with pride.

Lucky Number: 5

Lucky Colour: Orange

SCORPIO

Brace yourself for a bustling day, Scorpio! Working professionals might be assigned tasks requiring collaboration. Your dedication and teamwork will see those tasks completed by nightfall. Your attention turns towards societal evils, and you seek solutions with the help of dedicated social workers. Consider holding off on borrowing today, as repayment could prove challenging. Keep an eye on your budget when gifting your child.

Lucky Number: 16

Lucky Colour: White

SAGITTARIUS

Rising expenses may cause concern, Sagittarius. Practice fiscal control to avoid budget imbalances and future financial woes. Good news from siblings brightens your day, and those seeking employment might finally land a promising opportunity. Government employees, avoid unnecessary debates with superiors as it could hinder career advancement.

Lucky Number: 3

Lucky Colour: Yellow

CAPRICORN

Moderation is key today, Capricorn. Steer clear of projects that might bring regret later. A long-standing sibling dispute finds resolution, bringing you joy. Politicians might encounter opportunities to elevate their careers. Take precautions on evening travel, as the risk of losing something precious is present. Students will be rewarded for their academic efforts.

Lucky Number: 18

Lucky Colour: Blue

AQUARIUS

Working professionals, rejoice! A better offer may land in your lap today, sparking joy and excitement. Consider pursuing part-time work if youre interested, as you might find the time to manage both. Small businesses will benefit from their fathers wise counsel, so seek his advice before making crucial decisions. Enjoy an evening visit with a friend, and cherish some private time with your spouse later.

Lucky Number: 12

Lucky Colour: Pink

PISCES

Luck smiles upon you today, Pisces! Investments, whether recent or past, bear fruit, strengthening your financial position and allowing you to chase your ambitions. However, at social gatherings, watch your words. A thoughtless remark could upset a friend. Devote your evening to study and enjoy a pleasant encounter with an old friend.
Rolls Royce has launched its first-ever all-electric vehicle, the Spectre, in India.

Priced at Rs 7.5 crore ex-showroom (before options), the Spectre claims the title of the most expensive four-wheeled electric vehicle for private buyers in the country.

Alongside the pricing announcement, Rolls-Royce has disclosed the battery details and official range for its debut electric vehicle, and bookings are now open.

Rolls Royce Spectre: Battery & Charing Options

Powering the Spectre is a 102kWh battery pack, offering a WLTP cycle range of 530km. Comparatively, the EQS and EQS AMG, equipped with a 107.4kWh battery, provide ranges of 857km and 580km, respectively, on a single charge. The Spectres battery can be charged from 10-80 percent using a 195kW charger in just 34 minutes, while a 50kW DC charger takes 95 minutes.

Rolls Royce Spectre: Engine Specification

Under the hood, the Spectre is equipped with two electric motors, generating a combined 585 bhp and 900 Nm. With these specs, the 2,890kg Spectre can accelerate from 0 to 100kph in just 4.5 seconds.

Built on Rolls-Royces all-aluminium spaceframe architecture called the Architecture of Luxury, the Spectre is designed for electrification from its roots in 2003. Furthermore, the vehicle, features a 30 percent increase in stiffness compared to previous models, along with active suspension and four-wheel steering.

Rolls Royce Spectre: Design

In terms of design, the Spectre maintains the iconic Rolls-Royce silhouette, featuring a long bonnet, a clean profile, and a fastback tail. Inspired by modern yacht concepts, the vehicles design includes the widest-ever grille on a Rolls-Royce, designed for aerodynamic efficiency. With a drag coefficient of 0.25, the Spectre is touted as the most aerodynamic Rolls-Royce to date.

Rolls Royce Spectre: Features

The cabin of the Spectre retains the opulence of existing Rolls-Royce models. A notable addition is the starlight liner, now incorporated in the door pads, and customers can opt for wood paneling for the doors. The dashboard panel on the passenger side features over 5,500 star-like illuminations.

One notable feature is Rolls-Royces new software platform, Spirit, serving as the digital interface with connected car technology. Departing from the BMW-derived infotainment software used previously, Spirit offers a range of customization options, allowing users to even change the color of the dials to match the interior.
Budget 2024 Expectations Income Tax: Budget 2024, which will be presented as an interim budget in February 2024, is eagerly awaited by salaried individuals, especially regarding potential changes in tax rebates. Among key demands, streamlining income tax rules and reducing complexities, especially in the new tax regime, is a constant plea.

Many hope for an increase in the rebate limit under the new tax regime from the current Rs. 7 lakh to Rs. 7.5 lakh or even Rs. 8 lakh. This would make taxable income up to that limit tax-free for individuals opting for the new regime.

Also Read: Budget 2024 Expectations: Standard Deduction Should Be A Percentage Of Total Salary

Heres a summary of some key expectations and predictions:

Tax Burden Reduction

Uday Chawla, managing partner, Transearch India, said that in 2024, significant salary increases are being planned for employees by Indian companies, despite the global economic slowdown. An approximately 9.8% salary bump is expected for employees, building on the noteworthy 10% increase observed in 2023.

However, Chawla added that the optimistic outlook for salaried leaders is met with a challenge due to the high-income tax policies in India.

Personal income tax, ranging from 5% to 37%, and additional charges contribute to a notable tax burden, Chawla said.

Tax Structure Revamp

Chawla highlighted that in contrast, countries like Hong Kong (15%), Sri Lanka (18%), and Singapore (22%) feature more favourable tax systems, rendering them attractive for top-tier talent.

As we now transition to remote working and the globalisation of businesses, there is a tangible threat that senior talent may be attracted to relocate to countries that offer the most efficient tax structures and a superior work-life quality and balance.

Chawla added that as India strives to position itself as a global powerhouse, there is a recognised necessity for policies aimed at mitigating the tax burden on salaried employees, particularly senior leaders.

The pressing requirement of the hour lies in the meticulous crafting of policies that transcend mere attraction, emphasising the importance of nurturing and retaining top-tier talent. This strategic approach stands as an indispensable element in fortifying the nations competitive edge on the global stage.

According to ICRA Analytics, among other expectations, the following are urged;

Raising the minimum pension amount under APY: The government may consider raising the pension floor for the unorganised sector workers under its flagship scheme, the Atal Pension Yojana (APY) as the current amount may not attract enough potential subscribers to enrol.

The government may consider raising the pension floor for the unorganised sector workers under its flagship scheme, the Atal Pension Yojana (APY) as the current amount may not attract enough potential subscribers to enrol. Tax free status to annuity income from NPS: Senior citizens rely heavily on annuity income during retirement years. Considering the rise in medical expenses and the financial well-being of senior citizens, the government may accord tax-free status to annuity income from NPS. Also, an investment of Rs.50,000 a year is unlikely to yield much pension and the limit may be enhanced to Rs. 1 lakh.

Senior citizens rely heavily on annuity income during retirement years. Considering the rise in medical expenses and the financial well-being of senior citizens, the government may accord tax-free status to annuity income from NPS. Also, an investment of Rs.50,000 a year is unlikely to yield much pension and the limit may be enhanced to Rs. 1 lakh. Separate tax deduction for life insurance premiums: A separate tax deduction for life insurance premiums instead of clubbing it under Section 80C will improve the penetration of insurance products in the country and encourage people to secure their familys financial future by investing in life insurance. Also, the government may reconsider the 18% Goods and Services Tax charged on health insurance policies.

Readers must note that these are just expectations and predictions based on reports and expert opinions. The actual announcements will be made during the budget presentation on February 01, 2024.
Hyundai Motor India, the countrys second-largest carmaker, on Friday said it has completed the acquisition of General Motors Indias manufacturing plant at Talegaon in Maharashtra. It also said it will invest Rs 6,000 crore in Maharashtra as part of an agreement inked between Hyundai Motor India and the state government in Davos.

The acquisition of the Talegaon facility has been completed after the fulfilment of certain conditions and the receipt of regulatory approvals from relevant government authorities and relevant stakeholders, Hyundai Motor India said in a statement.

India is a very important market for Hyundai Motor Company, and we are committed to provide benchmark creating products and technologies to Indian customers, Hyundai Motor India Ltd (HMIL) MD & CEO Un Soo Kim said.

As the company looks forward to the next decade of progress, it is critical to augment manufacturing capacity in India, he added.

The Talegaon manufacturing plant will play the role of a catalyst in achieving HMILs 1 million annual production capacity milestone, Kim said.

The acquisition of the Talegaon plant reinforces the automakers commitment to Atmanirbhar Bharat, by making India a hub for advanced smart mobility solutions, he stated.

Our manufacturing operations are scheduled to begin in Talegaon, Maharashtra, in the year 2025, Kim noted.

The Talegaon plant has an existing annual production capacity of 1.3 lakh units. Hyundai Motor India plans to expand its annual production capacity to achieve its strategic goal in the market.

The company said it intends to make phased investments for the purpose of upgrading the existing infrastructure and manufacturing equipment at the plant. After more than two decades of operations in India, General Motors stopped selling cars in the country in 2017-end, as part of its global restructuring actions.

General Motors had earlier inked a pact to sell the Talegaon plant to Chinese carmaker Great Wall Motors. However, the agreement fell through last year as the Chinese carmaker called off plans to enter the Indian market.

(With PTI Inputs)
BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 19. The upcoming presidential election will ensure further development of Azerbaijan, Milli Majlis (Parliament) MP Mahir Abbaszadeh told Trend.

Abbaszadeh highlighted that under the leadership of President Ilham Aliyev within 20 years, Azerbaijan has successfully implemented political reforms, fostered economic development, and achieved the growth of a non-oil economy.

"For 20 years of his presidency, Ilham Aliyev has fulfilled all the commitments he undertook to the Azerbaijani people," the MP said.

"Along with this, military advancements thrived with the establishment of a solid material-technical base and the acquisition of modern weaponry. Notable strides have been made in Azerbaijan concerning the development of the rule of law. President Ilham Aliyev has delivered on his commitments to IDPs, eliminating tent cities entirely and providing approximately 46,000 families (350,000 people) with new houses. Over the course of these 20 years, all socio-economic activities of IDPs have progressed, thanks to the unwavering attention and care of President Ilham Aliyev," Abbaszadeh added.

He noted that President Ilham Aliyev consistently emphasized that Azerbaijan would reclaim the territories occupied by Armenia at any cost. The President underscored the commitment to restoring the territorial integrity of the country and rebuilding the violated borders.

"Following the Second Karabakh War in 2020, under the leadership of President Ilham Aliyev, Azerbaijan successfully reclaimed occupied lands," he emphasized.

"The establishment of the Lachin border crossing in April 2023 played a key role in securing our territorial integrity and borders, which had been violated for 30 years. Azerbaijan's sovereignty was reinstated in September 2023 through brief localized anti-terrorist measures in Karabakh lasting only 23 hours. This concluded Armenian separatism within our country. To propel Azerbaijan's ongoing development, our people will cast their votes for President Ilham Aliyev," the MP added.

On December 7, 2023, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev signed a decree on holding an extraordinary presidential election in the country on February 7, 2024.

The Central Election Commission of Azerbaijan (CEC) on Dec. 19 approved the candidacy of Ilham Aliyev, nominated by the ruling New Azerbaijan Party (YAP), for participation in the extraordinary presidential election.

A total of 17 candidates have been registered to run in the extraordinary presidential election. Azerbaijan has seven registered presidential candidates.
Major private sector lenders HDFC Bank and Axis Bank will remain closed on January 22, on the occasion of the Ram Temple consecration ceremony in Ayodhya.

The bank (HDFC Bank) will be shut down for the full day on January 22, 2024 in Uttar Pradesh and Uttrakhand, said a senior executives of HDFC Bank, according to a Moneycontrol report.

Axis Bank will be closed for the full day in Uttar Pradesh on Jan 22, said a spokesperson of Axis Bank, according to the Moneycontrol report.

The finance ministry on Thursday issued an order, in which it stated that public sector banks, insurance companies, financial institutions, and regional rural banks will remain closed for a half-day on January 22. The decision has been taken concerning the Ram temple consecration ceremony in Ayodhya.

Earlier, the Department of Personnel and Training issued an order in which it stated that all central government offices, central institutions, and central industrial establishments nationwide will observe a half-day closure on the day of the Ram temple inauguration ceremony.

The Reserve Bank of India has announced the trading hours for the day for the various markets regulated by it. All markets regulated by it, including the money market, repo market, G-sec market and forex market, will operate between 2:30 pm and 5:00 pm on Monday.
Stocks To Watch Today: For the third consecutive day on Thursday, benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty experienced a decline, primarily influenced by sustained selling in HDFC Bank and profit-taking in consumer durables and utility shares.

The 30-share BSE Sensex dropped by 313.90 points or 0.44 percent, settling at 71,186.86. It witnessed a significant decline of 835.26 points or 1.16 percent throughout the day, reaching 70,665.50.

The Nifty recorded a decline of 109.70 points or 0.51 percent, closing at 21,462.25. On the day, it saw a substantial plunge of 286.4 points or 1.32 percent, reaching 21,285.55.

On January 19, the indices are expected to open flat, as per trends in the GIFT Nifty, indicating a subdued start for the broader index with a gain of 7 points.

Heres a slew of stocks that will be in focus on January 19 for various reasons;

Reliance Industries: The quarterly results for Q3FY24 of Reliance Industries Ltd, owned by Mukesh Ambani, will be disclosed on Friday, January 19.

Paytm: One 97 Communications, the parent company of the fintech firm Paytm, is anticipated to reveal robust revenue growth, coupled with a reduction in net losses during the third quarter of FY24.

Tata Consultancy Services: The ex-dividend date for the IT companys shares is set to commence on January 19. On January 11, the company declared an interim dividend of Rs 9 per share, along with a special dividend of Rs 18 per share for the ongoing financial year.

Wipro: The IT services firm has entered into a conclusive agreement to acquire a 14 percent equity stake in Huoban Energy 11 for Rs 3.17 crore. This arrangement will enable Wipro to increase the percentage of renewable energy utilisation for its offices in Maharashtra.

State Bank of India: On Thursday, State Bank of India raised Rs 5,000 crore by issuing 10-year AT-1 bonds.

REC: The Government of Indias Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has appointed REC as the primary agency for implementing the rooftop solar (RTS) program. The MNRE is tasked with the execution of the program or scheme it formulates, as well as coordinating with stakeholders nationwide.

HCLTech: The shares of the IT major will become ex-dividend on January 19. On January 12, the company announced an interim dividend of Rs 12 per share for the fiscal year 2024, and the record date for the payment of this interim dividend is scheduled for January 20.

NHPC: The company has chosen to exercise the oversubscription option by an additional 10,04,50,348 equity shares (equivalent to a 1 percent stake), in conjunction with the base offer size of 25,11,25,870 equity shares (representing 2.50 percent of the paid-up equity) on January 19. Consequently, the total offer size will now amount to 35,15,76,218 equity shares, constituting 3.50 percent of the company.

Power Finance Corp: The corporation established two special-purpose vehicles for the development of transmission projects in Gujarat and Rajasthan.

Indian Bank: The public sector bank has obtained approval from the Reserve Bank of India to establish a new wholly-owned subsidiary focused on operations support.

Bandhan Bank: RBI has approved the appointment of Rajinder Kumar Babbar as Whole-Time Director (to be officially titled as Executive Director) of Bandhan Bank for a tenure of three years.

Poonawalla Fincorp: The non-banking finance firm has recorded a 76.3 percent year-on-year increase in net profit, reaching Rs 265.1 crore for the OctoberDecember period of the fiscal year 2024.

Lupin: The pharmaceutical company has obtained clearance from the United States Food and Drug Administration (US FDA) for its abbreviated new drug application, allowing the launch of Febuxostat tablets in the US.

IndusInd Bank: The private sector bank has reported earnings for the quarter ending December FY24, surpassing expectations slightly. Standalone net profit increased by 17.3 percent year-on-year to Rs 2,297.9 crore, and net interest income rose by 17.8 percent to Rs 5,295.6 crore.

Hindustan Unilever: The FMCG giant has finalised transaction documents for acquiring a 27.73 percent stake in the special purpose vehicle (SPV) Transition Sustainable Energy Services One.
The maritime defence forces of India, the Indian Coast Guard and the Indian Navy, play crucial roles in safeguarding the countrys maritime interests. Despite sharing a common goal of ensuring maritime security, these two organisations have distinct responsibilities, recruitment processes and eligibility criteria.

Indian Coast Guard: A Maritime Law Enforcement Powerhouse

The Indian Coast Guard is primarily a maritime law enforcement and search-and-rescue agency. Its responsibilities include enforcing maritime laws, protecting the marine environment, conducting search and rescue operations, and ensuring coastal security. Apart from assisting and safeguarding fishermen and sailors, the Coast Guard actively prevents smuggling activities. The Coast Guard Act of 1978 serves as the primary law regulating its operations.

For aspirants looking to join the Indian Coast Guard, various positions are available, including Indian Coast Guard Sailor, Yantrik, and Assistant Commandant. The minimum eligibility criteria generally require a class 10th qualification, while officer positions demand a graduate degree in the relevant stream.

The age limit for Coast Guard candidates is typically between 18 to 22 years, with specific relaxations for SC/ST and OBC categories.

In terms of salary, candidates selected for different positions in the Indian Coast Guard receive varying pay scales. For instance, an Assistant Commandant can expect a salary ranging from Rs 15,600 to Rs 39,100, while higher-ranking officers like the Director General receive a salary within the range of Rs 37,400 to Rs 67,000.

Indian Navy: Guardians of Territorial Waters

The Indian Navy, as the maritime branch of the Indian armed forces, focuses on defending territorial waters during war and related operations. Responsible for maintaining security at sea and preventing major threats, the Indian Navy operates under the Navy Act of 1957.

The Navy offers different recruitment exams, including the Indian Navy SSC Officer Recruitment, SSR Recruitment, Tradesman, and MR Exam. Educational qualifications for joining the Navy usually require 10+2 with Physics and Maths, and officer cadre positions necessitate a graduate degree in the relevant stream.

The age limit for Indian Navy recruitment typically ranges from 16 to 20 years.

Regarding salary, selected candidates in the Indian Navy enjoy competitive pay scales. For example, a Sub Lieutenant earns between Rs 56,100 and Rs 1,77,500, while higher-ranking officers like Vice Admiral can receive a salary between Rs 1,82,200 and Rs 2,25,000.

While both the Indian Coast Guard and the Indian Navy contribute significantly to maritime security, each has its unique focus, eligibility criteria, and recruitment processes, making them distinct pillars of Indias maritime defence strategy.
Sonarika Bhadoria, best known for her performance as Goddess Parvati in Devon Ke Dev -Mahadev is all set to tie the knot with his fiance, Vikas Parashar. Vikas, who is a businessman by profession, and Sonarika got engaged in 2022. They have decided to hold their wedding ceremony on February 18. Reportedly, the grand event will take place at Sawai Madhopur Ranthambore.

In conversation with Etimes, Sonarika shared that she and Vikas had been dating for about eight years. She mentioned, When he proposed to me in May 2022 in the Maldives, it was just the two of us. Our families were extremely happy for us, but they also wanted to be a part of the celebration. Vikas prefers everything grand, while I like things simple. As we both love the beach, we had a roka ceremony in Goa. Initially sold at a beach wedding, however, our numerous beach visits led us to opt for Sawai Madhopur, keeping Vikass immediate and huge extended family in mind.

Sonarika shared that the wedding festivities would start about 15 days before the big day with Mata Chowki in Mumbai, and they would have a total of five functions. She shared, We will conduct the Maira ritual on February 16, followed by mehndi in the evening. The haldi ceremony will be performed the next day, and in the evening, we will host a cocktail party-cum-sangeet.

Moreover, she stated that the reception would take place in Faridabad, which is Vikas hometown. Vikas and his family are known to almost half the town, and since its not feasible to accommodate so many people at the wedding, we have planned a reception in Faridabad, mentioned Sonarika.

Earlier, the actress shared the news about her engagement through social media. She shared photos of her fiance Vikas Parashar, proposing to her on a stunning beach. The actor announced this on Vikas birthday with a long note for him. The photos showed the two of them dressed in white on a beach, with Vikas down on one knee to propose to Sonarika in the lovely setting.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Sonarika Bhadoria (@bsonarika)

Sonarika Bhadoria debuted on the television show Tum Dena Saath Mera in 2011. She rose to prominence as Goddess Parvati in Devon Ke Dev Mahadev, which starred Mohit Raina as Lord Shiva. In 2015, the actor made her Telugu cinema debut with Jadoogadu. She returned to Hindi television in 2018, most recently appearing in Ishq Mein Marjawan.
Carved in black stone and holding a golden bow and arrow, the first image of the Ram Lalla idol  released by the Vishva Hindu Parishad  became public on Friday. The 51-inch idol of Ram as a five-year-old child has been placed inside the sanctum sanctorum of the Ram Janmabhoomi temple in Ayodhya, three days before the pran pratishtha on January 22.

Sharad Sharma, an office-bearer of the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) told PTI that the statue, which is in a standing posture, had its eyes covered with a yellow cloth and was adorned with a garland of roses. The idol has been sculpted by Mysuru-based artist Arun Yogiraj, and was brought to the temple late on January 17 amid the chanting of prayers, as per the Shri Ram Janmbhoomi Teerth Kshetra trust.

According to a CNN-News18 report, the original idols of Ram (Ram Lalla Virajman) and his brothers will be installed in front of the new idol inside the garbagriha. These have been worshipped since 1949, and are at present kept in the makeshift temple inside the premises; the idols will be moved to the new temple inside the garbagriha before the ceremony. The entire temple complex will be closed to public on January 20 and 21.

The pradhan sankalp was performed by Anil Mishra, who is a member of the trust. The idea behind the pradhan sankalp is that the pratishtha of Lord Ram is being done for the welfare of all, for the welfare of the nation, for the welfare of humanity and also for those who contributed to this work (related to the temple). Apart from this, other rituals were also performed. Vastra were also given to Brahmins and work has been assigned to everyone, he said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend the January 22 ceremony at the Ram temple, which is expected to be open to the public the next day. Temple trust general secretary Champat Rai said on January 15 that the event will begin at 12.20 pm and is expected to be completed by 1 pm on January 22.

Rituals leading to the pran pratishtha have already begun at the temple. Ramlalla has been installed in the temple. All arrangements, including that of infrastructure, medical facilities and medicines have been made, deputy chief minister Brajesh Pathak told PTI, adding that the entire country is awaiting the ceremony.

Anticipating a massive influx of devotees, the health department has intensified its preparations. Dr Sanjay Jain, chief medical officer (CMO) of Ayodhya, said they are collaborating with the temple trust to establish first aid units at 16 key locations within the event area.

He said the first aid units will have a doctor, pharmacist and a ward boy. They are strategically planned for crowded locations such as the Saket petrol pump, Kanak Bhawan and Hanumangarhi. Each unit will be equipped with necessary medical supplies, including medicines, a nebuliser, oxygen facilities and the capability to conduct blood sugar tests.

Additionally, the health department is establishing two hospitals with capacities of 10 and 20 beds respectively, where doctors will be available to attend to patients. Besides, arrangements for 40 ambulances are also being made, which will be stationed at important locations in Ayodhya.

The health department has reserved 190 beds for emergency in the districts medical college, Shri Ram Chikitsalaya Ayodhya, district hospital in Ayodhya, Mahila district hospital and Kumarganj hospital. During the ceremony, if anyone faces a medical emergency, they will be initially taken to the two hospitals set up in the event area for treatment. If their condition does not improve, they will be referred to the Shri Ram Hospital.

(With PTI inputs)
At least two people were killed and 13 others injured after an under-construction school building collapsed in Anekal near Bengaluru on Friday. Around 15 labourers were working at the site when the incident happened in Anekals Badarahalli. All injured were immediately rushed to the hospital.

According to an India Today report, Mallikarjun Balbandi, Bengaluru Rural Superintendent of Police (SP), said that the building collapsed during the construction of a portico on the second floor at St. Agnes School.

The official further stated that said that the debris at the incident site has been cleared out and no one is trapped under it.

Balbani also noted that two of the 13 injured labourers sustained grievous injuries. Anekal Police and the fire department are currently on-site, and injured individuals are being shifted to Anekal government hospital, he was quoted by India Today as saying.

The labourers were reportedly from Karnataka, West Bengal, and Jharkhand.

Last month, one person was killed after an under-construction building collapsed in Bengalurus Suddaguntepalya.

The incident occurred during excavation work. One worker has been killed in the accident, Bengaluru DCP South East, CK Baba had said.

In November 2023, a Nursery school run by the Bruhat Bengaluru Nagara Palike (BBMP) had collapsed, damaging several vehicles. No casualties were reported in the incident.
Tales of horror have emerged from an orphanage at Indore in Madhya Pradesh after the inmates, all minor girls aged between four and 14, alleged that they were abused in horrifying ways in the name of punishment. From being branded with hot tongs to being hung upside down and forced to inhale smoke from burning red chillies, the children narrated their ordeal to the Child Welfare Committee during an inspection.

The local administration has sealed the facility while an FIR has been registered against five women for allegedly ill-treating children in the name of punishment.

Jain Welfare Society, the NGO running the facility, said it is a hostel and not an orphanage, and filed a habeas corpus petition in the Madhya Pradesh High Court challenging the action. It denied all allegations mentioned in the FIR. Called Vatsalyapuram, the facility is located in the Vijayanagar area. On January 12, it was sealed for alleged illegal operation while the inmates were moved to the state-run child protection home and another institution.

What does the FIR say?

According to the police, the children told the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) that they were tortured in the name of punishment. In the FIR lodged on the night of January 17, it was mentioned that a four-year-old girl was beaten up for wearing dirty clothes, locked in the bathroom for several hours and not given food for two days.

It was also alleged in the FIR that children were hung upside down and forced to inhale smoke from red chillies kept on a hot pan below. Two children were branded with hot tongs at the hands of a minor girl and one girl was taken to a furnace after being stripped in front of other kids and threatened that she will be burnt.

What does the NGO say?

Vibhor Khandelwal, a counsel for the private NGO, told PTI: Vatsalayapuram is not an orphanage but a standalone hostel where children from economically weaker families are taken care of for an annual fee of just Rs 5.

Khandelwal said the administration had unauthorisedly sealed Vatsalyapuram and norms and due process of the law were not followed while moving the inmates to another institutions. He said the habeas corpus petition has sought that the children be handed over to the hostel administration or their parents.

A habeas corpus writ is used to seek release of a person from unlawful detention or imprisonment.

Khandelwal also rejected the allegations mentioned in the FIR. Five women associated with the orphanage have been named in the FIR registered under relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code and the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, Vijay Nagar police station sub-inspector Kirti Tomar said.

Tomar further said investigation into these allegations is still at an early stage. The children who were rescued from the orphanage are natives of Rajasthan and Gujarat, said CWC chairperson Pallavi Porwal.

She added: We have written to the Child Welfare Committees of these states asking them to ascertain the socio-economic background of these children and submit a report to us so that they can be rehabilitated.
The Delhi Airport will witness a partial shutdown from January 19 to January 26 as no flights will be allowed to operate between 10:20 am and 12:45 pm every day, a government notice issued on Friday said.

According to the NOTAM (Notice to Airmen), no flight will be allowed to take off or land at and from Delhis Indira Gandhi International Airport, one of the busiest airports in the world, between 10:20 am and 12:45 pm till Republic Day, or January 26.

Airspace curbs in the national capital will be in place from Friday (January 19) till Monday (January 29) in connection with the Republic Day preparations and celebrations.

Landing or take-off of non-scheduled flights of scheduled airlines, and chartered flights will not be permitted from 10 am to 1.15 pm during the January 19-25 period. These restrictions will be in force from 6 am to 9 pm during the period from January 26 to 29, as per the NOTAM issued earlier this week.

Besides, there will be no impact of NOTAM on IAF, BSF, or Army aviation helicopter operations as well as state-owned aircraft/helicopters that are flying with the Governor/Chief Minister of a state.

The notice was issued by the Centre on Friday morning and is part of the national capitals extensive security plan before and for the Republic Day celebrations.

Republic Day Celebrations

India will celebrate its 75th Republic Day on January 26 with France President Emmanuel Macron as the chief guest; this will be the 6th time a French leader will be the guest of honour at an R-Day parade.

In a first, about 1,500 farmers and their spouses have been invited as special guests for this years Republic Day parade in the national capital. This is for the first time, farmers have been invited as special guests for the Republic Day parade.

Security has been beefed up in Delhi ahead of Republic Day celebrations and the consecration ceremony at the Ram temple in Ayodhya, a senior police official said on Wednesday.

The Delhi Police has been put on alert and is using flare guns or very light pistols (VLP) to light up the forest area of northeast Delhi, the official said. The security measures have been beefed up ahead of (events on) January 22 and 26.

More than 8,000 police personnel have already been deployed across Delhi for the January 26 parade.

night patrolling staffers, who have been directed to check hotels, guest houses and Dharamshala, are checking security measures in place at these facilities, particularly near the railway stations and inter-state bus terminals, and their records to know who is visiting the national capital and for what purpose.
The new idol of Ram Lalla, made of black stone and depicts the deity as a five-year-old child, was installed on a pedestal inside the sanctum sanctorum of Ram Temple in Ayodhya amidst the chanting of prayers on Thursday afternoon. The first photo of the 51-inch idol, sculpted by Mysuru-based artist Arun Yogiraj, had its face covered with a veil and showed the deity in a standing posture.

According to a CNN-News18 report, the original idols of Lord Ram (Ram Lalla Virajman) and his brothers will be installed in front of the new idol inside the Sanctum Sanctorum or the garbgriha.

The original idols, which have been worshipped since 1949, are currently kept in the make-shift temple inside the premises and will be shifted to the new temple inside the garbgriha ahead of the January 22 Pran Pratishthan ceremony.

The entire temple complex will be closed to the general public on January 20, 21.

New Idol of Ram Lalla

The new idol has been uncovered inside the garbgriha except the srimukh (face of the deity). It will be unveiled on January 22 in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The new idol is now eight feet in height after being placed on a pedestal.

The original idol of Ram Lalla is just six inches in height while the idols of his brothers, Lakshman, Bharat and Shatrughana, and Lord Hanuman, are even smaller.

Hence, the Ram Temple trust decided to make a bigger standing idol of Ram Lalla so that devotees could get a grand darshan of the deity. The devotees will now be able to have a joint Darshan of the new idol as well as the original idols of Ram Lalla and his brothers.

The Mysuru-based artist Arun Yogiraj, who has sculpted the new idol of Ram Lalla, has also made the statues of Adi Shankaracharya installed in Kedarnath and Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose at India Gate.

Trust officials told CNN-News18 that the new Ram Lalla idol has a beautiful forehead and big eyes, and it is perhaps the most divine depiction of Lord Ram Lalla.

The grand consecration ceremony or the Pran Pratishtha of Ram Lalla is scheduled for January 22. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will preside over the ceremony to which, over 11,000 guests have been invited including prominent celebrities, politicians and sportspersons.

All the trustees of the temple trust, seers of about 150 sects and more than 500 people associated with the construction of the temple, who have been named the Engineer Group will also attend the ceremony.
India on Friday announced the establishment of the Alliance for Global Good  Gender Equity and Equality on the sidelines of the ongoing World Economic Forum 2024 at Davos arising from the countrys abiding commitment to the cause of women-led development as propounded by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

As a follow-up to the activities of the Engagement Group and initiatives under the G20 framework, inter alia, the Business 20, Women 20 and G20 EMPOWER, this alliance aims at taking forward the commitments of the G20 leaders for the benefit of the larger global community.

The goal is to reinforce Indias position as a proactive force in the pursuit of a more inclusive and sustainable world. The aim of the alliance is to bring together global good practices, knowledge sharing, investments in the field of womens health, education, and enterprise.

This, however, is not the only initiative of the Narendra Modi-led government to promote gender equality. Here are a few ways in which the Centre is working tirelessly to promote Nari Shakti in the country:

 Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana: As of February 2023, over 3 crore houses have been constructed. Over 70 per cent houses are either solely or jointly owned by women. By providing ownership of houses under PMAY-G, it has fulfilled the aspirations of women of owning a pucca house and strengthened their participation in the financial decision-making of the household.

 Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana: To safeguard the health of women and children and provide them with clean cooking fuel, Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) was launched by PM Modi in May 2016. Its goal is to make clean cooking fuel, such as LPG, accessible to rural and underprivileged households. As on January 2023, around 10 crore LPG connections have been released.

 Poshan Abhiyaan: The scheme was launched to ensure a healthier and brighter future for mothers and daughters by reducing anaemia and malnutrition. A Poshan Tracker App was also launched for real-time monitoring of nutritional status.

 PM Jan Dhan Yojana: Over 55 per cent bank accounts are held by women in the worlds largest financial inclusion programme. A support of Rs 500 per month was given to over 20 crore women to tide over the Covid-19 pandemic.

 STEM Push: Several schemes have been launched to push women towards achieving progress in scientific fields that are often associated with men. The Vigyan Jyoti Scheme is aimed at promoting women in different fields of science and tech, while the WISER Scheme encourages women to join R&D projects between India and Germany. The CURIE Scheme supports science programmes in womens PG colleges.

 Swachh Bharat Mission: 100 per cent Open Defecation Free (ODF) status was achieved on October 2, 2019. Over 11 crore individual household toilets have been constructed and 2.23 lakh community sanitary complexes built.

 Jal Jeevan Mission: Compared to August 2019, when 3.23 crore houses had safe and adequate drinking water through individual household tap connections, the number jumped to 12 crore in May 2023. This has come as a major relief to women who no longer have to walk miles to get water for their families.

 Business Push: Over 68 per cent account holders in PM Mudra Yojana are women, while 83 per cent entrepreneurs under the Start-Up India programme are women. Under the Deen Dayal Antyodaya Yojana, over Rs 3.85 lakh crore bank credit has been given to Self Help Groups since 2013-2014. Of all recognised start-ups, 45 per cent have at least one woman director.

 Menstrual Hygiene: Over 77 per cent women in the 15-24 age group now observe menstrual hygiene by using sanitary products. More than 34.71 crore sanitary pads have been sold at Jan Aushadhi Kendras. In a progressive move, the government introduced sanitary napkins at just Re 1 per pad to eliminate the problem of affordability. The safe sanitation facilities such as more toilets in schools also mean fewer girls dropping out.

 Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana: More than three accounts have been opened in the name of girl children with a minimum deposit of Rs 250.

 Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao: For the first time ever, India is seeing a favourable sex ratio with 1,020 girls for every 1,000 boys. There is also a decline in maternal mortality ratio. The Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 2021, has also reduced unsafe abortion and its attendant mortality.

 Womens Reservation Bill: Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated all Indian women over the passing of the Womens Reservation Bill in Parliament, saying: Today, I congratulate all women of the country. Yesterday and the day before, we witnessed the making of a new history. It is our fortune that crores of people gave us the opportunity to create that history.

 Triple Talaq: In a big victory for the Narendra Modi-led BJP government, the triple talaq bill was passed by the Parliament in 2019. Under the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, divorcing through instant triple talaq is illegal, void and can attract a jail term of three years for the husband.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 19. The glorious victory gained in the Second Karabakh War, as well as local anti-terrorist measures carried out by the Azerbaijani army in 2023, laid the foundation for a new future, a new stage of development for the Azerbaijani state and people.

Amid these milestones, the country is on the verge of another social and political event of historic significance. For the first time in the history of independent Azerbaijan, the presidential election will be held throughout the country.

The Trend News Agency has prepared a video report highlighting polling stations in the regions liberated from Armenian occupation and the return of residents to their homeland.

Next destination is Fuzuli city!

On December 7, 2023, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev signed a decree on holding an extraordinary presidential election in the country on February 7, 2024.

The Central Election Commission of Azerbaijan (CEC) on Dec. 19 approved the candidacy of Ilham Aliyev, nominated by the ruling New Azerbaijan Party (YAP), for participation in the extraordinary presidential election.

Azerbaijan has registered 7 candidates to run in the extraordinary presidential election.
At the Choti Chavni building in Ayodhya near Karsewakpuram, the first floor has become literally a laddoo factory with enticing desi ghee laddoos in thousands lying neatly arranged in thalis, all made fresh here and hundreds of people at work on them.

As many as 13.5 lakh laddoos are being prepared here as the special Prasad of Lord Ram which will be given to the 8,000-odd invitees to the Pran Pratishtha ceremony of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya on January 22, the workers of VHP, RSS and BJP, and the general public from January 23 when the temple opens for public darshan.

The laddoos are being prepared and packed in three types of steel containers  an 11-laddoo packing for the invitees to the Pran Pratishtha ceremony, a 7-laddoo packing for VHP, RSS and BJP workers, and a 5-laddoo packing for the general public from January 23. The steel containers of different sizes have stickers of the Ram Temple to show it as the blessing of Lord Ram.

But making 13.5 lakh laddoos is no mean task and volunteers have been working here round-the-clock, making sure these laddoos are ready by January 22 and ensuring they are of the same size and shape and packing them neatly into steel containers.

NN Pandey is overseeing the work here and bringing in all his experience as a retired civil servant. He was the home secretary of Jharkhand and is here as a follower of the late Devraha Hans Babaji under whose auspices the task is being done.

Devraha Baba had said that Ram Janmabhoomi belongs to Lord Ram and will be of Lord Ram. We are making this Prasad celebrating the fulfilment of his wish, Pandey told News18.

Each laddoo container is being packed in a bag which will also have three books on the history of the Ram Janmabhoomi movement and the contribution of Devraha Baba; an angavastra is also a part of the bag.

Thousands of such bags are ready too and will be handed over to VHP workers at Karsewakpura on Friday, Pandey said. This is a pious work and the biggest seva. We hope all Ram Bhakts are pleased with this prasad and take it back home to their families so that the divinity of Lord Ram reaches their households, says one among a group of women neatly packing the laddoos in the containers.

Pandey says the distribution of the prasad will continue after January 22 for the general public.
Amid the ongoing diplomatic row, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met his Maldivian counterpart Moosa Zameer on Thursday to have a frank conversation about the recent military withdrawal from the Island state.

The meeting was held in the Ugandan capital city of Kampala when India and Maldives are witnessing strained bilateral ties. Both the leaders discussed the recent withdrawal of the Indian military from Maldives as well as NAM-related issues.

Met Maldives FM @MoosaZameer today in Kampala. A frank conversation on India-Maldives ties. Also discussed NAM-related issues, Jaishankar posted on X, sharing a photograph of the meeting.

Met Maldives FM @MoosaZameer today in Kampala. A frank conversation on - ties. Also discussed NAM related issues. pic.twitter.com/P7ResFlCaK  Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) January 18, 2024

Jaishankar was visiting Kampala to represent India at the two-day summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM). The summit began on Friday.

Maldivian minister Zameer also said it was a pleasure to meet Jaishankar on the margins of the NAM Summit.

We exchanged views on the ongoing high-level discussions on the withdrawal of Indian military personnel, as well as expediting the completion of ongoing development projects in the Maldives, and cooperation within SAARC and NAM, he wrote on X.

S Jaishankar on India-Maldives Row

Last week, Indian External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar said that it can never be guaranteed that India will be supported by all the countries, every time amid ongoing diplomatic controversy with Maldives.

The minister was speaking at a town hall meeting in Maharashtras Nagpur where he also highlighted Indias extensive in the last decade in trying to build a strong global connection.

On being asked about the Maldives row, the EAM said, Politics is politics. I cannot guarantee that in every country, every day, everybody will support us or agree with us. What we are trying to do, and with a lot of success in the last 10 years, is to build a very strong connection.

EAM Jaishankar Attends NAM Summit

Jaishankar on Thursday held a series of bilateral meetings with his counterparts from Egypt, the Maldives, Angola and Belarus during which he discussed with them issues of mutual interests and expanding cooperation in the multilateral fora.
KERALA LOTTERY NIRMAL NR-364 RESULT ON FRIDAY, JANUARY 19, LIVE UPDATES: The Kerala State Lottery Department has announced the results of the Nirmal NR-364 lucky draw for Friday, January 19. Check the district-wise full list of winning numbers below.

ALSO READ: Kerala Lottery Result Today LIVE: Karunya Plus KN-506 WINNERS for January 25, 2024; First Prize Rs 80 Lakh!

NIRMAL NR-364 LOTTERY: WINNING NUMBERS

WINNING NUMBERS FOR CONSOLATION PRIZE WORTH RS 8,000 ARE

NB 402226

NC 402226

ND 402226

NE 402226

NF 402226

NG 402226

NH 402226

NJ 402226

NK 402226

NL 402226

NM 402226

WINNING NUMBER FOR 1ST PRIZE WORTH RS 70 LAKH IS NA 402226 (THIRUVANANTHAPURAM)

Agent Name: SAJID M

Agency No.: T 3723

WINNING NUMBER FOR 2ND PRIZE WORTH RS 10 LAKH IS ND 196500 (KOLLAM)

Agent Name: HARIHARAN PILLAI S

Agency No.: Q 5376

WINNING NUMBER FOR 3RD PRIZE WORTH RS 1 LAKH ARE

NA 426085 (WAYANADU)

NB 556857 (PATTAMBI)

NC 589417 (ERNAKULAM)

ND 139941 (PALAKKAD)

NE 345572 (PALAKKAD)

NF 940211 (KOLLAM)

NG 407487 (ALAPPUZHA)

NH 679440 (NEYYATTINKARA)

NJ 267705 (PATTAMBI)

NK 363755 (THRISSUR)

NL 713787 (PALAKKAD)

NM 984860 (KATTAPPANA)

WINNING NUMBERS FOR 4TH PRIZE WORTH RS 5,000 ARE

1066 2575 2669 4005 4016

4295 4557 5293 5464 5997

7032 8061 8117 8398 8682

8745 9637 9924

WINNING NUMBERS FOR 5TH PRIZE WORTH RS 1,000 ARE

0252 0420 0734 0776 1765

2266 2450 2528 2783 2889

3135 3163 3175 3190 3489

3588 3928 4337 4387 4433

5214 5694 5708 6083 6610

7337 7591 7814 7839 7881

7969 8210 8382 9646 9667

9700

WINNING NUMBERS FOR 6TH PRIZE WORTH RS 500 ARE

0020 0076 0079 0204 0206

0231 0447 0595 0642 0931

1207 1225 1486 1769 1858

2012 2123 2182 2374 2523

2541 2632 2638 3119 3155

3276 3313 3443 3539 3850

3920 3962 4530 4617 4624

4687 4889 4916 5099 5272

5546 5732 5889 5911 6001

6030 6031 6063 6329 6542

6554 6652 6678 6734 6953

7030 7084 7142 7331 7466

7499 7548 7561 7870 8190

8226 8477 8525 8606 8614

8624 9102 9209 9241 9300

9303 9430 9571 9696

WINNING NUMBERS FOR 7TH PRIZE WORTH RS 100 ARE

0048 0198 0202 0264 0585

0609 0764 0789 0860 0911

0946 1262 1321 1464 1588

1589 1664 1668 1695 1720

1822 1903 2004 2069 2210

2226 2392 2398 2497 2614

2894 2965 2987 3058 3145

3198 3221 3274 3355 3596

3606 3740 3834 3864 4045

4389 4390 4583 4790 4798

5012 5110 5129 5146 5151

5197 5459 5592 5597 5649

5696 5768 5772 5928 6002

6161 6335 6345 6372 6443

6520 6533 6655 6668 6702

6768 6937 7119 7132 7219

7247 7258 7345 7462 7623

7703 7809 7849 7878 7885

7902 7922 7931 8125 8171

8213 8305 8331 8342 8543

8612 8923 9032 9066 9170

9223 9238 9272 9314 9357

9403 9406 9420 9436 9525

9603 9615 9643 9644 9749

9985 9994

NIRMAL NR-364 LOTTERY: PRIZE STRUCTURE

1st Prize: Rs 70 Lakh

2nd Prize: Rs. 10 Lakh

3rd Prize: Rs. 1 Lakh

4th Prize: Rs. 5,000

5th Prize: Rs. 1,000

6th Prize: Rs. 500

7th Prize: Rs. 100

Consolation Prize: Rs. 8,000

HOW TO CHECK KERALA NIRMAL NR-364 LOTTERY RESULTS?

To view the Nirmal NR-364 lottery results, visit the Kerala Lottery Departments official website, www.keralalottery.info. Ticket numbers can also be physically validated in the Kerala Government Gazette.

ALSO READ: Punjab State Dear Lohri Makar Sakranti Bumper Lottery Result on January 20, 2024; First Prize Rs. 5 Crore!

HOW TO CLAIM THE PRIZE MONEY?

To determine if youve won the Nirmal Lottery NR-364 prize, cross-check the draw results published in the Kerala Government Gazette with your ticket number. If the two numbers match, you are eligible for the prize. Winners have a 30-day window from the results announcement to claim their prizes at the Kerala lottery office in Thiruvananthapuram. Individuals need to present their winning tickets along with relevant identification for verification in order to claim the prize money.

Xmas New Year Bumper BR-95 Lucky Draw on January 24; First Prize Rs 20 Crore

The Kerala State Lottery Department will hold Xmas New Year Bumper BR-95 lucky draw on 24 January 2024. The winner of the first prize will get Rs 20 crore. You can try your luck by purchasing ticket worth just Rs 400 from an authorised agent in stae state.

The tickets will be available in 10 series  XA, XB, XC, XD, XE, XG, XH, XJ, XK, XL.

Xmas New Year Bumper BR-95 Lottery Prize Structure
As many as five civilians belonging to the Meitei community were killed and four Border Security Force (BSF) personnel sustained injuries in two separate incidents of violence that erupted in Manipur on Wednesday night and Thursday morning. State Security Advisor Kuldiep Singh said there is a possibility of the involvement of Myanmar-based militants, but there is no evidence yet.

The incident comes a day after two police personnel were killed and six others injured in an attack by armed assailants in Tengnoupal on Wednesday morning.

Senior police officials noted that four persons were killed by armed miscreants at Ningthong Kha Khunou in Bishnupur district around 2:00 pm on Thursday. The deceased were identified as Ningthoujam Nabadeep (40), Oinam Bamonjao (63), Oinam Manitomba (37) and Thiyam Somen (56).

Four persons were killed in an attack by armed miscreants on Thursday afternoon. We have managed to recover all the bodies and sent them to Regional Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) in Imphal for postmortem and other formalities, Meghachandra Singh, Bishnupur superintendent of police was quoted by Hindustan Times as saying.

The villagers were reportedly tiling a farm when they were attacked. Protests were carried out in several parts of the northeastern state throughout Thursday. According to an Indian Express report, ahead of Wednesdays attack on the police personnel in Moreh town, an intelligence report had suggested that insurgents, including reinforcement from Burma, could attack security forces.

In a separate incident, a 23-year-old Meitei identified as Takhelambam Manoranjana was killed in a gunfight that broke out between armed village volunteers at Kangchup in Imphal West district.

Police noted that the body of a person suspected to be killed in an exchange of fire between armed miscreants late Wednesday night was recovered in Kangchup.

In addition to the incidents of violence, miscreants also attempted to loot weapons from police establishments in the Thoubal district of the valley on Wednesday night, and three BSF personnel sustained bullet injuries during the encounter. The mobs targeted the 3rd Indian Reserve Battalion in Thoubals Khangabok and Thoubal Police Headquarters.

Manipur Security Advisor Kuldiep Singh stated that there had been some intelligence reports about insurgents operating at Moreh.

Since yesterday (Wednesday) morning, a large number of Kuki militants started firing at police commandos in three locations in Moreh. There was an intelligence report from before that the PDF insurgents operating at Moreh, and maybe some reinforcements from the Burma side, also may attack state forces, Singh was quoted by Indian Express as saying.

Intelligence was there from a few days, because Kuki Inpi and the CSOs (civil society organisations) and so many other people were coming to the security locations in Moreh and they were saying that the CDOs (commandos) should be removed from there. If CDOs are not moved, the CDOs would be targeted, (the groups said), he added.

Singh further noted that the current locations of the three state police commandos were making them vulnerable targets, therefore, a decision has been taken to relocate them.
The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) and Helsinki-based River Recycle Oy (RR) initiated a new collaboration with the signing of an MoU at the World Economic Forum 2024 in Davos, dedicated to river protection and improvement, flood protection, environmental upgrading, climate resilience, and climate change adaptation in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region.

RR promises financially sustainable solutions specialising in the prevention of plastic pollution in oceans. Therefore, the collaboration between MMRDA and RR will complement MMRDAs strategic goals of addressing environmental challenges in and around the MMR, alongside elevating the sustainability of the region and tackling climate-related risks, a press release said.

MMRDA believes that this collaboration will make meaningful contributions to the MMRDAs pursuit of sustainable urban development in the MMR, it added.

This partnership will bring forth proficient, sustainable, and eco-friendly solutions for the effective removal of floating plastic and river conservation. Hence, we are immensely hopeful that our river cleaning efforts will proceed further with rigorous pace and unmatchable efficiency due to this collaboration, said Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.

A key component of the MoU is the sharing of best practices to support river protection and improvement, flood protection, rainwater absorption, and climate resilience in the MMR. The sharing of expertise extends to the enhancement of the air quality index and the establishment of urban sponges in the surrounding regions.

The facilitation of globally recognised practices like the promotion of circular economy practices like waste-to-energy solutions, and efficient waste management will also be one of the components.

The development of Blue & Green infrastructure across the MMR to enforce the improvement of air quality and rainwater absorption will be achieved through this collaboration.

The MoU between MMRDA and River Recycle Oy, Helsinki, Finland, is one of our many exceptional directives to fulfil the dream of MMRs sustainable future. Millions and millions of people residing in the MMR will greatly benefit from this collaboration, as it will address numerous environmental challenges faced in the surrounding areas and improve their quality of life, Dr Sanjay Mukherjee, Commissioner of MMRDA, said.
The NASA said it has successfully transmitted and reflected a laser beam between its Lunar Reconnaisance Orbiter and the Chandrayaan-3s Vikram lander for the first time on the moon. This instrument has started serving as a location marker near the lunar south pole, the ISRO said on Friday.

The national space agency said the Laser Retroreflector Array (LRA) on the Chandrayaan-3 lander has started serving as a fiducial point (precisely located markers for reference) on the moon. The ranging utilised the Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter (LOLA) on the LRO. The observation occurred during lunar night time, with the LRO ascending to the east of Chandrayaan-3, ISRO said.

US space agency NASAs Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) achieved a laser range measurement using the LRA by successfully detecting signals reflected by it on December 12, 2023. At 3 pm EST on December 12, 2023, NASAs LRO pointed its laser altimeter instrument toward Vikram. The lander was 62 miles, or 100 kilometers, away from LRO, near Manzinus crater in the moons south pole region, when LRO transmitted laser pulses toward it. After the orbiter registered light that had bounced back from a tiny NASA retroreflector aboard Vikram, NASA scientists knew their technique had finally worked, NASA was quoted in a report published by The Hindu.

These measurements, apart from aiding in precise determination of spacecrafts orbital position, will help refine the lunar geodetic frame, revealing insights into the Moons dynamics, internal structure, and gravitational anomalies, ISRO said.

NASAs LRA was accommodated on the Chandrayaan-3 Vikram lander under international collaboration. It comprises eight corner-cube retroreflectors on a hemispherical support structure. This array facilitates lasers ranging from various directions by any orbiting spacecraft with suitable instruments.

The passive optical instrument, weighing about 20 gm, is designed to last for decades on the lunar surface. Landed near the lunar south pole on August 23, 2023, Chandrayaan-3s Vikram lander has been accessible for LOLA measurements since, ISRO said.

While several LRAs have been deployed on the moon since the beginning of lunar exploration, the LRA on Chandrayaan-3 is a miniature version and is the only one available near the south pole currently, the statement said. NASAs LRA on Chandrayaan-3s Vikram lander will continue to serve as a long-term geodetic station and a location marker on the lunar surface, benefitting current and future lunar missions, ISRO said.

(With PTI inputs)
In a display of tireless devotion ahead of the Pran Pratistha ceremony at Ram Temple in Ayodhya on January 22, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been carrying out the Anushthan rituals, Ram temple visits and has even launched a temple cleanliness campaign.

ALSO READ | What PM Modi May Do in Anushthan Before Ayodhya Visit: Sleep on Floor, Jaap, Satvic Food

For the Anushthan, which starts 11 days before the puja, the PM is following multiple practices prescribed by the sacred texts. He has been sleeping on the floor on a blanket, drinking only coconut water, doing Gau-pooja and feeding cows daily; and also daily doing various forms of daan like annadaan, giving away clothes, etc.

As a devout Ram Bhakt, the PM has been visiting Ram temples in different parts of the country in the last few days, including Ramkund and Shree Kalaram Temple in Nasik; Veerbhadra Temple in Lepakshi, Puttaparthi, Andhra Pradesh; Guruvayur Temple and Thriprayar Shree Ramaswami Temple in Kerala. He will visit more such temples in Tamil Nadu over the next two days. These temples not only act as a unifying force for different parts of the country, but also have a deep connection with Bhagwan Ram.

A memorable puppet show at Lepakshi, beautifully showcasing aspects of the Ramayan. pic.twitter.com/oT5yXcQTEK Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) January 17, 2024

The PMs visit to temples across the country in the last few days and listening to Ramayana in multiple languages and participating in Bhajans in the temples is significant as its impact goes much beyond the commonly understood realm of religion. PMs efforts are also aimed at strengthening the Bharatiya socio-cultural fabric, in line with the PMs vision of Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat.

Delhi | Prime Minister Narendra Modi feeds cows at his residence, on the occasion of #MakarSankranti pic.twitter.com/UnijjBGk6O ANI (@ANI) January 14, 2024

The PM has also initiated the Swachh Teerth initiative and took the lead in it.

On January 12, he cleaned the temple premises of Shree Kalaram Temple in Nasik. This humble act by the Pradhan sevak of the country of leading by example, initiated a mass movement for cleanliness of temples across the country. Lakhs of people voluntarily took on the task of cleaning the temples. The movement has witnessed enthusiastic participation from people of all walks of life in the country.

From celebrities to common man, everyone has responded to PMs clarion call, which is also seen in #SwachhTeerthCampaign being among the top trends on X (twitter) as well.
A pro-Khalistani graffiti was found written on the boundary wall of a government school in New Delhis Uttam Nagars Hastsal area, the police said.

Visuals released by news agency ANI show pro-Khalistani slogans being written on the wall in Uttam Nagars school with Delhi police officers being present around the scene of the incident.

Heres the video of the incident:

#WATCH | Pro-Khalistan graffiti found written on the boundary wall of a government school in Uttam Nagar's Hastsal area of Delhi, police investigation underway pic.twitter.com/P6AVOauf7F ANI (@ANI) January 19, 2024

Police said that an investigation was underway to catch the culprits.

Ahead of the Republic Day, pro-Khalistan graffiti was found on a pillar in west Delhis Nihal Vihar area. An FIR was registered in connection with the incident on Tuesday, police said.

A senior police officer said the graffiti reading SJF, January 26, Khalistan was painted on the pillar by an unidentified person.

In a similar incident that took place in September, a flyover in north Delhis Kashmere Gate was defaced by pro-Khalistani graffiti following which a case was registered by the Delhi Police.

A video surfaced on Wednesday which showed the graffiti on the flyover.

As per the signage boards visible in the video, an extensive search was launched in the area of North District, and graffiti was found on Yudhister Setu flyover coming from Seelampur towards Kashmere Gate, Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (north), Manoj Kumar Meena, said.

Earlier in August, pro-Khalistan messages were found on the walls of at least five Delhi Metro stations. Two persons from Punjab were nabbed by the Delhi Polices Special Cell in connection with it.
Ahead of the Pran Pratishtha ceremony of Ram Temple in Ayodhya, several states have announced holidays or half-days for the grand event.

Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Haryana were among the states that have announced a public holiday or declared half day on January 22 so that people celebrate the consecration of Ram temple in Ayodhya.

The central government has already announced a half-day holiday for all its employees on January 22.

Here is a list of states that have made the announcement for January 22:
A response team deployed by the Uttar Pradesh government and two one-of-a-kind portable hospital units are part of the special arrangements, keeping in mind the massive influx of devotees in Ayodhya on the Ram Lalla idols pran pratishtha on January 22.

The central government has made these arrangements in case there is an untoward incident like a natural disaster or even a stampede-like situation. An indigenous portable hospital  Arogya Maitri Aid Cube-BHISHM  will be equipped with tools designed to enhance disaster response and medical support during emergencies.

This state-of-the-art technology integrates artificial intelligence (AI), internet of things (IoT), and data analytics. It will facilitate effective coordination, real-time monitoring, and efficient management of medical services in areas where it is deployed.

The portable hospital, developed as part of the ambitious BHISHM (Bharat Health Initiative for Sahyog Hita and Maitri) project is a shining example of Make In India, and is being used in India for the first time at Ayodhya.

It is a completely mobile unit that can be divided into 72 parts and carried by hand or even on a cycle or a drone if required. The same can be dismantled and reassembled, and be functional in 15 minutes or so, Tanmoy Roy, head of the Arogya Maitri taskforce, told News18.

We have all kinds of equipment, from ECG to ventilators. The whole purpose is to save as many lives as possible. The medicines and the equipment can deal with disasters. Even those like forest fires or disasters in hilly regions, Roy said.

The Arogya Maitri cube is modular in design and there are two of these, referred to as master cubes, that can be joined together to support up to 200 survivors. To enhance the efficiency of the disaster hospital, a tablet-based application has been developed to operate all 72 cubes.

The kit includes a portable generator, featuring both traditional and solar panel-based options, that ensures a reliable power supply for the entire setup. All equipment can be charged, promoting sustainability in disaster relief operations.

Each unit has a medical store, a laboratory with a solar-powered unit to conduct over 24 tests, an out-patient department that shows medical reports where you can study an X-ray in three seconds and a solar-powered emergency operation theatre.

This cube was initially designed to help Indias neighbours, as two such units have been sent to Myanmar and Sri Lanka.

Apart from this, the Uttar Pradesh government has given a boost to the existing medical services by establishing a control room in the mela area, installing 16 first-aid booths and two fully equipped temporary field hospitals with 20 beds at Tulsi Udyan and 10 beds at Tent City Ayodhya, both of which will be functioning for 24 hours.

The state government has also taken vector-control and disease surveillance measures. A team from JPNA Trauma Centre at AIIMS, New Delhi, has conducted capacity-building exercises, imparting training on basic life support (BLS), cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), triage techniques, emergency and trauma care, for all healthcare workers.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 19. Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov met with the head of the Maldives Foreign Policy Directorate, Mosa Zamer, during his working visit to Uganda to attend the Non-Aligned Movement's 19th Summit, Trend reports, referring to the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry.

The meeting discussed the countries' bilateral relations.

Prospects for cooperation within regional and international institutions, such as the United Nations, Non-Aligned Movement, and Organization of Islamic Cooperation, were also explored.

Stay up to date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
A Special National Investigation Agency (NIA) Court in Guwahati on Thursday convicted two men in a case related to recruitment and radicalisation of youth to raise a module of the Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT) affiliated to the AQIS (Al-Qaeda in the Indian Sub-Continent). The sentence against them will be pronounced on Saturday.

Jalaluddin Sheikh and Abdus Subhan, of Goalpara district in Assam, had pleaded guilty to the crime under various sections of IPC and UA(P)A in the case registered initially by Assam Police on August 22, 2022 and taken over by the NIA on September 26 the same year.

The NIA investigations had revealed that Jalaluddin had forged close connections with Abdus Subhan, who later established links with the absconding handler of ABT, namely Mehboob Alom, and went on to recruit three others into the ABT/AQIS to further the terror-related activities of the terrorist organization. The three so recruited were identified as Abdus Sobahan and Hafizur Rahman, also named as accused in the case RC- 03/2022/NIA-GUW, besides one other, namely Azmal Hussain.

The accused and other co-conspirators worked closely with the handlers of the module, namely Abu Talha, Mehaboob alias Sultan, Jahangir Alom alias Ali Noor alias Inamul Haque, Aminul Islam alias Mehadi Hassan and Saiful Islam alias Md. Suman, who were based across the border in Bangladesh. They were involved in organising gatherings at various places in Goalpara district of Assam to radicalise and recruit impressionable people into the fold of ABT/AQIS.

The NIA had, on January 30, 2023, charge-sheeted six accused under section 120B of IPC and sections 18, 18B, 38 and 39 of UA (P) Act, 1967 in the case. The Special NIA court had framed charges against all six accused persons u/s 120B of IPC and sections 38 & 39 of UA(P) Act 1967.

Further investigation in the case is on.
India will not have to wait too long for a Boeing aircraft designed and manufactured in the subcontinent, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the inauguration of the planemakers engineering center in Bengaluru on Friday.

At the event, which was also attended by senior Boeing executives including Chief Operating Officer Stephanie Pope, Modi stressed the need to build an aircraft manufacturing ecosystem in India.

Given that there is so much potential in India, we need to rapidly build an aircraft manufacturing ecosystem in the country, Modi said.

The companys largest facility outside of the United States, the Boeing India Engineering & Technology Center (BIETC) in the capital city of the southern Indian state of Karnataka, will be dedicated to research and development.

Although the site spans 43 acres, the business said it has invested $200 million in it; however, it did not disclose how many people will be employed at the facility. Across all of its centers, Boeing now employs over 6,000 workers in India.

Boeing has witnessed a surge in interest for its jets in India, currently the worlds fastest-growing aviation market, with travel demand outstripping the supply of planes.

On Thursday, the aircraft manufacturer received orders for 150 737 MAX narrowbody jets from Akasa Air, Indias youngest carrier.

In an exclusive interview with the news agency last year, Indias civil aviation minister, Jyotiraditya Scindia, said it was time for Boeing and rival Airbus to consider setting up jetliner assembly in the country.

Boeing has an alliance with Indias Tata Group to produce AH-64 Apache helicopter fuselages and 737 aircraft vertical fin structures.

(with inputs from Reuters)
MAHARANA PRATAP DEATH ANNIVERSARY: Few Indian warriors remain as revered as Maharana Pratap, the valiant king of Mewar. His reign, spanning from 1572 to 1597, was marked by both defiance and tragedy. Though his life ended on January 19, 1597, his legend lives on, particularly in the tale of the epic Battle of Haldighati.

Born in 1540 in Kumbhalgarh, Rajasthan, Pratap was honed for battle by his mother, Maharani Jaivanta Bai. When he ascended the throne at 32, following the death of his father Uday Singh II, he faced a formidable adversary  the Mughal Empire led by Akbar.

Haldighati, fought in 1576, stands as a testament to Prataps unyielding spirit. Though outnumbered, the Mewar army, mounted on the treacherous terrain of a narrow mountain pass, waged a fierce struggle. Akbar, despite securing strategic victory, failed to subdue Prataps spirit. The king escaped, his loyalty shielded by his legendary steed, Chetak.

While Chittor, the heart of Mewar, remained elusive, Pratap reclaimed significant territories. Notably, his son Amar Singh I ultimately negotiated a truce with the Mughals, gaining access to Chittor.

Maharana Prataps steadfast commitment to his principles and his refusal to accept Mughal suzerainty made him a symbol of resistance and heroism. Even though he faced significant military setbacks, his legacy endured through the generations, inspiring countless people to stand up for their beliefs and defend their freedom.

Maharana Pratap shared a special bond with his loyal horse, Chetak. During the battle of Haldighati, Maharana Pratap, riding on Chetak, was attacked by Mughal army leader Man Singh I of Amber, who was on an elephant.

During the encounter, the tusks of the elephant went through Chetaks rear leg. However, despite the fatal injury, Chetak took injured Maharana Pratap away from the enemies and saved his life.

On his death anniversary, people pay tribute to Maharana Pratap by commemorating his bravery, sacrifice, and the enduring legacy he left behind. Various events, discussions, and cultural programs are organized to remember and celebrate the life of this iconic Rajput warrior.

His story continues to be an inspiration for those who value the principles of courage, integrity, and love for ones motherland.
Anyone But You Review: Living in a wonderful world full of Taylor Swift and Olivia Rodrigo songs, I  a millennial  joined Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell to sing the lines of Natasha Bedingfields Unwritten. I was just a few lines into the song when I realised that Anyone But You might not be perfect but it did the job right  add a colour of love on the big screen.

Sony Pictures Anyone But You stars Euphorias breakout star Sydney Sweeney and Top Gun: Maverick star Glen Powell who are entangled in a complicated situationship, something many single people are familiar with.

The film kicks off at a coffee shop with Bea (Sydney) and Ben (Glen) having an unusual first meet. After noticing a spark, they decide to get out for an impromptu date and eventually end up having a memorable nightcap. However, Bea, a law student, sneaks out of the apartment before Ben wakes up. He then notices her exit. When she changes her mind and returns to him, he is already bitter about her exit. Both of them swear to not date each other but their paths constantly cross.

Eventually, they are forced to travel to Australia for Bens best friend and Baes sister are getting married. Once in Australia, the families get involved and it ends up becoming a blend of cute and unfortunate events.

Anyone But You isnt the best rom-com out there but it did come as a breath of fresh air in a time when we have been served action films and intense romance dramas, especially in India. Director Will Gluck, the man behind Easy A and Friends with Benefits, brings back his trademark romcom troupes from the early 2000s. The enemy turn lover troupe sets the foundation of the film. The film also features a hook song in the form of Natasha Bedingfields Unwritten that sticks with you long after the film ends and two people who have good chemistry.

These troupes are blended into the new, more aware world, with elements like a lesbian wedding, people from different ethnicities coming together and age is just a number conversations included in the movie. With these troupes, Anyone But You feels like a cocktail of the old and new (romcom) worlds. The film also feels like a nod to the era of romcoms ruling our screens. I also noticed that the filmmaker did not shy away from borrowing a few elements from Friends With Benefits.

One thing that bothered me about the film was the lack of effort in the script. It felt like the writers were trying to add in layers but instead of adding it like a slice of cheese in a sandwich, they grate a small portion of cheese just for the sake of it. The laziness in writing appears more in the second half of the film. This robbed the film of the X-factor and resulted in the supporting characters being wasted.

On the acting front, Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell hold your attention from the word go. They have a sizzling chemistry together and it is a lot more evident when they are at crossroads with each other. Their cheesy romance, even when they are doing the Titanic pose and you are cringing in your seat, is sellable in the movie.

Anyone But You also has an eccentric casting that helps take this film forward. Darren Barnet comes as a nice surprise while Alexandra Shipp, Dermot Mulroney, Joe Davidson, GaTa, and Michelle Hurd were fun to watch, even in their limited roles.

Should you go watch Anyone But You? If youve been missing the glossy, cheesy romance, Anyone But You serves like a nice one-time watch.
YouTuber Elvish Yadavs fans were left shocked last year when it was reported that the Bigg Boss OTT 2 winner received an extortion case for Rs 1 crore. Months after, Elvish has now revealed shocking details about the incident.

Recently, Elvish Yadav graced Bharti Singh and Haarsh Limbachiyaas podcast when he opened up about the extortion case. The YouTuber revealed that he was in London when he received a long WhatsApp message from a person asking for Rs 1 crore or else they would kill him.

I have turned off calls from unknown people on WhatsApp. They cannot call me. I received a long message on WhatsApp in bold letters. I thought it might be some girl. But it said, 1 crore rupay chahiye nahi toh tujhe maar denge. It was new for me. Plan A se nahi mara toh tujhe plan B se maar denge. I felt like he would definitely kill me, Elvish said in Hindi.

The Bigg Boss OTT 2 winner further shared that he consulted with a few of his friends when one of them asked him to ignore it. I called up my brother and told him about the message and the threat. He asked me to ignore it. I asked, how can I ignore it?' he added.

Elvish mentioned that the extortionist later gave him a discount. He then said, chalo tumhare liye discount. He then came down to Rs 40-50 lakh. He then messaged me, tu reply nahi kar raha hai, mujhe tere paise se gaadi khareedni hai, Elvish continued.

Soon after, Elvish returned to India where he filed a police complaint following which the man was caught in just six hours. I filed a complaint late at night. It then made headlines. It spread like a fire. But we have very good police, they nabbed the man from Gujarat in just six hours. Policemen went there via flight and picked up that person. He was an RTO agent. He got my contact number from my cars registration, the YouTuber said.
Fighter director Siddharth Anand has finally reacted to Pakistani actors accusing his upcoming movie of spreading hate. The trailer of the film, which stars Hrithik Roshan and Deepika Padukone in the lead, was released recently following which Hania Aamir, Adnan Siddiqui and other Pakistani celebrities criticised it.

Recently, Siddharth Anand reacted with a thinking face emoji to a post on X which questioned Hania Aamir for slamming Fighter. Didnt she literally work in a movie which was anti-India? If Indian celebs have no issue with the anti-India stuff Pakistani celebs do in movies, why do Pak celebs care so much? the post read.

Besides this, Siddharth Anand also wrote, Oh!! while reacting to another post about the 2018 Pakistani film Parwaaz Hai Junoon. Parwaaz Hai Junoon was an anti-Indian Air Force movie and Hania Aamir starred in it, the original post read.

 Siddharth Anand (@justSidAnand) January 17, 2024

Oh !! Siddharth Anand (@justSidAnand) January 17, 2024

For the unversed, the trailer of Fighter was released on January 15. It presented Hrithik and Deepika as Squadron Leaders Patty and Minni. The two fly helicopters and fighter jets as they teach a lesson to the terrorists and Pakistan.

Following the trailer release, Pakistani actress Hania Aamir took to her Instagram stories and wrote, So sad and unfortunate to know that there are artists out there in this day and age who are aware of the power that the cinema holds and still go ahead and feed the riff between the two countries. I feel sorry for the artists who try to bridge the gap by trusting their art as a medium. Distasteful; let art breathe.

Later, Pakistani actor Zara Noor Abbas also wrote, Arent you guys tired of selling the same false crap?! Grow up, guys! The world is moving on and getting mature but why do you want to sell this cheap story of hatred? Could have also promoted peace. Dont we have enough hatred in the world that you had to boost more hate through this global medium of movies?

Fighter will hit theatres on January 25, 2024.
Priyanka Chopra and Nick Jonas did not leave any stone unturned to give their daughter Malti Marie a memorable birthday. The little one turned two recently. While Nick shared a glimpse of an Elmo-themed party organised for her on Wednesday, Priyanka revealed that she, Nick, and Madhu Chopra, Priyankas mother, visited a temple in Los Angeles to offer prayers on Maltis birthday. Now, unseen photos from their visit have gone viral.

In one of the viral photos, Nick could be seen posing for a camera as Priyanka stood behind him. Both of them donned stylish sunglasses. While Nick looked handsome in a blue jacket, Priyanka looked stunning in an all-white ensemble. In another photo, Priyanka could be seen posing with a fan who claimed, Priyanka was extremely down-to-earth with no starry tantrums. I have a newfound appreciation for her as a person now!

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Jerry x Mimi (@jerryxmimi)

Taking to Instagram on Wednesday night, Priyanka shared photos from the party and also from the familys visit to the temple. Little Malti was with them as well. One of the photos featured Malti standing with a massive garland placed on her. In another, she was sitting in Nicks lap as they offered prayers. Sharing the photos, Priyanka wrote, She is our miracle. And she is 2. .

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Priyanka (@priyankachopra)

Priyanka and Nick welcomed Malti through surrogacy. She was born as a premature baby and was kept in the NICU for 100 days. In an interview with Vogue, Priyanka confessed she didnt know if she (Malti) would make it or not. I was in the OR [operating room] when she came out. She was so small, smaller than my hand, she said before adding, We spent every single day with her on my chest, on my husbands chest. Priyanka added that she opted for surrogacy because she had a medical complication. This was a necessary step, and Im so grateful I was in a position where I could do this. Our surrogate was so generous, kind, lovely and funny, and she took care of this precious gift for us for six months, she said.
The News18 Showsha Reel Awards 2024 are finally here, and it will be a glittering ceremony on March 9 in Mumbai. This years Reel Awards 2024 will celebrate some of the best performances and movies that released in theaters and on OTT between January 1, 2023 and December 31, 2023.

Soon, you will be able to vote for your favourite films and performance on the Showsha Reel Awards 2024 microsite. And, it is going to be a tough choice, considering Bollywood had a memorable 2023. You will have to choose between Shah Rukh Khan, Ranbir Kapoor, Salman Khan, Sunny Deol, and Karan Johar, among many others.

We witnessed a box-office blow up with record being shattered by Pathaan, Jawan, Gadar 2 and Animal. Apart from the films, the industry also witnessed some memorable performances on the big and small screen. Be it the dazzling performances by the cast of Jubilee or performances by Vicky Kaushal, Deepika Padukone and many others in several films. Which of these performers will take home the awards? Youll know on March 9.

The wait is finally over! Join News18 Showsha Reel Awards 2024 on March 9 to honour and celebrate the best performances and movies of 2023. Save the date! #ReelAwards2024 #News18ShowshaReelAwards #ShowshaReelAwards2024 pic.twitter.com/X4qjywD5Zz News18 Showsha (@News18Showsha) January 19, 2024

Last years Showsha Reel Awards were presented to Shershaah, Brahmastra and The Kashmir Files. Sidharth Malhotra won the Best Actor (Popular Choice) for Shershaah, while Kiara Advani was honoured with the Star of the Year award for her memorable performances in Shershaah, Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2, Jug Jugg Jeeyo, and Govinda Naam Mera. Kriti Sanon took home the award for Best Actress, for her Mimi, a performance for which she also won the National Award. Meanwhile, Ayan Mukherjee won Best Director for Brahmastra: Part One  Shiva. The Best Film award went to Shershaah.
India is fast positioning itself as a country whose time to dominate the worlds shipping lanes has arrived. To that end, a lot of money and resources are being poured in, as became evident on Wednesday when Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated projects worth Rs 4,000 crore in Kochi. These projects included a New Dry Dock (NDD) at the Cochin Shipyard, which is the first of its kind in the world. The prime minister also inaugurated Asias biggest International Ship Repair Facility (ISRF) and an LPG Import Terminal belonging to the Indian Oil Corporation at Puthuvypeen. The government says these major infrastructure upgradations will turn Kochi into a one-stop maritime hub for repair needs of all vessels calling at Indian ports.

Kochis New Dry Dock now places India among an elite group of nations that can manufacture large LNG carriers, Capesize and Suezmax vessels, oil rigs, semi-submersibles and other big vessels. The dock can also handle strategic assets like aircraft carriers of up to 70,000T displacement. That makes the New Dry Dock a long-term strategic investment which will serve Indias interests in more ways than one.

The International Ship Repair Facility at Kochi is equally important. Built at a cost of over Rs 970 crore, the repair facility can accommodate seven vessels of 130-metre length simultaneously. As a result, the facility will now be able to undertake repairs of about 84 ships every year, increasing Indias ship repair capacity by roughly 25 per cent.

The ship repair facility will serve as a strategic asset too. The situation in the Indo-Pacific is for all to see. China is getting increasingly aggressive against smaller nations in the region, particularly in and around the South China Sea. It is a well-known fact that one of the roles that the free world would like India to play is that of providing ship repair and replenishment services in times of conflict.

Such repair work is not just required by military vessels involved in conflict. In fact, the new repair facility will allow commercial as well as military ships travelling via the Indian Ocean Region, through the Malacca Strait, the option to get repair work done at Kochi. India is, therefore, set to emerge as a powerful alternative to China on this front. That explains why Kochi now has Asias biggest facility dedicated solely to the task of repairing ships.

Also Read: With Focus on Blue Economy and Eye on China, India is Working Towards Greater Maritime Heft

Together, the New Dry Dock and Ship Repair Facility will significantly reduce Indias dependence on other nations for shipbuilding and repair purposes. Along with the LPG Import Terminal at Puthuvypeen, the ongoing shipping and port infrastructure upgrade has the potential to transform southern and coastal states into a fulcrum of Indias rising maritime power. With a 15400 MT storage capacity, the LPG terminal will ensure millions of households and businesses in the region get a steady and uninterrupted supply of LPG. India will also be able to handle bigger LPG containers, benefitting the countrys energy security as a whole.

The markets were among the first to catch wind of the transformation Indias maritime sector is undergoing. They responded bullishly to the inauguration of major maritime assets in Kochi. Shares of Cochin Shipyard Limited surged 5.5 per cent to hit a new 52-week high in morning trade after the company opened the New Dry Dock and the International Ship Repair Facility in Kochi.

Indias Time to Shine in the High Seas

Recently, News18 had explained the significance of Indias proposed move to create its own protection and indemnity (P&I) insurance entity. Such an entity would provide not just India, but the whole world with an alternative to the Wests shipping insurance ecosystem. Having its own system of insuring ships will allow India to not be dependent on the West for the stability of its supply chains, while also allowing Global South countries to not be beholden to the developed world.

The push for having a domestic P&I entity has not come in isolation. India has, as a matter of fact, been making significant progress in uplifting and strengthening its maritime economy and putting itself on the global transit map. The Modi government is working on a plan called Maritime India Vision 2030 that seeks to develop world-class mega ports and transhipment hubs and modernise infrastructure at an estimated investment cost of Rs 1.25 trillion. In July 2023, Union Minister for Ports, Shipping and Waterways, Sarbananda Sonowal had said the Centre has identified investment opportunities worth more than Rs 10 lakh crore in the maritime sector, which are expected to generate no less than 15 lakh new jobs.

In 2023, the World Banks Logistic Performance Index (LPI) report had shed light on how Indias port infrastructure and ability to handle ships is witnessing a positive transformation.

India has moved up to 22nd rank in the global rankings on the International Shipments category from the 44th position in 2014

In 2015, the capacity of Indias 12 major ports stood at 871 million metric tonnes (MMT), but has now risen to 1,617 MMT

At the same time, the total capacity of Indian ports has gone up from about 1,560 MMT in 2015 to more than 2,600 MMT now

From 2015 to 2022-23, the value of operationalisation of public-private partnership projects in major ports has risen by 150 per cent from Rs 16,000 crore to Rs 40,000 crore

Initiatives like Sagarmala, Bharatmala, PM Gati Shakti, and the National Logistics Policy 2022 are playing an instrumental role in reducing the cost of logistics and improving the performance of not just Indias ports, but the wider logistics network in the country. As a result, since 2014, the average turnaround time for the major ports has decreased by about 50 per cent. The average turnaround time for Indian ports declined from 4.3 days in 2012-13 to 2.1 days in 2022-23.

Indias strategic investments in maritime infrastructure mark a significant step towards transforming the nation into a maritime power. These developments, coupled with the push for a domestic P&I insurance entity and broader initiatives like Maritime India Vision 2030, underscore Indias commitment to independence as well as excellence in the global maritime domain. The journey to India becoming a global blue economy is not without its fair set of challenges, but it is a journey that an ambitious country like India cannot avoid.

Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18s views.
Indias criminal justice system is undergoing a paradigm reform under the leadership of Indias Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah after 150 years of a colonial penal state. The new criminal laws  Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), Bharatiya Sakshya (BS), and Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) to replace the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) and the Indian Evidence Act of 1872 underpin a citizen-centric legal system rooted in the development, social empowerment, and community participation of Indians.

The new Indian criminal justice system with a victim-centric approach is a system of justice rather than punishment. Modi governments breakthrough effort to revolutionise Indias British-era criminal jurisprudence ties the idea of fairness and justice to the vision of Amrit Kaal  a long march to Indias 100 years of independence, a protected society, and empowered citizens. The philosophical foundations of the criminal justice reform by the government accentuate the ancient Vedic approach to law and society. Societal obligations, commiseration towards vulnerable sections and incapacitated form the bedrock of the new criminal laws designed to protect the rights of Indians.

Indians mass social and political confidence in Narendra Modi and Amit Shahs leadership is likely to enhance the fairness and effectiveness of criminal jurisprudence in the country. The idea of justice effectively interacts with ancient Indian traditions  the revivification of Vedic society to serve the cause of justice in the modern world. The new Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) proposes community service as a method of punishment for minor offences. Community service is a popular method of punishment in advanced democracies and mirrors Seva Bhav, an integral tradition in ancient India aimed at the betterment of society.

In increasingly challenging times, when the crimes have increased, the new criminal laws give precedence to offences against women and children. Additionally, some offences have been made gender neutral reflecting a sincere effort by the government towards an aspirational gender just Indian society. The archaic colonial criminal laws put treason and treasury above grave crimes against society like murder and rape. The new laws make an effort to deter crimes against women and children. Additionally, murder and crimes against the nation have been addressed firmly.

The promising indicators of a criminal justice system rest on its ability to protect individuals from vulnerable age, gender, ethnicity, and income groups. The criminal justice reform has been a matter of not only corrective exercise but of deep significance to empower all sections of society in India.

The new criminal laws have put crimes against the nation at the heart of justice. The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita defines terrorism in conjunction with adding new offences pertaining to terrorist activities and organised crimes with deterrent punishment. Additionally, acts of armed rebellion, subversive activities, separatist activities or endangering the sovereignty or unity and integrity of India have been suitably added.

The promotion and protection of human rights in India through criminal justice reforms requires identifying terrorism and organised crime as a grave threat to human security. The new criminal laws recognise that counter-terrorism provisions and the promotion of human rights are not conflicting goals but complementary and mutually reinforceable.

The new criminal laws empower citizens right to a speedy trial. The timeline for criminal proceedings, arrest, investigation, charge sheet, proceedings before a magistrate, cognizance, charges, plea bargaining, the appointment of assistant public prosecutor, trial, bail, judgement, and punishment has been altered to facilitate speedy delivery of justice. These changes have been made keeping in mind the negative impact of delayed justice on the mental, physical, and financial well-being of the victims and the accused.

The new criminal laws identify and address the emerging social and technological developments of the future. Additionally, the legal, policing, and investigative systems will now adapt to the technology and forensic science of the modern era. The Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) has engaged technology at all stages of crime investigation with suitable assessment of threats and opportunities that could enhance the criminal justice system. Effective utilisation of technology is likely to bring speedy trial and transparency in the investigation. Until now, the risks emanating from technological advancement significantly reduced access to justice and weakened the rule of law. Harnessing the power of scientific technologies in the new criminal laws will mark a bodily shift in peoples trust in the criminal justice system through improved court services and accountability of investigation agencies. These changes will digitally empower the rights of both victims and the accused.

Overall, the new criminal laws reflect the aspirations of a healthy society and rest on the constitutional and civilizational values of India. The legal system, broadly, and the criminal justice system, in particular, form the cornerstone of a strong national consciousness and ideals of unity in diversity. As one of the important pillars of a country, the justice delivery system should not only serve the citizens of India but also reform as per the needs of the society. The new criminal laws under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi are hope for common people and the democratization of the rule of law itself restricted to only a few in the past.

The author is a Law intern at the Supreme Court of India and a member of the Civil 20 Working Group on Human Rights. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18s views.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 19. President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has signed a decree on financial assistance to religious structures in Azerbaijan, Trend reports.

According to the decree, two million manat will be allocated from the reserve fund of President of Azerbaijan envisaged in the State Budget of Azerbaijan for 2024 to the Caucasus Muslims Office, 350,000 manat to the religious structure of Baku and Azerbaijan Diocese of Russian Orthodox Church, 350,000 manat to Baku religious community of Mountain Jews, 350,000 manat to Baku religious community of European Jews, 350,000 manat to the religious structure of the Apostolic Prefecture of the Catholic Church in Azerbaijan and 350,000 manat to the Albanian-Udi Christian Religious Community of Azerbaijan, as well as 350,000 manat to the Fund for Propaganda of Spiritual Values under the State Committee for Work with Religious Associations for material support of other non-Islamic religious communities.

The Ministry of Finance of Azerbaijan is entrusted to provide financing in the amount specified in Part 1 of this order.
In India, people who were worshipped as gods are those who somehow rose to that stature. For example, Ram is worshipped as a god. He rose to that stature because he was considered the best king. His administration was supposed to be the most compassionate and most just administration ever. And in many ways, the time of Ram became a kind of fulcrum to build this civilisation in these 6,000 years.

Even when Indias freedom struggle was happening in the early twentieth century, Mahatma Gandhi went on talking about creating a Ram Rajya. That means a kingdom where, irrespective of caste, creed, colour, or whatever else, everyone lives as equal human beings, and everyone has equal opportunity. Even now, in vernacular languages, when someone wants to refer to an ideal nation, he says Ram Rajya.

But there are arguments from some people these days that Ram is a male chauvinist who, because of his pride or insecurity, sent his wife back to the jungle. During the Youth and Truth campaign, in one of the premier educational institutions in the country, one young man asked me, The way Ram treated his wife, he brought her back from Sri Lanka and then sent her to the forest again  I think he was insecure about her being elsewhere for some time. I said, See, you definitely are not competent to be a psychiatrist for Ram. And 6,000 years later, you dont make these judgments.

If he was an ordinary man, you could question how he treated his wife, but he was a king. For Ram, his praja, or subjects, were most important. And he lived in a time when he was trying to establish the dharma of the land. Essentially, he was trying to make it a law-abiding population. The story goes that a dhobi was asking questions Your wife has been somewhere. How do we know the children that she is bearing are yours? What kind of queen mother is she? It was not just about a dhobi. When they used the term dhobi, they actually meant ordinary people.

If the king says, I dont care what you think, I love my wife, and keeps her, he would not be considered a good king. Sita was not just another woman for him. He walked 3,000 km and fought a battle for her. He was living for her, but still, he sent her back to the jungle when she was pregnant. A child is a big thing for any man, but for a king, it was especially important. Despite this, he placed the well-being of the people and the rule of law of the nation at that time above his personal love.

Do you want a leader for this nation who puts the people of this nation above their own family and personal love or do you want a Dhritarashtra  At any cost, my son? In that context, Ram should be the leader of the future for the world. We need people who think beyond their biology, their personal likes and dislikes, and their own sufferings and problems, and look at what is best for the people. That is what Ram and this culture signify  a sense of sacrifice. Essentially, dispassion when it comes to oneself, absolute passion when it comes to everyone around you  this is the only thing we value.

In Sanatana Dharma or the Hindu way of life, the only thing that is important is to become liberated  mukti, moksha, nirvana, whatever you want to call it  essentially, you must become free. So, when we see a human being who is liberated, we worship him. It is not only Ram  there have been many  but a king who is like this is a rare thing. There may be a sage sitting in the hills, but he is not available to the public, and he is not doing much activity. He is wonderful, but a king handling every kind of nonsense daily, fighting battles, managing the administration and doing politics, and yet fully liberated  this is a tremendous inspiration.

This is why we call him Maryada Purushottam, which means this man deserves everyones respect because he has risen. He was born as a human being and went through so much drama in life  much more than others  but he rose above that. He is like a sage but sits on a throne and runs the nation.

Ranked amongst the fifty most influential people in India, Sadhguru is a Yogi, mystic, visionary and a New York Times bestselling author. Sadhguru has been conferred the Padma Vibhushan by the Government of India in 2017, the highest annual civilian award, accorded for exceptional and distinguished service. He is also the founder of the worlds largest peoples movement, Conscious Planet  Save Soil, which has touched over 4 billion people. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18s views.
Former Bihar chief minister Lalu Prasad Yadavs relatives allegedly attacked a government officer in Patnas Rupaspur. Arvind Kumar Singh, who is an executive officer posted in Gaya, suffered a critical head injury after he was attacked with a rod by the sons of the veteran leaders nephew, police said.

Tanuj Yadav and his brother Nayan Yadav are the sons of Nagendra Yadav, who is the nephew of Lalu Prasad. The accused were allegedly in an inebriated state, and hit the officer with a rod. He was rushed to Delhi after he was referred by a private hospital in Patna.

The incident took place on the night of January 16 and an FIR was registered the next day. According to a formal complaint by the Arvind Kumar Singhs brother Vijay Kumar Singh, 15 to 20 people forced their vehicle to stop on Gola Road in Patna. When they got down, they were attacked and their car key was snatched, the complaint said.

The complaint further stated that Arvind suffered serious injuries on his back, head and eyes. The complainant alleged that all of them were drunk, flouting the liquor ban in the state.

Patna Police are searching for the accused and arrested one identified as Ranjan Yadav. The main accused, Tanuj and Nayan, are still on the run. Vijay said Tarun, while attacking his brother was constantly screaming and threatening that he was Lalu Yadavs grandson.

State BJP president Samrat Chaudhary hit out at the RJD and said: Now, the people of Lalus family have resorted to hooliganism. The entire government is being run by hooligans. What used to happen earlier under jungle raj is happening today.

Deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav, who is the Lalus younger son, said: Be it our family member or relative, action will be taken. I have called and asked to investigate and take action. As soon as I got the information, I spoke to the officer and asked for action. Strict action will be taken against anyone found guilty.

Calling the incident a return to jungle raj, senior BJP leader Amit Malviya said in a post on X: In a return to #JungleRaj in Bihar, Tanuj Yadav, a member of Lalu Prasads family, beat up Arvind Kumar Singh, an executive officer working with the state government. The incident happened in Patna. The officer has been referred to Delhi for treatment.
In a big blow to Rahul Gandhis Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra on its very first day in Assam, the state police of Jorhat district on Thursday registered a Suo moto case against the organisers of the rally for violating government guidelines regarding the yatra route. According to the police, the yatra led by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi took a non-charted route while it was crossing from Jorhat diverting from its assigned directions.

The sudden diversion in the rallys route caused disruption instigating the crowd to break the traffic barricades and assault cops on duty, the police said. The suo moto FIR also stated that the rally caused a stampede/riot like situation in the area. The organisers led by KB Byjiu were also accused of instigating the crowd with criminal conspiracy.

The police had lodged a case based on a complaint under sections 120(B)/115(II)/143/147/188/283/323/353 r/w section 3 of the PDPP Act.

The Nyay Yatra, which started from January 14 in Manipur, entered Assam on January 18 after traversing Nagaland. The rally is expected to move towards Majuli, the worlds largest inhabited river island on January 19.

Assam CM Issues Warning to Organisers of Nyay Yatra

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Thursday stated that if Rahul Gandhis Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra violates the state governments guidelines then strict action will be taken.

Two persons in the planning team of Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra in Assam intentionally violated the guidelines. They are planning to pass the rally through Guwahati, even BJP does not conduct its rallies through the capital city as it will create problem. If Congress forces to take the rally through Guwahati we will not stop them; instead, we will file a case, the Assam Chief Minister said while addressing media.

The Chief Minister further stated that the people of Assam will not join the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra. Only one particular community (hinting to the MIYANs or Bangladeshis) is interested in this yatra, he added.

Rahul Slams Assam Govt, Says CM Himanta Most Corrupt

Meanwhile, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on the first day of the Assam leg of Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra on Thursday claimed that the state perhaps has the most corrupt government and the most corrupt Chief Minister in the country.

Addressing a public gathering at Haloating in Sivasagar district, where the march entered Assam from Nagaland, the Congress scion slammed the ruling BJP and its ideologue Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) for allegedly spreading hatred and looting public money.

Corruption is rampant in Assam. We all know that perhaps the most corrupt Chief Minister in India is the Assam Chief Minister, he added.
RJD president Lalu Prasad on Friday called on ally Nitish Kumar, the chief minister of Bihar who also heads the JD(U), at his residence.

Prasad was accompanied by his son Tejashwi Yadav, the Deputy CM, who briefly spoke to journalists upon returning to their residence after the meeting, and asserted that rumours of a rift were divorced from ground reality.

I feel sorry when you people ask questions that seem so divorced from ground reality. Why is there so much curiosity about when seat-sharing was likely to be final in Mahagathbandhan? Has the BJP-led NDA sorted it out in its own camp? Nobody cares about that, said Yadav.

Notably, the leaders of the JD(U), a relatively new entrant to the Mahagathbandhan, have been calling for an expeditious seat-sharing deal, a suggestion which was rebuffed by the RJD supremo a couple of days ago.

Speculations are rife that the JD(U), which won 16 seats in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls that it fought as an NDA partner, would not agree to a lesser number this time while the RJD, which drew a blank, would insist on a lions share citing its superior numerical strength in the assembly.

Yadav was also asked about Union Home Minister Amit Shahs interview to a Hindi daily in which his response to a query on Kumar, who dumped the BJP less than two years ago, was being interpreted as an admission of doors not being shut on the JD(U) boss.

The young RJD leader replied sarcastically, I do not know. Maybe you people have better knowledge of what Amit Shah wanted to imply. Yadav, who is on the ED radar, and has skipped more than one summonses issued by the agency, said, We are running a government that will not be distracted from the agenda of working for the people. The RJD and the JD(U) are firmly together and will jointly contest the Lok Sabha polls to defeat the BJP. Kumar, an old BJP partner, had called off the alliance in August 2023, accusing the saffron party of trying to split the JD(U) and vowing to defeat the NDA in 2024 by bringing together the entire opposition.

He played a key role in INDIA blocs formation, and hosted the first meeting in Patna of leaders opposed to the BJP who agreed to huddle together burying past differences.

The longest-serving CM of the state took over as the JD(U) president recently, replacing close aide Rajiv Ranjan Singh Lalan who was rumoured to have grown too close to the RJD camp.

A few months ago, Kumar had chided the Congress for losing focus on INDIA out of its preoccupation with assembly polls in a few states.

Last week, he turned down the offer of conveners post in the INDIA bloc, asserting that he did not want a designation for himself and suggesting that the coalition should instead focus on better coordination among partners.

However, a key aide claiming to have witnessed what transpired at the coalitions virtual meeting, said Kumar was peeved at the offer as it came belatedly and seemed like an afterthought, without regard to his stature as the architect of the alliance.
That siblings Andhra Pradesh chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy and Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) president YS Sharmila purportedly avoided eye contact at a family event on Thursday has set political circles abuzz. The two leaders were present at the engagement function of YS Raja Reddy, son of YS Sharmila, with Atluri Priya, at Golconda Resorts in Gandipet, Telangana.

Jagan Mohan Reddy and his wife YS Bharathi Reddy reached the venue without much fanfare. While proceeding towards the would-be couple, he had a small chat with some relatives at the venue and also hugged a few of them. Later the CM and his wife conveyed their best wishes to the bride and the groom and also blessed them.

However, reports on social media suggest Jagan didnt have eye contact with his sister Sharmila when he met her at the venue. They added that the two exchanged a few courteous words but the earlier love and affection were missing during the interaction between the siblings.

#WATCH | Hyderabad (Telangana): Andhra Pradesh CM YS Jagan Mohan Reddy arrived at the engagement ceremony of Congress leader YS Sharmilas son YS Raja Reddy with Atluri Priya. (18.01)(Source: YS Sharmila office) pic.twitter.com/pjSHuCrBSw  ANI (@ANI) January 18, 2024

The family event came soon after YS Sharmila joining the Congress and becoming its state unit chief in Andhra Pradesh this month.

According to sources present at the engagement venue, Jagan and Sharmilas mother YS Vijayamma seemed extremely happy when her son hugged her with love and affection. At the same time, they said, her eyes reflected sadness perhaps because of the political differences that have cropped up between her two children.

Political analysts feel that the discord between the siblings will not go away soon. At the same, they expect the two to make a public show of camaraderie after seeing the sadness of their mother.

Jagan and Sharmila are the children of the late YS Rajasekhara Reddy, former chief minister of undivided Andhra Pradesh. After the death of his father in a 2009 helicopter crash, Jagan wanted to become the CM. But the Congress high command didnt consider his proposal and Jagan launched a new political outfit Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP) and contested in the 2014 assembly elections without any tie-ups.

His party faced defeat in the polls though his sister Sharmila and mother Vijayamma backed him and played a key role in the campaign. They did the same in the 2019 elections, and this time YS Jagan Mohan Reddy was victorious, becoming the chief minister of Andhra Pradesh for the first time.

According to YSRCP sources, disagreements cropped up between Sharmila and Jagan over various reasons including property disputes and no posts being offered to the former either in the party or the government.

Amid speculation of Jagan using her to disrupt Telangana politics, Sharmila tried to test the waters in the state by launching her own political outfit, Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Telangana Party (YSRTP). She zealously toured in the newly formed state on foot, mirroring her late father YS Rajasekhara Reddy who brought the Congress to power in 2004 after conducting a padayatra across then undivided Andhra Pradesh.

Sharmila tried to contest in the recent assembly elections in Telangana by taking other parties into confidence. However, no political party wanted to tie up with the YSRTP. She then decided to shift her political base to Andhra Pradesh.

Taking everyone by surprise and creating ripples in her brother Jagans party YSRCP, Sharmila met Karnataka state Congress president and deputy chief minister DK Shivakumar. She then met top Congress leaders in Delhi and merged YSRTP with the grand old party on January 4.

In a bid to give itself a new lease of life in Andhra Pradesh and keeping an eye on the upcoming Lok Sabha and assembly elections, the Congress high command appointed Sharmila the state unit president. The surprise move has widened the differences between Jagan and Sharmila. Now the stage is set for the siblings to battle each other in the upcoming elections.
Calling the idea of holding simultaneous elections as undemocratic and against the guarantees of federalism and the basic structure of the Constitution, Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge demanded dissolution of the high-powered committee formed to study it.

In a letter to the secretary of the committee on one nation, one election, he requested former president Ram Nath Kovind, who heads the panel, not to allow his persona and the office of the former president of India to be abused by the Union government to subvert the constitution and parliamentary democracy in this country.

The Indian National Congress is strongly opposed to the very idea of One Nation, One Election. For the sake of maintaining a thriving and a robust democracy, it is imperative that the entire idea must be abandoned and the high-powered committee dissolved, Kharge said in his letter to Niten Chandra, the secretary of the committee.

The letter is in response to Chandras letter on October 18 whereby he had invited suggestions for consideration of the committee.

He said the committee seems to have already made up its mind and seeking a consultation seems to be an eye wash.

The government, parliament and ECI should work together to ensure peoples mandate is respected rather than divert peoples attention by talking about undemocratic ideas like simultaneous elections, Kharge said.

He said that the composition of the committee is biased since the opposition parties, the leaders of the state governments that the committees recommendations would impact, were not given enough representation when the committee was constituted.

When the committee is headed by no less than the former President of India, it is distressing when even common voters feel the consultations of the committee are likely to be a pretence since minds have already been made up. Firm views in support of the proposal have already been expressed in public and a dispassionate analysis of pros and cons is not being attempted in a serious and systematic manner, the Congress chief said in his response.

He said the only times in the past ten years that the house has lost faith in the chief ministers have been in cases when a specific party has misused the resources available to it and twisted the anti-defection statute in order to steal the mandate of the people.

There is no place for the concept of simultaneous elections in a country that has adopted a Parliamentary system of government. Such forms of simultaneous elections that are being floated by the government go against the guarantees of federalism contained in the Constitution, Kharge asserted.

He said the government and this committee should have been honest in stating at the outset that what they are attempting goes against the basic structure of the Constitution and will require substantial changes to the basic structure to implement.

The holding of simultaneous elections would require the dissolution of several legislative assemblies which are still halfway (or less) through their terms. This would be a betrayal of the electorate in those states, the Congress chief claimed.

He said the chief minister or the prime minister holds office for as long as he or she enjoys the confidence of the house and if a chief minister loses confidence of the house and no other party is able to form a government.

But the Niti Aayog report says the state should be put under Presidents Rule till fresh elections can be synchronized, according to Kharge. This would be a travesty of democracy.

Kharge said he was amused to hear the argument that holding simultaneous elections will result in financial savings. The argument that cost of conducting elections are extremely high seems baseless.

He said the expenses on polls are less than 0.02 per cent of the total Union budget for the preceding five years. Noting that expenses for assembly elections may also be similar percentage of their state budgets, he said, We feel the people will be willing to consider this small amount as the cost of free and fair elections to uphold democracy.

He said expenditure on 2014 elections was Rs 3,870 crores which the committee claims is high.

If the committee, the government and ECI are serious about the expenditure made on elections, it would be more appropriate if they could make the funding process more transparent, especially in the matter of electoral bonds. This would truly empower the voter and increase voter awareness, he said.

He also said that the committee is relying on the Niti Aayog report, which is neither a constitutional nor a statutory body and the high level committee should not have referred to it.

This reinforces our concern that the committee seems to have already made up its mind and seeking a consultation seems to be an eye wash.

(with PTI inputs)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi took a jibe at Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah at an event held in Bengaluru on Friday, where both leaders shared the stage. As the PM was addressing the people, the crowd erupted into loud cheers saying Modi Modi.

PM Modi looked at CM Siddaramaiah and said Mukhyamantri ji aisa hota rehta hai (Chief Minister Ji, this keeps happening). The Congress leader was captured smiling uncomfortably and was seen scratching his head.

#WATCH | Mukhyamantri ji aisa hota rehta hai, says PM Narendra Modi to Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah as people chant Modi-Modi during the inauguration event of the new Boeing India Engineering & Technology Center campus in Bengaluru. pic.twitter.com/hrzWIUAyIJ ANI (@ANI) January 19, 2024

PM Modi and CM Siddaramaiah were attending the inauguration of Boeings new global engineering and technology campus in Bengaluru.

In the event, PM lauded the strides made by India in aviation and aerospace and the growing role of women in the sector, while asserting that the country will spur the global aviation market.

In his address after inaugurating aircraft maker Boeings new global engineering and technology centre campus near, he said women were leading in the aviation and aerospace sector, be it fighter or civil aircraft.

They constituted about 15 per cent of the total pilots in India, which was three times the global average. The time for women-led development has come, Modi said.

India, he said, has become the third major domestic aviation market in the world and, in a decade, the number of passengers will double. The UDAN scheme has played a vital role in enhancing the domestic aviation market, the PM said.

Due to the growing demand, airlines in India have ordered hundreds of aircraft. India is set to give new energy to the global aviation market he said.

Further, we gave priority to connectivity infrastructure making India a well connected market, Modi said. Taking a dig at the Congress, he said earlier India was unable to transform its potential into performance.

PM LAUNCHED BOEING SUKANYA PROGRAMME

The PM also launched the Boeing Sukanya Programme. The company said the initiative aims to support the entry of more girl children from across India into the countrys growing aviation sector.

The 43-acre state-of-the-art Boeing India Engineering and Technology Centre (BIETC) campus is the planemakers largest such investment outside the US, the company said. It has been built at a cost of Rs 1,600 crore.

BOEING SUKANYA PROGRAMME

The Boeing Sukanya programme will provide opportunities for girls and women from across India to learn critical skills in the science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) fields and train for jobs in the aviation sector, a company statement said.

For young girls, the programme will create STEM Labs at 150 planned locations to help spark interest in related careers.

It will also provide scholarships to women who are training to be pilots.

Investments will support flight training curriculum, obtaining certifications, funding for simulator training, and career development programmes, Boeing said.

(with PTI inputs)
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has publicly expressed his interest in creating Artificial General Intelligence, or AGI as it is more commonly referred to. This is a type of artificial intelligence that will surpass human intelligence across most domains. But unlike other companies, he intends to responsibly open source it and make it available to the public.

Announcing the same on Threads, Metas X (Twitter) rival, Zuckerberg said in a video that developing the best AI chatbots and assistants requires advances in AI and requires AGI. Its become clearer that the next generation of services requires building full general intelligence, Zuckerberg said. He added, Our long-term vision is to build general intelligence, open source it responsibly, and make it widely available so everyone can benefit.

Notably, this comes after companies, including OpenAI, Google, and Meta itself, are heavily investing in generative AI, continually exploring new ways to enhance their core functions by advancing the Large Language Models (LLMs) behind popular chatbots such as ChatGPT, Google Bard, and Meta AI. Recently, Google launched Gemini, its latest generation of the LLM family of models, comprising Gemini Ultra, Gemini Pro, and Gemini Nano. Meta, too, has introduced its new Llama 2 LLM, which is now contributing to real-world use cases like the Meta AI chatbot and the Ray-Ban Meta smartglasses.

Meta, in particular, is making big moves by bringing its AI research teams closer together. It is also building new infrastructure to house about 3,50,000 H100 GPUs from Nvidia that it plans to have by the end of the year.

What Is Artificial General Intelligence?

Many industry experts and AI scientists have expressed concern about AGI and how runaway superintelligence could be harmful to humanity. For example, before Sam Altman was fired from his position as CEO by the OpenAI board, staff researchers at the company wrote a letter to the board of directors expressing concerns that a powerful artificial intelligence discovery could threaten humanity, Reuters reported.

But what really is AGI, you ask? Well, for starters, it would have the ability to come up with a new solution to a task it is unfamiliar withfinding a solution, if you willmuch like a human would. These systems are said to possess a complete understanding of how computing works, but as of now, no company has been able to create AGI just yet.

OpenAI, Metas rival in the generative AI space, notes that If AGI is successfully created, this technology could help us elevate humanity by increasing abundance, turbocharging the global economy, and aiding in the discovery of new scientific knowledge that changes the limits of possibility, but at the very same time, AGI would also come with serious risk of misuse, drastic accidents, and societal disruption.
Samsung announced its new Galaxy AI with the Galaxy S24 series this week and now reports suggest the company will ensure that more users get a taste of its AI smartness. The Galaxy S24, S24 Plus and the S24 Ultra are confirmed to get the new AI features that includes live translation, AI summarising tool and photo editing chops. But there are older Samsung devices waiting in the wings to get their share of AI.

It has been pointed out that Samsung will be offering the Galaxy AI to those using the Galaxy S23 series, which includes the Galaxy S23 FE model. In addition to these, you can expect the foldables to get AI and so will come to tablets from the brand. Heres the full list of devices from Samsung that will be getting the Galaxy AI suite.

Samsung Galaxy S23

Samsung Galaxy S23 Plus

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5

Samsung Galaxy Tab S9

Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra

The list clearly shows that Samsung sees the value in bringing AI especially to the devices that also have an AI-ready chip in the form of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. Similarly, you have the foldables from the company and the premium Tab S9 tablet lineup also added into the mix for AI goodies. Samsung has also confirmed the big news of 7 years of OS upgrades and security updates starting with the Galaxy S24 lineup.

The company has also talked about supporting on-device AI processing, for which, it has partnered with Google for its Gemini large language model to build the AI capabilities into the Galaxy AI ecosystem.
The Mumbai metro has evolved beyond being just a means of travel like the Delhi metro. From PDA to impromptu fight scenes, it has become a hotspot that grabs the attention of viewers online. Now, joining the bandwagon is another viral video of a young man engaged in a fierce altercation with some commuters in Mumbai metro. Needless to say, the clip is making waves on the internet garnering much attention.

In the now-viral video, a man can be seen engaging in a heated argument with several commuters inside the tube. Despite the intervention of a bystander attempting to calm the situation, the brawl continues. The young man can be heard bragging about his background while engaging in a furious verbal exchange with the commuters.

The clip was shared by a popular X account with the caption, Kalesh between a Chhapri guy and Other passengers inside Mumbai Metro over Push and Shove.

Have a look at the viral video here:

Kalesh b/w a Chhapri guy and Other passengers inside Mumbai Metro over Push and Shovepic.twitter.com/pvF7UCaoXj Ghar Ke Kalesh (@gharkekalesh) January 19, 2024

Within hours of being shared, the video has garnered over 944,000 views and a plethora of reactions from users. Some called such fights a common occurrence in Delhi Metro and Mumbai locals, with some expressing that this brawl was peaceful as compared to the ones among Delhiites.

Mumbai is full of such guys. Pathetic, commented a user.

Mumbai is full of such guys.Pathetic. Abhishek Ojha (@vicharabhio) January 19, 2024

Adding a touch of humour to the situation, another person wrote, Ye toh roz ka hogya hai ab. Parso flight m thaa, kal train m aur aaj metro m (This is a daily occurrence now. Such instances occurred on the flight the day before yesterday, then on the train and today in the metro).

Ye toh roz ka hogya hai ab. Parso flight m thaa, kal train m aur aaj metro m  VikRant7 (@Vik_Rant07) January 19, 2024

An individual said, When Delhi people come to Mumbai and say such things like it will be okay.

When Delhi people comes to Mumbai and says such things like it will be okay  Saurabh (@saurab_N) January 19, 2024

Agar TC nahi hota to aaj pakka ambulance se ghar jana padta is chhapri ko (If that TC were not present, this chappri would definitely have had to go home in an ambulance today, another account remarked.

Agar tc nahi hota to aaj pakka ambulance se ghar jana padta is chhapri ko  Darsh Kokate (@DarshKokate) January 19, 2024

Drawing a comparison with fights inside Delhi metro, an individual commented, Very peaceful compared to Delhi fights!!

Very peaceful compared to Delhi fights!! AssistKing (@AritraRoy6) January 19, 2024

Someone chimed in to correct the X user, saying, Ye Mumbai local hai metro nhi (This is Mumbai local, not metro.)

Ye Mumbai local hai metro nhi V.S (@vishal070393) January 19, 2024

Videos of verbal and physical altercations from Mumbai local trains and Delhi Metro have become quite common these days. Have you ever come across such a fight?
BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 19. Azerbaijan has handed over the chairmanship of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) to Uganda, said the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry, Trend reports.

Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov attended the 19th summit of the NAM Heads of State and Government in the capital of Uganda, Kampala.

"A detailed report was presented at the 19th Summit of Heads of State and Government of NAM. Azerbaijan is committed to contributing to further strengthening and development of NAM within the framework of the Non-Aligned Movement Troika," the ministry said in a statement.

The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) is a forum of 120 countries that are not formally aligned with or against any major power bloc. After the United Nations, it is the largest grouping of states worldwide.

The Non-Aligned Movement espouses policies and practices of cooperation, especially those that are multilateral and provide mutual benefit to all those involved.
Originally considered ordinary blue-and-white pottery, a ginger jar, absent its lid, was revealed as a 300-year-old Chinese gem. The 9-inch ceramic pot surfaced among various items exhibited in an Oxfordshire farmhouse, catching the attention of Paul Fox, a valuer at Hanson Holloways Auctioneers in Banbury, amid a display of Copeland- and Staffordshire-made plates and bowls, as reported by SWNS.

Intrigued by its vibrant blue hue, Fox expressed interest, seeking permission to conduct further research on the ginger jar. The owner, unidentified, had placed the jar alongside less valuable bowls and plates, assuming it held no significant worth.

Specialists have officially verified that the ginger jar was crafted during the reign of Emperor Kangxi, who governed China from 1661 to 1722.

Anticipated to be auctioned for $1,200 to $1,900 (Rs 99,000 To Rs 1.5 Lakh) at Hanson Holloways next month, the 17th-century piece, adorned with cobalt blue paint and floral motifs amidst leafy scrollwork, was initially overlooked by its owner. Notably, Hansons Asian consultant, Adam Schoon, recognized the inky-blue design as indicative of the Kangxi period, contributing his expertise to the valuation.

Schoon expressed his pleasure in examining the jar, predicting its success at auction, especially with collectors from the Far East eager to repatriate such items. Fox referred to it as a remarkable farmhouse find, highlighting the thriving era of blue-and-white ceramics during Kangxis reign.

He suggested the popularity of blue-and-white ceramics in China, noting that King William III of England even housed a substantial collection at Hampton Court Palace. Fox added that in Chinese culture, the colour blue holds deep significance, symbolising growth, and advancement, and representing the element of wood. Kingfisher Blue, in particular, held great appeal to the Chinese court and the Emperor himself.

The Chinese ginger jar is set to be auctioned at Hanson Holloways Banbury Fine Art and Antiques auction on Feb 3. Fox encourages individuals to reassess their antiques and heirlooms, emphasizing the importance of getting items valued. He stressed that many people may have valuable objects tucked away, possibly inherited, without realizing their worth. Fox pointed out that the ginger jars unexpected value came as a pleasant surprise to the owner, who initially regarded it as just another piece of blue-and-white pottery.
Ahead of the inauguration of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh, images purportedly showing Rs 500 banknotes featuring Lord Ram replacing Mahatma Gandhi have surfaced online. Earlier, rumours were circulating that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) would release these notes on January 22, aligning with the grand consecration ceremony of the Ram Temple. However, its important to note that these rumours have been debunked, and there is no factual basis for the issuance of such notes.

The fake notes feature Ayodhyas Ram Mandir in place of the Red Fort, and an image of a bow and an arrow. Originally shared by an X user named Raghun Murthy on January 14, 2024, the images gained traction, and fake claims were circulated all over the internet. Realising the consequence, the user clarified all the rumours, urging people to not misuse his creative work to spread misinformation.

Edited by my friend @raghunmurthy07, this piece is a product of creativity and not intended to be presented as notes. Please refrain from spreading misinformation. https://t.co/9yazUKOWsW Divya Kamat (@divi_tatatal) January 16, 2024

Taking to his X handle, the user wrote, Someone has misused my creative work to spread misinformation on Twitter. I want to clarify that I do not support or own any of the misinformation they have attributed to my work. Its important to me that my creativity is not misrepresented in any way.

Another X user quoted a post on the banknotes with the viral claim and mentioned, Edited by my friend @raghunmurthy07, this piece is a product of creativity and not intended to be presented as notes. Please refrain from spreading misinformation.

Someone has misused my creative work to spread misinformation on Twitter. I want to clarify that I do not support or own any of the misinformation they have attributed to my work. It's important to me that my creativity is not misrepresented in any way. #misinformation pic.twitter.com/sHEmTlnR0m wHatNext  (@raghunmurthy07) January 17, 2024

While the statement is enough to refute the claims, upon close examination, one can easily spot several discrepancies that further assert that the images are digitally altered. From the areas around the images of Lord Rama and the temple being blurry to the watermark of X Raghunmurthy 07 near the bottom left corner of the notes, all these indicate the manipulation of the image.

Furthermore, it is important to note that the official website of the Reserve Bank of India does not contain any formal details or updates pertaining to the viral claim in question.
A 21-year-old university student, Niamh Hearn, went to the hospital for what she thought was a routine appendix operation but left with an unexpected addition to her life  a newborn baby. Niamh, who was pursuing a foundation degree in drama at University Centre Leeds, claims she had no inkling about her pregnancy and was astonished when doctors informed her that she was in labour.

Expressing her disbelief, Niamh mentioned that she had attributed any changes in her body to simply getting a bit fat due to regular drinking during her university days. The incident, which occurred in 2022, has recently gained viral attention. Niamh gave birth to a healthy baby boy named Liam, arriving two weeks earlier than expected and weighing six pounds.

Niamh, now 21, confessed to smoking and drinking almost every night throughout her pregnancy, even attending a three-day festival just two weeks before giving birth. Despite her initial shock and worry about the potential harm caused by her lifestyle choices, doctors reassured her that Liam was born perfectly healthy.

Reflecting on her habits during pregnancy, Niamh admitted, It was such a relief hearing he was healthy. I was drinking pretty much every night at uni. We were going out at like 6 pm and not getting back until 2 am, drinking all night, as shared with media outlet The Sun. Notably, she had ended her relationship with the babys father four months before Liams arrival, whom she had met at a party.

Photos of Niamh during her pregnancy, showcasing a seemingly flat stomach even at six months, have gone viral. Niamh recounted waking up one morning with crippling stomach pain, initially thinking it was related to her period. Concerned, she reached out to her Nanna, who advised her to call 111. Initially suspected as appendicitis, the situation took an unexpected turn.

Grateful for the support of her family, Niamh emphasised the importance of their assistance throughout the unexpected journey. Now 17 months old, Liam serves as a living testament to the surprising twists life can take.
There are currently two battle theatres in West Asia which threaten peace in the region and can turn into a larger conflict if not contained. The first theatre is being Gaza where Hamas October 7 attacks led to the war between Israel and Hamas and the second theatre is the Pakistan-Iran where both sides are blaming each other for the other sides failure to check the growth of separatist militants on each others soil.

Iran struck Pakistan earlier this week for failing to contain Sunni terrorist group Jaish-al Adl, claiming it is carrying out anti-Iranian activities from Pakistani soil and Pakistan replied back by launching an intelligence-based operation code-named Marg Bar Sarmachar where it claims to have killed a few terrorists when Pakistan Air Force struck Baloch separatist camps inside Iran.

Iran is under huge pressure as both US and Israel are ready to take on the West Asian nation for its role in the Hamas attacks and its active support for the Palestinian outfit. The US is angered with Iran for its support to the Yemens Houthis and the Lebanons Hezbollah, while Israel has warned if outside support continues for Hezbollah it will not hesitate to take the war to Lebanon.

The Kerman blasts concerned Iran and after the Islamic State (ISIS) claimed to have carried out the attacks, Tehran struck zones in north Syria in a bid to wipe out ISIS bases. Iran also struck Iraqs Erbil claiming that the Kurd-populated region was housing the regional headquarters of Mossad.

The third attack was on Pakistan, in areas that were used by Jaish-al-Adl. The attack startled Pakistan and before the elections it forced the Pakistan Army to launch an attack because it did not want to look weak in front the electorate.

How It Impacts India

The Houthi attacks on global shipping and the war in Gaza have brought both economic and political concerns for many countries including India.

The Houthi attacks on shipping containers is affecting global trade and shipping and will soon affect many nations and force nations like the US and the UK and partners of the Guardian Prosperity coalition to intensify their engagement with Yemen and in turn with Iran.

India has kept channels of communication open and is speaking to leadership in Israel and Palestine, as Indias permanent representative to the UN Ruchira Kamboj said earlier this month. India has also sent humanitarian aid for the Palestinian civilians caught in the war.

A report by the Hindustan Times said that Tehran told Union external affairs minister S Jaishankar during his visit to Iran that it exercises no to very less control over Houthis.

The report highlighted that it will become a bit clearer why Tehran decided to strike locations inside Pakistan when the Iranian national security advisor visits India either this month or early February.

Jaish-al-Adls attacks on Iran also go on to show that India was right in highlighting to the global community about how Pakistan is a safe haven for terrorism for decades and it not only impacts India but also other nations in the region.

This may help the global community to shift its focus back to Pakistan and terror networks that have made the country its home. Global regulatory agencies could push Pakistan to act more harshly on terror financing which hopefully will deter the bad actors from funding terrorism in the region.

American and security officials from western European nation like France and the UK, however, have told media outlets based there that Iranians are backing Houthis, Hezbollah and Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and several other regional outfits who together form the so-called Axis of Resistance.

India also initiated conversations with Saudi Arabia and the UAE along with Iran. It has also discussed regional developments with Russia when Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier this month.

Indias engagement with West Asian powers, Russia, Israel and the US and Europe shows that it is in a position to convey to these leaders that peace can be given a chance in the region and stop the conflict from widening.
Indias High Commissioner to Ottawa, Sanjay Kumar Verma, has said that India is open to assisting in the investigation of gangs linked to extortion targeting Indo-Canadians. However, formal requests from Ottawa, along with evidence, are necessary. The remarks came as police in Edmonton, Alberta, revealed their belief that 27 crimes, including extortions, were orchestrated from India.

Canadians are yet to request, with evidence, he was quoted as saying by The Hindustan Times. If specific and relevant evidence  not merely unsubstantiated allegations  are shared with us, pointing to links between Canadian extortionists and Indian gangsters, we shall act accordingly, he added.

Police in Canada are probing a series of extortions and related crimes that involve criminals in Edmonton, Alberta, targeting South Asian people. In what Edmonton Police described as a new trend in Canada, victims typically receive a WhatsApp message along with a request for compensation for the victims safety.

Read More: Justin Trudeau Govt Urged to Combat Rising Extortion Threats Against Indo-Canadians

There have been similar incidents reported in British Columbia and Ontario, though police said there was no evidence to suggest those incidents are related to the ones in the Edmonton area. Police said they so far have reports of 27 incidents between October and January, including extortions, arson, and drive-by shootings. At this time, we believe the series has been committed by a group of local individuals being directed by a suspect in India, Edmonton police inspector Lance Parker told reporters.

Police have arrested six young males in connection with the arson and firearms offenses, Parker said. No injuries have been reported from the shootings, though a firefighter was injured in one of the arsons, and at least USD 6.7 million in property damage had been recorded. This comes as diplomatic ties between India and Canada have frayed in recent months over Canadas allegations linking Indian agents to the murder of Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia last year. India has rejected that allegation and asked Canada to furnish proof.

Two big-city Canadian mayors recently urged Justin Trudeaus government to help create a multi-jurisdictional strategy to combat rising extortion threats toward businesses. In a letter sent to the public safety minister, the mayors of Brampton, and Surrey say they are deeply concerned for their communities due to the threats.

These incidents have instilled fear in our communities and highlight the urgent need for a coordinated response involving multiple jurisdictions, said the letter signed by Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown and Surrey Mayor Brenda Locke, according to The Toronto Star newspaper. We urge your ministry to recognize the inter-jurisdictional nature of these threats and to spearhead a co-ordinated response that ensures the safety and security of all affected communities across Canada, they added.

(With agency inputs)
Iran on Friday said that it carried out an air defence drill using drones designed to intercept hostile targets in its coastal areas, amid heightened tensions in the region.

This comes a day after Pakistan launched air strikes against what it said were militants inside Iran in a retaliatory attack after Tehran said it struck the bases of another group within Pakistani territory. The strikes were cross-border intrusions in recent years and have raised alarm over wider instability in the Middle East since the start of the Israel-Hamas war.

Iranian forces have successfully launched a new air defence method that uses drones to intercept and target hostile targets, state-run Press TV quoted an Iranian army spokesman as saying. The two-day drills, which began on Thursday, cover an area from Abadan in southwestern Khuzestan province to Chahbahar in southeastern Sistan and Baluchistan province that borders Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Security review

On the other side of Irans border, Pakistans top civilian and military leaders are planning to carry out a security review today on the standoff with Iran. Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar ul Haq Kakar will chair a meeting of the National Security Committee, with all the military services chiefs in attendance, the information minister, Murtaza Solangi, told Reuters by telephone.

The review aims at a broad national security review in the aftermath of the Iran-Pakistan incidents, Solangi said. PM Kakar cut short a visit to the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos and flew home on Thursday. Meanwhile, Beijing has said it was willing to mediate tensions between the two neighbours. China is a close partner of both nations, who enjoy extensive military and economic ties with Beijing and play important roles in its geopolitical ambitions.

Iran and Pakistan have a history of rocky ties but both have signalled a desire to cool tensions in the wake of this weeks strikes, that happened against the backdrop of the war in Gaza. Iran has also launched strikes on Syria against what it said were Islamic State sites, and Iraq, where it said it had struck an Israeli espionage centre.

(With agency inputs)
From being on the verge of a full-scale conflict to a likely de-escalation now, there have been dramatic developments in the Pakistan-Iran situation in the last 24-hours. The tense situation is all set to de-escalate as the two countries are likely to restore their diplomatic ties.

According to sources, Islamabad will reverse its decision of recalling its envoy from Tehran. After China, Saudi Arabia and the UAE intervened, Pakistan and Iran agreed to de-escalate. CNN-News18 had already reported that backchannels are working and the situation will not worsen from this point.

The two countries traded deadly airstrikes on militant targets in each others territory this week. On January 16, Iran conducted surgical strikes in Pakistans Balochistan province. Islamabad retaliated two days later on January 18 with seven strikes in Irans Sistan province.

The rare military actions in the porous border region of Balochistan  split between the two countries  had stoked regional tensions already enflamed by the Israel-Hamas war.

Pakistan had earlier recalled its ambassador from Tehran and said Irans envoy  on a visit home  was blocked from returning to Islamabad. The United Nations and the US had appealed for restraint, while China had offered to mediate.

Analysts say de-escalation was expected

The muted rhetoric has matched analysts predictions that both sides will seek to defuse the confrontation. The upshot of the new situation is that the two countries are seemingly and symbolically even," Antoine Levesques of the International Institute for Strategic Studies told AFP.

On Friday, Pakistani Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar held an emergency security meeting with military and intelligence chiefs. He cut short his visit to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland following the strikes. His caretaker government is leading Pakistan into general elections in three weeks, which have been marred by allegations of pre-poll rigging.

Tehran and Islamabad have both said they hit their own domestic militants sheltering on foreign territory. A collective death toll of 11  mostly women and children  was reported from both sides of the border that bisects an arid region where militant movements have simmered for decades.

Border closure fears

In the remote villages near the strike site in Panjgur district, where mobile signal is rarely available, farmers pieced together the events from reports passed on from visiting security officials who set up checkpoints in the area.

Helicopters were flying overhead and going in the direction of where the Iranian strike hit, but we didnt know what had happened," 42-year-old Maulana Mohammad Sadiq, the prayer leader of a small seminary around 5 km from where a missile hit, told AFP on Thursday (January 18).

Village residents feared that deteriorating relations between the two sides could lead to border closures and cut off residents from Iranian trade, which the area relies on for employment and food imports. If Iranians close the border, the people will starve and it will cause more militancy because youth will join the separatist organisations," said 55-year-old Haji Mohammad Islam.

Baloch separatists have been waging a low-level insurgency against Pakistani authorities from the largely ungoverned, impoverished region fighting for a better share of mineral resources. Rights groups said the militarys crackdown on the insurgency has included widespread enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings. Militancy has also risen sharply along Pakistans border with Afghanistan further north, after the Talibans return to power there in 2021.

(With agency inputs)
War cabinet minister Gadi Eisenkot appeared to criticise Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus handling of the ongoing conflict with Hamas in Gaza, raising concerns about the strategy for releasing hostages held in the region.

If reports are to be believed, rifts are emerging among top Israeli officials over the war against Hamas, now in its fourth month. Only a cease-fire deal can win the release of dozens of hostages and claims they could be freed by other means was spreading illusions, said former army chief Eisenkot, one of four members of the War Cabinet.

Eisenkots comments late Thursday were the latest sign of disagreement among political and military leaders over the direction of Israels military campaign. Triggered by the deadly Oct. 7 Hamas attack that killed about 1,200 people and saw about 250 others taken hostage, the Israeli assault has pulverised much of the Gaza Strip. Israel has said more than 130 hostages remain in Gaza, but not all of them are believed to be alive.

Israels offensive, one of the deadliest and most destructive military campaigns in recent history, has killed nearly 25,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities. Israel has also cut off all but a trickle of supplies into the besieged Gaza Strip, including food, water and fuel. Both the US and the UN have said more aid needs to be delivered.

The interview with Eisenkot aired hours after Netanyahu rejected the idea of holding elections in the middle of a war and promised to bring complete victory over Hamas. Whoever speaks of absolute defeat is not speaking the truth, Eisenkot said in the interview, according to The Times of Israel. That is why we should not tell stories Today, the situation already in the Gaza Strip is such that the goals of the war have not yet been achieved.

Eisenkot, whose son was killed in December in Gaza, told Israels Channel 12 television station that the hostages will only return alive if there is a deal, linked to a significant pause in fighting. The former army chief said dramatic rescue operations are unlikely because the hostages are apparently spread out, many of them in underground tunnels. Claiming hostages can be freed by means other than a deal is to spread illusions, he said.

In a veiled criticism of Netanyahu, Eisenkot also said strategic decisions about the wars direction must be made urgently, and that a discussion about an endgame should have begun immediately after the war began. We havent yet reached a strategic achievement, or rather only partially, Eisenkot said. We did not bring down Hamas.

The former army chief said he is examining every day whether he should remain in the War Cabinet, which includes Netanyahu, Gallant and former Defense Minister Benny Gantz. Eisenkot is a member of parliament in the opposition National Unity alliance headed by Gantz. Both joined Netanyahu to help lead the war. I know what my red line is, Eisenkot said when asked at what point he would quit. Its connected to the hostages, that is one of the objectives, but its also connected to the way in which we need to run this war.

(With agency inputs)
The US Congress has adopted a resolution recognising the substantial contributions made by Indian Americans, specifically graduates from the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) to American society. It was adopted during the 118th session of the House of Representatives on January 10.

The resolution, introduced by Indian American lawmaker S Raja Krishnamoorthi, highlights the noteworthy impact of the Indian-American community and IIT alumni across several professions and disciplines. Stressing the enriching presence of Indian Americans, the resolution underlines the valuable contributions made by the diaspora, saying that their involvement deeply enhances the country.

it is the sense of the House of Representatives to (1) recognize the valuable and significant contributions of Indian Americans to American society; (2) honor the technology, scientific, and economic innovation attributable to graduates of the Indian Institutes of Technology; and (3) urge all Americans to recognize the contributions of Indian Americans and to appreciate the role Indian Americans have played in helping to advance and enrich American society, the resolution read.

It referred to a joint statement in June, where US President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Narendra Modi affirmed a shared vision of the US and India as among the closest partners globally. It also underlined how both countries have affirmed that technology will play a defining role in deepening the partnership between these two democracies in the 21st century. The resolution stated that IIT graduates are highly committed and dedicated to research, innovation, and the promotion of trade and international cooperation between India and the United States.

This comes as the number of international students from India to the United States has increased by 35 percent between the years 2021-22 and 2022-23. India has surpassed China to become the largest source of international graduate students in the US for the first time since 2009/10, according to the Open Doors Report (ODR) released by the US Embassy last November.

The number of Indian graduate students has increased by 63 percent to 165,936 students, the report said. This is an increase of nearly 64,000 students, compared to last year. Indian undergraduate students also increased by 16 percent. Indian students constitute more than 25 percent of the over one million foreign students studying in the United States.
Al-Israa University in Gaza said on Thursday that the Israeli military blew up its main campus amid the ongoing war in the Palestinian territory. Video footage circulating online, showed the complex of buildings, about 8 kilometers south of Gaza City, being blown up in what appeared to be a controlled explosion.

In the video, apparently taken by a drone, the extent of destruction could not be seen. The university, a private institution founded in 2014, said in a statement that its main buildings for graduate studies and bachelors colleges were destroyed, The Associated Press reported. The university said Israeli forces seized the complex 70 days ago and used it as a base.

This is Palestine University in Gaza. Hamas turned it into one of its headquarters solely dedicated to weapons research and production.It is no more pic.twitter.com/4jC83DJh9D  Dr. Eli David (@DrEliDavid) January 18, 2024

390 schools, universities destroyed

It was unclear when the explosion took place and the Israeli army had no immediate comment. But Hamas claims that Israeli forces have destroyed more than 390 schools, universities and educational institutions across Gaza since launching their campaign following the militants October 7 attack on southern Israel. Meanwhile, the Israeli side argues that Hamas continues to operate from civilian infrastructure.

During a press conference on Thursday, a State Department Spokesperson was asked if Israa University was a legitimate target. To this, spokesperson Matthew Miller said, I dont have independent information to verify that. But I can say that we continue to urge Israel to avoid damage to critical infrastructure  that would, of course, include universities  and to ensure the protection of humanitarian and medical sites.

The journalist again pressed the State Department spokesman, asking if the Government of Israel is paying heed to what Washington tells them. Miller said, We have seen them take some steps to add civilian infrastructure to deconfliction sites. There are other things that we have urged them to do that we want them to do better on. It is an ongoing conversation between our two governments.

But again, there is also this problem that Hamas does continue to hide in and under civilian infrastructure. So, when you see a strike against any one civilian  piece of civilian infrastructure, to assess the validity of that strike you have to know what it is that was there, and we dont always know that when, he added.

(With agency inputs)
BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 19. Commissioner for Human Rights (Ombudsperson) of the Republic of Azerbaijan Sabina Aliyeva made a statement on the occasion of the 34th anniversary of the January 20 tragedy, Trend reports.

The statement reads : It has been 34 years since the January 20 tragedy, which is remembered as one of the darkest chapters in Azerbaijani history. The Soviet troops who stormed Baku on the night of January 19-20, 1990, carried out a terrible slaughter of people protesting the previous Soviet leadership's blatant backing for Armenia's aggressive policy. As a result of this terrorist act, which will go down in history as one of the most heinous crimes against humanity, 150 civilians, including women, children, and the elderly, were killed in Baku and numerous districts of Azerbaijan, 744 people were injured, and 841 people were illegally imprisoned.

"Despite numerous appeals to international organizations and the world community, a legal assessment of this crime against humanity has not yet been given, the perpetrators of this bloody crime have not been brought to justice. As Commissioner for Human Rights of the Republic of Azerbaijan, I urge international organizations to give a legal assessment of this brutal crime committed against the civilian population and resulting in gross violations of human rights, to take decisive steps to bring the perpetrators to justice," the statement says.

Stay up to date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
Passengers aboard an AirAsia Thailand flight which took off from Bangkok for Phuket were in panic after they spotted a live snake in an overhead luggage bin last week. On January 13, passengers aboard flight FD3015 which departed Mueang International Airport in Bangkok earlier in the day found the reptile slithering in the overhead cabin. The video of the incident went viral and a flight attendant was seen trying to capture the snake with a water bottle and later switched to a garbage bag.

Passengers on an Air Asia plane flying from #Bangkok to Phuket found a #snake in the cabin crawling along the overhead bin. pic.twitter.com/YrfhDHyuhu Arthur Morgan (@ArthurM40330824) January 18, 2024

AirAsia Thailand in a statement said it was aware of the incident aboard FD3015. The airlines head of corporate safety Phol Poompuang said the sighting was a a very rare incident and added that flight attendants are well trained to handle such incidents.

He further added that passengers seated in and around that area were relocated as a precautionary measure and the landing completed without incident. Once it landed, engineering and safety teams inspected the flight and carried out a deep clean operation and fumigated the flight before resuming operations.

Flight attendants were notified before landing in Phuket after a passenger noticed a small snake in the overhead luggage compartment. AirAsia crew were well trained to handle an occurrence of this nature and relocated passengers from the area as a precautionary measure, Phol told US-based news broadcaster CNN.

As per standard procedure for an incident of this nature, the aircraft underwent a deep clean and fumigation before resuming operations. The safety and wellbeing of our guests and crew is always our top priority and at no time was the safety of guests or crew at any risk, he further added.

Authorities have not yet found out what type of snake was found on the plane. It remains unclear if it was venomous or non-venomous. The airlines also did not mention what happened to the snake after the flight landed in Phuket.

This is the second time a snake was found onboard an AirAsia plane. The last time a similar incident occurred was in 2022 when a python was spotted onboard a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Sabah. The crew had to re-route the flight to Kuching International Airport in the state of Sarawak because of the snake.
Supporters of a jailed rights activist staged a protest on Friday in the capital of Russias Bashkortostan republic and police detained at least seven people, according to media reports.

Hundreds gathered in the city of Ufa in defiance of the regions leader, Radiy Khabirov, who has warned extremists. A Russian-language outlet published a video showing police warning people through a loudhailer that they would be arrested if they took part in a gathering.

Another video from #Ufa, #Bashkortostan republic, #Russia, where some 1,000 people joined a #protest rally in support of imprisoned activist Fail Alsynov; police are reportedly detaining protesters.pic.twitter.com/sGmPSVesxm  Alex Kokcharov (@AlexKokcharov) January 19, 2024

The video showed one woman being led away by police despite remonstrations from people nearby. Police linked arms in a human chain to clear the way for a bus carrying detained people in the southern Ural mountains near the border between Europe and Asia, which is one of more than 80 republics and regions that make up the Russian Federation.

This was the third protest this week, but the first in the regional capital, in support of minority rights activist Fail Alsynov, who was sentenced on Wednesday to four years in a penal colony on charges of stirring ethnic hatred, which he denied, according to news agency Reuters.

In Baymak, #Bashkortostan republic, #Russia, there are escalating scuffles with the police taking place at a #protest rally.Protesters demand the release of the ethnic Bashkir activist Fail Alsynov who was sentenced to 4 years in prison earlier today: pic.twitter.com/ACBwvzSHaF  Alex Kokcharov (@AlexKokcharov) January 17, 2024

Who is Fail Alsynov?

Alsynov, 37, is regarded as a hero by many of the regions ethnic Bashkir people for campaigning on behalf of their language, culture and rights. He led successful protests in 2020 to prevent the start of mining operations on a hill that Bashkir people consider sacred.

Last year Alsynov spoke out against the recruitment of ethnic Bashkirs to fight for Russia in Ukraine, saying this is not our war. Public protests in Russia are very rare given the risk of arrest, especially since the start of the war. The timing is all the more sensitive given that President Vladimir Putin is standing for a new six-year term in March.

(With agency inputs)
US President Joe Biden on Thursday said rival Iran is not well-liked in the region, blaming it for creating new tensions by carrying out missile strikes in Pakistan targeting Sunni militants who have attacked Iranian armed forces along the Iran-Pakistan border.

As you can see Iran is not particularly well liked in the region and where that goes, were working on now. I dont know where that goes, Biden said while speaking to reporters in Washington. White House national security spokesperson John Kirby told reporters on Air Force One as Biden flew to North Carolina that Washington is monitoring the Iran-Pakistan clashes closely.

We dont want to see an escalation clearly in South and Central Asia. And were in touch with our Pakistani counterparts, Kirby said.

Iran struck targets that it claimed to be headquarters of Jaish-al-Adl this week. The group has been designated a terrorist group by the US, New Zealand and Japan along with Iran but Iran on several occasions has claimed that the US is backing Pakistan-based Jaish-al-Adl.

A report by Foreign Policy from 2012 claims that during the tenure of former US president George W. Bush Israeli Mossad officers recruited members of the terrorist group Jundallah by posing as American agents, utilising US passports and funds. .

The memos, investigated by US intelligence officials, debunked previous accusations of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) covertly supporting Jundallah, clarifying the involvement of Israeli operatives in a false flag operation.

Mossad officers posing as CIA operatives met with Jundallah officials in London.

Jundallah is known for its extremist activities, including assassinations and attacks on Iranian officials and civilians and is the mother organisation from where splinter group Jaish-al-Adl broke away from a few years ago.

Iran has also blamed Saudi Arabia, its regional rival, for backing Jaish-al-Adl.

Iran believes that Saudi Arabia, US and Pakistan continue to back the group to deter it from backing the Iran-backed axis of resistance consisting of Palestinian terrorist group Hamas, Lebanese Hezbollah and Yemeni Houthi militants. It believes that these nations are working together to shift Irans focus from what is happening in the Gaza Strip.

The US wants to corner Iran over the Houthi attacks on international shipping in the Red Sea and is angered that it carried out airstrikes on Iraq this week claiming that it was an Israeli espionage centre in Iraqs semi-autonomous Kurdistan region.

It also fired missiles at Islamic State militants in Syria, in response to a bombing that killed scores of people at a commemoration for the famed commander Qassem Soleimani in central Iran, further angering the US.

Bidens comments which appear to blame Iran for initiating fresh conflicts in South Asia could have been made with an eye on elections in November where he has to look tough in front of Americans when it comes to Iran.

However, the US administration is not taking into account the fact that Pakistan has harboured several terrorist groups and has threatened peace in the region. Several terrorist groups like the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) who have threatened peace in the region have been backed by the Pakistan Army and the Inter State Intelligence (ISI). Iran also blamed ISI and Pakistan Army for backing Jaish-al-Adl on several occasions.

The US officials also evaded questions from reporters on whether Pakistan held prior consultations with Washington before conducting retaliatory air strikes on Iran. US state department spokesperson Matthew Miller did not respond to questions on media reports claiming that Pakistani officials spoke to their US counterparts before conducting the retaliatory strikes.

I do not have any private conversations to read out, Miller said.

We noted the comments from the government of Pakistan, about the importance of cooperative relations between Pakistan and its neighbours. We thought those were productive, useful statements, and certainly, theres no need for escalation and we would urge restraint on all sides in this case, he further added.
Beijing has said it was willing to mediate tensions between Pakistan and Iran, after the two neighbours exchanged deadly air strikes on militant targets on each others territory.

China is a close partner of both nations, who enjoy extensive military and economic ties with Beijing and play important roles in its geopolitical ambitions. Heres what you need to know about how Beijing could be uniquely positioned to mediate the tensions:

Economic ties

Straddling Central Asia and a vast territory from the Himalayas to the Persian Gulf, Pakistan and Iran are well-positioned in Beijings long-term plans to reshape regional geopolitics in its own interests. Beijings foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said Thursday that China was willing to play a constructive role in de-escalating the situation if both sides wished.

China commands influence and leverage in both capitals, and both countries expect a rising China to dominate Asia for decades to come, Sameer P. Lalwani, a senior expert on South Asia at the US Institute of Peace (USIP), told AFP. Beijing possesses some credibility to press the leaderships of both countries for cooler heads to prevail.

Pakistan is one of Beijings closest partners, and the two have long described ties as deeper than oceans, higher than mountains, sweeter than honey, and stronger than steel. The South Asian power also plays an important role in Beijings Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), earmarking tens of billions of dollars for a range of transport and energy projects connecting western China with Pakistans Gwadar Port  described as an economic corridor.

Tehran and Beijing have also deepened trade ties in recent years, though Beijings efforts to pull Iran into the BRI have been complicated by sanctions and many of the details of a 25-year cooperation agreement signed in 2021 remain murky. China is Irans largest trade partner and a top buyer of the Central Asian powers sanctioned oil  analysis firm Kpler last year said Chinese imports of Tehrans petroleum had soared to a 10-year high, Bloomberg reported. In some ways, Iran and Pakistan may be competitors vying for Beijings economic and strategic investments, Lalwani said.

Military nexus

This weeks cross-border clashes between Iran and Pakistan came as a surprise: while they often accuse each other of allowing militants to operate from the others territory, cross-border operations by government forces are not common. Both heavily armed militaries enjoy close ties with Beijing.

China has long played a critical role in arming Iran, aiding its efforts to modernise its military hardware and tactics as well as transfer of technology and machinery for its illicit nuclear program, according to the RAND Corporation. Military cooperation is also a central pillar of the stronger than steel China-Pakistan friendship. Beijing is Islamabads top provider of conventional weapons  and its dominant supplier of higher-end offensive strike capabilities, according to a paper by USIPs Lalwani.

The two also conduct extensive joint military training, last November holding their largest-ever naval drills in and around the key Pakistan port city of Karachi, Beijings state media said. Military ties between Beijing and Islamabad have become increasingly close and substantial, said Bjorn Alexander Duben, an assistant professor at Chinas Jilin University. That, he said, might give Beijing leverage to urge restraint when tensions flare.

Middle man

Beijings case to oversee an effort to cool Pakistan-Iran tensions could also be bolstered by recent efforts to play diplomatic mediator, albeit with mixed results. Last year saw it broker a surprise thaw of ties between Iran and its long-time Middle East rival Saudi Arabia.

But other moves have been less successful: Beijings efforts to push for a political settlement to the Ukraine conflict floundered last year after Western countries said it could enable Russia to hold much of the territory it has seized. And Chinas attempt to pitch itself as an intermediary between Arab states and Israel following the outbreak of conflict with Hamas has yielded little results.

Nevertheless, analysts think Beijings leverage with both Islamabad and Tehran could help it play a role in cooling tempers. Both Pakistan and Iran are key partners (for China) due to their geography, Masood Khalid, Pakistans former ambassador to China, told AFP. Pakistan has had a stable relationship with Iran notwithstanding the current tension, he added. I think they will find an amicable way out to defuse the situation.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 19. Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov met with the Minister of External Relations Tete Antonio within the framework of his visit to Uganda to participate in the 19th Summit of the Heads of State and Government of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry told Trend.

During the meeting, it was mentioned that cooperation with the countries of the African continent, including Angola, is one of the significant vectors in the plans of Azerbaijan's foreign policy and that there are favorable opportunities for expanding cooperation between Azerbaijan and Angola in political, economic, educational, humanitarian, trade, and energy areas.

Expansion of the contractual-legal base between the two countries and holding negotiations between foreign policy structures were emphasized in this regard.

Azerbaijani-Angolan cooperation based on mutual support within the UN, Non-Aligned Movement, and other multilateral platforms was noted with satisfaction.

The sides exchanged views on the history and prospects of successful cooperation between the two countries in the humanitarian sphere, especially in the areas of education and training of specialists in various professional fields.

The involvement of Angolan students in Azerbaijan's scholarship programs for citizens of NAM member states was also noted.

The 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29) to be held in Azerbaijan this year is important for the further development of bilateral and multilateral cooperation.

The sides had an opportunity to exchange views on other matters of mutual interest during the meeting.

The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) is a forum of 120 countries that are not formally aligned with or against any major power bloc. After the United Nations, it is the largest grouping of states worldwide.

The Non-Aligned Movement espouses policies and practices of cooperation, especially those that are multilateral and provide mutual benefit to all those involved.
After years of secretly snapping up farmland for a new city northeast of San Francisco, the CEO of a company backed by Silicon Valley billionaires pitched voters Wednesday on his vision for a walkable, affordable community that would appeal to their California pride. Jan Sramek, a former Goldman Sachs trader spearheading the ambitious city-building effort, offered the first detailed look Wednesday at his proposal to construct at least 20,000 homes in rural Solano County, between Sacramento and the San Francisco Bay Area, per the AP . His plan needs the approval of county voters in November to bypass protections put in place in 1984 to keep agricultural land from being turned into urban space. If approved, it would be built on more than $800 million of rural land Sramek and his company, California Forever, stealthily purchased over a period of years, to the great suspicion of locals.

The state is in desperate need of more housing, and project proponents say Solano County is the ideal place to build, especially since the location near Travis Air Force Base would appeal to military contractors. But critics, including a congressman and environmental groups such as the Sierra Club, remain skeptical, especially after Sramek's company spent years secretly buying up land around the base and even suing local farmers who refused to sell. They say more urban sprawl could harm sensitive ecosystems and tax the region's already strained water supply. "Buying up farmland at low prices and rezoning for housing development has been a quick way to make a buck for decades in California," the Solano County Farm Bureau said in a statement released by Solano Together, a coalition that opposes the initiative.

The project's backers have deep pockets, including philanthropist Laurene Powell Jobs (Steve Jobs' widow), LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, and venture capitalist Marc Andreessen. Sramek envisions 50,000 residents living in row houses and apartment buildings between three and six stories high within walking distance to jobs, schools, restaurants, and grocery stores. Eventually, the city could grow to 400,000, the group says, but only if it can create at least 15,000 jobs that pay above-average wages. The plan calls for an initial $400 million to help Solano County residents and Air Force base families buy homes in the community, among other investments. Sramek says the development could be "an amazing success story" in a state that "used to be this place of optimism. And if this project is done right, I do think it's going to change the conversation." More here.

(More California stories.)
Pope Francis has been delivering weekly sermons on the seven deadly sins. Last week, he addressed gluttonyand this week, it was the turn of what he described as the "demon of lust." In his Vatican address Wednesday, Francis said sexual pleasure is a "gift from God" but warned that it is being "undermined by pornography" and should be "disciplined with patience," the BBC reports. "Satisfaction without a relationship can generate forms of addiction," the pope said. He warned that lust can lead to "toxic" and possessive relationships. "Lust plunders, it robs, it consumes in haste, it does not want to listen to the other but only to its own need and pleasure," he said, per the Telegraph .

"Winning against the battle of lust can be a lifelong undertaking," but the prize is preserving the beauty of love, "which makes us believe that building a story together is better than going on adventures; cultivating tenderness is better than bowing to the demon of possession; serving is better than conquering," the pope said, per Vatican News. "Because if there is no love, life is lonely." Francis didn't mention recent criticism of his head of doctrine, Victor Manuel Fernandez, but the sermon was seen as a response to attacks on Fernandez from conservative Catholics over a book he wrote decades ago, the Guardian reports.

In 1998's The Mystical Passion: Spirituality and Sensuality, Fernandez, a cardinal from Argentina, discussed male and female orgasms and described women as "insatiable," per the Telegraph. The book is now out of print. After conservative Catholics became aware of it last week, they demanded that Francis fire Fernandez. The cardinal said he had written the book when he was a young priest and he "certainly" wouldn't write it now. (More Pope Francis stories.)
At least partly to secure support for military aid to Ukraine and Israel, President Biden has been willing recently to negotiate with congressional Republicans on immigration legislation. One result is being worked on in the Senate now, a measure that would restrict migrants' ability to claim asylum at the US-Mexico border while including money for aid to Ukraine and Israel. Such positions return Biden to where he has been on immigration over most of his political career, the Wall Street Journal reports, causing progressives to fear he's abandoned the policies he backed in his presidential campaign.

When he was running in 2020, Biden's campaign released what the Journal calls "the most liberal immigration proposal of any mainstream Democratic candidate in history." It called for closing privately run immigration detention centers, protecting longtime workers lacking permanent legal status, and reversing many of Donald Trump's border policies. When he took office, Biden did take steps. He stopped construction of the border wall, the travel ban affecting several Muslim-majority countries, and the Remain in Mexico policy. Although he sent legislation to Congress with many of the pieces Democrats wanted, Biden didn't push for it the way he did, say, the bipartisan infrastructure bill.

The White House defended Biden's current change, with a spokesperson saying, "Our immigration system is broken, and that is why his administration is working to find a bipartisan agreement." After meeting with Biden on Wednesday, Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson said something similar, per the Journal. "We have talked about the necessary elements to solve this problem," Johnson said, including "reform to the broken asylum and parole systems." Some members of Biden's party are less accepting. "The president has certainly changed his tune from when he campaigned on how important it was to protect and restore the asylum system," said Rep. Jesus "Chuy" Garcia, a member of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. (More President Biden stories.)
It's been two months since Dex Carvey, the 32-year-old son of Dana Carvey and his wife, Paula Zwagerman, lost his life in an accidental drug overdose. Now, the former Saturday Night Live comedian is opening up about his grief, shedding some light on the "private journey" he and his family are taking as they continue to mourn, per CNN . Carvey's comments came Wednesday on his Fly on the Wall podcast , co-hosted by fellow former SNLer David Spade, in Carvey's first appearance on the show since Dex Carvey's November death. Carvey revealed that part of his grief journey has involved a difficult ride on the "pain train," noting, "You don't know how long you're gonna be on it or when it'll stop or when it will get better."

Carvey said that getting back into work has helped him manage, and he told Spade that "riffing with you" on their podcast "is gonna be very healthy for me as I recover," per the Hollywood Reporter. Doing everyday activities with Zwagerman and their other son, Thomas, has also proven therapeutic. "We're all together and we do a lot of fun things," Carvey said. "We hike, we go to church." He added: "All this kind of stuff is very healthy." Carvey also noted the "millions of other people on this planet" who are similarly suffering, offering a piece of advice that's helped him and his loved ones navigate this terrible time. "You just want to make sure that you keep moving," he said. (More Dana Carvey stories.)
Between 9 and 12 months old, babies learn to stand, say their first word, maybe take their first steps. As the family members of Kfir Bibas, the youngest Israeli held hostage in Gaza, celebrated his first birthday without him, they wondered which, if any, of the typical milestones they missed during those three months of his life, the AP reports. "They're supposed to see a lot of colors, but instead he's seeing just darkness," said Yosi Shnaider, a cousin. "He's supposed to be learning to walk, but he has nowhere to do it. He's supposed to be able to hold a spoon for the first time, he's supposed to be tasting so many different foods for the first time."

Kfir, his brother Ariel, and parents Shiri and Yarden Bibas were kidnapped Oct. 7 when Hamas attacked Israel. On Thursday in Tel Aviv, hundreds of people gathered for what Shnaider called "the saddest birthday in the world." Kfir has been in captivity for a quarter of his life. The infant with red hair and a toothless smile has become a symbol across Israel for the helplessness and anger over the 136 hostages still in captivity in Gaza. On Thursday, many people wore orange, a color inspired by Kfir and Ariel's hair. They marked Kfir's first year with performances by Israeli children's music stars, who wrote a song in his honor, and released orange balloons inscribed with birthday wishes.

Kfir was the youngest of about 30 children taken hostage. Under a weeklong temporary cease-fire in November, Hamas released 105 foreign workers, women, children, and teens, but Shiri Bibas and her sons were not among them. Yarden Bibas, who was taken captive separately, appears in photos to have been wounded during the abduction. Little is known about the conditions of his wife and children, per the AP. Since video emerged shortly after the attack showing the brothers swaddled in a blanket around their terrified mother with gunmen surrounding her, orange has come to represent the family across Israel. Shnaider thinks about the birthday party they could have had this week, out on the grass of the kibbutz, with balloons on all the trees. "I wish we were having balloons of every color and not just orange," Shnaider said. "I can't even look at this color orange anymore."

(More Israel-Hamas war stories.)
BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 19. The Central Election Commission (CEC) of Azerbaijan has prepared an "Election day guide" as part of an educational program for various categories of voters in anticipation of the upcoming presidential election in the country, Trend reports via the CEC.

The guide covers all election-day procedures, such as the roles and responsibilities of precinct election commission members, the opening of polling stations, activities during the voting process, exceptional circumstances during voting, poll closing, vote counting, and the completion of official protocols on voting results.

The "Election Day Guide" is available for review at election commissions and on the official website of the CEC (www.msk.gov.az).

On December 7, 2023, the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan signed a decree calling for an extraordinary presidential election in the country on February 7, 2024.

On December 19, the CEC approved the candidacy of Ilham Aliyev, nominated by the ruling New Azerbaijan Party (YAP), for participation in the extraordinary presidential election.

A total of 17 candidates have been registered to run in the extraordinary presidential election. Azerbaijan has seven registered presidential candidates.

Stay up to date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
In appealing to the US Supreme Court to reverse Colorado's decision keeping him off its presidential primary ballot, Donald Trump has warned the justices that "chaos and bedlam" could well follow if other states do the same. The wording was included in the brief filed Thursday by Trump's lawyers arguing that the Colorado Supreme Court had erred, CNN reports, in ruling that the former president is disqualified by the Constitution's clause barring insurrectionists from office because of his conduct involving the attack on the US Capitol. Trump "did not 'engage in' anything that qualifies as 'insurrection,'" the brief says.

The lawyers also say that Trump is not subject to Section 3 of the 14th Amendment because the president is not an "officer of the United States," per Axioswording included in the clause. They also argue that there's no provision in Colorado's Election Code that "allows the state judiciary to order the Secretary of State to remove a candidate from the presidential primary ballot." The Colorado ruling is on hold until the US Supreme Court makes its decision; oral arguments are scheduled for Feb. 8. In the meantime, Colorado has certified its Republican primary ballot with Trump's name on it.

Also on Thursday, Senate Republicans including Minority Leader Mitch McConnell signed on to a brief urging the overturning of the Colorado decision. They say that enforcing the clause is Congress' job, per the Hill. Trump's brief calls on the justices to put a stop to all efforts to keep him off ballots, "which threaten to disenfranchise tens of millions of Americans and which promise to unleash chaos and bedlam if other state courts and state officials follow Colorado's lead." (More Donald Trump 2024 stories.)
In unraveling celebrities' family trees, PBS' Finding Your Roots brings surprising discoveries, some welcome, some not so welcome. For former Reading Rainbow host LeVar Burton, it appears to have been a bit of both. In an episode aired Tuesday, host Dr. Henry Louis Gates Jr. informed the Roots star that a great-great-grandfather was a white man who served in a subset of the Confederate States Army during the Civil War. Asked if he ever thought he had a "white direct ancestor," LeVar groaned, "Noooooooo! No, I had no idea!" "I'd have fought you five minutes ago if you had told me that I had a white great-great-grandfather," he added, per Rolling Stone .

The great-great-grandfather was James Henry Dixon. Born in 1847, he served in the North Carolina Confederate Junior Reserves as a teenager, but appears not to have engaged in battle, per USA Today. He went on to marry a white woman, with whom he had several children. Burton's great-grandmother, Mary Sills, was a product of his extramarital relationship with a former enslaved woman. "So you have an ancestor who served with the Confederacy," Gates told Burton. "Are you kidding me? Oh my god. I did not see this coming," responded Burton. "What?! Kunta got white ancestry. What?! Come on now, Skip!" continued Burton, referring to himself by the name of his Roots character.

He said he felt some internal conflict at the discovery but "oddly enough, I feel a pathway opening up," he continued. "I see that we are so polarized politically, emotionally, and racially. We are not talking to each other. So, I've been looking for an entry point to talk to white America. Here it is." Burton also learned a grandfather and great-grandfather worked as school superintendents, "foreshadowing Burton's role as host of an educational show, Reading Rainbow," per USA Today. "It fills me with great pride that I have inherited this mantle of educator," Burton said, bursting into tears. "I'm very proud of that." Of the experience, he added, "I am forever changed." (More LeVar Burton stories.)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday rejected US calls to scale back Israel's military offensive in the Gaza Strip or take steps toward the establishment of a Palestinian state after the war, drawing an immediate scolding from the White House, the AP reports. The tense back and forth reflected what has become a wide rift between the two allies over the scope of Israel's war and its plans for the future of the beleaguered territory. "We obviously see it differently," White House national security spokesman John Kirby said.

Netanyahu spoke just a day after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Israel would never have "genuine security" without a pathway toward Palestinian independence. Earlier this week, the White House also announced that it was the "right time" for Israel to lower the intensity of its devastating military offensive in Gaza. In a nationally televised news conference, Netanyahu struck a defiant tone, repeatedly saying that Israel would not halt its offensive until it realizes its goals of destroying Gaza's Hamas militant group and bringing home all remaining hostages held by Hamas. He rejected claims by a growing chorus of Israeli critics that those goals are not achievable, vowing to press ahead for many months. "We will not settle for anything short of an absolute victory," Netanyahu said.

Netanyahu, who leads a far-right government opposed to Palestinian statehood, repeated his longstanding opposition to a two-state solution. He said a Palestinian state would become a launching pad for attacks on Israel. He said Israel "must have security control over the entire territory west of the Jordan River," adding: "That collides with the idea of sovereignty. What can we do?" "This truth I tell to our American friends, and I put the brakes on the attempt to coerce us to a reality that would endanger the state of Israel," he said. The comments prompted an immediate rebuke from the White House. Kirby said that President Joe Biden would "not stop working" toward a two-state solution.

(More Israel-Hamas war stories.)
Two Madonna fans in New York who say they were "left stranded in the middle of the night" when a concert finished late are suing the singer, a promoter, and the venue. The lawsuit says all three of Madonna's "Celebration Tour" concerts at Brooklyn's Barclays Center last month didn't start until after 10:30pm, when tickets had said they would begin at 8:30pm, CNN reports. The lawsuit filed by Michael Fellows and Jonathan Hadden accuses Madonna, Live Nation, and the Barclays Center of "unconscionable, unfair, and/or deceptive trade practices," calling the start time "a wanton exercise in false advertising" as well as a breach of contract, reports the Guardian .

According to the lawsuit, concertgoers didn't get out of the venue until around 1am, when they were "confronted with limited public transportation, limited ride-sharing, and/or increased public and private transportation costs" because of the late hour. "In addition, many ticketholders who attended concerts on a weeknight had to get up early to go to work and/or take care of their family responsibilities the next day," it states. The lawsuit says Madonna has a long history of starting concerts late, and the defendants should have known "any statement as to a start time for a show constituted, at best, optimistic speculation."

The lawsuit filed in Brooklyn federal court seeks class action status on behalf of other ticketholders across the US. It states that the plaintiffs "demand judgment against Defendants for actual and consequential damages." This isn't the first time Madonna has been sued for starting a concert late. Nate Hollander filed a lawsuit in 2019 after the start time of a Miami Beach concert was pushed back two hours. ABC News reports that according to court records, Hollander voluntarily dismissed the suit a month later. (More Madonna stories.)
Majiah Washington noticed a flash outside her home this week in Portland, where a dangerous storm had coated the city with ice. Opening her blinds, she saw a red SUV with a downed power line on it and a couple who had been putting their baby in the car. The baby's mother screamed to her boyfriend to get the baby to safety, and he grabbed the child and began to scramble up the driveway on concrete so slick it was almost impossible to walk. But before he made it halfway, he slid backward and his foot touched the live wire"a little fire, then smoke," Washington told reporters Thursday, per the AP . The mother, six months pregnant, tried to reach the baby, but she too slipped and was electrocuted. So was her 15-year-old brother, when he came out to help. The couple and the teenager did not survive.

Washington, 18, was on the phone with a dispatcher when she saw the baby, lying on top of his father, move his headthe 9-month-old was alive. Having just seen three people shocked to death, she decided to try to save the boy. She kept a low crouch to avoid sliding into the wire as she approached, she said at the news conference a day after the deaths. As she grabbed the baby she touched the father's body, but she wasn't shocked, she said. Portland Fire and Rescue spokesman Rick Graves praised Washington for her heroism but confessed he didn't understand how she and the baby weren't also electrocuted. The baby was examined at a hospital and is fine, authorities have said.

Washington's neighbor, Ronald Briggs, declined to speak with the Associated Press beyond confirming that his 21-year-old daughter and 15-year-old son had been killed. But he told Portland television station KGW that his daughter had come over to use the internet after hers went out. He and his wife had just gotten in their own car to run an errand when they heard the boom and saw the SUV apparently on fire. He watched as the couple slid to their deathsand then told his 15-year-old son, Ta'Ron Briggs, a high school sophomore, to keep his distance, to no avail. "I told him, 'Don't go down theretry to get away from them.' And he slid, and he touched the water, and he, and he died too," Briggs said. "I have six kids. I lost two of them in one day."

(More Oregon stories.)
Jair Bolsonaro has long minimized COVID-19, as well as health and safety measures taken against the virus, including vaccination. Yet confusingly, records show that the former Brazilian president received a COVID shot more than two years ago, apparently to help him circumvent travel restrictions and other rules that required he be vaccinated. Now, a probe by the nation's comptroller general's office, or CGU, into Bolsonaro's vaccination status has revealed that the 68-year-old's inoculation records were doctored, reports Reuters .

Bolsonaro was marked as having received a dose of the COVID vaccine in July 2021, at a health clinic in Sao Paulo. But there were a few issues with that record, according to the CGU's finds revealed Thursday. First, the agency's investigation found that the then-president had left for Brasilia the day before he supposedly got the shot in Sao Paulo, and Brasilia was where he stayed for the next three days. The vaccine batch listed in Bolsonaro's records was also being used at that time for research purposes only and wasn't being doled out to the public, the CGU says, per Deutsche Welle. Finally, a nurse who was logged as having administered the vaccine to Bolsonaro has not only refuted that she did soshe apparently never worked in the unit of the clinic that does vaccinations.

"The conclusion was that it was fraud," the CGU notes of Bolsonaro's paperwork, though it says it doesn't think it pays to keep the case open to find out who falsified his records, due to "lack of sufficient evidence," as well as the fact that multiple employees would've had access to his electronic records. Bolsonaro has long denied that he tampered with the records, or that he knew who did. Federal police, however, last year said they'd unearthed a plot involving a Bolsonaro staffer who networked to obtain fraudulent vaccinations for Brazil's leader and others. Authorities say Bolsonaro was "fully aware" that his own vax records were fake. Bolsonaro himself has said he hasn't been vaccinated, per Barron's. (More Jair Bolsonaro stories.)
An Atlas Air cargo aircraft returned to Miami International Airport for an emergency landing less than an hour after take-off Thursday night. An airline spokesperson says the Boeing 747-8 landed safely after experiencing an "engine malfunction." "Mayday, mayday...We have an engine fire," a crew member says in a recording from air traffic control obtained by NBC6 . "Request access back to the airport. No, we'll go ahead and land. We have five souls onboard." The Federal Aviation Administration said in a preliminary report that a "softball-sized hole" was found above one of the engines.

"The crew followed all standard procedures and safely returned to MIA. At Atlas, safety is always our top priority and we will be conducting a thorough inspection to determine the cause," Atlas Air said in a statement. Melania Adaros recorded video of the plane after she saw it "shooting sparks" as it flew "very low." "You always see a plane going up or going down," she tells the AP. "This one was just at a steady level and it was shooting sparks. It was very surreal." She says she saw the plane, which had been headed to Puerto Rico, appear to do "a big, wide, swerving turn" toward Miami International Airport.

The New York Times reports that according to FlightAware data, the aircraft left its gate at 10:11pm and returned to the airport around 50 minutes later, having traveled a total of around 60 miles. The Times describes the incident as "another potential setback for Boeing" after issues with the 737 Max 9 in recent weeks. (More emergency landing stories.)
Donald Trump is pressuring congressional Republicans to not compromise with Democrats on border legislation, lobbying that one Senate GOP leader called "not helpful." The outside pressure is directed at Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, House Speaker Mike Johnson, and their leadership teams, the Hill reports. "I do not think we should do a Border Deal, at all, unless we get everything needed," the former president posted Thursday on his social media site Truth Social. "I would love for that to be possible," answered Sen. John Cornyn. But he pointed out that Republicans can't pass any such package without votes from Democrats and "a presidential signature."

Trump doesn't want the aid to Ukraine that's part of the Senate's immigration package, either. Sen. John Thune, the chamber's No. 2 Republican who said Trump's not helping, said the legislation is the best available path to counter the flow of immigrants across the southern border. "There are a number of pieces in there that are good, conservative border policies that we've been trying to get done for years," Thune said. Johnson and his allies have met with President Biden about a compromise. The speaker has warned that the House could block the Senate bill but said he has to wait to see what's in it, per the Hill. "I respectfully disagree with the president," said GOP Sen. Thom Tillis. "He could not possibly see what we are negotiating."

Republicans suggested that Trump mostly wants to keep Biden from achieving a victory, per the Hill. He also fought the president's bipartisan infrastructure bill, which passed Congress anyway. McConnell also has told his members that this is their best chance to tighten the border. "This is a unique opportunity to accomplish something in divided government," he said. Should Trump be elected president again, Cornyn said he'd find the legislation provided new ways for him to deal with the border. "I would think that would be something he would like," he said. (More border security stories.)
Friday is the final day of the World Economic Forum's annual get-together , but for one world leader, his visit to Davos has led to a criminal complaint, or complaints, against him. Reuters reports that Israeli President Isaac Herzog was in the Swiss city on Thursday, there to speak about Israel's fight against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, which has resulted in accusations that Israel is committing war crimes. The Swiss AG's office is keeping mum on most details surrounding the official complaint against Herzog, including what it entails, how many complaints are involved, and who filed.

If Herzog himself knows what the complaints are about, he's not letting on. "The president of the state of Israel participated in the World Economic Forum as planned and represented the position of the state of Israel and the importance and justness of the struggle to secure the release of the hostages," a Herzog rep said Friday. The AFP adds, "Sources in the government suggested that the complaint was a publicity stunt with no chance of advancing to any investigation." The group that submitted the complaint, which came with the label "Legal Action Against Crimes Against Humanity," noted in a statement that multiple people who weren't named had filed charges with the federal and regional authorities in Zurich, Bern, and Basel.

The statement added that the plaintiff's case shares parallels to a criminal one against Israel brought by South Africa, currently being hashed out at the Hague before the International Court of Justice. That emergency filing alleges Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. Swiss prosecutors note they're looking into the newest case, and that they're trying to determine what kind of immunity, if any, might be available for the complainant. On Thursday, Herzog told those assembled at Davos that Israel's current incursion into Gaza is in "self-defense," and that South Africa's case against Israel at the Hague is "outrageous." (More Isaac Herzog stories.)
Regulation Minister David Seymour is hitting out at "activist judges and bureaucrats" who are calling the ACT Party's Treaty of Waitangi Principles Bill "highly contentious".

On Thursday night, Te Pati Maori co-leader Rawiri Waititi called out the Government in an Instagram post - accusing the Coalition of wanting to "erase" Te Tiriti o Waitangi. In the post, Waititi shared a leaked draft of the Treaty of Waitangi principles.

A short time after media reports about the leak, Seymour fired back on social media - saying "activist judges and bureaucrats" had "twisted the meaning of our founding document to give different groups of people different rights".

"New Zealanders were never consulted on this," the ACT leader said on X.

Seymour said his party spoke for "New Zealanders who believe division is one of the greatest threats to our country".

The leaked Ministry of Justice document called the Bill "highly contentious" because of "the fundamental constitutional nature of the subject matter", as well as "the lack of consultation with the public on the policy development prior to the Select Committee".

"Last night, Te Pati Maori received a section of a leaked Government document from a trusted and reliable source," Waititi said in a Friday press release titled, 'Te Pati Maori ready to mobilise after leaked Government document.'

"This leak only confirms what we all knew to be the true intent of this Government - to erase and rewrite Te Tiriti o Waitangi. It is an attack on our mokopuna and we have every right to defend ourselves as tangata whenua."

But Seymour said ACT was proposing a "proper public debate on what the principles of the Treaty actually mean".
BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 19. Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov has met Algerian Minister of Foreign Affairs and National Community Abroad Ahmed Attaf within the framework of the 19th summit of the Non-Aligned Movement, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry told Trend.

The sides discussed issues of bilateral and multilateral cooperation between the two countries, as well as the regional situation and highlighted their satisfaction with the recent growth of cooperation between Azerbaijan and Algeria. The importance of the political discussion platform from the viewpoint of cooperation prospects was emphasized.

Minister Attaf expressed gratitude to the Azerbaijani side for their efforts, saying that Azerbaijan successfully headed the Non-Aligned Movement for four years and played a key role in its resurrection. It was emphasized that Algeria and Azerbaijan have a mutually advantageous cooperation agenda in regional and international institutions, as well as the necessity of expanding mutual contacts to increase cooperative efforts in this regard.

The sides exchanged views on other matters of mutual interest during the meeting.

The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) is a forum of 120 countries that are not formally aligned with or against any major power bloc. After the United Nations, it is the largest grouping of states worldwide.

The Non-Aligned Movement espouses policies and practices of cooperation, especially those that are multilateral and provide mutual benefit to all those involved.
Meta estimated 100,000 children on its platforms receive online sexual harassment daily, according to internal company documents made public earlier in the week.



Children across Facebook and Instagram are said to have been subject to all kinds of crude messaging, harassment and in some cases pictures of adult genitalia.

The unsealed legal reports include several allegations against the company from internal Meta staff.

It's the latest to come out of a lawsuit initiated by the New Mexico Attorney-General's office on December 5, which alleges Meta's social networks have become marketplaces for child predators.

Raul Torrez, the state's Attorney-General, has accused the company of enabling child grooming which Meta has vehemently denied, saying it "mischaracterizes our work using selective quotes and cherry-picked documents".

The documents include the story of a 12-year-old daughter of an Apple executive who was solicited via Instagram direct messages.

"This is the kind of thing that pisses Apple off to the extent of threatening to remove us from the App Store," a Meta employee said in the documented communications.

In another case, a senior Meta employee came forward describing how his child had been solicited on Instagram in testimony to the US Congress late last year.

He claimed his efforts to fix the problem were ignored.
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The Public Safety Report is compiled from criminal complaints filed in state and federal courts, as well as some police blotter information, trooper dispatches, fire department reports and interviews with public safety officials. Individuals named as arrested and/or charged with crimes in this report are presumed innocent until proved guilty in a court of law.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 19. France's burning of cultural bridges with Azerbaijan is the very last thing to do, Representative of the President of Azerbaijan for Special Assignments Elchin Amirbayov stated this in an interview with French newspaper Le Monde, Trend reports.

Amirbayov condemned the act of vandalism committed on December 30 last year against the monument to Azerbaijani poetess of the XIX century, Khurshidbanu Natavan, installed in French Evian in 2017.

Referring to France's baffling and deeply disappointing reckless behavior towards Azerbaijan, the representative of the Azerbaijani President noted that "for the first time in the history of our relations with foreign countries, some countries adopt so many biased resolutions that are not based on our bilateral relations but are adopted under pressure from the Armenian Diaspora."

The publication dedicated to the ongoing diplomatic crisis in relations between Paris and Baku also mentions the appeal adopted by the Azerbaijani Parliament on January 18 of this year to the Azerbaijani government to cut off all economic ties with France as a protest reaction to another anti-Azerbaijani resolution adopted by the French Senate the day before.

Stay up to date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

Job-hopping is nothing new. However, if done here without proper notice, lawmakers warn, you will now lose your End of Service Benefits. Not all are affected.

As per the proposal passed yesterday in Parliament, too, overruling the Bahrain Labour Ministrys objections, low-paid workers, including housemaids, are on the radar here.

MPs say the new law will be in force if domestic workers run away from their jobs in violation of their work permit terms.

Even though, as lawmakers said, the move will reduce runaway worker cases, the Labour Ministry fears it would lead to discrimination among workers, violating Bahrains constitution and legislation.

The Ministry argues that the amendment, which deprives domestic workers, including housemaids, of their end-of-service benefits if they leave their jobs without notifying the employer and subjects them to financial fines, comes without valid justifications.

The Labour Ministry explains that the proposal would create an avenue for employers to evade their obligation to pay end-of-service benefits to domestic workers.

Most importantly, the ministry told MPs, the proposal is silent on the duration of a domestic workers employment, whether it is long-term or short-term.

The ministry also reminded lawmakers that slapping fines on workers and employers is illegal as per labour laws, especially as the private sector laws do not regulate work permits but outline only the relationship between employer and worker.

However, lawmakers overruled all these objections to approve the proposal tabled before parliament by the Services Committee of the Council of Representatives.

Their justification was that it would bring down the cases of runaway workers, and stringent penalties would deter maids from violating their work permits.

Besides, such a law would help protect the rights of employers, MPs stressed, stating that it would pave the way for incentivizing the recruitment of domestic workers.

MPs also claim the law would boost the recruitment of domestic workers, eventually revitalising the market and economy, as more people will come forward to invest in such ventures to hire workers.

Lawmakers highlight that the law would raise the level of commitment among domestic workers, increase satisfaction levels for employers, and reduce the rates of loose labour and crimes committed by domestic workers.
A roundup of the most newsworthy press releases from Cision Distribution this week

TORONTO, Jan. 19, 2024 /CNW/ - With thousands of press releases published each week, it can be difficult to keep up with everything on Cision. To help journalists and consumers stay on top of the week's most newsworthy and popular releases, here's a recap of some major stories from the week that shouldn't be missed.

The list below includes the headline (with a link to the full text) and an excerpt from each story. Click on the press release headlines to access accompanying multimedia assets that are available for download.

Cision Canada - The Weekly Round-Up (PRNewsfoto/Cision Canada)

Read more of the latest releases from Cision, see our resources for journalists, and stay caught up on the top press releases by following @cnwnews.

About Cision Canada

Cision is a comprehensive communications platform enabling more than 100,000 public relations and marketing professionals around the world to understand, influence and amplify their stories. As the market leader, Cision enables the next generation of communication professionals to strategically operate in the modern media landscape where company success is directly impacted by public opinion. Cision has offices in 24 countries through the Americas, EMEA and APAC, and offers a suite of best-in-class solutions, including Newswire, Brandwatch, Cision Communications Cloud and Cision Insights. To learn more, visit www.cision.ca and follow @CisionCA on Twitter.

SOURCE Cision Canada

For further information: For questions, contact the team at [email protected].
Library and Archives Canada announces recipients of 20232024 Price McIntosh Bursary

GATINEAU, QC, Jan. 19, 2024 /CNW/ - Library and Archives Canada (LAC) is proud to announce the 20232024 recipients of the Price McIntosh Bursary. This year, $12,500 was awarded to support three students pursuing studies in fields related to Canadian documentary heritage.

The 20232024 recipients are:

Price McIntosh Bursary (CNW Group/Library and Archives Canada)

Ana Catalina Alvarado Agudelo , M.A. student in information sciences, Universite de Montreal, Quebec

, M.A. student in information sciences, Universite de Montreal, Samantha Beatrice McCue , M.A. student in information sciences, University of Ottawa , Ontario

, M.A. student in information sciences, , Ontario Sabrina Mac Gregor , M.A. student in information sciences, Universite de Montreal, Quebec

For the third year in a row, the Price McIntosh Bursary encourages Indigenous students (First Nations, Inuit, and Metis Nation), persons living with a disability, and members of visible minorities to pursue studies in fields related to libraries and archives.

With this bursary, LAC seeks to promote inclusion and encourages diverse stories, experiences, and interpretations, to help Canadians understand and enrich our collective history.

Congratulations to the 20232024 recipients! To learn more about the recipients and this bursary, visit the Price McIntosh Bursary page.

About Library and Archives Canada

The mandate of Library and Archives Canada is to preserve the documentary heritage of Canada for the benefit of present and future generations, and to be a source of enduring knowledge accessible to all, thereby contributing to the cultural, social and economic advancement of Canada. LAC also facilitates co-operation among communities involved in the acquisition, preservation and diffusion of knowledge, and serves as the continuing memory of the Government of Canada and its institutions.

Quotes

"Congratulations to the three recipients of the Price McIntosh Bursary. We are proud to support students from different ethnocultural backgrounds and walks of life in reaching their full potential, while promoting inclusion in careers related to libraries and archives. Through the Price McIntosh Bursary, Library and Archives Canada gives a voice to diversity to help enrich Canada's history."

 Leslie Weir, Librarian and Archivist of Canada

Quick facts

The Price McIntosh Bursary was created in 2021 thanks to the generosity of the Montreal family of the late Walter Charles Price and Adis Florence Mary McIntosh .

and . This year, bursaries totalling $12,500 are being awarded to three students.

are being awarded to three students. The amounts awarded vary according to student status: $5,000 for full-time students and $2,500 for part-time students enrolled in a Canadian college or university program.

for full-time students and for part-time students enrolled in a Canadian college or university program. Eligible students may receive a bursary for up to three consecutive years.

The application period for the 20242025 academic year will open in the spring.

Related links

SOURCE Library and Archives Canada

For further information: Contacts: For more information (media only), please contact:Media Relations, Library and Archives Canada, 819-994-4589, [email protected]
IT'S ON!

MONTREAL, Jan. 19, 2024 /CNW/ - The Montreal International Auto Show (MIAS) , presented by iA Financial Group, opens its doors to the public today at 10 am at the Palais des congres de Montreal. The 79th edition of MIAS promises a revitalized experience, now spanning three levels of the Palais des congres de Montreal and marking the return of major brands absent the previous year, such as Ford, Lincoln, Genesis, Infiniti, Mitsubishi, Volkswagen, and McLaren. The strong media presence during yesterday's inaugural visit, pre-sale events, and the return of several manufacturers this year confirm the enthusiasm of brands and the general public for this event, injecting new vitality into this must-attend gathering for over 79 years in Montreal.

79th Montreal International Auto Show (CNW Group/MONTREAL INTERNATIONAL AUTO SHOW)

As announced during the kickoff of strategic reflections on the future of MIAS at the end of July 2023, organizers have initiated significant changes for the 2024 edition. These adjustments aim to go beyond simply showcasing new models by integrating the event into a broader context of mobility. This transition stems from notable developments in the automotive industry, the events landscape, and the ever-evolving needs of car enthusiasts. Armed with data collected during the market study conducted at the end of the summer and with a firm intention to provide a maximum experience for visitors, MIAS returns to the three levels of the Palais des congres with an enriched customer experience.

MEDIA KIT

About

The 79th edition of the Montreal International Auto Show is presented by iA Financial Group and organized by the Montreal Automobiles Dealers Corporation. MIAS also hosts the Charity Preview Gala on Thursday, January 18, 2024, at the Palais des congres, a charitable evening that raises funds for 5 hospital foundations in Greater Montreal.

SOURCE MONTREAL INTERNATIONAL AUTO SHOW

For further information: Source: Marilyne Gravel, Directrice, communications et marketing, Salon International de l'Auto de Montreal, [email protected]; Media contact: MARELLE COMMUNICATIONS, Karinessa Berube Comtois | 450-675-8445, [email protected]
BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 19. The presidential elections in Azerbaijan are significant because they will encompass the full territory of the country for the first time, which is a great achievement for the country, Georgian international relations specialist and political expert Irakli Gogava said, Trend reports via CEC (Central Election Commission).

The expert expressed confidence that the electoral process will be stable and follow democratic ideals.

Gogava further appreciated the Central Election Commission of Azerbaijan's expertise and ongoing work in maintaining the high level of this process. He wished the brotherly people of Azerbaijan happy elections and long-term peace in the South Caucasus area.

To note, the extraordinary presidential election in Azerbaijan will be held on February 7 this year.

Stay up to date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
There is oppression all over the Middle East. The countries in the region are generally dominated by an ethnic or religious minority.

There were 483 million people in the middle east in 2023 and there will be about 500 million in 2024.

The largest socioethnic groups in the region are Arabs, Turks, Persians, Kurds, and Azerbaijanis but there are dozens of other ethnic groups that have hundreds of thousands, and sometimes millions of members. Other indigenous, religious, or minority ethnic groups include: Armenians, Assyrians, Baloch, Copts, Cypriots, Druze, Gilaks, Greeks, Jews, Kawliya, Jews Kurds, Laz, Lurs, Mandaeans, Maronites, Mazanderanis, Mhallami, Nawar, Pontic Greeks, Rum Christians, Samaritans, Shabaks, Talysh, Tats, Yazidis and Zazas.

The Kurds had a war in Iraq where up to 300,000 people died (1969, 1974-75).

Iran can put down protests and proto-civil wars in 2021, 2022 and 500-1000 people are likely killed. However, the families and the people dont forget. 5-8 million Baloch have fought for freedom many times over the past few decades.

Iran has had a policy and strategy of supporting opposition groups in the territory of their enemies. Iran gives a few hundred million dollars a year to Hamas and a billion dollars to Hezbollah. Iran gives weapons and support to the Houthis at about a few hundred million or maybe a billion.

IF someone other countries or group gave money and weapons to a half dozen or a dozen similar size or larger groups in the area then Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Turkey, Iraq, Lebanon, Jordan would all have intense conflicts happening.

Cheap and abundant drone weapons and other cheap and deadly weapons would increase the body counts.

There could be a dozen or more high intensity conflicts at the same time instead of about four now.

The Middle East already has the war in Gaza, civil war in Syria, Yemen civil war and Houthi fighting the US and allies in the Persian Gulf.

Iran has backed attacks on US bases in Iraq for months.

Hezbellah, another Iranian back terror organization, has had a relatively contained amount of fighting with about 300 killed over three months.

There has also been some fighting in the West Bank.

Iran fired missiles into Syria, Iraq and Pakistan after Iran had a bombing that killed a few dozen people. The bombing was claimed by ISIS.

What if Everyone in the Middle East Fought at the Same Time? Most of the Middle East would be in flames.




Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Nyesom Wike, has given area councils in the nations capital the authorisation to demolish uncompleted structures.





Wike announced the authorisation during a town hall meeting with stakeholders in the Gwagwalada area council on Friday.





He said the demolition would help remove uncompleted structures criminals are using as their safe havens and hideouts.





By Monday (22nd January 2024), the chairman should bring the letter for me to approve the demolition of uncompleted structures where criminals are hibernating. Dont behave like civil servants. Today is Friday. Ensure you bring the letter by Monday, and I will happily approve it, Wike said.





Wike said some kidnappers informants have been arrested in the FCT amid rising insecurity.





Recall that tension gripped an Abuja community after kidnappers killed three of 10 abducted victims over the delay in the payment of over N700 million ransom.




The Supreme Court has dismissed the appeal by the All Progressives Congress and its candidate, Ovie Omo-Agege against the election of the Delta State Governor, Sheriff Oborevwori.





The court said the appeal lacked merit and the appellant was unable to discharge the burden of proof placed on him.





Judgment is being read in the Labour Partys appeal.




The Association of Ebonyi Indigenes Socio-Cultural In the Diaspora, AEISCID, has berated the Governor of Ebonyi State, Francis Nwifuru, for rejecting the congratulatory messages of the opposition following his Supreme Court victory.





The apex court had dismissed petitions filed by Ifeanyi Odii of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and Professor Bernard Odoh of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, to challenge Nwifurus election.





The President of AEISCID, Paschal Omaka, in a statement issued on Friday, expressed concern that the governor, rather than accept the congratulatory messages from the opposition candidates, was quoted in various social and mainstream media as declaring that he does not need them or their supporters in his government.





Berating Nwifuru for making the reported statement, the group said, The governors mindset reeks of brazen lack of wisdom, tact and diplomacy; raising our fears that he may not have the right temperament to occupy the number one office in Ebonyi.





Such crude and absurd mindset can only breed arrogance that if left unchecked could lead to total dictatorship and of course, a desperate plot to plunge Ebonyi into a one-party state.





It was ordinarily our belief, just like in democracies the world over, that the messages of congratulations extended to the affirmed winner of the election and Governor of Ebonyi State, Rt. Hon. Francis Nwifuru, would not only be received with open arms but also open a leeway for concerted discussions on how Ebonyis democratic gains and governance can be further consolidated with plurality of ideas from the challengers and their supporters.





The group, therefore, issued a 48-hour ultimatum to the governor and the Ebonyi State Government, to as a matter of urgency, withdraw the statement credited to Nwifuru.





It also asked the governor to tender an unreserved apology to the PDP and APGA candidates.




The All Progressives Congress, APC, has told Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa of Ondo State that there will be no automatic ticket for him.





The APC made the declaration ahead of the November 16, 2024, governorship poll in the state.





APC national spokesman, Felix Morka, made this known on Channels Televisions Politics Today programme on Thursday.





According to him, the APC is democratic and everyone who desires a nomination must earn it.





When asked whether the APC would give Aiyedatiwa the right of first refusal ahead of the partys primary for the November poll, Morka said, We have not had that discussion but we are a democratic party; we are a progress party; we dont give anything to people; people have to justify and earn it.





And it is not to us they have to justify their suitability, their qualification, or criteria; it is to the people of the state who are our members, who would participate in the direct or indirect primary.





Whatever preference anyone may have, it is all subject to the democratic decision of the party members who will participate in our primaries.





We dont give free gifts in APC; we contest and we compete and we win whatever it is we can get in terms of representation, he added.





Morka also said he cant pre-empt whether the governorship ticket would be zoned in Ondo or not.





We are yet to engage on zoning. We will explain to the people if and when we do that, he said.





Aiyedatiwa, formerly Ondo deputy governor, was sworn in as the substantive governor of the South-West state on December 27, 2023, following the death of Governor Rotimi Akeredolu.





Already, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has fixed the Ondo State Governorship Poll for November 16, 2024, barring last-minute changes.
President Bola Tinubu, yesterday, acknowledged that the impact of the removal of fuel subsidy was very tough on Nigerians, and has affected every sector of the economy, including education, but assured that the future remained bright.

Tinubu, who is a Visitor to the University of Lagos, UNILAG, spoke at the 54th convocation ceremony of the university.





The president spoke as Catholic Bishops of the Owerri Ecclesiastical Province lamented that the removal of petroleum subsidy, current naira scarcity and declining value of the nations currency, had raised the cost of living, created dismay and panic among the citizenry.





The Bishops also urged improved security and kicked against the blessing of homosexual or same-sex marriages.

This is even as the Chariah Council yesterday tasked the President to expedite action to cushion the hard economic decisions made by his government, in addition to tackling insecurity headlong.





Tinubu, who was represented by the Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, SAN, said the impact could be seen in the high cost of living that has affected parents, guardians, students and other Nigerians.





We took some life-changing decisions including the removal of fuel subsidy and single exchange rate of the naira. There is no doubt that the actions have led to Nigerians, including parents, guardians and even students experiencing some discomfort. The decisions affected the education sector with parents paying more for education among others.

I can assure you that the pains will soon be over and that the future is bright. For the education sector, we are assuring you that no Nigerian child will drop out of school. It is in view of that we brought back the School Feeding Programme and also introduced the Student Loan Scheme. The loan is repayable two years after a beneficiary has completed the mandatory one year National Youth Service Corps Scheme, NYSC.





We are also not taking higher education for granted and that is why we recently took some decisions like removing higher institutions from the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System, IPPIS. We are also on the agenda of autonomy for universities.





Regarding the setting up and running of universities in the country, we are moving to the fourth stage, which is the internalisation of the university system. The first stage was the setting up of universities by the Federal Government. The second stage is the setting up of universities by state governments and the third stage is the coming on board of private universities. The fourth stage is that we want foreign investors and foreign universities to come and set up universities here. They can also do so in partnership with our universities here, he said.





The President, who commended the management of UNILAG for contributing to the manpower development of the country, expressed the hope that the graduands would go into the world and make a positive impact on the society.





He also charged academics to let the world feel their impact by proffering solutions to societal problems.





In her address, the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Folasade Ogunsola, said the university has made tremendous progress in the last one year.





A lot has happened in the last one year but I will mention a few. Our research activities and income from research grants continue to grow with our staff attracting over N11 billion in grant income in both local and foreign currency. These figures are derived from 42 grants obtained in the year 2023 only and they cut across the sciences, social sciences and the arts, she said.





The Lagos State Governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, who is also an alumnus of the university, opined that UNILAG has proven to be a leading citadel of learning not only in the country but also on the continent and globally.

He reiterated the commitment of his administration to give education its pride of place in the scheme of things.s





Rising from a two-day meeting in Owerri, the Catholic Bishops of Owerri Ecclesiastical Province, in a communique by the Chairman and Secretary of the Conference, Most Rev. Lucius Ugorji and Most Rev. Augustine N. Echema, said:  2023, was rough and tough for our nation, our society and the church.





The naira scarcity, the removal of subsidy on petroleum products, and the steady decline of the value of the naira, raised further the already high cost of living, and thus created dismay and panic among our people.





In addition, the political and legal wranglings in the aftermath of the general elections of 2023, the widespread emigration of our highly trained professionals in various fields, the menace of false prophets and claims of unfounded miracles, have continued to demoralize our citizens, Christians and others.





So, as the New Year dawned, Nigerians heaved a sigh of relief for the departure of the year 2023. Echoes of joy and relief were heard everywhere as the clock ushered in the year 2024.





We witnessed a remarkable improvement in the security situation in our communities, during the Christmas and New Year festivities.





While we commend the government for rising up to its responsibility of securing our communities, we urge them to sustain their efforts in this regard. We would be belabouring the obvious to state that we need security for economic and social life to thrive in our communities.





Addressing the recent Vatican Document, Fiducia Supplicans,concerning the Pastoral Meaning of Blessings) of irregular unions, the Bishops said: The declaration seemed, on the one hand, to reiterate the Catholic teaching on the nature of blessings and, on the other hand, to undermine that same teaching, especially on the application of blessings to irregular unions.





Given this ambiguity, the document quickly aroused mixed reactions of acceptance, sceptical reserve, and outright rejection from Episcopal Conferences and individual bishops across the world.





No blessing for homosexual, same sex marriage





We reaffirm the position of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria, CBCN, in line with the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar, SECAM, to state that: the Churchs doctrine on Christian marriage and sexuality remains unchanged.





For this reason, we, the African Bishops, do not consider it appropriate for Africa to bless homosexual unions or same-sex couples because, in our context, this would cause confusion and would be in direct contradiction to the cultural ethos of African communities.





In furtherance of our pastoral and prophetic mission, we reject the blessing of same-sex unions in the Catholic Church in Nigeria.





We reaffirm the teaching of the Church on marriage as the exclusive, stable and indissoluble union between a man and a woman, open to procreation.





While we do not call for discrimination of people as a result of sexual orientations, the Gospel appeal for all sinners to repent is still urgent.





Growing concern over japa





On the growing Japa Syndrome, the Bishops said: The rising brain drain is now a growing concern.





In recent times, we have witnessed a growing number of our professionals and young people desperately giving up everything to emigrate in search of jobs and better living conditions outside the shores of our country.





This extensive brain drain is worrisome and is denying the country the requisite manpower needed to revamp its economy and foster national development.









Our young people are the most affected by this syndrome. As the country continues to sink economically, and as our government continues to accumulate more and more debts, many young people have been led to frustration and despondency.





The situation is worsened by the high level of youth unemployment in the country, which makes our youths feel rejected by the very society into which they were born.





Govt responsibility





As Pastors, we cannot get tired of reminding the government of its responsibility to provide for the welfare of the suffering masses in the face of the hard economic times.





We urge the government to initiate sound economic policies and programmes that can revive our ailing economy, foster growth, and improve the ease of doing business in the country.





A peaceful and secure environment will encourage investments and the movement of goods and services across the regions of the country. Fighting the menace of corruption and nepotism will help to enthrone the reign of competence and meritocracy in the country.





Reforming educational system





Reforming our educational system will help to equip the young people with the needed skills for our contemporary market-driven economies. We must equally say that the government cannot do it alone.





We call on the private sector to liaise with the government in generating employment opportunities, in encouraging the flowering of the entrepreneurial spirit that we know exists among our people, in developing new and innovative solutions to the economic challenges of the country, and in addressing the growing damage to the environment, especially in the oil-producing and mining regions of the nation.





We call on our young people to be ready to imbibe the spirit of entrepreneurship, to be ready for the rigours of technical training and the patience allied with job seeking and professionalism. We urge them to shun the get-rich-quick syndrome and the so-called yahoo-yahoo menace. These speak of attitudes that are anti-social and easily lead to criminal behaviour.





While calling for justice and equity to thrive in Nigeria, the Bishops however reasoned that if the citizens are no longer proud of their country today, it is because they experience their lives as threatened by the absence of the rule of law and no longer feel secure amid all the social tensions in the country.





They said: If we must stem the tide of the Japa Syndrome, then we must collectively resolve and work towards building a country we can be proud of, a country where justice, equity and fairness thrive.





Making Nigeria great should remain our collective dream. The Constitution of our country makes provision for federal character as a way of promoting fairness and equity among the ethnic communities and religions of the country.





It is important, therefore, that for the sake of social justice, national unity and cohesion, everyone should be given a sense of belonging in the country.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 19. Azerbaijans Minister of Foreign Affairs Jeyhun Bayramov has met with Minister of Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation of the United Republic of Tanzania January Makamba on the sidelines of the 19th Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Non-Aligned Movement in Kampala, Uganda, Trend reports citing the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry.

The discussions encompassed the prospects for cooperation between Azerbaijan and Tanzania in tourism, humanitarian, economic, energy and other domains, as well as bilateral engagement within the multilateral platforms.

Highlighting the Azerbaijan-Tanzania cooperation agenda implemented within the multilateral platforms, the Azerbaijani FM hailed the level of mutual support for the candidacies and projects put forward by Azerbaijan and Tanzania in the international platforms such as the UN and the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM). The ministers underscored the role of the ongoing working contacts between the two countries in this regard.

During the meeting, the two also stressed the importance of stepping up the political consultations between the two countries and expanding the bilateral legal framework. The meeting also focused on other issues of bilateral cooperation agenda.




Femi Adesina, former aide to ex-President Muhammadu Buhari, has disclosed that ex-Senate President, Bukola Saraki plotted to seize the leadership of the National Assembly in 2015.





Adesina said Saraki plotted with former House of Representatives Speaker, Yakubu Dogara, and ex-Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu.





He said Saraki worked with the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, lawmakers to get the necessary figures because most senators of the All Progressives Congress, APC, were not with him.





Adesina disclosed this in his book Working with Buhari: Reflections Of A Special Adviser, Media And Publicity (2015  2023).





The former presidential spokesman, however, said Buhari was unhappy with Saraki and Dogaras emergence as leaders of the National Assembly.





Adesina wrote: Unknown to the party leadership, Senator Bukola Saraki, a former Kwara State Governor, and Hon. Yakubu Dogara, from Bauchi State, had plotted to seize the leadership of the National Assembly.





To get the necessary figures, Saraki was in league with the PDP, his former party, as a significant number of APC senators were not with him.





We were in the Presidents living room at Aso Drive, preparatory to driving to the International Conference Centre (ICC) for the meeting with APC legislators, when we saw on television that the Senate had already been convened, and election was in progress.





The requisite constitutionally required number had been made up by renegade APC members and the PDP.




Delta State Governor, Sheriff Oborevwori has recorded another victory at the Supreme Court with the dismissal of the petition filed by the Social Democratic Party, SDP, and its governorship candidate, Kenneth Gbagi for lacking in merit.





In a unanimous judgment on Friday, the apex court dismissed all grounds and allegations raised against the March 18 last year gubernatorial poll.





Justice Mohammed Garba Lawal, who delivered the lead judgment, said the allegations that the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, candidate, Oborevwori was not qualified for the election was laughable as there was no evidence in support of the allegations.





Justice Lawal rejected the claim that the election was invalid and that the governor was not duly elected by majority of the lawful votes cast at the poll.





In another judgment in an appeal by the Labour Party, LP, and its governorship candidate, Ken Pela, the Supreme Court dismissed the appeal for being frivolous and lacking in merit.





Justice Musa Uwani Aba-Aji, who delivered the lead judgment, said that the petition was worthless as the appellants could not establish any of their allegations.





Justice Aba-Aji subsequently dismissed the petition in its entirety.





By the latest development, all the three appeals lodged by the APC, SDP and LP have been thrown away for lack of merit.




Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, the gubernatorial candidate of the All Progressive Congress, APC, in Delta State has congratulated Governor Sheriff Oborevwori, on his victory at the Supreme Court.





In a statement signed by him, he said It has been a long-drawn-out struggle to offer Deltans the best in the governance of the state.





He asked Deltans to respect the Supreme Court decision and give their best to promote peace everywhere in our beloved Delta State.





While saying it is about the collective interest and good of the people and not their personal interest, Omo-Agege said the Governor having now received the Supreme Courts seal of approval, should receive his well wishes as a democrat.





May the good Lord guide and abide with you and give you good health, strength and wisdom to govern our state well in Jesus name.





The Supreme Court today disallowed our appeal in respect of the March 18, 2023, Delta State Governorship Election and affirmed the return of Hon. Sheriff Oberevwori as the duly elected Governor of Delta state.





As the final court of the land, all citizens are bound to accept and abide by its decisions even if they do not accord with their personal or collective expectations of justice.





The unity, peace, and general good of our dear state are bigger and more important than any individual or group interest. Having responsibly and fully played our role in a principled defence of our fervent belief in the truth, honour and justice of our case and cause as democrats, we must now yield all to posterity, even as we thank God Almighty who gave us the grace to stand in the first place.





He thanked his family members, President Bola Tinubu, national and state leadership of APC, the Campaign Organisation, the legal team, running mate, political, religious, community, business, professional, and youth leaders, great friends and indeed all party members and supporter for their for their huge sacrifices in his quest to offer innovative and caring leadership to the people.





We ran a great race. Hold your head high as a man of honour. I pray the Almighty God rewards your faithfulness and loyalty beyond ordinary human comprehension Omo-Agege stated.
An Atlantic City police officer faces a third-degree theft charge after spending money inadvertently deposited into his checking account by his bank, authorities said Friday.

LaQuay DuBose, 37, of Atlantic City, spent about $35,000 of the $100,000 his bank accidentally deposited into his account, according to the Atlantic County Prosecutors Office. By spending some of the funds, the account was overdrawn by about $35,903, the prosecutors office said.

DuBose was suspended without pay after the charges were filed, Atlantic City police said. The department said Friday it was informed of discrepancies in the officers bank account in March 2023, relaying the information to the prosecutors office, police said.

The bank deposited the money into the account on March 21, 2023. Bank officials withdrew the money and closed DuBoses account about a week after finding the error, the prosecutors office said.

DuBose joined the force initially under the Class II rank before becoming a full-time police officer in 2019, according to Atlantic City police and state pension records.

Attorney information for DuBose was not immediately available Friday.

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An employee of a Hand and Stone Spa in Franklin Lakes was arrested Thursday after he was accused of sexually assaulting a customer while giving a massage, authorities said.

The alleged assault was reported to the Franklin Lakes Police Department on Jan. 13 by the customer who claimed the incident had happened a day earlier, according to a release from the Bergen County Prosecutors Office.

An investigation was launched and the employee, Kewin Sepulveda, 29, of Paterson, was arrested Thursday and charged with sexual assault, the office said.

Sepulveda was being held at the Bergen County Jail until his first court appearance. Attorney information was not immediately available.

Sepulveda was terminated from the spa once the franchise owner of the business learned of the allegations and he is not permitted to return to the spa, according to a Hand and Stone Spa spokesperson.

The Franklin Lakes Hand & Stone Massage and Facial Spa is an independently owned and operated franchise location, the spokesperson said. Franchisees adhere to a rigorous spa safety program designed to prioritize the safety of its guests and service providers. All franchise locations are trained on strict hiring and screening tools, therapist training and prevention, reporting and investigation policies.

Additionally, all Hand & Stone guests are provided with a Customer Bill of Rights when they enter the spa and are informed by the massage therapist that an attention button exists under the table if they or the therapist becomes uncomfortable, they continued. This is a core part of our spa processes, as it aims to provide a safe and professional experience to all of our customers.

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A person critically injured in a house fire Thursday night in Gloucester Township was rescued from the home by an alert neighbor prior to arrival of first responders, officials said.

The fire broke out around 10 p.m. on the 500 block of Pasadena Drive, Gloucester Township police said.

Firefighters dealt with heavy smoke and contained the fire to the rear of the one-story home.

Emergency workers treated the injured person at the scene before the resident was flown to a Philadelphia hospital in critical condition. No one else was in the home when the fire started.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation, though it is not considered suspicious.

Gloucester Township police didnt have additional details on the rescue or the residents condition early Friday morning.

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Security lapses at Newark Liberty International Airport resulted in the violent sexual assault of a woman who had just gotten off a plane and was walking to her car, it was alleged in a lawsuit filed Thursday.

The victim was violently assaulted as she walked through a new parking deck connected to Terminal A following a business trip, according to the suit, filed in Superior Court of Essex County.

The lawsuit claims the attacker was loitering for 45 minutes inside the new Terminal A and there was never an appropriate security response to his presence, even though he had no luggage, was wearing prison pants, and his behavior was characterized as strange.

The attack occurred on Level 4 of the Conrac parking facility at the airports new terminal, a 1-million square-foot terminal that opened to much fanfare in January 2023.

The parking facility is known as the Consolidated Parking and Rental Car Building, or Conrac, and is connected to the terminal by an enclosed pedestrian bridge, according to the suit.

The suit names the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, Conrac and several security companies.

A spokesman for the Port Authority on Friday declined to comment, citing pending litigation. A representative for Conrac did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The attack occurred six days after the opening of Terminal A and was recorded live on airport security cameras that allegedly were not being monitored as they should have been, according to the complaint.

As (the victim) was walking towards her parked car, she heard footsteps approaching her from behind. As she turned around in the direction of the footsteps, she was violently pushed and knocked to the ground, the suit says.

The attacker struck the woman multiple times, sexually assaulted her and fled. He was later identified as Thomassal Watkins, 40, of West New York. Watkins pleaded guilty to first-degree aggravated sexual assault on Dec. 11, 2023, and was sentenced to prison.

According to the lawsuit, Watkins had just been released from jail on an unrelated charge and was wearing orange striped prison pants and a T-shirt. He was unkempt and foul-smelling, had no luggage and was loitering, the suit says.

Before the assault, Watkins approached other airport employees, harassing, or frightening some of them. One airport supervisor called in a disturbance complaint about Watkins behavior but Watkins was not stopped, questioned or told to leave, the suit says.

Watkins otherwise acted in a manner inconsistent with that of a person traveling, or of a person seeking to meet a traveler at the airport, and/or of a person with any legitimate reason for being in the terminal, bridge, and/or Conrac parking garage or surrounding areas, the suit claims.

The lawsuit says Watkins was inside the Conrac facility for about 30 minutes prior to the sexual assault.

At no time while Watkins was at the airport was there any appropriate security detection and/or response to his presence or behavior, the suit says. During this entire time, Watkins was not approached by any security personnel.

The lawsuit says the Port Authority, Conrac managers, and security personnel at the airport knew or should have known there was a history of criminal activity at Newark Airport, including in the terminals, parking lots and other areas.

The suit alleges the defendants were grossly negligent and careless and breached their duty to protect travelers at the airport.

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Anthony G. Attrino may be reached at tattrino@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on X @TonyAttrino. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
The former president of Edison-based Apogee Bio-Pharm was sentenced to prison Thursday after pleading guilty in August to participating in a $33 million prescription kickback scheme from 2017 to 2020, the United States District Attorneys Office announced.

Elan Yaish, 54, of Israel, was sentenced to three years in prison and required to pay $32 million in restitution and spend three years on supervised release.

Authorities said Yaish was one of the co-conspirators that hatched a scheme to use marketing companies to persuade patients to try expensive prescriptions they didnt need and then guide those prescriptions to specific pharmacies.

According to prosecutors, the marketing companies targeted patients insured by Medicare and TRICARE in order to submit exorbitant reimbursements after filling prescriptions. Authorities alleged the marketing companies paid kickbacks to telemedicine companies for referring patients, and the telemedicine companies paid doctors to approve the prescriptions.

The marketing companies then guided the approved prescriptions to pharmacies, including Apogee, they had kickback arrangements with, authorities said, and paid a portion of the reimbursements from Medicare and TRICARE to the marketing companies.

Other executives with Apogee were indicted as well, including Gary Kaczka, 62 of Saddle Brook, as well as a father and son from New York, William B. Welwart, 69, and Ethan B. Welwart, 35. Authorities said Kaczka was one of the pharmacists who participated in the scheme and William and Ethan were CEO and Director of Operations, respectively. All three men are awaiting trial.

Another co-conspirator, James D. Feeley, 46, of Grafton, Ohio plead guilty in December to anti-kickback laws in the same scheme after admitting he controlled the marketing companies, authorities said.

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Matthew Enuco may be reached at Menuco@njadvancemedia.com. Follow Matt on X
PARIS (AP)  It was Wild West meets melting pot America at the Louis Vuitton Fall-Winter 2024 mens show Tuesday, where musician-turned-designer Pharrell Williams unveiled his highly-anticipated sophomore collection.

The show, set against the dramatic silhouette of the Louis Vuitton Foundation in Paris, masterfully channeled Americana, with Native American designs mixing with modern luxury and showcasing Williams unique vision for the powerhouse.

Celebrity guests including Bradley Cooper, Omar Sy and Carey Mulligan gathered to witness a boulder-laden landscape that evoked the rugged terrains of an idealized America. The collection itself was a vibrant celebration of the American spirit, dripping in the famed confidence of Williams  a lauded music star who is a newcomer to fashion design at this level.

The designs emphasized loose proportions, reflecting a modern take on classic American silhouettes. Models  male and female  strutted down the runway in leather cowboy hats, cowhide valises, and checkered denim jackets adorned with bull badges, their cowboy boots boasting shiny metal points. Rodeo jackets shimmered with intricate embroideries, showcasing the luxurious craftsmanship synonymous with the LVMH-owned brand.

The show highlighted the dazzling Vegas-style suiting  jackets with glimmering stripes paired with flared pants, exuding an energy reminiscent of the citys iconic Strip. The collection also featured oversized jackets, including a statement-making gangster-style fur coat, in bold reinterpretations of traditional Western wear.

Yet, the soul of the collection is its collaboration with Dakota and Lakota nation artists, a partnership that could be seen in intricate designs on scarves, bags, and blankets with floral and geometric patterns telling stories of heritage and identity.

Pharrell wanted to bring out the Native American spirit, (...) he wanted to showcase were still here, were still resilient, Rebecca Brady, 54, a Native American from New Town, North Dakota, told The Associated Press.

Beyond the fashion, the event turned into a cultural spectacle. VIP guests enjoyed Louis Vuitton-branded hamburgers in a Champagne-fueled barbecue, symbolizing a quirky blend of high fashion and classic Americana. The atmosphere was further charged with performances by Mumford & Sons and artists from the Native American nations.

The evening reached its peak when Williams himself took to the stage, eliciting a wave of excitement from the crowd.

Williams performance demonstrated his artistic versatility and highlighted the unique energy he brings to the Louis Vuitton brand. The collection was a daring fusion of styles and cultures, exemplifying a journey beyond fashion into a realm where art, music, and cultural heritage intertwine.

__

By THOMAS ADAMSON AP Fashion Writer
An 88-year-old driver was injured when she crashed her SUV into two businesses in a strip mall in Ocean County on Thursday afternoon, authorities said.

The woman was driving through an aisle in the parking lot of Whiting Commons on Lacey Road in Manchester when she started to accelerate, drove over a curb onto the sidewalk and into the building, Manchester police said.

The driver, a resident of the Whiting section of town, was brought to an area hospital with injuries to her neck, back, chest and face, police said. Police said the injuries were not considered life-threatening.

H&R Block and Wine World were heavily damaged, police said. The crash is under investigation though police said driver error most likely caused it.

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Jeff Goldman may be reached at jeff_goldman@njadvancemedia.com.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 19. Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan Jeyhun Bayramov, within the framework of a working visit to Uganda to participate in the 19th Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), met with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the State of Palestine and Palestinians Living Abroad, Riyadh al-Maliki, Trend reports citing the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry.

Topics included in the agenda of bilateral and multilateral cooperation between Azerbaijan and Palestine, as well as the situation in the Gaza Strip, were discussed at the meeting.

The agenda of bilateral and multilateral cooperation between the two countries in the political, cultural, humanitarian spheres and other areas, mutual support within the framework of regional and international organizations were noted with satisfaction.

It was emphasized that Azerbaijan has always supported the two-state solution on the basis of international law, including the relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council, and has taken practical actions in this direction at the national level, including during its chairmanship of the NAM, to eliminate the consequences conflict

It was noted with satisfaction that Azerbaijan provided assistance to Palestine in the amount of US$2 million through the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).

During the meeting, views were also exchanged on other issues of mutual interest.
A man was killed on Thursday night when he was struck by a commuter train near an NJ Transit station, officials said.

He was hit by Raritan Valley Line train 5150 near Fanwood Station in Union County at 7:21 p.m., according to NJ Transit. The agency did not release the circumstances of the incident.

There were about 100 customers on board the train at the time. No injuries were reported among passengers or crew members.

The train departed Raritan Station at 6:49 p.m. and was scheduled to arrive at New York Penn Station at 8:14 p.m., officials said.

Service on the Raritan Valley Line was suspended for more than two hours after the incident. As of 9 p.m., service was subject to delays of up to an hour.

An investigation by the New Jersey Transit Police is ongoing.

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Nicolas Fernandes may be reached at nfernandes@njadvancemedia.com.
Winter officially began nearly four weeks ago so the amount of light each day continues to increase each day, with the start of Daylight Saving Time 2024 now seven-plus weeks away.

Clocks will spring forward one hour overnight on at 2 a.m. on Sunday, March 10.

The sun will set at around 6 p.m. in New Jersey on Saturday, March 9. The following day, after the time shift and the end of standard time, sunset is at 7 p.m. The sun will, however, rise nearly an hour later  at about 7:16 a.m. on Sunday, March 10, after coming up at 6:18 a.m. on Saturday, March 9.

Spring will officially arrive at 11:06 p.m. on Tuesday, March 19.

In the meantime, the amount of daylight we have each day in New Jersey will continue to slowly increase. On Friday the sun will set at 5 p.m. or later for the first time since Daylight Saving Time ended in early November.

Daylight Saving Time, sometimes incorrectly referred to by the plural Daylight Savings Time, begins the second Sunday in March and ends the first Sunday in November. This year it concludes on Nov. 3, 2024 at 2 a.m.

Until 2007, Daylight Saving Time began at 2 a.m. on the first Sunday in April and ended at 2 a.m. on the last Sunday in October.

While most states change clocks for Daylight Saving Time, there are some holdouts.

Most of Arizona and all of Hawaii does not observe Daylight Saving Time. In addition, Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa and the U.S. Virgin Islands do not participate in Daylight Saving Time.

Indiana didnt start observing Daylight Saving Time until 2006.

The Uniform Time Act of 1966 allows states to exempt themselves from observing Daylight Saving Time.

Four bills were introduced in the state legislature in New Jersey in 2022 that would establish Daylight Saving Time as the official time year-round, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Two are pending, but any bill would need authorization of the U.S. Congress to be implemented as federal law does not allow year-round Daylight Saving Time.

In this Thursday, Nov. 3, 2016 photo, Dan LaMoore sizes hands for an 8-foot diameter silhouette clock at Electric Time Co., in Medfield, Mass. Daylight Saving Time starts on March 10 when clocks get turned ahead an hour. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)AP

While the U.S. Senate passed the Sunshine Protection Act in March 2022, the House of Representatives didnt act on it so it never reached the desk of President Joe Biden.

In 2023, 12 U.S. senators re-introduced the bill to make Daylight Saving Time permanent.

Nineteen states have either passed resolutions or passed legislation calling for permanent Daylight Saving Time, the NCSL said.

A CBS News poll in 2022 showed 46% of Americans prefer year-round Daylight Saving Time, with 33% wanting year-round Standard Time and the remaining 21% happy to continue to switch back and forth.

What role did Benjamin Franklin play in Daylight Saving Time?

Benjamin Franklin is credited with coming up with the notion of making better use of the days light. While visiting Paris in 1784, Franklin came to believe that sunlight was being wasted during the day. In a joking letter to the editors of a Paris newspaper, Franklin proposed a tax on all Parisians whose windows were closed after sunrise.

He believed that this would encourage the economy of using sunshine instead of candles, according to Michael Downing, author of Spring Forward: The Annual Madness of Daylight Saving Time.

During World War I, the German Empire implemented an idea that most resembles the Daylight Saving Time that we observe today.

Believing that it would conserve fuel during the war, the German Empire in 1916 became the first to switch its clocks to save daylight.

In 1918, the U.S. enacted the first Daylight Saving Time law as a way to conserve fuel. It was reintroduced during World War II.

The U.S. put nationwide, year-round daylight saving into effect during World War II starting on Feb. 9, 1942, thinking it would help conserve energy, according to the U.S. Department of Defense. Nicknamed War Time, it remained in effect until September 1945 when Japan surrendered.

In 1973, President Nixon signed into law the Emergency Daylight Saving Time Energy Conservation Act, which made DST permanent in the U.S. This helped reduce confusion throughout the country with some regions of the U.S. participating in the practice and some regions opting out. The law was redacted less than a year later, though.

A common misconception is that Daylight Saving Time was implemented as a way to improve farming practices. However, this is a myth.

During the early adoption of the practice in the U.S., farmers were among the biggest opponents of Daylight Saving Time, believing that it would disrupt their farming practices.

Not really, even though that was cited in the 2005 Energy Policy Act that extended Daylight Saving Time by a month.

A study three years later by the U.S. Department of Energy determined that the extended daylight throughout the year of 2005 saved a mere .5% in electricity use per day and only about .3% over the entire year.

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Theres no sugarcoating the Yankees handling last summer of Anthony Rizzo.

Their trainers and medical department probably dont deserve all the blame that they get for so many players going on the injured list year after year after year, but they made a terrible error in judgement last August allowing Rizzo to keep playing after he complained that he was foggy during a Yankees-Orioles game in Baltimore.

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By then, Rizzo mostly had been an easy out for two months. The longest and worst slump of his accomplished career all started after he was rammed into by Padres outfielder Fernando Tatus Jr., on a pickoff throw at first base.

After that May 28 Sunday matinee at Yankee Stadium, Rizzo was batting .304 with 11 homers and 32 RBI playing 53 of the Yankees first 55 games. Thats a 33-homer, 94-RBI pace. He was on his way to becoming an All-Star for the fourth time.

Following his collision, Rizzo missed three games with what the Yankees called a sore neck, then he returned and played like he was in a fog batting .172 with one homer in 46 games from June 2 until Aug. 1.

Thats when the Yankees, back in New York after a weekend in Baltimore, finally got Rizzo checked out, and  surprise, surprise!  he was dealing with post-concussion syndrome.

His season was over.

On the defense, the Yankees said Rizzo passed concussion protocols before returning from the late May ramming, but that doesnt excuse allowing him to play every inning of the weekend series in Baltimore and then full games the next Monday and Tuesday at Yankee Stadium.

This scary ordeal may have a happy ending.

Two weeks after being shut down, Rizzo was saying in the middle of August that he felt good, then he said the same thing when he met with writers in September. His test results showed healing.

Now were in the middle of January, less than a month before spring training starts in Tampa, and the latest medical update again is sunshine and roses.

Rizzo still is feeling good and will show up for spring training with no restrictions.

Were optimistic and hopeful that hes fine and ready to go, Yankees GM Brian Cashman said Thursday. Weve been led to believe that that would be the case and that hell be the Anthony Rizzo we can count on. But well have to wait and see how it plays out.

This definitely will be wait and see.

Yankees fans probably remember Clint Frazier was concussed running into an outfield wall during 2018 spring training games and still bothered on and off by symptoms for three years. His once-promising career never really took off.

The Yankees like what theyre hearing from Rizzo, what the concussion doctors are saying and what his tests show, but they understand that unforeseen relapses are not rare with head trauma.

I wont say its an undiscovered country, but its certainly a more difficult injury to navigate., Cashman said. I can tell you that he feels great. The doctors have told us hes 100 percent clear, that the type of concussion that he had, once hes passed it will not return.

Theres no looking back. Were moving forward. Were certainly hopeful that thats the case  but that doesnt mean its not something thats I guess on the table because even though youve got experts in the field, the brain is a tricky situation.

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Randy Miller may be reached at rmiller@njadvancemedia.com.
After stewing and venting for a few years, Yankees new pitcher Marcus Stroman finally got over being mad at Brian Cashman.

All it took was Cashman and the Yankees showing real interest in signing him this winter.

As for Cashman, he blames himself for setting off Stroman four years ago and hes relieved that their little war of words finally is over.

Both sides sure sounded sincere Thursday when taking turns answering questions from Yankees beat writers on separate afternoon Zoom calls.

It was kind of quick, said Stroman, whose two-year, $37-million signing was agreed upon last week and become official with a passed physical on Wednesday. Me and Cashman hashed out whatever it was that we had from a few years ago. We kind of laughed about it and we moved on.

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What they had was entertaining, and it sure set off Stroman, who responded to criticism with some venom on the social media site formerly known as Twitter.

Cashman still is angry at himself for saying Stroman wasnt good enough to be in the Yankees postseason rotation after they passed adding him at the 2019 summer trade deadline.

Listen, my bad, he said.

Back in 19, Cashman said the sinkerball-throwing right-hander would be in our bullpen in the postseason even though he represented the Blue Jays in the All-Star Game earlier that month.

Stroman was hurt. He grew up on Long Island. He always dreamed of being a Yankee.

Feeling rejected, Stroman couldnt let it go. Stroman has gotten into with fans on Twitter over the years and in October 2020, after the Yankees World Series drought continued with another playoff ousting, he tweeted that other than ace Gerrit Cole, theres no current Yankee pitcher who will be anywhere in my league over the next 5-7 years. Their pitching always folds in the end. That lineup and payroll should be winning World Series left and rightyet theyre in a drought. Lol.

A year later, after the Yankees again came up short in the postseason, Stroman retweeted his past comment with a fresh insult:

This tweet will continue to age unbelievably well.

On Thursday, Stroman played down the dissing and his responses in his Zoom session, but Cashman detailed how important it was for him to tell his side of the story. He feels that his 2020 comments were taken out of context because the Yankees were serious about adding Stroman for the stretch run that year.

Stroman wound up being traded to the Mets instead of the Yankees on July 28 for two pitching prospects, Anthony Kay and Simeon Woods Richardson

Whenever that trade from Toronto to the Mets happened, we were also trying to trade for him, Cashman said. So obviously we targeted him and had interest in him. I was asked a question (during an interview) about why we didnt pay the ransom. Toronto, being within (our) division, was going to ask more of us at the time.

Trying to frame at that time why we didnt push through all the way and go all in on that particular transaction, even though we were in on him, I just said for the amount of talent they wanted back, it wasnt going to be enough of a difference maker. And that was my bad, because then how it played wasnt certainly how it was intended.

Clearly if I didnt value the player or think he was of quality, I wouldnt have been trying to trade for him. So I called his agent immediately and apologized and said, Hey Id like to talk to Stro if you think thats necessary. He gave me his number because obviously I wouldnt have had it. That (phone talk) never transpired, so I apologized through his agent.

Stroman pitched in Queens until he reached free agency after the 2021 season and signed a three-year, $71-million deal with the Cubs that included an opt-out after this season that he triggered. Last season, Stroman was an All-Star for the second time while going 10-9 with a 3.95 ERA in 27 outings.

The Yankees started talking internally about Stroman even before they lost out on their first choice for a rotation upgrade pn Dec. 22 when Yoshinobu Yamamoto picked the Dodgers.

At the GM Meetings in November, Stromans current agent, former Mets GM Brody Van Wagenen, brought up his client to Cashman.

Now, Stro is a free agent, (Van Wagenen) broaches the conversation, an initial conversation of him potentially being a fit with us, Cashman said. He assured to me that there are no issues. When we got down the tracks with Stro, I kept reiterating to Brodie how important it was for me to have a conversation with Stro.

When the Yankees and Stroman got serious about each other, Cashman finally got a chance to say what he wanted man to man.

When Stro and I were talking, I think he was trying to dismiss it, say it wasnt necessary and that its all good, Cashman said. He was kind of moving forward with it saying. Im all about the future, not the past. I was like, No, this is important. I need to check this box. Its important to me, Ive talked through now two agents to you, sending an apology. I want you to hear exactly what transpired and what was intended and not intended.

I personally apologized to him, as well, even as he was trying to shut me down and say its not necessary. We kind of laughed at that. It was an important box for me to check regardless because he didnt deserve how that was playing out with the press back then. It certainly wasnt how I was intending it to play out. It was my bad.

With the past in the past, Stroman became the Yankees choice to fill a rotation void that opened when Michael King was part of the blockbuster with the Padres that brought in star outfielder Juan Soto.

Theyre both very excited.

Im just excited to be a Yankee, Stroman said. Im excited to go out there and compete in the Bronx and perform in the Bronx. I think its the hardest thing to do. But Im someone whos always wanted to challenge, so I think its just a match made in heaven.

Cashman agrees.

This is someone that wants the big stage, wants the bright lights, he said. There is a population of Major League talent that does not want to play in the New York arena. Its too hot. Its too difficult. Its too much. But that is not this player.

This player wanted to be here. The bigger the opportunity the better. He runs to competition. Its kind of how he seems to have been wired all the way back to his amateur days. Ultimately, when were doing all our deep dives and reiterating our deep dives, that was getting reverified every step of the way from anybody we talked to.

Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting us with a subscription.

Randy Miller may be reached at rmiller@njadvancemedia.com.
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BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 19. The Foreign Ministry of Azerbaijan has released statement on 20 January  National Mourning Day, Trend reports.

"Today, it has been 34 years since the military assault against the people of Azerbaijan and an unprecedented massacre targeting civilians by the former Soviet regime in breach of international law.

Towards the end of the 1980s, the former Soviet Unions disregard for Armenia's illegal territorial claims against our country, deportation of hundreds of thousands of Azerbaijanis from their ancestral lands in present-day Armenia, and inciting ethnic riots for backing separatist activities in Azerbaijan's Garabagh region, further stimulated the rise of the national independence movement against the Soviet regime in Azerbaijan.

On the night of 19-20 January 1990 as a result of military aggression by units and special forces of Soviet Army as well as contingents of internal troops against Azerbaijan, massacres intending forcibly suppressing national independence movement in Azerbaijan were carried out against civilians, including women, children, and the elderly in Baku and Sumgayit, Lankaran, and Neftchala. Military aggression of the occupying forces claimed the lives of 150 citizens, severely wounded 744 others, and 4 people went missing.

On 21 January 1990, immediately after the tragedy, at the Permanent Mission of Azerbaijan in Moscow, National Leader Heydar Aliyev was able to break through the Soviet regimes information blockade revealing this heinous crime against our people, and convey the world community the truth about the massacres.

20 January tragedy had a decisive impact on shaping the Azerbaijani national identity and marked a historic turning point in the restoration of independence of Azerbaijan. Azerbaijani people who were exposed to the military, political, and moral aggression of the Soviet regime 34 years ago, demonstrated devotion to their historical traditions of struggle. The sons and daughters of the motherland, who sacrificed their lives for justice on that tragic day, left a remarkable page in the heroic history of our people. On 20 January 1990, which was marked in our history as a day of tragedy, as well as of national pride, Azerbaijani people conveyed to the world that they deserve to live free, sovereign and independent.

Following the return of National Leader Heydar Aliyev to power in our country, at the special session of the Milli Majlis (Parliament) held in February 1994 the brutal killing of innocent people on 20 January 1990 was qualified as military aggression and a crime, and in March 1994 a decision On the tragic events committed in Baku on 20 January 1990 was adopted.

Regardless of the terrible atrocities committed against our people, the attempts to undermine our territorial integrity and sovereignty, and military occupation of our lands by Armenia for almost 30 years, the 44-day Patriotic War resulted in the complete restoration of our territorial integrity, while local counter-terrorism measures on 19-20 September 2023 led to the complete restoration of our sovereignty. For the first time this year, the 34th anniversary of the January 20 tragedy, which backfired by becoming the peak of the national independence movement, coincides with the time of complete restoration of our sovereignty, for which our sons and daughters sacrificed their lives.

We remember with deep respect and gratitude the memory of our Martyrs who sacrificed their lives for our independence, territorial integrity and sovereignty", - the statement says.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 20. TurkishDeputy Minister Ambassador Burak Akcapar met with Assistant to the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan-Head of the Department of Foreign Policy Affairs of the Presidential Administration Hikmat Hajiyev, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said, Trend reports.

During the meeting, comprehensive consultations were held on regional issues on the agenda of Turkiye and Azerbaijan.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 19. The activity of military police units of the Azerbaijani army in populated areas in the liberated territories and in places of troop deployment is organized at a high level, Trend reports, citing the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry.

"Military police troops patrol checkpoints, including newly built stationary and mobile posts, inspect and register personnel, record equipment entering the region, and direct the flow of military transport trucks. To ensure the safe transit of columns of Azerbaijani army units to the sites of deployment, they are accompanied, personnel have control over the service of troops in accordance with the daily schedule, and round-the-clock combat duty is performed," the Ministry reports.

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In a proactive move to enhance bicycle security and engage with the local community, police officers in South Molton are offering a free bike marking event on Thursday, January 25.

The initiative aims to provide cyclists with added protection against potential thefts.

Taking place at the South Molton Pannier Market in Broad Street, South Molton, officers will be available from 9am to 1pm to security mark bicycles for interested participants.

The event conveniently aligns with the town's regular market day, and officers hope to see a strong turnout from local residents.

The event coincides with National Neighbourhood Policing Week of Action, which has encouraged public engagement and the visibility of local police teams across the UK.

Sergeant Robert Brown, Neighbourhood Team Leader for South Molton, expressed gratitude to the South Molton Town Council for providing space in their award-winning market.

Sergeant Brown has motivated locals to come forward, get their bikes marked, and engage with officers about any queries they may have.

The bike marking initiative is funded by a donation from the Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA), with the South Molton Volunteer Bureau successfully bidding for and being awarded 1,506. The marking kits enable bikes to be traced back to their owners in the event of theft.

Highlighting the importance of crime prevention, especially during the time when many received new bikes as gifts over the festive period, Sergeant Brown has emphasised the role of community engagement in enhancing overall safety.

Cyclists are encouraged to register their bicycles on www.bikeregister.com.

The police bike marking initiative is part of a broader community event on January 25 called South Molton Gets Together, organised by One South Molton. This free wellbeing event at the Assembly Rooms promises a day filled with activities for all ages, refreshments, and music.

More information is available on the ONE SOUTH MOLTON website or One South Molton Facebook page.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 19. Of the 15,759 crimes registered in Baku last year, 82.8 percent were less serious, 17.2 percent were grave, and particularly grave, Head of the Baku City Police Headquarters Major-General of Police Akber Ismayilov said during the operative meeting, Trend reports.

According to Ismayilov, the number of negligent homicides was halved in the reporting period compared to 2022, less serious crimes by 5.7 percent, and robberies by 27.5 percent. In total, 167 firearms, 65 grenades, and 3,834 pieces of ammunition were collected, and 78 illegally carried and stored firearms were seized.

"During the reporting period, 42 criminal groups of 103 people who committed 49 robberies were identified, as well as 26 criminal groups suspected of 56 burglaries. Criminal cases, the investigation of which has been completed, provided compensation of 76.6 percent (33.7 million manat ($19.8 million)) of material damage caused to citizens," Ismailov said.

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When the 2024 Grammy nominations were announced, one thing was immediately apparent: Women outpaced men in the major categories.

The leading artists  superstars like SZA, Taylor Swift, and Olivia Rodrigo  reflect an incredible diversity of skill with acclaimed albums that mine all corners of the human experience.

One such corner: divorce.

An influx of new releases from Kelly Clarkson, Miley Cyrus and Kelsea Ballerini reimagine the divorce album in all its complexity. While the music industry has long been youth-obsessed, there may be something to the fact that these musicians are all women in their 30s and 40s and consequently possess a kind of self-assuredness and rich, emotional maturity. In a culture where relatability is currency, relationship stories with the weight and wisdom of age register as fresh. If all popstars are teenaged, where does that leave the rest of us? Perhaps the depth of a breakup ballad is felt more acutely when a public split plays out in tabloid headlines  and theres a lot more to lose.

Cyrus malleable pop Flowers," one of APs picks for best songs of 2023, is a pep talk-turned-empowerment banger  the sound of a woman learning about herself again after a decadelong relationship ended in divorce. She's raked in five nominations, including album of the year for Endless Summer Vacation.

Then there's Clarksons Chemistry  a big-belter release shes described as a relationship album" that's up for best pop vocal album.

And in the world of country, which has a long tradition of women performing songs about divorce and domesticity, Ballerinis Rolling Up the Welcome Mat is up for the genre's best album.

These records vary greatly but share a similar emotional core: They were written while grappling with marriages falling apart.

In 2020, Cyrus split from actor Liam Hemsworth and Kelly Clarkson ended her marriage to Brandon Blackstock. Two years later, Ballerini and her husband Morgan Evans divorced.

Musically, those endings opened up new realities. Clarkson pursued courageous ballads that stretched her elastic vocal range, Ballerini experimented with pop production and Cyrus wielded her weather-worn voice like a weapon. Their albums came out of painful periods in which each performer was redefining herself.

Ballerini is part of a long lineage of women in country making music about divorce and heartbreak  running the gamut in tone from vengeful to celebratory. Marissa R. Moss, author of Her Country: How the Women of Country Music Became the Success They Were Never Supposed to Be, points to Loretta Lynns groundbreaking 1973 hit Rated X" as setting the precedent for future musicians.

Whats interesting, now, is the modern ways in which divorce is articulated on these records.

Ballerini's album  particularly the song Penthouse  challenges stereotypical domestic roles and demonstrates financial power, Moss said.

I bought the house with the fence, enough room for some kids, Ballerini sings. Later, her home becomes claustrophobic, an allegory for her marriage: And I thought that would make it all better, and maybe forever wouldnt feel like the walls closing in."

The record gets at the idea that even when women attain financial autonomy and remake traditional marriages roles, theyre still not necessarily able to find freedom within its confines.

I dont think a quote-unquote divorce album is the first time that I have felt like its different being a woman in country music, thats for sure, Ballerini told The Associated Press, about gender expectations in the genre.

Men, too, have long written about marriages ended, but in the current moment, women lead the charge. Other artists writing in and around divorce include Adele,Kacey Musgraves, and Carly Pearce, another 2024 Grammy nominee.

Ballerini, for her part, understands why people relate deeply to the songs on her album that deal with divorce.

It's something that was taboo to talk about, especially from a womans perspective, for a really long time, she said. It goes back to like giving a voice to myself and validating my own feelings and my own life and my own journey and hoping that other women feel that too and feel validated."

People often expect divorce records to contain exclusively sad songs. While Ballerini, Clarkson and Cyrus exorcise grief on their albums, they express gratitude as well. These records are sad and empowering, often both at once.

The feeling people seem to have is that sad music is expressing their own sadness, not the sadness of the artist  but you feel like the artist is trying to express your sadness, Joshua Knobe, a Yale professor and researcher, said. He led a team of academics whose 2023 study found that listeners are drawn to melancholic music for similar reasons as they're compelled by sad conversations  because they are seeking connection.

Or, as Ballerini said, listeners want to feel validated.

People like success. They like talking with people who succeed," Knobe continued. "But thats not the thing that makes people feel a profound connection to another human being.

If negative emotions register as more complex than positive ones, perhaps that makes for more opportunities to connect. Divorce records often traverse a spectrum of feelings, with Cyrus, Ballerini and Clarkson's songs allowing the listener to experience the full breadth of the artists' love and pain. That is no doubt noteworthy.

Or perhaps award-worthy.

Associated Press journalist Krysta Fauria contributed to this report.
CROWN POINT  A 19-year-old Gary woman was charged Wednesday in connection with a crash that killed a Lake Station man late last month.

Robelis Soto-Echevarria was charged with leaving the scene resulting in death or catastrophic injury to another person. A magistrate set her bail at $3,500 cash or $35,000 surety.

A Hobart police officer was doing his normal patrol duties on the evening of Dec. 26 when he noticed what appeared to be a person laying on the side of East Ridge Road in Hobart, according to information filed in a probable-cause affidavit. The subject, identified as Richard Hunt, appeared to be frosted from the cold. Hunt was found not breathing, lying face down with blood on his face.

The Lake County coroner's office determined Hunt died of blunt force trauma injuries consistent with being struck by a vehicle, the affidavit said.

An officer purportedly found a mirror, and mirror "housing unit" from a Honda. The officer took it to a local dealership where employees said the parts were from a Honda Odyssey manufactured between 2005 and 2010, the affidavit said.

A detective received a tip about a purchase of a few Honda Odyssey accessories from a local auto shop two days after the crash. Video surveillance from the business showed a man arrived, purchase the items with cash and left in a red Chevrolet Silverado. Detectives ran the plate and found it was registered to Soto-Echevarria's father. Her mother had a Honda Odyssey registered in her name, the affidavit said.

Soto-Echevarria worked earlier that day in Portage and went to eat around 4 p.m. at a restaurant on East Ridge Road with her friends, the affidavit said. After the meal, she left around 5 p.m. to go home to change her clothes before she and her friends went to see a movie. The Odyssey's license plate was observed on a license-plate readers in the area of the crash around the time Soto-Echevarria was allegedly driving home, police said.

Detectives discovered Soto-Echevarria and her parents went to New Jersey after the incident in another vehicle, police said.

Detectives received permission from another family member to search the home and found the Honda with a a cracked windshield and passenger side panel damage, police said.

A cracked passenger side headlight next to the vehicle was "cracked and broken," the affidavit said.
VALPARAISO  A 25-year-old Illinois man, charged with having sex with a 12-year-old Portage girl and receiving 250 explicit photos and videos from her, is now in custody in Porter County, records show.

Alejandro Tellez, of Round Lake Beach, was booked into the county jail Thursday afternoon on three charges of child molesting and counts of sexual misconduct with a minor, child solicitation, vicarious sexual gratification and dissemination of matter harmful to minors, records show.

Portage police said they learned about Tellez while investigating another Illinois man on allegations also molesting the same Portage girl.

Hickory Hills resident Joe Benavente, 26, who is also being held at the Porter County Jail, is accused of meeting the Portage child online and twice driving to Portage to have sex with her, according to court records.

He is charged with four counts of child molesting, each of which carry a potential prison term of 20 to 40 years, records show.

While searching the girl's cellphone in the case against Benavente, police said they found saved messages in her Snapchat messaging app account linked to another man that contained three months of explicit images and conversation dating back to July.

The exchange included several instances of the man ordering the girl to perform various sex acts on video and for photographs, including orders to show her face and list her age.

"You don't mind my age though?" the girl asks at one point, according to police.

"No I don't mind," Tellez allegedly responds. "Do you mind mine?"

The girl reportedly informed police she told Tellez she was 14 but was actually 12 at the time.

Tellez claimed during the chat that the youngest girl he had had sex with was 13, police said.

Smartphone lives up to its name by automatically calling for help after driver rolls his vehicle Police determined the man was driving south on 300 West when he veered to the west near a field entrance and lost control of his vehicle, which rolled multiple times.

The two talked about meeting for sex and Tellez allegedly drove to Portage Sept. 9 and had sex with the girl.

The girl told police she waited until her mother went to bed and then slipped out to meet Tellez, who was parked a couple houses away, records show. The pair had sex in his van and then she walked back home.

Police said they traced the man's Snapchat account to Tellez and the girl identified him in a photo lineup.

Benavente is also accused of using Snapchat to communicate with the girl and arranging to twice meet her in Portage this past summer for sex.

The girl had told police she told Benavente she was 14 because she feared her real age would make her sound like a child "as in a toddler," police said.
CROWN POINT  An investigation conducted by the FBI'S Gang Response Investigative Team, known as GRIT, discovered a Chicago man was forcing a woman to perform sex with men for money and pocketing the cash for himself, police said.

Jeremy McCovins, 31, was charged Wednesday with human trafficking and promoting prostitution. His bail was set at $5,500 cash or $55,000 surety.

McCovins dropped off the victim on July 20, 2023 at a Comfort Inn, 1915 S. Mississippi St. in Hobart, under the impression she was going to meet a man for sex, according to a probable cause affidavit filed in Lake County court. McCovins communicated with a detective disguised as a patron via text and offered the woman for 30 minutes in exchange for $150, the affidavit said.

The woman walked up to a room and McCovins drove off in a Jeep Cherokee, police said. When the woman entered, she asked for the money up front, according to the affidavit.

An FBI special agent pulled McCovins vehicle over on Mississippi Street near West 61st Avenue, the affidavit said.

McCovins told police he was going to a gas station before picking a friend up from work, according to the affidavit, and the agent ran his name through the Bureau of Motor Vehicles' system and discovered his license had been revoked.

Upon searching the vehicle, investigators found the victim's ID card, according to the affidavit.

When questioned, the victim said McCovins uses her phone to set up her advertisement online, take explicit photographs and sets up her dates, according to police, and she said she has to give all her money to McCovins.

Investigators discovered the woman and McCovins had frequented other nearby motels in Merrillville, including the Red Roof Inn, 8290 Georgia St., the affidavit said.

McCovin stayed there the night before he went to the Comfort Inn but a manager caught him smoking marijuana in the room and asked him to leave, police said, and one guest made a complaint to management because the guest believed McCovins was facilitating prostitution in his room.

Video surveillance from the Red Roof Inn shows McColvin walking in and out of the room early in the morning, police said. He exited around 6:25 a.m. and another man entered five minutes later, the affidavit said. The man left around 6:45 a.m. and McCovins entered again shortly after, according to the affidavit.
CROWN POINT  A judge granted prosecutors' motion to dismiss murder and attempted murder charges against a Gary man Wednesday, less than a week before the case was scheduled to go to trial.

Lake Criminal Court Judge Gina Jones ordered prosecutors to dismiss the case against Devonte Phillips, 22, after prosecutors said in the motion that they could not prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt. It was determined alleged witnesses who connected Phillips to the death of Christopher Watson, 16, were not credible, his defense attorney Ken Elwood said. The case was scheduled to go to trial Monday in Jones' courtroom.

"I think the prosecutors did the right thing," Elwood said. "We could have had a trial sooner, but I believed they were going to come to this decision."

The case was dismissed without prejudice, meaning prosecutors could re-file the case at a later date if they choose.

Phillips was one of three codefendants in the case when it was filed in January 2021. The charges against the other two defendants were dismissed in September 2021.

The other two defendants testified at Phillips petition to let bail hearing in spring 2021, but their stories did not align with evidence. It was discovered that another witness who said she identified Phillips and the other two defendants as the shooters did not do so honestly.

"Their testimony was not reliable, and the judge agreed," Elwood said.

Lake Criminal Court Magistrate Kathleen Sullivan granted Phillips $12,500 cash bail in November 2021, which is typically not afforded to defendants charged with murder in Indiana unless evidence shows the presumption of guilt is not strong. He remained incarcerated, however, because he could not afford the high bail amount, Elwood said.

He was released from incarceration Wednesday after negotiating a plea for a time served sentence in an unrelated firearms case, Elwood said.

Watson, his female relative and a 56-year-old Gary man were outside moving a treadmill to a vehicle on July 5, 2020 when three males exited a gangway and began shooting at them, according to information in a probable-cause affidavit. Watson and the man were injured, but only Watson died from his injuries.

Investigators suspected Phillips in the homicide because Watson's brother had been a suspect in the shooting of 21-year-old Phillip Phillips, Devonte's brother, and Trevion Hudnell, 19, two months before. Watson's brother was charged but the charges were dropped a week later due to insufficient evidence, according to the affidavit.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 19. Of 15,759 crimes registered in Baku last year, 82.8 percent were less serious, 17.2 percent were grave, and especially grave, Head of the Main Police Department of Baku City Police Major-General Akber Ismayilov said, during the operative meeting, Trend reports.

To note, in the reporting period compared to 2022, the number of negligent homicides was halved, less serious crimes by 5.7 percent, and robberies by 27.5 percent. Totally, 167 units of firearms, 65 grenades, and 3,834 units of ammunition were collected, and 78 units of illegally carried and stored firearms were seized.

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Harley W. Snyder paused to stare at the newspaper obituary on our table inside a restaurant. The obits photo of his late friend, Spero Valavanis, stared back at him. It was a life of love, the obit began.

Snyder, whos 91, nibbled at his chicken gumbo soup and drifted back in time to his salad days.

He has been an influential director or board member for multiple corporations and foundations, including the Valparaiso University Board of Trustees, the Porter County Community Foundation and the Northwestern Indiana Regional Development Authority. He has served as president of both the Indiana Association of Realtors and the National Association of Realtors.

For several decades, he sat on countless boards for prominent companies in our Region, including a Fortune 500 company for 25 years. During those board meetings, Snyder would take a pause to glance around at fellow members  a whos who of top-level, highly educated executives from across Northwest Indiana.

And then there was him, an ambitious businessman without a college degree. Who am I to be sitting here, he would tell himself.

Snyders father, Harley B., earned only a sixth-grade education before venturing into the business world nearly a century ago. He worked as a credit collector for clothing stores that charged 10 cents down for a $3 suit. He eventually became a manager who stitched together tailor-made plans to fix up failing businesses.

My dad always said your word is your bond, Snyder recalled. But if your word is the bond then you need to be willing to sign a paper to say that.

His humble but ever-hustling father later became a traveling salesman, driving to wherever a sale could be made.

So we moved a lot, Snyder said.

During the Great Depression, his family moved to Northwest Indiana, arriving in Valparaiso in 1939.

This has been my home ever since, Snyder told me at The Dish restaurant on the citys north side. Everything I have can be attributed to this city and this Region.

He has a slow and thoughtful verbal cadence, sounding a bit like Johnny Carson without the corny jokes.

The reason God gave you two ears and one mouth is to listen as twice as much as you talk, he said, later apologizing for talking too much. To some degree, I guess Im still a salesman just like my dad.

When Snyders father turned 65, he told his son to buy out his share of their real estate and insurance business. Snyder resisted at first but then followed his destiny in the corporate world. He became a local real estate titan in this area and beyond with a name that became synonymous with success.

Whether you have $5 million or $50 million, you dont live much differently, Snyder said.

His father died in 1988, about 20 years after he allowed his son to buy his share of the business. It took about that long until Snyder realized his father didnt really want to retire. He simply didnt want to hold back his sons ambition.

It was just another realization that Snyder has had in his life. He accumulates realizations like most people accumulate rationalizations. Some are about business. Others are about people or his family or his faith.

Im not a good Christian. But Im a Christian, Snyder joked.

As a kid growing up in Valparaiso, Snyder noticed an appealing trait in people: leadership skills.

I just admired people who did things, like my dad, Snyder said.

Snyder, who has only twice the level of education than his father, didnt attend college after graduating from Valparaiso High School. Instead, he served a two-year stint in the U.S. Army, then invaded the business world.

He met his wife, Jan, in high school. In August, they will celebrate 69 years of marriage. They have two children, two grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.

Snyder is fiercely proud of his son and daughter, both in their 60s. Snyder pulled out his smartphone to find an online review of his son Andrews workplace accolades. He also raved about his daughter, Amy, whos employed at Purdue University Northwest. A proud parent is a proud parent  at any age.

Over the holidays, Snyder told his grandchildren, You have a legacy and a responsibility that comes with it, to carry it forward.

He was planting seeds of future realizations like his father did with him. Someday those seeds will blossom into behavior that reaps more than financial success.

Money is not the most important thing in life, Snyder said. Greed is, in fact, not good.

Snyder has donated more money than Ill ever earn in my lifetime, though he modestly considers himself middle-class. His adult life has been a far cry from his childhood, when his mother would replace the rubber soles on his worn out shoes and tell him they were new.

We were probably the working poor but didnt realize it, he explained with a chuckle.

It helps to live to 91 to have so many realizations that feel like epiphanies. During our lunch, Snyder had another one that sneaked up on him. I mentioned that my father died at 50 and how I would have liked to have thanked him for things if he had lived longer.

He stopped nibbling on his salad to pause and think about two specific occasions with his own children who recently thanked him for something.

I didnt think about this until this very moment, he said. I guess I just didnt pay it much attention.

Someday, hopefully many years away, Snyders obituary may begin, It was a life of realizations.

Close The 2016 Business & Industry Hall of Fame Induction Awards luncheon on Tuesday at the Radisson presented by the Times and IN Business magazine. Photos by Tony V. Martin The 2016 Business & Industry Hall of Fame Induction Awards luncheon on Tuesday at the Radisson presented by the Times and IN Business magazine. Photos by Tony V. Martin The 2016 Business & Industry Hall of Fame Induction Awards luncheon on Tuesday at the Radisson presented by the Times and IN Business magazine. Photos by Tony V. Martin The 2016 Business & Industry Hall of Fame Induction Awards luncheon on Tuesday at the Radisson presented by the Times and IN Business magazine. Photos by Tony V. Martin The 2016 Business & Industry Hall of Fame Induction Awards luncheon on Tuesday at the Radisson presented by the Times and IN Business magazine. Photos by Tony V. Martin The 2016 Business & Industry Hall of Fame Induction Awards luncheon on Tuesday at the Radisson presented by the Times and IN Business magazine. Photos by Tony V. Martin The 2016 Business & Industry Hall of Fame Induction Awards luncheon on Tuesday at the Radisson presented by the Times and IN Business magazine. Photos by Tony V. Martin The 2016 Business & Industry Hall of Fame Induction Awards luncheon on Tuesday at the Radisson presented by the Times and IN Business magazine. Photos by Tony V. Martin The 2016 Business & Industry Hall of Fame Induction Awards luncheon on Tuesday at the Radisson presented by the Times and IN Business magazine. Photos by Tony V. Martin The 2016 Business & Industry Hall of Fame Induction Awards luncheon on Tuesday at the Radisson presented by the Times and IN Business magazine. Photos by Tony V. Martin The 2016 Business & Industry Hall of Fame Induction Awards luncheon on Tuesday at the Radisson presented by the Times and IN Business magazine. Photos by Tony V. Martin The 2016 Business & Industry Hall of Fame Induction Awards luncheon on Tuesday at the Radisson presented by the Times and IN Business magazine. Photos by Tony V. Martin St. Catherine Hospital CEO JoAnn Birdzell is inducted to the Times Business Hall of Fame on Tuesday morning at the Radisson. Times Business Hall of Fame on Tuesday, May 10 at the Radisson. Times Business Hall of Fame on Tuesday, May 10 at the Radisson. Eddie Melton at the Times Business Hall of Fame on Tuesday, May 10 at the Radisson. Times Business Hall of Fame on Tuesday, May 10 at the Radisson. Times Business Hall of Fame on Tuesday, May 10 at the Radisson. Times Business Hall of Fame on Tuesday, May 10 at the Radisson. State Sen. Earline Rogers, D-Gary, speaks Tuesday at The Times Business & Industry Hall of Fame 2016 luncheon where she was honored for her years of service in the Statehouse. Senator Earline Rogers was presented with a Partner in Progress Award at the Times Business Hall of Fame on Tuesday, May 10 at the Radisson. Senator Earline Rogers gets a warm welcome as she was presented with a Partner in Progress Award at the Times Business Hall of Fame on Tuesday, May 10 at the Radisson. Senator Earline Rogers was presented with a Partner in Progress Award at the Times Business Hall of Fame on Tuesday, May 10 at the Radisson. Rick Urschel of Urschel Laboratories speaks on behalf of his company as they receive the Enterprise of the Year Award Tuesday morning at the Times Business Hall of Fame at the Radisson. Rick Urschel of Urschel Laboratories receives the Enterprise of the Year Award Tuesday morning at the Times Business Hall of Fame at the Radisson. Times Business Hall of Fame on Tuesday, May 10 at the Radisson. Times Business Hall of Fame on Tuesday, May 10 at the Radisson. Times Business Hall of Fame on Tuesday, May 10 at the Radisson. Eddie Melton at the Times Business Hall of Fame on Tuesday, May 10 at the Radisson. Times Business Hall of Fame on Tuesday, May 10 at the Radisson. Times Business Hall of Fame on Tuesday, May 10 at the Radisson. Shirley Schilling takes a photo of her husband Frank as he is inducted into the Times Business Hall of Fame Tuesday morning at Star Plaza. Frank Schilling is inducted into the Times Business Hall of Fame Tuesday morning at Star Plaza. Frank Schilling is inducted into the Times Business Hall of Fame Tuesday morning at Star Plaza. Shirley Schilling takes a photo of her husband Frank as he is inducted into the Times Business Hall of Fame Tuesday morning at Star Plaza. Frank Schilling, middle is inducted into the Times Business Hall of Fame by Times editor Bob Heisse and publisher Chris White, from left, Tuesday morning at Star Plaza. St. Catherine Hospital CEO JoAnn Birdzell is inducted to the Times Business Hall of Fame on Tuesday morning at the Radisson. St. Catherine Hospital CEO JoAnn Birdzell is inducted to the Times Business Hall of Fame on Tuesday morning at the Radisson. Times Business Hall of Fame on Tuesday, May 10 at the Radisson. Senator Earline Rogers was presented with a Partner in Progress Award at the Times Business Hall of Fame on Tuesday, May 10 at the Radisson. St. Catherine Hospital CEO JoAnn Birdzell is inducted to the Times Business Hall of Fame on Tuesday morning at the Radisson. Times Business Hall of Fame on Tuesday, May 10 at the Radisson. Times Business Hall of Fame on Tuesday, May 10 at the Radisson. Times Business Hall of Fame attendees listen to inductee Frank Schilling on Tuesday, May 10 at the Radisson. Times Business Hall of Fame on Tuesday, May 10 at the Radisson. Times Business Hall of Fame on Tuesday, May 10 at the Radisson. HSC, Inc. president Harley Snyder is inducted into the Times Business Hall of Fame in 2016 at Star Plaza. Rick Urschel of Urschel Laboratories listens to speeches Tuesday morning at the Times Business Hall of Fame at the Radisson. HSC, Inc. president Harley Snyder is inducted into the Times Business Hall of Fame Tuesday morning at Star Plaza. Pastor Ray Dix gives the invocation during the Business Hall of Fame on Tuesday, May 10 at the Radisson. Times publisher Chris White gives remarks during the Business Hall of Fame on Tuesday, May 10 at the Radisson. Times publisher Chris White gives remarks during the Business Hall of Fame on Tuesday, May 10 at the Radisson. Times Business Hall of Fame on Tuesday, May 10 at the Radisson. Times Business Hall of Fame on Tuesday, May 10 at the Radisson. Times advertising vice president Joe Battistoni remarks during the Business Hall of Fame on Tuesday, May 10 at the Radisson. Times Business Hall of Fame on Tuesday, May 10 at the Radisson. First Midwest Bank's Martie Rivas-Ramos at the Times Business Hall of Fame on Tuesday, May 10 at the Radisson. Franciscan Alliance's Laura Mannion at the Times Business Hall of Fame on Tuesday, May 10 at the Radisson. Times Business Hall of Fame on Tuesday, May 10 at the Radisson. Times Business Hall of Fame on Tuesday, May 10 at the Radisson. Times Business Hall of Fame on Tuesday, May 10 at the Radisson. Times Business Hall of Fame on Tuesday, May 10 at the Radisson. Hobart Mayor Brian Snedecor at the Times Business Hall of Fame on Tuesday, May 10 at the Radisson. HSC Inc. President Harley Snyder sets his award down as he is inducted into The Times 2016 Business & Industry Hall of Fame on Tuesday, at the Radisson Hotel at Star Plaza in Merrillville. State Sen. Earline Rogers looks on. (L to R) Earllne Rogers, Frank Schilling, JoAnn Birdzell and Harley Snyder. The 2016 Business & Industry Hall of Fame Induction Awards luncheon on Tuesday at the Radisson presented by the Times and IN Business magazine. Photos by Tony V. Martin Frank Schilling, president of Schilling Home Improvement Center, stands by a poster recognizing his achievements at The Times 2016 Business & Industry Hall of Fame induction ceremony on Tuesday at the Radisson Hotel at Star Plaza in Merrillville. Sate Sen. Earline Rogers, D-Gary, speaks Tuesday at The Times Business & Industry Hall of Fame 2016 luncheon at the Radisson Hotel at Star Plaza in Merrillville. The veteran legislator was honored as a "Partner in Progress" for her commitment to the Region and ability to work across party lines. State Sen. Earline Rogers, D-Gary, addresses The Times Business & Industry Hall of Fame 2016 luncheon Tuesday. Rogers was the keynote speaker and was inducted into the class of 2016. Harley Snyder. The 2016 Business & Industry Hall of Fame Induction Awards luncheon on Tuesday at the Radisson presented by the Times and IN Business magazine. Photos by Tony V. Martin Senator Earline Rogers. The 2016 Business & Industry Hall of Fame Induction Awards luncheon on Tuesday at the Radisson presented by the Times and IN Business magazine. Photos by Tony V. Martin JoAnn Birdzell, CEO of St. Catherine Hospital, stands by a poster recognizing her achievements at The Times 2016 Business & Industry Hall of Fame induction ceremony Tuesday at the Radisson Hotel at Star Plaza Merrillville. Rick Urschel of Urschel Laboratories. The 2016 Business & Industry Hall of Fame Induction Awards luncheon on Tuesday at the Radisson presented by the Times and IN Business magazine. Photos by Tony V. Martin The Times editor Bob Heisse. The 2016 Business & Industry Hall of Fame Induction Awards luncheon on Tuesday at the Radisson presented by the Times and IN Business magazine. Photos by Tony V. Martin Inductee Frank Schilling. The 2016 Business & Industry Hall of Fame Induction Awards luncheon on Tuesday at the Radisson presented by the Times and IN Business magazine. Photos by Tony V. Martin (L to R) Frank Schilling and the Times publisher Chris White . The 2016 Business & Industry Hall of Fame Induction Awards luncheon on Tuesday at the Radisson presented by the Times and IN Business magazine. Photos by Tony V. Martin Inductee JoAnn Birdzell. The 2016 Business & Industry Hall of Fame Induction Awards luncheon on Tuesday at the Radisson presented by the Times and IN Business magazine. Photos by Tony V. Martin Rick Urschel, center, with the Enterprise of the Year award given to Urschel Laboratories Inc. at The Times 2016 Business & Industry Hall of Fame induction ceremony on Tuesday at the Radisson Hotel at Star Plaza in Merrillville. Times Media Co. Executive Editor Bob Heisse is at left and Times Publisher Chris White is on the right. Inductee Harley Snyder. The 2016 Business & Industry Hall of Fame Induction Awards luncheon on Tuesday at the Radisson presented by the Times and IN Business magazine. Photos by Tony V. Martin (L to R) The Times editor Bob Heisse, JoAnn Birdzell and the Times publisher Chris White . The 2016 Business & Industry Hall of Fame Induction Awards luncheon on Tuesday at the Radisson presented by the Times and IN Business magazine. Photos by Tony V. Martin (L to R) The Times publisher Chris White, Harley Snyder and the Times editor Bob Heisse. The 2016 Business & Industry Hall of Fame Induction Awards luncheon on Tuesday at the Radisson presented by the Times and IN Business magazine. Photos by Tony V. Martin The Times publisher Chris White addresses the crowd. The 2016 Business & Industry Hall of Fame Induction Awards luncheon on Tuesday at the Radisson presented by the Times and IN Business magazine. Photos by Tony V. Martin The Times' Joe Battistoni opens the event. The 2016 Business & Industry Hall of Fame Induction Awards luncheon on Tuesday at the Radisson presented by the Times and IN Business magazine. Photos by Tony V. Martin Pastor Ray Dix, of Bethel Church and Ministries' Gary campus, prepares to give the invocation at the The Times Business & Industry Hall of Fame induction on Tuesday at the Radisson Hotel at Star Plaza in Merrillville. Gallery: Times Business and Industry Hall of Fame 2016 The Times Business and Industry Hall of Fame inducted ArcelorMittal vice president Greg Ludkovsky, Schilling Home Improvement president Frank Schilling, HSC Inc. president Harley Snyder, St. Catherine CEO JoAnn Birdzell, Urschel Laboratories and presented Senator Earline Rogers with a Partners in Progress Award on Tuesday morning at the Radisson. The 2016 Business & Industry Hall of Fame Induction Awards luncheon on Tuesday at the Radisson presented by the Times and IN Business magazine. Photos by Tony V. Martin The 2016 Business & Industry Hall of Fame Induction Awards luncheon on Tuesday at the Radisson presented by the Times and IN Business magazine. Photos by Tony V. Martin The 2016 Business & Industry Hall of Fame Induction Awards luncheon on Tuesday at the Radisson presented by the Times and IN Business magazine. Photos by Tony V. Martin The 2016 Business & Industry Hall of Fame Induction Awards luncheon on Tuesday at the Radisson presented by the Times and IN Business magazine. Photos by Tony V. Martin The 2016 Business & Industry Hall of Fame Induction Awards luncheon on Tuesday at the Radisson presented by the Times and IN Business magazine. Photos by Tony V. Martin The 2016 Business & Industry Hall of Fame Induction Awards luncheon on Tuesday at the Radisson presented by the Times and IN Business magazine. Photos by Tony V. Martin The 2016 Business & Industry Hall of Fame Induction Awards luncheon on Tuesday at the Radisson presented by the Times and IN Business magazine. Photos by Tony V. Martin The 2016 Business & Industry Hall of Fame Induction Awards luncheon on Tuesday at the Radisson presented by the Times and IN Business magazine. Photos by Tony V. Martin The 2016 Business & Industry Hall of Fame Induction Awards luncheon on Tuesday at the Radisson presented by the Times and IN Business magazine. Photos by Tony V. Martin The 2016 Business & Industry Hall of Fame Induction Awards luncheon on Tuesday at the Radisson presented by the Times and IN Business magazine. Photos by Tony V. Martin The 2016 Business & Industry Hall of Fame Induction Awards luncheon on Tuesday at the Radisson presented by the Times and IN Business magazine. Photos by Tony V. Martin The 2016 Business & Industry Hall of Fame Induction Awards luncheon on Tuesday at the Radisson presented by the Times and IN Business magazine. Photos by Tony V. Martin St. Catherine Hospital CEO JoAnn Birdzell is inducted to the Times Business Hall of Fame on Tuesday morning at the Radisson. Times Business Hall of Fame on Tuesday, May 10 at the Radisson. Times Business Hall of Fame on Tuesday, May 10 at the Radisson. Eddie Melton at the Times Business Hall of Fame on Tuesday, May 10 at the Radisson. Times Business Hall of Fame on Tuesday, May 10 at the Radisson. Times Business Hall of Fame on Tuesday, May 10 at the Radisson. Times Business Hall of Fame on Tuesday, May 10 at the Radisson. State Sen. Earline Rogers, D-Gary, speaks Tuesday at The Times Business & Industry Hall of Fame 2016 luncheon where she was honored for her years of service in the Statehouse. Senator Earline Rogers was presented with a Partner in Progress Award at the Times Business Hall of Fame on Tuesday, May 10 at the Radisson. Senator Earline Rogers gets a warm welcome as she was presented with a Partner in Progress Award at the Times Business Hall of Fame on Tuesday, May 10 at the Radisson. Senator Earline Rogers was presented with a Partner in Progress Award at the Times Business Hall of Fame on Tuesday, May 10 at the Radisson. Rick Urschel of Urschel Laboratories speaks on behalf of his company as they receive the Enterprise of the Year Award Tuesday morning at the Times Business Hall of Fame at the Radisson. Rick Urschel of Urschel Laboratories receives the Enterprise of the Year Award Tuesday morning at the Times Business Hall of Fame at the Radisson. Times Business Hall of Fame on Tuesday, May 10 at the Radisson. Times Business Hall of Fame on Tuesday, May 10 at the Radisson. Times Business Hall of Fame on Tuesday, May 10 at the Radisson. Eddie Melton at the Times Business Hall of Fame on Tuesday, May 10 at the Radisson. Times Business Hall of Fame on Tuesday, May 10 at the Radisson. Times Business Hall of Fame on Tuesday, May 10 at the Radisson. Shirley Schilling takes a photo of her husband Frank as he is inducted into the Times Business Hall of Fame Tuesday morning at Star Plaza. Frank Schilling is inducted into the Times Business Hall of Fame Tuesday morning at Star Plaza. Frank Schilling is inducted into the Times Business Hall of Fame Tuesday morning at Star Plaza. Shirley Schilling takes a photo of her husband Frank as he is inducted into the Times Business Hall of Fame Tuesday morning at Star Plaza. Frank Schilling, middle is inducted into the Times Business Hall of Fame by Times editor Bob Heisse and publisher Chris White, from left, Tuesday morning at Star Plaza. St. Catherine Hospital CEO JoAnn Birdzell is inducted to the Times Business Hall of Fame on Tuesday morning at the Radisson. St. Catherine Hospital CEO JoAnn Birdzell is inducted to the Times Business Hall of Fame on Tuesday morning at the Radisson. Times Business Hall of Fame on Tuesday, May 10 at the Radisson. Senator Earline Rogers was presented with a Partner in Progress Award at the Times Business Hall of Fame on Tuesday, May 10 at the Radisson. St. Catherine Hospital CEO JoAnn Birdzell is inducted to the Times Business Hall of Fame on Tuesday morning at the Radisson. Times Business Hall of Fame on Tuesday, May 10 at the Radisson. Times Business Hall of Fame on Tuesday, May 10 at the Radisson. Times Business Hall of Fame attendees listen to inductee Frank Schilling on Tuesday, May 10 at the Radisson. Times Business Hall of Fame on Tuesday, May 10 at the Radisson. Times Business Hall of Fame on Tuesday, May 10 at the Radisson. HSC, Inc. president Harley Snyder is inducted into the Times Business Hall of Fame in 2016 at Star Plaza. Rick Urschel of Urschel Laboratories listens to speeches Tuesday morning at the Times Business Hall of Fame at the Radisson. HSC, Inc. president Harley Snyder is inducted into the Times Business Hall of Fame Tuesday morning at Star Plaza. Pastor Ray Dix gives the invocation during the Business Hall of Fame on Tuesday, May 10 at the Radisson. Times publisher Chris White gives remarks during the Business Hall of Fame on Tuesday, May 10 at the Radisson. Times publisher Chris White gives remarks during the Business Hall of Fame on Tuesday, May 10 at the Radisson. Times Business Hall of Fame on Tuesday, May 10 at the Radisson. Times Business Hall of Fame on Tuesday, May 10 at the Radisson. Times advertising vice president Joe Battistoni remarks during the Business Hall of Fame on Tuesday, May 10 at the Radisson. Times Business Hall of Fame on Tuesday, May 10 at the Radisson. First Midwest Bank's Martie Rivas-Ramos at the Times Business Hall of Fame on Tuesday, May 10 at the Radisson. Franciscan Alliance's Laura Mannion at the Times Business Hall of Fame on Tuesday, May 10 at the Radisson. Times Business Hall of Fame on Tuesday, May 10 at the Radisson. Times Business Hall of Fame on Tuesday, May 10 at the Radisson. Times Business Hall of Fame on Tuesday, May 10 at the Radisson. Times Business Hall of Fame on Tuesday, May 10 at the Radisson. Hobart Mayor Brian Snedecor at the Times Business Hall of Fame on Tuesday, May 10 at the Radisson. HSC Inc. President Harley Snyder sets his award down as he is inducted into The Times 2016 Business & Industry Hall of Fame on Tuesday, at the Radisson Hotel at Star Plaza in Merrillville. State Sen. Earline Rogers looks on. (L to R) Earllne Rogers, Frank Schilling, JoAnn Birdzell and Harley Snyder. The 2016 Business & Industry Hall of Fame Induction Awards luncheon on Tuesday at the Radisson presented by the Times and IN Business magazine. Photos by Tony V. Martin Frank Schilling, president of Schilling Home Improvement Center, stands by a poster recognizing his achievements at The Times 2016 Business & Industry Hall of Fame induction ceremony on Tuesday at the Radisson Hotel at Star Plaza in Merrillville. Sate Sen. Earline Rogers, D-Gary, speaks Tuesday at The Times Business & Industry Hall of Fame 2016 luncheon at the Radisson Hotel at Star Plaza in Merrillville. The veteran legislator was honored as a "Partner in Progress" for her commitment to the Region and ability to work across party lines. State Sen. Earline Rogers, D-Gary, addresses The Times Business & Industry Hall of Fame 2016 luncheon Tuesday. Rogers was the keynote speaker and was inducted into the class of 2016. Harley Snyder. The 2016 Business & Industry Hall of Fame Induction Awards luncheon on Tuesday at the Radisson presented by the Times and IN Business magazine. Photos by Tony V. Martin Senator Earline Rogers. The 2016 Business & Industry Hall of Fame Induction Awards luncheon on Tuesday at the Radisson presented by the Times and IN Business magazine. Photos by Tony V. Martin JoAnn Birdzell, CEO of St. Catherine Hospital, stands by a poster recognizing her achievements at The Times 2016 Business & Industry Hall of Fame induction ceremony Tuesday at the Radisson Hotel at Star Plaza Merrillville. Rick Urschel of Urschel Laboratories. The 2016 Business & Industry Hall of Fame Induction Awards luncheon on Tuesday at the Radisson presented by the Times and IN Business magazine. Photos by Tony V. Martin The Times editor Bob Heisse. The 2016 Business & Industry Hall of Fame Induction Awards luncheon on Tuesday at the Radisson presented by the Times and IN Business magazine. Photos by Tony V. Martin Inductee Frank Schilling. The 2016 Business & Industry Hall of Fame Induction Awards luncheon on Tuesday at the Radisson presented by the Times and IN Business magazine. Photos by Tony V. Martin (L to R) Frank Schilling and the Times publisher Chris White . The 2016 Business & Industry Hall of Fame Induction Awards luncheon on Tuesday at the Radisson presented by the Times and IN Business magazine. Photos by Tony V. Martin Inductee JoAnn Birdzell. The 2016 Business & Industry Hall of Fame Induction Awards luncheon on Tuesday at the Radisson presented by the Times and IN Business magazine. Photos by Tony V. Martin Rick Urschel, center, with the Enterprise of the Year award given to Urschel Laboratories Inc. at The Times 2016 Business & Industry Hall of Fame induction ceremony on Tuesday at the Radisson Hotel at Star Plaza in Merrillville. Times Media Co. Executive Editor Bob Heisse is at left and Times Publisher Chris White is on the right. Inductee Harley Snyder. The 2016 Business & Industry Hall of Fame Induction Awards luncheon on Tuesday at the Radisson presented by the Times and IN Business magazine. Photos by Tony V. Martin (L to R) The Times editor Bob Heisse, JoAnn Birdzell and the Times publisher Chris White . The 2016 Business & Industry Hall of Fame Induction Awards luncheon on Tuesday at the Radisson presented by the Times and IN Business magazine. Photos by Tony V. Martin (L to R) The Times publisher Chris White, Harley Snyder and the Times editor Bob Heisse. The 2016 Business & Industry Hall of Fame Induction Awards luncheon on Tuesday at the Radisson presented by the Times and IN Business magazine. Photos by Tony V. Martin The Times publisher Chris White addresses the crowd. The 2016 Business & Industry Hall of Fame Induction Awards luncheon on Tuesday at the Radisson presented by the Times and IN Business magazine. Photos by Tony V. Martin The Times' Joe Battistoni opens the event. The 2016 Business & Industry Hall of Fame Induction Awards luncheon on Tuesday at the Radisson presented by the Times and IN Business magazine. Photos by Tony V. Martin Pastor Ray Dix, of Bethel Church and Ministries' Gary campus, prepares to give the invocation at the The Times Business & Industry Hall of Fame induction on Tuesday at the Radisson Hotel at Star Plaza in Merrillville.
Twenty years after the formalist poet Anthony Hecht died, he seems to be having a mini-revival with the simultaneous release, from separate publishers, of a biography and a vast collected poems. Hecht was a complicated figure: A Jewish American veteran of World War II, he was haunted by what he saw of the Holocaust up close and also by his pacifist decision never to fire his gun at another person even in battle. He channeled that experience and its psychological burden into precisely regimented meter and rhyme, in poems that gained much of their power from the tension between their content and their technical constraints. You could read either the biography or the collected poems individually, but why not read both together? They benefit from the pairing.

Also up this week: a consideration of American evangelicals and their turn to the right, a pointillistic history of a turning point in the Second World War and a look back at a reporters influential trip to 19th-century Russia, along with a study of Renaissance beauty standards as revealed through Italian art and an argument that Egypts second president, Gamal Abdel Nasser, was too accepting of autocracy throughout the Middle East. In fiction, we like new novels by Amy Jo Burns and Claire Oshetsky. Happy reading.  Gregory Cowles

Wallances biography of Kennan convincingly portrays him as one of the 19th centurys most influential journalists, arguing that Siberia and the Exile System, his expose of Russian penal colonies, was what first soured the countrys relationship with America.
A near-total breakdown in policing protocols hindered the response to the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, in 2022 that left 21 people dead, the Justice Department concluded today after a nearly two-year investigation.

Lives would have been saved, and people could have survived if officers had not refused to rapidly confront the killer, Attorney General Merrick Garland said.

The department blamed cascading failures of leadership, decision-making, tactics, policy and training for a passive law enforcement response that allowed an 18-year-old gunman to remain inside Robb Elementary School for more than an hour before he was confronted and killed. (Heres a minute-by-minute timeline of the 78-minute ordeal.)

The most significant failure, investigators concluded, was the decision by local police officials to classify the incident as a barricaded standoff rather than an active-shooter scenario, which would have demanded instant and aggressive action. Most of the officials in charge that day have been fired or have retired.
An American Airlines flight attendant was arrested on Thursday, accused of using his cellphone in an attempt to secretly record a 14-year-old girl as she used the lavatory on a domestic flight in September, federal prosecutors said.

The flight attendant, Estes Carter Thompson III, 37, of Charlotte, N.C., was arrested in Lynchburg, Va., and charged with attempted sexual exploitation of children and possession of child pornography after investigators found evidence that he had surreptitiously recorded video footage of four other girls as they used the lavatory on American Airlines flights last year, the U.S. attorneys office for the District of Massachusetts said.

The deeply disturbing conduct alleged here is something no parent or child should ever have to worry about when they travel, Joshua S. Levy, the acting U.S. attorney for the district of Massachusetts, said in a statement. Mr. Thompson allegedly used his position to prey on and surreptitiously record innocent children, including unaccompanied minors, while in a vulnerable state aboard flights he was working.

According to a criminal complaint, Mr. Thompson was working as a flight attendant on an American Airlines flight to Boston from Charlotte on Sept. 2. About halfway through the flight, the 14-year-old girl got up to use a lavatory in the main cabin, the document says.
An Iowa teenager who shot and killed two fellow students at an alternative school program for at-risk youths last year and wounded the programs founder was sentenced on Thursday to 65 years in prison, prosecutors announced.

The teenager, Preston Walls, 19, of West Des Moines, was convicted in September of second-degree murder, voluntary manslaughter and assault causing serious injury in connection with the attack on Jan. 23, 2023, in what the authorities called a gang-related shooting.

Judge Larry McLellan of the Polk County District Court sentenced Mr. Walls to three consecutive prison terms, one for each charge, totaling 65 years, according to prosecutors. He was also ordered to pay $150,000 in restitution to the slain victims families, the Polk County Attorneys Office said in a news release. Mr. Walls will be eligible for parole after 40 years, prosecutors said.

The authorities said at the time of the shooting that Mr. Walls was in a gang and that the two teenagers he fatally shot, Rashard Carr, 16, and Gionni Dameron, 18, were members of an opposing gang. All three were students at the program and knew each other, The Des Moines Register reported.
Former President Donald J. Trump urged the Supreme Court on Thursday to reverse a ruling barring him from the primary ballot in Colorado and to declare him eligible to seek and hold the office of the presidency.

Mr. Trumps brief, his main submission in an extraordinary case with the potential to alter the course of the presidential election, was a forceful recitation of more than half a dozen arguments about why the Colorado Supreme Court had gone astray in ruling him an insurrectionist barred from office by the Constitution.

The court should put a swift and decisive end to these ballot-disqualification efforts, which threaten to disenfranchise tens of millions of Americans and which promise to unleash chaos and bedlam if other state courts and state officials follow Colorados lead and exclude the likely Republican presidential nominee from their ballots, the brief said.

The case will be argued on Feb. 8, and the court will probably decide it quickly, perhaps by March 5, when many states, including Colorado, hold primaries.
More than a year and a half after the school massacre in Uvalde, Texas, the Justice Department on Thursday published a painstaking and independent examination of the law enforcement response, finding broad and unimaginable failures that delayed medical care to the victims.

Nineteen children and two teachers were killed, and at least 17 others were wounded. Officers took 77 minutes to confront and kill the gunman, who was contained with his victims inside a pair of connected classrooms at Robb Elementary School. People would have survived, Attorney General Merrick Garland said, had there been a swifter response.

The 600-page report describes, in often-minute detail, the breakdown in leadership, training, coordination and communication among the large number of local, state and federal law enforcement agencies that arrived at the scene.
A grand jury in New Mexico indicted Alec Baldwin on Friday on a charge of involuntary manslaughter, reviving the criminal case against him in the fatal shooting of a cinematographer on the set of the film Rust more than two years ago when a gun he was rehearsing with went off.

The indictment, which came exactly one year after the first involuntary manslaughter case against him was announced, was the latest reversal of fortune for Mr. Baldwin. The local district attorneys initial case fell apart and the initial charge against Mr. Baldwin was dismissed in April. But a new prosecution team, Kari T. Morrissey and Jason J. Lewis, decided to present the case to a grand jury, which indicted Mr. Baldwin on Friday.

In New Mexico, an involuntary manslaughter conviction on a charge like the one Mr. Baldwin faces can carry up to 18 months in prison.

We look forward to our day in court, Mr. Baldwins lawyers, Luke Nikas and Alex Spiro, said in a statement on Friday.
A couple of months ago, the artist and filmmaker Cauleen Smith gathered a bare-bones crew for a guerrilla-style shoot  no permits; the locations half-scouted, half-figured-out on the fly  around the land that she calls her home and her obsession: Los Angeles.

They were filming the city  four days and nights in a van, shooting from the ocean to East L.A., from humble Watts blocks to the San Gabriel foothills. But more than this, they were tuning into the citys signals, as you might on an old radio  with the words of a Los Angeles poet, Wanda Coleman, as their tonal and emotional compass.

They made long tracking shots of the beach or roads lined with fast-food outlets and auto shops. They took slow panoramas from hilltops, and held still for minutes, sometimes hours, on downtown garment-shop blocks or railroad crossings. If people entered the frame they kept filming, letting the city come to them.
Welcome to Best of Late Night, a rundown of the previous nights highlights that lets you sleep  and lets us get paid to watch comedy. Here are the 50 best movies on Netflix right now.

Get Ahold of Yourself

A judge threatened to remove Donald Trump from court on Wednesday after he could be heard muttering disparaging comments during E. Jean Carrolls second defamation suit against the former president.

A judge actually had to tell a former president of the United States, You cant control yourself, Seth Meyers said on Thursday. He cant even control an umbrella.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 20. The Organization of Turkic States (OTS) has shared a post in connection with January 20 - the Day of National Mourning in Azerbaijan, the OTS wrote on its X page, Trend reports.

"On this day, which went down in the history of Azerbaijan as Black January, we, together with our Azerbaijani brothers, honor the memory of the martyrs who gave their lives for the independence of their homeland, and share their grief," the publication says.
When Kaveh Akbar was drinking, he would regularly wake up to find new bruises or gashes on his body, or to find that hed lost his glasses, his wallet or his car. When he opened his eyes, he might find himself in an alley instead of in his apartment. Once, he got out of bed and realized he couldnt walk. He had broken his pelvis. There was nothing in his life at the time, he said, to indicate it would turn out terribly well.

But he got sober, and in the years since, he got married, found a job as a creative writing professor at the University of Iowa and wrote poetry that won him an armful of awards. And on Tuesday, Knopf will publish his first novel.

Eleven years ago, I was pissing the bed, he said. And now Im living this life.
When Jan Sramek walked into the American Legion post in Rio Vista, Calif., for a town-hall meeting last month, everyone in the room knew that he was really just there to get yelled at.

For six years a mysterious company called Flannery Associates, which Mr. Sramek controlled, had upended the town of 10,000 by spending hundreds of millions of dollars trying to buy every farm in the area. Flannery made multimillionaires out of some owners and sparked feuds among others. It sued a group of holdouts who had refused its above-market offers, on the grounds that they were colluding for more.

The company was Rio Vistas main source of gossip, yet until a few weeks before the meeting no one in the room had heard of Mr. Sramek or knew what Flannery was up to. Residents worried it could be a front for foreign spies looking to surveil a nearby Air Force base. One theory held the company was acquiring land for a new Disneyland.

Now the truth was standing in front of them. And somehow it was weirder than the rumors.

The truth was that Mr. Sramek wanted to build a city from the ground up, in an agricultural region whose defining feature was how little it had changed. The idea would have been treated as a joke if it werent backed by a group of Silicon Valley billionaires who included Michael Moritz, the venture capitalist; Reid Hoffman, the investor and co-founder of LinkedIn; and Laurene Powell Jobs, the founder of the Emerson Collective and the widow of the Apple co-founder Steve Jobs. They and others from the technology world had spent some $900 million on farmland in a demonstration of their dead seriousness about Mr. Srameks vision.
Spirit Airlines, once a fast-growing low-cost carrier, is struggling to convince investors that it has a clear path forward after an antitrust ruling blocked the sale of the company to JetBlue Airways.

A federal judge in Boston blocked the proposed merger on Tuesday, concurring with the Justice Department that the deal would hurt consumers by reducing their choices and raising fares. The airlines announced late Friday that they had jointly filed a notice of appeal.

Before it struck a deal with JetBlue in July 2022, Spirit was struggling. Unlike larger airlines, it never fully recovered from the early days of the pandemic in 2020. The budget airline is losing money, and some analysts say it is hard to see how Spirit can dig itself out of its financial hole without finding another buyer. Some airline experts say the carrier might have to file for bankruptcy protection.
At the Taipei train station, a Chinese human rights activist named Cuicui watched with envy as six young Taiwanese politicians campaigned for the citys legislative seats. A decade ago, they had been involved in parallel democratic protest movements  she in China, and the politicians on the opposite side of the Taiwan Strait.

We came of age as activists around the same time. Now theyre running as legislators while my peers and I are in exile, said Cuicui, who fled China for Southeast Asia last year over security concerns.

Cuicui was one in a group of eight women I followed last week in Taiwan before the Jan. 13 election. Their tour was called Details of a Democracy and was put together by Annie Jieping Zhang, a mainland-born journalist who worked in Hong Kong for two decades before moving to Taiwan during the pandemic. Her goal is to help mainland Chinese see Taiwans election firsthand.

The women went to election rallies and talked to politicians and voters, as well as homeless people and other disadvantaged groups. They attended a stand-up comedy show by a man from China, now living in Taiwan, whose humor addressed topics that are taboo in his home country.
Tata Steel said Friday that it planned to shut down the blast furnaces at Britains largest steel mill, in Port Talbot, Wales, and replace them with an electric furnace  a move that would cut carbon emissions but could cost 2,800 jobs.

The company, part of the India-based Tata conglomerate, says the steel mill, much of which dates back to the 1950s, has frequently lost money.

The course we are putting forward is difficult, but we believe it is the right one, the companys chief executive, T.V. Narendran, said in a statement. We must transform at pace to build a sustainable business in the U.K. for the long term. He said Tata had invested almost 5 billion pounds (about $6 billion) in the British business since 2007, when Tata bought the mill.

Last year, the British government offered 500 million in support of Tatas plan, which has an estimated price tag of up to 1.25 billion.
The Biden administration is overhauling the countrys disaster assistance programs, expanding aid for survivors of hurricanes, wildfires and other catastrophes and making it easier to access.

The shift, announced on Friday by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, comes amid a growing number of climate-related disasters. It follows years of criticism surrounding the agencys aid programs, which experts have said are insufficient, too hard to access and disproportionately benefit wealthier and white Americans.

Survivors deserve better, said Deanne Criswell, the FEMA administrator. Were connecting people with the help that they need on their worst day.

The changes include wider access to an immediate $750 payment after evacuating a home and for other urgent needs, more housing assistance for people who cant return home right away, easier access to money to repair and improve homes, and reduced paperwork.
Robert Rosenthal, a psychologist renowned as an expert in nonverbal communication, and in particular what he called the self-fulfilling prophecies in which subtle, often unconscious, gestures can influence behavior, died on Jan. 5 in Riverside, Calif. He was 90.

His daughter Ginny Rosenthal Mahasin said the cause of his death, in a hospital, was an aneurysm.

Widely considered one of the leading social psychologists of the 20th century, Dr. Rosenthal, who spent much of his career at Harvard, was best known for his work in the 1960s on what he called the Pygmalion effect  or, more technically, interpersonal expectancy.

In one famous experiment, he gave an aptitude test to students at a California elementary school, then told teachers that a group of the students was set to blossom in the next year, while another one wasnt. In fact, the two groups were selected at random, though the teachers didnt know that.

A year later, he retested the students and found that those in the blossom group had gained an average of 27 I.Q. points, regardless of how they scored initially, while the other group performed much worse.
For decades, Ugandas campaign against H.I.V. was exemplary, slashing the countrys death rate by nearly 90 percent from 1990 to 2019. Now a sweeping law enacted last year, the Anti-Homosexuality Act, threatens to renew the epidemic as L.G.B.T.Q. citizens are denied, or are too afraid to seek out, necessary medical care.

The law criminalizes consensual sex between same-sex adults. It also requires all citizens to report anyone suspected of such activity, a mandate that makes no exceptions for health care providers tending to patients.

Under the law, merely having same-sex relationships while living with H.I.V. can incur a charge of aggravated homosexuality, which is punishable by death.

Anyone who knowingly promotes homosexuality  by hiring or housing an L.G.B.T.Q. person, or by not reporting one to the police  faces up to 20 years in jail. Scores of Ugandans have been evicted from homes and fired from jobs, according to interviews with lawyers and activists.
Tropic

Rent or buy it on Vudu or Microsoft.

We are in the near future and the European space agency is preparing to launch a mission that will last years if not decades  a length that means filling it with a young crew. Teenage twins Lazaro (Pablo Cobo) and Tristan (Louis Peres) are training together for spots in the program. They are equally dedicated, but the confident Tristan is doing just a little better than his brother. Just as you settle for Space Academy: The Early Years, director Edouard Salier makes a sharp turn.

One night, a strange green object  a meteorite? A spaceship?  falls from the sky into a lake in which the twins were swimming. Infected by the contaminated water, Tristan develops hideous lesions on parts of his body. With his mind and senses affected as well, his dreams of space are over. Meanwhile, Lazaro continues with his boot camp while helping their mother (Marta Nieto) look after the disabled Tristan  the roles have been reversed and Lazaro is now the dominant one. At its heart, Tropic is a family drama about sibling relationships and guilt, but it takes place against a sci-fi background and wanders toward body horror. The films refusal to explain what happened to Tristan is less frustrating than intriguing, and ultimately touching.

Quantum Cowboys

Stream it on Fandor. Rent or buy it on most major platforms.
A cherished tradition at Public School 261 in Boerum Hill, the heart of gentrified Brooklyn, is the annual march to Borough Hall in honor of Martin Luther Kings Birthday. Children prepare for weeks, making signs denouncing racism, homophobia, climate upheaval and other expressions of social and ecological pox. So the disappointment was pervasive this year, when the march was canceled and replaced by an assembly in the cafeteria.

The catalyst for the change was the uproar that emerged after a social media post, nine months old, from Qatar Foundation International, resurfaced with a picture of a P.S. 261 classroom featuring a colorful resource map of North Africa and the Middle East. It was pinned to the wall under a handwritten sign that read: Arab World.

Last week, an article in The Free Press, a media site that has positioned itself against what it considers the enemies of free speech, called attention to what was missing from this geography. Algeria, Yemen, Sudan were among the nations that appeared on the poster. Israel did not. Instead, the region was called Palestine.

The map had been used in a class on Arab art and culture for 12 years. But in this tinderbox of a historical moment, the fact of it blasted into wide view largely via The New York Post, which published an article with the headline Brooklyn Public School Omits Israel From Qatar-Funded Classroom Map, Labels It Palestine.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 19. Construction works on a highway connecting the main part of Azerbaijan with its Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic through Iran as well as a bridge across the Aras River are underway, the State Agency of Azerbaijan Automobile Roads told Trend.

Following the order of the President of Azerbaijan on arrangements for the construction of the Horadiz-Jabrail-Zangilan-Aghband highway linking the main part of Azerbaijan with Iran and the bridge over the Aras River, the agency continues construction works.

Construction of structures (retaining walls, pipes of different diameters, rectangular pipes, crossings, and concrete ditches) and earth bed continues on the 7.2-kilometer class 1 connecting highway constructed within the framework of the mentioned project. The overall progress of the work is up to 80%.

Construction of a 374 meter long and 27.6 meter wide road bridge over the Aras River has also kicked off under the project. The bridge, which consists of 4 traffic lanes, 2 safety lanes, and separation lanes, also includes the construction of pedestrian walkways with a width of 2.8 meters in each direction. Construction of the bridge support piles and cutting of pile caps is currently underway at the site. The progress on these works is at 10%.

The road bridge which is being constructed within the framework of the "Memorandum of Understanding between the Government of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran on the establishment of new communication links between the Eastern Zangazur economic region and the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic (NAR) through Iran" will serve to increase transit cargo transportation through the territories of the two countries and facilitate travel to the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic. The daily throughput capacity of the new road bridge will be 1,100 units of trucks.
After a failed and unusually protracted effort to convince the New York City Council to rescind a bill requiring the police to document more of their interactions with the public, Mayor Eric Adams vetoed the legislation Friday, arguing that it would harm public safety.

We cannot handcuff the police, Mr. Adams said at a news conference at City Hall, where he was surrounded by community supporters and police officials. We want to handcuff bad people for violence.

Hours later, the mayor also vetoed a bill that would ban solitary confinement in the citys jails.

That Mr. Adams, a former police captain who ran for mayor on a platform of public safety, would oppose the bills is not surprising. But it was unusual for the mayor to be so fervently opposed  he commissioned a public-relations campaign that included an animated video  to the bills, considering they were approved by the Council with veto-proof majorities.

The mayor said on Friday that he had conversations with numerous Council members about the bills, suggesting that he may have persuaded some to oppose the policing legislation, in particular.
To the Editor:

In How to Fix Americas Immigration Crisis (Opinion guest essay, Jan. 14), Steven Rattner and Maureen White argue: We need to come to a national consensus on how many immigrants we want to accept and the bases for determining who is chosen. That includes balancing the two principal objectives of immigration policy: to meet our legal and moral humanitarian obligations to persecuted individuals and to bolster our work force.

These two objectives need not be at odds. Pathways for displaced people who have skills needed by U.S. employers can benefit displaced people, employers and the communities that welcome new neighbors. The United States could adopt a program, modeled on Canadas Economic Mobility Pathways Pilot, to address specific needs in states, cities and industries, while offering lasting refuge to displaced people.

In fact, the Biden administration could adopt many changes to facilitate displaced peoples access to employment opportunities without legislation.

But a humanitarian employment program should be additional to, and must not replace, systems of asylum and resettlement. Human rights are not a consideration to be balanced against economic considerations.
The annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, is largely an opportunity for the powerful to mingle with the even more powerful. For the most part, Ive spent my time here listening to government leaders  Irans foreign minister struck me as an exceptionally talented dissembler  and schmoozing with business leaders, think tankers and officials at Davoss famous private dinners and after-parties.

But the most moving stories I heard this week came from some of the least powerful people here.

I open my eyes and feel my throat close, Rachel Goldberg told me, describing her mornings over the previous 100-plus days. I say a Jewish prayer and ask, Let today be the day. And then I say, Pretend to be human. And I put on this costume because, if Im a ball on the floor, I cant save him.

She was speaking  with extraordinary self-composure  of her 23-year-old son, Hersh Goldberg-Polin. On Oct. 7, he was attending the Nova music festival with a friend when terrorists from Hamas, arriving in paragliders and vans, murdered 364 people there in cold blood. Hersh and nearly 30 others tried to hide at a small roadside bomb shelter. Terrorists attacked it with hand grenades, then an R.P.G., killing nearly everyone inside.
This essay has been updated to reflect news developments.

Right before the blizzard conditions hit Iowa ahead of the caucuses, in a barbecue place with arcade games and waiters in red T-shirts weaving through reporters with beers and baskets of fried food, Ron DeSantis came onstage, as he does, to Poisons Nothin but a Good Time.

This is a fratty song, and the vibe of the place was retro, much like a T-shirt I saw a guy wearing at a DeSantis event in 2022. The back read Cant miss DeSantis and featured a cartoon drawing of him, flanked by palm trees, playing beer pong.

The existence of the T-shirt suggests that it once seemed possible, to someone anyway, to adopt the MAGA intellectual ethos of using the state to rebalance society and smash ideological enemies and also be relaxed, normal, above it. Or maybe the intellectual part was never involved: There was a kind of conservative who liked the idea of a young governor making the libs cry from time to time but whose fundamental premise was the free state of Florida, where people could get back to living their lives, unbothered. And thats where youd find the theoretical Mr. DeSantis, ironically playing beer pong at a Bucs tailgate after church and a Home Depot run.

This is reading a lot into a T-shirt, but ideas and realities about who candidates are and what voters really want seem central to understanding the past few years in politics. And even in 2022, that T-shirt stood out for the way its relaxed, fun bro diverged from the harder, more lawyerly governor who promised an updated, aggressive social conservatism that would use most tools of the state to battle academics and bureaucrats.
Josh Radnor and Jordana Jacobs were married outdoors this month, amid a snowstorm, with their 164 snow-drenched guests shivering in the 20-degree evening air, as Dr. Jacobs read a 10-minute monologue about her beloved, and Mr. Radnor responded with a 10-minute soliloquy.

No strangers to extraordinary circumstances, the couple fell for each other while tripping on mushrooms.

It was February 2022, and Dr. Jacobs, a clinical psychologist, and Mr. Radnor, an actor and musician, were at a sound meditation retreat held in upstate New York, along with about 30 other people. There, they ingested a psychedelic mixture before lying on the floor at opposite sides of a large room. Masks covered their eyes as they listened to singing bowls and chimes.

That is when Mr. Radnor and Dr. Jacobs slid into the DMs of each others consciousness.

Thats her, Mr. Radnor, now 49, said a voice told him. Thats your woman.
A simple staging idea can have a devastating affect.

As audience members file into BAM Fishers Fishman Space and wait for Our Class to start, a man can be seen writing names in white chalk on a massive blackboard. It looks like a supersize version of the kind that might be in a classroom, but the list of names here are followed by birth and death dates. We are immediately, chillingly aware of each characters life expectancy. So when we are introduced to Zygmunt (Elan Zafir), for example, we know that he was born in 1918 and lived to see 1977. On the other hand, Jakub (Stephen Ochsner) will die when hes about 22, in 1941.

That last year is the tragic turning point of Tadeusz Slobodzianeks play, which premiered in London in 2009 and, under the direction of Igor Golyak, is finally making a belated New York debut as part of the Under the Radar festival.

Inspired by a real pogrom in Jedwabne, the show pivots on a day in 1941 when inhabitants of a Polish village killed hundreds of Jews. Many of the victims were burned alive in a barn. Afterward, the perpetrators claimed the Nazis were to blame for the massacre, a charade that went on for decades.

The play (adapted by Norman Allen from Catherine Grovesnors literal translation) follows 10 classmates  five Jewish and five Catholic  through the years. One, Abram (Richard Topol), left in 1937 for New York, where he became a rabbi, but the others stayed put. Slobodzianek skilfully tracks people and events, giving the show a suspenseful but always humane urgency.
When Ive had the opportunity, as a wandering Jew, to visit the houses of worship of friends, Ive never felt much in danger of conversion. But if I did, it would surely be the music that got me.

Thats also been true for me when visiting the church of Heather Christian: Im not sure what faith shes selling, but Im a sucker for the way it sounds. In Terce: A Practical Breviary, which opened on Sunday at the Space at Irondale in the Fort Greene neighborhood of Brooklyn, she offers a new installment in what is evidently a plan to remake the Catholic Mass of her childhood in egalitarian if cryptic new terms.

Shes doing so one rhapsodic service at a time. In 2020 she offered Prime, her version of the 6 a.m. liturgy. Terce, produced by Here as the centerpiece of this years Prototype festival, advances three hours to midmorning. (The title derives from the Latin for third.) By then, a congregation would presumably be awake enough to absorb its sunlit richness.

That richness does not depend on the usual elements of plays or prayer: characters and narratives, pipe organs and priests. Terce is not theater except to the extent that religious ritual, being a parent of theater, bears a family resemblance.
The former chairman of the Republican Party of Florida who was ousted earlier this month amid a criminal investigation will not be charged with sexual battery, the Sarasota Police Department said on Friday. But the authorities will seek to charge him with video voyeurism, a felony.

Christian Ziegler, the ousted chairman, recorded a sexual encounter he had in October with a woman who later accused him of assault. The recording occurred without her knowledge or consent, the Police Department said in a statement. Officers prepared a probable cause affidavit for the video voyeurism charge and sent it to state prosecutors on Friday.

They did not pursue a more serious sexual battery charge because the video, which the police obtained, showed that the encounter was likely consensual, the statement said.

The woman, whose name has been redacted from public records, told the police that she had had a consensual sexual encounter with Mr. Ziegler and his wife, Bridget Ziegler, more than a year ago, but that she had declined to have sex with Mr. Ziegler on Oct. 2 after realizing that his wife would not be joining them.
The Los Angeles Innocence Project, a nonprofit organization that works to overturn wrongful convictions, filed documents in court this week to re-examine the case of Scott Peterson, who is serving a life sentence in a California prison for the murders of his pregnant wife, Laci Peterson, and their unborn son in 2002.

The organization said in a statement emailed to The New York Times that it represents Scott Peterson and is investigating his claim of actual innocence. The San Mateo County Superior Court confirmed the organizations filing on Friday.

Paula Mitchell, the director of the organization, said in a declaration included in the filing that newly discovered evidence had revealed deficiencies in the cases discovery process, according to an ABC News report of the court filing.

The decision by the Los Angeles Innocence Project to take up the case resurfaced attention on the murder conviction, which for years has generated widespread coverage by tabloids and news organizations, books and at least one made-for-TV movie.
Maines top election official said on Friday she intended to appeal the ruling by a state Superior Court judge this week that placed on hold her decision to exclude former President Donald J. Trump from the states Republican primary ballot.

In a statement, the official, Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, said she welcomed the guidance of the U.S. Supreme Court, which is expected to hear arguments on a similar case on Feb. 8. But in the meantime, she said, she will seek the input of Maines highest court.

I know both the constitutional and state authority questions are of grave concern to many, Ms. Bellows wrote in a short statement on Friday. This appeal ensures that Maines highest court has the opportunity to weigh in now, before ballots are counted, promoting trust in our free, safe and secure elections.

In a ruling late Friday, the chief justice of Maines highest court, Valerie Stanfill, described the lower courts order as generally not appealable. She ordered Ms. Bellows to provide an explanation by Tuesday on why an appeal should be not dismissed.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 19. The World Bank (WB) has expressed its readiness to support Azerbaijan concerning COP29, said Regional Director for Sustainable Development at the World Bank's Europe and Central Asia region Sameh Wahba, Trend reports, referring to the Ministry of Economy of Azerbaijan.

Wahba made his statement within the framework of the discussion of the Road Map developed to expand Azerbaijan's cooperation with the WB.

The Road Map was presented at the meeting.

Green and sustainable cities, digitalization, development of the shipbuilding industry, expansion of renewable energy sources, employment support, and other projects were presented.

Wahba, in turn, expressed contentment with the World Bank's cooperation with Azerbaijan. He noted that the Road Map will strengthen the partnership with Azerbaijan. The regional director congratulated Azerbaijan on hosting the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29).

In addition, views on various areas of cooperation between Azerbaijan and the World Bank were exchanged at the meeting, and programs and future projects implemented by the institution in Azerbaijan, especially in the fields of urban, water, and agriculture, were discussed.

The decision to host COP29 in Azerbaijan was officially announced in Dubai on December 11, 2023.



Besides Azerbaijan, both Armenia and Bulgaria nominated their candidatures. However, after direct negotiations between the Office of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Office of the Prime Minister of Armenia on December 7, 2023, Armenia decided to withdraw its candidacy in favor of Azerbaijan. Bulgaria followed suit and also withdrew its candidacy.



On January 4, 2024, Mukhtar Babayev, Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources of Azerbaijan, was appointed as President of COP29.
A Boeing cargo plane headed for Puerto Rico was diverted back to Miami International Airport shortly after takeoff when an engine failed, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. The episode is another potential setback for Boeing, which has been thrust into the spotlight in recent weeks over quality control concerns.

Atlas Air Flight 5Y095 landed safely after experiencing an engine malfunction shortly after departure, the airline said early Friday.

Video taken from the ground appeared to showed flames repeatedly shooting from the plane as it flew.

The F.A.A. said in its initial report on the incident that a post-flight inspection revealed a softball-size hole above the No. 2 engine. It said it would investigate further.
The soaring number of people crossing into the United States from Mexico has been a political vulnerability for President Biden for the past three years, chipping away at his approval rating and opening him up to political attacks.

But now, the crisis is threatening to upend Americas support for the war in Ukraine, throwing the centerpiece of Mr. Bidens foreign policy into jeopardy.

After a meeting with Mr. Biden at the White House on Wednesday, Speaker Mike Johnson insisted that the Republican-led House would not pass legislation to send aid to Ukraine unless Democrats agreed to sweeping new restrictions at the U.S.-Mexico border.

And even if the two sides do come to some sort of agreement, many Republicans, especially in the House, would be loath to give an election-year win to Mr. Biden on an issue that has given them a powerful line of criticism toward the White House. The issue is also at the center of the candidacy of Mr. Bidens likely opponent this fall, former President Donald J. Trump.
Senator James Lankford, the Oklahoma Republican and staunch conservative, this week trumpeted the immigration compromise he has been negotiating with Senate Democrats and White House officials as one shaping up to be by far, the most conservative border security bill in four decades.

Speaker Mike Johnson, in contrast, sent out a fund-raising message on Friday denouncing the forthcoming deal as a Democratic con. My answer is NO. Absolutely NOT, his message said, adding, This is the hill Ill die on.

The Republican disconnect explains why, with an elusive bipartisan bargain on immigration seemingly as close as it has been in years on Capitol Hill, the prospects for enactment are grim. It is also why hopes for breaking the logjam over sending more U.S. aid to Ukraine are likely to be dashed by hard-line House Republicans.

The situation encapsulates the divide cleaving the Republican Party. On one side are the right-wing MAGA allies of former President Donald J. Trump, an America First isolationist who instituted draconian immigration policies while in office. On the other is a dwindling group of more mainstream traditionalists who believe the United States should play an assertive role defending democracy on the world stage.
Frank Heffernan thought his daughter Megan was in South Korea where she was working as an English teacher when he heard the news of a devastating terrorist attack on the Indonesian island of Bali on Oct. 12, 2002.

Then the State Department called.

Megan Heffernan, 28, who was born and raised in Alaska and had a passion for travel, was among the 202 people who were killed in the coordinated bombings carried out by an affiliate of Al Qaeda at a pub and nearby club in Bali. She had gone there with friends on a vacation.

Not a day goes by that I dont think of her, said Mr. Heffernan, mopping his eyes with a tissue at his home in Florida.

In the random, cruel fashion of terrorism, the bombing killed tourists and workers from 22 nations who happened to be in a commercial district, including 38 Indonesians. Among the dead were Australian and British citizens who were there for a rugby match, Americans passionate about surfing  and Megan and two Korean friends, who were out sightseeing when the bombs exploded.
Louisiana lawmakers on Friday approved a new congressional map that would create a second district with a majority of Black voters, after a federal court found that the existing map appeared to illegally undercut the power of Black voters in the state.

Given that Black voters often back Democratic candidates in the state, the new map also increases the possibility of Democrats taking control of a second congressional seat in Louisiana.

Its a powerful moment for Black voters in this state and its a powerful moment for history, said Ashley K. Shelton, president of the Power Coalition for Equity and Justice and one of the plaintiffs who had challenged the map.

Lawmakers in Baton Rouge also agreed to tighten the states raucous jungle primary system for federal elections and State Supreme Court races beginning in 2026, though they stopped far short of the statewide overhaul sought by Gov. Jeff Landry, the newly inaugurated Republican governor.
Federal prosecutors asked on Thursday night for a sentence of six months in prison for Peter Navarro, a former White House adviser to President Donald J. Trump, for defying a subpoena from the House committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.

Prosecutors said they were seeking a sentence at the top end of the guidelines because of his bad-faith strategy of sustained, deliberate contempt of Congress.

The defendant, like the rioters at the Capitol, put politics, not country, first, and stonewalled Congresss investigation, they wrote in their sentencing memo. The defendant chose allegiance to former President Donald Trump over the rule of law.

The memo echoed the sentence recommendation for Stephen K. Bannon, who was ultimately given four months in prison for defying his own subpoena from the Jan. 6 committee. The sentencing would make Mr. Navarro the second Trump official to be sentenced for ignoring the committees subpoenas.
Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina will endorse Donald J. Trump on Friday evening at a rally in New Hampshire, according to two people briefed on the matter.

Mr. Scott was traveling to Florida on Friday so that he could fly with Mr. Trump to New Hampshire for the rally, the two people said. His endorsement of Mr. Trump is likely to spur additional discussion of Mr. Scott as a potential running mate for the former president. He is the highest-ranking elected Black Republican in the nation.

Mr. Scott arrived at his decision only recently. After ending his own campaign for president on Nov. 12, he had said he would not endorse anytime soon. But he came to the conclusion that Mr. Trump was the best candidate to defeat President Biden, according to one person familiar with his thinking.

A spokesman for Mr. Scott declined to comment. A spokesman for the former president did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
A bipartisan group of senators is demanding to know what steps the military is taking to protect troops from brain injuries caused by the blasts from firing their own weapons.

The senators  Elizabeth Warren, Democrat of Massachusetts; Joni Ernst, Republican of Iowa; and Thom Tillis, Republican of North Carolina  made the demand in a detailed letter sent on Thursday to Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III.

It was incited by recent research by the Defense Department and reporting by The New York Times showing that repeated blast exposure from weapons like artillery and rocket launchers can cause lasting and profound brain damage, but that the military often fails to protect troops, or even recognize the risks, from the blasts.

Our service members have been suffering the health consequences of blast overexposure for far too long, and theyre still not seeing real action to limit and track these risks, Ms. Warren said in a statement.
The estranged wife of a special prosecutor accused of having a romantic relationship with Fani T. Willis, the Atlanta district attorney who hired him, offered evidence on Friday that Ms. Willis accompanied him on trips unrelated to their work: leading the Georgia case against former President Donald J. Trump.

A court filing from Joycelyn Wade, who is in divorce proceedings with the prosecutor, Nathan J. Wade, included what it said were statements for a credit card account belonging to Mr. Wade. The statements showed that he bought plane tickets for himself and Ms. Willis, including tickets to San Francisco from Atlanta purchased on April 25, 2023, and to Miami from Atlanta purchased on Oct. 4, 2022.

The release of the credit card statements follows a motion filed last week by Michael Roman, one of Mr. Trumps 14 co-defendants in the Georgia case. That motion, which did not include any proof, claimed that Ms. Willis was having a romantic relationship with Mr. Wade that began before she hired him in 2021 to manage the high-profile case. The motion also stated that Mr. Wade, who has been paid more than $650,000 by the district attorneys office, paid for vacations with Ms. Willis.

The motion argued that Ms. Willis and Mr. Wade had violated state rules of professional conduct, as well as local and federal law, and had created a conflict of interest that should result in both of them, and Ms. Williss office, being removed from the case.
Lt. Gen. Mohamed Hamdan, the leader of a notorious paramilitary force fighting for supremacy in Sudans civil war, is not the president of his country. Yet on a recent whirlwind tour of six African nations, he was treated just like one.

Some of the continents most powerful leaders rolled out the red carpet for General Hamdan after he arrived on a luxury jet for meetings in late December and early January, having swapped his military fatigues for business suits. In Kenya, traditional dancers waited at the plane steps. In South Africa, he sank into an armchair beside a smiling President Cyril Ramaphosa.

And in Rwanda, General Hamdan posed solemnly at a memorial to victims of the 1994 genocide  even though his own troops have faced accusations of genocide in Sudans Darfur region.

The surprise tour was a remarkable comeback for a commander often rumored dead or wounded since Sudan plunged into war in April. General Hamdans Rapid Support Forces are steamrolling across Sudan, beating the countrys regular army into retreat  in large part thanks to military backing from the United Arab Emirates, a Persian Gulf petrostate that is emerging as a kingmaker in the Horn of Africa region, according to a new report by United Nations investigators.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 19. Azerbaijan and Saudi Arabia have discussed diversification of trade ties, Azerbaijani Minister of Economy Mikayil Jabbarov wrote on X, Trend reports.

"Within the framework of our trip to the Davos Economic Forum, we met with Faisal Alibrahim, Minister of Economy and Planning of Saudi Arabia. We discussed the issues on the agenda of our bilateral economic relations: diversification of trade ties, as well as mutual promotion of investments," the publication reads.

To note, according to the State Customs Committee of Azerbaijan, Azerbaijan exported over $4.9 million worth of goods to Saudi Arabia in 2023 and imported over $25.9 million worth of goods to Saudi Arabia.

Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
When Iran and Pakistan traded airstrikes this week, both targeting what they said were militant camps, the exchange raised fears that the upheaval sweeping the Middle East was moving into new territory.

To Pakistan, which was hit first, it was important to send a clear message that violations of its sovereignty would not be tolerated. But the Pakistani military quickly followed its retaliatory action with another message  one that showed its desire to contain the tensions, a wish driven in no small part by the immense strain the country was under even before the Iran clash.

Pakistan signaled that it was seeking de-escalation by calling the two nations brotherly countries and urging dialogue and cooperation, language that Iran echoed in a statement of its own on Friday. Pakistans appeal, analysts said, underlined a plain fact: It could hardly be in a worse position to fight a war.

For two years, the country has been embroiled in an economic crisis and political turmoil that has directly challenged the countrys all-powerful military establishment. Terrorist attacks have resurged across the country. And already at odds with its archrival India, it has seen a souring of its once-friendly relations with the Taliban government in neighboring Afghanistan.
Over two months in 2021, an online clothing vendor shared 27 posts on Facebook that included clips from John Olivers Last Week Tonight, a Fox animated series, and a BBC documentary. The content was deemed offensive to the monarchy, and this week his sentence was extended, to 50 years in prison.

It is the harshest penalty to date imposed under a law that makes criticizing royalty a crime, according to Thai Lawyers for Human Rights, a group of lawyers providing assistance to people detained after the countrys 2014 military coup.

Thailand has one of the worlds strictest lese-majeste laws; it forbids defaming, insulting or threatening the king and other members of the royal family. Known as Article 112, the charge carries a minimum sentence of three years and a maximum sentence of 15 years. It is the only law in Thailand that imposes a minimum jail term.

Even though a civilian government took office in September after almost a decade of military rule, there has been no letup in the number of prosecutions against people who have criticized the monarchy. Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin has said he would not amend or abolish the law, which observers say will only exacerbate the gulf in a nation that remains deeply polarized.
Annie Nightingale, who became the first female disc jockey on BBC Radio 1 in 1970 and remained a popular personality there until her final show, late last year, died on Jan. 11 at her home in London. She was 83.

Her family announced the death in a statement but did not cite a cause.

This is the woman who changed the face and sound of British TV and radio broadcasting forever, Annie Mac, a longtime BBC Radio D.J., wrote on Instagram after Ms. Nightingales death.

Ms. Nightingale became well known in music circles in the 1960s as a columnist in British newspapers. And she was a familiar face to stars like the Beatles, whom she interviewed at the Brighton Hippodrome in 1964.

As Derek Taylor liked her, she was welcome at Apple, the Beatles historian Mark Lewisohn said in an email, referring to the Beatles press officer and the company they founded in 1968.
The political ideology known as Macronism has always been about action, even agitation, at least in verbal form. Emmanuel Macron burst onto the scene in 2017 promising a revolution. Since then, over more than six years as Frances president, he has embraced a refoundation and renamed his political party Renaissance. Now, hes calling for civic rearmament.

It is perhaps not evident from this re-energizing lexicon of a restless man that in many ways Mr. Macron, 46, has moved in a conservative direction. The other word beginning with R that characterizes a president whose roots lie in the Socialist Party is rightward.

Mr. Macrons prime-time news conference this week was laced with the words order and respect as the president called for La Marseillaise, Frances national anthem, to be learned in primary school and for the experimental reintroduction of school uniforms.

He would, he said, dedicate himself to ensuring that France remains France, reintroducing civics lessons, instituting a form of mandatory community service for teenagers, combating illegal immigration and doubling the police presence in the streets to fight drugs and incivility. Mr. Macron had clearly freed his inner de Gaulle.
A police officer who brutalized a 22-year-old Black man with an expandable baton during an arrest nearly seven years ago was convicted by a French court on Friday of intentional violence in one of the countrys highest-profile cases of abuse by the police.

The young man, Theo Luhaka, sustained a four-inch tear to his rectum after the police subdued him during an identity check while he was cutting through a known drug-dealing zone in his housing project in a suburb northeast of Paris.

Two other officers who assisted in the arrest were also found guilty at the court in Bobigny, a suburb northeast of Paris, in a decision that lawyers on both sides welcomed but that anti-police brutality activists called far too lenient.

Mr. Luhaka did not say a word to the mob of cameras and microphones that had crowded the exit of the courtroom. But he rested his hand on the shoulder of his lawyer, Antoine Vey, who called the ruling a victory.
Lawmakers in Berlin approved legislation allowing shorter waiting periods before naturalization and the possibility of dual citizenship, ushering in changes that proponents say will draw more skilled workers to the country and that opponents warn will lessen the value of German citizenship.

Our reform is a commitment to a modern Germany, Nancy Faeser, the countrys interior minister, said in a statement. We are creating a modern immigration law that does justice to our diverse society, she added, noting that it was high time for such a change.

The changes, which were passed by the Bundestag, Germanys Parliament, on Friday with a solid majority, will reduce to five years from eight the number of years that a resident has to wait before applying for citizenship. That waiting period can be reduced to three years for exemplary cases of integration or service to the German state.

They will also allow dual citizenship, which currently is not widely allowed.

Roughly 14 percent of the people living in Germany are not citizens. Acknowledging their work in helping to build the German economy in the 1960s and 70s, the changes include a stipulation that allows older applicants who came to Germany on guest worker programs to obtain citizenship without having to take a written exam.
Depending on the angle from which you view it, the genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice can embody either the promises or the failures of one of the primary aims of the international human rights project: making rights a matter of law, not just of power.

Last week, the court, which is the United Nations top judicial body, heard initial arguments in the case brought by South Africa in late December, which accuses Israel of acts and omissions that are genocidal in character against Palestinians in Gaza.

This is only the fourth time that a country has brought a genocide case before the I.C.J. The first was in 1993, 44 years after the Convention was drafted in 1948. And the other three have been filed in just the last four years: a 2019 case against Myanmar alleging genocide against the Rohingya minority; a 2022 case alleging Russia had abused the Genocide Convention as a pretext for an illegal invasion of Ukraine, and that Russia appeared to be planning acts of genocide in Ukraine; and the current case against Israel.

Israel categorically denies the accusation, and the 17 judges sitting in this case are now deliberating whether to order provisional measures, a temporary order that would ask Israel to take proactive steps to ensure genocide doesnt occur in the future, while the case is pending.
Barely a month after winning a landmark phone-hacking lawsuit against a British publisher, Prince Harry on Friday withdrew an unrelated libel suit against the publisher of another tabloid paper, The Mail on Sunday.

The Daily Mail, a sister paper of The Mail on Sunday, reported that lawyers for Harry, the duke of Sussex, dropped his claim that he had been libeled in an article about his security arrangements after he and his wife, Meghan, split with the British royal family and moved to the United States in 2020.

The newspaper said that the decision to drop the case will make Harry liable for 250,000 pounds, or $316,000, in legal costs incurred by Associated Newspapers, which publishes The Mail on Sunday and The Daily Mail.

In a statement, a spokeswoman for Harry said that following an unfavorable ruling last month on his motion to throw out part of the defenses case, the duke had decided to focus on the safety of his family, rather than these legal proceedings that give a continued platform to the Mails false claims all those years ago.
Ukraine hit an oil depot in Russia in a drone attack on Friday, officials on both sides said, the latest in a series of recent assaults targeting Russian oil facilities as Kyiv increasingly seeks to strike critical infrastructure behind Russian lines.

Alexander Bogomaz, the governor of the Russian region of Bryansk, which borders Ukraine, said oil tanks in the town of Klintsy had caught fire after a drone dropped munitions on the depot. The drone, he added, was brought down by electronic jamming. A Ukrainian intelligence official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military matters, said Ukraine was behind the assault.

Fridays attack was the fourth on a Russian oil facility in the past three weeks, in what experts say is an effort by Ukraine to deliver setbacks to Russias military capabilities by targeting the facilities that supply fuel to tanks, fighter jets and other critical military equipment.

Strikes on oil depots and oil storage facilities disrupt logistics routes and slow down combat operations, said Olena Lapenko, an energy security expert at DiXi Group, a Ukrainian think tank. Disruption of these supplies, which are like blood for the human body, is part of a wider strategy to counter Russia on the battlefield.
When Capt. Amit Busi gets a chance to sleep, she does so with her boots on  and in a shared tent in an improvised Israeli military post in northern Gaza.

There she commands a company of 83 soldiers, nearly half of them men. It is one of several mixed-gender units fighting in Gaza, where female combat soldiers and officers are serving on the front line for the first time since the war surrounding the establishment of Israel in 1948.

Captain Busi is responsible not just for the lives of her subordinates  search-and-rescue engineers whose specialized training and tools help infantry troops enter damaged and booby-trapped buildings at risk of collapse  but also for the wounded soldiers they help evacuate from the battlefield. She and her soldiers also help scour the area for fighters, weapons and rocket launchers and are responsible for guarding the camp.

It can be easy to forget Captain Busi is only 23, given the respect she has clearly earned from her subordinates  among them Jews, Druse and Bedouin Muslim men.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 19. Azerbaijan and the UN have discussed areas of cooperation for effective organization of COP29, the Azerbaijani Minister of Economy Mikayil Jabbarov wrote on X, Trend reports.

"On the sidelines of the Davos Economic Forum, a meeting was held with Simon Stiell, executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. We exchanged views on joint efforts and potential ways of cooperation for effective organization of COP29," the publication says.

The minister also emphasized Azerbaijan's efforts to hold COP29 at the session IGWEL: Sprinting to 2030 within the Davos Economic Forum. "At the session IGWEL: Sprinting to 2030 within the framework of the Davos Economic Forum, the efforts of our country to hold COP29 were emphasized and its vision of efficient use of energy and mitigation of climate change was outlined. Also, our countrys point of view on the financing mechanism to reduce dependence on fossil fuels and development of green energy, which is one of the main topics of COP29, was noted. Our commitment to the green agenda and leadership in global climate action at the upcoming Conference was reaffirmed," the publication said.

To note, the decision to hold COP29 in Azerbaijan was officially announced in Dubai on December 11, 2023.

In addition to Azerbaijan, Armenia and Bulgaria put forward their candidacies. However, on December 7, 2023, after direct negotiations between the Presidential Administration of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Office of the Prime Minister of Armenia, Armenia decided to withdraw its candidacy in support of Azerbaijan. Bulgaria followed suit and also withdrew its candidacy.

Meanwhile, the Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources of Azerbaijan, Mukhtar Babayev, was appointed as the President of COP29 on January 4, 2024.

Stay up to date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
For the sixth time in 10 days, the United States on Friday said it had destroyed Houthi missiles in Yemen that were poised to attack merchant and military vessels in the Red Sea, a pattern of strikes that the White House says will continue for the foreseeable future to weaken the militia group.

The U.S. military hit three Houthi missiles and launchers, John F. Kirby, a spokesman for the National Security Council, told reporters on Friday. He did not say what weapons the United States had deployed in the attack, but previous strikes have used cruise missiles and munitions dropped by fighter jets.

The strikes  the fourth U.S. salvo in as many days  have so far failed to deter the Houthis from attacking shipping lanes in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, going to and from the Suez Canal, that are critical for global trade. The Iran-backed group says it will keep up its attacks in what it says is a protest against Israels military campaign in the Gaza Strip against Hamas.

President Biden said on Thursday that U.S. airstrikes against the Houthis will continue even though they have not halted the groups attacks on Red Sea shipping. Are they stopping the Houthis? No, Mr. Biden said. Are they going to continue? Yes.

Last Thursday, American and British attack planes and warships attacked more than 60 Houthi targets, including air defenses, command hubs and facilities to store and launch anti-ship cruise and ballistic missiles, as well as drones.

But the U.S. officials cautioned on Saturday that even after hitting more Houthi missile and drone targets with more than 150 precision-guided munitions, the strikes had damaged or destroyed only about 20 to 30 percent of the Houthis offensive capability, much of which is mounted on mobile platforms and can be readily moved or hidden.
According to imre SVP of public relations Shannon Moylan, healthcare communicators need to make sure that they are appealing to "all sides of the story." That means not just keeping the data in mind, but remembering "the heart of the story"the people being cured or lives being dramatically impacted for the better.

"I think too often we tend to tell one side of the story or the other," Moylan tells Doug Simon. "Physicians are people, too, and many of them got into the profession to help people. So, making sure that while you might lead with data, you don't forget the heart of the story, which might be a smiling kid or an older person getting more years of life with their family."

A major hurdle that healthcare comms currently faces, she says, is "this weird shifting of trust within our audiences, both professional and more consumer audiences. It used to be you could have the CDC or some organization like that come in as your authority, throw some data points in it, and people just trusted. At this point, people aren't necessarily as trusting of organizations like that."

Moylan also discusses the continuing importance of earned media. "Earned media, at the end of the day is called that for a reason. We have to go and convince a reporter that our story is worth covering and that it will appeal to their audience and that it's something their audience should know."

When it comes to print vs. broadcast media as a medium for healthcare messages, "media may be best for a particular person, but I think each has its positives. Print often gives us a chance to dive really deeply into things like data or really complex concepts. And, you know, it's still the dream to get a multi-page, long-form New York Times piece. But I don't think we can underestimate the importance of broadcast."

But regarless of the platform communicators use, "the biggest thing is to really, really know your audience. It's so easy to sit there and say, oh, it's a doctor. Throw data at them. Well, that doctor might also be a mom who might have a kid. So, I mean, it's nothing new, but some of those tried-and-true things of just really knowing your audience and approaching them from multiple vantage points."

Moylan also shares some considerations to keep top of mind when building a healthcare team. "Number one," she says, "is enthusiasm. If you are not excited to do your job and you're not excited to learn something new every day, that's going to hit you and be really boring really fast.

"Beyond that, I really look for folks who, frankly, can write because I think that we're never going to get away from that in our industry. Even with ChatGPT and everything else, I think writing will also be huge."

View all of the interviews in the PR's Top Pros Talk series. Subscribe to get notified when new episodes are available.

Interested in taking part? Contact Doug Simon at [email protected]

D S Simon Media helps clients get their stories on television through satellite media tours and by producing and distributing content to the media. The company also produces live social media events.
A man who threatened to burn down the house of a Garda while his wife and kids were inside and to rape the Gardas wife and kids, has been sentenced to 26 months in prison with the final eight months suspended for the Section 3 assault of that Garda.

Sean Taaffe (31), with an address at St Matthews Park, Ballymahon, Co Longford, was previously jailed in the District Court for similar offences towards the same Garda in 2021 and is currently serving a 16 month sentence following a District Court appeal.

Judge Kenneth Connolly of Longford Circuit Court heard evidence of how Gardai were called to a public order incident in Lanesboro, following the theft of a pack of cigarettes in a local shop.

Sergeant Philip OByrne of Roscommon Garda station described how an interaction on March 5, 2023, between attending Garda Keith OBrien and Mr Taaffe escalated from public order to very personal threats to the Garda and his family, to section 3 assault.

When he saw Garda OBrien, Mr Taaffe shouted: You, you b*stard, you got me locked up for 18 months, referring to his previous convictions for threats towards Garda OBrien.

Mr Taaffe then made threats such as Ill burn your house to the ground with your wife and kids in it, I will rape your wife and kids and I will burn Ballymahon Garda Station with you in it.

While in the custody of a Garda vehicle, Mr Taaffe attempted to bite Garda OBrien on the hand and stated he would bite the Garda on the neck. He also spat on the floor of the vehicle and headbutted Garda OBrien, causing him headaches which lasted 24 hours.

When questioned by Gardai once he had sobered up, Mr Taaffe explained that he had been drinking since the previous evening and had consumed two bottles of whiskey and injected coke.

When he was declared fit for interview by a doctor, he spoke freely with two Gardai and said he couldnt remember any of the altercation with Garda OBrien. He asked if the Garda was alright and said, Im a scumbag when Im drinking - a pure tramp. Im disgusted with myself.

Garda OBrien, when delivering a victim impact statement, said his wife was anxious after the incident and questioned whether or not Mr Taaffe would be capable of carrying out his threats to her and her family.

He said this was the second time hed had an altercation of this nature with Mr Taaffe and that, while his wife was also a member of An Garda Siochana and had a thick skin, she took the threats very seriously.

I feel the incident genuinely affected her, he said.

He explained that he will likely interact with Mr Taaffe again in the course of his duties and that he is concerned that Mr Taaffe would be able to find out where he lives.

Hes a very troubled individual, said Garda OBrien, adding that Mr Taaffe needs to be aware that I didnt choose to be at his side on those occasions, but that the accused chose that himself through his actions.

He needs to accept his mistakes are what led to him being arrested and leave my family out of it, he said.

Mr Taaffe became emotional when he took to the witness box to read an apology letter.

Id like to apologise to Keith OBrien and his wife, he said, stating that he turned to drink and drugs when his children moved to England in January 2021.

He explained that the children returned to Ireland in July 2023, and that it made him so happy as a father. He also met a girl in August 2023, with whom he hopes to build a future.

For my family, my kids and the girl I love, Im sorry for the pain you all feel, he said, before promising that he will do as many programmes as possible in Castlerea.

Judge Connolly, having heard the evidence, said that the threats made to Garda OBrien were absolutely vile and repugnant in nature and utterly unforgivable.

He noted that a large number of Mr Taaffes previous convictions took place before his children moved to England and that his actions could therefore not be attributed to that.

He said his greatest regret is that he is limited to sentencing Mr Taaffe for the section 3 assault only, and not the other charges, due to a guilty plea being entered to the section 3 on a full facts basis, with the state deciding not to proceed with prosecution on the other charges.

Section 3 assault is very serious, with a maximum tariff of five years in prison, said Judge Connolly, but in this courts view, a section 3 assault on a member of An Garda Siochana is even more serious.

Gardai dont have a choice, they have to deal with whatever arises and they should receive the utmost respect for that.

Referring to Mr Taaffes apology, Judge Connolly said he did not want to be mean-spirited, but I have to say, it sounded more of a self-focused remorse rather than an apology to Garda OBrien. He did, however, acknowledge that there was some expression of remorse.

Taking all offences into consideration, he proceeded to sentence Mr Taaffe to 26 months in prison, suspending the final eight months on a number of conditions, including that he abstain from all alcohol and drugs, and submit himself to the supervision of a probation officer for one year post-release.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 19. Azerbaijan and Turkiye have discussed the prospects of investing in industrial parks, Trend reports.

According to the Information of the Agency for Development of Economic Zones under the Ministry of Economy of Azerbaijan (IZIA), a study tour to Sumgait Chemical Industrial Park was organized for a delegation of employees of companies belonging to the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Bursa. The visit was attended by employees of more than 15 companies operating in the chemical industry of Turkiye.

Elkiyar Ziyadov, Deputy Chairman of the Board of the Economic Zones Development Agency, informed the corporate representatives about Azerbaijan's industrial zones, investment potential for business development, and applicable tax and customs privileges.

The representatives of the companies that attended the meeting, in turn, discussed the activities of the businesses they represented and potential for collaboration.

The prospects for investing in industrial parks were examined, and viewpoints on matters of mutual interest were shared. Representatives from Turkish enterprises were invited to invest in industrial parks developed in freed territory.

To note, during 2023, 26 business entities were granted resident status in industrial zones under the jurisdiction of the Economic Zones Development Agency.

Seven of them are registered as residents in Agdam Industrial Park, five in Araz Valley Economic Zone Industrial Park, eight in Sumgait Chemical Industrial Park, three in Pirallahi Industrial Park, one in Hajigabul Industrial District and two in Sabirabad Industrial District. The residents intend to invest 471 million manat ($276.7 million) and create more than 3,100 permanent jobs.

Stay up to date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
Hong Kong: Waste charging to start on Aug 1

Secretary for Environment & Ecology Tse Chin-wan said today the implementation day for Municipal Solid Waste Charging will be postponed to August 1 to allow more time for related publicity work.

At a media session, Mr Tse noted that people had expressed various concerns about the implementation of the waste charging.

I have noted many discussions and questions raised by various sectors in the community about Municipal Solid Waste Charging, and many people expressed their concerns to me that the general public do not understand how waste charging will be implemented and the related details as well.

I think as a responsible government, we would like to implement waste charging successfully and smoothly. And therefore, I believe it is a responsible act for us to put more time into public education.

In addition, Government departments will take the lead by demonstrating the new scheme for refuse collection from April 1 as planned.

We will put forward demonstrations so that different people, different sectors, and the public can actually see how waste charging will function, how it is operated and if we have some minor problems, how they will be resolved, etc.

Mr Tse said he believes this will help with the schemes full implementation in August.

This story has been published on: 2024-01-19. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 19. The Middle Corridor is gaining increasing importance, stated Aleksandar Vucic, President of Serbia, during a panel discussion at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Trend reports.

"This route is becoming more and more crucial. The Northern route is not less important, but the Middle Corridor today emerges as one of the most significant ones," he said.

President Vucic also emphasized the importance of establishing energy interconnectors between Balkan countries, such as between Greece and Bulgaria, Serbia and Bulgaria. He highlighted the significance of support from international financial organizations for these projects.

"We hope that the North Macedonia interconnector will also receive significant support from EBRD or EIB, as other projects have. This is crucial because we need to connect ourselves to TAP and TANAP. With energy and connectivity issues, we need the EBRD on board," the president added.

The Middle Corridor starts in China and crosses Central Asian countries such as Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan. It then passes through the Caspian Sea, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkiye before reaching Europe.

The Middle Corridor offers a land route that connects the eastern parts of Asia, including China, with Europe, bypassing the longer maritime routes.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 19. The territory of the Alat Free Economic Zone has been expanded, Trend reports.

The corresponding decree was signed by the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev.

According to the decree, a plot on state lands in the administrative territory of the Salyan district was transferred to the subordination of the Alat Free Economic Zone.
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"Either this nation shall kill racism, or racism shall kill this nation." (S. Jonas, August, 2018)

(Tried to find a map for inserting, but no luck.)

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On January 16, 2024, a friend and colleague of mine, Gary Glennell Toms, published on his website, "From the G-Man," an open letter on the Israel-Gaza conflict: The 2023 Chief Gatekeepers of Hypocrisy Who Continued to Elevate the Palestinian Cause to an Untouchable Status, by Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean and global social action director at the Simon Wiesenthal Center, with a commentary/response to it, which I wrote (see the previous cited URL).

This column the full text of Rabbi Cooper's letter, alternating with my comments as originally published, with very slight emendations and a few additional references. And so:

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By Rabbi Abraham Cooper

For decades, world leaders, the mainstream media, donor nations, human rights NGOs, and academia have all elevated the Palestinian cause to an untouchable status. Through thick and thin, from the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre of Israeli athletes to the UN General Assembly equating Zionism with racism, and from serial anti-Israel resolutions at the UN Human Rights Commission (now Council) to the virulently anti-Israel and antisemitic 2001 UN World Conference Against Racism, in Durban, South Africa, not to mention throughout bloody intifadas, horrific suicide bombings, missiles, knifings, car-rammings, and drive-by shootings, there hasn't been one crime, not even the most heinous, that has ever merited explicit worldwide condemnation of the Palestinian cause.

In 2023, we witnessed the blocking of airports and roadways, the destruction of Hanukkah menorahs, and the disruption of Christmas charity events and celebrations by pro-Palestinian supporters. There was even a mob of pro-Hamas protesters chanting "Allahu akbar" at the entrance to the 9/11 World Trade Center Memorial, underneath which lie the microscopic ashes of over 3,000 innocent victims of terrorism

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SJ response, 1.

United Nations Resolution 181, the resolution passed by the United Nations (UN) General Assembly in 1947 that called for the partition of The Palestinian Mandate into Arab and Jewish states, with the city of Jerusalem as a corpus separatum (Latin: "separate entity"), to be governed by a special international regime. The resolution -- which was considered by the by a majority of the leadership of the Jewish community in Palestine to be the legal basis for the establishment of what would come to called the State of Israel, and was rejected by the Arab community --- was succeeded almost immediately by violence (which shall not be reviewed in detail here).

Summarizing very briefly what subsequently happened to the boundaries of the State of Israel, in part because of two Arab-country invasions of Israel --- the "6-country war" at the time of Partition (1947), and the "Yom Kippur War" (1973) --- and the Israeli-initiated "Six Day War" (1967, undertaken in response to perceived Arab military threats ---, the territory that the original Partition Resolution had allotted to the State of Israel, has been gradually expanded. The position of the representatives of the Palestinian people on what the proper resolution of the conflict over these events should be has varied over time. As it has in Israel. In the 1990s the draft of a comprehensive agreement to create a "Two-State Solution" was developed in Oslo, Norway. Progress was being made on implementing it until the assassination of the leading Israeli political figure who was that implementation and attempting to create that "two-state solution," Itzhak Rabin, was assassinated by a far-right Israeli terrorist in 1995.

Since that time, there have been further attempts to move the process along. But, with fault on both sides, obviously none have been met with success. Politically, in Israel what is considered by many observers, including myself, to be the "Far Right," under the leadership of one Benjamin Netanyahu. It is totally opposed to the two-state solution. It has become gradually stronger. There have been no meaningful negotiations on the Two-State Solution since the early 2000s. As noted, there has been fault on both sides, but the present situation is different, and has been for the last 10-15 years or so. The present government, which has major Palestinian- expulsion elements in it, is clearly implementing that policy in the West Bank. The present government has made it clear, functionally at least, that any kind of two-state solution is no longer anywhere on the table. (Without going into any detail here, as I have written at some length, the current Israel-Hamas War serves the purposes of both sides: that there shall never be a two-state solution.)

The Palestinian/HAMAS atrocities that Rabbi Cooper lists above indeed happened and were horrible/inexcusable. Of course, dating from the time of the original Partition, there has been a lengthy list of Israel actions, by many considered to be atrocities as well, from the "Nakba" during the first Israeli-Arab war in which 100,000s of Palestinians were forcibly evicted from land which had been allotted to them under the original UN Resolution, to what is going on now in the West Bank in which unarmed Palestinian civilians are being shot dead by Israeli "Settlers" (a significant number of whom, by the way, are Orthodox Jews from the US, who are retaining their US passports).

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Rabbi Cooper:

It seems that no deed can change the elite's embrace of the Palestinian cause. In any discussion following such outrages, the default response is always: "Yes, but-- . "Yes, it was very unfortunate that Israeli athletes were killed " or that a pregnant woman was killed by a bomb at Jerusalem's Sbarro pizzeria " but what choice do the Palestinians have as they live in the outdoor concentration camp that is Gaza, that they are victims of colonial occupation, that they are crushed by an apartheid regime."

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SJ Response, 2

For many years, in writing about Israel-Palestine, I have been strong critic of the Israeli Right. But I have never condoned Palestinian violence against Israeli citizens. More recently, I have used the words "world's largest concentration camp" to describe Gaza. One thing for sure, given the intensity of Israeli destruction of the above-ground structures, it will never be that again.

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Rabbi Cooper:

So, perhaps it was naive to think that, somehow, Oct. 7 would be different. On that day, more Jews were murdered than on any day since the end of the Nazi Holocaust in 1945; on Oct. 7, videos taken by Hamas terrorists themselves showed how they targeted entire civilian families whom they shot and burned to death; how they turned a peace concert into a charnel house; how Israeli women and girls were raped, beheaded, and mutilated. Hundreds were kidnapped and taken hostage, and over 100 may still be alive in underground captivity that defies imagination.

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SJ Response, 3

First of all, the attack was horrible, brutal beyond words. There is no excuse for it. It accomplished noting for the Palestinians, except the invasion and destruction of Gaza. However, no one yet knows exactly how it was allowed to occur: Click Here; Click Here; Click Here. See also my column on the complete failure of the electronic fence along the Israeli-Gaza border: Click Here.

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Rabbi Cooper

And through it all, we've mostly witnessed silence or acquiescence to the terrorists. The International Red Cross refused requests from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and families of the hostages to try to deliver life-saving medicine to the hostages. However, they found the time to get forms to the captured Hamas terrorists in Israeli jails to fill out so they and their families could be quickly compensated under the Palestinian Authority's "pay-to-slay Jews" law.

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SJ Response, 4

I cannot speak to what the Red Cross did or didn't do. However, apparently now a significant portion of the civilian population of Gaza is on the verge of starvation (Click Here).

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Rabbi Cooper

Now, at the outset of 2024, before the media rushes off to interview pundits about Gaza's "day after" and before UN entities, led by such pillars of human rights as Iran, China, and Russia, cook up more slanderous accusations against the Jewish state, it is important to identify the chief gatekeepers of human dignity who are largely responsible for the silence, hubris, and hypocrisy that enabled the brutal victimizer to quickly pivot to the cloak of victimhood while casting the people of Israel as "instruments of genocide."

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SJ Response, 5

In the next paragraph below, from Rabbi Cooper, we see a typical diversionary tactic of those who are trying to defend policies which have led to massive destruction of civilians and their infrastructure. That tactic consists of attacking individuals outside of the conflict on the ground for what they did or did not do, what they said or did not say. In certain contexts, this sort of thing is very effective. (And indeed, I agree with at least some of the particulars the Rabbi raises. But they are very much beside the point in terms of what is going on vis--vis the Palestinian people on the ground in Gaza and the West Bank.) In this case, in terms of what has happened to the citizens of Gaza, what is happening to the Palestinian citizens of the West Bank, and how the Israeli-right's policy of expulsionism (which was promoted by Right-wing Zionists in the 1920's) is being carried out before our very eyes, it is useful only for distraction from what is happening to the Palestinians (for whom, by the way, Hamas cares about as much as Likud does).

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Rabbi Cooper (Please note that this excerpt from the Rabbi's letter is quite lengthy, amounting to 885 words)

Here are a few notables:

First and foremost, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. In the aftermath of Hamas' Oct. 7 crimes against humanity, the world's chief human rights executive declared, "It is important to also recognize the attacks by Hamas did not happen in a vacuum," alleging "56 years of suffocating occupation" suffered by the Palestinians and adding that Hamas' massacres "did not warrant the collective punishment of the Palestinian people." It took Guterres 70 days to watch the 43 minutes of video taken by Hamas gunmen of their horrific onslaught of mass murder, rape, mutilation, kidnapping, and hostage-taking.

UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese, allegedly an objective observer of the Palestinians, described Hamas terrorists as "human rights defenders." She legitimized the launching of missiles targeting Israeli civilians and elevated Hamas criminals onto the same moral plane as the Jews who fought back against the Nazis in the 1943 Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. Albanese also unleashed this bizarre but deadly serious charge against the Israel Defense Forces (IDF): "Israel cannot claim the right of self-defense against a threat that emanates from a territory it occupies, from a territory that is under belligerent occupation."

In her Commission of Inquiry report presented to the UN General Assembly two weeks after Oct. 7, Albanese declared that "the oppression and trauma suffered by Palestinian children, half of the Palestinian population under Israeli rule, is a unique stain on the international community." No official word on whether Albanese also considers the burning of Jewish babies a stain on the international community.

UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women and Girls, Reem Amsalem. It took The New York Times over two months to finally acknowledge in print that Israeli women and girls were special targets of Hamas invaders. And this was only after the gut-wrenching descriptions of the crimes against Jewish women and girls were confirmed by released hostages. Meanwhile, Amsalem did find the time to weigh in on the controversy over trans-athletes but refused to unequivocally condemn Hamas for the sexual abuse of Israeli women when it counted. She initially dismissed it all as "disinformation."

Indeed, the Jordanian-born Alsalem went further, declaring that since Oct. 7, "the assault on Palestinian women's dignity and rights has taken on new and terrifying dimensions." She also alleged Israel's "continued assault on the reproductive rights of Palestinian women and their newborns has been relentless and is particularly alarming," and accused Israel of "imposing measures intended to prevent births within a group."

Sarah Douglas, the deputy chief for peace, security, and resilience at UN Women, endorsed a string of incendiary claims on social media following Hamas' Oct. 7 attack. Though her position demands neutrality, Douglas "liked" tweets that condemned Israeli "genocide" and claimed the "forces of empire" were teaming up to crush the Palestinian people's "struggle for freedom."

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) motto, "For every child," would be more accurate if it said: "For every child, unless you are an Israeli Jew." Following the Oct. 7 massacre, UNICEF was largely silent when it came to the execution of 40 Israeli infants and the murder of entire Jewish families by Hamas terrorists. They made no effort to demand the immediate and unconditional release of the 32 Israeli children kidnapped to Gaza by Hamas. Instead, their efforts were solely focused on getting humanitarian aid to the Palestinian children in Gaza who also suffer at the hands of Hamas. In fact, contributors to UNICEF have discovered there is no way to direct funds to help tens of thousands of Israeli children displaced and traumatized by Hamas and Hizbullah attacks.

Finally, UNRWA-- the only UN refugee agency whose purpose is not to resettle refugees. In 2023, UNRWA still conferred refugee status on nearly 6 million descendants of the original roughly 700,000 1948 Palestinian refugees, even if they are citizens of other countries! This manipulation allows Palestinians to insist that millions have the "right to return" en masse to the space currently inhabited by over 9 million citizens of Israel. Such a move would spell the end of the Jewish State.

UNRWA's 2023 budget of $1.63 billion funds their schools, where generations of Palestinian children have been indoctrinated to hate Jews and revere terrorist "martyrs." Now, the IDF has provided proof that Hamas uses UNRWA schools and adjacent areas to store weapons, including explosive vests fitted for children. UNRWA employees and facilities are part of the Hamas war machine.

At a recent meeting at the US State Department, I urged Secretary of State Antony Blinken, as well as officials of other donor nations, not to treat UNRWA as a key part of the solution to Gaza's misery. UNRWA is, in fact, a key component of the ongoing problems that plague Palestinian society. Simply put, UNRWA must be dismantled. Let the donor nations set up an escrow fund for non-terrorist Palestinians to guide their people's future sans the Hamas-controlled UNRWA, ending the disastrous multigenerational refugee status of Palestinians.

Seventy-five years of misplaced sympathies and wishful thinking have brought the entire Middle East to the brink. Moving forward in the New Year, anyone committed to trying to improve the lives of Muslims, Jews, and Christians in the Middle East should be guided by the ancient Midrash, which warns that those "who are compassionate to the cruel will ultimately become cruel to the compassionate."

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SJ Response 6

About the "75 years" with which the last paragraph just above begins, citing "misplaced sympathies and wishful thinking," agreed, if one also includes the effective Israeli refusal, from the beginning, to accept some sort of two-state solution which was at the center the original UN partitioning resolution. One must also recognize that this part (below) of the original Israeli Declaration of Independence (the only official document describing what was supposed to be the nature of the Israeli state --- it has no Constitution) has been completely ignored:

Indeed, while Israel has no Constitution, it does have a Declaration of Independence, dating from 1948. Here is what it has to say about Israeli citizenship:

"The State of Israel will be open for Jewish immigration and for the Ingathering of the Exiles; it will foster the development of the country for the benefit of all its inhabitants; it will be based on freedom, justice and peace as envisaged by the prophets of Israel; it will ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex; it will guarantee freedom of religion, conscience, language, education and culture; it will safeguard the Holy Places of all religions; and it will be faithful to the principles of the Charter of the United Nations."

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Finally, would you like to have a functional definition of the word "irony?" Well folks, in terms of the State of Israel under Likud (as well as most of the governments stretching back to the Founding), here it is, from Rabbi Cooper:

"It's time to hold all parties-- starting with Hamas, Islamic Jihad, the Palestinian Authority, Hizbullah, and the murderous Iranian regime-- accountable for their actions, or the entire world may soon reap the whirlwind."

In this last statement, as I am sure you will notice, in the Rabbi's list is not also a description of how 75 years of Israeli policy, on the ground, in words and in deeds, with a few occasional interruptions (e.g., "Oslo"), has been designed, either actively or passively, to make any kind of two-state solution impossible. This has been especially true during the periods over the last 27 years when Bibi Netanyahu has been the Prime Minister. In the Rabbi's words, "hold all parties --- accountable[?]" Indeed, indeed, that should be done.

(Article changed on Jan 18, 2024 at 9:32 PM EST)
The Iowa Caucuses are Undemocratic and Are Not Representative of the Country

Iowa, the first state to hold primary elections in the nation, conducts undemocratic caucuses. The turnout this year was a meagre 15 percent of those registered to vote. Only 110,000 Iowans voted in the caucuses in 2024. The importance of the Iowa caucuses is blown way out of proportion by the media. By the time of the first caucus in Iowa, the field of Republican candidates has been reduced from eight to three. After New Hampshire, there will probably only be two Republican candidates left in the race. Why should these two states have so much political power? Iowa and New Hampshire represent less than two percent of the population of the United States.

Iowa was brutally cold this year. Wind chill temperatures were at 40 degrees below zero thus reducing the turnout from 187,000 in 2016 by forty percent. Primary elections often have poor turnouts, but caucuses attract even fewer voters for several reasons. At some caucuses, voters are required to disclose who they are voting for. The Democratic caucus in Iowa traditionally did not have a secret ballot. This year the Republican caucus had a secret ballot. Trump voters have bullied other voters and dissuaded them from coming to caucuses if they opposed Trump. Many voters may have avoided the caucuses this year for fear of intimidation.

At a primary election, a voter's preference is always private. To participate in a caucus, you must arrive at the designated location at a specific time and stay for more than an hour. There is no voting by mail at a caucus.

Iowa has a population of more than three million. The votes cast by a mere four percent of the state's population is insignificant. One neighborhood in New York city or Los Angeles has more voters than the total number that participated in the Iowa caucuses this year.

We Should Rotate the Order of Primary States

Why should Iowa and New Hampshire have an outsized effect on who is elected president of the United States? We should have regional primaries that rotate every four years. We could have a New England primary first one year, a Pacific Northwest primary first the next year and so on. Iowa and New Hampshire voters are no more important than voters in the rest of the country. Now, California voters do not get to have a say on who is nominated for president until many candidates have dropped out of the race. Most the candidates have dropped out by the time California has a primary election.

Caucuses Should be Prohibited

Because caucuses only represent a small fraction of the electorate, they should be eliminated and replaced by primary elections. Fifteen percent of the voting-age population should not be allowed to decide who is elected president of the United States.

The Democratic and Republican parties can decide that every state should have a primary election rather than a caucus. The parties now control the primary election process. The parties can also decide on a fairer system of regional primaries that are rotated every four years.

If the political parties will not reform the process, Congress should pass legislation reforming the primary election system. The U.S. Constitution provides that states decide the "time, places and manner of holding election for Senators and Representatives...." However, the Constitution also provides that "Congress may at any time by law make or alter" regulations of the states for holding elections. Article I, Section 4. Therefore, Congress clearly has the authority to outlaw caucuses as a method for holding elections. Congress also has the authority to set up a system of regional primaries with a rotating plan giving each region a chance to participate in the process of electing the President of the United States.

By Joel D. Joseph
Taking the music industry by storm, 810 Studios artists, Day Nation and BIGG SIXX, who are Duplin County Natives, recently attended the much-anticipated It's Your Time Music Conference in Charlotte, NC. The event, hosted by the well-respected Benny Pough, was a crucial platform for artists hoping to grow their brand and make their mark in the world of music. The conference provided valuable knowledge and insider information, proving to be 
BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 19. Iran imported 25,500 tons of goods worth $30 million from Turkmenistan in the first nine months of the current Iranian year (March 21 through December 21, 2023), Trend reports.

Meanwhile, in the first 9 months and 10 days of the previous Iranian year, Irans non-oil import from Turkmenistan was around 30,900 tons, worth approximately $20.6 million, according to the data from the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration (IRICA).

As reported, the IRICA has published the statistics for 9 months and 10 days of last year instead of 9 months.

The main items imported to Iran were petroleum coke, cotton, fabric, and others.

Over the 9th month alone (November 22 through December 21, 2023), Iran imported 1,050 tons of goods worth $1.98 million from Turkmenistan.

The IRICA's latest data shows that Irans overall imports stood at 28.7 million tons, worth $48.4 billion, in the first nine months of the current Iranian year, representing a 12.3 percent increase in value and a 7 percent increase in volume compared to the same period last year.

In general, Iran mainly focuses on the import of essential products needed by the country and applies certain restrictions on the import of goods produced domestically.

---

Follow the author on X (Twitter):@BaghishovElnur
PUNE, India -- Felix-ITs, a leading institute, has introduced an advanced UI/UX Design course in Pune to help individuals thrive in their careers. This program is designed for students, professionals, and those looking to change careers, offering in-depth knowledge and comprehensive support. Felix-ITs aims to transform the way UI/UX design is learned, adapting to the evolving tech landscape. A Look at Felix-ITs Felix-ITs stands out in IT education, serving both beginners and 
Majiah Washington, 18, saw a flash from her window in Northeast Portland on Wednesday morning. She opened the blinds to find a collapsed power line on top of a neighbors car and a tree branch on the ground. She watched as members of the neighboring family, who appeared to have been getting into their SUV, tried suddenly to escape it. A small fire grew under the car.

A man holding a baby, later described as 9 months old, slipped down a driveway, and the mans foot touched the live wire, Washington said. A woman, identified by family as 21-year-old Tajaliayh Briggs, rushed towards the man to get the child, slipping on the ice and hitting the live power line as well, Washington said. Briggs was six months pregnant, said Michael Johnson, a family friend.

Washington, who attended Jefferson High School and works as a day care provider, said she watched a teenager approach the SUV while she called 911. The teen  identified as Milwaukie High School sophomore TaRon Briggs  would die in the accident as well.

Washington, though, was ready to act. The baby moved his head ... and thats how I knew he was still here, she said Thursday at a press conference organized by Portland Fire & Rescue.

Washington braved the ice, losing her footing at times, to grab the baby. A 911 operator cautioned her to stay safe, Washington said.

The only thing I could think about was he was still here, she said. I wasnt thinking Oh, I can be electrocuted. I was thinking, I need to grab this baby.

Washington swaddled up the baby and walked to safety before firefighters arrived. The baby was taken to a nearby hospital and appears to be healthy.

I cant believe it happened, Washington said. Its hard to grasp.

Portland Fire & Rescue spokesperson Rick Graves said the agency was thankful for Washingtons brave actions and that she later told officials, I just did what any sane person would do.

Firefighters responded to reports of the downed power line just before 11:45 a.m. Wednesday to find the three family members  two adults and the teen  lying on the ground approximately 35 feet from the SUV. The power line was draped over the vehicle, pinned down by a large tree branch that had collided with the wire. Authorities have not identified the two adults, though family friends have said they were the babys parents and the teen was the womans brother.

The rescued child, initially reported to be 2 years old, is 9 months old, Washington said.

Majiah Washington recounted how she rescued a 9-month-old boy after members of his family were apparently electrocuted by a downed power line in Portland on Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2024. Washington spoke during a press conference at Portland Fire & Rescue Headquarters downtown Portland. Mark Graves/The Oregonian

Johnson, who has known the Briggs family for 25 years, said Briggs and her boyfriend were visiting her fathers house to grab a laptop to watch shows while power was out at her home. He said her mother and father also happened to be outside when the event unfolded, killing two of their six children.

Its been incredibly difficult for them, Johnson said.

Graves cautioned people to avoid downed wires. If a power line comes down onto a car, occupants should stay inside the car and call 911 unless there is imminent danger, Graves said. A cars rubber tires will protect occupants.

The ice storm that hit Oregon over the weekend has claimed at least 12 lives in the Portland area. On Saturday, two people were killed by falling trees in separate incidents as strong winds and freezing temperatures wreaked havoc on the metro area. Two other people were killed in a church fire Sunday morning; firefighters are investigating whether a generator in use in the churchs gymnasium may have contributed.

Multnomah County has identified four suspected hypothermia deaths since freezing temperatures, high winds and snow rolled in over the weekend. Washington County officials are investigating a suspected hypothermia death, too.

A GoFundMe to cover funeral costs for the Briggs family has raised over $56,000 as of Tuesday morning. A separate fundraiser for the third victims family has raised close to $22,000.

 Austin De Dios; adedios@oregonian.com; @austindedios; 503-319-9744

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Over the past several years, firefighters at all 31 of Portlands fire stations have answered an increasing number of drug-overdose calls, particularly in Old Town/Chinatown.

At a Thursday press conference, officials said more people in Portland died from overdosing on drugs in 2023 than in car accidents.
A former Medford resident who repeatedly sexually abused a Portland girl beginning when she was 3 or 4 years old has been sentenced to 30 years in prison.

Leland Lee Harper fled to Portugal in 2019 when his victim told him to stop, court records show. He was charged and extradited in 2021, posted more than $1 million in bail and then used his dying wife as an intermediary to offer million-dollar bribes to the states witnesses.
School districts across Oregon canceled classes all week after a snow and ice storm wrought freezing temperatures, power outages and dangerous road conditions. But only a tiny fraction offered students virtual school instead.

Zoom school was de rigueur for most of the pandemic but district leaders have since stopped pushing its widespread use even when buildings are closed. In the Portland metro area, only Canby and Estacada allowed students to attend online school this week.
As the region waits for a slow thaw to clear the streets of snow and ice, virtually all schools around the Portland area, including Portland Public Schools, Beaverton and Hillsboro, are closed Friday.

The Beaverton School District originally bucked the trend by announcing it would open on time with buses on regular routes Friday. But it reversed course early Friday. Hillsboro, Tigard-Tualatin and Sherwood officials also made 5 a.m. decisions Friday to close.
The Jeopardy! Champions Wildcard competition has begun, and among the veterans of the show who will return to try and snag a spot in the 2024 Tournament of Champions is Mira Hayward, a podcaster from Portland.

(No antenna or cable? You can stream Jeopardy! on Sling TV.)

While some Jeopardy! fans have grown weary with what has been several months worth of Second Chance and Wildcard tournaments, viewers will have to wait a while longer for regular Jeopardy! games to begin.

The reason why Jeopardy! delayed its Tournament of Champions and has been bringing back former players to compete in Second Chance and Wildcard tournaments, goes back to the writers strike, which paused production on several series with staff writers who were members of the Writers Guild of America.

With writers on strike, a decision was made to use clues that were recycled from previous seasons. After some Jeopardy! big winners said they wouldnt return for the Tournament of Champions with the writers strike continuing, Jeopardy! pivoted, and in Season 40, has offered viewers week after week of Second Chance and Wildcard games, featuring players who were competing to win spots in the 2024 Tournament of Champions.

Related: Jeopardy: When will 2024 Second Chance episodes end, and the Tournament of Champions start?

The writers strike lasted from early May through Sept. 27, 2023.

The Champions Wildcard competition, which began on Jan. 16, features 50 players from the past season who won one or two games in Season 39 and are vying for one of two $100,000 grand prizes and one of the final two spots in the 2024 Tournament of Champions.

Among the competitors is Mira Hayward, who first appeared on Jeopardy! in February 2023. Hayward, who is the daughter of Oregon state senator Elizabeth Steiner, made an impression not only by her play -- she won two games -- but by her amusing anecdotes. In her chats with host Ken Jennings, Hayward recalled appearing on a Portland-filmed episode of Antiques Roadshow when she was a child, and revealing that Jeopardy! wasnt her first contest victory.

You may also recognize me from the Fred Meyer Northwest Regional Cute Baby Contest of 1995, she said.

Hayward isnt scheduled to appear in the Champions Wildcard games until Monday, Feb. 5.

Heres the schedule for the Champions Wildcard rounds.

Champions Wildcard Group 1 (Airing Tues., Jan. 16  Fri., Feb. 2)

Tues., Jan. 16: Quarterfinal 1

Sharon Stone, an early childhood intervention manager from Round Rock, Texas

Katie Palumbo, a museum membership specialist from Amawalk, N.Y.

Andy Tirrell, a political science and international relations professor from San Diego, Calif.

Weds., Jan. 17: Quarterfinal 2

Juveria Zaheer, a psychiatrist from Whitby, Ontario, Canada

Devin Lohman, an architectural designer and Masters student from Peachtree City, Ga.

Patti Palmer, a retired teacher and bookseller from Tulsa, Okla.

Thurs., Jan. 18: Quarterfinal 3

Kendra Westerhaus, a licensed psychologist from Pocatello, Id.

Martha Bath, a retired CPA from Seattle, Wash.

Nik Berry, a social studies teacher from Baltimore, Md.

Fri., Jan. 19: Quarterfinal 4

Bryan White, a senior regulatory compliance analyst originally from Santa Maria, Calif.

Erin Portman, a high school English teacher from Naperville, Ill.

Rachel Clark, a director of client strategy from Washington, D.C.

Mon., Jan. 22: Quarterfinal 5

Daniel Moore, a contract compliance analyst from Pittsburgh, Pa.

Holly Hassel, an English professor from Calumet, Mich.

Ron Cheung, an economics professor from Lakewood, Ohio

Tues., Jan. 23: Quarterfinal 6

Xanni Brown, a postdoctoral researcher originally from Cincinnati, Ohio

Lynn Di Vito, a retired museum educator from Colorado Springs, Colorado

Robbi Ramirez, a writer from Orlando, Fla.

Weds., Jan. 24: Quarterfinal 7

Lloyd Sy, a professor of American literature originally from Rockford, Ill.

Kelly Barry, a marketing communications manager from Seattle, Wash.

Dillon Hupp, a development director originally from North Little Rock, Ark.

Thurs., Jan. 25: Quarterfinal 8

Connor Sears, a copy editor from Queens, N.Y.

Johanna Stoberock, a fiction writer and adjunct professor from Walla Walla, Wash.

Alec Chao, a management and program analyst from Washington, D.C.

Fri., Jan. 26: Quarterfinal 9

Michael Menkhus, a data analyst from Kansas City, Mo.

Ittai Sopher, a news producer and journalist from New Orleans, La.

Tamara Ghattas, an editor from Chicago, Ill.

Mon., Jan. 29: Semifinal 1

Tues., Jan. 30: Semifinal 2

Weds., Jan. 31: Semifinal 3

Thurs., Feb. 1: Finals Game 1

Fri., Feb. 2: Finals Game 2

Champions Wildcard Group 2 (Airing Mon., Feb. 5  Thurs., Feb. 22)

Mon., Feb. 5: Quarterfinal 1

Mira Hayward, a podcast host from Portland, Ore.

Jesse Chin, an accounting director from Bayside, N.Y.

Kate Campolieta, a corporate communications specialist from Simsbury, Conn.

Tues., Feb. 6: Quarterfinal 2

Matt Harvey, a healthcare administrator from Providence, R.I.

Crystal Zhao, a tech consultant from Bloomington, Minn.

Deb Bilodeau, a restaurant server from San Francisco, Calif.

Weds., Feb. 7: Quarterfinal 3

Lisa Sriken, a lawyer from New York, N.Y.

Justin White, a director of orchestra personnel from Overland Park, Kansas

Taylor Clagett, a marketing director originally from Chesapeake Beach, Md.

Thurs., Feb. 8: Quarterfinal 4

Suzanne Goldlust, a marketing manager from Reston, Va.

Alex Gordon, a surgical resident from Somers, N.Y.

*Winner of Play-In Game TBD

Fri., Feb. 9: Quarterfinal 5

Emma Hill Kepron, a librarian from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

Jesse Matheny, a customer success specialist originally from Huntington, Ind.

Patrick Curran, a consultant from Washington, D.C.

Mon., Feb. 12: Quarterfinal 6

Donna Matturri, a librarian from Columbus, Ohio

Dan Wohl, a high school history teacher from Brooklyn, N.Y.

Sriram Krishnan, a consultant from Falls Church, Va.

Tues., Feb. 13: Quarterfinal 7

Long Nguyen, a retired engineer from Las Vegas, Nev.

Nicole Rudolph, an associate dean from Willison Park, N.Y.

Kat Jepson, an artist from Roanoke, Va.

Weds., Feb. 14: Quarterfinal 8

Ilhana Redzovic, an investment associate from Chicago, Ill.

Vince Bacani, a risk manager from Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Elliott Kim, a television editor from Los Angeles, Calif.

Thurs., Feb. 15: Quarterfinal 9

Diandra DAlessio, a technical writer from Montreal, Quebec, Canada

James Tyler, a senior editor from Blandon, Pa.

David Bederman, an attorney from Los Angeles, Calif.

Fri., Feb. 16: Semifinal 1

Mon., Feb. 19: Semifinal 2

Tues., Feb. 20: Semifinal 3

Weds., Feb. 21: Finals Game 1

Thurs., Feb. 22: Finals Game 2

Jeopardy! airs at 7 p.m. PT on Portlands KATU-TV.

 Kristi Turnquist

503-221-8227; kturnquist@oregonian.com; @Kristiturnquist

Our journalism needs your support. Please become a subscriber today at OregonLive.com/subscribe
After going forward with a Thursday matinee, Broadway In Portland opted to cancel Thursday evenings performance of The Lion King due to forecasted icy conditions.

The Lion King, which is scheduled to run through Jan. 28 at Keller Auditorium, had to cancel four performances on Saturday-Sunday, Jan. 13-14, a fifth performance on Tuesday, Jan. 16, and a sixth performance on Wednesday, Jan. 17, due to extreme weather.

Thursdays announcement brings the number of canceled shows to seven.

Thursdays matinee was a make-up show for some of those canceled performances.

The Oregon Symphonys Video Game Symphony, scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Thursday at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, was postponed and rescheduled for March 4. Ticketholders can use their tickets for the rescheduled show.

For the latest weather closures visit oregonlive.com/weather/community-closings.

 Lizzy Acker

503-221-8052; lacker@oregonian.com; @lizzzyacker

Our journalism needs your support. Please become a subscriber today at OregonLive.com/subscribe
A witness saw sparks shooting from a cargo plane as it made an emergency landing at Miami International Airport shortly after takeoff.

The aircraft landed safely Thursday night after experiencing an engine malfunction soon after departure, a spokesperson for Atlas Air said in a statement Friday. The crew followed all standard procedures and safely returned to MIA.

The airplane was shooting sparks as it flew overhead, said Melanie Adaros, who was out for a walk with her mother and was about to turn into her home, when she heard and saw an approaching plane.

Theres always planes flying overhead, but theyre little planes, she said. But this didnt sound like a little plane. It sounded very low, so I turned ... You always see a plane going up or going down. This one was just at a steady level and it was shooting sparks. It was very surreal.

She recorded it with her phone, wondering is it falling? Is it going to explode? she said. It seemed to do a big, wide, swerving turn in the direction of Miami International Airport, she said.

The Boeing 747 was on its way to Luis Munoz Marin International Airport in Puerto Rico when the crew reported an engine failure, the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement Friday. Atlas Air Flight 95 then returned safely to Miami International Airport, the agency said.

Atlas will conduct an inspection to determine the cause, the spokesperson said.

Unverified videos on social media platform X showed flames shooting out of the wing of a plane near the airport while in flight.

Atlas Air hauls everything from machinery to perishable food and pharmaceuticals, and also provides charter services for passengers, according to its website. The companys parent firm, Atlas Air Worldwide, recently announced that it planned to move its headquarters from Purchase, New York, to White Plains, New York, this month.

Adaros, who lives near Miami Executive Airport about 15 miles southwest of Miami, said she shared her video with that airport, which confirmed a few minutes later that it had landed safely at Miami International.

-- The Associated Press
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP)  The New Mexico Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled that tribal courts have jurisdiction over personal injury and property damage cases brought against Native American casinos, ending a long battle that saw pueblos and other tribes advocate for protecting sovereignty when such legal claims arise.

The decision stemmed from a 2016 lawsuit in which an employee of an electrical company claimed he was severely injured while making a delivery at Pojoaque Pueblos casino. The state Court of Appeals had reversed a lower court ruling that initially called for the case to be dismissed.

The tribe then asked the state Supreme Court to settle the question over jurisdiction.

In its ruling, the court pointed to previous decisions in two federal cases that effectively terminated a provision in tribal-state gambling compacts that waived sovereign immunity to allow jurisdiction to be moved from tribal court to state court for some damage claims.

One of those federal cases involved a personal injury claim involving the over-serving of alcohol at Santa Ana Pueblos casino. The other was a slip-and-fall lawsuit brought in state court by a visitor to the Navajo Nations casino in northwestern New Mexico.

Attorney Richard Hughes had filed a brief on behalf of Santa Ana and Santa Clara pueblos, with seven other pueblos signing on. He told The Associated Press on Tuesday that the ruling was significant and long overdue.

Weve been fighting state court jurisdiction over these cases for 20 years and so its the end of a long struggle to keep state courts out of determining tribal affairs, he said.

He and others have argued that nowhere in the federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act did Congress authorize state courts to exercise jurisdiction over personal injury claims.

The New Mexico Trial Lawyers Association did not immediately return a message seeking comment on the ruling.

Those who have advocated to have state courts hear personal injury cases contend that the people suing tribal gambling operations could face an unfair disadvantage in tribal court.

Some experts expect personal injury lawyers to opt for arbitration before heading to tribal court, but Hughes said tribal courts are perfectly competent to handle cases like this in a very fair and equitable fashion.

__

By SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN Associated Press
ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan, January 19. Turkmenistan is ready to support Iran's fruitful proposals and initiatives in the oil and gas sector, Trend reports.

According to the official source, this was stated by the President of Turkmenistan Serdar Berdimuhamedov during a meeting in Ashgabat with the Iranian Petroleum Minister Javad Owji.

During the meeting, the head of Turkmenistan expressed confidence in the usefulness of exchanging views on the study of new types and methods of cooperation in the oil and gas sector, as well as their practical implementation.

The parties engaged in discussions regarding collaboration within the oil and gas sector, exploring new avenues for expansion and identifying emerging opportunities in the industry.

Furthermore, during the meeting, which was held in a businesslike, constructive manner, he noted with satisfaction the high level of cooperation between Turkmenistan and Iran, based on the ancient traditions of friendship, good neighborliness and equality.

At the end of the meeting, President Serdar Berdimuhamedov and Iranian Petroleum Minister Javad Owji expressed confidence in the further progressive development of a constructive interstate dialogue.

Stay up to date with more news at Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
At least two people were stuck in a car for hours Thursday evening after the tops of a row of power poles snapped in quick succession in Troutdale, dropping live power lines onto the car and shutting down the roadway.

Gresham fire officials said the pair did exactly the right thing: stayed put, even though it took Portland General Electric workers a few hours before they could safely disable the electricity flowing through the lines.

A spokesperson for the fire department said everyone involved understood the dangers of this scenario after news spread Wednesday that a man, a pregnant woman and a teenager died because they slipped and fell into a downed power line near a car in Northeast Portland.

The crews that responded, they had that on their minds, more so than they usually do, said spokesperson and firefighter Chandra Holestine. There had been a lot of talk around our kitchen tables. It was weighing heavily upon us.

The scene along South Troutdale Road on Friday, Jan. 19, 2024, shows power pole after power pole snapped and on the ground. A power line appears to have fallen onto the pickup truck pictured here. (Photo courtesy of Landon Lane)Landon Lane

The incident along South Troutdale Road is just one of many such problems that have unfurled in east Multnomah County Thursday and into Friday, as fierce winds and a fresh coating of ice have continued to bear down on the area.

TripCheck.com cameras run by the Oregon Department of Transportation showed the troubles stretched into the east side of Portland, with a pickup truck mid-morning Friday straddling the median of Interstate 84 near 122nd Avenue.

#pdxtraffic This crash on I-84 WB near 122nd is just the latest in several (both EB and WB) in that area. Use extreme caution traveling on 84 between I-205 and Troutdale. pic.twitter.com/Man6GAD5vp  PDX Traffic Alerts (@TrafficPortland) January 19, 2024

Sarah Hurwitz, a spokesperson for Multnomah County, said many roads are still covered in ice in east Multnomah County.

The closer you get to the Columbia River, the ice gets worse, Hurwitz said in an email.

Troutdale is of particular concern because of the higher volume of traffic, including semi-trucks. County road maintenance crews have closed and reopened roads multiple times. They are sanding and plowing as much as they can and are working around the clock, Hurwitz said.

The county is hopeful that conditions will improve Saturday night in Troutdale, but it expects itll take longer in Corbett because of its higher elevation and stronger winds.

Area firefighters say theyve been responding to a surge of pedestrians slipping and injuring themselves on the ice. Theyre also responding to many downed power lines. Gresham Fire Battalion Chief Keston Proudfoot said howling winds and freezing rain hit his house Thursday night, leaving an inch of ice on his wifes car.

Friday, I would say theres still a fair number of people out, Proudfoot said. Ive been watching people all day slipping and sliding. Nothing crazy. They give it a little bit of gas and theyre sliding all over.

Troutdale resident Landon Lane said he had just finished dinner between 6 p.m. and 7 p.m. Thursday evening when he heard loud crashing sounds coming from outside, and then his power failed.

It was so windy and cold out there, I didnt go out to look, Lane said.

But Friday morning, he ventured out and he saw the power lines down all along South Troutdale Road, near Southeast Stark Street.

He shot photos of two cars that were trapped by the fallen poles and lines and then abandoned by their drivers at some point during the night. One had a smashed hood, he said.

Its every telephone pole down to the south as far as his eye could see. And more to the north, Lane said. Maybe almost a dozen. Its quite a stretch.

 Aimee Green; agreen@oregonian.com; @o_aimee; 503-913-4197
A Multnomah County commissioner Thursday asked the state to intervene in the countys mental health system, accusing county leaders of failing to provide sufficient services locally, as required under Oregon law.

Sharon Meieran detailed her concerns in a blistering letter to fellow county elected leaders, including Chair Jessica Vega Pederson, as well as Gov. Tina Kotek and a pair of top Oregon behavioral health officials, according to a copy obtained by The Oregonian/OregonLive.
FULL STORY: Portland woman, 18, rushes to save 9-month-old after collapsed power line kills 3; I just did what any sane person would

Officials with Portland Fire & Rescue are crediting Majiah Washington with saving the life of a 9-month-old child Wednesday after three members of the childs family are believed to have been electrocuted by a power line that fell on their car in the aftermath of a brutal storm that struck Oregon over the weekend.

On Thursday, Washington joined members of Portland Fire & Rescue to recount how she grabbed the child off one of the adults killed in the accident.

Press conference with Majiah Washington Three people died and a baby was taken to the hospital without injuries Wednesday morning after a power line fell onto a car in Northeast Portland. Majiah Washington grabbed the small child off of one of the adults on the ground, the fire department said. Washington shared what she experienced yesterday. A representative from Portland Fire & Rescue answered questions regarding the emergency response. Read more about the story: https://www.oregonlive.com/crime/2024/01/3-people-killed-2-year-old-injured-by-downed-powerline-in-ne-portland.html Posted by The Oregonian on Thursday, January 18, 2024

A fallen branch collided with a power line and sent it down onto the familys vehicle, spokesperson Rick Graves said Wednesday.

Out of the car, a man who was holding the baby slipped, and his foot touched the live wire, Washington said Thursday. A woman rushed out of the car to get her child, slipping on the ice and hitting the live power line as well.

 Beth Slovic, bslovic@oregonian.com, 503-221-8551

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Portlands thick sheet of ice still had not melted Thursday afternoon when more freezing rain started to fall in Troutdale, Gresham, Happy Valley and across the eastern part of the city.

Tom Schuldt, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Portland, said that as the afternoon moves into evening, The freezing rain will expand a little bit further.

It could make it as far west as the Hillsboro area, Schuldt said, but were really focused on the Portland metro.

By around 2 p.m., Portland had dropped to about 32 to 33 degrees, he said, noting that overnight the temperature was likely to drop at least a degree further.

We should see conditions deteriorate as we move into the evening hours, he added.

The heaviest precipitation should stop by 10 p.m. or midnight, Schuldt said, but some light rain could continue into Friday morning.

With temperatures staying at or dipping below freezing, the ice that was already causing problems for Portlanders wasnt expected to melt. If anything, Schuldt said, This could add to additional ice accumulation that weve already seen, especially on those untreated side streets and elevated surfaces.

When will it warm up?

Its going to be a very gradual increase on Friday, Schuldt said, but by the afternoon hours the metro will very likely be above freezing.

Of course, for people in the area who have been dealing with overwhelming winter weather for over a week, and for kids who havent been in school since last Friday, that might be cold comfort.

And, added Schuldt, Even yesterday we rose into the mid-30s and didnt see much of an improvement.

Weather warnings and advisories for Western Oregon on Thursday, Jan. 18, 2023.Courtesy of National Weather Service

 Lizzy Acker

503-221-8052; lacker@oregonian.com; @lizzzyacker

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Gov. Tina Kotek on Thursday night declared a state of emergency for Oregon due to the winter ice storm that swept into the state almost a week ago, leaving behind widespread damage, power outages and at least 13 deaths.

Multnomah County, Lincoln County, Washington County, Hood River County, Lane County and the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians were already operating under local declarations of a state of emergency.

As freezing rain descended on parts of Oregon on Thursday, Kotek said, Now we are heeding the call from additional counties to escalate.

The storms effects stretched from northwest Oregon, through the Portland metro area, into the Columbia River Gorge and down the Willamette Valley to Cottage Grove. Effects of the storm, as temperatures remained below freezing in many areas, have lasted since the evening of Jan. 12.

The statewide declaration makes it easier for counties to access federal funding and support, such as restoring power outages.

Thousands of people across the state have been impacted by the storm, including power outages, lack of transportation, and an array of safety concerns that come with severe weather, Kotek said.

Six people have died during the storm from suspected hypothermia. Falling trees and fires killed others. Thousands of Oregonians suffered through days of power outages, while some lost homes or vehicles to damage caused by falling trees.
After Multnomah County closed all its overnight warming shelters Wednesday, Michael Harper trudged to homelessness nonprofit Street Roots in Old Town to get a referral to a nearby year-round shelter.

But when he arrived at the Union Gospel Mission, he was told the shelter was full.

So I slept right out in front of the church on the sidewalk, Harper, 49, said, adding that a handful of others did the same. Ill likely be sleeping on the sidewalk again tonight.

Harper was one of an estimated 1,200 people forced to leave a dozen warming shelters Wednesday morning after county officials declared weather conditions no longer warranted emergency sites.

Unhoused Portlanders, advocates and nonprofit leaders across the region expressed grave worry and frustration over the countys decision to cut off access to safe spaces while wet, windy and icy conditions persisted.

Just walking from the warming centers was treacherous, ejected shelter residents said, and it was hard to locate a place to stay dry overnight.

Indeed, late Wednesday at about 10:30 p.m. the county announced all of its own offices and libraries would be closed for safety reasons due to ice.

County officials relied on numerous weather forecasts that indicated as recently as Wednesday morning that temperatures would rise mid-Wednesday and ice would thaw  assertions that turned out to be wrong. But at the time they closed the shelters between 10 a.m. and noon, the temperature was 31 and slick ice remained on many streets.

Severe weather shelters save lives during the very coldest and hardest nights of the year, Multnomah County Chair Jessica Vega Pederson said in statement or to The Oregonian/OregonLive Thursday afternoon. Multnomah County uses the best information we have to make decisions about severe weather shelter openings and closings, and preparations for both are multi-day endeavors.

Vega Pederson said the county sheltered as many as 1,300 people a night for five days, which she said is proof the county is committed to improving our processes, partnerships and performance. The previous high, in December 2022, was just shy of 1,000 individuals.

We consult weather and emergency management experts ahead of and during events, Vega Pederson said. No decision is made lightly  weather is unpredictable and sometimes weather events with very low probability, like yesterdays delayed thaw take place.

Another round of freezing rain is expected in the metro area as early as mid-afternoon Thursday, according to the National Weather Services Portland office.

Overnight temperatures are expected to linger around 30 degrees Thursday into Friday. Forecasters dont expect ice to melt or temperatures to rise above freezing until around 10 a.m. Friday.

Nevertheless, officials in Multnomah and Washington counties have indicated they do not plan to reopen warming shelters. Clackamas County on Wednesday evening kept open a warming shelter it runs in cooperation with Clackamas Community College.

Shelter workers handed out many brand new orange tents when guests exited the warming centers Wednesday. The matching tents could be seen in the Old Town neighborhood and elsewhere.Nicole Hayden, Oregonian/OregonLive

By policy, Multnomah County opens winter shelters when temperatures are forecast to dip to 25 degrees or below, if snow accumulation is forecast to reach an inch or more or if an inch or more of rain is forecast to fall overnight with temperatures are at or below 32 degrees. The thresholds must persist for four hours or occur between 8 p.m. and 7 a.m. to trigger shelter openings, according to the county. The countys chief operating officer may also consider any other conditions that could increase the risk to the community.

National weather service forecasts indicate rain is unlikely to continue into overnight hours and temperatures will remain below freezing but above 25 degrees  conditions that would not trigger the countys current thresholds.

Instead of shelter, the county has offered three spots where people can pick up cold weather gear from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday. The sites are at Cultivate Initiatives, 14625 SE Stark St., Bud Clark Commons, 650 NW Irving St., and Market Street Shelter, 120 SE Market St.

Clackamas County opted to open a warming shelter at The Fathers Heart in Oregon City from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday and will reopen it at 6 p.m. for overnight shelter. Scott Anderson, county spokesperson, said they open overnight warming centers if weather is predicted to be 33 degrees or lower, including windchill factors, or if other factors make it dangerous to sleep outside.

Advocates believe Multnomah County should have a similar, more flexible guideline that considers dangerous conditions outside of their typical rules.

Making decisions to kick everybody out into the ice based off an arbitrary temperature makes no sense, said Liz Starke, development director for Rose Haven, a womens day shelter in Portland. It is clearly still an emergency situation out there and people simply have no place to go.

Blanchet House peer support specialist Duke Reiss said one of their frequent guests died inside their tent from hypothermia over the weekend, though that individual is not included in Multnomah Countys count of hypothermia-related deaths. Multnomah County officials said the hypothermia-related death count would be updated at 3:30 p.m. Thursday, if any additional individuals died.

She was found dead in her tent, Reiss said. Her partner and others were told it was a suspected hypothermia death.

The woman and her partner were referred to Bybee Lakes Hope Center before the winter storm hit Portland. But the womans partner was turned away because he had a warrant for a non-violent criminal charge, Reiss said. She chose not to stay there if he couldnt too.

Her partner begged her to stay at Bybee Lakes without him, but she was nervous to stay on her own, Reiss said. We got them on waitlists for other shelters, but many of the shelters are at capacity right now  More low-barrier shelters could have prevented this death.

Reiss said the winter shelters were particularly helpful to reach a broader demographic of unhoused Portlanders than typically access shelter because the sites are truly low-barrier. All who show up are welcomed.

Starke, at Rose Haven, said her staff was struggling to find shelter for people Thursday mornings as every nonprofit they called was at capacity.

We need these types of low barrier shelters all year round, Starke said. But at the very least, if we know this weather is coming, the shelters should open before the crisis begins and stay open until we are safely past the crisis. People who are most vulnerable are really struggling, and it is still an emergency situation out there.

Starke said hypothermia is not the only risk. She said there is an increased danger of people being hurt from tent fires or smoke inhalation as they try to keep their tents warm. By Thursday morning, many brand new orange tents could be seen in the Old Town neighborhood. Campers said they received the tents when they exited the warming centers Wednesday.

Raymond, who asked not to share his last name because he doesnt want people to know he is houseless, stayed at the Market Street Shelter in Southeast Portland until it closed at 10 a.m. Wednesday. While he appreciated the food, sleeping bag, tarp and tent that he received before leaving, he believes the shelter should have remained open at least one more night.

I was thinking, no way this is what theyre going to do, Raymond, 66, said. It was like being on the Lloyd Center ice rink. I was just thinking people were going to walk out on that ice and break their neck. I fell once and I just kept thinking, what were these people doing, pushing everyone out while its still all ice. The shelters did good for people, but they should have given us an extra day.

A man standing next to Raymond waiting in line for lunch service at Blanchet House said he slipped on ice three times already. And many people could be seen walking down streets instead of sidewalks to avoid ice Wednesday night and into Thursday evening, though many of those individuals were hard for drivers to spot in the darkness.

Raymond is hoping to snag a spot at another shelter this week, but until then, he plans to ride TriMet buses throughout the city to stay warm.

Nicole Hayden reports on homelessness for The Oregonian/OregonLive. She can be reached at nhayden@oregonian.com. Editor Brad Schmidt contributed to this report.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 19. The transmission system operators from the Vertical Gas Corridor (Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary) welcomed Moldova and Ukraine to the initiative through a signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) during Ministerial meeting of the High-Level Group on Central and South Eastern Europe Energy Connectivity (CESEC) held in Athens, ICGB, operator of the Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria (IGB), told Trend.

This MoU seals the intensive cooperation developed by gas and LNG transmission system operators from Greece, such as DESFA and Gastrade, Bulgaria (ICGB, Bulgartrangaz), Romania (Transgaz), Hungary (FGSZ) and Slovakia (EUStream) in order to respond in a coordinated manner to the need to strengthen energy security and further diversify sources of supply.

Expanding the coordination under the Vertical Gas Corridor to include the operators of Moldova (Vestmoldtransgaz) and Ukraine (GTSOU) as per ICGBs initiative allows stronger collaboration on utilizing the existing natural gas infrastructure. This can enable accommodating 10 bcm/y of LNG from the terminals Greece and Caspian gas, quantities from the Southern Gas Corridor via 3rd countries, further boosting the IGB interconnectors key role in the region.

The IGB gas pipeline currently operates at 3 bcm/y, but given the regions dynamics and markets demand were already working on expanding this capacity to reach 5 bcm/y. This will be of immense importance to allow the import of larger quantities of LNG from the south via IGB and through the Trans-Balkan gas pipeline to reach the Moldovan and Ukrainian markets, Hungary, and Slovakia, said ICGBs Executive Officers Teodora Georgieva and George Satlas.

As next steps, all transmission system operators agree to carry out simultaneously, in July 2024, one year earlier than the foreseen schedule, a binding market test for capacity allocation at their respective interconnection points. Based on the expressed market interest, capacity expansion projects will be implemented to meet the demand along the Vertical Corridor route.

The IGB gas pipeline connects with the Greek national gas transmission system (DESFA S.A.) and the Trans-Adriatic gas pipeline (TAP AG) in the area of Komotini (Greece), and with the Bulgarian gas transmission system (Bulgartransgaz EAD) in the area of Stara Zagora. The total length of the gas pipeline is 182 km, the diameter of the pipe - 32'' - and a design capacity of up to 3 billion m3/year in the direction Greece - Bulgaria. Depending on the market interest for larger capacity and the possibilities of the neighboring gas transmission systems, the capacity of IGB is designed with the option for increase up to 5 billion m3/year with additional construction of a compressor station.

Follow the author on X: @Lyaman_Zeyn
Davos-Klosters, Switzerland (PANA)  At a moment of growing fragmentation and polarization, the World Economic Forums Annual Meeting 2024 served as a platform for advancing dialogue, cooperation and action-oriented partnership
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Newly published on the website of the Interpreter Foundation:

Heavenly Ascent in Jacobs Writings in Second Nephi: Addressing the Question of What the Plan of Salvation is in the Book of Mormon, written by Skyler R. Smith

Abstract: Heavenly ascent describes the process of an individual (or community) returning to the presence of God. Though various elements exist within heavenly ascent literature, general patterns can be discerned. This project uses one such pattern as a hermeneutical tool to examine what can be learned about how Book of Mormon prophets may have understood the plan of salvation. Specifically, Jacobs understanding of the plan of salvation will be analyzed by examining his writings in 2 Nephi 910. The evidence from this study suggests that some Book of Mormon prophets (at least Jacob and Nephi) viewed the plan of salvation through the lens of heavenly ascent.

Interpreting Interpreter: A Planned Ascent, written by Kyler Rasmussen

This post is a summary of the article Heavenly Ascent in Jacobs Writings in Second Nephi: Addressing the Question of What the Plan of Salvation is in the Book of Mormon by Skyler Smith in Volume 60 of Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship. All of the Interpreting Interpreter articles may be seen at https://interpreterfoundation.org/category/summaries/. An introduction to the Interpreting Interpreter series is available at https://interpreterfoundation.org/interpreting-interpreter-on-abstracting-thought/. The Takeaway: Smith argues that the Book of Mormon makes heavy use of a heavenly ascent motif, and that Jacobs sermons in 2 Nephi 9-10 suggest that he viewed the plan of salvation through the lens of that motif, outlining the means by which we can return to the presence of God.

For supposedly being about on the verge of extinction, the website of the Interpreter Foundation is surprisingly lively. Here is another item that recently appeared on it:

Sacred Time, Sacred Space, & Sacred Meaning: By the Blood Ye Are Sanctified: The Symbolic, Salvific, Interrelated, Additive, Retrospective, and Anticipatory Nature of the Ordinances of Spiritual Rebirth in John 3 and Moses, written by Jeffrey M. Bradshaw and Matthew L. Bowen

Part of our book chapter reprint series, this article originally appeared in Sacred Time, Sacred Space, & Sacred Meaning, Proceedings of the Third Interpreter Matthew B. Brown Memorial Conference The Temple on Mount Zion, 2 November, 2016, edited by Stephen D. Ricks and Jeffrey M. Bradshaw. For more information, go to https://interpreterfoundation.org/books/sacred-time-sacred-space-sacred-meaning/. This chapter discusses the symbolism of water, spirit, and blood as they are used in scripture and in the ordinances.

I really, really want to see this film. (I just returned from the Middle East on Wednesday evening, though, and what with jet lag and feeling slightly under the weather, my opportunities to go to the theater have been limited thus far. But my understanding is that it has only a limited engagement in theaters, so I need to hurry.)

Have any of you seen it? If you have, I would be interested in your opinions of it.

That said, Ill still go to see it even if I receive nothing but negative verdicts on the film. In case you havent noticed it already, Im an enthusiastic admirer of C. S. Lewis  within just the past few days, Ive re-read The Abolition of Man, Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer, and Mere Christianity  and, for that matter, Ive read my share of Sigmund Freud, as well. I know little to nothing yet about this particular production, but I suspect that it may have been inspired by, and perhaps even somewhat based upon, Armand Nicholis The Question of God: C.S. Lewis and Sigmund Freud Debate God, Love, Sex and the Meaning of Life  a book that I bought immediately after its publication in 2002 and that I liked very much. (See my brief discussion of it here.)

I didnt fall in love with Brigham Young University for the beauty of its campus setting and its natural surroundings. But they certainly didnt make falling in love with BYU more difficult. I offer you a couple of recent videos  one (29 seconds long) taken recently, this winter, and the other (45 seconds long) taken during this past autumn  that will help you to see why (if you dont already).

There were still days even in the waning days of my professorial career when, while I was walking on campus, I would look up at the mountains to the north, east, and south and marvel at their dramatic beauty. I enjoy beaches and seascapes, but mountains will get me every time.

Podcast: Carefully entering the hall of mirrors created by the God Made Trump video

So . . . What do you make of the God Made Trump video? Is it serious? Is it satire? If its serious, do you think it appropriate? Do you think that it goes too far? Does it make you a bit uncomfortable? The link that I share immediately above includes the Paul Harvey original (God Made a Farmer), the God Made Trump remake of that original, and the Lincoln Projects God Made a Dictator response. I would be interested in your reactions to them.

I myself no longer have public political opinions, of course, having been warned against them and, frankly, having paid a not inconsiderable price for holding such opinions in the past. Im told that both God Made Trump and God Made a Dictator are connected in some way with current American politics. But Im not sure why. Isnt Mr. Trump a reality television personality or something of that sort? What does that have to do with politics? Heck, I havent even decided whether to vote for William Jennings Bryan or for Alf Landon in the next president election. Ill probably just split my vote right down the middle between the Whigs and the Tories.
Conference Talks: Bearing Testimony in Hebrew: A Comparison of Ancient Israelite Temple Worship with Modern Latter-day Saint Testimony Meetings, presented by Ryan Davis at the Interpreter Foundations 2018 Temple on Mount Zion Conference

The fourth Temple on Mount Zion Conference was held on Saturday, November 10, 2018 in the Tanner Building at Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah. The presentations were filmed, and both video and audio recordings of each presentation are available. The videos are currently available both at https://interpreterfoundation.org/conferences/2018-temple-on-mount-zion-conference/2018-temple-on-mount-zion-conference-videos/and on the Interpreter Foundation YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/c/theinterpreterfoundation. A YouTube playlist is also available at https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLRMn4gyXMWLsWt34zVNC5FmTqBtFfcnxl. The audio recordings are available at https://interpreterfoundation.org/conferences/2018-temple-on-mount-zion-conference/2018-temple-on-mount-zion-conference-audio/.

I mentioned here previously that we were joined for part of our tour in Egypt by one of my former students in the Jerusalem-based intensive Arabic program that I led many years ago, and by her husband (a retired biology professor and a former bishop). They are living in Egypt right now as volunteer humanitarian service representatives for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, working primarily among refugees. Yesterday, while waiting for the luggage from our flight from London to Salt Lake City, we ran into another student from that small group in Jerusalem (a former bishop, by the way); he had returned on the same flight after having spent time in India, where the company that he heads supports a school for the children of lepers and for the poor. Its amazing, in view of the massively and comprehensively evil character ascribed to me by my fans on the Peterson Obsession Board, that any of my students managed to escape my malign influence in order to go on and do good things. Apparently, though, despite my best efforts to corrupt them, a few have.

And, perhaps via the same kind of unaccountable miracle, Utah came in ranked as the happiest state in the United States, presumably despite what one of my readers views as the malignant influence of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Utards, as some critics characterize them  a subset of Morgbots, who are more widely distributed, geographically speaking  appear to be doing fairly well: Happiest States in America. (My thanks to John Perry for calling this article to my notice.)

Which provides me with a helpful segue into mentioning yet another abomination from the Christopher Hitchens Memorial How Religion Poisons Everything File: Religions Relationship to Happiness, Civic Engagement and Health Around the World: In the U.S. and other countries, participation in a congregation is a key factor.

In the decades that followed [the pioneering work of Emile Durkheim in the sociology of religion], the potentially harmful effects of religion were brought to the publics attention, in part due to the popular writings of secular intellectuals including Sigmund Freud and Friedrich Nietzsche. Freud, in his 1927 book Future of an Illusion, compared religion to a childhood neurosis, while Nietzsche famously described Christianity as a sickness. Even in the second half of the 20th century, some influential psychologists continued to follow Freuds lead by defining religion as a neurosis that should be cured by psychotherapy.

Recently, scholars have applied more scientific rigor to their research on religion, and many of the studies that have been published in the past 30 years have found that religious people tend to live longer, get sick less often and are better able to cope with stress. One study of adults in Texas, for example, found that regular service attendance is positively associated with a variety of healthy behaviors such as doctor visits, taking vitamins, and refraining from unhealthy behaviors such as alcohol and tobacco use. Another paper concluded that people whose obituaries referenced religion tended to have lived longer than those whose obituaries made no mention of religion. In the comprehensive Handbook of Religion and Health, Duke University professor Harold G. Koenig and co-authors summarize 21st-century findings from the rapidly expanding field of religion and health research. According to their analysis, religion is positively associated with life satisfaction, happiness and morale in 175 of 224 studies (78%). Furthermore, religion is positively associated with self-rated health in 27 of 48 studies (56%), with lower rates of coronary heart disease in 12 of 19 studies (63%) and with fewer signs of psychoticism (characterized by risk taking and lack of responsibility) in 16 of 19 studies (84%). Of course, this also means that a substantial number of studies have found no clear association, or have even concluded that religion is associated with worse health outcomes. For example, several studies have found that religious people tend to have a higher body mass index (BMI). Northwestern University cardiologist Matthew Feinstein and his colleagues, in an analysis of an unusually large sample of 5,500 Americans, concluded that both religious service attendance and regular spiritual experiences are associated with higher rates of obesity. Other studies suggest that people who view humans as sinful and participate in religious communities that emphasize human sinfulness are more likely to suffer from anxiety and depression.

So what does this particular report have to say?

People who are active in religious congregations tend to be happier and more civically engaged than either religiously unaffiliated adults or inactive members of religious groups, according to a new Pew Research Center analysis of survey data from the United States and more than two dozen other countries. Religiously active people also tend to smoke and drink less . . . Many previous studies have found positive associations between religion and health in the United States. Researchers have shown, for example, that Americans who regularly attend religious services tend to live longer. . . . Taking a broad, international approach to this complicated topic, Pew Research Center researchers set out to determine whether religion has clearly positive, negative or mixed associations with eight different indicators of individual and societal well-being available from international surveys conducted over the past decade. . . . This analysis finds that in the U.S. and many other countries around the world, regular participation in a religious community clearly is linked with higher levels of happiness and civic engagement (specifically, voting in elections and joining community groups or other voluntary organizations). This may suggest that societies with declining levels of religious engagement, like the U.S., could be at risk for declines in personal and societal well-being. . . . Whatever the explanation may be, more than one-third of actively religious U.S. adults (36%) describe themselves as very happy, compared with just a quarter of both inactive and unaffiliated Americans. Across 25 other countries for which data are available, actives report being happier than the unaffiliated by a statistically significant margin in almost half (12 countries), and happier than inactively religious adults in roughly one-third (nine) of the countries. . . . When it comes to measuring civic participation, the results again follow a pattern: On balance, people who are actively religious are also more likely to be active in voluntary and community groups. This dovetails with previous studies in the United States. . . . Similarly, research that examines the association between religion and mortality points to religious service participation as the key aspect of religion that promotes longevity. For instance, sociologist Jibum Kim and colleagues have found that regular service attendance is associated with reduced risk of mortality, while strength of religious affiliation, prayer, and religious beliefs have no effect. This association between service attendance and mortality is presumably due to the healthy behaviors and lack of risky behaviors among regular churchgoers. Although social activity seems to be a key driver of well-being among religiously active people, there is plenty of research to suggest that other factors play a role, too. Some researchers argue that virtues promoted by religion, such as compassion, forgiveness and helping others, may improve happiness and even physical health if they are practiced by parishioners. Religion may benefit psychological well-being because it encourages supernatural beliefs that can help people deal with stress. Social psychologists identify stress buffering mechanisms, such as a perceived connection with the divine, as key ways people may deal with difficult life events. And religious meaning may help people manage suffering, both in their lives and in the lives of those around them. This appears to be particularly important for older people, who tend to experience suffering on a more regular basis. . . . In general, across all the countries analyzed, being actively religious is associated with a greater likelihood of being very happy, belonging to a nonreligious organization, always voting, drinking infrequently and not smoking. (Emphatic italicizing and bolding in the original)

Does any of this prove religious claims true? No. But it seems to disprove assertions that religion is by nature unhealthy. And it may even suggest that religious belief and/or religious involvement are working with the grain of the universe, rather than against it.
Hakuin Ekaku died on January the 18th, 1769. He was born on the 19th of January, in 1686, in a village at the foot of Mount Fuji.

In those years between death and birth, Hakuin became the great reformer of Japanese Rinzai Zen. Curricular koan study traces to two major strains, both named for grand students of his.

As a child he attended a lecture given by a Nichiren priest on hell. The talk captured the boys imagination. He became obsessed with the idea of the hell realms. And he determined to escape them by becoming a monk.

When Hakuin turned fifteen he entered the monastic life as a Zen priest at Shoinji. Soon after he was sent to study at a neighboring temple, Daishoji. Here he delved deeply into Mahayana texts, and in particular he studied the Lotus Sutra. Ultimately he dismissed it as recorded in Wikipedia, as nothing more than simple tales about cause and effect.

Hakuin continued training and ended up at Zensoji. Here he became obsessed with the story of Yanto Quanhuo, a Chinese master who when murdered by robbers yelled so loudly that he could be heard valleys away. He despaired of ever escaping hell and while not formally disrobing, deciding to devote himself to literature and poetry.

When he was staying with the poet monk Dao Rojin he saw a stack of books about all the schools of Buddhism. He prayed to be directed to the right path, and reached with eyes closed to pick a book. It was about Zen.

At the age of twenty-three Hakuin had his first taste of awakening, hearing the ringing of the temple bell. He dug into koans with Shoju Rojin, who pushed him through three major awakening encounters. While he did not receive formal authorization from the master, he forever considered Shoju Roshi his master, and his contemporaries as well as history see him as the masters heir.

Something happened, a medical or psychological crisis. He called it a Zen sickness. He ended up finding help with a Daoist hermit. And, from that period he included attention to health, what I think we would consider both physical and mental, a part of his practice.

At the age of thirty-one Hakuin returned to Shoinji where he had originally been ordained, and accepted the invitation to become the head priest of the temple. He would serve for fifty years.

About ten years into his abbacy, Hakuin was reading the Lotus Sutra, which hed long before dismissed. And in a chapter on parables, where the Buddha warns against attachment to ones personal awakening, and described the Bodhisattva way, returning from the mountain, and serving until all cross to the farther shore together, he awakened into the truth of the words.

He declined invitations to the capital and other larger institutions, instead staying at his original temple.

Hakuin taught that there were three essentials to the practice, great doubt, great faith, and great energy. His attention to the koan way would lead a reform of how Japanese Zen approaches the discipline, becoming two styles named for grand successors of his Inzan and Takuju. (My own koan life is itself a slight modification of the Takuju system) He encourage both monastic and householder practice. For a bit longer reflection digging into some of the art and heart of his teaching, I recommend a brief reflection by Roshi Dosho Port.

He would eventually authorize eighty dharma successors. And today nearly all Rinzai lines trace through him.

Hakuin was also a prolific writer. One of his enduring works is his Song of Zazen.

(Translated here by Norman Waddell)

All beings by nature are Buddha,

As ice by nature is water.

Apart from water there is no ice;

Apart from beings, no Buddha.

How sad that people ignore the near

And search for truth afar:

Like someone in the midst of water

Crying out in thirst,

Like a child of a wealthy home

Wandering among the poor.

Lost on dark paths of ignorance,

We wander through the Six Worlds,

From dark path to dark path

When shall we be freed from birth and death?

Oh, the zazen of the Mahayana!

To this the highest praise!

Devotion, repentance, training,

The many paramitas

All have their source in zazen.

Those who try zazen even once

Wipe away beginning-less crimes.

Where are all the dark paths then?

The Pure Land itself is near.

Those who hear this truth even once

And listen with a grateful heart,

Treasuring it, revering it,

Gain blessings without end.

Much more, those who turn about

And bear witness to self-nature,

Self-nature that is no-nature,

Go far beyond mere doctrine.

Here effect and cause are the same,

The Way is neither two nor three.

With form that is no-form,

Going and coming, we are never astray,

With thought that is no-thought,

Singing and dancing are the voice of the Law.

Boundless and free is the sky of Samadhi!

Bright the full moon of wisdom!

Truly, is anything missing now?

Nirvana is right here, before our eyes,

This very place is the Lotus Land,

This very body, the Buddha
Old Mutual Ghana, a leading insurance company, has paid a courtesy call on Ghanas Financial Intelligence Center (FIC) to reinforce their commitment to ensuring the integrity of Ghana's financial system.



The purpose of the visit was, among other things, to address key issues regarding Old Mutuals collaboration with the FIC and shed light on their initiatives aimed at promoting financial literacy and security in the country.



The Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) for Old Mutual Ghana, Tavona Biza, emphasized the significance of collaborating with the FIC, recognizing the FIC as a vital stakeholder in maintaining transparency within the insurance industry.



The FIC plays a crucial role in providing guidance and direction to insurance companies, ensuring compliance with anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing regulations. With a focus on safeguarding the prosperity of valued customers and maintaining the industry's integrity, Old Mutual Ghana sees collaboration with the FIC as essential, he said.



He highlighted the importance of joint efforts to combat suspicious transactions, address inquiries, and ensure adherence to regulatory standards.



Empowering communities



He emphasized Old Mutual Ghana's commitment to financial literacy, outlining their extensive programs conducted over the past decade.



We have been trendsetters and pacesetters in terms of financial literacy. These initiatives include face-to-face engagements, digital platforms, and social media campaigns, reaching over 200,000 individuals and by providing financial education, Old Mutual Ghana aims to empower Ghanaians to understand the significance of savings, future planning, and secure financial practices, he said.



Strategic focus on impact and innovation



Mr. Biza highlighted Old Mutual Ghana's focus on making a tangible impact on the financial services sector and insurance penetration in Ghana. By ensuring financial security for the populace, Old Mutual Ghana aims to expand its market share and enhance its role in the industry.



The Financial Intelligence Center expressed confidence in Old Mutual Ghana's dedication to compliance with Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing provisions. We believe Old Mutual is on the right path in terms of their compliance to the AML/CFT provisions in the law, regulations and guidelines.



Both entities underscored the organization's efforts in safeguarding the Ghanaian economy, which included the implementation of the goAML software for intelligence analysis and dissemination.



Ghana's removal from the "Grey list" in 2021 was a cause for celebration, demonstrating the nation's dedication to combating money laundering and terrorism financing.



The collaboration between the FIC and Old Mutual Ghana is important in maintaining financial system integrity, ensuring compliance with regulations, and preventing illicit financial activities.



Strengthening financial system resilience



Old Mutual Ghana's visit to the FIC highlights their shared commitment to fostering a secure financial environment. With innovative initiatives, collaborative efforts, and a focus on financial literacy, both entities are poised to make lasting contributions to Ghana's financial sector integrity and the well-being of its citizens. As they move forward, the partnership between Old Mutual Ghana and the FIC promises a future marked by financial security, regulatory compliance, and innovative solutions 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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BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 17. Azerbaijan and the UAE discussed cooperation within the framework of COP29, Minister of Economy of Azerbaijan Mikayil Jabbarov wrote on X, Trend reports.

"On the sidelines of the Davos Economic Forum, we held a meeting with Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri, the Minister of Economy of the United Arab Emirates, the co-chairman of the Azerbaijan-UAE Joint Intergovernmental Commission. During the meeting, we expressed satisfaction with the high level of the bilateral relations between the two countries," he said.

The minister also pointed out that the discussions covered various aspects of the economic partnership agenda.

"Those include preparations for the 9th session of the Azerbaijan-UAE Joint Intergovernmental Commission, enhancement of trade turnover and initiatives for developing business ties, collaboration within COP29, prospects for joint projects in the transition to sustainable energy sources," Jabbarov added.

The decision to host COP29 in Azerbaijan was officially announced in Dubai on December 11, 2023.

Besides Azerbaijan, both Armenia and Bulgaria nominated their candidatures. However, after direct negotiations between the Office of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Office of the Prime Minister of Armenia on December 7, 2023, Armenia decided to withdraw its candidacy in favor of Azerbaijan. Bulgaria followed suit and also withdrew its candidacy.

On January 4, 2024, Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources of Azerbaijan Mukhtar Babayev was appointed as President of COP29.
A Deputy Registrar of the Bolgatanga Technical University (BTU), Alhassan Azumah has been shot dead by gunmen who are yet to be identified.



The deceased was promoted to the rank of Deputy Registrar in the university about two months ago.



Some sources within the university indicates that two gunmen on a motorbike shot him multiple times around 7:00 pm on Wednesday, January 17, 2024, outside his residence in Sokabisi, a suburb of Bolgatanga.



He was walking around his residence when the assailants surfaced, shot him, and sped off.



Mr Azumahs death has shocked both the staff and students of the university.

Source: graphiconline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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The Office of the Special Prosecutor on Wednesday, 17 January 2024, presented its fourth Half Yearly Report under the leadership of Special Prosecutor, Mr. Kissi Agyebeng.



The report, covering the period from 01 July 2023 to 31 December 2023 is submitted in accordance with section 3(3) of the Office of the Special Prosecutor Act, 2017 (Act 959). It outlines achievements, challenges, and the overall commitment of the Office to combatting corruption.



The second half of 2023 witnessed remarkable achievements by the Office, including intensified operations aligned with its four-fold mandate: investigating corruption, prosecuting offenders, managing assets, and preventing corruption.



These efforts stimulate discourse in the fight against corruption, highlighting the need for continuous examination and apprehension of corrupt individuals.



Currently, three significant criminal cases are in progress on the prosecution front.



The trial of the former Chief Executive of the Public Procurement Authority and his brother-in-law is underway at the Criminal Division of the High Court in Accra.



Simultaneously, the trial involving the former Chief Executive, former Deputy Chief Executive in charge of Operations, former Deputy Chief Executive in charge of Finance and Administration of the Northern Development Authority, and the Chief Executive of A&QS Consortium Limited is pending before the Criminal Division of the High Court in Tamale.



Additionally, the trial of the Presidents nominee for the position of Chief Executive of Juaben Municipal Assembly in the Ashanti Region is pending before the Criminal Division of the High Court, Kumasi.



Several other cases are yet to proceed to full trial, including that of the former Minister for Sanitation, Cecilia Abena Dapaah. Investigations so far indicate that this case primarily revolves around suspected money laundering and structuring and may be referred to appropriate agency in due cause.



Another case involves Mr. Charles Bissue, the Secretary of the dissolved Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM).



On investigations, the Office has closed a number of cases, including investigation into alleged attempted bribery of the majority caucus of the Parliament of Ghana by an undisclosed well-known and wealthy businessman and that of the former Minister of State at the Ministry of Finance, Mr. Charles Adu Boahen contained in an investigative documentary titled Galamsey Economy published by a celebrated Ghanaian investigative journalist, Anas Aremeyaw Anas and his associates operating under the corporate name of Tiger Eye P.I.



The Office continues to investigate over 152 cases which are at various stages including investigation into contractual arrangements between Strategic Mobilization Ghana Limited-SML (a company registered in Ghana) and Ghana Revenue Authority and investigation into the appropriation, sale and lease of State-owned lands and properties to individuals and corporate bodies since 1993.



Committed to preventing corruption, the Office disrupted a syndicate involved in counterfeit foreign currency production, and the case has been partially referred to the Ghana Police Service.



The Office also engaged with stakeholders, including the Judiciary and international agencies such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) of the United States. It also collaborated with Civil Society Organisations to educate youth on corruption prevention, recognizing that the fight against corruption requires collective effort.



Furthermore, the Office was admitted as a member of the Global Operational Network of Anti- Corruption Law Enforcement Authorities (GlobE Network).



Established by the guardian of the United Nations Convention against Corruption, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)  GlobE Network facilitates, promotes, and supports cross-border cooperation to end corruption.



The Office has started preparatory works to open regional offices in Kumasi, Takoradi, and Tamale.



This strategic initiative reflects the Office's commitment to extending its reach and impact, ensuring that the fight against corruption is not confined to specific regions but resonates throughout the nation.



Despite attempts to discredit the Office and criticisms from those impacted by anti-corruption measures, the Office remains resolute and undeterred in its fight to render corruption costly and unattractive.



Read the full report here.

Source: Peacefmonline.com









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The New Patriotic Party (NPP) Manhyia South Constituency Chairman, Richard Adjei Mensah Ofori Atta has called on the National Organizer of his party, Mr Henry Nana Boakye, 'Nana B' to give a vivid account of an incident that took place during the partys vetting of Parliamentary Aspirants in the Ashanti Region.



According to the report, the Ashanti Regional Chairman of the party, Mr Bernard Antwi Bosiako, popularly known as 'Chairman Wontumi,' acted in a manner that showed some form of disrespect to His Royal Majesty Tumfuo Osei Tutu II, during the vetting



But a statement from Nana B suggests Wontumi never disrespected the Asantehene in any form as far as he is concerned.



Read Nana Bs statement below



My attention has been drawn to a media reportage suggesting that the Ashanti Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party, Mr Bernard Antwi Bosiako, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi, has acted in a manner that is disrespectful to His Royal Majesty Otumfuo Osei Tutu II at the partys recently held Ashanti Regional Parliamentary Vetting.



As the Chairman of the Vetting Committee, I can recall a little misunderstanding that ensued between the Regional Chairman and the Manhyia South Constituency Organizer which I was committed to resolving. However, I in my capacity as the Chairman of the committee did not witness any such conduct by the Regional Chairman that sought to disparage or lower the authority of our revered and highly respected King during the conduct of our work as a Committee.



Manhyia South Constituencys rebuttal



According to the chairman of the constituency, Nana Bs statement is a coverup to what really happened during the wetting.



Chairman Tom Tom as affectionately called in politics in a statement called on Nana B to retract and apologize within 24 hours before he is exposed.



Having carefully read Nana Bs statement, which is full of blatant lies, I am calling on him to retract and apologize by close of today, Thursday, January 18, 2024, else I will come out with the full facts tomorrow, Friday, January 19, 2024. A portion of the statement said.



Read below the full statement



I have become aware of a statement issued by the National Organizer of the New Patriotic Party, Mr Henry Nana Boakye, popularly known as 'Nana B', on an incident that took place during the partys vetting of Parliamentary Aspirants in the Ashanti Region, held at the Dr Bawumia campaign office at Asokwa, Kumasi, on January 3, 2024.



In his statement, Nana B described false, media reports which suggest that the Ashanti Regional Chairman of the party, Mr Bernard Antwi Bosiako, popularly known as 'Chairman Wontumi,' acted in a manner that shows disrespect to His Royal Majesty Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, during the vetting.



Nana B went ahead to state: As the Chairman of the Vetting Committee, I can recall a little misunderstanding that ensued between the Regional Chairman and the Manhyia South Constituency Organizer which I was committed to resolving. However, in my capacity as the Chairman of the committee, I did not witness any such conduct by the Regional Chairman that sought to disparage or lower the authority of our revered and highly respected King during the conduct of our work as a Committee.



Having carefully read Nana Bs statement, which is full of blatant lies, I am calling on him to retract and apologize by close of today, Thursday, January 18, 2024, else I will come out with the full facts tomorrow, Friday, January 19, 2024.



I must add that there were about 40 people in the vetting room and the facts can not be hidden.



Signed:



Tom Tom



NPP Manhyia South Constituency Chairman, NPP

Source: Peacefmonline.com









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Barring any hitches, Vice President and the Presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr Mahamudu Bawumia will soon be addressing the nation to indicate his vision and plan for the country.



Kabila's bit



James Kwabena Bonfeh, former General Secretary of the Convention People's Party (CPP), during Wednesday's edition of 'Kokrokoo' urged Dr Bawumia to articulate his vision for the country.



Kabila as he is popularly called claims it's taken the flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) too long to do so.



"...between November 4 and January 17; it's too long a time not to have stated that vision" he uttered.'



Sammi Awuku, the Chief Executive Officer of the National Lottery Authority (NLA), speaking to this on Peace FM's morning show 'Kokrokoo' clarified that it is incorrect to assume that the Vice President has become more relaxed after being elected as the flagbearer



"He's preparing towards speaking to the nation 7th February and it will set the tone for what will define his presidency when elected. It's expected that he will lay his broader plan and vision for Ghana. He's also expected to speak on where we are and where we are going as well as the economy. The speech will also capture ideas that will be in the manifesto...Clearly, we have a job to perform and a task to deliver" he indicated.



Listen to him in the video below





Source: Peacefmonline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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A York County man has been charged after police say he crashed his truck into a restaurant in Hanover while driving under the influence in late December, according to a local report.

Ryder Mathias, 21, of Hanover, was charged with two counts of driving under the influence and one count of reckless driving, according to court documents.
Authorities are searching for the three people who they say left a baby inside a Walmart store in northeast Philadelphia.

The incident occurred at around 11 p.m. Thursday when authorities arrived at a Walmart located on the 4300 block of Byberry Road for a report of theft. Store security guards approached and tried to apprehend two men and a woman for shoplifting at the store, 6ABC and NBC10 reported.

But thats when the three suspects ran away from the store and escaped the area. When the guards returned to the store, they discovered the trio had left behind a 3-month-old baby girl.

She was transported to Jefferson-Torresdale Hospital for an evaluation and fortunately is in stable condition, 6ABC said.

The search is on for the suspects who abandoned her. So far, authorities have not released any pictures or a detailed description of the three, NBC10 said.

Anyone who has information about this incident is asked to call the Special Victims Unit at 215-685-3260
Two well-known figures have each made recent headlines because of conditions related to their prostates  an area men are sometimes reluctant to discuss because of the potential impact on sexual function.

In December, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin underwent surgery for prostate cancer. More than a week later, an infection put him back in the hospital, this time creating controversy over the fact he kept his condition private.
Sleep Token is officially going on a North American Tour in 2024.

The massively popular British band will be selling both presale and general public tickets, so make sure to mark your calendars, disciples of Sleep.
BOSTON (AP)  Police arrested an American Airlines flight attendant on Thursday on suspicion of trying to secretly record a 14-year-old female passenger using a bathroom aboard an airplane he was working on last September.

Police also allege Estes Carter Thompson III, 37, of Charlotte, North Carolina, had recordings of four other minor female passengers using lavatories on an aircraft he had worked on previously.

Thompson was charged with attempted sexual exploitation of children and possession of child sexual abuse images depicting a prepubescent minor.

He was arrested in Lynchburg, Virginia, and will remain in custody pending his initial court appearance in Virginia. He will appear in federal court in Boston at a later date, officials said.

The deeply disturbing conduct alleged here is something no parent or child should ever have to worry about when they travel, acting U.S. Attorney Joshua Levy said in a statement. Mr. Thompson allegedly used his position to prey on and surreptitiously record innocent children, including unaccompanied minors.

American Airlines issued a statement saying they take the allegation very seriously. They also said the flight attendant was immediately withheld from service following the September 2023 incident and hasnt worked since.

They dont reflect our airline or our core mission of caring for people, the statement read. We have been fully cooperating with law enforcement in its investigation as there is nothing more important than the safety and security of our customers and team.

A phone number could not be found for Thompson, and it was unclear if he has a lawyer.

Investigators said that about midway through the Sept. 2, 2023, flight from Charlotte to Boston, the 14-year-old got up to use the main cabin lavatory nearest to her seat but found it was occupied.

Thompson then told her the first-class lavatory was unoccupied and escorted her there, investigators said. Before she entered the bathroom, Thompson allegedly told her he needed to wash his hands and that the toilet seat was broken.

After he left, the teen entered the bathroom and saw red stickers on the underside of the toilet seat lid, which was in the open position, stating, INOPERATIVE CATERING EQUIPMENT, REMOVE FROM SERVICE and SEAT BROKEN handwritten in black ink on one of the stickers, according to court documents.

Beneath the stickers, Thompson had concealed his iPhone to record a video, investigators said. The girl used her phone to take a picture of the stickers and concealed iPhone before leaving. Thompson then immediately went back into the bathroom.

The girl told her parents, and her father confronted Thompson, who locked himself in the lavatory with his iPhone for three to five minutes before the flights descent, investigators said.

A search of Thompsons suitcase found 11 INOPERATIVE CATERING EQUIPMENT stickers, investigators said. A search of his iCloud account allegedly revealed four additional instances between January and August 2023 in which Thompson recorded a minor using the lavatory on an aircraft.

Those depicted in the recordings were 7, 9, 11 and 14 years old at the time, investigators said. More than 50 images of an unaccompanied 9-year-old were also found in his account.

All minor victims involved in this matter have been identified and their families contacted by law enforcement, Levy said.

A lawyer representing the family members of the 14-year-old, who have said they are suing the airline, said hes pleased an arrest has been made.

It is also shocking to hear that he allegedly preyed on at least five minors while they were flying on American, Paul Llewellyn said in a statement. It remains to be seen whether American Airlines will now finally take some measure of responsibility.

Investigators also said hundreds of AI-generated child sexual abuse images were also found stored on Thompsons iCloud account.

The charge of attempted sexual exploitation of children carries a sentence of at least 15 years and up to 30 years in prison. The charge of possession of child sexual abuse material depicting a prepubescent minor provides for a sentence of at least five years and up to 20 years in prison. Both charges also provide for up to a lifetime of supervised release, a fine of up to $250,000 and restitution.

The Associated Press does not name victims of sexual assault or abuse unless they come forward publicly.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 19. Director of the Azerbaijan Renewable Energy Agency (AREA) under the Ministry of Energy Javid Abdullayev has held an online presentation on "Opportunities in the renewable energy sector of Azerbaijan" for the Ministry of Energy Transition and Public Utilities of Malaysia, Trend reports, referring to the Azerbaijani Energy Ministry.

Javid Abdullayev highlighted the significance of the renewable energy sector as a priority in Azerbaijan, inviting Malaysian companies to engage in cooperation. He emphasized the country's favorable investment climate.

"Renewable energy projects totaling 7 GW are slated for implementation by 2030, with 5 GW earmarked for export. Diverse export directions for green energy are being pursued," he said.

Then, Azerbaijan's Ambassador to Malaysia Irfan Davudov, AREA department heads Rana Humbatova and Fagan Abdurahmanov, as well as Director of Masdar Azerbaijan Murad Sadikhov, delivered speeches in online mode.

Comprehensive details were presented on projects implemented in Azerbaijan, investment opportunities, and various other areas.
Online retailer Wayfair said today it has laid off 1,650 of its employees.

Wayfair said that represents 13% of its global workforce and 19% of its corporate team.

This is Wayfairs third restructuring since 2022. Wayfair said the latest layoffs are expected to save more than $280 million.

I think the reality is that we went overboard in hiring during a strong economic period and veered away from our core principles, and while we have come quite far back to them, we are not quite there, said CEO and co-founder Niraj Shah in a letter to employees.

Shah said that the COVID-19 pandemic caused a dramatic surge in our business, and suddenly the newly leaned down team felt like a disadvantage. With annualized sales going from $9 billion to $18 billion almost overnight our desire to grow our team was rekindled.

By mid 2022 it was clear we were in a bust period. It was also clear that we had gone overboard with corporate hiring during Covid. As everyone here knows, weve had two significant corporate restructurings since 2022 to try to right-size this.

Shah said employees would be receiving emails today about whether their job is being eliminated. Employees will be offered severance.

Shah had gone viral in December with his year-end message to employees basically asking that they work harder. The message was reported by several media outlets, including CNN.

Winning requires hard work. I believe that most of us, being ambitious individuals, find fulfillment in the joy of seeing our efforts materialize into tangible results. Working long hours, being responsive, blending work and life, is not anything to shy away from. There is not a lot of history of laziness being rewarded with success.

In todays letter, Shah said Wayfair is consistently profitable but the reality is they have not gotten us to where we need to be ... Shah discussed the companys plans to be lean and fit.

Other businesses announced layoffs recently have included Spotify, Hasbro and Macys.

The New York Times reported yesterday that Macys is cutting 2,350 corporate jobs, and closing five stores.

READ MORE: Paint retailer Kelly-Moore is going out of business days after layoffs
The Southern York County School District school board on Thursday night faced fierce pushback from parents and members of the public opposing the panels plans to restore the districts Indian warrior logo.

During the public comment section of a five-hour meeting, parents assailed board members for lacking humanity and cultural sensitivity, standing on the wrong side of history, disrespecting the opinion of children and steam-rolling along the wishes of the district with a far-right conservative agenda.
Donald Trump attorney Alina Habba is once again in the media spotlight as the former presidents defamation case got underway this week in a federal courtroom in New York City.

It didnt go well, according to multiple media reports.
FILE - Reggie Daniels pays his respects a memorial at Robb Elementary School, June 9, 2022, in Uvalde, Texas, created to honor the victims killed in the school shooting. A Justice Department report released Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024 details a myriad of failures by police who responded to the shooting at a school in Uvalde, Texas, when children waited desperately for over an hour before officers stormed a classroom to take the gunman down. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, file)
BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 19. The American Chamber of Commerce in Azerbaijan (AmCham) has announced a comprehensive series of events titled "Climate change stakeholder dialogue: green world solidarity year 2024 and preparation for the UN Climate Change Conference 2024", Trend reports via an AmCham representative.

This initiative aims to promote dialogue, awareness, and collaboration among businesses in Azerbaijan in preparation for the upcoming COP 29 conference, scheduled to take place in Baku on November 11-24, 2024.

"The sessions will focus on crucial topics such as understanding the significance of the UN Climate Change Conference for businesses in Azerbaijan, sustainable supply chain practices, the role of corporate governance in environmentally friendly business operations, global non-financial reporting practices from the legislative perspective of Azerbaijan, legal norms related to the ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) program in Azerbaijan, as well as available tax incentives," noted the AmCham representative.

The representative also mentioned that AmCham's commitment to climate change action in Azerbaijan was underscored by the active participation of its Executive Director Gulnara Aslanbayli in the COP 28 conference in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in November-December 2023.

"AmCham in Azerbaijan seeks to play a significant role in developing a collaborative and sustainable approach to addressing global climate issues," added the AmCham representative.

The decision to host COP29 in Azerbaijan was officially announced in Dubai on December 11, 2023.

Besides Azerbaijan, both Armenia and Bulgaria nominated their candidatures. However, after direct negotiations between the Office of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Office of the Prime Minister of Armenia on December 7, 2023, Armenia decided to withdraw its candidacy in favor of Azerbaijan. Bulgaria followed suit and also withdrew its candidacy.

On January 4, 2024, Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources of Azerbaijan Mukhtar Babayev was appointed as President of COP29. 

Stay up to date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 19. Azerbaijani government considers it expedient to increase the use of electric vehicles in the country to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the transport sector, said Head of the Environmental Policy Department of the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of Azerbaijan Faig Mutallimov, Trend reports.

"Currently, the process of transition to electric vehicles is going on at an accelerated pace in the world. The measures have been taken in Azerbaijan for several years to stimulate the use of cars that do not harm the environment, namely with electric drive or with a hybrid engine. Tax and customs exemptions are applied to such cars, as well as to charging devices for them. This has led and will lead to an increase in the importation of such vehicles into the country," Mutallimov said.

According to him, the number of imported electric cars has increased 19 times compared to 2021.

"If such a positive tendency remains, the share of electric vehicles in the country's transportation stock will increase significantly in the coming years," the representative of the Ministry of Ecology said.

He also noted that more charging stations are being created in addition to the growth in the number of electric vehicles.

"To further develop electromobility in the country, the preparation of the relevant National Plan has been launched. At the same time, the project Transition to waste-free and low-waste electric transport in Azerbaijan is being developed jointly with the UN Environment Development Program," Mutallimov added.

Stay up to date with more news at Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
Following the build's completion, CC-1 was displayed at UC Berkeleys prospective student day, Cal Day. Immediately following, it was taken to Sea Otter, where the team was able to show it off to the world. The team was thrilled to see their creation come to life, and stoke was high at Sea Otter. The club is now looking forward to future projects, building on the lessons learned. This year, they are developing two new bikes: a steel enduro race bike and an aero carbon road bike. The team promises to return to Sea Otter 2024 with the two new bikes, and hopes to see you there. To keep up with the clubs progress, you can follow along on their Instragram and website
The lawyer for Biden impeachment witness Kevin Morris ripped House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer cherry picking and distorting his clients testimony.

Here is how Comer described Morriss transcribed interview with the House Oversight Committee:

Kevin Morriss massive financial support to Hunter Biden raises ethical and campaign finance concerns for President Joe Biden. Shortly after meeting Hunter Biden at a Joe Biden campaign event in 2019, Kevin Morris began paying Hunter Bidens tax liability to insulate then-presidential candidate Joe Biden from political liability. Kevin Morris admitted he has loaned the presidents son at least $5 million. These loans dont have to be repaid until after the next presidential election and the loans may ultimately be forgiven.

Since Kevin Morris has kept President Bidens son financially afloat, hes had access to the Biden White House and has spoken to President Biden. This follows a familiar pattern where Hunter Bidens associates have access to Joe Biden himself. As we continue more interviews this month and the next, we will continue to follow the facts to understand the full scope of President Biden and his familys corruption.

To get more stories like this, subscribe to our newsletter The Daily.

If you want to read a more accurate and reality based description of Morriss interview, you can do so in a free edition of our newsletter The Daily.



Morriss Lawyer Calls Out Comers Lies

Morriss attorney Bryan Sullivan wrote to Comer:

When we started todays interview of my client Mr. Kevin Morris, I specifically pointed out the practice of Republicans in making partial leaks of witness statements rather than releasing the actual transcript so the public would know the truth and not your often inaccurate spin and misstatements. I specifically asked that this not to be done with Mr. Morris transcript and, if such were done, that the entire transcript be released.

Your staff as well as the staff of other committees responded that Mr. Morris would be treated fairly. And, then you did not treat Mr. Morris fairly and engaged in your standard practice of partially and inaccurately leaking a witnesss statements. Not two hours after we left Mr. Morris transcribed interview, you issued a press statement with cherrypicked, out of context and totally misleading descriptions of what Mr. Morris said.

So much for the promise of your staff that Mr. Morris would be treated fairly. So, as I said at the interview, I demand you now release the entire transcript of Mr. Morris interview.

This Is Business As Usual For James Comer

Chair Comer has consistently engaged in this practice during the Biden impeachment investigation. Comer cherry picks quotes from interviews, goes on conservative media to spread and spin his misleading and sometimes flat out false characterizations, and later gets corrected when Democrats on the Oversight Committee release the interview transcript.

If Comer had any facts or evidence to support a potential impeachment, he would not have to lie and deceive, but he does not, and it is about time for the Oversight Committee Chairman to be called out for his lies and false promises to witnesses and the deceptive impeachment sham that he is engaging in.

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Stephen Colbert said Trump should be in prison for being found to have raped E. Jean Carroll during his monologue on The Late Show.

Colbert said:

Of course, Trump loves that all the reports are about this fighting in court. Because it distracts people from what this case is actually about. As Mitt Romney said, I think a lot of people in this country are out of touch with reality and will accept anything Donald Trump tells them. You had a jury that said that Donald Trump raped a woman. And that doesnt seem to be moving the needle.

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Well said but to be fair, the jury said it was sexual assault. The judge later clarified the assault would be commonly considered rape. This is the kind of thing that should end with Trump in prison or best case, living alone in a motel by the race track. But every time he gets worse, his poll numbers get better. Which explains his new 2024 slogan Welcome to hell.

Now, trump doesnt believe he should be held accountable for anything. At 2:00 A.M., he scream-posted A President Of The United States must have full immunity, without which it would be impossible for him/her to properly function. No, trump doesnt believe in any accountability. He believes the presidency should be like the movie The Purge, which is why hes always wearing that weird leather pig mask. But its nice. It is nice to see him being inclusive. I believe the president, whether it be him or her, hispanic or her-spanic, should have a private kill squad to take out all those who dare speak against him. Kill-baya, my lord, kill-baya.

Video of Colbert:

Trump belongs in prison for potentially a lot of reasons, but the fact that he was found guilty of what Judge Kaplan said would be considered rape should not only disqualify Trump from ever being president, but he should be in jail.

The fact that Trump is a rapist might not move the needle with his base in the Republican Party, but it definitely moves the needle for the men and women who are followers of Donald Trump. The E. Jean Carroll rape/assault was able to be proven in civil court, but there are dozens of other allegations that have been made against Trump.

Stephen Colbert is right. Trump should be in jail, and there is no way that he should ever be considered to be the next president.

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BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 19. Azerbaijan and the World Economic Forum (WEF) have discussed green energy policy and fight against climate change, the Azerbaijani Minister of Economy Mikayil Jabbarov wrote on X, Trend reports.

"On the sidelines of the Davos Economic Forum, we spoke with Mirek Dussek, the World Economic Forum's managing director. Our discussions centered on Azerbaijan's active support for green energy policies and the battle against climate change. We also reviewed actions taken to promote sustainable business growth potential in our country in the context of geoeconomic issues, as well as the COP29 agenda," the publication reads.

To note, the decision to hold COP29 in Azerbaijan was officially announced in Dubai on December 11, 2023.

Azerbaijan was joined by Armenia and Bulgaria in presenting their candidacies. However, on December 7, 2023, following direct negotiations between Azerbaijan's Presidential Administration and Armenia's Prime Minister's Office, Armenia decided to withdraw their candidacy in support of Azerbaijan. Bulgaria followed suit by withdrawing its candidacy.

Furthermore, Mukhtar Babayev, Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources of Azerbaijan, was appointed President of COP29 on January 4, 2024.

Stay up to date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
In participation of human trafficking awareness month, Aiken Technical College hosted a panel discussion Thursday as a way to educate the community and raise awareness.

Its very much here in Aiken County, said Detective Eleanor Hunt with the Aiken Department of Public Safety.

Panel members included Hunt; Maryann Burgess, executive director of the Child Advocacy Center of Aiken County; Mandy Bowden, human trafficking program coordinator with the S.C. Human Trafficking Task Force with the Office of the Attorney General; Lt. Eric Kirkland with Barnwell County Sheriff's Department; and Lisa Keji, CEO of Lighthouse Life.

The event was held as part of the colleges unique conversation guest lecture series, organized by the Office of Student Success and Retention.

The panelists discussed how their agencies handle human trafficking cases and what things they are seeing. They shared that some cases are reported from calls while other cases have come through traffic stops. The panelists said they are seeing a lot of sex and labor trafficking that involves juveniles.

Aiken ranks No. 3 in South Carolina for the number of human trafficking cases, based on a 2023 annual report that was released from the office of South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson.

Aiken reported 24 cases of human trafficking for 2023 and the neighboring counties of Bamberg, Barnwell and Edgefield all had one, based on information from the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division and the attorney general office's annual report. Aiken ranked No. 4 for the number of incidents reported to the National Human Trafficking Hotline, which was four.

Greenville and Horry ranked No. 1, Charleston County took second place, followed by Richland and Spartanburg that tied for third. Lexington and Orangeburg Counties tied for fifth place for the number of cases reported to the National Human Trafficking Hotline.

Many task forces across the state are on the front lines of addressing human trafficking. The Second Judicial Circuit covers the counties of Aiken, Barnwell and Bamberg.
The Aiken City Council could take the final step toward accepting funds for the construction of a mixed-use building downtown Monday evening.

On the agenda for the 7 p.m. city council meeting is the second and final reading of an ordinance allowing the city to accept $20 million from the state's plutonium settlement with the federal government.

The building could be constructed in the 100 block of Newberry Street on property owned by the Aiken Corporation.

The addition to the city's budget is "one small piece of a much larger process," City Manager Stuart Bedenbaugh told the council before it approved the first reading of the ordinance Jan. 8.

The process likely includes agreements between the city and the Aiken Corporation, an economic development nonprofit closely allied with the city; and the Aiken Corporation and a potential tenant, the Savannah River National Laboratory.

Former Aiken Economic Development Director Tim O'Briant said last year the city is working toward a similar model used for the construction of the Amentum building. In that case, the city constructed the building, then executed a long-term ground lease with the Aiken Corporation, which then leased space to Amentum.
Aiken Standard reporter

Bill Bengtson is a reporter for the Aiken Standard. He has focused most recently on eastern Aiken County, agriculture, churches, veterans and older people. He previously covered schools/youth, North Augusta and Fort Gordon. He is a graduate of the University of Georgia and Whitman College, and also studied at Oregon State University and the University of Guadalajara.

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Combining real world businesses with financial literacy is one of the ways Richmond County and Columbia County schools are guiding middle schoolers towards career readiness.

The Junior Achievement of Georgia opened up its sixth discovery center location in the state on Jan. 12. The 30,000-square-foot location at 4375 Riverwatch Parkway features 18 national and local storefronts to create an immersive experience for students.

Its really important for us because we want our programming to be authentic and realistic for the kids. However, it is important for them because I think everyone is thinking now, what is the work force going to look like and what does it look like now and what will it look like in 20 years? said Ashley Whitaker, director of development at JA of Georgia. And we always get that question on why are you focusing on middle school students instead of high school and it's a good question.

"Frankly, a lot of the kids that are in high school already know what they want to do and they may already be on a pathway there. There are so many things that start happening to you when you are in high school, you are pulled in a lot of different directions so we feel like we can get them engaged in middle school and really start educating them about these opportunities, it can set them forward on a good path.

JA of Georgia works with educators in sixth and seventh grade to discuss and teach concepts like credit scores, civics, business loans, career readiness and budgeting. Local volunteers assist students in financial literacy exercises that role play work and the real world. The facility will be able to host 15,000 students annually.

Volunteer Tina Tanner believes its important for students to learn these skills early and to invest in middle school students.

I think with the youth of today, we focus so much on education and knowledge but we dont necessarily talk about life skills, Tanner said. I think that for the young leadership that is going to be coming out of high school and college, it's really important for them to know how their community works and how all the pieces come together and how all their voices can make a difference.
A new French restaurant held a ribbon-cutting ceremony Thursday, Jan. 18 in Hammond's Ferry.

Bistro 55 opened in late October and is located at 465 Railroad Ave. in North Augusta. The Augusta Metro Chamber and North Augusta Chamber of Commerce co-hosted the event.

We certainly are in need of high-quality, sit-down restaurants and this is exactly what you bring to our community, and we are very excited to see that you have opened and are already being successful," North Augusta Mayor Pro-tempore Jenafer McCauley said. "You already have a full room of support and love already.

The restaurant features fine French dining with indoor and outdoor seating. It also offers an extensive wine and cocktail menu and is open for dinner and brunch service.

"We just want to bring a little bit of Paris and if we did that, then we did our job," owner Maurice Cohen said. "As long as people are happy and come here and have a good time, drink some good wine and good food, thats our goal. Thats what we want to do."

Small businesses like yours are the backbone of North Augusta. In addition to celebrating a new business, today is about the spirit of entrepreneurship, community and growth, North Augusta Chamber of Commerce Vice Chair Becky Dearden said.

For more information, visit thebistro55.com.
WASHINGTON  Congress sent President Joe Biden a short-term spending bill on Thursday that would avert a looming partial government shutdown and fund federal agencies into March.

The House approved the measure by a vote of 314-108, with opposition coming mostly from the more conservative members of the Republican conference. Shortly before the vote, the House Freedom Caucus announced it "strongly opposes" the measure because it would facilitate more spending than they support.

Nevertheless, about half of Republicans joined with Democrats in passing the third stopgap funding measure in recent months. The action came a few hours after the Senate had voted overwhelmingly to pass the bill by a vote of 77-18.

The measure extends current spending levels and buys time for the two chambers to work out their differences over full-year spending bills for the fiscal year that began in October.

The temporary measure will run to March 1 for some federal agencies. Their funds were set to run out Friday. It extends the remainder of government operations to March 8.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the president would sign the resolution and urged Republicans to quit wasting time on partisan spending bills.

"House Republicans must finally do their job and work across the aisle to pass full-year funding bills that deliver for the American people and address urgent domestic and national security priorities by passing the President's supplemental request," Jean-Pierre said.

Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has been under pressure from his right flank to scrap a $1.66 trillion budget price tag he reached with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer earlier this month for the spending bills. Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, said the continuing resolution passed Thursday will facilitate that agreement, and urged colleagues to vote against it.

"It's Groundhog Day in the House chamber all the time, every day, yet again spending money we don't have," Roy said.
The State Ports Authority has taken another step toward creating a saltwater wetlands mitigation bank in the heart of the Charleston-area's industrial hub by putting 135 acres on Daniel Island into a conservation easement with the Lord Berkeley Land Trust.

The project has been in the works since 2016 and would be South Carolina's largest saltwater restoration effort.

The SPA has spent several years and more than $1 million on studies to prepare for construction of the mitigation bank, which would provide up to 450 credits that the maritime agency and other developers could purchase to compensate for destruction of saltwater wetlands elsewhere in the area.

Before construction can begin, the SPA had to place the property under a legally binding conservation easement with a third party. That step was completed this week when the terms of the agreement were recorded with the Berkeley County Register of Deeds, giving the Moncks Corner-based conservation group protection oversight of the property.

"Lord Berkeley was a good fit for that because of all the work that they do in the Cooper River," said Mark Messersmith, the SPA's environmental manager.

The conservation organization, founded in 1992, has used easements and acquisitions to protect more than 47,000 acres in the Santee River and Cooper River watersheds as well as the Ashley River headwaters and Four Holes Swamp.

A spokesman for Lord Berkeley could not be reached for comment.

Now that the initial hurdles have been cleared, Messersmith said he hopes the SPA will find funding for actual construction of the mitigation bank in the coming years, although a cost estimate for the work has not been completed.

The site consists of about 26 acres of existing salt marsh and 109 acres that were used as a dredge materials storage site in the 1970s and for farming in later decades. The SPA plans to clear vegetation from the site and restore it as tidal saltwater wetlands, planting spartina grass to prevent erosion, similar to restoration work the maritime agency did at Drum Island to the north a few years ago.
The South Carolina Research Authority, which invests in innovative startups and new technology, had a $1.19 billion impact on the state economy in 2023, a new study shows.

The analysis, by University of South Carolina Moore School of Business research economist Joey Von Nessen, shows the Summerville-based public nonprofit and its SC Launch investment affiliate helped to support 5,825 jobs with average salaries topping $91,209  70 percent higher than the state average.

The agency also owns or manages nearly 1.4 million square feet of laboratory, office and collaborative space for the companies it supports.

SCRA is a major contributor to our state's economy," Von Nessen said in a written statement. "The support they provide to bring innovation to the market creates high-wage, high-skilled jobs, improves productivity and helps to increase South Carolinas long-term economic growth.

Bob Quinn, the authority's president and CEO since 2016, said the agency generated $330 million last year in additional capital for the technology-based entrepreneurs and startups it supports, bringing the total amount of such follow-on funding to nearly $2.7 billion since the SC Launch program started in 2006.

"We often are the first institutional investor into a company," Quinn told state legislators during a meeting this month. "After we provide either a grant or an investment into the company, we don't want that to be a one-and-done. We want to seed the ground for future investment from venture capitalists, angel investors, strategic investors, etcetera."

SCRA also awarded $4.8 million in grants to its member and portfolio companies as well as colleges and universities to bolster the growth of startups, advance the development of new products and services, meet the needs of manufacturers by providing new technologies and recruit tech-based employers to South Carolina.

"There literally is not a comparable organization within the other 49 states with regard to the depth and the breadth of the programs that we provide," Quinn said during this month's meeting before a House Ways and Means subcommittee.
COLUMBIA  The Richland One school district is halting construction on its planned Vince Ford Early Learning Center amid concerns over how it would be regulated by state and county governments.

The Jan. 19 announcement follows the S.C. Department of Education's confirmation in a December letter to the district that the center, originally meant serve about 300 students between six weeks and 5 years old, would not be considered a "public education building" since it wouldn't be used for K-12 education purposes.

Effective today ... we have halted construction on the center while we work with the South Carolina Department of Education and Richland County to ensure that we are complying with all regulations and adhering to the appropriate permits for the facility, Superintendent Craig Witherspoon said in a department statement.

Richland One's administration faced scrutiny over the center's $30 million price tag and the district's plans for how it would be used.

Plans for the center appeared to run afoul of Richland County's zoning laws, The Post and Courier previously reported, since its care of infants and toddlers would make it a childcare center under the jurisdiction of the S.C. Department of Social Services, a use which the center's residential zoning doesn't permit. A school would be allowed under that zoning.

That situation was muddled by district officials' refusal to substantially comment on the apparent issue, and the district's earlier decision to pull a seemingly on-track rezoning request which would have at least partly cleared the center's way.
How did three immigrant brothers manning a modest 19th century shop in the Deep South emerge as key players in American investment banking?

You just have to follow the money. And there is plenty flowing in The Lehman Trilogy, the acclaimed work by Stefano Massini adapted by Ben Power that enjoyed a Broadway run in 2022 and garnered more than a few awards along the way.

Now in its South Carolina premiere, it comes to Charleston in a Pure Theatre production directed by Sharon Graci and runs through Feb. 10 at Cannon Street Arts Center.

With the complexities of the American finance system, its a hulking beast of a topic to tackle in one play  and to render dramatic, too. Two meaty acts chronologically mete it out through a series of fact-packed interludes  well worth the effort, especially when considering how much Wall Street wealth is pouring into Charleston these days.

At Pure, a solid, sprawling script, able direction and an expert, indefatigably energized three-hander cast together deliver ample insight on the American way with money. The Lehman Trilogy realizes the rise and eventual undoing of Lehman Brothers that entails David Mandel, Michael Smallwood and R.W. Smith not only breathing life into the original trio, but also animating their spouses, offspring, associates and others.

Mandel gets it off and running with his pragmatic, focused Henry, the first on American soil who is soon joined by Smiths equally alpha Emanuel and Smallwoods deceptively doltish Mayer, who they dub the potato. Off and running, the cast then makes sport of other roles  batting a fan of sorts as coy wife, affixing spectacles as an analytical son or even spending impressively protracted stretches on knees to evoke a Lehman toddler.

They do so with equal parts heft, mirth and momentum, keeping buoyant a whole heap of data about both the family and the American financial system. Managing to demystify frequently inscrutable fiduciary matters (well, as least they are confounding for this critic), the ensemble wholly engages the audience in mining the minds behind the generations-long money scrum.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 19. The Middle Corridor stands out as one of the most crucial projects, linking Asia, Central Asia, and Europe, Member of the European Parliament Karsten Lucke told Trend.

On January 17, the European Parliament adopted Karsten Lucke's report on the EU strategy for Central Asia. This report serves as an update to the Central Asia strategy from 2019.

Commenting on the importance of increasing connectivity between Europe and Central Asia in the new strategy, Lucke emphasized the need for both regions to grow and strengthen partnerships for the benefit of their people. This involves enhancing various routes in the region, resulting in advantages in trade and connectivity.

He mentioned that Central Asia holds significant potential for closer connections with Europe in the areas of wind, water energy management, and critical raw materials. This could lead to an expansion of economic ties, fostering collaboration in various other domains.

"The adoption of the report on the EU strategy on Central Asia is a very important signal towards the Central Asian states. The people in Central Asia are looking for closer and deeper relations and partnership with the European Union," he said.

Lucke highlighted the necessity for a new strategy by the European Parliament since 2019, considering significant global events such as the pandemic, the situation in Afghanistan, and the war in Ukraine.

The geopolitical moment in the region is changing, and Europe would be smart to use this window of opportunity to strengthen our ties to Central Asia. We have common interest and have to tackle joint challenges: security and conflict resolution, connectivity, energy, climate change to name the most important ones. But also people to people contact have to be strengthened. If we really want to establish mid- and long-term partnerships we need to bring the people together, he said.
Bon Secours St. Francis Health System will open its newest care site in Fountain Inn on Jan. 22.

The new, 10,071-square-foot medical office building at 910 North Main St. houses four medical practices.

Bon Secours spent $5.5 million to build the new medical center, which is part of the health systems latest efforts to expand healthcare offerings in Greenville County.

The goal is to continue the Bon Secours legacy of providing quality and compassionate care, while also expanding access by providing a closer-to-home team of knowledgeable and compassionate providers who can care for all their health care needs, Wayne Fraleigh, chief operating officer for the Bon Secours Medical Group, said in a statement.

The new medical center will become home to four Bon Secours practices. Fairview Family Practice and Carolina ENT are relocating to the new facility.

The goal is to give patients one centralized location where they can go to receive care while also bringing these additional, specialized health care services closer to the patients who need them, Fraleigh said.

Updates in the Upstate

The Greenville Drive is hosting a job fair at Fluor Field on Feb. 3 from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.

Weve often said that our gameday and events staff are the backbone of the ballpark, Drive General Manager Eric Jarinko said in a statement.

The team and its events-management company are looking for anyone 16 and older to fill positions in several departments, including ticketing and on-field operations.

Security personnel, ushers and bat persons are among the jobs currently hiring.

The Greenville News' parent company, Gannett, announced Jan. 17 that David Foster  a veteran of the company's sales team  has been named general manager of the Greenville market.

The announcement comes after Gannett listed The Greenville News building as available for sublease. The company declined to answer why it's breaking a 10-year commitment to lease the building or where its staff will go next.
CLEMSON  A little over a year after she had her first conversation about potentially saving lives on campus, Clemson student senator Maya Khaskhely is seeing the fruits of her labor.

As they returned to campus for the new year, students had access to free emergency overdose reversal kits  including an instructional video, Narcan and fentanyl testing strips  in 22 buildings, according to a university news release.

When Charleston native Khaskhely first spoke with student health officials in November 2022, Narcan was available at a cost from the RedFern pharmacy on campus.

Even before I came to Clemson, I had heard of universities across the U.S. offering free Narcan to students, the sophomore said. I was surprised to hear that Clemson didn't have such a program, and through my position in student government, I made it a mission of mine to see Clemson rise to the level of its peer institutions and offer free Narcan and Narcan training to students.

The initial reaction was a bit pessimistic, but the idea gained traction after Gov. Henry McMaster and the S.C. Department of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Services started a new opioid overdose prevention program that expanded Narcan access, she recalled.

The ONEbox kits are located in high-traffic areas near the trauma kits, according to the university.

The prevalence of fentanyl in counterfeit prescription drugs is a serious problem, Clemson University Police Chief Greg Mullen said. While weve been fortunate to avoid any such incidents at Clemson, the impact of accidental poisonings and overdoses is happening on college campuses across the U.S., including the deaths of three college students from fentanyl poisoning in North Carolina in just the last two years.
GREENVILLE  Authorities have identified the man who they say killed his mother and his partner in Greenville, set the house on fire and was later shot and killed by deputies.

Gary Pratt Whitten, 36, of Greenville was identified as the suspect in the killings and the man killed by deputies Jan. 17, according to Spartanburg County Coroner Rusty Clevenger.

Investigators learned that Whitten was in a relationship with one of the women killed, 55-year-old Anissa Henderson, according to the Greenville County Sheriff's Office.

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Whitten spent the night with Henderson Jan. 16, in violation of his house arrest for pending domestic violence charges, the sheriff's office reported.

The next day, around 1:44 p.m., authorities say they received a 911 call about a house fire on Millbrooke Circle near Paris Mountain State Park.

After the fire was extinguished, investigators discovered Henderson and another woman, 56-year-old Kelli Whitten, both dead with blunt force trauma "caused by multiple tools," the news release says.

Kelli Whitten was Gary Whitten's mother, Clevenger said.

Investigators spoke with witnesses who saw Gary Whitten leave the scene in a stolen truck and were able to track him down in Landrum, a small town 30 minutes away next to the North Carolina border.

The Greenville and Spartanburg county sheriff's offices, along with Landrum City Police, surrounded a house on Kirby Street in Landrum that Gary Whitten was in, authorities said.

"After several call outs were unsuccessful, the person of interest exited the residence brandishing a firearm, and an officer-involved shooting occurred," Spartanburg County Sheriff's Lt. Kevin Bobo said in a Jan. 17 news release.

Gary Whitten was struck by "several" gunshots and died at the scene, Clevenger said.

Whitten broke his house arrest, deputies say

Clevenger said that Gary Whitten was identified through his fingerprints, which matched in a state database from a prior arrest in December on domestic violence and gun charges. Henderson had filed the domestic violence complaint.
Robert Green, age 45, died on a Williamsburg County road last weekend. According to Highway Patrol, on March 16, at approximately 5:35am, a 2013 Dodge Challenger was driving south on County Line Road near the intersection of Country Club Road two miles outside of Andrews. The car struck a p Read morePedestrian killed on County Line Road
Fresh off his March 16 sheriff candidacy filing in North Charleston, Councilmember Carl Ritchie stated his designs on increasing services to the unincorporated areas of Charleston County if he gets voted into office in November. Read moreAspiring sheriff calls for more cops, coverage
ATLANTIC BEACH  The Atlantic Beach Town Council finally filled a vacant seat after more than a year of legal wrangling.

The S.C. Supreme Court ruled this week against Michael Isom, who ran and lost against candidate John David in a January 2023 special election to fill the town council seat left vacant by the death of councilman James Dewitt II.

This latest court decision cemented David as the official winner of the seat. He was sworn in Jan. 19 during a ceremony outside of Atlantic Beach Town Hall.

After the ceremony, David said the ruling was "long overdue." He thanked the people who voted for him and stood by him during the legal process.

"The Supreme Court affirmed their decision that I am a resident and that I do live here, which I do," David said. "I just think it was used as a tactic to delay me being seated."

After David narrowly won a special election, Isom filed a protest, arguing David wasn't a resident of the town and therefore not qualified to hold the seat. But the municipal election commission and a pair of lower courts disagreed.

David had been living in Maryland, but he maintains he moved to Atlantic Beach in time to meet South Carolina's residency requirements.

Isom appealed the rulings to the S.C. Supreme Court, leading to this week's decision.

In the November 2023 elections, David  who was then unable to take his seat due to Isom's challenge  filed to run for Atlantic Beach mayor against Isom's mother and sitting town councilwoman Josephine Isom.
Brace yourselves: a cold snap is hitting South Carolina.

This weekend, temperatures along the coast will reach highs of just 42 degrees, and hit lows ranging from 21 to 26 degrees. Inland it will be colder. Greenville will only reach 35 degrees on Jan. 20, with the low temperature dipping to a mere 17 degrees early Sunday morning.

According to Steven Taylor, lead meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Charleston, the air is about 20-25 degrees below normal for this time of year.

Because of the anticipated low temperatures for this weekend, three warming centers will be opening: Holy City Missions at Aldersgate UMC Warming Center in North Charleston, Hibben UMC Warming Center in Mount Pleasant and Seacoast Summerville Warming Center.

This weekends cold snap is linked to a minor disruption in the polar vortex, which pushed the jet stream southward, causing arctic air to spill across the U.S., National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration scientist Amy Butler said.

The polar vortex is a large area of low pressure and cold air that flows counter-clockwise around the pole, and it generally weakens in summer and strengthens in winter.

But climate change could be causing disruptions.

Indicators such as sea ice melt and warming temperatures may cause the polar vortex and jet stream to fluctuate unseasonably, though the precise impacts of global warming on winter weather remains unclear.

There are multiple, often counteracting, influences of climate change on the jet stream, Butler said.

Computer model simulations that account only for sea ice loss, with nothing else changing, show a weakening jet stream that shifts southward toward the equator, likely resulting in colder weather. Simulations that consider the full effects of climate change, such as sea ice melt and rising temperatures, show a strengthening jet stream thats pushed northward. This keeps cold air over the Arctic, likely resulting in warmer weather, Butler said.
JAMES ISLAND  A man who broke into a 13-year-old girl's bedroom in a 2021 home invasion that Charleston's police chief called "vicious" has begun serving a 15-year prison sentence.

The sleeping girl awoke after midnight on March 12, 2021, inside a Crosscreek Drive apartment. An unknown man hovered over her. She screamed, prompting the intruder to cover her mouth with his hand and ask if she wanted to die, according to arrest warrant affidavits.

The girl's screams jolted her father from sleep. He confronted the 6-foot-3 man, who struck the father several times across his face before fleeing through a broken window into the Sawgrass Apartments residential community off Folly Road.

If it wasn't for several droplets of blood left on the window sill and shards of glass, police may never have identified Travis Jason Brown as the suspect given the random nature of the crime. Police contend he had no connection to the victims.

Then-Charleston Police Chief Luther Reynolds said it was a very serious, very vicious case, a kind he rarely saw during his career in law enforcement.

Within hours, swabs of the DNA evidence arrived at State Law Enforcement Divisions' Columbia lab, where forensic technicians entered the DNA sample into an FBI database. The database turned up a match with the DNA profile of the Charleston man.

City police charged the 43-year-old with first-degree assault and battery, assault and battery of a high-and-aggravated nature and first-degree burglary. Law enforcement found Brown carrying cocaine when they picked him up on the arrest warrants, leading to additional charges.

At the time, Brown was out on bond for previous violent offenses.

He was charged in 2019 on Folly Beach with strong arm robbery after a man said Brown punched him in the face and stole $60 from him. The following year, Brown was charged with criminal sexual conduct and second-degree domestic violence after he was said to have violently sexually assaulted a woman in a drunken rage.
FLORENCE  State Sen. Mike Reichenbach has announced he is seeking reelection in District 31, which serves Florence and Darlington counties.

Reichenbach made the announcement in a video entitled "Promises Kept." The video was shared on his campaign website  www.mikeforsc.com  and on social media platforms.

In the video, Reichenbach highlights his conservative record from his first term in office and the promises he kept from his 2022 campaign with his 10-point "Contract with the Pee Dee."

Those promises included donating his entire Senate salary to local charities and co-sponsoring term-limit legislation.

Charisse and I are in awe of the responsibility we have in representing the people of the Pee Dee in the State Senate, Reichenbach said. This service is one that we take very seriously and that we work daily on to ensure our constituents voices are heard properly and represented accordingly. While we are grateful for the work we have been able to achieve for our neighbors, we pray fervently for Gods continued guidance and our neighbors continued support, prayer and vote to continue this service in the state Senate.

Francis Marion University schedules STEM Day

FLORENCE  Francis Marion University will host STEM Day 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Feb. 9.

STEM Day is a daylong program where high school juniors and seniors can participate in hands-on learning activities, including biology, chemistry, computer science, engineering, environmental science, mathematics and physics.

Students also will learn more about what it is like to be a STEM major at the university.

Francis Marion University will host a family STEM Day on Feb. 10. Families and the public can participate in learning activities with university faculty and students.

Family STEM Day is scheduled to run from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.

For more information or to register, visit www.fmarion.edu/stem.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 19. Kazakhstan's Aktau port plans to reconstruct two berths, N. 3 and N. 12, a source at the port told Trend.

As the source noted, the reconstruction will be carried out to increase the capacity of dry cargo berths in order to ensure the operation of the container hub.

To note, a large container hub will be built in the port of Aktau. The implementation of the project for the construction of a large container hub in Kazakhstan's Aktau port will be completed in 2025. A feasibility study for the project will be completed by the second quarter of 2024. Construction and installation work will then begin, with completion expected in 2025.

The source noted that within the framework of the project, it is planned to lengthen dry cargo berth No. 3 by 50 meters (the current length is 100 meters) and reconstruct dry cargo berth No. 12 (construction of a new berth 150 meters long).

"The project is necessary to increase the capacity of dry cargo berths for transshipment of general cargo (increase from 3 to 4 dry cargo berths)," the source said.

According to the source, the completion of the project is planned for 2028, and the development of a feasibility study will be carried out this year.

"The project will be implemented using borrowed funds," the source added.

Meanwhile, the total cargo turnover of the Aktau port amounted to 3.785 million tons from January through October 2023, which is 22 percent more than the same period in 2022 (3.109 million tons).

Thus, in the first 10 months of this year, oil transshipment amounted to 3.012 million tons, which is 54 percent more than in the same period in 2022 (1.957 million tons).

At the same time, grain transshipment decreased from 384,000 tons in 2022 to 162,000 in 2023.

In addition, the transshipment of metal increased by 142,000 tons (an increase of 48 percent), ferry cargo by 9,000 tons (an increase of three times), and other cargo by 459,000 tons (an increase of 31 percent).
U.S. Sen. Tim Scott's endorsement of Donald Trump for president represents a snub of his state's former governor Nikki Haley  the very leader who appointed Scott to the Senate in 2012.

With just four days to go until New Hampshire's Republican primary, Trump picked up the coveted endorsement of South Carolina's popular Republican senator who suspended his own 2024 GOP presidential bid in November.

News of Scott's endorsement was first reported by The New York Times, but the pick quickly spread ripples across the GOP landscape at a time when most all polling points to a significant Trump win in New Hampshire on Jan. 23.

The decision additionally raises further questions about Scott's own political ambitions, including whether he is interested in being Trump's running mate.

There is also rampant speculation in Palmetto State political circles that Scott is positioning himself for a future run for governor.

If Scott is setting his sights on a 2026 gubernatorial bid, he may have just rankled one of the state's most popular former governors  and the one who picked him to fill the vacancy created when former Sen. Jim DeMint quit the office to lead the Heritage Foundation, a conservative thinktank.

Interesting that Trumps lining up with all the Washington insiders when he claimed he wanted to drain the swamp," Haley said in response to Scotts plans. "But the fellas are gonna do what the fellas are gonna do.

Scott's endorsement means both U.S. senators from South Carolina are now firmly behind Trump. Just one member of South Carolina's federal delegation  U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman, R-Rock Hill  has endorsed Haley.
SPARTANBURG  Robots are coming to BMWs Spartanburg manufacturing plant, but not at the cost of any human jobs.

California-based AI robotics company Figure announced Jan. 18 that it signed a commercial agreement with BMW Manufacturing to deploy general purpose robots in automotive manufacturing environments.

BMW spokesman Steve Wilson said in an email Friday that there is no timetable for when the robots will be deployed. He added that no job losses will occur because of the robots and that there will be no changes for BMW's associates.

"Companies that invest in innovation such as this are more sustainable, become more productive, and have a competitive advantage," Wilson said. "Innovation, digitalization, and sustainability are key success factors for our future.

BMW and Figure will pursue a milestone-based approach. After the initial phase where Figure will identify use cases to apply the robots in automotive production, the robots will begin staged deployment at the BMW manufacturing site in Greer.

At its 8-million-square-foot Spartanburg County campus, BMW Manufacturing employs 11,000 workers. It is the largest U.S. automotive exporter by value with a total export value of almost $9.6 billion, and more than 1,500 vehicles are assembled at the plant daily.

Figure founder and CEO Brett Adcock said the potential of general purpose robotics is untapped.

Figure's robots will enable companies to increase productivity, reduce costs, and create a safer and more consistent environment, Adcock said.

The companies will also jointly explore other topics in advanced technology such as artificial intelligence, robot integration, robot control and manufacturing virtualization.

BMW CEO Robert Engelhorn said the use of general purpose robot solutions has the potential to make productivity more efficient.

Wilson said that the carmaker is investigating several tasks across the plant to help improve safety and ergonomics.
A woman arriving in Guam from Hawaii allegedly hid straws and plastic bags of cocaine in three different pairs of jeans.

About 7:42 p.m. Wednesday, Everline Jazelle Vargas-Sandoval, also known as Everline Tavares, arrived in Guam on a flight from Hawaii.

According to a magistrate's complaint filed in the Superior Court of Guam, Vargas-Sandoval, 26, was interviewed by a Guam Customs and Quarantine Officer and explained she "packed the contents of her baggage herself and that there were no controlled substances or narcotics in her baggage."

"During the inspection of the Defendant's baggage, (the officer) observed two plastic straws containing a substance suspected of being cocaine, as well as a resealable bag containing other plastic bags which contained residue suspected of being cocaine," the complaint stated.

"The report indicates that each item of contraband was wrapped in three different pairs of jeans," the complaint stated, also confirming the substances tested positive for cocaine.

Vargas-Sandoval initially denied ownership of the contraband in the jeans, but later allegedly admitted the contraband was hers, according to the complaint.

Vargas-Sandoval was charged with importation of a Schedule II controlled substance and possession of a Schedule II controlled substance on board a vessel or aircraft arriving in or departing from Guam, both as first-degree felonies. She also was charged with possession of a Schedule II controlled substance as a third-degree felony.
ASTANA, Kazakhstan, January 19. Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR, or Middle Corridor) effectively complements the 'Belt and Road' initiative, said President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Trend reports.

He made the remark during a meeting with representatives of the Italian business community in Rome.

Tokayev noted that to become a regional hub, Kazakhstan is actively developing the Middle Corridor.

"We intend to link it with the EU's Trans-European Transport Network and the Global Gateway strategy. We also support the G7 Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment (PGII) initiative," he noted.

According to him, over the past 15 years, Kazakhstan has invested more than $35 billion in transport infrastructure.

"In the next three years, we plan to build over 1,300 kilometers of railways. This will increase the transportation of goods to China, South Asia, and Europe. Therefore, we invite Italian investors to take an active part in the development of our ports, the joint production of transport vessels, and the creation of logistic centers."

"With 13 international routes across Kazakhstan and direct flights between Almaty and Milan, we are connected like never before. We welcome plans to open direct flights between Astana and Rome and Milan. This will contribute to the development of our economic relations and connections between people, as well as the promotion of tourism," he said.

The Middle Corridor is a transportation and trade route that connects Asia and Europe, passing through several countries in the region. It is an alternative route to the traditional Northern Corridor and Southern Corridor.

The route starts in China and crosses Central Asian countries such as Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan. It then passes through the Caspian Sea, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkiye before reaching Europe.

The Middle Corridor offers a land route that connects the eastern parts of Asia, including China, with Europe, bypassing the longer maritime routes.
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Embrace Empowerment and Individuality: Artizan Joyeria's Valentine's Day Collection Redefines Love with Unique and Accessible Luxury PiecesMIAMI, FL / ACCESSWIRE / January 19, 2024 / This Valentine's Day, Artizan Joyeria, the Miami-based pioneer in making luxury jewelry accessible, is transforming the essence of love with its captivating campaign, "Start with the Heart Within." Running from January 21st to February 14th, Artizan's Vday campaign is a bold celebration of self-love and empowerment, marked by two exclusive product drops.Start with the Heart Within Celebrating self-love with exclusive jewelry drops for Valentine's DayIn a striking departure from traditional Valentine narratives, Artizan Joyeria's campaign emphasizes the power and beauty of self-appreciation. "Valentine's Day is not just about external love; it's a time to honor the love that begins within," says Keren Yoshua, Artizan Joyeria's Creative Director. "Our Valentine's Day campaign is a homage to every individual's journey towards self-love and empowerment. These pieces are symbols of strength, self-acceptance, and personal evolution." The campaign showcases two exclusive product drop dates, each including a series of pieces that are uniquely designed to embody the themes of individual strength, resilience, freedom, and life's fluidity. Shot in the vibrant city of Madrid by the renowned photographer "El Marco Rojo," the campaign's visuals are a showcase of Artizan Joyeria's innovative and forward-thinking design ethos.Upholding its commitment to accessible luxury, Artizan Joyeria ensures that this Valentine's Day, the elegance and allure of high fashion are within reach of all who seek it. The "Start with the Heart Within" campaign and its exclusive drops will take place from January 21st to February 14th, exclusively at artizanjoyeria.com ABOUT ARTIZAN JOYERIA Artizan Joyeria is a Miami-based jewelry brand committed to empowering individuality and defying conventions. Since its inception in 2008, the brand has focused on creating unique, fashion-forward, high-quality jewelry pieces that inspire women to embrace their unapologetically authentic selves. Artizan Joyeria seeks to make luxury accessible to all while fostering a strong connection with its customers and leading the way in responsible business practices.Contact Information Sofia MedinaMarketing & PRsofia@ artizanjoyeria.com Sasha SlimakDIrectorwholesale@ artizanjoyeria.com Related FilesImage A.pngImage B.pngSOURCE: Artizan JoyeriaView the original press release on newswire.com
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Show Offers New Insights on ND TopicsBISMARCK, ND / ACCESSWIRE / January 19, 2024 / In its continued commitment to bring new, exciting programming to viewers, BEK TV is thrilled to announce the upcoming premiere of "Open Range," a compelling weekday program hosted by North Dakota native Gary Emineth. "Open Range" will focus on a wide variety of issues affecting North Dakotans. To learn when and where to watch, visit BEK Buzz."Open Range promises to be an enlightening and entertaining television experience that celebrates North Dakota's values, culture, and its people," says Emineth, a distinguished North Dakota businessman and political figure. "Open Range" will serve as a platform for education and engagement, aiming to provide viewers with comprehensive insights into the matters that shape the state. Emineth goes on to say, "In an age of fleeting news snippets, the program will deliver in-depth coverage that encourages viewers to think critically and make informed decisions." Emineth, along with a list of cohosts, will guide viewers through a multifaceted landscape of topics, ranging from energy, government, and agriculture to history, sports, and more. The show's uniqueness lies in its ensemble of co-hosts, each offering specialized expertise in various subjects."Open Range" also will feature a weekly segment titled "Glory Days," celebrating notable individuals who originated from North Dakota and have achieved success in diverse fields.Additionally, the program will showcase the natural beauty of the state, emphasizing its landscapes and unique charm, countering misconceptions, and promoting a newfound appreciation for the state."North Dakota really is a small town with a 400-mile Main Street," says Emineth. "My hope is that 'Open Range' fosters unity and understanding among North Dakotans by creating an environment where diverse viewpoints can be explored." "Open Range" is an hour-long program that will air Monday through Friday, at 9 p.m. CT. For more information, visit BEK Buzz.Contact Information:Julie SkaretBEK Media Relationsjulies@ bektel.coop 701-475-1318SOURCE: BEK TVView the original press release on newswire.com
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VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / January 19, 2024 / Blackwolf Copper and Gold Ltd. ("Blackwolf" or the "Company") (TSXV:BWCG)(OTC PINK:BWCGF) is pleased to announce the final assay results from the 7 hole surface drill program and surface sampling at the Harry Property, and the 3 hole, first-ever, drill program at the Cantoo Property completed in 2023. The two properties are strategically located in the prolific Golden Triangle. The Cantoo Property is positioned 15 kilometers north of Hyder, Alaska, neighboring the town of Stewart, British Columbia. It is also 3 kilometers west of the past-producing Premier Gold Mine, currently in development, and 10 kilometers south of the Scottie Gold Mine. The Harry Property, located 30 kilometers north of Stewart, BC, is accessible along the all-season Granduc Road. Situated within a 50 kilometer-long axis featuring high-grade gold occurrences and deposits, including the Valley of the Kings, Brucejack mine.Key Technical Insights:Harry Property:Multiple Mineralization-Styles: Drilling and surface sampling have identified multiple mineralization styles, in all regions of the Property, particularly at the Swann Zone. Two major mineralization styles have been identified, including: The high-grade gold-silver veins contained in an extensive quartz-sericite-pyrite alteration package, as noted in surface sample 4.16 g/t Au and 9.71 g/t Ag, and subsequent in drilling 1.30 g/t Au and 2.90 g/t Ag over 2.0 meters and previously released results312 g/t Au and 101 g/t Ag, over 1.0 meter (refer to Blackwolf's News release of October 30th, 2023).Multi-ounce silver base-metal veins with gold credits, as noted in surface sample 1,049 g/t Ag, 4.447 g/t Au, 1.521% Cu, 8.0% Pb, 1.55% Zn, and subsequent in drilling 374 g/t Ag, 5.34% Pb, 1.41% Zn over 0.47 meters.Multi-Zone Mineralization: The exploration effort has identified silver and base-metal occurrences, over a 3- kilometer trend, and two areas of intense quartz-sericite-pyrite alteration, each up to 1 kilometer in extent and associated with the previously released new high-grade visible gold vein discovery at the Swann Zone. Cantoo Property:The surface exploration highlighted the high-grade mineralization with multiple scree samples from the mineralization above, as noted in samples 29.2 g/t Au, 2,378 g/t Ag, 4.345% Cu, 7.24% Zn, and 19.9 g/t Au and 7.92 g/t Ag.The initial drill program intersected porphyry-style alteration; strong zones of quartz-sericite alteration with sulphide mineralization. The strong mineralized alteration halos are analogue to the confirmed wide surface Cantoo vein mineralization outcropping in cliffs. The mineralization is closely associated with Jurassic-aged Texas Creek Intrusion suite as noted in mineralized interval in hole CT23-003 1.53 g/t Au and 1.01 g/t Au both over 1.5 metre. Further drilling to the southwest is needed to vector into high-grade shoots.Rob McLeod, Blackwolf's Executive Chairman states, "Encountering Brucejack-style remobilized coarse electrum veins at Harry was the highlight of the 2023 program. Extensive multiphase sulphide-rich veining within a wide halo of strongly anomalous gold and silver is highly encouraging. Drilling in 2024 will target additional high-grade surface values and structural/geochemical traps located up dip from the high-grade veins. At Cantoo, geochemical vectoring and surface sampling are suggesting a northeast strike and steep dip to the wide veins; subsequent drilling will test this concept." Blackwolf's CEO, Morgan Lekstrom comments, "Having successfully executed a program that stayed within budget, we have significantly expanded on previous results at the Harry Property, made a gold discovery, and gained a comprehensive understanding of the Cantoo Geology. This has led to a tremendous year for our initial drilling endeavors on both properties, and we are eager to build upon the discoveries at Harry and our newfound insights into the Cantoo Property. Mineralized occurrences at Harry have extended from the Swann Zone to several other mineralized occurrences across a 3-kilometer trend, adjacent to one of North America's historically high-grade producers. Our company is fully funded to proceed with an extensive drill program on the Harry Property in 2024, and we have identified multiple areas where we anticipate further high-grade discoveries. With our enhanced understanding of Cantoo, we can now drill more efficiently and cost-effectively in pursuit of what we believe to be a significant new discovery. It's important to remember that mines in the area are often discovered with over 100 drill holes, and with just 3 drill holes, we have obtained the information that uniquely positions us to expand our drilling at Cantoo and awaken this sleeping giant." Harry PropertyHarry Surface SamplingIn the Company's first season of exploration on the Harry Property, a total of 99 surface grab samples were collected, marking a significant step in our understanding of the property. The primary aim was to assess the ten previously defined mineralized zones and establish any relationships between them. The outcomes, as determined by the Company's geological team, provide valuable insights into the mineralization characteristics of the property.The property exhibits two distinct mineralization styles. The first is characterized by east-trending, steeply dipping high-grade gold-silver precious metal veins within an extensive lower-grade gold, quartz-sericite-pyrite alteration package, comparable to larger Jurassic systems. Additionally, there are younger north-northwest trending, moderately dipping multi-ounce silver-base metal veins with gold credits, analogous to Eocene systems.Key findings from surface sampling and mapping include the identification of two areas with intense quartz-sericite-pyrite (QSP) alteration, each extending up to one kilometer. These broad alteration areas host lower grade precious metals with notable samples such as B976737 4.16 g/t Au and 9.71 g/t Ag and B0017305 1.756 g/t Au and 21.68 g/t Ag. These areas are also associated with high-grade visible gold vein mineralization in the drill core, as noted in the previously released results (H23-017: 312 g/t Au and 101 g/t Ag, over 1.0 meter from 139 meter to 140 meter, and 277 g/t Au and 118 g/t Ag, over 1.0 meter from 199 to 200 meter - refer to October 30th 2023 news release)Figure 1: Harry property map showing the prospective QSP alteration extent in light orange and the silver and base metal trend in blue. All zones are color coded in relation the mineralization-style; yellow associated to high-grade gold-silver and blue to silver-base metal veins.Additionally, the 2023 surfa
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Inaugural Event to Showcase in Palo Alto, CA, USA, on August 31, 2024PALO ALTO, CA / ACCESSWIRE / January 19, 2024 / Center for Holy Book Finance LLC announces its inaugural event, "Islamic Finance and Sukuk (Islamic Bonds)" to be held in Palo Alto, CA, USA, at the El Prado Hotel from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. on August 31, 2024. This is the first time that an Islamic Finance and Sukuk event has been produced in the Bay Area, California. Previously, Camille Paldi has produced Islamic Finance events in New York, Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia in the United States with the Franco-American Alliance for Islamic Finance (FAAIF). This is a unique opportunity as this is a first-of-a-kind training event in the San Francisco/Bay Area; otherwise, one would have to travel overseas to receive a similar type of training.The sukuk or Islamic bonds market has recently been valued at approximately 800 billion US dollars worldwide with countries such as Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, Qatar, Pakistan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Hong Kong, the UK, Luxembourg and others participating. The USA has previously engaged in the sukuk market when General Electric and East Cameron Gas issued sukuk to raise money for their businesses. Sukuk are an excellent way for American businesses and the government to raise money for business activities and expansion and for government and social programs and should not be overlooked. It is time for Team USA to get on board with Islamic Finance and sukuk and compete in the global economy including the Islamic economy.Camille Paldi previously produced Islamic Finance events around the world with the Franco-American Alliance for Islamic Finance (FAAIF) based in Dubai, UAE. Paldi has a BA from Colgate University, an MA in Islamic Finance, and is currently a graduate student in inter-religious theology. Furthermore, Paldi completed the Qualified Lawyers Transfer Test (QLTT) in the United Kingdom in 2013. Paldi can be contacted at camille@ holybookfinance.com or paldi16@ gmail.com . The event is limited to 20 participants.Contact Information:Camille PaldiPR Managercamille@ holybookfinance.com +1 650 250 2839SOURCE: Center for Holy Book Finance LLCView the original press release on newswire.com
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SAN FRANCISCO, CA / ACCESSWIRE / January 19, 2024 / Hagens Berman urges ChargePoint Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CHPT) investors who suffered substantial losses to submit your losses now.Class Period: June 1, 2023 - Nov. 16, 2023Lead Plaintiff Deadline: Jan. 29, 2024Visit: www.hbsslaw.com/investor-fraud/CHPT Contact An Attorney Now: CHPT@ hbsslaw.com 844-916-0895ChargePoint Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: CHPT) Securities Fraud Class Action:"The litigation focuses on whether ChargePoint may have misrepresented product demand and omitted to disclose rising inventory costs," said Reed Kathrein, the Hagens Berman partner leading the firm's investigation.On Dec. 6, ChargePoint posted disappointing quarterly results, reporting a fiscal third-quarter net loss of $158.2 million, or 43 cents a share, compared with a net loss of $84.5 million, or 25 cents a share, in the year-ago quarter. Revenue also declined 12% to $110.3 million from $124.3 million a year ago, missing analyst expectations.The poor results come on the heels of a recently filed securities class action suit. The complaint there alleges that Defendants misrepresented and concealed that: (1) ChargePoint was experiencing higher component costs and supply overruns for first generation DC charging products; (2) that, as a result, the Company was likely to incur impairment charges impacting profitability.The truth began to emerge on Sep. 6, 2023, when ChargePoint reported its 2Q 2024 financial results, including a "$28.0 million, or 19 percentage point, inventory impairment charge." The Company stated the "inventory impairment charge was taken to address legacy supply chain-related costs and supply overruns on a particular DC product." Then, on Nov. 16, 2023, ChargePoint announced preliminary Q3 2024 financial results, which would include an "additional non-cash inventory impairment charge" in the amount of $42 million "related to product transitions and to better align inventory with current demand." As a result, the Company expected to report "GAAP gross margin of negative 23% to negative 21%." The Company also reported revenue had fallen to "$108 million to $113 million, as compared to $150 to $165 million as previously expected." Moreover, ChargePoint announced the abrupt departures of its CEO (Pasquale Romano) and, at the request of its board, its CFO (Rex S. Jackson).Shares of ChargePoint have cratered 78.5% this year, as compared to the S&P 500 index that has increased nearly 20%."Based on ChargePoint's recent disclosures and share performance, we are investigating whether the alleged fraudulent period should be extended," said Mr. Kathrein.If you invested in ChargePoint and have substantial losses, or have knowledge that may assist the firm's investigation, submit your losses now If you'd like more information and answers to frequently asked questions about the ChargePoint case and our investigation, read more Whistleblowers: Persons with non-public information regarding ChargePoint should consider their options to help in the investigation or take advantage of the SEC Whistleblower program. Under the new program, whistleblowers who provide original information may receive rewards totaling up to 30 percent of any successful recovery made by the SEC. For more information, call Reed Kathrein at 844-916-0895 or email CHPT@ hbsslaw.com # # #About Hagens Berman Hagens Berman is a global plaintiffs' rights complex litigation law firm focusing on corporate accountability through class-action law. The firm is home to a robust securities litigation practice and represents investors as well as whistleblowers, workers, consumers and others in cases achieving real results for those harmed by corporate negligence and fraud. More about the firm and its successes can be found at hbsslaw.com . Follow the firm for updates and news at @ClassActionLaw.Attorney advertising.Past results do not guarantee future outcomes.Services may be performed by attorneys in any of our offices.Contact:Reed Kathrein, 844-916-0895SOURCE: Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP
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ROCK HILL, SC / ACCESSWIRE / January 19, 2024 / While many businesses and tax professionals specializing in business tax filing are currently focused on completing andfiling 1099andW-2 Formsfor the impending IRS deadline on January 31st, another significant reporting deadline is approaching. Massachusetts and California mandate that applicable employers and insurance providers complete and distribute StateACA Formsto their recipients by January 31st.A Brief Overview of State ACA ReportingUnder the Affordable Care Act, there was once a federal mandate that required taxpayers and their dependents to have health insurance coverage. After this was eliminated a handful of states passed mandates at the state level, including Massachusetts and California.Massachusetts State ACA Requirements - Form 1099-HCResidents of the State of Massachusetts are required to obtain and maintain minimum essential health coverage. Insurance providers, employers with 50 or more full-time equivalent employees, and employers offering self-insured coverage plans are required tofile Form 1099-HC , Individual Mandate Massachusetts Health Care Coverage.This is a crucial form that all Massachusetts residents need for their personal tax records.The deadline for filing Form 1099-HC with the State of Massachusetts is January 31st. Massachusetts requires that this form be filed electronically. The deadline for distributing copies of 1099-HC to recipients is also January 31st.California State ACA Requirements - Form 1095-B/1095-CResidents of the State of California are required to obtain and maintain minimum essential health coverage. Insurance providers, employers with 50 or more full-time equivalent employees, and employers offering self-insured coverage plans are required to file ACAForm 1095-BorForm 1095-C .The deadline for distributing recipient copies of FormsForms 1095-B/1095-Cis January 31, 2024. The deadline fore-filing 1095 forms with the CaliforniaFranchise Tax Board is April 1, 2024.Streamlined Federal and State ACA Filing from TaxBanditsCompleting ACA Forms can be a daunting task considering that they are lengthy and complex forms. Employers, tax professionals, and insurance providers can complete and file their ACA Forms with the IRS and state with TaxBandits.TaxBandits provides a comprehensive e-filing solution that supports filing both ACA Forms 1095-B/1095-C andMA 1099-HC , allowing their clients to manageACA reportingfrom one secure application. TaxBandits helps their clients streamline the filing process with the following features and more:A built-in audit that checks forms using the IRS and State Business Rules Bulk Upload templatesfor Forms 1095-B/C and 1099-HC enable clients to upload their form information all at once, eliminating manual data entry. Easily designate Form 1094-C as the authoritative transmittal. State-only ACA filing options. State corrections available for Volume-based pricing and Prepaid Credits minimize costs and maximize savings. TaxBandits' Recipient Copy Distribution ServicesFiling is mandatory for ACA Forms, but distributing copies, whether they are federal or state forms, is also a requirement. TaxBandits simplifies the process of distributing form copies with affordable and efficient distribution services.Clients can opt-in to Postal Mailing for TaxBandits to print and mail all of their copies, using USPS validations to ensure the provided address is valid. Clients can also take advantage of a secure Online Access option, granting their recipients the option to view and download their form copies via an online portal.Businesses , tax professionals, and service providers can create a free account atTaxBandits.comto begin the 1095-B &1095-C filingand distribution process. TaxBandits offers e-file solutions for meeting all of the deadlines on January 31st, including 1099, W-2, and 94x Forms.ACAwise - A Full-Service ACA Reporting ProviderClients who are looking for a full-service ACA reporting provider can reach out to the team atACAwise , a sister product of TaxBandits.Their expert team manages every facet of ACA Form 1095 filing, ensuring accuracy by generating forms with the necessary codes and validations at each stage. They handle the entire process, from e-filing with the IRS and State to distributing copies on behalf of clients.When asked about the upcoming ACA-related deadlines, Agie Sundaram, the CEO and Co-founder of SPAN Enterprises (parent company of TaxBandits) responded with enthusiasm, stating, "TaxBandits streamlines the complex task of ACA Forms filing for businesses and tax professionals. Our comprehensive e-filing solution supports both ACA Forms 1095-B/1095-C and 1099-HC, providing a secure and efficient process. We encourage any business that is seeking a full-service option to reach out to our sister product, ACAwise ."About TaxBanditsThe 1099 and W-2 experts! TaxBandits is a SOC 2 Certified, IRS-authorized e-file provider ofForms 1099 ,Form W-2 ,1095 ,940 ,941 , andW-9 , serving businesses, service providers, and tax professionals of every shape and size.About SPAN EnterprisesHeadquartered in Rock Hill, South Carolina, SPAN has been developing industry-leading software tools for e-filing and business management tools for over a decade.The SPAN Enterprises Portfolio of products includesTaxBandits ,ACAwise ,ExpressExtension ,123PayStubs , andTruckLogics .Please direct all media inquiries to Stephanie Glanville, Marketing Manager, atstephanie@ spanenterprises.com SOURCE: TaxBandits
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NEW ORLEANS, LA / ACCESSWIRE / January 18, 2024 / Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC ("KSF") and KSF partner, former Attorney General of Louisiana, Charles C. Foti, Jr., remind investors that they have until January 26, 2024to file lead plaintiff applications in securities class action lawsuits against Dollar General Corporation (NYSE:DG), if they purchased the Company's securities between May 28, 2020 and August 31, 2023, inclusive (the "Class Period"). These actions are pending in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee.What You May DoIf you purchased securities of Dollar General and would like to discuss your legal rights and how the case might affect you and your right to recover for your economic loss, you may, without obligation or cost to you, contact KSF Managing Partner Lewis Kahn toll-free at 1-877-515-1850 or via email ( lewis.kahn@ksfcounsel.com) , or visit https://www.ksfcounsel.com/cases/nyse-dg/ to learn more. If you wish to serve as a lead plaintiff in this class action, you must petition the Court byJanuary 26, 2024 .About the LawsuitDollar General and certain of its executives are charged with failing to disclose material information during the Class Period, violating federal securities laws.On August 31, 2023, the Company announced its 2Q 2023 financial results, disclosing among other things, cuts to its FY23 sales and profit outlook, decreases in operating profits of 24.2% and EPS of 28.5%, and that it "expect[ed] an incremental operating profit headwind of up to $170 million in the second half of 2023," consisting of $95 million for markdowns on existing inventory and $75 million on increased store personnel to support inventory and pricing control measures.On this news, the price of Dollar General's shares plummeted $19.16 per share, or 12%, on August 31, 2023, on unusually high trading volume of more than 19 million shares.The case is Washtenaw County Employees' Retirement System v. Dollar General Corporation, et al., 23-cv-01250. A subsequent case expanded the class period, Edmonds v. Dollar General Corporation, et al., 23-cv-01259.About Kahn Swick & Foti, LLCKSF, whose partners include former Louisiana Attorney General Charles C. Foti, Jr., is one of the nation's premier boutique securities litigation law firms. KSF serves a variety of clients - including public institutional investors, hedge funds, money managers and retail investors - in seeking recoveries for investment losses emanating from corporate fraud or malfeasance by publicly traded companies. KSF has offices in New York, California, Louisiana and New Jersey.To learn more about KSF, you may visit www.ksfcounsel.com Contact:Kahn Swick & Foti, LLCLewis Kahn, Managing Partnerlewis.kahn@ksfcounsel.com1-877-515-18501100 Poydras St., Suite 960New Orleans, LA 70163SOURCE: Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC
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NEW ORLEANS, LA / ACCESSWIRE / January 18, 2024 / Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC ("KSF") and KSF partner, former Attorney General of Louisiana, Charles C. Foti, Jr., remind investors that they have until January 26, 2024to file lead plaintiff applications in a securities class action lawsuit against Fisker Inc. (NYSE:FSR), if they purchased or otherwise acquired the Company's securities between August 4, 2023 and November 20, 2023, inclusive (the "Class Period"). This action is pending in the United States District Court for the Central District of California.What You May DoIf you purchased securities of Fisker and would like to discuss your legal rights and how this case might affect you and your right to recover for your economic loss, you may, without obligation or cost to you, contact KSF Managing Partner Lewis Kahn toll-free at 1-877-515-1850 or via email ( lewis.kahn@ksfcounsel.com) , or visit https://www.ksfcounsel.com/cases/nyse-fsr/ to learn more. If you wish to serve as a lead plaintiff in this class action, you must petition the Court byJanuary 26, 2024 .About the LawsuitFisker and certain of its executives are charged with failing to disclose material information during the Class Period, violating federal securities laws.On November 13, 2023, the Company announced its 3Q 2023 financial results, disclosing among other things, a loss of $91.0 million and a $0.27 loss per share, a cut to its production forecast for the year, and also that it would be unable to timely file its Quarterly Report for the quarter ended September 30, 2023 due to material weaknesses in internal control over financial reporting. On this news, the price of Fisker's shares plummeted by $0.77, or 18.7%, to close at $3.34 per share on November 14, 2023, on unusually heavy trading volume.Then, on November 20, 2023, the Company disclosed the departure of its chief accounting officer, recently hired on November 6, 2023. On this news, the price of Fisker's shares plummeted by $0.35, or 15%, to close at $2.00 per share on November 21, 2023, on unusually heavy trading volume.The case is Zahabi v. Fisker Inc., et al., 23-cv-09976.About Kahn Swick & Foti, LLCKSF, whose partners include former Louisiana Attorney General Charles C. Foti, Jr., is one of the nation's premier boutique securities litigation law firms. KSF serves a variety of clients - including public institutional investors, hedge funds, money managers and retail investors - in seeking recoveries for investment losses emanating from corporate fraud or malfeasance by publicly traded companies. KSF has offices in New York, California, Louisiana and New Jersey.To learn more about KSF, you may visit www.ksfcounsel.com Contact:Kahn Swick & Foti, LLCLewis Kahn, Managing Partnerlewis.kahn@ksfcounsel.com1-877-515-18501100 Poydras St., Suite 960New Orleans, LA 70163SOURCE: Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC
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The global bar top corks market report is a comprehensive report that provides a detailed analysis of the current status and future trends of the bar top corks market worldwide. This report provides valuable information to industry stakeholders by offering an in-depth perspective on market dynamics, competitive landscape, growth opportunities, and key challenges faced by industry participants.From the perspective of market dynamics, this report explores the factors driving the growth of the bar top corks market. This includes the increasing demand for bar top corks products due to changes in consumer preferences, technological advancements, and the demand for more efficient and sustainable solutions. Additionally, government regulations and initiatives to promote the adoption of bar top corks products also contribute to market growth. On the other hand, this report identifies and analyzes factors that may hinder market growth, such as economic uncertainty, supply chain disruptions, and intense competition in the market.Request for Sample Report:The competitive landscape section of the report provides a comprehensive analysis of the leading companies operating in the bar top corks market. It introduces the major companies, their business strategy, product portfolio, recent trends, and financial performance. This analysis provides valuable insights for market stakeholders to understand the intensity of competition in the market and gain an insightful view of the strategies adopted by major market players to maintain their position.Some of the major companies in the Bar Top Corks market are as follows: ACIC Cork and Closures, Berlin Packaging, Bottle Express, Corticeira Amorim, Guala Closures Group, TapA Group, The Cary Company, Vinolok Closure, W. Langguth Erben GmbH, WidgetCoBy segmenting the market, the report provides a detailed understanding of each segment by analyzing market size, growth potential, and key trends within each segment. Through this detailed analysis, industry participants can identify profitable opportunities, develop strategies tailored to specific customer segments, and allocate resources effectively.Market Segmentation:Type: Gloss or Matte Finish, Embossed Finish, OthersApplication: Food and Beverages, Oil and Lubricants, Chemicals Solvents, Pharmaceuticals and Healthcare, Paints and Dyes, OthersIdentifying growth opportunities is crucial for companies operating in the bar top corks market. This report focuses on highlighting these opportunities by analyzing emerging technologies, market trends, and changing customer needs that have the potential to shape the future of the market. By identifying untapped market segments, geographies with high growth potential, and innovative product development strategies, this report supports stakeholders in harnessing these opportunities and leading business growth.In addition, this report addresses the key challenges faced by industry participants. It provides insightful information on challenges such as intense market competition, price pressure, regulatory compliance, and technological confusion. By understanding these challenges, companies can develop effective mitigation strategies and adapt to a constantly changing market environment. This enables them to ensure sustainable growth.The regional analysis section of the global bar top corks market report thoroughly evaluates the market in various regions, including North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, the Middle East, and Africa. This section provides valuable information on market size, growth potential, and key market trends specific to each region.Market by Regions:North AmericaU.S.CanadaEuropeGermanyU.K.FranceItalySpainRest of EuropeAsia PacificChinaIndiaJapanRest of Asia PacificMiddle East & AfricaGCCSouth AfricaRest of Middle East & AfricaLatin AmericaBrazilMexicoRest of Latin AmericaThis report provides a comprehensive assessment of the bar top corks market in these specific regions, enabling stakeholders to understand regional differences, market potential, and growth prospects. This provides valuable insights that help make informed decisions related to market entry, expansion strategies, and resource allocation. Additionally, understanding the regulatory landscape and market dynamics in each region is useful for companies to comply with regulatory requirements and adjust their business strategies to fit specific markets.Overall, the global bar top corks market report strives to provide comprehensive and practical information to industry stakeholders. By offering a deep understanding of market trends, competitive dynamics, growth opportunities, and potential risks, this report plays a valuable role as a tool for manufacturers, suppliers, distributors, and investors. Through this information, they are able to make informed business decisions and execute successful strategies in the dynamic and evolving bar top corks market.
ASTANA, Kazakhstan, January 19. The Italian airline Neos plans to open flights between Astana (Kazakhstan) and Rome (Italy), as well as Astana and Milan (Italy), said the head of Neos airline Lupo Rattazzi, Trend reports.

He made the remark during a meeting with Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev in Rome.

As he noted, the airline also plans to increase the number of flights on the Almaty  Milan route.

In turn, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev pointed out that direct flights between countries will give impetus to the development of trade, economic, cultural, humanitarian ties and tourism. He noted the high demand for the Almaty-Milan flight, since the launch of which about 70,000 passengers have been transported.

Tokayev also expressed confidence that cooperation with Neos will have a positive impact on the development of civil aviation and the transport and logistics industry in Kazakhstan.

Meanwhile, as one of the largest private Italian airlines, Neos flies to more than 70 destinations.

The company's revenue in 2022 was $640 million.
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The global butene copolymer linear low density polyethylene (c4-lldpe) film market report is a comprehensive report that provides a detailed analysis of the current status and future trends of the butene copolymer linear low density polyethylene (c4-lldpe) film market worldwide. This report provides valuable information to industry stakeholders by offering an in-depth perspective on market dynamics, competitive landscape, growth opportunities, and key challenges faced by industry participants.From the perspective of market dynamics, this report explores the factors driving the growth of the butene copolymer linear low density polyethylene (c4-lldpe) film market. This includes the increasing demand for butene copolymer linear low density polyethylene (c4-lldpe) film products due to changes in consumer preferences, technological advancements, and the demand for more efficient and sustainable solutions. Additionally, government regulations and initiatives to promote the adoption of butene copolymer linear low density polyethylene (c4-lldpe) film products also contribute to market growth. On the other hand, this report identifies and analyzes factors that may hinder market growth, such as economic uncertainty, supply chain disruptions, and intense competition in the market.Request for Sample Report:The competitive landscape section of the report provides a comprehensive analysis of the leading companies operating in the butene copolymer linear low density polyethylene (c4-lldpe) film market. It introduces the major companies, their business strategy, product portfolio, recent trends, and financial performance. This analysis provides valuable insights for market stakeholders to understand the intensity of competition in the market and gain an insightful view of the strategies adopted by major market players to maintain their position.Some of the major companies in the Butene Copolymer Linear Low Density Polyethylene (C4-LLDPE) Film market are as follows: Braskem, GAIL India, Hoplee Packing Products, NUC Corporation, Nova Chemicals Corporation, PT Panverta Cakrakencana, PT. Indo Ceria Plastic and Printing, Reliance Industried, Sasol, Sinopec, Tom Brown, Toyobo, Westlake ChemicalsBy segmenting the market, the report provides a detailed understanding of each segment by analyzing market size, growth potential, and key trends within each segment. Through this detailed analysis, industry participants can identify profitable opportunities, develop strategies tailored to specific customer segments, and allocate resources effectively.Market Segmentation:Type: Blown Film Extrusion, Cast Film Extrusion, OthersApplication: Food and Beverages, Personal Care and Cosmetics, Building and Construction, Homecare and Household, Pharmaceuticals, OthersIdentifying growth opportunities is crucial for companies operating in the butene copolymer linear low density polyethylene (c4-lldpe) film market. This report focuses on highlighting these opportunities by analyzing emerging technologies, market trends, and changing customer needs that have the potential to shape the future of the market. By identifying untapped market segments, geographies with high growth potential, and innovative product development strategies, this report supports stakeholders in harnessing these opportunities and leading business growth.In addition, this report addresses the key challenges faced by industry participants. It provides insightful information on challenges such as intense market competition, price pressure, regulatory compliance, and technological confusion. By understanding these challenges, companies can develop effective mitigation strategies and adapt to a constantly changing market environment. This enables them to ensure sustainable growth.The regional analysis section of the global butene copolymer linear low density polyethylene (c4-lldpe) film market report thoroughly evaluates the market in various regions, including North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, the Middle East, and Africa. This section provides valuable information on market size, growth potential, and key market trends specific to each region.Market by Regions:North AmericaU.S.CanadaEuropeGermanyU.K.FranceItalySpainRest of EuropeAsia PacificChinaIndiaJapanRest of Asia PacificMiddle East & AfricaGCCSouth AfricaRest of Middle East & AfricaLatin AmericaBrazilMexicoRest of Latin AmericaThis report provides a comprehensive assessment of the butene copolymer linear low density polyethylene (c4-lldpe) film market in these specific regions, enabling stakeholders to understand regional differences, market potential, and growth prospects. This provides valuable insights that help make informed decisions related to market entry, expansion strategies, and resource allocation. Additionally, understanding the regulatory landscape and market dynamics in each region is useful for companies to comply with regulatory requirements and adjust their business strategies to fit specific markets.Overall, the global butene copolymer linear low density polyethylene (c4-lldpe) film market report strives to provide comprehensive and practical information to industry stakeholders. By offering a deep understanding of market trends, competitive dynamics, growth opportunities, and potential risks, this report plays a valuable role as a tool for manufacturers, suppliers, distributors, and investors. Through this information, they are able to make informed business decisions and execute successful strategies in the dynamic and evolving butene copolymer linear low density polyethylene (c4-lldpe) film market.
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The global stent-assisted coiling market report is a comprehensive report that provides a detailed analysis of the current status and future trends of the stent-assisted coiling market worldwide. This report provides valuable information to industry stakeholders by offering an in-depth perspective on market dynamics, competitive landscape, growth opportunities, and key challenges faced by industry participants.From the perspective of market dynamics, this report explores the factors driving the growth of the stent-assisted coiling market. This includes the increasing demand for stent-assisted coiling products due to changes in consumer preferences, technological advancements, and the demand for more efficient and sustainable solutions. Additionally, government regulations and initiatives to promote the adoption of stent-assisted coiling products also contribute to market growth. On the other hand, this report identifies and analyzes factors that may hinder market growth, such as economic uncertainty, supply chain disruptions, and intense competition in the market.Request for Sample Report:The competitive landscape section of the report provides a comprehensive analysis of the leading companies operating in the stent-assisted coiling market. It introduces the major companies, their business strategy, product portfolio, recent trends, and financial performance. This analysis provides valuable insights for market stakeholders to understand the intensity of competition in the market and gain an insightful view of the strategies adopted by major market players to maintain their position.Some of the major companies in the Stent-Assisted Coiling market are as follows: DePuy Synthes, Medtronic, MicroPort Scientific Corporation, OBEX Medical, Stryker CorporationBy segmenting the market, the report provides a detailed understanding of each segment by analyzing market size, growth potential, and key trends within each segment. Through this detailed analysis, industry participants can identify profitable opportunities, develop strategies tailored to specific customer segments, and allocate resources effectively.Market Segmentation:Type: Self-Expandable Stents, Liquid Embolic Devices, Flow-diversion Devices, Embolic CoilsApplication: Hospitals, Clinics, Ambulatory Surgical Centers, OthersIdentifying growth opportunities is crucial for companies operating in the stent-assisted coiling market. This report focuses on highlighting these opportunities by analyzing emerging technologies, market trends, and changing customer needs that have the potential to shape the future of the market. By identifying untapped market segments, geographies with high growth potential, and innovative product development strategies, this report supports stakeholders in harnessing these opportunities and leading business growth.In addition, this report addresses the key challenges faced by industry participants. It provides insightful information on challenges such as intense market competition, price pressure, regulatory compliance, and technological confusion. By understanding these challenges, companies can develop effective mitigation strategies and adapt to a constantly changing market environment. This enables them to ensure sustainable growth.The regional analysis section of the global stent-assisted coiling market report thoroughly evaluates the market in various regions, including North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, the Middle East, and Africa. This section provides valuable information on market size, growth potential, and key market trends specific to each region.Market by Regions:North AmericaU.S.CanadaEuropeGermanyU.K.FranceItalySpainRest of EuropeAsia PacificChinaIndiaJapanRest of Asia PacificMiddle East & AfricaGCCSouth AfricaRest of Middle East & AfricaLatin AmericaBrazilMexicoRest of Latin AmericaThis report provides a comprehensive assessment of the stent-assisted coiling market in these specific regions, enabling stakeholders to understand regional differences, market potential, and growth prospects. This provides valuable insights that help make informed decisions related to market entry, expansion strategies, and resource allocation. Additionally, understanding the regulatory landscape and market dynamics in each region is useful for companies to comply with regulatory requirements and adjust their business strategies to fit specific markets.Overall, the global stent-assisted coiling market report strives to provide comprehensive and practical information to industry stakeholders. By offering a deep understanding of market trends, competitive dynamics, growth opportunities, and potential risks, this report plays a valuable role as a tool for manufacturers, suppliers, distributors, and investors. Through this information, they are able to make informed business decisions and execute successful strategies in the dynamic and evolving stent-assisted coiling market.
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Belt Scale Opportunity with High Grade Lithium Assays at Initial Drill Target AreaTORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / January 19, 2024 / Grid Metals Corp (TSXV:GRDM)(OTCQB:MSMGF) (the "Company") today announced that it has received exploration permits and will immediately commence exploration drilling at its Falcon West Lithium Property (the "Property"), which is located approximately 110 km east of Winnipeg, Manitoba and 100 km south of the Company's Donner Lake lithium property. The initial target area hosts high grade lithium and cesium mineralization in historical drill core. Approximately 2,000 meters of drilling are planned in the initial phase of the program.Falcon West is a belt scale (61,268 hectares and ~90 km of strike length) lithium and rare metal property. It is located in the West Hawk Lake Greenstone Belt and hosted in mafic volcanics rocks present at the contact between the Wabigoon and Winnipeg River geological sub provinces. This important geological contact hosts several significant lithium deposits and occurrences including the Mavis Lake deposit. The West Hawk Lake Greenstone Belt is the next prospective greenstone belt to the south of the Bird River Greenstone Belt that hosts the world class large Tanco Pegmatite - one of the most evolved pegmatite known globally which hosts the producing Tanco Lithium and Rare Metals Mine. As of 1983, Tanco had spodumene reserves of 7,300,00 tons grading 2.76% Li2O.The drill program will commence at the Artdon-Lucy (ADL') target area of the Property, at which several historical drill programs intersected near surface pegmatites locally containing high lithium grades that are associated with spodumene. Historical drill highlights include 12 m at 2.2% Li2O and 12m at 1.8% Li2O.Above- Greenstone belts and lithium resources in the southeastern area of Manitoba. The Donner Lake Resource (Grid Metals Corp. 75%) and Tanco Resource are on the north and south limbs, respectively, of the Bird River Greenstone Belt. The Falcon West Property (100% Grid Metals) covers the majority of the West Hawk Greenstone Belt that has seen very little prior exploration for lithium despite the fact that it occurs along the regionally extensive and highly prospective Winnipeg River - Wabigoon Province boundary.Above: Geology of the West Hawk Lake Greenstone Belt showing the ADL Target area where lithium and rare metal pegmatites are hosted in the mafic volcanic rocks.The ADL target area is approximately 110 km from Winnipeg and is transected by the Trans-Canada Highway and a major rail line giving the Property direct access to critical infrastructure.The initial drill program will comprise approximately 2,000 meters. The program will attempt to (1) establish the orientation and continuity of several known lithium spodumene bearing pegmatites and, (2) increase the overall understanding of the pegmatite emplacement, fractionation and zonation trends. The ADL area being explored is approximately 1 km area in strike length.Falcon West is part of Grid's goal of building a large lithium (spodumene) resource base in the southeast Manitoba region that could support long-term spodumene concentrate production to help feed the rapidly expanding North American lithium battery manufacturing sector.ADL Target AreaSpodumene-bearing pegmatites assaying up to 3.51% Li2O over 4.57 metres within a 12.2 metre section assaying 2.16% Li2O are noted in historical drill hole records from the Lucy (eastern) Pegmatite part of the area (Manitoba Mineral Inventory Card #119, Hole 24, East Braintree Lithium Corp.). Most of the historical lithium-enriched pegmatite drill intersections are within a few metres to tens of metres from surface with two pegmatites ( Lucy and Artdon) outcropping at surface. A non-compliant, historical resource* of 226,800 tonnes of 1.75 % Li2O was estimated on a portion of the Lucy Pegmatite which is part of the Property. The Lucy Pegmatite has been described as being mineralogically and geochemically zoned, flat lying, extremely fractionated and broadly similar to the world class Tanco Pegmatite (Manitoba Assessment File #94845) Validation outcrop sampling of the Artdon pegmatite, located ~1 km along strike from the Lucy pegmatite, was completed by Grid in 2023 and returned individual grab sample grades of up to 2.97% Li2O. Analysis of previously unassayed drill core from a 2012 drill program at the Lucy Pegmatite returned several intersections of high-grade lithium and cesium (see Grid Metals Corp. Press Release dated. ( March 28, 2023). To the Company's knowledge, there has been no historical lithium exploration work on the Property outside the immediate ADL target area. Grid Metals controls 100% of the mineral rights for the Property with a 2% NSR royalty held by the vendors of the ADL target area claims but with no NSR royalty on the majority of the Falcon West claims. The Property is located approximately 110 km west of Winnipeg and 100 km south of Grid's Donner Lake lithium project and features excellent infrastructure including the Trans-Canada Highway, major trans-continental rail lines and hydro-electric power lines.* Source: Manitoba Inventory Card #119. Note that the Company's QP for lithium exploration, Mr. Carey Galeschuk, is not able to verify the accuracy of this estimate. Accordingly, the Company does not consider this historical resource as a current resource and is developing an exploration plan to support the estimate of a 43-101 compliant lithium resource for the ADL target area. The historical estimate was believed to be based on 48 drill holes completed by the East Braintree Lithium Corporation in 1955 that were drilled to a maximum depth of 80 metres (Bannatyne, 1985). The exploration program at Falcon West will be supervised by Carey Galeschuk, P.Geo., who is an experienced lithium geologist with over two decades of exploration experience in pegmatites with Grid Metals, Tantalum Mining Corporation of Canada, and other companies. Grid Metals applies best practice quality assurance and quality control ("QAQC") protocols on all it's exploration sampling.Mr. Galeschuk has reviewed and approved the contents of this press release with respect to NI 43-101 reporting guidelines.About Grid Metals Corp.Grid Metals is focused on its lithium properties in southeastern Manitoba (Donner Lake and Falcon West). The Company has a lease agreement for the True North Gold Mill with the intention to convert the processing circuit to produce lithium spodumene concentrate and fast track its Donner Lake Lithium Project into production. The Company also has a PEA stage Ni-Cu-PGM-Co project (Makwa-Mayville) in southeastern Manitoba.On Behalf of the Board of Grid Metals Corp.For more information about the Company please see the Company website at www.gridmetalsc
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NEW ORLEANS, LA / ACCESSWIRE / January 18, 2024 / Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC ("KSF") and KSF partner, former Attorney General of Louisiana, Charles C. Foti, Jr., remind investors that they have untilFebruary 20, 2024to file lead plaintiff applications in a securities class action lawsuit against Inspire Medical Systems, Inc. (NYSE:INSP), if they purchased the Company's shares between May 3, 2023 and November 7, 2023, inclusive (the "Class Period"). This action is pending in the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota.What You May DoIf you purchased shares of Inspire and would like to discuss your legal rights and how this case might affect you and your right to recover for your economic loss, you may, without obligation or cost to you, contact KSF Managing Partner Lewis Kahn toll-free at 1-877-515-1850 or via email ( lewis.kahn@ksfcounsel.com) , or visit https://www.ksfcounsel.com/cases/nyse-insp/ to learn more. If you wish to serve as a lead plaintiff in this class action, you must petition the Court byFebruary 20, 2024 .About the LawsuitInspire Medical and certain of its executives are charged with failing to disclose material information during the Class Period, violating federal securities laws.On November 7, 2023, post-market, the Company disclosed disappointing financial results for 3Q 2023, including "a decline in prior authorization submissions for patients seeking Inspire therapy," as well as problems with its highly touted "Acceleration Program" requiring "some corrective action." On this news, shares of Inspire Medical plummeted approximately 20%, from a closing price of $161.74 per share on November 7, 2023, to a closing price of $129.95 per share on November 8, 2023.The case is City of Hollywood Firefighters' Pension Fund v. Inspire Medical Systems, Inc., No. 23-cv-03884.About Kahn Swick & Foti, LLCKSF, whose partners include former Louisiana Attorney General Charles C. Foti, Jr., is one of the nation's premier boutique securities litigation law firms. KSF serves a variety of clients - including public institutional investors, hedge funds, money managers and retail investors - in seeking recoveries for investment losses emanating from corporate fraud or malfeasance by publicly traded companies. KSF has offices in New York, California, Louisiana and New Jersey.To learn more about KSF, you may visit http://ksfcounsel.com/ CONTACT: Kahn Swick & Foti, LLCLewis Kahn, Managing Partner lewis.kahn@ksfcounsel.com 1-877-515-18501100 Poydras St., Suite 960New Orleans, LA 70163SOURCE: Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC
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LOS ANGELES, CA / ACCESSWIRE / January 19, 2024 / The Schall Law Firm, a national shareholder rights litigation firm, announces that it is investigating claims on behalf of investors of The Boeing Company ("Boeing" or "the Company") (NYSE:BA) for violations of the securities laws.The investigation focuses on whether the Company issued false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose information pertinent to investors. Boeing is the subject of a Wall Street Journal article published on January 7, 2024, titled: "FAA Orders Grounding of Some Boeing 737 MAX 9 Jets After Emergency Landing." According to the Journal, "the Federal Aviation Administration ordered a temporary grounding and immediate inspections of dozens of Boeing 737 MAX Jets, after one of the planes made an emergency landing when a section of the aircraft ripped away in midair. Passengers and flight attendants described a harrowing incident during an Alaska Airlines flight on a 737 MAX 9 jet Friday night that left a gaping hole at 16,000 feet in the sky. Alaska and United, two of the biggest users of the jets, canceled dozens of flights each on Saturday but said inspections were underway." Based on this news, shares of Boeing dropped by more than 8% on the next day.If you are a shareholder who suffered a loss, click here to participate.We also encourage you to contact Brian Schall of the Schall Law Firm, 2049 Century Park East, Suite 2460, Los Angeles, CA 90067, at 310-301-3335, to discuss your rights free of charge. You can also reach us through the firm's website at www.schallfirm.com , or by email at bschall@ schallfirm.com The Schall Law Firm represents investors around the world and specializes in securities class action lawsuits and shareholder rights litigation.This press release may be considered Attorney Advertising in some jurisdictions under the applicable law and rules of ethics.CONTACT:The Schall Law FirmBrian Schall, Esq., www.schallfirm.com Office: 310-301-3335 info@ schallfirm.com SOURCE: The Schall Law Firm
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Entrepreneur pens "Tools of Titans" for the martial arts worldSAN DIEGO, CA / ACCESSWIRE / January 19, 2024 / Bobby Armijo, entrepreneur and seasoned Jiu-Jitsu practitioner, proudly unveils his magnum opus, "Jiu-Jitsu Bravehearts," a tour de force documenting his own interviews with ambassadors, champions, and legends of the sport. Five years in the making, this compelling volume features exclusive interviews with jiu-jitsu luminaries including Jocko Willink, Russell Brand, Roger Gracie, and Aubrey Marcus.Armijo, who commenced his jiu-jitsu training at 32 and achieved the prestigious black belt at 40, captures the essence of his transformative journey on the mat. "Jiu-Jitsu Bravehearts" transcends the technicalities of the sport, delving deep into the mental resilience, persistence, and sheer determination required to practice this demanding and rewarding art.Comparisons to Tim Ferriss's "Tools of Titans" are inevitable, as "Jiu-Jitsu Bravehearts" promises to be a cornerstone for jiu-jitsu enthusiasts seeking inspiration and guidance. The book serves as a beacon for those navigating their own paths of adversity, encouraging readers to persist in the face of challenges."When I first walked into a jiu-jitsu gym 10 years ago, I wasn't looking for anything more than a workout. Nonetheless, jiu-jitsu taught me what discipline really is. It forced me to face myself and my truth and reality. My mission in life is now to prepare the way for others to experience the benefits of the most beautiful martial art in the world," says Armijo.What distinguishes "Jiu-Jitsu Bravehearts" is not only its powerful narrative but also its philanthropic mission. Armijo has pledged that all proceeds from the book will be donated toRoad Dogs , a bulldog charity close to his heart, andAmerica's Mighty Warriors , a military charity supporting veterans and their families."Jiu Jitsu Bravehearts" is not just a book; it's an odyssey of resilience, tenacity, and the triumph of the human spirit over adversity.About the Author: Bobby Armijo is a dedicated Jiu-Jitsu practitioner and the owner of 4 jiu-jitsu academies around the world, in London, England; San Diego; Chula Vista; and Jardins Sao Paulo, Brazil; as well as a partner with the 3 founders ofAlliance Jiu Jitsu International . His personal journey as a real estate developer, author, and entrepreneur and the hardships he's overcome are mirrored in his journey on the mat.For Media Inquiries:Bobby ArmijoS99 PRinfo@ s99pr.com SOURCE: Jiu-Jitsu Bravehearts
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VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / January 19, 2024 / Pampa Metals Corp. ("Pampa Metals" or the "Company") (CSE:PM)(FSE:FIRA)(OTCQX:PMMCF) is pleased to advise that follow-up diamond drill testing at the Piuquenes Copper-Gold Porphyry project has commenced. The primary objectives of the program are to test the depth and lateral extension of the high-grade intervals of open mineralization at Piuquenes Central, and its potential to host an orebody of 1,000 m depth and 300 - 500 m diameter.Follow-Up Diamond Drill ProgramThe follow-up program consists of up to 4 diamond drill holes, including two priority drillholes of ~850 - 900 m depth, is summarized as follows:Hole 1 (REC-01) (refer figure 1) is orientated along a northeast-southwest geological section, proximate to the historical P8A (Inmet) and PIU16-DDH01 (Anglo) drillholes and designed to extend the depth of known mineralization at the southwestern edge of Piuquenes Central porphyry. Hole 2 (REC-02) (refer figure 2) is orientated along an east-west section, proximate to the historical P4 and P2 drillholes (Inmet) and designed to test the lateral extension of the mineralized body, primarily along the western edge of the Piuquenes Central porphyry. A 3rd and possibly a 4th hole will focus on extending known depth to the northeast and southeast edges of the Piuquenes Central mineral body and seek to validate a potential mineral column of 1,000 m depth and 300 - 500 m diameter.Joseph van den Elsen, the Company's President and CEO, stated: "We are pleased to have swiftly commenced the first of an aggressive, multi-campaign exploration program testing the Piuquenes Project's exceptional potential. We now look forward to driving significant shareholder value over the short, medium, and long-term as we first test the depth and lateral extension of the reported high-grade intervals of open mineralization at Piuquenes Central (558.2 m @ 0.38% Cu, 0.42 g/t Au & 2.4 g/t Ag (0.73% CuEq)* incl. 130 m @ 0.81% Cu, 0.6 g/t Au & 4 g/t Ag (1.31 % CuEq)* - refer 5 December 2023 News Release), and thereafter Piuquenes East and other targets from our growing pipeline." Figures 1 & 2: Piuquenes Central Schematic Cross SectionsPiuquenes Porphyry Copper-Gold ProjectThe Piuquenes Project consists of nine mining titles that cover an area of ~1,880 ha in the San Juan Province of Argentina, adjacent (to the north) with the Altar copper-gold porphyry project (Aldebaran Resources Inc.) and approximately 190 km west of the city of San Juan. Other large porphyry copper projects in the San Juan Miocene porphyry belt include, El Pachon (Glencore), approximately 30 km to the south, the operating Los Pelambres copper mine (60% Antofagasta plc) in Chile, and Los Azules (McEwen Mining) 50 km to the northeast.The first evidence of copper oxides at Piuquenes was reported in 1970 by MInera Aguilar, who subsequently completed the first exploration program between 1973-1975. Between 1995 and 1997, Inmet Mining Corporation (IMC) completed a heli-magnetic/radiometric survey, surface geology, rock and soil geochemistry, ground magnetics, PD-IP and eight diamond drillholes for a total of 1,894.2m. Subsequently, in 2015-2016, Anglo American Argentina (AAA) completed detailed 1:2,500 geology and geochemistry, 17.8 km of gDAS24 deep 3D PD-IP/NSMT and a single 920.2 m diamond drill hole.Since its discovery, the Piuquenes Copper-Gold porphyry has until now remained privately held.Inmet Mining Corporation's (IMC, subsequently acquired by First Quantum in 2013) 8 diamond drill holes for a total of 1,894.2m intersected significant copper and gold mineralization including:413.5 m (167-580.5 m) @ 0.47% Cu and 0.52 g/t Au (0.87% CuEq)*; 67.5 m (207-274.5 m) @ 0.63% Cu and 0.51 g/t Au (1.02% CuEq)*; and 158 m (3-161 m) @ 0.32% Cu and 0.6 g/t Au (0.78% CuEq)*. In November 2023, Pampa Metals assayed and re-logged Anglo-American's 2016 diamond borehole of 920.2 m length which had crossed the mineral zones previously drilled by Inmet Mining Corporation (IMC). These results were reported in a 5 December 2023 News Release and included:- 558.2 m (362-920.2 m EOH) @ 0.38% Cu & 0.42 g/ Au & 2.4 g/t Ag (0.73% CuEq)*Including:- 130 m (362-492 m) @ 0.81% Cu & 0.6 g/t Au & 4 g/t Ag (1.31 % CuEq)*.Piuquenes East Stockwork ZoneSince optioning the Piuquenes Porphyry Copper-Gold Project (refer 30 November 2023 News Release) Pampa Metals has completed a comprehensive review of the project's technical data.This review, complemented by Pampa Metals' recent drillcore re-logging, field validation and preparatory works for follow-up drilling, has led to the identification of three additional areas of undrilled porphyry intrusives at the Piuquenes Project (refer Figure 3).One of these zones, referred to as the Piuquenes East prospect, is located immediately proximate to the mineralized Altar North Porphyry held by Aldebaran Resources.The Piuquenes East prospect is characterized by outcrops of sinuous and banded dark gray quartz veinlets covering an area of 100 x 200m hosted within an altered intermineral porphyry. Alteration is typical of that commonly observed in the epithermal-porphyry transition zone of fully preserved, high level porphyry systems. The mapped stockwork zone is associated with a 400 x 300 m copper-gold soil-rock geochemical anomaly, and co-incident intermediate chargeability and intermediate-high resistivity anomalies in Electrical (IP) Geophysics.Figure 3: Piuquenes - Altar Porphyry ClusterFigure 4: Major Copper Projects in San Juan, ArgentinaON BEHALF OF THE BOARDJoseph van den Elsen | President & CEOINVESTORS CONTACT Joseph van den Elsen | President & CEO Joseph@ pampametals.com ABOUT PAMPA METALSPampa Metals is a post-discovery copper-gold-molybdenum porphyry exploration company listed on the Canadian Stock Exchange (CSE:PM), Frankfurt (FSE:FIRA), and OTC (OTCQB:PMMCD) exchanges.In November 2023, the Company announced it had entered into an Option and Joint Venture Agreement for the acquisition of an 80% interest in the Piuquenes Copper-Gold Porphyry Project in San Juan Province, Argentina.Historical intervals of significant copper and gold mineralization at Piuquenes Central (refer 5 December 2023 News Release) include: 413.5 m (167-580.5 m) @ 0.47% Cu and 0.52 g/t Au (0.87% CuEq)*; and 558.2 m (362-920.2 m EOH) @ 0.38% Cu, 0.42 g/t Au and 2.4 g/t Ag (0.73% CuEq)* including 130 m (362-492 m) @ 0.81% Cu, 0.6 g/t Au and 4 g/t Ag (1.31 % CuEq)*Qualified PersonTechnical information in this news release has been approved by Mario Orrego G. Mr. Orrego G. is a Geologist, a R
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Vanilla Unmanned flew a mission for NASA to the inland sheet of Greenland.HOLLYWOOD, MD / ACCESSWIRE / January 19, 2024 / Vanilla Unmanned flew a mission for NASA to the inland sheet of Greenland. Thule Air Base, now known as Pituffik Space Base, hosted Platform Aerospace to carry a sensor provided by the Center for Remote Sensing of Ice Sheets (CReSIS).Artic Vanilla Vanilla recovered on the runway after a successful flightThe scientific goal was to provide validation data for the ICESAT2 satellite, which can measure terrain height but cannot differentiate between snow and ice. Vanilla flew along the satellite track to measure snow depth on top of the ice, enabling improved calculations of ice volume. This payload was previously flown in Deadhorse, Alaska, in 2021 through a similar mission set.The flight window in April 2023 presented very challenging weather over Greenland. Vanilla flew over 15hours duration across two flights, including flying through two inflight icing events.Platform Aerospace continues to test and demonstrate environmental hardening technologies and techniques to operate the Vanilla UAV in subfreezing conditions, such as testing an antiicing coating on the propeller. The Danish Air Authorities, Thule Space Force Base, and NASA all gave airworthiness and airspace approvals, due to the flight paths covering multiple countries' airspace.Platform Aerospace thanks Pituffik Space Force Base and NASA with their help in airspace coordination, ground logistics, vehicles, and hangar use.The baseline Vanilla UAS is not ITAR restricted and can be shipped internationally to provide worldwide support and operational capability.About Platform AerospacePlatform Aerospace is a servicedisabled veteranowned small business (SDVOSB) dedicated to supporting the warfighter by providing a groundbreaking ISR UAV that empowers warfighters with unmatched situational awareness and actionable intelligence. Through pioneering innovation, we redefine the standards of endurance to meet the everevolving needs of global security.If you are interested in learning more, please contact info@ platformaero.com or visit our website at https://platformaerospace.com/ Contact InformationAllegra FloresMarketinginfo@ platformaero.com 301-863-9253Related Files01-24_ Thule_PR.pdf SOURCE: Platform AerospaceView the original press release on newswire.com
Billionaire tycoon Femi Otedola has racked up shares worth N6 billion of Dangote Cement Plc, a source with knowledge of the transactions told PREMIUM TIMES on Thursday.

Mr Otedola, the source said, acquired the shares in his name.

Sub-Saharan Africas largest cement maker Dangote Cement recently leapfrogged telecommunications powerhouse Airtel Africa to become Nigerias biggest company by market capitalisation, currently valued at N8.35 trillion.

Dangote Cement has returned 81.4 per cent in the last 52 weeks and has 17.04 billion outstanding shares.

Dangote Industries Limited, the conglomerate controlled by Africas richest person, Aliko Dangote, holds 85.8 per cent of the companys shares.

To shore up the valuation of its stock, Dangote Cement completed two tranches of share repurchase between 2020 and 2022, during which it bought back 166.9 million shares.

Mr Otedola holds the majority stake in the power-generating company Geregu Power Plc, whose market value currently stands at N1.2 trillion.

In 2021, he acquired huge volumes of the shares of FBN Holdings, the parent company of Nigerias oldest commercial bank First Bank, in piecemeal via a series of off-market trades to become the biggest shareholder of the financial services group.

Mr Otedola holds 5.57 per cent of the shares of FBN Holdings, where he is a director, according to the lenders 2022 audited earnings report. FBN Holdings recently surpassed the N1 trillion mark in market value before easing to N967.4 billion on Thursday, shedding 2.53 per cent.

Last April, Mr Otedola purchased the shares of Transnational Corporation of Nigeria summing up to 2.6 billion units in various trades, translating to a substantial shareholding of 6.3 per cent, putting him on track to become the top shareholder of the conglomerate.

However, Tony Elumelu, the biggest shareholder of United Bank for Africa, swiftly accumulated more shares to increase his stake in the company from 2.07 per cent to 25.9 per cent to retain his place on the top spot of Transcorps ownership ladder.

Mr Otedola would later sell his stake to Mr Elumelu, giving up the top ownership race.

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Nigerias National Security Advisor, Nuhu Ribadu, on Thursday, met with his US counterpart to discuss security cooperation.

According to a White House statement, Mr Ribadus meeting with Jake Sullivan, the US NSA, was focused on efforts to counter terrorism in West Africa, and the importance of respect for human rights.

The duo also talked about strengthening democratic institutions and good governance across Africa.

Mr Sullivan reiterated President Bidens commitment to Africa and underscored the strength of the US-Nigeria relationship, including welcoming Nigerias strong leadership of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

Nigeria, since the coup in Niger, has continuously received commendation from the West for its strong stance against the coup and insistence on a return to democracy.

Mr Sullivan also raised areas where the US and Nigeria share interests, particularly in supporting peace and stability in countries that have recently experienced political transitions.

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Both countries agreed to maintain close coordination and continue to deepen their partnership to advance shared interests.

Mr Ribadus visit is happening at a time when several security challenges and activities are being reported all over the country including kidnappings in the capital city, Abuja.

He also met with Acting Deputy Secretary Victoria Nuland to discuss security corporation as well.

Part of their conversation included Nigerias efforts to support regional stability in West Africa, the importance of protecting civilians, safeguarding human rights, and promoting accountability and transparency in the aftermath of security operations.

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ASTANA, Kazakhstan, January 19. Kazakhstan's Samruk-Kazyna JSC (Sovereign Wealth Fund) and the Italian Maire Tecnimont S.P.A. have signed a Memorandum of Understanding, Trend reports.

The document was signed during the official visit of President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev to Italy.

According to the memorandum, the parties confirm their intention to cooperate in the implementation of investment projects in Kazakhstan in the field of decarbonisation and energy transition, projects in the field of oil and gas, chemistry, petrochemicals and fertilizers.

The Italian company is ready to strengthen local technical expertise in order to actively participate in the implementation of current and future projects in Kazakhstan.

Meanwhile, Maire Tecnimont is one of the world leaders in the field of engineering and construction of production facilities in the oil and gas, energy and chemical industries.
The Supreme Court on Friday upheld the election of Dapo Abiodun as governor of Ogun State.

A five-member panel of the Supreme Court, headed by John Okoro, held that the Peoples Democratic Party governorship candidate, Ladi Adebutu, failed to prove allegations of non-compliance with the Electoral Act during the conduct of the 18 March poll.

This appeal is unmeritorious and ought to be dismissed and it is hereby dismissed. The judgement of the Court is hereby affirmed, Tijjani Abubakar, who read the lead judgement, said.

Background

Mr Abiodun was re-elected as the Governor of Ogun State on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in March 2023.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had announced that Mr Abiodun polled 276,298 votes to beat his closest challenger, Mr Adebutu, who scored 262,383 votes.

But Mr Adebutu disagreed with the outcome of the poll, prompting him to file a petition at the Ogun State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal in Abeokuta to challenge the result.

In his quest to overturn the governors victory, Mr Adebutu alleged, among others, that the poll was not conducted in substantial compliance with the provisions of the Electoral Act 2022.

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He contended that the election was marred by irregularities and corrupt practices, noting that over 40,000 voters from his strongholds were disenfranchised due to violence.

Also, he told the tribunal that he secured the highest number of valid votes cast at the election and, therefore, ought to have been declared the winner by INEC.

But, Mr Adebutus petition was dismissed by the Hamidu Kunaza-led three-member tribunal, affirming Mr Abioduns election. He proceeded to the Court of Appeal to challenge the decision.

Delivering judgement on the appeal, the Court of Appeal, in its majority judgement of the three-member panel that was delivered by Joseph Ikyegh, said there was no reason to overturn the judgement of the tribunal.

But in her dissenting, minority opinion, Jane Inyang directed INEC to withdraw the Certificate of Return it issued to Mr Abiodun and, within 90 days, conduct a fresh election in some polling units in the state.

Arguing the case at the Supreme Court, the electoral commission said the governorship and presidential elections were not determined by a margin of lead but by the spread of votes, in line with the provision of section 179 of the Nigerian constitution.

Similarly, Mr Abioduns lawyer, Wole Olanipekun, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), prayed the court to dismiss the appeal.

He urged the court to uphold Mr Abioduns victory as the validly elected governor of Ogun State, a prayer the court upheld on Friday.

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The Supreme Court on Friday upheld the election of Governor Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa State.

A five-member panel of the Supreme Court, led by Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, dismissed the appeal filed by David Umbugadu of the Peoples Democratic Party, challenging Mr Sules victory.

In the judgement, Ms Kekere-Ekun said, The issues in this appeal are resolved against the appellant. The appeal lacks merit and it is hereby dismissed.

She said the Court of Appeal in Abuja was right to have set aside the decision of the tribunal which had declared Mr Umbugadu the winner of the poll.

The appeal is frivolous, vexatious and lacking in merit. It is hereby dismissed, Tijjani Abubakar, a member of the Supreme Court panel, said while contributing to the lead decision.

Background

The Court of Appeal had, on November 23, overturned the decision of the Nasarawa State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal, which sat in Lafia, the state capital.

In its ruling, the appellate court said the tribunal was wrong to have concluded that Governor Sule of the All Progressives Congress (APC) did not win the majority of lawful votes cast at the polls.

In the lead decision handed down by Uchechukwu Onuemenam, the appellate court held that the record before it established that the tribunal relied on legally inadmissible evidence to declare the candidate of the PDP, Mr Ombugadu, as the winner of the governorship election.

According to the appellate court, the tribunal wrongly relied on the evidence of eight of the witnesses that were produced by the PDP candidate, whose witness statements on oath were not front-loaded alongside the petition.

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It explained that under section 285(5) of the Nigerian constitution, section 132(7) of the Electoral Act 2022, and paragraphs 4(5) (6) and 14(2) of the First Schedule to the Electoral Act, every written statement on oath must be filed alongside the petition within the statutorily allocated time.

The appellate court struck out all the evidence and exhibits that were tendered before the tribunal by the eight witnesses.

It held that the evidence of the 12 remaining witnesses who testified for Mr Ombugadu was not sufficient to sustain the judgement of the tribunal.

In addition, the Court of Appeal held that the tribunal was in error when it deducted a total of 1,868 votes that were ascribed to Governor Sule because of alleged over-voting in four polling units.

It held that the tribunal was wrong in its decision since the petitioners did not provide the necessary documents needed to prove over-voting.

Also, it held that the tribunal acted wrongly when it recomputed votes and made the declaration that returned the PDP candidate as the winner of the election.

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The Inspector-General of Police, Olukayode Egbetokun, on Thursday, presented N2.08bn cheques to the families of police officers who died in active serving in the last five years.

Mr Egbetokun presented the cheques to 785 beneficiaries at the Force Headquarters in Abuja.

The package is under the Group Life Assurance and IGP Family Welfare Scheme package of the force.

Mr Egbetokun said, We appreciate the stewardship of President Bola Tinubu for his administrations commitment towards the well-being of police officers, and we urge the beneficiaries to make judicious use of the money.

We understand that no amount of money can bring back the lives of the officers lost, but this will help to cushion the effects of the gaps left behind.

The Force Insurance Officer, Lydia Ameh, a chief superintendent of police, said the presentation of the cheques was made possible because of the IGPs commitment and affection.

My sincere appreciation goes to the Inspector-General of Police, whose commitment, valued guidance, and extraordinary leadership role are crucial in ensuring that the Force cleared pending insurance claims which has resulted in the presentation of Group Life Assurance and IGP Family Welfare Scheme cheques to 785 next of kins/beneficiaries of our brave officers and men who lost their lives while on active duty for the Insurance Policy Years of 2015/2016, 2017/2018, 2021/2022, and 2022/2023, amounting to N2,086,801,144.79 which will go a long way to alleviate the sufferings of the families of our departed colleagues.

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While I share the feelings of the families of our deceased officers and men, I wish to express my gratitude to the inspector-general of police and his management team for their efforts which extend beyond the procurement of the 2022/2023 insurance policy but include the complete settlement of all pending payments from previous years, she said.

One of the beneficiaries, Donald Awunah Jnr, son of a former Force Public Relations Officer, Donald Awunah, appreciated the IGP for the presentation of the cheques to the families.

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A lawyer, Eric Ifere, has threatened to proceed with a pending contempt suit seeking the imprisonment of the chairperson of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Musa Aliyu, for alleged disobedience of a court order.

Mr Ifere, counsel for Nkrah Marine Limited and its CEO, gave the warning to continue in a letter addressed to Mr Aliyu, who is a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN). Copies of the letter were made available to journalists in Abuja on Friday.

In the letter dated 17 January and received by the commission the same day, the lawyer accused the ICPCs chairman of disobeying a court order by failing to remove the restrictions placed on his clients bank accounts and pay the N5 million ordered by the court.

He warned in the letter that the application for committal for contempt of court proceedings would be moved to the next hearing date unless the ICPC chair obeys the judgement.

We are mindful that you have recently resumed office and may not be aware of the pending committal proceedings to prison against you as the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of ICPC, the first judgment debtor, for having refused to obey the orders of the court made against it.

On 18 January 2022, the Federal High Court, Abuja, made an order directed you to remove the restrictions placed on the judgment creditors bank accounts numbers: 2657858013, 4573142058 and 4573142027 domiciled with First City Monument Bank (FCMB) and account number: 1000576777 domiciled with Zenith Bank Plc and pays the judgment creditors N5,000,000 in damages.

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On 4 July 2022, the same Federal High Court delivered a ruling refusing the 1st judgment debtors request for a stay of execution of its judgment.

Further, it directed you to remove the judgment creditors account restrictions immediately.

Regrettably, you have neglected and refused to obey the honourable courts judgement and orders to date.

Consequently, the judgment creditors have commenced contempt proceedings against you.

And the hearing date is fixed for 8 February 2024 at court number 12, Federal High Court, Abuja, while maintaining that restricting their bank accounts undermines the judgment of the court and violates their fundamental rights, the letter read in part.

Mr Ifere urged Mr Aliyu to review the decision by lifting the restrictions and paying the damages before the hearing date for the contempt proceedings.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that while the ICPC chairman is listed as judgement debtor/contemnor in the motion on notice for committal proceedings, FCMB and Zenith Bank are listed as 2nd and 3rd respondents respectively.

The motion marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/1347/2021 was filed on 2 November 2023.

The judge, Mobolaji Olajuwon of the Federal High Court in Abuja, has fixed 8 February for hearing.

(NAN)

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Governor Alex Otti of Abia State has inaugurated the Abia Global Economic Advisory Council, with a charge to evolve initiatives that are focused on identifying, capitalising and showcasing the states area of comparative advantage.

Speaking on Thursday during the event at the Abia Government House, Umuahia, Mr Otti said the calibre of individuals that make up the council speaks to the states vision.

The governor added that this development had sent a strong signal to potential investors that Abia is poised to become the next big thing.

Mr Otti said the government was desirous to make Abia a preferred investment destination for global businesses, hence the move to set up a council of intellectual giants that would work closely with the government to turn the vision into reality.

He also said the council would work with the government and others, including the local chambers of commerce, industry, mines and agriculture, to bring these opportunities to the attention of the investing global community.

He expressed optimism that the council can help the government achieve its vision in the next 24 months.

Ultimate goal

Mr Otti said: We are not just seeking to attract a few big manufacturing outfits in the state to score cheap political points.

Our ultimate goal is to re-make the entire state into a robust enterprise ecosystem with clear pathways to bigger global and regional markets.

We are keen to transform our traditional agro-economy to become a major player in the global agricultural value chain, producing sufficient output to feed the local population and then for export.

In Aba, we do not just make quality footwear and clothing; given the right support, our shoemakers and fashion designers can compete with the best anywhere in the world.

Aba is also very strong in metal fabrication, wood works and mechanical construction. Sadly, the immense potential of our people has stayed hidden and under-utilised for far too long.

The good thing is that we now have an effective machinery to create a new era of prosperity, employment and layers of opportunities for these resilient and creative individuals.

Advice from Sanusi, others

In her remarks, a Co-Chair of the Council, Arunma Oteh, commended Mr Ottis administration for its numerous achievements in the past seven months.

Ms Oteh described Abia as a land blessed with countless opportunities, adding that harnessing these opportunities would foster socio-economic growth in the state.

She said she was delighted to serve the people of Abia and promised to give her best.

I pray that whatever we do as a council in collaboration with the government will contribute in a significant way to transform Abia, Ms Oteh said.

Another Co-Chair of the Council, Bolaji Balogun, thanked the governor for the opportunity to serve the people of Abia.

Mr Balogun urged the state government to focus on maximising its human resources through innovation, infrastructure and education to record significant development and become a major contributor to the development of the nation.

A former Emir of Kano, Sanusi Lamido, said that investors need to be given strong assurance that their investments will be secure and profitable.

Mr Lamido urged the governor to market the state to investors and as a member of the national economic council contribute to the evolution of sensible economic policies.

In their separate speeches, a former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ike Nwachukwu, and a former Minister of Finance, Kalu Idika Kalu, charged the council to live up to expectations in the discharge of its duty.

They also urged the governor to ensure that the pieces of advice he would receive from the council would be implemented.

In his speech, the states Commissioner for Budget and Planning, Kingsley Anosike, said that the government was determined to establish a responsible and accountable system that would foster socioeconomic growth in Abia.

Mr Anosike added that the government would explore the states areas of comparative advantage to build a competitive and sustainable economy.

Earlier, the Principal Secretary to Governor Otti, Chinenye Mba-Uzoukwu, said that fiscal discipline in planning and expenditure remains the guiding principle in all government transactions.

Mr Mba-Uzoukwu said that the setting up of the council had further shown the governments commitment towards rebuilding the state.

Membership of the council

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports members of the council include Victor Onyenkpa, Ifueko Okauru, Chidi Ajaegbu, Uche Orji, Ndidi Nwuneli, Chika Nwobi and Olugbenga Adesida.

Others are Ndubuisi Ekekwe, Clement Owunna, Uzodinma Iweala, Ezinwa Okoroafor, George Agu, Uzo Nwankwo, Chinedu Azodoh, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, and Benedict Oramah.

NAN further reports that five members of the State Executive Council will represent the government on the Advisory Council.

They include Governor Otti; Attorney-General and Honourable Commissioner for Justice, Ikechukwu Uwanna; the Commissioner for Budget and Planning, Mr Anosike; the Commissioner for Finance, Michael Akpara and the Commissioner for Trade, Commerce and Industry, Chimezie Ukaegbu.

(NAN)

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A former chairperson of Nnewi South Local Government Area of Anambra State, Rommy Okoli, has advised Governor Charles Soludo to desist from unnecessary fights with stakeholders in the state.

Mr Okoli, who spoke to journalists in Awka on Thursday, said the conflict between the government and the church on one hand and the traditional institution on the other was unnecessary and distractive.

He said the conversation on government policies, and their impacts on the economic prosperity and well-being of citizens had taken a backseat.

He called on Governor Soludo to take full charge of the government, and not allow his appointees and propagandists to create tension in Anambra.

The events in Anambra are no longer palatable, the conversation in the media is no longer on the wellbeing of our people. This must be checked before it degenerates into anarchy.

We have seen the face-off between the government and the church, between the government and traditional rulers and even videos on the destruction of businesses they say are operating in unapproved locations.

This is not good for the image of our state. It is not good for the progress of our state. We need positive and constructive engagement to sustain the peace and tranquillity we are getting back, he said.

Mr Okoli said Anambra had always been a state where people engaged in politics with respect, without violence.

He urged Mr Soludo to maintain focus and not engage himself in many fights that would pit him against the masses.

According to him, Mr Governor should collaborate with National Assembly members to attract more dividends of democracy to the people of Anambra State.

Legislators Ifeanyi Ubah, Tony Nwoye and Victor Umeh are great patriots with utmost compassion for the poor. These people mean well and the masses love them. Let love reign, he said.

Anti-people

Mr Soludos administration recently incurred the anger of the traditional rulers in Anambra over the suspension of a traditional ruler who had conferred a chieftaincy title on Ifeanyi Ubah, a senator from the state.

The News Agency of Nigeria reported that about three traditional rulers bowed to pressure by apologising to the governor for conferring chieftaincy titles on politicians.

The traditional rulers, in a letter signed by the chairperson of the Anambra State Traditional Rulers Council, Alfred Achebe, said the administration was being disrespectful, with the way it was maltreating and suspending some traditional rulers.

The traditional ruler told the governor that political authority and power come from God through the governed, and therefore should be exercised with due sensitivity and humaneness over the governed.

Another group, the Coalition of South East Youth Leaders, on Friday, expressed displeasure over the way the administration is maltreating the traditional institution in the state.

The law banning conferment of chieftaincy titles to people outside the domain of a stool without the state governments approval is dictatorial, anti-democratic, anti-people and barbaric.

It is not a law but a decree because it does not represent the interest of the people, Goodluck Ibem, the president-general of the group, said in a statement.

Governor Soludo should focus more on providing democracy dividends to the people, he added.

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Gambias former Interior Minister, Ousman Sonko, told a Swiss court he was shocked to learn of protestors being tortured at the National Intelligence Agency in Banjul, in April 2016, and denied any knowledge or participation.

Mr Sonko is currently on trial for alleged crimes against humanity carried out in Gambia during ex-President Yahya Jammehs 22-year rule. Mr Sonko served as Mr Jammehs police chief for a year in 2006 and later as interior minister for about ten years.

Mr Sonko was arrested in Switzerland in 2017 where he claimed asylum after a falling out with Mr Jammeh.

The Swiss Attorney Generals office, along with 10 plaintiffs from Gambia, brought the case against Mr Sonko after being presented with evidence gathered by TRIAL International, a Swiss-based justice group. The case charges Mr Sonko with torture, murder, false imprisonment, rape, and deprivation of liberty, allegedly perpetrated against Gambians during Jammehs rule.

In April 14, 2016, at least 14 supporters of the opposition UDP party were allegedly rounded up by members of the police intervention unit.

Testimonies before the Swiss federal court and Gambias Truth Commission attest to protesters being handed to officials of the National Intelligence Agency, under whose custody UDP leader Ebrima Solo Sandeng was allegedly tortured to death. Mr Sonko told the Swiss court that he learned of the death of Mr Sandeng on April 16 from his then-police chief Yankuba Sonko.

The arrest and death in custody of Mr Sandeng made news headlines that week. And the leader of the opposition UDP party, Ousainu Darboe, held a press conference at his residence, prior to his arrest, to denounce the alleged torture of party members.

Mr Sonko, who denied any participation or knowledge in the torture of the protesters, said he only learned much later what had occurred, and said the police acted in accordance with the Gambian law, with proportionate use of force when arresting them.

When I watched their interrogation video, I could not watch it for the second time [their torture] was wrong, and it was unacceptable, said Mr Sonko. Mr Sonko said as minister of interior, he had no control over the NIA or events that took place at their complex.

The Swiss prosecutors are trying to prove Mr Sonkos responsibility for torture through his participation in various investigation panels as inspector general or for ordering or abetting abuse as interior minister.

Court admits further evidence

On Thursday, Mr Sonko lost a second procedural appeal since the hearing began eight days ago. Earlier this week, prosecutors filed additional archive material with the court from a Gambian newspaper detailing events related to the illegal execution of nine Mile 2 inmates in 2012.

The prosecutor argued the material supported their claims that Gambian authorities had carried out a planned and systematic policy of oppression while Mr Sonko held positions as police chief and interior minister. The newspaper clippings show official and public warnings addressed to the population from the Ministry of Interior after the execution of the inmates.

Mr Sonkos lawyer argued that the filing of the material should be rejected because the execution of the inmates was lawful and could not demonstrate a systematic attack against the civilian population.

The court ruled that the execution of the nine death row prisoners in 2012 is connected to the crimes against humanity charges in this case. The court admitted the newspaper archives into evidence. The court also admitted a 39-minute video of a June 2016 political rally in Tallindingwhen Mr Jammeh threatened to wipe out the Mandinkas, the majority tribe in Gambia.

In the video, Mr Sonko allegedly made threatening statements, saying whoever holds a protest without a permit would regret it. The emphasis was law and order. It was not meant to deny people permits. There was no evidence to show that after this statement, people were denied permits, argued Mr Sonko.

Little clarity on asylum note

When Swiss prosecutors raided Mr Sonkos apartment in Switzerland after his arrest in 2017, they found a handwritten note in a suitcase. He had previously denied the notes existence, but on Wednesday, his position changed. He confirmed the note found at his apartment was written by him for his Swiss asylum procedure.

Mr Sonko had previously told the court that parts of the note were inaccurate. On Thursday, he declined to answer why he would intentionally write information for his asylum procedure he knew was wrong. Mr Sonko described in his note that he could not stay in Senegal, where he had initially fled, because of its proximity to Gambia.

He said he was followed to the Mbour, a coastal Senegalese settlement, a 4-hour drive from Banjul. He also claimed to have received a directive to harass opposition figures and deny them police permits to protest.

He told the court that part of the note, in which he claims Mr Jammeh gave him orders to shoot and kill the April 14 to 16 demonstrators, was false.

READ ALSO: Swiss Court hears allegations Jammeh Minister tortured Gambians protesting electoral reform

The prosecutors argued that the notes contents are consistent with testimonies heard before the Swiss court, testimonies before the Truth Commission, and evidence gathered by Swiss investigators. To me, you are vague. You have not made reference to any concrete thing, replied Mr Sonko.

More torture

Musa Saidykhan, a former editor-in-chief of The Independent newspaper, told the court he was detained for 21 days between March and April 2006 and allegedly tortured. He said his hands were broken three times.

They used a torture equipment I never knew Gambia had They electrocuted me on the back of my neck and my genitals. I felt dizzy and fell down, said Mr Saidykhan.

My right hand was broken three times. They sliced my jaw with a bayonet, he said. Mr Saidykhan was arrested and allegedly tortured with Madi Ceeday, the then-manager of The Independent, who is one of the plaintiffs due to testify against Sonko on Friday. In 2010, the regional ECOWAS court awarded Mr Saidykhan $200,000 in damages for torture inflicted in state custody.

This was a collaboration with New Narratives as part of the West Africa Justice Reporting Project.

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The Ekiti State governor, Biodun Oyebanji has approved the reinstatement of 15 employees of the State House of Assembly sacked in 2021 by the administration of former governor, Kayode Fayemi.

The employees were relieved of their appointments by the Fayemi administration after they were accused of misconduct, including allegations of being in the opposition party.

They, however, got a reprieve on Thursday when they received news of their reinstatement through the office of the Chairman of the Assembly Service Commission.

Sadly, one of the sacked workers had died before the reinstatement.

The Chairman of the Ekiti State House of Assembly Service Commission, Kayode Fasakin, made this known as the legislative business kicked off at the Assembly complex on Thursday.

One of the top issues discussed was the good news that brought joy and jubilation in the Commissions premises with regards to the approval by the State Governor, Biodun Oyebanji of immediate reinstatement of 15 legislative staff disengaged for irregular appointment in 2021, a statement from the commission read.

Another issue discussed at the plenary was how to improve the already established Staff Loans Board in the commission, where the chairman of the commission, Kayode Fasakin, praised the State Governor and the Speaker of the House, Adeoye Aribasoye, for their efforts at ensuring the take-off of the Loans Board.

Other members at the plenary include David Taiwo, Olajide Olaniyi, Rotimi Ajidara, Mrs Fola Richie Adewusi, Abidemi Ipinlaye, Akintunde Famoyegun, and the Executive Secretary, Tolulope Afolabi, among others, it added.

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As part of measures to recover over N47 billion it is being owed by airlines, the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has declared a no pay, no service sanction on defaulting airlines.

Acting Director General of the agency, Chris Najomo, said it was time to put in place strict sanctions against the defaulters, stressing that hence all the debtors shall cease to receive services from the authority.

Addressing journalists in Lagos to unveil his plans for the agency, Mr Najomo disclosed that plans were afoot to set up a debt recovery Joint Task Force to implement NCAAs recovery drive.

The acting DG also noted that the agency was not oblivious to the illicit activities of private jet operators operating commercial flights without commercial licences. He stressed that anyone who wants to do commercial or charter operations must apply for a commercial licence.

A recent preliminary report by the Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau revealed that Flint Aero aircraft, which crashed at Ibadan Airport in November last year while carrying the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, was operating illegally.

Highlighting the regulatory framework, Mr Najomo said that only holders of Air Transport Licence (ATL) and Airline Operating Permit (AOP) with a valid Air Operator Certificate (AOC) were authorised to conduct charter operations.

He maintained that the NCAA will implement a robust risk-based surveillance system to close any potential gap opened by the increased validity period of Air Operator Certificates (AOCs) for unscheduled and scheduled operators.

The surveillance, which encompasses safety, security and economic monitoring, will be extended to all service providers, Mr Najomo added.

He stated further that the authority will intensify efforts in enforcing airlines compliance with the Nig Cars 2023 part 19 on Consumer Protection Regulations.

ALSO READ: NCAA speaks on Air Peace delayed flight

In line with the assurance by the Minister of Aviation that air passengers get value for their money, NCAA would ensure that airlines provide timely care to passengers for service disruptions, that consumers receive quality services in the aviation industry and that their rights are always protected, Mr Najomo said.

The acting DG reiterated the commitment of the agency to implementing a simplified certification and licensing system to streamline the approval process. He hinted that this will be extended to other authorisations, approvals and permits.

This is a derivative of the ease-of-doing business philosophy towards encouraging growth of the aviation industry, he said.

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The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) has confirmed that the federal government has decided to relocate its headquarters from Abuja to Lagos.

According to an internal memo signed by FAANs Managing Director, Olubunmi Kuku, Nigerias Aviation Minister, Festus Keyamo, directed that the agencys headquarters be relocated from Abuja to Lagos.

The Honourable Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development has directed that the Headquarters of the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) should be relocated from Abuja to Lagos, the memo read.

Consequent upon the above, you are requested to provide the implication of the relocation to the management.

Subsequently, amidst widespread speculation, a statement issued Thursday by FAANs Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection, Obiageli Orah, confirmed the development.

According to the statement, FAAN noted that relocation of its headquarters from Lagos to Abuja in the first instance was ill-advised when there was no single FAAN building in Abuja to accommodate its staff members at once.

Those affected by the decision to move the headquarters to Abuja have since returned to Lagos as there is no office space for them in Abuja, the official said.

The agency explained that the decision will help to curb the waste of public resources and also prevent the rot of FAANs abandoned Lagos building among others.

The Authority wishes to assure members of the public that it will continue to act in the best interest of the public and the country, FAAN said.

Read the full statement below:

Thursday, January 18, 2024

PRESS RELEASE:

RE: RELOCATION OF FAAN CORPORATE HEADQUARTERS FROM ABUJA TO LAGOS

The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria notes the inquiries some Nigerians have made regarding the directive of the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Mr Festus Keyamo, SAN, CON, to relocate the corporate Headquarters of FAAN from Abuja to its original base, Lagos, where it has operated for decades until recently.

FAAN wishes to inform Nigerians that following wide consultations by the new Management of FAAN with stakeholders, which also involved the Unions, it was agreed that this was in the best interest of the Authority and the country for now for the following reasons:

1. Those affected by the decision to move the headquarters to Abuja have since returned to Lagos as there is no office space for them in Abuja. It was ill-advised in the first place to move the headquarters to Abuja when there was no single FAAN building in Abuja to accommodate all of them at once.

2. Having returned to Lagos, the Authority would be liable to pay them DTA (Duty Tour Allowance) because technically they are working Out of station as their official posting is to ABUJA. Toe Minister has decided to stop this waste of public resources and rip-off on the public purse.

3. The other option open to the Authority was abandon the old FAAN building in Lagos to rot away and to use its scarce resources to rent an office space in Abuja for Millions of Naira of public money when in actual fact more than sixty per cent of its activities are in Lagos given the huge passenger volume of the Lagos airports. The stakeholders and the Minister decided against that and to save the country this waste.

4. The Minister has rolled out plans to get concessionaires to build befitting offices for the Authority in Lagos and Abuja and until that is done, the Authority will continue to manage its old building in Lagos that can accommodate all its Directors and senior officials for now.

5. Abuja continues to have full operational offices and the Authority has not scaled down operations in Abuja one bit. It is just the technical decision of where the Authority has its corporate headquarters that has been taken without affecting the structure of operations as they are for now in both cities.

6. In the near future, when befitting corporate buildings have been built for the Authority in both Lagos and Abuja, a final decision will be taken as to the location of the permanent headquarters, depending on the exigencies of the time.

7. The Authority wishes to assure members of the public that it will continue to act in the best interest of the public and the country.

8. The Honourable Minister is committed to taking decisions that are in the best interest of the country, especially as it concerns public funds and will not yield to ethnic or sectional sentiments that will derail this commitment.

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BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 19. Kazakhstan's Parliament has voted in favor of President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev's proposal to send a peacekeeping contingent of the country's Armed Forces to participate in UN missions at a joint session of the chambers, Trend reports.

It is planned to send up to 430 people consisting of a reserve company, staff officers, military observers and specialized units to the following areas: UN Disengagement Observer Force in the Golan Heights (UNDOF, Syria-Israel), UN Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO, Palestine-Israel), UN Mission in the Republic of South Sudan (UNMISS, South Sudan), UN Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA, Sudan).

Since 2014, a total of 67 Kazakh officers have participated in UN missions in Western Sahara, Cote d'Ivoire, Mali, the Central African Republic and Lebanon as military observers and staff officers.

Since 2018, 538 Kazakh military personnel have participated in the UN Interim Force in Lebanon mission as part of a peacekeeping unit. Currently, Kazakh military personnel are also serving in UN missions: 6 officers - in Western Sahara, 2 officers - in the Central African Republic, 2 officers - in the Democratic Republic of Congo, 9 servicemen - in Lebanon.
The Jigawa State Government has suspended the officials assigned to the implementation of the N1.7 billion COVID-19 Action Recovery and Economic Stimulus program in the state for alleged fraud.

The programme, introduced by the Federal Government in collaboration with the World Bank, was meant to alleviate the adverse effects of COVID-19 on vulnerable groups in Nigeria.

The targetted beneficiaries of the programme, named NG-J-CARES in Jigawa, were peasant farmers, vulnerable households and small businesses.

However, some of the targetted farmers told the state governor, Umar Namadi, that they were cheated in the distribution exercise.

They stated this when the governor paid unscheduled visits to their rural communities last July.

This prompted the governor to set up a committee to investigate the alleged fraud in the distribution exercise carried out in September 2022.

The committee of enquiry headed by the Chief of Staff to the governor, Mustapha Makama, submitted its report on Tuesday.

It indicted officials of the states Fadama III office that coordinated the disbursement exercise of fraud.

The officials allegedly gave each farmer N8,000 only, instead of N150,000 and farming inputs as budgeted for.

READ ALSO:

The governments spokesperson, Sagir Musa, on Thursday, said the government suspended the states coordinator of the Fadama III programme, Aminu Isah, and all the 27 desk officers.

He said the step followed a resolution of the State Execution Council meeting presided over by the governor on Wednesday.

The State Executive Council deliberated on the Committee of Inquiry Report on NG-J-CARES Result Area 2: Fadama

presented before the Council and approved the immediate suspension of the

State Coordinator and all the 27 LGAs Desk Officers of the NG-JCARES Result Area 2: Fadama in the State.

Similarly, the Council directed the Committee of Inquiry reports to a White Paper committee under the

chairmanship of the State Head of Service (HOS) to review the recommendations of the report for implementation modalities to refunds all money misuse and abuse of contracts under the Fadama project, Mr Musa said.

The programme also involves an empowerment programme which set aside N410 million for goat breeding and training for youth, targeted at over 5,000 direct and indirect beneficiaries.

In the agricultural sector, where the officials were indicted, over 3,000 farmers were to get farming inputs worth over N678 million under different phases of the programme.

The programme also earmarked N204 million for medium and small businesses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

It was not immediately clear whether the committee discovered fraud in the other components of the scheme.

The head of the investigative committee, Mr Makama, said it will make the details of its findings public later.

PREMIUM TIMES tried unsuccessfully to reach one of the suspended officials, Mr Isah, for his comment. His known phone contact did not connect on Thursday night after the government announced the suspension.

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The Supreme Court on Friday upheld the election of Sheriff Oborevwori as the duly elected governor of Delta State.

Mr Oborevwori, who was the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), was declared the winner of the 18 March governorship election by Nigerias electoral commission, INEC.

He defeated the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Ovie Omo-Agege, who proceeded to the Delta State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal to challenge the result declared by INEC.

In its judgement on Friday, a five-member panel of the court led by John Okoro dismissed the appeal filed by Mr Omo-Agege on the election dispute.

The appellants (Mr Omo-Agege and the APC) have not been able to discharge the burden of proof placed on them. The appeal lacks merit and it is hereby dismissed, Mr Okoro said while delivering the courts unanimous decision on Friday.

The Supreme Court upheld the concurrent findings of both the tribunal, which had earlier dismissed Mr Omo-Ageges petition, and the Court of Appeal in Lagos affirming the tribunals decision.

Background

Mr Oborevwori won the poll, but Mr Omo-Agege, a former deputy senate president, challenged the outcome of the election on the grounds that there was substantial non-compliance with the Electoral Act 2022.

But the Delta State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal in Asaba, the state capital, upheld the validity of Mr Oborevworis victory.

Similarly, the Court of Appeal in Lagos affirmed the election, dismissing the appeal by Mr Omo-Agege and other governorship candidates of opposition political parties in Delta.

Mr Oborevwori scored 360,234 votes to beat his closest opponent, Mr Omo-Agege, who scored 240,229.

Ken Pela of the LP came third with 48,027 votes, while Great Ogboru of the All Progressives Grand Alliance came fourth with 11,021 votes.

While arguing his case, Mr Omo-Ageges counsel contended that the recorded results from polling units did not have serial numbers.

He said this violated section 73(2) of the Electoral Act.

The lawyer to the former Senate President drew the attention of the court to the evidence tendered to substantiate his case at the lower courts, which was ignored.

READ ALSO:

Some of the recorded results across specified polling units did not have serial numbers.

The provisions in section 73(2) state that there should be a record.

It also provides for the compulsory invalidation of an election conducted without serial numbers. The Lower courts did not give slots to these exhibits. Evidence tendered has been ignored. Notwithstanding, the concurrent judgments, my Lords should set aside these judgments.

However, the PDPs lawyer, Joseph Abubu, a law professor and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), referenced section 137 of the Electoral Act and urged the court to dismiss the appeal.

On his part, Mr Pela of the LP, prayed the Supreme Court to nullify the entire election and order a fresh poll.

The candidate of the SDP, Kenneth Gbagi, said that Mr Oborevwori was not eligible to contest the election, urging the court to nullify his victory.

There is no single merit in this appeal and it is hereby dismissed, Mr Okoro said while contributing to the judgement which dismissed the appeals by the Labour Party and SDP candidates.

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The Senate President Godswill Akpabio and 10 senators are expected to receive the 2023 governorship candidate of the Young Progressives Party (YPP) in Akwa Ibom State, Bassey Albert, into the All Progressives Congress (APC) today, Friday, in Akwa Ibom.

A source, who disclosed this to PREMIUM TIMES, said the event will take place in the afternoon at Mr Akpabios hometown, Ukana, Essien Udim Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom.

The senators are already in town, they are lodging at a hotel in Ikot Ekpene. Akpabio, yesterday, had a meeting with Oba (Mr Albert is popularly known as Oba in Akwa Ibom) and his supporters who are already defecting to the APC, the source said.

Akpabio is not acting on his own, its a directive from Tinubu that he and other senators should come over to Akwa Ibom to receive Oba, he added.

READ ALSO:

The chairperson of the contact and mobilisation committee of Mr Alberts governorship campaign council, Daniel Udoh, confirmed the development to PREMIUM TIMES, Friday afternoon.

Mr Udoh is also a political adviser to Mr Albert.

Yes, its true, Mr Udoh said of Mr Alberts planned defection to the APC. He also confirmed that the event would take place in Mr Akpabios hometown.

Mr Albert lost the 2023 governorship election to Governor Umo Eno, who contested on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

The YPP candidate also lost the legal battle to overturn Mr Enos victory.

Mr Albert was originally a member of the PDP, under which platform he won the Senate election and represented Akwa Ibom North-East for two terms, from 2015 to 2023. He defected to the YPP when the PDP frustrated him from getting its governorship ticket.

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The Supreme Court on Friday affirmed the elections of Governors Inuwa Yahaya of Gombe State and Nasir Idris of Kebbi State.

Both governors belong to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Their elections were disputed in court by their challengers after the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared them the winners of the 18 March 2023 elections in their various states.

The Supreme Court affirmed their elections in separate judgements on Friday.

Deciding the Gombe case, a five-member court panel led by Kudirat Kekere-Ekun dismissed the appeal filed by Jibrin Barde of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) challenging Governor Yahayas election.

Mr Barde questioned the outcome of the 18 March polls, alleging electoral malpractices and perjury against Governor Yahaya.

But affirming Mr Yahayas election in the Supreme Courts lead decision, Ms Kekere-Ekun said, Having critically considered the concurrent decisions of the lower court and the Court of Appeal, I find no merit in this appeal. The decisions of the courts below are hereby affirmed.

READ ALSO:

The Court of Appeal in Abuja had in November last year affirmed the election of Mr Yahaya as governor of Gombe State.

At the appellate court, Theresa Orji-Agbadua, who delivered the lead decision of the courts panel of justices, said Mr Bardes case lacked merit.

The justice said the petitioner at the tribunal, failed to prove allegations of non-qualification, perjury and certificate forgery levelled against Mr Yahaya and the electoral commission.

Kebbi suit

Also delivering judgement on the Kebbi State governorship election appeal, Uwani Abba-Aji, in her lead decision of the courts panel, said the appellants, the PDP and its candidate, Aminu Bande, failed to discharge the burden of proof placed on their shoulders by the law.

My conclusion is that this appeal lacks merit and it is hereby dismissed, Ms Abba-Aji said in the lead decision.

In her contribution to the lead verdict, Ms Kekere-Ekun said, There is no scintilla of merit in this appeal, and I accordingly dismiss it.

The PDP and Mr Bande had prayed to the Supreme Court to nullify the 24 November 2023 judgement of the Court of Appeal in Abuja, which upheld the election of Governor Idris.

They faulted the appellate court decision on the basis that it dismissed their appeal without proper consideration of their evidence.

The appellate court had held that the allegation of forgery levelled against the Deputy Governor of Kebbi State, Abubakar Tafida, was unsubstantiated.

It further held that the issues of non-compliance with the provisions of the Electoral Act in the conduct of the election could not stand since the appellants failed to show how it substantially affected the outcome of the poll.

The electoral commission had declared the Kebbi State governorship election inconclusive on account of massive vote cancellations and over-voting in 20 of the 21 LGAs in the state.

Subsequently, INEC conducted a supplementary election on 15 April 2023, which was won by Governor Idris.

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The Immigration arm of the Joint Border Patrol Team, otherwise known as Border Drill, has arrested 21 foreigners crossing into Nigeria from Niger Republic despite border closure.

The Comptroller of the Joint Border Team, IK Oladeji, speaking in Katsina on Thursday, said the team also seized goods valued at over N1 billion, within two weeks.

Nigeria shut its border with Niger Republic last year following a military coup that ousted Mohamed Bazoum as president of the French-speaking country.

Seven states in the northern part of Nigeria share an expansive 1,600 border with Niger Republic with the people on both sides of the border sharing intermarriage and trade relationships.

Following the closure of the border, the Nigerian government deployed more security personnel to ensure compliance.

Our unit has recorded success in arresting foreign nationals who attempted to enter the country despite border closure. Twenty-one (21) were arrested between 2 January to 17 January 2024 by the immigration arm of our Unit Sector 4 headed by the Deputy Comptroller of Immigration, BB Alhaji. The said 21 foreigners have been handed over to the Nigeria Immigration Service authority for appropriate action, Mr Oladeji said.

Mr Oladeji said Unit Sector 4 (North-west) was mandated by the federal government to ensure total compliance with the border closure.

Some of the goods seized were trailer loads of used clothes, matches and textile materials, couscous, drugs, snuff, spaghetti, cigarettes, rice, vegetable oil, and children s pants, among others.

He stated the total duty paid value for the goods as N1.225 billion.

Upon my resumption, we restrategised, planned and restructured our operational methodology with the renewed vigour of all offices and men of the Nigeria Customs Service and Nigeria Immigration Service that are serving under the sector, he said.

Mr Oladeji said, not unmindful of the impact of the border closure, the sector on Wednesday auctioned 60 jerry cans of seized fuel to residents.

I wish to use this medium to give a stern warning to smugglers and other criminals to stay clear from the north west zone border area as JBPT sector 4 under my leadership will ensure that the mandates given to it by the federal government of Nigeria are achieved by all means irrespective of the calibre of such people, Mr Oladeji warned.

Continued border closure has been generating widespread condemnation, especially from the northern part of the country with Adamu Aliero, the senator representing Kebbi Central, being one of the most recent persons to criticise the decision.

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The Coalition of South East Youth Leaders has expressed displeasure over the way the administration of Governor Charles Soludo is treating the traditional institution in the state.

Goodluck Ibem, the president-general of the group, in a statement made available to reporters on Friday in Awka, described Governor Soludos treatment of traditional institutions as dictatorial and anti-democratic.

According to him, the law banning the conferment of chieftaincy title without the state governments approval is depriving the people of their traditional rights and privileges.

The Anambra State Government, through the Ministry of Local Government, Chieftaincy and Community Affairs, suspended a traditional ruler for conferring a Chieftaincy title on a senator, Ifeanyi Ubah, and threatened others if they did not reverse the recognitions.

The News Agency of Nigeria reported that about three traditional rulers bowed to pressure by apologising to the governor for conferring such titles.

The law banning conferment of chieftaincy titles to people outside the domain of a stool without the state governments approval is dictatorial, anti-democratic, anti-people and barbaric.

It is not a law but a decree because it does not represent the interest of the people, Mr Ibem said in the statement.

Governor Soludo should focus more on providing democracy dividends to the people, he added.

Power, authority come from God through the governed

The traditional rulers in Anambra, a few days ago, had attacked Mr Soludo, whom they accused of dehumanising traditional institutions.

The traditional rulers, in a letter signed by the chairperson of the Anambra State Traditional Rulers Council, Alfred Achebe, said the administration was being disrespectful, with the way it was maltreating and suspending some traditional rulers.

Mr Achebe described the handling of the matter of conferment of honorary chieftaincy titles as the apogee of the progressive dehumanisation and dismantling of the traditional institution of Anambra by the present administration.

The livelihood of the traditional rulers does not depend on selling chieftaincy titles or the N175,000 monthly stipend from the state government, but on their own hard-earned modest personal resources.

By their office, age, attainment and standing in society, they deserve far better respect and dignity, than being publicly bullied and unfairly shamed at every opportunity by people in the State Government.

The Federal and other State Governments hold the traditional institutions in high esteem. What then has gone wrong in Anambra State?

The traditional institution of Anambra feels strongly that the present administration is progressively dehumanising and deprecating the institution against the trend in the rest of the country.

The traditional institution is mindful of the awesomeness of the executive power and authority in our democratic dispensation but prays fervently that such power and authority, which come from God through the governed, should be exercised with due sensitivity and humaneness over the governed, he said.

Mr Achebe said contrary to the impression that the issue of honorary chieftaincy title was on the foremost front burner for the Anambra people, the communities were still faced with many development challenges.

According to him, key community challenges are the lack of basic amenities, including electricity, potable water, healthcare, good access roads, youth unemployment leading to other delinquencies and the inability of the communities to fund their contingents of the Anambra State Vigilante Group.

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The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Police Command has confirmed the arrest of a notorious kidnapper, Chinaza Phillip, by the Kaduna State command of the force.

A statement by the FCT Police Public Relations Officer, Josephine Adeh, said the suspect was arrested on Thursday and handed over to it on Friday.

She said Mr Philip is currently in police custody in Abuja.

The FCT Police Command wishes to confirm the arrest of one Chinaza Phillip, a notorious Abuja kidnapper by police operatives of the Kaduna State Police Command on Thursday 18th January 2024.

The suspect has been handed over to FCT Police Command today being Friday 19th January 2024, and currently in police custody, she said.

The police had declared Mr Phillip as one of the notorious kidnappers in Abuja.

The arrest of the notorious kidnapper marks a crucial victory in the fight against crime in the nations capital.

It will also bring relief to FCT residents who have been living in fear in the recent past following the upsurge of kidnappings in the territory.

How the kidnapper was arrested

The Kaduna State Police Command said Mr Phillip was arrested following a distress call to Kawo Divisional Police Station.

According to a statement by its spokesperson, Mansur Hassan, the command said its personnel intercepted the kidnapper and his gang while transporting their victim, Segun Akinyemi, from Abuja to Kano.

Mr Hassan said the kidnappers and their victim were driving in a Toyota Hilux van registered under the victims name and that at about 12.10 a.m., police operatives successfully blocked the van with registration number Abuja RBC 90 BC, preventing the suspected kidnappers escape.

On January 18, 2024, operatives attached to Kawo Divisional Headquarters, Kaduna, received a distress call of a kidnapping incident in Abuja indicating that the culprits and their victim were transiting through Kaduna.

On sensing danger and to escape, one of the kidnappers fired at the policemen and they responded accordingly.

In the resulting gun duel, the victim, a certain Segun Akinyemi, of Block 10, Flat 2 FCDA Quarters, Area 3 Garki, Abuja, was rescued and one of the kidnappers, a 28 years old Chinaza Philip of Life Camp Abuja was arrested while three others escaped although trailed.

The three escapees were; Chidibere Nwodibo of Life Camp Abuja, one Auwal surname unknown and the gang leader whose identity is yet to be ascertained.

The kidnappers were transporting their victim to Kano before they were intercepted by the police, he said.

Mr Hassan listed the items recovered from the kidnappers to include the victims vehicle, two Retay G17 model pistols, one Beretta pistol, ten 9mm P.A.K ammunition, and five 9mm special ammunition.

Preliminary inquiries conducted by the police showed that Mr Akinyemi was kidnapped at approximately 5 p.m. on Wednesday 17 January, just as he was leaving his residence in Abuja.

Mr Hassan commended the operatives for their bravery while carrying out the rescue mission.

He said the Kaduna State Police Commissioner, A.D. Ali, lauded their dedication and called for continuous vigilance against criminal elements.

The Commissioner of Police Kaduna State Command, CP. A.D. Ali, while commending the operatives for the brave feat, still tasked them to continuously go after criminal elements in the state, he added.

The police spokesperson urged the public to remain vigilant and use security hotlines for prompt responses, just as he emphasised the collaborative effort required to maintain community safety.

Upsurge in kidnappings

There have been increasing cases of kidnappings in FCT in the last few weeks.

Earlier this month, kidnappers targeted Sagwari Estate Layout in Dutse, Bwari Area Council of the territory and abducted no fewer than 10 persons.

The situation took a tragic turn a few days later when it emerged that the kidnappers had killed two of the victims.

The abductors, who earlier demanded N60 million ransom, increased it to N100 million and later N700 million.

PREMIUM TIMES reported that the police promised to rescue the remaining victims.

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The Senate President Godswill Akpabio has said that the All Progressives Congress (APC) will produce a governor in Akwa Ibom State in 2027.

It will be an aberration for the number three citizen not to have a governor from the same party at the end of an election, Mr Akpabio said on Friday at a meeting of the APC leaders in Uyo, according to a report by the News Agency of Nigeria.

You know, wherever the Senate president is, that is where the party is.

Is it possible that Nigeria will give Akwa Ibom the number three citizen and at the end of the election, it will not produce an APC governor, Mr Akpabio said.

Mr Akpabio, who acknowledged the internal crisis in the APC in the state, said the party could not win the 2023 Senate election in Akwa Ibom North-East and Akwa Ibom South districts because of lack of coordination.

He urged the party to set up a committee to reconcile the party leaders in the state ahead of the 2027 general elections.

Ive mandated the Chairman of the party to set up a reconciliation committee in the state, we have to bring our members together. If we are united, there is no barrier that we cant break.

We will make sure that (the) APC in Akwa Ibom is one, we will give people the option that either you belong to us or them.

They should not be in-between. We are going to resolve all the issues in APC, we are going to advise some people you cant be here and there, the Senate president said.

Earlier, the APC Chairperson in Akwa Ibom, Stephen Ntukekpo, lauded President Bola Tinubu for ensuring inclusiveness in his administration and pledged his loyalty to the party.

The ruling party in the state since 1999, following the return of democracy, is the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP).

The Senate President, who is an ex-governor of the state, was elected on the platform of the PDP for two terms spanning 2007 and 2015, before defecting to the APC in 2018.

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The FCT High Court in Maitama, Abuja, on Friday, fixed 12 February for the opening of the prosecutions case in the trial of the suspended Central Bank Governor (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, on procurement fraud charges.

The judge, Hamza Muazu, fixed the date for the commencement of trial after Mr Emefiele pleaded not guilty to the amended 20 counts filed against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

The anti-graft agency had charged him with amended 20 counts of criminal conspiracy, conferring undue advantage, and breach of trust, among others, all of which he denied on Friday.

Mr Emefiele was previously charged with six counts and first arraigned on 28 November 2023, before the EFCC filed the amended charges necessitating a re-arraignment.

The commission, in the amendment of the charges, increased the number of counts from six to 20, and dropped a former co-defendants name, Saadatu Yaro, from the case.

EFCCs prosecuting counsel, Rotimi Oyedepo, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), earlier announced in court on Thursday that he had served the amended charges on Mr Emefiele.

But the former CBN governors lawyer, Matthew Burkaa, a SAN, asked for time to study the charges, a request the judge granted.

The judge also granted a request permitting Mr Emefiele to travel out of Abuja, the federal capital, but not outside Nigeria during the trial.

The judge then fixed Friday for the re-arraignment of the defendant.

Re-arraignment

At the arraignment on Friday, Mr Emefiele pleaded not guilty when the 20 counts were read to him.

In some of the counts, EFCC alleged that Mr Emefiele, in January 2023, forged a document titled, Re: Presidential Directive on Foreign Election Observer Missions, dated January 2023 with reference number, SGF.43/L.01/201.

The EFCC alleged that Mr Emefiele made the claim knowing the same to be false.

In the case marked CR/577/2023, the prosecution alleged Mr Emefiele, on 8 February 2023, connived with one Odoh Ocheme, said to be on the run, to obtain $6.2 million from the CBN, claiming that it was requested by the office of the Secretary to the Governor of the Federation (SGF) vide a letter dated Jan. 26 2023 with Ref No. SGF.43/L.01/201.

The anti-graft agency also alleged that the contract for the renovation of the CBN Governors lodge, located at No. 2 Glover Road, Ikoyi, Lagos, was awarded to a company named Messrs. Architekon Nigeria Ltd, wherein the duo are directors and majority shareholders.

The offences, according to the EFCC, contravened the provisions of sections 17, and 19 of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000, as well as sections 315, 363 and 364 of the Penal Code.

The court allowed the defendant to continue with the bail he was earlier granted.

The anti-graft agency had, in August, first charged Mr Emefiele alongside Saadatu Yaro and a company, April 1616 Investment Ltd, with alleged breach of the Procurement Act in respect of the purchase of some vehicles.

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ASTANA, Kazakhstan, January 19. A new international trade and logistics center began operating in Kazakhstan, Trend reports.

According to the Ministry of Transport, the new center is located on the Kazakh-Chinese border, near the village of Dostyk.

This project was implemented by Dostyk Storage LLP together with the State Revenue Committee.

The main goal of the project is to develop and improve cross-border logistics infrastructure and increase the capacity of the Alakol road crossing.

Meanwhile, 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.
The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) said its air component of Operation Hadin Kai on 10 January eliminated three top commanders of the Islamic States of West Africa Province (ISWAP) terrorists in Borno State.

The Director, Defence Media Operations, Edward Baba, a major general, said this during the weekly report of the operations of the armed forces on Friday in Abuja.

Mr Buba said the three commanders identified as; Abou Maimuna, Abou Zahra and Commander Saleh with their lieutenants in a canoe, were targeted and destroyed by the air strikes.

He said troops had during the week in other operations, neutralised 43 other terrorists with 76 of them apprehended and rescued 27 kidnapped hostages.

He added that the troops recovered 81 assorted weapons 2,150 assorted ammunition and the sum of N1.2 million amongst other items.

In the South-south region, Mr Buba said the troops of Operation Delta Safe apprehended 29 perpetrators of oil theft and denied oil thieves the estimated sum of N131.1 million during the week.

He said the troops discovered and destroyed seven dugout pits, 13 boats, 23 storage tanks, two barges, four vehicles, 15 cooking ovens, two pump machines and 16 illegal refining sites.

According to him, the troops recovered 139,045 litres of stolen crude oil, 25,115 litres of illegally refined AGO and 5,200 litres of DPK.

The armed forces will always be mindful of the threat of kidnapping gangs and terrorists across the country.

Accordingly, we will continually review our internal processes in order to deal with these threats both now and in the long term.

The military is determined to give the situation the seriousness it deserves so as to create a safer environment for citizens, he said.

(NAN)

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And just as we are accustomed to in many of our other national and local mysteries, the real findings about what has terminated some lives and turned many into handicaps may never be known by ordinary Nigerians. Explosives in Bodija! What, for goodness sake, could any object of this dangerous make be doing in what used to be the neighbourhood of the elite and an area that has now lost its age-long peace and serenity to the commercialisation drive of young businesses of various hues?

Even the morning after, several hours later, we could not be too certain of the enormity of the tragedy that befell us in Ibadan with the Armageddon that ripped open the underbelly of so many hidden facts about our national existence.

Each disaster has a way of exposing and making fun of our vulnerability, especially in those critical areas of life that we ought to take serious as a people. The sight of victims of the explosions being conveyed to hospitals in open vans reveals how distressingly unprepared we always are for emergencies.

What started like a confused scene sending fearful residents scampering for safety, even when they little knew what, exactly, was pursuing them, has turned out to be the detonation of explosives (according to preliminary findings) that have raised more questions that we may never get accurate and adequate answers to.

And just as we are accustomed to in many of our other national and local mysteries, the real findings about what has terminated some lives and turned many into handicaps may never be known by ordinary Nigerians. Explosives in Bodija! What, for goodness sake, could any object of this dangerous make be doing in what used to be the neighbourhood of the elite and an area that has now lost its age-long peace and serenity to the commercialisation drive of young businesses of various hues?

My knowledge of Ibadan reminds me of the serenity of Bodija, albeit, until the development that has enveloped the neighbourhood in recent years on Awolowo and Oshuntokun avenues. Both twin major streets stretch and open their legs into the Secretariat-Bodija Market Road; kissing each other in front of the Oyo State Housing Corporation building.

My most recent visit to Ibadan showed the tremendous transformation of the Awolowo Avenue that I knew with rendezvous centres and night clubs, which make the avenue come alive at night, with many girls swarming the clubs in skimpy dresses and lining the road, waiting for customers.

Adeyi Avenue, as I knew it, was the neighbourhood of eminent folks, such as late Chief Bola Ige, a former governor of old Oyo State; Iyiola Oladokun, a former Deputy Governor of the state; late Governor Abiola Ajimobi, who had his campaign office there while seeking the leadership of the state; and I recall that Architect Adeyemo, a former senator representing Oyo East, lives off the popular avenue.

In my conversations with a very elderly friend who resides off Awolowo Avenue and whose property shook to its very foundation on the night of Tuesday, I was not surprised when he expressed his conviction that investigators must not foreclose the possibilities of some terrorist intentions and that the explosions could just be a tip of what is to come in an entirely coordinated attack in this part of the country.

With the long existent Davis Hotel serving the quiet needs of the upper class and tucked inside Adeyi Avenue, and new hospitality ventures coming up in the neighbourhood, you could never miss the conclusion that Adeyi has had a peaceful existence.

Going by the revelation of Governor Seyi Makinde and the confirmation of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) on Wednesday, we are back to the question: What could explosives possibly be doing in that neighbourhood?

Illegal miners, as Governor Makinde called the supposed owners of the devices that shattered the peace of Ibadan, by inference, are probably housed in the neighbourhood, from where they coordinate their nefarious activities on the mining fields in Oyo, Osun and possibly Ogun states.

Allied questions also come up to agitate our minds and answers must be provided to these posers fast, lest some other insinuations are imputed to the tragedy that happened on Tuesday.

In the bewildering awe that we are all entrapped in, conspiracy theories, such as ethno-religious complications that we have all lived with in recent times, are inevitable.

In my conversations with a very elderly friend who resides off Awolowo Avenue and whose property shook to its very foundation on the night of Tuesday, I was not surprised when he expressed his conviction that investigators must not foreclose the possibilities of some terrorist intentions and that the explosions could just be a tip of what is to come in an entirely coordinated attack in this part of the country.

Who owns the property in which the explosion happened? Assuming illegal miners, which Governor Makinde called them, reside in the property, who do they work for? It is an open secret that all the illegal miners in Nigeria have their Nigerian local partners who facilitate things and soften the grounds for them. Such partners are usually big men in the society, from well-known traditional rulers to heavy political gladiators and some ruthless businessmen.

I wish this is not true. But our wishes and prayers are one thing. The intention of those committed to evil is another. Which is why posers must be raised over the ownership of the cars suspected to have carried the Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs). Who owns the property in which the explosion happened? Assuming illegal miners, which Governor Makinde called them, reside in the property, who do they work for? It is an open secret that all the illegal miners in Nigeria have their Nigerian local partners who facilitate things and soften the grounds for them. Such partners are usually big men in the society, from well-known traditional rulers to heavy political gladiators and some ruthless businessmen.

Illegal mining and insecurity in Nigeria are intrinsically linked. In a report authored in 2023 by Oluwole Ojewale, regional organised crime observatory coordinator for Central Africa, and Freedom Onuoha, senior lecturer in the Department of Political Science and coordinator, the Security, Violence and Conflict Research Group, University of Nigeria, they conclude that, In the banditry-affected communities of Nigerias north-west and central areas, loose criminal networks engaging in illegal gold mining have ties to foreign actors and facilitate trafficking flows. Most criminal markets for gold in the country are driven by foreign demand but are propped up by local actors.

Is the story different from Zamfara to Ilesa, where activities of miners have turned lives upside down? Local chiefs and so-called influential figures connive to do in their own people for foreigners to ravage community land and take away their resources.

Mr Dele Alake, the Nigerian minister in charge of mining has directed his ministry to join the investigations. I even think his ministry should take the lead and be assisted by other stakeholders to unravel what indeed has transpired in Ibadan.

The minister may be interested in another postulation by the authors cited above, where they said, Most of the mining activities are being done by illegal miners because mining sites have been neglected by regulators and security agents. Chinese and other foreigners too are taking advantage of this prolonged neglect by the nations mining regulators and security agents. Its also the reason why bandits are attracted to the sector.

Sanitising the mining sector is perhaps Alakes biggest task and there is just no time to waste to achieve this.

I had a chance encounter with some Chinese opportunists (I refuse to call them investors) at a dinner in Abuja recently. My interaction with them again reaffirmed the belief that those we erroneously refer to as investors are no more than hyenas who have come to take advantage of our flesh and leave us with bones.

But then, a country that sits on fortunes but chooses to trample on it will eventually yield its wealth to vultures.

What happened in Ibadan, should it be the result of explosives owned by illegal miners, is just another sad reminder that (in the words of Ola Rotimi), we have left our pot unwashed and our food now burns.

Semiu Okanlawon, a journalist, media strategist and consultant, is the Publisher of NPO Reports.

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With the current reality, there is an urgent need for the Mr President to revisit and realign the activities of the NCCC, particularly with the requirements for Nigeria to access climate finance for adaptation to and mitigation of climate effects, as well as to benefit from the rapidly developing voluntary action, and to participate in carbon trading markets.

In the contemporary landscape, the spectre of climate change looms large, compelling me to delve into a multifaceted exploration of perspectives and urgent imperatives.

As the world grapples with the far-reaching consequences of environmental shifts, it is worthy of note that our collective choices carry a profound weight, echoing through the tangible consequences of the shifts.

The concept of climate change revolves around long-term alterations in earths climate patterns, primarily attributed to human activities. It encompasses global warming, shifts in weather patterns, and the increasing frequency of extreme events (disasters such as flood, drought, earthquake, and fire outbreaks).

The idea underscores the impact of greenhouse gas emissions from activities like the burning of fossil fuels and deforestation, leading to an all-time warming planet, with temperatures higher than ever experienced in human history.

Addressing climate change involves mitigating the human-induced factors, adapting to the changes already underway, and fostering sustainable practices to ensure the health and resilience of our planet, while accessing emergency funding for the loss and damage suffered from the effects of climate change.

Man as the Driver

Human activities have significantly contributed to climate change and solutions. From the Stone Age to the Bronze Age, Iron Age, to the Classical Era, which led to the Industrial Revolution of the last 300 years.

The quest for progress, fueled by mankinds insatiable appetite for resources  water, woods, sands, gravels, stones, granite, limestones, coal, oil, gas, and iron ores  has led to a profound transformation from our evolutionary ape-man to modern civilisation.

One can applaud humanitys achievements in fossil-fuel-driven automobiles, aviation, and maritime voyages. All these have greatly benefited modernity and productivity.

Nevertheless, the widespread use of airplanes and ships, while boosting prosperity, comes with incalculable climate change costs in the form of emissions and rising temperatures. This is why the recent ESG policy framework for any investment and financing has become mandatory globally.

In the pursuit of resource mobilisation across the planet, man-made canals such as Suez and Panama interconnected seas and oceans. The repercussions of these endeavours, coupled with oil and gas drilling, quarrying, and mining, have resulted in significant distortions to our planet earth.

As a layperson, it appears that the profound impacts on geography are unfolding in an unprecedented manner and this is why climate finance has become imperative.

A typical success story of climate financing is what is going on in modern-day China, where renewable energy, solar, and wind are becoming very dominant in their energy mix.

The burning of fossil fuels, deforestation, industrial processes, and agricultural practices release greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere, leading to phenomenal global warming.

This warming has no boundaries, and the argument that Nigeria and Africa do not do up to four per cent of the global warming does not insulate us from the effects and consequences of climate change, and that is the more reason why Nigeria must quickly have well-coordinated climate change and energy transition policies.

The effects of warming include general increases in temperature; variations in rainfall; the rise in sea levels; resulting shoreline erosion and flooding (the UN recently estimated that at least 27 NIgerian states are now increasingly at the risk of serious continuous flooding); drought and desertification (which is causing the depletion of Lake Chad and the consequent southern migration of Fulani herdsmen and insecurity); land degradation (which is making farming more difficult and affecting our food security); and significant damage to the ecologically-sensitive Niger Delta.

Also, improper waste disposal, industrial emissions, and reliance on non-renewable resources contribute to pollution, thereby impacting air, water, and soil quality. Methane is a serious issue in climate change management.

All these elements gave man its food, clothing, and shelter  which is life sustenance. The evolutionary ape man transformed these natural elements into the era of modernity, which we can attribute to the special natural gift of brain power which is higher than that of the other lower animals.

Now the BIG Questions

How rational has man been in extracting all these materials?

How rational have all these materials been processed?

How rational has man been in appropriating all these materials among his various multidimensional uses and applications across the large spectrum of needs  demands and supply?

From the primal use of wood for survival to the current reliance on hydrocarbons like coal, bitumen, and petroleum, the evolution of resource utilisation is a testament to the intricacies of human ingenuity.

According to the EUs Copernicus Climate Change Service, December 2023 set a historic milestone as the warmest December globally, capping off a year marked by record-breaking temperatures.

Each month from June to December in 2023 surpassed previous temperature records, solidifying the year as the warmest ever recorded since the beginning of climate records.

In 2023, the global average air surface temperature reached 14.98C, surpassing the previous 2016 record by a significant margin of 0.17C.

According to Copernicus, 2023 exhibited an average temperature of 1.48C higher than the pre-industrial levels, marking the period before the widespread human use of fossil fuels.

This inquiry is not merely a contemplation of the past but a call to action for a sustainable and conscientious future. Nigerias energy transition must be articulated and must accommodate our peculiar developmental needs for the next twenty-five years, because while fossil fuels are globally transiting away, yet Nigeria needs fossil resources to earn revenue for its urgent developmental requirement.

This highlights the concerning trend of escalating global temperatures and underscores the imperative of concerted efforts to address and mitigate the impacts of climate change.

The induced production of carbon and methane impacts air quality, and the rise in surface temperatures crystalises the narrative of intense resource exploitation from our activities on the planet earth.

The Elements

Water: Potable water, essential for survival, intertwines with activities like fishing, irrigation, river roads, and seas. Water is a lifeline for the global populations, regardless of their size.

As the global population hovers between seven and eight billion, the demand for potable water is intensifying. The River Nile water conflicts are escalating, and proliferation of boreholes worldwide for water extraction and agricultural irrigation. The impending consequences prompt us to question the rationale and optimisation of water resources across the spectrum: Must every household have a borehole?

Cant neighbourhoods and communities have just one giant borehole for their use through reticulations?

Many related issues, such as the power generation system, must be rationalised, with optimisation employed to save our environment. The ecosystems of our national lives must be rationalised and holistically reviewed to comply with the new normal of green lifestyles.

These are serious and fundamental issues that will require the National Council on Climate Change, with the approval of Mr President, to revisit the energy transition policy and all the critical stakeholders for effective climate financing governance.

Land: A foundational support carrying all organic and inorganic elements, land plays a pivotal role in agriculture, housing, and mining activities  both on the surface and subsurface.

To what extent does mankind abuse the use of land in Nigeria, particularly whether in agricultural practice, urbanisation, or mining? The NCCC, as may be approved by Mr President, must revisit our land use and mining activities.

Hydrocarbons: From the early use of coal to the pervasive application of bitumen and petroleum, hydrocarbons have taken centre stage in modernity, permeating various aspects of human life.

As we reflect on the journey from evolutionary dependence on nature to the current anthropogenic era, the overarching question persists: To what extent have we exercised rationality in managing, extracting, processing, and appropriating these resources, recognising our responsibility as stewards of the earth?

This inquiry is not merely a contemplation of the past but a call to action for a sustainable and conscientious future. Nigerias energy transition must be articulated and must accommodate our peculiar developmental needs for the next twenty-five years, because while fossil fuels are globally transiting away, yet Nigeria needs fossil resources to earn revenue for its urgent developmental requirement.

It is a delicate policy that Mr President and the NCCC must deliberately pursue.

Solar: In the 19th century, the pillars of industry relied on coal, limestone, steel, and cement, as well as the advent of oil and gas. However, the 21st century has witnessed a transformative shift towards renewable energy sources, particularly solar and wind power.

Solar energy, in particular, has emerged as a sustainable alternative, prompting humanity to reconsider and reduce dependence on traditional, environmentally impactful sources.

This transition reflects a growing awareness of the need to harness cleaner energy options and minimise the exploitation of non-renewable resources.

Even farming and agricultural practices are fast transforming to smart agriculture with minimal use of fossil-driven apparatus.

The urgent call to action for Nigeria and the government of President Bola Tinubu

Fortunately, Nigeria is well placed to drive forward a dynamic and home-grown climate action agenda. The passage of the Climate Change Act 2021 paved the way for the creation of the National Council on Climate Change (NCCC), which reports directly to Mr President, with the mandate to act as a clearing house and convening platform for climate action initiatives within and across government. It is important to distinguish NCCCs convening role from the still critically important operational role of the Ministry of Environment, which sits as a key member of the Council.

With the current reality, there is an urgent need for the Mr President to revisit and realign the activities of the NCCC, particularly with the requirements for Nigeria to access climate finance for adaptation to and mitigation of climate effects, as well as to benefit from the rapidly developing voluntary action, and to participate in carbon trading markets.

A big lesson from COP28 was that we need to accelerate action and take more deliberate steps to ensure greater coordination of activities, both in and between the public and private sectors. Also flowing from COP28 sessions, Mr President will need to reconstitute the NCCC and infuse new vibrance into the Council. It is important that all the critical stakeholders are co-ordinated and appropriate working groups are created around and within the Council.

His Excellency has already taken bold steps to accelerate the potential to access greater flows of climate finance through the recent creation of the Carbon Market Committee, ably led by Zach Adediji, the executive chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS). The NCCC provides a platform to ensure coordination with the Ministry of Finance.

In navigating Nigerias energy transition, a critical reassessment of existing policies is imperative, including a revision of the Energy Transition Plan promoted by the former Vice president, especially given the given the complex interplay of forces advocating for and against the phasing-out of fossil fuels in the new administration.

For example, the National Energy Commission is expected to play a significant role in the energy transmission policy. Given the new ministerial portfolios, the ministers, sitting as members of the Council, need to be re-designated. The Council already has provision for representatives from the organised private sector representatives, civil society, and all the state and local governments, and these representatives need to be appointed immediately. Also provided for is a role for the National Security Adviser in the NCCC, underscoring the potential role of climate change in worsening conditions that could increase conflict risks, such as poverty and food insecurity.

The past missed opportunities by Nigeria to access the Loss and Damages Fund can still be regained. Our position for the ability to access climate financing can be strengthened, while the building of technical capacity for the NCCC is urgently required if we are to catch up with countries like the UAE and Saudi Arabia. The establishment of the Climate Fund, as the repository of such funding, as well as other flows of climate finance, is a critical function of the NCCC under the Climate Change Act, and we must move quickly, working closely with the Ministry of Finance, to accelerate progress on this.

To expedite decarbonisation and achieve swift progress on carbon credit, it is crucial for Mr President to actively request monthly updates. This approach will ensure proper coordination and effective monitoring of the activities surrounding climate change issues in Nigeria.

In navigating Nigerias energy transition, a critical reassessment of existing policies is imperative, including a revision of the Energy Transition Plan promoted by the former Vice president, especially given the given the complex interplay of forces advocating for and against the phasing-out of fossil fuels in the new administration.

The National Energy Commission is also expected to play a significant role in the energy transition policy.

The nation stands at a pivotal juncture, carefully balancing the complex interplay of forces advocating for and against the phasing-out of fossil fuels; the need for continued oil and gas exploration against market constraints for petroleum products; and the delicate equilibrium between decarbonisation targets and credits, which is essentially a debit and credit game. A revised plan must consider also the time-sensitive nature of attracting investments in both conventional and renewable energy sources, particularly solar, which necessitates meticulous oversight by the NCCC.

While acknowledging the significance of oil and gas as essential resources for economic growth, and the feeding of our sizable population, we must also recognise agricultures potential, albeit requiring substantial mechanisation.

Optimising power generation entails a strategic shift towards hydro, gas, and solar options, with the proposal of a 6,000 MW nuclear power base load to be constructed by the Chinese, as may be approved by the President.

This minimum nuclear power supply base for Nigeria, when added to our current 4,000MW per day, will give Nigeria a minimum of 10,000MW every day, and that can propel our GDP growth to two digits.

This choice becomes imperative for Nigeria to overcome its energy deficit and alleviate poverty. Careful consideration and progressive adjustments over the next two to three years will be essential in achieving a balanced and sustainable energy landscape.

In maintaining a delicate balance with fossil fuels, its crucial to consider transitioning fuels such as LPG (Liquified Petroleum Gas) and CNG (Compressed Natural Gas). While these alternatives offer cleaner options, their production is energy-intensive and carbon-laden. Nigeria currently requires about five million tonnes of LPG to replace traditional cooking methods involving firewood, charcoal, and kerosene.

One of the working groups of the NCCC could be made to deliberately drive this LPG/CNG deployment, as was done in Indonesia 11 to 12 years ago.

Nigeria currently faces mounting pressure from the encroaching Sahara Desert, demanding immediate attention from the Ministry of Environment.

In the short term, a collaborative effort between the Ministry of Environment and the Sahelian states can swiftly implement the strategic planting of special desert trees. Such tree-planting campaigns must be supported with irrigation systems.

This proactive measure holds the potential to generate positive carbon credit footprints in Nigeria.

Concurrently, urbanisation and housing strategies must undergo rationalisation, adhering to set standards by various government agencies to ensure climate change compliances are captured in design and building.

These are just a few examples of the issues that need to be co-ordinated and become part of a holistic climate action plan. There are many other initiatives, including in transport and industry, that require accelerated development.

To expedite decarbonisation and achieve swift carbon credit progress, it is crucial for Mr President to actively request monthly updates from the NCCC on progress with these initiatives. This approach ensures proper coordination and effective monitoring of the activities surrounding climate change issues in Nigeria.

My submissions as articulated above are to guide Mr President Tinubu appropriately and to draw the attention of all the critical stakeholders to the urgent need for reorganising the NCCC and engaging in capacity building, as well as proper alignment with the Ministry of Environment, Finance, the National Energy Commission, the Federal inland Revenue Service, etc and others.

I share this reflection as a private citizen who had the privilege of attending COP28. I intend to ensure that the essence of the conference isnt lost amidst the day-to-day dynamics of governance in this administration.

Dan D Kunle writes from Abuja, Nigeria.

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As we reflect on the meaning of the 15th January 1966 for our political system, it is clear to me that military rule ultimately impacts negatively on society by generalising its authoritarian values, which are in essence anti-social and destructive of politics. In this sense, politics is understood as the art of negotiating conflicts related to the exercise of power.

Anybody who headed a military regime subverted the wishes of the people We all subverted the wishes of the people.  General Ibrahim Babangida (Tell Magazine, 7/12/98)

Forty-three years ago, on the 15th of January 1966 to be precise, a certain Major Chukwuma Nzeogwu addressed Nigerians through Radio Kaduna, announcing martial law and the takeover of power by the Supreme Council of the Revolution. Their aim, he said, was to establish a strong, united and prosperous nation free of corruption and internal strife. Our method of achieving this is purely military. By the end of the day, a significant part of the political class in the North and the West had been wiped out and the military had taken over the political system. In his column in Daily Times (3/2/1966), the late Tai Solarin blasted the civilian political class for destroying Nigerian politics through their twin evil practices of corruption and election rigging. He confidently boasted that, Now we have been saved  and we want to stay saved. Today, we are all wiser and almost nobody believes the military can save any country.

At that time, the military had a good reputation. Following the publication of Samuel Huntingtons book The Soldier and the State in 1957, the political science establishment in the United States and Europe had been pushing the idea of the military as the most modern, disciplined and organised institution in Africa that could play the modernising role that the Turkish military had played. Huntington, who died three weeks ago, was very influential in creating the ideological basis for supporting military rule.

They were presented as the African Cincinnatus. In Roman mythology, Cincinnatus was the model par excellence of human selfless service and civic consciousness. He had been invited by the representatives of the people in a period of national decay to carry out a fundamental civic responsibility  to repair and reconstruct the decomposing political institutions and structures. Having brilliantly carried out his civic duty, he scorned the glory of power and the appeals for him to remain as ruler and left the scene.

In contrast to the mythical Roman hero, the soldiers in power in Nigeria were unwilling to relinquish power. In January 1966, General Aguiyi Ironsi declared that he was a temporary impartial arbiter accepting the responsibility of power only for the short time. He promised that his sojourn in power was necessary to reorganise the world of civilian politics, which would then take back the power that belongs to it.

Military regimes have succeeded in permeating civil society with their values  both the formal military values of centralisation, authoritarianism and the informal lumpen values associated with barracks culture and brutality that were derived from the colonial army. If today our political class are as crass, crude, violent and corrupt as they were, it is not unrelated to the fact that they have been acquiring a lot of barracks culture

Consistently, when military regimes were settling down as natural rulers, Nigerian civil society rose, fought for the departure of the military to their barracks and insisted on a return to democracy. A certain form of political ethical code was thus imposed on the Nigerian military by civil society in the 1970s and 1980s. That the military could organise occasional coup detats for the resolution of acute political crisis, the reorganisation of structures and institutions, and the organisation of elections, but they should not try to perpetuate their rule. That code is broken today; there can be no excuse for military rule.

The military, however, has ruled Nigeria for 28 out of the 49 years in which the country has existed as an independent entity, and has impacted strongly on the countrys culture and institutions. As we reflect on the meaning of the 15th January 1966 for our political system, it is clear to me that military rule ultimately impacts negatively on society by generalising its authoritarian values, which are in essence anti-social and destructive of politics. In this sense, politics is understood as the art of negotiating conflicts related to the exercise of power.

Military regimes have succeeded in permeating civil society with their values  both the formal military values of centralisation, authoritarianism and the informal lumpen values associated with barracks culture and brutality that were derived from the colonial army. If today our political class are as crass, crude, violent and corrupt as they were, it is not unrelated to the fact that they have been acquiring a lot of barracks culture over the past three decades.

In Nigeria today, there is a decline in civility and a rise in violence in social interactions. In terms of governance, the most devastating impact of the military has been to spread the myth that they have a useful political role as an institution that could use its monopoly of force to prevent chaos. This is the context of General Babangidas recent comments about the good coup in Guinea.

The military have succeeded in destroying Nigerian federalism, sacrificing it on the altar of over-centralisation. They are structurally incapable of running a federal system. Their unified command structure cannot accept a state government, which they consider to be hierarchically subordinate to the federal government, could have domains over which she is sovereign, which as is generally recognised, is the essence of federalism.

It will be recalled that since the Gowon era, military regimes have used the impending chaos argument to postpone promised democratisation. The specific legacy from the military is therefore neither corruption nor authoritarianism, much as they took both to new heights. The military legacy is the fabrication of a political culture oriented towards the imposition of a command and control structure on the political process that is destroying the residual democratic values that have survived in the Nigerian society. This is the context that gives meaning to General Obasanjos declaration that the 2007 elections would be a do-or-die affair. That is the script Maurice Iwu used to organise massive fraud in the said elections. That is what Ogbulafor meant when he said the PDP would rule Nigeria for sixty years.

The Nigerian military, including retired officers, are today the major segment of the power elite. They are the richest people in the country and they occupy the summit of the most powerful organisations in the countrys polity and economy. It is not surprising that so many in the National Assembly have backgrounds from the armed forces. The military, with its high concentration of corrupt and crass individuals, hedonists and putschists, have wielded power for so long that they have become some of the most respected members of their communities.

The military have succeeded in destroying Nigerian federalism, sacrificing it on the altar of over-centralisation. They are structurally incapable of running a federal system. Their unified command structure cannot accept a state government, which they consider to be hierarchically subordinate to the federal government, could have domains over which she is sovereign, which as is generally recognised, is the essence of federalism. The current standoff between President YarAdua and Governor Jonah Jang is a reflection of this tradition. Following the coups in Mauritania and Guinea, the ideology of good coup is returning. We must remain vigilant.

A professor of Political Science and development consultant/expert, Jibrin Ibrahim is a Senior Fellow of the Centre for Democracy and Development, and Chair of the Editorial Board of PREMIUM TIMES.

This article was first published in Next newspaper on 14th February 2009.

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The Bolsheviks, within two years, effectively took over the country in what became known as the Great October Revolution. As such, Lenin succeeded in turning the theory of Marx into practice The Russian Revolution inspired many revolutions across the world. These included that in Yugoslavia led by Marshall Tito, the Romanian, Czechoslovak (now Czech and Slovak Republics) and Polish revolutions, plus those across Eastern Europe.

Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov was a simple, straight forward man whose life ambition was to stop human beings from being exploited by others. His life was characterised by studies of all kinds, the power of human reason, a simplicity that concealed his tenacity, his audacity that led to the October Russian Revolution, and his love for the human race, irrespective of race, gender, region and religion.

Lenin did not set out to change the world, but when the world around him changed, he became a catalyst for this. He had a protected childhood and seemed unconcerned with the world until a month before his 17th birthday in March 1887 when Alexander, his elder brother who was a Zoology student, was arrested for involvement in a plot to bomb Czar Alexander III. Alexander Ulyanov was hung two months later.

Lenin tried to move on a few months later by securing admission to study Law at the Kazan University, but was expelled within months for participating in a students protest. He could not get another admission and had to study as an external candidate at St. Petersburg University, graduating in 1891. But he remained on the radar screen of the Czarist monarchy and tried to evade arrest by using aliases like Petrov and K. Tulin. Three years later, he was sent to prison for one year and then moved to Siberia where he was released in 1900. He then adopted the alias Lenin, after the Lena River in Siberia.

Following the completion of his sentence, Lenin left for exile, and except for a brief visit in 1905 during a failed uprising, spent the next 17 years abroad, before returning to lead the 1917 Russian Revolution.

Karl Marx had developed the revolutionary theory that became known as Marxism. But Marx passed away on 14 March, 1883 and had such not witnessed the 1884/85 Berlin Conference, where Europe and the United States met to carve out other parts of the world into colonies. This had a fundamental impact on the capitalist system that Marx had so expertly analysed. Lenin, in studying Marx, extended the theory in the context of new realities and concluded that humanity had gone beyond the capitalist system to build an higher system  imperialism. He posited that it was an era of oligopoly, with a few countries accumulating capital and exporting it to the new colonies. He published his conclusions in a book titled, Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism. Lenin, in his simple style of explaining what appears complex, said: If it were necessary to give the briefest possible definition of imperialism, we should have to say that imperialism is the monopoly stage of capitalism.

In his book, State and Revolutionary, he explained his praxis on Marxism: During the lifetime of great revolutionaries, the oppressing classes constantly hounded them, received their theories with the most savage malice, the most furious hatred and the most unscrupulous campaigns of lies and slander. After their death, attempts are made to convert them into harmless icons, to canonise them, so to say, and to hallow their names to a certain extent for the consolation of the oppressed classes and with the object of duping the latter, while at the same time robbing the revolutionary theory of its substance, blunting its revolutionary edge and vulgarising it.

While most in Russia dilly-dallied, Lenin saw the opportunity to carry out a socialist revolution that many had theorised about. He analysed that power was lying in the street, so the issue was not about theory but fighting to pick it up. Lenin led an armed attack that brought down the government within days of fighting.

For his deepening and expanding revolutionary praxis, the ideology became known as Marxism-Leninism. At that time, the All-European War, which was called the First World War, was raging. While the various parties, politicians and ruling classes queued behind their various governments, Lenin and his relatively small party refused. He correctly saw it as a war to share colonies as booty and a struggle to accumulate wealth.

Lenin described the conflict as an annexationist, predatory, plunderous war over which workers and farmers across the world do not need to lose their lives. He led the Bolshevik Party to pressure Russia to get out of the war. The programme for revolution was simple: ensure peace by getting out of the war, providing the masses, especially poor farmers, land, and ensuring food for the starving population. The slogan was simple: Peace, Land, and Bread.

While most in Russia dilly-dallied, Lenin saw the opportunity to carry out a socialist revolution that many had theorised about. He analysed that power was lying in the street, so the issue was not about theory but fighting to pick it up. Lenin led an armed attack that brought down the government within days of fighting. His theory was that: There are decades where nothing happens; and there are weeks where decades happen. Those were days that changed Russia and world politics.

The Bolsheviks, within two years, effectively took over the country in what became known as the Great October Revolution. As such, Lenin succeeded in turning the theory of Marx into practice.

The Russian Revolution inspired many revolutions across the world. These included that in Yugoslavia led by Marshall Tito, the Romanian, Czechoslovak (now Czech and Slovak Republics) and Polish revolutions, plus those across Eastern Europe.

Marxism-Leninism gave birth to the 1949 Chinese Revolution and to what became known as Maoism. It inspired the Vietnamese to throw out French colonialism and defeat the American forces of occupation.

The idea, according to the Conference Coordinating Committee which I chair, is to specifically examine Marxism-Leninism as a tool for analysing neo-liberalism, multilateralism, the rise of bodies like the BRICS, globalism and the contemporary world; examine why the Socialist Bloc collapsed and if Marxism-Leninism can be used to analyse, understand and tackle the current challenges of democracy and underdevelopment in Africa and whether it is still emancipatory and relevant today.

It led to the revolts by Latin American countries, including the Nicaraguan and Venezuelan Revolutions.

Many countries in the West like Britain, United States and Israel supported Apartheid, helped the racists build nuclear weapons and encouraged them to imprison or kill liberation fighters like Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu and Ruth First, on the false premise that they were terrorists. In contrast, the socialist countries, including the defunct Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, which had been influenced by Marxism-Leninism, supported the liberation fighters. Thanks to the these followers of Leninism, many African countries, including Algeria, Guinea Bissau, Cape Verde, Mozambique, Angola, Zimbabwe, Namibia and South Africa became free.

On 30 August, 1918, Lenin was shot by a lady, Fannie Kaplan. He never fully recovered. On 21 January, 1924, he died at 53. To mark a century of his exit, an international conference on his ideas is holding in Abuja, Nigeria from 22-23 January, 2024. The theme is Lenin, Leninism, Africa and the World.

The idea, according to the Conference Coordinating Committee which I chair, is to specifically examine Marxism-Leninism as a tool for analysing neo-liberalism, multilateralism, the rise of bodies like the BRICS, globalism and the contemporary world; examine why the Socialist Bloc collapsed and if Marxism-Leninism can be used to analyse, understand and tackle the current challenges of democracy and underdevelopment in Africa and whether it is still emancipatory and relevant today.

Lenin was a simple man who changed the course of world history; his life teaches humanity loads of lessons.

Owei Lakemfa, a former secretary general of African workers, is a human rights activist, journalist and author.

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His New Deal policies, international vision, and commitment to public service reverberate through the decades, reminding us that, even in the face of immense challenges, leaders can shape a better future. Franklin D. Roosevelt, a beacon of hope and change, remains an icon of American history, a testament to the power of leadership in times of crisis. Nigerian leaders could draw inspiration from FDRs vision and temperament.

The recent buzz in Nigerian news centres around the Betta Edu scandal  involving a 37-year-old doctor who, until her suspension, was the countrys minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation. She had diverted a staggering N585 million meant for the societys most vulnerable into a private account. Astonishingly, Betta Edu is just one among many in this government and its predecessors, making the medias exclusive attention to this case bewildering. All of this is unfolding within a nation that has witnessed far more significant scandals, including the infamous funds purportedly swallowed by a snake.

While commendation is directed toward the government for suspending Edu, questions linger about those ostensibly complicit in her actions who still retain their positions. Public admiration seems rooted in the diminished expectation cultivated over the years of disillusionment. This narrative mirrors a societal yearning for transformation, even when originating from a source seemingly questionable.

Amidst systemic issues and a leadership vacuum, the publics enthusiasm to embrace ostensible transformation underscores a collective craving for redemption. The applause extends beyond an individuals professed reform to become an entreaty for a more luminous, virtuous future. The wearied public, acclimated to maladministration, proves a malleable audience, significantly lowering the threshold for commendable leadership.

This desperation for positive change obscures the publics discernment of the authenticity behind a potential transformation. Hungry for a hero, the public eagerly embraces the narrative. Yet, theres a true hero across the Atlantic  Franklin Delano Roosevelt. His legacies continue to impact lives daily, decades after he was gone, and serving as a beacon of genuine leadership. This month, we commemorate his birth date.

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, often referred to as FDR, stands as an enduring figure in the annals of American history, leaving an indelible mark on the nation and the world. As the 32nd President of the United States, FDR ascended to power during one of the nations most challenging periods  the Great Depression  and later navigated the country through the tumultuous years of World War II. His leadership, resilience, and transformative policies not only defined an era but also laid the groundwork for a reimagined America.

Born on 30 January, 1882 into a wealthy and privileged family, FDRs early life did not foreshadow the monumental challenges he would confront and conquer as president. His entry into politics was spurred by a sense of duty and a commitment to public service, embodying the ideals of progressivism that sought to address the social and economic disparities of the time.

At its core, the New Deal sought to provide relief, recovery, and reform. Relief measures aimed to immediately address the pressing needs of the unemployed and destitute. Recovery programmes endeavoured to revive the economy through public works projects and financial redesign. Reform initiatives aimed to ensure the prevention of future economic catastrophes by regulating financial markets and promoting social welfare.

FDRs first term began in 1933, a time when the nation was gripped by the economic ravages of the Great Depression. Unemployment was soaring, businesses collapsing, and despair casting a long shadow over the American dream. It was in this crucible of crisis that FDR unveiled his ambitious New Deal  a series of programmes and policies aimed at alleviating the suffering of the American people and jumpstarting the nations recovery.

At its core, the New Deal sought to provide relief, recovery, and reform. Relief measures aimed to immediately address the pressing needs of the unemployed and destitute. Recovery programmes endeavoured to revive the economy through public works projects and financial redesign. Reform initiatives aimed to ensure the prevention of future economic catastrophes by regulating financial markets and promoting social welfare.

FDRs commitment to these principles manifested in a flurry of legislative initiatives, including the establishment of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), the Social Security Act, and the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). These programems not only injected hope and financial relief into the lives of millions but fundamentally reshaped the governments role in the well-being of citizens.

However, it was FDRs ability to communicate and connect with the American people that set him apart. Through a series of fireside chats, radio broadcasts that conveyed his plans and reassured the public, FDR established a direct and empathetic link with citizens. His calming voice and assurance instilled confidence in a nation grappling with uncertainty, earning him the moniker of a master communicator.

Yet, FDRs presidency faced its most profound test with the onset of World War II. As Europe plunged into conflict, FDR maintained a delicate balancing act, skillfully guiding the United States toward preparedness without direct involvement. The attack on Pearl Harbour in 1941 shattered this delicate equilibrium, propelling the United States into the global conflict.

FDRs leadership during World War II demonstrated his capacity to navigate complex international relations and unite a nation behind a common cause. His vision of a post-war world was encapsulated in the Atlantic Charter, co-authored with British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, laying the foundation for the United Nations and articulating principles of international cooperation and human rights.

 FDRs legacy is not without its complexities. The internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II and his reluctance to fully address issues of racial inequality within the United States are stains on an otherwise remarkable record. Acknowledging these shortcomings is crucial to understanding the full scope of FDRs impact and the ongoing work required to achieve a more just society.

Tragically, FDRs life was cut short in April 1945, just months before the end of World War II. Yet, the impact of his legacy resonates far beyond his time in office. The New Deal policies not only pulled the United States out of the Great Depression but laid the groundwork for the modern welfare state. Social security, labor protections, and banking regulations endure as pillars of American society.

Moreover, FDRs leadership during World War II set the stage for the United States to emerge as a global superpower. The principles articulated in the Atlantic Charter influenced the post-war order and the establishment of the United Nations, reflecting a commitment to international collaboration and the prevention of future global conflicts.

However, FDRs legacy is not without its complexities. The internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II and his reluctance to fully address issues of racial inequality within the United States are stains on an otherwise remarkable record. Acknowledging these shortcomings is crucial to understanding the full scope of FDRs impact and the ongoing work required to achieve a more just society.

Franklin D. Roosevelts legacy is a tapestry woven with threads of hope, resilience, and transformative leadership. From the depths of the Great Depression to the height of World War II, FDR steered the ship of state with a steady hand, leaving an enduring imprint on the nation and the world.

His New Deal policies, international vision, and commitment to public service reverberate through the decades, reminding us that, even in the face of immense challenges, leaders can shape a better future. Franklin D. Roosevelt, a beacon of hope and change, remains an icon of American history, a testament to the power of leadership in times of crisis. Nigerian leaders could draw inspiration from FDRs vision and temperament.

Osmund Agbo is the author of Black Grit, White Knuckles: The Philosophy of Black Renaissance.

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The 14 Brigade Nigerian Army has renovated a classroom at Ujurueze Primary School, Ebem Ohafia, in Ohafia Local Government Area of Abia State.

The brigade also equipped the school with learning facilities.

Innocent Omale, a lieutenant, who is the assistant director, Army Public Relations 14 Brigade, said in a statement on Friday that the renovation was done by the Brigade Commander, Nsikak Edet, a brigadier-general.

Mr Omale stated that it was the commanders gesture towards making learning easy for the pupils, as well as to win the hearts of the host community.

According to the statement, it was the brigades civil-military cooperation and educational support.

Speaking at the unveiling ceremony, Ukoha Ukoha, the paramount ruler of Ebem Kingdom, thanked the commander for his kind gesture.

He said that education was the best legacy one could bequeath to any society.

The Head Teacher of the school, Nwanne Adintiv, thanked the commander for changing the lives of the pupils by giving them a favourable learning condition.

In his response, the commander called for a more symbiotic relationship with the host community.

He prayed that the pupils would take advantage of the facilities to assimilate well and become great men and women soon.

The highlight of the event was the unveiling of the classroom as well as a tour of the facility.

(NAN)

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Concerned residents of Ikoyi have strongly urged the state government to take immediate action to rescue them from the looming danger of being submerged by the sea due to the reckless dredging and indiscriminate sand-filling of the lagoon by land speculators.

They argued that the situation will aggravate the already perennial flooding in some neighbourhoods.

In a statement issued on Friday, the Coalition of Concerned Citizens of Lekki, Ikoyi, and Victoria Island called on the Babajide Sanwo-Olu-led administration to take immediate action and rescue them from the looming danger of being submerged by the lagoon.

The coalition emphasised that this threat is a direct result of the illegal activities of land speculators, and they expect the government to act promptly to safeguard the lives and properties of the residents.

Olusegun Ladega, an architect and the group representative, noted what he described as a distortion of the Lekki drainage regional master plan.

Mr Ladega emphasised that the cause of this distortion is the indiscriminate sand-filling of natural waterways. Additionally, he noted that sand-filling of Lagos lagoons and oceans contributes to severe coastal erosion, ultimately resulting in the forceful return of water to the land.

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He said, The dredging activities along the lagoon shoreline are usually carried out at night, thus leading to the encroachment of the waterfronts of some Ikoyi residents and the gradual submerging of their neighbourhoods beneath the sea. Realtors and developers are forming landmass by illegally sand-filling the Lagos lagoon and selling the land to unsuspecting affluent and sometimes influential figures.

According to the Africa Centre for Strategic Studies, the number of people living in low-elevation coastal zones in Africa is expected to increase significantly by 2030, with an estimated 108 to 116 million people in these areas.

By 2060, this figure is projected to double. Although every region in Africa is threatened, North and West Africa will be the most affected, with around 85 per cent of the projected 100 million population in these regions.

Egypt and Nigeria, with high-density metropolises near the coast, are expected to face the most significant population disruptions. Lagos, a low-lying city on Nigerias Atlantic coast, is home to at least 20 million people and is expected to become the worlds largest city by the end of the century.

However, it experiences the triple impact of perennial fluvial (river), pluvial (rainfall), and coastal flooding, making it even more vulnerable to the effects of climate change.

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BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 19. President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has called for the creation of a subregional office of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) for Central Asia in Kazakhstan, Trend reports.

Tokayev made remark during a meeting with FAO Director General Qu Dongyu in Italy.

In addition, the President of Kazakhstan confirmed his countrys interest in expanding cooperation with the Organization.

The President of Kazakhstan noted that the country is interested in UN expert support on improving seed production, combating agricultural land degradation, promoting green agriculture, and rational and efficient use of water and land resources.

According to him, Kazakhstan is taking part in the FAO initiative One country, one priority product," aimed at developing sustainable production and trade chains for the sale of unique local agricultural products.

The president also spoke about the country's priorities as chairman of the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea and the Islamic Organization for Food Security.

Kassym-Jomart Tokayev called on FAO to support the development of projects for land reclamation in the Aral Basin and water resource management.

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The video series is a collaborative effort between Vantage Markets and Bloomberg Media Studios.

LONDON, Jan. 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Vantage (or Vantage Markets), an award-winning multi-asset broker, is thrilled to launch the second episode of video series, The Vantage View, centred on the circular economy.

The Vantage View continues to break new ground, highlighting the latest key trends and thought provoking subjects that are transforming the economic landscape, backed by the research and support from Bloomberg Media Studios.

Vantage UK Releases Groundbreaking Episode of The Vantage View: Exploring the Circular Economy

This episode features Dr Seeram Ramakrishna, Professor and Director of the Centre for Nanotechnology and Sustainability, National University of Singapore. Dr Ramakrishna explores the difference between the linear economy which the modern economy is based on, and the circular economy which offers a greater benefit to society.



Dr Ramakrishna delves into why companies within the financial sectors are adopting circular practices to diversify and mitigate long-term risks, while presenting ways in which retail investors can invest in the circular economy and make an impact with their dollar.

"The rise of the circular economy presents a sustainable shift from traditional business practices, aligning with Vantage's progression towards ESG principles and bolstering our support for both UNHCR and the Vantage Foundation," said David Shayer, CEO of Vantage UK. "Circular economies potentially lessen dependence on limited resources and mitigate supply chain vulnerabilities, leading to enhanced resource security."

"These economies have the potential to foster job growth in research, innovation, and education while empowering consumers to make sustainable choices in their daily lives. Our aim in initiating this discussion is to inspire others to re-evaluate their current way of life, challenging assumptions and driving meaningful, enduring change."

Learn more about the circular economy on The Vantage View.

About Vantage

Vantage (or Vantage Markets) is a multi-asset broker offering clients access to a nimble and powerful service for trading Contracts for Difference (CFDs) on Forex, Commodities, Indices, Shares, ETFs, and Bonds.

With over 13 years of market experience, Vantage transcends the role of broker, providing a trusted trading ecosystem, an award-winning mobile trading app, and a user-friendly trading platform that empowers clients to seize trading opportunities. Download the Vantage App on App Store or Google Play.

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Bloomberg Media is the world's leading multi-platform media company for business and finance, which draws on the editorial resources of more than 2,700 editorial professionals globally in more than 120 countries. Bloomberg Media is the consumer-facing media organization of Bloomberg L.P.

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Celebration to feature marching bands, dance teams, remarks from state leaders

Learn how to apply to South Carolina's new Education Scholarship Trust Fund

COLUMBIA, S.C., Jan. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- K-12 education is on the move in South Carolina, with the state's first education savings account scholarship for low-income students launching this year. In celebration of all of the state's learning options  from traditional public schools to microschooling  more than a thousand students, parents, and educators will rally at the South Carolina Capitol on Jan. 26, 2024.

The festive event will kick off with a 9:30 a.m. pep rally at the University of South Carolina Alumni Center (900 Senate St. in Columbia) featuring the talents of students from across the state. Cheer squads, dance teams, choirs, and school bands will perform during the upbeat rally. Following the showcase, students and their families will participate in a spirit-filled march to the State Capitol at 10:45 a.m., accompanied by cheers and the sound of a band.

At 11 a.m. at the State Capitol, a program of diverse speakers will highlight South Carolina's options, the importance of school choice to the Hispanic community, and personal stories of educational leadership and students finding success. A highlight of the program will be Gov. Henry McMaster's presentation of the official proclamation of South Carolina School Choice Week.

Students and families will wrap up the State Capitol programming with a group photo  "South Carolina's largest-ever selfie"  and a performance of the official National School Choice Week dance.

A parent workshop, including a catered lunch, will take place at 1 p.m. in the Alumni Center upstairs ballroom. The workshop will provide information to families about South Carolina's recently passed ESA bill, the Education Scholarship Trust Fund, which begins accepting applications on Jan. 15. Led by Americans for Prosperity SC, the workshop will answer parent questions about the new scholarship and guide them through the application process.

"It is such a wonderful experience to be a part of the synergy created by gathering a diverse group of students and parents from various school options. Oftentimes, parents are not aware of the available educational choices but they want the best educational environment where their children can thrive. Our event brings awareness to the various available education choices for students," said Cheryl Cromwell, executive director of Charleston RISE.

This celebration is timed to coincide with National School Choice Week (NSCW), which will feature more than 26,000 school choice events across all 50 states to raise equal and positive awareness of the traditional public, public charter, public magnet, private, online, and home education options available for families. In South Carolina, more than 350 celebrations will take place in schools and homes during the Week.

The Columbia celebration is organized by Charleston RISE and Palmetto Parents Alliance, in collaboration with a variety of schools and organizations across the state.

Families can learn more and RSVP for the free event at columbiaschoolchoiceevent.com.

National School Choice Week (NSCW) informs, inspires, and empowers parents to discover the K-12 education options available for their children, including traditional public, charter, magnet, online, private, and homeschooling. Every January, tens of thousands of schools, organizations, and individuals plan unique events and activities to shine a positive spotlight on effective education options in their communities. The Week is a project of the nonpartisan, nonpolitical National School Choice Awareness Foundation.

SOURCE National School Choice Week
YIWU, China, Jan. 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Yiwugo.com, the official website of the Yiwu Commodity Market, is the largest commodity wholesale market in the world. On January 18, 2024, the award ceremony for the 2023 Yiwugo's Top 10 Operator Competition was successfully held at the Expo Center Hotel in Yiwu. Guests of the event comprised executives of Yiwugo.com, representatives of outstanding vendors from diverse industries, and media friends from various backgrounds.

2023 Yiwugos Top 10 Operator and the CEO Jianjun Wang.

The winners of the 2023 Top 10 operator Competition are GEMEI Electrical Appliances, XUPING JEWELRY, Yiwu Kemei Electric Appliances Co., Ltd., Zhang Weichao Stockings Wholesale Factory, Yiwu Enhong Ribbon Co., Ltd., Yizhi Silk Stockings, Wenzhou Xiongxing Packaging Co., Ltd., Yiwu Aishang Household Daily Products Factory, Meige Carpets, and Yiwu Duocan Baking Cup. The event was attended by over a thousand individuals, including the owners of these award-winning enterprises, and outstanding operator from various sectors. Surrounded by captivating song and dance performances, each award recipient took the stage to receive their well-deserved recognition. Amid the vibrant atmosphere, Yiwugo and operator from the platform expressed their gratitude for the year 2023 and their optimistic expectations for 2024.

In the first year following the COVID-19 pandemic, everyone had high hopes for 2023, and it indeed met those expectations. On December 18, 2023, data from the State Post Bureau's safety supervision system revealed that Yiwu had become the first county-level city in the country to handle an annual express volume exceeding 10 billion pieces. It took Yiwu approximately 10 years to accomplish this feat, progressing from the initial 100 million pieces in 2012 to reaching the 10 billion mark today.

In 2012, Yiwugo was established amid the rapid development of China's domestic e-commerce industry. Over the past 12 years, Yiwugo has evolved into the world's largest small commodity wholesale platform, boasting more than 12 million registered buyers.

With a solid foundation built over 12 years, Yiwugo has positioned itself as a shining example of industry excellence and customer satisfaction. Embracing the digital transformation and the upgrading of traditional markets, Yiwugo remains steadfast in its commitment to continuous improvement. In the pursuit of "effortless sourcing and trustworthy transactions," the platform consistently strives to enhance its services day after day. Prioritizing cost-effectiveness, Yiwugo has empowered operator to transform and upgrade their operations, benefiting from increased platform traffic. Riding the wave of the internet boom, Yiwugo facilitates transactions and engages with high-quality buyers worldwide, cementing its role as a premier global hub for top-quality procurement.

From the list of this year's top 10 operator, the home and daily necessities industry continues to outperform others. GEMEI Electrical Appliances and Kemei Electric Appliances, pioneers in the small household appliances sector, have emerged as frontrunners in terms of transaction volume and order numbers on Yiwugo. This year marks a significant change in the selection process, as there is a pivot towards considering overall transaction volume as the primary criterion, departing from the previous focus on the number of votes. This adjustment not only reaffirms the competition's credibility but also highlights the strength of the winning vendors.

In the past year, Yiwugo's big data has accurately predicted market trends and promptly responded to changing market dynamics. Moreover, it has proactively anticipated the purchasing intentions of domestic and international buyers in the jewelry industry, signaling new directions. XUPING JEWELRY, as a titan in the jewelry industry, has showcased its absolute strength in the annual competition.

Zhang Weichao Stockings Wholesale Factory, Aishang Household Daily Products, Meige Carpets, and Duocan Baking Cup have consistently secured a spot in the top ten rankings in recent years. Through their active participation in Yiwugo and brand selection events, these operator have not only reinforced their industry position and reputation but also accelerated their brand's international expansion. This, in turn, has resulted in a substantial increase in brand influence and trust among consumers.

Yizhi Silk Stockings, the sole vendor included in the industrial zone, and Wenzhou Xiongxing Packaging, both emerging and innovative enterprises, have earned their positions in this year's top 10 operator. They distinguish themselves in the industry with exceptional professional skills and design capabilities. Their success in this selection process highlights Yiwugo's commitment to discovering promising enterprises and endorsing suppliers with significant strength.

In 2023, Yiwugo continued its collaboration with platform operator to construct a market that empowers economic and social development through digital transformation. This initiative has paved the way for new drivers and advantages in high-quality development. Moving forward, in alignment with Yiwu's vision of "prosperity through commerce and city-building," Yiwugo aims to attract top-tier suppliers from the industrial zone, unite with platform operator, and cater to global buyers. Furthermore, to bring the digital economy to a higher level from a strategic perspective, Yiwugo will play the role of an industry-leading platform, jointly build a demonstration zone for common prosperity, and foster a positive business environment.

SOURCE Yiwugo.com
DIAMOND BAR, Calif., Jan. 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Bedsure, a leading home textile brand, sparks a new chapter with the new series U by Bedsure through the successful culmination of the Design Your Cozy World Contest, harnessing global designer creativity to illuminate the 2024 printed bedding trends.

U by Bedsure, a design breakthrough, is fueled by the unique ethos "Powered by You." Crafted through insights from public voting, the Tastemaker community, and the Gen Z Society, this series collaborates with renowned designers and invites the public to participate in the co-creation process, creating a masterpiece born from the vibrant spirit of Gen Z. This design revolution is not a mere selection but a true reflection of individuality, a distinctive statement genuinely born from the vibrant and creative spirit of Gen Z.

Design Your Cozy World Contest

Bedsure, committed to delivering high-quality, innovatively designed bedding products, initiated the Design Your Cozy World Contest to cater to the needs of the younger generation. This global online competition attracted numerous creative and passionate designers.

The competition encouraged designers worldwide to create printed designs around the theme "Design Your Cozy World," showcasing their unique interpretations of a comfortable lifestyle. The competition concluded recently, with the selection of the top three designers whose work will now be featured as the inaugural products in Bedsure's highly anticipated U series.

Bedsure extends heartfelt gratitude to all participating designers and pattern design enthusiasts, acknowledging their invaluable contributions to the birth of the U by Bedsure series.

Future Plans for U by Bedsure

The U by Bedsure series is set to launch officially in May 2024, catering to the unique design preferences of Gen Z.

Bedsure commits to continued collaboration with these exceptional designers to introduce more innovative designs. As this new series hits the market, Bedsure will plan and initiate the next pattern recruitment contest, providing a platform for more aspiring designers to showcase their talent and assist them turn their unique design ideas into real bedding products.

Through the Design Your Cozy World Contest, Bedsure not only ignites a new chapter with the U by Bedsure series but also establishes a platform for global designers to showcase creativity and collaboratively build a comfortable world. Bedsure will persist in its commitment to innovation and user-centric design, bringing more delightful bedding experiences to its customers.

About Bedsure:

Founded in 2016, Bedsure is a leading home textile brand with products sold to over 15 million customers worldwide. Currently, Bedsure has over 50 bestselling home products in 8 countries and has maintained a compound growth rate of 100% for five consecutive years. While Bedsure has grown into a global company with diverse products to meet different customer needs, its focus on comfortable home products and everyday value stays the same. For more information, visit Bedsure's official website https://bedsurehome.com/, or Amazon shop https://www.amazon.com/bedsure. Stay in touch with Bedsure on social media @bedsurehome.

SOURCE Bedsure
Show Offers New Insights on ND Topics

BISMARCK, N.D., Jan. 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- In its continued commitment to bring new, exciting programming to viewers, BEK TV is thrilled to announce the upcoming premiere of "Open Range," a compelling weekday program hosted by North Dakota native Gary Emineth. "Open Range" will focus on a wide variety of issues affecting North Dakotans. To learn when and where to watch, visit BEK Buzz.

Open Range Logo

"Open Range promises to be an enlightening and entertaining television experience that celebrates North Dakota's values, culture, and its people," says Emineth, a distinguished North Dakota businessman and political figure. "Open Range" will serve as a platform for education and engagement, aiming to provide viewers with comprehensive insights into the matters that shape the state. Emineth goes on to say, "In an age of fleeting news snippets, the program will deliver in-depth coverage that encourages viewers to think critically and make informed decisions."

Emineth, along with a list of co-hosts, will guide viewers through a multifaceted landscape of topics, ranging from energy, government, and agriculture to history, sports, and more. The show's uniqueness lies in its ensemble of co-hosts, each offering specialized expertise in various subjects.

"Open Range" also will feature a weekly segment titled "Glory Days," celebrating notable individuals who originated from North Dakota and have achieved success in diverse fields. Additionally, the program will showcase the natural beauty of the state, emphasizing its landscapes and unique charm, countering misconceptions, and promoting a newfound appreciation for the state.

"North Dakota really is a small town with a 400-mile Main Street," says Emineth. "My hope is that Open Range fosters unity and understanding among North Dakotans by creating an environment where diverse viewpoints can be explored."

"Open Range" is an hour-long program that will air Monday through Friday, at 9pm CT. For more information, visit BEK Buzz.

MEDIA CONTACT

Julie Skaret, BEK Media Relations

1.701.475.1318 | [email protected]

SOURCE BEK TV
Capstone CPAs will Now Refer Business Owners to SCORE, and SCORE Central Oregon will Include Capstone CPAs in their List of Referrals to Small Business Owners

BEND, Ore., Jan. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Lance Brant, Founder and Managing Partner of Capstone Certified Public Accountants, is pleased to announce that they have teamed up with SCORE Central Oregon to deliver exceptional client support.

To read more about this exciting news, please visit

https://capstonecpas.com/breaking-news-capstone-cpas-teams-up-with-score-to-deliver-unparalleled-client-support/ .

"After meeting with Jim Darcey, Chapter Chair for SCORE Central Oregon, we agreed to refer business owners to the nonprofit organization if the entrepreneur could benefit from the outstanding services that SCORE offers," Brant noted, adding that in addition, SCORE will include Capstone in their list of referrals provided to small businesses for tax preparation and other financial assistance.

SCORE Central Oregon has a team of dedicated expert volunteers who provide free business mentoring and education to both new/startup and existing business owners. Meetings can be done either in person or remotely.

The mentors at SCORE Central Oregon are all experienced business people, and either owned or operated in a key management position in various enterprises, Brant noted.

SCORE's mentoring services are always free of charge, and SCORE Central Oregon has over 40 mentors in their chapter available to assist people.

SCORE Central Oregon is one of over 230 nationwide chapters of the nonprofit, which is also a resource partner of the U.S. Small Business Administration. Since 1964, SCORE has helped more than 11 million entrepreneurs start, grow or successfully exit a business.

As Darcey explained, SCORE clients who receive 3-plus hours of mentoring have found that this correlates with increased sales and general business growth.

"In the Central Oregon area, in the last fiscal year, SCORE provided support to almost 450 unique businesses," Darcey said. The impact on the community included 44 new businesses started and 155 new jobs created.

"At Capstone CPAs, I have worked with many entrepreneurs and small business owners over the years," noted Greg Langston, a partner in the Bend office.

"I, along with everyone at Capstone CPAs, understand how challenging it can be to start a new business, and we are delighted to refer our clients to SCORE Central Oregon and its outstanding services. We will also be happy to work with small business owners that Darcey and his team send our way."

SCORE's mentoring services are always free of charge, and SCORE Central Oregon has over 40 mentors in the chapter available to assist people. To request a mentor, just go to centraloregon.score.org , and click on "find a mentor".

With locations in Oregon, Washington and Idaho, Capstone serves clients throughout the Pacific Northwest, and beyond.

Our Oregon offices are located in:

Capstone CPAs Bend, Oregon Location

698 NW York Drive

Bend, OR 97703

541-382-5099

https://capstonecpas.com/our-offices/bend/

Capstone CPAs Redmond, Oregon Location

735 SW 9th Street

Redmond, OR 97756

541-548-3569

https://capstonecpas.com/our-offices/redmond

Capstone CPAs Sisters, Oregon Location

257 S Pine Street

Sisters, OR 97759

541-549-1237

https://capstonecpas.com/our-offices/sisters/

Capstone CPAs Prineville, Oregon Location

180 NW 2nd Street

Prineville, OR 97754

541-447-6565

https://capstonecpas.com/our-offices/prineville/

Capstone CPAs Eugene, Oregon Location

2294 Oakmont Way

Eugene, OR 97401

541-484-5734

https://capstonecpas.com/our-offices/eugene/

Capstone CPAs Klamath Falls, Oregon Location

422 S 5th Street

Klamath Falls, OR 97601

541-882-6630

https://capstonecpas.com/our-offices/klamath-falls/

Capstone CPAs Medford, Oregon Location

3232 Hillcrest Dr.

Medford, OR 97504

541-779-6600

https://capstonecpas.com/our-offices/medford/

Capstone CPAs Lakeview, Oregon Location

411 Center Street

Lakeview, OR 97630

541-947-5006

https://capstonecpas.com/our-offices/lakeview/

Our Idaho offices are located in:

Capstone CPAs Sandpoint, Idaho

1211 Michigan Street, Suite B

Sandpoint, ID 83864

208-265-2500

https://capstonecpas.com/our-offices/sandpoint/

Capstone CPAs Bonners Ferry, Idaho

7177 Main Street

Bonners Ferry, ID 83805

208-267-1665

https://capstonecpas.com/our-offices/bonners-ferry/

Our Washington office is located in:

Capstone CPAs Seattle, Washington

1325 4th Avenue Suite #1430

Seattle, WA 98101

206-734-3780

https://capstonecpas.com/our-offices/seattle/

About Capstone Certified Public Accountants:

Capstone Certified Public Accountants is a public accounting, consulting and advisory firm that combines deep industry experience with innovation. At Capstone, they truly want to be more than their clients' tax preparers. They work with and support their clients by looking at all their financial strategies, holistically and cohesively, to benefit their families and businesses. Capstone helps their clients accumulate, grow and protect their wealth across a lifetime. For more information, please visit https://capstonecpas.com/ .

Capstone Certified Public Accountants

698 NW York Dr.

Bend, OR 97701

(541) 382-5099

SOURCE Capstone Certified Public Accountants
35+ schools to participate in School Saturday in Kansas City, offer tours and information

KANSAS CITY, Mo., Jan. 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The fifth annual School Saturday in Kansas City will take place Jan. 27, opening doors across the city to families exploring their school options. A record-breaking nearly 40 schools and early childhood centers will participate in the citywide open house by hosting tours, highlighting student projects, and showcasing student performances.

School Saturday takes place from 10 a.m. to noon. The day gives families the chance to explore schools they are considering for the upcoming year  from pre-K options to high schools, from arts schools to international schools. Families can visit as many of the schools as they are interested in, meeting with teachers and staff and taking campus tours.

This citywide event is planned to coincide with the celebration of National School Choice Week (Jan. 21-27, 2024), which will feature tens of thousands of school choice celebrations across all 50 states, including nearly 400 in the Show Me State. The Week is timed to give families ample time to explore their options; in Kansas City, the deadline to submit applications for public charter schools is March 1.

Over 40 schools are participating in the citywide open house event, and a full list can be found at showmekcschools.org/school-saturday.

"For the first time Schools Saturday will include Kansas City Public Schools, private and charter schools," said Nina Ward, Director of Programs and Events Show Me KC Schools. This annual event supports families viewing, accessing and learning more about their school options in Kansas City to ensure they find the right fit for their student."

This event is planned by Show Me KC Schools. Show Me KC Schools is a non-profit organization that works to empower families on their educational journey. Show Me KC Schools also host an annual City School Fair on the second Saturday in November.

National School Choice Week (NSCW) informs, inspires, and empowers parents to discover the K-12 education options available for their children, including traditional public, charter, magnet, online, private, and homeschooling. Every January, tens of thousands of schools, organizations, and individuals plan unique events and activities to shine a positive spotlight on effective education options in their communities. The Week is a project of the nonpartisan, nonpolitical National School Choice Awareness Foundation.

SOURCE National School Choice Week
WATERLOO, Wis., Jan. 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Crave Brothers Farmstead Cheese announces that George Crave, President, and wife Debbie Crave, Vice President, will retire from their full-time leadership roles this month. They will both continue to serve as brand ambassadors for the company and work on special projects.

George and Debbie started Crave Brothers Farmstead Cheese in 2001 in partnership with George's brothers Charles, Mark and Tom. Together with 13 family members and 50 dedicated employees, they have grown the business into a nationally renowned brand producing award-winning cheeses. The couple's contributions include overseeing production, brand development, customer relations and sales. They have also helped the farm and cheese factory evolve into a model of sustainability.

Managing Partner Mark Crave will continue to lead the company and General Manager Adam Falbo will oversee operations at the cheese factory. Roseanne Crave is managing sales and marketing efforts.

"George and Debbie have set a solid foundation for the next generation of leaders to continue growing the company," said Mark Crave. "We wish them the best as they continue their life adventures together."

George and Debbie met at 4-H while in high school where they first shared an appreciation for agriculture that continues to this day. George and his brothers grew up on a dairy farm near Beloit. In 1980, the brothers purchased the Waterloo dairy farm. After 20 years of growing the farm with his brothers, George's vision was to expand the family business and add value to their milk with cheesemaking. Debbie began her career as the 1981-1982 Alice in Dairyland. She then worked in marketing at the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture and the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board before joining George and starting Crave Brothers Farmstead Cheese.

About Crave Brothers

The Crave family farms 3,000 acres of productive land in south-central Wisconsin, growing corn, alfalfa, wheat, soybeans, grass hay and pasture to use as nutritious feed for their herd of Holstein cattle. From the biodigester to water recovery and recycling, sustainability is top-of-mind on the farm and cheese factory. Crave Brothers Farm LLC and Crave Brothers Farmstead Cheese produce and use green energy as part of their sustainable dairy production model. Crave Brothers Farmstead Cheese produces Fresh Mozzarella, Mascarpone, Chocolate Mascarpone, Part-Skim Mozzarella, Oaxaca, Farmer's Rope String Cheese and Fresh Cheddar Cheese Curds.

SOURCE Crave Brothers Farmstead Cheese
DriveSmart Warranty is bringing both contest winners and influencers from their iRacing Series to NASCAR Xfinity Series race in Daytona.

TOMS RIVER, N.J., Jan. 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Contestant Tucker Minter and streamer Casey Kirwan are announced as the grand prize winners of DriveSmart to Daytona Series from the sponsored iRacing event by DriveSmart Warranty. The two will be flown out plus a guest to watch the NASCAR Xfinity Series United Rentals 300 live at Daytona International Speedway on Feb. 17.

The DriveSmart to Daytona Series consisted of five races where the winner was based off of overall points. Tucker Minter ranked number one in the series with scoring 168 points on this iRacing series and won the final race in Homestead Miami Speedway.

Beginning the DriveSmart to Daytona Series, six influencers and iRacing drivers were selected to be team captains to pick contestants through recruitment rounds to show their skill sets off. The six team captains were: RawGator , Trey Normile; Player, Jonathan Ramos; RyanVargas_23 , Ryan Vargas; CaseyKirwan_95 , Casey Kirwan; LandonHuffmanRacing , Landon Huffman; and DJ Yee-J , Justin Yee.

Streamer Kirwan chose contestant Minter to be a part of his iRacing league which was labeled as team red. Kirwan also had the overall winning team which won a $3,500 prize.

"We really wanted to give back to the people that are on the simulator and on the iRacing platform that are driving every day," said Christopher Doyle, DriveSmart YouTube livestream host. "We are super excited to experience memories that'll last forever with the winner and influencer at Daytona."

In Daytona, the two grand prize winners will be able to experience the behind-the-scenes of a NASCAR pit and watch the race live in-action. The two winners are invited on a tour around the garage on Friday during practice.

Daytona International Speedway is located in Daytona Beach, Florida which consists of 120 laps around a tri-oval track. Since the opening in 1959, it has held the annual season opening of NASCAR.

To learn more about DriveSmart Warranty and their involvement in NASCAR, visit https://linktr.ee/godrivesmart

About:

Founded in 2016, DriveSmart Warranty has rapidly established itself as a leading administrator of vehicle protection services across the United States. At the heart of our mission is a commitment to revolutionizing the automotive protection industry. We strive to forge lasting relationships with our customers, ensuring their journey with us extends beyond a mere transaction.

Our product line is designed to cater to a wide range of vehicles, accommodating those up to 20 years old. All our products are fully backed and insured by an A-rated insurance company, guaranteeing the highest quality and peace of mind for our customers. At DriveSmart Warranty, we recognize that the road ahead can be unpredictable. Our goal is to make it less so, by providing reliable, trustworthy, and high-quality automotive protection solutions.

Contact Information:

Katelyn Lenz

Public Relations Specialist

732-395-1424

[email protected]

policies lead the industry by providing more value than any leading competitor.

SOURCE DriveSmart
BURLINGAME, Calif., Jan. 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- CoherentMI published a report, titled, Dual Axis Solar Tracker Market was valued at US$ 6.46 Billion in the year 2023, and is anticipated to reach a US$ 13.76 Billion by 2030, with growing at a CAGR of 11.4% during forecast period 2023-2030.

The growth of the Dual Axis Solar Tracker Market can be attributed to several factors driving the demand for renewable energy sources. One of the key drivers is the increasing focus on sustainable development and the transition towards a low-carbon economy. Governments and organizations across the globe are investing heavily in renewable energy projects, with solar power being one of the key focus areas. Dual axis solar trackers play a crucial role in maximizing the efficiency and output of solar panels by tracking the movement of the sun throughout the day. This not only improves the energy yield but also enhances the return on investment for solar power plant owners. Another driver for the market is the declining cost of solar energy systems, making them more accessible to residential, commercial, and industrial customers.

Market Snapshot:

Report Coverage Details Study Period 2023 - 2030 Base Year of Estimation 2022 CAGR 11.40 % Largest Market North America Market Concentration High Major Players Array Technologies, NEXTracker, PV Hardware, Arctech Solar, Convert Italia and Among Others Segments Covered By Product Type, By Technology, By Application, By Geography Report Coverage Revenue Forecast, Competitive Landscape, Growth Factors, and Trends Growth Drivers  Supportive Government Policies and Incentives

 Declining Cost of Solar Power Generation

 Advancements in Solar Cell Technology

 Growth in Emerging Economies Restraints & Challenges  High Initial Costs

 Alternative Renewable Technologies

 Harsh Weather Conditions

Market Takeaways:

Dual Axis Solar Tracker Market Size is anticipated to witness a CAGR of 11.4% during the forecast period 2023-2030, owing to the increasing demand for renewable energy sources and advancements in solar tracking technologies.

during the forecast period 2023-2030, owing to the increasing demand for renewable energy sources and advancements in solar tracking technologies. On the basis of product, the single axis segment is expected to hold a dominant position, owing to its cost-effectiveness and widespread adoption. Single axis solar trackers offer improved energy output compared to fixed-tilt systems, providing a lucrative option for utility-scale installations.

In terms of technology, the solar photovoltaic segment is projected to dominate the market. Solar photovoltaic-based dual axis solar trackers are widely used due to their compatibility with solar PV modules. This unique technology maximizes electricity generation by accurately aligning the solar panels with the sun's position.

Within the application segment, the utility sector is expected to hold the largest market share. The utility industry is increasingly investing in solar power projects to meet the growing demand for electricity while reducing carbon emissions. Dual axis solar trackers enable utilities to enhance the output of their solar installations, making them the preferred choice.

Geographically, North America is anticipated to dominate the dual axis solar tracker market. The region has witnessed significant growth in solar power installations, driven by supportive government initiatives and favorable regulatory frameworks. Countries like the United States and Canada have made substantial investments in solar energy, contributing to the region's market dominance.

is anticipated to dominate the dual axis solar tracker market. The region has witnessed significant growth in solar power installations, driven by supportive government initiatives and favorable regulatory frameworks. Countries like and have made substantial investments in solar energy, contributing to the region's market dominance. Key players operating in the dual axis solar tracker market include Array Technologies, NEXTracker, PV Hardware, Arctech Solar, Convert Italia, SOLTEC, STI Norland, NClave, SunPower, and Solar Steel. These companies are focusing on strategic collaborations, product innovations, and expanding their market presence to gain a competitive edge. Their efforts towards developing advanced solar tracking solutions are expected to drive the growth of the dual axis solar tracker market.

Market Trends:

Two key trends observed in the Dual Axis Solar Tracker Market are the increasing adoption of solar energy in emerging economies and the technological advancements in solar tracking systems. Developing countries such as China and India are witnessing rapid urbanization and increasing energy demands. Solar power offers a viable solution for meeting the energy requirements in a sustainable manner. Governments in these countries are promoting the use of solar energy through various policies and incentives, which is driving the demand for dual axis solar trackers. Furthermore, there have been significant advancements in solar tracking technology, including the development of highly efficient tracking algorithms and the integration of IoT (Internet of Things) enabled systems. These advancements are further enhancing the performance and efficiency of dual axis solar trackers, creating new growth opportunities in the market.

Recent Development:

In January 2203 , Voyager 2, a single-axis tracker solution from PV Hardware, is meant to be quick and durable.

, Voyager 2, a single-axis tracker solution from PV Hardware, is meant to be quick and durable. In October 2022 , in order to maximise energy production, Array Technologies introduced the OmniTrack solar tracker, which uses machine vision technology.

Read complete market research report, "Dual Axis Solar Tracker Market, By Product Type, By Technology, By Application, By Geography, and other Segment Forecast 2023-2030", Published by CoherentMI.

Market Opportunities:

Increasing Demand for Renewable Energy Sources

The dual axis solar tracker market is expected to witness significant growth due to the increasing demand for renewable energy sources. The global focus on reducing greenhouse gas emissions and transitioning towards clean energy alternatives has resulted in a surge in solar power installations. Dual axis solar trackers offer higher energy efficiency compared to fixed-tilt solar panels, as they continuously track the sun's movement throughout the day. This increased efficiency makes them an attractive option for utility, commercial, and residential applications.

Advancements in Solar Tracking Technologies

Another market opportunity in the dual axis solar tracker market lies in the continuous advancements in solar tracking technologies. Manufacturers are investing heavily in research and development to improve the efficiency, reliability, and cost-effectiveness of dual axis solar trackers. Advanced features like real-time tracking, integrated weather sensors, and smart connectivity are being incorporated into these trackers, enhancing their performance and usability.

In conclusion, the dual axis solar tracker market presents significant opportunities for growth, fueled by the increasing demand for renewable energy sources and advancements in solar tracking technologies. The dominance of single axis solar trackers, solar photovoltaic technology, and the utility sector, along with the leading position of North America, further contribute to the market's potential. Key players in the market are actively investing in research and development to deliver superior solar tracking solutions and maintain a strong market presence.

Dual Axis Solar Tracker Market Segmentation:

By Product Type

Single Axis



Dual Axis



Azimuth-altitude dual axis

By Technology

Solar Photovoltaic



Concentrated Solar Power



Concentrated Photovoltaic

By Application

Utility



Commercial



Residential

By Region

North America



Europe



Asia Pacific



Latin America



Middle East



Africa

Buy this premium report now @ https://www.coherentmi.com/industry-reports/dual-axis-solar-tracker-market/buyNow

Top Questions Answered in this Report:

What factors are impeding the growth of the Dual Axis Solar Tracker Market? What are the primary drivers fueling the growth of the Dual Axis Solar Tracker Market? Which segment stands out as the leading component in the Dual Axis Solar Tracker Market? Who are the key players actively participating in the Dual Axis Solar Tracker Market? Which region is poised to take the lead in the Dual Axis Solar Tracker Market? What is the projected CAGR for the Dual Axis Solar Tracker Market?

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Global Remote Sensing Services Market is Segmented By Service (Data Acquisition/Processing, Consulting Services, Managed Services, Value-added Services, and Others), By End User Industry (Defense & Security, Agriculture, Energy & Natural Resources Management, Engineering & Infrastructure, Environmental Monitoring, Marine, and Others), By Technology (GIS/GNSS, Lidar, Drones/UAV, Aerial Photography, Satellite Imagery, and Others), By Application (Geoengineering & Construction, Disaster Management, Energy Management, Surveillance & Security, Urban Planning & Development, Agriculture Monitoring & Management, and Others), By Region (North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, Middle East, and Africa). The report offers the value (in USD billion) for the above-mentioned segments.

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At CoherentMI, we are a leading global market intelligence company dedicated to providing comprehensive insights, analysis, and strategic solutions to empower businesses and organizations worldwide. Moreover, CoherentMI is a subsidiary of Coherent Market Insights Pvt Ltd., which is a market intelligence and consulting organization that helps businesses in critical business decisions. With our cutting-edge technology and experienced team of industry experts, we deliver actionable intelligence that helps our clients make informed decisions and stay ahead in today's rapidly changing business landscape.

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SOURCE Coherent Market Insights
BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 19. Kazakhstan provided humanitarian assistance to six countries in the amount of $9.2 million in 2023, President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said, during the meeting with Executive Director of the UN World Food Program Cindy McCain in Italy, Trend reports.

Against the background of the difficult humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, Kazakhstan donated $1 million to the people of Palestine and delivered two shipments of humanitarian aid. Financial assistance has also been provided to Afghanistan, Turkey, Pakistan, and other countries affected by natural disasters, Tokayev said.

The President of Kazakhstan paid special attention to the situation in Afghanistan. In his opinion, it is extremely important that the international community continue to make efforts to prevent a humanitarian crisis in that country.

Tokayev emphasized that work is currently underway to create a UN Regional Center for the Sustainable Development Goals for Central Asia and Afghanistan in Almaty.

The activities of this Center will streamline the interdepartmental coordination of the UN in Central Asia in order to strengthen regional peace, security, and sustainable development, he noted.

At the end of the meeting, Tokayev invited Cindy McCain to take part in the upcoming Astana International Forum.

Stay up to date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
OAKLAND PARK, Fla., Jan. 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- In the beauty industry, salons are always seeking straightforward solutions to get noticed. They want tools that are both effective and easy to use. The Salon Locator from GK Hair fits this bill, offering a way for customers to find them easily.

Elevate Your Salon's Reach with GK Hair's Locator and Digital Strategies.

This Salon Locator tool is more than just a digital map; it's a strategic bridge connecting salons with potential clients. By guiding customers directly to their nearest affiliated salon, this tool offers salons an unparalleled advantage, increasing their visibility and ensuring they remain at the forefront of customer choices.

The integration of such a locator tool into a salon's platform can be transformative. It not only simplifies the customer's journey but also amplifies the salon's reach, fostering business growth and boosting foot traffic. Salons equipped with this tool can expect a direct conduit to a larger audience, positioning themselves as industry leaders attuned to the needs of the modern customer.

Digital marketing, encompassing social media, email, and SMS strategies, has revolutionized the salon industry . Leading brands recognize the transformative power of these tools and are committed to setting industry benchmarks. They prioritize assisting their partners in navigating the complexities of this digital age. The ultimate goal is clear: to equip every salon with the essential tools and knowledge they need to excel in this digital era.

"As the beauty and haircare sector evolves, it's crucial for salons to harness the vast potentials of digital marketing. Social media, email campaigns, and SMS marketing are no longer optional; they are vital components of a successful strategy. Our mission is to support our partners in every aspect of this journey, ensuring they have the resources and expertise to thrive," commented industry leaders.

As brands continue to make strides in the haircare world, their dedication to promoting growthfor both themselves and their partnersremains unwavering. With innovative tools, such as the support provided by GK Hair , and a deep understanding of digital marketing nuances, these brands stand as pillars of innovation, collaboration, and success.

About GK Hair:

GK Hair , a global leader in haircare, consistently merges scientific advances with ethical practices to provide high-quality products. Their commitment to excellence and sustainability ensures customers receive the best in hair care while also caring for the world we live in.

For more information, visit GK Hair website on:

Website: https://www.gkhair.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/gkhair

Instagram: https://instagram.com/GKhair

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GKhair

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/gkhair

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/GKhair/

Media Contact

Company Name: GK Hair

Contact Person: Meghan McHugh

Phone: +13053900044

Email: [email protected]

Country: United States

Website: https://www.gkhair.com/

SOURCE GK Hair
CHICAGO, Jan. 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The report "Elevators & Escalators Market by Type (Elevators, Escalators, Moving walkways), Service (New installation, Maintenance & Repair), Elevator Technology (Traction, Machine- Room-Less, & Hydraulic), & End-use Industry and Region - Global Forecast to 2028", is projected to grow from USD 152.1 billion in 2023 to USD 207.4 billion by 2028, at a CAGR of 6.4% during the forecast period.

Elevators & escalators market growth in the Asia Pacific region is propelled by the construction industry, rapid urbanization, and the surge in high-rise buildings. This has led to heightened demand and increased sales of these products. Furthermore, changing demographics, including a growing aging population and an expanding middle-class seeking improved living standards, are additional factors driving market growth.

Browse in-depth TOC on "Elevators & Escalators Market"

351  Tables

50  Figures

294  Pages

Download PDF Brochure: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/pdfdownloadNew.asp?id=221792102

Elevator type segment is estimated to lead the elevators and escalators market during the forecast period.

The elevators type segment is anticipated to lead the elevators and escalators market's growth. This dominance is attributed to various factors such as the increasing construction of high-rise buildings, urbanization, and a growing emphasis on energy-efficient and innovative elevator technologies. The demand for diverse types of elevators, including hydraulic, traction, and machine-room-less traction elevators, contributes to the segment's leading position. As urban landscapes evolve and infrastructural development intensifies, elevators become integral for vertical mobility, and their versatile applications in residential, commercial, institutional, and infrastructural sectors drive the overall market growth.

Machine-room-less traction elevator technology is the major elevator technology in the global elevators and escalators market.

Machine-room-less traction elevator technology is the largest elevator technology segment of the elevators and escalators market. The machine-room-less traction elevator technology segment is expected to grow at the highest CAGR from 2023 to 2028. This segment is set to lead the elevators and escalators market, driven by its space-efficient design, eliminating the need for a separate machine room. Machine-room-less traction elevators offer optimal space utilization, enhanced architectural flexibility, and are known for energy efficiency and modern safety standards, aligning with the demand for contemporary building designs.

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Residential is projected to lead the Elevators and Escalators market.

The Residential sector is set to lead the Elevators and Escalators market due to increased demand driven by factors such as urbanization, high-rise residential constructions, changing demographics, and the preference for modern amenities in smart homes. Elevators play a crucial role in enhancing accessibility and convenience in residential complexes, particularly in the growing trend of vertical urban living. The desire for advanced living spaces, coupled with the need for efficient vertical transportation solutions, positions the Residential end-use industry as a key driver for market growth.

Asia Pacific is expected to witness the fastest growth in the Elevators and Escalators market during the forecast period.

The Elevators and Escalators market in the Asia Pacific region is expected to experience significant growth, with the highest Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) projected between 2023 and 2028. Key economies like China, India, and Japan are major contributors to this growth, driving a substantial share of the market throughout the forecast period. The Asia Pacific market emerges as a lucrative sector for elevators and escalators, benefitting from robust industrial development and overall economic improvement. China, in particular, plays a pivotal role with numerous manufacturing plants, highlighting its influence on market dynamics. The rapid industrialization across the broader Asia Pacific region creates a favorable environment for the expansion of the Elevators and Escalators market, indicating sustained growth in the industry.

Key players

Major companies such as Schindler Group (Switzerland), Otis (US), KONE Corporation (Finland), Hitachi Ltd. (Japan), Hyundai Elevator Co. Ltd. (South Korea), Fujitec Co., Ltd. (Japan), Toshiba Elevators and Building Systems Corporation (Japan), Mitsubishi Electric Corporation (Japan), TK Elevator (Germany), SJEC Corporation (China), and other leading companies in this market.

Browse Adjacent Market: Equipment Machine and Tooling Market Research & Consulting

About MarketsandMarkets

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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.

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.

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SOURCE MarketsandMarkets
BURLINGAME, Calif., Jan. 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- CoherentMI published a report, titled, Europe Smart Water Meter Market was valued at US$ 2.01 Billion in the year 2023 and is anticipated to reach US$ 4.30 Billion by 2030, at a CAGR of 11.5% during forecast period 2023-2030.

Market Dynamics:

The Europe smart water meter market is driven by two major factors. Firstly, the stringent government regulations regarding water management and conservation are propelling the demand for smart water meters in the region. With increasing concerns over water scarcity and the need for efficient water management, governments across Europe are implementing strict regulations to monitor water usage and prevent wastage. Smart water meters provide accurate real-time data on water consumption, allowing consumers and utility companies to identify leakages and take necessary measures to conserve water.

The second driver of the market is the increasing focus on water conservation. The growing population in Europe, coupled with urbanization and industrialization, is leading to a higher demand for water. This, in turn, is putting pressure on the existing water resources. Smart water meters help in monitoring and controlling water usage, enabling individuals and organizations to adopt water-saving practices.

Market Snapshot:

Report Coverage Details Study Period 2023 - 2030 Base Year of Estimation 2022 CAGR 11.50 % Largest Market Europe Market Concentration High Major Players Itron, Diehl Metering, Zenner International, Elster Group, Kamstrup and Many More Segments Covered By Technology, By Type, By Component, By Application Report Coverage Revenue Forecast, Competitive Landscape, Growth Factors, and Trends Growth Drivers  Supportive government policies and regulations

 Need to reduce non-revenue water losses

 Increased investments in smart city infrastructure

 Water conservation and sustainability goals Restraints & Challenges  High upfront costs of deployment

 Privacy and security concerns

 Technical knowledge and manpower limitations

Key Market Takeaways:

Europe Smart Water Meter Market Size is anticipated to witness a CAGR of 11.5% during the forecast period 2023-2030, owing to the increasing adoption of advanced metering technologies and the need for effective water management in the region.

during the forecast period 2023-2030, owing to the increasing adoption of advanced metering technologies and the need for effective water management in the region. On the basis of technology, the automatic meter reading segment is expected to hold a dominant position, owing to its ability to provide accurate and real-time meter readings, leading to cost savings and improved efficiency in water management.

In terms of type, the two-way water meter segment is projected to dominate the market. The bi-directional communication capability of these meters enables better leak detection and water conservation efforts, driving their demand in the European market.

Within the components segment, meter and accessories are expected to hold a dominant position, as they form the core of the smart water meter infrastructure. IT solutions and communication components are also critical for seamless data transmission and analysis.

Residential applications are anticipated to dominate the smart water meter market in Europe . The increasing demand for water conservation and efficient water management in households is driving the adoption of smart water meters in this segment.

. The increasing demand for water conservation and efficient water management in households is driving the adoption of smart water meters in this segment. Regionally, Europe as a whole is expected to hold a dominant position in the smart water meter market. The region's commitment to sustainable development and focus on water conservation drive the adoption of smart water meters.

as a whole is expected to hold a dominant position in the smart water meter market. The region's commitment to sustainable development and focus on water conservation drive the adoption of smart water meters. Key players operating in the Europe smart water meter market include Itron, Diehl Metering, Zenner International, Elster Group, Kamstrup, Landis+Gyr, Sensus, Aclara Technologies, Badger Meter, and Neptune Technology Group. These players are striving to develop innovative solutions to meet the growing demand for smart water meters.

Market Trends:

Meter data analytics is a growing trend in the market, as it allows for in-depth analysis of water consumption patterns and enables proactive actions to be taken to conserve water. The integration of advanced analytics tools with smart water meters helps identify and understand trends and patterns in water consumption, providing valuable insights to utility companies and consumers.

Remote meter reading is another significant trend in the market. Traditional water meters require manual reading, which can be time-consuming and prone to errors. Remote meter reading technology enables automatic and accurate reading of water meters, eliminating the need for manual intervention. This trend not only increases the efficiency of water management but also reduces costs and enhances customer satisfaction.

Recent development:

In October 2022 , HYDRUS IP, an ultrasonic smart water meter with integrated IP67 connectivity for internet of Thing, was introduced by Diehl Metering.

, HYDRUS IP, an ultrasonic smart water meter with integrated IP67 connectivity for internet of Thing, was introduced by Diehl Metering. In November 2020 , Mechanical flow meter expert Scan was bought by Iron.

Read complete market research report, "Europe Smart Water Meter Market Size And Share Analysis - Growth Trends And Forecasts (2023 - 2030)", Published by CoherentMI.

Market Opportunities:

Dominance of Automatic Meter Reading in the Market

In terms of technology, automatic meter reading is anticipated to dominate the market. This segment is expected to hold a dominant position due to its wide adoption and benefits. Automatic meter reading allows for accurate and real-time meter readings, eliminating the need for manual data collection. This technology not only reduces labor costs but also minimizes human errors, ensuring efficient water management.

Rise of Two-way Water Meters in the Market

Another market opportunity lies in the type segment of smart water meters in Europe. Among the different types available, two-way water meters are expected to dominate the market. This can be attributed to the advantages they offer over traditional one-way water meters.

Two-way water meters enable bi-directional communication, allowing utilities to measure both inflow and outflow of water. This feature provides valuable insights into water consumption patterns, enabling better leakage management and conservation efforts. As a result, the demand for two-way water meters is expected to surge in the European market.

In conclusion, the Europe smart water meter market presents significant opportunities for growth, particularly in the automatic meter reading and two-way water meter segments. The region's commitment to water conservation and increasing adoption of advanced metering technologies are key factors driving the market. Key players in the market are focused on developing innovative solutions to cater to the evolving needs of the European market.

Market Segmentation:

By Technology Automatic Meter Reading Advanced Meter Infrastructure Others

By Type One-way Water Meters Two-way Water Meters Smart Water Meters Others

By Component Meters & Accessories IT Solutions Communications Others

By Application Residential Commercial Industrial Others



Buy this premium report now @ https://www.coherentmi.com/industry-reports/europe-smart-water-meter-market/buyNow

Top Questions Answered in this Report:

What factors are impeding the growth of the Europe Smart Water Meter Market? What are the primary drivers fueling the growth of the Europe Smart Water Meter Market? Which segment dominates as the leading component in the Europe Smart Water Meter Market? Who are the key players actively participating in the Europe Smart Water Meter Market? Which region is expected to take the lead in the Europe Smart Water Meter Market? What is the projected CAGR of the Europe Smart Water Meter Market?

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SOURCE Coherent Market Insights
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. and BERKELEY, Calif., Jan. 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Founders Brewing Company, one of the top ten largest craft breweries in the United States, and Trinity Brand Group, an international, full-service branding agency, are delighted to announce the naming of Trinity as Founders' Agency of Record for all Omnichannel Marketing efforts. The new assignment as AOR builds upon a year of foundational work completed by the two organizations and further enhances Trinity's collaboration with Founders' marketing and sales teams.

In 2023, Founders, the lead US brewery in Spain's Mahou San Miguel's holdings, partnered with Trinity to build a solid brand strategy platform for its flagship brand All Day and begin the work to leverage this new foundation via a new communications and omnichannel strategy that breaks through the clutter of the craft beer segment. Trinity also led the development of game-changing strategic tools including an award-winning consumer segmentation study; mindstate model and insights dashboard that informed the development of a brand portfolio structure encompassing brand positionings, roles, and brand-specific key messaging.

"At Founders we've seen turn-around sales growth and ROI in our marketing investment since partnering with Trinity" Post this

This strong, trusted partnership has been established through rigorous strategic thinking, breakthrough creative and successfully executed campaigns. The culmination of this work saw Founders Brewing Company and the All Day brand recognizing an all-time high in brand equity metrics in H2 of 2023.

"At Founders we've seen turn-around sales growth and ROI in our marketing investment since partnering with Trinity," said Sandy Anaokar - Chief Marketing Officer at Mahou USA. "We knew that in order to further accelerate our position in the market and to bring our brands to life in a way that is authentic to our core values, we needed a partner that understood our consumer, the BevAlc industry and most importantly our team and internal working styles. Our agency of record needs to understand how to bridge brand, creative, omnichannel and sales - and Trinity has demonstrated they can do just that. Their mindstate segmentation work is greatly helping us develop our innovation pipeline by focusing our attention on large market opportunities that we have not tackled as a brewery."

Kicking off 2024, the two teams' collaborative approach will focus on launching revamped All Day packaging with a new omnichannel campaign as well as developing all aspects of new-to-world innovations including the release of the Mortal Bloom Hazy IPA brand. Trinity will continue to build out communications and omnichannel strategies and build out the Founders-wide portfolio architecture executing consumer and trade marketing campaigns across digital and social.

"We are thrilled that our partnership with Founders' is growing into an agency of record assignment," shared Matthew Youngblood, Principal and Founding Partner at Trinity Brand Group. "It's a tangible symbol of the trust built between our two teams striving toward combined success, seamlessly creating and managing amazing campaigns to further differentiate, grow sales and ROI for Founders portfolio of brands."

About Mahou USA: Established in 2023, Mahou USA is a combination of brands from Avery Brewing, Founders Brewing and Mahou Imports. Specializing in brews that are complex, in-your-face ales, with huge aromatics and tons of flavor, Mahou USA ranks among the top 10 largest craft breweries in the U.S. The brands under Mahou USA have received numerous awards from the World Beer Cup and the Great American Beer Festival, and RateBeer and BeerAdvocate users often rate its beers among the best in the world.

About Trinity Brand Group: Trinity Brand Group is an independent, international, full-service branding agency. Headquartered in Berkeley, California and Dublin, Ireland, Trinity helps brands across industries build powerful strategies, creative, and campaigns that ignite excitement, engage consumers and drive business. For nearly 20 years, with a deep expertise in BevAlc, Food, Lifestyle and Technology, they have partnered with some of the finest, most successful brands including Corona, MolsonCoors, Kellogg's, Danone, Northwestern Mutual and Sony PlayStation. To learn more about Trinity Brand Group, please visit https://www.trinitybrandgroup.com/

SOURCE Trinity Brand Group
FP Markets' customers around the world can now gain access to TradingView's advanced charts and analysis, powerful trading tools and interact with the world's largest social network of traders.

SYDNEY, Jan. 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- To meet the ever-evolving demands of traders and investors, leading Forex and CFDs broker FP Markets has announced a new partnership with TradingView . Clients with an active Trading Account at FP Markets can now leverage TradingView's cutting-edge charting solutions.

FP Markets Partners with Industry-Leading Platform Provider TradingView

From Forex, Equities and Indices to Commodities , Bonds and Digital Currencies , TradingView is a world-renowned charting provider that delivers the financial markets from one platform and unlocks the door to the largest social trading community in the world. Combining Trading View with FP Markets' consistently tight spreads , rapid market execution, Institutional-grade liquidity and award-winning multilingual Customer Support Team , will enhance the overall trading experience for clients at FP Markets, helping them maximise their trading potential.

FP Markets CEO Craig Allison commented 'We are delighted to partner with TradingView. As a top-tier Forex and CFDs broker, we are committed to providing superior trading tools for our traders. The incorporation of Trading View is an exciting addition to our existing range of trading platforms which includes MT4, MT5 and cTrader. We believe in offering clients the ability to develop and grow and trade the way they want to trade, catering to all experience levels and trading styles, from the short-term scalper who executes multiple trades daily to the longer-term position trader'.

Key Features of TradingView:

Unmatched charting capabilities, suitable for beginners and advanced traders.

Large social trading community of more than 50 million users.

The ability to design your own indicators and strategies using TradingView's Pine Script programming language.

The option to validate trading ideas using TradingView's bar-by-bar replay function.

Wide selection of fundamental data.

Real-time global news coverage.

Available on Web, Browser and Mobile devices.

To get started with TradingView at FP Markets, clients can simply open a live Trading Account and create a TradingView Account. Once both accounts have been created, clients can link them together and start using TradingView to trade on the FP Markets platform.

Established in 2005, FP Markets is a Multi-Regulated Brand providing clients with over 10,000 tradable instruments across key asset classes and offers aggregate pricing across several top-tier liquidity providers. Additionally, FP Markets deliver Consistently Tight Spreads, Rapid Execution, Unmatched 24/7 Multilingual Customer Support, and various Account Types to suit all trading strategies and styles.

The FP Markets Group's regulatory presence now includes regulated companies authorised by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) of South Africa, the Financial Services Commission (FSC) of Mauritius, the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC), Capital Markets Authority (CMA) of Kenya and the Securities Commission of the Bahamas (SCB).

Notes to Editors

About FP Markets:

FP Markets is a Multi-Regulated Forex and CFDs Broker with over 18 years of industry experience.

The company offers highly competitive interbank Forex spreads starting from 0.0 pips.

Traders can choose from the leading powerful online trading platforms, including FP Markets' Mobile App , MetaTrader 4 , MetaTrader 5 , WebTrader , cTrader , and Iress .

, , , , , and . The company's outstanding 24/7 multilingual customer service has been recognised by Investment Trends and awarded 'The Highest Overall Client Satisfaction Award' over five consecutive years.

FP Markets has been awarded the 'Best Global Forex Value Broker' for five consecutive years (2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023) at the Global Forex Awards.

FP Markets has been awarded the 'Best Forex Broker  Europe ' and the 'Best Forex Partners Programme  Asia ' at the Global Forex Awards 2022 and 2023.

' and the 'Best Forex Partners Programme  ' at the Global Forex Awards 2022 and 2023. FP Markets has been awarded 'Best Trade Execution' at the Ultimate Fintech Awards 2022.

FP Markets crowned 'Best CFD Broker in Africa ' at FAME Awards 2023.

FP Markets Awarded 'Best Trade Execution' and 'Most Transparent Broker' at the Ultimate Fintech Awards APAC 2023

' at FAME Awards 2023. FP Markets Awarded 'Best Trade Execution' and 'Most Transparent Broker' at the Ultimate Fintech Awards APAC 2023 FP Markets regulatory presence includes the Australian Securities and Investments Commission ( ASIC ) Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) of South Africa , the Financial Services Commission (FSC) of Mauritius , the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC), the Securities Commission of the Bahamas (SCB) and the Capital Markets Authority (CMA) of Kenya .

For more information on FP Markets' comprehensive range of products and services, visit https://www.fpmarkets.com/ .

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SOURCE FP MARKETS
LAS VEGAS, Jan. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- GBank Financial Holdings Inc. (the "Company") (OTCQX: GBFH), the parent company for GBank (the "Bank"), is proud to announce its second consecutive inclusion in the OTCQX Best 50, a prestigious ranking of the top 50 U.S. and international companies traded on the OTCQX Best Market.

Reflecting on another year of exceptional performance, the Company has once again demonstrated its commitment to excellence and growth. The OTCQX Best 50 ranking, which is based on equal weighting of one-year total return and average daily dollar volume growth from the previous year, showcases the top-performing companies among over 600 contenders across various industries and regions.

Edward M. Nigro, Executive Chairman of GBank Financial Holdings Inc. stated, "I wish to express our appreciation to the OTCQX for providing an exceptional trading platform for our GBFH shareholders. This recognition underscores our team's commitment to execute our business objectives."

T. Ryan Sullivan, President and CEO, echoed these sentiments, "Being distinguished as the only banking company included in the OTCQX Best 50 for two consecutive years highlights our consistent performance and dedication to our shareholders. We remain committed to our future growth and ensuring our position as a continuing leader in the industry."

For more details on the 2024 OTCQX Best 50, visit:

https://www.otcmarkets.com/files/2024_OTCQX_Best_50.pdf

The OTCQX Best Market offers transparent and efficient trading of established, investor-focused U.S. and global companies. To qualify for the OTCQX market, companies must meet high financial standards, follow best practice corporate governance, and demonstrate compliance with applicable securities laws.

About GBank Financial Holdings Inc.

GBank Financial Holdings Inc. (the "Company") (GBFH), a bank holding company with approximately $729.3 million in assets at September 30, 2023, conducts business through its wholly owned subsidiary, GBank (formerly known as "Bank of George") (the "Bank"). Founded in 2007, the Bank operates two full-service commercial branches in Las Vegas, Nevada, with primary lending activities focused on engaging clients in Nevada, California, Utah, and Arizona. GBank has key businesses in three prominent divisions: SBA Lending, Gaming FinTech, and Commercial Lending. The Bank conducts business nationally through its SBA lending activities (ranked 14th in the nation by the U.S. Small Business Administration for SBA 7(a) dollar loan volume through September 30, 2022) and its BankCard Services, LLC ("BCS") partnership. GBank's Gaming Fintech Division was launched in 2016 with the GBank/BCS Agreement. BCS provides not only Sightline Payments Play+ Prepaid Card Programs for gaming operators, but also prepaid access programs granting GBank use and access to the BCS proprietary Player/Consumer Information Management System ("PIMS/CIMS"). PIMS/CIMS provides custodial accounts for the benefit of the player/consumer managed by GBank and insured by the FDIC. The Bank also provides general commercial banking services with an emphasis on serving the needs of small- and medium-sized businesses, high net worth individuals, professionals, and investors. The Bank offers a full complement of consumer deposit products and is focused on delivering a premium level of service. For more information about GBank, please visit its website at www.g.bank. The Company's Common Stock is quoted on the US OTCQX Market under the symbol GBFH.

Cautionary Notice Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This Press Release contains forward-looking statements that are subject to various risks and uncertainties. Forward looking statements include information concerning potential or assumed future results of operations of the Company and its subsidiaries. Such statements are made based on management's beliefs and assumptions, and words like "believes," "expects," "anticipates," or similar terminology indicate forward-looking statements. Factors that could affect the financial performance of the Company include, but are not limited to, ongoing challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic, credit risk, market interest rate changes, competition, economic downturns, or regulatory supervision. GBank Financial Holdings Inc. is under no obligation to revise these forward-looking statements.

SOURCE GBank Financial Holdings Inc.
DUBLIN, Jan. 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Public Safety and Security Market by Offering, Technology, Application, End Use, and Geography - Global Forecast to 2030" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The study underscores the latest market trends, shares, and development forecasts, projecting a substantial increase in the global market size from $217.9 billion in 2023 to $461.8 billion by 2030, at a CAGR of 11.3%.

Public safety and security encompass the crucial deployment of devices, software, and services aimed at safeguarding the public, infrastructure, and other vital areas from potential safety threats. This market's growth trajectory is propelled by the increased use of AI, ML, and analytics within the sector; heightened public safety initiatives; and government efforts to mitigate risks associated with expanding urban populations.

Despite the optimism for growth, the market faces challenges, such as the requisite significant initial investments and complexities in deploying advanced systems. Nonetheless, opportunities abound with the integration of cloud computing and big data analytics, and the uptrend in terrorism and security breaches.

Market Dynamics and Segment Analysis

Offering: Within the market segmentation, safety services are predicted to chart the fastest growth, driven by demand for specialized safety challenges solutions.

Within the market segmentation, safety services are predicted to chart the fastest growth, driven by demand for specialized safety challenges solutions. Technology: The Internet of Things (IoT) segment is expected to witness the highest CAGR, due to the increased need for real-time insights and situational awareness.

The Internet of Things (IoT) segment is expected to witness the highest CAGR, due to the increased need for real-time insights and situational awareness. Application: Security and incident management lead in terms of swift growth, reflecting the urgency to respond effectively to emergencies and the rise of smart city integrations.

Security and incident management lead in terms of swift growth, reflecting the urgency to respond effectively to emergencies and the rise of smart city integrations. End Use: The hospitals and healthcare segment is forecasted to experience the highest growth rate, as the sector increasingly adopts safety devices to protect both people and sensitive data.

The hospitals and healthcare segment is forecasted to experience the highest growth rate, as the sector increasingly adopts safety devices to protect both people and sensitive data. Geography: Europe emerges as a most dynamic regional market, expecting the highest growth rates as countries are significantly investing to counteract terrorism, cyber threats, and crime.

The market report is carefully segmented to reflect a broad spectrum of industry components, providing a thorough competitor analysis and evaluating market dynamics at a regional and global level. This foundation offers stakeholders a panoramic view of the current landscape and future prospects.

Global Industry Leaders and Innovations

Key industry players include prominent companies that operate across different regions, contributing to technological advancements and innovative approaches to public safety and security solutions. The wide array of offerings encompasses both products and services, addressing a comprehensive range of applications from threat detection to network security.

Emerging Trends and Market Insights

The report answers crucial questions about market drivers, challenges, and strategies, highlighting key trends and identifying high-growth countries. It provides a lens into local and regional players' competitive strategies, underlining the need for industry stakeholders to remain vigilant in a dynamically evolving market landscape.

Key Questions Answered in the Report:

Which are the high-growth market segments in terms of process, application, and geography?

What is the historical market size for the public safety and security market across the globe?

What are the market forecasts and estimates for the period 2023-2030?

What are the major drivers, restraints, opportunities, and challenges in the global public safety and security market?

Who are the major players in the market, and what are their market shares?

How is the competitive landscape for the global public safety and security market?

What are the recent developments in the global public safety and security market?

What are the different strategies adopted by the major players in the market?

What are the key geographic trends, and which are the high-growth countries?

Who are the local emerging players in the global public safety and security market, and how do they compete with other players?

Market Insights

Factors Affecting Market Growth

Growing Use of AI, ML, and Analytics to Enhance Public Safety and Security

Increasing Awareness and Training Initiatives for Public Safety and Security Supporting Market Growth

Government Focus on Managing the Needs of the Rising Urban Population Driving the Adoption of Public Safety and Security Products

Significant Initial Investment Requirements Hampering the Implementation of Public Safety and Security Solutions

Integration of Cloud Computing and Big Data Analytics Generating Market Growth Opportunities

Rising Incidence of Terrorism and Security Breaches Boosting the Implementation of Public Safety and Security Systems

Complexities in Implementation Impacting the Adoption of Advanced Public Safety and Security Systems

Rising Cases of Data Theft Hindering Market Growth

Case Studies

Case Study A: CP Plus International Provided Safety Solutions to Government Schools in Delhi ( India ) for Monitoring School Premises

( ) for Monitoring School Premises Case Study B: CP Plus International Installed Surveillance Products at Crowne Plaza Hotel in Greater Noida ( India ) to Ensure Customer Safety

Company Profiles

Key Market Players (Business Overview, Financial Overview, Product Portfolio, and Strategic Developments)

Hexagon AB

Fujitsu Ltd.

Robert Bosch GmbH

Atos SE

Cisco Systems, Inc.

Intel Corporation

Siemens AG

Fotokite AG

Saab AB

Airbus SE

Other Market Players (Business Overview and Product Portfolio)

CityShob

3xLogic

L3Harris Technologies, Inc.

OnSolve

Haystax

Scope of the Report

Public Safety and Security Market, by Offering

Safety Services

Managed Services

Disaster Management Services

Critical Infrastructure Security Services

Emergency Medical Services

Firefighting Services

Other Managed Services

Professional Services

Safety Devices

Surveillance Cameras

Sensors

Radar

LiDAR

Geodetic Sensors

Geotechnical and environmental sensors

Other Sensors

Biometric and Authentication Devices

Safety Alarms

Intruder Detection Devices

Critical Communication Devices

Other Safety Devices

Safety Software

Geographic Information Systems

Access Control Software

Building Management Software

Vehicle Recognition Software

Behavior Analytics software

Other Safety Software

Public Safety and Security Market, by Technology

Internet of Things

Cybersecurity

Cloud Computing

Machine Learning

Artificial Intelligence

Other Technologies

Public Safety and Security Market, by Application

Security and Incident Management

Threat Detection

Fire and Explosion Examination

Network Security

Monitoring

Data Gathering

Mapping and 3D Imaging

Other Applications

Public Safety and Security Market, by End Use

Transportation

Roadways

Railways

Airways

Waterways

Workplaces

Shopping malls & Retail stores

Residential

Hospitals & Healthcare

Warehouses & Depots

Schools & Universities

Other End Uses

Public Safety and Security Market, by Geography

North America

U.S.

Canada

Asia-Pacific

China

Japan

India

South Korea

Taiwan

Rest of Asia-Pacific

Europe

Germany

U.K.

France

Italy

Spain

Rest of Europe

Latin America

Middle East & Africa

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/4f988n

About ResearchAndMarkets.com

ResearchAndMarkets.com is the world's leading source for international market research reports and market data. We provide you with the latest data on international and regional markets, key industries, the top companies, new products and the latest trends.

Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

[email protected]

For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470

For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630

For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900

U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907

Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/539438/Research_and_Markets_Logo.jpg

SOURCE Research and Markets
These accounts stood out for their high APYs.

LOS ANGELES, Jan. 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- GOBankingRates wants to help Americans grow their money safely and securely, and we know that one of the best ways to do this is through a CD that offers a competitive APY. That's why we're recognizing the Best CD Accounts of 2024 as part of our annual Best Banks rankings.

To find the best CD accounts, GOBankingRates analyzed the accounts available across the biggest 100 banks in terms of total assets and select online banks with over $1 billion in total assets.

Accounts were ranked based on their institution's total assets, number of branch locations, minimum deposit to open an account, 12-month CD APY rate, 60-month CD APY rate and mobile app ratings.

Best CD Accounts 2024

Ally

Barclays Bank

BMO Alto

Capital One

Discover

EverBank

LendingClub Bank

Marcus by Goldman Sachs

Synchrony Bank

Zions Bankcorporation

For a complete list of the 2024 Best Banks winners, visit GOBankingRates.com .

If you have any questions or wish to speak to a GOBankingRates editorial representative, please direct all media inquiries to:

Contact:

Carly Brashears

GOBankingRates.com

[email protected]

About GOBankingRates

GOBankingRates.com is a personal finance news and features website dedicated to helping visitors Live Richer. From tips on saving money to investing for retirement or finding a good interest rate, GOBankingRates helps turn financial goals into milestones and money dreams into realities. Its content is regularly featured on top-tier media outlets, including MSN, Yahoo!, FOX Business, CNBC, Business Insider, USA Today and dozens of others. GOBankingRates specializes in connecting consumers with the financial institutions and products that best match their needs. Start your journey toward a rich mind and full wallet with us at www.gobankingrates.com.

SOURCE GOBankingRates
As part of Seoul's 3-Year Roadmap, the event's inaugural edition will showcase Seoul's AI technology leadership in welfare, tourism, safety, and more.

SEOUL, South Korea, Jan. 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- On January 9th, at 1:40 PM local time, Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon visited the La French Tech booth at CES 2024 to exchange opinions with the representative and discuss cooperation.

Mayor Oh Se-hoon announced 'Seoul Smart Life Week' at the 'Seoul Innovation Forum 2024' held in Las Vegas, USA. The three-year roadmap outlines Seoul's plan to use its smart city network as a foundation to promote innovative tech companies globally and lead future technology trends.

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon visited the La French Tech booth at CES 2024 to exchange opinions with the representative and discuss cooperation

Seoul Metropolitan City revealed that 'Seoul Smart Life Week (Exhibition + Awards + Forum)' will be held from October 7th to 9th, Monday to Wednesday, at COEX this year.

Leveraging Seoul's Global Recognition as a Leading Smart City as the winner of the 'Barcelona Smart City Award' in 2022 and Host of the 'Seoul Smart City Prize' in 2023, the city aims to establish its unique competitiveness. This foundation will aim to secure pathways for innovative companies, attract investments, and develop a global business platform for sharing advanced technologies of the future.

Seoul City, embodying the governance philosophy of 'Accompanying the Vulnerable,' organized the inaugural 'Seoul Smart City Prize' in September last year. Based on the city's vision for a future smart city that addresses urban polarization issues and promotes inclusive growth, this event saw the participation of 47 countries and 93 cities worldwide. The aim is to spread the global vision to resolve urban disparities and foster inclusive development.

Establishing the Roadmap for 'Seoul Smart Life Week': Utilizing the Brand' Smart Leading City Seoul' to create a platform for sales and exchanging innovative technologies. The roadmap focuses on showcasing Seoul's excellence in smart city solutions, fostering sales for innovative tech companies, and facilitating the exchange of technological trends.

The city envisions 'Seoul Smart Life Week' evolving beyond a simple electronics industry product showcase at CES. It aims to transform itself into a global hub for innovative technologies, with diverse participants from businesses, governments, and organizations. The roadmap plans to present specialized thematic exhibitions annually, aligning with the latest technologies and lifestyle trends, catering to world city officials and global companies attending the event.

During 'Seoul Smart Life Week,' Seoul will curate its exhibition space to showcase Seoul's excellence in smart city solutions and the advanced innovative technologies of domestic companies. It aims to provide opportunities for experiencing daily life in the smart city of Seoul, securing overseas expansion channels for businesses, and attracting investors.

The current roadmap emphasizes activating the city government network, expanding the exchange of innovative products among businesses, and presenting the vision for the future smart city. The goal is to establish 'Smart Leading City Seoul' as a prominent global convention for the mutual exchange and collaboration of cutting-edge innovative smart city technologies among cities and companies worldwide.

This year, the focus is on showcasing Seoul's expertise in smart city technology to the world through the existing 'Seoul Smart City Prize.' It serves as a platform for the city and businesses to demonstrate their proficiency in smart city solutions, laying the groundwork for companies to expand internationally.

Seoul City plans to establish a Smart City Seoul Zone by showcasing examples of the city's leading adoption and utilization of AI technology in areas such as welfare, tourism, safety, and civic issue analysis. Through these cases, the aim is to demonstrate how the quality of services and the lives of Seoul citizens are evolving.

On the other hand, a Smart Life Zone will showcase a comprehensive array of smart technologies from Korean companies. This zone will cover recent trends, including AI technology, and encompass various areas such as mobility, Big Data, smart homes, digital twins, digital healthcare, IoT, and robotics.

Next year, the event will expand to more than twice its size this year through the coordination of international events held in Seoul. This expansion aims to provide a platform for sharing and collaborating on the status of smart cities and technologies worldwide.

In 2026, the plan is to expand advanced technological developments into everyday life across various fields, allowing for the experience of smart living in the present and the future. Technologies that everyone can feel intimately in their homes and daily lives will take center stage, with the participation of numerous global companies, establishing themselves as icons and leading the trends in future smart life technologies.

Furthermore, leveraging the 'Seoul Smart City Prize,' a specialized organizing committee called the Seoul Smart Life Week Organizing Committee, consisting of government, industry, and academia experts, will be formed. The committee will put effort into attracting domestic and international companies and buyers and inviting renowned figures to participate in the event.

Additionally, the city plans to gradually expand and connect various events to provide a comprehensive experience of smart city life in Seoul. Simultaneously hosting multiple programs, the goal is to establish 'Seoul Smart Life Week' as a leading international event in Asia, aiming to ultimately surpass CES in terms of significance.

In addition, by 2031, the city plans to utilize the 100,000 Jamsil SportsMICE Complex, part of the Seoul International District, incorporating distinctive design and advanced technology, as a premier platform to share future smart life technologies with the world.

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon expressed his ambition, stating, "As evidenced by the 143 innovative awards received by Korean companies out of over 700 participants in this year's CES, the innovation ecosystem of South Korea and Seoul has reached a level of pride that everywhere in the world can feel." He added, "Now, I will launch 'Seoul Smart Life Week' to showcase the products and services of companies leading the innovation ecosystem in Seoul. I aim to challenge and develop it within three years, akin to the growth of CES."

Promotion of 'Seoul Smart Life Week,' visiting the CES exhibition hall for global technology benchmarking: Utilizing technology for vulnerable groups and lifestyle improvements in line with the city's policy of 'Accompanying the Vulnerable'

Mayor Oh Se-hoon visited the CES exhibition hall from the 9th to the 10th, Monday to Tuesday. During this time, he promoted Seoul Smart Life Week to the government and businesses, seeking ways to utilize global innovative technology in line with the city's policies.

On January 9th at 1:30 PM PST, Mayor Oh visited the CES National Startup Exhibition Eureka Park, showing his encouragement and support at the KOTRA booth (Ministry of Industry), the Startup Promotion Foundation booth (Jung-gu Office), as well as other domestic and international booths. Additionally, he explored various startups from countries like Japan, the Netherlands, and France, displaying technologies akin to Seoul's policies, such as assistive technologies and lifestyle-related innovations.

Eureka Park featured 113 companies from the KOTRA's Korea Pavilion (representing Gyeonggi, Ulsan, Gangwon, Chungnam, etc.), 100 from the KISED K-Startup Pavilion, 93 from the France's La French Tech Pavilion, 61 from the Netherlands' NL Pavilion, and 30 companies from the Japan's J-Startup Pavilion.

The 'FINTIN V1,' developed by the Korean startup 'ONECOM' and showcased at the KOTRA Pavilion, has achieved the world's first implementation of blind typing based on tactile recognition for smooth smartphone use by visually impaired individuals. This innovative technology, allowing users to input keys without confirming the key positions, earned the device the top innovation award in the mobile device category.

ZKRYPTO, a Korean blockchain technology startup affiliated with the Startup Promotion Agency, was awarded the top innovation award at CES 2024 for its 'zkVoting Booth.' zkVoting ensures the secure transmission of voting information without disclosing the voter's identity and ballot content.

A standout product among the 30 startups participating in the J-Startup Pavilion is WILLTEX's product called "WILLCOOK." It is a bag-shaped microwave that offers easy food cooking and storage functions simultaneously, catering to the busy lifestyle of modern individuals. This product received the top innovation award in the home appliance category.

The NL Pavilion, participating for the 8th consecutive year, stood out for its healthcare systems, considered among the best in Europe. Most medical device markets comprise small and medium-sized enterprises, resulting from collaborations with medical research and healthcare institutions. WHISPP's product, Whispp, utilizes AI-based real-time voice assistance technology and a communication app. It helps patients with vocal cord damage and speech disorders by converting whispered or poorly pronounced words into clear, natural-sounding speech.

On January 10th, at 10:00 AM local time at LVCC Central Hall, Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon visited LG Electronics' booth. The mayor experienced LG's latest future mobility concept, Alpha-able, while hearing explanations from the LG's representative.

On the following day, January 10th, Mayor Oh's group toured the Las Vegas Convention Center (LVCC) Central Hall and West Hall intensively in the morning and afternoon. After exploring the LVCC Central Hall - showcasing key technologies related to smart cities, healthcare, environmental-friendly solutions, lifestyle, and creative industries - they moved to the LVCC West Hall. In this section, the mayor directly experienced innovative technologies from domestic and international companies in the mobility sector. The focus was on exploring collaboration opportunities, including open innovation, to support the growth of Seoul-based companies into global enterprises.

The LVCC Central Hall featured innovative technologies and products in consumer electronics, games, metaverse, and XR. At the same time, LVCC West Hall provided insights into vehicle-related technologies such as autonomous vehicles, electric cars, and robotics.

The Seoul mayor's group saw Bosch's gun-detection system that utilizes motion sensors for detecting actions. They considered that this system could integrate into crime prevention efforts to create a safer and smarter Seoul in the current social context, where issues like street crimes and dating violence are prevalent.

They also particularly paid attention to Sony's carbon-neutral electric scooter, SK Group's AI-based environmentally friendly waste management system, Samsung Electronics' mobile health management app, and LG Electronics' wireless portable display without spatial constraints.

At last, the mayor's group toured the booth of Supernal, an independent eVTOL subsidiary of Hyundai Motor Group specializing in urban air mobility in the United States. They explored S-A2, Supernal's eVTOL vehicle product concept, and experienced firsthand arriving at and boarding the Vertiport (UAM landing site). The UAM market involves various fields, such as battery technology, electronic control systems, communication, and AI, being a high-value-added business.

Amazon, Mercedes-Benz, Qualcomm, Hyundai Motor, and other leading companies are examining the latest technological trends poised to dominate the global market. Additionally, they are exploring ways the city of Seoul can support sustainable technological development for these companies. The mayor expected Seoul to become a crucial hub for emerging industries.

On January 10th, at 3:30 PM PST, Mayor Oh met with the Vice Chairman of HD Hyundai for a regular meeting and toured the HD Hyundai booth, where he observed future construction equipment. During the meeting, Mayor Oh expressed his agreement with HD Hyundai's innovative direction of applying advanced technology to the construction industry to enhance safety and productivity, utilizing renewable energy for eco-friendly sustainability. He emphasized the importance of coexisting with environmental sustainability for the company's activities and future. Mayor Oh also sought HD Hyundai's interest and participation in 'Seoul Smart Life Week,' which explores new economic avenues under the theme of 'Smart Life' through future advanced technologies.

SOURCE Seoul Metropolitan Government
HOUSTON, Jan. 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Autumn Lane Advisors is delighted to announce the appointment of James "Jim" Mooney as a Partner and our Chief Investment Officer. Jim was involved in Autumn Lane's early history, not only contributing as member of our first Advisory Board but was also an early investor in the firm's investment partnerships.

With over 18 years of investment expertise, Jim assumes the role of CIO, further solidifying our commitment to delivering unparalleled investment knowledge. Partner, David Andrew, expressed his enthusiasm, stating, "I've known Jim since our days in the investment banking group of Lehman Brothers over 20 years ago. His addition as Partner strengthens Autumn Lane's reputation for exceptional investment proficiency and client experience."

Jim Mooney joins Autumn Lane Advisors as Partner and Chief Investment Officer Post this

Jim was most recently a Portfolio Manager at Everpoint Asset Management, a division of Point72. His extensive career includes roles as a Portfolio Manager at Carlson Capital and Millennium Management, Chief Financial Officer of Phoenix Natural Resources, and positions at Lehman Brothers and Price Waterhouse. Jim holds an MBA with honors from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, along with a BBA and MS in Accounting from Texas A&M University. Additionally, Jim has been recognized on several best-of-the-buyside lists, including Brendon Wood International and Alpha Magazine.

About Autumn Lane Advisors

Autumn Lane Advisors is a boutique wealth management firm that helps clients manage their wealth with the objectivity, expertise and client experience associated with a sophisticated family office. Serving as a fiduciary, we work exclusively for our clients.

For additional information, visit www.autumnlane.com .

SOURCE Autumn Lane Advisors
DUSHANBE, Tajikistan, January 19. Tajikistan and Azerbaijan have discussed the development of inter-parliamentary cooperation between the two countries, Trend reports.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Tajikistan, these matters were considered during a meeting between Tajikistan's Ambassador to Azerbaijan, Ilhom Abdurahmon with Chairperson of Azerbaijan's Milli Majlis (Parliament) Sahiba Gafarova.

Both sides exchanged views on the current state and future development of inter-parliamentary relations between Tajikistan and Azerbaijan, as well as the prospects for strengthening bilateral cooperation in various fields through inter-parliamentary mechanisms.

During the meeting, discussions revolved around organizing reciprocal visits and enhancing working contacts between committees, inter-parliamentary friendship groups, and parliamentary commissions of the two countries.

According to the State Customs Committee of Azerbaijan, trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Tajikistan amounted to $6.1 million in 2023, which is 2.9 percent higher than $5.9 million in 2022.
Celebrates grand opening on Jan. 24

ATLANTA, Jan. 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Krispy Krunchy Chicken, one of the fastest-growing hot food concepts in the convenience store business, is spreading its wings and landing in Atlanta with a new corporate office. The office is located at 1000 Marietta Street NW #244 Atlanta, GA 30318. An invitation-only official grand opening for the new space is slated for Wednesday, January 24, 2024, and will take place from 4 p.m.  6 p.m. Krispy Krunchy and Atlanta business representatives will be in attendance for the ceremony and grand opening celebration.

"As our business continues to experience rapid growth in the new year, the establishment of an additional corporate office is a strategic move to enhance our support for operators and customers," said Jim Norberg, President of Krispy Krunchy Chicken. "Atlanta provides an ideal hub for our teams. Its central location and dynamic environment grant us access to diverse resources while empowering us to further expand and advance our enterprise."

Krispy Krunchy is headquartered in Alexandria, Louisiana, where the brand was founded in 1989. The new Atlanta office will house team members from across the organization in IT, HR, Finance, Marketing, Sales, and Operations.

"These are very exciting times for our business and the fantastic momentum that we generated in 2023 has carried us into the new year," added Norberg. "We are positioning ourselves to embrace this continued growth and are thrilled to be able to bring our highly craveable and high-quality products to more communities."

The brand is expected to reach 3,000 locations in the early months of the year. If you are interested in learning more and attending the grand opening, please contact [email protected]. For more information about Krispy Krunchy Chicken, visit www.krispykrunchy.com or follow on Facebook and Instagram.

About Krispy Krunchy Chicken

Krispy Krunchy Chicken (KKC), founded in Louisiana in 1989, is a quick-serve solution for convenience stores, truck stops, universities, casinos and big box retailers across the U.S. The store-in-store concept allows licensees to serve hand-breaded, mild Cajun-spiced fried chicken and all white meat tenders to its guests, to increase their in-store profitability and drive frequency. The full menu also includes a variety of sides and the brand's trademark honey biscuits.

With a weekly chicken sales volume exceeding one million pounds, Krispy Krunchy Chicken proudly operates nearly 3,000 retail locations across 47 states in the United States and is rapidly expanding. To learn more about partnering with Krispy Krunchy Chicken, visit http://krispykrunchy.com/partnering .

Images: Linked here.

Facebook: www.facebook.com/Krispy.Krunchy.Foods.LLC

Twitter: twitter.com/krispykrunchy

Instagram: www.instagram.com/krispykrunchychicken

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/krispy-krunchy-foods-llc

MEDIA CONTACT:

Kaitlyn Ianiro

305.631.2283

[email protected]

SOURCE Krispy Krunchy Chicken
The company will provide orbital data and technical expertise to develop a foundational layer of the Traffic Coordination System for Space (TraCSS)

MENLO PARK, Calif., Jan. 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- LeoLabs, the company with the largest and most comprehensive catalog of objects in low Earth orbit, today announced it received a Consolidated Pathfinder order from NOAA's Office of Space Commerce (OSC) for the development of the civil-led, national Traffic Coordination System for Space (TraCSS).

Through this contract, OSC will be able to leverage LeoLabs' in-house expertise, artificial intelligence techniques, and the largest commercial dataset of over 20,000 objects and millions of daily conjunction data messages.

"Just as air traffic management is critical for flight safety, space traffic coordination is critical for space safety," said LeoLabs Chief Executive Officer Dan Ceperley. "The number of satellites in LEO grew by ~45% in 2023 and is expected to grow by an additional ~35% in 2024. This, coupled with the growth of space debris, means more coordination is needed to prevent collisions. LeoLabs is delighted to be a foundational layer of the US Traffic Coordination System for Space, the world's most advanced system enabling enhanced space safety and sustainability."

The Consolidated Pathfinder is the first of a series of pathfinder projects aimed at supporting the development of TraCSS. This order demonstrates the rapid progress made by the US Government in developing this system and fulfilling Space Policy Directive-3 (SPD-3), which calls for the development of a national STM service managed by a civil government agency. The US is not only demonstrating its leadership in space safety but is also signaling its ongoing support for the space industry by integrating commercial solutions.

About LeoLabs ( www.leolabs.space )

LeoLabs is transforming the way satellite operators, commercial enterprises and federal agencies across the world launch and track missions in low Earth orbit. Through its vertically integrated technology system, Vertex, LeoLabs delivers the superior information needed to succeed in today's space race. With unmatched LEO coverage, real-time tracking and powerful insights, companies and governments rely on LeoLabs to safely innovate and execute a wide array of operations in space.

SOURCE LeoLabs, Inc.
The liquid biopsy in cancer diagnostics market is anticipated to experience growth due to factors such as the increasing occurrence of diverse cancers, rising interest in minimally invasive procedures, growing demand for precision medicine, and ongoing technical innovations in product development, among other contributing factors.

LAS VEGAS, Jan. 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- DelveInsight's Liquid Biopsy in Cancer Diagnostics Market Insights report provides the current and forecast market analysis, individual leading liquid biopsy in cancer diagnostics companies' market shares, challenges, liquid biopsy in cancer diagnostics market drivers, barriers, trends, and key market liquid biopsy in cancer diagnostics companies in the market.

Key Takeaways from the Liquid Biopsy in Cancer Diagnostics Market Report

As per DelveInsight estimates, North America is anticipated to dominate the global liquid biopsy in cancer diagnostics market during the forecast period.

is anticipated to dominate the global liquid biopsy in cancer diagnostics market during the forecast period. Notable liquid biopsy in cancer diagnostics companies such as Myriad Genetics Inc, Exact Sciences Corporation, Biocartis, Sysmex Corporation, Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc, Biocept Inc, Agilent Technologies Inc., MDx Health, Neogenomics Laboratories, F. Hoffman La Roche Ltd, Guardant Health, Bio-Techne, Illumina Inc, QIAGEN, Lucence Health Inc, Personal Gemone Diagnostics Inc, SAGA Diagnostics, Agena Bioscience Inc, The Menarini Group, MiRXES Pte Ltd., and several others, are currently operating in the liquid biopsy in cancer diagnostics market.

and several others, are currently operating in the liquid biopsy in cancer diagnostics market. In January 2024 , PrognomiQ, a healthcare firm dedicated to leveraging multi-omics data to revolutionize the early identification, treatment choice, and monitoring of cancer and intricate diseases, revealed encouraging findings from the most extensive deep multi-omics investigation to date. The study, available online in medRxiv, concentrated on individuals with susceptibility to lung cancer and showcased the effectiveness of multi-omics in achieving both heightened sensitivity and specificity for the early detection of lung cancer in its initial stages.

a healthcare firm dedicated to leveraging multi-omics data to revolutionize the early identification, treatment choice, and monitoring of cancer and intricate diseases, revealed encouraging findings from the most extensive deep multi-omics investigation to date. The study, available online in medRxiv, concentrated on individuals with susceptibility to lung cancer and showcased the effectiveness of multi-omics in achieving both heightened sensitivity and specificity for the early detection of lung cancer in its initial stages. In January 2024 , Aditxt, Inc., a firm committed to exploring, advancing, and implementing promising healthcare breakthroughs, declares the successful acquisition of MDNA Life Sciences Inc.'s exclusive platform for early disease and cancer detection. This strategic decision further underscores Pearsanta, Inc.'s commitment to improving patient outcomes by focusing on early disease detection and the effectiveness of precision diagnostics.

a firm committed to exploring, advancing, and implementing promising healthcare breakthroughs, declares the successful acquisition of MDNA Life Sciences Inc.'s exclusive platform for early disease and cancer detection. This strategic decision further underscores Pearsanta, Inc.'s commitment to improving patient outcomes by focusing on early disease detection and the effectiveness of precision diagnostics. In January 2024 , PanGIA Biotech , a biotechnology firm headquartered in the United States , is on a mission to create scalable liquid biopsy technology with a global reach. The company has revealed that it is in the final stages of completing a three-year prospective multicenter clinical study focused on liquid biopsy for prostate cancer.

, a biotechnology firm headquartered in , is on a mission to create scalable liquid biopsy technology with a global reach. The company has revealed that it is in the final stages of completing a three-year prospective multicenter clinical study focused on liquid biopsy for prostate cancer. In December 2023 , Exai Bio revealed recent findings showcasing the capability of its innovative liquid biopsy platform, which combines RNA technology with artificial intelligence. The platform can identify breast cancer in its earliest phases and detect even the smallest tumors, such as ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), using a regular blood sample. In a fresh study focused on early detection and expanding on previous results, the sensitivity for stage I breast cancer reached 87%, and the sensitivity for tumors of size T1a-b (10 mm or smaller) was 81%, both with a specificity of 90%.

To read more about the latest highlights related to liquid biopsy in cancer diagnostics market, get a snapshot of the key highlights entailed in the Global Liquid Biopsy in Cancer Diagnostics Market Report

Liquid Biopsy in Cancer Diagnostics Overview

Liquid biopsy is a revolutionary approach in cancer diagnostics that has emerged as a promising alternative to traditional tissue biopsies. Unlike conventional biopsies, which involve invasive procedures to extract tissue samples, liquid biopsy harnesses the power of a patient's blood or other bodily fluids to detect and analyze cancer-related genetic mutations, circulating tumor cells (CTCs), and cell-free DNA (cfDNA). This non-invasive technique offers a dynamic and real-time view of the tumor's genetic landscape, enabling oncologists to monitor disease progression, assess treatment response, and identify potential therapeutic targets with greater precision.

Liquid biopsy has shown particular utility in cases where obtaining tissue samples is challenging or risky, such as in metastatic cancers or when the tumor location is inaccessible. The ability to obtain valuable genetic information from a simple blood draw represents a significant advancement in personalized medicine, allowing for more timely and tailored interventions in the evolving landscape of cancer care. As research in this field continues to expand, liquid biopsy holds immense promise for improving early detection, monitoring treatment efficacy, and guiding therapeutic decisions in the realm of cancer diagnostics.

Liquid Biopsy in Cancer Diagnostics Market Insights

Among all regions, North America is projected to hold a substantial portion of the market share within liquid biopsy for cancer diagnostics. This prominence is anticipated due to several factors such as the rising incidence of cancers, an amplified emphasis on oncology research, supportive governmental initiatives endorsing liquid biopsy exploration, and a favorable landscape for product innovation and introduction in the area. Within North America, the United States, specifically, contributed to 87% of the revenue share in the liquid biopsy for cancer diagnostics market in 2022. This high adoption rate within the country can be attributed to its elevated prevalence of cancer cases.

Moreover, patients may face substantial costs associated with cancer diagnosis and treatment, even with medical insurance coverage. The inclusion of liquid biopsy tests in insurance and reimbursement initiatives provided by the US government serves as an additional incentive for their adoption among end users. As an illustration, InVisionFirst, a Liquid Biopsy for Lung Cancer Patients, falls under the coverage of CMS National Coverage Policy. Consequently, these factors are anticipated to propel the market for liquid biopsy in cancer diagnostics in the United States.

To know more about why North America is leading the market growth in the liquid biopsy in cancer diagnostics market, get a snapshot of the Liquid Biopsy in Cancer Diagnostics Market Outlook

Liquid Biopsy in Cancer Diagnostics Market Dynamics

The rising prevalence of cancer and the increasing adoption of liquid biopsy in cancer diagnostics are significant factors propelling the growth of liquid biopsy in cancer diagnostics market. The heightened demand for liquid biopsy is primarily driven by the surge in cancer cases. Additionally, the growing emphasis on precision medicine in cancer treatment contributes substantially to the escalating interest in liquid biopsy for diagnostic purposes. Precision medicine, characterized by tailoring treatment plans based on the specific biological characteristics of tumors, represents a novel approach in cancer care. The applications of precision medicine extend across various clinical aspects, including screening, diagnosis, prognosis, predicting treatment responses and resistance, early detection of recurrence/metastasis, and the biological stratification of cancer. Liquid biopsies emerge as a promising avenue for personalized medicine, offering the advantage of multiple non-invasive global snapshots of both primary and metastatic tumors.

The widespread acceptance and focus of physicians on tailoring treatments to individual health conditions have led to increased attention to personalized medicine. Liquid biopsy, a crucial element in crafting customized treatments, plays a significant role in this regard. By offering real-time information about the tumor profile, it guides decisions on subsequent treatment steps. Market players are recognizing the potential of liquid biopsy, as evident from their heightened interest in developing products within this field. As a result, the growing significance of precision medicine, coupled with the advantages of liquid biopsy, is expected to contribute to the expansion of liquid biopsy within the cancer diagnostics market in the forecast period.

Nevertheless, the potential for inaccurate outcomes arising from procedural constraints and the absence of standardized procedures could pose significant challenges to the expansion of the liquid biopsy market in cancer diagnostics.

Get a sneak peek at the liquid biopsy in cancer diagnostics market dynamics @ Liquid Biopsy in Cancer Diagnostics Market Dynamics Analysis

Report Metrics Details Coverage Global Study Period 20202028 Liquid Biopsy in Cancer Diagnostics Market CAGR ~17% Liquid Biopsy in Cancer Diagnostics Market Size by 2028 USD 19.24 Billion Key Liquid Biopsy in Cancer Diagnostics Companies Myriad Genetics Inc., Exact Sciences Corporation, Biocartis, Sysmex Corporation, Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., Biocept Inc., Agilent Technologies Inc., MDx Health, Neogenomics Laboratories, F. Hoffman La Roche Ltd, Guardant Health, Bio-Techne, Illumina Inc, QIAGEN, Lucence Health Inc, Personal Gemone Diagnostics Inc, SAGA Diagnostics, Agena Bioscience Inc, The Menarini Group, MiRXES Pte Ltd., among others

Liquid Biopsy in Cancer Diagnostics Market Assessment

Liquid Biopsy in Cancer Diagnostics Market Segmentation

Liquid Biopsy in Cancer Diagnostics Market Segmentation By Type: Product Type [Instruments and Reagents & Kits] and Services), Sample Type (Blood, Urine, and Saliva), Biomarker Type (Circulating Tumor Cells, Circulating Tumor DNA, Circulating Free DNA, and Others), Cancer Type (Lung Cancer, Breast Cancer, Colon Cancer, and Others)

Product Type [Instruments and Reagents & Kits] and Services), Sample Type (Blood, Urine, and Saliva), Biomarker Type (Circulating Tumor Cells, Circulating Tumor DNA, Circulating Free DNA, and Others), Cancer Type (Lung Cancer, Breast Cancer, Colon Cancer, and Others)

Liquid Biopsy in Cancer Diagnostics Market Segmentation By Technique: Polymerase Chain Reaction and Next Generation Sequencing

Polymerase Chain Reaction and Next Generation Sequencing

Liquid Biopsy in Cancer Diagnostics Market Segmentation By End User: Hospitals, Diagnostic Centers, and Others

Hospitals, Diagnostic Centers, and Others

Liquid Biopsy in Cancer Diagnostics Market Segmentation By Geography : North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and Rest of World

: , , , and Rest of World Porter's Five Forces Analysis, Product Profiles, Case Studies, KOL's Views, Analyst's View

Which MedTech key players in the liquid biopsy in cancer diagnostics market are set to emerge as the trendsetter explore @ Liquid Biopsy in Cancer Diagnostics Companies

Table of Contents

1 Report Introduction 2 Executive summary 3 Regulatory and Patent Analysis 4 Key Factors Analysis 5 Porter's Five Forces Analysis 6 COVID-19 Impact Analysis on Liquid Biopsy in Cancer Diagnostics Market 7 Liquid Biopsy in Cancer Diagnostics Market Layout 8 Global Company Share Analysis  Key 3-5 Companies 9 Liquid Biopsy in Cancer Diagnostics Market Company and Product Profiles 10 Project Approach 11 About DelveInsight

Interested in knowing the liquid biopsy in cancer diagnostics market by 2028? Click to get a snapshot of the Liquid Biopsy in Cancer Diagnostics Market Trends

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About DelveInsight

DelveInsight is a leading Business Consultant, and Market Research firm focused exclusively on life sciences. It supports pharma companies by providing comprehensive end-to-end solutions to improve their performance.

Contact Us

Shruti Thakur

[email protected]

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https://www.delveinsight.com/medical-devices

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1082265/DelveInsight_Logo.jpg

SOURCE DelveInsight Business Research, LLP
VANCOUVER, BC, Jan. 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ - Luca Mining Corp. ("Luca" or the "Company") (TSXV: LUCA) (OTCQX: LUCMF) (Frankfurt: Z68) is pleased to announce it has received conditional TSX Venture Exchange ("TSXV") approval and closed a debt restructuring and debt transaction previously announced by news release dated December 6, 2023.

Debt Settlement

The Company is pleased to announce it has closed its debt settlement (the "Debt Settlement") with the Latapi Consultores, S.A. de C.V. ("Latapi"). Under the Debt Settlement, the Company has issued an aggregate of 17,750,000 Shares to settle outstanding debt of CAD$11,029,817, comprising of (i) CAD$3,042,317 of debt that the Latapi and the Company agreed to write off and (ii) CAD$7,987,500 of debt that has been settled in common shares of Luca (the "Shares"), at a price of CAD$0.45 per Share. The Shares were issued to a syndicate of creditors with Latapi acting as agent on behalf of the syndicate to negotiate the terms of the Debt Settlement. The debt was originally owed under a loan facility to Accendo Banco, S.A. and assigned to Latapi acting on behalf of a syndicate of creditors.

The Shares are subject to a four month plus one day hold period under applicable Canadian securities laws. The Debt Settlement is subject to the receipt of final approval from the TSXV.

Debt Restructuring

The Company has completed its debt restructuring transaction with Trafigura Mexico, S.A. de C.V. ("Trafigura") and its affiliate Urion Holdings (Malta) Limited ("Urion"). The Company has conditionally converted a US$5,800,000 (the "Principal Amount") outstanding loan into a non-interest bearing three year term convertible debenture (the "Convertible Debenture"). Trafigura has conditionally assigned the Principal Amount to Urion, such assignment to be perfected upon Urion being included in the existing security arrangements between Luca and Trafigura (the "Condition"). The Convertible Debenture has been signed and placed in escrow, to be released once the Condition has been met. The Convertible Debenture will mature in three years from the date it is released from escrow and made effective. Upon maturity or any time prior thereto, the Principal Amount is convertible into Shares at a price of CAD$0.35 per Share. Under certain circumstances the Company is permitted to make prepayments of the Principal Amount in cash, in accordance with the terms of the Convertible Debenture.

Any Shares issued under the Convertible Debenture will be subject to a four month plus one day hold period under applicable Canadian securities laws. The Convertible Debenture is subject to the receipt of final approval from the TSXV.

The Company is pleased to advise that Trafigura has advanced an additional US$2,500,000 loan to assist the Company in completing the mine optimization program at Campo Morado. The ultimate goal of the optimization program is to enable Luca to deliver separate clean copper, zinc and lead concentrates to Trafigura with substantially higher recoveries and concentrate grades.

Mike Struthers, Luca's CEO stated: "The transactions described above substantially improve the financial condition of the Company and to a certain extent reflect the growing confidence in the Company's operations. On the one hand Trafigura has agreed to exchange US$5,800,000 of existing debt that was accruing interest into a non interest bearing Convertible Debenture payable in three years, while also facilitating the mine enhancement at Campo Morado with an additional US$2,500,000 loan, and on the other we have been able to remove approximately CAD$11,029,817 of loan liability from our balance sheet by the issuance of 17,750,000 shares, which works out to an effective cost of approximately CAD$.61 per share. These are all very positive developments for Luca from a cash flow and profitability perspective."

About Luca Mining Corp.

Luca Mining (TSX-V: LUCA, OTCQX: LUCMF, Frankfurt: Z68) is a diversified Canadian mining company with two 100%-owned producing mines in Mexico. The Company produces gold, copper, zinc, silver and lead from these mines that each have considerable development and resource upside.

The Campo Morado mine, is an underground operation located in Guerrero State, a prolific mining region in Mexico. It produces copper-zinc-lead concentrates with precious metals credits. It is currently undergoing an optimisation program aimed at increasing efficiency and cashflow. In Q1 2024, the program has already started generating significant improvements in recoveries and grades.

The Tahuehueto mine is a new underground gold mine in Durango State, Mexico, within the Sierra Madre Mineral Belt which hosts numerous producing and historic mines along its trend. The Company has increased its mill capacity at Tahuehueto to 1,000 tonnes per day. Key test work and throughput expansion is underway to increase production by 2 H 2024.

The Company expects its operations to start generating positive free cash flow in 2024. Luca Mining is focused on growth with the aim of maximizing shareholder returns.

For more information, please visit: www.lucamining.com

On Behalf of the Board of Directors

(signed) "Mike Struthers"

Mike Struthers, CEO and Director

Cautionary Note Regarding Production Decisions and Forward-Looking Statements

It should be noted that Luca declared commercial production at Campo Morado prior to completing a feasibility study of mineral reserves demonstrating economic and technical viability. Accordingly, readers should be cautioned that Luca's production decision has been made without a comprehensive feasibility study of established reserves such that there is greater risk and uncertainty as to future economic results from the Campo Morado mine and a higher technical risk of failure than would be the case if a feasibility study were completed and relied upon to make a production decision. Luca has completed a preliminary economic assessment ("PEA") mining study on the Campo Morado mine that provides a conceptual life of mine plan and a preliminary economic analysis based on the previously identified mineral resources (see news releases dated November 8, 2017, and April 4, 2018).

Statements contained in this news release that are not historical facts are "forward-looking information" or "forward-looking statements" (collectively, "Forward-Looking Information") within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. Forward Looking Information includes, but is not limited to, disclosure regarding the planned program to improve mining operations at Campo Morado; and other possible events, conditions or financial performance that are based on assumptions about future economic conditions and courses of action; the timing and costs of future activities on the Company's properties, such as production rates and increases; success of exploration, development and bulk sample processing activities, and timing for processing at its own mineral processing facility on the Tahuehueto project site. In certain cases, Forward-Looking Information can be identified using words and phrases such as "plans," "expects," "scheduled," "estimates," "forecasts," "intends," "anticipates" or variations of such words and phrases. In preparing the Forward-Looking Information in this news release, the Company has applied several material assumptions, including, but not limited to, that the current exploration, development, environmental and other objectives concerning the Campo Morado Mine and the Tahuehueto Project can be achieved; that the program to improve mining operations at Campo Morado will proceed as planned; the continuity of the price of gold and other metals, economic and political conditions, and operations. Forward-Looking Information involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance, or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the Forward-Looking Information. There can be no assurance that Forward-Looking Information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on Forward-Looking Information. Except as required by law, the Company does not assume any obligation to release publicly any revisions to Forward-Looking Information contained in this news release to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.

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.

SOURCE Luca Mining Corp.
NEW YORK, Jan. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The machine condition monitoring market is to grow by USD 1.14 billion between 2023 and 2027 and register a CAGR of 7.17%, according to Technavio's latest market research report estimates. Wireless communication gaining momentum in industries is a key factor driving the market growth. This spurred the creation of wireless devices for extracting and swiftly transmitting data from machinery, particularly in situations where installing cables is impractical or expensive. Suppliers promote wireless communication adoption through advancements and cost-effectiveness.

Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global Machine Condition Monitoring Market 2023-2027

Technavio offers in-depth market insights that assist global businesses in obtaining growth opportunities. Read a Free Sample Report

The report also covers the following areas:

Machine Condition Monitoring Market 2023-2027: Segmentation

Deployment

On-premises



Cloud

End-user

Energy And Power Industry



Cement And Metal Industry



Oil And Gas Industry



Chemical And Petrochemical Industry



Automotive Industry And Others

Geography

North America



Europe



APAC



South America



Middle East And Africa

The on-premises segment will account for a major share of the market's growth during the forecast period. With on-premise solutions, organizations gain greater control over their data and ensure that it remains within physical boundaries. Furthermore, local data processing is possible with On-premises solutions without the need to depend on outside connections.

To learn more about the factors assisting the growth of the market, download a free sample Report

Machine Condition Monitoring Market 2023-2027: Company Analysis and Scope

Some of the major companies of the machine condition monitoring market in l4 industry include AB SKF, ALS Ltd., AMETEK Inc., Analog Devices Inc., Baker Hughes Co., Dewesoft d.o.o., Emerson Electric Co., Fortive Corp., Gastops Ltd., General Electric Co., Honeywell International Inc., ifm electronic gmbh, National Instruments Corp., OMRON Corp., Parker Hannifin Corp., Rockwell Automation Inc., Schaeffler AG, Signals and Systems India Pvt. Ltd., SPM Instrument, and Teledyne Technologies Inc. To help businesses improve their market position, Technavio's report provides a detailed analysis of around 15+ companies operating in the market. To leverage the current opportunities, market players must strengthen their foothold in the fast-growing segments, while maintaining their positions in the slow-growing segments. Backed with competitive intelligence and benchmarking, our research reports on the machine condition monitoring market are designed to provide entry support, customer profile & M&As as well as go-to-market strategy support.

Company Offering

Alsglobal - The company offers machine condition monitoring such as MOVUS FitMachine condition monitoring solutions for automobiles.

Machine Condition Monitoring Market 2023-2027: Market Dynamics

The Machine Condition Monitoring Market is experiencing a significant surge, driven by the integration of cutting-edge technologies. Vibration analysis, acoustic emission, infrared thermography, oil analysis, ultrasound testing, motor current signature analysis (MCSA), and power quality analysis are pivotal in ensuring seamless operations. Temperature and pressure monitoring, proximity probes, shock pulse measurement, electric motor testing, wear particle analysis, tribology, corrosion monitoring, and structural health monitoring bolster comprehensive diagnostics. Non-destructive testing (NDT) is gaining traction, supporting condition-based maintenance and predictive maintenance. Asset management is optimizing through remote monitoring and wireless sensor networks, while data analytics, machine learning, artificial intelligence, cloud and edge computing, industrial IoT (IIoT), sensor technology, and smart sensors redefine real-time monitoring paradigms.

Major Trend

Improvement in sensor technology is a major trend in the market.

Significant Challenge

Limited battery life for wireless devices is a significant challenge restricting market growth.

Machine Condition Monitoring Market 2023-2027: Key Highlights

CAGR of the market during the forecast period 2023-2027

Detailed information on factors that will assist machine condition monitoring market growth during the next five years

Estimation of the machine condition monitoring market size and its contribution to the parent market

Predictions on upcoming trends and changes in consumer behavior

The growth of the machine condition monitoring market

Analysis of the market's competitive landscape and detailed information on companies

Comprehensive details of factors that will challenge the growth of machine condition monitoring market companies

Get lifetime access to our Technavio Insights.

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Table of Contents:

Executive Summary Market Landscape Market Sizing Historic Market Sizes Five Forces Analysis Market Segmentation by Deployment Market Segmentation by End-User Market Segmentation by Geography Customer Landscape Geographic Landscape Drivers, Challenges, & Trends Company Landscape Company Analysis 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 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.

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SOURCE Technavio
SEOUL, South Korea, Jan. 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Mayor Oh Se-hoon of Seoul went to the United States to attend the world's largest ICT (Information and Communication Technology) exhibition, CES 2024.

Mayor Oh Se-hoon Heads to CES 2024 to Encourage Seoul Companies' Sales and Investment

During his four-night, seven-day stay from January 8th, Mayor Oh visited Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, encouraging companies participating in 'CES 2024 Seoul Pavilion,' examining the latest global technological trends, and devising plans for attracting investments and creating a "Charming Special City." Since 2020, Seoul has participated in CES, operating the 'Seoul Pavilion' to support the sales and investments of Seoul-based companies.

During this trip, Mayor Oh not only visited CES 2024 but also presented the mid-to-long-term roadmap for 'Seoul Smart Life Week,' discussed cooperation with the International Business Manager of MLB regarding the hosting of the '2024 MLB World Tour Seoul Series' in March, and inspected the advanced performance facility 'MSG Sphere' to support Seoul companies' sales and formulate plans for the 'Charming City Seoul.'

Visited CES 2024 and Various Meetings, Including Discussions with MLB International Business Manager

During the two days (January 9th to 10th) at CES 2024, Mayor Oh visited the 'Seoul Pavilion' and various booths of major domestic and international companies (Samsung, LG, Hyundai Motor, etc.) and startups. He also attended the 'Seoul Innovation Forum 2024.' On January 9th, Mayor Oh participated at the 'Seoul Pavilion opening ceremony at 'Eureka Park' in 'Tech West,' where 81 Seoul-based startups and 13 organizations, including Seoul Bio Hub and Seoul AI Hub, participated. The ceremony welcomed Mayor Oh, Gary Shapiro, the CTA Chairman, and representatives of participating companies.

Later, Mayor Oh had a luncheon meeting with representatives of companies that won the CES 2024 Innovation Award, discussing their global expansion and business development experiences. He also toured various international startup booths, including Japan Pavilion (J-Startup Pavilion), Netherlands Pavilion (NL Tech Pavilion), and France Pavilion (La French Tech), to explore the latest technological trends and collaboration opportunities. Of the 81 Seoul-based companies participating in 'Seoul Pavilion,' 18 won the CES 2024 'Innovation Award,' and two received the 'Best Innovation Award,' given to only 1% of participating companies.

In the afternoon, Mayor Oh met with the International Business Manager of MLB to discuss the successful hosting of the '2024 MLB World Tour Seoul Series' in March at Seoul's Gocheok Sky Dome and enhance the ongoing partnership between Seoul and MLB. The first official opening game of the 2024 MLB regular season (2 games) will take place in Gocheok Sky Dome from March 20 to 21 (Hosted by MLB, Sponsored by Seoul).

At 5:30 PM local time on January 10th, Mayor Oh attended the 'Seoul Innovation Forum 2024' at CES, where he unveiled the mid-to-long-term roadmap for 'Seoul Smart Life Week,' scheduled to be held in October at COEX.

On January 10th, Mayor Oh also explored exhibition booths at the Las Vegas Convention Center (LVCC) Central Hall and West Hall, discussing how to apply the latest global industries and technologies that will change the future of Seoul citizens in policy.

Visited to Las Vegas Tourism Authority and Inspection of MSG Sphere

On January 11th, Mayor Oh continued his schedule to strengthen Seoul's status as a global city and elevate Seoul's charm.

In the morning, Mayor Oh visited the 'Las Vegas Tourism Authority,' which operates the Las Vegas Convention Center, among other facilities. He listened to Las Vegas's tourism and marketing strategies. The Las Vegas Tourism Authority owns and operates large-scale event facilities and transportation methods (monorail, etc.). It attracts around 39 million tourists annually (including 5 million meetings and incentives visitors), contributing an economic impact of approximately $79.3 billion (about KRW 104 trillion) ('22 Las Vegas Tourism Authority).

In the afternoon, Mayor Oh inspected the advanced performance facility 'MSG Sphere,' which has garnered global attention since its opening last year. He considered ways to enhance Seoul's tourism competitiveness and charm along with the development of Korean Culture. The Sphere is the world's largest spherical performance venue, with a height of about 112m and a diameter of about 160m, located on approximately 72,800m of land. It boasts direct and indirect economic effects through an 18K ultra-high-resolution screen covering about 53,000m installed on the exterior of the building.

On January 12th at 10:50 PM local time, Mayor Oh concluded his business trip to Las Vegas and boarded the return flight.

SOURCE Seoul Metropolitan Government
KAYSVILLE, Utah, Jan. 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Melanie Boyack , esteemed National Keynote Speaker, Corporate Trainer, and celebrated author, is proudly recognized and honored by the Logan City Fire Department for her extraordinary dedication to promoting mental wellness within the first responder community.

Melanie Boyack Logan City Fire Department First Responder Honoree

Melanie Boyack is renowned for her expertise in rewiring the brain for success, navigating trauma's impact, and breaking destructive cycles. With engaging keynotes and comprehensive training programs, she equips organizations with the tools necessary for sustainable personal and professional growth. Organizations partnered with Melanie Boyack have witnessed a decrease in employee burnout and a simultaneous increase in overall performance and satisfaction.

In expressing their gratitude, Jack Tidrow stated, "Coupled with her existing strong skill set and experience as a clinician, Melanie has become one of our very best vetted clinicians. It is with the utmost respect and highest regard that we celebrate your time, professionalism, and contributions to the mental health and emotional well-being of Logan City Fire Department members and their families."

Joseph Cyr, Patrol Sergeant, and FTO Coordinator with 31 years of experience in Utah's largest police department, commends Melanie's impact on first responder training: "I highly recommend Melanie Boyack as an instructor and presenter in the field of First Responder trauma instruction and counseling. The effect of her skillful teaching and counseling was powerful for the officers. The written feedback, which I have in my possession, was overwhelmingly positive. Many of the officers were begging for more time with her."

Recognizing the critical need for mental health support tailored to first responders' unique challenges, the Logan City Fire Department emphasizes prioritizing the well-being of these dedicated individuals and their families. A staggering statistic reveals that 1 in 3 firefighters experiences Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), a rate three times higher than the general population. This alarming figure underscores the urgency of providing specialized mental health support for those who risk their lives to protect others.

Melanie Boyack brings a unique perspective to her work, drawing from her background as a trauma therapist involved in high-stakes situations such as hostage crises and collaborations with military special operations, SWAT teams, and Special Forces. This wealth of experience provides unparalleled stress management and resilience insights , making her a sought-after expert.

Connect with Melanie Boyack to explore how her expertise can create a healthier, more productive workplace. Her passion for enhancing mental wellness and fostering resilience is evident in the transformative results experienced by organizations collaborating with her.

About Melanie Boyack:

Melanie Boyack is a national keynote speaker, corporate trainer, and author dedicated to empowering individuals and organizations to achieve sustainable personal and professional growth. With a background as a trauma therapist involved in high-stakes situations, Melanie brings unparalleled insights into stress management and resilience, helping organizations become beacons of excellence.

Contact: Melanie Boyack, LLC

SOURCE Melanie Boyack LLC
DUBAI, Jan. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Metra Group  a leading provider of information technologies and solutions in the region with a legacy of over four decades has recently entered an Agreement of Value-Added Partnership with Astrikos.ai  an Indian company pioneering in machine learning (ML) powered cognitive analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) technological software platform for heterogenous infrastructures such as Smart Cities, NextGen Data Centres, Smart Districts/Buildings and Healthcare facility infra.

At the signing ceremony: From LEFT TO RIGHT, Mr. Adib Rajji, VP Vendor Strategy and Business Development of Metra Group, Mr. Maan Al Saleh VP Sales and Business Development  Aquila Clouds, Mr. Puneet Kaura VP Sales and Operations  Aquila Clouds, Mr Chinmay Hegde - CEO Astrikos

The emerging promising sector of infrastructure operations, smart cities, IoT enabled cognitive infrastructure area is globally estimated to be over 160 billion dollars market and is expected to grow with a CAGR of over 10% year over year to cross 600 billion dollars by the year of 2032. For better optimization of the infrastructure operations, management, sustainability measurements and proactive actions, for infrastructure administrators, it is important to use the power of data intelligence and decipher the hidden patterns of problem areas, forecasting and prediction to take the appropriate anticipatory actions with utmost accuracy.

Dr. Chinmay Hegde  Founder and CEO of Astrikos.ai, who was present at the occasion explained about how the global diaspora of cognitive intelligence with the power of Gen-AI is helping the smart cities to become smart and cognitive urban spaces enriched with disparate data hubs. He also cautioned on the risk of data and information overload and further explained about how Astrikos.ai platforms make sense of such large set of data and provide the pointed/condensed Generative-AI based decision support to the cities/infra-administration to deliver the comprehensive value to the end beneficiaries/citizens, while complying with the Sustainable Development Goals.

Mr. Adib Rajji, VP Vendor Strategy and Business Development of Metra Group spoke about the emerging GCC market demands for Smart Cities and Smart Districts powered with urban analytics and city data cloud and stressed upon the need of technologies that can deliver the better livability, environmental sustainability, safety, and security indices to the citizens/beneficiaries with cutting down operational lapses with effective machine generated recommendations.

Furthermore, he also elaborated about the key value proposition of this partnership and how it is unique in its own nature to make the difference.

The conference had the attendance of following industry experts and thought leaders in the areas of Smart Cities, Urban Management, Infrastructure development:

Mr. Puneet Kaura VP Sales and Operations  Aquila Clouds

Mr. Maan Al Saleh VP Sales and Business Development  Aquila Clouds

About Metra Group:

Metra Group has been the region's foremost provider of IT services and solutions since 1982, becoming the region's fastest growing value- added IT distributor with over 30 vendors, 500 employees and 6500 partners and resellers. Metra Computer Group excels at creating distribution networks with a keen focus on logistics, service, product aggregation, maintenance, and technical support.

Metra Group (https://metragroup.com) embarked on its international expansion journey by entering the Saudi Arabian market in 1991. Subsequently, the company established its presence in the USA in 1993 and Dubai in 1998. These ventures presented major challenges that ultimately fueled the group's growth and success. During its second decade, Metra Group experienced solid growth, marked by strategic partnerships with industry giants like Acer, Dell, HP, IBM, and Intel. These collaborations propelled the company's expansion into Qatar, Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, and Iraq. As Metra Group entered its third decade of operation, it forged alliances with additional technology providers, including Cisco, Oracle, and Dell. This further enhanced the company's presence across the region. With the fifth decade underway, Metra Group continues its steady progress and expansion.

About Astrikos.ai:

Astrikos.ai (https://astrikos.ai)  ML based AI Software platforms were founded on the principles of combining Platform Cooperativism and Sustainable Socioeconomic Models for the twenty-first century with hyperscale impact, addressing key infrastructure challenges in areas such as Health Infra, Next Generation Data Centers, Smart Ports, Campuses, Smart City Urban Analytics, Smart Infrastructure and Industry 4.0/5.0. The motive of Astrikos.ai Platforms is to bring the behavioral change in Infra Operations from Reactive Response mechanism to Proactive Advisory-Based Mitigation.

Astrikos have their foothold in the Indian and ASEAN market with a strong outlook in MENA countries with a proven customer base.

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2321504/Astrikos_ai.jpg

SOURCE Astrikos.ai
Slack and Sanger among first Texas lawyers to receive new Aviation Law certification

AUSTIN, Texas, Jan. 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Slack Davis Sanger is pleased to announce that Michael L. Slack and Ladd C. Sanger have received Board Certification in Aviation Law from the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. This achievement sets the two apart in Aviation Law, as only a handful of attorneys have received this certification in Texas.

Board certification means that an attorney has demonstrated special competence in a particular area of law. According to the Texas Board of Legal Specialization (TBLS), approximately 7% of Texas licensed attorneys are board certified, across 27 specialty areas. Board Certified lawyers are the only lawyers in Texas allowed to refer to themselves as specialists and to display board certified credentials.

Texas is the largest single-state certification program for lawyers in the U.S., with Aviation Law becoming the latest area of specialty added by the TBLS in 2023.

The TBLS describes Aviation Law as the practice of law dealing with issues affecting aircraft and airport operations, aircraft ownership, aircraft navigation and maintenance, air traffic control safety, pilot licensing and certification requirements, spacecraft, and outer space. Lawyers in this area represent parties in transactions governed by or affected by aviation law, provide legal counsel with respect to various tax or regulatory matters, serve as legal counsel in civil aviation authority regulatory enforcement matters or other regulatory actions, provide legal counsel with respect to aviation-related insurance claims and coverage, and litigate aviation law disputes.

To become Board Certified in Aviation Law, applicants are required to meet the following qualifications:

Practice law full-time for at least 5 years as an active member of the State Bar of Texas ;

; At least 3 years of specified aviation law experience with a yearly minimum of 30% substantial involvement in aviation law matters;

Qualified vetted references from judges and lawyers in the area;

Complete 60 hours of TBLS approved continuing legal education in aviation law;

Meet the TBLS Standards for Attorney Certification; and

Pass a comprehensive 6-hour examination in aviation law

Slack is the managing and founding partner of Slack Davis Sanger, L.L.P. based in Austin, Texas. In addition to being Board Certified in Aviation Law, he is also Board Certified in Personal Injury Trial Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. He is also a licensed pilot and former NASA aerospace engineer who worked on the Apollo-Soyuz and Space Shuttle programs at the Johnson Space Center before becoming an attorney. To date, he has litigated or tried aviation accident cases in state or federal courts in 36 states.

Sanger is the managing partner of Slack Davis Sanger's Dallas office. He is an FAA-licensed Airline Transport Pilot with two jet-type ratings and is also a licensed helicopter pilot. Sanger has handled numerous crash cases around the globe. He received a Top 50 Verdicts in Texas Award in 2019 and 2022, ranking number one in aviation accidents.

About Slack Davis Sanger

Since 1993, Slack Davis Sanger attorneys have been serving clients nationally and internationally, with a combined experience of more than 150 years. Slack Davis Sanger has extensive experience in litigation involving a diverse array of airplane, helicopter, and balloon accidents and involvement in major airline disasters, sightseeing and tour flights, air ambulance operations, and charter flights. The Aviation Law specialization is described on the TBLS website at https://www.tbls.org/specialtyarea/AV.

SOURCE Slack Davis Sanger
Salon Suite Franchise Receives Recognition as a Top 200 Franchise Brand Based on Franchisee Satisfaction

CARROLLTON, Texas, Jan. 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- MY SALON Suite , a salon suite franchise that focuses on providing stylists and beauticians a personal space to build their business and the beauty industry's future, announced today it has been recognized among the top 200 franchises by Franchise Business Review as rated by franchise business owners. This is the 19th annual ranking of the 200 best franchise opportunities. The list is available at https://franchisebusinessreview.com/lists/top-200-franchises/ .

"This recognition is a reflection of the remarkable growth that MY SALON Suite has experienced in the past year, and underscores our commitment to providing a compelling business opportunity and outstanding support to our franchisees," said Stacy Eley, Brand President of MY SALON Suite. "Our semi-absentee model has proven to be an ideal choice for multi-unit and multi-brand franchise partners seeking to diversify their portfolios. As we continue to expand our network and offer a variety of franchising options, including through multi-unit packs and conversions, I look forward to the continued achievements and milestones that lie ahead for MY SALON Suite."

Franchise Business Review , a market research firm that performs independent surveys of franchisee satisfaction and employee engagement, provides the only rankings and awards for franchise companies based solely on actual franchisee satisfaction and performance. Franchise Business Review publishes its rankings of the top 200 franchises in its annual Guide to Today's Top Franchises .

MY SALON Suite was among over 375 franchise brands, representing more than 35,000 franchise owners, that participated in Franchise Business Review's research. MY SALON Suite's franchisees were surveyed on 33 benchmark questions about their experience and satisfaction regarding critical areas of their franchise systems, including training & support, operations, franchisor/franchisee relations, and financial opportunity. MY SALON Suite franchisees are provided ongoing training, support and a strong referral network to help their business generate a six-figure income, as well as a semi-absentee model that allows franchisees to own a franchise without needing to manage employees or oversee every operation.

"We were looking for a proven, but growing franchise concept to help diversify our brand portfolio. MY SALON Suite checked all of the boxes from an investment, time demand and profitability standpoint," said Eric Goodman, MY SALON Suite franchisee of multiple locations in Columbus, Ohio. "We feel like we're in great hands with the MY SALON Suite team. From the discovery and fact-finding part of the process, into onboarding and beyond, we've been given all of the tools and contacts we need to set us up for success."

MY SALON Suite's survey data showed the following:

97% of franchisees agree that their fellow franchisees are supportive of each other.

90% of franchisees agree that they support the brand.

91% of franchisees agree that they enjoy being a part of this organization.

"Franchisee satisfaction continues to be the leading indicator of franchise performance and system health, and we are pleased to report that our latest research shows satisfaction has remained at some of the highest levels in the past 19 years. In fact, our survey results show that three out of four franchise owners would recommend their brand to others. That's extremely encouraging news for franchise owners and anyone considering investing in a franchise," said Michelle Rowan, president and COO of Franchise Business Review. "As an independent research firm, Franchise Business Review is committed to helping prospective franchisees get an objective view of the best franchise opportunities available based on actual feedback from the people who own them. Each of the award winners on this year's list of the 200 Top Franchises received stellar ratings from their franchisees in the areas crucial to success in operating a franchise, including training & support, leadership, innovation, culture, and financial opportunity."

The initial investment for a MY SALON Suite franchise is approximately $823,344  $2,241,800, including a $50,000 franchise fee. Ideal candidates have a net worth of $1.5 million, of which $500K is liquid. Additionally, MY SALON Suite offers a special incentive for veterans and first responders, including paramedics, emergency medical technicians, police officers, sheriffs and firefighters, which includes a 50% reduction on the franchise fee  a savings of $25,000.

For more information about MY SALON Suite franchise opportunities, visit https://www.mysalonsuite.com , or contact Mark Jameson at [email protected] or 214-346-5679.

Visit FranchiseBusinessReview.com to see the full description of the 2024 Top Franchises .

About MY SALON Suite:

MY SALON Suite is a franchise designed for individuals with an entrepreneurial spirit who are interested in diversifying their portfolio while enjoying a semi-absentee lifestyle. The company was established with the aim to inspire and empower the modern-day salon owner, providing a unique opportunity for a diverse range of beauty and health professionals to successfully manage their businesses. MY SALON Suite Members are provided with ongoing training, support, and a robust referral network to bolster their business growth. The brand, which is ranked in the top 100 on Entrepreneur's highly competitive 2024 Franchise 500 List, is widely recognized for its rapid expansion and significant success.

As one of the service-oriented businesses in the Propelled Brands family, MY SALON Suite boasts over 330 locations in 35 states across the United States and Canada, with 165 franchisees and over 8,500 Members. To learn more about MY SALON Suite, visit mysalonsuite.com . For franchise opportunities, contact Mark Jameson ([email protected] or call 214.346.5679).

SOURCE MY SALON Suite
DUSHANBE, Tajikistan, January 19. Attracting Chinese investments in the development of the transportation infrastructure of Tajikistan's capital was discussed in Dushanbe, Trend reports.

According to the press-service of the Executive body of the state of Dushanbe city, the issues were discussed during a meeting between the First Deputy Chairman of Dushanbe, Jamshed Tabarzoda, and the Chinese Ambassador to Tajikistan, Ji Shumin.

Throughout the meeting, the parties discussed the level of bilateral cooperation and exchanged views on the prospects of mutually beneficial connections in various fields of interest.

Meanwhile, during a forum on entrepreneurship and trade-economic cooperation between Tajikistan and China, it was noted that trade turnover between the countries reached $1.06 billion from January through September 2023, which is a 10.4 percent increase compared to the same period in 2022.

China's share in Tajikistan's foreign trade turnover stood at 20.7 percent, making it the second-largest trading partner.
Expo to share public school info, free fun with 400+ attendees during School Choice Week

NEW HAVEN, Conn., Jan. 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Considering a magnet school or charter school? Making a public school transfer? All families with pre-K-12 students are invited to celebrate learning and explore schools before the next lottery cycle at the New Haven School Fair on Saturday, Jan. 27. The free, fun-filled community event is one of several large-scale fairs across the country during National School Choice Week.

Hosted by New Haven Public School District, one of Connecticut's most dynamic school districts, the event highlighting schools of choice will take place 10 a.m.-2 p.m. at Wilbur Cross High School. From exploring STEAM schools on "Science Street" to kindergarten options on "Kinder Corner," the fair offers families the opportunity to discover all the different learning tracks offered by the District. In addition to 41 magnet, choice, and traditional New Haven public schools, the fair will feature several local public charter options.

Besides grabbing a map of the room and exploring schools, families can have their fill of free fun, including popcorn and cotton candy, a photobooth, DJ, face painting, balloon twisting, and raffle prizes.

The fair is conveniently located before the choice schools application period opens on Tuesday, Jan. 30 for the 2024-2025 school year in New Haven. Event planners say their aim is to help families with four key process steps of choosing a school: explore, apply, accept, register.

"For many families, like those who have children entering Pre-K and Kindergarten, the New Haven School Fair will be their first stop of their school explorations. Choosing a school can be overwhelming and a family may not know where to start," said Danielle Gregory-Williams, Magnet Recruitment Coordinator for the New Haven Public Schools Office of School Choice and Enrollment. "So being able to see your options and hear what they have to offer all in one place is convenient."

The New Haven school fair is timed to coincide with National School Choice Week 2024, a nationwide celebration of K-12 learning choices of all types. Across the country, large-scale school fairs will take place in more than a dozen cities, and tens of thousands of local celebrations will take place in individual schools and homes.

Wilbur Cross High School is located at 181 Mitchell Drive.

Families can learn more and RSVP for the free event at newhavenschoolfair.com.

National School Choice Week (NSCW) informs, inspires, and empowers parents to discover the K-12 education options available for their children, including traditional public, charter, magnet, online, private, and homeschooling. Every January, tens of thousands of schools, organizations, and individuals plan unique events and activities to shine a positive spotlight on effective education options in their communities. The Week is a project of the nonpartisan, nonpolitical National School Choice Awareness Foundation.

SOURCE National School Choice Week
MAURITI, Brzail, Jan. 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- TrinaTracker has completed supplying a 210MW PV project in Brazil with a complete set of smart tracking solutions including the cutting-edge Vanguard 1P tracker, a self-learning artificial intelligence system, SuperTrack, and the digital tracker-level SCADA platform Trina Smart Cloud.

The project, developed by POWERCHINA, is located in Mauriti, a municipality in the northern state of Ceara. Despite its vast land area and abundant natural resources, the population is sparse, indicating untapped potential for development. Upon completion and commissioning, the project is expected to create more than 2,000 jobs and generate cumulative economic growth valued at $140 million. The project has received considerable attention and has been warmly welcomed by the Brazilian Electricity Regulatory Agency, state and local governments and the local community.

TrinaTracker's three-in-one smart tracking solution, comprising hardware, software and a service platform, is highly popular in the region because of its excellent performance in significantly increasing the overall energy yield of power stations and construction efficiency.

TrinaTracker has a smart tracker manufacturing facility in Brazil and full regional service teams, ensuring high-quality and local manufacturing capabilities, as well as efficient and accurate delivery and services. TrinaTracker's pre-sales, sales and R&D teams collaborated to optimize the scheme in response to the customer's request for customized design. Because of the flood-prone nature of the project site, TrinaTracker proposed an automatic flood protection solution that balances safety and cost-effectiveness.

Brazil, one of the world's sunniest countries, is the most promising PV market in Latin America and the Caribbean region because of the fast-growing demand for installed PV capacity, driven by a range of incentives and local policies. TrinaTracker is a business unit of TrinaSolar, a leader in the PV industry for 27 years and recognized as one of the top five leading tracker suppliers in the region.

The Brazilian project order once again highlights the strong reputation of the TrinaTracker brand in Latin America. TrinaTracker will continue to forge ahead with more partnerships to promote the global transition to clean energy.

SOURCE TrinaTracker
The Company also provides additional corporate updates

MIDLAND, Texas, Jan. 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Next Bridge Hydrocarbons, Inc. ("Next Bridge," "our," "we," or the "Company"), an oil and natural gas exploration and production company with interests in Texas and Oklahoma announced today the following:

The Company is pleased to announce the results of our recent five well drilling program on the Johnson Prospect acreage in the Orogrande Basin. The Johnson E23 #4 is a new field discovery in the Penn Sand formation and, we believe, it is the first viable conventional producer in the Texas portion of the Orogrande Basin. The shallow vertical well is at a depth of less than 2,100 feet and had an instantaneous spot flow rate of up to 2,500 mcfpd and a peak daily test rate of over 800 mcf with minimal water. These rates were from an open hole natural completion without the assistance of an acid job or a frac job.

Additionally, the Johnson E15 #1, which is approximately 5,000+ feet away from the #4 discovery well, showed comparable gas flares while drilling the Penn Sand. This well is awaiting additional completion work as the Company's technical team and consultants are working to develop a drilling and completion program for best practices in this new field discovery.

The Company also continues to work on other potential pay horizons that had good to excellent petrophysical log analysis from our third-party petrologist. Of special note, the Bliss Sand/Granite Wash had over 175 feet of continuous live oil shows with significant pay flags on the petrophysical analysis. Although the well encountered technical problems related to the cement job and was unable to be effectively completed, the technical team is confident that the Bliss Sand/Granite Wash could be a significant new field discovery on a possible structure of up to 15,000 acres and closure of up to 1,400 feet. The entire team continues to work on strategies to effectively test this zone, and others, on the Johnson structure.

With the completion of these initial drilling results, the Company will phase in a new leaner management and operational model to build off of the positive developments while realizing cost savings and efficiencies. Accordingly, with many thanks for their valuable leadership and the dedication they have shown for Next Bridge's best interests in this transition phase, the Company announces the mutually agreed departure of both Clifton DuBose as CEO and board member and Luke Hawkins as CFO. Our Chairman of the Board, Greg McCabe, has agreed to bring his significant industry and Orogrande expertise to bear without additional compensation as the new CEO of Next Bridge. Roger Wurtele has accepted the role of CFO, bringing with him more than 40 years of experience and was the former CFO of Torchlight Energy Resources. The Company wishes both Mr. DuBose and Mr. Hawkins continued success in their future endeavors.

Next Bridge is also pleased to announce the addition of Edward Pocock III to its board of directors. Mr. Pocock is a long-time shareholder, USAF veteran, and public servant with expertise in governmental relations. He is a retired 25-year veteran of law enforcement in the State of Connecticut, commanding both Patrol and Detective Divisions of his department before retirement. During Mr. Pocock's tenure in law enforcement, he gained extensive investigative experience in a multitude of disciplines, including the investigation of embezzlement, fraud, theft, and the misapplication of funds. Administratively, Mr. Pocock upheld high ethical standards in police evidence room practices, developing auditing procedures to meet or exceed strict state compliance standards. Additionally, he provided counsel on multiple database development projects for the state and National Incident Reporting System (NIBRS). Mr. Pocock received a B.S. degree from the Florida Institute of Technology, an M.S. from the University of Louisville, and holds a Six Sigma Black Belt from Villanova University.

As we enter a new year for Next Bridge, Mr. McCabe and the Company continue to share the deep concerns of our shareholders regarding the circumstances surrounding the U3 halt of trading prior to the Next Bridge spinout and the unknown volume of uncovered short positions that may persist in our Company. We echo calls for transparency for the benefit of all industry players, from retail investors to regulators, who can only have informed discussions and make prudent decisions with accurate information. Despite the passage of a year since the U3 halt, critical facts remain elusive. For example, FINRA announced that its investigation showed an approximate aggregate short interest position in MMTLP of 2.65 million shares as of December 12, 2023. However, representatives of short sellers have approached Next Bridge about buying considerably more shares than this figure.

We have offered to speak with FINRA and the SEC to discuss our data, and we also hope to receive clarity on the basis of their own conflicting data. We are awaiting their reply, and believe they share our concern about the discrepancies. We look forward to cooperating with both regulatory agencies and, hopefully, helping contribute to a clearer public accounting of the relevant figures.

In addition to FINRA and the SEC, the Company has communicated the above concerns directly to the offices of U.S. Congressmen and Senators, the U.S. Senate Banking Committee, and the Texas Attorney General, and is cooperating with all relevant authorities in the interests of transparency for our investors. We urge those with the ability to obtain a full audited accounting of positions in our predecessor security as of the spinout to do so with haste and make public what they can-- through whatever category of security, long or short, onshore or offshore, by parties registered with FINRA or not.

For its own part, Next Bridge intends to aggressively explore options for delivering a potential liquidity solution for shareholders. In pursuit of innovative and dynamic strategies, the Company has recently engaged John Tabacco and his consulting firm of Token Team, LLC. Members of Token Team led the first ever successful Public Digital Dividend on the blockchain, executed by Overstock.com subsidiary Tzero, and Token Team will help Next Bridge fully understand all facets and consequences of a potential listing on a blockchain trading platform. Our inquiry into this option is in its infancy and no decisions have been made by the Company at this time, but we wanted to share an example of how Next Bridge is seeking to take action within its means to help our loyal, frustrated, yet relentless retail investor base.

Finally, the Company's chairman and new CEO, Mr. McCabe stated, "I would like to personally thank all Next Bridge Hydrocarbons shareholders and the entire "MMTLP ARMY" for your efforts in making sure that our story is told. Because of these efforts, the light is now shining bright on this serious problem. I am also thankful for the time and effort of the many concerned State and Federal Congressional representatives who have worked diligently to help find answers to this untenable situation. America has the greatest financial system in the world; however, it is not without flaws. I am hopeful that Congress and the SEC will oversee a solution that is fair and equitable to all. Next Bridge Hydrocarbons is certainly willing to be a part of the solution."

About Next Bridge Hydrocarbons, Inc.

The Company is an independent public reporting energy company engaged in the acquisition, exploration, exploitation and/or development of oil and natural gas properties in the United States. Our primary focus has been the development of interests in an oil and gas project consisting of 134,000 contiguous gross acres we hold in the Orogrande Basin in West Texas in Hudspeth County, Texas. In addition, we have minor interests in the Eastern edge of the Midland Basin in Texas, and two minor well interests in Oklahoma. Please visit www.nextbridgehydrocarbons.com for more information.

Next Bridge is a private company insofar as its shares of common stock are not traded on a public stock exchange of any kind. The Company is expected to update its shareholders about certain operational and financial updates related to the Company's business. To receive timely emails with respect to these corporate developments, please visit https://www.nextbridgehydrocarbons.com/investors and complete the Email Alert/Investor Form. You may also choose to follow our social media channels at @nbhydrocarbons on Twitter and "Next Bridge Hydrocarbons" on LinkedIn.

This statement may contain "forward-looking statements" as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements are based on management's current expectations and are subject to a number of factors and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ materially from those described herein. Although the Company believes the expectations in such statements to be reasonable, there can be no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Information concerning the assumptions, uncertainties and risks that may affect the actual results can be found in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") available on the Company's website or the SEC's website at www.sec.gov.

Contact:

Dennard Lascar Investor Relations

[email protected]

SOURCE Next Bridge Hydrocarbons, Inc.
GUANGZHOU, China, Jan. 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The annual AHR Expo, a leading HVACR event, is set to unfold in Chicago from January 22-24, 2024. Among the distinguished participants is PHNIX, a prominent player in heat pump technology. Boasting booth N1968, this marks their fourth consecutive appearance at the expo.

Innovative Showcase with VR Experience

PHNIX Set to Showcase Cutting-edge Heat Pump Technology at 2024 AHR Expo

PHNIX is breaking barriers with a novel approach to heat pump presentation  Virtual Reality (VR) experience. Visitors can wear VR glasses and immerse themselves in a simulated environment, exploring the allure of the R32 PolarisMax commercial heat pump which will be installed in a real-life setting. Meanwhile, visitors will discover its superior performance and innovative features, offering a taste of the future of commercial heating solutions.

"As pioneers in the industry, our commitment to cutting-edge technology extends to how we present our products. The VR experience is just the beginning; we aim to leverage VR to showcase more products in the future, such as residential heating/cooling & hot water heat pumps," says Jab Fan, vice director of PHNIX overseas business.

Showcasing a Stellar Product Lineup

PHNIX's booth will feature a star-studded lineup, including the popular R32 Everest Series heating/cooling & hot water heat pump, the sophisticated R32 Premium Series air to water heat pump with a transparent luminescent casing, EasyHydro Module and Ultra-thin Water Fan Coil Unit  all contributing to an intelligent integrated residential heating/cooling and hot water solution.

Noteworthy products include the R32 i-ForceLine Max Full Inverter Swimming Pool Heat Pump, R290 airExpert Series and airNova Series all-in-one Hot Water Heat Pump.

Insights from Industry Leaders

In addition to showcasing competitive products, PHNIX's Chairman Andrew Zong will be present to share insights into the future of the renewable energy industry. PHNIX heat pump experts will also be on hand for unraveling the complexities of heat pump technology.

PHNIX extends a warm invitation to both familiar faces and new acquaintances. The booth promises a comprehensive exploration of cutting-edge heat pump solutions and a firsthand opportunity to engage with industry leaders.

About PHNIX

As the leading heat pump manufacturer in China, PHNIX is an international enterprise specializing in the R&D and production of heat pumps and energy-saving solutions. Almost 50% of PHNIX products are exported to Europe, North America, and other overseas markets. To learn more about PHNIX and its products, please visit www.phnix-e.com.

SOURCE PHNIX ECO-ENERGY SOLUTION
WASHINGTON, Jan. 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Quzara, LLC, a leading innovator in Managed Detection & Response (MDR) and Compliance Advisory services, and Schellman, a leading provider of attestation and compliance services and a top 50 CPA firm, proudly announce the inclusion of Quzara into the Schellman Alliance Program. This inclusion joins the expertise and capabilities of two industry leaders, to deliver confident cybersecurity compliance with consulting and advisory solutions within the government sector.

Schellman

The Schellman Alliance Program serves as a conduit for clients to harness the combined strengths of these two firms, providing an opportunity for businesses to achieve a comprehensive solution to meet and sustain regulatory compliance through Schellman's certification services with state-of-the-art solutions for fortifying information security in today's complex digital landscape.

"We are thrilled to embark on this strategic alliance with Schellman, uniting our strengths to forge a path of unparalleled cybersecurity resilience for our clients. At Quzara, our focus has always been on delivering cutting-edge Managed Detection and Response (MDR) and Security Operations Center (SOC) solutions (Quzara Cybertorch), prioritized by the Joint Authorization Board (JAB), ensuring the highest standards of security vigilance. Coupled with our robust FedRAMP Advisory and Acceleration services, this partnership is not just a collaboration of two leaders in the cybersecurity space, but a milestone in our journey to provide comprehensive, top-tier compliance and security solutions." - Saif Rahman, CEO, Quzara, LLC.

"Quzara's alliance with Schellman empowers organizations with tailored solutions to complex security and compliance needs. This collaboration increases the two firms' independent client base's resiliency against cyber threats, further strengthening our commitment to deliver exceptional quality while continuing to be a firm our clients can trust," said Michael Parisi, Head of Client Acquisition at Schellman.

About Quzara

Quzara LLC is a minority and woman owned, SBA 8(a), GSA HAC SINS across all categories, cybersecurity firm in the Washington D.C. metro region. Quzara's portfolio of FedRAMP and Compliance advisory services includes readiness assessments, control and process remediation, approved security architectures, and custom crafted documentation that empower customers to meet the stringent requirements of FedRAMP and other security frameworks. Quzara allows customers to choose their level of support based on where they are on the FedRAMP compliance roadmap. Quzara LLC is a forerunner in providing Managed Detection & Response (MDR) and Security Operations Center-as-a-Service (SOCaaS) and is committed to providing top-tier security solutions to the government sector. With its flagship solution, Cybertorch, Quzara is setting new industry standards. For more information, please visit www.quzara.com.

About Schellman

"Schellman" is the brand name under which Schellman & Company, LLC and Schellman Compliance, LLC provide professional services. Schellman stands as a leading global provider of attestation, compliance, and certification services. Operating under two distinct entities, Schellman & Company, LLC and Schellman Compliance, LLC. The services provided by the Schellman entities include acting as a CPA firm (Schellman & Company, LLC as a leading provider of SOC reports, an ISO Certification Body, a PCI Qualified Security Assessor Company, a HITRUST assessor, a FedRAMP 3PAO, and being among the pioneering CMMC Authorized C3PAOs. For further information about the services provided, please visit schellman.com.

Media Contact:

Michelle Arellano

703-996-4988

[email protected]

SOURCE Quzara
STOCKHOLM, Jan. 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- SciBase Holding AB ("SciBase") (STO: SCIB), a pioneer in early detection and prevention in dermatology hereby invites investors, analysts, and financial media to SciBase Capital Markets Day on January 25, 2024.

SciBase has evolved from being an innovation company originating from the Karolinska Institute to a global company dedicated to supporting healthcare professionals in their work by facilitating early detection and prevention of skin cancer and other dermatological conditions.

During SciBase's Capital Markets Day, Pia Renaudin, who assumed the role of CEO in October 2023, will provide insights into SciBase's future trajectory, and unveil an updated strategic outlook, and long-term strategic goals. The presentations will underscore the company's focus on the USA and shed light on SciBase's ongoing expansion into promising new markets.

Two external speakers will participate in the event, further supporting the US role in the SciBase strategy going forward.

Darrell S. Rigel, MD, MS, Clinical Professor of Dermatology at the Mount Sinai Icahn School of Medicine

Dr. Rigel, a US-based and world-prominent dermatologist will talk about his experiences regarding the clinical benefits of SciBase products. Dr. Rigel has been a Dermatology leader for 30+ years, served as President of major associations such as AAD (American Academy of Dermatology), and Vice-President of the American Board of Dermatology for 13 years. A trusted advisor on national health policy, he testifies before Congress and the FDA, consulting for government and industry. As Scientific Co-Chair of Clinical Dermatology Conferences, he educates over 4000 colleagues annually. Maintaining practices in Manhattan and Dallas, Dr. Rigel specializes in Melanoma, Skin Cancer, and related issues. Internationally acclaimed, he delivers 1000+ lectures globally, is featured on CNN, Fox, ABC, and NBC, is quoted in major publications, and serves as the Team Dermatologist for the New York Yankees. With an MIT BS, MBA from MIT Sloan, and MD from George Washington University, he completed training at NYU and is a Clinical Professor at Mt. Sinai Icahn School of Medicine.

Kathy Francisco, MBA, CPC, Founder and CEO

Kathy established The Pinnacle Health Group in 1999 as a consulting group specializing in reimbursement for health care technologies, drugs, and biologics. For over 25 years, Pinnacle has been providing effective and appropriate reimbursement support for healthcare providers across the country. The Pinnacle team is comprised of certified coders, reimbursement specialists, and clinicians supporting clients with the development of strategic planning, economic positioning, financial analysis, payer coverage strategy, and tactical reimbursement positioning. In addition, daily support is offered to providers offering HIPAA-compliant prior authorization, appeals, and appropriate payment for procedures and technologies that are key to ongoing medically necessary patient care.

Following the presentations, there will be an interactive session allowing participants to pose questions. The event will be digitally broadcast, starting at CET 14:00 and is expected to last until CET 15:30.

A recording of the event will be made available on the SciBase website.

Date: January 25, 2024

Time: CET 14:00  15:30 CET.

Format: Digital. The presentations will be in English.

Link to meeting : https://ir.financialhearings.com/scibase-cmd-2024

Welcome!

For additional information, please contact:

Pia Renaudin, VD, tel. +46732069802, e-mail: [email protected]

Michael Colerus, CFO, tel. +46703413472, e-mail: [email protected]



Certified Advisor (CA):

Vator Securities

Tel: +46 8 580 065 99

Email: [email protected]

About SciBase

SciBase is a global medical technology company, specializing in early detection and prevention in dermatology. SciBase develops and commercializes Nevisense, a unique point-of-care platform that combines AI (artificial intelligence) and advanced EIS technology to elevate diagnostic accuracy, ensuring proactive skin health management.

Our commitment is to minimize patient suffering, allowing clinicians to improve and save lives through timely detection and intervention and reduce healthcare costs.

Built on more than 20 years of research at Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, SciBase is a leader in dermatological advancements.

The company has been on the Nasdaq First North Growth Market exchange since June 2, 2015. Learn more at www.scibase.com. All press-releases and financial reports can be found here : http://investors.scibase.se/en/pressreleases

The following files are available for download:
DUBLIN, Jan. 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Revenue Recognition CPE Update: Evolving Issues 2024" conference has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

Get your annual revenue recognition update here! ASC 606 made a significant impact on the way most companies recognize revenues. Best practices continue to evolve and there are a number of areas where companies are still searching for answers.

This conference assumes you are already familiar with the five-step model. It will address the latest developments in key areas, significant changes, scope, disclosure and impacts. There will be plenty of examples and a detailed case study.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

Review the latest changes in key areas

Understand the big picture concepts from an SEC perspective

See where your counterparts are getting stuck

Agenda:

Agenda: DAY 1

8:45 - 11:00 - Revenue Recognition: Past Issues and Emerging Trends

Where people are getting stuck within the five-step model

Price concessions

Modifying contracts

Customer options and material rights

Performance obligations - software industry considerations

Significant financing component

Principal-versus-agent considerations

Contract costs

Onerous performance obligations/contracts

11:00 - 11:15 - Break

11:15 - 12:45 - SEC & Revenue Recognition Perspectives

SEC Comment Letter Trends and Themes

Accounting for usage-based fees

Acquired Contract Assets/Liabilities from Business Combinations

12:45 - 1:30 - Lunch Break

1:30 - 3:00 - Cases and Examples

Areas of significant complexity and judgment

Top causes of restatements

Operational and business model changes

Interaction with other guidance

3:00 - 3:15 - Break

3:15 - 4:30 - Impact on Internal Controls

Changes in Information and Related Data - Quality Needs

ASC 606 Internal Control Considerations

On-going ASC 606 Controls

Management Review Controls

Information Used in Controls (IUC)

IT-General Control Considerations

COVID-19 Impact on Internal Controls

SOX Optimization & Modernization

Agenda: DAY 2

8:45 - 10:05 - Revenue Recognition: Fraud Issues

Context

Drivers of Rev Rec fraud

Rev Rec schemes and how they were perpetrated and what the ultimate outcomes were

How to best manage and or mitigate the risk of rev rec fraud

10:05 - 10:10 - Break

10:10 - 11:30 - Commissions: Deeper Dive

Adoption of ASC 340-40, Other Assets and Deferred Costs - Contracts With Customers

Provide foundational understanding of identifying costs to be capitalized under ASC 340-40

Provide foundational understanding of how to amortize incremental contract costs

Provide an overview of disclosure requirements

11:30 - 11:35 - Break

11:35 - 12:55 - Disclosures

Recent Trends

Disaggregated revenue

Reconciliation of contract balances

Qualification of performance obligations

Disclosure of significant assumptions

Quantification of costs to complete a contract

12:55 - 1:30 - Lunch Break

1:30 - 4:20 - ASC 606: Interactive discussion on a series of scenarios

Selected practice areas: Revenue Customer, Contract Duration, Enforceable Rights, Performance Obligations, Replacement Right, License Modifications, Measure of Progress, Contract Cost

Group will use polling to work through each question

Moderators from Connor Group will explain their recommended answers and explanations

Speakers

Brian Allen Effectus Group, Partner and National office Head

Effectus Group, Partner and National office Head Abby Cohen Deloitte, Senior Manager

Deloitte, Senior Manager Keith Ma Effectus Group, Director of Technical Accounting

Effectus Group, Director of Technical Accounting Disha Buch Deloitte, Senior Manager - National Office Accounting and Reporting Services

Deloitte, Senior Manager - National Office Accounting and Reporting Services Miki Liu Deloitte, Manager - National Office Accounting and Reporting Services

Deloitte, Manager - National Office Accounting and Reporting Services Brian Aubuchon Effectus Group, Director

Effectus Group, Director Aleks Zabreyko Connor Group, Senior Technical Partner

Connor Group, Senior Technical Partner Jesse Fillerup Connor Group, Partner - Technical Accounting

Connor Group, Partner - Technical Accounting Michael Kearney PwC, Director

PwC, Director Jeff Griffiths PwC, Director

PwC, Director Guido van Drunen , Retired KPMG PartnerGlobal Compliance Management and Response

, Retired KPMG PartnerGlobal Compliance Management and Response Dominic Mills Grant Thornton , Partner - Technology Industry

, Partner - Technology Industry Julie Dockins Grant Thornton , Audit Manager

, Audit Manager Hailey Oh Deloitte, Senior Manager

Deloitte, Senior Manager Heather Bradshaw RSM, Senior Manager

RSM, Senior Manager Chantal Adam Salesforce, VP Corporate Accounting

Salesforce, VP Corporate Accounting Brandon Campbell PwC, Director

PwC, Director Tai Fung Starbucks, Director - Assistant Controller

Starbucks, Director - Assistant Controller Angela Liu Stealth, Strategy, and Product

For more information about this conference visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/vi06q5

About ResearchAndMarkets.com

ResearchAndMarkets.com is the world's leading source for international market research reports and market data. We provide you with the latest data on international and regional markets, key industries, the top companies, new products and the latest trends.



Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

[email protected]



For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470

For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630

For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900



U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907

Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/539438/Research_and_Markets_Logo.jpg

SOURCE Research and Markets
Travellers Can Choose the Perfect Complements for an All-inclusive, Luxury River Cruise

MIAMI, Jan. 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Riverside Luxury Cruises, the new luxury cruise line on Europe's rivers, announces a remarkable offer of up to 300 onboard credit per suite for the 2024 WAVE season. Travellers can take advantage of Riverside's offer to complement an all-inclusive and luxurious vacation to immerse in the captivating cities and towns along the Rhein, Rhone and Danube rivers. While Riverside already includes nearly everything with the fare, guests can apply their onboard credit toward rejuvenating spa treatments, top-shelf spirits and fine wines, private shore excursion, or The Vintage Room, an exclusive, gourmet degustation with fine wine pairings. For more information or to make a booking, U.S. and Canadian travellers should contact their travel advisor; call 1-833-305-3313; or visit Riverside-Cruises.com/EN.

"Riverside Luxury Cruises delivers Europe in luxury like no other experience," said Jen Halboth, CEO of Riverside Luxury Cruises. "Our third luxurious river ship, Riverside Debussy, inaugurates in March, and will join Riverside Mozart and Riverside Ravel to bring guests to the some of Europe's most fascinating locales and cultural centres. Throughout, guests will enjoy Riverside's intuitive and personalised service from every member of our exceptional staff and crew."

For all new bookings made from January 15 through February 29, 2024, for voyages departing March 23 through August 31, 2024, each guest will receive 150 onboard credit for up to two guests per suite. Riverside's WAVE offer applies for itineraries of five nights or longer and for All-inclusive plus Excursion package bookings. U.S. and Canadian travellers must quote promo code "WAVE24" at the time of booking. The WAVE offer can be combined with Early Bird Offer, Special Launch Offer, or Long Stay Offer for even greater value, but is not combinable with Single Supplement Waive Offer. Additional restrictions may apply. For more information about Riverside's offers, please visit https://www.riverside-cruises.com/en/offers.

The new Riverside Luxury Cruises is Europe's premier luxury river cruise brand offering all-inclusive vacations along the Rhein, Rhone, Danube, Main, Moselle, and Saone rivers. The brand's all-suite Riverside Mozart, Riverside Ravel, and the soon-to-launch Riverside Debussy are regarded among the most luxurious ships on Europe's waterways. All guests enjoy Riverside's signature intuitive and personalised service from every staff and crew member; butler service in every suite; premium wines and spirits; StarLink broadband Wi-Fi; gourmet cuisine; a welcome bottle of champagne; and shore excursions to delve further afield into Europe's history, cultures and landmarks. Riverside Luxury Cruises is Cruise Critic's 2023 Editors' Pick Award Winner for Best Dining in the River Category. For more information and to make a reservation, U.S. and Canadian travellers should contact their travel advisor; visit Riverside-Cruises.com/en; or call 1-833-305-3313. Travel Advisors can book their luxury clients through the brand's dedicated partner portal at www.Riverside-Cruises.com/TA.

SOURCE Riverside Luxury Cruises
SEOUL, South Korea, Jan. 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Seoul Business Agency (SBA), Seoul's support organization for small and medium-sized enterprises, announced that it successfully exhibited the 'Seoul Integrated Pavilion' at CES 2024 (Consumer Electronic Show 2024) held in Las Vegas from January 9th to 12th, local time.

The participating companies in the Seoul Integrated Pavilion were provided with various support programs such as Unveiled participation, open IR pitching, business matching, MOU between participating companies, and media interviews.

SBA has supported seven companies to participate in CES Media Day event, Unveiled. The participating companies are Hurotics, Soliv Ventures, Enhance, BarunBio, DNA Corporation, Nation A, and LordSystem

The Seoul Integrated Pavilion at CES 2024 was created in collaboration with 13 institutions, including major universities, districts in Seoul, and startup facilities. It expanded to 670, 1.5 times larger than the Seoul Pavilion, which operated independently in 2023.

SBA gathered and supported 81 promising startups by collaborating with eight major Seoul-based universities, one city district (Gwanak-gu), and three city startup facilities (Seoul Bio Hub, Seoul AI Hub, Campus Town). The participating companies were divided into categories such as healthcare (31), AI (25), manufacturing (11), mobility (7), ESG (4), and quantum (3).

Meanwhile, the Seoul Integrated Pavilion creatively expressed the diverse charm of Seoul by incorporating the 2024 Seoul color theme, 'Sky Coral,' through an LED panorama lighting display.

In addition to exhibiting their products, seven companies from the Seoul Integrated Pavilion participated in the official media event 'CES 2024 Unveiled' held on January 7th at CES. This event, targeting official CES media, provided a valuable opportunity for startups to gain media exposure.

The participating companies in 'CES 2024 Unveiled' included NationA, Hurotics, ENHANCE, LordSystem, DNA Corporation, Solive Ventures, and BarunBio. Due to the nature of CES, where leading global companies take the spotlight, it can be challenging for startups with lower visibility to gain media exposure. Therefore, 'CES 2024 Unveiled' provided a valuable opportunity for startups to address their thirst for media publicity by receiving concentrated attention from global media.

SOURCE Seoul Business Agency
METUCHEN, N.J., Jan. 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Podiatry Content Connection is proud to announce the launch of its comprehensive "SOLE Marketing" program, designed to revolutionize how podiatrists & chiropodists in the U.S. and Canada promote orthotics, and increase their orthotics sales. Integrating orthotics into podiatrists' and chiropodists' online presence is key to this initiative. Each practitioner will receive a professionally designed banner that prominently features orthotics on their website, along with a stand-alone web page with detailed information about the benefits of orthotics. This web page will also provide an easy way for patients to engage, such as an easy-to-use form for scheduling consultations.

SOLE Marketing revolutionizes how podiatrists & chiropodists in the U.S. & Canada promote & sell orthotics. Post this Be visible, connect, & gain new patients online.

The "SOLE Marketing" program includes several other components that promote orthotics for participating podiatrists and chiropodists as well. For instance, a robust email campaign will be created to educate and keep patients informed about orthotics solutions for many foot health issues. Additionally, monthly orthotics blogs and spot campaigns will ensure that orthotics remain a focal point for both existing and potential patients. More in-depth education and deeper engagement will be provided through a custom-branded orthotics eBook and social media digital library for Facebook and Instagram. To capture patients' attention in the office, a visually appealing orthotics poster will be designed for display in waiting and exam rooms. This multi-faceted approach ensures a consistent and engaging message across all patient touch points.

The "SOLE Marketing" program is more than just a marketing strategy. It is also a comprehensive approach to educating and engaging patients about the importance of orthotics in foot health. Podiatry Content Connection is committed to providing podiatrists and chiropodists with the tools they need to effectively market their services and improve patient care.

For more information about "SOLE Marketing" and how it can transform your orthotics sales, please contact us at 718-475-9449 or visit PodiatryCC.com.

About Podiatry Content Connection

Podiatry Content Connection (PCC) is a leading provider of content and digital marketing solutions for the podiatry industry. Based in Metuchen, NJ, PCC specializes in creating comprehensive online marketing strategies that include website development, content creation, reputation and social media management and more. All are tailored to the unique needs of podiatrists and chiropodists.

Media Contact:

support@podiatrycc.com

podiatrycontentconnection.com

SOURCE Podiatry Content Connection
ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan, January 19. Turkmenistan is one of the EU's most important partners in Central Asia, Vice President of the European Commission Margaritis Schinas said, Trend reports.

Shinas noted that his visit to the five Central Asian countries is a manifestation of the EU's active participation in the life of the region, and before his visit to Turkmenistan, he had already visited Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.

He highlighted the positive developments in Central Asia and noted that the EU is committed to implementing important investment programs aimed at improving relations with the region.

Margaritis Schinas also noted that there are great opportunities for Central Asia to take advantage of the Global Gateway initiative, which acts as a strategic bridge between East and West.

Furthermore, during his meetings with the political leaders of the five Central Asian countries, the Vice President of the European Commission said that they had demonstrated a favorable attitude towards the EU investment plan.

Meanwhile, the Global Gateway Investment Forum on Sustainable Transport EU-Central Asia, which will be held in Brussels, Belgium, on January 2930, 2024, will bring together political representatives from all Central Asian countries, representatives of the European Investment Bank (EIB), the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), as well as private investors.

Stay up to date with more news at Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
Mission Ready Bar Formed with Sound Waves Specced for the U.S Warfighter

Delivers Exceptional Taste to the American Consumer

LOS ANGELES, Jan. 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- SOUND Foods is thrilled to announce the launch of its latest innovation, DOWN RANGE Mission Ready Bars, at the 2024 SHOT Show in Las Vegas, from January 23rd to the 26th. The DOWN RANGE launch is in partnership with two renowned producers of military gear and rations, S.O. Tech Tactical and Bridgford Foods, establishing a new benchmark in tactical nutrition.

SOUND Foods Debuts DOWN RANGE Mission Ready Bars at SHOT Show Post this DOWN RANGE Mission Ready Bars

"The DOWN RANGE Mission Ready Bars are a testament to SOUND Foods' dedication to cutting-edge nutrition and food technology and our approval from the Joint Services Operational Rations Forum (JSORF) for the US military's upcoming Meals Ready-to-Eat (MRE) and Close Combat Assault Ration (CCAR) programs underscore our commitment to quality and efficacy," said Don Dillon, founder and CEO of SOUND Foods. "Our partnerships with S.O. Tech Tactical and Bridgford Foods are instrumental in bringing this vision to fruition, catering to the high demands of tactical operators in demanding environments."

S.O. Tech Tactical has become the exact kind of product and service provider of tactical gear that SOUND Foods wants to become for tactical food products. S.O. Tech Tactical delivers custom solutions to the world's most elite operators that become products which are battlefield proven and constantly improved based on input from those operators.

Bridgford Foods, recognized for its quality ready-to-eat food products, plans to incorporate SOUND's innovative ultrasonic agglomeration technology into their manufacturing facility in Statesville, North Carolina. This partnership will guarantee the U.S. Department of Defense manufacturing capacity to supply close combat field rations in addition to producing consumer-branded mission ready bars for consumers at their North Carolina facility.

SOUND's Ultrasonic Agglomeration process is a food production technology that creates nutrient dense bars intended to support small units across a broad spectrum of future operating environments and increase soldier readiness and soldier lethality.

Don Dillon, SOUND's founder and CEO will be at both the booth for S.O. Tech Tactical and Bridgford Foods at the 2024 SHOT Show in Las Vegas, from January 23rd to the 26th. SOUND has developed several flavors of the DOWN RANGE bars and other products for the U.S. military and will be releasing them in the upcoming weeks and months.

For more information about SOUND Foods and their products, visit www.SOUNDSnacking.com.

About SOUND Foods

SOUND Foods is the food tech startup committed to improving the field eating experience of the U.S. warfighter. SOUND has invented an entirely new way of quickly and gently forming food products using only sound waves. Their DOWN RANGE mission ready bars are part of their focus on offering the exact products developed for the U.S. warfighter directly to the American consumer.

About S.O. Tech Tactical

S.O. Tech Tactical was founded as a service to military and law enforcement personnel who require super-durable tactical gear custom designed to fit their individual mission requirements. We constantly search for stronger materials and design improvements to provide the professional with the most comfortable, strongest, and operator-friendly equipment we can manufacture.

About Bridgford Foods

Bridgford Foods Corporation originally began operations in 1932 as a retail meat market in San Diego, California and evolved into a meat wholesaler for hotels and restaurants, a distributor of frozen food products, a processor and packer of meat, and a manufacturer and distributor of frozen food products for sale on a retail and wholesale basis. Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, Bridgford Foods has additional facilities in Anaheim, California, and Chicago, Illinois, and Statesville, North Carolina.

Media Contact:

[email protected]

SOURCE SOUND Foods
BOGOTA, Colombia, Jan. 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Ecopetrol S.A. (BVC: ECOPETROL; NYSE: EC) informs that S&P Global Ratings ("S&P") modified the outlook of Ecopetrol's credit rating from stable to negative, as a result of the review in the outlook of Colombia's credit rating, also from stable to negative.

Likewise, S&P confirmed that Ecopetrol's global rating is maintained at 'BB+' and ratified its independent credit profile (Stand-Alone) with investment grade at 'bbb-', stating that a review of Ecopetrol's independent profile is not expected during the next 12 months.

Finally, S&P has stated that Ecopetrol will continue to play an important role in the Colombian economy, and given the Government's participation in the company, its rating will correlate to that of Colombia.

The report issued by S&P on January 18, 2024 announcing the change in the rating outlook will be published in a future statement.

-----------------------------------------

Ecopetrol is the largest company in Colombia and one of the main integrated energy companies in the American continent with more than 18,000 employees. In Colombia, it is responsible for more than 60% of the hydrocarbon production of most transportation, logistics, and hydrocarbon refining systems, and it holds leading positions in the petrochemicals and gas distribution segments. With the acquisition of 51.4% of ISA's shares, the company participates in energy transmission, the management of real-time systems (XM), and the Barranquilla - Cartagena coastal highway concession. At the international level, Ecopetrol has a stake in strategic basins in the American continent, with Drilling and Exploration operations in the United States (Permian basin and the Gulf of Mexico), Brazil, and Mexico, and, through ISA and its subsidiaries, Ecopetrol holds leading positions in the power transmission business in Brazil, Chile, Peru, and Bolivia, road concessions in Chile, and the telecommunications sector. This press release contains business prospect statements, operating and financial result estimates, and statements related to Ecopetrol's growth prospects. These are all projections and, as such, they are based solely on the expectations of the managers regarding the future of the company and their continued access to capital to finance the company's business plan. The realization of said estimates in the future depends on the behavior of market conditions, regulations, competition, and the performance of the Colombian economy and the industry, among other factors, and are consequently subject to change without prior notice.

For more information, please contact:

Head of Capital Markets

Carolina Tovar Aragon

Email: [email protected]

Head of Corporate Communications (Colombia)

Marcela Ulloa

Email: [email protected]

SOURCE Ecopetrol S.A.
PORTSMOUTH, N.H., Jan. 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Sprague Operating Resources LLC., a leading provider of energy solutions and material handling services across the Northeast, is thrilled to announce its designation as the Exclusive Energy Partner for New York's Hospitality and Tourism sector for the year 2024. As the Exclusive Energy Partner, Sprague Energy will supply tailored energy solutions to meet the unique needs of New York's hotels, restaurants, tourist attractions, and other hospitality services.

Sprague is proud to announce its role as the Exclusive Energy Partner for The New York State Hospitality & Tourism Association (NYSHTA). Sprague serves as a smart alternative to traditional utilities for NYSHTA members, who benefit from budget certainty, local expertise and market insights, as well as account monitoring and management. Sprague's David Pickens, Sales Director for Natural Gas, and Peter Jagodzynski, Energy Portfolio Manager, accept NYSHTA's Partner of the Year Award from association President Mark Dorr. This award recognizes Sprague as a dedicated industry supplier and trusted resource to NYSHTA's 1,000 members, and is awarded to a partner who has gone above and beyond in providing outstanding services to the industry.

"We're honored to be chosen as the exclusive energy partner for the New York Tourism and Hospitality Association (NYSH&TA) and elevate our position within the member base," said Mark Roberts, Managing Director of Natural Gas. "Our expertise and insights will help the association members, both current and new, manage their energy needs and explore sustainable solutions, while getting more budget certainty and pricing flexibility."

Since 1870 Sprague has helped businesses meet their energy and material handling needs to prosper in tomorrow's markets. As an innovator in transitioning energy sources throughout history, Sprague will be able to provide a wide variety of sustainable and environmentally-friendly energy solutions. As a sponsor of NYSH&TA since 2010, this new, exclusive partnership builds on the successful history together of serving the NYSHTA membership base while broadening the scope of opportunities and resources available.

"One of the largest expenses for any hotel is energy, and over the past 15 years more and more energy consultants started popping up which makes it difficult for hoteliers to know who to trust. This year, the New York State Hospitality & Tourism Association decided to take the guesswork out of the process and exclusively partner, at the Preferred Program level, with Sprague," said NYSH&TA President, Mark Dorr. "They have been saving our members money and setting up long-term energy strategies for several years and we wanted to take our partnership and endorsement to the next level."

For more information on how your business can partner with Sprague to meet your energy needs visit https://www.spragueenergy.com/.

About NYSHTA

The New York State Hospitality & Tourism Association (NYSH&TA) is the oldest state lodging association in the country. Founded in 1887 in Saratoga Springs, NYSH&TA originally represented New York state's lodging industry. Today, the association includes members from nearly all segments of the tourism industry.

NYSH&TA represents 1,000 members including hotels, motels, resorts, conference centers, country inns, bed & breakfast establishments, reservation service organizations, amusement parks, attractions, museums, ski areas, recreational facilities, historical sites, convention and visitor bureaus, chambers of commerce, colleges and universities, hospitality students, and suppliers to the industry.

About Sprague

Founded in 1870 as a distributor of coal and petroleum-based products, today Sprague is one of the largest independent suppliers of energy products and related services in the Northeast. Our strategically located refined products and materials handling terminals, coupled with our natural gas pipeline capacity, give us unprecedented access to energy products and services. We market products to over 20,000 commercial, industrial, utility and wholesale customers.

Our goal is to consistently exceed your expectations and earn your business with every interaction. We work tirelessly to provide you with the knowledge and tools to administer your energy buying and reporting needsall to help your business thrive.

Contact:

Mark Roberts, Managing Director of Natural Gas and Power Sales

Sprague Operating Resources

(603) 430-7231

[email protected]

SOURCE Sprague Operating Resources, LLC
XUZHOU, China, Jan. 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- "How about the electricity in the park in the past two days? We must not overload electricity to prevent electrical fires! " On January 15, Sun Yuanfei, an employee of STATE GRID XUZHOU POWER SUPPLY COMPANY, and his delegation came to a Pecan Industrial Park in the jurisdiction to publicize the common sense of safe electricity use in winter to villagers and help check the electricity use of winter irrigation equipment.

According to local villagers, because they are located in the hills and mountains of Maling mountain, they used to grow wheat and corn, and their income is generally not high. Later, with the guidance and help of the government, villagers began to grow Pecans and gradually formed characteristic agriculture.

"At that time, there was a lack of funds and experience. After the completion of the park, there was no electricity supply. Five household water pumps were used for irrigation, and the electricity was taken from the homes of nearby villagers." Yaolian Village's 660 mu Pecan Industrial Park was completed in June 2022. Not long after the seedlings were planted, it coincided with drought and little rain, and the water was insufficient. Gao Ming, Secretary of the Village Party Branch, worried about that the seedlings would die of drought due to water shortage every day.

After learning of the situation, STATE GRID XUZHOU POWER SUPPLY COMPANY immediately sent people to investigate the site and sent temporary power supply to the hinterland of the industrial park to ensure adequate irrigation water for seedlings. At the same time, the Company also handled special cases with special methods, repeatedly went to the superior to report on matters, and timely followed up on the implementation of the expansion funds to ensure the overall construction period.

After 15 days of hard work, the Company installed a 400KVA transformer for the industrial park, erected nearly 3km of medium and low voltage lines, and connected power to the mountain. After the problem of electricity consumption is solved, the Company also regularly organized Party member service teams to inspect the safe electricity use, ensured that leakage protectors and other equipment are used normally, and obligated to lay lines and install switches for additional lighting, water and fertilizer integrated machines and other equipment to escort the growth of fruit trees.

SOURCE State Grid Xuzhou Power Supply Company
WASHINGTON, Jan. 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- A recently released study sheds light on substantial greenhouse gas (GHC) emissions associated with the war in Ukraine. Examining the initial 18 months since the conflict's commencement in 2022, the study emphasizes the intricacies of monitoring GHC emissions during wartime. It also underscores a limitation in the current emission reporting framework of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), tailored exclusively for peacetime scenarios. The findings are now published in a journal entitled Science of the Total Environment. The research team, led by Prof. Rostyslav Bun of Ukraine's Luviv Polytechnic National University and WBS University in Poland, includes co-author Dr. Tomohiro Oda from the Universities Space Research Association.

Under the Paris Agreement, signatory countries are obligated to report GHG emissions to the UNFCCC to evaluate their emission reduction efforts and establish more stringent goals for limiting the global temperature increase. "Accurately accounting for GHG emissions released into the atmosphere is crucial," stated Dr. Oda. However, Dr. Oda, representing the United States Space Research Association as a United Nations' Conference of Parties (COP) Observer, highlighted the challenge that military emissions pose as they are "certainty uncertain" and not explicitly accounted for in the current reporting framework.

GHG emissions, particularly those from human activities, are typically estimated using so-called "activity data", such as fuel use, traffic counts, and other socioeconomic data. Prof. Bun, residing in Lviv, commented on the impact of war on Ukraine's ability to collect fundamental activity data since 2022. The country's infrastructure, including data collection capabilities, has been significantly compromised and destroyed due to various war-related activities. Prof. Bun emphasized that following the current U.N. convention would attribute all emissions to Ukraine, including those resulting from war-related damages.

While tracking military emissions is challenging due to the nature of the activity and lack of information, the research attempted to estimate GHG emissions using the best available data. The study suggests that GHG emissions from Ukraine's territory during the 1.5-year period exceeded the annual emissions of some European countries, such as Austria, Portugal, and Hungary. Dr. Oda remarked, "The war impacts our ability to monitor emissions via the activity data-based reporting globally, not just regionally, as seen in global food security and humanitarian issues." He stressed the importance of emission monitoring using atmospheric observation which relies less on and is independent of activity data.

Researchers from the United States, Poland, Austria, and Finland also contributed to this study. The findings will be presented and further discussed at the European Geoscience Union (EGU) General Assembly 2024 in Vienna, Austria, scheduled for April 2024.

Additional Resource: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969724000135

Reference:

Bun, R., Marland, G., Oda, T., See, L., Puliafito, E., Nahorski, Z., Jonas, M., Kovalyshyn, V., Ialongo, I., Yashchun, O., Romanchuk, Z.: Tracking unaccounted greenhouse gas emissions due to the war in Ukraine since 2022, Sci. Total Environ., https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.169879, 2024

About USRA

Founded in 1969, under the auspices of the National Academy of Sciences at the request of the U.S. Government, the Universities Space Research Association (USRA) is a nonprofit corporation chartered to advance space-related science, technology, and engineering. USRA operates scientific institutes and facilities and conducts other major research and educational programs. USRA engages the university community and employs in-house scientific leadership, innovative research and development, and project management expertise. USRA is also an UN COP Observer. More information about USRA is available at www.usra.edu .

PR Contact:

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SOURCE Universities Space Research Association
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, Jan. 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The House of Angostura prepares to celebrate as it counts down to its 200-year anniversary in 2024. With just a few weeks into the start of the new year, the House of Angostura is ramping up preparations for a full year of festivities in honour of its bicentennial.

2024 will be an extraordinary year for the House of Angostura as new product releases, commemorative limited editions, and incredible anniversary parties are planned worldwide. Trinidad & Tobago is a country known for its ability to throw a good party, as its scenes at Carnival can attest. Angostura will carry this legendary, vibrant energy through its anniversary celebrations internationally. This historic year will see the House of Angostura join an elite group of companies that has successfully maintained its relevance with each new generation of consumers for 200 years by continually innovating and building on its legacy.

Every dash of ANGOSTURA bitters has told a rich story for two centuries. The iconic bitters brand was born in 1824 when it was first formulated as a medicinal tincture in Venezuela by Dr Johann Seigert, surgeon general in Simon Bolivar's revolutionary army. In the 1870s, Dr Siegert's three sons moved to Trinidad, where Angostura has been made ever since to the exact recipe as in 1824.

In the 1950s, following the success of bitters, Angostura decided to apply its know-how and passion for blending into crafting a range of beautiful rums. It now boasts one of the most highly awarded rum portfolios in the world. Angostura today is one of Trinidad & Tobago's crown jewels, and the almost two centuries-old history is a testament to the company's grit, drive, and determination.

Over the past 200 years, Angostura has expanded from bitters and rum into other spirits, as well as low and no alcoholic beverages. 183 years after the original aromatic bitters, Angostura introduced ANGOSTURA orange bitters, and their latest innovation, ANGOSTURA cocoa bitters, which was released in 2020 is helping to support the survival of Trinidad & Tobago's indigenous agricultural gem, Trinitario cocoa, and provides small-scale organic cocoa farmers with a sustainable future.

House of Angostura Chief Executive Officer, Laurent Schun comments: "For any company to reach 200 years is an incredible achievement. We're very proud and really excited going into our bicentennial year. We have so many plans that we're about to implement, including some exciting new products. 2024 is going to be 366 days of celebrating. As for the next 200 years, the future looks bright for Angostura".

Connect with us at:

Website: www.angostura.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/angosturalimited

Instagram: www.instagram.com/angosturatt

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Angosturatt

SOURCE Angostura Limited
Evolution Preserves Italian Heritage and Captures Culinary Legacy of 110-Year-Old Global Brand

WEST HAVEN, Conn., Jan. 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- A new chapter of Sabatino Tartufi (known simply as Sabatino) has begun. Sabatino, a cherished name synonymous with truffle excellence since 1911, proudly unveils its new brand identity. This transformation celebrates the brand's century-old legacy, its recommitment to a family unearthing the best ways to enjoy the truffle, and an embrace of a dynamic new suite of brand assets, including a new logo, reimagined website and more.

At the heart of this rebrand is the unveiling of a new Sabatino logo, marking a bold move for a company that has thrived on tradition for over 110 years. "No detail was overlooked," said Federico Balestra, Sabatino's C.E.O. and third-generation family owner, highlighting the meticulous approach to the brand evolution. "Each element reflects a dedication to preserving tradition while embracing a dynamic and modern identity for the future." From the foundational letters used to the shapes they form and the words they create, each detail respectfully nods to the truffles at the foundation of Sabatino's legacy of excellence.

The evolution of Sabatino includes ushering in new brand assets as well as a deepening of all that makes the family brand so special:

A New Look: A Symbol of Heritage and Elegance

Sabatino's refined logo is a work of art, embodying the deep connection to truffles, the rich Italian heritage dating back to 1911, and the lush landscapes of the Umbria region of Italy. Sabatino's monogram has been carefully crafted to visually represent the origin story of truffles and the story of its growth within the roots of a tree. Sabatino Tartufi has been streamlined to 'Sabatino,' and the 'The Truffle Family' identity is introduced, a nod to the rich history that defines this culinary institution. The color palette of black, white, and gold exudes sophistication, paying homage to the luxury of truffles and the Italian heritage Sabatino holds dear.

Truffle Runs Deep in Our Family

Sabatino's story began in 1911 when Sabatino Balestra and his wife Giuseppina opened a cozy store front in the heart of Umbria. This humble venture evolved into a destiny entwined with truffles, igniting a passion for unearthing these treasures  known as "diamonds of the earth" and "gems of the kitchen"  and crafting from them premium truffle products. Today, Sabatino is the global truffle expert, still guided by the warmth of family ownership, preserved values and traditions, and an enduring passion for the art of truffle. Sabatino remains dedicated to sourcing only the finest truffles, offering a delicious range of premium truffle products.

Our World is Made of Truffle

Sabatino stands as a world-renowned expert in truffles, proudly represented by manufacturing facilities in Umbria, Italy, and West Haven, Connecticut. Sabatino's strategic offices span across Europe, Asia, and the United States, ensuring global accessibility of the truffle experience. Trusted by renowned chefs worldwide.

"Even after 110 years, our truffle journey is merely beginning, and we wholeheartedly invite you to join us. With just a touch of truffle, you can experience the enchantment of one of the world's rarest and most cherished delicacies," continued Balestra, C.E.O. and grandson of founder Sabatino Balestra.

What's on the Horizon

Don't miss Sabatino's unveiling at the Fancy Food Show in Las Vegas, exhibiting from January 21-23. We encourage all attendees to visit Booth 2904 and savor the magic of our truffles. For more information about Sabatino and the rebrand, please visit the newly revitalized www.sabatinotruffles.com.

About Sabatino

Discover the magic of truffles with Sabatino, the world's largest truffle specialist based in Montecastrilli, Italy, and West Haven, CT. Family-owned and operated for generations, Sabatino offers a premium selection of the finest truffle species and high-quality truffle products. Trusted by renowned chefs worldwide, Sabatino's products are also available to consumers, allowing them to bring the enchantment of truffles to their own kitchen. Sabatino is guided by family stewardship, preserved values and traditions, and an enduring passion for the art of truffle. Join us in the next chapter of this century-old culinary journey by visiting www.sabatinotruffles.com .

SOURCE Sabatino
The Welcome Corps program empowers everyday Americans to help refugees from around the world find safety and build new lives in the United States

WASHINGTON, Jan. 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, the Welcome Corps is celebrating its first anniversary as the flagship program for private sponsorship of refugees in the United States. Through the Welcome Corps, everyday Americans are stepping up to directly support the resettlement of refugees in communities across the country. In the first year of the program, more than 15,000 Americans answered the call to serve by applying to sponsor more than 7,000 refugees. In its second year, the Welcome Corps will continue to galvanize Americans to participate in this meaningful service opportunity to provide a warm welcome to refugees and strengthen the communities where they are resettled in the process.

"Welcoming refugees is an integral part of our American DNA, and we have seen this welcoming spirit flourish in the first year of the Welcome Corps. The Welcome Corps will continue to invite Americans to do what we do best  be caring and generous neighbors, guides, and friends to refugee newcomers as they build new lives in the United States," said Ambassador Julieta Valls Noyes, Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration.

Representing one of the boldest innovations to U.S. refugee resettlement in 40 years, the State Department launched the Welcome Corps to create new ways for Americans to play a key role in resettling refugees. In groups of five or more adults, Americans come together in the Welcome Corps to take on essential tasks to help refugees during their first 90 days in the United States. This includes securing and preparing initial housing, greeting refugees at the airport, helping adults find employment, enrolling children in school, and serving as guides to enable refugees to forge ties in their new communities.

"The Welcome Corps builds on the incredible willingness of communities ready to offer a warm welcome to those seeking safety, refuge, and belonging in the United States," said Annie Nolte-Henning, Executive Director of Community Sponsorship Hub. "Celebrating this moment with sponsors across the country, from coast-to-coast and in our heartland, is a testament to the enduring spirit of welcome in America."

Of the more than 15,000 Americans who have applied since the Welcome Corps launched a year ago, more than 100 sponsor groups across 32 states have now welcomed refugees from around the world. Participating sponsors represent Americans from all walks of life, including veterans, faith groups, businesses, universities, immigrants, and previously resettled refugees seeking to pay it forward, as well as Americans getting involved in refugee resettlement for the first time.

In the program's second year, the Welcome Corps will continue to enable Americans to be matched with refugees they do not know, or to apply to sponsor refugees they do know. Americans being matched with refugees can also indicate whether they are well placed to welcome specific refugee populations or cases based on their ability to uniquely offer support in relation to specific spoken languages, nationalities, and/or family sizes. In December 2023, the Welcome Corps expanded, making it possible for Americans to apply to sponsor refugees they know for resettlement in the United States.

As part of the Welcome Corps, more than 25 organizations have also stepped forward to serve as private sponsor organizations that offer hands-on guidance and support to sponsors and refugees throughout their sponsorship journeys. These organizations represent a diverse range of local, state, and national organizations with expertise in refugee resettlement, ranging from traditional non-profit resettlement agencies as well as grassroots community organizations.

All refugees arriving in the United States through the Welcome Corps have been approved by the U.S. government for resettlement in the United States through the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program. The screening process includes extensive case review and security screening. Upon arrival, refugees are granted legal status, employment authorization, and access to key public benefits such as health insurance, and can eventually apply for U.S. citizenship.

To learn more about the Welcome Corps, to sign up for updates, or to find information about becoming a sponsor, please visit WelcomeCorps.org .

About the Welcome Corps

The Welcome Corps was launched by the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM) in January 2023, and is implemented by a consortium of seven organizations with extensive expertise in refugee resettlement, protection of vulnerable populations, and integration into welcoming communities. Led by the Community Sponsorship Hub, the consortium includes Church World Service/Refugee Welcome Collective, HIAS, IRIS  Integrated Refugee and Immigrant Services, International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP), International Rescue Committee (IRC), and Welcome.US.

SOURCE Welcome Corps
Delaware's Future Fest to feature career opportunities, photo booth, free refreshments

WILMINGTON, Del., Jan. 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Delaware highschoolers have boundless options for their futures, from four-year universities to trade schools or heading straight into the workforce. A school fair in Wilmington on Saturday, Jan. 27 will give K-12 students and their families a taste of the diverse job options available to them, as well as the middle and highschools that can prepare them for those jobs.

Hosted by DelawareCAN, the school fair will take place 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Goldey-Beacom College's Event Center. Families will have the opportunity to explore local resources and ask questions of more than a dozen schools and community vendors, including the Charter School of Wilmington, Sussex Academy of the Arts, Zip Code Wilmington, Delaware State University, Food Bank, Delaware National Guard, and many more from public to private options. Event planners state they especially aim to highlight trade schools and vocational training opportunities to give families a taste of the alternative pathways available after high school.

The free community event will feature fun for all ages, including free snacks and lemonade, face painting, a photobooth, balloon twisting, and more.

This event is Delaware's first school fair for National School Choice Week (NSCW). Across the country, the Week features tens of thousands of school choice events to raise equal and positive awareness of the traditional public, public charter, public magnet, private, online, and home education options available for families. In addition to the Wilmington school fair, 32 large-scale fairs planned by nonprofits will take place in more than 25 states during the Week.

"We are excited to host this fair and to empower Delaware students to imagine all the avenues of lifelong learning available to them," said Britney Mumford of Delaware CAN. "We encourage you to join us and learn more about Delaware's offerings."

DelawareCAN is a nonprofit education advocacy organization that advocates for the success of every Delaware student, from pre-K through college and career.

Goldey-Beacom College is located at 4701 Limestone Rd.

Families can learn more and RSVP for the free event at wilmingtonschoolfair.com.

National School Choice Week (NSCW) informs, inspires, and empowers parents to discover the K-12 education options available for their children, including traditional public, charter, magnet, online, private, and homeschooling. Every January, tens of thousands of schools, organizations, and individuals plan unique events and activities to shine a positive spotlight on effective education options in their communities. The Week is a project of the nonpartisan, nonpolitical National School Choice Awareness Foundation.

SOURCE National School Choice Week
DUBLIN, Jan. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The "UK Table Grape Market Forecasts from 2023 to 2028" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

UK Table Grape Consumption on the Rise with Health Awareness and Local Production Driving Demand

The latest research publication offers an in-depth analysis of the burgeoning UK table grape market. The report shines a light on the market's progression, which is anticipated to attain a value of US$1.422 billion by 2028, experiencing a steady growth at a CAGR of 3.47% from its 2021 valuation of US$1.120 billion.

The research provides insights on various market dynamics, including the increasing consumer preference for convenience and healthy eating options. Seedless grape varieties have taken the forefront in the market with grape varieties like Thompson, Superior, and Crimson witnessing robust demand, reinforcing the UK's status as a major table grape consumer.

Study Highlights Increasing Table Grape Production and Consumption Trends

An examination of data from institutions such as the USDA highlights a notable uptick in both production and consumption rates within the UK.

The market's expansion is attributed to several factors, including heightened consumer awareness of the nutritional benefits offered by regular fruit intake. The figures are underpinned by statistics showing an increase of grape consumption from 275,000 MT in 2019 to 280,000 MT in 2022.

English Wine Awareness Boosts Table Grape Industry

In an interesting development, the burgeoning English wine industry has contributed positively to the table grape market. An increasing awareness of English wine, coupled with a desire to support local agriculture, has significantly influenced the demand for UK-grown table grapes.

The main grape-growing regions of England, heralded as increasingly pivotal in the market analysis, are spotlighted for their favorable climate conditions that benefit local grape production. With consumers showing preference for local produce, this sector is expected to demonstrate substantial growth within the forecast period.

Key Players and Developments Shaping the Market

A highlight of the publication is the focus on major market players, such as Grape Evolution Ltd, known for advanced breeding programs producing new, in-demand grape varieties.

Key market developments also include strategic partnerships, highlighted by the collaboration between Agrimessina and Special New Fruit Licencing, aimed at cultivating specialty grape varieties.

Market Segmentation Insights

The report categorizes the UK table grape market based on variety, distribution channel, and region, offering detailed insights into each segment. This includes:

Seeded and Seedless Grapes

Offline and Online Distribution Channels

Regional analysis including England , Scotland , Wales , and Northern Ireland

Company Profiles

Agrimessina S.R.L

Grape Evolution Limited (Fresca Group)

Grapes Direct Limited

Karsten Group

RH Group Ltd.

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/x2f2x0

About ResearchAndMarkets.com

ResearchAndMarkets.com is the world's leading source for international market research reports and market data. We provide you with the latest data on international and regional markets, key industries, the top companies, new products and the latest trends.

Media Contact:

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Laura Wood, Senior Manager

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SOURCE Research and Markets
ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan, January 19. Ambassador of Turkmenistan to Tashkent Shadurdy Meredov and Director of the International Institute for Central Asia Studies (IICAS) Javlon Vakhabov discussed the agenda for the further development of Uzbek-Turkmen relations, Trend reports.

During the meeting, the parties discussed further prospects for strategic interaction between Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, and also exchanged views on the implementation of previously reached agreements including cooperation between the expert and analytical circles of the two countries.

They stressed that the Turkmen-Uzbek partnership is based on a solid foundation of common history and cultural values.

Furthermore, the parties also touched upon issues of economic cooperation: the growth of trade turnover over the past year, joint work on the creation of the Shavat-Dashoguz border trade zone, as well as the mutual interest of the countries in establishing transport and logistics networks and multilateral corridors were noted.

At the end of the meeting, the Director of IICAS and the Turkmenistan's diplomat agreed to hold joint conferences and round tables with the involvement of Uzbek, Turkmen and international researchers in order to intensify scientific and expert exchanges.

Meanwhile, the International Institute for Central Asia Studies (IICAS) is an international organization established to promote the sustainable socio-economic development of the countries of Central Asia.

Founded with the aim of ensuring cooperation and mutual understanding in the region, IICAS is engaged in research, knowledge exchange, as well as the development and implementation of projects in various fields such as education, science, culture, and social development.

Stay up to date with more news at Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
BALVERSA is the First and Only Targeted Therapy for Patients with Locally Advanced or Metastatic Urothelial Carcinoma and Susceptible Fibroblast Growth Factor Receptor Alterations

Phase 3 THOR Study Showed a 36 Percent Reduction in the Risk of Death with BALVERSA Versus Chemotherapy in Patients

Data were featured at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2023 Congress and in The New England Journal of Medicine

RARITAN, N.J., Jan. 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Johnson & Johnson announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a supplemental New Drug Application (sNDA) for BALVERSA (erdafitinib) for the treatment of adult patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma (mUC) with susceptible fibroblast growth factor receptor 3 (FGFR3) genetic alterations whose disease has progressed on or after at least one line of prior systemic therapy. BALVERSA is not recommended for the treatment of patients who are eligible for and have not received prior PD-1 or PD-L1 inhibitor therapy. This FDA action converts the April 2019 accelerated approval of BALVERSA to a full approval based on the clinical and overall survival benefit observed in the Phase 3 THOR study. BALVERSA is the first oral FGFR kinase inhibitor to be approved, and the first and only targeted treatment for patients with mUC and FGFR alterations.

Approximately 20 percent of patients with mUC have FGFR3 genetic alterations. After one or more lines of systemic therapy, including a checkpoint inhibitor, these patients generally have a poor prognosis with few available treatment options. This approval is based on results from Cohort 1 of the randomized, controlled, open-label, multicenter Phase 3 THOR study (NCT03390504) confirming the clinical benefit of BALVERSA in extending overall survival (OS) compared to chemotherapy in the second-line setting. Results from the study showed a 36 percent reduction in the risk of death with BALVERSA versus chemotherapy in patients previously treated with a PD-1 or PD-(L)1 inhibitor, with those in the BALVERSA arm living a median of over four months longer (Hazard Ratio (HR) 0.64; [95 percent Confidence Interval (CI), 0.47-0.88]; p=0.0050).1

"Based on results from randomized Phase 3 data, BALVERSA continues to demonstrate the promise of targeted therapy in the treatment of patients with advanced bladder cancer," said Kiran Patel, M.D., Vice President, Clinical Development, Solid Tumors, Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine. "This important milestone reinforces our commitment to advance innovative, precision therapies in oncology and confirm the role of targeted therapy in the treatment of bladder cancer."

Warnings and Precautions in the U.S. Prescribing Information include ocular disorders, hyperphosphatemia and embryo-fetal toxicity. The most common (>20%) adverse reactions, including laboratory abnormalities, were increased phosphate, nail disorders, stomatitis, diarrhea, increased creatinine, increased alkaline phosphate, increased alanine aminotransferase, decreased hemoglobin, decreased sodium, increased aspartate aminotransferase, fatigue, dry mouth, dry skin, decreased phosphate, decreased appetite, dysgeusia, constipation, increased calcium, dry eye, palmar-plantar erythrodysesthesia syndrome, increased potassium, alopecia, and central serous retinopathy. 2

Johnson & Johnson is offering BALVERSA and associated patient services through a single-source specialty pharmacy provider, US Bioservices. This model is part of the Company's ongoing commitment to provide high-quality products, services, access, and support to healthcare professionals and patients.

The current full Prescribing Information is available at www.BALVERSA.com.

About THOR

THOR (NCT03390504) is a Phase 3 randomized, open-label, multicenter study evaluating the efficacy and safety of BALVERSA. All patients included in the study had metastatic or unresectable UC, with selected FGFR genetic alterations, and showed disease progression during or after one or two prior lines of treatment. The study compared BALVERSA in two cohorts; BALVERSA versus standard of care chemotherapy (investigator's choice of docetaxel or vinflunine) after at least one line of treatment including an anti-programmed death (ligand) 1 (PD-[L]1) agent (Cohort 1); and BALVERSA compared to pembrolizumab after one prior treatment not containing an anti-PD-(L)1 agent (Cohort 2). The trial consists of screening, a treatment phase (from randomization until disease progression, intolerable toxicity, withdrawal of consent or decision by investigator to discontinue treatment) and a post-treatment follow-up (from end-of-treatment to participant's death, withdraws consent, or lost to follow-up study completion for the respective cohort, whichever comes first). A long-term extension period is planned for after the clinical cutoff date is achieved for the final analysis of each cohort for patients who continue to benefit from the study intervention. The primary endpoint of the study is OS; progression free survival (PFS), objective response rate (ORR), duration of response (DOR), patient-reported outcomes, safety, and pharmacokinetics (PK) are secondary endpoints.

Results from Cohort 1 were presented in a Late-Breaking Presentation Session (Abstract #LBA4619) at the 2023 American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting.1 In June 2023, based on the recommendation of the independent data safety monitoring committee, the THOR study was stopped at the interim analysis for efficacy and all patients randomized to chemotherapy were offered the opportunity to cross over to BALVERSA. Results from Cohort 1 and Cohort 2 of the confirmatory, Phase 3, randomized study were presented at ESMO 2023 (Abstract #2359O), and results of Cohort 1 were published in the New England Journal of Medicine in November 2023.

About BALVERSA

BALVERSA (erdafitinib) is a once-daily, oral FGFR kinase inhibitor indicated for the treatment of adult patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma (mUC) with susceptible fibroblast growth factor receptor 3 (FGFR3) genetic alterations whose disease progressed on or after at least one line of prior systemic therapy. BALVERSA  is not recommended for the treatment of patients who are eligible for and have not received prior PD-1 or PD-(L)1 inhibitor therapy.2 Patients are selected for therapy based on an FDA-approved companion diagnostic for BALVERSA. Information on FDA-approved tests for the detection of FGFR genetic alterations in urothelial cancer is available at: http://www.fda.gov/CompanionDiagnostics.

BALVERSA received Breakthrough Therapy Designation from the U.S. FDA in 2018 and received accelerated approval in 2019 for the treatment of adults with locally advanced or mUC which has susceptible FGFR3 or FGFR2 genetic alterations and who have progressed during or following at least one line of prior platinum-containing chemotherapy, including within 12 months of neoadjuvant or adjuvant platinum-containing chemotherapy.3

The Company submitted a marketing authorization application to the European Medicines Agency in September 2023 for BALVERSA  as a treatment for adult patients with FGFR3-altered, locally advanced unresectable or metastatic urothelial carcinoma that has progressed following therapy with a PD-(L)1 inhibitor.

In 2008, Janssen Pharmaceuticals entered into an exclusive worldwide license and collaboration agreement with Astex Pharmaceuticals to develop and commercialize BALVERSA.

For more information, visit www.BALVERSA.com.

About Urothelial Carcinoma

Urothelial carcinoma, also known as transitional cell carcinoma, starts in the innermost lining of the bladder.4 It is the most common form of bladder cancer, representing more than 90 percent of all bladder cancers.5 Metastatic or unresectable disease is identified in approximately 20 percent of patients presenting with urothelial cancer, and an estimated five to eight percent of all bladder cancers. Approximately one in five patients (20 percent) diagnosed with mUC have an FGFR genetic alteration.6,7 Fibroblast growth factor receptors are a family of receptor tyrosine kinases that can be activated by genetic alterations in a variety of tumor types, and these alterations may lead to increased tumor cell growth and survival. 6,8,9,10,11 Select FGFR genetic alterations can be detected through an FDA-approved companion diagnostic. The five-year survival rate for patients with Stage IV metastatic bladder cancer that has spread to distant parts of the body is currently eight percent.12

BALVERSA IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION

WARNING AND PRECAUTIONS

Ocular Disorders  BALVERSA can cause ocular disorders, including central serous retinopathy/retinal pigment epithelial detachment (CSR/RPED) resulting in visual field defect.

CSR/RPED occurred in 22% of patients treated with BALVERSA, with a median time to first onset of 46 days. In 104 patients with CSR, 40% required dose interruptions and 56% required dose reductions; 2.9% of BALVERSA-treated patients required permanent discontinuation for CSR. Of the 24 patients who restarted BALVERSA after dose interruption with or without dose reduction, 67% had recurrence and/or worsening of CSR after restarting. CSR was ongoing in 41% of the 104 patients at the time of last evaluation.

Dry eye symptoms occurred in 26% of BALVERSA-treated patients. All patients should receive dry eye prophylaxis with ocular demulcents as needed.

Perform monthly ophthalmological examinations during the first 4 months of treatment and every 3 months afterwards, and urgently at any time for visual symptoms. Ophthalmological examination should include assessment of visual acuity, slit lamp examination, fundoscopy, and optical coherence tomography. Withhold or permanently discontinue BALVERSA based on severity and/or ophthalmology exam findings [see Dosage and Administration (2.3)].

Hyperphosphatemia and Soft Tissue Mineralization  BALVERSA can cause hyperphosphatemia leading to soft tissue mineralization, cutaneous calcinosis, non-uremic calciphylaxis and vascular calcification. Increases in phosphate levels are a pharmacodynamic effect of BALVERSA [see Pharmacodynamics (12.2)]. Increased phosphate occurred in 73% of BALVERSA-treated patients. The median onset time of increased phosphate was 16 days (range: 8421) after initiating BALVERSA. Twenty-four percent of patients received phosphate binders during treatment with BALVERSA. Vascular calcification was observed in 0.2% of patients treated with BALVERSA.

Monitor for hyperphosphatemia throughout treatment. In all patients, restrict phosphate intake to 600800 mg daily and avoid concomitant use of agents that may increase serum phosphate levels. If serum phosphate is above 7.0 mg/dL, consider adding an oral phosphate binder until serum phosphate level returns to <7.0 mg/dL. Withhold, dose reduce, or permanently discontinue BALVERSA based on duration and severity of hyperphosphatemia [see Dosage and Administration (2.3), Table 2: Dose Modifications for Adverse Reactions].

Embryo-Fetal Toxicity  Based on the mechanism of action and findings in animal reproduction studies, BALVERSA can cause fetal harm when administered to a pregnant female. In a rat embryo-fetal toxicity study, erdafitinib caused malformations and embryo-fetal death at maternal exposures that were less than the human exposures at the maximum human recommended dose. Advise pregnant patients of the potential risk to the fetus. Advise female patients of reproductive potential to use effective contraception during treatment with BALVERSA and for one month after the last dose. Advise male patients with female partners of reproductive potential to use effective contraception during treatment with BALVERSA and for one month after the last dose [see Use in Specific Populations (8.1, 8.3) and Clinical Pharmacology (12.1)].

Adverse Reactions

In this pooled safety population of 479 patients who received BALVERSA, the median duration of treatment was 4.8 months (range: 0.1 to 43 months). The most common (>20%) adverse reactions were: increased phosphate, nail disorders, stomatitis, diarrhea, increased creatinine, increased alkaline phosphatase, increased alanine aminotransferase, decreased hemoglobin, decreased sodium, increased aspartate aminotransferase, fatigue, dry mouth, dry skin, decreased phosphate, decreased appetite, dysgeusia, constipation, increased calcium, dry eye, palmar-plantar erythrodysesthesia syndrome, increased potassium, alopecia, and central serous retinopathy.

In Cohort 1 of the BLC3001 study:

Serious adverse reactions occurred in 41% of patients who received BALVERSA  . Serious reactions in >2% of patients included urinary tract infection (4.4%), hematuria (3.7%), hyponatremia (2.2%), and acute kidney injury (2.2%). Fatal adverse reactions occurred in 4.4% of patients who received BALVERSA  , including sudden death (1.5%), pneumonia (1.5%), renal failure (0.7%), and cardiorespiratory arrest (0.7%).

Permanent discontinuation of BALVERSA  due to an adverse reaction occurred in 14% of patients. Adverse reactions which resulted in permanent discontinuation of BALVERSA  in >2% of patients included nail disorders (3%) and eye disorders (2.2%).

Dosage interruptions of BALVERSA  due to an adverse reaction occurred in 72% of patients. Adverse reactions which required dosage interruption in >4% of patients included nail disorders (22%), stomatitis (19%), eye disorders (16%), palmar-plantar erythrodysesthesia syndrome (15%), diarrhea (10%), hyperphosphatemia (7%), increased aspartate aminotransferase (6%), and increased alanine aminotransferase (5%).

Dose reductions of BALVERSA  due to an adverse reaction occurred in 69% of patients. Adverse reactions which required dose reductions in >4% of patients included nail disorders (27%), stomatitis (19%), eye disorders (17%), palmar-plantar erythrodysesthesia syndrome (12%), diarrhea (7%), dry mouth (4.4%), and hyperphosphatemia (4.4%).

Clinically relevant adverse reactions in <15% of patients who received BALVERSA included nausea (15%), pyrexia (15%), epistaxis (13%), vomiting (10%), and arthralgia (10%).

Drug Interactions

Moderate CYP2C9 or Strong CYP3A4 Inhibitors: Consider alternative agents; however, if co-administration is unavoidable monitor closely for adverse reactions. (7.1)

Strong CYP3A4 inducers: Avoid co-administration use with BALVERSA  . (7.1)

Moderate CYP3A4 inducers: If co-administration is required at the start of BALVERSA  treatment, administer BALVERSA  at a dose of 9 mg daily. (7.1)

Serum phosphate level-altering agents: Avoid co-administration use with agents that can alter serum phosphate levels before the initial dose modification period based on serum phosphate levels. (2.3, 7.1)

P-gp substrates: If co-administration is unavoidable separate BALVERSA administration by at least 6 hours before or after administration of P-gp substrates with narrow therapeutic indices . (7.2)

Use in Specific Populations

Lactation  Because of the potential for serious adverse reactions from erdafitinib in a breastfed child, advise lactating patients not to breastfeed during treatment with BALVERSA and for one month following the last dose.

Please click here to see full BALVERSA Prescribing Information.

About Johnson & Johnson

At Johnson & Johnson, we believe health is everything. Our strength in healthcare innovation empowers us to build a world where complex diseases are prevented, treated, and cured, where treatments are smarter and less invasive, and solutions are personal. Through our expertise in Innovative Medicine and MedTech, we are uniquely positioned to innovate across the full spectrum of healthcare solutions today to deliver the breakthroughs of tomorrow, and profoundly impact health for humanity. Learn more at https://www.jnj.com/ or at www.janssen.com/johnson-johnson-innovative-medicine. Follow us at @JanssenUS and @JNJInnovMed. Janssen Research & Development, LLC and Janssen Biotech, Inc. are both Johnson & Johnson companies.

Cautions Concerning Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains "forward-looking statements" as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 regarding product development and the potential benefits and treatment impact of BALVERSA. The reader is cautioned not to rely on these forward-looking statements. These statements are based on current expectations of future events. If underlying assumptions prove inaccurate or known or unknown risks or uncertainties materialize, actual results could vary materially from the expectations and projections of Janssen Research & Development, LLC; Janssen Biotech, Inc., and/or Johnson & Johnson. Risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: challenges and uncertainties inherent in product research and development, including the uncertainty of clinical success and of obtaining regulatory approvals; uncertainty of commercial success; competition, including technological advances, new products and patents attained by competitors; challenges to patents; changes in behavior and spending patterns of purchasers of health care products and services; changes to applicable laws and regulations, including global health care reforms; and trends toward health care cost containment. A further list and descriptions of these risks, uncertainties and other factors can be found in Johnson & Johnson's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended January 1, 2023, including in the sections captioned "Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements" and "Item 1A. Risk Factors," and in Johnson & Johnson's subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Copies of these filings are available online at www.sec.gov, www.jnj.com or on request from Johnson & Johnson. None of Janssen Research & Development, LLC, Janssen Biotech, Inc., nor Johnson & Johnson undertakes to update any forward-looking statement as a result of new information or future events or developments.

1 ASCO Publications. Phase 3 THOR study: Results of erdafitinib (erda) versus chemotherapy (chemo) in patients (pts) with advanced or metastatic urothelial cancer (mUC) with select fibroblast growth factor receptor alterations (FGFRalt). Available at: https://ascopubs.org/doi/10.1200/JCO.2023.41.17_suppl.LBA4619

2 BALVERSA Prescribing Information.

3 Clinicaltrials.gov. A Study of Erdafitinib in Participants With Advanced Solid Tumors and Fibroblast Growth Factor Receptor (FGFR) Gene Alterations. https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04083976. Accessed May 2023.

4 American Cancer Society. "What is Bladder Cancer." Available at https://www.cancer.org/cancer/bladder-cancer/about/what-is-bladder-cancer.html. Accessed May 2023.

5 National Cancer Institute. "Bladder Cancer Treatment (PDQ)Health Professional Version". Available at https://www.cancer.gov/types/bladder/hp/bladder-treatment-pdq#link/_21_toc. Accessed May 2023.

6 Tomlinson DC et al. FGFR3 protein expression and its relationship to mutation status and prognostic variables in bladder cancer. J Pathol. 2007;213(1):91-98.

7 De Santis M et al. Randomized phase II/III trial assessing gemcitabine/carboplatin and methotrexate/carboplatin/vinblastine in patients with advanced urothelial cancer who are unfit for cisplatin-based chemotherapy: EORTC study 30986. J Clin Oncol. 2011;30:191-199.

8 Helsten T et al. The FGFR landscape in cancer: analysis of 4,853 tumors by next-generation sequencing. Clin Cancer Res. 2015;22(1):259-267.

9 Eisenhauer EA et al. New response evaluation criteria in solid tumours: revised RECIST guideline (version 1.1). Eur J Cancer. 2009. 45: 228-247.

10 Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Data on file.

11 U.S. and World Population Clock. Available at https://www.census.gov/popclock/. Accessed May 2023.

12 Bladder Cancer: Statistics. Available at https://www.cancer.net/cancer-types/bladder-cancer/statistics. Accessed May 2023.

Media contacts:

Suzanne Frost

+1 416 317-0304 Ania DiAntonio +1 215 620-0717 Investor contact:

Raychel Kruper

[email protected]



U.S. Medical Inquiries +1 800 526-7736

SOURCE Johnson & Johnson
Proactive organizational redesign accelerates profitability goals

BOSTON, Jan. 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Wayfair Inc. (NYSE: W), one of the world's largest destinations for the home, today announced details related to right-sizing its cost structure, following the series of actions originally initiated in August 2022. After a comprehensive, organization-wide analysis of the appropriate team size and structure, the company announced a workforce reduction involving approximately 1,650 employees, representing approximately 13% of its global workforce and approximately 19% of its corporate team, in each case as of December 31, 2023. This action is expected to deliver annualized cost savings of more than $280 million.

"Earlier today I sent a note to all Wayfair employees detailing today's action and the rationale behind it, which is available for everyone to read on our company site. The changes announced today reflect a return to our core principles on resource allocation, such as getting fit on spans and layers as well as focusing on our highest priorities. As a result, we're reducing team sizes across the organization, as well as reducing seniority in certain roles that we plan to rebuild with modified leveling over the course of this year," commented Shah, CEO, co-founder, and co-chairman, Wayfair. "While today's actions will bolster our Adjusted EBITDA roadmap, I am increasingly focused on generating Adjusted EBITDA in excess of equity-based compensation as well as capital expenditures, and intend to drive meaningful improvements here quickly. We believe that what matters is maximizing our Free Cash Flow while simultaneously tightly controlling and ultimately reducing total share count, and are treating this as our north star."

Shah continued, "To our colleagues departing Wayfair, I want to thank you for your incredible contributions to Wayfair and to our customers. You have so much to be proud of. I truly regret the impact this will have on you."

The incremental cost savings provide the company further confidence in the path to deliver substantial growth in Adjusted EBITDA in 2024 on both a dollars and margin basis. "Although persistent category weakness makes revenue growth challenging, we remain encouraged by the share gains we continue to see," commented Shah. "Based on today's announcement, in a hypothetical flat revenue environment - inclusive of the rebuilt roles - we would now expect to deliver over $600 million of Adjusted EBITDA in 2024." Wayfair will provide full results for the quarter and year ended December 31, 2023 on its February 2024 earnings call.

The following are additional details on the workforce realignment plan announced today:

Approximately $150 million of annualized cash compensation savings, roughly $125 million of which will be reflected in the company's Selling, Operations, Technology, General & Administrative (SOTG&A) expense line with the remainder from the Customer Service & Merchant Fees expense line. These are net savings figures incorporating the company's plans to rebuild a portion of the headcount over 2024.

of annualized cash compensation savings, roughly of which will be reflected in the company's Selling, Operations, Technology, General & Administrative (SOTG&A) expense line with the remainder from the Customer Service & Merchant Fees expense line. These are net savings figures incorporating the company's plans to rebuild a portion of the headcount over 2024. Approximately $80 million of annualized equity-based compensation relief associated with the impacted employees.

of annualized equity-based compensation relief associated with the impacted employees. Approximately $50 million of annualized savings related to a reduction in capitalized technology labor, which is accounted for as a component of the company's capital expenditures line item.

As a result of the workforce reduction, Wayfair expects to incur between approximately $70 million and $80 million of costs, consisting primarily of employee severance and benefit costs, most of which are expected to be incurred in the first quarter of 2024. The foregoing estimated amounts do not include any non-cash charges associated with equity-based compensation.

About Wayfair

Wayfair is the destination for all things home: helping everyone, anywhere create their feeling of home. From expert customer service, to the development of tools that make the shopping process easier, to carrying one of the widest and deepest selections of items for every space, style, and budget, Wayfair gives everyone the power to create spaces that are just right for them.

The Wayfair family of sites includes:

Wayfair: Everything home  for a space that's all you.

Joss & Main: The ultimate style edit for home.

AllModern: All of modern, made simple.

Birch Lane: A fresh take on the classics.

Perigold: An undiscovered world of luxury design.

Wayfair Professional: Just right for Pros.

Wayfair generated $12.0 billion in net revenue for the twelve months ended September 30, 2023 and is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts with global operations.

Media Relations Contact:

Susan Frechette

[email protected]

Investor Relations Contact:

James Lamb

[email protected]

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of federal and state securities laws. All statements other than statements of historical fact contained in this press release including, but not limited to, statements regarding our future results of operations and financial position, including the achievement and timing of our financial outlook and Adjusted EBITDA and Free Cash Flow goals, our business strategy, plans and objectives of management for future operations, including becoming more agile, positive gross revenue trends and improvements in market share, our future customer growth and expected consumer activity and behaviors, the estimated costs resulting from the workforce reduction, as well as when we expect any such charges, costs or savings will occur, and the impact of macroeconomic factors, including economic uncertainty and any impact on consumer spending, and our response to such events, are forward-looking statements. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terms such as "may," "will," "should," "expects," "plans," "anticipates," "continues," "could," "intends," "goals," "target," "projects," "contemplates," "returning," "believes," "estimates," "predicts," "potential" or "continue" or the negative of these terms or other similar expressions.

Forward-looking statements are based on current expectations of future events. We cannot guarantee that any forward-looking statement will be accurate, although we believe that we have been reasonable in our expectations and assumptions. Investors should realize that if underlying assumptions prove inaccurate or that known or unknown risks or uncertainties materialize, actual results could vary materially from our expectations and projections. Investors are therefore cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release and, except as required by applicable law, we undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements contained herein, whether as a result of any new information, future events or otherwise.

A list and description of risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause or contribute to differences in our results can be found in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and subsequent filings. We qualify all of our forward-looking statements by these cautionary statements.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

To supplement our condensed consolidated financial statements presented in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles ("GAAP"), this press release contains certain non-GAAP financial measures, including Adjusted EBITDA and Free Cash Flow. We use these non-GAAP financial measures internally in analyzing our financial results and believe they are useful to investors, as a supplement to GAAP measures, in evaluating our ongoing operational performance.

We calculate Adjusted EBITDA as net income or loss before depreciation and amortization, equity-based compensation and related taxes, interest income or expense, net, other income or expense, net, provision or benefit for income taxes, net, non-recurring items and other items not indicative of our ongoing operating performance. Adjusted EBITDA Margin is calculated by dividing Adjusted EBITDA by Net Revenue. We disclose Adjusted EBITDA because it is a key measure used by our management and board of directors to evaluate our operating performance, generate future operating plans and make strategic decisions regarding the allocation of capital. In particular, we believe the exclusion of certain expenses in calculating Adjusted EBITDA facilitates operating performance comparisons on a period-to-period basis as these costs may vary independent of business performance. For instance, we exclude the impact of equity-based compensation and related taxes as we do not consider this item to be indicative of our core operating performance. Investors should, however, understand that equity-based compensation and related taxes will be a significant recurring expense in our business and an important part of the compensation provided to our employees. Accordingly, we believe that Adjusted EBITDA provides useful information to investors and others in understanding and evaluating our operating results in the same manner as our management and board of directors.

We calculate Free Cash Flow as net cash provided by or used in operating activities less net cash used to purchase property and equipment and site and software development costs (collectively, "Capital Expenditures"). We disclose Free Cash Flow because it is an important indicator of our business performance as it measures the amount of cash we generate. Accordingly, we believe that Free Cash Flow provides useful information to investors and others in understanding and evaluating our operating results in the same manner as our management.

We calculate forward-looking non-GAAP financial measures based on internal forecasts that omit certain amounts that would be included in forward-looking GAAP financial measures. We do not attempt to provide a reconciliation of forward-looking non-GAAP financial measures to forward looking GAAP financial measures because forecasting the timing or amount of items that have not yet occurred and are out of our control is inherently uncertain and unavailable without unreasonable efforts. Further, we believe that such reconciliations would imply a degree of precision and certainty that could be confusing to investors. Such items could have a substantial impact on GAAP measures of financial performance.

The non-GAAP financial measures have limitations as analytical tools. We do not, nor do we suggest that investors should consider such non-GAAP financial measures in isolation from, or as a substitute for, financial information prepared in accordance with GAAP. Investors should also note that the non-GAAP financial measures we use may not be the same non-GAAP financial measures and may not be calculated in the same manner as that of other companies, including other companies in our industry.

SOURCE Wayfair Inc.
DAVOS, Switzerland, Jan. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Director of BRI (Bank Rakyat Indonesia) (IDX: BBRI), Sunarso, participated in the World Economic Forum (WEF) 2024, held in Davos, from January 15 to 19, 2024. During this event, Sunarso addressed critical topics pertinent to BRI, focusing on fostering inclusive economic growth and employment opportunities.

Sunarso, President Director Bank BRI at World Economic Forum (WEF) 2024, Davos.

While Indonesia is poised to become a high-income country by 2041, global economic challenges have hindered its progress, resulting in stagnant economic growth, limited national credit expansion, and persistent extreme poverty rates. To tackle these challenges, Sunarso emphasized the need to establish an inclusive economic growth engine. BRI, a state-owned enterprise, recognizes the value of profitability, which can be reinvested to drive social impact and stimulate economic growth.

BRI's commitment to inclusive growth is evident through the Ultra Micro Holding initiative, which includes BRI, Pengadaian, and PNM. By December 2023, this initiative integrated 37 million borrowers, reducing the number without financial access from 30 million in 2018 to around 14 million in 2023. BRI also empowers women entrepreneurs in the ultra-micro segment through PNM Mekaar. As part of this initiative, PNM disbursed IDR 41.57 trillion to 15 million women entrepreneurs, solidifying its position as the world's largest lending group, promoting gender equality and supporting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). BRI further promotes inclusivity through an "economy sharing" concept with over 740,000 AgenBRILink agents processing transactions worth IDR 1.427 trillion by December 2023.

Embracing digital transformation, BRI harnessed the power of Artificial Intelligence (AI) through BRIBRAIN, a digital hub that consolidates AI and analytics capabilities. This initiative enhances customer engagement, fortifies anti-fraud and risk analytics, streamlines credit underwriting, automates smart services, and bolsters BRImo's performance.

BRI's sustainability commitment is also highlighted by loans to the Sustainable Business Activity Category (KKUB) sector, comprising 66.1% of its total loan portfolio. Through the BRI Menanam program, the bank planted 1.9 million seedlings across Indonesia by end of 2023, absorbing an estimated 875,013 kgCO2e.

These initiatives align seamlessly with the international priorities discussed at the World Economic Forum. "BRI remains committed to empowering the grassroots economy through small and medium-sized enterprises, bolstered by robust technological capabilities and grounded in sustainability principles, thus contributing value beyond profit," concluded Sunarso.

More information about BRI at www.bri.co.id

SOURCE PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia Tbk (BRI)
TASHKENT, Uzbekistan, January 19. The Spanish Almar Water Solutions company expressed readiness to build a water treatment plant in Uzbekistan, Trend reports.

This was discussed at a meeting with the vice president of the Spanish Almar Water Solutions company, Aranzazu Mencia Saeta, which was held at the Embassy of Uzbekistan.

Prospects of attracting foreign direct investment and advanced technologies to Uzbekistan were discussed during the meeting.

Vice President of Almar Water Solutions, Aranzazu Mencia Saeta, noted that the company is interested in participation in the construction and modernization of treatment facility projects in Uzbekistan. Thus, the Spanish side expressed readiness to build a water treatment plant using its technologies in the satellite city of Samarkand on the basis of a public-private partnership. Aranzazu Mencia Saeta emphasized that the financial aspects of the project will be covered by the company's own funds and loans from international financial institutions.

It was noted that at the initial stage, the company planned to develop project documentation and agree tariffs with Uzbekistan's Suvtaminot Joint Stock Company and Samarkand region administration. After that, the parties will be able to sign a mutual agreement on the implementation of the project.

Almar Water Solutions is the world's leading water infrastructure development and maintenance company. It provides innovative utility solutions for the urban and industrial sectors. The company operates in four main areas: new project development, asset management, service solutions, and meeting the needs of its customers by adapting industrial water.

The Spanish company also has extensive experience in international projects. Almar Water Solutions is headquartered in Madrid.
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
Kanpur, Jan 19 : A 29-year-old PhD student at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur, was found dead in her hostel room on Thursday, the police said.

This is the third such incident inside the campus in a month.

According to Kalyanpur Assistant Commissioner of Police, Abhishek Pandey, the student from Jharkhand allegedly ended her life by hanging herself from the ceiling fan in her hostel room.

Police said the incident came to light when the father of the deceased called hostel authorities after repeated calls to his daughter went unanswered.

Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (West), Akash Patel, said they received information about the suicide and on reaching the spot, police found the room door locked from inside. They broke it open and found the student's body in her room.

"A forensic team was sent to the spot. The student's hostelmates had alerted college authorities who later called the police," he added.

The reason behind the suicide is yet to be ascertained, the DCP said.

Police said the body has been sent for post-mortem examination.

According to the institute, the woman had enrolled as a student of the Chemical engineering department on December 29.

In a statement, IIT-Kanpur said: "With profound grief, IIT Kanpur mourns the untimely and unfortunate demise of a PhD student...She was found dead in her hostel room. The institute is awaiting the police investigation to determine the likely cause of the death."

On January 11, a second-year M.Tech student and on December 19, a post-doctoral researcher had died by suicide in the campus of the institute.
Brussels, Jan 19 : The NATO is set to hold its largest exercise in decades, with nearly 90,000 forces slated to participate, NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Europe Christopher Cavoli said.

The exercise, dubbed "Exercise Steadfast Defender 2024," is scheduled to commence next week and will extend through May. All NATO's 31 members and Sweden will participate in the maneuvers, Cavoli told a press briefing on Thursday in Brussels following a two-day NATO Military Chiefs of Defence meeting as quoted by Xinhua news agency report.

Regarding the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine, Rob Bauer, Chairman of the NATO Military Committee, said that "There is back and forth in the front" and "Both sides are now in a phase where it is not moving a lot forward one way or the other".
San Francisco, Jan 19 : At least five people have died from hypothermia in Seattle, US state of Washington, since January 11, when temperatures plummeted below freezing, according to King County Medical Examiner's Office.

Two died outside on the streets, one in a vehicle, and two others died in residences, officials said on Thursday.

The number of homeless people dying from environmental exposure -- including hypothermia and hyperthermia -- has gone up in recent years, from zero in 2012 to nine in 2021, according to Public Health in Seattle and King County as quoted by Xinhua news agency report.

Weather shelters across King County quickly filled up last Friday, leading the King County Regional Homelessness Authority to work with the city of Seattle and The Salvation Army to add 100 more shelter beds at the Seattle Center Exhibition Hall, totaling 300 spaces for Saturday night in the city's largest severe weather shelter, said a report by The Seattle Times.
Sanaa, Jan 19 : Yemen's Houthi group on Friday claimed responsibility for carrying out a missile attack on a US ship in the Gulf of Aden.

"The naval forces of the Yemeni Armed Forces (Houthis) carried out an attack targetting a US ship (Chem Ranger) in the Gulf of Aden with several appropriate naval missiles, and the hit was accurate," Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea said in a statement telecasted by Houthi-run al-Masirah TV as quoted by Xinhua news agency report.
Varanasi, Jan 19 : The police in Varanasi have filed a 200 page charge sheet in the molestation case of an IIT-BHU student.

The charge sheet details the incident that happened to the student in her own words and includes the statements of her friends present with her, the security guard of the Proctorial Board of IIT BHU and the doctor who conducted the medical examination have been recorded.

The medical report of the student is also mentioned.

As scientific evidence, with the help of surveillance on the night of the incident, the police have presented in the court the location of the mobile phones of the three accused at the crime scene, the CCTV footage of the accused and the photos obtained from it, their route chart and the data recovered from the mobile.

On December 31, 2023, 60 days after the incident, Kunal Pandey, Saksham Patel and Abhishek Chauhan were arrested and sent to jail.

Kunal was the co-convenor of the IT cell of the metropolitan unit of BJP.

There was a board of BJP booth president outside Abhishek's house, but he was described as a member of the working committee of the IT cell.

On the night of November 1, 2023, the victim had gone out for a walk on the campus with a male friend when three accused accosted her, stripped her and took photographs and made videos.

One of them tried to forcibly kiss her. Her male friend was also assaulted.

The incident led to prolonged protests by students on the campus.
New York, Jan 19 : An Indo-Canadian commercial truck driver admitted to a drug trafficking crime after authorities in the US found approximately 30 kilograms of cocaine in watermelon pallets.

Kareshmaa Kaur Jagroop (42) from Ontario, was attempting to enter Canada at the Montana border when she was caught by the Customs and Border Protection officers, US Attorney Jesse Laslovich said on Tuesday.

Jagroop pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute cocaine as charged in a superseding information and faces a maximum of 20 years in prison, a $1 million fine and at least three years of supervised release.

The government alleged in court documents that in July 2021, a commercial truck was northbound on Interstate 15 near the Sweetgrass Port of Entry in Toole County.

As it approached the border in the outbound lane, Customs and Border Protection officers signaled the truck to stop, but the driver ignored the signal and continued past the outbound booth.

Officers chased down the truck, which eventually stopped, and had Jagroop reverse the truck back to the outbound booth for inspection.

As part of the inspection, Jagroop drove through a screening machine, which showed potential anomalies in the trailer. Officers conducted a manual search and unloaded the contents with a forklift.

They removed two pallets of watermelons and saw a plastic bag that contained approximately 30 kg of cocaine.

During an interview, Jagroop told officers she entered the US about a week prior to the stop and delivered produce to supermarkets in Oregon and California.

She eventually admitted that she was hauling cocaine for a group in Canada.

Jagroop's sentencing has been set for May 23 and she was released on conditions to a treatment centrer in Montana pending further proceedings.

The court will determine any sentence after considering the US Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

--IANS

mi/ksk
TASHKENT, Uzbekistan, January 19. President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev will pay a visit to China on January 23-25, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said, Trend reports.

"At the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping, President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev will visit China on January 23-25," she said.

As reported by the Uzbek government, Beijing will host high-level talks as well as several bilateral meetings. The agenda includes matters of strengthening Uzbek-Chinese relations of comprehensive strategic partnership and expansion of full-scale practical cooperation.

President Mirziyoyev will also visit one of China's regions and meet with heads of leading Chinese companies as well as banking and financial institutions.

Earlier in 2023, Uzbekistan and China agreed to increase trade turnover between the two countries to $20 billion in the next five years and expressed interest in establishing joint production of innovative products with high added value.
Green corridors to be created on roads leading to Ayodhya on Jan 22. Image Source: IANS News

Lucknow, Jan 19 : The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has decided to forecast its weather updates in as many as 140 Indian and foreign languages, in view of the fact that devotees from across the globe will be visiting Ayodhya in the coming days and are eager to learn about weather conditions.

On its official website, the IMD has created a special webpage that offers weather reports of Ayodhya and places around the town in different languages.

The link to the page pops up as soon as one opens the IMD website, which on clicking, takes one to the forecast section.

"The webpage has been created by the UP wing of the IMD ahead of the Pran Pratishtha ceremony event to be held at the newly constructed Ram temple on January 22. The webpage is hosted by IMD of all the states," said an official.

"Since people from across the country and abroad are planning to visit Ayodhya for the Pran Pratishtha ceremony, and 'darshan' thereafter, the Lucknow Met Centre has created a webpage to flash weather reports," said senior scientist Mohammad Danish.

The special webpage carries weather predictions of Ayodhya and nearby places like Milkipur, Manakpur, Harraiya, Bhiti and Bhanpur.

Also, weather reports of Prayagraj, Varanasi, New Delhi and Lucknow have been made available on the same page since many tourists are likely to visit these places of religious significance also.

The webpage provides a complete picture of the weather conditions of Ayodhya, including temperatures, humidity, wind patterns, precipitation and others.
Tel Aviv, Jan 19 : The family of Kfir Bibas, the youngest hostage in Hamas captivity, celebrated his first birthday on a sad note.

Kfir Bibas was kidnapped by Hamas terrorists from Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7, 2023 along with his parents Yarden and Shiri and four-year-old brother Ariel.

To mark the day, a large crowd filled the Hostage Square in Tel Aviv on Thursday, with many holding orange balloons, in acknowledgment of Kfir's red hair.

There was also a large screen displaying the number of days the hostages have been held in Gaza.

In a social media post, Gali Tarshansky (13), who was also captured by Hamas and released as part of the week-long ceasefire deal on November 29, 2023, said: "Cute and sweet Kfir, happy birthday. We are waiting for you to return to us safely and quickly and we will celebrate with a cake and gifts, like a one-year-old child should celebrate."

Children who have returned from Hamas captivity prepared greeting cards to mark the birthday.

Four-year-old Oriya Brodutch, who was also kindapped along with her parents and released on November 26, 2023, wrote: "Happy birthday, may you return home soon."

Emily Hand (nine), who was also kidnapped and later released on November 26, said: "I hope you get out of there as soon as possible. I understand the feeling because I was there too. Sending you hugs and love."

During the function, Shiri Bibas' cousin, Yifat Zeiler, said: "No abductee should celebrate a birthday in captivity. We thank the children and their families for such a moving gesture, and ask the decision-makers to read these wishes to understand that behind every hostage there is a whole world."

However It is not clear whether Kfir and his family are still alive.

The Hamas has claimed that Kfir, his brother and mother were killed in an Israeli airstrike.

A hostage Nili Margalit, who spent nearly 50 days in Hamas captivity and released during the ceasefire agreement, revealed that she was with Yarden Bibas when the Hamas terrorists told him his wife and two young children had been killed.

Nili Margaret said that Hamas had ordered Yardin to film a video in which he blamed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for refusing to bring their bodies back to Israel.

The Israeli military has said that the claims made by Hamas regarding the Bibas family have not been verified, and described them as "psychological terror".
Chennai, Jan 19 : A Scheduled Caste youth from Tirupattur district of Tamil Nadu has filed a complaint with the police that his wife was abducted by her parents and relatives with the support of a local DMK leader.

The youth M. Thiyagu (21) from Shankarapuram village of the district filed a complaint at the Amballur police station stating that his wife was kidnapped by her parents with the help of DMK's local leader.

Thiagu in his complaint lodged on Thursday (January 18) stated that he was from the Adidravidar community, which is a Scheduled Caste community, and had married R. Narmadha (22), who is from the upper caste Vanniyar community, after six years of love.

He said that there were strong objections from Narmadhaas family but they married on December 3, 2023. The family of Narmadha filed a missing person complaint the next day and the couple appeared before the Vaniyambadi court on December 7 and Narmadha said that she wanted to live with Thiagu, her husband.

The Dalit youth in his complaint said that ever since they had been facing harassment from Narmadha's family. He further said that on Wednesday (January 17) Narmadhaas parents and relatives were forced into his house at Shankarapuram accompanied by Elumalai, DMK's leader and local panchayat council president.

In his complaint, the youth accused Narmadhaas father Rajendran, mother Vasantha and brothers, Govinda Raj, Prabhu, and Rajesh and Elumalai.

The Amballur police registered a case under IPC sections 448, 294(b), and 365 against the accused.

Police said the womanas father, Rajendran, has been questioned and the other suspects are on the run. When IANS contacted Tirupattur Superintendent of Police, Albert John , he informed that police were tracing Narmadha and would soon find her out.
Salah limps off as Egypt and Ghana play out 2-2 draw at AFCON. Image Source: IANS News

Abidjan : , Jan 19 (IANS) Mohamed Salah limped off with an injury as his Egypt side drew 2-2 with a Mohammed Kudus-inspired Ghana at the Africa Cup of Nations, leaving both nations in danger of an early exit.

Salah was substituted in the 45th minute of the Group B encounter with an apparent injury on Thursday night.

Kudus introduction into Ghanaas starting line-up yielded an instant result after the West Ham United attacker tried his luck from distance via Abdul Salis Samedas assist to put Ghana 1-0 up.

Egypt capitalized on a defensive howler from Inaki Williams as Omar Marmoush rounded up Richard Ofori to level matters on the 69th minute.

It turned out to be a game for Kudus as he restored Ghanaas lead after receiving a pass from Denis Odoi at the edge of the penalty box to curl one to the far post which deflected to give Mohammed El Shenawy no chance of getting to it on the 71st minute for a 2-1 lead.

But Egypt equalised for a second time through Mostafa Mohamed on the 73rd minute.

The result leaves Ghana needing to beat Mozambique in their final Group B match on Monday to qualify for the last 16.

A win for Egypt against Cape Verde would guarantee their progress, while a draw could also be enough to advance, given the four best third-placed sides also go through.
San Jose, Jan 19 : Samsung Electronics plans to launch a new digital health care device, the Galaxy Ring, this year, a senior company executive has said.

Details of the new smart ring are scant, but Samsung released a surprise teaser for the device during the Unpacked event for its latest Galaxy S series smartphones at the SAP Center in San Jose, California.

After the event, Roh Tae-moon, head of the mobile division at Samsung Electronics, shared the release plan of the company's ring-shaped health device with reporters, reports Yonhap news agency.

"The Galaxy Watch has its own benefits, but some consumers feel uncomfortable having to wear a watch all the time, and that is why the Galaxy Watch is not enough to send essential health information to Samsung Health and analyse it 24/7, all week and 365 days a year," Roh said. "This is why we need the form factor of a ring to complete the digital health system, or Samsung health."

The Galaxy Watch is Samsung's smartwatch, which features various health and fitness features, as well as serving as a remote control for the smartphone.

Roh said the Galaxy Ring is more suitable to be worn for long periods of time than the Galaxy Watch and has a better battery life since it only focuses on health features.
Quito, Jan 19 : Ecuadorian authorities have arrested 2,174 people, 158 of them on "terrorism" charges, since President Daniel Noboa declared an "internal armed conflict" on January 9 and mobilied the army to combat organised crime linked to drug trafficking, the National Police said.

Authorities have since carried out 23,610 operations, including 61 "against terrorist groups", the National Police said in a post on X on Thursday.

Five members of criminal organisations were killed, it said, adding that authorities seized more than 6 tons of illicit drugs and substantial amounts of firearms, knives, explosives, ammunition and mobile phones.

Police and soldiers also raided two prisons in search of weapons and other banned items smuggled in by inmates with ties to criminal rings.

Riots erupted on January 8 in several prisons after authorities confirmed the escape of a drug trafficking kingpin from a jail in the southwestern coastal city of Guayaquil.

The unrest spread to several cities in the country the following day, when criminal gangs unleashed a series of violent moves including attacks, armed assaults, car bombings and police kidnappings.

More than 100 prison guards and officials who had been taken hostage by rioting inmates were released last week.

In response to the escalation of violence unleashed by criminal organisations, Ecuador has been under a state of emergency since January 8 for 60 days, and a nighttime curfew is in effect.

Under the declaration of "internal armed conflict", 22 criminal gangs were classified as "terrorist organizations," and the armed forces were granted broad powers to combat organised crime, especially in prisons.

-IANS

ksk/
PM to inaugurate Boeings largest facility outside US in Bluru today, CM to receive him. Image Source: IANS News

Bengaluru, Jan 19 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to arrive in Bengaluru on Friday to participate in the inaugural function of the Boeing India Engineering and Technology Centre (BIETC) and launch the Boeing Sukanya Programme aimed at empowering women in aviation in India.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah will receive PM Modi at Bengaluru International Airport at 2:10 p.m. and participate in the launch programmes scheduled to be held between 2:45 p.m. and 3:45 p.m. CM Siddaramaiah will also see PM Modi off at 3:55 p.m.

Leader of the Opposition (LoP) R. Ashoka stated on Friday that PM Modi will inaugurate the BIETC, built with a capital of Rs 1,600 crore in a 43-acre campus. He will also launch the Boeing Sukanya programme, which will provide ample opportunities for young women to receive skill training in the aviation sector.

BJP State President B.Y. Vijayendra stated: "Welcome to our proud Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is coming to inaugurate BEITC at Bhattaramaranahalli near Devanahalli town."

Former Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai extended a hearty welcome to Prime Minister Modi on behalf of all Kannada people.

Boeing's new campus in Devanahalli, close to Bengaluru International Airport, is a high-tech aerospace park, said to be the largest Boeing facility outside the US.

Officials said: "Boeing's new campus in India will become a cornerstone for partnership with the vibrant startup, private, and government ecosystem in India, helping develop next-generation products and services for the global aerospace and defense industry."

The Boeing Sukanya programme aims to support the entry of more girls from across India into the country's growing aviation sector.

The traffic police have released advisories for vehicle riders and drivers in Bengaluru ahead of PM Modi's visit from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. The advisory has asked all commuters to the airport to compulsorily use Ballary Road. It has also asked passengers to plan their travel on Friday considering the traffic restrictions.
Hyderabad, Jan 19 : Tata Group and Uber plan to expand their operations in Telangana while Systra Group is looking to set up a digital centre.

This was the outcome of the meetings Telangana delegation led by Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy had with representatives of these companies on the sidelines of World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos.

The Chief Minister met Natarajan Chandrasekaran, Chairman of Tata Sons. They discussed Tata Group's ongoing and future business plans for Telangana.

The Tata Sons Group already has a large and diversified business presence in Telangana.

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), the tech consulting arm of Tata Group, employs more than 80,000 in Hyderabad, making them one of the largest IT employers in the state.

Tata Advanced Systems Limited has successfully grounded multiple joint ventures in leading global defence and aerospace companies like Boeing, Sikorsky, GE, Lockheed Martin and is committed to expand further in this strategic sector, said a release from the state government.

Tata Technologies Limited (TTL) is also partnering with the State government to upgrade and transform government ITIs (Industrial training institutes) as Advanced Technology Centres to impart long-term and short-term courses in industry 4.0 trades and bridge the skill gap.

TTL will be investing around Rs 1,500 crore to set up advanced skilling centres in 50 government ITIs and also deploy master trainers for handholding the new courses.

Global mobility and SAAS company Uber also announced its expansion plans in Hyderabad.

The Telangana delegation had a meeting with the leadership team of Uber.

Recognising Hyderabad as home to their largest tech centre and engineering hub outside the US, Uber is set to further deepen its roots by expanding into the realms of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning.

This expansion project is expected to generate employment opportunities for approximately 1000 skilled engineers.

Uber is also set to introduce two innovative services in Hyderabad In a bid to contribute to sustainable mobility, Uber will introduce Uber Green, offering users exclusive access to zero-emission electric vehicle rides. It will also launch Uber Shuttle to provide premium, efficient rides on high-capacity vehicles.

Qcentrio, a prominent IT development and services provider, is also set to expand its operations in Telangana.

As part of its strategic expansion, Qcentrio aims to create around 1000 job opportunities, contributing significantly to the economic development of the region.

The company is eager to establish a substantial presence in Hyderabad, capitalising on the city's vibrant business ecosystem.

Yalamarthi, Qcentrio's leader, expressed excitement about the company's three-decade success in the IT sector, headquartered strategically in Lewisville, Texas, with a global presence in Mexico, London, Singapore, Australia, and India.

Qcentrio looks forward to discussing the expansion proposal further, welcoming potential collaboration and support from the government.

Systra Group announced a 1000-member Advanced Centre for Digital Design and Construction Project Management at Hyderabad.

A Memorandum of Understanding was signed and exchanged between the two parties symbolising Systra's commitment to invest in the state.

Information Technology and Industries Minister and principal secretary Jayesh Ranjan met Pierre Verzat, CEO of Systra Group.

The state government intends to make best use of the advanced technologies such as Artificial Intelligence in the IT sector. Systra will establish Systra Digital Centre (SDC) in Hyderabad is to develop digital tools for design production optimisation and efficient project management services.

o9 Solutions announced a specialised supply chain skills academy in Telangana during a meeting the minister and principal secretary had with the company's co-founder and CEO Chakri Gottemukkala.

o9 Solutions will launch a specialised supply chain skills academy in partnership with the Government of Telangana.

The goal of the initiative is to equip thousands of high potential graduating engineers from the state in specialized supply chain skills that are in great demand from global companies across various manufacturing and retail industry verticals.
Kolkata, Jan 19 : President of the BJP's West Bengal unit, Sukanta Majumdar has written a letter to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee demanding the declaration of a public holiday on January 22 to mark the Pran Pratishtha ceremony at the Ram Temple in Ayodhya.

In the letter written in Bengali, a copy of which is available with IANS, Majumdar also requested the Chief Minister to send official requests on behalf of the state government to private offices so that the latter also declare holidays on that day.

He has specially requested to ensure holidays for all educational institutions including schools, colleges and universities so as to make the "new generation respectful towards the rich heritage and culture of the country".

"You have already included a number of popular religious festivals in West Bengal under the ambit of public holiday. So I request you to use your authority in declaring this day of the year as a special holiday," the BJP state President added..

In his letter, Majumdar also pointed out that the contribution of West Bengal was immense towards the inauguration of the Ram Temple.

"Lakhs of people from the state have participated in the movement and initiative behind this inauguration," he added.
Seoul, Jan 19 : North Korea on Friday said it has tested an underwater nuclear weapons system under development in response to the latest maritime trilateral drills involving South Korea, the US and Japan.

According to Pyongyang's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), North Korean Defence Ministry said the country conducted an important test of the Haeil-5-23 in the East Sea, denouncing this week's naval drills involving a US nuclear aircraft carrier as "reckless confrontation hysteria".

The KCNA did not disclose details, including the weapons's specifications and the test date, reports Yonhap News Agency.

"Our army's underwater nuke-based countering posture is being further rounded off, and its various maritime and underwater responsive actions will continue to deter the hostile military maneuvers of the navies of the US and its allies," a spokesman of the Ministry said in a statement carried by the KCNA.

The official condemned the three nations for "seriously threatening the security" of North Korea and sternly warned of "catastrophic consequences" for their acts, the report said.

South Korea, the US and Japan jointly conducted naval drills involving the USS Carl Vinson nuclear-powered aircraft carrier from Monday to Wednesday, following Pyongyang's latest launch of a hypersonic missile.

Pyongyang has long denounced joint military drills between Seoul and Washington as a rehearsal for an invasion.

In March last year, North Korea first made public a test of its underwater attack drone, the Haeil-1, claiming the "secret weapon" is capable of generating a "radioactive tsunami" and stealthily attacking enemies.

In April, the country carried out a test of the Haeil-2 attack drone.
TASHKENT, Uzbekistan, January 19. European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and Uzbekistan talked on expansion of financial and investment cooperation, Trend reports.

This was discussed during a meeting between the Ambassador of Uzbekistan to the UK Ravshan Usmanov and the Secretary General of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) Kazuhiko Koguchi in London.

During the meeting, the EBRD Secretary General praised and expressed support for the large-scale democratic and socio-economic reforms being implemented in Uzbekistan.

The sides also noted the implementation of a wide range of joint programs and projects.

Prospects of cooperation aimed at giving new dynamics to the relations between Uzbekistan and the EBRD were also discussed.

Meanwhile, the EBRD approved its five-year country plan in 2018, specifying priority sectors for the Bank's initiatives in Uzbekistan.

According to the head of the EBRD office in Uzbekistan, Andi Aranitasi, those priorities include the enhancement of competitiveness by strengthening the role of the private sectors role in the economy, as well as the promotion of green energy and resource solutions across sectors.

Aranitasi added that support for increased regional and international cooperation and integration has also been one of the pillars of the Bank's cooperation with Uzbekistan.
New Delhi, Jan 19 : The Indian Railway Finance Corporation's (IRFC) market capitalisation crossed Rs 2 lakh crore on Friday, surpassing the market capitalisation of Mahindra and Mahindra and Bajaj Auto.

IRFC is now valued at Rs 2.08 lakh crore.

It had earlier surpassed Tata Steel in market capitalisation. IRFC is up 8.8 per cent on Friday.

Railway stocks jumped up to 15 per cent on BSE on Friday led by Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL).

RVNL is up 15.47 per cent at Rs 281.40. IRCON is up 8.85 per cent at Rs 222.10.

IRFC is up 8.84 per cent at Rs 159.20. RITES is up 7.3 per cent at Rs 558.35. Railtel is up 7.1 per cent at Rs 389. IRCTC is up 5.2 per cent at Rs 975.

According to a report by HDFC Securities, RVNL is a project executing agency working for and on behalf of Ministry of Railways which is likely to play a key role in the development of railway infrastructure in India. It has a strong order book visibility.

RVNL has diversified into non-railway projects and over the past 2 years it has won orders worth Rs 32,000 crore through competitive bidding. It has also forayed into other geographies and is executing a project in Maldives and signed a MoU with Kyrgyzstan.

The proportion of orders won through competitive bidding has been increasing, thereby reducing its dependence on Ministry of Railways nomination.

RVNL follows an asset light business model, which helps keep its fixed asset part lower, helping it to keep its balance sheet stress free, and resulting in lower inventory days.

It has also commenced consultancy services which could lead to margin expansion, HDFC Securities said.

Its orderbook of Rs 67,000 crore at the end of Q2FY24 gives a visibility of three years. The company has a robust balance sheet and strong operating cash flows, the report said.

(Sanjeev Sharma can be reached at Sanjeev.s@ians.in)
Mumbai, Jan 19 : Chief Minister Eknath Shinde returned home here early on Friday after attending the World Economic Forum (WEF) meet in Davos, Switzerland -- with whopping investment commitments of Rs 3.53 lakh crore across sectors for Maharashtra.

During his four-day sojourn in the Swiss ski resort, Shinde signed MoUs worth around Rs 3.53 lakh crore with major investments coming in sectors like steel, information technology, green energy, agriculture, logistics, electronics, etc.

The investments shall be in varied geographical locations ranging from the traditional hot favourites of Mumbai and Pune to the remote parts of Chandrapur and Gadchiroli regions, thus enabling all-round development of the state, said an official.

Of the total investment commitments notched, over Rs 100,000 crore would be from global multinationals, and the rest from Indian corporations and big business houses.

"These agreements are poised to create a significant employment surge of over two lakh jobs in the state. The state's image as an investment-friendly destination has been highlighted owing to people-oriented policies with a strong emphasis on industrialisation, skilled manpower and quick decision making," remarked Shinde, in a brief media interaction around midnight.

Shinde's first day (January 16) in Davos proved auspicious when six agreements were signed with major companies with an investment of over Rs 102,000 crore with an employment potential of 26K-plus jobs.

Further capitalising on the next day, he signed MoUs worth over Rs 208,850 crore with eight big conglomerates with a job creation of around 152,000 jobs.

On the final day, agreements of around Rs 42,825 crore were inked with six industries on January 18, leading to an additional 13,000 jobs.

This comes to total investment commitments of around Rs 3.53 lakh crore plus over two lakh new jobs creation -- proving to be more than 2.5 times of the Rs 1.37 lakh crore commitments he got in 2023, of which 72 per cent are fulfilled -- explained the official.

The major agreements on January 16, are with: Inox Air Products: Rs 25,000 crore (5,000 jobs); B.C. Jindal Group: Rs 41,000 crore (5,000 jobs); JSW Steel: Rs 25,000 crore (15,000 jobs); AB InBev Rs 600 crore (150 jobs); Godrej Agrovet: Rs 1,000 crore (650 jobs); and a US-based data company Rs 10,000 crore (200 jobs).

The next, MoUs were inked with: Adani Group Rs 50,000 crores (500 jobs); Swiss Indian Chamber of Commerce Rs 1,158 crores (500 jobs); India Jewellery Park Rs 50,000 crores (1 lakh jobs); Web Works Rs 5,000 crores (100 jobs); Indospace Rs 3,500 crores (15,000 jobs); and a global conglomerate in natural resources Rs 20,000 crore (4,000 jobs), MAHAPREIT Rs 56,000 crore for green power projects, and other companies.

The final day saw agreements signed with: Surjagad Ispat Rs 10,000 crore (5,000 jobs); Kalika Steel Rs 900 crore (800 jobs); Million Steel 250 crore (300 jobs); Hyundai Motors Rs 7,000 crore (4,000 jobs), ALU Tech of Qatar Including Rs 2,075 crore (400 jobs); and CTRLS Rs 8600 crore (2500 jobs).

Shinde said that other companies like Arcelor Nippon-Mittal , and groups from Oman and Saudi Arabia are interested in making investments of Rs 100,000 crore across sectors.

Slamming the Davos trip, the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) has questioned various aspects of the investments and achievements claimed by the government.

Congress state General Secretary Sachin Sawant said on X that when majority of the big companies are based in India, "then what was the need to travel to Davos, the agreements could have been signed here in India".

The Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA Aditya Thackeray targeted what he termed as a 'Swiss holiday' at public expense, while Nationalist Congress Party (SP) MLA Rohit Pawar and others have sought a detailed statement on the achievements and expenditure incurred over the Davos trip.

During his high-profile trip, Shinde hobnobbed with the top political leaders and global corporate honchos or top executives to discuss with them plans to develop Maharashtra's infrastructure and the potential investment opportunities available here.

(Quaid Najmi can be contacted at: q.najmi@ians.in)--IANS

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Kiev, Jan 19 : Ukraine is considering resuming air traffic from capital Kiev and the western city of Lviv, according to deputy head of the presidential office Rostyslav Shurma.

Ukraine had closed its airspace for civilian aircraft on February 24, 2022, the day that Russia launched its war against Kiev, reports Xinhua news agency.

"We are working very intensively to restore air traffic in Ukraine... We will definitely do our utmost to implement this," Shurma said.

Air traffic is a fundamentally important element of Ukraine's business and investment activities, the official stressed, without giving an estimated timeline for lifting the restrictions for flights in the Ukrainian airspace.

The renewal of air traffic over Ukraine would depend on Ukraine's ability to ensure the physical safety of flights and the decisions of international partners, independent regulators, and insurance companies, Shurma said.
Mumbai, Jan 19 : Just three days ahead of the Pran Pratishtha ceremony at the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, president of the Vanchit Bajuhan Aghadi (VBA) Prakash Ambedkar on Friday accused the BJP of "using God like EVMs".

Mumbai, Jan 19 (IANS) Just three days ahead of the Pran Pratishtha ceremony at the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, president of the Vanchit Bajuhan Aghadi (VBA) Prakash Ambedkar on Friday accused the BJP of "using God like EVMs".

The Dalit leader and grandson of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar also attacked the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) on similar lines.

"In the last 10 years, BJP-RSS has appropriated many Indian icons and their legacies -- Babasaheb Ambedkar, Sardar Vallabhai Patel, Rabindranath Tagore, Sardar Bhagat Singh --because it doesn't have any within its ranks," the VBA chief said..

"Now, BJP-RSS, without any morals and principles, is trying to appropriate God by using the Ram Mandir inauguration for its electoral gains. BJP-RSS is using God like EVM," he alleged in a social media post.

The latest onslaught came two days after he declined an invitation to attend the mega-event on January 22.

"I will not be attending the said event because the event has been appropriated by the BJP-RSS; a religious event has become a political campaign for electoral gains. My grandfather Dr. B.R. Ambedkar warned that that if the parties place creed above country, our independence will be put in jeopardy a second time and probably be lost forever."

He pointed out that the apprehensions of his grandfather had become a reality today and the BJP-RSS, which "place creed over country", have appropriated the religious event for its political gains.
Germany takes on less new debt as Covid measures expire. Image Source: IANS News

Berlin, Jan 19 : Germany's hospitality industry increased its real turnover in 2023 by 2.6 per cent year-on-year, according to an estimate published by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis).

The price-adjusted turnover therefore remained 9.9 per cent below pre-Covid levels in 2019, the year before the outbreak of the pandemic in Germany, Destatis said.

The "overall positive performance" in 2023 compared to the previous year was due to particularly high real growth at the start of the year, reports Xinhua news agency.

As the year progressed, Destatis said, higher prices for food, staff, and energy impacted the industry.

"The situation in the hospitality industry is and remains extremely tense," Ingrid Hartges, managing director of the German Hotel and Restaurant Association (DEHOGA), told Xinhua on Thursday.

In order to relieve the catering sector during the pandemic and the energy crisis, the German government temporarily reduced the tax rate for food in restaurants from 19 per cent to 7 per cent.

Since the beginning of this year, however, the regular tax rate has applied again.

Hartges called for "fair competitive conditions" through the uniform taxation of food at 7 per cent, as is the case for supermarkets, delivery services, and takeaway food. In view of rising costs and "high price sensitivity" among consumers, "it will be difficult for many to operate successfully".

One in three companies fear making losses in 2024, according to a recent DEHOGA survey.

Three out of four have already increased their prices as a result of the VAT increase.

Meanwhile, business expectations for the next six months in the German restaurant industry "took a nosedive", the ifo Institute for Economic Research said last month.
New Delhi, 19 Jan : At the Republic Day parade, a total of 51 IAF aircraft comprising 29 fighter aircraft, eight transport aircraft, 13 helicopters and one heritage aircraft will participate in the flypast.

Rafel, Sukhoi, Jaguar, C-295, C-17, LCH Prachand helicopter and Mig-29 aircraft will be the part of flypast during the Republic Day.

Four Tejas aircraft will also debut in the Republic Day Parade.

The Indian Air Force informed on Friday that four aircraft from the Indian Army and one from Indian Navy will also fly in two separate formations with the IAF aircraft. All these aircraft will operate from six different bases.

According to the IAF, the Air Force marching contingent will be led by all women officers. Squadron Leader Rashmi Thakur with Squadron Leader Sumita Yadav, Squadron Leader Pratiti Alhuwalia and Flight Lieutenant Kirti Rohil as supernumerary Officers will lead the IAF marching contingent.

In addition to the IAF Marching Contingent, a tri-services contingent of Agniveervayu (Women) would be participating in Republic Day Parade 2024. A total of 48 Agniveervayu Women would be part of this contingent. Flight Lieutenant Shrishti Verma would be marching as supernumerary Officer of the contingent, IAF added.

The IAF said that the Beating Retreat ceremony will be carried out at Vijay Chowk. The IAF Band, comprising 121 musicians would be participating in the event. The band will be led by Warrant Officer Ashok Kumar.

The IAF said that the theme of the IAF tableau is 'Bharatiya Vayu Sena: Saksham, Sashakt, Atmanirbhar (Indian Air Force: Potent, Powerful and Self-Reliant)'. Flight Lieutenant Ananya Sharma and Flying Officer Asma Sheikh, both Su-30 pilots, would be present on the tableau.

The IAF said that participating aircraft will fly in several formations. It includes Dhwaj Formation, Rudra' formation, Baaz Formation, Prachand Formation, Tangail Formation, Arjan Formation, Netra Formation and Varuna Formation.

Dhwaj formation comprising four Mi-17 IV helicopters will be flying in an 'Inverted Wineglass' formation, trooping the National Ensign, as well as those of the three services. Helicopters of the formation will shower flower petals on the audience. The 'Rudra' formation would comprise helicopters from the Army Aviation Corps and would include one LCH Prachand and three ALH WSI helicopters flying in a four aircraft 'Diamond' formation. Baaz Formation. Three MiG-29 aircraft will fly past in a 'Vic' formation, IAF added.

According to the IAF, Prachand formation would have an LCH Prachand helicopter in lead, with two each Apache and ALH MK-IV aircraft together flying in a five aircraft 'Arrow' formation. Tangail formation, comprising one Dakota aircraft in lead, with two Dornier aircraft in echelon, will fly in 'Vic' formation.

A C-295 aircraft flanked by two C-130 aircraft in echelon, will fly as the Arjan formation. Netra formation, comprising one AEW&C aircraft and two Su- 30 aircraft in echelon, will fly in 'Vic' Formation. An Indian Navy P-81, flanked by two IAF Su-30 aircraft will fly as the Varuna formation.

IAF said that Bheem formation consisting of a C-17 and two Su-30 aircraft in echelon (streaming fuel) will flypast in 'Vic' formation.

Making its debut in the Republic Day Parade, will be the Tejas formation, comprising four Tejas aircraft in 'Diamond' formation. Vajraang formation, comprising six Rafale aircraft, will fly in 'Inverted Wine Glass' formation.
Moradabad, Jan 19 : A 65-year-old priest was found murdered inside a temple in Uttar Pradesh's Moradabad district.

The blood-stained body was found on a charpoy by a devotee on Thursday.

After receiving information, DIG Muniraj G and SSP Moradabad Hemraj Meena rushed to the scene, accompanied by a field unit.

A dog squad was deployed to assist in the investigation, but a breakthrough is yet to be achieved, the police said.

The body has been sent for post-mortem and a number of people are being questioned.

SSP Meena said multiple teams have been mobilised to identify and apprehend the accused with additional forces stationed in the village to maintain law and order.
Los Angeles, Jan 19 : Actress Salma Hayek sent fans wild after sharing a carousel of unearthed naked photographs on her social media.

The 'From Dusk Till Dawn' and 'Frida' actress left little to the imagination as she uploaded the throwback snaps on her Instagram account, sharing the saucy collection with her 27.7million followers on the platform, sparking thousands of interactions, reports Mirror.co.uk.

The 57-year-old's upload has already had more than half a million likes in just one hour, generating thousands of comments. They look to be grabs from film print-outs, thought to have been taken several years ago, it's not yet clear when the photoshoot took place.

Writing alongside the saucy snaps, Salma penned: "Some say never look back, but sometimes it's the best view #tbt" Fans and friends flocked to the post's comments section, with Kate Hudson leaving a flurry of fire emojis, saying nothing else."

Blake Lively left the mouth-watering emoji, while Lauren Sanchez commented: "Pretty but even more beautiful now." Someone else said: "These were taken yesterday right? Stunning then, stunning now. You're an ageless icon."

While another follower asked: "I thought you were going to remake this shoot." Others praised Salma's current modelling skills, saying she's "still got it now."

As per Mirror.co.uk, it comes after Salma Hayek stunned her fans as she posed in a skimpy bikini in another Instagram post shared last month, in December last year.

The Hollywood star oozed sex appeal in the yellow tropical print attire against a stone wall as she showed off her toned physique for her followers on the social network.
Chennai, Jan 19 : The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday launched searches at the premises of Syvanus King Peter, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Ocean Lifespaces India Private Limited, in Chennai.

Sources in the Tamil Nadu Police told IANS that the agency opened an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) based on a case registered by the Central Crime Branch of the Chennai Police against Syvanus Peter.

The CCB had booked a case against Syvanus Peter on August 14, 2023, based on a complaint lodged by Balasubramanian Sriram who alleged that he was cheated by the company promoters and was removed from the post of Director of Ocean Lifespaces India.

The complainant had also moved the National Company Law Tribunal challenging his removal as director of the company. The company directors had moved the Madras High Court to quash the FIR.

However Justice G. Jayachandran of the Madras High Court refused to quash the FIR and instead on December 15, 2023 ordered an investigation by the Crime Branch CID by an officer not below the rank of the Superintendent of Police.

Justice Jayachandran said, "This court finds that it is a matter of very serious nature and to be probed by a specialised agency. While the de facto complainant (Sriram) had approached the NCLT seeking remedy of relinquishing the minority share of 10 per cent for a value of Rs 13 crore, the payment of Rs 50 crore by the petitioner to buy the shares per se appears to be murky and suspicious."

Based on this order the Central Crime Branch( CCB), launched the investigation and now the Enforcement Directorate is conducting raids in the premises of the company.
Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 19 : With Lok Sabha polls round the corner, the CPI which contests four seats of the 20 from the Left Democratic Front, two names have started doing the rounds -- former IAS officer K. Jayakumar and former State Agriculture Minister V. S. Sunil Kumar.

Jayakumar, a former chief secretary of the state, is known for his literary skills and has been a favourite officer for both the traditional political rivals in the state.

Jayakumar is being considered for the Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha seat to take on Congress MP Shashi Tharoor who is aiming for his fourth successive victory.

In the 2019 polls, Tharoor won with a margin which fell a few votes less to touch the one lakh mark.

Jayakumar is the son of legendary film director N. Krishnan Nair who directed over 100 Malayalam films besides other South Indian languages and did films which starred MGR, NTR and Krishna.

Sunil Kumar, 56, was the state agriculture minister 2016-21 in the first Pinarayi Vijayan government and after the CPI decided not to field two time legislators, he did not get a seat and is now active in the party at his home district Thrissur, where his name is being seriously considered.

Thrissur is being presently held by Congress leader T. N. Prathapan, who in all likelihood will be asked to contest again.

In the 2019 polls, Prathapan won with a margin of over 90,000 votes.

The CPI, which failed to win in any of the four seats in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, is determined to win and is presently engaged in serious discussions to field the best candidate.

The other two seats that the CPI has been always contesting includes Wayanad, presently held by Rahul Gandhi and the reserved constituency of Mavelikera presently held by veteran Congress leader and former Union Minister Kodikunnil Suresh.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 19. Pakistani Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani has spoken with his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, Trend reports.

The ministers have agreed that working level cooperation and close coordination on counter terrorism and other aspects of mutual concern should be strengthened.

They also agreed to de-escalate the situation.

The return of Ambassadors of the two countries to their respective Capitals was also discussed.

Minister Julani expressed Pakistans desire to work with Iran based on spirit of mutual trust and cooperation.

He stressed that respect for territorial integrity and sovereignty must underpin this cooperation.
Canberra, Jan 19 : An emergency situation has been declared and remote communities evacuated in Australia's Northern Territory (NT) amid flooding.

NT Police on Thursday declared an emergency situation for the small towns of Pigeon Hole and Daguragu -- both located approximately 550 km south of Darwin in the Australian outback -- due to flooding, reports Xinhua news agency.

Matt Hollamby, Acting Assistant Commissioner of NT Police, told reporters on Friday that an estimated 100 residents of the two communities had been evacuated to higher ground, with authorities expecting the area to remain flooded for up to one week.

He said that authorities were also preparing evacuation plans for the larger town of Daly River -- 130 km south of Darwin -- in case water levels in the area reach major flood level.

Evacuees from Pigeon Hole will be housed at facilities in Darwin except for those considered medically vulnerable who will instead be taken to the closer town of Katherine.

Those from Daguragu will remain in the small nearby community of Kalkarindji until it is safe to return to their homes.

The Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) has forecast that some parts of the NT could receive over 200 mm of rainfall as a tropical low storm makes its way across the territory.

Miriam Bradbury, a BoM meteorologist, told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) on Friday that it was a significant situation.

"The flood risk is still really high. The catchments are saturated after days of rain already. We've got flood watches current for much of the Top End and northern interior of the NT, with a number of flood warnings in place," she said.

The Victoria Highway -- the only major road linking the NT with Western Australia -- has been closed since Wednesday due to flooding.
United Nations, Jan 19 : UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has issued a call to Pakistan and Iran to sort out their security concerns through dialogue and avoid escalating the military strikes, according to his spokesperson Stephane Dujarric.

"The Secretary-General underlines that all security concerns between the two countries must be addressed by peaceful means, through dialogue and cooperation, in accordance with the principles of sovereignty, territorial integrity, and good neighbourly relations," Dujarric said on Thursday.

"Deeply concerned about the recent exchange of military strikes... He urges both countries to exercise maximum restraint to avoid a further escalation of tension."

Iran and Pakistan carried out attacks inside each other's territories against what they said were terrorist bases.

Iran struck two bases of the Sunni terror group Jaish al-Adl in Balochistan's Koh-e-Sabz, about 50 km inside Pakistan, with missiles and drones on Tuesday.

According to Islamabad, two children were killed and several people were injured.

Pakistan, where an election is due next month, retaliated on Thursday with air strikes in Iran's Sistan-Baluchestan province.

Its Foreign Ministry said that aircraft, rockets and missiles carried out the "specifically targeted precision military strikes".

Iran said that nine "foreigners" -- three women, two men and four children -- were killed.

An Islamabad spokesperson said they were of Pakistani origin.

(Arul Louis can be contacted at arul.l@ians.in and followed at @arulouis)
Los Angeles, Jan 19 : Actress Penelope Cruz is very protective of her children. The 'Ferrari' actress, 49, opened up about her life as a mom to daughter Luna, 10, and son Leo, 12, both of whom she shares with her actor-husband Javier Bardem.

The actress explained that she's always been dedicated to making sure that if her children ever want to step into the spotlight, it's in their own time and on their own terms, reports People magazine.

Penelope Cruz, who appears on the cover of Elle's February 2024 issue, told the magazine: "It's for them to decide if they are going to have a job that is more exposed to the public or not. They can talk about that when they're ready."

As per People, the mom of two also admitted that she doesn't allow her two kids to have phones, explaining: "It's so easy to be manipulated, especially if you have a brain that is still forming. And who pays the price? Not us, not our generation, who, maybe at 25, learned how a BlackBerry worked," she continued. "It's a cruel experiment on children, on teenagers."

Elsewhere in the interview, Cruz talked about how she played roles where she portrayed a mother far before she was one and that motherhood still rings through many of the roles available to her.

"At my age, 80 per cent of the characters that I play will be about motherhood or divorce or abandonment or characters who didn't want to have children or couldn't or who lost children. I've played mothers since I was very young", she said. Cruz credits Spanish filmmaker and frequent collaborator Pedro Almodovar because he "always saw me as a mother."

"We have known each other since I was 17. He would watch me going to talk to strangers just to see their babies. He always saw that strong, inevitable instinct in me, and I saw him see it," she added. "But also, ever since I was a little girl, I knew I wanted kids. But I knew I wanted them older. I wanted to wait until I felt I was ready. I was sure it would be the most important thing I would do in my life."

During an interview with Rita Braver of CBS Sunday Morning in December 2021, Cruz suggested she might not be ready for her kids to join social media until they turn 16.

"There is no protection for them, for brains that are still developing and how that affects the way they see themselves, how everything is related to bullying, so many things that are not the childhood that we had," she said.
Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 19 : The invite extended by Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to the Congress-led UDF to stage a sit-in protest at the Jantar Mantar in Delhi on February 8 against the Centre, has been turned down by the opposition.

Leader of Opposition V.D. Satheesan on Friday said after a discussion in the UDF not a single party was in favour of joining Vijayan and his team in the protest in Delhi.

"We discussed the request of Vijayan and his team to join the protest, but not one ally was in favour of that, hence I will soon give a letter to Vijayan expressing our inability to join with them," said Satheesan.

CM Vijayan and the ruling Left Democratic Front have decided to protest against the Centre's 'shoddy' treatment meted out to Kerala on all fronts, especially not clearing funds for the state, at a time when the state is passing through its worst ever financial crisis.

"We decided not to join because the state government is engaged in improper governance by engaging in corruption and violating all rules and procedures, hence we just cannot give a clean chit to the Vijayan government and hence we decided not to join them," added Satheesan.

It was on Monday that CM Vijayan had an online meeting with Satheesan and deputy P.K. Kunhalikutty, and sought their support for the Delhi protest.
Jakarta, Jan 19 : Three Boeing 737 Max 9 planes that belong to Indonesia's budget airline Lion Air have been allowed to resumed flying after a temporary grounding following the Alaska Airlines incident earlier this month.

Transportation Ministry spokesperson Adita Irawati told reporters that following inspections, it was found that the three Boeing 737 Max 9 planes operating under Lion Air apparently had different configurations with the Alaska Airlines' Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft, which suffered an in-flight blowout earlier this month, reports Xinhua news agency.

"The door system is apparently different from the Alaska Airlines's. We have inspected it, communicated with Lion Air and Boeing. They are allowed to fly again," said the spokesperson.

This latest development comes as Boeing is facing a number of issues on its aircraft.

On January 5, the Alaska Airlines jet had a door plug blow out shortly after takeoff when the plane was at 16,000 feet, leaving a gaping hole in the side of the jet.

The mid-cabin door plugs the aircraft became dislodged following an abrupt depressurisation shortly after departure on January 5.

As a result, a piece of the fuselage was expelled at an altitude of 16,000 feet.

The plane, bound for Ontario, California, executed an emergency landing in Portland just 20 minutes after takeoff.

Two airlines that operate Boeing 737 Max 9 in the US -- Alaska Airlines and United Airlines -- later found either loose hardware or bolts in the assembly of door plugs on their aircraft.

The Boeing 737 Max has been described as "the most scrutinised transport aircraft in history" after a series of safety issues.

In late 2018 and early 2019, two of its aircraft were lost in near identical incidents, off the coast of Indonesia and outside the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa.

A total of 346 people were killed in both the crashes which were caused by flawed flight control software, which ultimately forced the planes into catastrophic dives, despite the best efforts of the pilots.
Tokyo, Jan 19 : Amid an enduring slush fund scandal, Japanese prosecutors on Friday filed charges against several individuals from three factions within the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), including the one formerly led by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.

The Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office indicted without arrest the chief treasurers of Seiwaken, the largest LDP faction once led by late former Prime Minister Abe Shinzo, and another led by former LDP Secretary-General Nikai Toshihiro were indicted without arrest on Friday, reports Xinhua news agency.

A former accountant of the Kishida faction received a summary indictment for allegedly failing to declare around 30 million yen ($203,000) over the three years through 2020.

All indicted individuals, suspected of failing to report part of the factions' revenue from fundraising events, faced charges of false accounting, in violation of the political funds control law.

The prosecutors also indicted, without arrest, Upper House member Yasutada Ohno, while Lower House member Yaichi Tanigawa received a summary indictment. Both lawmakers had left the LDP as of Friday.

On Friday, Kishida pledged to disband the LDP's fourth-largest faction that he led until last month, in order to restore public trust roiled by the deepening scandal.

Analysts here pointed out that Kishida, by taking the lead in disbanding the faction, hopes to prompt other LDP factions to voluntarily dissolve in order to get himself off the hook, a move that sparked greater confusion and backlash within the party.

Kishida also said during the day that the LDP should come up with new rules on how to properly manage its factions, as the scandal has rattled the ruling party and pushed the approval ratings for his cabinet down sharply, national news agency Kyodo reported.

At the end of last year, in the wake of the unfolding scandal where five major factions were suspected of paying kickbacks to member lawmakers who sold fundraising party tickets above their quota without recording the amount as revenue in its political fund reports, over 10 senior officials or heavyweight lawmakers have stepped down from their positions in Kishida's cabinet or the LDP.

The dismissal of the senior officials, all from Seiwaken, known as the Abe faction, was regarded as a strategic move by Kishida to distance himself and his party from the escalating scandal, which pushed the support ratings for Kishida's cabinet to fresh lows in multiple December surveys, signaling that the administration may be in the "danger zone".

The faction was suspected to have pooled secret funds amounting to around 500 million yen over the past five years.
New Delhi, Jan 19 : After a spate of making headlines for all the wrong reasons, Air India, unveils a host of guest enhancements designed to create an exceptional passenger experience across cabin classes on international long-haul flights.

The airline revealed new amenity kits, a luxurious and sustainable bedding refresh, as well as new Chinaware, cutlery, and glassware - all described below - that will roll out on medium and long-haul international flights, starting mid-2024 when its A350-900 enters international commercial operations.

First and Business class amenity kits by Ferragamo

Ferragamo, the world-renowned Italian luxury fashion house, has designed amenity kits exclusively for Air India. Each First and Business class kit - encased in a bespoke presentation bag with unique motifs celebrating different printing styles of India - includes Ferragamo body lotion, hand cream, lip balm, comfortable socks, a plush eye mask, and a specially designed Air India keepsake. The First class kit additionally includes an Eau de Parfum. Air India is the worldas first airline to have amenity kits in Ferragamoas new brand identity.

Premium Economy amenity kit by TUMI

Air Indiaas award-winning amenity kit for Premium Economy guests, has been refreshed to incorporate the Air India Red colour in its design, and includes skincare essentials by the renowned Swedish label, Verso. Economy class amenity kits a" to be provided only on ultra-long-haul flights - include an eye mask, socks, and hand lotion, and are made using premium quality recyclable and reusable Kraft paper.

Comfortable, sustainable sleepwear by TUMI

First and Business class guests will continue to enjoy Air Indiaas award-winning and refreshed loungewear by TUMI. Keeping style and sustainability as key considerations, Air Indiaas TUMI loungewear is made from recycled materials blended with cotton for extra softness and breathability. First and Business class guests will also enjoy plush velour slippers for maximal comfort in the sky.

Comfortable, sustainable, and luxe bed linen

Air India guests in First and Business class will be provided specially made and designed linen, inspired by the airlineas new global brand identity. This includes plush bespoke duvets that are sustainable and lightweight, and mattress toppers crafted with premium multi-layer material, including a memory foam layer, that enhance long-haul sleep experience in the skies.

The First and Business class blankets are made of premium wool blend, bespoke to Air India in its new identity. The delicate jacquard border and the motif are inspired by the traditional Sozni embroidery of Jammu & Kashmir. Air India will be the world's only airline to offer wool-blended blankets in First and Business class.

Premium Economy and Economy guests will enjoy the comfort and warmth in a twill weave cabin blanket designed to reflect the new brand elements.

The Table Setting and Dining ExperienceChinaware: The exquisite collection of chinaware blends lightweight and durable materials with subtle brand elements like the intricate Mandala patterns and India-inspired designs for a luxurious and culturally rich dining experience. The uniquely India-inspired, tiffin box-shaped, salt-pepper cruet set in gold finish is sure to delight guests from around the world. First class guests will receive exclusive, copper-gold thalis for Indian meals. In Premium Economy, meals will be served in lightweight melamine material tableware, with etched Mandala pattern on side plates, bowls, and multipurpose glass.Glassware and Cutlery: Business class guests will enjoy luxurious, lead-free glassware from Slovakia, which boasts infinite transparency, thanks to the use of a rare element of the highest quality erbium. Exquisite stainless-steel cutlery, featuring weight-saving hollow handles, will further elevate guestsa dining experience.

IANSlife can be contacted at ianslife@ians.in

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Bengaluru, Jan 19 : BJP's Karnataka unit has demanded that the Congress government declare January 22 as a public holiday for the Pran Pratishtha ceremony in Ayodhya.

State President B.Y. Vijayendra said on Friday that January 22 is destined to be an unforgettable day of immense significance in our country's history. "I urge the Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah to acknowledge the prominence of the Ram Pranpratishtha, making it a public holiday for all.

"A day-off would allow crores of devotees the joy of witnessing this landmark occasion with the family and indulge in the holy rituals and Pooja's without any hassle."

Vijayendra further stated, "Let's come together to witness the historic Pran Pratishtha of Prabhu Shri Ram at Ayodhya."

The Congress government has not issued any statement in this regard yet.
Hrithik Roshan works his magic, gives makeover to Indian Idol 14 contestant. Image Source: IANS News

Mumbai, Jan 19 : Bollywood's 'Greek God' Hrithik Roshan, known for his impeccable style, appeared on the stage of 'Indian Idol 14', and gave a spectacular transformation to contestant Piyush Panwar.

Hrithik appeared on the stage of the singing reality show for an episode themed 'Fight to Top 10!'

The episode has put the spotlight on select Top 10 contestants, who will continue singing their way to win the coveted title of 'Indian Idol'.

But it was Rajasthan's Piyush, who took over the stage and impressed one and all by singing the title song of 'Kaho Na Pyaar Hai' and 'You Are Soniya' from the movie 'Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham.'

The episode took an unexpected turn when Hrithik, acknowledged Piyush's previous performances and expressed his intention to modify Piyush's look.

Amidst heightened anticipation, Piyush unveiled his new appearance, leaving everyone in awe of the unique and stunning transformation.

Acknowledging the compliments graciously, Piyush thanked Hrithik for his remarkable transformation.

Showering praises on Piyush, Hrithik said: "India is already a fan of the old Piyush, the world is now poised to become enamoured with his new version."

Vishal Dadlani and Shreya Ghoshal also echoed the sentiment, commending both Piyush's appearance and his stellar performance.

Piyush also expressed his wish for Hrithik to perform with him on the iconic song from 'Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai.'

In a heart-warming gesture, Hrithik along with the Judges came on stage, fulfilling Piyush's wish and creating a magical and unforgettable experience for both the contestants and the audience.

'Indian Idol Season 14' airs on Sony.
New Delhi, Jan 19 : A Delhi court on Friday took cognisance of an Enforcement Directorate (ED) charge sheet filed in a Rs 36 crore property case involving AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan.

Special CBI judge Rakesh Syal of the Rouse Avenue Court took cognisance of the charge sheet and directed the supply of copies to the accused person's legal representatives.

The court has scheduled the matter for the scrutiny of the charge sheet and accompanying documents on January 25.

The ED filed the charge sheet against Zeeshan Haider, his partnership firm Skypower, Javed Imam Siddiqui, Dawood Nasir, and Qausar Imam Siddiqui.

The court pronounced its order after having it reserved for a week.

Allegedly, a property worth Rs 36 crore was acquired with illicit funds, purportedly influenced by Khan, who reportedly handed over Rs 8 crore in cash.

When questioned about Khan's role, the ED's counsel said that further investigation related to others is ongoing.

The counsel submitted that the accusations in the predicate offence pertain to irregularities in the Delhi Waqf Board, where Khan was allegedly involved in corrupt practices, including misappropriation of Rs 100 crore and providing jobs.

During the investigation, the ED considered FIRs filed earlier by the CBI, Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) , and Delhi police.

The ACB sought a PMLA investigation against Khan, alleging properties were acquired in Delhi, Telangana, and Uttarakhand with alleged ill-gotten money.

Searches at premises owned by Hamid Ali Khan and Qausar Imam Siddiqui revealed incriminating evidence and illegal weapons.

The recovered diaries suggested high-value transactions between Khan and Javed Imam Siddiqui, including the purchase of Rs 36 crore plot in Tikona Park, Okhla.

The court was informed that an agreement to sell of Rs 36 crore, recovered from the accused mobile, was manipulated, indicating tampering with evidence.

The ED said that the property was bought at Khan's behest, and the court was presented with evidence of Rs 27 crore cash transaction, making it a compelling case to summon the accused persons.

--IANS

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BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 19. Cooperation between Pakistan and Iran is critical for peace and stability, Trend reports, citing Foreign Ministry of Pakistan.

"Pakistan has always stood by Iran through thick and thin. Cooperation and mutual trust between two fraternal countries, in a complicated regional environment, is critical for peace and stability. Pakistan resolutely stands for its values to promote peace, stability and development," the MFA wrote on X.

On January 16, Iran fired missiles at certain positions in Pakistan. As a result, two children were killed and three people were injured. Following this, the Pakistani government recalled its ambassador to Iran and asked the Iranian ambassador not to visit Pakistan. All activities between the two countries are suspended.

On January 17, Pakistan attacked certain positions of Iran. As a result, 10 people died.
New Delhi, Jan 19 : The Supreme Court on Friday imposed an exemplary costs of Rs 1 lakh on a Lucknow-based lawyer for filing a "frivolous" PIL challenging restoration of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's Lok Sabha membership.

New Delhi, Jan 19 (IANS) The Supreme Court on Friday imposed an exemplary costs of Rs 1 lakh on a Lucknow-based lawyer for filing a "frivolous" PIL challenging restoration of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's Lok Sabha membership.

A bench presided over by Justice B.R. Gavai said that filing of such frivolous petitions not only wastes precious time of the court but also that of the entire Supreme Court registry.

The bench, also comprising Justice Sandeep Mehta, noted that the matter has been adjourned twice in the past at the instance of petitioner Ashok Pandey.

In his plea, Pandey contended that once a member of Parliament or a state legislature loses his office by operation of law, he will continue to be disqualified till he is acquitted from the charges levelled against him.

He prayed the Constitution Bench to decide as to whether on the basis of a stay of conviction, a person who has suffered disqualification by operation of law, will become qualified to be chosen as or for being, a member of Parliament or state legislature.

In August last year, the Supreme Court stayed the conviction of Gandhi in the 'Modi surname' defamation case, which had cost him his Lok Sabha membership, saying that no reasons were given by the trial judge for imposing the maximum punishment of two years in the case.

Following the apex court's stay order, the Lok Sabha Secretariat restored his membership in Parliament on August 7, 2023.

Rahul Gandhi was disqualified as an MP in March 2023 after a Surat court convicted him and sentenced him to two years in prison for his "How come all thieves have Modi as the common surname" remark made during an election rally in Karnataka in April 2019.

His remark was interpreted as an attempt to draw an implicit connection between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and fugitive businessmen Nirav Modi and Lalit Modi.

It may be recalled that Justice Gavai-led bench in October 2023 had imposed a costs of Rs 1 lakh on Pandey for filing a similar plea against restoration of Lok Sabha membership of Lakshadweep MP Mohammed Faizal.

"You are an advocate and filing such frivolous petitions. You should think ten times before filing such petitions," Justice Gavai had remarked.

The same advocate was also reprimanded by a bench headed by CJI D.Y. Chandrachud with a cost of Rs 5 lakh for filing a petition against the Chief Justice of Bombay High Court for allegedly not using 'I' while being administered oath.
New Delhi, Jan 19 : Minister for Power and New & Renewable Energy R. K. Singh said on Friday that India is adding renewable energy capacity at a pace that is one of the fastest in the world and is likely to increase its power capacity from non-fossil fuels to 65 per cent by 2030.

The minister observed that India has emerged as a country which is at the forefront of energy transition.

"We had pledged that we will have 40 per cent of our capacity from non-fossil-fuels by 2030, and today, we have 44% of our capacity from non-fossil-fuel sources. We have now upped our target and while we have pledged to have 50 per cent of our capacity from non-fossil-fuel sources by 2030, but we shall have 65 per cent of our capacity from non-fossil-sources by 2030," Singh said at a media event in the national capital.

He said that the country has already set up 187 GW of renewable capacity.

The minister informed the industry that the total investments made in the power sector in the last nine years is about Rs 17 lakh crores, and the capacity under construction entails an investment of another Rs 17.5 lakh crores.

"We have about 99 GW of renewable energy capacity under construction and around 32 GW of renewables under bidding stage. We shall be bidding around 40  50 GW of renewable capacity every year.

"In thermal capacity, we have about 27 GW under construction, we have bid out additional 12 GW, 21 GW more under survey and investigation and a further 22 GW under initial stages. We have 47 GW of hydro capacity installed, 18 GW under construction and 13 GW under various stages of survey and investigation," Singh pointed out.

Speaking about the rising power demand, the Minister informed that in 2014, the peak demand was around 130 GW while today it is in the region of 243 GW.

"By 2030, the peak electricity demand is likely to cross 400 GW, indicating the fast growth of the economy. The demand grew at 9 per cent last year, and is growing at 10 per cent this year.

"On a daily basis, the demand is 8 GW  10 GW more than the same day previous year. There is no other market as big and growing as fast as us," he added.

Singh said that the nation will add enough capacity to meet this burgeoning demand. "We will cross 500 GW of renewable capacity by 2030. We already have 7 million tonnes of green hydrogen manufacturing lined up."

He pointed out that India is the most competitive in renewable energy since the cost of renewable energy is the cheapest in the world, despite subsidies and protectionist measures being adopted by some countries.

"We are adding energy storage capacity too. We have about 35 GW of Pumped Storage Projects capacity lined up. We are constructing battery storage capacity as well, though it is expensive at present. Unless we have volumes, the price will not come down," he added.

The Minister said that the government is coming out with a Production Linked Incentive Scheme for grid-scale storage which will further bring down the price of storage.

"Due to interventions such as custom duties on solar modules and cells as well as Approved List of Models and Manufacturers, the net result has been that the capacity of module manufacturing has gone up from about 20 GW to about 50 GW now; by 2030, we will have about 24 GW of polysilicon to module manufacturing capacity."

--IANS

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New Delhi, Jan 19 : India's leading fragrance and flavour manufacturing company, Sacheerome has joined forces with renowned visual artist Nupur Kundu to launch 'The Art of Fragrance' initiative, which aims to blend visual art and fragrance creation, fostering emotional connections between scents and artwork.

New Delhi, Jan 19 (IANS) Indiaas leading fragrance and flavour manufacturing company, Sacheerome has joined forces with renowned visual artist Nupur Kundu to launch 'The Art of Fragrance' initiative, which aims to blend visual art and fragrance creation, fostering emotional connections between scents and artwork.

Against the backdrop of India's rapidly growing fragrance and flavour (F&F) industry, valued at $900mn+ currently, Sacheerome's partnership with Nupur Kundu signals a strategic move to tap into the changing preferences of consumers. Market research firm, IMARC expects the Indian F&F market to reach nearly $1.5 billion by 2028, driven by rising disposable incomes and evolving lifestyle choices.

Expressing his thoughts on this ground-breaking partnership, Sacheeromeas Chief Perfumer and Managing Director, Manoj Arora, said: aPerfumery has long been acknowledged as an art form. Our collaboration with globally acclaimed artist Nupur represents an avant-garde approach to spotlight the synergy between olfactory and visual senses. Combining fragrance with visual art elevates the sensory experience, providing a deeper significance."

The initiative was inaugurated by Dinesh Vazirani, founder of Indiaas biggest art auction house, SaffronArt, at Mumbai's Jehangir Art Gallery.

As per the aState of the Indian Art Market Report FY23a by Grant Thornton Bharat and Indian Art Investor, there has been a 9 per cent growth in turnover and a 6 per cent increase in artworks sold compared to the previous year. This makes FY23 the most successful year for the Indian art market in terms of auctions.

According to Arora, the increasing demand for luxury products in India creates a symbiotic opportunity for the art market. Millennials and Gen Z, seeking avenues to express their aesthetic sensibilities, are turning to contemporary art and fragrances as a means of personal expression.

Commenting on the collaboration, Nupur Kundu, a winner of Sarojini Naidu International Award, highlighted the initiative's aim to provide a fresh perspective to both art and fragrance.

She emphasised the younger generation's inclination towards unique works of art that resonate with their intense emotions.

"Art and fragrance are experienced uniquely by each individual, and the interpretation of the paintings should be left to the recipient," she said.

Sacheerome has recently announced a $5 million investment plan for establishing a research and innovation centre, application lab, evaluation centre, sales office, and warehouse in the UAE.

Additionally, the company is gearing up for a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in YEIDA, near to the Jewar Airport.
Hyderabad, Jan 19 : Drug maker Indian Immunologicals on Friday launched India's first indigenously developed Hepatitis A vaccine.

The two-dose vaccine, Havisure, represents a significant step forward in India's fight against Hepatitis A and is poised to play a crucial role in preventing Hepatitis A.

Hepatitis A is a viral infection primarily spread through the faecal-oral route, meaning that it is transmitted through the ingestion of contaminated food or water. It primarily affects the liver.

The vaccine, approved by the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) is effective in preventing the disease and is recommended for children in routine immunisation, said the Hyderabad-based company in a statement. The first dose is administered at above 12 months of age and the second dose is given at least after 6 months of the first dose.

The vaccine is also recommended for individuals who are at risk of exposure or travel to the regions with high hepatitis A prevalence. In addition, people with occupational risk of infection and suffering from chronic liver diseases also need Hepatitis A vaccination.

"The launch of Havisure is a testament to our commitment to advancing healthcare solutions for the nation. Currently Hepatitis A vaccines are imported into our country and as a true meaning of Atma Nirbhar Bharat, IIL has tirelessly put in efforts and developed Indiaas first vaccine for Hepatitis A," said K Anand Kumar, Managing Director, Indian Immunologicals, in a statement. The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of National Dairy Development Board (NDDB).

Kumar said the vaccine has undergone extensive clinical trials in eight centres and has proven to be safe and efficacious and is at par with the worldas leading vaccine by GSK.

The company will scale up production to meet the growing demand for Hepatitis A vaccine, said Dr. Priyabrata Pattnaik, Dy. Managing Director, in the statement.

"As part of the launch, IIL will be collaborating with healthcare professionals, corporate hospitals, and government agencies to promote awareness about Hepatitis A and the importance of both paediatric, adolescent & adult vaccination," Pattnaik added.
New Delhi, Jan 19 : The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) has completed 35 infrastructure projects at a cost of Rs 670 crore, which include 29 bridges and six roads built in seven border areas which were on Friday inaugurated by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.

Of these 11 are in Jammu & Kashmir, nine in Ladakh, eight in Arunachal Pradesh, three in Uttarakhand, two in Sikkim and one each in Mizoram and Himachal Pradesh.

While inaugurating these, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said that these projects have been constructed under challenging weather conditions at the most inhospitable terrain.

The Defence Minister highlighted the governmentas approach towards border area development which, he said, completely differs from the previous governments.

He said, aOther governments did not focus on development of the border areas as they considered these zones as the last areas of the country. We, on the other hand, consider border areas as the face of India, which is why weare ensuring that world-class infrastructure is created in these zones."

He stressed that connectivity is being provided to every border area in the country through roads, bridges and tunnels, describing the work as not only of strategic importance, but also pivotal for the welfare of the people residing in these regions. He said, aPeople living near the borders are no less than soldiers. If a soldier protects the country by wearing a uniform, the residents of border areas are serving the motherland in their own way."

Rajnath Singh pointed out that the government has changed the approach adopted by the previous governments that the border areas are buffer zones between the plains and the potential adversary. He emphasised that the present government considers border areas a part of the mainstream and not a buffer zone.

"There was a time when the border infrastructure development was not given much importance. The governments used to work with the mentality that the people living in the plains are the mainstream people. They were worried that the developments on the border might be used by the adversary. Due to this narrow mentality, development never reached the border areas. This thinking has changed today. Under the leadership of PM Modi, our government is committed to the development of border areas, keeping in view the Nationas security needs. We do not consider these areas as buffer zones. They are a part of our mainstream," he added.

Referring to the large migration from the border areas in Uttarakhand, Rajnath Singh termed it as a matter of concern. He said the Prime Minister and the Chief Ministers are taking the schemes related to infrastructure development to the last person as the aim is to cover the development journey from the seas to the borders.

He also drew attention to the increasing number of natural disasters in some border states and UTs, including Uttarakhand, Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh and Sikkim in recent years, stating that many experts believe that climate change is the reason behind these incidents. He called climate change as not just a weather-related phenomenon, but a very serious issue related to national security. "The Ministry of Defence is taking this very seriously and will seek cooperation from friendly countries in this regard," he added.
Patna, Jan 19 : Amid buzz that JD(U) leader and their ally Nitish Kumar may join hands with the BJP, RJD president Lalu Prasad and his son and deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav on Friday met the chief minister at his residence.

The meeting that lasted around 40 minutes is said to have discussed the seat sharing formula for the Lok Sabha polls.

Talking to mediapersons, Tejashwi said: "Nitish Kumar is the chief minister of Bihar and I am deputy chief minister of Bihar. So, we often meet."

On any change in the political scenario in the state, Tejashwi said: "I am sorry to say that the question you are asking has no relevance. There is no need to give clarification on it again and again. I want to say that the defeat of the BJP in Bihar is certain."

"Since, Lalu Ji and Nitish Ji allied in Bihar, BJP is worried. The BJP has only one work and that is to spread rumours and lie. You are asking about the seat sharing formula in INDIA, I want to ask has the NDA finalised the seat sharing formula," Yadav told reporters.

When asked about JD(U)'s claim to contest 17 seats in Bihar, Tejashwi said: "It is an internal matter between JD(U) and RJD. We are united and working under the leadership of Nitish Kumar in Bihar."
SP agrees to give seven seats to RLD in Uttar Pradesh. Image Source: IANS News

Lucknow, Jan 19 : The Samajwadi Party and Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) have finalised seat sharing for the Lok Sabha elections.

According to RLD spokesman Anil Dubey, the RLD will get seven seats in western Uttar Pradesh.

"A decision to this effect was taken at a meeting held between SP president Akhilesh Yadav and RLD president Jayant Chaudhary at the formeras residence on Friday," he said.

Akhilesh later tweeted a photograph of him shaking hands with RLD chief and wrote "Let us all get together for the victory."
Patna: Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav being garlanded by Shri Krishna Chetna Samiti members during an 'abhinandan' programme. Image Source: IANS News

Bhopal, Jan 19 : After the Centre's order for its employees, Madhya Pradesh government also decided to close its offices for half a day on January 22 for the Pran Pratishtha ceremony in Ayodhya.

A notice issued from the General Administration Department (GAD) stated that in view of the Pran Pratishtha in Ayodhya, the government offices and institutions in Madhya Pradesh will observe a half-day closure on January 22.

The state government released the notification on Thursday night, declaring the closure of offices until 2.30 p.m. on January 22.

Public sector banks, insurance companies, financial institutions, and regional rural banks (RRBs) across India will observe a half-day closure in honor of the Pran Pratishtha ceremony in Ayodhya, as per an order from the Department of Personnel and Training (DOPT) for the central government establishments.

Private sector banks, however, have not announced any holiday on January 22, and customers were advised to check with local branches for updates.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Mohan Yadav on Friday flagged off five trucks carrying five lakh 'laddus', prepared at the Mahakaleshwar temple in Ujjain, to Ayodhya.

Five lakh laddus were sent to Ayodhya in five trucks. As per the information, the laddus weigh about 50 gm each, and the entire shipment is 250 quintals, and have been made from besan (gram flour), rava , ghee and dry fruits.

Notably, the neighbouring Chhattisgarh has sent 300 tonnes of the finest aromatic rice from the state to Ayodhya for the ceremony.
January 19 : Actress Kriti Sanon, who is playing the lead opposite Shahid Kapoor in the forthcoming science fiction romantic comedy titled Teri Baaton Mein Aisa Uljha Jiya, said Shahid is the first actor in her entire career who made her nervous.

Kriti Sanon along with Shahid Kapoor, Dinesh Vijan, and more graced the trailer launch of TBMAUJ (Teri Baaton Mein Aisa Uljha Jiya) in Mumbai.

When asked about working with Shahid Kapoor in the film, Kriti Sanon said, I have always admired Shahid as an actor, and honestly, he is probably the first actor I was nervous about, you know, to enact with, and dance with him, specially. I am extremely nervous to dance with him.

But I dont think there was any ice to break with Shahid, he was on sets carrying his boom-box on the first day, playing loud Punjabi music, and I was like, this is my vibe. I think the chemistry with him was always there, sometimes even when you dont know them, its not like we have met before, we had bumped into each other a couple of times, but never really interacted. I think he is very intelligent, and we have had a great time. I think we had a blast working on the project. I was just telling Shahid that we both really look good together, and we need to find one more film very soon.

The film Teri Baaton Mein Aisa Uljha Jiya is written and directed by Amit Joshi and Aradhana. Dinesh Vijan, Jyoti Deshpande, and Laxman Utekar have produced it. The film will be out in theatres on February 9.
Bhopal, Jan 19 : A policeman was shot dead after being shot from close range while chasing a group of miscreants in Madhya Pradesh's Seoni district.

The incident occurred on Thursday night when a team of police personnel was pursuing the miscreants who were fleeing in an SUV.

An accused fired at head constable Rakesh Thakur in his chest, leading the police team, while chasing the miscreants.

An official said that Thakur died while undergoing treatment at a hospital in Nagpur city of neighbouring Maharashtra.

Acting on a lead in a theft case, a team of police personnel was chasing the miscreants who were fleeing towards Chhindwara in an SUV on Thursday night.

The officials said that three accused were nabbed on the spot, while the man who fired at the policeman managed to escape.

Seoni Superintendent of Police (SP) Rakesh Singh said the head constable died after he suffered a heart attack during treatment.

He added that three accused identified as Pradyumn Vaishnav (24), Gulshan Das Vaishnav (34) and Janak Singh Khanna (46), have been arrested.

He said that efforts are on to apprehend the fourth accused identified as Saddam.

On Thursday, an Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) Narensh Sharma (52) was rammed and killed by an SUV speeding away without paying for fuel in Chhindwara.

Sharma tried to stop the driver at a checkpoint but the accused mowed him down.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 19. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan is pushing for a new constitution.

"In my opinion, as well as the opinion of several colleagues, and I express this view to make it the subject of broader discussion," said Pashinyan during a meeting with the Ministry of Justice staff.

He even pointed out that those should be not just constitutional amendments, but a whole new document.

What specific changes is Pashinyan looking to make? The current constitution poses a significant hurdle to reaching a peace treaty between Yerevan and Baku.

As of today, Armenia still officially sees Karabakh as part of its territory according to the constitution. In the preamble of the constitution of Armenia, there is a reference to the Declaration of Independence of Armenia, the basis of which is the "joint decision" of the Supreme Councils of the Armenian SSR and the so-called "Nagorno-Karabakh" on December 1, 1989, regarding "reunification". Hence, discussions claiming this country has no territorial claims to Azerbaijan will not make sense until Armenia revises its constitution by removing this provision, and the signing of any agreement remains impractical.

And this is not the first time Armenia's PM has urged for a change in the constitution. Back in August 2023, Pashinyan aimed the declaration of Armenia's independence on its 33rd anniversary.

According to Pashinyan, he had gone through the declaration's text multiple times, both before and especially after the 2020 war. He confessed that his understanding of the text had significantly shifted before and after those events.

"A close analysis of the declaration's text shows that we ended up embracing a discourse and content built on a formula that essentially turned us into a part of the USSR. It revolves around the regional context and a confrontational discourse meant to keep us in a perpetual state of conflict with our neighbors," said the PM.

Over three years since the end of the Second Karabakh War and the severe defeat suffered by the Armenian side, while Baku actively works towards peace, Pashinyan and his close circles are only just now realizing that the hindrances to peace are rooted deeply in Armenia's own history.
New Delhi, Jan 19 : The Supreme Court on Friday granted bail to Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's former Principal Secretary M. Sivasankar, who is facing money laundering charges in the state government's flagship Life Mission case.

A bench, headed over by Justice M.M. Sundresh made absolute the interim medical bail granted to Sivasankar in August last year and then extended from time to time.

The bench, also comprising Justice S.V.N. Bhatti, passed the bail order after perusal of medical records and clarified that it has not gone into the merits of the case.

Earlier, the top court had asked Sivasankar to undergo a medical examination at Puducherryas Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education & Research after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) demanded that the retired bureaucrat be examined in any government hospital outside Kerala.

The anti-money laundering agency had opposed the grant of interim relief saying that Sivasankar's application is based on certifications issued by private hospitals.

In August last year, the Supreme Court had ordered release of the applicant on interim bail for undergoing spine surgery in a hospital of his choice after it was pointed out that Sivasankar has serious health issues and needs expert treatment.
Bhopal, Jan 19 : A policeman lost his life after being shot at from a close range while chasing a group of miscreants in Madhya Pradesh's Seoni district.

The incident occurred on Thursday night when a team of police personnel was pursuing the miscreants who were fleeing in an SUV.

An accused fired at head constable Rakesh Thakur in his chest, leading the police team, while chasing the miscreants.

An official said that Thakur died while undergoing treatment at a hospital in Nagpur city of neighbouring Maharashtra.

Acting on a lead in a theft case, a team of police personnel was chasing the miscreants who were fleeing towards Chhindwara in an SUV on Thursday night.

The officials said that three accused were nabbed on the spot, while the man who fired at the policeman managed to escape.

Seoni Superintendent of Police (SP) Rakesh Singh said the head constable died after he suffered a heart attack during treatment.

He added that three accused identified as Pradyumn Vaishnav (24), Gulshan Das Vaishnav (34) and Janak Singh Khanna (46), have been arrested.

He said that efforts are on to apprehend the fourth accused identified as Saddam.

On Thursday, an Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) Narensh Sharma (52) was rammed and killed by an SUV speeding away without paying for fuel in Chhindwara.

Sharma tried to stop the driver at a checkpoint but the accused mowed him down.
New Delhi, Jan 19 : Elon Musk-run X is rolling out the feature to make audio and video calls directly from the app for Android users.

According to a post made by one of the X engineers working on the project, Android users will be able to use the feature after an app update.

"Audio and video calls on X slowly rolling out for Android users today! update your app and call your mother," X engineer Enrique posted on Friday.

However, this feature will be available for premium users only.

To enable or disable audio and video calling, users can go to Settings > Privacy and Safety > Direct Messages. From there, they can select who can call them from three options: people in their address book, people they follow, and verified users.

Users can choose multiple options from these selections.

Earlier this month, X announced a new basic paid tier for verified organisations that is now available for $200 per month or $2,000 per year.

The basic tier for verified organisations now gives them a gold check-mark badge, along with a few other benefits, for $200 per month instead of $1,000 per month for "full access".

"Designed for smaller businesses, subscribers receive ad credits and priority support to enable faster growth on X," the company posted.
Vijayan wants LDF Convenor E.P. Jayarajan to be more active in politics. Image Source: IANS News

Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 19 : Kerala CPI-M on Friday defended the Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and his daughter Veena Vijayan after Bengaluru Registrar of Companies (ROC) found alleged violations of rules by Veena's Bengaluru-based IT firm Exalogic Solution and the role played by her father.

Veteran CPI-M leader and convener E.P. Jayarajan said that there is an alleged "witch hunt" going on against the Veena.

"This is nothing but an attack on womanhood. A lady is being haunted when she has done no wrong. Attacks on Veena symbolises that a woman cannot do anything in Kerala. The CPI-M will defend her as she has done nothing wrong," Jayarajan said.

He said that ROC is not a court to carry out verdicts against people.

CPI-M State Secretary M.V. Govindan also defended the Chief Minister and his daughter, saying that all these cases are being framed as the Lok Sabha elections are just around the corner.

"A smokescreen is being created to target the Chief Minister. These things are going to increase as Lok Sabha elections are round the corner. CPI-M will not be scared of all these alleged probes. We will strongly oppose any attempt to tarnish the image of the Chief Minister," Govindan said.

A media report, quoting a report from the Income Tax Settlement Board has claimed that Veena's firm has received Rs 1.72 crore from CMRL -- a mining company, for no services rendered.

Based on a complaint, ROC launched an investigation which found out that the application furnished by Veena to freeze the company contained incorrect details.

Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan has demanded an ED and CBI probe to be monitored by the court.

"BJP and the Chief Minister are hand-in-glove and they will go to any extent to cover it up," Satheesan said.

Veteran Congress legislator Ramesh Chennithala said that the ROC findings are very grave and the Chief Minister should quit.

"What's now coming out is unheard and should never ever have happened when a Communist government is in power. The CPI-M national leadership has no voice now. They are at the mercy of Vijayan. World over Communism has collapsed and in Kerala, the downfall is imminent, with Vijayan at the helm," Chennithala said.
Mumbai, Jan 19 : Actor Avinesh Rekhi, who has been happily married for 14 years, shared the mantra for a successful relationship, saying, being calm when listening or communicating, and understanding your partner is something one should do to improve their relationships.

Avinesh married his longtime girlfriend Raisa, in December 2010. They have two children, a son and a daughter.

Speaking about relationship mantra, Avinesh, who is seen as the lead in the show 'Ikk Kudi Punjab Di' said: "Being calm when listening or communicating, and understanding your partner as well as your other family members, is something you should do to improve your relationships. Not letting your egos come in between when there is a disagreement, and managing anything thatas negative are a couple of things to be considered when we care about our relationships and want to nurture them."

The 'Choti Sarrdaarni' actor also shared tips to strengthen family relationships.

"Go out for dinners, be transparent, live like friends, play games with each other, understand each other, and most importantly, love each other," he said.

Avinesh added he believes that a successful family system depends on love, understanding, and most importantly sharing everything with each other to avoid any misunderstandings in the relationships.

'Ikk Kudi Punjab Di' is based in Punjab, and stars Avinesh as Ranjha.

It airs on Zee TV.
Hyderabad, Jan 19 : Boeing estimates India will need more than 2,500 new aircraft by 2042 to cater to the needs of its growing civil aviation market.

Addressing a news conference at Wings India 2024, the civil aviation conclave and exhibition, Boeing's Vice President, Commercial Marketing, Darren Hulst said that airlines based in south Asian countries, including India, are expected to quadruple their fleet over the next two decades.

Based on the forecast given last year, he estimates that the airlines in South Asia will require more than 2,705 new airplanes by 2042. India will account for over 92 per cent of this demand or more than 2,500 aircraft.

According to the company forecast, the South Asia region will become the fastest-growing commercial aviation market with more than eight per cent annual traffic growth over the next two decades.

Of the 2,705 new deliveries in the region, 72 per cent will support fleet growth while 28 per cent will replace older jets with more fuel-efficient models.

The US aerospace major expects that single-aisle airplanes will account for more than 85 per cent (2,320) of new airplane deliveries. There will be a requirement of 380 wide body planes and five freighters.

He expects that over the next two decades the India cargo fleet will go up to 80, up from 15 freighter aircrafts now.

Hulst said that Indian low-cost carriers continue to stimulate demand and connect emerging regions with low fares. He mentioned that these carriers hold nearly a 90 percent share of all domestic seats in the region.

He pointed out that India is the only large economy in Asia whose air traffic and capacity exceeded pre-pandemic levels both domestically and internationally, reflecting the rapid pace of recovery and economic activity.

"Strong economic growth and confidence in the commercial aviation market have led to record orders for new and more efficient airplanes in India," Hulst said.

He believes that the gap caused by Covid in the demand and supply of aircraft could be bridged in another five years. He expects that Boeing 777X will be a hit, especially in India.

Boeing is displaying the latest wide body aircraft at Wings India.
Solapur : , Jan 19 (IANS) At least 25 crore people have been lifted out of poverty in India in the last nine years as a result of the "tapasya" and true dedication of the government towards the poor, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said here on Friday.

He said that earlier, poverty alleviation programmes in the country lacked results owing to the absence of proper intent and the pilferage by the middle-men.

"This is the outcome of the clean intentions and policies favouring the empowerment of the poor plus the commitment to the nation," the PM said, adding that 'Modi ki Guarantee' is about the commitment to take the benefit of the government schemes directly to the beneficiaries.

The PM said in the last 10 years, more than Rs 30 lakh-crore have been transferred directly to the accounts of farmers, women, youth and poor, while 10 crore fake beneficiaries were weeded out by using the 'JAM' mode -- Jan Dhan-Aadhar-Mobile.

PM Modi said this while speaking at an event to hand over 15,000 houses at RAY Nagar Housing Society in Solapur under the Prime Minister Awas Yojana-Urban, while another 15,000 shall come up in the 350 acres housing complex.

This was a dream come true for the 15,000 family-beneficiaries like handloom and powerloom workers, construction labourers, street vendors, 'beedi' makers, drivers, rickshaw-pullers, and others in the unorganised sectors, and PM Modi had laid the foundation stone for the complex in 2019.

The project was conceived by the former Communist Party of India-Marxist state secretary and 3-time MLA Narsayya Adam, 79, who struggled for long to ensure a respectable dwelling for the people eking out a living in the unorganised sectors.

Sharing the dais with PM Modi and other dignitaries, Adam termed it as "a dream come true" for all the people in the informal sector, and along with the homes all other amenities like electricity and water would also be provided.

The RAY Nagar is sprawled across 350-acres of land and the project of 30,000 homes would also have seven water tanks, a sewage treatment plant, solid waste management facility, a government school and a hospital, good internal roads and other civic amenities.

Though the erstwhile Congress-Nationalist Congress Party regime decided to build the colony, it hung and only after 2014, when Bharatiya Janata Party-Shiv Sena's CM Devendra Fadnavis took office, the project was fast-tracked and he even got it included under the PMAY.

The project suffered another major delay during the Covid-19 pandemic years, plus the change of government in 2019, but finally the scheme was completed and launched by the PM Modi on Friday.

The Prime Minister also went around a couple of sample homes in the complex and expressed his satisfaction at the work, which will benefit thousands of beedi makers as Solapur is one of the beedi manufacturing hubs in the country.

On the occasion, the PM also distributed the first and second instalments of the PM-SVANIDHI scheme to 10,000 people, laid the foundation stone for 8 AMRUT Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation) projects.

PM Modi was seen becoming emotional at one point as he distributed the new home keys to the beneficiaries with the event attended by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Deputy CMs Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar, and other elected leaders, and a large number of families who will move to their new dwellings.
Melbourne, Jan 19 : Novak Djokovic continued his quest for an 11th Australian Open title with a commanding victory in the third round. Facing off against Tomas Martin Etcheverry on Friday, the world No. 1 delivered a masterclass performance, triumphing 6-3, 6-3, 7-6(2) inside the iconic Rod Laver Arena.

Djokovic's flawless performance showcased his all-around brilliance, with a strategic focus on Etcheverry's backhand proving decisive. The Serbian maestro did not concede a single break point, breaking through Etcheverry's defenses three times across the first two sets. The third set saw a spirited effort from the Argentine, but Djokovic maintained his composure, eventually sealing the win in a clinical tie-break.

Reflecting on his milestone 100th Australian Open match, Djokovic expressed satisfaction with his performance, stating, "It was a great match, I think. The best performance I had during this tournament." With this win, Djokovic extended his remarkable streak at the Australian Open, having now won his last 31 matches at the event.

Etcheverry, who had impressed with straight-set victories over Andy Murray and Gael Monfils earlier in the week, couldn't pose a threat to Djokovic's quest for another Grand Slam title. Djokovic strategically targeted Etcheverry's backhand, dictating rallies with precision and power.

With this win, Djokovic advanced to the fourth round, setting up a clash with the 20th seed, Adrian Mannarino. The French veteran continued his remarkable run in Melbourne, securing his 11th consecutive five-set victory against American Ben Shelton. Despite Shelton's resilience and a strong comeback in the second and third sets, Mannarino's experience and versatility ultimately prevailed in a 7-6(4), 1-6, 6-7(2), 6-3, 6-4 battle.

The all-left-handed encounter showcased Mannarino's craftiness and variety against Shelton's powerful game. The 35-year-old Mannarino demonstrated his ability to mix flat, off-pace groundstrokes with sudden injections of pace and net approaches, keeping the younger opponent off balance.

Mannarino's victory marked his ninth consecutive win against left-handed opponents, highlighting his adaptability on the court. The Frenchman's remarkable journey at the Australian Open included previous five-set triumphs against Stan Wawrinka and Jaume Munar, further solidifying his status as a formidable contender.
New Delhi, Jan 19 : A Delhi court has asked for a fresh status report from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the Delhi excise policy case.

Special CBI judge M.K. Nagpal of the Rouse Avenue Court also closed the opportunity for accused persons to inspect documents at the CBI office, stating sufficient time had been given.

The court directed that the matter should now be listed for arguments to frame charges.

Former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia was produced through video conferene from the Tihar jail, where he is in custody.

As counsel for the accused mentioned that the CBI has not concluded its investigation, the court called for a fresh status report to facilitate the commencement of arguments on charges.

Morover, it extended the judicial custody of Sisodia and other accused persons until February 5.

A compliance report indicated the supply of DVDs containing charge sheets and relied-upon documents to the accused's counsel.

The court refused to direct the CBI to provide seized documents during a search at Sisodia's residence and office, saying that the legality would be considered during the trial.

It also expressed dissatisfaction with the jail authorities for not informing about Sisodia's video conferencing appearance. Earlier, on December 22, 2023, the court had directed the CBI to facilitate document inspection at its headquarters, allowing counsel time until January 15, and subsequently, the CBI was to file a compliance report.
PLI 2.0 for IT hardware: Make global giants feel safe to manufacture in India, say experts. Image Source: IANS News

New Delhi, Jan 19 : The IT hardware sector in India is still in a nascent stage and a key factor will be to make global giants like Dell, HP, ASUS, Lenovo, and Acer feel safe to make the country their manufacturing hub, leading industry experts said here on Friday.

The revised PLI 2.0 for IT hardware scheme, with its increased budgetary outlay of Rs 17,000 crore and expanded tenure to six years, is expected to generate an incremental production of Rs 3,35,000 crore.

This scheme also aims to create 75,000 direct jobs and over 2,00,000 indirect jobs, thereby significantly boosting employment opportunities in the sector.

"A $290 billion global industry cannot be ignored. Simultaneously, Indian brands also need encouragement and development," said Pankaj Mohindroo, Chairman, the India Cellular & Electronics Association (ICEA), at an event here.

The event, organised by the ICEA, witnessed the participation of over 100 stakeholders from across the entire IT Hardware value chain, including companies approved under the revised Production Linked Incentive (PLI) 2.0 for IT Hardware.

The IT hardware Industry, which has been languishing as far as domestic manufacturing is concerned, is expected to rise in coming years.

Most of Indiaas consumption of laptops and tablets is met through the import of CBUs (Completely Built Units), to the tune of $6 billion in FY22-23, primarily from China.

This scenario underscores the critical need for a strategic shift towards bolstering the domestic IT hardware manufacturing capabilities with a view to become globally competitive in exports, said experts.

"Reflecting on our transformative journey in mobile phone production, where we scaled monumental heights, I confidently assert that the IT hardware industry is on the brink of an epochal shift, which will turn the corner from complete import dependence to exports," said Mohindroo.

S. Krishnan, Secretary, IT Ministry, highlighted how Indiaas electronics industry has grown like a phoenix from the ashes and is now competing with the world.

"To compete globally, we need to reduce costs and establish a supply chain ecosystem. India must achieve 40 per cent of domestic value addition to be resilient,: said Krishnan.

The government is ambitious and committed, but a lot more consultations with the industry need to occur to understand and resolve the issues, and foster a flourishing ecosystem, he told the gathering.

Sushil Pal, Joint Secretary, MeitY, said that when we talk about scale and competitiveness, our goal should be to target and harness the global market share.

"PLI 2.0 is a well-laid-out strategy that incentivises the domestic supply chain. We have ample capacity for sub-assembly of adapters and more, as well as serious players in the PCB industry now. Therefore, we should start by supplying to brands that are directly dependent on OEMs to achieve these objectives," Pal emphasised.

The event saw participation from key industry players, including representatives from battery, charger adapter, display panel, bare PCB, chassis/enclosures, add-on controllers, memory modules, and SSD.

--IANS

na/vd
BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 19. Georgia is committed to the development of the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR or Middle Corridor), said Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili at a panel session "New Dawn of Eurasia" at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Trend reports.

"Georgia is positioned in an essential strategic location. We are completely committed to the Middle Corridor's growth, which is rapidly becoming an intriguing and appealing alternative path. Two years ago, we inked an important Roadmap with our Kazakhstani and Azerbaijani partners. We have a clear plan for how this route will be built. This includes expanding ports, modernizing railways, airports, and road infrastructure," he noted.

According to the prime minister, Georgia has started construction of the new port of Anaklia in this regard.

"We are also carrying out works on the modernization of railway infrastructure, which should be completed this year. The capacity of Georgia's railroad will be doubled and brought to 48 million tons. We are also about to start construction of a new airport. Georgia has everything necessary to position itself as an aviation hub" - he emphasized.

The prime minister also mentioned his visit to China.

"I would also like to note China's interest in alternative routes, particularly in the Middle Corridor. I recently visited China, where I met with Chinese President Xi Jinping. He confirmed China's interest in the Middle Corridor. I think this will give even more impetus to the development of TITR," Garibashvili added.

To note, the Middle Corridor links the networks of containerized rail freight transportation of China and EU countries via Central Asia, the Caucasus, Turkiye, and Eastern Europe.

The multilateral multimodal transportation infrastructure connects the Caspian and Black Sea ferry terminals to the railway systems of China, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkiye, Ukraine, and Poland.

The middle corridor allows for increasing cargo flow from China to Turkiye, as well as to European countries, and vice versa.

A route train in this corridor transports merchandise from China to Europe in 20-25 days on average, which is one of the corridor's key advantages.
New Delhi, Jan 19 : The Supreme Court Collegium on Friday recommended the appointment of Justice P.S. Dinesh Kumar as the Chief Justice of the Karnataka High Court to succeed incumbent Chief Justice Prasanna B Varale, whose elevation to the top court it recommended.

"The office of the Chief Justice of the High Court of Karnataka would be falling vacant consequent upon elevation of Mr Justice Prasanna B Varale to the Supreme Court... Therefore, appointment to that office is required to be made," said a statement released by SC Collegium.

It said that Justice Dinesh Kumar, who was appointed as a Judge of the Karnataka High Court in January 2015, has acquired sufficient experience on the judicial and administrative side as a puisne judge of the High Court.

The Collegium said: aHe is due to demit office on superannuation on February 24, 2024 and will have a tenure as a Chief Justice of little over a month. He is endowed with a high level of integrity, honesty and competence. He has served the High Court of Karnataka with distinction since his appointment."

In terms of the Memorandum of Procedure, the Collegium resolved to recommend his appointment as the Chief Justice of the Karnataka High Court consequent upon the elevation of present Chief Justice Varale as a Judge of the Supreme Court.
New Delhi, Jan 19 : The Special Cell of Delhi Police has arrested a sharpshooter of the infamous Hashim Baba gang involved in firing and extortion bid of Rs 50 lakhs from a scrap dealer, an official said on Friday.

He said that the accused was also found involved in 11 cases including attempt to murder and Arms Act.

The gangster identified as Sachin alias Mukesh alias Golu (27), a resident of Harsh Vihar, was planning other extortion bids in Trans Yamuna Delhi.

The Deputy Commissioner of Police (Special Cell) Pratiksha Godara said that specific information was received about the movement of one Sachin, a key member and sharpshooter of the Hashim Baba gang in Kondli.

"A trap was laid and he was apprehended with one semi-automatic pistol of .32 bore with four live cartridges," said the DCP.

On interrogation, Sachin in 2010 started stealing and selling/purchasing stolen mobile phones.

"Thereafter in 2013, he partnered with his maternal uncle in an old tyre business but due to low profit in business he again started theft and in the year 2015 he was arrested for the first time in a theft case of PS Gazipur. After being released from the jail in the year 2015, the accused came in contact with one Sonu and started criminal activities such as firing and theft," said the DCP.

Thereafter, in 2018, Sachin was arrested in a firing matter in Harsh Vihar area.

"After being released from the jail, he again started criminal activities and in the year 2019, Sonu introduced the accused to Hashim Baba at Welcome. After meeting Hashim Baba, the accused joined the gang. In the year 2020, the accused committed many offences such as extortion, firing, murder and attempt to murder on the directions of Hashim Baba," said the DCP.

Sachin was also arrested in murder case at Bhajanpura along with Hashim Baba in July 2020 and released on bail in December, 2022.

"After being released on bail, the accused continued to work for Hashim Baba, Hashim Baba used to convey his messages to the accused through messaging apps. Recently accused planned a firing and extortion bid outside the house of one Abrar at Welcome and demanded protection money of Rs. 50 lakhs," said the DCP.

In Preet Vihar also, the accused fired upon the house of one Munnu and demanded Rs 50 lakhs as protection money.

"He was now planning more firing and extortion bids in the Trans Yamuna Area of Delhi on the direction of Hashim Baba and the details of the targets were to be provided and the execution was to be done by the accused," said the DCP
New Delhi, Jan 19 : The Delhi High Court set aside two expulsion orders issued by the South Asian University (SAU) against LLM student Apoorva Y.K.

A bench of Justice C. Hari Shankar, denounced the procedure as "chimerical" and "pre-determined", stressing a lack of adherence to principles of natural justice.

According to Justice Shankar, the entire process exhibited a "clear intention" to expel the petitioner, Apoorva.

The court rebuked the university for its conduct, stating that the manner in which the allegations were presented to the student couldn't even be considered as "lip service" to natural justice principles.

"The manner in which the entire exercise was conducted cannot even be elevated to the status of lip service to the principles of natural justice. It was, clearly, a sham, with a prima facie pre-determined intent to expel the petitioner from the University environs," the court said.

Apoorva had challenged the expulsion orders dated February 17, 2023, and March 2, 2023.

Justice Shankar ruled in favour of the student, saying that the university's actions curtailed her education, warranting the court's intervention.

The alleged acts of indiscipline leading to the expulsion included entering the office of the Associate Dean of Students without permission and demanding the revocation of disciplinary actions against certain students in a "threatening language."

Addressing the university's preliminary objection, Justice Shankar said that Apoorva's plea was maintainable, considering the educational institution's role in imparting education and discharging a public function.

The court stressed that Apoorva's expulsion violated the SAU Act, its Rules and Regulations, as well as the Proctorial Committee Rules and Regulations. It concluded that seeking a mandamus to ensure the continuation of Apoorva's education was justified, given the contravention of established legal provisions.

--IANS

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Kolkata, Jan 19 : Trinamool Congress councillor on Friday alleged that the police is encouraging the illegal parking in Kolkata during a session of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC).

Trinamool councillor from Ward number 48 of KMC Bishwaroop Dey said that although the authority for allotment of parking spaces in the city rests with the corporation, city police is taking the charge of it while ignoring the corporation and local councillors.

"This is being done by keeping the local councillors in the dark. Several illegal parking spaces are being developed because of the police interference," he said.

He also accused the city police of giving advertisements asking people to dial a particular number to get assistance for getting parking space.

He said that if the police want to take any initiative they should inform the KMC and the local councillors about these initiatives while all other councillors in the opposition camp including Left Front, BJP and Congress agreed with his proposal, leaving the ruling camp embarrassed.

This is not the first time that Dey has been vocal about the role of police on the issue of illegal parking in the city.

The City Mayor Firhad Hakim tried to strike a balance between the varying parties, saying that police assistance is important in smooth functioning of the corporation.

"Without police help we will never be able to remove the illegal road encroachments or remove the illegally parked vehicles," the Mayor said.
Patna, Jan 19 : Enforcement Directorate (ED) has issued fresh summons to former Bihar chief minister Lalu Prasad Yadav and incumbent Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav in connection with land for job case.

The summon notice was physically handed over by ED at Rabri Devi residence on 10 Circular Road in Patna and asked both the RJD leaders to appear before it on January 29 and 30.

On November 11, 2023, ED had arrested Amit Katyal in money laundering case and made some fresh leads, while questioning Katyal. Sources said that the fresh summons to RJD leaders have been issued on some information shared by Katyal during the investigation.

Earlier, the ED had also issued summons to Lalu Prasad Yadav and Tejashwi Yadav to appear on December 22 and December 27 last year but they did not appear before the investigation team.

The central investigating agency has submitted one chargesheet in the case of land for the job case while CBI also filed three chargesheets.
New Delhi, Jan 19 : The Delhi High Court has taken suo motu action in a contempt case against litigant Anita Kumari Gupta for alleged verbal abuse during virtual court proceedings.

Gupta, residing in Sydney, faces contempt charges for making derogatory remarks that lowered the dignity of the court.

Describing Gupta's comments as "patently contemptuous," Justice Neena Bansal Krishna issued a show cause notice, directing Gupta to explain why she should not be punished under the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971.

The court also asked the Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO) to impound Gupta's passport or visa upon her arrival in India, should she return before the next hearing on April 16.

Moreover, Justice Krishna ordered that Gupta not be allowed to leave the country without the court's permission if she arrives in India.

The High Commission of India in Canberra was directed to communicate the court's order to Gupta through the Consulate General of India in Sydney.

The contempt case stems from an incident during virtual proceedings on January 10, where Gupta, participating through video conferencing, reportedly abused the court after the adjournment of her case.

After the date was given and another item was taken up, Gupta, who had joined the proceedings through video conferencing, "abused the Court" saying: "What the f.... is going on in this court".

The court deemed the derogatory remarks as contemptuous, showing a disregard for the court's dignity despite consent from the parties on the scheduled hearing dates.

--IANS

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Patna, Jan 19 : HAM chief and former Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi on Friday asked his party MLAs to stay in Patna till January 25 as he hinted that the government in the state may change.

In a post on X, Manjhi said: "Despite staying in New Delhi, I am closely monitoring the political situation of Bihar. Keeping in view the political situation in Bihar, I have asked all 4 MLAs of my party to stay in Patna till January 25. Whatever would happen, it would take place in the interest of the state. Jai Bihar."

Manjhi's post has triggered political speculations in the state. He had earlier also said that the government may change in Bihar by January 25.
Guwahati, Jan 19 : Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who is in Assam for his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, said on Friday that the BJP and RSS are in favor of running the entire nation from Delhi.

On the second day of his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra in the state, Gandhi addressed a public gathering at Gogamukh in Lakhimpur district of Assam.

"India ought to be ruled by one language, under one leader, from Delhi, according to the BJP and RSS. We don't agree. Assam will be governed from Assam, not Delhi," he said.

Gandhi started his yatra from Manipur in the east. It will culminate at Mumbai in the west.

"We place the same importance on the security of the people in the northeastern states as we do on any other state," he said.

Rahul Gandhi also criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for "avoiding" Manipur, saying: "A state is experiencing a crisis akin to a civil war for the first time in India's history. However, the Prime Minister has not made a single trip to the state. He can't go there because it will reveal the BJP's political realities."

Meanwhile, the Congress leader also criticised Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and in a fresh jibe, called him the "most corrupt" chief minister.

--IANS

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New Delhi, Jan 19 : The Ministry of Education on Friday said that study material for all courses under school and higher education will be made available digitally in Indian languages.

The ministry said that the decision has been taken with the aim to provide students with the opportunity to study in their own language.

It said that study material will be provided in all languages included in the 8th Schedule of the Constitution.

"The government has directed all school and higher education regulators like UGC, AICTE, NCERT, NIOS, IGNOU and heads of INIs like IITs, CUs and NITs to make study material in Indian languages available for all courses in the next three years," the ministry said.

It said that UGC, AICTE and the Department of School Education have also been asked to take up the issue with regard to state schools and universities.

The ministry said that the direction have been given following the recommendations of the National Education Policy for promoting multilingualism in education at every level, so that students get the opportunity to study in their own language, and can have better learning outcomes.

"Studying in one's own language can provide a student the natural space to think innovatively without any language barrier," the ministry said.

"The NEP-2020 strongly conveys the idea that multilingual nature of Bharat is its huge asset and strength which needs to be utilised efficiently for the socio-cultural, economic and educational development of the nation," the ministry said.

It said that the content creation in local languages will boost this multilingual asset and pave way for its better contribution to 'Viksit Bharat' to make our country as developed nation by 2047.

The ministry said that the government has already been working in this direction during the past two years, with translation of engineering, medical, law, UG, PG and skill books being done through the Anuvadini AI based App.

"These books are available on the ekumbh portal," the ministry said.

It said that in school education ecosystem also study material is available in multiple Indian languages including over 30 languages on DIKSHA.

"Competitive exams like JEE, NEET, CUET are being held in 13 Indian languages," the ministry said.
Patna, Jan 19 : Three persons of a family were kidnapped at gunpoint by six bike-borne kidnappers in Bihar's Jamui district, police said on Friday.

The kidnappers have demanded Rs 10 lakh as a ransom for their safe release.

The district police have set up a team headed by a SDPO rank officer to arrest the kidnappers and ensure safe release of victims.

The incident occurred at Landuba Chowk under Laxmipur village, on the Jhajha-Jinhara road.

The victims run a grocery shop in the village.

Police said that as the victims, Satandev Shah, his son Sujit Kumar, and nephew Vikas Kumar, after closing the grocery shop on Thursday night, six persons wearing face masks and kidnapped them at gunpoint.

The incident occurred around 9 p.m. and the first ransom call came at 11 p.m. The kidnappers also threatened the victims' families of dire consequences if they reveal the incident to police.

Satandev Shah is also a ward member of Mohanpur Panchayat.

"We have received information about the kidnapping of three persons of a family. We have constituted a dedicated team on the direction of district SP and raids are on to nab them," Laxmipur police station SHO Rajyavardhan Kumar said.
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Panaji, Jan 19 : Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) President and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday appealed to the people of Goa to vote for the INDIA bloc.

"Vote for the INDIA bloc candidate in upcoming Lok Sabha elections. AAP is in discussions about Goa's seat sharing arrangement as well. We will update you once any decision is taken," Kejriwal said while speaking during a public meeting in South Goa in presence of Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann.

He urged volunteers not to concentrate on other party leaders but to identify and promote new faces for AAP who command respect and trust of the people.

He pointed out that 80 MLAs in the Punjab government under AAP are also new faces, reinforcing the party's commitment of cultivating new talent.

"Politics is a full-time commitment and not a part-time job," Kejriwal said.

Emphasising the exemplary performance of Goa's AAP MLAs, Kejriwal urged volunteers to showcase their work to people in other constituencies.

He also directed volunteers to communicate about the initiatives taken by his government in Delhi and Punjab during interactions with the public.

Kejriwal also advised volunteers to integrate into the daily lives of the people, urging them to support individuals during challenging times, building emotional connections.

He reiterated that politics is fundamentally about serving people and stressed the importance of AAP leaders being an integral part of the common peoples' lives.

"AAP should form the next government in Goa during the 2027 state legislative assembly election," he said.
Kolkata, Jan 19 : The way ahead for the INDIA bloc in West Bengal got further complicated on Friday as Trinamool Congress supremo and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee told her party's rank and file that unless given the due importance in it, her party will field candidates from all the state's 42 Lok Sabha constituencies.

The message was given at an organisation meeting of Trinamool at the Chief Ministeras residence at Kalighat in south Kolkata, said a senior party leader who was present at the meeting.

The meeting was mainly in relation to the partyas strategy for the polls in case of minority-dominated Murshidabad district, which is traditionally considered as a Congress stronghold.

It is learnt that without naming the state Congress President, Adhir Ranjan Chodhury, who is a five-time Lok Sabha member from Baharampur constituency, the Chief Minister reportedly claimed that he will no more be a factor in Murshidabad in 2024.

Political observers said that this approach of the Chief Minister is a counter to Chowdhuryas recent statement where he challenged Banerjee to dare to contest against him from the seat in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

aShe also directed her district leadership to start early preparation for contesting from all the three Lok Sabha constituencies in Murshidabad district," said the leader.

According to him, the Chief Ministeras logic in the issue was clear that since the Trinamool is an important constituent of the opposition bloc, it will have no other option to go alone in 2024 if the party is not given due importance.

In the meeting, Banerjee also reportedly issued a note of caution regarding the growing instances of factionalism between two groups in Murshidabad. She also cautioned of strong disciplinary action against those who are encouraging factionalism, sources aware of the development said.
New Delhi, Jan 19 : The Delhi High Court on Friday sought a response from Supertech Group Chairman R.K. Arora, arrested in a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), on Enforcement Directorate (ED)'s plea challenging a trial court's January 16 order granting him 30 days interim bail.

Justice Manoj Kumar Ohri issued a notice to Arora, directing him to file a reply to the petition.

Noting that Arora had already been released from jail after receiving interim bail from a trial court on Tuesday, the high court scheduled the matter for further hearing on February 9.

Additional Sessions Judge Devender Kumar Jangala of Patiala House Courts on Tuesday allowed bail, holding that the top court has recognised the right of the accused to obtain the treatment even from a private hospital at his own cost and expenditure.

Arora had moved the court on January 10 seeking three months' interim bail, citing health issues, and had informed the court that he has lost around 10 kg since his arrest and needs urgent medical assistance.

On Tuesday, the judge granted him relief on a personal bail bond of Rs one lakh and a surety of Rs two lakh.

Arora's plea said that he was referred to the state-run Dr Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital by jail authorities, where he underwent examinations and received prescriptions. Despite medical attention, the doctors at the hospital noted a lack of improvement in Arora's health.

The plea argued for his immediate release on interim bail to facilitate accurate diagnosis and urgent medical treatment and said that prolonged custody could jeopardise Arora's health, leading to intolerable consequences for him and his family.

It also underscored the disparity between medical facilities in prisons and those available in private hospitals, stating that jail facilities are inadequate for monitoring the health of an individual suffering from multiple serious ailments.

In October last year, the court had refused to grant default bail to Arora, who had argued that the ED had filed an incomplete charge sheet against him just to defeat his "statutory right" to get default bail in case the probe agency fails to file a charge sheet within the statutory period of completing the investigation from the arrest of an accused.

On September 26, the judge had taken cognisance of the charge sheet against Arora and dismissed his application, observing that the ED had completed the investigation against the accused.

Arrested on June 27 last year after the ED re-attached properties worth Rs 40 crore belonging to him in this matter, Arora had said that he was arrested without being informed about the grounds of arrest. The court, however, rejected his claim, noting that the probe agency complied with the relevant provisions of law.

The probe agency had, on August 24, filed the charge sheet against Arora and eight others in the matter. The accused have been accused of defrauding at least 670 home buyers of Rs 164 crore. The prosecution had earlier apprised the court that the company and its directors had indulged in a criminal conspiracy to cheat people by collecting funds from prospective home buyers as advance against flats booked in real estate projects but failed to adhere to the agreed obligation of providing possession of the flats on time and ended up defrauding the public.

The money laundering case stems from a bunch of FIRs registered by the police in Delhi, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh. It is alleged that money collected through real estate business was invested in several firms through money laundering, as the funds from the home buyers were later transferred to several accounts of firms involved in other businesses. Arora could not provide satisfactory answers, which led to his arrest.
Chandigarh, Jan 19 : After two days of deliberations, a body of apple growers on Friday announced to launch intensive campaigns over demands affecting their livelihood in the country's apple belt.

They also lent their support to atractor paradea on January 26 called by the Samyukta Kisan Morcha and trade unionsa protest on February 16 against the "anti-farmer" policies of the Union government.

A decision in this regard was taken at the conclusion of two-day Apple Farmersa Federation of India (AFFI) here that saw the presence of 100 apple growers from Himachal Pradesh, Kashmir, and Uttarakhand.

All India Kisan Sabha Finance Secretary P. Krishnaprasad inaugurated the conference where growers discussed various issues affecting the apple economy.

Talking to the media, former Himachal MLA, Rakesh Singha, said the apple growers are badly hit by dwindling prices and withdrawal of the state support.

"The apple belt is also adversely affected by extreme climatic disturbances like hailstorms causing severe impact on the healthy prospectus of apple produce," he said.

AIKS General Secretary Vijoo Krishnan said there is stagnation in productivity and adequate and subsidised cold chain infrastructure is the need of the hour.

It also decided to enroll a total membership of 56,000 growers till the end of 2024. The AFFI currently has a membership of around 10,000 growers.

--IANS

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Hyderabad, Jan 19 : Telangana has signed investment deals worth Rs 40,232 crore at the World Economic Forum annual meeting at Davos.

The state government said that the visit by the delegation led by Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy, and also comprising IT & Industries Minister D Sridhar Babu and officials, was successful in attracting investment.

During the three-day visit, the delegation signed new investments deals signed of Rs 40,232 crore.

This is nearly double the amount the state could muster last year at Davos.

The investment concluded positively with Adani Group, JSW, Web Werks, Tata Technologies, BL Agro, Surgical Instruments Group Holdings, Godi Energy, Aragen Life Sciences, Innovera Pharmaceuticals, QCentrio, Systra, Uber and o9 Solutions, having a new potential of creating over 2,500 jobs directly.

At Davos, Chief Minister, Revanth Reddy during his two addresses at the CET forums as part of an exclusive World Economic Forum dialogue series with global leaders and thought leaders, stood up strongly for the small and marginal farmers, and urged world leaders to urgently collaborate the transform farming into a profitable activity.

Revanth Reddy also pitched Hyderabad as the city waiting to harness the convergence of healthcare and software to become the medical tourism capital of Asia, and provide western nations, including the US and several European nations, a great destination and solution for rising healthcare costs.

The CM also stressed on making healthcare universal and affordable, and shared his vision of using digital technologies to take top-notch medical services to reach every remote corner and citizen of Telangana.

The global business leaders, including all major Indian entrepreneurs, who met and discussed investment opportunities with the Chief Minister, strongly and unequivocally endorsed the new Telangana government's business vision.

"It is a great delight for us that coming to Davos and meeting business leaders from all over the world we were able to convince them of our vision and get record investments for our state. Investments and growth have to go hand in hand for us to deliver development and welfare. Seeking investments will be a continuous endeavour for us. I welcome all these businesses to Hyderabad and Telangana," said Revanth Reddy at the conclusion of the trip.
Chennai, Jan 19 : Tamil Nadu's ruling DMK on Friday announced the formation of three teams for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

The three teams are given different responsibilities with one team to coordinate and oversee the entire election operations, while the second will be in charge of seat-sharing and coordination with allies, and the third will prepare the election manifesto.

DMK President and Chief Minister M.K. Stalin announced the formation of the first team that will coordinate and oversee the partyas work for the general elections. This team includes Ministers K.N. Nehru, R.S. Bharathi, E.V. Velu, Thangam Thennarasu, and Udhayanidhi Stalin.

DMK General Secretary and Water Resources Minister S.Duraimurugan announced the second team to hold seat-sharing talks with alliance partners. This team will be headed by T.R. Baalu and senior leaders K.N. Nehru, I. Periyasamy, K. Ponmudy, A. Raja, M.R.K. Panneerselvam, and Tiruchi N. Siva will be its members.

Duraimurugan also announced a third team which will be headed by MP Kanimozhi to prepare the partyas manifesto. The members include T.K.S. Elangovan, A.K.S. Vijayan, Palanivel Thiaga Rajan, T.R.B. Raaja, Govi Chezhian, K.R.N. Rajeshkumar, C.V.M.P. Ezhilarasan, M.M. Abdullah, Ezhilan Naganathan and Chennai Mayor R. Priya.

The DMK-led alliance won 38 out of 39 seats in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and Stalin has called upon the cadres and leaders to now win all the seats in the state.
Bengaluru, Jan 19 : Rutuja Bhosale stormed into the semifinals of the ITF Women's Open but not before going through some dramatic twists and turns in her ousting of fourth seed Moyuka Uchijima of Japan 6-2, 5-7, 7-6 (5) in a quarterfinal match that lasted two minutes short of three hours.

Bengaluru, Jan 19 (IANS) Rutuja Bhosale stormed into the semifinals of the ITF Womenas Open but not before going through some dramatic twists and turns in her ousting of fourth seed Moyuka Uchijima of Japan 6-2, 5-7, 7-6 (5) in a quarterfinal match that lasted two minutes short of three hours.

The 27-year-old Indian, playing on a wildcard ticket, will clash with sixth seed Carole Monnet of France who cruised into the semifinals with a 6-4, 6-1 win over compatriot and second seed Chloe Paquet.

The top seed of the US $ 40,000 event Darja Semenistaja of Latvia was stretched by fifth seed Polina Kudermetova before she triumphed 6-3, 6-7 (5), 5-1 after the latter retired in the dying moments of the match owing to back ache. In the other semifinals, Darja will meet qualifier Naho Sato of Japan who went past her countrymate Mei Yamaguchi in straight sets 6-4, 7-5.

The China Asian Games Gold medallist Rutuja was clinical in her approach, especially with her forehand as she produced some stunning cross court winners and went 4-0 up with two breaks in the 2nd and 4th game. She was able to sustain the pressure on Moyuka as the Japanese made several unforced errors before resurrecting her game. However it was too late in the set as Rutuja took the first set 6-2.

The second set saw Rutuja slacken a bit and was down a break and trailed 0-2. Egged on by a partisan weekend crowd, she bounced back and went 5-2 up and before her rival could hold her serve. Serving for the match at 5-3 and up by two match points, Rutuja faltered with a couple of unforced errors which changed the momentum in favour of Moyuka who did not waste time in taking advantage of the situation and won the next four games to take the match into the deciding set.

Down 2-5 in the final set, Rutuja made a stunning comeback with renewed force and hitting some excellent down the line winners and levelled at 5. She then went on to save three match points at 5-6 after six adeucesa and finally overcame the Japanese 7-5 in the tie-breaker.
Hyderabad, Jan 19 : Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy has held discussions with Port of London Authority officials about the ambitious plans for rejuvenation of Musi river in Hyderabad.

Kickstarting his London tour on Friday, the Chief Minister held three-hour long discussions with officials and experts of the Port of London Authority, the governing body of river Thames.

Revanth Reddy spoke of his vision for rejuvenating river Musi, and of the principal reason for visiting London of learning about the management of river Thames, understanding and gathering insights from its management and collating best practices, according to a statement from the Chief Minister's Office (CMO). Sian Foster, Director of Corporate Affairs, and Raj Kehal-Livi, Head, Stakeholder Engagement, Port of London Authority, presented a comprehensive history of the developmental activities along river Thames, natural challenges and engineering response and solutions, stakeholder management, investments and revenue management, and best practices evolved over decades.

"Hyderabad developed along river Musi but is unique in being centered around Hussainsagar lake, and is fostered by other major water bodies, like Osmansagar. Once we reinvigorate and bring back Musi to its fullest force, Hyderabad will be powered by both a river and lakes," said the Chief Minister.

Port of London Authority officials told him that they are ensuring highest levels of sustainability for the river, even as we develop and optimise the developments along the banks.

Finding optimal revenue models to ensure maximum benefits for people and local communities, and best-in-class project management for various projects underway and to be taken up in future is our continual focus, they said.

The apex body authorises assured all support to Hyderabad in all its efforts to rejuvenate river Musi.

A more detailed outline of various potential partnership points was discussed.

Both sides agreed to have more discussions and engagements in future and to collaborate on a posse of specific projects.
New Delhi, Jan 19 : A Delhi court has granted a two-week interim bail to AAP's former communications in-charge Vijay Nair, arrested in connection with a money laundering case related to the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy case.

Special Judge M.K. Nagpal, of Rouse Avenue Courts, provided relief to Nair, citing the urgency of medical assistance based on the medical reports presented to the court.

The court allowed the interim bail on a personal bond of Rs 2 lakh with one surety of the same amount.

The judge also imposed conditions, stating that Nair should not destroy or tamper with evidence, influence any witnesses, or engage with co-accused, suspects, or witnesses during the specified period.

Additionally, the court directed Nair not to participate in criminal activities or commit any offences and emphasised that the interim bail should solely be utilised for his medical treatment and not for any other purposes.

Nair's plea cited health concerns, claiming that he is suffering from various ailments and the court had earlier asked the jail superintendent to provide his medical reports.

Nair had moved the Delhi High Court challenging trial court's order denying him bail.

Judge Nagpal had refused to grant Nair the relief stating that the issue was already dealt with by the high court., which had dismissed his application for grant of regular bail sought on the ground that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had filed an incomplete prosecution complaint in his case.

Observing that "allegations are quite serious", the judge Nagpal had denied bail to Nair and four others a" Sameer Mahendru, Abhishek Boinpally, Sarath Chandra Reddy, and Benoy Babu. He had held that there was enough incriminating evidence to show the entire "modus operandi" adopted by the accused persons for the commission of offenses under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

On the allegations and role of Nair, the court had said: "Though he was only the media and communication in-charge of AAP, it has been revealed during the investigation of this case that he was actually representing the AAP and Delhi government in different meetings that took place with the stakeholders in liquor business at different places.

"His participation in the meetings in this capacity is to be viewed in light of the facts that he was residing in the official accommodation allotted to a senior Minister of the AAP and once he is even alleged to have represented himself as an OSD in the Excise Department of Delhi government, and further that none from the government or AAP officially participated in these meetings."

The ED had registered its case based on the FIR lodged by the Central Bureau of Investigation.
Panaji, Jan 19 : An individual has been arrested in Goa for allegedly tearing a banner of Lord Ram, the police said on Friday.

The police, however, refused to disclose the identity of the arrested individual, saying the person is a native of Uttar Pradesh.

A banner was displayed at Porvorim in North Goa wishing people for Ram Mandir inauguration in Ayodhya on January 22.

"We don't intend to create communal tensions. But we will not tolerate such incidents, who come here to create such an issue by hurting our religious sentiments. Police should take action," a local resident said.

Deputy Superintendent of Police Vishwesh Karpe said one person has been arrested for allegedly tearing the banner.

"He has confessed to the act. We are investigating the case. However, we can't disclose the name of the accused person," he said.
New Delhi, Jan 19 : The Delhi High Court was on Friday informed that Lt Governor V.K. Saxena has not issued any order to halt the funding of the Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights (DCPCR).

Justice Subramonium Prasad was hearing a petition by the DCPCR against the alleged freezing of its funds by state authorities.

The submission was made by the LG's counsel, who stated that the press release mentioned in the petition, indicating the action to stop funding pending an inquiry, was never issued by the LG's office.

As counsel stressed the seriousness of the matter, saying that the press release in question was not authentic, Justice Prasad directed the counsel to submit his statements on an affidavit within four days and scheduled the next hearing for January 25.

On January 10, the high court had asked the LG for his stance on the panel's petition, challenging the withholding of funds pending an enquiry and special audit over alleged misuse of government funds.

Justice Prasad had noted that certain portions of the press note on the action ordered by LG against the child rights body took a "political colour" and had asked the LG's counsel to seek instructions.

The press note in question mentioned that DCPCR's former Chairperson, Anurag Kundu, and six members were politically affiliated with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the had expressed concern about the potential political motivations behind the action.

Saxenaas counsel had stated that the action was taken based on the recommendation of other state authorities and requested time to seek instructions.

Last year, Saxena approved an enquiry and special audit into the alleged misuse of funds by DCPCR, directing a halt to further fund allocation until the completion of the enquiry.

The DCPCR's senior advocate informed the court that the allocation of funds to the child rights body has stopped. Justice Prasad had, on January 9, directed the DCPCR's counsel to serve a copy of the plea to the LG's office and inform them about the scheduled listing.

This petition was transferred from the Supreme Court, where on December 15, the apex court had instructed the DCPCR to present its grievances before the Delhi HC.

Senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, representing the DCPCR, had argued in the Supreme Court that the funds of the commission should not be frozen, stressing the impact on the services provided to six million children in the city.
New Delhi, Jan 19 : Six persons, including four women, died when a fire broke out in a house in Delhi's Pitampura area on Thursday as they were unable to escape due to malfunctioning electronic door locks, sources said.

The incident occurred on Thursday.

The victims were identified as Rakesh Gupta, 62, his wife Renu Gupta, 62, Shweta, 30, Kirti, 25, Shanu Verma, 27, and Santosh, 25, all residents of a 4-storey building where the fire broke out on the first and second floors.

Preliminary investigations point to a room heater on the first floor as the probable cause of the fire.

It is believed that the heater, possibly used to dry wet clothes, sparked flames that quickly engulfed the duplex house.

According to official sources, an elderly woman residing on the first floor had switched on the room heater before leaving the house to purchase medicines. In her absence, it is suspected that clothing near the heater ignited, leading to a rapid spread of the fire throughout the building.

As occupants on the third and fourth floors attempted to escape by opening their windows, thick smoke filled the air, making it impossible for them to flee.

The lack of a clear evacuation route compounded the disaster, as the residents were unable to use the staircase due to malfunctioning electronic door locks. The electronic doors, equipped with automatic locks, failed to open during the emergency, leaving the occupants trapped inside.

Investigators revealed that the wires connecting the doors and the control box on the first floor were damaged in the fire, rendering the electronic locking mechanism useless.

Emergency responders rushed to the spot, battling the blaze and attempting to rescue those trapped within. However, the intensity of the fire and the resulting smoke proved fatal for the six persons, who succumbed before help could reach them.

"A case under section 285, 336 and 304 A of Indian Penal Code (IPC) has been registered at Maurya Enclave police station," a police official said.
New Delhi: An airplane stands at the airport as fog engulfs the area on a cold winter morning. Image Source: IANS News

New Delhi, Jan 20 : A day after a spat between the Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia and Congress MP Shashi Tharoor over the arrangement at Delhi airport amid delays and traffic congestion, the ministry has issued a comprehensive statement addressing key issues.

The ministry further claimed that in 2014, there were 2,358 qualified pilots for CAT II/III operations, and concerted efforts by the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) and DGCA have led to a substantial increase.

As of December 31, 2023, the number of qualified pilots for CAT II/III operations has risen to 6,191, marking a significant 165 per cent growth since 2014.

The ministry said that Delhi's IGI Airport is the busiest airport in the country having four operational runways.

"Of these four runways, runway 10/28 is under re-carpeting and up gradation of Aeronautical Ground Lightings (AGL) and three runways are available for operations," said the official.

The official said that last week, the downgrade of runway 29L to CAT I from CAT III was prompted by nearby construction activities affecting radio communication.

"The Airports Authority of India (AAI) and Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) are actively working with the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to resolve this issue," said the official.

The re-carpeting of runway 10/28, initiated after the G-20 Summit, is nearing completion, and the process is being closely monitored by the DGCA.

"Runway life expectancy is typically 10-12 years under operational and environmental conditions and last re-carpeting of runway 10/28 was done in 2010," said the official.

The ministry official said that airlines have also been advised that they may cancel, sufficiently in advance, such flights that are anticipated to be delayed or consequentially delayed on account of such conditions beyond a period of three hours with a view to obviate congestion at the airport and mitigate passenger inconvenience.

"Airlines have been directed to ensure that in case of flight diversion and long delays, the Aircraft should be parked on contact stand, so that passengers can be shifted to terminal building for disembarkation/ de-boarding, if required. Under no circumstances, the aircraft should be parked on remote bay and passengers be allowed to disembark at the apron. MoCA and DGCA are monitoring the adherence to the SOP every day twice to ensure that laid down instructions and DGCA CAR provisions are not violated," said the official.

"All airlines have been directed to activate an Emergency Control Room (war room) at all six metro airports manned by top managers who are authorised to take prompt decisions on all aspects including any passenger complaint. The situations/complaints handled in these Emergency Control Rooms are being monitored by the Ministry on a daily basis," said the official.
Washington, Jan 20 : White House hopeful Nikki Haley has said that "America is not prejudiced against colour", while projecting both incumbent President Joe Biden and his predecessor Donald Trump as the "twin threats to democracy" to win New Hampshire where a significant number of independent voters will get to choose their representative in the primaries.

"What I want to do is be strong. We won't know what strong looks like until those numbers come in," she said at New England College in Henniker, New Hampshire, the media reported.

Haley's personal goal is to do better than she did in Iowa -- where she finished in third place, 32 points behind Trump and 2 points behind Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, in the state's caucuses on Monday.

Polls, however, show she is much closer to Trump in New Hampshire, where she is expected to benefit from a more moderate Republican primary electorate a" with undeclared voters participating in Tuesday's contest.

"America has never been a racist country," she told a Fox interview earlier this week. She was asked if she believed if the Republican party was racist.

She said she had grown up in a rural county in South Carolina where she experienced racist tendencies. But her parents inculcated the faith in her that America is not a racist country.

"If my parents had not done that, then every black or brown child would not have had a chance in America," she said, pointing to her own success as becoming both a minority South Carolina Governor and Trump's appointee as the UN Ambassador.

Haley said her achievements would not have been possible if America had not been founded on the equity principle that is all men are created equal.

"The intent was to do the right thing," she said of the country's founding.

"Now, did they have to go fix it along the way? Yes, but I don't think the intent was ever that we were going to be a racist country."

"We had plenty of racism that we had to deal with, but my parents never said we lived in a racist country, and I am so thankful they didn't," Haley said.

Haley pointed to her own achievements of becoming one of the first female minority governors in the country and later Trump's US Ambassador to the UN.

She echoed comments she has made on the campaign trail that too many Americans have a "national self loathing" even though the US is not "racist" but "blessed", CNN that organised the town hall meetings reported.

Haley turned up the dial on another issue frequently tying Trump to President Joe Biden and portraying the pair as twin threats to progress and national unity.

"Do we really want to have two 80-year-old running for president when we have a country in disarray and a world on fire?" she said, before making an equivalence between Trump's legal troubles and the controversies around Biden.

"They are so distracted by their own investigations and their own grievances," Haley said.

"We don't need people that are distracted. We need people who love America, realise that if your time is gone, move out of the way and let a new generational leader come in."

Haley has built up the narrative that she is not simply the alternative to Trump or Biden, but to the whole milieu of modern politics a" a "generational" and temperamental change who everyone can get behind, media reports said.
Dublin, Jan 20 : Ireland has started a legal case against the UK over an amnesty law concerning former soldiers during the decades-long violence in Northern Ireland, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) said.

The Irish government lodged the application on Wednesday, arguing that certain provisions are not compatible with the European Convention, the ECHR said on Friday in a statement. The law came into force in September 2023.

The UK side has proposed immunity from prosecution for British soldiers during a conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted from the late 1960s to 1998, Xinhua news agency reported.

It has argued that the prosecutions linked to events up to 55 years ago are unlikely to succeed.
Vance Explores Open AI at Random House In a preempt, Hilary Redmon at Random House has acquired Elon Musk biographer Ashlee Vances new book about tech giant Open AI. The publisher said the book is based on exclusive access to Open AI and its CEO Sam Altman and will take readers behind the scenes of the tumultuous companys quest to create artificial general intelligenceAI that surpasses human intelligence: one of the riskiest, most exhilarating, most consequential tech, business, and human-interest stories of our time. The deal was negotiated by David Patterson at the Stuart Krichevsky Literary Agency. A pub date has not been announced.

Zibby Nabs What If Authors Debut Novel

Alisha Fernandez Miranda, author of the much-buzzed-about 2023 memoir My What If Year, has sold world English rights to her debut novel, Unrestricted Giving, to Kathleen Harris at Zibby Books. The publisher said the novel tells the story of a Latina nonprofit executive juggling new motherhood and life in London who gets a dream job advising the rich and powerful on their philanthropy only to discover that meaning well and doing good arent always the same thing. Stephany Evans at Ayesha Pande Literary brokered the deal. The book is set for spring 2025.

Island Powers Pierces Agri-energy Book

Emily Turner at Island Press has acquired U.S. English rights to Behind Agri-energy, by regenerative farmer and writer Rebekah Pierce. Lisa Amstutz at Storm Literary Agency negotiated the deal. Island said the book explores how integrating agriculture and renewable energy systems can help solve the energy crisis and keep farmers on the land. Behind Agri-energy is set to be published sometime in 2025.

Simon & Schuster Gets Hot Wax

In a preempt, Simon & Schuster editorial director Tim OConnell has acquired North American rights to two new novels by M.L. Rio, author of the bestselling If We Were Villains. S&S said the first book, Hot Wax, is about a young girl who discovers the joys and dangers of life on tour with her fathers band and the cross-country journey she takes decades later to flee the claustrophobic reality of her present, only to encounter the very kind of violence she thought she had buried in the past. No details were available on the as-yet-untitled second book. The deal was negotiated by Arielle Datz at Dunow, Carlson & Lerner. Hot Wax is tentatively set for spring 2025.

Fleishman Authors Follow-Up Goes to RH

Taffy Brodesser-Akner, author of the bestselling Fleishman Is in Trouble, has sold North American rights to Long Island Compromise to Andy Ward at Random House. The deal was brokered by Sloan Harris at CAA. Random House said the novel is about one American family in a cloistered town on Long Island and the dark moment that shatters their suburban paradise. Long Island Compromise is set to be published in July 2024.

Angry Robot Signs SF Horror Debut

In a two-book deal, Gemma Creffield at Angry Robot has acquired world rights to Symbiote, the debut sci-fi novel by Michael Nayak, a former DARPA researcher and space shuttle engineer. Lindsay Guzzardo of Martin Literary Management handled the deal. Angry Robot said the book is an intense, atmospheric sci-fi horror story about a newly emerged parasite that creates a deadly evolving hive mind among scientists at the South Pole and described it as Contagion meets The Walking Dead. Symbiote is set for spring 2025. No details on the second book were available at press time.
Astrologers say that women of certain signs are naturally the embodiment of temptation. They are beautiful, smart, and brave. They know how to enjoy life, appreciate moments, and live as if every day is a holiday. They seem to be surrounded by a halo of positive and light.

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They are even called the best candidates for wives. Women of these zodiac signs can instantly win a man's heart. According to astrologers, the date of birth greatly affects the way we are perceived by others, sometimes making us much more attractive in their eyes.

Leo

Leos surprise men with their passion and charm. Representatives of this sign are very confident. At the first meeting, they can be gentle and sensual, and over time, leadership qualities take over and the Lionesses show a desire to dominate.

These women are ambitious and self-sufficient. They are determined to succeed in life, so they will not stop until they achieve their goal. In a male company, they attract attention because they are able to inspire others. Lionesses are distinguished by their beauty, inner strength, and perseverance.

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Sagittarius

A Sagittarius woman is the personification of mystery. She radiates extraordinary energy that makes her stand out in the crowd. Outwardly attractive and sensual, she knows how to emphasize her advantages and does not seek to please anyone. The secret is that Sagittarius are adventurous and independent personalities by nature. While others are competing for men's attention, Sagittarius will sit proudly away from the general fuss. These women already know they are attractive.

Sagittarians are famous for their sense of humor combined with great sensitivity and delicacy. Men like these qualities very much. However, Sagittarians rarely let anyone get close to them. They know what they are looking for in a relationship and will not waste time on trifles.

Aquarius

Aquarius women intuitively feel the energy of people. By nature, they are real rebels, so they rarely worry about restrictions. This allows them to awaken men's imaginations. Men are impressed by their carefree spirit and courage.

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Aquarians are extremely feminine, attractive, and passionate. If they decide that they want to get a particular man, nothing will stop them. They can seduce almost anyone. These women pay special attention to their appearance, so it can be difficult for others to take their eyes off them.

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The audiobook publisher RBmedia, sold in September by soon-to-be Simon & Schuster owner KKR to fellow private equity firms Francisco Partners and H.I.G. Capital, in a deal reportedly valued at $1 billion, declared that 2023 was another year of record-breaking growth. While the company didnt provide details on sales, it did point to the double-digit gains being posted by the digital audiobook industry.

Were fortunate to have many things in place that contribute to our ongoing successfantastic strategic partners and partnerships, thoughtful content acquisitions, smart thinking from a highly capable team, and our long-standing commitment to the highest quality audiobook production for our authors and their listeners, the company's chief content officer, Troy Juliar, said in a statement. In 2024 we plan to continue to grow the size and distribution of our audiobook catalog, while continuing to expand into new markets globally.

An RBmedia spokesperson said that the transition to new ownership has been seamless, with the firms continuing to back the companys growth initiatives. The company added that its audiobook catalog now stands at more than 70,000 titles, up from 66,000 at the time of its sale last year

The company has taken several steps to grow its catalog over the past several months, the spokesperson said, including the inking of exclusive audiobook partnerships with Sourcebooks and Abrams. It has also signed agreements with a number of well-known authors, including Craig Johnson, Jeff Kinney, Jayne Krentz, Sarah J. Maas, Scarlett St. Clair, Emily Rath, and Rebecca Yarros.

The agreement with Yarros enabled RBmedia to release the audiobook edition of her blockbuster, Fourth Wing, across multiple languages and formats. Among its other popular audiobooks released last year were Abraham Vergheses The Covenant of Water; Patrick Rothfusss The Narrow Road Between Desires, a new Kingkiller Chronicle novella; three original Hellboy Universe audiobooks, replete with a full cast of actors, sound effects, and music; and Erasure by Percival Everett, which was recently adapted for the silver screen as the film American Fiction. Last year also saw RBmedia join the list of publishers who have teamed with Spotify to support its entrance into the U.S. market, signing an agreement to provide instant access to RBmedia audiobooks as part of Spotifys premium subscription.

In addition, RBmedias international business also experienced record growth, said the spokesperson. During the year, it signed new partnerships with independent publishers Unbound and Verve Books, and increased its presence in the Spanish-language market, while signing new agreements with for more French-language titles. More global expansion is one of RBmedias 2024 priorities, the spokesperson added.

This article has been updated with further information
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Price: $ 520 Seller State of Residence: Minnesota Type: Homesite, Lot Property Address: 423 Hillrest drive Zoning: Residential City: helena west helena State/Province: Arkansas Location: 553**, Maple Lake, Minnesota

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Before Kate Middleton became a part of the Windsor royal family, she could afford to wear mini skirts, nude dresses and short shorts, and paint her nails and lips red. It's hard to imagine all this, isn't it? After all, she is now an icon of sophisticated fashion and grace.

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After her wedding to Prince William in 2011, stylists began to select outfits for the Duchess of Cambridge based on her color type. As for makeup, Catherine has never had any "mentors". She did makeup herself even for her own wedding. So, to know what was the evolution of her makeup after the change of social status and marital status, read the material of OBOZ.UA.

2011-2012

This is the period when the Duchess liked to emphasize her eyes. However, not quite successfully. Catherine drew asymmetrical and irregularly curved eyebrows. In addition, she would draw not only the upper but also the lower eyelids, and she would not blend the gray shadows. This made the look heavier and visually added age to the princess.

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2013-2015

It was around these years that Catherine perfected her eyeshadow application technique. She decided to combine gray and brown colors. This technique softened her features and added expressiveness to her eyes.

The princess continued to line her lower eyelids with a dark pencil, but fortunately, less often than before. Her lips were lined with pale pink lipstick or colorless balm. It should be noted that in 2015, Kate Middleton began to appear in public with more professionally shaped eyebrows.

2016-2018

Since 2016, the Duchess has been honing her facial sculpting skills. She used blush to match her lipstick and a highlighter to set light accents. On the plus side, Middleton abandoned matte powder, which emphasized wrinkles, and also began to blend eyeliner. All this has noticeably refreshed her appearance.

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2019-2020

Over the years, Prince William's wife has slightly transformed her clothing styles, changing them to the so-called power dressing (a fashion style that allows women to assert their authority in a professional and political environment traditionally dominated by men). In short, the lines of her outfits have become softer, the colors brighter, and the accessories more prominent. Kate's makeup hasn't changed much. She used eyeshadow in rich shades of brown and lightly traced the lash line.

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2021-2023

Since 2021, the Princess of Wales has been wearing smoky eyes with brown shadows or clear arrows. For more delicate looks, she applies dusty pink shades to the eyelids. In addition, she now paints and waxes her eyebrows to make them look thicker, and emphasizes her cheekbones with pinkish blush.

Only verified information is available on our Telegram OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
On the night of Friday, January 19, a drone attacked an oil depot in the city of Klintsy, Bryansk region of the Russian Federation, and a massive fire broke out there, which the emergency services were unable to quickly extinguish. The operation was conducted by the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry.

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This was reported to OBOZ.UA by intelligence sources, who emphasized that Ukraine is targeting Russian infrastructure, which is a military objective. Currently, more and more photos and videos from the scene of a large-scale emergency are appearing in Russian publics.

"The targets have been hit, and the lies of the Russian authorities are becoming more and more obvious even to the local population," the sources said, adding that the GRU is taking certain measures but has not disclosed any details of the operation.

Governor Alexander Bogomaz announced the drone attack on the Bryansk region on the morning of January 19. According to his version, the "Ukrainian" UAV was "suppressed" by electronic warfare, and during the "destruction" of the aerial object, "ammunition was dropped from it."

As a result, according to Russian authorities, a tank at the oil depot caught fire, and there were allegedly no casualties. Russian firefighters began to extinguish the fire.

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Russians filmed the fire and the column of black smoke from it, which stretched for many kilometers, from different angles.

"We are in trouble, Luda! Do you know?" - the video shows locals shouting about the explosions in the city.

A large-scale fire at the oil depot in Klintsy was also filmed by passengers of a train that arrived in the city.

According to them, the area was partially blocked off, so they had to walk around it in the snow. Otherwise, "everything was as if nothing was happening, just a fire."

According to Russian media, the fire at the tank farm in Klintsy has reached 1000 square meters. As of 11:00 a.m., four gasoline tanks with a total volume of 6,000 cubic meters were still burning.

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Russian media reported that the fire at the tank farm in Klintsy reached 1000 square meters, with four gasoline tanks of 6,000 cubic meters total volume still burning as of 11:00 a.m.

Additionally, on the same night, the Tambov Powder Plant in Russia was hit. Propagandists claimed that a drone fell near the mixing shop, resulting in "no casualties or damage."

OBOZ.UA previously reported that on the night of January 18, Ukrainian UAVs attacked a Russian oil depot near St. Petersburg. The Defense Intelligence of Ukraine conducted the operation, and despite the aggressor country's authorities concealing information about the damage, the attack was confirmed.

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Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
With the new year beginning, the season of sickness seems to be unrelenting. While students such as myself try their hardest to avoid getting sick right at the start of a fresh semester, it can seem impossible to avoid completely. However, its important to understand these different illnesses so that we can make the best of our college experience and prioritize not only our own health, but the health of our community.
Flu activity in the state of Georgia is beginning to spread rapidly. From Dec. 31 to Jan. 6 in metro Atlanta, there were 10 influenza outbreaks and 279 hospitalizations. The Georgia Department of Public Health recommends that Georgians do not wait to get their flu shot.
'GenAI has democratised the AI conversation. I do not know of a single client who is not interested in that conversation.'

IMAGE: The Genpact building in Bengaluru. Photograph: Munsif Vengattil/Reuters

Over the years, Genpact has transformed from a pure-play business process outsourcing (BPO) firm to an artificial intelligence-first professional services company.

The NYSE-listed firm, with annual revenues of $4.37 billion in 2022, is one of the largest companies in its area of business.

It is on a journey to set up at least four artificial intelligence Innovation Centres globally, two of which are likely to be established in India.

As N V 'Tiger' Tyagarajan is set to step down after serving as the CEO for 13 years, all eyes are on B K Kalra who will take over the mantle from February 9.

In their first joint media interaction, Tyagarajan and Kalra speak about the company's legacy and the way forward in an interview with Ayushman Baruah/Business Standard.

IMAGE: N V Tyagarajan, President and CEO, Genpact. Photograph: Lucy Nicholson/Reuters IMAGE: N V Tyagarajan, President and CEO, Genpact.

As you are stepping down after spearheading this company for so long, what are your initial reactions?

Tyagarajan: I have been in the company since 1998 and served as the CEO for the last 13 years. So, I have seen the company grow from the early days to what it is today.

As I step down, first of all, I feel a sense of pride and secondly, I am really excited about the talent we have in the company.

The third reaction is about the strong client relationships that have always been front and centre of our journey. And now with over 125,000 people and over a billion dollars in revenue, we still have that.

It's deep inside the company. And then finally, as we are in the process of handing over the leadership to BK by early February, I feel excited that the company is in a great spot and we have phenomenal leaders to take this company to the future.

I will have the pleasure of watching that from the board.

How do you foresee the transition impacting Genpact's growth?

Tyagarajan: I would call it a systematic, thought-through plan that is now in the process of being executed. As far as the company's growth is concerned, it would get energised.

With the strong foundation and the changes we have driven in the last few years, I think it's going to be really exciting for the industry and for the company in these rapidly changing times.

All of that is obviously under the umbrella of an interesting macroeconomic environment with volatility, uncertainty, and constrained budgets, which will change over time.

But right now that's the world we are in and we are really very well positioned.

IMAGE: B K Kalra, President and CEO-designate, Genpact. Photograph: BK Kalra/Linkedin.com IMAGE: B K Kalra, President and CEO-designate, Genpact.

Any major changes you intend to bring in at a strategic or organisational level?

Kalra: We have a very strong foundation on many attributes. Tiger spoke about talent. One of the distinguishing features of our talent base of over 125,000 colleagues is their learning agility.

Second, the clients we work with are really iconic and have long-standing relationships with strong client retention.

Then, we have the domain as another distinguishing feature. Going forward, we will supplement our strengths by infusing data, technology, and artificial intelligence (AI) into everything we do.

We are going to be an AI-first company and we will explore how we can have AI assistance inside the company and in our client environments leveraging the data we have.

The second area of focus will be to enable our partner ecosystem to generate greater client value.

On the changes at the management level, we have already announced a few in the management team, and are moving rapidly towards nurturing the existing talent and adding more talent, some of whom we have already announced.

What are your hiring plans for 2024?

Kalra: Hiring plans are predominantly determined by the overall demand that is being generated and the retention rate we have.

The good thing is our retention rates have improved over the last 12 months. And then, we expect an amazing booking year and we will report the numbers in possibly 6 or 7 weeks.

All of that is generating great demand as we step into 2024. So, all of those hiring needs will be to fulfil those obligations that we have set up for our clients. I think you will see a good progression in hiring.

We look at how we can constantly churn and get the right talent because we need a lot of data engineers and data scientists. So, we have a lot of build programmes and hiring programmes for that, including with universities across the globe.

How have client conversations changed with the advent of generative AI?

Kalra: GenAI has democratised the AI conversation. I do not know of a single client who is not interested in that conversation.

It has enabled the CEOs and CXOs we work with to be more aware of the use cases of GenAI in their sectors, industries and processes.

All of these conversations around GenAI have enabled us to convert them into proof of concepts and into the production grid of certain applications that we have started putting in place.

It's still in the very early stages, but we really see GenAI as an enhancer of the total addressable market for us and for the industry.

Feature Presentation: Ashish Narsale/Rediff.com
As Ayodhya readies itself for the glittering, much-awaited consecration ceremony of the Ram Mandir on January 22, and as millions of pilgrims and devotees pour into the holy city for the momentous event, companies are rushing to do their bit and be a part of the mega celebrations.

Some are offering a part of their profits as donations, telcos are beefing up the number of cellular towers to ensure better connectivity, and there are those distributing jalebis and food platters.

Take Reliance Jio.

It has upgraded its network in Ayodhya and increased the number of towers in the city for both 4G and 5G networks so that pilgrims who come for the inauguration ceremony do not face any issues with connectivity.

Reliance Industries has also set up a water distribution stall and will hand out free packaged water to devotees.

RIL sells the packaged water under the brand, Independence.

Not to be outdone, Adani Wilmar, under its Fortune brand, plans to distribute over 25,000 jalebis (which is supposed to be Lord Ram s favourite dessert) over seven days.

The jalebis will be in the shape of its logo.

There are also plans to introduce a pakoda platter, made with the brand's products, at 10 snack shops across Ayodhya.

And then there will be a mega-bhog for over 5000 people, which will feature foods prepared with the brand's products.

Ayurveda major Dabur India has decided to donate a portion of the profits from all Dabur products sold between today and January 31 to Shree Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra, the trust set up by the government for the construction and management of the Ram Mandir.

We have committed to donate a portion of the profits generated from the sale of our products from today till 31 January to Shri Ram Janmbhoomi Teerth Kshetra.

Besides ramping up the distribution of our products in the city anticipating the demand surge for daily essentials, we are also creating special experience zones where visitors and pilgrims can touch, feel and experience our range of products like Real juices, Dabur Amla hair oil and Dabur Vedic Tea, Mohit Malhotra, chief executive officer at Dabur India, told Business Standard.

Dabur has also tied up with dhabas and eateries on the Lucknow, Gorakhpur and Varanasi highways leading to Ayodhya.

Mangaldeep, ITC's agarbatti (incense sticks) brand, is also spearheading a series of initiatives to be a part of the celebrations.

On the day of the inauguration, the brand will install a Khushboo Path within the temple premises.

The corridor will be adorned with five-foot tall agarbattis to diffuse fragrance throughout the temple precincts.

The brand has also installed two agarbatti stands at Ram Ki Phedi, where devotees can light incense sticks and offer their prayers to Lord Ram. In addition, it has set up puja outlets and platforms for devotees at the river's ghats.

ITC will also be donating its dhoop (incense cones) for a period of six months from the temple's opening date.

Dairy company Nova Dairy said that it would provide 100 tonnes and 1500 kg of ghee for the preparation of the prasad (offerings) at the Pran Pratishtha ceremony.

"We are deeply honoured and humbled that the Ram Mandir committee has chosen our ghee for such a significant and sacred event.

"Purity has constantly been our top priority, and we are proud that our ghee lives up to the requirements of purity in this ritual, said Ravin Saluja, director with Sterling Agro Industries.

Not to be left behind, Havells India is providing lighting solutions on the temple premises.

The company is installing linear in-ground lights, spot in-ground lights and 24 carat gold-plated spotlights around the idol of lord Rama in the temple.

The inauguration of the Ayodhya Ram Mandir marks a historic milestone.

Havells has supplied and meticulously installed, tested, and commissioned highly customised architectural lighting elements, crafted from materials such as aluminium and brass, said Prag Bhatnagar, president, Havells India.

Pillars, columns, and intricate architectural carvings come to life through our in-ground lighting, providing a focused beam, controlled angles, and unobtrusive illumination, Bhatnagar added.

Beverage major Coca Cola India too has jumped into the fray to try to participate in the celebrations.

The company has started activations in the Hindi language for the first time ever in a brown colour theme for branding, as mandated by the government.

The maker of Coca-Cola, Fanta and Sprite has placed 50 reverse vending machines in the city to help curb pollution.

The focus is on ensuring the supply of products in the affordable range of Rs 10 and Rs 20.

Moreover, the company is placing coolers and boards to deck up stores and increase the business for local shopkeepers.

It is also setting up changing rooms for devotees in the city.

Ride-hailing firm Uber has started its electric auto-rickshaw service in Ayodhya under its popular category, Uber Auto.

The company has announced its commitment to offer convenient, affordable, and sustainable mobility solutions as the footfall to the holy city is expected to soar in the coming days and months.

Following the launch of its electric auto-rickshaws, Uber will start operating UberGo, its most affordable car product, and Uber Intercity, the fast-growing mobility product that will support all inter-city travel needs to and from Ayodhya.

This comprehensive approach aims to connect the temple city to various destinations, contributing significantly to tourism, travel, and the economic growth of Uttar Pradesh.

We are excited to expand our services to Ayodhya as it emerges on the travel map of millions, said Prabhjeet Singh, president, Uber India and South Asia.

With this expansion, we are not only providing enhanced mobility options for tourists and pilgrims, but also unlocking earning opportunities for many more in the region.

We are committed to contributing to the city's tourism, promoting a seamless travel experience and fostering sustainable economic growth.

Similarly, Green Cell Mobility, an electric mobility solutions provider, will be deploying 150 intra-city electric buses in Ayodhya for the consecration ceremony.

This fleet will be used for an estimated 2 million devotees within Ayodhya from mid-January to the end of February.

Pitching in
After the latest rout, the American depositary receipt (ADR) premium of HDFC Bank to its local shares has shrunk to nearly zero.

Photograph: Danish Siddiqui/Reuters

Shares of HDFC Bank on Thursday fell 3.1 per cent to Rs 1,490, extending its two-day decline to 11 per cent.

Meanwhile, the ADR has slumped over 15 per cent in the past two trading sessions.

This is after the private sector lenders slower-than-expected margin recovery during the December 2023 quarter triggered a sell-off in the stock.

A huge part of the selling pressure has come from foreign portfolio investors (FPIs).

They have pulled out Rs 20,000 crore from the overall cash market in the past two days.

On the NSE, HDFC Bank has clocked a trading turnover of Rs 12,040 crore on Thursday and Rs 13,319 crore a day before.

A month ago, the ADR premium stood near the 52-week average of 11 per cent.

The shrinking premium is indicative of growing pessimism of overseas investors towards the countrys largest private sector lender.

The bank is battling net interest margin (NIM) woes following the $40-billion merger with parent HDFC.

Most analysts on the Street have cut HDFC Banks NIM and earnings per share (EPS) forecasts.

We have cut our NIM estimates by 15 basis points (bps) across FY25-26F, as the benefit of funding mix improvement appears to be a significant challenge and a much longer-term story.

"As a result, we cut FY25-26F profit after tax (PAT) by 6 per cent, with return on assets cut 10 bps to 1.7 per cent, said Nomura in a note, downgrading the stock to 'neutral.

It expects the lender to clock EPS of Rs 89 in FY25, down from the earlier estimate of Rs 94.5.

Analysts believe HDFC Bank will have to make some painful adjustments, going ahead.

They (HDFC Bank) have a stock problem, not a flow problem.

"The liabilities acquired from HDFC have come at a 7.5-7.7 per cent funding cost whereas the banks own cost of funds is a good 300-350 bps lower, said Suresh Ganapathy, managing director (MD) & head of financial services research, Macquarie Capital. He added that the bank will have to consolidate.

It is a painful process but you have to get the loan growth down.

Be it ICICI-ICICI Bank merger, be it ICICI having non-performing loan issues in the past, be it Axis Bank or IndusInd Bank  every bank had to get the loan growth down to restructure the balance sheet.

"That is what the need of the hour is, he added.

During its heyday in early 2021, HDFC Banks ADR premium was as high as 31 per cent.

One of the reasons for the premium was lack of investment room for foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) in the domestic market.

However, following a record pullout of $30 billion between October 2021 and June 2022 from the Indian markets, the investment legroom for FPIs expanded.

Following this, FPIs no longer felt the need to pay a hefty premium to buy US-listed shares of the lender.

The FPI legroom increased further after the HDFC-HDFC Bank merger became effective.

At the end of the December 2023 quarter, the FPI investment legroom stood at nearly 20 per cent, which could fall further if the FPI selling continues.

Analysts dont rule out HDFC Bank ADR slipping into discount to local shares, as domestic investors remain relatively more bullish on the stock.

Two other private sector lenders  ICICI Bank and Axis Bank  that have active ADR programmes, also trade at a discount to their local shares.
As the temple is inaugurated, unfortunately for Advani but unsurprisingly for the rest of us, the architect of the party's rise will not lead the ceremony and claim credit for his achievement, notes Aakar Patel.

IMAGE: Devotees walk through the Ramayana-based murals as they arrive to attend the pran pratistha ceremony at the Ram Janmabhoomi temple in Ayodhya, January 18, 2024. Photograph: ANI Photo

The temple inauguration in Ayodhya closes a chapter in our history that many youngsters will not know about, but the rest of us have lived through.

It concerns the BJP, the reasons for its rise after four decades of stagnation and the man who elevated and energised it.

p>In the last general election before it merged into the umbrella opposition Janata Party, the Jana Sangh under Vajpayee, contesting in an alliance with a couple of other parties, won 22 seats.

In the four preceding general elections it had won only 3, 4, 14 and 35 seats and never had a national vote share of more than 9 per cent.

In its official history, the party describes the last state assembly elections it contested on its own: 'In the 1972 Assembly Elections (for various states across India), Jana Sangh went to poll largely on its own. It fielded 1233 candidates and won 104 seats with an overall 8 per cent of the votes. In almost all the states it suffered losses... For the first time since its founding, Jana Sangh could not improve upon its earlier performance.'

The party had plateaued and this became clear when it again contested the 1984 general elections on its own, winning 7 per cent of the vote and only two Lok Sabha seats.

When Advani took charge of the party in 1986, he had never been a participant in electoral politics.

His entry into politics came after time spent as a journalist in the RSS magazine, where he wrote film reviews.

As a politician, Advani had always been a nominated member, whether in the Delhi Council or in the Rajya Sabha.

He had no experience of political mass mobilisation and, going by his autobiography (My Country, My Life, published in 2008) does not appear to know how it worked.

The Ayodhya issue had actually been launched by the non-political groups inside the RSS, led by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad.

At a meeting in UP in 1983, Rajendra Singh, who would later become RSS chief, demanded that the Babri Masjid be opened to Hindu devotees.

In September 1984, the VHP began a campaign against the mosque.

This received sufficient public response for the group to claim in 1986 that they would forcibly break the locks open.

Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi succumbed to the pressure and his government told the courts there would be no law and order problem if this happened.

The locks were thus opened and Hindus allowed into the mosque.

But the VHP did not stop with being given access to worship at the site: Its goal was the razing of the mosque.

In February 1989, at the Kumbh Mela in Allahabad, the VHP said it would lay the foundation stone for the temple in November.

This would involve the making of bricks across the country and their being carried in processions through towns and villages to Ayodhya in November.

Till this time, Advani writes in his autobiography, a few members of the BJP like Vijayaraje Scindia and Vinay Katiyar had participated in the Ayodhya movement in their individual capacity. It was not an issue in mainstream politics.

In June, at the BJP's national executive meeting in Himachal Pradesh, Advani threw the party behind the issue.

The BJP resolution demanded that the site 'should be handed over to the Hindus' and 'the mosque built at some other suitable place'.

Elections came a few months later, in November 1989.

The BJP's manifesto now made its first reference to Ayodhya: 'By not allowing the rebuilding of the Ram Janma Mandir in Ayodhya, on the lines of Somnath Mandir built by the government of India in 1948, it has allowed tensions to rise, and gravely strained social harmony.'

It was a violation of the BJP's own constitution, which on its first page and opening articles pledged it would bear true faith and allegiance to the principle of secularism.

A few days before voting, the VHP brought all its processions from across India to Ayodhya and laid the foundation stone next to the mosque.

Powered by its divisive, anti-Muslim demand, Advani's BJP won 85 seats, four times as many as the Jana Sangh in the last election it contested alone and more than forty times as many as Vajpayee had delivered in his reformed and renamed party.

Advani had become the most successful political leader from the RSS and had found the recipe for electoral success.

He began to invest more in the issue that had brought the dividend.

The Congress lost its majority in the election, and a coalition led by V P Singh took power with support from Advani, though for only a short period.

Three months after the election, in February 1990, the VHP resumed its mobilisation against the mosque and said it would continue the process of what it called kar seva from October.

The political escalation, according to Advani, happened by accident. Advani writes in his autobiography that in June he was to visit London, and just before he left he was interviewed by the editor of the RSS journal Panchajanya who asked him what would happen if the government failed to resolve the Ayodhya matter.

Advani told him that the BJP supported the decision to begin kar seva on 30 October, and if it was stopped there would be a mass movement led by the BJP.

'Frankly, I had forgotten about this interview,' Advani writes, when his wife telephoned him and asked, 'What have you said? The papers here have reported it with blaring headlines: "On Ayodhya, Advani threatens the biggest mass movement in the history of independent India".'

Advani adds: 'The die had been cast.'

What happened with his Rath Yatra has been documented. Some 3,400 Indians were killed in the violence and the polarisation brought the BJP to the doorstep of power.

As the temple is inaugurated, unfortunately for Advani but unsurprisingly for the rest of us, the architect of the party's rise will not lead the ceremony and claim credit for his achievement.

Aakar Patel is a columnist and writer and you can read Aakar's earlier columns here.

Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com
...close to the 2024 general election.

The BJP calling the Congress 'seasonal Hindu' is as laughable as the saffron party sparing itself the title of 'seasonal extreme Hindu.'

How else should one describe its election campaigns of the past years?

It was typically obsessive religion and personality cult with economic development for fig leaf, asserts Shyam G Menon.

IMAGE: Prime Minister Narendra Damodaras Modi performs aarti at the Veerbhadra temple, Lepakshi, in Sri Sathya Sai, Andhra Pradesh, January 16, 2024. Photograph: ANI Photo

Remember the old saying that when you point a finger at somebody, there are three pointing back at you?

On January 11 as news filtered in of the Bhartiya Janata Party calling the Congress a 'seasonal Hindu', over its response to the temple event in Ayodhya, it was the above mentioned saying, which came to mind albeit with a twist.

With the BJP, an additional adjective -- extreme -- must be added to whatever attribute it elects for seasonal flavor in religion.

I belong to the post-Independence generation born in the 1960s and raised in a quiet, distant corner of the country.

Religion had been a personal affair and while most people grew up in a family cocoon of us and them, the quest was always to break that cocoon and graduate to life in a wider, diverse, inclusive world.

Communal and religious insularity wasn't a popular aspiration. One learnt from all. That was one's sense of India.

Finding myself as a journalist in New Delhi at the beginning of the 1990s and digesting news of the extremes whipped up by blending religion with opportunistic Indian politics in the build-up to December 1992 and its aftermath, was therefore a disappointing wake-up call.

IMAGE: An old man looks out towards a street under curfew, from within Delhi's Juma Masjid, sometime in the weeks spanning December 1992-January 1993. Photograph: Shyam G Menon

For many, especially those in India's cities, that December (and the January, which followed) was a rude shock amidst the emergent trend of the economy nudged towards reforms.

Just when you thought change was around the corner came this incident, which unleashed ghosts from the past and scarred India for life.

It wasn't that the antecedents of the BJP or its proximity to far right religious outfits were unknown.

It stunned to witness such politics mainstreamed. The Republic Day celebration of January 1993 was a tense period in the capital because of hundreds of BJP supporters descended from elsewhere.

At a protest march preceding the annual parade, I caught my first glimpse of Narendra Modi, who would later become Gujarat's chief minister and subsequently India's prime minister.

IMAGE: Dr Murli Manohar Joshi (centre) with Modi by his side at a BJP rally in Delhi sometime in the weeks spanning December 1992-January 1993, in Delhi. Photograph: Shyam G Menon

Across India, hundreds of people died in the riots following December 6, 1992. Sometime in that December-January period, I got my first taste of curfew, walking the narrow lanes around Delhi's Juma Masjid as a reporter and photographer.

The place was generally deserted. Paramilitary personnel kept vigil. Elsewhere in the zone, people clustered to receive food from a truck.

One sunny winter afternoon, at a rally to encourage peace and amity among communities, I saw an old woman seated on the ground, her weathered hands clasped over her ears as though shutting out an India inexplicably gone amok.

At another similar meeting to bridge communal divides, I heard the late artist Manjit Bawa, sing.

IMAGE: An old woman sits with her hands clasped over her ears at a meeting to foster communal harmony at Daryaganj, Delhi, sometime in the weeks spanning December 1992-January 1993. Photograph: Shyam G Menon

In the period since 1992, the BJP and its allied Right-wing parties rarely wasted any chance to add muscularity to Hinduism.

More significantly, there has been a drift towards making the religion into a command-driven one.

As anyone aware of similar management structure in other religions would admit, the idea of flock and committed numbers is more a statement of order, regimented power and when required -- triumphalism, less what any religion genuinely stands for.

In the years of the Modi government, the ability to weld together such a package for Hinduism and have it enthrall the public, was aided by shrewd blends of presentation skill, oratory, obliging mainstream media and oodles of social media.

Thanks to the rise of suitable technologies, sharply defined, polarising messages were delivered with ease and shaped thus into distinct silo, a chosen set of people could be made to dance to a Pied Piper's tune.

Consequently, the BJP calling the Congress 'seasonal Hindu' is as laughable as the saffron party sparing itself the title of 'seasonal extreme Hindu.'

How else should one describe its election campaigns of the past years? It was typically obsessive religion and personality cult with economic development for fig leaf.

IMAGE: A BJP rally that got water cannoned in Delhi sometime in the weeks spanning December 1992-January 1993, in Delhi. This was ahead of the 1993 Republic Day. Photograph: Shyam G Menon

Complementing this ecosystem has been the use of government agencies by the Modi government to keep Opposition parties under pressure and indulgence of the business lobby to keep its interests alive.

Not to mention -- an Indian diaspora seeking identity overseas and therefore happy to fossilise India into a museum of traditions.

Even as these measures proved successful, they also exposed the underlying insecurity of an establishment that knows well it is pushing an agenda which flies in the face of human awareness and boldness.

That's why, the current BJP government will be remembered as a fine demonstration of politics weaponised by religion and other convenient spins with the primary goal being obtaining power and hanging on to it.

IMAGE: Security personnel deployed in Delhi's Juma Masjid area sometime in the weeks spanning December 1992-January 1993. Photograph: Shyam G Menon

As the first continuous decade under BJP-rule draws to a close with the unveiling of the temple in Ayodhya (and elections a few months thereafter), the architecture of how the BJP spreads its charms stands demystified.

There is no magic to it anymore. But the big question is, has the primer so exposed, disillusioned the electorate or is the public still spellbound by the spectacle the primer repeatedly authors? If the results of the 2023 assembly elections are anything to go by, then the BJP's pull remains strong, especially in North India.

People speak of irrelevance gathering around the BJP juggernaut. Yet it is a fact that notwithstanding the warnings from the 1990s and the decade-long rule of the Modi government; secularism, inclusiveness and liberal society -- they haven't managed to package themselves into as engaging a package as the weaponised brew of religion and politics.

Maybe, we should accept it -- things weaponized fly faster than love and compassion, which however endure longer.

IMAGE: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi at the Mahakal Temple in Ujjain. Photograph: @INCMP/Twitter

For political parties, there is only one season that matters -- the time of elections.

The unveiling of the temple is well timed; close to the 2024 general election. What should, however, be clear in the ongoing tussle between 'seasonal Hindu' and 'seasonal extreme Hindu' is that the onus of deciding what one expects from one's religion -- whether it should be command-driven and enslaved to a political party hunting for power in the religion's name, or not -- rests with Hindus.

The Constitution is clear on India being secular. My friends and I grew up believing that (we still do).

Very early in the Modi years, the supporters of the BJP and its allied outfits made their intention known, mocking the word as 'sickular'.

The mockery has puzzled me. What makes a person courageous? Living in a world of mirror images or engaging and getting along with the unfamiliar? Can't one be secular and Hindu at once without even describing one's secularism as a product of one's religion? Overlooked here is an important angle.

The idea of adulthood includes the concept of independent choice, different from the traditions one was born into.

The State (any State) donning the role of surrogate parent to further religion and tradition, defeats the purpose of growing up.

The more relevant question is whether intentions like ridiculing secularism, should continue in the name of more than just those ridiculing it.

As happened overseas in similar situations, hasn't the time come for the denizens of hijacked cultures and religions to stand up and say: not in my name?

IMAGE: A priest applies tilak to the forehead of Home Minister Amit Anilchandra Shah as he offers prayers at the Mahakaleshwar temple in Ujjain. Photograph: ANI Photo

It is a question that moderates and liberals from every religion should consider as we navigate times of politics, technology and big business colluding at the cost of human values.

It isn't Hinduism alone; from Islam to Sikhism and Christianity in between, several religions in India have witnessed the rise of conservative factions.

Married to technology and politics and competing among themselves, these factions relish speaking in everyone's name.

They give the impression that their bloated influence is the real deal. Questioning of the same invite trolling, ostracisation and sometimes, violence. Should that be the case? Particularly when modernity accepts faith in a nameless universe viewed through the prism of science as much as the same by one name and form or the other, to shades in between.

More serious than the debate around 'seasonal' is the claim (or illusion) of everyone arrayed behind an advertised political line founded on a spin to religion.

The right to say: not in my name, must be there. It's what India missed saying in the early 1990s and failed to say subsequently, leaving secularism threatened.

Shyam G Menon, is a freelance journalist based in Mumbai.

Feature Presentation: Rajesh Alva/Rediff.com
'Everyone is so excited. There is a lot of excitement everywhere. This was a long time desire of many people.'

IMAGE: Workers busy in construction work of the Ram temple ahead of its pran pratishtha ceremony, in Ayodhya, January 18, 2024. Photograph: Ishant/ANI Photo

Dr Bharat Barai, having recently undergone shoulder surgery, finds himself in India as a distinguished guest for the pran pratishtha ceremony of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya on the 22nd of January.

One of Prime Minister Narendra Damodardas Modi's oldest friends in the United States

Despite this being a significant occasion, it won't mark Dr Barai's inaugural visit to Ayodhya; he had previously been there five months before the demolition of the Babri Masjid, in a visit arranged by the Vishva Hindu Parishad.

Dr Bharat Barai shares insights into the preparations, requirements, and instructions received by the invitees for the momentous event with Rediff.com's US Contributor Abhijit J Masih.

When did you first learn of the amantran?

I was in India since December on a family holiday. I extended my stay because of the amantran.

It was a family trip so we went to Rajasthan along with my two daughters and their family.

Then I attended the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI) Global Healthcare Summit in Delhi.

There I gave a guest lecture on breast cancer. Then the Baroda Medical College, which is my alma mater, invited me for their platinum jubilee celebration where they recognized two people in the last 75 years as legends of the Baroda Medical College and one of them was me.

My original ticket back to the US was on the 21st January, but when I received the first letter on 23rd December 2023, I extended my stay in India.

When and how did you receive the formal amantran?

It came in three stages. On 23rd December 2023, I got the first letter saying that a formal invitation will follow and this is information that you are being invited and it gave a number. All the invitations are numbered.

Then came the second letter on 3rd January 2024 which was a formal invitation.

It had the same four digit number followed by A for me and B for my wife.

We were instructed not to put the invitation on social media.

Then the third letter came three days ago where we were asked to upload our photograph and details of our vehicle in which we will arrive.

From what I learn, there will be seven layers of security and only residents of Ayodhya and the invitees will be allowed to enter the city. All the delegates from the USA are going together.

IMAGE: Workers prepare flowers to decorate Ayodhya ahead of the ceremony. Photograph: ANI Photo

What factors do you believe contributed to receiving the invitation for the inauguration?

I have been the chairman of the board of trustees for two temples in the Chicago area. In 2018, the World Hindu Congress was held in Chicago.

We had 3,200 delegates from 66 countries in the world. I was the chairman of the finance committee at that time. We collected $1.5 million.

In November 2023, the third World Hindu Congress took place in Bangkok, Thailand. For all these conferences, only 40% of the expenses are covered by the registration fees and 60% has to come from donations.

I helped with $75,000 as donations. So they have invited people from countries outside India, in small numbers of course, and about 25 people are from USA.

They are all associated with Hindu causes.

IMAGE: Workers carve stone sculptures for the Ram temple. Photograph: Amit Sharma/ANI Photo

Did you donate money for the Ram Mandir?

Did we want to contribute? Yes. Did we ask to contribute? Yes. But they said no as they did not have the permission to receive donations from abroad.

But I have learnt that in November they have given permission to receive contributions from foreign countries. So will I contribute if permitted legally? Yes.

IMAGE: Security personnel keep vigil at Lata Mangeshkar chowk ahead of the pran pratishtha ceremony. Photograph: Shrikant Singh/ANI Photo

What preparations have you made for the visit, considering the scale and importance of the inauguration ceremony?

All I want to do is go in front of Ram Lalla and get the blessings. I should tell you that in July 1992, I had been to Ayodhya.

I spoke to Ashok Singhal (then the VHP president) who has passed away, that I wanted to go and see the structure there.

He made the arrangements and I went to Ayodhya with an MLA from Jhansi and I was able to do the darshan there.

I still have a photograph and it has a printed date that's why I remember that it was 10th July 1992.

Though cameras were not allowed, the MLA told the pujari to take the picture.

I stood under the middle dome where the Ram Lalla murti was and next to it was Kaushilya Ki Rasoi. I also did a little kar seva.

IMAGE: Dr Bharat Barai, extreme left, at the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI) Global Healthcare Summit in Delhi. Photograph: Kind courtesy Dr Bharat Barai

What preparations are being made in the US and what are the plans for the 22nd of January?

Everyone is so excited. In the USA, most of the temples are going to remain open, even though it will be the middle of the night there.

In Chicago there have already been so many car rallies. I know they are also planning to telecast live at Times Square in New York.

There is a lot of excitement everywhere. This was a long time desire of many people.

Does Mr Modi know that you are coming and did you get a chance to meet him during your stay in India?

Unfortunately, when I was in Delhi, he was touring the South and was in Lakshadweep.

Even when I am going to be in Delhi on 19th and 20th, his office said that he will be out of town.

If he was in town, I would have gone and said Namaste. Whether I will be able to meet him in Ayodhya, I have no idea.

Probably not, since they have invited 8,000 guests.

IMAGE: Dr Barai being felicitated as one of the legends of the Baroda Medical College during its platinum jubilee celebrations. Photograph: Kind courtesy Dr Bharat Barai

Do you have any sense of what to expect when you go to Ayodhya on 22nd January? Any itinerary that has been shared with you?

The arrangements are very nice. They have asked for information about where we are staying. Whether we need transportation from Lucknow, Gorakhpur etc.

They have asked information about the vehicle, license plate number and the description of the vehicle.

They are very precise. They told us to be seated before 11 am.

They are also going to e-mail a gate pass which will have our photograph.

So when that comes that will serve as our gate pass and that might have our seat numbers.

Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com
A 30-year-old crew member of Air India was shot dead allegedly by unidentified bike-borne men near a high-end market in Noida on Friday, the police said.

Image used for representational purpose only. Photograph: ANI Photo

An official told PTI that the murder could be a fallout of a gang rivalry involving the family of the deceased, who has been identified as Suraj Mann.

The incident took place near the Sector 104 market when Mann came out of a gym and sat in his car.

The assailants soon arrived at the spot and one of them opened fire in the air while another shot at Mann.

Noida DCP Harish Chander said the Sector 39 police station was alerted about the incident at around 2.30 pm and a team was rushed to the crime spot.

"The man was taken to a nearby hospital but he did not survive," Chander said.

Mann, who worked as a crew member with Air India, lived as a tenant in the posh Lotus Panache society nearby, according to the police.

"The body has been sent for post-mortem and the man's family is being contacted," the DCP said.

He said an investigation has been launched into the case and efforts are underway to identify the accused.

A few members of Mann's family allegedly have a criminal history but he was not part of any acts of crime, according to sources.

The alleged murder could be a fallout of a gang rivalry involving the family, the official said.

"Mann's elder brother is accused in a murder case and currently lodged in a jail in Delhi. The police suspect the rival gang targeted Mann because of his family connections," he said.

The police are also investigating the gang rivalry angle in the case, the DCP added.

Eyewitnesses also recounted the horror of the mid-day shootout in the posh neighbourhood.

Mustafa, who runs a fast food cart in the market, said Mann was a regular visitor to the Any Time Fitness gym.

"After he came out of the gym, he sat in his car. He was eating bananas and barely after two minutes, three men on motorcycle reached there and attacked him," he said.

"One fired in the air and the other started firing shots at the glass window of the car. They fired at least eight to 10 rounds of bullet before fleeing the spot," Mustafa told reporters.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Friday said that the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip requires a sustainable solution that gives immediate relief to those most affected.

IMAGE: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar delivers Indias statement at the 19th NAM Summit, in Kampala, Uganda, January 19, 2024. Photograph: ANI Photo

"Right now, the conflict in Gaza is understandably uppermost in our minds. This humanitarian crisis requires a sustainable solution that gives immediate relief to those most affected," Jaishankar said in his address at the Non-Aligned Movement summit at the Ugandan capital of Kampala.

"We must also be clear that terrorism and hostage-taking are unacceptable. At the same time, international humanitarian law must always be respected by all States. It is also imperative that conflict does not spread within or beyond the region," he added.

He advocated a two-state solution where the Palestinian people can live within secure borders.

"Our collective endeavours should focus on making this realisable," he added.

The war between Israel and Hamas has killed more than 24,000 people on the Gaza side as affected people face pathetic living conditions sans water, power, food and medical aid.

On the other hand, Israel, which has seen 1400 plus deaths, insists on the release of more than 100 hostages still held by Hamas and continues pounding the Gaza Strip relentlessly.
Russia has reported a drone attack on the Tambov Powder Plant in Kotovsk. An unidentified unmanned aerial vehicle crashed on the plant's premises.

ADVERTISIMENT

This information was disclosed in Russian Telegram channels, and Russians promptly accused the Ukrainian Armed Forces of carrying out the attack on the plant.

The assault on the gunpowder plant in the Russian city of Kotovsk occurred on January 19 at four o'clock in the morning. The UAV landed near the gunpowder mixing shop. Although there were no casualties or damage, the staff was evacuated for safety.

The company had previously experienced explosions, notably in June and November of the previous year. In the first instance, four people lost their lives, and the explosion was allegedly caused by human error.

On the night of January 19, an unidentified drone also attacked an oil depot in Klintsy, Bryansk region, resulting in a massive fire that emergency services struggled to extinguish quickly.

ADVERTISIMENT

Earlier reports indicated that during an attack on an oil depot in the Leningrad region of Russia, a Ukrainian drone flew over the residence of dictator Vladimir Putin in Valdai. This area is known for its high-security air defense measures, as is the entire region. The operation in the Leningrad region was conducted by the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry. The Russians have concealed the impact on the oil depot.

Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
The Gujarat police have arrested six persons in connection with the boat tragedy near Vadodara that killed 12 students and two teachers, an official said on Friday.

IMAGE: Gujarat chief minister Bhupendra Patel inspects the accident site of Harani Lake after a boat carrying children capsised, in Vadodara on Thursday. Photograph: ANI Photo

Eighteen students and two teachers were rescued from the boat capsize in Harni lake on the outskirts of Vadodara city on Thursday. The students were on a picnic at the time.

Those arrested include three partners of Kotia Projects, a firm that had been given the contract to operate Harni Lake Zone by the Vadodara Municipal Corporation, a police official said.

The others who have been arrested comprise a manager of Kotia Projects and two boat operators, and all have been charged with culpable homicide not amounting to murder, Vadodara police commissioner Anupam Singh Gehlot said.

On Thursday, the police had registered an FIR under Sections 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and 308 (attempt to commit culpable homicide) of the Indian Penal Code against 18 persons.

The arrested persons have been identified as Kotia Projects partners Bhimsingh Yadav, Vedprakash Yadav and Rashmikant Prajapati, the firm's manager Shantilal Solanki and boat operators Nayan Gohil and Ankit Vasava, as per the police.

"We have formed a special investigation team in connection with the incident and to nab other culprits. Those guilty will not be spared," Gehlot said.

The seven-member SIT will be led by additional commissioner of police (Crime and Traffic), Manoj Ninama, while other members include deputy commissioner of police Panna Momaya, DCP Yuvrajsinh Jadeja and ACP HA Rathod, the official said.

Following the incident, the Vadodara Municipal Corporation sealed the lake area and prohibited the entry of unauthorised persons as well as those associated with the contracting firm.

As per the FIR, Kotia Projects was given the contract by VMC to operate the Harni Lake Zone in 2017.

In his complaint, VMC engineer Rajesh Chauhan said the firm, its owners, managers and boat operators indulged in criminal negligence on several counts, be it non-maintenance of boats or not keeping adequate number of life-saving equipment and life jackets.

It was also revealed that only a few students were given life jackets and no instructions were given to them, as per the complaint.

Due to overload, the FIR said, the boat first started swaying and then capsized following water ingress from the front side.

Incidentally, on Thursday, Gujarat Minister of State for Home Sanghavi had told reporters only 10 students on board were wearing life jackets, which proved the organisers were at fault.

Gujarat Education Minister Kuber Dindor too had said the boat was carrying more persons than the stipulated number.

"I have also learnt students were not wearing life jackets at the time of the accident. We will take action against those found guilty (of these lapses)," Dindor had said on Thursday night.

A preliminary probe by authorities also revealed the boat, which was pulled out from the muddy waters, had only 14 seats, while more than 30 persons were on board.

On Thursday, a notification issued by the state home department directed the Vadodara collector to conduct a detailed inquiry on reasons and circumstances which led to the tragedy, whether there was any negligence on the part of the contractor or any official and how such incidents can be avoided in the future.

Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel had visited the site late on Thursday evening and toured Janvi Hospital and state-run SSG Hospital to meet survivors and kin of the deceased.

The CM had also announced compensation of Rs 4 lakh to the kin of those who have died and Rs 50,000 to the injured.

In a message on social media platform X sometime after the incident, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, "Distressed by the loss of lives to a boat capsizing at the Harni lake in Vadodara. My thoughts are with the bereaved families in this hour of grief. May the injured recover soon."

"The local administration is providing all possible assistance to those affected. An ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh each from PMNRF would be given to the next of kin of each deceased. The injured would be given Rs 50,000," the PM had further said.
Data for the first nine days of January shows that tourist arrivals from India to the Maldives has been at similar levels as last year during the same period.

Photograph: Kind courtesy Asad Photo Maldives/Pexels.com

Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu's request to China to 'intensify' efforts to send more tourists to its shores comes at a time when the country is already figuring among the top five -- led by India -- that contribute to footfall in the island nation.

The statement, made during Muizzu's first visit to China after taking over as president, comes days after three junior ministers in the Maldives made offensive remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Damodardas Modi.

While the three ministers were suspended, there has been no statement of apology from the Maldivian government, which led to a strong backlash in India with many pushing for a ban on travelling to the archipelago in the Indian Ocean.

However, data for the first nine days of January shows that tourist arrivals from India to the Maldives has been at similar levels as last year during the same period.

At the same time, more Chinese tourists are flocking to the Maldives than before.

According to data from the country's ministry of tourism, in calendar year 2022, China was ranked 27th in the list of nations sending tourists to the Maldives.

India, with a 14.4 per cent share of total arrivals, was at the top, followed by Russia (12.1 per cent) and the UK (10.7 per cent).

In 2023, Chinese footfall jumped to the third spot. They are very close to the numbers from India and Russia and may soon soar to the number 1 spot.

With 187,118 tourists visiting the Maldives, China had a 10 per cent share in the country's visitor pie last year and closed in on India, which sent 203,198 tourists (11.1 per cent).

Russia, which was in the second spot, was behind India by only 52 tourists last year.

While the arrivals from India have fallen by around 13 per cent in 2023 compared to 2022, data from the ministry of tourism in Maldives shows that Chinese tourist numbers had grown by over 13 to 14 times in the same period.

This is because Chinese arrivals reduced to a trickle (12,000-odd from January to November) in 2022 due to stringent pandemic restrictions on travels abroad.

After the curbs were lifted, there has been a big spike in the influx of tourists from China to the Maldives.

Despite the backlash over the comments on Modi, the number of Indian visitors to the Maldives in the first nine days of January is at 3,791, accounting for 7.4 per cent of the tourist inflows in 2024.

That is more or less in line with the numbers during the same period last year, when 3,356 arrivals from India accounted for a share of 7.4 per cent.

In January, the bulk of the tourists to the Maldives come from Europe. Hence, Russia, Italy and the UK collectively account for 26 per cent of arrivals in the first nine days of the year.

Says Anil Kalsi, secretary and vice-president, Travel Agents Federation of India, "Passengers who have booked and paid for holidays tend to lose most of their money if they cancel at a short notice."

"Considering the ground situation isn't worrisome, pre-booked passengers are going ahead with their plans. But future bookings are seeing a downward trend as national sentiments become a deciding factor," Kalsi added.

Kalsi says that many Indian tourists are giving the Maldives a miss and are exploring alternative destinations such as Thailand, Bali, Malaysia, Vietnam, Almaty, Baku and even Tbilisi.

Feature Presentation: Ashish Narsale/Rediff.com
Minor girls at an Indore 'orphanage' narrated tales of abuse and alleged horrifying ways of punishment, including branding with hot tongs, hanging them upside down and forced to inhale smoke from burning red chillies, prompting the local administration to seal the facility and the police to file a first information report (FIR) against five women.

As the shocking tales, recounted by the inmates before a Child Welfare Committee (CWC), surfaced an FIR was registered against five women associated with the facility for allegedly ill-treating children in the name of punishment, a police official said on Friday.

The facility, described by officials as an 'orphanage', was sealed by the local administration.

However, the NGO running the children's facility said it was a hostel and not an orphanage, and filed a habeas corpus petition in the Madhya Pradesh high court challenging the administration's action.

It also denied all allegations mentioned in the FIR filed on the basis of a complaint by the local CWC.

The administration sealed the facility, 'Vatsalyapuram', located in the Vijayanagar area on January 12 for illegal operation and shifted the inmates, girls aged between four and 14 years, to the state-run Child Protection Home and another institution, the official said.

The girl inmates told the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) that they were tortured in the name of punishment in the premises, he said.

In the FIR lodged on the night of January 17, it was mentioned a four-year-old girl was beaten up for wearing dirty clothes, locked in the bathroom for several hours and not given food for two days.

It was also alleged in the FIR that children were hung upside down and forced to inhale smoke from red chillies kept on a hot pan below.

Two children were branded with hot tongs at the hands of a minor girl and one girl was taken to a furnace after being stripped in front of other kids and warned of being burnt, the official said, citing the document.

On the other hand, the NGO running the facility, Jain Welfare Society, has filed a habeas corpus petition in the Indore bench of the high court.

Vibhor Khandelwal, a counsel for the private institution, told PTI, "Vatsalayapuram is not an orphanage but a standalone hostel where children from economically weaker families are taken care of for an annual fee of just Rs 5."

Khandelwal claimed the administration had 'unauthorisedly' sealed Vatsalyapuram and norms and due process of law were not followed while shifting the inmates to another institutions.

He said the habeas corpus petition has sought that the children be handed over to the hostel administration or their parents.

A habeas corpus writ is used to seek release of a person from unlawful detention or imprisonment.

Khandelwal also rejected the allegations mentioned in the FIR.

"Five women associated with the orphanage have been named in the FIR registered under relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code and the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act," Vijay Nagar police station sub-inspector Kirti Tomar said.

Investigation into these allegations was still at an early stage, she said.

"The children who were rescued from the orphanage are natives of Rajasthan and Gujarat," Indore-based Child Welfare Committee (CWC) chairperson Pallavi Porwal said.

"We have written to the Child Welfare Committees of these states asking them to ascertain the socio-economic background of these children and submit a report to us so that they can be rehabilitated," said Porwal.
Pakistan and Iran on Friday agreed to "de-escalate the situation" and strengthen coordination on counter-terrorism as the two sides began to pick threads of tattered ties following their tit-for-tat military strikes in each other's territory.

IMAGE: Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian speaks during a press conference, in Tehran, Iran January 15, 2024. Photograph: Majid Asgaripour/WANA via Reuters

Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani spoke with his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir-Abdollahian on the telephone and expressed his country's desire to "work with Iran based on the spirit of mutual trust and cooperation," Pakistan's foreign office said in a statement.

"The Foreign Minister stressed that respect for territorial integrity and sovereignty must underpin this cooperation," it said.

They "agreed that working-level cooperation and close coordination on counter-terrorism and other aspects of mutual concern should be strengthened. They also agreed to de-escalate the situation," the FO said, underscoring the close "brotherly relations" between the two neighbours.

The return of the Ambassadors of the two countries to their respective capitals was also discussed.

In a separate statement earlier, the FO said Foreign Minister Jilani expressed Pakistan's readiness to work with Iran on "all issues and underscored the need for closer cooperation on security issues".

The positive development came after Pakistan conducted "precision military strikes" against what it called "terrorist hideouts" in Iran's Siestan-Balochistan province that killed 9 people on Thursday. The attack was seen as retaliation to Iranian missile and drone attacks on Tuesday, which targeted two bases of the Sunni Baloch militant group Jaish al-Adl in Pakistan's unruly Balochistan province.

According to IRNA, Iran's official news agency, Amir Abdollahian urged Pakistan to assist in "foiling plots and destroying terrorist hideouts in its territories."



The top Iranian diplomat also called for the pursuit of security and military cooperation seriously, noting that Iranian forces will not allow terrorist groups to carry out sabotage in the country.

Pointing to Iran's recent attack on a hideout of the so-called Jaish al-Adl terrorist group inside Pakistani soil, he argued that intelligence documents showed that over 50 terrorists were getting ready to conduct terrorist attacks on Iran.

He further said that under the current circumstances in Palestine, where the Israeli regime is committing crimes against the oppressed nation, influential countries of the Islamic world such as Iran and Pakistan are expected to maintain unity.

Pakistani foreign minister, for his part, emphasized that both nations have a common attitude in the fight against terrorism, adding that Islamabad underlines the need for maintaining constructive and brotherly ties with Tehran.

In the phone conversation, the Pakistani top diplomat officially invited his Iranian counterpart to visit Islamabad, the IRNA said.

Earlier, Jilani and his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan discussed the "ongoing developments between Pakistan and Iran," the foreign office said.

He told Fidan that the military strikes were aimed at terrorist camps inside Iran and added that Pakistan has no interest or desire for escalation.

Also, officials of the foreign ministries from Iran and Pakistan exchanged goodwill messages, belying fears of escalation and showing that the tiff between the two neighbours was cooling off sooner than it erupted two days ago.

Foreign office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch shared an exchange of messages between Additional Foreign Secretary Rahim Hayat Qureshi and his Iranian counterpart Seyed Rasoul Mousavi on her X handle, saying: "Some positive exchanges."

In a post on X today, the Foreign Office additional secretary responded to his Iranian counterpart's letter saying he reciprocated the sentiments of "dear brother Seyed Rasoul Mousavi."

He said Pakistan and Iran have fraternal relations and the countries need to move forward to resolve all issues through positive dialogue.

He said that it is important to restore trust and confidence that has always defined bilateral relations between the two countries.

"Our common challenges including terrorism require coordinated action," he added.

Mousavi said he believed that Iran's ministry of foreign affairs is the endpoint of the prevailing tensions between the two countries.

"Leaders and high officials of both countries know that only terrorists and enemies of both countries benefit from the existing tension between the two neighbouring countries," he wrote on X in Persian.
The United States on Thursday (local time) evaded a question on whether Pakistan held prior consultations with Washington, DC before conducting retaliatory air strikes on Iran.

IMAGE: A missile is launched during a military exercise in an undisclosed location in the south of Iran. Photograph: WANA/Iranian Army via Reuters

On media reports claiming Pakistan consulted the US before conducting strikes in Iran, State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller, during a regular press briefing in Washington, said, "I do not have any private conversations to read out."

Miller said the US is concerned about the escalating tensions in the region and has urged restraint on all sides.

He said there is no need for escalation in the matter and that the country has noted the Pakistani government's comments about the importance of 'cooperative relations between Pakistan and its neighbours'.

In response to a question on how the US administration reads the situation between Iran and Pakistan, Miller said, "We are concerned about escalating tensions in the region. It's been something we have spoken a number of times, we've focused on. We've been incredibly concerned about the potential for escalation since October 7."

"That's why we have engaged in intense diplomatic efforts to try to prevent escalation. We noted the comments from the government of Pakistan, about the importance of cooperative relations between Pakistan and its neighbours. We thought those were productive useful statements, and certainly, there's no need for escalation and we would urge restraint on all sides in this case," he added.

Matthew Miller called Iran a major funder of Hezbollah and a principal supporter of Hamas for years.

In another query about the ongoing tensions between Iran and Pakistan after strikes and counterstrikes, Miller said, "I think I made pretty clear yesterday what we think about Iran's attacks, not just the strikes that were launched in the past three days against three of its neighbours but its long history of funding terrorism, funding instability and sowing discord in the Middle East. That's something we have seen contribute to conflict in Gaza."

Iran's strikes in Pakistan came after Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) launched missiles into Iraq's Kurdistan region at what it called an Israeli 'spy headquarters' and at alleged ISIS-linked targets in Syria, Al Arabiya News reported.

In response, Pakistan on Thursday launched missile strikes into Iran and codenamed it operation 'Marg Bar Sarmachar'.

Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) in a statement said it had undertaken a series of 'highly coordinated and specifically targeted precision military strikes against terrorist hideouts' in the Siestan-o-Baluchistan province of Iran.

'A number of terrorists were killed during the intelligence-based operation codenamed Marg Bar Sarmachar,' it said.

Meanwhile, US State Department spokesperson Miller said: "You have seen Iran as the principal supporter of Hamas for years. They are the major funder of Hezbollah. They are one of the major funders of the Houthis. We have seen the consequences of the actions that Iran has taken to add to regional instability and that's why we continue to take actions to hold Iran accountable and also send clear very messages to Iran that we don't believe this should escalate in any way, shape or form."

"Pakistan is a major non-NATO ally of the United States, and that will remain the case, but we would urge restraint in this case. We do not want to see escalation and don't think there's a need for escalation," he added.

US National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications at the White House, John Kirby, said the US is monitoring the situation regarding Iran and Pakistan 'very very closely' and they do not want to see escalation.
Brattleboro, VT (05301)

Today

Mainly cloudy. A few peeks of sunshine possible. High 44F. Winds WNW at 10 to 15 mph..

Tonight

Some clouds. A few flurries are possible. Low around 30F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph.
The oldest supermassive black hole seen by scientists, located in the tiny galaxy GN-z11, is devouring the heart of its host galaxy and may trigger a cosmic cataclysm. Its study may provide important clues about the history of the formation and growth of the first supermassive black holes in the Universe.

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This is stated in a study published in the journal Nature. The gluttonous black hole was observed by Cambridge University astrophysicist Roberto Maiolino and his colleagues using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST).

Light from the galaxy where the black hole is located began traveling to Earth when the Universe was only 400 million years old. This is what makes this supermassive black hole the oldest astronomers have ever seen.

According to the researchers, this black hole is several million times more massive than our Sun and is similar in size to the Sagittarius A* black hole, which is located in the heart of our Milky Way galaxy. They noted that they did not expect to find such a large object among the first generation of black holes in the early Universe as it takes at least a billion years to grow to this size.

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Maiolino and his colleagues have two theories as to how the black hole could have grown so large so quickly. According to Inverse, the first theory states that it could have been formed by the compression of a giant cloud of gas under the influence of gravity and immediately become tens of thousands of times more massive than our Sun. This would significantly reduce the time it would take for a black hole to surpass the mass of the Sun by millions of times.

Another theory suggests that the first black holes were formed as a result of the collapse of the first generation of massive stars, and under such conditions, a black hole could grow to its current size in about a billion years by absorbing enough gas. But things could have gone even faster if the black hole consumed gas faster than astrophysicists expected.

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This is exactly the kind of messy and extremely fast feast that Maiolino and colleagues saw when they observed the supermassive black hole at the heart of GN-z11. Given the black hole's appetite, the scientist suggests that it could indeed have been born from the remnants of a dead star when the universe was only a couple hundred million years old.

To find out for sure how this young but gigantic black hole was born, scientists need to look further into the past of the Universe and see even older supermassive black holes to reconstruct the history of their evolution.

At the moment, as the scientists noted, the black hole in the GN-z11 galaxy is doing everything possible to destroy its host. As the researchers explained, the faster the black hole eats, the more the center of the galaxy shines, formed by matter that heats up, heading for death in the black hole's mouth. And at the same time, the black hole forcefully repels the gas that is nearby. This way, it can eventually absorb all the suitable "food" in the galaxy, throwing a significant portion of the nutrient gas to an unreachable distance.

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This will lead to the fact that the black hole can eventually cut itself off and leave the host galaxy without gas to form new ones.

Subscribe to OBOZ.UA on Telegram and Viber to keep up with the latest events.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov confirmed that the maximalist goals of the aggressor country in Ukraine remain unchanged, and it is not genuinely interested in negotiations. The Kremlin believes that the longer the war continues, the more territory it will be able to occupy.

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Moscow also believes that the course of the fighting will increasingly weaken Kyiv's negotiating position. This is how the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) assessed the Russian minister's words at a press conference on January 18.

The day before, Lavrov claimed that Russia would "consistently and persistently" achieve the goals of its "SMO." These include the "demilitarization" and "denazification" of Ukraine, as well as the demand that NATO commit not to accept new members  goals that, in the mind of dictator Putin, are tantamount to the complete surrender of Ukraine and the West.

The Kremlin leader voiced these theses on the day of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022. Now the Russian minister has reiterated that they remain unchanged, stating that "serious" talks about "realistic" conditions for ending the war "imply that Ukraine abandons Nazi ideology and rhetoric, racism against everything Russian, and joins NATO."

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The Russian foreign minister tried to justify these conditions as "necessary to preserve the independence and identity of the Ukrainian people," despite Russian troops and occupation authorities regularly engaging in large-scale and deliberate campaigns of ethnic cleansing and efforts to destroy the Ukrainian people, language, culture, history, and ethnicity in the temporarily occupied territories.

In addition, Lavrov denied Ukraine's role as a sovereign state, stating that it is not for Ukraine to "decide when to stop and start talking seriously" with Russia about ending the war, but rather for the West to make that decision. He responded to a question about recent media reports about the possibility of negotiations by saying that "rumors are just rumors." Lavrov reiterated that Russia is "always ready" for dialogue and blamed the West for its absence. He also threateningly stated that "those [in the West] who refuse should understand that the longer they wait, the harder it will be to negotiate" and "there is no hope that Russia will be 'defeated'."

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ISW recalled that Lavrov made similar statements on December 15, 2023.

"The Kremlin believes that the longer the war lasts, the more territory Russia will be able to occupy, and the course of the war will increasingly weaken Ukraine's negotiating position," the analysts said.

As reported by OBOZ.UA, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba expressed the opinion that Russian dictator Putin will continue to wage wars until the end of his life. He emphasized that negotiations with Moscow do not make sense.

Only verified information on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
Hungary may once again veto a four-year, 50 billion program from the European Union for Ukraine. Ukraine's Ambassador to the EU, Vsevolod Chentsov, discussed alternative options in case such a decision is made.

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He shared this information in an interview with Forbes. According to Mr. Chentsov, the following options are being considered:

 The creation of a Fund for Ukraine, which will operate for four years within the EU budget.

 An off-budget fund to which EU member states can make contributions.

 The European Commission can borrow aid under its guarantee.

 Macro-financial assistance, i.e., periodic borrowing from the European Commission under its guarantee.

The ambassador noted that the first option is more cost-effective and convenient, making it the preferred choice. However, Hungary may exercise its veto power, although playing this card repeatedly may have limitations for any country.

"I think that option A will be adopted," the ambassador said.

He added that the final decision may include safeguards or provisions for the periodic review of indicators. Last year, the EU provided about 18 billion to cover the budget deficit, and this year's figures are expected to be similar. The future amount of borrowing will depend on Ukraine's needs.

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"We hope that the economy (of Ukraine - ed.) will start working, and the need for borrowing will decrease," Chentsov concluded.

As a reminder, the Hungarian government continues to create uncertainty regarding the EU's assistance to Ukraine. Orban's office stated that they are still far from reaching an agreement with the EU on new long-term financing.

Earlier, Hungary agreed to unblock the EU's 50 billion aid to Ukraine over four years, subject to an annual review of funding. EU diplomats are skeptical about this proposal, as it might allow Viktor Orban, often referred to as "Putin's friend," to exert pressure on the European Union.

As reported by OBOZ.UA:

On January 13, it became known that a petition to deprive Hungary of the right to vote in the EU Council had already collected the required number of signatures in the European Parliament.

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On January 18, the European Parliament adopted a resolution calling for the curtailment of Hungary's rights in the EU. Additionally, the European Parliament urges the European Council to determine whether Hungary has committed "serious and persistent violations of EU values" under Article 7.2 of the EU Treaty. This provision allows for the suspension of voting rights in the EU Council.

Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
Chinese-language media outlets have reported that as of Jan. 7, no members of the Japanese cabinet visited the regions impacted by the Noto earthquake, which struck on New Years Day. It had a magnitude of 7.6, and was centered on the Noto Peninsula in Japans Ishikawa Prefecture.

But the claim is false. Japanese Cabinet members visited the area almost immediately after the earthquake struck, according to government statements and media reports.

The claim was shared on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Jan. 7, by a Hong Kong based pro-Beijing outlet Tong Media.

Japans Noto has just been hit by an earthquake. Japans foreign minister visited Ukraine on the 7th, and members of the cabinet were accused of not even going to the disaster-hit area, but went to Ukraine instead, the claim reads in part.

Chinese media outlets and social media influencers claim that no Japanese cabinet members visited the area, but the foreign minister went to Ukraine. (Screenshot/Weibo & X)

The claim began to circulate following a surprise visit by Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa to Kiev on Jan. 7.

As the two-year anniversary of the Russo-Ukrainian war in February draws near, Kamikawa announced Japans pledge of US$37 million to aid Ukraine in developing unmanned aerial surveillance systems, reinforcing Japans ongoing support. This visit occurred shortly after a Jan. 1 quake hit the Noto Peninsula.

The news about Kamikawas visit and pledged grant to Ukraine ignited a debate in Japan, with several online users calling for the Japanese government to prioritize domestic disaster relief.

Citing one of the users, Russias state-run broadcaster RT also claimed: No one [from the Japanese Cabinet] has been to Noto, but some of them have visited Ukraine.

But the claim is false. Japanese Cabinet members visited the area almost immediately after the earthquake struck, according to government statements and media reports.

Tokyos response to the earthquake

In the days following the earthquake, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida held several press conferences, during which he provided detailed explanations about the extent of the damage in Noto and outlined the governments response plan.

On Jan. 1, Kishida said that a Cabinet investigation team headed by State Minister Yoshifumi Matsumura, who is in charge of disaster management, had already arrived by plane in Ishikawa prefectures capital of Kanazawa.

On the following day, Kishida also noted that Deputy Minister of the Cabinet Office Atsushi Koga had visited and performed an inspection of the disaster area by helicopter.

Kogas visit to the disaster area has been widely covered by local media outlets, including Asahi Shimbun.

Translated by Shen Ke. Edited by Taejun Kang and Malcolm Foster.

Asia Fact Check Lab (AFCL) was established to counter disinformation in todays complex media environment. We publish fact-checks, media-watches and in-depth reports that aim to sharpen and deepen our readers understanding of current affairs and public issues. If you like our content, you can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram and X.






Many of those arrested were complaining or sharing information the government hadn't approved.

A message from the Chinese police is displayed on a desktop screen at an internet cafe on proper use of the internet in Beijing, China, Aug. 19, 2013.

Police across China have launched a New Year crackdown on online rumors," a term often used by the ruling Communist Party to ban any information and complaints circulating online that hasn't received the blessing of its approved media outlets.

Police departments in Shanghai, Nanjing, Inner Mongolia and other places have already announced some key "rumor" cases, most of them linked to unofficial comments and information linked to the economy, social issues and healthcare on social media platforms like WeChat and Douyin, the domestic version of TikTok.

Analysts said officials are increasingly nervous about simmering public dissatisfaction at Communist Party leader Xi Jinping's handling of the economy, which was evident during the "white paper" protests in November 2022, as well as underlying mass public mourning for late premier Li Keqiang last October.

They said many of those arrested were just sounding off about the state of the economy, or trying to keep themselves and their friends informed by using overseas platforms not affected by government censorship.

Police in Shanghai reported eight "online rumor cases," including online reports that Shanghai's City God Temple had gone bankrupt and had failed to meet its reserve price while auctioning off the building, holding a man surnamed Liu for a five-day administrative sentence for the post.

In another case, a man surnamed Su was held for 10 days for splicing and editing videos of police treatment of a Shanghai cab driver at the city's South Railway Station, it said.

Stability maintenance

Nanjing-based current affairs commentator Luo Wei said more people are complaining and trading information online in the wake of the economic downturn, and the authorities are sending out a warning that they should be careful what they say.

"The economy has been very bad since the COVID-19 restrictions, and there has been a growing feeling of social injustice for some time, which has finally burst out," Luo said, in a reference to the lifting of President Xi Jinpings zero-COVID policy in December 2022, following nationwide protests that November.

Billboard promoting WeChat social media platform, owned by China's Tencent company at Hong Kong international airport, Aug. 21, 2017 (Richard A. Brooks/AFP)





"They have noticed a lot of complaining among the public -- most of the people arrested weren't spreading rumors -- this move is about stability maintenance," she said, in a reference to a nationwide system of law enforcement that slaps restrictions and controls on critics of the government before they take action.

The detentions came as the Ministry of Public Security designated 2024 as the "year of special action to combat online rumors," the Legal Daily newspaper quoted Li Tong, deputy director of the Cyber Security Bureau of the Ministry of Public Security, as saying on Dec. 25.

The ministry will be "deploying public security agencies across the country to carry out a one-year special action," Li said. "The crackdown will be carried out across the entire chain, across all platforms, and in all areas."

Issuing warnings

Police will be focusing on "major cases" of online rumors as an "entry point to investigate loopholes in websites and platforms," and will be issuing warnings and rectification orders, said the paper, which is the official newspaper of the Communist Partys law enforcement arm, the Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission.

Earlier this week, Nanjing police jailed five people on brief administrative sentences for online comments linked to social issues and the Dec. 18 magnitude-6.2 earthquake in the western province of Gansu that left more than 150 dead and hundreds injured.

Luo said the crackdown on "online rumors" is really about silencing people who speak out online.

"It's just about silencing people," he said. "They think that's the best way of solving problems."

Police in Inner Mongolia have also targeted those who use circumvention software to get around the Great Firewall of internet censorship and spread information on overseas platforms that had already been deleted in China.

China's President Xi Jinpings New Year speech is televised in a Beijing restaurant, Dec. 31, 2023. (Pedro Pardo/AFP)





Police in the northern region's Alxa Banner jailed a WeChat user identified only by his surname Peng for 10 days after he reposted information about more than 20 people who had allegedly tested positive for HIV at a government-backed institution.

Another person surnamed Li was handed a 7-day administrative sentence for saving and reposting the information to their WeChat circle of friends.

Very nervous

Germany-based ethnic Mongolian dissident Xi Haiming said the authorities fear they could face a crisis of governance, so are extremely nervous about what gets posted online.

"The more nervous they get, the stricter they will be," Xi said. "They are very nervous now, and ethnic regions are no different."

Even overseas activists are feeling the effects, he said.

"I've spoken to a few friends ... who used to be members of several WeChat groups, but have now been kicked out, and rejected as friends on WeChat," Xi said. "The police are even watching when [somebody] likes them on Facebook."

Shanxi-based scholar Chen Chen said people are increasingly relying on overseas media for their news and information, particularly Chinese-language news from overseas sources.

"The government's control of the internet will only get stricter and stricter," Chen said. "It reflects the fragility of the regime, and the delicacy of the current situation."

"It's about their need to maintain so-called political stability," he said.

Translated by Luisetta Mudie. Edited by Malcolm Foster.
Pyongyang said it was responding to maritime drills by the US, S Korea and Japan.

This picture taken on March 23, 2023 shows the underwater nuclear strategic attack weapon system "Haeil" firing in the water off the coast of Riwon County of South Hamgyong Province, in the East Sea, also known as the Sea of Japan.

North Korea said Friday it had carried out a test of an underwater nuclear system, showcasing its latest nuclear capabilities, underscoring the growing security challenges on the Korean peninsula.

The Underwater Weapon System Institute under the DPRK Academy of Defence Science conducted an important test of its underwater nuclear weapon system, an unnamed spokesman for the Norths Ministry of National Defence said in a statement, referring to North Koreas formal name, the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea.

The Haeil-5-23, North Koreas underwater nuclear system involving drones, was tested off its eastern coast to counter the allies joint military drills, the statement said, according to the Norths official Korean Central News Agency. The statement did not specify the exact date of the test.

Our armys underwater nuke-based countering posture is being further rounded off and its various maritime and underwater responsive actions will continue to deter the hostile military maneuvers of the navies of the U.S. and its allies, it said.

Pyongyang specifically pointed out the three-day joint maritime exercises off the coast of the Souths Jeju Island  conducted by the United States, South Korea, and Japan from Monday  as a cause for its latest test. The drills involved assets from the U.S., South Korea and Japan, involving the U.S. nuclear carrier Carl Vinson and Aegis cruiser Princeton.

North Korea has long protested against the trilateral drills and has shown particular sensitivity towards the increased presence of U.S. nuclear carriers in the Korean Peninsula, largely due to its asymmetrical conventional capability.

The U.S., Japan and the Republic of Korea are getting frantic in their provocative military exercises from the outset of the year, the Norths ministry said.

The aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson, left, sails with South Korean Navy's Aegis destroyer King Sejong the Great and Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force Aegis destroyer Kongou in the international waters of the southern coast of Korean peninsula during a recent joint drill in 2024. (South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff via AP)





Underwater nuclear strike capabilities pose a significant threat to the allies due to the difficulty in spotting them. Submarine-launched weapons can be deployed covertly, often evading the allies detection systems, potentially offering Pyongyang a more elusive means of deploying its nuclear weapons.

Pyongyangs latest threat came as South Korea urged the United Nations in New York Thursday, to take action in response to North Koreas escalating provocations. South Korea started its tenure as a non-permanent member of the council on Jan. 1, publicly vowing to leverage its position to more proactively tackle the challenges posed by North Korea.

Amid the tensions North Koreas leader Kim Jong Un pledged on Monday to amend the countrys constitution to declare Seoul as Pyongyangs primary and immutable enemy.

Pyongyang has also beefed up its efforts to bolster ties with key regime backers, notably Russia, amid the growing security cooperation among the U.S., South Korea and Japan.

Russian President Vladimir Putin met North Koreas Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui in Moscow Tuesday, and vowed to closely collaborate on efforts to jointly deal with both regional and global security matters.

Edited by Mike Firn and Elaine Chan.
Three North Korean immigrants in the UK talk about their escapes and dreams.

>>> See the special page here.

New Malden in southwest London is one of the largest Korean enclaves in all of Europe. It has all the trappings of Koreatowns the world over: a high concentration of Korean restaurants, businesses tailored to Korean speakers, and even non-Korean tourists from other parts of the city, looking for something a little different.

Ethnic enclaves like New Malden are full of immigrants who left their home country for one reason or another to try to make it in a new country, and while most of the 20,000 ethnic Korean residents there are first-, second- or third-generation immigrants from South Korea, there are about 700 New Malden residents who are from the North.

Though they are no longer living under the repressive North Korean government and have resettled in a new land, many are still struggling to find their place in the world, but some remain steadfast in pursuit of their dreams.

Dreaming on canvas

On most days, Lee Myung-gwan wakes up in his second floor studio apartment above a Korean restaurant, puts on his construction work clothes, climbs down the creaky stairs and heads off to the job site.

Construction work may pay the bills, but 40-year-old Lees passion is for art.

One of his masterpieces, a 3D painting titled Turtle Ship that took two years to complete  with painstakingly carved wood and other solid media  hangs between a refrigerator and boxes of ingredients in the restaurant below.

The painting depicts two turtles swimming near a turtle ship, a Korean warship known for its armored roof that was used against Japanese invaders during the Imjin War in the late 16th century. It has become a symbol of Korean independence  and in a way, the painting has come to symbolize Lees own freedom.

There are two turtles over there. One turtle represents the unknown me in my heart and the other turtle represents me searching for my ego in reality, said Lee, who goes by the artist name Surl Lee.

Though he aspires to have his work hung in galleries and museums, the humble display has become a metaphor for how his life in the U.K. has turned out so far; he has escaped his repressive homeland and made a life for himself in a new country, but he isnt yet as established as hed hoped he would be.

Lees passion for art is hereditary, he explained.

My grandfather was a potter in North Korea, he said. I was naturally exposed to a lot of pottery from a young age. I even drew along while looking at my grandfathers collection of work. Thats why back then, I used to think that when I grew up, I wanted to become a great artist.

I cant live in this country

Lee first escaped from North Korea at age 16, in the winter of 1997.

It was the height of the Arduous March, the term used by North Koreans to describe a 1994-1998 famine that claimed hundreds of thousands of lives. According to some estimates, more than 2 million people  about 10% of the population - died.

Lee fled to China to look for better living conditions  and his mother, who had escaped previously. But he was caught by Chinese authorities and sent home against his will.

He spent the next year in a labor camp, digging out a riverbed to prevent flood damage.

I was going through such a difficult time in prison, and so I asked myself, Is it a crime to go look for my mother? and Im still a minor, There were a lot of feelings of animosity like this.

So, I thought, I cant live in this country. I have to get out somehow.

Upon Lees release, he was branded with a criminal record and considered by society to be a traitor, so there was no way that Lee could even hope to be allowed by the government to pursue a career in art.

To stay would have meant menial jobs and a bare-bones existence, he explained.

Even if I were to live in that country, it wouldnt feel like I'm actually breathing, said Lee. I would have to live under surveillance all the time. What hope could I have living in a country where I can't do what I want?

About a year after his first attempt, he crossed the border into China again - and eventually moved to Britain in 2014.

Loneliness, prejudice

It's now been nearly 10 years since he landed in London with the dream of becoming a painter, but he still does manual labor. Facing numerous barriers, he has not been able to break into the London art scene.

I met a gallery director, and the more we talked, the more it stung. They told me I was not qualified, said Lee. They said that people would only recognize me if I met certain qualifications, such as a diploma or a lot of experience.

But his biggest battle is with extreme loneliness, he said.

When I tell people I am from North Korea, people start off immediately prejudiced, said Lee. From that point on, its like a wound that I am not even aware of. Every time I meet people though, thats how the conversation goes.

I want to live as an artist, but I am afraid that my dreams are fading away in the face of poverty, said Lee. People call me thoughtless and immature. They ask Why are you still dreaming, as if you were playing like a child at this age? Why are you still dreaming when you are already 40 years old?

He paused and smiled.

There is meaning in life only when I have the will to live and the desire to achieve it. If I dont have a dream, what on Earth is the point of living?

He picked up a carving knife and began cutting materials for his next masterpiece.

Musical freedom

About a 30-minute drive from New Malden, in the suburb of Molesey, guitarist Jeon Yeyoung makes a cappuccino in her kitchen on the second floor of a red-bricked apartment building. She adds a bit of honey, and this is how she starts her day.

Classical guitars line the walls of her living room, and several of her friends have come to visit her on this day.

One comments how relaxed she seems.

Jeon laughs. Before she left North Korea to pursue her musical dreams, that was not a feeling she was familiar with.

In North Korea, it was like Relaxed? What does that mean? she said. I cant imagine leisure, relaxation or anything like romance. That kind of thing does not fit in North Korea.

Jeon was the youngest daughter to a family with a good background. In North Korea, loyalty to the state and its leadership are calculated across several generations and people are given a sort of caste-like categorization called songbun.

Given her relative privilege, she was allowed to learn music. She started with the gayageum, a traditional Korean 12-stringed instrument, but the first time she saw her older brother playing the guitar, she fell in love with the six-stringer.

I met my first guitar teacher when I just turned 10. Every word the teacher said got my heart beating, she said. He told me, I will make you the best guitar player in [North] Korea!

This is how her dream started, she said.

Do children in North Korea have dreams? No. But with those words, it was the first time that I had an expectation that I would make something of myself, she said. That small seed has now become my dream.

But even though she was talented and showed promise, she was still limited in North Korea.

Jeon is playing Romance DAmour.

Jeons dream was further cemented the first time she heard her guitar teacher play Raindrops, a song composed by renowned U.S. guitarist George C. Lindsay. But North Korean musicians are forbidden from playing anything that does not glorify the country or its leadership, at least publicly.

The teacher wouldnt give me the sheet music for Raindrops. He told me, Dont even think about learning it, she said.

But I thought this song was so pretty that every time I went to the teacher, I asked, Please play that song, and I played it as I heard. I kept memorizing it. I went home and copied what I heard.

Water in the desert

The song carries special meaning for her.

It felt like water drops in the desert. In a waterless desert, a single drop of water has tremendous power. When you feel thirsty, the most powerful thing is water.

As an artist, she yearned to play whatever she wanted to. She yearned for freedom.

At the age of 17, Jeon was all set to join the prestigious music propaganda team, but instead was suddenly assigned to farm labor in the countryside.

Jeon did not want to give up her dreams of becoming a talented guitarist, so when her family was sleeping, she ran away from home. To pay her university tuition, she had no choice but to take jobs doing the same kind of menial work that she had run from.

She cleaned hotels and helped out at beauty salons and the hard work took a toll on her hands, giving her swollen, achy joints. This made it difficult to practice guitar.

Jeon recalls the moment she had had enough of being told what to do. She was cleaning the office of the hotel where she worked.

One day, the manager, her name was Amanda, she told me to clean the car park where there were a lot of cigarette butts scattered about, she said.

So I told her, When you first signed the contract, didn't you say it was for office cleaning? But she said she can tell me what to do because she is the manager, Jeon said, her voice getting louder and faster as she recounted the tale.

I knew the word labor exploitation in Korean, but I didnt know the word in English, she said. I used to use an electronic dictionary. I said to Amanda, You wait, and took an electronic dictionary from my backpack and said, Exploitation!

This was the first time that she had mustered up the courage to speak up for herself.

After much hard work and study, Jeon earned a master's degree in classical guitar from the prestigious Guildhall School of Music and Drama.

But Jeon said she actually felt sad when it was all over.

After graduating last year, I thought I would be free now, but slowly, in my mind, I sometimes think, I didnt do anything good for my parents, why was I born like this, why did I come out like this?

These guilty feelings that she had suppressed over many years finally burst out in a way that she was not able to handle on her own. She needed a place to share her feelings with likeminded people.

This is how she found Connect: North Korea, a nonprofit organization that supports people who have escaped North Korea and settled in the U.K.

She had previously been avoiding escapees, and even other Koreans, but now she teaches guitar lessons to children of other North Koreans through the organization.

In the past, I wanted to forget that I came from North Korea. Maybe I was pretending, she said. But if I think about it, we North Korean people have a kind of pain. I also have a heartache. Would you say this is how North Koreans feel when they view other North Koreans?

Political freedom

About a three-and-a-half hour drive to the northwest of New Malden is Denton, a town in Greater Manchester that Timothy Cho hopes to represent in the district council.

Cho, a 34-year-old candidate for the Conservative Party, is walking from house to house to encourage people to vote for him in the next local election.

Although he has lost in multiple elections, simply running is a victory for Cho.

I experienced a dictatorship system and did not know the meaning of elections, he said. But when I came here, I could become a candidate and run for office.  Each vote is very precious.

Chos story started half a world away, living on the streets of his North Korean town as a kotjebi, or flower swallow, the Korean term used to describe homeless beggar children.

His parents had fled the country, leaving him behind to fend for himself  and he was branded as a traitor because of what they did.

Cho was kicked out of school, forbidden from joining the military, and had to eke out a living without even a roof over his head.

At that time I was thinking, No matter what I do in this country, in the end, I will be the child of a traitor and so will my children, said Cho. I made up my mind at that time and escaped North Korea.



Over the next few years, Cho escaped to China and was forcibly repatriated and sent to prison  four times.

Eventually the cycle was broken when he finally made it to the U.K. in 2008.

The Ark

Chos mental health was suffering when he arrived, but there were people who would help him recover in the new community that he would eventually call home.

In a two-story house located in a quiet residential part of Denton is a shelter called the Ark. Even though Cho is busy campaigning, he stops by and shares a warm meal with the people who helped him early on.

I still come here often. The people here are like family to me, he said. These people pray a lot for the Korean Peninsula.

All told, about 3,000 North Korean escapees live in the U.K., the largest community of North Korean diaspora in Europe.

Cho stayed at the Ark when he was a college student. He said the staff and others who were staying at the shelter taught him, a lonely escapee, the meaning of family.

Initially he had hoped to become a dentist, but one day he came across a video featuring another escapee who aspired to learn English and tell the world about North Koreas human rights abuses.

It was then that all the pain of his past became overwhelming, and he decided to become an activist.

I cant wait to see North Korea open, he said. I wish that the North Korean people could meet a leader who properly serves the people, allows them to freely engage in market economic activities, and allows travel between South and North Korea.

Now this one-time beggar child is trying to represent the people in his community  an impossibility if he was in North Korea.

The people of Denton South went to vote on May 4, but even that day, Cho was busy going from house to house asking people to vote.

A couple walked past him and gave him encouragement.

I voted for you, one of them said.

Early in the vote count it appeared that Cho had a chance at winning a council seat. He was neck-and-neck with the leading Labour Party candidate.

At 2 a.m., the results were finally announced: "Cho, Timothy. Conservative Party candidate, 666." It was not enough to win a seat. He ranked fourth, behind three Labour Party candidates.

Still, he was not downcast.

Whether I win or lose, I have no regrets about this election, he said. I am grateful, and the challenge will never stop.

Translated by Claire Shinyoung Oh Lee. Edited by Eugene Whong and Malcolm Foster.
The Permanent Representative of the Republic of Korea to the United Nations, Hwang Joon-kook speaks to delegates during a meeting of the United Nations Security Council at U.N. headquarters in New York, U.S., Oct. 5, 2022.

South Korea has urged the United Nations to take action in response to North Koreas escalating provocations, as Pyongyang intensifies tension in the Korean peninsula on multiple fronts ranging from verbal threats to military activities.

Speaking to reporters in New York Thursday, South Koreas envoy to the U.N. Hwang Joon-kook said: We need to break through the U.N. Security Councils silence regarding our response. Figuring out the way forward presents a significant challenge.

The statement came after the UNSC held this years first informal consultation on North Korea issues. The meeting also marked South Koreas first participation in such a consultation since commencing its tenure as a non-permanent member of the council on Jan. 1.

Seoul is committed to utilizing its role in the UNSC to more proactively and regularly tackle the challenges presented by North Korea. It emphasizes its intention to use its status as a non-permanent member to significantly influence international discussions about Pyongyang.

Given the combination of North Koreas rhetoric and actions, the situation is increasingly alarming, and all member states are deeply worried, Hwang added.

A senior government source in Seoul, who asked for anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter, told Radio Free Asia on Friday that Beijing and Moscow defended Pyongyangs position in the latest UNSC meeting. The source did not elaborate further.

The consultation came as North Korea tested an intermediate-range, solid-fueled ballistic missile, or IRBM, Sunday. The Norths IRBM, including its Musudan missiles, can reach Guam, where U.S. strategic assets, including B-52 bombers, are located. The U.N. bans North Korea from launching any ballistic rockets.

U.S. missile expert Vann H. Van Diepen pointed out in 38 North Thursday, that the IRBM North Korea test-launched Sunday appears to be a new type of missile equipped with a Maneuverable Reentry Vehicle (MaRVs)  a system the allies current missile defense systems would find difficult to intercept.

The expert saw IRBMs equipped with MaRVs as a strategic response aimed at countering the U.S.s efforts to enhance its missile defense system. This is particularly relevant in the context of defending against potential threats to Guam, which is located approximately 3,000 kilometers(1,864 miles) from North Korea.

Simultaneously, North Korea has also been ramping up its verbal threats to South Korea, with its leader Kim Jong Un pledging on Monday to amend the countrys constitution to declare Seoul as Pyongyangs primary and immutable enemy.

Pyongyang has also beefed up its efforts to bolster ties with key regime backers, notably Russia, indicating its intent to solidify its support network amid the growing security cooperation among the U.S., South Korea and Japan.

Russian President Vladimir Putin met North Koreas Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui in Moscow Tuesday, and vowed to closely collaborate on efforts to jointly deal with both regional and global security matters.

According to North Koreas state-run Rodong Sinmun Thursday, the two agreed to drive the dynamic development of overall bilateral relations, labeling their relationship as strategic and traditionally friendly.

Edited by Taejun Kang and Mike Firn.
Arbitrary strip searches and body cavity searches carried out by male guards who comment on size of body parts.

This report contains graphic content that may be disturbing to readers. Discretion is advised.

Female political prisoners in Myanmars prison system are routinely sexually harassed by prison staff under the pretext of security checks, several former inmates told Radio Free Asia.

The harassment is in line with the general increase in widespread prisoner abuse in Myanmar since the Feb. 1, 2021, coup.

A former inmate at Maubin prison in the southern region of Ayeyarwady told RFA Burmese on condition of anonymity for security reasons that she was subject to sexual harassment by the prison guards.

We had to take off our shirts, brassieres and underwear, she said, adding that the women were given prison underwear and a sarong wrapping to cover their bosom. They physically searched our bodies. They made a manual body cavity search. They manually examined the area between the thighs. They also squeezed our brassieres.

She recounted an incident where a young woman protested the invasive search while on her period, asking for an exception.

They didnt accept her request and told her to take off [her underwear], the former inmate said. The young lady felt ashamed because there were stains on her pad.

The former inmate said that she is still traumatized by her time in Maubin prison.

I had to live with my body and their souls, she said. I had to live with their souls for more than a year. I never fully recovered from the trauma.

Human rights violation

Such searches of female inmates is a human rights violation, Thike Tun Oo, spokesperson for the Political Prisoners Network in Myanmar, told RFA.

The prison manual stipulates that you have no right to search female political prisoners private parts without their consent, he said. Without installing X-ray machines or body scanners, oppressing women [by conducting physical searches] is, we can say, the worst human rights violation.

Some point out that although the prison manual stipulates to conduct body searches for suspected inmates in order to prevent them from carrying prohibited documents, cash or drugs and other substances hidden in their bodies, not every prisoner will be subjected to search.

Female political prisoners at Maubin prison, Ayeyarwady region, Myanmar. Credit: Political Prisoners Network of Myanmar

Hnin Si, a former female political prisoner, said that such sexual abuses also occur often at the Insein and Thayarwady prisons.

When they search, they put their hands into the brassieres. Some [prison] staff put their hands into the female sexual organs, said Hnin Si. It is a kind of sexual assault against the female inmates in every prison. We had only sarong on our bodies. Even during our periods, we have to show them our underpants.

She said that during her time in Yangons Insein prison, she and others had to deal with sexually explicit comments during body searches.

We were sexually abused by staff who put their hands into our brassieres and organs and said your body parts are small, and yours are big, she said.

The prison manual stipulates that female inmates must be closely supervised by female prison staff only.

Must be held accountable

However, Hnin Si said that the female political prisoners who were locked up in solitary confinement in Thayarwady Prison were dragged out by the male prison staff using harsh words. If there was a fight in the womens ward, the male staff would come in and beat the women, she added.

RFAs calls to the office of the deputy director general and the juntas spokesperson for the prison department went unanswered.

Prison officers and staff members who commit crimes against women must be held accountable, said Naw Khin San Htwe, the general secretary of the Burmese Womens Union.

The terrorist military councils inhumane torture and sexual harassment against women and LGBT people who are politically active is a crime that cannot be tolerated, she said.

This is something that should not be committed from the perspective of human rights and international standards and from the perspective of law, she said. But the terrorist army and the terrorist military council continue to commit crimes with impunity.

According to the Thailand-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, since the Feb. 1, 2021 coup, the government has detained 5,237 female political prisoners.

Translated by Htin Aung Kyaw. Edited by Eugene Whong and Malcolm Foster.
Those who fled account for around half of the areas population and are in urgent need of aid.

People displaced by fighting in northwestern Myanmar between junta forces and anti-junta fighters walk in Chin State, May 31, 2021.

More than 50,000 people, or about half of the population of Paletwa township in western Myanmars Chin state, have been forced to flee conflict in recent months, and are in urgent need of assistance, aid workers said Friday.

The thousands from Paletwa join what the U.N. last month estimated are more than 2.5 million people displaced by conflict in Myanmar amid intense fighting between anti-junta forces and the military, which seized power three years ago through a coup detat.

Clashes between the military and the ethnic Arakan Army, or AA, intensified in Chin and neighboring Rakhine state beginning on Nov. 13, and the AA said it has since seized a total of 24 military outposts and camps in the region.

On Sunday, the AA announced that it had taken control of the entire township of Paletwa, an area with a population of around 97,000 people located about 18 kilometers (11 miles) from Myanmars border with Bangladesh.

A day later, the military carried out an airstrike on Paletwas Kyee Lay village, killing four civilians, including a child, and injuring three others, residents told RFA Burmese.

Arakan Army fighters pose with confiscated arms, ammunition and military devices after taking control of Light Battalion 289 and Military Operations Command 19 of Myanmar junta in Paletwa, Chin state, Jan. 18, 2024. (AA Info Desk)

Amid the fighting, more than 50,000 people have fled their homes in Paletwas urban areas and villages, and are in urgent need of food, shelter, medicine and other emergency assistance, according to volunteers, who spoke on condition of anonymity, citing security concerns.

In addition to food, the displaced persons need blankets, jackets and shelters to be able to withstand the cold weather, said one aid worker.

The worker said that an unknown number of the people who fled Paletwa had traveled across the border into Indias Mizoram state to the north of Chin state, and were reportedly receiving aid from residents and humanitarian organizations.

Cut off from family members

Another volunteer in Paletwa told RFA that the displaced had no time to bring extra supplies, like warmer clothing, as they fled, and that many have lost contact with missing family members because the junta cut off telephone and internet networks in the region.

Some family members were separated in fierce battles, he said. They havent been able to communicate with each other while they sought safety.

Salai Myo Htike, an official with the Paletwa Self-Administration District Council, said that those who fled are too afraid to return home amid the threat of military aerial and artillery attacks.

Very few people will return home to urban areas  it is safer for them to take shelter at camps [for the displaced], he said. The flow of commodities is at risk of a halt at any time, and theres no way to be certain for how long. Some 70-80% of people in Paletwa  whether in urban or rural areas  are likely to suffer from lack of food.

Arakan Army fighters pose with confiscated arms, ammunition and military devices after taking control of Light Battalion 289 and Military Operations Command 19 of Myanmar junta in Paletwa, Rakhine state, Jan. 18, 2024. (AA Info Desk)

Salai Tay Ya, the project manager of Chin Human Rights Organization, characterized the situation as a violation of human rights.

Some [of the displaced] are outside Chin, while others are in the jungles of this state, he said. We have yet to receive any humanitarian aid.

Attempts by RFA to contact Aung Cho, the juntas spokesperson and secretary of Chin state, went unanswered on Friday.

On Thursday, the United League of Arakan announced that military airstrikes and artillery attacks had killed 81 civilians and injured about 260 others in Paletwa and parts of Rakhine state between Nov. 13 and Dec. 13.

Translated by Aung Naing. Edited by Joshua Lipes and Malcolm Foster.
Fighting between the Kachin Independence Army and junta troops in northern Myanmar left two residents dead, locals told Radio Free Asia on Friday.

On Thursday morning, the Kachin Independence Army and other local resistance militias raided a police station and the three infantry battalions stationed in Mongmit, locals said. Junta troops soon retaliated by land and air, they added.

Fighting flared up again Friday morning after a brief respite, residents said, with battles intensifying near the towns center.

The juntas airstrikes continued into Friday afternoon, one local told RFA, declining to be named for security reasons.

"[The junta] is still firing now from a fighter jet. We had to hide in basements, he said. Now, there's fighting near the police station and the market.

The jet dropped six bombs on Friday morning, he added.

Airstrikes were particularly heavy on Thursday, with at least 10 bombs damaging some residents homes, locals said.

A 37-year-old man named Si Thu was killed by a bomb blast, they said. Another man in his 40s died of apparent heart failure.

Three others were injured, they added.

Because of the ongoing attack, families and aid organizations have not been able to collect the bodies, one resident said.

"One of the four injured in yesterday's airstrike has died. Another pedestrian died after suffering a heart attack caused by the sound of explosions, they said, declining to be named for fear of reprisals. We have not moved their bodies yet. No one can go out.

Most of the villages 10,000 residents have fled to nearby villages, he added. Residents told RFA that junta troops are strictly inspecting civilians fleeing through the citys exits.

Myanmars regime has not released any information about the fighting in Mongmit. RFA contacted Shan state junta spokesperson Khun Thein Maung and the Kachin Independence Armys information officer Col. Naw Bu for comment, but neither answered by the time of publication on Friday.

Clashes between the Kachin Independence Army and junta troops have persisted since Monday in Kutkai and Mongmit townships.

The KIA is not part of the alliance of ethnic armies that agreed a ceasefire with the junta on Jan. 11 in several townships across Shan state. That China-brokered ceasefire has already faltered with the Three Brotherhood Alliance claiming the junta launched airstrikes on Mongmit and two other townships in the northern state on Sunday

The alliance also announced in a press release Wednesday that one of its members, the Myanmar Democratic National Alliance Army, had retaliated after the junta fired grenades at its troops.

Translated by RFA Burmese. Edited by Mike Firn.
Nearly 300 infantry troops surrendered in Kyauktaw days after a nearby artillery battalion gave up.

Houses damaged by Myanmar junta airstrikes are seen in the Pi Chaung area, Kyauktaw township, Rakhine state, Jan. 17, 2024.

Nearly 300 junta troops surrendered to the Arakan Army this week as the ethnic rebel group took control of a major Myanmar military encampment in northern Rakhine state, residents told Radio Free Asia.

The Arakan Armys victory in Kyauktaw township on Tuesday came two days after it captured a nearby artillery battalion, a resident told RFA on condition of anonymity.

The advances are the latest in a series of victories for the Arakan Army and two other rebel groups that make up the Three Brotherhood Alliance, which launched a campaign in October on junta forces in the northern and western parts of the country.

In northern Rakhine and neighboring Chin state, the Arakan Army has seized arms and ammunition during several attacks on junta positions this month.

The juntas Light Infantry Battalion 539 was located at the eastern foot of a hill next to the Sittwe-Yangon highway, local residents said. Junta forces had recently made serious efforts to fortify both the infantry and artillery battalions, they said.

I closely witnessed the fierce fighting, the resident said. The military carried out air strikes with three jet fighters in the attack, while the AA used drones and artillery.

A resident of Rakhines Rathedaung township told RFA that almost all Burmese military camps in the township have been captured by the Arakan Army, with only some urban areas still under junta control.

Airstrikes by Myanmar junta forces damaged these homes in the Pi Chaung area, Kyauktaw township, Rakhine state, Jan. 17, 2024. (Citizen journalist)





Residents told RFA that the armed clashes are intensifying in Maruk-U and Minbya townships, where the Arakan Army has been attacking three military battalions and one police battalion.

The junta has responded with jet fighters, a Mrauk-U resident told RFA on condition of anonymity.

Junta troops will surrender gradually

The junta has targeted residential areas with airstrikes at least three times a day in Minbya, a local resident who wished to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals told RFA.

The military council conducted aerial attacks by various fighter planes and artillery shelling, he said. They often fired from Mrauk-U.

In the Pi Chaung area of Kyauktaw township on Wednesday, junta airstrikes killed five locals and injured 19 others, a resident told RFA on condition of anonymity due to security concerns.

A local observer who is monitoring the situation in Rakhine said the Arakan Army is close to controlling all of northern Rakhine state and seems to be only getting stronger and smarter about combat strategy.

They have also captured Paletwa township, and now the flow of arms and ammunition will be easier, he said. Except one or two places, the AA has seized the entire Mrauk-U city. So, it is expected that the military council will surrender gradually.

RFA contacted Arakan Army spokesperson Khaing Thukha for further details on the two victories in Kyauktaw township, but he didnt immediately reply.

A junta statement on Tuesday denied reports of a surrender of 100 soldiers in its Yae Soe Chaung strategic camp in Rathedaung. The statement also blamed the media for destroying the dignity of their security forces through spreading misinformation.

The military junta has not made a statement this week about the military situations in Rakhine state or about Tuesdays surrender of the infantry battalion in Kyauktaw township.

Calls to Rakhine states junta spokesperson Hla Thein by RFA went unanswered this week.

Translated by Aung Naing. Edited by Matt Reed and Malcolm Foster.
Uyghurs make up almost half of the journalists jailed by China

Jewher Ilham, daughter of Ilham Tohti, holds a portrait of her father during the award ceremony for his 2019 European Parliament's Sakharov human rights prize in Strasbourg, France, Dec. 18, 2019.

China is the worst jailer of journalists in the world, a report by a New York-based watchdog said, and nearly half of the journalists behind bars in the country are Uyghurs who reported on the persecution of the mostly Muslim group in Xinjiang.

In its 2023 prison census, conducted on Dec. 1, the Committee to Protect Journalists, or CPJ, found that there was a spike in arrested journalists, with 320 believed to be behind bars  close to a record high.

More than half of those jailed journalists were charged with false news, anti-state or terrorism charges in retaliation for their coverage, the groups research found.

China led all countries, with 44 journalists in prison, accounting for 32% of the worldwide total. Following closely behind was Myanmar, with 43. Vietnam was fifth on the list with 19, ahead of Iran and just behind Russia.

Hong Kong media mogul and pro-democracy activist Jimmy Lai, is escorted by Correctional Services officers to a Hong Kong court appearance, Dec. 12, 2020. (Kin Cheung/AP)

China has long ranked as one of the worlds worst jailers of journalists, the report said. Censorship makes the exact number of journalists jailed there notoriously difficult to determine, but Beijings media crackdown has widened in recent years, with 2021 marking the first time journalists from Hong Kong were in jail at the time of CPJs census.

In addition to Hong Kong, Xinjiang was another chief area of concern, according to the report. Of the 44 imprisoned journalists in China, 19 are Uyghurs.

Among them is Ilham Tohti, a professor who was also the founder of the news website Uighurbiz. Tohti was arrested almost exactly 10 years ago, and later sentenced to life in prison on charges of separatism.

Another is Qurban Mamut, the former editor-in-chief of the popular Uyghur journal Xinjiang Civilization. Mamut went missing in November 2017 and RFA learned in 2022 that he was sentenced to 15 years in prison for political crimes.

Media gather outside the offices of Stand News in Hong Kong on December 29, 2021, after police raided the office of the local media outlet and arrested six current and former staff. (Daniel Suen/AFP)

Chinese authorities are also ramping up the use of anti-state charges to hold journalists, with three out of the five new China cases in CPJs 2023 database consisting of journalists accused of espionage, inciting separatism, or subverting state power, the report said.

Many journalists charged are ethnic Uighurs from Xinjiang, where Beijing has been accused of crimes against humanity for its mass detentions and harsh repression of the regions mostly Muslim ethnic groups, it said.

Silencing minority voices

The disproportionate number of jailed Uyghur journalists mirrors the situation in Xinjiang, Beh Lih Yi, the CPJs Asia program coordinator told RFA Uyghur.

Nearly half of the journalists behind bars in China in 2023 were Uighur journalists. They have been targeted under vague charges such as inciting separatism or being two-faced, a loose term Chinese authorities often use to punish those they see as publicly supporting government policy but secretly opposing it, said Yi.

The media repression highlights the Chinese government's harsh attempt to silence minority voices and independent reporting  even as Beijing repeatedly rejected claims of widespread human rights abuses in Xinjiang, she said.

A giant screen in Beijing shows Chinese President Xi Jinping visiting Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region July 15, 2022. (Tingshu Wang/Reuters)

She said that long-term sentences for Uyghur journalists were outrageous and cruel, and called on the Chinese government to release all its imprisoned journalists and allow all journalists to freely report in Xinjiang.

The report proves the importance of the work of Uyghur journalists, Zubayra Shamseden of the Washington-based Uyghur Human Rights Project said.

It is clear from the imprisonment of Uyghur journalists that China doesnt want the international community to know anything about Uyghurs, said Shamseden. Uyghur journalists report on Uyghur issues. They are the voices of the Uyghur people in the world. By imprisoning Uyghur journalists, China is attempting to crush the voices of Uyghurs.

The report also noted that Israel saw a huge spike of journalist jailings last year, with all those known to be behind bars on the date of the census having been arrested in the West Bank.

Additional reporting by Mamatjan Juma. Edited by Malcolm Foster.
On Friday, January 19, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy had a phone conversation with President of the UAE Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan . During the conversation, the Head of State expressed sincere gratitude for the recognition and support of Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity.

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He also expressed gratitude for the UAE's positive contribution to facilitating the exchange of prisoners . Zelenskyy announced this on his Telegram channel.

"The return of people home is a priority for Ukraine, so we look forward to the Emirates' further active role," he said.

The President emphasized that Ukraine is also grateful for humanitarian aid. He specified that last week Kyiv had received a large batch of more than 1,500 generators. In the context of Russian air terror, such assistance is critical.

During the conversation, the parties also discussed the possibility of long-term financial support from the UAE , as well as cooperation in the implementation of the Peace Formula.

"I told them about the start of preparations for the Global Peace Summit and invited the UAE to join the process. The voice of the Gulf countries is important to us," Zelenskyy summarized.

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As a reminder, this is the third foreign visit by Russian President Vladimir Putin since his troops invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022. Now, having been recognized as a war criminal by the International Criminal Court, he visited the United Arab Emirates, with Flight 1 being escorted to the airport in Abu Dhabi by four Su-35S. The arrival of the dictator became a real celebration in the Middle Eastern state, Putin was greeted like a sheikh.

As reported by OBOZ.UA, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) agreed to limit direct re-exports to Russia. We are talking about goods that Russia uses in the war against Ukraine. Moreover, Turkey may take similar measures. This will help to reduce the flow of military goods to the aggressor country, although re-exports through third parties will still remain.

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Only verified information is available on the OBOZ.UA Telegram channel and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
Tran Tuan Anh is the latest to face punishment under the Communist Partys anti-corruption campaign.

Tran Tuan Anh, in Santiago Chile, March 8, 2018, has been accused of wrongdoings in the power and oil-gas sectors.

A Politburo member who is the son of a former state president is under investigation by the Vietnam Communist Partys Central Inspection Committee for suspected wrongdoings in his dealings with the oil and gas industry while he was minister of commerce.

As minister from 2016 to 2021, Tran Tuan Anh was responsible for wrong advice in the issuance of the mechanism for the development of solar energy and wind power under the countrys ambitious plan to transition away from coal usage, according to state media reports.

Additionally, officials under the ministrys management also committed wrongdoings in the issuance of the trading mechanism for petroleum, the management of Vietnams oil supply and the bidding process for projects with the Advanced International Joint Stock Company, or AIC, the reports said.

AIC has been involved in the import of corporate electronics, pharmaceuticals, auto parts, machine tools and farm equipment.

The companys former chairwoman and general director, Nguyen Thi Thanh Nhan, has been accused of masterminding bid-rigging to win 16 contracts to supply medical equipment to several Vietnamese hospitals. She fled to Germany in 2022.

Tran Tuan Anh, left, and Britains then-International Trade Secretary Liz Truss at the signing ceremony for a trade agreement in Hanoi, Dec. 11, 2020. (Kham/Reuters)





The Central Inspection Committee reported on the accusations against Tran Tuan Anh to the partys Politburo and Secretariat this week, with a recommendation that he be appropriately penalized, state media reported.

The committees report also named former deputy Minister of Commerce Do Thang Hai, who was arrested on Dec. 21 for allegedly taking bribes from the Xuyen Viet Oil Company.

Former Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung and Hoang Quoc Vuong, who also served as deputy minister of commerce and was the board chairman of state-owned PetroVietnam, were also named in the report, according to state media.

Anh is the latest Politburo member to face punishment for wrongdoings under the partys Blazing Furnace anti-corruption campaign.

His father, Tran Duc Luong, was state president between 1997 and 2006.

In 2019, Anh wrote a public apology letter after it became known that his wife and son were picked up in a state-owned car after a Vietnam Airlines flight.

Edited by Matt Reed and Malcolm Foster.
The meeting comes after Hanois recent agreement to allow a resident representative in the country.

Pope Francis poses during an audience with a delegation from the Communist Party of Vietnam at the Vatican, Jan. 18, 2024.

Pope Francis met with a delegation from the Vietnamese Communist Party at the Vatican in a visit that could presage a visit by the pontiff in the near future, party officials told state media.

The meeting on Thursday with the head of the partys Foreign Relations Agency and 15 other officials follows President Vo Van Thuongs trip to the Holy See in July.

Relations between Hanoi and the Vatican dissolved when communist leaders took over Vietnam at the end of the Vietnam War in 1975. After the countrys reunification, they placed restrictions on the Catholic Church and jailed several Catholic leaders who opposed the new government.

After years of negotiations, the Vietnamese government announced in June that it would allow the Vatican to appoint a resident representative in the country.

Vietnam President Vo Van Thuong arrives with his wife Pham Thi Thanh Tam to meet with Pope Francis at the Vatican, July 27, 2023. (Gregorio Borgia/AP)





About 7% of the countrys population of roughly 97 million people are Roman Catholic, partly as a result of evangelism by missionaries from Portugal and Spain beginning in the 16th century.

Keen to go

Pope Francis, who is 87 and hasnt traveled much in recent years, accepted the invitation to travel to Vietnam and requested that collaborative efforts be made to arrange the visit, according to online newspaper Vietnam Plus.

The Vaticans foreign minister, Archbishop Paul Gallagher, told reporters that there are a few further steps to be taken before a trip could be scheduled.

But I think the Holy Father is keen to go and certainly the Catholic community in Vietnam is very happy to want the Holy Father to go. I think it would send a very good message to the region, he said, according to Reuters.

Swiss Guards walk to welcome Vietnam President Vo Van Thuong and his wife Pham Thi Thanh Tam ahead of their private audience with Pope Francis at the Vatican, July 27, 2023. (Gregorio Borgia/AP)





Gallagher said he would visit the country in April, and Cardinal Secretary of State Parolin Pietro Parolin will likely travel there later in 2024.

Vietnams 2016 Law on Religion and Belief gives the government significant control over religious practices and contains vague provisions that permit restrictions on religious freedom in the name of national security and social unity.

Edited by Matt Reed and Malcolm Foster.
Welcome to The Azadi Briefing, an RFE/RL newsletter that unpacks the key issues in Afghanistan. To subscribe, click here.

I'm Abubakar Siddique, senior correspondent at RFE/RL's Radio Azadi. Here's what I've been tracking and what I'm keeping an eye on in the days ahead.

The Key Issue

The Taliban confiscated at least 50,000 books from publishing houses and bookshops in the Afghan capital this week.

Publishers and bookstore owners said the extremist group has also banned the sale and publication of more than 100 books. Many of the books were written or translated by Afghan authors in Dari and Pashto and focus specifically on the Taliban.

Atiqullah Azizi, a Taliban official, said the books were banned because they violated national and Islamic values or promoted disunity among Afghans.

The move has been criticized by authors and publishers, who said they will incur significant financial losses.

"With such restrictions, the Taliban want to impose their views on people," Mujib Rahimi, an author and former government spokesman whose three books have been banned, told RFE/RLs Radio Azadi.

Afghan writer, Nazir Ahmad Shahar, said his book, Waziristan: The Last Refuge, which is about the history of the mountainous region in northwestern Pakistan, was also banned.

The Taliban censors didnt even read the books and banned them just by looking at the titles, Shahar told Radio Azadi.

Why It's Important: The Talibans ban on and confiscation of books suggests the extremist group is intensifying its censorship drive in Afghanistan.

Since seizing power, the Taliban has imposed severe restrictions on the media and access to information, and increased detentions of reporters, activists, and other critics as part of its brutal crackdown on dissent.

The hard-line Islamists have also overhauled the secular curriculum of elementary schools and built hundreds of madrasahs, or Islamic seminaries, across the country in the past two years.

What's Next: The Taliban is likely to widen its book seizures to other parts of Afghanistan and expand its list of banned books.

The groups appears intent on severely limiting Afghans access to alternative forms of information and entrenching its extremist ideology in the country.

What To Keep An Eye On

A Taliban official has announced that the first road linking Afghanistan to neighboring China will be inaugurated soon.

Mohammad Ayub Khalid, the Taliban governor for the northeastern Badakhshan Province, said the 50-kilometer-long road via the Wakhan Corridor will connect his country to Chinas western Xinjiang region.

Khalid said the road, which for now is a dirt track, will be asphalted in the spring, in comments to the pro-Taliban Hurriyat Radio on January 18.

Khalid did not say if Beijing is helping to fund the project, which was first conceived by the ousted Western-backed Afghan government.

The aim of the initiative is to turn the isolated and strategically located Wakhan Corridor into a transport belt by linking China to Afghanistan and Tajikistan to Pakistan.

Why It's Important: Since its return to power, the Taliban has been keen to attract investments from China.

But the Taliban, which remains unrecognized and sanctioned by the international community, has secured only limited investments from Beijing.

The militants appear to be hoping to convince China that Afghanistan can be a valuable land link to Iran, which has attracted substantial Chinese investments.

That's all from me for now. Don't forget to send me any questions, comments, or tips that you have. You can always reach us at azadi.english@rferl.org

Until next time,

Abubakar Siddique

If you enjoyed this briefing and don't want to miss the next edition, subscribe here. It will be sent to your inbox every Friday.
An emboldened Azerbaijan, backed by Turkey, has changed the balance of power in the South Caucasus in recent years.

Baku reclaimed full control over Nagorno-Karabakh, a breakaway region that for three decades had been under ethnic-Armenian control, last year.

A weakened Armenia, meanwhile, has distanced itself from its traditional ally, Russia, and looked to move closer to the West.

The geopolitical changes in the region have raised concerns in Iran, which neighbors Armenia and Azerbaijan. Tehran fears it could lose its clout in a region that has long been dominated by Moscow, an ally.

The Islamic republic strongly opposes the proposed east-west Zangezur Corridor that would connect mainland Azerbaijan to its Naxcivan exclave through Armenian territory and open a long-sought trade route to Tehran's rival, Turkey, and beyond.

Iran is also concerned Baku could forcibly seize territory in southern Armenia to create territorial continuity with Naxcivan, which would cut off Tehran from Yerevan, an ally.

Iran also opposes normalization between Armenia and Turkey, a scenario that could reduce Yerevan's dependence on Tehran and pave the way for greater Western influence in the volatile region.

"The changing dynamics in the region and the decline of Russia's relative influence pose potential challenges to Iran's long-term geopolitical and security goals in the region," said Hamidreza Azizi, a fellow at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs.

Cutting Iran Out

The top diplomats of Armenia and Turkey met on March 1 in the Turkish coastal city of Antalya and reiterated their nations' intention to fully normalize relations.

That meeting was viewed with apprehension by some pundits inside Iran who suggested such a move would cut Tehran out of the region.

"If Ankara's efforts to normalize relations with Yerevan are successful, leading to the establishment of the Zangezur Corridor, it could indeed marginalize Iran geopolitically," Azizi said.

The 45-kilometer-long proposed corridor, Azizi said, would "not only enhance Turkish and Azerbaijani influence by providing a direct link between the two but also bypass Iran, diminishing its role as a potential regional transit hub."

Eldar Mamedov, a Brussels-based expert on the South Caucasus, said the corridor would effectively leave Iran "excessively dependent on the goodwill of Ankara and Baku for the security of its northern borders and also for accessing transit routes [to Russia]."

Azerbaijan's increasingly cozy relations with Iran's archfoe, Israel, have fueled tensions with Tehran.

Iran is also wary that Baku's growing influence in the region could fuel "irredentist tendencies" among Iran's large ethnic Azeri population, separated from Azerbaijan by the Aras River and located primarily in Iran's East and West Azerbaijan provinces, Mamedov said.

For Armenia and Turkey to normalize relations, Yerevan and Baku first need to sign a peace agreement, according to Benyamin Poghosyan, a senior research fellow at the Applied Policy Research Institute of Armenia.

Poghosyan said Azerbaijan would only sign the deal if Armenia conceded to all of Baku's demands, including the establishment of the Zangezur Corridor.

"But I don't believe Armenia will agree to provide Azerbaijan [with an] extraterritorial corridor," he said.

Poghosyan added that Azerbaijan is unlikely to forcibly seize Armenian territory to establish the corridor given the presence of a "hard-power deterrent" like Iran.

Wary of The West?

In February, Armenia suspended its membership in the Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO).

The government of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian has long criticized the CSTO for its "failure to respond to the security challenges" facing Armenia.

In 2020, Baku recaptured parts of Nagorno-Karabakh, a mainly ethnic-Armenian-populated region inside Azerbaijan, following a six-week war that ended with a Russian-brokered cease-fire.

In September 2023, Azerbaijan retook the rest of the territory after a lightning offensive that resulted in the full capitulation of the de facto Karabakh government.

Armenian authorities have accused Russian peacekeepers deployed to Nagorno-Karabakh after the 2020 war of failing to stop Azerbaijan's offensive last year, a claim rejected by Moscow.

Armenia on March 6 said it had requested Moscow to remove Russian border troops from the international airport in Yerevan, the latest sign of souring relations.

The moves have fueled concerns in Iran that Armenia could turn to the West to guarantee its security.

In an apparent warning, Iranian Defense Minister Amir Ashtiani on March 6 told his Armenian counterpart in Tehran that "looking for security outside the region will have the opposite effect."

"We believe that the security architecture of the region should be designed in the region; therefore, any approach by countries in the region against this policy would be in no way acceptable," Ashtiani warned Suren Papikyan.

Poghosyan said Armenia seeks to "diversify its foreign and security policy" but that it was too soon to tell whether it wants to completely pivot to the West or just strengthen relations with Western powers without abandoning Russia.

He added that Iran has made it clear to Armenia that it "would not tolerate geopolitical changes in the South Caucasus, which means not only changes [to] borders, but also changes [to the] balance of power in the region."

For all their differences, Iranian and Western interests converge on their support for Armenian sovereignty.

As such, Mamedov argued, Iran's opposition to a Western presence "may not be as rigid as it appears to be in the official rhetoric."

But it is unclear if that will lead to any collaboration.

"The overarching anti-Western stance in Iranian foreign policy and Tehran's presumed desire not to upset Moscow in the South Caucasus make such cooperation very unlikely," Azizi said.
Vladimir Putin has claimed a fifth presidential term with a landslide victory in a tightly controlled election that has been condemned by the West as neither free nor fair as the Russian leader seeks to prove overwhelming popular support for his full-scale invasion of Ukraine and increasingly repressive policies.

With 99.75 percent of ballots counted, Putin won another six-year term with a post-Soviet record of 87.29 percent of the vote, the Central Elections Committee (TsIK) said on March 18, adding that turnout was also at a "record" level, with 77.44 percent of eligible voters casting ballots.

The 71-year old Putin -- who has ruled as either president or prime minister since 2000 -- is now set to surpass Soviet dictator Josef Stalins nearly 30-year reign to become the longest-serving Russian leader in more than two centuries.

"This election has been based on repression and intimidation," the European Union's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell told journalists in Brussels on March 18 as the bloc's foreign ministers gathered to discuss the election, among other issues.

The March 15-17 vote is the first for Putin since he launched his invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 that has killed tens of thousands of Russians and led to a clear break in relations with the West. In holding what has widely been viewed as faux elections, Putin wants to show that he has the nations full support, experts said.

The vote was also held in Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine, where hundreds of thousands of Russian soldiers are located. Moscow illegally annexed the regions since launching the invasion, though it remains unclear how much of the territory it controls.

The Kremlin's goal "is to get as many people as possible to sign off on Russia's war against Ukraine. The idea is to get millions of Russian citizens to retroactively approve the decision Putin single-handedly made two years ago," Maksim Trudolyubov, a senior fellow at the Kennan Institute, wrote in a note ahead of the vote.

In remarks shortly after he was declared the winner, Putin said the election showed that the nation was "one team."

But Western leaders condemned the vote, with the White House National Security Council spokesperson saying they "are obviously not free nor fair given how Mr. Putin has imprisoned political opponents and prevented others from running against him."

British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said "this is not what free and fair elections look like," adding in his message on X, formerly Twitter, that illegal elections have also been held on occupied Ukrainian territory.

The French Foreign Ministry said Putin's reelection came amid a wave of repression against civil society. It also praised in a statement the courage of "the many Russian citizens who peacefully protested against this attack on their fundamental political rights."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Putin has become "sick with power" and he is just "simulating" elections.

"This imitation of 'elections' has no legitimacy and cannot have any. This person must end up in the dock in The Hague [at the International UN Tribunal for War Crimes]," Zelenskiy said on X.

Putin's allies were quick to heap praise on the Russian leader for his election success.

China, one of Russia's most importants allies, congratulated Putin, with Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian saying President Xi Jinping and the Russian leader "will continue to maintain close exchanges, lead the two countries to continue to uphold long-standing good-neighborly friendship, deepen comprehensive strategic coordination."

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi called Putin's victory "decisive," the state news agency IRNA reported.

WATCH: Leading psychiatrists discuss how excessive power can impact brain functioning and what the impulse for total control reveals about the mind and personality traits of authority figures.

Putin was opposed by three relatively unknown, Kremlin-friendly politicians whose campaign was barely noticeable. The main intrigue was whether Russians would heed opposition calls to gather at polling stations at noon on March 17 to silently protest against Putins rule.

Russian media had reported in the months leading up to the election that the Kremlin was determined to engineer a victory for Putin that would surpass the 2018 results, when he won 77.5 percent of the vote with a turnout of 67.5 percent.

The Kremlin banned anti-war politician Boris Nadezhdin from the ballot after tens of thousands of voters lined up in the cold to support his candidacy. Nadezhdin threatened to undermine the narrative of overwhelming support for Putin and his war, experts said.

Independent election observers were barred from working at this years presidential election for the first time in post-Soviet history, experts said. Russian elections have been notorious for ballot stuffing and other irregularities.

The vote was also held in Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine, where hundreds of thousands of Russian soldiers are located.

The United States called the elections neither fair nor free.

'Noon Against Putin'

With options to express resistance severely limited by the lack of competition and repressive laws, opposition leaders called on voters opposed to Putin to gather near polls at noon to show the Kremlin and the country that they were still a force.

Russia's opposition movement suffered a serious blow last month when Aleksei Navalny, Putins fiercest and most popular critic, died in unclear circumstances in a maximum-security prison in the Arctic where he was serving a 19-year sentence on charges of extremism widely seen as politically motivated.

Long lines formed at polling stations across Russia's 11 time zones at the designated time for the "Noon Against Putin" protest, including in Novosibirsk, Chita, Yekaterinburg, Perm, and Moscow among other Russian cities.

"We're not really expecting anything, but I'd somehow like to make a record of this election for myself, tick the box for myself, so, when talking about it later, I could say that I didn't just sit at home, but came and tried to do something," said one Russian who came to vote at noon.

"The action has achieved its goals," Ivan Zhdanov, the head the Anti-Corruption Foundation formerly headed by Navalny, said in a YouTube video. "The action has shown that there is another Russia, there are people who stand against Putin."

The Moscow prosecutor's office had earlier warned of criminal prosecution against those who interfered with the vote, a step it said was necessary due to social-media posts "containing calls for an unlimited number of people to simultaneously arrive to participate in uncoordinated mass public events at polling stations in Moscow [at noon on March 17] in order to violate electoral legislation."

Lawyer Valeria Vetoshkina, who has left the country, told Current Time that if people do not bring posters and do not announce why they came to the polling station at that hour, it would be hard for the authorities to legitimately declare it a "violation."

But she warned that there were "some basic safety rules that you can follow if you're worried. The first is not to discuss why you came, just to vote. And secondly, it is better to come without any visual means of agitation: without posters, flags, and so on."

Ella Pamfilova, head of Russia's Central Election Commission (TsIK), on March 16 said there had been 20 cases of people attempting to destroy voting sheets by pouring liquids into ballot boxes and eight incidents of people trying to destroy ballots by setting them on fire or by using smoke bombs.

Russians living abroad also took part in the "Noon Against Putin" campaign, with hundreds of people lining up at 12 p.m. outside the Russian embassies in Sidney, Tokyo, Phuket, Dubai, Istanbul, Berlin, Paris, and Yerevan among other capitals.

"It's not an election. It's just a fake. And so we're here to show that not Russians elect the current leader of Russia, that we [are] against him very severely, and that lots of people had to flee their country to be free," said Anna, a Russian citizen living in Berlin and who gathered outside the embassy in the German capital.

Putin was challenged by Liberal Democratic Party leader Leonid Slutsky, State Duma deputy speaker Vladislav Davankov of the New People party, and State Duma lawmaker Nikolai Kharitonov of the Communist Party, none of whom opposed the war.

The Russian leader had the full resources of the state behind him, including the media, police, state-owned companies, and election officials.
Hundreds of people rallied on January 19 in Ufa, the capital of Russia's Bashkortostan region, in support of Fail Alsynov, an activist who was sentenced to four years in prison. The former leader of a now-banned Bashkir cultural group, Alsynov was jailed for inciting racial hatred, a charge his supporters say is politically motivated. Riot police detained several people at the latest rally in Alsynov's defense.
Artem, the commander of the 93rd Brigade of the Armed Forces' "Arrow 10" anti-aircraft missile system, planned to study to be a tanker, but "learned to be an air defense specialist." He recently turned 22, and as a birthday present he received downed Russian Orlan and Zala aircraft.

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There is also a downed Lancet, though it was shot down with assault rifles, the Kholodny Yar Brigade said. The military also showed how Artem celebrated his birthday.

"I thought I was going to celebrate in a tank, because I was planning to study to be a tank driver. But it turned out that I studied air defense. So on my birthday, I'm defending the sky!" said Artem.

During combat duty, the Arrow-10 crew waits for reports of enemy UAVs. After the message "All holes, Orlan is in the sky!" the soldiers roll out the anti-aircraft missile system from its hiding place, "capture" the target and fire the missile.

According to Artem, sometimes the crew of the air defense system sits idle for weeks at a time, and sometimes they have to fire five missiles at a time.

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As OBOZ.UA reported, during the last enemy drone attack on Ukraine, our military used the FrankenSAM system for the first time. It managed to shoot down an enemy Shahed from a distance of nine kilometers.

Meanwhile, the UK announced the successful testing of the DragonFire laser weapon for air defense. It hits targets at the speed of light and can hit a coin at a distance of one kilometer.

Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
The Australian government has rejected Ukraine's request to transfer 45 Taipan MRH-90 helicopters that the country has decommissioned. Now this equipment is being utilized.

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This was reported by ABC on Thursday, January 18. According to journalists, the decision to dispose of the helicopters in Australia was made in September 2023. The reason is that a helicopter crashed in the state of Queensland during a training exercise and killed four soldiers.

Australian Defense Minister Pat Conroy said that Ukraine had requested the transfer of the Taipan allegedly too late, in December 2023. According to him, at that time, the helicopters had not received maintenance for three months.

However, according to the journalists, before deciding to disassemble the helicopters for spare parts, the Australian Ministry of Defense tried to sell them, but there was "zero interest in buying them." So, the helicopters were perfectly serviceable.

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Conroy said that the country does not currently have "helicopters of this type that are in 'airworthy condition'. He added that the country would look for other ways to help Ukraine.

For his part, retired Army Major General Mick Ryan called the decision a "disgrace."

"It is a disgrace to rush to bury usable helicopters rather than hand them over to a nation fighting for its life," the military said.

As of 2022, the Australian Army had 46 Taipan helicopters in service. The helicopter's payload can reach 700 kg. The Taipan is armed with air-to-air, air-to-surface, and unguided missiles.

As OBOZ.UA previously reported, Ukraine has received new military equipment from Australia, including anti-drone systems. The package also includes a 3D metal printing printer that can be used to create spare parts and portable X-ray machines that can be used by doctors on the front line.

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Only verified information is available on the OBOZ.UA Telegram channel and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
High Court Reporters

The High Court is being asked to find that Tusla is in contempt of a court order over its alleged failure to comply with a special care order made for a young teenager who is at grave risk.

Lawyers moving the first stage of his application on Thursday afternoon said they cannot find any previous instance where an agency of the State in this jurisdiction has been brought to court for contempt.

Michael Lynn SC, representing the boy suing through his mother, said an order made more than a month ago for the childs detention in a special care unit is simply being flouted by Tusla (the Child and Family Agency).

His client does not want to be making the application and is not seeking the attachment and committal to prison of a Tusla representative over the alleged contempt.

A contempt finding by itself would be of grave seriousness and should have a very substantial effect on the agency, said Mr Lynn, appearing with Brendan Hennessy BL.

Tusla has pointed to its special care staffing crisis in response to numerous High Court applications for children to be detained at the units, which are specialist settings designed to deescalate a childs behaviour and risk of harm.

It has said it is not allowed to offer salaries high enough to attract and retain enough specialist staff to operate its three units at full capacity.

Serious risk

The court heard this boy, who has conditions arising out of childhood trauma, has been at very serious risk since October due to his cocaine dealing, drug addiction, absconding from State residential care and rough sleeping.

It is also alleged he has been seriously assaulted, threatened and is being exposed to sexual and physical abuse.

He has been in special care previously but his situation declined rapidly upon his release. He cannot be identified.

The agencys barrister, Sarah McKechnie, told the court she would not justify the situation, which is unacceptable, particularly for the child in the case.

However, she did not accept that her client was flouting a High Court order, as suggested by the applicant.

Such a description implies a blatant disregard, but assurances from the highest level of the agency are that it takes these proceedings extremely seriously.

Contempt motions are designed to coerce a subject into complying with a court order, but Tusla cannot do anything more than it is already doing to try to open more beds, she said.

It is a completely intolerable position for her client, she said, adding that it is very hard to stand here when a child is at extreme risk in the community.

Mr Justice John Jordan, who made the special care order on Tuslas application last December, said the staffing shortage issue is at least a decade old.

Childcare legislation is designed to protect vulnerable individuals like this boy, who is now enmeshed in the criminal and drugs underworld. Everybody involved recognises he is at very grave risk, the judge added.

The special care units are state of the art, but it must be something of an indictment on the system that there are beds waiting to be filled for children who need them and the issue preventing their opening is not a new problem, he said.

Special care orders

Mr Justice Jordan said he is reluctant to hear the contempt application before the Supreme Court gives a separate decision that is likely to be instructive here.

Last month, the top court heard appeals by Tusla that seek to overturn Mr Justice Jordans special care orders for two 16-year-olds whose lives were at risk.

The agency had been compelled by another judges earlier ruling (which is also under appeal) to apply for the orders which, Tusla argued, should not have been granted as they were impossible to comply with.

Mr Lynn told the court on Thursday that the appeals do not strictly deal with the phase that follows the making of special care orders, although the Supreme Court judges did question what might happen down the line. He agreed the judgment may say something about where this is all leading to.

He asked the judge to make orders to join several parties as notice parties to the case against the Child and Family Agency.

Mr Justice Jordan made the orders joining to the action the boys father, his court-appointed representative, the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, the Minister for Health, the Minister for Children, the Attorney General and Ireland.

He adjourned the case for mention next week.

As well as a declaration that Tusla is in contempt of court, the case seeks an order imposing appropriate measures against the agency as a consequence of its alleged continuing breach.

The judge should also declare that the agency is breaching its duty to the child under Child Care Act of 1991 and its constitutional duty to protect and vindicate his life, safety and welfare, the applicant says.

Further, the court is asked to grant general, aggravated, exemplary and punitive damages for an alleged breach of statutory duty and of the boys rights under the Constitution and the European Convention on Human Rights Act of 2003.
Gujarat vadodara boat tragedy latest news

Atul Gamechi, a famous social activist, expressed outrage over the Gujarat boat tragedy.

Gujarat boat tragedy latest news: In a shocking incident, 12 students and two teachers lost their lives after a boat capsized in Harni Lake on the outskirts of Vadodara city in Gujarat on Thursday. The victims were among the larger group of 29 individuals who were on the ill-fated boat.

According to information, the boat, with a given capacity of 14 people, was overloaded with over double the number. It has also been alleged that several essential safety equipment like life jackets and the lack of personnel, designated for rescue operations, were absent from the boat. These absences have raised serious questions on the preparedness and compliance with safety regulations.

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In the meanwhile, Atul Gamechi, a famous social activist, expressed outrage over the Gujarat boat tragedy and alleged various lapses in the safety measures.

Gamechi said, "This is a very sad incident for the city of Vadodara. Ideally, there should have been two rescuers in the boat, but they were absent. Similarly, neither life jackets were provided nor any CCTV cameras were there. The Vadodara Municipal Corporation and the contractor are involved in corruption."

On the other hand, the Gujarat government has ordered a high-level investigation into the incident. Vadodara District Collector directed to submit a detailed inquiry report within 10 days while the inquiry aims to identify the reasons and circumstances leading to the Gujarat boat tragedy.

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Moreover, an FIR has been registered under sections 304 and 308 of the Indian Penal Code, and the two individuals have been arrested in connection with the case.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while expressing his views on the tragedy, says, "Distressed by the loss of lives to a boat capsizing at the Harni lake in Vadodara. My thoughts are with the bereaved families in this hour of grief. May the injured recover soon. The local administration is providing all possible assistance to those affected. An ex-gratia of a2 lakh each from PMNRF would be given to the next of kin of each deceased. The injured would be given a50,000."
National Youth Day 2024

Award ceremony took place during the National Youth Festival in Nasik, Maharashtra.

National Youth Day 2024 Award News: In a moment of pride for the city, Chandigarh resident Rohit Kumar has been honored with the prestigious National Youth Award by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Government of India.

Rohit Kumar's outstanding contributions across various social service domains, including Environment Sustainability, Blood Donations & Awareness Camps, Education, Health & Hygiene, have been recognized with this esteemed accolade. The award was presented by the Honourable Minister Shri Nisith Pramanik, Minister of Union Home Affairs, Youth Affairs, and Sports, Government of India, emphasizing the government's acknowledgment of Rohit Kumar's exceptional efforts.

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Notably, Rohit Kumar's selfless dedication during the challenging times of the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly in the management of deceased individuals with the Indian Red Cross Society, Chandigarh, showcases his unwavering commitment to serving humanity.

His exemplary services have earned him the National Youth Award for the year 2020-21, highlighting his significant impact on society and his commitment to making a positive difference in the lives of others.

The award ceremony took place during the National Youth Festival in Nasik, Maharashtra, as part of the National Youth Day 2024 celebrations.

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(For more news apart from National Youth Day 2024 Award News, stay tuned to Rozana Spokesman)
Japan Airlines (JAPSY) has recently appointed Mitsuko Tottori as its first female President. Mitsuko, who initially served as a flight attendant, has climbed the corporate ladder to reach the senior management level.

Tottori will take over from the current President and CEO Yuji Akasaka in April.

"There are female employees out there who are struggling with their career steps or going through big life events," Tottori told a news conference. "I hope my appointment as a President can encourage them, or give them the courage to take the next step."

Tottori started her career as a cabin crew in 1985 when the JAL Flight123 crashed into a mountain near Tokyo, killing 520 people. It was termed as the world's worst single-aircraft disaster.

"The shock at that time is still deeply carved in my heart. And I have maintained a strong sense of responsibility to hand down the importance of aviation safety to younger generations," Tottori said. "Safety is the foundation of an airline company and I will work on safe operations with even stronger conviction."

Tottori, who worked in the frontline before becoming the director of the cabin crew in 2015, said that the safety of the airlines will be her topmost priority.

The airline also commented that Tottori has a "high level of insight and field experience" in safety operations.

While talking about the recent accidents involving Japan Airlines, she said, "Operational safety is the foundation of airlines. I will continue to demonstrate my firm commitment to this principle."

Japan Airlines has set a target that 30 percent of manager posts will be acquired by women across its offices by the end of the fiscal year to March 2026.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Business News
The Boards of Wincanton plc and CEVA Logistics UK Rose Limited or Bidco, a subsidiary of CEVA Logistics S.A., itself a subsidiary of CMA CGM S.A. have reached agreement on the terms of a recommended cash offer for the entire issued and to be issued share capital of Wincanton by CEVA Logistics UK Rose. Each Wincanton shareholder at the Scheme Record Time will be entitled to receive: for each Wincanton share held 450 pence in cash.

The acquisition values the entire issued and to be issued share capital of Wincanton at approximately 566.9 million pounds on a fully diluted basis and values Wincanton at approximately 764.9 million pounds on an enterprise value basis.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Business News
Bulgarian Prime Minister Nikolai Denkov emphasized that Ukraine is fighting not only for its independence and territorial integrity but also for Europe. Peace in Ukraine after the war with Russia must be just and based on the international order.

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The Bulgarian Prime Minister said this in an interview with CNBC at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Thursday, January 18. At the same time, he noted that Europe must be "united to be strong."

Answering a journalist's question about how European leaders could convince Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban to support Ukraine, Denkov said that "logical arguments" should be used.

One such argument is that the war in Ukraine started by Russia should end as soon as possible on fair terms, not on Moscow's demands.

"We do not need any other peace rather than a just, fair and consistent with the international order. This is the only way it can be sustainable. If Hungary is isolated in this process, it will create problems for this country, not just for Europe. Therefore, I believe that the states located on the eastern flank, in particular Hungary, will benefit from being united in this matter," Denkov emphasized.

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A U.S. businessman has been arrested for operating an years-long scheme to illegally export semiconductors and sensitive to Russia for the use of its military and intelligence services.

66 year-old Ilya Kahn, who also holds Israeli and Russian citizenships, was arrested in Los Angeles, the U.S. Department of Justice said in a statement.

He allegedly used a network of businesses in China and other countries to transfer hundreds of thousands of semiconductors to leading Russian developers of microchips and devices, Elvees.

The joint stock company was sanctioned by the U.S. government following Russia's invasion of Ukraine over its ties with Russian military and the Federal Security Service.

According to court documents, Kahn is the owner of two businesses - California-based Senesys Incorporated and Brooklyn-based Sensor Design Association. It alleges that these firms were involved in "security software development" and the testing of silicon wafers for military avionics and space users - through which he was exporting

sensitive and sophisticated electronics from the United States without acquiring the appropriate licenses.

In 2019, Kahn exported multiple U.S.-origin microcontrollers and in 2022, he exported U.S.-origin network interface controllers and a radio-frequency transmitter to

Elvees through a Hong Kong-based shipping company. These items required an export license from the Commerce Department, as they were highly sensitive due to national security and anti-terrorism reasons.

Kahn also arranged for Elvees to continue to receive semiconductors manufactured in Taiwan following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

If convicted, Kahn will face a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for conspiracy to violate the Export Control Reform Act.

The FBI and Department of Commerce's BIS New York Field Office are investigating the case with assistance from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Business News
Crypto currencies extended the sell-off with market capitalization dropping more than 2 percent to $1.64 trillion, from $1.67 trillion a day earlier. The crypto market tumble comes amidst the wider financial attempting to reconcile to the prospect of a slower monetary policy reversal than already expected.

Bitcoin touched a low of $40,631.17 in the past 24 hours before recovering to its current price of $41,264.33. At this level, BTC has slipped 3 percent in the past 24 hours, 9.8 percent in the past week and 5.4 percent over the past 30 days. The top-ranked cryptocurrency is trading 40 percent below its all-time high. Bitcoin's crypto market dominance also slipped to 49.53 percent, from 49.88 percent a day earlier.

Potential outflows from Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), which was recently converted to Bitcoin Spot ETF added to the pressure on prices.

Meanwhile the Assets Under Management of the iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) exceeded $1 billion on Thursday. The BlackRock sponsored fund tops the mobilization chart for the recently launched Bitcoin Spot ETF.

Ethereum is changing hands at $2,486.08, around 49 percent lower than the leading alternate coin's all-time high. Ether has slipped 1.1 percent in the past 24 hours and 7.4 percent in the past week but is holding on to gains of more than 10 percent over the past 30 days. Ethereum's market dominance stood firm above 18.2 percent.

Tether (USDT), the top-ranked stablecoin ranked 3rd among all cryptocurrencies, traded between $0.9999 and $0.998 in the past 24 hours versus the $1.0001 to $0.9987 range a day earlier.

4th ranked BNB (BNB), the native cryptocurrency of the Binance.com cryptocurrency exchange is currently trading at $314.88, implying an overnight gain of more than half percent, weekly gains of close to a percent and close to 25-percent gain over the past 30 days. BNB is the highest-ranking cryptocurrency to trade with overnight and weekly gains.

Meanwhile, Judge Amy Berman Jackson of the District Court of the District of Columbia, overseeing the SEC vs Binance Holdings case, on Thursday stated that she would hear arguments on how the SEC treated cryptocurrencies under current regulatory and legal frameworks. According to the order, the court would inter alia examine whether an investment contract must involve a contractual undertaking, whether a digital asset remains a security in perpetuity, and whether the staking service is a security.

5th ranked Solana (SOL) slipped 4.8 percent overnight and 4.2 percent in the past week. SOL is the highest ranked cryptocurrency that has been alleged by the SEC to be in the nature of securities and so classified in the SEC's suit against Coinbase. The keenly anticipated hearing in the high-profile case had commenced on Wednesday. Nevertheless, SOL is holding on to gains of 19 percent over the past 30 days and more than 226 percent over the past 90 days.

6th ranked XRP (XRP) slipped 0.55 percent overnight, 2 percent in the past week and 11.1 percent over the past 30 days. XRP has however gained around 6.3 percent over the past 90 days.

The XRP cryptocurrency is issued by Ripple Labs which had received a partly favorable verdict in its dispute with the SEC that inter alia pertained to cryptocurrencies allegedly being in the nature of securities. XRP is currently trading at $0.5491, versus the high of $0.8206 touched immediately after the verdict in July 2023.

7th ranked USDC (USDC) traded between $1.0012 and $0.9997 in the past 24 hours versus the $1.0010 to $0.9998 range a day earlier.

8th ranked Cardano (ADA); another cryptocurrency alleged to be a security by the SEC declined 3.1 percent overnight. ADA has slipped more than 14 percent in the past week which is the highest among the top 10 cryptocurrencies.

9th ranked Avalanche (AVAX) also recorded an overnight decline of 4.4 percent, lifting weekly losses to 12.5 percent.

10th ranked Dogecoin (DOGE) declined 1.7 percent in the past 24 hours to trade at $0.07833. The highest-ranking meme-coin has slipped 7.5 percent in the past week.

For More Cryptocurrency News, visit rttnews.com

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com
Atlas Air's Boeing 747 Cargo plane made an emergency landing shortly after its takeoff due to an engine malfunction, according to the Federal Aviation Administration report.

According to the agency's early investigation report, a "softball-size hole" was found above the No.2 engine. It added that the agency would investigate further into the matter.

The plane which was bound for Puerto Rico was seen "shooting sparks" by some witnesses.

An airline spokesperson said that the plane was immediately turned back to the airport after experiencing an engine malfunction.

The airline reported on Friday that, "The crew followed all standard procedures and safely returned to the airport".

The New York-based airline maintained that "At Atlas, safety is always our top priority and we will be conducting a thorough inspection to determine the cause."

This latest incident is another setback for the Boeing company, which has been in the limelight for the past few weeks over quality and safety concerns.

In January, an Alaska Airlines-operated Boeing 737 Max plane made an emergency landing after its door panel blew off. Currently, the Max planes are grounded by the FAA for investigation.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Business News
A 36-year old American Airlines (AAL) flight attendant was arrested for covertly recording minors while they used the plane lavatory, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts said.

Estes Carter Thompson III was arrested in Lynchburg for two charges with one count of attempted sexual exploitation of children and one count of possession of child pornography depicting a prepubescent minor.

According to the Department of Justice or DOJ's press release, Thompson allegedly tried to record the video of minors on an American Airlines flight from Charleston to Boston on September 2, 2023.

The document cited that Thompson directed a fourteen year old girl towards an unoccupied bathroom while she was waiting for her turn outside an occupied one. However, before the girl could enter the bathroom, Thompson allegedly claimed that he had to wash his hands and also informed her that the toilet seat was broken.

After Thompson used the restroom, the minor entered it to find that there were red stickers reading "SEAT BROKEN", "INOPERATIVE CATERING EQUIPMENT" underneath the toilet seat lid which was in an open position, the court document said.

The documents further stated that the girl found an iPhone stuck inside the toilet seat's lid. She took a photo of the phone before leaving the bathroom.

The girl then showed the picture of the concealed phone to her parents, who complained to the flight attendants and captain, who in turn reported the incident to the law enforcement.

According to the documents, the minor's father confronted Thompson, after which he locked himself in the bathroom with his phone for several minutes.

On that day, Thompson had allegedly recorded four other minors during the flight.

Authorities who took the flight attendant in custody observed that his phone might have been restored to factory settings and also allegedly found the red stickers in his suitcase.

The law enforcement officials then went on to search Thompson's iCloud account where they found recordings of minors using the plane lavatory from January to August 2023. They also found more than fifty images of an unaccompanied minor along with hundreds of AI-generated child pornography images stored on his account, the DOJ documents revealed.

The DOJ had identified all the minors and contacted their families.

An American Airlines spokesperson reacted to the news by saying "We take these allegations very seriously". He further commented that, "They do not reflect our airline or our core mission of caring for people. We have been fully cooperating with law enforcement in its investigation."

The Airlines said that following the September incident, Thompson was "withheld from service".

If convicted on both charges, Thompson could face 20 to 50 years in prison.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Business News
Viral videos of electric scooters catching fire have dented consumer confidence, even though EV sales continue to scale new heights

In a significant win for consumer rights, a Consumer Commission in Telangana has directed Benling India and its dealer to pay Rs 10 lakh compensation to the complainant. The case involves a Benling electric scooter that had caught fire in February 2023. It was a result of the battery exploding. Benling India is a subsidiary of China-based Benling. There are currently three EV products on offer  Aura, Falcon and Kriti.

Benling India electric scooter fire case

According to the complainants, the Benling electric scooter was purchased in April 2021. In February 2023, the scooters battery exploded, resulting in fire. The scooter was mostly destroyed as a result. The complainants asked Benling India and the dealer to replace the electric scooter. Or, if that was not possible, the complainants be paid the original price of the scooter, along with 18% interest per annum.

The complainants alleged that despite filing their complaint, there was no response from Benling India or the dealer. A decision was made to send a legal notice. The complainants sought compensation worth Rs 13.5 lakh, along with litigation expenses of Rs 40,000. The Consumer Commission had also sent notices to Benling India and the dealer. However, they did not respond and failed to appear before the commission.

Consumer Commission orders Rs 10 lakh compensation

At the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission at Medak, a coram of President Gajjala Venkateswarlu and member Makyam Vijay Kumar noted that it is the responsibility of the manufacturer to identify the cause of the battery explosion. But in this case, the commission noted that the manufacturer did not show any proper concern. The commission also noted that the manufacturer had failed to respond despite multiple complaints filed by the complainants.

The commission felt that such lack of concern can affect the safety of other consumers who may be using the same product. A number of factors could have led to the battery explosion. It is the OEMs responsibility to identify the cause of the incident and take measures to prevent a recurrence. OEMs can also issue a recall if they feel that other scooters have the same issue.

The commission said that Benling India failed to respond and did not appear during the proceedings of the case. The commission pointed out to the statutory liability pertaining to defective products that was applicable on manufacturers under the Consumer Protection Act. This can hold manufacturers liable for any defective product. The consumer is not even required to prove actual negligence.

Further, the commission noted that a consumer can claim remedy under Sections 84 to 86 of the Act. This can be done when a product is unreasonably dangerous and can potentially affect the consumers safety. Based on such factors, the commission said that the complainants were entitled to receive not just the cost of the product, but also the compensation for product liability.

The commission ordered Benling India and the dealer to jointly pay the cost of the vehicle, while factoring in 9.5% depreciation per annum. Or, an option to replace the scooter was provided. Towards damages, the commission ordered a compensation of Rs 10 lakh. And payment of Rs 10,000 for litigation expenses.

While the judgement is a win for the complainants, it could be challenged in a higher consumer forum or other court of law. We hope that the matter is amicably resolved, as court cases can stretch for years and lead to significant financial strain and emotional torment.

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The standard model that was recently launched, gets 17-inch alloys and Hyundai Creta N Line model will bring 18-inch units

Creta has always been a popular car for Hyundai. The car sold like hotcakes even without most of the features and technology that rivals brought to the table. With facelift launch, Hyundai has added most of the missing features and the appeal has only increased. But Hyundai seems to be adding even more appeal with an incoming Creta N Line model.

Hyundai Creta N Line Incoming

N Line models have been strategically targeted for enthusiasts who seek driving pleasure, more than sensibility. We have seen this effect with i20 N Line and Venue N Line. Now, Hyundais golden goose, Creta, is also set to get an N Line model to boost appeal and gather more market share than what it already has right now.

Ahead of launch, Creta N Line specific alloy wheels have reached aftermarket accessories shops. These get new design along with N badging on hub cap, instead of Hyundais logo. These wheels get dual-tone finish as well, like what we saw with 17-inch alloy wheels on standard Creta.

Alloy wheels of Creta N Line model are 18-inchers, though. In our first-drive review of Creta, we said Creta would look better with 18-inch alloy wheels and Hyundai might offer larger wheels with either N Line or Knight Edition models. Turns out, it is doing so with N Line model.

Will it launch in India? Or is it just imported from global market?

We would wager that there is a good possibility that Hyundai is likely to launch Creta N Line in India in the coming months. We say this because the wheels demonstrated in the video above by VIG AUTO ACCESSORIES YouTube channel, have been spotted with Creta facelift test mules in India before.

Wheels showcased in the video seems to be imported from ASEAN markets, but Creta N Line model with the same alloy design has been spotted testing in India too. The details of that particular alloy read Su2i FL NLINE. This means the wheel was designed for Su2i, which is the codename for Hyundai Creta, FL means facelift and NLINE means N Line model.

What other changes can we expect?

When looking at other N Line models in Hyundais portfolio, we can confidently say that there will be a few mechanical changes. When we say mechanical, we mean changes in componentry and not engine. Speaking of, Hyundai Creta N Line will get the same 1.5L Turbo GDI engine that generates 160 PS of peak power and 253 Nm of peak torque.

With Creta N Line, we can finally see 1.5L Turbo Petrol Manual powertrain combo, that is not offered with standard Creta. Other upgrades include a more freely breathing exhaust that sounds throatier, a stiffened suspension setup, a chunkier steering with larger paddles, and multiple red elements on the inside and out.

We hope Hyundai offers fog lights with Creta N Line unlocking cornering light function which is absent in standard Creta facelift. If we take i20, only its N Line model gets fog lights.
Toyota India has registered a staggering growth of almost 38% YoY  Ending the year 2023 with over 2.21 lakh cars sold

Toyota Kirloskar Motor has concluded the year 2023 on a high note with robust sales figures for the month of December. The monthly sales breakup reveals a remarkable performance across various models, showcasing the brands consistent popularity in the Indian market.

Toyota Sales Breakup Dec 2023  HyRyder Leads the Pack with Strong Growth

Toyota HyRyder took the lead in December 2023 with 4,976 units sold. This represents a significant increase of 18.45% compared to the same period last year when 4,201 units were sold. Innova Hycross had 4,115 units sold in December 2023, capturing a 19.25% share of the total units sold during the month.

Glanza and Innova Crysta demonstrated resilience in the face of challenges, with the Glanza recording 4,088 units sold and the Crysta closely following with 3,717 units. While the Glanza experienced a slight decline of 8.44% compared to December 2022, the Crysta witnessed an outstanding growth of 10225%, making it one of the standout performers.

Fortuner and Hilux continued to capture the attention of Indian consumers. Fortuner reported 3,104 units sold, marking a substantial growth of 93.64% from the previous year. The Hilux, a pickup truck, also made an impact with 322 units sold, showcasing an impressive growth rate of 6340%. Other Toyota models, including the Rumion, Camry, and Vellfire, each made a notable contribution to the overall success. The Rumion recorded 833 units sold, the Camry achieved 180 units, and the Vellfire closed the month with 37 units sold.

Month On Month Comparison

HyRyder registered sales of 4,976 units. This marked a remarkable 65.59% increase from the previous month when 3,005 units were sold. Innova Hycross and Glanza models maintained their strong presence in the market, with 4,115 and 4,088 units sold, respectively. While the Hycross experienced a slight decline of 3.27% compared to November 2023, the Glanza showed a positive trend with a 3.49% increase.

Innova Crysta and Fortuner exhibited robust performance MoM, with the Crysta recording 3,717 units sold and the Fortuner closely following with 3,104 units. Innova Crysta witnessed an impressive 39.95% month-on-month growth, while the Fortuner reported a substantial increase of 65.46%. Rumion, Hilux, Camry, and Vellfire models each made noteworthy contributions to Toyotas success in December 2023. The Hilux, in particular, saw a significant increase of 50.47% in sales compared to the previous month.

Annual Sales Cross 2 Lakh Mark, Averaging Over 18,000 Units per Month

The total annual sales for 2023 surpassed the 2 lakh mark, reaching 2,21,178 units. This represents a substantial growth of 37.91% compared to the total sales in 2022, which stood at 1,60,375 units. The average monthly sales for the year were 18,432 units, showcasing the consistent demand for Toyota cars in the Indian market.
In the summer of 2024, the Russian army may launch a new offensive in Ukraine, aiming to fully seize the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia regions. Additionally, Ukrainian military forces do not rule out the possibility of a second attempt by the occupiers to capture Kharkiv or even Kyiv.

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This information was reported by the British newspaper Financial Times, citing Ukrainian defenders. According to U.S. intelligence, investigated by journalists in December, Russian President Vladimir Putin's ultimate goal in Ukraine remains unchanged: the conquest of the country and the subjugation of its people.

This explains why the Russian Federation continues offensive operations in the east in various directions, especially around Avdiivka, as well as in the direction of Lyman and Kupyansk, as mentioned in the document.

Simultaneously, a Western official mentioned that the prospects for an operational breakthrough on both sides in 2024 are slim.

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The article also notes that Ukraine is changing its tactics and transitioning to "active defense" following the unsuccessful summer counteroffensive. According to a Western official, this strategy involves not only holding defensive lines but also identifying weaknesses in the enemy, coupled with long-range air strikes. This approach will allow Ukraine to bolster its forces this year and prepare for 2025, where a counteroffensive would have better chances.

The shift to such a strategy is supported by Ukraine's strongest allies, as reported by the Financial Times.

In December, the Estonian Ministry of Defense published a report stating that Ukraine should adopt a "strategic defense" to buy time for itself and its partners to create an industrial base, train reserves, and enhance personnel and artillery production capacity to resume an offensive campaign in 2025.

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The United States also advocates for this approach: a strategy of holding territories while simultaneously identifying weaknesses in the enemy's defense to exploit them when opportunities arise.

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Germany's leadership has a clear understanding of the need to help Ukraine, so if US support is reduced, Berlin will use mechanisms to respond to possible emergencies. Ukrainians can be sure of the solidarity of the German people.

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This was stated by the spokespersons of the Bundestag parliamentary factions of the three parties of the ruling coalition at a press conference on January 19. In particular, Sven-Christian Kindler, a representative of the Green Party, noted that the war in the center of Europe threatens not only freedom in Ukraine but also freedom in Europe, Ukrinform reports.

"It is also about our own interests, in Europe, in Germany, so that Ukraine does not lose in this struggle, so we will continue to support it . We are united in this regard in the coalition," he assured.

He added that the situation in Ukraine could get worse, as countries such as North Korea are supplying missiles to Russia, and there are Republicans in the US Congress who oppose any assistance to Ukraine, while some EU countries no longer want to provide as much assistance as they used to. Therefore, Germany has a special responsibility in this situation, said Sven-Christian Kindler.

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In his turn, Otto Fricke, spokesman for budget policy of the Free Democratic Party, assured that if there is a risk from a budgetary point of view due to the election of Donald Trump as US President and the decision of the Congress to stop aid to Ukraine, the Bundestag will be able to respond to the threat.

"The Bundestag has repeatedly shown that if there is an emergency, it can always cope ," the German MP said.

According to him, when it is clearly understood that there is a threat, for example, that the occupiers are "advancing in Ukraine and something must be done immediately," then the Bundestag can and should respond very quickly, as there are legislative tools for this.

Fricke also expressed confidence that if it comes to that, the parties of the ruling coalition will have the support of the CDU/CSU opposition bloc.

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And Dennis Rohde from the Social Democratic Party said that everyone hopes that it will not come to a reduction in US aid, but if it does, the German government coalition has reached agreement on a political point to support Ukraine.

"We are ready," he said.

Late in the evening of January 18, the Bundestag Budget Committee put the finishing touches on the government's proposed federal budget for 2024, which includes a doubling of military aid to Ukraine, at a "corrective meeting."

Chancellor Olaf Scholz welcomed this and noted that "despite the difficult initial conditions, it was finally possible to agree on a document with clear emphasis," he was quoted as saying by federal government spokesman Wolfgang Buechner at a briefing on January 19.

The adoption of the document was preceded by weeks of political debate over the need to impose austerity on many fronts. The Bundestag and the Bundesrat are to make the final decision in early February.

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As reported by OBOZ.UA, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said that at the moment they have transferred all the weapons and equipment "that they could" to Ukraine. To transfer more would mean going all-in and reducing its defense capabilities, he said.

As a reminder, on January 17, Germany announced a new military aid package for Ukraine, which included ammunition for the Leopard 1 main battle tank, 24 armored personnel carriers, demining materials, and other weapons.

At the same time, Germany has not yet made a decision on the transfer of Taurus missiles to Ukraine. On January 17, members of the Bundestag did not support a draft resolution calling on Scholz to approve such supplies. Only 178 MPs voted in favor, 485 voted against.

Only verified information on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
Ukraine's defenders eliminated a Russian occupier with the call sign "Moses" and several of his comrades during battles on the left bank of the Kherson region. The last time the invader, who was tracking the Ukrainian Armed Forces' boats, got in touch was on the evening of January 18.

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Then he said that Russian troops were in "hell" near Krynky. The next post on his Telegram channel was a death notification.

The Russian drone operator, who was tracking boats with Ukrainian troops on the left bank of the Dnipro River in Kherson region, was named Eduard. His last name is unknown.

On the morning of January 19, Ukrainian military correspondent Andriy Tsaplienko noted that the Ukrainian Armed Forces destroyed an enemy UAV attack team in the Krynky area. In addition to the occupant of the "Moses", several of his comrades were killed.

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The night before, the invader, who ran his own Telegram channel "Moses. News from the Front", communicated from near Krynky. In particular, around 21:00 he wrote that it was "hell" there.

And after midnight, the occupier's wife contacted his subscribers and announced "very sad news" that on January 19, 2024, her husband became "cargo 200."

In the comments under the publication, Russians even wrote that there is already a video on the Internet of the Ukrainian Armed Forces shooting at the base of Russian army drone operators on the left bank of the Kherson region.

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Yes, three hijackers went to the "Kobzon concert", including "Moses", and four more became the "300s" - all of them were allegedly drone operators.

As OBOZ.UA reported earlier, according to British intelligence, the Russian occupiers are unable to resist the FPV drones of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on the left bank of the Dnipro River in Kherson region. The Russians themselves admitted that they had lost about 90% of their equipment in the Krynky area.

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Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
An attack on an oil depot in the Leningrad region of the Russian Federation was recently carried out with the help of a Ukrainian analog of Iranian Shahed kamikaze drones. Ukrainian companies were able to develop UAVs with tactical and technical characteristics comparable to Iranian drones from scratch, and in 2023 they tested them not only at training grounds but also in real combat conditions.

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As a result, Ukraine now has UAVs that can not only fly over 1000 km, but are also capable of hitting targets at pre-entered coordinates. This was stated by Yevhen Dykyi, a veteran of the Aidar battalion, on Radio Liberty.

He noted: "It took Ukraine a year to learn how to effectively counter Iranian kamikaze drones, which Russia has been using to attack our country since 2022. At the same time, Dykyi added, Ukrainian specialists were working on creating weapons with the same tactical and technical characteristics. And the recent drone attack on an oil depot near St. Petersburg was a visual confirmation that this work was successful.

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"In fact, we are talking about drones of the same class. What we are talking about now are, in fact, Ukrainian analogs of Shaheds. This does not mean that they necessarily look like that, but I mean the tactical and technical characteristics. That is, it is a long-range drone that can fly more than a thousand kilometers and hit a target at pre-entered coordinates. These are actually the same class of vehicles," the veteran emphasized.

He also emphasized that Russia has not been able to develop something like this on its own. But, in the end, it did not really need to, because "brotherly" Iran not only handed over batches of its drones to the aggressor state since the beginning of the full-scale war, but also issued a "license" to Russia for their production and assembly line. This allowed the occupiers to assemble about 300 drones per month in the city of Elabuga in Tatarstan.

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Ukraine, unlike Russia, did not have such "generous" allies willing to share technologies for the production of long-range kamikaze drones, says Dykyi.

"We had to start from scratch. None of our Western allies provided us with anything like this. The task was set back in 2022. In 2023, the first tests began. Our first vehicles, in particular, the same Beavers sponsored by the Shelter Foundation, were already flying around Moscow City. This was also a GUR operation. By the way, this was also a purely Ukrainian combination: the operation is planned by the GUR (perhaps our most powerful intelligence service today), but at the same time, unofficial vehicles sponsored by private volunteer foundations are used," the expert noted, not without irony, calling the use of weapons by the Defense Forces that are not even on the balance sheet of the Armed Forces "a vivid example of 'public-private cooperation.

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Dykyi added that the production of drones in Ukraine is currently actively developing. Both state-owned defense plants and private initiatives are working on their development and production, and to a greater extent, they are emerging as a result of private initiatives.

"There are at least a dozen, and now probably 15 different companies that compete with each other in a good way. Three tasks are being solved in parallel. The first is how to fly even further. The second is how to carry more explosives, because the size of the combat unit determines a lot. It determines what kind of target you can hit. And finally, the key question is how to accurately aim at the target," he said.

On January 18, it was reported that a drone attacked an oil terminal near St. Petersburg . Russian Telegram channels stated that the "Armed Forces of Ukraine tried to attack" an oil terminal in St. Petersburg with a drone that "carried about 3 kg of explosives." Citing unnamed sources, the propagandists wrote that the wreckage of the UAV fell on the territory of the St. Petersburg Oil Terminal.

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At the same time, the fact that the drone had reached St. Petersburg was first confirmed by the Russian Defense Ministry. However, they traditionally stated that the UAV was neutralized and that it allegedly did not cause any damage.

The DIU, which claimed responsibility for the attack , has different information about the results of the drone's use. The intelligence officers said that the task was carried out with the use of modern Ukrainian means and have confirmation of the targets being hit. While the consequences of the attack are still being clarified, the Russian invaders in the Leningrad region and in St. Petersburg itself were advised by the GUR to get used to the fact that they are now also within the range of Ukrainian forces.

Later, even more interesting details about the attack emerged, which became eloquent evidence of the real state of Russian air defense: it turns out that before hitting the oil depot, a Ukrainian drone flew over Putin's residence in Valdai. And maximum air defense resources have been deployed to protect it from air attacks.

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According to the Minister of Strategic Industries of Ukraine, Oleksandr Kamyshyn, the drone that struck St. Petersburg was produced by Ukraine. The drone flew 1,250 kilometers before hitting the target.
For the first time, Russia has used a 4-ton P-35 (3M44 Progress) anti-ship missile, which is at least 60 years old, to strike Ukraine. A photo of the wreckage of the rare missile was posted online.

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Defense Express writes about Moscow's use of such a "vintage" missile. The publication notes that the P-35 missile was adopted in 1962.

Experts identified the wreckage from the published photos. However, it is difficult to determine where exactly the wreckage of the Russian Progress was found. But given that this missile is an anti-ship missile, it can be assumed that it was shot down in the south of the country.

The P-35 missile (3M44 Progress) was recognized in the photo by its rather distinctive wings among the piles of metal.

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"Defense Express has confirmation from its own sources that this is the missile in question," the publication noted.

This missile has quite impressive dimensions, with a length of 10 meters and a launch weight of 4 tons.

Soviet engineers worked on the P-35 in the mid-1950s, and the 3M44 Progress was adopted in 1962. At the time, this projectile was truly advanced.

The range of the P-35 missile is 350 km, the speed is 2,000 km/h, and the warhead weighs 1 ton.

Despite such a venerable age, the P-35 is still in service with the "second army of the world." In particular, it is a projectile for the Redut coastal missile system. As of 2021, their number was estimated at 8 launchers. It is unknown which of these Redut missiles was used to strike Ukraine.

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The journalists also suggest that this missile could have been launched from the stationary complex "Utes", also known as "Object-100". It is located in the occupied Crimea near Balaklava.

It is an underground facility, with the missiles themselves hidden underground and raised only before launch.

Russia had two such complexes in total. The other was located on Kildin Island in the Barents Sea, but according to available information, it has been abandoned.

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The publication notes that the use of such a "museum" missile may indicate an attempt to strike at least something. After all, the P-35, even in its latest version of modernization, adopted in 1982, was already considered archaic.

Only verified information is available on our Telegram OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
A new genus and species of large-bodied aetosaur that lived some 218 million years ago has been described from a significant portion of carapace found in Texas, the United States.

Aetosaurs are quadrupedal, heavily-armored reptiles of the extinct order Aetosauria.

Their name means eagle lizard, and comes from the fact that their skulls somewhat resemble that of a bird.

These creatures were up to 6 m (20 feet) long and widely distributed geographically during the Late Triassic epoch.

Aetosauria is a group of quadrupedal, armored reptiles whose terrestrial ecology is inferred as including both herbivory and omnivory, said University of Texas at Austin paleontologist William Reyes and his colleagues.

They achieved a nearly global geographic distribution, whereas they are stratigraphically restricted to the Late Triassic.

Most species of aetosaurs reach a total body length between 2 and 6 m (6.6-20 feet).

Dubbed Garzapelta muelleri, the newly-identified species grew up to 3.5 m (11.5 feet) in length.

The extinct animal lived in what is now the United States during the middle Norian age of Triassic, approximately 218 million years ago.

Its fossilized skeleton was found in the Cooper Canyon Formation in Garza County, Texas.

It was recovered with an associated carapace that includes elements from both the left and right sides of the body.

The discovery of Garzapelta muelleri provides new insight into the interspecific variation of the dorsal carapace within the Aetosauria, the paleontologists said.

It is evident that the morphology of the lateral osteoderms is driving the final topological position of Garzapelta muelleri, recovering it as a sister taxon of the Desmatosuchini.

The similarities between Garzapelta muelleri, Rioarribasuchus chamaensis, and the paratypothoracin from the Eagle Basin in Colorado do suggest that we are likely dealing with the emergence of a new group of aetosaur that exhibits a biostratigraphical range that is likely confined to the Revueltian estimated holochronozone (215 to 207 million years ago) but may be as old as latest Adamanian.

The teams paper appears in The Anatomical Record.

_____

William A. Reyes et al. Garzapelta muelleri gen. et sp. nov., a new aetosaur (Archosauria: Pseudosuchia) from the Late Triassic (middle Norian) middle Cooper Canyon Formation, Dockum Group, Texas, USA, and its implications on our understanding of the morphological disparity of the aetosaurian dorsal carapace. The Anatomical Record, published online January 11, 2024; doi: 10.1002/ar.25379
Late in the evening on January 18, another accident involving Ukrainians occurred in Poland. A bus carrying 26 people lost control, crashed into a tree and overturned.

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Three people were hospitalized. The details were revealed by the Polish publication RMF24.

According to the publication, the accident occurred at about 23:30 on January 18 on the highway No. 812 in the Wisznice Commune, Bielsk County, Lublin Voivodeship.

As the Main Department of Municipal Police in Biaa Podlaska told reporters, it has been preliminarily established that due to difficult weather conditions, the bus skidded on a curve and the 63-year-old driver of the bus, which was carrying 26 Ukrainian citizens, lost control of the vehicle. A police examination showed that he was completely sober.

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"The driver drove to the side of the road and hit a guardrail. After that, the bus rolled over on its side and hit a tree," the newspaper quoted a police statement as saying.

According to police, there are victims of the accident. Three people were hospitalized, including an 80-year-old man who was injured.

Oleg Nikolenko, a spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, told OBOZ.UA that the Consulate General of Ukraine in Lublin is providing consular assistance to Ukrainians who were injured in the accident.

According to him, two people were injured, not three.

"As a result of the accident, two Ukrainians suffered minor injuries. There are no threats to their lives. They are being provided with the necessary medical care. The rest of the passengers are being accommodated in a temporary waiting area. The carrier has already provided another bus that will take our citizens to Ukraine," Nikolenko said.

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He added that Ukrainian diplomats are in touch with Polish law enforcement officers, who have launched an investigation into the circumstances of the accident, and are monitoring the treatment of the injured people.

On January 16, it became known that a 4-year-old girl from Ukraine, who fled the war with her mother, died in a car accident in Poland.

Three people were killed in the collision of two cars. In addition to the little girl, a 69-year-old driver and a 68-year-old passenger died. According to preliminary data, the 69-year-old driver of an Opel Astra drove into the oncoming lane and collided with a Mercedes Vito carrying five people, including 4-year-old Ksenia. The child died from her injuries at the scene of the accident. Her mother was hospitalized with injuries.

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Later it turned out that six months before her death, the little Ukrainian refugee had already survived an accident . Ksenia became disabled after that.
The delegation of the Islamic Resistance Movement of Hamas, headed by the head of the movement's International Relations Department, Musa Abu Marzouk, Special Representative of the Russian President in the Middle East and Africa, met with Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov at the headquarters of the Russian Foreign Ministry in Moscow. The delegation also included a member of the movement's political bureau in Gaza, Dr. Bassem Naim, and a representative of Hamas in Moscow.

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This is reported in an official statement of the movement, published in X (Twitter ) by British journalist Suleiman Ahmed. The Hamas delegation held political consultations with the Russian Foreign Ministry to discuss ways to establish a ceasefire to end the aggression against the Palestinian people, as well as to clarify the movement's position and policy on working with the file of hostages held by the resistance movement.

Hamas noted that the crimes of the Zionist occupiers and their behavior against the Palestinians and other peoples of the region pose a serious threat to international peace and security. The delegation emphasized the right of our Palestinian people to freedom and return, as well as their right to resist the Zionist occupation by all available means. In his turn, Mr. Bogdanov expressed his country's position in support of the rights of the Palestinian people and his country's efforts with the parties concerned to achieve a ceasefire.

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The Hamas delegation reportedly praised these diplomatic efforts, as well as official Russian humanitarian aid to help our people in the Gaza Strip.

As reported by OBOZ.UA, a delegation of the Hamas terrorist organization arrived in Moscow on October 26. The group was headed by a member of the Hamas political bureau, Abu Marzouk, who is a recognized and wanted terrorist.

Speaking to Russian propaganda media, Abu Marzouk, who is responsible for foreign policy, called the Russian representatives "Russian friends."

Also that day, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Qiani arrived in the Russian capital and met with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin.

Only verified information on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
Remote people monitoring technology company Big Technologies said in a trading update on Friday that its performance in 2023 was in line with expectations, with revenue set to reach 55m, up from 50.2m in 2022.

The AIM-traded firm said adjusted EBITDA was projected to be 33m, up from 30.5m year-on-year, also in line with current market forecasts.

Looking ahead to 2024, Big Technologies anticipated the end of its contract for electronic monitoring services with a major customer in Colombia during the first half.

The contract had been subject to short-term renewals since September 2021, and to offset potential revenue losses, Big Technologies said it had secured several new contracts in recent times.

In the latter part of 2023, the company said it made significant strides in expanding its business development efforts within the US market, recognised as the world's largest market for electronic monitoring and substance detection.

Although the investment was expected to drive medium-term sales growth, it was also anticipated to temporarily reduce operating profit margins in the US for 2024, until new sales materialise.

Given those developments, Big Technologies said it expected group sales for 2024 to at least match the levels achieved in 2022.

More comprehensive guidance for 2024 would be provided with its results in March.

In difficult market conditions, 2023 has seen the group deliver a strong performance with continued growth in sales, profits and our cash reserves, said chief executive officer Sara Murray.

We continue to invest in the business and in our market-leading suite of monitoring products and expect to see growth in the coming years.

Murray said the firm was obviously disappointed with the outcome in Colombia, with a customer that it had served for a number of years.

We see a pipeline of attractive business opportunities around the globe and will continue to work diligently to replace this revenue stream.

At 1110 GMT, shares in Big Technologies were down 23.28% at 99p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.
Dutch Admiral and Chairman of the NATO Military Committee Rob Bauer has warned that civilians in the West should prepare for a possible conflict with Russia. He noted that the armed forces are already prepared for a potential war.

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However, civilians should also be ready for a conflict that could bring significant changes to their daily lives, as reported by Sky News.

"We must realize that peace is not guaranteed, that we currently live in peace. That's why we (NATO forces - Ed.) are preparing for a conflict with Russia... But the discussion is much broader. It also includes the industrial base and people who need to understand that they play a role," the admiral said.

Bauer also expressed the opinion that Sweden did the right thing when it called on its population to prepare for a possible war earlier this month.

"It all starts with the realization that not everything can be predicted, and not everything will be fine for the next 20 years," he said.

The senior official's warning came shortly before the start of NATO's largest exercise since the Cold War, during which the alliance plans to improve its readiness to defend against an invasion by Russian troops.

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It is noted that about 90,000 troops, including 20,000 from the United Kingdom, will take part in the Steadfast Defender exercise, which will last until May.

Earlier, Bauer called on Western countries to prepare for an era when "anything can happen at any time," including the possibility of war.

As reported by OBOZ.UA, Iran is likely to start supplying missiles to its ally, the aggressor country Russia, for the war against Ukraine. The Kremlin has repeatedly requested such assistance.

As a reminder, Admiral Rob Bauer said that from a military point of view, the actions of Russia's occupation forces in Ukraine are practically ineffective. At the same time, the Ukrainian army is making progress at the front - the soldiers have liberated about 50% of the occupied territory and are inflicting deep strikes, destroying key Russian capabilities in the war.

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Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and inViber. Do not fall for fakes!
For 100 years, Simon & Schuster has led the way as one of the premier book publishers in the United States and around the world.

To celebrate, please join more than thirty renowned authors at New York City's iconic Town Hall auditorium on April 8th for an evening of stories, conversation, memories, laughterand even song. From beloved children's book authors and illustrators to celebrated biographers, from dazzling debuts to legendary names, Simon & Schuster's literary superstars will showcase the talent, creativity, and joy that they bring to works beloved by millions of readers.

Author! Author!: A Simon & Schuster Centennial Celebration will be held Monday, April 8, 2024, at 7 p.m. Eastern, live and in person at The Town Hall, 123 West 43rd Street, New York, New York. Tickets are available for purchase, both for attending in-person and for streaming. Click here for ticket information!

The many authors in attendance include the following luminaries:

Judy Blume

(photo: Elena Seibert)

Judy Blume, one of America's most popular authors, is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of beloved books for young people, including Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret and novels for adult readers. She has won the National Book Foundation's Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters and she owns a bookstore in Key West, Florida. Her work has been translated into thirty-two languages.

Charlamagne Tha God (photo: the Tyler Twins)

Charlamagne Tha God is a multimedia mogul best known as cohost of iHeartRadio's The Breakfast Club. He is also CEO of the Black Effect Podcast Network; has his own production company, CThaGod World LLC; and cohosts the podcast The Brilliant Idiots. He has set a standard for being able to interview politicians, cultural e-icons, and celebrities from his unusual point of view and helps drive the national conversation about issues related to hip-hop, race, society, and politics. He is the author of the bestsellers Black Privilege and Shook One. His next book, Get Honest or Die Lying, will be published in May.

Laura Dave

(photo: Katherine Eskovitz)

Laura Dave is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Last Thing He Told Me, Eight Hundred Grapes, and other novels. Her books have been chosen by Reese Witherspoon's Book Club, Book of the Month Club, and the Richard and Judy Book Club. The Last Thing He Told Me is now a limited series on Apple TV+. Her next novel, The Night We Lost Him, will be published in October.

Anthony Doerr

(photo: Ulf Andersen)

Anthony Doerr is the author of the New York Times bestselling Cloud Cuckoo Land, which was a finalist for the National Book Award, and All the Light We Cannot See, winner of the Pulitzer Prize, the Carnegie Medal, the Alex Award, and a #1 New York Times bestseller. He is also the author of the story collections Memory Wall and The Shell Collector, the novel About Grace, and the memoir Four Seasons in Rome. He has won five O. Henry Prizes, the Rome Prize, the New York Public Library's Young Lions Award, the National Magazine Award for fiction, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and the Story Prize.

Sanjay Gupta

(photo: CNN/John Nowak)

Dr. Sanjay Gupta is CNN's Emmy Awardwinning chief medical correspondent and the host of the acclaimed podcast Chasing Life (formerly Coronavirus: Fact vs. Fiction). Dr. Gupta is America's go-to resource for expert advice on how to stay healthy and safe. The #1 New York Times bestselling author of World War C, Cheating Death, and many other works, Dr. Gupta lives in Atlanta, where he works as an associate professor of neurosurgery at the Emory University School of Medicine.

John Irving

(photo: Derek O'Donnell)

John Irving, whose first novel, Setting Free the Bears, was published in 1968, has published a series of award-winning novels that have been landmarks in American and world literature. His novel The World According to Garp won a National Book Award. He won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for The Cider House Rules. His all-time bestselling novel, in every language, is A Prayer for Owen Meany. Besides writing, wrestling is a passion for John Irving: he competed as a wrestler for twenty years and coached until he was forty-seven.

Susan Orlean

(photo: Corey Hendrickson)

Susan Orlean has been a staff writer at The New Yorker since 1992 and is the New York Times bestselling author of seven books, including The Library Book, Rin Tin Tin, and Saturday Night. Her 1998 book, The Orchid Thief, was made into the Academy Awardwinning film Adaptation. She lives with her family and her animals in Los Angeles.

Jason Reynolds

(photo: Adedayo "Dayo" Kosoko)

Jason Reynolds is a #1 New York Times bestselling author and has been honored by a striking range of groups and organizations. He was also the 20202022 National Ambassador for Young People's Literature. His many books include All American Boys (cowritten with Brendan Kiely); When I Was the Greatest; The Boy in the Black Suit; Stamped; As Brave as You; For Every One; the Track series (Ghost, Patina, Sunny, and Lu); Look Both Ways; Stuntboy, in the Meantime; Ain't Burned All the Bright (recipient of the Caldecott Honor) and My Name Is Jason. Mine Too. (both cowritten with Jason Griffin); and Long Way Down. His debut picture book, There Was a Party for Langston, published last year, won a Caldecott Honor and a Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor.

Jeannette Walls (photo: John Taylor)

Jeannette Walls, a journalist for many years, published her memoir, The Glass Castle, in 2005. It's been a New York Times bestseller for more than eight years, won the Christopher Award, the American Library Association's Alex Award, and the Books for Better Living Award. Walls also has written three novels: the New York Times bestsellers The Silver Star, Half Broke Horses, and Hang the Moon. Half Broke Horses was named one of the ten best books of 2009 by the editors of The New York Times Book Review.

Jesmyn Ward (photo: Beowulf Sheehan)

Jesmyn Ward is the historic winnerthe first woman and first Black Americanof two National Book Awards for Fiction, for Sing, Unburied, Sing (2017) and Salvage the Bones (2011). She has also received the MacArthur Genius Grant, a Stegner Fellowship, a John and Renee Grisham Writers Residency, the Strauss Living Prize, and the 2022 Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction. She is also the author of the novels Let Us Descend and Where the Line Bleeds as well as the memoir Men We Reaped.

Bob Woodward (photo: Lisa Berg)

Bob Woodward is an associate editor at The Washington Post, where he has worked for more than fifty years. He has shared in two Pulitzer Prizes, one for his Watergate coverage and the other for coverage of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. He has authored twenty-one bestselling books, fifteen of which have been #1 New York Times bestsellers.
The Income Tax department is carrying out spot Inspection of the offices of the Sub-registrars across Karnataka verifying the registers and other documents maintained at the offices. During the course of this action, sale transactions totalling more than Rs 10,000 crores pertaining to FY 2022-23 were found to be not reported by the filing of the required Statement of Financial Transaction by these offices. The Government of India along with the Ministry of Finance has been striving towards curbing black money and also widening the tax base and has taken numerous initiatives in this regard. One such initiative was to cast an obligation on government agencies and other authorities who are a valuable and reliable source of information to report high value transactions.

Such specified persons are required to submit Statement of Financial Transactions (SFTs) annually. The Sub Registrars who are possessing valuable information about the transaction of properties are required to submit the SFT-12 in Form 61A annually within the prescribed due date. However it is noticed that these SFTs are not being filed regularly and major defects are noticed in the SFTs filed by these agencies.

One of the Sr. official of the Intelligence and Criminal Investigation Division of the Income Tax department, who choose to not to reveal the identity and who is also a part of such an Inspection team says, There are many Sub-registrar offices (SROs) in Bangalore that are not complying with the provisions of SFT filing for property transactions. The SFT reporting to the income tax department is one of the main duties of an SRO which is being neglected on the back of insufficient manpower.

It was added, For any particular financial year, the SROs should file the relevant SFT by the end of 31st May succeeding the end of that Financial year. Since the past 3-4 years, despite issuing notices and reminders, the concerned SROs have not taken any steps in this regard. Hence, we have come here for an inspection, keeping in view the list of all the past five years' transactions. They will have to refile the whole thing again.

The clock is ticking, and the SROs, who are the Reporting Entities are urged to take immediate action and avoid unnecessary penalties, complying with income tax regulations. For those filing belated SFTs, penalty will be levied as applicable under the Income Tax Departments section.
IndiGo has revealed the prolongation of its service agreement with CAE, specifically for its Cadet Pilot Programme. This extension entails an expanded collaboration between IndiGo and CAE to create a customized pilot career program, aligning with the anticipated demand for Junior First Officers (JFO) and supporting IndiGo's strategic growth initiatives. The partnership with CAE commenced in 2011, and as of December 2023, IndiGo has successfully incorporated approximately 941 Cadets into its ranks as Junior First Officers through this program.

CAE provides comprehensive pilot training solutions at its advanced training facility located in Gondia, Maharashtra. This facility operates as a fully equipped Flight Training Organization (FTO) with state-of-the-art features, including a modern glass cockpit and Diamond training aircraft. IndiGo's cadet pilots have undergone training not only at this facility in Gondia but also at various international CAE locations, including Phoenix in the USA, as well as Melbourne and Tamworth in Australia.

Captain Ashim Mittra, Senior Vice President Flight Operations, IndiGo, said, We are delighted to further strengthen our long-standing association with CAE for our Cadet Pilot Programme. This partnership has helped us in establishing a strong backbone of well-trained cadet pilots, who are crucial for our existing needs and long-term growth plans. As Indias largest airline, we are expanding our network both within India and overseas, and this extended partnership will be key to creating a pool of skilled young pilots trained from the ground up. CAE has a demonstrated history of world-class infrastructure and curriculum that is critical for the level of excellence needed for a world-class airline culture like IndiGos".
In its fiscal year 2025 budget proposals to the Ministry of Finance, the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) has proposed the elimination of the Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) levy. Additionally, COAI suggests the implementation of a special tax regime for telecom carriers, customs duty exemptions on the import of network equipment, and relief from Goods and Services Tax (GST), among other recommendations. The industry association, headquartered in Delhi, emphasizes that its suggestions aim to improve the financial health of the sector. COAI's membership includes leading telecom operators in India such as Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, and Vodafone Idea.

The Union Budget session is set to take place on January 31, with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman slated to present the Interim Budget for the fiscal year 2025 on February 1. According to a statement from COAI, the association believes that it would be ideal to abolish the Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) levy. However, if that is not possible, then the USO contribution of 5% of AGR may be suspended till the existing USO corpus (INR 77,000 crores) is exhausted", it said. Further, it recommended that the license fee should be brought down from 3% to 1% at the earliest to cover only administrative costs by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT)/government.

COAI has emphasized that the definition of gross revenue should explicitly exclude income from activities not requiring a license. The association has urged the introduction of a unique framework for telecom operators under Section 72 of the Income Tax Act, of 1961. This proposal seeks to extend the period for carrying forward and setting off business losses from the current eight (8) years to sixteen (16) assessment years.

Further, COAI has requested that the levy of service tax on the assignment of right to use natural resources granted by the central government/state government and development authorities be exempted. COAI said that the government of India, over the past five to six years, has increased the customs duty on telecom equipment to 20% which has put an additional financial burden on telecom companies and has impacted the rollout of 5G services in the country.

The industry body has requested that the customs duty should be reduced to zero and have to be gradually increased depending on the creation of an ecosystem for manufacturing telecom gear in India. Till the time good quality equipment is available in India at affordable prices, customs duties for 4G/5G related network products, along with other related products, should be brought down to nil", COAI said.

COAI has appealed to the government for the exemption of Goods and Services Tax (GST) on license fees, spectrum usage charges, and spectrum acquisition fees, aiming to provide essential relief to the sector. As an alternative, the association has suggested permitting the payment of government services under the reverse charge mechanism (RCM) through the available Input Tax Credit (ITC) balance in the electronic credit ledger.
In a significant step towards strengthening collaboration between India and Japan, NSDC International (NSDCI), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC), has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Nippon Travel Agency Co., Ltd., a global workforce solutions company. The primary goal of this partnership is to raise awareness in the Japanese market about the recruitment of skilled professionals from various sectors in India. This joint effort aims to address the increasing demand for diverse talent in Japan and streamline the recruitment process. The official signing ceremony of this noteworthy agreement took place between Mr. Ajay Kumar Raina, Director & Chief Operating Officer of NSDCI, and Mr. Keigo Yoshida, Executive Officer & Chief of Headquarters at Nippon Travel Agency

Speaking on this initiative, Mr. Ved Mani Tiwari, CEO, NSDC & MD NSDC International, said, "Our partnership with Nippon Travel marks a significant milestone towards fostering closer ties between India and Japan. Recognizing the vital role language plays in cross-cultural understanding, we will actively support and promote Japanese language training in India. By addressing the importance of linguistic skills, we aim to enhance communication and collaboration between professionals from both nations. This initiative is a testament to our shared vision and commitment to excellence, underscoring our resolve to contribute to the economic and cultural growth of both countries".

Mr. Keigo Yoshida, Executive Officer & Chief of Headquarters at Nippon Travel Agency, expressed This partnership will facilitate economic and cultural bridges between the two countries and further enrich Japans diverse labour market. We look forward to welcoming Indias hard-working and talented human resources to contribute to Japanese society and grow together. We look forward to further deepening the friendship between Japan and India.

NSDC International and Nippon Travel Agency have collaborated to facilitate the recruitment of skilled Indian professionals, catering to the specific needs of Japanese businesses. This collaborative initiative aims to address the talent gap and promote increased workforce mobility. Additionally, NSDCI and Nippon Travel will coordinate joint seminars and workshops in both India and Japan. These sessions will concentrate on skill development, workforce mobility, and related topics, fostering the exchange of knowledge and promoting collaboration.

India and Japan have collaborated on various skill development initiatives, such as the India-Japan Skill Development Council, which promotes cooperation in vocational education, training, and human resource development. In 2016, the nations signed the Manufacturing Skill Transfer Promotion Programme agreement for training 30,000 persons over 10 years with Japanese-style manufacturing skills and practices. Thirty-five Japan-India Institutes for Manufacturing (JIM) and 11 Japanese Endowed Courses (JEC) have been established in different states across India.

In 2017, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the Technical Intern Training Program (TITP) was signed to notably enhance bilateral cooperation between India and Japan in the field of skill development. Within this program, chosen candidates from India participate in internships in Japan lasting three to five years. Subsequently, these individuals are mandated to return to India and apply the skills they acquired during their time in Japan.

Similarly, Specified Skilled Worker was introduced by the Government of Japan in April 2019, under which aspiring Indian youth can take up a job and stay in Japan. Japan introduced Specified Skilled Worker to address the severe labour shortages in Japan by accepting foreign human resources with specific expertise and skills. As of July 2022, Japan has signed the SSW Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) with 15 nations including India. India and Japan signed a Memorandum of Cooperation in January 2021 for the implementation of Specified Skilled Worker between India and Japan.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to inaugurate or initiate the commencement of various development projects in Solapur, Maharashtra. During a public event in the southern city, the Prime Minister will lay the foundation stones for eight AMRUT (Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation) projects in the state, with an estimated value of approximately Rs 2,000 crore. According to an official release from the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), "The Prime Minister will visit Maharashtra and, he will inaugurate and lay the foundation stone of multiple development projects in Solapur, Maharashtra". He will also dedicate more than 90,000 houses built under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban).

Additionally, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will consecrate 15,000 houses for the Raynagar Housing Society in Solapur. The recipients of these houses include numerous individuals such as handloom workers, vendors, powerloom workers, rag pickers, Bidi workers, drivers, and more. Furthermore, Modi will initiate the disbursement of the initial and subsequent installments to 10,000 beneficiaries of PM-SVANIDHI in Maharashtra as part of the program.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate American aircraft manufacturer Boeings new state-of-the-art global engineering and technology innovation campus in Devanahalli on the outskirts of Bengaluru near the Kempegowda International Airport. Thereafter, the Prime Minister will inaugurate the Boeing India Engineering and Technology Centre and launch the Boeing Sukanya Programme in Bengaluru. The Prime Minister will also launch a transformational Boeing programme for greater participation of Indian women from across all walks of life in the Indian aviation sector, the sources added.

In Bengaluru, the Prime Minister will inaugurate the new state-of-the-art Boeing India Engineering and Technology Center (BIETC) campus. Built with an investment of Rs 1,600 crores, the 43-acre campus is Boeing's largest such investment outside the USA.Boeing's new campus in India will become a cornerstone for partnership with the vibrant startup, private and government ecosystem in India, and will help develop next-generation products and services for the global aerospace and defence industry.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi officially opened the new Boeing India Engineering and Technology Centre (BIETC) campus in Bengaluru. Emphasizing its role as a focal point for innovation, he highlighted its potential to propel advancements in aviation. The Prime Minister further noted that the campus would contribute to reinforcing Bengaluru's identity. Bengaluru is a city that connects aspirations with innovation and achievement. Bengaluru connects India's technological capability with global demand", he said at the launch.

Covering an expansive 43 acres, the Boeing India Engineering and Technology Centre (BIETC) campus was constructed with a substantial investment of Rs 1,600 crore. Regarded as Boeing's most significant investment beyond the borders of the United States, the new campus is poised to be a pivotal point for collaboration with India's dynamic startup, private, and government ecosystem, as per government statements.

The facility is poised to play a crucial role in the advancement of next-generation products and services for the worldwide aerospace and defense sector. Reports indicate that the Boeing India Engineering and Technology Centre (BIETC) will house a diverse engineering workforce of over 3,000, actively contributing to the global growth of the aerospace industry. Additionally, Boeing has plans to collaborate with the Indian armed forces, aiming to bolster demand for aircraft in the defense sector and actively contribute to the vision of Aatmanirbhar Bharat, as per sources.

At Friday's launch, PM Modi also launched the Boeing Sukanya Programme which aims to support the entry of more girl children from across India into the countrys growing aviation sector. The programme will provide opportunities for girls and women from across India to learn critical skills in the science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) fields and train for jobs in the aviation sector.
DMI Group, a prominent financial services platform operating across India, has successfully acquired ZestMoney, the distressed 'buy now pay later' (BNPL) startup. This acquisition, executed through DMI Finance, comes as ZestMoney encountered challenges in revitalizing its business under new management and amid regulatory uncertainties. The non-banking financial company (NBFC) arm of DMI, DMI Finance, is poised to become the preferred lender on the ZestMoney platform, gaining exclusive rights to utilize all ZestMoney brands. While the exact financial terms of the deal remain undisclosed, this move is anticipated to reshape the landscape of digital finance and checkout financing in India.

Shivashish Chatterjee, Co-Founder and joint managing director of DMI expressed excitement about the acquisition, emphasizing ZestMoney's pioneering role in offering checkout finance in India. Chatterjee stated, "We have been in partnership with ZestMoney for over 8 years in various capacities. We firmly believe that this acquisition will be a crucial step in our journey to provide digital financial inclusion at scale across India".

Founded in 2015, ZestMoney introduced a fully automated digital customer onboarding and servicing system, enabling users to apply for and receive digital credit instantly at the point of sale. With a robust network of over 80,000 merchants, including major players like Amazon, Flipkart, and Myntra, ZestMoney has been a significant player in the 'buy now pay later' (BNPL) space. Mandar Satpute, Chief Operating Officer of Zest, expressed optimism about the future with DMI, stating, "DMI has been at the forefront of digital lending in India. They bring strong capital support and deep expertise. DMI has been an early supporter of ZestMoney, and we are very excited to take our partnership to a whole new level".

The acquisition is set to provide DMI with an expanded customer base, strengthened balance sheet strength, and improved risk-management capabilities. DMI intends to leverage ZestMoney's checkout financing platform to broaden its engagement with customers and merchants across online and offline networks. Founded by Lizzie Chapman, Priya Sharma, and Ashish Anantharaman, ZestMoney faced challenges in 2023, including the collapse of a proposed acquisition by fintech giant PhonePe. Despite reaching a peak valuation of $470 million and boasting a registered user base of 17 million, the company encountered difficulties amid changing regulations and funding challenges.
India's inaugural rewarding savings platform has unveiled a strategic collaboration with the country's leading gold retailer, Augmont. In this dynamic partnership, Fello and Augmont will introduce 'Gold Pro', a gold leasing initiative within the Fello app. This scheme allows users to securely lease their gold and earn up to 15.5% in interest. Through this alliance, Fello facilitates direct access to Augmont's gold investment services, seamlessly integrating with its unique reward-based savings system. Users engaging with Fello's savings feature will have the opportunity to enhance their funds and earn tickets for every Rs 500 saved, potentially winning rewards such as Mahindra Thar, iPhone, and digital gold.

Prize-linked savings (PLS) have already demonstrated transformative effects on the investment landscape in the US, UK, and UAE. Although the concept of PLS is relatively new in India, Fello distinguishes itself as a pioneer in this field. By introducing a unique and rewarding approach to savings in the Indian market, Fello is actively leading efforts to encourage healthy savings and investments among the younger demographic.

Expressing excitement about revolutionizing modern savings by combining financial growth with the allure of rewards, Mr. Manish Maryada, Co-founder, and CEO of Fello, stated, "We at Fello are delighted to announce our strategic partnership with Augmont, marking a significant milestone in our mission to transform the savings landscape in India. With Augmont's expertise in gold investments, we can now offer our users an exciting new avenue to grow their savings, turning savings into not just a financial necessity but an engaging and rewarding experience."

Additionally, the partnership provides the unique advantage of allowing Fello users to diversify their investment portfolios by incorporating gold, a traditionally valued asset. This collaboration further enhances the platform's attractiveness to a wider user base seeking varied investment opportunities, leveraging the convenience-centric gold investments facilitated by Augmont's seamless services.
Tara Sreekrishnans California State Assembly candidacy reflects her dedication to public service and mirrors the evolving American political landscape. With an inclusive vision, she aims to unite communities and prioritize equity.

In a notable development on the political landscape of California, Indian-American activist and community leader Tara Sreekrishnan has announced her candidacy for the California State Assembly. A passionate advocate for social justice and community empowerment, Sreekrihnan brings a fresh perspective and a wealth of experience to the forefront of her campaign.

Sreekrishnan, a first-generation Indian-American, has long been involved in community service and activism. Her journey into the political arena is fueled by a desire to address the diverse needs of her constituency and contribute to positive change in the state. Rooted in a legal background and a strong dedication to social justice causes, she advocates for those unheard, pushing for policies that foster inclusiveness, equity, and impartiality. The agenda covers diverse topics like accessible housing, changes in education, healthcare availability, and ecological stability. Being a California resident, she comprehends the distinctive hurdles the state encounters and is committed to discovering practical resolutions beneficial to all inhabitants.

The key focal point of Sreekrishnan's campaign is the promotion of educational opportunities for all Californians. As a firm believer in the transformative power of education, she advocates for increased funding for public schools, vocational training programs, and initiatives that bridge educational disparities. Acknowledging the significance of readying the upcoming generation for future challenges, there is a dedication to establishing an educational system that caters to the requirements of varied communities and remains easily accessible.

Beyond education, a significant focus is placed on environmental sustainability. Leveraging California's historical role in environmental initiatives, the aim is to bolster this heritage by endorsing policies addressing climate change, advocating for renewable energy, and safeguarding natural resources. The dedication to a sustainable future signifies a comprehensive awareness of the interdependence of the environment, public health, and economic prosperity.

Addressing the pressing matter of affordable housing is a focal point of the campaign. Amid escalating housing expenses and a growing homelessness problem, there is a push for inventive strategies to establish affordable housing choices and tackle the underlying issues contributing to the housing crisis. The all-encompassing approach involves cooperative efforts with stakeholders to enforce policies that consider the interests of both residents and the business community.

As a woman of color, Sreekrishnans candidacy represents a significant step towards increased diversity and representation in California politics. She aspires to inspire other individuals from underrepresented communities to actively engage in the political process and contribute their unique perspectives to shaping the future of the state. Her candidacy for the California State Assembly is a testament to her commitment to public service and a reflection of the changing face of American politics.

With a compelling vision for a more inclusive and equitable California, Sreekrishnan stands as a candidate who seeks to unite communities and build a future that benefits all residents, irrespective of their background or socioeconomic status. As the campaign progresses, it will undoubtedly be closely watched as a symbol of the evolving landscape of American democracy and the increasing influence of diverse voices in shaping legislative agendas.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A new report has named the most dangerous Amazon warehouses in New York -- using injury rates, missed work and job transfers as its gauge -- and two Staten Island sort and fulfillment centers are listed in the top five.

Warehouse workers are injured four times more than the average New York worker, and at Amazon facilities overall, 1 in 12 workers are injured on the job, noted the study, which was released this week by New Yorkers for a Fair Economy (NYFE), a coalition of labor unions, small businesses, and immigrant and community organizations uniting to safeguard New York state from the abusive practices of big corporations.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  For this weeks Staten Islands Best Dressed, featured are photos from the 8th Annual Recognition Event of the Bait-ul Jamaat House of Community, themed Empowerment in Action: Resilience from Adversity. The keynote speaker was Assemblymember Charles D. Fall.

The signature fundraiser was held on Saturday, Jan. 17, at the Snug Harbor Cultural Center, Livingston. Bait-ul Jamaats focus is to help the underserved families on Staten Island. According to their website, the organization was founded by five families in June 2015, originally conceived by Imam Zulqarnain Abdu Shahid, with the help of his wife, Jamilah LaSalle, the Associate Director of Richmond Senior Services, and Executive Director of Bait-ul.

Honored at the fundraiser were individuals who have made positive impact on the community in their own neighborhoods where they live, said LaSalle. These awardees help strengthen the fabric of Staten Island as a whole and are our reason why we can accomplish this starting with our home base  Staten Island.

Their continuous contribution to the community does not go unnoticed and we at Bait-ul Jamaat Inc. wanted to express our many thanks. This event will allow Bait-ul Jamaat to continue its mission in providing additional free services to the community at large.

This years honorees were: Dr. Brahim Ardolic, Executive Director of Staten Island University Hospital; Dr. Aliyah Morgan, Muslim Peer Services; Najla Khass, Refugee Relief Coordinator/ICNA Relief; Antoinette Donegan, MAP Engagement Coordinator at Central Family Life Center; Mohamed Bahi, Community Liaison at NYC Mayors Office; Adama Bah, Immigrants Rights Advocate-Afrikana; and Tyrone Felder, Food Security Coordinator, Bait-ul Jamaat/ Marketing and Director of Angry Elephant Apparel.

This years guest speakers included: Imam Wesley Lebron, Director of Education, Muslim American Society, Brooklyn; Bibi Esahack, Executive Director of Bay Ridge Community Development Corporation; and Nicole Meyers, President of National Council of Negro Women, Staten Island.

The Bait-ul Jamaat House of Community held its 8th Annual Community Recognition Fundraiser on Saturday, January 13, 2024, at the Snug Harbor Cultural Center. Pictured are Tyrone Felder, Special Recognition awardee, left; Imam Zulqarnain Abdu Shahid, BJ President; Rashawn Bronson, Muslim Peer Services Founder; Nyree Martinez, Muslim Peer Services Cofounder; Jamilah LaSalle, BJ executive director; Yousma Natalia, BJ Board Member, and Jamillah Diallobe, BJ Board Member. (Courtesy Nataki Hewling/HER SHOT) Courtesy/Bait-ul Jamaat House of Community

ABOUT BAIT-UL JAMAAT HOUSE OF COMMUNITY

Bait-ul Jamaat House of Community is a community service organization, established by Muslims on Staten Island. The needs of the community are vast and require supportive services. Their mission is to provide food security and mental health awareness through arts, various activities, educational series and advocacy support, to the underserved families on Staten Island.

To date, their accomplishments have included feeding more than 76,862 families in the underserved areas and shelters on Staten Island, through their mobile food pantry and Soup for the Soul programs with the assistance of several restaurants and halal meat markets. They have also distributed more than 2,520 coats and winter warm essentials through coat drives and over 4,500 hygiene essential packages to the homeless and shelters in Staten Island, Manhattan, Bronx and internationally.

The group has also distributed more than 2,530 book bags and back to school supplies in Staten Island, Brooklyn, the Bronx, and New Jersey, and provided 457 families with mental health awareness through arts workshops utilizing tai chi, art, and drumming therapy.

The Bait-ul Jamaat House of Community held its 8th Annual Community Recognition Fundraiser on Saturday, January 13, 2024, at the Snug Harbor Cultural Center. Pictured is guest speaker Bibi Esahack, center, with her children. (Courtesy Nataki Hewling/HER SHOT) Courtesy/Bait-ul Jamaat House of Community

Antoinnette Donegan, is the recipient of the Community Impact Award, at the Bait-ul Jamaat House of Community's 8th Annual Community Recognition Fundraiser on Saturday, January 13, 2024, at the Snug Harbor Cultural Center. (Courtesy Nataki Hewling/HER SHOT)Courtesy Nataki Hewling/HER SHOT

The Bait-ul Jamaat House of Community hosted its 8th Annual Community Recognition Fundraiser on Saturday, January 13, 2024, at the Snug Harbor Cultural Center. Pictured are guest speaker Imam Wesley Lebron, left, with Baitul Jamaat's President, Imam Zulqarnain Abdu Shahid. (Courtesy Nataki Hewling/HER SHOT) Courtesy/Bait-ul Jamaat House of Community

The Bait-ul Jamaat House of Community hosted its 8th Annual Community Recognition Fundraiser on Saturday, January 13, 2024, at the Snug Harbor Cultural Center. Pictured is Nicole Meyers, NCNW, the guest speaker. (Courtesy Nataki Hewling/HER SHOT) Courtesy/Bait-ul Jamaat House of Community

The Bait-ul Jamaat House of Community hosted its 8th Annual Community Recognition Fundraiser on Saturday, January 13, 2024, at the Snug Harbor Cultural Center. (Courtesy Nataki Hewling/HER SHOT) Community Impact Award

Najla Khass (with mic) Community Impact Award & Jamilah Diallobe (BJ Board Member). The Bait-ul Jamaat House of Community hosted its 8th Annual Community Recognition Fundraiser on Saturday, January 13, 2024, at the Snug Harbor Cultural Center. (Courtesy Nataki Hewling/HER SHOT) Community Impact Award

Adama Bah, far right, Community Impact Awardee, is oictured with her family. The Bait-ul Jamaat House of Community hosted its 8th Annual Community Recognition Fundraiser on Saturday, January 13, 2024, at the Snug Harbor Cultural Center. (Courtesy Nataki Hewling/HER SHOT) Community Impact Award
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  When Omar Abukwaik stepped off a plane Wednesday at John F. Kennedy International Airport after a 12-hour flight from the Egyptian border, the frightened 4-year-old gazed around, clung close to his paternal aunts side and cried his eyes out.

What made Omars arrival all the more terrifying were the 25 strangers who were on hand to greet the young child  an entourage including accommodating staffers from U.S. Customs and Border Control who facilitated his entry into the U.S.  and press who were there to capture the moment.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  In honor of those who have died, here is a compilation of obituaries posted on SILive.com. Viewing times and guest books can be seen here.

John Johnny McLeod Jr., was a beloved father and grandfather. Born in North Carolina, Johnny came to New York at age one. Being the eldest of nine children, Johnny had a blessed childhood with an abundance of love and joy. He attended Port Richmond High School where he still holds the record for the hundred-yard dash. He also attended CSI and NYU, graduating with a BS degree. He entered the Navy serving as a Fire Control Technician. He also served in Vietnam and the reserves. He was employed by Maimonides Hospital and took over the family business- Mcleods Cleaning Service. Retiring in 2000, Johnny enjoyed listening to Jazz music, and playing the trumpet. He loved spending time with family, watching flicks and always cooking up a storm. His favorite place to be was near the water, whether to fish or simply read. Read the full obit on SILive.com.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The number of foreclosures in New York City nearly doubled in 2023, though totals remain well below the exorbitant highs recorded just a few years ago.

A new report by PropertyShark analyzed first-time residential foreclosures across New York City in recent years to identify trends in the citys real estate market two years after the pandemic-related foreclosure moratorium ended in January 2022.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The New York City Emergency Management Department has issued a travel advisory, warning residents of potential impacts and poor conditions expected for Fridays morning and evening commutes.

The National Weather Service (NWS) has issued a winter weather advisory of its own for New York City, highlighting the slippery road conditions anticipated.

Although a few flurries might make their way into the city Thursday night, light snow will begin to fall on city streets early Friday morning, sometime between 6 a.m. and 9 a.m., as reported by the New York City Emergency Management Department.

A Winter Weather Advisory is in effect for Friday and early Friday evening for a 2 to 3 inch snowfall. Click here for the details: https://t.co/eIjJUdoNpM#nycwx #njwx #liwx #ctwx #nywx #hvwx pic.twitter.com/58G19UdgEi  NWS New York NY (@NWSNewYorkNY) January 18, 2024

Thanks to the accumulating snowfall, which is estimated to reach up to (and potentially beyond) 3 inches, the evening commute could be an especially treacherous one.

And while the threat of poor travel conditions originating from the snowfall is a major concern, the city also emphasizes the freezing conditions expected to linger beyond Fridays storm and throughout the weekend.

Temperatures are forecast to remain several degrees below the norm, with lows ranging in the upper teens to the low 20s; the wind chill making for a feel resembling the teens, and near-zero single digits, the New York City Emergency Management Department noted.

With more snow expected throughout the day tomorrow, our city agencies are prepared, and we encourage all New Yorkers to plan for a messier commute and take the necessary precautions to remain safe, New York City Mayor Eric Adams said. Well continue to keep New Yorkers updated about what to expect and, as always, the best way to stay safe is to stay informed  sign up for Notify NYC to get the latest information directly from the city.

PROACTIVE PREPARATIONS

In response to the weather event, NYC Emergency Management has activated the citys Winter Weather Emergency Plan. This plan entails coordinated communication with the NWS, utility partners. and city and state agencies.

Additionally, the city has announced that Alternate Side Parking Regulations will be suspended Friday.

UPDATE: #NYCASP rules will be suspended on Friday, January 19, due to winter storm operations.



Parking meters will remain in effect.



Get twice daily ASP updates on Twitter: https://t.co/yMIHLq83Bc

Download our app for push notifications: https://t.co/YYUMiIRrnW pic.twitter.com/cOzLFL9Bcv  New York City 311 (@nyc311) January 18, 2024

As part of the preemptive measures, the New York City Department of Sanitation has reportedly issued a Snow Alert and is pre-deploying 700 salt spreaders. The DSNY will be utilizing their latest technological advancement, Bladerunner 2.0, to monitor road conditions across the city and dispatch response crews as needed.

As we prepare for another round of snow and cold temperatures this weekend, we encourage New Yorkers to prepare a plan for tomorrows slippery and messy evening commute, New York City Emergency Management Commissioner Zach Iscol said. We are in constant contact with our partner agencies, to ensure that there are no disruptions to services during this latest weather event. With temperatures remaining sub-freezing until Monday, dont forget to check on friends, family and neighbors.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  New York City is bracing for the second bout of measurable snowfall this week. While parts of upstate New York will be spared precipitation, Staten Islanders could see upwards of three inches of snow.

Fridays anticipated combination of freezing temps and consistent snow has prompted state officials to take action in preparation for the conditions to come. The New York City Emergency Management Department has issued a travel advisory and is working in tandem with city agencies, including the New York City Department of Sanitation, to monitor the encroaching system, poised to make a mess of both the morning and evening commutes.

With more snow expected throughout the day tomorrow, our city agencies are prepared, and we encourage all New Yorkers to plan for a messier commute and take the necessary precautions to remain safe, New York City Mayor Eric Adams said. Well continue to keep New Yorkers updated about what to expect and, as always, the best way to stay safe is to stay informed  sign up for Notify NYC to get the latest information directly from the city.

THE LATEST ON WHAT WEATHER TO EXPECT

The National Weather Service (NWS) issued a Winter Weather Advisory Thursday afternoon, warning of the poor conditions predicted for New York City and the surrounding area.

A Winter Weather Advisory is in effect for Friday and early Friday evening for a 2 to 3 inch snowfall. Click here for the details: https://t.co/eIjJUdoNpM#nycwx #njwx #liwx #ctwx #nywx #hvwx pic.twitter.com/58G19UdgEi  NWS New York NY (@NWSNewYorkNY) January 18, 2024

As day breaks Friday and residents begin are roused for the morning commute, the first snow flakes will begin floating down to city roadways. The NWS foresees Staten Island witnessing the initial onset sometime around 7 a.m., with snow sweeping across the remainder of the city by 10 a.m. Friday morning.

The light snow, which is expected to be a drier, powder-like precipitation, as opposed to a heavy, wet snowfall, will remain consistent throughout the afternoon hours.

Probably never really snowing really hard, said AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Dave Dombek. There might be a few times where the snow does come down and its a little bit more noticeable, a little more intensity to it, but its never going to get really, super heavy anytime during the day. But it will be a pretty steady snow throughout the course of the day.

Projected snowfall amounts range anywhere between 1 and 3 inches around New York City, according to the NWS. Staten Island, Brooklyn, Manhattan, and areas southwest of the city can expect 3 inches of snow or more. Meanwhile, most of Long Island can count on nearing that 3-inch mark, especially those areas near the five boroughs.

A National Weather Service graphic shows the probability of seeing 2 inches of snow or more in New York City on Friday, Jan. 19 through Saturday, Jan. 20, 2024. (Courtesy of the National Weather Service)(Courtesy of the National Weathe

In analyzing precipitation probability on Staten Island, its safe to say Islanders can expect at least 2 inches of snow, the NWS giving Tottenville a 93% chance of seeing such. Staten Island may even reach beyond 4 inches, though the chances of seeing such amounts on the South Shore are only about 38%.

The precipitation will persist into the evening commute and begin to move out to sea sometime between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m., as reported by the NWS.

CHILLY TEMPERATURES TO COME

By the time this storm moves away, frigid temperatures and blustering winds will characterize the days to come.

Temperatures are forecast to remain several degrees below the norm, with lows ranging in the upper teens to the low 20s; the wind chill making for a feel of near-zero single digits at times, the New York City Emergency Management Department warned.

A National Weather Service graphic shows the expected wind chill for New York the night of Friday, Jan. 19, 2024. (Courtesy of the National Weather Service)(Courtesy of the National Weathe

Friday nights wind chill looks to deliver a bitter cold to much of the city. Staten Island will feel as though it is near zero degrees. Saturday nights wind chill will make for a feel of sub-zero temperatures, according to the NWS.

Those shoveling snow should ensure they are properly equipped to withstand such temperatures, as the NWS warns that frostbite can occur on exposed skin within 60 minutes. Additionally, the frigid temperatures will foster the frost and freeze any standing bodies of water (keep that salt handy).

AccuWeather forecasters foresee temperatures trending upward next week in the east, and as that mild, moist air moves over cold ground, we could see spots of fog and drizzle form. However, where the ground remains near freezing, hazardous clear sheets of ice may form.
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Turkish Airlines will begin its long-awaited services to Australia in March, in a move expected to put downward pressure on airfares ahead of the European summer. The carrier will initially operate flights from Istanbul to Melbourne, with a stopover in Singapore, three times a week from March 16.

Turkish Airlines is one of the largest carriers in the world and it has long said it wanted to fly to Australia, but it only applied for the necessary bilateral air rights towards the end of last year.

Turkish Airlines will begin flying from Melbourne to Europe in March. Credit: Getty

The application was approved by the federal government last month after it was embroiled in another bilateral air rights scandal which centred around the governments rejection of Qatar Airways attempt to double its flights to Australia.

Turkish Airlines has flagged it intends to fly direct from Melbourne to Istanbul as soon as its fleet can accommodate such distances. The airline placed an order in November for more than 220 Airbus aircraft including 15 A350s, which could fly direct between Istanbul and Australias east coast.
If the Felixer or 1080 use on cats was cruel, we wouldnt be doing it. We want to have the best outcomes for the wildlife whilst minimising any adverse impacts. But due to political opposition by those in Victoria, including the Animal Justice Party, Felixers are banned on French Island. Instead, they have just been allowed to monitor and photograph the ongoing slaughter of natives by cats. Last year, Animal Justice Party MP Georgie Purcell asked then Victoria minister for agriculture Gayle Tierney if she could confirm 1080 would not be used on feral cats. Tierney said the use of 1080 on feral cats would not be part of the states feral cat management plans, which are due to be released soon.

Loading In terms of anything that is approved nationally, we obviously need to consider what the implications might be in terms of Victoria  making sure that we have got some sort of eye on technological advancement as well as balancing that with animal welfare considerations. Purcell told this masthead that her party would continue pushing for the government to ban the use of 1080 on other pests, raising concerns of secondary poisoning in animals that consume the bodies of target species. She added that alternative methods, such as desexing, could be used instead. All other states, territories and several islands use the Felixer and 1080 meat baits on feral cats. Felixers have also been registered by the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority for feral cat management in Australia.

Instead, Victoria relies on cage traps and detection dogs for feral cat management on crown land. A Victorian government spokesperson said it was considering how best to enable the use of the Felixer. The spokesperson confirmed the state was not considering the use of 1080. A recent report by the Victorian government said while Felixers would be ideal in eradicating cats on islands, it did not support the registration of the devices with 1080 poison as the toxin due to concerns about possible non-target impacts. However, the state does allow the use of 1080 on other feral animals. The Invasive Species Councils advocacy manager, Jack Gough, worries that current measures in Victoria are a half-hearted effort to reduce feral cat numbers.

We know on other island eradication projects, on say Christmas Island and Kangaroo Island, if you are to be successful we need all the tools in the toolbox. That includes the use of the innovative Felixers, Gough said. We are concerned that if the Victorian government does not change its mind on this issue, then eradication of feral cats on French Island will not be possible and the consequence of that will be the deaths of our native species. Gough added that while it was never nice to talk about killing animals, the use of 1080 was the most effective method available, and without any other alternatives, a delayed rollout would result in feral animal populations booming at the expense of native animals. We are concerned the government is not showing the political courage needed to that [this issue] on, he said.

On French Island, feral cat estimates are between 10 and 50. Many hope the Felixer, used alongside other cat eradication methods, would finally help rid the island of its pests. Australia is a world leader in wildlife losses. Since colonisation, about 100 of the countrys unique flora and fauna species have become extinct, with untold losses of invertebrates. The rate of loss has not slowed over the past 200 years. Feral animals such as wild cats and foxes are key drivers of native wildlife losses, along with habitat loss through land-clearing and development. For conservation groups and state and federal governments, how best to deal with feral cats remains a big question, and an expensive one.
A highly sought-after osteopath says he sexually assaulted two patients, one for an estimated 20 minutes, in a moment of madness and recklessness.

Bernard Michael Rochfords income was simply turned off when COVID-19 pandemic health directives impacted his Brisbane business, a court has heard.

The osteopaths income was simply turned off when COVID-19 pandemic health directives impacted his Brisbane business, a court has heard. Credit: iStock

Rochford was an established, successful and highly sought-after osteopath who owned a practice in the Brisbane suburb of New Farm, prosecutor Zachary Kaplan told the court.

His offending ceased almost immediately on the first patient when asked to stop but the other woman estimated the sexual assault lasted about 20 minutes, Kaplan said.
The news 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 NSW Fair Trading will launch an investigation into sales in the Lachlan Lines apartment complex at Macquarie Park after a rectification order for serious defects was issued on Wednesday, as the Minns government says it will use strengthened powers to stamp out wrongdoing. Any finding of failing to disclose knowledge of the serious defect in the buildings concrete slab could result in a maximum penalty of $22,000, with questions raised after claims one new owner was unaware of the problems despite the rectification order noting the owners corporation and local council were informed last October. As Fair Trading confirmed the probe into the sales advertisements and contracts, a NSW government spokesman said: The government wont hesitate to use its powers and hold those that fail to disclose defects to account. On Wednesday, property developer Greenland Australia, the developer of 23 Halifax Street, was issued with an urgent rectification order for serious damage to the concrete in the basement. The rectification order, issued by the Building Commission NSW after an audit of the four blocks of 900 new apartments in Sydneys north, warned of serious damage and spalling of the concrete slab at the joint locations in basements and the ground floor. Despite the rectification order stating that this is a defect in a building product or building element that causes or is likely to cause the basement slab to fail, namely, to fracture and collapse, leading to the destruction of the building or any part, or the threat of collapse of the building or any part, a later statement from the commission said the building was not at risk of imminent collapse. The risk was confined to the long-term durability of the basement levels, rather than any units within the complex, it said.

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Owners were unimpressed. One recent buyer, Nina Bishop, who was moving the last of her packing boxes into the complex when the news broke, said she was blindsided by the defects. The strata report had not mentioned anything of the sort, she told reporters. In response, a spokesman for Fair Trading Minister Anoulack Chanthivong said: The public should expect to see more historical poor work called out as Building Commission NSW continues to ramp up, and well be working to make sure people can make informed decisions about the property they buy. Greenland Australia said it would comply with the orders which require full rectification within eight months. Ten rectification orders have been issued already this year. How we got here Sydneys modern history of apartment building has been chequered. Both the Mascot Towers and Opal Tower have plagued unfortunate owners after widespread cracks were discovered in the respective buildings.

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In 2020, the previous Coalition government strengthened existing legislation to protect people who purchase apartments from developers through the Residential Apartment Buildings (Compliance and Enforcement Powers) Act 2020, and the Design and Building Practitioners Act 2020. The former imposes a statutory duty of care for those involved in the construction of buildings and will enable owners and purchasers to sue if that duty is breached, while the latter empowered Building Commissioner David Chandler to inspect work sites to ensure quality work. Loading Issues remain. Last year, the Department of Planning and Environment hit the owners corporation of One Central Park in Broadway with the bill for remediation of flammable cladding. The dispute has ended up in both the Supreme Court and the Land and Environment Court. The new plan The Minns Labor government has introduced a suite of reforms to address the states acute housing shortage. Increasing density through the construction of apartments around transport hubs will be vital to Housing Minister Paul Scullys plans to meet ambitious national targets. As the government races to build 378,000 homes by July 2029, the problem will be ensuring quality.

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On Thursday, Chandler warned he considered up to 20 per cent of developers in NSW as risky. His powers have been broadened to consider stand-alone homes, and his standards enforcement team increased from 40 staff to over 400. Loading One of the sites marked for a dramatic uplift in density? Macquarie Park. In November, Premier Chris Minns announced his government would facilitate the construction of 8000 new homes, mostly apartments, in the suburb. What they said Building Commissioner David Chandler: When I started this exercise in 2019, I said that 15 to 20 per cent of developers were risky. Thats proving to be the case as we work our way out of this. Planning Minister Paul Scully: I think the governments happy with the optics of the building commissioner out being the tough cop on the beat that we expected him to be. Over the last few years theres no doubt theres been some confidence issues creep into the built environment. Unit owner Nina Bishop had just finished moving into the Macquarie Park apartment complex. Credit: Nine News

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Lachlans Line apartment owner Nina Bishop: Its nerve-racking wondering whats going on. Its out of the blue. What you need to know Apartment buildings have a six-year warranty, and a 10-year long-stop which protects owners from dodgy builders or developers. Chandler can pursue developers for rectification orders if serious defects are identified and reported early enough. Real estate agents are obligated to inform potential buyers of serious defects in apartment complexes. Any serious issues identified by the Building Commission will be first handed to the buildings owners corporations as draft orders before being published on the agencys website. NSW Building Commissioner David Chandler. Credit: Kate Gerathy Does a selling or leasing agent have an obligation to disclose a building defect? At what point in the process? If there is a formal order issued by the Building Commission under legislation regarding a building defect then it is a material fact that an agent is required to disclose.

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Only four kilometres separates Papua New Guinea from an Australian island. Or 150 kilometres if you measure from Cape York to the PNG mainland. Yet its a world away, for all Australians know about it.

Tourists hardly visit. But they should. Poor infrastructure makes access difficult and security can be a concern, yet on an expedition cruise you can explore this most fascinating destination with ease.

Alotau, Papua New Guinea. The country is just 150 kilometres from the Australian mainland, but feels like another world. Credit: iStock

Youll be at sea for a day and a half when you sail out of Cairns; PNGs closeness doesnt mean convenience. Still, thats no hardship when youre on Ponants sleek ship Le Soleal. This boutique hotel afloat is smart but informal. I attend a lecture on New Guinean politics. Head to the open bridge and chat to captain Antoine Paquet. I gobble seared scallops and chicken Paillard and fall asleep.

At 7.30 the next morning were heading through China Strait between islands and mainland PNGs south-east tip towards Alotau, which has no land connection to the outside world. We sail past shipyards, oil-storage tanks, rusting boats and shiny trucks. The cruise terminal is a tin warehouse with faded blue doors.
Bangkok: A court of appeals in Thailand has handed a political activist what is believed to be a record sentence for the criminal offence of insulting the monarchy, giving him a 50-year prison term after finding him guilty of 25 violations of the law, a lawyers group said.

Mongkhon Thirakot, 30, had originally been sentenced last year to 28 years in prison by the provincial court in the northern province of Chiang Rai for 14 of 27 posts on Facebook for which he was charged.

Political activist Mongkhon Thirakot flashes the three finger pro-democracy gesture ahead of going to court. Credit: AP

Mongkhon was found guilty by the northern region court of appeals in Chiang Rai on Thursday not just in the 14 cases, but also in 11 of the 13 cases for which the lower court had acquitted him, the group Thai Lawyers for Human Rights announced.

The court of appeals sentenced him to an additional 22 years in prison, bringing his total to 50 years. Technically, he had been given a prison term of 75 years, but the sentence was cut by one-third in acknowledgement of his cooperation in the legal proceedings.
London: Former British prime minister Boris Johnson says Donald Trumps potential return to the White House could be just what the world needs, but he urged the Republican Party favourite to ignore growing calls from his supporters to wind back support for Ukraine.

Johnson, who resigned 16 months ago amid a series of scandals that then forced him out of parliament, also mocked the caterwauling orgy of concern around the world about the prospect of Trump winning the US presidential contest in November, claiming his success in the polls has driven some people to the brink of virtue-signalling derangement.

Donald Trump and Boris Johnson during a NATO group photo in 2019. Credit: AP

In his weekly column for the Daily Mail, for which he is reportedly paid 1 million ($1.9 million) a year, Johnson said the global wokerati had been trembling so violently that you could hear the ice tinkling in their negronis at the Davos summit in Switzerland this week.

Trumps campaign to return to the White House has been boosted by an overwhelming victory in the Iowa caucuses over his Republican rivals, confirming his tight grip over voters in his party, who remain devoted to him despite the criminal charges he faces in courts across the US.
~Best Rum in the Caribbean~

PHILIPSBURG:--- If there is one thing the Caribbean is known for as much as its beaches, is its rum. The spirit was first distilled on the islands during the 17th century when sugar plantation owners discovered molasses, a byproduct of the sugar refining process, which could be fermented into alcohol. Caribbean rum producers have spent centuries since perfecting the process of distillation, aging and blending. Many of the world's best rums come from the Caribbean.

USA Today awarded the Best Caribbean Rum to St. Maartens Topper's Rhum. This prestigious competition is amongst some of the most famous rum brands in the world such as Bacardi, Brugal, Angostura, Cruzan, Mount Gay, Appleton Estate, and Barbancourt.



USA TODAYs 10Best.com, provides travelers with original, unbiased, and experiential travel content around the world. At its core is a team of well-traveled and well-educated experts who in their fields are known for their discriminating tastes.

Toppers Rhum, a truly locally made product, is a world-class, multi-award winning, premium rhum that is handmade, bottled, and packaged with precision right here in Cole Bay, St. Maarten. Toppers Rhum only uses all natural premium ingredients and no preservatives. They are committed to producing the worlds best tasting rhum and flavored rhum spirits, using the highest standards of quality. They are re-inventing rhum by continually innovating and delivering unique products to their customers worldwide.

Through their tours and their continuing expansion overseas, they are notably promoting St. Maarten internationally. Toppers Rhum Distillery is one of the top unique places to visit on St. Maarten, according to the St. Maarten Tourism Bureau.

Toppers is family owned and operated and is set in a gorgeous landmark waterfront location directly on the Caribbeans largest Lagoon. This iconic building, a 16-sided structure studded with Italian cerulean blue tiles, marble floors, and a majestic chandelier, stunningly accommodates not only the rum distillery but also their famous international restaurant, Karaoke bar, authentic Italian gelateria, and gift shop.

Enjoy a tour or stop by for tasting and shopping daily from 9:00 am- 10:00 pm. Tours are available daily at 11:30 am, 1:30 pm, 3:30 pm, and 5:30 pm. After you are greeted with Toppers refreshing rhum punch, a knowledgeable guide will give you a fun hands-on tour where you will learn a little history of rum and get a behind-the-scenes look at how Toppers ferments, distills, blends, ages, and expertly bottles its handcrafted rums and ensure their products meet the highest quality standards. During your tour, youll be treated to over 20 samples of their 100 different flavored rhums, rum cake, rum-infused Italian gelato, and waffle cones, and you get to cook and taste food prepared with Toppers Rhum.

This official St. Maarten rhum is the only international multiple award-winning spirit produced and exported from St. Maarten. They currently export to 7 countries and 27 states in the USA and their products are also sold online throughout the world at buyrhum.com.

For more information about the Toppers Rhum Distillery please contact the Toppers Rhum Press Officer at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or visit their website www.toppersrhumtours.com
PHILIPSBURG:--- The Pelican team, a specialized unit within the Detective Department of the Sint Maarten Police Force (KPSM), comprising KPSM officers, officers of the Koninklijke Marechaussee, and the Coastguard, in collaboration with a United States investigation agency, has successfully conducted an operation targeting individuals involved in the export of drugs, to the United States.

On January 16, 2024, the Pelican team executed the arrest of two individuals, identified as R.N.M., 42 years of age, and N.C.F., 34 years of age, following an extensive investigation. The arrests were carried out in collaboration with international partners, highlighting the commitment of this team to address cross-border and organized crime activities.

Simultaneous house searches were conducted in the A.TH. Illidge Road (Over the Pond) and Middle Region areas. During these searches, officers discovered and confiscated items relevant to the ongoing investigation, along with live ammunition.

In light of these developments, both suspects are currently in custody at the police station, where they will remain pending further investigation.

The Pelican team is a newly established unit within the Detective Department of KPSM, specializing in drug trafficking, gun trafficking, and other cross-border crimes. This operation marks the first successful endeavor by the Pelican team, underscoring its effectiveness in addressing complex criminal activities.

The Sint Maarten Police Force appreciates the cooperation and support from the community in fostering a safer environment. Further details regarding the investigation will be released as they become available, as the Pelican team continues to work diligently to maintain the security and integrity of Sint Maarten.

KPSM Press Release.
PHILIPSBURG:--- Mr. G.R. (Rik) Bergman has been appointed as the new President of the Integrity Chamber Sint Maarten effective January 1, 2024. The appointment by the Kingdom Council of Ministers comes after a careful selection process and is based on the binding recommendation by the two other members of the Integrity Chamber, Rafael Boasman and Hans Lodder.

Bergman is a lawyer by profession with 25 years of experience practicing law on Sint Maarten. Since 2015 he spearheaded the role of mediation in the Caribbean part of the Kingdom, being the first licensed and professional mediator on Sint Maarten. As former Dean of the Sint Maarten Bar Association, Bergman promoted the togetherness of the Bar and the professionalism of its members. He contributed to international relations for Sint Maarten in his capacity as British Honorary Consul and has been active in several foundations and public causes.

Bergman has also been a long-time member of the Council of Advice of Sint Maarten. Joining in 2011, first as an extra-ordinary member and later as a member. With the appointment as President of the Integrity Chamber, Bergman has resigned from the Council of Advice, as the two functions are incompatible by law.

Bergman is the second President of the Integrity Chamber, succeeding the former President, Mrs. H.W. (Rian) Vogels. He is appointed for a term of three (3) years and can be reappointed once. The position of President is part-time.

As the new President of the Integrity Chamber Bergman is committed to promoting integrity on Sint Maarten. I am honoured to have been appointed as President of the Integrity Chamber, stated Bergman. From the day I opened my law firm in Simpson Bay in 1997, Sint Maarten has been dear to my heart, and it is my desire to see continuous progress on Sint Maarten. With my experience in the field of law, mediation, and various supervisory roles, I believe that I can contribute to the important work of the Integrity Chamber, to integrity awareness, and integrity building.

The Integrity Chamber is an independent administrative body tasked with promoting and enhancing integrity within government and government entities. Its core tasks are providing solicited and unsolicited advice on integrity matters, investigating suspected misconduct, and continuously creating awareness about integrity in the community.

For more information about the Integrity Chamber, visit the website at www.integritychamber.sx.
It referenced the International Energy Agencys definition which describes it as the uninterrupted supply of energy sources at an affordable price and the Government gave examples of it in practice such as balancing out renewables when there is no wind or sun and reducing reliance on international markets influenced by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The defendants denied the charges against them saying they were not involved in the murder although they declined to name those who were.
He added on the rise in potential terror activity: Its a spike which is higher and more sustained than ever before. The picture is of those already drawn to propaganda or others who have perhaps unknowingly stepped over the boundaries.
Farmers said while there was a two-day target between the decision to cull and the culling, they had faced delays of up to two weeks, with more birds becoming diseased and therefore not counted for compensation.
Station Commander Pat Ackroyd, who was at the scene, said: "The owner absolutely did the right thing by calling us out. The ice was really thick and crews had to work hard to smash through it to create a path for the boat to reach Ponzo.
It seems David Cameron is headed back to his old stomping ground in the House of Commons, sort of. The Foreign Secretary, who is now a Lord and therefore not allowed into the lower chamber, might be asked to step into the Commons to answer foreign office questions from MPs. But, according to the longstanding convention that bans strangers from the Commons, he will be required to keep his toes behind the white Bar line, which marks the official entrance. When Cameron recently became the first peer to serve as Foreign Secretary since the Eighties, there was some concern from MPs that he might not be held properly to account. A forthcoming report by the procedure committee will make the recommendation, according to the New Statesman. Toe the line, Lord Dave!
According to the Institute for Government, following the appointment of Lord Mandelson as business secretary in 2008 by former prime minister Gordon Brown, there was debate over whether the Commons should adapt its procedures to allow MPs to directly scrutinise secretaries of state who sit in the Commons.
He added: The Jewish community in my region has expressed to me its concerns about the small marches we have had in my area, and of course Jews in London are afraid to come into central London when the marches are taking place, precisely because of that behaviour, which I believe is by a minority.
The pre-notification for agri-foods needs to be done between 30 days and 24 hours in advance of travel, and if trucks arrive at ports without an Export Health certificate they will have to return to base and the production premises will have to go through a process with a certifying officer to obtain it.
In comments reported by Sky News, he said: "So my priority in the budget will be growth - because if I can grow the economy, that will mean that then we have more money for the NHS, we can relieve the pressure on families, we can invest in our brilliant armed forces." Mr Hunt is due to deliver his Budget on March 6.
Mr Netanyahu has vowed to press ahead with the offensive in Gaza for many months despite mounting pressure on Israel to rein in its military action as the scale of death and destruction intensifies.
There is now only one question. Will the opposition in the appointed House of Lords try and frustrate the will of the people as expressed by the elected House? Or will they get on board and do the right thing?
The family live in Adelaide Cottage in Windsors Home Park and will be supported by staff, including nanny Maria Teresa Turrion Borrallo. With the King being treated for his benign condition next week, it means three of the most senior royals will be away from official duties in the coming weeks
The Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) said its members at Hitachi Rail working as maintenance engineers will walk out for five days from January 27 at sites in Doncaster, Bounds Green in London and Craigentinny in Scotland, in protest at a 6% pay offer.
With the King due in hospital next week for corrective treatment for his benign condition and William  the next in line to the throne  and Kate out of action for the immediate future, Charless slimmed down monarchy  with three of the most senior royals missing  has been put under pressure in a way not seen before during his reign.
Trump did score a legal win in Washington state, where a court threw out a bid to disqualify him from the ballot. Judge Mary Sue Wilson said the secretary of state had "acted consistent with his duties" by accepting all the candidates, including Trump, submitted by the Republican and Democratic parties.
"We need public and private actors to change their mindset for an era in which everything was plannable, foreseeable, controllable and focused on efficiency to an era in which anything can happen at any time," he said as the meeting began.
About 200 million will be spent on a push to procure and produce thousands of military drones, many made in the UK. It is expected to be the largest delivery of drones to Ukraine from any nation.
The MoD stressed that if the loss of the A-50 had been an accident, the operating area of its replacement would probably not have changed.
The US star, who would later retire from acting at the age of 26 to become the Princess of Monaco, wore the Givenchy outfit in 1961 with her husband Prince Rainier III to meet President Kennedy and First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy at the White House.
Press Release

January 19, 2024 Bong Go honors role of civil engineers in nation-building during Philippine Institute of Civil Engineers - Davao Induction Ceremony Senator Christopher "Bong" Go attended the induction ceremony for the new officers, directors, and working committees of the Philippine Institute of Civil Engineers (PICE) Davao City Chapter, Inc. on Tuesday, January 16 at the Dusit Thani Hotel in Davao City. During his address, Senator Go expressed admiration and respect for the civil engineering community. He acknowledged the pivotal role that civil engineers play in the country's development, emphasizing their contribution to building resilient infrastructure and fostering sustainable urban and rural communities. "Tonight, as we gather for the induction of your new officers, directors, and working committees, we celebrate not only a transition of leadership but also the enduring spirit of excellence and dedication that defines this prestigious organization," highlighted Go. "Civil engineering is more than a profession; it is the bedrock upon which our society is built. You are builders of our nation's future, shaping the physical world in ways that uplift the lives of every Filipino," he added. He also assured the newly inducted officers of his support to the sector, promising to advocate for programs and legislative measures that will further empower them and enhance their profession. "As we embark on this journey towards progress, sa abot ng aking makakaya bilang inyong lingkod-bayan, I will continue to support the civil engineering community. We recognize that in order to build a stronger and more vibrant nation, we must invest in our people and our infrastructure. We are dedicated to providing the resources and support necessary to bring our shared vision to life," he said. Go shared that he introduced Senate Bill No. 1181 to push for a stronger whole-of-nation approach in dealing with disasters in the country. The proposed measure seeks to amend Presidential Decree 1096, known as the National Building Code of the Philippines, to ensure that all buildings and structures are built according to the principle of "building back better". "Kung mayroon kayong suggestion as civil engineers, malaki po ang inyong maitutulong... Bukas po ang aking opisina kung mayroon kayong mga suggestions or recommendations," Go said. In addition, Go also introduced Senate Bill No. 2114, or the Infrastructure Flagship Programs and Projects Act, a legislative proposal aimed at creating a framework to expedite the realization of major infrastructure initiatives undertaken by the national government. The bill underscores the vital role these infrastructure projects play in fueling the nation's economic advancement. It highlights the government's role in initiating and completing projects that catalyze growth and development. This move follows the path laid out by former president Rodrigo Duterte's "Build, Build, Build" program. This program was a cornerstone of Duterte's administration, focusing on fast-tracking the country's infrastructure overhaul. It involved a broad array of projects, ranging from constructing roads and railways to developing airports, seaports, and urban mass transit systems, all aimed at boosting infrastructure and, consequently, economic growth. President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. also pledged to advance and broaden the scope of the "Build, Build, Build" Program, introducing a more varied approach to funding and strategic use of Public-Private Partnerships through the "Build Better More" initiative. "As you step into your new roles, I encourage each of you to uphold the highest standards of integrity and professionalism. Continue to innovate, learn, and lead with a heart for service. The tasks ahead may be daunting, but I have no doubt that with your skills, passion, and dedication, you will rise to meet them," Go encouraged. "In closing, I would like to reiterate my heartfelt congratulations to all the inductees. May your tenure be marked by achievements that not only advance our field but also contribute significantly to the betterment of our country. Together, let us build a brighter, more resilient future for the Philippines," he ended. Go, vice chairperson of the Senate Committee on Finance, continues to support various projects in the city, including the construction of various multipurpose buildings and local roads, the rehabilitation of water systems, drainage systems, and flood control structures in different barangays throughout the city, the construction of a 300-bed capacity infectious diseases building for SPMC, and the acquisition of ambulances. On the same day, Go also attended the ribbon cutting and turnover ceremonies of Super Health Centers in Barangays Los Amigos and Toril Proper. He also attended the groundbreaking of the Super Health Center in Brgy. Dumoy.
Foreign Minister Odobescu meets Azerbaijani incoming ambassador

Minister of Foreign Affairs Luminita Odobescu met on Friday with incoming ambassador of the Republic of Azerbaijan to Romania Gudsi Dursun Oglu Osmanov on the occasion of the presentation of his letters of credence, the Foreign Affairs Ministry informs.

During the meeting, the sides tackled priority aspects regarding the deepening of the Romania - Azerbaijan Strategic Partnership, with an emphasis on the intensification of political dialogue and the development of sectoral cooperation in strategic areas such as energy, transport, education, trade and investments.

Minister Odobescu highlighted Romania's support for the continuous strengthening, in a constructive and forward-looking spirit, of the relationship between the European Union and Azerbaijan, affirming also the interest of the Romanian state in ensuring prosperity, development and a stable security environment in the region of South Caucasus.

In his turn, ambassador Gudsi Osmanov shared the opinions of the Romanian side regarding the excellent stage of the Romanian-Azeri dialogue, highlighting the mutually beneficial strategic priorities.
Nearly 6,500 Ukrainian citizens entered Romania on Thursday, while a total of about 149,600 Romanian and foreign citizens and about 45,800 means of transport completed control formalities at border crossings throughout the country.

"There were 63,299 people entering Romania, including 6,478 Ukrainian citizens," the General Inspectorate of the Border Police (IGPF) said in a press release sent to AGERPRES on Friday.

In the areas of competence, the crossing points and the "green border," the police found 26 illegal acts (13 offences and 13 contraventions) committed by both Romanian and foreign citizens, and the value of the fines imposed amounts to about 10,120 lei.

Goods worth approximately 492,800 lei were seized for confiscation.

On Thursday, 19 foreign citizens were not allowed to enter the country because they did not meet the conditions provided by the law and 11 Romanian citizens were not allowed to leave the country for various legal reasons.
Seven foreign citizens from Bangladesh, Pakistan, Syria and the Republic of Moldova were detected by the Bacau immigration police with illegal residence, the County Police Inspectorate (IPJ) informed on Friday.

"As part of the activities undertaken, 4 men from the People's Republic of Bangladesh, Pakistan, Syria and the Republic of Moldova and 3 women from Syria and the Republic of Moldova were detected who no longer met the conditions for staying on the territory of Romania. As a result of the checks carried out, it was found that the persons in question had legally entered our country for the purpose of visiting and employment," states IPJ Bacau.

The immigration police ordered the measure of return with a term of voluntary departure in 15 days from the territory of Romania, and for two of them, upon leaving the country, the measure of banning entry into the territory of the member states of the European Union, the European Economic Area and the Swiss Confederation will be instituted, for a period of 6 months

Also, the foreigners were penalized with a fine totaling 2,400 RON.
TV star RuPaul, who has recently defended drag queen storytimes at libraries, will discuss his memoir in St. Louis on March 11.

Tickets, which cost $75-$225, went on sale today through Ticketmaster for the Pageant event. Prices include a copy of his memoir, "The House of Hidden Meanings."

Proceeds will help support the St. Louis County Library Foundation's community literacy initiatives.

"RuPaul's Drag Race," a reality show, has won 29 Emmys. During his acceptance speech this week for Outstanding Reality Competition Program, RuPaul said that if a drag queen wants to read a story at a library "listen to her because knowledge is power, and if someone wants to restrict your access to power, they are trying to scare you."

His memoir goes on sale March 5. Publishers Weekly magazine says, "The trailblazing drag performer and television host chronicles his turbulent San Diego, Calif., childhood, early days in the Atlanta and New York City punk scenes, and unlikely ascent to stardom."

Left Bank Books is providing copies of the memoir for the event.
OLIVETTE  Grocery chain Aldi and fast food joint Smoothie King will open at the new Olive Crossing development in Olivette.

Construction on Aldis new 12,000-square-foot store on Olive Boulevard and Price Road will begin this summer, according to a release. Smoothie King will occupy another building at Olive Crossing that is set to open later this year.

Sign up for the Brick City newsletter Steph Kukuljan and other business reporters bring you insights into St. Louis-area real estate and development.

Olive Crossing is a 15-acre, mixed-use development with a hotel, office, apartments and retail space at Olive and Interstate 170 from developers Keeley Properties and Keat Properties. The apartments, called The Clover, opened last year.

Smoothie King will open in the same building as Paris Baguette, a fast-casual cafe.

Steph Kukuljan 314-340-8506 skukuljan@post-dispatch.com
ST. LOUIS  A couple who ran a Central West End coffee shop have filed suit against their landlords in a monthslong dispute over lead contamination.

They claim the property owners and managers didnt respond appropriately after the shop, Brew Tulum, tested positive for lead contamination. The lawsuit says Brew Tulums owners have attempted to stay in business through catering and pop-up locations, but have been damaged by the loss of a permanent storefront.

I want not only my family to be safe, but my employees owner Laura McNamara said on Thursday. We have a duty... to provide a safe, nontoxic environment.

In early 2022, McNamara signed a five-year lease for a 1,700-square-foot unit at 5090 Delmar Boulevard, with a three-year option. She and her husband Alberto AJ Juarez opened the coffee shop later that year, at first with a soft launch in October, and then an official opening in November.

The restaurant began to receive recognition for the traditional Mexican breakfast fare it served, and an expansive beverage menu, including a spiced coffee called cafe de olla and lattes made with cajeta, or caramelized goats milk.

In July, the owners son, who is now 2 years old, tested positive for lead contamination.

McNamara said in an interview Thursday that in the months that followed, she couldnt sleep at night out of concern for her son. The materials she read about the consequences of lead exposure  especially long-term exposure  were frightening. The family didnt know where the exposure had come from, and felt like they were racing against the clock to figure it out. McNamara and her husband also got tested, and their results came back even higher, the petition says.

Tests of their home came back relatively insignificant, the lawsuit says, but tests at Brew Tulum came back well above the accepted amount.

One of the building owners, and an attorney who has spoken on behalf of the property owners in the past, did not immediately respond to requests for comment Thursday. The attorney released a statement to the Post-Dispatch in November, saying that the owner investigated Brew Tulums complaint and hired a risk assessor who found no hazards there.

But the lawsuit claims that after the positive test results, the building owners hired a company that was not certified to perform lead abatement. Five days later, tests showed even higher lead levels on the site than before.

The lawsuit says the property owners have offered to seal the walls, but that that falls short of an appropriate remedial action plan.

On Thursday, McNamara recalled the list of requirements the couple had to meet before opening Brew Tulum, to obtain an occupancy permit, and a health permit. In a city with so many old buildings, and a known history of lead issues, she asked, why wasnt the issue caught then?

I think there needs to be a larger conversation about why this was able to happen, McNamara said.

The petition seeks an unspecified amount in damages.

The building is owned by Bridge Delmar. Park Property Management manages the site and entered into the lease with Brew Tulum.
NORWOOD COURT  Residents of a large north St. Louis County apartment complex spent last weekends bitter cold snap without heat, a problem management fixed just in time for another plunge into the single digits and subzero wind chills.

It was like the arctic in here, said Sherri Robertson, 60, who lives in the 360-unit Norwood Court Apartments at Interstate 70 and Lucas and Hunt Road with her bedridden uncle. We were so cold.

Management was able to get the heat working by Wednesday, when temperatures finally climbed above freezing. But then the hot water went out, something thats been happening more frequently in recent months, residents say.

Im trying like hell to get in touch with somebody to go get a shower, said resident Willie Robinson, 54, who was getting off work from one job Thursday afternoon and trying to get ready for his next one at a Wendys.

The heating problems at Norwood Court are the latest example of the frigid weather getting to residents of some of the regions larger apartment complexes. On Tuesday, 213 residents of the Mark Twain Hotel downtown were evacuated after freezing temperatures burst pipes. In Midtown, roughly 160 tenants at the Heritage House Apartments were displaced by damage from broken pipes and lack of heat and were relocated during repairs.

At Norwood Court, residents say the heat was just the most extreme example of maintenance problems since a New York real estate investment firm  David Stern Management, led by Pinchos D. Shemano  purchased the complex from Ellisville-based Baumann Property Co. in April 2022. Shemano bought another 330 units at three other complexes in St. Louis as part of that transaction, including Delrado Apartments in Florissant, Senate Square and Caroline Place Apartments in St. Louis.

The hot water issues have been going on for months, at least since the summer, tenants say, with no clear communication about how long it will take to be permanently fixed. They say there are also roaches that seem to be getting worse. Chelsea Hampton, another resident, said she calls maintenance and the management company, Memphis-based Multi-South Management Services, with repair requests and can never get anyone to call her back.

We pay too much money to be living like this, said Hampton, who pays $978 a month in rent. They just dont care.

A phone message left with a number for David Stern Management wasnt returned Thursday and someone who answered another number said Shemano was out of the office for the day. A phone number for Multi-South Management didnt have an operator to answer a call, and questions sent to email addresses for the company and its partner David Shores werent immediately answered Thursday.

While some residents were able to stay with friends and family after the heat went out just as the cold snap was beginning last Friday evening, Robertsons uncle was unable to leave because of his condition. Robertson just used all the blankets she could to keep him warm until management got her a temporary space heater Sunday after the two shivered through Friday and Saturday night. She made sure the heater was by her uncles bed. She suffered through the rest of the freeze without one.

Thats why I have a cold, she said.

Robertson has lived in the complex for seven years and said she never had maintenance problems before the new ownership took over. Now, there arent even enough cleaning staff to keep the complex tidy.

These people have let this place go to shreds, Robertson said. Im tired, I dont want to keep moving around.

Calls to Legal Services of Eastern Missouri from tenants complaining of broken heat and water increase during cold weather events, said Rob Swearingen, an attorney with the nonprofit law firm who works on landlord tenant cases.

While landlords must maintain heat for tenants, if the services are out for a few days, Legal Services wont necessarily look at legal action, he said. Pipes and heaters do break, particularly in old housing stock like that in St. Louis, Swearingen said. But if theres a pattern and repair times of weeks or months, the nonprofit may take a closer look. If an apartment is without heat, tenants technically have the right to withhold rent, but they should consult an attorney first, Swearingen said.

You have a right to withhold rent if your place is uninhabitable, but its dangerous because you might get a rent and possession action filed, and thats gonna haunt you, he said.

Hampton had no friends and family to stay with during last weekends cold snap, so she and her two teenage children suffered through the cold. She is skeptical the heat will stay fixed for long.

Hopefully, it will stay on through this weekend, when temperatures are again expected to dip to near 0 degrees with a wind chill of -15 degrees Friday night and Saturday morning.

Thats much colder than anything we experienced last calendar year, said Jayson Gosselin, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in Weldon Spring. In 2023, the temperature never went below 10 degrees, Gosselin said.

Robinson, the other Norwood Court tenant, will have to see if the heat holds out in the complex for the rest of the winter.

My lease is up in November, he said. And I got to get up on out of there.
ST. LOUIS  One of three teens suspected in a robbery in September has now been charged as an adult with murder of one of the other suspects.

Terrence T. Smith Jr., 17, is charged with second-degree murder, two counts of armed criminal actions and attempted robbery. He was arrested at the time of the shooting and charged as a juvenile. The court certified him as an adult this week.

Smith is in custody without bond, according to court documents.

Jerimiah Grayer, 18, was shot and killed Sept. 27 in the 2600 block of Osage Street in the city's Dutchtown neighborhood.

Police said Grayer and three juveniles, including Smith, tried to rob a man just after 4 p.m.

The would-be victim, a 32-year-old man, pulled a gun and exchanged fire with the group, killing Grayer. The 32-year-old man was injured too.

A witness described the three who fled, and police arrested Smith nearby, police wrote in a court document.

A witness took photos and, in an interview with police, Smith identified himself in those photos, which show the teen pointing an AR-style rifle at the robbery victim, authorities said.

Smith told officers he and others tried to rob the man in a car at gunpoint, police wrote. But the man got out of the car and aimed a pistol at the group and that's when the gunfight broke out.

Police found the man they attempted to rob at a hospital with gunshot wounds.

Smith was certified as an adult this week and charged.

His two codefendants, who were 16 and 17 years old at the time of the shooting, were charged with second-degree murder, attempted robbery and assault in Grayer's death. They have not been identified because their case is in juvenile court.

Smith is charged with murder under Missouri's felony murder rule, which allows people to be charged with murder if somebody dies while they were committing another crime.
BELLEVILLE  Two grade schools in the Diocese of Belleville will close at the end of May after years of declining enrollment  Notre Dame Academy in Belleville and St. Ann in Nashville.

Notre Dame Academy has had well below 100 students in preschool through eighth grades since 2017, according to a social media post announcing the closure.

Notre Dame and its predecessor schools have been open for more than 175 years. The school was named in 2015 after a merger with Cathedral Grade School, itself a merger of St. Marys and St. Augustine schools. Cathedral Grade School once had more than 1,000 students.

The closure announcement lists several factors for the schools decline:

Difficulty hiring teachers for lower pay than public schools.

Declining population in the city of Belleville.

Expensive upkeep for aging buildings.

Another factor cited by church leaders is the expiration of the Invest in Kids Act, Illinois tax-credit program for private school vouchers.

After the closure of the two schools, the Diocese of Belleville will have 23 grade schools and three high schools. St. Ann Catholic School will continue to operate its preschool, church leaders said.

The 30 smallest schools in the Archdiocese of St. Louis must present their long-term feasibility plans next month in the second phase of the All Things New parish and school downsizing plan. None of the pastors recommended shutting down their schools, but mergers or closures are still possible after Archbishop Mitchell Rozanski and his staff review the plans.

There are about 19,000 students, down from 40,000 in 2000, in the 82 grade schools across the archdiocese, which covers St. Louis and 10 counties in eastern Missouri. The schools have an average operating deficit of $600,000.

Three archdiocesan grade schools closed last year: St. Rose Philippine Duchesne in Florissant, St. Mark in south St. Louis County and Good Shepherd in Hillsboro.
WASHINGTON  The United States should not expand nuclear energy use, at least until the federal government can make up for the harms caused by previous nuclear projects, U.S. Rep. Cori Bush, D-St. Louis, said at a congressional hearing on Thursday.

Bush cited the health problems nuclear waste has caused to many in the St. Louis region, a legacy of the World War II-era Manhattan Project, which developed the atomic bomb.

Bush, who serves as the ranking member on the U.S. House Oversight and Accountability subcommittee that held the hearing, said past mismanagement of nuclear plants and waste sites put communities at severe health risks  impacts the federal government downplayed for decades.

Action needs to be taken to remediate the damage that  has already been done before we start talking about expanding nuclear energy in this country, she said in an opening statement Thursday. We have a responsibility to both fix  and learn from  our mistakes before we risk subjecting any other communities to the same exposure.

Nuclear waste in general has been especially harmful for communities of color, Bush said.

A state analysis showed that effects from radioactive waste that contaminated Coldwater Creek in north St. Louis County and the surrounding area led to harmful health outcomes, Bush said.

Brain cancer and other cancers related to the nervous system were 300% more common in children in eight ZIP codes near Coldwater Creek than the national average, she said, citing a state analysis. Breast, colon, prostate, kidney and bladder cancers were also significantly more common, she added.

Bush renewed a call for a field hearing in her district to examine the issue.

Subcommittee Chairman Pat Fallon, a Texas Republican, said committee staff was working on Bushs request for a field hearing, but that her concerns werent relevant to Thursdays hearing.

I think were talking about properly stored nuclear waste, he said after Bushs statement.

Fallon described himself as a proponent of the all-of-the-above approach where we use oil, natural gas, clean coal, wind, solar, hydro and  of course  nuclear.

Nuclear power is among the most powerful and cleanest forms of energy available, providing more than 70% of U.S. non-greenhouse gas-emitting power, Fallon said.

Kathryn Huff, the assistant secretary at the U.S. Energy Departments Office of Nuclear Energy, told the committee that nuclear energy should be part of the national strategy to transition away from carbon-emitting energy sources.

At the United Nations climate summit late last year, President Joe Biden and other countries committed to tripling nuclear energy capacity by 2050. Biden has requested $2.16 billion in supplemental funding for long-term enrichment programs, she said.

Huff said the government has stored and transported nuclear fuel without incident for 55 years but acknowledged that storage and disposal of nuclear fuel could be controversial. The department would seek a consent-based approach to siting nuclear processing and waste sites, she said.

But the promise of new and advanced reactors can only be responsibly realized in conjunction with progress on the long-term management of their U.S. nuclear fuel, she said. A consent-based approach is not only the most equitable and just way to approach siting but also represents our best chance of success.

States Newsroom, a nonprofit, currently provides government coverage in 39 states, including Missouri where it publishes The Missouri Independent.
JEFFERSON CITY  A hard-line faction of Republicans held up action in the Missouri Senate for hours Thursday, this time arguing that a new citizen-led effort to restore abortion rights shows the need for lawmakers to make it harder for voters to amend the states constitution.

But, members of the small but vocal Freedom Caucus were unable to muster the votes to sidestep the usual legislative process after fellow Republicans called the tactics a political stunt that served to only delay action on other matters early in the legislative session.

Left in limbo as the senators held the floor was a planned vote to formally endorse Gov. Mike Parsons appointments to various boards and commissions, including former St. Louis Mayor Francis Slays confirmation to the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission.

The standoff was still underway more than five hours after the Senate convened.

Typically, legislation is heard by a committee in a forum that allows for public input before it is taken up by the full chamber.

But members of the Freedom Caucus used a parliamentary maneuver to try to bring changes to initiative petition rules directly to the floor, saying the Senate needs to respond to Thursdays launch of the abortion rights ballot question.

I think this needs to be debated sooner than later, said Sen. Nick Schroer, R-Defiance.

But, in keeping with past battles waged by the small band of conservatives, the effort failed on a 25-7 vote after a number of Republicans admonished the faction.

There are no shortcuts in the Senate. I dont know if Ive ever been as disappointed in this chamber as I am right now, said Senate President Caleb Rowden, R-Columbia.

Senate Majority Leader Cindy OLaughlin, R-Shelbina, called the caucus terrorists and slammed Sen. Bill Eigel, R-Weldon Spring, for leading the charge.

Do you know what the definition of narcissism is? You are the definition, OLaughlin said.

Sen. Holly Rehder, R-Sikeston, called the group charlatans throwing smokescreens instead of working with their colleagues to iron out compromises.

Theyd rather come out here and make speeches, Rehder said.

And, Sen. Mary Elizabeth Coleman, R-Arnold, said the caucus was playing games with the maneuver and slowing down the legislative process.

The latest dust-up in the upper chamber shows how a handful of lawmakers, some of whom are running for statewide office, can hold up action in the Senate in an attempt to promote their agendas and raise their political profiles.

I wish we werent needing to gum up the process, said Sen. Rick Brattin, R-Cassville, who is a member of the faction and is facing an election-year challenge from two members of the House.

The political theater is expected to continue next week.

Sen. Denny Hoskins, R-Warrensburg, said he may employ a filibuster next week in connection with the renewal of a tax on hospitals, nursing homes and other health providers.

The Freedom Caucus wants anti-abortion language attached to the renewal, which opponents say could endanger billions of dollars for the states Medicaid program.

Hoskins, a candidate for secretary of state who has been endorsed by Missouri Right to Life, said he plans to introduce an amendment to the tax on the Senate floor to prohibit state Medicaid funds from being spent on services provided by Planned Parenthood.

He said the launch of the abortion rights campaign Thursday makes the possibility of holding up the Senate a timely one.

Well look at every available option, Hoskins said.

The posturing came hours after a group including the ACLU of Missouri, Abortion Action Missouri and both of the states Planned Parenthood chapters announced they had gotten behind an initiative petition that would create a right to an abortion in the Missouri Constitution.

The campaign faces a pressing May 5 deadline to submit the roughly 180,000 needed to make the ballot.

The renewal of the provider tax could hit the Senate floor as early as next week after the Senate Appropriations Committee Thursday advanced the legislation to the floor on a 12-1 vote, with Hoskins casting the lone no vote because of the absence of the anti-abortion provisions.

The chairman of the panel, Sen. Lincoln Hough, R-Springfield, said he was not sure when the measure would come up for a vote. He has insisted the measure advance to the House without the abortion language, which could lead to litigation and uncertainty over an important piece of the states $50 billion budget.
JEFFERSON CITY  Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoes campaign extended an already commanding lead in the fundraising race for governor, reporting a $500,000 check from a Minnesota organization Thursday.

The money from the WXCLC Inc. in Minneapolis brought Kehoes American Dream political action committee closer to the $5 million mark in his bid to take over for Gov. Mike Parson against Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft and Sen. Bill Eigel for the Republican nomination in August.

End-of-year reports filed this week show Kehoe raising nearly $260,000 in the most recent fundraising quarter in his personal committee and another $4.3 million in his affiliated PAC.

By comparison, Ashcroft ended 2023 with $2.2 million across two committees. Eigel, R-Weldon Spring, has $1.6 million in his two campaign accounts.

Missourians are continuing to invest their hard-earned dollars in Lt. Governor Kehoe because he is the only candidate with the character and experience necessary to lead Missouri forward. He will continue to outwork every candidate in this race, said Derek Coats, Kehoes campaign manager.

Thursdays contribution from an organization linked to agribusiness giant Cargill is among the largest contributions Kehoe has received.

Along with money linked to the heirs of the Cargill founders, Kehoe has been endorsed by a number of Missouris top business, farming and police organizations. His most recent endorsement came from the Missouri State Troopers Association.

Ashcroft, who is banking on his name recognition as the son of former governor and U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft, reported receiving $50,000 from former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabees PAC. Ashcrofts Committee for Liberty PAC also received $1,500 from Kansas City attorney Edward Greim, who Ashcroft hired last year to help defend a lawsuit against his office.

Eigel, a leader of the hard-line conservative Freedom Caucus in the Senate, trumpeted his fundraising haul as he seeks to run to the right of Ashcroft.

Our campaign is receiving unprecedented grassroots support, and on a financial level, we have now surpassed Jay Ashcroft in cash on hand, Eigel said in a statement. My message is this: I am the reckoning that will take on the Swamp. I am not the corporatists choice. I wasnt born into a political monarchy. Ive waged war against the special interest machine in Jefferson City and am despised for it. When Im governor, there will be hell to pay.

Eigels PAC continues to collect small contributions from out-of-state donors, according to the most recent filing with the Missouri Ethics Committee.

The Post-Dispatch reported in September that on at least one occasion, Eigels BILL PAC sent out an email solicitation urging Republicans to stand behind former President Donald Trump amid his legal troubles. But instead of giving to Trump, money would go to Eigels campaign, the email said in small type.

The practice by Eigels fundraising vendor Virginia-based Targeted Victory, made headlines after the Trump campaign warned the firm and others not to use Trumps name, image and likeness in fundraising pitches, Politico reported in March.

On the Democratic side, House Minority Leader Crystal Quade, D-Springfield, raised more than $208,000 in her candidate committee, Citizens for Crystal Quade. Combined with her PAC, Quade had more than $300,000 on hand as of Jan. 1.

Businessman Mike Hamra of Springfield ended the year with more than $671,000 in his fundraising account, with much of that coming from himself.

Rep. Sarah Unsicker, D-Shrewsbury, who recently switched from the attorney general race to the governors race, reported having $2,200 in her account.

This story was updated Feb. 19, 2024 to correct the name of the donor
ST. LOUIS  A dozen people toured the Wells-Goodfellow neighborhood on Thursday, sharing ideas on how to rebound from the neglect and decay they saw through the windows of a passing van.

Their leader, Jim Roos, a longtime housing activist who owns property in the area, focused their route around Hillvale Apartments, a 146-unit low-income housing complex that has been a haven for crime and poor living conditions for years.

A $30.5 million effort is underway to rehab the complex with taxpayer dollars at 5830 Selber Court. City leaders have said it will reclaim quality low-income housing in north St. Louis.

But Roos and others have said its doomed to fail if there isnt a coordinated effort to clean up alleys, sidewalks, vacant city-owned lots and Goodfellow Boulevard, the main thoroughfare that connects the complex to Barrett Brothers Park, Pierre Laclede Elementary School and other parts of the broader community.

It just cant succeed by itself in isolation, said Roos, 80.

Bobbie Willis, 70, who grew up in the area, drove the van.

I want to see something different happen here, he said. Id like to see it grow.

Willis and Roos feel empowered by the clearing theyve done of the alley and overgrown vacant lots near the 5800 block of Roosevelt Place. Now they have their sights set on stabilizing the whole neighborhood.

A cleanup effort is paramount before we do anything, said Willis. The whole idea is to incorporate the people who are already here.

Roos said he wants the St. Louis Development Corp. to designate funds to help coordinate a broader cleanup effort.

As they passed a vacant building next to Hillvale Apartments, at 3303 Goodfellow Boulevard, Hassan Shariff drew attention to crime, not all the trash in the parking lot.

See the opening in the building? he said. Who knows who is in there at night?

Shariff, 56, grew up in the area and now heads the Wells-Goodfellow Neighborhood Improvement Association. He said a lot of people left the neighborhood because of crime and violence.

No businesses or stores are going to come over here, not right now, he said.

Open-air drug markets go unaddressed, residents have said.

A lot of the older people have given up because they feel like the young people have taken over, Shariff said. And we cant have that.

When they drove through Hillvale Apartments, many of the windows were boarded up in buildings where rehab work is underway. The complex has been home to numerous police calls for service. Residents have complained about young people with guns and car thefts. The biggest attention draw during the tour Thursday seemed to be a dozen stray cats padding around a sliver of the property.

The group went on from there to see a large lot on the north side of the complex that the city continues to use for dumping.

Kevin Buchek, president of Roanoke Construction, the general contractor for the renovation, was on the tour.

City dumping and derelict buildings throughout are not good for the residents of Hillvale, he said.
WENTZVILLE  Transgender students in the Wentzville School District saw their ability to use bathrooms and locker rooms restricted under a new policy approved by the school board Thursday night.

Board members voted 5-2 to establish rules that go into effect April 3 that require students, faculty and any person inside a district school building to use restrooms and locker rooms based on an individuals reproductive biology at birth.

This increased level of privacy has been demanded from the public and thats the purpose of this policy, said board member Jen Olson, who sponsored the draft policy that was the subject of intense debates between board members.

Board President Shannon Stolle, who voted to enact the proposal, said she backed it because of privacy concerns for students. In addition to Stolle, the other members to vote in favor of the proposal were Katie Lyczak, Renee Henke, David Lewis and Olson.

Board members backed Olsons proposal over a policy supported by the districts administration. That plan would have allowed transgender students to continue to be able to request to use bathrooms and locker rooms of their preferred gender.

Transgender students will be able use single-person bathrooms and locker rooms if they are available in their particular school building, according to the enacted policy.

Thursdays meeting at North Point High School marks the latest example of the culture war debates in St. Charles County. The county in recent months has seen fights over sexually explicit books in public libraries, calls for gender-neutral outfits for library workers, and student walkouts to protest the rollback of diversity and equity programming.

Wentzville School Board member Jason Goodson, who is not seeking reelection, said the policy reeked of bias against members of the LGBTQ+ community and said the districts legal counsel had repeatedly advised the board to not enact any policy in this gray area of law.

Something that we have been counseled on throughout is that objectivity in policymaking really matters, and the perception or potential for perception of bias could exacerbate our problems, create more legal risk and more potential damages, Goodson said.

He along with fellow board member Julie Scott were the two board members to vote against the proposal.

Regardless if it is one student or if it is 2,000 students, it doesnt matter, Scott said. Every student needs a place to go to the restroom safely and our current procedure allows for that to happen without implementing this policy.

Goodsons concerns were reiterated by Wentzville Superintendent Danielle Tormala, who said the policy exposes the district to lawsuits alleging discrimination against transgender students under the federal governments Title IX and Equal Protection Clause.

She told the board that less than one one-hundredth of a percent of the districts 18,000 students are transgender.

Board members delayed the implementation of this proposal until early April to allow administrators to meet with transgender students about the policy change.
JERUSALEM  Israels war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip has raised the temperature on tensions across the Middle East, increasing the risk that other conflicts in the region could spin out of control.

Whether it is assaults on shipping vessels by Houthi rebels in Yemen or tit-for-tat attacks between Iran and Pakistan, a line can be drawn back to the war that was started when Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing some 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostage.

Since then, Israel has killed more than 24,000 Palestinians and displaced nearly 2 million others from their homes, arousing anger throughout the Muslim world.

With no end in sight to the war, tensions in the region are worsening by the day.

The Houthi threat draws in the U.S.

The Houthis, a rebel group that has held Yemens capital since 2014, link their attacks on shipping in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden directly back to the war in Gaza. But their targets increasingly have had tenuous  if no links at all  to the war. The U.S. has retaliated by launching a handful of strikes against the Houthis.

Armed and supported by Iran, the Houthis have a world view guided by their groups slogan: "God is the greatest, death to America, death to Israel, curse the Jews, victory to Islam.

Yemen, the Arab worlds poorest country, is locked in a stalemated war between the Houthis and parties under the banner of a Saudi-led coalition.

Any direct military confrontation with the U.S. bolsters the Houthis position within Yemens fractious political scene. It also raises their profile within the so-called Axis of Resistance, which is made up of Iran and the militant groups it supports, including Hamas and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.

The brewing conflict with the U.S. also allows the Houthis to ignore both Arab and international efforts to reach a permanent cease-fire and potential peace deal in Yemen.

The U.S. has a long, complicated history in Yemen. It includes Americas relationship with the countrys late 33-year strongman president, waging a yearslong drone-strike campaign there against suspected al-Qaida members and struggling to help broker a political settlement to end the war as famine threatens the country.

Iran flexes power and faces resistance

On the surface, airstrikes launched this week between Iran and Pakistan may not seem to be connected to the Israel-Hamas war; but they are.

They spring in part from suicide bombings by the Islamic State earlier this month that killed more than 90 people in Iran. It was the deadliest militant attack in Iran since its 1979 Islamic Revolution.

In taking credit for the attack, the Islamic State called on its supporters around the world to avenge the bloodshed in the Gaza Strip by attacking Christians and Jews. But it also criticized Palestinian-aligned militants such as Hamas and Hezbollah for receiving support from Iran.

The Islamic State group follows an extremists version of Sunni Islam and views Shiites like those in Iran as heretics.

Iran and its parties were spared from a fierce battle that Gaza is enduring alone from the blood of its children and women, the Islamic State group message said.

The Islamic State attack increased the pressure faced by Irans theocracy. It has struggled to regain control following women-led mass demonstrations and individual protests sparked by the 2022 death of Mahsa Amini.

Iran hasnt directly intervened in the Israel-Hamas war, despite long describing Israel as its archenemy. But it has faced years of attacks likely carried out by Israel as part of a wider shadow war across the Mideast since the collapse of its nuclear deal with world powers.

Iran first launched strikes this week against targets in Iraq and Syria in response to the Islamic State suicide bombings. The assault drew anger, but no direct response from either nation.

But then Iran launched an attack on what it described as militant hideouts in Pakistan after alleging the suicide bombers passed through the country from Afghanistan. The attack killed two children and immediately raised tensions with nuclear-armed Pakistan, which also maintains a strong conventional military to counter its neighboring rival, India.

Pakistan responded Thursday with its own strikes inside Iran, killing at least nine people.

The U.S., China and the U.N. have urged restraint, but the potential for escalation, while low, remains. Iran wants to present itself as a regional Mideast power, while Pakistans military needs to show it can deter India -- in part, so it can maintain domestic support key to its political power.

Will simmering tensions boil over?

There are risks that crises across the region could spin out of control.

Some hard-line members of the Israeli government have called for Palestinians to be expelled from the Gaza Strip into the Sinai Peninsula. That could destabilize Egypt and the longstanding peace between it and Israel.

Syria is still in the midst of a civil war. Neighboring Jordan, a crucial power in Jerusalem, is suspected of launching airstrikes in Syria to disrupt drug smugglers, including one this week that killed nine people.

Still technically at war with Israel since its founding in 1948, Syria has been a launching pad for attacks aimed at the Israel-occupied Golan Heights since the start of the war.

Goaded by Hamas to get into the fight, Hezbollah militants in Lebanon have also launched strikes into Israel since the start of the war in Gaza. Israel has retaliated, but so far the two sides have stopped short of full-scale war along their border.

Even in Afghanistan  where the Taliban hold sway since the fall of Kabul in 2021  an affiliate of the Islamic State group may yet to take advantage of the Gaza war to launch new attacks amid the extremists new campaign tied to the conflict.

Editors note: Jon Gambrell, the news director for the Gulf and Iran for The Associated Press, has reported from each of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, Iran and other locations across the Mideast and wider world since joining the AP in 2006.
Inaugural Event to Showcase in Palo Alto, CA, USA, on August 31, 2024

PALO ALTO, CA / ACCESSWIRE / January 19, 2024 / Center for Holy Book Finance LLC announces its inaugural event, "Islamic Finance and Sukuk (Islamic Bonds)" to be held in Palo Alto, CA, USA, at the El Prado Hotel from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. on August 31, 2024. This is the first time that an Islamic Finance and Sukuk event has been produced in the Bay Area, California. Previously, Camille Paldi has produced Islamic Finance events in New York, Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia in the United States with the Franco-American Alliance for Islamic Finance (FAAIF). This is a unique opportunity as this is a first-of-a-kind training event in the San Francisco/Bay Area; otherwise, one would have to travel overseas to receive a similar type of training.

The sukuk or Islamic bonds market has recently been valued at approximately 800 billion US dollars worldwide with countries such as Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, Qatar, Pakistan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Hong Kong, the UK, Luxembourg and others participating. The USA has previously engaged in the sukuk market when General Electric and East Cameron Gas issued sukuk to raise money for their businesses. Sukuk are an excellent way for American businesses and the government to raise money for business activities and expansion and for government and social programs and should not be overlooked. It is time for Team USA to get on board with Islamic Finance and sukuk and compete in the global economy including the Islamic economy.

Camille Paldi previously produced Islamic Finance events around the world with the Franco-American Alliance for Islamic Finance (FAAIF) based in Dubai, UAE. Paldi has a BA from Colgate University, an MA in Islamic Finance, and is currently a graduate student in inter-religious theology. Furthermore, Paldi completed the Qualified Lawyers Transfer Test (QLTT) in the United Kingdom in 2013. Paldi can be contacted at [email protected] or [email protected]. The event is limited to 20 participants.

Contact Information:

Camille Paldi

PR Manager

[email protected]

+1 650 250 2839

SOURCE: Center for Holy Book Finance LLC

View the original press release on newswire.com.
FULLERTON, CA / ACCESSWIRE / January 19, 2024 / Amidst continual tensions in the Israel-Palestine conflict, Congressional candidate Cheyenne Hunt becomes the only candidate in her race to call for an immediate ceasefire and a renewed commitment to peace and diplomacy. Recognizing the deep-rooted complexities of this long-standing dispute, Hunt underscores the need for a resolution that respects the dignity and rights of all parties involved.





Cheyenne Hunt for Congress





"The situation in Israel and Palestine demands not just our attention but our empathy and understanding," stated Hunt. "While we advocate for a ceasefire, it's crucial to acknowledge both the rights of Israel to engage in a targeted campaign against Hamas after the brutality of Oct. 7 and the rights of the Palestinian people to be free from violence, have their human rights upheld, and to have a path toward statehood. This conflict, with its tragic cycle of violence and suffering, calls for a solution that upholds international law and human rights."

Hunt stresses the importance of protecting civilian lives and addressing the humanitarian crisis that affects countless individuals in the region. "In our pursuit of peace, we must ensure that the fundamental rights and welfare of the civilian population are at the forefront. The international community must come together to provide aid and support to those who are suffering."

Reflecting on the broader implications of the conflict, Hunt highlights the need for a comprehensive and inclusive approach. "Peace in the region is not just about negotiating a ceasefire. We must actively oppose extremism in all its forms, whether it's anti-Semitism, anti-Muslim sentiment or the dehumanization of any group."

Hunt's stance is rooted in a vision of a future where mutual respect and understanding pave the way for lasting peace. "While the path to peace may seem daunting, it is our responsibility to strive for a world where future generations of Israelis and Palestinians can live in security and dignity. Let us commit to a discourse that prioritizes our shared humanity and the universal desire for peace."

Hunt remains committed to supporting diplomatic efforts and advocating for peace in the region.

Contact Information

Annika Albrecht

[email protected]

503-935-4504

SOURCE: Cheyenne Hunt for Congress

View the original press release on newswire.com.
Belt Scale Opportunity with High Grade Lithium Assays at Initial Drill Target Area

TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / January 19, 2024 / Grid Metals Corp (TSXV:GRDM)(OTCQB:MSMGF) (the "Company") today announced that it has received exploration permits and will immediately commence exploration drilling at its Falcon West Lithium Property (the "Property"), which is located approximately 110 km east of Winnipeg, Manitoba and 100 km south of the Company's Donner Lake lithium property. The initial target area hosts high grade lithium and cesium mineralization in historical drill core. Approximately 2,000 meters of drilling are planned in the initial phase of the program.

Falcon West is a belt scale (61,268 hectares and ~90 km of strike length) lithium and rare metal property. It is located in the West Hawk Lake Greenstone Belt and hosted in mafic volcanics rocks present at the contact between the Wabigoon and Winnipeg River geological sub provinces. This important geological contact hosts several significant lithium deposits and occurrences including the Mavis Lake deposit. The West Hawk Lake Greenstone Belt is the next prospective greenstone belt to the south of the Bird River Greenstone Belt that hosts the world class large Tanco Pegmatite - one of the most evolved pegmatite known globally which hosts the producing Tanco Lithium and Rare Metals Mine. As of 1983, Tanco had spodumene reserves of 7,300,00 tons grading 2.76% Li2O.

The drill program will commence at the Artdon-Lucy (ADL') target area of the Property, at which several historical drill programs intersected near surface pegmatites locally containing high lithium grades that are associated with spodumene. Historical drill highlights include 12 m at 2.2% Li 2 O and 12m at 1.8% Li 2 O.

Above- Greenstone belts and lithium resources in the southeastern area of Manitoba. The Donner Lake Resource (Grid Metals Corp. 75%) and Tanco Resource are on the north and south limbs, respectively, of the Bird River Greenstone Belt. The Falcon West Property (100% Grid Metals) covers the majority of the West Hawk Greenstone Belt that has seen very little prior exploration for lithium despite the fact that it occurs along the regionally extensive and highly prospective Winnipeg River - Wabigoon Province boundary.

Above: Geology of the West Hawk Lake Greenstone Belt showing the ADL Target area where lithium and rare metal pegmatites are hosted in the mafic volcanic rocks.

The ADL target area is approximately 110 km from Winnipeg and is transected by the Trans-Canada Highway and a major rail line giving the Property direct access to critical infrastructure.

The initial drill program will comprise approximately 2,000 meters. The program will attempt to (1) establish the orientation and continuity of several known lithium spodumene bearing pegmatites and, (2) increase the overall understanding of the pegmatite emplacement, fractionation and zonation trends. The ADL area being explored is approximately 1 km area in strike length.

Falcon West is part of Grid's goal of building a large lithium (spodumene) resource base in the southeast Manitoba region that could support long-term spodumene concentrate production to help feed the rapidly expanding North American lithium battery manufacturing sector.

ADL Target Area

Spodumene-bearing pegmatites assaying up to 3.51% Li2O over 4.57 metres within a 12.2 metre section assaying 2.16% Li2O are noted in historical drill hole records from the Lucy (eastern) Pegmatite part of the area (Manitoba Mineral Inventory Card #119, Hole 24, East Braintree Lithium Corp.).

within a are noted in historical drill hole records from the Lucy (eastern) Pegmatite part of the area (Manitoba Mineral Inventory Card #119, Hole 24, East Braintree Lithium Corp.). Most of the historical lithium-enriched pegmatite drill intersections are within a few metres to tens of metres from surface with two pegmatites ( Lucy and Artdon) outcropping at surface.

A non-compliant, historical resource* of 226,800 tonnes of 1.75 % Li2O was estimated on a portion of the Lucy Pegmatite which is part of the Property.

was estimated on a portion of the Lucy Pegmatite which is part of the Property. The Lucy Pegmatite has been described as being mineralogically and geochemically zoned, flat lying, extremely fractionated and broadly similar to the world class Tanco Pegmatite (Manitoba Assessment File #94845)

Validation outcrop sampling of the Artdon pegmatite, located ~1 km along strike from the Lucy pegmatite, was completed by Grid in 2023 and returned individual grab sample grades of up to 2.97% Li 2 O.

O. Analysis of previously unassayed drill core from a 2012 drill program at the Lucy Pegmatite returned several intersections of high-grade lithium and cesium (see Grid Metals Corp. Press Release dated. ( March 28, 2023).

To the Company's knowledge, there has been no historical lithium exploration work on the Property outside the immediate ADL target area.

Grid Metals controls 100% of the mineral rights for the Property with a 2% NSR royalty held by the vendors of the ADL target area claims but with no NSR royalty on the majority of the Falcon West claims.

The Property is located approximately 110 km west of Winnipeg and 100 km south of Grid's Donner Lake lithium project and features excellent infrastructure including the Trans-Canada Highway, major trans-continental rail lines and hydro-electric power lines.

* Source: Manitoba Inventory Card #119. Note that the Company's QP for lithium exploration, Mr. Carey Galeschuk, is not able to verify the accuracy of this estimate. Accordingly, the Company does not consider this historical resource as a current resource and is developing an exploration plan to support the estimate of a 43-101 compliant lithium resource for the ADL target area. The historical estimate was believed to be based on 48 drill holes completed by the East Braintree Lithium Corporation in 1955 that were drilled to a maximum depth of 80 metres (Bannatyne, 1985).

The exploration program at Falcon West will be supervised by Carey Galeschuk, P.Geo., who is an experienced lithium geologist with over two decades of exploration experience in pegmatites with Grid Metals, Tantalum Mining Corporation of Canada, and other companies. Grid Metals applies best practice quality assurance and quality control ("QAQC") protocols on all it's exploration sampling.

Mr. Galeschuk has reviewed and approved the contents of this press release with respect to NI 43-101 reporting guidelines.

About Grid Metals Corp.

Grid Metals is focused on its lithium properties in southeastern Manitoba (Donner Lake and Falcon West). The Company has a lease agreement for the True North Gold Mill with the intention to convert the processing circuit to produce lithium spodumene concentrate and fast track its Donner Lake Lithium Project into production. The Company also has a PEA stage Ni-Cu-PGM-Co project (Makwa-Mayville) in southeastern Manitoba.

On Behalf of the Board of Grid Metals Corp.

For more information about the Company please see the Company website at www.gridmetalscorp.com or contact:

Robin Dunbar - President, CEO & Director. Telephone: 416-955-4773. Email: [email protected]

Brandon Smith Chief Development Officer. Email: [email protected]

David Black - Investor Relations. Email: [email protected]

We seek safe harbour. This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and forward-looking information within the meaning of the Securities Act (Ontario) (together, "forward-looking statements"). Such forward-looking statements include the Company's closing of the proposed financial transactions, sale of royalty and property interests. the overall economic potential of its properties, the availability of adequate financing and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward- looking statements to be materially different. Such factors include, among others, risks and uncertainties relating to potential political risk, uncertainty of production and capital costs estimates and the potential for unexpected costs and expenses, physical risks inherent in mining operations, metallurgical risk, currency fluctuations, fluctuations in the price of nickel, cobalt, copper and other metals, completion of economic evaluations, changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined, the inability or failure to obtain adequate financing on a timely basis, and other risks and uncertainties, including those described in the Company's Management Discussion and Analysis for the most recent financial period and Material Change Reports filed with the Canadian Securities Administrators and available at www.sedar.com.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulations Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release.

This news release does not constitute an offer of securities for sale in the United States. The securities being offered have not been, nor will they be, registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and such securities may not be offered or sold within the United States absent U.S. registration or an applicable exemption from U.S. registration requirements.

SOURCE: Grid Metals Corp.

View the original press release on accesswire.com
Under the Plaza de la Ciudadania (the plaza of the citizenry)  which is in front of the southern facade of La Moneda, Chile presidential palace, in the capital of Santiago  those who appreciate history and art can find a treasure: the How to Design a Revolution exhibition.

Set up in the basement of the Cultural Center of La Moneda, there are hidden gems on display, which depict the important role that design played in the Popular Unity administration of President Salvador Allende (1970-1973). For the first time, a synthesis of the posters, editorials, furniture, record collections and even the spoons that were manufactured for the National Milk Plan  which provided half-a-litre of free milk daily to the most underprivileged Chilean children  is presented.

This past Tuesday, the curators of the exhibit  Eden Medina, Hugo Palmarola and Pedro Ignacio Alonso  presented a book of the same name, published by the Swiss publishing house Lars Muller Publishers. An extension of the exhibit, its a comprehensive record, with an analysis of the graphic and industrial design projects undertaken during the Allende era.

American researcher Eden Medina  associate professor of Science, Technology and Society at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)  began researching Project Cybersyn 20 years ago. This was a revolutionary technological commitment that sought to control economic information coming from all corners of Chile during the Popular Unity administration. The author of Cybernetic Revolutionaries: Technology and Politics in Allendes Chile (2014), Medina discusses how  while she was conducting her research  she met the designer Hugo Palmarola, from the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, who was also researching Cybersyn.

Project Cybersyn consisted of various projects carried out by the Technological Research Committee during the Allende administration. Thinking about the 50 years since the commemoration of General Augusto Pinochets coup detat last September, Medina and Palmarola decided to put together an original, innovative exhibition, where the protagonist was the explosion of creativity that marked Allendes mandate. We knew that there was another interpretation of history, of Popular Unity and this was the [element of] design, says Palmarola, in a tour of the exhibition.

Hugo Palmarola and Eden Medina, curators of the exhibition. Sofia Yanjari

The exhibition  a joint work between the Catholic University, MIT and the Cultural Center of La Moneda  brings together more than 350 pieces, most of them original, from political projects developed between 1970 and 1973. Many of them are linked to nutrition or music, going beyond traditional political campaigns. The core themes are the care of the population and children, in contrast to the lofty technological concepts of Project Cybersyn, whose operating room is meticulously replicated on the outskirts of the exhibition. There, visitors can experience how the government intended to implement and control a collectivist economic model throughout the country.

The main image of the exhibition  which is also the cover of the book  is a woman hugging faceless adults and children, based on a poster by designers Waldo Gonzalez and Mario Quiroz. They chose her because she conveys the idea of a collective project, rather than that of a leader directing a political process. One of the criticisms made of the Popular Unity government is the focus that was put on the men in the countryside, in the unions. The women may not appear as much in photos and posters but the exhibition shows that they were [major] actors. [They were] creators of the programme and [leaders in] how they imagined the revolution, Medina points out.

The Cybersyn replica, exhibited at the Palacio La Moneda Cultural Center. Sofia Yanjari

The context of how the projects impacted and coexisted with the society of that time plays a key role in the exhibition. There are images by photographers  mainly foreigners  such as the American Ted Polumbaum, the German Leonore Mau, or the Portuguese Armindo Cardoso. The effort to democratize art is reflected in how posters and murals wallpapered the cities, with the desire that the entire society could have access to works of graphic design. For the first time, the complete original collection of the Discoteca del Cantar Popular (DICAP, a discography of popular singing)  a record label that emerged between 1967 and 1973, put out by the Communist Youth of Chile  is on display. Albums by Inti Illimani and Quilapayun appear, for example, with covers designed by the brothers Vicente and Antonio Larrea. They are widely-recognized in Chile for their work on the posters and covers, rather than for their musical talent.

Then, there are the real gems, such as the only remaining copy of the 18 poster designs, which were drafted to support the anti-fascist days of protest, organized to prevent a coup detat and civil war. About 9,000 copies were made of the works by the designers in the graphics workshop at the State Technical University. The curators note that Pinochets soldiers destroyed all the original designs, except for the one on display. Each object in this exhibition has a 50-year-old survival story its very significant, Medina emphasizes.

The bulk of the exhibition is made up of originals, but in the case of extinct posters  such as some from the copper nationalization campaign  the curators worked together with the cartoonist Hernan Vidal (known as Hervi) to reconstruct them. One of the most notable efforts to replicate the objects from the early-1970s is the wall where the furniture that was designed specifically for the National Board of Nursery Schools  created in 1970  is displayed. There are colorful chairs and tables that were built based on geometric figures, with ergonomic features all very statically admirable. The same people who designed the ultra-avant-garde Cybersyn room used scraps of furniture to make everything from wooden toys to cribs.

The exhibition room where furniture  designed for the National Board of Nursery Schools  is located. Sofia Yanjari

Just as there was the ideal of the new man in the socialist bloc, we propose in this curatorship that the infrastructure is also for the new child, Palmarola notes. An example of this is the milk-measuring spoon for infants. The exhibition can be seen on the enormous walls, but the spoon is displayed in the center of the room, as the heart of the proposal. Here, the technical or scientific nutrition project is mixed with the political project, adds the designer from the Catholic University. The object is complemented by the posters and photographs that accompanied the social welfare campaign.

The most significant stories from the design experience that took place during the Popular Unity government are recounted in the book How to Design a Revolution: The Chilean Road to Design. The English edition is set to be published in March of 2024.

Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition

A poster that promotes healthy children's nutrition, designed and printed during the Popular Unity. Sofia Yanjari

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TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / January 19, 2024 / Jaguar Mining Inc. ("Jaguar" or the "Company") (TSX:JAG)(OTCQX:JAGGF) is pleased to announce the appointment of its Chief Executive Officer Vernon Baker to the Company's Board of Directors (the "Board"), effective immediately.

Vernon was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Jaguar on August 6, 2019, following an extensive search conducted by the Company.With today's appointment of Vernon as a Director, the Board now consists of eight members, six of whom are independent. Jeff Kennedy, Chairman, commented that after over four years as Chief Executive Officer, Vernon's additional contributions as a member of the Board will be valuable.

Vernon's appointment as a Director of the Company shall be until the next annual general meeting of the Company's shareholders, when his continuation as a director shall be subject to nomination and election by the Company's shareholders.

Biography of Vernon Baker

Vernon has 40 years of mining industry experience. He has extensive management and operations expertise at globally focused mid-tier and senior mining companies. Prior to joining Jaguar, Vernon was General Manager at Goldcorp's Cerro Negro Mine in Argentina, overseeing 3,000 tonnes per day of high-grade production and implementing programs to reduce costs, grow production and development, and leading strong safety improvement to achieve an AIFR of 0.28 in 2017. Previously, Vernon held management and senior leadership roles with various mining companies including President at Duluth Metals Limited, Vice President of Operations at FNX Mining, General Manager at Barrick Goldstrike Mines Inc., and General Manager of Hemlo Operations, a Joint Venture of Teck Cominco and Barrick Gold.

About Jaguar Mining Inc.

Jaguar Mining Inc. is a Canadian-listed junior gold mining, development, and exploration company operating in Brazil with three gold mining complexes and a large land package with significant upside exploration potential from mineral claims. The Company's principal operating assets are located in the Iron Quadrangle, a prolific greenstone belt in the state of Minas Gerais and include the Turmalina Gold Mine Complex and Caet Mining Complex (Pilar and Roca Grande Mines, and Caete Plant). The Company also owns the Paciencia Gold Mine Complex, which has been on care and maintenance since 2012. The Roca Grande Mine has been on temporary care and maintenance since April 2019. Additional information is available on the Company's website at www.jaguarmining.com.

For further information please contact:

Vernon Baker

Chief Executive Officer

Jaguar Mining Inc.

[email protected]

416-847-1854

THE TSX HAS NOT REVIEWED AND DOES NOT ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ACCURACY OF THIS NEWS RELEASE.

SOURCE: Jaguar Mining Inc.

View the original press release on accesswire.com
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / January 19, 2024 / Pampa Metals Corp. ("Pampa Metals" or the "Company") (CSE:PM)(FSE:FIRA)(OTCQX:PMMCF) is pleased to advise that follow-up diamond drill testing at the Piuquenes Copper-Gold Porphyry project has commenced. The primary objectives of the program are to test the depth and lateral extension of the high-grade intervals of open mineralization at Piuquenes Central, and its potential to host an orebody of 1,000 m depth and 300 - 500 m diameter.

Follow-Up Diamond Drill Program

The follow-up program consists of up to 4 diamond drill holes, including two priority drillholes of ~850 - 900 m depth, is summarized as follows:

Hole 1 (REC-01) (refer figure 1) is orientated along a northeast-southwest geological section, proximate to the historical P8A (Inmet) and PIU16-DDH01 (Anglo) drillholes and designed to extend the depth of known mineralization at the southwestern edge of Piuquenes Central porphyry.

Hole 2 (REC-02) (refer figure 2) is orientated along an east-west section, proximate to the historical P4 and P2 drillholes (Inmet) and designed to test the lateral extension of the mineralized body, primarily along the western edge of the Piuquenes Central porphyry.

A 3rd and possibly a 4th hole will focus on extending known depth to the northeast and southeast edges of the Piuquenes Central mineral body and seek to validate a potential mineral column of 1,000 m depth and 300 - 500 m diameter.

Joseph van den Elsen, the Company's President and CEO, stated: "We are pleased to have swiftly commenced the first of an aggressive, multi-campaign exploration program testing the Piuquenes Project's exceptional potential. We now look forward to driving significant shareholder value over the short, medium, and long-term as we first test the depth and lateral extension of the reported high-grade intervals of open mineralization at Piuquenes Central (558.2 m @ 0.38% Cu, 0.42 g/t Au & 2.4 g/t Ag (0.73% CuEq)* incl. 130 m @ 0.81% Cu, 0.6 g/t Au & 4 g/t Ag (1.31 % CuEq)* - refer 5 December 2023 News Release), and thereafter Piuquenes East and other targets from our growing pipeline."

Figures 1 & 2: Piuquenes Central Schematic Cross Sections

Piuquenes Porphyry Copper-Gold Project

The Piuquenes Project consists of nine mining titles that cover an area of ~1,880 ha in the San Juan Province of Argentina, adjacent (to the north) with the Altar copper-gold porphyry project (Aldebaran Resources Inc.) and approximately 190 km west of the city of San Juan. Other large porphyry copper projects in the San Juan Miocene porphyry belt include, El Pachn (Glencore), approximately 30 km to the south, the operating Los Pelambres copper mine (60% Antofagasta plc) in Chile, and Los Azules (McEwen Mining) 50 km to the northeast.

The first evidence of copper oxides at Piuquenes was reported in 1970 by MInera Aguilar, who subsequently completed the first exploration program between 1973-1975. Between 1995 and 1997, Inmet Mining Corporation (IMC) completed a heli-magnetic/radiometric survey, surface geology, rock and soil geochemistry, ground magnetics, PD-IP and eight diamond drillholes for a total of 1,894.2m. Subsequently, in 2015-2016, Anglo American Argentina (AAA) completed detailed 1:2,500 geology and geochemistry, 17.8 km of gDAS24 deep 3D PD-IP/NSMT and a single 920.2 m diamond drill hole.

Since its discovery, the Piuquenes Copper-Gold porphyry has until now remained privately held.

Inmet Mining Corporation's (IMC, subsequently acquired by First Quantum in 2013) 8 diamond drill holes for a total of 1,894.2m intersected significant copper and gold mineralization including:

413.5 m (167-580.5 m) @ 0.47% Cu and 0.52 g/t Au (0.87% CuEq)*;

67.5 m (207-274.5 m) @ 0.63% Cu and 0.51 g/t Au (1.02% CuEq)*; and

158 m (3-161 m) @ 0.32% Cu and 0.6 g/t Au (0.78% CuEq)*.

In November 2023, Pampa Metals assayed and re-logged Anglo-American's 2016 diamond borehole of 920.2 m length which had crossed the mineral zones previously drilled by Inmet Mining Corporation (IMC). These results were reported in a 5 December 2023 News Release and included:

- 558.2 m (362-920.2 m EOH) @ 0.38% Cu & 0.42 g/ Au & 2.4 g/t Ag (0.73% CuEq)*

Including:

- 130 m (362-492 m) @ 0.81% Cu & 0.6 g/t Au & 4 g/t Ag (1.31 % CuEq)*.

Piuquenes East Stockwork Zone

Since optioning the Piuquenes Porphyry Copper-Gold Project (refer 30 November 2023 News Release) Pampa Metals has completed a comprehensive review of the project's technical data.

This review, complemented by Pampa Metals' recent drillcore re-logging, field validation and preparatory works for follow-up drilling, has led to the identification of three additional areas of undrilled porphyry intrusives at the Piuquenes Project (refer Figure 3).

One of these zones, referred to as the Piuquenes East prospect, is located immediately proximate to the mineralized Altar North Porphyry held by Aldebaran Resources.

The Piuquenes East prospect is characterized by outcrops of sinuous and banded dark gray quartz veinlets covering an area of 100 x 200m hosted within an altered intermineral porphyry. Alteration is typical of that commonly observed in the epithermal-porphyry transition zone of fully preserved, high level porphyry systems. The mapped stockwork zone is associated with a 400 x 300 m copper-gold soil-rock geochemical anomaly, and co-incident intermediate chargeability and intermediate-high resistivity anomalies in Electrical (IP) Geophysics.

Figure 3: Piuquenes - Altar Porphyry Cluster

Figure 4: Major Copper Projects in San Juan, Argentina

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD

Joseph van den Elsen | President & CEO

INVESTORS CONTACT

Joseph van den Elsen | President & CEO

[email protected]

ABOUT PAMPA METALS

Pampa Metals is a post-discovery copper-gold-molybdenum porphyry exploration company listed on the Canadian Stock Exchange (CSE:PM), Frankfurt (FSE:FIRA), and OTC (OTCQB: PMMCD) exchanges.

In November 2023, the Company announced it had entered into an Option and Joint Venture Agreement for the acquisition of an 80% interest in the Piuquenes Copper-Gold Porphyry Project in San Juan Province, Argentina.

Historical intervals of significant copper and gold mineralization at Piuquenes Central (refer 5 December 2023 News Release) include:

" 413.5 m (167-580.5 m) @ 0.47% Cu and 0.52 g/t Au (0.87% CuEq)*; and

" 558.2 m (362-920.2 m EOH) @ 0.38% Cu, 0.42 g/t Au and 2.4 g/t Ag (0.73% CuEq)*

including 130 m (362-492 m) @ 0.81% Cu, 0.6 g/t Au and 4 g/t Ag (1.31 % CuEq)*

Qualified Person

Technical information in this news release has been approved by Mario Orrego G. Mr. Orrego G. is a Geologist, a Registered Member of the Chilean Mining Commission and a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101. Mr. Orrego G. is a consultant to the Company.

* %CuEq values are calculated based on copper and gold metal prices: Cu = US$3.20/lb, Au = US$1,700/oz and Ag = US$ 20/oz. The formula utilized to calculate %CuEq is: Cu Eq Grade (%) = Cu Head Grade (%) + [(Au Head Grade (g/t) / 31.104) * (Au Price (US$/oz) / Cu Price (US$/lb) / 22.04) + [(Ag Head Grade (g/t) / 31.104) * (Ag Price (US$/oz) / Cu Price (US$/lb) / 22.0.

Neither the CSE nor the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENT

This news release contains certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking statements". All statements in this release, other than statements of historical fact, that address events or developments that Pampa Metals expects to occur, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects" and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will" or "may" occur. These statements are subject to various risks. Although Pampa Metals believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guaranteeing of future performance and actual results may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements.

SOURCE: Pampa Metals Corp.

View the original press release on accesswire.com
Vanilla Unmanned flew a mission for NASA to the inland sheet of Greenland.

CALIFORNIA, MD / ACCESSWIRE / January 19, 2024 / Vanilla Unmanned flew a mission for NASA to the inland sheet of Greenland. Thule Air Base, now known as Pituffik Space Base, hosted Platform Aerospace to carry a sensor provided by the Center for Remote Sensing of Ice Sheets (CReSIS).

Artic Vanilla

Vanilla recovered on the runway after a successful flight

The scientific goal was to provide validation data for the ICESAT2 satellite, which can measure terrain height but cannot differentiate between snow and ice. Vanilla flew along the satellite track to measure snow depth on top of the ice, enabling improved calculations of ice volume. This payload was previously flown in Deadhorse, Alaska, in 2021 through a similar mission set.

The flight window in April 2023 presented very challenging weather over Greenland. Vanilla flew over 15hours duration across two flights, including flying through two inflight icing events.

Platform Aerospace continues to test and demonstrate environmental hardening technologies and techniques to operate the Vanilla UAV in subfreezing conditions, such as testing an antiicing coating on the propeller. The Danish Air Authorities, Thule Space Force Base, and NASA all gave airworthiness and airspace approvals, due to the flight paths covering multiple countries' airspace.

Platform Aerospace thanks Pituffik Space Force Base and NASA with their help in airspace coordination, ground logistics, vehicles, and hangar use.

The baseline Vanilla UAS is not ITAR restricted and can be shipped internationally to provide worldwide support and operational capability.

About Platform Aerospace

Platform Aerospace is a servicedisabled veteranowned small business (SDVOSB) dedicated to supporting the warfighter by providing a groundbreaking ISR UAV that empowers warfighters with unmatched situational awareness and actionable intelligence. Through pioneering innovation, we redefine the standards of endurance to meet the everevolving needs of global security.

If you are interested in learning more, please contact [email protected] or visit our website at https://platformaerospace.com/.

Contact Information

Allegra Flores

Marketing

[email protected]

301-863-9253

Related Files

01-24_Thule_PR.pdf

SOURCE: Platform Aerospace

View the original press release on newswire.com.
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / January 19, 2024 / Rush Rare Metals Corp. ("Rush" or the "Company") (CSE:RSH) announces that it has issued an aggregate of 1,300,000 stock options to directors, officers and consultants of the Company. Each option vests immediately and is exercisable for one common share of the Company at a price of $0.075 for five years.

The issuance of the stock options to directors and officers is considered to be a "related party transaction" as defined under Multilateral Instrument 61-101 ("MI 61-101"). Such issuance is exempt from the formal valuation and minority shareholder approval requirements of MI 61-101 as the fair market value of the transaction does not exceed 25% of the market capitalization of the Company, as determined in accordance with MI 61-101.

About Rush Rare Metals Corp.

Rush Rare Metals Corp. is a mineral exploration company focused on its Boxi Property located in the Province of Qubec, Canada. Rush also owns the Copper Mountain Project located in Wyoming, USA, which it has optioned to Myriad Uranium Corp. For further information, please refer to Rush's disclosure record on SEDAR+ (www.sedarplus.ca) or contact Rush by email at [email protected] or by telephone at 778.999.7030, or refer to Rush's website at www.rushraremetals.com.

Rush Contacts:

Peter Smith

Chief Executive Officer

[email protected]

###

Mineralization hosted on adjacent or nearby properties is not necessarily indicative of mineralization hosted on the Company's properties. Certain statements in this news release are forward-looking statements, including with respect to future plans, and other matters. Forward-looking statements consist of statements that are not purely historical, including any statements regarding beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions regarding the future. Such information can generally be identified by the use of forwarding-looking wording such as "may", "expect", "estimate", "anticipate", "intend", "believe" and "continue" or the negative thereof or similar variations. The reader is cautioned that assumptions used in the preparation of any forward-looking information may prove to be incorrect. Events or circumstances may cause actual results to differ materially from those predicted, as a result of numerous known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of the Company, including but not limited to, business, economic and capital market conditions, the ability to manage operating expenses, and dependence on key personnel. Such statements and information are based on numerous assumptions regarding present and future business strategies and the environment in which the Company will operate in the future, anticipated costs, and the ability to achieve goals. Factors that could cause the actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include, the continued availability of capital and financing, litigation, loss of key employees and consultants, and general economic, market or business conditions. Forward-looking statements contained in this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking information.

The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as of the date of this news release. Except as required by law, the Company disclaims any intention and assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

The CSE has not reviewed, approved or disapproved the contents of this news release.

SOURCE: Rush Rare Metals Corp.

View the original press release on accesswire.com
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / January 19, 2024 / Victory Battery Metals (CSE:VR)(FWB:VR6)(OTC PINK:VRCFF) ("Victory" or the "Company") is pleased to announce a private placement financing of up to 8,000,000 units of the Company (the "Units") at a price of $0.05 per Unit for aggregate gross proceeds of up to $400,000 (the "Offering").

Each Unit will be comprised of one common share in the capital of the Company (a "Common Share") and one Common Share purchase warrant (a "Warrant"). Each Warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one additional Common Share at a price of $0.065 per Common Share for a period of three years following the closing date of the Offering, subject to accelerated expiry as described herein. If, at any time, the closing price of the Company's Common Shares is greater than $0.10 per Common Share for 10 consecutive days, including days where there is no trading, the Company may provide written notice (a "Warrant Acceleration Notice") to the holders that the expiry of the Warrants shall be accelerated to a date that is not less than 30 days from the date of the Warrant Acceleration Notice.

Subject to compliance with applicable regulatory requirements and in accordance with National Instrument 45-106 - Prospectus Exemptions ("NI 45-106"), the Units will be offered for sale to purchasers resident in Canada, except Quebec, and/or other qualifying jurisdictions pursuant to the listed issuer financing exemption under Part 5A of NI 45-106 (the "Listed Issuer Financing Exemption"). Because the Offering is being completed pursuant to the Listed Issuer Financing Exemption, the securities issued in the Offering will not be subject to a hold period pursuant to applicable Canadian securities laws.

There is an offering document related to the Offering that can be accessed under the Company's profile at www.sedar.com and on the Company's website at www.victorybatterymetals.com. Prospective investors

The Company intends to use net proceeds of the Offering for working capital requirements and other general corporate purposes.

The closing date of the Offering is to occur on or about February 28, 2023, or such later date or dates as the Company may determine, and are subject to certain conditions including, but not limited to, the receipt of all necessary approvals, including approval from the Canadian Securities Exchange.

The securities of the Company have not been, and will not be, registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act") or any U.S. state securities laws and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an available exemption from the registration requirements of the U.S. Securities Act and applicable U.S. state securities laws. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there by any sale of the securities referenced in this press release, in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.

For further information, please contact:

Mark Ireton, President

Telephone: +1 (236) 317 2822 or TOLL FREE 1 (855) 665-GOLD (4653)

E-mail: i [email protected]

About Victory Battery Metals

VICTORY BATTERY METALS (CSE: VR) is a publicly traded diversified investment corporation with mineral interests in North America. The Company is also actively seeking other exploration opportunities.

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Forward Looking Statements

Certain information set forth in this news release may contain forward-looking statements that involve substantial known and unknown risks and uncertainties. All statements other than statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, statements regarding future financial position, business strategy, use of proceeds,corporate vision, proposed acquisitions, partnerships, joint-ventures and strategic alliances and co-operations, budgets, cost and plans and objectives of or involving the Company. Such forward-looking information reflects management's current beliefs and is based on information currently available to management. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as"plans", "expects", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "predicts", "intends", "targets", "aims", "anticipates" or "believes" or variations (including negative variations) of such words and phrases or may be identified by statements to the effect that certain actions "may", "could", "should", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. A number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors may cause the actual results or performance to materially differ from any future results or performance expressed or implied by the forward-looking information. These forward-looking statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, certain of which are beyond the control of the Company including, but not limited to, the impact of general economic conditions, industry conditions and dependence upon regulatory approvals. Readers are cautioned that the assumptions used in the preparation of such information, although considered reasonable at the time of preparation, may prove to be imprecise and, as such, undue reliance should not be placed on forward- looking statements. The Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise its forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, except as required by securities laws.

SOURCE: Victory Battery Metals Corp.

View the original press release on accesswire.com
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LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- 3DEO, a Los Angeles-based leader in design, engineering and metal additive manufacturing (AM), today announced a significant investment from the Development Bank of Japan Inc. (DBJ) and Seiko Epson Corporation (EPSON). This partnership marks a pivotal step in 3DEO's expansion and underscores the confidence in its proprietary end-to-end 3D printing technology.

3DEO's unique approach focuses on a specialization in complex metal 3D printed components/assemblies and advanced Design for Additive Manufacturing (DfAM), and is underpinned by a differentiated portfolio of 18 patents. 3DEO's purpose-driven vision empowers customers to innovate and design competitively positioned products, while its end-to-end solution, encompassing proprietary software, metal 3D printers, robotics, and materials, streamlines the production process. This integration significantly reduces the complexity for clients, allowing them to scale up without the burden of mastering AM processes themselves, supported by 3DEO's comprehensive DfAM training and expertise.

The investment will propel 3DEOs growth strategies in North America and Japan, expanding opportunities for partnership in the semiconductor, aerospace, medical devices and equipment, and industrial sectors.

"The collaboration with DBJ and EPSON is a powerful endorsement of our mission to empower product and engineering teams across the globe," said Matthew Petros, CEO and Co-founder of 3DEO. "This investment is not just capital; it's a commitment to a shared vision of challenging whats possible through the combination of additive design principles and differentiated capabilities.

In Japan, there is a strong belief in conventional metalworking based on precision casting, which has supported the growth of the machining and assembly industry, as well as the optimization of the supply chain in terms of quality and cost. However, while there is a movement toward research and development of AM technologies and DfAM, the adoption rate at production sites faces significant barriers. This collaboration is poised to address these challenges, contributing to the advancement of AM technologies within Japan's established manufacturing landscape.

The strategic investment by DBJ and EPSON aligns with DBJ's mandate to foster technological innovation and reorganization of industry, and with Epson's mission to promote manufacturing innovation under its Epson 25 Renewed Corporate Vision. Made through the DBJ Startups and Innovation Fund, the investment will bolster 3DEOs business expansion in North America and Japan, igniting a new era of global innovation and production efficiency.

"By integrating 3DEO's AM capabilities with the meticulous engineering tradition of Japan, we aim to unlock new levels of productivity and expand the manufacturing possibilities in one of the world's leading economies," said Payman Torabi, CTO and Co-founder of 3DEO. "This investment is a testament to the trust and potential seen in 3DEO's innovative approach. We are excited to collaborate with DBJ and Epson, leveraging their expertise and market reach to enhance and refine the landscape of Additive Manufacturing."

DBJ and EPSON's investment, secured after careful review by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), will enable 3DEO to leverage the Japanese manufacturing industry's strengths while fostering technological advancements in both regions. DBJ will provide hands-on support to 3DEO and work closely with Epson and other stakeholders to proactively support 3DEO in building its business and increasing its corporate value. In addition, DBJ will serve as a nexus for all parties involved, including the national and local governments and related private companies, and contribute to the social implementation of DfAM in Japan, aiming to contribute to the innovation and restructuring of the manufacturing industry.

"We are excited to see how this synergy will support our continued mission to empower customers with unparalleled design freedom and production capabilities," added Petros.

3DEO's business model and full-stack solution position it as a vanguard in the industry, reducing development costs and time for its partners. With this strategic investment, 3DEO is poised to further disrupt traditional and advanced manufacturing processes, bringing innovative products to market faster and more efficiently than ever before.

ABOUT 3DEO

3DEO, headquartered in Los Angeles, California, specializes in metal additive manufacturing with a focus on precision metal 3D printed components. The company holds a suite of 18 patents for its Intelligent Layering technology and end-to-end manufacturing solution that includes proprietary software, robotics, and metal 3D printers. 3DEO's full stack ecosystem streamlines the transition from design to engineering to manufacturing, emphasizing efficiency and scalability. As an ISO 9001:2015 certified provider, 3DEO commits to quality in delivering fully integrated services that facilitate Design for Additive Manufacturing (DfAM) for its clients and unlocks new opportunities in product design and development. For additional information, visit www.3DEO.co.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240118408083/en/

Emily Elpes

Chief of Staff, VP of Marketing, 3DEO

(323) 214-7665

[email protected]

Source: 3DEO
ChargePoint cloud software solutions are now FedRAMP-approved, providing highest standards of data security for customers and drivers

CAMPBELL, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- ChargePoint (NYSE: CHPT), a leading provider of networked solutions for charging electric vehicles (EVs), today announced it is has become one of the first providers of EV charging solutions to receive Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) approval from the United States Federal Government. ChargePoint cloud software products now meet all FedRAMP requirements and will be included in the FedRAMP marketplace in the coming weeks.

These requirements include best-in-class data security, dedicated cloud hosting for federal customers, and rigorous standards for authorization, access, and continuous monitoring. ChargePoints cloud software gives customers real-time visibility into data such as power use, energy costs, station usage, session fees and more.

ChargePoint has been a trusted partner to many levels of the U.S. government for years, providing EV charging infrastructure and software to help federal agencies lead the transition to electric mobility, said Teza Mukkavilli, Chief Information Security Officer of ChargePoint. ChargePoints comprehensive cloud solution gives customers real-time visibility into data such as power use, energy costs, station usage, session fees and more. This authorization demonstrates our commitment and proven ability to providing the highest standards of security for our customers, while unlocking potential millions of dollars in U.S. federal government opportunities.

FedRAMP is the U.S. governments standardized approach to security assessment and authorization for cloud computing products and services. It was established in 2011 to provide a cost effective, risk-based approach for the adoption and use of cloud services by the federal government. FedRAMP empowers agencies to use modern cloud technologies, with emphasis on security and protection of federal information. ChargePoint has been approved by GSA (General Services Administration) for the FedRAMP Authority to Operate process.

Specifically, ChargePoint has achieved AICPA SOC 2 - SOC for Service Organizations: Trust Services Criteria certification confirming our dedication to safely managing company, customer and driver information.

To learn more about security/privacy at ChargePoint, please visit: https://trust.chargepoint.com/

About ChargePoint Holdings, Inc.

ChargePoint is creating a new fueling network to move people and goods on electricity. Since 2007, ChargePoint has been committed to making it easy for businesses and drivers to go electric with one of the largest EV charging networks and a comprehensive portfolio of charging solutions. The ChargePoint cloud subscription platform and software-defined charging hardware are designed to include options for every charging scenario from home and multifamily to workplace, parking, hospitality, retail and transport fleets of all types. Today, one ChargePoint account provides access to hundreds-of-thousands of places to charge in North America and Europe. For more information, visit the ChargePoint pressroom, the ChargePoint Investor Relations site, or contact the ChargePoint North American or European press offices or Investor Relations.

CHPT-IR

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240119756960/en/

ChargePoint

AJ Gosselin

Director, Corporate Communications

[email protected]

[email protected]

Patrick Hamer

Vice President, Capital Markets and Investor Relations

[email protected]

[email protected]

Source: ChargePoint Holdings, Inc.
QUEBEC CITY--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Devonian Health Group Inc. (Devonian or the Corporation) (TSXV: GSD; OTCQB: DVHGF), a clinical stage botanical pharmaceutical corporation, focused on developing a unique portfolio of botanical pharmaceutical and cosmeceutical products, is pleased to announce that during its general annual and special meeting of shareholders (the Meeting), which will be held virtually on February 20, 2024, the Corporation will seek the authorization of the shareholders of the Corporation (the Shareholders) to allow the board of directors of the Corporation (the Board) to consider a consolidation of the issued and outstanding subordinate voting shares of the Corporation (the Shares) at a ratio of one new post-consolidation Share for up to seventy (70) old pre-consolidation Shares (the Share Consolidation) held. The Board is seeking authority to potentially implement the Share Consolidation in the event of an opportunity if it believes that the resultant increase to the trading price of the Shares from effecting the Share Consolidation could potentially, and principally, i) broaden the pool of investors that may consider investing or be able to invest in the Corporation, and ii) enable the Corporation to satisfy certain minimum trading price requirements of U.S. and other stock exchanges for a potential listing of the Shares.

As of the record date for the Meeting, January 9, 2024, there were 146,730,531 Shares issued and outstanding. Based on the number of Shares issued and outstanding then, immediately following the completion of the Share Consolidation, for illustrative purposes only, depending on the Share Consolidation ratio selected, the number of Shares then issued and outstanding (disregarding any resulting fractional Shares) will be as follows:

Share Consolidation

Ratio Approximate

Percentage Reduction

in Subordinate Voting

Share Subordinate Voting

Share Outstanding 10 : 1 90.00% 14,673,053 30 : 1 96.67% 4,891,018 70 : 1 98.57% 2,096,150

Any authority of the Board to consolidate the Shares is conditional upon the prior approval of Shareholders and the TSX Venture Exchange (the Exchange). Following the Share Consolidation, the Corporations name will remain unchanged.

There is no assurance that the Board will proceed with a listing on a U.S. or other stock exchange, or that the U.S. or other stock exchange would approve a listing application by the Corporation. Additional information, including the time and instructions for virtually accessing and voting at the Meeting are available in the management information circular for the Meeting mailed to Shareholders using notice-and-access and which is also available under the Corporations profile on SEDAR+ www.sedarplus.ca.

About Devonian

Devonian Health Group Inc. is a late-stage botanical pharmaceutical corporation with novel therapeutic approaches to targeting unmet medical needs. Devonian's core strategy is to develop prescription botanical drugs from plant materials and algae for the treatment of inflammatory-autoimmune diseases including but not limited to ulcerative colitis and atopic dermatitis. Based on a foundation of over 15 years of research, Devonians focus is further supported by a US-FDA set of regulatory guidelines favouring a more efficient drug development pathway for prescription botanical drug products over those of traditional prescription medicines.

Devonian is also involved in the development of high-value cosmeceutical products leveraging the same proprietary approach employed with their pharmaceutical offerings. Devonian also owns a commercialization subsidiary, Altius Healthcare Inc., focused on selling prescription pharmaceutical products in Canada, under license from brand name pharmaceutical companies.

Devonian Health Group Inc. was incorporated in 2015 and is headquartered in Quebec, Canada where it owns a state-of-the art extraction facility with full traceability from the seed to the pill. Devonian is traded publicly on the Exchange (TSXV: GSD) and on OTCQB exchange (OTCQB: DVHGF).

For more information, visit www.groupedevonian.com

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

All statements, other than statements of historical fact, contained in this press release including, but not limited to those relating to the Share Consolidation, the approval of the Shareholders in connection with the Share Consolidation, the approval of the Exchange in connection with the Share Consolidation, the ultimate consolidation ratio selected, the Corporations intention and ability to list the Shares on a U.S. or other stock exchange, the anticipated benefits of completing the Share Consolidation and, generally, the above About Devonian paragraph, which essentially describes the Corporations outlook, constitute forward-looking information or forward-looking statements within the meaning of certain securities laws, and are based on expectations, estimates and projections as of the time of this press release.

Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by the Corporation as of the time of such statements, are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies. These estimates and assumptions may prove to be incorrect. Many of these uncertainties and contingencies can directly or indirectly affect, and could cause, actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in any forward-looking statements. There can be no assurance that these assumptions will prove to be correct and there can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements.

By their very nature, forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties, both general and specific, and risks exist that estimates, forecasts, projections and other forward-looking statements will not be achieved or that assumptions do not reflect future experience. Forward-looking statements are provided for the purpose of providing information about managements expectations and plans relating to the future. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements as a number of important risk factors and future events could cause the actual outcomes to differ materially from the beliefs, plans, objectives, expectations, anticipations, estimates, assumptions and intentions expressed in such forward-looking statements. All of the forward-looking statements made in this press release are qualified by these cautionary statements and those made in our other filings with the applicable securities regulators of Canada. The Corporation disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements or to explain any material difference between subsequent actual events and such forward-looking statements, except to the extent required by applicable law.

Neither the Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240119725648/en/

Mr. Luc Gregoire

President and Chief Executive Officer

Devonian Health Group inc.

Telephone: (514) 248-7509

Email: [email protected]

Source: Devonian Health Group Inc.
DAVOS, Switzerland--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Pivot Bio CEO Chris Abbott this week took the leading sustainable agriculture companys expertise to the World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting to seek partnerships and opportunities to accelerate the food systems transformation.

"What's most exciting is the solutions are here, and the solutions are ready to scale. Now it's just about bringing everyone together, said Abbott in a conversation hosted by CNBC.

Technology is an amazing price deflationary tool. We see that in our business of fertilizer, said Abbott. We've dislocated from natural gas. Natural gas pricing does not matter to us. We use 1,000 times less water. So, if we can dislocate from those limiting factors, we can bring cost down, which has a benefit for growers, a benefit for the environment and certainly a benefit for consumers downstream."

In a panel hosted by the Forum, Abbott shared how harnessing nature can create technologies like the ones Pivot Bio has developed. They offer better efficiency, performance and pricing than the legacy alternatives. With the right government incentives and risk appetite, these solutions will scale, he said. What we need now are partners to help bring them to market quickly.

Ahead of the annual meeting, in an article for the Agenda, Abbott outlined his vision for collaboration. Crop nutrition is a vital part of any farming operation, requiring active management of the delicate mix of macro- and micronutrients available to crops to ensure maximum productivity, wrote Abbott. There are many factors that impact plants productivity, but if we can address these yield-limiting factors in a holistic way, we can unlock a new level of productivity and sustainability in agriculture.

During meetings with other CEOs and investors, Abbott highlighted the need and opportunity for global agriculture to reconsider century-old practices that no longer serve the needs of todays farmers or the planet. He shared how his companys microbial fertilizer is providing farmers with the nitrogen needed to efficiently produce crops to feed a growing population  and to do it without the negative impacts of synthetic nitrogen fertilizer.

From increased volatility and disrupted supply chains to extreme weather events brought about by climate change, farmers in every region of the world are facing challenges that threaten their ability to feed a rapidly growing global population, Abbott said. Agriculture is incredibly complex, and we wont be able to solve all its challenges on our own. Its going to take everyone, from the input and technology providers to the fertilizer manufacturers and beyond. This was an important moment for Pivot Bio to join critical stakeholders from across the industry to explore solutions that can be complementary to drive progress for the worlds growers.

Those looking to explore opportunities for collaboration with Pivot Bio should contact the company by emailing [email protected].

About Pivot Bio

Pivot Bio is a leading sustainable agriculture company delivering farmers patented crop nutrition technologies that harness the power of nature to reliably and productively grow the food the world needs in the face of increasing volatility. Currently available in North America and soon in Brazil, the companys products are a breakthrough innovation and among the industrys most promising climate solutions because they deliver nitrogen to plants without the negative impacts of synthetic fertilizer. Pivot Bios nitrogen is weatherproof, safer to handle, and does not leach or contribute to nitrous oxide pollution. By making this possible for the first time at scale, Pivot Bio is upending the 190 billion USD nitrogen market. Pivot Bio has been recognized twice by Time on its annual list of best inventions, by Fast Company on its World Changing Ideas and World's Most Innovative Companies lists, by CNBC in its Disruptor 50 list of private companies, and by Fortune on its Impact 20 list of startups driving social good. The company recently announced its fourth consecutive year of growth. For more information, visit PivotBio.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240118801359/en/

[email protected]

Source: Pivot Bio
European authorities warned of the risk posed by low vaccination coverage against measles, and the worst predictions have come true. The disease is easily preventable with two vaccine doses, and practically disappeared in Europe during the Covid-19 lockdowns. But in recent months, it has resurged, and very strongly in some areas.

Three people  two of them babies  died in Romania, which declared the measles a national epidemic in December. In the United Kingdom, dozens of children have been hospitalized in the city of Birmingham since November, according to local media, British authorities are forcing unvaccinated minors in the city to isolate at home if they have been in contact with someone who is sick. Austria has been fighting measles since the beginning of 2023 with several outbreaks that have led to nearly 200 cases. While in a school in Guilherand-Granges, in the French department of Ardeche, dozens of unvaccinated children were infected, with 60 cases detected and several patients hospitalized.

According to 2022 statistics from the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), the average vaccination coverage in the European Union is notably lower  92.4% for the first dose and 89.7% for the second. The organization, however, warns that these percentages have been falling in countries like Romania over the last decade, dropping to 78% and 62%, respectively.

The overall number of measles cases in the EU/EEA is steadily increasing since June 2023. Considering the suboptimal vaccination coverage for the second dose 95% in the majority of the EU/EEA countries more measles cases are expected in the coming months and in the spring, warned the EDCD in its latest communicable disease threats report.

Quique Bassat, pediatrician and epidemiologist at the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), explains that fighting the measles virus is very complex. It is one of the most contagious that exists, which forces you to systematically maintain vaccination coverage above 95% to prevent its circulation. Each point that falls from that represents a significant risk, since usually the unimmunized tend to be grouped in certain areas or groups, and form pockets of susceptible population. Sooner or later, the virus will reach them and cause an outbreak, he said.

In recent years, public health authorities have faced added difficulties, such as the anti-vaccine movement and the challenge of getting public health messages across to groups who may be cut off due to their socioeconomic or cultural situation.

The measles vaccine is administered in two doses: the first when the child turns one, and the second, when they are three or four years old, depending on the local health authorities. The measles vaccine also protects against rubella and mumps, which is why it is called the MMR vaccine.

Its a disease that we must have a lot of respect for because it can cause very serious illnesses and even the death of one in every 1,000 infected children. And if the death of a child is always a tragedy, it is much more so when it is due to a disease thats so easily preventable thanks to vaccines, explains Antoni Trilla, head of the Preventive Medicine service at the Hospital Clinic in Barcelona, Spain.

The disease is transmitted by contact with the already infected person or through aerosols (microscopic saliva droplets that float in the air). After an incubation period of between seven and 14 days, the first symptoms appear: high fever, cough and runny nose. The characteristic skin rash comes between three and five days later. The most dangerous complications that the virus can lead to are pneumonia, neurological conditions and blindness.

The World Health Organization (WHO) set the goal of 95% vaccine coverage to one day eradicate the disease. The idea is to achieve so-called herd immunity, meaning those who cannot be immunized (due to age, for example) are also protected. In other words, the whole community, not just the individual, is protected.

In Romania, two of the three deaths were seven-month-old babies, who had not yet been able to receive the vaccine. For safety reasons, it should not be administered until a child turns one, although in epidemic crisis situations, such as the one currently affecting Romania, its use can also be extended to babies between nine and 11 months old.

Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition
Gala Awards Ceremony to Feature Opening of 40-Year-Old Time Capsule

BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- The PR Club, the nations longest-running organization for New England communications professionals, today opened submissions for the 56th Annual Bell Ringer Awards that honor outstanding achievements in PR and marketing. The Bell Ringer Awards are open to public relations, marketing, and communication professionals based in New England or those who manage initiatives for New England-based clients.

Winners will be announced and celebrated at the Bell Ringer Awards Gala on June 6, 2024, at the Royal Sonesta Boston in Cambridge, Mass. This years ceremonies will also include the opening of a 40-year-old time capsule created by club members in 1984, providing a nostalgic look back at the state of the communications industry during the height of Michael Jackson and Band Aid, Geraldine Ferraro, the first Apple Macintosh, John Hughes movies, and big shoulder pads. To extend the tradition, the PR Club invites this years gala attendees to bring mementos for a new time capsule that will be unsealed a decade from now.

Three professional awards are also open for nominations: The Striker (emerging professional), The Ringer (mid-career professional), and the John J. Molloy Crystal Bell for Lifetime Achievement. PR Club members may nominate (at no charge) up to three individuals for these awards.

The PR Club is excited to honor the creativity and innovation in PR and marketing at the 56th Bell Ringer Awards ceremony this Spring, said Sofia Giovannello, president of PR Club and vice president at Methods+Mastery. I am honored to be part of it all, and continue to be inspired by this community, always bringing new perspectives to the table and pushing the boundaries of whats possible in our industry."

Members and non-members alike can apply using the PR Clubs entry portal (add link?) and entries must represent work completed between Jan. 1, 2023, and March 8, 2024. To qualify for early-bird pricing and discounted rates, sign up or renew your membership here.

Early bird entries, which will be discounted by $30 per entry for PR Club members, must be submitted by Friday, Feb. 9, 2024, by 6 p.m. ET.

The regular deadline for Bell Ringer Award entries is Friday, March 8, 2024, by 6 p.m. ET.

Late entries, which incur an additional fee, will be accepted until Friday, March 15, 2024, by 6 p.m. ET.

The deadline for professional awards is Friday, April 14, 2024, by 6 p.m. ET.

Interested in sponsoring this years Bell Ringer Awards? Find more details here.

For more information on attending or submitting your work for consideration, please visit the PR Club website: https://www.prclub.org/bell-ringer-awards-guidelines/

About PR Club

Founded in 1948, the PR Club (formerly the Publicity Club of New England) strives to promote and encourage involvement in the communications industry and specifically the professions of public relations, promotions, and marketing. Get additional information about monthly PR Club programs, social and networking events, the Bell Ringer blog, and the Bell Ringer Awards Ceremony at www.PRClub.org. Get regular club updates on LinkedIn and X.

About the Bell Ringer Awards

The Bell Ringer Awards recognize public relations and communications work that demonstrates excellence in creative planning and superior execution to achieve a high degree of success in reaching predetermined objectives. Open to all New England practitioners, the program, now in its 56th year, celebrates the extraordinary work of the regions communications professionals.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240119594434/en/

PR Club

Sofia Giovannello

[email protected]

Source: PR Club
Highlights immediate, significant, and certain value provided by the Arrangement

The $6.05 per share all-cash purchase price offers Shareholders (other than the Rolling Shareholders) a 36% premium to where Q4 shares closed on the last trading day prior to the announcement

Voting deadline is Monday, January 22, 2024 at 10 a.m. Toronto Time

Shareholders who require assistance with voting may contact Laurel Hill Advisory Group at 1-877-452-7184 or [email protected] .

TORONTO--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Q4 Inc. (TSX: QFOR) (Q4 or the Company), the leading capital markets access platform, today issues a final reminder to holders (the Shareholders) of the Companys common shares (the Common Shares) to vote FOR the proposed arrangement transaction (the Arrangement) whereby Q4 would be acquired in an all-cash transaction for $6.05 a share by a newly formed entity controlled by Sumeru Equity Partners (Sumeru), a leading technology-focused investment firm. A Special Meeting of Shareholders (the Special Meeting) related to the proposed Arrangement will be held on January 24, 2024 at 10:00 a.m. (Toronto Time).

Shareholders are urged to vote TODAY to ensure their vote is promptly received ahead of the voting deadline of January 22, 2024 at 10:00 a.m. Toronto Time. Materials related to the Special Meeting and instructions on how to vote FOR the Arrangement can be found here: https://investors.q4inc.com/Special-Meeting-Vote/Special-Meeting/default.aspx.

In reiterating the Board of Directors (other than those directors who declared an interest in the transaction and did not participate in the deliberations) unanimous recommendation that Shareholders vote FOR the proposed Arrangement, Q4 noted:

The proposed transaction provides Shareholders  other than certain Shareholders rolling over their equity interest (Rolling Shareholders)  with immediate, significant, and certain value following a robust strategic review process overseen by an independent Special Committee (Special Committee) of the Board of Directors.

Under the terms of the Arrangement, Shareholders (other than Rolling Shareholders) will receive $6.05 a share in cash. The purchase price offers a compelling 36% premium over Q4s share price on the last trading date prior to the transaction announcement.1 Further, the premium is 43% over the 20-day pre-deal volume-weighted average price, and 46% over the 60-day VWAP.

The proposed transaction has also received independent third-party support. Both leading proxy advisory firms  Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. (ISS) and Glass Lewis & Co. (Glass Lewis)  have recommended that Q4 Shareholders vote FOR the Arrangement. Sell-side analysts Canaccord Genuity, Eight Capital, and RBC Royal Bank have also issued reports that respectively found the Arrangement to be a positive outcome, reasonable, and attractive.

Shareholders are urged to read the Circular and its appendices carefully and in its entirety as the Circular contains extensive detail regarding the background to the Arrangement, detailed reasons for the recommendation of the Special Committee and the Board (including the above reasons) and other factors considered.

After careful consideration of all these factors, including the recommendations of the Companys financial advisors and the unanimous recommendation of the Special Committee, the Board (with conflicted directors not in attendance or participating in the decision) unanimously determined the Arrangement is the best interests of the Company and is fair to Shareholders (other than the Rolling Shareholders).

As such, we strongly encourage you to vote FOR the proposed Arrangement.

Due to the Essence of Time, Shareholders are encouraged to vote online or by telephone as described in the enclosed voting form and on Q4s website at: https://investors.q4inc.com/Special-Meeting.

The proxy voting deadline is on January 22, 2024 at 10 a.m. Toronto Time.

Shareholder Questions and Assistance

Shareholders who have questions regarding the Arrangement or require assistance with voting may contact Laurel Hill Advisory Group, the Companys shareholder communications advisor and proxy solicitation agent at:

Laurel Hill Advisory Group

North American Toll Free: 1-877-452-7184 (+1 416-304-0211 Outside North America)

Email: [email protected].

About Q4 Inc.

Q4 Inc. (TSX: QFOR) is the leading capital markets access platform that is transforming how issuers, investors, and the sell-side efficiently connect, communicate, and engage with each other.

The Q4 Platform facilitates interactions across the capital markets through IR website products, virtual events solutions, engagement analytics, investor relations CRM, shareholder and market analysis, surveillance, and ESG tools. The Q4 Platform is the only holistic capital markets access platform that digitally drives connections, analyzes impact, and targets the right engagement to help public companies work faster and smarter.

The company is a trusted partner to more than 2,500 public companies globally, including many of the most respected brands in the world, and maintains an award-winning culture where team members grow and thrive.

Q4 is headquartered in Toronto, with offices in New York and London. Learn more at investors.Q4inc.com.

All dollar figures in this release are in Canadian dollars unless otherwise indicated.

About Sumeru Equity Partners

Sumeru Equity Partners provides growth capital at the intersection of people and innovative technology. Sumeru seeks to embolden innovative founders and management teams with capital and scaling partnership. Sumeru has invested over US$3 billion in more than fifty platform and add-on investments across enterprise and vertical SaaS, data analytics, education technology, infrastructure software and cybersecurity. The firm typically invests in companies throughout North America and Europe. For more information, please visit sumeruequity.com.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information

This release includes forward-looking information and forward-looking statements (collectively, forward-looking statements) within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to the purchase by the Purchaser of all of the issued and outstanding Common Shares, the rationale of the Board for entering into the Arrangement Agreement, the anticipated timing and the various steps to be completed in connection with the Arrangement, including receipt of Shareholder and court approvals, the anticipated timing for closing of the Arrangement, the potential impacts to the Company and its share price if the Arrangement is terminated, the Companys operations and financial performance and potential growth opportunities.

In some cases, but not necessarily in all cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as plans targets, expects or does not expect, is expected, an opportunity exists, is positioned, estimates, intends, assumes, anticipates or does not anticipate or believes, or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results may, could, would, might, will or will be taken, occur or be achieved. In addition, any statements that refer to expectations, projections or other characterizations of future events or circumstances contain forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are not historical facts, nor guarantees or assurances of future performance but instead represent managements current beliefs, expectations, estimates and projections regarding future events and operating performance. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based on a number of opinions, assumptions and estimates that, while considered reasonable by the Company as of the date of this release, are subject to inherent uncertainties, risks and changes in circumstances that may differ materially from those contemplated by the forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ, possibly materially, from those indicated by the forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the possibility that the proposed Arrangement will not be completed on the terms and conditions, or on the timing, currently contemplated, or at all, the possibility of the Arrangement Agreement being terminated in certain circumstances, the ability of the Board to consider and approve a Superior Proposal for the Company, and the other risk factors identified under Risk Factors in the Companys latest annual information form and managements discussion and analysis for the year ended December 31, 2022 and in the managements discussion and analysis for the period ended September 30, 2023, and in other periodic filings that the Company has made and may make in the future with the securities commissions or similar regulatory authorities in Canada, all of which are available under the Companys SEDAR+ profile at www.sedarplus.ca. These factors are not intended to represent a complete list of the factors that could affect the Company. However, such risk factors should be considered carefully. There can be no assurance that such estimates and assumptions will prove to be correct. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this release.

Although the Company has attempted to identify important risk factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements, there may be other risk factors not currently known to us or that we currently believe are not material that could also cause actual results or future events to differ materially from those expressed in such forward-looking statements. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information. Accordingly, you should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements represent the Companys expectations as of the date of this release (or as the date it is otherwise stated to be made) and are subject to change after such date. However, the Company disclaims any intention and undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required under applicable Canadian securities laws. All of the forward-looking statements contained in this release are expressly qualified by the foregoing cautionary statements.

_______________________ 1 As of November 10, 2023.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240118001698/en/

Investor

Laurel Hill Advisory Group

North America Toll Free: 1-877-452-7184

Collect Calls Outside North America: 1-416-304-0211

[email protected]

Edward Miller

Director, Investor Relations

(437) 291-1554

[email protected]

Media

Longacre Square Partners

Scott Deveau

[email protected]

Source: Q4 Inc.
Medical Device Leaders to Gather at DeviceTalks Boston on May 1-2

BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- DeviceTalks, a leading multimedia content and event provider for medical device professionals, proudly announces the return of its annual DeviceTalks Boston conference to the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center on May 1-2.

DeviceTalks Boston will convene engineers, entrepreneurs, investors, executives, and other critical medical device leaders to share insights and knowledge on the new technology and trends that are shaping the medtech industry.

DeviceTalks Boston is a unique opportunity for the forces of Medtech to meet in one place, said Tom Salemi, editorial director of the digital media business. Anyone who is designing, building, selling or raising money to develop a new medical device can find essential insights and support.

This year's conference promises to surpass its previous record-breaking attendance, with over 1,000 professionals participating in more than 40 presentations.

Highlights of DeviceTalks Boston include:

Innovation Forum: A centerpiece event led by MedTech Innovator, focusing on funding opportunities and challenges for startups and investors.

Surgical Robotics Sessions: Insights from top companies like Stryker and Medtronic, exploring advancements in surgical robotics.

Cutting-edge Medical Developments: Deep dives into the next generation of cardiac ablation, neuromodulation, and intravascular lithotripsy.

Sustainable Manufacturing: Exploring new manufacturing techniques and sustainability in Medtech.

Techs Impact on Healthcare: Discussions on how Data, AI, and Sensors are revolutionizing healthcare.

Development Skills Workshops: Sessions on design, product management, and other vital skills for medical device development.

In addition to these sessions, attendees will have access to an extensive Exhibit Floor, featuring over 150 exhibitors. This area provides a unique opportunity for networking and discovering partners for designing, developing, and marketing medical devices.

DeviceTalks Boston also offers exclusive access to the adjacent Robotics Summit & Expo and the inaugural Digital Transformation Forum. Together, these events are expected to attract over 5,000 attendees to the BCEC, creating unparalleled networking and learning opportunities.

DeviceTalks Boston represents the best opportunity for medical device professionals to build the knowledge  and recruit a team  to aid in their life-saving work. Registration opened for the meeting on January 17 and can be purchased here.

About DeviceTalks Boston

Since its inception in 2016, DeviceTalks Boston has established itself as the East Coast's leading conference for medical device professionals. The event focuses on all aspects of device development, from engineering and manufacturing to sales and marketing. It also features the MedTech Innovator All-Stars competition, a lively forum for startups and investors.

About DeviceTalks

In addition to our in-person meetings in Boston and Santa Clara, DeviceTalks produces a wide suite of digital content and online meetings.

Our podcast network  now totaling nine different series  stem in part from partnerships with leading industry organizations including Abbott, Boston Scientific, Edwards LifeSciences, Intuitive, Johnson & Johnson, MedtechWomen, Medtronic, Stryker, and Zimmer Biomet. Our podcasts record over a quarter of a million plays each year. Our DeviceTalks Tuesday weekly webinar series delivered critical insights and expertise to thousands of Medtech professionals in 2023.

About WTWH Media

DeviceTalks, along with MassDevice online news site and Medical Design & Outsourcing magazine, is part of the Life Sciences Business of WTWH Media. WTWH Media is a business-to-business media company focused on providing high value unique content on user's terms while delivering measurable ROI for marketers. WTWH Media produces 80+ technical web sites and seven print publications covering design engineering, hospitality, life sciences, fluid power, robotics, renewable energy and retail segments. The company also produces digital events, manages seven in-person events and provides custom digital and marketing services.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240119213611/en/

Contact: Tom Salemi

[email protected]

Source: WTWH Media
IRVINE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- The Building Industry Association of Southern California (BIASC) today announced that John Burns of John Burns Research and Consulting, LLC, will serve as keynote speaker for the upcoming Outlook 2024 Economic Forecast, a regarded industry event held by the Building Industry Association of Southern California on Monday, January 29th in Irvine, California. Andrew Lauren Interiors serves as the events presenting sponsor.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240119448281/en/

The Building Industry Association of Southern California (BIASC) announced that John Burns of John Burns Research and Consulting, LLC, will serve as keynote speaker for the upcoming Outlook 2024 Economic Forecast, a regarded industry event held by the Building Industry Association of Southern California on Monday, January 29th in Irvine, California. (Photo: Business Wire)

Mr. Burns highly anticipated keynote will include a comprehensive overview of the economic and housing forecast for the coming year. His presentation will uncover important trends and research-backed findings and insights to help guide industry professionals through 2024 and beyond.

We are honored to welcome John Burns Research and Consulting, LLC to our Outlook 2024 Economic Forecast, said Laura Barber, Vice President, Events & HR for BIASC. Mr. Burns is one of the most respected and esteemed experts in our industry, and his insights and counsel will be invaluable for all attendees. Its no surprise that registrations are already filling up very quickly. Historically, this event sells out every year  and 2024 will be no exception.

The Outlook 2024 Economic Forecast takes place on Monday, January 29th from 4:30 to 8:00 p.m. at the Irvine Marriott, located at 18000 Von Karman Avenue in Irvine, California. The events agenda includes networking followed by the program and dinner.

While registration for the highly popular industry event is underway for attendees and sponsors, the event is pacing to sell out soon. Interested parties are urged to visit biaoc.com to sign up. For additional information, please contact Laura Barber at [email protected].

About BIASC

The Building Industry Association of Southern California is the voice of the region's building industry, with four chapters offering localized services to building professionals from Ventura to the southern tip of Orange County. Throughout its 100-year history, the association has served its builder and associate members by anticipating, protecting, and promoting their common interests through its many programs, services, councils and committees. For more information on the Building Industry Association of Southern California, visit biasc.org. Follow BIASC on social media for the latest industry news: LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240119448281/en/

Building Industry Association of Southern California

[email protected]

Source: Building Industry Association of Southern California
DAVOS, Switzerland--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will host a high-level World Economic Forum (WEF) Special Meeting that will focus on global cooperation, growth and energy, on 28-29 April 2024, in Riyadh.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240119826685/en/

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will host a World Economic Forum Special Meeting in Riyadh in April 2024. (Photo: AETOSWire)

Announced by His Excellency Faisal F. Alibrahim, Minister of Economy and Planning, and Brge Brende, World Economic Forum President, at the 54th Annual Meeting of the WEF in Davos, Switzerland, the new event is part of a landmark agreement between Saudi Arabia and the Forum.

The gathering will convene more than 700 global leaders from the public and private sector, international organizations, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), academia and civil society to foster dialogues between countries to revive international cooperation and address current challenges to growth and development.

Announcing the event, His Excellency Alibrahim said: The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Riyadh is becoming a global capital for progress and thought leadership on the critical topics of our time.

The World Economic Forum Special Meeting in Riyadh will focus on global collaboration, growth, and energy. We believe this new platform will enable the World Economic Forum, the Kingdom, and our global partners to further engage in cooperative dialogues and find the right answers to the challenges we have at hand.

Brge Brende, President of the WEF, remarked, At a time of growing divides between developed and emerging economies, there is a pressing need to not only identify areas of shared interests but foster new, impactful partnerships.

As a critical player at the intersection of many of the worlds economies, Saudi Arabia is uniquely positioned to work alongside both developed and developing markets to foster cooperation between the two, and help them reach their long-term commerce, energy, and finance goals.

Being hosted in Riyadh, the capital of the largest economy in the Middle East, a world-leading hub between Asia, Africa and Europe, and a midway point between the Global South and the Global North, the WEF Special Meeting will provide a platform for global leaders to assess current challenges and propose transformative ideas to create a positive global impact.

Following Saudi Arabias presidency of the G20 in 2020, and building on the long-standing partnership between Saudi Arabia and the World Economic Forum, this latest collaboration underscores the Kingdom's commitment to continue shaping the future agenda, fostering international cooperation, and addressing global challenges.

Watch the announcement: https://bit.ly/3HrpCRA

Source: AETOSWire

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240119826685/en/

Wooud Alquaied

[email protected]

Source: Saudi Ministry of Economy and Planning
PITTSBURGH--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- PPG (NYSE: PPG) today announced that Stephen F. Angel, 68, has informed the board of directors of his decision to retire from the PPG board, effective at the conclusion of the Boards February 15, 2024 meeting.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240119454132/en/

PPG announced that Stephen F. Angel has informed the board of directors of his decision to retire from the PPG board, effective at the conclusion of the Boards February 15, 2024 meeting. (Photo: Business Wire)

Throughout his more than 13 years serving on PPGs board of directors, including chairing the Human Capital Management and Compensation Committee and the Sustainability and Innovation Committee for periods of time, and contributing as a member of the Nominating and Governance Committee, Steve has provided invaluable insights and guidance. His leadership has played an important role in helping PPG and its leaders navigate complex issues and important decisions that have helped to further strengthen our business, said Tim Knavish, PPG chairman and CEO. We thank Steve for his service and valued counsel to three PPG CEOs. His strategic mindset, global industry insights and proven experience will be missed. I would personally like to thank Steve for his mentorship over the years, including during my CEO transition.

Angel became the chairman of the board of Linde plc as of March 1, 2022. Prior to that, he served as the chief executive officer of Linde plc from October 2018 to February 2022. He was chairman, president and chief executive officer of Praxair, Inc. from 2007 to 2018. Angel joined Praxair in 2001 as an executive vice president and was named president and chief operating officer in February 2006. Prior to joining Praxair, he spent 22 years in a variety of management positions with General Electric Company (GE).

Angel serves on the board of directors of GE, where he chairs the Management Development and Compensation Committee. It has also been announced that Angel will serve as chair of the GE Vernova board  the planned independent public company that will be created following its spin-off from GE. He was previously on the board of directors of the Hydrogen Council and the US-China Business Council, respectively, and is currently a member of The Business Council.

PPG: WE PROTECT AND BEAUTIFY THE WORLD

At PPG (NYSE: PPG), we work every day to develop and deliver the paints, coatings and specialty materials that our customers have trusted for more than 140 years. Through dedication and creativity, we solve our customers biggest challenges, collaborating closely to find the right path forward. With headquarters in Pittsburgh, we operate and innovate in more than 70 countries and reported net sales of $18.2 billion in 2023. We serve customers in construction, consumer products, industrial and transportation markets and aftermarkets. To learn more, visit www.ppg.com.

The PPG Logo and We protect and beautify the world are registered trademarks of PPG Industries Ohio, Inc.

CATEGORY Corporate

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240119454132/en/

PPG Media Contact:

Mark Silvey

Corporate Communications

[email protected]

PPG Investor Contact:

Jonathan Edwards

Investor Relations

+1-412-434-3466

[email protected]

investor.ppg.com

Source: PPG
NEW YORK & CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Senseair, a leader in Non-Dispersive Infrared Technology (NDIR) and a subsidiary of the Asahi Kasei Group, introduces their Sunrise CO2 sensor to the market. Based on an internal study, the technology is shown to potentially optimize energy efficiency and enhance indoor air quality, which could contribute to a healthier indoor environment. This product will debut at the upcoming AHR 2024 conference focused on HVACs in Chicago, Illinois, on January 22.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240119756322/en/

Production verification test at 1000[PPM] CO2 concentration. (Graphic: Business Wire)

CO2 sensors play a vital role in demand-controlled ventilation (DCV) systems by ensuring that ventilation systems respond precisely to real-time conditions. As DCV systems are often placed near ventilation ducts where vibration cannot be avoided, the performance of CO2 sensors must be unaffected by the vibration.

The latest ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 62.1-2022 Addendum ab has introduced new precision criteria for CO2 sensors, specifically at a concentration of 2500 ppm. This requirement emphasizes the importance of choosing established CO2 sensor suppliers known for their quality and experience in the field. These new demands necessitate sensors with a robust standard of performance and accuracy.

According to ASHRAE Addendum ab, "CO2 sensors shall be certified by the manufacturer to be accurate within 75 ppm at concentrations of 600, 1000, and 2500 ppm when measured at sea level at 77F (25C). Sensors shall be factory-calibrated and certified by the manufacturer to require calibration not more frequently than once every five years. Upon detection of sensor failure, the system shall provide a signal that resets the ventilation system to supply the required minimum quantity of outdoor air (Vbz) to the breathing zone for the design zone population (Pz)."

Senseair, who is part of the Asahi Kasei Microdevices group, combines our industry expertise with emerging technology, states Chris Baltar, Vice President of Business Development for Asahi Kasei Microdevices branch in San Jose (AKM Semiconductor). We have over 30 years of expertise in NDIR technology, and we continue to push limits to produce high-quality, cost-effective sensors.

The Sunrise CO2 sensor has undergone testing in both production and development departments to ensure comprehensive insights and performance metrics to meet the highest standards. Visitors will be able to experience this firsthand at the upcoming AHR 2024 tradeshow at booth S6352. For more information on Senseairs products, visit: https://senseair.com/

About Asahi Kasei

The Asahi Kasei Group contributes to life and living for people around the world. Since its founding in 1922 with ammonia and cellulose fiber businesses, Asahi Kasei has consistently grown through the proactive transformation of its business portfolio to meet the evolving needs of every age. With more than 48,000 employees worldwide, the company contributes to a sustainable society by providing solutions to the world's challenges through its three business sectors of Material, Homes, and Health Care. Its Material sector, comprised of Environmental Solutions, Mobility & Industrial, and Life Innovation, includes a wide array of products from battery separators and biodegradable textiles to engineering plastics and sound solutions. For more information, visit https://www.asahi-kasei.com/.

Asahi Kasei is also dedicated to sustainability initiatives and is contributing to reaching a carbon-neutral society by 2050. To learn more, visit https://www.asahi-kasei.com/sustainability/.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240119756322/en/

North America:

Asahi Kasei America Inc.

Christian OKeefe

[email protected]

Source: Asahi Kasei
Valsoft secures $170M in funding led by Coatue and Viking Global Investors

MONTREAL--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Valsoft Corporation Inc. (Valsoft), a Canadian company specializing in the acquisition and development of vertical market software businesses, today announced the closing of US$170 million growth funding. This investment, led by Coatue and Viking Global Investors, seeks to accelerate Valsofts portfolio expansion and strengthen its leadership position as a global consolidator in the vertical software sector.

"After more than doubling the size of our business over the past 24 months, we are entering a new phase of growth, explains Valsoft CEO, Sam Youssef. We expect the funds to allow us to execute our strategic plan faster, positioning us to take advantage of attractive market dynamics and the powerful effects of our portfolio strategy, which delivers increased value for our companies and their customers.

Valsoft has helped shape its portfolio of software companies into leaders in their respective fields by identifying strong, established businesses with compelling opportunities for growth and working to create an entrepreneurial environment that enhances performance and competitiveness.

Valsofts impressive track record of acquiring companies and growing its portfolio demonstrates the significant opportunity to innovate in the vertical market software industry. Coatue is thrilled to help accelerate Valsofts remarkable growth and join the team on the next phase of their journey, explains Aaron Weiner, Managing Director of Coatue.

As for what the future will bring, Youssef says:

We feel our model offers several distinct advantages to our portfolio companies. We do not operate with a predefined investment horizon but instead focus on building long-term partnerships with existing management and customers. This compounds over time, which allows us to create enduring value for our portfolio companies and drive Valsofts sustainable growth over time.

About Valsoft Corporation

Valsoft Corporation acquires and develops vertical market software companies that deliver mission-critical solutions. A key tenet of Valsofts philosophy is to invest in established businesses and foster an entrepreneurial environment that shapes a company into a leader in its respective industry. Unlike private equity and VC firms, Valsoft does not have a predefined investment horizon and looks to buy, hold, and create value through long-term partnerships with existing management and customers. Learn more: www.valsoftcorp.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240119336469/en/

Media

Communications and Public Relations

Valsoft Corporation

[email protected]

514-814-1554

Source: Valsoft Corporation Inc.
MIAMI--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Viamericas Corporation, a licensed, international remittance company, recently has integrated with 24Xoro to provide additional options for remittance beneficiaries to receive money in Mexico, providing Viamericas customers more options and locations for their remittance recipients to receive their money.

24Xoro offers safe and reliable methods to send and receive money within Mexico. Viamericas provides access to an additional 2 million individuals sending money from the United States. Recipients seamlessly monitor the status of their transactions in real-time, adding security and convenience throughout the remittance process.

Viamericas is a premier provider of remittance services for migrant workers to support their families in Mexico from anywhere in the United States, said Nicolas Noriega, CEO at 24Xoro. Together, we continue to help improve the human condition and economic development of families in Mexico and the United States.

24Xoro and Viamericas also work together to ensure that transactions are secure and compliant with fraud laws and regulations. 24Xoros legal compliance module includes policies and procedures to mitigate the risk of using the platform in acts that violate the regulations of their countries.

The partnership between 24Xoro and Viamericas demonstrates our commitment to enhance the remittance experience for our valued customers, said Joseph Argilagos, Executive Chairman and Co-Founder of Viamericas. By integrating to 24Xoro, we expand options and accessibility for Mexican remittance recipients.

About 24Xoro

24Xoro is a licensed money transmitter company based in Mexico. It has more than 70 paying agents that create a payment network of more than 4,000 pick up cash locations across Mexico. 24Xoro offers direct deposit to any bank account in Mexico 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

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.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240119624454/en/

Frankie Keck

[email protected]

678-781-7228

Source: Viamericas Corporation
DAVOS, Switzerland--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Saudi Arabia is prioritizing peace and prosperity in its efforts to lead the Middle East towards stability and security amid ongoing geopolitical volatility in the region, the World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting 2024 heard today from Her Royal Highness Princess Reema Bandar Al-Saud, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the United States of America.

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Saudi Ambassador to US says Kingdom prioritizing peace and prosperity policies at the World Economic Forum 2024 (Photo: AETOSWire)

The Kingdom has not put normalization at the heart of its policy. Its put peace and prosperity at the heart of its policy, she said in a session on Saudi Arabia: The Course Ahead.

HRH Princess Reema emphasized Saudi Arabias focus on the Palestinian people who deserve a state, sovereignty, and a pathway that is irrevocable. That is how we get security. We carry peace, we carry prosperity, we carry safety, and we deliver it through the Palestinian statehood.

In the same session, His Excellency Adel A. Aljubeir, Saudi Arabias Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Member of the Council of Ministers and Envoy for Climate, spoke of the need to address climate change scientifically, decoupled from emotions and hypocrisy.

The worlds appetite for energy is unlimited. The additional increase of energy supplies has to come from non-oil resources, Aljubeir said, noting that, We are saying we have a problem, and the problem has to do with climate change. And we need to tackle this problem in a serious, scientific manner. We need to deal with it without emotions, we need to deal with it without trying to score political points.

His Excellency Mohammed Aljadaan, Saudi Arabias Minister of Finance, emphasized that the Kingdom is determined to double down on what it is doing on its economy because the region and the world need a strong Saudi.

Aljadaan highlighted that the Kingdoms non-oil GDP is growing, unemployment is at the lowest level, and women's participation in the workforce has already surpassed the target set under the Saudi Vision 2030.

In an earlier session on MENAs Economic Dilemma: Reforms Amid Uncertainty, His Excellency Faisal F. Alibrahim, Saudi Arabias Minister of Economy and Planning, described the resilient nature of the region. He said the Middle East always comes out of challenges as a better version of itself adding that it has an opportunity to co-author the future of the global economy.

Alibrahim touched on national transformations, highlighting the importance of delivering consistently with a boldness and a view to collaborate with the world. Vision 2030 is an evolution, a transformation that is taking us to where we want to be as an economy and society.

In the morning, a session on Ocean Regeneration Through Collaborative Innovation explored approaches and solutions to environmental challenges.

*Source: AETOSWire

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240118880673/en/

Wooud Alquaied

[email protected]

Source: Saudi Ministry of Economy and Planning
Michelle Sadler (Santiago, Chile, 49 years old) is a medical anthropologist. She has formed part of the Latin American and Caribbean Network for the Humanization of Labor and Birth (RELACAHUPAN), and currently directs the Observatory of Obstetric Violence in Chile (OVO Chile). She has been an activist and researcher in the field of childbirth for 25 years, and has been interested in the subject since she was young, which became clear when she began to fill her notebooks with drawings of wombs and babies. It wasnt until college that she was able to attend a birth for the first time. She did so as an anthropology student, thanks to a professors permission.

I wanted to see births, as I was deeply intrigued to know the details of how we are born, she says in an interview with EL PAIS in Madrid, during a visit to give a lecture. Based on her research in Santiago hospitals, and a four-year study focusing on labor and birth, she published her thesis Asi me nacieron a mi hija (Thats how my daughter was born to me): anthropological contributions to the analysis of hospital childbirth care (2004). Since then, the author of the Spanish language book La historia ilustrada de un embarazo (Illustrated history of a pregnancy) (Editorial Catalonia, 2017) has carried out numerous studies, formal as well as informal, and has published a range of articles on questions surrounding obstetric violence, labor and experiences of motherhood.

QUESTION. What was it like to witness labor for the first time?

ANSWER. What I found was a common area where there were many women in various stages of labor, lying on their backs on stretchers, connected to fetal monitors, who were not allowed to move or wander around. They were frightened, expressing that they were in pain, but receiving comments that dismissed their discomfort or underestimated their fears: It cant hurt that much, Dont be a complainer, What could you need if everyone here is just like you, and they dont complain that much!

Q. What came to mind at that moment?

A. I was shocked to witness normalized interactions in which midwives and obstetricians ignored womens feelings, used derogatory language, while the professionals focused on monitors and charts, rather than the women themselves. I did not understand how these behaviors were so normalized. Since the beginning, my goal was to try to show people what I was seeing, but what others seemed not to see. That brought me to question how to present this information, and how I could appeal to the system from my position as an anthropologist.

Q. This happened at the end of the 20th century?

A. Yes, at that time there had begun to be a lot of concern over all this that many authors had already been thinking about for years. In 2000, in Fortaleza, Brazil, the First International Conference on the Humanization of Childbirth was held and RELACAHUPAN was founded. That event, which was a milestone in that region, was attended by thousands of people, including prominent professionals from various disciplines and women and mothers who were interested in these issues. There, I met Marsden Wagner, the former director of the World Health Organizations maternal and child health program, and was able to begin a conversation with him about my desire to challenge the medical system. Wagner told me: If you want to do this, you have to use the language of the system. That conversation was a turning point for me and opened a path towards a lot of study and research.

Q. Have you been able to appropriate that language so they listen to you?

A. Perhaps more than appropriate, Ive attempted to understand it, learn when it comes from and how it came to construct such a representation of women and childbirth. But it has not been easy, the role of researcher-activist is often discredited. And during the first years, despite having observed hundreds of births, doing qualitative research  which analyzed the experiences of mothers and the professionals who attended them  what I received were comments that this violence was not the norm, that it was the exception and that these cases were not representative. In the face of resistance, and after founding the Obstetric Violence Observatory, we conducted quantitative research with larger samples to demonstrate the extent of the problem, and with that, we got more attention from the medical sector.

Q. Is the qualitative also important?

A. The qualitative is essential, it allows us to show lived, felt experiences in the first person. The classic indicators in maternal health may seem to be very good, such as the low maternal and neonatal mortality rate, but women may be living negative and even traumatic experiences of childbirth, which is not reflected in these indicators. That is why qualitative methods allow us to center those voices, to look at human rights, reproductive rights, gender violence, and to name abuses. I remember a conference in which I presented in front of many obstetricians, and in which a very confused doctor told me that he had never, in his 40 years of professional practice, seen a situation of violence against a woman like the ones I was describing. I told him that it was difficult to believe that he had never seen them, but rather that he had not recognized them as such. This way of attending to labor is so normalized, the refusal to listening to women, treating her like an object, not valuing her feelings, not looking at her, that we dont see it as a form of abuse.

Labor, in the majority of cases, is an event that should not have complications. guvendemir (Getty Images)

Q. Is that changing?

A. I think there are more and more professionals who recognize obstetric violence. In a gathering like that one, I dont think that would happen anymore. Nowadays there is more awareness, more recognition. Its true that more traditional professional organizations are still very rigid when it comes to these issues, and do not recognize the concept of obstetric violence. However, at the same time, new, younger, gender-aware organizations have appeared that challenge the more traditional sector.

Q. Do you think that use of the term obstetric violence is important?

A. Naming obstetric violence as a specific kind of violence has been crucial in the movement for childbirth rights. I think the act of naming something is a very potent act when it comes to provoking a reaction. Its true that many people do not recognize the term, because its very intense to recognize that you are exercising violence, but we have to call it what it is. A woman who is immobilized in the middle of childbirth, in the lithotomy position, who complains, and is ignored as if she didnt exist, or has her pain minimized, is being subjected to violence. I believe that we must go beyond the binary of good guys and bad guys, victims and executioners, and take responsibility for the structure. The system exercises violence towards health professionals as well.

Q. Who is responsible for this change?

A. It has been women, associations, civil society, who have led the demand for change. But progress is slow; it takes a lot of work to change the medical paradigm. Childbirth, in most cases, is a normal event that should not have complications. However, we have been led to believe the opposite: that it is inherently pathological, that it is very complicated, that it needs certain interventions  When we are told that we are going to have an intervention  an episiotomy or an improper use of synthetic Oxycotin, for example  we often accept it, because we trust that it is necessary. That is why it is important that we question the decision-making process and the information we receive about childbirth. Most of the time, this information is not based on scientific evidence, but rather on the organizational and financial convenience of the health system. Fear of childbirth is encouraged, because we conform to that system and to those needs that transcend evidence or what is best for women and babies.

Q. What would be an interesting direction to go in?

A. I think we have to change the space in which labor takes place, and that hospitals should be used for deliveries that really require medical intervention, but not all of them. We have seen that it is very difficult to change the way care is provided inside hospitals, which have their protocols, power structures, economic incentives  The system puts so many barriers in the way of profound change in childbirth care. If you take childbirth out of this structure, to another space, the change is made more easily; and that is why the models of home birth and midwife-led birth centers are good alternatives.

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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 Nicole Jao

NEW YORK (Reuters) -Oil prices settled slightly lower on Friday but recorded a weekly gain as Middle East tensions and disruptions to oil output offset concerns about the Chinese and global economies.

Brent futures settled 54 cents lower at $78.56 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude fell 67 cents to settle at $73.41.

For the week, Brent gained about 0.5% while the U.S. benchmark rose over 1%.

In China, slower-than-expected economic growth in the fourth quarter raised doubts about forecasts that demand there will drive global oil growth in 2024.

"The Chinese equity market this week dropped to near a five-year low," said Bob Yawger, director of energy futures at Mizuho Bank. The indication for weaker demand drove crude prices down on Friday.

In the Middle East, geopolitical risks supported prices for the week.

On Friday, tensions escalated in Gaza as Israeli forces pushed south against Hamas militants, while earlier in the week, the U.S. launched new strikes against Houthi anti-ship missiles aimed at the Red Sea.

Although conflict in the Middle East has not shut any oil production, supply outages continued in Libya.

In the U.S., about 30% of oil output in North Dakota, the country's third largest producing state, remained shut due to extreme cold, the state's pipeline authority said on Friday.

Output had been cut by some 700,000 bpd, or more than half, midweek.

It could take a month for production to return to normal levels, the state regulator said on Friday.

"Supply disruptions remain an upside risk but there are downside risks too, including the global economy," Craig Erlam, analyst at brokerage OANDA, said.

Meanwhile, the number of oil rigs operating in the U.S., an early indictor of production, fell by two to 497 this week, Baker Hughes said on Friday.

The International Energy Agency this week raised its 2024 global demand forecast, but its projection is half that of producer group OPEC. The Paris-based agency also said that - barring significant disruptions to flows - the market looked reasonably well supplied in 2024.

"The forecast for global oil demand growth remains unclear, with stakeholders and research institutions providing widely differing projections," analyst Bjarne Schieldrop of SEB said.

The premium of the first-month Brent contract to the six-month contract rose to as much as $2.15 a barrel on Friday, the highest since November. This structure, called backwardation, indicates a perception of tighter supply for prompt delivery.

Money managers cut their net long U.S. crude futures and options positions in the week to Jan. 16, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) said on Friday.

(Additional reporting by Alex Lawler, Yuka Obayashi and Andrew Hayley; editing by Jason Neely, Louise Heavens, Barbara Lewis, Jonathan Oatis and David Gregorio)
Hyatt Hotels Corporation (NYSE: H) highlighted today its expected growth trajectory for 2024 and beyond, underscored by a record year of deal signings in 2023. Hyatts commitment to be the preferred brand for guests, customers and owners has resulted in a record pipeline of 127,000 rooms worldwide as of year-end 2023, which is expected to fuel asset-light earnings into the future. This record pipeline represents nearly 40% of existing rooms in the Hyatt portfolio.

"We have been very intentional in our growth strategy and acquisitions, always prioritizing guest, customer and owner preference as well as differentiation, and taking bold steps to stay ahead of market trends, said Mark Hoplamazian, president and chief executive officer, Hyatt. Guided by our purpose of care, we believe our most exciting chapter is ahead of us, and we are committed to reinforcing our position as the preferred hospitality brand.

Since going public, Hyatt has experienced remarkable growth; its portfolio of hotels has nearly tripled while its development pipeline has quadrupled. This expansion, driven by organic growth, conversions, and strategic acquisitions funded by real-estate dispositions, has resulted in Hyatts premium portfolio of brands serving guests at the high-end of each segment.

This has directly translated into significant growth in the World of Hyatt platform which has quadrupled in membership in the last five years. With more than 30% more members per hotel than its larger hotel competitors, the fastest-growing loyalty program in the industry focuses on more personalized guest care and increased revenue for owners.

Strategic Growth in Luxury, Resort, and Lifestyle Portfolios

Hyatt is uniquely positioned in the industry to be the preferred brand for the high-end guest, driven by significant expansion of luxury, resort and lifestyle hotels. Since the end of 2017, the addition of nearly 90,000 rooms in these categories now represents 45% of Hyatt's total portfolio. This growth has doubled the number of luxury rooms, tripled resort rooms, and quadrupled lifestyle rooms. By the end of 2025, Hyatt plans to add more than 35 hotels globally within its diverse collection of luxury brands. Growth highlights in luxury, resort, and lifestyle portfolios include:

The Park Hyatt brand is set to enter key global markets in 2024 with Park Hyatt London River Thames (United Kingdom), Park Hyatt Johannesburg (South Africa), Park Hyatt Changsha (China) and Park Hyatt Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia). The brand will also expand its presence in Mexico with Park Hyatt Cancun and Park Hyatt Los Cabos at Cabo Del So l expected to open in 2025, and Park Hyatt Mexico City , expected to open in 2026.

(United Kingdom), (South Africa), (China) and (Malaysia). The brand will also expand its presence in Mexico with and expected to open in 2025, and , expected to open in 2026. Hyatt continues to strengthen its position as the worlds largest portfolio of luxury all-inclusive resorts, including the recent launch of the ultra-luxury brand, Impression by Secrets. The Inclusive Collection is also set to expand brand presence in Europe with two new market entries in 2024: Zoetry Halkidiki Resort & Spa in Greece and Dreams Madeira Resort, Spa & Marina in Portugal.

in Greece and in Portugal. The Thompson Hotels brand is also gaining significant momentum in Europe, with upcoming brand debuts in highly sought-after destinations such as Thompson Rome (Italy), Thompson Vienna (Austria) and Thompson Seville (Spain). Additionally, Hyatt plans to bring the Thompson Hotels brand to Asia Pacific with Thompson Shanghai Expo (China), expected to open in 2025. The brand continues to grow across the Americas with Thompson Houston, Thompson Palm Springs and Thompson South Beach, all expected to open this year, and Thompson Puerto Vallarta (Mexico) in 2027.

New Markets and New Developers with Hyatt Studios

To serve Hyatts guest base on more stay occasions and introduce new guests to the Hyatt portfolio, Hyatt is rapidly growing its first upper-midscale extended-stay brand in the Americas, Hyatt Studios. Leveraging Hyatt's proven success in select-service hotels, the Hyatt Studios brand extends the renowned Hyatt experience and commitment to quality into markets where traditional Hyatt properties may not be located. Announced just last year, the Hyatt Studios brand has gained significant interest, with approximately 200 deals in various stages of negotiation with both single-unit developers and multi-unit developers, including executed deals representing approximately 2,000 pipeline rooms across North America. This is a testament to the desire from both developers and guests for a Hyatt brand that can operate in secondary, suburban and tertiary markets alike.

Upcoming properties, nearly half of which represent new markets for Hyatt and deals with first-time Hyatt owners, include:

Hyatt Studios Foley in Alabama

Hyatt Studios Huntsville in Alabama

Hyatt Studios Mobile / Tillmans Corner in Alabama

Hyatt Studios Marysville in California

Hyatt Studios Murrieta in California

Hyatt Studios Denver Airport 68th & Yampa in Colorado

Hyatt Studios Bensenville in Illinois

Hyatt Studios Greenwood in Indiana

Hyatt Studios Kokomo in Indiana

Hyatt Studios Louisville in Kentucky

Hyatt Studios Portland ME Airport in Maine

Hyatt Studios Flowood in Mississippi

Hyatt Studios Mississauga in Ontario, Canada

Hyatt Studios Knoxville Cedar Bluff in Tennessee

Hyatt Studios Sevierville in Tennessee

Hyatt Studios Texarkana in Texas

Global Expansion: Brand Growth Across All Collections

In many cases, were working with owners who either own or plan to develop properties across all four of our brand portfolios, said Jim Chu, executive vice president and chief growth officer, Hyatt. Our growth is only possible because of our strong relationships with both managed and franchised owners. Whether its winning deals in highly competitive markets like Park City, Utah with Grand Hyatt Deer Valley or innovating with one-of-a-kind projects like Grand Hyatt Kuwait Residences, we work tirelessly to be the preferred brand for owners and developers.

Independent Collection hotels are all unique  from storied properties and vibrant neighborhood locales to immersive retreats. Growth updates include:

The Unbound Collection by Hyatt brand is growing globally, including Hotel Fluela Davos, which opened in 2023 as the brands entry into Switzerland and the only European Hyatt property in an alpine ski destination. Additionally, Kennedy 89 in Frankfurt, Germany is slated for fall of 2024 and The Keraton at the Plaza in Jakarta is slated for 2025, which will mark the debut of The Unbound Collection by Hyatt brand in Indonesia.

which opened in 2023 as the brands entry into Switzerland and the only European Hyatt property in an alpine ski destination. Additionally, in Frankfurt, Germany is slated for fall of 2024 and in Jakarta is slated for 2025, which will mark the debut of The Unbound Collection by Hyatt brand in Indonesia. The JdV by Hyatt brand, which includes the exclusive collaboration with Lindner Hotels, will expand further in Germany this year with me and all hotel berlin east side and Lindner Hotel Boltenhagen, which opened in October 2023. The JdV by Hyatt brand is a prime opportunity for boutique conversions and continues to extend Hyatts brand presence in new markets such as Southampton, NY with the Bentley Hotel slated to open in 2024.

and which opened in October 2023. The JdV by Hyatt brand is a prime opportunity for boutique conversions and continues to extend Hyatts brand presence in new markets such as Southampton, NY with the slated to open in 2024. The Destination by Hyatt brand is expected to debut in Canada this summer in the year-round outdoor adventure destination of Ramara, Ontario, as well as in Saint Lucia with Cas En Bas Beach Resort, expected to open in 2024 as the first Destination by Hyatt branded resort and residences on the island.

Timeless Collection hotels deliver the comforts of a home away from home with a consistently elevated experience. Expansion of the collection is expected around the following:

Fueled by a recent brand refresh, the Hyatt Regency brand will continue its growth with Hyatt Regency Panama City , the first Hyatt Regency hotel in Panama, expected to open in 2024.

, the first Hyatt Regency hotel in Panama, expected to open in 2024. The Grand Hyatt brand is entering new destinations with the recently opened Grand Hyatt Kuwait Residences pioneering residential offerings in the country, and the highly anticipated Grand Hyatt Deer Valley , expected to open later this year as the newest luxury hotel in the famed ski destination of Park City, Utah. Grand Hyatt Mexico Santa Fe is slated to open in 2025, as the first urban Grand Hyatt property in Mexico and Grand Hyatt Los Cabos (Mexico) is expected in 2026.

pioneering residential offerings in the country, and the highly anticipated , expected to open later this year as the newest luxury hotel in the famed ski destination of Park City, Utah. is slated to open in 2025, as the first urban Grand Hyatt property in Mexico and (Mexico) is expected in 2026. The Hyatt Place and Hyatt House brands continue to be key organic drivers for Hyatt across the globe. In Asia Pacific, the brands are marking the first entry into new cities with Hyatt Place Kuala Lumpur Bukit Jalil (Malaysia), which opened in the fall 2023, and Hyatt Place Ha Long Bay Bai Chay (Vietnam), Hyatt Place Makassar (Indonesia), and Hyatt House Tokyo Shibuya (Japan)  all expected to open before 2025. In the United Kingdom, Hyatt Place Leeds and Hyatt House Leeds will be the citys first dual-branded Hyatt development (opening in fall of 2024), and in North America, new Hyatt Place and Hyatt House hotels are expected to open soon in key U.S. leisure markets such as Orlando, Fla., Raleigh, NC, Mariposa, Calif. near Yosemite, Casper, Wyo., Nashville, Tenn. and Daytona Beach, Fla. In Latin America, Hyatt Place Piedras Negras (Mexico), is expected to open in 2026, and Hyatt Place San Jose Cariari (Costa Rica) is expected to open in 2025.

Boundless Collection hotels deliver best-in-class offerings and compelling experiences designed to excite and inspire. New properties in global markets include:

The Hyatt Centric brand is expected to expand in Canada with Hyatt Centric Toronto City Centre, anticipated to open this summer, Hyatt Centric Victoria  Old Town slated to open in 2026, and Hyatt Centric Winnipeg Downtown , an adaptive reuse project slated for 2025. The brand will debut in new Asia Pacific markets in 2024 with Hyatt Centric Zhongshan Park Shanghai (China) and Hyatt Centric City Centre Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), a 311-room property located on Jalan Sultan Ismail. In Latin America, the brand will also debut in two countries with Hyatt Centric Escazu San Jose (Costa Rica) and Hyatt Centric Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic)  both expected to open in 2024. In 2025, Hyatt will add a hotel in a new market in Mexico with Hyatt Centric Queretaro.

anticipated to open this summer, slated to open in 2026, and , an adaptive reuse project slated for 2025. The brand will debut in new Asia Pacific markets in 2024 with (China) and (Malaysia), a 311-room property located on Jalan Sultan Ismail. In Latin America, the brand will also debut in two countries with (Costa Rica) and (Dominican Republic)  both expected to open in 2024. In 2025, Hyatt will add a hotel in a new market in Mexico with The Caption by Hyatt brand continues to gain momentum globally with the brands planned debut in Asia Pacific with Caption by Hyatt Zhongshan Park Shanghai (China) and in Japan Caption by Hyatt Namba Osaka in 2024 , followed by Caption by Hyatt Kabutocho Tokyo in 2025. In addition, Caption by Hyatt brand presence in Tennessee continues to grow with Caption by Hyatt Downtown Nashville/The Gulch, expected to open in 2025, and Caption by Hyatt Chattanooga Downtown , expected to open in 2026.

(China) and in Japan in 2024 followed by in 2025. In addition, Caption by Hyatt brand presence in Tennessee continues to grow with expected to open in 2025, and , expected to open in 2026. Through the integration of Dream Hotel Group, 2024 is expected to bring Dream Valle de Guadalupe, the brands first property in Mexico and a new market for Hyatt.

Inclusive Collection resorts deliver immersive, elevated experiences where everything is seamlessly included. Upcoming expansion includes:

Secrets Resorts & Spas is expected to expand its footprint in Mexico and the Caribbean in 2024 with Secrets Tides Punta Cana (Dominican Republic), a 668-suite seaside haven in Uvero Alto, and Secrets Playa Blanca Costa Mujeres , a 507 all-suite resort 12 miles north of Cancun in Mexico.

(Dominican Republic), a 668-suite seaside haven in Uvero Alto, and , a 507 all-suite resort 12 miles north of Cancun in Mexico. Dreams Resorts & Spas is expected to add two new resorts in Mexico in 2024 with the upcoming Dreams Grand Island in Cancun and Dreams Estrella Del Mar Mazatlan , a 350-room property, which also marks a new destination for the brand.

in Cancun and , a 350-room property, which also marks a new destination for the brand. Hyatt Vivid Grand Island, which will be the first property under the recently announced adults-only Hyatt Vivid brand, is expected to open in 2024 adjacent to Dreams Grand Island, combining 19 culinary concepts, a 26,000 square foot spa, multiple pools, a beach club, and more.

The term Hyatt is used in this release for convenience to refer to Hyatt Hotels Corporation and/or one or more of its affiliates.
FILE PHOTO: Logos of Super Micro Computer are pictured at COMPUTEX Taipei, one of the world's largest computer and technology trade shows, in Taipei, Taiwan May 30, 2023. REUTERS/Ann Wang/File Photo

By Akash Sriram

(Reuters) - Shares of Super Micro Computer jumped about 25% to a record high on Friday after the company projected quarterly results well above its current estimates due to strong demand for artificial intelligence servers.

The company is also riding a rising need for its liquid cooling solutions from data centers processing more generative AI applications.

"We speculate that the company's upside is importantly driven by earlier-than-expected hyperscale engagements, that are keen on deploying quickly liquid cooled racks that uniquely falls into Supermicro's area of expertise," Rosenblatt Securities analyst Hans Mosesmann wrote in a note.

The upbeat estimates from Supermicro, which counts NASA and Japan's NEC as customers, follow chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co's bullish note on AI on Thursday that fueled a global rally in chip stocks.

At $387.90, the company is set to add more than $4 billion to its market capitalization of $17.3 billion, as of last close.

San Jose, California-based Super Micro now expects net sales between $3.6 billion and $3.65 billion in the quarter ended Dec. 31, compared with its prior forecast of $2.7 billion to $2.9 billion.

The data center infrastructure company boosted its adjusted profit expectation to between $5.40 and $5.50 per share from $4.40 and $4.88 for its second quarter.

The 71% sequential growth for Supermicro handily outpaces the GenAI market growth that is estimated to have been about 41% for the December quarter from the prior three-month period, Northland Securities analyst Nehal Chokshi said.

Supermicro's stock has more than tripled since May last year when CEO Charles Liang said the generative "AI momentum has benefited Super Micro greatly."

It has has a forward price-to-earnings multiple - a common benchmark to value stock - of 16.22, compared with 7.58 for Hewlett Packard Enterprise and 16.72 for International Business Machines.

(Reporting by Akash Sriram in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)
Dallas, TX, Jan. 19, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ABOG) celebrated the grand opening of its new state-of-the-art center on Thursday, January 18. The ceremony, which featured a reception, speeches, and a ribbon cutting, was attended by members of the ABOG Board of Directors, staff, stakeholders, and partners involved in the construction.

Constructed over a two-year period, the new facility reflects ABOGs dedication to meeting the demands of todays complex and technology-focused certification processes and programs and is a testament to ABOGs commitment to advancing health care in the OB GYN community across North America.

Originally built in 1980, ABOGs previous testing center was purchased in the mid-90s upon moving its headquarters from Seattle, Washington to Dallas, Texas. ABOG was one of the first medical certification boards to move its oral Certifying Exams from hotels to a professional testing center location. The aging infrastructure of the 40-year-old building posed challenges, including increased maintenance costs and inefficiencies in energy usage and technology delivery.

The new facility enhances ABOGs ability to conduct certifying exams, item writing sessions, and large meetings with greater efficiency and effectiveness by providing increased capacity, flexibility, and functionality. It includes 59 exam rooms, 54 offices, 12 conference rooms, 11 lactation rooms, 5 breakout rooms, and 4 wellness rooms.

The new meeting spaces with enhanced technology and flexibilities will help facilitate efficient collaboration to improve the experience of ABOG volunteers, and the audiovisual-equipped exam rooms, increased number of meeting rooms, orientation center, and wellness rooms will support certification candidates more fully throughout their testing experience.

I feel very privileged to have this position and to build on the vision of previous executive directors and boards and to take it further into the future, said Amy E. Young, MD, ABOG Executive Director. The grand opening of our state-of-the-art testing center marks a momentous occasion of a decade-long process. The building not only serves as a hub to build connection and professional identity for our diplomates, but also symbolizes a commitment to providing safe care for women nationwide.

About ABOG

The American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ABOG) is an independent, non-profit organization that certifies obstetricians and gynecologists in the United States. Founded in 1927, ABOG is one of 24 specialty Boards recognized by the American Board of Medical Specialties. Based in Dallas, ABOG serves candidates and diplomates in the United States and Canada in the specialty of obstetrics and gynecology, plus several subspecialties, including Complex Family Planning, Gynecologic Oncology, Maternal-Fetal Medicine, Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, and Urogynecology and Reconstructive Pelvic Surgery.

# # #

Attachment

American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology 214-871-1619 [email protected]

Source: American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology
TORONTO, Jan. 19, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ARHT Media Inc. ("ARHT" or "the Company") (TSXV: ART), (OTCQB: ARHTF) the global leader in the development, production and distribution of high-quality, low latency hologram and digital content, is pleased to announce the appointment of Richard Carl as Executive Chair ("Chair") of the Company, effective immediately. Mr. Carl has served as a member of the board of directors of the Company (the "Board") since 2020.

Richards significant tenure on the Board, as well as his experience in private and public companies, including a wide range of operational, financial and M&A skills will serve the Company well, commented Con Steers, ARHTs current Chair.

Mr. Steers served as Chair for six years and will continue in his capacity as a director of ARHT. In addition, he will work with certain channel partners as well as enhancing the Companys artificial intelligence offerings.

In conjunction with Mr. Carls appointment, the Company has granted him 500,000 options under the Company's omnibus long term incentive plan ("LTIP"). Concurrently, the Company also granted an employee 200,000 options under the LTIP. These options are exercisable at a price of $0.065 per common share and expire on January 18, 2029. The options vest in three equal tranches, with the first tranche vesting on the date of grant, the second tranche vesting on January 18, 2025, and the third tranche vesting on January 18, 2026, all subject to a four-month regulatory hold period. The Company has also granted an aggregate of 584,634 restricted share units ("RSUs") to a contractor pursuant to the LTIP. The RSUs vest in one year on January 18, 2025, and are also subject to a four-month hold period.

Following the grant of the options and RSUs, the Company has an aggregate of 22,500,835 options outstanding and 2,550,121 RSUs outstanding, representing, in aggregate, approximately 11% of the outstanding common shares of the Company. The grant of options and RSUs remains subject to TSX Venture Exchange approval.

About ARHT

ARHT is a pioneer and the global leader in live hologram technology. Thanks to its patented end-to-end technology, executives, medical experts, educators, entertainers, and thought leaders can travel at the speed of light to any destination.

ARHT was founded in 2014 and is publicly traded on the TSX Venture Exchange. ARHT has offices in North America, Europe and Asia and operates from its own studios in locations from Toronto to Singapore, as well as a large network of partner studios in every region.

Connect with ARHT: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/arht-tech Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/arht.tech Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/arht.tech X, formally known as Twitter: https://twitter.com/arht_tech Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@arht-tech

For more information, please visit www.arht.tech/about/investors or www.arht.tech.

Alternatively, email us directly at [email protected].

ARHT trades under the symbol "ART" on the TSX Venture Exchange.

Press Inquiries: Kristen Spence [email protected]

ARHT Larry O'ReillyChief Executive Officer+1 (416) 844 - 6747 (head office)

This press release may contain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking information includes, but is not limited to, the intention to exercise convertible securities of the Company; disclosure related to the Company's sales funnel; the Company's technology; the potential uses for the Company's technology; the future planned events using the Company's technology; the future success of the Company; the ability of the Company to monetize the ARHT Media technology; the development of the Company's technology; and interest from parties in ARHT's products. Generally, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved". Forward-looking information is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information, including but not limited to: general business, economic and competitive uncertainties; regulatory risks; risks inherent in technology operations; and other risks of the technology industry. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking information, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.

NEITHER THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER (AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN THE POLICIES OF THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE) ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE.

Source: ARHT Media Inc.
Revenues +25.5% for nine months ended September 30, 2023 as the Company achieved EBITDA profitability

NEW YORK, Jan. 19, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- DDC Enterprise, Ltd., (NYSEAM: DDC) (DayDayCook, DDC, or the Company), a leading content-driven food consumer brand, provides a financial and corporate update coincident with the filing of the Companys financial results for the nine months ended September 30, 2023. These financial results are for periods prior to DayDayCooks IPO in November of 2023.



Financial Highlights:

Total revenues were $23.7 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2023, representing 25.5% increase from the same period in 2022



were $23.7 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2023, representing 25.5% increase from the same period in 2022 Gross Profit was $6.3 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2023, representing a 48.4% increase from the same period in 2022. Gross profit margin increased from 22.3% for the nine months ended September 30, 2022, to 26.4% for the nine months ended September 30, 2023



was $6.3 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2023, representing a 48.4% increase from the same period in 2022. Gross profit margin increased from 22.3% for the nine months ended September 30, 2022, to 26.4% for the nine months ended September 30, 2023 EBITDA (non-GAAP) was a positive $0.6 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2023, compared to a negative EBITDA (non-GAAP) of $10.1 million in the same period of 2022



Corporate Highlights:

Successful IPO in Q4 2023 : The Company completed its initial public offering on NYSE American and raised $33.15 million (before deducting underwriting discounts and commissions and other offering expenses payable by the Company) in new funding



: The Company completed its initial public offering on NYSE American and raised $33.15 million (before deducting underwriting discounts and commissions and other offering expenses payable by the Company) in new funding Continued execution of the Company's Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) strategy which primarily focuses on the acquisition of complimentary brands in the Asian food and cooking categories as well as sales channel access with the following acquisitions: Q3 2023: Completed the acquisition of Cook San Francisco, LLC. (Nona Lim), an Asian food brand company based in San Francisco, USA which sells RTC Asian noodle meal kits and a variety of soup bases to its customers through an established distribution network in the United States, including major retailers such as Whole Foods Market, Target, and Kroger Q3 2023: Completed the acquisition of Shanghai Yuli Development Limited (Yuli), a Chinese company principally engaged in sales of RTC and RTE product gift boxes Q1 2024: Completed the acquisition of Yais Thai, which provides Thai-based pantry staples in the U.S. market such as curries and stir-fry sauces. The companys products may be found at Costco, Whole Foods Market, Safeway, Sprouts, and Kroger. The company has anticipated revenues of $8 million to $10 million in 2023 Q1 2024: Entered into agreement to acquire 51% of Italian company GLI for approximately US$9.3 million in cash over the next three years, plus an additional potential consideration of cash and stock based on GLIs revenue and EBITDA over that period. GLI produces Asian-style ready-meals. GLI anticipates revenue of approximately of US$11 million in 2023

which primarily focuses on the acquisition of complimentary brands in the Asian food and cooking categories as well as sales channel access with the following acquisitions:

Norma Chu, DDCs Chairwoman and Chief Executive Officer said, These financial results are from a pre-IPO period, and we look forward to continuing financial success now that we are trading on the NYSE American. We are very excited about our recent acquisitions as well as the significant number of opportunities we see in the U.S. and international markets. As a newly listed company, we are focused on executing our growth strategy to deliver value for our shareholders.

About DayDayCook  A Leader in Food Innovation

Founded in 2012, DayDayCook is a leading content-driven consumer brand offering easy and convenient ready-to-heat, ready-to-cook and ready-to-eat Asian food products. The company focuses on innovative and healthy meal solutions with a fast-growing omnichannel sales network in China and the U.S., and through a strong online presence globally. The Company builds brand recognition through culinary and lifestyle content across major social media and e-commerce platforms.

Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measure

We use earnings before interest expenses and income, income tax expense/(benefit) and depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA), a non-GAAP financial measure, in evaluating our operating results and for financial and operational decision-making purposes. EBITDA represents net loss excluding income tax expense/(benefit), interest expenses, interest income and depreciation and amortization. The Company provides EBITDA because we believe that investors and analysts may find it useful in measuring operating performance without regard to items such as income tax expense/(benefit), interest expenses and interest income and depreciation and amortization.





Reconciliation from net loss to EBITDA for the nine months ended September 30: 2022

2023

US$

US$

Net loss (14,435,292 ) (2,234,685 ) Add: Income tax (benefit)/expense (18,556 ) 621,840 Interest expenses 3,953,458 2,183,911 Interest income (52,533 ) (226,240 ) Depreciation and amortization 400,277 301,490 EBITDA (10,152,646 ) 646,316



Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements in this announcement are forward-looking statements, including, for example, statements about completing the acquisition, anticipated revenues, growth and expansion. These forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties and are based on the Companys current expectations and projections about future events that the Company believes may affect its financial condition, results of operations, business strategy and financial needs. These forward-looking statements are also based on assumptions regarding the Companys present and future business strategies and the environment in which the Company will operate in the future. Investors can find many (but not all) of these statements by the use of words such as may, will, expect, anticipate, aim, estimate, intend, plan, believe, likely to or other similar expressions. The Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise publicly any forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent occurring events or circumstances, or changes in its expectations, except as may be required by law. Although the Company believes that the expectations expressed in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, it cannot assure you that such expectations will turn out to be correct, and the Company cautions investors that actual results may differ materially from the anticipated results and encourages investors to review other factors that may affect its future results in the Company's registration statement and other filings with the SEC.

Contact:

Investors:

CORE IR

Matt Blazei

[email protected]

Media:

CORE PR

Kati Waldenburg

[email protected]
London, England, Jan. 19, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- DefiQuant, a trailblazer in digital finance, announces a significant milestone in its journey  its AI trading bots, operational since 2009, have consistently optimized cryptocurrency market profits. Today, these bots are integrated into DefiQuant's advanced platform, offering diverse packages and strategic investment plans to cater to a broad range of investors in 2024's dynamic digital currency landscape.

A Decade of Excellence in AI TradingSince 2009, DefiQuants AI trading bots have been at the forefront of revolutionizing cryptocurrency trading. Utilizing sophisticated algorithms and machine learning, these bots analyze market trends and execute trades with exceptional precision, benefiting both novice and seasoned traders with improved efficiency and profitability.

Our AI trading robot system has been a cornerstone of our operations since 2009, consistently delivering enhanced market profits to our users. This long-standing expertise in AI trading positions DefiQuant as a trusted leader in the industry, said Allen Heery, Media Representative, at DefiQuant.

Why Choose DefiQuants AI Trading Bots?

Market Expertise Since 2009: A track record of over a decade in AI-driven market analysis and trading.

Precision and Efficiency: Automated trading strategies minimize human error and capitalize on market opportunities.

Adaptability to Market Fluctuations: The AI bots continuously evolve their strategies in real-time, responding to market changes.

Advanced Security and User-Friendly InterfaceSecurity and user experience are paramount at DefiQuant. The platform employs the latest security protocols to protect user investments and data, coupled with an intuitive interface that ensures ease of use for all investors, regardless of their experience level.

Diverse Trading Options for Every InvestorUnderstanding the varied investment preferences and risk tolerances of its users, DefiQuant offers a wide array of trading plans and packages:

Free Experience Bot: Ideal for beginners, this plan requires only a $5 investment with a profit of $0.15, and the capital is returned after 1 day.

Crypto Trading Bot 1 Day: With a $50 investment, this plan offers a profit of $0.3, returning the capital after just 1 day.

Crypto Trading Bot 5 Days: A $500 investment yields a profit of $21.25, with the capital returned after 5 days.

Crypto Trading Bot 7 Days: This plan involves a $1050 investment, generating a profit of $73.5, with capital returned after 7 days.

Crypto Trading Bot 15 Days: For a $3000 investment, this plan offers a profit of $540, with the capital returned after 15 days.

Crypto Trading Bot 20 Days: A higher investment of $6000 yields a significant profit of $1680, with the capital returned after 20 days.

Crypto Trading Bot 30 Days: This plan requires a $10800 investment with a substantial profit of $5184, returning the capital after 30 days.

Crypto Trading Bot 45 Days: For long-term investors, an $18000 investment can yield a profit of $14580, with the capital returned after 45 days.

Crypto Trading Bot 60 Days: The most extensive plan, a $30000 investment offers an impressive profit of $36000, with the capital returned after 60 days.

Empowering Investors with Comprehensive ResourcesDefiQuant believes in empowering its users with the necessary tools and knowledge for successful trading. The platform offers extensive educational resources, including real-time market analyses, strategy guides, and risk management techniques, to help users make well-informed investment decisions.

Join the Revolution: Enhanced Earnings with AI Trading BotsDefiQuant invites investors globally to explore the potential of its AI-powered trading platform. This initiative offers a pathway to generating substantial passive income, aligning with the latest trends and technological advancements in the cryptocurrency market.

To discover the potential of AI-driven trading and learn more about DefiQuants investment plans, visit DefiQuant. Join a community that is reshaping the future of cryptocurrency trading.

Website: https://Defiquant.net

Disclaimer: The information provided in this press release is not a solicitation for investment, nor is it intended as investment advice, financial advice, or trading advice. It is strongly recommended you practice due diligence, including consultation with a professional financial advisor, before investing in or trading cryptocurrency and securities.

For media inquiries, please contact: Name: Allen Heery Position: Media Representative Email: AllenHeery-at-defiquant.net Website: https://Defiquant.net

Source: Defiquant
Dallas, Jan. 19, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Dickeys Barbecue Pit is excited for you to try their recently upgraded, popular side item, the new buttery Texas Toast!

The Worlds largest barbecue brand is now enhancing their guests dining experience with a delicious and fresh Texas Toast, alongside their legendary, pit-smoked meats. Although the brand is known for its historical past, it also continues to show innovation in the restaurant industry. After sampling numerous bread options in stores and through guest testing, the barbecue brand decided that this new toast not only melts in your mouth, but it also falls more in line with their traditional, Texas-style barbecue offerings. Cooked to perfection with a buttery crunch on the outside, sprinkled with a one-of-a-kind cornmeal dust, this toast stays soft and sweet on the inside.

The new Texas Toast we launched this January has been a huge success so far, said, Roland Dickey, Jr., CEO Dickeys Capital Group. Were excited to offer our loyal, barbecue lovers this buttery and crispy bread as a delicious new side to their saucy, hickory smoked barbecue.

The new Dickeys Texas Toast comes included with the one meat, two meat, and three meat plates, as well as additional menu options, and can also be ordered individually, as a side for all barbecue choices.

To learn more about Dickeys, follow the brand on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Download the Dickeys Barbecue Pit app from the Apple App Store or Google Play.

For Dickeys Virtual Concepts follow Wing Boss on Facebook, Instagram and Tik Tok; Trailer Birds on Facebook, Instagram and Tik Tok; and Big Deal Burger on Facebook, Instagram and Tik Tok.

About Dickeys Barbecue Restaurants, Inc.

Dickeys Barbecue Restaurants, Inc., the worlds largest barbecue concept, was founded in 1941 by the Dickey family. For the past 82 years, Dickeys Barbecue Pit has served millions of guests in 41 states Legit. Texas. Barbecue. At Dickeys, all our barbecued meats are smoked onsite in a hickory wood burning pit. Dickeys proudly believes theres no shortcut to true barbecue and its why our name isnt BBQ. The Dallas-based, family-run barbecue franchise offers eight slow-smoked meats and 12 wholesome sides with No B.S. (Bad Stuff) included. Dickeys Barbecue has over 500 restaurants across the United States.

Dickeys was named to Newsweeks 2022 Americas Favorite Restaurant Chains list and USA Today 2021 readers choice awards. Dickeys won first place on Fast Casuals Top 100 Movers and Shakers list, been named a Top 500 Franchise by Entrepreneur and named to Hospitality Technologys Industry Heroes list. Led by CEO Laura Rea Dickey, who was named among the countrys 50 most influential women in foodservice in Nations Restaurant News, was recognized by Fast Casuals Top 100 Movers and Shakers list and honored by Dallas Business Journal. Dickeys Barbecue Pit has also been recognized by Fox News, Forbes Magazine, Franchise Times, The Dallas Morning News, The Wall Street Journal, People Magazine and QSR Magazine. Dickeys Barbecue is part of Dickeys Restaurant Brands which has more than 700 restaurants nationwide including brands Wing Boss, Trailer Birds, Big Deal Burger and bbqathome.com. DRB is led by CEO Roland Dickey Jr. For more information, visit dickeys.com.

# # #

Attachment

Shannon Santos Dickey's Barbecue Pit [email protected]

Source: Dickeys Barbecue Restaurants
PASCAGOULA, Miss., Jan. 19, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Global all-domain defense provider HII (NYSE: HII) announced today that its Ingalls Shipbuilding division awarded $100,000 in grants to 24 STEM-related initiatives from schools and educational organizations located in Mississippi and Alabama. The STEM awards are currently distributed on an annual basis each school year and are used to further the education of science, technology, engineering and math.

Every year we look forward to honoring the outstanding work of our regions educators and supporting them in preparing their students to be the next generation of critical thinkers, Ingalls Shipbuilding President Kari Wilkinson said. Innovation and critical thinking skills are vital in the shipbuilding process and we are proud to play a role in encouraging students to pursue a STEM related career.

In the past decade, Ingalls has awarded more than $1.1 million for teacher training and projects allowing for continued support of STEM in the local education system. The funds distributed will go toward STEM-related equipment, such as lab supplies or software, to be used in hands-on research.

Photos accompanying this release are available at: https://hii.com/news/hii-ingalls-shipbuilding-awards-stem-grants-2024/.

Today we celebrate the future of STEM and the 24 award recipients who are planting seeds of inspiration within their students, Ingalls Shipbuilding Corporate Stewardship & Community Relations Manager Lisa Bradley said. These teachers go above and beyond to demonstrate how their students can excel in STEM careers and it is our hope that every one of their students is inspired to one day become a member of our shipbuilding family.

Multiple schools from the Moss Point School District in Mississippi were recipients of this years STEM grant and have various plans for how they will use the award.

Moss Point School District Superintendent Dr. Oswago Harper was in attendance for the award ceremony and shared in the excitement of the day saying, These awards provide an extra boost to our STEM efforts and we are so grateful for the continued support of Ingalls. The awards allow our educators to strengthen our students skills by focusing on projects such as developing effective test preparation for ACT WorkKeys, the creation of metal flower planters, and the design and construction of cooling systems.

The Ingalls STEM awards attracted nearly 80 applications this grant cycle from the region. The next application cycle will open in August 2024 at the beginning of the 2024-2025 academic school year and end in October.

HII is committed to shaping the future of engineering, science and technology and makes investments in STEM education programs through partnerships with local elementary, middle and high schools, community colleges and technical schools, summer internships, and industry-leading apprentice schools at the companys two shipyards.

The following 24 organizations have been honored by Ingalls Shipbuilding with STEM grants for the 2023-2024 school year:

Alabama School of Mathematics and Science (Ala.): Exploring Natural History in the Digital Age  This will allow an opportunity to offer a full-term course for high school students in paleontology focused on using modern technology such as 3D printers to create digital fossils and will be used to investigate the fossilized remains of plants and animals.

Arlington Elementary School (Miss.): Engineered for Greatness  Project designed to expose 2nd graders to engineering as they hone their math, science, problem-solving and social-emotional learning skills using hands-on learning activities created to embrace different learning styles.

Baldwin County High School (Ala.): Project Anatomy in Clay  Will purchase the Anatomy in Clay learning system for students in grades 10-12. This system features a hands-on strategy for learning anatomy and physiology.

Bay High School (Miss.): Air Quality Ins and Outs  This allows for students to collect data and compare air quality conditions within the classrooms, cafeteria, between buildings, and outdoor quality daily and repeat yearly.

Colmer Middle School (Miss.): School Beautification/Reproduction Project  This is a beautification project of school grounds for their eighth grade science classes. They will complete plant research and learn about forms of plant reproduction while taking care of the seeds and cuttings until the spring.

East Central High School (Miss.): Racing Into Space This project involves high school students mentoring approximately 300 fourth and fifth graders to explore the moon's surface features, experiment with different types of wheels, and design and build model cars to race over a simulated lunar surface.

East Central Middle School (Miss.): Underwater Robotics  Students will research, design, and build a working underwater remote operating vehicle (ROV) and work as a team, of driver and spotter, to complete tasks with the ROV under water. A robotics team will be created in the spring for any students who would like to participate.

Fairhope High School (Ala.): Utilizing Technology for Scientific Inquiry in the Physical Science Classroom  This project aims to enhance the learning experience for 10th grade students with hands-on, inquiry-based learning opportunities by integrating specific technological tools into the curriculum.

Gulfport High School (Miss.): Coastal Water Health  Students will collect water samples from different locations in Gulfport and run laboratory tests to determine if there are common pollutants present and to determine the overall health of the local water.

J. Larry Newton Elementary School (Ala.): Producers of Our Future  This project includes the use of creation technology, 3D printing and 3D laser printing to allow students to make their ideas come to life!

Lyman Elementary School (Miss.): Lyman Leaders  Future Entrepreneurs  Students will use the CorelDraw program and Laser Engraver to create student designed and student produced products as part of their Future Entrepreneurs Unit. Students will create a business plan and write and produce advertisements to pitch their patented products  this gives each student an experience in showing what it takes to build a business from the ground up.

Magnolia Middle School (Miss.): Cool Down  Students will use their mathematical skills to design and build a cooling system for use during hot days. Members of the schools TSA program will help to create a how-to video on how math is used in the real world with this engineering project.

Morningside Elementary School (Ala.): Airplane Trials and Speed Calculation  Provide students with a hands-on experience in physics, building and revising models, and applying math to solve problems as it relates to building and flying airplanes.

Moss Point Career & Technical Education Center (Miss.): Fueling STEM Futures: Investing in Career Pathways  This project directly addresses the pressing educational need for effective ACT WorkKeys test preparation to ensure students are well-prepared for the workforce as they complete year two of their career & technical education (CTE) programs. The hope is to improve students scores on this assessment and empower them to pursue meaningful STEM-related careers, contribute to the regional workforce, and realize their full potential.

Moss Point Career & Technical Education Center (Miss.): Metal Flower Planters  The creation of metal flower planters offers a multifaceted learning experience that encompasses academic knowledge, technical skills, safety awareness, and practical life skills. Students will be provided with a tangible and engaging educational platform that allows them to become proficient in metalworking techniques and design competency.

North Baldwin Center for Technology (Ala.) Sustainability Synergy: Merging Environmental Studies with Career Tech and Core Pathways  This project creates and establishes a learning lab at Baldwin Preparatory Academy for CTE pathway students in grades 10-12. It integrates STEM concepts into hands-on activities and science experiments, connecting career tech pathways and fostering collaboration among students, enhancing practical skills, interdisciplinary knowledge, and environmental science proficiency.

North Bay Elementary (Ala.): Techtots: Building Tomorrows Innovators with Robotics and 3D Printing  Will provide teachers with the resources to bring computer science into their daily curriculum by bringing a unique experience and learning opportunity using robots and 3D printers in the classroom.

Ocean Springs High School (Miss.): Watch Out  HERE COME THE ROBOTS!  Using Bittle Robotics kits, students in the Computer Science and Engineering class will learn to assemble the kits and code them to operate.

Ocean Springs Upper Elementary (Miss.): Engineering in Action! Understanding & Building Functional Equipment  This project will teach students how to construct and operate large equipment, ships, and cars used on construction sites especially in civil, mechanical, and electrical engineering.

Perkinston Elementary School (Miss.): 3D Printing, Coding and the Shark Tank  Students will use a 3D printer and software to build a prototype of a STEM related product that they will design and create with their team.

Robertsdale High School (Ala.): Setting Sail With Odysseus  Starting with reading the Odyssey in English class, students will continue exploring in each class the world Odysseus and his men encounter on their voyage  and through foundations of engineering will design and create a 3D-printed ship prototype and test it against wind and waves to evaluate the effectiveness of their design.

St. Martin High School (Miss.): Filling in the Gaps in our STEM lab  STEM Lab students will be introduced to resin printing and vinyl cutting. Students will create stickers relating to topics that they are studying in this or other classes. Students will create 3D items that solve a problem in their life using SolidWorks and print them out on the resin printer. This equipment will also be used with younger students during their annual summer camps.

West Wortham Elementary School (Miss.): Take Charge  In the project Take Charge, students will construct their own solar power station kit and conduct solar science experiments such as the angle in degrees, the time of day, and the voltage output of solar energy.

WP Davidson High School (Ala.): Building Computer Technologists from Gamers  This project is designed to give students in the gaming/e-sports class the opportunity to build gaming PCs from the ground up. Computer-building from scratch provides opportunities for students to enhance communication, leadership, teamwork, time management, goal setting, and self-monitoring.

About HII

HII is a global, all-domain defense provider. HIIs mission is to deliver the worlds most powerful ships and all-domain solutions in service of the nation, creating the advantage for our customers to protect peace and freedom around the world.

As the nations largest military shipbuilder, and with a more than 135-year history of advancing U.S. national security, HII delivers critical capabilities extending from ships to unmanned systems, cyber, ISR, AI/ML and synthetic training. Headquartered in Virginia, HIIs workforce is 44,000 strong. For more information, visit:

HII on the web: https://www.HII.com/

HII on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TeamHII

HII on X: https://www.twitter.com/WeAreHII

HII on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/WeAreHII

Contact:

Kimberly K. Aguillard228-355-5663[email protected]

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/0ff5813b-eb85-4730-ad75-f9ea99c0bb82

Ingalls STEM Grants 2024 HIIs Ingalls Shipbuilding division awarded $100,000 in grants to 24 science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) related initiatives from schools and educational organizations located in Mississippi and Alabama. All grant recipients were invited to the shipyard and were presented a check to support their efforts in encouraging students to pursue a STEM related career.

Source: HII
MCLEAN, Va., Jan. 19, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- HII (NYSE: HII) announced today that its Mission Technologies division was awarded a $197 million recompete task order contract to conduct research and development for the Joint Training Synthetic Environment (JTSE), which blends live and virtual training into a single synthetic environment that enables joint force readiness.

Administered by the Joint Staff J7, Deputy Director of Joint Training, HII will develop, maintain, support and provide joint training in a synthetic environment across combatant commands, military service branches, federal agencies, academia, industry and multi-national partners. The JTSE is designed to evolve with changing operational needs, providing accessible exercises that mirror the complexity of real-world scenarios.

As the battlespace becomes more complex, so does the need for warfighters who are fully equipped to handle any challenge, said Glenn Goodman, president of Mission Technologies LVC Solutions business group. We are committed to the development and delivery of a truly integrated, high-fidelity training capability that supports the future fight.

HII was awarded this task order under the Department of Defense Information (DoD) Analysis Centers (IAC) multiple-award contract (MAC) vehicle. IAC MAC task orders are awarded by the U.S. Air Force's 774th Enterprise Sourcing Squadron to develop and create new knowledge for the enhancement of the Defense Technical Information Center repository and the research and development and science and technology community.

An image accompanying this release is available at: https://hii.com/news/hii-awarded-joint-force-readiness-contract-2024/.

The task order has a five-year term. Most of the work will be performed in Suffolk, Virginia.

HIIs support to the joint staff is an extension of work performed under two previous contracts awarded in August 2020 and March 2018, respectively. HII is the largest provider of secure, realistic networked LVC training environment to the DoD. HII supports both the U.S. Navy and U.S. Air Force in LVC training.

About HII

HII is a global, all-domain defense provider. HIIs mission is to deliver the worlds most powerful ships and all-domain solutions in service of the nation, creating the advantage for our customers to protect peace and freedom around the world. As the nations largest military shipbuilder, and with a more than 135-year history of advancing U.S. national security, HII delivers critical capabilities extending from ships to unmanned systems, cyber, ISR, AI/ML and synthetic training. Headquartered in Virginia, HIIs workforce is 44,000 strong. For more information, visit:

HII on the web: https://www.HII.com/

HII on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TeamHII

HII on X: https://www.twitter.com/WeAreHII

HII on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/WeAreHII

The DoD IAC, sponsored by the Defense Technical Information Center, provides technical data management and research support for DoD and federal government users. Established in 1946, the IAC program serves the DoD science and technology and acquisition communities to drive innovation and technological developments by enhancing collaboration through integrated scientific and technical information development and dissemination for the DoD and broader science and technology community.

This material is based upon work supported by the DoD Information Analysis Center Program (DoD IAC), sponsored by the Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC) under Contract No. FA807523F0049.

Approved for Public Release, Distribution Unlimited. Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the DoD.

Contact:

Greg McCarthy

(202) 264-7126

[email protected]

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/13509588-1232-486d-a4cf-cfc3db8efd9f
Four years are about to pass since the outbreak of a pandemic that shook the world and although the Covid virus is now under control, its hangover still weighs on millions of people. Long Covid  which is associated with more than 200 symptoms  affects one in eight people. Scientists are still trying to decipher what is behind this heterogeneous disease. Some studies point to immune dysfunction; others to viral reservoirs hiding in the body. Researchers also believe it is connected to persistent inflammation; but the fundamental mechanism remains unclear.

A study published on Thursday in the prestigious journal Science sheds light on the disease by identifying a potential biomarker in blood to detect long Covid. Researchers found that people with long Covid exhibited changes to blood serum proteins in the complement system, a network of molecules that participates in the destruction of pathogens. The finding highlights the key role the immune system plays in the development of long Covid and opens the door to drugs aimed at reversing this dysfunction in the bodys lines of defense.

By January 2020, the Sars-Cov-2 virus was already spreading silently around the globe and the first cases of Covid were beginning to break out everywhere. Four years later, around 778 million people have been infected, and seven million have died, according to the World Health Organization. But the thousands of people with long Covid are not included in the statistics. While they do not have an active infection, they suffer from symptoms such as fatigue, brain fog, muscle pain, breathing problems  sometimes all at once.

There are currently no diagnostic tests or therapeutic solutions for affected patients, admits the study in Science. There are no treatments or tests because long Covid is still, for scientists, a half-finished puzzle.

But researchers from the University of Zurich (Switzerland) have now managed to find another piece of the puzzle, and to identify a common pattern in long Covid. Scientists followed 39 healthy participants and 113 Covid patients for more than a year and took blood samples from all of them at different times to identify common biomarkers of people with long Covid. In the study, there were individuals who were infected with coronavirus, but did not have long Covid; others who had Covid symptoms for a few months after infection; and individuals who developed long Covid and experienced symptoms over time.

We took blood from patients and looked at more than 6,500 different proteins. Then we asked ourselves what the biggest difference was and that was in the proteins that belong to the complement system, explains Onur Boyman, author of the study and head of Clinical Immunology and Allergology at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Zurich.

In people with long Covid, the scientists found that this mechanism  which is part of the innate immune system  was dysregulated. The complement system is a network of proteins that work in a cascade, activating each other to help recognize and destroy harmful elements. The problem is that if this mechanism is dysregulated, it can be harmful to the body. This study showed that the complement system was active in long Covid: when patients have this condition, this system is also active. And whats interesting is that in the group of patients with long Covid, there were some who were lucky and recovered. And in those cases, the complement system also returned to normal, explains Boyman.

The scientist explains that the complement system not only communicates with the bodys immune system, but also with others, such as the blood coagulation system. In fact, researchers found that patients with long Covid had altered coagulation and tissue injury, which Boyman says could explain the presence of small blood clots. He explains: The complement system also communicates with many different cells, for example, the cells inside blood vessels. If the complement system is active, those cells can become damaged. So, in an individual who has such damage to the endothelial cells [which line the inside of blood vessels], if you exercise, your heart pumps more, your blood pressure goes up, and that creates a stress on those endothelial cells. So, these cells have a double stress and this may explain exercise intolerance.

The study does not specifically analyze whether the dysregulation of the complement system explains the varied mix of symptoms linked to long Covid, but Boyman points out that this network of proteins is in contact with the entire organism. The complement system consists of small proteins that can travel in the blood to all organs: the brain, the lungs, the intestine and these organs can interact with all types of cells. So in a normal situation, the complement system is fully active, not because we have a viral infection, but because this system has many different functions, such as removing dead cells. However, if you have a dysregulated complement system, it can cause damage and the extent of the damage can be very specific to the individual. In some people it can be the brain, in others the lungs, in the intestine It depends on the person.

Questions still to be answered

The research does not resolve all the questions surrounding long Covid, but, according to the external experts consulted, it does support the evidence that the immune system plays a key role in the disease.

I wouldnt say that [dysregulation of the complement system] is the cause, but rather a factor that could explain the symptoms that people with long Covid have. We dont know if there are other things that could predict long Covid. This condition has always been hypothesized in different ways: a lot of tissue damage, a viral reservoir, or autoimmunity and inflammation. This work shows that the immune system has a lot to do with long Covid, says Natalia Egri, an immunologist at Hospital Clinic, who was not involved in the research.

Jeremy Nicholson, director of the Australian National Phenome Center at Murdoch University, argues that the study helps identify some fundamental immunological disruptions which help us understand the thrombo-inflammatory effects  affecting blood vessel linings for instance  which can give rise to more generalized systemic problems (all organs have blood vessels). But he says, speaking to Science Media Centre, the paper still does not explain the diversity of the long Covid symptoms or their differential expression between individuals.

This paper is another brick in the wall but the full integrative immune-metabolic picture of long Covid is yet to emerge and requires even more comprehensive studies in greater numbers of people, he adds.

For his part, Marcos Lopez-Hoyos, president of the Spanish Society of Immunology, points out that the research demonstrates that long Covid is more linked to an alteration in the regulation of the immune response. The expert, who also did not participate in the research, emphasizes that it is a robust article, where many proteins are analyzed and there is a very well-controlled cohort. But he also admits that the complement system may not be the only factor associated with long Covid. Boyman acknowledges that one of his major concerns is to find out what keeps the complement system active and why some patients with long Covid recover over time and others do not.

Possible treatment

The researchers suggest that their finding can serve as a biomarker to detect long Covid and also serve as a potential target for treatment. There are companies that develop complement inhibitors. Currently, they are used for very rare immune diseases that affect the kidneys or muscles, for example. But this study could encourage those companies, which include big pharma, to address the treatment of long Covid, says Boyman.

The researcher points out, however, that although the process of taking a sample is similar to an ordinary blood test, the subsequent study is more complex. We use very complicated and sophisticated methods. You cant just take our method and use it in any hospital to detect the differences we detect. It would take more development, but we have shown that this can be measured and a company that deals with diagnostics could develop a simpler test that could then be used in hospitals to improve the diagnosis of long Covid, he says.

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NEW YORK, Jan. 19, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Material Bank, the worlds largest marketplace for searching, sampling, and specifying architecture, design, and construction materials, today announced the appointment of Jan Heck as the Global President of Kitchen and Bath. Heck brings a wealth of experience and industry expertise to this role, enhancing Material Banks commitment to providing innovative solutions for the design community.

In this newly formed role, Heck will lead the strategic vision and operational execution of Material Banks Kitchen and Bath category, overseeing partnerships and new Member and Brand initiatives. With a proven track record of driving growth and deep knowledge of brand positioning, customer engagement, and business transformation, Heck will play a pivotal role in advancing Material Banks leadership in the market.

Heck joins Material Bank with nearly 25 years of experience in the kitchen and bath industry. Having served as President of Miele Canada, a subsidiary of the worlds largest family-owned premium appliance company, where he was later appointed President and CEO of Miele USA, Heck showcased his ability to drive business success through strategic leadership with a keen understanding of market dynamics. During his time at Miele, Heck led the company through significant transformations, redefining their business model and significantly boosting brand awareness and sales. Heck has been on the board of directors of the National Kitchen & Bath Association for the past three years and has served as Chairman since 2022. He is also the Chairman of the Board of the German Chamber of Commerce in New York and the German American Chamber of Commerce USA.

We are thrilled to welcome Jan Heck to Material Bank as Global President of Kitchen and Bath, said Adam Sandow, Founder. Jans unparalleled industry knowledge, strategic vision, and ability to create impactful business solutions will undoubtedly elevate our offering in the kitchen and bath space. His leadership will be instrumental in shaping the future growth and success of Material Bank.

Heck expressed his excitement about joining Material Bank, stating, I am so honored to be a part of this incredible team. Embracing innovation in the design ecosystem is essential, and joining Material Bank presents a unique opportunity to bring my experience and contribute to a revolutionary platform that continues to shape the future of the design community.

This appointment reflects Material Banks dedication to attracting top talent. Hecks addition to the team signals a new chapter to grow its leadership in the kitchen and bath sector, foster strategic partnerships, and enhance its overall platform experience.

About Material Bank:

Material Bank is a marketplace for design professionals and brands in the architecture and design industry, providing the fastest and most sustainable way to search, sample, and specify materials. Named as one of Business Insiders Top Hottest Proptech Startups and Forbes Best Startup Employers, the revolutionary platform powers complex searches across hundreds of brands in seconds. Samples are delivered overnight in a single box. With a rapidly growing community of members, Material Bank has changed the way material manufacturers and brands connect with the architecture and design industry. Material Bank is now available in Europe delivering samples in 29 countries and has launched with more than 200 Brand Partners on the European platform.

Monica Del Borrello Email: [email protected]

Source: Material Bank
TORONTO, Jan. 18, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- NowVertical Group Inc. (NowVertical or the Company) (TSX-V: NOW) (OTCQB: NOWVF), a leading data analytics and AI solutions company, responds to a press release issued by Daren Trousdell, a shareholder of NowVertical and a former officer and director of the Company.

In connection with Mr. Trousdells resignation as an officer and director of the Company at the end of May 2023, Mr. Trousdell signed a separation agreement (the Separation Agreement). Among other things, Mr. Trousdell agreed that, until December 31, 2024:

he would not engage in any attempts to influence the management, board or policies of the Company;

he would not engage in any discussions with other shareholders or announce or disclose any intention or desire in connection with the management, board or policies of the Company, the acquisition or sale of the Companys shares, or the solicitation of proxies; and

he would vote in favor of any resolution put to a shareholder vote that is recommended by the Companys management or board of directors.

Unfortunately, Mr. Trousdell has taken the position that he is not bound by his commitments.

As a result, the Company has regrettably been forced to bring legal proceedings to put an end to these distractions and cautions shareholders not to engage with Mr. Trousdell on these issues while the enforcement of the Separation Agreement is being litigated.

Over the last six months, the Company has acted decisively to position NowVertical for sustainable long-term organic and inorganic growth, improving shareholder value. As previously announced, the Companys burn rate has been significantly reduced; integration efforts have been oriented towards driving growth opportunities; and, the entrepreneurial leaders of the Companys operating units have been elevated to lead the next phase of the Companys organic and inorganic growth.

The board of directors and management team continue to execute on the Companys transformation strategy and will continue to remain focused on driving value for all stakeholders.

Advisors:

Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP is acting as legal counsel to NowVertical. Gagnier Communications LLC is acting as the Companys strategic advisor.

About NowVertical Group Inc.:

NowVertical Group is a Vertical Intelligence (VI) software and services provider that delivers vertically-specific data, technology, and artificial intelligence (AI) applications into private and public verticals globally. NOWs proprietary solutions sit at the foundation of the modern enterprise by transforming AI investments into VI, enabling its customers to minimize their risk, accelerate the time to value, and reduce costs. NOW is rapidly growing organically and through targeted acquisitions. For more information about NOW, visit www.nowvertical.com.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

For further information, please contact:

Andre Garber, Co-founder, CDO and Board member[email protected]

Glen Nelson, Investor Relations and Communications: [email protected] t: (403) 763-9797

Cautionary Statement

This news release contains forward-looking information and forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws (together forward-looking statements), including, without limitation, the Companys goals, strategies and growth plans. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by management, are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties, and contingencies. Forward-looking statements generally can be identified by the use of forward-looking words such as "may", "should", "will", "could", "intend", "estimate", "plan", "anticipate", "expect", "believe" or "continue", or the negative thereof or similar variations. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause future results, performance, or achievements to be materially different from the estimated future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements and the forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance. Forward-looking statements are qualified in their entirety by inherent risks and uncertainties, including: direct and indirect material adverse effects from the COVID-19 pandemic; adverse market conditions; risks inherent in the data analytics and artificial intelligence sectors in general; regulatory and legislative changes; that future results may vary from historical results; inability to obtain any requisite future financing on suitable terms; any inability to realize the expected benefits and synergies of acquisitions; that market competition may affect the business, results and financial condition of the Company and other risk factors identified in documents filed by the Company under its profile at www.sedarplus.ca, including the Companys managements discussion and analysis for the year ended December 31, 2022 dated April 28, 2023 and the prospectus supplement (including all documents incorporated by reference therein) dated February 22, 2023. Further, these forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this news release and, except as expressly required by applicable law, the Company assumes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Source: NowVertical Group
Los Angeles, Jan. 18, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Habitat for Humanity of Greater Los Angeles (Habitat LA) celebrates new first-time homeowners at the Isabel Villas neighborhood dedication ceremony on Saturday, January 20th. The new affordable 8-home development is nestled in the Willowbrook neighborhood of Los Angeles. At the celebration, Habitat LA will celebrate the families moving into their beautiful one-story homes, which include private yards, attached 2-car garages, drought-tolerant landscaping, energy-efficient appliances, and solar systems.

Since we raised the first wall in June 2022, Isabel Villas has had a special place in the heart of Habitat LA. We proudly named the home development as a tribute to our esteemed Chief of Staff, Isabel Lee, commemorating her remarkable 20 years of dedication and service. Now, we are thrilled to welcome our partner families to this special community. said Erin Rank, President & CEO of Habitat LA.

During the ceremony elected officials, Erin Rank, donors and partner homebuyers will speak. Attendees will have the chance to tour some of the completed homes.

These partner homebuyers worked alongside hundreds of community and industry volunteers to build their new homes. Habitat LA donors contributed funds as well as in-kind products and services at various levels of construction. We extend a special thank you to our generous donors and partners for supporting the development of Isabel Villas, including: County of Los Angeles and L. A. County Supervisor Holly J. Mitchells office , Thrivent, Bank of America, Habitat LA Catholic Coalition, Mattel, Renaissance Charitable Foundation, Amazon Prime Video, Chervon/Flex Tools, Farmers & Merchants Bank, Ring, Silicon Valley Bank, Wells Fargo, and Costa Roofing.

Registration for the event can be found HERE.

WHEN:

Date: January 20, 2024

Time: 11AM - 1PM

LOCATION:

229 E. El Segundo Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90061

WHO:

Partner Homeowners

Habitat LA CEO, Erin Rank

Habitat LA Team members, Donors, and Volunteers

Elected Officials

About Habitat for Humanity of Greater Los Angeles

Habitat for Humanity of Greater Los Angeles (Habitat LA) transforms neighborhoods throughout Greater Los Angeles by bringing the community together to build and repair homes and to help families rebuild after natural disasters. Habitat LA empowers people through access to affordable loans, housing counseling, and down-payment assistance. To learn more about Habitat LA, please visit habitatla.org.

Makebra Bridges Habitat for Humanity of Greater Los Angeles 562-455-5804 [email protected]

Source: Habitat for Humanity of Greater Los Angeles
NEW YORK, Jan. 19, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Strainsforpains, Inc. Announces Corporate Update (Strainsforpains, Inc.) (OTC Markets: EBYH).

Strainsforpains, Inc. is pleased to announce it has closed out 2023 with its largest orders to date, valued at $65,000, from various CBD and health markets, including Forces of Nature, Portokali, and other prominent establishments in New York City. This significant achievement marks a major milestone for our company and underscores the increasing demand for Strainsforpains high-quality products. With this significant order, Strainsforpains will deliver its full spectrum topical CBD products, renowned for their exceptional quality and effectiveness. The company continues its collaboration with Popped, a NYC company, to jointly develop products and services with anticipated sales of six hundred thousand dollars by the end of 2024.

With a commitment to meeting the growing demand for its signature brand and product line, Strainsforpains has ambitious plans for 2024. Our other CBD product line will feature water-soluble liposomal technology, an innovative nanoliposomal encapsulation that has been scientifically proven to increase the absorption of CBD by 80%. This cutting-edge technology distinguishes our products in the market, offering superior benefits to our clients. By diversifying its product offerings, the company aims to cater to a broader range of customer needs and solidify its position in the industry.

The data technology division, which collaborates with hospitals and physicians, is also expected to experience a substantial increase in sales in 2024. Our app is currently being upgraded to position itself as a leading educational tool for pain management operations at hospitals and with doctors specializing in pain relief. Mr. Shainberg, president of Strainsforpains, expressed his satisfaction, stating, We are thrilled to conclude 2023 with our most substantial orders to date and anticipate an outstanding 2024, as we introduce our signature brand and product line to the market. This order consists of a cream-based product, designed for pain relief related to muscle pain and bone ailments. It positions Strainsforpains to make a significant impact in the CBD industry and establish itself as a leader in effective pain relief solutions. The projected market demand for Strainsforpains signature brand and product line is highly promising.

Strainsforpains has conducted extensive market research and analysis to support our optimistic projections for 2024. The CBD market is constantly growing, with consumers increasingly seeking high-quality and unique products. Our commitment to innovation, superior quality, and customer satisfaction positions us well to capitalize on this market trend and drive substantial growth in the coming year.

Overview of Strainsforpains, Inc.: Please visit our website at http://www.strainsforpains.com/. Strainsforpains, Inc. is an innovative healthcare data technology Company located in New York, N.Y. The Companys objectives are to provide doctors, nurses, dispensaries, and patients access to an APP that will allow for an advanced determination of comparison of strains or brands of cannabis combinations with major illnesses, in a user-friendly manner. The company owns a 6.5-acre facility in Pennsylvania that will be used for CBD product production. Mr. Shainberg is a member of the prestigious International Cannabinoid Research Society, https://icrs.co/

Safe Harbor Statement: Statements in this press release that are not historical fact may be deemed 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. Although Strainsforpains, Inc. believes the expectations reflected in any forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, Strainsforpains, Inc. is unable to give any assurance that its expectations will be attained. Investors are cautioned that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond Strainsforpains, Inc.s ability to control, and those actual results may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of various factors. More information about the potential factors that could affect the business and financial results is and will be included in Strainsforpains, Inc. filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission and OTC Markets.

For further info and Media Contact: Y. S. Shainberg, Strainsforpains, Inc. [email protected], 347-218-0844. Sean Goodwin: [email protected]

Source: Strainsforpains, Inc.
(Updated - January 19, 2024 7:41 AM EST)

Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F) announced plans to create nearly 900 new jobs as part of a new third crew at Michigan Assembly Plant in Wayne to meet demand for the popular Bronco and Bronco Raptor and the all-new Ranger and Ranger Raptor.

The company is moving nimbly across its global footprint to capitalize on its balanced lineup and serve customers with the right mix of gas-powered, hybrid and electric vehicles, while optimizing financial returns.

In addition to nearly 900 net new hires, the new 1,600-person third crew at Michigan Assembly Plant will also include approximately 700 employees from Fords Rouge Complex in Dearborn who applied for job openings.

Ford is adding the manpower this summer to support planned future volume increases for vehicle lines assembled at the plant. The all-new Ranger and Ranger Raptor are on track to launch this year. Michigan Assembly Plant will transition to producing vehicles seven days a week versus five currently, with three crews working two shifts.

Matching F-150 Lightning production to customer demand

The company also has capacity available to scale production of gas-powered and hybrid F-150 trucks based on customer demand.

Ford was Americas No. 2 best-selling electric vehicle brand in 2023, and F-150 Lightning is Americas best-selling electric truck with sales up 55% in 2023 and further growth forecast for 2024.

We are taking advantage of our manufacturing flexibility to offer customers choices while balancing our growth and profitability. Customers love the F-150 Lightning, America's best-selling EV pickup, said Ford President and CEO Jim Farley. We see a bright future for electric vehicles for specific consumers, especially with our upcoming digitally advanced EVs and access to Tesla's charging network beginning this quarter."

Approximately 1,400 employees will be impacted as the Rouge Electric Vehicle Center transitions to one shift effective April 1. Roughly 700 will transfer to Michigan Assembly Plant and the others will be placed in roles at the Rouge Complex or other facilities in Southeast Michigan, or take advantage of the Special Retirement Incentive Program agreed to in the 2023 Ford-UAW contract.

A few dozen employees could be impacted at component plants supporting F-150 Lightning production, depending on the number of employees who apply for the Special Retirement Incentive Program. Ford would provide placements for impacted employees within Southeast Michigan.
Hong Kong, Hong Kong--(Newsfile Corp. - January 18, 2024) - In its latest Innovation Mixer to the West Coast of the US, Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation (HKSTP) organised a dinner reception which attracted around 150 tech professionals from leading enterprises, universities and venture capital firms including Google, Alibaba, Stanford University, UC Berkeley, JP Morgan, US Capital and East West Bank, among others. The participants were intrigued by the enormous opportunities and resources available in Hong Kong's booming innovation and technology (I&T) sector, as well as HKSTP's all rounded support to tech ventures such as incubation and tenant programmes. With high engagement and huge interest generated, the event would contribute to HKSTP's mission in attracting global talent and investment to Hong Kong.

Around 150 US tech entrepreneur, investors and talent attended the "HKSTP Innovation Mixer - Make Your Mark in Hong Kong's Vibrant Tech Ecosystem" event to explore vast opportunities in Hong Kong's I&T sector.



To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/7958/194713_figure1.jpg



Co-presented by HKSTP, the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (ETO), San Francisco and the Hong Kong Association of Northern California, the dinner reception aimed to inspire tech professionals in the US to discover the wealth of opportunities in Hong Kong's I&T ecosystem, clinching it as their base to expand to Asia and beyond.

Spoke in a sharing session, Albert Wong, CEO of HKSTP, pointed out the distinctive advantages of the city, "Hong Kong is now in a golden era of I&T that the resources and support provided to the sector are unprecedented. As an international I&T hub, we are home to five of the world's top 100 universities with strong R&D capabilities. Located at the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA), Hong Kong serves as an important gateway to attract international companies and investment to China while assisting Mainland enterprises to go global."

"Hong Kong is also a stage for talent from around the world to realise their potential and attain success," he added. "On top of its strategic location in the GBA, competitive salaries and supporting government policies, HKSTP offers a diverse range of programmes to help overseas talent settle down and thrive in this dynamic hub. Our InnoCell is a prime example which provides affordable high-quality accommodation for global I&T talent."

Jacko Tsang, Director of Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in San Francisco said that ETO in San Francisco was pleased to welcome HKSTP's delegation and was happy to assist companies and individuals interested in exploring opportunities in Hong Kong.

A panel discussion was arranged to enlighten participants on different tech landscapes across the Pacific and how to navigate opportunities in Hong Kong. Two entrepreneurs, who had successfully developed their businesses in both Hong Kong and the US, were invited to share their views and experiences. Dr Louis Wong, President and CEO of Advanced Sensor Integrations, said that the well-established intellectual property protection law and free flow of capital made Hong Kong an ideal place for startups. Mr Redg Snodgrass, Co-Founder & CEO of EdgeIn, said that enterprises would be greatly benefited from the enormous investment opportunities in Hong Kong's ecosystem and the huge market potential in China.

Following the visits to Southeast Asia last year, HKSTP continued its Innovation Mixer to connect the tech talent and enterprises in the US with vast opportunities in Hong Kong, the GBA and Asia. In addition to the dinner reception, the HKSTP delegation will be meeting with like-minded innovators, academics and talents from world-class tech ventures and prestigious institutions such as NVIDIA, Stanford University and UC Berkeley to introduce the fast-growing I&T ecosystems in Hong Kong.

Please download more high resolution photos from here: Photos

Hashtag: #HKSTP

https://www.hkstp.org/

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation

Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation (HKSTP) was established in 2001 with a mission to position Hong Kong as an international innovation and technology (I&T) hub. HKSTP has created a thriving I&T ecosystem supporting over 10 unicorns with more than 13,000 research professionals and around 1,700 technology companies from 24 countries and regions focused on healthtech, AI and robotics, fintech and smart city technologies.



We offer comprehensive support to attract and nurture talent, accelerate and commercialise innovation for technology ventures on their I&T journey. Our growing innovation ecosystem is built around our key locations of Hong Kong Science Park in Shatin, InnoCentre in Kowloon Tong and three modern InnoParks in Tai Po, Tseung Kwan O and Yuen Long. The three InnoParks are realising a vision of new industrialisation for Hong Kong, where sectors including advanced manufacturing, micro-electronics and biotechnology are being reimagined for a new generation of industry.



To support Hong Kong's future development and its growing demands of the I&T industry, HKSTP is actively connecting the city with Shenzhen. This aims to strengthen cross-border exchange, attract technology companies as well as talent from around the world, helping them go global by exploring the mainland China and overseas markets.



Hong Kong Science Park Shenzhen Branch in Futian, Shenzhen, opened in September this year with a gross floor area of 31,000 square meters. The two buildings provide both dry and wet laboratories, co-working areas, conference and exhibition spaces, and more. We will focus on attracting enterprises in seven key areas: Medtech, big data and AI, robotics, new materials, microelectronics, fintech and sustainability.



Through our infrastructure, services, expertise, and network of partnerships, HKSTP will help establish I&T as a pillar of growth for Hong Kong, while reinforcing the city's international I&T hub status as a launchpad for growth at the heart of the GBA innovation powerhouse.

Ms Terry Lam

Tel: +852 2629 6769

Email: [email protected]

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/194713
Arlington, Virginia--(Newsfile Corp. - January 19, 2024) - Edge Total Intelligence Inc.(TSXV: CTRL) (OTCQB: UNFYF) (FSE: Q5I) ("edgeTI" or the "Company"), a leading provider of Real-Time Digital Operations software, announced the grant of an aggregate of 1,675,000 equity incentive options (the "Options") pursuant to the terms of the Company's omnibus share incentive plan (the "Plan"). Each Option is exercisable at a price of C$0.62 per Option to acquire one common share of the Company (a "Share") for a period of five years from the grant date. One third of the Options will vest immediately, the second third will vest at the first anniversary of the grant, and the remainder will vest on the second anniversary of the grant. The Options are subject to approval of the TSX Venture Exchange.

James Barrett, the Chief Executive Officer and a director of the Company, was granted an aggregate of 325,000 Options. John Palmer, Chief Operating Officer, was granted an aggregate of 325,000 Options. Jacques Jarman, Chief Revenue Officer, was granted an aggregate of 325,000 Options. Scott Lesley, Chief Technology Officer, was granted an aggregate of 325,000 Options, Nicholas Brigman, the Corporate Secretary of the Company, was granted an aggregate of 325,000 Options.

Options granted to directors, officers, and consultants are subject to the Exchange Hold Period (as defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange).

After the aforementioned grant of Options, based on 55,035,000 issued and outstanding Shares, the Company has 414,667 option awards remaining pursuant to the Plan that may be granted to eligible participants.

edgeTI also wishes to reiterate that the Company issued an update on Monday January 15th in regard to its upcoming IR program and debt. https://www.einpresswire.com/article/680931856/edgeti-provides-update-on-investor-relations-agreements-and-debt.

About edgeTI

edgeTI helps customers sustain situational awareness and accelerate action with its real-time digital operations software, edgeCore" that unites multiple software applicates and data sources into one immersive experience. Global enterprises, service providers, and governments are more profitable when insight and action are united to deliver fluid journeys via the platform's low-code development capability and composable operations. With edgeCore, customers can improve their margins and agility by rapidly transforming siloed systems and data across continuously evolving situations in business, technology, and cross-domain operations - helping them achieve the impossible.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Forward-Looking Information and Statements

Certain statements in this news release are forward-looking statements or information for the purposes of applicable Canadian and US securities law. Forward-looking statements consist of statements that are not purely historical, including any statements regarding beliefs, plans, expectations, or intentions regarding the future. Such information can generally be identified by the use of forwarding-looking wording such as "may", "expect", "estimate", "anticipate", "intend", "believe" and "continue" or the negative thereof or similar variations. The reader is cautioned that assumptions used in the preparation of any forward-looking information may prove to be incorrect. Events or circumstances may cause actual results to differ materially from those predicted, as a result of numerous known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of the Company, including but not limited to, business, economic and capital market conditions.

Such statements and information are based on numerous assumptions regarding present and future business strategies and the environment in which the Company will operate in the future, including the demand for its products, anticipated costs, and the ability to achieve goals. Factors that could cause the actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include the continued availability of capital and financing, the impact of viruses and diseases on the Company's ability to operate, competition and general economic, and market or business conditions. Forward-looking statements contained in this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking information. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as of the date of this news release. Except as required by law, the Company disclaims any intention and assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

For further information:

Nicholas Brigman

Edge Total Intelligence Inc

+1 703-943-8872

Email us here

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/194824
Timmins, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - January 19, 2024) - Emerald Geological Services ("EGS" or the "Company") will be presenting at the Vancouver Resource Investment Conference (VRIC), held on January 21 & 22 at Booth 428. EGS will be featuring a selection of High-Grade field samples from the Company's 2021 - 2023 prospecting work on the Epworth Project located in Nunavut.

The EGS team will be on hand for details on these new discoveries, property geology and the district scale potential of the property.

Mineralization found to date is analogous to sediment-hosted stratiform Cu-(Ag)-(Co) (SSC) deposits (e.g. African Copperbelt) and Mississippi Valley Type (MVT) Zn-Pb-(Cu) deposits (e.g. Pine Point, NWT).

Contact Information:



Bruce MacLachlan, President

Emerald Geological Services

Direct line: (705) 266-0847

Email: [email protected]

222 Emerald St.

Timmins, Ontario, P4R 1N3

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/194732
Kelowna, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - January 19, 2024) - Enduro Metals (TSXV: ENDR) (OTCQB: ENDMD) would like to cordially invite you to visit us at Booth #322 at the Vancouver Resource Investment Conference (VRIC) to be held at the Vancouver Convention Centre West (1055 Canada Place, Vancouver) on Sunday January 21 - Monday January 22, 2024.

Notable keynote speakers include former Premier of BC Christy Clark and former Premier of Saskatchewan, Brad Wall. Other keynote speakers will include dozens of globally respected economists, legendary money managers, and investors.

We are entering a new era of de-globalization. The trust that allowed for global trade over the last 30 years has shifted irreversibly and countries are now scrambling to secure supplies of natural resources as a matter of national security. As a result, demand for key resources, will skyrocket. We have gathered over 300 companies that are exploring for and producing these natural resources so investors can position themselves accordingly, said Jay Martin, Host of the Vancouver Resource Investment Conference.

For more information and/or to register for the conference please visit: https://cambridgehouse.com/vancouver-resource-investment-conference.

We look forward to seeing you there.

About the Vancouver Resource Investment Conference:

The Vancouver Resource Investment Conference has been the epicentre of junior mining investment in Canada for 25 years and attracts over 5000 mining investors annually. Previous years have been attended by former Prime Minister Stephan Harper and former President of Mexico Felipe Calderon.

The VRIC will include a marketplace of over 300 investment opportunities in the mining industry, spanning early-stage exploration to advanced producing mines.

For further information:

Ali Wasiliew

Senior Geologist/Corporate Communications

(250) 307 - 1116

[email protected]

https://endurometals.com/
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - January 19, 2024) - The Investing News Network (INN), a leading source of independent news and educational content for investors, is excited to announce its participation in the upcoming Vancouver Resource Investment Conference (VRIC), scheduled for January 21 to 22, 2024. The event will take place at the Vancouver Convention Centre.

INN will be an active participant at the conference, engaging with resource industry executives, experts and investors. The company will leverage its presence to bring exclusive video interviews to the INN audience, providing coverage of the latest resource market trends.

"We are thrilled to be part of VRIC, a pivotal gathering for professionals and investors in the resource sector. This event provides an excellent platform for INN to connect with key industry players, share insights through video interviews and contribute to the broader conversation on the future of resource investing," said Nick Smith, CEO of INN.

Charlotte McLeod, INN's editorial director, will host four fireside chats with industry experts at VRIC. With her wealth of experience and sector knowledge, she will facilitate engaging dialogues with industry experts Ross Beaty, Jeff Clark, Brent Johnson and Christopher Aaron. Want to get the latest on these fireside chats? Follow Charlotte on X at @Charlotte_McL.

INN will be located at Booth M9 at VRIC, and the team is eager to network with companies and investors attending the event. As a trusted source of news and information, INN recognizes the importance of collaboration and knowledge sharing to empower investors with the tools they need to make informed decisions.

For more information about INN's participation in VRIC, please visit: InvestingNews.com/VRIC.

About the Investing News Network:

The Investing News Network (INN) is a leading source of independent news and educational content for investors. Since 2007, INN has been providing breaking news, analysis and expert commentary on the latest developments in the resource, tech, life science and cannabis sectors. With a global network of reporters and analysts, INN is committed to providing accurate, timely and actionable information to investors.

For more information, please visit the Investing News Network website at InvestingNews.com.

Contact:

David Nguyen

Investing News Network

+1 (604) 688-8231

[email protected]

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/194863
On the afternoon of January 17, 1974, Alvaro Fayad and a small team of guerillas orchestrated a daring heist. Their target: the sword, stirrups and spurs of Simon Bolivar, the revered liberator of six Latin American countries. These precious artifacts were housed in glass case and safeguarded in the Quinta de Bolivar Museum  a colonial mansion in the heart of Bogota. With this audacious act, the world bore witness to the birth of the M-19  the urban guerrilla movement that notably counted President Gustavo Petro among its members for many years. Fifty years have passed since that momentous day. On January 17, 2024, the Colombian government celebrated the event with activities, panel discussions and exhibitions. The commemoration will culminate with the return of the stolen sword to its rightful home in the mansion it was taken from. The sword will be on public exhibit until January 30.

Culture Minister Juan David Correa kicked off the commemoration with a short speech at the National Museum. The sword stands as an enduring symbol of the M-19, yet its significance transcends any singular act. It serves as a testament to a visionarys dream of a great republic, forged more than two centuries ago, he said to the applause of many former M-19 members in the audience. The guerrilla group demobilized in the late 1980s, signed a peace accord with the government and became a key participant in the drafting of Colombias 1991 Constitution. M-19 kept its promise to society. This commemoration is a vindication of peace, not violence, said Correa.

People waiting in line to see Simon Bolivar's sword at the Quinta de Bolivar Museum; January 17, 2023. NATHALIA ANGARITA

For Correa, discussing the significance of Bolivars sword creates opportunities for reflection and dialogue on how museums contribute to building a culture of peace. The country needs national unity. This is President Petros current stance and echoes the sentiments expressed by M-19 Commander Jaime Bateman many years ago. In his concluding remarks to the news media, Correa reiterated the purpose of the commemoration: Join us in a thought-provoking dialogue on peace, where our aim is not to achieve consensus, but to embrace the richness and complexity of our shared story. The sword, beyond its connection to the M-19 50 years ago, embodies the very essence of our republics inception.

After Correas speech, there was a panel discussion about how the theft of the sword and its significance. Participants included Senator Maria Jose Pizarro (Historic Pact for Colombia coalition), the daughter of the late M-19 leader Carlos Pizarro, who led the guerrilla group to peace. Also present were Vera Grabe, the governments chief negotiator with the ELN militia and a former M-19 leader, and Otty Patino, Colombias High Commissioner for Peace and Grabes former comrade-in-arms. Grabe humorously recounted her unwitting involvement in the sword theft. I was at the University of the Andes, and after classes, I went down to Quinta de Bolivar to collect intelligence for M-19. But I had no idea we were going to steal the sword until it actually happened, said the only woman in the M-19 central command. Patino spoke about the historical significance of the theft. Taking the sword from the Quinta de Bolivar was a recognition of its significance as a symbol of the Liberator and the ideals he represented. M-19 added a new dimension to Bolivars revolutionary Latin American legacy.

Bolivars revolutionary vision of a unified Latin America independent of Spain is evident in writings like his Letter from Jamaica in 1815. Petro has laid claim to Bolivars ideas on many occasions. One of his first actions after he was sworn in as president on August 7, 2022 was to order the military to bring the weapon  a symbol of revolution  to Bolivar Square in the historic center of Bogota. Impeccably attired soldiers dutifully executed the order of the former guerrilla leader, and Senator Pizarro formally presented Petro with the sword, marking the inauguration of Colombias first left-wing government in decades.

Otty Patino (far left), Maria Jose Pizarro (center left) and Vera Grabe (far right) during the panel discussion at the National Museum. NATHALIA ANGARITA

Pizarro told how in 1990, when she was 13 years old, she and other children of former M-19 guerrillas presented the sword to President Cesar Gaviria as a peace gesture from a new generation who wanted an end to the long-running conflict. Pizarro recently tweeted a photo of her own handcrafted, miniature replica of the sword, saying I made this replica in 2007 for an exhibit about my father, Carlos Pizarro... I have kept it as a symbol of peace, sovereignty, integration, Latin American identity and unity, and national reconciliation.

Despite the call for peace and harmony, some opposition politicians criticized the commemoration events. Senator Paloma Valencia, from the right-wing Democratic Center party, tweeted her disapproval: It is highly inappropriate for the government to use its power to commemorate the demands of a terrorist group like M-19. It is shameful that they celebrate the theft of Bolivars sword and glorify memories of terrorism like kidnappings, murders of union leaders, and the takeover of the Palace of Justice. These actions are abhorrent and deserve strong condemnation. The use of armed struggle is and will always be unacceptable. We must never glorify violence. Another opposition senator, Maria Fernanda Cabal, also condemned the commemoration events: This show of making the theft of Bolivars sword look like a revolutionary act, the statements made by [recently released convicted drug trafficker] Carlos Lehder, and the disgraceful smear campaign against General Arias Cabrales are all part of a strategy to rewrite our history.

Simon Bolivar's sword in the Quinta de Bolivar Museum is on exhibit until January 30. NATHALIA ANGARITA

The sword with a guard grip featuring a relief map of Gran Colombia will be removed from public display in two weeks. But Simon Bolivars dreaming of sheathing his famous weapon once and for all will have to wait until social justice is ultimately achieved in Colombia.

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Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - January 19, 2024) - Skyharbour Resources Ltd.'s (TSXV: SYH) (OTCQX: SYHBF) (FSE: SC1P) (the "Company") is pleased to invite shareholders and the investment community to come to the Vancouver Resource Investment Conference hosted by Cambridge House International on January 21st and 22nd at the Vancouver Convention Centre West. Skyharbour's management will be at the Company's booth #604 throughout the conference and we look forward to greeting investors and conference attendees. You can register for the conference at:

https://cambridgehouse.com/vancouver-resource-investment-conference

During the conference, Skyharbour's President and CEO, Jordan Trimble, will be giving a Skyharbour corporate presentation Sunday, January 21st at 2:40 PM in Workshop 1.

The Vancouver Resource Investment Conference has been the epicentre of junior mining investment in Canada for 25 years and attracts over 5000 mining investors annually. Previous years have been attended by former Prime Minister Stephan Harper and former President of Mexico Felipe Calderon.

The VRIC will include a marketplace of over 300 investment opportunities in the mining industry, spanning early-stage exploration to advanced producing mines. For more information and/or to register for the conference please visit:

https://cambridgehouse.com/vancouver-resource-investment-conference

About Skyharbour Resources Ltd.:

Skyharbour holds an extensive portfolio of uranium exploration projects in Canada's Athabasca Basin and is well positioned to benefit from improving uranium market fundamentals with one of the largest mineral tenure holdings in the region. Skyharbour has acquired from Denison Mines, a large strategic shareholder of the Company, a 100% interest in the Moore Uranium Project which is located 15 kilometres east of Denison's Wheeler River project and 39 kilometres south of Cameco's McArthur River uranium mine. Moore is an advanced-stage uranium exploration property with high-grade uranium mineralization at the Maverick Zone that returned drill results of up to 6.0% U 3 O 8 over 5.9 metres including 20.8% U 3 O 8 over 1.5 metres at a vertical depth of 265 metres. Adjacent to the Moore Uranium Project is Skyharbour's recently optioned Russell Lake Uranium Project from Rio Tinto, which hosts historical high-grade uranium drill intercepts over a large property area with robust exploration upside potential. The Company is actively advancing these projects through exploration and drill programs.

Skyharbour has joint-ventures with industry-leader Orano Canada Inc. and Azincourt Energy at the Preston and East Preston Projects, respectively, whereby Orano and Azincourt earned majority interests in the projects through exploration expenditures, cash payments and share issuances. Skyharbour also has several active earn-in option partners including: ASX-listed Valor Resources at the Hook Lake Uranium Project; CSE-listed Basin Uranium Corp. at the Mann Lake Uranium Project; CSE-listed Medaro Mining Corp. at the Yurchison Project; Yellow Rocks Energy, a private Australian entity, at the Wallee and Usam Island projects; North Shore Energy Metals at the South Falcon Project; and TSX-V listed Tisdale Clean Energy at the South Falcon East Project which is host to the Fraser Lakes Zone B Uranium and Thorium Deposit.

Collectively, Skyharbour has now signed earn-in option agreements with partners that total to potentially over $33 million in partner-funded exploration expenditures, over $26 million worth of shares being issued and over $19 million in cash payments coming into Skyharbour, assuming that these partner companies complete their entire earn-ins at the respective projects.

Skyharbour's goal is to maximize shareholder value through new mineral discoveries, committed long-term partnerships, and the advancement of exploration projects in geopolitically favourable jurisdictions.

Skyharbour's Uranium Project Map in the Athabasca Basin:

https://www.skyharbourltd.com/_resources/maps/SKY_SaskProject_Locator_20231219_V2.jpg

To find out more about Skyharbour Resources Ltd. (TSX-V: SYH) visit the Company's website at www.skyharbourltd.com.

SKYHARBOUR RESOURCES LTD.

"Jordan Trimble"



Jordan Trimble

President and CEO

For further information contact myself or:

Nicholas Coltura

Investor Relations Manager

Skyharbour Resources Ltd.

Telephone: 604-558-5847

Toll Free: 800-567-8181

Facsimile: 604-687-3119

Email: [email protected]

NEITHER THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THE CONTENT OF THIS NEWS RELEASE.

The securities offered have not been, and will not be, registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act") or any U.S. state securities laws, and may not be offered or sold in the United States or to, or for the account or benefit of, United States persons absent registration or an applicable exemption from the registration requirements of the U.S. Securities Act and applicable U.S. state securities laws. This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy securities in the United States, nor in any other jurisdiction.

This release includes certain statements that may be deemed to be "forward-looking statements". All statements in this release, other than statements of historical facts, that address events or developments that management of the Company expects, are forward-looking statements, including the Private Placement. Although management believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance, and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements if management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements, include market prices, exploration and development successes, regulatory approvals, continued availability of capital and financing, and general economic, market or business conditions. Please see the public filings of the Company at www.sedar.com for further information.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/194753
TIANJIN, China, Jan 19, 2024 - (ACN Newswire) - - 'HELLO TIENS, HELLO 2024', TIENS Global Business Launch Conference was held at the TIENS International Health Industrial Park in Tianjin, China, on January 14.

Mr. Li Jinyuan, Chairman of TIENS Group, delivered the conference keynote, stating that TIENS would cooperate with technology giants such as Microsoft, Amazon, Huawei and Tencent to implement a comprehensive digital transformation. As an essential part of this transformation, the 'V-Moment' was released. V-Moment's 'intelligent' education platform has a global footprint and allows distributors to receive professional training anytime, anywhere, regardless of language or region.

Another release was the 'perfect' supply chain system, the 'Flying Lion Supply Chain', designed to improve the efficiency and competitiveness of the Group's global business operations. Additionally, as a global multinational enterprise, the TIENS Group launched a global resource-sharing platform, 'MetaPoint Global Elites Club', relying on its global advantages to join hands with elites in various fields worldwide to contribute to global sustainable development.

Closing the conference, TIENS Group presented a solemn flag ceremony to encourage all major business divisions to forge ahead in 2024. In the new year, TIENS will continue to uphold its mission of "Healthy Mankind and Serving Society", actively embrace and master AI technology, and join hands with families worldwide to share a better tomorrow.

Media Contact

Ms Liang, TIENS Group

Email: [email protected]

Website: www.tiens.com

About TIENS Group

TIENS Group was founded in 1992 by Mr Li Jinyuan in Tianjin, China, joining international markets in 1995. During those years of development and self-transcendence, TIENS has become a global enterprise spanning biotechnology, health management, hospitality and tourism, education and training, e-commerce and international trade. With business covering 224 countries and territories and branches established in 117, the Group has achieved global business coverage and has formed strategic alliances with many first-class companies worldwide.

From TIENS International Health Industrial Park, the Group has formed a global health industry network involving a health science and technology innovation system, health production and logistics system, customer support system, health education system, and health investment and financial system, gathering talent flow, logistics, capital flow and information flow. ?This global industrial chain covers a supply chain, a centralized product procurement system and a global network system with a shared e-commerce platform for its million-level membership and nearly 50 million family users.

Copyright 2024 ACN Newswire . All rights reserved.
MUSTANG RIDGE, Texas , Jan. 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Grossman Law Offices, with its principal office in Dallas, TX , shares news regarding the fatal truck accident resulting in the death of 50-year-old Arnulfo Perez and the injury of three others. The accident occurred on December 22, 2023 at around 12:50 p.m. in Mustang Ridge , TX.

Details About the Mustang Ridge Truck Accident:

Omar Perez-Paredes , 25; Israel Perez-Paredes , 19; and Arnulfo Perez were heading eastbound in a Ford Econoline van on S.H. 130 at the intersection with U.S. 183 when the accident happened. According to reports, a northbound 18-wheeler, operated by an unnamed 80-year-old man, allegedly ran a light. This led to a serious T-bone collision involving the front-end of the 18-wheeler and the passenger side of the Ford van.

Arnulfo Perez died from his injuries in the crash. Omar and Israel Perez-Paredes both suffered suspected severe injuries, while the man in the 18-wheeler had minor injuries. EMS transferred the injured victims to local medical facilities to receive treatment. The investigation of this accident is ongoing.

Related Reading: The Media Is Missing Serious Accidents: What Is to Be Done?

About Grossman Law Offices:

Grossman Law Offices is a Texas -based personal injury and wrongful death firm with a commitment to educating the public about road safety awareness. For more than 30 years, their firm has highlighted crashes that don't make the news.

For More Information:

For additional details about this incident or to learn more about Grossman Law Office's public outreach and educational initiatives, please visit our website at Grossman Law Offices or contact us at 866-513-3847 .

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SOURCE Grossman Law Office, P.C.
THE HAGUE, Netherlands, Jan. 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Affidea Group, the leading pan-European provider of integrated healthcare including advanced diagnostics, out-of-hospital services and Centres of Excellence, today announces the appointment of Frans van Houten as a non-executive Supervisory Board Member. A recognised visionary in healthcare innovation and technology sectors, Frans van Houten will leverage his leadership skills and insights to significantly enhance Affidea's aspirations for growth and digital innovation.

Frans van Houten spent nearly 30 years at Royal Philips and is highly regarded for his strategic insights. In his role as CEO, he transformed the organisation from a diversified conglomerate into a focused health technology solutions company. This transformation doubled Philips' organic growth and profitability. Additionally, Frans van Houten currently serves on Novartis' Board of Directors, contributing to one of the world's foremost pharmaceutical companies, and also advises the private equity sector.

Frans van Houten stated: "Affidea stands as a fast-growth European healthcare champion renowned for its innovative spirita spirit I am thrilled to support. The company's longstanding dedication to enhancing every aspect of the care pathway and improving patient outcomes through technological innovation resonates with my own. My commitment is to the seamless integration of cutting-edge, patient-centric solutions that promise quality, personalised and efficient healthcare experiences throughout the care continuum. I look forward to collaborating with the Supervisory Board and management team to unlock Affidea's complete growth potential."

Michal Chalaczkiewicz, Chairman of Affidea's Supervisory Board and Investment Partner at GBL, added: "We are delighted to welcome Frans van Houten to Affidea's Supervisory Board, joining the other distinguished members. His appointment represents a significant addition, embodying GBL's commitment as a shareholder in Affidea. We are looking forward to working alongside Frans and leveraging his expertise as we build the future path of this exciting journey together with the teams at Affidea and GBL".

Guy Blomfield , CEO of Affidea Group and Chairman of the Management Board, stated: "We warmly welcome Frans to our Supervisory Board. His expertise in pioneering innovative, connected and patient-focused solutions will be relevant to Affidea's strategic growth plans. His track record in digital transformations is particularly important. The company will benefit from his experience in standardising and optimising processes and data management, leading to optimal care pathways and, progressively, the adoption of AI solutions."

Fran van Houten's expertise in healthcare innovation and advanced technologies is in harmony with Affidea's ambitions to develop connected, patient-centric solutions, including telehealth services and wearable technologies, aimed at enriching the entire care pathway. This strategic direction will enable the company's medical professionals to access and respond to patients' needs remotely, thus enhancing healthcare outcomes.

Frans van Houten joins the Supervisory Board alongside Affidea management, GBL representatives and Dimitris Moulavasilis who joined as a non-executive Director in 2022. Dimitris Moulavasilis is the current CEO of Diaverum and former CEO of Affidea.

Affidea is majority owned by GBL (Groupe Bruxelles Lambert), an established investment holding company committed to strong governance and leadership across its portfolio of businesses. GBL is a leading investor in Europe , focused on long-term value creation and relying on a stable and supportive family shareholder base.

Find out more about Affidea's Supervisory Board members on: www.affidea.com/who-we-are/ownership-leadership

About Affidea Group

Affidea Group is Europe's leading integrated healthcare provider, including advanced diagnostics, out-of-hospital services, and Centres of Excellence in orthopaedics and cancer care. Founded in 1991, the company operates more than 340 medical centres in 15 countries, serving over 13 million patients annually. Due to its high standards in patient safety, Affidea is the most awarded provider of medical imaging services in Europe. More than 90% of the award-winning centres with 5 stars on the Eurosafe Wall of Stars, accredited by the European Society of Radiology in Europe, are Affidea centres.

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/942742/Affidea_Group_Logo.jpg

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/affidea-group-appoints-frans-van-houten-former-ceo-of-philips-as-a-new-supervisory-board-member-302038777.html

SOURCE Affidea BV
STAMFORD, Conn. , Jan. 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The American Institute For Foreign Study (AIFS) , a global leader in cultural exchange and educational travel, commemorates its 60th anniversary in 2024. Embracing the future, AIFS reaffirms its leadership role on the global stage.

Pioneer in Cultural Exchange and Educational Travel Turns 60

Founded in 1964 by Sir Cyril Taylor , AIFS established itself as part of the era's surge in educational diplomacy, joining programs like the newly formed Peace Corps. AIFS played a pivotal role providing cross-cultural understanding and enriching educational experiences. The inaugural AIFS program sent 1,500 American high school students abroad in the summer of 1965. Since then, over 1.8 million individuals have participated in AIFS programs.

In 1967 with the assistance of Senator Robert F. Kennedy , AIFS created the AIFS Foundation, an independent, not-for-profit, 501(c)(3) charity and a U.S. Department of State designated sponsor of the J-1 Exchange Visitor Visa Program, now called BridgeUSA. Throughout six decades, AIFS has solidified its position as a trusted leader in international exchange, offering innovative experiential programs. AIFS remains dedicated to its vision of "bringing the world together."

"Our program participants undergo transformative experiences, breaking down cultural barriers and gaining insights into different ways of life," states Jack Burg , President and CEO of AIFS. "As we celebrate 60 years, AIFS remains dedicated to supporting international education and cultural exchange programs, contributing to the broader mission of global understanding."

In 2023, AIFS collaborated with hundreds of high schools and universities worldwide, nearly 500 international employers, thousands of host families and au pairs, and over 1,000 American camps, providing programs for over 35,000 participants. AIFS programs include:

Throughout its history, AIFS has consistently sought new and innovative approaches to empower upcoming generations to embrace cultural exchange and it will continue to do so. "We take immense pride in what we have accomplished and our impact on the world over the last 60 years," says William L. Gertz , Chairman of AIFS. "This anniversary is a time to look at the past with gratitude, but more importantly, to look at the future with enthusiasm. Our mission continues."

Headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut , AIFS operates 12 global offices and offers programs in 29 countries worldwide.

For a historical perspective on the evolution of international education and insights for its future, please contact AIFS Chairman, Bill Gertz . Bill can be reached by contacting Mike Liberty at (203) 399-5187 or via email at [email protected].

American Institute For Foreign Study (AIFS)  1 High Ridge Park  Stamford, CT 06905  (866) 906-2437  www.aifs.com

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/aifs-marks-60-years-as-a-pioneer-in-cultural-exchange-and-educational-travel-302039524.html

SOURCE American Institute For Foreign Study
DAVOS, Switzerland , Jan. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Hisense Group Chairman Jia Shaoqian was recently invited to attend the 54th Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland . This year's forum focused on the timely theme of "Rebuilding Trust in the Future" and how to inject confidence back into global recovery and renewal efforts. Mr. Jia represented Hisense Group at events including the "Recharging Growth in China " discussion and delivered a speech at the "China Night" gala. Through high-level discussions and engagements with international leaders from business, government and beyond, he shared Hisense's vision and strategies for continued innovation and success on the global stage.

"Globalization is an overarching trend. Despite the current challenges, we remain confident in the future," Mr. Jia explained at the "China Sustainable Growth Forum". More and more global companies are gravitating towards advanced technologies as they transform and upgrade high-end industries. Consequently, low-end products are being substituted by mid-to-high-end alternatives, a trend that aligns with Hisense's own trajectory.

Hisense reported double-digit growth in both revenue and profits for 2023, with increases significantly in China as well as various international markets.

The home appliance industry is highly competitive on a global scale. It relies heavily on an integrated system encompassing R&D, manufacturing, marketing, and supply chains. Major brands therefore have significant worldwide reach. To thrive internationally, Hisense localizes these functions through a unified production, marketing and R&D approach. This fosters collaboration across national borders.

Mr. Jia said: "Regardless of nationality, it's important that businesses respect local culture, social norms, consumer behaviors, and R&D practices wherever they operate. As such, Hisense continues to provide employment, fulfill economic duties and our social responsibilities. If it involves a local acquisition, the original brand must be respected and reshaped to enhance the longevity of the operation."

Currently, Hisense operates 34 industrial parks, 25 R&D centers, and 66 overseas companies worldwide. Its 2023 revenue is projected to surpass 200 billion yuan , with overseas markets accounting for over 42% of the group's total. Through regional hubs, Hisense aims to deeply understand local consumer needs and develop cutting-edge, high-quality products tailored for each market.

At the same time, Hisense's extensive worldwide network provides mutual support in supply chain management, inventory turnover, and delivery cycles. This significantly cuts logistics costs, resource consumption, and emissions.

But true localization takes time and patience, not just slogans. Chinese enterprises must embrace diverse cultures with tolerance and mutual understanding as they integrate globally. In this regard, open cooperation is essential in rebuilding trust in a changing competitive environment.

"Our confidence in the future of globalization remains steadfast. The world may have regional, linguistic, and cultural differences, but the people's aspirations for a better life, their pursuit of prosperity and their desire for equal exchange and friendship are the bond that unites us all," Mr. Jia said.

Balancing growth with innovation, inclusivity and sustainability remains a persistent challenge as we revitalize the global economy. Hisense is committed to engaging constructively in both international competition and cooperation, guided by an ESG mindset. Hisense will continuously strive to reduce our carbon footprint, utilize more recyclable materials in its home appliances, and be a force for positive change in the world.

About Hisense

Hisense is a leading global home appliance and consumer electronics brand. Its business covers multimedia products (with a focus on Smart TVs), home appliances, and IT intelligent information. Hisense currently operates in more than 160 countries.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/chairman-jia-shaoqian-at-davos-2024-hisense-remains-focused-on-globalization-and-primed-for-success-in-an-uncertain-world-302039129.html

SOURCE Hisense Group
The Company is hoping to strengthen itself in the process of growing as a global industry leader in online real estate business

TOKYO , Jan. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- GA technologies Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Minato District, Tokyo /CEO: Ryo Higuchi / Securities code: 3491/ "Company'') announced the acquisition of the equity of RW OpCo, LLC (Headquarters: State of Delaware, U.S.A. / CEO: Kevin Ortner / "RW OpCo") by GA technologies through its U.S. based subsidiary GA technologies USA Inc.

The Company will be acquiring the full ownership of the rental management and investment real estate marketplace businesses originating in the U.S. operated by RW OpCo to make the company the US subsidiary of the Company.

The closing of the acquisition is scheduled on March 1st, 2024 . The acquisition shall be executed under a condition that the two parties agreed upon the fulfillment of the conditions mentioned in the Foreclosure Sale Agreement.

Through this management integration, the Company will expand its business foundation in the U.S. area, and firmly establish itself in the online real estate market as a global player.

Key Highlights:

The Company is announcing its decision on the 100% acquisition of the equity of RW OpCo, which owns the 2nd largest SFR (Single-Family Rental) online marketplace business in the U.S.

This management integration will allow the Company to accelerate its speed to become a global player to push its overseas business expansion one step further at 52 locations throughout 6 countries using Renters Warehouse's network.

Purpose and Expectations of this business synergy

Under the business mission of "Create a world-leading company that inspires people through the power of technology and innovation." ; the Company is helping to facilitate the digital transformation of the real estate industry of Japan which is still clinging to old fashion ways of business practice such as paper and FAX. The Company is utilizing technology like AI, RPA etc. in order to help the industry to work more efficiently. By transforming the whole real estate transaction fully online, the Company is able to provide customers with a more satisfying transaction experience. Throughout series of action of making digital changes in the traditional market of real estate, the Company has been awarded as a DX (digital transformation) brand from the Tokyo Stock Exchange Growth Market for 3 consecutive years*1.

The investment real estate one-stop service brand "RENOSY" operated by the Company focuses on providing a seamless customer experience incorporating technology such as AI etc. The service supports investors in searching, buying, selling and property management fully online. In a research conducted by TOKYO SHOKO RESEARCH, LTD, "RENOSY" has been the No.1 service in sales performance in the existing apartments market from 2020 to 2023 in Japan *2.

Renters Warehouse, part of RW OpCo, founded in 2007, is focusing on providing the rental management and investment real estate marketplace businesses targeting both individual investors and institutional investors in the U.S. It owns the second largest SFR online marketplace business in the U.S , and has a similar business vision with the Company of incorporating technology into its service in order to provide a seamless customer experience to its stakeholders including investors, residents, and property management companies in the aim of pushing the digital transformation in the real estate industry in the U.S. that is also still evolving.

Through this management integration, the Company is able to step into the U.S. market and expands its business into 52 locations throughout 6 countries through the business network owned by Renters Warehouse. Renters Warehouse manages approximately 13,800 properties under its rental management business, and is expecting to see the Company expand to more different locations with the current network it has centering in major cities in the States.

With a total of 30 trillion* 3 dollars , the United States has the biggest Single-Family Rental market in the world in terms of market size. The Company is looking to provide a fast and safe real estate transaction experience with the application of technology along with its global expansion.

About our global business

The Company is based on two major businesses, "RENOSY marketplace business", and "ITANDI SaaS business" primarily in the real estate industry. The Company has been strengthening itself in all sectors in the industry with an non-organic method through active mergers and acquisitions.

Regarding the overseas business, it acquired the full ownership of "Shenjumiausuan", which operates a Japanese investment real estate platform targeting investors residing in the Chinese cultural regions, which has a top share in the market, in 2020. It then acquired the full ownership of Dear Life Corporation Ltd, which operates a rental brokerage business in Thailand targeting Japanese expats that have been relocated to Thailand with a top market share in the country*4. The Company has been putting its effort in both national and International business development.

The management integration with RW OpCo will not only accelerate its process of global expansion from Southeast Asia to the United States , but also going to position the Company in a leading position in the online real estate market. It allows the Company to provide a more convenient, safer way of doing business with the implication of technology.

Schedule of the business synergy

Board of Directors Conference January 19th, 2024 Execution Date January 19th, 2024 Acquisition Execution Date March 1st , 2024*5

Comments from the representatives

RW OpCo LLC, representative, Kevin Ortner

We are thrilled about this merger and excited to join forces with the exceptional leadership team of GA technologies. Together, we look forward to building an industry-leading company in the single-family rental industry, enabling us to expand and strengthen our services to our valued investors and residents, driving innovation, and creating lasting value for GA's stakeholders.

GA technologies Co., Ltd's CEO, Ryo Higuchi

Along with the business value of "Create a world-leading company that inspires people through the power of technology and innovation," we have been working hard on making innovative changes in the real estate industry in Japan for 10 years, since the start of our business in 2013. The market size of investment real estate in Japan is about 65 trillion Japanese yen *6, which is quite massive. It is still important for us to cultivate our domestic business in Japan ; however, we do not leave our goals of becoming a global enterprise and providing a world-leading service behind. The ownership acquisitions of a company in Mainland China in 2020, and a company in Thailand in 2021 pushed us towards the goal. This management integration will allow us to step into the investment real estate market of the U.S. , which has a market size approximately 9 times*7 bigger than Japan .

Both CEO, Kevin Ortner from RW OpCo and I and all the board members have been talking about this for many times that "Whether you are in Japan or the U.S. , we want to make real estate investment easier for people, just like getting started with stock investment." Renters Warehouse owns the second largest Single-Family Rental online marketplace business in terms of market size in the States. On the other hand, RENOSY is the No.1 service regarding sales performance in the existing investment real estate market field in Japan . Together, we are aiming for the same business goals. We both believe that PropTech is the future trend for the real estate industry; therefore, we truly welcome the joining of Renters Warehouse. Together we will be promoting the idea of PropTech together in the global market.

We are excited to partner up with Renters Warehouse to cultivate the markets for both Japan and the U.S.A. We shall move forward together to achieve our ultimate goals, following our corporate values.

Youtube URL: https://youtu.be/rttz6wSvAmw

About GA technologies Co., Ltd.

Company: GA technologies Co., Ltd.

Representative: Ryo Higuchi

Website: https://www.ga-tech.co.jp/en/

Headquarters: 40F of Sumitomo Fudosan Roppongi Grand Tower , Roppongi 3-2-1, Minato District , Tokyo Year of founding: March 2013

Businesses:



The operation of the investment real estate service "RENOSY"

SaaS type of BtoB PropTech product development

Sub companies: ITANDI Co., Ltd, Modern Standard Co., Ltd , Shenjumiausuan Co., Ltd , and 18 other companies

About RW OpCo, LLC

Company: RW OpCo, LLC

Representative: Kevin Ortner

Website: https://www.renterswarehouse.com/

Headquarters: 1209 Orange Street Wilmington Delaware, F States

Year of Founding: October 2016*8

Businesses: Rental management and investment real estate marketplace businesses

*1 "Digital transformation brand award" awarded for 3 years in a roll / co-hosted by Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and Tokyo Stock Exchange : https://ssl4.eir-parts.net/doc/3491/tdnet/2140180/00.pdf *2 Press release released by GA technologies Co.,Ltd. "Online real estate investment service brand RENOSY tops as No.1 in sales performance in both newly-built, existing apartments market nationally" (releasing date: May 9th, 2023 ) ( https://www.ga-tech.co.jp/news/bucxsh9vzcy31ibr/ ) *3 Based on the figures from Nuveen Real Estate "Single-Family Demand"; exchange rate 1USD = 145.24 Japanese yen *4 The size of market share is calculated based on the financial information disclosed by Ministry of Commerce, Thailand *5 The equity acquisition execution is executed based the fulfillment of the conditions mentioned in the sale agreement *6 Data reference: "Report of the Analysis about Real Estate Investment: Market size research on investment real estate market / purposes divided particularly about "investment real estate"" conducted by NLI Research Institute (March, 12, 2021) *7 The market size of SFR for investment purposes in the U.S. is approximately 4 trillion dollars ; Exchange rate: 1USD = 145.24 Japanese yen , which is about 581 trillion Japanese yen ; The figure is based on the data from Nuveen Real Estate "Single-Family Demand" *8 Date of incorporation of RW OpCo; an operating company that was predecessor to this entity was established in 2007

Media Contact:

Judy Yu

[email protected]

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SOURCE GA technologies Co .,Ltd.
WASHINGTON , Jan. 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), the leading authority of the global cruise industry, today announced that Royal Caribbean Group President and CEO Jason Liberty has been appointed Chairman by its Board of Directors. Liberty succeeds Pierfrancesco Vago , executive chairman of MSC Cruises S.A. who served in the role since January 2021 .

"On behalf of the CLIA community including ocean, river, and specialty cruise lines, suppliers, business partners, travel advisers, and agencies, I would like to congratulate Mr. Liberty on his appointment as CLIA chair. Mr. Liberty assumes the chairmanship at a time when the industry is building on the momentum of strong demand and our members are advancing ambitious sustainability initiatives in pursuit of achieving net-zero emissions by 2050," said Kelly Craighead, president and CEO of CLIA. " Mr. Liberty is a highly versatile and strategic leader who will help us build on this resurgence of travel and realize our global operating ambitions."

"I would also like to thank Mr. Vago for his leadership as chair over the past three years, navigating challenging times and creating a solid foundation for the industry's future growth," Craighead added.

Liberty became Royal Caribbean Group's president and CEO in early 2022, following a career spanning nearly two decades in the cruise industry and having served as the company's Chief Financial Officer for many years. Last year, he drove powerful gains in the Group's business, becoming one of the top performing stocks of the year. He stewards three industry-leading brands, Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises and Silversea, known for game-changing innovations in their respective industry segments; as well as joint ventures in Germany -based TUI Cruises and Hapag-Lloyd Cruises, of which the company is a 50% owner.

"I am excited and honored to lead this organization as we enter a new era of cruising. With consumer demand continuing to accelerate, we are doubling down on our commitment to decarbonization and sustainable growth, ensuring that we are not only investing in our oceans and communities, but preserving them for generations of travelers to come," Liberty said. "I look forward to working with CLIA leadership and our partners around the world to further position cruise vacations as an accessible and responsible option for today's travelers that create positive ripple effects across the globe."

Cruise is one of the fastest growing sectors of travel and tourism and is forecasted to reach 106% of 2019 levels in 2023with 31.5 million passengers sailingand approximately 35 million passengers in 2024.

The global chair for CLIA provides leadership to the CLIA Global Executive Committee and the Board of Directors, responsible for establishing the overall strategic direction of the association on behalf of its cruise line members representing 95% of the world's ocean-going cruise lines. As part of CLIA's long-term strategy, CLIA member lines have set inspiring sustainability goals, and each year the CLIA member fleet becomes more efficient as member lines embrace new technologies, innovations and, as available, the uptake of sustainable alternative fuels.

CLIA provides an important and unified voice for the global cruise line industry representing cruise lines, suppliers, business partners, and a robust travel advisor community.

About the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA)

Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) is the preeminent cruise trade association, providing a unified voice for the industry and its members as the leading authority of the global cruise community. CLIA represents oceangoing member lines which comprise 95% of global cruise passenger capacity, including the world's most prestigious ocean, river, and specialty cruise lines, as well as a business community of leading ports, destinations, shipyards and maritime product and service providers, and the largest network of travel professionals who specialise in cruise travel. Together with its members and partners, CLIA supports policies and practices that foster safe, secure, healthy and sustainable cruise operations; tourism strategies that maximise the socioeconomic benefits of cruise travel; and technologies and innovations that protect and preserve our planet. The organization's global headquarters are in Washington, DC , with regional offices located in North and South America , Europe , and Australasia .

For more information, please visit cruising.org or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, X (formerly Twitter), and YouTube with our handle @CLIAGlobalor on LinkedIn.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/jason-liberty-president-and-ceo-of-royal-caribbean-group-named-chairman-of-cruise-lines-international-association-302039692.html

SOURCE Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA)
VANCOUVER, BC , Jan. 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ - Luminex Resources Corp. (TSXV: LR) (OTCQX: LUMIF) (the "Company" or "Luminex") is pleased to announce that at a special meeting of securityholders held earlier today (the "Meeting"), Luminex shareholders and Luminex optionholders voted overwhelmingly in favour of the resolution (the "Arrangement Resolution") approving the proposed acquisition of Luminex by Adventus Mining Corporation by way of a plan of arrangement (the "Arrangement").

85,855,189 Luminex shares, representing 49.36% of the issued and outstanding Luminex shares and 4,430,000 Luminex stock options ("Luminex Options") representing 78.48% of the issued and outstanding Luminex Options as at the record date of December 12, 2023 , were voted at the Meeting. The Arrangement Resolution was approved by approximately: (i) 99.97% of the votes cast by Luminex shareholders; (ii) 99.97% of votes cast by Luminex shareholders and Luminex optionholders, voting together as a single class; and (iii) 99.94% of the votes cast by Luminex shareholders, excluding the votes cast by certain persons as required by Multilateral Instrument 61-101 Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions.

The Arrangement is expected to be completed on January 25, 2024 , subject to approval by the Supreme Court of British Columbia and satisfaction or waiver of certain other closing conditions.

For a more detailed description of the Arrangement, please refer to the Company's management information circular dated December 15, 2023 .

About Luminex

Luminex Resources Corp. is a Vancouver, Canada based precious and base metals exploration and development company focused on gold and copper projects in Ecuador . Luminex's inferred and indicated mineral resources are located at the Condor Gold-Copper project in Zamora-Chinchipe Province , southeast Ecuador . Luminex also holds a large and highly prospective land package in Ecuador .

Further details are available on the Company's website at https://luminexresources.com/.

To receive news releases please sign up at https://www.luminexresources.com/contact/contact-us/.

Follow us on: Twitter, Linkedin or Facebook.

LUMINEX RESOURCES CORP.

Signed: "Marshall Koval"

Marshall Koval , CEO and Director

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information

Certain statements and information herein, including all statements that are not historical facts, contain forward-looking statements and forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Such forward-looking statements or information include, but are not limited to, statements regarding receipt of approval of the Supreme Court of British Columbia; satisfaction or waiver of closing conditions; closing of the Arrangement and the timing thereof. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements or information can be identified by the use of phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "will" occur or be achieved.

With respect to forward-looking statements and information contained herein, the Company has made numerous assumptions including among other things, assumptions about general business and economic conditions, the prices of gold and copper, and anticipated costs and expenditures. The foregoing list of assumptions is not exhaustive.

Although management of the Company believes that the assumptions made and the expectations represented by such statements or information are reasonable, there can be no assurance that a forward-looking statement or information herein will prove to be accurate. Forward-looking statements and information by their nature are based on assumptions and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the Company's actual results, performance or achievements, or industry results, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements or information. These factors include, but are not limited to: risks associated with the business of the Company; business and economic conditions in the mining industry generally; the supply and demand for labour and other project inputs; changes in commodity prices; changes in interest and currency exchange rates; risks relating to inaccurate geological and engineering assumptions (including with respect to the tonnage, grade and recoverability of reserves and resources); risks relating to unanticipated operational difficulties (including failure of equipment or processes to operate in accordance with specifications or expectations, cost escalation, unavailability of materials and equipment, government action or delays in the receipt of government approvals, industrial disturbances or other job action, and unanticipated events related to health, safety and environmental matters); risks relating to adverse weather conditions; political risk and social unrest; changes in general economic conditions or conditions in the financial markets; changes in laws (including regulations respecting mining concessions); and other risk factors as detailed from time to time in the Company's continuous disclosure documents filed with Canadian securities administrators. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking information, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/luminex-resources-securityholders-overwhelmingly-approve-adventus-mining-merger-302039873.html

SOURCE Luminex Resources Corp.
RECOGNIZED FOR DISCOVERIES IN GENE IMPRINTING & IMPACT OF ENVIRONMENTAL EXPOSURES ON PREGNANCY, PRENATAL DEVELOPMENT

ARLINGTON, Va. , Jan. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- March of Dimes, the leading organization fighting for the health of moms and babies, is pleased to announce Marisa Bartolomei , PhD, as the recipient of the 2024 March of Dimes Richard B. Johnston , Jr., MD Prize. This annual award honors an outstanding scientist who has advanced the science that underlies our understanding of pregnancy, birth, and prenatal development. Dr. Bartolomei is a Co-Director of the Epigenetics Institute at the University of Pennsylvania's Perelman School of Medicine, where she is also the Perelman Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology.

Over her 30-year career, Dr. Bartolomei has made instrumental discoveries on the function and expression of certain genes, called imprinted genes. These genes, whose proper expression is critical for healthy pregnancy and fetal development, can be severely affected by numerous factors, including environmental exposures throughout life and pregnancy.

" Dr. Bartolomei's astounding body of work on how the abnormal expression of imprinted genes can lead to severe developmental errors and devastating diseases for babies has brought us closer to the development of critical diagnostic and therapeutic interventions," said Dr. Emre Seli , Chief Scientific Officer at March of Dimes. "I am incredibly excited and honored to present Dr. Bartolomei with this award. She exemplifies the spirit of the prize through her dedication to bridging the divide between science at the bench and medicine at the bedside so the work we do today can improve outcomes for moms and babies tomorrow."

This award, named in honor of Dr. Johnston , Professor Emeritus of Pediatrics at the University of Colorado and a former Medical Director at March of Dimes, carries a cash award and was created as a tribute to Dr. Jonas Salk , developer of the polio vaccine. It is part of March of Dimes' research strategy to address the multi-faceted nature of the maternal and child health crisis. To date, six recipients have gone on to win the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

Throughout her career, Dr. Bartolomei's research has addressed the epigenetic mechanisms of genomic imprinting and germline reprogramming as well as the impact of early environmental exposures on epigenetic gene regulation. Imprinted genes, unlike traditional genes, normally express only one copy (one from the mother or one from the father). When things go wrong, as with an epigenetic mutation, these genes will express either both or neither of its copies. This can cause devastating developmental errors during pregnancy that lead to serious disease.

Dr. Bartolomei succeeded in identifying one of the first imprinted genes in 1991. Her later work identified connections between imprinted genes and early developmental disorders like Beckwith-Wiedemann Syndrome, which causes babies to grow too big in the womb and predisposes them to cancer, and Silver-Russell Syndrome, which causes babies to grow too slowly in utero. Her continued work in other related areas has improved our understanding of gene reprogramming, defects in expression, and the impact of environmental exposures, like Bisphenol A (BPA) and phthalates, on healthy development. This work has revealed the critical role of imprinted genes in healthy development, opening new possibilities to prevent and cure disease.

"We are truly just getting started with imprinted genes," Dr. Bartolomei said. "As the scientific community continues to discover the vital role these genes have in development, others are doing work on new screening tests, therapeutics, and interventions to ensure that imprinted genes are expressed properly, and if they are not, to invent treatments that can be administered to avoid the worst outcomes. And for me, this award is truly exhilaratingwhen I look at past awardees, some of whom have been important mentors and influenced my career, it's really special."

March of Dimes will present the award to Dr. Bartolomei at the 2024 Annual Meeting of the Society for Reproductive Investigation in Vancouver, British Columbia on March 16, 2024 .

Dr. Bartolomei received her BS from the University of Maryland and PhD from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. She completed postdoctoral training at Princeton University with Dr. Shirley Tilghman , President Emerita Princeton University. In 1993, Dr. Bartolomei was appointed as Assistant Professor at the University of Pennsylvania, rising to Professor in 2006. She was elected as a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2014 and is a Member of the National Academy of Sciences.

Find more information about the Prize here.

About March of Dimes

March of Dimes leads the fight for the health of all moms and babies. We support research, lead programs, and provide education and advocacy so that every family can have the best possible start. Building on a successful 86-year legacy, we support every pregnant person and every family. To learn more about March of Dimes, please visit marchofdimes.org .

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SOURCE March of Dimes Inc.
On Monday 15 January, at the inauguration of the Congress of the Future in Santiago, President Gabriel Boric stated that artificial intelligence, the theme of the 13th version of the conference, will play an important role in the search for our missing detainees. He was referring to the Search Plan to find over 1,000 individuals who were victims of the Augusto Pinochet dictatorship (1973-1990), which his Administration presented on August 30, 2023, on the eve of the September 11 commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the coup detat that ousted Salvador Allende, the socialist president.

The plan, spearheaded by Justice Minister Luis Cordero, is an initiative that is intended to become a permanent State policy. According to Justice data, after the dictatorship in Chile there were 1,469 victims of forced disappearance and of these, 1,092 are missing detainees, while 377, who were executed, are missing as well. So far only 307 have been identified.

To embark on this new search, which has already been initiated by the courts, Cordero tells EL PAIS that he is working with two main sources. On the one hand, the judicial investigations, which comprise millions of pages. And on the other, the administrative records of the cases that are scattered around state agencies. These include the Human Rights Program, created in 1997, which falls under the Ministry of Justice, as well as previous investigations in military Prosecutors Offices (which used to close the cases) and the files that provided the basis for the 1991 National Commission for Truth and Reconciliation Report, driven by the former president, Patricio Aylwin (1990-1994), and in which an account of the victims was given for the first time.

Typewritten documents

Unsholster, a company specialized in data analysis, data science and software development, whose general manager is the civil engineer Antonio Diaz-Araujo, is behind the technological analysis of the information. The Human Rights Program has already digitalized the information, while the Judicial Branch is 80% digitalized. The firm was awarded the project in a bidding process in the context of the Search Plan  it is in charge of the implementation of artificial intelligence.

Something of relevance in this investigation is that the judicial files, separated according to each case, were processed in the old Chilean justice system (changed in 2005), which implies that the judges inquiries are on paper  most of them have the pages sewn into a notebook by hand, written on typewriters, and there are even several handwritten parts. These are the ones containing statements, black and white photographs, photocopies of photos, forensic reports and old police reports.

However, in addition, the judicial inquiries that have been undertaken since 2000 will provide a more up-to-date and crucial basis of information in the analysis. Since then, hundreds of cases that had been shelved during the dictatorship have been reopened by judges with exclusive dedication to cases of human rights violations with sentences.

Cordero points out that there is a lot of information in the hands of the State and there is no human capacity to process it, because it needs to be interconnected. For example, there are testimonies that appear in some files and not in others. And, in addition, depending on the judges, there were lines of investigation, so there may have been precedents that were useful for some and not for others. For this reason, the justice minister says artificial intelligence can play a key role, as he believes that in these cases, the cross-referencing of information will be crucial.

All that information is in judicial and administrative files, and what digitization accomplishes first is to integrate them in one place. And then to work with artificial intelligence, which allows us to reduce the investigation gaps using algorithms, which are being tested, and which can read, for example, dates, names, places, for instance, in those files, the minister adds.

4.7 million pages and counting

Unsholster is currently in the pre-project stage, before it starts programming, Diaz-Araujo explains to EL PAIS. But we have already touched on most of the file types that we will need to deal with, he says. The documents that have been coming in, scanned sheet by sheet, are in folders, in PDF format, and therefore do not correspond to a logic that allows data to be searched because they are recorded as images. For this reason, the first step has been to start applying OCR (Optical Character Recognition) technology so that they can be transformed into data.

They already have information  which does not yet include the thousands of files of the Judicial Branch  totaling 46,768 PDF files, which amounts to more than 4.7 million pages. If a person were to read every one of those pages, out loud and without understanding or relating facts, they would probably spend eight hours a day reading for 27 years, explains the civil engineer.

Once those files are moved to pages, Diaz-Araujo says, a big classification tree is created, which allows you to classify pages that have images, manuscripts, typewritten pages, or Word-style files. And then you start to apply, on each one of them, the best OCR for each type of page, because the key, he adds, lies in what material is brought to each one.

Another stage, he explains, is to create different types of dictionaries and entities that can be learned with use. For example, nicknames of people, places, streets (many have changed names since the dictatorship), ways of writing and dates.

This implies, he says, creating a topology of entities in the reading, using technology, of each of the texts that is capable of rapidly correlating different pages, people, places and dates in a highly flexible way. He gives an example: Many of the offenders may have nicknames, and several of them may be written in different ways, but that doesnt mean that they wont be linked. What you do is create technology that is capable of suggesting other correlations to the analyst as they occur over time.

Therefore, he elaborates, there is artificial intelligence in the classification of documents; there is high intelligence in transforming documents from an image to searchable data and then, there is a lot of it, in the creation of entities that enable the connection of some documents with others. And, finally, the most necessary thing in a platform is that it should be about the possibility of competing algorithms, with artificial intelligence or without, on this data. But it should not be bound to a technology, because the biggest issue is being open to new technologies of the future. If you keep it closed, it becomes a stumbling block.

He continues: Another key point of this platform is that the original data, and the transformed data, are retained. But you can continue to create other data on top of that. There is no time machine that kind of freezes the ability to produce more algorithms and more information with new platforms in the future.

Contreras and Krassnoff

Five months after technology was first applied to the nearly 47,000 documents of Unsholsters Human Rights Program, it is already possible, thanks to the implementation of the initial OCR on the identification documents, to find thousands of mentions of at least four military officers who were part of Pinochets secret police, the feared DINA (National Intelligence Directorate).

Manuel Contreras, its director general, sentenced at the time of his death in 2015 to 526 years in prison for hundreds of crimes, appears 2,800 times; Pedro Espinoza and Miguel Krassnoff, both serving sentences in Punta Peuco prison, 2,079 and 2,954 mentions, respectively. And Marcelo Moren Brito, who was the torturer of Angela Jeria, the mother of former socialist president, Michelle Bachelet, 2,284 times.

For now they are only mentions. But from now on, names, facts, dates and places can be linked and related, says Diaz-Araujo.

Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition
CHICAGO , Jan. 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Monport, a distinguished leader in the laser engraving industry, proudly announces the rapid delivery of its diverse range of laser engraver machines. From the compact CO2 Laser Engraver to the powerful Fiber Laser Engravers, Monport sets a new standard in efficiency and reliability, ensuring prompt delivery to customers.

Advertising The Marvels Of Co2 Laser Engraving

Monport showcases an impressive lineup of CO2 Laser Engravers tailored to various needs and specifications. Monport sets a new standard in laser engraving with our cutting-edge products, exemplified by the Monport 40W Lightburn-Ready CO2 Laser Engraver & Cutter, the epitome of precision with Lightburn compatibility and a compact design for versatile applications. For high-performance engraving and spacious work areas suited for larger projects, experience excellence with the Monport 80W Built-in Chiller CO2 Laser Engraver & Cutter. Our commitment to innovation shines through in every detail, setting Monport apart in the world of laser engraving.

The Attraction Of The Unseen

Monport is set to redefine what's visible and what's not in the world of laser engraving, promising a grand performance that transcends the ordinary. Brace yourselves for an enchanting journey where precision meets passion, and every Monport product is a star.

Medium Power, Maximum Impact: Monport's 60-80 Laser Engraver Machine

Monport is proud to present our latest innovations in laser engraving technology, exemplified by the Monport 60W CO2 Laser Engraver & Cutter. With an automated focus on precision engraving and a compact size for enhanced efficiency and portability, this machine is designed to meet the demands of diverse applications. Take your projects to the next level with the Monport 80W Built-in Chiller CO2 Laser Engraver & Cutter, featuring a powerful 80W laser and a built-in chiller system for extended usage. Whether you're working on intricate designs or large-scale projects, Monport delivers the performance and versatility you need for success.

Fast Shipping Matters

Monport addresses the demand for convenience in today's fast-paced world by committing to swift and reliable delivery services. The company's fast-shipping policy applies to all products, prioritizing customer satisfaction through timely deliveries.

High Power, Unmatched Precision: Monport's 100-150W Laser Engravers

Monport leads the way in industrial laser engraving with our powerful and reliable machines. Experience the pinnacle of safety and precision with the Monport 100W CO2 Laser Engraver & Cutter, FDA-approved for unparalleled safety and reliability. Tailored for industrial applications, this high-powered engraving solution boasts a generous 40" X 24" work area.

For those handling extensive projects, Monport introduces the 150W Built-in-Chiller CO2 Laser Engraver & Cutter. With a massive 64" X 40" work area, this machine ensures seamless operation, while the built-in chiller system guarantees continuous performance. Elevate your industrial engraving capabilities with Monport, setting new standards for efficiency and reliability in every project.

All Roads Lead To Monport

The promise lies in the assurance that Monport's products are closer than ever, ready to adorn creative sanctuaries. From CO2 Laser Engravers to Fiber Laser wonders, Monport's repertoire is a testament to pushing the boundaries of what's possible.

Built-In-Chiller Laser Engravers

Monport emphasizes cooling with state-of-the-art engraving machines featuring built-in chiller systems. Monport continues to redefine excellence in laser engraving technology with the introduction of the Monport 130W Built-in Chiller CO2 Laser Engraver & Cutter. Engineered for optimal cooling, this cutting-edge machine ensures consistent performance, making it the ideal choice for large-scale engraving projects. Unleash your creativity without limits, as Monport combines precision, power, and innovative cooling solutions to set a new standard in the world of large-scale laser engraving.

A Canvas Of Creativity

Monport's outline is a glimpse into a tapestry of endless possibilities, guiding through features and specifications, showcasing the potential for creativity to flourish. Each Monport product is a stroke in the masterpiece waiting to be created.

Fiber Laser Engravers

Monport introduces a range of Fiber Laser Engravers, combining power and precision for intricate marking. Monport proudly introduces the future of laser engraving with our latest innovations. Experience high-speed marking with precision using the Monport 30W Fiber Laser Engraver & Marking Machine. Its compact design, measuring 5.9"X5.9", ensures versatility for a wide range of applications, making it an indispensable tool for precision marking.

For an even more efficient and user-friendly experience, Monport presents the GP50 Integrated Fiber Laser Engraver & Marking Machine. Featuring electric lifting for easy operation and boasting 50W of power, this machine ensures swift and precise engraving. Monport continues to lead the way in advancing technology, providing solutions that redefine the capabilities of fiber laser engraving for a diverse array of applications.

As Monport takes a bow, presenting a mesmerizing spectacle of laser engraving marvels, we extend an invitation to join us in this journey where titles are attractive, outlines are enchanting, and every product at Monport is a star. The stage is set, the curtain rises, and the symphony of innovation awaits your applause.

Company: Monport Laser

Contact email: [email protected]

Pre-sales Phone: (+1)332-251-1208

Monport Laser Website: https://monportlaser.com/

Monport Address: Monport Tech Inc. 300 LENORA ST 878, SEATTLE, WA , 98121-2411, UNITED STATES

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/monport-revolutionizes-laser-engraving-with-lightning-fast-delivery-of-cutting-edge-products-302039383.html

SOURCE Monport Laser
 Internationally renowned DJ, OSCAR and 7x GRAMMY-award winning producer and songwriter to receive Music for Life Award 

CARLSBAD, Calif. , Jan. 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- NAMM (The National Association of Music Merchants), the largest global not-for-profit music trade organization, will officially open The NAMM Show with an Industry Insights address from NAMM President and CEO John Mlynczak to thousands of attendees at The NAMM Show, the largest global gathering of the music industry, happening in Anaheim, CA starting Thursday, January 25 through Sunday, January 28 .

As part of Mlynczak's Thursday morning on-stage session, which will set the stage for the industry's successful navigation into the future of music industry and innovations, he will also have a collection of special guests joining him, including internationally renowned DJ, OSCAR, and 7x GRAMMY-award winning producer and songwriter Mark Ronson .

Ronson will be honored with NAMM's highest Music for Life award in recognition of his lifelong contributions to music and commitment to inspiring music makers.

In addition to the award, Mlynczak will interview Ronson on a variety of topics including his early musical influences, and his views on the rise of AI in music creation. The British-born Ronson is known for his eclectic genre-spanning work that includes the recent soundtrack he executive produced, "Barbie," and successful music with the likes of Dua Lipa , Lady Gaga , Bruno Mars and the late Amy Winehouse .

"The NAMM Show is the platform to showcase the industry's incredible innovation, unbelievable products and, of course, industry icons. Mark Ronson's work sits at the epicenter of innovation, technology and art," says John Mlynczak , NAMM president and CEO. "His contributions to the music industry are unparalleled, and we are so excited to start the show by awarding him NAMM's highest honor and having a conversation to hear more about his storied musical journey."

In addition to the opening Industry Insights, highlights for the show will include halls showcasing 1,600 exhibitors representing 3,000 brands and more than 200 industry and educational sessions for NAMM member communities, including: retail, brands, professional audio, music technology, live event production, music education, artists, nonprofit and community leaders, college music business students and more.

Learn more at www.namm.org.

Media Contacts

NAMM Communications - John Dolak , Director

[email protected]

619.735.4028

Jeanne O'Keefe

The Lippin Group for NAMM

[email protected]

818.399.2464 / 201.317.6618

About NAMM

The National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) is the not-for-profit association with a mission to strengthen the $19.5 billion music products industry. NAMM is comprised of 15,400 global member companies and individual professionals with a global workforce of over 475,000 employees. NAMM events and members fund The NAMM Foundation's efforts to promote the pleasures and benefits of music and advance active participation in music-making across the lifespan. For more information about NAMM, please visit namm.org. The 2024 NAMM Show will be held at the Anaheim Convention Center January 25 to 28.

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/namm-show-announces-mark-ronson-as-featured-guest-at-industry-insights-to-open-2024-show-302039630.html

SOURCE NAMM (National Association of Music Merchants)
WASHINGTON , Jan. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- As part of NASA's efforts to enable more access to space, four private astronauts are in orbit following the successful launch of the third all private astronaut mission to the International Space Station . Axiom Space astronauts lifted off at 4:49 p.m. EST on Thursday from Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida .

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket propelled the company's Dragon spacecraft carrying Axiom Mission 3 (Ax-3) crew members Commander Michael Lopez-Alegria , Pilot Walter Villadei, and Mission Specialists Marcus Wandt and Alper Gezeravci into orbit. The crew will spend about two weeks conducting microgravity research, educational outreach, and commercial activities aboard the space station.

"Congratulations to Axiom and SpaceX on a successful launch! Together with our commercial partners, NASA is supporting a growing commercial space economy and the future of space technology," said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson . "During their time aboard the International Space Station , the Ax-3 astronauts will carry out more than 30 scientific experiments that will help advance research in low-Earth orbit. As the first all-European commercial astronaut mission to the space station, the Ax-3 crew is proof that the possibility of space unites us all."

Beginning at 2:30 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 20 , NASA will provide coverage of the SpaceX Dragon's docking, hatch opening, and welcoming remarks on the NASA+ streaming service. Coverage also will air live on NASA Television, the NASA app, YouTube, and the agency's website. Learn how to stream NASA TV through a variety of platforms, including social media.

The Dragon spacecraft will dock autonomously to the forward port of the station's Harmony module as early as 4:19 a.m. Saturday . Hatches between Dragon and the station are expected to open after 6 a.m. , allowing the Axiom crew to enter the complex for a welcoming ceremony and start their stay aboard the orbiting laboratory.

Once aboard the station, Expedition 70 crew members, including NASA astronauts Jasmin Moghbeli and Loral O'Hara , ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Andreas Mogensen , JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Furukawa Satoshi , and Roscosmos cosmonauts Konstantin Borisov , Oleg Kononenko , and Nikolai Chub, will welcome the Ax-3 crew.

The Ax-3 astronauts are expected to depart the space station Saturday, Feb. 3 , pending weather, for a return to Earth and splashdown at a landing site off the coast of Florida .

NASA's efforts, including private astronaut missions, are opening access to low Earth orbit for private industry allowing the agency to become one of many customers in a thriving commercial economy in space. As NASA enables commercial space, the agency also is readying for Artemis missions to the Moon in preparation for Mars.

For more information about NASA's commercial low Earth orbit economy development, visit:

https://www.nasa.gov/humans-in-space/commercial-space/

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SOURCE NASA
TORONTO , Jan. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ - Pluribus Technologies Corp. (TSXV: PLRB) ("Pluribus" or the "Company") announces it has entered into a forbearance agreement (the "Forbearance Agreement") with National Bank of Canada (the "Lender"), in connection with the repayment of a loan advanced by the Lender, which currently has a principal amount outstanding of approximately $23.0 Million (the "Loan"), pursuant to the terms of a secured credit agreement dated April 27, 2022 , as amended (the "Credit Agreement"), among the Company, certain of its subsidiaries and the Lender. Subject to the terms of the Forbearance Agreement, the Lender has agreed to forbear from exercising its rights and remedies under the Credit Agreement in respect of or arising out of certain defaults under the Credit Agreement (and as set out in Forbearance Agreement) until the earlier of (i) March 29, 2024 and (ii) the occurrence or existence of any Forbearance Termination Event (as defined in the Forbearance Agreement).

The Forbearance Agreement provides for the continuation of the Company's previously announced strategic review process, which involves a review and evaluation of strategic alternatives that may be available to the Company to further enhance the Company's growth, development and prosperity in the short and long terms, with the goal of maximizing shareholder value.

The Company will provide an update when further disclosure is required or otherwise appropriate.

About Pluribus Technologies Corp.



Pluribus is a technology company that is a value-based acquirer and operator of small, profitable business-to-business technology companies in a range of verticals and industries. Pluribus provides its acquisitions access to experienced sales and marketing resources, strategic partnership opportunities, a diverse portfolio of customers in different geographical markets and enabling technologies to create new revenue streams and provide the opportunity for these companies to grow in their respective markets. When market conditions are conducive to raising capital at reasonable costs, Pluribus focuses on rapidly acquiring and integrating new acquisitions to accelerate growth. When the environment does not support this, Pluribus focuses on implementing strategies to maximize organic growth and increase cashflow from operations in its existing portfolio companies. For more information, please visit: pluribustechnologies.com.

Forward-Looking Information

Certain information in this press release constitutes forward-looking statements under applicable securities laws. Any statements that are contained in this news release that are not statements of historical fact may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. Forward-looking information in this press release includes, but is not limited to, statements with respect to whether the Lender will continue to forbear from exercising their rights and remedies on expiry of the Forbearance Agreement and what the terms or timing of such a transaction or such continued forbearance might be, the Company providing an update when further disclosure is required or otherwise appropriate, the business plans of the Company, including the completion of future acquisitions, the Company management's expectation on the growth, profitability and performance of its portfolio companies, the Company's ability to acquire business-to-business technology companies in the future, the Company's ability to grow its portfolio companies and the Company achieving a positive transaction as a result of its strategic review process. Forward-looking statements are often identified by terms such as "may", "should", "anticipate", "expect", "potential", "believe", "intend" or negatives of these terms and similar expressions.

Forward-looking statements are based on certain assumptions, including the Company's ability to manage a complex portfolio of companies effectively; and the Company's ability to raise sufficient financing to continue its acquisition strategy. Other assumptions include industry trends, the availability of growth opportunities, and general business, economic, competitive, political, regulatory and social uncertainties will not prevent the Company from conducting its business. While the Company considers these assumptions to be reasonable based on information currently available, they are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies and they may prove to be incorrect. Forward-looking information speaks only to such assumptions as of the date of this release.

Readers are cautioned that the foregoing is not exhaustive. Readers are further cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements as there can be no assurance that the plans, intentions or expectations upon which they are placed will occur. Such information, although considered reasonable by management at the time of preparation, may prove to be incorrect and actual results may differ from those anticipated. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance. The purpose of forward-looking information is to provide the reader with a description of management's expectations, and such forward-looking information may not be appropriate for any other purpose. Except as required by law, the Company disclaims any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, events or otherwise. Forward-looking statements contained in this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement.

Neither the TSXV nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSXV) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release.

Contact:

Richard Adair

Chief Executive Officer

Pluribus Technologies Corp.

1 (800) 851-9383

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SOURCE Pluribus Technologies Corp.
Fair to raffle off Great Wolf Lodge gift card, feature resources for Hispanic families

CHARLOTTE, N.C. , Jan. 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- North Carolina has one of the highest rates of charter enrollment growth in the nation. If your family has chosen or is interested in choosing a charter school, come celebrate this learning option at a fun-filled charter school fair at the Great Wolf Lodge Water Park on Saturday, Jan. 27 .

More than 150 students, parents, and educators are expected to attend the free community event. Besides booths with information about charter schools in Charlotte and surrounding areas, the fair will be jam-packed with engaging activities for kids, including a DJ, face painter, and photobooth. Prizes, including a $400 gift card to Great Wolf Lodge , will be raffled out during the event.

Participating schools include Socrates Academy, Metrolina Regional Scholars Academy, Apprentice Academy, Carolina International School, Charlotte Lab School, Community Public Charter School, KIPP North Carolina Public Schools, Telra Institute, and more.

Through a partnership with The LIBRE Initiative, a nonprofit dedicated to amplifying the voice of the U.S. Hispanic community, this year's fair will feature expanded resources and support for Spanish-speaking families. Hispanic students are the fastest-growing community in charter schools nationwide according to the National Alliance of Public Charter Schools.

Hosted by the NC Association for Public Charter Schools, the school fair is timed to coincide with the history-making celebration of National School Choice Week 2024, which will feature tens of thousands of school choice celebrations across all 50 states, including more than 800 in the Tar Heel State. In Charlotte , the 550 S. Tryon building will mark the Week by lighting up in the official School Choice Week colors, yellow and red.

"With families choosing public charter schools at an unprecedented rate in North Carolina , what better time is there to celebrate these unique public schools than during National School Choice Week ? This event will highlight some of the great things going on in our schools," says Rhonda Dillingham , Executive Director of the NC Association for Public Charter Schools.

The NC Association for Public Charter Schools exists to advance quality educational opportunities for all North Carolina children by supporting and expanding successful charter schools.

Great Wolf Lodge Water Park is located at 10175 Weddington Rd. in Concord . Admission to the park is not included with this event.

Families can learn more and RSVP for the school fair at nccharterschoolfair.com.

National School Choice Week (NSCW) informs, inspires, and empowers parents to discover the K-12 education options available for their children, including traditional public, charter, magnet, online, private, and homeschooling. Every January, tens of thousands of schools, organizations, and individuals plan unique events and activities to shine a positive spotlight on effective education options in their communities. The Week is a project of the nonpartisan, nonpolitical National School Choice Awareness Foundation.

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SHENZHEN, China , Jan. 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Resiners, the pioneer and innovator of resin machines, has recently unveiled a budget-friendly bubble removal machine designed specifically for beginners in resin crafting. The AirLess Lite Bubble Removal Machine is available for purchase and local delivery on Amazon's US, UK , and EU sites. It can also be purchased globally and shipped worldwide through the official Resiners website (Amazon's UK , EU will be available at the end of the month).

"Resin crafting's primary difficulty stems from the existence of air bubbles in the resin mixture. Resiners' latest innovation addresses this challenge by leveraging our patented UltraVacu technology. This advanced technology efficiently extracts air from the resin container, ensuring the removal of all bubbles during the extraction process," Chuck, the founder of Resiners said. "With the slogan "Lite Price Ignites Your Bubble-Free Dreams!", Resiners aims to bring the joy of bubble-free resin project to a wider audience."

The new product, a lite version of the previously launched AirLess Bubble Removal Machine, offers unparalleled efficiency and effectiveness. What sets the AirLess Lite apart is its exceptional affordability without compromising on quality. The AirLess Lite excludes real-time vacuum level display and the 5/9-minute timer function, resulting in a more cost-effective solution that does not compromise the overall effectiveness and user experience for beginners.

Some of the other distinguishing features include:

Super-Efficient Bubble Removal: The AirLess Lite stands out in the market with its -93Kpa Ultra-High Vacuum and Advanced Rotor Tech. The -93Kpa Ultra-High Vacuum ensures stability and efficiency during operation, while the Advanced Rotor Tech enhances the durability and reliability of the equipment.

The AirLess Lite stands out in the market with its -93Kpa Ultra-High Vacuum and Advanced Rotor Tech. The -93Kpa Ultra-High Vacuum ensures stability and efficiency during operation, while the Advanced Rotor Tech enhances the durability and reliability of the equipment. User-friendly one-click auto operation: Designed with simplicity in mind, the machine's user-friendly interface is perfect for beginners. With its one-click auto operation feature, beginners can easily trigger the bubble-removing technology.

Designed with simplicity in mind, the machine's user-friendly interface is perfect for beginners. With its one-click auto operation feature, beginners can easily trigger the bubble-removing technology. Medium to low viscosity resin compatibility: The AirLess Lite is more suitable for medium and low viscosity resin, offering effective bubble removal. The AirLess model is suitable for low, medium, and high viscosity resin.

The AirLess Lite is more suitable for medium and low viscosity resin, offering effective bubble removal. The AirLess model is suitable for low, medium, and high viscosity resin. Instructional video: Resiners has also provided beginners with an instructional video on the brand's official website, offering the perfect solution for determining the optimal bubble removal time for the machine.

As the first and top brand of resin machines, Resiners strives to enhance crafting efficiency and improve the overall crafting experience. Resiners' dedication to providing top-quality auxiliary machines for resin craft has earned them recognition and admiration from over 200 influencers and media outlets worldwide.

About Resiners

Resiners, our brand name, stems from the creative fusion of "resin" and "ers," embodying the essence of a vibrant and dynamic community of resin crafting enthusiasts, creators, and artists who breathe life into the captivating world of resin art. Fueled by technology, creativity, and unbridled enthusiasm, we strive to make resin crafting accessible and rewarding to all. We offer innovative and user-friendly resin craft auxiliary machines, including the first-ever resin curing and bubble removal machines, further redefining artistic expression. Empowering resin lovers with innovative products, Resiners is "Where Art and Tech Meet", fostering a supportive space for passion and creativity to flourish, and celebrating the boundless joy of resin craftsmanship. For further inquiries or information about our products, please contact us via email at [email protected].

Official website: https://resiners.com/

https://www.facebook.com/Resiners_official-108613275109382

https://www.facebook.com/groups/973497910427117

https://www.instagram.com/resiner_official/

https://www.youtube.com/c/Resinersofficial

https://www.tiktok.com/@resiners_official

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SOURCE Resiners
Seoul Business Agency organized the Seoul Innovation Forum at CES 2024 in Las Vegas , where panel discussions and panel talks by Korean tech leaders took place.

SEOUL, South Korea , Jan. 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Seoul Business Agency (SBA), Seoul's innovation support organization working towards creating a smart city in Seoul , held the Seoul Innovation Forum at CES 2024 in Las Vegas on January 9th (local time). CES 2024 is the world's largest IT exhibition in Las Vegas , showcasing innovative technologies from global companies like Samsung, LG, and Google and startups from various countries.

To leverage this global exhibition for the worldwide expansion of Seoul and Seoul -based companies, the city of Seoul and SBA established the CES Seoul Pavilion within CES Eureka Park , consolidating Seoul's leading startup ecosystem. They also organized additional events for technological exchange, including the Seoul Innovation Forum.



The Seoul Innovation Forum saw the participation of around 200 individuals from domestic major corporations, mid-sized enterprises, startup support organizations, and unicorn companies. Representatives from leading Korean companies like Samsung, LG, and SK, exhibiting at CES 2024, shared insights into current technological trends. Representatives from Seoul -based major universities (8 institutions) and startup support organizations (4 organizations) who collaborated at CES 2024 Seoul Pavilion also brightened the forum.

The forum included discussions on CES 2024 technology trends centered around artificial intelligence (AI) and panel discussions on successful strategies for Korean companies to enter the U.S. market. It provided a networking opportunity for participants to share technological insights freely.



The opening keynote speech was delivered by NCsoft's CEO, Yoon Song-yi , emphasizing the advancement of AI technologies beyond Generative AI starting in 2023 and highlighting the role of AI-native companies in Korea's future.



The second session featured a panel talk with the CEOs of Noom (CEO Jung Se-joo ) and FiscalNote (CEO Tim Hwang ), both Korean unicorn companies with headquarters in the U.S. They shared their respective strategies for success as Korean companies in the U.S. market.



CEO Jung Se-joo of Noom highlighted the significant progress in the healthcare and AI industries at this year's CES. CEO Tim Hwang of FiscalNote also focused on developing generative AI industries and introduced industry trends involving active collaborations between open AI and startups. Various topics were covered during the forum, including a lecture by neuroscientist Professor Jang Dong -sun on human security, an issue prompted by the development of generative AI.



During the forum, Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon announced the plan to host 'Seoul Smart Life Week' (tentative name) in October 2024 , aiming for a global exhibition format where technology companies related to smart life, including those from CES 2024 and international cities, including Seoul , gather to discuss technological advancements and showcase innovative products.



Mayor Oh expressed pride in Seoul's innovative ecosystem, stating, "The innovation ecosystem of Seoul , the capital of South Korea , is sufficient to feel proud." He emphasized the vision of making Seoul Smart Life Week a global event like CES and invited the participation of forum attendees to realize this dream.

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SOURCE Seoul Business Agency
Working with AWS extends the reach of Thentia Cloud to an expanding global community of agencies and regulatory entities seeking to embrace IT modernization through their preferred cloud provider.

OKLAHOMA CITY , Jan. 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ - Thentia , a leading innovator in regulatory technology, is pleased to announce that it is now working with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to drive continued innovation in the public sector. Thentia is empowering regulators to seamlessly tap into the company's comprehensive regulatory assurance Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platform, Thentia Cloud, powered by AWS, fortifying the landscape of regulatory oversight.

"We are thrilled to be working with AWS as we persist in our commitment to deliver an enhanced experience for government agencies and regulatory entities globally." says Julian Cardarelli , CEO, Thentia. "By leveraging the power of AWS, we solidify our position as a clear leader and a versatile multi-cloud provider in our category, affirming our commitment to ongoing excellence."

Cardarelli adds, "With our world-class, fully integrated regulatory assurance platform now accessible on AWS, we strengthen our commitment to empower the public sector with sophisticated tools for unparalleled efficiency in fulfilling their mandate of public protection."

Other key benefits of Thentia's relationship with AWS include working with AWS engineers and architects to optimize Thentia Cloud's performance, security, compliance, and reliability. Partnering with AWS also helps ensure that Thentia Cloud remains at the forefront of the latest advances in cloud computing.

Designed for regulators by regulators, Thentia Cloud digitizes, streamlines, and consolidates all essential regulatory functions within a single and secure cloud-based environment. The platform is designed to empower regulators with a comprehensive 360-degree view of all licensee activities, giving them a much more modern, streamlined, and efficient way to work and ultimately meet their regulatory obligation to safeguard the public.

Trusted by millions of licensed professionals, businesses, and entities globally, Thentia has been recognized by regulators worldwide for its enhanced blend of technological innovation and regulatory proficiency. In addition to AWS, Thentia Cloud is available on other cloud providers including Google Cloud, IBM Cloud, and Microsoft Azure.

About Thentia

Thoughtfully built for regulators, by regulators, Thentia is driving regulatory transformation for hundreds of regulators and regulatory agencies worldwide with a platform that handles all key department functions including licensing, investigations, enforcement, fitness to practise, quality assurance, scope of practise, continuing education, board management, data analysis, and more. Thentia Cloud empowers regulators to transcend the constraints of legacy processes, custom-built solutions, and a web of disparate applications with a single unified 360-degree platform, setting new standards in efficiency and effectiveness.

Thentia Cloud is available on all major cloud providers, including Google Cloud, Amazon Web Services (AWS), IBM Cloud, and Microsoft Azure.

For more information, visit thentia.com .

For media inquiries, please contact:

Kerri-Lynn Kilbey

Communications Manager

T: (437) 703-9412

E: [email protected]

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SOURCE Thentia Corporation
John Way Brings Financial Expertise to Strengthen UpStream's Mission in Senior Healthcare

GREENSBORO, N.C. , Jan. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- UpStream, a leader in managed services for senior healthcare, proudly announces the appointment of John Way as Chief Financial Officer, effective January 2 nd. John Way , known for his vast experience in financial leadership across various industries, is set to drive UpStream's strategic financial initiatives, reinforcing the company's commitment to excellence in the senior healthcare sector.

Lankford Wade , CEO of UpStream, stated, "We are excited to have John Way join us. His expertise in finance and strategy and proven track record across a diverse set of organizations will play a crucial role as we continue to refine and strengthen our healthcare delivery model, ensuring the best possible outcomes for seniors."

John's career includes influential roles in organizations such as United Health Group, Proto Labs, and Virtual Radiologic. His contributions to these companies have been marked by a keen focus on initiatives that reshaped operational and financial frameworks. His unique perspective on the intersection of finance, technology, and healthcare makes him an ideal fit for UpStream. His strategic approach to financial management, together with his experience in technology-driven healthcare environments, aligns perfectly with UpStream's goals of delivering top-tier care to seniors.

John's appointment is timely as UpStream continues its dedication to providing high-quality healthcare services, currently supporting over 100k seniors through UpStream partnered practices. His depth of experience and strategic vision are anticipated to significantly bolster UpStream's financial and operational performance.

As John Way assumes his new responsibilities, UpStream acknowledges the substantial contributions of Brendan Shanahan , the outgoing CFO. His leadership and strategic vision have been pivotal in UpStream's growth and success. The company extends its heartfelt thanks to Brendan for his unwavering commitment and wishes him the best in his future endeavors.

About UpStream

UpStream Healthcare is at the forefront of providing managed services to improve healthcare for seniors. Its innovative platform integrates the efforts of physicians, pharmacists, and nurses in primary care practices, focusing on delivering better outcomes and value in senior healthcare.

Follow UpStream on LinkedIn

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SOURCE UpStream Care
DAVOS, Switzerland , Jan. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Director of BRI (Bank Rakyat Indonesia) (IDX: BBRI), Sunarso, participated in the World Economic Forum (WEF) 2024, held in Davos , from January 15 to 19, 2024 . During this event, Sunarso addressed critical topics pertinent to BRI, focusing on fostering inclusive economic growth and employment opportunities.

While Indonesia is poised to become a high-income country by 2041, global economic challenges have hindered its progress, resulting in stagnant economic growth, limited national credit expansion, and persistent extreme poverty rates. To tackle these challenges, Sunarso emphasized the need to establish an inclusive economic growth engine. BRI, a state-owned enterprise, recognizes the value of profitability, which can be reinvested to drive social impact and stimulate economic growth.

BRI's commitment to inclusive growth is evident through the Ultra Micro Holding initiative, which includes BRI, Pengadaian, and PNM. By December 2023 , this initiative integrated 37 million borrowers, reducing the number without financial access from 30 million in 2018 to around 14 million in 2023. BRI also empowers women entrepreneurs in the ultra-micro segment through PNM Mekaar. As part of this initiative, PNM disbursed IDR 41.57 trillion to 15 million women entrepreneurs, solidifying its position as the world's largest lending group, promoting gender equality and supporting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). BRI further promotes inclusivity through an "economy sharing" concept with over 740,000 AgenBRILink agents processing transactions worth IDR 1.427 trillion by December 2023 .

Embracing digital transformation, BRI harnessed the power of Artificial Intelligence (AI) through BRIBRAIN, a digital hub that consolidates AI and analytics capabilities. This initiative enhances customer engagement, fortifies anti-fraud and risk analytics, streamlines credit underwriting, automates smart services, and bolsters BRImo's performance.

BRI's sustainability commitment is also highlighted by loans to the Sustainable Business Activity Category (KKUB) sector, comprising 66.1% of its total loan portfolio. Through the BRI Menanam program, the bank planted 1.9 million seedlings across Indonesia by end of 2023, absorbing an estimated 875,013 kgCO2e.

These initiatives align seamlessly with the international priorities discussed at the World Economic Forum. "BRI remains committed to empowering the grassroots economy through small and medium-sized enterprises, bolstered by robust technological capabilities and grounded in sustainability principles, thus contributing value beyond profit," concluded Sunarso.

More information about BRI at www.bri.co.id

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SOURCE PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia Tbk (BRI)
The Federal Electoral Tribunal (TEPJF, its acronym in Spanish)  the body within the judiciary of Mexico that specializes in electoral matters  went through its worst institutional crisis a few weeks ago. A group of three judges  out of a plenary session made up of five  pressured its president, Judge Reyes Rodriguez, to resign early from office, 10 months before the formal end of his term. In his place, the majority bloc appointed Judge Monica Soto.

On the horizon of this maneuver are the general elections, scheduled for June 2. President Andres Manuel Lopez Obradors political project is seeking continuity in power. The TEPJF is the highest authority on electoral matters and is in charge of deciding whether an election is clean and if the results are valid. The Electoral Tribunal has the jurisdiction to annul a victory.

Control of the institution means a lot in political terms. The internal struggle began due to differences between the magistrates themselves, particularly between Rodriguez and Felipe de la Mata, head of the opposition group. However, as time went by, external political actors joined the struggle, which accelerated Rodriguezs fall from the presidency of the court.

Through a dozen sources, EL PAIS has reconstructed a crisis that has been brewing since the middle of last year, which finally exploded in December. This newspaper spoke with the five magistrates separately, during the first and second weeks of January. All except for Judge Soto  the new president of the Electoral Tribunal, who has called to move on from the episode  offered their own version of the conflict, on the condition that they not be recorded or quoted.

Everyone was aware that the voices of their counterparts would be collected for this chronicle. Individuals from all the magistrates offices were also consulted, as were witnesses to meetings. The conversations allowed dates, meetings and topics of discussion to be corroborated and contrasted. This helped to recreate the negotiations, the betrayals and the occasional screaming.

In the conversations, names of electoral lobbyists, judges and party leaders  who intervened in one direction or another in the conflict  came to light. They emerged either to overthrow Rodriguez, or to prevent his fall. Salvador Nava  the lawyer for Claudia Sheinbaum, the presidential candidate for the ruling party  has been referred to as one of the actors who exerted pressure from outside the court. Santiago Creel  campaign coordinator of Xochitl Galvez, the opposition coalition candidate  also intervened in the negotiations. Roberto Gil  a former senator and a powerful lawyer from the PAN, the largest conservative party in Mexico  was also summoned. Minister Norma Pina  president of the Supreme Court  tried to mediate during the rebellion against Rodriguez but the judge still ended up stepping aside.

The new president of the Federal Electoral Tribunal  Monica Soto  in an unofficial inaugural ceremony, flanked by Judge Felipe de la Mata (left) and Judge Felipe Fuentes. Moises Pablo Nava (Cuartoscuro)

Instability has marked the history of the TEPJF. The institution  which boasts of being independent and stable  has proven to be very fragile in the face of external political influences. Since the current justices were appointed by the Senate in 2016, the Electoral Tribunal has had five presidents, with none of them having been able to complete their four-year-long term. Experts maintain that the interference of outside actors is serious, especially in a key electoral year, when the presidency of Mexico, the two chambers of Congress, nine governorships and thousands of state-level posts are being contested. Added to this porosity is the fact that the bench has been incomplete (there should be seven judges, not just five), since the Senate  dominated by MORENA, the presidents party  hasnt elected replacements for the judges who left in October.

Former electoral councilor Alfredo Figueroa feels that this is the worst crisis that the institution has gone through. The role that the Tribunal will have in the coming months in the life and stability of the country is absolutely important we shouldnt toy with the notion that this institution could simply end up becoming a decorative element of public life. Thats why this crisis is so serious and so important. The court has a connection with legitimacy, but also with the governability of the country. It draws a lot of attention, [which I believe] comes from sources of power. What else is the purpose of intervening  with this degree of destruction  in institutions such as the [National Electoral Institute] and the Tribunal? It hits directly at the heart of a legal and legitimate election, he says, in an interview with EL PAIS.

The loneliness of the head judge

Rodriguez was a president who was left alone inside and outside the institution he directed (his only internal ally has been Judge Janine Otalora, with whom he now forms the minority bloc). Internally, Rodriguez imposed a policy of austerity in spending that bothered his counterparts, according to the testimonies collected. Judges Felipe De la Mata, Felipe Fuentes and Monica Soto  who make up the majority bloc  also feel that he led the court on his own, without taking them into account in the decisions made.

Since August of 2023, the magistrate had heard that three of his colleagues had begun to talk about the possibility of removing him from the presidency. He actually learned of this conversation from one of them, who  at that time  assured him they wouldnt participate in such a revolt. As the weeks went by, the rumor was seasoned with two additional elements, which, for Rodriguez, were worrying: one, that the government had supposedly decided that he wouldnt be the one to hand over the presidential certification to Sheinbaum (alreday taking for granted her triumph at the polls). And two, that neither MORENA  the ruling party  nor the candidate trusted him. On the contrary, they believed that he had the intention of obstructing their path to power. The versions had credibility for the magistrate, since President Lopez Obrador himself has expressed  on several occasions  his distrust of Rodriguez, whom he identified with former president Felipe Calderons (2006-2012) of the PAN, one of the presidents worst enemies.

Rodriguez approached two important officials in the Supreme Court of Justice. On August 21, for the first time, he informed Minister Pina that a rebellion was brewing in the TEPJF to overthrow him from the presidency. The magistrate also looked for an ally in Minister Arturo Zaldivar. In 2021  as president of the Supreme Court  Zaldivar had to deal with another institutional crisis, when a majority of justices deposed its then-president, Jose Luis Vargas. At that time, Zaldivar facilitated the transition of power to Rodriguez.

This time around, Zaldivar  before resigning from the Supreme Court to join Sheinbaums campaign  met with De la Mata, Fuentes and Soto. At the meeting  confirmed by one of the participants  the group made him aware of the reasons for the disagreement with Rodriguez, mostly related to the internal administration of the TEPJF. The minister advised them not to continue down the path of removing him from the presidency, given the proximity of the elections. He also suggested to Judge Rodriguez that he give in to the demands of the majority bloc to calm the waters. But then, Zaldivar disappeared from the scene, while President Pina waited all the way until December to intervene in the conflict.

Arturo Zaldivar at the Supreme Court, in November of 2022. He was president of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation until December 31, 2022. Gladys Serrano

The crisis continued and worsened. Through an intermediary, Rodriguez asked Sheinbaum if the rumors that she didnt trust him were true. He also suggested that they sit down and talk to clear away the doubts. The intermediary did the work and responded the same day that the candidate had no problem with him. The magistrate also made consultations  again, via intermediaries  to the Ministry of the Interior and the National Palace. Senior officials from both institutions responded in the same way: the maneuvering wasnt the work of the government.

EL PAIS has consulted two members of Sheinbaums inner-circle about the candidates role in the conflict. They have assured this newspaper that the former head of the Government of Mexico City had engaged in no interference. They also noted that the people who used her name to justify the removal of Rodriguez from the presidency did this without her knowledge or authorization.

Speaking into the recorder, Rodriguez affirms that one of the figures who backed up the rumor from Sheinbaums group was Salvador Nava, a former TEPJF magistrate and, today, the legal representative for MORENAs presidential candidate. Rodriguez confronted him on October 3, 2023. [People] told me that, on Claudias team, he was saying that they couldnt get along with me and that I wanted to screw them. He denied [this] and told me that those who spoke badly about me were Mario Delgado (the leader of MORENA) and the partys head of legal matters, Euripides Flores. He told me that they complained that I had meetings with businessmen, with the media and some journalists, such as Leo Zuckerman (a critic of the government), the magistrate recalls.

Nava has rejected Rodriguezs accusation. I told him that it was false, that I have no interest in harming him, that Ive never told anyone on the team that he has something against Dr. [Sheinbaum] or MORENA. In fact, during the meetings at work, jurisdictional issues are never discussed, theres nothing political there, the lawyer claims. He also denies having mentioned the party leaders.

Salvador Nava has had an important role in the Tribunal as a litigator on electoral matters following his departure from the institution in 2016. In his dual capacity  as a former magistrate and electoral lawyer, in addition to being a friend of De la Mata  Nava has long had the doors of the TEPJF wide open to him. For instance, in the second week of October,

De la Mata and Fuentes traveled to Havana to give conferences on democracy. Nava also attended the trip, invited by the Electoral Judicial School of the Federal Electoral Tribunal a body directed by Judge De la Mata. And then, following the internal revolt, Nava was present at Sotos first session as the new president of the Tribunal, on January 1.

In the purple circle, Salvador Nava, Sheinbaum's lawyer; in red, Judge Felipe Fuentes; and, in green, Judge Felipe de la Mata, during an official trip to Havana, in October of 2023, in an image shared on social media.

Rodriguez was distanced from the leaders of all three major federal parties. Representatives of MORENA, the PRI and the PAN tried to approach him to ask him to vote in a certain way on issues that interested them, according to the magistrates staffers. An orthodox judge, Rodriguez didnt agree to listen to the offers made by political leaders and government officials. Hence, given his closed-door attitude, when he sought help to stop his removal from the presidency, the party leaders let him fall. Mario Delgado even publicly celebrated his resignation.

Only Dante Delgado  leader of the Citizens Movement (MC)  advocated in his favor. The first week of December, the party leader called one of the magistrates of the rebel bloc and told him that it wasnt a good time to change the head of the Tribunal, just five months before the election. EL PAIS tried to speak with Delgado about his role in the conflict, but the politician didnt respond to the request for comment. Two judges from the majority group have confirmed that the MC leader made the call.

On December 8, the coordinator of Xochitl Galvezs presidential campaign  Santiago Creel  sought out Rodriguez but not to help him remain in office. Rather, he wanted to propose a smooth path towards his resignation, according to the magistrate. Rodriguez tells this newspaper that the PAN operative told him about a plan agreed between Marko Cortes  president of the PAN  and Judge De la Mata. The plan was for Rodriguez to leave the presidency and that Janine Otalora  in her capacity as senior magistrate  would temporarily take his place. A new president would then be elected from among Soto, De la Mata and Fuentes. According to the magistrate, Creel offered that the agreements be signed and that there be an honorary witness to serve as guarantor. It seemed like a viable proposal to Rodriguez, but it didnt go through because  as he claims  De la Mata didnt discuss it with his bloc, while Soto firmly rejected it.

Creel acknowledges that he spoke with De la Mata and Rodriguez to ask them to reach an agreement, but that his actions were never for or against anyone. He claims to have done it in a personal capacity, as a defender of public institutions. I told them to preserve the Tribunal, to privilege institutional interests over group or personal interests, he affirmed in an interview. I asked them  before this situation further weakened the Tribunal  to reach a consensual agreement, to make it last, to not continue beheading the institution, to maintain unity to face the most important election of this century. I told them that, for me, whats at stake are the institutions and that an internal conflict offers the foundation for external actors  with political interests  to intervene, because they see a weak institution.

EL PAIS asked Xochitl Galvez  through her spokesperson  if she was ever aware of her campaign manager getting involved in the court. The candidate of the opposition coalition  made up of the PAN, PRI and PRD  flatly replied that she had no knowledge of this.

Santiago Creel, during an interview in his office in Mexico City, in November 2023. Monica Gonzalez Islas

Dinner with Roberto Gil

On August 8, there was a dinner between Judge De la Mata and former PAN senator Roberto Gil in the latters law office. The meeting was confirmed by two participants. The figure of Gil in this story is relevant for several reasons. He was president of the Congressional Justice Commission that processed the appointment of the current TEPJF magistrates, back in 2016. He was president of the Senate and negotiated the controversial extension of the electoral judges terms. He was also the private secretary of former President Felipe Calderon  with whom he has a very close relationship  and continues to exert influence in the PAN through some senators.

Reyes Rodriguez worked with Gil in the Senate, before being appointed regional magistrate in 2013, from where he jumped to the TEPJF three years later. From De la Matas standpoint, Gil is Rodriguezs godfather and protector.

There are two different versions of what happened at that dinner. One comes from the magistrates environment. This story indicates that Gil proposed to De la Mata that a majority bloc be formed in the TEPJF between him, Rodriguez and Otalora, in view of the upcoming departure of two judges from the court in October, who were concluding their duties. There would be a plenary session of five judges and a new majority would have to be formed to govern the institution, without Fuentes or Soto. De la Matas entourage maintains that Gil wanted the new bloc to negotiate rulings with the candidates running in the 2024 election.

No evidence was provided for this accusation.

At the dinner, De la Mata didnt respond to the former senators alleged proposal. He told him that he was going to think about it. Shortly afterwards, he explains that Gil and Rodriguez began to pressure him to join the bloc. To do this  according to the same sources  they turned to a lawyer, a former colleague of De la Mata, with whom the magistrate has a conflict. First, Gil met with the lawyer, who was attempting to become a regional magistrate through a Senate appointment. After this meeting, Rodriguez hired her, so that  according to him  she wouldnt be left without a job. For De la Mata, it was clear that agreeing to Gils proposal would be by hook or by crook. These signals distanced De la Mata from Rodriguez and Otalora, bringing him closer to Fuentes and Soto.

Gil rejects this version of events. The former senator assures EL PAIS that, in the meeting  which was allegedly requested by De la Mata through an intermediary  the magistrate flaunted his ability to communicate with politicians and members of the Supreme Court, which had allowed him to place people who were close to him on the shortlists of candidate for regional magistrate positions (which the Senate was analyzing at the time). He was very proud of that operating capacity. And thats how he expressed it to me: that he was spearheading policy work that no one else on the Tribunal was doing so successfully, not even Reyes Rodriguez. I told him that internal solutions had to be found so that the Tribunal could enter the electoral process [from a place of strength and legitimacy]. I didnt mention any strategy of creating groups or majorities, [nor did I speak] about isolating anyone, Gil states.

The PAN politician maintains that De la Mata asked him for help to veto some candidates from the shortlists including the former colleague who he had clashed with. That was the reason why he asked me for the meeting. He wanted help boosting some profiles and he explicitly asked me for help vetoing [the appointment of] others, including that lawyer. The former senator claims that he didnt agree to this lobbying request.

Gil, when he was a senator, in August 2016. Isaac Esquivel Monroy (Cuartoscuro)

Gil adds that De la Mata also asked him to convince Rodriguez to resign as president of the TEPJF. He suggested that I ask him to resign so that De la Mata could assume the presidency, because the only one who could provide stability and dialogue was him, due to his good relationships within the Tribunal [and his ability to] dialogue with all the political actors. The proof of his success was in the shortlists for magistrates. I replied that I didnt know that the purpose of the meeting was to create coups detat. I didnt even accept the suggestion I wasnt going to be, in any way, a spokesperson for that type of thing, he insists.

The PAN member acknowledges that he did receive De la Matas former colleague, as well as other aspiring magistrates who sought him out, he claims, to ask for advice. He says that he didnt talk about De la Mata with the lawyer. Gil maintains that the Senate confirmed that the PAN leadership ordered the veto of the lawyers appointment, as the judge supposedly requested. This assertion couldnt be confirmed. However, whats clear is that the shortlist ultimately ended up being discarded, because no candidate gathered the necessary votes. Judge De la Mata was asked  through his spokesperson  if he wanted to respond to Gils accusations on the record. He declined.

The tragic dozen

The climax of the crisis occurred in the first two weeks of December. On Monday the 4th, De la Mata, Fuentes and Soto were deliberately absent from Rodriguezs annual report, which he had to deliver in his capacity as president of the TEPJF. And, by Friday the 15th, Sotos promotion was completed. That dozen days were the worst that Rodriguez faced amidst the months-long rebellion that demanded his head.

At dawn on Wednesday, December 6, Judge Felipe Fuentes received messages via WhatsApp from the president of the Supreme Court, Minister Pina, whom he has known for years (they met at a circuit court in Mexico City). A judge from the majority bloc affirms that the judge wrote that she didnt agree with what Fuentes, De la Mata and Soto were doing  she asked them to stop. The minister used phrasing that the group considered threatening, according to the same source. Far from giving in, the magistrates accused Pina of undue pressure and interference in the autonomy of the TEPJF. The judges envisioned a scenario of a high-profile institutional clash between the two constitutional courts.

Judge Fuentes didnt show the messages to Rodriguez or Otalora, but he told them that he had them. The magistrate didnt want to show them to this newspaper, either. A spokesperson for Pina has confirmed that the ministers messages exist, but assures this newspaper that theyre not threatening. To heal the differences between them, Pina invited Fuentes, De la Mata and Soto to dinner two days later. With that dinner, the ministers mediation in the conflict concluded.

Minister Pina (center); the president of the National Electoral Institute, Guadalupe Taddei (left) and the dissident group from the Federal Electoral Tribunal, in an image shared on social media by Judge Fuentes. TEPJF

On Wednesday, December 6, there was a three-hour-long meeting between the five judges at the Electoral Tribunal. A public session had been scheduled, but it was ultimately postponed to the next day. The majority bloc told Rodriguez that his resignation from the presidency couldnt be postponed due to loss of confidence in his leadership. They were incensed that Rodriguez branded them as corrupt outside the courthouse, while Roberto Gil  his boss  engaged in lobbying and did business deals while taking advantage of the magistrates position. The bloc of three also reproached him for having sought out actors outside the TEPJF to intercede on his behalf. Rodriguez then brought up De la Matas meeting with Gil and explained that the magistrate had asked that he be put in the presidency, not Soto. De la Mata denied that he had made such a request.

Then came the screaming. Rodriguez  still the president  asked his colleagues for time to make a decision. He even suggested that he might not only resign from the presidency, but from his position as an election judge entirely. Otalora said that she was considering the same path. The departure of the two judges would have led to a sudden paralysis of the TEPJF. However, this scenario didnt occur in the end.

They left the meeting without reaching an agreement. That Wednesday night, Judge Soto had dinner with Sergio Gutierrez Luna, a legislator and MORENAs main operator in electoral matters. A photo of the meeting was leaked to the media and raised suspicions about the interests at play behind the crisis. The next day  Thursday, December 7  the postponed session was held. And there, before the public, Fuentes asked to include Rodriguezs resignation from the presidency on the agenda. De la Mata mentioned that there was a strange [involvement] of law firms in the life of the court, in reference to Gil. Rodriguez offered to give them his answer on Monday.

On Saturday, December 9, Rodriguez met with Creel, who made him the transition offer agreed upon between the PAN leader, Cortes and Judge De la Mata. On Monday the 11th  in the decisive meeting with his colleagues  Rodriguez said that he had thought about this proposal and that he agreed. Soto was surprised. According to one of the magistrates, Soto had already agreed with her bloc that she would hold the presidency. The proposal from De la Mata and the PAN implied an election between the three that didnt guarantee her the position. It was clear that this plan hadnt been discussed among the majority group and that De la Mata had a parallel agenda. Soto quickly expressed her rejection and demanded that the transition period be accelerated.

On December 15, Soto was finally elected president of the Electoral Tribunal in a private session. De la Mata and Fuentes voted for her, while Rodriguez and Otalora voted against her. According to the Organic Law of the Judiciary, Soto is permitted to remain in office for the remainder of Rodriguezs term that is, until October of this year. But the magistrate shielded herself. In the agreement published by the Mexico Federal Official Gazette, it was established that she remain as president of the Tribunal until she finishes her own term as a judge at the TEPJF, in October of 2025. Distrust  even among allies  continues to haunt the corridors of justice.

Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition
Actor Alec Baldwin leaves court in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, U.S., January 23, 2019. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri/File Photo

By Andrew Hay and Steve Gorman

ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico (Reuters) -Alec Baldwin on Friday was charged again with involuntary manslaughter in the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the film "Rust," reinstating a criminal case against the actor months after previous charges were dropped.

Friday's indictment by a New Mexico grand jury followed an independent forensic test concluding that Baldwin, 65, would have had to pull the trigger of a revolver he was using in a rehearsal for it to fire the live round that struck Hutchins in the chest and killed her.

The finding was the same as a previous FBI test on the firearm.

Baldwin's attorneys, Luke Nikas and Alex Spiro, issued a statement on Friday on behalf of their client saying, "We look forward to our day in court."

When prosecutors announced their intention in October to bring the case to a grand jury, the defense lawyers called the situation a "terrible tragedy" that "has been turned into this misguided prosecution."

Baldwin, the Emmy-winning performer who starred in the hit NBC television comedy "30 Rock," has denied pulling the trigger and said he was not responsible for Hutchins' death in the Oct. 21, 2021, shooting.

The movie's director, Joel Souza, was struck and wounded in the shoulder by the same bullet that killed Hutchins during production of the film on a set outside Santa Fe, the state capital.

According to a police report, David Halls, the assistant director who handed the gun to Baldwin, told the actor the weapon was "cold," an industry term meaning it did not contain live ammunition or even blank rounds. Halls told police he was unaware the gun was loaded.

Special prosecutor Kari Morrissey had said she would seek new charges against Baldwin if the independent test showed the reproduction long Colt .45 revolver was in "working condition."

Prosecutors previously dismissed charges against Baldwin based on evidence the hammer of the revolver might been modified, allowing it to fire without the trigger being pulled.

TWO CRIMINAL THEORIES

The single-page indictment filed with the First Judicial District Court in Santa Fe charges Baldwin with involuntary manslaughter under two alternative legal definitions - causing a death by "negligent use of a firearm" and by acting "without due caution or circumspection."

Should the case go to trial, it would be up to a jury to decide whether either theory was proven beyond a reasonable doubt. Involuntary manslaughter is classified in New Mexico as a fourth-degree felony punishable by up to 18 months in prison.

Baldwin was similarly charged with involuntary manslaughter in January via a criminal complaint filed by prosecutors. Those charges were dismissed in April.

A grand jury indictment allows prosecutors to avoid the additional legal step of convincing a judge during an evidentiary hearing that there is probable cause to proceed to trial.

No arraignment was immediately scheduled in the renewed case. Baldwin could choose to enter a not guilty plea without appearing for an arraignment.

The movie's chief armorer, Hannah Gutierrez, who handled the gun before Halls, was also charged with involuntary manslaughter. She faces a 2024 trial. Halls signed a plea agreement for the charge of negligent use of a deadly weapon.

Among witnesses who testified before the grand jury were Alexandra Hancock, lead detective on the case for the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office, and Lane Luper, a cameraman who walked off the "Rust" set shortly before the shooting over complaints about working conditions and safety.

"Our clients have always sought the truth about what happened on the day that Halyna Hutchins was tragically shot and killed," attorney Gloria Allred, who is representing Hutchins' parents, Olga Solovey and Anatolii Androsovych, said in a statement on Friday.

"They continue to seek the truth in our civil lawsuit for them, and they also would like there to be accountability in the criminal justice system," Allred added.

Baldwin and other "Rust" producers reached a settlement in October 2022 of wrongful death claims brought by Hutchins' family. Production of the film resumed last April in Montana. No release date for the film has been set.

(Reporting by Andrew Hay in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Steve Gorman in Los Angeles; Editing by Frank McGurty and Aurora Ellis)
FILE PHOTO: Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX, arrives at court as lawyers push to persuade the judge overseeing his fraud case not to jail him ahead of trial, at a courthouse in New York, U.S., August 11, 2023. REUTE

By Jonathan Stempel

(Reuters) - A federal appeals court on Friday ordered the appointment of an independent bankruptcy examiner to investigate the Nov. 2022 collapse of FTX, the cryptocurrency exchange once led by the convicted Sam Bankman-Fried.

Reversing a lower ruling, the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia agreed with a government watchdog that appointing an examiner was mandatory under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code because of the large size of FTX's case, including the alleged misappropriation of $10 billion of customer assets.

It also said appointing an examiner reflected Congress's intent to protect debtors and creditors in cases that have "great" public interest, an interest that should be taken into account in FTX's Chapter 11 reorganization.

"The collapse of FTX caused catastrophic losses for its worldwide investors but also raised implications for the evolving and volatile cryptocurrency industry," Circuit Judge L. Felipe Restrepo wrote for a three-judge panel.

The U.S. Trustee, a Department of Justice bankruptcy watchdog, wanted an examiner to investigate fraud and mismanagement that occurred at FTX before its collapse, calling it "too important" to leave to creditors and current management.

John Ray, who replaced Bankman-Fried as chief executive, and a committee of unsecured FTX creditors opposed appointing an examiner. They said a probe would duplicate their efforts and cost too much, leaving less money to go around.

Friday's decision reversed a Feb. 2023 ruling by U.S. Bankruptcy Judge John Dorsey in Wilmington, Delaware, who agreed with FTX that a probe could cost more than $100 million.

Lawyers for FTX and the creditors' committee did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a similar request.

Ray helped manage Enron after the energy trader's 2001 bankruptcy.

Jurors in Manhattan convicted Bankman-Fried on Nov. 2 on all seven fraud and conspiracy counts he faced.

Prosecutors said the 31-year-old FTX co-founder and former billionaire looted billions of dollars from FTX customers out of greed, and to prop up his Alameda hedge fund.

Bankman-Fried's sentencing is March 28. He is expected to appeal his conviction.

The case is In re: FTX Trading Ltd, 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 23-2297.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Sharon Singleton)
U.S. President Joe Biden takes off his sunglasses when he speaks to the media before departing the White House for North Carolina, in Washington, U.S., January 18, 2024. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein

By Andrea Shalal

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President Joe Biden on Friday said he spoke with Israeli Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu about possible solutions for creation of an independent Palestinian state, suggesting one path could involve a non-militarized government.

Biden's call with Netanyahu was the first in nearly a month, the White House said, noting the discussions focused on Israel's ongoing strikes in Gaza.

White House spokesperson John Kirby told reporters that Biden had been trying to schedule the call "for quite a bit of time" and denied it came in response to Netanyahu's comment on Thursday saying he objected to Palestinian statehood that did not guarantee Israel's security.

Asked if a two-state solution was impossible while Netanyahu was still in office, Biden said, "No, it's not."

Speaking to reporters after a meeting with U.S. mayors, Biden said Netanyahu was not opposed to all two-state solutions, and there were a number of types possible, noting that some United Nations members do not have military forces.

Biden was asked if he would reconsider conditions on Israel aid given Netanyahu's comments rejecting a two-state solution.

"I think we'll be able to work something out ... I think there's ways in which this could work," he said.

Biden and Netanyahu also discussed efforts to secure the remaining hostages held by Hamas, and Israel's shift to more "targeted" operations in Gaza to allow more humanitarian assistance to come through, the White House said.

Biden has been pressuring Israel to reduce Palestinian deaths even as he has maintained his strong support of Israel in its war against Hamas.

But the two men do not see eye-to-eye on Palestinians having a state, a solution Biden has advocated to achieve long-term peace.

"The president also discussed his vision for a more durable peace and security for Israel fully integrated within the region and a two state-solution with Israel's security guaranteed," the White House said in a statement about their call.

Netanyahu had said in a press conference that he told Washington he objected to any Palestinian statehood that did not guarantee Israel's security. "Israel must have security control over the entire territory west of the Jordan River. That's a necessary condition," he said.

Biden's call came as Red Crescent officials accused Israel of firing on a hospital in Khan Younis, the main city in the southern part of Gaza.

Israel launched a major new advance in Khan Younis this week to capture the city, which it says is now the primary base of Hamas fighters who attacked Israeli towns on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 and precipitating a war that has devastated the Gaza Strip.

The Gaza health ministry said 142 Palestinians had been killed and 278 injured in Gaza over the past 24 hours, raising the death toll from more than three months of war to 24,762.

Asked about a request by Mexico and Chile for the International Criminal Court to investigate potential crimes against civilians in Gaza, Kirby said the United States was still gathering more information about what that would entail.

"We don't have any indications that there's deliberate ... efforts to commit war crimes by the Israeli Defense Forces," Kirby said.

Kirby also expressed concerned about reports from Palestinian health officials who said a 17-year-old Palestinian-American teenager was killed by Israeli security forces in the West Bank on Friday.

"We're seriously concerned about these reports," Kirby said. "We're going to be in constant touch with counterparts in the region to get more information."

(Reporting by Andrea Shalal; additional reporting by Jeff Mason; Editing by Bill Berkrot and Rosalba O'Brien)
FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks on his economic plan during a visit to Abbotts Creek Community Center in Raleigh, North Carolina, U.S., January 18, 2024. REUTERS/Nathan Howard/File Photo

By Steve Holland and Jarrett Renshaw

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democrats are trying to temper expectations for U.S. President Joe Biden in next week's Democratic primary election in New Hampshire, as supporters scramble to gin up write-in support for him since his name is not on the ballot.

The primary on Jan. 23 offers the first at-the-polls gauge of Bidens political strength this election cycle, and the unprecedented situation will be closely watched amid polls showing him tied with likely Republican challenger Donald Trump .

A poor showing against Democratic longshots Dean Phillips, a Minnesota congressman, and self-help author Marianne Williamson is likely to fuel concerns that Biden is weak heading into the general election.

Biden did not register for the New Hampshire contest after the state refused his demand that it cede its top spot in the presidential primary calendar to the more diverse South Carolina.

But his New Hampshire supporters can still vote for him because many U,S, states allow voters to write the name on a ballot paper of a candidate who is not officially running. That candidate wins if they receive more votes than the registered candidates.

Andy Smith, director of the University of New Hampshire Survey Center, said Biden should achieve "a fairly significant win," but added that he didn't really know what that looks like.

"What is a big enough win to count? Right now we see Biden with upwards of 70% of the vote. Is that enough? Does that mean the Democratic Party is behind him, or does it show division in the party?" Smith told Reuters.

Supporters say the unpredictable race should not be viewed as some type of national litmus test, because turnout will be low, write-in campaigns are notoriously hard and Biden angered Democrats there by booting the state from its historical role as the party first-in-the-nation primary.

Jim Demers, one of the organizers of the shoe-string Biden write-in campaign said hes seen polls that range from less than 50% to 60% of the vote for Biden.

State officials expect to declare a Democratic winner on Tuesday after tallying write-in votes.

Biden allies say the benchmark should be the 2010 write-in campaign of Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski, the first U.S. senator to win that way in 50 years, taking about 40% of the vote and besting a Tea Party favorite.

"She won with 39% of the vote as a candidate in a write-in effort she led and Joe Biden and his campaign arent even participating in an effort to write his name in for this one," said Jim Messina, who was then-President Barack Obama's campaign manager in 2012.

The Democratic National Committee ruled that the New Hampshire election effectively wont count and the winner won't amass New Hampshire's 23 delegates in the march to the party's nomination.

Some New Hampshire Democrats are definitely upset.

"When it comes down to it, were in the Democratic primary and Biden has chosen to take his name off of the New Hampshire ballot," said state representative Jonah Wheeler, a Democrat who supports Williamson.

Biden's high-profile supporters including California Representative Ro Khanna, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Boston Mayor Michelle Wu have been helping rally the faithful, and organizers have a shoe-string budget to teach voters how to write in a candidate.

A CNN poll conducted by the University of New Hampshire Survey Center in mid-November showed 65% of likely Democratic primary voters in New Hampshire plan to write in Bidens name, with 10% going for Phillips and 9% for Williamson.

In 2020, Biden finished a disappointing fifth in a crowded Democratic primary that saw some 300,000 votes cast. State officials expect less than 100,000 votes this year.

Lyndon B. Johnson, then the Democratic incumbent, shunned the New Hampshire primary in 1968 due to over-confidence, only to see an insurgent campaign from Minnesota, U.S. Senator Eugene McCarthy and his anti-Vietnam War platform. Johnson supporters mounted a barely successful write-campaign, but a weakened Johnson dropped out of the race weeks later.

David Watters, a write-in advocate and Democratic state senator in New Hampshire, said the best way right now to register rejection of former President Donald Trump, his likely Republican challenger, is to write-in Biden on Tuesday.

"We've got to stand up for Joe Biden," Watters said.

Elliot and Edith Smith, a married couple, attended a Dean Phillips campaign event in Nashua earlier this month. Like many U.S. voters, they are dissatisfied by a choice between of Biden and Trump, but they dont see any other viable options.

The were both planning to vote for Biden in the states primary, but not enthusiastically, over deep concerns about Bidens vigor and whether the 81-year-old president can withstand a second term.

I am disgusted with both parties, but we cant elect Trump, said Elliot Smith, 72. Im a Democrat, but would consider other Republicans like Haley or Christie in the general election, but theres no chance they can beat Trump.

(Reporting by Steve Holland and Jarrett Renshaw; Editing by Heather Timmons and Alistair Bell)
By Anthony Boadle

BRASILIA (Reuters) -Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Friday welcomed Brazil's recent support for Beijing's "One China policy" that states Taiwan is an inseparable part of China, in a sign of stronger bilateral ties with South America's largest country.

At the end of a two-day visit to Brazil, Wang made a stop in the northeastern Brazilian city of Fortaleza to meet Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva at an air force base before departing to Jamaica by the late afternoon. There were no details of their meeting.

In Brasilia earlier, Wang said their two countries, both members of the BRICS group of leading emerging economies, must work together to build a multi-polar world based on peace and security.

Brazil's Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira said he and Wang discussed the conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza and how they can be resolved, with China's top diplomat saying the two trade partners need to build closer levels of confidence.

China-Brazil relations were ruffled during the far-right government of former President Jair Bolsonaro, and have improved under Lula, a popular leftist leader in his third term.

Wang and Vieira signed a visa agreement between the two nations extending their validity from five to 10 years, aimed at spurring business travel and tourism.

Wang stopped in Fortaleza en route to Jamaica, the last stop of his tour that began in African nations.

Lula was traveling in northeast Brazil, his main political bastion, eyeing municipal elections this year.

Brazil's position on Taiwan was established in April in a foreign ministry statement that expressed Brazil's "firm support to the One China Principle" and said China was "the sole legitimate government of the whole of China, and Taiwan being an inseparable part of the Chinese territory."

China is Brazil's largest export market, mainly for soy and iron ore. Chinese companies are planning to increase their investments in Brazil, in power transmission, oil and electric vehicles, businessmen said at a Brazil-China meeting last week in Shenzhen with major Chinese corporations.

Marcos Caramuru, a China watcher and former Brazilian ambassador in Beijing, said he is seeing growing interest of Chinese companies in investments in electric vehicles and in infrastructure in Brazil, as well as new investments in areas where China has been investing for a while, such as the electricity sector and e-commerce.

"Lula as president has helped to increase the level of mutual confidence in Brazil-China relations," Caramuru said.

(Reporting by Anthony Boadle; Editing by Steven Grattan and Aurora Ellis)
FILE PHOTO: The Chevron logo is pictured after the U.S. government granted a six-month license allowing Chevron to boost oil output in U.S.-sanctioned Venezuela, in Caracas, Venezuela, December 2, 2022. REUTERS/Gaby Oraa/File Photo

By Nia Williams and Sabrina Valle

HOUSTON (Reuters) -Chevron on Friday said it will put its natural gas business in Canada's Duvernay Shale for sale as it continues to streamline global operations following several big acquisitions.

The assets, which produce about 40,000 barrels of oil and gas a day from about 235,000 acres (951.01 square kilometers) in the Duvernay field in central Alberta, could fetch up to $900 million, according to the Houston-based advisory firm Energy Advisors Group.

Chevron has said it plans to offer between $10 billion and $15 billion in assets by 2028 following deals with Hess Corp, PDC Energy and Noble Energy that will significantly expand its oil and gas output.

"We have a strong position and are proud of our performance in the Duvernay," a spokesperson told Reuters. "The business holds significant value in both its current production as well as potential growth opportunities, which we expect to be attractive to other companies with complementary portfolios."

The company's other Canadian operations are unaffected, the spokesperson said.

Following the Hess deal announcement, Chevron stated that it planned to focus more than 75% of its upstream capital expenditures on U.S. shale basins, the Gulf of Mexico, the Eastern Mediterranean, Guyana, Australia and Kazakhstan.

The company said it would also put high return assets for sale to diversify its portfolio across asset types and geographies and to achieve high cash margins and low carbon intensity production.

The Hess deal is pending regulatory approvals and is expected to close in the second half of the year.

Brian Lidsky, director of Energy Advisors Group, estimated the properties could be worth $900 million based on recent acquisitions of Duvernay properties by Crescent Point and others.

Chevron first announced plans to develop the East Kaybob region of the Duvernay play in Alberta in 2017 after three years appraising the area. At the end of 2022, 243 wells in the field had been tied into production facilities.

In 2021, Chevron shelved plans to build a major liquefied natural gas project exporting up to 10 million tonnes per year from Kitimat on Canada's west coast.

The Duvernay is one of Canada's top shale plays. Other companies with significant positions in the region include Crescent Point and PetroChina's Canadian unit. Last month, Athabasca Oil and Cenovus Energy formed a joint venture to accelerate their activity in the play.

The field has seen a surge in licensing activity and productivity improvements, with costs coming down from as high as C$20 million ($14.85 million) per well a decade ago to C$10 million-C$15 million today, analysts at brokerage Eight Capital said.

"The Duvernay is starting to become a key focus for the industry, and is thus likely to get investors attention in 2024," its analysts wrote in a research note this month.

"Operators have done enough drilling to understand how to optimize the technology."

($1 = 1.3467 Canadian dollars)

(Reporting by Nia Williams in British Columbia and Sabrina Valle in Houston; editing by Gary McWilliams, David Gregorio and Marguerita Choy)
Kenneth Eugene Smith, convicted for a murder-for-hire committed in 1988, and who is scheduled to be executed in the U.S. state of Alabama by asphyxiation using pure nitrogen, poses for an undated booking photo at Holman Prison in Atmore, Alabama, U.S. Ala

By Jonathan Allen

(Reuters) - An Alabama death row prisoner who survived a botched execution attempt by lethal injection asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday to halt the state's planned second attempt next week, this time by the novel method of asphyxiation with nitrogen gas.

Lawyers for Kenneth Smith, convicted for a murder-for-hire committed in 1988, are arguing that for a government to make a second attempt to execute a prisoner after painfully botching a first attempt violates the U.S. Constitution's Eighth Amendment ban on cruel and unusual punishment.

Such a scenario has happened only once before in U.S. history, in 1947, Smith's lawyers told the Supreme Court.

They said that if courts allow execution to proceed on Thursday, "states will be free to engage in serial execution attempts regardless of the reasons or circumstances of the previous failed attempt - and regardless whether that failed attempt caused (and continues to cause) physical and emotional pain."

"With respect, that is the very definition of torture," the lawyers wrote.

Alabama officials have said they are required to carry out a sentence and a death warrant issued by state courts.

In separate proceedings on Friday before the Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Smith also challenged the constitutionality of Alabama's new gassing method. The state's Department of Corrections has said it expects the method will kill a condemned prisoner swiftly, within a few minutes, and without undue suffering.

"Alabama has adopted the most painless and humane method of execution known to man," Alabama Solicitor General Edmund LaCour told the three-judge 11th Circuit panel that is considering Smith's request for an order to delay his execution to allow his legal challenges to continue.

Smith's lawyers argued that the department's decision to gas Smith by strapping to his face a commercially made industrial-safety breathing mask connected to a canister of pure nitrogen comes with risks of botching their second attempt to execute Smith.

In past decades, some governments, including in the United States, have used toxic gases such as hydrogen cyanide to carry out executions. Alabama's method uses nitrogen, which makes up about 78% of breathable air, in a pure form to displace any oxygen the prisoner can inhale.

Lawmakers in Oklahoma and Mississippi also have approved gassing methods in recent years as lethal-injection drugs become more difficult to obtain, though they have not used the method yet.

Smith's lawyers have said that the seal between the mask's rubber edges and Smith's face could break, allowing in at least some oxygen that could prolong the execution or result in him surviving it but with serious brain injury from oxygen deprivation.

They also have said that some people who have tried to use masks to gas themselves in assisted suicides have vomited, and that there is a risk that Smith, who will be strapped to a gurney, could end up choking to death on his own vomit.

Smith's lawyers told the 11th Circuit on Thursday they would propose that Alabama instead use a hood filled with a high flow of nitrogen, which they said has become the preferred approach in assisted suicides using inert gases.

Smith, according to his lawyers, has been suffering from nausea as a symptom of post-traumatic stress disorder since his first time in the execution chamber in November 2022, where officials spent hours trying to insert a needle into various parts of his body before abandoning the attempt.

Alabama has said it will not stop the execution if Smith vomits once the pure nitrogen is running. LaCour said Smith's claims about the risks of the mask are speculative, and told the 11th Circuit that if the prisoner is concerned about vomiting into the mask then he could opt "to have his last meal earlier in the day, or the day before the planned execution."

(Reporting by Jonathan Allen in New York; Editing by Will Dunham)
PRAGUE (Reuters) - A Czech appeals court has ruled that Prague can extradite to the United States an Indian man accused by the U.S. of involvement in an unsuccessful plot to kill a Sikh separatist on American soil, the Justice Ministry said on Friday.

A final decision on the extradition of Nikhil Gupta, 52, will be in the hands of Justice Minister Pavel Blazek once the ruling is delivered to all parties in the case, a ministry spokesperson told Reuters.

Gupta has been accused by U.S. federal prosecutors of working with an Indian government official on the plot to kill a New York City resident who advocated for a sovereign Sikh state in northern India.

Gupta was arrested by Czech authorities in June last year when he travelled from India to Prague.

Czech news website www.seznamzpravy.cz, which first reported on the appeals decision, said Gupta had argued his identity was mistaken and that he was not the man the United States was looking for. He described the case was political, it said.

"The time frame for the minister's decision cannot be assumed at this point," the Justice Ministry spokesman said, adding that Gupta could be expected to take all steps possible to try to prevent extradition.

The minister has three months to turn to the Supreme Court in case he has doubts about the lower court' decisions, the spokesperson said.

The Prague High Court rejected Gupta's appeal against a December decision by a lower court that ruled that extradition is allowed.

A spokesperson for the Prague High Court declined immediate comment.

The Czech Republic has in the past agreed to U.S. extradition requests.

A lawyer for Gupta did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Czech news website quoted the lawyer as saying he would ask the minister not to extradite Gupta, and would also take the case to the Constitutional Court.

(Reporting by Jan Lopatka, Editing by Timothy Heritage)
FILE PHOTO: The logo of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) is seen at its branch at its headquarters in Beijing, China, March 30, 2016. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon/File Photo/File Photo

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd and its New York branch will pay $32.4 million in penalties for the unauthorized use and disclosure of confidential supervisory information, the Federal Reserve announced Friday.

The Fed said the joint action, taken with New York's Department of Financial Services (NYDFS), came after the bank disclosed information to a third party without regulatory approval.

In a separate statement, NYDFS said an ICBC employee disclosed that supervisory information to a foreign regulator. It added that the order resolved "numerous" compliance failures, including multiple deficiencies in the New York branchs anti-money laundering program from 2018 through 2022.

ICBC in New York could not immediately be reached for comment.

(Reporting by Pete Schroeder; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
Press Release

January 19, 2024 Bong Go pushes for improved healthcare access in communities as he leads turnover of new Super Health Center in Lake Sebu, South Cotabato Senator Christopher "Bong" Go attended the turnover ceremony and blessing of another Super Health Center to enhance healthcare accessibility in communities, this time in Lake Sebu, South Cotabato, on Wednesday, January 17. During his visit, the Sangguniang Bayan presented to Go a resolution declaring him as an adopted son of Lake Sebu for his contributions to the development and progress of the town and its people particularly in healthcare. Barangay Ned is significantly distant from the town center of Lake Sebu. This remote location means that residents from Lake Sebu proper must traverse through another province, either Sultan Kudarat or Sarangani, to reach Brgy. Ned. This geographic challenge emphasizes the significance of the new super health center in providing much-needed healthcare services to this isolated area. As the lead implementing agency, the Department of Health (DOH) has been instrumental in identifying strategic areas for establishing these Super Health Centers, focusing mainly on municipalities that lack accessible hospitals and Geographically Isolated and Disadvantaged Areas (GIDA). This targeted approach ensures that healthcare services are extended to the most underserved and hard-to-reach communities, promoting equitable healthcare access nationwide. "Marami po sa mga kababayan natin sa iba't ibang sulok ng Pilipinas ang walang sapat na health facilities na makagagamot sa kanilang mga karamdaman. Kaya importante na mailapit natin ang serbisyong medikal mula gobyerno sa mga taong nangangailangan nito," Go stressed. The senator then elaborated on the significance of Super Health Centers, describing them as pivotal in bridging the gap between the government and its citizens. He underscored their primary functions, which include primary care, medical consultations, and early disease detection to further decongest public hospitals. "Hindi na nila kailangang pumunta ng malalayong ospital para magpa-checkup itong minor cases. Pwede na sa Super Health Center ang primary care at pagkonsulta para sa early disease detection. Magpagamot na kayo agad para hindi lumala ang sakit. And it will help decongest the hospital dahil dyan na po gagamutin sa mga Super Health Center," said Go in an interview. The Super Health Centers will offer various healthcare services, including database management, outpatient care, birthing, isolation, diagnostic (laboratory: x-ray, ultrasound), pharmacy, and ambulatory surgical unit. Other available services are eye, ear, nose, and throat (EENT) service, oncology centers, physical therapy and rehabilitation centers, and telemedicine, through which remote diagnosis and treatment of patients are made possible. Go shared that necessary funds had been allocated to construct more than 700 Super Health Centers nationwide. According to Go, this investment underscores the government's commitment to enhancing healthcare infrastructure and services. Through the collective efforts of the Department of Health (DOH), local government units, and fellow lawmakers, sufficient funds have been allocated under the DOH for the construction of 307 Super Health Centers in 2022, 322 in 2023, and 132 in 2024. In the province, there are a total of at least 7 such centers funded. Additionally, Go reaffirmed his support for the continued construction of these centers. He recognized the substantial benefits many Filipinos have gained from these facilities and expressed his willingness to advocate for more resources if needed. During the event, Go was accompanied by Mayor Remie Unggol, Vice Mayor Leizl Tupas-Isuga, municipal councilors, and health personnel from Lake Sebu and nearby municipalities. Go also had the unique opportunity to congratulate a parent who had just given birth in the facility. Layla Tungcay, the newborn's mother, expressed joy and gratitude for the senator's presence, considering it "buena mano" or a sign of good luck. In a heartwarming gesture, she revealed they had decided to name the child Bong Galyn, or "Bongga", in honor of Senator Go. On the same day, Go also attended the inauguration of the Super Health Center in Kiamba, Sarangani. Meanwhile, acknowledging the significant contributions of health workers to ensure the efficient delivery of services in health facilities, such as the Super Health Centers, Go renewed his call to the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) and the DOH to expedite the release of the Health Emergency Allowances (HEA) owed to qualified healthcare workers who served during the COVID-19 pandemic. As one of the authors and co-sponsors of Republic Act 11712, Go mentioned that the legislation ensures ongoing benefits and allowances for healthcare workers during public health crises. Although the public health emergency status was lifted in July, Go reminded concerned agencies of the need to fulfill commitments due to healthcare workers still await their HEA.
The first month of Donald Tusks new coalition government in Poland has been highly convulsive. The confrontation between the liberal Executive and the institutions controlled by the ultra-conservative Law and Justice party (PiS) is constant. Every initiative to restore the rule of law and regain the power of public authorities is met with opposition from bodies such as the Constitutional Court and the head of state, occupied by the president, Andrzej Duda. The country teeters on the brink of a crisis in which both sides struggle to maneuver while questioning the legitimacy of some institutions and their decisions.

The last few weeks have produced dramatic scenes including the arrest at the presidential palace last Tuesday of the former interior minister, Mariusz Kaminski, and a former deputy minister, Maciej Wasik, convicted of abuse of power. Duda sought to protect them, but the police gained access to the palace while the president was away. There have also been incidents such as the occupation of the headquarters of the public media by PiS deputies to prevent the replacement of the directors. The latest chapter these days features the national prosecutor, who refuses to leave his office after the justice minister, Adam Bodnar, has decided to replace him. This is all happening with the encouragement of Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the leader of Law and Justice, who last week successfully called for a mass demonstration in freezing cold weather conditions in Warsaw.

Duda and Tusk, who head the two main state institutions, held a meeting on Monday and the encounter only highlighted the confrontation between the two men. In separate appearances, the president said he asked the prime minister to please stop trying to break the law. The head of government retorted that his team would continue to restore the legal order, whether anyone likes it or not.

After eight years of an ultra-conservative government that endeavored to cement an illiberal regime in permanent confrontation with Brussels, the coalition of three liberal forces won last Octobers election with the promise of restoring the rule of law. The partners  a mixture of center-right parties with a social-democratic minority  were well aware that the task was not going to be an easy one. The PiS Executive had installed people loyal to the party at the head of the main institutions and some of these positions are safeguarded until the end of their terms of office, as is the case of the Constitutional Court. Any new legislation also requires the signature of Duda, a man who left his PiS affiliation to become president, but who has demonstrated his loyalty to the party and has warned that he will not hesitate to exercise his right to veto.

In view of this scenario, Tusk and his ilk are delving into the laws to look for loopholes and devise strategies that will allow them to achieve their goals, starting with the cleanup they promised in the PiS-controlled institutions. Stanley Bill, professor of Polish Studies at Cambridge University and founder of the Notes from Poland website, highlights the damage done by PiS to institutions, but he is critical of the Governments first steps to repair them: The approach is confrontational and its goal is to show force, move fast and, if necessary, borderline legal or, as one court has already ruled, in some cases, crossing the line into illegality, he says, as in the case of the governments first attempt to oust the leadership of the public media. The academic acknowledges the monumental challenges facing the Executive, but warns of the danger of resorting to the same methods used by the PiS to politicize these institutions.

Imprisoned politicians

Among other issues, on Monday Duda and Tusk discussed the replacement of the national prosecutor, Dariusz Barski, announced by Bodnar last Friday. The case of the most senior position in the public prosecutors office after the prosecutor general  who for now is the head of Justice  illustrates the political and legal developments of recent weeks. Duda argues that the appointment of a new national prosecutor requires consultation with the president, which has not yet taken place, and this is what he communicated to the Constitutional Court in a consultation. However, Bodnar defends that the nomination made by the PiS in 2022 was illegal and assures that he has only established such a fact and has appointed an acting role until a permanent replacement is chosen. The Constitutional Court, called into question by the liberals for their belief that it serves the PiS, has ordered the suspension of Barskis replacement, and Bodnar has branded the decision as flawed.

The episode of the arrest of Kaminski and Wasik is another sign of the chasm between liberals and ultraconservatives. A court sentenced them to two years in prison in December for abuse of power in a 2007 land reclassification scandal. Duda issued them a pardon in 2015, but a Supreme Court chamber not controlled by the PiS invalidated the decision because it was granted when no final sentence had yet been handed down. After the now former deputies went to prison, Duda initiated the procedures for a new reprieve, but instead of using the measure of grace at his disposal, which has immediate effect, he chose to do so through a judicial process, which is longer.

Stanley Bill expects the confrontation between the Government and the Constitutional Court to escalate. He feels the same about the Executive and the Head of State and the opposition and the parliamentary majority. We have an extremely chaotic period ahead of us in which the conflict is going to escalate and where there is a sense that there are two entirely separate legal realities, explains the academic by telephone.

Jakub Jaraczewski, research coordinator of the Berlin-based think tank Democracy Reporting International, concurs that the situation is serious. Never in post-1989 Poland [the end of communism] has the transfer of power been so hostile and seen the outgoing political power abuse state institutions with the aim of sabotaging the incoming government, he points out.

The expert on constitutional law recognizes that some decisions of the Tusk government are only technically legal and others have directly bypassed the law. As much as I would rather it were different, it appears that some hardline elements will be necessary due to the entrenchment of the previous ruling party and all the traps it has laid, he says.

Only something unforeseen or the proximity of the local elections in April and the European elections in the summer could defuse the tension. At this stage, the Liberals retain their popularity in the polls despite their more dubious performances. It remains to be seen whether the PiS will maintain its stance or tone it down in order to attract undecided voters.

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FILE PHOTO: FILE PHOTO: A man takes a selfie with a replica of the Ram Mandir outside the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) headquarters in Mumbai, India, January 16, 2024. REUTERS/Francis Mascarenhas/File Photo

By Saurabh Sharma and Tanvi Mehta

AYODHYA, India (Reuters) - The private jet parking lots at airports near the Indian city of Ayodhya are full and the shops have run out of gold-plated idols, as wealthy devotees prepare for the invite-only opening ceremony of one of Hinduism's holiest temples.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Asia's richest man Mukesh Ambani are among the 8,000 or so attendees at Monday's inauguration event for the Ram Temple, which devotees believe is built on the birthplace of Lord Ram, a sacred Hindu deity.

The construction of the temple, which began after the Supreme Court awarded the site to Hindus in 2019 more than two decades after a Hindu mob razed a mosque there, triggering deadly riots, fulfils a key campaign promise of Modi and his Hindu nationalist party.

The opening ceremony, organised by the trust that built the temple, comes months before a national election which the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party is widely expected to win, and the who's who of India is expected to be there.

"It's become like a status symbol to be invited to this event," said Rajan Mehra, CEO of Indian luxury charter service Club One Air, adding that his fleet, which includes the Dassault Falcon 2000, is booked to make multiple trips next week.

Officials estimate 100 private jets will descend on Jan. 22 on Ayodhya airport, filling it to capacity. Slots at Varanasi, a city around four hours away by car, are also full, as are jet spaces in Gorakhpur airport, which is a three-hour drive away.

Mehra did not disclose the price of the charters, but private jet booking website JetSetGo lists the price of a Mumbai-Gorakhpur return flight on a Falcon 2000 jet with nine passengers on board at about $74,000.

The ceremony is also giving jewellers and gold traders a boost.

Some retailers say gold and gold-plated statues of Lord Ram and temple replicas - priced at between 30,000 ($361) and 220,000 rupees ($2,647) - are so popular that they have run out of stock. Some items were imported from Thailand, they added.

"Customers are asking for them for gifting and for keeping them at homes. There is a waiting period of two weeks," said Baldev Singh, a manager at HS Jewellers in Lucknow city.

The temple has already ushered an economic boom in Ayodhya, set to emerge as a pilgrimage hotspot for India's 1.1 billion Hindus, and property prices have skyrocketed.

This week, Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan bought a 10,000 square foot (929 square meter) plot for $1.7 million, government officials said, roughly nine times the average land prices in this dusty city just a few years ago.

The plot is part of the House of Abhinandan Lodha (HoABL) luxury development which includes a spa and a pool.

"There's huge demand for the project from domestic professionals, non-resident Indians. This is unlike any other demand," HoABL Chairman Abhinandan Lodha told Reuters.

"People are betting on economic prosperity but there's also emotional attachment to be part of the Ayodhya story."

(This story has been refiled to add dropped word 'return' in paragraph 7)

(Editing by Aditya Kalra and Miral Fahmy)
By Dmitry Zhdannikov and Maha El Dahan

DAVOS, Switzerland (Reuters) - At a dinner in the Swiss ski resort of Davos this week, Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani hosted business and political leaders to showcase Iraq's improved security and finances.

As the private event was about to end, two attendees told Reuters, news reached some guests that Iran had fired ballistic missiles at what it said was an Israeli "spy headquarters" in Erbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan.

"Some people at the dinner were checking if their houses have been hit," said one guest, who asked not to be named because the dinner was closed to media.

The strikes by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in the oil and gas rich region was the most direct intervention by Iran, and sparked fears of the Israel-Hamas conflict spreading in the Middle East.

While Iran's proxies, Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthi rebels who have attacked shipping in the Red Sea off Yemen, have stepped in since it began in October last year, Tehran has made it clear it wants to avoid war with Israel.

But for some at the World Economic Forum (WEF), where the agenda was dominated by three areas of conflict in which Tehran is involved, the Iraq missile attack highlighted Iran's desire to play a role in how the war in Gaza is resolved.

"The Iranians want a seat at the table," a senior source with direct knowledge of Tehran's thinking told Reuters, explaining its actions were meant to give Iran a voice and not allow the U.S. and Israel to dictate the outcome.

"The real question is 'what is the end game for Iran and Hezbollah and now increasingly the Houthis?' They don't want Israel and the U.S. to dictate the pace of (the) Gaza war," Vali Nasr, a Middle East expert at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, said in Davos.

"One man's escalation is another man's deterrence."

Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, the only official delegate from the Islamic Republic in Davos, said on Wednesday that attacks against Israel and its interests by the "Axis of Resistance" would stop if the Gaza war ends.

"I'm extremely worried. I think we have both seen spread and escalation," U.N. Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen said at a WEF panel on the Middle East two days after the strike.

"I do believe Iranians do not want further escalation ... I think they are playing with fire," said Pedersen, who was listed on the Iranian foreign ministry's website as one of the senior officials with whom Amirabdollahian would meet in Davos.

Amirabdollahian did not respond to Reuters questions at Davos. Iran's foreign ministry could not be reached for comment.

The United States and other Western nations accuse Tehran of supplying drones and equipment to the Houthis and Russia for its war in Ukraine, as well as funding Hamas.

Iran says it supports the Houthis but denies arming them. While publicly acknowledging selling armed drones to Russia, Tehran says it has not provided any to attack Ukraine.

KURDISTAN

The Erbil strikes also reminded the world of oil exporter Iran's deep involvement in the politics of its neighbour Iraq.

The day after, a visibly upset Iraqi Kurdish Prime Minister Masrour Barzani gathered members of his delegation and some media at the Kurdish House on the Promenade in Davos.

"What's surprising - we are not a part of this conflict. We don't know why Iran is retaliating against civilians of Kurdistan, especially in Erbil," Barzani told reporters.

A close friend of Barzani, the multimillionaire Kurdish businessman Peshraw Dizayee, was killed in the attack.

Iran defended the strikes, saying it had a "legitimate right to deter national security threats".

Baghdad has recalled its ambassador from Tehran in protest and Sudani has called the attacks a "clear aggression" against Iraq and a dangerous escalation.

Sudani's spokesman did not respond to a request for comment.

U.S. IMPACT

Be it in Davos or elsewhere, the difficulty of establishing dialogue with Iran is its involvement in conflicts via proxies.

This strategy was designed by Qaseem Soleimani, the commander of the IRGC's foreign operations force Quds who was killed by a 2020 U.S. military strike on Baghdad airport.

Iran promised to retaliate.

"His legacy lives on: a network of deniable but deployable arms-length proxies across the region," a Western executive working in the Middle East, who asked not to be named due to security concerns, told Reuters.

Soleimani was killed during the third year of Donald Trump's presidency. The former U.S. President exited a nuclear deal with Western powers in 2018 and imposed new sanctions on Iran.

Tehran's ability to fund wars hinges on its ability to generate enough oil revenue and Trump threatened to sanction all buyers of Iranian oil, slowing its exports to a trickle.

Under U.S. President Joe Biden, Tehran has steeply raised oil exports. Biden's administration says it does not intend to lessen pressure on Tehran or allow its oil to reach global markets.

Tehran now exports more than 2 million barrels per day, 2% of global supply, more than half of it to close ally China.

Biden, who polls indicate is likely to face Trump in the race for the U.S. presidency later this year, has refrained from tightening sanctions on Iran.

Energy analysts say Washington is keen to avoid a gasoline price rally, a sensitive subject in an election year. Biden has also failed to persuade Iran's arch-rival Saudi Arabia to raise oil supply amid strained relations with Riyadh.

A top European oil executive in Davos said that if Trump returns for a second term it would be a game-changer for Iran.

"If Trump returns to the White House, he will make two phone calls. One to his "friend Saudi" to ask for more oil. One to China to ask to stop buying Iranian oil or face a new trade war. Then, things may start to change," the executive told Reuters.

(Reporting by Dmitry Zhdannikov and Maha El Dahan in Davos; Additional reporting by Timour Azhari in Baghdad and Parisa Hafezi; Editing by Leela de Kretser and Alexander Smith)
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq's National Security Service announced it had uncovered a corruption scheme involving fraud and embezzlement of payments intended for victims of Islamic State that saw more than 1 trillion Iraqi dinars ($760 million) taken from state coffers.

Iraqi state media said a three-month investigation had led to the arrest of more than 30 suspects including senior employees at several state entities such as retirement funds and the country's Martyrs Foundation.

The alleged corruption scheme based in Anbar province saw defendants falsify pension transactions with faked identities and false credit card information and sell confidential data.

The wasted funds totalled more than 1 trillion 32 billion Iraq dinars, state media said.

Islamic State rampaged across Iraq in 2014, at one point holding nearly a third of Iraq's territory before it was beaten back and declared territorially defeated in Iraq by the end of 2017.

Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani has said one of his priorities is fighting the rampant corruption that pervades the Iraqi state and has led to the pilfering of billions of its oil wealth over the years.

Critics say anti-corruption campaigns by Iraqi authorities are used by those in power to go after political rivals.

($1 = 1,300 Iraqi dinars)

($1 = 1,309.0000 Iraqi dinars)

(Reporting by Timour Azhari; Editing by Frances Kerry)
DAVOS, Switzerland (Reuters) - An Israeli agency came to Davos with a message for the business community, its CEO told Reuters: Israel's start-ups are open for investment.

Dror Bin, who runs the publicly funded Israel Innovation Authority, said in an interview it was important for him to tell large multinationals and other investors that, despite the Israel-Hamas war, the country's tech sector "continues to deliver".

More than 300,000 Israelis were drafted to reserve military service since the Oct. 7 attacks by Palestinian militant group Hamas. Labour shortages that impacted the tech sector have been expected to ease with changes in the war, which has led to a mounting death toll and humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

According to Bin, the Israel Innovation Authority requires financial matching by the private sector for it to give grants to Israeli start-ups conducting research and development. Successful start-ups pay their grant's value back to the agency, he said.

For start-ups previously, "it was relatively easy for them to raise money," Bin said. "We want to make sure that investors are not deciding to wait and see how the world evolves."

Bin declined to specify investments the agency was helping to secure. Asked how Davos participants had responded to his call for support, Bin said some were viewing investment in terms of both financial return and "philanthropic activity".

"They want to invest," he said. "They want to support Israel."

(Reporting By Jeffrey Dastin in Davos, Switzerland; Editing by Alex Richardson)
A Spirit Airlines aircraft prepares to depart San Diego International Airport in San Diego, California, U.S., January 16, 2024 after a federal judge on Tuesday blocked JetBlue Airways planned $3.8 billion acquisition of ultra-low-cost carrier. REUTERS/Mi

By David Shepardson and Nate Raymond

WASHINGTON/BOSTON (Reuters) -JetBlue Airways and Spirit Airlines said on Friday they will appeal a federal judge's ruling that blocked the air carriers' planned tie-up on the grounds that the proposed merger would violate U.S. antitrust law.

The appeal came after U.S. District Judge William Young in Boston on Tuesday sided with the U.S. Department of Justice in holding that JetBlue's planned $3.8 billion acquisition of ultra-low-cost carrier Spirit was anticompetitive and would harm consumers.

The airlines filed a notice late on Friday that they will appeal his ruling to the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. In a statement, the companies said the appeal notice filing was "consistent with the requirements of the merger agreement."

The Justice Department declined to comment.

The appeal continues the court fight to keep the merger alive, a deal Spirit needs as it faces financial difficulties, including the grounding of numerous jets due to a powdered-metal issue in its geared turbofan (GTF) engine.

Spirit shares rose 12% after the notice of appeal in after-hours trading on Friday but are still down more than 50% since Tuesday's ruling. JetBlue shares were down 2.6% late on Friday.

Reuters reported earlier that Spirit was seeking to convince JetBlue Airways to appeal the ruling blocking the tie-up between the sixth- and seventh-largest U.S. airlines, according to people familiar with the discussions.

Spirit had told JetBlue that their deal contract requires them to exhaust legal options to complete the move, and that they should appeal the judge's ruling, the sources said.

The appeal flows out of a lawsuit by the Justice Department and the Democratic state attorneys general from six states and the District of Columbia, who argued the merger would lead to fewer flights and higher prices for millions of Americans.

Following a non-jury trial, Young sided with the Justice Department, finding that the deal would harm consumers. He said it would eliminate Spirit's low fares and its ability to put pressure on other higher-priced airlines.

It's unclear how long an appeal could take, though often appeals of court rulings can take months or longer. JetBlue faces a deadline in July to close the merger.

Should the deal not close by then, the two sides could either agree to terminate the merger or extend the closing date.

Earlier on Friday, Spirit said it was assessing options to refinance its 2025 debt maturities amid concerns over its balance sheet, and said its merger deal remained intact.

Spirit has been struggling to return to sustainable profitability amid rising operating costs and persistent supply-chain problems. That has raised concerns about the company's ability to repay its debt that is due to mature next year.

The airline this month completed a series of sale and leaseback transactions covering dozens of planes in a bid to repay about $465 million of debt on those jets.

Following Tuesday's ruling, some analysts said the carrier might contemplate a bankruptcy filing to streamline its balance sheet and reorganize into a financially robust airline.

Reuters reported on Thursday that Spirit was looking at options to refinance its debt and was not considering restructuring.

(Reporting by David Shepardson in Washington and Nate Raymond in BostonEditing by Jonathan Oatis, Chris Sanders, Matthew Lewis and Anna Driver)
BERLIN (Reuters) - Mercedes-Benz is open to selling the dealerships and workshops it owns in Germany, the carmaker said on Friday.

"After very positive experiences in various European markets, we are now also examining how we can set up our Group-owned retail branches more independently in Germany," the carmaker said in a written statement.

"A potential sale to experienced and renowned dealer groups is being evaluated and cannot be ruled out," it added.

According to Germany's Handelsblatt daily, which first reported the review, Mercedes-Benz's supervisory board is expected to approve the plans on Friday.

"Each branch will be examined individually and on a branch-specific basis," Mercedes-Benz said in its statement, ruling out the closure of branches as this was not the subject of review.

The review would concern 20 branches with 80 dealerships and 8,000 employees, the Handelsblatt reported, estimating each branch to be worth up to 40 million euros ($43.50 million).

Potential buyers must, among other things, bring "automobile retail expertise" to the table and hold on to job guarantees in Germany, the carmaker said.

"The aim is to secure the long-term sustainability of regional jobs as well as the existence and competitiveness of the branches."

Mercedes-Benz has in previous years sold various showrooms in the UK, Italy, Spain, Belgium and the Czech Republic.

($1 = 0.9195 euros)

(Reporting by Christina Amann, Writing by Nette Nostlinger, Editing by Miranda Murray)
New York City Mayor Eric Adams reacts as he and Ecuadorian Minister for Foreign Affairs and Human Mobility Gustavo Manrique (not pictured) deliver a statement following a meeting in Quito, Ecuador October 6, 2023. REUTERS/Karen Toro/FIle Photo

By Brad Brooks

(Reuters) - New York Mayor Eric Adams on Friday vetoed legislation that would ban the use of solitary confinement in city jails and a second bill that would force police officers to document more of their stops, but city council leaders vowed to override the vetoes.

Adams, a Democrat and former New York City police captain, said during a City Hall ceremony marking his vetoes that "we cannot handcuff the police, we want to handcuff bad people who are violent."

New York City's Democratic-controlled council last month passed the law that seeks to ban solitary confinement, a practice which its opponents say causes physical, psychological, and emotional harm.

But Adams and the labor union representing the city's jail guards argue such a ban would make it more difficult to protect jail workers from violence by detainees, most of whom are awaiting trial and were denied or unable to afford release on bail.

The legislation forcing police to provide more documented details about their investigative stops was also passed last month. Supporters say it would provide more accountability for police stops in minority neighborhoods, among other factors.

The mayor said that legislation would drown officers "in unnecessary paperwork," force the city to pay more in overtime, and detract from officers "policing our streets and engaging with the community."

Adrienne Adams, speaker of the New York City Council, and Sandy Nurse, the body's criminal justice chairperson, said in joint written statements that the council passed the legislation with a "veto-proof majority" and would soon override the vetoes. Two-thirds of the council's 51 elected members - or 34 votes - are required to override.

The City legislation banning solitary confinement passed with 39 votes, while the bill requiring more details on police stops passed with 35 votes.

Under current "punitive segregation" rules, jail officials can punish detainees who are violent or otherwise break jail rules by isolating them in a cell for up to 23 hours a day for up to 60 days straight for the most serious infractions.

The bill would reduce that to four hours maximum, with wellness checks by jail staff every 15 minutes. For serious infractions, detainees could be transferred to restrictive housing for up to 60 days in a single year.

(Reporting by Brad Brooks in Longmont, Colorado; Editing by Frank McGurty and Rosalba O'Brien)
LONDON (Reuters) -A newborn baby girl is in hospital after being found in sub-zero temperatures wrapped in a towel in a shopping bag on a London street, British police said on Friday.

The baby was found by a person walking their dog in Newham, east London, just after 2100 GMT on Thursday, London's Metropolitan Police said. Police later said the girl was believed to be less than an hour old when she was found.

According to the national weather service, it was minus 3 degrees Celsius (26.6 degrees Fahrenheit) in London on Thursday evening.

"That person kept the baby girl warm until London Ambulance Service paramedics arrived and checked her over before taking her to hospital," Chief Superintendent Simon Crick, who leads policing in Newham, said in a statement.

"I am delighted to report that she wasnt injured in any way and is safe and well in the care of hospital staff."

Crick said the girl had been given the temporary name of Elsa, and she was believed to be Black or mixed race. The police said they were concerned for the welfare of the baby's mother and appealed for her to get in touch.

(Reporting by Kylie MacLellan; editing by William James and William Schomberg)
By Hyonhee Shin

SEOUL (Reuters) -North Korea has conducted a test of its underwater nuclear weapons system in a protest against this week's joint military drills by South Korea, the United States and Japan, state media KCNA said on Friday.

The test of the "Haeil-5-23" system, a name North Korea has given to its nuclear-capable underwater attack drones, was carried out by the defence ministry's think tank in the waters off its east coast, the report said, without specifying a date.

The ministry's unnamed spokesman accused the United States, South Korea and Japan of "getting frantic" with military exercises, warning of "catastrophic consequences."

The three countries' navies held their three-day regular drills until Wednesday, alongside the U.S. aircraft carrier Carl Vinson, as part of efforts to improve their responses to Pyongyang's evolving nuclear and missile threats.

"Our army's underwater nuke-based countering posture is being further rounded off and its various maritime and underwater responsive actions will continue to deter the hostile military manoeuvres of the navies of the U.S. and its allies," the North Korean ministry spokesman said in a statement, according to KCNA.

North Korean state television has aired previous atmospheric explosion tests, which have been monitored by U.S. and South Korean authorities, but the reported underwater weapon has not been independently verified.

Later on Friday, South Korea's defence ministry issued a warning against the North's recent series of weapons tests, calling for an immediate halt.

"Our military is thoroughly prepared for North Korea's provocations under a solid joint defence posture with the United States," it said in a statement, vowing "overwhelming" responses if North Korea stages a direct provocation.

Japan's foreign minister Yoko Kamikawa, when asked about the North's latest test at a news conference, declined to comment on "each and every one of those activities" but pledged continued efforts to curb its weapons development.

Dubbed "Haeil", which means tsunami, the new drone system was first reportedly tested in March 2023, and state media said it was intended to make sneak attacks in enemy waters and destroy naval strike groups and major operational ports by creating a large radioactive wave through an underwater explosion.

The latest reported underwater test came days after North Korea fired a new intermediate-range, solid-fuel hypersonic missile, which Washington, Seoul and Tokyo condemned as a serious violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions.

The three allies' nuclear envoys gathered in Seoul on Thursday, also condemning Pyongyang's arms trade with Russia and increasingly hostile rhetoric, just as North Korea's foreign minister visited Moscow and met with President Vladimir Putin.

(Reporting by Hyonhee Shin; Additional reporting by Sakura Murakami in Tokyo; Editing by Ed Davies, Michael Perry and Christian Schmollinger)
By Lucy Craymer

WELLINGTON (Reuters) - An influential New Zealand Maori leader will host on Saturday a meeting to discuss how to respond to government policies seen by many Indigenous groups as undermining their rights and status.

The centre-right coalition, which took office in October, is promising to undo policies of previous governments, particularly those promoting the official use of the Maori language and seeking to enhance Indigenous living standards and rights.

Critics say these vows are the most significant step backward for Maori rights in decades, and some have taken legal action. The government of Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says its plans address voters' concerns, and are aimed at giving all New Zealanders equal rights.

More that 3,000 people are expected to attend the gathering, which is being held at Ngaruawahia, south of Auckland at the traditional meeting grounds, or Marae, of Maori King Tuheitia. It is the same location that Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip met in 1953 with the current king's mother, Queen Te Atairangikaahu.

Ngira Simmonds, the king's chief of staff, said in a statement that the gathering will discuss how the Maori translation of the Treaty of Waitangi can be upheld.

The 1840 treaty is New Zealands founding document and underpins claims of Maori sovereignty.

Several breakout sessions are planned for the day that include discussing national unity. Former Prime Minister Jenny Shipley and former Governor General Sylvia Cartwright are both set to speak.

Some non-Indigenous politicians are also attending the event but Luxon will not take part. The prime minister met the Maori King earlier this week and said he was supportive of the meeting.

(Reporting by Lucy Craymer; editing by Miral Fahmy)
Frederick X, the new king of Denmark, is beginning his reign with a book entitled Kongeord (The Word of a King), published on Wednesday, January 17. In it, he offers a vision of his tasks and reflects on his youth. At the age of 55, the first-born son of Margrethe II who officially abdicated last Sunday in Copenhagen has surprised his compatriots by sharing his desires and concerns about the future. Although the books appearance was kept secret until the very day of its publication, Danish media report that the publisher has been very busy since New Years Eve, when the queen announced her retirement after 52 years on the throne. While we do not know how long the book was in the works, it has been just three days since Frederick X went onto the Danish Parliaments balcony as the new king, with his wife Queen consort Mary at his side, to be celebrated by his fellow citizens.

On Wednesday, the Danish daily Jyllands-Posten, the largest of Denmarks daily newspapers, described the appearance of the book, published by Politikens Forlag, as a great surprise. It explained that the publication reflects the young and recalcitrant crown princes path to becoming a mature man, a family man, and king. The royal familys website, which has been revamped since Frederick X became king, introduces the book, noting that the King himself [explains] what he means by the words United, committed, for the kingdom of Denmark. That is the motto of his reign; it does not expressly mention God, as is traditional in the Danish monarchy.

Last Sunday, addressing the Danish people as monarch, Frederick X invoked the support of his dear wife, his family, and you and of that which is greater than all of us. Since Danish monarchs are heads of both the state and the Evangelical Lutheran Church, the royal family has sought to clear up doubts about the matter. To that end, its website includes some of the kings statements, which illustrate his apparent omission of the divine. One such phrase is that the strength of faith lies not in whether God is mentioned in the word of a king, but in the fact that we, as people, feel connected to each other through our Christian faith. Of his Christianity, Fredrick X says in his book that it occupies much more of my life than it used to. 72 percent of the population is recorded as members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, which has 55% women priests. However, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs official website, less than 5% of Danes consider themselves to be very religious.

The book was written by Jens Andersen, a Danish author who already published a 2018 biography of the then crown prince. This time, his portrait of the new monarch reflects the kings evolution, from his doubts as a teenager and his discomfort as a young man in the face of his royal destiny to ultimately ascending to the throne with apparent calm. I just wanted to be like other boys my age, and for many years calling myself King was something I did not want at all, Frederick X admits to the writer. The son of Queen Margrethe and the late Prince Henry came to believe that turning 18 was something like the end of the world because everything fun and enjoyable would come to an end. But, he acknowledges, fortunately, it didnt. During his youth, he earned the nickname Turbo, for his penchant for driving at high speed. His tendency to party was similarly evident.

A woman reads a copy of 'Kongeord' (The Word of a King), the book written by Jens Andersen about King Frederick X, at a bookstore in Copenhagen on January 17, 2024. NILS MEILVANG (EFE)

Frederick X says that he owes his sense of duty to his mother and his wife. He adds that for once, I am the person I want to be. I will also strive to develop that as King of Denmark; the Danish royal familys website highlighted that same phrase. Of his wife, the Australian-born queen consort  with whom he will celebrate 20 years of marriage next May  the new king says that she is his co-pilot and that they have a super dynamic together, In the weeks prior to the announcement of Margrethe IIs abdication, the Danish tabloid press reported the then-princes visit to Spain to meet Genoveva Casanova, the former daughter-in-law of the Duchess of Alba. The Danish royal family did not comment on the photos published by the Spanish magazine Lecturas [Readings].

Newly proclaimed King Frederick and Queen Mary of Denmark kiss on the balcony of Christiansborg Palace in Copenhagen on January 14, 2024. RITZAU SCANPIX DENMARK (via REUTERS)

Represented by Frederick X and Mary of Denmark, the monarchys new era will be shaped by their attention to environmental issues, because we wish to contribute to leaving the planet in good condition for the next generation. To that end, they intend to support initiatives for nature conservation, biodiversity and the fight against climate change. That pledge to personally take action is summarized elsewhere in the book: In many Western societies the important question is: What can you do for me? Rarely is it the other way around: What can I do for you?

In the extensive photo gallery of the proclamation provided by the royal household, there are pictures of the thousands of Danes who filled the streets of Copenhagen to greet an emotional Frederick X. There are also images of the royal couple holding hands around the waist on the balcony of the Danish Parliament. In the video of the speech delivered from the balcony, we can see the kiss the royal couple shared at the end.

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JERUSALEM (Reuters) - A Palestinian-American teenager was killed by Israeli security forces on Friday in the occupied West Bank, Palestinian health officials said.

The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The American-born youth was 17 years old, the boy's uncle told Reuters, adding that the incident occurred during clashes with the Israeli military that included stone-throwing by Palestinians.

The Palestinian official news agency WAFA said the youth had been killed by Israeli gunfire.

Asked at a White House briefing on Friday, National Security spokesman John Kirby said: "We don't have perfect context about exactly what happened, but we're seriously concerned about it."

He added that the White House would be in "constant touch" with counterparts in the region to get more information.

(Reporting by Ali Sawafta and Nidal al-Mughrabi; additional reporting by Andrea Shalal in Washington; Editing by Sandra Maler)
MOSCOW (Reuters) -The Russian foreign ministry said on Friday it had received a delegation from the Hamas movement and had urged it to release hostages the group is holding in the Gaza strip, including three Russian nationals.

The ministry said in a statement that Mikhail Bogdanov, a deputy foreign minister, had received Hamas Politburo member Abu Marzouk.

"During the conversation, the focus was on the ongoing confrontation in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict zone, against the backdrop of which the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip has reached catastrophic proportions," the foreign ministry said in a statement.

"The Russian side stressed the need for the speedy release of civilians captured during the attacks of 7 October 2023 and held by Palestinian factions, including three Russian citizens - A. Kozlov, A. Lobanov and A. Trufanov."

In a separate statement, issued later on Friday, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Bogdanov also held talks with Israel's ambassador to Russia, Simona Halperin.

The ministry said Russia supported a comprehensive Middle East settlement based on U.N. Security Council decisions.

The Israeli ambassador, it said, "was also informed about the purposeful efforts of Russian diplomacy in the interests of the immediate and unconditional release of civilians held in the Gaza Strip, including Russians".

(Reporting by Reuters; editing by Andrew Osborn and Hugh Lawson)
By Layli Foroudi and Juliette Jabkhiro

BOBIGNY, France (Reuters) - Three French police officers were handed suspended jail sentences for using excessive force during the 2017 arrest of a young Black man, a French court ruled on Friday, sparking protests outside the courtroom calling for police officers to serve time in prison.

The arrest of Theodore Luhaka in the Paris suburb of Aulnay-sous-Bois following an ID check in 2017, when he was 22, was one of several cases in recent years that has brought the French police under scrutiny for racism and violent misconduct, leading to street protests.

Policeman Marc-Antoine Castelain was given a one-year suspended prison sentence for voluntary violence for beating Luhaka and causing him serious anal injuries with a police baton, leaving him incontinent.

The judges ruled on Friday that the injury caused to Luhaka could not be considered a permanent disability. Rape charges initially brought against Castelain were dropped before the trial.

Two other officers, Jeremie Dulin and Tony Hochart, who were present and gave blows to Luhaka during his arrest, were each given three months suspended sentences.

Castelain was banned from working as a police officer in the public space for five years, while the other two officers were banned for two years.

Luhaka's lawyer, Antoine Vey, said that the decision is a "victory" that confirms that "Theo was a victim and nothing justifies that he was beaten."

However, protesters in the courthouse shouted slogans calling for police to serve prison time. "It is a masquerade to have a suspended [sentence] for mutilating Theo for life," said one of the protesters, Samia El Khalfaoui, whose nephew Souheil was killed by a police officer in 2021.

Defense lawyers told the court during the trial that the use of force by the officers was legitimate, necessary and proportionate. Castelain's lawyer said that accusations of racism against his client were unfounded.

Prosecutor Loic Pageot had sought a three-year suspended prison sentence for Castelain and judged Luhaka's injury to be a permanent disability. He asked for six months and three months suspended prison sentences for the other two officers.

"We need a police that protects us, not police officers like these who employ gratuitous violence," he told the court on Thursday, describing the violence as unnecessary and "vengeful" as Luhaka did not pose an immediate threat.

Luhaka, now aged 29, said during the trial that he has been "living dead" since the arrest. He told reporters ahead of the verdict that the length of the sentence did not matter to him as long as the officers were found guilty and that the truth was told.

Most cases against police officers for voluntary violence are dismissed before reaching trial in France, and in 2021 less than 15% of guilty judgments resulted in actual jail time served, official data shows.

(This story has been corrected to say nephew, not brother, in paragraph 8)

(Reporting by Layli Foroudi; Editing by Sandra Maler)
Former U.S. President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks as he campaigns in Indianola, Iowa, U.S., January 14, 2024. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo

By Jonathan Stempel

NEW YORK (Reuters) -Donald Trump on Friday renewed his request for a mistrial in E. Jean Carroll's defamation case, after she admitted to destroying emailed death threats she received after first accusing the former U.S. president of rape.

In a letter to U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan in Manhattan, Trump's lawyer Alina Habba said Carroll's actions "severely prejudices the President Trump's defense (sic) since he has been deprived of critical information relating to critical evidence which Plaintiff has described to the jury."

Kaplan had rejected the same request on Wednesday, during Carroll's testimony.

A spokesman for Carroll declined to comment.

Carroll, 80, a former Elle magazine advice columnist, has accused Trump, 77, of raping her in the mid-1990s in a Bergdorf Goodman department store dressing room in Manhattan.

She is seeking at least $10 million for damage to her reputation over two statements that Trump made in June 2019, while he was president, in which he denied that anything happened and said Carroll made up the incident to boost sales of her memoir.

Under cross-examination by Habba on Wednesday, Carroll acknowledged she had thought deleting death threats was "was the smartest, best, quickest way to get it out of my life." She said it was "probably 2023" when the deletions stopped.

Habba said the deletions violated a federal rule governing the preservation of emails needed during litigation.

She said that absent a mistrial, Kaplan should prevent Carroll from seeking damages related to death threats, or instruct jurors to hold the email destruction against her.

In seeking a mistrial on Wednesday, Habba had told the judge: "Your Honor, at this moment, I feel I have to ask for a mistrial. The witness has just admitted to deleting evidence herself, which are part of her claim of damages, and I haven't seen them. She has no evidence of them. She hasn't turned them over."

Kaplan responded: "Denied. The jury will disregard everything Ms. Habba just said."

A different jury last May ordered Trump to pay Carroll $5 million for defamation and sexual abuse, after he similarly denied her accusations in October 2022.

Kaplan has said those findings apply to the current trial, leaving only the issue of damages for the nine-person jury.

The trial has lasted three days. It will resume on Monday, and Trump may testify.

Trump is the frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination and in the party's second nominating contest, the New Hampshire primary, which will be held on Tuesday.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel and Luc Cohen in New York; editing by Jonathan Oatis)
The U.S. (L) and Japanese national flags are hoisted next to a traditional Okinawan Shisa statue at the U.S. Marine's Camp Foster in Ginowan, on the southern island of Okinawa, Japan June 18, 2016. REUTERS/Tim Kelly/file photo

By John Geddie and Tim Kelly

YOKOSUKA, Japan (Reuters) - The United States and Japan are looking to make a deal for Japanese shipyards to regularly overhaul and maintain U.S. Navy warships so they can stay in Asian waters ready for any potential conflict, U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel said on Friday.

"China watches what ships are coming in and out. It is not like this is a secret, they know what's happening. So therefore, they take an evaluation of your deterrence," Emanuel told reporters at the Yokosuka naval base near Tokyo.

Unchallenged in Asian waters for decades, the U.S. Navy faces a growing Chinese navy being built in shipyards that are outpacing U.S. warship production.

China has more than 370 ships and submarines, up from the 340 ships they had in 2023, according to an annual report released by the Pentagon in October, making it numerically the largest navy in the world.

Using Japanese dry docks would ease pressure on U.S. yards that are wrestling with maintenance backlogs of up to 4,000 days and allow them to focus on shipbuilding that will allow the U.S. to expand its fleet, Emanuel said.

Washington and Tokyo, he added, had established a council to work out a joint plan for the maintenance work.

U.S. ally Japan hosts the biggest overseas concentration of U.S. military power, including the only forward-deployed carrier strike group, which operates from Yokosuka. That group of warships is part of the Seventh Fleet, which commands up to 70 ships and submarines from its headquarters at the Japanese naval base.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, which makes warships and submarines for Japan's Self Defense Forces, operates commercial dockyards in nearby Yokohama, which have done some maintenance work on U.S. Navy ships in the past.

(Reporting by John Geddie and Tim Kelly; Editing by Chang-Ran Kim and Christian Schmollinger)
(Reuters) - At least 100,000 customers in Oregon still did not have electricity flowing to their homes on Friday, as continued ice and wind limited efforts to restore power by Portland General Electric, the state's largest utility.

Severe winter storms have pounded the U.S. Northwest in recent days, and data from PowerOutage.us showed that Oregon was the hardest-hit state with around 110,000 power outages.

"After significant progress restoring all but about 5,000 customers from this week's weather, a third round of weather, including high gusty winds and freezing rain, caused about 50,000 new outages," Portland General said in its latest update on Friday morning.

"We understand the disruption these outages can cause and will not stop until the lights are on for everyone," the utility added, with some 1,700 workers involved in its restoration efforts.

On Wednesday, Portland fire officials said a downed power line electrocuted three people to death in Oregon after falling onto a vehicle, but a baby in diapers survived after a witness retrieved the child from the scene.

Freezing temperatures triggered peak power demand in parts of the U.S. on Wednesday, a day after homes and businesses consumed a record amount of natural gas for heating and power generation.

The severe winter storm also shut a U.S. Gulf Coast refinery in Texas on Tuesday, triggered malfunctions at others and halved North Dakota oil production.

North Dakota's oil output could take about a month to recover after a severe freeze cut production by more than half this week, state officials said.

(Reporting by Deep Vakil and Daksh Grover in Bengaluru; Editing by Leslie Adler)
FILE PHOTO: The sun casts shadows as it rises over the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, U.S., December 20, 2023. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo

By Daniel Wiessner

(Reuters) - An impending U.S. Supreme Court ruling that could curb the regulatory powers of federal agencies may play a critical role in a challenge by Republican-led states to a rule issued by President Joe Biden's administration allowing socially conscious investing by employee retirement plans, according to a new court filing.

The 26 states, led by Utah and Texas, asked a U.S. appeals court late on Thursday to wait to decide whether to block the U.S. Department of Labor rule until the Supreme Court issues its decision on agency powers, expected by the end of June.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday heard arguments in a dispute involving a government-run program to monitor for overfishing of herring off New England's coast. Two fishing companies asked the justices to restrict or overturn the Supreme Court's 1984 legal precedent requiring judges to defer to reasonable federal agency interpretations of U.S. laws deemed to be ambiguous, a doctrine called "Chevron deference."

Texas-based U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, presiding over the lawsuit challenging the investing rule, said in September that the U.S. law governing retirement plans was unclear on whether such plans could consider environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) factors in making investment decisions.

The Labor Department's view that plans can weigh those factors as long as they prioritize traditional financial considerations was reasonable, Kacsmaryk said in declining to block the rule pending the outcome of the lawsuit.

The states on Thursday filed a brief with a New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals seeking to reverse Kacsmaryk's decision. They said Chevron deference does not apply to the case because federal law clearly requires retirement plans to act "solely and exclusively" for the financial benefit of participants.

But if the 5th Circuit finds otherwise, it should wait for the Supreme Court to rule on the fate of Chevron deference before deciding the case, the states said in their filing.

The rule improperly inserts political agendas into investment decisions that affect the retirement savings of hundreds of millions of people, the states said. A subsidiary of Liberty Energy and an oil and gas trade group are also plaintiffs in the case.

Finalized in November 2023, the rule covers plans that collectively invest $12 trillion on behalf of more than 150 million people. It reversed restrictions adopted by Republican former President Donald Trump's administration on considering ESG factors in making investment decisions.

Critics of ESG investing, including many Republicans, have said it advances liberal political and social agendas at the expense of plan participants or shareholders who may suffer financial losses as a result.

The U.S. Department of Justice, which is defending the ESG rule, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The brief by the states represents an early illustration of the widespread impact that overruling Chevron deference could have by making it harder for federal agencies to defend their rules in court.

Pushing to eliminate the doctrine is part of a broader effort by conservatives and business-backed groups to curb the powers of what they call the "administrative state" as they seek to weaken the federal agency bureaucracy that interprets laws, crafts rules and implements executive action.

The Supreme Court handed a significant victory to that movement in 2022, ruling that the power to adopt policies involving "major questions" with broad societal impact is reserved for Congress and not federal agencies.

Biden's administration has urged the Supreme Court to preserve Chevron deference, arguing that the doctrine recognizes the need for agencies to "fill in the gaps" when legislation is ambiguous.

The questions posed by the justices during Wednesday's arguments did not reveal a clear majority in favor of overturning Chevron deference. Some of the conservative justices, who have a 6-3 majority on the court, seemed skeptical of the doctrine's continuing force but others signaled hesitation about reversing it.

(This story has been refiled to correct garble in paragraph 1)

(Reporting by Daniel Wiessner in Albany, New York, Editing by Will Dunham and Alexia Garamfalvi)
By Abdulrahman Al-Ansi

SANAA (Reuters) - A Yemeni teenager who calls himself a "pirate" has become a social media sensation after posting video selfies that include one showing him gripping Yemen's flag on board a commercial container ship seized in the Red Sea by the Houthis.

Rashed Al-Haddad, 19, has achieved his success despite offering no evidence that he's been involved in the seizure of any vessel.

"The king of the pirates has arrived in the Red Sea. Free Palestine," he wrote on X above a video showing him on the container ship Galaxy Leader.

That post, in which he sported a thin beard and wore a khaki shirt and military-style belt, had 36,500 views and included a comment from @MaryMorrisey saying: "Got a love, a rockstar pirate".

Other posts on X or TikTok show him in a skiff alongside the vessel. One had more than 60,000 views.

The Galaxy Leader was seized on Nov. 19, after the Houthis, who control swathes of Yemen, started attacks on ships in the Red Sea which they said were to support Palestinians during the Gaza war. The vessel is now docked in Yemen.

Some comments on Haddad's posts on X, formerly known as Twitter, and other social media sites, have described him as "hot". One person wrote: "You're so good looking."

Speaking from Yemen, he told Reuters: "They compared me to a Hollywood actor. I did not care about these tweets at all. I tweeted and said we need to focus on the Palestinian cause."

He spoke while sitting on a living room couch, wearing a military belt typically used by soldiers to carry ammunition. At one point he had an AK-47 assault rifle beside him.

Israel began its military campaign in Gaza after a deadly rampage by Palestinian militants through Israel on Oct. 7. The offensive has caused fury, particularly in the Arab world, as the Palestinian death toll has mounted.

More than 24,000 Palestinians have been killed, after about 1,200 people were killed in the Hamas attack.

The Houthis say their attacks on shipping will continue until Israel halts its military offensive in Gaza.

(Writing by Michael Georgy; Editing by Edmund Blair and Timothy Heritage)
Robert Gaylor, the fifth chief master sergeant of the Air Force, poses with his Mustang in 2013. (Jonathan Snyder/U.S. Air Force)

The fifth chief master sergeant of the Air Force, who advocated for airmens welfare and witnessed racial integration of the service, died Wednesday at age 93.

Robert Gaylor, who served in the role from 1977 to 1979, died at his home in San Antonio, according to a Facebook post from his children.

He was a pillar of our Air Force  A leader among leaders  a national treasure and a patriot of unparalleled honor and dignity, Chief Master Sgt. of the Air Force JoAnne Bass said on her Facebook page Wednesday. He devoted more than 75 years of his life, both in uniform and out, to actively serving our Airmen and their families.

As the senior noncommissioned officer in the Air Force and senior enlisted adviser to the Air Force chief of staff, Gaylor pressed for measures to improve service members morale and their quality of life.

He played a significant role in the creation of the Air Forces new maternity uniform and pushed for a policy change allowing junior enlisted Airmen undergoing a permanent change of station to transport their families at the governments expense, a statement posted online from the secretary of the Air Force said Wednesday.

Robert Gaylor, fifth chief master sergeant of the Air Force from 1977 to 1979, died Jan. 17, 2024 at age 93. (U.S. Air Force)

Gaylor also pressed for better leadership training and served as an instructor at the Second Air Force Noncommissioned Officer Academy at Barksdale Air Force Base, La., according to the Air Force. He helped reopen the NCO academy for Strategic Air Command and established the U.S. Air Forces in Europe Command Management and Leadership Center. The NCO academy at Joint Base San Antonio is named for him.

Gaylor joined the military in September 1948, inspired by the sight of World War II veterans returning to his hometown of Mulberry, Ind. The second of eight children, he wanted to get out on his own, travel and learn a skill after high school, according to an Air Force Historical Support Division publication in 2016.

During basic training at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, Gaylor witnessed some of the last of the segregated U.S. military, according to his Department of Defense biography.

During that summer, word came to his base that the Air Force would soon integrate. Gaylor recalled receiving the news with some measure of confusion. He did not understand why it had not happened earlier, according to his biography.

A rumor spread that service members who did not accept integration could ask for a discharge, according to DOD.

Gaylor and his fellow airmen soon heard the truth. The commander addressed them, essentially telling them that they would accept integration or suffer the consequences of undue interference, his biography states.

In 1957, Gaylor began his career as a military training instructor at Lackland, according to an Air Force news release in 2013.

He returned to the security police in 1962 until 1965, when he was selected to attend the Noncommissioned Officer Academy at Barksdale. He became an instructor after graduation, and in 1971 he was assigned to Air Force headquarters in Europe at Ramstein Air Base, Germany.

From there, he traveled throughout the command teaching leadership skills, and the following year started the Command Management and Leadership Center, according to the release.

Gaylor, with help from his children, started a weekly Facebook video series in April 2020 called Wednesday with the Chief, Bass said, selflessly dedicating his time to the institution he loved so dearly.

On Gaylors Facebook page Wednesday, his audience found a post from his family instead of the usual message from the former chief. He is survived by his children Carol Nuccio, Elaine Sweidel and Kenny Gaylor.

We thank you, his loyal and faithful audience, for watching, for commenting, and for ENERGIZING Chief Bob Gaylor. He loved each and every one of you, read the post signed by his children.

The post drew drew more than 1,200 comments and more than 440 shares as of Thursday.

I will miss our chats, his mentorship  and his friendship, Bass said.
The Marine Corps is fielding thousands of new encrypted radios that are designed to give Marines more security while communicating on the battlefield. (Summer Dowding/U.S. Marine Corps)

Efforts to ensure that U.S. Marines can speak undetected on the battlefield are taking a step forward with major upgrades to the radios they carry, service officials said.

The closest analogy to our current transition in radio technology is akin to moving from the era of flip phones to the advanced world of smartphones, Richard Sessions, a program manager for Marine Corps Systems Command, said in a statement Thursday.

Since October, 4,000 of the multi-channel radios have been issued across the fleet. And the service is on track to deliver 50,000 upgraded radios by the end of 2024, the statement said.

Securing radio communications has been a big priority for the military to counter adversaries such as Russia and China, which have the technological know-how to cause disruptions across the electromagnetic spectrum.

While the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan didnt present such challenges, a new era of great power competition has brought to the forefront the need to ensure that ground troops arent left vulnerable to attack from unsecured communication networks.

A key focus in our communication systems rollout is minimizing detection and interception risks, Sessions said. Were dedicated to making our systems challenging for the enemy to locate and disrupt.

For the Corps, the communication improvements also are in line with a broader transformation known as Force Design 2030, which aims to return Marines to their amphibious roots as the U.S. prepares for a potential conflict with China.

As part of that reorganization, the Corps has gotten rid of tank units in favor of more agile formations that can work better with the Navy, which would have a pivotal role in any conflict in the Pacific Ocean.

At the tactical level, that means Marines need the radio technology to communicate without giving away their position.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz looks on during the weekly cabinet meeting of the German government in Berlin, Germany, 17 January 2024.

The German parliament on Thursday approved legislation that is intended to ease deportations of unsuccessful asylum-seekers as Chancellor Olaf Scholz seeks to defuse migration as a political problem.

The legislation foresees increasing the maximum length of pre-deportation custody from 10 to 28 days and specifically facilitating the deportation of people who are members of a criminal organization.

It also authorizes residential searches for documentation that enables officials to firmly establish a persons identity, as well as remove authorities obligation to give advance notice of deportations in some cases.

Germanys shelters for migrants and refugees have been filling up in recent months as significant numbers of asylum-seekers add to more than 1 million Ukrainians who have arrived since the start of Russias war in their homeland.

The majority of rejected asylum-seekers in Germany will still have at least temporary permission to stay for reasons that can include illness, a child with residency status or a lack of ID.

It remains to be seen how much difference the new rules will make. Deportations can fail for a variety of reasons, including those the legislation addresses but also a lack of cooperation by migrants home countries. Germany is trying to strike agreements with various nations to address that problem while also creating opportunities for legal immigration.

The parliaments vote Thursday comes at a time when tens of thousands of people in Germany have protested against alleged far-right plans to deport millions of immigrants, including some with German citizenship, as reported by an investigative media outlet last week. Scholz sharply condemned the plot drawn at the meeting in November, which allegedly also included members of the far-right Alternative for Germany, or AfD, party.

The German parliament is set to vote Friday on legislation that would ease citizenship rules  a project that the government contends will bolster the integration of immigrants and help an economy that is struggling with a shortage of skilled workers.

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The Navy plans to expand its partnership with Japanese shipyards to allow for more significant warship repairs, U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel said at Yokosuka Naval Base, Japan, Friday, Jan. 19, 2024. (Jennessa Davey/Stars and Stripes)

YOKOSUKA NAVAL BASE, Japan  The U.S. Navy plans to send some of its vessels to Japanese shipyards for maintenance to reduce the time it takes them to return to service, the U.S. ambassador to Japan announced Friday.

U.S. warships are already maintained and repaired in Japan at U.S. Navy installations like Yokosuka or Sasebo Naval Base, but ships are also routinely sent back to the United States for overhauls, upgrades and major repairs. The process can take months or even years to complete.

Eliminating that lengthy process and exploring alternatives is more critical than ever, Ambassador Rahm Emanuel told reporters Friday at Yokosuka.

We know that China watches which ships are coming in and out  its not a secret; they know whats happening, and China evaluates the United States deterrence level in the region based on that, he said outside of the bases ship-repair facility.

Repairing U.S. warships at Japanese shipyards isnt unprecedented. Several years ago, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Yokohama dockyard serviced the guided-missile destroyer USS Milius.

The repair was an attempt to explore the possibility of using private shipyards outside of U.S. bases in Japan, and Mitsubishi indicated it was open to future cooperation with the Navy, the Asahi Shimbun reported in May 2019.

The U.S. is setting up a committee or council to coordinate future ship-repair work between the U.S. and Japan, Emanuel said. The Navy is already holding a practice run with the amphibious transport dock USS New Orleans, homeported in Sasebo, which he said is undergoing repairs at an unspecified Japanese shipyard.

Were going to work on this. Were going to do basically a test, a kind of beta test of the whole concept, and then well start to see and explore how to expand beyond that, Emanuel said during the news conference.

The change is overdue, he said, citing nearly $1.8 billion in backlogged repairs to surface warships, according to the Government Accountability Office.

The GAO in a May 2022 report found the backlog led the Navy to decommission nine ships and resulted in the loss of 34 years of ship life.

The rules and regulations we had in the past were good for the past, Emanuel told reporters. The real-life challenges we have  and the ability to project deterrence  requires making changes.

The ambassador concluded the press conference without providing additional details.

Emanuel said the idea came up during a conversation he had with Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro. Emanuel has advocated for the concept since at least July, when he authored an opinion piece for the Wall Street Journal.

To ensure regional security and stability, its past time for our two countries not only to train together but also to maintain maritime readiness together, he wrote July 11 in the Journal.

Whether Washington is focused on maintaining our ships or on building overall naval strength, Japan is key to our regional deterrence strategy, he said.

Emanuels announcement of the new program came just one day after Japan signed a deal to purchase 400 Tomahawk cruise missiles from the U.S., with delivery to take place between fiscal years 2025 and 2027.

The timing, however, was coincidental, Emanuel said.

Its a pleasant coincidence, he jokingly told the reporters. I wish I could say that we were that strategic with our scheduling.
(Steve Liewer/Stars and Stripes)

Baghdad, Iraq, March 24, 2003: An Apache Longbow from the 6th Squadron, 6th Cavalry Regiment, was badly damaged in a hard landing before a night raid near Baghdad. Every aircraft that returned had been shot by Iraqi forces.

Read the story on the first battle of the Longbows of the 6th Squadron, 6th Cavalry Regiment here.
A gas flame burns on an offshore gas platform in the North Sea near Bergen, Norway. (Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg)

Climate activists won a court case in Norway against the state over development plans at a handful of oil and gas fields under the sea off the Nordic countrys coast.

Greenpeace Norway and Young Friends of the Earth argued that development plans at the Breidablikk, Tyrving and Yggdrasil fields, approved by the ministry of energy in 2021 and 2023, are invalid. On Thursday, the Oslo District Court concluded that the impact of combustion emissions must be considered by law, and that no impact assessment of such emissions had been carried out in connection with the decisions in question, it said.

The ruling is a breakthrough for environmental groups. In an earlier case, the same two organizations, along with six young climate activists, had argued that allowing oil exploration in the Arctic during a climate crisis breaches fundamental human rights. After failing to persuade the Supreme Court in that case and after a series of appeals, the groups submitted their case to the European Court of Human Rights.

In Thursdays ruling, the state was prohibited from making other decisions that require a valid development plan approval for Breidablikk, Yggdrasil and Tyrving until the validity of the decisions has been legally determined. The state was also ordered to pay court costs.

Production at the Breidablikk field in the North Sea started in October. Equinor ASA, which operates the field, said that it isnt party to the trial and hadnt had the opportunity to review the judgment, spokesperson Gisle Ledel Johannessen said. While the company said it will deal with the authorities on the matter and their follow-up of the case, Greenpeace was clear on its interpretation of the ruling.

The judgment establishes that the Breidablikk, Yggdrasil and Tyrving oil and gas fields were approved on an illegal basis and that production must be stopped immediately, Frode Pleym, head of Greenpeace Norway, said in a statement. We expect a halt to all further developments.

The energy ministry said it will now thoroughly review the judgment together with the government attorney.

We disagree with the judgment and the ruling on temporary injunction, Energy Minister Terje Aasland said in an emailed statement. Based on this, we will consider appealing.

Equinor rose 0.5% as of 10:57 a.m. in Oslo, while Aker BP ASA, which is operator for Tyrving, rose 0.6%.

The docket number for the case in the Oslo District Court is 23-099330TVI-TOSL/05.

Visit bloomberg.com

2024 Bloomberg L.P.
Despite air and ground rescue efforts, the body of an experienced hiker from Thornton, N.H., was found dead in the snow between Mount Bond and Mount Guyot on Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2024. His body was retrieved the next day by helicopter. (Facebook/N.H. Fish and Game Law Enforcement Division and Operation Game Thief)

(Tribune News Service)  A hiker stranded on a New Hampshire mountain used his cell phone to help direct rescuers, but he died before they reached him, state officials say.

The outcome was unexpected, given Christopher Roma, 37, was an experienced and well known hiker throughout New Hampshires White Mountains, according to the states Fish and Game Law Enforcement Division.

Acquaintances say Roma called them to report he was in distress on Mount Bond around 10:20 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 16, officials said. Mount Bond is near Lincoln, about 65 miles north of Concord.

Eventually the hiker made contact with NH911 and coordinates were obtained that placed the hiker between Mount Bond and Mount Guyot, Fish and Game officials reported.

Before the call was lost the hiker stated he was very cold. The weather forecast for the area was for heavy winds, temperatures in the single digits and snow.

Rescuers began a ground search at about 2 a.m. on Wednesday, but progress was slowed by waist deep snow and heavy winds and blowing snow, officials said.

They called the New Hampshire Army National Guard and requested a helicopter pull Roma out by air. However, low clouds and poor visibility hampered three flights to the mountain, officials said.

At 5 p.m. (Jan. 17) a team from Mountain Rescue Service reached the hiker but unfortunately he was deceased, state officials said.

It was decided that all rescuers would come off the mountain for the night and an extraction would be planned for the next morning. ... Weather conditions remained in the single digit temperatures and there was still considerable wind in the area.

A helicopter retrieved the body around 8:30 a.m. on Thursday, officials said.

He succumbed to weather related injuries, according to a GoFundMe campaign.

Roma was an experienced outdoorsman, having trekked extensively in the White Mountains, The Trek hiking journal reported.

After finishing the Triple Crown of thru-hiking ... he went on to found his own guiding business, North East Trekking Company. He was deeply involved with his community in Thornton and in 2023 began blogging.

Roma lived in Thornton, about 12 miles south of the mountain.

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.

2024 The Charlotte Observer.

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Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Soldiers fire the M136 AT4 on Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J., on Nov. 17, 2023. The AT4 is a 84mm, disposable, shoulder-fired recoilless unguided anti-tank weapon. ((U.S. Army National Guard photo by Spc. Michael Schwenk))

WASHINGTON  Three senators are asking the Pentagon to explain how it is protecting service members from brain injuries caused by blast waves from firing weapons.

The senators are requesting updates from Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on steps the military is taking to better understand and address the effects of repeated blast exposure from weapons such as artillery and rocket launchers.

We write to learn more about the Department of Defenses current efforts to protect service members brain health, particularly in ensuring that military operations do not result in blast overpressure that can lead to depression, crippling headaches, hallucinations, and suicide, the senators wrote in a letter to Austin.

The letter is signed by Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, and Thom Tills, R-N.C. Warren and Ernst, an Army veteran, are members of the Senate Armed Services Committee while Tillis is a former member.

Their demand for answers follows recent research by the Defense Department and an investigation by The New York Times that showed troops can experience lasting brain damage from firing weapons but the military is not doing enough to protect them from the blasts.

Traumatic brain injury is considered the signature wound of the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, lawmakers said. Researchers measuring blast pressure from roadside bombs in Afghanistan found 75% of exposure to troops came from their own weapons, according to the letter.

Up to 22% of troops from recent conflicts suffered from mild traumatic brain injury, largely due to long-term exposure to explosive weapons, according to medical research.

Two recent studies by the Navy found service members who fire a large amount of artillery rounds or rockets are at an increased risk of developing anxiety disorders, substance abuse problems, dementia and psychiatric disorders including schizophrenia.

Some service members who fired heavy weapons even within allowable limits experienced delayed verbal memory, visual-spatial memory and executive function, according to Defense Department studies.

A 2019 Marine Corps review of one unit noted knowledge of ways to mitigate harm was extremely limited and long-term impacts are seemingly ignored.

Lawmakers have pressed the Pentagon for years to lessen blast overpressure during training and operations and recognize the symptoms of brain injury.

Warren in 2018 included a provision in the National Defense Authorization Act requiring the Defense Department to study the blast intensity of weapons and review safety precautions for service members firing them. In 2020, Congress required the military to begin documenting blast exposure in service members records.

The Defense Department, spurred by congressional scrutiny, launched the Warfighter Brain Health Initiative in 2022 to gather information and offer solutions even as weapons that deliver blasts above the initiatives recommended safety threshold are reported to be in wide use.

shkolnikova.svetlana@stripes.com

Twitter: @svetashko
The court heard that Doyle had been driving up to 130 kph in an urban area that had a speed limit of 50 kph

In January of last year, James Doyle (37) of Thomas Road, Walkinstown, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to dangerous driving causing serious bodily harm

A motorcyclist who struck a pedestrian after driving at speeds up to 130km/h in a 50km/h residential zone, breaking her back and both of her legs, has argued that his three-and-a-half year jail sentence was too high.

In January of last year, James Doyle (37) of Thomas Road, Walkinstown, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to dangerous driving causing serious bodily harm to Emily Doyle on Cromwellsfort Road, also in Walkinstown, on April 23, 2020. He had 47 previous convictions at the time.

In passing sentence, Judge Martin Nolan said Ms Doyle suffered spinal and leg fractures and spent a considerable time in hospital recuperating afterwards and was just coming to terms with her physical, mental and emotional trauma.

The court heard that Doyle had been driving up to 130kph in an urban area that had a speed limit of 50kph. At the point of impact with Ms Doyle he was driving at about 80-to-90kph.

At the Court of Appeal today Paul Carroll SC, for Doyle, submitted that the pre-mitigation headline of between six and seven years fixed by Judge Nolan was too high.

Mr Carroll said the trial judge also failed to adequately set out the basis on which he viewed the headline sentence of between six and seven years as appropriate to the circumstances of the case.

Mr Carroll said the sentencing judge also erred in placing excessive weight on the only aggravating factor present - the speed of the appellant. Counsel said the sentencing judge also failed to give credit to Doyle regarding the absence of any other aggravating factors.

Counsel submitted that in all circumstances, the sentence was excessive, disproportionate and overly punitive. He further submitted that the sentence should have had a suspended element to encourage rehabilitation.

In written submissions, Jane McCudden BL, for the State, had submitted that the sentencing judge had not made any error of principle and had exercised his discretion in sentencing, which the judge was entitled to do.

Ms McCudden submitted there was no error in the headline sentence, as they are measured by reference to the harm caused and in this instance, there was grave harm extending beyond the physical to continuing deep psychological scars.

Ms McCudden submitted that it would be a mischaracterisation to confine the aggravating elements to speed only.

Counsel said the incident occurred in the days of Covid, when most, if not all, neighbourhoods experienced fewer motorists and more pedestrians - this was in a residential area.

Ms McCudden said the victim was out for a walk and the speed limit was 50kph.

Counsel said Doyle showed utter disregard for the safety of the public in the use of a potentially dangerous weapon.

Regarding any issue of suspending a portion of the sentence, Ms McCudden submitted that at the time of this offence, the appellant was long-since rehabilitated from his former substance abuse issues and had tested negative for any intoxicants shortly after the crash".

"There was not an ongoing issue regarding current rehabilitation as the plea advanced on his behalf was that any brushes with the law were a very long time ago," she submitted.

Ms McCudden submitted that Doyle had "effectively been afforded a 50% reduction for mitigation".

Mr Justice George Birmingham said the case was one of "real seriousness" and that the court would reserve its judgement in the matter to February 1.
NATO will launch next week its biggest military exercises in decades with around 90,000 personnel set to take part in months-long wargames aimed at showing that the alliance can defend all of its territory up to its border with Russia, top officers said Thursday.

The exercises come as Russias war on Ukraine bogs down. NATO as an organization is not directly involved in the conflict, except to supply Kyiv with non-lethal support, although many member countries send weapons and ammunition individually or in groups, and provide military training.

In the months before President Vladimir Putin ordered Russian troops into Ukraine in February 2022, NATO began beefing up security on its eastern flank with Russia and Ukraine. Its the alliances biggest buildup since the Cold War. The wargames are meant to deter Russia from targeting a member country.

The exercises  dubbed Steadfast Defender 24  will show that NATO can conduct and sustain complex multi-domain operations over several months, across thousands of kilometers (miles), from the High North to Central and Eastern Europe, and in any condition, the 31-nation organization said.

Troops will be moving to and through Europe until the end of May in what NATO describes as a simulated emerging conflict scenario with a near-peer adversary. Under NATOs new defense plans, its chief adversaries are Russia and terrorist organizations.

The alliance will demonstrate its ability to reinforce the Euro-Atlantic area via transatlantic movement of forces from North America, NATOs Supreme Allied Commander, U.S. General Christopher Cavoli, told reporters.

Cavoli said it will demonstrate our unity, our strength, and our determination to protect each other.

The chair of the NATO Military Committee, Admiral Rob Bauer, said that its a record number of troops that we can bring to bear and have an exercise within that size, across the alliance, across the ocean from the U.S. to Europe.

Bauer described it as a big change compared to troop numbers exercising just a year ago. Sweden, which is expected to join NATO this year, will also take part.

U.K. Defense Secretary Grant Shapps has said that the government in London would send 20,000 troops backed by advanced fighter jets, surveillance planes, warships and submarines, with many being deployed in eastern Europe from February to June.

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Gardai said Daithi O Riain (37) was directing the crowd during the demonstration where a flag was set ablaze after a mannequin was put in a mock-guillotine set up outside the GPO

A PROTESTER has been acquitted of public order charges following a Dublin rally against the coronation of King Charles that saw a union jack burned and an effigy of the British monarch beheaded.

Gardai said Daithi O Riain (37) was directing the crowd during the demonstration where a flag was set ablaze after a mannequin was put in a mock-guillotine set up outside the GPO.

Judge Anthony Halpin found Mr O Riain not guilty of offensive conduct and failing to comply with Garda directions, and dismissed the case.

However, he said of the protest that he found it distasteful that some people seek to ram down the throats of others ancestral antagonisms that would best be confined to history.

Mr O Riain, of Knock Riada, Chapelizod, Dublin had pleaded not guilty to the charges at Dublin District Court.

Garda Sergeant Mark Eccles said at 1pm on May 6 last year, he was deployed to a protest loosely titled not our kaiser, not our king on O'Connell Street.

It was in relation to King Charles of the UK and the accused was MC-ing the event, Sgt Eccles said.

He alleged there were various statements of anti-British rhetoric including Brits out.

A mock guillotine was brought out, with a mannequin or effigy of King Charles, which was beheaded at the GPO, Sgt Eccles said.

There were 60 to 80 people present and Mr O Riain was on a megaphone or bullhorn. Some three to four people who were crouched down beside him produced a union jack, which was doused in an accelerant and lit on fire, he said.

Up to that point, gardai had stayed back for fear of escalating the situation, but when the flag was set ablaze it was extremely dangerous, Sgt Eccles continued.

He shouted at people to get back or youll be arrested and a number of those who had lit the flag absconded towards Henry Street.

Garda Timothy McDonnell, who arrested Mr O Riain, said the protest was against the coronation of the King of England and the accused was calling out to the crowd, directing them.

He said Mr O Riain failed to leave the area and was arrested.

Gda McDonnell accepted that the time between the direction being issued and the arrest was very short but said Mr O Riain made no attempt to leave. An arrest had to be made quickly for public safety, he said.

Defence solicitor Cian McCann said there was no evidence his client was party to the burning of the flag.

It was also up to the court to decide if burning a flag was offensive during a protest in respect of the continued position of the six counties of Northern Ireland".

Mr McCann said Mr O Riain was arrested 15 to 20 seconds after the direction, so he had no opportunity to comply with it.

This was a very unpleasant incident, Judge Halpin said. I find that the burning of a flag is behaviour unacceptable to public decorum and I find it distasteful that some people seek to ram down the throats of others ancestral antagonisms that would best be confined to history.

He said there was no evidence to support the offensive conduct charge against Mr O Riain and there was a "huge difference" between the two versions of events on the other charge, and dismissed both.
Ms Cleary, from Corbally, Limerick, died in the early hours of July 21, 2019, two days after she fell and hurt her leg.

If a woman who died hours after being discharged from hospital had been given an anticoagulant it would have prevented her from developing the blood clot in her lung which led to her cardiac arrest and death, the High Court has heard.

A medical expert told the second day of the civil action over the death of the 21-year-old Eve Cleary that if she had been given the anticoagulant Heparin at the time of her hospital discharge or within an hour of it, it would have prevented the pulmonary embolism which is when a blood clot gets stuck in an artery in the lung.

Intensive care specialist Dr Christopher Danbury told the court if Eve even had the Heparin injection at the time of her 8.30pm discharge from University Hospital Limerick (UHL) on July 20, 2019, or by 9.30pm, she would have avoided the pulmonary embolism which occurred after 11pm and which caused cardiac arrest and death.

Ms Cleary, from Corbally, Limerick, died in the early hours of July 21, 2019, two days after she fell and hurt her leg and went to the A&E department of the Limerick hospital and over three hours after she had been discharged from the hospital and told to go home and rest.

Her parents Barry Cleary and Melanie Sheehan Cleary and her sisters Kate, Elizabeth, Sarah, and Emma and her brother Sean, all of Corbally, Co Limerick, have sued the HSE over her death and also for mental distress.

It is claimed that Eve was allowed to develop a deep vein thrombosis (DVT), a blood clot in her vein and that an opportunity had been allegedly missed at the hospital to put her on the anticoagulant Heparin on admission.

The HSE accepts a formal risk assessment in relation to blood clots was not done but has denied all other claims. The HSE, the court heard, does not accept the failure to carry out the risk assessment was a breach of duty. It says the treatment and management of Ms Cleary was reasonable and appropriate.

In a report prepared after reviewing the Cleary case, Dr Danbury concluded that if Ms Cleary had been given the anti-coagulant Heparin on the balance of probabilities it would have prevented her from developing a pulmonary embolism.

He further concluded that but for the failure to prescribe and administer the Heparin she would not have developed the clot in the lung, would not have gone into cardiac arrest and would not have died.

In his report which was presented to court on behalf of the Cleary side, he said that if a blood clot VTE risk assessment had been made at the hospital, the anticoagulant treatment would have been prescribed and administered.

If the anticoagulant Heparin had been given while she was in hospital, he said it would either prevented the formation of a DVT or stabilised the clot if it had already formed, he said.

Counsel for the HSE Simon Mills SC told the court it was the HSE case that Eve was triaged and it was a number of hours before she was seen by a doctor.

Counsel said Eves mother had previously told the court that the hospital A&E department was a very unpleasant place for Eve to be unwell.

Ms Justice Emily Egan interjected to say Mrs Clearys evidence had been that Eve spoke to her mother and said she wanted to go home but her mother advised her to stay.

Counsel said his instructions were that the evidence will be that Eve was so determined to leave that a discharge against medical advice form had been prepared. The blank form was not signed but had a sticky note on it.

Mr Mills said the emergency doctor and staff were so alive to the difficulty of her plight that Eve's leg CT scan was expedited.

The case before Ms Justice Egan continues.
Malachi ODoherty was worried he would be forced to sell his home

Top journalist Malachi ODoherty maintains he doesnt wish to see Sinn Fein politician Gerry Kelly suffer financial hardship over a hefty legal bill.

The author spoke of his real concerns for the politicians position after a High Court Judge this week dismissed a libel case Kelly had taken against the veteran commentator.

However, he added: But he did bring it upon himself!

West Belfast-raised ODoherty (71) also revealed that if the case had run its course and he had lost, he would have been financially ruined.

Its hard to have imagined any other outcome for me. Im a freelance journalist. I dont have big backers supporting me and I would have been finished. said ODoherty.

Sinn Fein MLA Gerry Kelly faces a hefty legal bill

A recognised leading commentator on the Northern Ireland Troubles - whose abilities were acknowleged by Queens University which awarded him an Honorary Doctorate - recalled how his life had been put on hold as a result of the Sinn Fein mans legal action.

It is devastating when you receive a letter like that. he said.

In the book The Escape - a republican account of the 1983 IRA mass escape from the Maze Prison - Gerry Kelly is quoted as telling a Prison Officer: Put your hands in the air. Get down on the floor or I will f***ing shoot you.

Malachi ODohery is one of the best known journalists in Northern Ireland. He has written extensively on the Troubles and is a regular broadcaster on TV and radio.

Dr. ODohertys said his recent legal difficulties began five years ago, after he alleged on BBC Radio Ulster and U105, that Gerry Kelly had shot a prison officer in the head during a mass breakout of IRA prisoners from the Maze Prison in 1983.

In a subsequent court case in 1987, the now MLA Kelly, was acquitted of shooting prison warder John Adams.

Kelly did not however pursue either of the broadcasters and instead going after Malachi ODoherty personally.

This caused a number of observers to question whether the action was a Sinn Fein strategy to silence journalists.

But speaking to the Sunday World yesterday, Malachi ODoherty described the relief he felt when High Court Judge Master Evan Bell, dismissed the libel case, describing it as, scandalous, frivolous and vexatious.

The highly experienced writer and broadcaster further described the outcome of the case as a victory for opinion piece journalism.

He said: Yes, it is a victory, because opinion piece journalism is very strong in Northern Ireland. It is a very important part of the whole political discussion. And in some ways here, opinion is the opposition.

In Britain, they call the Press the Fourth Estate, but here, it is the second or third estate, precisely because we dont have an opposition.

And he added: It is a victory because it has signalled to other journalists that there is a clear and strong mechanism for getting legal actions struck out, if theres no substance to them.

Lawyers for the Sinn Fein man claimed Malachi ODoherty had gravely damaged the republican politicians character and reputation.

And they further argued Dr. ODohertys actions had called into question Mr. Kellys standing as a public representative.

But in a relentless 55 page demolition of the Kelly action, Master Bell described it as a so-called SLAP case Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Prosecution.

And he dismissed it, leaving the Sinn Fein man with substantial legal costs..

Mr ODoherty said he was still coming to terms with what happened in court. He said: I was astonished by the judgment.

When we were in court on December 7  and it wasnt the full trial hearing  there was no cross-examination of anyone and Gerry Kelly wasnt even there, but our brief was given a very close examination.

They were really drilled into the arguments they were making.

It happened to such an extent that we came away from it not entirely sure which way it was going to go.

But later, I went over my notes and I saw that the Master had said, You just havent made it clear to me that Mr Kelly has a reputation.

Gerry Kellys people were making the case that he had a good reputation now, which he might not have had when he was in the IRA.

They claimed he had this because he was someone who had brought the IRA to the Good Friday Agreement.

And the Master said, That is hardly a qualification for sainthood. That was his precise words.

Mr ODoherty added: The reality is that I was in danger of being wiped out, but Gerry Kelly brought this on himself.

The big reassurance I had through the whole thing was to go back and look through the books and look at the letters and the statement of claim.

"I discussed it with others and came to the conclusion it was ridiculous.

In the early days there was a temptation  because remember you are freaked out when you receive a legal letter like that  to offer a form or words to satisfy him and pay something towards his legal costs.

But the more I thought about it, there wasnt even anything for me to apologise for.

There was nothing for me to latch onto to allow that possibility.

I mean how could I stand up and say, Gerry Kelly did not shoot John Adams, when Gerry Kelly himself did not say that?

Really, I was stuck. I had to defend it.

Last week, Sinn Fein moved to dismiss suggestions that the Kelly action was part of a party strategy to silence journalists after it emerged at least another six legal cases involving republican politicians are still pending.

First Minister designate Michelle ONeill explained that party members defending their reputations in court were acting alone.

And Sinn Fein later said that it would not be paying the legal bills of party members who were taking out cases.
Judge David McHugh said Calvin Meaghans behaviour was an egregious breach of trust.

Calvin Meaghan stole the money from Brinks Cash Services in a 'moment of madness'

A worker who stole 1,200 from a cash management company had been a model employee for over three years and his colleagues had been surprised by what he had done, a court heard.

Calvin Meaghan (24) took the money in a moment of madness because he was in financial difficulties and owed money on a car.

Judge David McHugh said Meaghans behaviour was an egregious breach of trust. The judge ordered him to complete the restorative justice service programme and adjourned sentencing to next May.

The defendant, of Swiftbrook Drive in Tallaght, admitted stealing 1,200 cash from Brinks Cash Service, Parkwest Business Park, on September 6, 2022.

Sergeant Maria Callaghan told Blanchardstown District Court that Meaghans job had been to fill the empty ATM cassettes with cash.

Sgt Callaghan said that occasionally there would be some cash left in a cassette, and Meaghan was supposed to count this money, file it and return it to the correct area.

Sgt Callaghan said that on the day in question, Meaghan had failed to do this, and he stole 1,200.

The court heard that when the discrepancy was discovered, security staff viewed CCTV footage and Meaghan was identified as the culprit.

Sgt Callaghan said Meaghan was arrested and made full admissions, and immediately repaid the money he had taken.

Sgt Callaghan also said the defendant had been considered a suitable candidate for the adult caution scheme, but he did not qualify as the ACS only deals with thefts up to a thousand euro.

The court heard that Meaghan had never been in trouble before, and had written a letter of apology to his former boss.

Defence lawyer Ciaran MacLoughlin said Meaghan lost his job as a result of this matter.

Mr MacLoughlin said Meaghan was in financial difficulties at the time and owed money on a car. In a moment of madness, Meaghan did something very stupid and he had regretted it ever since.

Mr MacLoughlin asked the judge to consider leaving the defendant without a conviction. He said this was a one-off incident, and there was no pattern of stealing small amounts of money, which often happened in cases such as this.

Sgt Callaghan said Meaghan had been a model employee with the company for three years, and security staff had been very surprised by what had happened.

Judge McHugh said he considered that this was a very serious incident. However, he accepted it was a moment of madness on Meaghans part, and he adjourned the matter to allow him to complete the restorative justice programme.
Lurgan man Conway, from Deeny walk, had been on bail for almost a year accused of the murder of Shane Whitla

A murder charge against alleged killer Kevin Conway who was himself gunned down last week, was today formally withdrawn.

During a brief mention of the case at Craigavon Magistrates Court, defence counsel Aaron Thompson said it will inevitably be withdrawn - he sadly is the individual who was shot.

The 26-year-old murder victim was buried last weekend after he was gunned down at his West Belfast bail address on Rossnareen Park on Tuesday 9 January.

Lurgan man Conway, from Deeny walk, had been on bail for almost a year accused of the murder of Shane Whitla and appealing for information, Detective Inspector Gina Quinn said: Kevin  who was a father, a son and a brother  was brutally murdered in his own home.

He was shot multiple times and, sadly, was pronounced dead at the scene. My thoughts are with Kevins family and loved ones, who are today left trying to come to terms with their loss. And I know the wider community remains in shock.

This was a horrific, calculated and ruthless murder, carried out in a busy residential area. Such cold-blooded brutality has absolutely no place in our society.

Our investigation is at an early stage, and I am appealing to anyone who was in the Greenan area yesterday evening, from 4pm onwards and who noticed anything suspicious, to contact us. Im especially keen to hear from anyone who may have CCTV or dash cam footage. I understand that people are feeling afraid, but we can all agree those responsible for this shocking murder have no place in our society. The streets will be safer when they are behind bars. If you have any information, no matter how insignificant it may seem, please contact us. Im appealing directly to local people to have the confidence to tell us anything they know. Kevins family deserve justice.

In court today, the PPS and defence confirmed to District Judge Francis Rafferty that the necessary proofs are in order for the case to be properly withdrawn.

Two other men, Joshua Cotter (29), from Madrid Street in Belfast and Jake OBrien, from Church Walk in Lurgan, are still charged with murder and possessing a firearm with intent to endanger life.

Detectives have claimed that Conway called Mr Whitla four times on 12 January and it was those calls which caused the 39-year-old father-of-four to go to an alleyway off Woodville Street where he was shot, allegedly by Cotter and OBrien.

While the police believe they can link Conway to a mobile which was in contact with Mr Whitla before the murder and with OBrien both before and after the killing, detectives further claim CCTV evidence place OBrien and Cotter close to the scene.

The court has also heard however that a central pillar of the prosecution case against OBrien is unsustainable in that according to forensic findings, cartridge discharge residue found on clothing and items attributable to OBrien are very unlikelyto have originated from cartridges found near the deceased.
Connell Cunningham lost two front teeth and suffered a scar to his cheek as well as nerve damage following the unprovoked assault in the city centre

An innocent Irishman had his wedding day ruined after he was attacked by a thug with cocaine on his nose during a stag night in Liverpool.

Connell Cunningham lost two front teeth and suffered a scar to his cheek as well as nerve damage following the unprovoked assault in the city centre.

Garren Hughes (22) approached Belfast man Mr Cunningham in an Irish bar as he sat with friends watching TV at around 11.35pm on Saturday, March 12.

Liverpool Crown Court heard this week that the unprovoked attack saw Hughes punch Mr Cunningham in the back of the head, causing him to "fall forward and hit his head on the table."

Cunningham had been sitting with his friends in McCooleys Irish pub when the complete stranger, who was drunk and high on cocaine, walked over and decked him from behind whilst shouting racist slurs.

Come on you Fenian bastards Hughes was heard to say before bouncers overpowered him.

He continued to be aggressive outside and was taken to the floor before the police arrived and arrested him, said prosecutor, Olivia Beesley.

Mr Cunningham was left in severe pain described as ten out of ten, due to nerve damage to his gums and teeth.

He has since had numerous dental appointments and, 16 months after the attack, had already spent 5,000 on treatment and faces a lifetime of expensive treatment.

Mr Cunningham said the attack has had a "lasting impact" on his life and he has nightmares about what happened.

In his victim impact statement, he said: "This assault has left me with a scar on my right cheek and composite veneers for my front teeth. My dental bill cost 4,679.

"I will have dental bills for rest of my life because veneers do not last a lifetime."

Mr Cunningham said he had to get married with a scar on his face and he "found it hard to enjoy himself" at his own wedding.

Hughes  now 25- pleaded guilty to grievous bodily harm but denied a religious or racial motivation for his crazed assault.

Liverpool Crown Court heard how Hughes had traces of cocaine on his nose at the time of the attack. It was stated that there was indeed religious or racial motivation and his victim had "no opportunity to defend himself".

The sentencing judge took into account Hughes' previous good character, his remorse, good employment and apology letter before sentencing him to 30 months in prison.

"Offences like this stain nightlife in Liverpool City Centre. Had your Counsel not persuaded me from provisional view, the sentence would have been six months longer, the judge stated,
The garda got away from the vehicle after 40 metres but hit his head with one witness remarking there was blood everywhere and he thought the officer was dead.

George Richard Asimionesei pleaded guilty to dangerous driving and endangerment after dragging a garda around 40 metres along the road after resisting having his car seized.

A YOUNG disqualified driver who sped away from gardai with an officer hanging from his car window has been jailed for three and-a-half years.

George Richard Asimionesei caused the officer to suffer serious head injuries after suddenly accelerating from where he had been stopped by gardai.

He crashed his red BMW coupe a short distance away after hitting a speed bump but was arrested the next day after gardai threw a cordon around Straffan village in Co Kildare.

Asimionesei, who was already banned from driving at the time of the incident in August 2022, had pleaded guilty to dangerous driving and endangerment.

Garda Representative Association president Brendan OConnor said such cases highlight the need for patrol cars to be equipped with cameras.

This week it emerged in court officers had become suspicious of the car driving through Clane at speed and when stopped at Barberstown Cross they became suspicious as Asimionesei was unable to produce a licence.

After inspecting the boot with Asimionesei, he got back into the drivers seat when the officer asked him for the key.

But instead of giving the key to the officer who had reached in for it, Asimionesei hit the accelerator and took off.

The garda got away from the vehicle after 40 metres but hit his head with one witness remarking there was blood everywhere and he thought the officer was dead.

While Asimionesei denied being the driver the next day his phone was found in the vehicle while his thumbprint was on the steering wheel.

While the officer involved had asked for privacy in relation to his Victim Impact Statement, Judge Martina Baxter referred to the serious injuries and the devastating impact it had on him and his family.

Judge Baxter commended the officer for his bravery and that having served seven or so years had a great career ahead of him before his resignation.

She added she found the fact Asimionesei was already serving a two-year driving ban as a highly aggravating factor in her sentencing remarks at Naas Circuit Court.

The situation the garda had found himself in must have traumatising and frightening according to Judge Baxter.

She noted that while Asimionesei said his actions had been fueled by panic, he had intentionally bought the Northern Irish car for 9,000 while knowing he was a disqualified driver.

At the start of the sentence hearing Asimionesei offered an apology to the officer and his family for what he had put them through and promised he would never be before judge anywhere again.

Judge Baxter said she accepted his apology as genuine but had to take various aggravating factors into account including a probation assessment that he was at moderate risk of re-offending.

Asimionesei had brought 2,000 to court to offer as compensation but the former garda turned down the offer and the cash was directed to go to a charity instead.

It was also taken into account that Asimionesei had absconded after getting High Court bail but had been in custody after turning himself in in February 2023.

Judge Baxter imposed four and a half years with the final 12 months of the sentence suspended, back dated to when he went into custody.

Reacting to the case on Friday, Brendan OConnor the president of the Garda Representative Association acknowledged the imposition of a custodial sentence in this case.

The reckless or intentional use of a vehicle is perhaps the most common danger faced by members on routine patrol.

Earlier this week we saw two members injured in a ramming incident in Co. Leitrim.

We believe every member should be given out of car safety training and more patrol vehicles need to be fitted with cameras that record evidence of such incidents.

All too often we hear appeals for footage from dash cams belonging to members of the public yet despite the prevalence of such incidents our own fleet is not fitted with cameras.
Carey had 56 days from the date the company is listed for strike off before the company is dissolved and its remaining assets forfeited to the state.

THE Irish arm of Catriona Careys Careysfort Assets Estates has been listed for strike off by the Companies Registration Office, the Sunday World can reveal.

Records obtained by this newspaper show the company, which was set up by Carey on July 1st 2016, was listed for strike off on January 10th.

Carey  who is the subject of allegations the UK arm of the company was a vehicle for defrauding distressed property owners through a fake mortgage buy-back scheme  is listed as a joint director of the company.

Its principal function was listed as the operation of trusts, funds and similar financial entities.

Her business associate, Paddy Maher, who is being investigated as part of the same probe by the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau  is listed as the companys secretary.

Carey had 56 days from the date the company is listed for strike off before the company is dissolved and its remaining assets forfeited to the state.

The companys sister company in the UK, Careysfort Asset Estates continues to be listed as active by the UK companies office and filed accounts as recently as August of last year,

According to those accounts, the UK company retained assets of in excess of UK65,000.

Three people were arrested in connection with the investigation into the UK company last year but no formal charges have been brought.

The probe centres on allegations Carey claimed she would buy their loans from their lenders and then sell the loan back to them at a discount once they paid Careysfort Asset Estates a deposit.

Its been nearly two years since RTE Investigates exposed how more than 200,000 received by the company was instead spent on holidays, designer clothes, furniture and a 55,000 BMW.

However, a file is being prepared for the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) by the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau (GNECB).

As part of the investigation into the alleged deception of distressed borrowers, Carey was arrested by gardai and questioned about the alleged deception last year.

The former Ireland camogie star was released without charge.

Her former business partner Patrick Maher was also arrested and released without charge.

Another person suspected of involvement in the alleged scam was arrested and released without charge.

Catriona Carey was also arrested by officers from the Corporate Enforcement Authority, which is carrying out an investigation into alleged breaches of company law. She was released without charge.

Carey is also currently before the courts on a number of civil matters.

Pepper Finance lodged High Court proceedings over an outstanding mortgage debt last October.

Bank of Ireland is also suing the former Kilkenny camogie player over an outstanding debt.

Gardai previously contacted British police forces to seek assistance as Careysfort was registered in the UK.

They also had to contact Europol as some money had been wired to accounts in EU jurisdictions, which has led to delays in the investigation, sources said.

Distressed mortgage holders who lost out on thousands of euro told the Irish Independent last months that they are feeling let down and frustrated by the pace of the investigation.

Firefighter Andrew Hickey, from Co Carlow, paid Carey 15,000 for a deal that never happened.

He said the victims hard-earned money was callously pilfered.

I am utterly dismayed by the glacial pace of the garda investigation, he said.

It is profoundly disheartening that this investigation has been ongoing for years without any convictions. I am perplexed as to why the process has been so agonisingly slow.

Our money was squandered on holiday cruises, a car, designer clothes, watches and dining out in extravagant establishments with callous disregard.

Gardai have been presented with ample hard evidence.

I myself dedicated countless months to gathering information for them. RTE Investigates handed them everything on a plate. Yet here we stand, years later, with no justice.
The drug seizure, understood to be made up of cannabis, was being stored at a garda barracks in the Eastern Division.

Gardai have launched a criminal investigation after around 100,000 worth of drugs went missing from a garda station.

The drug seizure, understood to be made up of cannabis, was recovered in a recent operation and was being stored at a garda barracks in the Eastern Division.

In recent days it emerged that the significant quantity of drugs went missing and could not be located.

As a result, garda management ordered a criminal investigation into the matter and how the drugs were removed from where they were being stored.

One source told the Irish Independent: Its around 100,000 worth of cannabis and is a significant quantity of drugs to go missing, this is being taken extremely seriously and efforts are ongoing to determine what happened here.

Sources said that searches have been carried out including of inside the garda station but that the missing drugs have not yet been located.

This includes offices, garages, outhouses and bins which have been examined.

In a statement a garda spokesperson said: A criminal investigation is currently underway following reports that a significant amount of seized drugs were removed from a Garda Station in the East of the country.

Enquires are ongoing. No additional information is available at this time.
Extensive enquiries have been made to locate Griffin, including several address checks, but officers have not yet located him

UK police are searching for an Irish man who has gone on the run from the prison service.

Police in Bradford are appealing for information to help locate Mark Griffin who is wanted on recall to jail.

Griffin (33) who lived in Bradford and speaks with an Irish accent, has connections in the Halifax area, as well as here in Ireland.

Back in 2020, Griffin and an accomplice were busted in a stolen red Audi A3 in Bradford after snapping a door lock to steal jewellery from a couples home.

The Telegraph & Argus reported how Griffin, 29 at the time, and Callum Warne-Cleave (19) went tooled up to the home in Cloverdale, Shelf, three years ago.

They sawed through the casing round the door and snapped off the lock after the householders had left the property secured.

The pair stole a jewellery box and loose items of jewellery that they carried away in a pillow case. The total value of the haul was roughly 700.

At 7.30pm that day, the stolen red Audi A3, on false plates, was followed by police to Bradford. The defendants ran off and were chased and caught. The stolen jewellery was found in the vehicle along with mole grips and gloves.

Griffin pictured in 2020

Griffin and Warne-Cleave, both of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to the burglary and to dishonestly handling the stolen Audi. Griffin admitted driving while disqualified and without insurance. He also pleaded guilty to burgling a house in Pudsey town the previous day.

A court heard that Griffin and two others arrived at the address at 2pm in the Audi that was taken in a robbery that January. The men wore balaclavas, gloves and tools.

The thieves destroyed the property and got away with items worth 6,000 including bracelets, a wedding ring and a diamond ring. The court further heard that both defendants were third strike house burglars.

Griffin had 20 previous convictions for 35 offences. He was sentenced to three years and eight months imprisonment and banned from driving for 44 months.

Griffins previous convictions included robbery, possession of a knife, theft, burglary and aggravated vehicle taking. He had been at large for six years after being wanted on recall to prison after breaking the conditions of his licence.

Allan Armbrister, Griffins barrister, conceded he had an appalling record.

Griffin had pleaded guilty to the offences against the background of the coronavirus regime in prison that saw inmates locked up for all but 30 minutes a day.

The sentencing judge at the time said that burglars not only deprived their victims of valuable property but items of sentimental worth. They were left emotionally distressed after their homes had been invaded.

Now Griffin has evaded cops for a second time, with Yorkshire Police appealing to the public to help find the criminal.

Extensive enquiries have been made to locate Griffin including several address checks, but officers have not yet located him.

Anyone who knows his current whereabouts or who may have information that could assist in tracing him is asked to go online at www.westyorkshire.police.uk/101livechat quoting reference 13230385066.
Francesca Albanese is blunt when she describes in no uncertain terms the crimes Israel is committing in Gaza. The Italian lawyer and United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories, avoids being categorical when talking about genocide because the International Court of Justice (ICJ) must still analyze, the accusation, but all her arguments lead to one conclusion: the war in the Gaza Strip is the monstrosity of our century, as she tells EL PAIS in an interview, sitting on the stairs of a hotel in order to be able to respond without the distraction of background noise. Albanese recently arrived in Spain at the invitation of MEP Manu Pineda, chair of the Delegation for Relations with Palestine in the European Parliament. She believes that the time has come for Western governments to move from condemnation to action.

Question. Do you think Israel is committing genocide in Gaza?

Answer. I strongly support and welcome South Africas decision to ask for preventive measures [before the ICJ], because I do think that its highly possible that there is a genocide unfolding.

Q. On what grounds?

A. Because a genocide is the destruction of a people totally or in part through various acts of killing, infliction of severe mental or physical pain and the creation of conditions that make life impossible. Look at the results of three months of heavy bombardment. Prohibited weapons, which should not be used in highly populated areas like Gaza, have been used against a population that lives trapped in 365 square kilometers, where the population has received mass evacuation orders and where there are 1.9 million forcibly displaced people crammed into the south of the Gaza Strip being bombed while we speak: 24,000 people have already been confirmed dead, between 7,000 and 9,000 missing and 10,000 kids killed. Seventy percent of the victims are women and children.

Q. Is it then a genocide?

A. These figures are unparalleled, unmatched in any other of the current conflicts. Think of the Srebrenica genocide, where 8,000 people were killed. Think about the two-year war between Russia and Ukraine, which has killed probably 8,000 [civilians, a figure that Ukrainian authorities place at 12,000, without taking into account the occupied territories]. It is the monstrosity of our century. And many more people are going to die due to the lack of medical care for the 60,000 injured. Palestinians are dying of cold and hunger and collectively we have no idea of how to react to this monstrosity clearly.

Q. Do you think South Africas lawsuit against Israel will succeed?

A. There are many factors. I technically would say yes because they are asking for provisional measures first and foremost, including a ceasefire. It is the most logical thing with this level of killing. As the South African team said, this is the first genocide in history which is being televised by the victims. The court will have to take its time to analyze the correlation between the genocidal intent, which South Africa has fully documented already, and the killing, the destruction, and the infliction of suffering. But then, of course, there are political factors.

The right to self-defense that Israel has invoked under article 61 of the UN Charter is the right to wage a war, the right to use military force, which, based on ICJ jurisprudence, doesnt exist, especially because it still occupies Palestinian territory

Q. Do you think this can influence the court?

A. I hope they will not influence the court, which is independent. But, still, we are human beings and it affects us in the environment in which we live. The judges will not go to Gaza, they will not send investigators. And the narrative that continues to be spread and amplified in the West is that this is self-defense.

Q. Is this narrative false?

A. Self-defense is something else, which does not mean that Israel does not have the right to defend itself. This is the tricky part that many people struggle to understand, because the concept of self-defense in international law is very specific, very narrow and very technical. Israel had the right on October 7 to neutralize and repel the attack, to restore law and order, and also to take measures to enforce law and order in Gaza. The right to self-defense that Israel has invoked under article 61 of the U.N. Charter is the right to wage a war, the right to use military force, which, based on ICJ jurisprudence, doesnt exist, especially because it still occupies Palestinian territory. But even if the right to self-defense existed, there would still be rules. But there are so many violations that you cant disentangle one from the other.

Francesca Albanese shortly before the interview. Samuel Sanchez

Q. Can you provide an example?

A. Israel knows that if it uses almost one-ton bombs in densely populated areas without warning, its going to cause an extermination. Israel knows that by prohibiting the entry of water, food, medications and fuel, the population is going to starve. A thousand children have been amputated without anesthesia. The principle of proportionality, of precautions, of protecting civilians... Israel has bombed hospitals. And this is why its essential to examine the overall context, that was supported by this genocidal fury.

Q. What do you mean?

A. Genocidal statements by political and military leaders, like the Palestinians are inhuman animals. Or the biblical concept of Amalek, which alludes to the destruction of everything, including women and children. Its an inferno and its crazy that we cant stop it.

Q. Netanyahu has stated that he will not stop until the hostages are freed and Hamas has been annihilated. How can a ceasefire be achieved?

The special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories, in Madrid on January 18. Samuel Sanchez

A. Im very worried for the hostages and the families of the hostages. They cannot be safe in a place that is being bombed. There are hostages who have been shot [by Israeli troops] because they thought they were Palestinians, despite the fact that they were waving a white flag.

The message that Western countries are sending to Israel is that it can continue. And the message that the world is sending to the Palestinians is you can continue to die

Q. What can the international community do then?

A. Western countries are still in the state of mind of condemnation or calling for restraint, of calling for respect for international law. But international law was not respected even before this war. This level of impunity over violence is systemic, its structural, creating the risk of generating more violence. There have been decades of condemnation without action. Israel has not paid for any of the five previous wars against Gaza, in which 5,300 people were killed over 16 years, including 1,200 children. That is why the Secretary General [of the U.N., Antonio Guterres] said that October 7 did not start on October 7. You build peace with peace agreements, not war. So for Western governments, including Spain, its time for action.

Q. In what way?

A. This is what, in my view, progressive leadership does: having the courage, as South Africa has done. It takes courage, and it takes a strong moral compass, to do the right thing and to be on the right side of history. And what I am saying should not be read as something detrimental to Israelis. I think we need compassion towards both peoples because they have both endured pain in different ways.

Q. There are countries that continue to sell weapons to Israel.

A. For me, this is complicity with a government that is committing crimes. You dont need to endorse the analysis that this is genocide [to stop selling arms]. Israel has disproportionately destroyed Gazas infrastructure, made the Gaza Strip uninhabitable, wiped out entire families, doctors, journalists... If this is not enough to take senior diplomatic, political, and economic measures, what is? The message that Western countries are sending to Israel is that it can continue. And the message that the world is sending to the Palestinians is you can continue to die.

Q. Is the international legal system in danger?

A. Yes, because international law is only as strong as the will of states to enforce it.

Q. You have been accused of antisemitism for claiming that the Jewish lobby controlled the United States. What repercussions has this accusation had for you?

A. Everyone who dares to criticize Israel faces accusations of antisemitism. Its a way to deflect attention from my message and the work Ive done for 18 months. Im not being seriously questioned on my findings or my legal readings, or my claims about the existence of an apartheid regime in the Occupied Palestinian Territory that works as a military dictatorship. Theyve been digging through everything Ive said for decades on my Facebook account. And its something I said after the 2008 war in Gaza. Nowadays I would never say Jewish lobby. And not because I fear accusations of antisemitism, but because it is not correct. First of all, because those who support Israel are not only Jews, there are also Christian Zionists. And, for example, in the United States, Jews are protesting and telling Israel not to attack Gaza in their name. But does this unfortunate phrase make me an antisemite? I am someone who has dedicated my entire life to the defense of human rights, including the recognition of the Holocaust.

Q. You carry out your work as rapporteur despite not being able to enter Palestine, because Israel prohibits it. Do you think you will be able to travel there?

A. I am trying and it is not easy because Israel interprets international law as it pleases. But so far in 18 months I have not been allowed to.

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An Eastern European man aged in his 30s was in the room at the time and died instantly as a result of the explosion.

18/01/2024An Army Explosive Ordnance Disposal truck arrives at the scene of a suspected explosion at the Depaul Supported Temporary Accommodation Little Britain Street in Dublin's north inner city.A man was killed in the explosion in the Depaul building which was used to accommodate homeless people.

Gardai believe a man was killed in an explosion at a Dublin hostel after a pipe bomb detonated underneath his bed.

An army bomb disposal team carried out a controlled explosion at the scene last night while gardai are investigating all the circumstances in relation to the fatal blast.

The incident happened at the property on Little Britain Street, Dublin 7, shortly after 3pm yesterday.

Residents were evacuated from the Depaul hostel following the explosion which was confined to one room.

An Eastern European man aged in his 30s was in the room at the time and died instantly as a result of the explosion.

Initial inquiries identified the blast as originating form underneath a bed in the room and the Armys bomb squad were called in to carry out a controlled explosion in the early hours of this morning.

Gardai now suspect that the explosion was caused by an improvised explosive device which detonated underneath the deceased mans bed.

Sources said the IED was a pipe bomb and inquiries into how and why the device was detonated are ongoing.

Emergency services including the Dublin Fire Brigade (DFB) and Gardai were notified of the explosion at around 3.15pm on Thursday afternoon.

Over 50 residents were evacuated from the hostel as a result of the blast which caused significant structural damage to the room it occurred in.

No other injuries were reported with Depaul saying it was trying to accommodate them elsewhere with the help of other organisations.

The scene in Little Britain Street off Capel Street (Brian Lawless/PA)

A Defence Forces spokesperson last night said: Tonight, Defence Forces Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) experts responded to a request for assistance from An Garda Siochana to Little Britain St., Dublin. EOD was requested following the death of a man in an explosion. EOD carried out post blast analysis and clearance, which included a controlled explosion. Once the scene was cleared the scene was handed back to An Garda Siochana. This operation concluded at approx. 0030hrs.

One resident of the Depaul homeless shelter said a wall dividing the mens and womens sections of the building collapsed as a result of the explosion.

I heard an alarm and I heard a bang. As I came out the whole wall just went, the resident said.

They used fire extinguishers so they could enter the room but it wasnt a fire, it was just with dust and everything else.

The woman said she was one of the last people to leave the building, along with two other women who were unsure

what had happened. Everything is still back in there, I have nothing. No meds, no nothing. Everything is in there now and I dont know what Im going to do, she added.

In a statement last night a garda spokesman said: Gardai at the Bridewell are actively investigating the cause of an explosion at a property on Little Britain Street, Dublin 7, on Thursday, 18th January 2024.

Gardai and emergency services responded to an incident at a residential premises on Little Britain Street shortly after 3:00 pm, following reports of an explosion inside the property. An adult male aged in his 30s sustained fatal injuries and was pronounced deceased at the scene.

The explosion was confined to one room within the property, and no one else was injured.

Residents at the premises were evacuated, and a cordon, along with local traffic diversions, remain in place.

The precise cause of the explosion is currently under investigation, and the Garda Technical Bureau have commenced a forensic and technical examination with assistance from Army EOD.

The Coroner has been notified, and a post-mortem examination is due to be carried out by the State Pathologist at Dublin City Morgue tomorrow.

Anyone with information that can assist investigating Gardai is asked to contact the Bridewell Garda Station on 01 6668200 or the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111.

The investigation is ongoing. 

The charity service which operates the hostel said in a statement: Depaul can confirm that all service users in our Little Britain Street service have been evacuated from the building tonight and alternative placements have been found following the incident today.

"The building was evacuated in an exemplary manner, adhering to our safety protocol. Our heart goes out to the service user who lost their life, as well as their family and service users who were in the building at the time. This was an isolated incident, confined to one room and no other service users were physically harmed in this incident. We wish to thank the emergency services, DRHE, and our NGO partners for their assistance in the emergency response.
Scott Cahil (18) of St James's Road, Dublin 12, is charged with assault causing harm to the man (48) who was left with life-changing injuries

PROSECUTORS have been granted a month to complete the book of evidence for the trial of a youth who allegedly left a man in a critical condition from an alleged "random" assault in central Dublin.

Scott Cahill, 18, of St James's Road, Dublin 12, is charged with assault causing harm to the man, 48, who was left with "life-changing injuries" after an incident at Cook Street, in Dublin 8 on June 21 last.

Two days later, he was granted bail with strict conditions and appeared again at Dublin District Court today

The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) directed a trial on indictment at a higher level in the Circuit Court, which has broader sentencing powers.

Judge Michael Ramsey acceded to a State's application for a four-week adjournment to complete a book of evidence which must be served on the accused before granting a trial order.

At a contested bail hearing on June 23, Detective Garda Mark Dennehy alleged the incident happened at about 6.15pm when the accused and two females who were known to him walked along Cook Street.

Detective Garda Dennehy alleged that as Cahill walked past the man, he "believed he [the man] took a dislike to him by the way the injured party was looking at him".

The court had heard it was claimed Mr Cahill took his backpack and threw it up onto a tree, and when the man tried to retrieve it, he was punched and fell to the ground.

An ambulance brought him to St James's Hospital, but he left before being treated and went to the South Circular Road, where he fell unconscious.

The man was discovered to have a bleed on the brain and a fractured skull. He was taken to Beaumont Hospital for emergency surgery and was in critical condition in the intensive care unit.

Detective Garda Dennehy had alleged: "A member of the public was randomly assaulted in what appears to be a completely unprovoked assault.

He said the prognosis was that the man was "left with life-changing injuries even if his condition improves".

The officer agreed with the defence that the accused did not know the independent witness. Counsel had said: "My client said this was not a completely unprovoked and random assault".

The out-of-work youth was granted legal aid and 300 bail.

But Mr Cahill had to hand over his passport, not contact the two female witnesses, obey a curfew, sign on daily at his local garda station and stay out of Dublin 8.
The comic recently had to call out a website for reselling tickets to gigs on his upcoming American tour using a random photo of a bald man to boost sales

The false persona has been commenting on news and social media sites, making references to a generous virus that has killed millions of lifes.

Clearly the strange sleuth isnt keen on grammar.

Fake comments

The page doesn't appear to be looking for money so it is difficult to understand the motivation behind the site. The Facebook account appears to take Daras real comments from X and re-post them, then chime in on other peoples conversations.

"It gives me such joy to know there are millions of persons who love what I do, the fake Dara writes.

Its been a strange period for Wicklow born Dara as he recently had to call out a website for reselling tickets to gigs on his upcoming American tour using a random photo of a bald man to boost sales.

Fake page with 0 fans and 0 followers.

Dara, who was born in Bray but has lived in the UK for many years, posted his disapproval at the reselling site on X, when he said: "Hey, events Ticket Centre! No idea who you are, reselling my tickets, but I feel you dont know who I am either, judging by the photo.

It comes as the star is set to embark on his So.Where Were We tour to the US this month, with stops planned in New York City, Chicago, Washington DC and Boston.

On Tuesday, January 9, he flagged the website, which is reselling tickets to the US gigs, to his 2.5 millions social media followers, urging them not to buy from the site.

Not Dara O'Briain

"I dont know this site at all. In general, its always best to go to the venue first. But hopefully well see you there! Its probably best people just go to daraobriain.com for ticket details, the funnyman wrote.

Some of Daras fans commented that the fake image used to flog tickets was A.I generated. Whether this is the case or not, the whole episode is completely bizarre.

In general, the internet has taken a strange turn of late, perhaps coinciding with the rise of A.I, deep fakes and misinformation.

images of Virgin Media news anchor, Colette Fitzpatrick, and Taoiseach Leo Varadkar were also used recently in A.I scams trying to steal peoples money.
Shane Frane (36) was convicted in February 2014 of the manslaughter of Constable Philippa Reynolds, following a fatal road traffic collision that occurred in February 2013

The police in Northern Ireland are appealing for information about the whereabouts of a man unlawfully at large who absconded from the prison service and may have travelled to the Republic.

Mr Shane Frane (36) was convicted in February 2014 of the manslaughter of Constable Philippa Reynolds, following a fatal road traffic collision that occurred in February 2013.

Mr Frane breached the conditions of his temporary prison release when he absconded from the Northern Ireland Prison Service.

Described as being 6ft 3, Mr Frane is said to be of medium build with blue eyes with a left eye disfigurement. He also has tattoos on his upper right arm, fair hair and speaks with a Republic of Ireland accent.

In a statement, the PSNI said: Despite attempts to arrest Frane, police have been unable to locate him. He may have travelled to the Republic of Ireland.

While the police are appealing to Mr Frane to hand himself in, they are advising anyone who has seen him or knows of his whereabouts, not to approach him.

Instead, they ask the public to contact them, quoting reference 1425 on 17/01/2024.

The PSNI said members of the public can anonymously provide the independent charity Crimestoppers with information on 0800 555 111.
Police at the scene of a suspected pipe bomb attack on the Bowtown Road of Newtownards

Loyalist feud boss Dickie Barry has been stood down by the UDA, a source has claimed.

Veteran loyalist Barry, who led the crusade against rogue terror chief Adrian Price in a five-month feud, has been binned after a revolt by his own men, according to sources.

Barry, who was expelled from west Belfast, found sanctuary in north Down and was welcomed back into the ranks after he took on Prices unit in Newtownards.

The feud, which erupted in April last year, was sparked when South East Antrim UDA  which had been offering Price protection  washed their hands of him.

His mob, which was based in the Weavers Grange area on the outskirts of the West Winds estate in Newtownards, were accused of bringing heroin into the area and of being behind social disorder and intimidation.

More than 100 properties were attacked during the feud which spread across north Down and down the Ards Peninsula.

Barry, with the blessing of the mainstream UDA, took the fight to Price, but it is now understood he fell foul of his own men after he was accused of failing to protect them in the face of retaliatory attacks.

Sources in north Down claim he was ditched after he had served his purpose.

Barry was never a comfortable fit when he moved down here (north Down), a source told us.

He was kicked out of the west (Belfast) and was desperate to get back in favour. Once the feud was over, that was it. The men were not comfortable with him.

The convicted extortionist fell foul of the UDA leadership in 2018 when, after serving a four-year jail sentence, he defied the UDA leadership by announcing he was leading UDA D Company in a breakaway.

Police at the scene of a suspected pipe bomb attack on the Bowtown Road of Newtownards

He decamped to the Kilcooley estate in Bangor where he locked horns with alleged UDA chief Dee Stitt, sources have claimed.

Barry threw down the gauntlet, putting up his own UDA and UFF murals across north Down.

The images  showing a clenched red hand and the words Ulster Freedom Fighters  appeared in loyalist areas of Bangor and Newtownards.

Tellingly, one of the paramilitary murals has been placed in Stitts Kilcooley estate powerbase.

Each mural also makes reference to West Belfast, which is a nod to the UDA brigade Barry belongs to.

There is no love lost between Barrys mob and the East Belfast UDA, which Stitt is linked to. They both vie for control of the same lucrative criminal rackets that include extortion and drug dealing.

Both Barry and Stitt deny involvement in loyalist paramilitaries.

Dickie Barry put Stitts nose out of joint by ordering the West Belfast UFF mural to go up in Kilcooley, explained one UDA source.

Stitt is taking it as a personal insult.

An uneasy peace was declared between the rival mobsters and when Price  who was based in Newtownards  was disowned by South East Antrim UDA, Barry was given the task of taking him on.

Fight

Initially he operated outside the mainstream UDA structure, but was readmitted to the ranks after he took the fight to Price.

His unit was behind a series of attacks on Price gang members but sources say there was unease in the ranks of his own group at the reckless nature of Barrys attacks.

Prices mob retaliated and a number of members and their families were targeted. Prices mob was eventually forced to quit their base at Weavers Grange.

Gang members have sought refuge in areas across Northern Ireland, with at least two having moved abroad.

Price himself fled Newtownards and sought protection from an organised crime boss in east Belfast.

It is understood Barry will be allowed to remain in north Down but not as a member of the UDA.
Beachgoers and holidaymakers are being warned that large swells will create difficult conditions at beaches across the North Islands east coast over the coming days.

Surf Life Saving New Zealand is uring people to take extra care when visiting these coastlines.

Swells peaking at up to three metres have been issued for the entire east coast of the North Island, with rain, wind and surging swells expected throughout the weekend.

SLSNZ chief operations officer Chris Emmett says that the New Year period has already seen some notable rescues at beaches across the country so far, and beachgoers should exercise caution and take care as conditions change and become more dangerous.

Weve seen a number of rescues and incidents, particularly on Aucklands west coast, since New Years Day at beaches across the Northern Region, he says.

We are now seeing forecasting for particularly challenging conditions on the east coast of the North Island, and we are urging caution. Large waves mean strong currents and unpredictable conditions.

Many beaches across the east coast are already experiencing building surf, with strong winds to follow later in the weekend. Our suggestion is that people exercise common sense and be aware of the risks as the swell is expected to continue building throughout the weekend.

We suggest people check the SafeSwim website before visiting the beach. If the conditions are poor, we urge the public to reconsider their trip and stay out of the water.

If lifeguards do not put up red and yellow flags and instead display No Swimming signs and red flags, SLSNZ is asking that beachgoers respect that the water is too dangerous for recreational activities.

Eastern coastlines from Northland through to the Bay of Plenty can expect heavy swells that may not ease until Tuesday, January 23, so surfers in particular are being urged to not overestimate their abilities and underestimate the environment.

Strong surf will create strong currents, says Chris.

There will be a lot of water moving that can easily knock you off your feet, so keep an eye on children, making sure to stay well away from the water. We also ask that storm-spectators and rock-fishers take extra care if spending any time on the rocks this week. Large swells can be unpredictable and easily knock you into dangerous waters.

Again, we suggest that before you head out, monitor the Safeswim site for updates and please only choose patrolled beaches for swimming and other water-related activities this week.

All SLSNZ clubs will be closely monitoring weather conditions throughout the week.
The NZSIS spy agency has kept the National Terrorism Threat Level at low, meaning a terrorist attack remains a realistic possibility but they don't know of any specific credible plots.

In a statement, Director-General of Security Andrew Hampton says it's important to remember a low threat level does not mean an absence of threat.

"An attack remains a realistic possibility and there are individuals of concern being investigated by the NZSIS.

"The nature and amount of violent rhetoric shared online suggests there are people in New Zealand who may aspire to commit an attack, but we have not seen this translate to planned attempts to undertake a physical act of violent extremism."

He says the determination of a low threat level has followed a routine annual review, and is based on an assessment of classified and open source material by a multi-agency group that is then consulted on widely with New Zealand's national security agencies.

However, the threat level is continually evaluated and can change at any time.

The agency urges people who sees suspicious or concerning behaviour to report it to police on 105, or through the NZSIS website - and call 111 in an urgent or life-threatening situation.

University of Waikato law professor Al Gillespie says the threat level has stayed at low since November 2022, after it went up to high (highly likely) following the attacks on the Christchurch mosques, dropping to medium in April 2019.

"This is good news, especially as tensions rise around the world and other countries have been forced to revisit their terror threat levels in the wake of the Gaza/Israel conflict; and of late - the Red Sea and Houthi problems.

"All of these can have knock-on effects to domestic terror, but this is something we have not seen in NZ. It is also good as it would seem we are moving past some of the concerns that accompanied the Covid period."

He also offers a reminder of the risk that still exists at a low threat level.

"The biggest risk of all, is that surveillance only works on what you can see, as that which is near invisible can be near impossible to detect.

"But the SIS has been doing a lot of work, trying to encourage people to spot the sighs of concern, and report to the SIS suspicious activities - although not only with terrorism, also with espionage and foreign interference (of which they have also, recently, made some big calls about China)."

-RNZ.
Kenrick Smiths giant mandala artworks etched onto Bay of Plenty beaches are drawing the attention of national media, international stars, and are taking Instagram by storm.

Kenrick says sand art remains his own personal form of therapy.

The 38-year-old, who has hyperactive ADHD, discovered the calming influence of drawing pictures in the sand during New Zealands 2020 lockdowns.

His business, Rake Healing, now offers workshops for the general public and corporate clients who are looking to do something unique for their staff to support mental wellbeing.

I used to be a professional photographer and when Covid hit I realised there were not going to be any more weddings.

"During lockdown I had no job, no friends to hang out with, and my mental health started declining.

"So I went to the beach.

Kenrick picked up a piece of driftwood and absentmindedly drew a geometric circle, which his young daughter, Ivy, was fascinated by.

Rake Healing workshop at Moturiki Island on Mount Main Beach. Photo: supplied.

How interesting

She stayed inside that circle and played for ages and I thought how interesting.

"It also gave me space to chill out at the beach and I realised I felt quite calm.

"Its great to just stop and listen to the birds and the waves and just be in nature.

Following a move to Papamoa, Kenrick began creating more sand art.

Hes since collaborated with Ed Sheeran to create sand art representing a track to promote the international release of his album Subtract.

Artists from around the world created beautiful sand art to represent different tracks from the album.

Kenrick was tasked to create a piece representing the track Sycamore on the beach at Moturiki Island, Mount Maunganui.

Rake Healing has also hosted workshops for hundreds of participants keen to try something new.

It was always my personal mediative practice but other people just love it  so I started holding workshops to teach what I have learnt.

During the two-hour workshops I share my story, then spend a few minutes focusing on guided mindfulness.

"I use different breathing and grounding techniques to give your mind something else to think about.

Everyone loves it, from four-year-olds to heads of marketing for New Zealands largest companies.

"I then demonstrate how to create large circle mandalas, give everyone a rake and some bamboo and say: Have a good time!

I walk around giving people tips and tricks, and we put the drone up to photograph everyones artworks at the end.

Kenrick Smith. Photo: Oh Joy Photography.

Relatively easy

While they look complex, mandalas are symmetrical shapes so are relatively easy to make.

Each circle is divided into segments and people can create whatever patterns they want using bamboo sticks and rakes.

Its very repetitive and thats really good for your brain  it allows you to switch off and just be mindful of that moment.

"The activity has boundaries so you can relax into it  you dont have to stress about what youre going to draw.

"There are lots of different things you can do like squiggles and mazes.

Each artwork is washed away with the tides, which Kenrick says serves as a powerful reminder to always live in the moment.

Workshops are held one hour either side of low tide.

Kenricks artistic ability has seen him perfectly recreate company logos in the sand, and hes hosted some very large groups for his lessons.

He enjoys creating large designs, but small, detailed artwork can be just as satisfying, making it an achievable activity for all ages and physical abilities.

A healing practice

Its definitely a healing practice for me.

'So many of us go to the beach and sit there on our own phones.

'But if you go for a nice walk or listen to all the sounds around you, it can be magic.

Kenrick has a special affinity for working alongside others with ADHD as he says they are especially creative and can envisage things which other people cannot see.

I was only diagnosed last year but I really feel like Im in my lane when Im on the beach.

"Im firing on all cylinders.

"People with hyperactive ADHD love moving and fidgeting so this is a great outlet, and being in nature has a calming effect too.

Theres only a handful of sand artists in New Zealand and not many in the world producing logos and images to the detail I have found I can do.

"I wouldnt be able to do that without the creativity and energy my ADHD gives me.

To book a sand art workshop with Kenrick, visit: https://www.rakehealing.com/

Kenrick Smith with a humpback whale and calf sand art drawing at Mount Maunganui. Photo: supplied.
Andrea G. Parra Granada Friday, 19 January 2024, 08:09 Compartir Copiar enlace

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A 15-year-old schoolboy from Granada has been offered a place at Oxford University. Miguel Donaire Arcas-Sariot heard this week that he has passed the Oxford entrance exams, as well as the bureaucratic process to get a 15-year-old boy from Spain into the university.

The process consisted of taking an exam in Madrid and four online tests. In the first one he got 96 out of 100 questions correct. There was also a face-to-face interview at King's College Soto de Vinuelas, a British School in Madrid.

Miguel is two years ahead of other pupils his age at school and is currently in his second year of Baccalaureate. His classmates at La Presentacion school in Granada city have congratulated him and one of his teachers said that they admire him".

Double degree

"It was a surprise. At first because it was as if I didn't believe it," Miguel explained to journalists when asked how he felt when he found out that hed got a place at one of the most prestigious universities in the world. "I didn't know what to do, how to react, but afterwards I was very happy. I was very excited" he said, adding that he received a WhatsApp message from his mother with the news while he was in a Maths class, which is the subject he is to study in England. In fact, he will be studying a double degree in Mathematics and Computer Science.

According to some of the teenagers teachers "Mathematics is his life. Mathematics defines Miguel" and for Miguel himself, "for as long as I can remember I have known that I wanted to do mathematics, that it was my thing. I have always solved problems and seen them as a challenge. I've always loved it. When I was five or six-years-old I was already interested in everything to do with mathematics and computer science," he explained.

Miguel believes that both natural ability and lots of studying are required to achieve what he has done: "Both have a lot to do with each other" he said. "It doesnt all come naturally. I've had hours of study, I've had hours of practice since I was very young and that's why I've developed what I've developed.

Alan Turing

Miguels Maths teacher Eloy Lopez Trescastro described him as "an exceptional student". His intelligence and talent are clearly immense, although for Lopez, "the best thing about Miguel is the personal quality he has. His ability and human qualities". The teacher added that Miguel is "excellent" at everything.

There is also time for other things. His hobbies include the gym, video games and a bit of everything "like any other kid" Miguel stressed. His parents have made sure that this is the case. His favourite films include Interstellar and last summers box-office hit, Oppenheimer and his hero is the English mathematician and computer scientist Alan Turing. "I've always liked his story in general," Miguel said, adding that he has watched the film about Turings life, The Imitation Game, several times.

Mathematical brains run in the family as Miguels older sister is currently studying a double degree in Mathematics and Physics at the University of Granada. Miguel said that when he is in Oxford he will miss his family, of course, and as far as food is concerned, he thinks hell miss Spanish omelette (Tortilla de patatas), ham, and his father's paella. Miguel still plans to take the Spanish university entrance exam, Selectividad, this summer, in case life at Oxford doesnt suit him.
David Lerma Marbella Friday, 19 January 2024, 17:51 Compartir Copiar enlace

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Its the story of my adolescence in Marbella, sums up Bianca de Vilar. Now a photographer at music festivals such as Sonar and Primavera Sound, all kinds of events and working for various news agencies, Bianca does not define herself as a photojournalist nor an artistic photographer. In fact the exhibition that opened last Friday in the centrally located bar Yuyus, which is halfway between a documentary and a personal diary, could place her in the line of artists such as American Nan Goldin or, closer to home, Miguel Trillo, a photographer recognised for his portraits of urban youth in the last forty years.

The exhibition La Movida Marbelli 90s aroused the curiosity of a generation of Marbella residents who last Friday evening recognised themselves in a hundred photographs, a journey back in time when the subjects were barely twenty years old and lived oblivious to what was happening in big cities. A generation that included, among others, actors Pepon Nieto and Mariola Fuentes and the late designer David Delfin, who in those years, between 1992 and 1994, had his own bar in Marbella. Opening the exhibition in a bar is fully intentional. The carefully staged montage itself evokes the precariousness but also the more creative side of a town better known for the splendour of the jet set than for the explosive creativity that was spontaneously being produced in local bars.

Some of the images in the exhibition. Bianca de Vilar

Since Ive been back in Marbella Ive moved away from commercial photography and am trying to focus more on fine art photography, which is what I studied in London. I graduated in 1999. My father [Alexis de Vilar] is a photographer, and from a very young age I always had a camera with me, but initially I never thought I would get into it. I did Fine Art to dedicate myself to painting and sculpture, but as life would have it, I ended up in photography. I always had a camera with me when I went out. Now, with the mobile phone, everything has changed. I used to shoot in various formats. When I went out as a teenager with my camera. I didnt do it with the intention of setting up an exhibition, but to have personal memories. I was protecting myself and opening myself up to the world, she explains.

She admits that many of her images are full of ghosts, people who are no longer there or whom she does not remember. These photos come from my personal albums, I have never shown them.

Youth against Jesus Gil

There is a lot of nostalgia. It was a golden age that we lived through, but there is also a lot of documentation. There were other photographers in Marbella and each one had their own vision, explains this photographer who currently works for the Getty agency. Those clubs, those bars, brought together a lot of people with a lot of talent,who wanted to do something. Many went to Madrid, Barcelona or abroad. It was a very restless generation, she says, observing the publics reactions.A lot of things are happening in Marbella now: festivals, concerts, exhibitions, but nobody is documenting it, she says, because nobody has taken on the role of audiovisual chronicler. It is fundamental for the collective memory.

She says that with [former mayor] Jesus Gil we felt very rejected, a nuisance in every way. On one occasion, things escalated. Bianca has images of that confrontation, including the burning of cars.

We lost freedom of expression, but we could always be ourselves. We were able to adapt to new places, like when they moved us to Banana Beach. We knew how to keep the essence. We didnt want to be mainstream.
As each month goes by, the complexity of the security situation in Ecuador becomes more visible. The country has had to deal with prison massacres, growing national and international organized crime, increased homicides, illegal firearms in circulation, the assassination of a presidential candidate and a public television station seized on air with millions of people watching. All of this brings to mind the terrifying realization that Ecuador is going to suffer the same fate as Mexico and Colombia, and that it will be yet another case of tragedy.

Pressure is building as the world watches on. So what can Ecuador do to avoid ending up like those two neighboring countries? It would be advisable not to follow in the footsteps of both nations, in terms of the way they focused their rhetoric  especially with different leaders  and concentrated their political capital.

Ecuadors most pressing task is to recover the legitimate monopoly of law enforcement, and this implies strengthening the states capacity and ability to manage security. However, the governance of this sector was affected by the elimination and merging of key institutions with direct competence in this area around seven years ago. This resulted in the weakening and elimination of qualified and professionalized human resources, as well as adequate technical, technological and financial capabilities. In addition, not surprisingly, several criminal organizations seized the opportunity to gain ground and consolidate their power.

Having reached this critical stage, the political challenge is to reinforce and purge the security and defense institutions without falling into the temptation of granting too much power to the public force, without the necessary tools to execute it in an effective and measured manner, and without proper monitoring and accountability. Experiences in countries such as Colombia and Mexico show that a public security force with excessive power, limited control and unquestioning political support leads to the accumulation of considerable political and economic power. It makes them prone to more corruption scandals and human rights violations and reduces their efficiency on the job, as if they were surgeons with machetes. Additionally, by being more involved in the administrative operations of the State, it is easier for them to block future institutional changes. Reversing this power will become a monumental challenge.

In addition to recovering the monopoly of force with tools and control mechanisms, hopefully Ecuador will be more strategic than Colombia and Mexico and also focus on the other side of the coin: justice. Security cannot exist without an efficient and effective justice system. Therefore, to reduce violence and curb organized crime, it is not enough to send the military to the streets and keep overcrowding the prisons. Although these are popular actions, they are also counterproductive because they fuel violence and strengthen criminal groups, as Ecuador has already verified  its prisons have become schools for criminals. Hopefully this country will choose the path of strengthening and optimizing the work of prosecutors offices and judges, stop overusing pretrial detention, consider alternative measures to incarceration for minors and non-violent crimes, decriminalize some types of conduct, improve prison systems and invest in programs for the prevention of reoffense.

Another aspect where Ecuador can make a significant difference, by not following in the footsteps of Mexico and Colombia, is to steer clear of placing everything (rhetoric, agenda, security, defense and justice policies) in the context of the fight against drug trafficking. The temptation to do so would seem to be a natural response since a large part of the criminal activities identified are related to this market. Yet sustaining the notion that the war on drugs is the solution is borderline insulting in light of the overwhelming evidence accumulated from decades of failure. It should not be forgotten that what is happening in Ecuador is occurring under a system of international drug prohibition, which is somewhat paradoxical.

Therefore, one hopes that Ecuador will be more cautious and be able to talk about security and drugs in due proportions. But it should also be more daring, and ask for or make evaluations of what has worked and what has not in this area in the region  a balance of money invested in this fight versus real impacts. It is hoped that Ecuador becomes more autonomous and does not allow itself to succumb to the pressure that Washington will no doubt impose on it  where some minds must already be thinking of a plan for Ecuador , designing and implementing its own agenda. It should be coordinated on an equal basis with the appropriate parties, and not imposed ones. Hopefully the country will be more courageous and join Colombia in its goal of fostering a paradigm shift, because it cannot continue to be governed by drug control conventions that were conceived more than 60 years ago. One would hope that Ecuador would be more sensible in focusing its efforts on money laundering, where criminal organizations can really be hampered, and where there is a soft spot in the public security forces due to the exposure to corruption. And finally, hopefully it will be more ingenious and manage to spearhead regional experiments, studies or mechanisms for the regulation of certain substances.

Underpinning all these decisions is a common discourse favored in the region  the iron fist approach. This strategy prioritizes measures such as toughening criminal codes, increasing police and military presence in the streets, increasing imprisonment and preventive detentions, and emergency laws that limit civil liberties and enhance the power of the security forces. Once again, this is attractive but not very effective. They cause governments to become purely reactive and almost never preventive when it comes to security issues.

As a result, the discourse and model of security seems to wind up as a show of manhood  it is no coincidence that this is a historically male-led sector  that leads to a never-ending escalation of violence. It has turned into a game where several leaders follow the same logic of the criminal organizations  as was the case with Colombia President Ivan Duque, who issued a stark warning to the leaders of the organized criminal armed organizations. In the name of security, authoritarian leaders and ideas are advocated, while certain groups, especially young people, become even more criminalized and stigmatized. They resort to an iron fist approach, but rarely reflect on why 16-year-olds are committing murder, and what could actually work, according to the evidence, to stop this from happening.

Hopefully, Ecuador will do better, and it has a chance to better channel the anger and frustration of its citizens. It can show us that being conscious of the primary, basic need to live in a society with rules that are complied with and are enforced does not inevitably imply hard-handed policies with a machete, but instead with a scalpel. Going from state of exception to state of exception is not a consistent security policy. Likewise, neither is paralysis of action or empty slogans such as hugs, not bullets. Hopefully, Ecuador will challenge the traditional narrative of security without succumbing to good-natured inaction and show us that this word can also signify a right, protection, safe environments, collective care and prevention. The real strength lies in the implementation of comprehensive, sustainable and specific security policies in cities, ports and at borders. In conclusion, Ecuador must show us that we do not have to choose between democracy and security. That security can go hand in hand with respect for rights and freedoms. Ecuador, we have faith in you.

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Alba Tenza Archidona Friday, 19 January 2024, 13:10 | Updated 15:03h. Compartir Copiar enlace

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Even before entering the exhibition hall, we can hear them singing in unison. The main man walks down the central aisle of the hall as though he were at home. At 88 years old, being surrounded by hundreds of bird-cages is yet another fond memory of a life dedicated to his greatest passion in life. Reds, yellows and many other varieties of canary watch him closely from the corner of one eye. They know that Rafael Nuevo is considered a master of breeding and showing canaries in his home town, and they are not mistaken - this resident of Archidona is one of the founding members of the town's Canariculture Association.

In 1962, a group of about six bird-loving friends met up in Archidona and decided to form this group, which is now the second oldest in the province, the canary breeder tells SUR. The passion for canaries is a hobby that is passed down from generation to generation in Archidona. When I was five years old, I would always go to my grandfather's house, see his birds and theyd fill me with delight. Now I feel both passion and a sense of duty to continue with this because he created it and, furthermore, its part of the town, the people, states his grandson, Javier Morales, currently the associations secretary.

Javier Morales inspects one of the entries in the competition. Alba Tenza

The reason for all the singing in the hall is the same reason that so many people have gathered there. Archidonas traditional canary breeders show has just blown out 60 anniversary candles in celebration of this significant milestone. This year more than 800 specimens have been exhibited, about 75 breeders have come from all over Andalucia, says Francisco Sanchez, president of this bird association. Bringing together so many canaries in competition means that bird-keeping is still alive, although plenty has changed in 50-plus years.

Black and white cages are set out in pairs but, as you walk through the three exhibition rooms, what is striking is that they are all classified by colour. Before there were less varieties of colour, now there is an infinite number. We were one of the first to cultivate the red-coloured canary that arose from cross-breeding the Red Cardinal from Venezuela with a standard canary, recalls Nuevo. When breeding times were good, this particular breeder would have up to 100 pairs of canaries at home, but nowadays he keeps himself busy watching over his grandsons birds, which are kept together in the same room at his house where it all started.

After a life dedicated to rearing canaries, Nuevo admits that the hobby has changed: We were few in number but we bred in a different way, bird-keeping isnt as straightforward as it was then, I would rear the canaries on softfood made with carrots, red peppers and chopped hard-boiled eggs, nowadays everything is more up-market and has changed completely.

Morales is a breeder too and has won awards at national level. However, for him there is nothing more special than the bond he has with his grandfather for their shared passion. I could have them at my house, but it makes me happier that they are at my grandfather's house and I get to go there to take care of them, that gives me more satisfaction than the quality of the birds, he says. When asked about the future of this special hobby, the young man stares at one of the canaries as if he were looking at his most treasured possession and responds: Today everything is more difficult, there are more and more hurdles, everything costs more, Im finding it tough because there are fewer and fewer young people who are into this, and yet its a very healthy hobby because you learn about biology and its good for personal growth. Morales too has had to reduce his breeding pairs to 70 specimens due to the challenging environment for the trade.

Competition canaries are sorted into prize categories according to their colour, colour brightness and overall appearance. Lipochromes (no pigmentation - only the basic ground colour of white, yellow or red-orange), clears, ticked and variegated are some category examples. One of the canaries tagged with a first prize is a lipochrome yellow that belongs to Sanchez. This year I have reared about 115 canaries, but I want to try to breed fewer because local breeders are having a hard time. Previously a breeder would trade with others, but thats all gone now. Preparing a canary for competition requires an exhausting level of care. As the president of the association explains, when a white canary is to be shown, the washing routine is key: a small brush, warm water and paper to absorb the water. With this technique, a shiny plumage is assured. However, price increases have meant that keeping so many canaries can be an impediment for their breeders.

The breeder Juan Antonio Ramos with the president of the Ornithology Association, Francisco Sanchez, in the first photo. In the second photo, Sanchez shows one of the canaries and in the third photo is another of the birds in the competition. Alba Tenza

Obstacles

"The truly committed breeder in this profession will carry on, but others are going to try to breed as little as possible because you cannot make a living from a hobby, and needs must, concludes Juan Antonio Ramos, treasurer for the association and owner of 100 specimens of the yellow canary. This local man has backed the association to help keep this hobby alive and to ensure this traditional contest held in the town will not be lost. Standing beside him, Sanchez mentions that more and more breeders are no longer breeding due to price increases in vitamins or ready-made softfood for the chicks.

Nowadays birds cannot be sold so, if transfer of ownership is not permitted, hobbyists become fed up and stop breeding. I hope we can move forward, says Nuevo. What remains singularly clear to him is that this meeting up with friends who are fanciers of all things canary will always provide a good reason for celebration in his town, where rearing canaries is more than just a hobby.
Eugenio Cabezas Periana Friday, 19 January 2024, 08:23 Compartir Copiar enlace

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The Villa Turistica de Periana, a holiday accommodation complex in the Axarquia village of Periana, on the eastern side of Malaga province, is to be handed over to Periana town hall by its current owners, the Junta de Andalucia. It cost seven million euros to build and was closed in 2012, having only been in use for five years.

Since then, Periana town hall has been calling on the Andalusian regional government to reopen the complex and requested that it hand the facility over to the town hall. Following an agreement in September 2023 that included the Periana complex and four other tourist villas in Andalucia which are also currently disused, the Junta has announced that it will cede the tourist complex free of charge to Periana town hall. The other four: Pinar de la Vidriera in Huescar (Granada), Cazalla de la Sierra (Seville), Fuenteheridos (Huelva) and the hotel Las Menas del Seron, located in Bacares (Almeria) are to be put up for auction.

This was announced on Wednesday by the Juntas spokesperson for economy and finance, Carolina Espana, who said in Seville that they are preparing a fifth auction, because they are "determined" to sell four of the five tourist villas that are closed. "We don't understand why these tourist villas exist and on top of that they are closed and not profitable," she said.

E.C.

The network of tourist villas in Andalucia is made up of nine villas and one hotel, distributed throughout the eight Andalusian provinces, although only five of them are currently in operation.

Mayor of Periana, Rafael Torrubia, thanked the Junta for "finally" agreeing to return the facilities to the village who said that once the transfer is complete he will look at the possibility to lease the facility, similar to the arrangement which exists with La Vinuela hotel, which is owned by La Vinuela town hall.
Chus Heredia Friday, 19 January 2024, 10:24 Compartir Copiar enlace

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It was a facility built in the time of former Marbella mayor Jesus Gil - with his stamp all over it. There were faults in the construction, convictions for misappropriation of funds, a non-payment of 22 million euros to the contractor, political controversy and the plant did not enter service for eight years after its completion. It ended up being sold to the Spanish government. But now, the authorities, led by the Andalusian ministry of agriculture, are closing ranks because of the serious drought situation. And they have turned this facility into their most powerful weapon in the battle to obtain extra water supplies in these times of need. In fact, the Marbella seawater desalination plant already supplies half of the water that the western Costa del Sol 'drinks'.

It is thanks to this 50 per cent that the western Costa can fulfil the regional government's requirement to reduce demand by 20 per cent throughout Andalucia.

It could be said that the sea has become the main 'reservoir' serving the 11 municipalities that make up the western Costa del Sol district, from Torremolinos to Manilva. The district's Mancomunidad public services water company, Acosol, currently has the desalination plant operating at its maximum capacity, producing six cubic hectometres per year.

First step, spring: increase to 12 cubic hectometres

The current maximum output is half of that envisaged in the original design of the plant whose components are now also obsolete. Last week work began to change filtration membranes and other filtration and desalination components. In the spring, the desalination plant will be able to produce 12 cubic hectometres per year after an investment of three million euros from the regional government. Acosol sources have said that this replacement of components will be carried out gradually in order to minimise the impact on the service.

Second step: increase to 20 hectometres after summer

The next step forward will come from the Junta's Sequia Plus drought plan. This will mean adding another eight cubic hectometres to the annual capacity from the summer onwards, which will mean that the plant will end the year with three times the capacity it started with. This is extremely valuable water at a time when there are already 14 municipalities in the province with water cuts, with the recent addition of Fuengirola to the list. More than 250,000 Malaga residents are affected.

The figures 6+6+8 The three phases the Marbella seawater desalination plant will go through this year Now it produces six cubic hectometres a year. In the spring another six will be possible and the total will rise to 12 thanks to the replacement of components. After the summer the capacity will increase by another eight using a portable extension or two extra production lines.

So how will it be expanded to 20 hectometres? Technical sources explained that there are two options on the table: either to attach a portable desalination plant to produce the extra eight hectometres or to add two fixed production lines. In both cases the result is the same. The Marbella plant is 2.5 kilometres from the sea and takes its water from the Mediterranean at the mouth of the Rio Verde. It is located on the Istan road.

An important factor is the effect of the works that have already begun on the Rojas pumping station in Churriana, Malaga.This will make it possible in a few months' time to direct a flow of up to 500 litres per second in all directions as required. This means that water from the desalination plant can 'travel' to Malaga city, the Guadalhorce or the Axarquia, in the same way that the Costa can be supplied from any of those areas. The Axarquia is already well aware of the benefits of these 'water highways', as it has been receiving 300 litres per second from Malaga for months. In previous droughts, it was the other way round and Malaga benefited from this type of connection.

More desalination works

The Marbella plant is not the only desalination resource that is being activated to cope with the harsh drought. In recent months, regional investments have served to increase the produc tion capacity of the El Atabal desalination plant, which treats brackish waters from reservoirs and wells, by 10 per cent.

Many of Malaga's subsoil resources are highly salinised, either naturally or because a considerable depth has been reached in their exploitation. In order to desalinate these valuable reserves, the Junta is preparing to install small portable desalination machines. This involves work on two boreholes in the Guadalmansa area in Estepona, which will add up to four cubic hectometres. Another four cubic hectometres are to be taken from a borehole in Fuengirola and four more in El Trapiche (Axarquia).
Cristina Vallejo Friday, 19 January 2024, 13:56 Compartir Copiar enlace

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'Malaga city centre has more than just tourist flats, there are also places like this one," says social educator Michel Bustillo as he opens the door of a building that goes unnoticed in a prime location in the city; just one minute from Calle Larios, it is in Plaza de las Flores, a square packed with busy terraces. The building is Casa Betania, an oasis for fifteen migrants, most of whom are awaiting the resolution of their application for asylum and international protection. They have fled conflict and violent situations where their lives were threatened, or authoritarian regimes that further darken prospects in some of the most precarious economies on the planet.

The house has four floors, a couple of balconies with magnificent views of the square, interior courtyards that give it a unique beauty and single rooms to accommodate youngsters between 18 and 25 years old who were brought here by the Spanish Ministry of Inclusion, which is responsible for funding the project.

Residents with coordinator Maria Fuentes. Salvador Salas

Bustillo is proud of the dose of diversity given to the city centre by the house, which has just completed its first year and has already benefited 23 young people. But he is also proud of the "very decent" physical space offered to each young person, which favours their wellbeing, but also their self-esteem, by having their own room where they enjoy privacy after suffering long sea crossings in overcrowded boats, or having gone through other types of centre with collective dormitories.

This building was the former training house for novices who joined the Esclavas del Divino Corazon (Slaves of the Divine Heart), a religious order. In fact, right next door to Casa Betania is the school of that congregation. Some of the nuns, such as Maria Fuentes, coordinator of the religious community, help the educators in their work with the youngsters.

Maria Rojano helps them learn Spanish. Salvador Salas

Maria Rojano has a very special role; a retired teacher from the congregation, at 92 years of age she teaches them Spanish and geography, as well as mending their clothes from time to time. She exudes tenderness. And the young men return it with hugs and affection.

Comfortable atmosphere

The Casa Betania project is shared between La Merced foundation, which provides its expert knowledge of the migration process, and the religious community, which provides the physical space - with the chapel stripped of its Catholic symbolism and converted into an inter-religious hall. The whole team, joined by twenty volunteers, witness how the young migrants' countenance changes, how the sadness, mistrust and uneasiness fade away and how they relax and even regain hope.

This is helped by the cordial atmosphere created in the house, which ends up being a family, or more like a flat shared with friends - they have a corkboard with a rota for the housework and cooking.

Sara Garcia and Michel Bustillo are the two educators working with the project. Salvador Salas

But all of Casa Betania's residents are just passing through: asylum seekers arrive, and eventually have to leave, regardless of whether their request is denied or when it is approved. Sara Garcia, another social educator at the centre, says that no one leaves the house with nowhere to go; they ensure they have a roof over their heads and financial support: "People leave with a job and a home," she says.

The main ingredient for their next step to an integrated life in Malaga, or elsewhere in Spain, is education: "This is not just a place to sleep and eat, they have to learn," says Garcia. They are taught how to do CVs, they do mock job interviews and volunteers help find training courses. In addition to learning and perfecting their Spanish, they learn English and take advantage of chamber of commerce programmes, such as cooking, bricklaying... But there are also those who take Spanish secondary school exams or go on to university.

Salvador Salas

Soufian (Morocco) 'I want to help other people in my situation'

Soufian, 24, comes from Agadir in Morocco. He left his country in 2022 with his uncle, fleeing compulsory military service and the penalty associated with not doing it, which includes a fine and prison.

He got on a boat with 54 other people heading for the Canary Islands, a three-day frightening crossing that cost him 3,000 euros. From the Canaries he was taken to Madrid, where he applied for international protection, and then he was referred to Malaga, to Casa Betania, where he has been for ten months.

Despite having done three years of a law degree in his home country, in Malaga Soufian is studying a vocational training course in social integration as well as working in a restaurant kitchen. "I'm going to continue studying because I'd like to help people who are in the same situation as me," he says.

Luis (Colombia) 'I want to keep the feeling of peace I have here'

Salvador Salas

Luis, 25, fled the city of Cali in Colombia because he felt his physical integrity was in danger due to his involvement in the defence of human rights. Social leaders, he says, suffer reprisals for their work helping communities.

In particular, he supported young victims of recruitment and forced displacement at the hands of guerrillas and paramilitaries.

Luis arrived in Madrid in August 2022, and from there he went to Malaga, where he applied for international protection.

He has been at Casa Betania for 11 months now and is studying English as well as taking courses in forklift work, food handling...

What he wants, his priority he insists, is to "continue to have the peace" he has found in Spain.

Mouhamed (Senegal) 'There was nothing for me in my country, so I came here'

Salvador Salas

"Living in my country is really hard," says Mouhamed, 24, from Senegal. There, since he was 12, he worked in fishing, now a difficult activity as, he says, the government sold off its resources to be exploited by foreign boats. In July 2022, he disembarked in the Canary Islands, after nine days crossing the ocean in a small boat.

Along with economic problems, Mouhamed also cites political ones to explain why he chose to leave his country: there are no rights, he says; those who speak out go to prison. "My father wouldn't let me study," he says. "I couldn't find a solution, so I came here."

As well as Spanish and English, Mouhamed is studying other skills aimed at helping him find a job when he leaves Casa Betania.
Emirates airline pays flying visit to Malaga to seek out cabin crew The Dubai-based airline is looking to recruit a total of 5,000 "highly motivated individuals to embark on an exciting career travelling the world"

Pilar Martinez Malaga Friday, 19 January 2024, 18:23 Compartir Copiar enlace

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The flag carrier of the United Arab Emirates, Emirates, is looking for cabin crew in Malaga and along the Costa del Sol. The city has been chosen among the ten Spanish destinations where these professionals will be selected as part of a worldwide recruitment campaign for 5,000 new crew members.

In Malaga this will take place in the city on 18 February, and in Madrid, on 21 January; in Alicante, on 23 January; in Valladolid, on 31 January, and in Granada, on 2 February. It will continue in the Spanish capital on 6 February, in Barcelona on 8 February, in Valencia on 10 February, and in Seville on 12 February, before returning to Bilbao on 20 February, Barcelona on 22 February and Madrid on 24 February.

The airline says these recruitment days are aimed primarily at those who are new or recent entrants to the world of work, with a special invitation to recent graduates with internship or work experience, either part-time or full-time, on their CV. It also encourages people with one year or more experience in hospitality or customer service and "highly motivated individuals to embark on an exciting career travelling the world. New recruits will be part of the world's largest international airline and one of the world's most iconic global brands. They will learn hospitality and life skills from the best trainers in the industry," Emirates announced.

The Dubai-based company, which connects 140 cities in 76 countries, urges applicants to find out full details of the process and pre-register for the recruitment event they will be attending at www.emiratesgroupcareers.com/cabin-crew/.

In Malaga, the event starts at 9am and applicants should take along an up-to-date CV in English and a recent photograph. Those who have not applied online can do so without an appointment at the open day in the above-mentioned cities. Applicants should be aware that the company is looking for "people who are passionate about providing personalised and impeccable hospitality, while creating memorable moments for customers. As safety is one of Emirates' top priorities, the ideal candidate will confidently lead and take control when it comes to managing aircraft services and safety procedures.

In terms of training, Emirates said all crew will receive an eight-week apprenticeship experience at the airline's Dubai facility "to deliver the highest levels of hospitality, safety and service that customers have enjoyed for years". New crew members will develop the ability to work effectively in a multicultural team. Today, the team is made up of professionals of more than 140 nationalities, speaking 130 languages.
Ignacio Lillo Malaga Friday, 19 January 2024, 16:32 Compartir Copiar enlace

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An easyJet flight from London Gatwick airport to Malaga had to divert to Almeria this Friday, 19 January. The reason was that the Airbus A320 aircraft was hit by a strong crosswind when it came in to land, as reported by several eyewitnesses at the time and later confirmed by the control tower.

In fact, shortly after the incident, the runways were reconfigured to adapt to the weather conditions, so that aircraft are landing again on the Costa del Sol without any problems. As for the diverted aircraft, it is expected that it will land in Almeria first, and then fly back to Malaga.

Spain's state weather agency (Aemet) maintains a yellow alert weather warning active this Friday for west and south-westerly winds of 50 to 60 km/h (force 7) and waves of up to three metres along the coast. This is, along with the generally light rain, a result of storm Juan which is affecting Malaga province today.
Nuria Triguero Malaga Friday, 19 January 2024, 14:23 Compartir Copiar enlace

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"The world economy belongs to everyone." A simple sign with this claim, two steel spheres attached to a support that raises them to eye level and another sign saying that you must be over 18 years of age to participate is all there is. With nothing more than the machine and information, Worldcoin arrived one month ago at Malaga city's Vialia shopping centre.

It is arguably the most controversial project so far created by Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI (the company that created ChatGPT). The Orb stand is still in the shopping centre, Orb being the name given to the cameras specifically designed to scan the iris of people who register on its World ID platform.

The very young salespeople make intriguing yet tempting offers to passers-by: they offer money (cryptocurrencies, to be exact) in exchange for joining this virtual community and having their eye photographed. Queues and crowds of curious onlookers formed at the stand in the first few days, which coincided with the lead-up to Christmas. Now that the novelty has worn off, the numbers have dropped, but the trickle of new Worldcoin users is constant.

What are the steps to register? What are the steps to register for Worldcoin? The first thing you have to do is download the World application to your mobile phone (it is free and does not require you to enter any personal data). Then you have to find an Orb stand, such as the one in Vialia (there are already 25 in Spain), where the user's eye will be scanned and a unique and non-transferable number based on the iris pattern will be assigned through the app. This code will be used to identify the user unequivocally, both on this platform and on others with which it is integrated, such as Telegram, Reddit, Minecraft, Shopify and Mercado Libre.

There are already more than 400,000 registered users in Spain and three million worldwide. Worldcoin officially launched in July last year and its co-founders are the aforementioned Altman and Alex Blania (its CEO). Its aims are ambitious to say the least: "If successful, we believe Worldcoin could drastically increase economic opportunity, scale a reliable solution for distinguishing humans from AI online while preserving privacy, enable global democratic processes, and eventually show a potential path to AI-funded UBI (universal basic income)," its creators said in an open letter published at its launch.

The first step on this path is to solve one of the great challenges in the era of bots and artificial intelligence: to create a universal digital passport that allows each human being to be unequivocally identified, while respecting their privacy. To this end, Worldcoin has opted for biometrics and, specifically, the iris. Why? Because in this part of the eye there are lines that form a particular and complex pattern, which is different in each person and, therefore, can identify them without providing any document or personal information.

Ten Worldcoins

So the theory is full of good intentions. In practice, in order to succeed in its purpose, Worldcoin needs to reach a critical mass of identified users as soon as possible and its strategy to achieve this is not without controversy. Since its launch, the platform has been offering 'tokens' or Worldcoin coins as a reward, which are deposited in the user's virtual wallet to do what they like: spend them on websites that accept Worldcoin as a means of payment or exchange them for cash.

"The moment you complete the registration, you receive 10 'worldcoins'. After 24 hours you will receive three more and, from then on and during the first year, you will receive another three every two weeks," explains one of the Worldcoin sales representatives in Malaga. How much legal tender is this crypto-reward equivalent to? Currently, each Worldcoin token or unit is worth 2.52 euros, so after a year if this value is maintained, the reward would reach 221 euros. However, it is important to take into account the volatility of cryptocurrencies; their value can soar or plummet in a matter of days.

At the Orb stand in Vialia it is clear that most of those who come to have their irises scanned are not properly informed about what giving away biometric data might entail or how Worldcoin is going to ensure that this information does not end up in the wrong hands. Most are very young and have been attracted by videos they have seen on social media. Older people are the most wary. "They say they give free money, but it turns out it's in cryptocurrencies and I don't trust that," says 40-year-old Carlos who lives in Malaga and is unemployed, after a lengthy chat with the salesperson.

The organisation's aggressiveness in recruiting users has led it, in certain countries and at certain times, to also offer cash and gifts to people who agree to have their irises scanned. These practices, together with doubts about the protection of sensitive data such as biometric data, have generated suspicion and criticism and have led to investigations by governments in countries including Kenya, Germany, France and Argentina.

In fact, the platform has recently stopped operating in France, Brazil and India, apparently due to pressure from regulators. Furthermore, a year before its launch, the magazine MIT Technology Review published an investigation that revealed that the project had collected sensitive data from vulnerable people in developing countries in exchange for money and gifts in order to expand its user base, without these people being properly informed of the implications of giving away personal information.

The risks of having your eye scanned

What are the risks involved in handing over biometric data such as the iris pattern of the eye to a company? Vicente Ortiz, a Marbella lawyer specialising in Web3 and cryptocurrencies, offers this analysis: "It seems logical to me to be wary of sharing your iris, which is your most precious identity. Even identical twins have different irises. Handing over biometric data without knowing exactly what they are going to do with it and how they are going to protect it seems too risky to me. I haven't done it, at least not so far," he says.

There are two big questions: what Sam Altman's organisation might do with the information collected (there are, for example, doubts about whether it has used, or is using it to train artificial intelligence models) and what would happen if that information ends up in the hands of cybercriminals. "When our password is stolen we can change it, but our iris pattern cannot be changed," Ortiz adds.

Worldcoin claims on its website that the data is secure because it is "encrypted both in transit and at rest" and stresses that it does not ask users for any other personal data, apart from their iris pattern. "Individuals are not required to share their name, phone number, email address or home address. The images collected by Orb are used to generate a unique iris code. These images are immediately deleted by default once the iris code is created, unless the user agrees for their information to be stored. Opting for data to be kept will decrease the likelihood and frequency of the user needing to re-verify their ID as the iris code algorithms change," explains the organisation, which also insists that the Worldcoin Foundation "does not and will never sell anyone's personal data, including biometric data".

Whether or not to believe this declaration of intent is, to date, a question of faith, because the reality is that there is little information about Worldcoin's practices and that several countries have already launched investigations into the matter. The question is, perhaps, whether the handful of cryptocurrencies offered by the organisation outweigh the potential risks of 'selling' our irises.

Ortiz points out the irony that Sam Altman is "one of the main drivers of the breakthrough in artificial intelligence, which has created the problem of not being able to distinguish a machine from a human, and at the same time he is behind a project that 'sells' a solution to that problem". But the lawyer also finds points in favour of this project, such as the fact that its business model follows the Web3 philosophy, in which the platform's users are co-owners of the platform.

Worldcoin: company, foundation and open source

Worldcoin is not conceived as a normal company; in fact, it is not a company at all. Worldcoin is "a decentralised, open source protocol backed by a global community of developers, economists and technologists committed to broadening participation and access to the global digital economy", according to its initial statement. It is intended to become a "public network, owned by all". The platform is managed by the Worldcoin Foundation, whose mission is to "support and grow the Worldcoin community until it becomes self-sustaining". Then there is Tools for Humanity, which is a company - co-founded by Altman and Blania - and which led the initial development of Worldcoin and operates the World app.

One of the most surprising aspects of the Worldcoin project is its declared intention to contribute to the creation of a so-called Universal Basic Income: an amount that, in the future imagined by Altman and company, would be received by each and every inhabitant of the planet, and that would be financed by the enormous wealth that artificial intelligence will be generating by then.
Cristina Vallejo Malaga Friday, 19 January 2024, 18:08 Compartir Copiar enlace

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It is the dominant trend throughout the country: the month of January begins with a rise in unemployment.. The ministry of Inclusion has reported that, in the first fortnight of January, Malaga province lost 9,765 Social Security contributors. From an average of 690,563 contributors in December 2023, the figure has fallen to 680,797 halfway through this month. This represents a fall of 1.41%, the second largest in the Andalusian region in relative terms, behind Jaen (-2.24%); and also in absolute numbers, behind Seville (-11,254).

In Andalucia as a whole, job losses amounted to 43,547 (1.3% less), going from 3.37 million in December to 3.33 million in the first half of January. This is the region that has suffered the greatest deterioration so far this year in its number of contributors, followed by Cataluna, which has lost 41,545 jobs, Valencia (-34,711) and Madrid (-31,410).

Malaga is among the provinces with the greatest loss of affiliation. In Spain as a whole, the fall in the number of registered workers was 250,315, i.e. 1.20% less, dropping to 20.585 million.

Last year, in the whole of January, 9,567 Social Security contributors were lost in Malaga, making it the fifth worst performing province in terms of employment; Spain, as a whole, lost 215,000 contributors in the first month of 2023.

The ministry of Inclusion also provides the daily number of contributors as at 15 January - different from the average figure for the period. At that time, there were 679,020 people affiliated to Social Security in Malaga, 9,136 fewer than on 31 December. In Andalucia, the fall between 31 December and 15 January was 30,139. In Spain, the fall was 122,412 from 31 December 2023 to the first fortnight of January.

The year-on-year comparison, however, continues to be positive. In the first two weeks of January, Malaga had 22,140 more average affiliates than at the same time last year. Andalucia, for its part, had nearly 51,000 more jobs. And in Spain the growth is more than half a million.

With these figures Malaga is among the top positions in terms of employment improvement over the last twelve months. It is the fourth province with the best performance in Social Security enrolment over the last twelve months, behind Madrid, which gained almost 131,000 members; Barcelona, with 62,604 more contributors; and Valencia, which increased by 33,888 jobs.
Lorena Cadiz Fuengirola Friday, 19 January 2024, 12:49 Compartir Copiar enlace

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On Monday night Fuengirola became the first town on the western Costa del Sol to introduce drought restrictions to its water supply. As the town hall announced last week, local water company Gestagua reduced the water pressure between midnight and 7am, a measure it will repeat every night, except Saturday, until further notice.

While the drop in pressure was applied across the board, it affected some of the town's 80,000 residents more than others, depending on the location of their homes and whether or not they have their own water storage tank.

Local bakery El Horno is one of the few where bakers work through the night making the next day's bread. The water reduction did not prevent them from filling their shelves on Tuesday morning, but neither did it go unnoticed. "You could tell there was less water because when you turned the tap on it came out with less force, but we had water all night," said one of the bakers.

There was concern, however, about whether the situation would get worse. "Water is very important, we need it for the steam in the oven. We have a 50-litre tank and we have to keep filling it up so the oven works correctly," said the worker.

Work also starts early at Vicente, a fishmonger's in Avenida Acapulco, although staff there didn't notice a difference before 7am. "Our building has a tank," explained one of the workers.

No complaints

There were mixed reactions among local people to the measure. The president of residents' association El Arbol in Los Pacos, Pascual Sanchez, said they had "no complaints" because at the time the water pressure drops "practically everyone is in bed".

Alberto, who lives in the same neighbourhood, did not agree. "We live in a house and downstairs we had water, but practically nothing upstairs," he said.

"It feels like the people of Fuengirola have been abandoned. In summer the beach showers were working at full pelt for the tourists and now we are in this situation," said Juan Carlos, who pointed out that "it's just at the times when electricity is supposed to be cheaper to use the washing machine or dishwasher that we have less water."

According to Gestagua on its website, the higher areas of the town are being affected most, "such as the upper part of Los Boliches, Ajolin and Guadebro, Boquetillo, Calle La Union, Santiago, Calle Sevilla and the supper part of Miramar".

The company also pointed out that the supply in Fuengirola was separate from that of Mijas, even in Calle La Union where the two municipalities meet.

Mayor Ana Mula stressed on Tuesday the "extraordinary level of civility" among residents "at the most complex times, such as this serious drought that we are facing together".

She added, "Just as we have done so many times in recent years, with the financial crisis and the pandemic, we will get through this problem."

The residents of an apartment complex in Benalmadena have donated the water from their swimming pool to the local council to use just as more drought curbs potentially loom for the Costa del Sol. The water was going to be drained away and the pool emptied and, according to the council, it is now to be used for pressure cleaning the streets and for watering plants that are at risk.

Local councillor for the environment Juan Olea highlighted the importance of this type of private gesture, "which helps us keep on top of the day-to-day work of the council in the midst of the drought decree which continues to subject the council to severe restrictions".

He added that the council had had other offers from organisations of water from pools as they were being drained.
Almudena Nogues / Isabel Mendez Malaga Friday, 19 January 2024, 11:07 Compartir Copiar enlace

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We have just said goodbye to Irene and now Juan arrives. This is the name given to the new storm that will affect Spain from this Friday (19 January) and, if the forecast is correct, will leave more rainfall in the Andalucia region. In the case of Malaga province, the state weather agency Aemet has activated a yellow risk warning in the Axarquia for accumulated rainfall of up to 15mm in one hour. In Malaga city the likelihood of needing to open the umbrella this Friday is 100 per cent until 12 noon, dropping to 95 per cent from six o'clock in the evening and until the end of the day down to 10 per cent.

Looking ahead to Saturday, the chance of showers will rise again to 70 per cent from 12 noon onwards. Sunday, on the other hand, is expected to be a stable day with cloudy skies and no rain on the horizon (the probability of showers is only 10 per cent, or even less). It will be the foretaste of a new week marked by the arrival of another strong anticyclone.

"This Friday a storm will approach the southwest of Portugal. From that position and trajectory, there will be areas of the province of Malaga where the front will leave more accumulated rainfall. In addition, there is a probability of storms", explained SUR weather expert Jose Luis Escudero in his blog Tormenta y Rayos (Storms and Lightning. Aemet, in fact, has activated a yellow warning for storms in Ronda, between 6am and 3pm this Friday.

The run-up to the weekend will bring an unpleasant scenario to Malaga, with strong gusts on the coast. Aemet has activated a yellow warning on the Costa del Sol, Axarquia and Guadalhorce due to the forecast of wind from the west and southwest of 50 to 60 km/h (force 7) and waves of 3 metres. It will be in force from 12 noon and will last throughout the day. In the city, gusts of up to 30 kilometres per hour are expected until Saturday.

As for temperatures, the state agency points to a slight drop of a couple of degrees, both in maximum and minimum temperatures. In Malaga city, the mercury will reach 16C (compared to the 18-20 degrees of the last few days), while nighttime temperatures will be between 10 and 11 degrees.

Thirteen regions on notice

Thirteen regions of Spain and Ceuta and Melilla will be on a yellow or amber alert for rain, storms, coastal phenomena, wind, snow or low temperatures this Friday, according to information from Aemet.

In Andalucia, only Jaen and Cordoba will be spared, as Almeria will be under an amber warning for waves and yellow for wind; Cadiz has yellow for rain, storms and waves; Granada is under an amber warning for waves and rain; Huelva is yellow for rain and waves; Malaga is under a yellow warning for rain, storms and waves; and Seville has a yellow warning for rain.

In Aragon, Teruel will be under a yellow warning for snowfall and Zaragoza under an amber warning for snowfall; and Asturias and the Balearic Islands under a yellow warning for coastal phenomena, while in Castilla y Leon, Avila will be under yellow warning for rain and snow, Burgos under a yellow warning for snow and cold, Leon and Palencia under yellow warning for cold, Salamanca under yellow warning for rain, Segovia under an amber warning for snow and Soria under an amber warning for snow and yellow for cold.

In Castilla-La Mancha, rain will put Cuenca, Toledo and Guadalajara at risk, which will also be at risk of snowfall; and in Catalonia, Barcelona will be at risk of snowfall and waves, Gerona will be at significant risk of waves and snow, Lerida will be at risk of snow and Tarragona will be at risk of waves. In addition, the Extremadura province of Caceres will be under a yellow warning for rain and the Galician provinces of La Coruna and Lugo for coastal phenomena, while Madrid will be under a yellow warning for rain and snow, Murcia for waves and La Rioja for snow and low temperatures. Finally, in the Valencian Community, Alicante, Castellon and Valencia will be at significant risk for coastal phenomena; the autonomous city of Ceuta for storms and waves and Melilla for waves.

Widespread rain

This Friday, storm Juan will sweep across the mainland from west to east, leaving cloudy or overcast skies with abundant rainfall practically everywhere. These will be less likely and heavy in the Cantabrian area, without being expected in most of Galicia.

During the second half of the day, they will cease in most of the western half of the country and skies will generally remain slightly cloudy. The rain may be persistent and locally heavy in the centre and southwest quadrant of the mainland, most likely in the Central System, south of the Iberian Peninsula, northeast of the southern plateau, mountain ranges of western Andalucia and the Strait of Gibraltar. They will be accompanied by occasional thunderstorms, more intense in western Andalusia.

Significant snow accumulations are expected in several parts of the country

Snow levels will drop from 1,000 metres to 400/700 metres in most of the northern half of the Spanish mainland, remaining at 800/1,200 metres in the Pyrenees, and at 1,600/1,800 metres in the south-eastern mountain ranges. Significant accumulations are expected in the Central and Iberian systems, east of the northern plateau and the Pyrenees, without ruling out the rest of the northern plateau and the mid-Ebro.

Likewise, this Friday, mist and frontal fog are expected in large areas of the mainland, especially in the mountains. Temperatures will drop sharply and across the board, especially in the northern half of the country and the Balearic Islands, with a tendency to fall throughout the day. Therefore, the highest temperatures will be in the early hours and the lowest at the end of the day, with frost in the northern half of the mainland.

Intense winds will blow from the east in the Cantabrian Sea, from the north in the rest of the northern half of the Iberian Peninsula, Levante and the Canary Islands, and from the south becoming westerly in the rest. There will be strong intervals and/or very strong gusts in all coastal areas of the mainland and the Balearic Islands, as well as channels in the Canary Islands and the mountains of Andalucia.
Text in which the author defends ideas and reaches conclusions based on his / her interpretation of facts and data

Israeli genocide in Gaza? Since there are treaties on the subject and it falls under the jurisdiction of international institutions, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) will have to resolve this question with a decision that will be, by definition, binding. That is to say, one of obligatory compliance, for Israel and the international community.

South Africa, a state party to the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, presented an 84-page submission to the ICJ on December 29 for a ruling. It alleges that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza and substantiates this with eight well-supported allegations, as well as devastating evidence that Israel has breached its obligations under the Convention.

A decision on the merits of the case will not be immediate. But South Africa has asked the court for interim measures as a matter of extreme urgency ordering Israel to halt its attacks in the Gaza Strip to protect Palestinians and preserve evidence.

Hearings on the matter have already been held in The Hague, on January 11 and 12, and the ICJ will have to rule soon. With a decision that could point to a ceasefire order which, for obvious reasons, would stop the war and the machine of devastation set in motion by Israel three months ago, with the Dantesque results that are known to the world.

A man carries the body of his daughter, Masa, at her funeral in Rafah on January 17. Fatima Shbair (AP)

The decision on the provisional measure would be binding, as are all decisions taken by international tribunals. Its compliance can be supervised both by the ICJ itself and by the United Nations Security Council. They could therefore have an immediate effect in the face of the uncontainable devastation underway.

In addition to the relevance of the provisional measures requested, this process stands out due to possible repercussions in at least two other fundamental aspects.

Firstly, because of the merits of the case, South Africa is asking the court to ensure Israels compliance with its obligations under the Genocide Convention not to engage in genocide, and to prevent and to punish genocide. The court will have to rule on this core issue.

Secondly, because it will analyze the facts brought to the courts attention and the known factual framework: 23,000 people killed in Gaza, including thousands of children. To understand this devastation and death as an act of national self-defense by Israel would be to presume the untenable assumption that the only security for Israel is that Gaza is crushed and emptied.

Thirdly, because of the various public statements by senior Israeli officials that lead one to conclude that the acts of devastation are not accidental or a mistake, but a purposeful objective, that 100% fits the classification of genocide with what has happened in Gaza.

Just four examples:

1) Netanyahu, urging Israelis to remember the Old Testament account of the slaughter of the Amalekites: Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy all that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.

2) Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, announcing that Gaza will never go back to what it was: we will eliminate everything.

3) Former Minister of Energy and Infrastructure and current Foreign Affairs Minister Israel Katz, on Gazans: They will not receive a drop of water or a single battery until they leave the world.

4) Colonel Yogev Bar-Sheshet speaking on Israeli TV from Gaza: Whoever returns here, if they return here after, will find scorched earth, he said. No houses, no agriculture, no nothing. They have no future.

On the merits, the alleged self-defense to justify the violence in Gaza will hardly be accepted by the court. Primarily, because for legitimate self-defense to be so, acts of genocide cannot be excused or justified.

The facts speak for themselves. And as South Africa stated in court, nothing Israel has done since October 7 has been aimed at a targeted retaliation against Hamas or the rescue of hostages. Israel has rescued only one captive, while Israeli soldiers killed three hostages who were waving a white flag. Almost all the 110 Israeli hostages who have returned home were released via truce, negotiation, and prisoner exchange.

Palestinians look at Egyptian soldiers through a border fence on January 14. Fatima Shbair (AP)

The underlying question is whether the Hamas attacks of October 7 explain and justify everything. Was it the big flashpoint of what is occurring now? Absolutely not. That idea is wrong and unsupported by history. There are incontrovertible historical facts that can no longer be ignored.

The chronology of the context of horror stretches over several decades. It did not begin on October 7. In his intervention before the ICJ, South African lawyer Max du Plessis stated that the decades-long oppression of Palestinian rights by the State of Israel must be seen as the crucial context of the violence in Gaza.

There are two fundamental facts that form a compelling piece of history: One, the Israeli occupation after the 1967 war of aggression. When Israel took Palestinian territories and the Golan Heights, not only did it never return them, but it established an apartheid against the Palestinians living in them, alongside the increasing proliferation of Israeli settlements outside Israeli borders, particularly in the occupied West Bank.

Two, these are acts of occupation that have been repeatedly condemned by the United Nations, whose resolutions have not been complied with by Israel. All resolutions adopted in the General Assembly or in the Security Council since 1967 have been breached/ignored by the invading state/occupier. It is the longest territorial occupation of the 20th century and, so far, in the 21st century: almost 60 years! Isnt this the real pressure cooker of tension in the region?

While at first glance it may seem shocking that Israel is committing acts of genocide, both its status as an occupying state and the devastation wrought since October of last year will weigh heavily on the ICJs analysis and decision. There is the Genocide Convention and a reasonably informed world, despite the fact that dozens of journalists in Gaza (and their families) have died under the unstoppable Israeli bombardment.

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Juan Cano Malaga Friday, 19 January 2024, 10:39 Compartir Copiar enlace

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It was always a short stay. Five, seven... at most ten days. The audacious gang would land at Malaga Airport without a return flight ticket, hire a car and move along the coast like any other tourist. As soon as they had completed their goal of raiding top-end villas, they would return to Poland, leaving barely a trace.

On one of these trips, in May 2023, the elusive gang made off with a 600,000-euro haul. In a matter of days, they hit two luxury homes on the Costa del Sol. The first, in Casares, where they seized cash and jewellery worth 570,000 euros. In the second, in Benahavis, they stole another 30,000 euros. And then they left.

The two crime incidents, which had very specific characteristics, coincided in dates with another series of incidents in the same locations when thieves broke into two other homes, a third property under construction and stole two cars.

The high number of cases in less than a month caused alarm among local residents in Benahavis and Casares. Guardia Civil officers had a pile of complaints on the table. On analysing them in search of a common pattern, they discovered that they were not dealing with one gang but two.

Police investigators detected differences between the two modus operandi used and determined that the first two thefts, which were much more sophisticated, were the work of one gang, while the other five thefts, which were much smaller, were the work of another. They had only coincided in time.

With regard to the first two, officers deduced that the thieves knew the movements of the home owners, the existence of valuables inside and essential information such as the security alarms in the property, which showed that, before travelling from Poland, the criminals had prior information from local collaborators.

At the same time, officers managed to identify and arrest the second gang, made up of Spanish nationals, as well as recover 47,000 euros amassed in the five crimes against property attributed to them, according to the force.

Police investigators suspect that the gang of 'tourists', the Polish thieves, found out about these arrests and changed their area of operation. Instead of travelling to the Costa del Sol, they moved to the Levante area of Spain. In fact, the four suspects were eventually arrested just as they were about to board a plane at Alicante airport bound for Poland. Their hand luggage was seized, in which they were carrying 52 pieces of jewellery and 4,480 euros in cash. On examining the seized jewellery, it was discovered that part of it came from two thefts committed days earlier in the Alicante towns of Pilar de la Horadada and Torrevieja. The value exceeded 30,000 euros

In addition to recovering the cash, the Guardia Civil seized transmission devices and small recording cameras. Police investigators consider the gang to be specialists in this type of theft, which they committed without violence, as they waited for the exact moment when the house was empty to force a door or a window.

According to an investigating officer, one of the four Polish nationals arrested had a European Arrest Warrant issued by the Netherlands in relation to nine robberies committed there between 2003 and 2004. "Everything points to the fact that they had been doing this for years," the source said.
SUR Madrid Friday, 19 January 2024, 13:27 Compartir Copiar enlace

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Spain's two main political parties have agreed to bury their differences - for a moment at least - to change a small part of the country's written constitution.

The conservative PP and Socialist PSOE, along with virtually every other political party, are backing a rewording of the clause that talks about support for people with disability to update the outdated language. The change will replace the word "disminuidos".

Change to the Spanish constitution is never taken lightly by politicians, and especially when there is currently so much tension over the planned amnesty for Catalan political rebels, which opposition MPs say goes against it.

Far-right Vox is not backing the change, which is going through parliament, as it says it shows too much cosiness between PP and PSOE at a time of major disagreement elsewhere.
The snowstorm has left long lines of lorries and cars stranded on the A-66 between Guijuelo and Bejar in Salamanca this afternoon.

D. Roldan Zaragoza Friday, 19 January 2024, 22:43 Compartir Copiar enlace

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The passage of storm Juan through Spain this Friday, from west to east, has caused numerous traffic complications with snow and flooding forcing the closure of several motorways and main roads.

The worst affected area was in Soria in the Castilla y Leon region, on the national N-122 road between the towns of Matalebreras and Ontalvilla de Valcorba. On the stretch between kilometre points 115 to 148, some 600 people were trapped in around 500 vehicles, which forced the authorities to call for the support of Spain's Military Emergency Unit (UME).

The fourth Emergency Intervention Battalion (BIEMIV), stationed in Zaragoza, w sent to the area to try to clear the road. The main problem faced by the rescue teams was the low temperatures. The province of Soria was this Friday at red level - the same category as this coming Saturday - due to low temperatures, which could reach 14 degrees below zero. According to the state weather agency (Aemet), it will be the only province in Spain to reach this severe risk warning level. One step below, at amber alert level, are Segovia, Lleida and Zaragoza, where there was a heavy snowfall on Friday that caused traffic chaos and the suspension of the Zaragoza-Andorra Second Division match due to the snow and the cold.

Due to the storm, a train was trapped in the town of Grisen, while the Directorate General of Interior and Emergencies of the Government of Aragon highlighted the problems that affected the A-2, A-23 and AP-68 roads - with cuts to some of them - and pointed out that it was going to continue snowing during the early hours of Saturday on the A-23 towards Teruel.

Vehicles also got stuck in the snow on the A-1 at Villarejo (Segovia) and the A-2 at Salinas de Medinaceli and Somaen (both in Soria). In Salamanca, on the A-66, lorries were forced to a halt in the early afternoon due to a storm between the towns of Bejar and Guijuelo.

In Extremadura, storm Juan left heavy rain on its journey across the region which, together with the water released by storm Irene earlier this week, caused the flooding of some twenty roads - including the A-5 near Merida - and several urban and rural areas. In addition, eight reservoirs had to release water as they were close to the limit of their capacity.
Edurne Martinez Madrid Friday, 19 January 2024, 17:23 Compartir Copiar enlace

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All the forecasts were correct. Last year, 2023, was the best year for tourism in Spain in history. The sector has not only recovered from the shock of the coronavirus pandemic, but all the records of 2019, previously the best, have been surpassed. The national government's Minister of Industry and Tourism, Jordi Hereu, announced in a press conference that in 2023 more than 84 million international tourists arrived in Spain, surpassing by 1 per cent the levels of 2019, which left 108 billion euros in the country, some 17.4% more than in 2019.

The year 2023 is the record year for the development of tourism in Spain, especially in the areas that interest us most: tourist income and employment generation, said the minister, accompanied by the Secretary of State for Tourism, Rosa Murillo, and the director of Turespana, Miguel Sanz. In terms of employment, all records have also been broken.

In December alone, the number of people working in the sector increased by 132,000 to close the year with the highest number of employees in the sector on record with over 2.5 million accounting for 12.5% of the total number of Social Security members in the economy. Salaried employees increased by 6.4% in 2023 and the self-employed by 1.1%.

The impact of the tourism sector is fundamental for the rest of the economy, stressed the minister, who assured that his department is not going to be complacent, and that these figures will lead the government to be more demanding in order to continue to take care of this magnificent economic sector that Spain has as a country.

We must not rest on our laurels, the fact that more than 84 million people around the world are visiting us is an expression of success, Hereu pointed out.

The outlook for 2024 remains very positive. The ministry's figures for the first four months of the year - which this year includes Easter - reveal that 23.2 million tourists will arrive, some 11 per cent more than in the same period in 2023, with spending at the destination increasing by almost 19 per cent to 30.5 billion euros.

Problem of tourist apartments

One of the most recurrent complaints from the sector itself is the proliferation of illegal tourist apartments, which the government wants to put a stop to through a state strategy to be defined in the working group to be set up with the Ministry of Housing. The tourist offer has to be regulated, in each area we have to build a mix that is also socially sustainable to avoid the phenomena of reaction against tourism, said the head of the sector, who recalled that the regions are able to regulate the apartments.

The minister also emphasised the importance of diversifying the countries of origin of tourists arriving in Spain, with Europe as a fundamental asset, but fighting the battle in intercontinental tourism, which leaves more added value. In addition, territorial diversification as the key to reducing pressure on congested areas in order to feed the least-populated areas of Spain with prosperity, Hereu pointed out. In this sense, he stressed that the role of the Government is to put destinations that historically had not been tourist destinations on the map for international tourists.

The figures presented this week by Exceltur, the tourism sector's employers' association, are even better. It should be borne in mind that their calculations correspond to total tourism, not just international tourism, and so they put the sector's revenue in 2023 at 187 billion euros , reaching 12.8% of GDP, an all-time record. According to their calculations, tourism accounts for two thirds of the real growth of the Spanish economy (71%) and without tourism the Spanish economy would have grown by only 0.8%, instead of the 2.4% estimated by the Bank of Spain.
Deke Dickerson and the Whippersnappers will perform at the retro music festival in Torremolinos.

Tony Bryant Torremolinos Friday, 19 January 2024, 11:46 Compartir Copiar enlace

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The Rockin' Race Jamboree retro music festival returns to Torremolinos for the 30th year between Wednesday 31 January and Sunday 4 February. The five-day rock and roll extravaganza is the most important American roots music festival in Europe, and the event presents live performances by some of the genre's most celebrated artists.

The concerts are held in a variety of venues and locations in the Costa del Sol town, including the Hotel Barracuda, The municipal auditorium, and Plaza del Remo in La Carihuela. The huge retro dance floor that was introduced for the first time last year will again be located outside the municipal auditorium. The dance floor will be located in a marquee that can hold up to 800 people.

Another novelty that appeared last year and will be repeated again is the festival's own beer, which will be available at the concert venues.

Several bars and live music venues will present live concerts, including JC's Bar and The Fat Fajita in Montemar, and the Cerveceria Twister in the town centre.

The festival, which presents more than 40 rockabilly, blues, surf, and boogie-woogie bands, has gained momentum over the years because it presents musicians from all over Europe, the UK, USA and Latin America.

Fans of rock and roll travel from all over Europe and Spain to enjoy the gathering, many of whom dress in typical 50s-style attire.

The festival also includes an exhibition of classic cars and motorcycles, which will be held in Plaza del Remo on Saturday between 11am and 4pm.

This year's line-up includes Reverend Horton Heat, an American musician known as the "godfather of modern rockabilly and psychobilly"; Deke Dickerson and the Whippersnappers, a band that has toured the world and established themselves as one of the foremost purveyors of roots music, headlining festivals from Las Vegas to Finland; The Barn Shakers, a Scandinavian rockabilly band that have been performing together for more than 30 years; and Big Joe Louis, a musician born in Jamaica and who is now based in the UK.

Tickets for the main concerts held in the auditorium cost between 50 and 60 euros, or 99 euros for the whole festival. Entry to the other concerts in Plaza del Remo, and those held in participating bars, is free.

www.rockinrace.com
The extraordinary potential and enormous risks of the generative artificial intelligence (AI) revolution have been a major focus of discussions at the World Economic Forums annual meeting in Davos. Nick Clegg and Yann LeCun, president of Global Affairs and chief AI scientist at Meta, respectively, shared their views on the matter in a meeting with journalists from five international media outlets, including EL PAIS.

Meta  Facebooks parent company  is one of the companies at the center of the revolution. This is due to both Metas notable capacity in this specific sector, and because it goes hand in hand with the enormous power granted by the control of massive social media platforms. In recent years, Meta has faced serious criticism and accusations over how it manages its social networks, with critics warning of their detrimental impact on democracy.

In the conversation, LeCun emphasizes that contrary to what you might hear from some people, we do not have a design for an intelligent system that would reach human intelligence. The expert believes that asking for regulations because of fear of superhuman intelligence is like asking for regulation of transatlantic flights at near the speed of sound in 1925. He explains: Human-level AI is not just around the corner. This is going to take a long time. And its going to require new scientific breakthroughs that we dont know of yet. Thats why LeCun thinks its premature to legislate AI thinking that the technology could get out of humans control. The European Union passed the worlds first AI legislation in December, and other countries, such as the United States and the United Kingdom, are also working on specific laws to control this technology.

Clegg, for his part, is calling on the lawmakers who deal with the issue around the world to regulate products, but not research and development. The only reason why you might think it would be useful to regulate research and development is if you believe in this fantasy of AI systems taking over the world, or being intrinsically dangerous, says Clegg, who is a former British deputy prime minister and the ex-leader of the Liberal Democrats in the U.K.

Both Clegg and LeCun are pleased that, after the commotion following the arrival of ChatGPT, public debate has moved away from apocalyptic hypotheses and focused more on concrete issues and current challenges such as disinformation, copyright, and access to AI technology.

The state of technology

The systems are intelligent in the relatively narrow domain where theyve been trained. They are fluent with language and that fools us into thinking that they are intelligent, but they are not that intelligent, explains LeCun. Its not as if were going to be able to scale them up and train them with more data, with bigger computers, and reach human intelligence. This is not going to happen. Whats going to happen is that were going to have to discover new technology, new architectures of those systems, the scientist clarifies.

LeCun explains that there is a need to develop new forms of AI systems that would allow those systems to, first of all, understand the physical world, which they cant do at the moment. Remember, which they cant do at the moment. Reason and plan, which they cant do at the moment either.

So once we figure out how to build machines so they can understand the world  remember, plan and reason  then well have a path towards human-level intelligence, continues LeCun, who was born in France. In more than one debate and speech at Davos, experts discussed the paradox of Europe having very significant human capital in this sector, but no leading companies on a global scale.

This is not around the corner, insists LeCun. The scientist believes that this path will take years, if not decades. Its going to require new scientific breakthroughs that we dont know of yet. You might wonder why the people who are not scientists believe this, since they are not the ones who are in the trenches trying to make it work.

The expert explains that there are currently systems that can pass the bar test, but cannot clear the table or throw the trash out. Its not because we cant build a robot. Its because we cant make them smart enough. So obviously, were missing something big before we can reach the type of intelligence we observe, not just in humans, but also in animals. Id be happy if, by the end of my career [he is 63 years old], we have systems that are as smart as a cat or something similar.

The state of regulation

The debate on how to regulate this technology in its current state and with the possibilities of development close at hand has been one of the key issues at the annual Davos forum. The legislation being introduced in the EU, which in many ways is pioneering, was one of the main focuses of discussion.

With respect to regulation, Clegg  who was a Member of the European Parliament  avoids making a definitive statement on the matter, but does have some sharp rebukes for the EU. It is still a work in progress. It was a very classic EU thing. There is fanfare, it is said that something has been agreed upon, but in reality, they havent actually finished it yet. We will look at it closely when it is complete and published, I think the devil will really be in the details.

For example, when it comes to data transparency in these models, everyone agrees, Clegg continues. But what level of transparency? Is it the data sets? Is the individual bits of data? Or, for example, in copyright. We have existing copyright legislation in the EU. Is it just going to limit that? Or is a new specific layer going to be added? When these models are trained, a huge amount of data is devoured. You wouldnt be able to tag every single bit of data for IP reasons. It just wouldnt be practical. So I think the devil really will be in the detail. Well look at it.

He continues his criticism: Personally, as a passionate European, I sometimes get a little bit frustrated that in Brussels they seem to pride themselves on being the first to legislate rather than on whether the legislation is any good or not. Remember the EU-AI Act was initially proposed by the European Commission three and a half years ago before the whole generative AI thing [like ChatGPT] erupted. And then they tried to retrofit, through a series of amendments, provisions to try and capture the latest evolution in technology. Thats quite a clumsy way of making legislation, retrofitting for something as important as generative AI.

The debate between establishing protections and ensuring development is the source of strong tensions, both in politics and between politics and the private sector. In that subtle line that legislators have to draw, there is incalculable value at stake: productivity, jobs, capabilities that will define the balance of geopolitical power.

Clegg touches that nerve. I know that France and Germany, Italy in particular, have been, I think sensibly, asking MEPs and the European Commission to be really careful not to put something into legislation which will really hinder European competitiveness. Because of the 10 biggest companies in the world, not a single one is European. On the other hand, a group of experts called on the EU, in an open letter published by EL PAIS, for even stronger legislation to protect the rights of European citizens and European innovation.

Optimism and caution

Amid this intense power struggle, a technology is advancing. Although it is still far from fully reaching human- or superhuman-level intelligence, it has already entered our lives with extraordinary force.

The effect of AI will be to amplify human-corrective intelligence. Theres a future where all our interactions with the digital world will be mediated by an AI system, says LeCun. What that means is that at some point those AI systems will become smarter than us in certain areas. They already are. And smarter than us perhaps in every area at some point. What that means is that were going to have assistants with us at all times that are smarter than us. Should we feel threatened by this? Or should we feel empowered? And I think we should be empowered.

Throughout the interview, LeCun evidences his cautious optimism. If you think about the effect this could have on society long-term, it could have a similar effect as the invention of the printing press. So basically creating a new renaissance where you may be smarter; its intrinsically good. Now, of course, there are risks. And you have to deploy the technology in responsible ways that maximize benefits and mitigate the risks or minimize them.

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New York  A New York midwife who gave nearly 1,500 children homeopathic pellets instead of required vaccinations has been fined $300,000, the states health department announced this week.

Jeanette Breen, who operates Baldwin Midwifery on Long Island, administered the pellets as an alternative to vaccinations and then falsified their immunization records, the agency said Wednesday.

The scheme, which goes back at least to the 2019-2020 school year, involved families throughout the state, but the majority reside on suburban Long Island. In 2019, New York ended a religious exemption to vaccine requirements for schoolchildren.

The health department said immunization records of the children who received the falsified records have been voided, and their families must now prove the students are up-to-date with their required shots or at least in the process of getting them before they can return to school.

Misrepresenting or falsifying vaccine records puts lives in jeopardy and undermines the system that exists to protect public health, State Health Commissioner James McDonald said in a statement.

Breen, a state-licensed healthcare provider, supplied patients with the Real Immunity Homeoprophylaxis Program, a series of oral pellets that are marketed as an alternative to vaccination but are not recognized or approved by state or federal regulators as valid immunizations, according to the health department.

She administered 12,449 of the fake immunizations to roughly 1,500 school-aged patients before submitting information to the states immunization database claiming the children had received their required vaccinations against measles, mumps, rubella, polio, chickenpox, diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, hepatitis B and a host of other diseases, the department said.

Breens lawyer said Thursday that his client cooperated with investigators, paid her fine and intends to comply with all other requirements of her agreement with health officials.

Suffice it to say, Ms. Breen has provided excellent midwifery services for many years to many families, especially on Long Island. She is now toward the end of her career, David Eskew wrote in an emailed statement. From her perspective, this matter is over, done with, and closed and she is now moving on with her life.

As part of the settlement, Breen has paid $150,000 of the $300,000 penalty, with the remainder suspended contingent upon her complying with state health laws and never again administering any immunization that must be reported to the state, according to the health department. Shes also permanently banned from accessing the states immunization records system.

Erin Clary, a health department spokesperson, said Thursday that while parents and legal guardians had sought out and paid Breen for her services, they werent the focus of the agencys investigation.

State health officials say theyre now in the process of notifying hundreds of affected school districts.
Two poachers last month pleaded guilty to misdemeanors for illegally shooting two large bucks in an area closed to deer hunting in the town of Tonawanda.

The men were seen on Nov. 14, 2023, at the end of early bow hunting season, walking through an apartment complex. An avid hunter who lived nearby witnessed one of the men shoot a large 16-point buck that then ran into his yard.

One of the poachers snapped pictures of the wounded buck with his cell phone before fleeing the area as police arrived. But trail cameras captured both poachers, who were later identified as Jayson Zorda and Kevin Butler from Oneonta and Afton, respectively.

New York State Department of Environmental Conservation investigators used search warrants to seize the poachers hunting equipment, clothes, and cell phones, revealing the full picture of their elaborate poaching activities.

Phone records uncovered a scheme where the two men conspired with a network of poachers who posted on hunting and wildlife photography sites to target large bucks in suburban and urban areas closed to hunting, DEC said.

Posing as a female wildlife photographer on Facebook, Zorda contacted other photographers to pinpoint the exact locations of mature urban bucks so he could illegally hunt them, DEC said.

When hunting, Zorda and Butler disguised themselves as hikers, hiding compact bows in backpacks and concealing arrows in hollow walking sticks.

Zorda and Butler paid $1,075 in fines and surcharges for illegally taking deer on Nov. 12, 2023. Furthermore, their hunting licenses were revoked for five years. Other people were implicated in the warrants and charges are pending.

The following reports are excerpted from DEC:

ECOs ticketed three hunters in the past month for baiting deer in Prattsville, Cairo, and Suffolk County. Hunting with the aid of bait is unlawful, unethical, and can help spread disease in deer herds.NYSDEC

In the past month, ECOs ticketed a hunter for baiting deer in Prattsville, a hunter in Cairo for using pre-established bait and salt licks, and a hunter in Suffolk County for baiting deer. Hunting with the aid of bait is unlawful and unethical. Also, multiple deer feeding out of the same bait pile can spread disease.

A poacher shot a deer in the town of Friendship in late December 2023 during New Yorks Holiday Deer Hunt. Another hunter stumbled upon the poacher, who was dressed in full camouflage hiding in bushes next to a loaded shotgun and a freshly taken spike buck. Only bows, crossbows, and muzzleloaders are allowed for deer hunting during the late season. ECOs later traced the poacher to a location in Niagara Falls and charged him with two misdemeanors and one violation that could cost him more than $4,000 in potential fines and loss of his hunting privileges for up to five years.

Two hunters in Peebles Island State Park illegally took deer with a crossbow on Dec. 29, 2023. Peebles Island is located in Wildlife Management Area 4J and hunting big game with a vertical bow is permitted, but hunting in the State Park is prohibited. They were also hunting during New Yorks Holiday Deer Hunt without the proper licenses. ECOs ticketed both hunters for hunting without the required licenses, taking big game illegally, and possessing a cocked crossbow in a motor vehicle.

This northern saw-whet owl, the smallest species of owl in the state, was rescued from a busy roadway in the town of Deposit and taken to a wildlife rehabilitation center in Hunter.NYSDEC

A family traveling along Route 8 on Jan. 14 in the town of Deposit saw a baby owl in the road with what appeared to be a broken wing. After determining that the owl was actually an adult northern saw-whet owl, an ECO from DECs Wildlife Response Team took it to a wildlife rehabilitation center in Hunter. The northern saw-whet owl is the smallest species of owl in the state and is most active at night.

On Dec. 17, 2023, an ECO patrolling Vosburgh Swamp Wildlife Management Area in the town of Coxsackie ticketed a waterfowl hunter for carrying a shotgun capable of holding more than three shells. Its generally illegal to hunt waterfowl with shotguns that can hold more than three rounds.

ECOs caught two men fishing for striped bass from the Joseph P. Addabbo Memorial Bridge in Queens on Dec. 17, 2023. They also discovered six striped bass flopping around inside a bag in the anglers vehicle. ECOs issued tickets for possession of striped bass out of season and failure to release the fish without undue harm. The fish were returned to the water and the poachers, who are repeat offenders, paid just over $1,000 in combined fines and surcharges.



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Upstate NY man ticketed for shooting decoy deer - newyorkupstate.com

Conservation cops pinch Upstate NY poacher for shooting deer over hood of his car - newyorkupstate.com

Upstate NY hunters charged with illegally spotlighting deer - newyorkupstate.com

Eleven anglers busted for snagging fish at night on Salmon River - newyorkupstate.com

Upstate NY hunter ticketed for baiting bear with macaroni - newyorkupstate.com

Steve Featherstone covers the outdoors for The Post-Standard, syracuse.com and NYUP.com. Contact him at sfeatherstone@syracuse.com or on Twitter @featheroutdoors. You can also follow along with all of our outdoors content at newyorkupstate.com/outdoors/ or follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/upstatenyoutdoors.
By Akayla Gardner | Bloomberg News

Washington  President Joe Biden is forgiving nearly $5 billion in additional student debt as the administration seeks to deliver on one of his signature initiatives with high stakes for his 2024 reelection campaign.

Almost 74,000 student loan borrowers will see debt canceled as a result of administrative changes by the U.S. Education Department in the latest round of relief. Those affected include borrowers enrolled in the governments income-driven repayment and public-service loan forgiveness programs.

Each program requires at least a decade of payment or service to be eligible for relief. Mismanaged federal student-loan plans have left some borrowers without promised relief after making payments for as long as 25 years.

My administration is able to deliver relief to these borrowers  and millions more  because of fixes we made to broken student loan programs that were preventing borrowers from getting relief they were entitled to under the law, Biden said in a statement Friday.

Of those receiving assistance, 43,900 borrowers are public servants and 29,700 are enrolled in income-driven repayment plans.

The effort comes as Biden faces pressure from civil rights group, labor unions and advocates for borrowers to expand the scope of a new student debt relief plan after the presidents earlier $400 billion initiative was struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court.

The replacement plan is slated to be much narrower than that original plan that would have forgiven as much as $20,000 in student loans for an estimated 40 million Americans.

Nearly 70 groups, including the AFL-CIO and NAACP, asked Education Secretary Miguel Cardona in a letter Thursday to hold another session in the rulemaking process and to include targeted relief for borrowers who have experienced hardship.

The goal is to allow more young people, people of color and low-income borrowers to be eligible for relief.

Polls show Bidens support has weakened among Black, Hispanic and young voters who will be crucial to helping him secure a second term.

Since the Supreme Court ruling, the administration has made amendments to existing federal programs to further provide relief.

The Education Department has incrementally unveiled $136 billion in student-debt cancellation for more than 3 million Americans, including for borrowers who were misled or defrauded by schools.

___

2024 Bloomberg L.P. Visit bloomberg.com.
By Tim Balk | New York Daily News

Gov. Kathy Hochul reported raising an eye-popping $6.4 million in campaign funds in the second half of 2023, scoring large sums from wealthy pro-business donors and reinforcing her reputation as a formidable fundraiser.

Among the donors filling the governors coffers were billionaires including Larry Silverstein, a New York developer seeking to put a casino in Midtown Manhattan; and Leonard Blavatnik, a Ukrainian-American who has frozen his donations to Harvard over antisemitism concerns.

A spokeswoman for Blavatnik, Lisa Shields, said he appreciates the governors support for Israel and the Jewish community in New York. Blavatnik and three members of his family collectively donated $72,000 to Hochul, campaign filings show.

All told, the governor received a total of $6,373,503 in the six-month cycle, and finished the year with a war chest worth more than $9 million, according to filings reported to the state Board of Elections on Tuesday, the same day Hochul introduced her state budget proposal.

Hochuls fundraising performance surpassed her haul from the first half of 2023 and exceeded the efforts of her predecessor, Andrew Cuomo, in comparable periods during his governorship.

In the second half of 2019, Cuomo reported raising about $4.5 million, according to state Elections Board records.

To the surprise of some observers and allies, Hochul has proven to be a fearsome collector of campaign cash since she replaced Cuomo in 2021, intimidating would-be challengers and helping to bolster the state Democratic Partys reserves.

In a statement Tuesday, the governor said she was honored that so many are supporting our campaign and that vision for our state.

We are working every single day to make life in New York safer and more affordable, with a common-sense agenda, Hochul added. Democrats will be successful in 2024 if we have a message that speaks to hardworking New Yorkers greatest aspirations and anxieties, and if we have the infrastructure to communicate and turn out voters across this entire state.

The scale and sources of some of Hochuls funds have driven concerns that she could land in the pocket of moneyed interests.

Sid Davidoff, a longtime lobbyist and fixture in New York politics, said that he did not believe Hochul would let her policy choices be determined by her contributors. The governors intense focus on fundraising likely stems from her narrow, 6-point victory in the 2022 election, Davidoff said.

Why is she so active? he said. She had a close race  a race that shouldnt have been close.

Shes securing her governorship, Davidoff added.

But the fundraising disclosures came at a moment when progressives are pushing the governor to lift taxes on high earners, pointing to polling that shows public support for such a move.

Hochul has sharply rejected the prospect of raising taxes. For some, her financial support from wealthy donors raised eyebrows.

Youve got to do what youve got to do, Camille Rivera, a progressive Democratic political consultant, said of campaign fundraising.

But she added that there is a difference between raising from billionaires and from everyday New Yorkers.

Theres got to be a reason why she doesnt want to raise taxes, Rivera said of Hochul. Youve got to wonder why.

2024 New York Daily News. Visit nydailynews.com.
U.S. National Guard soldiers stand at a boat ramp on the bank of the Rio Grande river in Eagle Pass, Texas, U.S., January 17, 2024.

President Joe Biden is pushing for a deal on border security and Ukraine funding, but a major sticking point in congressional negotiations has become whether to preserve the presidents authority to allow migrants into the U.S. for special cases during emergencies or global unrest.

Republicans deride the authority, known as humanitarian parole, as a Biden administration end run around Congress that allows into the U.S. large numbers of migrants who further tax an already overextended immigration system.

But that power to allow in certain immigrants at certain times is not new or particularly novel. It has been used across political lines for decades to admit people from Hungary in the 1950s, Vietnam in the 1970s and Iraqi Kurds over the 1990s. For recipients, it can be a lifeline.

The parole gave me this opportunity, it has made me realize my dreams, my life, said Emilia Ferrer Triay, who came from Cuba in 1980 as a young girl. Everything changed from the first day I arrived, I saw that I had a future ... that there were no restrictions.

Ferrer was plucked from the Atlantic Ocean between Key West, Florida, and Cuba, along with her uncles and younger brother who had been trying to reach the U.S. via fishing boat. They were part of a massive influx of more than 125,000 Cubans who traveled from Cubas Mariel Harbor to the United States that year.

Ferrer, now 57, said that since the beginning, she had the opportunity to go to school and learn English, then went to college. She works full time, and is married with three U.S.-born children. She became a citizen herself eight years after arriving.

I would be very unhappy if I had to stay in Cuba, she said. You have no future, you cant dream. Here I have been able to do everything.

Voters are increasingly preoccupied with immigration, and its expected to be a major driver in the 2024 election. The Democratic administration has been heavily criticized by Republicans who say its policies have only encouraged more migrants to illegally cross the U.S.-Mexico border.

To the American people, what the Biden administration is doing is illegal. It is incentivizing illegal immigration, said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. He said parole was the administrations tool of choice that has allowed too many people into the U.S.

But the U.S. immigration system has been increasingly strained for years, with each presidential administration testing executive power limits while Congress all along has refused to act on immigration policy. The Biden administrations approach  to crack down on illegal crossings while opening up new ways for those who come by air with sponsors -- is only the latest in a long string of attempts to bring the nations immigration system under control.

The authority employed by the administration is known as parole because migrants would otherwise be placed in detention as their immigration cases were heard. Instead they are paroled or allowed into the U.S. But the authority isnt related to the criminal justice idea of a person who has been paroled from prison after serving time following a conviction.

Under Biden, the U.S. has relied heavily on humanitarian parole. The U.S. airlifted nearly 80,000 Afghans from Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, and brought them to the U.S. after the Taliban takeover. The U.S. has admitted tens of thousands of Ukrainians who fled after the Russian invasion.

In January 2023, the administration announced a plan to admit 30,000 people a month from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela, provided those migrants had a financial sponsor and flew to the U.S. instead of going to the U.S.-Mexico border for entry. The U.S. has created a mobile app for people to apply online where they are, instead of traveling to the U.S.

Texas sued the administration to stop the allowances, arguing in part that the plan was drawing too many people to the border. Republican senators are also targeting the program.

Democrats in the Senate and immigrant advocates say parole is a valuable tool that provides urgent relief for people fleeing unrest and helps manage the border. Before the plan, migrants from those nations were the vast majority of people entering the U.S. illegally. Afterward, arrests for those nationalities dropped dramatically.

That is a great model for the future that we have also seen reduce congestion at the border, said Andrea Flores, who worked as a policy adviser in the Obama and Biden administrations and is now a vice president at FWD.us, an immigration advocacy organization.

Over the years, parole has been used to offer quick safe haven. Administration officials are reluctant to cut off the ability to use the authority not just now, but into the future.

It is very important to understand that it is used today as a way that the administration is able to better manage the flow, in a planful way, of individuals to the border, said Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy, the lead Democrat in Senate negotiations.

Political journalist Marcelo Conde fled Nicaragua last year after he received death threats because he was not in favor of President Daniel Ortega. Conde feared that if he left Nicaragua legally, he would be detained and imprisoned when authorities saw his name on his passport.

The parole became an opportunity, but also a dichotomy because it was not approved quickly, Conde, 34, said in a recent telephone interview from his home in Las Vegas. I waited for more than 100 days, he said.

After he finally arrived in the U.S., he received an authorization to work. In Nevada, he is waiting tables. Conde speaks Spanish, French and English and hopes soon to work as a journalist in the U.S.

Republican senators have refused to approve any further aid for Ukraine or Israel without U.S. border policy changes. The negotiations have been drawn out for weeks, but both sides say they are nearing a deal and the Senate could consider the legislation as soon as next week.

In recent days, negotiators have discussed potential compromises, including caps on the number of migrants eligible for parole, according to two people familiar with the discussions who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to describe the private talks.

Lets find a way that we can get clear definition and figure out how to be able to resolve this, said Oklahoma Sen. James Lankford, the chief Republican negotiator.

Lankford singled out the online application for migrants seeking parole. Its a continual draw to the border to just bring more people to it, he said.

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Fort Edward, N.Y.  The boyfriend of a 20-year-old woman fatally shot in the neck when they pulled into the wrong driveway last year described to a jury Thursday hearing a shot pierce the car and then seeing his girlfriend slumped over in the passenger seat.

Frantic in the car ... people were screaming, Blake Walsh said, describing the moments leading up to when Kaylin Gillis was shot.

Walsh and a group of his friends testified in the second-degree murder trial of Kevin Monahan, 66, who is charged with fatally shooting Gillis. On a Saturday night last April, the couple and their group of friends drove into the wrong driveway in Hebron, some 40 miles (65 kilometers) north of Albany, near the Vermont border.

The groups caravan of two cars and a motorcycle turned around once they realized their mistake. But authorities allege Monahan came out on his porch and fired two shots from a shotgun, striking Gillis with the second shot.

Gillis death drew attention far beyond the rural town in upstate New York. The killing happened just days after the shooting of 16-year-old Ralph Yarl in Kansas City. Yarl, who is Black, was wounded by an 84-year-old white man after he went to the wrong door while trying to pick up his brother.

Monahans defense attorney, Arthur Frost, has said Monahan was scared by the group of strangers arriving late at night at the remote home he shared with his wife. Frost told the jury last week the shooting was a terrible accident involving a defective gun that went off when he stumbled and banged it into something.

Monahan also is charged with reckless endangerment and tampering with physical evidence.

Walsh, 20, and a handful of his friends testified that they were headed to a party at another house in the area and mistakenly turned into Monahans long, snaking driveway. The house had no lights on when they pulled up.

We were trying to figure out where we are, said Jacob Haynes, who was in the back seat. We knew we were not at the right house.

The house lights turned on about the time the two vehicles made a three-point turn to leave. Walsh said he heard a loud noise as he was backing up and one of his two friends in the back seat of the SUV said someone was shooting a gun. Thats when the panic started.

Alexandra Whiting, who also was in the back seat, said she saw through the rear window a man holding a gun on the porch.

Walsh said he heard a sound like metal breaking in the car upon the second shot. He said he ducked as he drove away. He asked if his friends were OK. Whiting and Haynes were, but Gillis was slumped toward the door and unresponsive.

The friends saw by phone flashlight that Gillis was wounded. During his testimony, Walsh choked up as recalled pulling up next to the Jeep driven by his friend Katherine Rondeau to tell her about Gillis.

He said Kaylins been shot. We need to get to a hospital, said Maxwell Barney, who was also in the Jeep.

Gillis friends called for help once they found a cellphone signal several miles away. Meanwhile, Haynes kept his hand on Gillis neck wound to stop the bleeding. A dispatcher guided the friends through CPR while they waited for help to arrive. But emergency workers were unable to save her.

Frost, who argues Monahan felt threatened, focused on how the two vehicles were briefly stopped next to each other on the driveway during cross examinations. He also established that most of the friends did not notice the private property sign by the driveway.

Some of the friends had consumed alcohol or marijuana earlier that evening, according to testimony.

Rondeau told the jury that she was leading the group of friends to what she thought was the house of a friend hosting the party.

I thought I knew where I was going, Rondeau said, beginning to cry.
A plane skidded off the runway at an Upstate New York airport on Thursday.

WROC reports an American Airlines-owned airplane slid off the taxiway due to snowy and icy conditions at Frederick Douglass Greater Rochester Airport. The aircraft was taxiing towards the terminal after landing safely from Philadelphia Thursday afternoon.

No injuries were reported on board the flight, which had 50 passengers and 3 crew members.

I could feel a little bit of a slide, and Im thinking Maybe thats just the brakes. Well no  that was the wheels sliding off the runway into the grass, passenger Mike Trickey told WHAM. It was very rocky and jolty for probably maybe a second or two before we came to a full stop.

Trickey told the Rochester TV station that passengers were stuck on the plane for roughly an hour as stairs were assembled to help platform passengers.

After landing safely in Rochester (ROC), American Eagle flight 5811, operated by Piedmont Airlines with service from Philadelphia (PHL) to ROC, exited the taxiway while in transit to the terminal due to snowy airfield conditions, American Airlines said in a statement. Safety is our top priority, and we apologize to our customers for their experience. Everyone on board deplaned safely and was transported to the terminal by bus.

The plane was towed from the taxiway and will undergo a full safety inspection, officials said. The plane will be taken out of service for the time being, according to American Airlines.
An Upstate New York postal worker has admitted to stealing cash, gift cards and more from the mail.

The U.S. Attorneys Office of Western New York announced Thursday that Marlene Cruz, 40, of Rochester, pleaded guilty to theft of mail by an officer or employee of the U.S. Postal Service. She faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

An investigation began in January 2022 after the USPS received complaints that mail had been tampered with in late 2021. Cruz, a full-time mail carrier, worked the route involving the complaints.

Further investigation found Cruz routinely opened envelopes and parcels, removing items such as ticket stubs, documents, cash, lottery tickets, and gift cards, on dozens of occasions, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Kyle P. Rossi.

Cruz was arrested Nov. 2, 2023, after mail integrity tests put greeting cards containing cash and gift cards in the mail she was set to deliver. At the end of her shift, a search warrant led to a gift card from one of the mail integrity test greeting cards inside Cruzs personal duffel bag.

Cruz is scheduled to be sentenced in May.

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Hunter Biden has an appointment at the Capitol on February 28. Joe Bidens son has finally agreed to testify behind closed doors following a new request from a House of Representatives committee that has opened an investigation to try to find evidence to impeach the president. With the agreement to testify, Hunter Biden has avoided being charged with contempt.

The presidents son had until now volunteered to testify publicly. He argued that he feared Republicans would manipulate and distort his statement if the public could not witness it. He took advantage of the fact that the Republican chairman of the House Oversight Committee, James Comer, had said publicly that Hunter Biden could choose whether he preferred a closed-door deposition or a public appearance.

When push came to shove, Republicans did not want the disposition to be public and Hunter Biden refused to testify behind closed doors. He had another trump card in his pocket: the subpoena had been issued as part of an investigation that had not been approved by the full House of Representatives, and there were doubts about whether it was legally binding.

Still, the committee decided to charge Hunter Biden with contempt. The presidents son made a surprise appearance at the committees contempt hearing on January 10. The Democrats offered to have him testify, but the Republicans again refused. Now it was the House that had to rule on whether Hunter Biden had been in contempt and, if applicable, send a complaint to the Department of Justice. But before tempers boiled over, Hunter Biden said he was willing to accept a new subpoena now that the impeachment inquiry has the support of the House.

The presidents son is a key witness in this investigation and hes going to be able to come in now and sit down and answer questions in a substantive, orderly manner, Comer told reporters, according to AP. He added that Hunter Biden will be able to testify publicly sometime after his deposition.

Republicans are trying, so far without success, to find evidence that Joe Biden profited from his sons foreign business dealings while he was vice-president. Curiously, while they fiercely investigate whether any money from foreign governments reached Joe Bidens hands, they argue that Donald Trumps businesses had the right to receive millions of dollars from overseas administrations and public companies when he was president.

Last November, the day he was summoned for the first time, Hunter Biden gave a speech at the doors of the Capitol: For six years, MAGA Republicans including members of the House committees who are in a closed-door session right now, have impugned my character, invaded my privacy, attacked my wife, my children, my family and my friends. They ridiculed my struggle with addiction, they belittled my recovery and they have tried to dehumanize me all to embarrass and damage my father, who has devoted his entire public life to service, he said. For six years, I have been the target of the unrelenting Trump attack machine, shouting Wheres Hunter? Well, heres my answer  I am here, he said.

Let me state as clearly as I can. My father was not financially involved in my business, not as a practicing lawyer, not as a board member of Burisma [a Ukrainian energy company], not in my partnership with a Chinese private businessman, not in my investments at home nor abroad, and certainly not as an artist, he continued, adding that his family had helped him through his addiction.

In addition to the congressional subpoena, Hunter Biden is accused of 12 crimes in two indictments: three in Wilmington (Delaware) for buying and possessing a gun while he was a drug addict; and nine in Los Angeles (California) for alleged tax fraud. For years, Hunter Bidens problems with addiction have made him a target of the Republicans.

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guptad42 BHPian



Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Mumbai Posts: 210 Thanked: 426 Times

Re: Tata Punch Electric unveiled, bookings open Quote: sharathkamath04 Originally Posted by Curious, what technology are we talking about?



LFP is a stable battery tech that is less costly and more India-friendly (summers can get very hot) compared to NMC. NMC will escalate the cost further and make EVs less commercially viable.



XUV400 is a bigger car (vs Nexon) and comes with NMC. What has stopped MnM from packing a bigger battery into it? I assume the cost.



IMHO Tata is doing decently when it comes to EV. The price vs range compromise has been spot on with all 3 EVs. With Tata's new battery plant coming up in the UK and India, we will see new tech in the future.



The PunchMR gets lesser power to ensure a decent range with the lower pack and keeps costs less by having disc breaks only on front wheels..etc

LFP cells were around 90-100 Wh/kg 5 years ago

...then it improved to ~120 Wh/kg

... then further to 150-165 Wh/kg around 2021. This is probably the most commonly used generation of LFP in EVs outside India.

Latest CATL LFP are around 190 Wh/kg. The production of these is for CATL's JVs with big car makers, though CATL seems to sell some excess quantity to outside buyers as well.

The latest from CATL is a variation of LFP that is around 210Wh/kg. CATL is calling it the M3P battery. It dopes some of the Iron (Fe) sites in LFP with other metals like magnesium, zinc, aluminium etc. It was designed to be manufactured on the 190Wh/kg production lines with minor changes to the line. Just going into production. Chery/Huawei's new Luxeed S7 launched in China with this battery. Big 5m long car. 550km range, 800V fast charging, LIDAR and ADAS. for $35,000. Top variant claims some 850km range. And, I am not even talking of cheaper Sodium Ion that are going into production in 2024.



So, yes. At the premium Tata Motors is asking for their EVs, I expect them to do better on the battery (and charging speeds and quality control).



Two interesting side bits:



1. Some of the early improvements in LFP tech were actually made by American firms like A123. They faced major production quality problems, and carmakers (like GM) ditched them to switch to existing battery makers like LG Chem. The Chinese firms saw the potential and purchased these startups at fire sale prices, invested in more R&D to fix the production problems, and then kept on improving the batteries further.



2. Chinese battery makers had a strong financial incentive because their govt's battery and EV subsidies were linked to energy density and range. and these density and range targets kept going up every time the govt updated the policy. I am not fond of the Chinese, but I don't mind picking up a good idea when I see one Yes, I was also referring to LFP tech. LFP battery R&D has kept on improving energy density, especially at top volume manufacturers like CATL and BYD. If we just restrict ourselves to main production variants of LFP:And, I am not even talking of cheaper Sodium Ion that are going into production in 2024.So, yes. At the premium Tata Motors is asking for their EVs, I expect them to do better on the battery (and charging speeds and quality control).Two interesting side bits:Some of the early improvements in LFP tech were actually made by American firms like A123. They faced major production quality problems, and carmakers (like GM) ditched them to switch to existing battery makers like LG Chem. The Chinese firms saw the potential and purchased these startups at fire sale prices, invested in more R&D to fix the production problems, and then kept on improving the batteries further.Chinese battery makers had a strong financial incentive because their govt's battery and EV subsidies were linked to energy density and range. and these density and range targets kept going up every time the govt updated the policy. I am not fond of the Chinese, but I don't mind picking up a good idea when I see one
true_sedan BHPian

Join Date: Sep 2022 Location: Coimbatore Posts: 234 Thanked: 1,000 Times

Re: Rants on Bangalore's traffic situation Quote: sachinpk Originally Posted by There is no point in targetting the Bangalore City Police, or show the general frusturation against the police. They are here to perform the role, which they are empowered by rule to do so.



For example, as a human being who wants a 5 floor building i can get approval by paying for 2 floors. But the onus should be on authorities for investigating the claim. They cannot simply give approval and claim denial later. More than our MLAs, if our corporation commissioners and mayor's do their jobs properly then there is no need for any investigations. Agree with your 100%. But violations should be found before approval is given. The concerned government authorities should do their due diligence to give approval to entities that follow the law. If they fail, then the onus is on then not the private entity.For example, as a human being who wants a 5 floor building i can get approval by paying for 2 floors. But the onus should be on authorities for investigating the claim. They cannot simply give approval and claim denial later. More than our MLAs, if our corporation commissioners and mayor's do their jobs properly then there is no need for any investigations.
What just happened? Japanese auto major Honda has offered an outlook for its US business in 2024, confirming plans to launch multiple zero-emission vehicles over the next twelve months. The company took its sweet time launching its first EV in the North American market, but Honda is seemingly making up for it with the impending launch of several new models as it tries to compete with Toyota, GM, Ford, and others in the increasingly lucrative EV space.

In a statement this week, American Honda said that it will launch three new zero-emission vehicles this year, including two regular-battery electric SUVs and a fuel-cell one. The two battery-powered SUVs will be the Honda Prologue and Acura ZDX, while the third will be the fuel-cell version of the company's popular compact crossover, CR-V.

In addition to these three, Honda also plans to launch a hybrid version of the Civic this summer. The car will be offered in both sedan and hatchback body styles, and the company expects them to account for around 40 percent of all Civic sales going forward.

The Prologue will go on sale "in the coming months," starting with California and other ZEV states. It will also roll out simultaneously in other EV-friendly markets like Texas and Florida. As for the ZDX, it will go on sale in "early 2024," with the company choosing to bypass dealers and taking all orders online. This will be the first car from the Honda stable to adopt a 100 percent online sales model, following in the footsteps of newer EV companies like Tesla and Rivian.

The CR-V Fuel Cell Vehicle (FCEV) will also debut this year, but its exact launch date is still a mystery. According to Honda, it will be based on the standard CR-V and will mark "North America's first production vehicle to combine a plug-in feature with FCEV technology in one model."

The upcoming EVs and the FCEV are part of Honda's goals of converting its entire portfolio to 100 percent zero-emission by 2040. The company has also committed to going fully carbon-neutral by 2050. To achieve its targets, Honda says it is executing a "step-by-step smart electrification strategy" with an increase in hybrid volume and the simultaneous introduction of its first mass-market electric vehicles.
In context: In recent years, the European Union has enacted a series of legislations to hold Big Tech companies accountable for their business practices and force them to implement more consumer-friendly policies, such as requiring USB-C in iPhones. The Digital Markets Act (DMA) is one such regulation that aims to ensure fair and open digital markets by reducing the power of "gatekeepers" like Alphabet (Google), Apple, Meta (Facebook), Microsoft, Amazon, and ByteDance (TikTok).

With the DMA set to come into effect in March 2024, Google is making a series of changes to some of its most popular products, including Search and Android. One of the most notable consumer-facing changes will see the company adding "dedicated units" within its search results whenever EU residents are searching for something to buy, showing links to comparison sites from across the web. The new search pages will also include "query shortcuts" at the top to help people refine their search.

If you're searching for hotels, Google will reserve a dedicated space in its search results for comparison sites and offer more details for each individual result, including images, star ratings, and more. To comply with DMA guidelines and implement these changes, Google will also have to remove its own services, like Google Flights, from the search results.

Also read: New study confirms the obvious, search results are only getting worse

Google will also offer European residents more search engine options on Android, enabling them to select a default search engine other than Google. The company will provide similar options to Chrome users on desktops, iPhones, and iPads.

Google will present EU users with an additional consent banner in search results, asking them whether it can continue sharing data across its apps and services to help customize content and serve personalized ads. The company warns that if the user opts out of linked services, some features may be limited or unavailable. However, Google did not clarify which features will stop working and which services will be limited if a user opts out of data sharing.

Finally, Google is introducing a Data Portability API for developers to assist them in transferring their data to a third-party app or service. The company already provides users with the ability to download or transfer a copy of their data from most of its apps, so the new feature will expand the scope and scale of its data portability services.
The big picture: It has been nearly 70 years since IBM introduced what many consider to be the world's first digital hard drive. Since that time, annual revenue generated by traditional HDDs has mostly followed a predictable path albeit with a few deviations.

Digital storage analyst Tom Coughlin, along with industry associated Tom Gardner, recently put together a fascinating set of charts outlining HDD industry revenue dating back to the late 50s. It utilizes multiple data sources from over the years including more than 20 years of information from Montgomery Phister.

As you can see, hard drive industry revenue did not achieve breakneck growth until the 1980s. During that decade, annual revenue increased from around $4 billion to over $20 billion. The 90s also saw its fair share of growth, but revenue was far less predictable and way more volatile.

Both Gartner and TrendFocus observed a decline in industry revenue in the first half of the 2000s, but the market stabilized by mid-decade and grew consistently before hitting a peak in 2012 of around $37 billion. This, Coughlin noted, was likely related to widespread flooding in Thailand the year before that drove HDD prices through the roof in 2012.

According to Coughlin, the hard drive industry hit its peak in terms of shipment volume in 2010 with 651 million units moved. For comparison, only 172 million hard drives shipped in 2022 and unit shipments for 2023 are expected to be around 127 million, with total capacity of less than 900 exabytes.

Fun fact: From 1957 through 2022, roughly 10 billion hard drives have shipped totaling over $1 trillion in revenue

Since 2012, hard drive revenue has been trending downward thanks to the rise of solid-state drives but that could change this year as Coughlin believes increasing demand for storage for AI could drive HDD revenue growth. Coughlin expects the industry to ship 127 million spinning drives this year as well, which would match last year's projection should it pan out.

Image credit: Pixabay
A plan to ramp up the United States' chip development may soon be seeing a stalemate, as it was recently announced by the renowned foreign chip company, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), that it is expecting delays. These claims from the TSMC center on a similar delay experienced by the chip industry's shortage before, taking years before its stocks returned to normal.

This chip manufacturing delay centers on TSMC's second Arizona fabrication plant, affecting the development of the 3-nanometer process and other next-gen processors.

TSMC Claims Delays in Arizona Plant Production

In a new report by Bloomberg, the recent claims by TSMC's Chairman Mark Liu announce their forecasted delays to experience on its chip manufacturing ventures moving forward. In Liu's words, the second Arizona plant that it established would not likely start its volume production of the advanced chips until 2027 or 2028, around three to four years from now.

This delay also extends around two years from its earlier claims that 2026 would be its starting date.

Additionally, the report claimed that TSMC is facing hardships in hiring skilled workers in the said second plant.

Bloomberg further regarded that these delays may lead to TSMC lagging behind its competitors by one generation, with the US being highly affected by its foreign competition.

Read Also: TSMC Chip Plant Battle: US Labor Union Criticizes Taiwanese Workers for Prioritizing Profit Over Safety

3nm Chips, Other Advancements to Come Late

Ars Technica added that as per Liu, TSMC's production of the renowned 3-nanometer process would only see its production on the second Arizona plant come 2026. Moreover, the TSMC Arizona plant would not be able to determine "the specific chip type" that its second fabrication would produce until 2028.

Currently, there are no semiconductor companies or manufacturing plants have been approved for their funding under the famed CHIPS Act.

The Renowned TSMC Chip Development

Back when TSMC was planning to open a new manufacturing plant in the United States, particularly the second plant in Arizona, the Taiwanese company received massive support from the government for its ventures here. Among the goals of producing advanced chips in the country, TSMC was also tasked to help improve the US's position in the global chip market against foreign competitors.

For Arizona's hosting of this massive chip development from the different companies looking to establish its footing, including TSMC, there was a massive $52 billion budget for semiconductor manufacturing and research. It came from President Joe Biden's new strategy that aims to maintain the US' position in the economic and technological advancements to get ahead of China.

TSMC's next-in-line development is the further exploration and improvements towards offering the 3nm process, with its largest partner, Apple, looking to apply it to its renowned M-series and further upcoming devices. However, the present is not too kind to TSMC as it faces challenges in its quest to develop the new chips, including their planned next-generation ones, with its Arizona plant taking a hit.

Related Article: TSMC Chairman Mark Liu to Retire in 2024: Who Might Succeed Him?

 2024 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Last year, we saw Meta's massive entry into the field of artificial intelligence, but the company is not stopping there as it is looking to develop the famed AGI, also known as artificial general intelligence. This gets more interesting as the company's dedication to it stems from its CEO Mark Zuckerberg's focus on developing this technology, as he reiterated in his posts.

With AGI, Meta will see massive changes that would help it in various aspects of its business, including its research and the metaverse.

Meta's AGI: Mark Zuckerberg's New Focus

A new series of posts from Mark Zuckerberg via Threads unveils Meta's new developments towards the world of AI, with two of its AI research coming together to form its goals to bring artificial general intelligence. Zuckerberg regarded that the next generation of services will require 'full general intelligence' which encompasses AI assistants, AI for creators, AI for businesses, and more.

According to Zuckerberg's replies, "Our long term vision is to build general intelligence, open source it responsibly, and make it widely available so everyone can benefit."

To be more specific, Meta's two major research groups, FAIR and GenAI, will see growth in the coming future, all responsible for its AGI venture.

Read Also: Meta Allegedly Trained its AI with Copyrighted Books, Despite Warnings

Artificial General Intelligence from Meta

Meta is already preparing to build this "massive infrastructure," saying that it will have a total of 350,000 Nvidia H100 GPUs by the end of the year, having a total of 600,000 H100 GPUs for its AI.

With this, Meta looks to improve more of its research, but also include its long-awaited venture, the metaverse, which its AGI will help deliver in the future.

Meta's Take on AI and the Metaverse

There is no doubt that Meta is among those who have danced with AI development among the Big Tech for a long time now, with the renowned company best known for revealing its large-language model in mid-2022. With this, Meta claims that its developments would be responsible and safe for all, especially as it made the LLM open-source for all to access.

Last year, the seeds from Meta's developments towards generative AI bore their fruits, as its early takes on programs and experiences made their way to its different platforms, including its social media apps. Facebook Messenger and Instagram both got AI image editing and generative AI stickers that users may create right on the app, but they quickly became the center of controversy for their "unsafe" creations.

Zuckerberg's massive focus on AI now only shows that the company is all in for its development, with the renowned CEO staying on top of things over at Meta. The next step for Meta and Zuck's foray towards the world of AI is the development of artificial general intelligence, joining other billionaires in their respective ventures, with Meta promising responsibility and massive applications, including its Metaverse.

Related Article: Meta's Celebrity AI Chatbots Are Now Available Across Its US Apps

 2024 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Instagram has taken a proactive step toward promoting the digital well-being of young users. This feature is designed to gently remind teenagers about the importance of restful sleep by suggesting they close the app when their usage extends beyond ten minutes.

(Photo : Claudio Schwarz on Unsplash)

Court documents reveal a school security supervisor, pleaded guilty to making explosives via Instagram, involving a high school student.

Launching Nighttime Nudges

Instagram is set to launch new nighttime prompts for teenage users, aiming to limit their late-night usage of the platform. "Nighttime Nudges" will activate when teenagers spend more than ten minutes on specific Instagram sections like Reels or Direct Messages during late hours.

Engadget reported that the prompts will gently suggest that it's time to take a break and encourage the young users to close the app and get some rest. Instagram's initiative aims to promote healthy digital habits and enhance the well-being of adolescent users.

The nighttime nudges will automatically appear after 10 p.m. and cannot be disabled by the teens. While the feature provides guidance, users can choose to dismiss the nudges and continue using the app.

The move reflects a growing awareness of the impact of social media on users' mental health and aims to encourage healthier screen time habits, especially for adolescents who may be more vulnerable to the potential negative effects of prolonged digital engagement.

The recently introduced tool joins a suite of features that Instagram has deployed to assist teens and their parents in regulating the time spent on the platform. Alongside existing functionalities like Take a Break and parental supervision tools, there is also Quiet Mode.

This feature empowers teens to silence notifications, set up automatic message responses, and inform their friends and followers that they are currently unavailable, or engaged in activities such as studying or sleeping.

Adding Safety Features for Teens

Meta, the parent company of Instagram, is implementing additional safety features for teen accounts on its platform.

Following TikTok's introduction of a similar feature in March, Instagram now plans to automatically limit the content teens can see, particularly aiming to shield them from harmful material related to self-harm, graphic violence, and eating disorders.

As per Social Media Today, this initiative comes as Meta faces increasing regulatory pressure and legal challenges related to the impact of its apps on young users' mental health.

The company is set to testify before the Senate on January 31, alongside representatives from other major platforms, including X, TikTok, Snap, and Discord. The Senate inquiry will address the platforms' ability to protect children online, an issue that has gained significant attention and scrutiny in recent years.

Moreover, Meta is contending with legal challenges, with over 40 states suing the company, alleging that its apps contribute to mental health problems among young users.

Also Read: Meta Launches New Tools on Instagram to Regulate Spam Content, Bots

TechCrunch reported that the latest announcement follows a recent report on internal Meta documents concerning child safety, uncovering that Meta deliberately targeted its apps toward children.

Additionally, the documents revealed that the company was cognizant of a substantial volume of inappropriate and sexually explicit content exchanged between adults and minors on its platforms.

Related Article: Meta Enhances Teen Safety on Facebook, Instagram: Expands Restrictions on Self-Harm, Eating Disorders

 2024 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
China has unveiled its groundbreaking achievement in the aviation sector with the revelation of the world's largest civil wind tunnel complex, aiming to surpass industry giants Boeing and Airbus.

(Photo : STR/AFP via Getty Images)

China Eastern Airlines staff members check a Commercial Aircraft Corp of China (COMAC) C919 aircraft, China's first domestically produced large passenger jet, after it lands at Wuhan Tianhe International Airport during a verification flight, in China's central Hubei province on January 16, 2023.

Locally Constructing World's Largest Wind Tunnel

Emerging from 16 years of clandestine development, China's 18 state-of-the-art wind tunnels have been disclosed in a paper published in the Chinese journal Acta Aerodynamica Sinica.

Interesting Engineering reported that this monumental infrastructure surpasses the combined capacity of similar facilities in the United States and Europe. Since 2007, China has made substantial investments in the construction of these wind tunnels, distributed across the country.

Serving as crucial testing grounds for scientists and engineers, these facilities played a pivotal role in the development of China's latest passenger aircraft, the C919. This marks China's entry into the realm of large civil jet aircraft without allegations of imitating Western designs.

China's accomplishment in the aviation sector stands out as its 18 state-of-the-art wind tunnels surpass their Western counterparts. Notably, China's largest wind tunnels exceed eight meters in size, in stark contrast to those in the U.S. and EU, which are below five meters.

These advanced facilities play a pivotal role in addressing diverse challenges in aircraft development, covering aspects such as aerodynamics, extreme operating conditions, icing, vibration, noise, and flight control systems.

Competing with Boeing 737, Airbus A320

The impact of China's achievement is evident in the performance of the C919, surpassing competitors like the Boeing 737 and Airbus A320.

With a more spacious interior, superior aerodynamics reducing drag, and minimized cabin noise during cruise, the C919 has demonstrated excellence in terms of both performance and efficiency.

South China Morning Post indicates an impressive 10% reduction in overall operating costs, including fuel consumption, compared to its Western counterparts. While the C919 is still in its early stages of commercial operations, it marks a technological triumph.

Developed entirely from scratch using China's cutting-edge wind tunnels, the aircraft stands as a fundamental and original technological breakthrough for the non-Western world, as per senior engineer Wu Junqiang's paper.

Beyond aviation, the colossal wind tunnel complex underscores China's broader ambitions, extending beyond aircraft production to reshape relations with the West. The construction of such an extensive infrastructure reflects a strategic move aimed at achieving breakthroughs amid great power competition.

This ambitious endeavor represents a departure from China's earlier approach, notably seen in the 1980s with the cancellation of the Y-10 passenger plane project.

Also Read: Boeing Starliner's Flight Pushed Back Again - Could Be Ready to Fly First NASA Crew by March

Critics argued for purchasing mature products from the West rather than reinventing the wheel. However, China's current accomplishment signifies a commitment to independent innovation.

Overcoming technological bottlenecks over the past two decades, wind tunnel builders in China have established a comprehensive aircraft research and development technology system with fully independent intellectual property rights.

Looking forward, China's ambitions extend to providing better support for aerodynamic stealth requirements, flying wing layout, and wing-body fusion layout.

Related Article: First China-Made C919 Passenger Jet Finally Delivered-A New Milestone for Chinese Aviation!

 2024 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Press Release

January 19, 2024 Transcript of Interview: Senator Risa Hontiveros with Karen Davila on ANC's Headstart Q: There's so many things to talk about when it comes to charter change, right? So let's start first with what Rep. Joey Salceda said. He said a people's initiative is inevitable. They will get the signatures. Do you agree? Senator Risa Hontiveros (SRH): In the first place, people's initiative, ba talaga yan? It's misleading to call any initiative a people's initiative kung hindi naman talaga ang taong bayan, yung mga kababayan natin, ang may pakana. But until this day, the complete cast of characters behind those forms that are being distributed, even behind the advertisement that came out. When those forms went out in the different localities, ayaw pa rin magpakilala. They're hiding behind a law firm. Is that what you call a people's initiative? Add to that reports na binabayaran, 'di umano ng P100, ang bawat pirma na kinukuha sa ating mga kababayan. So how cynical is that? A way to propel a so-called people's initiative. Kung yung vote-buying na pinoproblema natin tuwing eleksyon ay ginagawa, 'di umano, pati sa ganitong political exercise in between elections. And for such an important topic as amending the very basic law of the land. I think kung pagbabatayan natin yung reaksyon ng mga kababayan natin, just for example on social media, when this people's initiative came out, I don't think anyone should be overconfident na sure win na 'yang people's initiative nila. I remember the very widespread and strong reaction against such a move. Q: Okay. You know, Representative Lagman alleged, right, that a hundred pesos was being given for signatures. I believe that was in the Bicol region. And he claimed that some mayors returned the money. And I spoke with Representative Garbin, and he said there was, there was no such funding that was being spread. Do you have information on this? I mean, do you believe it? SRH: I think it's very possible, Karen, because when that ad came out, when the news came out about the forms being distributed at nagkakalap nga ng mga pirma, and this was in different areas, no, from Mindanao to the Visayas to Luzon. Yung iba dyan talagang may kasamang kwento na, binabayaran yung mga pirmang iyon. And there were later reports that a substantial amount of money has actually been spent already and is still being spent, I think even as we speak, to collect those signatures. So there's really a political push behind this, and they're putting their money where their mouth is. Q: Okay. Now, it seems that so many administrations have tried, right, to change the Charter. But this particular administration, I'm sensing that there seems to be, there seems to be fuel to it. Okay. There seems to be a push. Just recently, you now have the Senate President asking a committee in the Senate to review the economic provisions in the 1987 Constitution, with Senator Angara being assigned to head the committee. That's never happened, right? I mean in the past administrations it's never gotten this far that it's received the support of the Senate President, I believe. First are you open to any changes in the charter, senator? SRH: Not right now, Karen. Hindi naman iyan ang kailangan ng tao. And when I say tao, yung mga kababayan natin have said so explicitly. Kahit sa mga recent surveys, kapag ang tanong ay anong kailangan, hindi lang ng bayan natin, pero ano ang kailangan ng pamilya niyo, never ang sagot ay ChaCha. Malinaw ang totoong mga sagot. If we say there's so much to talk about in charter change there's so much else to talk about. Mismong mga Pilipino na ang nagsasabi. Ano ang top issues nila? Presyo ng mga pagkain at ibang bilihin, ibaba. Yung sweldo at sahod ng working people, itaas. Yung korapsyon, sugpuin. Tugunan yung pangbu-bully ng Tsina sa West Philippine Sea. Magkaroon talaga ng gobyerno na responsive at responsable. Where there is charter change? That's not what people say that we need, that's not what we are asking for. Kaya kahit yung subject ng people's initiative yung orig na pakana nila na to compel Congress to vote jointly on charter change effectively diluting and threatening abolition of the Senate whose members we were elected nationally at pahihinain talaga yung checks and balances in our political system. And you know with all due respect even now, in the Resolution of Both Houses filed in the Senate, with all due respect to my colleagues, in the first place hindi kailangan na lalong paluwagin, i-liberalize yung economic provisions ng Constitution, we have in fact, Congress has in fact been doing that already through legislation. Witness yung Retail Trade Liberalization Act, yung Public Service Act, yung Foreign Investments Act that's already being done. And to try to do that now through the basic law of the land, the Constitution, kung kailan hindi naman yan ang kinakailangan ng ating bayan, and opening the floodgates to further amendments to the basic law, and yun na nga, to the laws in those specific industries, advertising, education, public utilities, slippery slope talaga yan. Q: Okay. So, I mean, I'll ask you about that. There was a study made that the Philippine Constitution was one of the most restrictive in Asia. That's a study. So, the Public Service Act, there were amendments to that law, but there are petitions before the Supreme Court right now asking if it's legal to actually make a law to amend something so clear in the Constitution. So, with the Public Service Amendments Act, industries like, I believe, railway, telecoms, from utilities, under the law, it's been redefined as services, 'di ba, which makes it legal for it to be 100% owned. That's being questioned in the Supreme Court right now. So, you have advocates saying, how could a foreign investor want to come in if there are petitions pending before the Supreme Court? So, someone said, it is not enough. Laws are not enough to amend something so clear in the Constitution when it comes to foreign ownership and participation on businesses. Your thoughts? SRH: Well, we're waiting to hear the Supreme Court's opinion on that dahil dinala nga sa kanila yung batas na ito. But as for what is needed, actually, to bring in more foreign direct investments, eh yung mga Foreign Chambers of Commerce dito sa Pilipinas have spoken to that question already repeatedly, their own surveys and studies as well. At hindi lumalabas sa kanila na major problem restrictions on 100% foreign ownership. Ano yung top of mind sa studies at surveys nila? It's the policies, the predictability of policies in the Philippines, equal application of the law, elimination of graft and corruption, and of red tape. The price of doing business here and ease of doing business, the price of energy, etc. So, there's so much more that not just the legislature, but the executive can also do to make our business and economic environment more conducive. Hindi lang sa mga domestic investors, to whom tingin ko, bilang Pilipino dapat naman may premium, but also to foreign direct investors. Palakasin din natin yung kumpyansa ng mga foreign investors sa business environment dito. At isa na doon is to reduce the instability, which, ironically, for the ChaCha advocates, ChaCha itself instigates. Q: Now, what are your thoughts? Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri is getting criticism for changing his tone to the point he said he's going to resign if political provisions are suddenly inserted in Charter Change. Were you surprised? Were you surprised that he changed his tone? Apparently, the President intervened during a heated discussion between him and Speaker Martin Romualdez. And the President said, let the Senate take charge when it comes to economic provisions. Did you see this coming? What are your thoughts on Senate President Zubiri, in a way, dancing to a different tune now, as some have said? SRH: Well, in fairness to the Senate president, I don't recall naman na dati sinabi niya kontra siya sa amendments sa economic provisions. Well certainly, this one I'm sure of, in the recent debates on those recent laws na pinag usapan natin, amending by legislation certain constitutional provisions on the economy, hindi naman siya humadlang, in fact he supported those, a few of which I voted no to, pero siya chinampion naman niya. And, of course, statements like, I will resign if something else, something opposite comes in, lagi namang prerogative yan ng sinumang lider ng sinumang institusyon. Para sa akin pinaghahandaan ko talaga debates on this in the Senate because I have very strong views against it. Minority leader and I are together in the minority. And I would also, with all due respect, caution my colleagues. Sa pakiramdam ko meron din naman kaming mga kasama sa majority na meron ding mga reservations and I think these should all be heard. Sayang lang sa pag-resume namin ng session sa Lunes, sa halip na full steam ahead sa mga kinakailangang legislative work, especially on the economic issues that are the most important and urgent now, ngayon, magsasayang pa ng enerhiya sa cha-cha na yan. Q: Okay. All right. But then, if it does push through, right, let's put it to a situation that it will push through. Would you prefer a people's initiative or voting by constituent assembly but separate voting? Let me ask you that. If it's the economic provisions, should it still be a people's initiative that moves into a plebiscite or just vote constituent assembly, separate voting? SRH: Neither. Actually, sa Konstitusyon din, may pangatlong mode of amending itself, which is the CONCON. Anytime, I think, among the three, kapag totoong kailangan, which is not the case now, for Chacha, CONCON is the best mode. Pero ngayon, January 2024, I would still say NO to Chacha, even by any mode, even by my preferred CONCON mode, dahil hindi yun ang kailangan sa ngayon. Q: So that means, Senator, that if it does push through, you will not participate in the amendment, in the amendments itself? SRH: Well, kapag dineliberate namin sa plenary, I presume it will still go through a period of interpellation and a period of amendments. So magiging active talaga ako doon to raise the questions in interpellation. Why not Chacha on any subject by any mode at this time? Dahil hindi yan ang kailangan ng tao and also in the period of amendments. But I think the jury, they're still out. Kung talagang may sapat na bilang sila to approve it, even in our house, I still believe, we have a fighting chance to stop this unnecessary and dangerous Chacha at this point in time. Q: Okay. Is it true that nalusutan daw ang Senado na pasukan ng pondo exactly for a plebiscite and the people's initiative? That's what, Senator Imee Marcos said, I think, a few days ago, na may pondong napasok sa budget. SRH: I appreciate the important issues that na nireraise ng colleague ko na iyon surrounding this Chacha. But about that particular issue, interesante yung sinabi ng Comelec Chair Garcia na ang pondong iyon daw ay para sa mga susunod na eleksyon at hindi para sa anumang plebesito. So that's how I, yes, understand the Chair, not necessarily for a plebiscite. And if I and my minority leader and any colleagues in the majority would have our way, hindi talaga aabot sa plebisito. Let's use those, the funds provided for in the GAA 2025, doon sa talagang kinakailangan, hindi lang yung mga eleksyon na susunod pero yung economic, top of the list talaga, economic needs ng ating mga kababayan. Q: Let's now move to, to the situation right now with China and the Philippines. I want to ask you first, the Philippines adheres to a one-China policy diplomatically. President Marcos Jr. congratulates the newly installed leader of Taiwan. Your thoughts on that? Diplomatically, should he have done that? Did that break the one China policy? SRH: Well, first of all, the one China policy was articulated and has been implemented by the Executive of our government. Hindi siya provided for by law. Kaya, I'm happy na ino-optimize, minamaximize namin sa Kongreso, partikular sa Senado, lalo na kami yung treaty-making body of speaking at important moments to foreign policy issues, including this one, kaya't nga't one of our most recent unanimous resolutions was calling on government to speak precisely about the West Philippine Sea issues, of course, involving China, also, sa lahat ng international fora and through all means. It was a pleasant surprise, honestly, for me, to hear the president congratulating the newly elected Taiwanese president. Ako nga yung statement ay congratulating the Taiwanese people. So, siguro, from the policy perspective, para sa akin, an important clarification might be sa loob ng executive mismo. Kasi yung presidente naman diba architect of foreign policy, may ganong pagbati sa iba pang lider sa rehiyon sa mundo, and then, the Department of Foreign Affairs also speaking about it. So, importante para sa kanila to get their act together on this point and sing the same tune. But, I took the opportunity to repeat my call earlier to the executive, na i-review narin kaya nila ang foreign policy vis-a-vis the People's Republic of China. Review yang One China policy, especially in the light of yung ating sariling dynamics with China in the West Philippine Sea. And the fact that Taiwan, among other countries and peoples in our region, ay impacted nitong aggressive actions ng Tsina sa karagatan natin. Q: But you have many countries, I believe it was mentioned that Singapore, for example, they adhere to the One China policy, but the Singaporean leader also congratulated Taiwan, but they didn't receive this kind of backlash from China, right? I mean, you have the Chinese spokesperson, an expert said, insulting the president at one point, saying he has to read more. I mean, it's gotten to this point. What are your thoughts on this? SRH: Alam mo, kahit oposisyon ako, bilang Pilipino, naiinsulto ako sa ganyan. Kapag sinabi ng isang foreign ministry spokesperson sa presidente ng bansa natin ang ganyan. And tulad nung when they were warning us about how to speak, how to act, and how not to, ang reaksyon ko talaga bilang Pilipino at policymaker, excuse me, wala kayong K na manduhan kami how we are, how to speak and act about our own national interest in these waters. It's important for us to keep trying to put the giant in our neighborhood in her place. And sana lumakas ang loob natin lalo dahil well, China probably thinks we are the weak link in the region. She doesn't speak to us or to our leaders the same way she would speak, say, to the Singaporean. Q: Even other ASEAN countries. SRH: Right. She doesn't speak that way to them, kahit may tensions ding matindi sa karagatan nila. So I'm just glad that in the past year and a half, foreign policy from the executive has clearly changed. Dahil the previous six years, ay talagang nagmukha tayong weakest link. So now, the Senate is fully committed, even through that recent unanimous resolution of ours, yung pinagsamang resolusyon ko at ni Senate president. The president of our country has spoken better and stronger about our national interests in the West Philippine Sea. We've been receiving more and more support from other countries and regional formations in the world. And I hope the private sector in the Philippines can also speak up even more about this. This is one issue, kahit sa surveys lumalabas in the West Philippine Sea, talagang nag uunite sa ating mga Pilipino. And I hope we can push even stronger for this as part of the community of nations. Q: When you say you think it's time to review the one China policy, just exactly what do you mean by that? Expound on it. If the Philippines does not adhere to the one China policy, what kind of diplomatic relations would we now have? SRH: That's the very first important step that could be taken, kung mareview at mabago yung One China Policy. For example, is the executive even thinking about renewing formal diplomatic ties with the Taiwanese people and government? Yung kasalukuyang office natin diyan, will it be upgraded to a consulate or even an embassy? So mas magkakaroon na ba ng formal representation tayo when it comes to the, not dead but still alive and thriving economic relations with that people and that government. So magkakaroon ba ng mas conducive environment para sa people to people exchanges? That hasn't stopped anyway. Ang dami parin nating mga kababayang OFWs doon sa Taiwan na maya't maya eh nababahala kung may mga unfriendly noises from China kaugnay ng Pilipinas at ng Taiwan. And of course, the Taiwan situation is always a cause for concern, gusto natin na mag-cool down yung tensions diyan at hindi mag-heat up towards anything approaching the conflicts in other parts of the world.
The looming threat of quantum computing poses an unprecedented challenge to governments and businesses globally, potentially leading to a cybersecurity Armageddon by the end of this decade, according to Ana Paula Assis, IBM's General Manager for Europe, Middle East, and Africa, reported by Bloomberg.



Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Assis highlighted the disruptive potential of quantum computers, a revolutionary technology capable of performing parallel calculations, rendering existing encryption systems obsolete.

Vulnerability of Encryption Mechanisms

As quantum computing advances, it raises concerns about the vulnerability of current encryption mechanisms, prompting governments to consider the potential risks.

In the U.S., the Senate took a significant step in addressing the quantum threat by passing a bill in 2022 with unanimous support, signaling a recognition of the urgency to safeguard cryptography against quantum advancements.

However, Assis emphasized the lack of preparedness among businesses to cope with the impending disruption caused by quantum machines. Jack Hidary, CEO of SandboxAQ, echoed these concerns, stating that many companies lack a robust roadmap for integrating artificial intelligence (AI) and quantum technologies to address core issues.

Hidary warned of a potential "trainwreck," estimating an eight to ten-year transition for banks to adopt post-quantum protocols, coinciding with the anticipated availability of scalable quantum computers by 2029 or 2030. Industries relying on encryption, such as e-commerce and online banking, face significant risks as quantum computing progresses.

In a broader context, the panel discussion touched upon China's formidable efforts in quantum computing, emphasizing a robust and confident pursuit of advancements in this critical field.

Joel Mesot, President of ETH Zurich, suggested that states might find it more feasible to regulate quantum computers compared to AI, given the former's dependency on infrastructure. He expressed optimism about the potential for effective regulation in the realm of quantum computing.

Additional insights from the panel revealed that the development of quantum computing is outpacing initial projections, indicating the rapid evolution of this technology. Notably, two-thirds of developers using quantum computers rely on IBM's open-source toolkit Qiskit to write their code, showcasing IBM's influence in the quantum computing landscape.

Read Also: US Department of Energy Announces $11.7 Million Investment for Research on Quantum Computing

Concerns About the Weaponization of Quantum Computing

In a related development from October 2023, the European Commission and the United Nations raised concerns about the weaponization of critical technologies, including quantum computing.

The EU was alarmed by the potential military applications and economic threats posed by quantum computing. So, it initiated risk assessments in collaboration with member states.

The assessments aim to identify potential risks associated with AI, quantum computing, semiconductors, and biotechnology, reflecting a global effort to address the geopolitical implications of these advancements.

As the quantum computing landscape evolves rapidly, the world grapples with the need for strategic preparedness and regulatory frameworks to navigate the transformative impact of this groundbreaking technology.

 2024 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
During the ongoing Covid Inquiry in Edinburgh, it was revealed that Nicola Sturgeon's WhatsApp messages about the pandemic appeared to have been deleted (via The Telegraph).

This surprising development came to light when Jamie Dawson, counsel to the inquiry, revealed that the former first minister of Scotland appeared to have "retained no messages whatsoever." Nicola Sturgeon's pandemic-related WhatsApp messages were reportedly deleted in the Covid Inquiry, raising transparency concerns. Sturgeon's spokesperson asserts commitment to transparency amid growing scrutiny.

Scotland Covid Inquiry

The inquiry, currently delving into decisions made in Scotland during the pandemic, has been a focal point of attention. Sturgeon, set to be a star witness, faces scrutiny over the absence of her digital communication records.

The revelation raises questions about transparency, particularly as Sturgeon has not clarified whether she deleted these messages.

Dawson referred to a document provided by the Scottish government, stating, "Under the box 'Nicola Sturgeon,' it says that messages were not retained, they were deleted in routine tidying up of inboxes or changes of phones, unable to retrieve messages."

This suggests that at the time of the request, Sturgeon had no messages related to her pandemic management, further intensifying concerns.

Read Also: WhatsApp Web Rolls Out Stylish Dark Theme, Enhanced Cross-Platform Aesthetics

A Closer Look

BBC reports that Lesley Fraser, the director general of corporate at the Scottish government, explained that newer technologies like Zoom were used during the pandemic, potentially leading to a lack of retained records.

Fraser confirmed that the government couldn't supply Sturgeon's messages from its corporate record, adding complexity to the situation.

Sturgeon's spokesperson asserted her commitment to transparency: "In the interests of everyone impacted by the Covid pandemic, Nicola is committed to full transparency to both the UK and Scottish Covid inquiries."

The spokesperson emphasized that Sturgeon handled messages in line with government policies and looked forward to providing oral evidence to the inquiry.

The context deepens with comparisons to other political figures. Rishi Sunak and Boris Johnson have both claimed not to have remaining messages from the pandemic period. Johnson even suggested an inability to retrieve his own WhatsApp messages during a crucial period, pointing to a phone reset.

Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross, however, is not appeased. He accuses Sturgeon and her deputy, John Swinney, of defying the inquiry's instructions, suggesting potential illegality.

Ross poses the question: "What were they trying to hide?" The accusation goes further, calling the deletion of messages a "digital torching of vital evidence."

How to Retrieve Deleted Whatsapp Messages

To recover your chat history, Whatsapp recommends that you confirm the existence of a pre-existing Google Account backup.

To verify, simply navigate through the Google Drive app after logging in to your Google account. Access the Menu and select Backups, where any WhatsApp backups stored on Google Drive will be clearly displayed.

Once you have confirmed the backup's availability, begin the restoration process by uninstalling and reinstalling WhatsApp. When prompted, select the Restore option rather than skipping, as skipping this step may result in losing your backup.

It is important to remember that chat history is not stored on Whatsapp servers, so they cannot help restore your backup.

Stay posted here at Tech Times.

Related Article: X Brings Audio and Video Calls Feature to Android Users





 2024 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
A business manager suspected of having ordered the attack on an elected official from Saint-Denis

Tigrane Seydoux, the Frenchman behind the fashionable Italians in Madrid in which you always have to visit the bathroom

Energy transition: The experts say so, the Court of Auditors says so

Ticks: How to protect yourself from the increasing tick population when taking a walk in the forest

Annoyed by a kissing couple: woman attacks the person sitting next to her on the train

A member of the Fatwa Council in Britain calls on Western Muslims to adhere to their religion and identity

Death and stuff, the worst series of the week: the copy of a copy of a copy of Agatha Christie

Alaska Airlines passenger about hole in plane wall: "I kept staring into the hole and hoping it wouldn't tear any further"

Alaska Airlines passenger about hole in plane wall: "I kept staring into the hole and hoping it wouldn't tear any further"

La Fievre with Ana Girardot and Nina Meurisse: what is the new event series from Canal+ worth?

Ines Reg criticized for her attitude in Dancing with the Stars: the comedian breaks the silence

Fatal accident in Wesseling: "Don't be a pathetic coward, come clean, turn yourself in to the police"

9th day of the Grand Sumo Spring Tournament New entrant with only one winner Takafuji 9 consecutive wins

IN PICTURES - Football: discover the new Blues jerseys for Euro 2024 and the Olympics

For the fifth time in a row: Medvedev lost again to Alcaraz in the Masters final in Indian Wells

Badminton Akane Yamaguchi "Shidamatsu" pair and others are guaranteed to participate in the Paris Olympics

Rugby: here is the program of the French XV for the rest of 2024

Jean-Marie Rouart, the writer-academician, looks back on December 19, 1964, the entry of Jean Moulin into the Pantheon

Yen exchange rate: The yen depreciates to the low 149 yen level to the dollar, due to speculation regarding monetary policy.

Daihatsu's name announced by the FTC: ``We were waiting, but we will set up a forum for discussions.''

La Unio denounces the second detection of Moroccan strawberries with hepatitis A in nine days

Without unnecessary risks: the ruble has risen in price on the Moscow Exchange following the results of the presidential elections in Russia

The "wave of rework" after the Spring Festival has driven the rental market in Guangzhou to heat up rapidly

In the first two months, the total foreign trade import and export value of Kashgar, Xinjiang increased by 90% year-on-year.

Italy: the four Egyptians accused of the murder of Giulio Regeni will be tried in absentia

The UN Secretary General called the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki a massacre, without mentioning the guilt of the United States

According to the UN, Gaza is threatened with imminent famine, Israel is refusing UNRWA chief entry

Zakat is its most important resource.. How did the Somali Al-Shabaab movement build its financial network?

The Ministry of Defense proposed to reduce AWOL, which does not count towards service life

The Madrid Bar Association denounces the Prosecutor's Office for revealing confidential data about Ayuso's partner in an "unprecedented event"

Shtayyeh rejects the foreign presence in Gaza and warns against displacement through the sea corridor

Nigeria: more than a hundred people kidnapped in the northwest of the country

Civil servants will have the salary increase after Easter and before the Budgets are approved

Niger: what follow-up after the denunciation of the military agreement between Niamey and Washington?

TikTok is at the heart of the US election season

Putin: all traitors fighting against Russia will be identified by name and they will not be given peace

Urgent | Al Jazeera obtains exclusive photos showing the Qassam tracking the movements of officer in the Shaldag unit, Yitzhar Hoffman, before he was killed by a snipers bullet.

Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant First detection of object that may contain nuclear fuel debris on water

Defeat in the FA Cup: Klopp breaks off interview  I have no nerves for you

In light of the confrontation with Israel... where has the Hezbollah-Free Patriotic Movement alliance reached?

Operation seduction of the head of Chinese diplomacy in New Zealand and Australia

 Communities 2019 - Privacy

The information on this site is from external sources that are not under our control.The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.
The French Ambassador to Russia was told that the death of the French in Kharkov was on the conscience of Paris

Highlights: French Ambassador Pierre Levy was summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry on January 19. He was told that the death of French mercenaries in Kharkov lay on the conscience of Paris. The Foreign Ministry noted that the West, including France, is waging a war by proxy and is steadily increasing the supply of weapons and military equipment to the Zelensky regime. The ministry said that such actions lead to numerous civilian casualties and turn France into an accomplice in the war crimes of the Kyiv regime.

French Ambassador Pierre Levy, who was summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry on January 19, was told that the death of French mercenaries in Kharkov lay on the conscience of Paris, which condoned the work in France of mechanisms for sending mercenaries to Ukraine.
KYODO NEWS - Jan 19, 2024 - 22:07 | All, Japan

The largest faction in Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party said Friday that it has decided to disband, as a political funds scandal involving the group formerly led by the late Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has deepened public distrust in politics.

The decision came shortly after Prime Minister Fumio Kishida pledged to dissolve the party's fourth-biggest faction that he led until December and former LDP Secretary General Toshihiro Nikai expressed an intention to disband his fifth-largest group.

The moves have been praised by some LDP members as bold reforms, but some pundits say they are simply a political performance by the ruling party, and they have urged Kishida to implement necessary measures to strengthen the surveillance of lawmakers' finances.

Earlier in the day, Kishida said the dissolution of the faction that he headed is aimed at restoring public trust amid the political funds scandal rattling the LDP, which has dominated Japan's politics and been in power for most of the period since 1955.

In the biggest faction, several junior members had told Ryu Shionoya, who is the de facto head, that the group, which contains about 100 of the around 370 LDP lawmakers, should be disbanded as soon as possible. The faction is alleged to have accumulated hundreds of millions of yen in slush funds.

"We have decided to dissolve the faction to our great dismay," Shionoya said at a press conference after an emergency meeting of the group, adding that most of its members agreed on the decision.

The faction, founded in 1979 by the late former Prime Minister Takeo Fukuda, has played a crucial role in decision-making processes within the party, including the selection of the party's leader, who typically becomes prime minister.

The group has produced four premiers -- Yoshiro Mori, Junichiro Koizumi, Abe and Yasuo Fukuda -- since 2000, and during Koizumi's tenure of over five years through September 2006, the faction became the largest force in the LDP.

The LDP had previously dissolved its factions in the 1990s, only for its lawmakers to create new groups by the end of the decade. The factions have served mainly to help lawmakers secure campaigning funds and ministerial posts.

Nikai, a heavyweight of the LDP, said at a press conference on Friday, "People naturally come together, so I want to keep interactions within the bounds of common sense," suggesting his faction's members may maintain communication after it has disbanded.

Kenta Izumi, chief of the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, told reporters later in the day, "It will not be tolerated" if LDP lawmakers are "trying to evade responsibility by pinning the blame on their factions."

Kishida, meanwhile, said Friday that the LDP needs to come up with new rules on how to properly manage its policy study groups.

The LDP has come under intense scrutiny over the fundraising scandal, with the Abe faction suspected of failing to report revenue from fundraising parties over many years. Public outrage has pushed approval ratings for Kishida's Cabinet down sharply.

Kishida, who quit his group in response to the scandal, told reporters Friday that the public views the factions with "skeptical eyes."

He launched an internal reform panel earlier this month to establish rules to enhance the transparency of funds raised by the LDP groups, promising to compile an interim report next week.

So far, the panel has been considering proposing the revision of the political funds control law to toughen the penalties on offenders, LDP sources said, with others calling for the introduction of guilt by association between lawmakers and accountants.

The LDP is also eager to take disciplinary steps, such as suspension, against lawmakers of the Abe faction who received secret slush funds. The majority of group members are alleged to have obtained funds.

Other powerful factions, led by former Prime Minister Taro Aso and LDP Secretary General Toshimitsu Motegi, said they will discuss whether they will dissolve their groups after the interim report is released by the panel.

On Friday, prosecutors indicted a number of accountants and lawmakers from three factions, including Kishida's group, on suspicion of failing to report political funds.

But they said they did not indict executives of the three factions due to a lack of evidence, despite mounting criticism over the scandal.

Related coverage:

FOCUS: Japan PM put into corner as secret slush funds scandal falls on him

Prosecutors to build case on Kishida faction over LDP funds scandal

Japanese lawmaker Kakizawa indicted over violation of election law
La. 20 makes a sharp rightward turn to temporary Bayou Chevreuil bridge, as seen Thursday, Sept. 14, 2023, looking north toward Vacherie. A state highway contractor built the bridge as part of an $11.6 million replacement project for the permanent bridge, but abutments for the temporary bridge shifted and have needed repairs.
You had a lot to say on the debate over whether Louisiana should have open or closed primaries. Here is a selection of viewpoints.
LSU Museum of Art held a special Factory Fete show featuring prints by pop culture icon and artist Andy Warhol from the Cochran Collection. Guest were encouraged to dress like Warhol as they enjoyed his work along with several works by his contemporaries.

Michael Johnson Follow Michael Johnson 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
Prosper 

Stan

Richard Roxburgh as minister Cal Quinn in Prosper. Credit: Stan

Nobody does church like us, declares high-flying evangelical pastor Cal Quinn (Richard Roxburgh) in the first episode of this Australian drama, and thats a promise the show keeps. Step around the scripture quotes and flashes of theological doubt and you have a wealthy family saga: greed, hypocrisy, deceit and looming scandal are the pillars of a series where the Old Testament is Dallas and the New Testament is Succession. A suspicious death to juice the narrative? Amen, brothers and sisters.

Created by Matt Cameron (Secret City) and Jason Stephens (Queen of Oz), with inspiration from headline-making evangelistic megachurches, Prosper is an easy watch that goes hard. The friction, clashes and crises that envelope the Quinn clan, the entitled first family of global faith-based corporation U Star, are relentless. In plotting terms, the show is genuinely skilful. It keeps pushing and pulling the central characters, while folding in the supporting casts concerns. Its escalating focus is rare in Australian television.

Consider the offspring: dutiful oldest son Dion (Ewen Leslie) is desperate for his fathers approval, daughter Issy (Hayley McCarthy) has a Christian pop career, and Cals favourite, Jed (Jacob Collins-Levy), is estranged, having publicly condemned the money U Star reaps from its parishioners. Steering them all is Cals steely wife, Abi (Rebecca Gibney), the power behind a crumbling throne. For a few episodes, I enjoyed the change of pace that was the chill youngest child, 16-year-old Moses (Alexander DSouza). Then his arc went haywire too.
You couldnt help but become politicised from that because we had this sort of rejection of the capitalist model that was going on, he says. But because of our working-class background, I was always trying to come up with a solution to the problem that some people saw as intractable, the conflict between environment and economy. That conflict has haunted progressive politics in Australia, not least the Greens, whom Buckingham represented in the NSW Legislative Council for eight years after getting elected in 2011. Falafel plate at the Cairo Takeaway Credit: Brook Mitchell That stint ended in controversy. In 2018, Buckingham was accused of sexual harassment by a party staffer. He always denied the allegations, and an independent investigation commissioned by the Greens found they could not be substantiated. But the affair caused a rift within the party. Several Greens figures, including Newtown MP Jenny Leong, called for him to step down from the partys upper house ticket. He subsequently quit the Greens to run, unsuccessfully, as an independent at the 2019 election.

Buckingham still denies the allegations, and tells me that hes moved on. I got caught up in those harassment allegations, but they were investigated by the party, he says. There was no wrongdoing found. And for me, the #MeToo movement is incredibly, incredibly important. Jeremy Buckingham quit the NSW Greens Party in 2018. Credit: Book Mitchell I know who I am. I know Im not a creep. And I know I can be trusted in public life. Either way, after the 2019 election, Buckingham didnt think very much about a political future. He moved to the mid-north coast and, for a while, was working as a bus driver for a Steiner school.

I just grew dope and went surfing. And I thought politically, I was a carcass. Loading And then, his life was hit by tragedy. In 2022, Buckinghams 23-year-old son Eden died from suicide, a day after telling his father that hed suffered sexual abuse as a child. After trauma like that, you can just retreat into grief and lay down, its very tempting to just lay down and die yourself, he says, through tears. And then a part of you just goes, Oh, my God, life is so fragile, so short, that you have to seize the day. Buckingham credits his wife Crystal with helping him through that awful period. But finding a new political project also gave him a life raft to escape sinking into grief.

During those wilderness years on the mid-north coast, Buckingham had stumbled on the Legalise Cannabis Partys website while googling how to grow really massive dope plants. He figured they could use a bit of help on the electoral strategy front, and reached out to the partys luxuriously bearded president Michael Balderstone. Then, a month out from last years state election, he was tapped as the partys lead candidate in NSW. Riding the weed wave that had already seen Legalise Cannabis MPs elected in Victoria and Western Australia, Buckingham won a seat. Maalouba at the Cairo Takeaway Credit: Brook Mitchell It feels a bit of a cliche that were discussing this in Enmore, where the telegraph poles are littered with Marxist graffiti and the whiff of ganja floats through the backstreets, even as property prices go boom. But Buckingham wants to bust cliches. For starters, it isnt the terrace dwelling gentrifiers of the inner west who are buying his gear.

Legalising cannabis is popular because cannabis is a working-class drug, he tells me. Its the tradies, the mine workers, people on farms. Its the people working in warehouses, service industries voting for us. The bill Credit: Brook Mitchell At last years state election the partys biggest successes were in the western suburbs, the Central Coast and the Hunter. In the inner city, it barely registered a blip. Still, despite the partys recent successes, drug policy reform in Australia has been plagued by political timidity for years. In 2019, Chris Minns, then a shadow minister, argued for legalisation. As premier, hes been far more cautious, although a drug summit is on the cards for this year. The contrast with the United States, where 24 states have now legalised cannabis, couldnt be sharper. But Buckingham is an optimist. Hes bullish about getting a federal senator elected next year, and believes cannabis legalisation is a medium-term goal, achievable within a few years. During our conversation that optimism often gives way to a utopian vision of a legal cannabis future for Australia, which Buckingham describes in swashbuckling missionary zeal.

Legal weed will, he says, kneecap the cocaine gangs causing bloodshed on the streets of southwest Sydney who use cannabis as a cash cow. It will also reduce alcohol-fuelled violence, he believes. You never see anyone at a McDonalds carpark get in a punch-on because theyve had too many bongs. To those worried that this will make pot more accessible for children, leaving a whole generation even more sluggish, lazy, stupid and unconcerned (to quote the Frank Ocean track) Buckingham counters that weed will simply be less cool if its made legal. For millennials and zoomers, taking grandmas back pain medication isnt cool. And he maintains that the American model, where legalisation has enabled the growth of a sometimes rapacious, multibillion-dollar industry of cannabis cowboys, isnt one hes keen to emulate.

We want to make sure that drug use is done safely and responsibly, and doesnt tip over into abuse, he says. Loading We certainly dont want to see the adoption of a full sort of commercial model, with widespread advertising and that kind of thing. For all Buckinghams bluster, theres a sense that the tide is starting to turn. Once upon a time, the Legalise Cannabis Party were dismissed as hippy weirdos from Nimbin. In Parliament, Buckingham says hes gotten a good hearing from all sides of politics. Shock jocks once struck the fear of god into politicians looking at drug reform. Now Ben Fordham has him on 2GB. Perhaps the dial would shift further if more Australians in positions of power and influence were willing to be honest about their drug use. Surely, Macquarie Street has its share of stoners, closet or otherwise? I ask Buckingham how many of his parliamentary colleagues have, at the very least, hit a joint. Almost everyone, he says.
KYODO NEWS - Jan 19, 2024 - 14:20 | All, Japan

Japanese Emperor Naruhito, in a poem recited at the annual Imperial New Year's Poetry Reading on Friday, reflected fondly on the warm welcome he and his wife Empress Masako have always received during official visits across Japan.

Having visited all 47 of Japan's prefectures, including when he was crown prince, the poem describes the emperor's feeling of peace upon seeing the smiles of local people at each place he traveled to, according to the Imperial Household Agency.

The emperor acceded to the throne after his father, former Emperor Akihito, abdicated on April 30, 2019.

The ceremony at the Imperial Palace was also attended by the empress, Crown Prince Fumihito and his wife Princess Kiko, and members of the general public whose poems were selected.

The theme of this year's poems at the reading was "wa," which primarily means "peace" and "harmony."

The official translation of the poem written by the emperor and provided by the agency reads as follows:

Seeing the smiles of the people

I meet during my many journeys

Throughout the country

Fills my heart with peace

Empress Masako's poem expressed the warm feelings evoked by the graduation composition of their 22-year-old daughter, Princess Aiko, whose deep desire for peace was stirred after her first visit to Hiroshima during her third year in junior high school.

The official translation of the empress's poem reads as follows:

How moved I was to read

My daughter's deep feelings for peace

After her first visit

To Hiroshima

Princess Aiko, who entered the Department of Japanese Language and Literature at Gakushuin University's Faculty of Letters in April 2020, used her Waka poem to convey her fascination with the classical form of poetry.

The official translation of the princess's poem reads as follows:

Surviving centuries of hardship

The words of Waka poems

Touch my heart today

The poems, as well as compositions by other imperial family members and 10 pieces chosen from among 15,270 entries submitted by the public, were recited in the traditional style at the reading.

Waka poetry was developed by the court aristocracy in ancient Japan. A "tanka" poem, the most common form of waka, consists of 31 syllables in a pattern of 5-7-5-7-7.

Related coverage:

Emperor's New Year greeting event canceled due to quake

Japan emperor hopes for compassion in 2024 amid wars, disasters
Organised crime police have raided a unit in a Macquarie Park development that was this week subject to work rectification orders from the states powerful Building Commission, seizing $750,000 cash and arresting a man.

Officers from the anti-bikie taskforce Strike Force Raptor arrived at the Halifax Street unit early on Thursday morning in relation to a firearm prohibition order, police said in a statement released on Friday.

The Macquarie Park apartments were issued with a rectification order. Credit: Brook Mitchell

A firearms prohibition order prevents a person from acquiring, possessing or using a firearm or its parts, or ammunition if the commissioner of police deems it is in the public interest that that person does not access one.

Investigators allegedly seized close to $760,000 in cash while at the address.
A man accused of stabbing five strangers in a rampage in inner Melbourne will be forced to hand over his DNA after refusing to allow police to swab his mouth.

Christopher Raftopoulos, 31, appeared at Melbourne Magistrates Court on Friday by video link from prison with a new lawyer after he last week dumped his previous representative mid-hearing.

He was muted for the short hearing, after telling the court: You have incarcerated me for protecting every planet in the solar system.

The court heard Raftopoulos was found to have catatonic schizophrenia when he was arrested on January 7 after allegedly going on an unprovoked stabbing spree in inner Melbourne.
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 Its a Tuesday afternoon in January, the mercury has nudged past 30 degrees and Frankston beach is pumping. Teenagers leap off the end of the pier into blue water; kids splash around their parents knees; people prop under an umbrellas shade or lay towels on the hot sand and sun themselves to the soundtrack of droning jet skis cutting through the water. Forty kilometres across Port Phillip Bay, Melbournes CBD skyline shimmers in the summer haze, mirage-like. This is fringe suburbia, the last stop on an hour-long train ride from Flinders Street, but the view from the arched footbridge over the mouth of Kananook Creek is like a scene from a resort town. Frankston is having a moment in the sun. A federal byelection will happen on March 2, triggered by the death of popular local Labor MP Peta Murphy from breast cancer in December.

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The City of Frankstons pro-development mayor, Nathan Conroy, has been preselected as Liberal candidate, and will run against Labor contender Jodie Belyea, founder of a local support group for disadvantaged women. Loading Conroy has championed two proposed high-end apartment towers on Nepean Highway that would overlook Frankston Beach; the 16-storey Pace development and the 14-storey Harbour building, each of which would exceed the height of any current local building. Developers have begun to wake to Frankstons potential to shrug off its stubborn battler tag. The luxe, nine-storey Horizon building  a new landmark  is due to open next month, four years after buyers bought off the plan. People are looking at that going, Oh my God, its amazing. Youve got the pub over the road, youve got the beach. Why wouldnt you move in there? state MP Paul Edbrooke says. Long Island, a narrow stretch of land between Kananook Creek and Frankston Beach, is at the centre of a campaign against two proposed apartment towers. Credit: Justin McManus But the two proposed waterfront towers have split the community. Edbrooke, for one, is not buying the developers pitch of a lifestyle like no other.

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Its good to see Frankston moving ahead but when we start looking at individual plans that overshadow existing structures in Frankston, tower above existing buildings and dont take into account that the best asset in Frankston is the beach, thats our jewel in the crown. I think weve got a bit of a problem, he says. Opposition to the towers is most visible on Long Island, a narrow strip of land between the foreshore and Kananook Creek, which residents of the two towers would look down upon. Many front fences of the areas low-rise houses bear Stop the Great Wall of Frankston posters. Russell Kerr, a former teacher at Frankston High, has lived on Long Island for more than 10 years. He fears both the council and state government have been sweet-talked into backing two inappropriate towers that will enrich the developer, house a few already wealthy people, but do nothing to address the areas wider housing shortage. Long Island resident Russell Kerr argues Frankstons foreshore is the wrong site for tall towers. Credit: Justin McManus Theres a big push to get these buildings up, obviously the state government want to look like theyre doing something superficially on the housing front, he says. This is disturbing because its not addressing the needs of young people and the people that need affordable housing in Frankston. A rival group to the towers opponents emerged in October, arguing the towers will give Frankstons languishing CBD a desperately needed economic boost.

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We need some hope, Advance Frankston group member Trudy Poole says. Once Harbour and Pace are approved, Frankston will just go whoosh. Poole has lived in the area for 38 years and says too many parts of the CBD are derelict, their streets blighted by shuttered shopfronts and vacant buildings. She blames a lack of direction from the council over many years, arguing the long-term failure to commit to a structure plan for the CBD has scared developers away. A shuttered business on Nepean Highway in Frankston. Credit: Justin McManus Poole and her Advance Frankston colleague Garry Ebbott meet The Age outside the 12-storey Quest building on Nepean Highway. Next door is a vacant shopfront that has recently been occupied by squatters. Over the road, heavily tagged hoarding walls barricade the demolished former cinema site where Paces 16-storey proposal  announced two years ago but not approved by council  awaits a hearing at the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal. Poole, who founded a breakfast club for Frankstons homeless population five years ago, holds out hope that these two high-end waterfront buildings will encourage other developers to build more affordable housing in the CBD, even though the Pace and Harbour apartments are targeted at wealthy buyers.

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Once we get a little bit of classy development in here then youll get people. Youve got to have a mixture, not just one socioeconomic group, she says. Poole and her friend Ebbott have both separately bought a unit in the Horizon building. We want to age in place. Our kids all live around the area, she says. Advance Frankston members Trudy Poole and Garry Ebbott outside the new Horizon building, which they will both move into next month. Credit: Justin McManus Both the Horizon building and the proposed Harbour building are projects of developer Urban DC. Founding director Danny Ciarma bristles at the charge that his projects ignore the need for more affordable housing in Frankston, arguing that the daisy chain of the property market increases affordability whenever new housing is built. It doesnt matter where you put stock into the supply chain; it creates an opening, he says. So this business, this bullshit that these luxury apartments do not do anything for affordable housing, it does. Horizon puts 71 more apartments into the market  that frees up 71 houses of all diverse groups.

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On moonless nights, Giza slips through the shadows like a phantom. The underworld is tarnished only by dik-diks, their eyes haloed in milky fur, their cries of alarm sifting dolefully through the void. These diminutive antelopes are doomed, for the leopard wears a pelt so dark it is indistinguishable from night. Even her eyes  coals burning in a mask of ebony  have been quenched by darkness. Danger is afoot, the dik-diks intuit, but there is no movement, no sound by which to verify the predators presence. On such moonless nights as these, Giza is nothing more than a myth, a legend, a rumour.

Tales of black leopards have long circulated around Laikipia, a region bristling with Kenyas second-largest concentration of wildlife. Cattle ranches merge contiguously with conservancies here; fences have been removed so that animals  including fabled leopards  can range free.

If you speak to local ranchers and farmers, theyve seen them, says Antonia Leckie, co-manager of Laikipia Wilderness Camp. You know, years back, their fathers and their grandfathers have seen them.

Black leopards stand out during the day, making it harder for them to reach adulthood. Credit: iStock

These men werent hallucinating, it seems. The shadowy figures werent mutant cats or black jaguars cast adrift on the wrong continent; they were in fact melanistic leopards, their pelts pigmented by a recessive gene. When photographer Will Burrard-Lucas captured an elusive male on his camera trap in 2019 on the farm adjacent to Laikipia Wilderness Camp, the ranchers stories were finally believed. Not long after that, camp co-founder Steve Carey was biking along a track with his son when they almost rode over a melanistic cub.
Berlin: Arnold Schwarzenegger was stopped for hours by customs at Munich Airport after entering Germany with a luxury watch that was potentially to be auctioned at a charity event.

The former movie star and California governor was stopped for a routine check after arriving on Wednesday, customs spokesperson Thomas Meister said on Friday AEDT. Schwarzenegger was able to leave after about 2 hours.

Arnold Schwarzenegger was stopped for hours by customs at Munich Airport after entering Germany with a luxury watch that was potentially to be auctioned at a charity event. Credit: AP

Goods over the value of 430 ($654) entering to stay in the European Union have to be declared and, where appropriate, duty paid on them. German daily Bild, which first reported the incident, said the allegedly undeclared watch made by Swiss manufacturer Audemars Piguet was valued at about 20,000 by Schwarzenegger, for whom it was specially produced.

The Schwarzenegger Climate Initiative said the actor was detained for travelling with a watch he owns, that he might be auctioning at his charity auction in Kitzbuehel, in neighbouring Austria.
Consumer Electronic Show 2024 Reports One - In-cabin safety, surprise and delight.

In-cabin safety, surprise and delight.

By Thom CannellSenior Editor, TechnologyMichigan BureauThe Auto Channel

CES 2024, Las Vegas January 2024; How do you know the driver behind you is sober, alert and smart enough to have their seat belt fastened? Though today you dont, beginning in 2024 you mayif you live in Europe.

Bosch, the global auto supplier says In-cabin sensors can, and will deliver a myriad of interesting features that help keep you safe, and might even start a pot of coffee on your way back from shopping.

Using video cameras, typically Infrared (IR) and radar, future vehicles will assure that you are alert and that your hands are on the steering wheel for those advanced driving features that permit hands-free driving. Mounting cameras and radar in the cabin, high to see more occupants or lower to get a better view of the drivers eyes, together with advanced software deliver safety, and maybe some fun.

Safety features such as detecting drowsy or distracted driving will arrive first, as will detection of children left in the vehicle, then, relatively soon, the detection of chronic or acute health issues like stroke or heart attack are on the short-but-difficult list. The concept of combining data generated by multiple sensors is called sensor fusion and shows the promise of really cool features: improved intrusion detection, year-over-year health changes, better driver recognition and personalized vehicle settings, knowing its a gym bag on the seat and not a passenger, passengers with feet on the dash, even the size of passengers to affect air bag deployment.

Among the more interesting and potentially desirable ideas Bosch described is knowing if a driver is impaired by alcohol or other drugs (eye movement and velocity of movement is affected). Or, how about tracking eye movement (its going to anyway) and, using GPS information, suggesting you might want espresso at that shop your just viewed, or even (combined with the Internet Of Things) starting a fresh pot moments before your arrival.

Of them all, expect distracted driving to appear first as it is mandated in Europe later in 2024, to arrive first in North America. Oh, that latte you wanted? Bosch is working with Amazon Web Services today to deliver fresh tomorrow.
Plug In, Drive Over, Drive Away  Better Strategies for EVs

By Thom Cannell

Senior Editor,Technology

Michigan Bureau

The Auto Channel

CES 2024, Las Vegas January 2024; You car, truck or SUV, runs on fuelwhich may be liquid, gaseous or electrons. In every case, how you access the fuel; from a local filling station, a specialized hydrogen, propane or natural gas facility, or plugging into the grid affects time to fuel. Theres also the question of how that fuel is used, and mostly it is combusted. Leaving aside fuel cells, energy for EVselectric vehicles, arrives on a wire connected to your vehicle. What then happens is often misunderstood and very open to innovation, as well see.

First, the standard method of getting the household alternating current (120-volt or 220- volt AC) into your vehicle requires several conversions, first to direct current (DC) for the battery and back to AC to run motors. GMs Andy Ouray outlined the process in a seminar hosted by the Midwest Automotive Media Association.

The grid is AC, everywhere in the world, Andy commented, but batteries are DC and we have to make (the grid and batteries) talk to each other. Making the conversion is important. Level 1 (L1) is the familiar wall plug for your vacuum, coffee maker or EV and will take over night to two days to fully charge most EVs. Level 2 requires 240-volts, like your electric dryer, stove, or air conditioner. When you shop for a Level 2 charger at Amazon, car dealer or elsewhere, youre really buying an EVSE or electric vehicle support equipment device which negotiates available electricity for your vehicle and then into the onboard charging module. That module rectifies the AC into DC, and into the battery for storage and use.

So, whats DC fast charging, the type you hope can refill your battery in 15-20 minutes? Those devices (sort of) bypass the onboard conversion and deliver proper current directly to the battery system at its preferred voltage and current. (You should know, and understand that kilowatts are power, like horsepower and you interchange those numbers as Europeans and Asians typically rate engines and motors in kilowatts (kW). Thus, kWh or kilowatt hours are measures of energy (power over a length of time), so a 100 kWh battery pack could deliver 10 KW of power for 10 hours. This does affect what L2 home device you may install.

While chargers on the wall are typical at home, theres another option, inductive chargers. Like the pad you slap you watch, earbuds or mobile phone onto, inductive charger devices push electrons into your battery with no physical connection. Cool, eh? And various manufacturers promise significant cost savings for manufacturers, fleets and vehicle owners.

Earlier this year, at IAA in Munich, Germany we spoke to a Canadian company, eLeapPower, about some innovative devices they produce, including an inductive charger. The charger is theoretically simple, just park reasonably close to a sealed charging pad and Boom! charging begins without you doing anything. For fleets, particularly last-mile delivery, its a no-brainer thanks to no dangling wires, pole or wall chargers, and requires less space. Living in Michigans rains, sleet and snow I find the idea particularly appealing

But eLeapPower offers more, much more. Remember those on-board charging systems that each vehicle now requires? Theyre not only expensive but heavy and use silicon chips that are in short supply. The company says it has banished separate assemblies, shared cooling systems and duplicate charger/inverters. Their integrated inverter eliminates the separate on-board charging equipment, they say.

Currently, when you put your foot on the accelerator of any EV, an inverter changes battery DC current into AC current to run motors. Lift off the gas and regenerative braking uses inverters to push energy from the motor (AC) back to the battery (DC). It works spectacularly well . But getting energy from the grid into the system requires specific inverters for fast charging (400V-800V DC-only) systems along the road, and an onboard charger for lower, 120-240V AC charging at home (L1-L2).

eLeapPower says their technology does away with both the 400V/800V DC/DC and onboard charger, substituting only their inverter, which does it all.

Photo Why hasnt anyone else done this? The company says its impact extends to a projected weight saving of 21 kg, space saving of 17 liters (a 5-gallon water bottle) and probable $2000 savings.
KYODO NEWS - Jan 19, 2024 - 17:40 | All, World, Japan

A record 86.7 percent of Japanese "do not feel friendly" toward China, a Japanese government poll showed Friday, as bilateral relations remain tense over a number of issues.

The annual poll, conducted from Sept. 7 to Oct. 15, followed China's total ban on marine products shipped from Japan that was imposed last August in response to the discharge into the sea of treated radioactive water from the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant.

The record figure, up from 81.8 percent in the previous survey, was the highest since the question was added in 1978 to the annual diplomatic surveys conducted by the Cabinet Office.

While China fiercely opposed the water discharge, Japan criticized the import ban, saying the release was in line with global safety standards.

Reflecting the deterioration in bilateral ties, a record-low 12.7 percent of respondents said they "feel friendly" toward China.

A Foreign Ministry official told reporters the outcome may reflect the public's "great interest in various pending issues with China."

Bilateral tensions have also grown amid repeated intrusions by Chinese vessels in waters around the Japan-administered Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea that are claimed by Beijing, which calls them Diaoyu.

In the survey, a record-low 68.2 percent said Sino-Japanese ties are "important," down from 73.5 percent, while 27.8 percent said they are "not important," up from 22.1 percent.

The poll also showed that 90.1 percent view bilateral relations as "not good," compared with 5.6 percent who view them as "good."

Meanwhile, the survey showed an improvement in sentiment regarding South Korea, with 52.8 percent saying they "feel friendly" toward the country, up from 45.9 percent, and 46.4 percent saying they "do not feel friendly," down from 53.7 percent.

The official said many Japanese may view relations with South Korea as having recovered since conservative South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol took office in May 2022, with the popularity of K-pop music also a factor.

Under the administration of Yoon's predecessor Moon Jae In, bilateral relations sank to their worst point in years, mainly over issues related to Japan's 1910-1945 colonization of the Korean Peninsula, including a row over wartime labor compensation.

As for Russia, 95.3 percent of Japanese said they "do not feel friendly" toward the country, a record high for the second straight year, compared with 4.1 percent who "feel friendly."

Following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine launched in February 2022, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's government has imposed economic sanctions on Moscow.

The mail-in survey of 3,000 Japanese nationals aged 18 or older living in the country, received valid responses from 1,649, or 55.0 percent. The government started conducting similar polls in 1975 to help formulate its foreign policy.

Related coverage:

Japan signs contract with U.S. on Tomahawk missile purchase

China's Japan seafood imports sink 40% over treated radioactive water

Foreign visitors to Japan in 2023 jump over sixfold to 25.07 mil.
KYODO NEWS - Jan 19, 2024 - 11:59 | All, Japan

A Filipino woman was arrested Friday for allegedly abandoning two corpses after Tokyo police found the previous day the bodies of a missing couple underneath their home with apparent knife wounds.

Hazel Ann Baguisa Morales, 30, was arrested on suspicion of abandoning the bodies of Norihiro Takahashi, 55, and his wife Kimie, 52, at the house in the capital's Adachi Ward around Tuesday, the police said.

Morales, believed to have been an acquaintance of the couple, has denied the allegations.

Investigators are looking into whether Morales had any trouble with the couple prior to their disappearance, as well as the causes of their deaths.

They suspect the couple was attacked at their home as blood stains were found near the house's entrance and in the hallway, among other locations. They said there were also signs of blood stains being wiped away.

The couple's son, who lives with them, called the police on Tuesday, saying that his parents were missing and there were blood stains at the home's entrance.

Related coverage:

Tokyo couple arrested over unpermitted cultivation of glowing fish

Yakuza wanted for fatally shooting man at Starbucks in western Japan

U.S.-bound ANA plane returns to Tokyo after man bites cabin attendant
KYODO NEWS - Jan 19, 2024 - 20:05 | Others

Social media platforms are strengthening their monitoring of misinformation on their platforms concerning a recent powerful earthquake that hit central Japan, as the government asks them to take specific measures to prevent such posts from hampering rescue efforts, the communications ministry said Friday.

LY Corp., the operator of the Line messaging app and the portal site Yahoo Japan, and X, formerly known as Twitter, have implemented steps to keep misinformation about the quake that struck the Noto Peninsula in Ishikawa Prefecture on New Year's Day from spreading, according to a panel at the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications.

The panel, tasked with promoting proper posts on social media platforms, will question platform operators about their progress in taking measures against misinformation, including their revenue models that often reward users based on the number of views their content gets.

"Malicious information is unforgivable," Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said in a recent X post.

LY has deleted or placed warnings over apparently false information, while X has frozen suspicious accounts asking for emergency financial aid online. Technology giant Google LLC will closely monitor its YouTube platform for a period of time, the ministry said.

Misinformation on social media, including fake requests for help, has hindered rescue operations in the quake-hit region.

Related coverage:

Elon Musk's Starlink helps communications in quake-hit central Japan

Quake chaos forces Wajima kids to leave families to continue studies

Misinformation proving challenge to relief efforts after Japan quake
Transparent system, honest efforts led to poverty decline





NEW DELHI,

PRIME Minister Narendra Modi asserted on Thursday that a transparent system put in place by his Government, its honest efforts and an emphasis on peoples participation have led to nearly 25 crore people being lifted out of poverty in the last nine years. During a virtual interaction with beneficiaries of the Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra, he said that nobody could have thought that poverty in India can decline but the poor has shown that it can be if they are given resources. Peoples trust in the Government is visible everywhere, he said. Citing a recent Niti Aayog report, which highlighted the decline in poverty, Modi said India has presented a model to other countries in helping the poor and this has drawn global attention. It is a very encouraging report, he said. Modi said the yatra has met success beyond his imagination and his Government is likely to extend its beyond January 26 due to an increasing demand from the masses that the vehicles meant to publicise welfare schemes and enlist more beneficiaries should visit their places too. It has become a mass movement in two months and a study will find it as a great example of the last-mile delivery, the PM said. Asserting that no one will be left out of these welfare schemes, he said, Modi worships and values people who were neglected by everyone

The yatra has already reached 70-80 per cent of panchayats and about 15 crore people have joined it, he said The Vikas Rath has become Vishwas Rath, infusing trust among people that no deprived person will be left out of its benefits, he said. More than four crore people have taken health checkups during the yatra and over 2.5 crore have been screened for TB, he said, adding that over 50 crore ayushman cards have been given to people and nearly 35 lakh farmers have been included in the PM Kisan Yojna. Neearly 25 lakh new Kisan Credit Cards and 25 lakh free gas connections were given and 10 lakh new SVANidhi applications received during the course of the yatra so far, he added. He said these are not merely statistics for him as every number represents a life who was deprived of the benefits so far. The prime minister said he has always tried to ensure saturation of welfare schemes coverage. He stressed his priority is to ensure good nutrition, health and treatment to people besides houses with availability of water, cooking gas and power connections. He also underlined as to how crores of people have got bank accounts and opportunities to do something on their own. Over four crore poor families have got a house of their own in the last 10 years and owners of 70 per cent of them are women, which has boosted their empowerment, he said. The average period to build the house for the poor has come down to nearly 100 days from 300 days earlier, he said. It is his Governments priority to boost rural economy and empower farmers, he said. India is changing rapidly. Peoples self-confidence, trust in the Government and the resolve to build a new India are visible all-around, he said.

Citing welfare schemes for transgenders, who were part of the interaction, he said his Government was the first to show concern about their difficulties and gave priority to making their lives easier. In 2019, it enacted a law protecting their rights. Highlighting the steps taken to empower self-help groups, he said collateral-free loans ceiling was increased to Rs 20 lakh from Rs 10 lakh, resulting in 10 crore new women getting associated with them. They have received over Rs 8 lakh crore assistance for opening new businesses, he said. Speaking about the Governments efforts to modernise the rural economy and empowering farmers, he listed the steps to strengthen the small farmers, including the presence of over 8,000 farmers producer organisations and 50 crore vaccinations for foot and mouth disease resulting in 50 percent increase in the milk production. Launched on November 15, the Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra was started to attain saturation coverage of flagship Government schemes and ensure their benefits reach all targeted beneficiaries in a time-bound manner. With the Lok Sabha polls expected in April-May, the programme is likely to boost the ruling BJPs outreach to the poor and tens of millions of beneficiaries of numerous welfare schemes.
ISLAMABAD,

PAKISTAN on Thursday conducted precision military strikes against what it called terrorist hideouts in Irans Siestan-Balochistan province that killed 9 people, a day after Islamabad recalled its envoy from Tehran and suspended all planned high-level bilateral visits following Iranian missile attacks in Balochistan. This morning Pakistan undertook a series of highly coordinated and specifically targeted precision military strikes against terrorist hideouts in Siestan-o-Baluchistan province of Iran, Pakistans Foreign Office said in a statement on Thursday morning. It said a number of terrorists were killed during the intelligence-based operation - codenamed Marg Bar Sarmachar. In Persian language, marg bar means death to while Sarmachar means guerrilla in the Baloch language. The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the Pakistan militarys media wing, in a statement said that the precision strikes were carried out using killer drones, rockets, loitering munitions and stand-off weapons. It said that hideouts used by terrorist organisations namely Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) and Balochistan Liberation Front (BLF) were successfully struck in an intelligence-based operation. The two groups have carried out several attacks in Pakistan in the past.

Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani condemned the attack and said that the Pakistani charge daffaires had been summoned by the ministry to convey Tehrans protest to Islamabad and provide an explanation about the attack, Irans state-run Press TV reported. Quoting Deputy governor of the province Alireza Marhamati, the channel said nine non-Iranian nationals, including two men, three women and four children, were killed in the attack, which is being investigated by the Iranian security officials. There was also an explosion near Saravan city, 347 km southeast of the provincial capital Zahedan, where there were no casualties, he added. Iranian Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi confirmed the figures later in the day. The tit-for-tat attacks within two days have raised tensions in the volatile region, already roiled by Israels war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip and the targeting of the merchant ships in the Red Sea by Yemens Houthis. In its statement, Pakistans Foreign Office said that Islamabad has consistently shared its serious concerns with Tehran about the safe havens and sanctuaries enjoyed by Pakistani origin terrorists calling themselves Sarmachars inside Iran.

However, because of lack of action on our serious concerns, these so-called Sarmachars continued to spill the blood of innocent Pakistanis with impunity. This mornings action was taken in light of credible intelligence of impending large-scale terrorist activities by these so-called Sarmachars, it added. This action is a manifestation of Pakistans unflinching resolve to protect and defend its national security against all threats, it said, adding that Pakistan will continue to take all necessary steps to preserve the safety and security of its people which is sacrosanct, inviolable and sacred. The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) lost more than 1,000 points after Thursdays strikes, boiling up tension between the two neighbours. According to the PSX website, the KSE-100 index lost around 1038 points at 10:08 am. At 10:31am, the index lost 770.12 points cumulatively to reach 62,797.21, down 1.21 per cent from the previous close of 63,567.33.

Pakistani President Arif Alvi said that the two neighbours were brotherly countries and should resolve issues through dialogue and mutual consultation. He, however, said Pakistan would not compromise on its national security and territorial integrity and would take all necessary measures to defend its soil. Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul-Haq-Kakar, who is in Davos to attend the World Economic Forum, cut his trip short to return home. Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani is also returning back from a trip to Uganda. On Wednesday, Jilani had told his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir Abdollahian in a telephonic conversation that the attack by Iran seriously damaged the ties between the two nations and Pakistan reserved the right to respond to this provocative act. Sources in Pakistan said that shortly before 0600 hours (local time) today, the Joint Staff Headquarters of the Pakistan Armed Forces ordered lethal counterinsurgency-specific precision airstrikes inside Iran, pre-authorised by the Government of Pakistan, to preemptively target and eliminate imminent terrorist threats to Pakistan.
BastarsWarrior Princess Legendary tale of Chameli Devi





By Dr Abhinav Mishra

In the heart of Bastars lush landscape lies a story etched deep into its cultural and historical ethosthe saga of Chameli Devi, a figure of valour, beauty, and fearlessness. The first decade of the 14th century witnessed the emergence of this warrior princess, who left an indelible mark not only in Bastar but also in the annals of Andhra. Chameli Devi, daughter of King Harishchandra of Chakrakot, became a symbol of resistance and honour. Her reputation for bravery and beauty reached far and wide, eventually catching the attention of Annamdev, the ruler of Warangal in Andhra. A skilled warrior himself, Annamdev's resolve to win Chameli Devi's hand in marriage set the stage for a historical turn of events. Annamdev planned an invasion of Bastar, which at the time was fragmented under the rule of different Nagavanshi kings, lacking unity and strength. The Kakatiya rulers campaign against the fragmented rulers was relentless, and he achieved victories at Mahibhagbadi, Chhote Dongar, Mahadev Parvat (present-day Abhujhmar), Orchha, and Mardapal, bringing him to the borders of Chakrakot.

Rudra Narayana Panigrahi, a historian knowledgeable in Bastars history, detailed the events that followed. As Annamdev's forces drew near, King Harishchandra, despite his old age, decided to unite the Nagavanshi kings and fight under the leadership of Chameli Devi. She was not only well-versed in arts and sciences but was also a master in politics and warfare. She was an exceptional swordfighter and an adept archer. When the inevitability of war dawned upon her, she strengthened her intelligence network, fortified her arsenal, reinforced the forts defences, uplifted the morale of her soldiers and civilians, and meticulously planned her battle strategy. The battleground chosen was the strategically important Beliyapal plain. Before the battle, Annamdev, captivated by Chameli Devi's grace and virtues, sent a proposal for marriage through his emissary Kamalrao, offering King Harishchandra his life and continued rule over Chakrakot in exchange. Infuriated by the proposal, Chameli Devi rebuked Kamalrao, declaring that accepting such a proposal under duress would bring shame to the Nagavansh lineage and be seen as an act of cowardice. She asserted that a suitor who sought her hand through intimidation and fear was unworthy of being a son-in-law of the kingdom. With dignity and firm resolve, she rejected Annamdev's proposal.

The ensuing battle in Beliyapal was fierce and lasted three days. Annamdev witnessed the unparalleled valour of his opponents, especially Chameli Devi's extraordinary battle skills. On the fourth day, as King Harishchandra fell in battle, Chameli Devi, engaged in other preparations within the fort, faced a turning point. Knowing her father's death weakened her forces and her capture was imminent, she prepared a funeral pyre. As Annamdev and his army breached the fort, Chameli Devi ordered the pyre to be lit. She paid her respects to her mentors, Ghoghiya Nayak and Gurumata Jhalarmati, and proceeded towards the pyre. Annamdev attempted to stop her, but Ghoghiya Nayak and Jhalarmati, defending their disciple with swords in hand, also embraced the flames after her. In this act of defiance, Chameli Devi preserved the honour of the Nagavansh and became a legend. Deeply affected by Chameli Devi's sacrifice, Annamdev built a beautiful monastery on the banks of the Indravati River near the Chitrakot waterfall, along with a pond, as a token of penitence. He would regularly visit the monastery and offered tributes. A tradition was established, wherein during Bastar's Dussehra, a garland of flowers would be floated in the Narangi River in her memory - a practice that continued for years. Today, the monastery stands near the Indravati River, its remnants a testament to this poignant tale, preserved by the local villagers. Chameli Devi's story remains a symbol of resilience and honour, a chapter of Bastar's rich history that continues to inspire.
Dhaba owner booked for honey-trapping police inspector, extorting money





Staff Reporter

The Ayodhya Nagar police have booked a woman for allegedly blackmailing a police inspector in Bhopal. The woman has been accused of honey-trapping the inspector and extorting Rs 5 lakh from him and further demanding Rs 50 lakh. She would run a dhaba in Ayodhya Nagar area and he would visit her, said the police. The cop was once posted in the same police station when he had come into her contact, said police. On the other hand, for about a-year-and-a quarter, the accused woman has been running from pillar to post to lodge an FIR for rape against the inspector. The shocking thing is that the Ayodhya Nagar Police Station was active in getting the girl to reach an agreement with the inspector.

In October 2022, the woman lodged a complaint with the police and with senior officers stating that she lives separately from her husband. The 36-year-old woman (name withheld) told that when Rajkumar Kunsaria (41) was posted as Sub-Inspector in Ayodhya Nagar Police Station, they met. During the conversation, both of them turned out to be childhood friends. She alleged that Rajkumar entered into relation with her and they even were in a live-in relationship for some time. In the complaint, she has also mentioned about Kunsarias police officer sister as how she used to put pressure on her. She lodged a complaint in 2019 but Kunsaria convinced her to withdraw the complaint and had given Rs 5 lakh to her, said police. However, she was demanding Rs 50 lakh from him after which he lodged a complaint with the Crime Branch. Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Akshay Chaudhary said that Kunsaria told that the accused woman was blackmailing him by threatening to implicate him in a false case. Evidence of transferring the money was given by Kunsaria after which the Crime Branch gave the report to Ayodhya Nagar Police. On the basis of which FIR was registered against the woman on Wednesday night.
KYODO NEWS - Jan 19, 2024 - 15:04 | All, Japan

Rescue workers and residents in the disaster-hit Noto Peninsula, central Japan, are increasingly turning to Elon Musk's Starlink satellite internet service, as the magnitude-7.6 earthquake that struck on New Year's Day damaged communications infrastructure and services remain disrupted.

Japanese telecom operator KDDI Corp., which offers in the country the Starlink service run by SpaceX, one of the tech billionaire's companies, has offered 550 Starlink routers to shelters, government offices and disaster medical assistance teams operating in the areas.

At a fire department in Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, one of the hardest hit areas, 300 firefighters started using the service for their rescue operations.

"It really helps because we can now know what other rescue workers are up to and what the central government is trying to do," one of the firefighters said.

The Starlink service also became available to 350 evacuees at an elementary school in Suzu, Ishikawa.

"I can now collect necessary information smoothly, such as weather data," said Juichi Iseki, 63, one of the evacuees. "The Line (messaging) app has also sped up."

Starlink was introduced in Japan in December 2022. The service utilizes low-orbit satellites that offer higher-speed internet than existing satellite services without large-scale equipment.

The introduction of the Starlink service in Japan comes as the technology has proved successful in war-torn Ukraine, where it was used to provide communications technology in areas where existing infrastructure was destroyed.

Previously, wireless radio and existing satellite communication systems were used in disaster-stricken areas, but services requiring high-speed connections and large amounts of data such as video calls had been difficult, said Yuichiro Usuda, head of a government panel tasked with promoting disaster preparedness measures.

A communication service like Starlink is particularly useful in the Noto Peninsula, where there is limited transport access, he said.

Related coverage:

Quake chaos forces Wajima kids to leave families to continue studies

Japan allows quake-hit foreign trainees to work under relief steps

U.S. forces to join relief efforts for central Japan quake from Jan. 17
First lot of 20 vultures to arrive at PTR in 2-3 days





By Kaushik Bhattacharya

Maharashtra Forest Department, with the help of Vulture Conservation Breeding Centre (VCBC), Pinjore and Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS), will release 20 White-backed and Long-billed vultures, currently in captivity, into the wild at Pench Tiger Reserve (PTR) in the next 4-5 days. A joint team of Maharashtra Forest Department and BNHS is currently in VCBC Pinjore to bring these 20 vultures and as per the information, the team will arrive at Nagpur in the next 2-3 days. As per the information received by the sources, Ten pairs each of the scavengers will be released in PTR, Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR), and Melghat Tiger Reserve (MTR) in the next few months. Releasing this endangered species after breeding is a good initiative by the Government. The first 10 pairs of vultures will be released in PTR and we are on our way to get them to Nagpur, a senior official told The Hitavada. Government of India has established four Vulture Conservation and Breeding Centres at West Bengal, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh and Assam.

These four VCBCs in the country acheived success in conservation and breeding 750 vultures of three species -- White-backed, Long-billed and Slender-billed -- from looming extinction. Government of India has started releasing these vultures in wild since 2020. Eight critically endangered Oriental White-backed vultures were released into the wild for the first time in Haryana. Close to three years later, five survived and two have paired and successfully nested in the habitat of the Shivalik range in the foothills of the Himalayas. After the success story of Haryana, the Government released 31 Oriental white-backed vultures in batches in West Bengal in 2021. We have initiated this campaign in 2020 where we released 8 in Haryana and then 31 in West Bengal.

Except one, all released vultures are doing well and some of them travelled to Bhutan and Nepal also, said Kishor Rithe, Honorary Secretary, BNHS. It is the first time when the government has decided to release the highest 20 pairs of vultures in wild and it is going to be happen in Maharashtra itself, said Rithe. The PTR management has already completed the construction of vulture aviary whereas the preparation is under way in TATR and MTR. It is a collaborative initiative to save the three species of vultures from looming extinction. The government got tremendous success in this and as a result Maharashtra will also get these critically endangered species in the next few days.
from raising questions against consecration ceremony Ayodhya: Dy CM Shukla





Staff Reporter

Deputy Chief Minister Rajendra Shukla, during his brief stay in the city took a dig at the Congress party leaders, stating that the party is in a dire situation due to their inappropriate statements. Shukla said Congress leaders should refrain from raising questions about the consecration ceremony of Lord Ram in Ayodhya. He warned that if such questions continue to be raised, it will undoubtedly convey that Congress and its leaders are not happy with the consecration of Ramlalla in Ayodhya. The Deputy CM, while criticising former Chief Minister and senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh, said ever since Singh stepped down from the post of Chief Minister he has been making inappropriate remarks.

Deputy Chief Minister Shukla acknowledged Singhs proficiency in making statements but asserted that he has taken it upon himself to oppose every positive initiative. He added that despite Digvijay Singhs efforts, the public is well aware of the Congress partys shaky position across the country. Deputy CM Shukla praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying there are numerous cases where the PM has successfully addressed issues, whether related to Kashmir or consecration of Lord Ram in Ayodhya. Regarding I.N.D.I.A coalition, he said all parties are connected for their own self-interest, functioning like private limited companies that aim to secure seats for their family members. In contrast, BJP is a party for the people, always prioritising their welfare. He criticised the coalition for being formed to weaken PM Modi but affirmed that people of the country have decided not to let Modi weaken.

On the question of Shankaracharya not participating in the consecration of Ramlalla in Ayodhya, Shukla said Shankaracharyas are respected by us. If they are not going to Ayodhya now, they will definitely go later. I believe is that everyone should participate in the consecration ceremony of Lord Ram. On Rahul Gandhis Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, he said Atal Behari Vajpayee had once said that our achievements will not be overshadowed by your criticism, so even if Rahul Gandhi continues to criticise, people have stopped listening to him.
GUJ BOAT TRAGEDY 12 school students, 2 teachers among 27 persons killed as ill-fated boat overturns in lake





VADODARA :

TWELVE students and two teachers died after a boat capsized in Harni lake on the outskirts of Vadodara city in Gujarat on Thursday, while 18 students and two teachers were rescued, State Minister Harsh Sanghavi said. Earlier, the PSO of Harni police station had put the toll at 16, comprising 14 students and two teachers. Those on board the ill-fated boat were on a picnic when the tragedy occurred in the afternoon. Twelve students and two teachers died in the boat capsizing incident. A total of 18 students and two teachers were rescued. We have learnt only 10 students on board were wearing life jackets. It proves organisers were at fault, Gujarat Minister of State for Home Sanghavi told reporters. An FIR under sections 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and 308 (attempt to commit culpable homicide) of the Indian Penal Code has been registered and two persons have been arrested, Sanghavi informed. Teams have been formed to nab other culprits, he added.

Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel visited the site late in the evening and along with Sangahvi toured Janvi Hospital and state-run SSG Hospital to meet survivors and kin of the deceased. Patel also monitored the rescue operation being carried out by personnel from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and other agencies, including the local fire brigade. Earlier in the evening, National Disaster Response Force officials said four persons were still missing and the search and rescue operation at the site was continuing with the help of deep divers, SONAR and under-water cameras. In a message on social media platform X, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, Distressed by the loss of lives to a boat capsizing at the Harni lake in Vadodara. My thoughts are with the bereaved families in this hour of grief. May the injured recover soon. The local administration is providing all possible assistance to those affected. An ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh each from PMNRF would be given to the next of kin of each deceased. The injured would be given Rs 50,000, the PM further said. Vadodara Chief Fire Officer Parth Brahmbhatt had earlier said some persons were brought to safety by local residents before agencies arrived at the site.

The Gujarat Government ordered a high-level probe in the incident and directed the Vadodara District Collector to submit the inquiry report within 10 days. A notification issued by the state home department said the collector is directed to conduct a detailed inquiry on reasons and circumstances which led to the tragedy, whether there was any negligence on the part of the contractor or any official and how such incidents can be avoided in the future. Gujarat Chief Minister announced compensation of Rs 4 lakh to kin of those who have died and Rs 50,000 to the injured. Gujarat Education Minister Kuber Dindor said a probe has been ordered after he learnt the boat was carrying more persons than the stipulated number. I have also learnt students were not wearing life jackets at the time of the accident. We will take action against those found guilty (of these lapses), Dindor said. A preliminary probe by authorities also revealed the boat, which was pulled out from the muddy waters, has only 14 seats, officials said.

The area around Harni lake on the outskirts of Vadodara in Gujarat was bustling with people, including distressed parents, after news of the tragedy spread. I came here to pick up my son after receiving a call from the school teacher that he was not feeling well. However, I realised he was on the boat. Thankfully, he was rescued by some persons as soon as the boat overturned, said a man by the lake. However, a man who sat sobbing at a nearby hospital was not as lucky. My daughter was on the boat. She had gone on a picnic. She is dead and I am here to claim her body. Who do I hold accountable for this tragedy, he said crying. Mukesh Khavdu, a youngster living near the lake, was one of the first responders. I was at my shop near Harni lake when the incident took place. When I heard the cries of a teacher for help, I immediately jumped into the water as I know swimming. I rescued four children from the overturned boat said Khavdu. The area was teeming with public as well as personnel from the National Disaster Response Force, the Fire Brigade and ambulances, with senior officials, including Collector AB Gor, monitoring the rescue operation.
Indian Navy rescues cargo vessel under drone attack in Gulf of Aden





NEW DELHI :

THE Navy once again came to the rescue of a cargo vessel with 22, including nine Indians onboard, which came under attack by drones in the Gulf of Aden. The Navy received a distress call, and soon after the warship INS Visakhapatnam intercepted the vessel and provided the assistance. The Indian Navy informed that its Guided Missile Destroyer INS Visakhapatnam mission deployed in Gulf of Aden for anti-piracy operations, swiftly responded to a distress call by Marshall Island flagged MV Genco Picardy following a drone attack at 2311 hours on January 17 and intercepted the MV at 0030 hrs on January 18 to provide assistance. MV Genco Picardy with 22 crew, including nine Indians, reported nil casualties and fire under control, said officials. After intercepting the vessel, MV Genco Picardy, bomb experts from INS Visakhapatnam boarded the ship to inspect the damaged area. Specialists, after a thorough inspection, have rendered the area safe for further transit.

The vessel is proceeding to the next port of call, Navy said. The incident comes amid growing concerns over Houthi militants stepping up attacks on merchant vessels in the Red Sea as the Israel-Hamas conflict continues. Navy Chief Admiral R. Hari Kumar has issued instructions to firmly deal with such maritime incidents. On January 4 also Indian Navys Mission Deployed platforms responded swiftly to a maritime incident in Arabian Sea involving a hijacking attempt onboard Liberia Flagged bulk carrier.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) said that the vessel had sent a message on the UKMTO portal indicating boarding by approximately five to six unknown armed personnel in the evening. Responding swiftly to the developing situation, the Indian Navy launched a Maritime Patrol Aircraft (MPA) and diverted INS Chennai deployed for Maritime Security Operations to assist the vessel, officials added. The aircraft overflew the vessel on early morning of January 5 and established contact with the vessel, ascertaining the Safety of the crew, the MoD officials added. According to the MoD, India has increased maritime surveillance in the Arabian Sea. The Indian Navy has deployed 10 warships here in view of the incidents of piracy and kidnapping. The Navy has doubled the number of warships here within the last few days. Navy helicopters have also been deployed on the warships.
Jihadist Influence In Pakistan





ByM A Hossain

IIN THE year 2023, Pakistan found itself grappling with an unprecedented surge in terrorist incidents. The Talibans triumph in Afghanistan has catalysed the surge, which in turn emboldened and strengthened the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). Over the past two years, TTP underwent a transformative series of mergers, centralising its organisational framework and recalibrating its operational strategy, exclusively focusing on a war against Pakistan. The ideological and tribal nexus cultivated between the Afghan Taliban and the TTP has conferred an unprecedented level of strategic depth in its history. This has amplified the complexity of Pakistans struggle against terrorism amidst concurrent political and economic challenges. Interestingly, the genesis of this contemporary terrorism is rooted in a protracted historical perspective that necessitates scrutiny to unearth its foundational causes. The historical narrative unfolds during the Anglo-Indian era, when Islam, as an institution, faced persistent assaults from British rulers and Hindu revivalists. Islamic scholars emerged as stalwart defenders of their faith, preventing Islam from succumbing to the fate of other creeds in Asia. In 1806, Shah Abdul Aziz Mohaddith Dehlavi declared India under British dominion as Dar-ul-Harb (abode of war), asserting the obligation for Muslims to wage revolt for freedom, equality, justice, and revolution against the British Government.

In his fatwa, he articulated that expelling the British was the primary objective, thereafter, it was legitimate for Muslims to hold the reins of power. Thats why, Shah Abdul Aziz has been viewed as a precursor of the Indian Independence movement. The legacy continued with Sayed Ahmad Barelvi, a devoted follower of Shah Abdul Aziz, declaring jihad (war) against non-Muslim rulers, and culminated in his death in the Battle of Balakot in 1831. Islamic clerics and religious educational institutes played a pivotal role in nurturing socio-political consciousness among Muslims, advocating for equality, justice, and Muslim rights within the British Indian context. The Deoband Madarasa, established in 1866, and its scholars actively contributed to the Indian independence movement. While a majority of Barelvis and select influential Deobandi clerics supported the creation of Pakistan, the Kabaliya region (presently Waziristan), was an autonomous zone throughout the British Raj, adhering to Shah Abdul Azizs fatwa. During the Partition movement, Deobandi Ulema, including Mufti Muhammad Shafi and Maulana Shabbir Ahmad Uthmani, persuaded Kabali chieftains to align with Pakistan, promising the implementation of Sharia rule.

Conversely, most Deobandi Ulema, led by Maulana Hussain Ahmad Madani, opposed the creation of Pakistan and the two-nation theory. After Pakistans inception, Islamic scholars and jihadist groups found themselves disillusioned and betrayed by the ruling system, as the country remained bereft of governance under Sharia Law. The separation of East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) exacerbated the frustration, as its leaders opted for a democratic system. Jihadist groups had been struggling since 1947 to establish Islamic rule in Pakistan. At times they received state sponsorship against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and in the Kashmir conflict. President Ziaul Haq harboured ambitions of utilising the Mujahideen as a proxy force in South and Central Asia. Waziristan was a safe haven for local and foreign mujahideen. The people of this region, entrenched in orthodox Islam and staunch traditionalism, laid the groundwork for jihadist activities. Mullah Powinda was the pioneer of jihad in Waziristan. Present TTP emanates from the Waziristan region. So, the present jihadist activities are not a new phenomenon for Pakistan. During the Soviet-Afghan war, foreign Arab Mujahideen got shelter in Pakistan and utilised the land as a launching pad against Soviet invaders. Al-Qaeda capitalised on this opportunity, merging with local groups and fortifying jihadist networks.

Even before Al-Qaeda, sporadic jihadist groups in Pakistan aspired to establish a Sharia-ruled nation. The intermittent negotiations between Mujahideen groups and the Pakistani Government tighten the resolution over the demand for a modern state and sovereignty, particularly regarding the withdrawal of Government security forces from the claimed area. Since the creation of Pakistan, the ruling system has stumbled numerous times. No democratic Prime Minister could complete their tenure due to military intervention. The military remains powerful in dictating the political landscape in Pakistan. After 76 years of Pakistans independence, people are very frustrated, and at present, economic and political challenges made them the worst sufferers. So they sought some alternatives, which became evident during fervent protests by Islamist groups in 2022. Following the Lal Masjid incident in June 2007, Al-Qaeda and its local offshoots in Pakistan, particularly TTP, openly declared war against the Pakistani Government system. After the Taliban-US truce in 2021, more than 40 local jihadist groups merged with TTP, and now they are deeply rooted in society.

Day by day, they are growing stronger, and they have expanded their influence to other parts of Pakistan, especially Balochistan. TTPs guerrilla modus operandi reflects their popular support. At present, they have changed their operational policy where they only target security forces. In my opinion, the Government of Pakistan and its establishment have committed strategic blunders. Firstly, the strategic misstep of expelling undocumented Pashtuns into Afghanistan, ostensibly for security reasons, has backfired. The Pashtun community, historically divided along the Durand Line, vehemently rejects this colonial-era border. The resultant insult and determination among the sensitive Pashtuns to retaliate pose a significant threat. Secondly, there may be reason to believe that Imran Khan has a covert tie with Islamist groups. Imrans PTI could form a Government in provinces where jihadist groups are influential. Consequently, sidelining Imran inadvertently aids these jihadist groups in garnering popular support. This confluence of missteps contributes to the complex dynamics fuelling the rise of jihadist influence in Pakistan. (IPA/By arrangement with the Arabian Post)
Minister Rakesh Singh discusses Geo Park Project with officials





Staff Reporter

State Public Works Department Minister Rakesh Singh, on Thursday conducted a meeting with senior officials of Madhya Pradesh Tourism Department and Geological Survey of India (GSI) in Bhopal to discuss establishment and project details of Geo Park in Lamhetaghat-Bhedaghat, Jabalpur. He sought detailed information about the entire project and gave necessary directives to senior officials. During the meeting, Singh said the countrys first Geo Park in Jabalpur will prove to be a milestone not only in geological structures but also in the study of human civilisation, tourism and cultural development. He said Bhedaghat-Lamhetaghat is globally known for geological activities. The PWD Minister directed officials to focus on making Geo Park and Museum attractive, impactful and educational. He asked to include information about Lamheta, Queen Durgavati, and also incorporate the cultural heritage of Jabalpur in the Museum. He also suggested promoting nature-based tourism in Geo Park, proposing creation of nature trails and nature-centric structures.

The selected agency presented the entire Geo Park project through a presentation during the meeting. It highlighted all constructions in Geo Park will maintain a close connection with nature and the architecture will be captivating. Structures will be built amidst thousands of trees, offering visitors a unique experience. The museum established in Geo Park will be of international standards, including modern technologies such as 3D modeling, thematic design, interactive touch tables etc. The museum will be divided into several sections catering to everyone from adults to children and scholars studying geological studies. It will feature nature walks through 5D films. Likewise, effective and educational information about Madhya Pradeshs geography and culture, river Narmadas geological legacy, Earth exploration, double planets and the journey to the Earths center will be presented through interactive and 3D modeling. In the museum, 13 geographical regions of Madhya Pradesh will be presented in a very attractive manner along with their geographical-cultural importance and heritage.
School jobs scam: ED raids continue in Kolkata for over 12 hours





KOLKATA,

THE Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday raided eight places in and around the city in connection with its probe into alleged irregularities in the School Service Commission (SSC) of West Bengal, a senior officer said. The officer said the raids, which started around 6.30 am, were still continuing. Searches were being conducted at the residences, offices and bungalows of those who allegedly acted as middlemen in the scam, he said. These middlemen used to collect money and transfer it to various addresses. We are conducting raids at the residences and offices used by them, the ED officer told PTI. Accompanied by a huge number of Central forces, the ED officers started search operations at New Town, Mukundapur and Nayabad on the eastern fringes of Kolkata, he said, adding that family members of the alleged middlemen were also questioned.

The officer said one of these middlemen was very close to former Bengal Minister Partha Chatterjee and MLA Jibon Saha, both arrested in the same scam. One of the middlemen has accumulated properties at over 400 places in the State and we are trying to find out the source of this money. Our officers are going through the bank documents and other property-related papers, he said. The agency claimed that the name of another middleman has also cropped up during their probe and search operations are currently underway at his residence. Incidentally, the CBI, which is also probing the same scam, has also named this middleman as a key person in the scandal.
Shauryas death puts translocation of 3rd batch on hold





By Ankita Garg

The recent death of cheetah Shaurya has put adverse effect on plan to bring the third batch of cheetahs from African countries. Authorities have put temporary halt on the translocation of cheetahs. As all the cheetahs were doing well for past five months, authorities had started flexing muscles to bring the third batch of cheetahs from African countries. Post-mortem of the cheetah was done and sample were sent to the Jabalpur laboratory for further testing. It took around three hours to conduct the autopsy of cheetah. Officials said that autopsy suggested that the cheetah has died of heart attack. Monitoring team has found the cheetah unconscious in enclosure and then a three-member team transqualised the cat to start treatment. However, in the afternoon cheetah died.

KNP Field Director Uttam Sharma said, Reason for Shauryas death is yet to be find out but autopsy suggested that he has died of heart attack. Sample has been sent to the lab for further treatment. He further said that plan to bring more cheetahs from has been postponed for few days as officials want to see the status of Kuno cheetah. Officials said that there was no marks or wound found on the body and even the cat was not ill. DFO R Thirukural said that Gaurav and other cheetahs are well. Till now, ten cheetahs, including three cubs, have died. Sources said that, Gandhi Sagar Wildlife Sanctuary is being prepared for the cheetahs. The sanctuary is in its final stage to welcome the next batch from African countries. However, the death of cheetahs has put a halt on proposal to bring more. Experts have also suggested to see the mortality rate for a few months and then plan to bring more cats. Out of 20 cheetahs introduced to Sheopur, seven have died of various reasons.

Out of seven cubs delivered by two cheetahs, three cubs have died. Cheetah Shaurya, who died on January 16, was the tenth cheetah. A few days back, cheetah Shaurya and Gaurav fought with Agni and Vayu. After death of Shaurya, cheetah Gaurav is feeling lonely. The park officials said that both cheetahs always stayed together even in the enclosure. They use to kill the prey jointly. Tenth casualty of cheetah is a major setback to the ambitious cheetah project of Government. Cheetah project was launched in India on September 17, 2022, by Prime Minister Narendra Modi with release of eight Namibian cheetah in Sheopur.
Tests on Bharatiya Space Station next year: Somanath





FARIDABAD,

ISRO plans to carry out the first tests of the proposed Bharatiya Space Station next year and talks are on with the industry to manufacture, test and launch its first module by 2028, the space agencys chief S Somanath said on Thursday. Interacting with reporters on the sidelines of the India International Science Festival, he said Indias first mission to Venus is also likely to be launched in 2028 and engineers are working on bringing down costs on certain high-value components. Last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi set ISRO a target to launch the Bharatiya Space Station by 2035 and land an Indian astronaut on the Moon by 2040. It will happen next year.

On Tuesday, I had a review of the Bharatiya Space Station architecture. Our people are working on so many options. Which one to choose, I am really having mixed feelings now, Somanath responded to a question on whether any tests of the space station would be carried out in the near future. He said the Prime Ministers announcement has really created an enthusiasm internally and ISRO was already talking to the industry to manufacture, test and launch the space station in 2028. It is a space station, not a person. The person will come whenever they are there. It will still work if there is nobody there, Somanath said, indicating that initially the space station will be unmanned.

He said the agency also planned to launch the mission to Venus in 2028 and engineers were working towards it. Venus mission has already been proposed once, we are looking at how to bring down the costs. There are some high value items we want to bring down the cost, Somanath said. He said it was not possible to give a timeline for the Venus mission as the primary goal for ISRO was the tasks set by the Prime Minister.
THE STRIKES





THE world, which has been facing quite a tough time handling the prolonged Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Hamas conflicts, is on the verge of another complex situation following the strikes by Iran on Pakistani soil and subsequent Pakistani air strike inside Iran. The conflict between Iran and Pakistan is not new. Both the countries have been sharing inputs with each other about terror outfits from across the borders. For Iran, the Jaish-al-Adl founded by the members of the erstwhile Jundallah, is a terrorist outfit having rear base in Pakistan but attacking Sistan and Baluchestan regions of Iran. For Pakistan, Balochistan Liberation Army is a terrorist outfit having base in Iran, and attacking Chinese sites in Balochistan region of Pakistan. After striking parts of Iraq and Syria, Iran has struck part of Pakistan. Following this, Pakistan not only recalled its envoy from Iran and asked Irans ambassador not to return to Pakistan, but also struck parts of Iran. Both the countries have claimed to have acted in own security interest. Close on the heels, Iran has declared to conduct military exercises in area bordering Pakistan. All these have just heightened the tensions step by step.

Apart from adding a new chapter to Shia-Sunni conflict, there exists a complex situation. For, Iran is supporting terrorist group Hamas, whose attack on Israel resulted in a conflict in West Asian region. Yemens pro-Palestinian Houthi terrorists are attacking commercial vessels in the Red Sea, casting uncertainty over an important trade route for Iran. The US, which supports Israel and has been at loggerheads with Iran, has condemned Irans strikes in Iraq, Syria, and now Pakistan. China, which is friends with both Iran and Pakistan, has tried to intervene asking both to exercise restraint. The US and China both have their own intentions to serve. However, India has taken a rational stand as is the hallmark of its foreign policy. She has called the tension a matter between Iran and Pakistan, but has reiterated zero tolerance towards terrorism. Whether the latest conflict creates an unstable Middle East apart from already volatile West Asia, will have a bearing on the global economy. Already, the global supply chain disruptions in Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Hamas conflicts have raised global concerns.

The Houthis strikes on commercial vessels in the Red Sea have sparked fears of global cost escalation and disturbance in energy trade through sea route. In this situation, if multiple players step in in the Iran-Pakistan tension, the global power balance may see a shift, which may not have positive implications for many including two major economies of the region -- China and India. As for Pakistan, it is getting a taste of own medicine. It has done a great injustice to its people, and also affected the regional peace and stability by supporting terrorism as State policy and providing a safe haven to terrorists. Now, that monster of terrorism has grown too big for it to handle. It encouraged radicalism within Pakistan and also provided safe bases to terrorists disturbing the neighbouring countries like Iran, Afghanistan, India. Besides, it has earned the dubious distinction of being an exporter of terrorism. In the past few years, Pakistan has been facing quite an embarrassing situation. Iran is not the first to initiate action against terror group having a base in Pakistan. In 2011, the US had launched the famous operation in military garrison town of Abbottabad in Pakistan to eliminate al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden.

More recently, India launched Balakot air strike to cleanse terrorist base in Pakistan following the terrorist attack at Pulwama in India. Three countries taking action against terrorist bases in Pakistan tell the story of the failed terror-harbouring country. The neighbouring countries troubled by terrorists using Pakistan as rear base, have started taking action instead of engaging in time-consuming futile exercise of handing over dossiers to Pakistan. Riddled by radicalisation, fundamentalism, corruption, and massive failure of the elected governments and dictatorships in correcting the course for the people and the economy, Pakistan has decelerated to such a weak position that it can not take action against terrorists. In the instant case, it has carried out air strikes in Iran. But, there is a reason to believe that some bigger international power is operating from behind the curtains to give Pakistan this much teeth. Else, it could not have taken such a step on its own. The ongoing poll campaign in Pakistan could be another factor for Pakistani establishment to score some perception points among the voters. Whatever might be Pakistans compulsion, its strike in Iran may not end the latest conflict.

Apart from the other geopolitical complexities, one more thing brought again into focus by the latest escalation of tension between the two countries is the restive province of Balochistan in Pakistan. This particular province has been facing atrocities by Pakistan to protect Chinese investment. Besides, Pakistan could never successfully emotionally integrate this province as much of the Islamic countrys energy, time, and efforts were sapped by dictatorships, corruption, and fundamentalism. Now, the spirit of independence is sweeping Balochistan again. In the dynamic sphere of geopolitical situation, which factor becomes more important and has a decisive bearing on the region, cannot be foretold. For, powers may pull the trigger, but those on ground bear the brunt and shape their response to the situation. So, if this conflict becomes prolonged, it may engulf the immediate geographies and also the wider economic landscape of the world trade. Escalation may not be in anyones interest.
SP Zubiri statement on the Sandiganbayan verdict vs Sen. Estrada

The Senate takes due notice and respects the decision of the Sandiganbayan on the cases filed against Sen. Jinggoy Estrada, a sitting senator of the Philippines with a mandate emanating from over 15 million voters.

The Senate also recognizes the fact that there are still remedies available to Sen. Jinggoy under existing laws and the Rules of Court.

He has the right to exhaust all of these. He can still file a Motion for Reconsideration with the Sandiganbayan; he can still file an appeal by certiorari with the Supreme Court.

Until and unless the decision becomes final and executory, Sen. Jinggoy is duty-bound to continue performing his functions as Senator of the Republic.
By Tomoyuki Tachikawa, KYODO NEWS - Jan 19, 2024 - 09:09 | All, Japan

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has been driven into a corner, as prosecutors are now poised to build a case against a former accountant of the ruling party's faction he used to lead over a political fundraising scandal.

Since the revelations about secret slush funds came to light late last year, Kishida, who heads the Liberal Democratic Party, has tried to place the blame on its largest faction, which was helmed by former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe before he was assassinated in July 2022.

But Kishida's attempt has so far been unsuccessful. Instead, he has been forced to be accountable for the latest allegations rattling the LDP, which has dominated Japan's politics and been in power for most of the period since 1955.

The funds scandal is "not just a problem for the Abe faction but for the entire LDP," said Takayuki Ochiai, a vice secretary general of the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, as he urged every ruling lawmaker to take responsibility.

Kenta Izumi, the opposition party's leader, called on Kishida to step down, saying the prime minister "must put an end to the slush funds scandal."

Speculation has been rife within the LDP that Kishida, who took office in October 2021, will be compelled to resign as prime minister once an important initial budget for the fiscal year from April 2024 is passed in parliament, possibly in March, some LDP members said.

Prosecutors are investigating several LDP factions amid allegations that they failed to report revenue from fundraising events in violation of the political funds control law, and have been questioning some of its key party members on a voluntary basis.

The Abe faction is suspected of having accumulated hundreds of millions of yen in slush funds, and prosecutors are seeking the arrest of some of its lawmakers to figure out the financial flows within the group, sources close to the matter said.

In a bid to refresh the LDP's tarnished image, Kishida set up an internal "political reform" panel earlier this month and is seeking to establish rules to enhance the transparency of funds raised by its factions.

Kishida, who headed the fourth-biggest intraparty group until he quit in early December amid the scandal, has asked LDP lawmakers to consider revising the political funds control law, often criticized for containing loopholes that enable politicians to generate slush funds.

At a panel meeting, Keiko Kiyohara, a visiting professor at Kyorin University and a former mayor of Tokyo's Mitaka, said the slush funds scandal has "desecrated" the public as such funds may have been used for election campaign activities. She said more transparency around how money is used in politics is necessary.

Mitsuo Noguchi, a tax accountant, also proposed that the party's headquarters audit political fund income and expenditure reports compiled by each faction.

The primary focus, however, is on whether Kishida can disband the LDP's factions, a move that may encounter stiff opposition from the largest group in particular due to the crucial role it plays in decision-making processes, including in selecting the party's leader, who typically goes on to become prime minister.

Kishida said Thursday that the faction he used to lead would be dissolved if the move contributes to recovering people's confidence in politics.

Some LDP members, including unaffiliated veteran lawmaker and former Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, have claimed that its factions should be dissolved to rebuild public trust.

But an Abe group member disagreed with such an opinion, saying that "the abandonment of LDP factions is apparently aimed at weakening the influence of the Abe group and other powerful rivals, probably benefiting Prime Minister Kishida and in turn helping him survive."

Kishida should "first provide an adequate explanation to the public about the scandal that surrounds the group he used to lead, before making a swift decision to dissolve LDP factions in a bid to restore the popularity of his Cabinet," he added.

The former accountant of the so-called Kishida faction is alleged to have failed to declare around 30 million yen ($203,000) over three years through 2020, but the money was not returned to its members as happened in some other factions, the sources said.

On Thursday, the faction submitted corrections for three years of political funds reports through 2022 to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, government officials said.

If Kishida dares to try and disband the factions, the Abe group, composed of about one-fourth of more than 370 LDP lawmakers, may seek to oust the prime minister from power for the upcoming House of Representatives election.

"If the general election is held under Kishida's leadership, the Abe faction, which has been viewed unfavorably against a backdrop of the secret slush funds scandal, would lose a significant number of seats in the lower house," the group member said.

"We have to choose a new leader who can garner public support to win the election," he added.

The present four-year terms for lower house members expire in October 2025 unless Kishida dissolves the chamber. Under Japan's Constitution, the prime minister has the authority to decide whether to dissolve the lower house.

Related coverage:

Prosecutors to build case on Kishida faction over LDP funds scandal

Japan's ruling LDP starts discussions to reform political funds rules

FOCUS: LDP lawmaker arrest over funds scandal further blurs Japan PM's fate
KYODO NEWS - Jan 19, 2024 - 19:10 | All, Japan

Japanese prosecutors on Friday indicted several individuals from three factions within the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, including one formerly led by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, over a political fundraising scandal that has sent shockwaves through the party.

But the prosecutors said they did not indict executives of the three factions due to a lack of evidence despite mounting criticism over the scandal, prompting opposition parties to lambaste LDP lawmakers for failing to take full responsibility.

The prosecutors indicted without arrest a lawmaker and an accountant from the largest faction previously headed by the late Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, while a former accountant of Kishida's group and another politician of the Abe faction were issued summary indictments.

A former accountant of a faction led by former LDP Secretary General Toshihiro Nikai was also indicted without arrest and a secretary of Nikai, an influential figure in the ruling party, was issued a summary indictment.

Kenta Izumi, chief of the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, told reporters that the prosecutors' decision not to indict the LDP executives "preys on the weak," adding that Kishida has not demonstrated his leadership.

The Tokyo prosecutors were investigating whether the senior lawmakers from the Abe faction had colluded with the faction's accountant, questioning them on a voluntary basis. But they failed to find evidence of such collusion, the prosecutors said.

"We judged it difficult to prove any collusion," Takashi Shinkawa, an official of the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office, said at a press conference.

It is rare for prosecutors to meet the press, but Shinkawa said they decided to do so because there is a "high degree of social interest" in the scandal and they are aware that it is necessary to inform the public of the development.

A summary indictment is a simplified legal procedure in which those accused do not face a formal trial and are fined by a court.

The LDP has been under intense scrutiny as the biggest faction is suspected of having failed to report hundreds of millions of yen in revenue from fundraising parties to accumulate secret slush funds over a five-year period through 2022.

On Friday, Kishida apologized for a series of indictments that have hurt public trust in politics, telling reporters that his LDP will take measures to prevent a recurrence.

Factions within the LDP have traditionally set quotas for lawmakers for the sale of party tickets, usually priced at 20,000 yen ($135). In some groups, if lawmakers surpass their targets, the extra funds are passed back to them as a type of commission.

Key members of the Abe faction include former Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno and former trade minister Yasutoshi Nishimura, both of whom served as secretary general for the group, and former LDP Diet affairs chief Tsuyoshi Takagi, who currently holds the position.

In addition to lawmakers believed to have had knowledge of the flow of money, two politicians with ministerial experience and lawmaker Ryu Shionoya, who is the de facto head of the Abe faction, were also alleged to have received slush funds.

Rank-and-file lawmakers Yasutada Ono and Yaichi Tanigawa, who were indicted Friday, are suspected of receiving more than 50 million yen and some 40 million yen, respectively, from slush funds created by their group, sources close to the matter said.

Ono and Tanigawa left the party upon the indictment. Later in the day, Tanigawa apologized to the public, while Ono told reporters that he was "not involved" in any violation.

Yoshitaka Ikeda, a lawmaker who belonged to the Abe faction known as Seiwaken or the Seiwa policy study group, was arrested in early January over similar allegations. The LDP expelled Ikeda after prosecutors built a case against him.

The amount the Abe faction amassed appears to have totaled about 500 million yen over five years from 2018, a period during which the statute of limitations has not expired under the political funds control law, the sources said.

Several lawmakers of the Abe faction may have pocketed a portion of the revenue they collected by selling party tickets above their quotas, with the total amount reaching at least 80 million yen between 2018 and 2022, according to the sources.

The majority of nearly 100 members of the Abe faction are suspected of having received funds, but Ono, Tanigawa and Ikeda allegedly obtained significantly more than the others, the sources said. Ikeda is accused of having procured around 48 million yen.

The law requires a political group's accountant to submit a report on its income and expenditure. Failure to do so can result in imprisonment for up to five years or a fine of up to 1 million yen.

Related coverage:

Japan PM Kishida vows to disband LDP faction amid funds scandal
KYODO NEWS - Jan 19, 2024 - 20:10 | World, All

North Korea said Friday it conducted an "important test of its underwater nuclear weapon system" in the Sea of Japan in response to joint military exercises by the United States, South Korea and Japan.

The test was of the "Haeil-5-23" system, which is still under development, North Korea's Defense Ministry said in a statement, according to the official Korean Central News Agency. The statement did not give further details of the test.

"Our army's underwater nuke-based countering posture is being further rounded off and its various maritime and underwater responsive actions will continue to deter the hostile military maneuvers of the navies of the U.S. and its allies," the KCNA report quoted the statement as saying.

Last year, Pyongyang claimed it had successfully tested an underwater nuclear attack drone designed to generate tsunami to destroy enemy ships and ports.

The statement said the three-day trilateral drills conducted in waters off South Korea's Jeju Island from Monday are "an act of seriously threatening the security" of North Korea. "We will never tolerate the reckless military confrontation hysteria," the ministry said, according to the report.

Meanwhile, North Korean Ambassador to China Ri Ryong Nam met Friday with Liu Jianchao, head of the Chinese Communist Party's International Liaison Department, and agreed that the two countries will work to deepen their relations as this year marks the 75th anniversary of the establishment of bilateral diplomatic ties.

Ri expressed Pyongyang's firm support to China's struggle to safeguard its core interests related to Taiwan and Hong Kong, among others, the Communist Party said.

Related coverage:

North Korea test-fired solid-fuel hypersonic ballistic missile: KCNA

North Korea's Kim seeks to define South Korea as enemy under Constitution

North Korea fires intermediate-range ballistic missile, falls in sea
This photo taken on Jan. 18, 2024 shows the third Arab Media Congress in Tunis, Tunisia. The third Arab Media Congress concluded Thursday in the Tunisian capital, after focusing on the opportunities and challenges posed by the application of artificial intelligence (AI) in news reporting. (Xinhua)

TUNIS, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- The third Arab Media Congress concluded Thursday in the Tunisian capital, after focusing on the opportunities and challenges posed by the application of artificial intelligence (AI) in news reporting.

The two-day event, organized by the Arab States Broadcasting Union, was held under the theme of "Media in the Artificial Intelligence Era: Opportunities and Challenges."

The congress' main topics included the AI application in media content creation, AI and media professions, technical and technological aspects of using AI, ethics and legislation of AI application, and reviews of successful experiences in using AI in the media field.

The meeting was attended by a number of well-known media personalities and experts from Arab states and other countries. 
ATHENS, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- Europe needs migrants to stay competitive, Dubravka Suica, vice-president for Democracy and Demography of the European Commission, told a forum on the demographic crisis held in Athens on Friday.

Faced with decreasing birthrates, European Union (EU) member states need to consider demographic figures to plan any economic policy and invest in human capital, including legal immigrants, to remain competitive, she said.

The population of people aged 65 or more in the EU will increase significantly, rising from 90.5 million at the start of 2019 to 129.8 million by 2050, while at the same time there will be 13.5 percent fewer people aged less than 55 living in the EU by 2050, according to projections by Eurostat, the EU statistics agency.

The workforce is aging and shrinking and legal immigration to the EU needs to increase by about 1 million people per year in coming years to fill the gap, according to EU.

In the context of the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) package to support the EU member states to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, until 2027 EU will invest 156 billion euros (169.78 billion U.S. dollars) for demography, including housing and education programs, Suica added. (1 euro= 1.09 U.S. dollar) 
BEIJING, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- Orders for online car-hailing services in China rose in December last year compared with the previous month, data from the Ministry of Transport showed on Friday.

Online car-hailing companies received 894 million orders last month, up 8.3 percent month on month, the ministry said.

By the end of last year, a total of 337 online car-hailing companies had been granted permission to operate in China, two more than at the end of November.

A total of 6.57 million online car driving licenses and 2.79 million vehicle transport licenses had been issued across the country by the end of December, up 2.2 percent and 1.7 percent from the previous month, respectively, the data revealed. 
1. All My Life

2. No Son of Mine (With Paranoid and Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap riffs)

3. Rescued

4. The Pretender (Extended version)

5. Walk

6. Times Like These (Dave and Rami into full band)

7. Generator

8. La Dee Da

9. Breakout

10. Guitar Solo / Sabotage / Keyboard Solo / Blitzkrieg Bop / Whip It / March of the Pigs (Band introductions)

11. My Hero (Dave solo into full band)

12. The Sky is a Neighborhood

13. Learn To Fly

14. Arlandria

15. Under You

16. These Days

17. Statues (Dave and Chris)

18. Ballad of the Beaconsfield Miners (Dave solo into full band)

19. Nothing At All (The Beatles Blackbird riff)

20. Big Me (Played by injured fan)

21. Monkey Wrench

22. Aurora (Dedicated to Taylor Hawkins)

23. This Is A Call

24. Big Balls (AC/DC cover with drum technician Fiona on vocals)

25. Best of You
Restaurant founder Yu Shuang (L) instructs as diners try to read and write Braille at the restaurant in Beijing, capital of China, Dec. 24, 2023.

At Xidan in the very heart of Beijing, restaurant Trojan Fairy, is not an ordinary eatery because the diners can find their way to their tables only through the help of an usher, in complete dark.

Yang Demin, the pianist and part-time usher of Trojan Fairy, is now a student at the music department of the Special Education College of Beijing Union University. Yang, with no sense of the light, can accurately locate the table for diners in the restaurant.

Yu Shuang, a former surgeon, founded Trojan Fairy in 2009. Yu, once a short period patient of retinal detachment, though cured, set up the restaurant in order to enable customers to have a brief impression on how the visually impaired people feel everyday.

She provides jobs for the disabled with the hope to help them fit into the society. More than 130 visually impaired and over 40 intellectually or physically disabled people have worked here, part-time or full-time, as purchasing staff, waiters, cooks and even managers of the restaurant. With years of working experiences here, feeling being needed and respected, some of them took on various new roles as music teachers, employees of internet firms or students abroad.

Zhou Haoyu, the present manager of the restaurant, formally a part-time pianist and an usher in the past eight years, himself suffering a weak sense of light, is a good example of how a visually impaired people find a better positon in the society. Thanks to the working experiences at the restaurant, Zhou is now studying after an established musician, he also works as an instructor on vocal music at an art training agency.

Yu Shuang hopes that a meal in darkness can serve as a chance for people to start to know more about the disabled, as well as to cherish the blessings of their own life. (Xinhua/Yin Gang)

Restaurant founder Yu Shuang (1st, R), visually impaired Yang Demin (2nd,R), physically disabled He Ning (3rd, R) and visually impaired Zhi Ming (4th, R) make dumplings in the kitchen of Trojan Fairy on the occasion of winter solstice in Beijing, capital of China, Dec. 22, 2023. (Xinhua/Yin Gang)

This combo photo shows diners preparing to enter Trojan Fairy under the guidance of an usher in Beijing, capital of China, Dec. 24, 2023 (above) and a view of diners entering Trojan Fairy under the guidance of an usher, captured with a thermal imaging camera, in Beijing, Dec. 24, 2023 (below). (Xinhua/Cai Yang)

This photo taken by a thermal imaging camera shows diners trying to touch each other's finger in the complete dark at Trojan Fairy in complete darkness in Beijing, capital of China, Dec. 24, 2023. (Xinhua/Cai Yang)

This photo taken by a thermal imaging camera shows a waiter serving dishes at Trojan Fairy in Beijing, capital of China, Dec. 24, 2023. (Xinhua/Cai Yang)

This combo photo taken by a thermal imaging camera shows people dining at Trojan Fairy in Beijing, capital of China, Dec. 24, 2023. (Xinhua/Yin Gang)

This combo photo shows Zhi Ming (R) and her lover Yang Demin, both visually impaired employees, leaving Special Education College of Beijing Union University in Beijing, capital of China, Dec. 22, 2023 (above) and Zhi Ming (2nd, R) and Yang Demin waiting for a subway on the platform in Beijing, Dec. 22, 2023 (middle) and Zhi Ming (R) and Yang Demin arriving at Trojan Fairy in Beijing, Dec. 22, 2023 (below). They work as music performers and ushers at Trojan Fairy. (Xinhua/Cai Yang)

Zhi Ming, a visually impaired employee, makes dumplings in the kitchen of Trojan Fairy in Beijing, capital of China, Dec. 22, 2023. (Xinhua/Cai Yang)

Zhi Ming (L) and Yang Demin, both visually impaired employees, perform at Trojan Fairy in Beijing, capital of China, Dec. 22, 2023. (Xinhua/Yin Gang)

This combo photo shows Zhou Haoyu, visually impaired employee, smelling the bread he makes at Trojan Fairy in Beijing, capital of China, June 5, 2019 (above) and Zhou accompanying a student on the piano at a training agency for art examinations in Beijing, Jan. 17, 2024 (below, Xinhua/Cai Yang). (Xinhua)

This undated combo photo shows some of the visually impaired people that once worked at Trojan Fairy in Beijing, capital of China. (Xinhua)

Visually impaired Zhou Haoyu demonstrates the lyrics of Italian songs recorded in Braille, in Beijing, capital of China, Jan. 17, 2024. (Xinhua/Cai Yang)
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CARACAS, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- U.S. sanctions on Venezuelan shipping vessels are harming the country's maritime transport, Vice President Delcy Rodriguez denounced on Thursday at the London-based United Nations International Maritime Organization (IMO).

The sanctions have led to the blockade of 39 shipping vessels operated by the state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), Rodriguez said during a meeting with the IMO's new secretary general, Panama-born Arsenio Dominguez Velasco.

"I expressed our concern that the entire fleet of ships and vessels that PDVSA has are being illegally sanctioned, they are blockaded," Rodriguez told Caracas-based news network Telesur.

In addition to the PDVSA fleet, "30 international trade vessels ... have been sanctioned" for doing business with Venezuela, she said.

"We are the country with the fourth-largest number of blockaded ships worldwide, truly an embarrassing situation," said the vice president.

She reiterated the call for ending the blockade against Venezuela, slamming the U.S. sanctions as an "economic genocide."

Washington's unilateral sanctions have dealt a severe blow to Venezuela's oil industry and energy trade, she said. 
In a major development, the Kolkata Municipal Corporation has proposed that any private healthcare establishment going ahead with an expansion plan will have to keep a block for Swastha Sathi card holders.

Chief minister Mamata Banerjee had said over and again that the private hospitals cannot refuse patients with a Swasthya Sathi card and threatened stern action. The state health department had also urged the private hospitals but despite that several complaints regarding Swasthya Sathi card refusal have been received. The hospitals going ahead with expansion plans will have to follow the new rule of Kolkata Municipal Corporation.

A block will have been kept reserved for Swasthya Sathi card holders, failing which the expansion plan will not be allowed. The economically-challenged patients recommended by the mayor will be kept in the block. The proposal got clearance at the meeting of the mayor-in-council members chaired by mayor Firhad Hakim.

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It will be placed before the KMC monthly meeting and with Trinamul Congress having a thumping majority will not face any problem in getting the nod of the councillors. Then the amendment in the building rules will be made and notices will be served on the owners of private hospitals.
BlackRock Incs Bitcoin exchange-traded fund passed USD1 billion in investor inflows. This makes it the first in the group of nine new ETFs directly holding the cryptocurrency to surpass the milestone since the funds started trading last week.

According to the data compiled by Bloomberg, investors deposited USD 371 million in the fund on Wednesday, pushing IBIT past the milestone.

BlackRock and Fidelity have driven early consolidation in the new asset, with the two firms receiving 68 per cent of all inflows across the nine new exchange-traded funds (ETFs) on the market, totaling nearly USD 2 billion.

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Fidelity Investments is close behind as the companys FBTC Bitcoin ETF saw USD 358 million in inflows. This was the highest single day tally since the fund launched a week ago.

In total, about USD 880 million have flowed into Fidelitys fund.

The report further added that a significant portion of inflows are coming from investors leaving Grayscale Investments GBTC fund after the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved the ETFs.

Recently, the US SEC approved the first US-listed ETFs to track bitcoin coming as a watershed for the worlds largest cryptocurrency and the broader crypto industry.

As per the announcement, SEC has approved 11 applications, including from BlackRock, Ark Investments/21Shares, Fidelity, Invesco and VanEck among others.

The move by the SEC opened the door to cryptocurrencies to many new investors who dont want to take the extra steps involved in buying actual bitcoin.

Management fees at BlackRock and Fidelity are a fraction of GBTCs cost which has a sector-high management fee of 1.5 per cent .

However, the lowest fees in the group of new Bitcoin ETFs is of Franklin Templeton at 0.19 per cent management fee. Despite its industry-low fee, Franklin has received less than 2 per cent of inflows across the broader Bitcoin ETF group.
The Data Xgen Technologies on Friday announced the launch of a new email service, under the domain name jaishriram.bharat, dedicated in commemoration of the consecration of Lord Ram under.

The e-mail service has initially been launched in Hindi coinciding with the much-anticipated consecration ceremony of the Ram Temple scheduled for January 22.

To avail of this service, one can download the DataMail (DATAMAIL) mobile app from Android and Apple App Stores and enjoy its benefits free of charge. The service is accessible on any device through mobile email applications and the web.

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Expressing joy over the initiative that is a fusion of technology with spirituality, Ajay Data, founder and CEO of Data Xgen, said, The reconstruction of the Ram Mandir is a significant milestone. We are proud to contribute to this new chapter.

He further said Data Xgens goal has always been to work for the benefit of society through technological advancements. With this email service, we aim to provide people with a secure, safe, and easy way to enjoy the benefits of email and align it with spirituality too, he added.

As 88 per cent of citizens in India primarily communicate in local languages, it is crucial for our email service to be available in their language. Hindi being a major language, we have initially launched jaishriram.bharat in Hindi, and soon it will be available in other languages as well, emphasised Ajay Data.

Data Xgen Technologies is the first company in the world to provide a fully Indian-manufactured email service. It supports email IDs in 22 Indian languages including Hindi, Gujarati, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi, among others, and foreign languages as well, making it the worlds first linguistic email service.

Data Xgen Enterprise Email Software, XgenPlus, which powers this email service, is already serving over 50 million users worldwide. Any individual with a domain in any language can also benefit from XgenPlus for email. It is a robust communication solution that provides email, transaction-related emails, and group emails, all in one place  fast, secure, and reliable.
A nine-day event Bharat Parv will kick off in the city on January 23, said the Ministry of Tourism on Friday.

The annual event, which is being organized by the Tourism ministry, will be held at the lawns and Gyan Path in front of the Red Fort as part of the Republic Day Celebrations.

The highlights of the mega event will be the Republic Day parade tableaux, dynamic cultural performances by the Zonal Cultural Centres and engaging presentations by cultural troupes from various States and Union Territories (UTs), the ministry said.

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Besides this , there will be food stalls representing all the States and UTs, handicraft and handloom display and enthusiastic performances by the Armed Forces Band, it said.

The ministry also informed that this year the event will see participation from 26 Central Ministries and Departments showcasing citizen centric schemes and initiatives of the Government such as Mission Life, One District One Product, Viksit Bharat, Nari Shakti, Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat.

To enhance the cultural experience, a pan-India crafts bazaar will be set up, featuring handicraft and handloom stalls, adding to the richness and vibrancy of the overall showcase.

Thematic pavilions of more than 30 States and UTs will also be set up to showcase diverse tourist attractions of the country. Cultural performances by various Delhi based regional cultural associations will also be organized, the ministry said.

The event is open to the public and entry is free, it added.
Bharadwaj, while addressing a press conference here, said: "I, on behalf of the AAP, have 7 questions for the BJP as to where were these 7 MPs in the last 10 years when the Delhiites needed them the most."
A fire broke out on the sixth floor of the DRDO office at Metcalfe House in north Delhi here on Friday afternoon.

A call was received around noon regarding a fire on the sixth floor of DRDO at Metcalfe House near the Civil Lines metro station. A total of 18 fire tenders were rushed to the site, Delhi Fire Services (DFS) Director Atul Gar said.

The fire has been completely doused and the cooling operation is underway, he said.

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The DFS Director said no injury was reported in the incident. The cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained, he added.

Six people lost their lives after a fire broke out in a house in the Pitampura area of the national capital on Thursday night.
Four women among six people perished in a fire that broke out on Thursday evening in a building at the ZP block in North West Delhis Pitampura, as per the fire department.

The deceased have been identified as Rakesh Gupta (62), Renu Gupta (62), Shweta (30), Santosh (25), Kirti (25) and Shanu Verma (27), all but one residents of the building.

The fire that originated from the first floor of the building soon spread to the floors above, according to local sources. However, the cause of the fire could not be ascertained as yet.

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While eight fire tenders were pressed into action to douse the flames, fire officials managed to evacuate and shift seven people from the house to the hospital.

According to a Delhi Fire Services (DFS) official, a fire call was received from the aforementioned locality at around 8.07 pm. The caller informed about the fire on the upper ground and first floor of the four-storey building.

A case under appropriate sections of the law has been registered in the matter and an investigation initiated to ascertain the exact cause of fire, a police official said.

The police have confirmed that seven people were rescued by the Fire Department with the help of police personnel.
Delhi Food and Civil Supplies minister Imran Hussain on Friday said quality education is the key for the development in any field as an educated person builds a better society and a developed nation.

The minister made the statement while addressing the annual day celebration in Government Girls Senior Secondary School, Ram Nagar under his assembly constituency Ballimaran.

Under the leadership of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, his team, including former deputy chief minister and education minister Manish Sisodia has worked with full dedication to provide quality education to the students of Delhi, he said.

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The minister said there is no dearth of talent among the children studying in government schools.

The Ballimaran area is constantly moving forward in the field of quality education. Like other government schools in Delhi, it is providing better education at par with private schools, he said, adding that new buildings with model classrooms will soon come up in the area.

The main attraction of the annual event was the drama performed by the group of students with special needs on the theme of national integration. The line of the performance was unity in diversity during the freedom movement in India.

The annual day function also witnessed the distribution of annual prizes and awards in the school. The academic toppers were awarded medals and certificates of appreciation.
Actor Raveena Tandon conveyed her heartfelt birthday wishes to Sshura Khan, actor-producer Arbaaz Khans wife and make-up artist, through a special Instagram post.

Raveena shared a picture of herself and Sshura along with a thoughtful note on Instagram.

See the post here:

Advertisement View this post on Instagram A post shared by Raveena Tandon (@officialraveenatandon)

In her caption, she expressed, Happppy happppy Birthday dear @sshurakhan! What I would do without you. Wishing you all the success and love always, may this year and the next bring you all that you desire. #TeamRT always.

Arbaaz and Sshura exchanged vows in an intimate nikah ceremony on December 24 at the residence of Sshuras sister, Arpita Khan Sharma, in Mumbai.

Following the ceremony, Arbaaz took to Instagram to announce their sacred union with a heartfelt post, stating, In the presence of our loved ones, me and mine begin a lifetime of love and togetherness from this day on! Need all your blessings and good wishes on our special day!

The ceremony took place in the presence of close friends and family, and Raveena, who attended with her daughter Rasha, extended her congratulations to the couple on social media.

Sharing a video on Instagram, Raveena captured a moment of celebration with Arbaaz, dancing on the sets of their upcoming film. The video also featured a picture of Raveena with Sshura.

A separate video showed Arbaaz walking the red carpet at the event and responding to photographers inquiring about the marriage reports by gesturing for them to keep it quiet.

Arbaaz was previously married to Malaika Arora, with the couple officially divorcing in 2017 after separating in 2016. They share a son, Arhaan. Arbaaz also had a relationship with Giorgia Andriani, which ended last year.

Meanwhile, on the work front, Raveena will be seen in a compelling role in the web series Karmma Calling, an Indian adaptation of the ABC series Revenge. In the series, she portrays the character of Indrani Kothari, the reigning queen of society in Alibaug, a world of glitz, glamor, deceit, and betrayal, directed by Ruchi Narain.

Karmma Calling is ready to stream on Disney+ Hotstar from January 26, 2024. This project marks Raveenas second series on OTT, following her digital debut in 2021 with Aranyak. (ANI)
TOKYO, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- Amid an enduring slush fund scandal, Japanese prosecutors on Friday filed charges against several individuals from three factions within the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), including the one formerly led by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.

The Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office indicted without arrest the chief treasurers of Seiwaken, the largest LDP faction once led by late former Prime Minister Abe Shinzo, and another led by former LDP Secretary-General Nikai Toshihiro were indicted without arrest on Friday.

A former accountant of the Kishida faction received a summary indictment for allegedly failing to declare around 30 million yen (about 203,000 U.S. dollars) over the three years through 2020.

All indicted individuals, suspected of failing to report part of the factions' revenue from fundraising events, faced charges of false accounting, in violation of the political funds control law.

The prosecutors also indicted, without arrest, Upper House member Yasutada Ohno, while Lower House member Yaichi Tanigawa received a summary indictment. Both lawmakers had left the LDP as of Friday.

On Friday, Kishida pledged to disband the LDP's fourth-largest faction that he led until last month, in order to restore public trust roiled by the deepening scandal.

Analysts here pointed out that Kishida, by taking the lead in disbanding the faction, hopes to prompt other LDP factions to voluntarily dissolve in order to get himself off the hook, a move that sparked greater confusion and backlash within the party.

Kishida also said during the day that the LDP should come up with new rules on how to properly manage its factions, as the scandal has rattled the ruling party and pushed the approval ratings for his cabinet down sharply, national news agency Kyodo reported.

At the end of last year, in the wake of the unfolding scandal where five major factions were suspected of paying kickbacks to member lawmakers who sold fundraising party tickets above their quota without recording the amount as revenue in its political fund reports, over 10 senior officials or heavyweight lawmakers have stepped down from their positions in Kishida's cabinet or the LDP.

The dismissal of the senior officials, all from Seiwaken, known as the Abe faction, was regarded as a strategic move by Kishida to distance himself and his party from the escalating scandal, which pushed the support ratings for Kishida's cabinet to fresh lows in multiple December surveys, signaling that the administration may be in the "danger zone."

The faction was suspected to have pooled secret funds amounting to around 500 million yen over the past five years. (1 U.S. dollar equals 148.62 Japanese yen) 
The Hrithik Roshan and Deepika Padukone-starrer Fighter is set against the backdrop of the Indian Air Forces air strike on Pakistan after a terror attack.

Hania Aamir, Adnan Siddiqui, and numerous other Pakistani actors criticized Siddharth Anands film after its trailer was released on January 15. The filmmaker seemed to have responded to the criticism that cross-border celebrities had of Fighter.

He responded to a tweet regarding Hania Aamirs most recent Instagram tales with a contemplative face emoji. Did not she literally work in a movie that was anti-Indian? the tweet asked. Why do Pakistani celebrities care so much about the anti-Indian things that their Indian counterparts do in films if Indian celebrities dont mind?

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Siddharth Anand responded with Oh!! to another person, who had tweeted, Was art breathing here? The original tweet was about the 2018 Pakistani film Parwaaz Hai Junoon. It read, Parwaaz Hai Junoon was an anti-Indian Air Force movie and Hania Aamir starred in it.

So sad and unfortunate to know that there are artists out there in this day and age who are aware of the power that cinema holds and still go ahead and feed the riff between the two countries, Pakistani actress Hania Aamir commented on Instagram stories. I have sympathy for artists who attempt to close the gap by using their art as a vehicle for communication. Repulsive; give art room to breathe.

Other celebrities also criticized the Fighter teaser, in addition to Hania Aamir. Actor Adnan Siddiqui of Pakistan remarked that it was disheartening to see Pakistanis portrayed as villains in Bollywood without disclosing the pictures title. Once celebrated for love, Bollywood now crafts hate-filled narratives, portraying us as villains, he had tweeted lately. Even though we adore your movies, this is depressing. Since art knows no bounds, lets use it to spread love and harmony. Politics has victimized two nations, and they both deserve better.

Pakistani star Zara Noor Abbas responded to the trailer for Fighter on Instagram Stories, writing, Arent you people tired of selling the same fake crap?! Guys, mature up! Why do you wish to promote this flimsy tale of hatred when the world is changing and maturing? possibly encouraged peace. Isnt there already enough hatred in the world that you feel the need to spread even more hatred via the widely used medium of film?

Fighter stars Deepika Padukone, Hrithik Roshan, Akshay Oberoi, Ashutosh Rana, Sanjeeda Sheikh, Anil Kapoor, and Karan Singh Grover, among others. The films director, Siddharth Anand, is well-known for his work in Pathaan and War.

The movie Fighter is scheduled to release in theaters on January 25.
In a fresh turn of events, the Telugu film industry finds itself entangled in another controversy as the team behind Ravi Tejas much-anticipated film, Eagle, raises concerns with the Film Chamber. This development follows a bold statement from actor Sundeep Kishan, who adamantly declared his intention to release his film on February 9th, setting off alarm bells for the Eagle team.

Originally slated for release on January 13, 2024, during the festive Sankranthi period alongside films like Guntur Kaaram, Saindhav, and Naa Saami Ranga, the makers of Eagle faced a pivotal decision. Persuaded by influential figures like Dil Raju and other producers from the Producers Council and Film Chamber, they opted to step out of the festival window. In return, Dil Raju and the Film Chamber assured the Eagle producers that no competing film would clash with their release.

Choosing February 9th as the new launch date seemed to resolve the scheduling dilemma for Eagle. However, recent developments indicate that other films, including Sundeep Kishans Ooru Peru Bhairavakona, Yatra 2, and the dubbed version of Lal Salaam, are gearing up for a theatrical debut on the very same day  February 9, 2024.

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Amidst these brewing tensions, People Media Factory, the production company spearheading Eagle, has taken a proactive stance. They have penned a letter to the Film Chamber of Commerce, earnestly requesting intervention in the matter. The letter implores the Film Chamber to ensure that the previously agreed-upon date for Eagle remains uncontested, emphasizing the commitment made by Dil Raju and the Film Chamber themselves.

As the industry awaits the Film Chambers response, the unfolding drama adds a layer of uncertainty to the release calendar, leaving fans, enthusiasts, and stakeholders on the edge of their seats. The tussle between film releases underscores the intricate web of negotiations and arrangements within the dynamic realm of the Telugu film industry.
High alert has been sounded in the entire Uttar Pradesh, particularly in Ayodhya after three suspected Khalistani supporters were detained by the security personnel late Thursday evening.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath rushed to Ayodhya on Friday to check the security and other arrangements for January 22 during Prime Minister Narendra Modis visit.

Meanwhile, journalists in Lucknow and other parts of UP have received recorded calls from Khalastani supporters, originating from Britain, since last night alleging detention of their sympathisers by UP Police.

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DG( Law and order) Prashant Kumar on Friday said three suspects were nabbed last evening in Ayodhya near the Ram temple.Though no evidence was found of their connections with any terror outfit.

He said IB sleuths were interrogating the three reported to be from Sikar in Rajasthan.

The DG said security arrangements have been further tightened and on Thursday, Anti Terrorism Squad(ATS) commandos along with a convoy of vehicles checked the security of Ayodhya. Surveillance has been increased at important places from Nayaghat to Shri Ram Janmabhoomi.

On the other hand, 257 magistrates have been deployed to make better arrangements in the city and rural areas.

The last contingent of police force also reached Ayodhya to handle the security arrangements during the consecration ceremony. Apart from the police of various districts of the state, personnel of rapid reaction force (RRF) , Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) , rapid reaction force (RRF) and Pradeshik Armed Constabulary (PAC) have been deployed.

More than 10,000 security personnel have been called from various districts in view of the Pran Pratistha ceremony. These include more than 100 DSPs, 325 inspectors and 800 sub-inspectors, three DIGs for VIP security, 17 SPs, 40 ASPs, 82 DSPs and 90 inspectors.

Four companies of paramilitary forces RRF, two companies SSB, one company ITBP and 26 companies PAC were also deployed during the event.

SSP Rajkaran Nayyar said that a sufficient number of police forces have arrived and they have been deployed at various places. ATS commandos rehearsed with the convoy of vehicles on Thursday.
Since its deployment in Odisha in 2010, the Border Security Force (BSF) has been successfully countering the Maoist strategy for the safety and security of the public in interiors and remote localities of Malkangiri and other left wing extremism affected districts.

Kailash Chandra Jat, Inspector General, Frontier Headquarters (Special Operations), BSF, Odisha, who was on a two-day visit to Malkangiri and Koraput districts to review the security scenario of the region and operational preparedness of the force, said: The establishment of new camps by BSF along the Odisha-Chhattisgarh and odisha-Andhra Pradesh border has been instrumental in putting a considerable check over LWE activities in this region.

The BSF works with commitment to enhance a sense of security among the locals and extends all possible help to the local administration to execute the developmental works in the area, said Jat, IG, Special Operations, BSF.

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Interacting with troops deployed in remotely located Company Operating Bases in these areas, Jat lauded the BSF Jawans for their dedication and effort for extensive domination in the erstwhile Maoists bastions.

He also emphasized upon winning the hearts and minds of the local tribes in the interiors, so that maximum benefits of Government sponsored programs can be extended to the marginalized and poor living in the far flung areas of the district. Such would help them (troops) to establish cordial bonds with the local settlers.
The cultural development of Ayodhya is expected to stimulate growth in the hospitality sector leading to a substantial increase in employment opportunities in Uttar Pradesh in a big way.

This positive impact will extend beyond Ayodhya, benefiting cities such as Lucknow, Kanpur, Prayagraj, Varanasi, and Gorakhpur.

The number of people searching for Ayodhya on social media has increased by about a thousand per cent in the past few years. These figures raise hopes in the hospitality and related sectors.

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People associated with this industry estimate that in the coming years, Ayodhya will be among the top destinations for tourists/devotees, considering the regular influx.

Currently, Tirupati Balaji, which is counted among the most prosperous temples of the country, holds the top position in this regard. Around 50,000 tourists/devotees visit there every day. On special occasions or holidays, this number reaches close to one lakh.

Yogi Adityanaths focus on the development of Ayodhya since becoming the chief minister, particularly through initiatives and events like Deepotsav, has attracted the attention of the country and the world. The number of tourists/devotees visiting Ayodhya has consistently increased.

As per the Tourism Departments statistics, till 2017, approximately two lakh tourists/devotees visited Ayodhya every year. Now, this number has increased to two crore. It is estimated that in the next few years, the hospitality industry will provide employment to 20,000 to 25,000 people every year.

According to Mukesh Meshram, Principal Secretary of UP Tourism Department, approximately three lakh tourists/devotees are expected to visit Ayodhya every day by 2030. Those associated with the hotel industry estimate that in the weeks following the consecration ceremony on January 22, this number could range from three to six to seven lakh. For those who wish to stay, there will be a need for facilities such as hotels, motels, restaurants, and transportation in Ayodhya, depending on their spending power.

Presently, almost all the brands associated with the hotel industry have shown interest in Ayodhya. Many of them have acquired land, and construction work is underway for some. Others are in a wait-and-watch situation. After the consecration ceremony, they will decide on the nature of their properties based on the number of tourists/devotees visiting and their purchasing capacity.

To attract investors in this sector in the state, the Yogi government is considering giving some more relaxations in the construction of hotels in major cities of the state, including Ayodhya, Lucknow, and Varanasi. A seven-member committee has been formed in this regard. The committee could suggest removal of some complexities related to builders bylaws.

CM Yogi himself took notice of these complexities. It is hoped that the committee can provide suggestions, such as reducing the cost of map fee, standardizing the width of land and roads for construction, etc.

According to Bhavya Malhotra, former banquet manager at ITC Maurya, New Delhi, the ideal situation for any hotel is to have three service providers per room. This includes departments like the front office, housekeeping, food and beverage, laundry, finance, human resources, horticulture, sales, etc. If the property is small and some departments are missing, the number of service providers could be slightly less, but there should still be at least two employees per room. Having fewer than this could result in not providing satisfactory service to customers.

Notably, the increase in the number of tourists/devotees will benefit not only the hotel industry but also sectors related to aviation, railways, road transport corporations, and logistics.
Devotees from across the world will be able to pay obeisance to Ram Lalla at the magnificent newly-built temple in Ayodhya after Prime Minister Narendra Modi completes the consecration ceremony on January 22. Centuries-old Ramjanambhomi issue will now be lost in the pages of history.

There is no remembrance of the demolished Babri mosque and even the land given for construction of a new mosque in lieu of the destroyed 16th century structure, remains vacant.

The Ram temple movement has proved that an issue of civil dispute over a piece of land can gradually turn into one of the most defining aspects of politics in contemporary India.

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After the Supreme Court ruling on November 9, 2019 that the disputed land at Ayodhya be given to the Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas, curtains were drawn on a 70-year legal battle in Independent India and 90 years during British rule.

One of the longest-drawn legal battles in the nations history, the Ayodhya issue has created political turmoil in the country starting from the mid 1980s after the Rajiv Gandhi government ordered the opening of locks of the Ramjanambhoomi.

Babri Masjid was built by Mir Baqi, commander of Mughal emperor Babur in 1528 but the controversy kicked off 150 years later during the British regime when in 1857, the year of Indias first struggle of Independence against the British Raj.

Following is the chronology of the Ayodhya dispute :

1857: It was the year of Indias first struggle for independence against the British Raj. However, the seeds of another controversy were sown quietly some 130 km from Lucknow in Faizabad district. The temple town of Ayodhya fell under this district. A petition was submitted before the magistrate of Faizabad by Maulvi Muhammad Asghar, the muezzin of Babri Masjid, alleging that the eastern part of the courtyard of the mosque had been forcibly taken over by the Mahant of Hanuman Garhi.

Hanuman Garhi was an important centre of religious life in Ayodhya, especially for Vaishnav Bairagis. The complaint by the muezzin marked the beginning of a legal dispute over the place. However, it was still several years before the land on which the mosque stood was to be officially declared as disputed land.

1859: The British government made its first intervention in the matter, while hearing the petition filed in 1857 and keeping in mind the regional conflict. The administration got a wall built that separated the places of worship for Muslims and Hindus. The Hindus got entry to the courtyard through the east gate, while the Muslims had access to the mosque from the northern side.

1860-1884: During this period, the Muslim side filed similar petitions like it did in 1857 and complained about the increasing interference of some local seers and sadhus and illegal occupation of land. These petitions were made in 1860, 1877, 1883 and 1884. All of them were rejected.

1885: The first legal representation was made by someone from the Hindu side. Mahant Raghubar Das filed a suit to gain legal title to the land and for permission to construct a temple on the chabutara (raised platform) in the eastern courtyard. The petitioner claimed himself to be the mahant of the janmasthan (birthplace) of Lord Ram and said the chabutara was the Lords birthplace.

Hence, according to this first representation, the chabutara and not the land where the actual mosque stood, was claimed to be Rams birthplace.

1886: The suit filed by Das was dismissed. However, rulers of the day had started seeing it as a Hindu-Muslim controversy of significant proportion.

1870-1923: As the dispute spread further, several official publications of the time started taking note of it. It was even mentioned in some of the gazettes published at the time. A stone marker reading No 1 Ram Janmahoomi was placed at the main entrance of the mosque.

Dispute intensifies post Independence :

December 22-23, 1949: On the intervening night of December 22-23, idols of Ram and Lakshman were placed inside Babri Masjid. A crowd built up and started performing kirtan (religious songs) inside the mosque.

December 29, 1949: A judge of Faizabad district court declared Babri Masjid a disputed property and ordered that status quo be maintained. Muslims were barred from entering the mosque and its main gate was locked. Hindus got permission for darshan from a side gate and four pujaris were employed with access to idols.

January 16, 1950: A member of the Hindu Mahasabha, Gopal Singh Visharad, filed a civil suit, seeking permission for worship without obstruction and permanent ban on removal of idols.

1959: The Nirmohi Akhara filed a suit claiming that the entire structure be transferred to it as it was a temple and not a mosque.

December 18, 1961: The Sunni Central Waqf Board filed a suit demanding that Babri Masjid be handed over to it.

February, 1986: Locks of Babri Masjid opened by orders of the district judge of Faizabad.

1987: Suits withdrawn from Faizabad and transferred to the Lucknow bench of Allahabad High Court. The suit filed by Visharad became the number one suit. Another suit (number two) was filed by Paramhans Ramchandra Das (withdrawn later). The third suit was the one filed by Nirmohi Akhara and the fourth one was by the waqf board.

1989: Ram Lalla himself became a party. The fifth suit was filed by one Deoki Nandan Agarwal in the name of Ram Lalla Virajman. Agarwal filed it as a sakha (friend) of Ram Lalla

December 6, 1992: Babri Masjid demolished by thousands of Hindu kar sevaks (volunteers) even as helpless security forces watched the structure being brought down. Two FIRs were filed the same day. One of them (crime number 197) was lodged at 5.15pm against the lakhs of karsevaks for the offence of demolition.

The second FIR (crime number 198) was filed against eight individuals, namely LK Advani, MM Joshi, Uma Bharti, Ashok Singhal, Giriraj Kishore, VH Dalmia, Vinay Katiyar and Sadhvi Ritambhara. They were accused of making provocative and inflammatory speeches before the demolition. The cases were filed at the Ram Janmabhoomi police station.

December 16, 1992: The Centre formed the one-man commission of Justice Manmohan Singh Librahan to look into the sequence of events leading to the demolition and all the facts and circumstances relating to the events that transpired in the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid Complex on December 6.

January 7, 1993: The President of India, through an ordinance, issued orders for acquisition of certain areas around the disputed site. It was later re-enacted as an act of Parliament. On the same day of issuing the ordinance, the President also referred it to the Supreme Court for its advisory opinion.

1993-2002: Hearing gained pace in the title suit case in the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court. A long-drawn battle began as

parties concerned started presenting their arguments.

August 1, 2002: Focus shifted back to the title suit as the high court ordered the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to initiate excavation at the disputed site.

Dec 2002-August 2003: ASI began excavation at the disputed site on December 30, 2002. It did a preliminary survey and submitted its report to the ASI director general. It suggested a variety of anomalies ranging from 0.5m to 5m in depth that could be associated with some ancient and contemporary structures. On the basis of the preliminary findings, a detailed digging and examination was started. The ASI submitted its report in two volumes before the court in August 2003

July 26, 2010: A three-judge bench of the Allahabad High Court, comprising Justices SU Khan, Sudhir Agarwal and DV Sharma, reserved their order on the Ayodhya land title suit.

September 30, 2010: The three-judge bench delivered the much-awaited judgment. The court divided the disputed land equally between the three major parties concerned, i.e., the Sunni Waqf Board, Nirmohi Akhara and Ram Lalla Virajman. However, none of the parties was satisfied with the verdict.

May 9, 2011: Appeals against the high court orders came up for mentioning in the Supreme Court. Almost all the parties concerned filed appeals against the high court order. Later, the apex court put a stay on the HC order.

2011-2016: Its a period of comparative quiet even as voices in the political arena continued to rise for a judgement in the case pending before the SC

2017-2019: First, under Chief Justice Deepak Misra and then, under CJI Ranjan Gogoi, the apex court shifted focus towards the title dispute case. Justice Misra retired in 2018 before regular hearing in the case could begin.

2018: After assuming office in October 2018, CJI Ranjan Gogoi expressed his willingness for a speedy hearing and judgment in the long-pending case.

January, 2019: The CJI constituted a five-judge bench, including himself, to begin hearing in the case.

March 2019: The Supreme Court bench hearing the Ayodhya matter constituted a three-member mediation panel, comprising (retired) SC judge FM Khalifulah, Art of Living head Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and senior advocate and trained mediator Sriram Panchu.

August 2019: On August 2, the mediation committee informed the Ayodhya bench that the parties concerned had failed to reach an agreement. The Supreme Court then fixed August 6 for commencement of day-to-day hearing in the matter.

October 16, 2019: Starting August, the bench regularly took up daily hearings of the case for 40 days. October 16 was fixed as the last date for the parties to submit their argument. The legal battle that had continued in courts of Independent India for almost 70 years reached culmination with the hearing being completed in the countrys top-most court.

November 9, 2019: Five-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, and comprising Justice DY Chandrachud, SA Bobde, S Abdul Nazir and Ashok Bhushan delivered the much awaited judgement in the case. It was a unanimous decision. The bench ordered for allocation of the entire disputed land of 2.77 acres for the construction of a temple. The union government was to constitute a trust to oversee it.

August 5, 2020: Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for a grand Ram temple amid ongoing pandemic with a target to inaugurate it before the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. However the temple is being inaugurated just 29 months after its construction started.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi continued with the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra in Assam despite facing issues over a route diversion. The party stressed that no rules were violated during the yatra.

The journey commenced on Friday with a symbolic boat ride from Nimatighat in Jorhat district to Aphalamukh Ghat in Majuli district, the worlds largest inhabited river island.

Responding to the Jorhat Police registering a case against some individuals linked to the Congresss Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra for alleged deviation from its original route, Congress General Secretary of Communications Jairam Ramesh, stated that no rules were violated.

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Ramesh asserted that Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarmas government was deliberately trying to hinder people from joining the yatra. No rules have been broken. The Assam CM is making all sorts of attempts to stop people from joining the Bharat Jodo Nyaya Yatra. No one can stop this yatra. We will be in Assam for the next seven days. Let them arrest us; we accept the challenge, said the senior Congress leader on Friday.

Meanwhile, Senior Congress MP KC Venugopal stated that the police could register FIR against anybody, but the yatra would continue until its conclusion in Maharashtra.

Gandhi today met environmental activists, intellectuals, and affected individuals from the northern bank of Brahmaputra. Discussions revolved around the ecological impact of dams cleared by the BJP government without proper environmental assessment.

Interactions with the Mising community also took place, which had demands for the protection of the Sixth schedule and recognition of their language in the Eighth schedule.

This leg of the yatra is part of a larger journey covering 6,713 kms over 67 days, passing through 110 districts across 15 states.

In Assam alone, the yatra is set to cover 833 kms, impacting 17 districts. Accompanying Gandhi are party key figures including General Secretary Jairam Ramesh, state President Bhupen Kumar Borah and Leader of Opposition in the Assam Assembly Debabrata Saikia.

The days itinerary included a visit to the Auniati Satra, a significant site of Vaishnavism, located in Kamalabari Chariali. Later in the day, the march was to proceed by bus to Dhakuakhana in North Lakhimpur district, concluding with Gandhi addressing a public meeting at Gogamukh in the evening. Participants planned to rest overnight at the Gogamukh Colony ground.

This ambitious political march, initiated by Gandhi on January 14 from Manipur, is expected to conclude in Mumbai on either March 20 or 21. The Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra aims to promote unity and justice across the nation, highlighting various social and political issues.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday dedicated to the nation 35 strategic infrastructure projects of the Border Roads Organisation (BRO), built at a cost of Rs 670 crore, during an event at Joshimath-Malari Road in Uttarakhand to bolster the operational readiness of the Army.

Out of these 35 projects, 29 are bridges and six are roads. Eleven of them are in Jammu & Kashmir; nine in Ladakh; eight in Arunachal Pradesh; three in Uttarakhand; two in Sikkim; and one each in Mizoram & Himachal Pradesh. These projects have been constructed under challenging weather conditions at the most inhospitable terrain.

In his address, the defence minister commended the BRO for strengthening the border infrastructure of the country and asserted that by constructing roads, bridges etc., the organisation is connecting the far-flung areas with the rest of the nation geographically, while also linking the hearts of the people residing in remote villages with the rest of the citizens.

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He highlighted the governments approach towards border area development which, he said, completely differs from the previous governments. Other governments did not focus on development of border areas as they considered these zones as the last areas of the country. We, on the other hand, consider border areas as the face of India, which is why were ensuring that world-class infrastructure is created in these zones, he said.

Mr Singh stressed that connectivity is being provided to every border area in the country through roads, bridges and tunnels, describing the work as not only of strategic importance, but also pivotal for the welfare of the people residing in these regions. People living near the borders are no less than soldiers. If a soldier protects the country by wearing a uniform, the residents of border areas are serving the motherland in their own way, he said.

He pointed out that the government has changed the approach adopted by previous governments that the border areas are buffer zones between the plains and the potential adversary. He emphasised that the present government considers border areas a part of the mainstream and not a buffer zone.

There was a time when border infrastructure development was not given much importance. Governments used to work with the mentality that the people living in the plains are the mainstream people. They were worried that the developments on the border might be used by the adversary. Due to this narrow mentality, development never reached the border areas. This thinking has changed today. Our government is committed to the development of border areas, keeping in view the Nations security needs. We do not consider these areas as buffer zones. They are a part of our mainstream, he said.

Mr Singh added that the governments approach shows a new confidence of New India, which will not wait for potential adversaries to reach the plains to deal with them. We are developing infrastructure on the mountains and deploying the troops on hill borders in such a way that it is ensuring the safety of the people there, and helping the military to effectively deal with our adversaries, he said.

Referring to the large migration from border areas in Uttarakhand, he termed it as a matter of concern. He said the Prime Minister and the Chief Minister are taking the schemes related to infrastructure development to the last person as the aim is to cover the development journey from the seas to the borders.
Unveiling a massive 206 feet tall statue of Bharat Ratna Dr BR Ambedkar at Vijayawada today, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy accused the TDP of promoting untouchability by discriminating against the poor and marginalised sections of the society.

Prior to the unveiling of the statue at Ambedkar Smriti Vanam, Reddy addressed a public rally called Samajika Samata Sankalpa Sabha at the Indira Gandhi Municipal stadium.

The Chief Minister said that the Statue of Social Justice has been installed to honour Babasaheb, who had tirelessly fought for marginalised section of the society and women.

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Even after 75 years of Independence, untouchability persists in various forms. The disparities in education, healthcare, access to government schemes are the modern forms of untouchability. Privatisation of buses and inequal distribution of benefits are other forms of social injustice, said Reddy.

He then slammed the TDP reminding the people how the poor were hassled by the Janmabhoomi Committees set up by the then ruling party, which decided on the beneficiaries of the government schemes.

He also said the plan to make Amaravati the capital city was also because of the same practice of untouchability followed by the TDP.

That is why assigned Dalit lands were converted into profitable real estate ventures for the affluent classes, he said.

He also accused the Opposition of going to the courts claiming that plots given to poor to build their houses (at Amaravati) will upset the social balance. When his government introduced English as a medium of instruction, the Opposition moved court to stop poor children from getting quality education, he said.

The statue unveiled today is 125 feet tall and set on a pedestal about 81 feet high. It was built at a cost of Rs 400 crore. The foundation stone was laid on 21 December, 2021.

The YSRCP supremo is also consolidating his vote bank of SC, ST, BC and minorities by giving them nominations in the upcoming General and assembly elections in the state. In the fourth list of candidates released yesterday most of them belonged to the SC community.

The TDP and the Jana Sena have, however, attacked Reddy, saying that Dr Babasaheb upheld personal liberty and human rights and the Chief Minister violated all the principles for which Dr Ambedkar stood.
Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar on Friday urged young citizens to hold accountable those who weaponise disturbance and disruption as a political mechanism.

While emphasising that students, as discerning minds, can greatly influence democratic governance, he also underscored the responsibility of peoples representatives to remain alive to the values set by members of the Constituent Assembly.

Addressing the 72nd annual convocation of the Gujarat University in Ahmedabad, the vice-president encouraged the youth to engage in innovation and become early birds in the adoption of emerging technologies. Calling upon corporates and businesses to facilitate the same, he stressed that industry leaders must handhold educational institutions in terms of research and development so that the youth are fully positioned to harness positive aspects of disruptive technologies.

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Hailing Gujarat as the land of Mahatma Gandhi and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, he drew attention to the fact that the integration of all States, except Jammu and Kashmir, had taken place with the involvement of Sardar Patel.

Talking about Articles 370 and 35A of the Constitution as temporary provisions that had assumed the form of permanence, Mr Dhankhar said, Had Sardar Patel been involved in the integration of Jammu and Kashmir as well, further issues would not have arisen.

Highlighting that the illustrations in the original draft of the Constitution offer a glimpse into Indias 5000-year-old civilisational ethos, he noted the depiction of Lord Ram, Sita and Lakshman in the section on Fundamental Rights. Expressing his surprise that such key sections are left out of circulated versions, he said that such figures are an integral part of our Constitution as framed by its architects.

During his visit to the university, he inaugurated the Atal Kalam Centre for Extension Research & Innovation, noting that the centre would emerge as a nerve centre and epicentre of change in the nations research and development landscape.
LOS ANGELES, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- SpaceX and Axiom Space launched the third private astronaut mission to the International Space Station (ISS) on Thursday, as part of NASA's efforts to open access to space.

The mission, codenamed Axiom Mission 3 (Ax-3), is the first all-European commercial astronaut mission to the ISS, according to NASA.

The Dragon spacecraft carrying the four-member crew blasted off from Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida at about 4:49 p.m. Eastern Time.

Later, SpaceX confirmed the main engine cutoff and stage separation of its Falcon 9 rocket. The first stage booster of the rocket has landed at SpaceX's Landing Zone 1 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

The four-member crew are commander Michael Lopez-Alegria of the United States and Spain, pilot Walter Villadei of the Italian Air Force, and the two mission specialists -- Alper Gezeravci of Turkiye and European Space Agency project astronaut Marcus Wandt of Sweden.

The crew is now in orbit and on their way to the ISS, according to Axiom Space's live broadcast.

Once docked to the ISS, the Ax-3 astronauts will spend 14 days aboard the orbiting laboratory for implementing a full mission comprised of microgravity research, technology demonstrations, and outreach engagements.

This mission marks a new era of opportunity for countries to join the international space community and access low-Earth orbit to advance exploration and research in microgravity, said Axiom Space.

Data collected on ground before and after the mission as well as in flight will impact understanding of human physiology on Earth and on orbit, as well as advance scientific understanding, harness opportunities for industrial advancements, and develop technologies for humanity's progress, according to Axiom Space. 
The Congress-led UDF has decided to turn down the invitation extended by the ruling LDF to a joint protest in New Delhi against the Centres alleged financial embargo on Kerala.

The decision to boycott the protest was taken at a meeting of the UDF leadership held on Thursday. The Opposition leader has been assigned to convey the UDFs decision to the chief minister.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had invited Leader of the Opposition V D. Satheesan and Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) general secretary P K Kunhalikutty to join him and the rest of his Cabinet and Left Democratic Front (LDF) legislators in a protest to be held at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi on February 8.

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The ruling CPI-M-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) on Tuesday announced that the front will stage a protest in New Delhi on February 8 under the leadership of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan against the Central governments alleged neglect towards the state.

Announcing the decision, LDF convenor EP Jayarajan said the Central government is deliberately trying to destroy the popularity of the Left government. He stated that the development project in Kerala has come to a standstill as the Central government has refused to disburse funds to Kerala.

According to state government sources, the sharp reduction in the borrowing cap has worsened the states financial problems and it would have an additional impact on the payment of social welfare pensions.

While the state government says the Central governments decisions, especially the drastic cut in borrowing limit and grants, have led to the current financial crisis, the union Finance Minister accused the Kerala government of propagating false claims that the Union government hasnt allocated funds to the state.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath announced that the entire state ministers would visit Ayodhya and have darshan of Ram Lalla on February 1.

The CM instructed the officials to make an action plan for the next 6 months for the convenience of the devotees in Ayodhyadham.

During the consecration ceremony, choppers will spray flower petals on the guests.

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Yogi Adityanath has on Friday given instructions to make all necessary arrangements to make the life consecration ceremony of the child-form idol of Shri Ramlala supernatural in the new-divine-grand Shri Ram Janmabhoomi temple on January 22 in the religious city of Ayodhya.

The CM said after the grand ceremony of consecration of Shri Ram Lalla idol, on February 1, all the ministers of Uttar Pradesh government will get the virtuous benefit of darshan and worship of Shri Ram Lalla together.

After January 22, lakhs of devotees will arrive at Ayodhya every day. Everyone is eager to see Ramlala. People will come from all the states of India. In such a situation, assess the situation for the next six months and prepare an action plan. There should be inter-district and interstate police coordination, so that the devotees do not face any inconvenience, CM said.
Premier university campuses in the United States of America such as the University of Pennsylvania, Harvard University, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are under siege. The siege has not been affected by revolutionary students protesting along the lines of the anti-Vietnam war protests of the 1960s. It is the Wall Street bankers, CEOs, and the Republican-dominated Congress that are hacking voices of dissent to pieces.

The Israeli genocide in Gaza witnessed protests on many American campuses. Conscientious students raised slogans along with their Palestinian-Arab counterparts against the killing of innocent civilians. The American state apparatus, as usual, conflated the protests with anti-Semitism. The heads of these universities were summoned before a Congressional committee. The latter, consisting chiefly of Republicans, pulled no punches in asking lacerating questions.

One of the representatives asked the head of Harvard University, Why is it that only one per cent of the Harvard faculty members voted for Donald Trump whilst he polled almost fifty per cent of the popular votes in the Presidential elections? The lack of a favourable electoral fervour for Trump among the Harvard faculty members was deemed as a marker of a lack of diversity on campus! Questions were also posed regarding the percentage of conservative professors on university campuses.

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Since the heads did not have the data on conservative faculty members, Congressman Joe Wilson called it a case of a shameful revelation of there being no diversity and inclusion of intellectual thought as a result of which anti-Semitism is rife on campuses. It is pertinent to draw attention to research conducted by Eitan Hersh and Laura Royden on anti-Semitism among young American adults.

From a sample set of 3,500, Hersh and Royden concluded that anti-Semitic attitudes are rare on the left but common on the right, particularly among young adults on the right. Historically speaking, Edmund Burke, touted as the father of modern Conservative thought, openly harboured an antisemitic worldview. During the French Revolution, the threat of Jacobinism crossing the English Channel loomed large.

Burkes riposte to the event Reflections of the Revolution in France which has served as a Bible of conservatism, was laced with anti-Semitic rants. In one place, Burke, whilst rebuking the French, wrote, Every person in your country, in a situation to be actuated by a principle of honour, is disgraced and degraded, and can entertain no sensation of life except in a mortified and humiliated indignation The next generation of the nobility will resemble the artificers and clowns, and money-jobbers usurers, and Jews, who will be always their fellows, sometimes their masters.

The history of Americas Gilded Age is also full of antiSemitism. Sven Beckert in his book The Moneyed Metropolis has noted that when New York was raking in dollars, the rogue bourgeoisie of the city engaged in rampant anti-Semitism. Beckert writes, Elite anti-Semitism spread in the 1880s and especially in the 1890s for a number of reasons. For one, economic competition, especially in the world of investment banking, gave Protestants a strong incentive to isolate their Jewish competitors from some of the social networks that were the lifeblood of their particular line of business.

Moreover, the influx of thousands of unskilled workers from the ghettos of Eastern Europe to New York in the late nineteenth century helped to link the bourgeois fear of workers to the fear of Jews, especially because Jewish workers showed an exceptional tendency to embrace trade unions and socialism. With all this, one is sure that Congresspersons would not be comfortable teaching the real history of anti-Semitism in the US and how bourgeois conservative philosophy had openly embraced it in the past.

The Inquisition was also used to attack what is pithily and lugubriously labelled by Conservatives as liberal wokism. In a radio interview, Floridas governor Ron DeSantis, who has been leading a right-wing crackdown on liberal education and pioneered the Dont Say Gay law wherein public-school teachers are not allowed to instruct on sexual orientation or gender identity in grades kindergarten through third grade, said that American universities have become the hotbeds of anti-Americanism and anti-Semitism. 

DeSantiss rancorous rant was nothing but an uncanny echo of Douglas Altabefs (leader of Im Tirtzu, Israels largest grassroots Zionist organization) March 2021 essay in The Jerusalem Post wherein he called to stop woke winds at Israels borders. The rich have also joined the bandwagon. Since the war started, it was Marc Rowan, Apollos CEO, who commands a fortune of $6 billion, who declared that he was closing the chequebook for the University of Pennsylvania. His action was not motivated by the alleged calls for a Jewish genocide but by a Palestinian literary festival in October held at the university which he deemed to be hate-filled.

Soon other billionaires such as Ross Stevens, Elon Musk, Leslie Wexner and Bill Ackerman joined the bandwagon. Since the war started, three Palestinian students have been shot in Vermont and Jewish students claim to be threatened on campuses. In late October, Reuters reported that anti-Semitic incidents had risen by 400 per cent in the US. The heads of the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard have been forced to resign.

The conservative Republicans have had their pound of flesh. Republican Party Congresswoman Elise Stefanik posted on her X handle two down. The tone of her post seemed as if she was flying a combat aircraft and dropping missiles on her enemies. One is sure that sooner or later when the MIT head resigns, Stefanik will be posting All down, yeahmission accomplished.

The message that emanates from this academic inquisition is that criticism has its limits. The ideal university is a place where one can engage in a ruthless criticism of all that exists. And it is this latter bit that academicians and politicians in America have failed to safeguard. For me, it is no surprise. The forces of Hindutva had once said this for the stellar historian Romila Thapar: The stupid lady should be stripped of her nationality. Kick her out.

The kick should be of such force that she remains dead on the ground. Three cheers for academic freedom, lest we say, long live academic freedom.

(The writer is PhD Candidate, Department of Political Science, University of Connecticut, USA and author of the book, Against the Current)
Asurge in Chinese electric vehicles (EVs) is sending ripples of uncertainty through Western markets. Memories of the China shock in the late 1990s, which saw a million American manufacturing jobs lost to Chinese competition, still linger, fuelling fears of another disruptive economic earthquake. However, before we succumb to apprehension, perhaps its time to view Chinas EV onslaught as an opportunity rather than a threat.

Chinese carmakers have made remarkable strides in the last five years, recently claiming to have exported over 5 million cars in 2023, surpassing Japans total. In the EV sector, Chinas prowess is undeniable, with one manufacturer selling half a million EVs in the last quarter, outpacing even the formidable world leader in this sphere. The concerns about subsidies and potential job losses are valid, yet amid this uncertainty lies the potential for a seismic shift in the automotive industry that could benefit the West.

One might argue that protectionist measures are necessary to shield Western industries from what is perceived as unfair competition. The European Commissions investigation into Chinese cars and talks of increased tariffs in the US suggest a defensive stance. However, a more enlightened approach would be to recognise the potential gains from a steady supply of affordable, environmentally friendly vehicles. The market for cars is evolving rapidly, with EVs expected to dominate by 2035. The real challenge is not competition from China but adapting to the imminent disruption caused by the global shift towards EVs. The benefits of embracing Chinese EVs extend beyond economic considerations. While concerns about subsidies and state control exist, the prospect of more affordable EVs could accelerate the transition to netzero emissions. Cheaper cars mean more spending power for consumers, especially in times of squeezed real wages. Moreover, Chinese EVs are not just economical. They boast superior quality, particularly in smart features enabled by internet connectivity.

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The West stands to gain from innovation spurred by competition, with the likes of Ford and Volkswagen racing to catch up with their Chinese counterparts. Critics may raise concerns about national security, depending on China for batteries and the potential for surveillance through EVs.

However, the answer lies in balancing strategic partnerships and maintaining a diversified supply chain. As long as Western leaders have access to vehicles made in their countries or by allies, fears of Chinese EVs posing security threats seem overstated. In navigating this new era of automotive transformation, policymakers should resist the temptation of protectionism. Instead, they should foster an environment that encourages healthy competition and innovation.

The focus should be on ensuring that Western industries remain agile and responsive to the changing dynamics of the automotive market. If China, through its subsidies, accelerates the global transition to clean energy and benefits consumers worldwide, perhaps the Wests best response is not to build walls but to welcome the winds of change.
Hong Kong: Paul Chan concludes Davos visit

Financial Secretary Paul Chan concluded the final day of his visit to Davos, Switzerland, by meeting World Trade Organization (WTO) Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala today.



Accompanied by Secretary for Commerce & Economic Development Algernon Yau, Mr Chan gave Ms Okonjo-Iweala a briefing on Hong Kong's latest economic and trade situation.



He also thanked the WTO for reaffirming the free trade regime of Hong Kong, China and its position as one of the world's most important international trade and financial hubs in its Trade Policy Review conducted at the end of last year.



Mr Chan said that Hong Kong would continue to firmly support a rules-based multilateral trading system with the WTO at its core, and actively promote free trade, so as to contribute to a better recovery of the global economy.



Before concluding the visit, Mr Chan also met the chief executive officer of an international insurance company.



The Financial Secretary will arrive back in Hong Kong tomorrow night.

This story has been published on: 2024-01-19. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Bidzina Ivanishvili, the honorary chairman and founder of Georgian Dream, filed a money laundering complaint against Credit Suisse, a Swiss multinational investment bank and financial services company. However, the investigation did not uncover any evidence of money laundering, and his complaint was dismissed.Bloomberg reported that the investigation found no evidence confirming the alleged money laundering by former banker Patrice Lescaudron or any other representative of Credit Suisse.Lescaudron, was accused of forging signatures, making unauthorized customer account withdrawals, and illegally transferring millions from Ivanishvili's accounts.Ivanishvili's representative stated that they strongly disagree with the reasoning that overlooks evidence indicating the customer relationship manager's intention to hide and launder the proceeds of his fraud. Additionally, according to Bloomberg's report, Ivanishvili's team plans to file an appeal in the case.During the discussion held in Davos, Switzerland, Georgia's Prime Minister, Irakli Gharibashvili, stated that since 2008, the country has managed to maintain peace and stability despite ongoing Russian occupation of Georgian territories."We survived the war in 2008, and since then, Russia has built military bases on our territory and continues to occupy our territories. However, despite this security challenge, we have managed to ensure a decade of unprecedented and continuous peace and stability, fostering prosperity and economic growth in Georgia," said Gharibashvili.According to Gharibashvili, since the restoration of independence, Georgia has never experienced such a peaceful and stable situation as it is now.
KAMPALA, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- Ugandan officials have praised China's support for the education sector, highlighting its positive impact on the development of the East African country.

Oliver Wonekha, the Ugandan ambassador to China, said on Thursday that the support, channeled through the Chinese embassy, has made significant contribution to the education sector.

"Through Chinese cooperation, we have had teachers teaching the Chinese language go to China for cultural learning exchange, where they acquire practical entrepreneurial skills," Wonekha said at Luyanzi Institute of Technology in the central Ugandan district of Wakiso. She was speaking during the first Ugandan Secondary School Chinese Education Development and The Fourth Seminar and Lecture Competition for Ugandan Secondary School Teachers of the Chinese Language.

She said that many Ugandan students have received scholarships, enabling them to acquire educational skills in Chinese universities.

Gilbert Siima, a curriculum specialist at the National Curriculum Development Center, said that the number of teachers training in the Chinese language has rapidly increased in recent years.

"Now, schools teaching the Chinese language have experienced a rapid increment in their students' enrollment over the past few years because parents are now choosing to send their students to such schools," he said. Siima thanked China for its donation of books and instructional materials to Ugandan schools.

Ismail Mulindwa, director of Basic Education at the Ministry of Education, said that the opening of the Confucius Institute at Makerere University has provided more job opportunities for Ugandan Chinese learners.

"I can see that we now have many graduates who have studied Chinese through the Confucius Institute. We are making strides, and we believe all of them are now employed in various factories and companies across the country," he said.

Zhong Jianghua, director of the Confucius Institute at Makerere University, said that more secondary schools will soon join to start offering Chinese language courses for both ordinary level and advanced level. He encouraged more teachers to train in Chinese because there are ample opportunities for them to teach the language as a career. 
Uttarakhands Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami met Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi ji in New Delhi today and sought his guidance on various subjects. During this time, the Chief Minister presented products based on the famous copper craft of Bageshwar to the Prime Minister.

The Chief Minister gave detailed information to the Prime Minister about various works being done for grounding of investment during the Global Investors Summit. Along with this, he informed the Honble Prime Minister about the launch of Cooperative Farmer Prosperity Card Scheme (Namo Cooperative Kavach Card).

The Chief Minister informed the Prime Minister that House of Himalayas is being promoted more effectively as it is an umbrella brand for processing, packaging and branding of local products of the state. The Chief Minister also gave information about Manaskhand Mandir Mala Mission, started with the aim of empowering Uttarakhand, development of Haridwar-Rishikesh Ganga Corridor, efforts being made to develop the state as a wedding destination and efforts being done for expansion of air service.

The Chief Minister informed the Prime Minister about roads and transport, energy and development of new townships, special works being done in the field of AYUSH, action plans of Uttarakhand State Millet Mission and the benefits being given to the people of the state under the Mukhyamantri Ghasiyari Kalyan Yojana.

He gave detailed information regarding starting the work by naming the executing agency for transfer of assets for widening of 4 lanes of Pilibhit-Khatima Highway and making the Public Works Department the executing agency for the work of 2 lane tunnel project in Mussoorie.

The Chief Minister asked the Prime Minister to allocate 400 MW additional power from coal-based plants of the Central Pool to the state, to operate a Jan Shatabdi train service between Tanakpur-Doon, a fast train between Tanakpur and New Delhi and a Dehradun-Haridwar-Ramnagar direct train service.

Along with this, the Prime Minister was requested for regular maintenance of Chinyalisaur airstrip by the Air Force, upgradation of Jolly Grant Airport and permission for development and construction of various hydro power projects.
JAKARTA, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- Three Boeing 737 Max 9 planes belonging to Indonesia's budget airline Lion Air have been allowed to fly again after having been temporarily grounded following the Alaska Airlines incident earlier this month.

Transportation Ministry spokesperson Adita Irawati explained to local media here on Thursday that the ministry had done inspections and found that the three Boeing 737 Max 9 planes operating under Lion Air apparently had different configurations with the Alaska Airlines' Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft, which suffered an in-flight blowout earlier this month.

"The door system is apparently different from the Alaska Airlines's. We have inspected it, communicated with Lion Air and Boeing. They are allowed to fly again," said the spokesperson. 
While inaugurating the Boeing India Engineering and Technology Centre (BIETC), Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Bengaluru is a city that connects aspirations with innovation and achievement.

Bengaluru connects India's technological capability with global demand, said PM Modi in Bengaluru.

This is Boeing's largest centre outside the US, built with an investment of Rs 1,600 crore which is also Boeings largest such investment. Modi also launched Boeing's Sukanya Program that aims to support the entry of more girl children from across India into the countrys aviation sector. The program will provide opportunities for girls and women from across India to learn critical skills in the science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields and train for jobs in the aviation sector.

PM Narendra Modi greeting Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah during the inaugural event in Bengaluru | Bhanu Prakash Chandra

Boeing's centre in Bengaluru will house engineering, test, research and technology teams, performing advanced high-quality aerospace engineering works. It includes support in structural and systems design, manufacturing, aircraft testing system development, and digital solutions that drive sustainability in aviation. The centre will also work in areas like Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Internet-of-Things, Cloud Solutions, Model-Based Engineering, and Additive Manufacturing to enhance quality, safety, and productivity.

Boeing's new campus in Bengaluru will also serve as the hub for Boeing's work with Indian startups and universities. Currently Boeing has collaborated with seven incubators, including Society for Innovation and Entrepreneurship  IIT Mumbai, Foundation for Innovation and Technology Transfer  IIT Delhi, Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center  IIT Gandhinagar, IIT Madras Incubation Cell, Society for Innovation and Development  IISC Bengaluru, T-Hub Hyderabad, and Technology Business Incubator  KIIT Bhubaneshwar. Together, they host the Boeing University Innovation Leadership and Development program (BUILD) annually in India.

The Boeing's Sukanya Program was launched in the backdrop that India leads the world with women comprising 15 percent of all pilots, exceeding the global average of 5 percent. The Indian aviation sector is also witnessing a surging demand for pilots. More than a doubling of the current roster of 9,000 pilots will be required. Under this program Boeing is establishing Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Labs in girls' schools, especially in tier 2 and 3 towns, to expand awareness, knowledge, and exposure to careers in aviation.

With around 150 locations planned, local program managers will engage with as many as 75,000 students through these STEM labs, with the intent of reaching 60 percent of the young girl students. The initiative will support learning through various digital products, including Virtual Procedure Trainer, Virtual Airplane, and Private Pilot License ground school courses. Boeing will also provide scholarships for training, covering aspects such as foundation, jet bridge, type rating, and more.

Besides this Boeing will have full-flight simulator capacity to support the womens pilot program and collaborate with customers to ensure candidates are airline-ready. These investments  both hard assets, and Competency-based Training and Assessment (CBTA) courseware aim to produce a large pipeline of female pilots entering the airlines annually.

During the inauguration PM Modi was joined by the Governor of Karnataka Thaawar Chand Gehlot, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Leader of the Opposition  Karnataka Legislative Assembly R. Ashoka and Stephanie Pope Boeing's Chief Operating Officer, along with other senior Boeing executives.
Nayanthara's movie Annapoorani recently courted controversy. The movie was pulled off the OTT platform Netflix. The movie got into trouble with right-wing Hindu groups, as the film showed a woman from a Brahmin family cooking and eating meat. The character portrayed by Nayanthara is also shown wearing a burkha and offering namaz before cooking biriyani. The actor, last night, issued an apology for 'inadvertently' causing hurt. Directed by Nilesh Krishnaa, the movie was released in theatres in December 2023. Complainants, who launched an FIR against the filmmakers and the actor also claimed that the movie promotes love jihad. Here are movies that courted controversy in recent years.



Adipurush: This modern-day adaptation of Ramayana, starring Prabhas was bashed by Hindu groups for its portrayal of Janaki or Sita and Raghav or Ram. The movie also didn't sit well due to the dialogues in the film. It has Lord Hanuman mouthing lines like Kapda tere baap ka, tel tere baap ka! Jalegi bhi teri baap ki and Jo humaari beheno ko haath lagaega, unki lanka laga denge. The movie was also banned from two cities in Nepal-- Khatmandu and Pokhra. The authorities were reportedly miffed by the dialogue in the film, Janaki is a daughter of India. Sita is believed to be born in Janakpur, Southeast Nepal.

Lipstick Under My Burkha: The 2017 movie, which starred Konkona Sen Sharma and Ratna Pathak Shah, was banned by the CBFC (Central Board of Film Certification) helmed by Pankaj Nihlani. The story is lady-oriented, their fantasy above life. There are contentious sexual scenes, abusive words, audio pornography and a bit sensitive touch about one particular section of society, hence film refused under guidelines, were cited as reasons behind the ban. Director of the film, Alankrita Shrivastava, in an interview, said, I believe the decision to refuse certification to our film is an assault on womens rights. A film like Lipstick Under My Burkha, which challenges that dominant narrative is being attacked because it presents a female point of view. Do women not have the right of freedom of expression? she added.

OMG2: This 2023 film starring Pankaj Tripathi and Akshay Kumar, did not rile up controversy per se. But, the CBFC awarded it an A certificate after ordering 27 cuts. Actor Akshay Kumar, who plays the messenger of Lord Shiva in the movie, reacting to the certification said, I don't want to fight. I have no idea about the rules. I didn't get into the rulebook. If they thought it was an adult film, then... did you all feel it was an adult film? Whoever we have shown the film to, they loved it. I made it for youngsters and I'm happy it is coming on Netflix and I'm happy about it. the movie tackled the topic of sex education in schools.

Padmaavat: The movie based on the lives of Rani Padmavati and Maharawal Ratan Singh, got caught up in controversy as a fringe group from Rajasthan, Karni Sena, said they weren't happy with the portrayal of their queen in the film. Heena Singh Judeo, daughter-in-law of Dilip Singh Judeo of Chhattisgarh's former royal family objected to Deepika Padukone dancing in the film and said that Rajput maharanis have never danced in front of anyone.

Pathaan: This movie starring Deepika Padukone and Shah Rukh Khan raked up controversy as actor Deepika Padukone wore a saffron bikini in one of the songs from the film. The title of the song was Besharam rang, which translates to shameless colour in Hindi. There were calls to remove the song entirely; angry protesters have torn up posters and burnt effigies of Khan.

Kerala Story: Kerala Story, the movie directed by Vipul Amrutlal Shah, kicked up some storm in its wake. Following the release of the film's trailer, a petition was filed at the Supreme Court seeking a stay on its release stating the movie relayed "worst kind of hate speech" and "audio-visual propaganda". The SC refused to entertain the request. Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan slammed the film and called it "propaganda" by "the Sangh parivar". The teaser later changed the tagline from "heartbreaking and gut-wrenching stories of 32,000 females in Kerala..." to "true stories of three young girls from Kerala."
In a span of 12 hours, two policemen were murdered in neighbouring districts of Madhya Pradesh's Mahakoshal region on Thursday, sending shockwaves across the state. While an assistant sub-inspector of police (ASI) in Chhindwara district got crushed under a speeding vehicle, a head constable was shot in Seoni.



The first incident occurred on Thursday morning in front of Mahuljhir police station in Chhindwara's Tamia. The accused was identified as Lokjit Singh, who was fleeing a petrol station without paying.

When the man sped away in his SUV from the gas station in Parasia, the cops were alerted. On getting the information, ASI Naresh Sharma got a barrier put up in front of the police station to stop the escaping accused. When the ASI tried to flag down the vehicle, Lokjit Singh mowed him down and sped away. The critically injured Sharma later succumbed at the district hospital.

Singh was later arrested about 60 kms from the spot after his speeding SUV overturned, police sources said. It was found that the accused was out on bail after being charged for a tractor theft in Amarwada police station. He also had cases of cannabis smuggling and road accidents registered against him, police added.

In the second incident, head constable Rakesh Thakur of Dunda Seoni police station was fatally shot while a team of cops was trying to apprehend four criminals allegedly involved in cases of theft. After the police team detained three accused, namely Janak Singh, Pravin Vaishnav and Gulshan, the fourth man opened fire at the police team in a bid to save his associates. One of the shots fired by the man identified as Saddam allegedly hit Thakur in the abdomen. Though he was referred to Nagpur for advanced treatement, Rakesh Thakur succumbed at 5.00 AM on Friday morning, Seoni police said. Saddam managed to escape from the spot.

Chief Minister Mohan Yadav paid tributes to both the slain cops and announced that their families will receive Rs 1 crore each in compensation. An eligible member from both families will be given jobs by the government, the CM added.

Promising that the absconding accused in the case of head constable Thakur will be arrested soon, Yadav said on social media platform X, There is no place for crime and criminals on the land of Madhya Pradesh. No criminal will be spared.

The opposition Congress has attacked the BJP government, especially the chief minister Yadav, who also holds the home portfolio over the incidents of killing of cops. Asking where Yadav was as incidents of crimes were increasing, leader of opposition Umang Singhar said on X In the initial days of the new government, crime has increased in the state and the criminals are fearless. The administrative staff itself is being made victims of criminal incidents; the incidents of crime are increasing day by day, there is no fear among the criminals of the new government.
The Gujarat police have arrested three persons including the two boat operators in connection with Harni boat tragedy on Friday. As many as 16 persons including two teachers got killed in the incident.



Vadodara police have arrested Shantilal Solanki, the manager of the Harni Lake Zone and the two boat operators - Nayan Gohil and Ankit. Deputy Commissioner of Police Panna Momaya told PTI, Efforts are on to nab other culprits. Twelve school students and two women teachers have lost their lives in the incident. Rescue operation in the lake ended on Thursday night.

Following the tragedy on Thursday afternoon, the Harni police had registered an FIR under sections 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and 308 (attempt to commit culpable homicide) of the Indian Penal Code against 18 persons, including the partners of Kotia Projects, which was given the contract to run Harni Lake Zone by the civic body.

In a tragic incident at least 16 people died as a boat, carrying 27 students, capsized in Vadodara, Gujarat on Thursday. A preliminary probe by authorities revealed the boat, which was pulled out from the muddy waters, had only 14 seats, nearly half of the number of persons it was carrying at the time of the incident, officials said.

An ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh each from PMNRF has been announced for the next of kin of each deceased. The injured would receive an ex-gratia of Rs 50,000.

Meanwhile, school authorities charged that operators started the boat without providing life jackets. The incident happened as the boat was overloaded. Our teachers had told the people out there about it, however, they started the boat without even providing life jackets to all the students, said Russy Wadia, trustee of New Sunrise School told PTI.
The Gujarat police have arrested six persons in connection with the boat tragedy near Vadodara that killed 12 students and two teachers, an official said on Friday.

Eighteen students and two teachers were rescued from the boat capsize in Harni lake on the outskirts of Vadodara city on Thursday. The students were on a picnic at the time.

Those arrested include three partners of Kotia Projects, a firm that had been given the contract to operate Harni Lake Zone by the Vadodara Municipal Corporation, a police official said.

The others who have been arrested comprise a manager of Kotia Projects and two boat operators, and all have been charged with culpable homicide not amounting to murder, Vadodara police commissioner Anupam Singh Gehlot said.

On Thursday, the police had registered an FIR under sections 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and 308 (attempt to commit culpable homicide) of the Indian Penal Code against 18 persons.

The arrested persons have been identified as Kotia Projects partners Bhimsingh Yadav, Vedprakash Yadav and Rashmikant Prajapati, the firm's manager Shantilal Solanki and boat operators Nayan Gohil and Ankit Vasava, as per police.

"We have formed a special investigation team (SIT) in connection with the incident and to nab other culprits. Those guilty will not be spared," Gehlot said.

The seven-member SIT will be led by Additional Commissioner of Police (Crime and Traffic), Manoj Ninama, while other members include Deputy Commissioner of Police Panna Momaya, DCP Yuvrajsinh Jadeja and ACP HA Rathod, the official said.

Following the incident, the Vadodara Municipal Corporation sealed the lake area and prohibited the entry of unauthorised persons as well as those associated with the contracting firm.

As per the FIR, Kotia Projects was given the contract by VMC to operate the Harni Lake Zone in 2017.

In his complaint, VMC engineer Rajesh Chauhan said the firm, its owners, managers and boat operators indulged in criminal negligence on several counts, be it non-maintenance of boats or not keeping adequate number of life-saving equipment and life jackets.

It was also revealed that only a few students were given life jackets and no instructions were given to them, as per the complaint.

Due to overload, the FIR said, the boat first started swaying and then capsized following water ingress from the front side.

Incidentally, on Thursday, Gujarat Minister of State for Home Sanghavi had told reporters only 10 students on board were wearing life jackets, which proved the organisers were at fault.

Gujarat Education Minister Kuber Dindor too had said the boat was carrying more persons than the stipulated number.

I have also learnt students were not wearing life jackets at the time of the accident. We will take action against those found guilty (of these lapses), Dindor had said on Thursday night.

A preliminary probe by authorities also revealed the boat, which was pulled out from the muddy waters, had only 14 seats, while more than 30 persons were on board.

On Thursday, a notification issued by the state home department directed the Vadodara collector to conduct a detailed inquiry on reasons and circumstances which led to the tragedy, whether there was any negligence on the part of the contractor or any official and how such incidents can be avoided in the future.

Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel had visited the site late on Thursday evening and toured Janvi Hospital and state-run SSG Hospital to meet survivors and kin of the deceased.

The CM had also announced compensation of Rs 4 lakh to the kin of those who have died and Rs 50,000 to the injured.

In a message on social media platform X some time after the incident, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, Distressed by the loss of lives to a boat capsizing at the Harni lake in Vadodara. My thoughts are with the bereaved families in this hour of grief. May the injured recover soon.

The local administration is providing all possible assistance to those affected. An ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh each from PMNRF would be given to the next of kin of each deceased. The injured would be given Rs 50,000, the PM had further said.
Forty eight years ago, Prime Minister Jacques Chirac came as chief guest at a Republic Day event. A Sanskrit scholar who believed in deeper ties with IndiaChirac was the first French leader to watch Indias parade. In 2024, as French President Macron comes to India next week and he will be the sixth French leader to be the guest of honour. This makes France the country that has been invited and accepted the most number of times for this honour to stand at a grand total of six.

Forget the bromancethat President Joe Biden may have met Prime Minister Narendra Modi, especially at a time when it was widely known that he was to watch the parade at the Kartavya Pathit is about diplomatic armour. If Macron accepted the invitation without hesitation, as sources say, Modi attended as the guest of honour at Bastille Day on 14 July 2023.

France is amongst the closest strategic partners, said sources. If you look at the multilateral forums like the UN, France has supported what India has done.

A 200 member Indian tri-service contingent marched to the tune of 'saare jahan se achcha' down towards the Arc de Triomphe. India is planning to return the favour with two Rafale fighter jets and one transport aircraft to participate in the fly-past. There will also be a marching contingent of the French Foreign Legion that will take part in the programme.

In the past six months, Macron has met Modi four times. From Paris to Delhi to Dubai and once virtually. Unlike the other relationships that often steal the limelight, the flirtation between the two countries has blossomed into a steady long term relationship. The two countries have signed pacts in Defencethe military relationship is bedrockbut then there are the other ingredients that keep the relationship excitingfrom space, to the newly signed pact on the Indo-Pacific and the Horizon 2047. This pact stands on three pillarsprogress, planet and people.

Macron is expected to come with CEOsespecially at a time when the trade between the two countries is at an all time high with 13.5 billion dollars last year. India is hoping that the new areas of digital, post France inking a deal for the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), which was launched from the Eiffel Tower last September. On the cards will be India pushing green energy, and a blue economy. There has been a positive movement on the Rafale deal, said sources.

There is expected to be movement in all the three pillars, but it is the people's connection that is likely to explode. And there is likely to be an announcement on education. And nothing fires up the relationship as young blood.
Madhya Pradesh police is investigating allegations of abuse and torture against children at a private orphanage facility in Vijayanagar, Indore. The investigation was launched based on an FIR registered against the women, in the facility, on the complaint by the Child Welfare Committee (CWC). The horrifying tales of abuse, physical and mental torture came forward, reportedly, when the minor kids opened up to CWC officials during a surprise inspection at the facility.

The minor girls said that they underwent horrifying ways of punishment, including branding with hot tongs, hanging them upside down and forced to inhale smoke from burning red chillies.

The local administration had sealed the facility, "Vatsalyapuram", on January 12 for illegal operation after the complaints were raised. The girls in the facility were shifted to the state-run Child Protection Home and another institution, the official said. There were around 21 children in the facility.

FIR was registered against five women of the facility based on the stories narrated by the inmates, aged between four and 14 years.

According to an official, the girl inmates told the CWC that they were tortured in the name of punishment in the premises.

In the FIR lodged on the night of January 17, it was mentioned a four-year-old girl was beaten up for wearing dirty clothes, locked in the bathroom for several hours and not given food for two days, reported PTI.

It was also mentioned in the FIR that the children were hung upside down and forced to inhale smoke from red chillies kept on a hot pan.

However, the NGO, running the facility, Jain Welfare Society, has filed a habeas corpus petition in the Indore bench of the High Court. Vibhor Khandelwal, a counsel for the private institution, told PTI, "Vatsalayapuram is not an orphanage but a standalone hostel where children from economically weaker families are taken care of for an annual fee of just Rs 5."

The allegations mentioned in the FIR was termed false by Khandelwal.

Cases under relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code and the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act was registered against the accused.

Accordng to the CWC chairperson, Indore, Pallavi Porwal, the children rescued from the orphange were natives of Rajasthan and Gujarat.

"We have written to the Child Welfare Committees of these states asking them to ascertain the socio-economic background of these children and submit a report to us so that they can be rehabilitated," said Porwal.
Amid reports of fresh violence in strife-torn Manipur, the state government's security advisor Kuldiep Singh said there were intel warning of assaults by militants from Myanmar. He added that the state was also probing the incident where a viral video showed fire trucks from Myanmar dousing fire at Moreh amid a gunbattle.

The intelligence suggested that the People's Defence Force insurgents operating in Moreh with some reinforcements from Myanmar may attack state forces in Moreh. "However, there is no evidence that connects foreign parties to the incident," Singh said on Wednesday's gunfire incident which killed two security personnel.



This is despite the state's earlier stance that 'there was no evidence showing involvement of militants from Myanmar'.



According to Singh, the miscreants attacked India Reserve Battalion (IRB) personnel, resulting in an exchange of fire with the Border Security Forces (BSF) personnel in Thoubal.



The militants attacked commando posts at three locations -- Rich Hotel, GM Hotel and the SBI bank. The militants reportedly used advanced weaponery and was firing from close range. They only targeted Manipur Police commandos, firing RPG shells at the temporary commando post damaging several vehicles parked in the vicinity.



"The forces, including Assam Rifles, CDOs and the BSF were prepared for the assault. However, the attack resulted in serious injuries and caused the deaths of Commando Wangkhem Somorjit Meitei and 10 IRB personnel," Singh said. Assam Rifles and BSF supplied munition to the State forces to counter the attack of Kuki militants.



Following this, it has been decided that the three state police commando units in violence-hit Moreh town were unsuitable, making them vulnerable targets, Singh added. "After numerous coordination meetings, it was concluded that the units were positioned in the lower areas of the town, making them susceptible to attacks from hill areas. We have decided to relocate the units to higher areas of the town, where they can effectively counter the militants," he said.



Singh said additional reinforcements, including one company of BSF, two army columns, and four casper vehicles have arrived in Moreh. A helicopter from the Union Home Ministry has also reached the area, he added. "We have taken measures to ensure that all forces can collaborate and take action against the militants," Singh added.



The security forces have started combing operations in Moreh, the official added.



Four civilians dead



Four people were shot dead in Manipur's Bishnupur district on Thursday evening. The incident occurred at Ningthoukhong Kha Khunou and the victims included a man and his 60-year-old father.



Quoting one person who escaped the shooting, an official said, "Five-six armed miscreants came when the labourers were tiling the farmland and shot them from point-blank range." The miscreants fled to the hill ranges from where they had come, the official added.



With these four, at least seven people including two police commandos were killed in separate districts of the state since Wednesday. One village volunteer was killed in a gunfight between two warring communities in Manipur's Kangpokpi district.



The shootout took place on Wednesday night after suspected militants launched an attack on Kangchup from the adjoining hill areas, prompting village volunteers in low-lying locality to retaliate.


With the Pran Pratishtha of Lord Ram Temple in Ayodhya slated for January 22, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will undertake a two-day spiritual tour in Tamil Nadu on January 20 and 21.

The Prime Minister, who will arrive in Chennai on Friday evening and inaugurate the Khelo India Youth Games, will stay back at the Raj Bhavan in Chennai. The Tamil Nadu BJP leaders are likely to call on the prime minister to discuss the 2024 election plans.



On Saturday, Modi will visit Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple, a revered Vaishnavite shrine at SriRangam in Trichy. Modi will spend at least two hours and offer prayers before all the deities at the temple. He will then take a chopper to Rameshwaram and offer prayers at the Ramanathaswamy Temple. At Rameshwaram, he is expected to take a holy dip in all 22 theerthams (holds tanks) and visit Ramar Paadham, a temple dedicated to Lord Rams feet, on Saturday evening. He will stay at the Ramakrishna Ashram in Rameshwaram on Saturday night before leaving to Dhanushkodi by road on Sunday morning.



He will then visit the Sri Kothandaramaswamy Temple in Dhanuskodi, the temple dedicated to Lord Ram, his consort Seetha, brother Lakshman and Hanuman. He will also visit Arisal Munai, the last point of Indian mainland, where the Bay of Bengal meets the Indian Ocean and take a dip in the sea. He will get back to Rameshwaram and is expected to collect water from the holy tanks to take it to Ayodhya. It may be recalled that the holy soil from Rameswaram and Kanchipuram were sent from Tamil Nadu to be used in the bhoomi pujan for construction of Ram Temple in Ayodhya in 2020.



Modis two-day spiritual visit to Tamil Nadu comes at a time when the BJP is making concerted efforts to increase its political presence in the state. In a state, which is witnessing huge polarisation communally and spiritually, the Prime Minister's spiritual tour is likely to ignite a debate and sympathy among the electorate.



The PM's visit, for the second time since the beginning of 2024, and the meetings with local BJP leaders assumes significance as the party is planning to launch a third front in the run up to the Lok Sabha polls.



Incidentally, Modis rich tribute to DMDK founder-leader Captain Vijayakanth on his demise and then his message on social media platform X on MGRs 107th birthday has sent a political message across the electorate in Tamil Nadu that the BJP respects the state leaders.

Incidentally, in the past ten years Modi has not spoken about Vijayakanth or MGR or any political leader with such deep fervour. The tribute for Vijayakanth and the message remembering MGR as an icon came at a time when the BJP has been trying to project itself as the alternate to the two Dravidian majors and looks to cobble up a third front on its own in the name of NDA.



The AIADMK, which was part of the NDA and the major ally in Tamil Nadu, walked out of the alliance a few months before. AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palanisamy has time and again reiterated that he will not align with the BJP with an intention to bag the minority votes in the state.



Meanwhile the other parties which were part of the NDA earlier - Vijayakanths DMDK, now helmed by his wife Premalatha Vijayakanth, Dr S Ramadosss PMK, Krishnasamys Puthiya Thamilagam and few other fringe parties, are likely to be part of the alliance. While AIADMK is out of the alliance, its offshoots like TTV Dhinakarans AMMK and the splinter factions led by VK Sasikala and O Panneerselvam are also likely to align with the NDA. The BJP has already begun its election work in the state and has been concentrating in few constituencies in the west and the south, where it has considerable influence. The BJP is eyeing Sivaganga, Pudukottai, Ramanathapuram, Kanyakumari, Nagercoil in the South, Coimbatore and Nilgiris in the West and also South Chennai.


Former MP and Trinamool Congress leader Mahua Moitra vacated from government bungalow in Delhi on Friday. The Directorate of Estates reportedly sent a team to evict her from the government bungalow.

The Directorate of Estates had sent multiple notices asking Moitra to vacate the bungalow as she was no longer a member of Lok Sabha. Though Moitra challenged the notice in Delhi High Court on Thursday, the Court refused to stay the eviction order.

Moitra, who was expelled from the Lok Sabha on December 8 last year following the probe into cash-for-query scam was earlier asked to vacate the house by January 7 after her allotment was cancelled.

On January 8, the DoE issued a notice seeking her reply within three days as to why she had not vacated her government accommodation. Another notice was also issued to her on January 12.

On January 4, the Delhi High Court asked the TMC leader to approach the DoE with a request to allow her to continue to occupy the government accommodation allotted to her. The Court then observed that as per rules, authorities can allow a resident to overstay for up to six months on payment of certain charges in exceptional circumstances. Court however said the DoE shall decide her case after applying its own mind.

(with PTI inputs)
Cai Qi, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and a member of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee, speaks at the closing ceremony of a study session on promoting high-quality financial development, attended by provincial and ministerial-level leading officials, at the Party School of the CPC Central Committee (National Academy of Governance) on Jan. 19, 2024. (Xinhua/Shen Hong)

BEIJING, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- A study session on promoting high-quality financial development, attended by provincial and ministerial-level leading officials, concluded Friday afternoon at the Party School of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee (National Academy of Governance).

Cai Qi, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and a member of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee, attended the closing ceremony and made remarks.

Through discussions, participants of the session deepened their understanding of major issues, including following the path of financial development with Chinese characteristics, building China into a country with great financial strength, establishing a modern financial system with Chinese characteristics, preventing and controlling financial risks, widening high-quality financial opening up, and cultivating and developing financial culture with Chinese characteristics, Cai said.

He urged all participants to apply the Party's innovative theories when tackling practical problems in financial work, and to turn the learning outcomes into work results. 
After exchange of strikes between Pakistan and Iran, both nations has signalled that they dont want to further escalate the tensions. Pakistan on Friday said it did not want to escalate a standoff with Iran. Both the nations foreign ministers held a telephonic conversation and agreed on cooperation.

Pakistan has called for an emergency security meeting with military and intelligence chiefs to review the situation after the attacks.

Reportedly, caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar ul Haq Kakar began the high-powered National Security Committee meeting. According to Information Minister Murtaza Solangi, the meeting aims at a "broad national security review in the aftermath of the Iran-Pakistan incidents".

In the wake of the attacks, Kakar had to rush back to his home on Thursday cutting the World Economic Forum in Davos.

"Pakistan has no interest or desire in escalation," the country's Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani said in a telephone call with his Turkish counterpart, reported Reuters.

Meanwhile, Pakistan and Iran in a telephonic conversation and agreed to the spirit of mutual trust and cooperation. The need for closer cooperation on security issues was also agreed on by both the nations.

Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani spoke with his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and expressed Pakistan's readiness to work with Iran on all issues based on the spirit of mutual trust and cooperation, Pakistan's Foreign Office said in a statement.

He (Jilani) underscored the need for closer cooperation on security issues, said the statement issued after the two ministers spoke over the telephone.

Along with Turkey, the UN and US also urged both nations for restraint, while China has offered to mediate.

After the attacks, Pakistan has recalled it ambassador from Tehran and said Iran's envoy-on a visit home- is blocked from returning to Islamabad. The "precision military strikes" against militant hideouts in Iran's Siestan-Balochistan province killed nine, including four children.
Prince Harry on Friday dropped his libel lawsuit against the publisher of the Daily Mail tabloid following a ruling in which a judge cast doubt on his case.

Lawyers for the Duke of Sussex told the High Court in London that he was withdrawing the suit against Associated Newspapers Ltd.

No reason was given, but it came the day he was due to hand over documents in the case and after a punishing ruling last month in which a judge ordered Harry to pay the publisher nearly 50,000 pounds (more than USD 60,000) in legal fees after he failed to achieve victory without going to trial.

The action will leave him on the hook to pay the publisher's legal fees, which the the Daily Mail reported to be 250,000 pounds (USD 3,16,000).

The case involved a Mail on Sunday article that said Harry tried to hide his efforts to retain publicly funded protection in the UK after walking away from his role as a working member of the royal family.

He had sought summary judgment to win the case without going to trial and tried to knock out the Mail's defense but a judge didn't buy it.

Justice Matthew Nicklin ruled December 8 that the publisher had a real prospect of showing statements issued on Harry's behalf were misleading and that the February 2022 article reflected an honest opinion and wasn't libelous.

The defendant may well submit that this was a master class in the art of spinning,' Nicklin wrote, in refusing to strike the honest opinion defense.

Harry, 39, the estranged younger son of King Charles III, has broken ranks with the royal family in going to court in his battles with the British press.

Associated Newspapers is one of three tabloid publishers he's suing over claims they used unlawful means, such as deception, phone hacking or hiring private investigators, to try to dig up dirt on him.

He also has a lawsuit pending against the government's decision to protect him on a case-by-case basis when he visits Britain. He claims that hostility toward him and his wife on social media and relentless hounding by the news media threaten their safety. He cited media intrusion for his decision to leave life as a senior royal and move to the US.
Bhubaneswar, Jan 19 (PTI) The Odisha government on Friday signed MoUs for different projects to the tune of Rs 23,389 crore with 11 companies, officials said.

The projects will be set up in the districts of Jharsuguda, Sambalpur and Sundergarh, they said.

These will likely create employment for 15,168 people, the officials said.

The MoUs were inked at the Enterprise Odisha Summit held at Jharsuguda in the presence of senior officials of the state government and various companies.

The agreements include pacts with Epsilon Carbon Private Ltd, which has proposed an investment of Rs 10,000 crore in the state over 10 years, and Ind Barath Energy Utkal Ltd, which will set up an 800-MW ultra super critical coal-based thermal power plant at Jharsuguda for Rs 6,012.46 crore.

Epsilon Carbon will set up a unit in the integrated carbon complex (ICC) in Jharsuguda.

Jharsuguda's industrial ecosystem, availability of skilled labour, robust infrastructure and industry-friendly policies make it an ideal location for the upcoming mega projects, said Vikram Handa, managing director of Epsilon Carbon.
MUMBAI, India , Jan. 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Shri Vile Parle Kelavani Mandal (SVKM) and NMIMS Deemed-to-be University in collaboration with the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union and Harmony Project organised a Study Abroad Fair exclusively for students of NMIMS Deemed-to-be University and students of the SVKM Schools and Colleges, namely, C.N.M. & N.D. Parekh ICSE School and J.V. Parekh International School, Mithibai College of Arts and Chauhan Institute of Sciences, Narsee Monjee College of Commerce and Economics, Jitendra Chauhan College of Law, Dwarkadas J. Sanghvi College of Engineering, Dr. Bhanuben Nanavati College of Pharmacy, Shri Bhagubhai Mafatlal Polytechnic, and more. Held on January 16 2024, the fair brought together esteemed delegates from 50+ globally renowned universities from countries like the USA, UK, Canada, France, Australia, Spain, Italy and Scotland.



SVKM's NMIMS believes in providing its students with a global mindset, and this is evident in NMIMS's more than 55 partnerships with renowned foreign universities like Virginia Tech, Purdue University, University of Bristol, The University of Queensland and Monash University, to name a few. The students have been benefitting from the unique learning opportunities offered by these collaborations.



Distinguished representatives from renowned academic institutions, including Queen Mary University of London, Arizona State University in the USA, Australian National University in Australia, University of Nottingham in the UK, IE Business School in Spain, Johns Hopkins Carey Business School in USA, University of Edinburgh in the UK, Western University in Canada, EDHEC Business School in France, and Domus Academy Milano in Italy. The fair was aimed at students from class VIII to postgraduates seeking flourishing academic and career opportunities abroad. Student attendees at the event received detailed information about the various undergraduate and postgraduate programs offered by these universities. The event covered a wide range of streams, including Engineering, Sciences, Pharmacy, Architecture, Commerce, Management, Economics, Marketing, Research, Liberal Arts, and Law among others, and the various programs provided by these universities.



The counselling sessions held at the fair were very helpful in clarifying the admission process for students. They provided valuable information about the different scholarships available to them and how to apply for them. The session also included tips on how to prepare for entrance tests.



The study abroad fair proved to be an excellent platform for the 600+ students from diverse academic backgrounds at the fair to connect with delegates and subject matter experts from across the globe and explore promising career opportunities in their fields. It was in line with NMIMS' objective to become a global centre of excellence and provide its students with opportunities to study at the best foreign universities.



About SVKM's NMIMS



Circa 1981, Shri Vile Parle Kelavani Mandal (SVKM) established the Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS) to meet the burgeoning demand for Management Education across the nation. In 2003, NMIMS was declared a Deemed-to-be University under section 3 of the UGC Act 1956 and Category-I in Graded Autonomy Regulation, 2018 by UGC/MHRD. With a legacy of 42 years, Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS) has grown to be not only one of the Top 10 B-Schools in India but also emerged as a multi-disciplinary and multi-centric University with eight campuses at Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Indore, Shirpur, Dhule, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Chandigarh. The University has seventeen constituent schools that include Management, Family Business Management, Engineering and Technology Management, Pharmacy, Architecture, Commerce, Economics, Law, Science, Liberal Arts, Design, Performing Arts, Mathematical Science, Agricultural Science, Hospitality Management, Branding and Advertising and Distance Learning. In addition to the seventeen constituent Schools, the University also has 13 Centres of Excellence. Today, NMIMS stands as the academic hub of choice, attracting over 26,000 full-time students and employing more than 850 full-time faculty members. This vibrant academic community continues to thrive and contribute significantly to India's educational landscape.



(Disclaimer: The above press release comes to you under an arrangement with PRNewswire and PTI takes no editorial responsibility for the same.). PTI PWR

PWR
New Delhi, Jan 19 (PTI) The country's largest airline IndiGo on Friday said some flights have been rescheduled and cancelled due to airspace restrictions around the Delhi airport in connection with the Republic Day parade.

At the Delhi airport, there will be no flight arrivals or departures from 10.20 am to 12.45 pm every day till January 26 in connection with the Republic Day preparations and celebrations, an official said earlier in the day.

In a statement, the airline said that due to flypast rehearsals for the Republic Day parade, airspace restrictions have been imposed around Delhi airport from January 19 to January 26.

"Consequently, rescheduling and cancellations of some IndiGo flights during these dates have been carried out. Passengers on impacted flights have been informed of the change in status and have been offered alternate options or refunds," it said.

Details about the number of rescheduled and cancelled flights could not immediately ascertained.

IndiGo operates around 1,800 flights daily.

The Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) in the national capital is the country's largest airport and handles around 1,300 flights every day.
Davos, Jan 19 (PTI) India seized its moment and presented itself as a 'trusted nation and resilient economy' here at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2024 that ended on Friday, with a call for cooperation for rebuilding trust, reviving economy, ending geopolitical conflicts and fighting risks emanating from climate change, societal fragmentation and AI-generated misinformation and disinformation.

The five-day-long intense discussions over a long list of global and regional issues among nearly 3,000 global leaders in this Swiss ski resort town on Alps coincided with incessant snowfall and drizzles, pushing temperature down to as low as minus 20 degree celsius, but ended on a bright sunny afternoon, adding to hopes that the global economy and trade would do better in 2024 and there would be answers to multiple crises plaguing the world.

Amid all the gloom, India stood out with a strong assertion by three Union ministers as also by its business leaders and several state delegations that it was the country to do business with for those looking for a trusted, reliable and strong partner and for those looking to join an inclusive and sustainable economic growth story.

Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw pitched for 'trust-shoring', describing India as the most trusted nation and a resilient economy, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das projected a 7 per cent GDP growth for the next fiscal, Union Minister Smriti Irani showcased its inclusive growth and her Cabinet colleague Hardeep Singh Puri declared that India has already seized the moment while speaking at a session titled, 'Can India seize its moment?'

Several state governments, including Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Telangana, set up their own pavilions to showcase their growth potential and signed investment MoUs totalling lakhs of crores of rupees, while a first-of-its-kind WeLead Lounge, set up to showcase India's Women Leadership potential, also grabbed attention for showcasing various schemes for women initiated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and for two young female artisans ' one presenting blue pottery of Jaipur and another wooden toys of Varanasi.

India remained the talk of the town on the main Promenade street of Davos for the entire week everywhere with so many pavilions and lounges and for assertions made by its leaders, while many were also heard asking where and when was the famous 'Bollywood Night', generally a regular feature of the WEF week in Davos that was missing this time.

The WEF said that at a moment of growing fragmentation and polarisation, the meeting served as a platform for advancing dialogue, cooperation and action-oriented partnership.

Nearly 3,000 leaders from government, business and civil society from more than 125 countries, including 350 heads of state and government, and ministers, participated in the meeting and connected across diverse viewpoints on key issues.

Participants advanced new ideas and initiatives to increase resilience and security, revive economic growth, protect the climate and nature, balance innovation and guardrails for technology, and invest in jobs, skills and health, while Indian leaders strongly presented their views on global challenges, including the transition to clean energy and AI governance.

The annual meeting also saw several discussions on the misinformation and disinformation risks, especially in the context of nearly half the population of the world set to vote this year.

Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh, who has been involved in several elections earlier in his career as a civil servant, said trust in elections remains fairly robust in India despite its huge scale with over 900 million registered voters.

Overall, more than 450 sessions and workshops took place during the week, which started with a meeting of national security advisors from over 80 countries to discuss a peace plan for Ukraine.

"We must rebuild trust in our future, trust in our capacity to overcome challenges, and most importantly, trust in each other," WEF Founder and Executive Chairman Klaus Schwab said.

"Trust is not just a feeling; trust is a commitment to action, to belief, to hope," he added.

Schwab also attended India Reception and offered to support and partner a new Alliance for Global Good - Gender Equity and Equality launched by India on the sidelines of the meeting.

He also said that India emerged as one of the main topics of discussions at Davos in addition to climate, conflicts and AI and thanked the country for sending such a strong delegation despite it being an election year.

On the last day while talking about the global economic outlook, leaders said the economy and trade appeared moving towards normalisation but were still 'not normal; WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said she is relatively optimistic about 2024 after a weak 2023, but she does not foresee any immediate return to 'normal' despite signs of the global trade moving towards normalisation.

"There are so many uncertainties and there are also so many elections around the world, making it difficult to predict anything," she added.

The WTO chief said she would still expect trade growth to be better than 2024 unless a major war breaks out. European Central Bank Chief Christine Lagarde said, "Normalisation was something we began seeing by the end of 2023, but tailwinds that were there started fading and we are now looking at something that is non-normal."

Singapore President Tharman Shanmugaratnam called for fiscal reforms and diversion of subsidies to tackle challenges like climate change, ageing of society before it was too late.

At the closing session, WEF President Borge Brende called for an urgent need for global leaders to work together for rebuilding trust, reviving the economy and addressing risks of misinformation, societal polarisation, climate change and conflicts.

"This year's meeting came at a critical and complex moment. Rising global temperatures, still fragile economy and security challenges not bound by borders show that it is not possible to grow alone. All of this makes rebuilding trust very important and we can do that only by working together," he added.

Cooperation can always deliver results and let's hope that we make significant progress this year in reviving the economy and addressing the security problems, he said.
Bengaluru, Jan 19 (PTI) Bengaluru-based Sushil Mehra who has been a collector of stamps for nearly 50 years now says yesterday was a good day for philatelists. To mark the Ram temple consecration, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had released a series of commemorative postage stamps as well as a book featuring Ram stamps from around the world.

The book, released on Thursday, will be good research material, says Mehra.



"For 20 years, I have been collecting philatelic material as well as trade cards and match boxes pertaining to Hindu mythology and Dashavatar, particularly Ram and Krishna, says Mehra, whose firm sells furniture to schools and offices.





Initially, Mehra says, he was more focused on Krishna, as he is a big devotee of Krishna. I am from Delhi, I moved to Bengaluru only in 1978. Krishna plays a big role in my childhood memories. My father often used to take me to Mathura and to many Raslila performances, adds Mehra.





But when he came across a colourful set of lithographed trade cards featuring scenes from the famous Ramayana ballet of Indonesia, issued by Liebig Fleisch Extract, a company formed in 1865 in London to produce a cheaper substitute for real meat, Mehra decided to expand his Ram collection.





It may be categorised under non-philatelic supplemental material, like match box labels and cigarette cards, but it is a popular collectible. Liebig had published more than 11,000 cards, in sets of 12 and six, featuring interesting stories from around the world, says Mehra.





The reverse of the cards that came along with the products until 1975 usually contained advertising for other Liebig products or had a recipe for meat extracts. The ones with him, says Mehra, contain the prices of various Liebig products.





Although there are only about 40 stamps issued in India from 1951 onwards that directly pertain to Ram  and about 40 from outside India  Mehra says it is possible to develop Ram as a theme in a three-frame exhibit with the use of supplementary materials as well as by linking with other themes.





For instance, in Mehras collection there is a first-day cover (FDC) issued in Jakarta to commemorate the year of the monkey in the Chinese calendar. But the monkey character featured in the FDC has its "tail on fire", as Hanuman is also famous in Indonesia.





"So, it may be a cover directly for Chinese New Year, but it indirectly tells a story in my Ram collection  that of Rams popularity in Indonesia," says Mehra.





Mehra also has a postage stamp of three-and-half annas value, issued on January 26, 1950, featuring Mahatma Gandhis favourite anthem, Raghupati Raghava Raja Ram. He has categorised this in his Ram collection. For one, it is also called Ram Dhun. The lyrics I think are inspired from Shri Nama Ramayanam written by Lakshmanacharya, says Mehra.





His Ram collection also includes a page from the Constitution of India, as the original calligraphed copy of the Constitution contained a scene from Ramayana  of Lord Rama returning to Ayodhya along with Sita and Lakshman after defeating Ravana.





One other way he augmented his collection is by sending himself mails with self-designed envelopes, says Mehra, pointing to the two envelopes, one with a 3D-rendered image of Ayodhya Ram Mandir along with a Rs 10 donation receipt and one with a generic image of a gavel, alluding to the Supreme Courts verdict on the Ayodhya dispute, for example.





When they were on the news, I printed them on a white envelope, used a stamp from the Ramayana series, and sent it to myself, says Mehra.





Mehra says this was something he did every day during Covid  find something that was worth recording, get a representative image and print that on an envelope and send himself mails (which he promptly exhibited at the South India Philatelists Associations Coverpex 2020 as Every Cover Tells A Story and won the Vermeil award for numismatics).





But the serious collector in him also hankers after all things old and spends a considerable amount of money in acquiring them, he says. So far, I have spent Rs 5 lakh on my Dashavatar collection alone, he adds.





One of the valuable items in his collection is a telegram receipt from the then Bombay distributor to then then Bangalore distributor informing him about the special screening of the 1961 film, Sampoorna Ramayana directed by Babubhai Mistry.





Mehra says he also has an interesting collection of British India Bazar postcards on Lord Rama. Bazar postcards were printed by local presses and were often colourful. They featured famous kings, Ravi Varmas oleographs, gods, goddesses, birds, flowers Although they were not on sale in post offices, and can be purchased outside (bazars), they were intended to be used as postal stationery after affixing stamps of appropriate value, and are valid philatelic material, says Mehra.





The philatelists most favourite item in his Ram collection is a rare 1902 British India postcard cancelled from Faizabad (part of Ayodhya district now). It is valuable, yes. But I hold it dear because it was cancelled on August 23, my wedding anniversary. It is little connections like these that make philately worth every effort and penny, he adds.
Peshawar, Jan 19 (PTI) At least two terrorists were killed when Pakistan's security forces thwarted an infiltration attempt across the Pakistan-Afghan border in the restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Friday, a source said.

Terrorists tried to infiltrate across the border in the restive tribal district of North Waziristan but the security forces foiled the attempt, killing two of them in the exchange of fire, the source said.

According to a recent report by the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (PICSS) think-tank, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province was the most affected by terror attacks in November, recording 51 attacks with 54 deaths and 81 injuries.

Last week, two more terrorists were shot dead by the security forces in the restive tribal district of North Waziristan.
Washington, Jan 18 (AP) US forces on Thursday conducted a fifth strike against Iranian-backed Houthi rebel military sites in Yemen as President Joe Biden acknowledged that the American and British bombardment had yet to stop the militants' attacks on vessels in the Red Sea that have disrupted global shipping.

The latest strikes destroyed two Houthi anti-ship missiles that were aimed into the southern Red Sea and prepared to launch, US Central Command said in a statement posted to X, formerly known as Twitter. They were conducted by Navy fighter aircraft, the Pentagon said.

Biden said the US would continue the strikes, even though so far they have not stopped the Houthis from continuing to harass commercial and military vessels.

When you say working, are they stopping the Houthis, no. Are they going to continue, yes," Biden said in an exchange with reporters before departing the White House for a domestic policy speech in North Carolina.

Biden's comments followed another significant round of strikes Wednesday night, when the US military fired another wave of ship- and submarine-launch missile strikes against 14 Houthi-controlled sites. The strikes were launched from the Red Sea and hit 14 missiles that the command also had deemed an imminent threat.

His administration also has put the Houthis back on its list of specially designated global terrorists. The sanctions that come with the formal designation are meant to sever violent extremist groups from their sources of financing, while also allowing vital humanitarian aid to continue flowing to impoverished Yemenis.

Despite sanctions and military strikes, including a large-scale operation carried out by US and British warships and warplanes that hit more than 60 targets across Yemen, the Houthis keep harassing commercial and military ships. The US has strongly warned Iran to cease providing weapons to the Houthis.

For months, the Houthis have claimed attacks on ships in the Red Sea that they say are either linked to Israel or heading to Israeli ports. They say their attacks aim to end the Israeli air-and-ground offensive in the Gaza Strip that was triggered by the Palestinian militant group Hamas' Oct 7 attack in southern Israel.

But the links to the ships targeted in the rebel assaults have grown more tenuous as the attacks continue.

The attacks have targeted commercial shipping vessels transiting through the critical Bab el-Mandeb Strait that links markets in Asia and Europe since the Oct 7 attack by Hamas and Israel's subsequent war against the militant group in Gaza.

Separately, the US and its allies have formed Operation Prosperity Guardian to protect ship traffic, and currently warships from the United States, France and the United Kingdom are patrolling the area.

These strikes will continue for as long as they need to continue," National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Thursday, adding, I'm not going to telegraph punches one way or another. (AP) SCY

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Kyiv, Jan 19 (AP) A Ukrainian drone struck an oil storage depot in western Russia on Friday, causing a massive blaze, officials said, as Kyiv's forces apparently extended their attacks on Russian soil ahead of the war's two-year anniversary.

Four oil reservoirs with a total capacity of 6,000 cubic metres were set on fire after the drone reached Klintsy, a city of some 70,000 people located about 60 kilometres from the Ukrainian border, according to the local governor and state news agency Tass.

The strike apparently was the latest in a recently intensified effort by Ukraine to unnerve Russians and undermine President Vladimir Putin's claims that life in Russia is going on as normal before its March 17 presidential election.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has vowed to hit more targets inside Russian border regions this year. Russia's air defences are concentrated in occupied regions of Ukraine, Kyiv officials say, leaving more distant targets inside Russia more vulnerable as Ukrainian forces develop longer-range drones.

The Russian city of Belgorod, also near the Ukrainian border, cancelled its traditional Orthodox Epiphany festivities on Friday due to the threat of Ukrainian drone strikes. It was the first time major public events were known to have been called off in Russia due to the drone threat.

Ukrainian national media, quoting an official in Ukraine's Intelligence Service, said Ukrainian drones on Friday also attacked a gunpowder mill in Tambov, about 600 kilometres south of Moscow.

But Tambov Gov. Maxim Yegorov said the plant was working normally, according to Russia's RBC news outlet. The Mash news outlet had earlier reported that a Ukrainian drone fell on the plant's premises on Thursday but caused no damage.

In Klintsy, air defences electronically jammed the drone but it dropped its explosive payload on the facility, Bryansk regional Gov. Alexander Bogomaz said. There were no casualties, he said.

Russian telegram channels shared videos of what they said was the blaze at the depot, which sent thick black plumes of smoke into the air.

The same depot was struck by a Ukrainian drone in May last year, but the damage apparently was less significant. (AP)





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TOKYO, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- The largest faction of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), at the center of the enduring slush fund scandal, has decided to dissolve itself, local media reported on Friday.

The decision of the faction formerly led by the late former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, or Seiwaken, was learned from multiple sources close to the matter, said Japan's national daily Sankei Shimbun.

On Friday, Kishida, to restore public trust roiled by the deepening scandal, pledged to disband the LDP's fourth-largest faction that he led until last month. According to multiple local media outlets, the LDP faction led by former LDP Secretary-General Toshihiro Nikai also announced its disbanding decision.

Japanese prosecutors on Friday filed charges against several individuals from three factions within the LDP, indicting without arrest the chief treasurers of the Abe and Nikai factions.

A former accountant of the Kishida faction received a summary indictment for allegedly failing to declare around 30 million yen (about 203,000 U.S. dollars) over the three years through 2020.

All indicted individuals, suspected of failing to report part of the factions' revenue from fundraising events, faced charges of false accounting, in violation of the political funds control law.

The prosecutors also indicted, without arrest, Upper House member Yasutada Ohno, while Lower House member Yaichi Tanigawa received a summary indictment. Both lawmakers had left the LDP as of Friday. 
Islamabad, Jan 19 (PTI) General elections scheduled in Pakistan for February 8 won't be affected by the escalating tensions with Iran, the caretaker government and the election commission have said following the tit-for-tat exchange of strikes between the two neighbours this week.

Pakistan on Thursday used killer drones and rockets to carry out "precision military strikes" against what it called "terrorist hideouts" in Iran's Siestan-Balochistan province, killing nine people.

The strikes came two days after Iran launched unprecedented missile and drone attacks on what it said were directed at the bases of the Sunni Baloch militant group 'Jaish al-Adl' in Balochistan province, prompting Pakistan to recall its ambassador to Iran, expel the Iranian envoy and suspend all planned high-level bilateral visits.

Responding to a query by The News International newspaper if the border tension between Pakistan and Iran will affect the planned polls and its schedule, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) spokesperson said that the polls body is still determined and focused on holding elections as scheduled.

Asserting that there is no proposal about reviewing the election date because of the Pakistan-Iran tensions, he said that the electoral watchdog is busy preparing for the polls.

We are working as usual and all set to hold elections on February 8, the newspaper quoted the spokesperson as saying.

Meanwhile, Information Minister Murtaza Solangi also said the elections would be held on time, asserting the tension between the two neighbours would not affect the poll schedule.

The minister said he believed that the situation between Pakistan and Iran would now start de-escalating, according to the report.

When enquired about the security requirements needed to hold the elections, the minister said the government would provide the required security to the election commission for the holding of elections in a peaceful manner.

There is now no backstepping from general elections on the announced date, he said.

The tit-for-tat attacks between Pakistan and Iran within two days have raised tensions in the volatile region, already roiled by Israel's war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip and the targeting of the merchant ships in the Red Sea by Yemen's Houthis.
Islamabad, Jan 19 (PTI) Foreign Ministers of Pakistan and Iran are expected to hold talks over telephone Friday evening as the two sides began to pick threads of tattered ties following their missile strikes against alleged militants in each others land.

The development comes amidst officials of the foreign ministries from the two sides exchanged goodwill messages.

Pakistan conducted "precision military strikes" against what it called "terrorist hideouts" in Iran's Siestan-Balochistan province that killed 9 people on Thursday. The attack was seen as retaliation to Iranian missile and drone attacks on Tuesday, which targeted two bases of the Sunni Baloch militant group Jaish al-Adl in Pakistan's unruly Balochistan province.

Belying fears of escalation, the two sides are apparently trying to come back from the precipice. Foreign ministers Jalil Abbas Jilani and Hossein Amir-Abdollahian would interact to ease tension between the countries, well-placed sources told PTI.

The sources also said that talks would be held by the evening without giving exact time.

The high-level contact will take place as officials of the foreign ministries of the two sides exchanged messages of goodwill, showing that the tiff between the two neighbours was cooling off sooner than it erupted two days ago.

Foreign Office Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch shared an exchange of messages between Additional Foreign Secretary Rahim Hayat Qureshi and his Iranian counterpart Seyed Rasoul Mousavi on her X handle, saying: Some positive exchanges.

In an X post today, the Foreign Office additional secretary responded to his Iranian counterparts letter saying he reciprocated the sentiments of dear brother Seyed Rasoul Mousavi.

He said Pakistan and Iran have fraternal relations and the countries need to move forward to resolve all issues through positive dialogue.

He said it is important to restore trust and confidence that has always defined bilateral relations between the two countries. Our common challenges including terrorism require coordinated action, he added.

Mousavi said he believed that Irans Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the endpoint of the prevailing tensions between the two countries. Leaders and high officials of both countries know that only terrorists and enemies of both countries benefit from the existing tension between the two neighbouring countries, he wrote on X in Persian.

Meanwhile, Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar has summoned separate meetings of the federal cabinet and the National Security Committee (NSC) to discuss the situation arising out of Pak-Iran tension.

Kakar was also set to preside over the meeting of his cabinet to discuss the Iran situation.

Kakar, who was in Davos to attend the World Economic Forum, cut his trip short to return home on Thursday. Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani too returned from a trip to Uganda.
Jerusalem, Jan 19 (AP) Rifts are emerging among top Israeli officials over the handling of the war against Hamas in Gaza. A member of the country's War Cabinet cast doubt over the strategy for releasing hostages, and the country's prime minister rejected the United States' calls to scale back its offensive.

Only a cease-fire deal can win the release of dozens of hostages still held by Islamic militants in Gaza, and claims they could be freed by other means was spreading illusions", said former army chief Gadi Eisenkot, one of four members of the War Cabinet, in his first public statements on the course of the war.

Eisenkot's comments late Thursday were the latest sign of disagreement among political and military leaders over the direction of Israel's offensive on Hamas, now in its fourth month.

Sparked by an unprecedented October 7 Hamas raid into Israel that killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and saw about 250 others taken hostage, the Israeli assault has pulverised much of the Gaza Strip, home to some 2.3 million people.

Israel has said more than 130 hostages remain in Gaza, but not all of them are believed to be alive.

Israel's offensive, one of the deadliest and most destructive military campaigns in recent history, has killed nearly 25,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities, and uprooted more than 80 per cent of the territory's population.

Israel has also cut off all but a trickle of supplies into the besieged Gaza Strip, including food, water and fuel. Several dozen trucks with critical supplies now enter the territory each day, just a fraction of the pre-war volume of about 500 trucks. Both the United States and United Nations have said more aid needs to be delivered.

A communications blackout in the territory was in its seventh day on Friday, the longest such blackout since the war began. The lack of communications hampers the coordination of aid deliveries and rescue efforts.

The United States, Israel's closest ally, has provided strong military and political support for the campaign, but has been increasingly calling on Israel to scale back its assault and take steps toward establishing a Palestinian state after the war  a suggestion Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has soundly rejected.

Speaking during a nationally televised news conference on Thursday, Netanyahu reiterated his longstanding opposition to a two-state solution, arguing that a Palestinian state would become a launchpad for attacks on Israel.

Israel must have security control over the entire territory west of the Jordan River, Netanyahu said, adding: That collides with the idea of sovereignty. What can we do?

The US has said the internationally recognized Palestinian Authority, which governs semi-autonomous zones in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, should be revitalised and return to Gaza. Hamas ousted the authority from Gaza in 2007.

Washington has also called for steps toward the establishment of a Palestinian state. The Palestinians seek Gaza, the West Bank and east Jerusalem for their state. Those areas were captured by Israel in 1967.

Speaking on Wednesday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Blinken said the two-state solution was the best way to protect Israel, unify moderate Arab countries and isolate Israel's arch-enemy, Iran. He said that without a pathway to a Palestinian state, Israel would not get genuine security.

At the same conference, Saudi Arabia's foreign minister said the kingdom is ready to establish full relations with Israel as part of a larger political agreement. But that can only happen through peace for the Palestinians, through a Palestinian state, he said.

A spokesperson for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who heads the Palestinian Authority, said late Thursday that there can be no security and stability in the region without a Palestinian state.

Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant have said the fighting will continue until Hamas is crushed, and argue that only military action can win the hostages' release.

Hamas seeks an end to the war before discussing hostage releases, and has demanded the release of thousands of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel in exchange for those held captive in Gaza.

Commentators have begun to question whether Netanyahu's objectives are realistic, given the slow pace of the offensive and growing international criticism, including genocide accusations at the United Nations world court, which Israel vehemently denies.

Netanyahu's opponents accuse him of delaying any discussion of postwar scenarios in order to avoid looming investigations of governmental failures, keep his coalition intact and put off elections. Polls show that the popularity of Netanyahu, who is on trial for corruption charges, has plummeted during the war.

Eisenkot, whose son was killed in December in Gaza, told the investigative program Uvda on Israel's Channel 12 television station late Thursday that the hostages will only return alive if there is a deal, linked to a significant pause in fighting.

He said dramatic rescue operations are unlikely because the hostages are apparently spread out, many of them in underground tunnels.

Claiming hostages can be freed by means other than a deal is to spread illusions, he said.

In a thinly veiled criticism of Netanyahu, Eisenkot also said strategic decisions about the war's direction must be made urgently, and that a discussion about an endgame should have begun immediately after the war began.

He also dismissed suggestions that the military has delivered a decisive blow against Hamas.

Gallant has said troops disabled the Hamas command structure in northern Gaza, from where significant numbers of troops were withdrawn earlier in the week, and that the focus is now on the southern half of the territory.

We haven't yet reached a strategic achievement, or rather only partially, Eisenkot said. We did not bring down Hamas.

The militant group has continued to fight back across Gaza, even in the most devastated areas, and launched rockets into Israel.

The former army chief said he is examining every day whether he should remain in the War Cabinet, which includes Netanyahu, Gallant and former Defense Minister Benny Gantz. Eisenkot is a member of parliament in the opposition National Unity alliance headed by Gantz. Both joined Netanyahu to help lead the war.

I know what my red line is, Eisenkot said when asked at what point he would quit. It's connected to the hostages, that is one of the objectives, but it's also connected to the way in which we need to run this war.

The war has rippled across the Middle East, with Iranian-backed groups attacking US and Israeli targets. Fighting between Israel and Hezbollah militants in Lebanon threatens to erupt into all-out war, and Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen continue to target international shipping despite US-led airstrikes.

The United States conducted a fifth strike against Houthi rebels in Yemen on Thursday, even as President Joe Biden acknowledged that bombing the militants has yet to stop their attacks on shipping in the crucial Red Sea corridor. (AP) PY

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Islamabad, Jan 19 (PTI) Pakistan's caretaker government on Friday challenged in the Supreme Court the Islamabad High Court's verdict nullifying the jail trial of former prime minister Imran Khan in the cipher case for allegedly leaking state secrets, according to a media report.

In its petition filed in Pakistan's Supreme Court, the federal government implored the apex court to overturn the Islamabad High Court's decision, saying that the high court did not evaluate the facts of the case properly, The Express Tribune reported.

"In the petition, the government contended that the Islamabad High Court (IHC) did not have the authority to declare a special court formed to hold the cipher trial of the former premier as invalid," said the report.

The case is related to a diplomatic cable sent by the Pakistan embassy in March 2022 and Khan, 71, and one of his senior ministers Shah Mahmood Qureshi are accused of mishandling it for political purposes. Both were indicted last month and both pleaded not guilty.

In November last year, IHC nullified the notification for conducting the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Khan's jail trial in the cipher case registered on charges of leaking state secrets.

The IHC stated in the three-page short order that the jail trial can be conducted in "exceptional circumstances", the report said.

"In exceptional circumstances and where it is conducive to justice, a trial can be conducted in jail in a manner that fulfils the requirements of an open trial or a trial in camera provided it is in accordance with the procedure provided by law."

The court also declared that the November 15 notification issued by the Ministry of Law and Justice after the caretaker Cabinet's approval of the jail trial "cannot be given retrospective effect".
Seoul (South Korea), Jan 19 (AP) North Korea said Friday it has tested a nuclear-capable underwater attack drone in response to a combined naval exercise by South Korea, the United States and Japan this week, as it continues to blame its rivals for raising tensions in the region.

The test of the drone, purportedly designed to destroy naval vessels and ports, came days after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un declared he is scrapping his country's long-standing goal of a peaceful reunification with South Korea and that his country will rewrite its constitution to define South Korea as its most hostile foreign adversary.

Tensions on the Korean Peninsula have risen to their highest point in years, with Kim accelerating his weapons testing and threatening nuclear conflict. The United States and its Asian allies have responded by strengthening their combined military exercises, which Kim calls rehearsals for an invasion.

The underwater drone, which North Korea said it first tested last year, is among a broad range of weapon systems demonstrated in recent years as Kim expands his arsenal of nuclear-capable weapons. South Korea's military says North Korea has exaggerated the capabilities of the drone.

North Korea's military said it conducted the test in the country's eastern waters in response to a naval drill by the US, South Korea and Japan which ended Wednesday in waters south of Jeju island. It did not say when the test occurred.

Our army's underwater nuke-based countering posture is being further rounded off and its various maritime and underwater responsive actions will continue to deter the hostile military maneuvers of the navies of the US and its allies, North Korea's Defense Ministry said in a statement.

We strongly denounce the US and its followers for their reckless acts of eriously threatening the security of (North Korea) from the outset of the year and sternly warn them of the catastrophic consequences to be entailed by them, it said.

South Korea's Defense Ministry denounced North Korea's recent tests as a violation of UN Security Council resolutions and a threat to peace in the Korean Peninsula and the world. It said in a statement that the US and South Korean militaries were maintaining a firm defense posture against possible North Korean provocations.

North Korea in recent months has tested various missile systems designed to target the United States and its Asian allies, and announced an escalatory nuclear doctrine that authorizes the military to conduct preemptive nuclear strikes if North Korea's leadership is under threat.

North Korea conducted its first ballistic missile test of 2024 on Sunday. State media described it as a new solid-fuel, intermediate-range missile tipped with a hypersonic warhead, likely intended to target US military bases in Guam and Japan.

At an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council on Thursday, South Korea urged the council to break the silence over North Korea's escalating missile tests and threats. Russia and China, both permanent members of the Security Council, have blocked US-led efforts to increase sanctions on North Korea over its recent weapons tests, underscoring a divide deepened over Russia's war on Ukraine. South Korea is serving a two-year term on the council. (AP) NPK

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Islamabad, Jan 19 (PTI) Pakistan's caretaker government on Friday challenged in the Supreme Court the Islamabad High Court's verdict nullifying the jail trial of former prime minister Imran Khan in the cipher case for allegedly leaking state secrets.

In its petition filed in Pakistan's Supreme Court, the federal government implored the apex court to overturn the Islamabad High Court's decision, saying that the high court did not evaluate the facts of the case properly.

Advocate Rizwan Abbasi submitted the petition on behalf of the federal ministries of law and interior, contending that the IHC order was not in consonance with the law and travelled beyond the jurisdiction.

"In the petition, the government contended that the Islamabad High Court (IHC) did not have the authority to declare a special court formed to hold the cipher trial of the former premier as invalid," said Abbasi.

The case is related to a diplomatic cable sent by the Pakistan embassy in March 2022 and Khan, 71, and one of his senior ministers Shah Mahmood Qureshi are accused of mishandling it for political purposes. Both were indicted last month and both pleaded not guilty.

In November last year, IHC nullified the notification for conducting the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Khan's jail trial in the cipher case registered on charges of leaking state secrets.

The IHC stated in the three-page short order that the jail trial can be conducted in "exceptional circumstances".

"In exceptional circumstances and where it is conducive to justice, a trial can be conducted in jail in a manner that fulfils the requirements of an open trial or a trial in camera provided it is in accordance with the procedure provided by law."

The court also declared that the November 15 notification issued by the Ministry of Law and Justice after the caretaker Cabinet's approval of the jail trial "cannot be given retrospective effect".

In a related development Azam Khan, the former principal secretary to the ex-prime minister, on Thursday testified before the special court that the ex-premier failed to return the secret cipher document provided to him by the foreign ministry.

The Express Tribune reported that Azam Khan in his statement said that the foreign secretary informed him about the cipher telegram and provided him with a copy, which he reviewed and later shared with the former prime minister.

Azam Khan stated that Imran informed him that former foreign minister Qureshi had already discussed the content of the telegram with him. The cipher telegram was related to meetings of the Pakistan ambassador to the US with American officials.

The former premier retained the copy of the cipher with him and instructed the military secretary, DC, and other staff to look into the matter. He also emphasized taking the public into confidence on the matter, he said.

Azam Khan said that he suggested to the former PM to have a formal meeting with the foreign ministry.

"I recommended that the foreign secretary should be asked to read the message from the master cipher. In the Bani Gala meeting, the foreign secretary read out the cipher telegram. The participants later decided to present the cipher matter in front of the federal cabinet.

In the federal cabinet meeting, it was decided to bring the matter before the National Security Committee (NSC), which decided to issue a demarche on foreign interference in the internal affairs of the country.

According to Azam Khan, it has been a tradition to return the copy of a cipher to the foreign ministry, but this did not happen in this case.

I informed the PM, the PM Office, and staff multiple times that the cipher copy should be returned, but it was not returned until I left my charge, he said.
Islamabad, Jan 19 (PTI) Pakistans civil-military leadership held a high-level consultative meeting on Friday to discuss the ongoing tiff with Iran as the two neighbours made amends to repair the frayed ties following their military strikes in each others territory.

Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar presided over the meeting of the National Security Council (NSC) while services chiefs, cabinet ministers, and other officials were in attendance, sources said.

The NSC meeting has started and is currently underway, a source said.

The officials from the defence and foreign ministries will brief the meeting about the attack by Iran and counter charge by Pakistan armed forces, sources said.

It is said the NSC is likely to give guidelines for future ties with Iran.

Kakar had rushed back home on Thursday night from Davos, where he had gone to attend the World Economic Forum event after Pakistan and Iran carried out military strikes against each other.

Pakistan conducted "precision military strikes" against what it called "terrorist hideouts" in Iran's Siestan-Balochistan province that killed 9 people on Thursday. The attack was seen as retaliation to Iranian missile and drone attacks on Tuesday, which targeted two bases of the Sunni Baloch militant group Jaish al-Adl in Pakistan's Balochistan province.

Before the meeting, Foreign Ministers of Pakistan Jalil Abbas Jilani and his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir-Abdollahian agreed to the spirit of mutual trust and cooperation and the need for closer cooperation on security issues during a telephone talk.

The NSC meeting will be followed by a federal cabinet meeting chaired by the Prime Minister.
Kampala, Jan 19 (PTI) External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Friday held a series of bilateral meetings with his counterparts from Bolivia, Azerbaijan and Venezuela during which he discussed bilateral ties, as well as regional and global issues.

Jaishankar is in the Ugandan capital city of Kampala to represent India at the two-day summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), which began on Friday.

"Pleasure to meet FM of Bolivia Celinda Sosa Lunda. Discussed development cooperation, traditional medicine and sustainable lifestyle," the minister posted on X, sharing a photograph of the meeting.

In another post on X, Jaishankar said he met outgoing NAM Chair Azerbaijan's foreign minister Jeyhun Bayramov and discussed "our bilateral relationship and exchanged views on regional matters".

He also shared a photograph of the meeting held on the sidelines of the NAM summit.

During his meeting with Venezuelan foreign minister Yvan Gil, the two leaders discussed economic, energy and development cooperation between India and Venezuela, and "exchanged views on regional and global issues".

Jaishankar's visit to Kampala is part of his two-nation tour to Uganda and Nigeria.

From Kampala, the external affairs minister will travel to Nigeria for a three-day visit from January 21, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a press release in New Delhi on Thursday ahead of his visit.

The NAM Summit under the leadership of Uganda brings together more than 120 developing countries on a platform of crucial historic significance, it said.

The theme of the summit is 'Deepening Cooperation for Shared Global Affluence', and it will be preceded by deliberations at the ministerial and senior officials levels.
Beijing, Jan 19 (PTI) China on Friday said the settlement process of the boundary issue should not influence the normal development of ties with India, including trade relations.

China always believes that China-India boundary question is a historic issue and should be placed and resolved appropriately in our bilateral relations, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told a media briefing.

Mao was reacting to a reported remark by an Indian official at the World Economic Forum (WEF) at Davos that Indias investment rules for China could change once their relationship at the border stabilises.

The situation on the China-India border has been stable on the whole, and the settlement process should not influence the normal development of our bilateral relationship, Mao said reiterating Chinas stance on India-China ties.

The India-China relationship is at a standstill since May 2020, when, in the words of External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, the Chinese have literally brought tens of thousands of soldiers in full military preparation mode right to the LAC, (Line of Actual Control) in Ladakh in violation of all bilateral agreements.

Tensions peaked with the deadly clash between the militaries of the two countries at Galwan Valley in June 2020.

India has been demanding China pull back all its additional troops deployed in Eastern Ladakh since May 2020 while China has been maintaining the issue should not stall the bilateral ties.

Mao said the two-way trade volume between China and India has exceeded USD 100 billion in recent consecutive years and kept rising annually, which shows the resilience and potential of economic and trade cooperation between the two countries.

China hopes that India could fully recognize the win-win nature of China-India economic and trade cooperation, and provide a fair, just, transparent and non-discriminatory business environment for Chinese companies investing and operating in India, she added.

According to the latest annual trade data from Chinese Customs covering the period from January to December 2023, India-China trade continues to remain high as the total trade last year climbed to a record USD 136.2 billion.
Kampala, Jan 19 (PTI) External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Friday said that the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip requires a sustainable solution that gives immediate relief to those most affected.

"Right now, the conflict in Gaza is understandably uppermost in our minds. This humanitarian crisis requires a sustainable solution that gives immediate relief to those most affected," Jaishankar said in his address at the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit at the Ugandan capital of Kampala.

"We must also be clear that terrorism and hostage-taking are unacceptable. At the same time, international humanitarian law must always be respected by all States. It is also imperative that conflict does not spread within or beyond the region," he added.

He advocated a two-state solution where the Palestinian people can live within secure borders. "Our collective endeavours should focus on making this realisable," he added.

The war between Israel and Hamas has killed more than 24,000 people on the Gaza side as affected people face pathetic living conditions sans water, power, food and medical aid.

On the other hand, Israel, which has seen 1400 plus deaths, insists on the release of more than 100 hostages still held by Hamas and continues pounding the Gaza Strip relentlessly.
SEOUL, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) conducted a test of its underwater nuclear weapon system in the eastern waters, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported Friday.

A spokesman for the Ministry of National Defence of the DPRK announced the move in a press statement, said the report.

The DPRK tested the "Haeil-5-23," an underwater nuclear weapon system under development, in response to the joint maritime exercises by the United States, Japan and South Korea earlier this week, the statement said.

It accused the three-day trilateral naval drill as an act of destabilizing the regional situation and seriously threatening the security of the DPRK.

The underwater nuke-based countering posture of the DPRK armed forces, it said, is being further rounded off and the country will continue its maritime and underwater actions to deter the hostile military maneuvers of the navies of the United States and its allies.

It "strongly denounces the U.S. and its followers for their reckless acts of seriously threatening the security of the DPRK from the outset of the year and sternly warn them of the catastrophic consequences."

South Korea, the United States and Japan have jointly conducted naval drills in southeastern waters off Jeju Island involving warships of the three nations, including the U.S. nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson, from Monday to Wednesday, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported, citing a Wednesday press release by the country's Joint Chiefs of Staff. 
Johri is the former chairman of Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs
Berlin, Jan 18 (AP) The German parliament on Thursday approved legislation that is intended to ease deportations of unsuccessful asylum-seekers as Chancellor Olaf Scholz seeks to defuse migration as a political problem.

The legislation foresees increasing the maximum length of pre-deportation custody from 10 to 28 days and specifically facilitating the deportation of people who are members of a criminal organisation.

It also authorises residential searches for documentation that enables officials to firmly establish a person's identity, as well as remove authorities' obligation to give advance notice of deportations in some cases.

Germany's shelters for migrants and refugees have been filling up in recent months as significant numbers of asylum-seekers add to more than 1 million Ukrainians who have arrived since the start of Russia's war in their homeland.

The majority of rejected asylum-seekers in Germany will still have at least temporary permission to stay for reasons that can include illness, a child with residency status or a lack of ID.

It remains to be seen how much difference the new rules will make. Deportations can fail for a variety of reasons, including those the legislation addresses but also a lack of cooperation by migrants' home countries. Germany is trying to strike agreements with various nations to address that problem while also creating opportunities for legal immigration.

The parliament's vote Thursday comes at a time when tens of thousands of people in Germany have protested against alleged far-right plans to deport millions of immigrants, including some with German citizenship, as reported by an investigative media outlet last week. Scholz sharply condemned the plot drawn at the meeting in November, which allegedly also included members of the far-right Alternative for Germany, or AfD, party.

The German parliament is set to vote Friday on legislation that would ease citizenship rules  a project that the government contends will bolster the integration of immigrants and help an economy that is struggling with a shortage of skilled workers. (AP) SCY

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Thane, Jan 19 (PTI) A case has been registered by Navi Mumbai police against a woman and her parents for allegedly trying to kill her estranged husband, an official said on Friday.

No arrest has been made in the case yet, he said.

As per the complaint filed by Amol Gat (27), the relations between him and his wife Shrutika are strained for some time.

They had a quarrel on December 17 when Shrutika, her father Sridhar Dhaghe, mother Shraddha and brother Advedh arrived at his residence to collect her belongings as she wanted to leave him, the complaint said.

Shrutika and others tried to strangle him during the quarrel, causing him severe neck injuries, Gat alleged.

He decided to file a police complaint after recovering from the injuries, he said.

A First Information Report under Indian Penal Code sections 323 (assault) and 307 (attempt to murder) was registered at Panvel police station and further probe was underway, the official said.
Kolkata, Jan 19 (PTI) Chinese Consul General in Kolkata, Zha Liyou, on Friday said there is a big potential for tea business between India and China.

He said Indian tea producers have direct contact with Chinese dealers and producers.

"There is a big potential for tea business between our countries," the outgoing Consul General of the People's Republic of China in Kolkata told reporters here.

He said China consumes tea, but in its traditional way.

"If the tea standards can be integrated, China could be a huge market," he said, adding, it could be a mutually beneficial market.

The Indian Tea Association is a very strong platform working with the Chinese tea marketing association, the envoy said.

"The Indian practice of managing tea estates is very special  you run your estates more like a company, while the Chinese tea culture is more community and village-owned" he said.
Medininagar (Jharkhand), Jan 19 (PTI) Unidentified men looted Rs 4 lakh from the customer service centre of a leading nationalised bank in Jharkhand's Palamu district on Friday, police said.

Two motorcycle-borne men robbed the centre and fled with the money, said Chatarpur SDPO Ajay Kumar, adding investigations have begun and efforts were underway to identify the culprits using CCTV camera footage.

Adjoining police stations have been alerted and a massive hunt has been launched to track them, he added.
Itanagar, Jan 19 (PTI) Arunachal Pradesh Congress president Nabam Tuki on Friday appealed to the people of the state to join the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra led by Congress MP Rahul Gandhi.

The Yatra will reach Arunachal Pradesh on Saturday afternoon, from Lakhimpur in neighbouring Assam.



Become a Nyay Yodha and carry the message of love and harmony and awaken the nations conscience to crippling inequality, brutal social polarisation and violent authoritarianism. Lets walk together to fight hatred and fear! said Tuki, a former chief minister.

He alleged that the last 10 years of "grave injustice" by the BJP government has severely hurt people, democracy and the Constitution.



Unprecedented unemployment has shattered the dreams and future of our youth," he said claiming that poor and middle-class people lost their savings due to the price rise.



"Income inequality is at its peak, Tuki alleged in a statement.

While the SCs, STs, OBCs, minorities and poor people have been deceived, autonomous institutions have been subjugated, the Congress leader claimed.

Central agencies such as ED, CBI, and the Income Tax department are being used against the opposition, Tuki alleged.

Gandhi along with party leaders and workers will arrive at Doimukh in Papum Pare district of the Northeastern state from Lakhimpur at around 2 PM on Saturday and will interact with public at the SDO ground.

From Doimukh, Gandhi would reach Naharlagun by bus and interact with street vendors at Six KM, sources said.



The Congress leader would then move towards Nyokum Lapang from where he would embark on a foot march to the Malo Tarin government higher secondary school ground to address a public rally.

Gandhi would also address a press conference at Itanagar on the same day.

Gandhi will leave the state capital on Sunday morning through Hollongi.

The 6,713-km-long march, led by the Congress MP, commenced from Manipur on January 14 and will culminate on March 20 in Mumbai.

The yatra is planned to cover 110 districts in 15 states of the country.
Agartala, Jan 19 (PTI) Union minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Friday said the government has been focusing on skill development of youths to make them ready for jobs and they should grab the opportunity.



Before 2014, out of the 42 crore workers of the country, 31 crore used to go for work without skill and education and skill but now the scenario has been drastically changed following launching of Skill India in 2015, Chandrasekhar said.



The minister of state for skill development and entrepreneurship was speaking at a Kushal Bharat Viksit Bharat programme at Town Hall here.



"Prime Minister Narendra Modi has changed the 65-years of disadvantage of our young workforce by skilling and upskilling them," he said.



Chandrasekhar said the country was among the fifth fragile economies in the world before 2014 and now it is among the top five economies.



"It is the new India. The youths will get a lot of opportunities if they have skill and education. We are focusing on skill development of the youth of the country to make the young generation job-ready," the minister said.

He also highlighted the governments venture with Deloitte, a leading management consulting firm, where around 100 youths have completed a skill development programme.



"At least 50 youths who have completed their skill development programme imparted by Deloitte will get jobs next month in the company. It shows the youth of Tripura are equal to the best when it comes to talent," Chandrasekhar said.



Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Social Empowerment, Pratima Bhoumik, said a target has been fixed to impart skill to 48,000 youths under Kushal Bharat Viksit Bharat during the next three years in the northeastern state.
Agartala, Jan 19 (PTI) AICC general secretary Girish Chodankar on Friday claimed that the BJP government in Tripura was struggling to rein in criminals and drug mafia.

Chodankar said the rising crime rate in the state is a symptom of a larger problem, with excessive drug abuse destroying future generations.

"The BJP government has failed to tackle murders, rapes, crimes against women, and drug abuse since 2018. Only small-time drug peddlers are caught, while the cartel heads remain untouched by the law enforcement agencies," he said during a press conference at Congress Bhavan (headquarters) here.

"Tripura is heading towards a dangerous situation due to growing drug abuse, but the government chooses to remain a mere spectator. Police should arrest the heads of drug cartels instead of focusing on petty peddlers," he said.

Chodankar, who arrived here on Thursday, held a series of meetings with senior party leaders to discuss preparations for the Lok Sabha polls.

He said the Tripura Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) is in touch with the screening committee to shortlist candidates for the elections.

"I attended a meeting with TPCC extended body, senior leaders and office bearers to ensure that the party is ready for the Lok Sabha elections. I also had a separate meeting with the Congress Legislative Party to gauge the organization's sentiments ahead of the elections," he said.

Chodankar said Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra has received an overwhelming response from the people of Manipur, Nagaland, and Assam.

"An atmosphere has been created in the country where people are eagerly coming to meet Rahul Gandhi during his Yatra. We believe it will have a positive impact in the future," he added.
Itanagar, Jan 19 (PTI) The National Council of Science Museums (NCSM) on Friday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Arunachal Pradesh government for setting up a science centre and digital planetarium at Dirang in West Kameng district.

The centre and the planetarium will be set up by NCSM at an estimated cost of Rs 26.70 crore and Rs 15.60 crore, respectively, under the Scheme for Promotion of Culture of Science (SPoCS) of the Union culture ministry, an official communique said.

The Arunachal Pradesh State Council for Science & Technology (APSCS&T), under the state department of science & technology, inked the pact with the NCSM in New Delhi. The science centre and the digital planetarium would be of category II.

"This will be the third science centre in Arunachal Pradesh after Itanagar and Namsai. While the centre in Itanagar is already functional, a MoU was signed for setting up a centre and planetarium at Namsai on December 18 last year. The people of the eastern and western parts of the state will benefit from these centres and planetaria," state science and technology secretary R Ronya said after the pact.

NCSM deputy director general Samarendra Kumar said it has so far developed 23 science centres and handed them over to different state and UT governments.

"With development of the northeastern part of the country a priority of the government, the NCSM will be glad to set up science centres and planetaria in this part of the country. The centres not only act as tourist destinations, but also help develop scientific temperament in society," NCSM director general AD Choudhury said.
GAZA, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- As the Israel-Hamas conflict has ravaged the Gaza Strip for more than three months, the daily suffering of the Palestinians in the besieged coastal enclave has been exacerbated amid the lack of daily necessities.

The locals told Xinhua that they are struggling against death, starvation, diseases, and the complicated security situation on the ground, which together make them feel under pressure all the time.

On Oct. 7, 2023, Israel launched a large-scale military offensive in Gaza after the Hamas movement, the ruler of the area, attacked the nearby southern Israeli cities, killed more than 1,200 people, and took over 200 others as hostages to Gaza.

Since then, more than 24,000 Palestinians, mostly women, children, and the elderly, were killed by the Israeli army, and over 61,000 others were wounded in the enclave, updated the Hamas-run Health Ministry on Thursday.

In addition, the Israeli army destroyed more than 70 percent of the buildings in Gaza, displacing more than two million Palestinians, out of whom about 1.5 million relocated to the southernmost city of Rafah, according to Ismail Thawabta, director general of the government media office in Gaza.

"Israel is deliberately displacing the Palestinians for political purposes of forcing them to leave Gaza by rendering it uninhabitable," Ismail told Xinhua.

Mohammed Mousa was forced to leave his home in the Tal al-Hawa neighborhood south of Gaza City three months ago and moved southward to Rafah.

"We escaped from the certain death," the 39-year-old father of four recalled, saying, "Unfortunately, the situation in Rafah is not better than other places in Gaza. I live in a small tent without any basic human requirements. My family only counts the days without knowing our fate."

He complained that in Rafah, "there is no healthy and sufficient water, nor food, and if they do exist, they are provided at such exorbitant prices that no one in Gaza can afford," adding that "people are even deprived of human rights here in light of Israel's continued targeting of civilians everywhere."

Abdullah Abu Shawish, a Palestinian man from the Nuseirat camp in central Gaza, is struggling with the same dire situation, especially after his area was exposed to continuous Israeli bombing for more than two weeks. The bombardments of such density prompted tens of thousands to flee the camp and head to Rafah.

At that time, the 42-year-old father of four preferred to stay in his home and take the risk as he believed that "no place is safe and everyone is targeted."

"Israel targets all Palestinians in all places (in Gaza), and if we continue to flee, we will go to Egypt," he told Xinhua, adding that "I would rather die in my home than flee and live a life of displacement to experience the difficulties in shelters."

He stated his sadness at the catastrophic change of his camp after it was emptied of residents, with most of its civilian and governmental facilities being destroyed.

"Just four months ago, it was difficult to walk on Market Street in Nuseirat because of the crowding, but today it is difficult to walk on it because of the destruction that affected everything in my area and erased all its features and details," the man recalled with tearful eyes.

Both Mousa and Abu Shawish wish the conflict could end soon to allow them to set up their tents above the rubble of their houses before the reconstruction of Gaza begins.

Recently, the Israeli army announced that it entered the third phase of its military operations in Gaza, which includes precise and targeted airstrikes, withdrawal of forces, and establishment of a buffer zone near the Gaza border.

As a result, a number of Israeli troops withdrew from several areas of Gaza, notably Gaza City and the northern part, which allowed Gaza residents to move around and inspect the destruction left by Israeli strikes.

However, it does not seem easy for the residents of Gaza City as it has turned into a ghost city with corpses scattered on the streets and a lack of transportation, communications, and humanitarian aid.

"Many times we thought we would inevitably die, but we survived until this moment," said Mohammed Abu Kamil, a local resident, while lamenting that "the situation is truly tragic in light of the absence of any horizon for this war to end."

The 46-year-old father of five told Xinhua that his family was forced to flee more than ten times inside Gaza City, and his children have suffered from dehydration due to malnutrition and the lack of healthy water.

"If the attack continues and the remaining Gaza residents are not saved, we will die either of hunger, thirst, or epidemics that have spread among us," he added. 
New Delhi, Jan 19 (PTI) The Centre on Friday directed early closure of certain government offices here due to the Republic Day parade, the Beating Retreat ceremony and the At Home function at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, the Personnel Ministry said.

It said that for full dress rehearsal on January 23, the government offices in South Block, North Block, Vayu Bhawan and Udyog Bhawan among others will be closed at 1830 hours on January 22.

"Such closure will continue till 1300 hours on 23.01.2024 to facilitate anti-sabotage check," said the order issued to all central government ministries/ departments.

In its order, the Personnel Ministry has mentioned a detailed list of government offices that would be closed early.

The government offices mentioned in its list "shall remain closed from 1300 hours onwards on January 25, 2024 for Republic Day parade".

"The exercise/arrangement will continue till 1300 hours on 26.01.2024," the order said.

The buildings, including Vayu Bhawan, Udyog Bhawan, Nirman Bhawan, South Block, North Block and Shastri Bhawan among others, will be sealed for the 'At Home function' on January 26 and shall remain closed on that date till 1930 hours, it added.

The Personnel Ministry has also mentioned a list of offices including South Block, North Block and the Parliament House complex, which would remain closed on January 28 from 1600 hours to 1930 hours for a special show of the Beating Retreat ceremony.
Chandigarh, Jan 19 (PTI) All government offices, boards and corporations under the Chandigarh Union Territory administration will remain closed on January 22 on the occasion of Ram Mandir consecration ceremony in Ayodhya, said an order issued here on Friday.

"The Ram Lalla Pran Pratishtha at Ayodhya will be celebrated on January 22 across India. To enable employees to participate in the celebrations, it has been decided that all government offices, boards, corporations, institutions, including industrial establishments, under the Chandigarh Administration will be closed on January 22," stated the order issued by the UT's Home Department.

The 'Pran Pratishtha' of the Ram Lalla idol at the sanctum sanctorum of the Ram temple is scheduled for Monday. The ceremony is set to be performed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Ayodhya, Jan 19 (PTI) Ahead of the consecration ceremony at the Ram temple, beds have been reserved at city-based, district hospitals and the medical college here, and specialists from the AIIMS have provided focused emergency response training to the doctors at healthcare institutions in Ayodhya.

These beds have been reserved for the guests, who will attend the the 'pran pratishtha' ceremony at the newly-built Ram temple in Ayodhya on January 22, officials said.

Over 7,000 guests have been invited to attend the consecration ceremony.

In view of the massive gathering in the temple town, the Ayodhya district administration has made arrangements to deal with any health emergency situation, especially in view of the biting cold in the holy city.

Ayodhya city has one government healthcare centre -- the over 120-year-old Sri Ram Hospital -- which is located near the Ramjanmabhoomi temple site along Ram Path.

"All protocols have been decided which will be followed in case any patient care is required. If anyone associated with the event faces any health emergency, the first place they will be taken to is the Sri Ram Hospital, where beds have been reserved," a senior official told PTI here.

In case, a referral is needed, the patient will be sent to Ayodhya district hospital and if further treatment is needed for any speciality then the patient will be taken to the Maharshi Dasrath Medical College at Darshan Nagar, he said.

Ayodhya has two British-era district hospitals, one each for male and female patients, located in Faizabad town.

Dr Brij Kumar, Chief Medical Superintendent (CMS) of the District Hospital (Male), said this district hospital has 212 beds and the female one has 268 beds.

"Currently, about 25 beds have been reserved at our hospital and it is planned to reserve about 20 per cent beds by January 22 so that they can cater to the guests, who will gather in Ayodhya for the mega ceremony," he told PTI.

The district hospital (male) has a team of doctors, including a cardiologist, three physicians, three orthopaedic surgeons, two pediatricians and two ENT surgeons, Kumar said, adding it is cold season so "our doctor will be alert".

The CMS of the district hospital (male) added that "elective surgery lined up at our hospital will be halted" for some days in view of the big event from January 20.

Besides some of the senior doctors from the Sri Ram Hospital, the two district hospitals have received specially training on medical emergency response from doctors of the AIIMS, Kumar said.

The training took place at the medical college campus here, he added.

"From the Centre's side, all preparations to assist the state government will be there if they need anything. All India Institute doctors, emergency response teams, they will work here with the state government and the state government have also augmented emergency beds and oxygen facilities and specialist doctors will be brought in. So, the preparations are underway from both the Centre and state sides," a senior official from the central government had earlier told PTI.

Sources said 50 beds out of the 212 beds have been reserved at the Ayodhya district hospital (female).

PTI visited the two district hospitals on Thursday evening and the wards reserved, where beds and oxygen cylinders and other medical equipment were kept.

Sources said ambulances in a staggered manner will be kept on stand by at regular distances from the temple complex site.

At least 10 basic life support system-equipped ambulances from the district hospitals' side have been kept reserved for the January 22 event, a source said, adding advance life support-equipped ambulances will also be positioned through other agencies.

Medicine stocks have been augmented, another source said, adding, 7,000 is a huge number of people and it is cold season and many elderly guests are also expected, so arrangements are being made accordingly.

After the 'pran pratishtha' ceremony, over a lakh of devotees are expected to descend in the temple town from January 23 onwards.

Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak had recently told reporters here that all arrangements being made for the devotees, who will come for 'darshan' of Ram Lalla in Ayodhya, whether it is for staying, drinking water, protection from cold and medicines.

"Ayodhya is ready to host the devotees of Ram Lalla. All security parameters decided, there is fullproof security arrangements. On the healthcare front, all arrangements been made. Extra doctors have been deployed at the hospitals, extra ambulances arranged, we have made an arrangement for a CATH lab. We have also taken assistance of private doctors".
Gurugram, Jan 19 (PTI) Another tower of the Chintels Paradiso Society in Gurugram's Sector 109 has been declared unsafe by the committee of the district administration, an official said on Friday.

On Friday, Tower J became the sixth of eight towers of the housing unit to have been declared unsafe for habitation, according to a report submitted by a team of IIT Delhi.

Six floors of Tower D of Chintels Paradiso society had collapsed partially on February 10, 2022 leading to the death of two female residents. Since then, the building site has been a matter of dispute between the builder and residents.

In November last year, four balconies of the same unsafe tower collapsed. Three more collapsed on December 17.

Assistant Deputy Commissioner Hitesh Kumar Meena said that the report has been made public and notice of evacuation served.

The structural audit report of Tower J was submitted to the district administration by IIT Delhi three days ago, Meena said.

Rakesh Hooda, the society's Residents' Welfare Association, said that the district administration declared Tower J unsafe without considering IIT-Delhi recommendations.

According to him, IIT-Delhi recommended repair first.

The IIT report says there is a high risk of corrosion of reinforcement in a large part of the structure due to the presence of chlorides. The reduced alkalinity in the concrete due to carbonation is likely to aid the corrosion.

According to it, a "poor quality" of concrete has also played a role in the rapid deterioration.

Due to there being many factors in play, it is difficult to predict when this corrosion is likely to manifest into widespread distress that is visible on the surface, the report said.

"Tower J visually appears to be in a better condition than towers D, E, F, G and H, but in a worse condition than towers A, B and C. The test results also confirm that the risk of corrosion of reinforcement in Tower J is higher than in towers A, B and C. In the case of chloride-induced corrosion of reinforcement, appearances can be deceptive.

"The corrosion of reinforcement can rapidly accelerate without any prior warning, leading to a loss in structural capacity. Since chlorides lead to pitting corrosion, a large loss of the reinforcement may take place without any visual signs on the surface, rendering the structure inadequate," the report read.

"Given the moderate to high chloride content in the concrete in a large part of the structure, a repair of the structures must be carried out and the structure must be closely monitored for any signs of further deterioration," it said.

The district administration's committee in its order said that in view of the IIT Delhi report and apparent condition of the building, it would not be prudent to keep Tower J in "Under Observation" category.

"The Committee is of the view that the structure of Tower J is not safe for habitation. The repair and rehabilitation of this Tower is also not feasible due to high chloride content in the concrete throughout the structure, which has already acted in a detrimental manner.

"Therefore, the committee is of the view that Tower J should be permanently closed. The residents who are still living in these towers should be asked to vacate immediately," read the order of the committee.
Jodhpur, Jan 19 (PTI) Two school children were crushed to death by a goods train in the Banar area here on Friday when they were running to escape from dogs chasing them, police said.

Both the children, who were cousins, were returning from school when some pet dogs from a house en route began chasing them.

Frightened, the children began to run. While running, they mounted the railway tracks, during which a boy and a girl were hit by a goods train and crushed to death barely a few metres away from the Banad Cantt railway station, the police said.

The children's family members refused to accept the bodies as they, along with neighbours, began a protest against the dog owner and demanded immediate capture of the pets by a dog squad, they said.

The police team, which had rushed to the spot on information about the incident, called the dog squad of the Jodhpur Municipal Corporation (South), they added.

After the dog squad captured the pets, the family members accepted the bodies.

The deceased children Ananya Kanwar (9) and Yuvraj Singh (11) were residents of Ganeshpura in Banar area, studying at the Army Children Academy in Classes 5th and 7th respectively, the police said.

The pet dogs were owned by one Omprakash Rathi residing in the area, they said.

The children's mothers are sisters. Yuvraj's father lives in Karnataka for work, while Ananya's father is an ex-serviceman, they added.
New Delhi, Jan 19 (PTI) The CBI has arrested a CGST inspector and two middlemen from Jaipur in connection with Rs 10 lakh bribery case in which an Indian Revenue Service officer has also been named as a suspect, officials said Friday.

The agency arrested Inspector Ankit Aswal and two middlemen Sonu and Ashok who were allegedly involved in the exchange of bribe money, they said.

An FIR was registered on the allegation that the officer was demanding a bribe to not arrest the complainant in a case that he was probing. The CBI has also named IRS CGST Sandeep Payal as an accused in the case, they said.

"A case was registered on a complaint against an Inspector, CGST, Jaipur and others. It was alleged that the said bribe was demanded for resolving a pending matter with CGST, Jaipur," CBI spokesperson said in a statement.

According to officials, Aswal is accused to have been part of a team that had razed the complainant's premises in 2021. The inspector was allegedly threatening the complainant with the arrest if his demand for bribe was not met, they said.

Aswal, currently serving as Preventive Officer, Jaipur, had allegedly claimed that the bribe was for him and Sandeep Payal and was to be routed through a Jaipur-based jeweller, officials said.

They said Aswal had allegedly asked the complainant to make the payment to the jeweller else he could be arrested in the tax case.

The CBI had recorded the calls in the presence of independent witnesses where the demand for the bribe was made, they said.

"The CBI team laid a trap and caught a middleman while accepting a bribe of Rs. 10 Lakh on behalf of the said inspector," the spokesperson said.
Jammu, Jan 18 (PTI) AICC Jammu and Kashmir incharge Bharat Singh Solanki on Thursday accused the BJP of engaging in politics of hatred and communal division, and said the Congress can restore the atmosphere of peace and harmony in the country.

The former Union minister also accused the BJP of bulldozing democratic institutions in the country.

Solanki was addressing a rally in Doda district. JKPCC chief Vikar Rasool Wani and AICC joint secretary Manoj Yadav also attended the rally.

"The BJP is engaging in politics of vendetta, hatred and communal division... The BJP is vitiating the democratic atmosphere and has bulldozed democratic institutions in the country. The Congress will always play a unifying role," Solanki said.

"The Congress along with other like-minded secular parties can restore the atmosphere of peace, harmony, mutual co-existence and progress in the country," he said.

The Congress leader asked party workers to reach out to the people and expose the BJP's politics aimed at diverting attention from its failure to check "unprecedented" price rise and "record" unemployment in the country, especially in Jammu and Kashmir.

Solanki said Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is the only hope for the youth of the country in this "atmosphere of hatred and divisiveness" and asked people to support the party.
Jaipur, Jan 18 (PTI) A woman councillor supported by the BJP allegedly threw a slipper at Merta municipality chairman Gautam Tak during a meeting of the municipal body in Rajasthan's Nagaur on Thursday, officials said.

Another BJP councillor allegedly threw a garland at the municipal chairman during the meeting, they said.

Tak said that the meeting was called to pass the 2024-25 budget and other development works for the city.

Independent councillor Shobha Lahoti, who is supported by the BJP, allegedly threw slippers at the municipal chairman during the meeting attended by BJP MLA Laxman Ram.

Tak said the disruption was created to stall the city's budget. He said that a case has been registered against both the councilors at Merta City Police Station. He said that the meeting will be called again after seven days.

Merta City police station officer Pramod Kumar Sharma said that a case has been registered against both the councilors. A case has also been registered against the chairman on the complaint of the woman councillor, he said..
Surat, Jan 19 (PTI) In a relief to Gujarat BJP MLA Hardik Patel, a magistrate's court in Surat city of Gujarat on Friday acquitted him in a six-year-old case of delivering a political speech in violation of the permission granted by the authorities ahead of the December 2017 assembly polls.

Judicial Magistrate Supreet Kaur Gaba acquitted Patel and one Jignesh Vaghasiya, who had taken permission to hold a rally from the district collector at that time.

It was alleged that though the then district collector had granted permission for a "non-political" rally in Sarthana area of Surat city on December 3, 2017, nearly a week before the assembly polls. But Patel, a former Patidar quota agitation leader, violated the condition and delivered a "political" speech at the rally.

As per the condition number 14, the collector had made it clear that no speaker at the rally will speak in support or in opposition of any political party or poll candidate.

After Patel, who was not affiliated to any party and was heading quota outfit Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti at that time, delivered his speech at the rally, Surat police lodged an FIR against him and Vaghasiya under relevant sections of the Gujarat Police Act.

The police alleged that Patel and Vaghasiya, the rally organiser, had violated the condition by delivering a political speech at the rally. Hardik was arrested in January 2019 and chargesheet was filed within days after his arrest.

During the hearing, Patel's lawyer Yashwantsinh Vala argued that the prosecution did not provide any clear evidence to prove that Patel had delivered a political speech or spoke in favour or against any political party or candidate.

Vala also argued that none of the witnesses could not clearly reveal how Hardik Patel had violated the condition number 14 of the permission.

After taking the arguments into account, the magistrate acquitted both Patel and Vaghasiya.

Patel, who had joined the Congress after the 2017 polls, later quit the party to join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ahead of 2022 assembly polls and won from the Viramgam assembly seat as a BJP candidate.
Cameroonian President Paul Biya meets with visiting Chinese Vice Premier Liu Guozhong, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, in Yaounde, Cameroon, Jan. 17, 2024. Liu Guozhong, who led a Chinese government delegation, visited Cameroon on Wednesday and Thursday. (Photo by Kepseu/Xinhua)

YAOUNDE, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice Premier Liu Guozhong, who led a Chinese government delegation, visited Cameroon on Wednesday and Thursday. During the visit, he met with the president and prime minister of the country, and both sides vowed to continue enhancing cooperation in various fields.

Liu, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, conveyed cordial greetings from Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang to Cameroonian President Paul Biya and Prime Minister Joseph Dion Ngute.

Speaking highly of Cameroon's development achievements, Liu said that in the past 52 years since the establishment of diplomatic ties, the two countries have consistently treated each other with sincerity, friendship and equality, achieved fruitful results in cooperation across various fields, and continuously deepened their friendly relations.

Liu expressed China's willingness to deepen political mutual trust with Cameroon, strengthen the synergy of their development strategies, adhere to mutual benefit and win-win results, and advance cooperation in various fields.

He also said that China is ready to collaborate with Cameroon in international affairs, promote South-South cooperation, safeguard the common interests of developing countries, and contribute to building a high-level China-Africa community with a shared future.

The two leaders of Cameroon asked Liu to convey their greetings to President Xi and Premier Li. Biya said that China is Cameroon's great friend and thanked China for its support and assistance in various developmental causes.

Cameroon firmly upholds the one-China principle and will not change its policy and position in this regard, Biya affirmed.

Ngute said that the two countries enjoy a long history of friendship and close cooperation. He expressed Cameroon's willingness to further deepen cooperation with China in politics, economy and trade, infrastructure, culture, tourism and international affairs, so as to bring more benefits to the two peoples and push for new achievements in the development of bilateral relations. 

Cameroonian Prime Minister Joseph Dion Ngute meets with visiting Chinese Vice Premier Liu Guozhong, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, in Yaounde, Cameroon, Jan. 18, 2024. Liu Guozhong, who led a Chinese government delegation, visited Cameroon on Wednesday and Thursday. (Photo by Kepseu/Xinhua)

Chinese Vice Premier Liu Guozhong, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, visits the construction site of the Cameroonian National Assembly building with Cavaye Yeguie Djibril, president of Cameroon's National Assembly, in Yaounde, Cameroon, Jan. 18, 2024. Liu Guozhong, who led a Chinese government delegation, visited Cameroon on Wednesday and Thursday. (Photo by Kepseu/Xinhua)
New Delhi, Jan 19 (PTI) Eleven convicts in the case of gangrape of Bilkis Bano and the murder of seven of her family members during the 2002 riots in Gujarat will have to surrender on January 21 as the Supreme Court on Friday dismissed their plea seeking an extension of time to surrender.

Observing that the reasons cited by the convicts have no merits, a bench of justices B V Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan refused to grant them relaxation.

The convicts had moved the apex court on Thursday seeking more time to surrender.

The top court had on January 8 annulled the remission the Gujarat government granted to the 11 convicts in the high-profile case while slamming the State for being "complicit" with an accused and abusing its discretion. It ordered the convicts, who were released prematurely on Independence Day in 2022, to go back to jail within two weeks.

"We have heard senior counsel and counsel for the applicants and the counsel for the non-applicants also. The reasons cited by applicants to seek postponement of surrender and report back to jail have no merit inasmuch as those reasons in no way prevent them from complying with our directions. Hence the miscellaneous applications are dismissed," the bench said.

The reasons seeking extension of the deadline to surrender included failing health, impending surgery, son's marriage and harvesting ripe crops.

The first five convicts who had sought relief are Govind Nai, Pradeep Mordhiya, Bipin Chandra Joshi, Ramesh Chandana and Mitesh Bhatt.

Later, the remaining convicts also moved a similar plea.

"The respondent himself is an old man who is suffering from asthma and is in really poor health. It is further submitted that the respondent was recently operated upon and had to undergo an angiography. It is also submitted that the Respondent is yet to undergo another operation for the treatment of 'Hemorrhoids'," Nai said in his plea. He also cited his bedridden 88-year-old father's ill health to seek relief.

In his plea seeking more time to surrender, Chandana said he was looking after his crops and that were ready for harvest. He said he is the only male member in the family and has to take care of the crops.

"Further, applicant's young son is of marriageable age and the applicant bears the responsibility to look after this affair and with kind indulgence of this Honourable Court may even complete this affair," Chandana said.

Mordhiya submitted he requires regular consultation with doctors after he underwent a lung surgery.

Another convict Mitesh Bhatt said his winter crops are ready for harvest and he needs to complete the task before surrendering.

Joshi has cited a recent leg surgery to seek relief.

The other six convicts released prematurely are Bakabhai Vohania, Kesarbhai Vohania, Jaswant Nai, Radheshyam Shah, Rajubhai Soni and Shailesh Bhatt.

Excoriating the Gujarat government for remitting their sentences, the apex court had said it "usurped" the power of the Maharashtra government to grant remission. The Bilkis Bano case was transferred from a Gujarat court to a court in Mumbai, and the Supreme Court said the Maharashtra government was vested with the power to grant remission.

Bilkis Bano was 21 years old and five months pregnant when she was gang-raped while trying to escape the horror of the communal riots that broke out after the Godhra train burning incident in February 2002. Her three-year-old daughter was among the seven family members killed.
New Delhi, Jan 19 (PTI) The Supreme Court on Friday rapped the Madhya Pradesh Police for removing the security cover of the son of a slain Congress leader, saying it was playing with the life of the prosecution witness.

"You are playing with the lives of people. You are not providing security to a prosecution witness but providing security to goondas," the court said.

A bench of Justices Surya Kant and KV Viswanathan directed the Superintendent of Police of Damoh district in Madhya Pradesh to provide within 24 hours security to Somesh Chaurasia, son of Congress leader Devendra Chaurasia, who was murdered in 2019.

The bench warned the SP of contempt action, if security is not provided in 24 hours to Chaurasia and his family members, who are facing threats for being prosecution witness in the murder case.

The court's rebuke came after advocate Saurabh Mishra, appearing for the Madhya Pradesh government, submitted that police reduced Chaurasia's security cover after a threat perception analysis.

"You are playing with the lives of people. You are not providing security to a prosecution witness but providing security to 'goondas'. If within 24 hours security cover is not provided to the petitioner and his family members, ask your SP and DGP to be present on the next date of hearing," the bench said.

The court also observed that the Superintendent of Police of Damoh district appears to be an "arrogant officer."

Advocate Varun Thakur, appearing for the petitioner, said that Chaurasia had no security cover at present and what was provided earlier on the direction of the court, was removed.

"He (Somesh) has been constantly facing threats to his life since 2019," Thakur said.

The bench was hearing a plea seeking contempt action against the officers for not providing police protection to the petitioner's family despite judicial orders.

In his plea, Chaurasia claimed that he and his family are facing threat to their lives from the husband of former MLA Rambai Singh, who is an accused in the death of his father.

The plea pointed out that the accused was only arrested after the intervention of the top court.

On July 22, 2021, the top court had cancelled the bail granted to Govind Singh, husband of Rambai Singh, in the murder case and observed that the judiciary should be immune from political pressures.

Chaurasia was killed in March 2019 after he joined the Congress.
Bengaluru, Jan 19 (PTI) The High Court of Karnataka has dismissed a petition filed by a Bangladeshi woman seeking extension of her stay in India.



The womans Indian husband is absconding and without his consent for the dependent visa (X-1 visa) it cannot be extended. The HC also noted that her activities in India were suspicious as she was in constant touch with an organisation called SSG in Bangladesh which had connections with that countrys military.



Between 2003 and 2005, the woman had worked in the Thailand Embassy office in Dhaka.



The petition before the HC was filed by one Raktima Khanum, 46, which was heard by Justice M Nagaprasanna. The woman claimed to have fallen in love with one Janardhana Reddy, a resident of Bengaluru and an Indian citizen.



The two got married in December 2017 and the woman claimed that Reddy had converted to Islam. The couple lived in Chennai but soon their love floundered and the woman went back to Bangladesh as the tourist visa she was staying on had expired, she said.





When she applied for a visa again, it was converted to an entry visa -- a dependent visa -- which was valid till February 2020. She sought extension of the visa, and it was granted for six months as she was married to an Indian. The visa was again extended later till June 21, 2023.



When another extension was sought, the authorities demanded that she produce an undertaking/consent form the sponsor/parents/spouse as she was on a dependent visa.



She approached the high court in this regard. Her advocate contended that her husband is absconding and therefore she cannot submit a consent document.







The HC, however, said it cannot direct the authorities to extend the visa considering the facts of the case.



Dismissing the petition, the HC in its January 5 judgment said, The power of the Government of India to expel nationals of other countries who overstay in the nation without any document is absolute and unfettered. Any indulgence shown to the petitioner, on any kind of sympathy, would be putting fetters on the discretion of the government, the FRRO and the Bureau of Immigration, more so in cases where there is even a semblance of threat to national security of any kind."
A court of appeals in Thailand has handed a political activist what is believed to be a record sentence for the criminal offense of insulting the monarchy, giving him a 50-year prison term after finding him guilty of 25 violations of the law, a lawyers group said Thursday.

Mongkhon Thirakot, 30, had originally been sentenced last year to 28 years in prison by the provincial court in the northern province of Chiang Rai for 14 of 27 posts on Facebook for which he was charged.

Mongkhon was found guilty by the Northern Region court of appeals in Chiang Rai on Thursday not just in the 14 cases, but also in 11 of the 13 cases for which the lower court had acquitted him, the group Thai Lawyers for Human Rights announced.

The court of appeals sentenced him to an additional 22 years in prison, bringing his total to 50 years. Technically, he had been given a prison term of 75 years, but the sentence was cut by one-third in acknowledgement of his cooperation in the legal proceedings.

The law on insulting the monarchy, an offense known as lese-majeste, carries a prison term of three to 15 years for each count. Its often referred to as Article 112 after its designation in Thailands Criminal Code.

Critics say the law is often wielded as a tool to quash political dissent. Student-led pro-democracy protests beginning in 2020 openly criticized the monarchy, previously a taboo subject, leading to vigorous prosecutions under the law, which had previously been infrequently employed.

Since those protests, more than 260 people have been charged with the offense, according to the lawyers group.

The court of appeals reversed the lower courts acquittals on the basis that the law applied in instances where it wasnt the current monarch or his immediate family who was being referred to, which had been the standard for many years. However, as lese-majeste prosecutions became more common over the last decade, a court case set a precedent by finding that past rulers were also covered by the law.

Theerapon Khoomsap, a member of Mongkhons defense team, confirmed the account given by the Thai Lawyers for Human Rights. He said that the verdict didnt come as a surprise to him, and his team will appeal the case to the Supreme Court. However, Mongkhons application to be allowed to continue to be free on bail was denied.

The previous record prison term for the offense belonged to a former civil servant identified by the lawyers group only by her first name, Anchan. She was found guilty in 2021 on 29 counts for audio clips on Facebook and YouTube with comments deemed critical of the monarchy. The court initially announced her sentence as 87 years, but cut it in half because she pleaded guilty.

On Wednesday, prominent human rights lawyer and political activist Arnon Nampa was sentenced to four years in prison for three Facebook posts that were considered to be a violation of the law. The sentence comes on top of another four-year term handed to him last year for the content of a speech he gave in 2020.

(AP)
This weeks airstrikes between Iran and Pakistan that killed at least 11 people mark a significant escalation in fraught relations between the neighbors.

Long-running, low-level insurgencies on either side of the border have frustrated both countries, and the apparent targets of the strikes  Irans on Tuesday and Pakistans response on Thursday  were insurgent groups whose goal is an independent Baluchistan for ethnic Baluch areas in Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

The question is why Iran and Pakistan would choose to strike insurgents in each others territories rather than their own, considering the risk of a wider conflagration.

THE BACKGROUND

Iran and Pakistan share a 900-kilometre (560-mile), largely lawless border where smugglers and militants roam freely. Both countries have suspected each other of supporting, or at least behaving leniently toward some of the groups operating on the other side of the border.

Jaish al-Adl, the Sunni separatist group that Iran targeted on Tuesday, is believed to operate out of Pakistan, launching attacks on Iranian security forces. The Baluch Liberation Army, which was formed in 2000 and has launched attacks against Pakistani security forces and Chinese infrastructure projects, is suspected of hiding out in Iran.

WHY DID PAKISTAN RETALIATE?

Pakistan said its strikes in Iran on Thursday were aimed at hideouts of the Baluchistan Liberation Army and the Baluchistan Liberation Front. It also wanted to send a message to Iran and other neighbors that it can fight back if provoked.

The last time Pakistan retaliated against a neighboring country was in 2019, when it downed two Indian warplanes and captured a pilot in the disputed Kashmir region. It followed an Indian strike inside Pakistan against what New Delhi said was a terrorist training camp.

WHY NOW?

Iran and Pakistan have long had a volatile relationship, but these strikes are likely prompted by internal dynamics.

Tehran has been experiencing a growing pressure for some kind of action after a deadly Islamic State group attack earlier this month, Israels war on Irans ally, Hamas, and wider unrest against its theocracy. Pakistans attack on Thursday also served a domestic purpose, according to analysts.

The government and military have been under immense pressure (since Tuesday), said Abdullah Khan from the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies think-tank in Islamabad. The public perception of a strong army is not as it used to be, so it had to respond.

COULD THE SITUATION ESCALATE?

Irans military on Thursday began a planned annual air defense drill stretching from its port of Chabahar near Pakistan in the east, all the way across the country to its border with Iraq in the west. The drill will include live fire from aircraft, drones and air defense systems.

Fresh strikes by Iran and Pakistan cannot be ruled out, although this weeks attacks raise questions about the preparedness of their own militaries, particularly their radar and air defense systems.

For Pakistan, such systems are crucial given its constant, low-level tensions with its nuclear-armed rival, India. Its equipment has long been deployed along that frontier, rather than its border with Iran. Separately, Iran relies on radar and air defense systems in the case of potential strikes by its main enemy, the United States.

WHAT THE AIRSTRIKES MEAN FOR IRAN AND PAKISTAN

Launching these strikes allows Tehran to point to it directly taking military action without risking a wider confrontation with either Israel or the U.S., particularly as tensions also remain high over Irans rapidly advancing nuclear program.

However, the airstrikes could backfire on Pakistan because the Baluch Liberation Army said it will avenge the killings and wage war on the state.

(AP)
Russias top diplomat on Thursday dismissed a U.S. proposal to resume a dialogue on nuclear arms control, saying its impossible while Washington offers military support to Ukraine.

Speaking at his annual news conference, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov accused the West of fueling global security risks by encouraging Ukraine to ramp up strikes on Russian territory and warned that Moscow will achieve its goals in the conflict despite Western assistance for Kyiv.

Commenting on a U.S. proposal to resume contacts in the sphere of nuclear arms control, Lavrov described it as unacceptable, saying that Moscow has put forward its stance in a diplomatic letter last month. He argued that for such talks to be held, Washington first needs to revise its current hostile policy toward Russia.

White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said in June the Biden administration is ready to talk to Russia without conditions about a future nuclear arms control even as Russia-U.S. ties are at their lowest point since the Cold War, noting it is in neither of our countries interest to embark on opening the competition in the strategic nuclear forces.

But Lavrov charged that Washingtons push for the revival of nuclear talks has been driven by a desire to resume inspections of Russias nuclear weapons sites. He described such U.S. demands as indecent and cynical in view of Ukraines attacks on Russian nuclear-capable bomber bases during the conflict.

He mocked the U.S. offer to resume nuclear arms dialogue, arguing that Washingtons position amounts to saying, we have declared you an enemy, but were ready to talk about how we could look at your strategic nuclear arsenal again, thats something different.

Extensive mutual inspections of nuclear weapons sites were envisaged by the New START treaty, which then-presidents Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev signed in 2010. The inspections were halted in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic and never resumed.

In February 2023, Russian President Vladimir Putin suspended Moscows participation in the treaty, saying Russia could not allow U.S. inspections of its nuclear sites at a time when Washington and its NATO allies have openly declared Moscows defeat in Ukraine as their goal. Moscow emphasized, however, that it wasnt withdrawing from the pact altogether and would continue to respect the caps on nuclear weapons the treaty set.

The New START, the last remaining nuclear arms control pact between Russia and the United States, limits each country to no more than 1,550 deployed nuclear warheads and 700 deployed missiles and bombers. Its set to expire in 2026, and the lack of dialogue on anchoring a successor deal has worried arms control advocates.

Amid a hybrid war waged by Washington against Russia, we arent seeing any basis, not only for any additional joint measures in the sphere of arms control and reduction of strategic risks, but for any discussion of strategic stability issues with the U.S., he said. We firmly link such possibility to the West fully renouncing its malicious course aimed at undermining Russias security and interests.

The minister said Washingtons push for restarting nuclear arms talks is rooted in a desire to try to establish control over our nuclear arsenal and minimize nuclear risks for itself, but added that those risks are emerging as a result of forceful pressure on our country.

He accused the West of blocking any talks on ending the conflict and inciting the ramping up of attacks on Russia.

Such encouragement and the transfer of relevant weapons shows that the West doesnt want any constructive solution, Lavrov said. The West is pushing toward the escalation of the Ukrainian crisis, and that raises new strategic risks.

Asked if tensions with the West over Ukraine could spiral into a showdown resembling the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis  when the U.S. and the Soviet Union found themselves on the edge of nuclear war  Lavrov sternly warned against encouraging Ukraine to strike targets in Russia.

He specifically accused Britain of inciting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to order such attacks, although he didnt offer any proof to back the claim.

London is literally egging on Zelenskyy to bomb any facilities anywhere in Russia, Lavrov said.

He reaffirmed that Russia will pursue what it calls the special military operation regardless of Western pressure.

We will consistently and persistently press the goals of the special military operation and we will achieve them, he said. They should have no hope that Russia could be defeated in any way. Those in the West who fantasize about it have failed to learn history lessons.

On other foreign policy issues, Lavrov talked at length about growing influence of the Global South and argued that Western sway in international affairs was waning.

He hailed Russia-China ties, saying they are going through their best period in history and are stronger than a conventional military union.

Lavrov reaffirmed Moscows call for the creation of an independent Palestinian state, describing it as the only way to ensure security for both Palestinians and Israel. He also criticized the U.S.-led attacks on Yemen, saying that the more the Americans and the British bomb, the less desire to talk the Houthis have.

(AP)
Over the last few years, the frequency of hate crime in Los Angeles has been staggering. Shootings, vandalism, verbal abuse, and other forms of antisemitic crimes have unfortunately become all too common. Following the events of October 7, the number of incidents in Los Angeles has risen even further.

The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) has encouraged the reporting of all incidents of antisemitism, even those that do not amount to a hate crime, so that the community can receive the proper attention and allocation of LAPD resources. But many victims did not report their experiences because of the inefficient and time-consuming reporting process. To report a hate incident, individuals would call the LAPD and wait for an officer to arrive on the scene to take a report in person. Often people felt that the scale of the incident was not worth the hassle involved in reporting it.

But reporting antisemitic incidents provides the LAPD with vital information about the frequency of hate crimes and where such events take place, enabling them to provide resources where necessary and prevent such events from recurring. To encourage crime reporting, Agudath Israel of Americas California Office, along with other organizations, partnered with the LAPD to add hate crimes to the crime categories able to be reported in the Community Online Reporting System (CORS), the LAPDs easily accessible and user-friendly method of crime reporting.

Accessible through the LAPD website, CORS asks a series of clear questions and provides a space for the person reporting to describe their experience in their own words. Enabling hate crimes to be reported through CORS makes it significantly easier to alert the LAPD about hate crimes, encouraging more people to report such incidents. Agudath Israel will also train trusted members of the community to assist in filling out the police reports.

Agudath Israel is proud to be a leader on the task force that advocated for and helped develop the updated platform, said Rabbi Yaakov Subar, director of Agudahs California Office. Streamlining the hate crime reporting system and enlisting the help of our own community members is a vital step in maintaining the safety of our community.

To report a hate crime through CORS, click here or visit https://www.lapdonline.org/ file-a-police-report/.
BEIJING, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- The Republic of Nauru's decision to pursue the re-establishment of diplomatic ties with China following the leadership and legislature elections in China's Taiwan region serves as the latest testament to the prevailing international consensus backing the one-China principle.

Altogether, 182 countries have diplomatic relations with China now. Notably, Panama, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Honduras have either established or restored diplomatic relations with China after severing ties with Taiwan authorities in recent years.

Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party authorities, with Lai Ching-te winning the regional leadership election, disregard the prevailing trend of history, and conduct separatist activities seeking "Taiwan independence." This is doomed to fail. The latest election result cannot change the dynamics and direction of cross-Strait relations and cannot impede the prevailing trend that China will and must achieve reunification.

A few countries which have "offered congratulations" to Taiwan on its elections should honor their commitments to the one-China principle. They should also heed the voice of the international community and never underestimate China's determination to achieve national reunification.

While the two sides across the Taiwan Strait have yet to be reunified, the sovereignty and territory of China have never been severed. The legal status and the fact that Taiwan is an integral part of China's territory have never changed. This represents the true status quo of the Taiwan question. 
By Rabbi Yair Hoffman

Over 73 years ago, Reb Chatzkel Levenstein, ztl, the mashgiach of the Mirrer Yeshiva in Shanghai and of the Ponevezh Yeshiva in Bnei Brak, spoke at the wedding of Rav Dovid Kviat, ztl. Rav Kviat; the mechaber of numerous sefarim on Shas (Succas Dovid), Chumash, and the moadim; a rosh yeshiva in the Mirrer Yeshiva in Brooklyn; and the rav of the Eighteenth Avenue Agudah in Brooklyn.

The wedding of Rabbi Dovid Kviat, ylct, and Rebbitzen Dvorah nee Lieberman, ah, took place in Brooklyn on 2 Tammuz, 5707 (on the evening of June 19, 1947). This was Rav Levensteins speech:

Shlomo HaMelech writes (Shir HaShirim 8:9), Eem chomah hee, nivneh alehah tiras kasef. Rashi explains this pasuk, If her [this nations] faith and belief are as strong as a wall, withstanding incursions from beyond, we shall become her fortress and beauty.

We can observe from this pasuk that the underlying nature of the Jewish nation is that they are as solid as iron, unfazed by any and all circumstances and situations. We see it in Megilas Esther (5:9), Mordechaidid not rise and did not stir before him [Haman]. We see it from the Gemorah in Beitzah (25b), There are three that are fiercely bold, Israel among the nations, a dog before animals, and a rooster among chickens.

Indeed, it is this quality which has allowed the nation of Israel to endure.

The Midrash states (Vayikra Rabbah 32:5), There are four reasons why Israel was redeemed, that they did not change their names. They did not change because of this quality of which we speak.

It is on account of this very quality that they merited to become close to Hashem as the pasukim say (Devarim 7:7-8), Not because you are more numerous than all the nationsRather because of Hashems love for you.

The Ramban explains that the essential love that Hashem has for the Bnei Yisrael is because by nature they are fit for this. For the nation of Israel has stood by Hashem in all its trials. When challenged by the other nations of the world they have stubbornly responded (Shmos Rabbah 42:9), We will either remain as Jews or we will be nailed to the stake!

It is with this concept that the Sabbah of Kelm explained the Gemara in Kesuvos (77b). The Gemara explains that Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi was so great that when he was ill the Heavenly court instructed the Angel of Death to go to him and fulfill anything that he wishes.

Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi requested to see his ultimate resting place in Gan Eden, but first asked the Angel of Death for his knife. The Angel of Death complied with the requests. When he was shown the place, Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi jumped over to the other side. The Angel of Death held onto him by the edge of his cloak. Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi swore an oath that he will not come back.

What was the Angel of Death to do? Hashem Himself responded and ruled, If Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi in his lifetime had ever annulled an oath, he must go back and cannot enter Gan Eden alive. If he had never annulled an oath then he may remain. The Sabbah of Kelm explained that if he had ever annulled an oath he would have been lacking ever so slightly in deveikus Bashem and he may only enter Olam HaBa through the Angel of Death. But if he had never annulled an oath in his life, it is a sign that he had complete deveikus to Hashem and the decree does not apply to him.

This is the concept of a misas neshikah-death through a Divine kiss-that they [these righteous people] merit to cleave to Hashem within their lifetime.

It is this quality which we see in our chasan [Rav Dovid Kviat ztl]. He is undeterred by any situation. He remains unchanged, solid as a door, under all circumstances. He will therefore merit all the good, kol tuv, and will surely build his house as a tiras kasef, a turret of silver.

Rav Kviat taught numerous talmidim, including Rabbi Yaakov Bender shlita, and wrote many dozens of sefarim that are still in use today. Roshei yeshiva all across the world use the Sukkas Dovid on Shas to prepare shiurim. He was a rosh yeshivas rosh yeshiva. The remarkable determination of Rav Kviat in continuing to write sefarim and learn Torah under all circumstances was unparalleled and speaks volumes of Rav Chatzkels insight.

After Rav Kviats Parkinsons became so advanced that no one could read his handwriting anymore, this author was zocheh to be Hashems shliach to teach Rav Kviat how to use a computer to type his seforim in lashon kodesh. This was when Rav Kviat ztl was in his high 70s! After the first day, Rav Kviat was typing 1000 words a day. After two weeks, he was typing 3000 words a day. He published ten more seforim after that  all typing on the computer! Rav Levenstein ztl was, of course, remarkably prescient.

The author can be reached at [email protected]
Even after US Jews have become almost inured to hearing about incidents of blatant antisemitism on US college campuses since the Hamas massacre in Israel, the incidents that occurred at American University in D.C. are particularly grievous. A federal civil rights complaint against the university was recently filed on behalf of Jewish students who have experienced persistent and threatening anti-Semitic rhetoric and conduct.

A Jewish Israeli student was spat on by fellow students and his piano recital flyer was defaced with swastikas and the phrases Hitler was right and Death to the Zionists.

Dorm rooms of Jewish students were defaced with swastikas. One Jewish student also received an anonymous text saying: I know who you are, Jew. Additionally, many dorm bathrooms were defaced with swastikas and Nazi phrases and images.

Jewish students were targeted with screams of Zionist pig and Zionist killer. One student screamed at a Jewish classmate: I dont want to sit on the same side of the room as this ZionistYou have blood on your hands. You are responsible for genocide.

One professor spent classroom time praising anti-Israel protests and projected photos on a large screen, including a photo of a Magen Dovid in a trash can with the caption, Keep the world clean.

The professor then stared at a Jewish student in the class, leading many of the other students to turn around and glare as well. The Jewish student left the class in tears.

Neither professors nor the administration did anything to address the antisemitic behavior, the complaint said.

The claim against American University was filed by the Brandeis Center for Human Rights with the U.S. Education Department.

Jewish students have been shunned and marginalized in classrooms by their peers and faculty, the complaint states.

Anti-Israel protests have interfered with these students ability to attend classes or move about the campus freely. Posters of innocent men, women, and children being held hostage by the terrorist group Hamas, are continually torn down by anti-Israel students.

Shamefully AU has repeatedly chosen to turn a blind eye to the anti-Semitism snowballing on its campus, said Kenneth Marcus, the founder and chairman of Brandeis Center.

In addition to the case against American University, the US Education Department is investigating cases filed by Brandeis Center against Brooklyn College, Wellesley, SUNY New Paltz, the University of Southern California (USC) and the University of Illinois, as well as discrimination claims against Rutgers University, Stanford, University of California Los Angeles, University of California San Diego, University of Washington  Seattle and Whitman College in Washington State as well as Harvard, Cornell, Columbia and the University of Pennsylvania.

(YWN Israel Desk  Jerusalem)
The IDF confirmed Thursday that it is engaging in grave excavations in a Gaza cemetery, saying that the purpose behind these actions was to verify whether the bodies of hostages were interred there.

In response to an inquiry from NBC regarding reports about soldiers digging ij cemeteries, the IDF issued a statement: When critical intelligence or operational information is received, the IDF conducts precise hostage rescue operations in the specific locations where information indicates that the bodies of hostages may be located.

The statement continues, saying that the hostage identification process is carried out at a secure and alternate location to ensure the utmost professionalism and respect for the deceased. Bodies that are determined not to be those of hostages are returned with dignity and respect.

If not for Hamass reprehensible decision to take Israeli men, women, children, and babies as hostages, the need for such searches would not exist, the IDF concluded.

(YWN World Headquarters  NYC)
The European Parliament has issued a resolution calling for a permanent ceasefire in the Israel-Gaza conflict, but emphasizes that this ceasefire should only occur after all hostages are immediately and unconditionally released and the terrorist organization Hamas is dismantled.

The resolution received significant backing in the European Parliament, with 312 votes in favor, 131 against, and 72 abstentions.

Simultaneously, Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) strongly condemned what they perceive as a disproportionate Israeli military response, which they argue has led to an unprecedented civilian death toll. In response to these concerns, they advocate for full humanitarian access throughout the Gaza Strip and propose a European initiative to put the two-state solution back on track. Additionally, they express support for the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative.

MEPs further assert that the occupation of the Palestinian territories must come to an end while emphasizing the importance of holding terrorists accountable.

The resolution also underscores MEPs robust support for the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice. They call for the accountability of those deemed responsible for terrorist acts and violations of international law.

(YWN World Headquarters  NYC)
The IDF announced that a soldier was killed and three others were seriously injured amidst the fighting in the Gaza Strip.

The slain soldier was identified as Staff Sergeant Ori Gerby, 20, a soldier in the Givatai Patrol, who succumbed to his wounds after being wounded two days ago in battle in southern Gaza.

His death raises the IDFs ground operation death toll in Gaza to 194 and 530 since October 7th.

The IDF said that two soldiers were seriously injured in various skirmishes in central Gaza. Another soldier was also seriously injured amidst clashes in northern Gaza. All three soldiers were evacuated from Gaza to an Israeli hospital for further treatment.

Since October 7th, 2,630 IDF soldiers have been wounded, according to IDF data. Of those, 1,178 were wounded in the Gaza ground operation.
War cabinet minister Gadi Eisenkot criticized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus approach to the ongoing war with Hamas in Gaza, saying in an interview that the notion of achieving complete victory over the terror group was unrealistic. He also hinted at the need for new elections within months to restore public trust in the government, particularly following the devastating attacks that occurred on October 7th.

Eisenkot, a former IDF chief of staff, conducted the wide-ranging interview with Channel 12 that touched on various aspects of the war, including the personal toll it has taken on him and his family. Eisenkots son, Master Sgt. (res.) Gal Meir Eisenkot, 25, lost his life while fighting in Gaza in early December, followed by his nephew, Sgt. Maor Cohen Eisenkot, aged 19, just a day later.

The timing of the interview coincided with Netanyahus rejection of the idea of holding elections in the midst of a war, which he indicated could continue into 2025. Netanyahu vowed to achieve complete victory over Hamas.

Eisenkot isnt buying it.

Whoever speaks of absolute defeat is not speaking the truth. That is why we should not tell stories Today, the situation in the Gaza Strip is such that the goals of the war have not yet been achieved, he said.

When asked whether the current leadership in Israel is being truthful with the public, Eisenkot responded with a simple No and appeared to criticize Netanyahus reluctance to take direct responsibility for the intelligence, military, and leadership failures related to the October 7th attacks. Eisenkot emphasized the need for leadership that can tell the truth to people and chart a clear path forward.

Eisenkot also called for elections to be held in the coming months to restore the publics trust in leadership.

It is necessary, within a period of months, to return the Israeli voter to the polls and hold elections in order to renew trust because right now there is no trust.

Pressed to respond to Netanyahus assertion that holding elections during the war would harm public unity, Eisenkot countered, The lack of trust from the Israeli public in his government is no less serious.

Eisenkot also revealed that he and National Unity leader Benny Gantz, another former IDF chief of staff, had prevented Israel from launching a preemptive attack on the Iranian-backed Hezbollah terror group in Lebanon in the days following the October 7th attacks.

Eisenkot disclosed that on October 11th, Israel was on the brink of striking Hezbollah, but he and Gantz were successful in persuading officials in the war cabinet to delay the action.

I think our presence there prevented Israel from making a grave strategic mistake, he said, adding that attacking Lebanon at that time could have triggered a regional war involving Hamas, Syria, Iraq, and Iran, overshadowing the conflict with Hamas in Gaza.

Although there have been daily clashes along the Israel-Lebanon border, a full-scale war has thus far been averted.

(YWN World Headquarters  NYC)
After approximately 45 hours of intensive operations, the IDF has successfully concluded a counter-terrorism mission in Tulkarem in the West Bank.

During the operation, IDF troops meticulously combed through approximately 1,000 buildings, uncovering a staggering cache of more than 400 explosive devices. Additionally, they seized 27 weapons and various military equipment that posed a threat to security.

The mission also led to the discovery and destruction of five explosive manufacturing labs and four sites utilized by local terrorist operatives for monitoring Israeli forces through surveillance cameras. Engineering vehicles were deployed to detect and eliminate dozens of concealed explosives hidden beneath the camps roads.

The IDF reported the arrest of 37 wanted Palestinians during the operation, which included the apprehension of several high-ranking members of a local terror network.

The operation saw the loss of at least eight Palestinian gunmen in clashes with IDF troops, with some eliminated in an airstrike on Wednesday.

(YWN World Headquarters  NYC)
The IDF and the Shin Bet security agency announced Friday that Wael Abu Fanounah, the deputy head of the Palestinian Islamic Jihads propaganda unit, has been killed in an airstrike in the Gaza Strip.

Abu Fanounah played a significant role in the dissemination of the terror groups content, including videos showcasing rocket attacks on Israel and the creation of propaganda materials featuring hostages, according to both the IDF and Shin Bet.

Abu Fanounah had previously held other high-ranking positions within the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, including serving as the assistant to Khalil Bahtini, the groups commander in northern Gaza.

Meanwhile, in the central Gaza Strip, IDF reservists from the 179th Brigade discovered a weapons cache within a building following rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) attacks on troops in the area.

In the northern Gaza region, reservists of the 5th Brigade engaged and neutralized several Hamas gunmen during multiple encounters that involved the use of tank shelling and the coordination of airstrikes by the IDF.

(YWN World Headquarters  NYC)
As with any investment, your capital is at risk

If youve refurbished your kitchen recently, its highly likely that Howdens featured on the list of possible suppliers.

But how did a kitchen company with no real showrooms to speak of and a catalogue homeowners cant buy directly from themselves become so popular?

Howdens thrives on understanding kitchen trade customers and incentivising workers, says Iain McCombie, joint manager of Baillie Gifford UK Growth Trust.

He explains why the trust holds its shares and backs the business.

Iain McCombie, joint manager of Baillie Gifford UK Growth Trust

Books on home improvement with a pun in the title arent what you necessarily expect to find on an investment managers reading list.

But Kitchens, or Sink by Matthew Ingle, described as the story behind the building of the UKs No. 1 trade kitchen company, is one Iain McCombie is happy to recommend.

In the 30 or so years since the books author founded Howdens, the kitchen manufacturer has become a FTSE 250 company and is a top 10 holding in the Baillie Gifford UK Growth Trust, jointly managed by McCombie.

Howdens sales exceeded 2.3bn in 2022. Yet, the firm has not only done this with no nationwide network of customer-friendly showrooms, but without even selling directly to homeowners.

How Howdens started out

In 1994, the Howdens founder lost his job at Magnet, the kitchen company where he worked as a manager.

Ingle jotted down an idea for a different kind of kitchen business.

It would provide reliable standard joinery and kitchen fittings but with an innovative twist: prices and discounts would be agreed between the local branches and their builder customers.

This is a very different model to the showroom-based experience traditionally offered to homeowners, who pay a visit, spend time browsing and then potentially get sold a kitchen by a salesperson.

Ingle sent his idea to the head of MFI, then the leading retail furniture and fittings company. He agreed to back the concept, and Howdens was launched as an MFI subsidiary.

Howdens ultimately became the groups sole business, with Ingle as chief executive when a private equity firm bought the troubled MFI for a nominal sum in 2006.

Two years later, MFI collapsed, a victim of both the collapsing housing market in the economic fallout of the credit crunch, and strong competition from the likes of B&Q and Ikea.

The growth of Howdens

Howdens is a leading kitchen supplier in the UK

Two years later, MFI collapsed, a victim of both the collapsing housing market in the economic fallout of the credit crunch, and strong competition from the likes of B&Q and Ikea.

Howdens has gone from strength to strength since, thriving through the post financial crisis years and even becoming a pandemic winner, as the UK property market surprisingly boomed.

McCombie says: The business model remains very similar. Howdens has stayed true to its principles  treating people fairly and squarely, treating employees well and giving them an incentive.

Last autumn, for instance, Howdens made a one-off payment of 500 to each employee to help cover the rise in their cost of living.

Managers are trusted to run their depots in the way that works best for the local market.

Theyre encouraged to be entrepreneurial and share profits with employees. Thats partly why none of the 800-plus depots look the same.

Getting the trade on side

Its also still down to each depot manager to agree the discounts that are a big part of Howdens appeal to its regular customers.

As McCombie presents it, Howdens culture is all about wanting the builder to win. Happy customers will come back. And the more business they do, the greater the discount on their orders.

The firm doesnt reveal its prices to end customers, so builders dont have to disclose their own margins. And it bases its depots on industrial sites and minimises use of advertising to keep overheads down.

Howdens management has also never been afraid to admit and learn from its mistakes.

For example: shortly before the first Howdens depots opened in 1995, MFIs marketing department sent out flyers to potential customers. The response was poor. Ingle instructed depot managers to send handwritten letters to all the local tradespeople they knew, inviting them in for a chat.

McCombie says: It was a lightbulb moment for senior management, underlining why decentralisation was the right approach.

When you trust your employees and give them responsibility, they take it seriously. These are the kind of simple-but-not-easy things that businesses talk about but dont necessarily do.

The importance of reliability and speed

As anyone who has ever had a new kitchen fitted knows, there is often a gap between the shiny new showroom kitchen and reality.

Kitchens are notoriously complicated, McCombie says. Panels and hinges go missing, doors get damaged in transit. Just getting it right counts for a lot.

Supported by James Smith, a Baillie Gifford investment analyst colleague, who has hands-on experience in a small family building company, McCombie has come to appreciate how attention to the practical details makes the difference.

Smith says a builder often has to wait a week, or even a month, for a replacement if the customers kitchen measurements are just a few millimetres out. That means a knock-on delay to when the fitter can start tiling or installing a worktop. And time is money in the building trade.

Winning over the trade: The secret to Howdens' success has been getting builders onside

For these reasons, Howdens supplies all fittings ready-made and makes all of its cabinets in the UK from sustainable British wood.

Having its own manufacturing capability makes a real difference to the business in terms of cost and flexibility, says Smith.

Customers can get hold of anything through their local depot the same or the next day. If you need to order something from Italy or mainland Europe, youre a hostage to fortune.

Thats one of the reasons Howdens did well during Covid-19. Having everything always in stock helps to underpin cash flow.

This focus on quality and service has endeared Howdens to the trade, say the investors. Builders lives can be stressful, and theres value in a business culture that sees things from their point of view.

Howdens' push for growth

And the model helps Howdens do business fast. Its one of the many reasons the Baillie Gifford investors like this stock, along with the potential to keep on growing through increased sales.

The company plans to open 30 new depots this year, five of them in Ireland. Elsewhere, in Belgium and France, a relatively untapped combined market similar in size to the UK, there are already 60 outlets.

McCombie says that while Howdens is focussed on growth, it does it in a smart fashion.

He says: Unlike many other British companies which aggressively expand abroad, Howdens has done so cautiously and slowly.

The way it has clustered outlets around Dublin and Paris rather than scattering them throughout the country seems to work in raising brand awareness and ensuring the trade is well served by nearby depots.

A read of Kitchens, or Sink will give business owners and managers some good tips on the importance of decentralisation and learning from their mistakes.

But the principles behind Ingles founding of Howdens, its success and the subsequent shareholder returns also provide a story that investors can take lessons from too.

Investments with exposure to a single market may increase risk.

This article does not constitute, and is not subject to the protections afforded to, independent research. Baillie Gifford and its staff may have dealt in the investments concerned. The views expressed are not statements of fact and should not be considered as advice or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a particular investment.

Baillie Gifford & Co and Baillie Gifford & Co Limited are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

The investment trusts managed by Baillie Gifford & Co Limited are listed on the London Stock Exchange and are not authorised or regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.

A Key Information Document is available by visiting bailliegifford.com
Sheryl Sandberg (pictured) is one of the most prominent women in Silicon Valley

Facebook veteran Sheryl Sandberg has sparked speculation she may move into politics after quitting the board of parent company Meta.

One of the most prominent women in Silicon Valley, the Democrat, 54, has long been rumoured to be interested in a tilt at the White House. Sandberg, who stepped down as Metas chief operating officer in 2022, will leave the board after 12 years in May but continue as an adviser. She joined in 2008 and rose to become Mark Zuckerbergs second-in-command.

Speculation that she may move into politics began when she stepped down as chief operating officer, and has been reignited by her latest move.

She is said to have been considered a candidate for Treasury Secretary if Hillary Clinton had won the presidency in 2016  and was reportedly in the running to be Michael Bloombergs vice-presidential candidate had he won the Democrat nomination. She was previously chief of staff at the US Treasury when Bill Clinton was president.

Hargreaves Lansdown head of markets Susannah Streeter said: She has acquired a tough veneer to cope with the Washington machines and the scrutiny it would entail. Her net worth, estimated to be around 1.5billion, would provide a considerable financial launchpad.

She positioned herself as a role model for women in business with her corporate feminist book Lean In and was a staunch defender of the social media platform amid its controversies.

She said: Meta is strong and well-positioned for the future, so this feels like the right time to step away.
BEIJING, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- China urges the Philippines to earnestly uphold the spirit of the joint communique of establishing diplomatic ties between China and the Philippines, adhere to the one-China principle, and stop wrong words and deeds on issues relating to Taiwan, a foreign ministry spokesperson said on Thursday.

Spokesperson Mao Ning made the remarks at a regular news briefing in response to a reporter's question that the Philippine Defense Secretary on Wednesday accused the Chinese Foreign Ministry of insulting President Marcos Jr. during a news briefing earlier this week.

On Tuesday, regarding Philippine President Marcos's message of congratulations to Lai Ching-te, Mao said Marcos' remarks seriously violated the one-China principle and the joint communique on the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the Philippines, seriously breached the political commitments made by the Philippines to China and grossly interfered in China's internal affairs.

Mao said on Thursday that the Taiwan question is at the core of China's core interests and bears on the sentiment of the 1.4 billion Chinese people. The remarks of the Philippine side seriously violate the one-China principle and the joint communique of establishing diplomatic ties between China and the Philippines, seriously go against the Philippines' political commitments to China, and blatantly interfere in China's internal affairs.

"It is completely legitimate and necessary for China to state its solemn position," she said.

"The one-China principle is a red line as well as the bottom line," Mao said, adding that China will never accept anyone making provocations on the Taiwan question and will resolutely fight back. 
From deepfake videos and mass job losses, the shadow of artificial intelligence has hung over Davos.

The Swiss mountain resort hosting global elites at the World Economic Forum has this week been dominated by the opportunities and dangers posed by AI.

Many hope it will bring a golden age of life-saving scientific developments  and higher profits.

But as elections loom across the world, the fear that its potential to cause chaos has come to the fore.

And the biggest election  in which Donald Trump seems to have a growing chance of returning to the White House  is an especially terrifying prospect for the self-proclaimed great and the good who breathed a sigh of relief when he was defeated by Joe Biden four years ago.

Davos, which plays host to global elites at the World Economic Forum, has this week been dominated by the opportunities and dangers posed by AI

The advance of AI  or rather generative AI  has been so rapid that a new age of misinformation is already here, in time to disrupt polls in democracies from the UK to India as well as the US.

The technology has taken the world by storm in little over a year since the release of ChatGPT.

Generative AI feeds on mountains of data to produce human-like content, from poems to computer code.

The fear is that so-called deepfake videos  so realistic that it is virtually impossible to tell they are not genuine  could upend elections, resulting in protests and even violence.

And the prospect is one that is already becoming real. We have noticed in the past few weeks quite a preponderance of AI news sites emerging that just do fake news, said Will Lewis, a former Daily Telegraph editor and now publisher of the Washington Post in the US.

It is not coming, its here. Theres a real chance youll run into fake news thats going to pollute your minds today, without knowing about it.

Advocates of AI are already proclaiming its benefits.

Albert Bourla, chief executive of drug maker Pfizer, said it helped to develop paxlovid, a Covid pill, in four months rather than four years. Millions of lives were saved because of that, he said.

And Marc Benioff, boss of the commercial software giant Salesforce, cites the Gucci customer service centre in Milan where his firms AI-based programme has helped boost sales by 30 per cent.

But he also worries it could result in a Hiroshima moment - and says it must be properly regulated. Were having this incredible experience on AI and we really havent had this kind of interactivity before, he said.

But we dont trust it quite yet. We have to also turn to those regulators and say Hey, if you look at social media the past decade its been kind of a f***ing s***show, its pretty bad.

We dont want that in our AI industry, we want to have a good healthy partnership with these regulators.

AI boost? Donald Trump is running for President once again sparking fears of a dirty, social media fuelled election race

Even Sam Altman, the boss of ChatGPT maker Open AI and another star turn here, does not know whether AI will turn out for good or ill.

This is a technology thats clearly very powerful and that we cannot say with certainty exactly whats going to happen. But its easy to imagine with this one that its going to have massive effects on the world and that it could go very wrong.

The direction were trying to push it in is one that we think we can make safe.

Lurking below the surface is the fear of how a US election could be affected.

Vocal criticism of Trump, the man who could soon once again be the worlds most powerful, has been rare in Davos but the fear of what his election might mean has been a strong undercurrent.

Privately, some US executives have been appalled that the man whose supporters launched an insurrection when he lost the last election could be president again.

Others, such as Kristalina Georgieva, head of the International Monetary Fund, voice fears about what that could mean for the world.

When you look at the likely policies, in terms of being more conscious about the integrated global economy and how it benefits people everywhere, there may be some serious concerns, she said.

Trump is unlikely to be worried though, especially as one of the worlds most powerful chief executives, JP Morgan boss Jamie Dimon, seems less concerned than many.

Take a step back, be honest. He was kind of right about Nato, kind of right on immigration, Dimon told CNBC. He grew the economy quite well.

'Trade tax reform worked. He was right about some of China. He wasnt wrong about some critical issues, and thats why they voted for him.
Royal Mail hailed its best Christmas in four years as the postal group sought to make amends for the chaos that befell its operations in 2022.

The 507-year-old delivery firm said more than 99 per cent of first and second-class items sent by the last recommended postal dates were delivered in time for Christmas.

That was a stark improvement on the previous year when strike action from the Communication Workers Union left parcels and cards piled up in sorting offices across the UK.

But Royal Mail continues to weigh on parent company International Distributions Services (IDS), and analysts believe that it is on course for an annual loss of over 300million  all but wiping out profits from its overseas arm GLS.

The boss of IDS yesterday urged industry regulator Ofcom to take urgent action over its legal duty to deliver letters six days a week.

Royal Mail said more than 99% of first and second-class items sent by the last recommended postal dates were delivered in time for Christmas

Martin Seidenberg said the current arrangement was simply not sustainable, his remarks fuelling fears that the Saturday post will be scrapped.

Royal Mail said that the number of parcels delivered through its network in the final three months of last year jumped by 21 per cent as customers returned after the end of the strikes by union members.

The business also saw quarterly revenues rise 13.1 per cent to 2.3billion.

A large chunk of this came from three controversial stamp price increases over the last 18 months, which took the cost of first class delivery to 1.25  or 10 for a book of eight.

Once GLS was included, IDS revenues hit 3.6billion for the three months to the end of December, up 9.8 per cent on a year earlier.

Seidenberg said the results showed a marked improvement for Royal Mail over the festive period and added that the firm needed to build on this momentum. Shares in the group rose 2.1 per cent, or 5.2p, to 251.1p.

The delivery rates are a rare bright spot for Royal Mail, which has in recent years been roundly criticised for repeatedly missing its targets and leaving some people waiting weeks for their post to arrive.

Detailed delivery data on the festive period is yet to be published, but the latest figures covering the three months to September showed only 74 per cent of first-class post arrived on time, well below the target of 93 per cent.

Second-class post also fell short, with 91.3 per cent of deliveries on time during the quarter compared to the target of 98.5 per cent.

The shortfalls have prompted sharp criticism from the regulator, with Royal Mail slapped with a 5.6million fine from Ofcom in November for failing to meet its targets.

Royal Mail has argued that the legal requirement for it to deliver letters six days a week, which is known as the Universal Service Obligation (USO), is preventing the company from improving the business and competing with its rivals such as Amazon and Evri.

We are doing all we can to transform, but it is simply not sustainable to maintain a delivery network built for 20billion letters when we are now only delivering 7billion, Seidenberg said.

It follows a letter sent earlier this month from the chief executive to Liam Byrne, chairman of the House of Commons business and trade committee, which said the requirements of the USO were unrealistic and that Royal Mail may need to hike prices further or receive a taxpayer bailout to continue operating in its current form.

But campaigners and ministers have resisted talk of cutting back the service.

The service as we know it remains under onslaught and will change radically, arguably for the worse, if these proposals are allowed to happen, said consumer expert Martyn James.

The comments come as Ofcom prepares to publish options for the future of the USO, with the Royal Mail boss saying it was expected imminently.
Kazakhstan's flag carrier Air Astana has unveiled plans for a London listing in a rare victory for the UK capital's markets.

Air Astana hopes to raise $120million (95million) by going public on the London Stock Exchange and Kazakhstan's AIX market in efforts to help fund its future expansion.

The deal will involve BAE Systems, which owns a 49 per cent stake in the airline, and sovereign wealth fund Samruk-Kazyna selling some of their shares.

Taking off: Air Astana hopes to raise $120million by going public on the London Stock Exchange and Kazakhstan's AIX market to help fund its future expansion

Founded in 2002 and headquartered in Almaty, Air Astana is the biggest airline in Central Asia and the Caucasus region, operating 50 aircraft on over 90 routes.

In the first nine months of last year, the company flew about 6 million passengers on around 41,000 flights via its own-brand airline or low-cost subsidiary FlyArystan.

By the end of 2028, Air Astana intends to boost its fleet to 80 aircraft to improve access to major aviation markets like China, India and the Middle East.

The firm also wants to grow ancillary revenue through FlyArystan and capitalise on increasing domestic business travel within Kazakhstan.

Peter Foster, its chief executive and group president, said: 'As the largest airline group in Central Asia and the Caucasus, we are confident that our industry standing, market position and growth profile present a compelling investment opportunity.

'This is an important milestone in our long-term strategy, and we look forward to welcoming new Kazakh and international investors as shareholders.'

Air Astana will be worth an estimated 750million following the flotation, which is set to happen sometime in February.

The move would represent much-needed relief for London's capital markets, given their struggles to attract initial public offerings over the past year.

Just 23 IPOs happened on the London Stock Exchange in 2023, down about half from the previous year, according to EY.

Analysts have variously blamed this trend on Britain's departure from the European Union, higher capital pools in the United States, and the UK's stricter listing regime.

Plumbing products firm Ferguson, building materials supplier CRH Holdings and gold mining operator AngloGold Ashanti have all recently switched their primary listing from London to New York.

Softbank also decided to list semiconductor giant ARM Holdings on Wall Street despite heavy lobbying by the UK Government, while soda ash producer WE Soda abandoned a planned London IPO, citing 'extreme investor caution' in the UK.

Meanwhile, holidays group Tui is considering abandoning the LSE and putting its primary listing on Frankfurt's MDax market.
Chinese doctors joined local health workers on Thursday in providing healthcare services to cholera patients in Lusaka, the Zambian capital.
At the invitation of the government of the Republic of Liberia, President Xi Jinpings Special Envoy and Vice Chairperson of the National Committee of the Chinese Peoples Political Consultative Conference Bater will attend the inauguration of President Joseph Nyumah Boakai in Liberias capital Monrovia on January 22.

At the invitation of Premier Li Qiang of the State Council, Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda Gaston Browne will pay an official visit to China from January 22 to 28.

Beijing Daily: President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev will pay a state visit to China from January 23 to 25. Could you share with us Chinas evaluation of the current China-Uzbekistan relations and expectation for the visit?

Mao Ning: Since the establishment of diplomatic ties 32 years ago, China and Uzbekistan have treated each other with respect, enjoyed good neighborliness and mutual benefits, and kept solidarity in trying times. The bilateral relations have achieved leapfrog growth and cooperation in various fields has born fruitful results. This provides a strong boost to the development and revitalization of the two countries and positive energy to the peace and stability of Central Asia and the world at large.

The upcoming visit to China by President Shavkat Mirziyoyev early in the new year fully reflects the strength of our bilateral relations and the deep friendship between the two heads of state. The two sides will take this opportunity to elevate bilateral relations and add new dimensions to the China-Uzbekistan community with a shared future. During this visit, the two countries will hold events on culture, education and sub-national cooperation, deepen cooperation across the board and bring more benefits to the two countries and two peoples.

Reuters: Yesterday Indias top industrial policy bureaucrat Singh said at the World Economic Forum that India could ease its heightened scrutiny of Chinese investments if the two countries border remains peaceful. What is your response?

Mao Ning: In recent years, the international community has been questioning that there are hidden calculations behind the discriminatory measures and selective law enforcement adopted by India against Chinese companies there. If relevant reports are true, then it proves that the questions are not made in a vacuum.

China always believes that China-India boundary question is a historic issue and should be placed and resolved appropriately in our bilateral relations. The situation on the China-India border has been stable on the whole, and the settlement process should not influence the normal development of our bilateral relationship. In fact, the two-way trade volume between China and India has exceeded USD 100 billion in recent consecutive years and kept rising annually, which shows the resilience and potential of economic and trade cooperation between the two countries.

China hopes that India could fully recognize the win-win nature of China-India economic and trade cooperation, and provide a fair, just, transparent and nondiscriminatory business environment for Chinese companies investing and operating in India.

Dragon TV: To follow up on your announcement that Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda Gaston Browne will pay an official visit to China, can you share with us the arrangements of the visit and Chinas expectation?

Mao Ning: China welcomes Prime Minister Gaston Brownes visit to China after the previous one in 2014. During the visit, President Xi Jinping will meet with Prime Minister Browne, Premier Li Qiang will hold a welcoming ceremony for him, have talks and jointly attend the signing ceremony of cooperation documents with him, and Chairman of the NPC Standing Committee Zhao Leji will meet with him. The two sides will have an in-depth exchange of views on bilateral relations and issues of mutual interest and jointly draw a blueprint for the future of the bilateral relations. Besides Beijing, Prime Minister Browne will also visit Zhejiang and Shanghai.

Antigua and Barbuda is an important country in the Caribbean and an important cooperation partner of China in this region. Over recent years, China and Antigua and Barbuda have achieved steady progress in the bilateral relations and set an example of countries of different sizes respecting each other, carrying out equal-footed and mutually beneficial cooperation and achieving common development. The just-concluded year of 2023 marked the 40th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries. China believes that this visit will further promote political mutual trust, deepen practical cooperation in various areas, consolidate the traditional friendship, and bring the bilateral relations to a new level.

CCTV: Foreign Minister Wang Yi concluded his visit to Egypt, Tunisia, Togo and Cote dIvoire yesterday. This is the 34th consecutive year that Africa has been the destination of Chinese foreign ministers annual first overseas visit. Could you share with us some of the highlights during this visit? What signals have been sent out? What does China envisage for the future growth of China-Africa relationship and cooperation?

Mao Ning: Foreign Minister Wang Yis visit is a continuation of the fine tradition that our foreign ministers make their first overseas trips to Africa at the beginning of a new year. It is a concrete action to interpret and practice the principle of sincerity, real results, amity and good faith proposed by President Xi Jinping and the spirit of China-Africa friendship and cooperation. It also demonstrates the importance attached by China to Africa and Chinas firm support for Africas development and revitalization. It shows that China-Africa friendship has stood the test of time, built on our past achievements and opened up a new future.

During the visit, Foreign Minister Wang Yi had an in-depth exchange of views on bilateral relations and regional and international issues of mutual interest with the African sides, reached broad consensus, consolidated the political mutual trust, and promoted exchanges and cooperation in all fields. The African sides reiterated their commitment to the one-China principle and support for Chinas efforts in safeguarding national sovereignty and territorial integrity. The two sides will jointly call for an equal and orderly multipolar world and a universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalization. Working hand in hand on the path of modernization, the two sides will stay committed to the defining feature of solidarity and coordination of the Global South.

This year, the new edition of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation will be held in China. China will work with Africa to promote the synergy between high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative and the Global Civilization Initiative, and the Agenda 2063 of the African Union and African countries development strategies. We will deepen exchanges on experience of governance, advance cooperation initiatives in line with the development needs of China and Africa in the new era, and lend strong impetus to a high-level China-Africa community with a shared future.

AFP: Its reported that a senior official of the Houthis promised the safe passage of Russian and Chinese ships through the Red Sea. Could you confirm it?

Mao Ning: Im not aware of the situation you mentioned. On the situation in the Red Sea, Foreign Minister Wang Yi has elaborated on Chinas position in time in Egypt, which you may refer to. I want to reiterate that the Red Sea is an important international trade route for goods and energy. China calls for a halt to the harassment and attacks on civilian ships to keep global industrial and supply chains unimpeded and safeguard the international trade order. At the same time, fueling tensions in the Red Sea and heightening security risks in the whole region should be avoided. Foreign Minister Wang Yi also stressed that the tension in the Red Sea is a prominent manifestation of the spillover of the Gaza conflict. The priority now is to end the fighting in Gaza as soon as possible to avoid further escalation and prevent the situation from getting out of control.

Hubei TV: According to local media reports, a handover ceremony for China-aided mine-clearance equipment to Cambodia was held in Phnom Penh on January 18, and China and Cambodia also signed a memorandum of understanding on mine-clearance cooperation. Do you have any comment on this?

Mao Ning: As one of the countries worst affected by landmines, Cambodia is, under the leadership of Prime Minister Hun Manet, making all-out effort to achieve the mine-free goal by 2025. As a good neighbor, good partner and good brother of Cambodia, China has cared much about the landmine problem in Cambodia. Since 1998, we have been providing Cambodia with support of various forms, including funding, mine-clearance equipment and personnel training. Mine-clearance cooperation has become an important part of the China-Cambodia comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership, an important component of the diamond hexagon bilateral cooperation framework, and a vivid example of the two sides working together to implement the Global Security Initiative.

The signing of the MOU on mine-clearance cooperation provides a more solid basis for deeper cooperation in this area. Going forward, China stands ready to step up cooperation with Cambodia and provide more support for Cambodia in its effort to clear all landmines and achieve the mine-free goal by 2025 as scheduled.

Antara: The eighth meeting of the China-Philippines Bilateral Consultation Mechanism on the South China Sea was held in Shanghai yesterday and co-chaired by Chinas Assistant Foreign Minister Nong Rong and Philippine Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Theresa Lazaro. What are the results?

Mao Ning: The Chinese side has released the readout, which you may refer to. I want to stress that China and the Philippines agreed to implement the important common understandings reached by the two heads of state on maritime issues, continue to properly manage maritime differences and disagreements through friendly consultation, advance practical maritime cooperation, and jointly uphold peace and stability at sea. The two sides also reached common ground on advancing the maritime communication mechanism and cooperation on coast guard, marine science and technology, and other fields.

CCTV: We noted that Dennis Francis, President of the 78th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), wrote on social network X reaffirming that the work of UNGA will adhere to the one-China principle guided by UNGA Resolution 2758. In the past few days, ASEAN, the League of Arab States, the African Union and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization reiterated in different ways their support for the one-China principle. Whats your comment?

Mao Ning: The one-China principle is a prevailing international consensus and a basic norm governing international relations.

So far, over 100 countries and international organizations have openly reiterated their commitment to the one-China principle. Apart from countries and organizations that have already been mentioned, more countries and organizations, including Malaysia, Yemen, Algeria, Sudan, South Sudan, Nigeria, Cote dIvoire, Guinea-Bissau, Angola, Zambia, Ghana, Benin, Mauritania, Togo, Seychelles, Gabon, Malawi, Cabo Verde, Georgia, Croatia, Cyprus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Samoa, Nauru, Mexico, Ecuador, Uruguay, Panama, the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Grenada and ASEAN, have spoken up by various means. We highly commend these countries and organizations.

TASS: Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, when attending the World Economic Forum, said that he is planning to arrange a telephone conversation between Ukrainian President Zelenskyy and Chinese leader. What is Chinas comment on this plan?

Mao Ning: China and Ukraine have kept smooth communication channels and exchanged views on issues of mutual concerns. On the specifics you mentioned, I have no information to offer.

AFP: Has China helped mediate between Pakistan and Iran to cool down the tension?

Mao Ning: We noticed that Pakistan and Iran communicated with each other. We support the two sides in resolving differences and disagreements through dialogue and consultation. If needed, China is willing to play a constructive role.
Children stand beside water barrels in Kabul, capital of Afghanistan, Jan. 11, 2024. (Photo by Saifurahman Safi/Xinhua)

War-torn Afghanistan has suffered years of drought. Local residents say the drought was also felt in the capital Kabul in the ongoing harsh winter, with rare rain or snowfall.

by Abdul Haleem

KABUL, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- Standing in queue for hours to fetch water from the well of a local mosque on the western edge of Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, Rajab Rezai whispered with anger that taking potable water requires hours to wait.

"There are 10 people in my family and I have to fill eight tins with water for use of drinking, cooking and taking ablution from this morning to next morning," Rezai told Xinhua.

Living in the Reg Ration area in Police District 13 of Kabul, the infuriated man muttered that taking water to wash clothes and take a bath is more difficult and requires more time to obtain.

"To fetch water for washing clothes or taking showers, we have to stay in line at midnight and wait until noon to have our turn," said aging Rezai.

Running a vegetable shop to support his family, the head of the 10-member family grumbled that he could not send his children to school, moaning the continued drought had added to his suffering.

A man fills barrels with water in Kabul, capital of Afghanistan, Jan. 11, 2024. (Photo by Saifurahman Safi/Xinhua)

More than 3,500 families obtain water for daily usage from the wells of four mosques, Rezai said, adding that 800 families fetch water from only one well in the Reg Ration area.

"Almost all the wells have been dried, and the flowing water in the water tap of houses, which had been running 24 hours a day in the past years, was also dried and the only source to fetch water nowadays is the wells of the mosques," another Kabul resident Karbalai said.

War-torn Afghanistan has been suffering from years of drought. Kabul, according to Afghans, also faces serious drought in the ongoing harsh winter, with rare rain or snowfall.

The water supply networks including the state-run one, according to Kabul residents, have failed to supply water to the houses of the residents regularly.

A man fills barrels with water in Kabul, capital of Afghanistan, Jan. 11, 2024. (Photo by Saifurahman Safi/Xinhua)

Echoing similar sentiment, Karbalai complained that the level of underground water has receded and almost all the wells have dried due to continued drought over the past few years.

"This is the problem -- all the wells have dried, the water tanks are empty and we have no water in our water tap," Karbalai said.

Nevertheless, Karbali said that the situation of water wells was relatively better last year compared to the current year.

Confirming the drought and the recession of water level in Afghanistan, spokesman for the Ministry of Energy and Water Qari Matihullah Abid said that many countries have been facing water shortages.

Afghans fetch water in Kabul, capital of Afghanistan, Jan. 11, 2024. (Photo by Saifurahman Safi/Xinhua)



Putting the problem on climate change, the Afghan official said satellite photos had indicated a 33-percent water recession in 2023, causing aggravated drought in the region.

"As you know, Kabul is a densely populated city and we can say that all parts of Kabul are facing water shortages, particularly in Police Districts 11 and 13, where people are experiencing extreme water scarcity as underground water has badly receded," Abdi told Xinhua in his office.

Without disclosing the affected population, the official noted that the administration has been working to overcome the challenge.

"We can say that residents in major parts of Kabul city have hardly any access to clean water," Abid said.

"People may face internal migration if the drought continues. Before such a problem happens, it would be better if international aid agencies come and assist in implementing such humanitarian projects to overcome water shortages in Kabul city," the official added. 
SEOUL, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) conducted a test of its underwater nuclear weapon system in the eastern waters, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported Friday.

A spokesman for the Ministry of National Defence of the DPRK announced the move in a press statement carried by the KCNA.

The test was conducted in response to the joint maritime exercises by the United States, Japan and South Korea earlier this week, the statement said. 
ACCRA, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- Ghana has seen a continued decline in childhood mortality rates, according to the latest government report.

The Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) released the 2022 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey Thursday, providing the latest survey results across the country. The report noted that the country's under-5 mortality rate has declined 33.3 percent from 2014 to 2022, while the infant mortality rate, covering children who die before their first birthdays, declined 31.7 percent during the same period.

Samuel Annim, the government statistician at the GSS, said the report indicates that the government's health sector programs are yielding positive results in many respects.

While the national figures generally look encouraging, this does not cut across all regions because some regions have worrying results, which is a wake-up call for the government to focus on those regions as well, Annim noted.

Sharmila Lareef, multi-country assignment officer for Ghana, Liberia, Gambia and Sierra Leone at the World Health Organization (WHO), commended the GSS for producing the report, saying that it will contribute to the international database, and the WHO will utilize all the relevant reports to provide better service in Ghana. 
Five-time All-Ireland winning hurler Kyle Hayes is due to be sentenced by Judge Dermot Sheehan this Friday at Limerick Circuit Court.

The All-Star hurler was found guilty of two violent disorder charges but not guilty of assault causing harm by a jury of seven men and five women on December 1, 2023.

On the ninth day of the trial at Limerick Circuit Court, Mr Hayes, aged 25, of Ballyoshea, Kildimo was found guilty of engaging in violent disorder in the Icon nightclub in Limerick city centre and of engaging in violent disorder at Upper Denmark Street on October 28, 2019.

The jury found Mr Hayes not guilty of assault causing harm to Cillian McCarthy, aged 24, at Upper Denmark Street, Limerick city on the same date. All the verdicts were unanimous.

Mr Hayes was represented by Brian McInerney SC, appearing with Joseph McMahon BL, instructed by solicitor Sarah Ryan. The case was prosecuted by John O'Sullivan BL, instructed by State Solicitor Padraig Mawe

After the jury gave their verdicts, Judge Dermot Sheehan said the violent disorder charges are serious matters.

"He was involved in a chaotic scene in Upper Denmark Street and engaging in violent disorder in a crowded place (Icon nightclub) is aggravating. It is an extremely dangerous thing to do. Matters of this nature are not nomally dealt with in a non-custodial sentence," said Judge Sheehan.

Mr McInerney, barrister for Mr Hayes, asked for a sentencing date in the future.

"He has been on bail for the last four years. There has never been a breach of bail. He has been outside the jurisdiction. He is not a flight risk. He is deeply rooted in the community. He has a sporting involvement at a very high level, that may well now be at the end," said Mr McInerney, who added that he would like time to collate testimonials from witnesses that may wish to give them.

Judge Sheehan said the fact he was granting bail is not an indication of how he is going to dispose of the matter.

The case of the DPP v Kyle Hayes is listed for sentence at 10.30am this Friday, January 19 before his honour Judge Dermot Sheehan at Limerick Circuit Criminal Court.
SANAA, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- Yemen's Houthi group said early Friday morning that it attacked another ship in the Red Sea, amid heightened tensions in the region. 
The current Palestinian-Israeli conflict may continue throughout this year, but the overall situation remains controllable, said a Chinese expert.

Li Shaoxian, director of the China-Arab Research Institute at Ningxia University, made the remarks at a seminar on major global events held recently in Beijing.

Since its outbreak on Oct. 7, 2023, the conflict has lasted for over three months with unprecedented intensity, and will be prolonged considering the current situation, Li said.

He said the international community has reached consensus on the Palestinian issue -- that is the "two-state solution", adding that establishing a Palestinian state is essential for peace and stability in the Middle East.

The key lies with Israel, which currently shows almost no likelihood of agreeing to the "two-state solution" or the establishment of a Palestinian state, Li said.

Despite the rising risk of the conflict spreading beyond Gaza, the overall situation remains controllable, Li said.

He also warned that peace cannot be achieved without Israels participation in talks.

The seminar, held by Xinhuanet annually, gathered together renowned scholars and experts of international relations to engage in vibrant and in-depth discussions on global issues.
ZAGREB, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- As the second largest economy in the world and due to its contribution to the world economic growth, China is leading the growth of the world economy, Ljubo Jurcic, former Croatian minister of economy and now professor at the Faculty of Economics at the University of Zagreb, said in an interview with Xinhua on Friday.

"The share of the Chinese economy in the world in the future will grow," he said, noting that China's economy is expected to contribute more than 30 percent to world economic growth in 2023, making it the main engine for world economic growth.

China's gross domestic product (GDP) grew 5.2 percent year on year to a new high of 126.06 trillion yuan (about 17.7 trillion U.S. dollars) last year, according to China's National Bureau of Statistics on Wednesday. The growth rate is higher than the government's annual target of around 5 percent and exceeds the 3 percent increase in 2022.

In the eyes of the Croatian economist, this shows that the Chinese economy is recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic and China has now entered a period of stable economic growth.

"China has entered the period of stable growth of 5 to 6 percent," which is much higher than major developed Western economies, he said.

Jurcic hailed China's economic growth as in 2000 China's GDP per capita was no more than 1,000 U.S. dollars and now it is nearly 13,000 U.S. dollars. "No country has experienced such rapid growth in human history, and there is even more space for growth in the future," he added. 
Right now we take a moment to catch up on ALLEGED local misdeeds, court cases, and police action.



And we saved the most interesting debate for last . . .

In a story about signage one of the VERY BEST TKC READERS reminds us:

In Missouri, for places that want to dissuade locals from entering with a gun, OFFICIAL SIGNAGE IS REQUIRED. It's actually part of the legislation.

Sadly, it probably doesn't help much to thwart the kind of people who would shoot up a mall but still something to consider.



Check TKC news gathering . . .

KC woman dies in crash after speeding away from an attempted traffic stop Sunday, police say Police said the vehicle Te'Onna Davis-Cannon was driving fled from police, who did not pursue

2 Kansas City-area men sentenced to federal prison for distributing methamphetamine A federal judge sentenced two men to federal prison Thursday for distributing methamphetamine.

Kansas Supreme Court affirms death penalty conviction in quadruple murder case - Kansas Reflector The state's highest court on Friday rejected a man convicted of capital murder's appeal against the death penalty.

Missouri courts ask for $3.7 million to help clear marijuana charges from criminal records At the same time when courts are required to dig through decades of non-digitized records for expungements, they are also involved in a large redacting project to make court records accessible online. Missouri courts have granted more than 103,000 expungements so far.

Former KC bank exec pleads guilty to evading anti-money laundering rules - Kansas City Business Journal Longtime Kansas City banker Peter McVey faces up to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty in federal court to violating anti-money laundering regulations.

Family-owned business damaged after Crown Center shooting A shooting at Crown Center on Wednesday night left six people injured and some businesses inside are dealing with the damage left behind.

'People who violate laws also don't read signs,' attorney says of Crown Center weapon policies Following a mass shooting at Crown Center on Wednesday, KSHB 41 reached out to hear about the building's staffing for security.

Developing . . .
At the outset of 2024, Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas has provided a glimpse at his management strategy for the remainder of his term.

To wit . . .

MAYOR Q HAS SEEMINGLY CHECKED OUT OF KANSAS CITY & NOW MERELY SENDS SOCIAL MEDIA NOTES AMID D.C. MEETINGS!!!



At least Nero had the decency to play his subjects a few songs whilst Rome burned.



A few things to consider this week . . .



- Insiders warned our blog community FIRST that Northeast is in a desperate fight so that they don't become a homeless "low-barrier" dumping ground.

- A mass shooting at Crown Center reminds us that the so-called "downtown renaissance" is harder to maintain then we ever imagined and the mayor's absence after this shocking spate of gunfire sends a message that his priorities that are focused on his political future and not this town's most pressing crisis.

- Finally, the stadium deal is CLEARLY falling apart. Support from the mayor for either more deets from the team that justify the demands of the Executive OR peeling off veto override votes would be helpful. Again, instead the mayor is chatting with the Veep.



Don't worry, it gets worse . . .

Today Mayor Q plays talking head on MSNBC with other talk show appearances scheduled as Kansas City stands on the precipice of several major changes . . . None of them for the better.



Take a peek www.TonysKansasCity.com embed . . .

Developing . . .


And here's our first not-so-subtle hint that progressives are serious about making this ballot issue the centerpiece of the 2024 campaign.

Check the receipts . . .



Among the largest contributions include $100,000 from Abortion Action Missouri, $100,000 from the ACLU of Missouri, $75,000 from Planned Parenthood Great Plains and $30,000 from Access Missouri, according to reports filed to the Missouri Ethics Commission.



But the largest donation so far was a $500,000 check from the Fairness Project, a 501c4 nonprofit that does not have to disclose its donors. The organization helps bankroll ballot measures across the country, including Missouris successful 2020 Medicaid expansion initiative petition.

Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com link . . .

Missouri abortion ballot effort raises more than $1 million in first day of launch * Missouri Independent While the campaign has support from Missouri's major abortion advocacy groups, some activists say the coalition did not go far enough.

Missouri abortion-rights campaign backs proposal to enshrine access but allow late-term restrictions Supporters include the ACLU of Missouri, local Planned Parenthood affiliates and Abortion Action Missouri.

Developing . . .
Greece and Albania have been collaborating based on a bilateral contractual framework in tourism since 1999, while they also recently signed a Joint Action Plan in tourism for the period 2023-2026

Greek Tourism Minister Olga Kefalogianni held consecutive meetings with the ambassadors of Switzerland and Albania on Friday, ANA reports.

During her meeting with Swiss Ambassador Stefan Estermann, who was escorted by Cultural Attache M. Papadopoulou, they discussed the planning of joint actions between the two countries, and jointly promoting sustainable tourism, especially in the Region of the Peloponnese. They also discussed technology exchanges in tourism training courses, and the introduction of innovative practices in the sector, particularly as they relate to the ministry-affiliated schools of tourism training.

With the Albanian Ambassador in Athens, Luela Hajdaraga, Kefalogianni discussed the prospects of bilateral and multilateral collaboration. The ambassador referred to the significant rise in tourism in Albania during the last five years and expressed Albania's wish to draw on Greece's experience in the sector, and to collaborate on sustainability, alternative forms of tourism, and joint tourism packages for remote markets.

As a start of developing bilateral contacts, the minister and the ambassador agreed to a work meeting between representatives from the tourism ministries of both countries that will prepare the ground for Kefalogianni's visit to Tirana, and for private sector representatives to also meet.

Hajdaraga also extended an invitation to the Albanian minister of tourism and environment for Kefalogianni to attend the 70th Meeting of the UN World Tourism Organization (WTO) Commission for Europe, which is meeting in Tirana on April 7-9.

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

Photo Source: Wikimedia Commons License: CC-BY-SA Copyright: Marmelad
Chinese Ambassador to the United States Xie Feng addresses a reception commemorating the 45th anniversary of the establishment of China-U.S. diplomatic relations and celebrating the 2024 Chinese New Year in Washington, D.C., the United States, Jan. 16, 2024. (Xinhua/Liu Jie)

WASHINGTON, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- The United States and China should shoulder their responsibility for history, the people and the world and usher in a brighter future for their relations, China's top envoy in Washington has said.

Chinese Ambassador to the United States Xie Feng made the remarks at a reception in the Chinese embassy Tuesday commemorating the 45th anniversary of the establishment of China-U.S. diplomatic relations and celebrating the 2024 Chinese New Year.

Over the past 45 years, the China-U.S. relationship has kept forging ahead amid twists and turns, benefiting both countries and the world, Xie said.

He said history has proven that "turning our back on each other" is not an option for the two countries, that it is unrealistic for one side to try to remodel the other, and that conflict and confrontation have unbearable consequences for both sides.

It is important to act with a sense of responsibility for history, draw inspirations from the past, and keep to the right direction of China-U.S. relations, the diplomat said.

The top priority now is to honor the important common understandings reached between the two heads of state, turn the San Francisco vision into reality, and promote the sound, stable and sustainable development of China-U.S. relations with concrete actions, he continued.

The two sides also need to learn lessons from history, and stay vigilant against a new "Cold War", the resurgence of McCarthyism and the repetition of the Oppenheimer-era tragedy, Xie said.

It is important to act with a sense of responsibility for the people, and do more things that will bring them tangible benefits, Xie said, calling on the two sides to further remove obstacles to people-to-people exchanges in flights, visa policy and border entry.

It is also important to act with a sense of responsibility for the world, and provide more stability and certainty, the diplomat said, stressing the need for strengthening communication and coordination on hotspots like the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and the Ukraine crisis as well as global challenges such as climate change and artificial intelligence.

At the reception, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel Kritenbrink conveyed a message from Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who said that since 1979, the U.S.-China relationship has become one of the most consequential in the world.

Last year, the two sides made significant efforts to restore high-level diplomacy and open channels of communication, to reduce risk of miscalculation and misperception, and to make progress on tangible issues that matter to our peoples as well as to people around the world, Blinken said in the message.

In his remarks, Kritenbrink said that the U.S. side is ready to work together with China to renew the commitment to responsibly manage the U.S.-China relationship, sustain high-level interactions, follow through on the implementation and build on the foundation laid at the summit between the two leaders in Woodside, California, for the benefit of our two peoples and people around the world.

In their respective speeches, Stephen Orlins, president of the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations, and Craig Allen, president of the U.S.-China Business Council, reviewed the process of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

Former U.S. ambassadors to China, including J. Stapleton Roy, Joseph Prueher, Clark T. Randt, Jon Huntsman, Gary Locke, Max Baucus and Terry Branstad, sent messages to the event and extended their warm congratulations on the 45th anniversary of China-U.S. diplomatic relations and their New Year greetings to the Chinese people.

U.S. Director of National Drug Control Policy Rahul Gupta, Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade Marisa Lago, White House National Security Council Senior Director for China Affairs Sarah Beran, former Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez, former United States Trade Representative Carla Hills were also among a total of some 700 Chinese and American guests attending the reception. 

Stephen Orlins, president of the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations, addresses a reception commemorating the 45th anniversary of the establishment of China-U.S. diplomatic relations and celebrating the 2024 Chinese New Year in Washington, D.C., the United States, Jan. 16, 2024. (Xinhua/Liu Jie)

Artists perform at a reception commemorating the 45th anniversary of the establishment of China-U.S. diplomatic relations and celebrating the 2024 Chinese New Year in Washington, D.C., the United States, Jan. 16, 2024. (Xinhua/Liu Jie)

Craig Allen, president of the U.S.-China Business Council, addresses a reception commemorating the 45th anniversary of the establishment of China-U.S. diplomatic relations and celebrating the 2024 Chinese New Year in Washington, D.C., the United States, Jan. 16, 2024. (Xinhua/Liu Jie)

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel Kritenbrink conveys a message from Secretary of State Antony Blinken and addresses a reception commemorating the 45th anniversary of the establishment of China-U.S. diplomatic relations and celebrating the 2024 Chinese New Year in Washington, D.C., the United States, Jan. 16, 2024. (Xinhua/Liu Jie)
RCountless travelers head to Europe each year and many of them place castles high up in their priority list of tourist sites to visits. Most, if not all, European countries have their fare share of castles to boast, including Czech Republic.

If castle hopping in Czech Republic is on your to-do list during your trip, here are five that you definitely should check out.

Bouzouv Castle

If you feel like you've seen Bouzouv Castle before despite not having visited it in person, it's probably because you've already seen in it in a movie or two. Yes, you read right. The castle is a favorite pick for filming locations in the movie industry.

Located near Olomouc, this castle actually never experienced ruin despite going under extensive reconstruction in the 19th century. Believe it or not, the Bouzouv Castle is fully furnished and properly equipped as well, including equipment that fits the modern times.

Those interested to visit the Bouzouv Castle can purchase tickets here.

Grabstejn Castle

If you find yourself in the northern part of Czech Republic, add Grabstejn Castle to your itinerary. Built sometime in the mid-13th century, the castle is located in the Liberec Region.

After nearly becoming a ruin during World War II, repairs and restoration work did not commence until 1989. The castle was reopened to the public in 1993. Travelers visiting the castle should not forget to check out the Chapel of St. Barbara, which is located within its premises.

Those interested to visit the Grabstejn Castle can purchase tickets here.

Related Article: What Secrets Lie Beneath the Castles of Germany?

Karlstejn Castle

Established by Czech King and Roman Emperor Charles IV, the Karlstejn Castle was completed in 1365. It was initially meant to store royal treasures, including the crown jewels of the monarchy.

Copies of these crown jewels can be found in the castle on exhibit today. The rooms inside are also beautifully furnished. But one of the must-visit parts of the castle is the Chapel of the Holy Cross, which is located in the highest High Tower of the castle.

Those interested to visit the Karlstejn Castle can purchase tickets here.

Loket Castle

Located in West Bohemia, Loket Castle was built using stone and following a Romanesque-Gothic Style. Among the sections of the castle that can be visited is Margrave's House, which is where you can find exhibits, collections, and the famous meteorite that allegedly fell into the castle courtyard in 1422.

You can also visit the prison area of the castle, where you can also get a glimpse of how torture was like during the medieval times. Depicted by life-sized figurines, you can learn more about the period of time the castle served as a prison.

Those interested to visit Loket Castle can purchase tickets here.

Prague Castle

Regarded as the world's largest ancient castle, the Prague Castle was built in the 9th century and currently serves as the residence of Czech Republic's president.

One of the most visited tourist attractions in the country, Prague Castle is home to St. George's Basilica and St. Vitus Cathedral. It is also home to the Old Royal Palace, which is the original residence building in the complex.

Those interested to visit Prague Castle can purchase tickets here.

Read Also: Haunted European Castles That Visitors Can Sleep In
Metro Manila has been ranked as the world's most congested city, according to TomTom, a navigation and location-based services company. Their latest report, released on Jan. 17, shows that people in Manila experience severe traffic delays.

Metro Manila Named World's Most Congested City

TomTom's research indicates that in Metro Manila, it takes about 25 minutes and 30 seconds to travel just 10 kilometers. This is a slight increase from the previous year's time of 24 minutes and 50 seconds. The Manila Times reported that the city's congestion level is 52%, meaning that travel times are more than half longer than they would be in free-flowing conditions. Due to heavy traffic, drivers in Manila lose 117 hours each year, especially during rush hours, moving at an average speed of 19 kilometers per hour.

Following Metro Manila in the congestion rankings are Lima, Peru, and Bengaluru, India. Other cities in the top 10 list include Sapporo and Nagoya in Japan, Taichung and Kaohsiung in Taiwan, and Mumbai and Pune in India. London, Dublin, and Toronto are among the top 10 congested city centers, with Manila ranking ninth in this category.

TomTom's Traffic Index covers 387 cities across 55 countries and six continents. The data for this index comes from various sources and represents a total distance of 551 billion kilometers. The index aims to show the average travel times in cities and how traffic has changed throughout the year.

Related Article: World's 10 Worst Airport Terminals: Manila Airport No Longer Named Worst Airport, Replaced By Islamabad Airport

According to TomTom, travel times in different cities are affected by static factors like road infrastructure and dynamic factors like traffic congestion, as per the news report. Their traffic data includes detailed patterns of speeds, accelerations, travel times, and distances driven, helping to understand the extent of congestion in city centers.

Metro Manila to Benefit from MPTC's New Traffic Solution Plans

Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. (MPTC) plans to work with local governments to solve traffic issues in Metro Manila and other areas. MPT Mobility, part of MPTC, is talking with several local government units (LGUs) to use their Smart Urban Mobility (SUM) Solutions. This plan aims to make travel easier in busy cities.

Leo Gonzales, from MPT Mobility, said they want to help LGUs by offering services that match each city's needs. The time for these contracts will change based on what each LGU needs. MPT Mobility is looking to work with at least three or four urban centers to start.

SUM Solutions offers many services to control traffic. Philstar Global says these include watching and managing traffic, a smart center to handle city traffic, smart parking, managing vehicles, and special pricing during busy hours. They can also help when accidents cause traffic jams.

But, Gonzales mentioned that LGUs must be willing to work with them and make new rules to support these solutions. Before this, MPTC, the parent company of MPT Mobility, proposed a P2.5 billion plan for using these traffic solutions. They created these services after studying traffic in many cities.

MPT Mobility worked with Singapore Technologies Engineering Ltd., a company known for its smart city projects, to develop SUM Solutions. They are hopeful about working with LGUs in Metro Manila and other places, encouraged by their previous success with the Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway, a project done with a local government partnership.

Read Also: The Philippines Wins Tourism Destination of the Year at Prestigious Golden Dragon Awards
BEIJING, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- China exported a total of 4.91 million vehicles in 2023, expected to become the world's largest auto exporter, an official with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said Friday.

The exports of automobiles have reached a new level, and China-made new energy vehicles have provided diverse choices for global consumers, Vice Minister Xin Guobin said at a press conference.

China's auto exports grew by 57.9 percent year on year last year, with new energy vehicles exports surging 77.6 percent year on year to 1.2 million units, said Xin. 
KAMPALA, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- The 19th Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) opened here on Friday as the 120-member state movement seeks more influence on global affairs.

At the opening ceremony, Uganda officially took over the chairmanship of the NAM from Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan's Minister of Foreign Affairs Jeyhun Bayramov, who opened the summit on behalf of the Azerbaijan president and outgoing chair of the NAM, said the meeting takes place at a time when the international system is facing many challenges. He called for continued unity among the member countries to address these challenges.

Yoweri Museveni, Ugandan president and incoming chair of the NAM, said the ongoing unilateralism in the global governance system is not acceptable.

Museveni said that no system of governance should be imposed on others, and called for unity among NAM member states as they seek to influence global affairs, especially at the United Nations Summit of the Future scheduled for September this year.

The Ugandan foreign affairs ministry said earlier that 28 heads of state and government have confirmed their attendance at the two-day summit. The summit, held under the theme "Deepening Cooperation for Shared Global Affluence," was preceded by the ministerial meeting and the senior officials meeting.

Since its establishment in 1961, the NAM has been guided by the Bandung Principles, which include respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all nations, recognition of the equality of all races and nations, large and small, and abstention from intervention or interference in the internal affairs of other countries. 
The Poor Man Tyre Shop in Valencia and a nearby apartment building were destroyed by fire 
Gulls swap natural for urban habitats, machine-learning study finds

UAF Photo By Todd Paris

A gull makes off with a scrap from someone's lunch in a parking lot on the University of Alaska Fairbanks campus.

A recent study published in Ecological Informatics by a team of University of Alaska Fairbanks researchers has used artificial intelligence to further illuminate a habitat swap among short-billed gulls.

Typically gulls live along coastlines and near water sources such as rivers. They feed on bugs and other small mammals, fish or birds.

The team found that from May-August, short-billed gulls occupied areas that have typically been the haunts of scavenging ravens. Those include supermarket and fast-food restaurant parking lots and other human-made structures, such as industrial gravel pads and garbage dumpsters.

The study is the first of its kind to compile a three-year dataset using a citizen science-based, opportunistic research method to include a large sample of gulls and other sub-Arctic birds in urban Alaska. The study provides a current snapshot of the habitat shift to an urban landscape.

UAF professor Falk Huettmann, first author on the paper, and his team used artificial intelligence modeling that was given predictors  environmental variables for specific locations  to extrapolate information about the gull occurrences. A similar, earlier study analyzed the distribution of the great gray owl.

In this study, researchers used U.S. census data as well as urban municipality data, such as distances to roads, restaurants, waterways and waste transfer stations.

Using socioeconomic datasets like the U.S. census is a real game-changer, said Moriz Steiner, a graduate student in Huettmanns lab. It allows us to mirror the real-world environment and simulate a situation as true to nature as possible by including them as variables in the models.

The findings indicate that the gulls transition from natural habitats to a more urban landscape is spurred by the availability of human food, as well as industrial changes.

They are exploiting the waste opportunity left behind by humans, said Huettmann, who is associated with UAFs Institute of Arctic Biology.

Short-billed gulls, known as mew gulls until 2021, are omnivorous and highly adaptable. While gulls can find more food in garbage dumps and gravel pits, the food is often bad for longevity and can even cause death. Easily available food from avian dumpster diving, especially at fast-food restaurants, can prove lethal to the birds due to high quantities of salt, fat, sugar, grease and contaminants.

Gulls are also good indicators of disease in an ecosystem.

The team found an increase of disease hosts where the gulls congregate, sometimes up to 200 birds at each locale, in summer. Gulls spread infectious diseases such as avian influenza and salmonella, which can be transferred to humans. According to an unrelated Bione.org study , the first recorded outbreak of gull-linked salmonella occurred in 1959 and was recorded in North America in Ketchikan.

Gulls are known as the leading vectors of diseases. They suffer overwhelmingly from bird influenza. What we demonstrate in the maps are essentially disease reservoirs which happen to coincide with human development, said Huettmann, who also has an appointment in the UAF College of Natural Science and Mathematics.

For Huettmann, these studies are just further indication that what is referred to as wildlife is changing.

This kind of information is providing a more holistic picture of how man-made influence on the environment is changing what we otherwise know as natural. Using machine learning will help us, hopefully, to advocate for improved wildlife conservation, Huettmann said.

117-24
Udaku Special

AJIRA ZA UHAKIKA NJE NJE, BONYEZA HAPA





Today, we are delighted to bring you a comprehensive guide on how to check the NECTA Matokeo ya Kidato cha Nne 2023/2024, which have been officially released. The National Examinations Council of Tanzania (NECTA) has announced the eagerly awaited Matokeo Form Four 2023, a significant achievement for students across the nation. The results for Form IV 2023/2024, also known as the 4m 4 Form 4 Form IV 2023/2024, are now available for students to view.

As the academic year comes to an end, students in Tanzania are anxiously waiting for their NECTA CSEE results for the year 2023/2024. The National Examinations Council of Tanzania (NECTA) is responsible for conducting exams for primary and secondary school students. If you are a form four student, you might have already taken the exams and waiting for your results. In this blog post, we will guide you on how to check your NECTA CSEE results 2023/2024. You can also download a PDF version of Matokeo Ya Kidato Cha Nne 2023 NECTA Form Four Examination Results 2023/2024.

How to Check Your CSEE Results 2023/2024

Matokeo kidato cha nne 2023/2024

To check the Matokeo Kidato Cha Nne 2023/2024 online, you can visit the website of the National Examinations Council of Tanzania (NECTA). Simply navigate to the CSEE Results section and select the appropriate year click on the Submit button to view your NECTA CSEE examination results. By following these steps, you can easily access your NECTA CSEE results on-screen description. Also, you can check the CSEE necta results 2023/2024 using direct links provided below.

Matokeo kidato cha nne 2023/2024 and QT Results 2023/2024

Form four Results (NECTA CSEE results)

QT Results

CSEE Results 2023-2024 Matokeo ya Kidato cha Nne 2023 A Step-by-Step Guide

There are several ways to check your NECTA CSEE Results for the year 2023/2024. Here are two methods you can use:

Method 1: Checking Results Online

Visit the official NECTA website at www.necta.go.tz

Look for the Result or Matokeo section in the main menu and click on CSEE Results.

Select the year of the exam as 2023.

Find your school in the provided list and locate your name.

Click on your name to view your results.

Save and print your results for future reference.

Method 2: Checking Results via SMS

Open the messaging app on your mobile phone.

Dial *152*00# to access the SMS service.

Select number 8 for Elimu (Education).

Choose number 2 for NECTA.

Select service type 1 for Matokeo (Results).

Enter your index number and examination year in the format NECTA 123456 2023.

Select the payment type (the cost per SMS is Tshs 100).

Wait for a reply from NECTA, which will include your exam results.

By following the steps outlined above, you can easily check your CSEE results (Matokeo kidato cha nne 2023/2024) from the National Examinations Council of Tanzania (NECTA) website. Be sure to keep a copy of the results for your records.

Can You Get NECTA Form Four Results 2023/2024 Via SMS/USSD Code?

Yes, it is possible to receive the NECTA Form Four Results 2023/2024 via SMS, and it is considered the best way to check your CSEE Results easily, faster and smoothly. By dialing the special USSD code provided by NECTA, *152*00#, and following the on-screen description, you can access your results. Please note that standard SMS charges may apply. This option offers a quick and convenient way to access your results.

ALSO READ:
After Ukraine shot down a Russian A-50 radar long-range warning aircraft over the waters of the Sea of Azov, Russia has deployed another such plane, this time farther away from the borders of Ukraine.

Thats according to the UK Defense Ministry, referring to intelligence data, Ukrinform reports.

"On January 17, 2024, the Russian Air Force appears to have begun operating another A-50 MAINSTAY, but this time over land within Russian territory near the Krasnodar region, farther eastwards from Ukraine. Tis activity is highly likely indicative of a reduced risk appetite for the airframes and an attempt to preserve remaining A-50 MAINSTAY at a loss to its overall effectiveness over Ukraine," the ministry wrote.

It is noted that despite no official position from Russia on the loss of the MAINSTAY, such a decision by Moscow likely demonstrates a tacit Russian acknowledgement of a successful targeting operation by the Ukrainians against a high value air asset.

"If the loss of the MAINSTAY was an accident, then such a decision is unlikely to have been required," the report notes.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, Commander-in-Chief of Ukraines Armed Forces Valerii Zaluzhnyi had confirmed reports that the Ukrainian Air Force had downed a Russian A-50 radar long-range warning aircraft and seeriouslyu damaged an IL-22M airborne command plane over the Sea of Azov.

On January 14, first reports emerged across Telegram channels claiming the Ukrainian Air Force had downed the said aircraft.

Later, photos were posted on social media, purportedly showing the IL-22M plane, grounded at an unidentified airfields tarmac, with its tail part badly damaged by shrapnel caused by the strike.
The blocking of truck traffic in front of the Vicovu de Sus checkpoint, opposite the Ukrainian checkpoint of Krasnoilsk, has been stopped.

This was reported to Ukrinform by the spokesperson for the State Border Guard Service, Andriy Demchenko.

Currently, all categories of vehicles are allowed to cross the border as usual.

Demchenko reminded that only empty trucks can cross the state border of Ukraine with Romania at the Krasnoilsk checkpoint.

As Ukrinform reported, on January 13 and 14, farmers blocked the movement of Ukrainian trucks in Romania. As of the morning, three directions were blocked. Since January 15, it has been the Porubne checkpoint, then the Krasnoilsk checkpoint, and since yesterday the third direction - the Diakove checkpoint.
President Volodymyr Zelensky had a telephone conversation with Prime Minister of Albania Edi Rama to discuss the continuation of defense cooperation and the expansion of training programs for Ukrainian servicemen.

Zelensky wrote about this in Telegram, Ukrinform reports.

"I spoke on the phone with Prime Minister of Albania Edi Rama. I am grateful to him for Albania's clear position on the Russian invasion of Ukraine, support for our country in the UN Security Council, as well as defense and political support. The representative of Albania took part in the 4th meeting of the advisors in Davos. Today, our common task is to prepare for the Global Peace Summit. We count on active support from our partners, particularly Albania," the President noted.

According to him, the parties also discussed ways to deepen the Ukraine-Balkans dialogue and continue defense cooperation.

Read also: Zelensky announces results of United24 platform for 2023

"I emphasized the importance of continuing and expanding programs for the training of Ukrainian servicemen with the participation of Albania," the Head of State added.

As reported, President Volodymyr Zelensky had a phone conversation with French President Emmanuel Macron to discuss Ukraine's defense needs and a bilateral agreement on security guarantees.
The Presidium of the Baltic Assembly, which brings together parliamentarians from Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, has called for support to Ukraine until its complete victory.

This is said in a joint statement published on the website of Latvias Saeima, Ukrinform reports.

We call for immediate efforts in Europe to ensure the complete victory of Ukraine following the Peace Formula of the country, said anis Vucans, Vice-President of the Baltic Assembly and Head of the Latvian Delegation.

In the statement, members of the parliaments of Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania highlight the pivotal role of military, financial and political support for Ukraine to allow the country to fully reclaim its territories. They note that this support must be continued, sufficient, timely and future-planned.

The Presidium of the Baltic Assembly encourages parliamentarians of other states not to underestimate the long-term consequences for the stability of Europe, the international system and all nations that value their freedom if assistance to Ukraine is not provided at a level compatible with the seriousness of the situation.

The parliamentarians reiterate the clear support of the Baltic States for European and Euro-Atlantic integration of Ukraine.

They also appeal to the international community to intensify their efforts in implementing the policy of sanctions against Russia and in searching for legal ways to use the frozen Russian assets for the reconstruction of Ukraine.

The parliamentarians also remind that the mistakes made a decade ago when Russia grossly violated international law and occupied Crimea created a sense of impunity in the aggressor that resulted in a full-scale war in Ukraine, causing enormous human suffering and destruction for almost two years.

The Baltic Assembly is an interparliamentary cooperation organisation of Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania established on 8 November 1991. Each national parliament of the Baltic States is represented in the Baltic Assembly by 12 to 16 members of parliament.

As reported by Ukrinform, the Defense Ministers of Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia signed an agreement to create a Baltic Defense Line to strengthen NATO's eastern border.

Photo: www.saeima.lv
EUR 14 million per year of Estonias budget funds have been earmarked for aid to Ukraine in addition to military aid and private sector assistance.

Thats according to the ERR agency, Ukrinform reports.

Most of the EUR 14 million batch is earmarked for development cooperation, while EUR 1 million is allocated to humanitarian aid, the report reads.

These funds come in addition to the previously approved military aid package, totaling 0.25 percent of Estonia's GDP.

"The RES (budget strategy document - ed.) provides for EUR 14 million [for Ukraine], and these funds will mainly be used by our implementing agency, the Estonian Center for International Development (ESTDEV)," said Mariin Ratnik, foreign minister deputy secretary general.

"In line with the expectations of the founding principle, we provided ESTDEV with EUR 12.8 million for use, plus in addition, we will use one million of this EUR 14 million total on humanitarian aid in Ukraine, and [the remaining] EUR 200,000 in support of Estonian businesses cooperating with Ukraine," Ratnik went on.

In addition to renewing principles of rebuilding Ukraine, also basically agreed on what could be the areas where Estonia could be successful with its actually rather small amount of money and best support Ukraine," Ratnik added.

Read also: Estonia nabs Russian professor on espionage charges

Of concrete sectors which will be in need of redevelopment, Ratnik referred to education reform, healthcare system development and digital, tech and cyber solutions, all areas which Estonia once required redevelopment, too.

Construction is also another area where Estonia and Estonian businesses can help, Ratnik said, citing the example of the Estonian-funded kindergarten in the Zhytomyr oblast.

As reported earlier, the World Bank said more than EUR 400 billion is required for Ukraine's post-war reconstruction.
Israeli troops are seen near the border with Gaza strip, in southern Israel, on Jan. 18, 2024. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that his country will maintain security control over the Gaza Strip after the ongoing conflict with Hamas ends. (Photo by Gil Cohen Magen/Xinhua)

JERUSALEM, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that his country will maintain security control over the Gaza Strip after the ongoing conflict with Hamas ends.

Israel will have "complete security control and control of whatever enters Gaza," Netanyahu told a press conference in Tel Aviv.

He said that over the past two days, Israeli forces killed "dozens" of militants in the Palestinian enclave and destroyed rocket launchers.

"The war continues on all fronts... until we achieve total victory," he said, adding that the recently revised 582-billion-shekel (about 155 billion U.S. dollars) wartime budget, which included an extra 55 billion shekels for defense, "enables the military to fulfill the goals of the war and achieve victory."

He said the war is likely to continue for "many months."

Israel has been continuing the devastating bombardments of Gaza despite international calls for a ceasefire. The assaults were launched on Oct. 7, 2023, following a Hamas attack that resulted in about 1,200 deaths in Israel. According to the Gaza-based Health Ministry on Thursday, the Palestinian death toll from the ongoing Israeli attacks on the strip has risen to 24,620. 

Israeli troops are seen near the border with Gaza strip, in southern Israel, on Jan. 18, 2024. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that his country will maintain security control over the Gaza Strip after the ongoing conflict with Hamas ends. (Photo by Gil Cohen Magen/Xinhua)

Israeli bulldozers are seen near the border with Gaza strip, in southern Israel, on Jan. 18, 2024. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that his country will maintain security control over the Gaza Strip after the ongoing conflict with Hamas ends. (Photo by Gil Cohen Magen/Xinhua)

An Israeli military helicopter hovers over the border of the Gaza Strip as seen from southern Israel, on Jan. 18, 2024. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that his country will maintain security control over the Gaza Strip after the ongoing conflict with Hamas ends. (Photo by Gil Cohen Magen/Xinhua)

Photo taken on Jan. 18, 2024 shows the damaged buildings in the Gaza Strip as seen from southern Israel. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that his country will maintain security control over the Gaza Strip after the ongoing conflict with Hamas ends. (Photo by Gil Cohen Magen/Xinhua)

Smoke rises from damaged buildings in the Gaza Strip as seen from southern Israel, on Jan. 18, 2024. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that his country will maintain security control over the Gaza Strip after the ongoing conflict with Hamas ends. (Photo by Gil Cohen Magen/Xinhua)

Smoke rises from damaged buildings in the Gaza Strip as seen from southern Israel, on Jan. 18, 2024. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that his country will maintain security control over the Gaza Strip after the ongoing conflict with Hamas ends. (Photo by Gil Cohen Magen/Xinhua)

Photo taken on Jan. 18, 2024 shows the damaged buildings in the Gaza Strip as seen from southern Israel. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that his country will maintain security control over the Gaza Strip after the ongoing conflict with Hamas ends. (Photo by Gil Cohen Magen/Xinhua)

Smoke rises from damaged buildings in the Gaza Strip as seen from southern Israel, on Jan. 18, 2024. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that his country will maintain security control over the Gaza Strip after the ongoing conflict with Hamas ends. (Photo by Gil Cohen Magen/Xinhua)

An Israeli soldier is seen near the border with Gaza strip, in southern Israel, on Jan. 18, 2024. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that his country will maintain security control over the Gaza Strip after the ongoing conflict with Hamas ends. (Photo by Gil Cohen Magen/Xinhua)

An Israeli soldier is seen near the border with Gaza strip, in southern Israel, on Jan. 18, 2024. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that his country will maintain security control over the Gaza Strip after the ongoing conflict with Hamas ends. (Photo by Gil Cohen Magen/Xinhua)

Israeli troops are seen near the border with Gaza strip, in southern Israel, on Jan. 18, 2024. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that his country will maintain security control over the Gaza Strip after the ongoing conflict with Hamas ends. (Photo by Gil Cohen Magen/Xinhua)

Israeli troops are seen near the border with Gaza strip, in southern Israel, on Jan. 18, 2024. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that his country will maintain security control over the Gaza Strip after the ongoing conflict with Hamas ends. (Photo by Gil Cohen Magen/Xinhua)

Israeli troops are seen near the border with Gaza strip, in southern Israel, on Jan. 18, 2024. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that his country will maintain security control over the Gaza Strip after the ongoing conflict with Hamas ends. (Photo by Gil Cohen Magen/Xinhua)

Israeli troops are seen near the border with Gaza strip, in southern Israel, on Jan. 18, 2024. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that his country will maintain security control over the Gaza Strip after the ongoing conflict with Hamas ends. (Photo by Gil Cohen Magen/Xinhua)

An Israeli soldier is seen near the border with Gaza strip, in southern Israel, on Jan. 18, 2024. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that his country will maintain security control over the Gaza Strip after the ongoing conflict with Hamas ends. (Photo by Gil Cohen Magen/Xinhua)

Israeli troops are seen near the border with Gaza strip, in southern Israel, on Jan. 18, 2024. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that his country will maintain security control over the Gaza Strip after the ongoing conflict with Hamas ends. (Photo by Gil Cohen Magen/Xinhua)

Israeli troops are seen near the border with Gaza strip, in southern Israel, on Jan. 18, 2024. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that his country will maintain security control over the Gaza Strip after the ongoing conflict with Hamas ends. (Photo by Gil Cohen Magen/Xinhua)
A woman takes part in a protest staged to condemn the U.S.-led strikes on Yemen and in solidarity with Palestinians, in Sanaa, Yemen, on Jan. 17, 2024.(Photo by Mohammed Mohammed/Xinhua)

SANAA, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- Despite the apparent calm on the surface of Sanaa, Yemen's capital under Houthi control, concerns and uncertainties loom larger as tensions in the Red Sea reach a new height.

Airstrikes by the United States and Britain on Houthi targets in northern Yemen in response to the Houthi attacks on Israel-related vessels in the Red Sea have not disrupted the daily routines of the city's over 3 million residents. They still go about their business, except for the frequent large Houthi-organized protests to support the Palestinians, which have become a common sight in the central part of the city.

But behind the facade of normalcy, anxieties and fears grip the largest city in Yemen.

As the sun sets over Sanaa, Jalal al-Husbani, an unemployed lawyer, walks along the dusty streets adorned with Palestinian flags and Houthi anti-Israel banners, looking for a place to buy some bread for his family.

Al-Husbani is keenly aware of the heightened tensions in the Red Sea. He worries that the clashes with the U.S.-led coalition and Washington's re-designation of the Houthi group as a "terrorist" organization on Wednesday may exacerbate the food shortage that has already long plagued the city.

He is concerned about the potential impact on the Houthi-held port of Hodeidah, which serves as a vital entry point for food, medicine, and humanitarian aid from UN organizations.

"We have been already suffering from the blockade for years," al-Husbani told Xinhua. "If the escalation in the Red Sea leads to the closure of the Bab al-Mandab Strait and the port of Hodeidah, the humanitarian disaster, which is already in Yemen, will get worse," he lamented.

"This could drive Yemen to hunger again," he added.

The Houthi attacks on the Red Sea have also drawn condemnation from the UN and other international organizations, who have warned of the attacks' dire consequences for the humanitarian situation in Yemen, which is already the world's worst.

Mutahar Ali, a retired army officer, echoed al-Husbani's concerns. He said the targeting of shipping lines in the Red Sea and the U.S. retaliatory strikes on Yemen increased the fears of the possibility of closing the port of Hodeidah as a result of the escalation.

"Sure, we have been suffering from not being paid our salaries for nearly eight years," the retired officer said, adding, "And we are afraid that this escalation in the Red Sea could lead to a major hunger."

However, not everyone in Sanaa shares the same view. Ali's son, Ali Mutahar, who now works at a tile factory, said he supported the Houthi attacks on the shipping line in the Red Sea as a way of pressuring Israel to end the attacks and siege on Gaza.

"I don't condone it (attacks on ships)," he clarified, "but I understand. Our brothers in Gaza, they're suffering. We have to stand with them."

Yet, even Mutahar's optimism is tinged with uncertainty. "The authorities, they say they're prepared... but can anyone truly be prepared for the repercussions of this escalation?" 
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become an increasingly influential force in higher education, offering promises of enhanced teaching and learning experiences. However, a recent paper by researchers from Charles Darwin University (CDU) and Babes-Bolyai University in Romania, published in Educatia 21, raises concerns about the potential threat AI poses to academic integrity. The study emphasizes the need for universities worldwide to resist corporate pressures and prioritize ethical considerations to safeguard the essence of higher education.

The Corporate Grip on Education

The paper sheds light on the dominant role corporations play in shaping educational landscapes. It argues that corporate interests often prioritize marketability and data control over genuine advancements in educational policies and pedagogical solutions. In this scenario, the authors urge universities to resist succumbing to external pressures and refocus on core academic values.

READ ALSO: Effects Of Artificial Intelligence On College Admissions: Does It Really Help Schools?

AI at the Core of Teaching and Learning

Dr. Stefan Popenici, an AI expert from CDU and lead author of the paper, underscores the potential of AI to enhance teaching and learning experiences. However, he emphasizes that for AI to be truly beneficial, its design and use must prioritize the needs of students and educators. The study suggests that universities should actively seek innovative ways to incorporate AI into teaching practices, aiming for a more human-centric and balanced approach to higher learning.

Focus Areas for Maintaining Academic Integrity

To counteract the potential threats posed by AI, the paper outlines key areas of focus for universities:

1. Data Security and Transparency

The study advocates for robust data security measures and transparency in the use of AI and educational technology. It emphasizes the importance of securing transparency for all students, ensuring specific and informed consent for the use of AI solutions, especially concerning the collection and aggregation of student data.

2. Technological Investments

Universities are encouraged to invest in proper technological solutions. This includes engaging higher degree research students in projects related to the development and implementation of technological solutions, allowing universities to regain control over their tools.

3. Addressing Social and Economic Issues

The paper suggests that AI solutions should actively contribute to addressing social and economic polarization and inequality. Moreover, it proposes that universities should engage AI in endeavors aligned with the goals of lifelong learning, further emphasizing the societal impact of higher education.

Regaining Control and Prioritizing Solutions

Dr. Popenici acknowledges the challenges posed by the encroachment of AI on academic integrity, critical thinking, and students' trust. However, he remains optimistic that universities can regain control by committing to prioritizing solutions. According to him, transparency, responsible data use, and informed data and information collection can act as pillars for universities to rebuild an independent identity grounded in ethical standards.

A Call for Ethical Action

The paper concludes with a call to action, urging universities to reclaim their intellectual and moral power from corporate entities. Dr. Popenici emphasizes that, despite the current influence of corporations, universities possess the resources to establish an independent identity. This identity should be guided by ethical standards, aligning with the pursuit of higher learning, civil society, and democratic values.

The Future of AI in Higher Education

While acknowledging that the development of AI in higher education is still in its early stages, the paper envisions a future where AI becomes a catalyst for a new revolution in education. By ensuring transparency, responsible data use, and a commitment to ethical principles, AI has the potential to bring about positive transformations, benefitting both students and societies.



In conclusion, the paper serves as a timely reminder for universities to navigate the evolving landscape of AI in education with caution. By resisting corporate pressures, prioritizing ethical considerations, and actively involving stakeholders in the decision-making process, universities can harness the power of AI to elevate, rather than compromise, academic integrity and the pursuit of knowledge.

RELATED ARTICLE: University Of New Haven Faculty Discuss Role Of Professors In New Age Of Artificial Intelligence
In a paradoxical move, the Florida Department of Education paid tribute to civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr. for his commitment to service and equality, only days before the State Board of Education voted to ban spending on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs in 28 state colleges. This decision, which aligns with Governor Ron DeSantis's criticism of such initiatives as wasteful and "hostile to academic freedom," has raised concerns about the potential erosion of academic integrity and stifling of diverse perspectives in the state's higher education institutions.

A Dual Narrative Unfolds

The juxtaposition of honoring Martin Luther King Jr. while curtailing DEI initiatives paints a dual narrative in Florida's educational landscape. While the former symbolizes a commitment to equality, the latter underscores a contentious pushback against programs aimed at fostering diversity and inclusivity. The recent decision also saw the replacement of a Principles of Sociology course with an American History course, emphasizing a shift away from what the Department labels as "radical woke ideologies.

READ ALSO: Revitalizing New York's Tuition Assistance Program: Legislators Call For Reforms To Aid Lower And Middle-Class Students

Governor DeSantis's Persistent Stand

Governor DeSantis, a prominent figure in the Republican party and a current GOP presidential candidate, has been a vocal critic of DEI programs. He perceives them as divisive and detrimental to academic freedom. This latest move follows a pattern set in November within the Florida State University System, where similar rules were enforced. DeSantis's overarching agenda involves defunding DEI initiatives in public postsecondary education, further solidifying his stance on the matter.

Defending the Decision

Florida's commissioner of education, Manny Diaz Jr., lauded the recent decision, asserting that higher education must return to its foundational principles of academic integrity and knowledge pursuit. He framed the move as a safeguard against what he termed "destructive ideologies," indicating a belief that DEI initiatives may contribute to societal division.

A Blow to Academic Freedom

Critics, however, view this as a significant blow to academic freedom. The rules imposed restrict institutions in the Florida College System from using state or federal funds for programs that categorize individuals based on race or sex for preferential treatment. Critics argue that this formalizes efforts to defund DEI and could limit speech and expression on campuses.

Concerns About Censorship

Jeremy Young, director of Freedom to Learn at the free speech advocacy group PEN America, expressed concerns about the potential suppression of speech. He argued that the regulations go beyond statutory limits and introduce categories of chilled expression, undermining intellectual freedom at Florida's universities.

Backlash and Accusations

Civil rights attorney Ben Crump and LGBTQ+ advocacy group Equality Florida have voiced strong opposition. Crump condemned the decision as a misguided path of censorship, while Equality Florida accused the board of rubber-stamping DeSantis's agenda, posing a threat to student and faculty recruitment.

Challenge to the Removal of Sociology Course

The American Sociological Association (ASA) raised concerns about removing the Principles of Sociology course. ASA disputed the characterization of sociology as a "radical" or "woke" ideology, emphasizing its role as the scientific study of social life and human behavior. The association called for a reversal of the decision, highlighting the importance of exposing students to a broad range of societal issues.

Florida's recent decisions reflect a complex interplay between honoring historical figures advocating for equality and the state's contemporary stance on DEI programs. As the educational landscape undergoes transformation, the balancing act between academic freedom, diversity, and ideological clashes will likely remain a contentious issue in the Sunshine State.

RELATED ARTICLE: Judge Dismisses Lawsuit Challenging Faculty DEI Statements At UC Santa Cruz
In recent months, the University of Minnesota's decision to allow faculty statements in support of Palestinians has sparked a broader debate, leading to the inclusion of the university in a federal civil rights investigation.

The U.S. Department of Education, prompted by concerns about potential Title VI violations, has initiated 51 investigations into discrimination complaints related to shared ancestry, with a particular focus on antisemitism and Islamophobia.

Title VI and Shared Ancestry Violations

Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 mandates federally funded institutions to protect students from discrimination based on race, color, national origin, and shared ancestry. The complaint lodged by a law professor and former regent against the University of Minnesota highlights incidents, including the harassment of a Jewish faculty member during a pro-Hamas rally. This move aligns with the Education Department's commitment to ensuring an inclusive academic atmosphere.

READ ALSO: Florida Governor And State University Chancellor Facilitate Transfer For Jewish Students Facing Antisemitism On Campuses

Pace of Investigations and Recent Developments

Since the Israel-Hamas conflict in October, the Education Department has launched 51 investigations into shared ancestry violations, involving 33 colleges and universities. The pace has continued into the new year, with 14 new investigations announced in January alone. Institutions such as Temple University, Ohio State University, and Muhlenberg College are among the latest additions to the list, bringing the total number of institutions under investigation to 18.

Concerns and Criticisms

While the Department of Education has been swift in opening investigations, concerns are raised about the lack of resolution. Critics, including Kenneth Marcus, founder of the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law, note that the delay in closing inquiries could exacerbate existing problems. Marcus, who oversaw the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) during the Trump administration, acknowledges the department's workload but emphasizes the importance of timely resolution to prevent further complications.

What the Investigations Could Mean

The Education Department's Office for Civil Rights typically focuses on how universities respond to reports of harassment or discrimination. Resolutions of these investigations will shed light on the agency's interpretation of federal law. It's crucial to note that, depending on the findings, universities could face consequences such as losing access to federal funds. While this step would be unprecedented, the ongoing investigations underscore the government's commitment to addressing issues of discrimination on college campuses.

Institutional Responses and Future Implications

In response to the investigations, universities like Temple University have pledged to cooperate, condemning hate and discrimination. The scrutiny extends beyond specific incidents, examining how institutions navigate and respond to allegations of harassment or discrimination. The outcome of these investigations will not only impact the universities involved but also set precedents for how federal authorities address shared ancestry violations in educational settings.

As the Education Department continues to prioritize addressing discrimination in higher education, the unfolding investigations will likely fuel ongoing discussions about the delicate balance between free expression, academic freedom, and ensuring a safe and inclusive environment for all students.

RELATED ARTICLE: Louisiana Legislator Obtains Data On Foreign Faculty Members, Students Belonging To 'Threat Countries'
On the inaugural day of the strike led by the Washington State University Coalition of Academic Student Employees (WSU-CASE), a breakthrough occurred as the union announced a tentative agreement with the university.

The UAW-affiliated union declared that the proposed agreement encompasses substantial pay hikes, more affordable healthcare, extended parental leave, a building fee waiver, and additional benefits aimed at enhancing equity within the University. If ratified by union members through voting until January 25, this contract will mark the union's first-ever agreement, set to expire in August 2026. The tentative deal has resulted in the suspension of the ongoing strike.

Key Provisions of the Tentative Agreement

1. Pay Increases

The tentative agreement proposes a significant increase in the minimum monthly base wage for salaried academic student employees at the Pullman campus, rising from $1,670 to $2,318.50. The rate adjustments for other campuses consider the cost of living.

2. Healthcare Improvements

Addressing a crucial negotiation point, the tentative deal aims to reduce per-academic-year, in-network deductibles from $500 to $300 and out-of-network deductibles from $1,000 to $300. The union also secures the right to negotiate further improvements for the academic years 2024-2025 and 2025-2026.

3. Parental Leave Extension

The agreement includes longer parental leave, recognizing the importance of supporting academic student employees in their family roles.

4. Building Fee Waiver

A significant inclusion in the tentative agreement is a building fee waiver, relieving academic student employees from certain financial burdens associated with campus facilities.

5. Equitable Benefits

The expanded benefits outlined in the agreement are geared towards fostering equity and inclusivity at Washington State University.

READ ALSO: California State University Faculty To Stage Unprecedented Five-Day Strike Over Pay And Benefits Dispute

Union's Perspective and Post-Strike Developments

In the press release following the strike's suspension, L. McKinley Nevins, a Ph.D. student and representative of the union, expressed confidence that the agreement would contribute to creating a better environment for academic student employees, students, and the entire WSU community. The union highlighted that the WSU administration made crucial last-minute concessions, ensuring what they consider a fair agreement.

Voting Process and Future Outlook

The fate of the tentative agreement now lies in the hands of the union members, who will cast their votes until January 25. If approved, this contract will establish a precedent for the union's ongoing engagement with the university.

Impact and Background of the Strike

The strike, affecting all campuses and extension centers across the university's six locations, represented over 1,800 employees, including graduate student teaching assistants, research assistants, and some undergraduate workers. The union's decision to strike was motivated by a desire to secure better conditions and benefits for academic student employees.

Phil Weiler, a university spokesman, acknowledged that the strike's impact on WSU was still unclear, emphasizing that canceling classes was a last resort. Negotiations between the union and the university began in February, involving over 40 meetings and the exchange of more than 200 proposals.

Looking Ahead

As the union members participate in the voting process, the outcome will not only determine the immediate future of academic student employees at WSU but also set the tone for labor relations and negotiations in higher education. The tentative agreement, if accepted, will underscore the significance of collective bargaining in addressing the needs and concerns of university employees, contributing to a more inclusive and equitable academic environment.

RELATED ARTICLE: Inside The Longest Faculty Strike In Columbia College's History
ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 19th Jan, 2024) Security officials must facilitate voters, follow election laws, prioritize safety, cooperate with officials, observers, and media, respect voter rights, and avoid unnecessary interference, says the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).

A code of conduct has been issued for security personnel affiliated with Law Enforcement Agencies, excluding the Armed Forces and Civil Armed Forces (who have a separate code of conduct). This code applies to those deployed for election duty during the General Elections 2024.

According to the code, security personnel should execute their responsibilities within the legal framework and within the prescribed mandate of law enforcement agencies. Their role is to support the Election Commission of Pakistan in ensuring free, fair, transparent, and peaceful General Elections-2024.

This involves deploying security personnel at all polling stations, maintaining a secure environment for law and order, safeguarding printing presses during ballot paper production, and ensuring security during the transportation of ballot papers from printing presses to the offices of Returning Officers.

Provide security for the transportation of polling bags from Returning Officers' offices to polling stations and for election material from polling stations to RO offices after polling and counting. This includes ensuring security during tabulation, provisional result announcements, and result consolidation by Returning Officers.

Security officials should adhere to Article 220 of the Constitution of Pakistan and Section 5, along with Section 193 of the Election Act, 2017. Gazetted officers must exercise powers delegated through an Election Commission notification under Section 193. Cooperate with District Returning Officers, Returning Officers, and Presiding Officers as mandated by Section 83(4) of the Elections Act, 2017.

Support the Presiding Officer in carrying out lawful duties, ensuring order at the polling station. Remain impartial and neutral during the entire election process, refraining from favoring any political party or candidate.

Provide full cooperation to the Presiding Officer to maintain order and ensure uninterrupted voting at the polling station

Maintain politeness and impeccable behavior with voters and polling staff, adhering firmly and justly to the law. Assist in guiding individuals outside the polling station during confusion or untoward situations.

Ensure a peaceful and safe environment, preventing intimidation or hindrance to voters. Conduct thorough frisking/checks to prevent the entry of any weapons, explosives, or undesirable items, including mobile phones, that could disrupt the polling process.

Security personnel are required to facilitate proper queuing for all voters, with prioritized assistance for the elderly, transgender individuals, pregnant women, women with infants, and voters with disabilities. Concentrate exclusively on ensuring a peaceful and transparent polling process outside the polling station, following the Presiding Officer's directions. Note that each contesting candidate is allowed one polling agent at each booth, with only one agent per candidate permitted to observe the counting and tabulation process.

Polling agents observing the counting process can legally obtain copies of Form-45 and Form-46 from the Presiding Officer. Additionally, observers present during counting may also receive these copies. Provide security to the Returning Officer's office until result consolidation is complete, ensuring the safe storage of polling bags and materials in the Commission's strong room.

Adhere to election laws, fostering public trust through a safe environment and law enforcement. Be aware that District Returning Officers/Returning Officers can visit polling stations anytime. Allow accredited observers and media, permitting cameras for footage except in screened-off compartments to maintain ballot secrecy.

Security personnel must refrain from requesting voters to produce identification ("Perchees"). They should not prevent any eligible voter from entering the polling station, recognizing the inviolable right to cast their vote at the assigned polling station.
ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 19th Jan, 2024) The National Security Committee on Friday reviewed the overall security in view of the situation between Pakistan and Iran.

The meeting was held under the chairmanship of Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar on Friday to deliberate upon matters of national security.

The forum undertook a wholesome review of the situation and lauded the professional, calibrated and proportionate response by the Armed Forces of Pakistan against unprovoked and unlawful violation of Pakistans sovereignty.

During the meeting, the participants were briefed about political and diplomatic developments bearing upon the prevailing situation between Pakistan and Iran, and its impact on the overall security milieu in the region.

The forum also took stock of the Operation Marg Bar Sarmachar, which was successfully executed against Pakistani origin Baloch terrorists residing on the ungoverned spaces inside Iran.

An update on the situation along the borders and necessary full preparations done to comprehensively respond to any further violation of national sovereignty was also deliberated about.

The forum reiterated the unflinching resolve that sovereignty and territorial integrity of Pakistan were absolutely inviolable and sacrosanct and any attempt by anyone to breach it on any pretext would be responded with full might of the state.

The meeting reaffirmed that the security and safety of the people of Pakistan was of paramount importance and no stone would be left unturned to ensure it.

The forum expressed that "Iran is a neighbourly and brotherly Muslim country, and existing multiple communication channels between the two countries should be mutually utilised to address each other's security concerns in the larger interest of regional peace and stability."

The meeting impressed upon Pakistans commitment to sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries in accordance with the United Nations Charter and international norms.

The committee also reiterated the resolve to deal with the menace of terrorism, in all its forms and manifestations, with an iron hand.

The forum also highlighted that Pakistan had suffered far more than any other country due to the scourge of terrorism.

The meeting also concluded that in line with the universal principles governing the conduct of good neighbourly relations, the two countries would mutually be able to overcome minor irritants through dialogue and diplomacy and pave the way to further deepen their historic relations.

The meeting was attended by the caretaker ministers for Defence, Foreign Affairs, Finance and Information, Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, Chief of the Army Staff, Chief of Naval Staff and Chief of Air Staff as well as heads of intelligence agencies.
On the sidelines of the WEF annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, many attendees sent their greetings for the Chinese New Year, which will be celebrated in mid February.





Produced by Xinhua Global Service
KARACHI, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 19th Jan, 2024) Mayor Karachi Barrister Murtaza Wahab has said that Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) is seriously working on solving the problems of the city and we would continue the mission of development under the leadership of Bilawal Bhutto.

The construction of Sarfraz Rafiqi Shaheed Road and Kala Pul Road will improve the transportation situation in the area and will provide facilities to the patients coming to Jinnah Hospital and National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases, he said while speaking at the inauguration ceremony of the newly constructed Sarfraz Rafiqi Shaheed Road and Kala Pul Road near Jinnah Hospital, said a statement on Friday.

Barrister Murtaza Wahab said that along with the construction of roads, drainage system and street lights had also been installed. As many as 80 poles and lights have been installed on the three roads. We do not forget the work after laying the foundation stone and get the project in the stages of completion as development work is going on in all the seven districts of Karachi without any discrimination, he said.

He said that we were working in all the districts of Karachi with the spirit of service without discrimination. The Tannery Road in Lyari will be completed soon while work on Korangi causeway bridge is going on fast, he expressed.

The Mayor Karachi said that we would lay the foundation stone of a sewerage scheme in central district and PPP will take steps to improve the sewerage system in Essa Nagri, he said that in the first phase of the Pakistan Life Savers program we will train the city wardens and after that traffic police personnel and other citizens will also be trained for this.

This good work is being done, now if anyone goes to court on this too, we do not care it, we will continue to work for the welfare of the city and its citizens, he observed.
ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 19th Jan, 2024) President Dr Arif Alvi on Friday paid tribute to the soldiers of Pakistan Army who embraced martyrdom in an attack in Lakki Marwat on January 10.

Talking to the family members of Sepoy Muhammad Afzal and Abrar Hussan over telephone, the president offered deep condolence and prayed for elevation of ranks of the martyred in paradise.

He also expressed sympathies with the family members of the martyrs.

The president, on behalf of the entire nation saluted the martyrs for sacrificing their lives for the sake of the country's security.
ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 19th Jan, 2024) Pakistan Railways has planned to open all its hospitals for the general public to provide state-of-the-art medical facilities to its employees and the general public across the country.

The decision to open all the hospitals of the department in January has been taken on the directions of Minister for Railways, Shahid Ashraf Tarar, an official in the Ministry of Railways told APP.

The official said the minister has appreciated the management of Pakistan Railways for already opening the Cairns Hospital, Lahore for the general public within a stipulated time frame.

Pakistan Railways will take all possible measures to improve railway health sector services in which the expertise of private health experts will also be taken, the official added.

He said that Pakistan Railways will not engage the public-private partners to upgrade and improve the services of hospitals.

The department directed the concerned officials to submit a business model shortly to earn revenue from Railway Hospitals.

To a question, he said Pakistan Railways has started the upgradation of five major railway stations across the country on modern lines to facilitate the passengers and help the department generate more revenue.

The purpose of upgrading the railway stations is to make them commercial hubs for business activities and facilitate the passengers, he added.

He said the stations included Karachi, Lahore, Faisalabad, Peshawar and Quetta, while the department was taking other steps to improve the performance of Pakistan Railways and would provide maximum facilities to the masses.

The government has allocated Rs 50 million in the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP), in the last three years for the up-gradation and renovation of railway stations across the country, he added.

The official said the renovation of the railway stations had been approved by the Central Development Working Party (CDWP) and the department had already upgraded six railway stations in different parts of the country.

The Names of the upgraded railway stations were Bahawalpur, Raiwind, Narowal, Okara, Sahiwal and Gujranwala.

The basic aim of the upgrade was to facilitate the passengers and improve the outlook and modernize the railway stations.

Pakistan Railways had upgraded the passenger waiting halls, prayer area, operation offices, water filtration plant, toilets, passenger shelter, platforms, ticket counters, parking area and external development work.
Washington, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 19th Jan, 2024) The US Congress green-lit temporary funding Thursday to thwart a partial government shutdown that threatened the functions of multiple key Federal agencies and could have seen thousands of employees sent home without pay.

With large sections of the government due to close at the end of Friday, the House of Representatives voted to keep the lights for at least another six weeks, approving a measure that had advanced earlier from the Senate.

The last-ditch "continuing resolution" was pitched by leaders in the upper chamber as public workers were preparing to be sent home unpaid, upending government functions from military operations to food aid to federal policymaking.

Complicating the negotiations, forecasts for a brutal winter storm curtailed the lawmakers' work, with Congress announcing that it would be closed for business all day Friday.

"We have good news for America: There will not be a shutdown on Friday," Democratic Senate leader Chuck Schumer said in a speech to colleagues.

"Because both sides have worked together, the government will stay open. Services will not be disrupted. We will avoid a needless disaster."

The short-term fix was pitched after negotiations on a full-year budget were stalled by the demands of House Republicans for deep spending cuts and sweeping immigration reforms that are dead on arrival in the more moderate Senate.

Under the agreement, services and administration related to agriculture, energy and water, military construction and veterans' programs, transport and housing -- all due to grind to a halt at the weekend -- will be funded until March 1.

The military, Justice Department, border security, Congress and many other federal agencies and departments were due to run out of money at the start of February but will now be able to function until March 8.

That will give lawmakers more time to set the full-year budget in line with spending limits that Democrats and Republicans agreed to last year.

Even on rare occasions of cross-party unity, Congress can work at a glacial pace.

But lawmakers redoubled efforts to get the legislation to President Joe Biden's desk as the National Weather Service forecast up to four inches (10 centimeters) of snowfall in the Washington suburbs overnight.

Despite the urgency, dozens of conservatives in the House voted against the stop-gap measure. But Democrats provided Republican Speaker Mike Johnson enough backing to smooth its passage.

Relying on Democratic support to cancel out Republican no-votes is the practice that got Johnson's predecessor Kevin McCarthy axed in an October rebellion by his own party. Leading right-wingers have made clear that the current speaker risks the same outcome.

The inability of lawmakers to pass a full budget for a fiscal year that started almost four months ago has highlighted dysfunction in Congress, which is also deadlocked on foreign aid requested urgently by the White House.

Republicans are demanding tightened border security and strict immigration curbs before they will consider Biden's request for $106 billion in supplemental cash, mostly for Ukraine and Israel.

Party leaders in the Senate are strong supporters of Ukraine aid but many hard-liners in the House are skeptical that handing Kyiv more money to repel the two-year-old Russian invasion is in US interests.

Both sides agree that record numbers of migrants crossing from Mexico are a crisis that needs to be addressed, although they disagree on the response.

Schumer, the leader of the Democratic Senate majority, aims to introduce a bipartisan border security and foreign aid bill next week, although Johnson has refused to commit to bringing the bill to the House floor.

Having sounded the alarm for more than a year over the "humanitarian catastrophe" of the migrant surge, Republicans will face accusations of bad faith if they refuse even to consider the package.

Johnson told Fox News he had been talking about the border "pretty frequently" with former president Donald Trump, who is running for reelection and is pressuring Republicans not to give Biden a win on immigration.
Draft Amendment to Vietnams Pharmacy Law Proposes New Incentives for Foreign Firms

The Ministry of Health has released a draft amendment to the Pharmacy Law that would give foreign pharmaceutical companies more rights and incentives. Here are the details.

Vietnams Ministry of Health (MOH) has released a draft amendment to the countrys 2016 Pharmacy Law that seeks to strengthen the rights and responsibilities of foreign-invested enterprises (FIEs) in the pharmaceutical industry and expand policy incentives.

According to the MOH, the draft amendment seeks to address obstacles uncovered during the implementation of the Pharmacy Law that have led to certain issues and difficulties in the production and business of pharmaceuticals.

The proposed amendments include changes and additions to provisions related to the terminology used, policies, regulations, raw materials, drug registration, export and import of drugs and raw materials, drug recalls, advertising, clinical trials, quality management, and price management.

In this article, we will focus on the amendments that will impact incentive policies and the rights of FIEs.

See also: Amendments to Vietnams Regulations on Pharmaceutical Product Labeling.

Incentive policies for the pharmaceutical industry

The draft amendment proposes several changes to Article 7 of the Pharmacy Law, which stipulates provisions on state policies on pharmaceuticals. The amendments do not provide for specific incentive policies and programs but rather set legal provisions requiring state agencies to foster the growth of the pharmaceutical industry through incentives.

First, the draft amendment proposes to define various types of incentives and expand eligible pharmaceutical fields.

Whereas the previous version simply says that it is a state policy to provide investment incentives for various activities, Clause 3 of Article 7 of the draft amendment specifies the following types of incentives:

Incentives for investment/special investment incentives regarding tax policies;

Incentives for land leasing;

Incentives for capital borrowing;

Other incentives and support for administrative procedures related to investment and business;

Issuance of certificates for pharmaceutical business qualifications;

Issuance of drug circulation certificates;

Incentives and support for raw materials for pharmaceuticals;

Incentives for scientific research on pharmaceutical formulation technology and biotechnology for the production of new drugs; and

Other investment support policies as stipulated by the law.

The scope of activities eligible for these investment incentives has also been expanded to include fields such as the manufacturing of new drugs, generic specialty drugs, high-tech drugs, specialty drugs created through technology transfer for production in Vietnam, essential drugs, drugs for the prevention and control of social diseases, vaccines, biological products, and biotechnological drugs.

Clause 4 of Article 7, which stipulates how funds from the state budget or legally sourced state revenue can be used to purchase pharmaceuticals, has been amended to make it easier for state funds to be used to purchase import drugs.

Previously, this clause stipulated that state funds could not be used to bid on the import of certain drugs (based on technical criteria) if there are already domestically produced drugs that meet the requirements for treatment, drug prices, and supply capability. The amended clause now states that there must be at least three domestic manufacturers that produce the drugs in question and that they must meet the EUs good manufacturing practice (EU-GMP) standards or EU-GMP-equivalent standards, in addition to other criteria.

Finally, the draft amendment also adds a new clause (Clause 12) that directly encourages foreign investment and technology transfer in Vietnams pharmaceutical industry.

The new clause calls for encouraging research and production, technology transfer, and foreign investment in the production of pharmaceutical raw materials, manufacturing new drugs, generic specialty drugs, specialty drugs, biotechnological drugs, herbal medicines, and national brand pharmaceuticals, and production of pharmaceutical ingredients.

While the draft amendment does not stipulate specific incentives to achieve this, it gives a clear directive to policymakers to formulate and implement incentive measures to attract foreign capital.

New rights and responsibilities of FIEs

Rights of FIEs in the pharmaceutical industry

The draft amendment has added a new Article (Article 53a) which stipulates the rights and responsibilities of foreign-invested enterprises (FIEs) in the pharmaceutical industry. Under this article, the rights of FIEs in the pharmaceutical industry are extended to include many of the same rights as domestic pharmaceutical companies.

For example, FIEs would be formally permitted to operate in a wide range of pharmaceutical fields and activities.

These include (but are not limited to):

Carry out one, multiple, or all pharmaceutical business activities (provided they meet the conditions corresponding to each type of business establishment);

Enjoy preferential policies when conducting pharmaceutical business activities; and

Advertising pharmaceuticals according to the provisions of law.

In addition, FIEs will have many of the same rights as domestic enterprises in a range of pharmaceutical fields, which we have summarized below.

Drug and pharmaceutical materials manufacturing, including (but not limited to) the following activities:

Carrying out research and trial production; franchising and receiving production franchises;

Registering for circulation of drugs and raw materials;

Importing and purchasing raw materials to serve production;

Importing drugs and raw materials to serve research, testing, and use as samples for drug circulation registration of establishments;

Selling imported raw materials to serve that facilitys drug production to another drug manufacturing facility;

Wholesale of drugs and raw materials to drug wholesalers and retailers and medical examination and treatment establishments.

Export and import of drugs and raw materials: FIEs engaged in this field are only permitted to perform activities directly related to the distribution of drugs and raw materials in Vietnam, including:

Importing drugs and raw materials specified in the Pharmacy Law;

Registering for circulation of drugs and raw materials; and

Exporting drugs and raw materials specified in the Pharmacy Law.

Provision of clinical drug testing services, including (but not limited to) the following activities:

Conducting clinical drug trials according to regulations;

Importing and purchasing chemicals, standards, and drug samples for clinical drug testing activities; and

Using the results of clinical drug trial research according to agreements with agencies, organizations, and individuals that have clinical trial drugs.

Provision of drug bioequivalence testing services, including (but not limited to) the following activities:

Conducting drug bioequivalence testing in the clinical research and biological fluid analysis phases;

Conducting bioequivalence research activities of drugs according to regulations;

Importing and purchasing chemicals, standards, and drug samples for bioequivalence testing of drugs; and

Using the results of bioequivalence testing of drugs according to agreements with agencies, organizations, and individuals that have bioequivalence testing drugs.

Responsibilities of FIEs in the pharmaceutical industry

Under the draft amendment, FIEs will also have the same responsibilities as those of domestic enterprises. These responsibilities depend on the particular field in which the FIE is operating. The basic responsibilities include (but are not limited to):

Having a certificate of eligibility for pharmaceutical business and only engaging in the type of pharmaceutical business, scope, and location specified in this certificate;

Ensuring the maintenance of pharmaceutical business conditions during business operations;

Withdrawing drugs and raw materials when required (as stipulated in the Pharmacy Law);

Compensating organizations and individuals who have suffered damages due to errors made by the company;

Publicly displaying the pharmaceutical practice certificate and the certificate of eligibility for pharmaceutical business at the business establishment;

Submitting annual reports and reports as required by the competent drug management authority;

Storing drugs and raw materials following the conditions stated on the label;

Clearly stating the name of the drug, concentration, and expiration date for users in the case of retailing drugs not in the original packaging; and

Only selling prescription drugs at retail drug establishments when a prescription is provided.

FIEs must also uphold responsibilities specific to the various pharmaceutical fields and industry sectors.

Note that FIEs are not permitted to directly engage in the distribution of drugs and raw materials in Vietnam unless they have produced them themselves. These prohibited activities include:

Selling and delivering drugs and raw materials to medical examination and treatment facilities, retail establishments, individuals, and organizations that are not drug wholesale establishments, raw material suppliers, and establishments not engaged in the processing of drugs by the establishment (except for aid and humanitarian purposes);

Accepting orders and receiving payments for drugs and raw materials from medical examination and treatment facilities, retail establishments, individuals, and organizations that are not drug wholesale establishments or raw material suppliers;

Transporting and storing drugs and raw materials, except in cases of transporting drugs from import establishments to drug wholesale establishments and raw material suppliers (or for aid and humanitarian purposes);

Determining and imposing the selling prices of drugs and raw materials distributed by other pharmaceutical business establishments;

Deciding on the distribution strategy and business policies of drugs and raw materials distributed by other pharmaceutical businesses;

Developing plans for the supply of drugs and raw materials to medical examination and treatment facilities in Vietnam; and

Providing financial support to organizations and individuals directly purchasing drugs and raw materials from the company itself to manipulate the distribution of imported drugs and raw materials.

Simplified administrative measures for import of research drugs and raw materials

Several of the changes in the draft amendment aim at simplifying some administrative procedures.

Clause 2 of Article 54 has been amended to allow the import of raw materials used to produce drugs that already have a certificate of registration for circulation in Vietnam and will not need to be registered again, allowing companies to only have to undergo the registration procedures once.

Meanwhile, Article 60, which deals with the import and export of drugs and raw materials, has been amended to make it easier the import and export drugs for certain purposes.

First, the scenarios under which raw materials can be imported even if they do not have a certificate of circulation have been expanded to include the production of drugs and semi-finished drugs for export. This would streamline the import procedures of raw materials for companies producing pharmaceuticals solely for export.

In addition, a new clause has been added to facilitate the import of drugs for research purposes. Clause 5a states that companies can import research drugs and drugs that do not have a certificate of circulation registration in Vietnam that are to be used for clinical trials without having to carry out import licensing (except for drugs subject to special controls). The quantities and types of drugs imported must adhere to the approved clinical trial research protocols.
LANZHOU, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- A month after an earthquake hit their hometown, Qin Sanhu and his wife, both in their 50s, are getting used to a new pattern of living in their new home -- a prefab unit equipped with a stove.

"So far all is well. My biggest wish is that we can soon rebuild our hometown and move into new houses," said Qin.

Qin lives in Bonan-Dongxiang-Salar Autonomous County of Jishishan, northwest China's Gansu Province. A 6.2-magnitude earthquake struck Jishishan on Dec. 18, 2023, leaving 151 people dead in Gansu and neighboring Qinghai Province.

Timing is everything in terms of saving lives, especially in the mountainous plateau area during winter. Within 16 hours, emergency rescue teams had completed the preliminary search and rescue in the epicenter county.

Since its winter season, construction workers are busy day and night building prefab houses so that residents impacted by the earthquake can move from tents to warmer structures as soon as possible.

In Jishishan, an 18-square-meter prefab house could be installed in roughly 10 minutes. With that speed, more than 3,500 prefab units were completed by 9 p.m. Dec. 23, and a total of 15,812 by Dec. 29.

"It only took two days for us to move from a tent to a warm prefab house. I was very relieved," said Tao Yongping, a resident of Taojia Village in Liuji Township.

"Timely and swift relief measures were soon in place. We will ensure the safety of people and their properties by improving the emergency rescue efficiency," said Han Zhengming, head of the provincial department of emergency management in Gansu.

After the earthquake, a large number of relief goods have been sent to Gansu and Qinghai to support the basic needs of those affected by the disaster. As for Qin, necessities such as toothpaste, washing powder, stove, as well as coal were allocated abundantly. "There is also a shared washing machine in the corridor," Qin said.

Medical and material distribution points have also been set up for quake-affected residents at resettlement sites and so have temporary police offices, post offices and village committees.

Many quake-affected residents fought side by side with professional rescue teams, volunteering in rescuing, cooking and delivering materials. Many foreign volunteers also rushed to the quake-hit areas and participated in the rescue work.

"When my country was hit by the earthquake, China was among the first to extend a helping hand," said Zein Alabdin Ali, adding that he regards China as his second home and would love to help with the earthquake relief work as much as possible.

The Syrian doctoral student has lived in China for years, and arrived in the quake-hit area only two days after the quake.

In Shiyuan Village of Shiyuan Township, Chai Chengliang was busy distributing relief materials. "Seeing so many people from all around come to help us, we also pulled ourselves together and made our own efforts," said Chai.

In Songjiagou village, Shi Cangyou and his wife have barely got over the huge trauma inflicted by the disaster. Shi's house was badly damaged, and he had no choice but to tear it down.

"At that moment, I had a feeling that most of my life savings had been gone," said Shi, with tears glistened in his eyes.

The quake has caused enormous damage to infrastructures and houses. According to the local government, the damage assessment has been completed. More than 300 post-disaster reconstruction projects have been proposed, including residential housing, fundamental public services, and traffic facilities.

Shi also moved into a prefab unit. The local government has allocated living materials including vegetables and coals for the family. "My house was damaged, but I have a place to live, food to eat and clothes to wear," said Shi.

While Jishishan's winter is too harsh to undertake large-scale construction projects, arrangements on facilitating people's long-term needs such as dwelling and employment are steadily advanced.

According to the local disaster recovery and reconstruction headquarters, reconstruction and repair of damaged houses are underway, and a series of vocational training programs, such as electric soldering, bricklaying and housekeeping, have been introduced at resettlement sites for free.

Wu Zhilin, 36, signed up for the electric soldering and became a trainee. "I take eight classes per day, and have learned a lot of useful skills. My wife also signed up for housekeeping training."

Planning to attend more training and then find a job, Wu has recovered from an initial period of distress and regained confidence in restarting his life.

The Spring Festival is less than a month away. At resettlement sites, residents have already pasted Spring couplets and hung out red lanterns.

As in previous years, Shi's children and grandchildren will come home to celebrate the festival with them. Though it might be crowded in the prefab unit when they all come, Shi is very looking forward to the reunion.

"The Lunar New Year will be better than the last one. I believe we will move into our new home in the new year," said Shi. 
The 2020s have not been kind. The decade began with the COVID-19 pandemic and has since seen climate disasters and conflicts impact millions around the world; but last year was particularly difficult.

The U.N. Refugee Agency, UNHCR, said Friday in a new report that it responded to the highest number of emergencies in a decade last year. The Emergency Preparedness and Response in 2023 report recorded 43 emergency declarations in 29 countries.

Driven by the deadly February earthquakes in Turkey and Syria and Cyclone Mocha that tore through Myanmar and Bangladesh in May, and the eruption of internal armed conflict in Sudan in mid-April, UNHCR said new crises, plus the deterioration in old unresolved situations, have stretched its capacity to respond.

Whether sparked by conflict, human rights violations, natural disasters or extreme weather events, these emergencies have resulted in a surge of displacement, leaving countless individuals and families in desperate need of humanitarian assistance and protection, said Dominique Hyde, UNHCR Director of External Relations. The scale of human suffering is unmeasurable and a stark reminder of the imperative for collective action and solidarity.

Globally, there were a record 114 million refugees and displaced people in 2023. The number is expected to grow to 130 million this year. UNHCR says despite raising more than $5 billion last year, including $4.6 billion for emergencies and protracted crises, a $400 million shortfall by year-end prevented it reaching everyone targeted for assistance.

The sheer scale of the emergencies is daunting.

In Turkey and Syria, UNHCR figures show nearly 24 million people were affected by last Februarys earthquakes. In Libya, 900,000 people across five provinces were directly affected by flash floods. In Bangladesh and Myanmar, more than 10 million were impacted by Cyclone Mocha in May while Sudan has become the worlds largest displacement crisis, with more than 7 million people forced to flee the fighting that erupted in April.

Afghans also faced new challenges in 2023. More than 100,000 were left in need of humanitarian assistance after two powerful earthquakes struck the Herat Province in October.

That same month, Pakistans government announced it would deport all undocumented Afghans living in the country. Some had been there for decades. UNHCR says nearly 479,000 returned to Afghanistan between mid-September and the end of December  over 29,000 of them were deported by the Pakistani authorities.

In Central and South America, more than a half million refugees and migrants cross the dangerous Darien passage headed for North America.

Old unresolved disputes also resulted in emergencies last year.

More than 100,000 Armenians left the enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh in Azerbaijan, when fighting erupted between the two countries over the disputed territory.

In the eastern Congo, more than 7 million people were affected by fighting between the military and armed groups.

The U.N. Refugee Agency said it launched a rapid response to these and other crises, reaching nearly 17 million vulnerable and needy people with essential shelter supplies and other relief items last year.
This week's airstrikes between Iran and Pakistan that killed at least 11 people mark a significant escalation in fraught relations between the neighbors.

Long-running, low-level insurgencies on either side of the border have frustrated both countries, and the apparent targets of the strikes  Iran's on Tuesday and Pakistan's response on Thursday  were insurgent groups whose goal is an independent Baluchistan for ethnic Baluch areas in Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

The question is why Iran and Pakistan would choose to strike insurgents in each other's territories rather than their own, considering the risk of a wider conflagration.

The background

Iran and Pakistan share a 900-kilometer, largely lawless border where smugglers and militants move freely. Both countries have suspected each other of supporting, or at least behaving leniently toward some of the groups operating on the other side of the border.

Jaish al-Adl, the Sunni separatist group that Iran targeted on Tuesday, is believed to operate out of Pakistan, launching attacks on Iranian security forces. The Baluch Liberation Army, which was formed in 2000 and has launched attacks against Pakistani security forces and Chinese infrastructure projects, is suspected of hiding out in Iran.

Why did Pakistan retaliate?

Pakistan said its strikes in Iran on Thursday were aimed at hideouts of the Baluchistan Liberation Army and the Baluchistan Liberation Front. It also wanted to send a message to Iran and other neighbors that it can fight back if provoked.

The last time Pakistan retaliated against a neighboring country was in 2019, when it downed two Indian warplanes and captured a pilot in the disputed Kashmir region. It followed an Indian strike inside Pakistan against what New Delhi said was a terrorist training camp.

Why now?

Iran and Pakistan have long had a volatile relationship, but these strikes are likely prompted by internal dynamics.

Tehran has been experiencing a growing pressure for some kind of action after a deadly Islamic State group attack earlier this month, Israel's war on Iran's ally, Hamas, and wider unrest against its theocracy. Pakistan's attack on Thursday also served a domestic purpose, according to analysts.

"The government and military have been under immense pressure (since Tuesday)," said Abdullah Khan from the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies think tank in Islamabad. "The public perception of a strong army is not as it used to be, so it had to respond."

Could the situation escalate?

Iran's military on Thursday began a planned annual air defense drill stretching from its port of Chabahar near Pakistan in the east, across the country to its border with Iraq in the west. The drill will include live fire from aircraft, drones and air defense systems.

Fresh strikes by Iran and Pakistan cannot be ruled out, although this week's attacks raise questions about the preparedness of their own militaries, particularly their radar and air defense systems.

For Pakistan, such systems are crucial given its constant, low-level tensions with its nuclear-armed rival, India. Its equipment has long been deployed along that frontier, rather than its border with Iran. Separately, Iran relies on radar and air defense systems in the case of potential strikes by its main enemy, the United States.

What the airstrikes mean for Iran and Pakistan

Launching these strikes allows Tehran to point to it directly taking military action without risking a wider confrontation with either Israel or the U.S., particularly as tensions also remain high over Iran's rapidly advancing nuclear program.

Pakistan's strike may relieve domestic political pressure, but could backfire later, as the Baluch Liberation Army said it will avenge the killings and wage war on the state.
The three Baltic states on Friday agreed to build new defenses on their borders with Belarus and Russia, given security concerns in the region over Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Russia's aggression in the region has sparked concern in the Baltic states that they could be next on Moscow's agenda were it to win in Ukraine.

"The ministers signed an agreement in Riga, according to which Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania will construct anti-mobility defensive installations in the coming years to deter and, if necessary, defend against military threats," the Estonian defense ministry said in a statement.

It added that the installations would be on the borders with Russia and Belarus. Latvia and Lithuania border both countries while Estonia only borders Russia.

The statement did not provide details on the installations.

The Baltic states  all former Soviet republics and now members of NATO and the European Union  have been staunch supporters of Ukraine from day one of the invasion nearly two years ago.

"Russia's war in Ukraine has shown that, in addition to equipment, ammunition, and manpower, physical defensive installations on the border are also needed," Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur said, quoted in the statement.

His Latvian counterpart Andris Spruds also announced the project.

"We will establish the Baltic Defence Line to defend NATO's Eastern flank and deny freedom of movement for our adversaries," he said on X, formerly Twitter.
Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Thursday signed over control of resource-rich Arctic lands to the government of the predominantly Inuit territory of Nunavut, in what was billed as the largest land transfer in Canada's history.

Nunavut, at more than 2 million square kilometers (800,000 square miles), is almost three times the size of the U.S. state of Texas and is believed to hold some of the richest resource deposits in the country, including gold, diamonds and rare earth minerals, as well as oil and gas.

With global warming, the Arctic territory is becoming more accessible for mining and shipping.

In its capital, Iqaluit, Trudeau signed a devolution agreement with Nunavut Premier P.J. Akeeagok.

It effectively gives the territorial government of Nunavut responsibility over its lands and resources and the right to collect royalties that would otherwise go to the federal government.

"Inuit have hunted and fished and lived on these lands for generations, some going back well before recorded history. Today begins a new chapter in the history of Nunavut, a transformative chapter," Trudeau said at the signing ceremony.

"This is a place that is rich with culture, traditional knowledge, critical minerals and other resources that are needed as we build the economy of the future together," he said.

"And with this increased control, [the government and people of Nunavut] will be able to have more say and more prosperity."

The agreement comes after decades of negotiations between Nunavut and the federal government. It is to be fully implemented over the next three years.

"It's our land, our resources, [now] in the hands of our people," cheered Akeeagok.

Ottawa started in the 1960s gradually transferring responsibilities for health, education, social services and other areas to its Arctic territories.

Nunavut, which was created in 1999, is the last of Canada's three Arctic territories  after the Northwest Territories and the Yukon  to take full control of its lands.
On January 17, Chinas National Bureau of Statistics published the latest number on the countrys population demographics.



The agency said the total number of people in China dropped by 2.08 million, compared with the population decline of 850,000 in 2022, when the country experienced its first negative population growth.

Meanwhile, Chinas birth rate is now 6.39 per thousand people, a record low, while the death rate is 7.87 per thousand people.



Commenting on the news, Yin Sun, whose blue-checked X profile describes him as a Paris, France-based financial analyst, wrote that the two-year population decline is a blessing for China  mirroring the official Beijing narrative.



To be honest, its a blessing if Chinas population starts decreasing. With the modernization of Chinas economy advancing toward fully automated technologies, it means a bigger pie for a smaller amount of people. The GDP per capita will therefore increase drastically.



That is unsubstantiated.



The metaphorical pie in economics refers to the Gross Domestic Product, or GDP  the total value of goods and services produced. As the economy grows and the GDP increases, the pie gets bigger.



With negative population growth and more retirees, China, like many Western countries, might soon face a shrinking pie.



On the other hand, a robust innovation-focused strategy may result in Chinas economy overcoming the challenges of a shrinking and aging population.



One-child policy leads to fewer babies



China saw birth rates fall for a decade after Beijing imposed the controversial one-child policy  a program to curb the countrys population growth by limiting most Chinese families to one child each.

The program started in 1979 and ended in 2016, resulting in a sustained low fertility rate. The World Banks chronological graph shows that Chinas fertility rate fell from 7.5 births per woman in 1963 to 1.2 in 2021. By comparison, the worlds overall fertility rates for the same period fell from 5.3 births per woman to 2.3.



Meanwhile, the replacement fertility rate, which is the level of fertility at which a population exactly replaces itself from one generation to the next, is 2.1 births per woman.



A 2.1 fertility rate ensures replacement of the woman and her partner, with another 0.1 children per woman to counteract infant mortality, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, or OECD, explained.



As a result of the one-child policy, Chinas fertility rate was well below 2 children per woman for more than three decades.

At the same time, according to the Beijing-based YuWa Population Research Institute, the average cost of raising a child to the age of 18 in China stood at 485,000 yuan ($76,629) for a first child in 2019, almost seven times Chinas per capita GDP that year ($10,144). The financial burden has many families thinking twice before adding members to their family.



The balance between old and young



In addition to the impact of the one-child policy, China has one of the fastest-growing aging populations in the world due to longer life expectancy and sustained low fertility rates.

Chinas population aged 60 and over hit 296.97 million in 2023, roughly 21.1% of its total population. Chinas National Health Commission expects that number will rise to more than 400 million by 2035, representing 30% of the population.



Roughly 300 million Chinese currently aged 50 to 60 are set to leave the workforce over the next decade.



Meanwhile, youth unemployment skyrocketed to more than 20% last year amid slowing economic growth.



The combination of more retirees and a shrinking working-age population means fewer people have to support a larger share of the population, putting pressure on Beijings health care and pension programs.



Tomoyuki Fukumoto, a professor at Osaka University of Economics, predicted in comments to Nikkei Asia that the decline in the working-age population is likely to reduce Chinas growth by around 1 percentage point annually from 2035 to 2050.



There is, however, a silver lining. UBS, a Switzerland-based multinational financial company, said in an analysis that to overcome the aging and shrinking population challenges, China will have to adopt technologies such as robotics and AI and boost vocational education.



Chinas long-term growth radical plan to recalibrate its economy has a positive outlook with its tech-savvy population, focus on high tech industries and investment in innovation, UBS said in a May 2023 report.

The Chinese government has made innovation a priority, providing subsidies and incentives to industries such as semiconductor, electric vehicles and AI robotics. Smart manufacturing, combining digitally driven increased automation and data analytics to improve manufacturing performance and productivity, will play a key role facilitating the holistic nature of Chinas output upgrade, UBS analysts argued.



Another factor is that China is developing a silver economy. On January 15, Chinas State Council unveiled 26 guidelines to promote the silver economy, to address the needs of the aging population. Some experts point out that the aging population could also be a strong force for domestic consumption.
China called Friday for an end to the "harassment of civilian vessels" in the Red Sea following weeks of attacks by Houthi rebels on ships in and around the sea.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said the attacks must stop "in order to maintain the smooth flow of global production and supply chains and the international trade order."

China reiterated that the tensions in the Red Sea are linked to the war between Israel and Hamas.

"The top priority is to quell the war in Gaza as soon as possible to prevent the conflict from further expanding or even getting out of control," Mao said.

Houthi rebels, who are backed by Iran, have said they are carrying out the attacks in the Red Sea in solidarity with Palestinians amid Israel's war against Hamas militants in Gaza. The violence has led U.S. and British forces to carry out retaliatory strikes against Houthi bases in Yemen.

Chinese, Russian vessels promised safety

The Chinese call Friday comes a day after Chinese Ministry of Commerce spokesperson He Yadong issued a similar appeal, calling on "all relevant parties" to "ensure the safety of navigation in the Red Sea." He said during a news conference Thursday the Red Sea waters are important international trade channels, according to Chinese state-owned news agency Xinhua.

A senior Houthi official said Friday that Russian and Chinese vessels would have safe passage through the Red Sea.

Mohammed al-Bukhaiti, a member of the Houthi political leadership, said in an interview with the Russian outlet Izvestia that the shipping lanes around Yemen are safe to ships from China and Russia as long as vessels are not connected with Israel, Agence France-Presse reported, citing Izvestia.

China is the world's largest trading country and a major trading partner of more than 140 countries and regions. For many years, it has been the largest customer of the Suez Canal in Egypt, which connects the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea and is the shortest maritime route between Asia and Europe.



According to data from the American Enterprise Institute, China's state-owned companies have invested almost $4 billion in Egyptian energy and logistics projects since 2007.

In the months leading up to Hamas' October 7 terror attack on Israel, firms from China and Hong Kong pledged at least $20 billion for various projects along Egypt's arterial waterway, according to Reuters.

China relies on the Red Sea for transporting its crude oil imports from Iran and other countries in the Middle East, as well as its trade with the European Union.

Oil imports from the Middle East are key to China's economic lifeline. Official data shows that in 2022, China's crude oil imports from the Middle East accounted for approximately 53.5% of total imports. Among China's top five sources of crude oil imports, the Middle East accounts for four.

So far, attacks on shipping in the Red Sea have had almost no impact on the price of oil. Last week, international oil prices increased only by about 4%.

Ahmed Aboudouh, a nonresident fellow with the Middle East programs at the Atlantic Council, told VOA in a phone interview, "At this point, we cannot see a massive harm to its commercial interests," adding that the conflict is small and isolated, not a regional configuration.

"We might see this happening in the form of some extra charges or some extra insurance premium, some extra disruption to supply chains, but all in all, the damage is not huge," he said.

The Houthis have launched attacks on ships with no apparent connection with Israel, resulting in some shipping firms avoiding the shipping lanes where the Houthis have launched attacks.

As China has a naval base in Djibouti, at the mouth of the Red Sea, Julian McBride, founder and director of the Reflections of War Initiative, an anthropological NGO, told VOA in a phone interview, "China could potentially do  especially now that China wants to rapidly expand their navy  they could escort a lot of ships from neutral countries that directly have economic ties to China without being potentially caught in the same operation as the United States."

Some information in this report came from Agence France-Presse.
VIENTIANE, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- Authorities in southern Laos' Sekong province are preparing several events to attract more visitors and mark the start of Visit Laos Year 2024.

Sekong will hold activities each month during Visit Laos Year 2024. Provincial authorities hope to attract more than 50,000 tourists this year, Deputy Head of Sekong's Information, Culture and Tourism Department Khamsone Kongner told a press conference on Wednesday.

Provincial authorities are organizing a festival featuring the customs of 10 ethnic groups, taking place from Jan. 21 to Jan. 25. The festival is an annual highlight of Sekong province, said Khamsone.

The festival includes a performing arts and cultural contest, a communal walk, the sale of food items made by local ethnic groups and a market fair.

During Lao Vice President Pany Yathotou's working visit to Sekong in September 2023, she highlighted the need for developments in tourism, the improvement of services and better management of tourist attractions, saying that management of the service sector should be improved quickly.

To ensure that visitors are satisfied with their stay in Sekong, provincial authorities are aiming to improve the standard of services and in particular the management of restaurants and hotels.

The tourism industry is a priority sector driving the growth of socio-economic development in Laos alongside the promotion of green tourism.

The Lao government is increasingly emphasizing the country's potential as a nature-based tourist destination. There are also colorful traditions to be observed among Laos' many ethnic groups, while old temples and historical sites are another drawcard.

Sekong province, some 530 km southeast of the Lao capital Vientiane, has designated specific places as tourist destinations because of their historical, archaeological and agricultural interest, as well as areas of natural beauty and places that make handicrafts.

Provincial leaders have made tourism a priority for attracting domestic and foreign investment, hoping to generate income for local residents and improve the lives of people in surrounding areas.

Local authorities have encouraged entrepreneurs to build visitor facilities at some areas of natural beauty in order to draw people in larger numbers. The province hopes to attract investment that will spur development of the area and bolster tourism, while also preserving the natural environment and creating jobs for local communities. 
Anders Fogh Rasmussen served as secretary general of NATO from 2009 to 2014, after nearly eight years as the prime minister of Denmark. Rasmussen sat down with VOAs Natalie Liu during a visit to Washington this week to make the case for continued strong support for Ukraine, while urging the free world to counter the advances of autocracies led by China, joined by Russia, Iran and North Korea.

Here are some highlights of their interview. Questions and answers have been edited for length and clarity.

VOA: Are you in Washington this time to help push for more consensus on supporting Ukraine?

Rasmussen: One of the purposes of my trip to D.C. this time is to meet with members of Congress who are skeptical about continuing their support for Ukraine. I would tell them that it is in the American national security interest to ensure a Ukrainian victory and a Russian defeat. I would tell them that the Europeans are doing their part.

It would harm the American national security interest if Putin wins in Ukraine. It would encourage Xi Jinping to take Taiwan. It would strengthen the axis of autocracies under the leadership of China, but joined by Russia, North Korea and Iran, and it would weaken the alliance between the U.S. and Europe.

If we cannot trust American leadership, then it would fuel those voices in Europe that argue for a more independent European role as a mediator between Washington and Beijing. I think that would be a dangerous weakening of the transatlantic alliance. We should stand together with the United States. This is what is at stake.

VOA: Some argue that the United States shouldnt direct so many resources to Ukraine and needs to ensure there are sufficient resources for potential conflict in the Indo-Pacific [caused by Chinese aggression].

Rasmussen: Obviously resources are limited, but we should never forget that the world's democracies represent more than 60% of the global GDP. If we stand together, if we are united, then we represent a formidable force, that [in turn] would create a lot of respect in Beijing.

We are faced with an array of adversaries at its strongest and most dangerous since the Second World War. We have seen an axis of autocracies emerge led by China, but joined by Russia, Iran, North Korea. Iran and North Korea are supporting Russia with missiles, with drones and in other ways. We have seen how Iran, how the proxies of Iran create instability in the Middle East. We've seen Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis who are threatening free navigation in the Red Sea. All these represent an axis of autocracies.

We in the free world have a clear interest in uniting, in standing together and countering these advancing autocracies.

VOA: How realistic is Ukraines prospect of getting an invitation to join NATO at the organizations summit to be held this July in Washington?

Rasmussen: Well, I know it would be an uphill battle. We have to discuss it carefully. We have to prepare the details, and that's why I'm in Washington, D.C., because the U.S. will be a decisive actor in all this. Without American support for this idea to invite Ukraine, its not realistic. So, we have to discuss it with American legislators.

VOA: You mentioned youll be meeting with members of the Freedom Caucus [in Congress]. What are your hopes in communicating with them?

Rasmussen: I hope to convince them that it is in the national security interest of the United States to continue to support Ukraine. It's in their interest to ensure defeat of Russia, to challenge China, which they rightly consider a major global challenge.

And I know that's domestic politics, but I hope Democrats and Republicans could agree on a package which includes support for Ukraine, support for Israel, support for Taiwan, and an agreement on dealing with the border issues and immigration issues in the United States. A package that includes those four elements, I think, would be a very, very strong political signal to the whole world.

VOA: Some say that its not just some Republicans who are concerned about sending large sums of additional aid to Ukraine, but the Biden administration is not keen on entering into hot war with Russia. What are your observations as to how Washington thinks at this moment?

Rasmussen: My observation is there is a lot of skepticism across the board in NATO. Thats why we have to work hard.

Very often I hear the argument we cannot invite Ukraine to join NATO as long as the war is going on. That is an extremely dangerous argument to use because [in doing so] you are providing Putin with a de facto veto. That is also an incentive for Putin to continue the war to keep Ukraine from joining NATO.

Finland and Sweden concluded that neutrality in the traditional sense of the word does not exist, that gray zones are danger zones; this is the reason why they applied for NATO membership, and we should make exactly the same conclusion as far as Ukraine is concerned. That is a prerequisite for a more permanent peace and stability on the European continent.

Eventually, that would also free up resources both in the U.S. and Europe, to confront the real long-term global challenge, namely China.

VOA: The commander of Ukraines Azov special forces [Denys Prokopenko] recently wrote on Twitter [X] that he and his soldiers are realizing that they must be prepared to not only commit their youth, but their whole lifetime to fighting on the frontlines for the defense of their country. Is there a point in halting the war?

Rasmussen: There is a fair chance that Ukraine can win this war, provided that we are willing to give the Ukrainians all the assistance they need, all the weapons they need.

We should immediately lift all self-imposed restrictions on our delivery of weapons.

Until now, we have given a lot to the Ukrainians. But we have given them only enough to survive. What we should do now is to give them enough to win the war. You cannot win a war by the incremental, step-by-step approach we have pursued so far. If you want to win a war, you must overwhelm and surprise your adversary. And that's exactly what we should do.
Reports from the central Russian Republic of Bashkortostan say about 1,500 protesters gathered in the regional capital, Ufa, on Friday in a rare demonstration to protest the sentencing of activist Fail Alsynov to four year is in prison this week for inciting ethnic hatred.

Video taken at the scene in Ufa  about 1,500 kilometers (930 miles) east of Moscow  by independent news outlet SOTAvision shows police scuffling with protesters and detaining some during the demonstration. The news outlet reports the protesters sang and danced in freezing weather as they called for Alsynovs release.

News reports say at least ten people were arrested.

Fridays protest follows a similar one that took place Wednesday outside the courthouse in Baymak, which is located 412 kilometers (256 miles) south of Ufa, near the border with Kazakstan, where Alsynov was sentenced. Reports from the scene say police used tear gas to disperse thousands of protesters and arrested at least nine people.

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reports Bashkortostans Ministry of Internal Affairs on Thursday issued a warning against "unsanctioned public gatherings and rallies."

Observers say the protests and rallies in Bashkortostan this week are some of the most significant since Russias 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

A prominent activist in Bashkortostan, Alsynov was charged in connection with a speech he gave in April 2023 in which he spoke against gold mining in a mountain considered to be sacred by the Bashkirs, a majority-Muslim people of Turkish descent.

Alsynov has been an active campaigner for the preservation of the Bashkir culture. In the past he has also spoken out against Russias invasion of Ukraine.

The BBC, citing local journalist Artur Asafyev, reported that authorities are trying to make an example of Alsynov by issuing a sentence tougher than the prosecutor had requested.

The BBC also reported Bashkortostan authorities have opened an investigation into some of those arrested in demonstrations this week, seeking mass demonstration charges, which can carry a sentence of 15 years in prison.

Some information for this report was provided by Agence France-Presse.
The oldest person ever to win an Oscar, renowned director James Ivory, is still making films at 95, with a documentary about his formative trip to Afghanistan in 1960.

Though American, Ivory is best-known for a string of costume dramas about the repressed emotions of Brits, including Remains of the Day and Howard's End, both starring Anthony Hopkins, and Room with a View with Daniel Day-Lewis.

In 2017, he reached a new generation with his screenplay for Call Me By Your Name starring Timothee Chalamet as a teenager discovering his sexuality, which won Ivory an Oscar at the age of 89.

But his career began as a student making films about art in Venice and South Asia.

"I was making a film in India, and it was getting hotter and hotter," he told AFP.

"I couldn't take it another minute. The backers told me to go to a cooler climate, so I went to Afghanistan. I knew nothing about it, but I went."

Decades later, his footage from Kabul has been worked into a documentary that shows a peaceful Afghanistan, before the wars and extremism that would drag it into decades of violence.

"(The footage) was amazing from the first reel, very poetic and mysterious," said Giles Gardner, a long-time collaborator who helped pull the film together after digging the footage out of Ivory's archives.

"With all we know about Afghanistan, the violence we see on the news, this idea of it as a place of beauty has been erased," he said.

The resulting film, A Cooler Climate, serves as a sort of origin story for Ivory's career, since it was immediately after returning from Afghanistan that he met producer Ismael Merchant. They became personally and professionally involved and went on to make more than 40 films together until Merchant's death in 2005.

By then their names  Merchant Ivory  had become a byword for high-quality period dramas.

Their romantic relationship was never revealed during Merchant's lifetime as he came from a conservative Indian family.

But Ivory said his own life was largely a breeze. Growing up gay in an Oregon town was fine, even idyllic, he insisted.

"I don't know why people think I had to escape anything, I was a happy young man," he said.

Still in good shape for 95, traveling between Europe and the U.S. for screenings of the documentary, he comes across as a man of few regrets, apart from the sadness at losing friends, particularly Merchant and their writing partner, novelist Ruth Prawer Jhabvala.

"I wish they were here every day," he said. "I love them. I'm a very old man now and have close friends, but I miss them very much."
Iran said on Friday that it successfully carried out an air defense drill using drones designed to intercept hostile targets in an area stretching from its southwestern to southeastern coasts, amid heightened tensions in the region.

On Thursday Pakistan launched air strikes against what it said were separatist militants inside Iran in a retaliatory attack two days after Tehran said it struck the bases of another group within Pakistani territory.

The tit-for-tat strikes were the highest-profile cross-border intrusions in recent years and have raised alarm over wider instability in the Middle East since the war between Israel and Hamas erupted on October 7.

"Iranian forces have successfully launched a new air defense method that uses drones to intercept and target hostile targets," state-run Press TV quoted an Iranian army spokesperson as saying.

The two-day drills, which began Thursday, cover an area from Abadan in southwestern Khuzestan province to Chahbahar in southeastern Sistan and Baluchistan province that borders Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Press TV said the armys air force and navy, the aerospace force and the navy of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) participated in the exercises.

Iran and Pakistan have a history of rocky relations, but both have signaled a desire to cool tensions in the wake of this week's strikes.

Against the backdrop of the war in Gaza, Iran and its militia allies around the Middle East have been carrying out attacks on Israeli and U.S. targets in the region in support of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

Iran has also launched strikes on Syria against what it said were Islamic State sites, and Iraq, where it said it had struck an Israeli espionage center.
At a dinner in the Swiss ski resort of Davos this week, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani hosted business and political leaders to showcase Iraq's improved security and finances.

As the private event was about to end, two attendees told Reuters, news reached some guests that Iran had fired ballistic missiles at what it said was an Israeli "spy headquarters" in Irbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan.

"Some people at the dinner were checking if their houses have been hit," said one guest, who asked not to be named because the dinner was closed to media.

The strikes by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in the oil and gas rich region were the most direct intervention by Iran and sparked fears of the Israel-Hamas conflict spreading in the Middle East.

While Iran's proxies, Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthi rebels who have attacked shipping in the Red Sea off Yemen, have stepped in since it began in October last year, Tehran has made it clear it wants to avoid war with Israel.

But for some at the World Economic Forum, or WEF, where the agenda was dominated by three areas of conflict in which Tehran is involved, the missile attack highlighted Iran's desire to play a role in how the war in Gaza is resolved.

"The Iranians want a seat at the table," a senior source with direct knowledge of Tehran's thinking told Reuters, explaining its actions were meant to give Iran a voice and not allow the U.S. and Israel to dictate the outcome.

"The real question is 'what is the end game for Iran and Hezbollah and now increasingly the Houthis?' They don't want Israel and the U.S. to dictate the pace of [the] Gaza war," Vali Nasr, a Middle East expert at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, said in Davos.

"One man's escalation is another man's deterrence."

Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, the only official delegate from the Islamic Republic in Davos, said Wednesday that attacks against Israel and its interests by the "Axis of Resistance" would stop if the Gaza war ends.

"I'm extremely worried. I think we have both seen spread and escalation," United Nations Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen said at a WEF panel on the Middle East two days after the strike.

"I do believe Iranians do not want further escalation. ... I think they are playing with fire," said Pedersen, who was listed on the Iranian foreign ministry's website as one of the senior officials with whom Amir-Abdollahian would meet in Davos.

Amir-Abdollahian did not respond to Reuters' questions at Davos. Iran's foreign ministry could not be reached for comment.

The United States and other Western nations accuse Tehran of supplying drones and equipment to the Houthis and Russia for its war in Ukraine, as well as funding Hamas.

Iran says it supports the Houthis but denies arming them. While publicly acknowledging selling armed drones to Russia, Tehran says it has not provided any to attack Ukraine.

Kurdistan

The Irbil strikes also reminded the world of oil exporter Iran's deep involvement in the politics of its neighbor Iraq.

The day after, a visibly upset Iraqi Kurdish Prime Minister Masrour Barzani gathered members of his delegation and some media at the Kurdish House on the Promenade in Davos.

"What's surprising  we are not a part of this conflict," Barzani told reporters. "We don't know why Iran is retaliating against civilians of Kurdistan, especially in Irbil."

A close friend of Barzani, the multimillionaire Kurdish businessman Peshraw Dizayee, was killed in the attack.

Iran defended the strikes, saying it had a "legitimate right to deter national security threats."

Baghdad has recalled its ambassador from Tehran in protest and Sudani has called the attacks a "clear aggression" against Iraq and a dangerous escalation.

Sudani's spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.

U.S. impact

Be it in Davos or elsewhere, the difficulty of establishing dialog with Iran is its involvement in conflicts via proxies.

This strategy was designed by Qaseem Soleimani, the commander of the Revolutionary Guard's foreign operations Quds force who was killed by a 2020 U.S. military strike on the Baghdad airport.

Iran promised to retaliate.

"His legacy lives on  a network of deniable but deployable arms-length proxies across the region," a Western executive working in the Middle East, who asked not to be named due to security concerns, told Reuters.

Soleimani was killed during the third year of Donald Trump's presidency. The former U.S. president exited a nuclear deal with Western powers in 2018 and imposed new sanctions on Iran.

Tehran's ability to fund wars hinges on its ability to generate enough oil revenue, and Trump threatened to sanction all buyers of Iranian oil, slowing its exports to a trickle.

Under U.S. President Joe Biden, Tehran has steeply raised oil exports. Biden's administration says it does not intend to lessen pressure on Tehran or allow its oil to reach global markets.

Tehran now exports more than 2 million barrels per day  2% of the global supply  more than half of it to close ally China.

Biden, who polls indicate is likely to face Trump in the race for the U.S. presidency later this year, has refrained from tightening sanctions on Iran.

Energy analysts say Washington is keen to avoid a gasoline price rally, a sensitive subject in an election year. Biden has also failed to persuade Iran's archrival Saudi Arabia to raise oil supply amid strained relations with Riyadh.

A top European oil executive in Davos said that if Trump returns for a second term it would be a game-changer for Iran.

"If Trump returns to the White House, he will make two phone calls. One to his 'friend Saudi' to ask for more oil. One to China to ask to stop buying Iranian oil or face a new trade war. Then, things may start to change," the executive told Reuters.
America's allies in Europe are debating how to prepare for a possible second term for Donald Trump in the White House after he secured a record win at Monday's Iowa Republican caucuses, cementing his place as front-runner to take on Joe Biden in November's election.

Questioned at a televised news conference Wednesday about the possibility of a Trump comeback, French President Emmanuel Macron said Europe must be prepared.

"I've always had the same philosophy: I take the leaders that people give me. And I commit to serve France and its interests and to dialogue with whomever. I did it with President Trump during his whole term, his first term, and we achieved results. We could still do important things together," Macron said.

"[America] shares our values. But it's a democracy that is also going through a crisis, whose top priority is its own interest, and its second priority the issue of China. As Europeans, we must be lucid about this. That's also why I want a stronger Europe that can defend itself and not depend on others," the French president told reporters in Paris.

Macron and Trump had a fractious relationship during the latter's first term in office. On the Iowa campaign trail this month, the former U.S. president appeared to mock the French leader's accent, to the delight of his supporters  a reminder of Trump's unconventional diplomatic style.

But Europe has bigger concerns than personality politics. With Russia's invasion of Ukraine descending into a bitter war of attrition, Kyiv urgently needs Western military aid.

Trump has said he would seek an immediate peace deal between Ukraine and Russia. His Republican supporters in Congress are blocking about $50 billion in military assistance for Kyiv. NATO allies are worried that aid could dry up entirely.

"The U.S. is paying a bit less than half of that share" of Western aid, said Fabrice Pothier, a former head of policy planning at NATO and now CEO of the political consultancy Rasmussen Global.

"But the U.S. has a very predominant, if not the lead role when it comes to the strategic political questions on Ukraine. So losing the U.S., in the sense of having a U.S. president who might be actually counter to Ukraine's interests and to Europe's interests, would be a major blow," he said.

In a town hall meeting last week, Trump refused to commit to U.S. membership of NATO in a second term in office when he was asked by the Fox News host.

"Depends on if they treat us properly," Trump said. "NATO has taken advantage of our country. The European countries took advantage  they took advantage of us on trade. And then they took advantage of us on our military protection."

EU Commissioner Thierry Breton claimed this month that Trump said in 2020 that the U.S. would "never help Europe if it came under attack" and that it would leave NATO. Trump officials did not comment on Breton's claim.

The former U.S. president frequently demanded that America's NATO allies spend more on their own defense. Alexander Stubb, the front-runner for the upcoming presidential election in Finland  NATO's newest member  said Trump was right.

"We need a more European NATO," Stubb told Reuters at the annual World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. "I think the Americans will not leave us alone, but it's always useful to be prepared in the situation whereby we have to take more responsibility of our own defense. And I think the Americans are right on that."

Europe is investing more in defense, including ramping up ammunition and weapons production for Ukraine. But replacing the central role the U.S. has assumed on Ukraine under President Biden would take time  something Kyiv doesn't have.
Israel was set to launch a preemptive strike against Lebanons Hezbollah militia early in its war against Hamas, but the strike was called off at the last minute

Gadi Eisenkot, a former army chief and a member of Israels war cabinet, confirmed the planned strike and its reversal in a televised interview Thursday on Israels Channel 12 TV.

Eisenkot said he believed the strike would have triggered a regional war.

He and former Defense Minister Benny Gantz were against the move.

Eisenkot argued against the strike in an October 11 meeting until he was hoarse, he said.

A Wall Street Journal report last month said that U.S. President Joe Biden called Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu and told him to stand down.

When Eisenkot was asked if his and Gantzs presence in the war room helped to prevent a bad decision, Eisenkot replied, Unequivocally.

Deteriorating health care

In Gaza on Friday, the Hamas-run health ministry said that 77 people were killed overnight and dozens more were wounded as Israel pounded the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis with airstrikes and gunfire.

Several strikes occurred near Al-Amal hospital, according to the health ministry.

The deteriorating health care in Gaza is an increasing concern, the head of the World Health Organization said.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said 24 cases of hepatitis A, an inflammation of the liver, have been detected in Gaza and several thousand people have jaundice, presumably linked to undiagnosed cases of hepatitis A.

The inhumane living conditions  almost no drinking water, clean toilets or ability to keep the surroundings clean  will allow hepatitis A to spread further, the WHO chief warned in a statement on X, formerly known as Twitter.

The inhumane conditions are making Gaza one of the most dangerous places in the world for a child, said Ted Chaiban, the deputy chief of UNICEF.

Chaiban, who spent three days in Gaza this week, said that since his last visit two months ago, the decline in conditions there is staggering. If they continue to decline, he said, we could see deaths due to indiscriminate conflict compounded by deaths due to disease and hunger, he said in a statement.

Netanyahu and Palestinian state

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday he has told the United States that he opposes Washingtons long-standing support for the creation of a Palestinian state as part of any postwar settlement of Israels war with Hamas militants.

Officials in Israels right-wing government have often expressed opposition to an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel. But Netanyahus statement at a nationally broadcast news conference appeared to be his most definitive on the issue and opened a clear public rift with the U.S., Israels key supporter in the war.

White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby dismissed the Israeli leaders statement.

"This is not a new comment by Prime Minister Netanyahu. We obviously see it differently," Kirby said.

As recently as this week, Secretary of State Antony Blinken told key political and business leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, that a "pathway to a Palestinian state" is essential for peace in the Middle East.

State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Thursday, "There is no way to solve [Israel's] long-term challenges, to provide lasting security, and there is no way to solve the short-term challenges of rebuilding Gaza and establishing governance in Gaza and providing security for Gaza without the establishment of a Palestinian state."

At his news conference, Netanyahu said, "In any future arrangement  Israel needs security control of all territory west of the Jordan River. "This collides with the idea of sovereignty. What can you do?"

Referring to Israels relations with the U.S., he added, The prime minister needs to be capable of saying no to our friends."

Israel has said it does not plan to reoccupy Gaza at the end of the war with Hamas but has refused to spell out its day-after plans for the territory.

Netanyahu said Israel has destroyed about two-thirds of Hamas' fighting regiments in the Gaza Strip during three-plus months of war and vowed to continue the war until Israel has achieved "complete victory."

"There are two stages to the fighting. The first is destroying the Hamas regiments, those are their organized combat frameworks," Netanyahu said.

"Up until now, 16 or 17 out of 24 [regiments] have been destroyed. After that, there is the [stage] of clearing the territory [of militants]. The first action is usually shorter. The second usually takes longer," Netanyahu said. Victory will take many more months, but we are determined to achieve it.

The U.S. has for weeks pressed the Jewish state to curtail its massive offensive in Gaza to sharply limit the number of civilian deaths in the narrow territory along the Mediterranean Sea.

Israel is trying to erase Hamas control of Gaza after the militants killed 1,200 people in Israel in a shock October 7 attack that also allowed Hamas to capture 240 hostages.

Israel's air and ground military operations in Gaza have leveled large areas of the territory and killed more than 24,400 Palestinians and wounded at least 60,000 others, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry.

Israel said Thursday it carried out attacks targeting militants in northern and southern Gaza, while the Health Ministry said an Israeli airstrike in Rafah killed 16 people.

The strike in Rafah, located along Gazas border with Egypt, struck a home, the Health Ministry said. Medical personnel said half of the 16 killed were children.

The Israeli military said its forces killed about 40 militants in the Khan Younis area in southern Gaza and several more militants during ground and air operations in the northern part of the strip.

Israel also said it carried out its latest airstrikes in southern Lebanon, targeting sites of the Hezbollah militant group, a Hamas ally. The Lebanon-Israel border has been the site of frequent cross-border attacks since the start of the war in Gaza.

Some information for this report was provided by The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
Nearly half of the 44 journalists imprisoned in China in 2023 were Uyghurs, according to a report released Thursday.

Data from the Committee to Protect Journalists, or CPJ  which offered a global snapshot of journalists jailed for their work as of December 1  found China had the most media workers imprisoned.

The high proportion of Uyghurs detained in the country highlights the intersection between Beijings poor press freedom record and its human rights abuses against the majority-Muslim ethnic group, analysts said.

An examination of the cases of the 19 Uyghurs held showed that critics of the Chinese government often face charges of separatism and terrorism.

The academic and blogger Ilham Tohti, for instance, this week marked 10 years in custody. The scholar, who was arrested in January 2014, is serving a life sentence for so-called separatism.

In jailing him, a court cited his interviews with foreign news outlets and his work as the founder of the Xinjiang news site Uighurbiz, which authorities shuttered in 2014.

For the Chinese government, Uyghur journalists are a dangerous group of people. They dont want them to say anything, said Zubayra Shamseden, who works at the Uyghur Human Rights Project, or UHRP, in Washington.

They [Beijing] try to crack down on Uyghur journalists particularly because they want to shut the Uyghur voice off, Shamseden told VOA.

Multiple governments, including that of the United States, have accused China of committing genocide against Uyghurs and other ethnic groups in the northwestern region of Xinjiang. The U.N. Human Rights Office has warned that Beijing may be perpetrating crimes against humanity against Uyghurs.

Beijing denies any wrongdoing in Xinjiang, which some Uyghurs prefer to call the Uyghur Region or East Turkistan.

Silencing critical reporters is often the goal behind journalist arrests, according to CPJ Chief Executive Jodie Ginsberg.

That tactic is seen across the global data CPJ collected on jailed journalists, with 320 held around the world.

The message is clear. Journalists hold the powerful to account, Ginsberg told VOA. And those in power often find that incredibly threatening.

Three out of the five new China cases in CPJs 2023 database were of reporters accused of espionage, inciting separatism or subverting state power.

Particularly in authoritarian regimes, we see this use of the law  or misuse of the law  to detain and silence journalists. And thats exactly what its intended to do. Its intended to silence critical voices, Ginsberg said.

The targeting of Uyghur reporters and bloggers parallels the persecution of other Uyghur intellectuals and cultural figures in Xinjiang.

Over 300 Uyghur and other Turkic Muslim intellectual and cultural elites have been detained in the region, according to a 2021 report by UHRP.

As a component of genocide, the assault on intellectual and cultural elites may constitute a new form of eliticide meant to exterminate Uyghur (and other) cultural identity, the UHRP report said.

Even abroad, Uyghurs  especially journalists and activists  find themselves and their close relatives harassed or intimidated in a process known as transnational repression.

For Uyghur journalists, whether they are inside China, inside East Turkistan or outside of China, it doesnt matter, Shamseden said. They [Beijing] try to put pressure on them so they dont speak out, so they dont disclose all the information that China doesnt want the world to know.

CPJs Ginsberg said the Chinese government has shown remarkable inflexibility in responding to allegations of human rights abuses.

In response to VOAs email requesting comment, a spokesperson at the Chinese Embassy in Washington rejected reports that Beijing does not respect media freedom.

The Chinese government protects press freedom in accordance with law, and gives full play to the role of media and citizens in supervising public opinion, the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson said that some in the U.S. smear and attack China, which, the person said, in itself is spreading disinformation.

Hong Kong case

Hong Kong authorities have also pushed back at Western criticism of the trial of pro-democracy publisher Jimmy Lai.

The founder of the now-shuttered Apple Daily newspaper is currently standing trial in Hong Kong under the National Security Law that China introduced in 2020.

Many view Lais case as emblematic of the rapid decline in press freedom and broader civil liberties in Hong Kong.

Jimmy Lais case is an incredibly powerful and important test of Hong Kongs commitment to a free press, Ginsberg said. Its really, really important that we see the international community speak out in support of Jimmy Lai, in support of a free press.

Lai, a British national, is accused of collusion with foreign forces under the National Security Law and sedition. If convicted, he faces up to life in prison.

Western governments and human rights groups have called for the 76-year-olds immediate release.

Lais case highlights how the Chinese government tends to use national security charges to target journalists, a trend that is mirrored globally.

That tactic was used to target Australian journalist Cheng Lei. A former anchor at the Chinese state-run TV channel CGTN, Cheng was detained in Beijing in 2020.

The reporter was later accused of illegally supplying state secrets overseas, and a closed-door national security trial took place in 2022.

Cheng was released from prison and deported to Australia in October 2023. She said she was jailed for breaking an embargo by just a few minutes.

In an interview with VOAs Mandarin Service, Cheng said despite Chinas economic growth, press freedom has only regressed.

When you are able to think enough to analyze things, to read, to change yourself, to help others, you are free, she said. I have a new appreciation for freedom.
North Korea has conducted a test of its underwater nuclear weapons system in a protest against this week's joint military drills by South Korea, the United States and Japan, state media KCNA said Friday.

The test of the "Haeil-5-23" system, a name North Korea has given to its nuclear-capable underwater attack drones, was carried out by the defense ministry's think tank in the waters off its east coast, the repor

t said, without specifying a date.

The ministry's unnamed spokesperson accused the United States, South Korea and Japan of "getting frantic" with military exercises, warning of "catastrophic consequences.

"The three countries' navies held their three-day regular drills earlier this week, alongside the U.S. aircraft carrier Carl Vinson, as part of their efforts to improve their responses to Pyongyang's evolving nuclear and missile threats.

"Our army's underwater nuke-based countering posture is being further rounded off and its various maritime and underwater responsive actions will continue to deter the hostile military maneuvers of the navies of the U.S. and its allies," the North Korean ministry spokesperson said in a statement, according to KCNA.

North Korean state television has aired previous atmospheric explosion tests, which have been monitored by U.S. and South Korean authorities, but the reported underwater weapon has not been independently verified.

Later Friday, South Korea's defense ministry issued a warning against the North's recent series of weapons tests, calling for an immediate halt.

"Our military is thoroughly prepared for North Korea's provocations under a solid joint defense posture with the United States," it said in a statement, vowing "overwhelming" responses if North Korea stages a direct provocation.

\Japan's foreign minister Yoko Kamikawa, when asked about the North's latest test at a news conference, declined to comment on "each and every one of those activities" but pledged continued efforts to curb its weapons development.

Dubbed "Haeil," which means tsunami, the new drone system was first reportedly tested in March 2023, and state media said it was intended to make sneak attacks in enemy waters and destroy naval strike groups and major operational ports by creating a large radioactive wave through an underwater explosion.

The latest reported underwater test came days after North Korea fired a new intermediate-range, solid-fuel hypersonic missile, which Washington, Seoul and Tokyo condemned as a serious violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions.

The three allies' nuclear envoys, gathered in Seoul on Thursday, also condemned Pyongyang's arms trade with Russia and increasingly hostile rhetoric, just as North Korea's foreign minister visited Moscow and met with President Vladimir Putin.
Pakistan's top civilian and military leaders will carry out a security review on Friday on the standoff with Iran, the information minister said, after the neighbors carried out drone and missile strikes on militant bases in each other's territory.

Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar will chair a meeting of the National Security Committee, with all the military services chiefs in attendance, the minister, Murtaza Solangi, told Reuters by telephone.

It aims at a "broad national security review in the aftermath of the Iran-Pakistan incidents," Solangi said. Kakar cut short a visit to the World Economic Forum in Davos and flew home Thursday.

The tit-for-tat strikes by the two countries are the highest-profile cross-border intrusions in recent years and have raised alarm about wider instability in the Middle East since the war between Israel and Hamas erupted on October 7.

However, both sides have signaled a desire to cool tensions, the highest in years, although they have had a history of rocky relations.

Iran said Thursday's strikes killed nine people in a border village in its territory, including four children. Pakistan said the Iranian attack on Tuesday killed two children.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged the two nations to exercise maximum restraint. The U.S. also urged restraint although President Joe Biden said the clashes showed that Iran is not well liked in the region.

Islamabad said it hit bases of the separatist Baloch Liberation Front and Baloch Liberation Army, while Tehran said its drones and missiles targeted militants from the Jaish al-Adl, a third group.

The targeted militant groups operate in an area that includes Pakistan's southwestern province of Baluchistan and Iran's southeastern Sistan-Baluchistan province. Both are restive, mineral-rich and largely underdeveloped.

The groups that Islamabad targeted inside Iran have been waging an armed insurgency for decades against the Pakistani state, including attacks against Chinese citizens and investments in Baluchistan.

The JAA, which Iran targeted, is also an ethnic militant group, but with Sunni Islamist leanings that primarily Shiite Iran sees as a threat.

The group, which has had links to the Islamic State group, has carried out attacks in Iran against its powerful Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Against the backdrop of the war in Gaza, Iran and its allies had been flexing their muscles in the region, even before its cross-border incursion into Pakistan.

Iran launched strikes on Syria against what Tehran said were Islamic State sites, and Iraq, where it said it had struck an Israeli espionage center.

The Iran-backed Houthi militia in Yemen have targeted shipping in the Red Sea since November, saying they are acting in solidarity with Palestinians.
PHNOM PENH, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- A Cambodian senior government official has painted a rosier picture for Cambodia-China economic and trade cooperation in 2024, saying that a steady increase in bilateral trade and investment volumes has benefited both countries and peoples.

Sok Siphana, a senior minister and chairman emeritus of the Board of Directors of the Asian Vision Institute, said 2024 is the year to implement the China-Cambodia community with a shared future in the new era and the China-Cambodia People-to-People Exchange Year.

"China-Cambodia economic and trade cooperation will continue to deepen and become a driving force for the China-Cambodia economy as well as an important driving force for sustainable social development," he told Xinhua in a recent interview.

"The potential of China-Cambodia tourism cooperation will continue to be better explored, and Cambodia's infrastructure investment will achieve a higher growth," he added.

Siphana said the construction of the "Industrial Development Corridor" and the "Fish and Rice Corridor" will achieve new developments.

He said Cambodia's economic growth is expected to rebound to 5.8 percent in 2024, citing a World Bank's recent report.

The senior minister said Cambodia and China had achieved good results in their trade and investment ties in 2023 amid declining global demand, saying that the two-way trade increased last year, as China's investment in Cambodia accounted for 66 percent of the kingdom's foreign investment sources.

He said China had been Cambodia's largest trading partner for 12 consecutive years and remained the Southeast Asian country's biggest source of foreign direct investment.

Siphana said the formal entry into force of the China-Cambodia Free Trade Agreement and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (RCEP) have injected vitality to the continued growth of the bilateral trade volume.

According to him, Cambodia's rice, cassava, bananas, mangoes, longans, peppers and other categories of high-quality agricultural products are approved to be exported to China.

Durians and bird's nest are currently undergoing market access assessment, he said, adding that China has become the largest export market for Cambodian bananas and longans.

Siphana said Cambodia is committed to maintaining its high-level diplomacy with China and supporting the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

"The BRI is an important factor in attracting more Chinese investment," he said.

The senior minister added that the BRI is deeply aligned with the first phase of Cambodia's Pentagonal Strategy, enriching the "Diamond Hexagon" cooperation framework between the two countries, as well as playing an important role in Cambodia's economic development and improvement of people's livelihood.

He highlighted flagship BRI projects in the kingdom, including the Siem Reap Angkor International Airport officially launched last November, the Phnom Penh-Sihanoukville Expressway formally put into operation in November 2022, and the ongoing construction of the second expressway from Phnom Penh to Bavet.

"A large number of infrastructure projects such as roads, bridges, airports, and ports implemented by Chinese-funded enterprises have promoted Cambodia's economic development and connectivity," Siphana said.

He added that the construction of hydropower stations and transmission grids invested by China, the construction of multiple industrial parks such as the Sihanoukville Special Economy Zone, and the construction of car tire and cement plants have improved the level of industrialization in Cambodia and created a large number of jobs and tax revenues for the kingdom.

"Investments from Chinese technology companies have also expanded Cambodia's digital economy and green economy," he said. "China and Cambodia have achieved outstanding results in jointly building a high-quality, high-level and high-standard community with a shared future. 
Russia's top diplomat on Thursday dismissed a U.S. proposal to resume a dialogue on nuclear arms control, saying it's impossible while Washington offers military support to Ukraine.

Speaking at his annual news conference, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov accused the West of fueling global security risks by encouraging Ukraine to ramp up strikes on Russian territory and warned that Moscow would achieve its goals in the conflict despite Western assistance for Kyiv.

Commenting on a U.S. proposal to resume contacts in the sphere of nuclear arms control, Lavrov described it as "unacceptable," saying that Moscow had put forward its stance in a diplomatic letter last month. He argued that for such talks to be held, Washington first needed to revise its current policy toward Russia.

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said in June that the Biden administration was ready to talk to Russia without conditions about nuclear arms control even as Russia-U.S. ties were at their lowest point since the Cold War, noting "it is in neither of our countries' interest to embark on opening the competition in the strategic nuclear forces."

But Lavrov charged that Washington's push for the revival of nuclear talks has been driven by a desire to resume inspections of Russia's nuclear weapons sites. He described such U.S. demands as "indecent" and cynical in view of Ukraine's attacks on Russian nuclear-capable bomber bases during the conflict.

He mocked the U.S. offer to resume nuclear arms dialogue, arguing that Washington's position amounts to saying, "We have declared you an enemy, but we're ready to talk about how we could look at your strategic nuclear arsenal again."

Extensive mutual inspections of nuclear weapons sites were envisaged by the New START treaty, which then-Presidents Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev signed in 2010. The inspections were halted in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic and never resumed.

Moscow participation suspended

In February 2023, Russian President Vladimir Putin suspended Moscow's participation in the treaty, saying Russia could not allow U.S. inspections of its nuclear sites at a time when Washington and its NATO allies have openly declared Moscow's defeat in Ukraine as their goal. Moscow emphasized, however, that it wasn't withdrawing from the pact altogether and would continue to respect the caps on nuclear weapons the treaty set.

The New START, the last remaining nuclear arms control pact between Russia and the United States, limits each country to no more than 1,550 deployed nuclear warheads and 700 deployed missiles and bombers. It's set to expire in 2026, and the lack of dialogue on anchoring a successor deal has worried arms control advocates.

"Amid a 'hybrid war' waged by Washington against Russia, we aren't seeing any basis, not only for any additional joint measures in the sphere of arms control and reduction of strategic risks, but for any discussion of strategic stability issues with the U.S.," he said. "We firmly link such possibility to the West fully renouncing its malicious course aimed at undermining Russia's security and interests."

The minister said Washington's push for restarting nuclear arms talks was rooted in a desire to "try to establish control over our nuclear arsenal and minimize nuclear risks for itself," but added that "those risks are emerging as a result of forceful pressure on our country."

He accused the West of blocking any talks on ending the conflict and inciting the ramping up of attacks on Russia.

"Such encouragement and the transfer of relevant weapons shows that the West doesn't want any constructive solution," Lavrov said. "The West is pushing toward the escalation of the Ukrainian crisis, and that raises new strategic risks."

Asked if tensions with the West over Ukraine could spiral into a showdown resembling the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis  when the U.S. and the Soviet Union found themselves on the edge of nuclear war  Lavrov sternly warned against encouraging Ukraine to strike targets in Russia.

He specifically accused Britain of inciting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to order such attacks, although he didn't offer any proof to back the claim.

"London is literally egging on Zelenskyy to bomb any facilities anywhere in Russia," Lavrov said.

'We will achieve' goals in Ukraine

He reaffirmed that Russia would pursue what it calls the "special military operation" regardless of Western pressure.

"We will consistently and persistently press the goals of the special military operation and we will achieve them," he said. "They should have no hope that Russia could be defeated in any way. Those in the West who fantasize about it have failed to learn history lessons."

On other foreign policy issues, Lavrov talked at length about growing influence of the Global South and argued that Western sway in international affairs was waning.

He hailed Russia-China ties, saying they were going through their "best period in history" and were stronger than a conventional military union.

Lavrov reaffirmed Moscow's call for the creation of an independent Palestinian state, describing it as the only way to ensure security for both Palestinians and Israel. He also criticized the U.S.-led attacks on Yemen, saying that "the more the Americans and the British bomb, the less desire to talk the Houthis have."
On January 5, Somalian Prime Minister Hamza Abdi Barre accused Ethiopia of plotting to annex part of his country. Warning that the Ethiopian army would return in coffins if they stepped on Somalian territory and that there would be no annexation without a bloodshed, Barre said:



Ethiopia is planning to encroach on our territory.

That is true.



On January 1, Ethiopia signed a Memorandum of Understanding, or MOU, with Somalia's breakaway region of Somaliland that grants Ethiopia access to the Red Sea port of Berbera.

While little about the MOU has been revealed to the public, Redwan Hussein, national security affairs adviser to the Ethiopian prime minister, said in a January 1 post on X that the signed MOU will pave the way for accessing a leased military base on the Red Sea.

Somaliland President Muse Bihi Abdi confirmed the information, saying that, as part of the MOU, his country will grant Ethiopia 20 kilometers (approximately 12 miles) of coastland allowing access to the Red Sea at the port of Berbera, on the Gulf of Aden, for 50 years.



Abdi did not specify how many troops Ethiopia is planning to deploy to the new base. The timeline for establishing the base is also unclear, with parties saying that the details would be revealed in [the] coming days.

A former British colony, Somaliland seceded from Somalia in 1991, declaring independence. It has not been internationally recognized, with the United Nations considering it a de jure part of Somalia based on 1960 borders.

After signing the controversial memorandum, Abdi stated that Ethiopia would be the first country to recognize Somaliland as an independent country. Ethiopia did not confirm or deny that recognition of Somaliland was part of the deal.



The pact between the two parties rattled Somalia. On January 6, Somalian President Hassan Mohamud signed a law nullifying the MOU.

On January 7, Mohamud called on Somalians to prepare for the defense of their homeland, while protest rallies against the agreement have been held in Mogadishu, Somalias capital.

In the United States, the White House and the State Department seemed to throw their weight behind Somalia, asserting that Somalias territorial integrity should be respected.



On January 3, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said the U.S. recognizes Somalias 1960 borders.



On January 16, National Security Council coordinator for strategic communications John Kirby said the U.S. is troubled by the deal between Ethiopia and Somaliland.

On January 18, Intergovernmental Authority on Development member states gathered in Entebbe, Uganda to try to diffuse a growing diplomatic crisis between Somalia and Ethiopia.



However, Somalia rejected any discussions with Ethiopia about the leasing of the Somaliland Red Sea port for military purposes.

Theres no space for mediation unless Ethiopia retracts its illegal MOU and reaffirms the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Somalia, Somalian President Mohamud said.

Ethiopia has long expressed a desire to gain access to the Red Sea.



Last October, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said in a televised address: "Ethiopia's existence as a nation is linked to the Red Sea. If we plan to live together in peace, we have to find a way to mutually share with each other in a balanced manner.



Land-locked Ethiopia lost its Red Sea ports in the 1990s after the Eritrean war of independence, which lasted three decades, from 1961 to 1991.



Abiy further stated that by 2030, Ethiopias population will reach 150 million people  who, he said, cannot live in a geographic prison.

Abiys statement raised tensions across the Horn of Africa, with some accusing him of planning to invade one of Ethiopias neighbors  Djibouti, Eritrea or Somalia.



On October 26, Abiy said that "Ethiopia would not use its soldiers to invade any of the countries," but insisted Ethiopia would assert its right to access the Red Sea, and that her power would be felt across the globe once more.
Top U.S. and Mexican officials met Friday in Washington to discuss strengthening cooperation in addressing the large numbers of migrants trying to enter the U.S. through Mexico.

"Since our last meeting, I think a very significant development is President Arevalo being inaugurated in Guatemala," said U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the start of the meeting. "This opens an important new area for quiet operation on migration between our three countries and we will continue to work together more broadly to develop regional solutions to the historic challenge that that we face."

New Guatemalan President Bernardo Arevalo has said he wants to work with the United States to expand temporary work programs for migrants there, while also increasing investment in his country's poorest areas to reduce departures.

No significant announcement is expected to be made following Friday's engagement, which Biden administration officials say continues progress made during a December 27 meeting in Mexico City.

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and White House Homeland Security Advisor Liz Sherwood-Randall also attended Friday's meeting, with Mexican Foreign Affairs Secretary Alicia Barcena leading the visiting delegation.

"We will concentrate on implementing sustainable solutions that address the root causes of migration," a U.S. State Department spokesperson said on a call with reporters Thursday.

The Mexican government has called on Washington to increase development investment in Central America to reduce migration, increase the number of temporary worker visas and other legal pathways for immigration, and ramp up repatriation flights for people who arrive in the U.S. illegally, particularly from Venezuela, as a deterrence for migrants.

The U.S. has resumed repatriation flights to Venezuela, and Mexico has done the same thing, starting in December, the most recent measure by countries in the region to address the exodus of people to the U.S. border.

"We encourage other countries to join us. We also applaud the steps that Mexico has taken, Panama, and other countries to restrict irregular migration and impose new visa controls," according to a White House National Security Council official on a call to reporters Thursday.

In May 2023, Mexico agreed to receive migrants from countries such as Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba who were removed from the U.S. border for crossing into the United States without authorization and without following established legal pathways to asylum or other forms of migration.

Venezuela is in the middle of a political and economic crisis and 7 million Venezuelans have left their home country, according to the United Nations.

Officials apprehend thousands daily

U.S. Customs and Border Protection reported 242,418 migrant encounters at the southern border in November, numbers similar to October's total of 240,986. In 2022, encounters totaled 235,173 in November and 231,529 in October.

December numbers have yet to be released, but federal border officials reported a record 11,000 apprehensions a day at the southern border in December.

"It coincided with the time when Mexican enforcement was no longer implemented. The immigration enforcement agency in Mexico was not funded, which prompted President Biden to reconnect with [Mexican] President [Andres Manual Lopez] Obrador." Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas told reporters January 10.

Border encounters dropped sharply with the beginning of the new year when enforcement resumed in Mexico.

On Thursday's call, U.S. officials said this is typically the time of year when encounters at the border decrease.

"But we also believe that the actions taken by the Mexican government are having an impact as well," the DHS official said.

Migrant wave becomes liability

The wave of migration has become a political liability for U.S. President Joe Biden ahead of the November election. He has been under immense pressure from Republicans and some members of his own party to limit border crossings, in part to ease pressure on American cities struggling to house and feed all the new arrivals.

House Republicans have linked their demands for stricter border policies  their current top domestic priority  to the request from the White House for billions of dollars in funding to support Ukraine and Israel.

"We understand that there's concern about the safety, security and sovereignty of Ukraine," House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican, told reporters after he and other congressional leaders met with Biden this week. "But the American people have those same concerns about our own domestic sovereignty and our safety and our security."

Meanwhile, former President Donald Trump, the leading Republican candidate likely to compete against Biden in the November election, has launched increasingly anti-immigrant rhetoric on the campaign trail, saying that migrants crossing the border are "poisoning the blood of our country."

A Homeland Security Department official said during Thursday's call that the U.S. and Mexico understand that more people are displaced around the world today than at any other time since World War II.

The United Nations high commissioner for refugees says at least 108.4 million people were forcibly displaced at the end of 2022 worldwide because of "persecution, conflict, violence, human rights violations, or events seriously disturbing public order."

That number "includes record numbers of individuals displaced within our own hemisphere," the DHS official said on the phone call.

"This is a challenge for us," said the official. "And it's also a challenge for our Mexican counterparts. We look forward to continuing our robust conversations with them on how we can work together to address what isn't just an American challenge or a Mexican challenge but truly a regional challenge."
Top U.S. and Mexican officials are to meet Friday in Washington to discuss strengthening cooperation and continuity in addressing the migration issues at the U.S.-Mexico border.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, and White House homeland security adviser Liz Sherwood-Randall are representing the United States, with Mexican Foreign Affairs Secretary Alicia Barcena leading the visiting delegation.

Biden administration officials said Thursday that although they do not foresee any major announcement, they expect a productive conversation that will build upon the progress made during the December 27 meeting in Mexico City.

"We will concentrate on implementing sustainable solutions that address the root causes of migration," a State Department spokesperson said on a call with reporters.

In May 2023, Mexico agreed to receive migrants from countries such as Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba who were removed from the U.S. border for crossing into the United States without authorization and without following established legal pathways to asylum or other forms of migration.

A Homeland Security Department official said during the call that the U.S. and Mexico understand that more people are displaced around the world today than at any other time since World War II.

The U.N. high commissioner for refugees says at least 108.4 million people wereforcibly displaced at the end of 2022 worldwide because of "persecution, conflict, violence, human rights violations, or events seriously disturbing public order."

"And that includes record numbers of individuals displaced within our own hemisphere. This is a challenge for us. And it's also a challenge for our Mexican counterparts. We look forward to continuing our robust conversations with them on how we can work together to address what isn't just an American challenge or a Mexican challenge but truly a regional challenge," the DHS official said on the phone call.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection reported 242,418 migrant encounters at the southern border in November, numbers similar to Octobers total of 240,986. In 2022, encounters totaled 235,173 in November and 231,529 in October.

December numbers have yet to be released, but federal border officials reported a record 11,000 apprehensions a day at the southern border in December.

"It coincided with the time when Mexican enforcement was no longer implemented. The immigration enforcement agency in Mexico was not funded, which prompted President [Joe] Biden to reconnect with [Mexican] President [Andres Manual Lopez] Obrador." Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas told reporters January 10.

Border encounters dropped sharply with the beginning of the new year when enforcement resumed in Mexico.

On Thursdays call, U.S. officials said this is typically the time of year when encounters at the border decrease.

"But we also believe that the actions taken by the Mexican government are having an impact as well," the DHS official said.

The United States has resumed repatriation flights to Venezuela, and Mexico has done the same thing, starting in December, the most recent measure by countries in the region to address the exodus of people to the U.S. border. Venezuela is in the middle of a political and economic crisis. The U.N. says 7 million Venezuelans have left their home country.

"We encourage other countries to join us. We also applaud the steps that Mexico has taken, Panama, and other countries to restrict irregular migration and visa impose new visa controls," according to a White House National Security Council official on a call.
The U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights on Friday accused Israel of detaining thousands of Palestinians in secret locations in Gaza and the West Bank and subjecting them to mistreatment that could amount to torture.

Addressing journalists in Geneva by video link from Gaza, Ajith Sunghay, OHCHR representative in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, said he met a number of released detainees who said theyd been held by Israel Defense Forces for between 30 and 55 days.

Getting to the bottom of numbers has been extremely difficult, but we have heard that it runs into the thousands, said Sunghay.

They described being beaten, humiliated, subjected to ill treatment and to what may amount to torture, he added. There are reports of men who were subsequently released  but only in diapers, without any adequate clothing in this cold weather.

Sunghay also said the released detainees reported being blindfolded for long periods  some of them for several consecutive days, and that most said they were taken at some time into Israel, although they could not determine specifically where.

OHCHR spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani said that her agency had been in touch with Israeli authorities regarding allegations of abuse.

We have raised our concerns with the Israeli authorities about ill treatment, which would amount to torture of detainees in the occupied Palestinian territory repeatedly prior to October 7 and since then.

Unfortunately, we have not received any response, she said.

VOA contacted the Israeli mission in Geneva for comment but did not get a response.

Militant group Hamas attacked southern Israel on October 7, killing an estimated 1,200 people, mostly Israelis, and abducting 250 people as hostages. The brutal assault elicited a fierce response by Israeli forces, which, according to Gazas Hamas-run Health Ministry, has killed more than 24,000 people  70% of them women and children  and injured at least another 60,000.

OHCHR said Israel must ensure that all those arrested or detained are treated in line with international norms and standards of humanitarian law, and that all instances of abuse are investigated.

The U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, UNRWA, has estimated that 1.7 million people are internally displaced, most crammed into overcrowded makeshift shelters in southern Gaza.

Hospitals in dire situation

The World Health Organization reports only 15 of Gazas 36 hospitals are partially functional, and those that are open are suffering from extreme shortages of medicines, supplies and staff.

Due to the lack of access to hospitals, 60,000 pregnant women are at risk of not receiving adequate care in case of complications, said OCHAs latest status report.

It also said hundreds of cases of miscarriages and premature births have been reported since the outbreak of hostilities, an assessment confirmed by the U.N. Childrens Fund, UNICEF.

Mothers face unimaginable challenges in accessing adequate medical care, nutrition and protection before, during and after giving birth, said Tess Ingram, UNICEF communication specialist, speaking from Amman, Jordan.

These conditions put mothers at risk from miscarriages, stillbirths, preterm labor, maternal mortality and emotional trauma. Seeing newborn babies suffer, while some mothers bleed to death, should keep us all awake at night, she said. Knowing two very young Israeli children abducted on the 7th of October have still not been released should also keep us awake.

Israel rejects criticisms that the Israel Defense Forces are targeting Palestine civilians by attacking hospitals in Gaza.

In a news conference October 27, Israeli army spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagai said, In this war, all options are on the table. He said that Hamas has turned hospitals into command-and-control centers and hideouts for Hamas terrorists and commanders as justification for possible airstrikes on hospitals.

Reuters reported that Israel raided Al-Shifa hospital on November 15, saying that it had found a command center and weapons and combat gear belonging to Hamas in Gazas biggest hospital.

Ingram said Friday that nearly 20,000 babies had been born into war in the 105 days of escalating fighting in the Gaza Strip.

That is a baby born into this horrendous war every 10 minutes, she said. Becoming a mother should be a time for celebration. In Gaza, it is another child delivered into hell.
The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said Friday the worst flooding in six decades in the Republic of Congo has left more than 350,000 people in need of humanitarian assistance.

Speaking at a news conference at agency headquarters in Geneva, OCHA spokesman Jens Laerke told reporters flooding caused by heavy rains late last year created an unprecedented situation in which nine of the countrys 12 provinces were underwater, affecting 1.8 million people.

Laerke said the floods have left communities without shelter or access to primary health services. Villages, schools and health facilities have been flooded and many water points and sanitation facilities are no longer functional," he said.

The OCHA assessment indicated more than 350,000 people in the country need emergency assistance but the agency spokesman said many of the villages can be accessed only by boat or canoe.

Laerke said the U.N. has allocated $3.6 million from its central emergency response fund to address the nations most pressing needs. He also appealed to the international community for additional funds to address the crisis.

Above average rainfall during the last half of 2023 in the Republic of Congo, the neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya and other central and east African nations caused devastating flooding and left hundreds dead and thousands homeless.

Officials have blamed an El Nino weather pattern for the unusually heavy rainfall in the region.

Some information for this report was provided by Agence France-Presse.
The U.S. ambassador to Russia on Thursday visited American journalist Evan Gershkovich at Lefortovo Prison in Moscow.

Following Ambassador Lynne Tracys visit, the U.S. Embassy in Moscow said that Gershkovich remains resilient and is grateful for the support of friends, family and supporters.

We continue to call for Evans immediate release, the embassy said in a statement on its Telegram channel.

Gershkovich, a reporter for the Wall Street Journal, has been detained for nearly 10 months on espionage charges that he denies.

He is one of two American journalists detained by Russia in 2023. The other, Alsu Kurmasheva, works with VOAs sister network Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty in Prague and was detained while in Russia to see family.

While the U.S. State Department declared Gershkovich wrongfully detained shortly after his arrest, it has still not made that designation for Kurmasheva, who has spent more than 90 days in custody.

The Journal welcomed the latest consular visit as important for Evan and his family."

We appreciate the U.S. governments ongoing support for his well being, the newspaper said in a statement.

In the nearly 10 months since Gershkovich was jailed, the Russian government has not publicly provided evidence to back up the spying allegations against the reporter. He is being held in pretrial detention and will remain in custody until at least the end of January.

At a panel at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Wednesday, Gershkovichs mother, Ella Milman, told Journal editor-in-chief Emma Tucker that her son was doing the best that he can under the circumstances, and the circumstances are very hard.

Russias Washington embassy did not immediately reply to VOAs email requesting comment.

While Gershkovich approaches 10 months in jail, fellow American journalist Kurmasheva this week passed the three-month mark.

The dual U.S.-Russian citizen wrote a letter to her friends and colleagues, part of which her husband posted on the social media platform X.

You admire my courage in coming [to Russia] at such a time. But we live in the present, and we wont have any other time. Time will, of course, exist, but someone close to you, someone who needs your help, may no longer be there, Kurmasheva wrote.

No one will give me back the three months of my life that Ive now spent where I shouldnt be. I am responsible for my family. For my young children, for my elderly mother, Kurmasheva said.

Today, Im looking at your postcards with images of open doors and windows. You are strong and confident. You will definitely find the right answers to your questions. Open doors for yourself and others; dont be afraid of it. I am very grateful to you, Kurmasheva said.

An editor at RFE/RLs Tatar-Bashkir service, Kurmasheva traveled to Russia in May 2023 for a family emergency. Her passports were confiscated when she tried to leave the country in June, and she was waiting for her passports to be returned when authorities detained her in October.

Kurmasheva was initially charged with failing to register as a foreign agent, but Russian authorities in December added an additional charge of spreading false information about Russias military.

Kurmasheva and her outlet reject the charges, which carry a combined sentence of up to 15 years in prison. She will be held in pretrial detention until at least February.

Her husband, Pavel Butorin, called for her release in a post on X.

The Russian government must drop its absurd charges against Alsu, release her from detention, and allow her to leave Russia and return to her family, he wrote.

Butorin is the director of Current Time TV, a Russian-language TV and digital network led by RFE/RL in partnership with VOA.

Since Kurmashevas jailing, her employer and press freedom groups have urged the U.S. State Department to declare Kurmasheva wrongfully detained, which would open additional resources to help secure her release.

When asked about why Kurmasheva has not been declared wrongfully detained, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller on Thursday told reporters, I would say that it is a case that we continue to focus an enormous amount of attention on. Its something we continue to look into.

And as I have said a number of times, that just because we have not made a wrongful detention determination at any point does not indicate anything about the work that we are doing or about what our future posture may be, Miller said.

The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists on Thursday ranked Russia as the fourth-worst jailer of journalists in the world for 2023, with 22 reporters behind bars. Of those, 12 are foreign nationals.

In addition to Kurmasheva and Gershkovich, the other 10 foreign reporters are Ukrainian.

Paul Beckett, a Washington-based assistant editor at the Journal who is leading the newspapers campaign to secure Gershkovichs release, told VOA that the disproportionate number of foreign journalists held by Moscow shows the antipathy that they have toward independent reporting.
The names of two U.S. citizens came up in the trial of Apple Daily founder Jimmy Lai in Hong Kong this week as the prosecution brought forward its first witness in the landmark national security case.

Lai has been charged with conspiracy to collude with foreign forces under the Hong Kong National Security Law, among other crimes.

Lai has pleaded not guilty. Following this weeks testimony from a former colleague at the newspaper, the two Americans named, Mark Simon and Mark Clifford, said the allegations that came up in testimony were just normal journalistic work.

In court on Wednesday, Cheung Kim-hung, the former publisher of Apple Daily, appeared as an accomplice witness. In his testimony, Cheung said that Lai sought out writers for the popular, now-defunct tabloid through introductions from Simon, his personal assistant, and Clifford, a former director of the newspapers parent company, Next Digital.

Simon told VOA Cantonese that he has written English columns for publications owned by Next Digital for more than 10 years and has also invited others to write opinion pieces for Apple Daily, including two Nobel Prize winners in economics, Vernon L. Smith and father of the euro Robert Mundell.

It wasnt uncommon. its basically journalism. I mean, thats what it is, its basically journalism management, he told VOA Cantonese. I don't really know where they [the prosecution] are going with this. It seems to me like, the issue is a newspaper being a newspaper.

Simon said he first met Cheung in 2001 and considered him a friend.

The human tragedy here of a man being turned against his friend and his boss, its horrific to see, Simon said. I mean this is very painful for a lot of people to watch. And so, it's a tragedy to watch. With the system, you know, he cut a deal, and I guess hes saying what hes going to say.

When the prosecution made its opening statement for the trial, it said Lai had a broad international network and named many foreign political and business figures who had contact or links with him. Simon was one of those named as a co-conspirator.

The prosecution also mentioned Clifford, saying that he attended Lai's online talk show in October 2020 that discussed Washingtons sale of weapons to Taiwan.

Clifford, who is currently the president of the Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation, issued a statement acknowledging that he helped find writers for Apple Daily.

Yes, I, too, plead guilty of practicing journalism. However, it was Kim-hung and his colleagues, working with Jimmy, who deserve the accolades for everything they did to advance the cause of freedom and democracy in Hong Kong in the 26 years they ran the citys most important newspaper, wrote Clifford.

Clifford said that there was nothing in Cheungs testimony that suggested Lai broke the law. He added that Lai was only advocating for freedom and democracy, which was promised by China under the Basic Law, the de facto constitution that governs the territory.

Clifford said he did not feel anger but immense sorrow at Cheung's testimony. He said Lai and other defendants should be released immediately.

Kim-hung and five colleagues have been held as hostages almost three years, since authorities forced Apple Daily to shut in mid-2021. They have pled guilty but remain behind bars, denied bail, so that they can be used as bit players in the ongoing show trial against Jimmy Lai, he wrote. None of us know how we would react if put under the sort of strain that Kim-hung and others have endured.

We all like to think we would be as brave and honorable in sticking to our principles as Jimmy Lai has been. Thankfully, most of us will never be tested like this.

Britain and the United States have called for Lais release and said the case is politically motivated. Hong Kong officials say Lai will receive a fair trial.

Following massive public protests in 2019, authorities in China set up a National Security Law for Hong Kong in a bid to restore stability. The law punishes acts of subversion, secession, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces with up to life imprisonment, a penalty Lai could face if found guilty.

Lais trial began on December 18 and is being overseen by three judges: Esther Toh, Susana Maria DAlmada Remedios and Alex Lee. There is no jury.

Cheung has also been charged with conspiracy to collude with foreign forces. He pled guilty with five other defendants in November 2022. Mitigation and sentencing for the six will be conducted after Lai's trial.

When the six pled guilty, the International Federation of Journalists issued a statement condemning the arbitrary legal persecution of Apple Daily staff and urged Hong Kong authorities to drop all charges against the media workers immediately.

Aleksandra Bielakowska, Asia-Pacific Bureau Advocacy Officer for Reporters Without Borders, told VOA Cantonese that the latest developments in the case against Lai are deeply worrying and further demonstrate the spurious nature of charges against the Apple Daily founder.

Targeting human rights defenders in other parts of the world as co-conspirators for simply doing their jobs, and now having on stand witnesses who have been held hostage in jail for more than three years, is showing the true extent of the arbitrariness of proceedings Lai is facing, she said.

Cheung Kim-hung has been held in custody together with his Apple Daily colleagues simply as the hostages that are being used against Jimmy Lai. Cheung and other detained media staff have been put through an ordeal which is hard to imagine and that none should ever endure.

Bielakowska said that recent developments in the trial show how China will do anything in its power to crush press freedom in Hong Kong.

It is not Jimmy Lai as an individual on the trial, it is his media, journalists and press freedom, a principle that shouldn't be crushed but protected as enshrined in the Basic Law, she said.
Iranian-backed Houthi terrorists launched two anti-ship ballistic missiles at a U.S.-owned ship in the Gulf of Aden, the U.S. Central Command said in a statement late Thursday.

The statement said the crew saw the missiles land in the water near the ship. There were no reported injuries or damage to the ship, the M/V Chem Ranger, a Marshall Island-flagged, U.S.-owned, Greek-operated tanker ship, U.S. Central Command said.

Yemen's Houthi rebels said they had carried out the attack, claiming "direct hits," a statement on the group's social media said.

On Thursday, U.S. forces carried out more strikes against targets inside Iranian-backed, Houthi-controlled territory in Yemen, as concerns grow that the Israel-Hamas conflict could expand into a full-blown war across the Middle East.

"We don't seek war. We don't think that we are at war. We don't want to see a regional war," Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh told reporters on Thursday.

Singh said Thursdays airstrikes were launched by F-18 fighter jets in "self-defense," destroying two anti-ship missiles that were still on the ground but aimed into the southern Red Sea, posing an imminent threat to merchant vessels and U.S. Navy ships in the region.

It marked the fifth time the U.S. struck Houthi targets inside Yemen in the past week.

"It's up to the Houthis to decide when they want to stop," she told reporters. "How much cost are they willing to incur every time they disrupt commercial trade?"

The airstrikes came hours after U.S. Navy ships used Tomahawk missiles late Wednesday to strike 14 Houthi missiles in western Yemen, according to U.S. Central Command.

The military said those missiles had been loaded to be fired.

"The actions by the Iranian-backed Houthi terrorists continue to endanger international mariners and disrupt the commercial shipping lanes in the southern Red Sea and adjacent waterways," said General Michael Erik Kurilla, USCENTCOM commander.

"We will continue to take actions to protect the lives of innocent mariners, and we will always protect our people," Kurilla said.

In an earlier round of strikes, British forces joined U.S. forces to target Houthi sites in Yemen in response to attacks and threats to vessels in the Red Sea.

On Wednesday, a one-way attack drone launched from the Houthi-controlled part of Yemen struck the Marshall Islands-flagged, U.S.-owned and -operated M/V Genco Picardy in the Gulf of Aden.

The ships operator reported damage, but no injuries from the attack.

A spokesperson for Indias navy said Thursday an Indian destroyer responded to a distress call from the M/V Genco Picardy and provided assistance to the crew of 22 people, which included nine Indians. An explosive ordnance disposal specialist also inspected the damaged area and rendered it safe for the ship to travel to port.

Jeff Seldin and Chris Hannas contributed to this report.
The U.S. military pounded Houthi missile launchers in Yemen for the sixth time in the past seven days on Friday, with the White House defending the action as necessary to protect merchant ships and U.S. Navy vessels in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.

White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters the United States launched three strikes to destroy "Houthi missile launchers that were ready to launch attacks."

A U.S. official, speaking to VOA on the condition of anonymity, said the latest U.S. strikes, like the previous round on Thursday, were carried out by U.S. F-18 fighter jets.

U.S. officials have declined to describe the series of strikes against the Houthis as tit for tat, but the latest action came just a day after the Iranian-backed terror group launched two anti-ship ballistic missiles at a U.S.-owned ship in the Gulf of Aden.

A statement Thursday from U.S. Central Command, which oversees U.S. forces in the region, said the crew of the M/V Chem Ranger, a Marshall Island-flagged, U.S.-owned, Greek-operated tanker ship, saw the missiles land in the water near the ship. There were no reported injuries or damage to the ship.

Yemens Houthi rebels said they had carried out the attack, claiming direct hits, the group said on social media.

In addition to the dozens of Houthi attacks on international shipping lanes, there have been more than 140 attacks by Iranian-backed proxies against U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria since the October 7 Hamas terror attack.

Earlier Thursday, U.S. forces carried out more strikes against targets inside Houthi-controlled territory in Yemen, as concerns grew that the Israel-Hamas conflict could expand into a full-blown war across the Middle East.

"We don't seek war. We don't think that we are at war. We don't want to see a regional war," Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh told reporters.

Singh said Thursdays airstrikes destroyed two anti-ship missiles that were still on the ground but aimed into the southern Red Sea, posing an imminent threat to merchant vessels and U.S. Navy ships in the region.

"It's up to the Houthis to decide when they want to stop, she told reporters. How much cost are they willing to incur every time they disrupt commercial trade?

Late Wednesday, U.S. Navy ships used Tomahawk missiles to strike 14 Houthi missiles in western Yemen, according to U.S. Central Command.

The Houthis have said they are acting in solidarity with Palestinians amid Israels war against Hamas militants in Gaza and have carried out more than 30 attacks in the Red Sea.

However, the Houthis have launched attacks on ships with no apparent connection with Israel, resulting in some shipping firms avoiding the shipping lanes where the Houthis have launched attacks.

U.S. defense officials say the Houthis have carried out at least 31 attacks on ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden since November 19 of last year.

Major shipping companies have responded by rerouting vessels on the longer and more expensive route around Africa. The Red Sea route is a vital shipping link between Europe and Asia, carrying about 15% of the worlds maritime traffic.

But a senior Houthi official said Friday that Chinese and Russian vessels would have safe passage through the Red Sea.

Mohammed al-Bukhaiti, a member of the Houthi political leadership, said in an interview with the Russian outlet Izvestia that the shipping lanes around Yemen were safe for ships from China and Russia to use as long as the vessels were not connected with Israel, Agence France-Presse reported Friday.

Bradley Bowman, the senior director of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies' Center on Military and Political Power, criticized the administrations approach to the Houthi attacks, saying that knocking out existing missiles in Yemen without a comprehensive effort to counter Iranian weapons is like cleaning up puddles in your home while ignoring the leak in the roof.

Meanwhile, a U.S. defense official confirmed to VOA that a drone crashed near Balad Air Base in Iraq at 7:20 p.m. on Thursday. Iraqi Security Forces recovered the MQ-9 Reaper drone, and an investigation into the cause of the crash was underway, but an Iraqi source told VOA the drone was downed by Iranian-backed militants.

Some information for this report came from Reuters and Agence France-Presse.
ISTANBUL, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- Turkiye launched on Friday three domestically produced warships and an unmanned naval vessel at a ceremony in the northwestern Yalova province.

Speaking at the delivery ceremony at the Sefine Shipyard, Turkiye's premier shipyard, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the vessels would contribute to strengthening the country's naval power.

"We do not only build the ships. We can produce sensors, payloads, weapons and ammunition domestically and indigenously in the ships we build," he said, adding Turkiye has reached a localization rate of up to 80 percent in shipbuilding projects.

The Turkish leader stated that Turkiye's next target is to become a fully independent country in the defense industry.

Among the warships delivered are Turkiye's first frigate, TCG Istanbul, a marine supply combat support ship, TCG Derya, and a logistic support ship, TCG Arif Ekmekci.

Marlin Sida, an unmanned naval vessel produced by Turkiye's leading defense company, Aselsan, and Sefine Shipyard, has been equipped with high electronic warfare capability. 
The Biden administration appears unswayed from its emerging vision for a postwar Gaza Strip despite Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus rejection Thursday of a key element of that plan  the establishment of a Palestinian state.

The White House hopes at the same time to broker a normalization of relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia, a long-sought prize with broad economic and security implications for the region.

But Netanyahu turned his back on the scheme at a nationally broadcast news conference Thursday, insisting on Israeli security control over all of what now comprises the Palestinian territories.

"This collides with the idea of sovereignty," he said. "What can you do?"

National Security Council spokesman John Kirby brushed off the remark.

"This is not a new comment by Prime Minister Netanyahu. We obviously see it differently," he said to reporters Thursday onboard Air Force One. "We believe that the Palestinians have every right to live in an independent state with peace and security."

Netanyahu said he had informed the Biden administration of his position, highlighting deep divisions between the Israeli government and the staunchest backer of its military campaign against Hamas in the Palestinian enclave.

Washington has urged Israel to scale back its offensive, which has killed more than 24,000 people in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry. The October 7 attack by Hamas killed 1,200 people in Israel  the bloodiest episode for Israel in the decadeslong conflict.

Biden administration officials have been increasingly public with their pressure on Israel, with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken warning that without a pathway to a two-state solution, Arab countries won't be involved in rebuilding Gaza.

"If Israel wants its Arab neighbors to make the tough decisions necessary to help ensure its lasting security, Israeli leaders will have to make hard decisions themselves," Blinken told reporters in Tel Aviv after meeting with the Netanyahu war Cabinet earlier this month.

Israel-Saudi normalization

The U.S.-Israel rift comes as more details emerge about the Biden administration's push for a normalization agreement between Israel and Saudi Arabia in exchange for a pathway toward Palestinian statehood.

"The strategy post-October 7 is that we want to see normalization [between Israel and Saudi Arabia] tied to a political horizon for the Palestinians," White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said this week at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. "As we respond to this crisis, we are actively pursuing a pathway to normalization and integration with our regional partners."

Washington has been working on the framework since before the October 7 attacks, avoiding direct negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians but pushing for a regional deal instead. The approach is an extension of the Trump administration's Abraham Accords that secured normalization with some Arab states. Biden's approach, however, adds a political horizon for Palestinians.

U.S. officials and lawmakers have met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in recent weeks with the same goal of reaching a framework to end the Israel-Hamas war and work toward Palestinian self-governance in Gaza.

Sullivan laid out four principles guiding the U.S. vision for a postwar Gaza: that the Palestinian enclave never again become a launch pad for terror attacks on Israel; peaceful relations between Israel and its Arab neighbors; an independent Palestinian state; and security assurances for Israel.

Possible exit strategy?

Netanyahu and far-right members of his government have for months dismissed the idea of a Palestinian state. Some, including National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, are advocating for full control of Gaza and the expulsion of Palestinians.

However, with the military campaign costing Israel an estimated $220 million a day and waning international support, Netanyahu may be looking for an exit strategy.

Normalization could be seen as a political win for the embattled prime minister, who is facing corruption trials and charges of sidestepping accountability for failing to prevent the attack by Hamas despite warnings from Israeli intelligence.

"It could provide some cover, said Virginia Page Fortna, a professor of U.S. foreign and security policy at Columbia University whose research focuses on the postwar durability of peace.

"But the signs I have seen are that he has no incentive to try to end the war quickly," she told VOA. "It's really the U.S. pressure that would be making a difference, not the carrot of normalization."

While Riyadh keeps its eye on what it considers the prime reward for normalization  a defense treaty with the U.S. to protect it against Iran  the kingdom has suspended normalization talks as images of mounting Palestinian deaths inflame the Arab world.

Also from Davos, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan said that while his country is still interested in a normalization deal, it "can only happen with a Palestinian state" and that a cease-fire is a "starting point for peace."

Washington remains opposed to various international calls for a cease-fire in Gaza, saying it will allow Hamas to regroup.
By Leo Black via SWNS

A police officer finished a food delivery for a DoorDash driver after she was injured in a crash.

Officer Anthony Johnson from the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department in Indiana, offered to finish the delivery after attending the collision.

He completed the delivery 43 minutes later.

In a video released by the police department, officer Johnson can be seen handing the food to a very bewildered and thankful customer.

He can be heard saying: "Your driver, she was involved in a car accident. It's probably cold."

He added: "I told her I would deliver it for her. I went to the wrong house at first and luckily they were honest with me.

"I just wanted to make sure it got to you."

The DoorDash driver was taken to hospital to be treated for chest and hand pain.

The incident happened on Dec. 15, 2023.
French Ambassador to Moscow Pierre Levy (photo) was summoned by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

The Russian Federation expects to hear his explanation regarding the presence of French mercenaries in Ukraine. Several dozen of them were killed in Kharhiv/Kharhov just a few days ago.

This summer, MP Frederic Mathieu (LFI party) interrogated Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin about the presence of 400 French mercenaries in Ukraine, including some one hundred far-right activists. The parliamentarian had alerted to the danger these men would pose when they returned to France.

The Russian Federation did not summon the ambassadors of the states from which other mercenaries hailed from. Moreover, Moscow suspects Paris of having sent regular soldiers embedded with its mercenaries to support the regine in Kiev.
The Russian Duma will address the French Parliament regarding the presence of French mercenaries in Ukraine.

Officially, France is not engaged in military operations in Ukraine, but supports the latter by providing it with weapons. If French soldiers were involved in the fighting, the French Republic would be at war with the Russian Federation.

It would seem that the Duma is intent on disclosing the presence of French Special Forces, which are in Ukraine without authorization from the French Parliament.

Article 35 of the French Constitution stipulates stipulates as follows:

The Government informs Parliament of its decision to have the armed forces intervene abroad, at the latest three days after the beginning of said intervention. It specifies the objectives pursued. This information may give rise to a debate which is not followed by any vote.

When the duration of the intervention exceeds four months, the Government submits its extension to Parliament for authorization. It may request the National Assembly to make the final decision."
China plays a key role in boosting global economic growth, WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said Thursday in an exclusive interview during the World Economic Forum in Davos.

Produced by Xinhua Global Service
The horror movies were watching at midnight, a Kristen Stewart double feature, and the Lucy Liu and Julia Fox team-up of our dreams  heres what were watching at Sundance this year. Photo-Illustration: Vulture; Photos: Will Stone, 2AM, A24, Neon

Festival season has officially begun, because festival season is all year long and one of the worlds leading independent film festivals takes place in January for some reason. Last night marked the start of the 40th annual Sundance Film Festival, and it is putting on all kinds of programming to commemorate the fests history, like a 4K restoration of Napoleon Dynamite, which premiered in Park City 20 years ago.

That means we are currently as far in the future from Napoleon Dynamite as Napoleon Dynamite was from the first time Robert Redford helmed Sundance in 1984. Napoleon Dynamite is the fulcrum on which the modern history of independent cinema hinges.

Twenty years from now, what film from the 2024 lineup will we look back on as a fulcrum? Here are the 21 movies were most excited to see.

As We Speak

This years Sundance has a number of films that look at the nexus between music and politics, and this is one of the more intriguing titles among them. Director J.M. Harpers film follows Bronx hip-hop artist Kemba as he explores how rap lyrics are used as evidence in criminal cases, a subject with a long but little-known history.

Between the Temples

The prolific independent director Nathan Silvers work has received more and more attention in recent years, and now he makes his Sundance debut with this comedy starring Jason Schwartzman as a depressed cantor and the great Carol Kane as an older woman who wants to finally have her bat mitzvah. That sounds pretty high concept, but Silvers loose, artfully improvisatory style  hes more Fassbinder than Apatow  will certainly result in something more unpredictable. Plus this director should work wonders with two actors as delightfully weird as Schwartzman and Kane.

Devo

Rock docs have proliferated to an almost uncontrollable degree over the past decade or so, and one approaches each new film about some classic band with a certain degree of trepidation: Will this be just another promo feature or will I actually learn something? However, the New Wave band Devo was always something of an enigma, and many of us Generation-X kids had a million questions about who they were and why they were  like that. Turns out their roots lay in the Kent State massacre of 1970. So thats interesting! Meanwhile, director Chris Smith, whos also made films about Wham! and the Fyre Festival (and who had one of the all-time great Sundance breakouts with American Movie way back in 1999) is a sure hand at these things.

Frida

There have been many films featuring Frida Kahlo over the years  documentaries, narratives, total fictions, and assorted hybrids  but heres one that presents her life and career solely on her terms. Carla Gutierrezs film uses Kahlos own paintings, visual diaries, letters, and interviews to re-create Kahlo as an artist and a person. It sounds as much like an animated film as a documentary, and given the artists magnificently unorthodox work and tumultuous life, it promises to be quite distinctive.

In a Violent Nature

Horror movies arent what first come to mind when thinking of Sundance, but the festival has a long and rich tradition of horror breakouts, often from its Midnight section. (Think It Follows, Hereditary, The Babadook, The Pact, and others.) Could this Shudder production, described as an ambient slasher movie about a monster stalking the woods, be the one that gets noticed this year? The idea of a schlockfest crossed with arty, immersive stylization sounds a bit too intriguing to resist.

Nocturnes

Admittedly, not everybodys ears will immediately perk up at hearing the words a contemplative documentary about people who spend their nights studying moths in the Eastern Himalayas. But for some of us, this sort of thing is our love language. A couple of years ago, Shaunak Sens All That Breathes, a gorgeous and mesmerizing look at two brothers working to save Delhis black-kite bird population, premiered at Sundance to great acclaim. Could Anirban Dutta and Anupama Srinivasans film achieve something similar?

The Outrun

Saoirse Ronan had Foe in 2023, and shes continued to work steadily, but it does seem like weve seen less of her in recent years. In Nora Fingscheidts latest, adapted from Amy Liptrots memoir, Ronan plays a woman who returns to Scotlands Orkney Islands to recover from her past and a turbulent life. The peculiar combination of Saoirse Ronan and striking landscapes has never really failed us before, which makes this one of the more exciting titles at this years festival.

Presence

Lucy Liu and Julia Fox star in a David Koeppscripted Steven Soderbergh film about a suburban house inhabited by a mysterious entity. Thats an exciting proposition even in a perfect vacuum, but theres also this: The incredibly prolific Soderbergh is a filmmaker who often does his best work when hes riffing on genre, trying out original ideas within familiar parameters. So is this a thriller? A horror movie? A domestic drama? Or something weve never seen before?

Soundtrack to a Coup dEtat

The Belgian filmmaker Johan Grimonprez is a brilliant manipulator of archival footage to both narrative and critical ends; he can take existing images and reedit them to tell new stories while interrogating the power of doing so. The results are usually both incisive and hugely entertaining. (Double Take, his 2009 psychological thriller, starring Alfred Hitchcock, must be seen to be believed.) His latest documentary threads the rise and fall of Patrice Lumumba  Congos first democratically elected prime minister, who was ousted with the help of western nations  with the U.S. governments attempts to use Black jazz musicians as goodwill ambassadors. Its a rich, complicated, and intensely troubling history, seemingly tailor-made for Grimonprezs dense, textured filmmaking style.

Suncoast

This sounds extremely Sundance-y: a coming-of-age comedy-drama set in and around a Florida hospice, starring Laura Linney, Nico Parker, Matt Walsh, and Woody Harrelson. Parker plays a high-schooler whose brother is in end-of-life care at the same facility where the notorious real-life Terry Schiavo right-to-life case is unfolding. Harrelson plays a Christian activist protesting the Schiavo situation who bonds with our young heroine and dispenses wisdom. That sounds like an easy cryfest, but this is high-level-of-difficulty stuff. On the one hand, you could really drown in sentiment; on the other, you could be too frivolous or whimsical with a tragic subject. If director Laura Chinn (who based the film partly on her own experiences) can pull it off, Suncoast could really be something.

War Game

After the events of January 6, 2021, a bipartisan group of veterans, national-security officials, and former lawmakers came together for a role-playing exercise in which an organized group of right-wing militants attempted to undo an election and overthrow the government. Tony Gerber and Jesse Mosss film follows this coup exercise from all sides, charting how the crisis unfolds and the government response. So its a documentary crossed with a political thriller, which sounds quite nerve-racking. But will it have anything new to teach us after we all experienced the real January 6 on our TVs? This could prove to be one of the more politically pertinent films coming out of this years festival.

Seeking Mavis Beacon

Chances are if you learned how to type in the late 80s through the early 2000s, you learned it from Mavis Beacon. But the chic, modern woman who lent her image to millions of copies of educational software was never real; she was a mascot created by by software developers and modeled by Haitian-born Renee LEsperance, who was paid a flat fee for a one-day photo shoot in the late 1980s and hasnt been heard from since 1995. Filmmaker Jazmin Jones seeks to find LEsperance in her hybrid documentary Seeking Mavis Beacon, exploring themes of the consumption of marginalized bodies in the tech industry in the process. The story feels especially interesting at a time when were all under threat of our likenesses being co-opted for digital corporate use (SAG-strike throwback). Plus: This doc definitely has the coolest website of any movie playing at the festival.

Winner

Director Susanna Fogel returns to Sundance for a second year in a row to wipe the taste of her Nicholas Braunstarring Cat Person adaptation out of our mouths. In a hard swerve from that and Booksmart (which she co-wrote), Fogels new film, Winner, stars Emilia Jones as Reality Winner, the young NSA translator who was arrested by the Trump administration at age 26 under the Espionage Act for leaking documents regarding Russian interference in the 2016 election. Winners a fascinating subject, not just because of the famous leak but because shes a character, a multilingual Texan vegan millennial CrossFit-instructing Air Force vet. The cast is rounded out by Danny Ramirez, Zach Galifianakis, Connie Britton, and Kathryn Newton, so the films government espionage will be cut through with a good deal of humanity and quirk.

Your Monster

In this house, we support Melissa Barrera, so well be showing up for Your Monster, a dark rom-com about an actress (Barrera) who falls in love with a charming, roguish monster (Tommy Dewey) living in her closet. Your Monster comes from first-time writer-director Caroline Lindy, adapting a short film that made the festival circuit in 2020. This midnight flick will also have a dash of musical whimsy, so now were picturing an indie Beauty and the Beast, if Belle and the Beast lived in Hoboken.

I Saw the TV Glow

If the common lament about Black Mirror is that its basically just What if phones but too much, Jane Schoenbruns horror output is like something out of a fucked-up, scary parallel universe to our own: What if Black Mirror but good. Another midnight selection, I Saw the TV Glow, is Schoenbruns highly anticipated follow-up to their 2021 Sundance breakout, Were All Going to the Worlds Fair. The lasting power of Worlds Fair hinged on Schoenbruns fluency in its online setting of vloggers and livestreamers, depicting a creepypasta-based AR game that felt too close to something really happening in some corner of the internet youd rather not click on. In their follow-up, I Saw the TV Glow, Schoenbrun continues to scratch at the co-dependent, dysphoric, transhuman relationships between our bodies (and our identities therein) and our screens (and the spooky shit going on therein).

How to Have Sex

Following The Lost Daughter and Aftersun in the burgeoning indie subgenre known as Theres Something Inherently Dark About Brits on Holiday, How to Have Sex follows a trio of teenage girls on a clubbing- and drinking-fueled trip to the Mediterranean resort town of Malia. From there, it becomes a story about, among other things, consent and sexual assault. First-time director Molly Manning Walker debuted the film at Cannes, where it won in En Certain Regard.

Handling the Undead

Oh my God, its Renate Reinsve and king of 2022 Anders Danielsen Lie back together again! In The Worst Person in the World, Oslo in summertime was a scary place because you had to be in your 30s. In Handling the Undead, Oslo is a scary place because the newly dead awaken and three families faced with loss try to figure out what this resurrection means, so  basically a sequel.

The Greatest Night in Pop

This is a fun one: an entire documentary about the making of We Are the World. How did it take so long for a movie about this to be made? It seems like this will be less Behind the Music scandal and more fond reminiscing by a twinkly eyed Lionel Richie (who co-wrote the song with Michael Jackson), but it should be thoroughly entertaining to watch old footage of a bunch of coked-up pop stars harmonizing. Praying for an end-credits scene teasing a Do They Know Its Christmas? holiday special. This comes out on Netflix shortly after Sundance, so even if youre not festing, stay tuned.
Up

Sandra Huller, The Zone of Interest

If you wanted to predict an actor whod unexpectedly appear on Oscar-nomination morning, youd start by looking at people from Best Picture nominees. Ideally theyd be riding the coattails of another nominated performance, like Jesse Plemons in Power of the Dog. Maybe theyd be the public face of their film, like Marina de Tavira of Roma, and maybe theyd be from an artsy Foreign Language contender, also like Marina de Tavira of Roma. Put it all together, and that looks like a lot like Sandra Huller. The German actress could draft off her own Lead Actress campaign to score two nominations in the same year  a feat last pulled off by Scarlett Johansson, who in a weird bit of Oscar symmetry also got her Supporting nod for playing a German hausfrau in World War II. The only thing preventing this from being my predicted Tuesday morning surprise? The fact that Huller managed this exact feat at BAFTA, making it not much of a surprise anymore.
Photo: Steve Granitz/FilmMagic

Looks like Taylor Sheridan and Kevin Costner arent the only ones with a bit of Yellowstone drama bubbling up, eh? Pierce Brosnan might not have ever been part of the Dutton family, but hes still in hot water with Yellowstone  the park, that is. Brosnan has pleaded not guilty to two counts for allegedly walking in off-limits areas of Yellowstone National Park, reports People. Cowboy State Daily reported in December 2023 that the 70-year-old James Bond actor had received two citations for allegedly walking in off-limits areas of Yellowstone National Park. People later obtained a copy of a criminal docket that was filed in the U.S. District Court in Wyoming on December 26. According to the court document, Brosnan was cited for walking in all thermal areas and w/in Yellowstone Canyone confined to trails and violating closures and use limits on November 1. Representatives for Brosnan did not immediately return Vultures request for comment at the time. Scalding water and fragile ground can make certain areas in Yellowstone dangerous or even deadly, so the rules about where visitors can go are pretty serious  according to the Associated Press, trespassers have previously faced jail time, fines, and park bans. He is scheduled to appear in federal court in Wyoming on February 20, rescheduling his original court date of January 23.

This post has been updated.
Clockwise from top: Death and Other Details, Sort Of, The Kitchen, The Woman in the Wall. Photo-Illustration: Vulture; Photos: Hulu, Chris Barr/BBC/Paramount+ with SHOWTIME, Chris Harris/Netflix, CBC

If the limited viewing options this week havent tipped you off, January blues are swiftly kicking in. Theres no M3GAN like last year to hold us over until blockbuster season starts picking up. Instead, we have the return of Olivia Benson, a BBC mystery and a Hulu mystery series. Speaking of Olivia Benson (the other one, that is), the Criterion Channel has a cats-themed collection this month that will alleviate some of those aforementioned January blues. Onto the the rest of this weekends movie and TV recommendations. Savannah Salazar

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Featured Presentations

.

Oh, look, its another murder-mystery show on Hulu  and one of several detective shows out this January. Violett Beane stars as Imogene Scott, a woman stuck on a cruise liner after becoming the prime suspect in a puzzling murder. To clear her name, Scott teams up with detective Rufus Coteworth (played by Mandy Patinkin donning his most interesting accent). S.S.

Streaming on Hulu

.

The premise for this series sounds familiar, a bit like Agatha Christies The Body in the Library. Ruth Wilson plays a woman who finds a corpse in her house and whose problems with sleepwalking mean she might be responsible for the womans death without knowing it. Roxana Hadadi

Streaming via Showtime

 Some of us are renting and cant afford to buy a house with dead bodies in it or otherwise. Check your privilege, Showtime.

.

In the closing season of this nuanced study of Sabi, a nonbinary nanny played with deep sensitivity by series co-creator Bilal Baig, Sabi navigates life after the loss of their father and the complicated dynamics of the family for whom they once worked. Jen Chaney

Streaming on Max

.

Law & Order: SVU, which is now old enough to legally rent a car, is back for its 25th season. Kelli Giddish is returning for the premiere, which is fantastic news for my fellow Detective Rollins stans out there. Law & Order: Organized Crime and vanilla Law & Order are also back, but theyre not as important. Lets be real. James Grebey

Streaming on Peacock

 ACAB, except for Olivia Benson.

.

Daniel Kaluuya makes his directorial debut in this dystopian sci-fi Netflix movie that doesnt feel, you know, that implausible. In a future version of London, the wealth gap has widened to an even greater extreme and social housing has been eliminated, leading a group of people in a community known as the Kitchen to fight for their right to exist. J.G.

Streaming on Netflix

Meowving Pictures

Criterions Cat Movies Collection

CAT MOVIES  Coming to @criterionchannl on January 1  Enjoy films featuring mischievous cats, magical cats, supernatural cats, killer cats, extraterrestrial cats, and even a cat that owns a baseball team! https://t.co/X8xvptba5h pic.twitter.com/Vpx32aWdpT  Criterion Collection (@Criterion) December 23, 2023

Look, even the most prestigious, high-minded streaming services arent immune from the allure of cat content. Lolcats may be out of style, but kitties still carry cachet on the internet. This eclectic collection features feline-focused films like Inside Llewyn Davis, Czech New Wave classic The Cassandra Cat, The Cat From Outer Space, the seminal horror film Cat People, and the insane gonzo Japanese horror movie House. J.G.

Streaming on the Criterion Channel

 Not included in this collection? Cats (2019).

Animation Station

Solo Leveling

In Solo Leveling, one of 2024s first big new anime releases, demons are invading from another dimension and Earths leading defenders are hunters  underpaid gig workers who slay monsters and loot dungeons as they try to resist the hordes. Based on the two episodes released, Solo Leveling is pretty fun, a show that gleefully peppers the tropes of role-playing games into a stylized action anime setting. Our hero, Sung, starts as the weakest hunter of all until a trip to a strange dungeon changes him forever. New episodes drop weekly, and the English dub premieres this Saturday. Eric Vilas-Boas

Streaming on Crunchyroll

Grand Finales

Fargo season five

Another chapter of Noah Hawleys anthology series has come to a close, so if youre behind nows the time to see what exactly was going on with Juno Temples Dot. S.S.

Streaming on Hulu

Reacher season two

Hey, Big Guy. Suns gettin real low. Me to Reacher when his season is ending. J.G.

Streaming on Prime Video

Want more? Read our recommendations from the weekend of January 12.
Watching Parvati commit murder is one of my favorite half-minutes of television in recent memory. She at last chooses her victim, dispensing with any predetermined strategy and going rogue in the name of convenience: Ekin-Su. Sweet, sweet sacrificial lamb. Poison chalice in hand, she walks directly over to Ekin-Su, who, respectfully, may have been overserved, or perhaps this is just the Ekin-Su experience. When I leave the show and I find out who the fuck was the traitor that betrayed me, Im going to fuck them up hard, Ekin-Su announces, slurring slightly. Cheers, says Parvati, a true master of timing, and hands her the cup. Ekin-Su takes a fateful sip. Then, without hesitation, she hugs Parvati. I love you, Ekin-Su says. I would never think you are a traitor. Bravissima, I cry, throwing a bouquet of roses at my computer screen.

The next morning, the producers do Dan and Phaedra a favor by getting them into breakfast first so they can have at least a few minutes to debrief in private. They dont have the slightest idea who got murdered  if anyone got murdered at all! Parvati and her bowtie cheerfully bound into the room next. She explains her Ekin-Su Hail Mary to Phaedras displeasure. For one thing, Phaedra reminds us, dramatically fanning herself with a napkin like shes been suddenly overcome with the vapors, she was the only person to vote for Ekin-Su at the last round table.

The other players begin to file in  including Ekin-Su, who looks very not dead. Not undead, just  not dead. Parvati makes the exact same brow-furrowing expression that I make in the mirror when Im trying to see if I need to re-up my Botox. Dans eyebrows flap like theyre trying to achieve liftoff.

Did the poison  not work? Or is Ekin-Su, as Phaedra puts it, the second coming of Jesus Christ? Soon enough, everyone is accounted for around the breakfast table, even MJ, who the civilians all agreed to be last nights most likely victim. So what gives? No, no one died last night, Alan and his menagerie of sequins explain to the group  but one of them will perish before the end of todays mission, thanks to a poison already administered by a traitor.

The traitors werent counting on this reveal. The players do their best to compare notes about who couldve consumed anything suspicious the day before. Kevin  who Janelle aptly categorizes as a faithful, albeit a really dumb faithful  is worried about all the food he ate last night (including cheese puffs and the shrimp thing). Tamra, in a look I will generously describe as halfhearted Sherlock Holmes cosplay, is prepared to banish Kevin for, if not necessarily being a traitor per se, eating with his mouth open and otherwise being extremely fucking annoying.

Ironically, its Ekin-Su who seems to be garnering the most suspicion of anyone, with Janelle even ironically whispering that shes a Black Widow spider. (Sounds familiar!) All her blathering about fuck the traitors! could be a tell. Meanwhile, trouble is brewing in turret paradise. Dan privately asks Parvati if all this will draw more suspicion on Phaedra  and, I dont know, just saying, go with me here, what if . that  stay with it  hold  hold  were not  a bad thing? I dont want to be the first to shoot, but weve got to give them some blood, he says. You know what I mean? She most certainly does.

Todays mission? A funeral. Specifically, Ekin-Sus funeral, though they dont know that just yet. If the players can correctly identify who was poisoned before the soon-to-be deceased is buried, $20,000 will be added to the prize pot. A series of questions will narrow down those among them who werent the victim, and anyone ruled safe gets to ride in a horse-drawn funeral carriage. The rest proceed somberly on foot. Next stop: death, Alan stage-whispers to the camera. His velvet bow and lace fascinator predictably blow everyone elses funeral attire out of the water (is that a crushed velvet bodysuit, Larsa? And is it  navy blue?).

I agree with Tamra, who is giving me real mixed messages after her recent freakout about even approaching a graveyard, that this is a dream funeral. (N.B. to anyone reading this who knows me in real life: This  this whole scenario, preferably in Scotland  is exactly what I want for my birthday.) I only wish we had more airtime reserved for actual mortician Phaedra Parks to critique the proceedings professionally. (Spinoff reality pitch for Peacock: Four Weddings, but its Four Funerals.)

The first question is presented within a floral wreath: Any player born in the same year as another player is safe. Kevin, a beautiful man with a beautiful hollow cavern inside his beautiful skull, says he was born in 1980, before remembering he was, in fact, born in 1983. He and (actual) birth-year buddy Dan are safe. So are Sandra and Larsa  although Sandra is surprised because Larsa looks at least ten to twelve years older, a comment thats all the more brutal because I dont think Sandra was even trying to be rude, just making an honest observation.

A black-clad, veil-wearing choir warbles the next question: Which two people did Johnny Bananas trust the most? Trishelle and CT step forward. Ekin-Su continues to attract side-eye through her apparent overacting, wailing about how they poisoned me, innit?! (big oy, mista! you me dad? energy here) and clutching her throat. Little do the others know, she is not overacting, but is simply  and, again, respectfully  a big weirdo.

The third question eliminates all those who wore red in the scarecrow mission. That leaves just Ekin-Su, Parvati, and MJ, a perfectly curated final three: The actual victim who everyone suspects is a killer, the actual killer who no one suspects, and the random bystander everyone falsely believes to have been the victim.

The remaining contestants are instructed to climb inside three open coffins. The safe players must each take a black rose and throw it into the coffin of (slash, pretty much onto the face of) the person they believe to have been poisoned  thatll amount to a group vote for their collective final answer. (Black roses have brought me right back to The Bachelor, but this time Im taking a black rose and giving it to a girl in a coffin, Peter observes. Its weird. If we can have The Golden Bachelor, surely we deserve The Goth Bachelor, too.)

The traitors are all too savvy to risk exposing themselves in the name of increasing the prize pot, so they vote for poor, hyperventilating MJ (I dont blame her  chilling in your own coffin, even for ridiculous television purposes, has got to be a little disorienting) along with everyone else. But then Alan calls Ekin-Sus name, abruptly slamming the lid on her coffin.

The players reactions are wild. Hands are thrown over mouths. Peter shouts that MJs a traitor. Someone  a man?  straight-up wails like a professional mourner. Wow. Bro, a stunned MJ mutters. As Fergus begins to bury the coffin, I wonder how long  contractually, legally, morally, logistically  they were actually able to compel Ekin-Su to stay in there.

Its baffling that anyone would choose to target Ekin-Su, given that shes  I will once again defer without comment to Janelles considerable powers of description here  so useless. Dan is pleased that the murder has caused so much confusion. Back at the castle, to his credit, he proves hes taken the too quiet feedback to heart and actually says words out loud to other human beings.

Larsa, effectively running the Housewives faction of the cast (if only as a result of her relative volume), remains fixated on her theory that an alpha male traitor must be responsible for murdering all these alpha male faithfuls. Tonight, shes gunning for CT. Though shes been calculatedly orbiting the Housewives as an ostensible Friend Of, Sandra wastes no time in running this intel back to CT and the rest of the gamers clique, where her true loyalty lies.

At the round table, Janelle reminds everyone of the toast Larsa made to Marcus at breakfast  could that have been a cover for a poisoning? It was weird, Janelle says. Larsa, who has the debate skills of an overstimulated second grader, snaps back: I think youre weird! I think how selfish you are is weird! She goes on to be apparently genuinely offended by the suggestion that she would murder her own boyfriend, despite the fact that (1) that would actually be brilliant gameplay, (2) she and Marcus both said on camera that theyd off each other if necessary and (3) these are not real murders and this is all make-believe. The Real Housewives of Miami has long been a shameful Bravo blindspot for me, but Larsa is so annoying in this episode that Im inclined to let it stay that way. She has a clinical inability to not have the last word, which I could probably tolerate more easily if her comebacks were remotely clever or interesting.

Bergies board is so cloudy with chalk its like he wrote, then erased, every single players name before finally settling on Larsa  although he barely fit her name in with an ambitiously giant L-A-R followed by a tiny s-a. No worries, Larsa says, pausing for dramatic effect,  when you get murdered next week.

In general, the voting chalkboards make for some great prop comedy tonight. MJ wrote Kevins name so small on the board  each letter the height of her pinky nail  that its like she was hoping no one would notice. Kevin reveals his board (Lars) upside down. And do my eyes deceive me or did Phaedra write Kelvin instead of Kevin?

Parvati submits that the Housewives are, essentially, thick as thieves  and that like actors, their job is performance, too. Phaedra cocks her head. Dont come for the Housewives, honey, she says, sharp and ice-cold. I am so happy they invented electricity so that they could invent TV so that we could all watch The Traitors together.

Larsa is banished. All the Housewives (or, as CT calls them in his very Bahstan accent, the Houzewives) are pissed at Parvati now  including, and especially, her fellow traitor.

Parvati may have thought she could get this one past Phaedra, but she truly has no idea what shes in for. Up in the turret, Phaedra slips off her hood and stares at her before unleashing the kind of gamma-ray burst usually unheard of outside of collapsing stars and the most contentious of middle-school sleepovers. No one likes you, Parvati. Everyone says youre a fucking traitor. We can be in this game together, but youre going to play fair. And if you dont, youre going to have more problems than the faithful. She turns to Dan, in case he thought even for a moment he was safe. Both of you.

Lock your doors. Bolt your windows. Turn off the lights. Phaedra has been activated.
Everything is what it seems. The Russos are back! Photo: Bob DAmico/Disney Channel

Finally, the eldest boy has won something. David Henrie has signed on to star in a Wizards of Waverly Place reboot pilot, reprising his role as oldest wizard sibling Justin Russo. Hes executive-producing alongside his onscreen sister Selena Gomez, who will also make a guest appearance. Reboot veterans Jed Elinoff and Scott Thomas of Ravens Home are writing and producing the pilot. According to Deadline, the potential series would follow Justin as he gives up his wizard powers after a mysterious accident at WizTech, a wizarding school  not a tech company. He isnt a tech bro in this timeline. Its almost re-writing history because the original series ended with Justin keeping his powers. He does have to tap back into his magical side when he needs to train a young wizard named Billie (Janice LeAnn Brown) to save the wizarding world.

Its a random choice for the lead, considering Gomezs performance as Alex skyrocketed her career and became a personality trait for teenagers everywhere. She wouldnt have time to layer up in her old costumes, though shes too busy becoming Linda Ronstadt, where the only magic is her voice. Even Max, the sandwich-shop heir played by Jake T. Austin, wouldve been fun to follow around. Were getting a former head wizard who cant even use magic anymore, living in an unknown setting (hopefully, hell find his way back to Waverly Place). Also, he has two sons. Two boys! Not even a mini Alex to torture him in adult life. In this version, theres no fan service as Justin isnt even with Juliet  his wife in the reboot is someone named Giada (Mimi Gianopulos). Maybe we can conjure up a new spell to give a little more life to the upcoming pilot: Can this show get any gentler? Please bring back Bridget Mendler.
Wang Huning, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), meets with a delegation led by Mizuho Fukushima, head of the Social Democratic Party of Japan, in Beijing, capital of China, Jan. 19, 2024. (Xinhua/Liu Weibing)

BEIJING, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- Wang Huning, chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), met with a delegation led by Mizuho Fukushima, head of the Social Democratic Party of Japan, in Beijing on Friday.

Wang, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, said Chinese President Xi Jinping met with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in November last year. The two leaders reiterated their commitment to the principles and consensus stipulated in the four political documents between the two countries, and reaffirmed the positioning of comprehensively advancing the strategic and mutually beneficial relations between China and Japan.

It is hoped that the two sides will view each other's development in an objective and rational manner in the spirit of taking history as a mirror and opening up the future, respect each other's core interests and major concerns, and promote the building of a China-Japan relationship that meets the requirements of the new era. The CPPCC national committee is willing to strengthen contact with Japan and make positive contributions to this end, Wang said.

Mizuho Fukushima said that the main purpose of the Social Democratic Party's visit is to reaffirm peace and friendship between Japan and China. She said Japan had launched the war of aggression against China and caused great harm to China, for which we sincerely apologize.

The Social Democratic Party is willing to promote the healthy development of Japan-China relations based on the four political documents between the two countries, she said. 

Wang Huning, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), meets with a delegation led by Mizuho Fukushima, head of the Social Democratic Party of Japan, in Beijing, capital of China, Jan. 19, 2024. (Xinhua/Liu Weibing)
Move follows spate of protests by activists targeting Italian cultural landmarks to draw attention to climate crisis.

The Italian parliament on Thursday approved tough new penalties on those who damage or deface monuments and heritage sites, as the right-wing government clamps down on so-called eco-vandals.

Under the new law, proposed last April by culture minister Gennaro Sangiuliano, those caught damaging or defacing works of art or cultural heritage will face fines from 20,000 up to 60,000.

Already approved by the senate, the 'Beni Culturali' bill was passed definitively by the lower house on Thursday with 138 votes in favour, 92 against and 10 abstentions.

The move follows a series of controversial protests by climate activists from the Ultima Generazione group at Italian landmarks including the Trevi Fountain in Rome and the Uffizi in Florence.

Approvato il Ddl eco-vandali.

Chi deturpa o imbratta un monumento paga di tasca propria, questo principio e legge dello Stato.

Ringrazio il Parlamento, il Governo e i tanti cittadini che mi hanno sostenuto in questa battaglia di civilta. pic.twitter.com/wX9MhXWfEZ Gennaro Sangiuliano (@g_sangiuliano) January 18, 2024

In a statement on the Italian culture ministry website, Sangiuliano thanked the parliament for finally passing the "eco-vandal bill".

Today is a beautiful day for Italian culture and, in particular, for the artistic and architectural heritage of the nation" - Sangiuliano stated - "From now on, anyone who causes damage to the cultural and heritage landscape will be forced to pay the cost of the expenses for the complete restoration of the works out of their own pocket".
Ruling follows outcry over fascist rally in Rome.

Italy's top court on Thursday ruled that the fascist salute could be considered a crime only "under certain conditions", including if performed in circumstances that risk a "concrete danger" of reviving the banned Fascist party.

In such cases, the Cassation Court ruled that judges can apply the 1952 Scelba Law against "apology for fascism" and attempting to restore Mussolini's Fascist party, state broadcaster RAI reports.

The fascist salute could also be considered a crime, the Cassation Court ruled, if the gesture constitutes a risk to public order under the 1993 Mancino Law which permits the prosecution of those involved in racial, ethnic and religious discrimination and the incitement of hate crime.

The court also ordered an appeals trial in the case of eight neo-fascist militants who made the straight-armed salute during a 2016 event in Milan to commemorate the 1975 killing of fellow militant Sergio Ramelli.

Thursday's ruling has been interpreted as meaning that the salute is not a criminal offence if performed at events such as a recent rally in Rome to commemorate the killing of three neo-fascist youths in the Italian capital in 1978.

The Acca Larenzia event takes place every January however this year it sparked outrage, both in Italy and internationally, after video footage of hundreds of men performing the fascist salute went viral.

A police investigation continues into the event which took place outside the former headquarters of the neo-fascist Movimento Sociale Italiano (MSI), a percursor to the right-wing Fratelli d'Italia party led today by Italy's premier Giorgia Meloni.

The prime minister, who did not attend the Rome rally, has been criticised for her failure to condemn the incident, despite repeated calls to do so.
BEIJING, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping has urged high-level sci-tech self-reliance to serve high-quality development in instructions delivered during the ceremony of the National Engineer Awards.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, congratulated all those who won the National Engineer Awards on Friday.

Xi underscored the significant role that engineers play in promoting engineering science and technology for the benefit of mankind and the creation of the future.

The honored individuals and teams are excellent representatives and seen as role models by all engineers and technicians across the country, Xi said.

It is hoped that the country's engineers and technicians will have the courage to make breakthroughs in core technologies in key fields, develop high-quality projects, promote the development of new productive forces, and help China achieve great self-reliance and strength in science and technology, and serve high-quality development, Xi said.

Members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee Cai Qi and Ding Xuexiang attended the ceremony. Ding conveyed Xi's important instructions.

While giving his speech at the event, Cai said that the development of engineering science and technology in China had always adhered to the overall leadership of the Party, the benefit of the people, the new system for mobilizing resources nationwide, the role of talent as the first resource, self-reliance and independent innovation, as well as opening up and cooperation.

Eighty-one individuals and 50 teams were bestowed the National Engineer Awards for their outstanding contributions to the field of engineering technology. 

Members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee Cai Qi and Ding Xuexiang attend the ceremony of the National Engineer Awards in Beijing, capital of China, Jan. 19, 2024.

Ding conveyed important instructions made by Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the CPC Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission. Cai delivered a speech at the event. (Xinhua/Yue Yuewei)

Members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee Cai Qi and Ding Xuexiang attend the ceremony of the National Engineer Awards in Beijing, capital of China, Jan. 19, 2024.

Ding conveyed important instructions made by Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the CPC Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission. Cai delivered a speech at the event. (Xinhua/Yao Dawei)
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 Little Rope, the new record by indie punk duo Sleater-Kinney, opens in hell. Since forming the band in 1994, Carrie Brownstein and Corin Tucker have acted as a pair of indefatigable musical lighthouse keepers, taking in changing political tides and issuing calls via guitar, alerting us to what they see. And this time, what they see are flames. Hell needs no invitation / Hell dont make no fuss / Hell is desperation / And a young man with a gun, they sing on the opening track on their 11th album. It shines a light on a fraught societal moment, and opens the doors wide to an album that was written on either side of an emotionally hellish time for the band. Carrie Brownstein and Corin Tucker: their well-practised interplay is as smooth as a Wimbledon match. Credit: Chris Hornbecker I think [this record] really started to take shape  after this tragic accident occurred in my family. And I lost two people, Brownstein says over Zoom, stepping over each word delicately. In late 2022, her mother and stepfather were killed in a car accident while on holiday in Italy. The American embassy, after unsuccessfully trying to get hold of Brownstein, called her emergency contact  Tucker. The kinship between the bandmates is decades old at this point, and has weathered an early romance (and outing via the press, as well as the writing and recording of one of rocks greatest break-up songs); internal conflicts that lead to platonic, intra-band couples therapy; an indefinite hiatus in 2006; a surprise reformation in 2015; the very public departure of their longtime drummer, Janet Weiss; and, now, an earth-shattering loss.

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The connection between Brownstein, 49, and Tucker, 51, is evident even over Zoom from the other side of the world. They are calling from their respective homes in Portland  the city Brownstein lovingly joshed in her popular comedy series Portlandia, and both introduce me to the pets in the room with them, before we begin talking. Their well-practised interplay is as smooth as a Wimbledon match; if a question I ask is answered by Brownstein, Tucker takes the next. In a moment when Brownstein appears unable to summon the words to respond to a question about the art that carried her through the loss of her mother, about whom she wrote in her 2015 memoir, Hunger Makes Me A Modern Girl, she exhales softly, and asks Tucker her thoughts while summoning her own. I feel like my relationship to outside art became a little anaemic, honestly, she answers eventually. I was walking a lot. I was in nature or just in my neighbourhood listening to podcasts, just listening to other peoples stories about grief. And I dont feel like I was pulling from big works of art. I was pulling from these intimate horrors that felt very present. Where the St. Vincent-produced 2019 album, The Center Wont Hold, was a new wave-y, art pop-y experiment that drew from art, literature and performance, Little Rope zoomed all the way back in. This had an interiority to it, a suffocation, really, Brownstein explains. A sense of the claustrophobia of trauma and sorrow. It is very up close.

Brownstein, who barely touched her guitar in the three years following Sleater-Kinneys break-up in 2006, clung to it like a buoy after losing her mother and stepfather. I think were pretty deliberate about presenting ourselves as working writers. Corin Tucker I committed myself to the choreography of playing music, to the physicality of playing my guitar. The ritual of it was very much like prayer, almost.

Tucker was there, as shes always been, arriving on the grieving Brownsteins doorstep not with casseroles, but ideas.

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Instead of Corin bringing me food, she just brought me music, Brownstein smiles. She pored over melodies, added guitar parts, and wrote. And I used it as sustenance to get me through. Its been 30 years since Tucker and Brownstein met as students at the liberal arts college Evergreen. In Sleater-Kinneys early years, they were part of the feminist punk movement riot grrrl, along with their classmates Kathleen Hanna, Tobi Vail and Kathi Wilcox, members of the band Bikini Kill. Remaining as a band this long has meant their expression of that feminism has shifted and morphed, their focus landing on new topics as theyve dealt with motherhood (in Tuckers case), racism, and grief both personal and global. Theyve written a musical testament to the Supreme Court testimony of Christine Blasey Ford, and dedicated air time to grappling with the concept of Complex Female Characters. Carrie Brownstein and Corin Tucker at Riot Fest 2022 in Chicago. Credit: Daniel Boczarski/Getty Images On Crusader, they seem to address the recent political elephant in the oval-shaped room: Do your best to terrorize us / Vilify and minimize us / If were wicked, then youre wretched / Take your sheep, well keep take the blessed / Youre scaring everyone in the room. If there is one consistent, unyielding truth about Sleater-Kinney, it is their total commitment to change and growth. Even in the face of the sentimentality and nostalgia an anniversary (like this years) can bring on. We dont want to cut off or excise any part of our past, Brownstein says, But we also want to be aware of the moment and who we are now. Even as a fan of other bands  I dont want them to keep making that record over and over again. Thats not their responsibility and thats not what we endeavour to do either. Even if people think they want that, they dont want that.

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Two 19-year-old men and a 17-year-old boy were hauled before the courts on Friday after being arrested over the alleged abduction of three children near Mandurah.

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Police said three boys aged 11, 12 and 14 were walking from a house in Erskine near Mandurah around 10.30pm on Wednesday night to a nearby service station.

In the car park of a nearby business, they were allegedly approached by three older teens who police said thought the younger boys were trying to break into their car.

Police then say the men forced the boys into their car and drove them to Tims Thicket Beach about 16 kilometres away.
This week, videos also emerged of regional education officials directing school principals in Medan and civil servants in South Sulewesi to vote for the Subianto-Gibran ticket. Things like these continue to happen. So I think the conspiracy is getting stronger, said Pranowo campaign legal adviser Todung Mulya Lubis, a Harvard school human rights lawyer and a former Indonesian ambassador to Norway. Ganjar Pranow (left) and his running mate Mahfud MD arrive at a televised debate this month. Credit: AP We have met with Bawaslu [election supervision agency] and expressed our concern that there are so many violations in various places. We are waiting for decisions from Bawaslu. They must act quickly as the election supervisor, otherwise the honest and fair values of the election are threatened. Herry Dharmawan, a spokesman for Baswedans team, said on Friday they had been banned from campaigning from multiple locations by government apparatus and law enforcers and had had permits revoked for others.

To us, such actions are indeed a sort of intimidation that destroys the dignity of democracy, he said. Such bans or cancellations did not happen only once but frequently in several areas in Indonesia. However, this will not stop us from fighting for change for the Indonesian people. The Subianto-Gibran campaign disputes such assertions, claiming it is the one that has been targeted. Prabowo Subianto tosses a T-shirt to supporters during a campaign rally in Medan last weekend. Credit: AP If there are indications of foul play according to the rivals, well, please process them legally according to the existing laws. But the evidence should be solid. It cant just be based on rumours and social media, said campaign secretary Nusron Wahid. Instead, it is proven that the abuse of power and intimidation occurred at places where heads of regions are supported by parties who supported the other candidates.

With less than four weeks remaining until as many as 205 million people go to the ballot box in the worlds third-largest democracy, a new poll demonstrates just what Baswedan and Pranowo are up against. Loading According to the Indikator Politik survey, Subianto has 45.8 per cent support, well clear of Baswedan (25.5 per cent) and Pranowo (23 per cent), although short of the 50 per cent he would need to avoid a run-off in June. As the election draws nearer, Widodos role in it has increasingly come into question. He will sign off from office after 10 years in power in October, handing the reins to the election winner. Publicly, he has maintained he is impartial but with his 36-year-old son in the race and serving as a bridge to old foe Subianto, his preference has been barely disguised.

On January 5, he was photographed having dinner in Jakarta with Subianto, whom he defeated in the 2014 and 2019 presidential contests. He was also reportedly meeting with other heads of parties that are backing the former general. In its editorial on Thursday, the Jakarta Post said Widodo, known as Jokowi, had taken actions that could undermine his claim to be staying above the fray. It added that if he did not stay neutral, history will not judge him kindly for interfering with the democratic process. Indonesian President Joko Widodo (right) has dinner with Subianto on January 5. Marcus Mietzner, an associate professor specialising in Indonesian politics at the Australian National University, said it was the Widodo factor and not a mobilisation of state forces behind Subianto that would be likely to secure him the presidency at his third attempt. Much more important for that outcome is Jokowis massive popularity, which he built for a decade by distributing state resources, controlling the political elite through threats and rewards, and pulling the owners of media outlets into his government, he said.

The result was an 80 per cent approval rating, which he is now cashing in to put a chosen successor, plus his son, into the palace. Prabowo [Subianto] is winning because Jokowi threw his long-term political capital behind him, not because of campaign posters of his opponents being taken down. Loading Mietzner said the increase in alleged cases of state intervention should be interpreted as a signal that Widodo and his allies want Subianto and Gibran to win by a majority in the first round on February 14 and not be forced into a second. Approached for comment, Widodos co-ordinator of presidential special staff, Ari Dwipayana, directed this masthead to remarks he made on Tuesday. If there is information about abuse of power for election purposes, everything must be proven, examined, Dwipayana said. If there are violations on the ground, please report them to the election monitoring agency. The mechanism is clear. 
London: Prince Harry has withdrawn his libel claim against the publisher of Britains Mail on Sunday newspaper over an article about his security arrangements, with his spokesperson saying he wanted to focus on his familys safety.

Harry, King Charles younger son, had sued Associated Newspapers over a 2022 article which stated he only offered to pay for police protection after bringing a separate legal fight against the British government.

Prince Harry leaving Londons High Court after giving evidence in June last year. Credit: AP

The report also accused Harry, 39, of attempting to mislead the public about his willingness to pay for police services withdrawn after he stepped back from royal duties in 2020.

In December, he lost his attempt to have the papers defence to his libel lawsuit thrown out, meaning he would have likely had to give evidence at Londons High Court later this year.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, meets with Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira in Brasilia, Brazil, Jan. 18, 2024. (Photo by Lucio Tavora/Xinhua)

BRASILIA, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira here on Thursday, with both sides speaking highly of the strategic significance and overall impact of bilateral cooperation.

This year is of special significance as it marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Brazil and China, Vieira said, adding that in recent years, Brazil-China relations have developed steadily, and cooperation areas have been continuously expanded.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's historic visit to China last year yielded fruitful results, said Vieira.

Brazil is willing to strengthen communication and coordination with China, implement the important consensus reached by the two heads of state, give full play to the role of cooperation mechanisms between the two countries at all levels and in all fields, and further deepen mutually beneficial cooperation, said Vieira.

Brazil looks forward to taking the opportunity of hosting the Group of 20 (G20) Leaders' Summit in Rio de Janeiro to strengthen high-level exchanges between Brazil and China, inject strong impetus into bilateral relations, and lead Brazil-China friendly cooperation towards the next 50 years with broader prospects, added Vieira.

During his successful visit to China last year, President Lula and Chinese President Xi Jinping had in-depth communication, established solid mutual trust, and laid out strategic plans and guidance for the development of China-Brazil comprehensive strategic partnership, said Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee.

The Chinese side cherishes the friendship between China and Brazil, and is willing to take the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations as an opportunity to prepare for high-level exchanges between the two sides at the next stage as well as celebrations for the anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations, and elevate the China-Brazil comprehensive strategic partnership to a new level, enabling it to display new vitality and open up new horizons, Wang said.

As the world has entered a new period of turbulence and transformation, China and Brazil, the two biggest developing countries and representatives of emerging market economies in the Eastern and Western hemispheres, should strengthen unity and cooperation to jointly respond to global challenges, Wang said.

China supports Brazil in hosting the G20 Leaders' Summit, supports Brazil in playing a greater role in international and regional affairs, and is willing to work with Brazil to build an open, inclusive, clean and beautiful world that enjoys lasting peace, security for all and common prosperity, so as to take good care of Earth -- the only planet that hosts human life, Wang noted.

The two sides pledged to jointly make the upcoming fourth China-Brazil Foreign Ministerial-Level Comprehensive Strategic Dialogue a success, where they would conduct in-depth strategic communication on a wide range of bilateral and multilateral issues. 
Nigar Hasanova

At the meeting with the World Bank's Regional Director for Sustainable Development at the Ministry of Economy, the Road Map developed to expand cooperation with the Bank was discussed.

Azernews reports about this with reference to the ministry.

According to information, First Deputy Minister Elnur Aliyev met with Sameh Naquib Vahba, Regional Director for Sustainable Development of Europe and the Central Asia region of the World Bank. At the meeting, the Road Map prepared for expanding cooperation with the World Bank was presented. Green and sustainable cities, digitization, development of the shipbuilding industry, increasing use of renewable energy sources, employment support, and other projects were reported.

Sameh Naquib Vahba expressed satisfaction with the World Bank's cooperation with Azerbaijan. He pointed out that the Road Map developed to expand cooperation will strengthen the partnership. The regional director congratulated Azerbaijan as the host of the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29). He said that the organisation is ready to support Azerbaijan regarding COP29.

At the meeting, views were exchanged on various directions of cooperation between Azerbaijan and the World Bank, and the programs and future projects implemented by the institution in Azerbaijan, especially in the fields of urban, water, and agriculture, were discussed.
A medical worker takes care of a patient at the National Heroes Stadium, which has been designated as a cholera treatment center, in Lusaka, Zambia, Jan. 18, 2024.

Zambia has been battling a cholera outbreak since last October, with Lusaka, the country's capital, being the epicenter.

So far, the country has recorded 10,887 cases and 432 deaths, with ongoing efforts to treat and discharge patients across various treatment centers in nine provinces. (Xinhua/Peng Lijun)

Two recovered and discharged patients wait for their transportation at the National Heroes Stadium, which has been designated as a cholera treatment center, in Lusaka, Zambia, Jan. 18, 2024.

Zambia has been battling a cholera outbreak since last October, with Lusaka, the country's capital, being the epicenter.

So far, the country has recorded 10,887 cases and 432 deaths, with ongoing efforts to treat and discharge patients across various treatment centers in nine provinces. (Xinhua/Peng Lijun)

Medical workers take care of patients at the National Heroes Stadium, which has been designated as a cholera treatment center, in Lusaka, Zambia, Jan. 18, 2024.

Zambia has been battling a cholera outbreak since last October, with Lusaka, the country's capital, being the epicenter.

So far, the country has recorded 10,887 cases and 432 deaths, with ongoing efforts to treat and discharge patients across various treatment centers in nine provinces. (Xinhua/Peng Lijun)

A medical worker takes care of a patient at the National Heroes Stadium, which has been designated as a cholera treatment center, in Lusaka, Zambia, Jan. 18, 2024.

Zambia has been battling a cholera outbreak since last October, with Lusaka, the country's capital, being the epicenter.

So far, the country has recorded 10,887 cases and 432 deaths, with ongoing efforts to treat and discharge patients across various treatment centers in nine provinces. (Xinhua/Peng Lijun)

Medical workers take care of patients at the National Heroes Stadium, which has been designated as a cholera treatment center, in Lusaka, Zambia, Jan. 18, 2024.

Zambia has been battling a cholera outbreak since last October, with Lusaka, the country's capital, being the epicenter.

So far, the country has recorded 10,887 cases and 432 deaths, with ongoing efforts to treat and discharge patients across various treatment centers in nine provinces. (Xinhua/Peng Lijun)

A medical worker takes care of a patient at the National Heroes Stadium, which has been designated as a cholera treatment center, in Lusaka, Zambia, Jan. 18, 2024.

Zambia has been battling a cholera outbreak since last October, with Lusaka, the country's capital, being the epicenter.

So far, the country has recorded 10,887 cases and 432 deaths, with ongoing efforts to treat and discharge patients across various treatment centers in nine provinces. (Xinhua/Peng Lijun)

A health worker sprays disinfectant at the National Heroes Stadium, which has been designated as a cholera treatment center, in Lusaka, Zambia, Jan. 18, 2024.

Zambia has been battling a cholera outbreak since last October, with Lusaka, the country's capital, being the epicenter.

So far, the country has recorded 10,887 cases and 432 deaths, with ongoing efforts to treat and discharge patients across various treatment centers in nine provinces. (Xinhua/Peng Lijun)
YAOUNDE, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- Chad will recruit 8,000 police officers and gendarmes as part of its efforts to beef up security, Prime Minister Succes Masra said on Thursday.

Masra made the announcement in the capital of N'Djamena while presenting the government's political and socio-economic program to the National Transition Council.

"A recruitment of 8,000 police, gendarmerie and agents of the National and Nomadic Guard of Chad is planned to strengthen the ratio of the minimum number of internal security agents per population," he said.

"The government will continue to work to support the mixed security commissions for the city of N'Djamena and in provincial capitals while strengthening civilian disarmament operations," the prime minister added.

Chad will reinforce the technical, tactical and operational capacities of commissioners and gendarmerie commanders, and create a national police hospital as well as a national police academy to fight organized crime, terrorism and kidnappings, he said. 
National Broadband Ireland (NBI), the company rolling out the new high speed fibre broadband network under the Governments National Broadband Plan (NBP) today announced that engineering survey works for almost 5,700 Mayo premises across the Achill Island, Belmullet and Ballinrobe areas are now complete.

In Mayo, there are approximately 37,000 premises in the Intervention Area (IA), which includes homes, farms, commercial businesses, and schools. Under the National Broadband Plan, Mayo will see an investment of 145M in the new high speed fibre network. This will enable e-learning, remote monitoring of livestock or equipment, e-health initiatives, better energy efficiency in the home, and facilitate increased levels of remote working.

NBI crews have made substantial progress near Keel village on Achill Island, Belmullet and Ballinrobe, where 5,679 Mayo premises included in these deployment areas have recently completed engineering surveying work. These initial works pave the way for the next stage of deploying fibre including the erection of poles and preparation of ducts for fibre to be installed.

Network build works are also in progress for 1,050 premises in towns and townlands around Killadoon and homes and businesses in the area will be able to connect to NBIs high-speed fibre broadband network later this year.

There are 7,402 homes, businesses, and farms in County Mayo that can order or pre-order high-speed, reliable broadband. National Broadband Ireland is encouraging residents to visit nbi.ie/eoi/ to sign up for updates on when they will be able to connect.

NBI Chief Executive Peter Hendrick said: Our teams are on the ground all over the country and making progress on rolling out the NBI network in County Mayo.

We know that people want access to high-speed broadband, our goal is to deliver that as quickly as possible and the rollout is happening at pace.

There are over 7,400 homes, businesses and farms ready to connect in rural areas across the county. This includes over 2,100 premises in Ballina and nearly 1,800 in Newport. We would encourage people living in those areas to visit nbi.ie to see if they can place an order for a high-speed connection on the NBI network. Network build works are also in progress in the Killadoon deployment area where more than 1,050 premises will be able to connect to its high-speed fibre broadband network later in 2024.

The rollout of Broadband Connection Points is also key to delivering access to high-speed internet in the Intervention Area, and were delighted sites are being connected right across Mayo in places like the Bofeenaun Community Centre and Turlough Community Centre.

National Broadband Ireland provides regular updates on the overall progress of the rollout which is being delivered on budget and ahead of schedule. To date, over 217,108 premises nationwide can order or pre-order broadband on the NBI network.
A man visits the "Our New Era -- Cities Vitality" photography exhibition in Cape Town, South Africa, Jan. 18, 2024. A photo exhibition showcasing the changes of urban life as well as the achievements of China's reform and opening-up kicked off on Thursday in Cape Town, the legislative capital of South Africa.

The "Our New Era -- Cities Vitality" photography exhibition, hosted by China Federation of Literary and Art Circles (CFLAC) and organized by Shenzhen Federation of Literary and Art Circles (SFLAC), displays a total of 60 photographic works and runs until Jan. 21. (Xinhua/Wang Lei)

CAPE TOWN, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- A photo exhibition showcasing the changes of urban life as well as the achievements of China's reform and opening-up kicked off on Thursday in Cape Town, the legislative capital of South Africa.

The "Our New Era -- Cities Vitality" photography exhibition, hosted by China Federation of Literary and Art Circles (CFLAC) and organized by Shenzhen Federation of Literary and Art Circles (SFLAC), displays a total of 60 photographic works and runs until Jan. 21.

With distinctive images and through the framing and screening of details of the cityscape by different photographers, these artworks present the achievements of China's reform and opening-up, depict the progress of urban construction, showcase the changes of urban life, as well as express in-depth artistic reflections.

Each piece of artwork has its uniqueness, and with changing artistic patterns, constitutes the wholeness and humanistic atmosphere of the exhibition, giving people a strong visual impact.

The opening ceremony of the event, held at the Cape Town Central Library on Thursday morning, was attended by more than 50 guests, including You Wenze, Chinese Consul General in Cape Town, and Liang Yu, President of SFLAC, as well as a delegation from the Chinese Art Photography Society and representatives from Cape Town municipal government and other institutions, local Chinese community and news media.

In his opening speech, Liang noted that exchanges make civilizations colorful and mutual learning makes them prosper.

According to Liang, Shenzhen established a friendly city relationship with Cape Town in 2015.

"Over the years, the two cities have carried out friendly exchanges and cooperation in economy, trade, science and technology, culture, tourism, and other fields," he added. "Mutual trust between the two sides has been continuously enhanced and the friendship between the peoples has been deepened." 

People visit the "Our New Era -- Cities Vitality" photography exhibition in Cape Town, South Africa, Jan. 18, 2024. A photo exhibition showcasing the changes of urban life as well as the achievements of China's reform and opening-up kicked off on Thursday in Cape Town, the legislative capital of South Africa.

The "Our New Era -- Cities Vitality" photography exhibition, hosted by China Federation of Literary and Art Circles (CFLAC) and organized by Shenzhen Federation of Literary and Art Circles (SFLAC), displays a total of 60 photographic works and runs until Jan. 21. (Xinhua/Wang Lei)

People visit the "Our New Era -- Cities Vitality" photography exhibition in Cape Town, South Africa, Jan. 18, 2024. A photo exhibition showcasing the changes of urban life as well as the achievements of China's reform and opening-up kicked off on Thursday in Cape Town, the legislative capital of South Africa.

The "Our New Era -- Cities Vitality" photography exhibition, hosted by China Federation of Literary and Art Circles (CFLAC) and organized by Shenzhen Federation of Literary and Art Circles (SFLAC), displays a total of 60 photographic works and runs until Jan. 21. (Xinhua/Wang Lei)

People visit the "Our New Era -- Cities Vitality" photography exhibition in Cape Town, South Africa, Jan. 18, 2024. A photo exhibition showcasing the changes of urban life as well as the achievements of China's reform and opening-up kicked off on Thursday in Cape Town, the legislative capital of South Africa.

The "Our New Era -- Cities Vitality" photography exhibition, hosted by China Federation of Literary and Art Circles (CFLAC) and organized by Shenzhen Federation of Literary and Art Circles (SFLAC), displays a total of 60 photographic works and runs until Jan. 21. (Xinhua/Wang Lei)
A member of Israel's War Cabinet cast doubt on the country's strategy for releasing hostages held by Hamas, saying only a cease-fire can free them, as the prime minister rejected the United States' calls to scale back its offensive.
CENTER VALLEY, Pa., - Local university students are providing free assistance to those filing their income taxes this tax season.

Junior and senior accounting students from DeSales University will provide tax preparation services free of charge to senior citizens, those with incomes below $54,000, people with disabilities, students, military and those who speak English as a second language.

University officials say 2024 marks the 24th consecutive year that DeSales students have participated in the program.

The DeSales University VITA program begins January 22 and runs through March 29. The services provided are part of the United States Internal Revenue Services Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program.

To schedule a VITA appointment, individuals can call (610) 282-1100, ext. 1868. A DeSales student will return the phone call and provide assistance accordingly.

Individuals needing assistance should bring all printed tax information and all documents pertaining to federal, state, and local taxes with them to their appointment.
EASTON, Pa.  Lou Pektor of River Pointe Logistics may benefit from Northampton County Council's inability to pick a new member Thursday.

Northampton County Council fails to pick 9th member in 10 rounds of voting None of the 25 applicants received the necessary five votes to fill out the remaining two years of Tara Zrinski's term, so voting will resume Feb. 1.

It may come down to being a councilmember short and the sequence of the next agenda.

Council is due Feb. 1 to consider an ordinance to rescind a tax break for Pektor's 800-acre development in Upper Mount Bethel Township, and to try again to pick a ninth member.

The typical order of a meeting is for a public hearing on an ordinance to occur before other business. That would put the River Pointe vote ahead of the potentially hours-long process of voting again on a new councilmember.

Even if council fills the spot that night, the new member might not be sworn in until later and thus not have a chance to vote on River Pointe.

That means the plan to end the LERTA  Local Economic Revitalization Tax Assistance  property tax break may be a longer shot than it was before Thursday. And it was a long shot.

Pektor and his daughter Lisa, project manager for River Pointe, spoke at Thursday's meeting to ask that the tax break not be rescinded.

On Jan. 4, County Executive Lamont G. McClure requested that council end the LERTA, which would provide a break on property taxes on new development that declines and disappears after 10 years.

McClure contends that based on the size of buildings planned for River Pointe, some will be warehouses. He has made the fight against "warehouse proliferation" and the truck traffic they bring a hallmark of his administration.

The executive said the break could be applied to manufacturing buildings while excluding warehouses.

Rescinding the break would require five votes of what is usually a nine-person council. There are only eight members now because Tara Zrinski resigned Jan. 2 to be sworn in as county controller.

Ending the LERTA was never going to be easy. Five councilmembers voted in favor extending the tax break last year. That included President Lori Vargo Heffner and Vice President Ron Heckman  both Democrats  as well as Republicans John Brown, John Goffredo and Thomas Giovanni.

Three new members  Democrats Ken Kraft, Kelly Keegan and Jeff Warren  have not voted on RPL yet, but Warren and Keegan co-sponsored Thursday the ordinance to end the tax break on its first reading. An ordinance requires a second vote to become law.

If all three new members oppose the LERTA, two formerly pro-RPL votes would have to switch to block the tax break. If council had already chosen a ninth member, only one more vote might be needed.

So far, none of the five LERTA supporters have signaled a change of heart. All three Republicans have ties to the Slate Belt, the northeastern corner of the county and home to River Pointe.

They say its development has been overlooked to the detriment of the tax base, threatening higher taxes on residents and hurting schools.

Lou Pektor contends that RPL will generate millions of tax dollars for the county, Upper Mount Bethel and the Bangor Area School District.

Lisa Pektor said River Pointe's goal is to draw in good companies and good jobs.

"We are designing this park to be attractive to manufacturers," she said, pointing out RPL's proximity to Interstate 80 and New York-area markets. Meanwhile, River Pointe is going through lengthy approval processes that have deterred potential buyers.

"Manufacturers invest substantial amounts of money," Lisa Pektor said. RPL plans to sell lots to manufacturers, not lease them, she said.

The Pektors brought in Hunter Kessel of the Cushman & Wakefield commercial real estate company. Kessel said manufacturers are using large buildings, particularly when they have access to power and water, along with the tax advantages of a LERTA. He said manufacturers invest for the long term, as opposed to the five-year to 10-year window of warehouse users.

Lou Pektor said RPL not only has a good location close to I-80, but nearly unprecedented access to power: 400 megawatts. One megawatt is enough electricity to power about 1,000 homes.

The LERTA is an important part of the package to address good tenants, he said.

"We're competing on a national level, an international level to some degree, and certainly a regional level," Pektor said. He touched upon AI  artificial intelligence  and the need for data centers, large, energy-intensive buildings that house computer systems.

"The world has changed and it's not about price, it's about infrastructure, it's about the ability to grow," Lou Pektor said. The cost of transportation also weighs in RPL's favor, he said, because the Columbia-Portland Toll Bridge is a little over a mile from RPL.

Robert Teel, chairman of Upper Mount Bethel's planning commission, also asked that the LERTA be left in place.

"The Slate Belt needs businesses," he said. Teel pointed out how the Slate Belt declined when the garment industry moved abroad.

"I beg you, do the right thing," Teel said. The township and the Bangor Area School District have also approved LERTAs for the site.

McClure said breaks could be applied to higher-value development.

"This is not merely a repeal; we're going to have a replacement," he said. Under his plan, when a permit is filed for the LERTA tax break, County Council would decide if the plan qualifies.

In 2023, Commissioner Heckman said the county was delving too deeply into local issues with another plan that would favor manufacturers but not warehouses. The county has no authority over planning and zoning, which are left to municipalities.

County Council is due to meet at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 1. The meeting agenda and a link to a YouTube broadcast will be posted on the county website.
It happens quite often these days. Warehouses have been popping up across our region and beyond, despite protests by neighbors and residents. One state representative from Northampton County wants to change that  drafting a bill that would allow the people to have the final say.

But those against the bill say it's not so simple, and contend that one sweeping law across the entire commonwealth won't work.

"This warehouse situation is quite frankly, especially in Pennsylvania, it's a war," Lowhill Township resident Terry Lenhart told 69 News last June, amid a fight over development in that community.

Warehouse development gets voted on by a handful of councilmembers in small communities, often amid large public outcry from the people who live there.

"You're going to change our lives here, the quality of life," Beth Hurley, founder of LOVE Kidder Township, told 69 News earlier this month, as her community also opposed new warehouse proposals.

One Pennsylvania lawmaker is now trying to change the law across the state, so these very community members would have the final say.

State Rep. Joe Emrick, who serves the 137th District in Northampton County, drafted a bill that would allow the people to vote on whether those new high-impact warehouses and distribution centers should be approved in their communities.

"The bill is very simple," Emrick said. "The voters will have the final say on whether or not that distribution center or warehouse is approved, and it would go on the ballot as a referendum question for them to vote 'yes' or 'no.'"

If it passes, House Bill 1960 would require a voter referendum for any warehouse or distribution center that is at least 100,000 square feet in size and on 3 acres of land or more.

As it stands now, Emrick says Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code states that local officials are obligated to approve warehouse development, as long as development is fully compliant within zoning ordinances.

"If they vote against it, and they're in full compliance, they will, in all likelihood, would be sued," Emrick said. "And they will win in court."

That's why the bill seeks to amend the MPC.

But opponents of the bill call it an election-year stunt, saying it's a silver bullet that's too good to be true.

In a statement, Susan Lawless of the Hanover Township Board of Supervisors in Northampton County said, in part: "Pennsylvania is a very large and varied state. What works successfully in the Lehigh Valley, is unlikely to work in other Counties and regions. I trust the voters who elect those officials, locally and regionally, to understand their needs and concerns regarding development."

And Northampton County Controller Tara Zrinski, in her own statement, said, in part: "We know warehouses are a problem in high density areas and that truck traffic is adversely impacting our air quality and the very quality of our lives, but I don't know if this legislation is the answer."

Zrinski continued, "I would really want to hear and am interested to hear the dialogue surrounding this legislation and why there isn't more movement to revise the Municipal Code itself rather that put every warehouse of regional significance up for referendum."

If the bill passes, Emrick says it would not affect any warehouses already in development.

At this point, there are still several steps needed before a vote in the House, and then if that passes, there would eventually be a vote in the Senate. If the bill reaches the governor's office, it would likely go into effect a couple months after it's signed into law.
Former President Donald Trump is cramming campaigning and court into a single day. That led him to be more than two hours late for a rally in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, after he spent the day in court in New York.
He Lifeng, Chinese vice premier and Chinese lead person for China-U.S. economic and trade affairs, meets with the U.S. delegation of the China-U.S. financial working group in Beijing, capital of China, Jan. 19, 2024. (Xinhua/Yao Dawei)

BEIJING, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- He Lifeng, Chinese vice premier and Chinese lead person for China-U.S. economic and trade affairs, met with the U.S. delegation of the China-U.S. financial working group in Beijing on Friday.

He pointed out that China is willing to work with the U.S. side to implement the important consensus reached at the San Francisco meeting between the two heads of state and promote the development of bilateral relations in a healthy, stable and sustainable direction.

He called on the two sides to continue to make good use of the financial working group mechanism, accumulate results and consolidate the momentum of cooperation in the financial field.

The China-U.S. financial working group is a financial exchange mechanism established by the two countries under the guidance of lead persons for China-U.S. economic and trade affairs from both sides to implement the important consensus reached by the two heads of state in their meeting in Bali.

The visiting U.S. delegation is to attend the third meeting of the working group. 
Hooked on games and the silver screen

What is it about TV and film thats so compelling that we cant resist immersing ourselves in celluloid?

Binge-watching series? Obsessed with Netflixs latest blockbuster? Human beings have ardently consumed TV and film for decades, and its the storytelling behind the medium that gets us hooked. Remember Scheherazade? The character and storyteller in the Middle Eastern collection of tales known as the One Thousand and One Nights, in which the sultan takes a new wife each night and has her executed the next morning.

Scheherazade survives by telling the Sultan stories every night. Her early adoption of the cliffhanger  a plot device in which a part of the story ends unresolved in a shocking or suspenseful way  saved her life.

The same thing that kept the sultan entranced is what keeps us glued to our screens today; how the narrative of shows is crafted, and its delivery are as important as the plot. Similar rules apply, whether were watching TV and film, or playing a video game.

Connection and escapism

But theres more to our screen addiction than good storytelling. Lecturer in the Film and Television Department at Wits, Jurgen Meekel, speaks about the duality of connection and escapism, and how the medium offers both. People can either watch the news via a plethora of 24-hour current affairs channels or use film and TV services to escape reality.

This was especially true during the Covid-19 lockdown; Nielsen reported early in the pandemic that home-bound consumers led to a 60% increase in the amount of video content watched globally.

Kieran Reid, Head of Wits Digital Arts, expands on the notion of reality and escapism and how games allow for a semblance of control. He says, Our goals in life are really complicated and not so clear cut; you have no idea if you have the right tools to do what you need to do, whereas a game gives you a clear way of engaging and a core set of rules, and those rules are the correct rules to help you achieve your goal.

In addition, Reid explains that people keep playing games because they are competitive. Whether you are playing against yourself or an opponent, theres a sense of achievement in success, which is rewarding.

Whether they are games that can be played socially with several people, or that are played solo on a mobile device, success in these games is a compelling reason to keep coming back to them.

As a department, we are very interested in understanding play and facilitating interactions, so the students are constantly designing ways in which people will engage with their product, and obviously, in some ways, thats about manipulating them to stay longer, to enjoy themselves, and to make sure the interactions lead to more interactions, so that they keep coming back, says Reid.

More media that mirrors

Unlike gaming, when it comes to film and television, the appeal of the win does not apply. However, social media has brought in an added dynamic to our compulsion to watch a show or series. Discovering new content from the ever-expanding pool, before it trends, and making good recommendations translates to solid social currency, whose reward is the potential to give someone influencer status. In this example, both the influencer and the influenced become keen followers of a particular programme.

Theres a huge difference in the way we consume broadcast media and games today, but also how we make film and TV. The audience has become more versed with the creation of media, theyve become experts, so the creators have had to develop more intelligent stories, deepen their characters, and include multiple narrative arcs, which I think is most interesting, says Meekel.

He also notes the democratisation of the media, with more representation of audiences and their lives in programming. This has led to streaming services clamouring to create and broadcast local content. Ideally this will lead to more opportunities for students in his department.

How we watch and play

But it's not just the amount, or types of content that have increased  how we watch has also changed dramatically. Since its launch in South Africa in 1976, television has had mass appeal. Now, with 72% of the South African population connected to the internet, streaming media is easier than ever. Despite the high cost of data, Google reports that YouTube ads, and by extension YouTube content, reached over 42% of the South African population in 2023.

Streaming services including Netflix understand the appeal of Scheherazade style story telling in pulling in viewers. Pilots are no longer the hook for television series and for this reason, streaming platforms prefer the series dump, enabling us to become addicted to our favourite (or favourite hate) characters, which research shows is by around episode three or four, and binge watch until weve had our fix.

More on this research

BLNK is a screening series where directors, writers and producers come to show work and discuss it with students. BLNK facilitates Film and TV Department Cinema screenings, which are occasionally open to the public. For details, email pervaiz.khan@wits.ac.za.
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, director-general of the World Trade Organization (WTO), speaks at the World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting 2024 in Davos, Switzerland, Jan. 18, 2024. Trade and investment remain essential for the continued recovery of the global economy, participants said at the 54th World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting here this week.(Xinhua/Lian Yi)

DAVOS, Switzerland, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- Trade and investment remain essential for the continued recovery of the global economy, participants said at the 54th World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting here this week.

"Without a free flow of trade, I don't think we can recover," Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, director-general of the World Trade Organization (WTO), said in a session exploring the role of trade and investment as a driver of economic growth.

Stressing a two-way relationship between growth and trade, she said the WTO is negotiating an investment facilitation agreement with 110 countries, in an effort to help developing countries "sweep away barriers" for investment to flow in and revitalize trade and growth.

According to Okonjo-Iweala, the WTO was "slightly less optimistic" about its projected 3.3 percent growth in commodity trade this year due to the tensions in the Red Sea and the downgrade of global growth.

"We are revising it, but I do not have the new numbers," she said.

In October, the WTO more than halved last year's global commodity trade forecast to 0.8 percent, compared to 1.7 percent estimated in April, but maintained its 3.3 percent growth forecast for 2024.

Global trade leaders at the WEF see significant opportunities for investment in growth across global supply chains, such as digital trade, services and green trade.

A mindset shift is needed, where trade and globalization are "embraced politically," said Khaldoon Khalifa Al Mubarak, chief executive officer and managing director at Mubadala Investment Company of the United Arab Emirates. "With economic development comes prosperity, with prosperity comes stability, with stability, ultimately, you have peace."

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said that geopolitical instability also poses risks to supply chains and international trade.

Talking about the European Union's (EU) role in securing trade that would recover global growth, EU Commissioner for Trade Valdis Dombrovskis said the 27-member bloc is committed to preserving a rules-based multilateral trading system.

He said the geopolitical context is changing and becoming much more conflictual, posing the risk of economic fragmentation.

As the largest trading block in the world with the most comprehensive network of free trade agreements, the EU has a lot at stake when discussing the global trading system, he added.

"We really need to revive growth and investment, to see an inclusive job creating, and sustainable recovery," WEF President Borge Brende said.

Under the theme "Rebuilding Trust," the WEF annual meeting, scheduled for Jan. 15-19, focuses on four priorities: achieving security and cooperation in a fractured world; creating growth and jobs for a new era; harnessing artificial intelligence as a driving force for the economy and society, and formulating a long-term strategy for climate, nature, and energy. 
BAGHDAD, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- What if an uninvited "guest" comes and refuses to leave? Naturally, the host would get furious and try all means to kick the uninvited guest out. This scenario parallels America's current situation in Iraq.

Despite the Iraqi prime minister's repeated orders to expel U.S. forces, the United States is not only turning a deaf ear but also hinting at deploying additional troops.

From Iraq to Syria, Libya, and now Yemen, the United States consistently prioritizes self-interest, aiming to maintain hegemony while inflicting endless turmoil, violence, and suffering upon the Middle East.

The U.S. military, unwelcome yet unwilling to leave, remains a domineering presence in Iraq. About 21 years ago, in order to invade Iraq, the United States trumped up the disturbing claim that the Saddam Hussein government was possessing weapons of mass destruction, which was later revealed as a lie to the world.

Sadly, the U.S. invasion has claimed hundreds of thousands of innocent lives. Today, the war-torn country is still grappling with the destructive U.S. presence. Dozens of Iraqi paramilitary forces have been killed in U.S. attacks.

As early as 2020, the Iraqi Parliament passed a resolution calling for the government to expel foreign troops from the country. In 2021, Iraq declared the end of the combat mission of the U.S.-led international coalition. However, approximately 2,500 U.S. troops remain in Iraq today.

Meanwhile, the U.S. military repeatedly claims that it is "invited" to assist Iraq in fighting the Islamic State militants. Why does it now turn a deaf ear to the expulsion order of its host, especially when its combat mission has already concluded?

While the United States touts "democracy," "freedom," and "peace," its actions revealed a self-serving agenda which involves meddling in regional affairs, inciting conflicts, and indulging in unrestrained plundering.

The U.S. military, under the guise of "assisting in combating extremist groups" and "protecting oil fields," illegally maintains a presence in Syria. Ironically, the United States and U.S.-backed forces have been systematically looting oil, wheat, and other essential resources in Syria.

Once a nation known for exporting grains, Syria now suffers from food shortages under U.S. sanctions and plundering. Looting natural resources represents a disturbing facet of U.S. human rights violations in Syria, Syrian political researcher Muhammad Omari has said.

The hegemonic mindset and confrontational logic embedded in U.S. Middle East policy stand in stark contrast to the region's collective desire for peace, stability, and cooperative development. The true nature of the United States as a "harbinger of chaos" has become increasingly clear to the people of the Middle East.

Since the outbreak of the recent conflict in the Gaza Strip, the United States has shown partiality for Israel, bombed the Houthi group, and conducted airstrikes on Iraqi militia groups. Meanwhile, America has seen its bases in Iraq and Syria under attack approximately 140 times, its vessels and warships in the Red Sea targeted by the Houthi group, its embassy in Iraq hit with rockets, and anti-U.S. protests sweeping multiple countries.

The intrusive U.S. military presence remains a major source of suffering, indignation and agony for the Middle East. Despite U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken's four trips to the Middle East in three months to "put out the fires," the flames of conflicts and chaos have turned out to be increasingly higher. The "powder keg" of the Middle East has been constantly ignited or fueled by an egoistic America.

Washington must admit the true fact that the Middle East belongs to its people, and it is high time the United States quit its bullying and hegemonic acts in the long-suffering region. A Middle East free from U.S. interference will definitely be much safer and more prosperous. 
Click the photo and watch the video.

A pair of scissors, a piece of paper, and a pair of dexterous hands. That's all that's needed to create delicate works of paper-cuttings.

Originating in the Southern and Northern Dynasties (420-581), this ancient form of art has decorated windows across China to celebrate the Spring Festival for generations. Patterns of whichever of the 12 Chinese zodiac animals the new year ushers forth, as well as festive scenes of family reunions and temple fairs, are still lighting up Chinese homes today.

Often created without any reference to a drawn draft, various patterns and images, such as animals and flowers, and mythological and historical figures, each with their own connotations, are cut and carved with scissors and burins.

This is the unrivaled skill of paper-cutting, an art form closely related to the nation's original culture and religious beliefs, such as reproductive worship, praying for blessings and warding off disasters. It contains deep cultural value, as well as traditional Chinese philosophy and morals.

(Source: chinadaily.com.cn)
Chinese Consul General in New York Huang Ping delivers a speech during the 2024 "Happy Chinese New Year" launch ceremony at the Chinese Consulate General in New York, on Jan. 16, 2024. A vibrant tapestry of cultural celebrations is set to unfold across the Eastern United States in February as the Chinese Lunar New Year nears. [Xinhua/Li Rui]

NEW YORK, Jan. 17 (Xinhua)  A vibrant tapestry of cultural celebrations is set to unfold across the Eastern United States in February as the Chinese Lunar New Year nears.

Ping Huang, Chinese Consul General in New York, shared the exciting news during Tuesday's 2024 "Happy Chinese New Year" launch ceremony.

"The year 2024 is special as China and the U.S. will celebrate the 45th anniversary of China-U.S. diplomatic relations ... Let's join hands to make all the upcoming events successful and inject more positive energy to the stable, sound and sustainable development of China-U.S. relationship," said Huang.

"To ensure the two major countries can get along, a right perception of each other is more important than anything else. That's why we need to enhance people-to-people exchanges to deepen our mutual understanding. After all, the foundation of China-U.S. relationship lies with the people," Huang said.

Huang gave special thanks to the New York Philharmonic, which has been working with Chinese artists since 2012 to celebrate the Chinese New Year. "This sets the pace of musical cooperation between China and the U.S. and contributed to the popularization of the Chinese New Year."

"Our 2024 celebration on Feb. 20 will bring us in a full dragon to Dragon lunar cycle, and we're so happy about this," said Gary Ginstling, President & CEO of New York Philharmonic, adding the orchestra's new year gala "exemplifies our belief that symphonic music transcends borders and unites people of all cultures."

Moreover, arts institutions, including the Philadelphia Orchestra, New Jersey Symphony Orchestra and the Bard College Conservatory of Music, will present a series of Chinese New Year concerts.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Philadelphia Museum of Art and Lincoln Center will hold Family Day programs for a more hands-on experience of Chinese intangible cultural heritage.

Landmarks such as the Empire State Building, the World Trade Center and the American Dream Mall will hold lighting ceremonies. The Brooklyn Nets will hold a themed event. The China Institute will present a Lunar New Year family festival.

The Global Chinese New Year Photography Competition will be held for the 9th year.

China National Tourist Office in New York will join hands with the Pennsylvania Tourism Department and China Institute to launch an ice carnival and a Chinese culinary festival.

Chinese New Year 2024 will fall on Saturday, Feb. 10, kicking off the year of the Dragon. This festival is a public school holiday in New York State and a UN floating holiday.

Chinese Consul General in New York Huang Ping delivers a speech during the 2024 "Happy Chinese New Year" launch ceremony at the Chinese Consulate General in New York, on Jan. 16, 2024. [Xinhua/Li Rui]

Gary Ginstling, President & CEO of New York Philharmonic, speaks during the 2024 "Happy Chinese New Year" launch ceremony at the Chinese Consulate General in New York, on Jan. 16, 2024. [Xinhua/Li Rui]

Chinese Consul General in New York Huang Ping delivers a speech during the 2024 "Happy Chinese New Year" launch ceremony at the Chinese Consulate General in New York, on Jan. 16, 2024. [Xinhua/Li Rui]

The audience applaud for the performance given by artists from the New York Philharmonic during the 2024 "Happy Chinese New Year" launch ceremony at the Chinese Consulate General in New York, on Jan. 16, 2024. [Xinhua/Li Rui]

Artists from the New York Philharmonic perform during the 2024 "Happy Chinese New Year" launch ceremony at the Chinese Consulate General in New York, on Jan. 16, 2024. [Xinhua/Li Rui]

Artists from the New York Philharmonic perform during the 2024 "Happy Chinese New Year" launch ceremony at the Chinese Consulate General in New York, on Jan. 16, 2024. [Xinhua/Li Rui]

Artists from the New York Philharmonic perform during the 2024 "Happy Chinese New Year" launch ceremony at the Chinese Consulate General in New York, on Jan. 16, 2024. [Xinhua/Li Rui]

Artists from the New York Philharmonic perform during the 2024 "Happy Chinese New Year" launch ceremony at the Chinese Consulate General in New York, on Jan. 16, 2024. [Xinhua/Li Rui]

(Source: Xinhua)
A woman makes a silk flower garland at a firm in Laoting County of Tangshan City, Hebei Province, Jan 16, 2024. [Xinhua]

In recent years, Laoting County in Hebei Province has given support to the development of the handicraft making industry that focuses on silk flower products. Currently, the silk flower products made in the county have been exported to Europe, Southeast Asia and the Middle East, helping local rural women gain employment and increase their income.

A merchant selects silk flowers at a firm in Laoting County of Tangshan City, Hebei Province, Jan 16, 2024. [Xinhua]

A woman works at a silk flower production firm in Laoting County of Tangshan City, Hebei Province, Jan 16, 2024. [Xinhua]

A woman works at a silk flower production firm in Laoting County of Tangshan City, Hebei Province, Jan 16, 2024. [Xinhua]

A woman works at a silk flower production firm in Laoting County of Tangshan City, Hebei Province, Jan 16, 2024. [Xinhua]

Two women work at a silk flower production firm in Laoting County of Tangshan City, Hebei Province, Jan 16, 2024. [Xinhua]

(Source: chinadaily.com.cn/Xinhua)




Lin Lin is president of the Full-time Mothers Women's Federation, in Nanxiang, a town in Jiading District, in Shanghai. The federation is the first of its kind in Shanghai. When it was established, in 2019, the federation had 80 members. Now, it has nearly 500 members. Led by Lin, many of the members have participated in the community's management in recent years. As they have been shouldering their social responsibilities, they have been striving to realize their value.



Helping Full-Time Mothers Realize Value

More than 10 years ago, Lin and Ding Changhua, her husband, ran a home-furnishing company in Shanghai. However, a car accident changed their peaceful lives. Lin and her son, Ding Hanming, were both injured during the accident, and they were both hospitalized for more than a year. While Ding Changhua took care of Ding Hanming in the hospital, several women, who lived in Lin's neighborhood, took turns looking after Lin. She was deeply touched by the women's heartwarming gesture. After she was released from the hospital, Lin became a full-time mother, so she could take better care of her family. She pondered how she could repay society for the care and assistance she had received.

In 2014, Lin began promoting children's reading, and offering, both online and offline, guidance to children and their parents, to help them improve their reading skills. Two years later, Lin raised money to establish a picture-book reading room (in Jiading), which is open to public for free. She often organizes storytelling parties in the reading room.

"I spent almost a year reading picture books with my children. The activity had a soothing, calming effect on me. In 2016, I took my daughter (Ding Zixuan) to participate in an activity (in Shanghai) to encourage parents to read with their children. Through the activity, many parents better understood the benefits of parent-child reading," recalls Lin.



During the past eight years, Lin has organized more than 100 parent-child reading activities, during which experts (in parent-child reading) have offered guidance to children and their parents, to help them improve their reading skills. The parents have also shared their ideas on how to better educate their children. Lin has also posted online information (about various children's books), which has attracted tens of thousands of online readers. Through the activities, she has met many full-time mothers.

In 2018, Lin established an online chat group, in which she and more than 80 mothers have discussed topics related to reading, family education and parent-child relations. The women often organize various activities, to promote harmony among residents of the community. As she has strived to realize her value, Lin has been pleased to offer a helping hand to those in need.

During the following year, Lin and several other women established the Full-time Mothers Women's Federation (in Nanxiang), under the guidance of local women's federations. Lin hoped, through the platform, full-time mothers could have a greater sense of belonging to their communities, especially as they were shouldering increasing social responsibilities.

Within a short time, Lin and her team established a volunteers' group, which organized full-time mothers to provide various services, including sorting garbage and strengthening work related to the prevention and control of novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

In 2019, Nanxiang began recruiting women volunteers, who have been providing companionship and academic tutoring to disadvantaged children. During the past several years, Lin has mobilized dozens of full-time mothers to participate in the campaign.

As president of Jiading Yuelihui Family Public Welfare Service Center, Lin during the past few years has led the center's workers in conducting various activities to promote parent-child reading, and reading among both adolescents and women.

"In addition to full-time mothers, many women (in Jiading), including SOHO (small office, home office) workers, in recent years have participated in our various public-welfare activities, including those intended to help residents improve their family education," says Lin. "Many full-time mothers, who merely cared for their own families in the past, have played active roles in building their communities into better places."

[Photo by Zhang Jiamin]



Promoting Good Family Traditions, Establishing Healthy Social Practices

For more than a decade, Lin has tried her best to help disadvantaged children. During the past three years, Lin has been taking a girl, who lives with her grandparents (who are in delicate health), to school and picking the girl up on her way home every day. In 2012, Lin and some of her neighbors launched a charitable project to provide financial aid to both impoverished children and rural teachers in Yongning (a town in Lijiang, a city in southwest China's Yunnan Province).

Influenced by Lin, all of her family members have devoted themselves to promoting public-welfare undertakings. For example, during the past 13 years, both Ding Changhua and Ding Hanming have been providing support services to Lin and other volunteers, as they have conducted charity auctions, under the above-mentioned project, to provide financial aid to both impoverished children and rural teachers (in Yongning). "I'm pleased I have sowed the seeds of love in my children's hearts, and the seeds have taken root and sprouted," says Lin. She hopes her children will grow into talents, who contribute to the development of the country and society. She also notes, compared with their verbal instructions, parents' teaching by personal example tend to exert a greater influence on their children. In 2022, Lin's family was selected a National Most Beautiful Family.

Lin was honored to have been elected a delegate to the 13th National Women's Congress of China (held in October 2023). "I will learn about the needs of more women, and pass on President Xi Jinping's discourses on the importance of family, family education and virtues, and the spirit of the congress to members of our federation ... If residents of our community can manage our families well, Chinese society will become more harmonious," she says.

Inspired by Xi's discourses, Lin has realized full-time mothers' value and potential. During the past few years, she has led the federation's members in conducting various activities to help residents improve their family education, and to encourage parents to read with their children. Lin's team has also shared information about healthy lives with women, and helped them increase their legal knowledge and improve their ability to start their own businesses.

Having benefited from such activities, some full-time mothers have established their own enterprises, while others have participated in their communities' management. Some women have qualified as family education mentors and/or psychological counselors.



Almighty Mothers

In addition to full-time mothers, many women, including SOHO workers and women who have participated in the federation's activities, have become members of the Full-time Mothers Women's Federation (in Nanxiang). "Since I established the federation, I have remained committed to my original aspiration  providing a platform for mothers to participate in community governance and social services, and to play greater roles in society, so the women can realize their value," Lin says.

She has been impressed by Shen Yang, the federation's vice-president, who has applied what she has learned in helping women (in her community) improve their family education, and in helping residents mediate parent-child disputes. "Using our advantages in our work (such as being thoughtful and having good communication and coordination skills), we, full-time mothers, try our best to help residents resolve family disputes and/or improve their family education," says Lin. Through the experiences of Shen and other outstanding women, Lin says she has realized the importance of lifelong learning.

Lin believes as Chinese society has become increasingly inclusive, women have been able to choose their lifestyles of their own free will, which means they may either work or become full-time mothers. Given their contributions to building their communities into better places, many full-time mothers have earned respect from others. That has showcased the fact Chinese women have diverse choices in the modern society.

Through Lin's experience, one may conclude, by participating in community governance and public affairs, full-time mothers may contribute to the promotion of both social harmony, stability and prosperity.

Issues related to providing better and various services to women, and to helping women explore their potential, have remained Lin's top concerns. "Throughout their lives, both working mothers and full-time mothers should strive to realize their value ... Full-time mothers may use their professional skills to promote development of their communities and Chinese society," says Lin.

She is aware the federation has provided a platform for full-time mothers to display their talents and professional skills. She believes, through the platform, Chinese society will better understand the women's needs and wishes. Through the various activities conducted by her federation, Lin has realized families play a crucial, foundational role in promoting people's well-being, and in achieving the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. She hopes she will help more families better understand the importance of family, family education and virtues. Lin believes healthy social practices will be established as every family promotes its good family traditions. She vows to encourage more women to play their unique roles in both promoting social development and in advocating family virtues and good family traditions. She also hopes more women will do their bit to promote community construction and good social trends.

Photos Supplied by Interviewee

(Women of China English Monthly December 2023 issue)
WASHINGTON, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Senate on Thursday passed a short-term spending bill that would extend government funding until March, as funding for some federal agencies and programs is set to expire on Saturday.

The upper chamber voted 77-18 to approve the bill, paving the way for action of the House of Representatives later Thursday.

"The Senate has just passed the bill to fund the government and avoid an unnecessary shutdown," Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said on X, formerly known as Twitter.

It's the third stopgap funding measure this Congress has approved - first in September and again in November.

In November 2023, the Congress approved a stopgap spending bill that would extend funding for some federal agencies and programs at current levels until Jan. 19, 2024, and others through Feb. 2.

Earlier this month, House and Senate leaders reached an agreement on a short-term spending deal that would move upcoming government funding deadlines to March 1 and March 8, respectively, buying legislators more time to craft longer-term spending bills.

The latest development in the Senate came a few days after several hard-right House Republicans pressured House Speaker Mike Johnson to drop the spending deal he previously reached with Schumer.

The House Freedom Caucus, a hard-line conservative group, has been attempting to add border security provisions in the "clean" stopgap measure, and met with Johnson in his office earlier Thursday, just hours before the measure is scheduled to go on the House floor.

Raj Shah, deputy chief for communication for the House speaker, however, said Thursday afternoon on X that the plan has not changed. "The House is voting on the stopgap measure tonight to keep the government open."

Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for Responsible Federal Budget, recently said in a statement that the stopgap spending bill would hopefully allow Congress to pass appropriations bills in the next few weeks before the continuing resolution runs out.

"Congress should now work to pass individual appropriations bills rather than a gigantic omnibus, which can often be accompanied by a slew of other debt-increasing provisions attached to it," said MacGuineas. 


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Weather Alert

...Elevated Fire Danger Today and Tuesday... ...Hard Freeze Expected Tonight... The combination of very dry air and northwest winds gusting up to 20 mph will create an elevated risk of uncontrolled fire spread this afternoon. Relative humidity values will fall to 20 to 35%, with the lowest humidity levels over the Ozark Foothills of southeast Missouri. A more substantial fire danger is expected Tuesday, as southwest winds increase significantly, with gusts of 25 to 40 mph forecast Tuesday afternoon. Relative humidity values Tuesday afternoon will fall to 25 to 35%. If you are planning outdoor burning today and Tuesday, use extra caution and have fire suppression equipment ready. Tonight, very cold and dry surface high pressure will allow temperatures to drop into the middle and upper 20s throughout the region. Although the growing season has not officially started, tender vegetation could be impacted by these cold temperatures. Please take necessary actions to protect any tender vegetation tonight.
A forensic scientist is seen in a laboratory at ZRP Criminal Investigations Department headquarters in Harare, Zimbabwe, on Jan. 18, 2024. China on Thursday handed over anti-narcotics laboratory equipment to the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) to support its fight against drug and substance abuse. (Photo by Tafara Mugwara/Xinhua)

HARARE, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- China on Thursday handed over anti-narcotics laboratory equipment to the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) to support its fight against drug and substance abuse.

The equipment was officially handed over by Chinese Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Zhou Ding, to Zimbabwe's Minister of Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage, Kazembe Kazembe, at a ceremony attended by Police Commissioner-General, Godwin Matanga, and officials from the Chinese Embassy, government and police at ZRP Criminal Investigations Department (CID) headquarters in Harare.

"Today's handover ceremony is yet another milestone support in our quest to mitigate the effects of drug and substance abuse which have reached unprecedented levels, especially among the youths," Kazembe said in his keynote address at the ceremony.

He said the equipment will make a huge difference in fighting drug and substance abuse in the country, thereby helping the country rebuild the social fabric that is under threat from drug and substance use.

Kazembe said drug and substance abuse among youths breeds a non-productive community which negatively impacts Zimbabwe's development aspirations.

"It burdens the economy as funds that could be used for other developmental purposes are channeled towards treatment and rehabilitation of those affected. It is therefore pleasing to note that this analysis equipment will go a long way in strengthening the capacity of law enforcement agencies to identify drugs and improve detection levels," said Kazembe.

The instruments handed over include Raman spectrometer and drug extraction and sampling kits. Among the items are also equipment that can detect explosives and hazardous substances.

"Such level of investigative sophistication is the much-needed shot in the arm for our police officers as they wage the war on drugs," Kazembe said, adding that modern policing is now hinged on the use of technology-driven practices.

Speaking at the same event, Zhou said China firmly supports Zimbabwe's national anti-drug and substance abuse campaign.

"China has joined hands with many countries, including Zimbabwe, to enhance international anti-drug cooperation and address our common challenges posed by drug abuse," he noted.

The anti-narcotics laboratory is another iconic project of China-Zimbabwe pragmatic cooperation. "The project fills the void in the forensic science laboratory of the Zimbabwe Republic Police. It will further improve ZRP's capacity in drug identification, detection and analysis. I believe that such powerful detection tools will help strengthen Zimbabwe's capacity to combat drug crimes, and save lives," said Zhou.

Matanga noted that Zimbabwe, like many nations across the world, is battling with the scourge of drug and substance abuse.

He noted that the government's efforts to grow the economy and create more opportunities and better livelihoods for the youths would be in vain if the persisting drug menace is not contained.

"It therefore behooves us to enhance our capacity in detecting drug cargo at our ports of entry and exit as well as redoubling our efforts to bust local drug syndicates and distribution networks," said Matanga.

In addition, he said the equipment will go a long way in leveraging ZRP's capacity to gather forensic evidence for the prosecution of drug-related crimes.

Zimbabwe has faced the growing challenge of drug and substance abuse by the youths in recent years, prompting the government to step up efforts to combat the scourge.

The police in early 2023 launched an anti-drugs and substance abuse operation which has resulted in thousands of suspects being arrested.

Some of the drugs being sold on the streets include Crystal Methamphetamine, cough syrups and marijuana. 

Zimbabwe's Minister of Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage Kazembe Kazembe (L) shakes hands with Chinese Ambassador to Zimbabwe Zhou Ding after signing handover certificates for anti-narcotics laboratory equipment in Harare, Zimbabwe, on Jan. 18, 2024. China on Thursday handed over anti-narcotics laboratory equipment to the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) to support its fight against drug and substance abuse. (Photo by Tafara Mugwara/Xinhua)
We are publishing the tribute given by Chris Marsden, national secretary of the Socialist Equality Party in Britain, to Halil Celik, founder and leader of the Sosyalist Esitlik Grubu, the Turkish section of the International Committee of the Fourth International. Marsdens remarks were read at a memorial meeting for Halil on the fifth anniversary of his death held Sunday, January 14 in Istanbul.

Halil Celik in Istanbul, 2007

Dear comrades of the Sosyalist Esitlik group and esteemed members of the family of Halil Celik.

I send greetings from the Socialist Equality Party here in Britain to this meeting marking five years since the passing of our beloved comrade.

The passage of five years does not lessen the sense of loss resulting from Halils all too early death in late December 2018. We in the European sections of the International Committee of the Fourth International had by then spent a decade working in political collaboration with Halil as he dedicated himself to the forging of a Turkish section of our world party.

I and others came to know someone characterised by intellectual rigour, a commitment to socialist principles, and an objective approach to the complex task of constructing the revolutionary movement and the training of its cadre.

We knew from the beginning that we were dealing with an extraordinary comrade, someone who had become politically active as a young man, who had broken with Stalinism and who became an admirer and then later a partisan of Trotsky and Trotskyism. He did so under fire, suffering arrest and imprisonment for his courageous political activities.

We also knew that, given the political milieu he found himself in, as the ICFI wrote on his death, the path to genuine Marxist internationalism turned out to be a long and arduous one.

Halil took that path and followed it to the very end. It involved protracted and painful experiences, in Turkey, Germany and Greece, with the myriad counterfeit Pabloite groupings and tendencies and their opportunist adaptations to nationalism, Stalinism, Maoism and the trade union bureaucracy. But from his study of the genuine history and programme of Trotskyism, undertaken through his reading of the World Socialist Web Site, he began his final break with Pabloism, including his repudiation of the EEK in Greece, led by Savas Michael-Matsas.

This involved at least two years of collective study, together with his group, of major statements and lectures produced by the ICFI, that led to a fundamental political reorientation, after which Halil made formal contact with and then met with representatives of the ICFI in 2007.

It is a measure of the man that, despite his long years associating with alien political tendencies, Halil never came across as alien himself. He was serious, objective and comradely in his dealings with others, not driven by ego but by a commitment to the socialist liberation of humanity.

In the years since then, until cancer claimed his life, Halil worked continuously on the essential, intimately related tasks of clarifying himself on the international perspective of our movement, working through its implications for the complexities of constructing a section of the ICFI in Turkey, and educating the cadre charged with this historic mission.

Halil succeeded, securing the agreement of the ICFI in 2014 to work collectively towards establishing a section of the International Committee in Turkey. The decade that followed included five years that were the most consequential and productive of Halils life, including his translation of The Heritage We Defend, The Russian Revolution and the Unfinished Twentieth Century, and other fundamental works.

Halil successfully laid the foundations for the establishment in 2022 of a Turkish section of the International Committee and trained the leadership that will complete the task of building the revolutionary leadership of the Turkish working class, amid tumultuous events that pose decisively the struggle for world socialist revolution.

Those young workers coming into struggle against social and political reaction, against the genocide in Gaza and the spread of war from Ukraine to the Middle East and seeking a revolutionary party will salute the memory of comrade Halil Celik, just as we do today. His legacy will endure.

With comradely greetings,

Chris Marsden
Nuclear-armed Pakistan carried out air-launched rocket and drone-missile strikes on at least seven separate locations inside neighbouring Iran on Thursday, targeting what it said were bases of Balochi secessionist insurgents.

Map of the Pakistan-Iran conflict

Iran, which vehemently condemned the strikes as a violation of its state sovereignty, said they had killed nine foreign nationals, including four children. The Baloch Liberation Armywhich has waged a decades-long cross-border insurgency in Pakistani Balochistan, the countrys poorest, sparsely-populated westernmost provinceconfirmed that its forces had come under attack.

Although Pakistan did not say so explicitly, Thursdays strikes were in part retaliation for an attack Iran had mounted some 48 hours before inside Pakistan.

According to Iran, its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) used missile and drone strikes to hit camps of the Jaish al-Adl, a Balochi armed secessionist group that has carried out attacks in Irans predominantly Balochi southeast. Following that action, Tehran emphasized it did not want to disrupt brotherly relations with Pakistan. But in a message clearly intended for Washington and Israel, Iran said that it reserves the right to take all necessary measures to defend itself.

The tit-for tat attacks between Iran and Pakistan add further combustion in a region already set ablaze by US imperialism and its allies, which are using Israels genocidal war on the Palestinians of Gaza to prepare and provoke a wider war with Iran.

On Wednesday and Thursday evenings, the US carried out its fourth and fifth waves of missile strikes on Yemen in a week, hitting what it claimed were Iranian-backed Houthi positions in disparate areas across the country. Speaking to reporters earlier Thursday, US President Joe Biden had vowed the US-British campaign of air strikes against the Houthis would continue.

With the support of broad sections of the Yemeni people, Houthi fighters have disrupted Red Sea shipping to press for an end to Israels onslaught on Gaza.

Also on Wednesday, the Biden administration labeled the Houthis a Specially Designated Global Terrorist group, opening the door to the imposition of sweeping sanctions. Aid groups immediately responded with warnings that the designation threatens to greatly intensify Yemens humanitarian crisis. As a result of the almost decade-long war the Saudi regime has waged on Yemen with US arms and logistical support, more than half of the countrys populationover 18 million peopleneed food and other assistance.

The European Union, meanwhile, is in the advanced planning stage for its own naval operation in the Red Sea that would support the US/British attacks on Yemen, while asserting its own role as a regional policeman. The German government is leading the charge in launching the mission, which it will support by dispatching a frigate to the region in early February, according to a report in the Welt am Sontag newspaper. Underscoring German imperialisms major military expansion into the Middle East, Berlin is readying a shipment of 10,000 artillery shells to back Israels genocide in Gaza.

Emboldened by the to-the-hilt support Israel is receiving from the North American and European imperialist powers, Israels fascist Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu baldly reasserted his goal of a Greater Israel in perpetuity Thursday, saying his government would never agree to ceding sovereignty over any part of the West Bank.

For his part, Israeli President Isaac Herzog told the Davos summit of the worlds corporate and political elite that a very strong coalition was needed to confront the empire of evil emanating from Iran and their proxies all over the region. Under conditions where Israel is poised to launch an all-out invasion of Lebanon, having mounted repeated incursions and missile strikes over the past three months, Herzog railed against attacks by Hezbollah, armed up to its neck by Iran, financed by Iran.

Israeli soldiers fire a mobile howitzer in the north of Israel, near the border with Lebanon, Monday, Jan. 15, 2024. [AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg]

Day after day, the Western media churns out lies about Biden seeking to restrain Israels slaughter of the Palestinians, although his administration is arming it to the teeth and, at his orders, the US military is providing the Israel Defence Forces with direct targeting assistance. No less fraudulent are their claims that Biden and his henchman and consigliere, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, are working to prevent a wider war in the Middle East.

From the outset of the Gaza warwhen Washington dispatched two aircraft carrier groups, soon to be joined by nuclear-powered and likely nuclear-armed submarinesthe US has pursued a policy of escalating military pressure on Iran and its allies. In conjunction with Israel, it has sought to degrade the firepower of Irans allies and the IRGC across the region, including with repeated strikes in Iraq and Syria, and now a rapidly expanding air war against Yemen.

The aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower and the fast combat support ship USNS Supply transit the Strait of Hormuz, Dec. 14, 2023. [Photo: Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Keith Nowak]

These actions are preparatory to a head-on clash with Iran that could come at any time. Not only has the Pentagon planned for such war for decades, but, from the standpoint of US imperialism, its strategic aims have never been more vital than today, when the US is in a de facto war with Russia and plotting for war with China. Its goal in targeting Iran is to secure unbridled dominance over the worlds principal oil-exporting region, a region uniquely positioned to project geopolitical power across Eurasia, Africa and the entire Indian Ocean region.

The fact that Moscow and Beijing have forged closer ties with Iran, in response to the US strategic offensives that target all of them, has only increased Washingtons determination to confront Iran.

Biden and Blinken have themselves drawn the connection between the Gaza war, the war in Ukraine and the developing US-China confrontation. The reality is that these are different arenas in a rapidly developing global conflict, as US imperialism desperately seeks to offset the decline in its relative economic power and establish global hegemony though war, plunder and the revival of colonial subjugation. For the same essential reasons, the British and EU powers follow in Washingtons train, while trying to establish the basis, including military strength, to aggressively assert their own interests.

The tit-for-tat Iran-Pakistan missile strikes, as well as the strikes Turkey carried out earlier this week against Kurdish fighters in northern Iraq and Syria, underscore that the escalating imperialist war in the Middle East is intersecting with various regional conflicts, adding to them all a further explosive dynamic. These conflicts are themselves historically rooted in imperialist oppression, including the arbitrary borders imposed on the people of the Middle East at the conclusion of the first and second world wars.

Both Pakistan and Iran have sought to cast their respective strikes as wholly targeted against foreign-based insurgents. But such explanations can only go so far.

Pakistans military, the most important player in its political establishment, would no doubt have been concerned about the impact that a failure to respond to Irans violation of it borders would have on its strategic rivalry with India and on its domestic standing. In 2019, India and Pakistan came perilously close to war when Pakistan responded to an Indian cross-border attack with one of its own.

According to press reports, Iran was nonetheless surprised that Pakistan retaliated. There is every reason to believe that Washington, whose relations with Pakistan are largely mediated through its military, would have given encouragement and advance approval.

In their latest statements both Tehran and Islamabad have signaled they want to patch up relations, while China has offered to mediate.

Be that as it may, the dynamic across the Middle East is one of rapid escalation toward a regional conflagration led by Washington, its imperialist allies and their principal regional client, Israel.

Workers in the United States, Europe and around the world must unequivocally oppose and mobilize in opposition to the attacks on Yemen and the escalating campaign of imperialist aggression against Iran, both historically oppressed countries.

Irans bourgeois nationalist regime, like the capitalist restorationist regimes in Russia and China, led respectively by Putin and Xi, is organically incapable of offering any progressive answer to the drive of the imperialist powers to reassert their hegemony through a bloody repartition of the world.

This offensivewhose domestic component is a drive to dramatically intensify the exploitation of the working class to finance imperialist war and sweeping attacks on democratic rightsis taking the form of a war against the workers and toilers of the world.

As the World Socialist Web Site explained in its statement at the beginning of the year, the answer to capitalist barbarismto the normalization of genocide, nuclear war, fascist reaction and unparalleled levels of social inequalitymust be the normalization of socialism in the political outlook of the working class.

There is mass opposition to the genocide in Gaza alongside the global upsurge of the working class against the unrelenting assault on its living standards and social and democratic rights. This must be infused with a revolutionary socialist perspective aimed at developing a unified struggle to put an end to capitalism and establish workers power.
The St Francis workers fired by Prime Healthcare

Following a series of strikes at the end of 2023 at its St Francis Medical Center in Lynwood, California, Prime Healthcare retaliated against strikers by firing workers who participated in a rally outside their Ontario headquarters. Seven workers were fired, according to Prime, for trespassing on company headquarters, despite the fact that they were there on business relating to the strike. Two more were later fired simply for having been present. Those fired included the entire union bargaining team.

St Francis is a level one trauma center, meaning it is able to provide the highest level of trauma care to critically injured patients. It is the only one in the region, and provides services not just for Lynwood, but for neighboring cities as well. However, it is plagued with understaffing issues, as are hospitals around the United States. One nurse told the World Socialist Web Site she was the only full-time wound nurse for the entire hospital.

Prime Healthcare acquired the hospital in 2021. Prime occupies an important niche, from the standpoint of investors, in the for-profit healthcare industry, as an asset stripper for ailing healthcare institutions. Prime has been involved in a number of scandals involving tax dodges, denying care to Medicare recipients and the naked gutting of healthcare infrastructure.

On Tuesday night, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and United Nurses Associations of California/Union of Health Care Professionals (UNAC/UHCP) held a vigil for the nine workers who have been fired. After the vigil, there was a brief march to a City Council meeting, which took a vote to condemn the retaliation and called on Prime to rehire the victimized healthcare workers. However, nothing was voted on that would compel Prime to actually rehire them.

After the City Council meeting, the WSWS spoke to Mayra Castaneda, an LVN and ultrasound technologist who was on the bargaining team and who was among the nine fired by Prime. Mayra had worked at St Francis for 25 years before she and her coworkers were summarily fired.

I also worked at Centinella, whos also Prime, where they recently closed the maternity unit, which covers an underserved, underprivileged community of Hispanics and African-Americans. Those services are gone there. Here at St. Francis Medical Center, I can tell you that they closed their skilled nursing facility from the minute they took over, so we no longer have the skilled nursing facility at St. Francis that we had for the more than 25 years that Ive been working there.

And thats just the beginning. What other services are gonna be cut? Part of the conditions of the sale for St. Francis Medical Center three years ago was to keep a pediatric unit open. That doesnt exist right now at St. Francis. Though on paper they may have nurses hired for pediatrics, and they may order supplies and have a secretary for pediatrics, we do not have a pediatrics unit actually functioning in that hospital.

She also commented on the genocide in Gaza and the drive to war: I mean, its clear that the entire world is at a struggle, right? I stand firm with ceasefire. I mean, we cant continue. What were living is World War III. Thats what were living right now. People say World War III is coming, its here. And we need to find a solution to end everything thats taking place, not just in Gaza, but in many different places around the world.

The WSWS spoke to several other workers at the rally, most of whom wished to remain anonymous to protect themselves from further retaliation.

These nine workers, they were part of the bargaining team, one worker said. They were the bargaining team, but they figured if they can chop their heads off at the top, we wont be strong. During the second strike when they provided the papers, thats when they were fired. On top of the nine fired, were just trying to negotiate patient safety, negotiate a raise that we never got prior to COVID

Management is very reactive here. Any equipment, anything that can go out, they wait until it goes out [before replacing it]. I can talk about a computer system that Ive been asking for two years, and then finally it went dead in October. Did they help me? Oh, well get back with you, they said Were going to see in February. So I dont even know what missing instruments are missing.

Another worker jumped in, The IV bags? Before, it was like, I dont know how much they used to pay for one bag, but now it seems like they pay five cents for each bag. If you drop it on the floor, it just opens. They give us the cheapest supply possible for this community. Bottles of sterile water too, they just rip. But they receive the money, the money, and they try to squeeze more money out of everything Since they took over, they switched everything, all our supplies, to the cheapest ones they could find.

I know a surgical tech who went to school, learned how to sterilize instrumentation for surgery, and tells me her daughter makes more money than she does. She works at Chipotle. Its awful.

[Primes CEO, Prem Reddy] believes he can keep churning, and churning, because the money keeps coming. Were an expense, thats all we are. Hed cut us if he could. Theyre churning the money out of trauma. So the only services, theyre limiting certain services for the profit. For profit. We work for a profit hospital.

The anger of workers at the demonstration was entirely justified, and the WSWS supports the demand for the immediate reinstatement of the workers. But the union bureaucracy offered no perspective except to call upon local Democrats for support. But whatever the maneuvering by the mayor and City Council to posture as friends of workersPrime refused to allow them access to inspect parts of the hospital during the strike in Decemberthe perspective of pressuring the capitalist Democratic Party will lead nowhere.

Prem Reddy, the CEO of Prime, is himself a major donor to both the Republicans and the Democrats. The Democratic Party itself has jointly presided over the total dismantling of public health measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19, including even basic reporting mechanisms. And it is also directly responsible for the genocide in Gaza, where the Israeli military has deliberately targeted hospitals with US-made bombs.

In California, the Democrats have presided over and defended private healthcare throughout the pandemic. While the healthcare unions and Governor Newsom are promoting a bill that would establish a $25 minimum wage for healthcare workers in the state, it has been loaded with conditions and budgetary caveats, so that in practice it will only apply to a small minority of healthcare workers. Even this limited measure has been put on hold by the Newsom administration, after corporations began firing thousands of workers in retaliation against the law.

This includes healthcare provider Kaiser Permanente, which announced hundreds of job cuts even in the midst of a massive surge of coronavirus and other infectious diseases.

Instead, the fight to reinstate the Prime 9 requires the mobilization of the working class, independent of the two-party system. This also requires a fight against the pro-corporate trade union bureaucracy, which has helped to enforce sellouts at hospital systems across the United States. The bureaucracy is terrified that mobilizing a serious struggle involving the rank-and-file would threaten the apparatus control and its corrupt ties with the government and hospital administrations.

The way forward is through the formation of rank-and-file committees, controlled by workers themselves. These committees would appeal for the broadest possible unity with healthcare workers real allies, the working class in every industry across the state of California and the United States.
UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- UN humanitarians said on Friday that gang violence in Haiti continues to deteriorate, forcing civilians into impossible choices for their survival.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) issued the warning as it was launching the 2024 humanitarian response plan for Haiti worth 674 million U.S. dollars. It hopes to help 3.6 million people across the country.

OCHA said the humanitarian situation forces civilians into impossible choices for their survival. Even leaving the house exposes Haitians to a range of threats, including sexual and gender-based violence.

"Escalating violence in Cap-Haitien, Gonaives, Ouanaminthe, Les Cayes and in areas of the capital Port-au-Prince continues to disrupt daily activities and hamper humanitarian operations," the office said.

OCHA said several businesses closed in the last few days, and transportation shut down. Some schools are closed, affecting more than 130,000 students, who miss out on the school feeding program, sometimes the only meal children receive for the day.

The office said violence also hinders humanitarian work. Gang violence has made access to southern Haiti nearly impossible.

"The humanitarian community calls on all parties to put an immediate stop to the violence, allow safe access in all parts of the country, and respect human rights and humanitarian principles," OCHA said.

Stephane Dujarric, chief spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, was asked at a regular briefing about the status of the UN-authorized Kenyan-led police force to help stem the violence in Haiti.

"That's an issue really between the group of nations that will be providing assistance to Haiti," he said, adding that the world body's role is to create a trust fund for the deployment of police officers whose countries authorized sending them to Haiti.

"On the operational end, it is not a UN Secretariat mission, though it does have Security Council blessing," he said.

The council authorized the deployment of a multinational force in October 2023. A debate in Kenya on legal issues is holding up police deployment. 
Just as the indefinite strike by over 60,000 state transport workers in the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu was beginning to get support from other sections of workers, the union apparatus quickly called it off on January 10, bowing to an order made by Madras High Court.

In an attempt to justify their treachery, union officials claimed they had temporarily called off the action in the larger interest of the public, in view of the Pongal festival, a five-day-long Tamil farmers harvest celebration, and until talks with state government officials before the Labour Commissioner commence on January 19.

Indian workers on strike in Mumbai, on Tuesday, Jan. 8, 2019. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)

The eruption of this indefinite strike by tens of thousands of bus drivers, conductors and technicians is part of the growth of the class struggle on a global scale.

Among the demands raised by striking workers was the signing of the 15th wage revision agreement for wage hikes, the filling of vacancies in bus driver and conductor posts, and dearness (cost-of-living) allowances (DA) for workers and pensioners that have been held up for 96 months. DA is paid by the Indian central and state governments to their employees and pensioners twice a year and is revised every six months.

Under enormous pressure from rank-and-file workers, the joint action committee (JTC) of the trade unions was compelled to call the mass walkout. The JTC consists of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), which is affiliated with the Stalinist Communist Party of India (Marxist), the All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC), linked with Communist Party of India (CPI), the Anna Thozhilsanga Peravai (ATP), led by the former ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), and the Hind Mazdoor Sabha (HMS).

The JTC tried to prevent a strike by holding talks with officials of the state government of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), led by chief minister MK Stalin. The union apparatus hoped to get some face-saving agreement over the workers longstanding demands. However, the DMK-led state government is in such deep financial crisis that it rejected virtually every demand. Besides its huge financial crisis, the state government is also concerned that any retreat before the transport workers would encourage other sections of workers to launch similar strike action. Under these conditions, the JTC was forced to call a strike, but called it off after only two days.

The Madras High Court issued an order to ban the strike. This further exposed the courts as an integral part of the capitalist state whose chief function is to suppress the class struggle and defend the profit interests of the Indian bourgeoisie and foreign investors.

Clearly concerned about an explosion of anger from workers, the Madras High Court stated that striking workers would not be victimized and, as promised by the Additional Advocate General (AAG) J Ravindran, no disciplinary action would be taken against them if they acceded to the courts strikebreaking order.

The Madras High Court, while hearing a plea by a right-wing student seeking to ban the indefinite transport strike, told the striking unions they should have waited until the conciliation process scheduled for January 19 took place.

At the same time, the judges said the state government is responsible for public transport facilities and therefore could take legal action against the striking workers if they conducted an illegal strike. In other words, if the transport workers were to strike again it would be declared illegal, and they would face the wrath of the state government.

The AAG refused to pay an ad-hoc amount of 2,000 rupees (US$24), as called for by the unions, for each of the 82,000 retired employees whose DA has been pending for eight years. Confronted with resistance from workers, J Ravindran said the state would sort out the issues between the State Transport Corporation (STC) and the employees.

The state transport workers have been raising these demands since 2017. Successive state governments turned a blind eye towards these burning issues of workers, which has produced ever greater hardship for retirees.

There are around 20,000 vacancies in the transport corporation because successive state governments have failed to fill vacancies caused by death and retirement. Nevertheless, in line with the increasing turn of the entire Indian ruling elite, STC has been resorting to outsourcing and contract workers.

The transport workers have told the media that the state government is forcing them to operate the buses in the morning despite their duties being scheduled for the afternoon. Additionally, more temporary workers were trained for only a couple of days to operate the buses and issue travel tickets.

During the 2021 state election campaign, the DMK made several electoral promises in relation to longstanding issues confronting state transport workers. Since coming to power, however, the DMK government has reneged on its promises to state transport workers, just as it has to other sections of workers.

After the DMK came to power in 2021, workers from various public sectors, such as child care, state electricity, sanitation and teaching, have conducted strikes and protests as the government dropped its electoral promises. It is expected that more sections of workers will come forward this year.

It should be noted that the Stalinist CPM, to which the CITU is affiliated, and the CPI, which is affiliated to AITUC, were electoral allies of the DMK. They still support the DMK as part of the opposition alliance at the national level, and they are working to provide a right-wing alternative government by exploiting the growing opposition to the Hindu supremacist and fascistic Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government in the upcoming general elections.

DMK Transport Minister S S Sivasankar has openly attacked the transport workers strike as politically motivated, and warned of action against strikers. He lyingly claimed workers demands would be addressed when the financial situation improves. Tamil Nadu has the highest amount of outstanding debt among all states and union territories. The states outstanding debt stood, as per budget estimates for 2022-23, at 75,400 billion rupees. The DMK government, like its predecessor AIADMK at the state level and the BJP-led central government, plans to impose the full burden of this economic crisis on the backs of workers.

But workers are not responsible for the financial crisis of the state or state transport corporation and must not pay for it. Hence, workers must demand that they be paid what they are entitled to immediately.

The treacherous role of union apparatuses flows from the reactionary politics of the political parties with which they are affiliated. The Stalinist CPM and CPI have functioned as the main props of Indian bourgeois rule for decades through their political subordination of the working class to the so-called progressive section of Indian bourgeoisie. For decades, they have been promoting Congress and regional bourgeois parties like DMK as secular alternatives to the Hindu supremacist BJP.

At the same time, the Stalinist parties have concealed the reactionary class character of the DMK and its anti-working-class record and program. They continue to promote the DMK as a secular and progressive ally and a champion of social justice.

The Indian working class needs to politically break from Stalinist parties and the union bureaucracies and mobilize itself as an politically independent force to rally the rural poor behind it, overthrow bourgeois rule and establish a workers and peasants government committed to socialist policies. This will be a part of broader struggle against war, social inequality and dictatorship and the fight for socialism in South Asia and internationally. What is crucially needed for building such an independent movement of the Indian working class is the building of a section of the International Committee of the Fourth International.
On January 17, NBC News aired a rare prime-time interview featuring Palestinian-Americans Kinnan Abdalhamid and Hisam Awartani, two of the three college students who were shot last November in Burlington, Vermont by a right-wing gunman, while walking down the street. Abdalhamid, Awartani and Tasheen Ali Ahmad were hospitalized following the shooting, with Awartani suffering a spinal injury that has confined him to a wheelchair.

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.]

At the time of last Novembers shooting, two of the three students were wearing keffiyehs and all of them were speaking a mix of Arabic and English. The day after the shooting, across the street from where it occurred, federal agents arrested 48-year-old Jason J. Eaton in his apartment. Eaton allegedly told ATF agents when they knocked on his door, I have been waiting for you.

This image provided by the Burlington Police Department shows Jason J. Eaton. [AP Photo/Burlington Police Department]

According to police, Eaton allegedly shot the students with a pistol he had legally purchased earlier that year. An anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist and libertarian, Eaton has pleaded not guilty to attempted murder charges. During a search of the former financial advisors apartment, police recovered multiple firearms.



While there is enormous physical evidence tying Eaton to the shooting, police have yet to specify a motive. Likewise, despite substantial circumstantial evidence, police have yet to charge Eaton with a hate crime.

The NBC interview with two of the three shooting victims was significant for multiple reasons. Reflecting the pro-Israel bias that permeates all of the capitalist press, it took nearly two months for a major television network in the United States to air a prime-time interview with the students. There is no question that had three Zionist Jewish college students been shot while wearing kippahs, all of the major television networks would have been champing at the bit to provide airtime to the students and their families.

In fact, last month, Fox News and all the major television networks breathlessly reported on a press conference given by Speaker of the House Mike Johnson featuring Zionist college students. Johnson, a Christian nationalist, stood side by side with the students as they vented at university presidents for allowing anti-genocide protests on campuses.



In the NBC interview, the Palestinian students spoke powerfully against attempts by the media and politicians to reduce the phenomena of right-wing and hate-based shootings to the individual. The students also spoke out against attempts to separate what happened to them last November from the current genocidal policy being carried out by the Israeli government with the full support of the Biden administration.



Awartani said that being shot is one drop in the ocean of whats going on in Palestine.

Whats going on in Palestine, its still going on, he told NBC. And, like, thats more on my mind right now, how there are still peoplelike, theyre starving to death. There are still people who are being maimed. There are still people who dont have access to clean water. There are still people who are, like, being shot at protests. So that, to me, is far more relevant than what happened to me.



When the NBC reporter asked Awartani how he took the news that he would be paralyzed for the foreseeable future, the young man acknowledged that it is hard for him, but at the same time, I take solace in the fact that I am able to receive this care and I am able to receive this physical therapy and go to a good hospital.



It makes me think of other people in Gaza, who are in wheelchairs and who have been disabled by bombings. They are not able to receive... they cant even receive the primary care they need, let alone the rehabilitative care that they deserve.



That was something that I thought of more than my own life, because I know my life will continue but I dont know about theirs, he concluded.



Abdalhamid said that the shooting was part of the systemic dehumanization of Palestinians, adding, I just dont think of the individual, I think there has been a lot of attempts for us to fully only demonize the guy but this is part of a larger systematic issue, which, both on purpose, and not, would like to focus on him the individual, Oh he is just this one evil guy, but the truth is he is symptom of a larger issue.

Since the US-backed Israeli genocide in Gaza began over 100 days ago, Democratic and Republican politicians, with the media in tow, have harangued against the entirely concocted scourge of left-wing antisemitism on college campuses. While seeking to steamroll opposition to the slaughter, which has claimed the lives of some 30,000 Palestinians in the process (overwhelmingly woman and children), these same forces have downplayed or ignored the gigantic rise in anti-Arab and anti-Muslim hate crimes, assaults and harassment over the same period.



A December 2023 report from the Council on American-Islamic Relations found that the last months of 2023 saw one of the worst waves of anti-Muslim sentiment in the United States in the last three decades. In just eight weeks, from October to November 2023, the organization received 42 percent of the complaints it received in all of 2022.



The hate-filled atmosphere against perceived Muslims and Arabs, the report noted, is being perpetuated by the US government including domestic actors... seeking to justify Israeli occupation of Palestinian land.



Quoting from a November 2023 report from the Center for Security, Race, and Rights at Rutgers, CAIR wrote: American politicians and media executives have depicted Palestinians as almost entirely violent, which US leaders have used to portray the peaceful and principled calls of Palestinians and their supporters for human rights as dangerous and threatening.



Later on in the interview, Elizabeth Price, Awartanis mother, acknowledged this reality, stating that she was so angry not only that her son was shot, but that he is being seen as part of a community that can be exterminated, and can be demolished and can be abused.



But I am his mother, Price continued, and my son is alive and he is cared for. And I am so angry that other mothers dont have that, and so what is my pain to the pain of other mothers? And what is my grief? I still have my child, I can still touch him, but to know that other mothers dont have that makes me angry and then my grief fades away.
Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong travelled to Israel this week in a show of complete solidarity with the Zionist regime as it continues and deepens a genocidal onslaught that has claimed over 30,000 Palestinian lives in Gaza over the past three months. Wongs was the first visit to Israel by an Australian foreign minister since 2016.

Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong with Israel Minister of Foreign Affairs Israel Katz [Photo: X/Twitter @SenatorWong]

In keeping with its character as a mid-sized imperialist power closely aligned with the US, Australia has backed the Israeli campaign since it began after October 7. In the initial weeks of the onslaught, Wong and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese were as bellicose as any world leader in insisting upon Israels right to bomb Palestinians and in threatening and demonising those opposing the slaughter.

Over the past couple of months, they have carried out a shift in tone, not substance. Wong and Albanese have shed crocodile tears over the mass deaths without withdrawing support for Israel in the slightest or even criticising it. The posturing is a response to the mass opposition that has erupted against the genocide, including ongoing weekly protests involving tens of thousands of people.

Above all, though, Labor leaders have sought not to mention Israel or Gaza, and to the extent that they do, to present it as a distant conflict with which they have no involvement.

These cynical efforts were on display when Wong addressed the Australian media just prior to her departure at the beginning of the week. Australia, she said, was not a central player in the Middle East. The conflict was devastating and tragic, and Wong would be focusing on advocating Australias position, our priority on international humanitarian assistance, our priority on international humanitarian law.

In a transparent attempt to dress up her tour as even-handed, Wong first travelled to Jordan, where she met with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ayman Safadi.

The meaningless character of her references to international humanitarian law were made abundantly clear, when a journalist asked about Australias position on the South African case before the International Court of Justice, charging Israel with genocide. The case is rigorously factual, citing both Israels actions and the explicitly genocidal statements of its leaders, who have called for Gaza to be clear of Palestinians.

Our support for the ICJ and respect for its independence does not mean we accept the premise of South Africa's case, Wong replied blandly.

Wong essentially fobbed off all follow-up questions on the case, fobbed off Safadi who expressed support for the South African charge and fobbed off another query, as to whether she would seek any concrete assurances from Israeli leaders, given her stated humanitarian concerns. I dont think Australia can come to the region demanding specific assurances, Wong replied, before waffling on about the importance of recognising common humanity.

The manifest insincerity of it all even found monetary expression. Having presented herself as a humanitarian crusader, Wong arrived in the region with what for the Australian government and ruling elite amounts to loose change.

While in Jordan, she pledged $21 million in humanitarian assistance. That sum would buy roughly 14 average houses in Sydney. It equates to about $700 for every Palestinian who has been murdered by Israel in Gaza, or around $500 each for the more than 50,000 injured. It is 0.0057 percent of the $368 billion Wongs Labor government pledged last year to buy nuclear-powered attack submarines as part of the US preparations for war against China.

Even still, most of the $21 million has nothing to do with Gaza. The greater part, $11.5 million, is committed to refugee programs in Lebanon and Syria, dovetailing with Israels attempts to use the humanitarian catastrophe it has deliberately created to force the mass displacement and ethnic cleansing of the Gazans.

Having left Jordan and travelled to Israel, the real character of Wongs tour, as an endorsement of genocide, was undeniable. Despite her protestations that Australia is not a central player in the region, Wong was accorded a very high-level welcome. She was met by President Isaac Herzog and the countrys foreign minister and energy and infrastructure minister, Israel Katz.

Penny Wong with Israeli President Isaac Herzog [Photo: X/Twitter @SenatorWong]

Herzog took the opportunity to congratulate Prime Minister Albanese for having delivered one of the best speeches given by any world leader, according to the Jerusalem Post. Herzog was referring to Albaneses remarks after October 7, consisting of unhinged and bloodcurdling denunciations of Hamas, and a carte blanche for the Israel Defence Forces (IDF).

After meeting with Wong, Katz issued a public statement expressing his dear gratitude for her expression of solidarity with Israel and her crystal clear condemnation of the atrocities committed by Hamas on October 7th. Their closed-door tete-a-tete had been a constructive meeting.

Unnamed officials told the Guardian that Wong had reassured Herzog and Katz of Australias solidarity with Israel following the atrocities of 7 October and noted that she continued to call for the unconditional and immediate release of hostages in her engagements with countries of influence in the region.

The reference to the hostages is a cynical cover. The real import of the remarks is that Wong is functioning as an advocate and defender of the fascistic Israeli regime in her trips throughout the region and more broadly. Those comments, from the anonymous officials, are worth infinitely more than Wongs tired and lying references to humanitarianism.

Both Herzog and Katz feature prominently in the South African indictment for genocide. Herzog, aside from being one of the executive leaders of the government overseeing the mass murder, has clearly enunciated its genocidal intent. In October, he declared that Israel was not in a war with Hamas militants but with an entire nation. The Zionist regime would continue its bombardment until we break their backbone.

Katz, as energy minister, directly ordered a complete shutdown of fuel and other essential supplies to Gaza in October. Without fuel, even the local electricity will shut down within days and the pumping wells will stop within a week, Katz boasted. This is what we will do to a nation of murderers and butchers of children.

Wong, whose manner is that of a cold and officious bureaucrat, prattles on about the sanctity of civilian lives, while standing alongside and embracing these mass murderers. The image that comes to mind is of a state official insisting on the sanctity of human life while in a cordial conference with Hitler or Mussolini.

Inevitably, Wong met with the families of Israeli hostages and presented October 7 as a terrorist atrocity that had come out of the clear blue sky. Even many hostage families have noted that the flattening of Gaza hardly increases the chances of their returning alive. Their plight is simply the pretext for a long-planned operation of ethnic-cleansing.

Wong also met with the pompously-titled Chair of the Civil Commission on October 7 Crimes by Hamas Against Women and Children, Dr Cochav Elkayam-Levy. Australia condemns Hamas use of sexual violence as a weapon to maximise terror and fear, Wong declared in a statement.

Elkayam-Levy is an Israeli state asset. As the legal counsel for the Israeli governments Human Rights Division, she crafted arguments justifying the force-feeding of Palestinian prisoners who had gone on hunger strike, a practice that is widely regarded as torture. Elkayam-Levy has been deployed to lead a hysterical campaign alleging mass rapes on October 7, for which Israel itself has admitted there is no forensic evidence or even survivors willing to testify.

In a similar propaganda vein, Wong visited Yad Vashem, the world centre for Holocaust research. The head of Yad Vashem recently responded angrily to a call by more than 50 Holocaust experts to condemn the genocidal statements of Israeli leaders, essentially saying he was not interested. Our area of concern is the Holocaust, and only the Holocaust.

One of the more revealing exchanges during Wongs visit came during a press conference in Jerusalem yesterday. A virulently Zionist journalist, who missed the memo on Wongs humanitarian rhetoric, or was too obtuse to understand its phony character, asked: Could your calls for a ceasefire in Gaza mean you are no longer supportive of Israel's war against Hamas. And if so, were you ever supportive of Israel's war against Hamas?

Wong angrily responded: Oh, really? I dont agree with the premise of any of those, I dont agree with how you have framed that question. We have been consistent in Israel having a right to self-defence. What we have also said is how it conducts itself in the pressing of that right, in the exercise of that right matters. And that has been my position from day one, that Israel does have a right to defend itself. It has a right to security, how it exercises that, matters.

That summed it up. A few weasel words and full support for the ongoing bombardment.

Wong briefly visited the West Bank and met with representatives of the Palestinian Authority, who function as Israeli puppets. She also travelled to the United Arab Emirates.

Australia, in addition to backing the genocide, has also supported the repeated US and British airstrikes against Yemen, which are an illegal act of war against an oppressed country, and underscore Washingtons determination to instigate a broader regional war targeting Iran.
An explosion at a fireworks factory in central Thailand on Wednesday at 3:30 p.m. killed at least 23 people. While the precise cause of the explosion is not yet clear, the devastating accident highlights the precarious conditions many Thai workers face and the overall subordination of workplace safety to the pursuit of profits.

Thai rescue workers carry the body of a victim from the site of an explosion at a fireworks factory in Suphan Buri province, Thailand, Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024. [AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit]

The facility where the explosion occurred was located amid rice fields in Sala Khao, a rural area of Suphan Buri province roughly 120km north of Bangkok. The plant was a farmhouse which had been converted to produce small fireworks for farmers to use to scare birds away from crops, a common practice in Thailand. Workers at the factory were reportedly making a 600-700 baht daily wage, or less than $US20. There are several other firework production plants in the area.

Images of the facility in the immediate aftermath of the explosion show thick plumes of black smoke billowing from the site. Footage of the aftermath shows a decimated lot with building materials littered over the area and only distorted, steel building frames standing.

According to authorities, there were no survivors following the explosion. For this reason, the exact cause of the explosion will likely take time to discover, according to national police chief Police General Torsak Sukvimol. Continuous explosions prevented nearby residents from approaching the factory or attempting any type of rescue. They reported no one exiting the facility. The owner survived as he was reportedly delivering goods to customers.

Bodies were transferred to a nearby temple by ambulances for identification. The victims include seven women and 16 men. Only 20 have been properly identified thus far. The factory employed about 30 people, meaning the death toll could rise. The blasts were so devastating that remains of the deceased were found throughout the neighboring area, including a worker who was flung at least 50m into a nearby rice field.

The governor of the province, Natthapat Suwanprathip, visited the area for an inspection with government agencies. Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin was also informed of the explosion while abroad for the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

Sretthas office released a statement, saying, The prime minister ordered an inspection of the plant to see if it was operating legally and if the explosion was caused by negligence. The law must be enforced to the fullest extent because there are innocent deaths and injuries.

Such remarks are entirely empty and are typical of capitalist politicians around the world following devastating workplace accidents and preventable deaths in natural disasters. Nothing will be done to address safety in Thailands fireworks industry or on job sites throughout the country generally.

In fact, the factory where Wednesdays explosion occurred had a track record for unsafe conditions. On November 20, 2022, an explosion at the plant left one person dead and three injured, reportedly caused by an open fire from a charcoal stove that spread to a pile of gunpowder.

This did not prevent the facility from obtaining a new operating license in July last year. Don Samitakestarin, the deputy provincial governor, claimed, This business operation complied with all the regulations from the Interior Ministry, so we had to give it a license.

The size of the destroyed factory also prevented even limited safety regulations from being applied to it. The approximately 30 workers employed at the factory produced fireworks by hand. Industrial regulations only apply to those businesses employing 50 workers and which use some form of machinery.

The fireworks industry in Thailand more broadly is no less dangerous. Between 2008 and 2023, there were 24 explosions at fireworks factories and warehouses, resulting in large-scale losses of life. On July 29 of last year, for example, a large explosion at a fireworks warehouse in Narathiwat, in southern Thailand, killed 11 and wounded 389. It occurred in a residential area and damaged 649 houses and three schools. According to the governor, it was caused by sparks from construction welding.

Many of the facilities that produce fireworks in Thailand do so while ignoring safety regulations and standards. Often times, proximity to homes and other businesses raises the risk that explosions or fires will have an even more devastating impact on local residents.

Sonthi Kotchawat, an environmental and health expert, explained to the Bangkok Post that even following the explosion at the fireworks warehouse last July, nothing has been done by government agencies to address safety issues. This means that not only did the unsafe status quo continue in the lead-up to Wednesdays accident, but that more accidents are likely to occur.

This approach to safety is the norm in Thailand. Since the countrys deadliest fire accident killed 188 workers at the Kader Toy Factory in Nakhon Pathom province in 1993, politicians have claimed that steps were taken to address workplace safety.

However, many workers are forced to labor in conditions that stand outside even these limited labor laws, demonstrating that no section of the countrys ruling elite intends to truly address safety in any sector. As of 2021, the most dangerous jobs in the country were in building construction when 4,516 workers were either injured or killed. Another 2,014 workers were injured or killed in Thailands auto industry, which is the tenth largest producer of vehicles in the world.

Throughout the Indo-Pacific, workplace accidents in the fireworks industry are also rampant, with Thai workers and others throughout the region facing many of the same exploitative conditions. Last October in Tamil Nadu, India, two factory explosions killed 14 people and in central China in July, five people were killed in a similar accident.

The global fireworks market is worth at least $US2.7 billion and is expected to reach $US3.8 billion by 2031. About 90 percent of the worlds fireworks are produced in China. While Wednesdays explosion took place at a factory typically producing fireworks for farmers, it occurred at a time of high demand for such goods, just prior to the Lunar New Year in February, an important holiday in the Asia-Pacific.
A Palestinian looks at the destruction after Israel bombs a residential building in Deir al Balah, Gaza Strip, Sunday, Jan. 14, 2024. [AP Photo/Adel Hana]

Israels savage bombardment of Gaza continued Thursday as a series of strikes on residential buildings in the southernmost city of Rafah and elsewhere throughout the enclave killed dozens of civilians. Gazas Health Ministry reported 170 deaths and well over 300 injuries in 24 hours between Wednesday and Thursday.

The single bloodiest strike was on a three-floor residential building in Rafah, killing 16 people. One of the families living at the site had relocated three times since Israels genocidal onslaught began on October 7, according to Al-Jazeera. In addition to the air strikes, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) reported that ground troops are operating further south in the Gaza Strip than ever since the genocide began.

The humanitarian situation continues to deteriorate, with reports Thursday that hepatitis C is spreading among children in Rafah. The citys population, which was 300,000 prior to Israels onslaught, has exploded four-fold to 1.2 million. Tens of thousands of people are crammed into tents and under makeshift plastic sheeting amid heavy rain and the winter cold.

At a press briefing Thursday, UN special rapporteur for the Palestinian Territories Francesca Albanese accused Israel of a number of things that are highly illegal, highly unlawful. She commented, What has happened is over 100 days of relentless bombingthe first two weeks using 6,000 bombs per week, bombs of 2,000 pounds, in highly crowded areas.

Most Palestinians are now dying not only from the bombs, but because there is not sufficient infrastructure to cure them from the wounds. She added, The number of kids who get amputated every day is shocking, one or two limbs. During the first two months of this (war) 1,000 kids were amputated without anaesthesia. It is a monstrosity.

According to Sean Casey, a health emergency officer for the World Health Organisation, Gazas health care network is collapsing. After a five-week investigation throughout the enclave, he noted at a Wednesday press conference that only 15 of Gazas pre-war 36 hospitals are functioning to some extent. Many of these facilities, however, have become extended refugee camps with a handful of medical staff struggling to treat injuries with few supplies.

Describing the scene at Al-Ahli Hospital in northern Gaza, which was bombed by Israel in October, killing hundreds, he said, I saw patients who were lying on church pews, basically waiting to die, in a hospital that had no fuel, no power, no water, very little in the way of medical supplies and only a handful of staff remaining to take care of them.

Similar accounts came from Doctors Without Borders (MSF) staff working at the Al-Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, where conditions have rapidly deteriorated in the recent period. There are populations sheltering in the hospital because they dont feel safe anywhere else. And when that population no longer feels safe in the hospital, its an indicator for us that the situation for the hospital is becoming untenable, said MSFs Amber Alayyan.

Youve got patients who are being operated on the floor, she continued. Youve got patients who are sleeping on the floor. You have staff who are sleeping on the floor because they prefer to sleep in the hospital than to take the risk of going back and forth to their homes, which may or may not still exist.

On Wednesday, the IDF blew up the main campus of Israa University south of Gaza City, the last remaining university in the enclave. A report released by Hamas Thursday stated that Israel has destroyed 390 educational institutions since October 7. It described this barbarism as an example of the genocide and ethnic cleansing of Gaza.

The unconditional backing given by US imperialism to the fascistic Netanyahu government ensures that Israel can carry out these war crimes and many others with impunity. The 2,000-pound bombs denounced by Albanese in her remarks have been supplied without interruption by Washington since the outset of Israels onslaught. American imperialism has also systematically prepared for a wider regional war aimed at Iran, which it is now realising through the bombardment of Houthi targets in Yemen in alliance with Britain.

Late Thursday, the Biden administration reported a fifth round of strikes on the Iranian-backed movement, which has launched missiles against commercial shipping in the Red Sea in support of the Palestinians. The real reason for Washington and Londons war is to consolidate American imperialist hegemony over the energy-rich Middle East against its rivals.

The European imperialist powers, led by Germany, are preparing their own naval operation to the region to join the conflict. The war in the Middle East is one front in a rapidly developing redivision of the world between the imperialist powers, who are determined to seize markets, raw materials, and geopolitical influence from their competitors, above all China and Russia.

Emboldened by the support from the imperialist powers, Netanyahus fascistic government is ever more openly declaring its genocidal intentions. At a press conference Thursday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made one of his most explicit statements to date in favour of Israels permanent responsibility for security over Gaza and the West Bank, and opposition to a Palestinian state.

Netanyahu said that a vital condition for any post-war arrangement was Israel maintaining security control over all territory west of the Jordan River, which includes Gaza, Israel, and the West Bank. Netanyahu stated, Whoever is talking about the day after Netanyahu is essentially talking about the establishment of a Palestinian state with the Palestinian Authority.

In remarks earlier in the day at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Israels President Isaac Herzog underscored how Israels genocide in Gaza is part of an imperialist-backed regional war against Tehran. Herzog railed against an empire of evil emanating from Iran that needs to be confronted by a strong coalition of states. The Gaza population is entrenched in a network of terror, continued Herzog, which is funded by Iran. This rhetoric chimed with Netanyahus statements at his press conference vowing to pursue the war until a decisive victory.

The IDF has stepped up its strikes against Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon, including the use of white phosphorus shells in a strike Thursday, according to Lebanese authorities. In the West Bank, daily raids have claimed over 350 lives since October 7. In a raid in Tulkarem Thursday, Israeli forces killed eight people.

Fascist National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir declared in a speech to border police in the West Bank that they should shoot terrorists even if they dont pose a threat, i.e., kill Palestinians en masse. In an attempt to save face, he later released a revised statement claiming that he was referring to armed terrorists.

A report from the Committee to Protect Journalists included Israel on its list of Worst Jailers of Journalists in the world for the first time, due to its detention of Palestinian journalists without trial during the Gaza onslaught. The 17 journalists in Israeli jails in December was on a par with Iran, the report noted. The number of detentions has since risen to 19. In Gaza itself, over 100 journalists and media workers have been killed in Israeli air strikes. In the latest example, Wael Fannouneh, manager of the Al-Quds Today television network, died in an Israeli air strike in Gaza City Thursday.
At Wednesday mornings oral argument, the right-wing supermajority of the US Supreme Court signaled that it will be dismantling 40 years of case law requiring federal judges to defer to the actions of regulatory agencies that were established by Congress and staffed by the executive branch.

The decision will call into question, to cite just a few examples, nationwide regulations affecting the environment, labor relations, natural resources, consumer products, the economy and financial markets, construction and infrastructure safety, immigration, civil rights, communications, food and drugs, health care and education.

The decision, expected this June, will subject over 400 federal agencies and subagencies to a barrage of lawsuits based on the Supreme Courts repealing the current bedrock requirement that federal courts must uphold regulations that are based on a permissible construction of the enabling congressional statute.

Individual judges, many of whom are reactionaries staffing remote courts to whom cases can be deliberately steered by well-financed litigants, will have virtually unrestrained power to second-guess technical experts and quash rules that threaten the profits of major corporations and their owners.

The result will, by design, kneecap the entire regulatory structure in the United States, with hundreds of federal judges rendering conflicting interpretations of federal laws, and the arch-reactionary Supreme Court as the final arbiter.

Members of the Supreme Court sit for a group portrait following the addition of Associate Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, at the Supreme Court building in Washington, Octobert 7, 2022. [AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite]

A little background: Emerging from the Great Depression and world war as the planets dominant economic force, the US government found it increasingly necessary to control the production and exchange of commodities through an expanding network of federal agencies, which in turn promulgate rules and regulations. The major corporations, of course, bristled at any restriction on their ability to churn profits. Patchwork standards for court review evolved until the Supreme Court settled the question in 1984s Chevron v. National Resources Defense Council.

Chevron holds, unanimously, that where the Act of Congress itself does not resolve a specific issue, the question for the court is whether the agencys answer is based on a permissible construction of the statute, a rule that defers to the judgment of the regulatory agency in most cases. Chevron has been cited more than any other Supreme Court decision over the last 40 years, about 18,500 times, including 70 in the Supreme Court, generally to preclude challenges to regulations.

Chevron was decided during a period when most challenges were filed by public interest groups opposing the Reagan administrations rollback of regulatory protections. Chevron was praised by the late reactionary Justice Antonin Scalia because it accurately reflects the reality of government.

Case in point: The regulation challenged in Chevron was one that loosened air pollution standards. Ironically, that regulation was promulgated by Anne Gorsuch, Reagans EPA administrator at the time. She is the mother of Justice Neil Gorsuch, who denounced Chevron Wednesday.

Times have changed, and now most challenges are filed by major corporations to remove roadblocks from their accumulation of profits. Relentless, Inc. v. Department of Commerce, the case argued Wednesday, is not one of those cases, however. It is the concoction of Americans for Prosperity, a political action committee linked to Koch Industries, a major petrochemical firm that is the second largest privately held company in the United States.

Americans for Prosperitys stooge public interest law firm, Cause of Action, recruited an atypical, somewhat sympathetic test case involving small New Jersey and Rhode Island fishing businesses to challenge Chevron in the Supreme Court.

The National Marine Fishery Services required each herring boat to carry an observer, who tallied catches to prevent overfishing. In 2020 the agency enacted a regulation requiring that the operators pay for the observer, about $700 a day.

Cause of Action has had two cash infusions indirectly from Koch Industries, including more than $4 million in 2019 and $1.1 million in 2020. In its most recent tax filing, covering the time when the fishing case was being litigated, the group reported having no employees. The case is being prosecuted by lawyers who work for Americans for Prosperity and are linked to Koch Industries.

Clarence Thomas reinforced Chevron in a 2005 ruling known as Brand X. After being flown by private jet to secretly attend a 2018 Koch Industries summit in Palm Springs, however, Thomas flipped 180 degrees. He explicitly renounced his earlier ruling in a brief 2020 dissent to a denial of review, stating, Although I authored Brand X, it is never too late to surrender former views to a better considered position. Perhaps Thomas should have written a better paying position, that would have been more accurate.

In any event, the well-connected Koch lawyers navigated the herring fishermen to the Supreme Court docket, where Thomas and the other right-wing justices selected their case as the best vessel to get rid of Chevron, instead of one of the hundreds of petitions with far higher stakes filed by major corporations.

Not surprisingly, fishing observers and herring went virtually unmentioned at Wednesdays argument. That was not what the case was about. Gorsuch and Thomas, joined by justices Bret Kavanaugh and Samuel Alito, left no doubt where they stood. The positions of Amy Coney Barrett and Chief Justice John Roberts were less clear, but they will no doubt vote with the other four to gut Chevron, if not overrule it entirely.

As expected, the three moderate justices, Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson, defended Chevron through their questioning. None dared point out, however, that the case in front of them was a stalking horse for billionaires and corporate interests intent on dismantling any obstacle to the further accumulation of wealth, regardless of the social costs.

With the impending demise of Chevron, federal agencies will no longer be able to regulate businesses and commerce effectively, turning the clock back to the wide open practices that culminated in the 1929 stock market crash and ensuing Great Depression.
Between 1904 and 1908, German imperialism committed the first genocide of the 20th century with the suppression of the Herrero and Nama uprising in what was then the German Empire colony of German South West Africa (now part of Namibia). This was followed between 1941 and 1945 by the murder of 6 million Jews and the war of annihilation against the Soviet Union, which cost the lives of up to 30 million Soviet citizens, the largest genocide in history.

In the 21st century, Germanys ruling class is seamlessly continuing these traditions of genocide. It is one of the most aggressive supporters of the genocidal actions of the far-right Netanyahu regime and the Israeli army in the Gaza Strip. On Tuesday, news magazine Der Spiegel reported that Germany was preparing to deliver around 10,000 rounds of 120-millimetre precision tank ammunition to Israel. It had previously become known that Berlin had increased its arms exports to Israel tenfold since the beginning of the mass slaughter in the Gaza Strip.

Israeli warship of the Saar 6 class, built by ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems at the German Naval Yards Kiel [Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit]

At the same time, the German government is also backing Israel in legal terms. On January 12, government spokesperson Steffen Hebestreit announced that Germany would intervene as a third party before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to speak out against South Africas lawsuit against Israeli genocide in Gaza, which is supported by at least 60 states.

We know that different countries have different assessments of Israels operation in the Gaza Strip. However, the German government firmly and explicitly rejects the accusation of genocide that has now been levelled against Israel at the International Court of Justice, said Hebestreit. This accusation has no basis whatsoever.

In fact, the lawyers representing the South African government before the ICJ had clearly demonstrated just one day earlier that Israel was guilty of genocide and had thus violated the 1948 Genocide Convention. The WSWS has reported how the lawyers submissions demonstrated both Israels destructive and mass murderous actions and the genocidal intentions behind them.

According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, the Israeli army killed nearly 24,000 Palestinians in the first 100 days of the genocide, including more than 9,600 children. More than 60,000 people were injured. In relation to Germany, this would correspond to 850,000 dead and 2.5 million injured. Almost 2 million people, i.e., almost the entire population of the Gaza Strip, have been forced to flee and are starving as a result of the Israeli blockade. Schools, hospitals and refugee camps are also being systematically bombed and journalists and healthcare workers deliberately killed.

Palestinians pray over bodies of people killed in the Israeli bombardment who were brought from the Shifa hospital before burying them in a mass grave in the town of Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2023. [AP Photo/Mohammed Dahman]

South African lawyer Adila Hassim, who delivered the first keynote address in The Hague on Thursday, said Israel had subjected the Gaza Strip to one of the heaviest conventional bombardments in the history of modern warfare. The scale of the killing was so great that the bodies that are found are buried in mass graves where they often cannot be identified. It was nothing other than the destruction of Palestinian life. It is deliberate. No one is spared, not even new-born babies.

That this is a deliberate and intentional policy of destruction is equally clear. These are just a few selected examples cited in the statement of claim at the ICJ.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared on October 28: You must remember what Amalek did to you. He was referring to a biblical passage in the Old Testament, which states: Now go and strike Amalek ... Do not spare them, but kill man and woman, children and infants.

On October 7, Nissim Vaturi, deputy speaker of the Israeli Knesset and member of the Foreign Affairs and Security Committee, had already called for the Gaza Strip to be wiped off the face of the earth.

On October 9, Defence Minister Yoav Gallant announced that Israel had placed Gaza under complete siege. No electricity, no food, no water, no fuel. They were fighting human animals and acting accordingly.

And on November 6, Giora Eiland, a former Israeli major general, wrote that Israel must trigger a humanitarian crisis in Gaza. The Gaza Strip will become a place where no human being can live.

In The Hague, South African Supreme Court lawyer Tembeka Ngcukaitobi argued that it was precisely these genocidal calls that are then repeated by soldiers on the ground in Gaza as they engage in the destruction of Palestinians and the physical infrastructure of Gaza.

It is the height of criminality and provocation for the German ruling class to justify the genocide in Gaza by referring to its own past crimes. In view of Germanys history and the human crime of the Shoah, the German government considers itself particularly committed to the Convention against Genocide, said Hebestreit. It was a central instrument of international law to implement the Never again! [principle]. We are firmly opposed to its political instrumentalisation.

In fact, it is the German government that is instrumentalising the Holocaust in order to justify genocide and suppress any opposition to it once again. It is not implementing the Never again!; its real message is: Yes, we are doing it again! This is so obvious that even capitalist governments in former German colonies with close economic and political ties to Berlin feel compelled to castigate German support for Israel and the genocidal traditions of German imperialism.

Namibia rejects Germanys Support of the Genocidal Intent of the Racist Israeli State against Innocent Civilians in Gaza, reads a statement published by the Namibian presidency on X/Twitter on January 13. The statement recalls that On Namibian soil, Germany committed the first genocide of the 20th century in 19041908, in which tens of thousands of innocent Namibians died in the most inhumane and brutal conditions. It declares:

In light of Germanys inability to draw lessons from its horrific history, President Hage Geingob expresses deep concern with the shocking decision communicated by the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany yesterday, 12 January 2024, in which it rejected the morally upright indictment brought forward by South Africa before the International Court of Justice that Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. In that vein, President Geingob appeals to the German Government to reconsider its untimely decision to intervene as a third-party in defence and support of the genocidal acts of Israel before the International Court of Justice.

Geingobs appeal to the German elites to reconsider their stance is as doomed to failure as appeals to the German Kaiser or Hitler to refrain from their genocidal policies. Ultimately, German support for the genocide of the Palestinians is rooted in the predatory interests of German imperialism just as much as in the policy of extermination under the Kaiser and the Nazis.

At the end of the 19th century, German imperialism under Kaiser Wilhelm II claimed a place in the sun and had in mind the acquisition and brutal exploitation of colonies in Africa. During the Second World War, the Holocaust was a direct component of the Nazis war of annihilation against the Soviet Union, which aimed to defeat Bolshevism, create Lebensraum (living space) in the East, plunder raw materials and subjugate the whole of Europe.

Today, German imperialism is once again preparing to establish itself as the leading European and world power. Israel serves Berlin and the other imperialist powers as a bridgehead to assert their imperialist interests in the resource-rich and geostrategically important Middle East and beyond. The destruction of the Palestinians is ultimately part of the goal of eliminating the Lebanese Hezbollah, the Houthis in Yemen and Iran as opponents, escalating the war offensive against Russia and China and, as in 1914 and 1939, igniting another global war for the imperialist redivision of the world.

The only way to stop this madness is to build an international mass movement against genocide and war and its root cause, capitalism. As the great revolutionary Marxist Rosa Luxemburg emphasised on the eve of the First World War, the working class must understand the inseparable connection between imperialism and capitalist development and draw the conclusion that the only way to fight imperialism, war, the theft of countries, genocide, violation of the law and violent politics is by fighting capitalism, by opposing global political genocide with social revolution.

It is precisely this understanding and this perspective that the Sozialistische Gleichheitspartei (Socialist Equality Party, SGP) is fighting for in the European elections together with its comrades in Europe and internationally. Share our election statement as widely as possible, if you are eligible to vote, sign up to enable the SGP to contest the elections, and build the Fourth International as a new mass socialist party to eliminate capitalist evils once and for all.
SANAA, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- The Houthi-run al-Masirah TV reported on Friday that the United States and the United Kingdom launched airstrikes on Yemen's port city of Hodeidah late Friday night.

The Houthi-run television did not disclose the specific targets or other details.

Meanwhile, in the early hours of Saturday, the U.S. Central Command announced that U.S. Navy ships in the Red Sea conducted strikes against three Houthi anti-ship missiles that were aimed at the southern Red Sea.

The U.S.-Britain maritime coalition in the Red Sea has carried out several airstrikes on Houthi camps in various northern provinces of Yemen. The coalition said these actions are aimed at preventing the Houthi group from launching missile and drone attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea shipping lane.

Houthi chief negotiator Mohammed Abdulsalam was quoted by Houthi-run television as saying on Friday afternoon that the group's attacks on Israeli, U.S., and British ships in the Red Sea and Arabian Sea will continue until Israel ends its war and siege on the Gaza Strip. 
Nigar Hasanova

Azerbaijan's Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov met with the President of Uganda, Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, within the framework of his visit to the Republic of Uganda to participate in the 19th summit meeting of the heads of state and government of the Non-Aligned Movement, Azernews reports.

During the meeting, the minister conveyed congratulations to the head of state of Uganda regarding the transfer of the chairmanship of the Non-Aligned Movement of the Republic of Azerbaijan to Uganda, and it was stated that Azerbaijan is ready to share its chairmanship experience with the Ugandan side.

At the meeting, views were exchanged on the main agenda topics in various directions of political relations between the two states, and satisfaction was expressed with the current level of relations.

The importance of continuing the experience of coordination and mutual support on important issues both on a bilateral basis and within the framework of the UN, the Non-Aligned Movement, and other multilateral cooperation platforms was emphasised.

"During the meeting, the agenda of multilateral cooperation between Azerbaijan and Uganda and future plans within the framework of the Non-Aligned Movement Troika were discussed," the MFA said.

The agreement was expressed on the development of Azerbaijan-Uganda bilateral relations, the intensification of contacts, and business relations in the economic, social, and humanitarian spheres. It should be recalled that the chairmanship of the Non-Aligned Movement was transferred from Azerbaijan to Uganda.
TEHRAN, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and his Dutch counterpart Hanke Bruins Slot on Friday exchanged views on bilateral ties and Iran's recent missile strike on "a base of Israeli intelligence service Mossad" in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region.

In a phone call, the two sides discussed bilateral relations and the latest regional developments, in which the Iranian top diplomat called for joint efforts to expand ties at bilateral, regional, and international levels, said a statement published on the Iranian Foreign Ministry's website.

Amir-Abdollahian called on the Netherlands to take "appropriate and effective" action in the path of fighting terrorism, explaining that the recent strike was aimed at "effectively countering terrorism" and conducted "within the framework of international law and legitimate defense."

He highlighted Iran's respect for Iraq's sovereignty and territorial integrity as well as the Tehran-Baghdad strategic relations, noting that ensuring Iran's national security was a red line and priority.

The Dutch foreign minister, for her part, elaborated on her country's positions on Iran's move against "terrorists" in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region, calling on both sides to exercise restraint.

She praised the historical relations between the Netherlands and Iran, condemning a recent deadly "terrorist" twin bombing in the southeastern Iranian city of Kerman.

The ministers also reviewed the consular issues between the two countries and highlighted the necessity to continue bilateral consultations and cooperation, the statement said.

On Monday night, the Kurdistan Region Security Council said four people were killed and six others injured in an Iranian strike on "several populated civilian areas" in Erbil.

On Tuesday, Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) said it had launched barrages of ballistic missiles against the bases of "terrorists" and Israel's intelligence service Mossad in Syria as well as Iraq's Kurdistan Region respectively in response to recent anti-Iran "terror" attacks.

Meanwhile, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' al-Sudani denounced the Iranian missile attack on Erbil as an "aggressive act" that would undermine the strong bilateral relations. 
ENTEBBE, Uganda, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- Regional leaders in East Africa have called for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire in Sudan, where clashes since April of last year have left thousands of people dead.

In a communique issued late Thursday at the end of the one-day Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) summit held at State House, 40 km south of Kampala, the capital of Uganda, the leaders said that the warring parties must cease hostilities and continue dialogue to bring an end to the conflict.

They urged the warring parties to have a face-to-face meeting within two weeks, emphasizing that IGAD member states will utilize all means and capabilities to ensure the conflict is resolved peacefully.

President of Djibouti Ismail Omar Guelleh chaired the meeting, attended by Kenyan President William Ruto, Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, South Sudanese President Salva Kiir, and Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni. Moussa Faki, the African Union Commission chairperson, and several envoys from the European Union, UN and Arab League, among others, also attended the meeting.

Guelleh said that the leaders were meeting at a time when the region was facing devastating conflicts and tensions, emphasizing that their resolutions require both leadership and a shared vision that transcends borders.

He said that the region needs to collectively engage to resolve conflicts and tensions.

Museveni described the fighting in Sudan as an unjust war that must be ended through dialogue, noting that not every misunderstanding requires starting a war.

Faki said the warring parties in the conflict have the responsibility to end the fighting that has brought suffering to the Sudanese people. He added that the AU will work with the different parties and regional organizations to ensure that the conflict is resolved.

Sudan, a member of IGAD, skipped the meeting. On Tuesday, the country announced it had frozen dealings with IGAD regarding resolving the conflict, arguing that it was not consulted before putting the matter of the Sudan crisis on the agenda.

To further dialogue in the resolution of the conflict, the AU Commission on Wednesday appointed three prominent African personalities as members of the AU High-Level Panel on Sudan. The three, Mohamed Ibn Chambas from Ghana, Speciosa Wandira-Kazibwe from Uganda and Francisco Madeira from Mozambique, are supposed to work with all Sudanese stakeholders to ensure an all-inclusive process toward the swift restoration of peace, constitutional order and stability in Sudan, according to the AU Commission statement.

The panel will work with all civilian forces, military belligerents and regional and global actors, including IGAD, the UN and the League of Arab States.

More than 12,000 people have been killed in Sudan's deadly clashes since April last year, according to a statement by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in early December last year. 
QUITO, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- Ecuadorian authorities have arrested 2,174 people, 158 of them on "terrorism" charges, over the past nine days amid escalating violence in the country, the National Police said Thursday.

On Jan. 9, President Daniel Noboa declared an "internal armed conflict" in the country and mobilized the army to combat organized crime linked to drug trafficking.

Authorities have since carried out 23,610 operations, including 61 operations "against terrorist groups," the National Police said on social media X, formerly Twitter.

Five members of criminal organizations were killed, it said, adding that authorities seized more than 6 tons of illicit drugs and substantial amounts of firearms, knives, explosives, ammunition and mobile phones.

Police and soldiers also raided two prisons in search of weapons and other banned items smuggled in by inmates with ties to criminal rings.

Prison riots and a breakout led the government to declare a 60-day state of emergency on Jan. 8. More than 100 prison guards and officials who had been taken hostage by rioting inmates were released last week. 
Fabula-Fremantles Hot Sur, The Mediapro Studios El Mal and Two Nights in Lisbon, from Portugals Hop Films and the U.Ks Heroes Films, look like potential standouts at next weeks Content Americas Copro Pitch 2024, one of its industry centerpieces.

These series projects will be joined by crime mystery thriller Delito, from Barcelonas Grup Focus TV & Films, behind banner Amazon Original Reina Roja, Iron Woman, a tumultuous political saga from Brazil-based Jarsom Wayans, two high concept doc series  Argentinas Climate Migrants and Brazils Mystery of the Megafauna  and bio doc feature Farraquito, a Flamenco Story, profiling the famed flamenco bailaor.

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Shaping up as one of the biggest new titles to be brought onto the market at Content Americas, Hot Sur marks the latest from a fruitful 2019 multi-year first-look deal between Fremantle and Fabula, headed by Pablo and Juan de Dios Larrain, which has already yielded La Jauria, Senorita 89 and El Refugio.

El Mal will be introduced to potential partners by The Mediapro Studio, behind The Head, and one of the leading lights of cross-Atlantic business, swooping to buy Latin Americas Oficina Burman and now Cimarron, investing in Erik Barmacks hugely expansive Wild Sheep Content in L.A. and a partner on titles with HBO Max, Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+, Paramount, Amazon, Netflix and WBD, among many others.

Based on the novel by Chris Pavone, Two Nights in Lisbon is showrun by Henrique Oliveira, behind Virago Palace and Cuba Libre, and a driver on Portugals ever-more international TV scene.

Presented to potential co-production partners on Jan. 23, the eight titles capture the breadth of upscale production from Latin America, Spain and Portugal.

Yet common denominators remain. Most series have political or social point, whether the dirty political tricks of Two Night in Lisbon or the defencelessness of the homeless in El Mal. Delito has an intricate and dizzying plot that defies expectations and serves as a reflection on todays society, notes Xavi Viza, director of Grup Focus film & TV Division.

In series from Europe, these ideas are delivered by smart thrillers. In Latin America, titles  Hot Sur and Iron Woman  are social-issue melodramas wrapped up in fast-moving thrillers.

Emanuele Sanuto and Jarsom Wayans

Winningly, Hot Sur bucks multiple cliches about Latinx portrayal  its protagonist, fighting back against unjust imprisonment, is neither a criminal, nor sexualised nor victim. Fictional political thriller Iron Woman traces Black federal deputy Eliane Sanutos journey from deputy to President of Brazil over two decades later. That involves struggles against oppression, personal tragedies and the weight of dictatorships legacy, her perspective challenging misogyny and racism, facing violence, torture and exile, says showrunner Jarsom Wayans. It will make for a roller coaster ride, he promises.

A brief breakdown of CoPro Pitch 2024 titles:

Climate Migrants, (Migrantes Climaticos, Argentina)

A hybrid doc/fiction picturing population displacement caused by climate change in Latin America, and its implications for the future. Split between fiction scenarios set between 2050 and 2200 and doc data and expert talking heads, the six-part doc series captures possible outcomes such as volcanic mudslides and eruptions, glaciers melting, floods and disease. Buenos Aires Unitref Media produces.

Delito, (Grup Focus TV & Films, Spain)

On a warm June night, 10 people, with no apparent connection, jump to their deaths from the seventh floor of one of Madrids most iconic hotels. Forensic specialist Santi Munarriz, young hacker Miguel and mysterious journalist Berta Gigliani lead the investigation. An addictive and fast-paced thriller with large depth, says Grup Focus Viza, also behind movie Escape Room. Based on a best-seller by Spains Carme Chaparo and penned by seasoned scribe Carmen Lopez Arreal, a lead writer on Disney+s La chica invisible from Morena Films and co-scribe on Benito Zambranos The Sleeping Voice, and Marina Efron (The Invisible Girl, Soy Luna).

Farruquito, a Flamenco Story, (Japan, U.S., Spain)

A doc feature on the life of Farruquito, a famous flamenco bailaor, framed as a classic redemption story. But its also a study of family legacy, here artistic, as Farruquito, grandson of El Farruco, plays with, looks back and tutors son El Moreno, just 11, but an on-the-rise star on Spains flamenco scene. Capa Espana, part of Spains iZen group, produces. Created by Reuben Atlas, directed by Atlas and Aguado and drawing inspiration from Sauras Flamenco Flamenco, Wim Wenders Pina and David LaChapelles Rize, a wider exploration of a unique artform and a culture and its ability to transcend, say its makers.

Reuben Atlas and Henrique Oliveira

Hot Sur, (Fabula, Fremantle, Mexico-U.S.)

Maria Paz, an undocumented Mexican immigrant, becomes a fugitive after being falsely accused of murder. Hunted by a determined U.S. Marshal and her vengeful former lover, she must navigate a treacherous path to clear her name and protect her family. Adapting the same-titled 2012 novel from Colombias Laura Restrepo (Delirio), a series with big creative talent attached and pedigreed producers which weighs in as a Content Americas highlight.

Iron Woman, (Mulher de Ferro, Brazil)

Created by Jarsom Wayans (El silencio tiene rostro de mujer), and inspired by Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, President of Liberia, a tumultuous fictional political thriller set at three times periods from the 60s to 90s in Brazil and based on long research of resistance to and repression by dictatorship in Brazil, aiming to to raise awareness about silenced Black women during the military dictatorship, celebrating the resilience of silenced women, says Wayans. Eliane Sanuto, a Black Brazilian federal deputy battling Brazils military dictatorship, is forced into exile. Two decades later, she returns to challenge the regime, emerging as the sole opposition candidate in presidential elections. Rio de Janeiros Sanuto Producoes produces with Eva Filmes Colectivo Preto, Emanuele Sanuto executive co-producing.

Iron Woman

El Mal, (The Mediapro Studio, Spain)

A serial killer prowls the streets of locked-down Barcelona in March-April 2020, hunting for victims among those still out on the streets: the homeless. Based on a true story. Created and lead written by Lluis Alcarazo, creator of crime thriller Night and Day and doc feature Special Case, both well received in Spain. El Mal is different in tone and in terms of setting, situation. The series, with a classic narrative, maintains a disturbing atmosphere, in line with great masters of contemporary cinema such as David Fincher or Michael Mann and with echoes of films such as Seven, Zodiac and Collateral, and series such as Mindhunter, thoroughly introducing us to the investigation of these crimes in the context of a less luminous Barcelona, but fascinating in its portrait and photography, says Javier Mendez, The Mediapro Studio head of cinema and co-head of television.

Mystery of the Megafauna, (Grifa Filmes, Brazil)

Travelling through archaeological sites and natural history museums across America, Brazilian paleontologist Gerry de Iuliis and son, archaeology student Jacob de Iuliis, reconstruct the extinction of Americas megafauna and their potential causes, including human activity. Produced by Brazils Grifa Filmes, behind doc series of awesome visuals and high-concept revisionism, made in international co-production such as 2022sRivers Above the Canopy.

Two Nights in Lisbon, (Hop Films, Portugal; Heroes Films, U.K.)

Ariel Pryce wakes up in Lisbon alone, her recently-wed much younger husband vanished off the face of the earth. Desperately searching for him, she realises how little she really knows about him. But shes not whom she says either. An adaptation of the novel by Chris Pavone, New York Times bestselling author of The Expats, set up at Henrique Oliveiras Hop Films (Cuba Libre, Vidago Palace) and London-based Heroes Films, which boarded at Mipcom. Currently looking for top American/U.K. female directors, says showrunner Oliveira, who is penning the adaptation with Pavone. Two Nights in Lisbon is a complex, intelligent, multi-layered thriller, filled with twists, turns, husbands, wives, secrets and lies  and it will linger long after you watch the surprising final scene, he promises.

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Disclaimer: The article contains mention of murder and assault. Reader discretion is advised.

Keith Hunter Jesperson is a now incarcerated Canadian-American serial killer who was active during the 1990s. According to Murderpedia, he killed eight people in Nebraska, California, Florida, Washington, Oregon, and Wyoming. He used to work as a truck driver, which made him travel from state to state.

According to Oxygen True Crime, Keith Hunter Jesperson was born in British Columbia, Canada on April 6, 1955. Like most serial killers, his childhood was also filled with abuse and hardship. Reports suggest that his father abused him and kids in his school regularly bullied him. He soon began taking out his frustrations in other disturbing ways, like torturing animals and attacking other children.

Jesperson eventually got married to Rose Hucke and settled in Selah, Washington with his family. Furthermore, his massive six feet, six inches stature helped him hunt for victims. After splitting from his wife in 1990, he committed his first murder. Keith Hunter Jesperson and Rose Hucke were married for 15 years and had three children together.

His daughter, Melissa Moore once stated that being around Keith Hunter Jesperson made her anxious. However, she did love her father. She said, I loved my dad, but I didnt really enjoy being around him. He made me anxious. He never molested or beat any of us. it was just a feeling that something was building, seething beneath the surface.

She further stated, I had once tried to articulate it to a school counselor, but it didnt come out right. He would leer at women in public, make lewd remarks about them, and harass them.

Why was Keith Hunter Jesperson called Happy Face Killer?

Keith Hunter Jesperson was known as the Happy Face Killer because he drew smiley faces in his letters to the media and authorities. Reports suggest that in 1990, he had a sexual encounter with a woman named Taunja Bennett, whom he ended up killing. He then dumped her body in by the Columbia River, which was later discovered by a cyclist.

Reports suggest that the first documentation of his crimes surfaced from a writing on a bus station bathroom wall in Montana. It read, I killed Tanya Bennet [sic] January 21, 1990, in Portland, Ore. I beat her to death, raped her, and loved it.

It further read, Yes, Im sick but I enjoy myself, too. People took the blame and Im free.

Jespersons victims were mostly sex workers. Even though he once claimed that he killed over 150 women, on the record, only eight murders have been confirmed. In August 1992, he raped and strangled a woman, whose identity remains a mystery. A few months later, he took the lives of Cynthia Lyn Rose in California and Laurie Ann Pentland in Oregon. He killed more people in 1993, 1994, and 1995.

His final victim was his 41-year-old ex-girlfriend, Julie Winningham. Her body was discovered on a Washington road in March 1995. Officials eventually apprehended him on March 30, 1995. Furthermore, he is currently serving a sentence of life without parole.

In 2014, Rick Bota directed a television film inspired by Keith Hunter Jespersons crime, which was titled, Happy Face Killer. David Arquette portrayed the role of the serial killer. It is available to stream on major platforms such as Hulu and Amazon Prime.

The post Happy Face Killer: Who Is Keith Hunter Jesperson and What Did He Do? appeared first on ComingSoon.net - Movie Trailers, TV & Streaming News, and More.
Laci Peterson was eight months pregnant with their son Conner when she vanished on Christmas Eve in 2002

Bart Ah You-Pool/Getty Scott Peterson in 2004

Scott Peterson's conviction in the 2002 murder of his pregnant wife Laci Peterson and their unborn son is now being investigated by the Los Angeles Innocence Project.

The nonprofit organization, known for their work to exonerate wrongly convicted and incarcerated individuals, told PEOPLE in a statement that they represent Scott now and are "investigating his claim of actual innocence."

Laci Peterson, 27, was eight months pregnant with their son Conner when she vanished on Christmas Eve in 2002, just five years after she and Scott had married. While Scott initially helped look for her, it soon came out that he had been having an affair and he was made the prime suspect.

Four months later, Laci's body was found in San Francisco Bay, just a mile away from where her unborn baby's body was found.

Scott  who is 51 now  was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder in 2004 and sentenced to death row in 2005. He remained there for about 15 years.

Bart Ah You-Pool/Getty Scott Peterson in 2004

But in 2020, Scott scored two major legal victories in 2020. The first victory was in August, when he was given the chance to face a new penalty phase trial after his death penalty sentence was overturned by California Supreme Court, who cited jury selection errors by the trial judge. The second victory came in October, when the California Supreme Court ruled that a lower court should take a second look at his case to determine whether his guilty verdict should be overturned.

Laci Peterson

In court in 2021, Scott's death sentence was officially vacated, resentencing him to life in prison. The following year, a San Mateo County Superior Court Judge denied Peterson's bid for a new trial.

Now, the L.A. Innocence Project is seeking new evidence in Scott's original trial, saying that Peterson's state and federal constitutional rights were violated, according to ABC News.

California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation/AP Scott Peterson in October 2022

Filings entered on Wednesday and first obtained by the outlet say that "new evidence now supports Mr. Peterson's longstanding claim of innocence and raises many questions into who abducted and killed Laci and Conner Peterson."

Attorneys for the organization are quoting updated witness statements which point to multiple areas of interest including a December 2002 burglary of a Modesto home across the street from the Petersons. Scott's attorneys have previously argued his wife was killed after she witnessed the men breaking into the neighbor's house during a dog walk while Scott was on a solo fishing trip Christmas Eve morning.



Jeff Chiu/AP Scott Peterson during a hearing at the San Mateo County Superior Court in 2022

The L.A. Innocence Project are also hoping to conduct new DNA testing on a blood-stained mattress found on Dec. 25 in a burned out orange van discovered nearby. The investigation, they say, will determine if the item contained Laci's blood, which could be argued links her back to the burglars.

Other evidence being sought out by the L.A. Innocence Project, according to the filings obtained by ABC News, include dozens of items unable to be found "after a thorough search" of trial files from his prior counsel.

Scott's family has long believed his claim of innocence and supported his efforts for freedom. "There is no forensic evidence, there is no timeline to this crime," his sister-in-law Janey Peterson said in 2021. "Scott Peterson is innocent, and we are now trying to reverse that."

Pat Harris, Scotts defense attorney, tells PEOPLE: We are very excited to have the incredible attorneys at the L.A. Innocence Project lend their considerable expertise to helping prove Scott Peters Innocence."



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Read the original article on People.
LUSAKA, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- Zambia on Friday launched the country's first-ever national refugee policy, aiming to enhance the management of refugees in the country.

Minister of Home Affairs and Internal Security Jack Mwiimbu said that the policy has been formulated to alleviate challenges and improve the management of refugees.

"Government embarked on the process of developing a national refugee policy by adopting extensive countrywide consultations to create a policy that will adequately and accurately provide much-needed guidance and clarity on the management of refugees," he said.

He expressed optimism that many challenges faced by refugees in the country will be resolved following the launch of the policy, saying he expects the policy to have a positive impact on integrating refugees into society and their contribution to the economy.

The policy, he added, comes with solutions to the many problems refugees, asylum seekers and persons of concern face in the country.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Representative in Zambia Preeta Law commended the government for coming up with the policy, saying that it reflects the country's commitment to allowing refugees to integrate and contribute to society's development.

She said the UNHCR will support the government using its global expertise to replicate best practices in the management of refugees. 
While attending fourth grade in Winnetka, Illinois, Johnson's elementary school was subject to a shooting by a local woman

Jim Spellman/WireImage

Jake Johnson narrowly missed a school shooting because of his mothers intuition.

I was sitting next to my mom, I was in fourth grade, the New Girl alum said on Dope as Usual earlier this week. Out of nowhere, my mother turns to me and goes, Youre not going to school tomorrow.

It was a field trip day, and Johnson argued at the time that he wanted to keep his normal routine, but his mom won the argument.

The next day  May 20, 1988  a woman walks into my elementary school through the door that my class was in, he recalled. A woman walked into the school wearing a robe and nothing underneath.  The room was empty, she walked through, walked down the hall, walked into another room, shot seven kids, killed one of them. True story.

Related: Max Greenfield and Jake Johnson Hold Hands at Express Yourself 2022 in Sweet 'New Girl' Reunion

The shooting took place in Winnetka, Illinois. According to an ABC 7 Chicago report, Laurie Dann  who was known to suffer from mental illness  walked into the second grade classroom and claimed she was there to teach the students about guns before open firing on the class. Dann also attempted to set fire to another school and the home of the family she had been babysitting on the same day.



Jim Spellman/WireImage

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Looking back, Johnson admits that his natural tendency to fall back on comedy could have made a horrific situation worse. I would have said something, he guessed of possibly seeing Dann in her robe at his school. I would have tried to show off, I would have tried to get laughs. Theres no question.

Noting that he and his mother rarely talk about the incident, he added, My mom cannot explain why she did not want me to go to school.



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The Colorado representative made the misleading claim during a congressional hearing on immigration law, suggesting that stopping abortions is a better way to boost the U.S. population than embracing immigrants

Anna Moneymaker/Getty Lauren Boebert

Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert erroneously blamed the United States' declining birth rate on abortion during a congressional hearing on immigration law this week.

On Wednesday, the far-right congresswoman took a moment while speaking during a House Oversight Committee hearing to claim that the nations birth rate is falling due to nearly 1 million abortions a year  overlooking more prevalent financial and social factors that have been linked with the decline.

My colleagues just asked if our birth rate was declining here in America and the answer was yes, said Boebert, 37. Well, of course it is. We have nearly 1 million abortions in our country a year."

Related: Rep. Lauren Boebert Calls Separation of Church and State 'Junk,' Says Church Should Direct Government

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Lauren Boebert

Boeberts comments came during a House Oversight debate on U.S. immigration law, after Democratic committee members argued that immigration boosts economic and employment growth, and can help provide a much-needed population increase as Baby Boomers exit the workforce en masse.

Boebert, who is outspokenly anti-choice, asserted that to see an increase in birth rate we should "look at our own country first," though politicians have had a historically difficult time convincing people to have children  not for lack of trying.

Data has also demonstrated that even when the abortion rate has gone down in modern times, the birth rate has continued declining.



Related: Rep. Lauren Boebert Says Having Third Kid Was Cheaper than Birth Control

According to Vox, larger factors, including economic woes, could be behind the nation's falling birth rate: Since the Great Recession, Americans have had fewer and fewer children, with the overall rate dropping nearly 23% between 2007 and 2022. Other factors include people marrying later (or not at all), broader access to contraceptives and the lack of family-friendly policies like paid leave and subsidized child care.

Philip Cohen, a sociology professor at the University of Maryland, told Vox that the opportunity cost of having a child has grown in modern times. People, especially women, have more lucrative things to do," he said.

Meanwhile, according to a poll by The New York Times in 2018, about a quarter of participants said they had or were planning to have less children than they would ideally like. Of those, 64% said the cost of child care was behind their decision.



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The OG of the Real Housewives of Atlanta, NeNe Leakes, broke hearts when she left the franchise. When she held her peach, NeNe was the life of the party, often handing out drama in abundance. NeNe was legendary and kept Bravo viewers well entertained. While she didnt get along with everyone, this trait often worked out in her favor, giving her some iconic lines. She even had quotes for every possible life situation, like I said what I said. Everyone misses NeNe, so here is a list of some of her best moments throughout her time on the show.

Shading Kenya Moore

NeNe made sure to move on up into a mansion in Buckhead, so when Kenya Moore called to invite her over for tea, NeNe wasnt exactly prepared for how long of a trek it would be. Even though it was only Kenyas temporary home, the mother of two wanted to show support during RHOA Season 6.

Upon arrival, NeNe was appalled by the lack of luxury, but it seems she was genuinely offended by the white refrigerator. After pulling up in her Range Rover and stepping out in her red bottom pumps, NeNe only had one way to describe the state of affairs, which was Whew, Chile, the ghetto.

NeNes Date

Back in Season 4, NeNe was being wooed by her business partner, who laid it on pretty thick. John Kolaj was a mix of super creepy, cheap energy, and, at any moment, he risked slipping on the floor due to his oil-slicked hair. It was pretty clear that NeNe was not into him, yet she agreed to go out to dinner at Valentinos.

During dinner, John gifted a Rolex to his crush, but NeNe hesitated to accept it at first. However, after being force-fed ravioli finally, she notes, Bling bling bling, bi*tches is mad.

Stay Out of Womens Business

NeNe had a stark warning for Peter Thomas after getting into an altercation with Gregg Leakes. The memorable line came after Gregg tried to brawl with Peter physically. NeNe had had enough of Peters meddling as he was known for often disrespecting the group of women.

NeNe lashed out, yelling, You know I am not going to be disrespected. This is what you need to do: stay out of womens business. You are the only husband who gets involved. NeNe ended her spat by saying, We happen to like Peter a whole lot more than we like Patricia.

NeNe vs. Kandi

Kandi Burruss rarely gets into it, but NeNe came for her during Season 7. The two were not always the closest in the group, and the tell-all proved that. Kandi was asked about the drama sharing, If Im a hater, then all I am doing is hating on someone who is a hater. In NeNes opinion, she was over being spoken negatively about, with both agreeing just to be cordial and move on, leaving fans with the infamous line, We see each other.

NeNe Is Rich

Who could ever forget that NeNe was cast on The Apprentice and worked alongside Donald Trump? Not us because she never let viewers forget her small achievement. Long before the rest of us plebes were ever given Trump stimulus checks, NeNe made it known to Sheree Whitfield that she was cashing Trump checks. In an attempt to silence Sheree and her booking investigation, NeNe clapped back, Here we go, Star Jones. What you dont understand is while you were running your mouth with him, I was running to the bank, sweetie, depositing a Trump check.

In an attempt to shut down Sheree once and for all, NeNe shamed her fellow cast member, noting, Im rich. Im very rich, bit*h. I mean, how could you counterattack with a line like that? The other ladies never stood a chance. Currently, there are no plans for Bravo to bring back NeNe, but we have every finger crossed they will change their minds.

TELL US  WHICH IS YOUR FAVORITE NENE LEAKES SCENE?

The post NeNe Leakes Most Iconic Moments appeared first on Reality Tea.
Margaret Moth was a photojournalist who is best known for being employed by CNN. Furthermore, New Zealand actress Lucy Lawless recently made her directorial debut, with a documentary titled, Never Look Away. This project showcased the life and career of the aforementioned gutsy camerawoman.

Reports suggest that Lucy Lawless decided to create this documentary after receiving an email from Joe Duran. Duran is a CNN cameraman who was a good friend of the late Margaret Moth. In a conversation with Variety, Lawless explained how the process of making Never Look Away began. She stated, I received an email from [CNN cameraman] Joe Duran saying, Would you want to make a movie about my best friend Margaret? It took about 90 seconds for me to say Yes!

Margaret Moth was born on January 30, 1951, and passed away on March 21, 2010, three years after doctors diagnosed her with colon cancer. She was born in Gisborne, New Zealand.

According to IMDb, the synopsis of Never Look Away reads, Swashbuckling CNN combat camerawoman, Margaret Moth, risks it all to put the viewer inside the conflict. When a fateful injury gets in the way of her appetite for danger and adrenaline, Moth must find the strength to carry on.

The producers and co-writers of this documentary are Matthew Metcalfe, Tom Blackwell, and Lawless. Furthermore, the New Zealand Film Commission, Ingenious Media, GFC Films, AM Media, Images & Sound, and the New Zealand Governments Screen Production Rebate funded and supported it.

Never Look Away: Why did Margaret Moth change her name?

According to CNN, Margaret Moth was born as Margaret Wilson. However, her admiration for parachuting and Tiger Moth airplanes made her change her name. Reports also suggest that she received her first camera at the age of 8. Her mother was a homemaker and her father was a swimming pool maker.

According to Variety, Lucy Lawless had no direct connection with the legendary photojournalist. However, she recalled an incident from the 1990s where she was seriously injured. Lawless said, She was Australasias first female cameraman, a trailblazer, and a shocking iconoclast without even trying.

She further stated, She refused to participate in anything one might call normal and became the ringleader of this group of misfits and thrill seekers, the queen of the night. Eventually, she got a job at CNN and went off to war, which changed the trajectory of her life massively.

New Zealand Film Commissions official website states that Lawless stated that Margaret Moth was massively inspirational. Her statement said, Its a rollercoaster ride  shes no angel but her life story makes you feel that you too can go out and move mountains with whatever tools you have right now. Shes hugely inspirational.

1992, she was shot in the face in Sarajevo, reports CNN. She got multiple reconstructive surgeries as well as hepatitis C from a consequent blood transfusion. However, this did not break her spirit. In one of her final interviews, she sarcastically stated that instead of cancer, she wanted to die with a bit more flair.

She stated, Dying of cancer, I would have liked to think Id have gone out with a bit more flair. The important thing is to know that youve lived your life to the fullest. I dont know anyone whos enjoyed life more. You could be a billionaire, and you couldnt pay to do the things weve done.

Moth initially worked for KHOU in Houston, Texas. However, after seven years, she began working for CNN in 1990.

The post Never Look Away: What Happened to Photojournalist Margaret Moth? appeared first on ComingSoon.net - Movie Trailers, TV & Streaming News, and More.
Hollywood star John Travolta reportedly played a pivotal role in securing Prince Harry a Living Legend of Aviation honor due to his connection with Princess Diana. Travolta allegedly sees Harry continuing his late mother's charitable legacy.

Since his award was announced, the Duke of Sussex has received heavy backlash from British military veterans who claim he does not deserve to be called a "living legend." The retired officers slammed the accolade as a Royal status-driven publicity stunt, calling it "pathetic."

John Travolta Reportedly Nominated Prince Harry For The Living Legend of Aviation Award

MEGA

"Saturday Night Fever" star Travolta reportedly influenced the naming of Prince Harry as a "Living Legend of Aviation." This was allegedly because of his "strong emotional link and connection" to Harry through his friendship with his mother, Princess Diana.

According to a report, Travolta, 69, was the "driving force" behind Harry's award. The actor, who was honored with the Living Legends Ambassador of Aviation award in 2007, allegedly sees Diana's sons, particularly Harry, as continuing her legacy in charitable endeavors.

The connection between Travolta and Diana dates back to the iconic 1985 White House dinner where they famously danced, marking a significant moment in the actor's life.

Prince Harry's Award Dubbed A 'Pathetic' Publicity Stunt By Critics

MEGA

Unfortunately, Harry, who served in the Army for a decade, including two tours in Afghanistan as a forward air controller and an Apache helicopter co-pilot gunner, is facing criticism for being named a "Living Legend of Aviation."

Some retired senior officers view the accolade as a "pathetic" Royal status-driven publicity stunt.

According to the Daily Mail, Lord West, former head of the Royal Navy, labeled the recognition "pathetic," stating: "He is not a living legend of aviation. To suggest he is is pathetic. It makes the whole thing seem a bit of nonsense if they're willing to pick someone like Prince Harry."

West added: "He didn't carry off any great exciting feat of amazing flying skill while flying for the Army. They're just trying to get publicity. They know it will cause a stir."

MEGA

Colonel Richard Kemp acknowledged Harry's bravery, adding that his time in Afghanistan was "undoubtedly very dangerous." However, he emphasized that there are "helicopter pilots who have done much more extraordinary things in Iraq and Afghanistan, risking their lives to rescue their fellow soldiers."

Award insiders remain unfazed despite the criticisms, noting that "the negativity will not get [their] attention." The organization emphasized that "inductees are nominated and selected by current Living Legends, who then are part of future selection processes."

The Duke's 'Living Legend Of Aviation' Award Defended By Insiders

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Amid the shocking claims that Harry's aviation award is a publicity stunt or due to his royal status, an insider defended the duke, labeling the criticisms as "disgraceful."

The source told The Mirror, "Harry's name was put forward because of his astonishing commitment to helping those in and out of the military, promoting awareness of the triumphs and travails of that life."

Describing the Duke of Sussex as a philanthropist, the insider continued: "Any suggestion of this as a publicity stunt is a disgraceful and offensive suggestion."

"Of course, John was an advocate for Harry and supported his nomination. He has always felt a connection to him, especially because he and Diana enjoyed that moment of pop culture history by dancing at the White House," they added.

Prince Harry Celebrated As A 'Humanitarian, Military Veteran And Environmentalist'

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The Kiddie Hawk Air Academy, based in Colorado and responsible for Harry's aviation recognition, operates as a non-profit organization aiming to cultivate an interest in aviation among young individuals.

Harry's induction as a "Living Legend of Aviation" is scheduled for an awards ceremony in Beverly Hills, California, hosted by John Travolta on Friday. The event will celebrate Harry's contributions, including his role in establishing the Invictus Games Foundation.

A statement on the event's website read: "Prince Harry is a humanitarian, military veteran, mental wellness advocate and environmentalist. He has dedicated his life to advancing causes that he is passionate about and that bring about permanent change for people and places."

However, it remains unclear if Harry or his wife, the Duchess of Susses Meghan Markle, will attend the ceremony.
The L.A. Innocence Project said in court filings that "new evidence now supports Mr. Peterson's longstanding claim of innocence"

Bart Ah You-Pool/Getty Scott Peterson in 2004

Scott Peterson's case is being taken on by the Los Angeles Innocence Project  but he has always had his sister-in-laws support, even after being convicted of the murders of his pregnant wife Laci Peterson and their unborn son Conner.

A California jury found Scott guilty of two counts of first-degree murder in 2004. His wife, Laci, 27, was eight months pregnant when she went missing on Christmas Eve in 2002. While Scott initially helped look for her, it soon came out that he had been having an affair, and he became the prime suspect.

Four months later, Laci's body was found in San Francisco Bay, just a mile away from where her unborn baby's body was found.

Scott has always maintained his innocence and so has his sister-in-law Janey Peterson, who spoke with the Today show in 2021, saying that Laci was not killed on Christmas Eve 2002, but was actually killed later.

Related: Scott Peterson's Sister-in-Law Claims New Evidence Proves He's Innocent of Killing His Pregnant Wife

Bart Ah You-Pool/Getty Scott Peterson in 2004

There's evidence that was completely ignored that shows Laci was alive after [Scott] left for the day, Janey, who is married to Scott's brother, told the show at the time. But also, there was no evidence that he had anything to do with what happened to Laci.

Scott, now 51, has claimed that Laci was killed by an unknown assailant as she walked the couple's dog after he left to go on a solo fishing trip on Christmas Eve morning.

Modesto Police Dept/ZUMAPRESS.com Laci and Scott Peterson

As the case moved forward, it was revealed that he had a months-long affair with a woman named Amber Frey, who was unaware that Scott was married when she started dating him.

Frey eventually disclosed the affair to police in December 2002, after learning Laci had vanished and she even testified during Scotts trial.

However, Janey says that being an adulterer does not mean that her brother-in-law is a killer. I don't think you can take that leap, she told the show, adding that she believes the murderer is still at large.

"We don't have justice, she said. This crime is not solved.

Scott was sentenced to death in 2005 and remained on death row until 2020, when his death sentence was overturned, meaning that he would face a new penalty phase trial. That October, the California Supreme Court ruled that a lower court should take a second look at his case to determine whether his guilty verdict should be overturned.

California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation/AP Scott Peterson in 2022.

In 2021, Scott's death sentence was officially vacated and he was resentenced to life in prison. The following year, a San Mateo County Superior Court Judge denied Scotts bid for a new trial.

Related: Laci Peterson's Family Feels 'Relief' After Scott Peterson Denied a New Trial: 'Best Christmas Gift Ever'

This week, the L.A. Innocence Project took up Scott's case and is seeking new evidence in his original trial, arguing Scotts state and federal constitutional rights were violated, ABC News first 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.

The nonprofit organization, known for its work to exonerate wrongly convicted and incarcerated individuals, told PEOPLE in a statement Friday that they represent Scott now and are "investigating his claim of actual innocence.

In court filings submitted Wednesday and first obtained by ABC News, lawyers for the organization stated that "new evidence now supports Mr. Peterson's longstanding claim of innocence and raises many questions into who abducted and killed Laci and Conner Peterson."



Related: L.A. Innocence Project Takes Scott Peterson's Case, Says New Evidence 'Supports' Claim He Didn't Kill Wife Laci

The filings highlight updated witness testimony pointing to multiple aspects of the case, including a December 2002 burglary of a Modesto home across the street from the Petersons, ABC News reports.

The organization is also hoping to conduct new DNA testing on a blood-stained mattress found on Dec. 25, 2002, in a burned out orange van discovered near the home. The investigation will determine whether the item contained Laci's blood, which could be argued links her back to the burglars, the organization said.

Pat Harris, Scotts defense attorney, tells PEOPLE: We are very excited to have the incredible attorneys at the L.A. Innocence Project lend their considerable expertise to helping prove Scott Peters Innocence."



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Read the original article on People.
Making a home-cooked meal while drinking rum is commona sweet and smoky taste on your palette before a freshly sauteed chicken or a creamy pasta is every foodie's dream. Make your time in the kitchen more exciting by cooking with rum. You can add some oomph to your meals and make anything from pasta to cheesecake.

You can cook with other types of alcohol, but rum specifically pairs nicely with meats to tone down their potent flavor, with sweets to enhance their tastiness. It can be useful in deglazing pans  deglazing is a fancy way of cleaning pans when you hate doing dishes, using alcohol on hot pans releases stuck bits of food, helping to create a gravy to pour over the meat you cooked. From marinating meals to making boozy desserts, here are several ways to bring some liquid courage into your kitchen.

Read more: 13 Liquors Your Home Bar Should Have

Use Rum As A Marinade

Someone brushing marinade onto meat - Wundervisuals/Getty Images

Your drink order says a lot about you; in this case, it says you're ready to make your next rum-infused dish. When you order a rum and coke from your local bar, take note of what ingredients the bartender uses  the spicy kick of rum couples with the sweetness of coke to balance out the salt and tartness in your savory dishes. So, instead of drinking that rum and coke, season your food with it.

If rum and coke isn't your go-to drink, that's fine, too. Marinating your food with rum alone will still ensure a flavor-packed dinner without alcohol overpowering your meal. Cooking burns out alcohol, although not fully. Still, you won't get tipsy off the marinade you use. Combine rum with ingredients like soy sauce, olive oil, cinnamon, garlic, honey  think smoky, sweet flavors to complement the nectarous tastes in the fermentation and distillation processes of making rum.

Enhance The Flavor Of Your Protein

Chef holding pan with fire - Depiction Images/Shutterstock

Though you likely won't burn it all out  according to a study by the United States Department of Agriculture, which said food with alcohol retains 40 percent of it after simmering for 15 minutesburning out alcohol can help pair your meat of choice with your rum flavor. Whether you prefer light or dark rum, "you can get a stronger or lighter flavor after the alcohol is completely evaporated," Angel Roque, executive chef at Cuba Libre Restaurant & Rum Bar, told Liquor.com. (Fun fact: Cuba Libres are very similar to rum and cokes, the only difference being the lime juice is added into the Cuba Libre, while it's garnish in a rum and coke.)

Pairing your rum with the right dish is crucial, especially after the alcohol burns out. Lighter rums (usually used in pina coladas) make for a good couplet with seafood because they're not heavy on the palette and they add sweetness; they are a subtle alcoholic addition to your meal. Try this recipe for butter rum shrimp or scallops to taste how burning the alcohol out of a lighter rum can enhance your seafood dishes.

Darker rums are great for grilling or roasting meats. The richness and caramel undertones team up with the nutty, gamey taste of a delicious steak or rack of lamb, and the smokiness of the rum will be the charred flavors' best friend.

What's A Little Dinner Without Some Dessert?

Multiple rum cake desserts - Piotr Krzeslak/Getty Images

You don't have to just cook with rum ... you can also bake with it! From cookies to pound cake to bread pudding, there are plenty of ways to satisfy your sweet tooth by sprinkling a little rum from the bottle onto your baking sheets. Combine your after-dinner drink with your after-dinner snack by trying a mojito cupcake  a tangy, sweet, packs-a-punch bite  or a classic, decadent chocolate rum cake  covered in warm rum at the end to really make you nostalgic for a glass  or any myriad of desserts you can incorporate rum into.

Spiced rums are good for all things sweet  this type of rum is just the warm and cozy taste you need to end your night with. Dessert is arguably the best part of any meal  and baking with booze will add flavor and change the consistency of your baked goods. Rum adds nutty and vanilla tastes to your desserts, but be careful  any alcohol you add to a baked item has acidity that could mess up the structure of the thing you're baking. This means if you're making a layered cake, for example, adding too much rum could make for a less stable stacked treat. Rum works best if thought of as an extract (like vanilla extract) that can add an elevated touch to any simple dessert you can think of.

Caramelize Your Favorite Fruit With Rum

Bananas foster with ice cream - nelea33/Shutterstock

For a sweet treat after a barbecue, try using rum to caramelize bananas. Make a rum butter by mixing butter, rum, and your favorite spices; if you've got a sweet tooth, use sugar, cinnamon, and honey. Once the butter is your desired consistency, cut your bananas in half the long way and pour or spread the butter over the fruit, allowing the flavor to sink in. On a grill, put the bananas cut side down and allow them to get a char to really lock in that flavor. In the warmth of your kitchen, try slow-cooker bananas foster, cooking the bananas on low for about an hour in a slow cooker. You can serve the caramelized bananas with ice cream for a cold companion, and add your own toppings  common for bananas foster are walnuts and coconut.

If potassium isn't really your jam, make apple turnovers a bit more piquant with some spiced rum. This warm and sweet flaky pastry is perfect for the winter cold. All you have to do is put your apples in a pan, saute them with butter, sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg  and as always, add any spices you like to make it your own. Add some lemon juice for twang, and pour in the spiced rum for that caramelly taste. For an extra kick, add the rum to your glaze, too; you'll have a delicious, crispy pastry with a sweet, spicy glaze and a delectable caramelized filling for your after-dinner treat.

Flambe Your Food Like A Professional Chef

Person holding pan on fire - Guvendemir/Getty Images

If you've seen any Gordon Ramsay show, you know that there's always at least one episode where Ramsay is teaching his cooks to flambe their dishes. Flambeing can be intimidating  since it's all about dealing with fire  but it's a technique that has been around since 1951, when bananas foster became popularized in New Orleans. Chefs have flambeed desserts, meats, and even cocktails. Using rum for your flambe is bound to make you feel like a Michelin-star chef.

Flambeing is essentially just dousing your food (or cocktail) in alcohol  in this case, rum  and tilting it ever so slightly toward the flame so the alcohol catches fire. This allows the food to absorb the caramel flavors of the rum and get a nice char on it simultaneously. Bananas foster is a dessert often flambeed, along with Baked Alaska, and even more often, steaks. It doesn't have to be scary; as long as you have the right materials and measurements, you'll be able to flambe your food safely. It's safest to use wide pans and have your rum pre-measured  as a general rule of thumb in the kitchen, it's always good to have your ingredients measured before making any recipe. This keeps you organized, rather than ping-ponging around the kitchen while your pan is on fire on your stove.

Create A Rum Sauce For Your Dish

Sauce being spread on bun - Enigma_images/Getty Images

Sauces are a key part of every meal, whether you're at the drive-through or at your dining table. Pair the smokiness of rum with a sweet ingredient like guava to make a guava and habanero rum sauce. By combining and heating the rum with other spicy ingredients  sriracha or curry powder  and some acidity for a zing of flavor  lemon juice or vinegar  and finally, some calmer flavors to bring balance to the sauce  tomato paste and olive oil  you can create the perfect thick sauce to spread on your burger buns, or if you're a dipper, you can do that, too.

A rum sauce is also really good to use as a marinade, as mentioned earlier, since you're getting all your seasonings and flavors in one creamy consistency that's perfect to brush onto a steak, a rack of ribs, or even lamb chops. If you're not too big a fan of guava, try combining rum with coconut for some added sweetness, like in Hector Rivera's spicy coconut and rum ribs. Rivera is part of Puerto Rico's Grilling and Smoking Society, and these ribs are widely popular with his friends and family. Even without a recipe, there are a myriad of ingredients to combine with rum to make a good sauce. You can combine rum with pineapple juice and mustard for a tang, and with red pepper flakes and chile sauce for an extra peppery taste.

Stay Warm And Cozy In The Winter With Rum Soup

Person holding bowl of soup - Izhairguns/Getty Images

This winter, if you're in the mood for a warm soup for dinner, try making a boozy soup. Use the deglazing technique mentioned earlier to clean your pan after you finish sauteing some vegetables. The rum can loosen up any stuck bits of food, and you can add in a bit of chicken or vegetable stock, give it time to thicken up, and you'll have a nice and creamy vegetable soup to warm you during your meal. For extra sweetness and thickness, use a coconut rum, like Malibu, to elevate your soup even further.

Or, if you're a fan of classic cultural dishes, try putting a twist on a classic Jamaican dish called goat water. This dish is especially popular on special occasions, like weddings. It's on the thinner side of soups, but it still provides a hefty, homey taste because of the goat meat, potatoes, and hot peppers added to the broth. This recipe is a fun one to try out, as there isn't a single "right" way to make goat water; you can really make it your own, adding whatever veggies you're into and making the spice to your liking. This is where the rum comes in  add a touch of rum to this broth to bring out the spiciness and sweetness in the bell peppers. The nectary taste of the rum will brighten the soup and add to its heartiness.

Give Your Breakfast A Wake-Up Call

French toast with fruit - Arx0nt/Getty Images

It's the most important meal of the day, so it's important to make it fun. Soak your brioche in a rum-infused egg wash before frying up your French toast. "Rum-infused" doesn't have to sound intimidating. Whenever you scramble your eggs to make your egg wash, add a bit of milk  this adds creaminess to the eggs, especially if you're making scrambled  and a touch of rum into your mixture. Since French toast is often served with fruit, you can add more fruitiness by using coconut rum here, too, and of course, add a touch of cinnamon for a classic French toast taste.

Adding rum to French toast is especially good if you have a grill or griddle on your stove. The rum will achieve an extra char that will lock in the sweetness and caramelize your bread so your French toast doesn't just taste like bread soaked in eggs. You can also mix some rum into your maple syrup for a breakfast topping that will give you a little extra kick in the morning. It is as simple as pouring your maple syrup into a bowl, adding a splash (or a little more) of rum, and stirring until it's all combined. Paired with your rum-infused egg wash, your French toast will surely be uniquely sweet and smoky, and the perfect way to start your day.

Challenge Yourself To Make A Creme Brulee

Creme brulee with spoon - Jerome.Romme/Shutterstock

Creme brulee is coined as one of the most difficult desserts to make, mostly because of its crunchy top made of caramelized sugar (otherwise, it's pretty much just custard). For this caramelized top, you should add a spoonful of white sugar onto the top of your already-baked-and-set custard, and use either the broiler setting on your oven or a handheld torch to get the sugar nice and toasty and golden brown. The most fun part of creme brulee is taking your spoon and cracking it against the top, listening to the smash of the sugar right before you taste the vanilla custard.

If you're in the mood for a challenge in the kitchen, try mixing a creme brulee with eggnog  a classic drink paired with a classic dessert. Eggnog is a popular Christmas drink made of eggs, sugar, milk, heavy cream, and vanilla extract. Eggnog has been popular since the 1700s when people drank it with a splash of rum to stay warm. Making eggnog creme brulee can be pretty simple because creme brulee is made mainly out of the same ingredients as eggnog  heavy cream, eggs, sugar, and vanilla extract. Adding in the rum is what gives this creme brulee a bit of an edge, so you'll be eating a dessert that tastes just like your favorite holiday drink.

Make Classic Cupcakes With A Boozy Twist

Vanilla cupcakes with colorful sprinkles - Lauripatterson/Getty Images

Any party with a cupcake or a doughnut is a good party, right? These individual, on-the-go treats often disappear from the cake table before the host can even say, "Dig in," and what makes these sweet treats even better is when they're made especially for the adults  with an added splash of rum into the recipe, these desserts can only get better. And of course, so many boozy desserts are inspired by the most popular cocktails, like pina colada cupcakes. The recipe uses rum, coconut extract, and cream of coconut, and like always, you can add your own twist by using coconut rum. Adding rum in the batter will mean your cupcakes are boozy to the core, but have extra fun by mixing a splash of rum into your frosting, too. Since the frosting is arguably the best part of any cake, it's the perfect place for a spike of rum to get the party started.

If you're less of a cake person and more of a doughnut person, you're not alone  doughnuts are one of the most common party foods, just like RumChata liqueur is extremely popular in cocktails. Combining the thin consistency of RumChata  made with rum, cream, cinnamon, vanilla, and sugar  with chocolate and bananas, especially the bananas you learned to season and slow cook earlier, you can make the perfect rum-infused donut that's sweet, rich, and indulgent.

Add Some History To Your Cookie Jar With Joe Froggers

Stack of cookies on wood - Stefan Tomic/Getty Images

Deeply rooted in American history, Joe Froggers are the perfect way to bring a slab of the past and the kick of rum onto your kitchen counter. The simple-looking cookie is complex in history and flavor, made with molasses and rum, some of the most pertinent ingredients during America's time as the 13 Colonies. The cookies were thought to be popularized by Lucretia Brown, the wife of an African American Revolutionary War veteran, who made them in an iron skillet. While the origin of the name is unclear, everyone knows that the perfect way to make a Joe Frogger is to combine sweet and spicy ingredients. Rum fits right in, with its smoky taste that burns your throat but the sweet aftertaste that lingers and makes you want another sip.

Joe Froggers are a cookie with a bit of rum and a splash of the past. The cookies typically use dark rum because it has bold flavors, and in general, rum was known to have preservative qualities, which means that these cookies would last long in times of war and boat travel. The basic ingredients to a Joe Frogger recipe are hot water, rum, and molasses, and in modern days, it's common to bake the cookies instead of pan-frying them as Lucretia did. To make history your own, you could add sugar, nutmeg, ginger, or other spices that usually go in baked goods to enhance the flavor of your cookies.

Make A Bread Pudding Worth Staying In For

Bread pudding with spoon - Fotogal/Getty Images

If you're a New Yorker, you know there are many iconic places for natives and tourists to treat themselves to bread pudding. But if you're staying in, or you're not in New York, you can use rum to make bread pudding that's just as good as New York's best. Bread pudding is a no-waste dessert often utilizing stale bread, combining it with custard (made with milk, sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla extract) to create a baked dish with the perfect amount of sweetness and creaminess. Many people often add raisins to their bread pudding, making rum the perfect extra ingredient to elevate your bread pudding, and to replicate the classic rum-raisin flavor.

Cube the bread before pouring your custard ingredients over it; this may seem to make wet and soggy bread, but once you bake the dish, it will get firm, like a slice of sponge cake. Before adding your raisins, you can soak them in rum to infuse that sweet, pungent rum flavor into them without leaving the burning sensation you'd get when sipping rum. If you're not a raisin person at all, you can do this with any other type of fruit; dried cherries, for example, make a great alternative to raisins. Try also using a combination of fruit  bananas and cherries work great together, and since rum is used to bring out the fruity flavors in both, this addition will ensure your bread pudding is the best of the best.

Read the original article on Tasting Table.
Many consumers know perfectly well where their loyalties lie when it comes to grocery chains. Some shoppers are part of the Trader Joes fandom, while others will bulk buy at Costco until the end of time. However, a recent ranking from marketing firm Dunnhumby shows some less recognized retailers are gaining popularity.



For its annual nationwide study, the Retailer Preference Index, Dunnhumby examined the grocery market in the U.S., analyzing both financial performance and a survey of more than 10,000 grocery shoppers. The data were used to rank grocery chains on five key points:

Read more

Operations

Speed and Convenience

These points are what make up the Retailer Preference Index.

Based on this criteria, Dunnhumby ranked Texas-based grocery chain H-E-B as the top store among 65 national retailers in the industry. H-E-B scored highly in what Dunnhumby calls the two most important pillars of its index: 1) Price, Promotions, and Rewards and 2) Quality.

Graphic: Dunnhumby

This the third time since 2019 that H-E-B has snagged the top spot on Dunnhumbys ranking. Just behind H-E-B in the top five are Amazon, Costco, East Coast supermarket chain Market Basket, and Sams Club.

Why H-E-B grocery stores are so beloved

How has H-E-B managed to beat out such large retailers while only operating grocery stores in a single U.S. state? In addition to the prices, discounts, and quality of products offered, Dunnhumby points to the grocers unique offering of private label brands and highlights its hyper localization as an asset to the brand. H-E-B, being almost entirely Texas-based (with several locations in Mexico), is focused on its home state and local communities, which is what customers love and respond to most.

Although Dunnhumbys top 16 is sprinkled with plenty of recognizable big names such as Wegmans, ALDI, Walmart, Publix, Target, and Trader Joes, there are also some smaller brands that broke into the top spots. The marketing firm notes that for the first time in the seven year-history of this study, two Kroger brands made their way into the top rankings: Frys came in at No. 13, and Kroger itself was not far behind at No. 15. Although not in the top 16, two other Kroger brands, Fred Meyer and King Soopers, also moved their way up the rankings from previous years.

Within the five pillars assessed by Dunnhumby, there were some other standouts. For example, Wegmans has held the No. 1 spot in the Quality metric every year since the Indexs inception. Fareway, Publix, and ALDI lead in the Speed and Convenience category, just as they did last year. And although H-E-B ranks as the best grocery store overall, it loses to Amazon and others on the Digital front, coming in at No. 6 in the rankings.

What grocery store would you go to bat for, and did it make it into these rankings?

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This story is a collaboration with Biography.com.



On April 3, 1936, Bruno Richard Hauptmann went to the electric chair proclaiming his innocence in the most famous kidnapping case in the history of the United States. Nearly a century later, a new, startling theory about the crime for which the German immigrant was convicted and executedthe March 1932 abduction and killing of the Lindbergh Baby, a.k.a. Charles Augustus Lindbergh Jr., the toddler son of famed aviator Charles Lindberghis catching on. And it may just change everything we thought we knew about the case.

Charles Lindbergh had fame like no other in 1932. Known as Lucky Lindy for piloting the first solo trans-Atlantic flight five years prior, Lindberghs feats and personality kept the worlds fascination trained on him and his socialite wife, Anne Morrow Lindbergh. So when news surfaced that the couples 20-month-old son was kidnapped from his crib on March 1, 1932, in the familys New Jersey home in the middle of the night, the world took notice.



According to Biography, that night, at approximately 9 p.m., a kidnapper crawled through the window of the Lindberghs home in Hopewell using a wooden ladder. While the parents sat downstairs, blissfully unaware, the kidnapper absconded with the baby. An hour later, the familys nurse entered the babys room to find no childjust an open window and a poorly written ransom note demanding a $50,000 ransom.

Bettmann - Getty Images

The cold case ended in tragedy two months later, when the Lindbergh Baby was found dead just miles from Lindberghs home. In time, the kidnapping and killing was pinned on Hauptmann, and the resulting Trial of the Century in 1935 ensued, with stories changing and evidence allegedly doctored. Hauptmann was ultimately found guilty and sentenced to death.

But these facts havent stopped the mystery from continuing. Now, almost 92 years later, Lise Pearlman, a retired judge and true crime author, is putting forth a fresh theory about the circumstances surrounding the Lindbergh Baby kidnapping. And it doesnt center on Hauptmannit points the finger directly at Charles Lindbergh instead.

The wrong man was executed, and my hope is that Hauptmann will be posthumously exonerated, Pearlman told the San Francisco Chronicle. And I am certainly not the only one who wants that.

This isnt just Pearlmans pet theory. Hauptmanns family is on board, as is the cofounder of the Innocence Project, and a host of others with ties to the Lindbergh Baby kidnapping. So whats their story?

What Is the New Lindbergh Baby Theory?

Keystone-France - Getty Images

My theory is that the child was operated on, Pearlman said. We think at the very least that his carotid and probably his thyroid were taken out and kept viable for 30 days. We think he died on the operating table.

Pearlman is basing her theory on medical reports from the case and papers written by both Charles Lindbergh and French biologist Alexis Carrel, along with statements Lindbergh made publicly, per Biography. The author believes Lindbergh sent his 20-month-old son to Carrel for speculative operations that ended up killing the child.

The theory goes that Lindbergh, who was a proponent of eugenicsthe science of promoting desirable qualities in the human race, usually through some kind of controlled breedingmay have been working with Carrel to somehow fix the baby, who was considered sickly. The operations may have been some sort of experiment to figure out a cure or transplant.

The kidnapping and ransom, then, was a cover for the operating table-turned-murder.

I think Carrel conducted the operation with Lindberghs permissionand Lindbergh was likely present at the operation, Pearlman says.

When the operation didnt work, Lindbergh needed a Plan B. And in the 1930s, kidnappings for ransom were basically commonplace, with roughly 3,000 a year occurring in the U.S. alone. Concocting a ransom-related kidnapping story was plausiblefar more than experimental operations gone awry, at least.

Donaldson Collection - Getty Images

Pearlman certainly isnt the first to mix Charles Lindbergh into the suspect list. That was happening as far back as the 1930s. But Pearlman has been keen on her perpetrator for years. She first published a book on her theory in 2020, claiming Lindbergh was the top suspect. She later filed a lawsuit looking to open the still-sealed evidence with the New Jersey State Policeand others have also tried.

I dont think anybody knows what happened, and we have an opportunity to get some answers, but the state of New Jersey is refusing to let us look at the evidence, Pearlmans attorney, Kurt Perhach, told the San Francisco Chronicle. I dont really understand why.

What Do We Know About the Lindbergh Baby Kidnapping?

The original case started out plainly enough. As Biography tells it, when police first visited the Lindbergh home following the babys abduction on March 1, 1932, there were traces of forced entry, including a broken ladder and footprints on the ground beneath the nursery window. But there was nothing immediately useful to either the local Hopewell police or the New Jersey State Police. Of course, it didnt help that reporters and onlookers were trampling the site before the police even showed up.

By March 3, as J. Edgar Hoover and the FBI became involved in the investigation, the movement began to try to pay the ransom, and track down both the Lindbergh Baby and whomever had taken him. Charles Lindbergh himself, however, remained heavily involved in the investigation, and his own tactics included collecting (and perhaps coordinating) the statements of his staff, as well as accepting help from associates with connections to organized crime and working with a retired school principal in the Bronx named Dr. John F. Condon, according to Biography.

Condon insisted upon involving himself in the actual payment of the ransom, a chaotic affair involving a shadowy figure named Cemetery John, the delivery of the clothing Charles Jr. had been wearing (freshly laundered by the kidnappers), and the false revelation that the Lindbergh Baby could be found in Marthas Vineyard, Massachusetts, on a boat called the Nellie.

New York Daily News Archive - Getty Images

But the Lindbergh Baby wasnt found in Marthas Vineyard. Instead, 72 days after the kidnapping, the babys body was recovered alongside a highway near the Lindbergh estate. New Jersey State Police Chief H. Norman Schwarzkopf noted that the deceased childs injuries indicated that they were caused ...with the purpose of causing instant death.

The search for the Lindbergh Baby turned into the search for his killer. But it would take two years for their FBI to find their man in Bruno Richard Hauptmann, thanks to a returned gold certificate.

In 1933, Biography reports, the U.S. weaned off the gold standard, and all gold certificates worth more than $100 were ordered to be returned to the government. Each had a serial number, and one used in Lindberghs ransom payment came back with a license plate number written on it by a cashier from the Upper East Side of Manhattan, a place frequented by German immigrants like Hauptmann, looking to track a potential counterfeit bill.

Bettmann - Getty Images

That ransom certificate contained Hauptmanns plate number. A subsequent search of his home revealed additional ransom certificates hidden in the garage, wood that was tied to the ladder used during the kidnapping, and the phone number of the intermediary that Lindbergh used in the ransom exchange.

Even without concrete linksHauptmanns fingerprints werent actually found at the Lindbergh home or on the ladderthe circumstantial evidence piled up. Hauptmann had the wood, the money, and the phone number, and he quit his job just days after the ransom payment.

Hauptmann fit the bill of the perpetrator, even though naysayers believe anyone could have made him look guilty by planting evidence and paying off appropriate people, as many stories changed between the kidnapping and the trial. Still, he was convicted and sentenced to death. And on April 3, 1936, Hauptmann died on the electric chair, claiming he was innocent until the end.

So, if Hauptmann isnt the man, could the Lindbergh Babys killer really have been Charles Lindbergh himself? Pearlman and her supporters believe so. The sealed evidence may hold even more answers.

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Is China losing its grip as the worlds factory?

The superpower saw its exports slip by 4.6 percent to $3.4 trillion in 2023, the first contraction in dollar terms in seven years, according to recent data from its customs office.

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The United States contributed to the slump with a steep 13 percent drop in imports from China to $500.3 billion, its biggest deflation since the agency began keeping records in 1995. Its also likely, according to numbers released by the U.S. Commerce Department last week, that another countryin this case, Mexicowill boot China from its position as Americas leading source of imported goods for the first time in 17 years. For the first 11 months of 2023, goods imported from China amounted to 13.9 percent of U.S. imports, less than the 15 percent hailing from Mexico.

The tariff-fueled trade war instituted under President Donald Trump and extended by President Joe Biden is an obvious cause of a palpable slide since 2017, when Chinese goods comprised more than 21 percent of inbound shipments to the United States.

But measures such as the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA), which essentially bars any products made in whole or in part in Chinas Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, have also led U.S. fashion companies to reduce their China exposure, said Sheng Lu, associate professor of fashion and apparel studies at the University of Delaware. Less than 12 percent of U.S. cotton apparel imports in the first 11 months of 2023, in fact, originated from the country, he said, a straight five-year decline from nearly 30 percent in 2018.

The data, Lu said, lines up with his research into American fashion purveyors China sourcing strategies. Perusing the annual reports of the 30 largest companies from 2019 to 2022, he found that one-third of them explicitly mentioned that they had reduced finished garments sourcing from China and would continue to do so going forward.

Companies also cited forced labor and geopolitics as their top concerns associated with sourcing from China, Lu said.

Even so, increasing diversificationthe so-called China plus one strategyisnt likely to significantly diminish Chinas position in the broader trade landscape. Many supply chains outside of China remain highly dependent on the countrys raw materials. Take Vietnam, which has to date surpassed China in the value of freight blocked by Customs and Border Protection under the UFLPA$10 million versus $2 million.

Even though fewer finished garments are coming from China, U.S. fashion companies admit that China will continue to play a critical role as a textile raw material supplier as no immediate practical alternative is available, Lu said. In other words, because textile manufacturing relies heavily on capital and technology, building textile production capacity outside China will be considerably longer and more challenging than finished garments.

Then theres the fact that nearshoring and friendshoring shifts are replete with similar political and security risks, wrote Verisk Maplecroft in new research based on five-year trends in 40 emerging markets, more than half of which are experiencing civil unrest, government instability, exposure to conflict or a combination of the above. All these pose challenges that need to be factored in when considering the viability and potential resilience of new manufacturing locations, said Patrick Roberts, principal consultant, resilience, at the risk intelligence consultancy.

Major garment exporting countries in the Americas, such as Mexico, Honduras and El Salvador, have all witnessed a rise in political risk over the last five yearsa trend that is also seen in seven of the eight largest garment manufacturers outside of China, he said. The main driver of political risk in these hubs is an increase in the threat of civil unrest, which is unlikely to subside in 2024 according to our predictive model.

Investments from China that are flowing into such alternative sourcing destinations can also complicate efforts to limit a nexus with China, Lu added, potentially strengthening, not weakening its position in apparel supply chains. And stakeholders viewpoints on investments from China appear even more subtle and complicated, he added.

An election year in the United States, with its attendant saber-rattling against perceived foes to national security or competitiveness, isnt likely to go easier on China, however.

Besides forced labor and Section 301 tariffs, we might see trade tensions between the two countries extend further to the U.S. de minimis rule reform, potentially negatively affecting Chinas e-commerce business owners, Lu said. Election-year politics could also bring new political instability to bilateral trade relations.

Still, theres a popular misconception that American fashion firms source from China for cheap products. He pointed to a U.S. Fashion Industry Association benchmarking study that saw them rate China as the most competitive in terms of fulfilling sourcing orders in relatively small volumes but with great variety. The flexibility and agility that China offers, then, is key.

One of my recent studies shows that, on average, U.S. fashion companies contracted garment factories in China were much smaller than those in Vietnam, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, suggesting Chinese factories are more likely to fulfill smaller sourcing orders, Lu said.
TUNIS, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- Tunisian President Kais Saied received on Friday visiting Mauritania's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Cooperation and Mauritanians Abroad Mohamed Salem Ould Merzoug, said a statement released by the presidency.

During the meeting, the President praised the strength of the distinguished relations and deep-rooted cultural ties that unite Tunisia and Mauritania.

Saied stressed Tunisia's keenness to facilitate more cooperation and consensus among African countries on bilateral and multilateral levels.

He reiterated his country's support for the Palestinian people's struggle for the establishment of an independent and sovereign Palestinian State.

Ould Merzoug, for his part, extended a written message from Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Cheikh Ghazouani to Saied, said the statement, without elaborating. 
In the same week it had a setback to its international expansion efforts upon abandoning its air cargo alliance with Air France-KLM, container shipping giant CMA CGM is rebounding with a big splash to strengthen its logistics presence in the U.K.

Through its third-party logistics (3PL) subsidiary Ceva Logistics, the privately held CMA CGM is acquiring U.K.-based logistics services company Wincanton for 566.9 million pounds ($718.3 million) in all-cash deal.

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Already firmly established in the U.K., the France-headquartered Ceva Logistics would further escalate competition with other major logistics service providers including DHL, GXO and Kuehne + Nagel, all of which have significant presences in the market.

Ceva Logistics generates roughly $950 million of annual revenues in the U.K., with its contract logistics business bringing in $500 million and the ground and rail services business driving an additional $290 million. Cevas U.K. branch operates more than 5.4 million square feet of warehouse space in the contract logistics business, and delivers more than 550,000 shipments per year via ground and rail.

Wincanton is certainly a company that can put Ceva Logistics in a pole position to increase market share, generating 1.46 billion euros ($1.85 billion) of revenue with net income of 33.2 million euros ($36.1 million) in its last fiscal year. The company brings substantial storage and vehicle capacity to Ceva, already operating 170 sites across the country and owning 8,500 trucks and trailers.

Ceva said the deal would further develop its presence in contract logistics in the U.K. and Ireland, diversify its customer base and help it offer end-to-end logistics solutions to both SMBs and major blue-chip clients. Wincanton brings significant global apparel and home retail clients into Cevas stable, including Ikea and Primark, as well as supermarkets Asda and Waitrose.

The England-based company offers a range of outsourced and integrated supply chain solutions across four sectors: e-fulfillment; grocery and consumer goods; general merchandise; and public and industrial.

Wincantons commitment to their people drives their success in the U.K. contract logistics market. At Ceva Logistics, we accomplish our mission through the diverse, talented people we have working in the U.K. and around the world, said Mathieu Friedberg, CEO of Ceva Logistics, in a statement. In addition to the innovative logistics solutions that we could develop and offer together, we would be optimally positioned to answer even more supply chain challenges for our combined set of U.K. customers.

CMA CGM, like its European-based container shipping rivals Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) and Maersk, has been making a concerted push in recent years to expand its logistics services beyond ocean freight in the wake of record profits and cargo movement during the Covid-19 pandemic.

CMA CGMs roughly $2 billion acquisition of Ceva Logistics in 2019 set the tone for a busy acquisition spree when the pandemic spread worldwide late that year.

With plenty of cash on hand, the worlds third-largest container shipping company scooped up e-commerce contract logistics and fulfillment business Ingram Micro Commerce & Lifecycle Services for $3 billion in 2021, the same year it launched its air cargo unit. In 2022, the logistics provider acquired two terminals at the Port of New York and New Jersey.

Last year, the company set up its biggest deal yet. The ocean freight firms $5.5 billion mega-acquisition of French logistics giant Bollore is still yet to close.

CMA CGM is one of the few remaining ocean carriers to keep some of its vessels flowing through the Red Sea since November, when ships in the waterway began to endure ongoing attacks by Houthi militants out of Yemen.

The company said Friday that its NEMO service, which connects vessels from Northern Europe and the Mediterranean Sea to Australia and New Zealand, will temporarily stop crossing the Suez Canal and reroute via the Cape of Good Hope in both directions.

The change was part of contingency measures on several services that usually cross the Suez Canal, CMA CGM said in a customer advisory on its website.

Our schedules are in complete disarray and were not able to stick to our timings because sometimes were passing around Good Hope and sometimes were having to wait to pass [the Red Sea], Rodolphe Saade, owner and chair of CMA CGM, told the Financial Times.

Upon returning to Red Sea in late December, CMA CGM has had several ships escorted through the waterway by the French navy.

Wincanton said its board intends to unanimously recommend that its shareholders vote in favor of CMA CGMs bid, which would lead to the U.K. company being delisted from the London Stock Exchange.
After about a year of operation, 2SPizza in the heart of downtown Newark is closing its doors for good on Sunday, Jan. 21.

The 168 E.Main St. restaurant, across the street from the flagship Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant, was created by the owners of Two Stones Pub and 2SP Brewing Co.

The restaurant with a large bar area with several TVs, booths, and both high- and low tables zeroed in on the University of Delaware crowd (students and alumni alike). The UD campus is within walking distance.

2SPizza, a new pizza and craft beer concept from the owners of 2 Stones Pubs, has operating since mid-February 2023 at 168 E. Main St. in downtown Newark. 03/08/23

The main dining area has a large "Let's Go Blue Hens" sign in UD's signature blue and gold colors.

It has been operating since mid-February 2023 on the site that had formerly been Arena's Deli & Bar. The menu focused on 12-inch pies, about $9 to $15, with a large variety of toppings such as black garlic-fig puree, prosciutto, crab and hot honey.

"We are very proud of what we built and tried to bring to Main Street. All of our 2SP family members loved the place but the foot traffic consistently without discounting just wasn't there and our passion for food and hospitality didn't come through to the students," owner Michael J Stiglitz told Delaware Online/The News Journal on Friday morning.

The dining room of the new 2SPizza in downtown Newark caters to University of Delaware students and alumni. 03/08/23

"So many great operators have been there for so long that we hoped we could add to the group. In the end, we will always learn more from our failures than we will from our successes. Our teams have already discussed the challenges and lessons learned and we will take them back to our 2SP family members and become stronger because of it," he said.

Stiglitz said all team members at 2SPizza will be working at the hospitality group's other locations.

The restaurant has recently been listed for sale for $300,000 on a real estate website.

The more than 3,600-square-foot interior and exterior spaces were completely renovated in 2022. The space has new furniture, fixtures, and state-of-the-art kitchen equipment, according to the listing.

Contact Patricia Talorico at ptalorico@delawareonline.com or 302-324-2861 and follow her on X (Twitter) @pattytalorico Sign up for her Delaware Eats newsletter.

More Delaware dining news

New dining options: New restaurants offer food ranging from burgers and brats to pitas and pupusas

Saying goodbye: 2 Sussex County restaurants tell customers they are closing their doors for good

This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Two Stones Pub owner closing Newark pizzeria on East Main Street
Those in the coffee world are serious about their beansso serious, in fact, sometimes the law needs to become involved.

Hundreds of farmers in the Kona region of Hawaii, which is known for making some of the most expensive coffee in the world, recently won more than $41 million in settlements from companies that were accused of using the Kona name in a misleading way, The New York Times reported on Thursday. Some of the companies didnt admit wrongdoing, but their coffee was found to be elementally different from coffee produced in the Kona region.

More from Robb Report

There are probably many, many more marketers of coffee who have misused geographic names in marketing, and this will be a disincentive, Bruce Corker, the owner of Konas Rancho Aloha coffee farm, told the Times.

Back in 2019, Corker filed a class-action lawsuit on behalf of Kona farmers against more than 20 companies he suspected of using false advertising to sell their coffee, The New York Times wrote. He was aided by a chemical analysis run by the biologist James Ehleringer, who found that Kona coffee beans had particular element ratios that stayed constant even after being roasted. Testing more than 150 samples from Kona farms, along with those from coffees around the world, he was able to tell Kona samples from non-Kona samples.

Some of the defendants in the case fought back against Ehleringers testing, but the settlements occurred before the courts could decide on that point. The largest, from the company MNS, totals $12 million; Mulvadi, a Hawaiian company that sells to stores like Amazon and Walmart, coughed up $7.8 million. (Neither admitted wrongdoing, and a lawyer representing MNS declined to comment to the Times. Lawyers for Mulvadi and other defendants didnt respond to the newspapers requests for comment.)

In response to the lawsuit, a few companies have started including the percentage of Kona beans in their products. But even then, some people are still skeptical about buying beans indirectly: Dexter Washburn, a retired Kona farmer and former lawyer who assisted Corker with the case, said to buy from farmers, either in person or online. I dont trust anything you buy in the store, he told The New York Times.

Hopefully, the lawsuit means that some store labels will be at least slightly more accurate, though.

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Sign up for Robb Report's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Click here to read the full article.
Oh, what a blessing it is to celebrate 100 years of life. One hundred years ago, in Coolidge, Georgia, on Jan. 19, 1924, Mr. and Mrs. Horace and Bama Ray gave birth to a beautiful baby girl whom they named Martha Ruth Powell.

Martha Powell celebrates her 100th birthday on Jan. 19, 2024.

Powell made her way to Tallahassee, Florida, in 1940 when she married the late J.D Smith and started her family. Powell is the matriarch of her family; she is the mother of five children, the grandmother to over 35 grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great-great grandchildren as well as being the oldest living sibling out of 14 sisters and brother.

Her career as a silk finisher expanded across six decades in the dry-cleaning industry. After working diligently for 60 years Martha retired. She was missed by many. Upon retiring, Powell devoted her time to her growing family as well as her church family at Friendship Primitive Baptist Church.

Powell took on the role of Treasurer of the Pastors Aide Board, a role she served in for many years. Marthas sweet potato pies have a yummy reputation around her church, and she enjoys seeing the smiling faces of her family and friends when she serves them. Martha is still an active member of her church and enjoys attending tele services and bible study. Martha currently holds the title as the oldest member of the Friendship Primitive Baptist Church.

Powell faced many challenges and struggles throughout her lifetime. But she was determined to treat everyone she met with kindness and the love of God. This approach served her well as she currently lives a life filled with an immeasurable amount of love, joy, and kindness that she continues to give and receive daily.

Powell is best known throughout her community for her generosity, her heart for children in need, (as she has assisted in raising multiple grandchildren), her witty sense of humor and most of all her strength, courage, and love.

Martha sums up this major milestone by saying I thank God for keeping me in good health, a sound mind, and a humble spirit. I am living a joyous, fulfilling life with the love and support of my family and friends. As they say in the old church, If the Lord doesnt do anything else for me, He has DONE ENOUGH!' "

Her family has organized a surprised celebration to honor Martha Powell on Saturday, Jan. 20, at the Old West Enrichment Center in Tallahassee.

Celebrating a 100th birthday?

Are you or someone you know a centenarian? We're looking for people celebrating their 100th birthday during Tallahassee's bicentennial year. Send details to news@tallahassee.com.

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Oldest member of her church, Martha Powell celebrates 100th birthday
Longtime restaurateur Jeevan Pullan, who, along with his brother Roshan Balan, own five restaurants in Westchester, just added another to their plate.

LEMAK Malaysian opens Jan. 22 in Scarsdale, though it's possible their doors will open this weekend, at least for takeout. The new 19-seat spot is all about offering authentic Malaysian cuisine.

Why Malaysian?

After opening Mexican and Indian restaurants, Pullan said they wanted a challenge. "We wanted to do something different," he said. "Plus in Westchester, there's no real authentic Malaysian food.

"It's light fare. And definitely conducive for takeout."

Also good to know: A host of dishes are vegan and gluten-free. Plus, there have been a few tweaks to accommodate those with peanut allergies.

Jeevan Pullan, co-owner of LEMAK Malaysian, holds the Mee Goreng noodle dish at the new restaurant in Scarsdale Jan. 18, 2024.

Pullan and Balan own TAKO Mexican Street Food in Yonkers and Harrison, VEGA Mexican Cuisine in Hartsdale, NH44 Indian in Hartsdale, Jaipore Xpress in Briarcliff Manor, and Jaipore Royal Indian Cuisine in Brewster, along with more spots in Connecticut.

Is there meaning behind the name?

Yes, said Pullan. It means coconut cream. "All of our restaurants have short names. We tried to keep it simple," he said. "Plus, since we use a lot of coconut, we figured we'd incorporate that into the theme of the restaurant."

More: We've already seen 14 new Westchester, Rockland restaurants in 2024. Here's the rundown

What's on the menu?

Diners can expect a combination of Indian, Thai, Chinese and Malaysian influences. Sample dishes include Roti Canai, pan-fried flatbread paired with creamy coconut chicken curry; Mee Goreng, a fiery stir-fried noodle dish loaded with vegetables, tofu, chicken and shrimp; Chicken Satay (grilled chicken on skewers with spiced peanut sauce); and Nasi Lemak, what the menu calls a "world-famous Malaysian delicacy" featuring coconut rice, aromatic herbs, sambal, hard-boiled egg and cucumber (*you can add chicken or beef).

Mee Goreng (stir-fried noodle dish with vegetables, tofu, chicken and shrimp) at LEMAK Malaysian, a new restaurant in Scarsdale Jan. 18, 2024.

Other must-try items include the Teh Tarik, a Malaysian tea made from evaporated milk topped with froth, Cendol, sweet shaved ice with coconut milk, fragrant pandan flour jelly and palm sugar, and ABC, another dessert made with a mount of finely shaved ice served with flavored syrups and evaporated milk.

Pullan is also proud of the rice dishes, some of which are more Chinese-focused (think Yang Chow fried rice with egg, shrimp and chicken) and others more Malaysian, such as the Nasi Goreng with shrimp paste, fish sauce, market vegetables, fried egg, shrimp and chicken. There are also soups and salads in addition to a variety of noodle dishes, including the always popular Pad Thai.

For Pullan and Balan, it was especially important to bring in someone who knows and understands Malaysian cooking. They've done that with Chef Balaraman Saminqthan, who was born (and long worked) in Malaysia, and has 40 years of cooking experience.

More: How to find the best food in Westchester, Rockland and see what new spots are opening soon

What about the decor?

For those who've been to the brothers' other restaurants, it won't be a surprise to know the aesthetic is colorful, thoughtful and vibrant. The first thing that catches your eye is the pink, blue, and orange wallpaper on the left; the pale blue wall on the right (mixed with bamboo rods) and different colored fabrics that hang near the menu. There are also large hanging bamboo pendant lights and a host of various Malaysian artifacts.

If you go

Address: 62 Garth Road, Scarsdale, 914-574-5280, lemakmalaysian.com

Hours: 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday to Monday; closed Tuesdays.

Good to know: There's no liquor license.

Jeanne Muchnick covers food and dining. Click here for her most recent articles and follow her latest dining adventures on Instagram @jeannemuchnick or via the lohudfood newsletter.

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Scarsdale NY Malaysian restaurant opened by two restaurateur brothers
Transparency continues to shape brands assortments as they seek to meet consumer demands and satisfy their own targets. To build more environmentally and socially responsible products, companies require likeminded suppliers.

UK-based trade show Source Home & Gift, organized by Hyve, connects buyers and responsible manufacturers across categories including homeware, furniture, gifting, toys, stationery and more. All exhibitorsfrom large-scale factories to artisan producersare vetted and audited, providing peace of mind to retailers who care about where their goods come from. When Source Home & Gift returns Feb. 4-7, 2024 in Birmingham, England for its third edition, the trade show will be bigger than ever, indicating the demand for this type of event.

More from Sourcing Journal

There is a genuine need to connect good manufacturers to people that want to do business with them, said Suzanne Ellingham, event director of Source Home & Gift. There are lots of businesses that do amazing thingsbut theres a real lack of clarity and trust in terms of who those good people are to work with.

The inaugural Source Home & Gift in February 2023 had around 100 exhibitors, and the show has grown considerably since. The third edition will see approximately 450 to 500 manufacturers exhibit. In addition to participants from manufacturing powerhouses China, India and Pakistan, Source Home & Gift has sought out exhibitors from diverse geographies, working with organizations such as the International Trade Commission and governmental bodies to expand participation.

Suppliers from about 25 different countries are expected, including companies from emerging markets such as Senegal, Ghana and Nepal, which are represented for the first time. The floor will also include manufacturers and suppliers from Bangladesh, Egypt, Hong Kong, Philippines, South Africa, the United Kingdom and the United States.

One highlight on the show floor will be handicrafts from African makers, including South African-based Gingham Ceramics tableware and Senegal-based Liloba Collections woven bags. Geolicrafts, located in Ghana, uses artisan craft as a platform for job creation, teaching the art of making woven baskets and accessories.

Geolicrafts

Egyptian glass producer Alfagr will be showcasing ornaments, candle holders, vases, jars and drinkware.

Another major region present at the show is South Asia. Mamta Fomra formed the first South Indian designer label when she opened her eponymous brand in 1995. The brands fashion, accessories, jewelry and home furnishing designs blend Indian and Western influences with traditional touches such as hand-woven fabrics and hand embroidery. Also preserving Indian traditions is Kaushalam, which creates hand-painted products such as kettles and utensils. Artist and entrepreneur Mrinalika Jain Bhardwaj founded Kaushalam in 2012 to bring regional and folk art forms into the present day. Meanwhile, N.D. Handicraft from Nepal makes woolen felt hats by hand.

Kaushalam

European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines subsidiary Fairs and More Inc. will showcase a range of companies that reflect the nations heritage and craftsmanship as well as ecological values.

A Women in E-Commerce pavilion will feature 20 female entrepreneurs from Bangladesh who are making their debut showing in Europe. This also marks the shows first Bangladeshi pavilion.

Verifying responsibility

Helping exhibitors communicate about their responsible attributes, Source Home & Gift has added a profile feature that allows them to list their certifications and initiatives, such as educational and community programs. The show organizers will also work with the participants to ensure they are optimizing their presentation to a mostly European buying audience that is looking at certain certifications or standards as a given.

While vendors might be used to leading with their manufacturing processes, Hyve is encouraging them to tell stories about their impact. From manufacturers perspective, its very difficult to know whats important to a U.K. or European buyer or head of sourcing, said Ellingham. Were so used to having transactional conversations about how much something costs, but thats a money valueits not an environment value, and its not social value.

To boost discovery, the show is debuting a new product trend area from different manufacturing regions. It gives us the ability to storytell on the show floor in a slightly more authentic way and really highlight some of the companies that are doing good things and their beautiful products, Ellingham noted.

The show will also feature educational talks on the Responsible Retail Stage. Among the hot topics will be why sustainability claims alone dont cut it and what is blocking progress. The big conversation that well be having this year across all of our shows is about the transparency of process and accountability, and all of the different things that means, said Ellingham.

If youre not being transparent, if youre not monitoring your processes, then how do you measure it? And if youre not measuring it, and if youre not publishing it or making yourself accountable, then how do you improve it?

Click here to learn more about Source Home & Gift and register for the show.


"Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through these links."



They go by many names: traction boards, traction mats, recovery tracks, recovery boardswhatever you call them, a set stashed in your vehicle can save you from a laborious (and potentially expensive) recovery. When your tires are struggling for traction in mud, snow, sand, or silt, you place these mats either in front of or behind the wheel(s), providing a grippy surface for your tires to grab onto.

Traction boards and mats, particularly some of the more aggressive ones, are mainly made with off-roaders and overlanders in mind. Nevertheless, they can be of considerable help to anyone who drives on unpaved roads or in regions that see a lot of rain or snow. I always keep a set in my Range Rover. They're especially great for urban dwellers who park on the street; some even feature built-in shovel-like ends for digging or breaking up ice or debris. I sure wish I had a set for all those times I found myself trying to free my parallel-parked car from its icy curbside prison.

Things to Consider

There are some important factors to consider in determining how much you should pay for extra traction and peace of mind. If you're planning to tackle the Baja 1000 you'll likely need some seriously knobby boards; for most of us, a more tame set of flexible mats will get the job done. Here are some other factors to think about:

Boards or Mats?

Traction boards are generally hard and heavy. They take up more storage space but because of their superior traction and durability, they're recommended for off-roaders, overlanders, and anyone who often drives their vehicle in bad weather or harsh road conditions.

Traction mats are lighter, flexibleand usually more affordable. Some even roll or fold up for more compact storage in cars and SUVs. They might be less durable over multiple uses, however.

Use

Consider whether you'll be traversing dunes and beaches, crawling through mud, or sloshing through snow and ice on streets. Perhaps you just want to keep a set in your car as backup, just in case. If you think you'll use your mats regularly, spend a bit more for durable recovery boards. If you just want to keep some peace of mind in your trunk or cargo hold, opt for flexible mats that store easily and discreetly.



Material

Traction mats and boards can be made from various materials, such as reinforced plastic, nylon, or even metal. Consider the durability, weight, and suitability of the material for your intended use.

Traction Surface

An aggressive tread design will offer better grip in sand, mud, or snow. Some higher-end traction boards and mats offer deeper lugs or even replaceable teeth you can swap in when necessary. Again, think about what you might need traction for, and how often you may need it.

Vehicle Compatibility

How are you going to tote your traction matsstashed inside the vehicle, in the trunk or cargo hold? In your rooftop cargo carrier? Or maybe you prefer to mount them to the outside of your rig? Getting the right product for your vehicle is essential.

Also, ensure that the traction boards you choose are suitable for the size and weight of your vehicle. Most have weight limitations, and it's essential to adhere to these guidelines for optimal performance.

Durability

Consider the overall durability of the recovery boards. What are they made of? How well will they age? Will they survive more than one rescue?

Many traction boards come with hardware so they can be mounted outside of trucks and off-road rigs for easy access. Exposure to sunlight and moisture can degrade certain materials over time, so it's important to choose mats that are resistant to UV damage and the elements.

Cost

Compare the prices of different traction mats, keeping in mind that higher quality and additional features will likely come with a heftier price tag. Consider the investment as part of your overall preparedness.

Here are the Gear Team's picks for the best traction boards and mats you can buy.

Tred Pro Recovery Boards

Whenever the topic of off-road gear comes up, the letters ARB will surely follow. ARB regularly produces some of the best stuff out there for taking your vehicle off the beaten path.

The main body is made from flexible and durable nylon, while the lugs themselves comprise glass-filled resin nylon to help alleviate wear. Distinct SIPE-LOCK grooves are engineered to engage with the sipes on your tires, providing additional traction.

Interestingly, this board is directional, meaning that it has an entry and exit end so that a grippy surface can be optimized for traction. It's available in a few cool colors to best complement your rig, and ARB also offers a range of accessories for mounting and carrying.

Shop Now Tred Pro Recovery Boards amazon.com $330.00 Amazon

Off-Road Traction Boards

With their 304 stainless-steel plates, these boards look rugged and offer an impressive package for an impressive price. They're made from automotive-grade polypropylene, which is flexible enough to not fracture under stress and also provides good resistance to UV rays and the elements. The strong nylon (PA 66) lugs are replaceable, and a useful T-head tool is included for replacing them.

Where these mats stand out, though, is the addition of those steel plates. We haven't seen another traction mat that offers this feature. Besides looking cool, they provide an additional layer of durability. Further, the underside has been designed to accommodate the base of a jack, providing a sturdy, solid surface. On top of all of this, you get a carrying bag, spare lugs, and leashes.

Best of all, they're also available without the stainless steel plates and in a variety of colorsfor less than half the price.

Shop Now Off-Road Traction Boards amazon.com $199.99 Amazon

Xtreme Vehicle Recovery Boards

Made in Australia, Maxtrax's Xtreme traction mats are designed with serious use in mind. The alloy lugs are all replaceable so that if you find yourself needing to get unstuck in a hurry and you damage some in the process, there's no need to worry. The lugs are also hard-anodized to protect against corrosion.

The body of the mat is made from reinforced nylon, which makes it lightweight and more resistant to stress fractures. There are built-in shovels at each end, six individual handles that ensure that you can get a firm grip from various angles, and the mats can be mounted to your vehicle using Maxtrax's own mounting pins.

Shop Now Xtreme Vehicle Recovery Boards amazon.com $549.99 Amazon

Portable Tire Traction Mats

Here's proof you can still get a great deal from a reliable, brand-name manufacturer. Bunker Indust is a widely renowned name in overlanding and off-roading, and its flexible, rollable recovery mats are perfect for stashing in car trunks and SUV cargo holds. Just in case.

With metal studs on the ground side, they grip snow, sand, and mud with ease. Even better, they come with a storage bag and handy gloves for digging out. If you own a sedan or even an SUV, these might be the ideal portable traction mats for road trips to the beach, desert, or mountains.

Shop Now Portable Tire Traction Mats amazon.com $69.99 Amazon

Self Recovery Track System

A favorite among off-roaders and adventurers, ActionTrax mats feature some neat features that give them their own identity. Made using U.S.-sourced reinforced nylon, the ActionTrax's standout feature is the preinstalled metal lugs (72 in all) at each end. The metal lugs will be significantly more durable than any plastic alternative, and if they do wear out or break, they're replaceable. The coolest part of these mats, though, is that you can link them together length-wise to create a longer traction track.

There are also six large handles and serrated ends that make clearing snow and debris a bit easier.

Shop Now Self Recovery Track System amazon.com $399.00 Amazon

Recovery Traction Tracks

I own a set of these X-Bull boards myself, and while they are certainly not the most premium option available, they get the job done. Made from reinforced nylon, they can be had in some funky colors. A carrying bag and mounting hardware are also included.



Having owned a set of these for a few years, I've used them several times to get myself and others out of sticky situations. They've supported the weight of Land Cruisers and Range Rovers and still live on the roof of my truck ready for another adventure.

Shop Now Recovery Traction Tracks amazon.com $107.90 Amazon

Tire Recovery Track Pad

Constructed of UV-stabilized thermoplastic rubber (TPR) and joined by an anti-rust, galvanized, 0.15-inch steel core, these Reliancer traction mats are among the most affordable we could findthat we'd still recommend, anyway.

There are less expensive recovery mats on the market, but we wouldn't suggest putting much faith in many of them. Traction mats and recovery boards are designed to get you out of a jam when you're stuck and there's no one else around to helpso you need to be sure they'll work when you need them.

Shop Now Tire Recovery Track Pad amazon.com $59.85 Amazon

FAQs

What are traction mats?

Traction mats, also known as traction boards and recovery boards, are flat, grippy devices designed to provide traction under tires on soft surfaces, to help vehicles regain traction when stuck in soft terrains such as sand, mud, or snow.

How do I use traction boards?

To use traction boards, place them under the stuck tires in a way that allows the tire treads to grip the board's surface. Once back in your ride, slowly accelerate to let the boards assist in regaining traction and moving the vehicle.

Can traction boards damage tires or vehicles?

When used correctly, traction boards should not cause damage to tires or vehicles. It's crucial to follow the manufacturer's guidelines for usage and ensure that the boards are placed securely under the tires.

Are traction boards a replacement for a winch or tow strap?

Traction boards are a self-recovery tool and are not a direct replacement for winches or tow straps. They are most effective in situations where a vehicle is mildly stuck but can be driven out with additional traction.

Amazon

Why Trust Us?

Road & Track and its sibling publications at Hearst Autos represent three of the most influential automotive publications in the world. We rely on decades of experience in the automotive and gear spaces to help readers make informed purchasing choices. Read more about our testing processes here.

With the legacies of Autoweek, Car and Driver, and Road & Track behind us, the Hearst Autos Gear Team is more concerned with the trust our readers have in us than our bottom line. We won't tell you to buy something if we wouldn't buy it ourselves or recommend it to our friends, and we'll never claim to have used or tested something we haven't.

We've evaluated myriad products, from SIM Racing Setups and Rooftop Cargo Carriers to Affordable Watches. Our picks and recommendations of products and gear are based on testing and knowledge, not hype.

Justin Helton

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At this time of year, thousands of Brits are heading to the Austrian ski slopes, enchanted not just by the pistes but also by the absurdly pretty villages, great food and drink (who doesnt love a gluhwein?), and, that Austrian lifesaver for parents, the kinderhotel. Puzzling, then, that a recent survey by InterNations on Expat-Friendly Places has put Austria well and truly on the naughty step. It is ranked the worst country in the world (well, out of 53 countries) for local friendliness.

As a frequent visitor to Austria, I must confess to being baffled. I have had many a bizarre experience there, certainly, but none that I would call the least bit unfriendly.

Take my most recent trip there, last weekend. Vienna in winter is beautiful and, if youre lucky, you may have some snow  in spite of which, the transport systems of trams, buses and metro all continue to work like clockwork. Food markets here open early and I began at the most famous, the Naschmarkt, with its two main alleys, one for restaurants, the other for food stalls. But instead of the expected surly traders, I was pressed (with encouraging smiles!) to try produce I couldnt possibly take home. No matter: slivers of farm-produced wurst and cheese, and nuts and berries, were offered, alongside more exotic offerings, such as imported fruits and mountains of baklava. And if you want to know more about their produce, youll make a stallholders day (So, the grains in my Ur-bread are). So far, so friendly.

Anna was met with smiles and samples at Vienna's famous Naschmarkt - Getty/Westend61

After shopping, coffee. Long, long before Starbucks, Vienna was famous for its coffee houses (theyre on Unescos intangible cultural-heritage list) and they look pretty much today as they did when they were frequented by Sigmund Freud, Arthur Schnitzler and Gustav Klimt. There are the same tiny marble tables, newspapers are freely available and no one will disturb you, even if you linger all day long over a single cup. While I dithered over the absurdly rich cakes and pastries (sachertorte, apfelstrudel, punschkrapfen), I was given an unfalteringly deadpan assurance that there were no calories in Viennese desserts: Sachertorte is purely soul food.

So, if Austrians are funny, how can they also be unfriendly? This is the place, after all, where they invented a best-selling chocolate known as Mozart balls (after their most illustrious composer), ballet for horses (at Viennas Spanish Riding School), the favourite night-time snack of sausages and sekt (Austrian champagne), not to mention lederhosen-style baby-grows.

Watch horses 'dance' at the Spanish Riding School - WienTourismus/Paul Bauer

I decided to see if this held true with regard to Viennas other famous intangible heritage: music. Its everywhere. There are three opera houses and countless concert halls. The Viennese love music, and while they take it seriously, they can also approach it with a certain playfulness. The Haus der Musik looks, at first sight, like a conventional Viennese museum  albeit on the small side compared with the endless parade of palaces and churches of the imperial Ringstrasse. Here, having found my way through a twilit maze in the Sonosphere, where you create music with your own movements, I took turns, as you do, with an Austrian family to conduct the Vienna Philharmonic.

Let me explain. The orchestra is on screen, tuning up, as you arrive and you pick from some famous pieces (mine was Eine kleine Nachtmusik) and, standing on a podium, conduct them with a virtual baton. If you get to the end, the entire orchestra will stand up and applaud. If not, a furious trombonist, oboist or violinist will tell you to get off the podium and hand the baton to a professional. At least, I think thats what he said

Discover the city's musical heritage by attending a performance or visiting one of Vienna's music museums - WienTourismus/Paul Bauer

All that music was leading up to Viennas big night out. There are about 450 balls every year in Vienna, mostly throughout the winter. One of the most traditional, the Coffee House Owners Ball, sees 5,000 people go to the Hofburg imperial palace. Spread over 18 rooms, all with different music  from opera to jazz and disco  the place is so vast and the layout so complex, they actually give you a map. Theres an opening ceremony, where girls in white are presented to the VIPs on stage (it used to be the imperial family) and dance the first waltz, then the sekt corks start popping, everyone takes to the floor and the generally rather formal Austrians let their hair down, with frenzied polkas and human car crashes in the madcap race known as the galopp.

Did I say formal? That is, perhaps, at the root of the misunderstanding. Austrians like going to balls and wearing dirndls and lederhosen and generally just being Austrian. They are super-courteous and unfailingly helpful to lost tourists. Thats not to say you cant irritate an Austrian. Being late is not to be tolerated  but the worst affront is to accuse them of being German. Vienna was a capital 700 years before Germany was even a country, and woe betide you if you forget it.

Vienna is beautiful all year round - WienTourismus/Gregor Hofbauer

My theory is that you get the best of the two countries closest to them: everything works (as in Germany) and they like to have fun (as in Italy). And Im not alone in my assessment. According to the Global Liveability Index, Vienna is the best city to live in on the planet and it has worn that particular crown for the past 10 years. Perhaps, on this occasion, the statistics have rather missed the point.

Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month, then enjoy 1 year for just $9 with our US-exclusive offer.
A bill sponsored and supported by SouthCoast legislators would ban declawing of cats, with the measure passing the state Senate unanimously on Thursday.

State Sen. Marc Montigny, D-New Bedford, was one of the bills original sponsors, with it receiving a favorable reception from the Senate Committe on Ways and Means, of which state Sen. Michael Rodrigues, D-Westport, is chairman.

If the measure becomes law, Massachusetts would become the third state in the nation to ban declawing.

Declawing is an abhorrent practice that most veterinarians view as inhumane, said Montigny. But it is also a procedure that is widely misunderstood and requested by owners. By passing this legislation, veterinarians will no longer have to weigh the choice knowing that if they dont provide the procedure an owner is likely to just look for someone who will.

Age 217 in dog years: Bobi, the world's oldest dog ever, dies in Portugal at 31

What is cat declawing, and why would someone want the practice banned?

Although the name implies that "declawing is the removal of a domestic cats claws, it involves fully amputating the first bone of each toe. Another procedure also banned under the measure involves severing the tendons in each toe that control a cats ability to extend its claws.

When performed as an elective procedure, declawing is generally intended to stop housecats from damaging furniture or scratching people.

Staying trim: This Fall River pet groomer opened 50 years ago. Here's how the industry has changed.

The practice is considered cruel by the Humane Society of the United States and the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Scientific studies have shown declawed cats are more likely to have paw pain, infection, nerve damage and bone spurs, to have toilet issues, and suffer from back pain, which results from their gait being permanently altered. One study showed that declawed cats showed more aggression and overgrooming, likely due to chronic pain.

Declawing of cats, except when medically required, is an unnecessary surgery that causes behavioral and physical harm, said Dr. Erin Doyle, senior vice president of Animal Welfare and Veterinary Services at the Animal Rescue League of Boston. Scratching is a normal cat behavior, and there are many easy and safe options to prevent cats from scratching in a destructive way.

The Massachusetts state Senate voted unanimously to ban cat declawing, a procedure called cruel and inhumane.

What would a cat-declawing ban do?

The ban would stop veterinarians from performing any procedure that removes or alters part of a cats paw to prevent it from using its claws normally.

Veterinarians could still trim a cats claws or add temporary nail caps to each claw, which are slick vinyl covers to stop the claws from causing damage. Theres also an exemption in case of medical necessity.

The ban would be a civil offense, with a $1,000 fine for the first offense, $1,500 for a second, and $2,500 for a third or subsequent offense.

What other cat-declawing bans are there?

Many countries have banned declawing housecats outright as animal abuse. There are also local bans in several U.S. cities, and state bans in New York and Maryland.

In 2013, Rhode Island passed a law forbidding landlords from requiring that a tenants cats be declawed. A measure to ban the practice outright in Rhode Island has been considered by both the state House and Senate, but has not passed.

Looking for a new furry friend? This cafe in Tiverton lets patrons meet and adopt cats

What alternatives are there to declawing?

Veterinarians and animal behaviorists suggest keeping a housecat's nails trimmed, training pets to discourage them from clawing furniture and giving them other things to scratch instead, or applying vinyl caps to their nails to keep them from causing damage.

What happens to the cat-declawing ban next?

A version of the bill will head to the state House of Representatives for consideration.

Im pleased this compassionate animal protection bill has been passed by the full Senate, said Rodrigues. Unnecessary declawing of cats in the commonwealth has no place in our society and should rightfully be constituted as animal abuse."

Dan Medeiros can be reached at dmedeiros@heraldnews.com. Support local journalism by purchasing a digital or print subscription to The Herald News today.

This article originally appeared on The Herald News: MA Senate votes unanimously for cat declawing ban; bill heads to House
Valencia Gunder still gets emotional every time she watches Razing Liberty Square.

She has seen it half a dozen times at film festivals across the country. Yet between the unkept promises from elected officials, the displacement of the families who lived in Liberty Square and the frustration of her fellow community stakeholders, the tears form.

Its nerve-racking to see your community change before your eyes, the Liberty City-born organizer said.

That change is at the center of Razing Liberty Square, a documentary set for release on Jan. 29 on PBS. It revolves around the redevelopment of the public housing project, the oldest in the southeastern United States.

Directed by Germany-born filmmaker Katja Esson, the documentary follows a host of characters on different sides of the renovation, which sits at the intersection of the housing crisis, climate change and institutional racism.

Miami Beach was completely segregated and now, the Beach is going under water and everybody is now pushing into the area that nobody wanted to be in before, Esson said. Its a horrifying, historical turn.

Esson moved to Miami in 1987, about 50 years after the construction of Liberty Square, with a dream to work in the film industry. Her first gig brought her to Liberty City courtesy of one of the communitys shining heroes: Luther Campbell, Uncle Luke.

My first job ever was as a production assistant on all the 2 Live Crew videos that were shot in Liberty City, she said, chuckling.

An overhead shot of the old Liberty Square with the Miami skyline in the background in the documentary Razing Liberty Square. Set to release Jan. 29 on PBS, Razing Liberty Square explores how climate gentrification led to the redevelopment of the Liberty Square public housing project.

Looking back, she cant help but feel embarrassed at her lack of knowledge about the areas history. She didnt know about the McDuffie riots in 1980 and how federal funds designated for the neighborhoods revitalization never quite made it to the area. She didnt know that the nearby Hampton House used to attract Muhammad Ali and Martin Luther King Jr. And she didnt know about the segregation wall that still sits near Liberty Square today.

After a stint in New York, Esson returned to South Florida in 2015, the same year that Miami-Dade County began its plan to revitalize Liberty City in an attempt to address the issues of crime and poverty, according to the county website. A year later, the county partnered with Related Urban for a $300 million redevelopment to convert the public housing project, once known by the nickname Pork n Beans, into mixed-income apartments.

As a European, I was thinking What?! This is such a historical place. How could they just tear this down? Esson said. Around that time, she first heard the term climate gentrification. Her seven-year filming process began shortly after. People were telling me, This is not the regular gentrification.

In the context of Liberty City, climate gentrification happens when primarily low-income residents are pushed out as developers decide to build in the neighborhood due to the neighborhoods high elevation and lack of flooding. Gunder, who bought a home in Liberty City, has fashioned herself into a climate change activist over the years  long before Esson decided to follow her around with a camera.

A lot of my climate work is grounded in Black communities in Miami, said Gunder, who calls herself the hood environmentalist in the documentary. The thing about climate gentrification, I was teaching it but I also teach climate change through a racial justice lens, specifically how climate change and environmental injustice actually impacts Black communities.

The redevelopment of Liberty Square is the result of climate gentrification, according to Gunder. And while Liberty Square residents were promised they could return if they wanted, only five of the more than 600 families have as of 2022, according to the documentary. Thats because many opted for the housing choice vouchers, something that Aaron McKinney, the development associate for Related Related Urban at the time, didnt expect.

As a part of the project, you had the option to port out, both temporarily during construction of your unit or to get out of there if you really wanted to, said McKinney, who was raised in Liberty City and played a prominent role in the documentary.

I just didnt expect that everybody would bite on it the way they did and that the vouchers would become available to everybody at one time versus the block slated to be impacted by the construction, he said. Thats why you had such a mass exodus because they were made available to everybody.

And while Related Urban president Albert Milo told the Miami Herald in April 2022 that Liberty Square hasnt displaced anyone, McKinney doesnt believe the developers were naive.

Im pretty sure they knew if you gave everybody a choice to get a voucher, the residents were going to leave, McKinney said.

Many residents, he said, were fed up with the broken promises  the Scott Carver projects being the most egregious example  that they took the pretty nice carrot that was dangled. McKinney said that the mass exodus likely wouldnt have happened if you gave everybody a chance to see that they were going to get some nice amenities.

In addition to McKinney and Gunder, the documentarys other protagonists include Samantha Quarterman, the founder and principal of Multi-Ethnic Youth Group Association (MEYGA) Learning Center in Liberty City; Anna Williams, a longtime Liberty City resident and activist who was raised in Liberty Square; and Samantha Kenley, a current resident of Liberty Square. From Quartermans fight to ensure MEYGA has a space inside the development to McKinneys attempts to preserve the culture of his hometown while upgrading the living arrangements, the documentary explores each persons involvement with the project over the span of six years.

Whats happening here will happen in so many cities all over the world, Esson said. Such a phenomenon elicits many questions: Whos getting pushed out? Who has the right to stay? Who has the power to stay? Who has the money to stay? How do we, as humans, deal with this question of our cities in the future?

As for the Liberty Square project, the housing development is far past its original 2020 completion date. The third of nine phases opened in April 2022. When the project is completed in 2026, it will also include a supermarket and educational center. Between now and then, Gunder and Williams want to use documentary to put pressure on elected officials and the Related Group.

Its a tool to educate the residents, the officials as to what will happen when these developers come into the communities and pitch their dog and pony show, Williams said of the documentary.

Added Gunder: The documentary is complete but the work is not done.

Valencia Gunder teaches about climate gentrification in the documentary Razing Liberty Square. Set to release January 29th on PBS, Razing Liberty Square explores how climate gentrification led to the redevelopment of the Liberty Square public housing project.

IF YOU GO

What: Razing Liberty Square screening

When: Jan. 26- Feb. 1 (7 .p.m. on the 26th, 2:45 p.m. & 7 p.m. on the 27th, 5:30 p.m. on the 28th, 7 p.m. on the 29th, 5 p.m. on 30th & 31st, 7 p.m. on Feb. 1), 6 p.m. Feb. 16, 5:30 p.m. Feb. 24

Where: Coral Gables Art Cinema (260 Aragon Ave., Coral Gables), The Freedom Lab (4300 NW 12th Ave, Miami), African Square Park (1466 NW 62nd St., Miami)

Tickets: $12.75 in Coral Gables; free for the other screenings

Information: https://www.razinglibertysquare.org/screenings
ISLAMABAD, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- Pakistani caretaker Prime Minister Anwar-ul-Haq Kakar said on Friday evening that it is in the interest of both Pakistan and Iran to take steps to restore the relationship to what it was before the recent tension in relations.

According to a statement issued by the Prime Minister's Office on Friday night, Kakar chaired a cabinet meeting to discuss the situation after Iran hit Pakistani territory on Tuesday.

The prime minister affirmed that Pakistan is a law-abiding and peace-loving country and it seeks friendly and cooperative relations with all countries, particularly its neighbors, the statement said.

"Pakistan and Iran are two brotherly countries that have historically enjoyed fraternal and cooperative relations marked by respect and affection," said Kakar, adding that Pakistan would welcome and reciprocate all positive measures from the Iranian side.

The Foreign Affairs Ministry briefed the cabinet about the situation arising from the Iranian attack on Pakistani soil, including details of the attack and Pakistan's response, according to the statement.

Earlier Friday evening, Kakar chaired a meeting of the National Security Committee to discuss the situation, which was attended by the ministers of defense, foreign affairs, information and finance, chiefs of the Armed Forces and heads of intelligence agencies.

On Friday afternoon, Pakistani Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani spoke with his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and agreed to de-escalate the situation that emerged after strikes by both sides in each other's territories.

Pakistan on Wednesday accused Iran of violating Pakistan's airspace after Iran hit some targets near the Pakistan-Iran border inside Pakistan.

On Thursday, Pakistan's military announced that the country carried out effective strikes against hideouts inside Iran used by "terrorists" responsible for recent attacks in Pakistan. 
The Princess of Wales was not photographed at the summit held the day before her surgery

Stephen Pond/Getty Kate Middleton at Sandringham on Dec. 25, 2023.

Was Kate Middleton's absence at a recent meeting a result of what was happening behind the scenes?

Palace sources tell PEOPLE that the Princess of Wales, 42, is doing well after having planned abdominal surgery on Tuesday. Prince William visited her at the hospital on Thursday during what the palace said would be a 10 to 14-day stay before going home to continue her recovery.

While Kensington Palace announced that Princess Kate had surgery the day after it happened, there may have been another signal of her reduced royal duties.

On Monday, The Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood posted photos of a Royal Foundation Business Taskforce for Early Childhood meeting at Kensington Palace  and Princess Kate, who launched the initiative, was missing. The images included three group shots of stakeholders along with a bit of background on exciting plans.

There is such ambition and determination from this group to lead the charge in driving transformative change and creating a healthier, happier society by increasing the focus on #earlychildhood. We are looking forward to sharing more in the coming months. pic.twitter.com/mQPJtZKCkw  The Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood (@Earlychildhood) January 15, 2024

Related: Kate Middleton 'Doing Well' After 'Successful' Abdominal Surgery, Palace Sources Say

There is such ambition and determination from this group to lead the charge in driving transformative change and creating a healthier, happier society by increasing the focus on #earlychildhood, began the thread on X. We are looking forward to sharing more in the coming months.

A huge amount of work has been going on behind the scenes with the taskforce members and there are some really exciting projects being developed, it continued.

It was fantastic to host Chief Executives of some of the U.K.s biggest businesses at Kensington Palace as we reconvened The Royal Foundation Business Taskforce for Early Childhood, the third message said.

It was fantastic to host Chief Executives of some of the UKs biggest businesses at Kensington Palace as we reconvened The Royal Foundation Business Taskforce for Early Childhood. pic.twitter.com/sRcEvo0tDw  The Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood (@Earlychildhood) January 15, 2024

While Princess Kate was present for the Business Taskforces first meeting last March, its unlikely that she would have been at the meeting on Monday as her focus was on getting the group launched. The task force is run by business, for business and is composed of Unilever, Deloitte, The LEGO Group, IKEA UK and Ireland, NatWest Group, Aviva, Co-op, and Iceland, per the Royal Foundation.

The Princess of Wales launched the Centre for Early Childhood in June 2021 within The Royal Foundation she shares with Prince William to drive awareness of and action on the extraordinary impact of the early years, in order to transform society for the future, its website states. She unveiled the Shaping Us initiative in January 2023 to further raise awareness around the pivotal nature of a childs first five years of life, and the Royal Foundation Business Taskforce for Early Childhood was established soon after.

DANIEL LEAL/POOL/AFP via Getty Kate Middleton at the the inaugural meeting of the Business Taskforce for Early Childhood in March 2023.

Related: Prince William Visits Kate Middleton in Hospital After Her Abdominal Surgery, Will Spend as 'Much Time as Possible'

In a speech at the task forces first meeting, Kate spoke about how the first five years of a child's life are a crucial time to lay the building blocks for life and that environment is a pivotal factor.

"This, however, is not just about supporting children in the earliest years of their lives. It is also about building healthy communities in which they can grow. Because the healthy development of our children relies on healthy adults. So this is why we all have a part to play," she said at the summit held at NatWest banks London headquarters.

"And that is why I'm standing here in front of you, to ask you, some of Britain's most influential business leaders, for your support in helping create the societal change that is needed, the Princess of Wales said.

The task force may follow her focus in the months ahead, as Kensington Palace said yesterday that Princess Kate is unlikely to return to public duties until after Easter following the abdominal surgery.

Samir Hussein/WireImage Kate Middleton, Princess Charlotte, Prince George, Prince William, Prince Louis and Mia Tindall in Sandringham on Dec. 25, 2023.

Can't get enough of PEOPLE's Royals coverage? Sign up for our free Royals newsletter to get the latest updates on Kate Middleton, Meghan Markle and more!

Her Royal Highness The Princess of Wales was admitted to The London Clinic yesterday for planned abdominal surgery. The surgery was successful and it is expected that she will remain in hospital for 10 to 14 days, before returning home to continue her recovery, Kensington Palace said on Wednesday. Based on the current medical advice, she is unlikely to return to public duties until after Easter.

The Princess of Wales appreciates the interest this statement will generate. She hopes that the public will understand her desire to maintain as much normality for her children as possible; and her wish that her personal medical information remains private, it continued. Princess Kate and Prince William are parents to Prince George, 10, Princess Charlotte, 8, and Prince Louis, 5.

Kensington Palace will, therefore, only provide updates on Her Royal Highness progress when there is significant new information to share, the statement said. The Princess of Wales wishes to apologize to all those concerned for the fact that she has to postpone her upcoming engagements. She looks forward to reinstating as many as possible, as soon as possible.

Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images Prince William drives away from The London Clinic on Jan. 18.

On Thursday, Prince William was seen leaving the private London Clinic around 12:35 p.m. local time, and the princess is said to be doing well following the successful procedure. PEOPLE understands that the issue is non-cancerous and that William will be there to support his wife during this time.

He is understood to be planning to spend as much time as possible with the Princess as she recuperates, balancing daytime visits with caring for their three children at home in Windsor, The Telegraph reported on Thursday. The Prince drove himself to the hospital, and is expected to pick his children up from school later today as usual.

Buckingham Palace also announced Wednesday that King Charles would head to the hospital next week for a corrective procedure to treat an enlarged prostate, and Queen Camilla gave a quick update on his health on Thursday.

"He's fine, thank you very much. Looking forward to getting back to work," Queen Camilla said at the Aberdeen Art Gallery in Scotland when asked how her husband was doing.



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Read the original article on People.
Gov. Kim Reynolds said Friday that additional gun laws would not have prevented this month's deadly shooting at Perry High School.

Two people  11-year-old Ahmir Jolliff and Principal Dan Marburger  were killed, while two additional school staff members and four students were wounded. Police said the shooter died by suicide.

Reynolds made her comments Friday on a taping of "Iowa Press" on Iowa PBS.

"Our thoughts, hearts and prayers continue to go out to the Perry community," Reynolds said. "This was a horrible tragedy. Its certainly nothing that any governor wants to wake up to in the morning and hear whats happened. No additional gun laws would have prevented what happened. Theres just evil out there."

Reynolds attended a vigil in Perry the night after the shooting and was present at Jolliff's funeral. She praised Marburger as "a hero" in her Condition of the State address. She signed a disaster proclamation in the wake of the shooting, allowing the Perry community easier access to state resources.

More: Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds recognizes state trooper who saved the life of Perry shooting victim

Police have not publicly released a motive for Dylan Butler, a 17-year-old Perry High student, who they say carried out the attack before he shot himself. Law enforcement officials found a small-caliber handgun and a pump-action shotgun on Butler's body.

As a 17-year-old, Butler could not legally possess a handgun. Iowans under 18 can legally possess a rifle or shotgun with the consent of a parent or guardian.

As governor, Reynolds has signed laws loosening gun regulations in Iowa, including a 2021 measure allowing adults 21 years old and older to purchase and carry handguns without a permit. The 2021 law also makes it a class D felony to sell, rent or loan a handgun to someone who is not lawfully able to possess one.

Activists have called on Reynolds to support new gun laws in the wake of the Perry shooting. March For Our Lives Iowa, a gun violence prevention group, wants to see Iowa pass a red flag law to temporarily take away firearms from someone in crisis, as well as require reporting of lost or stolen firearms and close loopholes that allow people with misdemeanor convictions for crimes like domestic violence to own guns.

More: 'Enough with the prayers.' Students march on Iowa Capitol to demand action on gun violence

We cannot allow our lawmakers to continue to sit idly by while students not only across the country but across Iowa are dying, Akshara Eswar, the group's co-director, said at a rally at the Iowa State Capitol on Jan. 8. We cannot let the lives of those weve lost be lost in vain. The time for requesting change is over. We demand change and we demand it now.

Reynolds said Friday that as governor she has focused on improving mental health care in Iowa by creating a children's mental health system and increasing funding for behavioral health providers.

The Woodward-Granger girls basketball team spells out "Perry Strong" in support of neighboring district Perry before a basketball game between Woodward-Granger and Madrid on Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2024.

This year, she's proposing to consolidate Iowa's 19 mental health regions and 13 substance use regions into seven "behavioral health" regions, which she says will improve services and provide more consistency.

Reynolds also pointed to her creation of the Governor's School Safety Bureau, which she funded with $100 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act money.

That money went toward conducting vulnerability assessments on schools, paying for building security improvements, providing active shooter training, hiring staff at the Department of Public Safety and creating new ways for schools to report and monitor threats of violence.

More: What Iowa has done to improve school safety before Perry High School shooting

"We made available an assessment for all of the schools so they could take a look at the buildings and find out what the vulnerabilities were," she said. "We didnt stop there. We also said, 'Heres $50,000 per building to really fix the vulnerabilities that you see.'"

Last year, Reynolds also launched an app called Safe + Sound that students and school staff can use to anonymously report tips about school violence, students in crisis, self-harm and other incidents. The app is monitored by trained dispatchers who vet the information and pass it along to law enforcement or school administrators as appropriate.

"This is an opportunity for them to identify a potential threat like this, or maybe someone that's contemplating suicide," Reynolds said of the app. "It's a great opportunity to let (police) know that there's a potential risk there."

Stephen Gruber-Miller covers the Iowa Statehouse and politics for the Register. He can be reached by email at sgrubermil@registermedia.com or by phone at 515-284-8169. Follow him on Twitter at @sgrubermiller.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Kim Reynolds: New gun laws wouldnt have stopped Perry school shooting
Irish Sen. Mark Daly presents an Irish flag to Lt. Gov. Larry Rhoden in the South Dakota Senate on Jan. 18, 2024.

PIERRE  The relationship between the United States and the Republic of Ireland was on display Thursday in the South Dakota Senate and House.

Irish Sen. Mark Daly, who was a special guest of Sen. Lee Schoenbeck, R-Watertown, presented the Irish flag to Lt. Gov. Larry Rhoden. He later presented the flag to Speaker of the House Hugh Bartels, R-Watertown. His visit was part of the American Irish State Legislature Caucus.

The caucus seeks to build bipartisan relationships between Ireland and America at the state and local government level. Daly said it was "a great honor" to present the flag as a symbol of the connection.

"That flag was flown last year, 175 years to the day when Thomas Francis Meagher flew an Irish flag for the first time," in Montana, Daly said.

Meagher was appointed the Territorial Governor of Montana in the mid-1800s.

More: Ribbing of lieutenant governor continues with gavel gifts including Thors hammer

Daly noted the special relationship between the U.S. and Ireland since the former English territory became an independent republic in 1921. He also recognized the role of the U.S. in helping negotiate the Good Friday Agreement in 1998, which ended the Troubles, a a 30-year period of civil unrest in Northern Ireland.

In the Senate, Sen. Ryan Maher, R-Isabel, noted Meagher had been his great-great-great grandfather. Meagher had been an Irish revolutionary and was arrested for his crimes before being deported for his crimes. He later immigrated to the U.S. and served in the Civil War before his gubernatorial appointment.

Maher said his family loved to tell the history of being related to an Irish "rabble rouser."

"Now all these years later, some of us are still playing politics," Maher said.

This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: Irish politician honors US-Ireland relations with flag presentation in South Dakota
HAMPTON, N.H.  A newly emboldened Nikki Haley is taking former President Donald Trump to task in New Hampshire with the future of her presidential campaign on the line.

Haley has exchanged barbs with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for attacks on Trump as she races to cut down the GOP frontrunner's lead in the first-in-the-nation primary state. The former South Carolina governor is trailing Trump by 17 points with just four days left to convince New Hampshire residents of her potential.

New Hampshire is holding the second contest of the cycle on Jan. 23. The state is considered a must-win for Haley, who came in third in Iowa and is skipping Nevada's caucus in early February and jumping ahead to her home state of South Carolina.

Appearing on Fox News on Friday morning from Kay's Cafe & Bakery in Hampton, Haley refuted charges from Trump and his allies that she is relying on Democrats to win the state of New Hampshire and defended her record as a Tea Party governor and a conservative.

"What have I not done that wasn't conservative? I've been a conservative all my life. Find one thing. No one can mention one thing that says I'm not a conservative," she said. "But the fact that Donald Trump's lying, it's another reason why he won't debate me, because he knows I'll call him out on it."

While registered Democrats can't vote in the New Hampshire primary, some voters dropped their party affiliation before an October deadline. These independents, or "undeclared" voters as they're called in the Granite State, can choose to pick up either a Democratic or Republican ballot Tuesday.

"This is not a matter of a stolen election. This is a matter of people could change their registration months ago before they knew what this slate was, but now, it is what it is," Haley said.

Republican presidential candidate former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, seen through a storefront window, shakes hands with guests while visiting Kay's Bakery and Cafe, during a campaign stop, Friday, Jan. 19, 2024, in Hampton, N.H. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa) ORG XMIT: NHCK108

Trump has been assailing Haley on social media, claiming in one post that she gave a "wacked out speech" after her defeat in Iowa. He misspelled her given first name, Nimarata, in the post, referring to her as "Nimrada," in an apparent attempt to turn her Indian-American heritage into a cudgel. He has also spread misinformation about Haley's eligibility to run for president, because her parents were immigrants, even though she was born in the United States.

"I am the proud daughter of Bamberg, South Carolina, so I love my sweet town and I'm proud to say I'm from there. So that's the first question. We can throw that out the window," Haley said during a CNN townhall on Thursday evening.

Haley declined to describe Trump's attacks against her as racist when directly asked after an afternoon stop at MaryAnn's diner in Amherst.

"I'll let people decide what he means by his attacks," she said. "He's clearly insecure. If he goes and does these temper tantrums, if he's going and spending millions of dollars on TV, he's probably notice that something's wrong. I don't sit there and worry about whether it's personal or what he means."

Haley generally has sought to keep the race from becoming personal and has limited her assault on Trump to policy issues.

"I'm going to be hard on China, and he wasn't hard on China. He praised President Xi a dozen times after China gave us Covid. There are multiple instances that we need to start asking Donald Trump the questions and stop taking what he's saying to be golden," Haley said on Friday.

Trump took Thursday off to attend his mother-in-law's funeral in Florida. He will hold a series of rallies in New Hampshire over the weekend, beginning with an event Friday night in Concord.

Haley has been barnstorming New Hampshire and made two early morning stops on Friday, in addition to the afternoon diner visit. The first was a coffee shop in Newfields that is a regular haunt of Gov. Chris Sununu, who has endorsed Haley and has been campaigning alongside her since she returned to the state last Tuesday. Haley will end the day at a rally in Manchester.

DeSantis is pulling back from New Hampshire to campaign in South Carolina in a last-ditch effort to regain momentum heading into Super Tuesday. He spent Thursday in Florida and held events in New Hampshire on Friday. He plans to campaign in South Carolina on Saturday and Sunday.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: With her candidacy on the line, Haley takes on Trump in New Hampshire
During excavation work in the United Kingdom, a railroad company uncovered an unusual cropmark. Archaeologists suspect the markings are actually a mysterious ancient site.

Excavations crews were doing work in Ravensthorpe as part of a railroad construction project when they found a large, irregularly shaped cropmark, according to a Jan. 19 news release from Network Rail.

Oxford archaeologists were brought in to analyze the cropmark and tentatively identified it as a small settlement dating back to Roman times, the company said.

The main structure had a hexagon shape with some circular features, archaeologists said. Pottery, building materials and animal bones were unearthed nearby. A photo shows the site.

Excavation show the mysterious Roman-era site in Ravensthorpe.

We have a possible small-scale settlement with round house-like features and boundary ditches which yielded limited finds of a Roman date, the site supervisor, Catherine ODoherty, said in the release. This is interesting as sites such as this are limited in West Yorkshire, making this site an exciting discovery.

The age of the site and its purpose remain unknown, the company said. Archaeologists are analyzing samples from the site for more information.

Ravensthorpe is near Leeds and about 160 miles northwest of London.

Man picks up rusty items from forest floor  and finds Roman-era artifacts in Poland

Worker spots something in mud  and uncovers rare Viking sword in Poland, photos show

Trove of treasures from hundreds of years ago discovered in Poland forest. See the find
North Korea said Friday that it had tested an underwater nuclear attack drone in response to a naval exercise by South Korea, the United States and Japan.

North Koreas military said it conducted the test of the Haeil-5-23 in the countrys eastern waters. It did not specify the date the test occurred.

A statement released by the North Korea Ministry of National Defense called the joint drill between South Korea, the U.S. and Japan frantic and provocative. The statement claimed the operation further destabilized the region and is seriously threatening the security of North Korea.

Our armys underwater nuke-based countering posture is being further rounded off and its various maritime and underwater responsive actions will continue to deter the hostile military maneuvers of the navies of the United States and its allies, the military added in a statement highlighted by KCNA Watch.

The statement denounced the United States and its followers and sternly warn them of the catastrophic consequences of threatening the countrys security.

South Koreas Defense Ministry denounced North Koreas recent tests as violating United Nations Security Council resolutions and a threat to peace for the Korean Peninsula and around the world, The Associated Press reported.

The drone, which is designed to destroy naval vessels and ports, was first tested last year and is among a broad range of nuclear-capable weapons North Korea has displayed in recent years, AP noted.

The underwater test came just days after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un dismantled North Korean government organizations that were in charge of managing relations with South Korea. Kim took aim at South Korea and the U.S. for escalating tensions and urged the North Korean assembly to rewrite its constitution to label South Korea as the Norths No. 1 hostile country, The Hill previously reported.

North Korea earlier this week also claimed to have successfully test-fired a hypersonic missile equipped with a hypersonic, maneuverable warhead that is a more lethal threat than intercontinental ballistic missiles. China and Russia each have them in their arsenal, and the U.S. is racing to develop its own.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Federal prosecutors pursued a record number of cases of threats against public officials last year, according to a new study. This week also saw new extremist prosecutions and hate crime charges across the country. And former Donald Trump adviser and Proud Boys pal Roger Stone in a new case of threats against members of Congress.

Its been a busy week in extremism.

FBI Director Christopher Wray, speaks with reporters during a news conference at the Department of Justice on Dec. 6, 2023, in Washington, as from left, Senior Official Performing the Duties of the Deputy Director Staci Barrera, of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri of the Criminal Division, Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas and Attorney General Merrick Garland, look on.

Record number of threats federally prosecuted in 2023

Last year saw a record high number of federal prosecutions for making public threats, according to research from the National Counterterrorism Innovation, Technology, and Education Center at the University of Nebraska, Omaha, and Chapman University provided to USA TODAY.

As USA TODAY reported in August, 2023 was already on track to beat the previous record of 74 in 2022. By the end of 2023, the total hit 78 prosecutions, the new research shows.

Federal prosecutions for making threats more than doubled from 2021 to 2022. In 2022, a slew of threats followed the search of former President Trumps Florida home and club Mar a Lago, and the increase has never really stopped, the researchers found.

Threats were focused on federal law enforcement including the FBI, but were also made against politicians, election officials and other public workers.

As USA TODAY previously reported, direct threats of violence are not protected by the First Amendment and can be prosecuted by federal and local law enforcement.

Last week, a Louisiana man was charged by the Department of Justice with threatening a shooting at a CIA building.

Its clear from the data that the number of cases is rising as increasingly more ideological, instead of personal, grievances are driving those arrests, Seamus Hughes, a senior researcher on the University of Nebraska team, told USA TODAY. It doesnt appear to simply be a one-off year, but an unfortunate trend that authorities are going to have to grapple with for the foreseeable future.

Gunman Payton Gendron reads an apology to the court at sentencing for charges, including murder and domestic terrorism motivated by hate, before Erie County Court Judge Susan Eagan, Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2023, in Buffalo, N.Y. Gendron, a white supremacist who killed 10 Black people at a Buffalo supermarket has been sentenced to life in prison without parole Wednesday after listening to the relatives of his victims express the pain and rage caused by his racist attack. (Derek Gee/The Buffalo News via AP, Pool) ORG XMIT: NYBUE802

New prosecutions, new charges & sentences in hate crime cases

There was a flurry of activity in courts across the nation in several different hate crime cases, including a new arrest, two sentencings, and a slew of new hate crime charges for the man who attacked an LGBTQ+ nightclub in Colorado last year:

Elizabeth Ballesteros West, a 56-year-old woman, was arrested late last week in Oregon and charged with making threats against her coworkers. I am left with no alternative. Ill probably have to go out in a blaze of glory, West wrote in a Facebook post, federal officials said. According to a DOJ affidavit, West possessed 13 or 14 guns, had attended neo-Nazi rallies, and repeatedly used the N-word as the FBI interviewed her. The federal filings said Wests posts were made on a support page for transgender women, where she said she had been bullied by co-workers.

In Los Angeles, a man associated with the far-right Boogaloo movement was sentenced to two years in prison this week. Isaac Loftus, 27, was arrested near a south Los Angeles high school in November 2022, carrying a ghost gun, multiple knives and zip ties, according to prosecutors. Loftus pleaded guilty to gun charges.

In Massachusetts, a man was sentenced to life in prison for a racist road rage murder in 2021. Dean Kapsalis was convicted by a jury last year of running his truck into Henry Tapia after shouting a racial slur.

In Colorado, the defendant in the mass shooting that left five dead at an LGBTQ+ nightclub in 2022 was charged with 50 additional hate crimes by the DOJ this week. The shooter, who is already serving a life sentence on state charges for the attack, plans to plead guilty to the new charges, the Associated Press reported.

And in New York, prosecutors announced late last week they will seek the death penalty against Payton Gendron, the man who killed 10 people at a Tops supermarket in a racist shooting in 2022.

Roger Stone reportedly under investigation in threat case

Roger Stone, the one-time political advisor to Trump-turned-far-right internet personality, is under investigation by U.S. Capitol Police according to media outlet reports this week, tied to a recording of an apparent threat against members of congress.

The investigation stems from an audio recording released last week by news website Mediaite that purports to feature Stone discussing two Democratic Congressmen  Reps. Jerry Nadler from New York and Eric Swalwell from California  with former NYPD police officer Sal Greco.

According to Mediaite, Stone says in the recording, which was allegedly made before the 2020 election: Its time to do it  Lets go find Swalwell. Its time to do it. Then well see how brave the rest of them are. Its time to do it. Its either Swalwell or Nadler has to die before the election. They need to get the message. Lets go find Swalwell and get this over with.

Stone has denied that the recording is of him, claiming it is a deep fake that has been altered using artificial intelligence.

Stone was previously pardoned by Trump after he was found guilty of obstructing a Congressional investigation into the former president.

Statistic of the week: 12

Thats how many incidents of violence committed by the far left across the United States were included in a study released this week by researchers at the New Lines Institute.

The study, written by former top Department of Homeland Security analyst Daryl Johnson and extremism expert Alejandro Beutel, highlights what the researchers say is a growing risk of violence from the far left, especially in the run-up to the 2024 presidential election.

Though far-right actors remain the primary threat to the U.S., the study says, far-left extremist violence, including lethal attack capabilities, cannot be overlooked or overestimated.

There is increased risk of social turmoil and political violence by violent far-left extremists for at least the next 12 months, it states,

The 12 incidents, from 2016 to 2022, were selected as illustrative of the ecosystem of violence coming from the far left, the study states. The list was not meant to be exhaustive. During that time, far-right violent extremists killed dozens of people in mass shootings and other attacks.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Record prosecutions in threat cases; a Roger Stone investigation?
It's a busy time for the Rev. Joe Ashby and his wife. the Rev. Kay Ashby. as both are saying goodbye to their church communities.

Both are retiring from their respective churches this month  Joe Ashby from Grace Episcopal Church in Mansfield on Jan. 28 and Kay Ashby from St. Matthews Episcopal Church in Ashland on Sunday.

Joe Ashby, 68, came to the Mansfield church at 41 Bowman St., 17 years ago.

A native of Kentucky and graduate of the Episcopal Theological Seminary of the Southwest, he served churches in Kentucky and Arkansas before serving as rector of St. Paul's Church in Muskegon, Michigan, for seven years before coming to Mansfield in 2006.

After seminary he initially went back to Kentucky and was a pastor at Grace Church in Hopkinsville, near Fort Campbell U.S. Army base.

"It's kind of an unusual thing I began, started at a Grace church," he said.

The Rev. Joe Ashby and his wife, the Rev. Kay Ashby, are retiring from their respective churches in January.

His final service at Grace Episcopal Church will be 9:30 a.m. Jan. 28. A reception will follow.

Grace Episcopal Church will celebrate the retirement by hosting two community events. The first is an evensong celebration at 5 p.m. Sunday. Joe Ashby said good friend Norman Jones, formerly dean and director of Ohio State University Mansfield, is returning to preach at the service. Jones and his wife, Heidi Jones, attended the church before moving to Columbus, where Norman Jones serves as vice provost and dean of undergraduate studies at Ohio State.

Ashby's wife will be in attendance at the Mansfield church Jan. 28 for her husband's final church service.

The Rev. Kay Ashby, who hails from Arkansas, will preach her final service Sunday and her husband plans to be in the pews in the Ashland church that morning. The two met in Austin, Texas, in seminary. She was ordained in 1991.

Food pantry will continue

Known as the church with the red door at the corner of Third and Bowman streets, the Grace Episcopal food pantry operation on Thursday mornings and the second and fourth Wednesday evenings is run mostly by volunteers and will continue. The church is in the midst of a capital campaign.

The pantry started long before Joe Ashby arrived in the city. He said he is proud the pantry is able to serve so many. The church has also seen major renovations to the building during his tenure. The church has had some very good interfaith dialogues and the congregation is growing, he added.

The church tagline  God loves you. No exceptions  still applies, he said. Joe Ashby is the fourth rector at Grace Episcopal since 1940.

Ashbys plan to spend more time with their granddaughters

Joe Ashby said he is going to miss the people. Although the couple reside in Mansfield, they plan to spend more time with their son, Stephen Ashby, and his wife, Emily Ashby, and their daughters, ages 4 and 2, who live in Cleveland.

The Rev. Kay Ashby and the Rev. Joe Ashby are retiring.

They plan to stay in Mansfield for now and have scheduled a trip to Italy this coming spring to attend a nephew's wedding.

The Ashbys' son is an Episcopal pastor at two churches, one in Lyndhurst and the other in Mayfield Village. His son's wife also is a pastor, at the United Church of Christ in Cleveland.

Reminiscing

Joe Ashby said it's a good time to retire. He is 68.

"We're both in good health and the congregation, it's a good time to pass onto someone else," he said.

Joe Ashby said he was a history major at Transylvania University in Lexington, Kentucky, with plans to become a lawyer.

"I became an Episcopalian while there," he said. Life took him in a different direction but he still loves history.

Joe Ashby is going to miss Sunday services and he has always loved teaching Bible study.

He's going to miss the people and the relationships. "That's what makes it hard. Changing roles. I won't be their pastor anymore and I will have to try and separate myself from it for a while so that they can move into a new place," he said.

He said he was moved to tears recently after recalling a boy he met at age 3 in his congregation.

"He's going off to college," he said.

The couple plan to travel and Joe Ashby also plans to take up riding his bicycle again.

"I was not a bicyclist until I came to Mansfield," he said.

Jones said, "Father Joe has been so special to me, my family, our church, and the community. He has been a gentle and inspiring spiritual leader to the congregation at Grace Episcopal Church and beyond. Hes been a passionate advocate for the least among us in our community in many ways, especially through the church food pantry. Its far from easy to be a good pastor, and he has done it with grace, humor, and a generous heart consistently for decades. He will be greatly missed."

A search will begin to find a new rector and an interim rector will come to the church, Joe Ashby said.

lwhitmir@gannett.com

419-521-7223

X (formerly Twitter): @LWhitmir

This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Married pastors retiring from Ohio churches after years of service
A fighter jet taking off from USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69) during flight operations in response to increased Iranian-backed Houthi attacks on ships in the Red Sea (US NAVY/AFP/Getty)

The US is carrying out airstrikes in three countries across the Middle East. It has sent billions of dollars in military hardware and is providing tactical support for its closest ally in the region, which is embroiled in a war against one militant group and almost daily skirmishes with another on its northern border. US forces in two of those countries have been attacked more than 150 times in the last three months, and the de-facto ruling power in an impoverished country in the Red Sea has brought international shipping there to a grinding halt.

It was not announced with great ceremony, as previous American adventures in the Middle have been  in fact, it was not announced at all. But the US is now embroiled in a regional war against an alliance of Iran-backed militant groups spread from Syria to Yemen. That war is being conducted with little congressional oversight, and with little acknowledgement from the Biden administration of the scale of the fighting.

It is an outcome that the Biden administration has claimed to have worked hard to prevent, but analysts say that the presidents unconditional support of Israels war against Hamas, in retaliation for the Palestinian groups attack on 7 October, has ignited a tinderbox that will be difficult to contain.

Unfortunately, we are now deep into a regional war and all the parties involved have made the worst possible miscalculations, says Thanassis Cambanis, senior fellow and director of Century International, who warned of such an eventuality in the early days of the Israel-Hamas war.

Indeed, the Biden administrations two main priorities in the aftermath of the Hamas attack seemed incompatible from the start. Mr Biden promised unconditional support for Israels war in Gaza, and to prevent that conflict spiralling into a wider regional war. But Mr Cambanis argues it was precisely the Biden administrations support for the war in Gaza, and refusal to use its leverage to pressure Israel to end it, that fuelled the regional escalation.

The Islamic Republic has spent years building a network of allied militant groups (AP)

The most important step to calming the wider regional conflict is ending the war in Gaza. It has been thus from the very beginning, he tells The Independent. The US retains a lot of leverage it has sadly chosen not to use and it continues to be a central driver of the conflict.

In the early days of the conflict, Mr Biden achieved the first of his objectives  supporting Israels ability to attack Hamas in Gaza  by sending hundreds of millions of dollars of military supplies to Israel, bypassing Congress to do so speedily.

Then, to deter any Hamas allies from joining the fray, the US sent two aircraft carrier strike groups to the eastern Mediterranean. The US was particularly concerned about the Lebanese group Hezbollah, which fought a devastating war against Israel in 2006. In an interview given just days after the Hamas attack, Mr Biden issued a stark warning: To any country, any organisation, anyone thinking of taking advantage of the situation, I have one word: Dont.

Those words would fall on deaf ears, however.

Israels fight with Hamas in Gaza is at the centre of this conflict, but it is also just one part of a greater proxy war between rivals Israel and Iran. The Islamic Republic has spent years building a network of allied militant groups opposed to Israel under a concept referred to as unity of the fronts. Those groups  which include the Syrian government, Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in Gaza, Houthi rebels in Yemen and various Shia militant groups in Iraq and Syria  have been furnished with military training, financial support, missiles, and the ability to make their own missiles. All of them have now been drawn into the fight in some form.

As Israel pursued its war against Hamas with increasing ferocity, and the civilian toll rose by the day in the thousands, attacks against US interests spiked across the region. US military officials have counted more than 150 attacks against its troops in Iraq and Syria since 17 October. In early December, the US embassy in Baghdad was targeted with rocket fire.

Those attacks have continued as a steady drumbeat in the background of the devastating Gaza war. But it was the Lebanese group Hezbollah that gave the US the most concern.

Hezbollah and Israel have fought increasingly fierce skirmishes on the border for some months now. So far, the two have managed to prevent an all-out war, but that may not last forever. Speaking in early January, Benny Gantz, a member of Israels war cabinet and former defence minister, told reporters that the stopwatch for a diplomatic solution is running out.

If the world and the Lebanese government dont act in order to prevent the firing on Israels northern residents, and to distance Hezbollah from the border, the IDF will do it, he said.

Houthi rebels demonstrate against strikes on military sites near Sanaa, Yemen (AP)

The US might have been able to deal with the small-scale attacks against its forces in Iraq and Syria. It was involved in Gaza, but only indirectly. And Hezbollah was largely avoiding action that could spark a wider conflict. But the biggest problem for the US came from an unexpected place.

The entry of Yemens Houthi rebels has opened a new front in the region for US forces. The Houthis, an Iran-backed group that controls most of Yemen and has survived a years-long US-backed bombing campaign by Saudi Arabia, inserted itself into the fray on 19 October, nearly two weeks after the Hamas attacks, when Israels bombing campaign against Gaza was well underway. On that day it fired a barrage of missiles and drones towards Israel and said the attacks would continue until the war stopped and humanitarian aid was delivered to Gaza.

For weeks these missiles, supplied by Iran, continued to be fired towards Israel. All of them were intercepted either by Israeli air defence or US warships in the region. Then, on 14 November, Houthi leader Abdulmalik al-Houthi warned his group would target Israeli ships in the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandeb Strait. Less than a month later, the group started attacking all ships that it claimed were heading to Israel. In reality, it also targeted ships with tenuous or no links to the country at all.

Many shipping companies suspended passage through the Strait and global shipping was severely disrupted as a result. Global trade dropped by 1.3 per cent in December as a result of the disruption, and the number of shipping containers passing through the Red Sea fell by 60 per cent.

On 11 January, after the Houthis ignored repeated warnings, the US and the UK carried out air and missile strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen. The strikes targeted the capital Sanaa, as well as Saada, Hajjah, Hudaydah, and Taiz governorates. The Pentagon says 60 targets were hit using more than 150 precision-guided munitions. These targeted strikes are a clear message that the United States and our partners will not tolerate attacks on our personnel or allow hostile actors to imperil freedom of navigation, US president Joe Biden said.

Iranian-made missile components bound for Houthi members seized off a vessel in the Arabian Sea (AP)

With that, the US went from indirect involvement to a new bombing campaign in the Middle East. President Biden, outlining the justification for the strikes, said they intended to send a clear message that the United States and our partners will not tolerate attacks on our personnel or allow hostile actors to imperil freedom of navigation in one of the worlds most critical commercial routes.

The US also redesignated the Houthis as a terror group, after the Biden administration had taken the group off the list in one of the first acts after entering the White House.

The strikes dont seem to have halted the attacks, however. In the last week, there have been 30 attacks by the Houthis on shipping in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.

Farea Al-Muslimi, a Yemeni writer and research fellow at Chatham House who has spent years writing about the US-backed Saudi bombing campaign of Yemen, and US strikes against Al Qaeda before that, believes the US is fighting a losing battle.

Biden is in one of these moments where its damned if you do, and damned if you dont. If you let the Houthis get away with this, its dangerous and bad for business. Then if you bomb them, you are escalating and opening another front line, he said.

The US-owned carrier ship Gibraltar Eagle, which was targeted by Houthi rebels on Monday (AP)

But they have tried bombing for many years, with al-Qaeda. The Saudis tried it. And it doesnt work in Yemen. So it seems to be that the policy of the current US administration is to be in a regional war without calling it one, he added.

Mr al-Muslimi believes the US and others may have misunderstood, and perhaps underestimated the Houthis. Far from being a mere proxy of Iran, they have their own strategic reasons for stepping forward at this moment.

First, when they say they support Palestine, they really mean that. They ideologically believe in that and think they can help, he said.

For them, Gaza is a chance to re-emerge as a power player. Can you think about it right now? Twenty years ago they were in flip-flops, now they are demanding the withdrawal of forces from Gaza and halting shipping in the Red Sea.

Despite the continuing airstrikes against Houthi targets on Thursday, the Biden administration has downplayed the idea that the US is already engaged in a regional war.

"We dont seek war, we dont think we are at war. We dont want to see a regional war," the Pentagons deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh said at a briefing on Thursday.

Colin P Clarke, senior fellow at the Soufan Center, described the many overlapping crises in the Middle East as a perfect storm for the Biden administration, and believes the reason why they are reluctant to concede the seriousness of the conflict may lie with domestic concerns.

The stated goal of the administration from early on in the Gaza war was to prevent the conflict from spreading and becoming a regional war. Admitting were in a regional war would be akin to admitting a policy failure, not something you want to hand your opponents in an election year, he said.

So they just dont admit it, and continue to plod forward while hoping this winds down, that seems to be the strategy.

In the meantime, President Biden appears to be committed to continuing to bomb Yemen until the attacks in the Red Sea are halted.

When he was asked by a reporter if the airstrikes in Yemen were working, he replied tersely: Well, when you say working are they stopping the Houthis? No. Are they going to continue? Yes.
ATHENS, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- A Greek national, crew member of a tanker that was seized by Iran last week, was released on Thursday, Greek national news agency AMNA reported.

The young trainee on oil tanker "St Nicholas" is returning to Greece following talks with Iranian authorities, according to Greek diplomatic sources.

The Greek-owned and Marshall Island-flagged tanker, with 19 crew members on board, was seized off the coast of Oman on Jan. 11 and was anchored in Iran.

Efforts are being made for the release of the other 18 crew members, all Filipinos, the tanker manager Empire Navigation said in a statement, adding that they are all in good health and in contact with their families.

The tanker was carrying 145,000 tonnes of crude oil from Basra in Iraq to Aliaga in Turkiye.

The Iranian Army said in a statement last week that the country's naval forces had taken control of "St Nikolas" following a judicial order from Iran's Ports and Maritime Organization. 
KIEV, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- Ukraine is considering resuming air traffic from Kiev and the western city of Lviv, the Interfax-Ukraine news agency reported Thursday, citing deputy head of the presidential office Rostyslav Shurma.

"We are working very intensively to restore air traffic in Ukraine ... We will definitely do our utmost to implement this," Shurma said.

The air traffic is a fundamentally important element of Ukraine's business and investment activities, the official stressed, without giving an estimated timeline for lifting the restrictions for flights in the Ukrainian airspace.

The renewal of air traffic over Ukraine would depend on Ukraine's ability to ensure the physical safety of flights and the decisions of international partners, independent regulators, and insurance companies, Shurma said.

Ukraine closed its airspace for civilian aircraft on Feb. 24, 2022, due to the conflict with Russia. 
Metoda pe care sa o folosesti cand faci cumparaturi in Lidl sau Kaufland. Asa vei economisi bani

In ultima vreme, preturile au explodat si observam cum un cos de cumparaturi obisnuit ajunge sa coste mai mult de la o luna la alta. Exista, insa, anumite trucuri de care putem tine cont cand mergem [citeste mai departe]
Barbat mort dupa ce autocamionul pe care il conducea s-a izbit de un mal de pamant

Un barbat in varsta de 45 de ani a murit, luni, dupa ce a pierdut controlul autocamionului pe care il conducea, iar mastodontul a iesit de pe carosabil si s-a izbit de un mal de pamant.La fata locului, pe raza localitatii Dorna [citeste mai departe]
A man works in a greenhouse for planting tomato in Afyonkarahisar, Turkiye, on Jan. 18, 2024. Geothermal energy stands as a key driver to boost agricultural production in Turkiye as it is one of the countries in Europe with the most geothermal resources, experts said. (Photo by Mustafa Kaya/Xinhua)

by Burak Akinci

ANKARA, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- "If it weren't for geothermal resources, we wouldn't be doing greenhouse agriculture here. This is a natural blessing," said Hakan Kozan, CEO of Kozan Agriculture, a producer from Afyonkarahisar, a province 250 km west of the Turkish capital Ankara.

His farmland is located in the Sandikli district of Afyonkarahisar, an area well-known for its geothermal resources and hot springs, where even bus stops are heated with abundant thermal water.

"We produce natural cluster tomatoes and cucumbers on 130,000 square meters of greenhouses and export our produce to 18 countries, including Germany, the Netherlands, Romania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Qatar," Kozan told Xinhua in a recent interview.

Geothermal energy stands as a key driver to boost agricultural production in Turkiye as it is one of the countries in Europe with the most geothermal resources, experts said.

In the Medium-Term Economic Program unveiled in September last year by the Turkish government, there is a significant focus on geothermal drilling and geothermal use for agricultural zones.

The program that covers economic targets 2024-2026 emphasizes that investments in the construction of greenhouses in geothermal zones will be accelerated to ensure the supply of fresh fruits and vegetables.

"Turkiye is rich in geothermal resources, and the state is offering incentives and grants regarding greenhouse businesses that also create sustainable jobs for many people," Kozan said.

Afyonkarahisar's geothermal greenhouses, which primarily grow tomato bunches, have contributed greatly to employment in recent year, he added.

When combined with good agricultural practices, geothermal agriculture can offer a cost-friendly way of production that spans 11 months of the year, he noted.

Geothermal energy, which has more than 1,500 natural outlets in Turkiye, has the potential to reshape the country's agricultural sector and is quite sufficient to grow agricultural produce in the country via greenhouses, said Ali Kindap, chairman of the Geothermal Energy Association.

Growing fruits and vegetables in every province can save the costs in transportation, Kindap was quoted as saying by the Hurriyet Daily News in October last year.

Currently, there are over 5,200 acres of geothermal greenhouses in Turkiye, but Kindap believes the country can expand the capacity to 100,000 acres within a decade.

He added that countries with low geothermal resources are far ahead of Turkiye, although the country is leading in Europe regarding geothermal resource abundance.

Refik Ivmer, an agricultural expert from Ankara, echoed Kindap's remarks, saying that Turkiye has a big potential for geothermal farming.

"Geothermal agriculture can provide a solution to the climate crisis. With geothermal agriculture, you can cultivate farm produce regardless of climatic conditions," he said.

Ivmer explained that there are many advantages of heating greenhouses with geothermal energy as the heating of greenhouses accounts for 60 to 70 percent of the total production cost.

"Newly built modern technological greenhouses are heated with geothermal resources, decreasing the energy cost by 50 percent," he pointed out.

He added that using geothermal resources rather than fossil fuels also contributed to a decrease in carbon emissions.

The Western Aegean region of Turkiye is home to the majority of the country's current geothermal projects.

However, new sites have been found in the less industrialized eastern provinces of Agri and Van in the past few years, raising hope for soilless agriculture and the cultivation of vegetables in thermally-heated greenhouses. 

A worker poses for a photo in a greenhouse for planting tomato in Afyonkarahisar, Turkiye, on Jan. 18, 2024. Geothermal energy stands as a key driver to boost agricultural production in Turkiye as it is one of the countries in Europe with the most geothermal resources, experts said. (Photo by Mustafa Kaya/Xinhua)

Photo taken on Jan. 18, 2024 shows a greenhouse for planting tomato in Afyonkarahisar, Turkiye. Geothermal energy stands as a key driver to boost agricultural production in Turkiye as it is one of the countries in Europe with the most geothermal resources, experts said. (Photo by Mustafa Kaya/Xinhua)

Photo taken on Jan. 18, 2024 shows a greenhouse for planting tomato in Afyonkarahisar, Turkiye. Geothermal energy stands as a key driver to boost agricultural production in Turkiye as it is one of the countries in Europe with the most geothermal resources, experts said. (Photo by Mustafa Kaya/Xinhua)

Photo taken on Jan. 18, 2024 shows a greenhouse for planting tomato in Afyonkarahisar, Turkiye. Geothermal energy stands as a key driver to boost agricultural production in Turkiye as it is one of the countries in Europe with the most geothermal resources, experts said. (Photo by Mustafa Kaya/Xinhua)

Photo taken on Jan. 18, 2024 shows a greenhouse for planting tomato in Afyonkarahisar, Turkiye. Geothermal energy stands as a key driver to boost agricultural production in Turkiye as it is one of the countries in Europe with the most geothermal resources, experts said. (Photo by Mustafa Kaya/Xinhua)
Audi Hungaria turned out 177,000 cars at its production base in Gyor, in north-western Hungary, last year, breaking an output record, Peter Szijjarto, minister of foreign affairs and trade, said.

Szijjarto noted that Mercedes was continuously expanding its plant in Kecskemet, in central Hungary, and BMW was constructing a base in Debrecen, in the east of the country.



As a result, Hungary has become part of an exclusive elite club with China and Germany, where all three of Germanys premium car brands have an independent base, Szijjarto said on Facebook.



While some Western European politicians are constantly spreading the ideology aimed at splitting the Chinese and European economies, reality is thankfully completely different: after the big Chinese and Korean battery plants serving the German companies the worlds biggest Electric vehicle maker, Chinas BYD is also bringing its first European plant to Hungary, the minister said.



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It is inconceivable that Hungary could be deprived of its EU presidency in the second half of the year, Gergely Gulyas told a government press briefing. But, he added, Hungary would be doing the European Union a favour by providing a uniform government, with leadership skills and experience

The rotating presidency is symbolic, and the Hungarian government doesnt attach too much significance to it, but it will do a decent job, the head of the PMs Office added.



Concerning the governments negotiations with the European Commission on frozen community funding, Gulyas said he was fundamentally optimistic but there can be no compromise over migration and child protection.



We are negotiating on the other areas and we trust that we can strike an agreement, he said. Several billion euros could be obtained even without agreement on the two contested issues, he said, adding that a raw power struggle was taking place.



They dont like the Hungarian government because of those two headings and they will only give us money when they think they have to.



Concerning the upcoming European parliamentary elections, Gulyas said that despite differences in political views, Hungary would likely end up with 21 MEPs able to promote Hungarys interests.



He added that today, however, opposition MEPs were working to put the commission in a position in which it could refuse to forward funds to Hungary. MEPs of Hungarys leftist parties are in a clear and sharp opposition to Hungarys interest, he insisted.



Funds Linked To LGBTQ, Migration Issues

The president of the European Commission has linked Hungary's future EU funding to LGBTQ and migration issues, the head of the Prime Minister's Office has said.



Gergely Gulyas told a government press briefing that the EC and EP were exerting pressure on Hungarys government in respect of two issues on which Hungarian voters have clearly expressed their opinion. Wednesdays European parliamentary debate made this clear to everyone, Gulyas said.



While the EC acknowledged the measures taken by the Hungarian government to ensure judicial independence, the commissions president made the release of further EU funds contingent on Hungary changing its stance on LGBTQ and migration issues, he said.



Hungarian law guarantees the independence of the judiciary, he said, yet it took another six months for the EC to acknowledge this and to release some of the funds due to Hungary.



The commission and the EP were nevertheless putting pressure on the Hungarian government in two cases regarding which Hungarian voters had clearly expressed their opinion, he said. The anti-migration position received more support than in any previous survey, and even this was surpassed by the outcome of the survey on protecting children from LGBTQ propaganda, he added.



Gulyas: Poland Developments Mirror Brussels Double Standards

On the subject of measures by the new Polish government, Gergely Gulyas advised voters to consider carefully how they vote. If anyone has had doubts about the unfair and hypocritical double standards which rule Brussels, it is enough to have a look at developments in Poland



The Hungarian government considers that one of the great weakness of the current EU is that it interferes in domestic affairs, the head of the PMs Office told a government press briefing.



Gulyas noted that Prime Minister Viktor Orban and his newly appointed Polish counterpart, Donald Tusk, had not held a bilateral meeting in recent times but they had met at the recent EU summit. He also said that Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico had said on a recent visit to that Slovakia stood by Hungary in Brussels, but they also need Hungary to stand up for Slovakia.



Commenting on Visegrad Group cooperation, he said its four member states had several joint interests despite differences in political opinion, so there is scope for pragmatic cooperation. He expressed hope that the next V4 meeting could take place in the first half of 2024.



Asked about Ursula von der Leyens prospects, Gulyas said the current European Commission president had a high chance of remaining in her position.



Commenting on Swedens NATO accession, he said it appears that this is not as important to the Swedes as it is to the NATO secretary general, who projected its accession date to be in the first half of the year. Nobody has contacted us about it from Sweden, he added.



The government, he said, wanted to avoid Hungary being the last country to ratify Swedens NATO accession. Some commonly understood concerns must be resolved first, he said, and communication was needed to rebuild trust. He also said that the Turkish parliament had repeatedly announced and then postponed a vote in this matter.



Lets wait and see when the Turks decide, he added. The more countries, the stronger the force, he said in response to a question on whether Swedens accession would strengthen NATO.



At the same time, he said Swedens contribution would be modest, adding there wasnt a single conflict in the world where an individual countrys contribution would be decisive, though within the bloc, the power of the US was decisive, he added, and only a few other countries played a significant role.



Commenting on a recent Hungarian visit to the Sahel, he said the African region was currently one of the deepest sources of migration, and Hungarys position was that help must be taken to where it is needed.



The Hungary Helps programme aims at this purpose, he added. In response to another question, he said a military mission in Chad was making good progress.



Commenting on the visit of the Latin patriarch to Hungary, he said the most important subject was how Hungary could effectively help Christians in the Holy Land and the victims of the Israeli-Hamas conflict under the arrangements of the Hungary Helps programme.



Commenting on German farmers protests, he said his personal view was that green policies launched in the past were currently being forced on people beyond the bounds of common sense.



Imposing a twentieth extra tax on famers using diesel is obviously difficult to accept, he added. He said Germany was characterised by domestic political instability that the country had never witnessed before, and public opinion of the German chancellor had never been as poor as it was today.



The three-party coalition is marred by disagreements on many issues, and its public support is only around 30%, which would have been inconceivable in the past, he added.



Commenting on the EU digital directive entering force in the next month, he said it would be useful and necessary to formulate common European action concerning big-tech companies like Facebook and YouTube.



At the same time, it should be noted that currently the EU also accepts restrictions on the freedom of speech and some constitutional restrictions that the Hungarian government  which represents a classic liberal position  does not find acceptable, he said.



The Hungarian government will be represented in the body reviewing regulations ranging from tax obligations to the extremely questionable rules of comment restriction, he said. Asked about this years mayoral elections, Gulyas said the elections were on the schedule of next weeks Fidesz board meeting, and Fidesz would have its own candidate.



In response to a question on the issue of adoption by same-sex couples, Gulyas said a child who did not have a mother and a father was obviously at a disadvantage.



This is why we try to guarantee this, he added. It can also happen, he noted, that somebody starts a homosexual relationship after the dissolution of a marriage, in which case he or she naturally keeps the right of custody over the child, as does the other parent, in the case of joint custody.



Regarding same-sex civil partnerships, he said there are 403 in Hungary at present, adding that the government had no plans to ease adoption rules.



Fidesz MEP: EP Resolution Against Hungary 'Political Blackmail'

The pro-Soros majority of the European Parliament has adopted another shameful resolution condemning Hungary, according to a ruling Fidesz MEP.



European Commission president Ursula von der Leyens speech on Wednesday was a clear confession, Balazs Hidveghi said in a video message.



Von der Leyen openly said that a large part of Hungarys EU funds was being withheld due to the countrys migration policy and its child protection law, he said.



That is unacceptable, he added. Hungarys government, he said, would continue to stand up against blackmail. We wont allow Hungary to be turned into an immigration country, he said, adding that the government would continue to protect children from LGBTQ propaganda.



Photo: European Parliament



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Readers of Britains The Guardian have voted to include Hungarys House of Music in Budapest in the list of Europes most inspiring destinations.

Apart from the House of Music, built as part of Budapests Liget Project, the list includes such famous tourist destinations as the Roman Amphitheatre in Spain, Hadrians Wall in the UK and Denmarks Kronborg Castle.



We are extremely proud of yet another award to the Hungarian House of Music, which reflects the success of our endeavours  to make Budapests City Park a prime destination for tourists visiting Budapest, Varosliget Zrt, the sites operator, said.



The House of Music was designed by Japanese star architect Sou Fujimoto and opened in January 2022.



Background info:



There is perhaps no other cultural area where Hungarian art has made a bigger impact than in music. A number of Hungarian composers and musicians  among them Ferenc Liszt, Bela Bartok, Zoltan Kodaly, Gyorgy Ligeti and Zoltan Kocsis  have made their mark on the universal language of music, yet the country has no centre to provides a comprehensive overview of the treasures of their legacy in the global context of music history.



The House of Music Hungary, a unique and complex institution of musical initiation and the venue for the countrys first comprehensive exhibition presenting the history of music, opened in the City Park in January 2022.



Although Hungary is famed for its musical heritage, no multi-faceted exhibition presenting the history of Hungarian music in the context of European music had been hosted in any Hungarian institution exhibition before this one.



The iconic building, designed by Japanese star architect Sou Fujimoto was selected from among 170 international projects and since the announcement of the design as the winner of the architectural competition it has attracted massive attention in international professional circles.



This is confirmed, for example, by the fact that in early 2021 it was listed by CNN and the World Architecture Community as one of the ten most anticipated new buildings of the year.



The final result did not disappoint: a truly contemporary architectural masterpiece has come into being.



Click here to virtually visit House of Music



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As the final stage of its restaurant transformation program, McDonald's Hungary has decided to close its Nyugati ter unit, repeatedly voted one of the world's most beautiful McDonald's fast food restaurants, for about six months. The listed building will be rebuilt using special interior design elements and natural materials.

The building, located on the main wall shared with the Nyugati Railway Station, an architectural symbol of Budapest, is a historicist building, similar to the railway station, with a mix of neo-renaissance and neo-romanticism.



These stylistic elements are still present in the restaurant today and will be retained after the renovation, McDonald's says. But in terms of the dining experience, the restaurant chain is very much looking to bring about the 21st century.



The interior design is based on McDonald's Ray design concept, with unique mirrored glass surfaces, copper-clad fixtures, and a number of special furniture elements that fit the design.



All interior design elements will be made of real, natural materials: molded terrazzo flooring, as well as, wood and copper cladding will be used. The decorative painting of the interior pillars will be done by a restorer.



An important element of the redevelopment will be the rearrangement of the current staircase layout of the lobby part of the guest space.



The staircase currently descending to the serving counter will be eliminated and this section of the lobby will be raised to the entrance floor level. Guests will be able to access the gallery and mezzanine level via staircases located in the center of the building.



The restaurant will feature a food conveyor belt that will transfer products between the two levels of the kitchen in a unique way.



The so-called transporter will go up to the gallery level, and guests will be able to follow the products' journey through a glass box. As part of the digital upgrade, the restaurant will feature both touch-screen kiosks and traditional cash registers.



Diners will be able to place their orders using these methods, or via the MyMeki mobile phone app, and even order directly to their table.



"In 2019, we announced our domestic growth strategy, during which we embarked on a dynamic development of the network. This strategy consists of two main elements: opening new restaurants and renovating existing restaurants in line with the 'Experience of the Future' concept.



The latter element of the strategy will be concluded with the complete renovation of one of the most important domestic units of our chain," said Zsolt Egi, managing director of Progress Restaurant Network, which operates McDonald's restaurants in Hungary.
Vietnams flourishing economy offers great opportunities to export- and investment-oriented Hungary, the minister of foreign affairs and trade said after talks with Vietnamese counterpart Bui Thanh Son in Budapest.

Peter Szijjarto noted that Hungarys annual exports to the South-East Asian country are now worth around 100 million US dollars.



Exports have been boosted by government measures that ease the export of poultry products, medical equipment and pharmaceuticals, Szijjarto said.



Recent talks on enabling pork exports to Vietnam are also in the home stretch, he added. The European Union and Vietnam signed an ambitious free trade agreement recently, aimed at scrapping 99% of tariffs by 2030, he said.



The Hungarian and Vietnamese government are slated to sign 14 agreements in the coming days, Szijjarto said.



The minister said the most important among those agreements would be the one on foreign policy cooperation, as both countries were pro-peace and wished to aid war-torn countries. We believe in civilised cooperation between East and West, he said.



Hungary and Vietnam will also sign cooperation agreements in culture and water management, which may contribute to the export of domestic technologies, Szijjarto said.



The two countries will also step up cooperation against international crime, contributing to security in both countries, he said. Universities will also conclude a total of 10 agreements based on the cooperation currently offering government grants to 900 Vietnamese students in Hungary.



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New Delhi: Some individuals, rare in their determination, choose to leave behind established careers and venture into new paths even after achieving success and fame. Aashka Goradia, a renowned television actress prominently featured in numerous Hindi soap operas, is a testament to such audacious transitions.

In 2019, concluding her tenure in television, Goradia embraced a bold shift, transitioning from acting to entrepreneurship. Collaborating with her college friends, Ashutosh Valani and Priyank Shah, she co-founded Renee Cosmetics in 2020. This dynamic trio successfully navigated the beauty industry, introducing a range of products that garnered significant attention. Remarkably, within just two years of its inception, the company achieved a remarkable milestone, reaching a turnover of 100 million dollars.

As the Director and Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) of the company, Goradia oversees product management, marketing, and communications, while her co-founders handle finance, operations, and distribution at Beardo. Headquartered in Ahmedabad, the company secured a substantial investment of 25 million dollars last year, boasting a valuation of 100 million dollars after three successful funding rounds.

With a diverse portfolio comprising 200 products, Renee Cosmetics has established its presence on major e-commerce platforms such as Amazon, Flipkart, Nykaa, and Myntra, in addition to being available in over 650 stores. The company's remarkable revenue has positioned it as a formidable competitor to industry giants like Nykaa and Sugar, challenging the status quo.

Before embarking on her entrepreneurial journey, Goradia began her television career in 2002 with the show "Achanak 37 Saal Baad," portraying the character Kumud in "Kkusum." Over the years, she gained popularity for her versatile roles, including negative characters, and later ventured into reality shows. Despite her success in entrepreneurship, her last significant acting role was in the television series "Daayan" in 2019.
New Delhi: Ramesh Babu, known as the "Billionaire Barber," emerged from a challenging childhood in Bengaluru. Losing his father at a tender age, he faced financial hardships, with his mother working as a servant to make ends meet. The family survived on a meager income of Rs 40-50 per month, and Ramesh, along with his siblings, grew up with just one meal a day.

Early Jobs

At the age of 13, Ramesh took up various odd jobs, including part-time newspaper delivery and supplying milk bottles. Despite the difficulties, he managed to complete his tenth-standard education while supporting his family. (Also Read: In Pics: From Aziz Premji To Sajjan Jindal, Where Are Next Gen Of These Biz Tycoons Are Studying, Or Have Studied From; Check Here)

In 1989, faced with the responsibility of his father's barber shop, Ramesh decided to run the salon named "Inner Space." (Also Read: Meta Introduces 'Nighttime Nudge' Feature To Reduce Screen Time)

Balancing Work And Studies

Juggling early morning salon duties, attending college, and managing the shop until midnight, Ramesh extended his working hours to almost 16 hours a day. Despite the challenges, he pursued a diploma in electronics, encouraged by his mother.

Car Rental Business

A turning point came when a family acquaintance, working at Intel Corporation, suggested he rent out his Maruti van instead of letting it sit idle. This advice marked Ramesh's entry into the car rental business.

Starting with Intel Corporation as his first client, he gradually expanded his business, leasing out various vehicles.

Building A Car Empire

Today, Ramesh Babu owns a thriving car rental business with a remarkable fleet of over 400 vehicles, including mini-buses, vans, and luxury cars. His clientele ranges from military officers and politicians to Bollywood stars.

His commitment to hard work and determination has transformed his life from a small barber shop owner to a successful entrepreneur in the car rental industry.
New Delhi: The healthcare sector has put forth its demands before the finance ministry that includes accessibility of healthcare services in rural india, establishing a separate healthcare infrastructure fund, strengthening the healthcare value chain.

Jasdeep Singh, Group CEO, CARE Hospitals Group said that the industry is hoping the government will consider the healthcare industry as a focus in this year's union budget.

"The government must prioritize enhancing infrastructure, especially in non-metro areas, ensuring that individuals can readily access healthcare when required. This initiative will not only benefit local communities but also contribute to the overall improvement of healthcare services on a global scale," Singh said.

Ankur Gigras, CEO and Co-founder, HexaHealth said that there should be emphasis on innovative medical technologies like artificial intelligence, which may improve the quality of life for patients during operations, speed up insurance claims for required procedures, and raise the efficacy of healthcare delivery overall.

Shrey Srivastav, GP, Sharda Hospital demanded the expansion of Ayushman Bharat or similar scheme to middle class family and increase in tax deductions on preventive healthcare checkups from Rs 5,000 to Rs 15,000 per family.

"The budget should prioritize healthcare infrastructure across city tiers and heavily invest in skill development for a trained talent supply and service standardization," Sudheer VS, CEO, Maxivision Super Specialty Eye Hospitals said.

"With an alarming 80-85% dependence on imports, resulting in a massive import bill of over  63,200 crore, it's crucial for the government to catalyze domestic manufacturing. This not only reduces the financial strain but also propels India towards self-reliance in medical technology," Chandra Ganjoo, Group CEO, Trivitron Healthcare said.
NEW DELHI: In view of the upcoming 'Pran Pratistha' ceremony at the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya on January 22, the Central government has declared a half-day holiday for all its offices and institutions nationwide. This strategic move aims to allow employees to actively participate in the celebration of the auspicious event. Echoing similar sentiments, several states have also announced public holidays to mark this significant occasion.

Central Govt Declares Half-Day On Jan 22

The Department of Personnel and Training has issued a memorandum, stating, "The Ram Lalla Pran Pratishtha at Ayodhya will be celebrated on January 22, 2024, across India. To enable employees to participate in the celebrations, it has been decided that all central government offices, central institutions, and central industrial establishments throughout India will be closed for half a day till 1430 hours on January 22."

Public HolidayAnnounced In Several States

Several states have followed suit, declaring public holidays on January 22 to ensure widespread participation in the inauguration of the Ayodhya Ram Mandir. Notably, public sector banks will also observe a half-day closure on this date to commemorate the consecration of Ram Mandir.

Madhya Pradesh

Madhya Pradesh government has taken a proactive step by officially announcing a half-day holiday in all government offices until 2:30 pm on January 22. The move is in alignment with the Pran Pratishtha ceremony of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya.

Tripura, Chhattisgarh, And Uttar Pradesh Follow Suit

Tripura, Chhattisgarh, and Uttar Pradesh are among the states where government offices and educational institutions will remain closed until 2:30 pm on January 22. These decisions, driven by the significance of the Ram Temple event, aim to allow citizens to witness and actively participate in the grand ceremony.

Goa, Haryana, And Odisha Join The Celebration

The states of Goa, Haryana, and Odisha will also join the nationwide celebration by declaring public holidays on January 22. Chief Minister Pramod Sawant of Goa, the government of Haryana, led by Manohar Lal Khattar, and the Odisha government have all issued orders for the closure of government buildings, schools, and various offices in light of the Ram Lalla Pran Pratistha festivities. As the nation gears up for this historic event, the central govt and several states have declared public holidays underscoring the cultural and religious significance attached to the Ayodhya Ram Temple 'Pran Pratistha' ceremony.

Countdown To Pran Pratishtha: Rituals In Ayodhya

As Ayodhya prepares for the 'Pran Pratishtha' ceremony on January 22, the sacred rituals have entered their fourth day. The lighting of the ''holy fire'' marks the beginning of the day's ceremonies, with subsequent steps involving the establishment of 'Navagraha' and a 'Havan.' The idol of Shri Ram Lalla will undergo various rituals, including 'Aushdhadhiwas' and 'Kesaradhiwas,' culminating in the closing of temple doors until the grand ceremony.

Tightened Security In Ayodhya

With 'Pran Pratishtha' Day drawing near, security in Ayodhya's Karsevakpuram, where Shri Ram Janmbhoomi Teertha Kshetra Trust General Secretary Champat Rai resides, has been intensified. The city witnesses the installation of Ram Lalla posters, and selfie points emerge near key intersections, amplifying the festive atmosphere.

'Amrit Mahotsava' Celebration In Ayodhya

Ayodhya is immersed in the festivities of 'Amrit Mahotsava' ahead of the 'Pran Pratishtha' ceremony. The Vishwa Hindu Parishad contributes by setting up tea stalls to provide free tea and biscuits to visitors. The sanctum sanctorum of the Sri Ram Temple witnesses worship ceremonies led by Vedic Brahmins and revered Acharyas, adding to the sacred ambiance.

Grand Ceremony On January 22: PM Modi To Lead Rituals

The 'Pran Pratishta' ceremony in Ayodhya on January 22 will witness Prime Minister Narendra Modi leading the rituals, symbolizing a momentous occasion. Noteworthy personalities have been invited, and the nation eagerly anticipates this historic event, reinforcing the cultural and spiritual fabric of India.
New Delhi: In a significant development, the Supreme Court, led by Justices BV Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan, unequivocally rejected the applications filed by the convicts involved in the Bilkis Bano gang rape case on Friday. The convicts had sought an extension of time to surrender before jail authorities, citing various reasons.

No Merit In Reasons Cited By Convicts: SC

The apex court, in its dismissal, asserted that the reasons presented by the convicts for seeking a postponement of surrender and a delay in reporting back to jail have no merit. Justices BV Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan emphasized that these reasons do not justify non-compliance with the court's directions. All miscellaneous applications have been summarily dismissed, and any pending applications stand disposed of.

Convicts Must Surrender By January 21: SC

The court has set a firm deadline for the 11 convicts involved in the Bilkis Bano case, requiring them to surrender before jail authorities by January 21. This decision comes after the convicts approached the apex court, citing health issues, caretaking responsibilities for aged parents, impending crop harvest, and other concerns.

Background: Remission, Release, And Supreme Court Intervention

Originally sentenced to life imprisonment for their involvement in the gangrape of Bilkis Bano and the murder of her family members during the 2002 Godhra riots, the convicts were granted remission by the Gujarat government. However, in a landmark decision on January 8, the Supreme Court struck down the remission order, declaring it invalid.

The apex court held that the Gujarat government lacked the authority to pass remission orders and clarified that only the Maharashtra government was competent to do so. The court also expressed strong disapproval, stating that the previous judgment directing the Gujarat government to consider remission was obtained through fraud and the suppression of material facts.

SC's Rebuke: Convicts Approached With 'Unclean Hands'

The bench remarked that the convicts had not approached the court with "clean hands," emphasizing that the proceedings were tainted by the "suppression of facts," constituting a fraud on the court. The judgment came in response to a petition filed by Bilkis Bano and others challenging the premature release of the 11 convicts.

Guj Govt's Defence Of Remission To Convicts

Earlier, the Gujarat government defended the remission, arguing that the convicts had completed a 14-year sentence, and their behavior was deemed good. The Bilkis Bano case dates back to March 2002 during the post-Godhra riots when she was allegedly gang-raped, left to die with her family, and five months pregnant. The recent Supreme Court decision underscores the commitment to justice and adherence to legal processes in high-profile cases.
SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- At least five people have died from hypothermia in Seattle, U.S. state of Washington, since Jan. 11, when temperatures plummeted below freezing, according to King County Medical Examiner's Office.

Two died outside on the streets, one in a vehicle, and two others died in residences, officials said

The number of homeless people dying from environmental exposure -- including hypothermia and hyperthermia -- has gone up in recent years, from zero in 2012 to nine in 2021, according to Public Health in Seattle & King County.

Weather shelters across King County quickly filled up last Friday, leading the King County Regional Homelessness Authority to work with the city of Seattle and The Salvation Army to add 100 more shelter beds at the Seattle Center Exhibition Hall, totaling 300 spaces for Saturday night in the city's largest severe weather shelter, said a report by The Seattle Times. 
NEW DELHI: In a significant political development, Akhilesh Yadav's Samajwadi Party (SP) and Jayant Chaudhary's Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) on Friday said that they have successfully concluded a seat-sharing agreement for the upcoming 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The collaboration is poised to shape the political landscape, with RLD securing rights to contest seven Lok Sabha seats, strategically including Baghpat and Mathura in western Uttar Pradesh.

A Unified Alliance: Congratulations Pour In For RLD-SP Pact

Expressing his happiness, SP supremo Akhilesh Yadav conveyed his felicitations on the formation of the Rashtriya Lok Dal-SP alliance. The development underscores a unified front within the opposition, signalling a collective effort to challenge the political status quo.

Confidence In INDIA Bloc: Yadav Foresees Smooth Seat-Sharing Negotiations

Anticipating a seamless negotiation process within the INDIA bloc, Akhilesh Yadav expressed confidence on Wednesday. Reflecting on past discord, particularly the Madhya Pradesh election episode, Yadav assured that any lingering differences with Congress had been amicably resolved.

Forward Momentum: SP-Congress Discussions Set In Motion

During a personal interaction with reporters, Yadav on Wednesday confirmed that discussions on seat-sharing with Congress were being fast-tracked. Expressing cofidence, he stated, "The Samajwadi Party, Congress, and our allies together will defeat the BJP in Uttar Pradesh."

Burying The Past: Yadav Brushes Off Previous SP-Congress Strains

Addressing inquiries about past challenges in SP-Congress seat-sharing agreements, Yadav dismissed them as historical. "That is over. It is an old thing, and we should not discuss it. We are moving forward and looking ahead," he emphasized, highlighting the commitment to a united opposition front. Despite setbacks in Madhya Pradesh, where the BJP retained power, Yadav expressed hope for the Samajwadi Party's influential role, drawing parallels with its position in Uttar Pradesh.

PDA's Paramount Role in 'Ram Rajya'

Responding to questions about any discord with BSP supremo Mayawati, Yadav reaffirmed his commitment to socialist principles. He stressed the significance of respecting the "PDA" (Pichhda, Dalit, Adivasi, and Alpsankhyak), asserting that their upliftment was crucial for the establishment of a true "Ram Rajya."

Ram Temple Consecration: Yadav's Perspective On 'Ram Rajya'

Regarding the upcoming January 22 consecration ceremony of the Ram temple in Ayodhya, Yadav offered a perspective aligned with constitutional values. He remarked, "A true 'Ram Rajya' will arrive only when the people of PDA are respected. Illiteracy and inequality among them should be removed."

The seat-sharing pact between the Samajwadi Party and Rashtriya Lok Dal has set the stage for a formidable opposition alliance, bringing together political forces with a common goal of challenging the Narendra Modi-led BJP and upsetting the current political arithmetic in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
NEW DELHI: Within 24 hours, Himanta Biswa Sarma and Rahul Gandhi have been engaged in a bitter war of words, revealing deep-rooted animosity. The catalyst for this verbal altercation was Rahul Gandhi's ongoing "Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra" in Assam, where he accused the Assam government of being the ''most corrupt'' in India. Sarma, in turn, fired back, alleging corruption within the Gandhi family.

Once Allies, Now Foes

Rewinding a few years, the political landscape was different. Himanta Biswa Sarma was a staunch Congress loyalist during the tenure of Tarun Gogoi, the then Chief Minister of Assam.

Rise Of Himanta Biswa Sarma

Around a decade ago, Assam witnessed elections that reshaped the political dynamics of the state. Tarun Gogoi, the incumbent Chief Minister, faced a formidable opponent in Sarma, who had already served as the Health Minister. However, Sarma's ambitions to secure the Chief Ministerial position were thwarted, leading to his eventual departure from the Congress party.

Shift To BJP And Northeast's Political Landscape

A year later, Sarma made a significant political shift by joining the BJP. His departure from Congress was marked by a scathing letter to Sonia Gandhi, criticizing Rahul Gandhi's inability to understand the importance of key issues in Assam. The move had significant repercussions, as it not only altered Sarma's political trajectory but also paved the way for BJP's influence in the Northeast.

BJP's First Victory In Northeast

Himanta Biswa Sarma's political journey became synonymous with BJP's triumph in the Northeast. His impact extended across all states in the region, solidifying BJP's presence. Reflecting on the 2016 victory in Assam, Sarma claimed to have forewarned Rahul Gandhi that Congress would lose 25 seats if things continued as they were.

Strained Relations And Allegations

In a candid interview with a leading news channel, Sarma expressed his views on Rahul Gandhi, stating that Gandhi was arrogant and failed to comprehend the intricacies of the issues faced by Assam. Sarma highlighted an incident where Gandhi was preoccupied with feeding biscuits to his dog during a crucial discussion on Assam's problems, garnering significant media attention.

Exodus In Congress

The Congress party has faced criticism for neglecting the aspirations of young leaders, a lapse that has not gone unnoticed. Unlike other states, where this oversight may not be as pronounced, the party witnessed a succession of young Congress leaders defecting to the BJP due to unfulfilled ambitions. The lack of interest in grooming leaders from the next generation within the Congress became apparent.

Rise Of Young Leaders In BJP

One after another, young Congress leaders found a new political home in the BJP as their aspirations were not being met within the Congress ranks. The trend gained momentum post the formation of the Modi government, indicating a significant shift in political allegiances. Critics argue that the Congress party failed to demonstrate interest in nurturing the next generation of leaders. This indifference became more evident as leaders started leaving the party, seeking opportunities elsewhere. The departure of Himanta Biswa Sarma marked the beginning of a trend that would continue, especially in the Northeast.

Growing List of Defectors From Congress

In the aftermath of Sarma's departure, the Congress party in the Northeast faced a series of defections. Notable leaders like Jyotiraditya Scindia, Jitin Prasada, Sushmita Dev, Amarinder Singh, RPN Singh, Kapil Sibal, Sunil Jakhar, Gulam Nabi Azad, Jayveer Sherigill, among others, chose to leave the Congress fold.

Himanata Sarma vs The Gandhi Family

Recently, Himanta Biswa Sarma trained his guns at Rahul Gandhi, asserting that the Gandhi family is not just corrupt but also 'duplicates.' He emphasized that the family's surname is not Gandhi; rather, they go by the 'duplicate' moniker. Sarma, in the context of Rahul's political journey, suggested in 2022 that since India has remained intact while Pakistan has separated, Rahul Gandhi should embark on a similar journey to Pakistan.

As political landscapes shift and alliances change, the rivalry between Himanta Biswa Sarma and Rahul Gandhi reflects the dynamic nature of Indian politics. The repercussions of this political turbulence extend beyond individual careers, impacting the larger narrative of regional and national politics.
New Delhi: West Bengal BJP president Sukanta Majumdar on Friday appealed to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to announce a holiday on January 22 so that the people of the state can join the festivities of the Ram temple consecration ceremony in Ayodhya. The central government offices, public sector banks, insurance companies, financial institutions and regional rural banks (RRBs) in the country will be closed for half a day on January 22. Some states, such as Assam and Odisha, which are neighbouring West Bengal, have also declared a half-day holiday for the occasion.

Majumdar shared a letter he sent to the chief minister on X, saying I have requested our Honble CM @MamataOfficial (Mamata Banerjee) to kindly consider declaring 22nd January 2024 to be a school holiday, so that the youth of West Bengal gets to rejoice in the Ram Mandir consecration celebrations.

I have requested our Hon'ble CM @MamataOfficial to kindly consider declaring 22nd January, 2024 to be a school holiday, so that the youth of West Bengal gets to rejoice in the Ram Mandir consecration celebrations...#RamMandirPranPratishta #RamMandir pic.twitter.com/h4U4TagCKZ  Dr. Sukanta Majumdar (@DrSukantaBJP) January 19, 2024

He mentioned that the chief minister has given holidays for many special events in the past. He added, We think that the people of the state should also get the opportunity to participate in the Ram Temple inauguration. We request you to officially declare the day as a holiday. The TMC leadership, however, expressed doubt over the significance of the date for the Ram temple inauguration.

TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh asked, Is there any specific date in the almanac or any other Hindu religious calendar where the auspicious date for Ram Temple inauguration is mentioned? Has Sukanta Majumdar become a priest? The event (Ram Temple inauguration) where many BJP leaders will be present is a political event before the Lok Sabha elections. We dont mix religion with politics like the BJP.

Banerjee, who is also the head of the ruling TMC, will lead a rally for harmony on January 22 from Hazra Crossing in south Kolkata to Park Circus, where she will also address a public meeting. She will begin the all-faith march after offering puja at the ancient Kalighat temple, and visit places of worship of different religions along the way.
New Delhi: Ahead of the grand consecration ceremony, the idol of Ram Lalla was installed in the sanctum sanctorum of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya. The 51-inch-tall idol of Lord Ram depicting his childhood stage was installed late at night on Thursday ahead of the 'Pran Pratishtha' of Ram mandir on January 22, 2024.

The media in-charge of Vishwa Hindu Parishad Sharad Sharma shared the first photograph of the idol in which the murti was covered with a veil. Vedic Brahmins and esteemed Acharyas were observed conducting worship ceremonies within the sacred grounds of the Sri Ram Temple.

The idol is carved by the Mysore-based sculptor Arun Yogiraj who has also carved several famous statues including the Adi Shankaracharya statue in Kedarnath and Subhash Chandra Bose's statue in Delhi.

The auspicious moment for the consecration has been officially scheduled for 22nd January 2024, at noon. The auspicious timing, known as Abhijeet Muhurat, has been carefully chosen to mark this historic event.

According to Ram Temple priest Ganeshwar Shastri Gramin said, the consecration ceremony is set to commence at approximately 12.30 pm, precisely during the auspicious Abhijeet Muhurat, and is expected to last for a symbolic 84 seconds. The meticulous selection of this timing reflects the adherence to ancient traditions and astrological considerations.

A priest from Varanasi, Lakshmi Kant Dixit, will perform the main rituals of the consecration ceremony of Ram Lalla on January 22. From January 14 to January 22, Ayodhya will mark the Amrit Mahautsav.
New Delhi: Gurmeet Ram Rahim, the rape and murder convict and the chief of Dera Sacha Sauda, was given a 50-day parole on Friday by the Haryana government, the ninth time he has been released from jail in four years. The parole was given on the basis of his good conduct in jail and his contribution to social welfare activities. He will be staying in his sects Dera in Bagphat in Uttar Pradesh, where he commands a huge following.

He was last out of jail in November 2023 for 21 days. He got parole three times last year. So far, he has been out of jail for 184 days on parole and furlough. He has been in Sunaria jail since August 2017 after being found guilty of raping two women and murdering a journalist.

He was given 20 years in jail in August 2017 for raping two of his followers. In January 2019, a special CBI court in Panchkula also awarded him and three others life imprisonment for killing journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati, who had exposed his crimes, 16 years ago.

His conviction on August 25, 2017, had triggered violence in Panchkula and Sirsa, resulting in 41 deaths and over 260 injuries. The parole granted to Ram Rahim has sparked outrage among the victims and their families, who have accused the Haryana government of being lenient on the self-styled godman.

They have also challenged the logic behind granting parole to a convict who has committed heinous crimes and has shown no repentance. The parole has also raised concerns over the security situation in UP, where Ram Rahims followers may resort to unlawful activities to support him.

The Haryana government has justified its decision, saying that it has followed the jail manual and the Supreme Court guidelines while granting parole to Ram Rahim. It has also claimed that Ram Rahim has been behaving well in jail and has been involved in various social welfare activities such as teaching yoga, meditation, and organic farming to other inmates.

The government has also said that it has taken adequate measures to ensure law and order in the state and has deployed additional forces in sensitive areas.
Solapur: In a heartfelt moment during the inaugural address of the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Urban (PMAY-Urban) scheme in Solapur, Prime Minister Narendra Modi couldn't contain his emotions while discussing the housing scheme in Maharashtra.

Fulfilling A Promise: PM Modi's Heartfelt Inaugural Address

"Today marks the inauguration of the largest society built under PM Awas Yojana. It was my commitment in 2014, and witnessing it now is a fulfilling moment. I couldn't help but think, I wish I too had the opportunity to live in such a house during my childhood," shared PM Modi in his inaugural address.

#WATCH | PM Modi in Maharashtra's Solapur says, "In the 3rd term of our Central government, in my next term, India will be in the top three economies of the world. I have given this guarantee to the people of India that in my next term, I will bring India into the top three pic.twitter.com/A4DEGrrVOR  ANI (@ANI) January 19, 2024

Diverse Beneficiaries Of PMAY Scheme

The beneficiaries of this housing initiative encompass handloom workers, vendors, power loom workers, rag pickers, bidi workers, and drivers, among others. "I am delighted to see the fulfilment of the pledge we made for the thousands of poor and labourers in Solapur. When I laid the foundation stone for this project, I guaranteed that I would soon return to hand over the keys to your houses," added the Prime Minister.

Govt Dedicated To Welfare And Implementation Of Schemes

PM Modi reiterated the government's dedication to the welfare of the poor and the effective implementation of schemes to enhance their lives. He emphasized the challenges faced by the underprivileged in previous governments and reaffirmed his commitment to a government devoted to their welfare since 2014.

"Our government, following the ideals of Prabhu Shree Ram, ensures good governance and honesty in the country," stated the Prime Minister.

Challenges Faced By The Poor During Previous Regimes

Reflecting on the challenges faced by the poor under earlier governments, PM Modi highlighted the persistence of poverty despite slogans of 'Garibi Hatao.' He underscored the loopholes in policies, intentions, and loyalty of past administrations.

Inauguration Of AMRUT 2.0 Projects

During the address, the Prime Minister inaugurated 7 Amrit Projects worth Rs. 2,000 crore across various cities in Maharashtra, extending congratulations to the people of the state on this special occasion. AMRUT 2.0 aims to provide universal water supply coverage and sewerage/septage management in all statutory towns.

In line with the government's philosophy, PM Modi emphasized the dignity of labour, self-reliance, and the welfare of the poor. He expressed the government's dedication to implementing schemes that alleviate the difficulties of the poor and improve their lives.

Anticipation For Ram Lalla's Historic Consecration

PM Modi concluded with anticipation for the historic consecration of Ram Lalla, expressing devotion during this special time ahead of the grand 'Pran Pratishtha' ceremony of Ram Lalla in Ayodhya. During the program, the Prime Minister dedicated more than 90,000 houses completed under PMAY-Urban in Maharashtra and 15,000 houses to Raynagar Housing Society in Solapur. Furthermore, he kickstarted the distribution of 1st and 2nd instalments to 10,000 beneficiaries of PM-SVANIDHI in Maharashtra during the program.
New Delhi: Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri is one of the most sensible and responsible filmmakers in Indian cinema. The pioneering director always uses true-life storylines in his films to reflect society and the public. His two true-life stories, 'The Kashmir Files' and 'The Vaccine War', have made an unforgettable impression on the audience's emotions. While the first shocked the country with its tale and conviction and received several prizes, including the prestigious National Award, the latter honors the spirit of Indian women scientists and the minds behind the Corona vaccine, which shows his ability as a film maker to present the quality content to the audiences.

Besides being an Indic filmmaker, Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri is also a responsible citizen of India and time and again he has contributed towards the welfare of the society and the nation. He has actively participated in some of the movements and looking to his work and the impact he has led on the minds of the people and the generation of today, the filmmaker has recently been bestowed with the title of Doctorate from the Governor of Maharashtra. Sharing the news on social media, the filmmaker wrote, "I am deeply honored to receive an Honorary Doctorate from the Governor of Maharashtra at DY Patil University, Pune. Thank you for believing in my contributions. Excited to carry this recognition forward by creating positive social impact through Indic Renaissance. Gratitude"

I am deeply honored to receive an Honorary Doctorate from the Governor of Maharashtra at DY Patil University, Pune. Thank you for believing in my contributions. Excited to carry this recognition forward by creating positive social impact through Indic Renaissance. Gratitude. pic.twitter.com/o7i3bSxGbQ January 18, 2024

Meanwhile, on the work front, celebrated filmmaker Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri left the audiences in awe as he unveiled his next magnum opus during a grand event in Bangalore. The much-anticipated project, titled 'Parva,' promises to be an epic cinematic journey, as it will be based on the iconic novel 'Parva' penned by the renowned author S. L. Bhyrappa. This ambitious venture is set to be a three-part blockbuster franchise, cementing its place in the annals of Indian cinema.

Besides this, Vivek Ranjan Agnihotir is also working on 'The Delhi Files' which is going to be another courageous and real-life film from the filmmaker.
New Delhi: Every person with a job wants to ensure they have enough money for retirement. Whether you work for a company or the government, you can save for retirement through the Employee Provident Fund Organization. There's also a retirement plan for people who work independently.

On May 9, 2015, the government introduced the Atal Pension Yojana for those in the independent sector. About 4 crore people have joined this program so far. (Also Read: In Pics: From Aziz Premji To Sajjan Jindal, Where Are Next Gen Of These Biz Tycoons Are Studying, Or Have Studied From; Check Here)

The government manages retirement savings through the National Pension Scheme (NPS) to ensure people get money back when they retire. (Also Read: From Humble Beginnings To Fleet Of 400 Cars: The Inspiring Journey Of Ramesh Babu, The 'Billionaire Barber')

What Is Atal Pension Yojana (APS)?

Atal Pension Yojana is a government program created to ensure financial security for people in their old age. It's mainly for those who work in the unorganized sector. The program uses the National Pension System (NPS) to manage contributions and savings.

How Is It Helpful?

If you join Atal Pension Yojana, the government guarantees a monthly payment between Rs 1,000 and Rs 5,000. The government also contributes 50 percent of your yearly contribution or Rs 1,000 per year, whichever is less.

This is especially helpful for those who don't pay income taxes and are not covered by other social security schemes.

Who Can Join And Till What Age?

Any Indian between 18 and 40 years old can join Atal Pension Yojana.

How to Get Rs 5,000 Monthly Pension?

The sooner you start investing, the better. If you join at 18, you only need to contribute Rs 210 per month to get a guaranteed Rs 5,000 monthly pension when you retire.
New Delhi: On January 23, OnePlus is set to release the OnePlus 3 Buds 3 alongside the OnePlus 12 and OnePlus 12R smartphones. The earbuds battery and charging details have been disclosed by the company prior to the launch.

OnePlus has officially stated that the premium earbuds can provide 44 hours of playback time with a full charge. The company asserts that the Buds 3 will deliver 7 hours of listening time with just a 10-minute charge, OnePlus posted on X (formerly Twitter) .

Worry less. Enjoy more.

7 hours of listening on a 10-minute charge

44 hours of listening on a full charge#OnePlusBuds3  OnePlus (@oneplus) January 18, 2024

The OnePlus Buds 3 which has already been introduced in China asserts a comparable battery backup. On a single charge, the Chinese variant asserts that the Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) activated the buds 3 can deliver 6.5 hours of playback. Furthermore, when used with the charging case, the playback time extends to 28 hours.

Specifications of OnePlus Buds 3 (in China)

As per the version released in China, the OnePlus Buds 3 will feature three microphones, providing a low latency of 94ms for minimal delay during use. These earbuds support Active Noise Cancellation (ANC), enhancing the audio experience in various settings. The integration of LHDC 5.0 Hi-Res Audio technology in the OnePlus Buds 3 contributes to elevated sound quality.

The earbuds incorporate cutting-edge audio technologies, including 3D surround space sound effects and Dynamic Bass technology. Touch controls enable effortless control of music playback, volume adjustments, and other functions. Equipped with a 58mAh battery, the earbuds come with a case that has a larger 520mAh battery, supporting fast charging and featuring a USB Type-C port.

Price of OnePlus Buds 3 in India

The OnePlus Buds 3 is set to be released in India on January 23. Currently, there is no indication of the earbuds' pricing in India, but an estimate can be made by considering the price of the Buds 3 in China. In China, the OnePlus Buds 3 was introduced at CNY 499, approximately Rs 5,800 when converted directly. In India, the anticipated price of the earbuds is expected to be in a similar range.
New Delhi: Arizona State University has joined forces with OpenAI to incorporate ChatGPT into the educational environment. This collaboration aims to introduce the features of ChatGPT Enterprise to higher education, marking a groundbreaking initiative in leveraging artificial intelligence to enhance learning, foster creativity, and positively impact student outcomes, as stated in a press release by Arizona State University.

ASU Chief Information Officer Lev Gonick, when discussing the utilization of ChatGPT in educational settings highlighted that research indicates nearly two-thirds of organizations are actively considering incorporating AI. (Read More: FB, Instagram Collect All The Data They Can: Report)

He emphasized that by making advanced AI capabilities accessible, such tools are democratizing the use of AI. This means that individuals and organizations regardless of their size or available resources can now leverage the power of AI for creative and innovative pursuits. (Read More: 'We Have To Make Tough Choices': Google CEO Sundar Pichai Hints More Layoffs In Coming)

Adding to the statement Gonick emphasizes the aim of utilizing ASU's knowledge base to create AI-driven projects. These projects are intended to bring about significant changes in educational methods, support scholarly research, and enhance administrative efficiency within the university. Moreover, Annes Jones, the vice provost for undergraduate education at ASU informed The Verge that several professors have begun incorporating generative AI into their courses.

How Will It Help Students?

Starting in February the university will start receiving applications from both faculty and students to explore creative applications of ChatGPT Enterprise. The three key areas of application for ChatGPT include enhancing student success, fostering novel approaches to research, and optimizing organizational workflows, as per the ASU announcement.

As reported by the Verge, Arizona State University has become the inaugural higher education institution to collaborate with OpenAI. It has recently initiated partnerships with public entities, such as one with the Pennsylvania state government, aiming to introduce ChatGPT Enterprise for state employees.

OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, is currently engaged in discussions with major media entities including CNN, Fox Corporation, and Time, to finalize licensing agreements for their content. OpenAI is reportedly in negotiations to obtain the rights to use articles from CNN, a subsidiary of Warner Bros.

Discovery Inc, for the training of ChatGPT and integration of CNN's content into OpenAI's products. These discussions encompass not only text licensing but also extend to include video and image content, as per report from Bloomberg.
Nigar Hasanova

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Jeyhun Bayramov, met with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of the Maldives, Musa Zameer, within the framework of the 19th Summit of the Heads of State and Government of the Non-Aligned Movement held in Kampala, Uganda, Azernews reports.

The press service department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the importance of further development of relations between our countries was noted at the meeting, and the importance of high-level visits was emphasised. It has been pointed out that the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29), which will be held in our country this year, is important for the further development of bilateral and multilateral cooperation.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Maldives congratulated our country for the successful chairmanship of the Non-Aligned Movement and expressed his confidence that Azerbaijan, as a member of the "three-chairmanship", will spare no efforts to further strengthen the Movement. He emphasised the importance of developing cooperation between our countries in tourism, air transport, education, humanitarian, and other fields.

During the conversation, bilateral and regional issues of mutual interest were also discussed.
WASHINGTON, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday passed a short-term spending bill that would extend government funding until March, a few hours after the bill was approved by the Senate, as funding for some federal agencies and programs is set to expire on Saturday.

The lower chamber passed the measure by a vote of 314-108 amid opposition from hard-line House Republicans, who had attempted to cut federal spending and add border security provisions in the "clean" stopgap measure.

The bill, which cleared the Senate earlier in the day by a tally of 77 to 18, will now be sent to President Joe Biden to be signed into law.

It's the third stopgap funding measure this Congress has approved, with the first in September 2023 and the second in November. Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, a Republican, was unprecedentedly ousted from his post by conservative members of his own party after passing a "clean" short-term spending bill with the support of Democrats.

In November, McCarthy's successor, House Speaker Mike Johnson worked with Democrats to approve another stopgap spending bill that would extend funding for some federal agencies and programs until Jan. 19, 2024, and others through Feb. 2.

Earlier this month, House and Senate leaders reached an agreement on a short-term spending deal that would move upcoming government funding deadlines to March 1 and March 8, respectively, buying legislators more time to craft longer-term spending bills.

Just as McCarthy, Johnson is facing criticism from within the party, as hard-right House Republicans have been pressuring him to drop the spending deal he reached with the Democratic leadership. Some Republican lawmakers even expressed regret for casting vote for Johnson's speakership.

Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for Responsible Federal Budget, recently said in a statement that the stopgap spending bill will hopefully allow Congress to pass appropriations bills in the next few weeks before the continuing resolution runs out.

"Congress should now work to pass individual appropriations bills rather than a gigantic omnibus, which can often be accompanied by a slew of other debt-increasing provisions attached to it," said MacGuineas. 
New Delhi: The launch date for Realme 12 Pro series in India has been officially announced by Realme set for January 29. Initially it was anticipated that the debut of the Realme 12 Pro and Realme Pro+ models would coincide with the launch date. However, specifications and anticipated pricing for the upcoming device were disclosed through a listing on the Flipkart website.

Realme 12 Pro Max specifications:

The details of the upcoming mid-range smartphone, Realme 12 Pro Max were unveiled through a Flipkart listing discovered by 91mobiles.

The listing provided insights into the upcoming device, revealing that it will be presented in the captivating "Submarine Blue" color variant. Additionally, the device is set to showcase a curved display, with the initial variant featuring 8 GB of RAM.

-Realme 12 Pro max Price:

The Realme 12 Pro Max is expected to start at 33,999 for the 8GB RAM/256GB storage variant, while the 12GB RAM/256GB storage variant may be priced at 35,999, according to Brars post on X (formerly Twitter). Key specifications and pricing information was provided by Tipster Yogesh Brar.

-Realme 12 Pro Max Camera:

The leak also suggested that the Realme 12 Pro Max could feature a 64MP OIS portrait camera and a 50MP Sony IMX890 OIS camera sensor.

-Realme 12 Pro Max Display:

The smartphone might feature a design inspired by Rolex luxury watches, as teased by the Chinese smartphone maker. Although specific display details haven't been revealed, the leak hints at a Curved vision display with a 120Hz refresh rate. The smartphone is anticipated to run on Realme UI 5.0 based on Android 14.

Realme 12 Pro and Realme 12 Pro+ 5G specifications:

-Realme 12 Pro Storage

The Realme 12 Pro 5G is anticipated to be equipped with the octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 chipset and could launch in India with three storage options: 8GB RAM/128GB storage, 8GB RAM/256GB storage, and 12GB RAM/256GB storage.

-Realme 12 Pro Colors

It is expected to come in two color choices: Submarine Blue and Navigator Beige.

-Realme 12 Pro Camera

The camera setup for the Realme 12 Pro may consist of a triple configuration, featuring a 50MP Sony IMX890 sensor as the primary camera with OIS, a 32MP telephoto lens offering 2x optical zoom, and an 8MP ultra-wide-angle lens.

-Realme 12 Pro+ Storage

On the other hand, the Realme 12 Pro+ is likely to be powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 7s Gen 2 chipset and could be offered in two storage variants: 8GB RAM/128GB storage and 8GB RAM/256GB storage.

-Realme 12 Pro+ Colors

The smartphone is expected to be available in three color options: Explorer Red, Navigator Beige, and Submarine Blue.
New Delhi: In a unique twist to the ongoing India-Maldives diplomatic discord, a restaurant in Noida, Uttar Pradesh, is stirring up support for Lakshadweep tourism. Mr. Bhatura, a popular restaurant chain in Noida and Ghaziabad, has introduced a tempting offer - a free plate of their 'special chole bhature' with every Lakshadweep booking or any trip cancellation to the Maldives.

Joining the #BoycottMaldives campaign, the restaurant aims to boost tourism in Lakshadweep while expressing solidarity with the country. The owner, Vijay Mishra, highlighted the positive response and plans to extend the offer until the end of January. (Also Read: In Pics: From Aziz Premji To Sajjan Jindal, Where Are Next Gen Of These Biz Tycoons Are Studying, Or Have Studied From; Check Here)

The initiative stems from recent derogatory remarks made by Maldivian ministers against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, leading to strained India-Maldives relations. The move comes as a unique blend of culinary delight and patriotic support for the nation's tourism sector. (Also Read: New Rules For NPS Withdrawals Coming Into Effect From February 1: Check What Changes It Brings)

Culinary Solidarity Amid Diplomatic Strain

The restaurant's unique campaign aims to combine gastronomic delight with a call for support to the nation's tourism industry amidst strained diplomatic ties. By offering a complimentary plate of 'chole bhature,' Mr. Bhatura not only spices up the culinary experience but also underscores the importance of national solidarity.

Boosting Lakshadweep Tourism

In a bid to promote tourism in Lakshadweep, the restaurant's offer encourages travel enthusiasts to choose the picturesque island destination. The initiative aligns with the #BoycottMaldives campaign, urging travelers to redirect their plans and explore the beauty of Lakshadweep.

Response And Extension Plans

The owner, Vijay Mishra, expressed satisfaction with the response, noting that ten people in the NCR region had already availed the offer. The positive feedback has prompted the restaurant to consider extending the scheme until the end of January, demonstrating ongoing commitment to supporting national causes.

Diplomatic Tensions And Inspirations

The restaurant's owner shared that the idea emerged in response to derogatory remarks made by Maldivian ministers against Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The move symbolizes the restaurant's commitment to supporting the country amidst diplomatic tensions.

Background Of Diplomatic Strain

Diplomatic tensions between India and the Maldives arose as President Mohamed Muizzu, considered pro-China, reiterated his intention to remove Indian military personnel from the country.

Recent calls for the withdrawal of Indian troops by March 15 have further strained bilateral relations, leading to social media backlash and a wave of canceled trips to the Maldives.
New Delhi: U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday commented on the recent clashes between Iran and Pakistan, saying that they reveal Irans lack of popularity in the region, news agency The White House also said it does not want the situation to worsen. On Thursday, Pakistan carried out strikes on separatist militants inside Iran, in response to Irans attack on another groups bases within Pakistani territory two days earlier.

Biden said, Iran is not well liked in the region, as you can see. And were working on where that goes. I dont know where that goes. The United States has been engaged in a standoff with Iran over its backing of Houthi rebels in Yemen, who have been targeting commercial vessels in the Red Sea.

White House national security spokesperson John Kirby spoke to reporters on Air Force One as Biden travelled to North Carolina. He said Washington is keeping a close eye on the Iran-Pakistan clashes. Kirby said, We clearly dont want to see an escalation in South and Central Asia. And were in contact with our Pakistani counterparts.

He added that the attack on Pakistan was another instance of Irans disruptive actions in the region.
NEW DELHI: In a recent escalation of tensions between Iran and Pakistan, both countries have conducted air attacks on armed groups operating near their shared volatile border. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) of Iran targeted an armed group in Panjgur town in Pakistan's Balochistan province, leading to a swift response from Pakistan, which bombed hideouts of armed groups in Iran's Sistan-Balochistan province.

Geopolitical Significance Of Balochistan

Balochistan, a region of significant geopolitical importance, is divided among three countries - Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran. Pakistan's portion is known as Balochistan province, while in Afghanistan, it includes Helmand-Kandahar and Nimruz. In Iran, it is referred to as Sistan-Balochistan.

The Baloch Tribe's Legacy

The region derives its name from the Baloch tribe, a community that has inhabited the area for centuries. Throughout its history, Balochistan has been a battleground, witnessing conflicts and divisions under the rule of various powers, including the Persians and the British.

Historical Context

Balochistan, originally divided into princely states like Kalat, Lasbela, Makran, and Kharan, faced challenges during the British colonial era. In 1947, the states had the option to join either India or Pakistan, and eventually, Balochistan became a part of south-western Pakistan in 1948, emerging as its largest province. Constituting 44% of the total landmass, Balochistan faces unique challenges. Its arid and predominantly desert landscape has contributed to its status as the least inhabited and economically underdeveloped region in the country.

Challenges And Development Struggles

The arid and desolate nature of Balochistan's terrain has posed significant challenges for development. It is characterized by a scarcity of resources and economic opportunities, contributing to decades-long problems. Despite its vast size, the region remains the least economically developed in Pakistan.

Unrest And Armed Resistance

Balochistan has grappled with a myriad of issues, ranging from socio-economic disparities to political unrest. The struggles have persisted for decades, with the region facing neglect and marginalization, hindering its potential for growth and prosperity. The Baloch people have a long-standing sentiment of nationalism, challenging the Pakistani government for autonomy. While they aspire for independence, their struggle has not gained enough strength to achieve it. The armed resistance is often labelled as terrorism by both Pakistan and Iran, with recent missile attacks by Iran targeting the Baloch militant group Jaish al-Adl.

Strategic Importance Of Balochistan For Pakistan

Balochistan is Pakistan's largest province, contributing significantly to the country's gas production (40%). It also serves as a critical checkpoint for the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). Despite its strategic importance, the region has witnessed a long-standing struggle for autonomy, with the Baloch feeling marginalized.

Understanding Baloch Militancy

Roots of Militancy: Balochistan has become a hotspot for militancy, with groups like Jaish al-Adl involved in armed resistance against what they perceive as oppressive governance. The historical grievances and economic disparities have fueled the Baloch insurgency, leading to clashes between Pakistani forces and militant groups.

Cross-Border Dynamics

The complex geopolitical dynamics have further intensified the situation. The border regions, including Gwadar Port in Balochistan and Iran's Chabahar Port, are considered sister ports, jointly developed by India and Iran as a countermeasure to Gwadar.

A Shared Challenge

The recent airstrikes highlight the shared challenge of the Baloch insurgency faced by both Iran and Pakistan. As the region remains volatile, addressing the root causes of unrest and fostering dialogue is crucial for long-term stability. The geopolitical significance of Balochistan continues to shape the dynamics between these neighbouring nations.
New Delhi: Pakistan and Iran are expected to hold talks over telephone on Friday evening to ease the tension between the two countries after they launched missile strikes against alleged militants in each others territory. The development comes as officials of the foreign ministries from the two sides exchanged messages of goodwill, showing that the tiff between the two neighbours was cooling off sooner than it erupted two days ago.

Pakistan conducted precision military strikes against what it called terrorist hideouts in Irans Siestan-Balochistan province that killed nine people on Thursday. The attack was seen as retaliation to Iranian missile and drone attacks on Tuesday, which targeted two bases of the Sunni Baloch militant group Jaish al-Adl in Pakistans unruly Balochistan province.

Belying fears of escalation, the two sides are apparently trying to come back from the precipice. Foreign ministers Jalil Abbas Jilani and Hossein Amir-Abdollahian would interact to ease tension between the countries, well-placed sources told PTI. The sources also said that talks would be held by the evening without giving exact time.

The high-level contact will take place as officials of the foreign ministries of the two sides exchanged messages of goodwill, showing that the tiff between the two neighbours was cooling off sooner than it erupted two days ago.

Foreign Office Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch shared an exchange of messages between Additional Foreign Secretary Rahim Hayat Qureshi and his Iranian counterpart Seyed Rasoul Mousavi on her X handle, saying: Some positive exchanges.

In an X post today, the Foreign Office additional secretary responded to his Iranian counterparts letter saying he reciprocated the sentiments of dear brother Seyed Rasoul Mousavi. He said Pakistan and Iran have fraternal relations and the countries need to move forward to resolve all issues through positive dialogue.

He said it is important to restore trust and confidence that has always defined bilateral relations between the two countries. Our common challenges including terrorism require coordinated action, he added.

Mousavi said he believed that Irans Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the endpoint of the prevailing tensions between the two countries. Leaders and high officials of both countries know that only terrorists and enemies of both countries benefit from the existing tension between the two neighbouring countries, he wrote on X in Persian.

Meanwhile, Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar has summoned separate meetings of the federal cabinet and the National Security Committee (NSC) to discuss the situation arising out of Pak-Iran tension.

Kakar was also set to preside over the meeting of his cabinet to discuss the Iran situation. Kakar, who was in Davos to attend the World Economic Forum, cut his trip short to return home on Thursday. Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani too returned from a trip to Uganda.
Juliet Thomas receives a Chinese lesson given by her teacher Jian Li in Dallas, Texas, the United States, on Jan. 9, 2024. (Photo by Tian Dan/Xinhua)

by Zhou Yilan

DALLAS, the United States, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- Learning Chinese is more than learning a language, Juliet Thomas, a 62-year-old entrepreneur of a publishing company, has said.

Inspired by her grandmother's cherished book, Juliet embarked on her magical journey from language learning to cultural exploration.

As she is planning her sixth trip to China in 2024, Juliet intends not only to explore iconic destinations but also to extend a heartfelt invitation to her online Chinese teacher Zhu Feng from southwest China's Yunnan province to experience the warmth of her hometown in Dallas, south central U.S. state of Texas.

FROM CHILDHOOD ENCHANTMENT TO LIFELONG PASSION

Juliet's enchantment with China can be traced back to her grandmother's cherished old book -- a trove of captivating images and words that kindled a lifelong fascination.

Recalling the memories of sitting on her grandma's lap and exploring its pages together, she said, "It (the old book about China) was one of those very few precious things she had and my grandma would say China was a magical place! You should go there when you grow up."

Her dream of visiting China took root ever since and finally materialized in 2009 when her husband was invited to attend a conference in Beijing.

"He brought me along! It happened that day was my birthday. The whole conference said 'Happy Birthday' to me in Chinese," Juliet still keeps sweet memories as if she could still hear those birthday cheers. "I was so happy that I almost decided to stay in China if I didn't have two little boys at home."

Following another memorable trip to China in 2012, Juliet's husband sent her a Christmas gift, a set of ten online lessons for learning Chinese from Li Laoshi (Teacher Li), which marked the beginning of Juliet's formal Chinese language study, igniting a passion that she hadn't anticipated.

"That's how I started learning the Chinese language; I never realized I would have such a wonderful beginning!" she said. "Once I started learning I fell in love with the language."

With the help of several Chinese learning apps and social media accounts, Juliet enriches her Chinese study through a three-hour weekly class at a local university and works closely with her current Chinese Teacher Zhu.

"Zhu Laoshi (Teacher Zhu) would assign me listening, translation and other homework. He would check all the assignments, and then we would talk about daily life, movies and all kinds of things," she said. "I've been studying with him on WeChat all through the pandemic."

Quoting an old Chinese saying that only a strict teacher could produce a good disciple, Juliet said, "I had a great opportunity to improve my weakest skill -- speaking the Chinese language, thanks to my strict teacher."

Juliet chose the Chinese character "lan" (meaning lazy) as her WeChat avatar and explained that this intentional choice serves to constantly remind herself to study Chinese harder.

"Juliet learns Chinese because she loves it," Li Jian, a Chinese teacher in Dallas who had taught Juliet, told Xinhua. "Juliet is very intelligent and hardworking."

BEYOND A LANGUAGE

"When I started studying Chinese in 2013, I only knew I was interested in the language and the culture of China. I didn't know it would become such a big part of my life," she said.

"I love meeting Chinese people and learning about other aspects of culture related to China. I love trying different Chinese food, watching Chinese movies and TV series and listening to different types of Chinese music. I also started to learn to play Guzheng (a kind of Chinese ancient musical instrument)," she continued.

Reflecting on her past decade's experience, Juliet said that learning Chinese is more than learning a language.

Her influence has transcended generations, inspiring her 29-year-old son Zachary Thomas to embark on his Chinese language journey. Both have passed HSK (the Hanyu Shuiping Kaoshi or the Chinese Proficiency Test) Level 3 and are now preparing for the Level 4 exam.

Juliet also found solace in Chinese traditions, particularly the concept of Wu Fu, namely the five blessings. Coping with the loss of her father, she turned to the five blessings -- health, wealth, longevity, peace, and descendants, finding a meaningful way to reflect on and accept his passing.

"My father was incredibly important to me ... I felt very lost and so sad when he passed away because I was not sure whether I had done enough for him. The Chinese culture of 'Wu Fu' helped me settle my heart," she recalled. "Looking at those Chinese 'Wu Fu' signs around my house, I realized my dad had fully enjoyed all five blessings."

Juliet believed that cultural exchange is pivotal in fostering understanding between nations and said, "Learning their language is a great way."

Noting that more and more Americans are studying Chinese now and online Chinese teaching is booming, she said, "There are far more resources on the Internet now that are easy and accessible either online or in person."

As she plans her sixth trip to China in 2024, Juliet said she and her husband are planning to go to Yunnan to visit Teacher Zhu and invite him to experience the warmth of her home in the United States. "He could stay with us as many days as he wishes."

"I'd love to go to Zhangjiajie (a city in China's Hunan province), Suzhou (a city in China's Jiangsu province), Xi'an (the capital city of China's Shannxi province) and spend a few months to continue to fulfill my magical dream of China!" she said. 

Juliet Thomas shows her Wechat's avatar, meaning lazy in Chinese, to remind herself she should work harder in Chinese learning, in Dallas, Texas, the United States, on Jan. 9, 2024. (Photo by Tian Dan/Xinhua)

Juliet Thomas tells her story of learning Chinese during an interview with Xinhua in Dallas, Texas, the United States, on Jan. 9, 2024. (Photo by Tian Dan/Xinhua)
In this article, we will look at the 13 most advanced countries in space exploration. We have also discussed key space companies and their latest developments. If you want to skip our detailed analysis, head straight to the 5 Most Advanced Countries in Space Exploration.

The global space economy expanded by 8% to reach $546 billion in 2022, with projections indicating a further 41% growth over the next five years, as noted by Bloomberg. Despite uncertainties in the global economy and a recent decline in space investments, the sector is anticipated to demonstrate resilience.

While we know that NASA is the top space agency in the world and that the United States is one of the top names when it comes to space launches by country in 2023, according to a recent Pew Research Center survey, 69% of Americans believe it is essential for the United States to maintain its leadership role in space exploration. This sentiment cuts across party lines, with majorities of both Republicans and Democrats expressing support. Additionally, 65% of US adults consider it essential for NASA to continue its involvement in space exploration, even as private companies like SpaceX, Blue Origin, and Virgin Galactic Holdings, Inc (NYSE:SPCE) play an increasing role.

Interestingly, 55% of Americans anticipate routine space tourism within the next 50 years which also reflects a growing expectation for civilian space travel. While private space companies are generally viewed positively, there are reservations about their ability to address the issue of space debris, with 26% expressing concern about their efficacy in this regard.

Before we get into our list of the most advanced countries in space exploration, lets look at the two big names associated with the space industry. We will be discussing Lockheed Martin Corp (NYSE:LMT) and Virgin Galactic Holdings, Inc (NYSE:SPCE).

Lockheed Martin Corp (NYSE:LMT) has secured a substantial $500 million contract from DARPA to lead the DRACO project to develop a nuclear-powered spacecraft using nuclear thermal propulsion (NTP) engines. This innovation essentially seeks to advance propulsion technology, replacing traditional chemical engines with more efficient NTP engines and hence, promises enhanced power and efficiency for faster space travel. Lockheed Martin Corp (NYSE:LMT) is focusing on the crucial role of reduced transit times in safeguarding the crew during human missions to Mars by limiting exposure to harmful radiation. The project's ambitious timeline targets an in-space flight demonstration of the nuclear thermal rocket engine vehicle by 2027 through collaboration between DARPA, NASA, and Lockheed Martin Corp (NYSE:LMT). This groundbreaking project marks a paradigm shift in space exploration as it is potentially revolutionizing travel to celestial bodies like Mars by making it faster and more efficient.

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Moreover, Lockheed Martin Corp (NYSE:LMT) has introduced "Operations Center of the Future," located near Denver, which is designed to streamline the management of its expanding constellations of Earth-orbiting satellites. This state-of-the-art facility is fully funded by Lockheed Martin Corp (NYSE:LMT) and incorporates advanced technologies like machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI). The center employs Lockheed Martin Corp (NYSE:LMT)s Compass Mission Planning and Horizon Command and Control software systems, already proven in over 50 spacecraft missions.

The facility's key innovation lies in its ability to handle multiple space missions simultaneously through a secure cloud framework. With a focus on remote operations, a single operator using the ground system can oversee individual satellites and entire satellite constellations from diverse locations with internet connectivity.

On the other hand, Virgin Galactic Holdings, Inc (NYSE:SPCE) specializes in developing commercial spacecraft for suborbital spaceflights catering to space tourists.

Virgin Galactic Holdings, Inc (NYSE:SPCE)s air-launched suborbital spacecraft, including VSS Unity, achieved its first suborbital spaceflight in December 2018, officially entering outer space by US standards. In July 2021, Richard Branson and three others became the first spaceflight-company founder and employees, respectively, to travel on their own spacecraft in space. Virgin Galactic Holdings, Inc (NYSE:SPCE) opened public ticket sales in February 2022, priced at $450,000 each, with plans for approximately three launches per month in 2023. In June 2023, the company successfully launched its first commercial space tourism flight, Galactic 01, following the completion of its final test flight in May as a major milestone in the space tourism industry.

Despite these positive highlights, Virgin Galactic Holdings, Inc (NYSE:SPCE) is cutting 18% of its workforce to prioritize production of its next-gen suborbital spaceplanes, called Delta. The layoffs aim to save $25 million annually. Despite completing its fifth commercial flight with VSS Unity, Virgin Galactic Holdings, Inc (NYSE:SPCE) plans to bring Delta into commercial service by 2026. The company reported a Q3 net loss of $104.6 million and $1.7 million in revenues, with approximately $1.1 billion in cash and securities in 2023. Flights of VSS Unity will be reduced before pausing in mid-2024.

13 Most Advanced Countries in Space Exploration

A satellite in the night sky, glimmering with the promise of aerospace exploration.

Methodology

To list the most advanced countries in space exploration, we utilized worldwide data on countries regarding the annual number of objects launched into space. The 13 countries with the highest annual number of objects launched into space were eventually selected. We obtained the data from the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs Report for 2022.

Here is a list of the most advanced countries in space exploration.

13. Spain

Cumulative number of objects launched into space: 53

Spain's recent achievement with the Miura 1 launch reflects a major leap in its space technology. Launched from the El Arenosillo Experimentation Centre, the private aerospace company PLD Space demonstrated Europe's first reusable suborbital launcher, reaching an apogee of 46 kilometres. Despite falling short of the initial 80-kilometre target, the 306-second mission showcased key capabilities. With over 90% of the PLD Space team dedicated to the Miura 5, an orbital-class rocket slated for 2025, Spain's space prowess is accelerating. The success has positioned Spain as the tenth country with direct space capabilities with a growing importance in space exploration.

12. South Korea

Cumulative number of objects launched into space: 62

Recently, South Korea launched its first spy satellite using a SpaceX rocket, marking an escalation in the space race with North Korea. The satellite is launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base and has enhanced South Korea's ability to monitor its nuclear-armed neighbor. Operating between 400 and 600 kilometers above Earth, the satellite can detect objects as small as 30 centimeters. South Korea plans to launch four more spy satellites by 2025.

11. Italy

Cumulative number of objects launched into space: 74

Italy's space exploration program has a stable industry with a $2.4 billion annual turnover, comprising 200 enterprises, 12 technology clusters, and three national industrial associations. Contributing majorly to international missions, Italy has played a role in projects such as Mars Express, MRO, JUNO, and ExoMars TGO. As a signatory to the Artemis Accords, Italy collaborates with NASA on endeavors like the Space Launch System and Lunar Gateway, securing potential contracts worth $15 billion under the government's proposed Recovery Plan. With $1.2 billion allocated for public-private partnerships in the space sector, Italy is actively enhancing its aerospace capabilities and seeking partnerships which also present opportunities for the US companies. In 2022, Italian Government spent $1.74 billion on space exploration.

10. Luxembourg

Cumulative number of objects launched into space: 86

The Luxembourg Space Agency was established in 2018 and plays a pivotal role in advancing the countrys space-related initiatives. With a focus on utilizing state funds to financially support private companies, startups, and organizations engaged in space exploration, particularly in the domain of asteroid mining, Luxembourg aims to position space as a key economic pillar. The country has a vast space industry comprising over 70 entities, employing around 1,400 individuals. As outlined in the recently published 2023-2027 space strategy, Luxembourg seeks to bolster its space sector, estimated to contribute between 2% and 4% to the national GDP.

9. Canada

Cumulative number of objects launched into space: 102

Since its inception in 1995, Canadas flagship Earth observation program, the Radarsat series, has been at the forefront of space exploration. With the latest development being the allocation of CDN$1.012 billion (USD$0.76billion) over 15 years, the program is expected to operate until 2026. There are also plans to extend its capabilities through the addition of a fourth satellite. The funding boost with approximately CDN$66 million (USD $49.28billion) annually, confirms Canada's commitment to the growth of its space program, ensuring sustained Earth observation well into the 2030s. Therefore, Canada is one of the top countries with most satellites.

8. Germany

Cumulative number of objects launched into space: 120

Germany officially joined the Artemis Accords, becoming the 29th country to sign the international agreement aimed at guiding space exploration cooperation. The signing ceremony, was held at the German Ambassador's Residence in Washington and involved NASA Administrator Bill Nelson and Director General of the German Space Agency Dr. Walther Pelzer.

7. India

Cumulative number of objects launched into space: 144

India's successful landing of Chandrayaan-3 on the moon's south pole has been seen as huge success of the countrys developments in space exploration and technology. As the fourth country to achieve a lunar landing, India has demonstrated its prowess with a cost-effective mission, spending only $74.6 million, a fraction of other countries' expenditures. In 2022, the government of India spent $1.93 billion on space exploration. India is one of the countries with the most advanced aerospace technologies.

6. France

Cumulative number of objects launched into space: 151

French space tech startup Look Up Space has secured 14 million ($15.32 million) in funding, marking the second-largest seed round in European space tech and the largest in France to date. The funding consists of 7 million ($7.66 million) in private investment and an additional 7 million in public subsidies and was led by CosmiCapital and MIG Capital. Look Up Space plans to use the funds to develop its space surveillance radar demonstrator and data fusion platform, addressing the growing risk of collisions in orbit as the number of satellites increases.

Click here to see the 5 Most Advanced Countries in Space Exploration.

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Disclosure: None. 13 Most Advanced Countries in Space Exploration is originally published on Insider Monkey.
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A $15,000 tax bill dispute brought before the Supreme Court by a Washington state couple could have major implications for the U.S. tax code, affecting both investors and broader U.S revenue.

See: The 7 Worst Things You Can Do If You Owe the IRS

Find: 3 Things You Must Do When Your Savings Reach $50,000

In December, the Supreme Court seemed likely to reject a challenge to the constitutionality of a provision of a 2017 corporate tax reform law  one which taxes the undistributed profits from U.S. shares of foreign corporations that are majority American-owned, according to the Court.

The couple in question  the Moores  are seeking a refund of the one-time $14,729 in increase in their tax bill as a result of the law. However, The federal governments top lawyer told the justices that a ruling in the couples favor could cause a sea change in the operation of the tax code and cost several trillion dollars in lost revenue  an argument that seemed to draw support from a majority of the justices, according to a SCOTUS blog post.

Billionaires vs. the Middle Class: Who Pays More in Taxes?

Sponsored: Owe the IRS $10K or more? Schedule a FREE consultation to see if you qualify for tax relief.

What Happened?

In 2005, the Moores invested $40,000 to buy a 13% stake in Indian company KisanKraft, according to court documents. But in 2017, Congress passed President Donald Trumps Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA)  from which the government was expected to derive $340 billion in tax revenue over 10 years.

As part of the TCJA, the Mandatory Repatriation Tax (MRT) was enacted. The MRT required corporations to pay a one-time tax on deferred foreign profits, as Foreign Policy explained.

So, in 2018, the Moores learned that under the recently enacted MRT, they owed income tax on KisanKrafts reinvested earnings going back to 2006, according to court documents.

Yet, they argued that The tax is unconstitutional because it applies to unrealized income (in this case, foreign earnings that were not distributed to them), as the Tax Foundation noted.

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The crux of the matter lies in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which mandates U.S. taxpayers with significant foreign investments to pay taxes on those earnings. The Moores argue that taxing unrealized gains  money they havent actually received  is unconstitutional, explained Sean Lovison, CFP, CPA, founder and lead planner at Purpose Built Financial Services. Should the Supreme Court side with the Moores, its not just about one tax bill. It could fundamentally alter the U.S. tax code.

What Are the Implications for the Government?

If the Moores win their case, the government may lose a significant revenue source from taxing foreign investments. This, of course, has federal budget implications, said Peter C. Earle, senior economist for the American Institute for Economic Research.

Indeed, the federal government could face what some experts deem a seismic financial hit.

Estimates suggest a revenue loss of $87 billion by 2024, ballooning to $125 billion by 2028 if the Moores stance is upheld, said Lovison. This shortfall could necessitate the drafting and implementation of new tax laws or potentially lead to a widened budget deficit, regardless of which party is in office, impacting government-funded programs and services.

What Are the Implications for Investors?

A court win for the Moores could encourage more U.S. investors to invest in foreign firms, knowing profits wont be taxed until realized, according to Earle.

On the other hand, it would likely lead to greater government scrutiny where foreign investments are concerned as well as changes in tax laws, potentially complicating future investments, he added. This case could make foreign firms more attractive to U.S. investors, as the risk of immediate taxation on unrealized gains would be lowered. It might also lead to an influx of American capital, boosting foreign businesses growth prospects.

Another implication: If the court ends up siding with Moore and finds the transition tax unconstitutional, investors who previously paid the transition tax while filing their 2017 or 2018 returns will have to wait and see if the IRS voluntarily refunds it. The refund claim period would have expired for them, explained Liting Chuang, director of tax planning and associate wealth advisor at Bordeaux Wealth Advisors.

For investors who are currently paying the transition tax under an installment plan, they should consider filing a protective refund claim as they may be able to get some of the payments back, added Chuang.

What Are the Implications for Proponents of the Wealth Tax?

According to Earle, a ruling in favor of the Moores could severely complicate  if not thwart, outright  political efforts to implement some form of wealth tax, as it challenges the concept of taxing unrealized gains.

Other experts echoed Earles sentiment, saying that the case casts a long shadow over the feasibility of implementing a wealth tax, a topic of considerable debate among politicians.

Lovinson argued that, should the ruling favor the Moores, it could set a precedent that challenges the taxation of wealth and assets until they are sold or realized.

This could fundamentally undermine the structure and enforceability of a wealth tax, prompting a reevaluation of how wealth is defined and taxed in the pursuit of economic equity, he added.

On the other hand, Chuang said that if the Supreme Court sides with the government and finds that the tax assessment does not require a realization event, this decision could pave the way for a federal wealth tax, or mark-to-market tax.

Tax laws can change, and political landscapes may shift, said Chuang. Investors should stay flexible in their approach to wealth management and be prepared to adjust strategies in response to legislative changes. Consult with advisors who specialize in wealth management and taxation  they can provide personalized advice based on your specific circumstances and the current tax laws.

Biggest Winners

In addition, The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) wrote in a blog post that the biggest winners from annulment of the repatriation tax would be Apple, which would be given $37 billion in tax relief. Microsoft would allegedly receive $18 billion in tax relief, Pfizer $15 billion, Johnson & Johnson $10 billion, and Google $10 billion.

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This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: How a $15K Tax Bill Dispute Could Affect Investors, Tax Code and a Potential Wealth Tax
A low share price doesn't translate to low potential for returns. It just means you don't need as much money to get started investing.

There are plenty of stocks that are good candidates with relatively low share prices. I think that a few stand out above the others, though. Here are three no-brainer stocks to buy right now for less than $50.

1. Brookfield Infrastructure

You have two choices with Brookfield Infrastructure (NYSE: BIP) (NYSE: BIPC). Its limited partnership (LP) units trade under the BIP ticker, while the corporate entity shares trade under the BIPC ticker. Either way, you'll spend less than $35 to pick up one share. I think the investment could pay off nicely over time.

As its name indicates, Brookfield Infrastructure owns infrastructure assets. The company is well-diversified with a portfolio that includes cell towers, data centers, pipelines, railways, toll roads, and utilities. The company operates in North America, South America, Europe, Asia, and Australia.

Brookfield Infrastructure continually looks for new assets. Its strategy is to acquire them at attractive prices to achieve internal rates of return of between 12% and 15%. The company sells mature assets from time to time to reinvest in buying new, higher-growth opportunities.

One nice plus with Brookfield Infrastructure is you get paid to own it. BIP offers a distribution yield of a little over 5%, while BIPC's yield is currently at nearly 4.4%.

The company has increased its distribution for 14 consecutive years. It expects to keep that streak going with an annual distribution growth target of 5% to 9%.

2. Enterprise Products Partners

Enterprise Products Partners (NYSE: EPD) is another LP that looks like a great pick right now. You won't need much cash to buy it, either, as its share price is below $30.

Few midstream energy companies have the scale of Enterprise Products Partners. It operates over 50,000 miles of pipelines in the U.S. plus 31 natural gas processing plants, 26 fractionators (facilities for separating hydrocarbons), 20 deepwater docks, and more.

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Enterprise's business is highly resilient. The company has delivered returns on invested capital (ROIC) of at least 10% in every year since 2005. This period included some turbulent times, including the financial crisis of 2007 and 2008 and the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns of 2020 and 2021.

You won't need a lot of share-price appreciation for Enterprise Products Partners to make you money because the company pays a distribution that currently yields 7.7%. Enterprise has increased its distribution payout for 25 consecutive years at a compound annual growth rate of 7%.

3. Pfizer

Less than $30 will enable you to buy a share of one of the biggest drugmakers on the planet -- Pfizer (NYSE: PFE). And while Pfizer has been a loser for investors over the last couple of years, I think its stock trajectory will soon change.

The company's problems center on the declining demand for its COVID-19 products. Pfizer also faces patent expirations for some of its top-selling drugs. But brighter days could be ahead.

Pfizer expects to add around $20 billion in annual revenue by 2030 from new product launches and new indications for existing products. It also believes it will generate an additional $25 billion per year by 2030 from business development deals.

The stock's valuation is very attractive, relative to its peers. Even better, Pfizer offers a juicy dividend yield of over 5.9%. You'll need to be patient with this beaten-down big pharma stock. However, I think that patience will be rewarded over the next several years.

Should you invest $1,000 in Pfizer right now?

Before you buy stock in Pfizer, consider this:

The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now... and Pfizer wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.

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See the 10 stocks

*Stock Advisor returns as of January 8, 2024

Keith Speights has positions in Brookfield Infrastructure, Brookfield Infrastructure Partners, Enterprise Products Partners, and Pfizer. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Pfizer. The Motley Fool recommends Brookfield Infrastructure Partners and Enterprise Products Partners. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

3 No-Brainer Stocks to Buy Right Now for Less than $50 was originally published by The Motley Fool
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The auto market in 2023 was marked by inflated sticker prices, high borrowing costs and poor inventory, so hopefully 2024 will be known for improvements in all of these areas, on both new and used cars.

Find Out: 10 New Cars to Avoid Buying in 2024

Learn: How To Get $340 a Year in Cash Back  for Things You Already Buy

Speaking to the Detroit Free Press in December, Cox Automotive Chief Economist Jonathan Smoke said, For consumers looking to buy a vehicle, its the best year by far since 2019.

With supply normalizing and the economy stabilizing to hit a soft landing and not turn into a recession, it leads to an environment that is the most normal weve encountered since 2019, Smoke continued.

Before you start shopping, here are a few things unique to 2024 to keep in mind before buying a used car.

Sponsored: Owe the IRS $10K or more? Schedule a FREE consultation to see if you qualify for tax relief.

1. Cost: Are Used Car Prices Dropping?

As Consumer Affairs notes, devoting 35% of your gross annual income to buying a car and putting down 15% of the price as a down payment are reasonable spending goals. Thats not a small sum when you consider the average price of a used car is still hovering above $25,000.

Despite predictions that used vehicle prices will drop in 2024, right now prices are still higher than ever, partly due to limited supply caused by lingering pandemic-era production disruptions. That is why it is more important than ever to have your financials in order. Having an accurate budget and down payment, plus a good idea of the true costs of driving every day, will help you build a good buffer and keep your head above water.

2. Certified Pre-Owned Cars (CPOs)

If youre the type of person who enjoys researching and inspecting a new-to-you car, used car buying should be your time to shine. However, if you prefer mental calmness over the uneasiness that comes with making a daunting purchase, you should consider buying a certified pre-owned car (CPO).

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Buying a worry-free CPO from a dealer will ensure you get a well-maintained car with good parts and a verified history. According to Car and Driver, CPO owners will most likely have to follow the manufacturers warranty maintenance schedule to keep the certification

3. Dont Count Out Buying Online

Over the past decade, weve seen significant consumer behavior changes, driven from offline to online commerce. This trend has been slower to catch on with vehicles, but its gaining popularity as more Americans prefer to shop on trusted platforms like Carvana, TrueCar, Vroom and Autotrader for a seamless online purchasing experience.

Completing the entire used car buying process online might be unnerving, but the opportunity to test drive and inspect the car fully upon delivery is available and encouraged. Furthermore, if you still want to visit a dealer directly, you can do that, after using the online sites to research prices and listings.

Discover: 4 Electric Cars That Will Break Down Twice as Fast as the Average Vehicle

4. Test Drive Every Car Youre Interested In

Vehicles are among the biggest purchases Americans make and get driven vigorously every day, so you should research your purchase with an equal amount of vigor. After youve figured out what you can afford and what the true ownership costs will be, youll need to get a feel for your next ride.

Every dealer is different but its your right to schedule test drives, despite any reservations from the seller. In fact, any hint of hesitation from a dealer should be a red flag. Take your time and enjoy this part of the process; you cant develop a connection with a car without testing it. Likewise, unless you trust your dealership with your wallet, get any car youve settled on inspected by an independent professional.

5. EV Tax Credits for Used Cars

In an effort to move away from electric vehicles (EVs) or components made or sourced in China, the Treasury Department has already changed cars eligible for the federal EV tax credit several times. However, rules about where the car or battery comes from dont apply to used vehicles.

Used car buyers can receive a tax credit of $4,000 or 30% of the sale price of the vehicle, whichever is lower. If youre thinking of jumping into used EV ownership, make yourself aware of the regulations regarding where you can buy from previous ownership rules and income thresholds.

6. Lease Buyouts

Given current market conditions, it could be a good financial decision to skip buying a used vehicle and buy out your lease instead. If the resale value of your car model is high and exceeds the buyout price, it could be a good financial decision.

Check the residual value of the car, which is the predetermined value at the end of the lease term. If the buyout price is lower than the current market value, it might be a good deal. Additionally, high mileage and excessive wear might be more cost-effective than returning the car or buying a new one, even if you plan to resell your current ride for profit.

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This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: 6 Things You Need to Know Before Buying a Used Car in 2024
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You cant buy love, but you sure can buy merchandise that alludes to it. The National Retail Federation estimates that America spent nearly $26 billion on Valentines Day last year, with the average romantic donating $192.80 to Cupids cause on Feb. 14.

Im a Financial Planning Expert: Always Buy These 5 Things Right After New Years

Find Out: How To Get $340 a Year in Cash Back  for Things You Already Buy

The most common gifts are candy, greeting cards, flowers and jewelry  and Costco has all that and more. If you have a Costco membership, here are a few affordable ways to put it to good use during what has become a very expensive holiday.

Costco

Ghirardelli Chocolate Valentines Duet Hearts

Price: $17.99

If your squeeze has a sweet tooth, it will be hard to go wrong with 15.2 ounces of individually wrapped heart-shaped chocolates from a brand that is synonymous with creamy confections. You can also slip them into individual valentines if youre spreading love to a group.

Flavors include milk chocolate, creme brulee, sea salt caramel dark chocolate and caramel milk chocolate.

See: 10 Best Items To Buy at Dollar Tree This Winter

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Sponsored: Owe the IRS $10K or more? Schedule a FREE consultation to see if you qualify for tax relief.

Costco

Hickory Farms Valentines Day Charcuterie Board Gift Set

Price: $37.99

No one should have to choose between chocolate and charcuterie on Valentines Day, and this Feb. 14, you can have both thanks to this gift set from Hickory Farms.

It comes with a heart-shaped bamboo cutting board and a three-pepper dry salami to pair with a smooth and sharp cheddar cheese blend and cranberry pistachio crisps. On the sweet side are four mini chocolate hearts and Torn Ranch dark chocolate rum pecan English toffee.

Im a Shopping Expert: 6 Top Purchases I Make Every January

Costco

Sugar Plum Valentines Boo Box

Price: $39.99

This treat comes with plenty of chocolate, but its not the Halloween kind of boo the name refers to.

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The Valentines Day-themed box includes six chocolate pretzels  two sprinkled, two drizzled and two covered with nonpareils. There are also milk chocolate sandwich cookies, brownies, cookie and caramel bites, candy cherry bites and a milk chocolate heart-shaped crispy cookie.

Costco

Godiva Valentines Day Gift Tower

Price: $49.99

Godiva was already one of the most famous names in decadence before it unveiled the Valentines Day Gift Tower, which includes Godiva Masterpieces milk chocolate hazelnut oysters, creme brulee truffles, milk chocolate hazelnut oysters, dark and milk chocolate mini pretzels and cheesecake truffles.

The Valentines-themed packaging consists of a box tower  stacked five red-and-white packages high  with a red satin ribbon emblazoned with the famous gold Godiva logo.

Costco

Teddy Bear Tote

Price: $49.99

This gift set blends cute and cuddly with chocolatey and delicious. It includes vanilla fudge with sea salt, caramel popcorn, chocolate brownies, strawberry cream milk chocolate, palmier pastry, caramel milk chocolate, flavored jellies and a plush bear whos literally holding his heart in his hands.

Dave Ramsey: 11 Items You Should Always Buy Generic

Costco

Hickory Farms Deluxe Valentines Day Savory Snacks Gift Box

Price: $54.99

If your valentine is more meat than sweet, go for the Savory Snacks Gift Box from Hickory Farms.

It comes with three signature beef summer sausages  nearly two pounds in total  along with smoked gouda, farmhouse cheddar, jalapeno cheddar, mission jack blend, harvest cheddar blend and golden toasted crackers, all packaged in a Valentines-themed box.

Costco

Love You More Floral Arrangement

Price: $55.99

Roses are the standard Valentines bouquet, but the Love You More arrangement expands on the ordinary with carnations, stargazer lilies, spray roses and other on-theme flowers along with the customary red roses  although specific selections are subject to change.

It comes with a red vase, gift messaging is available at checkout, and you can get it delivered as soon as the next business day  perfect for procrastinators.

Costco

Belgian Chocolate Covered Strawberries

Price: $59.99

While a dozen roses are technically edible, the experience isnt nearly as pleasant as eating 12 strawberries encased in fine European chocolate  but dont worry, Costco has you covered.

This gourmet gift from Chocolate Covered Company features four berries dipped in Belgian dark chocolate topped with the word LOVE spelled out in Belgian white chocolate. There are also eight berries dipped in Belgian milk chocolate and decked out with red-tinted Belgian white chocolate.

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Costco

Forever Roses

Price: $129.99

Flowers die in a few days, but you can celebrate enduring love with enduring roses. Packed in a trendy hat box and available in a variety of colors, all 16 blooms feel soft and silky to the touch, just like fresh-cut roses, but theyre preserved to last up to a year with a little TLC. That will keep your love fresh in the mind of your recipient all the way up until next Valentines Day.

While forever roses are the most expensive item on the list and the only one to reach triple digits, theyre still more than $60 under the average Valentines Day spend  and if they last the full year, theyll only run you about $0.36 per day.

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This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: 9 Affordable Valentines Day Gift Ideas From Costco
As Donald Trumps decisive win in the Iowa caucus hints at similar outcomes in New Hampshire, investors should pay close attention to the ripple effects in the stock market, especially in defense and infrastructure sectors. Trumps policy inclinations in these areas are likely to direct a wave of investor interest towards companies positioned to benefit from increased government spending.

Lockheed Martin

Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT), a front-runner in defense contracting, could see a surge in its stock value following Trump's success in Iowa. Known for its high-tech military hardware, including the famed F-35 fighter jet and an array of missile and naval systems, Lockheed Martin is well-positioned to benefit from increased defense spending, a likely outcome under Trumps administration.The stock not only offers growth potential but also a solid dividend yield of 2.8%, making it an appealing choice for income-focused investors.

Don't Miss:

Investing in real estate just got a whole lot simpler. This Dara Khosrowshahi-backed startup will allow you to become a landlord in just 10 minutes, and you only need $100.

Commercial real estate has historically outperformed the stock market, but few investors have the capital or resources needed to invest in this asset class. A platform backed by industry giant Marcus & Millichap is changing that, allowing individuals to invest in commercial real estate with as little as $5,000.

Northrop Grumman

Another significant defense industry player, Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC), specializing in aerospace and defense technology, may also see its stocks ascend. With Trump's potential focus on military innovation, Northrop Grummans expertise in unmanned systems and cybersecurity could become increasingly valuable, making their stocks a keen interest for investors.In addition to the growth potential, Northrop Grumman offers investors a steady dividend yield of 1.6%, adding a layer of return for those investing in its stock.

Story continues

Raytheon Technologies

Raytheon Technologies (NYSE:RTX), with expertise in missile systems and defense electronics, is well-positioned to capitalize on Trumps defense-oriented policies. The companys varied portfolio in aerospace and defense sectors makes it an attractive investment, especially with its dividend yield of 2.8%. This yield further enhances the stock's appeal, providing a balance of growth potential and income generation.

Read Next:

Commercial real estate has historically outperformed the stock market, but few investors have the capital or resources needed to invest in this asset class. A platform backed by industry giant Marcus & Millichap is changing that, allowing individuals to invest in commercial real estate with as little as $5,000.

Collecting passive income from real estate just got a whole lot simpler. A new real estate fund backed by Dara Khosrowshahi gives you instant access to a diversified portfolio of rental properties, and you only need $100 to get started.

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Qabil Ashirov

France continues to deteriorate its relations with Azerbaijan due to the influence of the Armenian lobby in Paris. It is worth noting that the 44-day war became a milestone in Azerbaijani-French relations. When Azerbaijan liberated its territories from Armenian invasions, France stopped pretending to be a mediator in the peace talks between Armenia and Azerbaijan and commenced to conduct a more aggressive foreign policy. In a nutshell, adopting the anti-Azerbaijani resolution by the French Senate exemplifies it.

However, Paris does not have enough leverage to impact Azerbaijan. First of all, France, military-wise, is not strong enough to confront Azerbaijan over Armenia. Most importantly, Paris does not have military infrastructure in the Caucasus.

As regards economic power, France's activities are limited as well. In 2023, the GDP of France amounted to $3.2 trillion which made up 3 percent of the world's GDP. With 3 percent, France cannot impact any country in the world, let alone Azerbaijan, which gradually turns into the energy hub of Europe. Secondly, Azerbaijan and France do not have close economic cooperation. In 2023, the trade turnover between the two countries totaled $0.5bn which is equal to 0.9 percent of Azerbaijan's foreign trade turnover. Azerbaijans exports to France amounted to $133mn which made up 0.39 percent of Azerbaijans total exports.

Generally, in a confrontation with Azerbaijan, the losing side is likely to be France, beyond all exaggerations. Neither France nor Azerbaijan have big mutual investments. However, several French companies are operating in Azerbaijan, and the biggest of them is obviously TotalEnergy. The company has been present in Azerbaijan since 1996, where it is a 50% partner of the Azerbaijani SOCAR group in the Absheron gas and condensate field and holds a 5% stake in the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil pipeline.

Given the present situation and the inadequate steps taken by the French Senate against Azerbaijan, the Azerbaijani parliament adopted a statement and proposed expelling French companies from Azerbaijan, including Total. In this case, Total will be deprived not only of gas extracted in the South Caucasus but also of Azerbaijan's green energy initiative, in which the company is eager to participate. In short, as is shown in the statistics, France's resources to use as leverage against Azerbaijan are limited. Paris thinks that it can impact Baku through Azerbaijan's business partners, such as Italy, Israel, Hungary, etc. Taking into account the share of France's GDP in the world's GDP, its external debts, and so on, it seems impossible as well. For example, despite the USA adopting the 902 amendment against Azerbaijan, neither Israel nor Italy (the biggest trade partner of Azerbaijan) stopped cooperation. Thus, it is not reasonable that the countries that did not follow the USA will follow France.

So, why is France so interested in deteriorating its relations with Azerbaijan? Speaking to Azernews on the issue, a French political analyst, Dr. Frank Musmar, noted that the resolution's multiple points have no political meaning except for the last one, which emphasises the importance of taking the most severe measures, including seizing the assets of Azerbaijani leaders, embargoing gas and oil imports from Azerbaijan, and imposing sanctions in response to Azerbaijans military operations".

Undoubtedly, the Armenian diaspora in France is playing a toxic and dangerous game (the resolution was co-authored by the head of the France-Armenia friendship group in the Senate, Gilbert-Luc Devinaz) that is against peace in the South Caucuses. France's blind support for Armenia will inflate a new regional conflict. The Armenian diaspora in France plays the victim of Turkish/Azerbaijani aggression. Besides, Armenia is smaller than both Azerbaijan and Turkiye, and the question of the Armenian genocide lingers above the relationship and gives Armenia, in sum, the victim role in that conflict. Accordingly, France is still thinking about colonisation and imperialism, especially after losing the African ex-colonies one after another. France does not want to get out of the big boys club and does not want to fight for it; it will choose a new colony (Armenia) to fight its war against Azerbaijan. France wants to be able to hold on to some influence, especially since the rest of the countries in the Middle East are not fond of France, and the United States and Russia have already stepped in for Iraq and Syria. Lebanon is too weak to exert influence, and France could not influence Israel or Iran, he said.

The pundit added that France will do whatever it takes to escalate the aggravation against Azerbaijan. Armenia is the last point of influence that was left for France. Moreover, France was gradually getting in dire need of oil and gas supplies, and by intervening in the area, the colonising French mind still wanted to play the role of the pirate in the South Caucasus, trying to get whatever the superpower left behind: Baku Oil.

Azerbaijan must impose sanctions on French companies, especially Total Energy, and partner with other superpower-represented gas companies. Its all about gas and several other players in the energy field. The relationship between France and Azerbaijan will not improve. It will keep getting worse due to the influence of the Armenian Diaspora in France and due to France's Gas and Oil Target at Baku," said Dr. Frank Musmar.
Assessing the Dividend Sustainability and Growth Prospects of ALPIB

Alpine Banks of Colorado (ALPIB) recently announced a dividend of $0.20 per share, payable on 2024-01-29, with the ex-dividend date set for 2024-01-19. 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 Alpine Banks of Colorado's dividend performance and assess its sustainability.

What Does Alpine Banks of Colorado Do?

Warning! GuruFocus has detected 7 Warning Signs with SGU.

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?

Alpine Banks of Colorado is engaged in providing personal, business, wealth management, mortgage, and electronic banking services. The company offers a range of products including Personal Checking, Personal Loans, Digital Banking, credit cards, debit cards, merchant services, Business Checking, Business Loans, and other services. This diversified portfolio of banking solutions caters to a broad customer base, which is fundamental to the company's revenue streams.

Alpine Banks of Colorado's Dividend Analysis

A Glimpse at Alpine Banks of Colorado's Dividend History

Alpine Banks of Colorado has maintained a consistent dividend payment record since 2019, with dividends currently distributed on a quarterly basis. Below is a chart showing annual Dividends Per Share for tracking historical trends.

Breaking Down Alpine Banks of Colorado's Dividend Yield and Growth

As of today, Alpine Banks of Colorado currently has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 2.78% and a 12-month forward dividend yield of 2.78%. This suggests an expectation of the same dividend payments over the next 12 months. Over the past three years, Alpine Banks of Colorado's annual dividend growth rate was 7.50%.

Based on Alpine Banks of Colorado's dividend yield and five-year growth rate, the 5-year yield on cost of Alpine Banks of Colorado stock as of today is approximately 2.78%.

Story continues

Alpine Banks of Colorado'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, Alpine Banks of Colorado's dividend payout ratio is 0.19.

Alpine Banks of Colorado's profitability rank offers an understanding of the company's earnings prowess relative to its peers. GuruFocus ranks Alpine Banks of Colorado's profitability 2 out of 10 as of 2023-09-30, suggesting the dividend may not be sustainable. The company has reported net profit in 4 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. Alpine Banks of Colorado's growth rank of 2 out of 10 suggests that the company has poor growth prospects and thus, the dividend may not be sustainable. However, Alpine Banks of Colorado's revenue per share, combined with the 3-year revenue growth rate, indicates a strong revenue model, with an average annual increase of approximately 6.10%, underperforming approximately 51% 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, Alpine Banks of Colorado's earnings increased by approximately 7.90% per year on average, a rate that underperforms approximately 52.24% of global competitors.

Conclusion: Evaluating Alpine Banks of Colorado's Dividend Prospects

In conclusion, while Alpine Banks of Colorado has demonstrated a stable dividend history and a reasonable payout ratio, its low profitability and growth ranks raise concerns about the long-term sustainability of its dividends. Investors should consider these factors and monitor the company's future earnings reports and growth prospects closely. Value investors seeking high-dividend yield opportunities can explore further using the High Dividend Yield Screener available to GuruFocus Premium users.

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.


TOKYO (Reuters)  Amazon Web Services (AWS) said on Friday it plans to invest 2.26 trillion yen ($15.24 billion) in Japan by 2027 to expand cloud computing infrastructure that serves as a backbone for artificial technology (AI) services.

The Amazon.com unit is spending to expand facilities in the metropolises of Tokyo and Osaka to meet growing customer demand, it said in a statement.

That comes on top of 1.51 trillion yen spent from 2011 to 2022 to build up cloud capacity in Japan, AWS said. The company offers generative AI services to Japanese corporate customers including Asahi Group, Marubeni and Nomura Holdings, it said.

The investment comes as Japan's government and corporate sector race to catch up in AI development. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida met with the heads of ChatGPT creator OpenAI and advanced chipmaker Nvidia in the past year to discuss AI regulation and infrastructure.

(Reporting by Rocky Swift; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman and Christopher Cushing)
(Bloomberg) -- Apple Inc. began taking preorders for its long-awaited Vision Pro mixed-reality headset on Friday, and early indications suggest that buyers are snapping up initial supplies of the $3,499 device.

Most Read from Bloomberg

The product went on sale at 8 a.m. Eastern time on Apples website and mobile app, ahead of its rollout on Feb. 2. Delivery dates for all three models quickly slipped to March 8-15 for online orders, and the device was sold out for in-store pickup on day one at many locations. The delay signals that either demand is strong or supplies are limited  or something in between.

Apple shares gained as much as 1.8% to $191.95 Friday in New York, erasing most of its 2% decline for January.

With the launch, the company disclosed two additional configurations: a version with 512 gigabytes of storage for $3,699, and a top-end model with 1 terabyte of space for $3,899. The base model includes 256 gigabytes of storage. The company also said it would sell a carrying case for $199 and additional batteries for $199, while extra bands will cost $99 a piece.

The purchasing process for the Vision Pro is unique. Customers need to use a recent iPhone or iPad to scan their head and, if necessary, provide a vision prescription. Apple typically doesnt comment on the sales performance of new products.

Wall Street analysts are predicting a slow start for the device. UBS Group AG analyst David Vogt expects Apple to ship 300,000 to 400,000 units this year, generating as much as $1.4 billion. For a company that had sales of $383 billion last year, thats immaterial.

Read More: Apple Headset Lacks Blockbuster Buzz Needed to Energize Shares

Story continues

Still, the idea is to set the stage for something bigger. Apple is entering its first major new product category since the company began selling smartwatches in 2015, and the Vision Pro may take years to catch on. Apple will continue to refine the headset  making it cheaper and more comfortable  and find compelling applications for the device.

In the longer run, Apple could use a fresh moneymaker. The smartphone market has matured, and its under particular pressure in China. The companys revenue has fallen for four straight quarters  its longest streak of declines in more than two decades.

Initially, the Cupertino, California-based company only plans to sell the Vision Pro in the US, with launches in other markets coming in the months ahead. The company is eyeing the UK, Canada and China as some of the first other countries, Bloomberg News has reported.

Its a complex product to manufacture, which could limit early supplies. The dual 4K resolution displays in the headset, which melds virtual and augmented reality, have suffered production snags. But the fact that Apple has been ramping up manufacturing for months suggests that it will be able to satisfy initial demand. The company is also offering a 25% discount on the device for employees, signaling that supplies arent too tight.

Inside Apple, executives are anticipating a strong opening weekend, with sales tapering off later. At $3,499, the Vision Pro is one of the priciest consumer headsets ever  about seven times more expensive than the latest device from VR market leader Meta Platforms Inc.

The Vision Pro also will be a hard product to share with family and friends. It requires a precise fitting process to ensure a good experience. The face scan is designed to determine the best light seal and strap size for users. The company has prepared 25 different light seals  a cushion that prevents light from seeping into the wearers field of view  in addition to two straps. There also are prescription lens inserts, at an additional cost.

And the headset may be hard for some people to wear for extended periods. In early testing, some users have found it to be too heavy.

Another concern thats cropped up in recent days is a lack of support from top streaming apps. Netflix Inc., Spotify Technology SA and Googles YouTube are opting not to release software for the device, at least at launch.

But Apple has carefully refined its sales pitch for the headset. When consumers try it out at Apple retail stores, theyll get a 25-minute demo, letting them get comfortable with the 3D experience that the company calls spatial computing.

To commemorate the launch, Apple executives Mike Rockwell and Alan Dye discussed the device in a Q&A shared with employees this week.

A key focus, said Dye, was ensuring that the Vision Pro didnt have a closed-in feel  a complaint with VR headsets.

From the onset, we all had concerns about people sitting with their eyes covered and disconnected from the world, he said. It really became central to how we thought about the core principles of the product.

That led to the EyeSight system, which can show a wearers eyes through a screen on the front of the Vision Pro. It was a huge technical challenge to do this in a way that looks and feels natural, Rockwell said.

Apple also developed an interface that doesnt require handheld accessories. Instead, it tracks eye movement and hand gestures. Users control the device by looking at an on-screen item and pinching their fingers together to select it.

One of the biggest selling points may be how easy it makes collaboration, Rockwell said. Users in far-flung locations can feel like theyre in the same place.

Its the closest thing to being there in person that you can possibly have, Rockwell said. It changes the way you collaborate and is very different from videoconferencing as we know it.

(Updates with shares in third paragraph.)

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2024 Bloomberg L.P.
BlackRocks IBIT Becomes First Spot Bitcoin ETF to Reach $1B AUM

BlackRock's spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF), iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), has achieved a significant milestone by surpassing $1 billion in assets under management (AUM) within its first week of trading. This makes it the first among the recently launched Bitcoin ETFs to reach this milestone.

The iShares Bitcoin Trust started trading on January 12, 2024, and has quickly gained traction among investors seeking exposure to Bitcoin through a regulated and transparent investment vehicle. IBIT's holdings consist primarily of Bitcoin, with 99% of its portfolio allocated to the cryptocurrency. The fund also holds a small amount of fiat currency, currently valued at nearly $60,000. As of Thursday, the fund held 25,067 Bitcoin.

Robert Mitchnick, Head of Digital Assets at BlackRock, said: "We are excited to see IBIT reach this milestone in its first week, reflecting strong investor demand. This is just the beginning. We have a long-term commitment focused on providing investors access to an iShares quality ETF."

The iShares Bitcoin Trust closed Wednesday's trading session at $24.41 and trades at a slight premium of 0.42% relative to the spot price of Bitcoin. The fund has recorded an average daily trading volume of 14 million shares since its launch.

Let us know what you loved about this article, what could be improved, or share any other feedback by filling out this short form.
wind power

Britain imported a record amount of electricity from Europe last year as solar and wind farms struggled to generate sufficient energy in the wake of coal and nuclear power plant closures.

The UK forked out 3.5bn on electricity from France, Norway, Belgium and the Netherlands last year, accounting for 12pc of net supply, according to research from London Stock Exchange (LSEG) Power Research.

According to official data, France accounted for around 1.5bn of power sold to the UK in the year to November 2023 while Norway earned around 500m.

Electricity imports were brought to the UK via the growing network of interconnector cables designed to boost the collective resilience and energy security of neighbouring countries.

But closures of British power stations means the traffic is increasingly one-way with the UK instead becoming dependent on its neighbours.

Angus MacNeil, chairman of the Commons energy select committee, said he supported the creation of interconnector cables between Britain and its neighbours because they boosted energy security, but said flows should be balanced across the year rather than largely one way.

The French will be rubbing their hands - its easy money for them, he said.

The ideal is for the flows to be neutral overall in terms of both the flows of power and of money.

Britains capacity to generate electricity has been impacted by the closure of coal-fired power stations such as West Burton A in Nottinghamshire last March and nuclear stations such as Hinkley Point B in late 2022.

New wind and solar farms can compensate to some extent but they are intermittent, meaning spells of low wind or heavy cloud - a phenomenon known as dunkelflaute - can reduce output.

Met Office records have shown that wind speeds last year were below the 20-year average for 11 of the 12 months to December.

Nathalie Gerl, an analyst at LSEG Power Research, said: The opportunity to import cheaper electricity from abroad reduces the occurrence of price spikes and could mean the overall wholesale price level is lower than it would be without the interconnection.

Story continues

A National Grid spokesman said: As the UK continues to reduce its reliance on fossil fuels and increase the development of cleaner, more affordable, and secure renewable energy, National Grid is delivering the biggest overhaul of the electricity grid in generations  The Great Grid Upgrade  to connect that cleaner, more affordable energy to communities in every part of England and Wales, helping us all reach net zero faster.

Alongside this, interconnectors will provide the UK with an opportunity to share any abundance of new clean electricity from where it is generated to where it is needed.

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.
Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) Full Year 2023 Results

Key Financial Results

Revenue: US$18.8b (down 9.3% from FY 2022).

Net income: US$4.65b (down 30% from FY 2022).

Profit margin: 25% (down from 32% in FY 2022).

EPS: US$2.55 (down from US$3.52 in FY 2022).

All figures shown in the chart above are for the trailing 12 month (TTM) period

Charles Schwab EPS Misses Expectations

Revenue was in line with analyst estimates. Earnings per share (EPS) missed analyst estimates by 4.0%.

Looking ahead, revenue is forecast to grow 8.5% p.a. on average during the next 3 years, compared to a 8.1% growth forecast for the Capital Markets industry in the US.

Performance of the American Capital Markets industry.

The company's shares are down 3.8% from a week ago.

Risk Analysis

What about risks? Every company has them, and we've spotted 3 warning signs for Charles Schwab (of which 1 is potentially serious!) you should know about.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.



This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
This article was first published by The Korea Times in a partnership with the South China Morning Post.

A resident of eastern Jiangsu province, 48-year-old Shen Ling used to own a number of Samsung Electronics smartphones in the 2010s, attracted by the devices' well-designed appearance and popularity among consumers across mainland China.

"It was once an age of glory for Samsung in China, when so many of my friends were using the brand for its high-end market standing," Shen said. "I also chose to buy a Samsung phone at that time for the same reason."

Do you have questions about the biggest topics and trends from around the world? Get the answers with SCMP Knowledge, our new platform of curated content with explainers, FAQs, analyses and infographics brought to you by our award-winning team.

But Samsung's strong run in the world's largest smartphone market took a disastrous turn in late 2016, when the company permanently halted production of its Galaxy Note 7 handset amid increased concerns about the device catching fire. That followed widespread criticism from Chinese consumers after several incidents where the handset's battery exploded. In January 2017, the South Korean electronics giant admitted that those incidents were caused by battery manufacturing and design issues after an internal investigation.

"The harm to Samsung's image was devastating," Shen said. "It made me unsure if I could trust the quality of its future handsets." Shen finally decided to switch to a Huawei Technologies smartphone in 2020.

A Hong Kong-based Galaxy Note 7 smartphone user claimed in this Facebook post on September 19, 2016, that the device's battery exploded when it was being charged. Photo: Facebook alt=A Hong Kong-based Galaxy Note 7 smartphone user claimed in this Facebook post on September 19, 2016, that the device's battery exploded when it was being charged. Photo: Facebook>

Story continues

Samsung was once the biggest smartphone vendor on the mainland, with a market share of about 20 per cent in 2013. The Korean firm ranked dead last among the market's major handset vendors by 2018, with just a 1 per cent share and has since remained around that level.

The company's fall in mainland China's smartphone market was partly due to "a combination of inappropriate operations leading to a damaged reputation", said Ivan Lam, a senior analyst for Counterpoint Research. He also indicated that major Chinese vendors - including Huawei, Xiaomi, Oppo and Vivo - rose to become strong domestic and international competitors.

But Samsung, which was unseated by Apple in terms of annual smartphone shipments worldwide for the first time in 2023, still has ambitions to return to its former glory on the mainland.

While Huawei has largely retreated from the Korean market primarily because of local consumers' loyalty to homegrown Android handsets, Samsung is slowly trying to stage a comeback in China. Still, Samsung's mission has become more difficult amid the mainland's shaky post-pandemic economic recovery.

"Samsung has shifted its focus to the high-end market in China, particularly with the introduction of foldable models," Counterpoint's Lam said. "The current strategy for Samsung in China appears to be characterised by conservatism, stability and continuity."

Over the past few years, Samsung continued to launch new smartphone models on the mainland. It has also been working with some Chinese Big Tech companies, including Baidu and Tencent Holdings, to help step up localisation of its smartphones' content ecosystem.

The reason Samsung did not fully leave mainland China was obvious: the country remains the world's largest computing, smartphone, internet and semiconductor market. Continued operation in the vast market has become more important for the Korean conglomerate, as its sales have been hit hard by sluggish global consumer electronics demand.

In its earnings guidance released last week, Samsung said it expected to post its sixth straight quarter of declining operating profit. The company estimated that its operating earnings for 2023 plunged 84.9 per cent year on year to 6.54 trillion won (US$4.86 billion), while annual revenue was expected to drop 14.6 per cent to 258.16 trillion won.

Samsung's sharpened focus on the premium segment of China's smartphone market has managed to attract a growing number of new users. Shanghai university student Cynthia Xia, for example, started using Samsung's foldable Galaxy Z Flip 4 smartphone in 2022.

"I was totally attracted by the design and its flexibility to adopt customised settings," Xia said. "I think no other brands are doing as well as Samsung in foldable phones."

Still, Samsung's outlook in the world's second-largest economy is complicated by the ongoing US-China tech war, which has cast a shadow over the Korean firm's supply chain network on the mainland.

Although Samsung, along with memory chip rival SK Hynix, last year secured indefinite waivers from Washington to ship advanced semiconductor-manufacturing equipment for their China plants, the tech conglomerate has been downsizing its production facilities and number of employees in the country.

Over the past several years, Samsung has shut down multiple production bases on the mainland, including its last smartphone plant in Huizhou, a city in southern Guangdong province, and last personal computer factory in Suzhou, a bustling metropolis in Jiangsu. The company had 17,891 employees on the mainland in 2022, which was in stark contrast to its peak of 63,316 in 2013, according to Samsung's Sustainability Report.

The relocation of Samsung's factories from the mainland showed how the company "strategically deprioritised the Chinese market, resulting in reduced investment in brand and channel building", Counterpoint's Lam said.

With Samsung's recently launched Galaxy 24 series, which features artificial intelligence technology, all eyes are on how the company can help revive and bring change to the global smartphone market.

Still, that new handset is not expected to make a big splash on the mainland.

"None of my friends are using Samsung's phones nowadays, so why wouldn't I stick with domestic brands when they offer similar functionalities at lower prices?" Shen from Jiangsu said.

This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, please explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP's Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright  2024 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.

Copyright (c) 2024. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.
Laman Ismayilova

Thirty-four years separate us from that bloody, terrible day when the January 20 tragedy occurred. The Azerbaijani people will soon go to the Alley of Martyrs to honour the victims of this tragedy and express their hatred for the perpetrators of this tragedy.

During the past period, a lot of work has been done to introduce this tragedy to the world: exhibitions have been opened, events have been held, and documentaries have been shown.

Renowned photojournalist Reza Deghati was one of the people who recorded the events of Bloody January and made them known to the world. The world-famous photojournalist Reza Deghati and his team became aware of the massacre planned by the former Soviet government against the civilian population in Baku on January 20, 1990.

?Azernews takes a look at some moments from the arrival of the famous photojournalist Reza Deghati to Baku on the days of those events and the work he did to spread this tragedy to the world.

At a time when the population in Azerbaijan was disarmed, television broadcasting, which was the main source of news for the people, was stopped, and foreign journalists were prohibited from entering Baku. On January 20, 1990, Reza Deghati, as soon as he heard about this massacre, left Paris for Baku by difficult means. Since it was impossible to travel directly from Paris to Baku, he came to Moscow with a Soviet visa under the guise of visiting Moscow film studios.

As journalists are forbidden to enter, he hides on the train departing for Baku with the help of his Azerbaijani friends, avoiding unnecessary communication with people for 48 hours. On the train, his first task was to learn confusing Russian phrases such as "Ya pa rusky ni znaya" (I don't speak Russian) and "Ya Azerbaijani" (I am Azerbaijani). Because they did not interrogate Azerbaijanis who did not speak Russian. But if someone had checked his documents, it would have already meant the end.

When he arrived in Baku after this long journey, Reza Deghati compared the scene he saw here to a scene from a World War II movie.

"When the train entered Baku station after a 48-hour journey, half an hour before curfew in the evening, we saw armed Soviet soldiers lined up on the platform. It was cold, and I felt like I was in a WWII movie. As if nothing has changed."

On January 24, his friends met Reza Deghati in Baku and informed him about Soviet soldiers shooting civilians, tanks running over civilians, and killing unarmed people, including children, women, and the elderly.

At a time when it was so dangerous to walk on the street in Baku, surrounded by Soviet tank and soldier patrols, Reza secretly went to hospitals and morgues with his camera without thinking about his life and recorded the scenes he saw from different aspects on the memory of the photo tape.

"Baku was surrounded by tanks and military patrols. It was very risky to take pictures of what we saw in the open. We had to be careful; we had to find ways to hide the camera when taking photos from the windows of cars and buildings," says Deghati.

Arriving at the Alley of Martyrs, where the martyrs of Black January were buried, turned into a cemetery, and the graves were covered with red carnations and black clothes. Reza dressed like everyone else and hid the filming equipment with the help of people.

Those bitter days remained in Reza's memory: "First of all, I remember only red and black."

When the army helicopter flew over the cemetery to disperse the crowd, Reza had already finished shooting these "red and black" shots. Reza, who returned to Moscow without cameras and equipment due to security measures, later obtained them with the help of friends and went to Paris from there.

On the evening of his arrival in Paris, more than 18 television channels showed photos taken by Reza and talked about the events in Baku, dozens of radio stations and more than 2000 magazines and newspapers spread information about the January 20 tragedy.

Thanks to the photos and videos taken by photojournalist Reza Deghati and his team, the Black January events not only turned into an unforgettable event but also went down in history as the most merciless tragedy against humanity.
Even when a business is losing money, it's possible for shareholders to make money if they buy a good business at the right price. For example, biotech and mining exploration companies often lose money for years before finding success with a new treatment or mineral discovery. But while history lauds those rare successes, those that fail are often forgotten; who remembers Pets.com?

Given this risk, we thought we'd take a look at whether Clean Power Hydrogen (LON:CPH2) shareholders should be worried about its cash burn. In this report, we will consider the company's annual negative free cash flow, henceforth referring to it as the 'cash burn'. Let's start with an examination of the business' cash, relative to its cash burn.

View our latest analysis for Clean Power Hydrogen

Does Clean Power Hydrogen Have A Long Cash Runway?

A company's cash runway is the amount of time it would take to burn through its cash reserves at its current cash burn rate. When Clean Power Hydrogen last reported its balance sheet in June 2023, it had zero debt and cash worth UK13m. Looking at the last year, the company burnt through UK9.0m. That means it had a cash runway of around 17 months as of June 2023. That's not too bad, but it's fair to say the end of the cash runway is in sight, unless cash burn reduces drastically. Importantly, if we extrapolate recent cash burn trends, the cash runway would be a lot longer. Depicted below, you can see how its cash holdings have changed over time.

AIM:CPH2 Debt to Equity History January 19th 2024

How Is Clean Power Hydrogen's Cash Burn Changing Over Time?

Because Clean Power Hydrogen isn't currently generating revenue, we consider it an early-stage business. So while we can't look to sales to understand growth, we can look at how the cash burn is changing to understand how expenditure is trending over time. With the cash burn rate up 18% in the last year, it seems that the company is ratcheting up investment in the business over time. However, the company's true cash runway will therefore be shorter than suggested above, if spending continues to increase. While the past is always worth studying, it is the future that matters most of all. For that reason, it makes a lot of sense to take a look at our analyst forecasts for the company.

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How Easily Can Clean Power Hydrogen Raise Cash?

While Clean Power Hydrogen does have a solid cash runway, its cash burn trajectory may have some shareholders thinking ahead to when the company may need to raise more cash. Issuing new shares, or taking on debt, are the most common ways for a listed company to raise more money for its business. Commonly, a business will sell new shares in itself to raise cash and drive growth. By comparing a company's annual cash burn to its total market capitalisation, we can estimate roughly how many shares it would have to issue in order to run the company for another year (at the same burn rate).

Since it has a market capitalisation of UK27m, Clean Power Hydrogen's UK9.0m in cash burn equates to about 33% of its market value. That's not insignificant, and if the company had to sell enough shares to fund another year's growth at the current share price, you'd likely witness fairly costly dilution.

So, Should We Worry About Clean Power Hydrogen's Cash Burn?

On this analysis of Clean Power Hydrogen's cash burn, we think its cash runway was reassuring, while its cash burn relative to its market cap has us a bit worried. We don't think its cash burn is particularly problematic, but after considering the range of factors in this article, we do think shareholders should be monitoring how it changes over time. Taking a deeper dive, we've spotted 3 warning signs for Clean Power Hydrogen you should be aware of, and 1 of them makes us a bit uncomfortable.

Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies, and this list of stocks growth stocks (according to analyst forecasts)

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.



This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
HONG KONG, Jan. 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- For centuries the people of Mongolia were nomads, and while a quarter of its over 3 million people still are, the country is evolving. The ambitious, tech-savvy youth are building new opportunities and showcasing what makes this nation so unique and dynamic. On this episode of Spirit of, CNN travels the country from the vast steppe to the streets of Ulaanbaatar to discover how young Mongolians are celebrating their rich history and culture in their own authentic ways.

CNNs Spirit of spotlights young Mongolians embracing and revitalizing the countrys rich cultural heritage

CNN starts in the outskirts of Mongolia's capital, Ulaanbaatar, where "The Festival of Archers" is taking place. The festival is a celebration of one of Mongolia's most ancient traditions  archery. CNN meets Punsaldulam Badam-Ochir, a revered athlete in Mongolia that goes by the title "Mightiest Archer Among All". Her goal is to help promote the sport and train the next generation of archers. She is a role model to many, showcasing the determination, hard work and strength of a modern-day warrior.

Next, CNN travels through Southern Gobi to the "Three Camel Lodge", a remote wilderness experience where guests can get a glimpse into the lifestyle of Mongolia's nomads. The rooms are upscaled gers  traditional nomadic homes powered by solar energy. CNN speaks to Jalsa Urubshurow, the Mongolian-American businessman who envisioned this sustainable and authentic hospitality experience for travelers. Here, he has hired mostly locals including 33-year-old Buyandelger "Buya" Ganbaatar who has been leading tours across Mongolia for a decade. Buya brings CNN to one of the most important fossil sites in the world: The Flaming Cliffs. A century ago, this is where explorers discovered the first scientifically recognized dinosaur eggs here. Back at the Three Camel Lodge, head chef Munkhtsetseg "Muugii" Nasanbat prepares meals for guests, and even offers courses for learning how to prepare traditional Mongolian dishes.

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Finally, CNN meets the rock group "The Hu", recipients of Mongolia's highest state award and one of the country's most treasured cultural assets. The band has featured on the 30th anniversary of Metallica's Black album, made music for Star Wars video games and topped a Billboard chart. Through social media, they have been able to share their music across the world. In 2022, "The Hu" became the first metal act in the world to be named UNESCO's Artist for Peace. Their sound is heavily influenced by Mongolian history and heritage; they use traditional instruments and throat singing to create music so distinct that it has its own genre  "Hunnu rock". The band takes CNN to the countryside to show the Mongolia that inspires them. Their horses reside and train here, and they visit regularly to stay in touch with their Mongolian traditions. Later, the band members prepare a nomadic barbeque specialty of the country called "Khorkhog" -- lamb is cut into pieces, then cooked inside a container heated by hot stones.

Spirit of trailer: https://bit.ly/48TWkXp

Spirit of images: https://bit.ly/3U23Fjr

Airtimes for 30-minute special:

Saturday, 20 th January at 1:30pm HKT

Sunday, 21 st January at 7:00pm HKT

Monday, 22nd January at 2:30am HKT

About CNN International

CNN's portfolio of news and information services is available in seven different languages across all major TV, digital and mobile platforms, reaching more than 475 million households around the globe. CNN International is the number one international TV news channel according to all major media surveys across Europe, the Middle East and Africa, the Asia Pacific region, and Latin America and has a US presence that includes CNNgo. CNN Digital is a leading network for online news, mobile news and social media. CNN is at the forefront of digital innovation and continues to invest heavily in expanding its digital global footprint, with a suite of award-winning digital properties and a range of strategic content partnerships, commercialised through a strong data-driven understanding of audience behaviours. CNN has won multiple prestigious awards around the world for its journalism. Around 1,000 hours of long-form series, documentaries and specials are produced every year by CNNI's non-news programming division. CNN has 36 editorial offices and more than 1,100 affiliates worldwide through CNN Newsource. CNN International is a Warner Bros. Discovery company.

Cision

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/cnns-spirit-of-spotlights-young-mongolians-embracing-and-revitalizing-the-countrys-rich-cultural-heritage-302039181.html

SOURCE CNN International
Companies want employees back in the office. Over half of hybrid workers are using coffee badging to get around the mandates. What is it? And should you try it?

With some companies requiring employees to return to the office, workers are finding ways to avoid it.

The latest tactic is coffee badging. It's when an employee comes into the office for a few hours in the morning to show face, but leaves by the afternoon, according to Owl Labs, a company that makes video conference solutions for hybrid workplaces.

Dont miss

In Owl Labs State of Hybrid Work 2023 study, the company discovered that 58% of hybrid employees have coffee badged. And the trend isnt going anywhere soon: 8% of hybrid employees who havent tried it yet want to give it a shot.

If youre part of that 8%, heres everything you need to know about this latest office trend.

Why are employees coffee badging?

At first, coffee badging sounds like a funny little loophole to simply avoid coming into the office full-time. But more often than not, its legitimately used for productivity and personal reasons.

Even the CEO of Owl Labs, Frank Weishaupt, participates in coffee badging, according to CNBC. He starts his workday at home, drives to work mid-day to avoid traffic and spends the afternoon in the office.

[C]offee badging gives you the opportunity to maintain your flexible schedule, which is incredibly important to employees, he told CNBC.

This is particularly true for parents. A 30-year-old mom told CNBC that she sometimes doesnt go into the office until around lunchtime and then leaves early to pick her son up from daycare. She often finishes off her work for the day at home while she watches him.

Child care for one kid costs more than $10,000 a year, on average, according to the most recent numbers from Child Care Aware, a national network of child care resources and referral agencies. So this isnt just a good parenting decision, but a smart financial one if you can swing it.

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Read more: Retire richer  why people who work with a financial advisor retire with an extra $1.3 million

The financial benefits of coffee badging

You dont just save on child care when coffee badging, but on many other expenses as well. In their report, Owl Labs adds that it costs an employee an average of $51 to work from the office  $36 more than working from home.

The company broke down the estimated costs associated with this: parking ($8), breakfast/coffee ($13), lunch ($16), commute ($14). Those numbers don't even include additional pet or child care costs, which in-office employees would have to consider if they were away from home for an extended period each day.

Coffee badging helps cut those expenses in half, which can be a massive financial win for your wallet.

The downsides of coffee badging

However, coffee badging isnt all good news. It some cases it can be a way to slack on your responsibilities at work and avoid the return-to-office policy.

But the biggest downside to coffee badging is how it could affect your future earnings and work opportunities.

ResumeBuilder.com discovered in a 2023 survey that remote workers are 24% less likely to get a promotion than those who went into the office. The survey adds that even when remote workers got a raise, it was less than those who were hybrid or entirely in-office.

You dont want to cost yourself future earnings and opportunities just because you dislike coming into the office once or twice a week. Even if youre showing your face for an hour or two, it may not be enough to move you up the corporate ladder.

If youre looking to move up at your company, depending on where you work, coffee badging might not be right for you.

What to read next

This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.
Where will all the power come from to charge the electric trucks expected to someday dominate the industry? Zeem Solutions, an early leader in electric infrastructure development, sees decommissioned power plants that once distributed hundreds of megawatts as a target-rich environment.

Zeem CEO Paul Gioupis seems to do everything fast. He thinks fast. He talks fast. And his approach to providing electric vehicle charging  from passenger cars to Class 8 trucks  has caught on fast.

Gioupis founded Zeem  a name that combines the first two letters of zero and emissions  seven years ago. It was a jumping-off point from a career as an investment banker to United Kingdom-based Smith Electric Vehicles. He helped that company build its electric component stack for Class 4-6 vehicles.

Along the way to an unsuccessful public listing, he got a full education around electrification  vehicles, batteries, charging and interacting with utilities. Smith EV suspended all operations in 2017.

Long story short, it all failed, he told me in an interview this week.

Paul Gioupis, CEO of Zeem Solutions, learned electric infrastructure as an investment banker.

Lessons learned

From day one, we built these [Zeem] depots to be able to accommodate everything from light-duty, medium-duty and heavy-duty, Gioupis said.

Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) was a strategic choice. Gioupis knew the airport faced a heavy lift to decarbonize transportation by 2027. Zeem owns and charges dozens of electric shuttle vans that ferry passengers and flight crews between the sprawling airports terminals to hotels and back to the terminals. Commercial EVs account for about 40% of its fleet-as-a-service business.

Hertz battery-electric passenger cars charge at two Zeem facilities near LAX covering 3.1 acres with a total capacity of 10 megawatts located less than a quarter-mile apart. Electric cargo vans from General Motors subsidiary BrightDrop and Fords electric Transit vans take up greater capacity as they grow in popularity.

Electrified 16- and 18-foot box trucks from Kuehne+Nagel and BMC, and Class 8 tractors from Volvo and Nikola servicing LAX  the nations 11th-largest port  drink from Zeems direct-charging (DC) ports. Anheuser-Busch also parks and charges electric trucks under a depot services agreement.

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Zeem also offers a charge-and-go option; a parking, charging, maintenance and wash service; and a truck-as-a-service bundle that comes with a truck, charging and depot services for an all-in monthly price.

Charging options abound

Zeems charging options range from 53 alternating-current chargers  called Level 2 charging  to 78 DC fast chargers from ABB. Together they dispensed more than 1 million kilowatt-hours of electricity last year. Zeems 25,000 charging sessions to 7,700 vehicles at LAX equated to a gigawatt of electricity  enough to power 50,000 California homes on an average day.

The company expects to dispense 4GW of electricity this year. That means four times the pressure on the electric grid resulting in higher demand charges for fleets that charge at peak times. Zeem seeks to offset that impact through bi-direction charging  using its chargers to move electricity to a vehicle that needs charging from a charged truck sitting idle.

Eventually, Zeem will store energy on-site as an alternative to charging customers extra for peak charging. It has looked down the rabbit hole at available options from stationary fuel cells to generators  even diesel-powered ones  to build up energy at its locations.

One of dozens of Zeem Solutions chargers near Los Angeles International Airport. (Photo: Zeem Solutions)

Getting there wasnt easy

Numerous barriers slow infrastructure development  from permitting to supply chain bottlenecks to communicating with utilities.

When youre trying to actually dig up the ground and put in the conduits that run the proper piping for the infrastructure, you start running into a lot of issues. Its incredibly challenging from beginning to end, Gioupis said.

Despite the challenges, he credits Southern California Edison as the most forward-leaning utility when it comes to understanding the difference between a construction company presenting site plans for a warehouse or a gas station from infrastructure developers who want to know how much power they can get and when they can get it.

In Washington state, Zeem waited four months to learn how much electric capacity it could get.

You need to understand how to navigate the utility quickly and understand when youre going to be able to get actual capacity. Theyre not used to the request, Gioupis said. We build medium-duty and heavy-duty infrastructure for fleets. That category needs to be more clear to the utility because the power usage is massive.

Zeem Solutions has 10 megawatts of installed power at two facilities near Los Angeles International Airport. (Photo: Zeem Solutions)

Future state: Decommissioned power plants

Boston-based ArcLight Capital Partners invested $50 million in Zeem in July to scale its site builds. The private equity firm also identifies brownfield sites like decommissioned power plants, such as a 20-acre site in Long Beach, California, where 252MW of power once flowed. Another is waiting in New Jersey.

I had a huge laugh, Gioupis said. And I called the partner and I said,You do understand, I just found exactly what weve been looking for. We cant find power, [and] we just found it.

Weve been working on how do you actually sort of crack this nut. Weve done that. It was a lot of money, a lot of time. Youre gonna see these pretty quickly from us.

Receivership spells the end for Lightning eMotors

The threat of insolvency seemed imminent for Lightning eMotors for most of the past two years. In December, the end finally came.The designer and manufacturer of electric shuttle vans and small school buses agreed on Dec. 15 to enter receivership, giving up on repaying its loans and financing. The agreement was filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Cupola Infrastructure Income Fund filed a complaint Dec. 13 in Larimer County (Colorado) District Court asking a receiver be appointed over Lightning and its wholly owned subsidiary Lightning Systems Inc. The company agreed to the appointment of Cordes & Co. as the receiver.

Cordes is selling off Lightnings assets to pay creditors, including $3 million to Cupola. Company shareholders are excluded from receiving any money. The New York Stock Exchange delisted Lightning on Tuesday because its shares had traded below the required $1 for more than 30 consecutive days.

Keeping a brave face

CEO and founder Tim Reeser kept a brave face during a June media ride and drive of company products in Detroit. But he acknowledged the companys precarious financial position.

He expressed no regrets taking the company public via special purpose acquisition company GigCapital3 Inc., which valued the company at $586 million and raised $268 million that Lightning was promised at closing.

Because 29% of the shareholders in GigCapital3s initial public offering redeemed shares early, Lightning received about $230 million.

At the time, we needed a couple hundred million dollars to scale, Reeser said in June. We were in COVID. The markets were very difficult. The capital markets were willing to give us a great valuation. And we were able to get $230 million to scale. We couldnt have done it any other way.

Separately, Lightning agreed Jan. 12 to settle a pending shareholder derivative action for $1.85 million plus $500,000 in plaintiffs legal fees. A settlement hearing is scheduled for March 8 in federal court in Colorado.

Tim Reeser, founder and CEO of Lightning eMotors, during a media event in June. The company entered receivership in December, unable to pay its debts.

Briefly noted 

IMC, the nations largest marine drayage company, has ordered 50 Nikola fuel-cell trucks for its operations in California, Arizona and Nevada.

Loves Travel Stops and Daimler Truck North America have completed the rollout of Freightliner ExpressPoint at more than 400 Loves Truck Care and Speedco locations.

Eaton Cummins Automated Transmission Technologies is offering the Endurant XD series automated transmission in International LT and HX models with the Cummins X15 engine.

Truck Tech bonus content: Peterbilt SuperTruck 2 walkaround

Thats it for this week. Click here to get Truck Tech via email on Fridays. And catch the latest in major events and hear from the top players on Truck Tech at 3 p.m. Wednesdays on the FreightWaves YouTube channel. Your feedback counts. Please write to aadler@freightwaves.com with suggestions and comments on Truck Tech.

The post Could shuttered power plants become electric truck charging sites? appeared first on FreightWaves.
Daimler Truck, Paccar and Cummins chose Mississippi for the home of a $2 billion battery-making joint venture. (Photo: Alan Adler/FreightWaves)

Accelera by Cummins, Daimler Truck and Paccar Inc. followed the incentives in choosing northern Mississippi for a $2 billion battery-making joint venture. The factory for medium- and heavy-duty commercial trucks will create 2,000 manufacturing jobs.

Mississippi lawmakers Thursday approved $365 million in state incentives for the jobs expected to have an average salary of $66,000, according to an Associated Press report.

The three companies announced the JV in September. Its goals in making lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries in the U.S. include securing local supply and reducing costs. LFP technology is more durable and safer than lithium-ion technology in wide use. It also reduces reliance on imports from China of nickel, manganese and cobalt.

Production targeted for 2027

The 21-gigawatt hour (GWh) factory in the Magnolia State expects to begin producing battery cells in 2027. Accelera, Daimler Truck and Paccar will each own 30% of, and jointly control, the business. Huizhou, China-based EVE Energy has a 10% stake in the JV and will contribute battery cell design and manufacturing expertise.

This site selection represents an exciting and tangible step toward advancing our Destination Zero strategy. And [it advances] our vision to lead the industry toward a decarbonized future, Jennifer Rumsey, Cummins chair and CEO, said in a news release.

Cummins promoted LFP battery chemistry at the IAA Transportation show in Hanover, Germany, in September 2022. Both DTNA and Paccar currently use LFP battery cells from Chinas Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Cummins, through its Accelera unit, makes electric buses for Gillig as well as fully integrated electric chassis for commercial vehicles.





US battery startup failures

The failure of two U.S. battery-making startups  Romeo Power and Proterra  reduced availability of U.S.-produced batteries. Swedens Volvo Group, acquired Proterras battery-making assets for $210 million in Proterras Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization. Volvo competes with Daimler and Paccar

Story continues

Michigan-based startup Our Next Energy focuses its LFP production on passenger cars and medium-duty trucks.

Weve very, very conscientiously created a joint venture with a rigid competitor [Daimler] and a long-term collaborator [Cummins], John Rich, Paccar chief technology officer, told FreightWaves. We saw a need to move down an adoption curve in batteries that was afforded by scale that none of us could do alone.

Paccar expands Mississippi presence

Paccar builds engines for its Kenworth and Peterbilt brands in Columbus, Mississippi. It announced a $209 million, 50,000-square-foot expansion there in October to add engine remanufacturing. The investment created 100 jobs.

The state, the communities and the people of Mississippi are wonderful business partners for Paccar, CEO Preston Feight said in the release.

The joint venture awaits approvals, including from a voluntary notice to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States. The JV has not yet been named.

We are living in a global economy, Republican Rep. Trey Lamar of Senatobia, chairman of the state House Ways and Means Committee, was quoted by the AP as saying during a special legislative session. The fact that we have companies that may be coming from outside of the United States to invest and provide jobs to Americans is a good thing.

Related articles:

Daimler Truck, Cummins and Paccar partner to make battery cells in the US

Volvo Group wins bid for bankrupt Proterra battery assets

Click for more FreightWaves articles by Alan Adler.

The post Cummins, Daimler and Paccar pick Mississippi for $2B battery joint venture appeared first on FreightWaves.
Donald Trump Claims He Will Never Allow Creation of CBDC in the US if Reelected

During a campaign speech in New Hampshire, former President Donald Trump vowed to prevent the creation of a U.S. central bank digital currency (CBDC) if reelected, calling it a "dangerous threat to freedom." He warned that a CBDC would give the federal government "absolute control over your money" and the ability to seize funds without individuals' knowledge.

Trump said: To protect Americans from government tyranny, as your President, I will never allow the creation of a central bank digital currency.

Trump's stance marks a shift from his previous skepticism towards cryptocurrencies, as he seeks to attract pro-crypto voters. He has released numerous NFT collections and cashed out millions in Ethereum from their sales. Trump was joined on stage by Vivek Ramaswamy, a crypto-friendly former Presidential candidate who dropped out of the race to back Trump.

The former President's pledge to block CBDCs aligns with the views of other Republican candidates, including Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. DeSantis has pledged to "end Biden's war on Bitcoin" and banned CBDCs in the state. He has also announced that Florida would accept Bitcoin as payment for state taxes from businesses.

The issue of cryptocurrencies and CBDCs has become a hot-button topic on the campaign trail. As the country enters the 2024 election cycle, candidates are increasingly taking positions on these issues to appeal to voters.

Let us know what you loved about this article, what could be improved, or share any other feedback by filling out this short form.
Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) has announced that it will be increasing its dividend from last year's comparable payment on the 8th of March to $1.30. This takes the annual payment to 0.8% of the current stock price, which unfortunately is below what the industry is paying.

View our latest analysis for Eli Lilly

Eli Lilly's Earnings Easily Cover The Distributions

While yield is important, another factor to consider about a company's dividend is whether the current payout levels are feasible. At the time of the last dividend payment, Eli Lilly was paying out a very large proportion of what it was earning and 340% of cash flows. Paying out such a high proportion of cash flows certainly exposes the company to cutting the dividend if cash flows were to reduce.

Analysts expect a massive rise in earnings per share in the next year. If the dividend continues along recent trends, we estimate the payout ratio will be 24%, which would make us comfortable with the dividend's sustainability, despite the levels currently being elevated.

Eli Lilly Has A Solid Track Record

The company has an extended history of paying stable dividends. The dividend has gone from an annual total of $1.96 in 2014 to the most recent total annual payment of $5.20. This implies that the company grew its distributions at a yearly rate of about 10% over that duration. So, dividends have been growing pretty quickly, and even more impressively, they haven't experienced any notable falls during this period.

Dividend Growth Could Be Constrained

Investors who have held shares in the company for the past few years will be happy with the dividend income they have received. It's encouraging to see that Eli Lilly has been growing its earnings per share at 73% a year over the past five years. Earnings per share is growing nicely, but the company is paying out most of its earnings as dividends. This might be sustainable, but we wonder why Eli Lilly is not retaining those earnings to reinvest in growth.

Story continues

In Summary

In summary, while it's always good to see the dividend being raised, we don't think Eli Lilly's payments are rock solid. In the past the payments have been stable, but we think the company is paying out too much for this to continue for the long term. This company is not in the top tier of income providing stocks.

Market movements attest to how highly valued a consistent dividend policy is compared to one which is more unpredictable. Meanwhile, despite the importance of dividend payments, they are not the only factors our readers should know when assessing a company. For example, we've picked out 2 warning signs for Eli Lilly that investors should know about before committing capital to this stock. Looking for more high-yielding dividend ideas? Try our collection of strong dividend payers.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.



This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
European Commissioner for Justice, Didier Reynders, right, and Poland's new Justice Minister Adam Bodnar take part in a news conference, in Warsaw, Poland, Friday Jan. 19, 2024. Reynders has praised efforts by Poland's new pro-EU government to restore rule of law and said they may lead to the release of some of EU funds for the country that were frozen under the previous recalcitrant administration. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)

WARSAW, Poland (AP)  European Union Commissioner for Justice Didier Reynders on Friday praised efforts by Polands new pro-EU government to restore the rule of law and said they may lead to the release of billions of euros in EU funds for the country that were frozen under the previous government.

Reynders was holding talks in Warsaw with new Justice Minister Adam Bodnar, the foreign and European affairs ministers and parliament speakers about the steps that Poland's month-old government is taking to reverse the controversial judicial policies of the previous administration that the EU had criticized as undemocratic.

Reynders said at a news conference that he was pleased by the determination of Prime Minister Donald Tusk and his Cabinet in restoring the rule of law, in line with Poland's Constitution and the requirements of the EU and the European Convention on Human Rights.

He said the European Commission, the executive arm of the 27-member bloc, was supporting the government's efforts.

He expressed hope that the steps would soon allow the approval of Polands request for the release of about 7 billion euros ($7.6 billion) from the post-pandemic recovery funds earmarked for the country. The EU froze the money as a result of rule-of-law disputes with Polands previous right-wing government of the Law and Justice party.

Among its key steps, Tusk's government has imprisoned two members of the previous government who were convicted of abuse of power and document forging and is making personnel changes in vital judicial bodies and some courts where rule-of-law principles had been questioned.

Bodnar's steps have been harshly criticized by the opposition which lost power in October elections, but he told the news conference that they were well thought-out and necessary.
Abbas Ganbay

Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov held a meeting with his Tanzanian counterpart Jenoiri Yusuf Makamba, Azernews reports.

The meeting was held on the margins of the 19th Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) countries in Uganda.

The Ministers discussed the interaction between Azerbaijan and Tanzania within the framework of international organizations, as well as issues of bilateral cooperation.
Wall Street analysts forecast that Freeport-McMoRan (FCX) will report quarterly earnings of $0.23 per share in its upcoming release, pointing to a year-over-year decline of 55.8%. It is anticipated that revenues will amount to $5.84 billion, exhibiting an increase of 1.5% compared to the year-ago quarter.

Over the last 30 days, there has been a downward revision of 0.6% in the consensus EPS estimate for the quarter, leading to its current level. This signifies the covering analysts' collective reconsideration of their initial forecasts over the course of this timeframe.

Before a company announces its earnings, it is essential to take into account any changes made to earnings estimates. This is a valuable factor in predicting the potential reactions of investors toward the stock. Empirical research has consistently shown a strong correlation between trends in earnings estimate revisions and the short-term price performance of a stock.

While investors usually depend on consensus earnings and revenue estimates to assess the business performance for the quarter, delving into analysts' forecasts for certain key metrics often provides a more comprehensive understanding.

With that in mind, let's delve into the average projections of some Freeport-McMoRan metrics that are commonly tracked and projected by analysts on Wall Street.

Analysts forecast 'Revenues- Indonesia' to reach $2.62 billion. The estimate indicates a change of +16.9% from the prior-year quarter.

According to the collective judgment of analysts, 'Revenues- Molybdenum' should come in at $231.93 million. The estimate indicates a change of +39.7% from the prior-year quarter.

It is projected by analysts that the 'Revenues- South America copper mines' will reach $1.11 billion. The estimate indicates a change of -18.3% from the prior-year quarter.

Analysts expect 'Revenues- North America copper mines' to come in at $1.34 billion. The estimate points to a change of -8.2% from the year-ago quarter.

Story continues

The average prediction of analysts places 'Sales in thousands of ounces - Gold - Consolidated basis' at 584.29 Koz. Compared to the present estimate, the company reported 458 Koz in the same quarter last year.

The collective assessment of analysts points to an estimated 'Production in millions of pounds - Molybdenum - South America' of 5.54 Mlbs. Compared to the present estimate, the company reported 5 Mlbs in the same quarter last year.

Based on the collective assessment of analysts, 'Production in millions of pounds - Molybdenum - By-product - North America' should arrive at 6.93 Mlbs. Compared to the current estimate, the company reported 7 Mlbs in the same quarter of the previous year.

The consensus estimate for 'Sales in thousands of Ounces - Gold - Indonesia' stands at 580.34 Koz. The estimate is in contrast to the year-ago figure of 455 Koz.

Analysts' assessment points toward 'Sales in thousands of Ounces - Gold - North America' reaching 3.94 Koz. The estimate is in contrast to the year-ago figure of 3 Koz.

Analysts predict that the 'Sales in millions of pounds - Copper - Indonesia - Grasberg' will reach 474.95 Mlbs. Compared to the present estimate, the company reported 387 Mlbs in the same quarter last year.

The consensus among analysts is that 'Average realized price per ounce - Gold' will reach $1,934.59. The estimate is in contrast to the year-ago figure of $1,789.

The combined assessment of analysts suggests that 'Average realized price per pound - Molybdenum' will likely reach $20.84. The estimate compares to the year-ago value of $18.94.



View all Key Company Metrics for Freeport-McMoRan here>>>



Shares of Freeport-McMoRan have demonstrated returns of -9.5% over the past month compared to the Zacks S&P 500 composite's +0.9% change. With a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), FCX is expected to mirror the overall market performance in the near future. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stocks here >>>>

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UTS Business School in Sydney, Australia was commended among the Best Overall Business Schools committed to a responsible ethos in The Financial Times 2024 Responsible Business Education awards  the only Australian university to be featured. UTS photo

In the United States, diversity, equity and inclusion and environmental, social and governance programs in higher education are under constant attack from conservatives at the highest levels of business and politics. Elon Musk and Bill Ackman are only the latest of a cadre of the ultra-rich who relentlessly employ their fortunes to ensure that despite their prevalence and near-universal acceptance in academia, DEI and ESG programs are lumped together inextricably and no longer safely seen as unalloyed positives  in academia or anywhere else.

U.S. business schools, from which sprung so many of these billionaire activists and their acolytes, have been a particular target of this nascent anti-DEI campaign. But the picture is quite different in Europe and the rest of the world, as reflected by The Financial Times annual Responsible Business Education Awards.

The UK-based magazines recently announced 2024 awards for teaching, research, and best overall show clearly that the invocation of ESG  and in a larger sense, the belief that business education must help achieve a greater good concomitant, or even foremost, to the pursuit of profit  still carries a weighty social and commercial imprimatur.

AALTO, IESEG, SAID, COLORADO STATE, VU AMSTERDAM NAMED BEST SCHOOLS OVERALL

Oxford Saids Kathy Harvey: 51% of our schools core teaching contains Environmental Social and Governance (ESG) related content

Some U.S. schools do appear among the three categories, each of which are divided between five winners and a dozen highly commended runners-up. In the Best Overall Schools award, for schools committed to a responsible ethos that demonstrate system-wide responsible business principles integrated throughout teaching, research, operations and student outcomes, Colorado State University College of Business is one of the five winners, along with Aalto University School of Business in Finland; Ieseg School of Management in France; the University of Oxford Said Business School in the UK; and VU Amsterdam School of Business and Economics in the Netherlands. Two other U.S. B-schools  UC-Berkeley Haas School of Business and Georgetown McDonough School of Business  are among the 12 commended schools. (See below for all 2024 winners.)

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In the teaching award, Best responsible teaching resources: innovative materials with a financial sustainability focus, for best innovative recent teaching materials on sustainability or climate change adaptation with a special focus on finance, the five top schools are the University of Cambridge Judge Business School in the UK, for its The Purpose of Finance masters course; IE Business School in Spain, for its Eye in the Storm course; Kedge Business School in France, for Ecological Macroeconomics course/textbooks; Loyola Marymount University in the U.S., for its Business for Good undergraduate course; and Vlerick Business School in Belgium, for its European EMBA sustainable finance module.

In the research award, for Best academic research with societal impact: publications and outreach that have influenced policy or practice that addresses societal challenges with associated outreach/engagement in the last three years which has delivered positive impact on policy or practice, FT names five professors and their articles, as well as the journals they were published in. The winners (FT lists only the first author, but all of the top five papers were written by multiple authors): Daniel Garrett of the University of Pennsylvania, for Gas, Guns, and Governments Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago; Mark de Rond of Cambridge Judge, for To Catch a Predator, Academy of Management Journal; Rafael Sarda of SDA Bocconi in Italy, for Business for Ocean Sustainability, in Ambio; Sandip Sukhtankar of the University of Virginia and Oxford: Said, for Policing in Patriarchy, Science; and Malte Toetzke of the University of St. Gallen, for Consistent and Replicable Estimation of Bilateral Climate Finance, Nature Climate Change.

WE STILL HAVE A LOT TO DO

Commenting on Oxford Saids overall win, Kathy Harvey, associate dean of MBA and executive degrees, said in a news release: Were delighted to be recognized for our work here. We have always taken our responsibility in this space seriously, whether through turning out future leaders equipped to make the world better, tackling global challenges through impactful research or leading by example through how we run and manage our campuses.

Im proud to say that before business schools really started talking about sustainability and efficiency, we were already redesigning part of the curriculum to reflect our principles of fostering impact from within. Now 51% of our schools core teaching contains Environmental Social and Governance (ESG) related content.

At Cambridge, the award-winning Purpose of Finance course was developed and taught to Master of Finance and MBA students by Cambridge Judge Fellow David Pitt-Watson and by Dr. Ellen Quigley, co-director of Finance for Systemic Change and special adviser to the universitys CFO. The course seeks to challenge traditional ways of looking at finance and make the link between sustainability and the world at large, FT said in announcing the awards.

Caroline Roussel, dean of IESEG, and Maria Castillo, the Paris schools social and environmental impact director, said in a statement that the schools inclusion in both the Best School and Best Responsible Teaching Resources awards is great recognition of the effort done by every member of IESEG to better integrate social and environmental impact into everything we do. Transforming IESEG to ensure we prepare our students to be responsible changemakers and help drive sustainable change in organizations, while ensuring that we, as an organization, contributes positively to society, is a challenging but exciting process. We are moving in the right direction, but we still have a lot to do!

Professor Carl Rhodes, dean of UTS Business School in Sydney, Australia, the only Australian school to be listed in any category, cheered his small schools inclusion among the commended schools in both the research and best overall categories. To be recognized alongside the worlds leading institutions in responsible management is an honor and testament to the passion and dedication of our academics and teaching staff, Rhodes said, who are working to help business and organizations make better decisions to promote economic and social well-being, as well as developing tomorrows ethical and socially responsible leaders through our education programs.

See The Financial Times 2024 Responsible Business Education Awards here.

BEST OVERALL SCHOOL FOR RESPONSIBLE BUSINESS EDUCATION  FINANCIAL TIMES

Institution Country Aalto University School of Business Finland Colorado State University College of Business US Ieseg School of Management France University of Oxford: Said UK VU Amsterdam School of Business and Economics Netherlands HIGHLY COMMENDED University of Cambridge: Judge UK Cardiff Business School UK Centrum PUCP Graduate Business School Peru Egade Business School Mexico ESCP Business School France/Italy/Spain/UK/Germany Georgetown University: McDonough US Iese Business School Spain IMD  International Institute for Management Development Switzerland University of California at Berkeley: Haas US

BEST TEACHING  FINANCIAL TIMES

School Location Initiative University of Cambridge: Judge UK The Purpose of Finance Masters Course IE Business School Spain Eye in the Storm Kedge Business School France Ecological Macroeconomics Course/Textbooks Loyola Marymount University US Business for Good Undergraduate Course Vlerick Business School Belgium European EMBA Sustainable Finance Module HIGHLY COMMENDED Esade-URL Spain Transformational Leadership and Social impact Undergraduate Course ESCP/One point France/Italy/Spain/UK/Germany/Poland Design Fiction for Sustainable Futures ESMT Berlin Germany Sustainability Starter Kit GRLI International Globally Responsible Leadership for Sustainable Transformation Harvard, Stanford, Columbia, Yale, Oxford, Imperial, Mannheim, University of Texas US/UK/Germany Financial Economics of Climate and Sustainability Doctoral Course Henley Business School UK Sixth Form Social Enterprise Course Ieseg School of Management France Transition 2026 programme Insead France/Singapore/UAE/US The ESG Journey of Pro-invest Group IMD/UN Institute for Training and Research Switzerland COP Simulation MIT/University of Amsterdam US/Netherlands Analytics for a Better World University of Pennsylvania US Climate and Financial Markets Course Western University: Ivey Canada Circulr: Creating Sustainable Value from an Empty Jar

BEST RESEARCH  FINANCIAL TIMES

First author Institution Article Journal Daniel Garrett University of Pennsylvania/Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago Gas, Guns, and Governments Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago Mark de Rond University of Cambridge: Judge To Catch a Predator Academy of Management Journal Rafael Sarda Centre dEstudis Avancats de Blanes/Bocconi/McKinsey/One Ocean Foundation Business for Ocean Sustainability Ambio Sandip Sukhtankar University of Virginia/University of Oxford: Said Policing in Patriarchy Science Malte Toetzke ETH Zurich/University of St Gallen Consistent and Replicable Estimation of Bilateral Climate Finance Nature Climate Change HIGHLY COMMENDED Mladen Adamovic Kings College London/Monash Business School Is there a Glass Ceiling for Ethnic Minorities to Enter Leadership Positions? The Leadership Quarterley Nuno Bento Instituto Universitario de Lisboa/EDHEC Determinants of Internal Carbon Pricing Energy Policy Yann Cornill University of British Columbia/Insead/Sorbonne/EPHE Obesity and Responsiveness to Food Marketing Journal of Consumer Psychology Benn Hogan Trinity College Dublin Irish Business and Human Rights Trinity Business School Charlotte Karam American University of Beirut Multilevel Power Dynamics Shaping Employer Anti-Sexual Harassment Efforts in Lebanon Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Debbie Keeling University of Sussex /Kings College London/Lancaster University Consumer (Dis)engagement Coping Profiles Using Online Services in Managing Health-Related Stressors Psychology & Marketing Todd Moss Syracuse University/IPADE Business School Partnerships as an Enabler of Resourcefulness in Generating Sustainable Outcomes Journal of Business Venturing Noel Perry UC Berkeley Paying for Electricity in California Energy Institute at Haas J.J. Prescott University of Michigan/University of Maryland Subjective Beliefs about Contract Enforceability Journal of Legal Studies Hatim Rahman Northwestern University/Imperial College/Stanford The Experimental Hand Academy of Management Journal Nazl Sonmez ESMT Berlin/Aravind Eye Hospital/Harvard Business School/London Business School Evidence from the First Shared Medical Appointments (SMAs) Randomised Controlled Trial in India PLOS Global Public Health Anne Summers University of Technology Sydney The Choice: Violence or Poverty Opus

DONT MISS HEC PARIS TOPS FINANCIAL TIMES RANKING OF EUROPEAN B-SCHOOLS FOR A FIFTH STRAIGHT YEAR and FINANCIAL TIMES 2023 MBA RANKING: THE BIGGEST BOMBSHELL IS WHARTONS DISAPPEARANCE

The post Familiar Names & A Few Surprises Among Financial Times Most Responsible B-Schools appeared first on Poets&Quants.
The effective date of a new federal rule designed to protect consumers from illegal scams when buying a car has been postponed due to legal challenges.

The new rule finalized by the Federal Trade Commission in December was set to go into effect this summer. But the Combatting Auto Retail Scams (CARS) Rule has been paused while a court battle ensues.

A new Federal Trade Commission rule protecting consumers from illegal car dealership scams has been postponed.

The National Automobile Dealers Association and the Texas Automobile Dealers Association have petitioned the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit to overturn the rule. The two parties assert that the rule should be stayed while the court challenge is pending.

The FTC issued an order postponing the effective date of the rule on Thursday. In a press release, the FTC "notes that these assertions rest on mischaracterizations of what the rule requires. Specifically, the Commissions order points to the inaccurate argument that the rule will increase compliance costs for car dealers, which is not true for dealers who currently follow the law."

Once enacted, the new rules, prohibiting bait-and-switch tactics and hidden junk fees, are expected to save consumers nationwide more than $3.4 billion and an estimated 72 million hours each year shopping for vehicles, the FTC has said.

The rules received praise from consumer advocates and sharp criticism from representatives of the car-buying industry in December.

What is the CARS Rule?

The CARS Rule prohibits dealers from using bait-and-switch claims to lure vehicle buyers to the lot, including those about the cost of a car or the terms of financing, the availability of any discounts or rebates, and the actual availability of the vehicles being advertised.

It also tackles hidden junk fees  charges buried in lengthy contracts that consumers never agreed to pay. In some cases, these fees are for services or products that provide no benefit to consumers.

The National Automobile Dealers Association issued a harsh criticism of the new rule in December, calling it heavy-handed. However, several consumer advocacy groups praised the rules and the protections for consumers.

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The CARS Rule was to take effect on July 30. The FTC on Thursday said, "if the court reviewing the rule grants expedited review, as the litigants requested, a stay of the effective date should not postpone implementation of the rule by more than a few months, if at all."

Junk fees: Colleges charge tons of junk fees for food and books. Biden may force them to scale back.

What the CAR Rule requires

Here are the new protections, according to the FTC:

Pricing and payments

 A dealer must tell you the offering price, which is the full price of the vehicle. The offering price must include all costs and fees except for required government fees, like taxes and license and registration costs.

 If a dealer is quoting monthly payments, they must tell you the total amount youll pay for the vehicle. And if they offer you a lower monthly payment, they must tell you if it will raise the total cost of the vehicle.

Add-on products or services

You have the right to refuse any products or services that increase the price of the vehicle. Like what? Rustproofing, protective paint coatings, extended warranties, guaranteed asset protection (GAP) agreements, and wheel and tire warranties.

A dealer cant charge you for products or services that have no benefit like:

 A duplicative warranty.

 A service contract for oil changes on an electric vehicle.

 Nitrogen-filled tires that contain no more nitrogen than normally exists in the air.

 A GAP agreement that doesnt cover your vehicle your neighborhood or other parts of your deal.

Real consent for all charges

 A dealer cant charge you for any item unless theyve told you what it is and how much it costs, and youve agreed to the charge.

Betty Lin-Fisher is a consumer reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at blinfisher@USATODAY.com or follow her on X, Facebook, or Instagram @blinfisher. Sign up for our free The Daily Money newsletter, which will include consumer news on Fridays, here.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Federal protections for car buyers postponed due to lawsuits
Following months of delays, Dan Gilbert's organization has met a key milestone for finishing Wayne County's new $616 million jail and courthouse complex and could hand it over to the county in less than two weeks.

County Commissioner Glenn Anderson said Thursday that Gilbert's real estate firm, Bedrock, finally achieved "substantial completion" of the Wayne County Criminal Justice Center at the end of December, meaning that at least 98% of the construction work was accomplished.

The next step is the official handover of the finished complex, which the county expects to happen by the end of the month.

The new Wayne County Criminal Justice Center under construction on the Chrysler Service Drive and East Ferry Street in Detroit on Tuesday, June 6, 2023. (Credit: Eric Seals, Detroit Free Press)

County officials once expected Bedrock to hand over the facility last March, although that deadline came and went with hundreds of various work items not completed, such as fixing wall cracks and adding ceiling reinforcements to prevent jail escapes.

Whether or not the facility was substantially complete was a subject of contention last fall, with Bedrock claiming it had already met the milestone and county officials disagreeing.

Once handover occurs, the county will have six months to vacate the existing adult and juvenile jails and Frank Murphy Hall of Justice, which are to be transferred to Bedrock. Bedrock has not said what it ultimately wants to do with the sites, although its chief executive has told Crain's Detroit that it intends to demolish the empty buildings.

Should the county take longer than six months to complete its move, it could be charged penalties of $500,000 per month. County officials have said they are unaware of similar financial penalties for Bedrock's delays.

A Bedrock representative did not respond Thursday to a message seeking comment.

The new complex, off Interstate 75 near East Ferry Street in Detroit, will house the county's 2,280-bed jail, juvenile detention facility, criminal courthouse and sheriff and prosecutor staff and administrative offices.

The county has hired consultant Tamara Knapp to help organize the move from the old buildings to the new complex, and Romulus-based Oneida Solutions Group to handle the physical moving.

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Our goal is to make the move and transition of services as easy as possible for the transition teams and stakeholders," said Knapp, who was previously chief operations officer for Bedrock before starting Tamara Knapp Advisory in 2020.

Knapp on Thursday told members of a county commission committee that they plan to begin moving inmates and staff into the new complex at four months after the turnover date, or June 1 should turnover happen Jan. 31. The moving process then would occur over four weeks.

The first week would involve moving the adult jail inmates. The second week would be the juvenile jail. The third week would be the courts, clerk and prosecutor's office, followed by the sheriff's office in the fourth and final week.

Many of the items to be moved are tech-related, Knapp said, such as computers and printers, although some filing cabinets and office supplies will also move.

The complex is furnished with a lot of new office furniture, she said, so a lot of old desks, tables and chairs will stay put.

The county is looking to have a public auction for the old items that won't make the move.

Commissioner Anderson said he believes the county can complete the move within the six-month time window.

It seems like they have a well-thought-out plan to do the move in, so well see how it goes," he said.

County commissioners last month approved a three-year, $24.4 million contract with Farmington Hills-based Friedman Real Estate Services for property management of the new criminal justice complex.

The county doesn't currently contract with any outside firm for management of its existing jail and courthouse facilities, according to Anderson.

"They are doing something a little different," he said. "It is such a large addition to the footprint of the county, so they felt as though they needed that.

Jared Friedman, executive managing director of Friedman Real Estate Services, said in a statement Thursday that the firm is "thrilled to collaborate with Wayne County on the development of this state-of-the-art facility."

Bedrock built the new justice complex for the county as part of a 2018 land-swap deal that involved providing Gilbert's organization a site along Gratiot in downtown, where the county had abandoned plans to build on its own a $300 million jail in response to spiraling costs.

The new complex was originally expected to cost $533 million to build. As of November, total anticipated costs had jumped to $616 million, according to Bedrock budget documents for the project.

Under the 2018 deal, the county's financial contributions are to be capped at $380 million  with Bedrock responsible for remaining costs and cost overruns.

However, the county is on the hook for additional costs related to change orders (about $2.2 million), parking lot cleanup and utility station construction ($7.5 million). The county also paid about $28 million to buy out Gilbert's organization from a future parking fees collection deal.

Parking for county employees at the new complex will now be free. The county has yet to decide whether parking will also be free for the public and for jurors, according to Wayne County Corporation Counsel James Heath.

Contact JC Reindl: 313-222-6631 or jcreindl@freepress.com. Follow him on X @jcreindl

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Gilbert finally completes new Wayne Co. jail, courthouse
(Bloomberg) -- The judge presiding over Epic Games Inc.s challenge to Googles Play Store business model said hes not confident about setting a fee for mobile app developers without expert input.

Most Read from Bloomberg

A jury last month sided with the maker of the popular game Fortnite and concluded that Alphabet Inc.s Google Play unlawfully abused its power in what has become a duopoly with Apple Inc. that generates close to $200 billion a year. In the next phase of the case, US District Judge James Donato will decide on a remedy.

I have grave doubts that I am in any position to set a fee that developers might pay, Donato said at a hearing Thursday as he discussed the litigations next steps with attorneys. Thats beyond the canon of Article III judges.

The verdict handed down by a San Francisco jury on Dec. 11 threatens billions of dollars in revenue for Google Play, which charges commissions of as much as 30% to software developers who typically have few other options.

At the time, Epic Chief Executive Officer Tim Sweeney said his company would seek actual changes in practice to Googles app store, but didnt provide specifics about a potential remedy.

Donato said he will give Epic and Google a chance to negotiate a settlement, and if they cant come an agreement, hell hold a hearing in mid-March. The judge signaled that he wants input from expert economists.

Epic largely lost a similar challenge to Apples app store in 2021. Both companies asked the US Supreme Court to review the dispute but the justices this week declined, without explanation.

In December, Alphabet agreed to pay $700 million to settle separate antitrust complaints brought by state attorneys general and consumers challenging Google Play policies.

Story continues

Corie Wright, Epics vice president of public policy, criticized the deal because it doesnt limit the fees charged by Google. The accord instead calls on Google to change its Play Store policies to reduce barriers to competition for app distribution and payment processing.

Read More: Google Play Deal Frustrates Critics of Steep App Developer Fees

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2024 Bloomberg L.P.
When you buy and hold a stock for the long term, you definitely want it to provide a positive return. But more than that, you probably want to see it rise more than the market average. Unfortunately for shareholders, while the The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG) share price is up 11% in the last five years, that's less than the market return. Zooming in, the stock is actually down 3.4% in the last year.

Now it's worth having a look at the company's fundamentals too, because that will help us determine if the long term shareholder return has matched the performance of the underlying business.

View our latest analysis for Hanover Insurance Group

While the efficient markets hypothesis continues to be taught by some, it has been proven that markets are over-reactive dynamic systems, and investors are not always rational. One imperfect but simple way to consider how the market perception of a company has shifted is to compare the change in the earnings per share (EPS) with the share price movement.

Hanover Insurance Group's earnings per share are down 14% per year, despite strong share price performance over five years.

Since the EPS are down strongly, it seems highly unlikely market participants are looking at EPS to value the company. Given that EPS is down, but the share price is up, it seems clear the market is focussed on other aspects of the business, at the moment.

On the other hand, Hanover Insurance Group's revenue is growing nicely, at a compound rate of 5.1% over the last five years. In that case, the company may be sacrificing current earnings per share to drive growth.

The company's revenue and earnings (over time) are depicted in the image below (click to see the exact numbers).

If you are thinking of buying or selling Hanover Insurance Group stock, you should check out this FREE detailed report on its balance sheet.

What About Dividends?

It is important to consider the total shareholder return, as well as the share price return, for any given stock. Whereas the share price return only reflects the change in the share price, the TSR includes the value of dividends (assuming they were reinvested) and the benefit of any discounted capital raising or spin-off. Arguably, the TSR gives a more comprehensive picture of the return generated by a stock. As it happens, Hanover Insurance Group's TSR for the last 5 years was 27%, which exceeds the share price return mentioned earlier. And there's no prize for guessing that the dividend payments largely explain the divergence!

Story continues

A Different Perspective

Hanover Insurance Group shareholders are down 0.6% for the year (even including dividends), but the market itself is up 20%. Even the share prices of good stocks drop sometimes, but we want to see improvements in the fundamental metrics of a business, before getting too interested. On the bright side, long term shareholders have made money, with a gain of 5% per year over half a decade. It could be that the recent sell-off is an opportunity, so it may be worth checking the fundamental data for signs of a long term growth trend. While it is well worth considering the different impacts that market conditions can have on the share price, there are other factors that are even more important. For example, we've discovered 1 warning sign for Hanover Insurance Group that you should be aware of before investing here.

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 American 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.
Shares of freelance marketplace Fiverr International (NYSE: FVRR) jumped higher on Friday after getting a vote of confidence from a prominent analyst. As of noon ET, Fiverr stock is up only about 5%, but it was up almost 11% earlier in the day.

Is Fiverr worth the risk here?

Goldman Sachs analyst Eric Sheridan upgraded his outlook for Fiverr stock today, according to StreetInsider. The analyst believes the stock is a buy, and he gave it a price target of $43 per share, which represents approximately 66% upside from where it trades as of this writing.

Fiverr stock is down 22% over the last year because investors are worried about the potential harm to the business from generative artificial intelligence (AI). The thought is that people will need fewer services from Fiverr's sellers because generative AI apps can do the work instead.

Sheridan admits this risk. However, the analyst believes that Fiverr is still doing a lot of good things and that its shares are now cheap enough to be worth the risk, according to Investing.com. This is why he upgraded Fiverr stock today and excited the market.

Is Fiverr stock a good deal?

Fiverr stock trades at a price-to-sales ratio of less than 3. It's never a good idea to evaluate a stock entirely on one valuation metric. But for the sake of brevity, that is a low price, as Sheridan points out.

For 2023, Fiverr expects to report revenue growth of 6% to 8%, which is pretty slow. But it shows that the company has held on to the business that it gained during the pandemic, which is also encouraging.

The big unknown is whether Fiverr can withstand the competitive pressure of generative AI and find renewed growth in 2024. If the company can grow faster and keep expenses under control, then this indeed could be a market-beating investment right now.

Should you invest $1,000 in Fiverr International right now?

Before you buy stock in Fiverr International, consider this:

The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now... and Fiverr International wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.

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Jon Quast has positions in Fiverr International. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Fiverr International and Goldman Sachs Group. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Here's Why Fiverr Stock Jumped Higher Today was originally published by The Motley Fool
A recreation director was fired by the Park District of Highland Park while on leave for the post-traumatic stress disorder he has experienced since the mass shooting during the suburbs 2022 Fourth of July Parade.

While Chris Maliszewski was planning a return-to-work routine with his psychologist, the 41-year-old was terminated from his position on Dec. 27, according to interviews and records obtained by the News-Sun.

As director of recreation, Maliszewski was co-chair of the 2022 Fourth of July Parade and was one of the first Park District employees to arrive at work that morning.

At the time of the shooting, he was at the start of the parade route, just north of where a gunman fired into the crowd from a rooftop. The mass shooting left seven people dead and dozens injured.

Later that night, Robert Bobby Crimo III was taken into custody by the Highland Park police department. The 23-year-old remains in custody at the Lake County jail and faces more than a hundred felony charges, including multiple counts of first-degree murder. His trial could begin later this year.

Maliszewski said he spent most of that tragic day riding around in a SWAT car, helping to locate 13 sheltering Park District employees and reunite them with their families.

As a Park District employee, he told unaware Rosewood Beachgoers about the community threat. He also communicated with his family, colleagues and friends about their whereabouts and safety.

For at least nine months, Maliszewski has been receiving treatment for anxiety, insomnia and post-traumatic stress disorder related to the parade massacre. He said he never suffered from any mental health problems before the incident. He was on leave from the Park District for part of that time.

Maliszewski has a pending workers compensation case related to the psychological injury he sustained in the wake of the parade shooting. His case began while he was on leave from his Park District job through the Family and Medical Leave Act.

Story continues

In most mass shootings, there is an employee involved, he said. At this point, I dont want this to ever happen to anybody again. Thats my goal.

The termination letter and separation agreement sent to Maliszewski, and shared with the News-Sun, offered him two months of severance pay, two months of COBRA insurance benefits and a waiver of the health insurance premiums the Park District paid on his behalf during his leave.

Due to the length of his leave, number of extensions and therapists inability to provide a return-to-work date, Maliszewski was let go from his position, according to the termination letter.

The Park District cannot grant your request for indefinite leave (...) and, therefore, is ending your employment, stated Maliszewskis termination letter from Laurel Hall, human resources director for the Park District of Highland Park.

Communications coordinator for the Park District of Highland Park Elizabeth Gogola confirmed Maliszewskis last day was Dec. 27. Gogola declined to comment on the reason for his termination.

Panic at work

Maliszewski said he began experiencing panic attacks and insomnia after he returned home from work the night of the shooting.

But for 10 months, he said he continued to show up at work and do his best as an employee. He said he was suffering silently, and suspects other employees were as well  and possibly still are.

Maliszewskis mental health concerns came to a head on April 4, 2023, when Highland Park High School went into lockdown after a threat of a student with a gun on campus. All Highland Park government buildings, including the Park District, went into lockdown for about two hours.

That was the first time I had a panic attack at work, he said. I remember my colleague helping calm me down in my office.

At the recommendation of his colleagues and doctors, Maliszewski took a family medical leave (FML) from the department on April 13, 2023.

He said he used 57 personal-time-off days, that he had accrued during his nearly 10-year tenure with the Park District, for his leave.

In June, Maliszewskis therapist told him the leave should be a workers compensation issue  the first time someone brought up the subject of workers compensation to him.

Maliszewski asked his Park District supervisor and HR why he hadnt been guided through a workers compensation report. They agreed to file a workers comp claim, which was initiated on June 9, 2023.

Less than a month later, on July 5, he had exhausted his 12 weeks of protected FML, according to letters from the Park District to Maliszewski. He wasnt ready to return to work, so the Park District granted him three more weeks.

As soon as that happened, they started sending me bills and threatening my insurance if I couldnt return, he said. My mental health took an extreme turn for the worse.

For the extended, unpaid leave, Maliszewski received an email from Hall requesting $870 for an employee insurance contribution normally deducted from his biweekly paycheck.

Worried about losing his health insurance, he said he returned to work on July 31 on a reduced schedule.

On Aug. 28, he took a second, unprotected leave at the recommendation of his psychologist. Before he could return to work again, he was offered two severance packages and was then fired.

Since the termination, Maliszewski said he has continued to struggle with his mental health. In therapy, he said he isnt even able to address the root of his trauma  the shooting incident  because there have been even more triggers and stressors in his life now.

This whole thing has made me feel crazy, he said. Its made me question my existence. Its made me wonder if I even am experiencing what Im experiencing. Its made me think: Am I valid in feeling the way Im feeling?

A rare injury case

In this type of workers compensation case, the claim is the psychological injury is a mental injury caused by a mentally traumatic situation.

Workers compensation attorney Richard Johnson said these types are the rarest psychological injury cases. Under Illinois workers compensation law, the injury is compensable if there is a sudden event that would shock the conscience of a normal person.

Johnson, a partner at Katz Friedman in Chicago, said these cases are very individual and different from one another, because they are highly fact-specific.

The burden is on us, the person representing the injured worker, to develop the facts and develop the medical evidence, Johnson said. So that we show that its more probably true than not true, that the psychological condition from which a person is suffering is causally related to that incident.

The burden of proof is a small bar to pass, Johnson said, because the incident doesnt have to be the sole cause or even a major cause of the psychological injury. Johnson has handled cases involving truck drivers, Chicago Transit Authority employees and first responders  although there are fewer cases involving first responders, like police and fire department employees, than he would have expected.

Maliszewski said he didnt contact a lawyer until after filing for workers compensation because he thought his employer would support him through the process.

What I would recommend to anybody, if youre in a mass shooting as an employee, is to get an attorney the next day, he said. Or have somebody who wasnt there, whos not traumatized, reach out to an attorney for you immediately. Because what you are likely about to experience, and your ability to return to that employer, may not be what you think it is, and you need protection.

The former employee said he only knows of one other colleague who filed for workers compensation in the wake of the parade shooting.

Johnson said indefinite leave is not protected by the FML statute  any longer than 12 weeks, and an employee might not have a job.

Permanent disability, partial or total, is one of the three potential benefits under the Workers Compensation Act, also including 100% payment of all reasonable and necessary medical expenses and two-thirds of ones salary at the average weekly pay.

 (Employees) tend to think its less likely for them to be fired because one of the elements in determining disability is was there an impairment of your earning capacity, Johnson said. Clearly, if you lose your job, theres been an impairment of your earning capacity.

chilles@chicagotribune.com
RichLegg / iStock.com

Temperatures in Houston, Texas hit a record low earlier in January, reaching a blustery 19 degrees on Jan. 16 and closing Houston-area schools due to icy road conditions. While forecasts indicate the city may be through the worst of it, its important to take this kind of weather seriously. After all, its not just Texas experiencing freezing temps. The northeast and other regions experienced snow fall, while Kentucky, Colorado, Wyoming and Minnesota reached sub-zero temperatures of as low as -37 degrees.

See: 6 Ways To Save $100 or More a Month on Your Winter Utility Bills

Find: How To Get $340 a Year in Cash Back  for Things You Already Buy

As you focus on shoveling snow, staying warm and even keeping kids occupied during school closures, there may be one home maintenance aspect you are forgetting in this weather. The folks at Erie Insurance reminded us that its important for homeowners to take proactive measures to keep pipes from freezing.

Sharing an infographic of advice, the company offered these tips to prepare for freezing temps, especially in regions where you may not be prepared for a cold snap:

Drain water from outside supply lines, such as sprinkler systems.

Improve your homes insulation, especially around vents, light fixtures, windows and doors.

Wrap pipes with heat tape and pipe insulation.

Adding insulation around your home will have the added benefit of reducing home heating costs during these long winter months.

When temperatures drop, Erie advised taking these additional steps:

Set your thermostat to at least 55, even if you arent home.

Open doors and drawers that house pipes to help warm air circulate.

Turn on faucets to drip, keeping cold water circulating so it doesnt freeze.

Sponsored: Owe the IRS $10K or more? Schedule a FREE consultation to see if you qualify for tax relief.

Are Low-Temp Alarms Worth It?

If you travel a lot for work outside the home, it might be worth looking into placing low-temp or freeze alarms in areas of your house with water pipes. You can find a variety of these devices on Amazon, ranging in price from roughly $25 into the hundreds, although most cost less than $100. The alarms connect to your homes WiFi and send an alert to your smartphone if temperatures reach outside a certain range.

Story continues

Home monitoring systems that detect extreme temperature changes can often net discounts on home insurance, according to experts at Consumer Reports. Discounts can range from 3% to 5% for such technology. Likewise, Consumer Reports said that Farmers Insurance delivers a 3% discount for home water-leak detection systems.

What To Do If a Pipe Freezes

If a pipe freezes, Erie Insurance says your shouldnt use an open flame, such as a propane torch, to try to defrost it. Instead, apply heat slowly by holding a hot-water bottle against the pipe or using a hair dryer.

Turn on the water faucet before applying heat to reduce pressure thats built up between the faucet and the ice blockage. This can help prevent the pipe from bursting.

How Much Does It Cost To Fix a Burst Pipe?

If the worst case happens and your pipe bursts, it may not be as bad as you think. The average price for burst pipe repair, according to Angi.com, is $500. But it can cost as little as $150 if only a small area of pipe needs to be replaced.

It typically costs between $150 and $250 per linear foot to repair pipe, with the bulk of that cost going into the labor involved. The price may be higher if the pipe is in a hard-to-reach spot. If you need to replace a large section of underground pipe, it could cost up to $5,000, Angi.com reported.

Additionally, if the burst pipe causes water damage in your home, that could cost even more to repair. If the price for repairs exceeds your home insurance deductible, it might be worthwhile to file a claim.

More From GOBankingRates

This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Homeowners Beware: Avoid This Potentially Expensive Mistake During Harsh Winters
Abbas Ganbay

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres calls on Iran and Pakistan to show restraint to avoid further aggravation of the situation, Azernews reports.

This is stated in a statement by the official representative of the Secretary General of the World Organisation, Stephane Dujarric.

"The Secretary-General is extremely concerned about the recent exchange of strikes between Iran and Pakistan, which have reportedly caused casualties on both sides. He urges both countries to exercise maximum restraint to avoid further escalation," the statement said.

Guterres is convinced that "all security concerns" between Iran and Pakistan should be resolved "by peaceful means, through dialogue and cooperation by the principles of sovereignty, territorial integrity, and good neighbourly relations."

Iran and Pakistan are two countries that share a border. They have been fighting against a group of people who want to separate from their countries for a long time. Recently, both countries have started attacking each other's territory, which is very unusual.

This is happening because of tensions in the Middle East, where other countries are also fighting. Iran and Pakistan are both trying to protect themselves and their allies.

The latest attack happened when Iran attacked Pakistan and killed two children. Pakistan then attacked back and killed some people too. This has caused a lot of problems between the two countries. Other countries are trying to help them stop fighting and find a peaceful solution. It is not clear why Iran and Pakistan are attacking each other, but they need to talk and find a way to stop the fighting.
'A huge slap in the face': Tech workers are going viral after posting 'live reactions' to their layoffs on TikTok  a trend that's growing amid mass job cuts in the sector. What's behind it?

As layoffs shake up the tech industry, its workers are coping in a unique way: sharing live reactions on social media.

One of these workers is Chloe Shih, a former product manager at Discord. She filmed herself with her mouth agape as she listened in on the company-wide call announcing layoffs.

Dont miss

In the video you see her receive an email telling her that she is one of the 17% of employees being laid off. Then, she lets out a slew of profanities.

I just bought a house, the text in the video reads over her shocked face, her hands covering her mouth as she screams.

She then proceeds to say: This is how Im going to go?

Discord employees are far from being the only ones experiencing this right now. Google, Amazon and Twitch have also laid off employees this month, according to Reuters. Over 7785 tech employees have been let go so far this year, according to tracking website Layoffs.fyi. Experts speaking with Reuters attributed this to companies prioritizing and investing in AI.

Workers want respect

Some former tech workers arent too happy with the lack of consideration shown by their employers  and theyre not afraid to tell the world.

Take the woman who started the layoff reaction video trend: Brittany Pietsch, a former account executive at cloud connectivity company Cloudflare. When she got laid off in early January, she recorded her entire nine-minute conversation with HR and posted it to TikTok.

Commenters are appalled by her HR departments refusal to give her a specific reason to terminate her after just four months.

To be let go for no reason is a huge slap in the face, Pietsch said to HR in her video. It must be very easy for you to just have these little 10-minute, 15-minute meetings, tell someone that theyre fired, completely wreck their whole life and then thats it, with no explanation. Thats extremely traumatizing for people.

Story continues

The TikTok has racked up over a million views  and even caught the attention of Cloudflare CEO, Matthew Prince.

Read more: This Pennsylvania trio bought a $100K abandoned school and turned it into a 31-unit apartment building  how to invest in real estate without all the heavy lifting

The video is painful for me to watch, he wrote on X. But any healthy org needs to get the people who arent performing off. That wasnt the mistake here. The mistake was not being more kind and humane as we did.

How will this affect tech?

There are many ways that the layoffs could affect the tech industry, but the biggest one is recruitment efforts.

Worker frustration has been mounting in the tech sector much before this round of layoffs. Tech employees have been fighting for unions, stricter ethical frameworks and better diversity and inclusion policies, according to several New York Times reports.

Tech careers marketplace Dice surveyed tech workers in 2023, and 60% said they were likely to change employers within the next year  up 8% since 2022.

Other sectors are now actively looking to hire laid off tech workers, Dice CEO Art Zeile told CNBC. Industries such as aerospace, consulting, health care, financial services and education are happy to take on these workers. According to Zeile, ex-techies are happy to jump to these new areas because they often offer more work-life balance and permanency than the tech world does.

The idea of stability is much more part of the conversation today, he said.

What to read next

This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.
The most talked about and market moving research calls around Wall Street are now in one place. Here are today's research calls that investors need to know, as compiled by The Fly.



Top 5 Upgrades:

Evercore ISI upgraded IBM (IBM) to Outperform from In Line with a price target of $200, up from $165. The firm thinks that as Enterprises look to deploy AI tools to enhance productivity the process will be "complicated and messy," arguing that IBM, with their unique set of consulting and software assets, can help solve this bottleneck.

Stifel upgraded DraftKings (DKNG) to Buy from Hold with a price target of $45, up from $40. The stock's recent correction affords an attractive entry point, with the company's market share headwinds easing, the analyst tells investors in a research note.

Seaport Research upgraded Roku (ROKU) to Neutral from Sell with no price target. The firm's downgrade last month was more of a valuation call, but this upgrade is due to incremental data points that suggest there could be upside to estimates, says the analyst.

Oppenheimer upgraded AT&T (T) to Outperform from Perform with a $21 price target. The shares have underperformed the market and peers the past few years, but believes headwinds "have moved to the rearview" while AT&T should now benefit from a number of tailwinds, including "massive improvements" to network capacity, improved broadband subscriber and revenue trends, and the potential to merge DirecTV with EchoStar's (SATS) Dish, the firm says.
Stuart Rothstein, the President & CEO of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Inc (NYSE:ARI), sold 40,000 shares of the company on January 16, 2024, according to a recent SEC filing. The transaction was executed at an average price, resulting in a total value of the sold shares.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Inc is a real estate investment trust that primarily originates, acquires, invests in, and manages performing commercial first mortgage loans, subordinate financings, commercial mortgage-backed securities, and other commercial real estate-related debt investments.

Over the past year, the insider has sold a total of 120,000 shares and has not made any purchases of the company's stock. The recent sale by the insider is part of a series of transactions over the same period, which includes 5 insider sells and only 1 insider buy.

On the day of the sale, shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Inc were trading at $11.45, giving the company a market capitalization of $1.634 billion.

The stock's price-to-GF-Value ratio stands at 0.65, indicating that Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Inc is significantly undervalued based on its GF Value of $17.56. The GF Value is a proprietary intrinsic value estimate from GuruFocus, which takes into account historical trading multiples, a GuruFocus adjustment factor based on the company's past returns and growth, and future business performance estimates from Morningstar analysts.

Insider Sell: Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Inc President & CEO Stuart Rothstein Sells 40,000 Shares

The insider transaction trend for Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Inc suggests a cautious approach from insiders, with more selling than buying occurring over the past year.

Insider Sell: Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Inc President & CEO Stuart Rothstein Sells 40,000 Shares

Investors often monitor insider transactions as they can provide insights into the company's performance and insiders' view of the stock's valuation. The recent sell by the insider, along with the current valuation metrics, may be of interest to shareholders and potential investors.

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.


V.S. Industry Berhad (KLSE:VS) shareholders might be concerned after seeing the share price drop 13% in the last quarter. On the bright side the returns have been quite good over the last half decade. Its return of 96% has certainly bested the market return! While the returns over the last 5 years have been good, we do feel sorry for those shareholders who haven't held shares that long, because the share price is down 42% in the last three years.

So let's assess the underlying fundamentals over the last 5 years and see if they've moved in lock-step with shareholder returns.

Check out our latest analysis for V.S. Industry Berhad

To quote Buffett, 'Ships will sail around the world but the Flat Earth Society will flourish. There will continue to be wide discrepancies between price and value in the marketplace...' One way to examine how market sentiment has changed over time is to look at the interaction between a company's share price and its earnings per share (EPS).

V.S. Industry Berhad's earnings per share are down 0.7% per year, despite strong share price performance over five years.

So it's hard to argue that the earnings per share are the best metric to judge the company, as it may not be optimized for profits at this point. Since the change in EPS doesn't seem to correlate with the change in share price, it's worth taking a look at other metrics.

On the other hand, V.S. Industry Berhad's revenue is growing nicely, at a compound rate of 3.3% over the last five years. It's quite possible that management are prioritizing revenue growth over EPS growth at the moment.

You can see how earnings and revenue have changed over time in the image below (click on the chart to see the exact values).

KLSE:VS Earnings and Revenue Growth January 18th 2024

V.S. Industry Berhad is well known by investors, and plenty of clever analysts have tried to predict the future profit levels. Given we have quite a good number of analyst forecasts, it might be well worth checking out this free chart depicting consensus estimates.

Story continues

What About Dividends?

When looking at investment returns, it is important to consider the difference between total shareholder return (TSR) and share price return. Whereas the share price return only reflects the change in the share price, the TSR includes the value of dividends (assuming they were reinvested) and the benefit of any discounted capital raising or spin-off. So for companies that pay a generous dividend, the TSR is often a lot higher than the share price return. As it happens, V.S. Industry Berhad's TSR for the last 5 years was 121%, which exceeds the share price return mentioned earlier. And there's no prize for guessing that the dividend payments largely explain the divergence!

A Different Perspective

While the broader market gained around 7.1% in the last year, V.S. Industry Berhad shareholders lost 8.9% (even including dividends). However, keep in mind that even the best stocks will sometimes underperform the market over a twelve month period. Longer term investors wouldn't be so upset, since they would have made 17%, each year, over five years. If the fundamental data continues to indicate long term sustainable growth, the current sell-off could be an opportunity worth considering. I find it very interesting to look at share price over the long term as a proxy for business performance. But to truly gain insight, we need to consider other information, too. For example, we've discovered 1 warning sign for V.S. Industry Berhad that you should be aware of before investing here.

Of course V.S. Industry Berhad may not be the best stock to buy. So you may wish to see this free collection of growth stocks.

Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on Malaysian exchanges.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.



This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
Key Insights

The projected fair value for Barry Callebaut is CHF2,522 based on 2 Stage Free Cash Flow to Equity

Barry Callebaut's CHF1,262 share price signals that it might be 50% undervalued

The CHF1,793 analyst price target for BARN is 29% less than our estimate of fair value

In this article we are going to estimate the intrinsic value of Barry Callebaut AG (VTX:BARN) by taking the expected future cash flows and discounting them to today's value. One way to achieve this is by employing the Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) model. There's really not all that much to it, even though it might appear quite complex.

Companies can be valued in a lot of ways, so we would point out that a DCF is not perfect for every situation. If you still have some burning questions about this type of valuation, take a look at the Simply Wall St analysis model.

View our latest analysis for Barry Callebaut

The Calculation

We use what is known as a 2-stage model, which simply means we have two different periods of growth rates for the company's cash flows. Generally the first stage is higher growth, and the second stage is a lower growth phase. To begin with, we have to get estimates of the next ten years of cash flows. Where possible we use analyst estimates, but when these aren't available we extrapolate the previous free cash flow (FCF) from the last estimate or reported value. We assume companies with shrinking free cash flow will slow their rate of shrinkage, and that companies with growing free cash flow will see their growth rate slow, over this period. We do this to reflect that growth tends to slow more in the early years than it does in later years.

Generally we assume that a dollar today is more valuable than a dollar in the future, and so the sum of these future cash flows is then discounted to today's value:

10-year free cash flow (FCF) forecast

2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030 2031 2032 2033 Levered FCF (CHF, Millions) CHF51.3m CHF53.2m CHF349.0m CHF525.0m CHF570.0m CHF585.1m CHF596.0m CHF604.0m CHF609.7m CHF614.0m Growth Rate Estimate Source Est @ 5.31% Est @ 3.74% Analyst x1 Analyst x1 Analyst x1 Est @ 2.64% Est @ 1.87% Est @ 1.33% Est @ 0.96% Est @ 0.69% Present Value (CHF, Millions) Discounted @ 4.1% CHF49.3 CHF49.1 CHF310 CHF447 CHF467 CHF460 CHF450 CHF439 CHF425 CHF412

("Est" = FCF growth rate estimated by Simply Wall St)

Present Value of 10-year Cash Flow (PVCF) = CHF3.5b

Story continues

We now need to calculate the Terminal Value, which accounts for all the future cash flows after this ten year period. The Gordon Growth formula is used to calculate Terminal Value at a future annual growth rate equal to the 5-year average of the 10-year government bond yield of 0.08%. We discount the terminal cash flows to today's value at a cost of equity of 4.1%.

Terminal Value (TV)= FCF 2033  (1 + g)  (r  g) = CHF614m (1 + 0.08%)  (4.1% 0.08%) = CHF15b

Present Value of Terminal Value (PVTV)= TV / (1 + r)10= CHF15b ( 1 + 4.1%)10= CHF10b

The total value, or equity value, is then the sum of the present value of the future cash flows, which in this case is CHF14b. The last step is to then divide the equity value by the number of shares outstanding. Relative to the current share price of CHF1.3k, the company appears quite undervalued at a 50% discount to where the stock price trades currently. Valuations are imprecise instruments though, rather like a telescope - move a few degrees and end up in a different galaxy. Do keep this in mind.

SWX:BARN Discounted Cash Flow January 19th 2024

The Assumptions

We would point out that the most important inputs to a discounted cash flow are the discount rate and of course the actual cash flows. 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 Barry Callebaut as potential shareholders, the cost of equity is used as the discount rate, rather than the cost of capital (or weighted average cost of capital, WACC) which accounts for debt. In this calculation we've used 4.1%, which is based on a levered beta of 0.800. Beta is a measure of a stock's volatility, compared to the market as a whole. We get our beta from the industry average beta of globally comparable companies, with an imposed limit between 0.8 and 2.0, which is a reasonable range for a stable business.

SWOT Analysis for Barry Callebaut

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 Food market.

Opportunity

Annual earnings are forecast to grow faster than the Swiss market.

Good value based on P/E ratio and estimated fair value.

Threat

Dividends are not covered by cash flow.

Annual revenue is forecast to grow slower than the Swiss market.

Looking Ahead:

Whilst important, the DCF calculation ideally won't be the sole piece of analysis you scrutinize for a company. It's not possible to obtain a foolproof valuation with a DCF model. Instead the best use for a DCF model is to test certain assumptions and theories to see if they would lead to the company being undervalued or overvalued. For example, changes in the company's cost of equity or the risk free rate can significantly impact the valuation. Can we work out why the company is trading at a discount to intrinsic value? For Barry Callebaut, there are three additional elements you should consider:

Risks: Be aware that Barry Callebaut is showing 1 warning sign in our investment analysis , you should know about... Future Earnings: How does BARN's growth rate compare to its peers and the wider market? Dig deeper into the analyst consensus number for the upcoming years by interacting with our free analyst growth expectation chart. Other Solid Businesses: Low debt, high returns on equity and good past performance are fundamental to a strong business. Why not explore our interactive list of stocks with solid business fundamentals to see if there are other companies you may not have considered!

PS. Simply Wall St updates its DCF calculation for every Swiss stock every day, so if you want to find the intrinsic value of any other stock just search here.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.



This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
The Palestinian envoy to the United Nations called China "a true friend ready to do everything they can to help the Palestinian people" on Thursday, days after Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi pledged Beijing would provide more assistance and push for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.

Riyad Mansour, attending the 19th summit of the Non- Aligned Movement (NAM) in Kampala, Uganda, said that China had been "generous" with its assistance, including diplomatic support, as the Israel-Gaza war passed 100 days and killed more than 24,000 people in Gaza, according to Palestinian authorities.

"We know the position of China very well. It is a principled position. We work very closely with them in the United Nations Security Council. They support every effort and every resolution that calls for immediate ceasefire and for providing humanitarian assistance," Mansour said in an interview on the sidelines of the NAM session, where more than 60 foreign ministers also called for an immediate ceasefire.

Do you have questions about the biggest topics and trends from around the world? Get the answers with SCMP Knowledge, our new platform of curated content with explainers, FAQs, analyses and infographics brought to you by our award-winning team.

In Cairo on Sunday, Wang said China would provide a third round of humanitarian emergency assistance to Gaza. He also condemned Israel's attacks and called for an immediate ceasefire and the formation of an independent Palestinian state.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Cairo, Egypt. Photo: Reuters alt=Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Cairo, Egypt. Photo: Reuters>

In Tunisia the next day, Wang made a similar call, agreeing with Tunisian leaders to continue to "jointly support the just cause of the Palestinian people to restore their legitimate national rights".

Wang said that a political settlement would have to be achieved in accordance with relevant United Nations resolutions and the Arab Peace Initiative. He called for establishment of a fully sovereign Palestinian state based on the pre-1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital.

Story continues

Wang also said that China sought the convening of an "international peace conference" that would formulate a road map for establishing a "two-state solution".

The US and a number of Western allies including Britain have stood with Israel and continued to provide assistance after Hamas militants launched a surprise attack on October 7, killing an estimated 1,200 Israelis and taking about 240 hostages. Hamas has released about 100 of them, but Israel says about 130 remain in Gaza.

While the UN General Assembly designated Palestine a non-member observer state in 2012, there is no such country as Palestine yet. Palestine has no vote in the General Assembly but can join UN agencies.

"It's high time for us to become a member state," Mansour said on Thursday.

"When we march, after we put an end to the war, to legislate in the Security Council, China and many others will be supportive of our request for admission of the state of Palestine to membership," he added.

"Also we will go to the General Assembly to legislate a resolution calling for the convening of an international conference on the basis of international law and relevant UN resolutions in order to make the two-states solution idea a reality," he said.

In Kampala, the foreign ministers reached consensus to support the cause of the Palestinian people and their right to self-determination in accordance with a two-state solution.

The Gaza Strip during an Israeli bombardment on Thursday. Photo: AFP alt=The Gaza Strip during an Israeli bombardment on Thursday. Photo: AFP>

Henry Okello Oryem, Uganda's minister of state for foreign affairs, said that Palestine was the "hottest debate" during the meeting - especially ending the war.

The ministers expressed grave concerns over the deterioration of the situation in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem, as well as the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip. The ministers, meeting in advance of the Heads of State and Government summit on Friday and Saturday, called for an immediate ceasefire and humanitarian aid.

The ministers pledged to "support Palestine's efforts to realise their inalienable rights, including to self-determination and freedom" in an independent and sovereign Palestine, with East Jerusalem as its capital, on the basis of the pre-1967 borders. They also expressed support for Palestine's admission as a UN member state.

In Kampala, Naledi Pandor, South Africa's foreign minister, said that the "two-states solution remains the most viable option we believe for peace and security for both Israel and Palestine".

South Africa filed a case against Israel before the International Court of Justice accusing it of "genocidal acts" in its assaults on Gaza.

Additionally, a ceasefire "is part of our submissions to the International Court of Justice because we need to stop this" war in Gaza, Pandor said on the sidelines of the meeting.

Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla, Cuba's minister of foreign affairs, said that "what's going on in the occupied Palestinian territories is an outrage to humanity and must come to an end immediately".

Parrilla said Cuba had suggested that NAM support deploying an international protection mission, authorised by the UN General Assembly, to the Gaza Strip. It would have a mandate of guaranteeing the security and protection of the civilian population and expediting the delivery of humanitarian assistance and food.

A truck of humanitarian aid supplies for Gaza provided by China awaiting departure in Cairo, Egypt, on November 27, 2023. Photo: Xinhua alt=A truck of humanitarian aid supplies for Gaza provided by China awaiting departure in Cairo, Egypt, on November 27, 2023. Photo: Xinhua>

Also at the meeting, Azerbaijan passed on the chairmanship of NAM to Uganda while South Sudan was admitted as a new member of NAM - increasing the total membership to 121 with 18 observer states. China has observer status and supported Uganda in hosting the summit, donating 70 SUVs to help with the transport of delegates.

Formed in 1961 to advance the interests of developing countries during the Cold War, NAM is now positioning itself to focus more on trade and investment opportunities among member states.

This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, please explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP's Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright  2024 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.

Copyright (c) 2024. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.
The board of Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) has announced that it will pay a dividend of $0.72 per share on the 13th of March. Based on this payment, the dividend yield will be 1.3%, which is fairly typical for the industry.

View our latest analysis for Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings

Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings Is Paying Out More Than It Is Earning

We like a dividend to be consistent over the long term, so checking whether it is sustainable is important. Before making this announcement, Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings was easily earning enough to cover the dividend. This means that most of what the business earns is being used to help it grow.

The next 12 months is set to see EPS grow by 46.8%. If the dividend continues on its recent course, the company could be paying out several times what it earns in the next 12 months, which could start applying pressure to the balance sheet.

Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings Doesn't Have A Long Payment History

The company has maintained a consistent dividend for a few years now, but we would like to see a longer track record before relying on it. The last annual payment of $2.88 was flat on the annual payment from2 years ago. We like that the dividend hasn't been shrinking. However we're conscious that the company hasn't got an overly long track record of dividend payments yet, which makes us wary of relying on its dividend income.

Dividend Growth May Be Hard To Come By

Investors could be attracted to the stock based on the quality of its payment history. Unfortunately things aren't as good as they seem. In the last five years, Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings' earnings per share has shrunk at approximately 6.1% per annum. If earnings continue declining, the company may have to make the difficult choice of reducing the dividend or even stopping it completely - the opposite of dividend growth. Earnings are forecast to grow over the next 12 months and if that happens we could still be a little bit cautious until it becomes a pattern.

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Our Thoughts On Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings' Dividend

In summary, while it's good to see that the dividend hasn't been cut, we are a bit cautious about Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings' payments, as there could be some issues with sustaining them into the future. The payments haven't been particularly stable and we don't see huge growth potential, but with the dividend well covered by cash flows it could prove to be reliable over the short term. We would be a touch cautious of relying on this stock primarily for the dividend income.

It's important to note that companies having a consistent dividend policy will generate greater investor confidence than those having an erratic one. However, there are other things to consider for investors when analysing stock performance. For example, we've picked out 3 warning signs for Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings that investors should know about before committing capital to this stock. Is Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings not quite the opportunity you were looking for? Why not check out our selection of top dividend stocks.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.



This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
Key Insights

Using the 2 Stage Free Cash Flow to Equity, Georg Fischer fair value estimate is CHF55.25

Current share price of CHF57.50 suggests Georg Fischer is potentially trading close to its fair value

Our fair value estimate is 21% lower than Georg Fischer's analyst price target of CHF69.67

Today we'll do a simple run through of a valuation method used to estimate the attractiveness of Georg Fischer AG (VTX:GF) as an investment opportunity by taking the expected future cash flows and discounting them to their present value. We will take advantage of the Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) model for this purpose. Before you think you won't be able to understand it, just read on! It's actually much less complex than you'd imagine.

Remember though, that there are many ways to estimate a company's value, and a DCF is just one method. 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 Georg Fischer

Is Georg Fischer Fairly Valued?

We are going to use a two-stage DCF model, which, as the name states, takes into account two stages of growth. The first stage is generally a higher growth period which levels off heading towards the terminal value, captured in the second 'steady growth' period. 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.

A DCF is all about the idea that a dollar in the future is less valuable than a dollar today, so we discount the value of these future cash flows to their estimated value in today's dollars:

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10-year free cash flow (FCF) estimate

2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030 2031 2032 2033 Levered FCF (CHF, Millions) CHF268.5m CHF383.5m CHF436.5m CHF523.0m CHF374.0m CHF294.2m CHF250.4m CHF224.3m CHF208.0m CHF197.5m Growth Rate Estimate Source Analyst x2 Analyst x2 Analyst x2 Analyst x1 Analyst x1 Est @ -21.33% Est @ -14.90% Est @ -10.41% Est @ -7.26% Est @ -5.06% Present Value (CHF, Millions) Discounted @ 5.6% CHF254 CHF344 CHF371 CHF421 CHF285 CHF212 CHF171 CHF145 CHF127 CHF115

("Est" = FCF growth rate estimated by Simply Wall St)

Present Value of 10-year Cash Flow (PVCF) = CHF2.4b

After calculating the present value of future cash flows in the initial 10-year period, we need to calculate the Terminal Value, which accounts for all future cash flows beyond the first stage. For a number of reasons a very conservative growth rate is used that cannot exceed that of a country's GDP growth. In this case we have used the 5-year average of the 10-year government bond yield (0.08%) to estimate future growth. In the same way as with the 10-year 'growth' period, we discount future cash flows to today's value, using a cost of equity of 5.6%.

Terminal Value (TV)= FCF 2033  (1 + g)  (r  g) = CHF198m (1 + 0.08%)  (5.6% 0.08%) = CHF3.6b

Present Value of Terminal Value (PVTV)= TV / (1 + r)10= CHF3.6b ( 1 + 5.6%)10= CHF2.1b

The total value, or equity value, is then the sum of the present value of the future cash flows, which in this case is CHF4.5b. To get the intrinsic value per share, we divide this by the total number of shares outstanding. Compared to the current share price of CHF57.5, the company appears around fair value at the time of writing. Remember though, that this is just an approximate valuation, and like any complex formula - garbage in, garbage out.

SWX:GF Discounted Cash Flow January 19th 2024

Important Assumptions

Now the most important inputs to a discounted cash flow are the discount rate, and of course, the actual cash flows. If you don't agree with these result, have a go at the calculation yourself and play with the assumptions. The DCF also does not consider the possible cyclicality of an industry, or a company's future capital requirements, so it does not give a full picture of a company's potential performance. Given that we are looking at Georg Fischer as potential shareholders, the cost of equity is used as the discount rate, rather than the cost of capital (or weighted average cost of capital, WACC) which accounts for debt. In this calculation we've used 5.6%, which is based on a levered beta of 1.103. 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 Georg Fischer

Strength

Earnings growth over the past year exceeded its 5-year average.

Debt is not viewed as a risk.

Dividends are covered by earnings and cash flows.

Weakness

Earnings growth over the past year underperformed the Machinery industry.

Dividend is low compared to the top 25% of dividend payers in the Machinery market.

Opportunity

Annual earnings are forecast to grow faster than the Swiss market.

Good value based on P/E ratio compared to estimated Fair P/E ratio.

Threat

Revenue is forecast to grow slower than 20% per year.

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. Rather it should be seen as a guide to "what assumptions need to be true for this stock to be under/overvalued?" For instance, if the terminal value growth rate is adjusted slightly, it can dramatically alter the overall result. For Georg Fischer, there are three important factors you should explore:

Risks: As an example, we've found 1 warning sign for Georg Fischer that you need to consider before investing here. Future Earnings: How does GF's growth rate compare to its peers and the wider market? Dig deeper into the analyst consensus number for the upcoming years by interacting with our free analyst growth expectation chart. Other High Quality Alternatives: Do you like a good all-rounder? Explore our interactive list of high quality stocks to get an idea of what else is out there you may be missing!

PS. The Simply Wall St app conducts a discounted cash flow valuation for every stock on the SWX 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.
Laman Ismayilova

The Azerbaijan National Library has hosted an event dedicated to the 34th anniversary of Black January.

The memory of the martyrs who died for the independence of Azerbaijan was commemorated with a minute of silence, Azernews reports.

At the commemorative event, it was noted that January 20 is a day of both sadness and pride in the memory of the Azerbaijani people. It was said that the memory of the martyrs of January 20 is always remembered by the Azerbaijani people.

During the event, the electronic database "January 20 - Blood is Our Memory," prepared by the staff of the National Library, and the traditional book exhibition "January 20 - The Day of National Sadness and Pride" were presented.

The exhibition featured books and articles published in periodicals that reflect the events that took place on the night of January 19-20.

On January 20, 1990, hundreds of civilians were crushed or injured by the Soviet troops in Baku, upon an order from the USSR leadership that was trying to maintain the Communist regime in Azerbaijan and strangle the national liberation movement.

The invasion was launched at midnight and was committed with brutality. Some 137 people were killed, 611 were wounded, 841 were illegally arrested, and five went missing as a result of the intrusion of troops into Baku and other regions of the country.
Kent and Lee Begnaud launched Leather Works Minnesota in their home garage in St. Paul Park in 1999, using nylon thread to assemble leather wallets, billfolds, belts and key clips. By 2012, they had relocated their store to St. Pauls Lowertown neighborhood, piecing and sewing together leather goods from their small manufacturing hub within the Northern Warehouse ArtSpace building on Prince Street.

The Begnauds are planning another move, this time to the citys West Side. On Wednesday, the St. Paul City Council heard the first reading of a proposal to rezone the former street corner grocery at Oakdale Avenue and Sidney Street, about a block east of Robert Street, to accommodate their business, which would otherwise sit in a residential neighborhood.

We have been looking to own a building to be better able to control our monthly expenses, have more room and give us more exposure for retail sales, wrote the Begnauds, in an explanatory letter to City Hall.

The squat grocery building, which dates to the 1970s, hasnt served customers in a decade. The proprietors of Leather Works Minnesota foresee better days ahead.

The boarded-up grocery  formerly Josephs Mexican and Lebanese Market  could even provide room for a cafe-like setting where the family might offer coffee and baked goods from a local bakery. A longstanding mural depicting various cultures on the grocerys outer Sidney Street wall would remain intact, they said.

There is a history in these old buildings that, if preserved, add value and connection to the past of an area, the Begnauds wrote. We would love to revive the building to its old glory and repair the amazing mural, which has been important to the neighborhood.

The grocery closed in 2014 and the building was sold in 2018 to Khoua Yang, who submitted the application for the rezoning from H1 residential to T2 traditional neighborhood zoning, which allows a greater mix of commerce and industry. That application was supported by the Planning Commission.

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The city council will revisit the proposed rezoning on Jan. 24.

Related Articles
BALTIMORE  A jury was selected Thursday to decide the mortgage fraud trial of former Baltimore States Attorney Marilyn Mosby.

Defense lawyers and prosecutors chose 12 jurors and four alternates from a pool of approximately 70 prospective jurors.

Over two days, the attorneys and U.S. District Judge Lydia Kay Griggsby asked prospective jurors questions aimed at eliciting their biases. Together, they probed jurors about their knowledge of Mosby and her charges, their thoughts on police and the criminal justice system, and their ability to apply bedrock legal principles like a defendants presumption of innocence.

The jury sworn in around 6 p.m. to fairly preside over Mosbys trial is made up of men and women from different walks of life. There is a retired teacher and a property manager, a sales representative and a career tradesman.

Opening statements in Mosbys case are scheduled for Monday.

Mosby is charged with two counts of mortgage fraud, with prosecutors alleging she made several false statements on loan applications for a pair of properties in Florida.

Another jury in November found Mosby guilty of two counts of perjury, determining she lied about having suffered financial hardship because of the coronavirus pandemic to get $80,000 from her city retirement fund. She used the money on down payments and closing costs for the Florida residences: An eight-bedroom house near Orlando and a condo on the Gulf Coast.

The jury last fall heard evidence of how Mosby obtained the money for the homes and how she spent it, but was tasked only with judging whether she lied to make herself eligible for withdrawals under the federal CARES Act, Congress first pandemic relief package.

This jury will hear minimal details of how Mosby got the money, and only must decide whether she lied on mortgage applications. The government has to prove she knowingly made false statements on those financial forms.

Her attorneys will argue she didnt mean to lie.

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Jurors this time wont hear about Mosbys perjury convictions unless she takes the witness stand. Though her testimony may be the most straightforward way for her to get her story across, taking the witness stand comes with serious risk for the defense, legal experts say. If she testifies, shell have to acknowledge being convicted of lying, and that could undermine her credibility.

One prospective juror, a retired lawyer who said he subscribed to three newspapers, said he had followed coverage of Mosbys case closely. He expressed concerns about being able to judge Mosby impartially against the backdrop of her conviction.

Its hard for me to unknow that, if Im in a courtroom and Im thinking Ok, Ms. Mosbys been convicted of perjury and here she is and here is her defense, Do you understand, your honor, how I could be troubled? he asked Griggsby.

Other prospective jurors said they wanted to hear Mosby tell her side of the story, and that they would hold it against her if she didnt testify. Defendants dont have to testify in court because they have a constitutional right against self incrimination, and jurors are instructed not to hold it against them  or even to discuss during deliberations  if they choose not to.

If I thought that I was not guilty, Id be the first one running to the microphone to defend myself, another prospective juror said. So if someone doesnt testify, itd make me doubt their innocence

Before her perjury trial, Griggsby moved Mosbys case from the federal courthouse in Baltimore to the one in Greenhouse. Defense lawyers argued Mosby would have a fairer trial with jurors selected from the area surrounding the Prince Georges County courthouse, citing pervasive media coverage about Mosby in and around the city where she held office for eight years.

Many jurors acknowledged having heard something about Mosby or her case, but few could recall specifics when Griggsby followed up with them in greater detail.

I read something, I believe on the internet, one prospective juror said. Just that she had been accused of something, some wrongdoing.

Another prospective juror said she remembered reading about mortgage fraud, but little else beyond that.

Theres lots of details that need to be filled in before I have an actual opinion on this case, the prospective juror said.

Because Mosbys case centers on a dizzying array of mortgage documents, Griggsby asked prospective jurors whether they worked in the mortgage industry or had experience obtaining one for themselves.

I wonder if she couldve asked more questions to the mortgage company if everything was in order. Before you sign papers  I mean I have a mortgage too  you do ask questions, the prospective juror said. For me, the mortgage situation went pretty (smoothly). I mean I did have questions as far as my loan, the rate, things like that. I didnt think it was very complicated.

That juror knew of Mosbys conviction, too, but was adamant she could be fair.

You have to hear everything, the prospective juror said.

______
(Bloomberg) -- Microsoft Corp. said a Russian-linked hacking group attacked its corporate systems, getting into a small number of email accounts, including those of senior leadership and employees who work in cybersecurity and legal.

Most Read from Bloomberg

The company said its acting immediately to fix older systems, which will probably cause some disruption.

The hacking group doesnt appear to have accessed customers systems or Microsoft servers that run outward-facing products, the software giant said Friday in a blog post. Microsoft also has no evidence the group, named Midnight Blizzard, got into source code or artificial intelligence systems.

We will act immediately to apply our current security standards to Microsoft-owned legacy systems and internal business processes, even when these changes might cause disruption to existing business processes, the company said. This will likely cause some level of disruption.

The group that Microsoft deemed responsible, also known as Nobelium, is a sophisticated nation-state hacking group that the US government has tied to Russia. The same group previously breached SolarWinds Corp., a US federal contractor, as part of a massive cyber-espionage effort against US federal agencies.

The company said hackers beginning in November used a password spray attack to infiltrate its systems. That technique, sometimes known as a brute force attack, typically involves outsiders quickly trying multiple passwords on specific user names in order to try breaching targeted corporate accounts.

In this case, in addition to the accessed accounts, the attackers also took emails and attached documents. Microsoft said it detected the hack on Jan. 12, adding that the company is still notifying employees whose emails were accessed.

Story continues

Eric Goldstein, executive assistant director for cybersecurity at the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, said government officials are closely coordinating with Microsoft to gain additional insights into this incident and understand impacts so we can help protect other potential victims.

Microsoft technology has frequently been the target of major hacking campaigns.

The US Cyber Safety Review Board, which reports to the Department of Homeland Security, is already assessing a 2023 intrusion against Microsoft Exchange Online that the company attributed to China-linked hackers. That breach enabled the hack of senior US officials email accounts and has prompted growing concerns about cloud computing security. Microsoft said in September it identified five different errors in how its systems that have been corrected.

In an interview with Bloomberg in 2023 following that breach, Jen Easterly, director of the agency that manages the board, suggested that Microsoft should recapture the ethos of what Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates called trustworthy computing in 2002, when he instructed employees to focus on security over adding new features.

I absolutely positively think they have to focus on ensuring their products are both secure by default and secure by design, and we are going to continue to work with them to urge them to do that, Easterly said of Microsoft.

In November, Microsoft said it was overhauling how it protects its software and systems after a series of high-profile hacks. Now the company said it must pick up the pace on changes, particularly to older systems and products.

For Microsoft, this incident has highlighted the urgent need to move even faster, the company said Friday.

(Updates with comments from cyber agency in the eighth paragraph.)

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2024 Bloomberg L.P.
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - January 18, 2024) - Moonbound Mining Ltd. (CSE: MML) (the "Company") is pleased to announce that, further to its press release of December 19, 2023, it intends to increase the size of its non-brokered private placement to a maximum of $6,500,000, which will consist of the issuance of up to 21,666,667 common shares (each, a "Share") of the Company at a price of $0.30 per Share (the "Offering"). A portion of the Offering may consist of the issuance of subscription receipts (each, a "Subscription Receipt") at a price of $0.30 per Subscription Receipt. Each Subscription Receipt will be converted into one Share, at no additional cost, at the time of the completion of the acquisition of the securities of 1442160 B.C. Ltd. ("NumberCo"), which the Company announced in its press release of January 5, 2024 (the "Acquisition").

All securities issued in connection with the Offering will be subject to a statutory hold period expiring four months and one day after closing of the Offering. Finder's fees may be paid in connection with the Offering in accordance with applicable laws. Any participation by insiders in the Offering will constitute a related party transaction under Multilateral Instrument 61-101 - Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions ("MI 61-101") but is expected to be exempt from the formal valuation and minority shareholder approval requirements of MI 61-101.

None of the securities sold in connection with the Offering will be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and no such securities may be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from the registration requirements. This news release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of the securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.

Story continues

The aggregate gross proceeds from the Offering are expected to be used for the payment of costs related to the advancement of the Company's mineral projects, to pay for costs in connection with completion of the Acquisition, for working capital and to repay the loan announced in the press release dated January 16, 2024.

About the Company

Moonbound Mining Ltd. is a mineral exploration company which currently has two exploration projects and is seeking to acquire additional mineral exploration properties. The current projects include the Yak Property, located in northwestern British Columbia, Canada, and the Strathmore Property, which includes seven mining licenses located in Namibia, South Africa.

For further information, please refer to the Company's disclosure record on SEDAR+ (www.sedarplus.ca).

On Behalf of the Board of Directors

Ann Fehr

Chief Executive Officer

(604) 908 1679

info@moonboundmining.com

Forward-Looking Statements:

This news release contains forward-looking statements and forward-looking information (collectively, "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian legislation. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words such as: "believes", "expects", "anticipates", "intends", "estimates", "plans", "may", "should", "would", "will", "potential", "scheduled" or variations of such words and phrases and similar expressions, which, by their nature, refer to future events or results that may, could, would, might or will occur or be taken or achieved. All statements in this news release that are not purely historical are forward-looking statements and include statements regarding beliefs, plans, expectations and orientations regarding the future. Forward-looking statements in this news release include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to the expectations of management regarding the proposed Offering, the expectations of management regarding the use of proceeds of the Offering, closing conditions for the Offering, and the expiry of hold periods for securities distributed pursuant to the Offering. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking information are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Such forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results, performance or developments to differ materially from those contained in the statements including that: the Company may not complete the Offering on terms favorable to the Company or at all; the proceeds of the Offering may not be used as stated in this news release; the funds raised from the sale of the Shares may not be renounced in favour of the Shareholders; the Company may be unable to satisfy all of the conditions to the Closing; and those additional risks set out in the Company's public documents filed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Although the Company believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing the forward-looking statements are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on these statements, which only apply as of the date of this news release, and no assurance can be given that such events will occur in the disclosed time frames or at all. Except where required by law, the Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

The Canadian Securities Exchange (operated by CNSX Markets Inc.) has neither approved nor disapproved of the contents of this press release.

NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/194776
Chris OShea, the chief executive of Centrica, received 1.4m in bonus payments in 2023 - Andrew Milligan/PA

The boss of British Gass parent company has said there is no point trying to justify his 4.5m pay package.

Chris OShea, the chief executive of Centrica, said he was unable to defend his salary while so many households are struggling to pay their gas and electric bills.

Profits at British Gas surged 10-fold in the first six months of 2023 after Ofgem allowed gas and electricity suppliers to make more money from household bills.

The company, which supplies 10 million British homes and businesses, reported record half-year profits of 970m.

However, last year it was banned from forcing prepayment meters onto over-75s or families with small children, under new rules announced by Ofgem.

It followed an investigation that revealed how debt collectors had forced their way into homes to install the units.

When asked about his pay on Friday, Mr OShea told BBC Breakfast: Its a huge amount of money, I am incredibly fortunate. I dont set my own pay, thats set by our remuneration committee.

Mr OShea received 1.4m in bonus payments in 2023, although this came after he turned down bonuses in 2019, 2020 and 2021.

He said: Thats the first bonus Ive taken in my time at Centrica, for a number of years, Ive given up bonuses because of hardships that customers were facing.

Centrica, which has seen its share price increase 43pc over the last year, has set aside 100m for a hardship fund, which has helped around 21,000 customers since 2021.

Mr OShea added: I thought it was right that we put a lot of our money, a lot of our profits, into supporting customers. But you cant justify a salary of that size.

You cant because its a huge amount of money to anybody looking at this.

Asked why he accepts such high pay, the chief executive pointed to the BBC presenters sitting around him.

He said: I suppose for the same reason, I mean if you look, the average salary in the UK is around 30,000.

All of us sitting here on this sofa will make substantially more than 30,000. Its not for me to set my own pay. Its not for you to set your own pay.

But youve got to recognise that when youve got people who are struggling, and I look at my mum whos on the basic state pension, its just impossible to justify, so theres no point in trying to do that.

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.
For beginners, it can seem like a good idea (and an exciting prospect) to buy a company that tells a good story to investors, even if it currently lacks a track record of revenue and 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. Loss making companies can act like a sponge for capital - so investors should be cautious that they're not throwing good money after bad.

Despite being in the age of tech-stock blue-sky investing, many investors still adopt a more traditional strategy; buying shares in profitable companies like 3i Group (LON:III). While this doesn't necessarily speak to whether it's undervalued, the profitability of the business is enough to warrant some appreciation - especially if its growing.

Check out our latest analysis for 3i Group

3i Group's Improving Profits

Over the last three years, 3i Group has grown earnings per share (EPS) at as impressive rate from a relatively low point, resulting in a three year percentage growth rate that isn't particularly indicative of expected future performance. Thus, it makes sense to focus on more recent growth rates, instead. To the delight of shareholders, 3i Group's EPS soared from UK3.71 to UK4.65, over the last year. That's a commendable gain of 25%.

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. It's noted that 3i Group's revenue from operations was lower than its revenue in the last twelve months, so that could distort our analysis of its margins. EBIT margins for 3i Group remained fairly unchanged over the last year, however the company should be pleased to report its revenue growth for the period of 27% to UK4.7b. That's encouraging news for the company!

The chart below shows how the company's bottom and top lines have progressed over time. To see the actual numbers, click on the chart.

Story continues

LSE:III Earnings and Revenue History January 19th 2024

The trick, as an investor, is to find companies that are going to perform well in the future, not just in the past. While crystal balls don't exist, you can check our visualization of consensus analyst forecasts for 3i Group's future EPS 100% free.

Are 3i Group Insiders Aligned With All Shareholders?

Insider interest in a company always sparks a bit of intrigue and many investors are on the lookout for companies where insiders are putting their money where their mouth is. That's because insider buying often indicates that those closest to the company have confidence that the share price will perform well. However, small purchases are not always indicative of conviction, and insiders don't always get it right.

The UK74k worth of shares that insiders sold during the last 12 months pales in comparison to the UK721k they spent on acquiring shares in the company. This adds to the interest in 3i Group because it suggests that those who understand the company best, are optimistic. We also note that it was the Independent Chairman of the Board, David A. Hutchison, who made the biggest single acquisition, paying UK230k for shares at about UK16.34 each.

Along with the insider buying, another encouraging sign for 3i Group is that insiders, as a group, have a considerable shareholding. Notably, they have an enviable stake in the company, worth UK402m. This suggests that leadership will be very mindful of shareholders' interests when making decisions!

Should You Add 3i Group To Your Watchlist?

You can't deny that 3i Group has grown its earnings per share at a very impressive rate. That's attractive. Not only that, but we can see that insiders both own a lot of, and are buying more shares in the company. These things considered, this is one stock worth watching. It's still necessary to consider the ever-present spectre of investment risk. We've identified 3 warning signs with 3i Group (at least 2 which are a bit concerning) , and understanding them should be part of your investment process.

There are plenty of other companies that have insiders buying up shares. So if you like the sound of 3i Group, you'll probably love this curated collection of companies in GB that have witnessed growth alongside insider buying in the last three months.

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.
From what we can see, insiders were net buyers in Truscott Mining Corporation Limited's (ASX:TRM ) during the past 12 months. That is, insiders acquired the stock in greater numbers than they sold it.

Although we don't think shareholders should simply follow insider transactions, logic dictates you should pay some attention to whether insiders are buying or selling shares.

Check out our latest analysis for Truscott Mining

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Truscott Mining

Earlier in the year, Executive Chairman & MD Peter Smith paid AU$0.043 per share in a AU$239k purchase. Although we like to see insider buying, we note that this large purchase was at significantly below the recent price of AU$0.05. Because the shares were purchased at a lower price, this particular buy doesn't tell us much about how insiders feel about the current share price.

Peter Smith bought 7.43m shares over the last 12 months at an average price of AU$0.044. You can see the insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart below. If you click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date!

ASX:TRM Insider Trading Volume January 18th 2024

Truscott Mining is not the only stock insiders are buying. So take a peek at this free list of growing companies with insider buying.

Does Truscott Mining Boast High Insider Ownership?

Another way to test the alignment between the leaders of a company and other shareholders is to look at how many shares they own. I reckon it's a good sign if insiders own a significant number of shares in the company. Truscott Mining insiders own about AU$5.9m worth of shares (which is 68% of the company). Most shareholders would be happy to see this sort of insider ownership, since it suggests that management incentives are well aligned with other shareholders.

So What Do The Truscott Mining Insider Transactions Indicate?

Our data shows a little insider buying, but no selling, in the last three months. Overall the buying isn't worth writing home about. However, our analysis of transactions over the last year is heartening. It would be great to see more insider buying, but overall it seems like Truscott Mining insiders are reasonably well aligned (owning significant chunk of the company's shares) and optimistic for the future. So while it's helpful to know what insiders are doing in terms of buying or selling, it's also helpful to know the risks that a particular company is facing. Case in point: We've spotted 6 warning signs for Truscott Mining you should be aware of, and 5 of them can't be ignored.

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If you would prefer to check out another company -- one with potentially superior financials -- then do not miss this free list of interesting companies, that have HIGH return on equity and low debt.

For the purposes of this article, insiders are those individuals who report their transactions to the relevant regulatory body. We currently account for open market transactions and private dispositions of direct interests only, but not derivative transactions or indirect interests.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.



This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
BOGOTA, Colombia, Jan. 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Ecopetrol S.A. (BVC: ECOPETROL; NYSE: EC) informs that S&P Global Ratings ("S&P") modified the outlook of Ecopetrol's credit rating from stable to negative, as a result of the review in the outlook of Colombia's credit rating, also from stable to negative.

Likewise, S&P confirmed that Ecopetrol's global rating is maintained at 'BB+' and ratified its independent credit profile (Stand-Alone) with investment grade at 'bbb-', stating that a review of Ecopetrol's independent profile is not expected during the next 12 months.

Finally, S&P has stated that Ecopetrol will continue to play an important role in the Colombian economy, and given the Government's participation in the company, its rating will correlate to that of Colombia.

The report issued by S&P on January 18, 2024 announcing the change in the rating outlook will be published in a future statement.

-----------------------------------------

Ecopetrol is the largest company in Colombia and one of the main integrated energy companies in the American continent with more than 18,000 employees. In Colombia, it is responsible for more than 60% of the hydrocarbon production of most transportation, logistics, and hydrocarbon refining systems, and it holds leading positions in the petrochemicals and gas distribution segments. With the acquisition of 51.4% of ISA's shares, the company participates in energy transmission, the management of real-time systems (XM), and the Barranquilla - Cartagena coastal highway concession. At the international level, Ecopetrol has a stake in strategic basins in the American continent, with Drilling and Exploration operations in the United States (Permian basin and the Gulf of Mexico), Brazil, and Mexico, and, through ISA and its subsidiaries, Ecopetrol holds leading positions in the power transmission business in Brazil, Chile, Peru, and Bolivia, road concessions in Chile, and the telecommunications sector. This press release contains business prospect statements, operating and financial result estimates, and statements related to Ecopetrol's growth prospects. These are all projections and, as such, they are based solely on the expectations of the managers regarding the future of the company and their continued access to capital to finance the company's business plan. The realization of said estimates in the future depends on the behavior of market conditions, regulations, competition, and the performance of the Colombian economy and the industry, among other factors, and are consequently subject to change without prior notice.

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For more information, please contact:

Head of Capital Markets

Carolina Tovar Aragon

Email: investors@ecopetrol.com.co

Head of Corporate Communications (Colombia)

Marcela Ulloa

Email: marcela.ulloa@ecopetrol.com.co

Cision

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/sp-maintains-ecopetrols-credit-rating-at-bb-and-changes-its-outlook-from-stable-to-negative-302039099.html

SOURCE Ecopetrol S.A.
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / January 19, 2024 / Pampa Metals Corp. ("Pampa Metals" or the "Company") (CSE:PM)(FSE:FIRA)(OTCQX:PMMCF) is pleased to advise that follow-up diamond drill testing at the Piuquenes Copper-Gold Porphyry project has commenced. The primary objectives of the program are to test the depth and lateral extension of the high-grade intervals of open mineralization at Piuquenes Central, and its potential to host an orebody of 1,000 m depth and 300 - 500 m diameter.

Follow-Up Diamond Drill Program

The follow-up program consists of up to 4 diamond drill holes, including two priority drillholes of ~850 - 900 m depth, is summarized as follows:

Hole 1 (REC-01) (refer figure 1) is orientated along a northeast-southwest geological section, proximate to the historical P8A (Inmet) and PIU16-DDH01 (Anglo) drillholes and designed to extend the depth of known mineralization at the southwestern edge of Piuquenes Central porphyry.

Hole 2 (REC-02) (refer figure 2) is orientated along an east-west section, proximate to the historical P4 and P2 drillholes (Inmet) and designed to test the lateral extension of the mineralized body, primarily along the western edge of the Piuquenes Central porphyry.

A 3rd and possibly a 4th hole will focus on extending known depth to the northeast and southeast edges of the Piuquenes Central mineral body and seek to validate a potential mineral column of 1,000 m depth and 300 - 500 m diameter.

Joseph van den Elsen, the Company's President and CEO, stated: "We are pleased to have swiftly commenced the first of an aggressive, multi-campaign exploration program testing the Piuquenes Project's exceptional potential. We now look forward to driving significant shareholder value over the short, medium, and long-term as we first test the depth and lateral extension of the reported high-grade intervals of open mineralization at Piuquenes Central (558.2 m @ 0.38% Cu, 0.42 g/t Au & 2.4 g/t Ag (0.73% CuEq)* incl. 130 m @ 0.81% Cu, 0.6 g/t Au & 4 g/t Ag (1.31 % CuEq)* - refer 5 December 2023 News Release), and thereafter Piuquenes East and other targets from our growing pipeline."

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Figures 1 & 2: Piuquenes Central Schematic Cross Sections

Piuquenes Porphyry Copper-Gold Project

The Piuquenes Project consists of nine mining titles that cover an area of ~1,880 ha in the San Juan Province of Argentina, adjacent (to the north) with the Altar copper-gold porphyry project (Aldebaran Resources Inc.) and approximately 190 km west of the city of San Juan. Other large porphyry copper projects in the San Juan Miocene porphyry belt include, El Pachon (Glencore), approximately 30 km to the south, the operating Los Pelambres copper mine (60% Antofagasta plc) in Chile, and Los Azules (McEwen Mining) 50 km to the northeast.

The first evidence of copper oxides at Piuquenes was reported in 1970 by MInera Aguilar, who subsequently completed the first exploration program between 1973-1975. Between 1995 and 1997, Inmet Mining Corporation (IMC) completed a heli-magnetic/radiometric survey, surface geology, rock and soil geochemistry, ground magnetics, PD-IP and eight diamond drillholes for a total of 1,894.2m. Subsequently, in 2015-2016, Anglo American Argentina (AAA) completed detailed 1:2,500 geology and geochemistry, 17.8 km of gDAS24 deep 3D PD-IP/NSMT and a single 920.2 m diamond drill hole.

Since its discovery, the Piuquenes Copper-Gold porphyry has until now remained privately held.

Inmet Mining Corporation's (IMC, subsequently acquired by First Quantum in 2013) 8 diamond drill holes for a total of 1,894.2m intersected significant copper and gold mineralization including:

413.5 m (167-580.5 m) @ 0.47% Cu and 0.52 g/t Au (0.87% CuEq)*;

67.5 m (207-274.5 m) @ 0.63% Cu and 0.51 g/t Au (1.02% CuEq)*; and

158 m (3-161 m) @ 0.32% Cu and 0.6 g/t Au (0.78% CuEq)*.

In November 2023, Pampa Metals assayed and re-logged Anglo-American's 2016 diamond borehole of 920.2 m length which had crossed the mineral zones previously drilled by Inmet Mining Corporation (IMC). These results were reported in a 5 December 2023 News Release and included:

- 558.2 m (362-920.2 m EOH) @ 0.38% Cu & 0.42 g/ Au & 2.4 g/t Ag (0.73% CuEq)*

Including:

- 130 m (362-492 m) @ 0.81% Cu & 0.6 g/t Au & 4 g/t Ag (1.31 % CuEq)*.

Piuquenes East Stockwork Zone

Since optioning the Piuquenes Porphyry Copper-Gold Project (refer 30 November 2023 News Release) Pampa Metals has completed a comprehensive review of the project's technical data.

This review, complemented by Pampa Metals' recent drillcore re-logging, field validation and preparatory works for follow-up drilling, has led to the identification of three additional areas of undrilled porphyry intrusives at the Piuquenes Project (refer Figure 3).

One of these zones, referred to as the Piuquenes East prospect, is located immediately proximate to the mineralized Altar North Porphyry held by Aldebaran Resources.

The Piuquenes East prospect is characterized by outcrops of sinuous and banded dark gray quartz veinlets covering an area of 100 x 200m hosted within an altered intermineral porphyry. Alteration is typical of that commonly observed in the epithermal-porphyry transition zone of fully preserved, high level porphyry systems. The mapped stockwork zone is associated with a 400 x 300 m copper-gold soil-rock geochemical anomaly, and co-incident intermediate chargeability and intermediate-high resistivity anomalies in Electrical (IP) Geophysics.

Figure 3: Piuquenes - Altar Porphyry Cluster

Figure 4: Major Copper Projects in San Juan, Argentina

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD

Joseph van den Elsen | President & CEO

INVESTORS CONTACT

Joseph van den Elsen | President & CEO

Joseph@pampametals.com

ABOUT PAMPA METALS

Pampa Metals is a post-discovery copper-gold-molybdenum porphyry exploration company listed on the Canadian Stock Exchange (CSE:PM), Frankfurt (FSE:FIRA), and OTC (OTCQB:PMMCD) exchanges.

In November 2023, the Company announced it had entered into an Option and Joint Venture Agreement for the acquisition of an 80% interest in the Piuquenes Copper-Gold Porphyry Project in San Juan Province, Argentina.

Historical intervals of significant copper and gold mineralization at Piuquenes Central (refer 5 December 2023 News Release) include:

 413.5 m (167-580.5 m) @ 0.47% Cu and 0.52 g/t Au (0.87% CuEq)*; and

 558.2 m (362-920.2 m EOH) @ 0.38% Cu, 0.42 g/t Au and 2.4 g/t Ag (0.73% CuEq)*

including 130 m (362-492 m) @ 0.81% Cu, 0.6 g/t Au and 4 g/t Ag (1.31 % CuEq)*

Qualified Person

Technical information in this news release has been approved by Mario Orrego G. Mr. Orrego G. is a Geologist, a Registered Member of the Chilean Mining Commission and a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101. Mr. Orrego G. is a consultant to the Company.

* %CuEq values are calculated based on copper and gold metal prices: Cu = US$3.20/lb, Au = US$1,700/oz and Ag = US$ 20/oz. The formula utilized to calculate %CuEq is: Cu Eq Grade (%) = Cu Head Grade (%) + [(Au Head Grade (g/t) / 31.104) * (Au Price (US$/oz) / Cu Price (US$/lb) / 22.04) + [(Ag Head Grade (g/t) / 31.104) * (Ag Price (US$/oz) / Cu Price (US$/lb) / 22.0.

Neither the CSE nor the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENT

This news release contains certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking statements". All statements in this release, other than statements of historical fact, that address events or developments that Pampa Metals expects to occur, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects" and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will" or "may" occur. These statements are subject to various risks. Although Pampa Metals believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guaranteeing of future performance and actual results may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements.

SOURCE: Pampa Metals Corp.





View the original press release on accesswire.com




Usually, when one insider buys stock, it might not be a monumental event. But when multiple insiders are buying like they did in the case of Aquis Exchange PLC (LON:AQX), that sends out a positive message to the company's shareholders.

While insider transactions are not the most important thing when it comes to long-term investing, logic dictates you should pay some attention to whether insiders are buying or selling shares.

Check out our latest analysis for Aquis Exchange

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Aquis Exchange

Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider purchase was by Founder Alasdair Frederick Haynes for UK47k worth of shares, at about UK3.90 per share. That means that an insider was happy to buy shares at above the current price of UK3.78. Their view may have changed since then, but at least it shows they felt optimistic at the time. In our view, the price an insider pays for shares is very important. As a general rule, we feel more positive about a stock if insiders have bought shares at above current prices, because that suggests they viewed the stock as good value, even at a higher price.

While Aquis Exchange insiders bought shares during the last year, they didn't sell. The chart below shows insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year. If you want to know exactly who sold, for how much, and when, simply click on the graph below!

AIM:AQX Insider Trading Volume January 19th 2024

Aquis Exchange is not the only stock insiders are buying. So take a peek at this free list of growing companies with insider buying.

Insider Ownership

Many investors like to check how much of a company is owned by insiders. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. Aquis Exchange insiders own about UK29m worth of shares. That equates to 28% of the company. We've certainly seen higher levels of insider ownership elsewhere, but these holdings are enough to suggest alignment between insiders and the other shareholders.

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So What Do The Aquis Exchange Insider Transactions Indicate?

There haven't been any insider transactions in the last three months -- that doesn't mean much. But insiders have shown more of an appetite for the stock, over the last year. Overall we don't see anything to make us think Aquis Exchange insiders are doubting the company, and they do own shares. While we like knowing what's going on with the insider's ownership and transactions, we make sure to also consider what risks are facing a stock before making any investment decision. To assist with this, we've discovered 1 warning sign that you should run your eye over to get a better picture of Aquis Exchange.

If you would prefer to check out another company -- one with potentially superior financials -- then do not miss this free list of interesting companies, that have HIGH return on equity and low debt.

For the purposes of this article, insiders are those individuals who report their transactions to the relevant regulatory body. We currently account for open market transactions and private dispositions of direct interests only, but not derivative transactions or indirect interests.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.



This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
Saudi Arabia and the World Economic Forums (WEF) innovation platform UpLink have signed two agreements to catalyse innovative global solutions to todays most pressing environmental and sustainability challenges.

Signed on the sidelines of WEF Annual Meeting 2024 in Davos, Switzerland, by Faisal F Alibrahim, Saudi Arabias Minister of Economy and Planning and Brge Brende, President of the World Economic Forum, the agreements focus on Catalysing Innovation for an Ocean Positive Economy and Catalysing Innovation for a Positive Circular Carbon Economy (CCE).

The two agreements aim to foster innovation ecosystems around early-stage impact entrepreneurs to stimulate investments and support for breakthrough solutions that address critical sustainable development challenges including ocean degradation, biodiversity loss, and the circular carbon economy.

Spearheaded by MEP

The initiative is spearheaded by the Ministry of Economy and Planning (MEP), in partnership with the Ministry of Energy, Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture (Mewa), the Saudi Green Initiative (SGI) and the WAVE Initiative under FII.

Alibrahim said: Saudi Arabia is determined to meet this moment of deepening climate and sustainable development challenges with responsible environmental stewardship, and driving transformative investments in breakthrough, innovative and scalable technological solutions.

By expanding our collaboration with UpLink, we are doubling down on our commitment to support climate-positive solutions that can help build a sustainable and resilient resource future, while unlocking inclusive economic growth opportunities, in line with the Kingdoms commitment to realising the sustainable development agenda at the national and international level.

John Dutton, Head of UpLink, highlighted the urgency of addressing the climate emergency, underscoring the importance of rapid, coordinated action. Innovative solutions from early-stage entrepreneurs are crucial for realising the Sustainable Development Goals.

Supportive ecosystem

UpLink, in partnership with global collaborators, is developing a supportive ecosystem for these entrepreneurs, providing vital resources, exposure, expertise, and funding. This enhanced partnership between UpLink and Saudi Arabia demonstrates the transformative impact of innovation and collaboration.

Building on the MEP-UpLink partnership established in 2022, this new agreement further advances initiatives like the Food Ecosystems in Arid Climate Challenge and the Smarter Climate Farmers Challenge, previously launched with Mewa. These challenges attracted over 430 submissions, leading to 22 winners who were recognised for their innovative and impactful solutions. Winners received funding, global exposure, and access to WEF and partner events.--TradeArabia News Service
There's no doubt that money can be made by owning shares of unprofitable businesses. For example, although software-as-a-service business Salesforce.com lost money for years while it grew recurring revenue, if you held shares since 2005, you'd have done very well indeed. But while history lauds those rare successes, those that fail are often forgotten; who remembers Pets.com?

Given this risk, we thought we'd take a look at whether Proteomics International Laboratories (ASX:PIQ) shareholders should be worried about its cash burn. For the purposes of this article, cash burn is the annual rate at which an unprofitable company spends cash to fund its growth; its negative free cash flow. Let's start with an examination of the business' cash, relative to its cash burn.

View our latest analysis for Proteomics International Laboratories

Does Proteomics International Laboratories Have A Long Cash Runway?

You can calculate a company's cash runway by dividing the amount of cash it has by the rate at which it is spending that cash. As at June 2023, Proteomics International Laboratories had cash of AU$6.0m and no debt. Importantly, its cash burn was AU$6.9m over the trailing twelve months. So it had a cash runway of approximately 10 months from June 2023. Notably, one analyst forecasts that Proteomics International Laboratories will break even (at a free cash flow level) in about 3 years. That means unless the company reduces its cash burn quickly, it may well look to raise more cash. You can see how its cash balance has changed over time in the image below.

ASX:PIQ Debt to Equity History January 19th 2024

How Is Proteomics International Laboratories' Cash Burn Changing Over Time?

Although Proteomics International Laboratories had revenue of AU$3.2m in the last twelve months, its operating revenue was only AU$730k in that time period. Given how low that operating leverage is, we think it's too early to put much weight on the revenue growth, so we'll focus on how the cash burn is changing, instead. During the last twelve months, its cash burn actually ramped up 88%. Oftentimes, increased cash burn simply means a company is accelerating its business development, but one should always be mindful that this causes the cash runway to shrink. Clearly, however, the crucial factor is whether the company will grow its business going forward. So you might want to take a peek at how much the company is expected to grow in the next few years.

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How Easily Can Proteomics International Laboratories Raise Cash?

Given its cash burn trajectory, Proteomics International Laboratories shareholders should already be thinking about how easy it might be for it to raise further cash in the future. Generally speaking, a listed business can raise new cash through issuing shares or taking on debt. Commonly, a business will sell new shares in itself to raise cash and drive growth. By looking at a company's cash burn relative to its market capitalisation, we gain insight on how much shareholders would be diluted if the company needed to raise enough cash to cover another year's cash burn.

Proteomics International Laboratories' cash burn of AU$6.9m is about 7.1% of its AU$98m market capitalisation. That's a low proportion, so we figure the company would be able to raise more cash to fund growth, with a little dilution, or even to simply borrow some money.

How Risky Is Proteomics International Laboratories' Cash Burn Situation?

Even though its increasing cash burn makes us a little nervous, we are compelled to mention that we thought Proteomics International Laboratories' cash burn relative to its market cap was relatively promising. Shareholders can take heart from the fact that at least one analyst is forecasting it will reach breakeven. We don't think its cash burn is particularly problematic, but after considering the range of factors in this article, we do think shareholders should be monitoring how it changes over time. On another note, Proteomics International Laboratories has 4 warning signs (and 1 which doesn't sit too well with us) we think you should know about.

Of course Proteomics International Laboratories may not be the best stock to buy. So you may wish to see this free collection of companies boasting high return on equity, or this list of stocks that insiders are buying.

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.
Closing software provider Qualia is accusing a former employee and startup title production software firm Settlor of stealing trade secrets.

In a lawsuit filed on Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Denver, Qualia claims that its former senior manager of product at Resware Krista Myers, who is now a product manager at Settlor, secretly stole data from Qualia before she resigned from her position. The suit alleges that Myers then uploaded these files onto Settlors computer systems and used them to unfairly compete against Qualia.

Qualia claims that Myers stole roughly 900 files, which the firm said included the plans for scale-up of ResWare, the software itself, key customer contacts, lists of actual and potential customers, specifications of future product features, customer experience and feedback data, research regarding new software upgrades and features, historic and planned customer pricing methodologies, market research and data, product roadmap documentation, and customer facing documentation.

The plaintiff also states that as the former leader of the Resware team, Myers knew the value of the information she took.

Myers joined Qualia in 2021 through the firms acquisition of Resware from Adeptive Software, which closed in December 2020. Prior to the acquisition, Myers had been with Adeptive for nearly 10 years. According to the complaint, Myers resigned from her position at Qualia in May 2023, after she secretly interviewed for an accepted the position at Settlor. Qualia also claims that during her time at the firm, Myers was highly disgruntled with her employment and that she openly disagreed with Qualias business plans for what was formerly ResWare.

Settlor is a spin-off of Land Title Guarantee Company, but Qualia noted in its complaint that it is still investigating how much governance and oversight the title firm has over its title production software startup.

In the complaint, Qualia states that is reached out to Myers on Sept. 1, 2023, to remind her of her agreement to keep any confidential information and trade secrets private, which it says she ignored. Nearly two months later, in late November 2023, Qualia said that it found forensic proof that Myers had stollen intellectual property and trade secrets.

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The complaint states that upon this discovery, Qualia sent a letter to Settlor and Myers on Dec. 1, 2023, in an effort to resolve matter. In the letter, Qualia asks Myers and Settlor to disclose and return the allegedly stolen data and it cautioned them against deleting or altering the files. Despite this warning, Qualia claims that within hours of receiving the letter, Myers and Settlor deleted all of the Qualia data she had uploaded to the Settlor system.

Based on the facts currently known and in connection with its ongoing investigation, Defendants Myers and Settlors actions were not inadvertent, but rather intentionally and willfully undertaken as part of a larger plan, to quickly build a competing product by cutting corners and illegally using stolen Qualia data to do it, the complaint states.

Qualia is suing both Settlor and Myers for misappropriation of trade secrets, and it is suing Myers for breach of contract, and Settlor for intentional interference with a contract. The company is asking for damages and injunctive relief, and it is demanding a jury trial.

Qualia respects the rights of its employees to leave and work elsewhere, but cannot permit former employees or competitors to steal and use our Intellectual Property. Qualia attempted for weeks to resolve its legitimate concerns that Ms. Myers, a former employee, and her new employer, Settlor, had taken, used and destroyed hundreds of Qualias confidential documents and proprietary materials. When it became clear that informal resolution was not progressing, Qualia was forced to file a lawsuit. We believe this lawsuit will reveal the full extent of the confidential materials taken, and the breadth of the improper use by Settlor and Ms. Myers once she began working at Settlor.

The defendants in the suit did not return a request for comment.
Tim Bush works inside the brewery Thursday at Paradigm Shift Craft Brewery in Massillon. Ohio set a record for craft breweries last year with 434.

Ohio set a new record for craft breweries last year, despite increased competition and many consumers drifting away from drinking beer.

There were 434 craft breweries operating in the Buckeye State last year, with 44 opening, the Ohio Craft Brewers Association announced this week at its ninth annual conference in Toledo. There were 420 in the previous year.

There are now craft breweries in 73 of Ohio's 88 counties  and at least another 68 breweries are in the planning stages statewide.

But the industry also has seen significant challenges, leading to 20 breweries closing last year, such as Two Monks Brewing in Akron, Zaftig Brew Pub in Columbus and Taft's Ale House in Cincinnati, and some established operations are going up for sale. R. Shea Brewing Co. in Akron also announced a crowdfunding effort to save its production brewery because of its weighty debt.

The overall issues include increased costs for ingredients and utilities, and changing consumer tastes, with many people reaching more for alcoholic seltzers and pre-made cocktails. Movements such as "Dry January," when people avoid alcohol, also have made an impact.

"The brewing industrys challenge is to reach out to untapped customer bases and reconnect with those who are currently choosing other beverage options," said Justin Hemminger, deputy director of the Ohio Craft Brewers Association. "Craft beer has always been more than just a product on a shelf, and needs to reinforce the positive impacts that small and independent breweries have in their local communities."

Tim Bush works inside the brewery Thursday at Paradigm Shift Craft Brewery in Massillon. Ohio set a record for craft breweries last year with 434.

Craft breweries keep opening in Ohio

The craft beer industry has been on a meteoric rise in Ohio. In 2011, there were 49 breweries, including Anheuser-Busch and MillerCoors. Ohio's jump has mirrored the national trend. Nationwide, there were 9,456 breweries in June 2023, the latest number available, according to the Brewers Association, a Boulder, Colorado-based trade association.

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The question  which has been around for years  is how long the number of breweries can keep going up.

"It's not sustainable," Mike Malinowski, an award-winning brewer and owner of Paradigm Shift Craft Brewery, a 10-barrel brewpub in Massillon, said about Ohio continuing to add breweries. "We're seeing addition but also subtraction."

The Royal Docks Foeder House + Kitchen offers flights for people to sample different beers. (CantonRep.com/Rick Armon)

He cited the increased competition and shifting consumer tastes as two main reasons for concern.

"You've got to be more creative," Malinowski said. He noted that his customers are asking for more special limited beers, also known as one-offs.

'There are still cities out there that don't have a ton of breweries, or any at all.'

Green Valley Brewing Company co-owner John McGroarty in front of a mural painted by his bartender/artist Sharkayla Bender on Wednesday, Nov. 29, 2023, in Hudson, Ohio. [Phil Masturzo/ Beacon Journal]

John McGroarty, brewer and co-owner of the new Green Valley Brewing Co., which opened late last year in Hudson, said there's still room for more community breweries rather than those that focus on production and distribution.

"There are still cities out there that don't have a ton of breweries, or any at all," he said.

He said new breweries have to focus on not only producing excellent beer, but also providing good food and an environment that encourages people to come back.

"The community has really embraced us and (they) are enjoying what we are doing," McGroarty said.

Hemminger agreed that new community breweries can still be successful.

"Operating a small, community-focused brewery and taproom is still a viable business path," he said. "The bulk of the newer breweries that have opened in the past few years are following this model, leaning on taproom retail revenue over the lower margin potential in wholesale beer distribution. Reform of Ohios antiquated franchise laws that hamstring small breweries in wholesale contracts will help breweries in distribution, but the overall trend in the industry is toward growth of taproom retail."

Rick Armon can be reached at 330-580-8310 or rarmon@cantonrep.com. He's the author of two books on the Ohio brewing industry: "Ohio Breweries" and "50 Must-Try Craft Beers of Ohio."

Green Valley Brewing Company bartender Sharkayla Bender pours a beer on Wednesday, Nov. 29, 2023, in Hudson, Ohio. [Phil Masturzo/ Beacon Journal]

This article originally appeared on The Repository: Ohio sets record for craft breweries
Expect to see a record rate of CEO turnover in 2024, said PwC's senior partner, Tim Ryan, told BI. Getty/Constantine Johnny

Expect to see a record rate of CEO turnover this year, PwC's Tim Ryan said at Davos.

CEOs will grapple with things like tech development and geopolitical tensions, he said.

The number of CEO exits reached a new high in 2023.

Don't be surprised if there's an exodus of CEOs in the year ahead.

"We will see more turnover in the C-Suite in the next 12 months than we have ever," Tim Ryan, PwC senior partner, told Business Insider at the World Economic Forum in Davos , Switzerland this week.

Ryan compared the role of a CEO right now to playing a multi-dimensional game of chess, given that corporate executives need to answer to key stakeholders while balancing a host of new changes and challenges.

"It's a massively complex job," he said. "You have investors who want something in the short term, the board is thinking about the short term and the long term, you've got workers you are worried about leaving behind, rising regulation, technology is moving at a rapid pace, climate is increasing at every level. You've got to reinvent yourself."

One major challenge CEOs are bound to contend with this year is AI's impact on the workforce. Ryan's advice to CEOs is to foster a collaborative environment where everyone is encouraged to innovate using AI together and solve problems. Employees more specialized in AI  such as engineers and programmers  should work together with workers like accountants, retail bankers, or insurance claims processors to "reimagine" the best way to get things done.



And CEOs will also need to deal with how the rapid development of technology will affect the geopolitical landscape  which isn't always under their control.

Ryan said there are four key questions that anyone who is at the helm of the company should address right now:

Do they actually want to do the job?

Do they have five years to do it? (Ryan estimates that reinventing a company to face new challenges on the horizon will take about five years.)

Does the company's board want them to do it?

Do they have the track record to convince investors to let them do it?

Story continues

CEO turnover is already high. A record 1,710 CEOs joined the "Great Resignation" in 2023, marking a 51% jump from 2022, according to a report by outplacement firm Challenger, Gray and Christmas. There were some high-profile CEO exits in the last year, including CNN's Chris Licht, GameStop's Matthew Furlong, and NBC Universal's Jeff Shell.

And while the average pay of top CEOs has skyrocketed over the past few decades, according to data from the Economic Policy Institute, those cushy compensation packages also come with a healthy dose of stress.

A fall 2023 survey of 630 US CEOs indicated that the top three geopolitical concerns that keep them up at night are the national debt, a potential cyberattack, and war in the Middle East.

Former Panera CEO Ron Shaich described just how stressful leading a company through a tough period can be in a podcast interview in October. "It was huge pressure, and things weren't going right," he said of a period in 2015. "That's the pressure. That pressure that I wanted to deliver for the good people that actually cared to believe in me in a world where nothing was actually certain," he said.

And as companies are increasingly under pressure to tighten their belts and evolve in the era of AI, it doesn't sound like that pressure will be letting up for today's CEOs anytime soon.

Correction: Thursday, January 18, 2024  This article has been updated to reflect Tim Ryan's current title, which is senior partner at PwC. He no longer serves as chairman.

Read the original article on Business Insider
There are a few key trends to look for if we want to identify the next multi-bagger. Typically, we'll want to notice a trend of growing return on capital employed (ROCE) and alongside that, an expanding 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. With that in mind, we've noticed some promising trends at DHT Holdings (NYSE:DHT) so let's look a bit deeper.

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 DHT Holdings is:

Return on Capital Employed = Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT)  (Total Assets - Current Liabilities)

0.17 = US$236m  (US$1.5b - US$79m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2023).

So, DHT Holdings has an ROCE of 17%. That's a relatively normal return on capital, and it's around the 16% generated by the Oil and Gas industry.

See our latest analysis for DHT Holdings

roce

Above you can see how the current ROCE for DHT Holdings compares to its prior returns on capital, but there's only so much you can tell from the past. If you'd like to see what analysts are forecasting going forward, you should check out our free report for DHT Holdings.

How Are Returns Trending?

We're delighted to see that DHT Holdings is reaping rewards from its investments and has now broken into profitability. While the business was unprofitable in the past, it's now turned things around and is earning 17% on its capital. On top of that, what's interesting is that the amount of capital being employed has remained steady, so the business hasn't needed to put any additional money to work to generate these higher returns. With no noticeable increase in capital employed, it's worth knowing what the company plans on doing going forward in regards to reinvesting and growing the business. So if you're looking for high growth, you'll want to see a business's capital employed also increasing.

Story continues

Our Take On DHT Holdings' ROCE

To sum it up, DHT Holdings is collecting higher returns from the same amount of capital, and that's impressive. And with the stock having performed exceptionally well over the last five years, these patterns are being accounted for by investors. Therefore, we think it would be worth your time to check if these trends are going to continue.

Like most companies, DHT Holdings does come with some risks, and we've found 1 warning sign that you should be aware of.

If you want to search for solid companies with great earnings, check out this free list of companies with good balance sheets and impressive returns on equity.

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 Doyinsola Oladipo and Catarina Demony

NEW YORK/MADRID (Reuters) - Some cruise operators have cancelled or adjusted their itineraries to avoid the Red Sea due to attacks on ships by Houthi militia, but the overall impact on the multi-billion dollar industry is not expected to be significant.

The attacks by the Iran-backed militia in Yemen since November have slowed trade between Asia and Europe and raised concerns about an escalation of the war between Israel and Palestinian Hamas militants in Gaza.

Royal Caribbean said in a statement on Thursday it had cancelled two voyages so far.

One from Muscat to Dubai was meant to take place Jan. 16-26, and another from Dubai to Mumbai was scheduled for Jan. 26-Feb. 11.

It also amended last week the itinerary of a cruise between Aqaba and Muscat to disembark guests in a port city near Athens.

"Our global security team continues to closely monitor the situation in the region and we will make additional changes if required," Royal Caribbean said.

Swiss-Italian operator MSC Cruises said on Wednesday it had cancelled three trips in April from South Africa and the United Arab Emirates to Europe due to the Red Sea crisis.

"The safety of passengers and crew is the number one priority and as there was no viable alternative itinerary, the company has regrettably had to cancel the voyages," MSC Cruises said. "The three ships will transfer directly to Europe without any passengers on board and avoid transiting through the Red Sea."

Although thousands of passengers are affected, the impact on cruise operators at a global level is not expected to be significant, said Todd Elliott, CEO of Florida-based travel agency Cruise Vacation Outlet.

"This is a small part of their overall fleet and multi-year itineraries so they will be able to overcome this easily," Elliott said.

Italy's Costa Cruises told Reuters on Thursday that routes "remain unchanged" and only two of its cruises scheduled to transit through the Red Sea in March and April could be affected, including the last leg of a round-the-world trip.

Carnival said its global security team was working with global security experts and governments to prioritise safety, including adjusting its itineraries if needed.

(Reporting by Catarina Demony in Madrid and Doyinsola Oladipo in New York; Additional reporting by Corina Pons in Madrid and Angelo Amante in Rome; Editing by Charlie Devereux and Susan Fenton)
(Reuters) -OpenAI CEO Sam Altman plans to use the billions of dollars he is trying to raise for a chip venture for setting up a network of factories that will manufacture semiconductors, Bloomberg News reported on Friday, citing people with knowledge of the plans.

Altman has had talks with several large potential investors in the hopes of raising the vast sums needed for chip fabrication plants, colloquially known as fabs, the report said.

The project would involve working with top chip manufacturers and the network of fabs would be global in scope, according to the report.

Manufacturing chips is expensive. They also require copious amounts of natural resources, in addition to the billions of dollars in funding. Costs have been rising over the years as technology advances to make chips used in artificial intelligence applications.

Abu Dhabi-based G42 and Japan's SoftBank Group are among the firms that have held discussions with the OpenAI boss, but the talks are still early and a full list of involved partners and funders has not been established, the report said.

The talks with G42, with which the ChatGPT maker partnered in October last year, alone had focused on raising $8 billion to $10 billion, although the current status of the discussions is unclear, according to the report.

Intel, Taiwanese chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co and Samsung Electronics are potential partners for OpenAI, the report added.

OpenAI, SoftBank, Intel, TSMC, G42 and Samsung did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment. Microsoft declined to comment.

Altman returned to OpenAI in November after a surprise ouster that had sent shockwaves through the tech industry.

The Bloomberg report said he had been hard at work on the chips project until he was temporarily ousted and upon his return, he rekindled the efforts. He has also sounded out Microsoft on the plan, and the software giant is interested, the report added.

(Reporting by Jaspreet Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber and Shilpi Majumdar)
The International Epilepsy Surgery Society Congress IESS Dubai 2024 has opened with 400 regional and international experts gathering for three days of cutting-edge medical education sessions.

Dr Faisal Alotaibi Professor of Neurological Surgery, Neuroscience Centre, King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre, Alfaisal University Riyadh, Congress President, said: There are more than 50 million people around the world affected by epilepsy. About 30% of them have drug-resistant epilepsy that requires other treatment interventions, including surgery. One of the new treatment methodologies is MRI-guided laser therapy, which targets the epileptic focus under the MRI and delivers a laser to eliminate the focus of epilepsy origin.

This minimally invasive treatment method can shorten the patient's hospital stay to one day. In addition to laser therapy, focused ultrasound therapy is the new horizon in treating epilepsy. The ultrasonic therapy guided by MRI delivers a focused beam without any surgery. The beam will act on the epilepsy focus to control it and help people with epilepsy without surgery. It is important to note that the incidence of epilepsy reached up to 6.5 per 1,000 in the region of the Middle East and certain Gulf countries.

Focus on surgical aspects

Christian Dorfer, the president of the international epilepsy surgery society, stated: This event will boost the IESSs mission to act as a strong and equivalent partner to our colleagues from neurology and all other specialties involved in the treatment of epilepsy patients around the world. The strong focus on the surgical aspects in the treatment of epilepsy and the cutting-edge technological advances presented herein makes this congress a unique opportunity for scientific exchange and education of epilepsy surgery. It certainly represents an important milestone and a benchmark meeting for the future global activities of the IESS.

Dr Mohammad Alolama, president, Emirates Society of neurological surgeons, treasurer, Aisan-Australasian society of neurosurgeons, general Secretary, Arab Pediatric neurosurgical society, concluded: This Congress serves as a paramount platform, uniting global experts to advance our understanding of epilepsy and Epilepsy surgery. Through collaborative exchange, it fosters cutting-edge research, shares innovative treatments, and promotes awareness.

This gathering empowers healthcare professionals, researchers, and advocates to synergise efforts, ultimately enhancing patient care and quality of life. By transcending borders, the conference catalyses a collective commitment to conquer the challenges of epilepsy and epilepsy surgery, offering hope and progress to millions worldwide. In its convergence of minds, the event becomes a pivotal force, driving forward the quest for improved therapies, increased public understanding, and ultimately, a world free from the shackles of epilepsy.

Board members

The Congress board members include Dr Christian Dorfer Associate Professor, Vice-Chair, Department of Neurosurgery, Medical University of Vienna IESS President. Dr Bertil Rydenhag Dept of Clinical Neuroscience, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, Dept of Neurosurgery, The Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, IESS Secretary. Dr Arthur Cukiert Professor, Chair, Neurology and Neurosurgery Clinic Sao Paolo Clinica Neurologica Cukiert IESS Treasurer. Dr Faisal Alotaibi Professor of Neurological Surgery, Neuroscience Centre, King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre, Alfaisal University Riyadh, Congress President. Dr Mohammad Alolama Consultant Neurosurgeon, Valiant Clinic & Hospital, Dubai, Congress Organising Board. Dr Homoud Aldahash Deputy Director Neuroscience Centre, King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre, Alfaisal University. Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Congress Organising Board.

In addition, the event founding bord members includes Karl Roessler MD, Full Professor, Chair, Department of Neurosurgery, Medical University of Vienna Vice-President. Guy McKhann MD, PhD, Department of Neurological Surgery, Columbia University Medical Center New York, New York Vice-Secretary. Jorge Gonzalez-Martinez MD, PhD, Professor, Director, Epilepsy &

Movement Disorders Programme, Co-Director, University of Pittsburgh Epilepsy Centre, Director, Cortical Systems Laboratory Vice-Treasurer. Dennis Spencer MD, Ma(hon), FACS, FAES, Harvey and Kate Cushing Professor, Emeritus, Chairman, Emeritus, Department of Neurosurgery, Co-Director Comprehensive Epilepsy Program, Yale University School of Medicine. Takamichi Yamamoto MD, PhD, MS, FAES and Hospital Director Consultant Neurosurgeon, Epilepsy Service Seirei Mikatahara General Hospital Hamamatsu, Japan. Guoming Luan MD, PhD, Department of Neurosurgery, Comprehensive Epilepsy Centre, Sanbo Brain Hospital, Capital Medical University.--TradeArabia News Service
Sify Technologies (NASDAQ:SIFY) Third Quarter 2024 Results

Key Financial Results

Revenue: 8.66b (down 2.7% from 3Q 2023).

Net loss: 14.0m (down by 105% from 258.0m profit in 3Q 2023).

All figures shown in the chart above are for the trailing 12 month (TTM) period

Sify Technologies Earnings Insights

Looking ahead, revenue is forecast to grow 32% p.a. on average during the next 2 years, compared to a 2.1% growth forecast for the Telecom industry in the US.

Performance of the American Telecom industry.

The company's shares are down 14% from a week ago.

Risk Analysis

What about risks? Every company has them, and we've spotted 2 warning signs for Sify Technologies (of which 1 is a bit concerning!) you should know about.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.



This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
fizkes / iStock.com

The Social Security Administration got the wrong kind of headlines last year when it was dubbed an agency in crisis by the nations biggest federal employee union, which also warned of even worse customer service problems to come. A new analysis by the AARP backed that warning up, citing data showing that backlogs and benefit processing delays can last for more than half a year.

Social Security: 4 Ways You Can Lose Your Benefits

Explore: Pocket an Extra $400 a Month With This Simple Hack

The problem is particularly acute for Social Security recipients who qualify for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), the AARP noted in a report published this week. As of December 2023, it took the SSA an average of 228 days to process an initial application for disability benefits, which works out to more than seven months. Thats about double the average of 110 to 120 days as recently as the late 2010s  and back then 120 days seemed like an interminable wait time.

The AARP also cited federal data showing that about 10,000 Americans die each year while their applications for SSDI benefits are making their way through the system.

Ive been doing this since 1976 and its the worst Ive ever seen, John Heard, a San Antonio attorney and former president of the National Organization of Social Security Claimants Representatives, told the AARP.

The SSA is aware of the problem and puts much of the blame on years of underfunding and staffing shortages. Thats also the opinion of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), a labor union that represents 750,000 federal and D.C. government workers.

During a gathering on Capitol Hill last summer, the AFGE noted that over the last decade, the number of Social Security beneficiaries has increased by 25% while the SSAs operating budgets have decreased. Hiring has fallen by half in recent years, contributing to a shortage of workers that put SSA staffing levels at a 25-year low at the end of fiscal year 2022.

Story continues

Earlier this month, the AFGE proposed that Congress provide $20 billion in additional funding to the SSA to help it fix customer service issues. For now, however, Social Security disability customers continue to face severe delays getting their claims and inquiries processed.

Weve seen a tremendous increase in the time its taking at the lower levels over the last two or three years, Chris Doherty, a Massachusetts attorney who specializes in disability law, told AARP. The extraordinary levels of delay are affecting everybody, because everybody who applies is experiencing them.

If you face long delays, your best option is to seek legal help. Enlisting the services of an attorney or professional disability advocate can help you get Social Security disability benefits much faster, the AARP reported. It cited a 2022 study from the nonprofit National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) showing that obtaining legal representation early in the process increases the probability of getting a positive decision on an initial benefit claim by 23%.

[Legal help] leads to earlier disability awards to individuals who would otherwise be awarded benefits only on appeal, the NBER report stated. By securing earlier awards and discouraging unsupported appeals, representation reduces total case processing time by nearly one year.

One of the main advantages of getting legal assistance is that it helps claimants put those applications together in a way that can be approved, according to the NBERs Nicole Maestas, who co-authored the study.

Another plus is that you wont have to pay up-front fees for legal help with a disability claim. Lawyers get paid only if you win, the AARP noted, and the fee comes out past-due benefits you would have received had Social Security approved your application at an earlier stage.

The fee is capped by Social Security at 25% of the past-due amount or $7,200, whichever is less. If there is no back pay then theres no fee  even if you receive benefits going forward.

More From GOBankingRates

This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Social Security: Disability Benefit Wait Times Have Doubled Since 2016  What Can You Do To Expedite?
Someone completing an unemployment benefits form.

Jobless rates fell across Southwest Florida in December.

All five counties saw declines over the month. However, most had higher unemployment rates than a year ago, according to a report released Friday by FloridaCommerce.

In the region, Collier County had the lowest unemployment rate in December  at 2.8%

Here's a look at where the others stood:

Charlotte County: 3.3%

Glades County: 3.4%

Hendry County: 4.5%

Lee County: 3%

That compared to a state rate of 2.9%  and a national rate of 3.5%.

Hendry, along with Citrus County, had the highest unemployment rate in the state.

Lee County's rate was unchanged over the year, while the other counties saw slight increases.

More like this: Southwest Florida continues to gain jobs and workers, with low unemployment

Employers added thousands of jobs in the region

In December, all 24 metros in Florida saw over-the-year job gains.

In Southwest Florida's three metros  essentially made up of Charlotte, Collier and Lee counties  employers added 8,300 jobs over the year, bringing their total combined nonagricultural employment to 544,000.

Lee gained the most jobs (4,400), followed by Collier (2,900), then Charlotte (1,000).

In the three metros, these three industries added the most jobs:

Government (+2,800)

Professional and Business Services (+2,400)

Education and Health Services (+2,200)

These three industries lost jobs:

Leisure and Hospitality (-400)

Mining, Logging and Construction (-300)

Information (-100)

Statewide, nine of 10 major industries saw over-the-year job growth in December. The exception: Information, shedding 600 jobs in total across all metros.

Lee County had the fastest annual job growth rate compared to all themetros in the state in Financial Activities (+4.5%).

In Collier, the Leisure and Hospitality (+5.2%); Manufacturing (+3.6%); and Government(+2.8%) industries grew faster than statewide.

Charlotte also saw faster growth than statewide in three sectors: Leisure and Hospitality (+3.8%), Other Services (+3.6%) and Government (+3%).

Story continues

FGCU held a SWFL Veterans Expo and Job Fair Thursday, April 14, 2022.

The region's workforce continues to grow

In December, the labor force grew by 5,137 in Lee, 3,820 in Collier and 1,578 in Charlotte over the year. Regionally, it rose to 683,027, up by more than 11,000 in the five counties. There were 20,562 unemployed residents in total.

Statewide 354,000 more workers entered the labor force at an over-the-year growth rate of 3.3%, faster than the nation's rate of 1.5%.

Floridas unemployment rate has been lower than the nation's for 38 months in a row.

"Florida's policies yield a resilient economy," said Florida Secretary of Commerce J. Alex Kelly in a statement. "The governor continues to make long term investments in workforce education, infrastructure, housing and smart financial management, which has put Florida on firm footing for the future."

This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: Jobless rates fell in December across SWFL, state figures also good
An In-Depth Look at Special Opportunities Fund Inc's Upcoming Dividend

Special Opportunities Fund Inc (NYSE:SPE) recently announced a dividend of $0.10 per share, payable on February 29, 2024, with the ex-dividend date set for February 16, 2024. 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 Special Opportunities Fund Inc's dividend performance and assess its sustainability.

What Does Special Opportunities Fund Inc Do?

Warning! GuruFocus has detected 4 Warning Sign with SPE.

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?

Special Opportunities Fund Inc is a United States-based closed-end diversified management investment company. Its investment objective is to achieve total return. The company's investment portfolio consists of a variety of assets, including investment companies, common stocks, money market funds, commodity partnerships, and more, spanning across various industries from healthcare to real estate investment trusts.

Special Opportunities Fund Inc's Dividend Analysis

A Glimpse at Special Opportunities Fund Inc's Dividend History

Special Opportunities Fund Inc has maintained a consistent dividend payment record since 2015, with dividends currently distributed on a monthly basis. Below is a chart showing annual Dividends Per Share for tracking historical trends.

Breaking Down Special Opportunities Fund Inc's Dividend Yield and Growth

As of today, Special Opportunities Fund Inc currently has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 8.69% and a 12-month forward dividend yield of 9.52%. This suggests an expectation of increased dividend payments over the next 12 months.

Over the past three years, Special Opportunities Fund Inc's annual dividend growth rate was 18.60%. Extended to a five-year horizon, this rate remained the same. Based on Special Opportunities Fund Inc's dividend yield and five-year growth rate, the 5-year yield on cost of Special Opportunities Fund Inc stock as of today is approximately 20.39%.

Story continues

Special Opportunities Fund 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 June 30, 2023, Special Opportunities Fund Inc's dividend payout ratio is 1.01, which may suggest that the company's dividend may not be sustainable.

Special Opportunities Fund Inc's profitability rank, offers an understanding of the company's earnings prowess relative to its peers. GuruFocus ranks Special Opportunities Fund Inc's profitability 2 out of 10 as of June 30, 2023, suggesting the dividend may not be sustainable. The company has reported net profit in 4 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. Special Opportunities Fund Inc's growth rank of 2 out of 10 suggests that the company has poor growth prospects and thus, the dividend may not be sustainable.

Next Steps

In conclusion, while Special Opportunities Fund Inc's high dividend yield and growth rate over the past years may appear attractive, the sustainability of its dividends is questionable given the high payout ratio and low profitability and growth ranks. Investors should consider these factors along with their investment strategy when evaluating the potential of Special Opportunities Fund Inc's dividends. For those seeking high-dividend yield stocks, GuruFocus Premium users can screen for opportunities 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.


Bella Boye is the proud owner of a limited-edition Stanley x Starbucks quencher, the shiny pink tumbler that is going viral online.

But securing the cup wasnt easy.

The 18-year-old influencer got the third spot in line at her local Target in Tampa, Florida at 4:40 a.m. After camping out in the cold for more than three hours on a beach chair, Boye was among the first to rush inside.

Bella Boye of Tampa, Fla. is photographed with her Stanley cups for a story on the craze around the insulated item.

She and her mom were each able to grab a Stanley. Others in line with her werent so lucky  Boye said the cups were gone within seconds.

It's kind of a FOMO (fear of missing out) thing where people are like, Oh, everyone else has one. So I have to get one, Boye said.

The craze over the pink and red Stanley insulated cups at Target and Starbucks is the latest example of an age-old marketing practice, where companies create buzz to fuel a fad.

But social media is giving such campaigns a new twist, experts say, turbocharging the chase for the hot new item as consumers compete for clicks, cachet, or just a sense of belonging to a broader community of collectors.

Target and Stanley did not respond to requests for comment. But Starbucks said it saw an enthusiastic response to the winter pink Stanley cup, which launched exclusively in U.S. Starbucks stores inside Target locations on Jan. 3. (Not to be confused with the Stanley Galentines Day collection sold exclusively at Target  another limited-edition cupthat flew off store shelves on New Year's Eve.)

And there are plenty of other products that people are willing to spend hours in line for like Taylor Swift merchandise, designer clothes, and Disney popcorn buckets.

In 2022, some Disney fans stood in line for six hours to buy a Figment-themed popcorn cup, which went viral and sold out quickly. Others can relate to the feeling that once they step into a Disney park, they have to get some Mickey Mouse ears or other Disney-themed souvenir.

Why do consumers go crazy for an item?

Companies labeling something as limited edition or exclusive or controlling the number of items that will be available to purchase goes right to a consumers psyche, said Josh Clarkson, a consumer psychologist who specializes in the areas of persuasion, social influence, and self-control.

Story continues

You label something as limited and somehow it can increase its stock or value in peoples minds, not necessarily in financial value, Clarkson, a marketing professor at the University of Cincinnati Carl H. Linder College of Business, told USA TODAY.

It's this idea that we like what we can't have, and we don't like to have our options limited, he said.

Boye said she can justify owning 11 Stanley cups with girl math. The cups are great quality, she notes, so if you drink from the cups daily and consider each day of use worth a dollar, its well worth it.

Im a dancer, so a water bottle is always with me. I use them all the time, she said. I dont feel silly having a million.

Bella Boye of Tampa, Fla. is photographed with her Stanley cups for a story on the craze around the insulated item.

Clarkson also said consumers tend to confuse something that is rare with something that is valuable, when often, its not. It just may be valuable to that person in the moment  perhaps for social cachet or to feed on a good childhood memory, Clarkson said.

Additionally, when a company makes something limited edition, they do a very good job of creating a sense of urgency, he said. That increases the potential for regret if you don't grab it.

"In looking back on our lives, we regret inaction more than action, Clarkson said. So the idea that if I buy this and I don't enjoy it, that really doesn't nearly bother us as much as the idea that, Oh, I could have bought this and I didn't.

But once that rush of emotions is over, you may question those purchases.

This sense of urgency can lead to this fury of excitement and buzz,'' Clarkson said. "It almost starts like that snowball that just starts rolling and ... at some point you kind of step back and say How did we get here?

'It just became a small obsession'

Aly Zamorano, 36, of Southern California, first discovered Stanley cups while scrolling through TikTok last year. She said she soon made it her mission to find a peach Stanley like the one that caught her eye, and began calling around to different Dicks Sporting Goods and Target stores until, at last, she found the tumbler.

After that, it just became like a small obsession, she said.

Zamorano now owns 40 Stanley cups, give or take  shes lost count at this point. The collection has cost her an estimated $1,800.

Cup buzz: Stanley cups have people flooding stores and buying out shops. What made them so popular?

Part of Aly Zamorano's Stanley cup collection sits on display. The California resident owns about 40 Stanley cups.

When I was younger, I did collect Beanie Babies with my mom. And that was something that we kind of did together, she said. I look at it like that now. It's just something fun for me to do and, honestly, it makes me drink more water. So thats always a plus.

While the cups are handy  Zamorano talked up how long the cups keep her drinks cold  she doesnt use all of them. Five or six are used regularly, while the others sit on her shelf looking pretty.

Aly Zamorano has spent roughly $1,800 on her Stanley cup collection.

I think it's just the chase, you know? Like, okay, well that one is really pretty. So let me see if I can go find that, she said. But I'm also busy working, too. So really, its just what I like and whatever I can find. I really don't have a lot of time to go out and seek them as much as I'd like to.

Social media, rise of influencers adds to the fueling of limited edition items

While there have always been fads or must-haves  are you old enough to remember Cabbage Patch Kids?  the immediacy of social media and addition of influencers helps fuel the current frenzies, said Jaehee Jung, a professor of fashion and apparel studies who studies consumer behavior at the University of Delaware.

Social media and in particular TikTok, have amplified wanting to have the latest popular item, she said.

Theres so many trends on TikTok sites and this is one of those,'' Jung toldUSA TODAY, referring to the Stanley cup obsession."Consumers dont just want the item, but they want to go online and show off that they got one and show the scene as its happening ... Everyone is interested in creating some kind of story."

The items often arent expensive, but its the fun of it that people get into, Jung said.

Companies love getting the buzz, free advertising

Companies are encouraging this behavior and want to have that limited-edition item that will create the viral buzz among consumers, she said. Consumers are bored with traditional marketing, so companies want to try different approaches to stimulate interest among the younger generation especially, Jung said.

Companies arent even concerned with making a profit on the item if it will create chatter and brand awareness in social media and the press, she said. Companies already have their typical items dubbed hero products, which consumers buy over and over again that boost their bottom lines. So they're looking for other items that will build brand awareness.

Brand loyalty for consumers has eroded recently, so anything a company can do to build loyalty, especially among young people who may continue that devotion and provide free advertising via social media shares, is good for a company, said Chip West, a retail and consumer behavior expert at Vericast. His company is a data-driven marketing solutions company that helps brands connect with consumers.

"Keeping the buzz out there with really no investment in advertising is free advertising," West said.

Females are the biggest and most influential consumer marketing demographic for companies, in particular, women in their 20s and 30s, said Jung. But lifestyle may be a bigger influence factor than age, she said.

"Brands cannot under-estimate female consumers," Jung said. They are not only a large percentage of social media influencers, but they also influence their boyfriends, husbands and family members in their buying habits, she said.

And don't forget that young girls also influence their moms, said West.

Companies first started seeing the buzz or FOMO among consumers build during the COVID-19 pandemic, when supply-chain issues made it harder for consumers to find particular products, said West.

When you add peer pressure to have the "coolest thing" on top of scarcity, that magnifies the need to not miss out, especially among younger consumers, Nespehe said.

"So if something starts off and a certain group latches on to it, it just grows like wildfire," West said.

Couple starts a side hustle selling Stanley cups

Some consumers will buy the item for themselves to enjoy or some may buy to start a collection, which could lead to it having value some day. Or they may buy it to resell it, said West.

Some Stanley cups bought for $45 are being listed and sold for $200 on reseller sites.

Husband and wife Rick and Flora Casta of Charlotte, North Carolina have started a side hustle selling Stanley cups and accessories online. They estimate that its made them about $5,000 over the past eight months.

Flora Casta of North Carolina with her Stanley cup collection.

Its like a stock, right? If you bought Apple 10 years ago and said, Oh, it's got to be at the peak now, right? iPhones have been out for 15 years, and then that's not the case, Rick Casta said. We thought (Stanley) would peak, and then it's only really gotten more crazy the last maybe 90, 120 days, between the Target and the Starbucks drops.

People coming together for one common thing is fascinating

Clarkson, the psychology professor, said while there are people who are wondering about the "irrationality" of pursuing the latest limited-edition or exclusive thing, the chase can foster connections that build community.

"There is an element of this that is sort of kind of fun,'' Clarkson said. "It's really cool to see so many people from all these different walks of life and all these different places that we would not have connected with, that do sort of connect and bond over something that is seemingly trivial."

Betty Lin-Fisher is a consumer reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at blinfisher@USATODAY.com or follow her on X, Facebook or Instagram @blinfisher. Bailey Schulz is a general assignment Money reporter and can be reached at bschulz@usatoday.com or followed on X as @bailey_schulz. Sign up for our free The Daily Money newsletter, which will include consumer news on Fridays, here.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: How did Stanley cups go viral? The obsession that can't be quenched
SHAWN THEW / EPA-EFE / Shutterstock.com

A few days ago, the Biden administration announced that starting next month, the Education Department will fast-track student loan forgiveness for those who qualify under the Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) plan, which is an income-driven repayment (IDR) plan. The forgiveness was originally slated to start in summer 2024 but is coming sooner for many borrowers.

See: Student Loans: 3 Repayment Issues That Could Cost You Money & How To Avoid Them

Find: Pocket an Extra $400 a Month With This Simple Hack

The department will start providing forgiveness after as few as 10 years of payments for borrowers on the new Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) Plan  at least, thats the timeline for those who originally took out $12,000 or less for college. The Biden administration has touted this plan as the most affordable repayment plan ever created, according to CNBC.

In February, the department will start notifying borrowers on the SAVE plan who are eligible for forgiveness that their loans are being discharged automatically with no action needed on the borrowers part. Additionally, theyll also be emailing borrowers not on SAVE who can receive forgiveness immediately upon signing up for the plan.

Our ability to deliver this relief to borrowers months ahead of schedule is a testament to the Biden administrations commitment to delivering relief to as many borrowers as possible, as quickly as possible, explained U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona. Todays announcement gives borrowers an even greater reason to check out the SAVE plan and find out if they may qualify for earlier debt relief.

Also: How To Get $340 a Year in Cash Back  for Things You Already Buy

Sponsored: Owe the IRS $10K or more? Schedule a FREE consultation to see if you qualify for tax relief.

How To Qualify For Forgiveness Under the SAVE Plan

If youre already enrolled in the SAVE plan, theres no further action needed on your part. If you qualify, the forgiveness should be automatic. Here are a few SAVE plan highlights:

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The SAVE plan effectively reduces the monthly federal student loan payments for undergraduate borrowers from 10% of discretionary income to 5%.

Single borrowers who earn less than $32,800 per year or those in a family of four making less than $67,500 have a $0 monthly payment.

A borrowers balance will never grow due to unpaid interest as long as they are making their monthly payments.

The timeline for forgiveness for those with small balances is shortened from the usual required 20 years or 25 years.

As mentioned, if you took out $12,000 or less in federal student loans during your undergraduate or graduate studies, youll get any remaining debt erased after just a decade. However, the payment term required for forgiveness increases by one year for each additional $1,000 above $12,000 that you borrowed.

Additional Steps To Take To Qualify For SAVE Student Loan Forgiveness

For many borrowers, this forgiveness will be automatic. For others, further action is needed. Here are additional steps that you can take now to ensure that you receive forgiveness under the SAVE plan if you qualify:

Make Sure To Enroll in the SAVE Plan : If you arent enrolled already, youll need to enroll in the SAVE plan to be eligible for this type of student loan forgiveness.

Find Out Which Type of Student Loans You Have : Check what type of student loans you may have before you try to enroll. In most cases, only Direct loans qualify for the SAVE plan. These include Direct unsubsidized, Direct subsidized, and Direct PLUS loans.

Consolidate Your Existing Federal Student Loans Into Direct Loans : If you have student loans that dont qualify for forgiveness under the SAVE plan, you may be able to consolidate your loans into a Direct loan to then qualify for forgiveness. After that, youll be able to enroll.

Enroll in the Fresh Start Program if You Have Defaulted Federal Student Loans: The Education Departments Fresh Start Program allows borrowers a one-time offer to bring their loans back to in repayment status. Defaulted student loans are not eligible for the SAVE plan, so this step is crucial.

You should also explore other student loan forgiveness options that you may already be eligible for first. For example, if youre working full-time for the government or a qualifying non-profit organization, you are eligible for the Public Student Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Program. Youll receive student loan forgiveness of your remaining balance after youve made the equivalent of 10 years (or 120 student loan payments) under this program.

If you think you might qualify for any sort of forgiveness under any plan or program, be sure to do your research and take action. You could reduce your monthly payments or eliminate your student loan debt altogether.

More From GOBankingRates

This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Student Loans: Here Are the 4 Added Steps Needed To Qualify for Bidens Latest Forgiveness
Key Insights

The projected fair value for Swatch Group is CHF361 based on 2 Stage Free Cash Flow to Equity

Swatch Group's CHF214 share price signals that it might be 41% undervalued

Our fair value estimate is 35% higher than Swatch Group's analyst price target of CHF268

In this article we are going to estimate the intrinsic value of The Swatch Group AG (VTX:UHR) by estimating the company's future cash flows and discounting them to their present value. One way to achieve this is by employing the Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) model. Believe it or not, it's not too difficult to follow, as you'll see from our example!

Companies can be valued in a lot of ways, so we would point out that a DCF is not perfect for every situation. Anyone interested in learning a bit more about intrinsic value should have a read of the Simply Wall St analysis model.

View our latest analysis for Swatch Group

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 begin with, we have to get estimates of the next ten years of cash flows. Where possible we use analyst estimates, but when these aren't available we extrapolate the previous free cash flow (FCF) from the last estimate or reported value. We assume companies with shrinking free cash flow will slow their rate of shrinkage, and that companies with growing free cash flow will see their growth rate slow, over this period. We do this to reflect that growth tends to slow more in the early years than it does in later years.

A DCF is all about the idea that a dollar in the future is less valuable than a dollar today, so we discount the value of these future cash flows to their estimated value in today's dollars:

10-year free cash flow (FCF) forecast

2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030 2031 2032 2033 Levered FCF (CHF, Millions) CHF720.2m CHF831.6m CHF824.0m CHF1.01b CHF1.04b CHF1.06b CHF1.07b CHF1.08b CHF1.09b CHF1.10b Growth Rate Estimate Source Analyst x7 Analyst x6 Analyst x2 Analyst x2 Analyst x1 Est @ 2.04% Est @ 1.45% Est @ 1.04% Est @ 0.75% Est @ 0.55% Present Value (CHF, Millions) Discounted @ 5.6% CHF682 CHF745 CHF699 CHF808 CHF789 CHF762 CHF732 CHF700 CHF668 CHF636

("Est" = FCF growth rate estimated by Simply Wall St)

Present Value of 10-year Cash Flow (PVCF) = CHF7.2b

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The second stage is also known as Terminal Value, this is the business's cash flow after the first stage. For a number of reasons a very conservative growth rate is used that cannot exceed that of a country's GDP growth. In this case we have used the 5-year average of the 10-year government bond yield (0.08%) to estimate future growth. In the same way as with the 10-year 'growth' period, we discount future cash flows to today's value, using a cost of equity of 5.6%.

Terminal Value (TV)= FCF 2033  (1 + g)  (r  g) = CHF1.1b (1 + 0.08%)  (5.6% 0.08%) = CHF20b

Present Value of Terminal Value (PVTV)= TV / (1 + r)10= CHF20b ( 1 + 5.6%)10= CHF11b

The total value, or equity value, is then the sum of the present value of the future cash flows, which in this case is CHF19b. To get the intrinsic value per share, we divide this by the total number of shares outstanding. Relative to the current share price of CHF214, the company appears quite good value at a 41% discount to where the stock price trades currently. The assumptions in any calculation have a big impact on the valuation, so it is better to view this as a rough estimate, not precise down to the last cent.

SWX:UHR Discounted Cash Flow January 19th 2024

The Assumptions

Now the most important inputs to a discounted cash flow are the discount rate, and of course, the actual cash flows. You don't have to agree with these inputs, I recommend redoing the calculations yourself and playing with them. The DCF also does not consider the possible cyclicality of an industry, or a company's future capital requirements, so it does not give a full picture of a company's potential performance. Given that we are looking at Swatch 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 5.6%, which is based on a levered beta of 1.108. 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 Swatch Group

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 Luxury market.

Opportunity

Annual earnings are forecast to grow for the next 4 years.

Good value based on P/E ratio and estimated fair value.

Threat

Dividends are not covered by cash flow.

Annual earnings are forecast to grow slower than the Swiss market.

Looking Ahead:

Whilst important, the DCF calculation shouldn't be the only metric you look at when researching a company. It's not possible to obtain a foolproof valuation with a DCF model. Preferably you'd apply different cases and assumptions and see how they would impact the company's valuation. For example, changes in the company's cost of equity or the risk free rate can significantly impact the valuation. Why is the intrinsic value higher than the current share price? For Swatch Group, we've compiled three relevant items you should further examine:

Risks: Every company has them, and we've spotted 1 warning sign for Swatch Group you should know about. Future Earnings: How does UHR'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 SWX 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.
FILE - A view of Tata Steel's Port Talbot steelworks in south Wales, Sept. 15, 2023. Indian firm Tata Steel says it will close both blast furnaces at its plant in Port Talbot, Wales, with the loss of about 3,000 jobs. (Ben Birchall/PA via AP) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

LONDON (AP)  Indian firm Tata Steel announced Friday it will close both blast furnaces at its plant in Port Talbot, Wales, eliminating 2,800 jobs, as part of plans to make its unprofitable U.K. operation leaner and greener.

Tata plans to switch from coal-fired blast furnaces to an electric arc furnace, which emits less carbon  and needs fewer workers  using a half-billion pound ($634 million) investment from the British government.

The company said the switch would reverse more than a decade of losses and transition from the legacy blast furnaces to a more sustainable, green steel business.

The course we are putting forward is difficult, but we believe it is the right one, Tata Steel Chief Executive T.V. Narendran said.

The company said it expects about 2,800 jobs will be eliminated  2,500 of them in the next 18 months, with a further 300 at longer-term risk. Both blast furnaces are due to be shut this year, with the new electric furnace installed by 2027.

The news is a major blow to Port Talbot, a town of about 35,000 people whose economy has been built on the steel industry since the early 1900s.

Unions have called for one blast furnace to remain open while the electric one is built, which would have meant fewer job cuts. They say Tata rejected their proposal.

The Unite union said it would use everything in its armory to fight job losses, including potential strikes.

At its height in the 1960s, the Port Talbot steelworks employed around 20,000 people, before cheaper offerings from China and other countries hit production. More than 300,000 people worked in Britains steel industry in 1971; by 2021 it was about 26,000.

The steel industry now accounts for 0.1% of the British economy and 2.4% of the countrys greenhouse gas emissions, according to research by the House of Commons Library.

Tata warned in 2022 that its U.K. operations were under threat unless it secured government funding to help it move to less carbon-intensive electric arc furnaces.

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Last year the U.K. government gave Tata up to 500 million pounds ($634 million) to make the Port Talbot steelworks greener. Tata says it is investing a further 750 million pounds ($950 million) in the project.

The company said switching to the electric furnace, which produces steel from scrap metal, would secure most of (the plants) capability in terms of end products" while cutting its carbon emissions by about 85%.

The British government said the investment would transform the site and protect thousands of jobs  both in Port Talbot and throughout the supply chain. It said the move to electric furnaces would secure a sustainable and competitive future for the U.K. steel sector.

The GMB and Community unions, which both represent workers at Port Talbot, said its unbelievable any government would give a company 500 million pounds to throw 3,000 workers on the scrapheap.

The announcement is the latest blow to the economy in Wales, a former industrial heartland whose mines and mills have largely shut since the 1980s.

Opposition politicians criticized Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's Conservative government, saying it failed to stand up for British industry.

Economy Minister Vaughan Gething, a member of the Labour Party-led Welsh government, said todays news is a cause of real grief and upset as well as anger from the community here.

Its a devastating blow for this community  not just the steel workers who have been told about the extraordinary level of job loss, but the wider community," he said. Its not a community that has a significant amount of well paid employment around it to replace the scale of the job losses that have been proposed."

Even the Green Party in Wales criticized Tata's decision, despite its environmental benefits.

Wales knows only too well what happens when communities are abandoned by government and industries," said its leader, Anthony Slaughter. We saw it with the coal industry and now it is happening again with the steel industry.

Decarbonization of industry is vital, but communities and peoples jobs must be protected," he said.
Global leaders from across business, philanthropy and policy have convened for a high-level session at Davos, to discuss how best to ensure the private sector takes an active role in the climate action agenda.

At the World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting, the session titled COP28-COP30  A Drumbeat for Business & Philanthropy, discussed how best to take forward the successful Business and Philanthropy Climate Forum held at COP28 in Dubai.

The roundtable discussion, hosted by Badr Jafar, COP28 Special Representative for Business & Philanthropy and CEO of Crescent Enterprises, and Brian Moynihan, Chair of the Sustainable Markets Initiative and Chairman and CEO of Bank of America, convened key stakeholders to discuss strengthening engagement with business, philanthropy, subnational authorities and civil society, with a view to establishing a more structured and integrated engagement between various actors required to deliver the aims of the historic UAE Consensus delivered at COP28.

Over 50 attendees

Over 50 attendees from across policy, business and philanthropy were in attendance, including Secretary John F Kerry, US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco, Rania Al-Mashat, Minister of International Cooperation of Egypt, Brian Moynihan, Chair of the Sustainable Markets Initiative and Chair and CEO of Bank of America, HSH Prince Maximilian von und zu Liechtenstein, Chairman of LGT Group, Nassar Al Mubarak, Chief Executive Officer, Reaching the Last Mile, Andrew Steer, Bezos Earth Fund, Frederick Kempe, president and chief executive officer of the Atlantic Council, David Miliband, President of the International Rescue Committee, Maria Mendiluce, CEO of We Mean Business Coalition, Desmond Kuek, CEO of Tamasek Trust, Anil Soni, CEO of WHO Foundation, Robert Moritz, Global Chair of PwC, Lim Seok Hui, CEO of the Philanthropy Asia Alliance, Vanessa Kerry, WHO Special Envoy for Climate Change and Health, Ana Toni, Secretary for Climate Change at the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change of Brazil, and Simon Stiell, Executive Secretary of UN Climate Change.

Jafar said: Addressing climate change requires an all-hands-on-deck approach, and the private sector has a unique role to play in moving the climate agenda from pledges to action and implementation. The overwhelming response from business and philanthropy at COP28 clearly demonstrates the seriousness of the private sector to step up with money and solutions, and it is upon us to fully harness this momentum to ensure we move forward in an integrated way, embracing a multistakeholder approach to climate action.

Implementation gaps

Attendees discussed the existing implementation gaps in the climate action agenda, and how commitments from private sector participants to continue to accelerate, replicate and scale efforts globally can ensure that business and philanthropy engagement at COP29 and COP30 is about showcasing real world progress, and scaling investment and delivery on equitable industry transitions.

Moynihan said: The private sector, working with government and philanthropy, is bringing the capital, the ingenuity, and the talent to help drive the progress we are seeing in the transition to a sustainable future. We saw that come to life at COP28 and look forward to the work ahead.--TradeArabia News Service
A proposed tax package that would temporarily boost the child tax credit while providing more generous deductions for business investments would be fully paid for by the early elimination of a pandemic-era employee retention credit, the Joint Committee on Taxation said late Wednesday.

The combination of tax cuts in the Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act of 2024, which would expire after three years, would reduce revenues by $79 billion, JCT said. Limiting payouts from the troubled Employee Retention Credit program, which paid businesses that kept employees on their payrolls during the pandemic, by ending the program in January rather than on April 15, 2025, would fully cover that loss in revenue.

Specifically, the increase in the child tax credit would cost about $33 billion over three years, JCT said. The business tax breaks, which include more generous deductions for research and development costs, as well as depreciation, would cost about the same. A handful of miscellaneous provisions covering disaster relief and low-income housing construction add another $13 billion, bringing the total projected revenue loss to $79 billion.

Low-income households would benefit most: An analysis by the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center found that about half of all households with children in the lowest 20% of the income distribution would get a tax cut from the legislation, while just 2.6% of those in the middle quintile would benefit. Overall, 16.6% of households with children would get a tax cut. Among households that would benefit, the average tax cut would come to $680 in 2023.

The Tax Policy Center has not yet provided a distributional analysis of the business tax cuts, although it has done so in the past on a similar proposal, when the changes were thought to be permanent rather than temporary. The American Prospects David Dayen said Thursday that Republicans appear to be assuming that the business tax cuts will be made permanent in the end (which is how House Ways and Means Chair Rep. Jason Smith could assert that the bill locks in over $600 billion in proven pro-growth, pro-America tax policies, rather than $33 billion, as the JCT reports.) If thats the case, then the business tax cuts in the proposal will likely cost far more than projected; an analysis by the Committee for a Responsible Budget estimated the 10-year cost of fully extended business tax cuts would come to about $525 billion over 10 years.

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About 2,500 jobs will be lost within the next 18 months under Tata Steel's plans - Ben Birchall/PA Wire

Unions have threatened to walk out of Britains largest steelworks over nearly 3,000 jobs cuts announced as part of net zero plans to close its blast furnaces.

Tata Steel on Friday said it aims to reverse more than a decade of losses after it rejected union proposals that would have safeguarded thousands of jobs at its Port Talbot plant in South Wales.

Union bosses have threatened to disrupt operations as they consult workers over strike action in an effort to reverse the decision to cut jobs.

Sharon Graham, general secretary of trade union Unite, said it would use everything in its armoury to defend steelworkers and said Tata ought instead to ramp up steel production in the UK because of growing demand.

In a joint statement, steel unions Community and GMB said: Its unbelievable any government would give a company 500m to throw workers on the scrap heap, and our Government must re-evaluate its miserly offer to support investment at Tata Steel.

Unite's Sharon Graham said the union would use 'everything in its armoury' to protect jobs - Jacob King/PA Wire

The steel giant, which is owned by Indian conglomerate Tata Group, on Friday said that about 2,500 jobs will be lost within the next 18 months.

Another 300 redundancies are expected to be made in the next few years, which could include jobs at Tata Steels cold rolling operation in Llanwern in Newport, South Wales.

The announcement followed negotiations on Thursday in which union bosses set out an alternative decarbonisation strategy for Tata Steel.

The mass layoffs are part of Tata Steels taxpayer-funded plans to replace its traditional blast furnaces with new electric arc furnaces, which require a smaller workforce.

Tata has argued that its plans to make steel manufacturing more environmentally friendly are necessary for Britain to hit its net zero targets.

It said in a statement: This plan is intended to reverse more than a decade of losses and transition from the legacy blast furnaces to a more sustainable, green steel business.

Tata claimed that the restructuring plans would maintain the countrys self-sufficiency in steelmaking, while also reducing its carbon emissions in the UK by 5m tons per year.

Story continues

It said the plan was supported by the Government, which last year agreed a 500m subsidy to fund the transition to furnaces that can run on zero-carbon electricity at Port Talbot.

The Government said there would be support for workers losing their jobs, and said it was determined to secure a sustainable and competitive future for steel.

David Davies, the Welsh Secretary, said Labour had not lifted a finger to save jobs at Tata.

He added: The actions of the UK Government have saved 5,000 jobs, which is 5,000 more than would have been saved if it had been left to the Labour Party.

Those who have sadly lost their jobs will be shocked to see Labour just sniping from the sidelines today, having done nothing to save their jobs over many months.

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German finance minister Christian Lindner wants another package of reforms to get Germany back on track - REUTERS

Germany has become the tired man of Europe as years of crisis have eaten away at the countrys competitiveness, finance minister Christian Lindner has admitted.

The eurozones largest economy needs serious reforms to regain its lead, the head of the Free Democratic Party (FDP) told an audience at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

I know what some of you are thinking, Germany is probably the sick man. Germany is not the sick man, he said, speaking days after official figures showed the economy shrank 0.3pc last year.

After a very successful period since 2012 and these years of crisis, Germany is a tired man, after a short night, and the low growth expectations are partly a wake up call. And now we have a good cup of coffee - which means structural reforms - then we will be continuing to succeed economically.

At the turn of the century, Germanys economy was widely considered to be the sick man of Europe as it struggled with low growth and unemployment which peaked at more than 11pc in the early 2000s.

A major package of reforms to make the labour market more flexible unleashed the economys potential. Unemployment has been below 5pc for more than a decade.

However, the pandemic and the war in Ukraine challenged Germanys economic model by cutting off cheap energy from Russia and undermining the economic strength of China, which had become a crucial export market.

Now Mr Lindner wants another package of reforms to get Germany back on track.

To finance all our needs for transition, fighting poverty, and to prepare for the ageing society, there is one solution. Given the demographics, given the investment needs, I think we have to foster our productivity, he said.

This is why I am advocating for structural reforms, in the labour market, in technology, cutting red tape, and becoming more competitive when it comes to corporate taxation.

We had to solve debt and deficit issues which made me the loneliest minister in cabinet but we succeeded to solve our debt issues and now we have to strengthen the supply side.

Story continues

Asked how Europe should prepare for the possibility of Donald Trump winning this years US Presidential election, Mr Lindner said creating a more competitive European economy and boosting defence spending are crucial.

Doing our homework is the best preparation for a possible second term of Donald Trump. This includes our capabilities to defend ourselves, he said.

Being an attractive partner on eye-level, when it comes to the economic situation, when it comes to fair burden sharing under the roof of NATO, is the best we can do to be in a good partnership with the US. Then it doesnt matter which administration - if we are attractive, if we do not have to ask others because we have capabilities ourselves, [this] is the best way to cooperate, for both possible outcomes of the election in the US.

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Plenty of tech stocks saw their prices rise in 2023 thanks to the popularity of artificial intelligence (AI). One of the beneficiaries of Wall Street's AI infatuation is International Business Machines (NYSE: IBM). IBM's stock hit a 52-week low of $120.55 last May and steadily rose to a high of $166.34 in December. At the start of 2024, IBM share prices remain near their 52-week high.

Is it too late to buy IBM stock now? Have investors already missed out on the gains? A closer look at the company and its stock suggests there are several reasons to still consider an investment in Big Blue, particularly if you hold shares over the long haul. Let me explain.

IBM's business growth strategy

IBM's long-term growth prospects look favorable because the company is focused on two large, expanding markets: artificial intelligence and cloud computing. The AI market alone has years of growth ahead with forecasts predicting the industry will reach nearly $2 trillion in annual revenue by 2030, a substantial increase from 2023's $208 billion.

IBM views these two industries not as separate markets, but as interconnected, particularly considering the massive data typically stored in the cloud that AI relies on to execute tasks. This led to Big Blue tackling these markets with a unified strategy centered around a hybrid approach.

Take cloud computing, for starters. IBM specializes in a hybrid cloud, which combines the lower cost of public cloud infrastructure shared across organizations with the security and privacy of a private cloud dedicated to a specific company. A hybrid cloud is ideal for Big Blue's clients in industries with regulatory requirements, such as finance, government, and healthcare. Some IT tasks (hosting a website, for instance) can use a public cloud. Confidential data, including financial and customer records, is better suited for a private cloud.

IBM sees the AI industry also moving toward a hybrid approach. CEO Arvind Krishna said on the company's third-quarter earnings call, "We believe that generative AI will be multimodal, with clients using a combination of IBM's models, other companies' models, their own proprietary models, and open-source models." The AI industry adopting a hybrid approach grants Big Blue's AI solutions an advantage, given its integration with the company's Red Hat hybrid cloud platform, which Krishna describes as "the foundation that allows clients to operate in a hybrid environment."

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The success of IBM's strategy

IBM's synergy across AI and cloud computing has translated into sales growth. The company's AI and data division experienced a 6% year-over-year revenue jump in the third quarter, while its Red Hat cloud business saw a 9% increase. These businesses fall under IBM's software segment, which grew Q3 revenue by 8% year over year as the division delivered $6.3 billion of the company's $14.8 billion in sales.

In addition, with last year's surge in demand for AI, businesses rushed to adopt AI technology but needed help implementing these solutions. That's where IBM's army of 20,000 AI consultants proved an advantage, enabling the company's consulting arm to grow its Q3 revenue segment by 6% year over year to reach $5 billion.

IBM is also developing quantum computing technology. This is an entirely different approach to computing, harnessing quantum physics to execute computations too complex for today's most powerful supercomputers. Among Big Blue's quantum computing customers is Cleveland Clinic, the world's first business to receive a quantum computer dedicated to healthcare research. IBM's hybrid ecosystem strategy benefited Cleveland Clinic as it adopted Big Blue's AI and cloud computing offerings to assist in its quantum computing work.

To buy or not to buy IBM stock

IBM's quantum and other technologies aren't the only reasons to consider buying shares. Investors also benefit from the company's robust dividend, currently yielding 4%. Big Blue has increased dividend payouts annually for the past 28 years.

The company generated $1.7 billion in Q3 free cash flow (FCF), nearly $1 billion more than the prior year. FCF indicates IBM's ability to fund its dividend, so the company is well positioned to maintain its payouts.

Another factor to weigh is Big Blue's stock valuation. Contrast its price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio to competitors Amazon and Microsoft, the top two cloud computing companies. IBM's P/E ratio of 22 over the trailing 12 months is substantially lower than Microsoft's P/E multiple of 38 and Amazon's 81.

Moreover, IBM is one of the top 10 cloud computing companies in the world, showing it is successfully capturing market share despite larger rivals such as Microsoft. Even with the rise in stock price last year, IBM shares remain an appealing long-term investment given the company's successful revenue growth strategy, attractive valuation, and high-yield dividend.

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John Mackey, former CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Robert Izquierdo has positions in Amazon, International Business Machines, and Microsoft. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Amazon and Microsoft. The Motley Fool recommends International Business Machines. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Is It Too Late to Buy IBM Stock? was originally published by The Motley Fool
(Bloomberg) -- Semiconductor stocks from Tokyo Electron Ltd. to Nvidia Corp. gained more than $160 billion of market value after Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.s outlook for capital spending and revenue lifted hopes of a broad tech recovery in 2024.

Most Read from Bloomberg

TSMCs better-than-projected numbers underscored expectations for a bounce-back in smartphone, chip and computing demand, following more than a year of post-Covid malaise. On Friday, the worlds most valuable chipmaker gained more than 6% in Taipei  its biggest gain in almost a year  after a near-10% climb in the US. Key suppliers Tokyo Electron and Advantest Corp. gained more than 5% in Tokyo. Together, they fueled a gain in semiconductor stocks from the US to Asia of roughly $165 billion, based on Bloombergs calculations.

TSMCs outlook offered much-needed reassurance to investors accustomed to a depressed market. The main chipmaker to Apple Inc. and Nvidia is budgeting capital expenditure of $28 billion to $32 billion and expecting revenue growth to return to at least 20% for the year. Executives also spent a lot of time talking about how the advent of AI should turbocharge the industry because of its immense computing needs.

In Europe, chip gear linchpin ASML Holding NV gained 4%, leading a broad regional rally that spilled over into US stocks including Nvidia and Intel Corp., driving the biggest gain in the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index since Dec. 11.

TSMCs confidence around near-term fundamentals appears to have improved significantly over the past 4 to 5 months, Wedbush analysts wrote. We see this more bullish outlook as predicated upon some combination of optimism around a growing contribution from AI, better expectations for traditional end market trends in 2024.

Story continues

TSMC Gains as Outlook Points to AI-Fueled Growth: Street Wrap

Signs of a recovery for the chipmaking sector have emerged in recent weeks. The Semiconductor Industry Association estimated chip sales increased in November after more than a year of declines. TSMC is projecting revenue growth of at least 8% to $18 billion to $18.8 billion in the March quarter, versus expectations for around $18.2 billion.

Its now moving ahead with plans for chipmaking plants in Japan, Arizona and Germany  the first of which will begin mass production at the end of 2024 in a big boost to TSMCs global footprint.

Read More: TSMCs Outlook Backs Hopes for Global Tech Recovery in 2024

Uncertainty persists. This month, fellow chipmaker Samsung Electronics Co. posted its sixth successive quarter of declining operating profit, as it weathered the impact of muted consumer demand in its own smartphone and memory businesses.

Questions also overshadow China, the worlds largest computing, smartphone, internet and chip market.

Apple  long one of TSMCs most important customers  faced headwinds with its latest iPhone generation. Several analysts downgraded Apple on expectations of soft demand, and Jefferies has said the iPhone sales slump in China is likely to deepen. The US company has also been hit by a widening ban on foreign-device use among Chinese agencies and state-owned companies.

TSMC Gain in Sales Not Enough to Boost Margins: Earnings Outlook

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

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lucky-sky / Getty Images/iStockphoto

Have you ever dreamed of turning a side hustle into a full-time business that earns you millions? Youre not alone. The idea of creating a successful business from a small side hustle might sound exciting, but it takes hard work, dedication and more than a little luck.

Find Out: 5 Ways To Earn at Least 5% APY on Your Money (Without Using the Stock Market)

Read Next: Use This Checklist To See Whether Your Bank is Costing You a Lot of Money

Here are some tips from successful entrepreneurs who started with a great idea and a willingness to learn along the way. By following in the footsteps of their passion projects, you could scale the smallest idea into something that can make a change in the world.

Sponsored: Owe the IRS $10K or more? Schedule a FREE consultation to see if you qualify for tax relief.

Can Your Side Hustle Become a Million-Dollar Business? Things To Consider

Before attempting to turn your small side hustle into a million-dollar business, you should decide if it is realistic and has a good chance of success. Some things to consider include whether your business is adaptable, whether you can scale appropriately and whether you can acquire financing.

See: 6 Ways To Build Wealth in Less Than Five Years

Is Your Business Adaptable?

Being adaptable is important for the longevity of a business. Ask yourself if your business provides something people want several years from now.

Taking advantage of current trends may lead to profits today, but it likely wont be sustainable. If your business doesnt provide something people will want in the future, you should be able to pivot to introduce new or complementary products or services.

Can You Scale Your Business Appropriately?

If you want to grow your side hustle into a million-dollar business, you will eventually need to scale and hire employees.

It can be difficult for small business owners and freelancers to hire employees if they are already comfortable doing everything themselves. However, being able to hire good employees is necessary if you want to build a million-dollar business.

Story continues

Can You Acquire Financing?

Scaling a side hustle into something larger almost always requires money  and getting that money can be daunting. Side hustles usually cost little to no money, since they are smaller scale. When you start to grow your business, you may need to hire employees, buy more equipment, rent a space or market to a larger audience. This costs money.

According to the National Small Business Association, over one-third  37%  of small businesses cant get adequate financing. This is the highest percentage of small businesses to have difficulty getting adequate financing since 2008.

Not only do you need to acquire financing, but it needs to be enough and at the right time. This can be a tough balancing act.

Some options to get financing include borrowing from friends or family, using credit cards  especially ones with 0% promotional APR offers  or getting a personal loan from a bank or credit union. There are many other ways to acquire financing, of course. Whatever you choose, make sure you do your research and weigh the pros and cons.

Tips to Succeed

If you have determined that your side hustle has what it takes to become a million-dollar business, there are some things that you should consider if you want it to succeed.

Understand Your Customer

Having a thorough understanding of who exactly your customer is will help your business be successful, especially as it grows. It is helpful to know who your customer is and some things about them, like their preferences, budget, age and location. Of course, this is creating a generalization, but having an idea of your typical customer can help you create and update your product or service and marketing.

For example, if your customer is over the age of 60, you may not want to spend resources creating marketing materials on TikTok.

Your average customer may change over time as your business expands, as well. Keeping up to date with this can help you adapt your business to meet the changing needs of your customers.

Take Big Leaps When They Come

As humans, its difficult to get outside of your comfort zone. You become comfortable with what you know and understand. However, some of the biggest moments in business can happen when you take a leap of faith. This couldnt be more true for Libby Diament, who founded and serves as lead designer for Diament Boutiques in Washington, D.C.

After several years, Urban Outfitters approached me and placed a big order, Diament said. I didnt know how I would do it, but I just said yes! Sometimes, you just have to say yes and figure it out quickly! It often forces you to learn how to grow fast.

That decision has paid off well for Diament. She started her business 14 years ago by selling her jewelry at very small craft shows. Eventually, she moved to larger shows, all while working a full-time job. She saved as much revenue as possible to grow her online store to provide scalability.

Fast forward 10 years, and Diament opened her first brick-and-mortar store, followed by her second three years later. Today, she runs a million-dollar business with 10 employees by her side.

Build a Strong Brand Identity

Successful businesses align their brands to become recognizable household names. Maybe its through a tagline or the companys logo. However, others do it because their service or product is memorable and helps solve a problem.

Your brand is your promise to your customer, said Al Lijee, founder of JunkGator. JunkGators brand was built on eco-friendliness and quality service. This strong identity helped us stand out in a crowded market and attract customers and business partners who shared our values.

Do Every Job Yourself Before Delegating

Delegation is necessary once you are growing your business. However, having a personal understanding of every job involved in running your company is helpful for several reasons. It can help you hire the right people, since you know exactly what is required for that job. You will also be able to help and advise the employees you hire.

One of the most important steps in scaling my business was embracing the power of delegation, said Geoff Cudd, founder of Dont Do It Yourself. Initially, I wore every hat in the business, but I quickly learned that sustainable growth meant trusting others to take the reins in areas outside my expertise. This improved the quality of our work and freed me up to focus on strategic growth.

The Bottom Line

Not every side hustle has the potential to become a million-dollar business, but some certainly can. If you want to turn your side hustle into a million-dollar business, you need to do your research, prepare and work hard.

More From GOBankingRates

This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: How To Turn a Small Side Hustle Into a Million-Dollar Business
Madison is one of the top metro areas to start a small business in arts, entertainment and recreation, according to a new study from the Credit Review.

Among the 100 largest metro areas across the country, Madison ranked as the 15th best place to start a small business in high-growth sectors, according to the report.

The Milwaukee metro area lagged slightly behind Madison as the 30th best metro areas to start a small business. While Milwaukee has a strong network and support system to support small business, there are some gaps in mentorship and leadership that could limit growth, according to a separate report from the Wisconsin Policy Forum.

The study examined 100 of the U.S's largest metros and considered their unemployment rates, population growth, GDP per capita, new business creation and business tax climate.

Austin, Texas was ranked as the best metro area to start a small business in arts, entertainment, recreation and information services. Six Florida cities landed in the top 25, and Utah, Texas and North Carolina each had three cities in the top 25.

Madison's Late Winter Market kicks off Saturday, January 6 and runs through April 6, 2024.

What are the top five metro areas to start a small business in the U.S.?

Here are the top five metro areas to start a small business in the U.S., according to the Credit Review:

Austin-Round Rock-Georgetown, Texas: Austin's population is within peak working years between 18 and 44 years old, which is 7% higher than the national average. Provo-Orem, Utah: Utah's second-largest metro area, which is nearby Brigham Young University, provides a pipeline of small business talent. Raleigh-Cary, North Carolina: A cluster of three elite research universities, North Carolina State, Duke, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, provide ground for innovation. Salt Lake City, Utah: Includes a tech startup community and numerous venture capitalists, as well as a young labor force. Boise City, Idaho: Metro area has a tech market and an education hub with a public college, private college and two community colleges.

Story continues

Resources to start a small business in Madison:

Madison has local government programs and local groups to support small business owners. The City of Madison has an Office of Business Resources to assist businesses open in Madison.

Resources to start a small business in Milwaukee:

The city has at least 50 small business support organizations ranging from for-profit to nonprofit and government organizations. Most of the organization offer capital, grants, mentorship and networking. Here's just a few organizations serving Milwaukee area small business owners:

More: New restaurants we expect to open in 2024 in the Milwaukee area

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Madison, Milwaukee among the best cities to start a small business
Google CEO Sundar Pichai has warned employees to brace themselves for more job cuts, the ANI said, citing The Verge report.

In an internal memo to all Google employees, Pichai wrote, "We have ambitious goals and will be investing in our big priorities this year."

He stated, "The reality is that to create the capacity for this investment, we have to make tough choices."

Since January 10, Google has laid off over a thousand employees in various departments, ANI quoted The Verge report.

In the memo, Pichai wrote, "These role eliminations are not at the scale of last year's reductions, and will not touch every team," a reference to when Google cut 12,000 jobs this time in 2023, the report said.

He stated, "But I know it's very difficult to see colleagues and teams impacted."

Pichai said the layoffs in 2024 were about "removing layers to simplify execution and drive velocity in some areas."

He said what many inside Google have been fearing: that more "role eliminations" are to come.

In the memo, he wrote, "Many of these changes are already announced, though to be upfront, some teams will continue to make specific resource allocation decisions throughout the year where needed, and some roles may be impacted," according to The Verge report, cited by ANI.

In 2023, Google and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai announced plans to cut approximately 12,000 jobs, which is around 6 per cent of its global workforce.

"I have some difficult news to share. We've decided to reduce our workforce by approximately 12,000 roles. We've already sent a separate email to employees in the US who are affected. In other countries, this process will take longer due to local laws and practices," Pichai said in an open letter.

Google's CEO said the company had undertaken a rigorous review across product areas and functions to ensure that their people and roles are aligned with their highest priorities as a company.

"The roles we're eliminating reflect the outcome of that review," he added.

Pichai had said Google will support employees as they look for their next opportunity. "As an almost 25-year-old company, we're bound to go through difficult economic cycles. These are important moments to sharpen our focus, re-engineer our cost base, and direct our talent and capital to our highest priorities," he added.
Wayfair said Friday it is laying off 13% of its workforce, the online furniture seller's third round layoffs over the last 18 months as it seeks to cut costs and boost its financial results.

In a letter to employees, Wayfair CEO Niraj Shah said the company plans to eliminate 1,650 jobs, noting that it expanded too quickly in the two years before the COVID-19 pandemic.

"I think the reality is that we went overboard in hiring during a strong economic period and veered away from our core principles, and while we have come quite far back to them, we are not quite there," he said.

The restructuring is expected to save the Boston-based retailer roughly $280 million, according to a news release. Wayfair's stock price jumped 15% in pre-market trading.

Wayfair has struggled with dwindling customer demand in the past few years as the pandemic wound down and people began returning to the office and spending less time at home.

In its most recent quarter Wayfair reported a net loss of $163 million, an improvement from its loss of $283 million in the year ago period. For the first nine months of 2023, the company recorded a loss of $564 million.

The layoffs come roughly a month after Shah exhorted employees to work harder. "Working long hours, being responsive, blending work and life, is not anything to shy away from," he wrote in December. "There is not a lot of history of laziness being rewarded with success."

Retailers cut nearly 56,000 job cuts from January to August 2023, a 524% increase from the same period a year prior, trade publication Retail Dive reported.



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Online home goods retailer Wayfair announced Friday that it is laying off approximately 1,650 employees, representing about 13% of its global workforce, in a move that is expected to save the company more than $280 million annually.

"The changes announced today reflect a return to our core principles on resource allocation, such as getting fit on spans and layers as well as focusing on our highest priorities," Wayfair CEO and co-founder Niraj Shah said in the news release.

"As a result, we're reducing team sizes across the organization, as well as reducing seniority in certain roles that we plan to rebuild with modified leveling over the course of this year," Shah said.

The Wayfair Distribution Center in Jacksonville, Florida on June 15, 2021.

In a note to his employees, Shah said the company "went overboard in hiring during a strong economic period and veered away from our core principles, and while we have come quite far back to them, we are not quite there." He also went on to say that COVID also contributed to the increase in hiring, "a time where the company's annualized sales grew from $9 billion to $18 billion "almost overnight," according to Shah.

'Work longer hours': Wayfair CEO told employees last month

The news of the layoffs come about a month after Shah dished out some tough love in a year-end memo to his employees. In the memo, Shah said employees should be prepared to work longer hours and not be afraid to let work impinge on their personal lives.

"Working long hours, being responsive, blending work and life, is not anything to shy away from," Shah said in the email. "There is not a lot of history of laziness being rewarded with success. Hard work is an essential ingredient in any recipe for success. I embrace this, and the most successful people I know do as well."

Niraj Shah, chief executive officer of Wayfair, attends the annual Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference, July 10, 2019 in Sun Valley, Idaho.

He sought to enlighten workers on the accuracy of "Nirajisms," sayings about workplace culture attributed to the CEO that are either "not true, are old and no longer applicable, or are taken out of context," Shah said.

"The one I would reference here that I heard was 'Niraj said that he does not think that we should work late.' I would suggest that this is laughably false," the CEO wrote. "Hard work is essential for success, and a key part of getting things done. Everyone deserves to have a great personal life  everyone manages that in their own way  ambitious people find ways to blend and balance the two."

Story continues

Shah kicked off the note by saying Wayfair, which cut 5% of its workforce in 2022, had turned a corner. In November 2023, the company reported sales of $2.9 billion in the quarter ending Sept. 30, up 3.7% over the year before. Its third-quarter net loss of $163 million is 42% lower than the $283 million net loss in the same quarter in 2022.

The note closed with: "Together we can win much faster than we are winning now if we all row in this direction together. Let's be aggressive, pragmatic, frugal, agile, customer oriented, and smart. Thanks for being on the team!"

'Work longer hours': Wayfair CEO Niraj Shah tells employees to 'work longer hours' in year-end email

Layoffs also impacting other industries

In addition to Wayfair, other large companies across multiple sectors have recently announced layoffs.

Department store chain Macy's recently announced that it is laying off over 2,000 employees and closing five stores, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Google has announced two rounds of layoffs in the last two weeks, eliminating several hundred roles in its advertising sales, hardware and central engineering teams. The layoffs also impacted employees who work on Google Assistant, the company's voice-activated software product.

Amazon's livestreaming platform, Twitch, also announced earlier this month it was cutting 35% of its workforce. Amazon is also cutting jobs in its Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios divisions, while other tech companies, like Discord and Duolingo, have also announced layoffs to start the year.

General Motors announced in December it was laying off 1,314 employees at two factories in Michigan in connection to ending production of vehicles.

NBC News also recently announced that it was laying off several dozen employees.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Wayfair layoffs 2024: Company to lay off over 1,000 employees
QuantumScape (NYSE: QS) stock had a monster one-day trading session in the first week of the year when it shot up by more than 40% on Jan. 3. Shares of the solid-state battery technology start-up, however, gave all of that back and then some, and are now down 6% for the year. QuantumScape stock has fallen by a double-digit percentage this week, and was trading 14% lower for Friday's session as of 10:15 a.m. ET.

QuantumScape's early January surge came after its largest partner and investor reported hugely encouraging testing data for some of its batteries, but since then, news has come out that this same partner is reportedly looking other solid-state battery manufacturers to partner with. That report was big enough to send QuantumScape stock tumbling over the last few days, wiping out all of its gains from early 2024.

QuantumScape's battery cells are promising

While most electric vehicles (EVs) currently run on lithium-ion batteries, QuantumScape is building solid-state batteries and has already shipped prototypes to its original equipment manufacturer (OEM) partners for testing. These partners include German automaker Volkswagen (OTC: VWAGY), which has also invested more than $300 million in QuantumScape over the course of their 11-year partnership.

In its most recent quarterly earnings report, QuantumScape claimed that one of its prospective customers' labs had reported remarkable results of more than "1,000 full cycle equivalents with over 95% discharge energy retention." Those results surpassed QuantumScape's own targets, and the stock surged around that time.

A couple of weeks ago, Volkswagen's battery company, PowerCo, confirmed those results, stated that QuantumScape's solid-state cell had significantly exceeded industry standard targets, and said it was working at "full speed" with QuantumScape "toward series production." QuantumScape stock, unsurprisingly, went parabolic after the announcement.

Story continues

This week, however, Reuters reported that Volkswagen is pursuing alternatives, and said the automaker could strike a deal with France's solid-state battery company, Blue Solutions, in the coming months. The thing is, while QuantumScape's battery cells are still in the testing phase and there's no knowing when it'll secure its first customer to commercialize and mass-produce batteries, Blue Solutions is already supplying batteries to companies like Daimler for electric buses. The company is now developing a passenger car battery, which is perhaps what Volkswagen is interested in.

What would have to occur for QuantumScape stock to rally

Make no mistake: The Reuters report does not in any way suggest that QuantumScape's partnership with Volkswagen is at risk. However, competition is always a real threat, and it doesn't sound good for QuantumScape's long-term prospects that its largest partner and potential customer is hunting for alternative suppliers.

However, unlike most EV sector start-ups, QuantumScape has the money it needs to fund its operations for some years -- it ended the third quarter with $1.1 billion in liquidity, which management believes should be enough to support the business through 2026.

Everything, including where QuantumScape stock heads from here, depends on its progress toward a marketable EV battery, and the pace of that progress has fallen well short of its early estimates. Management originally stated 2018 as the expected year of commercialization of its technology in its joint venture agreement with Volkswagen. It should come as no surprise, then, that Volkswagen is looking for potential alternatives or a backup.

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Why QuantumScape Stock Is Crashing This Week was originally published by The Motley Fool
More than 5,000 electric vehicles were loaded onto a giant shipping carrier in China this week and sent to ports in Europe.

The cars come from BYD, the Chinese carmaker that is backed by Warren Buffett and has surpassed Tesla as the worlds biggest seller of electric vehicles (EVs).

The automaker enlisted the massive vessel, dubbed BYD Explorer No. 1, to ferry its exports from the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen to Germany and the Netherlands on its maiden voyage, according to Chinese state news agency Xinhua.

Its a striking visual example of the growing heft of BYD, which has conquered its home market but now needs to navigate new roads to maintain its momentum.

To do so, two countries will be crucial: Hungary and Mexico. While neither is a vast car market, they could serve as gateways to Europe and North America, bolstering the companys quest to truly become a global household name.

Electric cars waiting to be loaded onto "BYD Explorer No. 1," a shipping carrier vessel intended to export BYD vehicles, at Yantai port in eastern China's Shandong province in January. - STR/AFP/Getty Images

BYD has started making inroads in both places. In December, it pledged to open a factory in Hungary, which will be its first production plant for passenger cars in Europe. Prime Minister Viktor Orbans government has said it is one of the largest investments in the countrys history, and will create thousands of jobs in the southern city of Szeged.

The company is also considering setting up shop in Mexico. It has expressed its interest in building a plant in the country, though as of January, no plans have been officially confirmed, a source with knowledge of the matter in the government of the southeastern state of Yucatan told CNN. BYD Mexico did not respond to a request for comment.

Experts say that expanding in Hungary and Mexico will help the Shenzhen-based company gain footholds on opposite sides of the Atlantic while avoiding hefty tariffs. The plans might also help BYD navigate a tough geopolitical environment, particularly as some European politicians grow increasingly wary of whats been deemed a flood of Chinese EVs.

But those who have long watched BYD, a brand that was once relatively unknown overseas and even scoffed at by Tesla (TSLA) CEO Elon Musk in 2011, say the anticipated moves are not merely a reaction to growing protectionism.

Story continues

I would look at this as a continuation of their global expansion and manufacturing footprint, said Tu Le, founder of consulting firm Sino Auto Insights. Its no secret that they have grand ambitions for global domination.

Two new conduits

Hungary, a small, landlocked country of 9.6 million people, has emerged as an increasingly important production hub in Europe for automotive suppliers, particularly from China.

Chinese firms, such as battery giant CATL and carmaker Nio (NIO), have invested heavily in manufacturing in the country in recent years, alongside German competitors Mercedes, BMW and Audi. BYD already had a presence there, opening an electric bus facility in the city of Komarom in 2017.

With its new plant in Szeged, the company will gain free trade access for its passenger vehicles as well. And not just to Hungary  a longtime economic partner of China  but 26 other members of the European Union, according to Matthias Schmidt, a European autos analyst who leads the firm Schmidt Automotive Research.

It will also be able to reap all the benefits that Western European countries provide at a fraction of the cost, he told CNN, citing lower labor and energy costs in Hungary than those in other regional automotive hubs such as France or Germany.

While the site has likely been planned for years, experts say it is especially timely, because it will allow BYD to dodge European tariffs of 10% on cars imported from the worlds second largest economy, along with any further duties imposed as a result of an ongoing EU investigation into Chinas state support for EV makers.

The probe was announced last September by the European Commission, which said it was seeking to decipher how prices of EVs imported from China were kept artificially low.

European tariffs are expected to rise after the conclusion of the probe, though BYD will likely be able to avoid paying more, said Schmidt.

Bill Russo, the Shanghai-based founder and CEO of strategy consultancy Automobility, echoed that view.

Unless lawmakers draw up new rules that target a brands country of origin  in this case, China  rather than its country of production, BYDs Hungarian factory should allow it to skirt those duties, he said.

A similar setup would be expected in Mexico. Currently, BYD does not sell passenger vehicles in the United States, where Chinese-made cars face steep import duties of 27.5%.

That could soon change if the automaker sets up production in Mexico, where it sells buses and cars.

According to the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), the trade deal that replaced NAFTA in 2020, 75% of each passenger vehicle must be made in North America to avoid tariffs.

Because Mexico is part of the deal, its become more attractive to Chinese automakers.

The country can serve as an entry point for manufacturing and exporting into North America, said Le. The US government is not going to like that Mexico is creating a back door.

A BYD electric vehicle, operated by Vemo taxi, in Mexico City in November. - Mariceu Ethrall/Bloomberg/Getty Images

Aside from perks such as lower labor and transport costs, Mexico is seen as a solid base for BYD because Tesla is building a facility in the country. The US automaker is now one of BYDs battery customers, following an about-face from Musk.

Its not just an end product strategy for them, said Le. Its also, Were going to sell batteries into the Latin American market. And guess what? One of our biggest customers is building a Gigafactory there. So it makes sense for us to be right next to them.

In September, BYD Executive Vice President Stella Li told Mexican news outlet El Sol de Mexico that the company was eyeing a factory in the country, though it would depend on market response.

If we see that there is a high demand, we will consider producing the vehicles here, Li was quoted as saying.

Going global

BYD, which was founded by Wang Chuanfu, first cemented its reputation at home as a battery maker before pushing abroad.

The companys maiden international foray was in 1998, through the creation of its first overseas subsidiary in the Dutch region of Rotterdam, where it set up a European headquarters and began importing batteries there.

While this was only three years after its founding, the firm didnt sell any vehicles in Europe until about 14 years later, with the rollout of electric buses, forklifts and taxis in 2012.

Unlike some of its Chinese counterparts, BYD had not prioritized overseas sales in the beginning, noted Russo.

Instead, it focused on winning China, where it has managed to give longtime industry champion Tesla a run for its money.

Last year, BYD was the best-selling car brand in China, with vehicles starting at prices as low as $11,000.

But theyre pivoting now, because I think theyve reached the point where, in order to grow, they have to prioritize overseas sales, Russo told CNN.

The numbers reflect this shift. BYDs footprint now extends to more than 70 countries, up from more than 50 in 2020. The company is rapidly adding to existing overseas production in places such as California and Brazil, where it makes electric buses, with plans for new plants in Indonesia, Thailand and Uzbekistan.

In the first half of 2022, as much of 40% of BYDs customers came from its home market, which it counts as mainland China, Macao, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

A year later, the company reduced that proportion to 33%, according to its most recent interim annual report.

BYD has logged aggressive growth in the exports of its vehicles, which surged last year by a whopping 334% to just under 243,000 units.

The jump likely helped China overtake Japan as the worlds number one car exporter in 2023.

But as it continues to grow overseas, BYD will have to take a more localized approach, analysts say.

To win the hearts and minds of politicians, as well as wallets of consumers, building factories near its key markets will be critical.

This shows willingness to create local jobs, which could help the company win goodwill, and then result in whats perhaps more favorable treatment from governments in the region, said Russo.

Geopolitics is a key weighing factor.

 Karol Suarez and Lizzie Jury contributed reporting.

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com
The Scoop

Leaders of the World Economic Forum, increasingly alarmed at criticism from the right, edged the event away from stakeholder capitalism, political engagement, and a corporate focus on climate change and diversity in 2024.

The push has come from a few directions.

Dan Schulman, the former CEO of PayPal, and a Davos mainstay who is known in the U.S. for progressive public stances, was among a group of CEOs privately warning WEF Chairman Klaus Schwab that the Forum had shifted too far left. Their goal was to ensure that the dialogue at Davos and Wef is at the center, and not just on the progressive side, said one of three people who described the conversations. Schulman and his group brought in the Davos regular and public relations executive Richard Edelman as well Republican Davos allies to fix the Forums brand.

The Forums leaders themselves have quietly sought the counsel of Washington Republicans on winning back friends on the right.

The Gulf monarchies, whose oil money flows down the Promenade and helps underwrite the forum, have also grown weary of criticism of fossil fuels and signaled to the Forum that, we can do this elsewhere, a prominent WEF participant said.

The Forum responded to this in part by shelving some of the language the American right considers fighting words. The phrase ESG appeared twice in the 2022 program, once in 2023, and zero times this year. Diversity appeared five times in 2022, four times in 2023, and once this year.

It also hosted an unusual panel titled, What can we expect from a possible Republican Administration in 2025 in terms of continuation or deviation from this course? which was largely framed as a pragmatic discussion of changes to trade and economic policy. Despite the moderators best efforts, however, the conversation tilted on its rails when the conservative Wall Street Journal columnist Gerry Baker was unable to help himself from pressing Trump ally Kevin Roberts, who leads the Heritage Foundation.

Story continues

Would you accept if [Trump] loses the election that he lost the election? Baker asked. If were sure theres election integrity  but Im not sure that we can be, Roberts replied, prompting a sigh from Baker.

JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon captured a growing accommodation of a possible Trump presidency: Take a step back, be honest. He was kind of right about NATO, kind of right on immigration. He grew the economy quite well. Trade tax reform worked. He was right about some of China, he said on CNBCs Squawk Box.

(The WEF didnt respond to repeated inquiries about the details of this story, and Schulman didnt respond to an inquiry through a spokesman. I ran into Edelman three times in a row while trying to reach him, and he gnomically declined to comment in person.)

Bens view

The Forums shift more or less reflects that of its paying members, big global  and particularly American  business.

The Forum is fundamentally the great trade show of global capitalism, and its progressive veneer grew in response to demonization by the 1990s anti-globalist left. Schwabs native Switzerland is a deeply politically conservative country, however. And many of the Forums other leaders come from straightforwardly conservative backgrounds  its president, Borge Brende, was a leader in Norways Conservative Party. Like many other institutions, however, its staff is younger and pulls to the left.

But its hard to imagine that the WEF can ever really ever placate Milei, Roberts, and their friends at Rebel News, the Canadian populist outlet that ambushed attendees as they left the Congress Centre. The populists, more than anyone else, need Davos, which serves as a pillar of the conspiratorial politics of right-wing populism. If Davos didnt exist, the new right would have to invent it.

Notable
Key Insights

Using the 2 Stage Free Cash Flow to Equity, Zalando fair value estimate is 31.04

Zalando's 16.52 share price signals that it might be 47% undervalued

Our fair value estimate is 3.3% lower than Zalando's analyst price target of 32.10

In this article we are going to estimate the intrinsic value of Zalando SE (ETR:ZAL) by projecting its future cash flows and then discounting them to today's value. We will take advantage of the Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) model for this purpose. Believe it or not, it's not too difficult to follow, as you'll see from our example!

Remember though, that there are many ways to estimate a company's value, and a DCF is just one method. If you want to learn more about discounted cash flow, the rationale behind this calculation can be read in detail in the Simply Wall St analysis model.

Check out our latest analysis for Zalando

The Method

We're using the 2-stage growth model, which simply means we take in account two stages of company's growth. In the initial period the company may have a higher growth rate and the second stage is usually assumed to have a stable growth rate. To start off with, we need to estimate the next ten years of cash flows. Where possible we use analyst estimates, but when these aren't available we extrapolate the previous free cash flow (FCF) from the last estimate or reported value. We assume companies with shrinking free cash flow will slow their rate of shrinkage, and that companies with growing free cash flow will see their growth rate slow, over this period. We do this to reflect that growth tends to slow more in the early years than it does in later years.

Generally we assume that a dollar today is more valuable than a dollar in the future, so we need to discount the sum of these future cash flows to arrive at a present value estimate:

10-year free cash flow (FCF) forecast

2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030 2031 2032 2033 Levered FCF (, Millions) 217.3m 271.5m 486.0m 497.0m 504.9m 511.1m 516.3m 520.6m 524.4m 527.8m Growth Rate Estimate Source Analyst x11 Analyst x10 Analyst x2 Analyst x1 Est @ 1.58% Est @ 1.24% Est @ 1.01% Est @ 0.84% Est @ 0.73% Est @ 0.65% Present Value (, Millions) Discounted @ 6.4% 204 240 404 388 371 353 335 318 301 285

("Est" = FCF growth rate estimated by Simply Wall St)

Present Value of 10-year Cash Flow (PVCF) = 3.2b

Story continues

After calculating the present value of future cash flows in the initial 10-year period, we need to calculate the Terminal Value, which accounts for all future cash flows beyond the first stage. The Gordon Growth formula is used to calculate Terminal Value at a future annual growth rate equal to the 5-year average of the 10-year government bond yield of 0.5%. We discount the terminal cash flows to today's value at a cost of equity of 6.4%.

Terminal Value (TV)= FCF 2033  (1 + g)  (r  g) = 528m (1 + 0.5%)  (6.4% 0.5%) = 9.0b

Present Value of Terminal Value (PVTV)= TV / (1 + r)10= 9.0b ( 1 + 6.4%)10= 4.8b

The total value, or equity value, is then the sum of the present value of the future cash flows, which in this case is 8.0b. The last step is to then divide the equity value by the number of shares outstanding. Compared to the current share price of 16.5, the company appears quite undervalued at a 47% discount to where the stock price trades currently. Valuations are imprecise instruments though, rather like a telescope - move a few degrees and end up in a different galaxy. Do keep this in mind.

XTRA:ZAL Discounted Cash Flow January 19th 2024

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 Zalando 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 1.181. 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 Zalando

Strength

Earnings growth over the past year exceeded the industry.

Debt is not viewed as a risk.

Weakness

Shareholders have been diluted in the past year.

Opportunity

Annual earnings are forecast to grow faster than the German market.

Good value based on P/E ratio and estimated fair value.

Threat

Revenue is forecast to grow slower than 20% per year.

Next Steps:

Whilst important, the DCF calculation is only one of many factors that you need to assess for 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. Can we work out why the company is trading at a discount to intrinsic value? For Zalando, there are three pertinent items you should further research:

Risks: Consider for instance, the ever-present spectre of investment risk. We've identified 3 warning signs with Zalando , and understanding them should be part of your investment process. Future Earnings: How does ZAL's growth rate compare to its peers and the wider market? Dig deeper into the analyst consensus number for the upcoming years by interacting with our free analyst growth expectation chart. Other High Quality Alternatives: Do you like a good all-rounder? Explore our interactive list of high quality stocks to get an idea of what else is out there you may be missing!

PS. Simply Wall St updates its DCF calculation for every German stock every day, so if you want to find the intrinsic value of any other stock just search here.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.



This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
When celebrating a Pisces birthday, your usual go-to gifts might not suffice. Deemed to have an emotional nature, Pisces can crave gifts that resonate with their deep, artistic souls and boundless imaginations.

As Pisces season opens, remember that this zodiac sign is said to value sentimentality and creativity over material things. With Valentines Day and their birthdays just around the corner, the pressure is on to find a perfect present (or two) that speaks to the heart.

This guide dives into a sea of ideas, each tailored to delight your Piscean friend, partner, or family member  aiming to ensure that your gift is as enchanting as your recipient.

1. Sparkle Like a Starfish: Jewelry Financing With Daniels Jewelers

Pisces love to shimmer, and jewelry can be a wonderful way to capture their heart. Fine affordable jewelry can be as elusive as the depths of the sea, but Daniels Jewelers jewelry financing is here to help.

Offering an array of dazzling options from ethereal necklaces to glittering rings, Daniels Jewelers can help make luxury accessible. With flexible financing plans, you can gift your Pisces dream piece without the pressure of a full upfront payment.

Can you already see the light in your Piscean loved ones eyes when they unwrap a piece of jewelry that resonates with their star signs aesthetic and reflects their unbeatable charm?

For Pisces, jewelry can be a piece of wearable art that connects them to the fantasy and romance they cherish so deeply. Daniels Jewelers can help you bring a piece of the celestial ocean to your favorite Fish, making their birthday wish come true in the most dazzling way possible.

2. Pin Down the Right Accessory: Lapel Pins from Lapel Pins and Coins

Its often the little details that make the biggest splash to a Pisces. Thats why lapel pins from Lapel Pins and Coins may be just the gift for the Pisces in your life this year. Pisces are noted for their artistic personalities, making these quirky adornments a no-brainer for their next birthday.

Whether its a pin that mirrors the fluidity of water, a design inspired by mystical sea creatures, or something that simply glistens with creativity, Lapel Pins and Coins offers plenty of choices to resonate with a Pisces imaginative spirit.

These lapel pins can easily become conversation starters, a way for Pisces to express their inner world on the outside. By choosing a lapel pin that aligns with their astrological vibe, youre allowing your Pisces to incorporate a little bit of self-expression into every outfit.

Your Piscean loved one likely already wears their personality on their sleeve. Now, they can do it in style.

3. Make a Splash With Decor: Washable Rugs by Tumble

Pisces craves a home thats cozy and enchanting, and washable rugs from Tumble are ready to keep up with their every whim. Pisces love serene and inviting spaces, and what better way to enhance their sanctuary than with a beautiful, easy-to-care-for rug?

Tumbles collection of washable rugs ranges from tranquil oceanic hues to patterns that evoke the allure of the deep sea, which can cater to the aesthetic and practical sides of Pisces. Given their washable nature, these rugs can align with the Piscean desire for a living space thats both fantastical and hassle-free.

With Tumbles washable rugs, you can help your Pisces friend realize their dream of a harmonious home where they can float away from the worlds hustle and bustle.

4. Dress To Impress: Big and Tall Clothes From One Bone

Many Pisces love to dress in ethereal style, but it can be hard to always find the right fit. If your Pisces towers over the rest, the big and tall clothes collection from One Bone may be a daydream come true. This range is a celebration of sizes, ensuring that all sorts of body types can enjoy the latest trends and feel confident in their attire.

Pisces are known for blending the whimsical with the practical in their sartorial choices. One Bones collection honors this individuality with an array of clothing thats both fashionable and comfortable.

The attention to detail and quality in each garment reflects the consideration that One Bone puts into their clothing lines. In One Bones clothes, your Piscean friend can feel understood and valued.

Finding stylish, well-fitting clothes for the big and tall people in your life just became a more effortless and enjoyable experience  as it should be.

5. Strum the Heartstrings: Guitar Lessons With Rocksmith+

Music holds a special place in Pisces hearts, often resonating with their deep, emotive nature. Gifting Rocksmith+ to the Pisces in your life to teach them how to learn guitar is like giving them a key to a new realm of expression and creativity.

These lessons cater to the Pisces who picture serenading their love under the stars or writing and crafting their own songs. With Rocksmith+, learning to play the guitar can become an epic journey, guided by expert instructors who aim to turn even the most complex chords into a simple, joyful experience.

Whether your Piscean friend is a beginner or looking to refine their skills, these guitar lessons provide a platform to channel their myriad emotions into music. Rocksmith+s guitar lessons can be a bridge to connect your Pisces loved one to the magical world of music, nurturing their artistic spirit one note at a time.

6. Flutter Beautifully: DIY Lash Extensions by Lashify

If your Pisces adores a touch of glamour and the ritual of beautification, DIY lash extensions from Lashify are ready to frame the windows to their sensitive souls. Pisces keen eyes for beauty may revel in the luxury of creating their own lash look.

These DIY kits from Lashify offer styles from the subtly natural to the dramatically bold, allowing Pisces to express their mood and personality through their eyes. The process of applying these lashes can be almost meditative, which aligns well with the introspective and delicate nature of this water sign.

Whats more, these high-quality extensions offer the convenience and flexibility of at-home applications, which can be an ideal choice for a Pisces who prefers a personalized beauty experience. By choosing Lashifys DIY lash extensions, youre offering your Pisces an opportunity to indulge in their love for beauty and self-expression.

7. Tell the Time: Mens Watches From MVMT

Classic mens watches from MVMT act as testaments to timelessness and elegance, both of which are qualities that deeply resonate with the Piscean soul.

The collection at MVMT includes sleek, modern pieces and more traditional designs, each crafted with meticulous attention to detail. A watch can be a symbolic gift for Pisces, representing the preciousness of time and the depth of your relationship.

Consider it a reminder to cherish every moment, just as they cherish their artistic expression and creative spirit. Gifting a Pisces man a watch from MVMT is a nod to their sophisticated taste and a tribute to their timeless nature, making it an accessory that theyll treasure like a hidden gem of the ocean.

8. Tame Their Tresses: Beard Oil by The Beard Club

Embrace pampering and grooming with beard oil by The Beard Club. This oil may be ideal for the Pisces man who prides himself on a well-maintained beard.

These natural oils work to nourish and soften the beard, and make it as smooth as the oceans surface on a calm day. The subtle, delightful fragrance will remind him of why grooming and self-care are so important, especially in the winter and early spring (AKA, Pisces season).

The Beard Club understands that a beard is a form of self-expression. Their beard oil caters to a Pisces mans desire for a product thats both functional and evocative of his imaginative spirit. Gifting this beard oil can enhance his grooming routine and help the Pisces in your life carve out a little bit of time for self-love every day.

9. Try a Mystical Makeover: Recommendations from Editorialist

Pisces is said to be in tune with the latest trends in beauty and style, and Editorialists recommendations can be their new guide to a magical transformation. Pisces are known for an aesthetic that blends otherworldly beauty with a touch of whimsy.

Editorialists curated list of beauty products and style tips cater to this distinctive taste. From iridescent eyeshadows that reflect a colorful Pisces soul to flowing garments that echo their wandering nature, these recommendations can help them enhance their enchanting persona.

Giving your Piscean friend a fashionable gift featured in one of the top-notch guides from Editorialist can allow them to express their mystical side through their appearance. This thoughtful gesture can show that you appreciate their singular style and support their creative self-expression.

10. Smell the Sweet Scent of the Sea: Citrus Fragrances by Snif

Transport your Piscean friend to a sensory paradise with citrus perfume by Snif, a fragrance that intertwines the richness of warm woods with the lightness of ocean air. This perfume may be an olfactory delight for a Pisces who appreciates the depth and complexity in scents.

The sweet creamsicle scents mingling with the freshness of other aromas create a comforting and invigorating scent. Snif has crafted this perfume with the idea of capturing the whimsical and romantic nature of Pisces, offering a fragrance that is as intriguing as their inner world.

A spritz of this perfume is like a dive into a deep sea of citrus, an experience that can surely captivate and enchant the Pisces in your life. Gifting this citrus perfume is a simple gesture that will invite your Pisces loved ones to envelop themselves in a fragrance that reflects their enchanting essence.

11. Calling All Dreamers: Phone Deals by Navi

In a world where communication and creativity collide, the best phone deals by Navi can be a wish come true for any Pisces. Known for their vivid imagination and deep connections, Pisces may adore a smartphone that can keep up with their busy schedules and help them stay in touch with loved ones.

Navi offers deals on phones that boast high-quality cameras for capturing their artistic visions, alongside intuitive interfaces that can resonate with the Piscean intuitive nature. These phones can act as gateways to a world of inspiration, allowing Pisces to explore, create, and share their dreamy perspectives with ease.

With the best phone deals from Navi, youre giving more than a device. Rather, youre offering a way for the Pisces in your life to always stay connected and always stay dreaming.

12. Set Off on an Adventure: Backpacks from Patagonia

Pisces are said to yearn for adventure and cherish practicality, and a backpack from Patagonia is ready to join them wherever they roam. Whether its a spontaneous weekend getaway or a planned exploration, these backpacks can be their new best friend at every escapade.

Patagonias range features durable materials and thoughtful designs that may appeal to the Piscean love for function and style. With comfortable straps, ample space, and various compartments, these backpacks help ensure that everything a Pisces needs is within reach.

The designs reflect a balance between the ethereal and earthly, much like the Pisces personality. Gifting a backpack from Patagonia can mean encouraging the spirit of adventure in your Piscean friend, making sure theyre well-equipped for wherever their whimsical life takes them next.

13. Get a Passport to Your Dreams: Passport Holders by Leatherology

Wanderlust and Pisces go hand-in-hand, and a passport holder from Leatherology can accompany their exploratory spirit. These passport holders can act as a symbol of the endless fun that awaits.

Crafted with care and designed with elegance, Leatherologys passport holders speak to the Pisceans love for beauty and their desire to explore the world. The range of designs, from sleek and simple to bright and bold, means theres a style for every Pisces personality.

Think of a passport holder from Leatherology as more than just a travel necessity. This passport holder can become a statement piece that resonates with a fanciful soul. As a thoughtful gift that acknowledges their love for travel and their appreciation for the finer things in life, it helps ensure that their most precious travel document is kept safe and stylish.

Navigating the Waters of Pisces Gifting

Embarking on the task of finding the perfect gift for a Pisces can be as enchanting as the sign itself. From the most practical gifts like phone deals and backpacks to the depths of luxury with jewelry financing and citrus perfumes, this guide has explored a sea of options to resonate with the artistic nature of Pisces. Remember, gifting a Pisces should be about tapping into their imaginative world and showing appreciation for their profound depths.

With these ideas, you can give the Pisces in your life a gift that speaks to the best aspects of this water sign. Swim in the sea of Pisces gits, and watch as your thoughtful gesture makes waves in the heart of your beloved Fish.

Lee Enterprises newsroom and editorial were not involved in the creation of this content.
The historic Varina property that was once home to John Rolfe and Matoaka, better known as Pocahontas, served as the birthplace of Henrico County with a heavy hand in the origins of Virginias tobacco industry.

Henrico Board of Supervisors Chair Tyrone Nelson called it one of the most important days in the countys history as county officials announced the $17.25 million purchase of the 2,095-acre Varina Farms property, touching the James River. The purchase is Henricos largest ever investment in land preservation.

Varina Farms, also known as Varina Plantation and Varina on the James, includes a two-story, Classical Revival-style home built in 1853. The exterior still shows holes from cannon balls and bullets, damage that was inflicted during the Civil War. The surrounding fields remain largely untouched since Rolfe discovered the soil and climate were well-suited for growing tobacco.

County leaders said the objective of this purchase is the preservation of historic, cultural and natural resources on the property.

Todays announcement has a lot to do with our history but in a way, its really about securing our future, Nelson said. A future that we hope reflects our values, our priorities and our aspirations.

The investment is similar to another Henrico made in the area. In 2019, the county purchased the nearby historic Wilton Farm property for $10 million with potential for economic development, a 28-mile riverside park or a museum.

Some suggested uses at Varina Farms included restoration of the house to its historic state for interpretation, or opening up the land to tourists. The parcel also has an abundance of natural beauty along the river and wooded areas that have potential for outdoor recreation and educational programming.

Nelson stressed that the county will undergo significant community engagement before making a decision about shaping the land for the public.

Varina Farms ranks among Virginias most historic plantations, according to the Department of Historic Resources. It was first used by English Fisherman in the 1570s. Rolfe starting growing his successful tobacco crop at Varina Farms shortly after his arrival at Jamestown. Rolfes marriage to Pocahontas in 1614 was sanctioned by colonial governor Sir Thomas Dale and Chief Powhatan, serving to improve relations between colonists and Native Americans.

Varina Farms was the first seat of Henrico government and was active from 1632 to 1752.

Owners of the property included Thomas Mann Randolph, who served as Virginias governor from 1819 to 1822 and married Thomas Jeffersons daughter Martha. During the Civil War it served as an eastern depot for the exchange of war prisoners and was the site of fighting in 1864 during Gen. Benjamin Butlers advance toward Richmond.

In 2009, the Henrico Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to adopt the 2026 Comprehensive Plan, which said the Varina Farms land would remain a farm. The Stoneman family had sought to have the land rezoned as suburban mixed use. Many residents in Eastern Henrico voice opposition, which led to the board decision.

Henrico purchased Varina Farms from the Stoneman family, which has owned it for over a century.

Wilmer Stoneman said it was an emotional day for his family.

His grandfather welcomed innovative farming techniques while his family actively managed the wooded areas to be sustainable forest. His mother also opened up the home for annual Christmas mother luncheons. He said he hopes those traditions are able to continue.

We are very proud of our connection to this property, Stoneman said. Blood was shed here to repair a broken nation  This is a historical moment in this county and a historical moment for our family. Were turning the page but I think its a good page.
To create one iconic Charlottesville business would be an accomplishment, but to build two of them  both still welcoming customers after nearly 50 years  is a feat bordering on the impossible. But recent retiree Sandy McAdams did it: single-handedly founding Daedalus Books in 1974 and then co-founding C&O restaurant two years later.

"He thought he could do anything," C&O co-founder Philip Stafford told The Daily Progress, "and he pretty much could."

Stafford recalled the day he met McAdams. It was inside Daedalus shortly after McAdams opened the used book store downtown on Fourth Street Northeast with a reputed 100,000 volumes he shipped via railroad boxcar from Long Island to Charlottesville.

"I was actually looking for an Aldous Huxley book on eyesight," said Stafford. "This guy with a ZZ Top beard was sitting behind the desk, and I asked where a book like that might be. I was looking at the shelf, and McAdams walks right up to me and says, 'Well, it's right here,' and he aggressively reached over me and pulled it from the shelf."

The gruff greeting didn't dissuade the ensuing friendship, and the two men quickly realized that they shared a dream of opening a restaurant.

"Two weeks later," said Stafford, "we were business partners."

The early days of C&O have become legendary, but Stafford can separate myth from reality. Like many American cities, downtown Charlottesville was then struggling, and Stafford said they got a deal on the building on Water Street, which had operated since the late 1950s as a diner. A recent owner had struggled to pay the taxes, Stafford said, so they were able to buy the place in 1975 with a $5,000 down payment toward a total purchase price of $20,000.

"We got the building and did amateur carpentry for a year," said Stafford. "He would read a book on carpentry from the bookshop and figure out how to do it."

At the time of the purchase, the Chesapeake & Ohio train station across the street was still serving passengers, and an adjacent tract, where a concrete coal tower survives, was still a working rail yard. Stafford credits McAdams with seeing promise in a changing downtown.

"Sandy McAdams is really the creation story," Stafford said. "I was just like a puppy dog next to him."

In that era, upscale French restaurants were typically outfitted with chrome, glass and brass. C&O, by contrast, was adorned in bare bricks, rough wood paneling and simple beadboard, the discards of three recently demolished buildings, including a house off West Main Street and an Ivy-area horse barn. Practically the only things saved from the diner were a jukebox and the plastic Pepsi-branded C&O sign out front.

By the time the restaurant opened in 1976, the adjacent Downtown Mall had just had its ribbon-cutting, and the town was buzzing. Before long, Craig Claiborne, the celebrated food writer for the New York Times, came to Charlottesville to visit the University of Virginia's Alderman Library and eat with novelist Peter Taylor. Taylor took Claiborne to C&O.

"The dishes we dined on were few but excellent," Claiborne wrote.

The words pinned Charlottesville to America's culinary map.

Even when celebrity reviewers weren't in town, Stafford said that his book-minded buddy continued to drive customers.

"He was there at the desk of Daedalus, so he would encourage people to come down," said Stafford. "He was really the face of the restaurant."

If the restaurant grabbed the national headlines, the bookstore drew some nationally acclaimed writers. One was Rita Mae Brown, who said she first became friends with McAdams when the two were literature students at New York University.

"When I got here," Brown told The Daily Progress, "I discovered that Sandy was doing what he loved. What could be better?"

Arriving in Central Virginia in the early 1980s on the heels of her successful semi-autobiographical coming-of-age novel "Rubyfruit Jungle," Brown is credited with cementing Central Virginia's literary scene. But she said much credit is due to McAdams, who also ran an alternative newspaper called the Times of Charlottesville with some friends for a year or two in the late 1970s.

"We're lucky," Brown said. "He's raised the tone of the community."

After he and Stafford sold C&O in 1984, McAdams focused his efforts on books and writing. In the early 1990s, he served on the board of Live Arts, a nonprofit theater company, and twice he wrote and staged "three and a half" one-act plays at the venue.

In 1999, the Washington Post dubbed Daedalus the best used-book store south of the Strand in Greenwich Village." The next year, McAdams was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.

When the neurological disorder confined him to a wheelchair 16 years ago, he had to curtail his time at his bookshop. A group of about a half-dozen friends, including Stafford, volunteered to take turns manning the front desk.

"They're still here all the time," Jackson Landers, the new owner of Daedalus who took over in November, told the Daily Progress. "There was a crowd who hung out at the C&O largely because of Sandy. Those people are in their 70s and 80s now, and Daedalus is their living room."

Landers marvels at McAdams' impact.

"Probably five or six times a day people come in and ask for Sandy. How is Sandy? Where is Sandy? Can I say hi to him?" said Landers. "It's got to be like thousands and thousands of people that he has touched."

For McAdams, he said he was just happy to find his dream job.

"There's no business that I would be happier in than used books," he told The Daily Progress.

The 81-year-old in the motorized wheelchair said he put off retiring as long as he could.

"I thought it would be horrible, but it's OK," said McAdams. "I've been very lucky with my friends and my darling."

McAdams now spends his days with his wife, Donna, at their home on the western outskirts of Charlottesville. Yet his presence looms over Daedalus.

"It's been 50 years of him making these impacts on people," said Landers. "Joe Strummer from the Clash said you're nobody without friends, and boy is Sandy McAdams someone."

From the Archives: Interstate 64 Interstate 64 Interstate 64 Interstate 64 Interstate 64 Interstate 64 Interstate 64 Interstate 64 Interstate 64 Interstate 64 Interstate 64 Interstate 64 Interstate 64
Inter Emirates Motors, a subsidiary of Ali & Sons Holding LLC and official distributor of MG in the UAE, is has announced the launch of the MG Whale SUV Coupe in the UAE.

Expanding on MGs range of sedans and SUVs in the region, the all-new MG Whale, a sporty mid-size SUV is designed to cater to the travel requirements of younger buyers, ambitious professionals, and families residing in urban environments, who are always aspiring to add a dash of adventure into their lives. The MG Whale embodies UK-born automotive brand MG's commitment to innovation and cutting-edge technology, making it a truly remarkable masterpiece.

The futuristic design and the daring coupe-like silhouette of the MG Whale embody the youthful and progressive spirit of the people who live and work in the vibrant cities of the region. The Whale-inspired details like its signature front grille and Baleen daytime running lamps help convey the playfulness, intelligence, and grace of its namesake. Other marine-related cues include Whale-fin door mirrors and a Whale-tail spoiler and gearshift.

Two-tone glossy black roof

Additionally, traits like the two-tone glossy black roof, matte gold bumper accents, chrome dual exhaust pipes, and silver decoration add to the visual appeal of the SUV Coupe. The car also rides on stylish alloy wheels which have a large 19-inch diameter indicating its stylistic dominance over its competitors. The SUV Coupe offers a well-laid-out, premium quality cabin that will ensure daily commutes and long journeys are quiet, hassle-free, and comfortable thanks to features like electric seat adjustments with memory seats, dual-zone air conditioning, and a power-operated panoramic sunroof.

Passengers will also be entertained and remain connected thanks to the superlative technologies and features like the 9-speaker BOSE sound system, 256-colour ambient lighting setup, and the seamlessly integrated dual 12.3-inch Curved Panoramic Screen. The comprehensive list of safety features includes an HD 360surround view system and a host of active and passive safety features, electronic aids to make the journey incident-free as well as comfortable. Moreover, the MG Whale is built on a chassis with a high-strength structure that is rated for high levels of torsional stiffness, which will provide maximum protection and a dynamic advantage.

The sleek SUV Coupe is driven by a powerful 2.0L turbocharged engine producing 231 HP and 370 Nm torque which is coupled to a reliable 8-speed automatic gearbox. The forced-induction motor provides the torque necessary to transport five passengers and their luggage swiftly and efficiently, while the low-displacement configuration aided by the 8 speeds of the modern transmission helps minimise fuel consumption.

Delivering great value

Tom Lee, Managing Director of MG Motors Middle East operations, commented: MGs campaign to deliver great value SUVs continues with the launch of our all-new Whale model. The MG Whale will be appreciated by those who are progressive and believe in self-expression. The emotive design language draws cues from the whale to reflect power and grace in its lines. It also offers an exceptional list of comfort options with an affordable package to cater to the demands and needs of our customers in the Middle East.

Mohamed Al Dhaheri, Managing Director, Motors Division, Ali & Sons Holding LLC, said: The launch of the MG Whale in the UAE represents a significant milestone in the future of MG in collaboration with Inter Emirates Motors. Our unwavering commitment to delivering exceptional vehicles that cater to every need is reflected in the remarkable design, cutting-edge features, and outstanding performance of the MG Whale. Soon, we are excited to introduce a diverse range of models, including SUVs, sedans, and crossovers, all designed to elevate and redefine the driving experience for our valued customers.

Hisham ElSahn, General Manager IEM, said: The launch of the all-new SUV Coupe is a testament to our dedication to delivering excellence, exceeding expectations, and setting new benchmarks in the automotive industry. With its striking design, advanced features, and remarkable performance capabilities, the MG Whale embodies the spirit of progress and innovation that drives us forward. We are glad to provide customers in the UAE an opportunity to experience first-hand the embodiment of our shared vision as we embark on this remarkable journey together, shaping the future of mobility in the UAE and beyond.--TradeArabia News Service
Local pet owners who currently have a pet that is licensed with the City of Fremont have until the end of the business day on Wednesday, Jan. 31 to re-register their pets for the 2024 calendar year or face a small penalty fee.

Fremont City Clerk Tyler Ficken posted information about the pet license renewals on the citys Facebook page earlier this week as a reminder to local residents about requirements.

You can renew your pet license by providing a current rabies vaccination for each of your pets. The cost for a pet license is $10 if the pet has been spayed or neutered, and $15 if the pet is intact, Ficken stated in a press release posted to the citys Facebook page. Each household can license up to three dogs and five cats. If you are currently registered, please license your pet or pets before Feb. 1 to avoid a $5 delinquent fee.

Under city law, cats and dogs must have a current rabies vaccination update and proof of the vaccination from a veterinarian. Animals do not have to be spayed or neutered, however if they are there is a lower fee to license them.

For new residents to the city who have not licensed their pets, the city requires licensing to be done within the first month of residency.

The pet licenses are conducted through the city clerks office, and can be done in person at Fremont City Hall, on the second floor at the counter area, 400 E. Military Ave.

Local residents can opt to do their licensing at the citys designated and official animal shelter partner, too, which is the FurEver Home facility located at 925 W. Sixth St. in Fremont.

Anyone with questions about pet requirements can get answers by telephone the City Clerks office at 402-727-2630.

Cat from Arizona found in FCC semi-truck dies

A lost cat from Arizona that arrived in Fremont after hiding in the engine compartment of a semi-tractor trailer owned by Fremont Contract Carriers has died from the trauma of its unexpected journey.

Peg Gaudreau, a volunteer worked with FurEver Home, said the cat  named Tali  had been brought to the animal shelter after it was found by workers at Fremont Contract Carriers.

The 2- to 3-year-old cat was from Arizona and while traveling with its owner in Kansas, somehow escaped the persons vehicle, Gaudreau said.

The kitty then somehow climbed into the engine area of a FCC semi-tractor trailer at a truck stop to escape cold conditions and eventually ended up in Fremont.

The owner of the feline had a GPS tag attached it its collar, which showed Tali as being in Fremont after a multi-state trip. The owners of Tali contacted FurEver Home after the cat was identified as their pet by shelter staff.

Despite efforts to care for the cat from local veterinarians after it was given to FurEver Home, the cat did not survive, Gaudreau reported.
For the second time, a yearly census to determine how many homeless people are living in El Paso County on a given night will hire helpers who are familiar with life on the streets to do the counting.

Debra Stilen will be among those conducting the Point in Time survey that begins on Monday, a process required by the United States Department of Urban Housing and Development for communities to receive federal funding for programs and services for homeless people.

After 20 years of homelessness, Stilen entered transitional housing last year. She was ready. But many of her friends are not.

What I find is a lot of them want to be counted, but people who are homeless are so used to being abused or bullied or negative aspects when it comes to anybody in an office, she said. Most of these people already know me, they know I was in their shoes and find it a little easier to talk to me. Theyre my family.

The team of homeless people who will look for transients for the census is doubling this year, from five to 10 or more, said Kristy Milligan, CEO of Westside CARES, a coalition of churches in town that provide various services to homeless people.

The organization last year piloted the idea of asking homeless people to assist with the survey. It worked out so well, its not only continuing but also expanding, she said.

They have access to the more remote camps that even people like me wouldnt have, Milligan said.

People also will be paid for their time and experience.

While Stilen said shes grateful that the survey work will earn her some money, shed do it even if she wasnt compensated because shes grateful to the organizations that helped her get to a better place.

We believe it is critical to engage the populations who are impacted by homelessness as leaders and resources in solving homelessness, Milligan said.

A volunteer force of more than 60 also will tally people living on the streets, in emergency shelters, in transitional housing, in their cars, in camps and other uninhabitable places, said Scott Correa, project specialist with Community Health Partnership.

For the past few weeks, the partnership, a nonprofit that does projects to improve the health and well-being of residents in the Pikes Peak region, and the Pikes Peak Continuum of Care, a network of homeless service agencies, have been recruiting and training volunteers.

Some are outreach workers, others are residents who want to pitch in.

Theyll also talk with people at the Marian House soup kitchen, libraries, bus stops and other places, asking where they spent the night of Jan. 21 and a few basic questions.

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Thats really the number HUD wants us to focus on  the number of unsheltered in our community, Correa said.

Over the past five years, unsheltered people living in El Paso County decreased by 17%, from a high of 1,562 in 2019 to the 2023 count of 1,302, according to the data.

Its important to remember, Correa said, that the survey provides just a snapshot in real time of the scope of homelessness.

Some people arent counted because finding every camp is difficult, organizers say, and others dont want to participate in the voluntary tracking. Anyone who does take part in the census receives a thank-you bag with items such as socks, hand warmers, snacks and water.

The count is critical for the community to be awarded millions of dollars in federal funding.

Since 2012, El Paso County has received $2 million to $2.5 million in HUD aid each year, of which 80% is spent on permanent supportive housing, transitional housing or rapid re-housing programs, according to Community Health Partnership. The remainder funds systems that track people who use services.

We go out and gather valuable information that helps us strategize about how to use limited resources in our community to address homelessness overall, Correa said.

The Point in Time is essential, Milligan said, because it gives us a baseline understanding of the challenges we face as a community around poverty and homelessness, and allows us to dedicate resources toward addressing those challenges.

Each person counted deserves to be treated with respect and dignity, Milligan said, because each is a human being  a brother, a sister, a mother, a father, a child.

Each of these people have unique circumstances and needs, she said. Understanding those needs begins with having a more accurate count of human beings who desperately need our help, so that together we can devise and support appropriate interventions to tackle not only the immediate need of shelter but also the longer-term need of opportunity.

Organizations also collect data year-round on individuals, families, military veterans and teens who are homeless to match current needs with programs.

The big concern of the industry and among community leaders nationwide is the lack of affordable housing, Correa said. Once homeless people take the next step of entering transitional housing, which includes support such as a caseworker and goal setting, there is often a waiting list to join a program.

The National Low Income Housing Coalition reports that an annual household income of $66,830 is needed in Colorado to afford a two-bedroom rental home at HUDs fair market rent, the amount a property can be expected to rent for on the open market, in line with similar units in the area.

Homelessness is a symptom of broken systems; one of those broken systems is housing  how outrageously expensive it is, Correa said.
Bundle up once again Colorado Springs as freezing temps return to the Pikes Peak region Friday.

"The brrr is back today in the Pikes Peak region, as Arctic air grazes southern Colorado," meteorologist Casey Dorn with Gazette news partner KOAA said.

"A bit of light snow fell overnight in the central to southern part of Colorado Springs  and pretty much nowhere else."

Minor snowfall overnight will create a slick morning commute today. According to Dorn, Colorado Springs, and surrounding areas received roughly an inch of snow.

Expect partly cloudy skies Friday and a high of 28 degrees. Wind chill values remain between 0 and 10 degrees.

Looking ahead to Friday night, temps will continue to drop to the teens and single digits. Expect mostly cloudy conditions and a low of 13 degrees.

Temps are anticipated to gradually rise throughout the weekend, with highs in the 50s by Sunday.

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Dorn said warmer temps will return heading into next week as well.

"Next week looks seasonable to around 5 degrees above average, and relatively quiet, until late in the week, when our next weather system may approach the area, lowering temperatures," Dorn said.

Here's the full forecast from the National Weather Service.

Saturday: Expect partly sunny skies and a high of 42 degrees.

Sunday: Expect partly sunny skies and a high of 52 degrees.

Monday: Expect partly sunny skies and a high of 46 degrees.

Tuesday: Mostly sunny skies are in the forecast and a high of 47 degrees.
A man arrested in New Mexico on suspicion of a triple homicide in Custer County was extradited to Colorado on Wednesday.

Hanme Kim Clark, 45, is a suspect in the shooting deaths of three people and attempted killing of a fourth in what an arrest affidavit obtained by The Gazette describes as a possible land dispute near the town of Westcliffe on Nov. 20.

The Custer County Sheriff's Office announced on Thursday that Clark had been booked into the Pueblo County jail on first-degree murder, attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon and attempted assault with a deadly weapon.

Clark was arrested in New Mexico along with Nancy Rae Medina-Kochis, 50, who was extradited on Jan. 15 and placed in the El Paso County jail. The two were arrested by U.S. marshals and New Mexico state police during a high-risk, felony stop" just outside Albuquerque on Nov. 21.

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A release from the Custer County Sheriff's Office said the two both "unsuccessfully fought" extradition back to Colorado. Charges Medina-Kochis might be facing are unclear. An El Paso County Sheriff's Office spokesperson said on Jan. 17 that Medina-Kochis is booked in El Paso County on a "courtesy hold," for the Custer County Sheriff's Office.

Pueblo County jail records also show that Clark is being held in Pueblo County on a courtesy hold.

Clark is being held on a $2 million bond, according to the Custer County Sheriff's Office.
Her student was known to exaggerate, administrators at The Vanguard School, a K-12 charter school in Colorado Springs, allegedly told then-junior high Latin teacher Mary Beth Arendash. He was one of those problem kids whom staff warned her about at the beginning of the year, she said.

But Arendash thought she recognized other factors. Rather than a problem acting out, she reasoned, her 13-year-old student might be struggling with a learning disability or mental health issues.

She suggested to school leaders he be screened for a support plan, and when no changes were made, she opted instead to work with him individually every day after school. Thats when Arendash said the concerning comments began.

He told Arendash he was being physically abused, she said.

A mandated reporter by law, Arendash said she raised concerns to school leadership that her student was at risk. Inaction by the schools administration prompted her to follow up, she said, but administrators allegedly told her she was overreacting.

The teen died by suicide just weeks into the 2020 school year, according to the El Paso County Coroners Office.

I had told them several times this child was at risk. I told them exactly what type of abuse he was suffering  and he went home and shot himself in the head, Arendash said. It was the most heartbreaking thing ever. This was my one kid that I tried to help, and they wouldnt do anything.

Multiple former teachers and parents have called into question the Harrison School District 2-authorized charter schools mandatory reporting practices, alleging they depart from legal requirements and leave some students unprotected.

Vanguard administrators maintain they are in full compliance with the law and handle each reported case with sensitivity.

There was the barest minimum of effort to meet the legal requirements of mandated reporting, said Valerie Younger, a former high school history teacher of five years. Handling suicide is some sort of horrible, shameful thing. It was almost as if its a black mark on the school, and it kind of is if notice had been given (that the student was at risk).

Per written Vanguard procedure, teachers are instructed to report student concerns of all types  suicidality, abuse, sexual assault, neglect  to their building leader rather than outside authorities. Administrators will reach out to the appropriate channels on teachers behalf, under the policy.

The administrative middleman ensures each report has the full context of a students situation, according to former junior high Assistant Principal Beth Danjuma, who stepped down from the role in September after three years. The reasoning is that school leaders have access to the bigger picture, including what previous teachers have reported and what a students siblings might also be experiencing.

But, such a procedure does not comply with Colorado mandatory reporting laws, according to Margaret Ochoa, a child sexual abuse prevention specialist with the Colorado Department of Public Safetys School Safety Resource Center. Ochoa trains school employees on mandatory reporting requirements.

When there is reasonable suspicion a child has been subjected to abuse or neglect, state law requires mandatory reporters such as teachers to file a report with one of only three entities, Ochoa said. Those three are the local law enforcement agency, the child abuse reporting hotline system (844-co4kids) or the county department of child protection.

Reporting to an internal boss does not satisfy this duty because state law does not permit a mandatory reporter to delegate their responsibility to somebody else in their organization, according to the Colorado Department of Education.

Thats contrary to what the law wants mandatory reporters to do, which is to report, Ochoa said.

Administrators might have different interpretations of what bears reporting, causing some reports to never be made, as allegedly was the case with the boy Arendash said she brought to the attention of Vanguard officials.

Ochoa said she has confronted past situations in which school policy did not align with state law. She attributes much of the confusion to inconsistent training on how to identify and report abuse. Thus schools approach the topic in different ways as they train with different entities. Whats more, Ochoa said, the mandatory reporting law has a subjective nature that does not clearly define its terms, leading to misinterpretation.

Varied implementations

Language surrounding mandatory reporting policies in the Pikes Peak regions 17 school districts is nearly identical with only minor differences, yet implementations vary.

In two of the regions largest school districts, Academy School District 20 and Colorado Springs School District 11, spokespeople say teachers must immediately report their concerns to the appropriate outside agency themselves. It is not sufficient to only notify ones supervisor because it is the legal responsibility of each staff member to report their own concerns, they say.

In Widefield School District 3, which neighbors Vanguards district, teachers are instructed to immediately notify their principal or building administrator, then make an oral report to an agency themselves.

And according to a spokesperson for Vanguards chartering district, Harrison School District 2, teachers are required to either make reports themselves and follow up with their principal afterward or provide details to their principal or counselor, who in turn can report on their behalf but must provide the staff member with a copy of the report.

Vanguard administrators, however, say legal counsel assures they are in alignment with mandatory reporting laws and district policy.

During the 2021-2022 school year they made 17 reports to the Department of Human Services. Last school year they made 26 reports, according to provided data.

We involve our attorneys in all these instances, and their job is to interpret the law and to make sure that as a school we are acting legally, Vanguard Director of Operations Jeff Yocum said. We have done that. We dont ever just shoot from the hip.

A former Vanguard junior high science teacher, who asked that her name not be used to protect her student's privacy, is among the staff who say otherwise.

Years later, I have realized that that isnt how it works, said the teacher, who is now working on her dissertation for a doctorate in education.

Its not enough to report it to your leadership.  I have also through experience learned that sometimes things didnt make it past leadership if they didnt think it was serious enough, if they thought the kid had threatened suicide too many times, if they thought kids were over-exaggerating or if theyd been in too much trouble.

Danjuma said she has never failed to report a concern brought to her attention during her three years as a building leader. Further, she said, even if it is a frequent flyer student who often has concerns, she evaluates each situation as its own. She said she does not think there has been a situation in which she told a teacher they were exaggerating, noting it would depend on I guess the situation.

But if it was something serious, something that we would be concerned about their safety, their wellbeing, their emotional wellbeing, their physical wellbeing, I take that stuff very seriously, Danjuma said.

I do my absolute best to make sure that teachers who have a concern  because I used to be that teacher  and have brought a concern know before they go home and have to think about it, that something has been done for that child.

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Outside agencies used

Vanguards high school campus consistently ranks number one in Colorado Springs in test scores, according to U.S. News and World Report. Lower campuses also receive acclaim for their academic rigor.

But teachers say pressure in the pursuit of excellence can be too much, fostering a culture that values grit above all else and works against mandatory reporting of mental health concerns. Teachers described the prevailing mentality among school leadership as, If a kid struggled, they just werent trying hard enough.

Another former employee, who served as Vanguards first social worker and wished to remain anonymous due to her continued work in education, said she once challenged administration on its mandatory reporting process, only to allegedly be told she should not stray; that (her) loyalty should be towards the school, not towards (her) social work license; and that (she) had to follow their protocol.

She continued making calls to the proper authorities anyway, she said, following the channels as she understood them to be defined by law.

Theres so much resistance to the concept of teens struggling with mental health. There was a general overall feeling that these kids are better than that, we taught them better, they have stronger characters than other kids," the social worker said.

Administrators theorize that perhaps teachers assume a report has not been made if they havent heard back in a timely manner, or perhaps they assume so because administrators are unable to provide the specifics for which they are looking.

Vanguard Executive Director Renee Henslee said to combat the latter concern, administrators now provide an overview of how school leaders handle situations and why they cant divulge certain types of information.

Sometimes its just not an understanding of how were doing things and what were doing, Henslee said.

In a school setting, FERPA (the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, which provides rights to parents and students regarding the disclosure of education records) may be in conflict with safety and security of students, Yocum added.

We tell our staff, if youre acting on behalf of a students safety or security, weve got your back, and we want to share. We are trying our best, but as Beth (Danjuma) points out, its a very dynamic environment every day, and theres certainly the possibility that there were examples where we did not close a loop to the satisfaction of a staff member, and we try our best to do that.

Administrators say although they require employees to report concerns to them, they do not prohibit employees from also making reports to outside agencies.

Former junior high English teacher Molly Fiedler is one of several employees who disagrees, alleging staff was explicitly told not to make mandatory reporting calls themselves. She remains skeptical that the school properly handled teachers concerns, she said, which is one of a laundry list of reasons she ultimately resigned.

I refuse to be a part of a system that doesnt support kids and limits teachers' ability to follow the law and to protect children, Fiedler said.

There are probably dozens of educators who have left Vanguard, who have left there with a bad taste in their mouth for the way that they treat children, she said. Not just because of specific incidents that happened, but just as the general culture in that environment.

One former junior high science teacher claims she experienced retaliation as a result of following administrations faulty instruction.

After a student first emailed her about severe bullying, the teacher said she alerted administration for guidance on how to proceed.

They (the student) were talking about being depressed, they were talking about suicide, they were talking about all sorts of things, and I said, Yeah, this is a little bit out of my depth. What do you want me to do? the former teacher said.

Administrators instructed her to continue receiving emails from the student and expressing her support, she said. Having never worked in a classroom before, she said she didnt know any better.

Her concerns intensified regarding the students safety. The teacher said she was in a panic and sought instruction from administrators. Without immediate response, she decided to notify the parents of what appeared to be alarming messages.

They were upset their child was seeking help and they hadnt been informed by the school sooner, the teacher said.

She was subsequently reprimanded by Vanguard for how she handled the matter, she said, with administrators taking particular issue with her decision to engage the student by email.

But, she said, shed only followed their guidance.

I had been told to follow that pathway, the teacher said. I had received (the emails) and not done anything with them because my administration told me to not do anything, and to this day I am still devastated that I didnt think to know better. That student shouldve received help from the beginning. When I reported it to my leadership, that shouldnt have been the end.

Former Latin teacher Arendash said, days after her students funeral, she approached the administration in total dismay. Shed warned them, she said. She wanted assurance they would take such situations seriously in the future.

They were like, Well, its your fault because he said that it was the school that killed him (in his suicide note), Arendash said. And then I went and cried in the bathroom for 15 minutes."

Vanguard administrators declined to comment on whether there were instances in which they chose not to report concerns brought specifically by Arendash.

Every issue that comes to our attention, we give thorough review, and we make sure we are acting appropriately, legally sufficiently, and most importantly, on behalf of that student, Yocum said. I cannot imagine there was an instance with that employee or any other where we wouldnt act that way.

But how it is interpreted, we cannot control, Henslee added.

Colorado House Bill 22-1240 last year established a mandatory reporter task force on which Ochoa serves. The two-year task force seeks to establish best practices, recommend changes to training requirements and reporting procedures and add clarity to some of the more subjective aspects of the law that enables schools to slip out of compliance, perhaps unknowingly. The task force will submit a final report of its findings on Jan. 1, 2025.

For now, Ochoa, the specialist with the Department of Public Safetys School Safety Resource Center, encourages school employees with reasonable suspicion that a child is at risk to make a report directly to local law enforcement or public health officials.

(The schools administrators) dont seem to believe the kids, Arendash said. Or if they do, they think its not as bad as it is.
An overturned semitrailer blocked the eastbound on-ramp to Colorado 16 from U.S. 85 for hours Thursday, according to the city of Fountain.

The city's social media said that at 2 p.m. Thursday, the connecting ramp onto the eastbound lanes of Colorado 16 would remain closed and that it would take several hours to clear the roadway.

Drivers were asked to use alternate routes.

Photos posted on social media by the Fountain Valley News shows a semi sitting just past the ramp turn-off, lying on its side.
In line with its ongoing expansion strategy, Hamad International Airport welcomes the first DHL Boeing 767-300 flight, marking a significant milestone in DHL's growth within Qatar and reinforcing the airports position as a regional logistics hub.

The new flight landed at Hamad International Airport on January 12.

As Qatars ultimate gateway, Hamad International Airport has played a pivotal role in connecting nations and fostering trade relationships. DHL's flight further exemplifies the airport's dedication to supporting global trade and logistics  showcasing its world-class services, facilities, and efficient operations, the statement added.

Michael Mcmillan, Senior Vice President of Operations & Facilities Management at Hamad International Airport, said: " This moment marks the initiation of a promising partnership between Hamad International Airport and DHL. As a central hub for logistics in the region, Hamad International Airport is committed to fostering collaborative efforts that amplify our role in facilitating global trade.

We are delighted to welcome DHL's operations to our state-of-the-art facilities  as this partnership heralds a new chapter in our shared commitment to excellence, innovation, and seamless connectivity."

Ahmed Elfangary, Country Manager of DHL Express Qatar, added: "We are thrilled to witness the landing of DHLs first Boeing 767-300 flight at Hamad International Airport reinforcing Qatar's position as a pivotal logistics hub in the region.

Qatar's strategic location and visionary approach have made it an ideal gateway for trade and commerce and as DHL, we are proud to play a significant role in connecting businesses globally through our extensive network and innovative solutions. This milestone further strengthens our commitment to supporting Qatar's vision and contributing to the growth of the logistics industry in the region.

DHL's prominent position as a leader in the global logistics industry, boasting the largest market share in the MENA region, profoundly influences this strategic partnership.

The importance of this flight is further highlighted as it aligns with DHLs sustainability commitments, which aims for zero emissions by 2050 through the reduction of fuel consumption and promotion of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) in line with the GoGreen Plus initiative launched in 2023.

Hamad International Airport previously announced that it handled 2,340,711 tons of cargo in 2023, marking a 1% increase from the year prior, which demonstrates an upward trend in cargo operations. The airport is currently advancing into phase B of its expansion plans, and at the end of which, it will welcome over 70 million travellers annually.  TradeArabia News Service
Jimmy Sengenberger is an investigative journalist, public speaker, and host of The Jimmy Sengenberger Show Saturdays from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. on News/Talk 710 KNUS. Reach Jimmy online at Jimmysengenberger.com or on X (formerly Twitter) @SengCenter.
LETTERS: We have to take back education; everyone has a personal choice
DENVER  The kids are trying to rein him in.

Dad, Piper Levin says, youre kind of going on a tangent.

Forgive Richard Levin, owner of the Piper Inn before the third-generation owners, son Jed and the daughter named after the place. Forgive him  he loves to tell the story of the familys bar since 1968, the story that is as curious as the food here.

Sorry! Richard says above the clamor of a packed house.

Here at a crossroads on the edge of Denver and Aurora, here in this low-slung joint lit by neon signs and TVs playing sports, another afternoon finds patrons drinking beer and eating what youd expect at any other dive: burgers and wings.

And then theres what you would not expect: what regulars swear is the best Chinese around. Others call the street tacos as authentic as it gets, and the carne asada fries as good as The New York Times once said under the headline 12 Restaurants America Loves.

The menu is eclectic all right. Its as eclectic as the clientele over the years. Posts recall horse hitches from back in the day. The next rowdy bunch is honored by the Harley-Davidson parking signs.

Richard Levin, 71, could go on forever about how it all came to be.

Jed chuckles and shakes his head.

The stories get bigger every time, he says.

But theyre true! Richard says.

Or at least partly true, as legends tend to go.

The Piper Inn is indeed legendary, known mostly for the wings.

They go back to the early 1980s here, born by a transplant from Buffalo, N.Y., the story goes. Most popular are the Chinese wings, tossed in a tangy, hot sauce that is traced to the Buffalo mans successors. From Guangzhou, China, Kenny and Marcia Mah are credited for the House of Spice side of the menu: egg foo young, fried rice and orange chicken among other dishes.

However hard to deny a burger and a beer, its harder for people to leave here without an order of scratch-made egg rolls or crab cheese wontons. As for the Mexican side of the menu, thats a more recent development; the kitchen today is largely Spanish-speaking.

Theres a story behind every food item, Jed says.

The story starts with Ray Levin, Richards father, Jeds grandfather. Actually, it goes back further than that, Jed says.

The story he heard goes back to the 1940s. This was long before Parker Road and Lliff Avenue were paved, when this now-bustling corner was open land.

There was a farmer, Jed says. Apparently, he needed something for his daughters to do. So he built a roadhouse tavern for them to manage.

Apparently, it came to be named for the Piper planes that landed on a dirt air strip in the area. Flash forward to 1968. Along came Ray Levin, who needed a place to move his liquor license from his rented bar that was being torn down for redevelopment in downtown Denver.

For the man who never graduated West High School, the bar business was simply what he knew. And he would continue it even if it was out in the sticks, as Richard recalls of the Piper.

The cowboys would ride their horses across Parker Road and tie them up to a tree and come in and drink. I think a draft beer was like 35 cents, Richard says. And my dad, God bless him, his first menu he abbreviated hamburger with HB, because he didnt know how to spell hamburger.

Whatever he lacked in wits he made up for with hard work. Ray Levin worked night and day, the constant and ebullient presence yucking it up with customers. Hed never make much money  He knew how to make just enough to support the family, Richard says  but he seemed to take pride as the smiling face behind a bar where other hard workers could just kick back.

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Things changed in 1981. Ray was in a car crash that badly injured him and killed his wife, the love of his life.

Early into a career in commercial real estate, Richard stepped aside to look after the bar. He figured his dad would recover and be back.

Instead, the man went on to live a much quieter life. Hed never be the same after the tragedy, never again that smiling face behind the bar. He isolated himself really, Richard says.

It was an unsettling wave that gave Richard unexpected hope for the business. It was a wave of heavy-drinking bikers.

Hed be breaking up fights, sure, but he mostly left that to the right people he hired: tatted-up biker chicks, he says, who were tough cookies.

He hired other right people for the kitchen: that man from Buffalo whose wings were an instant hit  never mind his penchant for fighting  followed by the Mahs who responded to Richards ad in The Rocky Mountain News.

The bars path to unlikely renown was set. The path has mellowed, no more fighting.

A sheriffs investigator came in the other day, and shes like, Ive never had to introduce myself to you, have I? Jed says. Were doing all right!

The vibe is family-friendly under the third-generation owners. Jed and Piper over the years have hosted youth teams and families celebrating birthdays or mourning loved ones.

The siblings reason for being here is simple: Its family, Piper says.

Its their children running around the bar now, Richards grandchildren.

Maybe the familys fourth generation will be in charge someday, Richard thinks. And what a sight that would be for Ray Levin.

If he could see them running around here, Richard says, he would just have the biggest smile on his face."

On the menu

Among Piper Inns appetizers ($6-$11), egg rolls are a go-to. Theyre listed as enormous and filled with shrimp, pork, celery and cabbage. The crab cheese wontons are a favorite of co-owner Piper Levin. Also beef wontons and pan-fried potstickers.

Tables often share loaded fries (half $8, full $13). Carne asada are most popular, topped with beef, aged cheddar, onion and cilantro. The Asian fries feature the beloved wing sauce over grilled chicken, onion and cilantro.

Chicken wings are the claim to fame (five for $8.50, 10 for $15.75). If not the Asian sauce, regulars go with the Golden G.O.A.T., a twist on Carolina-style sauce. Buffalo and house-made BBQ other options.

Co-owner Jed Piper swears by the fried rice (choice of veggie, chicken, pork or shrimp, $8-$14). Those choices pair with the egg foo young  egg patties, green onions and sprouts smothered in a Chinese gravy. The orange chicken ($13) is another favorite.

Burger options ($15) include black and blue  blue cheese crumbles, bacon and cajun seasoning  pimento cheese and bacon, another combining grilled onions, pepperjack, bacon and garlic aioli, and another subbing that aioli with a jalapeno relish.

Street tacos (two for $8, three for $13) have been a more recent hit. Choice of pork, al pastor or carne asada and served with onions, cilantro and fresh salsas.

Richard Levin, the owner before his children, loves the breakfast burrito ($13). Its served all day and packed with ham, sausage, eggs, fries, cheese and smothered with green chile.

He also orders the hot Chinese chicken salad, featuring that Asian sauce and crispy noodles in a spring mix. Its among other, more traditional salads ($11).
Turkish Airlines has added Australia to its flight network, operating three flights a week to Melbourne, its 346th destination in 130 countries, starting from March 15, 2024. The flights will be relayed via Singapore, the flag carrier will also have the distinction of being the only European airline to currently operate flights to Melbourne Airport.

Special launch prices are available for booking tickets between January 19 to April 15, 2024, and travelling between March 15 to May 15, 2024.

Turkish Airlines Chairman of the Board and the Executive Committee, Prof Dr Ahmet Bolat said: Today is an important day for us. We have realised our goal of reaching the continent of Australia, which we have been successfully working on for a while, with the confirmed flight date.

We have a significant global value that distinguishes us from our competitors as we are the airline that flies to more countries than any other in the world.

Maintaining this valuable mission is a very strong motivation that drives us to work harder, more devotedly, and with more enthusiasm.

We are delighted to meet Australians with Turkish Airlines' award-winning service quality and unique flight network. In the coming years, we plan to strengthen our presence in this beautiful country by increasing both the frequency of our flights and the number of our destinations. Also, as we bring the Turkish and Australian people closer and strengthen the bonds between our countries, we aim to increase bilateral tourism, trade, and business opportunities."

Supported by the Victorian Government and Melbourne Airport, the new route will connect Turkiye with Australia's largest Turkish community and one of largest trading centres of Victoria, one of the fastest-growing state of the country.

Additionally, Turkish Airlines' new flights will increase Melbourne's access to the European, Middle Eastern, Balkan, and African markets via Istanbul, contributing to tourism, international education, business, and trade potential.

In the next few years, Turkish Airlines aims to organise direct flights to Melbourne and other potential cities in the country with the acquisition of new aircraft capable of operating non-stop flights between Istanbul and Melbourne.  TradeArabia News Service
With 881,464 students, enrollment in Colorado public schools has declined to the lowest level in a decade, according to statistics the Colorado Department of Education released Wednesday.

The Pikes Peak region is following the trend with 842 fewer preschool through high school students enrolled this year than last year for the areas 17 traditional districts, a Gazette analysis of the data shows.

Collectively, El Paso County's 15 districts and two in Teller County counted 121,401 students during the annual October census. In the fall of 2022, the region recorded 122,243 students.

Only six local districts  or 35%  posted enrollment increases this academic year: Calhan RJ-1, Cheyenne Mountain D-12, Colorado Springs D-11, Ellicott D-22, Miami-Yoder 60-JT and School District 49.

Many districts gains and losses were relatively flat. Peyton 23-JT is down by 15 students, while nearby Calhan RJ-1 is up by 12 students, for example.

Even if its just an increase of 15 kids, as in Colorado Springs D-11, the third-largest area district with 22,744 students this year, the number is still moving in the right direction, said Superintendent Michael Gaal.

This the first time since 2011 for D-11 to have a gain, said Jessica Wise, the districts interim executive director of engagement. And the third instance of positive growth in the past 30 years, she said.

Creating a variety of different schools, programs and innovative approaches has helped generate interest among students and parents, Wise said. A new pilot program, the Future Center, debuts this week at Doherty High School for students to explore career and college preparation choices, for example.

School District 49 had the largest jump, up by 183 students for a total of 25,799, retaining its rank as the second-largest district in the region.

The numbers show D-49 is continuing its track of being one of the fastest growing districts in the state, said spokesman David Nancarrow.

A noticeable uptick in the D-49s multi-district online program and enrollment from new homes being built in the area east of Colorado Springs are expected to continue, he said.

In what seems like a statistical fluke, the regions largest district, Academy D-20, had 26,607 students in October  exactly the same number of pre-K through 12th grade pupils as in the 2022-2023 academic year.

D-20 leaders were not surprised that enrollment, which had been growing steadily, was flat this year.

Spokeswoman Allison Cortez mentions the declining birthrate and millennials delaying or choosing to not have children at all.

Additionally, with the rise of home costs in our district, young families are telling us it is difficult to buy a home in D20, she said. We believe these are all contributing factors to enrollment trends.

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Fountain-Fort Carson D-8 saw the largest loss, down 316 students over 2022-2023. About 75% of the districts enrollment of 7,885 is connected to the military, which affects enrollment, officials have said.

The second-biggest drop was for Widefield D-3, which has 235 fewer students this year. The district historically has plugged along with slow, steady growth, said Assistant Superintendent Kirk Vsetecka.

After taking a big hit during the pandemic, losing about 500 students, then rebounding and nearing pre-pandemic levels last year, the October dip was surprising.

What caused that is what were asking, Vsetecka said.

He has a theory. Instead of having more babies during the pandemic, many families chose to hold off, and the bulk of new enrollment growth comes from preschool- and kindergarten-age students, Vsetecka said.

Harrison D-2 is running 220 students behind last school year  a pattern thats on par with the state results, said spokeswoman Christine OBrien.

We are hearing families are seeking to move out of state to find more affordable housing and lower costs of living, she said.

Harrison D-2 has become attractive for families with free before and after school childcare, free school supplies, free meals, free food to take home and other extras, O'Brien said.

Colorado is in a period of gradual decline in births and slowing net migration, Elizabeth Garner, the state demographer, told the State Board of Education last week.

Fewer babies are being born, the death rate has risen, not as many people are moving into the state and the population is aging, she said. All of those factors influence the number of school-aged children.

Garner estimates that Colorado will not rebound to the peak school age that the state saw in 2019-2020 until 2035.

Charter school enrollment also experienced a decline statewide, according to the statistics, and more students are being homeschooled.

Some private schools are in the same situation as public schools. After topping 200 students before the pandemic, St. Marys High School, part of the Catholic Diocese of Colorado Springs, has rebounded to 150 students this school year and set a goal of 10% growth next year, said board president Tom Maj.

One of the challenges throughout the nation is that families have so many choices, and its good for families to have choices, he said. But its hard to measure enrollment  is somebodys growth net growth, or are you just taking from someone else?

Editor's note: This article has been changed to correct the collective total of enrollment in the Pikes Peak region.
As the ice continues to melt and recede from the past weeks cold snap, mid-Willamette Valley residents, businesses and safety workers are cleaning up the wreckage while dealing with rain, rain and more rain.

Friday, Jan. 19, saw an alert that the Willamette River in the Benton County area could crest in response to melting snow and ice. Meanwhile, Gov. Tina Kotek declared a statewide emergency on Thursday in the storms wake.

Politics 'A Place to Sleep' podcast: Catch all the episodes here Our podcast, A Place to Sleep, explores how Oregon cities are responding to a new law that is meant to provide homeless individuals a place to rest.

The declaration will support counties efforts to respond and recover from damages as a result of the storm, according to a news release from the Governors Office. Kotek had already declared an emergency in Lane County on Tuesday, Jan. 16.

Looking at the weekend forecast from the National Weather Service, Albany and Corvallis are expecting fog and rain in the later afternoon and evening on Saturday, Jan. 20. Chances of more rain are high throughout the weekend and into next week.

Seniors come together

Eighty-two year old Pat Rolla couldnt leave her upstairs apartment for three days. A power outage at Samaritan Village, an independent living complex for retirees in Corvallis, left 80 seniors with sparse heat and limited mobility until Friday morning.

At Samaritan Village on Friday morning, ice was still evident in the crevices of planters, stairwells and lining the roof. Neighbors checked in on each other with the good news that the power had just been restored.

It was the first time in my whole life I didnt have everything I needed, Rolla, originally from California, said. She wore several layers, a sweater and a thermal jacket as she sat in the lobby.

Rolla has an apartment upstairs and couldnt really leave because the elevator was out of order from the power outage and ice made the stairs too slippery. Staff put salt down, but it still froze over, she said.

Without heat in her apartment, she bundled up to stay warm. Defying logic, an outlet in her bathroom was working, so she was at least able to make coffee.

Neighbors came together to help one another, Rolla said. They exchanged numbers, and those who could offered to run errands for those who couldnt. Someone moved her car so ice wouldnt fall on it, she said. Neighbors who had working fridges kept food for each other.

We stayed positive, Rolla said.

Community Manager Nick Reynders called it an all-hands-on-deck situation.

Space heaters were donated to the complex, and he gave them out to any of the residents who wanted them. The biggest question was when the power was going to return, he said.

It was strange to have such a spotty power outage, Reynders added, but he was told by Pacific Power that these types of power outages happen in severe weather.

Outages everywhere

Around 45,000 Pacific Power customers in the mid-valley experienced power outages during the ice storm, according to Pampi Chowdhury, the utilitys communications specialist. The majority, 30,520, were reported in Corvallis and Philomath, while Lebanon and Sweet Home saw 9,693 outages between them, and 4,824 were in Albany.

It wasnt clear yet how many transformers were blown, though several suspected incidents were reported in local social media groups.

The utility deployed crews and contractors to support the storm response, according to Chowdhury, and additional help was brought up from southern Oregon.

Road hazards

Crews with the Oregon Department of Transportation worked around the clock starting Saturday, Jan. 13, to ensure priority state highways remained passable, according to Mindy McCartt, public information officer with the agency.

Crews responded to downed trees and vehicle crashes while simultaneously plowing, sanding, deicing, and salting our routes, McCartt said via email.

As of Wednesday, in the ODOT region that encompasses most of the Willamette Valley and the North Coast, the agency used 1.7 million pounds of salt since the storm began, according to an ODOT news release, the most weve ever used in the region.

The foothills of the Coast and Cascade ranges were hit the hardest by the ice storm, McCartt said, forcing closures due to falling trees that in several cases included power lines coming down.

Two ODOT vehicles were hit and taken out of service during the storm, but McCartt said no staff injuries were reported.

ODOT deployed 14 plow/sander trucks, four deicer trucks, and 35 maintenance staff to the Linn and Benton areas, according to McCartt, who said the focus was maintaining mobility on Interstate 5, Highway 34 between Lebanon and Corvallis, and Highway 20 between Albany and Corvallis. That meant response was more limited in rural areas.

Maintaining I-5 during winter conditions requires significant resources, she wrote.

Downed trees led to closures that impacted travel on Highway 20 east of Sweet Home, Highway 228, Highway 34 between Philomath and Alsea, and Highway 226 Scio to Lyons, McCartt said.

Agencies helping agencies

Linn County Public Health helped Sweet Home Fire District keep its main station operational by supplying it with a generator, according to Alex Paul, the countys communications officer. He said the department also provided 150 cots, pillows and blankets to Sweet Home for shelter use.

After determining it wasnt needed locally, a shower trailer owned by the county was loaned to a state emergency management agency and deployed to the town of Creswell, Paul said via email.

The Linn County Sheriffs Office saw a busy week, including a lot of road hazards and motorist assistance calls under icy conditions, according to Sheriff Michelle Duncan. The agency also assisted state police on a number of highway crashes.

Deputies were busier than normal, but it wasnt as taxing as the last ice storm, Duncan said by phone, noting roads werent quite as bad, and maybe more people heeded warnings to stay safe at home. She said the agency didnt need to call in extra patrols for this years weather event.

They were able to handle what they had, Duncan said. But it was busy, and all of our responses were extremely slow.

Despite the bad weather, there were still the typical thefts, runaways, traffic stops, warrants to serve, burglaries, etc. Adding to that were calls to check up on those who couldnt get out of their homes.

I know one welfare check that we did was an elderly woman who didnt have heat, only had a woodstove, and had some physical issues that she couldnt get wood, Duncan said. So we loaded up her house with wood and checked on her through the week.

The woman eventually realized going to a warming shelter until conditions improved was the best bet, according to Duncan.

Downed trees

In Benton County, first responders with county and city agencies saw a significant uptick in staffing levels as they conducted 24-hour operations, according to Cory Grogan, the countys public information officer. He noted numerous calls to 911 for downed trees and power lines in the area.

The county itself was a victim.

The impact of this ice storm has been substantial on the countys energy infrastructure, affecting water treatment facilities and information technology systems, Grogan said. Preliminary estimates of expenses and damages already exceed $400,000, with the expectation that this figure will rise as more data is collected.

Grogan said the estimated cost to Benton County for overflow sheltering is around $50,000-$60,000, and the county also invested around $500 in tents and sleeping bags to replace those damaged during the storm. With partner support, the county has provided shelter for more than 50 people each night, he said.

Benton County Public Works coordinated with the Benton County Sheriffs, Emergency Management and other responders during the winter storm, according to a news release from the county. In the aftermath, public works reportedly continues tackling weather-related issues, such as slush removal and problems with trees.

Benton County encouraged residents to stay informed and safe by having an emergency plan and emergency supplies, and most importantly to look out for each other in the community.

This means that if possible, having at least two weeks worth of emergency supplies readily available, Benton County Emergency Manager Bryan Lee said in the release.

Community Services Consortium for Benton and Linn counties keeps a list of local food pantries and meal sites on their website, the news release notes, and 211 Info can provide various resources including housing, food, crisis, and other basic needs at 211info.org or by dialing 211.

The people of Benton County seemed to get the message about staying home, according to Benton County Sheriff Jef Van Arsdall, who credited Lee for warning people early and often about dangerous conditions.

As a result, they stayed home, Van Arsdall said via phone. So this big storm hits, and we really dont have a lot to report; the citizens of Benton County do great.

The countys Search and Rescue team played a critical role in getting first responders and essential staff including medical workers to their offices and home again, Van Arsdall said, citing around 65 transports. County staff also went on pharmacy runs for some people who couldnt get out on their own, he said.

The Sheriffs Office also received a donation of space heaters from Linn-Benton Furniture Share to help keep community members warm.

However, the ice storm did present a challenge for the Benton County Jail. Van Arsdall said state-driven court closures for inclement weather slowed the judicial process and led to missed dates from some. He said Thursday was the first in four days that the jail could get people in front of a judge.

Deputies were still on the streets, though, responding to all sorts of calls around the clock, but Van Arsdall estimated the call load was lightened because of the number of people who stayed home.







City tales

The city of Albany had extra staff working over the weekend and holiday for road maintenance, but overall things went better than anticipated, according to Matt Harrington, the citys communications officer.

Albanys emergency manager, Chuck Perino, coordinated the citys response, working with others to open warming centers at Fire Station 11 and First Christian Church, Harrington said in an email. The city also coordinated with area partners such as CHANCE and Calvary Chapel to connect those in need with shelter resources.

Leading up to and during the event we repeatedly emphasized to the public the importance of staying put, Harrington said. However, as the days passed and more people ventured out, our Fire/EMS personnel dealt with many slips and falls, and our emergency medical facilities filled up.

Albanys street maintenance crews had two sanding trucks operating from the early morning until late at night through the weekend, Harrington said, sanding known trouble areas. He added that the Oregon Department of Transportation used sand and deicer on the main roads through town.

There was one short power outage at the Albany-Millersburg Water Treatment Plant, which Pacific Power resolved quickly. And ODOT quickly fixed a traffic light power module failure at 21st and Waverly.

Harrington said Albany escaped the storm without any significant tree loss in the public right-of-way. But not so lucky were several homeowners and business owners who reported broken water pipes on their properties, Harrington said.

With snow melting and rain expected, Harrington issued a reminder for people to avoid driving through areas of high water and to pay attention to closure or detour signage. He also encouraged community members to sign up for emergency alerts at albanyoregon.gov/albanyalerts.







OT in Lebanon

The city of Lebanon put around 50 hours of overtime into keeping its street sanded with two sanding trucks, covering major side streets and intersections through town, according to Jason Rush, public works operations manager.

Rush said the city didnt respond to any downed trees, but there was a fire hydrant that got hit and knocked off  an apparent hit-and-run  and a street light was also hit and reported after the fact.

No locations that stand out for being particularly worse than others for ice with it getting broken up with traffic then refreezing overnight, it was slick all over town, Rush said.

The next thing

As the ice and snow turn to streams and ponds, Benton County is warning of possible flooding risks.

River monitoring showed that the Willamette River was at risk of cresting late Friday, according to a news release from the county, which states the biggest impacts are expected to occur in South Corvallis and Kiger Island, near where the Willamette and Marys rivers meet.

Community members are strongly advised to stay out of floodwaters and not to attempt driving through flooded areas, the release states, noting road closures and high-water signs would be placed in impacted areas.

Over half of flood-related drownings occur when vehicles are driven into hazardous floodwaters, the release states, citing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The second-highest percentage of flood-related deaths is attributed to walking into or near floodwaters.

Benton County strongly recommends that community members monitor emergency road notifications at https://pw.bentoncountyor.gov/road-closures-and-notices/. River levels can be monitored at https://bit.ly/3SpDfHe.

Staff writer Shayla Escudero contributed to this report.







Related stories:(tncms-asset)588f275e-ccc3-5a84-9ba2-fb31ca99cdb5[6](/tncms-asset)(tncms-asset)921a2473-a2fa-5041-bdd0-5e7bdfc0fd8e[7](/tncms-asset)
North Iowa Area Community College President Steven Schulz announced in October he will be retiring at the end of the 2024 academic year, winding down a 42-year career in public education.

The last 10 years have seen him lead the college through a multitude of challenges to achieve greater heights in the ever-changing environment of education.

Schulz, who hails originally from Geneva in Franklin County, knew the value of education from a young age.

"My dad was a junior high principal," Schulz said. "I followed his career path as a K-12 educator before I found my home here in community colleges."

Schulz taught in Nashua and served as principal at Plainfield before spending 13 years at Carroll Community School District, first as middle school principal, and then four years as superintendent of schools.

Schulz then served as an academic administrator and provost at Des Moines Area Community College for nearly 10 years, earning a doctorate in educational leadership from Iowa State University in 2009.

In December 2013, Schulz was hired as president at NIACC. Since then, the college has been a top-150 finalist for the nationally-recognized Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence in 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019, and most recently in 2023 when NIACC earned a semifinalist slot as one of the top 25 community colleges in America.

"It is our continued commitment to student success that produces student outcomes worthy of being recognized as one of the top 25 Community Colleges in the nation, said Schulz of the recognition from the Aspen Institute. I am extremely proud of the faculty, staff and administration at NIACC for their ongoing commitment to quality and student success.

NIACC serves approximately 2,500 students, 46% of which are full-time. In 2022, over 1000 high schoolers in the nine counties surrounding NIACC got at least a year head start on their college education and careers through NIACC's Career Link program.

Schulz has overseen a dramatic revitalization and expansion of the facilities at NIACC, updating nearly 80% of campus facilities since he took over. One of his first projects was leading the $15 million capital campaign and bond referendum which saw the construction of the STEM Center, in addition to new funding for regional centers in Forest City, Charles City, Osage, Garner, Hampton, and Lake Mills.

Schulz said regionalization is the key to quality as the college moves forward, and he was encouraged by the community's overwhelming support for the projects.

"What a great opportunity it was for a new president," he said, "...to go out and meet people who are supportive of the college, who believe in our mission, and believe in North Iowa. Almost everyone in North Iowa has a connection to this college. That's what really makes it special. They really understand the value."

Schulz said another job opportunity was presented to him five years ago, but he ultimately decided NIACC was his home and would be the capstone to his career. He committed to seeing the college through its 100th anniversary celebrations in 2018.

"For me, personally and professionally, (now) just seemed like the right time. The decision to retire is never easy. I'll be 63 in March, and the college is in a great position to go through a transition like this. We just completed our 10-year accreditation visit, and our strategic plan has a couple years left on it, so the new president can have some time in the seat before they have to lead that work."

"It's just been a privilege to be here," Schulz said." It's more than I ever could have expected in terms of experience, the people I work with, and the communities that we serve. Ten years is a long time for somebody to lead a college in these modern times. Change will be good. New vision, new views will all be positive for the college, and now we just hope that we can hire the best possible person to carry on the great work of leading a 105-year-old college."

The vacancy for the president's position at NIACC was posted Jan. 16, and the college's board of directors will begin review of applicants in February, expecting a candidate selection by early April. The new president will assume responsibilities on July 1.
Iowa House Minority Leader Jennifer Konfrst, a Democrat from Windsor Heights, was tapped to join the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee's Board of Directors, the group announced Wednesday.

The committee, part of the national Democratic Party, is focused on electing Democrats to state legislatures across the country. The committee's board members advise on strategy and organization and represent the committee's work to the media and donors, the committee said in a press release.

There has never been a more important time to get involved in state legislative races, and Im thrilled to join the ranks of the DLCC Board now," Konfrst said in a statement. "Building power in states like Iowa must be part of Democrats long-term strategy, and Im eager to bring my experience working with the Democratic caucus in Iowa to help shape our national strategy."

Iowa Democrats have lost seats in both chambers of the state Legislature for the past two election cycles. They have not held a majority in either chamber since 2016, when Republicans flipped the Senate.

Joining Konfrst as new members on the DLCC board are North Carolina House Democratic Leader Robert Reives and California Sen. Monique Limon, the committee said.

As chair of the DLCC Board of Directors, I know Leader Reives, Senator Limon, and Leader Konfrst are excellent additions to our team," said DLCC Chair Andrew Stewart-Cousins. "Our board prides itself on ensuring we bring leaders together who have experience from every corner of the country, and these new members bring diverse insights that will strengthen the DLCC as a whole."

Nunn announces fundraising haul

Iowa U.S. Rep. Zach Nunn, a Republican, announced this week he raised more than $2.4 million in 2023 and has more than $1.5 million in cash on hand.

Nunn, a former Iowa state senator, is in his first term representing Iowa's 3rd Congressional District. He defeated incumbent Democrat Cindy Axne to win the seat in 2022. Multiple Democrats have announced their candidacy to challenge him in what is expected to be a highly competitive election in November.

With more than $2.4 million raised and already locking in significant endorsements to support his re-election, it is clear that Iowans want Zach Nunn to continue to represent them in DC, Nunn Campaign Manager Kendyl Parker said in a statement. Zach Nunn ran for Congress with a goal to help Iowa families, and in his first year in office, he has done just that. Zach will remain focused on listening to all Iowans' priorities and bringing Iowa common sense to our nations capital every day.

New Politics endorses Lanon Baccam

A political group that endorses veterans for office has endorsed Lanon Baccam, a Democrat running for Congress in Iowa's 3rd Congressional District.

New Politics announced the endorsement on Thursday. The group mostly endorses Democrats, but it also lists Republicans among its endorsements. According to its webpage, New Politics is "working towards electing a new generation of political leadership by helping service-oriented leaders run for public office."

Baccam, a National Guard veteran, announced his campaign for Congress in November, drawing endorsements from many of the state's top Democrats. Baccam worked for the U.S. Department of Agriculture under Secretary Tom Vilsack in both the Biden and Obama administrations. Most recently, he was deputy chief of staff at the department.

The 3rd District is represented by Rep. Zach Nunn, a Republican and former state senator. Nunn served in the U.S. Air Force and Air National Guard.

Melissa Vine, a Des Moines nonprofit leader, is also running in the Democratic primary to represent the district.

Senate GOP leader raises $467,000

Iowa Senate Majority Leader Jack Whitver, a Republican from Grimes, announced on Friday that he raised $467,825 in 2023. The money is a record for a legislative leader in a non-election year, according to the Iowa GOP.

Whitver is also going into 2024 with $587,317 in cash on hand.

Senate Republicans won a two-thirds supermajority in 2022, increasing their seats in the 50-person chamber to 34.

"The investments from so many Iowans into my campaign shows broad support for our agenda," said Whitver. "We will continue to deliver pro-growth results for Iowans this session. The 2024 elections will be another opportunity for Senate Republicans to share our vision with voters. I look forward to working with our Senators and candidates to have another successful election cycle."
DES MOINES  The Iowa House of Representatives passed a resolution Thursday declaring its support for Israel and its continued campaign in Gaza against Hamas, drawing protest from activists calling for a ceasefire in the ongoing war.

The resolution passed by a voice vote in the House without a record of how each lawmaker voted. Republicans and many Democrats appeared to support the resolution, while a few no votes rang out from House Democrats. People who rallied against the vote on Thursday also shouted from the gallery after its passage before being removed by Iowa State Patrol officers.

The pro-Palestinian activists said lawmakers should have called for a ceasefire rather than pass the resolution signaling unconditional support to Israel.

The resolution says it is affirming the State of Iowas support for the State of Israel and condemning the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.

In the resolution, lawmakers said they recognize Israels right to act decisively and unilaterally in self-defense and to oppose any calls for a ceasefire.

They further affirm Israels right to pursue, without interference or condemnation, the elimination of Hamas and any other affiliated terrorist groups until Hamas and all such groups are permanently neutralized.

House Speaker Pat Grassley, R-New Hartford, told reporters on Thursday that the resolution was a continuation of the state of Iowas long-running support for Israel as an ally of the U.S. He said the resolution had significant bipartisan support.

When it comes to any terrorist organization, were going to stand with our ally, what we have in Israel, so I dont think that today, the action that we took was any different than we historically would have taken in my time in the Legislature," Grassley said.

"No one wants to see any level of death and destruction that's going on overseas, but an unprovoked attack that we saw happen a couple months ago, also as an ally of that country, that's not something that we can just ignore," he added.

Rep. Sami Scheetz, a Democrat from Cedar Rapids and the only Arab-American in the Iowa House, said during a press conference on Thursday that the majority Republicans did not ask for input from him or other Democrats on the language of the resolution.

Scheetz, who voted against the resolution, said he condemns all violence against the Israeli and Palestinian people as well as antisemitism and anti-Arab rhetoric, but that continuing violence in the region would not resolve the conflict.

This is not justice that will lead to a lasting peace, this is chaos and destruction, he said. It has become clear that there is no military solution that will bring stability to Gaza. That's why I voted no on the Republican resolution this morning and continue to call for a ceasefire.

More than 20,000 Palestinians have been killed since Israel launched its campaign against Hamas after the Oct. 7 attacks in the country. Around 1,200 Israelis, mostly civilians, were killed in that attack.

House Democratic leader Jennifer Konfrst of Windsor Heights did not say how she voted on the resolution.

My members have every ability to have a conversation on their own outside this room of what needs to happen, she told reporters on Wednesday. But what I'll tell you is the Israel-Hamas situation will not be solved through the Iowa Legislature, and it's not really under our purview.

Activists opposed resolution

About two dozen people gathered in the Capitol rotunda Thursday morning ahead of the vote to call for a ceasefire in Gaza, leading chants and impromptu speeches condemning Israel's actions and Iowa legislators.

Dani Misyuk, a member of Iowa City Action for Palestine, came to the Capitol on Thursday to show opposition to the resolution and support for Iowas Palestinian population. Misyuk, who is Jewish, said the conflict and the reactions to it were deeply personal.

My religion and culture is being used to justify genocide, and Im here to say that is not okay with me personally, Misyuk said. "...We have Palestinian people here in Iowa, and they have family there, or they're affected here too, and we have to stand up for them and with them."

Representatives propose stripping aid from students deemed supportive of terrorists

Two Republican lawmakers proposed a bill on Thursday that would block students from receiving financial aid, and cancel student groups registrations, if they endorse or promote terrorism or any group designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the U.S. government.

The bill would give the Iowa attorney general authority to determine whether a statement or action constitutes support for terrorism. Republican Rep. Taylor Collins of Mediapolis, one of the bills sponsors, said it was inspired by people supporting Hamas after the Oct. 7 attacks. Rep. Austin Harris, a Republican from Moulton, was the other sponsor of the bill.

Collins said a statement that features the slogan from the river to the sea could be considered support for terrorism under the bill. The University of Iowa Democrats received backlash from the state party last year for posting a statement with the slogan, which some anti-hate groups consider to be antisemitic.

I have a lot of confidence in the attorney generals office in discerning free speech from actual support of terrorism, and it should be a conversation as the bill moves through the process, he said.
Iowa Republican U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley has been discharged from a Washington, D.C.-area hospital, where he had been treated for an infection, according to a statement from his office.

The brief statement says the 90-year-old expects to be back to work next week.

Grassley had been receiving antibiotic infusions for an unspecified infection, his office said in a news release issued Tuesday.

The release said Grassley was is in good spirits and planned to return to work as soon as possible following doctors orders, and was expected to make a full recovery.

In January 2023, Grassley underwent surgery for a hip fracture. He told reporters at the time he injured himself while doing a stupid thing in the kitchen of his Washington, D.C., town house. It didnt work and I fell and broke my hip, he said.

Grassley has represented Iowa in the U.S. Senate since 1981, and in 2022 was re-elected to his eighth, six-year term.

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It was 10 years ago when the husband of Gods Storehouse Executive Director Karen Harris spotted a front-page story in a Southport, North Carolina, newspaper for an offbeat way of raising money.

At the time, the Danville-based food pantry didnt have a signature fundraising event.

He showed it to me, and it was Empty Bowls, Harris said last week at an interview at the Memorial Drive center. I was like, oh man that looks really cool, and that really fits.

After a few calls and board approval, it was born.

Now marking a decade, Gods Storehouses largest fundraiser is planned from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Feb. 23. Tickets are available.

The idea is that you come out and pick up a hand-crafted bowl, and this is what you take home to be reminded of all of the empty bowls that are in our community, Harris explained.

In addition to the bowl, a meal of soup is served in a community break-bread atmosphere.

Empty Bowls is a nationwide event started by a nonprofit. The group allows others to use the name for local projects.

Oh gosh yes, Harris said when asked if its grown over the years.

Of course things were different in the COVID-19 era, but they still had the event spread over a two-day period with varying time slots allowing for a smaller and socially distanced crowd.

Last year they made more than $12,000.

Why theres a need

Any bit of help is especially critical for Gods Storehouse in the current food climate. Demand is up and donations are down.

Harris said they handed out more than 2 million pounds of food last year serving an average of 169 families on distribution days.

Representing a 33% increase in people seeking help, nearly 30,000 boxes of food was given out last year.

They also are getting far fewer donations, according to Shelly Ashworth, development director for Gods Storehouse.

Weve got the increase in people were seeing and customers were serving, and were putting out 33% more and getting 10-15% less, she said, also explaining that with recent business  especially restaurant  closings, more families are feeling pinched.

Harris said shes heard other food pantries experiencing the same fate, especially with the high price of foods currently.

For the fundraiser, up to 15 local restaurants donate roughly 400 gallons of soup.

When the event begins, people  with tickets in hand  will come to Gods Storehouses Memorial Drive center.

First theyll get to select a bowl to take home (the meal wont be served in these specially crafted containers.)

There also will be a silent auction with a wide variety of items up for bids.

After browsing there, Then theyll sit down and get waited on, Harris explained.

Pepsi donates water and the paper products are courtesy of Diamond Paper, so theres very little cost to stage the fundraiser for the nonprofit.

Its just a great kind of community event, Harris said. Sometimes groups will come in together.

Its also a time when friends who have been apart for a year come together for a reunion of sorts.

We did add a bake sale for this year, Ashworth said. That will be lots of donated baked goods.

Volunteers will head to their personal kitchens to come up with the items and Gods Storehouse is reaching out to local bakeries also for donations.

In addition to items available by the slice, whole cakes and pies will be for sale for patrons to take home.

When the meal is over, the bowl goes home and for some people becomes a favorite for such things as morning cereal, Harris said.

Artist

, owner of Awards and Trophy Shop, is the primary crafter of the bowls.

He was the one I reached out to when I first started to do this, Karris explained.

He gave an enthusiastic all-in response.Scollo, who is making 150 bowls this year, has taught pottery classes for 25 years at the Danville Museum of Find Arts and History and has also instructed at Averett University.

I was inspired by other potters who donate their time and skills to make bowls for Empty Bowls fundraisers a success across the country, he told the Register & Bee when asked what sparked his interest in helping.

He also has about five students crafting bowls.

Art students at George Washington and Galileo Magnet high schools also pitch in.

And usually the students have the most colorful bowls, Harris said, going through a box of pottery and pointing out the creations by the students.

New this year is Chatham Hall.

Last semester we fired up the kilns again at Chatham Hall, Elsabe Dixon, an art teacher at the all-girls school, told the Register & Bee via email.

This month, Chatham Hall has a ceramic class working to create the bowls for the yearly fundraiser.

We will be opening the bowl project to the entire school community in early February when we will be creating specific designs that speaks of our community traditions, Dixon explained.

Dixon received ceramic training in South Africa where there are an abundance of great clay regions rich in iron, and many strong international ceramic schools and studios.

Since Artist Georgia OKeeffe when to Chatham Hall, students will be making bowls with irises and oak leaves to remember her.

Of course, theyll also have bowls with turtles, the school mascot, Dixon said.

We might be getting a slow start to joining this wonderful fundraiser but we are happy to be a part of it, she said, adding that students focus on community outreach throughout the year.

About four years ago, Harris also got in the act of making bowls by taking classes from Scollo.

I figured if I was going to keep with this fundraiser I better learn how to make some bowls, she said with a laugh.

Now she loves it.

Ive always like to do stuff with my hands, she said, showing some of her own works.

Karen works very hard on creating bowls for this, Ashworth said of Harris. She dedicates lot of time and effort to make bowls for this event.

Tickets are on sale for $20, but will go to $25 the week of the event and at the door. In addition to

, tickets are available at Gods Storehouse, Karens Hallmark, Foxglove, Commonwealth Home Health, Awards and Trophy Shop and from board members. More ticket locations and details will be posted on Gods Storehouses

and at

.

Items are still being accepted for the silent auction. To donate, contact Ashworth at shelly@godsstorehouse.org or 434-793-3663, extension 315.
McALLEN, Texas (AP)  How far can a state go to keep migrants out of the U.S.?

The answer may soon come out of Texas, where a new law signed by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott this week will allow police to arrest migrants who cross the U.S.-Mexico border illegally and give local judges the authority to order them to leave the country.

Acting quickly, civil rights groups and a Texas border county filed a lawsuit Tuesday that seeks to stop the measure from taking effect in March, calling it unconstitutional. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre also blasted the Texas law but wouldn't say whether the Justice Department would challenge it.

Here are some things to know:

WHO CAN BE ARRESTED?

The measure allows any Texas law enforcement officer to arrest people who are suspected of entering the country illegally. Once in custody, migrants could either agree to a Texas judge's order to leave the U.S. or be prosecuted on misdemeanor charges of illegal entry. Migrants who don't leave could face arrest again under more serious felony charges.

Arresting officers must have probable cause, which could include witnessing the illegal entry themselves or seeing it on video.

The law cannot be enforced against people lawfully present in the U.S., including those who were granted asylum or who are enrolled in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.

"The goal of these laws is to make sure that when they see somebody crossing over the border, as the National Guard see, as the Texas Department of Public Safety see, they know they're not profiling. They are seeing with their own eyes people who are violating the law," Abbott said Monday.

However, critics, including Mexico President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, worry the law could lead to racial profiling and family separation. American Civil Liberties Union affiliates in Texas and some neighboring states issued a travel advisory this week warning people of a possible threat their civil and constitutional rights violations when passing through Texas.

During a news briefing Tuesday, Lopez Obrador said Abbott was looking to score political points with people's lives.

"The Texas governor acts that way because he wants to be the Republican vice-presidential candidate and wants to win popularity with these measures," Lopez Obrador said. "He's not going to win anything. On the contrary, he is going to lose support because there are a lot of Mexicans in Texas, a lot of migrants."

WHERE WILL THE LAW BE ENFORCED?

It can be enforced anywhere in Texas.

Republican state Rep. David Spiller, who carried the bill in the Texas House, says he expects the vast majority of arrests will occur within 50 miles (80 kilometers) of the U.S.-Mexico border.

Some places are off-limits. Arrests can't be made in public and private schools; churches, synagogues or other established places of worship; hospitals and other health care facilities, including those where sexual assault forensic examinations are conducted.

Under the Texas law, migrants ordered to leave would be sent to ports of entry along the border with Mexico, even if they are not Mexican citizens.

IS THE LAW CONSTITUTIONAL?

Legal experts and immigrant rights group have said the measure is a clear conflict with the U.S. government's authority to regulate immigration.

A key claim in Tuesday's lawsuit filed by the ACLU and other groups is that it violates the U.S. Constitution's supremacy clause. The suit accuses Texas of trying "to create a new state system to regulate immigration that completely bypasses and conflicts with the federal system."

Opponents have called the measure the most dramatic attempt by a state to police immigration since a 2010 Arizona law  denounced by critics as the "Show Me Your Papers" bill  that was largely struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court. The court's 2012 decision on the Arizona law stated the federal government has exclusive power over immigration.

Abbott and other Republicans have said President Joe Biden is not doing enough to control the 1,950-mile (3,149-kilometer) southern border.

"In his absence, Texas has the constitutional authority to secure our border through historic laws like SB 4," Abbott said in a statement.

The U.S. government has not said whether it will challenge the Texas law, as it did with Arizona's measure.

Mexico's president has indicated his country will intervene.

WHAT IS HAPPENING ON THE BORDER?

Abbott signed the law Monday amid an increase in border crossings that has stretched U.S. Customs and Border Protection resources. Troy Miller, the agency's acting commissioner, has called the number of daily arrivals "unprecedented," with illegal crossings topping 10,000 some days across the border in December.

Thousands of asylum-seekers who have crossed are sleeping outside along the border overnight as they wait for federal agents to process them. Most are released with notices to appear in immigration courts, which are backlogged with more than 3 million cases.

Many are crossing at the Texas cities of Eagle Pass and El Paso, where federal officials suspended cross-border rail traffic in response to migrants riding freight trains through Mexico, hopping off just before entering the U.S.

The U.S. government also recently shut down the nearby international crossing between Lukeville, Arizona, and Sonoyta, Mexico, to free Customs and Border Protection officers assigned to the port of entry to help with transportation and other support. The agency also has partially closed a few other border ports of entry in recent months, including a pedestrian crossing in San Diego.

___

Associated Press writers Acacia Coronado and Paul Weber in Austin, Texas; Christopher Sherman in Mexico City; and Zeke Miller in Washington, D.C., contributed to this report.

___

Cities with the largest immigrant populations Cities With the Largest Immigrant Populations The US foreign born population share was at a near historic high before the pandemic Mexican immigrants account for nearly 25 percent of the foreign born population More than a quarter of the California population is foreign born Small and midsize metros with the most immigrants 15. Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA 14. Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX 13. Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL 12. Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH 11. Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA 10. Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA 9. Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, NV 8. Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV 7. San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA 6. Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX 5. New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA 4. San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley, CA 3. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA 2. San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA 1. Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, FL
Activities

Advancing a mandated Assault on Illiteracy, 20 members of Greensboros Tau Omega Chapter of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity recently read to students at five Guilford County elementary schools. At Wiley Elementary, Tau Omega men, Terrence Howley and Dr. Alvin Powell, met with Principal LaToy Kennedy to select books.

Each Tau Omega man read to a class of first grade students. Powell chose Homecoming, about the festive annual celebration at N.C. A&T by Greensboro author and A&T Alumna La-Donia Alford-Jefferies; and Howley, read I Am Every Good Thing, a spirited aspirational journey of a young man proud of his achievements by author Derrick Barnes.

Within the Tau Omega Chapter, the Assault on Illiteracy Committee focuses on making efforts to ensure that K-12 scholars of color acquire the tools needed to achieve at their greatest potential, said Therman Flowers, committee chairman and one of four Guilford County Schools principals and an assistant principal who read. As literacy can be defined as reading writing, speaking and listening, the committee is working expeditiously to give scholars of color opportunities to become their best selves in these area and thereby close achievement gaps that exist between students of color and white students.

Among the Tau Omega educators, Flowers, principal of Union Hill Elementary, joined Patrick Battle, Swann Middle; Jonathan Brooks, Bessemer Elementary; Frederick Sellers, Jackson Middle; and Tyron McMillon, assistant principal, Northern Elementary.

Announcements

The Triad Chapter of the North Carolina Native Plant Society will hold a meeting at 6:30 p.m. Feb. 7 at the Kathleen Clay Edwards Library Meeting Room, 1420 Price Park Drive in Greensboro.

Rebecca Craps, extension agent, environment and natural resources at the Forsyth County Center, will present Rooting Out Invasives: Effective Plant Removal Strategies. She will discuss invasive plants in North Carolina, the impact on the local ecosystems and effective strategies for their removal.
GREENSBORO  Thirty-four buildings at N.C. A&T lost heat this week because of damage to a boiler caused by freezing temperatures, displacing almost 1,800 students.

Classes were suspended Wednesday and Thursday and will be virtual on Friday.

In an email to students sent just before 7 p.m., Chancellor Harold Martin announced that heating was being restored to all affected buildings and that they would be ready for use by 8 a.m. Friday.

Plans for virtual instruction on Friday will stay in place, he added, to provide an additional day for residence hall students to transition back to campus, including those who have traveled home or who are staying elsewhere. He said students housed in hotels should plan to check out no later than 6 p.m. Friday.

I want to thank you all for your cooperation as the university dealt with a complex set of weather and mechanical issues this week, he said in the message.

In interviews with the News & Record, a handful of A&T freshmen described a chaotic night Wednesday evening, waiting in the cold to figure out where they would sleep before ultimately securing university-provided hotel rooms off campus. They were frustrated both with the facility problem and how the university had communicated about relocation.

Freshman Aniyah Mathews said she is considering transferring.

Im disappointed, Mathews said. And Im just shocked right now because as a freshman, I dont feel like I should be going though these things. I came here to get my education.

Eight residence halls were affected, including Barbee, Cooper, Curtis, Haley, Holland, Morrow, Speight and Vanstory, according to a statement released by the school.

An A&T spokesperson said that 1,788 students were displaced. Students were asked to go home, if possible.

A&T secured seven area hotels to house more than 500 students who were not able to return home or stay with friends in local apartments or residence halls that were unaffected, according to the university.

Among those who stayed at the DoubleTree hotel Wednesday night were freshmen Aniyah Mathews, Chrystal Hodges, Dacia Smith, Nava Campbell and Alayna Jackson. The five, not all of whom knew each other prior to Wednesday, decided to take a shuttle bus to campus on Thursday to get food at the student center, which was still in operation, and grab some items from their dorms.

One of the students said there hasnt been heat in Morrow Hall, where she lives, since she arrived for the start of the semester on Monday.

For others, their problems began on Wednesday once the university discovered the boiler problem after 1 a.m. that morning.

The affected buildings continued to become colder as the day wore on. Students said they coped by staying under blankets.

Hot water was also affected by the problem as Mathews discovered when she tried to take a shower that afternoon.

Hodges said she and her roommate, Campbell, were out of the dorm in the early evening and werent able to make it to a floor meeting held there. She said around 7 p.m. friends who had attended the meeting started texting to let them know that they wouldnt be able to stay the night and had to be out of the dorm by 9 p.m.

Hodges said she was surprised at having never received an email from the university confirming that information and sharing details about hotel opportunities.

After that, Hodges said, they returned to their dorm in order to sign up for a hotel room. They stood in line  the dorm by that time a freezing space  for at least two hours. For some reason, the fire alarm went off in the middle of the process, further adding to the chaos. Hodges said by the time they made it to the front of the line to get their names on the list, it was already 9 p.m.

Later, when they arrived at the hotel, she said staff seemed to have no idea that a big group of A&T students was arriving and had to figure out their accommodations.
A Hickory business owner pleaded guilty to tax and credit card fraud charges. The man stole more than $1 million from his customers, according to U.S. Attorney Dena King.

James Christopher Robinson, 51, of Granite Falls, pleaded guilty to access device fraud and failure to truthfully account for and pay over trust fund taxes, King said in a news release.

Robinson was released on bond following the hearing on Wednesday. A sentencing date has not been set. The charges carry a combined maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, King said.

According to court documents, Robinson was the owner of multiple cabinet manufacturing and retail businesses in the Hickory area, including Cabinet Solutions USA Inc., Best Cabinet Doors LLC, Cabinet Doors Fast LLC and Cox Manufacturing LLC, King said.

Between March 2020 and April 2023, Robinson accessed the credit cards of his companies customers. Without authorization, Robinson made 294 fraudulent credit card charges totaling approximately $1 million. Robinson used information from customer checks to create at least four counterfeit checks totaling more than $93,000, King said.

From 2017 to 2022, Robinson caused two of his companies to fail to account for and pay more than $3.1 million in employment taxes. Robinson used the stolen funds to make large cash withdrawals from his business accounts and make hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash deposits at casinos, King said.
A person being pursued by authorities died and a Broadwater County sheriffs deputy suffered minor injuries Thursday when the suspects vehicle collided head-on with the deputys patrol car, the sheriff said.

The Montana Highway Patrol began a pursuit with the suspect's vehicle about 3:15 p.m. and the suspect fled south on U.S. Highway 287. A Broadwater County sheriffs deputy was responding to assist, Sheriff Nick Rauser said in a Facebook post.

When the Deputy saw the suspect coming his way he activated his emergency lights. The suspect swerved towards the Deputy, Rauser wrote. The Deputy tried to avoid the collision, but unfortunately he was struck head on.

The suspect was traveling fast. The deputy was able to exit his vehicle on his own accord, was transported to the hospital and thankfully he (was) later released with minor injuries.

The suspect was killed on impact, Rauser said.

He said it is an active investigation and names will not be released at this time. It was not immediately clear what sparked the pursuit.

Rauser said Broadwater County was working with the MHP, Montana Division of Criminal Investigation and the Lewis and Clark County Sheriff's Office.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to our Deputy and their family during this time, and everyone else that was impacted by this tragic event, he wrote.

Rauser thanked various agencies for their assistance.

A Broadwater County pursuit nearly seven years ago turned deadly for a law enforcement officer.

In May 2017, Broadwater County Deputy Mason Moore died in the line of duty when he was shot and killed while pursuing Marshall Barrus and his father, Lloyd, on U.S. 287. Marshall Barrus died later in a shootout with law enforcement and Lloyd Barrus is now serving life without parole in prison.
The U.S. Air Force is holding two town hall meetings in central Montana on Jan. 24 and Jan. 25 at 6:30 p.m. each night to provide the public with information on the Sentinel program.

The Air Force is modernizing the existing Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile systems with the new Sentinel program. This will include modernization of launch facilities, control centers and other ground infrastructure across the 13,800-square-mile missile complex of Malmstrom Air Force Base.

During these meetings, the Air Force will provide an overview of the Sentinel Program and its projected impact on the local area, then offer a 30-minute question-and-answer session to answer questions from the public.

The Jan. 24 town hall meeting is at the Fergus County Fairgrounds in Lewistown, 1000 US-191, and Jan. 25 at Great Falls High School auditorium in Great Falls, 1900 2nd Ave S.

For more information, contact the Malmstrom Public Affairs Office at 406-731-4050 or email 341mwpa@us.af.mil.
Helena City Commissioners expressed interest in putting a new public safety mill levy and bond on the June ballot and seeking the largest ask of the options presented during Wednesday's administrative meeting.

"I'm whole heartedly supportive of moving forward with a levy and a bond," Commissioner Emily Dean, mayor pro tempore for the meeting, said. "I think I'm in favor of tier three (the largest of three potential mill levies as proposed by city staff during the meeting) for both the police department and the fire department."

Helena Finance Director Sheila Danielson laid out the three mill levy options for each department during staff's presentation.

For Helena Fire Department, tier one would result in the hire of three firefighters, tier two would result in nine new firefighters, and tier three would fund about 15 new firefighters.

For Helena Police Department, tier one would provide enough funding to hire three call-takers, or patrol officers; tier two would result in three call-takers, two detectives specifically to work internet crimes against children and violence against children cases, which Police Chief Brett Petty said are on the rise, and one community resource officer; and tier three would see the hire of three call-takers, three detectives responsible for the same cases in addition to "general" casework, two community resource officers and one nonsworn civilian crash investigator.

To fund both departments at tier three, the city would need to levy 31.66 mills for a total of about $3.12 million, which pencils out to about $170.95 more a year on the tax bill of a $400,000 home and $256.42 for a $600,000 home.

Additionally, Helena Fire Department is in need of existing facility upgrades and a third station to better serve north Helena the commission is considering funding through a municipal bond, the annual debt service of which is paid with further mills levied for the duration of the debt.

An estimated $2.3 million renovation of Station 2 if bonded would necessitate the city to levy another 1.88 mills to cover the about $185,000 yearly repayment.

A third station and new training facility, both called for in the fire department's recently updated master plan, would require a $7 million bond with an annual debt service of more than a half million dollars, necessitating the levy of 5.65 additional mills.

The public safety mill levy would likely be phased, scaling up the mills to the maximum approved by voters over time as hires are needed due to future growth.

The department heads were again on hand to present their respective cases for the additional revenue.

Petty said the number of sex-related crimes committed within the department's jurisdiction has increased roughly 78% over the past 10 years. A graph presented to commissioners showed about 175 sex crimes were committed in the city of Helena in 2022.

HPD's Criminal Investigation Division now staffs three detectives responsible for cases related to violence against women, financial crimes and general crimes and one sergeant, who ideally would oversee the detectives' casework, but is actively working internet crimes against children cases, the volume of which requires a full-time equivalent the department does not have.

Petty said his seven detectives, including three funded with external revenue-like grants and state dollars who work with the Montana Analysis and Technical Information Center, Lewis and Clark County Attorney's Office and Missouri River Drug Task Force, worked a total of 555 cases that generated 883 written reports in 2023.

For perspective, he said Great Falls Police Department's 15 detectives worked 373 cases.

Helena Fire Department Chief Jon Campbell said wants to avoid a situation in which the department's overtime budget balloons due to a lack of available personnel per shift.

"We need the resiliency in our staffing in order to absorb sick leave, parental leave, injuries, work comp issues," Campbell said, adding that without the resiliency currently "it puts us in an overtime condition regularly."

Campbell also said the increases in staffing beginning with the department's tier two proposal for nine new firefighters would require a renovation of Station 2 just to house them.

June 4 would be the earliest ballot onto which the city could feasibly squeeze a proposed mill levy and bond.

Commissioners Dean, Sean Logan and Melinda Reed offered support for a June ballot appearance for any proposed levy or bond.

Clerk of the Commission Dannai Clayborn said Lewis and Clark County Elections Division has requested any resolution of intent to put a mill levy to a vote be finalized prior to February to afford county staff time to create the June ballot measure.

City staff also recommended a resolution be approved by Aug. 12 for a mill levy to be included on the Nov. 5 ballot to provide time for a public education campaign.

First, the commission will need to determine what level ask they want to present to voters, how best to present that to voters and the timing.

City Manager Tim Burton said the item will return to next administrative meeting agenda.

"I think you need a little time to digest what you've heard today, talk to people, ask us questions," Burton said. "But if there is a consensus that the commission wants to proceed in June, then meet the deadlines."

Dean said she believes residents will understand the importance of the situation.

"We are in a position where we have not made much headway on a number of items in terms of staffing and infrastructure in more than 20 years, and I think if we don't do this now, I don't think it'll happen for another five to 10 years," Dean said. "And we're putting the public at risk when we don't address these very basic public service issues in a timely manner."
A Helena teen was named the Distinguished Young Woman of Montana on Jan. 6 and awarded $2,900 in scholarships during a statewide program for high school girls at Carroll College.

Lyla Ackerman, a senior at Helena High School, was one of five senior girls in Montana who competed for the award and to represent the state.

Participants are evaluated in scholastics, an interview, talent, fitness and self-expression, program officials said.

"I truly could not have done it without the support of my family, my teachers, and my friends," Ackerman said in a news release. "They have taught me that no matter the outcome, they will always be there for me, and for that I am grateful beyond words."

She will go to Mobile, Alabama, on June 27-29 with 49 other state winners of the award to participate for the title of Distinguished Young Woman of America for 2024.

The ceremony offers more cash scholarships.

During 2024, Ackerman will represent Montana during public events and serve as a model for young people by spreading the outreach message, "be your best self."

The outreach program is designed to build self-esteem in young people through its five principles, be healthy, be involved, be studious, be ambitious and be responsible.

The free program, which started in 1958, announced the addition of Allison Murray, the state chair of the organization.

Murray said she believes the mission of the organization is more important now than ever.

"I consider it an honor and a privilege to volunteer for this organization as I get to know and support our Montana participants and volunteers," Murray said in a news release.
A group of legislators on Thursday again made an informal objection to a package of rules meant to streamline and ease regulations around child care because the state health department has also included religious exemptions from vaccinations that lawmakers had previously rejected.

The massive package of administrative rules has been pending since the committees first objection in November. The renewed objection on a unanimous vote will further delay the rules implementation. The interim Children, Families, Health and Human Services Committee also indicated it would consider a formal objection and communicate with the state health department about its concerns.

In November, legislators heard testimony from child care providers and health care professionals about the risks posed to young children if the department were to create a religious vaccination exemption. Legislators also said they had concerns with the department trying to implement such an exemption when it had been rejected during the last interim and in the 2023 legislative session. Formal objections are rare, a staffer told legislators Thursday, saying there were only two examples she could find of previous formal objections to administrative rules.

But the state Department of Public Health and Human Services included the exemption in administrative rules, saying it aligned with the Montana Religious Freedom Restoration Act passed in 2021 and gave families a choice in where to take their children for care.

Caught in the middle of the delay are after-school care programs. Through the rules process, the department proposed creating a new type of license for those programs that makes getting licensed and providing care easier. The rules noted the change will support the Montana workforce and business community by ensuring that employees have the child care they need for their school-age children to receive care during working hours.

Rachel Wanderscheid, the director of the Montana Afterschool Alliance that represents programs like Boys and Girls Clubs, summer camps and more, asked legislators to lift their objection Thursday and work with the state health department to find a solution for the dispute over vaccination exemptions.

These programs fill the gaps for our families and especially for those that are working parents, Wanderscheid said. Our programs need an age-appropriate licensing option.

Rep. SJ Howell, a Missoula Democrat, supported continuing the objection.

It's really quite frustrating to see some necessary rule changes that providers in our communities are really asking for along with other rule changes that are both burdensome and unnecessary and, importantly, I feel out of step with with legislative intent, Howell said. I do hope we can find a path forward and I am eager to work with whoever wants to work with us.
BLOOMINGTON  After parts of Central Illinois received a light dusting of snow early Thursday morning, forecasters are keeping an eye on bitter cold temperatures and more snow showers to come.

The National Weather Service issued a weather advisory indicating widespread snow was projected to arrive Thursday night in the Central Illinois region, bringing with 1-3 inches of accumulation and northwest winds breezing between 25-35 mph in the following morning.

Lee Enterprises Chief Meteorologist Matt Holiner said the snow was expected to begin pushing into the area around 6 p.m. Thursday, but activity will peak an hour before midnight.

Holiner said light to moderate snowfall will be widespread, with pockets of heavy snow. That will tally out to around 2 inches for Bloomington-Normal, around 1 inch in Decatur and about a half-inch for the Charleston-Mattoon area.

The snow will wind its way down and out of the area by 5 a.m. Friday, Holiner said.

And with the snow also comes the cold. Matt Barnes, a meteorologist at the NWS office in Lincoln, said another artic cold front is moving into the region, with a large area of snow showers trailing behind it.

The cold is going to be everywhere, he said, noting a prolonged period of subzero wind chills will extend into Sunday morning. Barnes said the worst will be felt on Friday night and Saturday night.

On Friday morning, the wind chill will dip down to minus 12 in Bloomington-Normal, minus 11 in Decatur and 10 below zero in Mattoon, according to NWS. The wind chill factor will warm by about two degrees in the noon hour before continuing a downward spiral from the morning through Friday afternoon and evening in Bloomington.

McLean Countys Twin Cities are likely to see some of the harshest wind chills this weekend in Central Illinois at minus 18 by 3 a.m. Saturday, only to be outdone by a forecast wind chill 6 degrees colder in Galesburg. Decatur is expected to see a wind chill factor of minus 16 around the same time Saturday morning, with Mattoon following closely at 15 below zero.

This frosty blast of colder air wont be quite as cold as seen last week, Barnes said, but its still going to be bitter and a cause for concern. He said people should definitely limit time outside.

Barnes said this week's snow will be drier and fluffier than recent accumulations.

The snow weight matters because it can lead to icy powder drifting and blowing onto roads, the meteorologist said. While the amount of snow expected is not huge, Barnes said it will be blown around as the winds kick up.

Holiner said Friday morning commuters will experience reduced visibility in spots, and they should allow for extra time for traveling as roads may become covered in snow in some locations.

He also said warmer temperatures will start to return on Sunday. NWS data shows the region's wind chill temperatures will get back above zero that afternoon.

By Wednesday, Holiner said high temperatures will climb up to the low 40s.
TINLEY PARK  More than 100 animals were transported from the south suburban animal shelter Peoples Animal Welfare Society of Tinley Park after a fire broke out at about 6:30 p.m. Wednesday in the laundry room, according to a statement from the shelter.

Volunteers were in the shelter when they started smelling smoke, which led them to a small fire coming from the dryer, PAWS President Terri Buckley said Thursday. The fire was confined to the laundry room and was swiftly extinguished by first responders, but smoke overtook the building, forcing officials to take animals to Midwest Animal Hospital in Orland Park to be monitored for smoke inhalation.

The most damage done is smoke damage, Buckley said, explaining the integral process Midwest Animal Hospital veterinarians played in ensuring the animals were safe. We did have about 12 or so cats that needed to be put on oxygen and couple of dogs that were having a few issues from the smoke, but most of them right now are doing very well.

Buckley said she is not sure when the building will be reopened to the public. The fire caused significant smoke damage and destroyed the recently purchased $10,000 dryer. Buckley also expects to see a large medical bill for all of the animals taken in by Midwest Animal Hospital.

I would like to sincerely thank the many volunteers who worked in cooperation with our firefighters to successfully rescue and transport every animal in the building to safety, Tinley Park fire Chief Steve Klotz in a statement.

While Buckley said she hopes people will continue to donate financially to the shelter, she said they dont need anymore blankets or towels for the pets because so many good Samaritans met that need.

We have our insurance adjuster coming out. We have a company coming in to clean the building so it will be safe for the volunteers and the animals to be brought back, Buckley said.

Photos: A sampling of food available at the 2022 Illinois State Fair
Good intentions mean little without follow-through. And 20 years is far too long to wait for that follow-through.

Lee Enterprises reporting found that an arsonist registry OK'd by state legislators in 2004 was empty in 2024.

That's not because the state has no arsonists. The Arsonist Registration Act was signed into law by then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich in 2004, long before the former governor's prison time.

The Office of the State Fire Marshal's website has a landing page titled "Arsonist Information" with a "database" tab. But click on it and all you will find is a blank space with no names.

In the United States, more than 700 lives are lost each year in arson-related fires. Some fire officials estimate that as many as 50% of all fires may be intentionally set.

So creation of an arsonist registry akin to the long-established database of sex offenders was an easy decision.

But the law needed and continues to need funding. In addition, assuming responsibility for its implementation -- the basics of executing a law -- has resulted in two decades of circular finger-pointing and an empty database.

The Illinois Auditor General's Office, which examines the use of public funds and performs audits of state agencies, has repeatedly and as recently as December 2023 cited both the Office of the State Fire Marshal and the Illinois State Police for failing to set up and maintain the database.

The state fire marshal's office blames state police, who have not turned over the relevant arsonist information needed for the registry. State police blame lawmakers, saying they have not appropriated money the agency needs to build out a new registry.

Unquestionably, creating and maintaining a database is an investment of time and money. Should it really take 20 years for some person or entity to take on the responsibility of finding a solution?

The cost to build the sex offender registry is estimated at $5 million. With the number of convicted arsonists (believed to be in the hundreds) much less than the number of convicted sex offenders (more than 33,000), building out the arsonist registry would likely cost less.

State police call it an unfunded mandate. The fire marshal's office says it is ready to go whenever ISP provides the data.

An amendment attached to the final version of the bill in the Senate made the requirements for the state police "subject to appropriation" and said they would not start until the Illinois Citizens and Law Enforcement Analysis and Reporting System (I-CLEAR) is implemented statewide.

The state police say that hasn't happened yet. But a 2022 compliance audit of the state police said it happened in 2004.

This is a textbook illustration of the concept of government red tape, and a classic example of multiple individuals and organizations failing to act on and for the public good. Certainly at points over the last two decades, frustrated individuals have brought the problem up the ladder for attention. But the result has been ineffective do-nothingness.

Action on the law has been so dormant that not only has the governor who signed it left politics, but the individual who started the ball rolling -- former state Rep. Michael McAuliffe, R-Chicago -- has been out of politics for five years.

Most don't even know the state is supposed to have an arson registry on the books  even state Rep. Mike Kelly, D-Chicago, who's been a firefighter for more than 20 years.

The state's fiscal picture has improved dramatically in recent years, but the registry is just one of many initiatives in need of financial support. Whether it takes taxpayers, politicians, bureaucrats or journalists to bring the matter to the fore, an arson registry has been a good idea for 20 years. Let's finish this off now.
Catawba County United Way began collecting supplies on Tuesday for families affected by the tornado-inducing Jan. 9 storms that rolled across Catawba County.

By Thursday morning, more than 100 items had been delivered.

Weve had a tremendous reaction from the community, as we were hoping, United Way Community Impact Director John Bailey said, adding that he was expecting more items to arrive.

Bailey said the United Way is working with the Blue Ridge Piedmont Chapter of the American Red Cross to ensure the items make their way to about 13 households.

The impact of the storms was felt particularly hard in the Fox Hollow mobile home park just outside Claremont. A tornado with wind speeds approaching 110 mph tore through the park. The tornado claimed the life of 39-year-old Dustin Weaver and sent four others to the hospital with injuries.

The United Way is collecting a very specific list of items: paper products such as paper towels and toilet paper, personal care and hygiene products, cleaning supplies and trash bags.

The organization will be accepting these donations through the end of the month at their office at 2760 Tate Blvd. The United Way is open Monday through Thursday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Anyone wishing to drop off items outside of those hours can call the organization at 828-327-6851.

For donations of food, Bailey recommends Eastern Catawba Cooperative Christian Ministry, the Newton-based nonprofit which serves as a general food pantry for the county.

Eastern Catawba is also having a coat drive throughout the month.

Anyone can come in (and) purchase the coats or they can receive vouchers to get coats, Eastern Catawba Executive Director Kristal Manning said. We will give clothing/coat vouchers to shop in the store for any of the storm victims if they are in need of those items.

The ministry is at 245 E. N St. For more information, call 828-465-1702.
A Lenoir man will be in prison for up to nine years after admitting his habitual felon status in Catawba County Superior Court on Wednesday.

Johnny Oscar Hawkins Jr., 44, of Lenoir, will serve a prison sentence of six to nine years after pleading guilty to three counts of obtaining property by false pretense and admission of habitual felon status, according to a press release from District Attorney Scott Reillys office.

Judge Daniel A. Kuehnert handed down the sentence.

Hawkins prison sentence length was enhanced because of prior felony convictions in Caldwell County for felony breaking/entering (September 2011), felony possession of stolen goods (February 2009) and obtaining property by false pretense (March 2003), the release said.

Retail theft is a real problem across North Carolina, and its effects can be felt by customers and communities as a whole, District Attorney Scott Reilly said via the release.

This sentence of up to nine years underscores our commitment to taking retail theft seriously. Hopefully, this sentence will serve as a strong deterrent, sending a clear message that such criminal behavior will not be tolerated, and we will continue working to protect our local businesses and residents from the impact of retail theft.
Two former Forsyth County detention officers, a former food-service employee and a jail inmate have been charged with providing contraband and stealing the identities of 18 inmates, Sheriff Bobby Kimbrough Jr. said Wednesday.

We owe an apology to them because their identities were compromised in a major way, Kimbrough said during a press conference at the Forsyth County Jail. We will deal with that.

The arrests came after a four-month investigation in which the State Bureau of Investigation assisted the sheriffs office, Kimbrough said.

Kimbrough provided few details about the arrests, saying it would compromise the ongoing investigation. He said there will likely be more arrests.

We felt it was time to arrest the people involved and share that with the public, he said. We want to maintain the transparency 0and the integrity that we have built.

Some of the contraband was illegal drugs, Kimbrough said.

Kimbrough told the Journal last week that Robert Granato, who is charged with murder in the high-profile 2019 shooting of Winston-Salem barber Julius Sampson, had survived an overdose in the jail. Kimbrough said it wasnt likely that incident is part of this investigation.

All of the jail staffers charged have been fired, officials said.

Those charged are:

*Alfred Alonzo Scott Jr., a detention officer, is charged with three counts of conspiracy, one count of trafficking in stolen identities, providing a phone or an electronic device to an inmate, and accessing a government computer to defraud, Kimbrough said.

Scott, 28, had worked 2 years as a detention officer, Kimbrough said.

*Laura Jean Davis, a detention officer, is charged with one count of felony conspiracy, three counts of providing a phone or an electronic device to an inmate, and one count of trafficking in stolen identities, Kimbrough said.

Davis, 43, had worked as a detention officer for 16 months, the sheriffs office said.

Scott and Davis were being held Wednesday in the jail with Scotts bond set at $35,000, and Davis bond set at $30,000, the sheriffs office said.

*Donetta Denise Jones, an Aramark employee, is charged with three counts of felony conspiracy, one court of trafficking in stolen identities and providing contraband to an inmate, Kimbrough said.

Jones was being held Wednesday in the jail with her bond set at $30,000, the sheriffs office said.

Jones no longer works for Aramark, said Heather Dotchel, an Aramark spokeswoman.

*Christopher Neal McCray, the inmate, is charged with four counts of possession of a phone or electronic device by an inmate and three counts of felony conspiracy, Kimbrough said.

McCray, 39, is being held in the jail on drug offenses and a weapons charge with his bond set at $800,000, the sheriffs office said.

The foursome is scheduled to appear Thursday in Forsyth District Court.

When you have to arrest your own, thats a bad day, Kimbrough said. Its a bad day when your own violate the publics trust and the integrity of the people bestowed upon you.

Wednesday also was a good day because we removed them from among us, Kimbrough said. Its a good day because they didnt deserve to be here.

Its very frustrating, Kimbrough said of the arrests. Its hurting to see that you walk and talk with these people, and they know that they are betraying your trust.

In the recent years, other jail staffers have faced criminal charges.

*Carmen Nicole Tillman, 43, of Salisbury was charged in June 2022 with providing contraband to an inmate, according to an arrest warrant. Tillman, a detention officer at that time, was fired, the sheriffs office said.

She was convicted in August 2023 and given a suspended prison sentence and put on probation, according to a state correction record.

*Detention Officer Daniel Damian McPherson of Mocksville was fired in December 2021 after he was charged with misdemeanor assault on a female in Davie County.

The outcome of the charge against McPherson wasnt immediate available Wednesday.

*Paris Monique Crowell was fired as a detention officer in January 2021 after she was charged with felony possession of a controlled substances, misdemeanor child abuse and other offenses, the sheriffs office said.

The status of Crowells case wasnt available Wednesday.

*In May 2021, Mikaela Rishae Marsh, a detention officer, was charged with five felony counts of providing contraband to an inmate, the sheriffs office said. Marsh resigned from her job.

The status of Marshs case wasnt available Wednesday.

*In July 2020, five detention officers and a nurse were each charged with involuntary manslaughter in the death of inmate John Elliott Neville in December 2019.

Neville, 56, of Greensboro died at Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center on Dec. 4, 2019, after he was placed in a hogtie position by detention officers. Nevilles death led to weeks of protest.

In May 2022, a Forsyth County grand jury declined to indict the detention officers.

A $3 million lawsuit settlement was reached with Nevilles family.

In September 2023, the Forsyth County District Attorneys Office dismissed the involuntary manslaughter charge against the nurse.
A Greensboro man has been arrested and charged with the rape of an 88-year-old woman at an assisted living center on Monday, according to the Greensboro Police Department.

Edward John McLaughlin, 58, was also charged with breaking and entering the center, Harmony at Greensboro, at 3420 Whitehurst Road.

According to a statement from the facility, the suspect removed a first-floor exterior window, but did not break it.

Police say that staff at the center reported that a nude male was seen taking a shower with a female resident. Other staff were alerted and witnessed the man leave the facility.

Officers responded at 9:40 a.m. to Harmony at Greensboro.

Information on McLaughlin's arrest warrant states that the victim was "mentally disabled, mentally incapacitated, or physically helpless," which McLaughlin would have "reasonably known." The victim was taken to a local medical facility to be evaluated.

McLaughlin is charged with second-degree or forcible rape.

McLaughlin is a registered sex offender, according to the NC Sex Offender and Public Protection Registry.

He was convicted twice of rape in Kings County, New York, according to the database. He was convicted in 1985 and released in 2000, then convicted again in 2008 and released in 2016.

In the Greensboro case, McLaughlin was arrested late Tuesday and appeared in court on Wednesday where his bond was set at $5.5 million.

Police say there is an ongoing investigation.

The statement from the facility said that the breach was an isolated incident and that there is no ongoing threat to the safety of residents.

"We are reviewing our physical security as well as training protocols for dealing with potential intruders," the statement read. "We conduct regular reviews of our policies related to resident care and safety. We will support prosecution of the intruder to the full extent of the law."
COMPANY NEWS: Kyndryl, the worlds largest IT infrastructure services provider, today announced the availability of Kyndryl Workflow Orchestration services, a generative AI-powered digital workplace station designed to help organisations automate, speed, and streamline essential business processes.

Kyndryl Workflow Orchestration services provide a one-stop solution for companies to enhance, improve and modernise the digital workplace experience for their employees and customers. It was designed to support customers seeking to capitalise on no-code/low-code solutions that help improve business outcomes.

The new solution employs workflow capabilities and AI automation to orchestrate business processes, eliminate complexity, minimise cycle time, and maximise return on investment through reduced training and development costs. With the ability to leverage modern platforms, such as Microsoft Power Platform and other no-code/low-code technologies, customers can unleash their citizen developers with the confidence that Kyndryl Workflow Orchestration services provides expertise to securely scale and digitise their business.

The biggest impediment to improving the workplace experience for employees are legacy business processes that are complex and constrained due to components that dont integrate or work well together, said Kyndryl senior vice president, global digital workplace services practice Ivan Dopple. We are helping customers overcome their workflow challenges by bringing automation and generative AI-powered digital workplaces to life with our new Kyndryl Workflow Orchestration services.

Customer benefits of Kyndryl Workflow Orchestration services include:

User-friendly interface to enhance the overall user experience, making it easier for employees to navigate and complete tasks efficiently.

Streamlined complex processes across various departments & enabling seamless integrations.

Real-time visibility and tracking of fully automated requests.

Access controls, encryption and audit trails to enable information security and integrity.

Automation requires zero manual interventions and minimises the risk of human error.

Scalable to accommodate increased workload demands.

Customise applications to meet specific business needs, offering flexibility and adaptability to changing requirements.

People often regard service level agreements as a silver bullet for their business without realising that efficient business workflow is about more than monitoring and reporting on data from SLAs, said Everest Group practice director Udit Singh. Kyndryls Workflow Orchestration capability provides an automated resource that can enable companies to gain insights, improve performance, and respond to emerging challenges or opportunities.

To help customers get started with their workflow transformation, Kyndryl Vital and Kyndryl Consult experts are available and ready to provide a range of advisory, implementation and managed services  from co-creation and design to strategic consulting and ongoing business process improvement.

For more information about Kyndryl Workflow Orchestration services, click here.
Many Illinois towns and cities are rapidly enacting measures to prevent busloads of immigrants from unloading in their community. Others are prohibiting extended stays of undocumented migrants in local hotels. And polling shows that illegal immigration is surging to a top concern for voters in the coming election.

But that doesnt mean the public understands the full scope of the problem and the consequences they face.

Illegal border crossers are arriving in America at the rate 3.2 million per year. However, a stunning, recent Harvard-Harris poll found that just 8% of Americans understand that over three million are entering the country annually. Seventy-five percent think its a million or less. Thirty-eight percent think its 250,000 or less.

That ignorance is no doubt thanks to constant headlines about migrants bused from Texas to Chicago and New York. But those numbers are relatively tiny. Only about 100,000 have been bused by Texas, including about 35,000 to Chicago.

Thats less than one percent of the problem. Illegal border crossers since 2021 total more than individual populations of 38 states. They top 8 million since 2020. New records for illegal immigration are set each month.

What will it all cost? Nobody really knows because no end is in sight and nobody has truly totaled it up. The price tag, however, is already no doubt humongous.

One state that has tried to estimate its total cost is Arizona. There, Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs recently demanded that the federal government reimburse Arizona for $512.5 million already spent on immigrant care.

A Democratic mayor of Edison, New Jersey, has also had enough. Hes busing migrants back to the border, saying "Edison does not have the ability or the financial means to support migrants.

But the welcome mat remains out in Illinois. The state has shown no sign of reversing its welcoming policies, which include Medicaid for noncitizen immigrants, and Chicago remains a sanctuary city. New York City recently published numbers on top destinations for migrants who have left the city. Which state is tops? You guessed it, Illinois.

The answer for those who see no problem is to spread the problem to everybody across the nation. A recent Chicago Sun-Times editorial, for example, called for dispersing migrants around the country. Gov. JB Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson have long been among those calling for more federal funding, which means bigger tax bills for everybody.

Whats the Biden Administration doing? Its in court asking for authority to have the U.S. Border Patrol cut the razor wire the State of Texas has put up to stop illegal immigrants.

This is madness. Pure madness. Aside from the direct costs, 1.7 million of known gotaways are among the illegal immigrants who have entered America since 2021. They are of particular concern because they are not seeking asylum, perhaps because they have criminal records or would be considered terror suspects. They are arriving from across the world to cross the Mexican border.

The border must be enforced. There is no alternative.
Hackers were able to steal the personal data of at least 35.5 million customers of VF Corp. during a December cyberattack, the company said Thursday.

VF is based in Denver, but used to have its headquarters in Greensboro. The company owns such brands as The North Face, Timberland, Dickies and Vans.

The company said in a Dec. 18 news release and regulatory filing that the breach disrupted its distribution operations, including its ability to fulfill customer orders.

The company disclosed in a regulatory filing Thursday it believes the extent of the identity theft is limited since it does not collect or retain in its IT systems any consumer Social Security numbers, bank account information or payment card information as part of its direct-to-consumer practices.

VF said it is cooperating with federal law enforcement and regulatory authorities.

When asked Friday about any potential compensation to affected consumers, VF pointed to the filing disclosures.

While the investigation remains ongoing, VF has not detected any evidence to date that any consumer passwords were acquired by the threat actor, the company said.

VF has substantially restored the IT systems and data that were impacted by the cyber incident, but continues to work through minor operational impacts, VF said.

The company did not report making any ransomware payments as part of the breach.

Ransomware is a type of malicious software employed by hackers that can block access to a computer system until a ransom is paid. In recent years, the targets have shifted from individuals to governments, companies, nonprofits and health care systems.

VF said it believes the impacts of the cyber incident are not material and are not reasonably likely to be material to its financial condition and results of operations.

It said it will pursue reimbursement of costs, expenses and losses stemming from the cyber incident from its cybersecurity insurers.

The timing and amount of any such reimbursements is not known at this time, VF said.

Background

The company said that after it detected the unauthorized occurrences on Dec. 13, it began taking steps to contain, assess and remediate the incident.

That included launching an investigation with external cybersecurity experts, activating its incident response plan and shutting down some systems.

In Thursdays filing, VF said it believes the cyberattack was halted on Dec. 15.

VF said on Dec. 18 that VF-operated retail stores globally were open, and consumers could purchase available merchandise, but there were certain operational disruptions.

In Thursdays filing, VF said its retail stores, brand e-commerce sites and distribution centers are operating with minimal issues.

While VF is still experiencing minor residual impacts from the cyber incident, VF has resumed retail store inventory replenishment and product order fulfillment, and is caught up on fulfilling orders that were delayed as a result of the cyber incident.

HanesBrands breach

VF Corp. is the second global apparel manufacturer to report a cyberattack on its IT platform.

HanesBrands disclosed in a May 31, 2022, regulatory filing that it began experiencing the ransomware attack on May 24, 2022.

HanesBrands said the ransomware attack affected its global supply chain network and ability to fulfill customer orders for about three weeks. HanesBrands said in a Nov. 14, 2023, regulatory filing the ransomware attack cost the manufacturer about $100 million in global sales.

The attack resulted in a $35 million reduction in adjusted operating profit for the second quarter of fiscal 2022, while lowering adjusted earnings per share by 8 cents.

HanesBrands said it took extraordinary and immediate action to re-secure the implicated data set. That included disclosing that it reached a payment agreement of an undisclosed amount to the ransomware attacker.

In exchange, the attacker agreed to not disseminate the information and to delete the information from its systems with confirmation provided. Hanesbrands said it was provided evidence on June 3, 2022, that those actions had occurred.

In the Nov. 14, 2023, filing, HanesBrands reported it had received at least $20.5 million in insurance compensation during 2023.
A Wake Forest School of Business faculty member has received nearly $1 million from the National Science Foundation toward a four-year interdisciplinary project addressing illicit decision-making within supply networks.

Stacie Petter, a professor of Management Information Systems at the Wake Forest business school, is collaborating with professors from California State University and Ohio University. She is listed as a co-principal investigator.

The goal of the project is to develop a theory to aid interventions into disrupting and deterring illicit activity, such as human trafficking and fraud, within supply networks.

The team will identify possible laws, regulations, business practices or other interventions that encourage individuals to make decisions that are consistent with legitimate business activities.

During the later years of the grant, a course will be offered at the three collaborating universities. Students from various areas of study will work together to assist researchers in applying the initial model to other industries.
A Winston-Salem man has been charged with murder in the death of his daughter, who died in 2022, two years after she was beaten as an infant, police said Friday.

Howard Moore, 32, of Columbine Drive was served with the murder warrant in the Forsyth County Jail, where he is being held without bond on other charges related to his daughters death, Winston-Salem police said.

He is scheduled to appear Monday in Forsyth District Court.

On June 15, 2020, police responded to a report of a 2-month-old girl who was not breathing, police said at the time.

Officers began life-saving measures and successfully restored her heartbeat and breathing, but the baby, Nayture Marie Moore, never regained consciousness, police said.

Nayture spent two years in medical facilities in North Carolina and Virginia before dying on May 24, 2022.

Her injuries were consistent with child abuse, police said.

Moore was arrested on June 22, 2022 and charged with three counts of felony child abuse inflicting serious physical injury and six counts of felony child abuse inflicting serious bodily injury, according to three arrest warrants.

Moore was accused of assaulting Nayture, causing injuries to her head, arms, ribs and at least one of her legs, the warrants said.

Nayture had bleeding and swelling to her brain, bleeding in the retinas of her eyes, rib fractures, fractures to her upper arm, wrist and forearm as well as injuries to her upper thigh bone and shin bone, the warrants said.

The offenses happened between April 1, 2020 and June 15, 2020, according to the warrants.
Citizens with no direct ties to the local school district will no longer be allowed to formally challenge books and other educational materials that they find inappropriate under a revised policy that the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools approved last week over the objections of the conservative group, Moms for Liberty.

The policy change, passed by a divided vote, gives current students and parents and guardians of enrolled students and staff members the right to challenge educational materials, but it strikes citizens from the list of those who may object.

Pat Blackburn, the national chapter director for Moms for Liberty, told the board at its meeting last week that the policy change disenfranchises community members whose tax dollars pay for public schools.

This is America and we have a representative form of government that was democratically elected to represent us. We have the right to direct your work because we are the stakeholders and the funding source for public schools, Blackburn said.

Moms for Liberty has led the charge to ban books it finds inappropriate from schools across the country, including those in Knoxville, Tenn., Carroll County, Md., and Leon County, Fla. In May, the Wake County chapter of Moms for Liberty filed 189 challenges against 20 books in the libraries of Wake County Public Schools, claiming the books were too explicit for children, according to the Raleigh News & Observer.

The Wake school district dismissed the challenges, saying that they were filed by parents whose children did not attend the schools where the books are located, the News & Observer reported.

Dionne Jenkins, the local school districts general counsel, told the school board that the new policy limits the list of challengers to the real stakeholders for the materials in schools and aligns with the policies in place in the states other large school districts.

And so, they always limited it to just those individuals who are directly impacted by the educational materials. Ours was actually a little more broad than that, so this is bringing it in line (with the other large districts) and with the recommended policy of (North Carolina) School Board Association, Jenkins said.

People with no direct ties to the school district can still take concerns about educational materials to principals or other school leaders, Jenkins said, but they wont be able to formally challenge material, which leads to a more in-depth review process.

I think our principals are always open to feedback... and will resolve issues as they see fit, she said.

A few school board members said that people with concerns over educational materials can speak at board meetings or bring issues to their attention.

I dont think we need outside folks who do not have an actual vested interest in what our students are doing (to challenge materials) because they are not actively engaged in our schools, said board member Sabrina Coone.

Board member Susan Miller said that she sees taxpayers as viable stakeholders in what goes on in schools.

Im not in agreement with not having our taxpayers being able to comment or file grievances, she said.

Miller, Robert Barr and Steve Wood voted against the policy change. Coone, Deanna Kaplan, Leah Crowley, Alex Bohannon, Trevonia Brown-Gaither and Richard Watts voted for it.

In her comments to the board, Blackburn, of Moms for Liberty, said that some parents and teachers are afraid to speak out about some of the materials used in local classrooms.

She vowed before the vote that if the policy change was approved that parents who are members of Moms for Liberty will be the voices for the teachers and the parents who are afraid to speak out.

Blackburn also said that she hopes the policy change will become an election issue so that it can be reviewed.

And Ill let that go for now, she said.

In 2022-23 there were no formal challenges made to the school district over educational materials, according to Brent Campbell, the school district spokesman.
OPENING

All of Us Strangers. A man falls in love with his neighborhood while he's being pulled back to his hometown past in this ghost-filled tearjerker. R. (Grand). Grade: B.

Anselm. Director Wim Wenders uses 3D to create one of the best art documentaries ever, looking at the life and work of German artist Anselm Kiefer. Unrated. (Ross) Grade: A.

Freud's Last Session. Anthony Hopkins is Sigmund Freud and Matthew Goode is C.S. Lewis in this well-acted, but narratively unsteady film that posits the pair had a discussion about the existence of God in the months before Freud's death. PG-13. (Ross). Grade: B-.

I.S.S. The International Space Station becomes the staging ground for a proxy war when a nuclear conflict breaks out between America and Russia in this effective, if obvious sci-fi thriller. R. (Grand, East Park, Edgewood, SouthPointe). Grade: B-.

Which Brings Me To You. A pair of romantic burnouts come to find each other and explore their lives in 24 hours in this romance that was not screened in advance for critics. Not Rated. (Grand).

ONGOING

American Fiction. Jeffrey Wright is a professor who drunkenly writes a parody of the "Black misery porn he hates and becomes a sensation in this crowd-pleaser that's both funny and smart in its satire of race, media, artists, identity politics and Hollywood. R. (Grand). Grade: B.

Anyone But You. This romantic comedy is about a pair that breaks up after a few dates but has to pretend to be a couple at a destination wedding. R. (Grand, East Park, Edgewood, SouthPointe). Grade: C+.

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom. Aquaman teams up with his brother, the former king of Atlantis, to protect their kingdoms and save the world from Black Manta in this superhero picture. PG-13. (Grand). Grade: B-.

The Beekeeper. Jason Statham's brutal campaign for vengeance takes on national stakes after he is revealed to be a former operative of a powerful and clandestine organization in this dumb, but entertaining action thriller. R. (Grand, East Park, Edgewood, SouthPointe). Grade: C+.

The Book of Clarence. British musician-turned-filmmaker Jeymes Samuel has created an off-beat messiah story with a newly invented tale that runs parallel to the life and death of Jesus in ways both blithely blasphemous and sincerely Christian. PG-13. (Grand). Grade: B.

The Boys In The Boat. Director George Clooney's tale of a University of Washington rowing crew that defies the odds to row for the United States in the 1936 Berlin Olympics is sweet, old-fashioned and, ultimately, good. PG-13. (Grand, Edgewood). Grade: B.

The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes. Tom Blyth excels as a young President Coriolanus Snow in this "Hunger Games" origin story that could reawaken the YA genre with its combination of adolescent yearning and adventure. PG-13. (Edgewood). Grade: C+.

The Iron Claw. Zac Efron gives his best-ever performance in this bloody, devastating biopic about the Von Erich wrestling family. R. (Grand). Grade: B+.

Mean Girls. Writer Tina Fey presents a new twist on the comedy classic "Mean Girls" that finds a high school girl, who's welcomed into the top of the social food chain by the popular girls and has to fend off the "queen bee" when she starts dating her ex. PG-13. (Grand, East Park, Edgewood, SouthPointe). Grade: B-.

Migration. A feathered family goes on a vacation like no other in this action-packed animated comedy. (East Park, Edgewood, SouthPointe). Grade: B.

Night Swim. This supernatural thriller that finds a family's backyard swimming pool unleashing a malevolent force is persuasively acted and quite effective in its first half, scattered and woozy in its second. PG.13. (Grand, East Park, Edgewood, SouthPointe). Grade: C.

Poor Things. Emma Stone gives a stunning performance as a woman created from scratch in this sometimes creepy, perpetually surprising black comedy. R. (Grand, Ross). Grade: A.

Soul. The Pixar 2020 best animation Oscar winner about a teacher and aspiring pianist who falls into a coma and tries to reunite his separated soul and body in time for his big break as a jazz musician returns to theaters. PG. (Grand, Edgewood). Grade: A.

. This playful and heartstring-tugging musical take on the beloved Roald Dahl character  played by Timothee Chalamet  is smarter than it lets on. PG-13. (Grand, East Park, Edgewood, SouthPointe). Grade: B.
A 52-year-old Lincoln man found guilty at trial of assaulting a woman with a hammer has been sentenced to 13 to 21 years in prison.

JaRon Dean had been on parole at the time for a 1992 murder, but is back at the Nebraska State Penitentiary as a result of the parole violation.

At Dean's sentencing Thursday, Deputy Lancaster County Attorney Erica Pruess called the assault a violent act and asked the judge to consider the impact on the victim and her family.

First, Dean offered a lengthy argument for the sentencing not to go forward, claiming the court lacked subject matter jurisdiction rendering the verdict and sentencing void, calling bonds ransom and his court-appointed defense attorney a spy.

Dean didn't speak to the assault itself, which happened the morning of Feb. 25.

That day, Lincoln police were called to a home in the North Bottoms neighborhood on a report of a woman being assaulted with a hammer.

A witness told officers he had come to the woman's aid after he saw her running toward a man later identified as Dean, yelling for him to let go of her child after he snatched the boy from the front door.

Police said the witness helped her wrestle the child away, but she slipped on ice in the process, and Dean pulled out a hammer and hit her with it four or five times.

Police arrested Dean nearby, who said he swung the hammer because he was being attacked.

At the time, he had been on parole for the second-degree murder of Deron Haynes in October 1992. Dean was sentenced to 14 years to life in prison for the crime but was paroled in 1999.

In that case, Dean and three other men fired 26 shots at Haynes' mobile home, hitting and killing Haynes. The incident stemmed from a minor car accident the day before.

Photos and video: Gov. Jim Pillen's State of the State
Two Lincoln corrections staff members were injured in recent assaults by inmates at the Reception and Treatment Center, according to the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services.

On Jan. 10, an inmate was talking with two staff members in the office area of a housing unit. An inmate proceeded to close the door and started to punch one of them in the head.

At first, a medical examination showed that the staff member was not injured, but he was later diagnosed with a concussion, according to the news release.

The second incident occurred Wednesday when an inmate head-butted a staff member. They were treated at a local hospital for a fracture to their cheekbone, according to the news release.

An investigation into both incidents is being conducted. The Lancaster County Attorney's Office will be given the findings for criminal prosecution.

Top Journal Star photos for January 2024
WASHINGTON  President Joe Biden's reelection team is preparing a nationwide series of events and an advertising campaign focused on the battle over abortion rights, highlighting what Democrats believe will be a potent political weapon against likely Republican nominee Donald Trump.

Vice President Kamala Harris has led the charge on the issue for the White House and will hold the first event in Wisconsin on Monday, which would have been the 51st anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the lawsuit that led to the landmark 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision establishing a constitutional right to abortion.

Then Biden, Harris, first lady Jill Biden and second gentleman Doug Emhoff will travel to Virginia on Tuesday for another campaign stop focused on abortion. It will be their first joint appearance for the 2024 reelection campaign.

Roe v. Wade was overturned by the Supreme Court's conservative majority two years ago. Trump has taken credit for the outcome because as president he appointed three justices to the nine-member court.

Biden's campaign manager, Julie Chavez Rodriguez, said in a statement that Trump as president paved the way for draconian bans.

In 2024, a vote for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris is a vote to restore Roe, and a vote for Donald Trump is a vote to ban abortion across the country, she said. "These are the stakes in 2024 and were going to continue to make sure that every single voter knows it.

Biden's campaign said its advertising campaign would focus on how abortion restrictions have affected women and health care providers.

In addition, several political allies  including Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego and North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper  are hosting their own events focused on battleground states.

A look at 50 years of Supreme Court abortion decisions 1973 1976 1986 1989 1992 2000 2007 2016 2020 2021 2022
Gov. Jim Pillen announced a plan during his annual State of the State address on Thursday to streamline the state's public higher education system.

The One Nebraska initiative, as Pillen referred to it during his 40-minute speech before the Legislature, "will eliminate needless duplication and inefficient competition between state-supported schools."

At a press conference immediately after his speech, Pillen said the plan, which includes the University of Nebraska, the Nebraska State College System and the state's six community colleges, would eliminate silos along the way.

But the governor and former member of the NU Board of Regents did not get into specifics about how the One Nebraska initiative would be implemented.

"I don't care if it's K-12 or higher education, we have to be focused on the kids and the right fit for kids," he said. "It's absurd that we have state-funded higher education competing against one another.

"We want to work together and focus on the best outcome," Pillen added.

Now in his second year as governor, Pillen said he wanted the state's postsecondary institutions to focus less on growing enrollment and more on improving graduation rates.

"That's what workforce development is," he said. "Businesses in Nebraska don't care about what the heck their enrollment is, they care about graduates. They care about skillset development so they can grow businesses and grow the economy."

Pillen said he planned to speak more to higher education leaders to ensure they weren't duplicating efforts, and to tear down silos.

"I'm going to work my tail off to influence so we utilize our resources in the most efficient and effective way," he said.

Higher education leaders said they have had initial conversations about One Nebraska  a term Pillen referred to often during his campaign for governor  but have not been provided with a plan for how it will be carried out.

"We don't have a lot of details on the One Nebraska effort yet, but obviously we welcome the conversation with the governor and state colleges and other higher education partners," said NU Interim President Chris Kabourek.

The outline of the plan aligns with much of what NU is already doing, Kabourek added, as it seeks to reshape itself for the future and compete for the best and brightest students in the state.

Kabourek also said he believes NU will continue to be a place that helps meet the state's workforce needs as well as a university system that allows students to learn, grow and "discover their passions."

"I don't think this has to be a zero-sum game," he said. "I think we can do both."

Chancellor Paul Turman of the state college system said the campuses in Peru, Wayne and Chadron were already focused on increasing the degree completion rate to 70% statewide.

Degree completion has risen at the state colleges 2.7% over the last four years, Turman said.

"I appreciate that Gov. Pillen recognizes the vital role the state colleges, community colleges, and university play in continuing to move Nebraska forward, and we look forward to collaborating with him and our higher-education counterparts to address the workforce needs of Nebraska," he said.

Photos and video: Gov. Jim Pillen's State of the State
A trial has been set for a Milwaukee woman accused of the 2018 killing of a Kenosha man who was being investigated for sex trafficking and then setting his house on fire.

Kenosha County Circuit Court Judge David Wilk on Thursday set the high-profile trial for June 10. It is expected to last about two weeks and include a one day pause for Juneteenth on June 19.

Chrystul Kizer, now 23, faces a homicide charge for the death of Randall Volar, a 34-year-old Kenosha man who prosecutors admit had been preying on Kizer and other underage girls. Volar had also been under investigation for producing child pornography and sexual abuse.

Kizer was 17 at the time she was charged and is accused of shooting Volar in the head twice and then setting his house at 7732 14th Ave. on fire. Kizer then allegedly fled in his car.

Kizer appeared briefly with attorneys Jennifer Bias, Gregory Holdahl and Helmi Hamad before Wilk. District Attorney Michael Graveley and Assistant District Attorney Zachary Brost appeared for the state.

Kizer faces life in prison if convicted of first-degree intentional homicide, a Class A felony.

The trial date was set during a motion hearing on whether videos or recordings found inside Volars residence depicting illegal acts with Kizer or other girls will be allowed to be presented to the jury during the trial.

Kizers defense team wants such materials shown. Graveley said that if the videos are shown to the jury they would violate the privacy of those depicted in them and are not of value because transcripts of each video exist.

No videos should be played because we have an existing transcript, Graveley said.

However, Holdahl said the best evidence to show the jury would be the videos.

Wilk said there is a wealth of case law pertaining to the use of video evidence and set a motion hearing on the matter for March 15.

The prosecution and defense are also scheduled to provide the court briefings next month on whether a police interview of Kizer  conducted by investigators inside a room in the Public Safety Building while Kizer was in custody and had already retained legal representation  can be used during the trial only during cross-examination and rebuttal.

In October, Wilk ruled the 2018 interview could not be used by the prosecution when it presented its case because it violated her Fifth and Sixth amendment rights.

Since June 2020, Kizer has been out of custody on $400,000 cash bond raised by activists.

Activist groups have mobilized to Kizers defense, arguing in legal briefs that trafficking victims often feel they must take matters into their own hands against abusers.

Kizer also faces felonies of taking and driving a vehicle without consent, arson of a building without the owners consent, felony bail jumping, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon for her alleged actions on June 5, 2018.

Graveley has said his charging decision is not based on public opinion or politics and has asked people to reserve judgment until facts are presented at trial.

The case has been making its way through the court system for more than five years. The final pre-trial hearing is set for May 24.

In 2022, the Supreme Court of Wisconsin ruled that Kizer would be able to use an affirmative defense for any offense committed as a direct result of having been trafficked as part of her defense.
When Vicki McCool Anderson called UW Health to schedule an MRI for her husband, she learned that if he had the scan at a hospital-owned clinic, there would be a facility fee, which UW says is typically $235.

At another UW Health clinic, owned by UWs doctor group, he could skip the fee. The couple chose that option, even though it meant waiting a few more days.

Why are there such fees, and how can a consumer avoid them? asked McCool Anderson, 72, of Cottage Grove.

Facility fees arent new but often come as a surprise to patients. The fees can be billed at clinics owned by hospitals but not at clinics owned by doctors. Hospitals say the fees help cover overhead expenses and costs of meeting regulations such as patient safety requirements.

At least 13 states, including Minnesota, have passed laws requiring disclosure of facility fees and in some cases limiting them, according to United States of Care, a nonpartisan organization that seeks to improve access to health care.

In Wisconsin, a bill to require hospitals to tell patients at the time an appointment is made if a facility fee will be charged was introduced in 2009 but didnt pass. A bill currently before the state Legislature would boost transparency rules by requiring hospitals to list standard charges for 300 shoppable services, such as mammograms and ultrasounds, but doesnt address facility fees.

Facility fees drive up health care costs, said Cheryl DeMars, CEO of The Alliance, a Madison-based group of 340 employers that purchase medical services together. The fees are sometimes covered by insurance but often leave patients, especially those with high-deductible plans, paying out of pocket, DeMars said.

Hospitals charge facility fees because they can, she said. Theres always a push to maximize revenue.

DeMars said The Alliance tries to negotiate the fees away through its contracts, an option not available to many patients.

A typical doctor visit in Wisconsin with a facility fee cost an average of $221 in 2021, 21% more than the $182 cost for a similar visit without the fee, according to the Health Care Cost Institute, which uses data from four large national insurers. For an ultrasound, the cost was $636 with a facility fee and $379 without, a 68% difference.

The American Hospital Association, which opposes the bills before Congress, says facility fees finance the high acuity, 24/7 standby capacity that only hospitals provide and for which no payer covers the full cost.

Fees in region

SSM Health doesnt charge facility fees at its 60-plus Dean Medical Group locations in south-central Wisconsin, though some outpatient rehabilitation visits at St. Marys Hospital in Madison include them, spokesperson Kim Sveum said. In 2013, SSM Health acquired Madison-based Dean Clinic, which was doctor-owned and thus didnt charge facility fees. Up to this point, SSM Health has chosen not to add facility fees at those locations, Sveum said.

SSM Health bills for facility fees in its Monroe and Fond du Lac markets, she said. In the Monroe area, where there are 12 clinics, the fee is $125. In Fond du Lac, with three clinics, the fee is $198.

UnityPoint Health-Meriter charges facility fees at all locations for patients on Medicare but not for those with Medicaid or commercial insurance, spokesperson Nicole Aimone said. At its Monona clinic, for example, a patient with private insurance would get a doctor bill of $229, she said. A Medicare patient would get a doctor fee of $88 plus a facility fee of $141, for the same total of $229, she said.

UW Healths website lists 20 hospital-owned locations  including the main UW Hospital complex, East Madison Hospital, the Digestive Health Center and University Station Clinic  for which clinic visits might include a facility fee. The amount, which UW says is updated yearly, is currently $235.

The fees represent all the costs of operating a building for health care delivery except the doctors professional fees, the website says. This includes equipment, utilities, maintenance and supplies, plus care by staff such as nurses, pharmacists and social workers, UW says.

Because hospital-owned clinics are required to meet strict patient safety standards and more regulatory requirements than physician-owned practices, facility fees also help to offset the cost of meeting these mandated requirements, the website says.

Clinics owned by the UW Medical Foundation, the universitys doctor group, and by the UW Department of Family Medicine and Community Health dont have facility fees. They charge patients a single fee that includes all of the costs associated with their practice, UW says.

Medical Foundation clinics include Odana Atrium on Odana Road, West Towne on Mineral Point Road, Union Corners on Winnebago Street, Yahara Family Medicine on Broadway in Monona and clinics at 1, 20, 202 and 1102 South Park Street. They also include clinics in Cottage Grove, Cross Plains, Fort Atkinson, Johnson Creek, Mount Horeb, Portage, Stoughton and Windsor.

Family medicine clinics include the Northeast Family Medicine Center on Dryden Drive, off of Northport Drive, and clinics in Belleville and Verona.

UW Health has notified Medicare patients of facility fees in a variety of ways for several years, spokesperson Sara Benzel said. In 2021, it started telling patients about the fees at the time they schedule visits at hospital-owned clinics, she said. Notices in the online portal MyChart started including the information in 2022.

UW Healths facility fee used to vary by time spent with the caregiver, complexity of service received and clinic resource utilization, but it is now standard across all applicable locations and service types, Benzel said.

Cautionary tale

When Elliott Appel moved to Madison in 2021, he scheduled a visit with a UW Health dermatologist because he has a family history of skin cancer. Shortly before the appointment, at a hospital-owned clinic, he said a billing notice mentioned a facility fee.

Appel sought a total cost estimate for the visit. UW said it would be $508  $308 to see the doctor, plus the facility fee, which at the time was $200. His insurance would cover $161, leaving him with a $347 bill.

Then he asked how much it would cost to see a dermatologist at a UW Medical Foundation clinic. UW said it would be $234. After insurance coverage of $37, he would pay $197, 76% less than at the hospital-owned clinic.

Appel, 32, a financial planner, choose the cheaper appointment, even though it meant waiting five months. He has continued to see the dermatologist there.

In a blog post, he advised patients to be diligent about checking their medical bills and seeking options.

I thought UW Health is UW Health regardless of where I receive care. I was very wrong, he wrote. If you have the time and are not putting your health care at risk, consider shopping around.

5 most frequent complaints about medical billing errors 5 most frequent complaints about medical billing errors Attempts to collect debt not owed Written notification about debt Continued attempts to collect debt not owed False statements or representation Communication tactics
Parents would have more authority over what their children are taught and be given the option to pull their kids out of discussions about gender identity or racism under a Republican-authored bill passed Thursday by the Wisconsin Assembly.

The measure is almost certain to be vetoed by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, who struck down a similar proposal in 2022.

The proposal largely mirrors Republican efforts across the country to give parents more control over school procedures. Backers of the legislation say it is needed to provide parents more transparency into school practices, while opponents have argued the bill is unnecessary and would censor school officials.

Assembly Bill 510, described by its backers as a Parental Bill of Rights, would bar school staff from addressing students by their chosen pronouns or names without parental consent and guarantee parents the right to review instructional materials, as well as have their child opt out of a lesson if they disagree with what is being taught.

The bill passed the Assembly 62-35, along party lines. It now heads to the state Senate.

AB 510 would allow a parent or guardian to sue a school district or school official if they dont allow parents to:

Determine the names and pronouns used for the child while at school;

Review instructional materials and outlines used by the childs school;

Access any education-related information or records regarding the child;

Receive advance notice of any polls or surveys conducted in the childs classroom;

Request notice of when certain subjects will be taught or discussed; and,

Opt out of a class or instructional materials for reasons based on either religious or personal conviction.

The bill would also require schools to provide timely notice to parents when controversial subjects are to be taught or discussed. The bill describes such subjects as those of substantial public debate, disagreement, or disapproval, specifically citing instruction about gender identity, sexual orientation, racial identity, structural, systemic, or institutional racism, or content that is not age-appropriate.

Families want to know when their children are going to be exposed to those topics so that they can have a reasonable way to work with their students and not just have everything come out of the classroom, bill co-author Rep. Robert Wittke, R-Racine, told reporters before Thursdays floor session.

Under the bill, a parent or guardian would be able to sue a school for up to $10,000 for violations of any of the provisions laid out in the legislation.

Speaking on the Assembly floor, Rep. Dave Considine, D-Baraboo, said the bill looks to undermine teachers and educational professionals.

Parents dont always know best, lets be honest, he said.

Rep. Karen Hurd, R-Fall Creek, pushed back on those comments.

I am a parent of five children and I know best, Hurd said. To say that I dont know best is offensive and it is a lie from the pit of hell.

A similar bill advanced by Republicans last session was vetoed by Evers in April 2022, with the former teacher, principal and state superintendent writing in a veto message that the proposal was aimed at dividing our schools.

Politicians on both sides of the aisle have to stop using our kids as political pawns, Evers wrote in the April 15, 2022 memo. I am vetoing this bill in its entirety because I object to sowing division in our schools, which only hurts our kids and learning in our classrooms.

5 low-light houseplants that will survive the rest of winter 1. Aglaonema wishes (aka Chinese evergreen) 2. Dracaena trifasciata (aka snake plant) 3. Chlorophytum comosum (aka spider plant) 4. Chamaedorea elegans (aka parlor palm) 5. Aspidistra elatior (aka cast iron plant)
Most abortions in Wisconsin would be banned after 14 weeks under a Republican proposal introduced Friday thats almost certainly headed to a veto.

The bill is legislative Republicans latest response to an issue that has troubled them politically, challenging many to square their personal anti-abortion beliefs with most Wisconsinites support for more permissive abortion laws.

The proposal follows a rarely used path for legislation.

It would require the Legislature to pass and Democratic Gov. Tony Evers to sign a bill to put a binding question on the April 2 ballot asking voters whether to restrict abortions after 14 weeks instead of the current 20 weeks gestation. The proposal, which would allow exceptions for medical emergencies and saving the mothers life, would take effect the following day if voters approved the ballot question.

The bill is scheduled for a public hearing in the Assembly on Monday, the same day Vice President Kamala Harris is scheduled to stop in Waukesha County to campaign for abortion rights.

But its almost certain Evers would veto the proposal if it gets to his desk. He has said he would oppose any efforts to further restrict abortion. Additionally, the ballot question would go on the same spring ballot as the Republican presidential primary, an election that will likely see more Republicans than Democrats turn out.

Just 37% of Wisconsinites favor the decision overturning Roe v. Wade, which prohibited early-term abortion bans, according to a November 2022 Marquette Law School Poll.

Wisconsin Democrats have put the issue front and center in their campaigns, leading liberal Justice Janet Protasiewicz to a double-digit win in the race for state Supreme Court in April 2023 and Evers to a 3-point win in November 2022.

At the same time, Republicans have scrambled to find a way to talk about the issue. Some have dodged it entirely, while others have called for near-complete abortion bans, popular with the conservative base but highly unpopular elsewhere.

The latest bill, AB 975, by Rep. Amanda Nedweski, R-Pleasant Prairie, and Sen. Mary Felzkowski, R-Irma, is Wisconsin Republicans most permissive proposal since Roe v. Wade was struck down in 2022.

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, who co-authored the proposal, said in a December interview with the Wisconsin State Journal it could prevent the issue from continuing to dominate elections.

Our entire system should not be governed on, Whats your position on abortion? he said. That is one very important topic. It shouldnt be everything for every person in every election.

Im fundamentally pro-life, Vos said. Im proud of that. I think people shouldnt use abortions.

But he added that he would rather find a consensus to rally around than have Democrats use the issue to their advantage.

The U.S. Supreme Court decision led to the shuttering of Wisconsin abortion clinics as providers tried to figure out whether an 1849 law banned abortions in almost every case.

Abortion services resumed in September 2023 after a Dane County judge found the law applied to feticides, not consensual abortions. That case is likely headed to a Wisconsin Supreme Court appeal.
1. Yes. It will be convenient and the fares are cheap. I plan to use the transit system often.

2. Yes. I have a vehicle, but I may still use the service now and then, especially in bad weather.

3. No. I dont use the current bus service, and I dont plan to use the micro-transit service either.

4. No. It may be fine in town, but it still involves a transfer for longer trips. That wont work.

5. Unsure. Its hard to say. It depends on how well the service works once its in place.

Vote

View Results
A 51-year-old La Crosse man faces felony charges after he was accused of severely beating a woman in November.

Rochelle Dwayne Sharp was charged in La Crosse County Circuit Court with four counts of substantial battery/intent to cause bodily harm. He was also charged with a misdemeanor count of disorderly conduct.

According to the criminal complaint, police were called Nov. 3 to a Sims Place address in La Crosse after a report of a battered woman. An officer on the scene reported that one of the victims eyes was swollen shut and that her face was covered with blood.

The victim was transported to a local hospital, where she was interviewed by police. She said Sharp, identified in the complaint as her care provider, arrived at the residence around 10:15 p.m. and gave her an alcoholic beverage. She said she didnt remember anything that happened during the night and awoke early the next morning with blood on her face.

A physician who examined the victim said he was concerned that she had been assaulted in the home. He reported that the victim suffered a broken nose, a broken vertebra, a fractured tooth, facial lacerations and bruises.

Sharp denied assaulting the victim. He said her injuries resulted from a fall due to her intoxication and physical disabilities.

Sharp is free on a $2,500 signature bond. He has a preliminary hearing scheduled for Feb. 12.
Police have made an arrest in a gunshot death Thursday night in La Crosse.

Alan R. Fry, 41, of La Crosse is being held in the La Crosse County Jail without bail for first-degree intentional homicide, possession of a firearm by a felon and bail jumping.

Frys initial court appearance was held over to Monday. Court-appointed attorney Thomas Rhodes said Fry was either unable or unwilling to appear Friday. Rhodes told the court he had yet to speak with his client.

Police responded around 9 p.m. to the 1200 block of Farnam Street and discovered a fatal gunshot victim. As police were conducting the death investigation, a fire was reported at an unoccupied residence in the 1600 block of Denton Street.

Police believe the gunshot death and fire are related. Both remain under investigation. The name of the victim hasnt been released.

Fry has a pending domestic abuse case in which he is charged with misdemeanor counts of battery and disorderly conduct. Court records list his address as 1642 Denton St. He was free on a $750 signature bond and has plea hearing set for Feb. 21.

Anyone with information on the incidents is asked to contact the La Crosse Police Department at 608-782-7575. Anonymous tips can be left with La Crosse Area Crime Stoppers at 608-784-8477 or online at lacrossecrimestoppers.com.
Concern about whether proper notice was given to towns about a proposal to expand ATV routes in their areas led to contention Thursday at the La Crosse County Board of Supervisors meeting.

A vote to add more ATV options in the towns of Barre, Washington and Greenfield was postponed to March 21 based on concerns raised by Supervisor Dillon Mader.

Mader said proper notice of the application was not given to the towns involved.

With any ATV route application, the municipality associated with it and the county highway department must post information about proposed routes on their websites. The towns of Barre, Washington and Greenfield did not post proper notice on their websites for this application, he said.

Im not sure why that occurred but I do think that represents a pretty significant gap in our process, and at very best people were only able to comment if they saw the highway departments posting, Mader said.

Several other supervisors defended the resolution, and said the towns expected the resolution to pass so they could move forward with their own ordinances.

In the town of Washington, the town of Barre and the town of Greenfield, all of the boards in those three towns are in favor and want these county roads opened, Supervisor Dennis Jacobsen said. Its on the agenda in their next meetings in anticipation of this passing.

Some supervisors argued that a lack of ATV route ordinances and public notice in the towns meant there was not enough evidence to support the publics approval of the countys routes. The only ordinance for ATV routes in the towns was begun Jan. 9, when the town of Barre board approved a motion to begin work on an ordinance for ATV approval within the town.

After almost half an hour of deliberations, Supervisor Patrick Scheller motioned to curb the vote until March so the public notices could be made and the towns could gather more evidence for their towns respective approvals. The motion passed 19-9, with one member excused.

Grants approved

The County Board unanimously approved Connect and Protect grant funds for mental health crisis response in the city of La Crosse.

The city secured the grant through the Bureau of Justice Assistance, and the countys Human Services Crisis Program will receive part of the grant as a collaborative entity.

The grant totals around $400,000, and the county will receive about $157,000 of this over a three-year period. For the first two years, the county will match 20% of the grant each year and 40% of the grant in the third year. This match has been budgeted by a position in the countys human services department already.

The Connect and Protect grant aims to increase the countys Mental Health Crisis division ability to respond to mental health calls alongside the La Crosse Police Department. These responses attempt to divert people undergoing a mental health crisis away from jails and hospitals by providing more appropriate intervention. The grant allows a crisis social worker to co-respond to mental health calls with a police officer for more hours in the day. The hours will expand from noon to 4 p.m. into noon to 9 p.m.

The county also accepted a grant from the state Department of Health Services to support substance abuse prevention, treatment and recovery. This funding assists the county in providing treatment for uninsured individuals, virtual consultation and more support for Coulee Recovery Center.

This grant secured about $80,000 for a one-year period. It is the fourth year the county accepted this supplemental funding from the Wisconsin DHS.

There are only two more regular county board meetings scheduled before the spring election. The 2024 spring election will take place April 2.

Richmond resigns

The board also announced Supervisor Andrea Richmonds resignation effective Jan. 12. Richmond moved out of her district in the North Side of La Crosse to Onalaska, and no longer represents her district. She served on the board from 2004 to 2022, and was appointed in 2023 when Pelli Lee resigned in April that year. Her seat will remain empty until the April board election.
In two different community halls over Thursday afternoon, the Natural Resources Conservation Service presented its plan to decommission all but one dam between the Coon Creek and West Fork Kickapoo watersheds.

In 2018, historic rainfall of 11 inches in a six-hour span breached five dams across the two watersheds. The extensive damage downstream in Coon Valley and Vernon County destroyed homes, roads and farmland.

The dams suffered sudden failures after internal erosion weakened their ability to support the rainfall of a 500-year storm event like the 2018 flood. Without technological features like fractured rock treatment and proper spillways, the dams were at a severe disadvantage. Because internal erosion is difficult to detect, the next flood could breach any of the dams suddenly and catastrophically.

Steve Becker of the Natural Resources Conservation Service compared the failures to the infamous Teton Dam collapse in Idaho in 1976. Both were earthen dams that suffered internal erosion issues and burst suddenly despite appearing to have no troubles.

The Coon Creek and West Fork Kickapoo dams were completed before the Teton Dam collapse, so lessons learned there could not be applied in the Driftless Region.

When all had settled after the 2018 breaches, a choice was left in the air on what would happen next to these dams. The Natural Resources Conservation Services preferred decision was decommission over repair and rebuilds.

Cost-benefit

After spending about $1 million to study the issue, the Natural Resources Conservation Service examined several options and selected decommissioning all the dams in the two watersheds for their cost-benefit analysis compared to other options.

Before you dive into a dam repair, you have to step back and ask yourself if its really worth it, Becker said. Its a huge, expensive undertaking.

The original plans for the dams valued the benefits of flood prevention at $1.20 for every $1 spent on the project. Post-flooding, the Coon Creek dams actually brought $0.90 for every $1, and West Fork Kickapoo $0.30 for every $1 before recreational value was added, according to the study.

After including the recreational value of the Jersey Valley Dam, the West Fork Kickapoo watershed earned $1.68 in benefits per $1 of construction and maintenance. This analysis earned Jersey Valley Dam the one exception to decommission. A replacement with recreational water will be built with concrete spillways 800-1,000 feet downstream from the current dam.

To build replacements for all the other dams, the bill would be around $86 million. The studys authors found it too difficult to run cost-benefit comparisons between replacement and decommissioning because of the amount of uncertainty that plays into decommissioning. The issue is the difficulty in predicting how much damage decommissioning will prevent because they dont know the severity or timing of future floods.

Contracted economists on the decommissioning project established the replacement cost is too high. The only deal the federal government will agree to fully fund is decommission. There will be some limited cost to respective counties for administration and permits, but the decommissioning is otherwise funded at an estimated $12 million.

An archaeological study by UW-Milwaukee concluded there is no historical harm in letting the waterways flow freely. A wildlife study on the projects impact found that removing the dams would recreate continuity of the streams feeding into the dams. There were also no alarming levels of PFAS, pesticides or heavy metals found in the soil or water.

Next steps

Some community members said the draft plan for decommissioning the dams left many people in the valleys high and dry. So far, the plan for the dams is simply to decommission them.

This has a much greater effect than just the stream levels rising, said Eric Weninger. People want something moving forward, and it kind of seems like theres nothing.

Ben Wojahn, Vernon County conservationist, defended the decommissioning as enough of a plan for the time being. He said another opportunity for total federal funding will not happen, and the community should take it and figure out next steps once the deal is accepted.

The Natural Resources Conservation Service and others on the project will take public comments online until Feb. 20. All comments will be addressed and entered into the official record for project managers to consider.

A final plan will be made available around April 1 for the public and counties considerations. After 30 days, the plan will go to the Natural Resources Conservation Service and county boards for consideration. Funding can then be requested to deconstruct the dams.

The dams will be decommissioned by creating large notches into the earthen structures. This prevents a large sediment exodus downstream while still letting water flow more freely. For the Natural Resources Conservation Service, this would be the end.

There are more options that the Natural Resources Conservation Service proposed could happen after the dams are removed. Farmers in the floodplains that would be most affected by new water flow could convert agricultural land into pasture land to prevent flooding. With more consistent and grounded soil, water will not travel as far in a floodplain.

Small farmer ponds could also be constructed downstream of the dams, staggering the water flow instead of allowing it to move in one giant push. The Natural Resources Conservation Service said the federal government has no jurisdiction to make this happen on private land, and will not fund either option outright.

However, through Regional Conservation Partnership Program or Environmental Quality Incentives Program grants, the communities affected by new waterflow could come together to seek federal funding on their own.

For an interactive map to see how pre and post-dam water levels could affect specific areas, go to www.wfkandccwatersheds.com and find the Online Mapping Viewer. The full draft plan can also be found at the website, and public comments can be provided for the official record there as well.
On 18 January Brazils federal police (PF) searched the home and office of federal deputy(Partido Liberal, PL), leader of the opposition bloc in the lower house, as part of investigations into alleged anti-democratic acts.

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On 18 January Mexicos Presidentoutlined plans for a reform to disappear autonomous institutions.

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On 18 January the third round of peace talks between the Colombian government and the Estado Mayor Central (EMC), an alliance of dissident units of the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (Farc) guerrilla group, concluded with a number of agreements.

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Genetic researchers at the University of Cambridge in Britain say ancient DNA shows why northern Europeans have a higher risk of getting a nerve disease than other Europeans.

The disease is called multiple sclerosis or MS. The researchers said the risk lies in genes from horse-riding cattle herders who entered northern Europe about 5,000 years ago.

The findings come from a huge project to compare modern DNA with ancient genetic material taken from human remains including teeth and bones.

A study released last year said it identified the earliest evidence of horse riding in people called the Yamnaya. The scientists say they lived 4,500 to 5,000 years ago during the Bronze Age period of human history.

The Yamnaya moved from the grasslands of what is now Ukraine and Russia into northwestern Europe. However, the researchers say those people carried gene versions that today are known to increase a persons risk of multiple sclerosis.

The researchers added that they believe the same genes protected those herders from infections from their cattle and sheep.

The research was published in Nature, a scientific publication.

William Barrie is a genetic researcher at Cambridge. He helped write the study. He said everyone involved was surprised. These variants were giving these people an advantage of some kind, he said.

The finding was made possible by a gene bank with thousands of examples of early humans in Europe and western Asia. That project is led by Eske Willerslev of Cambridge and the University of Copenhagen in Denmark.

While MS can strike any population it is most common among white descendants of northern Europeans. Scientists have been unable to explain why.

The cause of the disease is not known. However, one theory is that infections could cause it in people who have certain genetic qualities. Scientists say they have found 230 genetic variants that might increase the risk of MS.

The researchers studied DNA from about 1,600 ancient Eurasians. They used the information to develop of map of population movements in northern Europe. They said farmers from the Middle East began pushing out hunter-gatherers about 5,000 years ago. Then the Yamnaya moved in. They traveled with horses and wagons and herded cattle and sheep.

The research team compared the ancient DNA to the genetic information of 400,000 modern-day people stored in UK Biobank in Britain. They wanted to see if MS-linked genetic variations persisted in the north. That is the part of Europe where the Yamnaya moved, rather than southern Europe.

In what is now Denmark, the Yamnaya replaced ancient farmers, making them the closest ancestors of modern Danes, Willerslev said.

Rates of MS are especially high in the northern part of Europe known as Scandinavia.

The findings raise additional questions and suggest a need for more research. One of the writers of the study, Astrid Iverson of Oxford University, questioned why a gene variant that seems to have strengthened immunity later plays a part in causing what is believed to be an autoimmune disease. Differences in how modern humans are exposed to animal germs might push the immune system out of balance, she said.

Im Mario Ritter, Jr.

Lauran Neergaard reported this story for the Associated Press. Mario Ritter, Jr. adapted it for VOA Learning English.

_____________________________________________

Words in This Story

herder n. a person who keeps and cares for animals that live in large groups like cattle and sheep

variant n. a version of something that has a small difference

advantage n. something that makes success more likely

immunity n. the ability to resist disease

autoimmune disease n. a condition in which the bodys own defenses against infection attack substances that the body itself creates

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Indira Gandhi, only daughter of Indias first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru, is to become the countrys next leader.

She was chosen at the end of a bitter leadership battle with former finance minister Morarji Desai.

Following her win, Mrs Gandhi pledged herself to serve the Congress Party and the country, and said she would strive to create what my father used to call a climate of peace.

Crowds had gathered outside Parliament House while the election was held, and cheered Mrs Gandhi wildly as she went to the Presidents House to report.

She will not become prime minister until she submits her cabinet to the president.

Mrs Gandhi did not confirm she would be a candidate until four days ago, when chief ministers from 11 of Indias 16 states let it be known they would support her to take over.

Another leading candidate, Gulzarilal Nanda, withdrew once it was clear Mrs Gandhi would be running.

He has been acting as prime minister since the unexpected death of Mr Nehrus successor, Lal Bahadur Shastri, earlier this month.

Mr Desai was under extreme pressure to pull out as well and avoid a potentially damaging leadership contest, but he insisted on going to a vote.

It was predicted he would get less than 100 of the 526 votes from Congress MPs, but he surprised many by winning 169 votes to Mrs Gandhis 355.

Afterwards, Mr Desai pledged to cooperate fully with Mrs Gandhi. It is the second time running he has been defeated in a leadership contest: the first time, against Mr Shastri, he withdrew his candidacy without a vote.

Mrs Gandhi, 48, was educated at West Bengal and Oxford and has two sons, Rajiv and Sanjay, who are both studying in England.

She gets her name not from Mahatma Gandhi, the legendary independence campaigner and founder of the Congress Party, but from her husband Feroze Gandhi, a lawyer who died in 1960.

The couple spent 13 months in prison for subversion after fighting against British rule in India during the 1940s.

She has played a key part in the Congress Party since 1955, and served as information minister in Mr Shastris government.

Courtesy BBC News

In context

Morarji Desai went on to form a right-wing faction opposed to Mrs Gandhi within the Congress Party.

Nevertheless, she won general election victories in 1967 and 1971.

She presided over the 1971 conflict with Pakistan which created Bangladesh.

She subsequently lost the 1977 general election to Morarji Desai, who headed Janata, part of an alliance of opposition parties.

His coalition broke apart in 1979, however, and Mrs Gandhi returned to power.

In 1984 she ordered the storming of the Golden Temple in Amritsar to flush out Sikh militants pursuing self-rule for Punjab.

Two months later, she was assassinated by her own Sikh bodyguards. About 1000 people, mostly Sikhs, died in the four days of rioting which followed her murder.

Her eldest son, Rajiv, succeeded her as prime minister. He too was assassinated in 1991.
Irelands prime minister extended a warm welcome to visiting Chinese Premier Li Qiang yesterday [Macau time], saying his country wanted a strong and constructive relationship with China despite not agreeing on some issues.

Prime Minister Leo Varadkar and Li, Chinas No. 2 leader and a close confidant of Chinese President Xi Jinping, struck an upbeat note after a bilateral meeting.

There is huge potential in our cooperation, Li said.

Troops formed a guard of honor outside Irelands state guest house to greet Li. A military band played as he inspected the soldiers.

Ireland was the third European country Li has visited since he was appointed as Chinas top economic official last March.

He made the European Union the destination for his first trip abroad last summer, visiting Germany and France, Europes leading economies, amid growing calls for the European Union to de-risk  avoid overreliance on Chinese trade  and tensions over Beijings stance on Russias war in Ukraine.

Varadkar said that China has an indispensable global role in overcoming challenges from climate change to security issues including the conflicts in Ukraine, the Middle East and Myanmar.

We want to have a very strong and constructive relationship with China. One based on trust and respect, and one informed by our values and the multilateral system in which were both stakeholders, he said.

Of course, we wont find agreement on everything but I hope well always speak frankly and respectfully to each other, and candidly, as we did today, Varadkar added.

The Irish leader said trade between the countries has tripled in the past five years and that there was a clear desire on both sides to increase investment. China is Irelands fourth-largest trade partner and fifth- largest export market.

Varadkar also said that China agreed to immediately reopen its market to Irish beef. Chinese authorities suspended the exports in November after Irish veterinary officials discovered a case of atypical bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad cow disease.

Varadkar said Irish officials raised human rights concerns related to Xinjiang, Tibet, Hong Kong, Macau and the trial of Hong Kong media mogul Jimmy Lai.

He said Li was happy to discuss the matters, but added: I think its fair to say that they would have a very different view of the facts and dispute a lot of whats said in the media.

This is the first time a senior Chinese leader has visited Ireland since Lis predecessor, Li Keqiang, visited in 2015. He arrived from the World Economic Forum at Davos, Switzerland, where he pitched China as an investment opportunity despite its slowing economy.

Chinas Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said that Lis visit to Switzerland and Ireland would kick off the high-level exchanges between China and Europe in 2024.

The visits are seen by some as an effort to smooth over simmering tensions over trade imbalances and security concerns over technologies linked to the Chinese government.

Like the U.S., the EU has rejected the prospect of decoupling with the Chinese economy, instead stressing the need to de-risk and better protect its vital economic sectors. SYLVIA HUI, MDT/AP
China and the Philippines said they have agreed to work on lowering tensions after a year of public and tense confrontations in the South China Sea between their ships that have raised concerns of armed engagement in the region.

Chinas Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday that the two sides agreed to continue to improve communication and use friendly negotiations to manage their differences at sea, especially to manage well the situation at RenAi reef.

RenAi reef is the Chinese name for what the Philippines call Ayungin Shoal and the U.S. calls the Second Thomas Shoal, the site of multiple confrontations between the two countries ships in recent months.

In November, Manila said that a Chinese coast guard ship and accompanying vessels conducted dangerous maneuvers and blasted a Philippine supply ship with a water cannon in disputed waters. China disputed the account, saying it acted appropriately.

China and the Philippines said they agreed to limit tensions at a meeting on the South China Sea on Wednesday in Shanghai, the eighth in a series that began in 2017.

The two sides had frank and productive discussions to de-escalate the situation in the South China Sea and both sides agreed to calmly deal with incidents, if any, through diplomacy, the Philippines Department of Foreign Affairs said in a statement Wednesday.
A nickel processing hub in eastern Indonesia, financed by Chinese and French entities, is contributing to deforestation and pollution in the area, a report by US-based NGO Climate Rights International revealed this week, according to an AFP dispatch yesterday.

This development comes as China places significant investments in the metal essential for electric vehicle (EV) batteries.

Indonesia, a leading global nickel producer, has attracted substantial interest from both domestic and international firms aiming to mine this crucial component for EVs. The focus is on the Weda Bay Industrial Park located on Halmahera Island in the Maluku region.

The park is causing significant deforestation, air and water pollution, and emitting massive amounts of greenhouse gases from captive coal plants, the NGO stated in its Wednesday report.

The report highlighted the cutting of at least 5,331 hectares of tropical forests within nickel mining concessions on Halmahera, resulting in a loss of approximately 2.04 metric tons of stored greenhouse gases (CO2e).

The parks operations are managed by a joint venture between three China-based companiesTsingshan, Huayou Cobalt, and Zhenshi Holding Groupwith Frances Eramet also being a key investor.

Local inhabitants, in their accounts to the NGO, accused the companies of land grabbing and intimidation, facilitated by the police.

Since 2018, the industrial park has established five coal-powered plants to operate its smelting facilities and intends to build 12 more, a scale of coal consumption surpassing that of countries like Spain or Brazil.

The NGO urged the plants management to address the water and air pollution caused by their activities and called for appropriate disposal of mine tailings by nickel companies to reduce environmental harm.

Responses to AFPs inquiries for comment from Tsingshan, Huayou, Zhenshi, Eramet, and the industrial park were not immediately available.

Chinas escalating involvement in Indonesias nickel sector has sparked concerns over labor conditions and the hidden costs of Jakartas aspiration to be a key player in the EV supply chain, AFP said.

Recently, Indonesian workers protested at a nickel plant on Sulawesi Island following an explosion that caused at least 19 fatalities and numerous injuries.

Indonesia boasts the largest nickel reserves in the world, holding over 21 million tonnes and accounting for more than 20% of the global total. MDT/Agencies
Pakistans air force launched retaliatory airstrikes yesterday in Iran allegedly targeting militant hideouts, an attack that killed at least nine people and further raised tensions between the neighboring nations.

The tit-for-tat attacks Tuesday and Thursday appeared to target two Baluch militant groups with similar separatist goals on both sides of the Iran-Pakistan border. However, the two countries have accused each other of providing safe haven to the groups in their respective territories.

The strikes imperil diplomatic relations between the two neighbors, as Iran and nuclear-armed Pakistan have long regarded each other with suspicion over militant attacks. Each nation also faces its own internal political pressures  and the strikes may in part be in response to that.

The attacks also come as the Middle East remains unsettled by Israels war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Iran also staged airstrikes late Monday in Iraq and Syria over an Islamic State-claimed suicide bombing that killed over 90 people in early January.

Pakistans Foreign Ministry described their attack yesterday as a series of highly coordinated and specifically targeted precision military strikes.

This mornings action was taken in light of credible intelligence of impending large scale terrorist activities, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement. This action is a manifestation of Pakistans unflinching resolve to protect and defend its national security against all threats.

Pakistans military described using killer drones, rockets, loitering munitions and standoff weapons in the attack. Stand-off weapons are missiles fired from aircraft at a distance  likely meaning Pakistans fighter jets didnt enter Iranian airspace.

Pakistans caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul-Haq-Kakar, who is in Switzerland to attend the World Economic Forum in Davos, cut his trip short to return home, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said. Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani is also returning home from a trip to Uganda.

A deputy governor of Irans Sistan and Baluchestan province, Ali Reza Marhamati, gave the casualty figures from the strike, saying the dead included three women, four children and two men near the town of Saravan along the border in Irans Sistan and Baluchestan province. He added that the dead were not Iranian citizens and acknowledged a separate blast near Saravan as well.

The Baluch Liberation Army, an ethnic separatist group thats operated in the region since 2000, said in a statement the strikes targeted and killed its people.

Pakistan will have to pay a price for it, the group warned. Now the Baluch Liberation Army will not remain silent. We will avenge it and we announce war on the state of Pakistan.

HalVash, an advocacy group for the Baluch people, shared images online that appeared to show the remains of the munitions used in the attack. It said a number of homes had been struck in Saravan. It shared videos showing a mud-walled building destroyed and smoke rising over the strike immediately after.

Iran later summoned Pakistans charge daffaires in the country. Pakistan already had withdrawn its ambassador over Tuesdays attack.

Pakistan named its operation Marg Bar Sarmachar. In Iranian Farsi, marg bar means death to  and is a famous saying in Iran since its 1979 Islamic Revolution used to refer to both the United States and Israel. In the local Baluch language, sarmachar means guerrilla and is used by the militants operating in the cross-border region.

Pakistans Baluchistan province, as well as Irans neighboring Sistan and Baluchestan province, already have faced a low-level insurgency by Baluch nationalists for more than two decades.

However, the groups targeted in the days of strikes are different. Jaish al-Adl, the Sunni separatist group that Iran targeted Tuesday, grew out of another Islamic extremist group known as Jundallah once alleged to have ties to al-Qaida. Jaish al-Adl has long been suspected of operating out of Pakistan and launching attacks on Iranian security forces.

The Baluch Liberation Army, which has no religious component and has launched attacks against Pakistani security forces and Chinese interests, is suspected of hiding out in Iran.

Both Iran and Pakistan face internal political pressures. For Iran, theres been growing pressure for action after the Islamic State group attack, Israels war on Hamas and wider unrest against its theocracy. Meanwhile, Pakistan faces a crucial February general election as its military remains a powerful force in its politics.

The risk of escalation remained yesterday as Irans military will begin a planned annual air defense drill from its port of Chabahar near Pakistan all across the south of the country to Iraq. The drill, Velayat 1402, will include live fire from aircraft, drones and air defense systems.

Iran and Pakistan share a 900-kilometer, largely lawless border in which smugglers and militants freely pass between the two nations. The route is also key to global opium shipments coming out of Afghanistan.

For both Iran and Pakistan, the cross-border attacks renew questions about the preparedness of their own militaries, particularly their radar and air defense systems.

For Pakistan, such systems are crucial as tensions always remain at a low boil with India, their nuclear-armed rival. Their equipment has long been deployed along the frontier, rather than its border with Iran. For Iran, it relies on those systems against potential strikes by its main enemy, the U.S.

The government and military have been under immense pressure, said Abdullah Khan, an analyst at the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies. Iran celebrated (Tuesdays) attack in its media and the Pakistani public perception of a strong army is not as it used to be, so it had to respond.

Theres also complex geopolitical considerations in the tensions. Pakistans military relies on American, Chinese and French fighter jets for its air force  meaning some of those foreign weapons were used in yesterdays attack.

China, a crucial partner in both countries, has urged restraint. Beijing is a key regional player and has a major Belt and Road development in Gwadar port in Pakistans Baluchistan province. Baloch, the Foreign Ministry spokesperson, said she was not aware of any direct Chinese mediation in the conflict so far, though Beijing has offered it.

China sincerely hopes that both sides can exercise calm and restraint and avoid escalation of tension, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said yesterday. MUNIR AHMED & JON GAMBRELL, ISLAMABAD, MDT/AP
An Israeli airstrike on a home killed 16 people, half of them children, in the southern Gaza town of Rafah, medics said yesterday. The military continued to strike targets in areas of the besieged territory where it has told civilians to seek refuge.

There was meanwhile no word on whether medicines that entered the territory Wednesday as part of a deal brokered by France and Qatar had been distributed to dozens hostages with chronic illnesses who are being held by Hamas.

More than 100 days after Hamas triggered the war with its Oct. 7 attack, Israel continues to wage one of the deadliest and most destructive military campaigns in recent history, with the goal of dismantling the militant group that has ruled Gaza since 2007 and returning scores of captives. The war has stoked tensions across the region, threatening to ignite other conflicts.

More than 24,000 Palestinians have been killed, some 85% of the narrow coastal territorys 2.3 million people have fled their homes, and the United Nations says a quarter of the population is starving.

Hundreds of thousands have heeded Israeli evacuation orders and packed into southern Gaza, where shelters run by the United Nations are overflowing and massive tent camps have gone up. But Israel has continued to strike what it says are militant targets in all parts of Gaza, often killing women and children.

Dr. Talat Barhoum at Rafahs el-Najjar Hospital confirmed the death toll from the strike in Rafah and said dozens more were wounded. Associated Press footage from the hospital showed relatives weeping over the bodies of loved ones.

They were suffering from hunger, they were dying from hunger, and now they have also been hit, said Mahmoud Qassim, a relative of some of those who were killed.

Internet and mobile services in Gaza have been down for five days, the longest of several outages during the war, according to internet access advocacy group NetBlocks. The outages complicate rescue efforts and make it difficult to obtain information about the latest strikes and casualties.

WAR REVERBERATES ACROSS REGION

The war has rippled across the Middle East, with Iran-backed groups attacking U.S. and Israeli targets. Low-intensity fighting between Israel and Hezbollah militants in Lebanon threatens to erupt into all-out war, and Houthi rebels in Yemen continue to target international shipping despite United States-led airstrikes.

Iran has launched a series of missile attacks targeting what it described as an Israeli spy base in Iraq and militant bases in Syria as well as in Pakistan, which carried out reprisal strikes against what it described as militant hideouts in Iran yesterday (see p9).

It was not clear if the strikes in Syria and Pakistan were related to the Gaza war. But they showcased Irans ability to carry out long-range missile attacks at a time of heightened tensions with Israel and the U.S., which has provided crucial support for the Gaza offensive and carried out its own strikes against Iran-allied groups in Syria and Iraq.

Israel has vowed to dismantle Hamas to ensure it can never repeat an attack like the one on Oct. 7. Militants burst through Israels border defenses and stormed through several communities that day, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking around 250 hostage.

Israel has also vowed to return all the hostages remaining in captivity after more than 100  mostly women and children  were released during a November cease-fire in exchange for the release of scores of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.

Family members and supporters were marking the first birthday of Kfir Bibas, the youngest Israeli hostage, in a somber ceremony Thursday in Tel Aviv.

The red-haired infant and his 4-year-old brother Ariel were captured along with their mother, Shiri, and their father, Yarden. All four remain in captivity.

MEDICINES BOUND FOR HOSTAGES ENTER GAZA

The agreement to ship in medicines was the first to be brokered between the warring sides since November. Hamas said that for every box of medicine bound for the hostages, 1,000 would be sent for Palestinian civilians, in addition to food and humanitarian aid.

Qatar confirmed late Wednesday that the medicine had entered Gaza, but it was not yet clear if it had been distributed to the hostages, who are being held in secret locations, including underground bunkers.

Hamas has continued to fight back across Gaza, even in the most devastated areas, and launch rockets into Israel. It says it will not release any more hostages until there is a permanent cease-fire, something Israel and the United States, its top ally, have ruled out. NAJIB JOBAIN and BASSEM MROUE, RAFAH, MDT/AP
Japan signed a deal with the United States yesterday to purchase up to 400 Tomahawk cruise missiles as part of its ongoing military buildup in response to increased regional threats.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishidas government has pledged to double its annual defense spending to around 10 trillion yen ($68 billion) by 2027, which would make Japan the worlds third-biggest military spender after the United States and China.

Defense Minister Minoru Kihara announced in December a decision to accelerate deployment of some Tomahawks and Japanese-made Type 12 surface-to-ship missiles beginning in fiscal year 2025, a year before the original plan. The government says Japan is facing its severest security environment since World War II because of threats from China and North Korea, causing it to increase military cooperation with the U.S., Australia, Britain and other friendly nations.

In November, the U.S. approved a $2.35 billion sale of two types of Tomahawks  200 Block IV missiles and 200 upgraded Block V versions. They can be launched from warships and hit targets 1,600 kilometers away, officials said.

The signing of the purchase agreement was attended by Kihara and U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel.

Japan and the United States agreed to expedite the deployment in response to the increasingly severe security environment, Kihara said.

Emanuel said training of Japanese servicemembers for the Tomahawks will start in March.

Late last year, Japans Cabinet eased a ban on exports of lethal weapons, allowing the sale of Japanese-made weapons and components made under license from other nations to those countries. The government quickly approved a shipment of Japanese-made Patriot missiles to the United States to complement the U.S. inventory.

Japan is accelerating its deployment of long-range cruise missiles capable of hitting targets in China or North Korea, while Japanese troops increasingly work side-by-side with the U.S. and other friendly nations and take on more offensive roles, AP says.

At a news conference earlier yesterday marking the end of his second year in Tokyo, Emanuel lauded Japans rapid move during that time to build up its military and strengthen its alliance with the U.S. to meet challenges in the region.

Under a new defense strategy adopted in December 2022, Japan has joined the United States, Australia, South Korea and many other regional partners in an aligned vision of how to promote peace and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific and meet the challenges head on, Emanuel said.

The U.S. approach to its partnership with Japan is one of ensuring deterrence and making sure there is no change in the region by military force, Emanuel said.

There is a new Japan emerging, a more competent Japan, he said. MARI YAMAGUCHI, TOKYO, MDT/AP
To commemorate the centenary of the birth of the late Henrique de Senna Fernandes, a Portuguese lawyer and writer in Macau during the last century, a cultural magazine published by the Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC) features a column highlighting studies on the lawyers works and subsequent adaptations. These studies were conducted by academics from both Macau and overseas. The magazines issue will include at least five articles on Senna Fernandess works and subsequent adaptations. The IC invites academics to submit their articles or studies for publication in the magazine.

Related
The director of the Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO), Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes anticipates an average of 120,000 visitors to Macau per day during the Lunar New Year (CNY) period.

At the sidelines of a press conference unveiling the festive seasons activities at the Macau Tower yesterday morning, Senna Fernandes commented, We are expecting some 120,000 visitors per day during the eight days of the Chinese New Year. This year, we will have a total of eight days. We have a broad program to attract and entertain those tourists over this period, she said.

The longer holiday period will occur as the first day falls on a Saturday (February 10), which extends the holiday period due to the weekend and compensation days.

This month, the daily average of visitors entering Macau is around 70,000 to 80,000 per day, reaching over 100,000 on weekends. This stable baseline has led the MGTO to expect to reach about 33 million visitors for the entire year by the end of 2024.

Considering the 25th anniversary of Macaus handover this year, Senna Fernandes said that MGTO aims to focus on revitalizing overseas markets and attracting more international visitation.

In the first half of 2024, the MGTO will continue its road show promotion in South Asian countries, with events scheduled in Thailand and Malaysia. Preparations are also underway for promoting Macau in European countries, with the MGTO to attend tourism fairs in Portugal and Spain this year.
The Monetary Authority of Macao (AMCM) has issued a warning regarding an impostor website mimicking the local payment service operator Macau Pass. The payment operator has also been asked to post a warning on its website to inform users. The AMCM advised the public to exercise caution and recommended that users verify information reportedly from financial institutions with those institutions to avoid potential loss. Assistance can be sought from the Judiciary Police at 8800 7777 or 993 if needed.

Related
The termination of the concession contract for horse racing and betting activities, achieved through agreement, will result in a refund of an approximately MOP15 million security deposit to the Macau Horse Race Company, Ltd. (MJC) under section six of the agreement signed between the government and the company.

The agreement specifies at section six, the refund of the security deposit paid under the terms of Article 26 of the contract granting the exclusive operation of horse racing will only be carried out after adequate treatment of the matters provided for in this contract and without any compensation or payment of any amount in debt from the second party [MJC].

The matters governed by the contract relate to the handling of horses as well as workers labor rights.

Although the security deposit amount is not explicitly stated in the agreement, previous contracts reviewed by the Times indicate that this sum is linked to the annual land rent of the MJC and should be regularly updated based on the annual land premium.

According to information from the last contract in 2018, this sum is estimated at MOP15 million, a figure that the government must reimburse to the MJC. However, account reports from the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau and Financial Services Bureau reveal that this rent amount has been waived over several years.
Its been nearly two years since the United States and its allies froze hundreds of billions of dollars in Russian foreign holdings in retaliation for Moscows invasion of Ukraine. That roughly $300 billion in Russian Central Bank money has been sitting untapped as the war grinds on, while officials from multiple countries have debated the legality of sending the money to Ukraine.

The idea of using Russias frozen assets is gaining new traction lately as continued allied funding for Ukraine becomes more uncertain and the U.S. Congress is in a stalemate over providing more support. But there are tradeoffs since the weaponization of global finance could harm the U.S. dollars standing as the worlds dominant currency.

At this weeks World Economic Forum meetings in Davos, Switzerland, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called for a strong decision this year for the frozen assets in Western banks to be directed towards defense against the Russian war and for reconstruction of Ukraine.

Putin loves money above all, he said. The more billions he and his oligarchs, friends and accomplices lose, the more likely he will regret starting this war.

Biden administration officials who previously dismissed the idea as legally cumbersome are showing growing openness to the idea.

Penny Pritzker, the U.S. special representative for Ukraines economic recovery, said at the Davos forum that the U.S. and Group of Seven allies are still looking for an adequate legal framework to pursue the plan.

Get all the lawyers and all the various governments and all the parties really to come together to sort that through, she said. Its hard, its complicated, its difficult, and we need to work.

Administration officials caution that even if a legal way can be found to transfer the frozen dollars to Ukraine, the war-torn nation has immediate needs for funds that must be met by other means since U.S. assistance to Ukraines military has ground to a halt.

Bipartisan legislation circulating in Washington called the Rebuilding Economic Prosperity and Opportunity for Ukrainians Act would use assets confiscated from the Russian Central Bank and other sovereign assets for Ukraine.

A senior official who spoke on condition of anonymity to relay internal discussions said the administration was generally supportive of legislation to give the U.S. more flexibility in making sure Russia pays for the damage it has caused and is in active conversations with allies on how best to do that.

But even if legislation were enacted, Nicholas Mulder, a sanctions expert at Cornell University, cautioned that seizing frozen assets could have the unintended effect of undermining efforts to ensure longer-term funding for Ukraine.

Right now it is being advanced by Washington as a substitute rather than a complement to long-term Western support for Ukraine, he said. If the assets are transferred, these funds too will run out sooner or later. But by that time Western leaders will have ceased to make any political case for supporting Ukraine, and getting support back up will be much harder.

The U.S. announced at the start of Russias invasion that America and its allies had blocked access to more than $600 billion that Russia held outside its borders  including roughly $300 billion in funds belonging to Russias Central Bank. Since then, the U.S and its allies have continued to impose rounds of targeted sanctions against companies and the wealthy elite with ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The World Banks latest damage assessment of Ukraine, released in March 2023, estimates that costs for reconstruction and recovery of the nation stand at $411 billion over the next 10 years, which includes needs for public and private funds.

Since the war began in February 2022, the United States has given Ukraine roughly $111 billion in weapons, equipment, humanitarian assistance and other aid. Other countries also have provided Ukraine with substantial support  the U.K. announced a $3 billion assistance package on Friday.

At the White House, Office of Management and Budget Director Shalanda Young this month told a group of reporters that while the possibility of seizing Russian assets is being studied, it would not have an immediate impact on Ukraines financial needs.

That does not absolve the need to provide funding now, Young said. That is a future benefit to Kyiv I think we should look at and take seriously.

Sergey Aleksashenko, a former Russian Central Banker who is now a member of the Russian Antiwar Committee with other dissidents, said that while he strongly believes Russia should be forced to compensate Ukraine, I do not believe that there is any way to confiscate assets of the Russian Central Bank without a court deciding on the matter.

Because if there is no legal basis to confiscate Russian assets, and if it is done by the decision of the administration, that means that there is no rule of law in the U.S. and there is no protection of private property.

He said an administrative decision to confiscate Russias assets could prompt nations like China  the biggest holder of U.S. Treasuries  to determine that it is not safe to keep its reserves in U.S. dollars.

There are some efforts under way to seize Russian funds and those of sanctioned oligarchs under limited circumstances. Last May, the Justice Department announced that it had transferred $5.4 million seized from Russian tycoon Konstantin Malofeyev to a State Department fund for rebuilding Ukraine.

And in December, Germanys federal prosecutor filed a motion for asset forfeiture concerning more than 720 million euros ($789 million) deposited by a Russian financial institution in a Frankfurt bank account because of a suspected attempt to violate embargo regulations.

Belgium, which is holding the rotating presidency of the European Union bloc for the next six months, is now leading the talks on whether to seize Russias assets. Belgium is also the country where most frozen Russian assets under sanctions are being held.

The country is collecting taxes on the assets. Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said in October that 1.7 billion euros ($1.8 billion) in tax collections was already available and that the money would be used to buy military equipment, humanitarian aid and help with the rebuilding of the war-torn country.

But EU countries are worried that going further by confiscating the assets could pave the way for serious legal problems and could also destabilize the financial system.

De Croo said this week he is hearing a lot of prudence when the issue of seizing assets is raised.

Its crucial that we stay within a legal framework, he said.

Maria Snegovaya, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, cautioned that if Ukraines immediate needs arent met, no amount of seized Russian assets is unfortunately going to compensate for what may happen.

And by then it is going to be very overwhelming. FATIMA HUSSEIN, WASHINGTON, MDT/AP
How ya doing? Mick Jagger asks the crowd, arriving for a club gig in Manhattan.

You read that right: A club gig. And how would YOU be doing if you were in a club and the house band turned out to be The Rolling Stones?

True, it wasnt a total surprise when Jagger, Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood, plus some invited musicians and one very high-profile guest, showed up to play at Racket NYC, capacity around 600, back in October. The crowd, industry folk and VIPs like Elvis Costello and Trevor Noah, had gathered to fete the release of Hackney Diamonds, the Stones first album of new songs in 18 years.

There were hopes, but most didnt know the band would be playing seven tunes  four from the new album and three longtime hits, including Jumpin Jack Flash. Few can say they were there, but now theres one way to recreate the experience: Hackney Diamonds (Live Edition), a two-disc CD out Friday, includes both the studio album and the live show.

Were gonna play old, were gonna play new! Jagger tells the crowd. First, the old: Shattered, in which the band sings about New York, of course, where the crime rates going up, up, up. That was back in 1978, but guess what, weve still got rats on the West Side (arguably more) and yes, bed bugs uptown, too.

We next get Angry, the big (now Grammy-nominated) single from Hackney Diamonds, in which Mick pleads, Dont get angry with me, I never caused you no pain. By the end, though, hes off to Brazil. And then Whole Wide World, with Richards and Wood sounding like theyre having an especially good time (in videos, the band is smiling a lot  surely energized by enthusiasm over the new album).

Everywhere Im looking theres memories of my past, the song goes, but these lads  now 80 (Mick and Keith) and 76 (Ronnie)  also give a nod to the future: And you think the party is over, but its only just begun

Another oldie, Tumbling Dice, features terrific backup vocals from Chanel Haynes. That aggressive vibe from Angry returns with Bite My Head Off  but alas no Paul McCartney, who played bass for the studio album. Might Sir Paul join the band on a tour date? One can dream.

A rollicking Jumpin Jack Flash, often the bands encore song, closes out the show  well, for a second, because we know the Stones always come back.

And they do, with the gospel-infused Sweet Sounds of Heaven. Mick starts it off and then, sure enough, Lady Gaga comes out to do her vocal dueling thing with the frontman, the two trading Oh yeah! howls.

At the end, Gaga salutes this up-and-coming bar band: New York City, The Rolling Stones! Jagger suggests: Lets take a bow.

And now, on to the arenas. To anyone who saw them in this tiny venue: Congrats. For everyone else, the FOMO is real. JOCELYN NOVECK, MDT/AP
Friar Paolo Benanti wears the plain brown robes of his medieval Franciscan order as he pursues one of the most pressing issues in contemporary times: how to govern artificial intelligence so that it enriches  and doesnt exploit  peoples lives.

Benanti is the Vaticans go-to person on the technology and he has the ear of Pope Francis as well as some of Silicon Valleys top engineers and executives.

With a background in engineering, a doctorate in moral theology and a passion for what he calls the ethics of technology, the 50-year-old Italian priest is on an urgent mission that he shares with Francis, who, in his annual peace message for 2024, pushed for an international treaty to ensure the ethical use of AI technology.

What is the difference between a man who exists and a machine that functions? said Benanti in an interview this week with The Associated Press during a break at the Pontifical Gregoriana University, where he teaches courses such as moral theology and bioethics to students preparing for the priesthood. This is perhaps the greatest question of these times, because we are witnessing a challenge that every day grows more profound with a machine that is humanizing.

Benanti is a member of the United Nations Advisory Body on Artificial Intelligence as well as head of an Italian government commission tasked with providing recommendations on how to safeguard journalism from fake news and other disinformation. He is also a consultant to the Vaticans Pontifical Academy for Life.

Benanti says he helps better clarify the more technical terms for the Holy Father during their encounters. His knowledge came in handy for a 2023 meeting at the Vatican between Francis and Microsoft President Brad Smith that focused on how AI could help or hurt humanity.

Francis and Smith had also discussed artificial intelligence at the service of the common good during a meeting a few years earlier, according to the Vatican. With a papacy heavily attentive to those who live on societys margins, Francis has made clear his concern that AI technology could limit human rights by, say, negatively impacting a homebuyers mortgage application, a migrants asylum bid or an evaluation of an offenders likelihood to repeat a crime.

Its clear that if we choose some data that arent sufficiently inclusive, we will have some choices that arent inclusive, said Benanti, whose religious order was founded in the early 13th century by St. Francis of Assisi, who renounced earthly riches and promoted charitable works.

Microsoft first reached out to Benanti several years ago for his thoughts on technology, the friar said. In 2023, Smith did a podcast with Benanti in Rome, describing the friar as bringing one of the most fascinating combinations in the world in terms of his background in engineering, ethics and technology, to the AI debate.

Benanti, who was one year shy of obtaining his engineering degree at Romes Sapienza University when he forsook the degree  and also his girlfriend  to join the Franciscans in his 20s, described how AI could be a really powerful tool in bringing down the cost of medicine and empowering doctors to help more people. FRANCES DEMILIO, ROME, MDT/AP
Dane County prosecutors have dismissed a sexual assault charge against a man whose trial in November on the charge ended with a hung jury.

The motion by Assistant District Attorney John Rice to dismiss the case against Ivan I. Smart, 23, of Madison, puts to rest the question of whether prosecutors would retry the case against Smart. His trial ended Nov. 30 after jurors deadlocked after deliberations lasting about seven hours.

Smart was charged with second-degree sexual assault for the alleged assault of a 22-year-old woman in the back seat of an SUV after Smart and another man who was not charged in the case had picked up the woman on State Street on July 24, 2022, after bars had closed. She did not know the two men and had never met them before.

The woman testified that she was finally able to get out of the SUV at the intersection of East Washington Avenue and Baldwin Street after pushing Smart away from her and yelling at Smart and the other man that she wanted to go home.

Although the victim maintains the allegations against the defendant that gave rise to the charges and the state believes the victim, Rice wrote in a motion filed late Thursday, the state has weighed the risks of going to trial a second time, considered the trauma and impact on the victim and her family, carefully reviewed the evidence presented at the first trial, and after lengthy discussion, the state has concluded that the best course of action is to seek dismissal without prejudice.

Smarts attorney, state Assistant Public Defender Adam Welch, responded to the motion by stating he had no objection, and Circuit Judge David Conway signed an order Friday granting the dismissal.

The case had been set for a status conference next month, where it was to be decided whether prosecutors intended to retry Smart.

The jury of eight men and four women who were to decide on a verdict worked for about three hours before reporting to Conway that they were deadlocked 6-6. He told them to keep working, which they did for an hour before breaking for the night. Deliberations resumed the following morning, lasting another three hours.

At one point, the jury asked whether it could find Smart guilty of third-degree sexual assault, but Conway responded it could not because that was not a lesser included charge that they could consider.

In closing arguments, Welch said there was no proof that anything happened in the SUV and that the woman had provided contradictory testimony on such things as her level of intoxication and the number of drinks she had that night.

Prosecutors said the womans testimony was supported by nearly contemporaneous statements she made about the incident to friends, some of whom testified at the trial.
A 20-year-old man was arrested by the Madison Police Department's SWAT team on the city's Southwest Side Thursday on a raft of felony warrants, police said.

Officers served a search warrant just before 9 a.m. in the 900 block of Laurie Drive. The suspect was wanted for first-degree recklessly endangering safety, robbery, escape, four counts of operating a motor vehicle without an owner's consent and bail jumping.

Police said in a news release that during a past encounter with law enforcement the suspect had deliberately driven a vehicle into a squad car in order to escape.

Another adult male and a female were also taken into custody for their actions at the scene, police said, without providing more detail.

Who are they? WI children reported missing as of January 14 These are recent reports of missing children made to local law enforcement. If you think you have seen a missing child, contact the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children at 1-800-THE-LOST (1-800-843-5678).
A husband and wife were sentenced to seven and nearly three years, respectively, in federal prison Thursday for defrauding some 100 known victims out of more than $800,000 they pre-paid for home-improvement projects that were never completed.

In October, Tyler D. Hansen, 52, pleaded guilty to wire fraud and money laundering and his wife, Jennifer Hansen, 43, pleaded guilty to money laundering in the scheme that lasted nearly two years and targeted homeowners in more than 16 Wisconsin counties.

Between October 2020 and September 2022 and using various business names, the couple signed contracts with customers to build or install sunrooms, bathrooms, roofs and windows or do other work, requiring 50% down payments, according to court documents  but they never intended to do the work.

Once customer checks were deposited, the Hansens transferred the money to multiple personal accounts, court documents say. They used the money for personal expenses and to feed Tyler Hansens drug habit, prosecutors said.

Five of the Hansens victims testified during their back-to-back sentencing hearings before U.S. District Judge William Conley, telling stories of how the Hansens presented themselves as caring and enthusiastic but ultimately left them with a poorly constructed and unfinished bathroom needed by a disabled veteran, a house without siding for a family with four children, an uncompleted and shoddily done home addition that led to further home damage, and other problems, both financial and emotional.

Royce Babcock, of Wisconsin Dells, said he and his family were living in a garage after his home burned down and Tyler Hansen at first seemed like a godsend because he was willing to help them rebuild during the pandemic.

When he took that money and ran we lived in that garage for a long time, he told Conley.

Tyler Hansen apologized to his victims, saying people work hard for their money and they didnt deserve this. He said he had initially put $50,000 into a failing a home-improvement business and his troubles escalated from there.

Jennifer Hansen received a shorter sentence because she was acting largely under the influence and bullying of her husband, and because she had no previous criminal record in Wisconsin, Conley said. Her difficult upbringing that included foster care was also a mitigating factor, he said.

Tyler Hansen has narcotics-possession convictions from 2015 and faces state-level felony charges in Fond du Lac County in connection with the home-improvement fraud, and he has faced multiple state civil suits related to his string of businesses.

Names the business operated under included Windowsealed, Ecoview Windows of South Central Wisconsin and Windows Unlimited. The criminal complaint alleges that the defendant changed the name to avoid negative publicity when clients named the business in complaints about unfinished work.

A restitution hearing for the Hansens is set for March 15, although Conley and the Hansens victims indicated Thursday that the victims are unlikely to get much, if any, of their money back.
The Dane County Board gave another $27.7 million to the long-debated jail project late Thursday, which means construction on the addition can finally begin in the coming months.

The board's vote closes a budget shortfall that arose after the sole bid for the project, from Miron Construction, came in far over budget late last year. The shot in the arm of new dollars is made up of $21.7 million in borrowing and $6 million in money the county has made off of investments.

Five supervisors voted against the funding: Sups. Yogesh Chawla, Kiersten Huelsemann, Anthony Gray, Heidi Wegleitner and Jeff Weigand.

But many supervisors acknowledged that the project, which would add a six-story tower next to the main jail in the Public Safety Building, is likely far from done with the county's pocketbook.

"This will not be the last request for money that we get on this project," said Sup. Anthony Gray, who represents Madison's Southwest Side in the 14th District. Gray cautioned that the project's general contractor could easily return to the county and ask for more money as the undertaking progresses.

Pending those future bumps in the road, Thursday's vote might bring to an end a roughly 20-year saga over if, where and how the county will expand and consolidate the jail.

Since 2022, the board has taken up several options to move the controversial, perennially over-budget project forward, from putting the question to a referendum to scaling the project back.

What the public is going to get is an 825-bed tower adopted by an effectively lame duck County Board in March 2022.

County Executive Joe Parisi, who will retire in May, has played a crucial role in keeping the scope of the project alive, vetoing a five-story jail addition backed by the board in 2022 budget talks. Parisi argued the smaller addition risked keeping open the 1950s-era bank of cells atop the City-County Building jail, whose closure is the core reason behind the jail consolidation project.

The county will now issue a notice that construction can proceed some time in February with construction beginning shortly afterward, Todd Draper, the county's public works director, said earlier this week. A contract with Miron will face a vote in the coming weeks as well.

The impact on taxpayers, who have seen increases on their tax bill because of county debt, won't happen all at once.

The new jail borrowing would technically increase taxes on the average Madison home, valued at $424,000, by $12.38 annually. But the actual impact could be higher depending on changes in home values and other factors, said Chuck Hicklin, the county's finance director.

Once built, the new tower will allow for the City-County Building jail and the South Side work-release Huber Center to close.

In recent years, local, state and federal money and time have gone to social services, alternatives to law enforcement like the CARES program, which sends crisis workers and paramedics to mental health emergencies in lieu of law enforcement, and jail diversion in the hopes of chipping away at racial disparities in the county's justice system. On Thursday, 55% of the jail's residents were Black in a county that is 6% Black.

"The racial disparities will not be addressed unless and until we address the causes and the policing that is driven by institutional bias and system racism," said Sup. Dana Pellebon, who represents Fitchburg in the 33rd District.

Contract postponed, again

In other county business, the board once more postponed a vote on a controversial contract with the Wisconsin Air National Guard over concerns for how the military would be held liable for PFAS cleanup at the Dane County Regional Airport.

The contract involves a renewal of a longstanding agreement that lets the military use airport runaways in exchange for giving free firefighting services to the county.

At issue is new language in the contract that states the military will not be held liable for use of firefighting foam that contains PFAS, so-called forever chemicals that have been linked to increased risk for low birth weight, cancer and liver disease.

County attorneys and the military have contended that the contract does not apply to past PFAS contamination, which occurred at the airport over the decades from firefighting training.

In December, supervisors asked the county's attorneys to try and renegotiate that language in the contract to make it clear the contract doesn't apply retroactively.

County attorneys have declined to do that, citing written promises from the military about what the language does and doesn't apply to and how it can be used in court in the county's favor, according to a memo to the board county attorneys last week.

Despite that, the board voted 20-16 to delay a vote on the contract by two more weeks. Sup. Yogesh Chawla, who has helped lead the challenge to the contract's language, said that "other parties" to the contract would pressure the military to consider amending the deal since county attorneys have refused to do so.
A void created by an arsonist nearly two decades ago is finally being filled.

St. Bernard Catholic Church, long considered the Mother Church of Madisons East Side, will become the cathedral for the Diocese of Madison after being approved by the Holy See, the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome.

The diocese had been without a cathedral since March 2005 when a spectacular fire destroyed St. Raphael Cathedral one block off Capitol Square. The decision to go with St. Bernard, 2450 Atwood Ave., comes after years of proposals to rebuild on the West Main Street site for an estimated $14 million or choose an existing church building within the diocese. Bishop Donald J. Hying recommended St. Bernard get the honor.

This is a big step forward for the diocese and certainly is an honor for the parish to be named the cathedral, the Rev. Michael Radowicz, St. Bernards pastor, told the Catholic News Agency. I call it our sojourn in the desert, waiting for that time in which either a new cathedral would be built or an existing parish would be named the cathedral. So I think its really going to be joyful for the people to really have a home that they can call their diocesan home once again.

The naming of St. Bernard as the cathedral is the second major move by the diocese in the past six months. In July, it launched Into the Deep, a plan in which 102 parishes will become 30 pastorates by the end of this year in an effort to use diocesan resources more efficiently. The changes included a change in Mass schedules and the reassignment of priests.

The diocese covers a large swath of southern and south-central Wisconsin. Its parishes are as far north as Neshkoro in Marquette County, Sullivan in Jefferson County to the east, Beloit to the south, and Glen Haven, along the Mississippi River in Grant County, to the west.

This time has been one of challenge, adaptation and adjustment for our priests, deacons, parish and school staffs and lay faithful, Hying wrote on Wednesday to the diocese. After many years of consistent decline, Mass attendance across the diocese is up more than 4% this past year. I am confident this increase will continue as we seek to evangelize, catechize and invite Catholics to return to the central meaning and power of the Eucharist.

St. Raphael

St. Raphael Cathedral, the citys oldest Catholic church, was founded by Irish immigrants on land donated in 1842 by Madison founding father James Duane Doty. Its cornerstone was laid in 1854, and it was originally built as a parish church. It was designated a cathedral when Madison was established as the seat of an 11-county diocese in 1945.

But on March 14, 2005, an arsonist set the church at 222 W. Main St. ablaze, destroying the historic structure. William Connell, a homeless, mentally ill man, was sentenced to 15 years in prison for arson. In 2007, then-Bishop Robert Morlino announced plans to rebuild a cathedral on the site, but the next year, he paused the project, citing a poor economy and a desire to convince more people it was needed. The site was later transformed into a park with a walking path commemorating Christs final hours.

Since the arson, local parishes have taken turns hosting important events. With St. Bernard as the newly established cathedral, the diocese will be able to host priestly ordinations and the annual Chrism Mass, in which the holy oils used for sacraments and rituals are blessed.

The (local parishes) functioned fine, but you just had this longing, knowing that this really wasnt home, Radowicz said.

St. Bernard

St. Bernard parish was established in 1907 and its first church building constructed in 1908 for $18,000. The current church building was designed by John J. Flad and constructed for $175,000 of local sandstone in 1927 in an example of Gothic Revival style, according to the Wisconsin Historical Society.

While improvements and updates have been made to the church over the decades, the facility has been undergoing a major renovation, which has included removing all of the pews in the sanctuary. When completed in late summer or early fall of 2025, the project will include replacement pews and the installation of two pre-World War I E.M. Skinner pipe organs. The primary organ will be installed in the choir loft with a smaller organ in the east transept. Worship services are temporarily being held in the Parish Center gymnasium.

St. Bernard was very well designed as a parish church, but of course, now the needs of the church are going to change a bit, Radowicz said.

In terms of logistics, in terms of sanctuary size, seating, music, all of that. So were able to address all of those concerns with this renovation, as well as to ornament the space appropriately, for certainly a lot less than it would be to construct a whole new building.

From majestic cathedral to ashes: Madison's St. Raphael Cathedral through the years
MIAMI  Eight months after crossing the Rio Grande into the United States, a couple in their 20s sat in an immigration court in Miami with their three young children. Through an interpreter, they asked a judge to give them more time to find an attorney to file for asylum and not be deported back to Honduras, where gangs threatened them.

Judge Christina Martyak agreed to a three-month extension, referred Aaron Rodriguez and Cindy Baneza to free legal aid provided by the Catholic Archdiocese of Miami in the same courthouse  and their case remains one of the unprecedented 3 million currently pending in immigration courts around the United States.

Fueled by record-breaking increases in migrants who seek asylum after being apprehended for crossing the border illegally, the court backlog has grown by more than 1 million over the last fiscal year and its now triple what it was in 2019, according to government data compiled by Syracuse Universitys Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse.

Judges, attorneys and migrant advocates worry thats rendering an already strained system unworkable, as it often takes several years to grant asylum-seekers a new stable life and to deport those with no right to remain in the country.

Sometimes hope already sinks, said Mayra Cruz after her case was also granted an extension by Martyak because the Peruvian migrant doesnt have an attorney.

But here Ive felt a bit safer, added Cruz, who said she had to flee with only the clothes on her back with her partner and their children after repeated threats from gangs.

About 261,000 cases of migrants placed in removal proceedings are pending in the Miami court  the largest docket in the country. Thats about the same as were pending nationwide a dozen years ago, said Syracuse University professor Austin Kocher.

The backlog includes migrants who have been in the United States for decades and were apprehended on unrelated charges, but most are new asylum seekers who declare a fear of persecution if they are sent back, he added.

Backlogged courts, administered by the Justice Department, often get little attention in immigration debates, including in current Senate negotiations over the Biden administrations $110 billion proposal that links aid for Ukraine and Israel to asylum and other border policy changes.

When migrants are apprehended by U.S. authorities at the border, many are released with a record of their detention and instructions to appear in court in the city where they are headed. That information is passed on from the Department of Homeland Security to the Justice Department, whose Executive Office for Immigration Review runs the courts, so that an initial hearing can be scheduled.

Theyre just being released without any idea of what comes next, said Randy McGrorty, executive director of Catholic Legal Services for the Archdiocese of Miami, which has seen hundreds of thousands of migrants join its diaspora communities.

So many migrants go to them for advice that, in the last couple of years, theyve largely switched to teaching how to self-petition and represent themselves before judges.

We help them understand what judges want, and we help judges with efficiency and preserving fundamental rights, said Miguel Mora, a Catholic Legal Services supervising attorney in Miami.

Advocates say that most migrants ask for individual legal representation, something thats becoming increasingly rare given the huge numbers, and how to get work permits, which migrants can apply for 150 days after filing their asylum application.

Its a vicious cycle  without regular work, most cant afford even a low-cost lawyer, so their cases can take even longer.

We dont have the money, Rodriguez, 23, told Judge Martyak, who had already granted him an extension for having no attorney at a previous hearing, as his partner rocked the stroller where their U.S.-born baby slept. They fled Honduras after the gang that had killed the father of Baneza's oldest child threatened further violence unless they started paying from the meager profits of their tortilla shop.

But the slow-moving process also means it takes years for asylum-seekers to be able to reunite with families they left behind and integrate fully in American society, said Karen Musalo, an attorney and professor who leads the Center for Gender & Refugee Studies at the University of California in San Francisco.

Time also doesnt help with the backlog, even though government records show judges completed far more cases in the last year than ever before, because their dockets keep growing so fast. Their average caseload is now 5,000 per judge, said Mimi Tsankov, president of the National Association of Immigration Judges. She cited estimates that doubling the current number of judges to about 1,400 might solve the current backlog by 2032.

Experts like retired judge Paul Schmidt, who also served as government immigration counsel while the last major reform was enacted nearly 40 years ago, say the broken system can only be fixed with major policy changes. An example would be allowing most asylum cases to be solved administratively or through streamlined processes instead of litigated in courts.

The situation has gotten progressively worse since the Obama administration, when it really started getting out of hand, said Schmidt, who in 2016, his last year on the bench, was scheduling cases seven years out.

Americas reeling as flow of migrants reaches historic levels
THURSDAY

Chocolate OlympicsTeens in the 6th to 12th grade are invited to join us for Chocolate Olympics at 4:30 p.m. at the Twin Falls Public Library. There will be games, contests, and more.

Open mic nightJoin us on January 18th at 6:30 p.m. at the Twin Falls Public Library to share your short stories and poetry. Read original works, your favorite short by another author, or just come to listen. Sign-up to read at the event (first-come, first-served). Light refreshments will be served. Readings will be limited to five minutes each.

FRIDAY

JIVE Winter ShowcaseTFHS JIVE will be performing one last Winter Showcase show due to the Jan. 12 and 13 performances being canceled due to bad weather. Everyone who purchased tickets to Friday and Saturdays shows can use their tickets this Friday. Tickets are still available for purchase online or at the door. Doors open at 6:30 pm, show starts at 7 p.m. For tickets: tfhsjive.com.

Basic computer classJoin us every month at the Twin Falls Public Library from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. to learn tech basics. In this beginners tech class youll learn the basics of computer use, internet browsing, smartphone navigation, word processing and more.

Publicize your event for free Publicize your event on the Times-News website, plus have the chance to have it run in the Times-News on Thursdays, by posting your information at Magicvalley.com/events. Click on "create an event."

Orchestra PerformanceDenver and the Mile High Orchestra, a horn-driven band based out of Nashville, Tennessee, will perform at 7:30 p.m. at the King Fine Arts Center in Burley. DMHO was formed by a group of friends at Belmont University in 1999. They have traveled across the world, playing at churches, conferences, and festivals. Tickets range from $16 to $20 each.

Singles Soup/Bread CookoffBring your baking/cooking skills and join the Twin Falls East Stake singles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at 7 p.m. at 847 Eastland Dr. N., Twin Falls, to show your cooking skills, or just come and eat. Event is for singles 31+. There will be also a drive to collect gloves/mittens for Murtaugh Elementary students.

Acoustic musicJon, Jenni, and Quin will be at the Twin Falls Sandwich Company, 128 Main Ave. N., beginning at 6 p.m. performing acoustic music ranging from jigs to pop.

BuncoPlay Bunco at 6 p.m. at the Filer American Legion Hall, 207 Main St.

Kids Grief GroupAll youth, ages 6 to17, and parents/guardians, who mourn the death of a loved one are invited to attend the monthly K2K evening grief group held at the BKG Grief Center, 459 Shoup Ave. in Twin Falls. The evening includes a dinner at 6:30 p.m., breakout groups for parents/guardians, children/teens with theme-related activities and interactions. There is no charge for the event. Check in time begins at 6:15 p.m. and evening concludes at 8:30 p.m.

SATURDAY

Free Cross-Country Ski DayJoin CSI Outdoors, Magic Mountain Ski Resort and the High Desert Nordic Association from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. for a day of fun in the snow. It is a free event, and topics covered include Nordic ski techniques, ascending and descending hills, and equipment. All gear provided by CSI Outdoors; no reservations or pick-up needed. All abilities are welcome.

Stories from the Cemetery

What intriguing stories lay behind the engraved names and dates of a cemetery? If exploring the rows of graves has ever left you wondering what lives these individuals led, join us at 1 p.m. at the Twin Falls County Historical Museum, 21337 U.S. Highway 30. Filer Cemetery Sexton Ron Klimes will discuss the stories behind the local veterans, heroes, and pioneers that helped shape the Magic Valley. Free and open to the public.

Paint the BowlsPainting Bowls for the annual Empty Bowls fundraiser takes place from noon to 5 p.m. at Hands On, 147 Shoshone St. N. Cost of the bowls is covered by Queer Cupboard. A limited number of free bowls are available.

Build a Childs ToolboxThis kids toolbox workshop, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Lowes Home Improvement, 1350 Blue Lakes Blvd. North, Twin Falls, will have your little helper eager to tag along on your next home improvement project. Reserve your spot at www.lowes.com/events/register/my-first-diy-toolbox

Sheila Hays benefitTo support Sheila, who was recently involved in a tragic car crash, join us at 2 p.m. at the Train Station Pizza, 20079 U.S. Highway 30 in Buhl, for a benefit including live auctions, games, prizes, karaoke, and gratefulness.

AARP Tax AidA presentation from Certified AARP Tax-Aid Specialists will take place at 1 p.m. at the Twin Falls Public Library, to get you ready for the upcoming tax season. The AARP Tax-Aid team will take you through the services they offer every tax season. Learn what tax returns they can prepare, what documents are needed for accurate returns, and schedule an appointment for personalized tax preparation between Feb 1 and April 15.

Elks Annual Lamb FeedRupert Elks Lodge #2106 will host its Annual Lamb Feed at the lodge beginning at 6 p.m. Enjoy dining, live music, and a silent auction. Tickets are $35 each and are available at the Elks Lodge or at the door. All proceeds to benefit the numerous charities the Elks have supported in our community for over 65 years.

Pet adoptionBroken Hearts Rescue is having a pet rescue event from noon to 4 p.m. at Petco, 1957 Fillmore St. in Twin Falls. Fill out your application so you are all set to take your family member home! Applications help us decide which dogs/cats to bring to the event. Dogs: https://brokenheartsrescue.wixsite.com/mysite/general-6-1. Cats: https://brokenheartsrescue.wixsite.com/mysite/general-6

WEDNESDAY

Business Startup Seminar

Do you want to start a business, but dont know where to begin? Then this concentrated three-hour Start-up Business Seminar, from 12:30 to 3:30 p.m. at 202 Falls Ave., will help you take your first steps towards creating a successful business. Cost is $65. Visit shorturl.at/jsG14 for more information and to register.

Limited Edition Book Club

Join Limited Edition Book Club: Something to Write Home About, at the Twin Falls Public Library. This three-part discussion series is centered around titles written as letters. Pick up your copy at the reference desk, then join us to discuss each title at 6:30 p.m. on the fourth Wednesday of the month.

Your news on your smartphone Your story lives in the Magic Valley, and our new mobile app is designed to make sure you dont miss breaking news, the latest scores, the weather forecast and more. From easy navigation with the swipe of a finger to personalized content based on your preferences to customized text sizes, the Times-News app is built for you and your life. Dont have the app? Download it today from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store.
The Red Cross of Idaho will open a new blood collection facility in June at 358 Cheney Drive to help community members in need of blood transfusions in south-central Idaho and around the country.

Bryce Sitter, chief development officer of the American Red Cross, said there was a reason theyve placed the blood collection facility in the Magic Valley  much of it being the success of scheduled appointments.

The Magic Valley is one of the best blood donor sites in our state, Sitter said. I dont know what it is, but people, when they make a blood appointment, they show up rain or shine.

The American Red Cross recently made headlines after they announced an emergency blood shortage with the number of people donating to the Red Cross falling by 40%.

With a critical blood shortage, this could cause medical procedures around the country to be put on hold.

The need is constant, and its increasing, Sitter told the Times-News. And we have more people than we did 50 years ago to pick from, but a very small percentage of the population actually donates.

The new location will have five collection beds, five local staff and storage for mobile collection equipment in the area.

Sitter said that they secure blood for Idahoans but at the end of the day, they also need to contribute to patients nationally if needed.

Truth is, blood knows no boundaries, Sitter said. So if someone in Twin Falls needs blood with an AB negative antigen, weve probably sourced it out of Philadelphia or somewhere. And likewise, if you have an A B antigen, and its rare and we dont use it in the first 20 days, well put it up on the barcode for the National Registry.

But we are securing safe blood for Idaho, we supply all hospitals and cancer centers in Idaho. So foremost, were securing our local safe blood supply.

Magic Valley resident Shandra Sterner, whos shared her story the past couple of years, talked to the Times-News about how receiving blood transfusions saved her life after her labor in August 2022 went wrong.

My doctor looked over the curtain and the last words that I had heard were, I have to do a hysterectomy or youre going to die, Sterner said.

The next thing she knew, Sterner was in a four-day coma and underwent 7 surgeries. She needed 88 units of blood after bleeding uncontrollably  equivalent to 15 years of donating.

Without that blood I would have been gone the first day, Sterner said. They were scavenging everywhere looking for blood. Multiple helicopters were coming and going.

After feeling better from her surgeries, one of the first things on Sterners list was to do a blood drive.

And for many who went, it was the first time they had donated blood as well.

There was an elderly lady that came in, she was, gosh, probably about 60 or 70 years old and she told me that all her life shed never donated, Sterner said. She only came out specifically because of my story and oh my god, I think that stresses the importance of how you never know who this can save.

You never would think going into labor would cause you to need so much blood.

The Twin Falls facility is currently accepting donations to help ensure they have the tools and resources for anyone interested in donating blood.

For more questions about the Twin Falls facility, go to https://americanredcross.donordrive.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=donorDrive.event&eventID=927.

For additional questions, contact Bryce Sitter at bryce.sitter@redcross.org or at 208-258-1793.

WANT TO DONATE? Upcoming blood donation opportunities: CASSIA COUNTY Burley 1/22/2024: 10 a.m. - 3 p.m., Burley LDS Stake Center, 2050 Normal Ave. 1/23/2024: 12 p.m. - 5 p.m., Hampton Inn Burley, 560 Hampton Drive TWIN FALLS COUNTY Filer 1/18/2024: 10 a.m. - 3 p.m., Filer High School, 3915 Wildcat Way Twin Falls 1/19/2024: 9 a.m. - 2 p.m., Twin Falls Reformed Church, 1631 Grandview Drive N. 1/24/2024: 11 a.m. - 4 p.m., La Quinta Inn, 539 Pole Line Road 1/25/2024: 9 a.m. - 3 p.m., College of Southern Idaho Student Recreation Center, Falls Avenue More people eligible to donate The U.S. Food and Drug Administration updated its blood donor eligibility guidance on vCJD, eliminating the deferral for those who spent time in the U.K., Ireland and France between 1980 and 2001. In alignment with FDA changes, the Red Cross is accepting donations from individuals who have not tried giving blood before due to the prior donation criteria. In combination with prior eligibility updates in 2020 for those who spent time in other European countries, this change effectively eliminates the deferral related to vCJD for all donors.

Your news on your smartphone Your story lives in the Magic Valley, and our new mobile app is designed to make sure you dont miss breaking news, the latest scores, the weather forecast and more. From easy navigation with the swipe of a finger to personalized content based on your preferences to customized text sizes, the Times-News app is built for you and your life. Dont have the app? Download it today from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store.
Slick roads helped catch a suspected drug trafficker who had nearly 9 pounds of methamphetamine and 3 pounds of fentanyl pills in his car early Wednesday morning in southern Twin Falls County, records say.

A Twin Falls County deputy responded to a report that a vehicle had slid off the road at 3 a.m. at milepost 24 on U.S. Highway 93, and the lone occupant of the vehicle, Zechariah Scott Chadwick, 36, of Poulsbo, Washington, drew suspicion due to his animated behavior and the sighting of drug paraphernalia in his 2013 Mercedes Benz, court records say.

Chadwick gave conflicting answers to the deputy, saying he had left Las Vegas a mere four hours ago, records said, and admitted to having methamphetamine in the center console of the vehicle.

A search of the vehicle led to the discovery of packages containing 8.81 pounds field weight of methamphetamine and 2.73 pounds of fentanyl pills  an estimated 4,000 pills  which were hidden in the vehicles trunk, the reports say. Also recovered was marijuana and a loaded pistol.

Other signs of drug use were found in the car, including burnt aluminum foil and a meth pipe Chadwick apparently broke with his foot.

Chadwick, who was found to be a convicted felon, told deputies that the items belonged to a friend, but never specified who the individual was, reports say.

Motorist charged with drug trafficking in Twin Falls County She told a deputy that she was lost and her father was in the hospital, records say.

Chadwick was charged with drug trafficking in methamphetamine (400 grams or more), two counts of possession of a controlled substance, delivery of a controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia, destruction of evidence and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

His preliminary hearing is set for Jan. 26.
A Twin Falls man was sentenced to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty Tuesday to rape and video voyeurism after a plea deal was reached, records say.

Two cases were filed against Joshua Clayton Nelson, 43, one of them after charges were filed contending that he raped a woman and took photos without her consent after dispensing alcohol to minors in December 2022, and the second when investigators later found photos of two other victims on his phone, records say.

In the first case, Nelson agreed to plead guilty to rape, while charges of video voyeurism and dispensing alcohol to a minor were dropped. Two felony charges of video voyeurism were filed in the second case, one for each victim, but were combined into one as part of the plea deal.

Nelson entered an Alford plea during a hearing in September, allowing him to plead guilty while maintaining his innocence, while admitting that evidence would likely lead to a guilty verdict if the case was brought to trial.

He was sentenced by 5th District Judge Ben Cluff to 10 years fixed and 10 years indeterminate for the rape charge, and 5 years for the case involving video voyeurism, with the cases running concurrently. Nelson must also pay several fines, including $5,000 as a civil judgement on behalf of the victim in the rape case, records say.

Twin Falls man faces additional voyeurism charges Police seize phone, find additional photos of women, records say

Restitution on the video voyeurism case will be determined later, court records say.

Court records dont indicate how much time Nelson will receive for time served, although it appears he has been incarcerated for almost a year, as charges were filed in the first case in February. He was being held on $500,000 bond on one case and $300,000 in the other.
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The government will not stop the International Criminal Court (ICC) from investigating the war on drugs policy of former President Rodrigo Duterte, provided that its conduct will follow Philippine legal procedures.

Were not here to stop them (ICC) because if theyre not doing anything illegal, theres nothing wrong with that, Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla was quoted saying in a report released by Kyodo News, Thursday evening, Jan. 18.

Remulla was referring to the intention of the ICC to look into the flagship anti-narcotics campaign of the Duterte administration, colloquially known as Oplan Tokhang, which left thousands dead often under questionable circumstances.

If theyre getting statements, theyre getting evidence. Its okay, Remulla said of the ICC investigators, as quoted by Kyodo News. But we have to clarify many issues, especially about procedure, he added.

The Philippines withdrew its ICC membership since March 2019. But the Hague-based tribunal said it retains jurisdiction over alleged crimes committed while the Philippines was a member from November 2011.

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Duterte implemented his war on drugs from 2016 to 2022. Under this campaign, law enforcement authorities pursued suspected drug dealers and users, a number of whom ended up dead by way of summary executions.

Remulla said he had heard rumors of investigators from the ICC Office of the Prosecutor having visited or currently visiting the Philippines, expressing hope they would coordinate with the Department of Justice (DOJ).

We will have to deal with several legal implications of the action of the ICC in the Philippines, and it might have to end up in the Supreme Court of the country, he said, noting that procedural matters have to be observed to make sure that the rights of people are respected.

President Marcos, who succeeded Duterte, is opposed to the ICC investigation, citing the capability of local authorities to conduct any probe. However, the incumbent chief executive did not rule out the possibility of the Philippines joining the ICC again, saying in November that the idea is under study.
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Athens, GreeceOne crew member of an oil tanker seized by Iran last week in the Gulf of Oman has been released and is on his way to Athens, the vessels Greek owner said Thursday, Jan. 18.

Eighteen Filipinos and one Greek were on the St. Nikolas, which is now anchored near the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas.

The Greek cadet, escorted by Greeces ambassador in Iran, is on a flight to return home, the ships owner Empire Navigation said in a statement.

It said the Philippines ambassador in Iran was to visit as part of negotiations to free the other crew on the Marshall Islands-flagged vessel.

The 18 remaining sailors, still onboard the ship anchored at Bandar Abbas, are in good health and in contact with their families, it added.

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The ship was carrying 145,000 tonnes of oil from Iraq and heading toward Turkey when it was seized.

Iran said it was retaliating for the theft of its oil from the same tankerwhich, at the time, was called the Suez Rajanlast year by the United States, state media said.

Washington has condemned an unlawful seizure and demanded that Iran immediately release the ship and its crew.
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Top government officials, experts, and the Embassy of Canada in the Philippines emphasized the need for cooperation to combat cybersecurity threats in the country.

The officials gathered during a two-day Cybersecurity Conference this week, organized by the Stratbase Institute, in partnership with the Canadian Embassy.

In his speech, Stratbase Institutes Chief Operating Officer RP Manhit said strengthening the Philippine cyber landscape needs a whole-of-society approach to promote a basic understanding of potential risks and threats, and highlight growth opportunities.

Manhit added that having a cyber resilient society is important to encourage more investments in the country.

Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Secretary Amenah Pangandaman said cooperation among like-minded nations is inevitable, especially in the areas of digitalization and economic development.

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Pangandaman said cybersecurity remains a paramount concern for DBM as the agency transitions to digitalization.

Department of National Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro and Department of Information and Communications Technology Secretary Ivan Uy also vowed to strengthen the countrys cyber security defense, especially in combatting cyberespionage.

Canadian Ambassador to the Philippines David Hartman said Canada is willing to work together with the Philippines to address cybersecurity threats.

Now, more than ever, with the growing threat from the proliferation of emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and quantum computing, likeminded countries must work together to build a resilient and adaptable cyber workforce for the future; indeed, one trained and ready for the whatever the future may hold, he explained.

Canadian Centre for Cyber Security Head Sami Khoury also noted the need for international partnership in addressing cybersecurity threats.

Im proud to be here in the Philippines. We look forward to being international partners on the cybersecurity front. Cyber knows no boundaries. So the cyber threat actors dont stop at Canada just because or dont stop at the Philippines because they dont intend to go out of the Philippines, Khoury said.

[We need to know] how do we work together, how do we learn from each other, how do we share, how do we make each other as an early warning system of cyberyou see something here and you might be patient zero how do we learn from that patient zero so we can stop threats elsewhere. Its all about building that international team cyber and protect our society, he added.

Stratbases two-day cybersecurity conference gathered relevant stakeholders in cybersecurity including top government officials, key private sector leaders, and experts from the academe and civil society organizations, who shared their knowledge and explored innovative solutions to counter cyber risks and ensure digital security.
The Martinsville-Henry County Historical Society will celebrate the film industry at Founders Day at 3 p.m. Sunday at the Historic Henry County Courthouse.

Speakers will be Tracy Tate, granddaughter of the late Julius Hermes, founder of Martin Processing, and representatives of Eastman Performance Films  Ricky Nelson, Operations Manager, and Kristoff Lievens, Site Manager.

Former employees of Martin Processing, Courtaulds and CP Films and current and former employees of Eastman Performance Films are especially invited to attend to be recognized. Attendees are encouraged to wear or bring company products and other mementos.

Hermes came to Martinsville from Patterson, New Jersey, in 1935, and managed Fontaine Converting Works for many years. He disassociated himself from the firm and started Martin Processing in Collinsville in 1956.

Once a major player in the textile and carpet yarn-dying business, the company was hard hit during the late 1970s. A chemist, engineer, and entrepreneur, he redirected the companys energies into plastic film products. Four generations of the Hermes family plan to attend Founders Day.

The Historical Society honors an industry at Founders Day each year which helped to create and develop our community. Previously recognized are furniture, textile, and lumber. We are excited to celebrate film this year and encourage everyone to join us. Film may be a global industry, but its roots are local and continue to flourish, Historical Society President John Phillips said.

Admission to Founders Day is free, made possible by corporate sponsors, Carter Bank & Trust and The Lester Group. The Historic Henry County Courthouse is fully handicap accessible.

Following the presentation, refreshments will be served and the Martinsville-Henry County Heritage Center & Museum will be open.
Early voting for the March 5 Virginia Presidential Primary began Friday.

Virginia voters will participate in a dual presidential primary election this year, which means both the Democratic Party and the Republican Party will have primaries the same day, possibly leading to confusion among voters.

In a dual primary, officers of election will ask voters if they want to cast their ballot in the Democratic Party Primary or the Republican Party Primary, said Henry County Registrar Dawn Stultz-Vaughn in a release. All qualified voters may vote in either primary, but voters may not vote in both primaries.

The choice to vote in a partys primary does not mean that the voter will be registered with that party in Virginia because the commonwealth does not have party registration.

Six candidates appear on the Republican primary ballot in Virginia: Chris Christie, Ryan Binkley, Vivek Ramaswamy, Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis, and Nikki Haley. Three candidates appear on the Democratic primary ballot: Marianne Williamson, Joe Biden, and Dean Benson Phillips.

In-person early voting for the March 5 presidential primary election will continue through March 2.

To vote early in-person, registered voters should go to the general registrars office for the jurisdiction in which they are registered, present their ID, and cast their ballot. All general registrar offices offer early voting in Virginia and some localities may offer early voting in additional locations.

In Henry County, in-person, early voting will be available until 4:30 p.m. March 2 at the Henry County Registrars Office, 3300 Kings Mountain Road, Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. and Feb. 24 and March 2 from 8:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m.

In Martinsville, you can vote early at the Registrars Office, 55 W. Church St., Office 122, Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. until 5 p.m. and on the two Saturday preceding the Election from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. You can also leave your ballot in the dropbox located outside of the office.

In Patrick County, voters may vote early at the Registrars Office, 106 Rucker St., Room 216C in Stuart, Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. Ballot dropboxes will be available at the same address and at all regular polling places on Election Day.

The deadline to register to vote in the primary or to update an existing registration is Feb. 12. Voters may register after this date through Election Day, but will have to vote with a provisional ballot.

Feb. 23 is the deadline to apply for a ballot to be mailed to you and the request for a mailed ballot must be received by 5 p.m. on this day.
MORGANTON  On Dec. 29, 2023, Foothills Conservancy of North Carolina (FCNC) acquired 1,460 acres in the Pinnacle Mountains, a section of the South Mountains in McDowell and Rutherford counties. With this conservation transaction, FCNC has permanently protected 70,193 acres of land in the foothills and Blue Ridge Mountains of western North Carolina since its founding in 1995.

This land purchase is a crucial component in the conservation strategy of FCNC and its partners to create an expansive assemblage of conservation lands connecting the South Mountains to the Blue Ridge Mountains, and to develop the Wilderness Gateway State Trail as a long-distance, public trail system.

Surpassing 70,000 acres of permanent land and water conservation is a major accomplishment for our land trust, said FCNC Executive Director Andrew Kota. We share this achievement with our donors, supporters and partners who worked alongside us during this 29-year journey, and well soon share the land itself with the communities in this region when a section of the Wilderness Gateway State Trail is constructed.

In the early part of 2024, FCNC will convey a permanent conservation easement on the property to the State of North Carolina with funding from the North Carolina Land and Water Fund, the North Carolina Ecosystem Enhancement Program, the Baker Hughes Foundation and the Conservation Trust for North Carolina, N.C. Complete the Trails program, and support from the Blumenthal Foundation. Funding support from the N.C. Complete the Trails Program and the McDowell and Rutherford Tourism Development Authorities will further the design, layout and construction of the Wilderness Gateway State Trail.

The land, referred to by FCNC as Pinnacle Mountains West, adjoins 960 acres that FCNC purchased in 2022 using a North Carolina Land and Water Fund grant. The project areas connect to a state and federal assemblage of conservation lands to the east, including Box Creek Wilderness, which is protected by a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service conservation easement, and state-owned public lands in Bobs Creek State Natural Area and South Mountains Game Land.

Pinnacle Mountains West extends this impressive conservation assemblage westward toward Hickorynut Mountain, another large aggregation of private conservation land.

Preliminary work has also begun on FCNCs pending acquisition of 1,686 acres adjoining Pinnacle Mountains West to the south, aptly named Pinnacles Mountains South, with funding from the North Carolina Land and Water Fund.

The undeveloped, forested tract of land that makes up the Pinnacle Mountains, along with its natural ecosystems and habitats, protects multiple rare species and natural communities. The Pinnacle Mountains are ecologically important  hosting three large North Carolina Natural Areas designated by the Natural Heritage Program, said Michael Gaffney, FCNCs conservation and GIS specialist. FCNCs acquisition of Pinnacle Mountains West also protects extensive surface waters in the headwaters of the Broad River Basin.

Foothills Conservancy of North Carolina is a nationally accredited regional land trust that inspires conservation in western North Carolina by permanently protecting land and water for the benefit of people and all living things. A 501(3) nonprofit, Foothills Conservancy has conserved more than 70,000 acres in its eight-county service area: Alexander, Burke, Caldwell, Catawba, Cleveland, Lincoln, McDowell and Rutherford, in three major river basins: the Broad, Catawba and Yadkin. Information about Foothills Conservancy, including ways to support its work, can be found online at www.foothillsconservancy.org or by calling 828-437-9930.
Editors note: Calendar items must be submitted at least six days before an event. Items are only guaranteed to publish once prior to the event. To guarantee placement in the paper on a particular day, organizations can purchase an ad by calling 315-720-9694. Email all items to news@mcdowellnews.com.

TODAY, JAN. 20

The indoor yard sale to support First Baptist Church of Marions mission trip to Belize will be held today from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. It will be held in the Blanton Family Center. All proceeds will go toward supplies for Belize medical and construction projects to be used in February.

The Arrowhead Artists and Artisans League in Old Fort will offer a class about making a standing wire tree of life sculpture and large jewelry stand (display size) with Catherine Bruggeman as the instructor. The class will be held today from 1-5 p.m. The class will cost $35 for A3L members, $45 for nonmembers, plus a $20 supply fee. Learn to construct a tree of life 3-D sculpture using aluminum-coated copper wire. Multiple colors of wire to choose from. Once the technique is learned it can be applied to smaller and larger sculptures. All supplies and tools included. This wire tree is large and strong enough to display jewelry, small ornaments, etc. Bring a set of gloves if you have tender fingers. To register, visit Arrowhead Gallery, 78C Catawba Ave., Old Fort, or call 828-668-1100.

The next plant-based potluck will be today from 6-8 p.m. at First Baptist Church of Marions Fellowship Hall (Blanton Family Center). There will be a special guest speaker, Chastity Poteat Rice. She is the founder/CEO of her organization c2Life and c2Life Foundation which provides plant-based meals to people in need. These meals are also available for purchase with one meal donated for every meal purchased and can be found at Food Matters in Morganton. Bring a plant-based dish (no meats/egg/dairy) and a hearty appetite. Not sure what to bring? Just bring fruit. Paper products provided. Please bring a copy of your recipe to share with others. Interested folks can take a photo with their phones. Unsweetened tea and water will be provided.

MONDAY, JAN. 22

McDowell Democrats will hold their monthly meeting at 6 p.m. Monday, Jan. 22, at the Marion Community Building. Cailan Calloway and Shannon Jones from the McDowell Emergency Services Community Care Paramedic Team will give a presentation. A meal will be served at 6 p.m. The meeting starts 6:30. As an act of kindness, McDowell Democrats request attendees bring a nonperishable food item(s) for donation to support the Friendship Home For Women & Children. Additional information can be found at mcdems.com.

WEDNESDAY, JAN. 24

The American Red Cross will hold a blood drive on Wednesday, Jan. 24, from 1:30-6:30 p.m. at the Marion Community Building, 191 N. Main St., Marion.

THURSDAY, JAN. 25

The Arrowhead Artists and Artisans League in Old Fort will offer a class about making a glass on glass mosaic with Diane Enger as the instructor. The class will be held Thursday, Jan. 25, from 1-4 p.m. The class will cost $45 for A3L members, $55 for nonmembers, plus a $15 supply fee. In this class, students will create a glass-on-glass mosaic, using a precut heart as our focal point. Students will use all transparent glass and the light passing through will reflect the glass colors in all directions. There will be minimal glass cutting for this project and it is a great opportunity to learn to cut glass or practice your cutting skills. The finished glass piece measures 8-inch by 8-inch and is mounted in a shadow box frame which allows it to sit in front of a window. The frame is not a part of the materials cost but will be available for purchase for $15. To register, visit Arrowhead Gallery, 78C Catawba Ave., Old Fort, or call 828-668-1100.

The McDowell Agriculture Advisory Board will hold a meeting on Thursday, Jan. 25, at 5:30 p.m. in the N.C. Cooperative Extensions conference room at 60 E. Court St., Marion, on the second floor of the McDowell County Services Building. The purpose of the board is to review and approve applications for qualified farmland and voluntary agricultural districts and make recommendations concerning the establishment and modification of agricultural districts, to hold public hearings, and to perform other related tasks as assigned. The board is required to meet at least once a year, and will schedule additional meetings as needed to perform its duties. For more information, contact Matt Burneisen at 828-652-8104 or Matt_Burneisen@ncsu.edu.

SATURDAY, JAN. 27

The Arrowhead Artists and Artisans League in Old Fort will offer a class in making acrylic skins with Lorelle Bacon as the instructor. The class for adults and teens will be held Saturday, Jan. 27, from 1-3:30 p.m. The cost is $65 for A3L members, $75 for nonmembers, plus a $15 supply fee. Students will learn how to create interesting acrylic skins. Then they will choose from the instructors acrylic skin stash and complete a trinket box and jewelry to go in it. Lorelle will show you how, step by step. To register, visit Arrowhead Gallery, 78C Catawba Ave., Old Fort, or call 828-668-1100.

Carolina Caring will offer a free, virtual grief workshop on Thursday, Jan. 25. This mindfulness and grief workshop will provide participants with the opportunity to take part in a variety of relaxations and moments of comfort that is paired with music. You will walk away with tangible tools for coping with stress, anxiety and sleeplessness that may accompany your grief. Grab a blanket and a warm cup of tea and join virtually using the Zoom platform on Thursday, Jan. 25, from 5:30-6:30 p.m. Registration is required. Instructions for joining will be provided. To register, visit CarolinaCaring.org/support, contact wspurling@carolinacaring.org or call 828-466-0466, ext. 3201. Carolina Caring serves 12 counties across western North Carolina and the Charlotte Region. For more information about Carolina Caring, call 828.466.0466 or visit www.CarolinaCaring.org.

Loving Hearts Bear Closet will have a pie bake sale on Saturday, Jan. 27, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Cross Mill Pentecostal Holiness Churchs fellowship hall at 5 Summit St. in Marion. Various dessert pies and meat pies will be for sale along with free coffee. Proceeds from sale will help purchase necessary items for struggling families including baby equipment, hygiene products and more. If you would like to bake a pie for this event, call or text 828-803-8790 for more information.

TUESDAY, JAN. 30

A special program called "Medicare 101 - The Basics" will be held at the McDowell Senior Center on Tuesday, Jan. 30, at 2 p.m. The special program will feature guest speaker Billie Lister, the Western Regional Manager for the North Carolina Seniors Health and Insurance Program. This presentation is for anyone currently on Medicare, getting ready to start on Medicare, or has an interest in learning how this program works. Topics covered will include the various parts of Medicare including hospital coverage, physician coverage, Medicare Advantage plans, and prescription drug plans. Registration is not required to attend the meeting on Jan. 30 but if you would like to be pre-register, contact Weyland Prebor, McDowell County SHIIP Coordinator at the McDowell Senior Center by phone at 828-659-0823 or by email at wprebor@mcdowellseniorcenter.org

SATURDAY, FEB. 3

Register now for the upcoming free four-day beginning beekeeping course. It will be held from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on three Saturdays in February (Feb. 3, 10 and 17) and a field day to be determined. Do you have an interest in learning more about beekeeping, and how you and your family can do it? If so, this is the school for you and the best part is that it is free! The annual Bee School fills to capacity every year, so be sure and sign up early. There will be guest speakers covering important topics of interest each day, there will also be honey tasting, a honey extraction demo, door prizes and more. To attend, you must register online. Registration is open and is a first-come, first-serve basis. The course will be taught at the Harold Smith Building at McDowell Technical Community College, 54 College Drive, Marion. An optional textbook can be obtained prior to the course. Information will be sent after registration. For more information, go to www.mcdowellbeekeepers.org.

THURSDAY, FEB. 8

The McDowell County Juvenile Crime Prevention Council publishes Requests for Proposals (RFP) for fiscal year 2024-25. There will be a mandatory meeting for all new program applicants on Thursday, Feb. 8, at 10 a.m. at the McDowell Public Services Building Boardroom. To request a detailed RFP, contact Linda Burleson at 828-606-9476. Application forms are available at https://cp.ncdjjdp.org/CP/.

THURSDAY, FEB. 15

Hands-On Canning Winter Squash will be held at the Foothills Food Hub, 263 Barnes Road in Marion, on Thursday, Feb. 15, at 11 a.m. Participants will learn by actually canning winter squash using a pressure canner. From start to finish, participants will do the work while learning the most up-to-date recommendations. Whether you are a beginner or have canned before and want to learn more up-to-date recommendations, you will enjoy this hands-on canning class. For more information, call 652-8104, ext. 1330.
McDowell now has a countywide statement about the importance of racial equity and diversity.

An initiative of McDowell Racial Equity Collaborative, hosted by West Marion Inc., announced the countywide racial equity statement. This milestone is a major move for McDowell Racial Equity Collaborative on its mission to dismantle racism and white supremacy, according to a news release.

The statement reads: As McDowell County individuals, we are committed to unifying our residents by respecting and acknowledging each others cultures and lived experiences. To build a stronger community we will continue to educate ourselves and others, by actively challenging historic systemic racial inequities and policies that still exist. It is a human right for all people of McDowell County, regardless of age, race, ethnicity, sex, class, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, religion, culture, or language, to live without fear and have equitable access to resources to establish a foundation of health and well-being.

We, as a diverse and vibrant county, recognize the importance of fostering understanding, inclusivity, and equity for all residents, said Paula Swepson, executive director of West Marion Inc. In acknowledging our shared history and celebrating our differences, we strive to build a community that embraces diversity and rejects discrimination in any form. Together, we commit to promoting dialogue, education, and collaboration to ensure that every member of our county feels valued, respected, and included. By standing united against racism, we aim to create a community where everyone can thrive and contribute to the richness of our shared experiences.

This news comes in the wake of many recent initiatives and accomplishments of McDowell Racial Equity Collaborative, including:

Convening 11 times over the last year

Building multiracial relationships

Building a shared analysis of systemic racism and creating a safe space to learn together

The leaders of this effort remember a quote from Nelson Mandela: Remember to celebrate milestones as you prepare for the road ahead.

The road to crafting and adopting this statement has been an emotional journey, but one that is preparing us as a collective to continue building relationships with diverse people who are committed to seeing changes in the policies, practices and procedures that have been exclusionary for far too long, said Dawna Goode-Ledbetter, director of equity for West Marion Inc. My hope is that this initiative will lead McDowell County to be a model for how racial equity can be embraced. I also hope that more community members will join us in learning why racial equity is important.

It is beautiful when dedicated, passionate residents convene to forge paths to inclusivity and diversity, said Ginger Webb, Ginger Webb, Community Engagement director for West Marion Inc. This process has been a labor of love, learning about the harmful effects of racism and how prevalent it still is. Through this work, we know we are stronger together. If you know you want to make a difference and change in your community, this is a great place to start. None of us are responsible for the past, but we are all responsible for creating a community that values, celebrates and includes all people.

To learn more about McDowell Racial Equity Collaborative, go to www.westmarion.org or email ginger@westmarion.org, dawna@westmarion.org or paula@westmarion.org.

About West Marion Inc.

The mission of the West Marion Community Forum Inc., aka West Marion Inc. is to enhance the quality of life of our residents and overcome racial barriers by building bridges in McDowell County. We do this by showing compassion, advocating for policy and systems change, promoting economic development, sharing resources, empowering youth, and creating equitable outcomes for all. Our vision is for a healthy and equitable West Marion. A place where residents are engaged to become leaders to create change through new businesses, empowered youth, affordable housing, teaching gardens, and a community center that honors our ancestors and creates opportunities for our future.
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Creation of an in vitro cerebrovascular model using 3D bioprinting technology. Credit: POSTECH

Recent research suggests that the winding paths of blood vessels might trigger the development of metastatic cancers, a topic gaining considerable attention in academia. A collaborative team utilized 3D bioprinting technology to reproduce intricate brain blood vessel structures in the laboratory.

Their primary focus was on uncovering the impact of blood vessel curvature on the movement of tumor cells circulating within the brain. The research findings are published in Nature Communications.

Brain metastasis, often categorized as terminal due to its grim prognosis and the challenges in treatment, occurs when cancer cells, having detached from other tissues, navigate the intricate maze of blood vessels deep within the brain to initiate the disease.

While several in vitro models have been developed to study its onset mechanisms, understanding the impact of physiological factors within brain blood vessels and their anatomical structures on metastatic cancer development has been a significant hurdle.

The team developed a specialized bioink tailored explicitly for creating brain blood vessels. The models 3D-printed using conventional ink faced challenges in accurately replicating intricate cerebral vasculature, as they encountered difficulty in preserving the structure until complete solidification.

To tackle this issue, the team created a hybrid brain-derived decellularized extracellular matrix (BdECM) by blending decellularized extracellular matrix sourced from the brain with alginate extracted from seaweed. This innovative hybrid BdECM, comprising collagen and some 2,000 other protein types, rapidly stabilizes after printing, enabling the precise replication of more intricate brain blood vessel structures than previously achievable.

The team utilized this advanced technology to engineer functional brain blood vessels comprising multiple cellular layersendothelial, surrounding, and astrocyte/neuron layerswith varying curvatures. Their analysis of how circulating tumor cells responded to the cerebral vascular structure revealed a crucial finding: an increase in blood vessel curvature can correlate with a heightened adherence of cancer cells to the vessel walls.

Furthermore, the team investigated the molecular-level mechanisms underlying metastatic cancer development through the interactions between cancer cells and brain vascular tissues.

Subsequently, the researchers employed computer simulations with the brain blood vessel model to examine factors like blood flow velocity and wall shear stress and biophysically explored the correlation between cerebral vascular curvature and cancer cell extravasation.

The research team was led by Professor Dong-Woo Cho and Ph.D. candidate Wonbin Park from the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), along with Professor Byoung Soo Kim and Ph.D. candidate Jae-Seong Lee from the School of Biomedical Convergence Engineering at Pusan National University, and Professor Ge Gao from the School of Medical Technology at Beijing Institute of Technology.

Professor Dong-Woo Cho explained, "By examining the molecular and dynamic elements of cancer extravasation through bioprinted cerebrovascular models, we've delved into the disease's onset mechanisms. We envision leveraging this technology for drug development aimed at treating brain metastasis."

More information: Wonbin Park et al, 3D bioprinted multilayered cerebrovascular conduits to study cancer extravasation mechanism related with vascular geometry, Nature Communications (2023). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-43586-4 Journal information: Nature Communications
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Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

Long COVID patients and experts have called on lawmakers to expand clinical trials and better educate doctors on what researchers currently know about the potentially debilitating chronic condition.

Protesters were carted out of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee room after interrupting the hearing with calls to declare another federal "moonshot" initiativereferencing President Joe Biden's Cancer Moonshot program. The committee heard testimony from two panels, one of researchers and the second of patients and their families.

"We are living through the largest mass disabling event in modern history," Angela Meriquez Vazquez, a long COVID patient from Los Angeles, testified to the committee.

The prevalence of long COVID is hard to quantify thanks to its varying symptoms, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated the condition affected 7% of Americans in 2022. Women are more likely than men to report having the condition, as were people aged 35 through 49.

Barriers to treatment are also apparent. Evidence suggests people of color are prescribed the COVID-19 therapeutic Paxlovid at lower rates. People in rural areas struggle to reach long COVID treatment centers, especially when they're sick. Coordinating care among a team of specialists is hard, and insurance barriers can be high if specialists are out of network or out of state. Plus the exhaustion means it's tough to work to keep the insurance needed to pay for the treatment.

The worst long COVID cases include ME/CFS, also known as chronic fatigue syndrome; dysautonomia, which affects heart rate and blood pressure; and mast cell activation syndrome, in which patients suffer repeat anaphylactic attacks.

Witnesses outlined ways in which Congress and the administration could improve the national response. Tiffany Walker, an internist and long COVID researcher with Emory University, testified that clinical trials run by the National Institutes of Health's $1.15 billion RECOVER initiative were valuable, but were too slow and siloed to address long COVID in real time.

"Trial funding needs to occur at a much greater scale and should not be limited to one consortium," she said, adding that NIH should include input from more doctors on the ground and real-world data. Real-time data could help move patients more quickly to new treatments showing promise.

Kansas Republican Roger Marshall, who said one of his closest loved ones has been "incapacitated" by long COVID for around two years, asked HELP Chairman Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., to have NIH testify on its approach to long COVID research. The CDC should also be focusing more on therapeutics, he said.

"I share your frustration," Marshall said. "I'm frustrated that our CDC seems to be more focused on, I guess, vaccines than they are treatment for long COVID."

The debilitating nature of some long COVID cases has driven some patients to suicide, including a man in Sanders' state of Vermont. Witnesses testified that they have had to fight with doctors to even recognize they're sick, especially early on.

Paperwork is also a major obstacle. Rachel Beale, a patient from Southampton County in Virginia, testified that she has been denied Social Security Disability Insurance without explanation.

"There's a set of problems that make this, within the SSDI insurance framework, really tough," said Virginia Democrat Tim Kaine, who said his own long COVID makes him feel like "every nerve ending in my body is in an alka seltzer 24/7."

Patient advocates called for better aggregation and real-time dissemination of new trends in treatments.

Nicole Heim, the parent of a teenage daughter with long COVID, said she often has to educate doctors on what she has learned through different treatment results. Her daughter was vomiting daily until probiotics and a colonoscopy helped clear lingering COVID from her gastrointestinal tracta fact that shocked a gastroenterologist she recently visited.

"I think that's part of the problem, is that the doctors need the information," she said.

Heim also asked Congress to loosen restrictions on seeing doctors via telehealth in other states. Licensing laws have made her drive to a West Virginia gas station from her home in Virginia to video conference with a physician.

Insurance approvals for care can also delay treatment. Sanders promised to bring insurance CEOs before the committee following hearings he held with pharmaceutical and pharmacy benefit manager CEOs in recent months.

"These companies make tens of billions of dollars in profit every single year," he said. "And there are very few Americans who don't have to struggle to get the care that they deserve. So that's an issue we will deal with in this committee."

Congress is mired in a tense fight over spending levels, so increasing funding for long COVID research will be difficult. But the call for more action was apparent.

"I'm assuming that all of you believe that the federal government has got to play a much more active role with substantial sums of money for research, development, clinical trials, etc. etc.," Sanders said to the panel of researchers.

They were unequivocal in their response.

"Absolutely."

"Yes."

"No doubt."

2024 CQ-Roll Call, Inc., All Rights Reserved. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
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Dheeraj Roy, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Physiology and Biophysics in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at UB, is a senior author on a new paper that explains aspects of how memory works at the cellular level. Credit: Sandra Kicman/Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences

Think of a time when you had two different but similar experiences in a short period. Maybe you attended two holiday parties in the same week or gave two presentations at work. Shortly afterward, you may find yourself confusing the two, but as time goes on that confusion recedes and you are better able to differentiate between these different experiences.

New research published in Nature Neuroscience reveals that this process occurs on a cellular level, findings that are critical to the understanding and treatment of memory disorders, such as Alzheimer's disease.

Dynamic engrams store memories

The research focuses on engrams, which are neuronal cells in the brain that store memory information. "Engrams are the neurons that are reactivated to support memory recall," says Dheeraj S. Roy, Ph.D., one of the paper's senior authors and an assistant professor in the Department of Physiology and Biophysics in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at the University at Buffalo. "When engrams are disrupted, you get amnesia."

In the minutes and hours that immediately follow an experience, he explains, the brain needs to consolidate the engram to store it. "We wanted to know: What is happening during this consolidation process? What happens between the time that an engram is formed and when you need to recall that memory later?"

The researchers developed a computational model for learning and memory formation that starts with sensory information, which is the stimulus. Once that information gets to the hippocampus, the part of the brain where memories form, different neurons are activated, some of which are excitatory and others that are inhibitory.

When neurons are activated in the hippocampus, not all are going to be firing at once. As memories form, neurons that happen to be activated closely in time become a part of the engram and strengthen their connectivity to support future recall.

"Activation of engram cells during memory recall is not an all or none process but rather typically needs to reach a threshold (i.e., a percentage of the original engram) for efficient recall," Roy explains. "Our model is the first to demonstrate that the engram population is not stable: The number of engram cells that are activated during recall decreases with time, meaning they are dynamic in nature, and so the next critical question was whether this had a behavioral consequence."

Dynamic engrams are needed for memory discrimination

"Over the consolidation period after learning, the brain is actively working to separate the two experiences and that's possibly one reason why the numbers of activated engram cells decrease over time for a single memory," he says. "If true, this would explain why memory discrimination gets better as time goes on. It's like your memory of the experience was one big highway initially but over time, over the course of the consolidation period on the order of minutes to hours, your brain divides them into two lanes so you can discriminate between the two."

Roy and the experimentalists on the team now had a testable hypothesis, which they carried out using a well-established behavioral experiment with mice. Mice were briefly exposed to two different boxes that had unique odors and lighting conditions; one was a neutral environment but in the second box, they received a mild foot shock.

A few hours after that experience, the mice, who typically are constantly moving, exhibited fear memory recall by freezing when exposed to either box. "That demonstrated that they couldn't discriminate between the two," Roy says. "But by hour twelve, all of a sudden, they exhibited fear only when they were exposed to the box where they were uncomfortable during their very first experience. They were able to discriminate between the two. The animal is telling us that they know this box is the scary one but five hours earlier they couldn't do that."

Using a light-sensitive technique, the team was able to detect active neurons in the mouse hippocampus as the animal was exploring the boxes. The researchers used this technique to tag active neurons and later measure how many were reactivated by the brain for recall. They also conducted experiments that allowed a single engram cell to be tracked across experiences and time. "So I can tell you literally how one engram cell or a subset of them responded to each environment across time and correlate this to their memory discrimination," explains Roy.

The team's initial computational studies had predicted that the number of engram cells involved in a single memory would decrease over time, and the animal experiments bore that out.

"When the brain learns something for the first time, it doesn't know how many neurons are needed and so on purpose a larger subset of neurons is recruited," he explains. "As the brain stabilizes neurons, consolidating the memory, it cuts away the unnecessary neurons, so fewer are required and in doing so helps separate engrams for different memories."

What is happening with memory disorders?

The findings have direct relevance to understanding what is going wrong in memory disorders, such as Alzheimer's disease. Roy explains that to develop treatments for such disorders, it is critical to know what is happening during the initial memory formation, consolidation and activation of engrams for recall.

"This research tells us that a very likely candidate for why memory dysfunction occurs is that there is something wrong with the early window after memory formation where engrams must be changing," says Roy.

He is currently studying mouse models of early Alzheimer's disease to find out if engrams are forming but not being correctly stabilized. Now that more is known about how engrams work to form and stabilize memories, researchers can examine which genes are changing in the animal model when the engram population decreases.

"We can look at mouse models and ask, are there specific genes that are altered? And if so, then we finally have something to test, we can modulate the gene for these 'refinement' or 'consolidation' processes of engrams to see if that has a role in improving memory performance," he says.

Now at the Jacobs School, Roy conducted the research while a McGovern Fellow at the Broad Institute of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Harvard University. Roy is one of three neuroscientists recruited to the Jacobs School this year to launch a new focus on systems neuroscience in the school's Department of Physiology and Biophysics.

Co-authors on the paper are from Imperial College in London; the Institute of Science and Technology in Austria; the McGovern Institute for Brain Research at MIT; and the Center for Life Sciences & IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research at Tsinghua University in China.

More information: Dynamic and selective engrams emerge with memory consolidation, Nature Neuroscience (2024). dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41593-023-01551-w , www.nature.com/articles/s41593-023-01551-w Journal information: Nature Neuroscience
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Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

Many states have passed new laws that place restrictions on the duration of first-time opioid prescriptions to help address the opioid epidemic.

While most laws are one-size-fits-all, policies more tailored to the patient, such as their age or clinical setting (outpatient clinic, emergency room, etc.), were more effective at reducing the length of opioid prescriptions, reports a new Northwestern Medicine study.

It is the first study to examine the effectiveness of setting-specific opioid prescribing durations. The study was published Jan. 19 in JAMA Health Forum.

The study analyzed 2017 to 2019 data from West Virginia, a state at the epicenter of the opioid crisis that in 2018 instituted a unique, setting-specific approach to prescription-duration limits. These included a seven-day limit for adult patients in outpatient hospital departments and offices; a four-day limit for adult patients in emergency departments and a three-day limit for pediatric patients in any clinical service location.

This is in contrast to other states, which imposed the same prescription-duration limit for all patients (e.g. Kentucky, three days or Pennsylvania, seven days), regardless of their clinical setting or age.

The study found tailored duration limits helped reduce the length of opioid prescriptions. There was a 56.8% reduction in prescription length amid patients in hospital and outpatient settings (seven-day limit); a 37.5% reduction in prescription length amid patients in emergency department settings (four-day limit); and a 26.5% reduction in prescription length amid pediatric patients (three-day limit).

"We have clear results that an opioid duration-limiting policy can work to reduce the length of prescriptions, but not as most states have designed them," said corresponding author Lindsay Allen, assistant professor of emergency medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.

A reduction in high-dose and follow-up prescriptions

The study also found reduced prescription lengths did not result in physicians writing stronger or more follow-up prescriptions for adults as a way of compensating for shorter prescription durations, which was a potential concern, Allen said. Instead, the policy was associated with reductions in high-dose and follow-up prescriptions in the outpatient setting.

"This could be because the law heightened concerns about lengthy opioid use, which in turn drove down doctors' willingness to write follow-up prescriptions," Allen said. "Also, prior to the 2018 policy, longer initial prescriptions may have built up tolerance in patients, which did not happen with shorter initial prescriptions."

Origin of prescription-duration limits

To help fight America's opioid epidemic, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in 2016 issued recommended guidelines to help primary care clinicians weigh benefits and risks of opioid treatment for chronic pain. That guidance led to states setting their own prescribing limits, which were often one-size-fits-all (not tailored to patients' unique circumstances), and a misapplication of the CDC guidelines.

"This is what happens when we have legislators making laws without consulting medical or policy experts," Allen said. "The laws were not based on any evidence about what the 'right' opioid duration limit is. That's why we had some states making a three-day limit while others made a 14-day limit. It was a mess."

Because of these inconsistencies, there have been mixed findings on the effectiveness of these policies, Allen said. In 2022, the CDC updated its guidelines.

A focus on pediatric and Medicaid-enrollee prescriptions

Pediatric patients have not been independently studied in prior work on prescribing limits. This is an important knowledge gap, given recently documented increases in opioid-associated deaths in the pediatric population, Allen said.

The study also focused on Medicaid enrollees, who have been disproportionately affected by the opioid epidemic. Medicaid patients are prescribed more opioids than non-enrollees, largely reflecting that those who qualify for the program (whether through disability or not) are more likely to have chronic conditions and comorbidities that require pain relief.

Participants in the study were between 12 and 64 years old, did not actively have cancer and were not covered by Medicare. The sample included 44,703 individuals before the 2018 policy was imposed and 16,746 after the 2018 policy went into effect.

Allen said the next steps in the research are to look at potential risks of such limits.

"We know that reduced prescription length is associated with reduced risk for opioid dependence, which, in theory, is good, but we need to do more research to determine if these limits actually reduce downstream opioid use disorder or if they could result in unintended consequences, like seeking out pain relief from illicit opioids," Allen said.

More information: Changes in Prescribing Patterns Following Setting-specific Opioid Prescription Duration Limits, JAMA Health Forum (2024). Journal information: JAMA Health Forum
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CD4+ T cells (green) attacking melanoma cells (red) in the skin. Credit: Dr. Bawden / Doherty Institute

A study led by the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity (Doherty Institute) has found that CD4+ T cells, traditionally called 'helper T cells' for their role in aiding the activation of other immune cells, are remarkably effective in controlling melanoma.

University of Melbourne's Dr. Emma Bawden, Postdoctoral Researcher at the Doherty Institute and lead author of the study, said this discovery challenges the conventional understanding of the role of CD4+ T cells in cancer immunity. The work is published in Science Immunology.

"Our in-depth study, using animal models, unraveled the complex biology of CD4+ T cells in melanoma and how they control cancer," explained Dr. Bawden.

"Using microscopic live imaging, we visualized the activities and interactions of CD4+ T cells with other cell types in the tumor microenvironment. Our findings challenge previous assumptions by showing that CD4+ T cells can combat tumors through a multitude of pathways."

The detailed analysis revealed the genetic makeup, developmental states and functions of CD4+ T cells in melanoma, showing the potential of harnessing CD4+ T cells for future therapies against the skin cancer.

University of Melbourne Professor Thomas Gebhardt, Senior Research Fellow at the Doherty Institute and senior author of the study, said that understanding CD4+ T cell responses could pave the way for more effective immunotherapies against melanoma.

CD4+ T cells (green) attacking melanoma cells (red) in the skin. Credit: Dr. Bawden / Doherty Institute

"While CD4+ T cells are often viewed as accessory cells regulating the function of other immune cells, our work shows they can work effectively on their own. Therefore, harnessing their potential therapeutically holds great promise for the development and improvement of current cancer immunotherapies," said Professor Gebhardt.

More than 15,000 Australians are diagnosed with melanoma every year, a rare but highly aggressive form of skin cancer.

More information: Emma Bawden et al, CD4+ T cell immunity against cutaneous melanoma encompasses multifaceted MHC II-dependent responses, Science Immunology (2024). DOI: 10.1126/sciimmunol.adi9517. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciimmunol.adi9517 Journal information: Science Immunology
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Credit: Ron Lach from Pexels

Mental health issues among teens have been rising for more than a decade, and some experts wonder how much social media use is to blame. If you're a parent questioning ifand howyou should monitor the way your teenager uses social media, you're not alone.

In the spring of 2023, United States Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, MD, MBA, released an advisory called Social Media and Youth Mental Health, in which he says there is growing evidence that social media is causing harm to young people's mental health. Soon after, the American Psychological Association (APA) issued its own health advisory.

The issue is complicated, however. While there are indicators that it can have a profound risk of harm to teens (more on that below), social media use aimed at making healthy connections with others may actually be beneficial to some people. Dr. Murthy's report indicates that more research is needed to fully understand the impact of social media. For parents, this means there are no easy answers.

"The issues we face now with social media are similar to those we faced when television came out," says Linda Mayes, MD, chair of the Yale Child Study Center (YCSC). She explains that, as with TV watching, there are pros and cons to social media for young people. "So, how do we help parents filter out the parts that may be detrimental?"

Below, Dr. Mayes and YCSC's Yann Poncin, MD, a child psychiatrist, offer advice for parents trying to help their teenagers use social media in a positive way.

But first, some background.

Social media use and teens: Background, benefits, and harms

As a parent, you might ask yourself, "What, specifically, about social media use can have a negative impact on my teen?"

Dr. Murthy's advisory was based on what it describes as a "substantial review of the available evidence." It raises a variety of concerns, including the amount of time adolescents spend on platforms, the type of content they consume (or are exposed to), and the degree to which their online interactions disrupt activities essential for health, such as sleep and exercise. It points out that social media can also affect young users in different ways, depending on their strengths and vulnerabilities as individuals, as well as their cultural, historical, and socio-economic backgrounds.

The report stresses that the brain is going through a highly sensitive period between the ages of 10 and 19, when identities and feelings of self-worth are forming. Frequent social media use may be associated with distinct changes in the developing brain, potentially affecting such functions as emotional learning and behavior, impulse control, and emotional regulation.

What are the potential benefits of social media use by teens?

Some teenagers experience a benefit when they use social media to foster positive connections with others who share common interests or identities (if they are seeking a connection with others who are, say, members of a particular racial identity), creating a space for self-expression. Relationships formed in communities like these can create opportunities for positive interactions with more diverse peer groups than are available to them offline, according to Dr. Murthy's report.

The advisory points to a 2022 survey of American teenagers and their parents by the Pew Research Center, which showed that a majority of respondents felt that social media helps teenagers feel more accepted (58%), like they have people who can support them through tough times (67%), that they have a place to show their creative side (71%), and that they are more connected to what's going on in their friends' lives (80%).

"Posting to let your friends know how you've been spending your time can be a positive or healthy way to connect and hear about each other's day," says Dr. Poncin. "It's no different than 30 years ago when adolescents would be on the phone for three hours connecting with their friendsonly now you're online with your friends, saying, "Meet you after school," or "Did you hear about this?'"

What are the potential harms of social media use by teens?

Over the last decade, increasing evidence has identified the potential negative impact of social media on adolescents. According to a research study of American teens ages 1215, those who used social media over three hours each day faced twice the risk of having negative mental health outcomes, including depression and anxiety symptoms.

The advisory states that other studies "point to a higher relative concern of harm in adolescent girls and those already experiencing poor mental health, as well as for particular health outcomes, such as cyberbullying-related depression, body image and disordered eating behaviors, and poor sleep quality linked to social media use."

"What's more, the social media algorithms are built to promote whatever you seem interested in," says Dr. Mayes. "If a teen searches for any kind of mental health condition, such as depression or suicide, it's going to feed them information about those things, so soon they may begin to think that everyone around them is depressed or thinking about suicide, which is not necessarily good for mental health."

When does the kind of content teens see become an issue?

Teens can easily access extreme, inappropriate, and harmful content. In certain cases, deaths have been linked to suicide- and self-harmrelated content, such as "cutting," partial asphyxiation, and risk-taking challenges on social media platforms, according to Dr. Murthy's report. Studies also found that discussing or showing this content can normalize these behaviors.

Eating disorders are yet another concern. A review of 50 studies across 17 countries between 2016 and 2021 published in PLOS Global Public Health suggested that relentless online exposure to largely unattainable physical ideals may trigger a distorted sense of self and eating disorders. This is considered to be a particular problem among girls.

In addition, people who target adolescentsfor instance, adults seeking to sexually exploit teens or financially extort them through the threat or actual distribution of intimate imagesmay use social media platforms for these types of predatory behaviors, according to the Surgeon General's advisory.

Why is excessive use of social media a problem?

The excessive use of social media can harm teens by disrupting important healthy behaviors. Some researchers think that exposure to social media can overstimulate the brain's reward center and, when the stimulation becomes excessive, can trigger pathways comparable to addiction.

Excessive use has also been linked to sleep problems, attention problems, and feelings of exclusion in adolescents. And sleep is essential for the healthy development of teens, according to Dr. Murthy's advisory.

Social media use in teens: A guide for parents

After reading the background, as a parent, you might ask yourself, "Sure, but do kids really use social media that much?"

Social media use among young people is nearly universal now, based on surveys from the Pew Research Center. In 2022, up to 95% of teenagers surveyed (ages 13 to 17) reported using social media, and more than a third of them use it "almost constantly."

Pew has also tracked which social media platforms (or "apps") teenagers are using. In 2023, it found the majority of teens9 out of 10 for those ages 13 to 17use YouTube, followed by TikTok, Snapchat, and Instagram. (Their use of Facebook dropped dramatically; there was also a decrease in the use of Twitter, now called X, although that was not as steep.)

With that in mind, YCSC experts provide a guide for parents concerned about their teens' social media use.

1. Determine the age your child will have access to social media

Experts are still exploring whether there is a "right age" for a child to access social media. The APA explains that adolescents mature at different rates, which makes establishing a universal age recommendation difficult.

Although the minimum age most commonly required by social media platforms in the U.S. is 13, nearly 40% of children ages 812 use social media, according to Dr. Murthy's report. That signals how difficult it can be to enforce these rules without parental supervision.

One strategy is to make a social media plan for your family long before the teenage years, Dr. Poncin says. "In my opinion, elementary school-age children should not have full-on internet access using a device with all the social media apps."

In terms of phones, they can start with a "dumbphone," a cell phone that doesn't have email, an internet browser, and other features found on smartphones, he adds.

For middle-schoolers who show maturity and responsibilitywho can get themselves to sleep and do their homework, for exampleadditional access may be fine, notes Dr. Poncin. But he suggests delaying full access to smartphones for as long as possible, opting for a device allowing you to add more apps as your child matures.

Establishing a family social media plan might also be usefulthe American Academy of Pediatrics offers a tool that can help. In addition to setting the age at which you plan to start giving your kids phones or internet access, this plan can be used to establish rules and educate children and teens about being careful about privacy settings, avoiding strangers online, not giving out personal information, and knowing how to report cyberbullying, Dr. Mayes says.

2. Keep devices out of the bedroom

Research shows a relationship between social media use and poor sleep quality, reduced sleep duration, and sleep difficulties in young people, according to Dr. Murthy's advisory. For teens, poor sleep is linked to emotional health issues and a higher risk for suicide.

According to Dr. Murthy's report, on a typical weekday, nearly one-third of adolescents report using screen media until midnight or later. (While screen media use includes various digital activities, social media apps are the most commonly used applications by teens.)

"Knowing that, try to create a culture at home where all phones are turned off by a certain time, and make sure it's at least one hour before going to bed," Dr. Poncin says.

However, you may find that bedtime rules don't work as well as your kids get older. It may be necessary to ask your teen to put their phone outside the bedroom before going to bed. "But, if the response is, "I do my homework late and have a group chat about math, so I'm going to need the phone to group chat," and you suspect your teen isn't being honest, that will be a different conversation," Dr. Poncin says. "But having these open conversations is critical."

3. Keep the lines of communication open, and let your teen make mistakes

It will be easier to talk to your teens about social media if you have comfortable conversations with them about other issues, the doctors say.

"I don't believe you should monitor the content of your teen's phone, because a teenager should have privacy," Dr. Poncin says. "An important part of the teenage years is figuring out who you are in the world. So, it's important for them to explore and even make mistakes without you hovering around them." The goal is to keep lines of communication open and establish some trust with your child, so they'll come to you if there are issues, he adds.

This, too, is similar to the advice given when parents were concerned about the impact of television on children, adds Dr. Mayes. "Research showed that watching TV in and of itself wasn't bad, but it began to have potentially negative effects on kids' behavior when it was used as a babysitter," she says. "The message to parents was to sit beside their kids and watch TV with them, and then talk about what they're watching."

Neither you nor your teen will be happy if you sit beside them and scroll down your social media feeds together, but you can take the time to ask how social media is working for them, Dr. Mayes suggests. "So, you're not saying, 'Oh no! You're on social media!' Rather, you're normalizing it and making it clear that you're willing to talk about what they're experiencing or learning. This sets it up for them to talk to you if they run into a problem, instead of going to their peers or looking for solutions online," she says.

4. Be mindful of your approach when talking to your teen

Although keeping the line of communication open matters, how you have those conversations is equally important. If you are concerned about your teen's social media use and feel the need to intervene, you might say something like, "It seems like you're on the phone so much that I don't see you just doing homework like you used to do, so I'm just worried how healthy this is for you in terms of getting your stuff done. What do you think about that?" Dr. Poncin says.

You might even need to be more assertive, for instance, saying, "I've noticed that you're on your phone until 1 a.m. When I go to the bathroom, your light is on, and you're on your phone. That's not healthy. So, can we come up with a plan that you're most comfortable with?"

5. Follow the rules yourself

As a parent, you are a role model and that means following all the same rules you are setting for your childrenif you ask your teenager to limit their screen time, you should do so as well, says Dr. Mayes, noting that it's not uncommon to see parents looking at their phones when they are out with their kids.

You might have a hard time resisting your social media feeds, texts, and emails. Sometimes, it helps to admit to your teenagers that you find it difficult to put down your devices, too. "This a global issue, where parents want their kids to do things differently and better than they do," Dr. Poncin says. "So, once again, having an honest conversation is important."
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Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

Women using drugs and alcohol can feel stigmatized and shamed when seeking support from professional services, a new study has found.

The research, published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, is based on the experiences of women using community drug and alcohol treatment services across the West Midlands, as well as professionals in the field.

Sarah Page, Associate Professor in Social Justice and Social Learning at Staffordshire University, said that "while there are pockets of great practice, there are also times when the words and actions of professionals across drug and alcohol services, health and mental health, social work, and the criminal justice sector can leave women feeling failed.

"We found that women very much experience the stigma of the 'lying drug addict,' and as a result, they constantly have to prove themselves. This can create significant social and emotional harm to the individual."

Interviews and focus groups with women using services were conducted by Staffordshire University in partnership with Expert Citizens CIC, and a world cafe event was undertaken with professionals. The research collaboration included the Center for Justice Innovation, which led data collection via interviews with professionals.

An important feature of the research is that women with lived experience of using drug and alcohol services also helped to design the study, helping to conduct the interviews and to reflect upon the data.

One woman in the study spoke about not being believed after reporting that a police GP had sexually assaulted her. Another was accused of taking drugs after providing a urine sample, which turned out to be a mistake made by a professional and could have resulted in the woman losing her child when the inaccurate findings were shared with social services.

Evidence was also found that some professionals misrepresent events in case notes, including legal documents for court hearings, which adds to the emotional trauma experienced by women.

The research was conducted in response to the government's 'From Harm to Hope' drugs strategy, which promises funding for 54,500 new drug treatment places by 2025, and findings raise concern that the strategy somewhat overlooks the treatment needs of women.

Credit: Staffordshire University

Findings from the wider study reported on by the authors also revealed that women are at risk of being targeted by abusers in "chaotic, intimidating or unsafe" mixed-gender drug and alcohol treatment services.

"We, and others in the field, were concerned that the 'From Harm to Hope' strategy doesn't fully acknowledge women's specific treatment needs and doesn't offer nuanced guidance on how to work with women," commented Fiona McCormack, from Staffordshire University's Center for Health and Development.

"Our findings establish that stigma negatively impacts the identification of treatment needs and access to appropriate support. Social harms to women with addictions could be significantly reduced with timely, authentic, honest, gender-informed and trauma-informed practices."

The authors are now calling for women's only services to ensure that women addicts feel safe and believed. Based on the views of women in this study, a further recommendation is for lived experience experts to work in recovery support worker roles to provide enhanced empathy and act as role models, as well as provide input into service design.

Other recommendations include mandatory training with regular updates for professionals in all related services pertaining to trauma, gender discrimination, and harassment, ethical professional practice, being non-judgmental, and responding to service user complaints.

Associate Professor Sarah Page added, "It is important to recognize that women in recovery are working really hard to prove themselves."

"Several public health areas have already signed up to provide a women's only service, which is a great achievement, and we hope that more across the UK will do the same. Staffordshire Police also invited us to deliver training to ensure that the custody suites in Staffordshire are more trauma-informed in the approach of working with women and drug users more broadly. So that's a great outcome, which we're hoping to build on and roll out nationally."

More information: Sarah Page et al, Women, Addictions, Mental Health, Dishonesty, and Crime Stigma: Solutions to Reduce the Social Harms of Stigma, International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (2024). DOI: 10.3390/ijerph21010063 Journal information: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
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Credit: Anna Shvets from Pexels

Researchers from Miami Cancer Institute, part of Baptist Health South Florida, have published a study in Trends in Cancer that analyzes the use of tissue-agnostic therapeutics in patients with primary brain tumors (PBTs). The article describes the current and potential impact of tissue-agnostic therapies on the management of PBTs.

As part of the publication, the researchers discuss data from clinical trials of tissue-agnostic targets for PBTs in the context of challenges in managing these tumors. They also describe additional tissue-agnostic targets that hold promise for benefiting patients with PBTs.

"Novel tissue-agnostic therapeutics targeting driver mutations in tumor cells have been recently approved by the FDA and other regulatory bodies across the world, driven by trials that have demonstrated their efficacy and safety across diverse tumor histology," said Manmeet S. Ahluwalia, M.D., MBA, FASCO, chief of medical oncology, chief scientific officer, deputy director, and Fernandez Family Foundation Endowed Chair in Cancer Research at Miami Cancer Institute, and first author of the study. "However, the relative rarity of primary brain tumors has limited their representation in early trials of tissue-agnostic medications."

Basket trialswhich test a targeted therapy on the molecular profiles of a broad spectrum of cancershave recently led to the next frontier of precision medicine, that is tissue-agnostic approvals. These enable the use of targeted therapies based on molecular alterations that are present regardless of the tissue of origin of the tumor.

There is a substantial genetic, epigenetic, and immunological heterogeneity of PBTs, which adds to the complexity of tissue-agnostic therapies. Innate differences between various types of PBTs must be considered carefully because even within the same tumor, multiple subtypes within the same spectrum can exist, adding to the histological heterogeneity.

However, the concept of tissue-agnostic therapies evolved in the first place from arguments that common molecular profiles can limit the impact of those inter and intra-tumor heterogeneities from a therapeutic perspective by targeting common molecular alterations.

By gaining a better understanding of tumor biology, several therapeutics with broad efficacy across diverse cancer types have been developed and approved in the last decade. Increasing utilization of next-generation sequencing and biomarker-driven basket trials has helped identify several actionable genetic alterations and their clinical utility. Consequently, this has led to approvals for tissue-agnostic malignancies by the FDA and others, many of which have already demonstrated utility in PBTs.

"However, the limited number of patients with different PBTs in published studies hampers their widespread uptake," added Ahluwalia. "Therefore, it is becoming increasingly crucial for individuals with primary brain tumors to undergo molecular profiling, enabling the maximization of therapeutic options based on individualized characteristics and for real-world analytics to capture this data. These tissue-agnostic approvals, as the new frontier of precision oncology, hold promise for improved treatment outcomes of gliomas."

More information: Manmeet S. Ahluwalia et al, Impact of tissue-agnostic approvals on management of primary brain tumors, Trends in Cancer (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.trecan.2023.11.005

Provided by Baptist Health South Florida
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Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

As the public inquiry into the UK's response to COVID-19 continues, new research led by Northumbria University academics shines a light on the impact of moving patients from hospitals to care homes in England during the pandemic.

Traumatized and distressed staff felt powerless to stop the spread of COVID-19 as it tore through care homes, leaving dehumanized residents feeling 'imprisoned' and some facing death in isolation, according to the research.

During the first peak of the coronavirus pandemicbetween March and June 2020more than 66,000 people died in care homes, with a third of those deaths attributed to COVID-19.

Emotive personal testimonies about the early impact of the pandemic on the care home sector and its residents are at the center of research spearheaded by Northumbria University academics, working with colleagues from Plymouth Marjon, Birmingham and Newcastle Universities.

A paper, published in the journal Age and Ageing, investigates how the pandemic influenced the transition of care between hospitals and care homes, the study highlights a "deluge of governmental failings" and "unmanageable situations" for care home staff as it considers the impact of transitions on the quality and safety of care provided during that time.

The study highlights the 'new challenges' that the COVID-19 pandemic brought and how the care home sector adapted, despite increased pressure from NHS discharges and a lack of government assistance, compounding the divide between health and social care.

However, with the benefit of insights from 70 people working in health and social care services, it also finds that good practices and better ways of working were developed and adopted, from remote access to health care to improvements in joined-up working between sectors.

The study suggests the Government's decision to sanction rapid discharges exposed infection control issues and contributed to inhumane conditions for residents, with hospitals and local authorities involved in the process said to have prioritized those discharges "to the detriment of patient safety."

Some transitions took place without any social contactunderstandable for infection prevention, but with "uncaring and callous dimensions," according to the research findings.

One paramedic told researchers, "They're not prisoners, but we were treating them like they were because we effectively put them in a cell."

Residents struggled to endure the new processes, with consecutive periods of isolation contributing to an overall "dehumanizing" experience of care and transitions during the first few months of the pandemic.

Participants in the research illustrated a stark picture of stressed and anxious staff working in fear as care homes quickly became overwhelmed by urgent COVID cases and were 'vilified' in the media over strict lockdown policies that left residents cut-off from their loved ones.

Lead author of the Age and Ageing paper, Dr. Craig Newman, is a Research Fellow based within Northumbria's Department of Social Work, Education and Community Wellbeing. He said, "This research identifies the enormity of the challenges, however, it also highlights that relationships were built between the NHS and care homes with examples of integration and sharing best practice infection control protocols.

"It was apparent that care home staff were committed, professional and resilient during this time to maintain their service for their residents and by supporting families to mitigate the pressures caused by the pandemic."

Dr. Stephanie Mulrine, who was a Research Fellow at Northumbria University during the study and conducted most of the interviews with care home staff, said it was a huge privilege to be able to listen to individual harrowing stories.

"Much of what we heard was challenging and difficult to hear, but people were so generous with their time and what they shared, as they felt it was so important," explained Dr. Mulrine. "I cannot stress enough how those that got involved did so because it gave them the opportunity to be heard and because they thought it was importantif they shared their experiences in some way in the future, things could be different."

Relentless press coverage which focused negatively on care homes as seeding sites for the spread of COVID-19, while portraying hard-working care workers as heroes, also added to the psychological suffering of staff and residents. These were the findings of a separate research study which was the focus of a paper published in the Journal of Integrated Care by Northumbria Master's student Dr. Eniola Michael Abe.

Dr. Jason Scott, Associate Professor of Health and Social Care Quality at Northumbria, took the lead on both pieces of research. He said, "What we see is a lack of integration and a dehumanizing process that was not always person-centered."

Dr. Scott hopes the research will "shine a light" on the issues raised by participants, and lead to a better alignment of health and social care as people transition between services, along with more recognition of the importance of delivering and maintaining person-centered care even during challenging and unprecedented circumstances.

He said many of the problems highlightedsuch as poor communication between sectors at the point of dischargehad been known for years but were thrust into the national spotlight after being exacerbated by the pandemic.

Dr. Scott explained, "If something goes wrong in health care, there are more robust mechanisms in place to learn, but it's very different in social care, where there's often a 'fix and forget' approach to problems that occur when people transition between services.

"That approach stops problems taking up more resources and means they're often masked from residents because they are fixed before they can cause worry or distress.

"But it means the sector is limited in its ability to learn or influence change, and so the same problems can happen repeatedly.

"Some of those problems came to the forefront during the pandemic because they could no longer be masked.

"Before then, transitions from hospitals to care homes would not have received media attention, they wouldn't have made for a big national storybut then suddenly, they did."

A whole module of the UK's COVID-19 Inquiry, which opened on 12 December 2023, is dedicated to investigating the impact of the pandemic on the adult social care sector in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

More information: Craig Newman et al, Challenges and improvements associated with transitions between hospitals and care homes during the COVID-19 pandemic: a qualitative study with care home and healthcare staff in England, Age and Ageing (2023). DOI: 10.1093/ageing/afad146 Eniola Abe et al, Media presentation of hospital discharge to care homes during the COVID-19 pandemic, Journal of Integrated Care (2023). DOI: 10.1108/JICA-02-2023-0013 Journal information: Age and Ageing
COTABATO CITY  A measure has been filed in the Bangsamoro Parliament seeking to rename the municipality of Sultan Mastura to Subpangen in M...
This week, the Board of Directors of Central Bancshares, Inc., CBI Bank & Trust and F&M Bank's parent company, announced it has hired Dwayne Sieck as President of CBI Bank & Trust.

Sieck will be succeeding current President and CEO of Central Bancshares and CEO of CBI Bank & Trust, Greg Kistler, who will be retiring on December 31, 2024.

Dwayne is uniquely qualified to succeed Greg, who has been our CEO since 2010. The opportunity for them to work together over the coming year will ensure a smooth transition for the leadership of our company, Dan Stein, Chairman of the Board of Central Bancshares, said in a public statement.

Kistler, who has been associated with CBI Bank & Trust for over 27 years, briefly spoke about his upcoming retirement.

We didnt know how long it would take to identify my successor, and we were very fortunate to find Dwayne Sieck early in the process," he said.

With a little under a year until his retirement, Kistler said that he was glad to have more than enough time to help his successor work through this upcoming transition.

Dwayne brings many positives to our organization, starting with the extensive background he has in banking and financial services, Kistler said. Just as importantly, he will bring the focus on our customers and the communities we operate in that we have always valued.

Prior to joining CBI Bank & Trust, Sieck has already served in the financial services industry for the past 26 years, focusing mainly on banking, investments and commercial real estate. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Finance with minors in Economics and Business Communications with an emphasis in Real Estate from the University of Northern Iowa before graduating from the Southwestern Graduate School of Banking program at Southern Methodist University in Dallas.

Sieck previously served as President and Chief Operating Officer of Mutual of Omaha Bank, a position he held for 12 years, in which time it grew from $600 million in assets to nearly $9 billion in assets.

He has also held positions with Principal Financial Group in Des Moines, Key Bank in Kansas City, and CIT Bank, and has served nine years on The University of Northern Iowas Real Estate Advisory Council, including three years as its chair.

Additionally, in 2021, Sieck founded Farnam Street Real Estate Capital, a real estate investment firm based in Omaha, Nebraska. He has also served on the faculty at the Southwestern Graduate School of Banking over the past two academic years. Siecks most recent achievement was the completion of his second, 3-year term on the Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank Board as a Bank Director for the Omaha branch.

It is an honor to serve the communities that CBI has been serving for generations, Sieck said in a public statement following the announcement. I am looking forward to working with such a talented and experienced team at CBI, who put our clients first. The team clearly understands and knows that community banking, when done well, acts as the lifeblood that preserves and strengthens the health of businesses and families in our communities.
Last week, Muscatines John Dabeet had the opportunity to attend and present at an emergency summit held at Rainbow PUSH Headquarters in Chicago.

Organized by Rev. Jesse Jackson and different national organizations, the summit was meant as a way to gather faith leaders, civil and human rights advocates, and community activists for the sake of demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.

I was honored and I was humbled to be one of the 13 national leaders in attendance and to deliver a speech and participate in a panel discussion regarding whats going on in Gaza, Dabeet said. I was also honored and humbled to meet Rev. Jackson.

Leading up to this momentous event, Dabeet also took place in the planning of the summit, which first began in November 2023. As important as the event was, Dabeet also felt that it happening on the weekend before Martin Luther King Jr. day added further significance to the occasion. The summit was attended by a total of over 2,000 people both in-person and online, including 10 members of Congress, and received a large amount of media coverage.

As stated by the conveners, the three specific actions that this emergency summit called for were the immediate, permanent ceasefire as well as the immediate release of all Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners held without charges or due process, the commitment of the United States to leading the unimpeded UN-supervised humanitarian aid in Gaza, and the U.S. abiding by its own regulations and conditioning funding to Israel on its adherence to U.S. law.

For his part at the summit, Dabeet represented the U.S. Palestinian Council.

"We call on our Palestinian-American citizens and our friends to share the Palestinian narrative and to keep the pressure up on Biden's administration in order to reach a complete and immediate ceasefire," he said in a statement. "Our Palestinian brothers and sisters endure genocide and annihilation every day at the hands of the Israeli forces. We ask you to stand beside the people of Palestine until liberation and the establishment of an independent Palestine."

Other groups that were represented at the summit included the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, the Arab American Institute, Churches for Middle East Peace, Faith for Black Lives, Fellowship of Reconciliation, IfNotNow, Jewish Voice for Peace, Muslim Civic Coalition, Red Letter Christians and Sojourners.

Overall, Dabeet said that he and his fellow leaders felt the summit was a success, believing that it achieved their goals and objectives set for it. He also felt encouraged by the amount of world-wide support that the overall demand for a ceasefire in Gaza has received.

Our message was great, and we asked everyone who attended the summit to go back to their communities and start sharing the narrative and information with them, he said. We also made a commitment to continue working together in the near future as 13 national organizations as we continue to put the pressure on the U.S. Government and President Bidens administration and push for an immediate ceasefire.

As for his own community, Dabeet encourages Muscatine residents to do their own research into the Israel-Palestinian conflict and the impact that this has had on Palestinians. Although he felt it was important to acknowledge the recent mass deaths and displacement that Gaza has seen, he also felt it was time for people to think and learn more about the conflicts origins and its impact on Palestine. He also asked for the community's support in ending Israel's occupation in Palestine.

As I always say, you dont need to be a Palestinian to stand up for Palestine, you only need to be human, he said. Were not asking for a lot. Were asking for freedom and self-determination for the Palestinians, because they deserve to live like any other nation. We are not asking for something that is not a natural right for anyone in the world.

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In a significant escalation, Senior Counsel Ahmednasir Abdullahi is set to file a petition at the East African Court of Justice, challenging the Supreme Court of Kenya.

This move comes in the wake of a directive issued by the Supreme Courts Registrar L.M Wachira, which barred Ahmednasir and his law firms staff from filing cases with the court. The directive was in response to what the Supreme Court termed continuous negative comments from the lawyer.

Ahmednasir communicated his intention to seek legal recourse through a post on his official X handle.

He stated, I have instructed my lawyers to file a petition in the East African Court of Justice at Arusha to seek legal redress against KOOMEs judicial skulduggery and niggling shenanigans. I will not waste time in going to KOOMEs CORRUPT COURT

I have instructed my lawyers to file a petition in the East African Court of Justice at Arusha to seek legal redress against KOOME's judicial skulduggery and niggling shenanigans. I will not waste time in going to KOOME's CORRUPT COURT! @CJMarthaKoome @THE_SCOK pic.twitter.com/yxxnrXueSF  Ahmednasir Abdullahi SC (@ahmednasirlaw) January 19, 2024

The Supreme Court accuses Ahmednasir of waging a media campaign against it, involving allegations of corruption, incompetence, and bribery against its judges.

In its letter, the Supreme Court criticized Ahmednasirs approach, suggesting that it showed little regard for the reputations of the Courts judges, who serve in accordance with their Oath of Office.

The Court particularly mentioned the Republic v Ahmad Abdolfadhi Mohammed and Anor case (SC Petition No. 39 of 2018), where Ahmednasir had been critical of its ruling.

Ahmednasir, however, in a statement on his social media platform, described the ban against him and his law firm as a badge of honour.

He noted that this was not the first time in his three-decade-long career that he faced resistance from the courts for his outspoken views, particularly in calling for the removal of certain judges.
The latest report by the Communication Authority of Kenya (CA) on the performance of mobile network operators for the year 2022-2023 has brought to light some critical insights into the industry.

As per the report, Safaricom has outperformed its competitors, achieving 90 percent of the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) threshold.

Airtel and Telkom, on the other hand, recorded lower KPI compliance, attaining 79 percent and 65 percent, respectively.

This performance assessment is particularly significant when considering the overall industry trend, which has seen a notable drop from 82.3 percent in the 2021-2022 period to 72.4 percent in 2022-2023.

This decline highlights a pressing challenge for the industry as a whole.

The CAs report has also issued a warning to Telkom Kenya and Airtel Kenya regarding their subpar services.

Specifically, the two firms have been flagged for not meeting their coverage targets and failing to achieve several critical Quality of Service Key Performance Indicators.

These indicators include aspects such as the unsuccessful call ratio and Data Internet KPIs, which are crucial for coverage and internet accessibility.

Airtel Networks Kenya Limited and Telkom Kenya failed to not only meet their coverage targets but also several most critical Quality of Service Key Performance Indicators particularly the unsuccessful call ratio and Data Internet KPIs which are indicators for coverage and internet accessibility, reads the report in part.

The Authority, therefore, proceeded to levy a penalty for underperformance in offering quality of service by the two mobile networks and cautioned them with a non-compliance penalty that requires improvement of performance. Failure to follow the notice, a sanction level will be applied.

Overview of the mobile network providers performance according to the CAs report:

Network Provider Key Performance Indicators (2022-2023) Performance Drop (2021-2022 to 2022-2023) Total Subscribers Performance in Counties Lowest Score in Counties Performance in Urban Areas Safaricom 90%  43,727,515 87.60% 63.5% in Vihiga and Kajiado  Airtel 79%  17,636,324 75.07% 45.45% in Baringo and Laikipia 90.91% (Best in Machakos, Mombasa, Nairobi, Kericho, Siaya, Muranga) Telkom 65%  2,774,254 54.75% 36.36% in Muranga and Laikipia 72.73% (Vihiga, Mombasa, Nairobi, Nakuru)

The data outlines the disparity between the operators, particularly highlighting Safaricoms dominance in the market in terms of both KPI compliance and subscriber base.

Moreover, it shows the varying levels of performance within different counties, with Safaricom leading the pack, followed by Airtel and Telkom.

Safaricoms impressive reach is evident, as it tops the performance chart in counties with an 87.60 percent rating.

However, its noteworthy that even Safaricom faced challenges in certain counties, with its lowest score being 63.5 percent in Vihiga and Kajiado.

Airtel and Telkom, while trailing behind, have shown better performance in urban areas, with Airtel scoring 90.91 percent, particularly excelling in Machakos, Mombasa, Nairobi, Kericho, Siaya, and Muranga.

Telkom scored 72.73 percent in urban areas like Vihiga, Mombasa, Nairobi, and Nakuru.

The CAs report concludes by emphasizing the need for improved service delivery, especially for Airtel and Telkom, to meet the rising demands of their subscriber base and adhere to industry standards.

The Authority has cautioned these providers with non-compliance penalties, urging them to enhance their performance, threatening that failure to adhere could lead to more stringent sanctions.
Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has backtracked on his plan to file a petition for the removal of Judge Esther Maina from office.

In a statement issued on Thursday, the Deputy Presidents office stated that the need to allow for dialogue between the Executive and the Judiciary on the conduct of judicial officers prompted this move.

Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua notes the current national discourse on judicial transparency and application of Article 10 of the Constitution of Kenya on the conduct of Judges and other Judicial Officers. He welcomes the statement by Chief Justice Martha Koome inviting dialogue on the critical issue of accountability of the Judiciary, which H.E President William Ruto has embraced, a statement to newsrooms reads in part.

RELATED  Ruto Accepts CJ Koomes Call for Dialogue to Resolve Executive vs. Judiciary Impasse

In this regard, the Deputy President will not proceed with the matter of the petition, for now, the statement issued by Njeri Rugene, Head of the Deputy Presidential Communication Service added.

Riggy G had declared an onslaught against High Court Judge Maina, vowing to ensure her removal for declaring his Sh200m fortune as proceeds of crimea move he claimed was intended to taint his image.

In 2022, Justice Maina rejected Gachaguas application to have his accounts unfrozen by the Assets Recovery Agency.

Instead, the court ordered that he forfeit the Sh202 million in his accounts to the state, deeming them as proceeds of corruption.

However, Gachagua regained his money when he and President William Ruto ascended to power following the 2022 general election.
The Dubai-based low-cost carrier Fly-Dubai recently inaugurated direct flight services to Mombasa, marking a strategic move to expand its African market presence, enhance connectivity, and foster economic ties.

The introduction of the flights aims to bolster the tourism sector in the region, underscoring the airlines commitment to providing efficient travel options and tapping into emerging opportunities within the African market.

This development is poised to facilitate increased accessibility for travelers and contribute to the growth of both tourism and business activities between Dubai and Mombasa.

The airline will become the first national carrier with direct flights from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to the Kenyan coastal city, offering four flights a week for now with plans to schedule more flights soon.

The inaugural flight, carrying over 119 tourists, touched down at Moi International Airport and was received by Tourism Cabinet Secretary Dr. Alfred Mutua, his Roads and Transport counterpart, Kipchumba Murkomen, and Mombasa County Governor, Abdulswamad Nassir.

CS Murkomen expressed satisfaction that the direct flights will impact the economy, adding that Fly-Dubai is a game-changer for connectivity into the Middle East.

We permitted them since May last year. We gave them four flights a week and the reason why we chose Mombasa is because the region has been a pivotal gateway to the country and also serves as a tourist hub, he stated.

Murkomen stated that it will act as a linkage to the Middle East, adding that the government is working hard to double the number of tourists visiting the country.

The carriers Senior Vice President Sudhir Sreedharan said the airline sees a potential market in Kenya and will link Kenya to over 120 destinations globally, adding that the company is ready to increase flights if granted permission.

On his part, the Mombasa Governor urged the national government to continue opening the skies for charter flights to ensure economic opportunities for Mombasa.
Government Spokesman Isaac Mwaura insists that the government will not sell the Kenyatta International Convention Centre(KICC).

This follows government plans to privatize 11 state agencies, including KICC and the cash-rich National Oil and Kenya Pipeline Company.

However, the High Court suspended the plans following a case filed by the Orange Democratic Movement Party.

Speaking on Thursday, Mwaura clarified that privatization of a company does not necessarily mean selling it. He explained that the government will enter into a contract with an investor for some time to benefit the country.

If you want to privatise an entity, you cannot do it when it is dilapidated in condition. Privatisation is not selling, it has to do with someone coming on board, investing their money for a given period, getting some percentage of ownership in terms of that period and then after that, it can be reviewed, he said.

KICC To Host New Hotel

Mwaura insisted that the government would maximize the potential and value of the convention.

We will not just be using this place for offices but will also use it for investment and to get money from hotels. We will also have a new hotel from this premises so that when many people come here, you can revive Hilton, interCon so that people can make money, he said.

Adding: Privatisation is about getting a solid investor who comes in and does what they need to do to make money for themselves and also for the country and then they can move on.

President William Ruto envisions a KICC that generates Sh300 billion a year. He cited mismanagement as the core reason investments in the running of the building were not yielding returns.

KICC today is valued at Sh30 billion, but we got Sh30 million the last financial yearIt is mismanaged, Ruto said during a round table with the media.

Instead of having KICC as an office block for people who dont pay rent, why dont we transform it into an international conference centre to be bringing Sh300 billion a year? Ruto posed.
The government on Thursday announced a substantial growth in the tourism sector, reporting an 18.42% increase in international arrivals in the last 16 months.

Government Spokesman Isaac Mwaura reported that the tourism sector experienced growth to a tune of Sh650 million, due to the increased travel and spending of tourists in the country, with the country receiving 273,412 more visitors.

Mwaura attributed the growth to the Visa-free entry policy for all foreign visitors, stating that the country is set to attract more tourists in the coming months and years.

The number of days tourists spend in the country has increased from 10 to 11 days and the more they stay, the more they keep spending since the expenditure in hotels has increased by 3pc with regards to bed occupancy, said Mwaura.

The government additionally attributed the growth of the sector to the increased Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibition (MICE) travels, where local and international travel reached the 10,000 mark, indicating an increase of 2,151 conferences and over 14,000 delegates worldwide.

Mwaura also noted that the government has increased training opportunities for over 1,044 youths under the Kenya Kwanza administration, who will help support the growing sector of the economy.

The Ronald Ngala Utalii Training College will be opened in June is to make the college a centre of excellence on export labour to countries such as Saudi Arabia that is building a new city and requires 35000 workers hence offering employment to millions of youths, the government mouthpiece said.
China's express parcel volume expected to hit 142.5 bln in 2024

People's Daily Online) 14:55, January 18, 2024

The business volume and revenue of China's courier industry is expected to reach 142.5 billion parcels and 1.3 trillion yuan ($182.8 billion) in 2024, up by about 8 percent year on year, respectively, according to Zhao Chongjiu, head of the State Post Bureau (SPB).

Last year, the sector set new records in both business volume and revenue, which hit 132 billion parcels and 1.2 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 19.5 percent and 14.5 percent, respectively, Zhao added.

This aerial photo taken on Nov. 8, 2023 shows robots sorting and conveying parcels at an intelligent logistics center in Deqing County, east China's Zhejiang Province. (Photo by Ni Lifang/Xinhua)

China will continue to improve its express delivery network infrastructure. In 2024, the country will implement a program to boost the capacity of postal express-delivery hubs, and accelerate the implementation of major postal projects and express infrastructure construction. It will also enhance cargo transport capabilities by air and land, and encourage the use of high-speed trains for parcel delivery, and the promotion of multimode transportation.

China will improve parcel delivery networks. The SPB will enhance the coverage of integrated delivery logistics service stations at the village level to help boost rural revitalization across the board. It will vigorously advance the program of encouraging courier companies to set up service stations in factories for more demonstration courier-manufacturing collaboration projects in terms of smart warehousing and supply chain management.

In terms of the global development of the courier sector, China will upgrade a batch of international postal delivery centers. It will also encourage express delivery firms to open more international air routes and expand their fleets, accelerate the construction of overseas distribution centers, ground networks and overseas warehouses to continuously improve the international parcel delivery networks.

"The strong transportation infrastructure and delivery capability lay the foundation for the courier industry to ensure better connectivity. Changes in domestic and overseas consumption patterns provide broader development opportunities for the sector. The rise of new e-commerce models brings new growth impetus to the industry," Zhao said.

The official added that the country's courier sector will move towards accelerating high-quality development.

In the past year, China continuously improved the overall performance of infrastructure facilities in the courier industry.

The use of high-capacity cargo vehicles and the opening of several international air routes boosted the capability to handle parcels. For instance, the Ezhou Huahu Airport, a cargo-focused airport mainly invested by China's leading courier enterprise SF Express in central China's Hubei Province, had launched 45 domestic air cargo routes and 10 international ones as of December 2023, with the yearly throughput exceeding 200,000 tonnes.

Construction has also begun on a freight air hub mainly invested by Chinese leading express firm YTO Express, which is expected to be put into use in 2025.

In the past year, parcel delivery networks in border areas were improved, with all 3,356 border villages being covered by postal services.

"Last year, China accelerated the construction of the rural postal and express delivery system, with the system's capacity to serve industrial and supply chains being further strengthened. The country also improved the international delivery system and its ability to ensure smooth circulation," Zhao said.

By 2023, China had built 1,267 county-level delivery and distribution centers, 289,000 village-level integrated delivery logistics service stations, and 190,000 village mail stations. The combined courier-postal services had been available to over 70 percent of administrative villages across the country.

So far, over 1,900 courier-manufacturing collaboration projects with an annual revenue of over 1 million yuan have been launched across China.

A total of 312 overseas distribution centers and over 300 overseas warehouses have been established to promote the courier industry's expansion internationally.

(Web editor: Hongyu, Liang Jun)
A truck driver on Mombasa Road has been hit with a hefty Sh46.9 million fine by the Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) for breaching axle load regulations.

The incident, which took place in Mavoko on Thursday morning, involved a sand-laden truck that was stopped by Kenha and Axle Load Enforcement and Highways Unit officers.

Kenhas Senior Engineer for Axle Load Control, Kennedy Ndugire, explained that the trucks weight far exceeded the standard limit of 54,000kg. The drivers attempt to flee resulted in a collision with another vehicle, causing damage.

This event underscores Kenhas efforts to prevent road damage due to overloading.

Under the East African Community Vehicle Load Control Act, 2016, which governs the Regional Trunk Road Network from Mombasa to Malaba, overloading vehicles face stringent penalties.

According to Mr Ndugire, the offending truck was previously detained for overloading by 25,050kgs and the driver fined Sh100,000 in December 2023.

However, the truck owner was released by the Kajiado law courts under Section 35 of the Penal Code.

Kenha has imposed a daily parking fee of 50 dollars on the truck, and failure to pay the fine within 60 days will result in the vehicle being forfeited to the state. Kenha will then seek a court order to sell the vehicle.

We will not relent in protecting our roads. In 60 days, if the owner will not have paid the fine, he will be deemed to have forfeited the vehicle to the state and Kenha will get a court order to sell the vechile, Mr Ndugire added.

Senior Superintendent of Police John Gichohi, leading the Axle Load Enforcement and Highways Unit, reaffirmed their commitment to enforcing the law and safeguarding the roads, undeterred by any intimidation efforts.
The National Examinations Council (KNEC) has today officially released the results for the 2023 Kenya Primary School Education Assessment (KPSEA).

A total of 1,282,574 candidates who took the exams can now access their results, which schools are tasked with downloading and printing.

The KPSEA, conducted in November last year, covered five subjects including Mathematics, English, Kiswahili, Integrated Science, and Social Studies and Creative Arts. The absence of creative writing exams such as English Composition and Kiswahili Insha has been a topic of discussion among educators.

The use of Optical Mark Recognition (OMR) technology facilitated the efficient and accurate marking of the multiple-choice questions in the KPSEA. This technology represents a significant advancement in the processing and scoring of examination papers.

How to Check KPSEA 2023 Results

Just like KCSE results earlier this month, the government will not be offering an SMS platform for checking the results. Instead, an online portal has been provided.

For parents:

* Visit: cba.knec.ac.ke/Parent

* input your childs grade and Assessment number.

* Your kids results will be listed promptly.

For school heads:

* Visit: https://cba.knec.ac.ke/ , then log in with your credentials.

* The username is the schools KNEC code.

* The password is assessment number.

The results will also be available in printed form at every institution.

KNECs Chief Executive Officer, David Njengere, affirmed that the results would be presented in a report format and made available on the school portal.

The KPSEA results are categorized into three types: individual, school-specific, and national reports, with the latter intended to provide insights for educational improvements.

The announcement also touched on the situation of learners who missed the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) exams in November 2023.

Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu stated that around 2,000 of these learners have joined Form One, with supplementary tests scheduled for those who missed the KCPE.

The school calendar, as outlined by the Ministry of Education, saw schools reopening on January 8, 2023, with Form One and Grade Seven learners reporting on January 15, 2023.

Machogu provided guidelines for the transition of Grade Seven and Eight learners, including accommodations for classroom use and uniform requirements.
On Thursday, a bomb attached to a donkey cart exploded at the cross-border point between Mandera and Bula Hawa in Mandera County, killing at least one police officer and injuring two others.

The explosion occurred at around 9:50 AM, immediately after the cart came to a stop at the border police checkpoint.

Police said that two donkeys, accompanied by a guide, were crossing from Somalias side with luggage when the controlled Improvised Explosive Device went off.

The officers manning the border stopped the animals with their guide for the usual inspection of contraband goods and other unwanted items when the cart went off.

Police suspect Al-Shabaab militants operating in the area controlled the improvised explosive device (IED)remotely, with the cart believed to be carrying fuel products.

Witnesses and police reported that the explosion caused a massive fire at the scene, with the two donkeys miraculously surviving the blast with burn injuries.

Authorities reported that the deceased died on the spot, while the two with serious injuries were taken to the hospital. They said theyre conducting further investigations to ascertain the details surrounding the attack.
Senior Counsel Ahmednasir Abdullahi, popularly known as Grand Mullah, has downplayed the ban preventing him from appearing before the Supreme Court due to his continued attacks on judges and the Judiciary.

The Apex Court barred Grand Mullah and associates of his Ahmednasir Abdullahi Advocates LLP law firm from making submissions before the court.

In a statement on Thursday, the apex court stated that the lawyer has relentlessly scandalized and ridiculed it.

Given the foregoing, it is the decision of this Court, that henceforth and from the date of this communication, you shall have no audience before the Court, either by yourself, through an employee of your law firm, or any other person holding brief for you, the statement read in part.

A full seven-judge bench of the Supreme Court said it was untenable for the lawyer to seek justice before the same judges whose reputation and integrity he keeps attacking.

Much as this decision is bound to affect those who may have instructed you to represent them before the Court, it is untenable that you would seek justice in the very institution and before the very judges whose reputation and integrity you never tire of assaulting, the Supreme Court judges said.

The court accused the lawyer of conducting a campaign in broadcast, print, and social media, accusing it and its judges of corruption, incompetence, and outright bribery.

This, you have done with reckless abandon, paying scant regard to the reputations of those who tirelessly serve on the Court in accordance with their Oath of Office, the bench said.

Tulikuwa TumemuWarn

The court explained that it reached the stern decision because it had previously cautioned Grand Mullah to tread carefully and restrained itself from taking punitive action against him, but he remained unperturbed.

It cited its ruling in the case of Republic v Ahmad Abdolfadhi Mohammed and Anor, SC Petition No. 39 of 2018, during which Ahmednasir criticized the court over its verdict.

You were cautioned that such conduct would in the future, not go unpunished. The caution as recorded in the ruling above, appears not to have had any sobering effect upon you, the court said.

Attached to this communication is a compilation of some of the statements that you have personally been generating against the Court, its leadership, and membership over the years, the court said.

It explained that the compilation serves as a point of reference for anyone seeking to validate or challenge the gravity of the courts action.

The Grand Mullah immediately responded to the statement signed by the Registrar of the Supreme Court, Letizia Wachira, terming the ban a badge of honour.

Writing on his popular Twitter profile, lawyer Ahmednasir went ahead to double down on the Supreme Court, labeling it as corrupt.

Isnt it a badge of honour for the most corrupt court in Kenya to refuse me and my law firm an audience? He posed.
According to the latest Africa Outlook 2024 report by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), Kenya is firmly on track to repay its Ksh322 billion (USD2 billion) Eurobond by June this year.

The report, released on January 18, outlines the Kenyan governments commitment to safeguarding the countrys financial reputation by avoiding a default on this significant debt.

President William Ruto has pledged that Kenya will repay a substantial portion of the Eurobond, totaling Ksh500 billion, between December 2023 and January 2024.

He has also advised the public to brace for tougher economic conditions as the country implements fiscal strategies to manage its debt obligations.

Meeting the Eurobond repayment will likely alleviate some of Kenyas fiscal challenges, as per the EIU report. After the 2024 payment, Kenyas next major Eurobond obligations, amounting to US$1.9 billion, are not due until 2027-28, offering some respite from immediate external debt pressures.

Kenyas biggest financial event in 2024 is the June 24 timeline to redeem a US 2 billion Eurobond in a single bullet payment, on top of other debt-servicing commitments. Using a combination of tactics, Kenya will strive to avoid a default and the consequent damage to its reputation and will prioritise a timely Eurobond redemption in 2024.

The sum is large enough to generate legitimate concern, but not so large as to be unmanageable, the report states in part. Provided Kenya clears the barrier in 2024, external debt pressures will ease, as the next Eurobond repayments (of US$1.9bn) are not due until 2027-28.

In a broader context, the EIU report forecasts promising economic growth for Kenya, attributing it to the expected rebound in tourism and the services sector. The report positions Africa, particularly East Africa, as one of the fastest-growing regions globally in 2024.

This growth is anticipated to be driven mainly by the services sector, including the resurgence of the travel and tourism industry and the strength of the transport, logistics, financial, and telecommunications sectors.

Kenya, along with other East African nations like Ethiopia, Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania, and the DRC, is expected to be at the forefront of this economic expansion.

The Economist Intelligence Unit is the research and analysis division of The Economist publication.
Updated at 6:17 p.m. Friday  Authorities on Thursday afternoon identified two 18-year-old Vallejo residents they said were involved in a vehicle pursuit from American Canyon to Vallejo that ended with a police officer shooting one of the men.

Update: Report: American Canyon cop who shot suspect after pursuit was implicated in badge bending tied to Vallejo Police shootings A media report identified an American Canyon Police officer who shot a suspect after a Thursday vehicle pursuit as a onetime Vallejo officer implicated in court testimony in badge bending at his former department.

Demarea Vaughn Rogers III was a passenger in a car that failed to stop for an American Canyon Police officer on Jan. 11, leading to a 2 1/2-mile pursuit and later his shooting by an officer, according to the Napa County Sheriffs Office. The department identified the driver of the car as Jozan Amarion Hill.

In a news release, the sheriffs office also confirmed that an American Canyon Police officer, Joshua Coleman, fired the shots that wounded Rogers after the Lexus sedan became disabled on a north Vallejo street. The Vallejo Sun previously identified Coleman, citing a source with knowledge of the incident.

Rogers sustained non-life-threatening injuries and remained at a local hospital late Thursday, the sheriffs office said in its statement.

Hill was arrested shortly after the chase and was booked into the Napa County jail, where he remained Friday night on $250,000 bail.

An arraignment Tuesday in Napa County Superior Court charged Hill with evading police officers and driving the wrong way while doing so, along with firearm and ammunition possession by a felon. The complaint states that Hill exceeded speed limits by as much as 35 mph and drove through stop signs and traffic lights during the pursuit.

Hill, whose name is listed as Amarion Jozan Hill in the Napa court database, entered a not-guilty plea Tuesday, according to court records.

Rogers also was arraigned Thursday in Napa on three felony counts of carrying a loaded firearm and a high-capacity magazine, along with misdemeanor counts of resisting arrest and possessing a gun with no serial number, court records show.

Police previously said the pursuit started after Hill failed to stop for an American Canyon officer at Highway 29 and American Canyon Road, instead continuing south to Vallejo.

When the suspects car became disabled near Souza Way and Cronin Drive, Hill and Rogers ran from their vehicle while carrying loaded handguns, according to the sheriffs office. After Officer Coleman gave Rogers multiple commands to drop his weapons, Rogers dropped one gun but continued running with the other. Coleman shot him twice, then gave him medical aid, the sheriffs office said.

Rogers was carrying an unregistered .40-caliber ghost gun along with an unregistered .40-caliber Glock that contained a high-capacity magazine, according to the agency. The court complaint adds that the Glock contained one round in the chamber and eight more in the magazine.

Coleman, a former Vallejo Police officer who joined American Canyon Police in February 2018, has been placed on paid administrative leave, in keeping with department policy after officer-involved shootings, according to the sheriffs office.

The Solano County Major Crimes Task Force is conducting the investigation into the pursuit and shooting.

In identifying Coleman as the officer who shot Rogers, the Vallejo Sun also identified him as one of several former Vallejo Police officers to be linked to badge bending, the ritual of having the points of ones badge bent to mark fatal shootings on duty.

Solano County court testimony in 2022 implicated Coleman for taking part in bending badges. Under oath, Coleman denied ever bending police badges and testified his badge was bent against his will, but a superior within Vallejo Police testified that Colemans involvement ran deeper and that he may have helped spread the practice to colleagues, according to the Suns report.

The Sun reported Coleman had his badge bent by a police lieutenant after he and two other officers shot and killed William Heinze in March 2013. He was later involved in three other on-duty shootings, the last in 2016.

Photos: Napa Valley Faces and Places, January 13, 2024
American Canyon Police announced the arrests of five people in connection with thefts from the local Walmart store Wednesday afternoon.

The arrests arose from a shoplifting report at the store at 7011 Main St. shortly after 2 p.m., police said in a news release. Four people were arrested on suspicion of theft or criminal conspiracy, and a fifth  a relative of two suspects who arrived at the Walmart during the incident  was arrested on a warrant, according to the department.

Officers arriving at the store encountered Garron Lamont Cooper, 36, as he was walking out with a cart of stolen merchandise, police said. Cooper attempted to run from police but was detained inside the Walmart, according to the police statement.

Coopers relative, 42-year-old Donti Cooper of Suisun City, was waiting in a getaway van outside the Walmart and also was arrested, police said. Both men were held on suspicion of theft and conspiracy to commit theft, and Garron Cooper also was held on suspicion of resisting arrest.

Officers on the scene learned that another vehicle had entered the parking lot, and Walmart workers told police that two women connected to that vehicle had also stolen items and left the building, according to police. The officers detained the women  37-year-old Mihaela Bacelaru and 40-year-old Mirela Crudu, both Vallejo residents  on suspicion of theft.

A relative of the two women, 23-year-old Maria Ispir of Vallejo, arrived during the incident and was arrested on a felony warrant in Contra Costa County.

All five suspects were booked into the Napa County jail. Bacelaru, Garron Cooper and Donti Cooper were released Wednesday evening, while Crudu and Ispir remained in custody Thursday afternoon, according to jail booking records.

Data breaches skyrocketed in the first half of 2023. See where they happened most Data breaches skyrocketed in the first half of 2023. See where they happened most Health care, financial services top the list
A state court decision has scuttled a $16 billion revenue bond issue that would have financed the controversial plan to tunnel under the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to bring surplus water downstate.

Judge Kenneth Mennemeier of Sacramento County Superior Court ruled Tuesday that the California Department of Water Resources exceeded the authority delegated to the agency by the state Legislature when it defined the project to be financed by the bond issue.

That meant that the proposed bond issue could not be validated by the court, a step generally considered necessary for bonds to be sold in the public finance market. Like a dam that blocks the flow of a stream, lack of validation blocks the flow of money for the project.

The courts 28-page decision  a dense and tightly reasoned document that only a lawyer could love  provides background that puts the legal issue in a historical perspective.

Quoting at length from prior court decisions, Mennemeier explained that Californias water problems dont arise from a lack of water, but from its uneven distribution in the state. He repeats the oft-cited fact that while over 70% of the stream flow lies north of Sacramento, nearly 80% of the demand for water supplies originates in the southern regions of the state.

As far back as 1933, the state Legislature adopted a plan that contemplated moving surplus water from the Sacramento River to the south. While construction didnt begin until the 1960s, the state ultimately built a network of facilities including the Oroville Dam, waterways, pumping plants and aqueducts that bring water through the Delta to coastal and southern parts of the state. The judge said the flow provides supplemental water supply for two-thirds of Californians.

However, environmental concerns, water quality and other issues have led to decades of debate and wrangling over arguably more efficient ways to get water south, including tunneling under the Delta.

To get a project underway, on Aug. 6, 2020, DWR passed various resolutions proposing to issue bonds to finance what it called the Delta Program, which it defined to include the design and construction of facilities for the conveyance of water in, about and through the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, subject to such further specification thereof as (DWR) in its discretion may adopt.

On the same day, it filed a court proceeding in which it asked the court to validate the bonds, a legal proceeding common in the world of public finance, in which a court determines that the bonds, if and when issued, will be legal, valid and binding. The determination is considered a key step in the marketability of the bonds when ultimately issued.

In this case, DWR filed the proceeding not only before the bonds were issued, but even before the full contours of the project were determined.

The Sierra Club and other environmental groups challenged the validity of the bonds on the grounds that the Delta project, for which the bond proceeds were to be used, was beyond DWRs authority.

DWR argued that it had authority to define the project as it did because it had long ago been given power by the Legislature to modify the states water plan involving the Feather River, a tributary of the Sacramento River, to divert water from the Delta and move it to the south. DWR said that its new definition was authorized by that power.

Thus, the case came down to the issue of whether the Delta project  defined only in general and unspecific terms in 2020  was a legally appropriate modification of the Feather River project.

DWR offered a variety of arguments in support of its authority, the strongest one being that the Feather River project had a purpose consistent with the current purposes  that is, moving surplus water to the south  so the new project was only a modification.

However, DWR was hamstrung by the fact that the project definition was so broad that it gave DWR virtually unlimited room to contour the project as it saw fit. That meant that the court had to consider whether any project that DWR might ultimately approve was within the meaning of modification.

That was too big a lift.

Mennemeier ruled that DWR did not have authority for the Delta project  as it defined it  and accordingly, bonds to finance such a project would not be valid.

The court described its decision as narrow, perhaps anticipating that DWR could adopt a new resolution making the project definition narrower and more specific.

John Buse, senior counsel with the environmental group Center for Biological Diversity, one of the lawyers involved in the case, is dubious that such an approach would work.

Buse says the project recently adopted by DWR  a 36-foot-wide, 45-mile-long, 150-foot-deep tunnel under the Delta  could be described very specifically but this would still be more than a modification of the Feather River Project/State Water Project envisioned in the authorizing laws DWR relies on.

Buse thinks DWR will have to go back to the Legislature and get a new authorization, but, if it does so, the project might have a cool reception in the Legislature.

He thinks the most likely next step is that DWR will appeal and hope to reverse the decision.

According to a DWR spokesperson, the department disagrees with the courts decision and is considering whether to appeal the decision to the Court of Appeal.

In a statement, DWR said the project is a critical part of Californias strategy to ensure a reliable water supply for millions of Californians  modernizing our water infrastructure to protect against the impacts of earthquakes, climate change, and more.

DWR went on to say, This ruling is specific to the question of revenue bond authorization; it does not refer to the validity of the Delta Conveyance Project. ... The judge has not said that DWR doesnt have the authority to build the project.

DWRs statement did not address how the state would pay for the project if a state bond issue isnt feasible.

U.S. Rep. John Garamendi, D-Walnut Grove, is a committed opponent of the project. Garamendi believes building a tunnel under the Delta is a multibillion-dollar boondoggle.

As I told the six previous governors and now Governor Newsom, this tunnel will never be built, said Garamendi in a statement earlier this month. Tunneling under the Delta to export more water to Southern California risks collapsing the Deltas earthen levees and inundating this iconic working landscape with saltwater.

Garamendi said: I hope the Newsom Administration will now reconsider this deeply misguided project and instead focus on better ways to meet our states future water needs.

Photos: Napa Valley Faces and Places, January 13, 2024
SAN LUIS OBISPO  Cal Poly San Luis Obispo could have prevented Kristin Smarts murder if the university had properly responded to reports of Paul Flores exhibiting harassing, stalking and violent behavior on campus, the students family alleged in a new wrongful death lawsuit filed Thursday.

The lawsuit comes about eight months after the university publicly apologized for the first time.

We recognize, even though I wasnt here, that Cal Poly could have done things differently, Cal Poly President Jeffrey Armstrong told The Tribune in an exclusive May interview. There were things that we do differently now. There are things that should have been done differently. And for that, Im sorry.

Paul Flores was convicted of Smarts murder in October 2022 and sentenced to 25 years to life in prison in March  nearly 27 years after Smart disappeared over Memorial Day weekend in May 1996. Her family had her declared legally dead in 2002.

Kristins parents, Stan and Denise Smart, previously told The Tribune that the way Cal Poly handled the case continued to compound the trauma theyve felt every since they first received the phone call their daughter was missing. (Stan Smart was the principal at Vintage High School in Napa at the time his daughter disappeared; Kristin Smart had attended Vintage in her junior year of 1993-94 before graduating high school in Stockton.)

Paul Flores took Kristins life, Denise Smart said in an exclusive interview in May. Cal Poly took ours.

Lawyers for the Smart family  Marc Lewis, Erin Reding and Taylor Chaplin  told The Tribune the public apology was the first time the family was aware that the university may have additional information about the handling of Smarts case.

It really wasnt until that apology came out that the family began to understand Cal Polys failings, Lewis said. We dont know what information the president had in his possession to make that apology, and it appears to us that Cal Poly has been sitting on information and keeping it from the Smart family for decades.

According to Lewis, the family has never seen an investigative file regarding Smarts disappearance from the university.

The family is suing the university for negligence, negligent infliction of emotional distress and wrongful death. The family did not request a specific sum in damages as part of the lawsuit.

Its the loss of a human life, Lewis said. Not to mention all the trauma brought to the family.

The Smart family told The Tribune in an emailed statement there is no question Cal Poly failed their daughter before and after her murder by Flores.

While President Armstrongs acknowledgment of their failings is a step in the right direction, it cannot erase the pain and injustice we have endured, the family said. Kristin was not just a statistic; she was a vibrant, intelligent young woman with a promising future. We cannot bring Kristin back, but we can demand accountability and ensure no other family suffers the same fate.

Cal Poly spokesperson Matt Lazier told The Tribune the university did not have comment on the lawsuit as it is a pending legal matter.

Lawsuit: Flores was reported to Cal Poly four times before Smart murder

Paul Flores was reported to Cal Poly at least four times before Smarts murder in May 1996, the lawsuit alleged.

Lawyers said the new information cited in the lawsuit was recently discovered by the family but declined to say where they learned it from at this time.

The lawsuit alleged Cal Poly had records of all those reports at the time Smart disappeared.

On Dec. 17, 1995, a female Cal Poly student filed a university police report stating Flores had been harassing her, the lawsuit said. According to the lawsuit, Flores climbed the trellis of the students apartment building to spy on her from her balcony. Cal Poly police responded and found Flores on the scene and identified him as the culprit, the lawsuit said.

Then on March 27, 1996, three female Cal Poly students filed university police reports that said Flores had been harassing and stalking them, the lawsuit said. They said he had been calling them for six weeks and filled their entire answering machine up with nothing but silent hang-up calls.

The same three women told officers Flores had climbed on their balcony and tried to break into their apartment in December 1995, the lawsuit said.

Flores was then reported for vandalizing Cal Poly grounds and property while intoxicated on Jan. 14, 1996, according to the lawsuit.

Just days later, on Jan. 17, 1996, Cal Poly required Flores to attend a Mediation/Information Meeting because he had allegedly harassed a staff member at the university, according to the lawsuit. During that meeting, Cal Poly and Flores allegedly discussed the seriousness of harassing a staff member at Cal Poly and mentioned possibly canceling his housing contract with the university.

The lawsuit also claimed Flores was charged with assault and battery on Dec. 2, 1994, which could have been found by Cal Poly police if the agency had searched the California Law Enforcement Systems (CLETS) database that allows law enforcement to check criminal histories, driver records and other databases across agencies.

The reports should have prompted the university to conduct a thorough investigation of Flores, the lawsuit said.

After becoming aware of five reports of Flores harassing, stalking and violent behavior, any reasonable university would have engaged in a disciplinary process related to Flores, the lawsuit said. In light of the seriousness of the reports, a reasonable university would have expelled, or at least suspended, Flores.

If Flores were expelled or suspended, he would not have attended classes and could have lost his on-campus housing, which would have sent him to his familys Arroyo Grande home miles away from Kristin and the dorm room where he murdered her, the lawsuit said.

Cal Polys failure to investigate and discipline Flores for his behavior allowed Flores continued access to Kristin, continued access to the scene of the murder and at least partially caused Kristins murder, the lawsuit said.

According to the lawsuit, the universitys sexual harassment policy states harassment and sexual conduct are prohibited by both the schools standards and federal law known as Title IX. In Cal Polys current policy, the lawsuit said, the Title IX coordinator takes immediate steps to investigate sexual harassment claims, which is then followed by a disciplinary process that could result in probation, suspension or expulsion.

While its unclear whether the policy was in place at the time of Smarts disappearance, Title IX was enacted in 1972.

Cal Poly police botched initial investigation, lawsuit says

Smart went missing Memorial Day weekend of 1996, but the case wasnt transferred to the San Luis Obispo County Sheriffs Office until June 26, 1996  a month after her disappearance. By then, the lawsuit said, the damage had already been done.

Cal Polys egregious failures to pursue credible leads and conduct a proper investigation created a morass of problems that were impossible for the sheriff to easily untangle, the lawsuit said.

The lawsuit said Smarts friends and family reported her missing almost immediately after she disappeared.

Two of her friends contacted the universitys police department on Sunday  the next day  but police refused to take a report, the lawsuit said. Officers told her friends the agency wanted to wait until the holiday weekend was over.

Cal Poly officers also told Denise Smart her daughter probably went camping, despite Denise telling them it was uncharacteristic of Smart to do so, the lawsuit said.

The lawsuit said the Cal Poly Police Department waited four days after Smart disappeared to take a missing persons report, interview witnesses or interview Flores, whom multiple witnesses informally identified as the last person seen with Kristin.

The agency then did not search Flores dorm room until 16 days after Smart disappeared, the lawsuit said.

Flores was moved out of his dorm room by the time campus police sealed and restricted access to it, the lawsuit said. The school meanwhile allowed a custodial crew to fully sanitize the room before conducting a forensic investigation, the lawsuit said, potentially destroying evidence.

A formal crime scene investigation was not done in Flores dorm room until 31 days after Smart disappeared, the lawsuit said.

Cal Poly could have spared women from alleged Flores attacks and assaults, lawsuit says

The lawsuit further alleged that because of Cal Polys failures, Flores was able to hurt multiple women during the 25 years leading up to his arrest on April 13, 2021.

That included a number of incidents cited in the lawsuit, details of which lawyers for the family said came from news and investigative reports.

The lawsuit cited an incident in which Flores allegedly brought a plastic pitcher of a mixed alcoholic drink and pressured multiple girls to drink it at an Arroyo Grande High School prom after-party about a week after Smart disappeared.

Then while working at an Outback Steakhouse in 1997, the lawsuit claimed Flores carried a co-worker into his apartment, turned off the lights and attempted to sexually assault her until she threatened to scream and wake up his sister.

Between 2004 and 2007, the lawsuit said Flores allegedly followed a woman when she went outside a Redondo Beach bar, grabbed her and attempted to get her into his car. She hit him and he hit her back, the lawsuit said, at which point other patrons came outside to investigate the disturbance and Flores fled.

The lawsuit then said in 2008 Flores met a woman at a bar, gave her a glass of what was purportedly water and the woman fell unconscious. The woman woke up several times to Flores raping her, including one time with a ball gag in her mouth.

The lawsuit also detailed an incident in 2011 in which Flores allegedly drugged and sexually assaulted a woman at a San Pedro bar. That same year, Flores was kicked of a San Pedro bar for stalking a woman and inappropriately touching another intoxicated woman, the lawsuit said.

The 2008 and 2011 stories were similar to the testimonies of two women who testified at Flores murder trial, but it was unclear from the lawsuit if these were the same incidents.

In January 2023, the Los Angeles County District Attorneys Office told The Tribune there was insufficient evidence to prosecute Flores for an alleged rape in Redondo Beach in 2013.

The Los Angeles Police Department also tracked down two women who alleged Flores drugged and raped them, the lawsuit said, and investigators found home video files of Flores sodomizing and sexually assaulting women  many of whom were unconscious  in a folder labeled Practice in 2020.

Two bottles of date rape drugs were also found in Flores home in 2020, the lawsuit said.

According to Ruben Flores arrest warrant, investigators found Flexeril, a muscle relaxer, and Tramadol, a pain medication similar to morphine and fentanyl, in Paul Flores home during a 2020 search.

The video folder and several of the alleged assaults were also mentioned in the warrant.

If Cal Poly had properly and reasonably investigated Kristins disappearance, the lawsuit said, the countless women that Flores attacked and assaulted, over the course of the subsequent 25 years, could have been spared the severe pain and trauma of those horrific experiences.

Lawsuit: Cal Poly responsible for decades of trauma for Kristin Smart family

The lawsuit said the decades between Smarts disappearance and Cal Polys public apology are marked by extreme emotional distress and trauma.

While the Smart family certainly would have been devastated by the immediate arrest of Flores and the prompt discovery that Kristin had been murdered, it would have at least truncated the agony of simply not knowing what happened to their daughter and sister, the lawsuit said.

The family tried to maintain hope that Smart would return home, but that hope was repeatedly destroyed over two decades, the lawsuit continued.

Flores being on the loose and freely living his life despite being the prime suspect in the case for 25 years was agonizing for the family, the lawsuit said, and their hearts broke each time they heard Flores allegedly victimized another woman.

The family has also continued to be traumatized by the fact that Smarts body has never been found.

Not knowing where Kristins remains are has prevented the family from ever feeling peace and has continued to give Flores power over them, the lawsuit said.

To add insult to injury, the lawsuit said, the university gave Smart failing grades in the transcript her mother requested because she had not been able to attend her finals the semester she was murdered. It later changed her final grades to Ws to reflect withdrawn.

The lawsuit said Cal Poly Police's mishandling of the first critical month of the investigation prevented law enforcement from being able to investigate and arrest Flores in a timely manner.

If Cal Poly had conducted a reasonable investigation, Flores would have been arrested and convicted decades earlier, the lawsuit said. The Smart family would have been spared decades of emotional distress and trauma.

The lawsuit added that if Cal Poly had done the right thing from the outset, Flores would have never had the opportunity to kill Kristin or allegedly victimize countless other women.

Cal Polys failures are indefensible, the lawsuit said. It must be held accountable to prevent this cycle of callous negligence from ever occurring again.

Photos: Napa Valley Faces and Places, January 13, 2024
Over six nights, I lost myself in a new Netflix documentary, World War II: From the Front Lines.

Film is a technological marvel. The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the D-Day invasion, the Fuhrer whipping the German masses into a war frenzy  its all been colorized, making events from long ago seem disturbingly immediate.

I found myself moved to tears as combatants and civilians on all sides of the conflict told personal stories of families, cities, societies being blown apart.

Early on, Cheryl interrupted my rapt attention, asking, What about your dad? Didnt he serve in the war?

Dad sure did. Volunteering after Pearl Harbor, he served for more than three years with the U.S. Army in North Africa and Europe.

But heres the thing: He never told war stories. I knew him as my civilian dad, a high school teacher who became a principal, then a Florida retiree. Along the way, he divorced my mom when I was 13 and largely moved out of my orbit.

What exactly did Dad do in the war? One thing I know for sure is that he didnt storm beaches or hunker down in foxholes. He was an officer in the quartermaster corps, supplying combat troops with things like food and clothing.

An army travels on its stomach, my dad would say.

But what else, Dad? Three years in war zones and all I get is a quartermaster slogan?

As a boy of 9, I got a glimpse of the war through his eyes. My family gathered in the middle of the night in our Connecticut kitchen to witness the most violent electrical storm of my life. The Italian skyline lit up like this when American artillery unleashed its power on the Germans, Dad said that night.

Good story, Dad. What else you got?

When the Germans were on the run, Capt. Bernie Courtney was put up in an Italian castle with Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall. As the story goes, Dad played poker late into the late night with the Hollywood star, while Bacall interrupted more than one, saying Come to bed, Boggie.

Boggie kept playing.

A wonderful anecdote, but not one for which Purple Hearts are awarded.

Theres also this story: Mom and Dad met at Fort Lee, Virginia (now Fort Gregg-Adams) in the summer of 1942. My Yankee dad was a newly commissioned Army officer about to deploy overseas. My Mississippi mom was a newly commissioned Army nurse bound for a hospital assignment in Texas.

They married having known each other only a few weeks. They wouldnt meet again for more than three years.

If dad came back with war souvenirs, I dont know of them. We once possessed a full-size Nazi flag, swastika and all. It disappeared during the divorce.

Some years later, rooting around in our Memphis home, I discovered a cache of Dads love letters to Mom during the war years. They were embarrassingly lovey-dovey, particularly since Mom and Dad were now enemy combatants.

I wish Id preserved those letters. Instead, for reasons I still have difficulty articulating, I burned them.

Dads military experience shaped my early adult life. When I went to college during the Vietnam war, I accepted his advice to join Army ROTC and avoid the draft when I graduated. Lieutenants have it better than privates, he said.

I listened to Dad. Instead of Vietnam, I ended up in Athens, Greece, babysitting nuclear warheads. The army even let me take my wife with me.

Thanks for the ROTC advice, Dad. I only wish Id pumped you for more info before your death 30 years ago. With not much to go on, Im left trying to imagine your war experiences from scenes in a Netflix documentary.

I became a journalist who asks questions for a living, yet I asked you nothing.
Guwahati/Dibrugarh: In a landmark move, Assams public sector undertaking Brahmaputra Cracker and Polymer Limited (BCPL) has successfully exported its first shipment of Polymer to Bhutan, marking a significant step towards regional economic integration and strengthening bilateral ties between India and its Himalayan neighbor.

This achievement underscores BCPLs unwavering commitment to quality and innovation, as well as its dedication to international expansion.

The company, in a statement, expressed its confidence in meeting the diverse needs of customers across the globe, particularly within the SAARC region.

Bhutan, known for its rich culture and burgeoning economy, presents an ideal opportunity for BCPL to contribute to the nations development.

We believe our high-quality Polymers will resonate well with the values and preferences of the Bhutanese market. By entering Bhutan, we aim to establish strong partnerships, foster economic growth, and create lasting connections with businesses and consumers alike, BCPL said.

This inaugural export marks a significant milestone in BCPLs journey towards expanding its reach and contributing to regional economic growth.

The companys state-of-the-art facility produces Polymers that adhere to stringent international standards, showcasing its dedication to global excellence.

Bhutan has warmly welcomed this initiative, recognizing it as a significant step in strengthening the bilateral relationship between the two countries.

This is a crucial development that will further solidify our friendship with India, especially with Assam, said Namgay Penjor, CEO of Bhutan Polymer Company Limited.

The flag-off ceremony for the first shipment was held at the BCPL Petrochemical Complex on Friday, with Vijay Kr. Pal (Chief Operating Officer), Alak Baruah (Chief General Manager), Pradeep Rawat (General Manager  Chemical & HR), Abhijit Nath (Deputy General Manager), Prantik Sharma (Chief Manager  Marketing), Arnab J Baruah (Sr. Manager), and Swastik Mohanty (Sr. Manager) in attendance.
Czech Rep. parliament speaker sends EU flag to Armenia colleague as token of support

Premier on Tavush Province meeting: I also showed here Armenia outline that I showed at press conference

Secretary General Stoltenberg's visit to Azerbaijan, Georgia, Armenia is historic NATO says

Armenia opposition MP: PM told Tavush Province residents that 4 villages must be handed over to Azerbaijan immediately

Videos of Armenia PM Pashinyan's meetings in Tavush Province to be publicized later, spokesperson says (PHOTOS)

Young man throws stone at Armenia government building window

Armenia premier meets with Kirants village residents of Tavush Province (PHOTOS)

RFE/RL: Putin loses in Armenias Yerevan, wins in Gyumri in Russia presidential election

High-tech minister on removing Russia TV channels from multiplex: Armenia's dignity is at core of decisions

Kazakhstan FM considers it necessary to increase trade with Armenia

Armenia, Kazakhstan FMs discuss new logistical opportunities

Armenia 2041 Foundation launches Galvanizing Diaspora program

Kazakhstan FM notes Armenias Crossroads of Peace projects importance for Middle Corridor

Armenia, Kazakhstan FMs sign 2024/25 action plan

Armenia PM is in Tavush Province, meeting with residents of Voskepar, Baghanis, neighboring villages

Archaeologists find inscription of King Antiochus I of Armenian Yervanduni Dynasty, in Turkey

Kazakhstan FM is in Armenia (PHOTOS)

Rolls-Royce Ghost to be retired and replaced by new Alpina sedan

Ardshinbank cardholders can now enjoy a 10% cashback!

Withdrawal from lawsuits against Azerbaijan in international courts will cause irreparable damage to Armenia, Armenians

EU Council to discuss assistance to Armenia, Armenian-Azerbaijani normalization

7,825 Karabakh residents who left Armenia since September 2023 have not returned, new data say

Armenia to submit application for EU membership?

Archaeologists discover where legendary British warship that disappeared in 17th century sank

Large number of Russians came from Georgia to Armenia to vote in presidential election, envoy says

Stoltenberg: NATO hopes to have stable peace between Azerbaijan, Armenia

Belgorod attacked by two rockets during the day: there are dead and injured

Media: Elon Musk's company is building a network of hundreds of spy satellites for US intelligence

Shooting in Pennsylvania: at least three dead, gunman took hostages

MEPs appeal to EU leadership to protect cultural heritage of Artsakh Armenians

New talks between Israel and Hamas are scheduled in Qatar on Sunday

India's national elections will be held from 19 April to 1 June

Aliyev: Azerbaijan and Georgia have always supported each other's sovereignty

Iran calls for formation of international coalition against Israel

Biden told Aliyev of US commitment to peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan

Stoltenberg will meet in Yerevan with the President and Prime-minister of Armenia

Turkish Foreign Ministry issues anti-Russian statement on Crimea issue

Zakharova: There is a historical answer to Armenia's doubts about sincerity of Russia's intentions

Zakharova: Moscow discusses with Armenia dragging Yerevan into anti-Russian course

Zakharova: Armenia's withdrawal from CSTO should be based on real needs of the country, not on "flirting" with West

Amazon and Microsoft suspend their cloud products in Russia

Dollar, euro lose value in Armenia

Armenia deputy FM: There has been considerable regress regarding visa facilitation with EU

Deputy FM: As landlocked country, Armenia recognizes vital importance of inclusive connectivity, open borders

FM: Armenia made every effort to prevent de-Armenianization in Karabakh

FM to reporters: You will be the first to know when Armenia intends to apply for EU membership

Ararat Mirzoyan: All Armenia authorities have negotiated on territorial concessions to Azerbaijan

FM: Deepening of Armenia's relations with the West, EU not directed against Russia

Mirzoyan: Unprecedented number of senior French officials visited Armenia in 2023

Ararat Mirzoyan: Armenia, Azerbaijan are close to mutual understanding on recognition of 1991 borders

Armenia made very active efforts to have minimal mutually acceptable wording with CSTO partners, FM assures

FM: Georgia ready to contribute to process of establishing peace in South Caucasus

Armenia FM: Events have occurred that have made it impossible to do certain things

Armenia FM: Ultimate goal not materialized yet in relations with Turkey

FM: There are international players interested in Armenia ceasing to exist

Mirzoyan: No agreement between Armenia, Azerbaijan to withdraw international lawsuits against each other

Armenia FM reiterates PM's arguments on handover of 4 villages in Tavush Province to Azerbaijan

FM: Armenia still doesnt understand how CSTO partners present their area of responsibility in South Caucasus

Mirzoyan: EU monitoring mission in Armenia has become factor of stability on Azerbaijan border

Dennis Francis: UN hopes for signing of Armenia-Azerbaijan peace treaty

FM: 23 Armenians still kept in custody in Azerbaijan

Armenia FM: Still not many tangible results on fundamental issues, we are still negotiating with Azerbaijan

European Commission official underscores provision of assistance to people affected by Karabakh conflict

Peter Stano: Armenia can apply for EU membership

MFA: Genocide prevention agenda is among Armenias priorities

Russia holding presidential elections

US intelligence warns of potentially devastating new pandemic

Newspaper: Birth rate in Armenia 19% lower than last year

Stoltenberg: NATO sought to maintain stronger relations with Armenia and Azerbaijan

Georgian Prime Minister to visit Armenia

Premier receives IMF Armenia mission chief

Anne-Laurence Petel-led delegation to arrive in Armenia

FM: Armenia looks into prospects of further deepening partnership with EU

New technologies at the core of rural infrastructure development

Russia is world leader in nuclear technology, Putin says

Vardges Sureniants Salome painting returns to National Gallery of Armenia exhibition

Dollar drops, euro rises in Armenia

Sunak: There is historic opportunity to put an end to Azerbaijan-Armenia conflict

Armenia authorities, who paid $6M for Snoop Dogg concert, still dont know when this postponed event will be held

Deputy economy minister: Matter of opening India-Iran-Armenia trade corridor being discussed

Armenia official: Trade with India amounted to $380M in 2023

ICC NCA head: India considers Armenia an important bridge to enter larger markets

Anne-Laurence Petel welcomes resolution on EU-Armenia relations

India ambassador: We are happy that our relations with Armenia are developing in defense sector also

Indians are now 2nd largest community in Armenia after Russians, envoy says

India-Armenia business forum kicks off in Yerevan

Armenia parliament speaker on European Parliament resolution: We thank European partners for this important step

PM: European Parliament resolution is another opportunity to discuss vision of Armenia's future

Azerbaijans next target in Karabakh is Artsakh State University

Russia deputy FM in Turkey, discusses process of normalizing Armenia-Azerbaijan relations

14-karat gold LEGO piece sells for over $18,000

Newspaper: Armenia to leave CSTO on Putin's reelection day?

Young lords 1,200-year-old tomb with treasure discovered in Panama

European Parliament resolution demands Azerbaijan troops withdrawal from Armenia territory

European Parliament adopts resolution proposing to consider possibility of Armenia's candidacy for EU membership

Russia MFA spox: We are concerned by Armenia leaderships sometimes offensive rhetoric on CSTO topics

Armenia government plans to have Kapan city airport serve international flights as well

Zakharova on Russian border guards removal from Yerevan airport: Hardly meets Armenia security interests

Armenia defense minister, Austria envoy, military attache discuss enhancing cooperation (PHOTOS)

Armenia official: Those 4 villages in Tavush Province are not in our administrative territorial division
Russia expects that Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan will participate in the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) anniversary summit to be held in Moscow in May, Russian ambassador to Armenia Sergey Kopyrkin said in an interview with RIA Novosti.

"Let me remind that this year the Eurasian Economic Council [of the EAEU] is chaired by the Republic of Armenia. This also implies the delegations exchange and visits. The anniversary summit of the Eurasian Economic Union is scheduled to be held in Moscow in May, and naturally, the Russian side expects the participation of the country's [i.e. Armenia] leader, president, Prime Minister Pashinyan," said the Russian envoy.

According to him, mutual visits at the high and highest level are a common phenomenon in the practice of interstate relations, and this matter was, is, and remains on the agenda.

"Let me remind that recently, a month ago, the regular meeting of the Intergovernmental Commission for Economic Cooperation [between Russia and Armenia] was held here, in Yerevan, headed by the deputy prime ministers of our countries. A fairly large number of high-ranking representatives of various departments of both Russia and Armenia participated in it. This was a very important, significant event in our bilateral relations. Of course, the decisions that were taken, the important decisions, will be implemented and will naturally require contacts and visits," said Kopyrkin.

He added that there are a number of invitations from the Russian side to the Armenian colleagues to attend the significant events planned for 2024.

"I will not list everything now; we are working on this matter. Of course, such exchangesincluding visits at the high, highest levelare on the agenda," added the Russian ambassador to Armenia.
The world is changing, and our region will inevitably change as well, and the Republic of Armenia is also changing. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated this in his remarks Friday at the Ministry of Justice, where the 2023 activity report of the department was discussed.

"This change can be treated in many different ways. But no matter how we view evolution, it is happening. Therefore, our position and approach should not be to stop this evolutionthis is illogical in itself because by stopping the evolution, we will reach degradationbut to govern in accordance with the national interests of the Republic of Armenia.

In this regard, during one or two working discussions with the Minister of Justice, I recorded that in my opinion and also that of a number of colleaguesand I am voicing this opinion so that it becomes the subject of a wider discussion, the Republic of Armenia needs a new constitution; not constitutional amendments, but of a new constitution. Moreover, I want to emphasize in particular that usually when talking about these topics, the first focus is as follows: what [kind of] system of governance do we want to change? And for whom?

I want to emphasize that my publicly expressed position on this matter has not undergone any change. I am convinced, and timeof course, with phases of some doubts, but in the endit proved that at least for me and for a number of colleagues, the parliamentary model of governance of Armenia, taking into account our democratic aspirations and strategies, is the most suitable for the Republic of Armenia. Moreover, I am now even more convinced that if we had not had a parliamentary model of governance in the post-war period of 2020, what perhaps many wanted could have happened to our statehood. It's not about this. I want us say right from this chapter that there is not much to change politically in the current model of governance, for example. It's a bit of a matter of the professional domain; for example, what needs to be changed in the judicial system. I mean, politically, my issue is different.

First, I believe that, nonetheless, no matter how much we try to solve this issue in other ways, the Republic of Armenia should ultimately have a constitution which was adopted by the people of the Republic of Armenia with the results of a vote that does not give rise to doubts. This is also an important point of emphasis, by the way, related to legitimacy. Second, we must have a constitution that makes the Republic of Armenia more competitive and more viable in the new geopolitical and regional conditions.

Since the Ministry of Justice has, in fact, a very central role in both issues, I wanted to emphasize this so that we devote ourselves to such work in the near future. Also, let's send this message to our legal community that the activities of the legal community will obviously increase in the near future from the point of view of ensuring the external security of the Republic of Armenia. Moreover, I believe in the effectiveness of that approach, and I also see and am convinced that in the case of a professional approach, indeed, legal work can have quite great effects and results in terms of ensuring the legitimacy of those positions, even the legitimacy of our political decisions," added the PM of Armenia.
Two west suburban Catholic grade schools will close this summer, the Archdiocese of Chicago announced Thursday, citing an overwhelming financial cliff after the loss of a state tax credit scholarship program for school choice.

St. Frances of Rome School in Cicero and St. Odilo School in Berwyn, two pre-K to eighth grade private schools, will close their doors in June after the conclusion of the academic year.

School and church leaders said more than half of students at the schools rely on the program to attend. Between the two schools, 164 students attended through the tax credit scholarship program, the archdiocese said, and the schools have been open for a combined 196 years.

Invest in Kids grant money goes toward covering a students tuition. Student tuition covers only a portion of funds that Catholic schools in the archdiocese need to operate, the Office of Catholic Schools said. Spending varies based on the individual school, but they rely on donations and subsidies from parishes, among other channels, to round out spending budgets.

More than half the students at our two schools rely on these scholarships. These are hardworking families who want a Catholic education for their children, said the Rev. Bartholomew Juncer, pastor of St. Odilo School.

An annual report for the Invest in Kids scholarship program is released by the state in March each year for the previous academic year. The report includes the number of students in the program, how many students attend each school and student demographics. During the 2022-23 school year, the tax credit scholarship allowed 13 students to attend St. Frances of Rome and 27 students to attend St. Odilo.

The program expired in November after state lawmakers adjourned during the final week of the General Assemblys last session without taking up a proposal to extend it beyond Dec. 31. Several Catholic school leaders worried in the fall that schools would be at a risk of closing if the program expired.

Invest in Kids prompted fierce debate over the merits of what some equate to the politically volatile school choice voucher program. While supporters say the tax credit gave children in low-income families a shot at a better education, opponents argued it failed to adequately benefit those kids and chipped away at public education.

The Office of Catholic Schools in the archdiocese said conversations occurred after the program expired on what the future looked like for schools with kids attending through the tax credit program.

The Archdiocese of Chicago announced that St. Frances of Rome School in Cicero is one of two schools that will close this summer.

Betty Paz, a St. Frances mother for over 20 years and vice president of the schools parent association, said parents received no previous communication that the school could potentially close.

We have a very strong commitment with parents and there was no communication that was shared with any of us, Paz said. And as weve learned more, this has been a topic of discussion for a few months, and it was never shared with any of the families.

Baz added that while her seventh grade daughter, Sophia, is not attending on scholarship, the tuition for other Catholic schools in the area is at least $1,000 more and not as affordable for the family.

The Rev. Radek Jaszczuk, pastor of St. Frances of Rome School, said the loss of tax credit scholarships made the school unsupportable financially.

While we have navigated tight budgets in the past, the loss of the scholarship program has created an insurmountable gap, Jaszczuk said in the news release.

Jackson Potter, vice president of the Chicago Teachers Union, which has viewed the scholarship program as a disinvestment in public education, said taxpayer dollars should be given to public schools and not diverted to private institutions.

Were very clear that we support public accommodations for the many, not private schools for the few, Potter said. Certainly, if wealthy donors want to create scholarships, they can give that money directly to students and families that prefer to send their children to those places.

Although the Invest in Kids Act required the Illinois State Board of Education to create an annual report on the learning gains of students receiving scholarships, the jury is out on the programs results. Such a report has yet to be released, according to a spokesperson for the State Board of Education, citing COVID-19 as the source of the delay.

Families at the schools have been encouraged to enroll in the two remaining archdiocesan schools in the area, St. Leonard School in Berwyn and Our Lady of Charity School in Cicero.

Across the archdiocese, 5,000 low-income families attend Catholic schools through the scholarship program, which provides more than $25 million in aid, the archdiocese said.

Greg Richmond, superintendent of the Archdiocese of Chicago school system, said Catholic schools are academically strong and have support among families, but he urged state lawmakers to reconsider extending the tax credit scholarship program to help keep the schools doors open.

In this situation, trying to sustain four schools would have jeopardized all of them in the future, Richmond said in a release. We are doing all that we can to keep our schools open, but the loss of the scholarship program will hurt. These may not be the last closures in our archdiocese.

Invest in Kids was signed into law by Gov. Bruce Rauner in 2017. It gave individuals and corporations a 75% tax credit, capped at $1 million, on donations to private school scholarships. Total annual credits were capped at $75 million. Various nonprofits process the applications and distribute the money.

A spokesperson for Gov. J.B. Pritzker said the governor would review any bill that passed to his desk.

Advocates who supported the voucher program could not get the necessary votes to pass a bill. If their efforts are successful in the future the Governor will review the legislation, just like he does for all the bills that come to his desk, the statement said.

aguffey@chicagotribune.com
Armenia is engaged in negotiations with Azerbaijan in good faith, and we are more than interested in establishing lasting peace in our region. Armenia's Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan stated this while answering the question from the Croatian public television journalist about peace efforts, Fridays joint news conference with his Croatian colleague, Gordan Grlic Radman.

We believe that this will be beneficial not only for the people of Armenia, but for the countries in the region. However, we see that our constructiveness sometimes does not meet the same constructive approach in the behavior of our neighbors. We have been engaged in negotiations by facilitation of the European Union, among other facilitators, and nowadays we see that Azerbaijan, unfortunately, refuses to resume the negotiations in the existing frameworks.

However, we are interested in continuing our negotiations. As I said, we attach importance not so much to the issue of who facilitates the negotiations, but to the principles, according to which the negotiations should continue. And in this context I would like to emphasize again that those are territorial integrity, recognition of legitimate borders, inviolability of borders, respect for each others sovereignty. These are the principles, according to which, I believe, peace should be agreed.

When it comes to participation of Croatia or the European Union in general, I would like to express our appreciation that the EU and Croatia has shown in ensuring security in our region along the borderline. Ive already mentioned the EUs Monitoring mission, but also I would like to express appreciation that Croatia and other EU countries showed in the context of meeting the urgent needs of the refugees who had to flee Nagorno-Karabakh as a result of military operation several months ago in September 2023, the Armenian FM added.
Foreign Minister of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan made a statement for the press of during his joint news conference with his Croatian colleague, Gordan Grlic Radman. Mirzoyan stated as follows:

"Dear Minister,

Dear friend, dear Gordon,

Dear colleagues,

Thank you, Excellency, for the warm hospitality extended to me and my delegation during this visit. Yesterday I already had fruitful meetings with your Prime Minister and also the Vice President of the Parliament. This follows our previous active engagements: I warmly recall your official visit to Yerevan last February as well as my visit to Croatia last July and our exchanges at the Dubrovnik Forum.

Of course, we should stress that this year is special for our bilateral relations as we mark the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations. During the past three decades our states have made important efforts aimed at developing high-level political dialogue and mutually beneficial cooperation. I note with satisfaction that our recent reciprocal visits and active interactions reflect the positive dynamics of our bilateral relations as well as the readiness to further enhance our agenda, deepen the cooperation in various fields and different platforms, and, of course, strengthen the ties between our two friendly nations.

Dear attendees,

During our discussions today, we touched upon a number of issues of bilateral agenda and possibilities to develop cooperation in different sectors, including economy, culture, IT, tourism and education. Along with the development of the political dialogue, there is huge untapped potential in the economic sphere. While the business forum held in Yerevan during the Minister's visit last February was of particular importance, we are keen to promote and expand the trade and economic cooperation to achieve tangible outcomes.

We also discussed the ongoing processes and steps undertaken to further enhance the Armenia-EU partnership. The aspirations of our citizens to see the further deepening of this relationship are based on the shared values upheld by Armenia, Croatia, and the European Union, particularly in the realms of democracy, protection of human rights and other fundamental principles. At the same time, our commitment derives from the vision of a better and more secure environment for our citizens. Thus, with my Croatian counterpart we looked into the whole spectrum of the Armenia-EU relations covering our democratic reform agenda, people-to-people contacts, visa liberalisation dialogue, economic cooperation as well as security matters. In this context, I would like to underline that the Armenia-EU partnership is being enhanced with new dimensions, namely the EU monitoring mission and security dialogue.

Today, we also had the chance to touch upon issues of cooperation in multilateral fora, within international organisations where Armenia and Croatia already have or will further benefit from closer cooperation.

Dear colleagues,

We exchanged views on international and regional security topics. I thoroughly updated my counterpart on the situation in the South Caucasus. As mentioned, we had earlier opportunities to discuss Armenias vision of establishing stability and peace in the region, efforts aimed at overcoming the challenges and developing regional connectivity. Unfortunately, we see rhetoric and statements of the high-level Azerbaijani officials that continue challenging the rule-based order, territorial integrity, sovereignty of Armenia and, hence, the prospects of lasting peace in the region.

We believe our partners interested in stability in the South Caucasus share the same approach, that peace requires unwavering commitment and genuine interest in lasting solutions. Armenias position has been very clear on possible solutions based on well-known principles and agreements. Countries should recognize each other's territorial integrity without any ambiguity. The peace treaty should provide clear foundations regarding the further delimitation process, which, according to our belief, should take place in accordance with the Alma-Ata Declaration and based on the freshest and legitimate Soviet Union maps. We also are sure that the connectivity that can be unlocked in the region, the economic and transport infrastructures could also help to advance lasting peace in the region. We believe that all the infrastructure should be unlocked according to and under the sovereignty and national jurisdictions of the countries and in accordance with the principles of equality and reciprocity.

Moreover, to promote this idea of peace and connectivity, the Government of the Republic of Armenia came up with the initiative of Crossroads of Peace, which is, as I said, about unblocking the infrastructure, increasing the interconnectivity in the region.

Dear attendees,

Here I would like to stop.

Dear Minister, dear Gordan,

Thank you once again for your invitation and for the comprehensive discussions we had today. And I am confident that these discussions will provide an excellent basis for further partnership and cooperation. Thank you."
VMPL New Delhi [India], January 19: Lokendra Saini joins AK Clinics, India's leading Hair & Skin Care brand as their Co-founder & CEO in his second stint as an entrepreneur. In his previous stint as an entrepreneur, Lokendra founded "misohe", an online tech & AI enabled mental health platform which had a successful buyout exit. With nearly 20 years of experience, he was working as Chief Operating Officer at easemytrip.com before joining AK Clinics, where he was responsible for developing and executing strategies for business expansion both via online and offline mediums. Lokendra has also worked with large scale tech companies such as ixigo.com, goibibo.com and makemytrip.com at senior roles handling critical business portfolios in his earlier stints. At AK Clinics, Lokendra will spearhead the India and International expansion of the existing double-digit crores business in the hair and the skincare space. "Indian Hair Care market combined of hair transplant was valued at USD 3.4 Billion in 2023 and is anticipated to grow at a CAGR of 11.5%. Consumers are increasingly seeking personalized and holistic solution, leading to the rise of scalp health focused products and services, customised regimen, and hair wellness supplements. Combined of all this, it makes into an exciting space for someone to become the industry leader and I'm confident to achieve it with the present team and the solid foundation laid down by AK Clinics" said Lokendra on his new role. Excited on the new development, Dr. Kapil Dua, Chairman, AK Clinics, said "We are thrilled to have Lokendra joining us. His rich experience, deep understanding and knowledge of the diverse aspects of the business growth both in online tech and offline tech ecosystem will be a valuable asset as we ready ourselves for the next phase of growth. As one of India's most renowned Hair & Skincare brands, we now look at enabling hair and skin care seamlessly becoming lifestyle for most Indians by ways of technology and affordable yet high-quality, cutting edge services." "AK Clinics is aiming to cross the three digits crore mark in the Hair and Skin Care industry in the coming financial year and are aggressively progressing in the process to activate the wide range of departments including, but not limited to, the support, technology, and marketing divisions across pan India and globally.", said Dr. Aman Dua, Managing Director, AK Clinics. (ADVERTORIAL DISCLAIMER: The above press release has been provided by VMPL. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same)
Union Petroleum Minister Hardeep Puri met Nigerian minister of state for petroleum resources Heineken Lokpobiri, and CEO of Nigerian oil major NNPC Limited, Mele Kyari, on the sidelines of the ongoing World Economic Forum 2024 in Davos, Switzerland. Nigeria is a major hydrocarbons producer in Africa and its production is the mainstay of the country's economy. Oil and natural gas revenue is the country's primary source of foreign exchange earnings. On the contrary, India, the world's third-biggest oil importer and consumer and is dependent on crude oil from various sources in the global market to meet its domestic demand. During the WEF 2024 earlier this week, Puri said the energy consumption in India is growing at three times the global average and will account for 25 per cent in the next decades or so. "If you look at the global scenario today, India's consumption is growing at three times the global average. In the next 20 years or so, India will account for 25 per cent of the energy demand globally," the minister said. "Today what happens in India is important for the rest of the world...all these new challenges that we have to face, we have to face them pragmatically. I say this not to provoke anyone, but to just mention. If India had chosen in that point of time not to be pragmatic, we would have had a situation where oil would have gone beyond USD 200 dollars. Why? We import 85 per cent of our crude, and we have to deal with the issues of availability, affordability, and sustainability. If India had allowed itself to be put into a situation where we were to draw on the same sources." (ANI)
As the World Economic Forum 2024 comes to a close, one of the key takeaways from this year's annual meeting was the announcement of the launch of a "Global Good Alliance for Gender Equity and Equality" with the support and endorsement by the Forum and the government of India. At the World Economic Forum's annual meeting at Davos, Switzerland held on January 15-19, 2024, India participated in the spirit of "Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam", ready to shape a common future marked by global cooperation. The theme for this year was 'Rebuilding Trust'. At WEF 2024, the Indian official delegation was led by Smriti Zubin Irani, Union Minister of Women and Child Development and Minority Affairs along with Hardeep Singh Puri, Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Housing and Urban Affairs, Ashwini Vaishnaw, Union Minister of Railways, Communications, Electronics and IT, RK Singh, Secretary, DPIIT, Ministry of Commerce and Industry and other senior officers of the government of India. The idea of this alliance emerged from the G20 Leaders' Declaration and India's abiding commitment to the cause of women-led development as propounded by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The primary and stated objective of this new Alliance is to bring together global best practices, knowledge sharing and investments in the identified areas of women's health, education, and enterprise. The Alliance will be taking forward the commitments of the G20 leaders for the benefit of the larger global community as a follow-up to the activities of the Engagement Group and initiatives under the G20 framework, inter alia, the Business 20, Women 20 and G20 EMPOWER. At the announcement of the launch of the Alliance, Smriti Zubin Irani said, "On a street where money walks and politics talks, we were able to bring together the best of industry, enterprise and humanity in this grand Alliance." She further spoke about India's achievements including its spectacular inclusive growth story. The Alliance has garnered support from industry leaders, including Mastercard, Uber, Tata, TVS, Bayer, Godrej, Serum Institute of India, IMD Lausanne, and over 10,000 partners from the industry. Supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the alliance will be housed and anchored by the CII Centre for Women Leadership. The World Economic Forum has come on board as a 'Network Partner' and Invest India as an 'Institutional Partner'. Given India's abiding commitment to Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam - 'One Earth, One Family, One Future' and its continued efforts towards "Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas and Sabka Prayas" this 'Alliance for Global Good- Gender Equity and Equality' is poised to be a force to reckon with on all gender-related issues. This year's unique initiative at WEF, led by the Union Minister of Women and Child Development was the first-ever women leadership lounge (We Lead lounge) by CII and BMGF. The lounge hosted various panel discussions and meetings on the themes of "Women-led Development" increasing women's participation in the economy, bridging the digital gender gap, engendering women's health, etc. The lounge also showcased handicrafts by women entrepreneurs and products from the tea and coffee boards of India. The "We Lead" lounge facilitated the much-needed conversation around the message of global prosperity powered by women. Smriti Zubin Irani participated in eight sessions at the WEF, including, 'Restoring Faith in the Global Systems', 'BRICS in Expansion', 'Can India Seize its Moment', and 'Country Strategy Dialogue on India. Her enriching interventions in these sessions brought to focus the GOI policies and initiatives with special emphasis on gender equality and women-led development. (ANI)
Amid rising geopolitical tensions, close to 3,000 policy-makers, business executives, international organizations and civil society leaders, academics and innovators from around the world came together for the 54th Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum to rebuild a basis of trust, generate new ideas and develop partnerships that can improve outcomes for people, economies and the planet. More than 450 sessions and workshops took place during the Annual Meeting 2024, facilitating dialogue, debate and alignment across many perspectives. Over the week, the Forum and its partners also launched or advanced more than 50 high-impact initiatives, serving as ongoing platforms for multi-year collaboration across geographies and industries. "We must rebuild trust - trust in our future, trust in our capacity to overcome challenges, and most importantly, trust in each other," said Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum. "Trust is not just a feeling; trust is a commitment to action, to belief, to hope." Trust, cooperation and security: World leaders called for rebuilding trust in the face of increasing fragmentation. "Geopolitical divides are preventing us from coming together around global solutions for global challenges," said United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. "It is essential that we discard prejudice, bridge differences and work as one to tackle the trust deficit," said Li Qiang, Premier of the People's Republic of China. "The world is not at a single inflection point; it is at multi-inflection points," warned Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission. She urged countries to "deepen global collaboration more than ever before." Ajay S. Banga, President of the World Bank Group, emphasized the interconnectedness of crises: "we cannot think about eradicating poverty without caring about climate. We cannot think about eradicating poverty without thinking about healthcare. We cannot think about eradicating poverty without thinking about food insecurity and fragility." "We have a responsibility to be stewards of our beautiful, small planet's future," said Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund. "There is something that leaders need to embrace," she added, "and it is the responsibility to act, even if it's not popular. French President Emmanuel Macron called for world leaders to "be realistic but be optimistic" about addressing the complex challenges of peace and security, jobs and decarbonization. "I truly believe that the decisions that can change things are within our hands," he said. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced plans for a potential global summit to push for peace and called for renewed investment in the country. "Strengthen our economy, and we'll strengthen your security," he told participants, adding that there will be growth in Ukraine once the war is over. More than 80 national security advisers from governments and international organizations met in Davos to advance a blueprint for peace in Ukraine at the Fourth National Security Advisors Meeting, hosted by Switzerland in collaboration with the Forum. A series of sessions addressed the conflict in the Middle East. Mohammed Shyaa Al Sudani, Prime Minister of Iraq, warned that unless the international community acts now to end the conflict, there is a risk of a stalemate and a possible expansion of hostilities in the region. Jordanian Prime Minister Bisher Hani Al Khasawneh emphasized the need for a comprehensive ceasefire in Gaza and the importance of international support for humanitarian efforts. Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani called for protecting shipping security in the Red Sea and for a meaningful dialogue to end the war in Gaza. Israeli President Isaac Herzog called for new approaches to peace and security for both Israelis and Palestinians. Mohammad Mustafa, Chairman of the Palestine Investment Fund, highlighted the complexities surrounding governance and the need for Palestinian unity, and emphasized the financial and logistical needs for reconstructing Gaza. "I can't think of a time when there's been both a greater multiplicity and greater complexity of the challenges that we're dealing with," said Antony Blinken, Secretary of State of the United States. On the role of the meeting in providing a space for diplomacy and diverse viewpoints, Borge Brende, President of the World Economic Forum, said: "The Annual Meeting serves as a vital platform for inclusive dialogue, bringing together parties to identify pathways toward achieving shared priorities." (ANI)
Actor-producer Arbaaz Khan's wife and make-up artist Shura Khan celebrated her birthday on January 18. Her birthday bash was attended by Salman Khan, Helen, and Arpita Khan, among others. Arbaaz and Shura married in an intimate nikah ceremony on December 24 at the latter's sister Arpita Khan Sharma's residence in Mumbai. The entire family and close friends gathered to celebrate her special day. Atul Agnihotri, Alvira Agnihotri, Vatsal Seth, Baba Siddique and his son Zeeshan Siddique, Chunky Panday, and Govinda's daughter Tina Ahuja were also present to attend the party. Arbaaz Khan and Shura Khan made a stylish entry and grabbed the attention of everyone present there. The newlyweds smiled for the photographers and even cut a cake together to celebrate her 31st birthday. Salman Khan didn't miss out and he arrived in style to attend her birthday celebration. Salim Khan's wives, Helen and Salma Khan, were also present at the birthday party. Arbaaz Khan and Malaika Arora's son Arhaan Khan also attended the party. While posing for the media in his black and white outfit, he also engaged them in some banter. Actor Sanjay Kapoor was also seen attending the gala night. He looked good in jeans and a black t-shirt, which he paired with a denim jacket. Actor Chunky Panday was also among the guests. The Khans' sister, Arpita Khan, arrived with her two children. She looked lovely in her red and black outfit. Earlier, actor Arbaaz Khan shared a mushy picture to wish his wife on her birthday with a sweet note. Taking to Instagram, Arbaaz penned a note, which read, "Happiest birthday my love Shura. Nobody makes me smile the way you do. You light up my life. I look forward to growing old with you , oops older actually very very old when the universe brought us together it was the best thing that's ever happened to me. From the first date I knew I was going to spend the rest of my life with you. You continue to amaze me with your beauty and kindness. Every day I'm reminded that saying " Qubool Hai " to you were the best words to ever come out of my mouth. Love you to the moon and back ." https://www.instagram.com/p/C2O_NonSTWG/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA== As soon as the post was uploaded, fans and industry members flooded the comment section.Raveena Tandon dropped several heart emojis. One of the users wrote, "Happy birthday shura." Arbaaz and Shura got married in an intimate nikah ceremony on December 24 at the latter's sister Arpita Khan Sharma's residence in Mumbai. After the ceremony, Arbaaz took to Instagram and announced his sacred union with Shura via a heartfelt Instagram post. "In the presence of our loved ones, me and mine begin a lifetime of love and togetherness from this day on![?] Need all your blessings and good wishes on our special day!," he wrote. The ceremony happened in the presence of close friends and family members. Arbaaz was previously married to Malaika Arora. They separated in 2016 and officially divorced in 2017; they have a son, Arhaan. Arbaaz also dated Giorgia Andriani but the two called it quits last year.Reportedly, he met Shura, a makeup artist, on the sets of his upcoming film 'Patna Shukla', which features Ravena Tandon in the lead role. (ANI)
American film director, producer, and screenwriter Christopher Landon, who had earlier announced his exit from the project 'Scream 7', is working on a new project, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed. The filmmaker, best known for 'Happy Death Day' and 'Freaky', is in talks to direct 'Big Bad'. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Lionsgate is in advanced negotiations to land the package that is based on the short story by Chandler Baker. The plot centres on a family that must survive a night in an isolated farmhouse as werewolves prey upon them. The story "Big Bad" appeared in the horror collection Creature Features, which included tales from authors such as Joe Hill. Todd Lieberman and Hidden Pictures are producing the feature. This is Landon's first project since leaving 'Scream VII'. According to Deadline, Landon's exit from the horror movie franchise comes after Melissa Barrera was fired from the film due to her social media posts on the Israel-Hamas conflict. After Barrera was dropped from the cast for the seventh instalment of the horror series, Landon posted he was not the one to blame for her exit. The post was later deleted. Owing to a shooting schedule, Jenna Ortega was also confirmed as not reprising her role in the franchise a day later. After receiving criticism on social media for removing Barrera from 'Scream VII', Spyglass Media issued a statement outlining their justifications. "Spyglass' stance is unequivocally clear: We have zero tolerance for antisemitism or the incitement of hate in any form, including false references to genocide, ethnic cleansing, Holocaust distortion or anything that flagrantly crosses the line into hate speech," read a statement from the studio. "It was a dream job that turned into a nightmare. And my heart did break for everyone involved," Landon wrote on X announcing his departure. Scott O'Brien will oversee Big Bad for Lionsgate. Carly Kleinbart and Lieberman will oversee for Hidden Pictures. Alex Young is executive producing, with Lionsgate's Robert Melnik overseeing the dealmaking on behalf of the studio, reported The Hollywood Reporter. (ANI)
Republicans who control the Wisconsin state Assembly approved a bill Thursday that would guarantee parents the right to determine their childrens pronouns and pull them out of any classes that conflict with their personal beliefs.

The Assembly passed the GOP-authored measure 62-35, sending it on to the state Senate. Democratic Gov. Tony Evers is almost certain to veto the proposal if it reaches his desk. The governor vetoed a similar Republican proposal last year.

The bill would guarantee parents a host of rights, including the right to determine the pronouns their children are known by at school.

The bill also would give parents the right to pull their children out of class based on religious reasons or personal convictions. They would have a right to be told of any surveys or evaluations that would reveal their or their childrens political leanings, sexual behavior or illegal behavior; any vaccinations the school offers; and whenever a controversial subject such as gender identity, sexual orientation or racism will be discussed. Parents could sue schools that violate those rights.

The bills supporters say schools are ignoring parents, and the legislation will force administrators to listen to them. Parents in Waukesha County, a Republican stronghold, won a lawsuit in October that alleged Kettle Moraine School District officials used a male name and male pronouns to address their 12-yearold daughter without their consent. The girl was questioning her gender identity at the time.

Opponents say the bill is an attempt to disrupt school protocols and amounts to censorship.
The workers were formally inducted during an event held at the party office in Chandigarh.

Meanwhile, former MP Ashok Tanwar tendered his resignation from the primary membership of the Aam Aadmi Party on Thursday citing the reason as the alignment of AAP with the Indian National Congress for Chandigarh Mayor elections.

In his resignation letter to AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal he said, "In view of the current political scenario and your alignment with the Indian National Congress, my ethics won't allow me to continue as Chairman, Election Campaign Committee, Aam Aadmi Party Haryana. Therefore, kindly accept my resignation from Primary Membership and all other responsibilities of the Aam Aadmi Party."

Congress and Aam Aadmi Party had decided to jointly contest the Chandigarh Mayor elections.

AAP was going to contest for the Mayor seat while Congress was contesting for Senior Deputy Mayor.

The date of the Chandigarh mayoral elections, which were scheduled to be held on Thursday, was pushed back citing the "ill health" of the designated presiding officer.

The announcement triggered protests by the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party, who had allied for the mayoral elections. (ANI)
Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy spoke of the need to create sustainable models to make agriculture a profitable activity while addressing CET conference on Food Systems and Local Action, at the World Economic Forum annual meeting at Davos and urged leaders to "stand by the farmers." Reddy started on a personal note, talking about his agricultural roots and that agriculture was "our culture." "I am a farmer's son, agriculture is our culture. I represent Telangana, a state in India, as the Chief Minister. I grew up in a small village and I understand the farmer's problem," said Telangana CM. The audience, comprising World Food Prize Winner, David Nabbarro, and Vice President of Tanzania, Philip Mpango, cheered CM Sri Revanth Reddy when he concluded by saying, "Farmers have always helped the world. It is now time for the world to stand by the farmers." "In India, we have a big problem in agriculture: farmer suicide. This is the biggest problem in India. They cannot sell their produce...they can't make profits; they don't have...technology," CM Reddy can be heard saying in the video shared by the Chief Minister's Office on its official Twitter handle. Highlighting the Congress government's 'Rythu Bharosa' in Telangana, the CM said, "My party (Congress) started the policy of minimum support price for farmers. We transfer money directly to the accounts of farmers for investments; its name is 'Rythu Bharosa'". Among the Congress's Six Guarantees, Rythu Bharosa is the most expensive, as it promised financial assistance of Rs 15,000 per acre per year to farmers and tenant farmers and Rs 12,000 per acre to agriculture labourers every year, in two equal divisions for the rabi and kharif seasons. During his address, CM Reddy said that his government is a pro-farmer government. "My government is a farmer's government, and I have a dream to make farmers benefit more from MSP. If we can do it, it will stop 99 per cent of farmer's suicide. Just like return on investments in the corporate sector I request all leaders at WEF to help farmers always helped the world, and the world must now help farmers," he said. Sharing the video on X, Telangana CMO said, "Addressing an exclusive and elite gathering at the CET conference on Food Systems and Local Action, at the @WEFAnnual Meeting at #Davos, Hon'ble Chief Minister Sri @Revanth_Anumula spoke of the need to create sustainable models to make agriculture a profitable activity." "The audience, comprising World Food Prize Winner @DavidNabarro, and Vice President of Tanzania @dr_mpango , cheered CM Sri Revanth Reddy when he concluded by saying, "Farmers have always helped the world. It is now time for the world to stand by the farmers," the post added. https://x.com/TelanganaCMO/status/1747914538240844173?s=20 CM Revanth met with World Economic Forum President Borge Brende on Monday. He also met the organisers of the World Economic Forum and other dignitaries and discussed the investment opportunities in Telangana. The 54th Annual Conference of the World Economic Forum is underway in Davos, Switzerland. This conference will be held for three days. (ANI)
West Bengal Congress President Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party is "dishonouring" Lord Ram by "using" his name for their "political motive" while responding to the party declining the invitation for the Pran Pratishtha ceremony of the Ram Temple on January 22. The decision to snub the invitation to the January 12 Ram Mandir Pran Pratishtha ceremony by the opposing parties of the India bloc has triggered a political slugfest just ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. He also targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi, questioning whether "he was the only Hindu in the country." Speaking with the ANI, the congress leader said, "What Shankaracharyas will be called then if we are called anti-Hindu for declining the invitation for Ram Temple 'Pran Pratishtha' ceremony? Is only PM Modi left in the whole nation who is Hindu...?" "They (the BJP) are dishonouring Lord Ram by using his name for their political motive...," he added. CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury and a host of Congress bigwigs -- national president Mallikarjun Kharge, former president Sonia Gandhi and the party's Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury--have already turned down the invitation to the 'Pran Pratishtha' ceremony. Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav earlier in the month turned down the invitation saying he will visit the temple with his family at a later date. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will preside over the ceremonial installation of Shri Ram Lalla inside the sanctum sanctorum of the temple. Earlier, in the month, PM Modi announced a special 11-day 'anushthan' (ritual) ahead of the Pran Pratishtha ceremony at Ayodhya's Ram Temple. (ANI)
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami highlighted how this step will create employment opportunities for women in the state.

"Under this scheme, 5115 women will soon get employment opportunities as assistants in the state."

Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave approval to Uttarakhand for the construction of 3,940 Anganwadi buildings and an amount of Rs 12 lakh was earmarked for each Anganwadi centre, including MNREGA, Central and State's shares. In this way, a total of Rs 472 crore was allotted to provide convenient Anganwadi centres for women and children.

Notably, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami launched the online portal of the Nanda Gaura Yojana and Chief Minister Mahalaxmi Kit Yojana.

With the inauguration of the Nandagaura Yojana portal, an online facility was made available to about 50 thousand girls every year to apply for Rs 11 thousand on birth and Rs 51 thousand on passing class 12.

The necessary clothes and kit materials were made easily available to about 50 thousand lactating women and newborn babies in the state every year. (ANI)
The Cachar district police, based on credible intelligence input, conducted a special operation against the transportation of narcotic substances at Fulertal village in Cachar district on Thursday.

Cachar Superintendent of Police, Numal Mahatta, said that during the operation, the police team apprehended four drug peddlers and recovered a large quantity of contraband drugs.

"We have recovered 38 soap cases suspected to be heroin, weighing approximately 500 gram and 15,800 Yaba tablets, from their possession. The market value of the seized narcotics substance is estimated at around Rs 6 crore. The drugs were being illegally transported from the neighbouring state, Manipur," Numal Mahatta said.

As per the information from the officials, the apprehended individuals have been identified as Thang Hmong Hmar, Bieksang, Ebenezer Thiek from Shivapuri Khal in Manipur and Patrick Pudaita from Cachar district's Lakhipur.

Further investigation into the matter is underway, said police. (ANI)
The Jorhat Police registered a case against a few people associated with the Congress's ongoing Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra for alleged deviation from its original route, officials said. Speaking to reporters, Jorhat Superintendent of Police Mohan Lal Meena said, "Taking suo motu cognisance, a case has been registered against a few people in connection with the Congress's Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra." The Yatra, led by Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, rolled into Assam on Thursday. On the sixth day of his Yatra, Rahul crossed the Brahmaputra river by boat and headed for Majuli, an island in Assam, on Friday. The party shared an image of Rahul, flanked by fellow Congress leaders and workers, sailing on a boat across the Brahmaputra on Friday. Addressing a press conference in Jorhat on Thursday, Congress general secretary in charge of Communications, Jairam Ramesh, claimed that the Himanta Biswa Sarma-led BJP government in the state was making all efforts to 'ensure that Bharat Jodo Yatra is not a success'. "We are in Assam till 25th January. The state government is making all efforts to ensure that Bharat Jodo Yatra is not a success here. Assam government is posing hurdles to the yatra, but we have faith that all sections of Assam, including youth and women, will listen to what Rahul Gandhi has to say," he said. Rahul, too, hit out at the Himanta government claiming that the "most corrupt government" in the country was functioning in the state. Addressing party workers at Halowating in Sivasagar district after the Yatra rolled into the area from neighbouring Nagaland, Rahul accused the ruling BJP and its saffron parent Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) of "spreading hatred and looting public money". "Perhaps, the most corrupt government in India is in Assam. We will raise the issues of Assam during the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra," he said. Earlier, on Tuesday, the Assam CM refuted the claim made by several Congress leaders of fixing the date for the form-distribution schedule of the newly announced scheme for rural women in such a manner that it clashes with the Yatra itinerary in those districts and adjoining areas. He said he cancelled all his pre-planned events in the state's upper districts on January 18-19 to avoid a clash with the programmes of the Congress during its Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra in those areas. Addressing a press conference in Guwahati on Tuesday, the Assam CM said the state government had announced the dates for the distribution of forms for the welfare schemes much before Rahul's arrival to the state. "It is Rahul Gandhi's (yatra schedule) that is coinciding with our welfare dates (dates on which forms are to be distributed for a new scheme). We did not plan for this. The dates were declared even before we knew he was coming," Sarma said. (ANI)
A drive to recruit more than 10,000 Indian construction workers in Israel began at the Maharshi Dayanand University in Haryana's Rohtak. The Public Relations Officer of Maharishi Dayanand University, Sunit Mukherjee, said that, as per the agreement between the Government of India and the Government of Israel, this recruitment is being organised by the Skill Development Corporation. Taking this initiative, the Haryana government is calling skilled people for recruitment under skill employment, in which only carpenters, masons, electricians, plumbers, welders, etc. have been called for this recruitment. The Public Relations Officer of Maharishi Dayanand University, Sunit Mukherjee, highlighted that the new initiative attracted a large number of people from other states. "According to this initiative of the Haryana government, arrangements have been made to send 10,000 people from Haryana to Israel. Due to good jobs and a good country, a large number of people from other states are also coming for recruitment in Rohtak." The Public Relations Officer of Maharishi Dayanand University, Sunit Mukherjee, emphasised the people's will to go to Israel despite the war-like situation. "People who reached here told us that they came to know about the recruitment through the media, in which a salary of more than one lakh has been mentioned and people want to go to Israel to earn money despite the war-like situation." The Public Relations Officer of Maharishi Dayanand University, Sunit Mukherjee, highlighted that the drive will continue until January 21. "According to the agreement between the Government of India and the Government of Israel, recruitment is being organised for skilled people at Maharishi Dayanand University in Rohtak, Haryana. Skill Development Corporation is organising the recruitment drive under Skill Employment. The recruitment is being organised until January 21st." Ashok Kumar, an applicant from Rajasthan, said that he wanted to go to Israel and the Israeli government would provide him with a secure environment to work. "I am unemployed here and want to move to Israel to earn money. The Israeli government will make the necessary arrangements to provide us with a safe and secure environment." (ANI)
The death toll in the Pitampura fire incident has gone up to six, police said on Friday. The deceased include four women and two men, they added. The deceased have been identified as Rakesh Gupta (62), his daughter Shweta (30) and wife Renu Gupta (62), Santosh (25), Kirti (25) and Shanu Verma (27). An FIR has been registered under sections 285, 336 and 304 A of the Indian Penal Code at Maurya Enclave Police Station. As many as six people were evacuated when a fire broke out in a residential building in northwest Delhi's Pitampura area on Thursday evening. "All the six people who were evacuated by the fire service have died in the hospital. Six people, including four females and two males, were rescued from the house but they were declared dead later in the hospital. No one else is injured," North West Delhi Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Jitendra Meena said speaking to reporters on Thursday. "The cause of the fire is not yet known. It may be due to an electric short circuit or some other reason. All the people who died were tenants...The building was residential. People used to stay as tenants on different floors...Legal action will be taken," the DCP added. "We received information of a fire at a house in the Pitampura area. Seven fire tenders are present at the spot... Six people were evacuated immediately by the fire service...," SK Dua, an official of the Delhi Fire Service said to ANI on Thursday. Meanwhile, two children were killed in a fire that broke out at a house located near the Gourkhede Complex in the Seminary Hills area of Nagpur on Friday. The deceased children were identified as seven-year-old Devas and two-year-old Prabhas, according to Nagpur Police. (ANI)
The Rouse Avenue court took cognizance of the prosecution complaint (charge sheet) filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the Delhi Waqf Board Money Laundering case. The ED has charge sheeted four persons Zeeshan Haider his partnership firm Skypower, Javed Imam Siddiqui, Dawood Nasir, Qausar Imam Siddiqui. The ED has alleged money laundering in the purchase and sale of Rs. 36 crore property on the behest of AAP MLA Amanat Ullah Khan. Special CBI judge Rakesh Syal took cognizance of the charge sheet and directed to supply the copies of the charge sheet to counsel for the accused. The court has listed the hearing on bail of three accused namely Javed Imam Siddiqui, Dawood Nasir and Javed Imam Siddiqui on January 25, 2024. The court has also listed the matter for scrutiny of charge sheet and documents. The Rouse Avenue court on January 12, 2024 reserved order on cognizance of the Prosecution Complaint (Charge sheet). The ED has already filed a Prosecution Complaint (Charge Sheet) against accused Zeeshan Haider, his partnership firm Skypower, Javed Imam Siddiqui, Dawood Nasir and Qausar Siddiqui. It is alleged by the ED that a property of Rs. 36 crore was purchased with ill-gotten money at the behest of AAP MLA Amanat Ullah Khan. He himself handed over Rs. 8 crore in cash. In response to a question related to the role of Amanat Ullah Khan, ED's counsel submitted that further investigation related to the role of others is going on. Special public prosecutor (SPP) Manish Jain for ED argued before the court. SPP Manish Jain submitted that the allegations in predicate offence related to irregularities in Delhi Waqf Board is how the main accused Amanat Ullah was involved in corrupt practices. The allegations is that Rs. 100 crore property was misappropriated and jobs were provided to people in Delhi Waqf Board. There are allegations of misappropriation and siphoning of funds. It was also submitted that during the investigation of this PMLA case, ED considered the FIRs were registered earlier, by the CBI, ACB and Delhi police. It was further submitted that ACB requested for investigation under PMLA against MLA and then chairman Amanat Ullah Khan. Properties allegedly were made at Delhi, Telengana and Uttrakhand with alleged ill-gotten money. ACB conducted searches at the premises owned and controlled by Hamid Ali Khan and Qausar Imam Siddiqui. Incriminating evidence and illegal weapons were recovered. During the searches, three diaries were also recovered. Qausar Imam Siddiqui was maintaining these diaries. In relation to recovery of illegal weapons, an FIR was registered at police station Jamia Nagar under the section of the Arms Act. It was also alleged that he purchased properties in the name of his benamidar Zeeshan Haider. SPP Jain also submitted that diaries reveal high value transactions between Amanat Ullah and Javed Imam Siddiqui including purchasing of a plot measuring 1200 Square Yards in Tikona Park, in Okhla. This particular property was purchased for Rs. 36 crore and this transaction is supported by the diary. Rs. 8 crore cash was handed over by Amanat Ullah. Rs. 9 crore was paid through banking channel by accused Zeeshan and Dawood Nasir to Javed Imam Siddiqui. The court asked who was the original owner of this property. SPP Jain said that the original owner of the property is Aisha Kanwar who bought it in 2019. It was sold to the accused Zeeshan and Dawood in 2021. An agreement to sell of Rs. 36 crore was recovered from the mobile of the accused. This transaction is supported by the diary, agreement to sell and at the behest of Amanat Ullah. ED submitted that this property was bought at the behest of Amanat Ullah Khan. Qausar Imam Siddiqui is cousin brother of Javed Imam Siddiqui. Instead of placing the original agreement of Rs. 36 crore, another agreement of Rs. 13.40 crore was created and produced. It shows that they manipulated the front page. It is tampering with the evidence, ED's counsel argued. He also submitted that out of Rs. 36 crore, a Rs. 27 crore cash transaction is evident. It is a clear-cut established against the accused persons and a fit case to summon the accused persons. (ANI)
Senior BJP leader and former Madhya Pradesh CM Uma Bharti on Friday made a heartfelt appeal to Puri Shankaracharya Nischalanand Maharaj to attend the Pran Pratsihta ceremony of January 22, saying that his opinion is respected. "I want to say to Nischalanand Maharaj that you have said that you have received the invitation; then please come. We have struggled so much for 500 years. Now everything is falling into place with your blessings. If something is missing in the rituals, then let us know and we will make it right" Uma Bharti said Reacting to the statements of Puri Shankaracharya Swami Nischalanand Maharaj, she said that the disagreement in 'Shastrarth' by Nischalanand Maharaj should be respected as it has been the tradition of India and its democratic system. "If Puri Shankaracharya Nischalanand Maharaj has said something, he has said it because Adi Shankara re-established Vedic Dharma through Shastrarth. In our democracy, disagreement in Shastrarth has always been respected. So this should be viewed from a similar perspective. Mocking and challenging Nischalanand Maharaj is a sign of arrogance," said Uma Bharti. Earlier, amid assertions from opposing factions that the four Shankaracharyas are contemplating skipping the Pran Pratishtha ceremony of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya, Swami Nischalanand Saraswati Maharaj, the Shankaracharya of Puri, disclosed that their decision is rooted in the deviation from established traditions during the installation of the Ram Lalla idol. Speaking to ANI, Swami Nischalanand Maharaj said "The Shankaracharyas uphold their own dignity. This is not about ego. Are we expected to merely sit outside and applaud when the Prime Minister installs the idol of Ram Lalla? The presence of a 'secular' government does not imply the obliteration of tradition," he remarked. The 'Pran Pratishtha' of Shri Ram Lalla at the historic temple will take place on January 22. Vedic rituals for the Pran-Pratishtha ceremony of Ram Lalla in Ayodhya began on Tuesday, a week before the main ceremony. The fourth-day rituals began at the temple on Friday at 9 a.m. with the lighting of holy fire. The idol of Shri Ram Lalla, which was placed inside the sanctum sanctorum of the temple in Ayodhya on Thursday, will be given 'Aushdhadhiwas' (medicinal abode), 'Kesaradhiwas' (saffron abode), 'Dhritashiwas' (Dhrita abode), and 'Pushpadhiwas' (flower abode). Following this, the idol will be kept in saffron and later in grains. The temple doors will be closed to visitors until January 22 and will be reopened the next day. The general secretary of Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, Champat Rai, said that the Ram temple will be open for 'darshan' for the general public from January 23. "The 'Pran Prathishtha' is expected to conclude by 1 p.m. PM Modi and others present on the occasion will express their thoughts after the ceremony," said Champat Rai. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has started an 11-day special ritual in the run-up to the Pran Pratishtha of Shri Ram Lalla at the temple at Ayodhya. (ANI)
This weekend boasts some notable concerts as part of Tomorrow Never Knows, the big puppet gathering and the opening of Chicago Restaurant Week.

Mick Jenkins

The from-Chicago rapper has a new studio album  2023s The Patience  and is playing locally at the House of Blues.

8 p.m. Jan. 19 at House of Blues, 329 N. Dearborn St.; limited tickets (ages 17+) at www.houseofblues.com/chicago

The Great American Dog Show

Presented by the International Kennel Club of Chicago, the weekend-long event in Schaumburg includes a puppy show, agility demonstrations, advice from breeders and dog experts, and of course the main event  a competition across all three days to crown Bests of Breed and Best in Show.

Jan. 19-21 at the Renaissance Schaumburg Convention Center, 1551 Thoreau Drive North, Schaumburg; tickets from $25 at greatamericandogshow.com

Chicago Restaurant Week 2024

Make that Weeks. This years event spans 17 days and features prix fixe menus for brunch, lunch and dinner at more than 400 restaurants. Plus check out suggestions from the Tribune Food team at chicagotribune.com/dining.

Jan. 19 to Feb. 4, full list of participating restaurants and their menus at www.choosechicago.com.

Song of the North is created and directed by Hamid Rahmanian, part of the 2024 Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival.

Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival

Chicago is currently the puppet capital of the world, and if you think that means mostly shows for kids, think again. Most of the busy schedule for the next week is filled with shows very much intended for adults, by puppet artists from all over the world. This weekends dont-miss performance is Song of the North Friday and Saturday in the Fine Arts Building, by Iranian American filmmaker and multimedia artist Hamid Rahmanian.

Through Jan. 28 at various Chicago venues; tickets and more information at ChicagoPuppetFest.org

LRain

Appearing as part of the current Tomorrow Never Knows festival put on by Lincoln Hall, GMan Tavern, Schubas and Sleeping Village, the experimental pop musician also known as Taja Cheek performs with her band, along with guests Trinity Star Ultra and Lipsticism.

9 p.m. at Schubas Tavern, 3159 N. Southport; tickets $25 (ages 18+) at 773-525-2508 and https://lh-st.com/

iO Theater

Chicagos home for improv is always a hub of activity, from the center bar to shows and teams such as Improvised Jane Austen, Devils Daughter, Voila! The Improvised Musical and the long, long-running Armando Diaz Experience.

Wednesdays through Sundays at iO Theater, 1501 N. Kingsbury St.; tickets and more information at ioimprov.com
Taking to 'X', Shah wrote, "The sacrifices made by the Bravehearts of Assam Rifles for the security of our nation are unparalleled. Laid a wreath at the War Memorial at Headquarters Directorate General Assam Rifles and paid homage to the martyrs who laid down their lives in the line of duty.

The Union Minister is on a three-day visit to Assam and Meghalaya.

Earlier on Thursday, he inaugurated the Cyber Security Operations Centre in Assam Rifles Headquarters at Laitkor in Shillong.

Speaking on the occasion, Amit Shah said that under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Bharat is taking a quantum leap towards digitalization.

He said that the Modi government is committed to creating a cyber-successful society by making the internet secure for every citizen.

The Cyber Security Operations Centre will strengthen the cyber security posture of the Force by carrying out real-time monitoring of the network, mitigation of external threats and prevention of cyber violations in the Assam Rifles Wide Area Network (ARWAN).

The Cyber Security Operations Centre has been equipped with a state-of-the-art network and data monitoring devices to provide 24/7 services. The centre is the first of its kind among CAPFs.

On January 20, the Union Home Minister will take part in several programmes, including the 61st Raising Day celebrations of the SSB and the passing out parade of Assam Police commandos.

The Union Home Minister will attend the 61st Raising Day celebrations of the SSB at the SSB complex in Tezpur on January 20. On the same day, he will attend the 13th triennial conference of the All Bathou Mahasabha at Dhekiajuli in Sonitpur district.

On January 20, the Union Home Minister will also attend the passing-out parade of 2,551 Assam Police commandos at Sarusajai Stadium in Guwahati.

He will also launch a book named "Assam's Braveheart Lachit Barphukan" at Srimanta Sankardeva International Auditorium in Guwahati.On January 20, the Union Home Minister will inaugurate the Brahmaputra Riverfront in Guwahati. (ANI)
The Delhi High Court has recently issued a show cause notice in a sou moto contempt case against a woman living in Australia for using derogatory words against the judge of the high court. This matter is related to giving a date in April 2024 for final arguments in a suit filed by the woman. The high court directed the plaintiff to appear before the court in person on the next date of hearing, April 16, 2024. Justice Neena Bansal Krishna, after taking suo moto of the derogatory language used, issued a show cause notice to Anita Kumar Gupta who is stated to be residing in Sydney, Australia, and joined the hearing through video conferencing. The bench noted that at the joint consent of the counsels for the parties, the matter was listed on April 16, 2024. "After the date was given and item no. 11 was taken, the plaintiff/Anita Kumari Gupta, who had joined through video conferencing, abused the court by saying that how could item no. 11 be taken before item no. 10 and also saying that what... is going on in this court," the court stated. Justice Krishna said, "Such aforesaid derogatory remarks made by the plaintiff/AnitaKumari Gupta to denigrate the court are patently contemptuous and show the complete disregard to the dignity of the court, despite the fact that the counsels representing respective parties were present and had agreed to the date given i.e., April 16, 2024, for final arguments." "Keeping in view such derogatory remarks lowering the dignity of the court, the suo moto contempt is taken," Justice Krishna said. Accordingly, the show-cause notice is issued to the the plaintiff, who is stated to be, at present, living in Sydney, Australia, as to why she be not punished under the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971, the bench ordered. The bench directed the FRRO, Delhi, to impound the Passport/VISA on the arrival of the plaintiff/Anita Kumari Gupta in case, she comes to India before the date fixed for hearing and she be not permitted to leave the country without the direction of this Court. The High Court has also directed the High Commission of India at Canberra, Australia to communicate this Order to the plaintiff/Anita Kumari Gupta, who is stated to be living at present in Sydney, Australia, through Consulate General of India, Sydney, Australia. The counsel also undertook to convey the order to the plaintiff Anita Kumari Gupta. (ANI)
The Supreme Court on Friday declined to interfere with the Madras High Court order that upheld the expulsion of former Tamil Nadu Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam (OPS) and three others from the AIADMK during a general council meeting of the party last year. A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta dismissed the plea moved by OPS and three others from the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagham (AIADMK). The apex court said that staying the general council meeting of the party at this stage will "lead to a huge chaos". The bench said, "How can we stay the resolution at an interim stage? It will be virtually allowing the suit. Even a prima facie case won't be enough to grant you an injunction... It will lead to a huge chaos." The top court remarked that there was apparently a split in the party and the dispute will have to work itself out in a trial by leading evidence. Staying the resolution of expulsion will spark different problems, it added. The bench told the counsel appearing for OPS and others, "Continue with the suit. We cannot pass any order at this stage. If we interfere at this stage, it will amount to decreeing and allowing the suit at this stage... You will have to succeed in the suit for the relief you ultimately want." On August 25, 2023, the Madras High Court had refused to stay the expulsion of OPS and three others from the AIADMK. The High Court had noted that the bylaws of the party made it clear that the general council is the ultimate authority to take disciplinary action against any party members and that the merits of their decision in expelling the leaders is necessarily a matter for trial. (ANI)
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah commended the technological milestones at Boeing India Engineering and Technology Center campus inauguration and said that this occasion added yet another feather to the illustrious cap of the state. "As we witness the launch of two important Boeing initiatives by our Prime Minister, this occasion adds yet another feather to the illustrious cap of Karnataka, a state that has consistently stood at the forefront of technological advancement in India," CM Siddaramaiah said on Friday. He further said that Karnataka proudly holds the title of being the fourth largest technology cluster globally, ranking first in the India Innovation Index and leading in total exports among all Indian states. "Our State is home to 400 of the Fortune 500 companies, excelling in R&D centres, renewable energy, and earning the well-deserved recognition as the Startup Capital of India. The abundance of a talented workforce and skilled manpower makes Karnataka the natural choice for technology and knowledge-driven industries," he added. Karnataka CM said that today's inauguration of the new Boeing India Engineering and Technology Center campus is a testament to our continued dedication to fostering an ecosystem that propels progress in the global aviation sector. "I am particularly pleased that Boeing has chosen to establish this expansive facility near the International Airport, an emerging hub for numerous future developments, including aerospace and defence. Karnataka has proudly held the mantle of being the aerospace hub of the country, commanding over 65 per cent of aerospace and defence exports," he added. He further added that the government's commitment to progress extends beyond technological advancements; it includes a commitment to inclusivity and accessibility. "To this end, we are dedicated to empowering our girl children and women across the state. Karnataka has long supported the indomitable spirit of women and their invaluable contributions to our society," he said. Karnataka CM said that Karnataka will continue to support programs that foster the development of girls and women, positioning them as entrepreneurs and leaders of today, tomorrow, and beyond. He further hoped that these initiatives bring a bright future of innovation, progress, and prosperity for Karnataka and Boeing alike. Earlier today, PM Modi inaugurated the new state-of-the-art Boeing India Engineering and Technology Center (BIETC) campus. Built with an investment of Rs 1,600 crore, the 43-acre campus is Boeing's largest such investment outside the USA. Boeing's new campus in India will become a cornerstone for partnership with the vibrant startup, private and government ecosystem in India, and will help develop next-generation products and services for the global aerospace and defence industry. He also launched the Boeing Sukanya Programme in Bengaluru, which aims to support the entry of more girl children from across India into the country's growing aviation sector. The program will provide opportunities for girls and women from across India to learn critical skills in the science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) fields and train for jobs in the aviation sector. For young girls, the program will create STEM Labs at 150 planned locations to help spark interest in STEM careers. The program will also provide scholarships to women who are training to be pilots. (ANI)
As the city of Ayodhya is buzzing with excitement as it prepares for the Pran Pratishtha ceremony of Lord Shri Ram Lala at the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi on January 22, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath inspected the arrangements in Ayodhya on Friday expressing satisfaction with the planning and execution. Addressing a press conference, Yogi Adityanath assured devotees that all preparations are in place for a smooth and grand ceremony. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath commended the local administration and ministers for their coordinated efforts in areas like traffic management, security, and liaison with the Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust. He clarified that even after the ceremony, the Trust will have an action plan to facilitate darshan for devotees, ensuring everyone gets the opportunity to witness the idol. "The administration at the local level has made all the arrangements whether it is coordination with the trust at the local level or traffic or security. Preparations for the program with full grandeur and divinity are complete and are in the final stages. Even after January 22, whatever action plan will be started for the darshan of the Lord by the Teerth Kshetra Trust, the devotees who come with full cooperation will get the darshan. Tent City, Dharamshala, hotel all have been built. There will be a better green corridor for commuting from Lucknow, Pyaraj, and other places," said Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath He emphasized the importance of better coordination to avoid congestion and inconvenience. He urged people to utilize authorized modes of transportation instead of walking long distances in the cold. "My appeal to the public is that the feelings that are in your mind are the same in your mind. If you come in better coordination then there will be no problem. People should not walk on foot. Many people are coming on foot. A severe cold wave is going on. Do not make programs without informing." said UP CM. Meanwhile, Govind Dev Giri, member of the Shri Ram Janmbhoomi Teertha Kshetra Trust, said that the 'Netronmelan' (unveling of Ram Lalla's statue) will be done by applying honey to a gold bar. The 'Pran Pratishtha' of Shri Ram Lalla at Ayodhya's temple will take place on January 22. "The basic method of 'netronmelan' is that by applying honey to a gold bar, the eyes become anointed, which looks like 'kajal' to the people," Acharya Giri said while speaking to ANI. "Ram Lalla has been enshrined in his grand temple. Today, the holy fire will be established for worship. However, the resolution for the Pran Pratishta was taken on Thursday itself. The resolution has been taken with the Vedic thoughts by sitting with the block Vedic scholars. Today, the fire will appear," he added. Acharya Govind Giri further explained, "After this, the method of worship will become dynamic. In the ancient knowledge of worship, all the Gods and Goddesses are invoked first and fire is considered to be the supreme of all these gods. That is why offerings are made in the fire in the same way as with the recitation of mantras. Offerings are made and that offering automatically reaches the God or Goddess. Now that the deity has been enshrined, a bandage is tied in front of its eyes, which will be opened on January 22 after the completion of the puja with complete Vedic rituals." Meanwhile, Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) media-in-charge Sharad Sharma shared glimpses of the Ram Lalla idol, which was placed inside the sanctum-sanctoram of the temple on Thursday. The idol of Lord Ram was placed inside the sanctum sanctorum of the temple in Ayodhya on Thursday. Covered with a veil, the first photo of the idol was revealed during the placement ceremony in the sanctum sanctorum on Thursday. The idol of 'Ram Lalla' is carved by Arun Yogiraj, a famed sculptor from Karnataka. The idol is 51 inches tall and weighs 1.5 tonnes. The idol portrays Lord Ram as a five-year-old child standing on a lotus also crafted from the same stone. The Pran Pratishta ceremony will be held in Ayodhya on January 22. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will perform rituals to mark the 'Pran Pratishtha'; a team of priests led by Lakshmikant Dixit will lead the main rituals. Several celebrities and noted personalities have also been invited to the ceremony. (ANI)
Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Amit Shah on Friday said there was a 73 per cent reduction in violent incidents in the Northeast during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's tenure. The Minister made the statement while addressing the 71st Plenary Session of the North Eastern Council in Meghalaya's capital Shillong, pointing that "from 2004 to 2014, a total of 11,121 violent incidents took place in the Northeast." "It declined by 73 per cent to 3,114 from 2014 to 2023," Shah said. Deaths among security forces dropped by 71 per cent from 458 to 132, while civilian deaths declined by 86 per cent, the Minister mentioned. "The incidents of insurgency have come down because more than 8,900 cadres of militant groups have surrendered in the last five years and have joined the mainstream, giving a message to the entire country that peace and prosperity are interconnected and without them, the states cannot develop." Shah added that to bring peace and stability to the Northeast, the Modi government has signed nine agreements and through these, many pending issues related to law and order have been successfully resolved. Except for some parts of Assam and Manipur, Shah also said 75 per cent of the areas covered under the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) in 2018 have been removed from it. In his address, Amit Shah said that the last 10 years under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi have been the most significant for the development of the Northeast in the 75 years since independence. He said that in these 10 years under the leadership of Modi ji, not only the distance from Northeast to Delhi and the rest of India has reduced due to the creation of infrastructure, but the difference of hearts has also reduced. He said that the Northeast, which was struggling with various ethnic, linguistic, border and extremist groups related problems, has also reached the beginning of a fresh and durable era of peace in these 10 years. Shah said if these 10 years for the Northeast are compared with the 75 years after the country's independence, then this decade will definitely be considered the Golden period of the Northeast. He said that we have always considered the Northeast as an important part of India. During the time of Atal ji, by giving it priority, a separate ministry was created for the Northeast and today under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi, the three mantras of Act East, Act Fast and Act First are being implemented. Along with this, impetus is being given to the Northeast by giving priority to it in all the ministries of the Government of India. The Union Home Minister said that in the 50 years of its establishment, the North Eastern Council (NEC) has increased the pace of development of the region by providing a policy-related platform to all the states and simplifying the solutions to their problems. He said that in these 50 years, more than 12,000 kilometres of roads have been constructed in this region, 700 MW power plants have been established and many institutes of national excellence have also been established under the guidance of NEC. Shah added that under the leadership of Modi Ji, the role and scope of NEC have been increased under the Act East Policy. He said that in the last few years, the Modi government has achieved significant success in solving the problems of law and order, insurgency and borders in this region. Along with this, work has also been done to promote the use of technology in administration by using the North-Eastern Space Applications Centre (NESAC). He said that the language, culture, food, attire and natural beauty of the Northeast will give a great boost to this region in global tourism. Shah said that when Prime Modi came to the Plenary session of NEC in 2016, it was for the first time after 40 years that the Prime Minister of the country was presiding over this meeting. He added that after this, Modi ji visited the Northeast more than 50 times in the last 10 years and made the priorities of the government very clear to the entire country. He said that Union Ministers have also visited the Northeast more than 500 times. The Central Government, with the 'Whole of Government Approach', has not only worked to enrich the pride, languages, culture, literature, music, costumes and food of the Northeast but has also worked towards giving entire India an opportunity to get acquainted with these features. The Union Home Minister said that the Modi government has also taken many steps in the last 10 years to establish peace and stability in the Northeast. He said that the NEC Year Book - 2024 has also been released today. Shah urged all the states to control the Gross Fiscal Deficit and said that Manipur, Assam, Nagaland and Tripura have made commendable efforts in this direction. He said that we will have to give thrust to create a flood-free and drug-free Northeast and strengthen water management by using NESAC. By creating big lakes to absorb rainwater, we can attract tourism and can also strengthen the drinking water and irrigation system. Shah said that to take our criminal justice system into the 21st century, three new laws have been brought under the leadership of Modi ji and after their notification, within three years our criminal justice system will become the most modern and scientific criminal justice system in the whole world. (ANI)
Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy kickstarted the London part of his tour by holding three-hour-long discussions with officials and experts of the principal water body governing body of the river Thames - the Port of London Authority on Thursday. CM Reddy spoke of his vision for rejuvenating river Musi, and of the principal reason for visiting London - to learn about the management of the river Thames, understanding and gather insights from its management and collating best practices. Sian Foster, Director of Corporate Affairs, and Raj Kehal-Livi, Head of stakeholder Engagement, Port of London Authority, presented a comprehensive history of the developmental activities along the River Thames, natural challenges and engineering response and solutions, stakeholder management, investments and revenue management, and best practices evolved over decades. "Most cities on earth have developed historically besides rivers, lakes or the ocean. Water bodies are life-sustaining forces powering and enabling urban human habitats. Hyderabad developed along river Musi but is unique in being centred around Hussainsagar lake, and is fostered by other major water bodies, like Osmansagar. Once we reinvigorate and bring back Musi to its fullest force, Hyderabad will be powered by both a river and lakes," explained the Chief Minister. Finding alignments with CM's vision with the Vision 2050 of London authorities, Kehal-Livi and Foster said, "We are ensuring the highest levels of sustainability for the river, even as we develop and optimise the developments along the banks. Finding optimal revenue models to ensure maximum benefits for people and local communities, and best-in-class project management for various projects underway and to be taken up in future is our continual focus." The apex body authorises assured all support to Hyderabad in all its efforts to rejuvenate river Musi. A more detailed outline of various potential partnership points was discussed. Both sides agreed to have more discussions and engagements in future and to collaborate on a posse of specific projects. Principal Secretary to CM V Sheshadri, Principal Secretary to MA&UD Dana Kishore, CM Special Secretary B Ajit Reddy, HMDA Joint Commissioner and MD MRDCL Amrapali, Special Secretary Investments and Promotions E Vishnu Vardhan Reddy, SE MRDCL Venkatramana participated in this programme (ANI)
A devotee from Lucknow on Friday handed over '56 bhog prasad' that would be offered to Ram Lalla 'first' after the Pran Pratishtha ceremony in Ayodhya on January 22. Sajal Gupta said that he was told by Ram Temple's chief priest Acharya Satyendra Das that the first prasad, which would be offered to Lord Ram after the Pran Pratishtha, would be given by him. "I have brought this 56 bhog prasad from Lucknow. (It was) Mahant ji's order that after January 22, Pran Pratishtha, the first Prasad to be offered to Ram Lalla will be from our side," the devotee said. The Prasad was brought to the residence of the chief priest's residence. While speaking to ANI, Acharya Das said, "Sajal Gupta from Madhurima sweets in Lucknow has brought the 56 bhog prasad. This will be the first offering after the Pran Pratishtha of Lord Ram. After that, it will be distributed among the devotees." The 'Pran Pratishtha' of Shri Ram Lalla at Ayodhya's temple will take place on January 22. The idol of Lord Ram was placed inside the sanctum sanctorum of the temple in Ayodhya on Thursday. The idol of 'Ram Lalla' is carved by Mysuru-based sculptor Arun Yogiraj. The idol is 51 inches tall and weighs 1.5 tonnes. The idol portrays Lord Ram as a five-year-old child standing on a lotus also crafted from the same stone. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will perform rituals to mark the 'Pran Pratishtha'; a team of priests led by Lakshmikant Dixit will lead the main rituals. Several celebrities and noted personalities have also been invited to the ceremony. (ANI)
Former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu on Friday promised that all the schemes announced in the name of 'Babu Surety-Bhavishaythuku Guarantee' will be implemented if Telugu Desam Party-Jana Sena coalition government is voted to power. The mass contacting programme --'Babu Surety-Bhavisyathuku Guarantee'-- was launched in September last year, as part of which the opposition TDP reached voters in the state and highlighted the failures of the YSRC government on various fronts. Chandrababu Naidu promised that all the schemes announced in the name of 'Babu Surety-Bhavishaythuku Guarantee' will be implemented in letter and spirit by the coming TDP-Jana Sena government. He also promised to complete all the pending in Rayalaseema and supply 200 units of free power for handloom workers. Exhilarated at the huge response from the public, who attended the meeting called at Kamalapuram of Kadapa district as part of the 'Raa Kadalira', the TDP president said that the entire Kadapa district is getting ready for the battle. "I will remember this forever and all those who assembled for this meeting here should know that my fight is not for myself but to see to it that all sections, including women, youth, and farmers should feel happy," the TDP supremo said. Chandrababu also asked them whether they were getting drinking water and said that except for Jagan and his family members, no one else in the Rayalaseema region was happy. Expressing happiness at the public response, Chandrababu predicted that this clearly indicates that the TDP will certainly emerge victorious in the Pulivendula Assembly segment too. The people of Kadapa, the home district of Jagan, are questioning him as to what he did for them in these five years while the Pulivendula voters are regretting having elected such a person, Chandrababu observed. Pointing out that the prices of all the essential commodities are skyrocketing now, he said that the poor are totally being neglected. "The Chief Minister has mastered the art of looting the public, he said that the Chief Minister has minted hundreds of crores through sand smuggling from the Pennar river. Liquor sale has become a money spinner for Jagan," he remarked. (ANI)
Amid tensions between Iran and Pakistan, the US is concerned about the escalating tensions in the region and has urged restraint on all sides, US State Department of State Matthew Miller said on Thursday (local time). While addressing a press briefing, Miller said there is no need for escalation in the matter. He said that the US has noted the Pakistani government's comments about the importance of "cooperative relations between Pakistan and its neighbours. In response to question on how the US administration reads the situation between Iran and Pakistan, Miller said, "We are concerned about escalating tensions in the region. It's been something we have spoken number of times, we've focused on. We've been incredibly concerned about the potential for escalation since October 7." "That's why we have engaged in intense diplomatic efforts to try to prevent escalation. We noted the comments from the government of Pakistan, about the importance of cooperative relations between Pakistan and its neighbours. We thought those were productive useful statements, and certainly, there's no need for escalation and we would urge restraint on all sides in this case," he added. Asked about media reports claiming that Pakistan consulted the US before conducting strikes in Iran, Miller said, "I do not have anything private conversations to read out." "We don't believe this should escalate in any way, shape or form. Pakistan is a major non-NATO ally of the United States, that will remain the case, but we would urge restraint in this case." Matthew Miller called Iran a major funder of Hezbollah and a principal supporter of Hamas for years. In another query about the ongoing tensions between Iran and Pakistan after strikes and counterstrikes, Miller said, "I think I made pretty clear yesterday what we think about Iran's attacks, not just the strikes that were launched in the past three days against three of its neighbours but its long history of funding terrorism, funding instability and sowing discord in the Middle East. That's something we have seen contribute to conflict in Gaza." Iran's strikes in Pakistan came after Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) launched missiles into Iraq's Kurdistan region at what it called an Israeli "spy headquarters" and at alleged ISIS-linked targets in Syria, Al Arabiya News reported. "You have seen Iran as the principal supporter of Hamas for years. They are the major funder of Hezbollah. They are one of the major funders of the Houthis. We have seen the consequences of the actions that Iran has taken to add to regional instability and that's why we continue to take actions to hold Iran accountable and also send clear very messages to Iran that we don't believe this should escalate in any way, shape or form. Pakistan is a major non-NATO ally of the United States, and that will remain the case, but we would urge restraint in this case. We do not want to see escalation and don't think there's a need for escalation," he added. Meanwhile, National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications at the White House, John Kirby said that the US is monitoring the situation regarding Iran and Pakistan "very very closely" and they do not want to see escalation. While speaking in a press Gaggle en route Morrisville, John Kirby said, "You've all seen the reports out of Pakistan that they fired some missiles into Iran. We're monitoring this very, very closely. We don't want to see an escalation, clearly, in South Asia - South and Central Asia. And we're in touch with our Pakistani counterparts, as you might expect." "We'll let the Pakistanis speak to their military operations. I'm not going to parse that or do any or try to, you know, operationalize it here from Air Force One," he added. Asked about possible risks of escalation, Kirby said, "I mean, these are two well-armed nations. And again, we don't want to see an escalation of -- of any armed conflict in the region, certainly between those two countries. "I want to let Pakistan speak to their military operations. I want to be careful about that. As you know, they were struck first by -- by Iran, which was obviously another reckless attack, another example of Iran's destabilizing behaviour in the region." Pakistan said on Thursday that it has launched missile strikes into Iran and that "a number of terrorists were killed during the intelligence-based operation," codenamed "Marg Bar Sarmachar". In a statement, Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) said that it had undertaken a series of "highly coordinated and specifically targeted precision military strikes against terrorist hideouts" in the Siestan-o-Baluchistan province of Iran. "A number of terrorists were killed during the intelligence-based operation codenamed "Marg Bar Sarmachar," it said. Pakistan's military action comes after it condemned Tuesday's strike by Iran, which it said killed two children. On Tuesday, Iran attacked the headquarters of a terrorist group opposed to Tehran with drones and missiles in Pakistan, Al Arabiya News reported citing Tasnim news agency. Two "important headquarters" of Jaish al-Adl (Army of Justice) in Pakistan were "destroyed," Al Arabiya News reported citing Tasnim News Agency. The strikes were concentrated in an area in Pakistan's Balochistan where "one of the largest headquarters" of Jaish al-Adl was located, the report said. Formed in 2012, Jaish al-Adl, designated as a "terrorist" organization by Iran, is a Sunni terrorist group that operates in Iran's southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchistan, Al Arabiya News reported. Over the years, Jaish al-Adl has launched numerous attacks on Iranian security forces, Al Arabiya News reported. In December, Jaish al-Adl took responsibility for an attack on a police station in Sistan-Balochistan that claimed the lives of at least 11 police personnel. (ANI)
You can read it online, or  better  you can sweat it out in its completed form when it opens in wide release this week. Either way, the screenplay for the German thriller The Teachers Lounge is so tight it squeaks, each new development in a series of unfortunate events clicking into place like a turn of a Rubiks Cube  which provides the film with a visual leitmotif. Not since The Bear has there been anything so universally described as nerve-wracking, in such admiring ways. And by minute 3, the tensions building as if we were already reaching a dramatic climax.

Set in a secondary school (middle-school age or thereabouts) co-writer/director Ilker ataks story, cowritten by Johannes Duncker, launches one of the new faculty members into a kind of psychic free fall. The math and physical education teacher, Carla Nowak, is idealistic, hardworking and, from what we see in the early classroom scenes, a smart and responsive educator, dealing with an array of temperaments, cultural backgrounds and learning dispositions. As Carla, Leonie Benesch (of The Crown and Berlin Babylon) is superb, even when the film itself is merely effectively gut-grinding.

The school has been dealing with a rash of thefts by unknown perpetrators  money stolen from wallets, mass quantities of pencils. Carlas fellow teachers elicit the new school years seventh grade student representatives to help them identify the guilty parties. Clearly, the two children are conflicted. And their naming names, allegedly, is voluntary. It just doesnt actually feel that way, and throughout The Teachers Lounge both students and faculty operate in a fog of deep mistrust and justifiable paranoia.

The accused is a bright outsider, a Turkish immigrant boy named Oskar (Leonard Stettnisch, astutely measured in his gradations of defiance and panic). His mother (Eva Lobau) works in the schools administration office. When Carla becomes the latest victim of the unknown thief (she has money lifted from her wallet inside her jacket pocket), she gives in to the sneaky, twitchy school atmosphere, secretly capturing on her laptop camera what appears to be footage of the office administrator caught in the act.

Or is she? The Teachers Lounge knows better than to make things too simple, though its preferred methods of screw-tightening are simple in another way, i.e., simply relentless. Its a panorama of bad decisions with profoundly uneasy consequences. The boy accused of stealing is exonerated early on, but only after the zero tolerance brigade on the faculty marches into Carlas classroom and asks the students to open their wallets for inspection. Pointedly, director ataks camera catches frequent glimpses of wary glances shot in Carlas direction, especially after a disastrous parent/teacher conference, followed by the worst-timed interview with members of the school newspaper in the annals of student journalism.

A secondary school instructor (Leonie Benesch) resorts to scream therapy in a scene from The Teachers Lounge.

The movie works. Its a discreetly pile-driving experience, almost absurdly tightly wound. Unfolding as a parable of contemporary surveillance culture and roiling European (and worldwide) tensions, Carlas initially well-meaning actions  her reluctance to join her colleagues in pointing fingers and holding perceived threats to account, no matter what  divide the combatants between Germans who go back many generations, and German citizens recently relocated from wherever: Turkey, in the case of Ali, or Poland, in the case of Carla. The Teachers Lounge lives for the squirm, and the unintended result of everyones clashing ideas. Early on, when Carla instructs her students in the mathematical distinctions between proof and assumption, weve already seen a nervous parade of shaky character assumptions, and character assassination, in action.

Its certainly all of a piece: The musical score by Marvin Miller, fiendishly in tune with Carlas roiling anxiety, gets excellent mileage from plucked strings and scraping sounds. As this beleaguered idealist charges down the school hallways, steeling herself for the storys latest rug-pull, cinematographer Judith Kaufmanns elegant, menacing traveling shots suggest Kirk Douglas in Paths of Glory, or (lower down the cinematic food chain) the prowls through the trenches in the most recent All Quiet on the Western Front.

What the writing and filmmaking sometimes overdo, the actors mitigate beautifully. Benesch is a powerhouse of subtlety and focus, and the camera stays as close as possible to her watchful, at times disbelieving eyes. Carlas like a character out of Henrik Ibsens plays  one of the valiant, principled ones, inadvertently undermining the very people shes trying to help. The Teachers Lounge also evokes the Byzantine twists of fate, and chance, found in the everyday bureaucratic nightmares of Irans Asghar Farhadi (A Separation, A Hero).

Its worth seeing, in part simply to see how it hits you: as nerve-wracking and thought-provoking, or nerve-wracking without that elusive, unresolved dimension of truth, or teasing ambiguity, or something. I prefer discussing issues to staying silent, Carla says at one point. Its the healthy approach. Yet shes surrounded by colleagues, and students, teaching their own lessons in human error, because thats education in a nutshell: certainty meeting doubt, one assignment at a time. And the occasional glimmer of a way forward if we can see it.

The Teachers Lounge  3 stars (out of 4)

MPA rating: PG-13 (for some strong language)

Running time: 1:34

How to watch: Premieres in theaters Jan. 19.

Michael Phillips is a Tribune critic.

mjphillips@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @phillipstribune
Former US President Donald Trump's eldest son Donald Trump Jr has said that conservative pundit Tucker Carlson could make a good vice presidential running mate for his father, The Hill reported. While speaking to cable channel Newsmax about whether he would consider Carlson, Trump Jr said the option was "on the table," according to The Hill report. Donald Trump Jr said, "I mean they're very friendly, I think they agree on virtually all of these things. They certainly agree on stopping the never-ending wars. And so, I would love to see that happen. That would certainly be a contender." His statement was first reported by Mediaite, The Hill reported. For six years, Tucker Carlson hosted a prime-time show on Fox News before he was pulled off the air just days after the network paid Dominion Voting Systems to settle claims of defamation in connection with its coverage of Trump's false statements about the elections in 2020. After departure from Fox News, Carlson has launched his own media company and video show on social media platfom X. In 2023, Tucker Carlson rejected the suggestions that he would run for public office, saying it would be "kind of hard to envision." Donald Trump himself has said that he would consider Carlson as a vice presidential pick as "he's got great common sense." During a town hall this week, Trump hinted that he has already made a decision on whom he will choose for the position, The Hill reported. Earlier this week, Trump registered a landslide victory and is expected to win 20 of Iowa's 40 delegates. While, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley are estimated to get eight and seven delegates respectively, CNN reported. Trump's victory in his first election since his unusual exit in 2020 has also laid to rest any lingering questions about his hold over the GOP and the potency of his right-wing message. US President Joe Biden has called former President Donald Trump the 'front runner' of the "other side" after his landslide victory in Iowa caucuses and termed the 2024 contest as, "you and me" versus the "extreme MAGA Republicans". "Looks like Donald Trump just won Iowa. He's the clear front runner on the other side at this point. But here's the thing: this election was always going to be you and me vs. extreme MAGA Republicans. It was true yesterday and it'll be true tomorrow," Joe Biden posted on X. (ANI)
Ballot-printing for certain constituencies has been put on hold in Pakistan due to litigation, an official from the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) told Dawn. The ECP has also not adhered to its deadline for publishing a final list of candidates on the same pretext, i.e. that a number of cases are pending before the courts. The Electoral watchdog on December 22, issued a revised poll schedule, detailing the step-by-step procedures leading up to poll day, along with their dates. As per the schedule, the ECP was to issue its final allocation of electoral symbols to candidates on January 13, the final step before polling day on February 8. Several days after the passage of the due date for the issuance of symbols, the commission has yet to issue the final list of candidates. It has also not amended the notification of December 15, which called for the publication of a revised list of candidates on January 12. The ECP on Tuesday said that election symbols were being changed through various forums, and pointed out that it had already ordered the printing of ballot papers to the three printing corporations and the printing work had started a day earlier. Although the process, which was marred by controversy over the allocation of incorrect symbols, has now been completed, the final list of candidates is still awaited. On being contacted, ECP spokesperson Syed Nadeem Haider said that the final list be released in the next few days. When asked to explain how ballot papers were being printed if the commission was facing the challenge of litigation, an official told Dawn that the printing of ballot papers for certain constituencies had indeed been put on hold under the circumstances. He said attempts were being made to manage things, but each passing day was compounding the problem, adding that these were the challenges being referred to in the earlier statement, where fears were expressed about polls in some constituencies having to be delayed, according to Dawn. Affirming that the ECP was on track and committed to holding free and fair general elections, the official said that all efforts are being made to resolve the issue as soon as possible. Another official told Dawn that around 200 poll-related cases were pending before the courts, which had set off alarm bells at the commission, given the paucity of time to complete all formalities. He said the matter was also being taken up with the registrars of respective courts. (ANI)
Tel Aviv [Israel], January 19 (ANI/TPS): Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has told the US that he opposes the establishment of a Palestinian state as part of any post-war scenario, Al Jazeera reported. Netanyahu in a nationally broadcast news conference on Thursday, pledged to press ahead with the offensive until Israel realises a "decisive victory over Hamas" and said he had relayed his positions on Palestinian statehood to US officials. "In any future arrangement ... Israel needs security control over all territory west of the Jordan River," Netanyahu said. "This collides with the idea of sovereignty. What can you do?" "The Prime Minister needs to be capable of saying no to our friends," he added, as per Al Jazeera. While the US has vetoed United Nations resolutions calling for a ceasefire, it has called on Israel to scale back the intensity of its war on Gaza, and said that the establishment of a Palestinian state should be part of the "day after" Following the Israeli PM's comments, US National Security Adviser John Kirby said that there would be no reoccupation of Gaza after the war and emphasised that the US remains committed to a two-state solution. US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller also said that Israel now has an opportunity to engage with the idea of a Palestinian state, as countries in the region are ready to provide security assurances. "There is no way to solve [Israel's] long-term challenges to provide lasting security and there is no way to solve the short-term challenges of rebuilding Gaza and establishing governance in Gaza and providing security for Gaza without the establishment of a Palestinian state," he told a news briefing on Thursday, as per Al Jazeera. He added that despite differences of opinion between the US and Israel, "our support for Israel remains ironclad." (ANI/TPS)
The US on Thursday (local time) evaded a question on whether Pakistan held prior consultations with Washington before conducting retaliatory air strikes on Iran. On media reports claiming Pakistan consulted the US before conducting strikes in Iran, State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller, during a regular press briefing in Washington, said, "I do not have any private conversations to read out." Miller said the US is concerned about the escalating tensions in the region and has urged restraint on all sides. He said there is no need for escalation in the matter and that the country has noted the Pakistani government's comments about the importance of "cooperative relations between Pakistan and its neighbours. In response to a question on how the US administration reads the situation between Iran and Pakistan, Miller said, "We are concerned about escalating tensions in the region. It's been something we have spoken a number of times, we've focused on. We've been incredibly concerned about the potential for escalation since October 7." "That's why we have engaged in intense diplomatic efforts to try to prevent escalation. We noted the comments from the government of Pakistan, about the importance of cooperative relations between Pakistan and its neighbours. We thought those were productive useful statements, and certainly, there's no need for escalation and we would urge restraint on all sides in this case," he added. Matthew Miller called Iran a major funder of Hezbollah and a principal supporter of Hamas for years. In another query about the ongoing tensions between Iran and Pakistan after strikes and counterstrikes, Miller said, "I think I made pretty clear yesterday what we think about Iran's attacks, not just the strikes that were launched in the past three days against three of its neighbours but its long history of funding terrorism, funding instability and sowing discord in the Middle East. That's something we have seen contribute to conflict in Gaza." Iran's strikes in Pakistan came after Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) launched missiles into Iraq's Kurdistan region at what it called an Israeli "spy headquarters" and at alleged ISIS-linked targets in Syria, Al Arabiya News reported. In response, Pakistan on Thursday launched missile strikes into Iran and codenamed it operation 'Marg Bar Sarmachar'. Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) in a statement said it had undertaken a series of "highly coordinated and specifically targeted precision military strikes against terrorist hideouts" in the Siestan-o-Baluchistan province of Iran. "A number of terrorists were killed during the intelligence-based operation codenamed "Marg Bar Sarmachar," it said. Meanwhile, US State Department spokesperson Miller said: "You have seen Iran as the principal supporter of Hamas for years. They are the major funder of Hezbollah. They are one of the major funders of the Houthis. We have seen the consequences of the actions that Iran has taken to add to regional instability and that's why we continue to take actions to hold Iran accountable and also send clear very messages to Iran that we don't believe this should escalate in any way, shape or form." "Pakistan is a major non-NATO ally of the United States, and that will remain the case, but we would urge restraint in this case. We do not want to see escalation and don't think there's a need for escalation," he added. US National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications at the White House, John Kirby, said the US is monitoring the situation regarding Iran and Pakistan "very very closely" and they do not want to see escalation. (ANI)
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, who is in Uganda to attend the 19th NAM Summit, met Prime Minister of Nepal, Pushpa Kamal Dahal, on the sidelines of the summit on Friday. "Meeting of Hon'ble EAM @DrSJaishankar with Rt. Hon'ble Prime Minister of Nepal @cmprachanda on sidelines of 19th NAM Summit," posted the Indian Embassy in Nepal on X. EAM Jaishankar also shared glimpses of the 19th Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Summit, which commenced here on Friday. The foreign minister can be seen meeting various foreign dignitaries participating in the tow-day summit. Jaishankar who is leading the Indian delegation at the Summit arrived in Kampala on Thursday. "Arrived in Kampala to represent India at the 19th NAM Summit. Looking forward to engaging colleagues over the coming two days," Jaishankar said in a post on X. The 19th NAM Summit under Uganda's leadership is being held under the theme 'Deepening Cooperation for Shared Global Affluence' and brings together more than 120 developing countries on a platform of crucial historic significance. The NAM is a forum of 120 countries that are not formally aligned with or against any major power bloc. India wholeheartedly supports Uganda's theme for NAM and looks forward to engaging with NAM countries. As one of the leading and founding members of NAM, India remains committed to the principles and values of the movement, according to a statement by the Ministry of External Affairs. On the sidelines of the NAM Summit on Thursday, EAM Jaishankar held a meeting with counterparts from Egypt and Belarus During the meeting, Jaishankar and his Belarusian counterpart Sergei Aleinik exchanged views on cooperation between India and Belarus in various sectors. The two leaders spoke about developments related to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Jaishankar took to social media platform X to share insights from the meeting held with Aleinik. "A useful meeting with Belarusian FM Sergei Aleinik. Exchanged views on India- Belarus cooperation in various fields. Also discussed developments pertaining to the Ukraine conflict," Jaishankar posted on X. He also held a meeting with his Egyptian counterpart, Sameh Shoukry. The two leaders appreciated his assessment of the ongoing conflict in Gaza. During the meeting, Jaishankar and Sameh Shoukry noted the continued progress of bilateral cooperation between the two nations. Taking to X, Jaishankar stated, "Delighted to meet Egyptian FM Sameh Shoukry. Appreciate his assessment and insights on the ongoing conflict in Gaza. We also noted the continued progress of our bilateral cooperation following the exchange of visits of our leaders in 2023." In Kampala, Jaishankar also met Maldivian foreign minister Moosa Zameer and the two ministers exchanged views on the ongoing high-level discussions on the withdrawal of Indian military personnel. They further held discussions to expedite the completion of ongoing development projects in the Maldives and cooperation within SAARC and NAM. Jaishankar met Angolan Foreign Minister Tete Antonio and held discussions on the expanding collaboration between India and Angola as well as broader India-Africa cooperation. "Good meeting with Angolan FM @amb_tete. Discussed the expanding India-Angola and India-Africa cooperation. Also spoke about cooperation in multilateral fora. Thanked him for extending visa-free arrangement for Indian nationals," said Jaishankar in a post on X. (ANI)
As the global community eagerly awaits the Pran Pratishtha ceremony of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, the Sanatan Sanstha of UK (SSUK) initiated the joyous celebrations for Ram Mandir at the British Parliament, resonating with the divine sound of a Shankh. The atmosphere within the walls of the House of Commons was enriched as Shri Ram, hailed as the 'Yugpurush,' became the focal point of reverence. The event began with a soulful bhajan, followed by SSUK members giving a presentation of the Kakbhushundi Samvad. Additionally, SSUK paid homage to the life of Shri Krishna by delving into the 12th Chapter of the Gita. Harrow MP Bob Blackman, along with Raj Rajeshwar Guru ji and Swami Surya Prabha Didi from Brahmarishi Ashram, Hunslow, presided over the event, marking a harmonious blend of spirituality and parliamentary presence. Meanwhile, a UK declaration, signed by over 200 temples, community organisations, and associations nationwide on Thursday, will be presented to the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust in Ayodhya before the Pran Pratishtha ceremony. The powerful statement from Dharmic communities in the UK highlights shared joy and solidarity with the 1.5 billion global celebrants, warmly embracing the inauguration ceremony of the Ram Janmabhoomi Mandir in Ayodhya. "Before the consecration ceremony, the UK declaration, a testament to unity, will be presented to the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust in Ayodhya," a statement said. The Dharmic communities in the UK, in a statement, expressed their delight to welcome the inauguration ceremony of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya. The Pran Pratishta ceremony will be held in Ayodhya on January 22. Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with several other leaders will attend the event. Several celebrities and noted personalities have also been invited to the ceremony. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will perform rituals to mark the Pran Pratishtha of the idol of Ram Lalla at the grand temple on January 22. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to attend the ceremonial installation of the idol of Shri Ram Lalla on January 22. The ceremony, spanning seven days from January 16, will include Vedic rituals for the Pran-Pratishtha ceremony of Ram Lalla in Ayodhya. (ANI)
In a powerful demonstration, hundreds of women took to the streets of Tel Aviv on Friday, urging the Israeli government and the international community to intensify efforts to secure the release of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, CNN reported. Videos circulated on social media depicted women carrying signs with messages such as "no more time," while chants of "me too, unless you're a Jew" and "wake up world" echoed through the streets. Witnesses estimate that over 1,500 people participated in the protest, although official numbers from Israeli authorities are pending. The call for action originated from a women's rights organization, but men also joined the march, as reported by CNN. Organisers, expressing urgency, declared, "The government is taking its time, but their time has run out." "We'll distribute signs and embark on a protest march for our kidnapped ones held captive for over 100 days in Gaza, enduring abuse by Hamas with no prospect of release." The protest aimed to draw attention to the plight of hostages enduring abuse in Gaza for over 100 days under Hamas control. Hamas and other factions took approximately 240 hostages into Gaza on October 7. While more than 100 Israeli and foreign hostages were released during a weeklong truce in late November, following an exchange with Palestinians held in Israeli prisons, Israel believes 132 hostages remain in Gaza, with around 107 still presumed alive. Meanwhile, Israeli War Cabinet Minister Gadi Eisenkot seemed to criticise Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's administration, disputing claims of a full defeat of Hamas in northern Gaza. Eisenkot said, "Those who say that there was an absolute defeat [of Hamas] and lack of will and ability are not telling the truth." He acknowledged that while there was significant damage to Hamas capabilities, a strategic achievement was not fully realized. "A strategic achievement was not reached. Partially reached. We did not demolish the Hamas organization," he added. He added that he also sees himself as part of this failure. Israel has said that 253 people were taken hostage during the Hamas attack and believes 132 hostages are still in Gaza - 105 of them alive and 27 dead, CNN reported. (ANI)
The Asian Buddhist Conference for Peace (ABCP) General Secretary Byambajav Khunkhur said that the decision on the selection of the next Dalai Lama would be decided by the revered Buddhist leader Dalai Lama and ABCP does not intervene in the matter. On ANI's question whether the next Dalai Lama is going to be from Mongolia, Byambajav Khunkhur, ABCP Gen Secretary said, "ABCP does not intervene in the affairs of His Holiness Dalai Lama. That is for the Dalai Lama himself to decide." Moreover, describing the 12th General Assembly of the Asian Buddhist Conference for Peace (ABCP) held in New Delhi, the leader defined Delhi declaration calling on leaders and nations around the world to end wars as the biggest takeaway of the event. He said, "As we know the global situation...there are tensions...there are many natural disasters due to which many people are suffering around the world. Biggest takeaway of General Assembly I would define as the Delhi declaration whcih basically calls on leaders and nations around the world to end wars, to stop violence...." He added, "In keeping with the objectives and tasks of ABCP to expand its activities, we also considered to accept new membership to the ABCP, which formally previously had 18 members from 13 countires. Now we have 14 countries and 19 national centres, one of them is Bhutan." Moreover, the assembly also made a unanimous agreement and approval to celebrate July 6, the birthday of his Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama as "Universal Day of Compassions" He also spoke on the expansion of ABCP and said that they have regained the connection with Thailand national centre and have come back as full-fledged member. He said further, "Important issues to discuss regarding the draft of the charter, this was a revised-edit version of the charter of the ABCP which basically focused more on the responsibility and accountability of ABCP headquarters and well as the national centres. If they are more responsible and more accountable, we will be able to accomplish the aims and objectives of the organisation that are spelled out in the preamble of the charter." At the General Assembly, the ABCP that the 13th General Asembly of ABCP would be convened in 2026 in Vietnam. Additionally, the Asian Buddhist Conference for Peace (ABCP) Deputy Secretary General, Sonam Wangchuk also asserted that the decision on naming the next Dalai Lama is a very spiritual issue and would be decided only by Dalai Lama or the people designated by the leader. "This is a purely spiritual issue, to be decided by at his holiness or his people identified by him and there is an established system or a practice to do this. It must be followed. Certainly wish his holiness many, many more years. This is not the time to talk about the reincarnation while he's still there. But whenever it happens, it will be, it will happen in the true spirit of the Dalai Lama institution. It certainly cannot be decided by politicians," he said. He also said that the 12th General Assembly of the Asian Buddhist Conference for Peace (ABCP) held in New Delhi and added that this was the second time the event was held in the national capitol and aimed at strengthening peace efforts in the world. He said, "ABCP is holding this general assembly from 1970. We have been holding this every four years in different countries and the third General Assembly was held here in New Delhi in 1974. This is the second time they did a ABCP General Assembly is being held in Delhi. It's a continuous process that different the General Assembly is organised in different countries, at different time, different situation with modules and purposes in mind as we are talking about the efforts to be made strengthening peace efforts in the world." He added, "And what Buddhists can do through ABCP It's the voice of the global south. So it's an effort in contributing to world peace, which we see is deteriorating today. So let's get all the Buddhist leaders of Asia together and do a bit." The Asian Buddhist Conference for Peace (ABCP), a voluntary mass movement of Buddhists in Asia convened its 12th General Assembly on January 17th and 18th, 2024, in New Delhi, India. Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar inaugurated the 12th General Assembly of the Asian Buddhist Conference for Peace (ABCP), a voluntary mass movement of Buddhists in Asia on January 17. Union Minister of Earth Sciences Kiren Rijiju also attended the inaugural ceremony. This assembly embodies the profound aspirations of Asian Buddhists to nurture peace, social and economic progress, justice, and human dignity. Established in 1969 at the request of Khambo Lama Samaagiin Gombojov, the head of Mongolian Buddhists, the ABCP emerged as a collaborative effort of Buddhist dignitaries from India, Mongolia, Japan, Malaysia, Nepal, the then USSR, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, South and North Korea. (ANI)
A recent report from the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has shed light on a troubling pattern in China, where nearly half of the journalists imprisoned in 2023 were identified as Uyghurs, Voice of America reported. As many as 44 journalists are in jail and about half of them are Uyghurs. This shows Beijing's poor press freedom record and its human rights abuses against the majority-Muslim ethnic group, report added. The data, offering a global overview of journalists incarcerated for their work as of December 1, paints a concerning picture of press freedom in China, especially concerning its treatment of the majority-Muslim ethnic group. Among the 19 Uyghurs held, critics of the Chinese government often face charges of separatism and terrorism, according to Voice of America. One prominent case highlighted in the report is that of academic and blogger Ilham Tohti, who marked a decade in custody this week. Arrested in January 2014, Tohti is serving a life sentence for alleged separatism. His case underscores the severe consequences faced by those critical of the Chinese government, with the court citing his interviews with foreign news outlets and his role as the founder of the Xinjiang news site Uighurbiz, which authorities shut down in 2014. "For the Chinese government, Uyghur journalists are a dangerous group of people. They don't want them to say anything. They [Beijing] try to crack down on Uyghur journalists, particularly because they want to shut the Uyghur voice off," remarked Zubayra Shamseden from the Uyghur Human Rights Project (UHRP) in Washington. Governments, including the US, have accused China of committing genocide against Uyghurs and other ethnic groups in Xinjiang. The UN Human Rights Office has raised concerns about crimes against humanity being perpetrated against Uyghurs. The targeting of Uyghur reporters aligns with the broader persecution of Uyghur intellectuals and cultural figures in Xinjiang. A 2021 report by UHRP highlighted the detention of over 300 Uyghur and other Turkic Muslim intellectual and cultural elites in the region. The assault on intellectual and cultural figures is seen as a component of genocide, aiming to eradicate Uyghur cultural identity. The CPJ report also reveals a global trend of silencing critical voices through journalist arrests, with 320 journalists held worldwide. CPJ Chief Executive Jodie Ginsberg emphasized the inherent threat perceived by those in power when journalists hold them accountable. In China, three out of the five new cases in CPJ's 2023 database involved reporters accused of espionage, inciting separatism, or subverting state power. "Particularly in authoritarian regimes, we see this use of the law -- or misuse of the law -- to detain and silence journalists. And that's exactly what it's intended to do. It's intended to silence critical voices," noted Ginsberg. The persecution of Uyghur journalists extends beyond China's borders, with individuals, especially journalists and activists, experiencing harassment or intimidation, a phenomenon known as transnational repression. Beijing applies pressure to prevent Uyghurs from speaking out and disclosing information deemed unfavourable by the Chinese government. Responding to allegations of human rights abuses, a spokesperson from the Chinese Embassy in Washington rejected claims that Beijing does not respect media freedom. "The Chinese government protects press freedom in accordance with law and gives full play to the role of media and citizens in supervising public opinion," the spokesperson said. The spokesperson asserted that the Chinese government protects press freedom in accordance with the law and accused some in the US of spreading disinformation by smearing and attacking China, Voice of America reported. (ANI)
Pakistan and Iran agreed to de-escalate the situation and work in close coordination on counter-terrorism on Friday, the Pakistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in an official press release. This comes as the Pakistani minister held a telephonic conversation with his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir Abdollahian on Friday and stressed the territorial integrity and sovereignty of both countries. The ministry said in a statement, "Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani spoke with the Foreign Minister of Iran, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, today. Underscoring the close brotherly relations between Pakistan and Iran, the Foreign Minister expressed Pakistan's desire to work with Iran based on spirit of mutual trust and cooperation. The Foreign Minister stressed that respect for territorial integrity and sovereignty must underpin this cooperation." https://x.com/ForeignOfficePk/status/1748360554811666743?s=20 It said further, "The two Foreign Ministers agreed that working level cooperation and close coordination on counter terrorism and other aspects of mutual concern should be strengthened. They also agreed to de-escalate the situation. The return of Ambassadors of the two countries to their respective Capitals was also discussed." Earlier, the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned Pakistan's drone attack on non-Iranian villagers on the border of the two nations, calling it "unbalanced and unacceptable." It said Iran adheres to the policy of "good neighbourliness and brotherhood" between two nations and does not allow enemies to strain the ties between Tehran and Islamabad. "The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran condemns Pakistan's unbalanced and unacceptable drone attack on non-Iranian villagers on the border of the two countries," the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. The Pakistan attack was in reaction to the Iran airstrikes on terrorist camps located in the Balochistan province. Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahain said the air attacks on Pakistan targeted "Iranian terrorist group" Jaish al-Adl and that his country had asked Pakistan several times to take action on the group. Pakistan denounced the violation of Pakistan's sovereignty as "completely unacceptable" and on Wednesday expelled Iranian ambassador and recalled its envoy to Iran. "Pakistan has decided to recall its ambassador from Iran and that the Iranian Ambassador to Pakistan who is currently visiting Iran may not return for the time being," Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said while addressing a press briefing in Islamabad yesterday. Pakistan's caretaker Foreign Minister, Jalil Abbas Jilani in a phone call with his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir Abdollahian underscored that the January 16 attack conducted by Iran inside Pakistani territory was not only a serious breach of Pakistan's sovereignty but was also an egregious violation of international law and the spirit of bilateral relations between the two countries. Expressing Pakistan's unreserved condemnation of the attack, Jilani added that the incident has caused serious damage to bilateral ties between Pakistan and Iran. (ANI)
An issue that has tied lower courts in knots  whether the odor of cannabis alone is grounds for police to search a vehicle  is now before the Illinois Supreme Court.

Appellate courts have split over the question, forcing the high court to make the call. At issue are efforts to keep the roads safe and prevent illegal trafficking, while protecting a constitutional right against unreasonable searches.

Before legalization, courts had long held that the smell of marijuana was grounds for a search, defense attorney James Mertes conceded during arguments before the Supreme Court earlier this month. But Mertes argued that once possession of small amounts of recreational pot became legal under state law in 2020, smell no longer is per se evidence of a crime.

The odor of cannabis is now an aroma of legality, Mertes told the high court.

Prosecutors countered that state law makes it illegal to transport cannabis without a sealed, odor-proof container, and its still illegal to get or be high while driving.

In a somewhat unusual circumstance, the court consolidated two new cases with opposite appellate rulings on the issue.

In Henry County in 2020, a state trooper stopped Ryan Redmond driving a Kia SUV for having a dangling license plate and driving 3 mph over the speed limit on Interstate 80 in western Illinois. The trooper testified that I-80 is a known drug corridor connecting known hubs of criminal activity in Des Moines, Iowa, and Chicago.

The trooper testified that he smelled a strong odor of burnt cannabis coming from the vehicle. When he searched it, he found about a gram of pot  enough for a couple of joints. Redmond was charged with misdemeanor possession.

The trial judge ruled that the smell alone was not sufficient probable cause to believe a crime was committed, and therefore not enough to justify a search. Otherwise, Circuit Court Associate Judge Daniel Dalton ruled, a person who exercised the state law right to possess and smoke cannabis would give up his right to be protected from unreasonable searches.

Dalton dismissed the charges, and the 3rd District appellate court upheld that ruling.

But in Whiteside County, also in 2020, a state trooper said he smelled raw cannabis in a motor vehicle, and upon searching it found a small cardboard box with several rolled joints inside, and a plastic container in the glove box with suspected cannabis inside. The passenger, Vincent Molina, who is Mertes client, was charged with possession, and the same judge, Dalton, threw out the case.

The judge presides over multiple counties, parts of which are overseen by different appellate courts.

The 4th District Appellate Court overturned the ruling in the Molina case, noting that despite the legalization of small amounts of cannabis under state law, a person still may not use marijuana while driving or drive while impaired.

In hearing oral arguments this month, Chief Justice Mary Jane Theis questions focused primarily on impaired driving.

Theres a real concern that I think everyone embraces, that we dont want people who are really really high driving down our highways, she said. Were very worried about that.

Defense attorney Bruce Carmen conceded that concern, but said in the case of Redmond, his client, there were no signs of impairment, noting that the smell of pot can cling to clothes long after smoking. Just as the smell of alcohol alone is not sufficient for a search, officers may consider it and conduct a field sobriety test or question the driver to see if there is any other evidence of a crime.

Justice P. Scott Neville also questioned whether the smell of cannabis alone would justify a search of a person walking down the street.

Historically, there has also been a racial disparity in vehicle searches.

Police in Illinois were three times more likely to attempt searches of Black drivers compared with white drivers, though black drivers had contraband only half as often as whites, the state Department of Transportation found in a 2006 study. The matter before the Supreme Court involves two minority defendants: Redmond is African American and Molina is Latino.

The justice system has to be careful, Carmen said, to make sure that such searches are not just a pretext for a fishing expedition without legal justification.

Prosecutors for Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul suggested that the circumstances may affect searches for smoked cannabis, but that the smell of raw cannabis alone suggests a violation of the vehicle code requirement to have it in a sealed, odor-proof container.

Possible innocent explanations do not mean there is not probable cause (for a search), Ness said.

Some state supreme courts, in Minnesota, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, have ruled that a cannabis odor does not justify a search, while the high court in Wisconsin, where pot remains illegal, ruled it was grounds for a search.

Last year, state Sen. Rachel Ventura, a Democrat from Joliet, introduced a bill to prohibit police from searching a vehicle based on an odor of burnt or raw cannabis alone.

The measure passed the Senate and is before the House, but Ventura told the Tribune shes holding off on the bill to see what the court does.

Constituents and even another lawmaker had complained about getting stopped and searched by police who said they smelled marijuana but found nothing, Ventura said.

Cannabis is a legal substance in Illinois, she said, so we should stop treating it as if its evidence that the person has done something wrong.

Police still generally may search a vehicle without a warrant if the driver gives them permission, or if they take possession of the vehicle after an arrest, accident or tow, and conduct an inventory search.

rmccoppin@chicagotribune.com
The Commonwealth Group is trying to bridge the digital divide between the developed and developing worlds, and several steps have been taken in the direction of climate finance, artificial intelligence and improving trade, Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland said on Friday. She further highlighted the Commonwealth Climate Finance Access Hub and the AI Digital Consortium created by the Commonwealth group. Speaking to ANI, Scotland said, "One of the things that we have created in the Commonwealth is the Commonwealth Climate Finance access hub. That hub, with a tiny bit of money...has been able to already deliver USD 322 million worth of support to our developing countries, and we've got more than USD 500 million in the pipeline". "In addition to that, we're looking at how we can improve trade through our connectivity agenda. And digital connectivity is extremely important. And as a result, we created an AI Digital Consortium to help those in the Global South really take advantage. And we're trying to bridge the digital divide between the developed world and the developing world. And many of the leaders in India are joining our consortium," she added. The Secretary General further said that the Commonwealth group aims to take the intra-group trade to USD 1 trillion by 2026 and to USD 2 trillion by 2030. "We have now got USD 721 billion of intra-Commonwealth trade through the connectivity agenda. We would like to grow that to 1 trillion by 2026 and 2 trillion by 2030. And the way in which the digital expansion is taking place, we're fairly confident that if we share expertise, if we share knowledge, if we share the technological footprint of how we deliver change, we can do that," she further said. Scotland also underscored India's exponential growth and its role in providing help and support to other countries. She also emphasised New Delhi's role in the inclusion of the African Union as the permanent member of the G20 during the summit last year. "India has always been at the heart of the non-aligned movement and has provided great help and support for many of the developing countries who have watched India's exponential growth, watched how India has grappled with the same challenges," Scotland said. She added, "The fact that Africa has now become a member of the G20 and it's, in effect, a G21, has been highly praised and much valued. So there was a real significance and appreciation for what India has achieved during this period and the help and support". Meanwhile, the 19th NAM Summit under Uganda's leadership is being held under the theme 'Deepening Cooperation for Shared Global Affluence' and brings together more than 120 developing countries on a platform of crucial historic significance. The NAM is a forum of 120 countries that are not formally aligned with or against any major power bloc. India wholeheartedly supports Uganda's theme for NAM and looks forward to engaging with NAM countries. As one of the leading and founding members of NAM, India remains committed to the principles and values of the movement, according to a statement by the Ministry of External Affairs. (ANI)
Someone was seriously hurt in a shooting in west Charlotte, according to paramedics.

It happened around 1 p.m. Friday on Clydesdale Terrace off of Tuckaseegee Road.

MEDIC said one person was taken to the hospital with life-threatening injuries.

ALSO READ: Juvenile killed in Mount Holly shooting

Chopper 9 SkyZoom flew over two scenes in the area that police had swarmed around. Officers surrounded a convenience store at the corner of State Street and Tuckaseegee Road. They were investigating a black car with a broken window. The car appeared to have been shot.

About a quarter of a mile away, officers were out investigating in a neighborhood on Clydesdale Terrace.

Its not clear if there is a connection between the two scenes.

Channel 9 is reaching out to police for more information.

(WATCH BELOW: So much shooting: Teen dead, another hurt in east Charlotte shooting)
From food drives, health fares, rent assistance and book drives, Black-led community service organizations are cornerstones in underserved communities. Throughout time, these organizations have provided Black and brown communities access to resources withheld due to systematic discrimination and oppression.

These groups efforts often address social issues, housing infrastructure, healthcare disparities, food insecurities and economic sustainability. The spirit of Black-led community service organizations is deeply rooted in unity and pooling together resources to fill a void.

The sense of morality and pride fostered through community service has a lasting impact on the community and its residents. Black-led community service resonates today through entities and programs serving not only minority communities but the entire country.

The nations second Black-owned bank, Mechanics and Farmers Bank, was chartered through the efforts of nine entrepreneurs, who continuously contributed their financial services to their community. The bank became the leading funding source for Black people throughout North Carolina. By 1923, Mechanics and Farmers had loaned over $200,000 to individuals, ensuring the continued Black ownership of over 500 properties.

The modern concept of free breakfast in schools was derived from the food program started by the Black Panther Party. History.com shared a quote from a reporter from the Sun-Reporter stating before the Partys Free Breakfast for School Children, many of the children had never eaten breakfast before the Panthers started their program.

With over 262 chapters nationwide, Jack and Jill of America is one of the largest mentoring programs for Black youth. Philadelphia native Marion Stubbs Thomas and 20 other mothers launched the organization in 1938 to provide cultural, social and educational opportunities for youth in the area.

The value of Black-led community service has always been tied to enhancing the well-being of Black and brown individuals and their communities. These organizations help residents create pathways to success through education, financial literacy and personal development. Just as they did in the past, several Black-led organizations are continuing the work to create a more inclusive environment for people of color.

Check out the organizations below and learn how to get involved or support.

The Audre Lorde Project

City Startup Labs

The Loveland Foundation

The Okra Project

Block Love Charlotte

ACCE Institute

Richmond County Bail Fund

Sankofa Community Development Corporation

Virginia Community Voice

Fresh Future Farm
A 12-year-old girl was killed by a passing car after she ran from the scene of a crash, Illinois police say.

The girl quickly exited a car after it was involved in a traffic accident and ran from the crash, according to news release from the Plainfield Police Department. She was then struck by the oncoming car and suffered life-threatening injuries, police said.

She was immediately taken to the hospital Wednesday, Jan. 17 and died of injuries the following day, according to the Cook County Medical Examiners Office.

The two accidents occurred in a dangerous intersection near Community Christian Church, according to local officials. Pastor John Ciesniewski told WLS-TV the drivers involved in the crashes were members of the church.

Ciesniewski said the church has asked transportation officials to install a traffic light at this intersection because of the number of accidents over the last two years, the outlet reported.

Local officials have pledged to make the intersection safer, according to Facebook posts.

Plainfield Mayor John Argoudelis wrote, We are working with our State officials to do all we can to prevent future accidents at this intersection.

This intersection has been a dangerous one for a while and I have been working for years (since I was a Trustee on the village board) to get a traffic signal there, State Representative Harry Benton commented in a post.

Plainfield is about 40 miles southwest of Chicago.

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TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA)  A 16-year-old was arrested on Thursday after allegedly threatening a school shooting at a high school in Hillsborough County, according to the Hillsborough County Sheriffs Office.

The 16-year-old girl allegedly made the threat to shoot up Wharton High School on social media, deputies said.

Venice man threatened racially-motivated mass shooting, DOJ says

The Hillsborough County Sheriffs Office stands firm that we will not tolerate any threat of violence within our schools, Sheriff Chad Chronister said in a statement.

The student allegedly admitted to making the threat, according to the sheriffs office.

The teen was charged with written or electronic threat to conduct a mass shooting or act of terrorism and unlawful use of a two way communications device, according to deputies.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFLA.
ASHEVILLE  A teen driver in a deadly collision, which killed a 30-year-old Weaverville man Jan. 13, was charged following an investigation by the Asheville Police Department, officials say.

The 16-year-old driver was charged with misdemeanor death by vehicle and reckless driving, according to the police department, but the Citizen Times is not releasing his name since he is a minor. The driver was served on Jan. 18, according to the clerk's office, and the Buncombe County District Attorney's Office was consulted regarding his charges.

The minor, who is the age most people receive a limited provisional license in North Carolina, was also given a traffic citation of no operator's license and an infraction of failure to maintain lane control, according to an online court database.

Based on APD's investigation, the 16-year-old was driving a 2011 Dodge Ram Truck around 5:17 a.m. Jan. 13 when he ran off the right shoulder of I-240 East at the Amboy Road exit. The truck struck a guardrail, then a light pole, before stopping at the bottom of the exit ramp, a previous police news release said.

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The vehicle "partially jumped" over the guard and traveled 261 feet before it came to an uncontrolled stop at the end of the off-ramp, according to a search warrant obtained by the Citizen Times. A witness told officers that the car was driving close to 70-80 mph, according to the warrant.

The driver remained on scene and was uninjured, but an unconscious passenger, 30-year-old Andres Villeda-Arroyo, was taken to Mission Hospital with life-threatening injuries. The passenger died from his injuries at the hospital later that afternoon, police say.

In the search warrant, officers were requesting permission to search data images from the truck's event data recorder as well as the car's airbag control modules, powertrain control modules, rollover sensors and pedestrian protection sensors.

Highway construction worker killed: Family mourns father killed in Asheville construction zone; man sentenced in felony death

The driver has a court date of April 2 in Buncombe County administrative court and does not have a lawyer listed in his case file yet, according to the clerk's office.

The Amboy Road exit was temporarily shut down while officers worked on the scene.

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: Teen driver charged by Asheville police in fatal accident on I-240
Two weeks before a 16-year-old overdosed on fentanyl, a new Texas law went into effect that has led to murder charges against the accused supplier, according to court records and media reports.

Omarion Bailey, 24, was charged with fentanyl murder by delivery on Wednesday, Jan. 17, in Harris County, Texas, records show. His arrest follows the Sept. 15 death in Houston of the juvenile, identified by KTRK as Cooper Root.

The complaint states Bailey knowingly distributed fentanyl to the teen// who died as a result of using the substance. Bailey was arrested Wednesday and placed in the Harris County Jail.

Attorney information for Bailey was not listed.

As of Sept. 1, 2023, it is considered murder to supply fentanyl that results in death, the new bill shows. This is the second time someone has been charged since the new law took effect, according to KTRK.

Root was described by his family as a true light in the world, his obituary said.

Cooper was a fighter and overcomer and worked his way through adversity and challenges most of his young life, showing just what a force of nature he was, family said in the obituary. Cooper was meant to change the world but was stolen from us before he could finish growing up.

7-year-old found inside home with 3 people who fatally overdosed, Texas cops say

4-year-old hospitalized for fentanyl overdose on birthday, cops say. Parents arrested
Portland teen Majiah Washington said she opened her blinds after seeing a flash outside and noticed a red SUV with a fallen power line on top of it.

A Portland teenager is receiving praise for her heroic actions after she saved a baby boy whose family was electrocuted to death during a winter storm Wednesday.

According to People, Majiah Washington, 18, rescued the nine-month-old once shed witnessed a fallen power line land on top of the familys SUV, killing the infants mother, father and 15-year-old uncle.

Portland Fire & Rescue Department spokesman Rick Graves commended Washington for her deeds.

Majiah Washington, 18, is being lauded for her heroic actions after she saved a nine-month-old baby from electrocution during a winter storm in Portland, Oregon, on Wednesday. (Photo: Screenshot/YouTube.com/KGW News)

We do have, fortunately, with us a toddler that is going to be able to thrive and do what they possibly can as they move forward, said Graves. And they are here, in part, because of the heroic acts of a member of our community.

The department said in a news release that the baby was found to be unaffected by the situation and transported to a local hospital.

People reported that Ronald Briggs, Washingtons neighbor, told the Associated Press his 21-year-old daughter, who was six months pregnant, came over to use the internet after hers went out. The incident claimed the lives of both his daughter and his son, TaRon Briggs.

I told him, Dont go down there  try to get away from them. And he slid, and he touched the water, and he, and he died too, said Briggs. I have six kids. I lost two of them in one day.

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It just hurt, he added, People reported. Being a good father cannot solve this right now.

Portland Fire & Rescue was called to the scene of a possible car fire on Wednesday just before 11:45 a.m. in the Russel Neighborhood, near the NE 122 and NE Siskiyou intersection.

While en route to the scene, the department reported that they received information from the dispatch center about a person on fire and a power line down in the street, and another hysterical caller on this says 4 patients here including a baby with someone on fire, three people laying in the street unconscious.

He was laying on his chest to the side, and I just saw him move his head, Washington said, sharing that she was concerned about the baby.

I just thought, I have a nephew myself, I have little brothers; I would want somebody to do the same thing, I would hope somebody would do the same thing, she added, People reported. Im just thinking that this is something, if you see a baby, whos not going to go save a baby? But I guess everybody doesnt think about it like that.

Never miss a beat: Get our daily stories straight to your inbox with theGrios newsletter.

The post 18-year-old lauded after saving infant whose family had been electrocuted during Oregon winter storm appeared first on TheGrio.
Patrick Butler was a reporter for North Side weekly newspapers whose deep knowledge of the city informed both his stories and several books he wrote on Chicago neighborhoods.

He was sort of the classic rumpled newspaperman who really followed the story without any ax to grind, said Dick Simpson, a former alderman and University of Illinois at Chicago political science professor. He reported what happened, and he did thorough interviews of the people involved and it was unbiased and important in informing the neighborhood.

Butler, 83, died of complications from colon cancer on Dec. 14 at the Ascension Living Nazarethville Place senior living community in Des Plaines, said his longtime partner, Kathy Hills. He was a resident of the Northwest Side Dunning neighborhood.

Born in Chicago, Butler grew up in various North Side neighborhoods and graduated from Maryville Academy in Des Plaines. He went on to receive a bachelors degree in 1963 from Columbia College Chicago.

He started out in public relations for the Chicago Osteopathic Association before finding work as a freelance reporter for the North Side Lerner Newspapers chain in 1967. Butler was the chains lone reporter willing to cover the 1968 rioting in Chicago after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., Hills said.

In 1968, he was hired as a full-time reporter with Lerner and within a decade became managing editor of the chain, whose North Side titles included the Booster, the News-Star and Skyline. Butler also wrote a weekly human-interest column titled Pats People, and covered City Hall.

Butler won a Peter Lisagor Award from the Chicago Headline Club in 1987 for a series that reported how the loss of factory jobs strains mental health and alcohol abuse services.

Butler also was active in his newspapers union as president of the Newspaper Guilds Lerner unit.

Lerner Newspapers underwent several ownership changes before being acquired by the Sun-Times Media Group and merged with the rival chain Pioneer Press. Butler left the chain in the mid-2000s, and in 2006 began working as a freelance reporter for the monthly Gazette Chicago newspaper, which covers the West and South Side neighborhoods.

Pat was really a special reporter for Gazette Chicago  he came with such a treasure trove of experience, and yet he took on any and every assignment as if it was the most important one, said Mark Valentino, Gazette Chicagos publisher. He really took a liking to covering the Bridgeport, Armour Square, Chinatown and Canaryville beat because he grew up in blue-collar neighborhoods and they really resonated with him.

Butler did not drive and took public transportation everywhere.

The great thing was when you knew Pat was in the room, you knew it was going to be accurate reporting, Valentino said. He was a seasoned vet who knew his way around the room. A lot of our work is with aldermen, and Pat knew how to talk to aldermen.

Several former Lerner newspapers, including the Booster, Skyline and the News-Star, were sold to Inside Publications in 2009, and Butler began working as a freelance reporter for those newspapers as well.

He brought a depth of knowledge  his institutional memory of what went on in the city was priceless, said Ron Roenigk, Inside Publications publisher. He knew where the bodies were buried from the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, when I was in high school. Other  reporters also leaned on him  he was our encyclopedia.

Butler wrote three nonfiction books about Chicago neighborhoods for Arcadia Press The History Press imprint: Hidden History of Uptown and Edgewater, Hidden History of Ravenswood and Lake View and Hidden History of Lincoln Park.

Butler was president of the Ravenswood/Lake View Historical Association for more than a dozen years. Colleagues said that he was a popular tour guide at Graceland Cemetery.

Pat loved to tell stories, and he had so many of them about the city and wonderful anecdotal information, said Leah Steele, former Sulzer Library regional director. He was a fount of information. And he always had a smile or a laugh  he always was very positive and found the humor in everything, even if it was kind of tragic or sad.

Steele also knew Butler well through the Kiwanis Club of LakeView, where he had served as president.

He understood the hardships of people, and he was always sympathetic and wanted to make sure that the Kiwanis gave back to the community and understood the plight of those who were less fortunate, she said.

A marriage ended in divorce. Butler is survived by a daughter, Kathleen Butler Greenan; a sister, Regina Dziewior; and two grandsons.

Services were held.

Bob Goldsborough is a freelance reporter.

To purchase a death notice, visit https://placeanad.chicagotribune.com/death-notices. To suggest a staff-written obituary on a person of local interest, email chicagoland@chicagotribune.com.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN)  The Tennessee Court of Appeals ruled the plaintiffs in a previous lawsuit over school vouchers can in fact sue over the law.

A three-judge panel with the appeals court ruled the original plaintiffs in McEwen v. Lee have the right to sue the governor and the state of Tennessee over the Education Savings Account (ESA) program, also called school vouchers.

The panel reversed a lower court decision that dismissed a lawsuit challenging the ESA program. It now allows that case to move forward.

Tennessee public school officials express concerns over proposal to expand private school vouchers

The ESA law, passed in 2019, allows families in Davidson and Shelby counties to use tax dollars toward the cost of private school tuition or other approved educational expenses. It was later amended to include Hamilton County schools.

Gov. Bill Lee recently announced plans to expand the program statewide through the Education Freedom Scholarship Act.

Critics of the law say it funnels money away from public schools in favor of private schools, and private schools are not subject to the same accountability measures as the states public schools. Supporters say the law is about the right to school choice for Tennessee parents and allow for students to pursue better educational opportunities.

This voucher program takes precious funding from our public school, and it must be challenged, said Roxanne McEwen, one of the plaintiffs in the case whose children attend Metro Nashville Public Schools and for whom the suit gets its name. Im very happy the court has recognized that we are entitled to have our voices heard.

Read the latest from the TN State Capitol Newsroom

Parents and community members in Nashville and Memphis filed suit in 2020, arguing that the law illegally diverts taxpayer funds appropriated for public schools in those counties, to private education uses. They said in the suit that the program violates the Tennessee Constitution and state law and exacerbates the underfunding of public schools in Davidson and Shelby counties.

The state argued the McEwen plaintiffs lacked standing to bring the suit over the program and that the dispute was not ripe, meaning it was not yet time for the court to hear the case. That claim was based on the fact that no school districts had yet lost funding.

A lower court agreed with the state, but a three-judge panel in the Tennessee Court of Appeals unanimously rejected those arguments. They ruled the plaintiffs had established standing both as parents of public school students in the affected districts, alleging harm from the programs diversion of education funding to private schools, and as taxpayers contesting an illegal use of public dollars.

 Read todays top stories on wkrn.com

The panel also ruled the case was ripe, stating the plaintiffs showed they were being harmed by the law in the here and now, not in a hypothetical future scenario.

The state began enforcing the ESA law starting in the 2022-2023 school year.

A spokesperson for Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti said the office is reviewing the decision.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKRN News 2.
Authorities are asking the community to come forward with information about the death of someone who was beaten by three people outside an Arlington apartment complex early Friday morning.

Just before 12:30 a.m. Friday, Arlington police responded to apartments in the 2200 block of Blue Water Drive to investigate reports of several individuals who were fighting.

When officers arrived at the scene, they found a male victim lying unresponsive in the parking lot with severe blunt trauma to the head, Arlington police said in a news release Friday. He was transported to a local hospital, where he was later pronounced dead from his injuries.

The Tarrant County Medical Examiners Office will release the identity of the victim and his age once he is positively identified and next of kin have been notified.

Detectives believe two vehicles pulled up next to the victim in the parking lot, where three suspects got out of the cars, started yelling at the victim, chased him, and then began striking him with two large objects, according to witness statements and evidence reviewed at the scene.

No arrests have been made.

Detectives said Friday they do not have detailed descriptions of the suspects or the vehicles they drove off in. Police ask members of the public to call in with tips regarding the crime.

Anyone with information is asked to call Detective Stafford at (817) 459-5739. Tipsters can also remain anonymous by calling Crime Stoppers of Tarrant County at (817) 469-8477.
This is a developing story. Check back to sanluisobispo.com for updates.

To get breaking news alerts, click here

At least one person was reportedly injured when three vehicles collided outside of Dana Elementary School in Nipomo on Thursday, according to California Highway Patrol.

A white pickup truck pulling a trailer and a small gray SUV collided on West Tefft Street at about 3:50 p.m., according to CHPs traffic log.

A third vehicle was also involved in the crash, according to CHP.

According to the dispatch log, a school employee told emergency responders that the crash injured at least one person.

CHP had not yet confirmed the severity of the injury as of 4:30 p.m.

An ambulance and tow trucks were on the way to the scene of the crash.
Did you hear that Andrew Yang, the ninth-place contestant in the 2020 Democratic presidential primaries and fourth-place finisher in New York City's 2021 mayoral primary, endorsed Rep. Dean Phillips (DMinn.) for president in New Hampshire Thursday? Probably not, but here's the quote anyway:

"Joe Biden has been an accomplished and substantial president. I endorsed him and voted for him in 2020 and was even a campaign surrogate," Yang, the founder of the Forward Party, said in his prepared remarks. "[But] while he was the right candidate four years ago, he is not now.The president is 81. All of the things that a candidate must do to be successfultravel, project energy, rally, meet voters, conduct interviews, call surrogatesall of them will be more difficult with an older candidate whose team will be concerned about him stumbling, literally or figuratively, at every turn. The candidate matters! It will be hard to reinvent grandpa."

Yowch!

The whole candidacy of Phillips, a three-term congressman from Minnesota and Talenti Gelato magnate who turns 55 Saturday, has been that Biden is too old and unpopular to prevent Donald Trump from retaking the White House. "I adore Joe Biden," he said just before launching his campaign. He is more hawkishly supportive of Israel and gung-ho about using the U.S. military to free American hostages, he criticizes Biden's handling of the southern border, and he has of late learned to love Medicare for All, but otherwise, his ideological and issue set is largely indistinguishable from the president's.

On a national level, Phillips's quest to dislodge the incumbent is more than a long shotBiden is averaging 70 percent in the polls, compared to Marianne Williamson's 7 percent and Phillips's miserly 3. But Phillips is front-loading his challenge as an early-primary exercise, and New Hampshire is notoriously prickly toward incumbent presidents.

Harry Truman lost here in 1952 to Estes Kefauver and promptly withdrew from the race. Eugene McCarthy's shocking 42 percent second-place finish against Lyndon B. Johnson in 1968 would within the calendar month impel LBJ to drop out and Bobby Kennedy to jump in. Pat Buchanan's 38 percent in 1992 rattled winner George Bush, arguably signaling his then-surprising weakness in the general election.

In the state's sparse polling to date, Phillips sits in second place, at an average of 10 percent, with Biden at a still-daunting 58 percent. Am I saying there's a chance? Well, the most recent survey has the race closer, at 49-16, but more importantly, there are four weird reasons why the stars may yet align.

1) Biden's name isn't even on the ballot Tuesday. The president and his lackeys at the Democratic National Committee (DNC) tried to strongarm New Hampshire into no longer holding the first-in-the-nation primary, and when the Granite State refused to budge, the crude rule-rewriting they imposed meant that the president was barred from officially campaigning there, unlike Phillips, Williamson, Vermin Supreme, and 20 other candidates.

The upshot is that New Hampshire Democrats are "pissed"that's according to the head of a Biden-supporting super PAC, mind youand find themselves scrambling to convince insulted residents to write in the president's name so that he can save face.

The DNC has pre-emptively declared the results "meaningless," and won't seat any delegates from the voting. Former state Democratic Party chair Ray Buckley countered in a fun NBC News story that, "It's safe to say in New Hampshire, the DNC is less popular than the New York Yankees."

All in all, fertile ground for disgruntled voters to deliver an outsized protest vote!

2) There are a YUGE number of undecideds. In the Jan. 8-10 WHDH TV/Emerson poll (where the percentage-point spread among the three candidates was 49-16-5), 3 percent of respondents fell into the category of "other," and a whopping 27 percent were still undecided. That is highly unusual in the run-up to a primary, but has been the norm in this race: A Dec. 18-19 St. Anselm poll, for example, found 29 percent of Democratic New Hampshire voters "unsure," compared to just 3 percent of Republicans.

And those polls cannot capture one of the most idiosyncratic dynamics of New Hampshire, which is that A) there are more undeclared voters (343,300) than either Republicans (268,000) or Democrats (262,000), and B) they can decide at the polling booth which party's primary they'd like to crash.

It is true that last-minute deciders could break for the boring old guy who insulted their state and is nowhere to be found on local airwaves or at pancake breakfasts. But does that really sound like New Hampshire?

3) The most committed anti-Trumpers might choose to vote in the Republican primary instead. "Approximately 3,500 Democrats in the state switched their party registration to become undeclared voters, or independents, ahead of the October [registration] deadline," Fox News reported this week. "Part of that effort was led by former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who recently dropped out of the race, encouraging voters to take every opportunity to turn out against Trump."

That is not a huge number, sure, but it speaks to a dynamic that might move particularly many of the aforementioned undeclared voters: If you are a New Hampshirean motivated by a strong desire to avoid another Trump presidency, where do you get the most bang for your buck? Voting for Nikki Haley in the GOP primary.

Biden, whose whole 2020 selling proposition was that only he in the Democrats' crowded field was normie enough to take on the Bad Orange Man, can no longer count on that constituency, at least while the Republican race is still contested, and easily infiltrated by otherwise reliably Democratic voters.

4) The 2024 presidential election just has too much weird anti-rematch energy to NOT get expressed at some point. Joe Biden's approval rating, Gallup noted last month, is "worse than other modern presidents at [the] same point." The polling gap between Americans describing themselves as "dissatisfied" and "satisfied" has been wider than 50 percentage points since August 2021. Independent Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., is polling higher than any nontraditional presidential candidate since Ross Perot. No Labels (whose congressional Problem-Solving Caucus Dean Phillips was a co-founder of) is cracking its knuckles on the sidelines.

Would I place a sizeable 50-50 bet on Dean Phillips winning in New Hampshire, or even coming with 10 percentage points of Joe Biden? Oh, hell no. But as a fan of political competition, and proud member of the anti-rematch majority, I'm admittedly desperate to see any green shoots poking up through the political desolation.

Or as Andrew Yang said, "To journalists and influencers, wouldn't you rather cover a real primary process rather than slump into the battle of the 80-year olds? Dean's victory could be one of the greatest stories of this era."

The post 4 Reasons Why Dean Phillips Could Shock Write-in Joe Biden in New Hampshire Tuesday appeared first on Reason.com.
Her first pageant as a contestant kinda bummed her out.

As a little girl, Mandi Kane loved watching Miss USA and Miss America. She became completely infatuated with the sparkle, the glamour, the crowns, the winners' tears, the applause.

Kane begged her parents to put her in a pageant, and after saying no  this was shortly after child pageant contestant JonBenet Ramsey was murdered in 1996  her parents eventually gave in.

The girl, who grew up in New Mexico, entered the Miss Pre-Teen New Mexico scholarship pageant  and it was, uh, well, different than what she was expecting.

Mandi Kane, Miss Davidson County USA, with her dog Ramsey in her home in Nashville, Tenn., Thursday, Dec. 14, 2023.

No glittery gowns, just a "Sunday best" category, so she wore a blue-and-white church dress.

Contestants had to take a written test on current events and past national pageants.

"I wanted more stuff on stage, no tests," she said.

"I'm like, what is this? I really wanted more glitz. I was turned off by pageants for a second."

But only for a second.

A 2003 publicity shot of Mandi Kane as Miss Teen New Mexico International

She won Miss Rio Rancho Teen USA in 2001, Miss Teen New Mexico International at age 19 in 2003 and a handful of other crowns. But Kane got married in her early 20s and her (now ex-) husband wasn't a fan of pageants, so that effectively knocked her out of competition.

Now, at 40, she's back in.

'We're doing this'

In the last couple of decades, the Miss USA system has eliminated rules banning moms, married women and divorced women. And then, in September, Miss USA got rid of its age limit, opening competition to any woman 18 or older.

Kane, who moved to Tennessee in 2018, was sitting in her office in Brentwood at her prestigious health care communications consulting firm when she saw the news via Instagram  and she made up her mind immediately.

"This is happening," she told herself. "Were doing this."

A crisis communications expert with a Master's degree, a book author and a respected volunteer for established Nashville nonprofits, Kane wanted to chase that crown again.

"Its always something Ive loved to do," Kane said.

"I feel like I never really had the opportunity to do it. It feels like Im truly living the dream because I never thought it would be possible."

Mandi Kane, Miss Davidson County USA, pictured in her home in Nashville, Tenn., Thursday, Dec. 14, 2023, will compete in March 2024 for the Miss Tennessee USA crown.

Kane, recently appointed Miss Davidson County USA, is slated to compete for the Miss Tennessee USA title March 7-9 at Austin Peay State University in Clarksville. Local and regional crown winners will compete in swimsuit, evening gown and interview.

And Kane will do so with support from friends inside and outside the pageant world.

"I told her I want to be there waving an enormous sign the shape of her head!" said Allison Reed, a Nashville health care executive who met Kane through volunteer work with the Nashville Symphony and Junior League of Nashville, a nonprofit promoting women leadership.

"I love the fact that she saw an opportunity with a change in age limits, and she's going for it," Reed said.

"Mandi's an educated, professional lady who works tirelessly in the community, and she's going for an opportunity to have fun."

For Kane, though, it's about more than a good time  she hopes to use this pageant run to inspire women to chase their dreams, regardless of age.

Despite controversies, Kane says pageants are evolving

"I have an opportunity to encourage women to pursue goals they might've thought they had to de-prioritize for other commitments. Or thought that theyre too late," she said.

"My goal is to encourage 1,000 women across the state to pursue a goal they either gave up on or thought it was too late to pursue."

Cassandra Searles, a former Miss Washington, said that US President Donald Trump had groped her and invited her back to his hotel room after the pageant in 2013.

Kane could face some resistance to the path she's choosing to encourage other women. The Miss USA Pageant has been tied to controversies. Former President Donald Trump owned the Miss USA pageant from 1996 to 2015, and several contestants accused him of walking in on them when they were partially undressed.

Some critics say pageants are sexist and outdated.

But Kane said she believes pageants are evolving.

"In the internet era, people are understanding anyone can be influential and make a difference. I think thats where pageants are going," she said. "Its less about being a model and more about being a role model, being a community servant, being an influencer in a different way."

Her one-time teen pageant rival Stephanie Telles  now a CEO and founder of her own consulting firm in New Mexico  said she thinks its empowering for Kane and others above the former age limit of 28 to get back into competing.

Portrait of Mandi Kane, Miss Davidson County USA, is a contestant for Miss Tennessee, pictured in her home in Nashville, Tenn., Thursday, Dec. 14, 2023.

"Mandi is demonstrating her agency to engage in an activity that she finds fulfilling and enjoyable," Telles said in an email.

"Pageants arent just about strutting in gowns. Preparing for and participating in pageants are like any activity that requires focus, commitment and strength, and courage, and it contributes to significant personal growth," she said. "Women often learn more about themselves, their limits and their potentials, developing a stronger sense of self and purpose by competing in pageants."

Asked if she would win at this year's Miss Tennessee USA pageant, Kane immediately said yes.

"Whether that involves a crown or not, I've already gained so much from this," she said, "and its been really great for me."

Reach Brad Schmitt at brad@tennessean.com or 615-259-8384.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Miss Tennessee USA: Meet the 40-year-old business exec competing
The nation since 2005 has lost a third of its newspapers and two-thirds of its newspaper journalists, according to a study by Northwestern Universitys Medill School of Journalism.

Illinois has been hit hard: Five downstate counties have no local news source, and four others are at risk of losing their lone outlet. Illinois newspapers have lost 86% of their journalism jobs since 2005. Chicago, despite a boomlet in the nonprofit journalism sector, still is among the 20 metro areas with the largest loss of news sources per capita.

The troubles come at a fragile time for the state of democracy in the U.S. Studies show that in news deserts and other places where news gathering is at risk, there follows a related rise in political polarization and shrinking voter turnout, as well as increases in government spending and corruption.

Now an Illinois state task force has studied the problems, is offering solutions and also is taking a realistic view about the limits of what can be done.

The lost journalism jobs and shuttered presses are not coming back. New models of journalism for the digital age, with innovative forms of funding and revenue generation and creative tactics for reaching audiences, are the states best hope.

The task force also, for the first time in Illinois history, is calling on state government to step forward to help make news gathering sustainable, perhaps even profitable again  especially in smaller downstate communities so deeply affected by the loss of local coverage.

The group is mindful that its recommendations do not arrive in a vacuum. Rather, it seeks to leverage activity already happening in the form of not-for-profit investment on a previously inconceivable scale.

The MacArthur Foundation of Chicago is behind a nationwide initiative, Press Forward, to commit $500 million over five years to local news. This would come on top of a serious commitment already underway: Foundations and private philanthropists have contributed about $150 million a year nationwide over recent years, according to a recent Boston Consulting Group study.

Chicago has benefited from the philanthropic investment. My organization, the Better Government Association, has received millions from the McCormick Foundation and others that is supporting a push into solution-focused reporting. Philanthropic money on a large scale  $61 million committed over five years  saved the Chicago Sun-Times by allowing for its merger with the parent company of public radio station WBEZ-FM 91.5.

Still, even successful nonprofits acknowledge that philanthropy alone is not the answer. A co-founder of Block Club Chicago, a nonprofit that has thrived journalistically and developed sources of earned revenue, warned that foundations change their objectives and agendas, causing difficulties in long-term planning.

When it comes to government help of the kind suggested by the Illinois state task force, an initial impulse of many in journalism may be to flinch.

From steelmakers and farmers to car companies and commercial space-launch entrepreneurs, private enterprises typically seek and expect support from government when their business models arent working. Not journalists. For many  reporters and publishers alike  the cornerstone of their trade is the notion that journalism holds government accountable. And to do so, it can in no way be dependent on government support, the thinking goes.

The Illinois task force deftly balances the undeniable need for fiscal interventions with this notion that remedies cant undermine the objectivity and independence that make legitimate journalism a key bulwark of democracy.

Many of the ideas the task force presents  most already tested in other states  come in the form of tax incentives and tax breaks for customers, thereby avoiding direct financial help to the news organizations themselves.

A Massachusetts bill would offer a $250 tax credit to people with print or digital subscriptions to community newspapers. Tax credits to small businesses that advertise with local news outlets have been proposed, but not adopted, in Colorado, Wisconsin and Maryland.

Some of the ideas are more directly aimed at newspaper bottom lines. A new law in Washington state would exempt local news outlets from a tax on gross receipts. A federal proposal, the Local Journalism Sustainability Act, would provide refundable tax credits for companies that employ local journalists.

State and local governments are big advertisers, and there are moves in several markets  including Chicago  to set aside government ad spending for community media, newsrooms focused on serving people of color or LGBTQ+ readers and other news organizations that might not otherwise draw ad spending. If such programs grow to scale, safeguards will be needed to protect against undue influence from government advertisers.

Guardrails could be needed, too, for programs that provide direct grants, such as one in New Jersey by which a consortium that includes state employees and is largely funded with taxpayer dollars selects winners and losers by selecting from among a pool of applicants.

Another idea, called replanting, would have struggling local owners donate their newspapers to community organizations with the capital and expertise to help make the news operation sustainable. Its a well-meaning approach that, once again, would call out for safeguards against meddling by local grandees.

The task forces report stops short of singling out which ideas might do the most good in Illinois, but the answers may come soon. The state journalism task force was the brainchild of state Sen. Steve Stadelman, D-Rockford, a former broadcast journalist, and he told me he plans to introduce a bill in this legislative session, one likely to focus more on tax policy than grant programs.

When you have one-third of newspapers close in the state, especially in rural areas, something has failed here, he said. The breakdown of the news business, with its implications for society, is the sort of circumstance that calls out for a government response, Stadelman added.

The help is needed. And it cant come soon enough  for the good of news gathering in Illinois and the democracy that depends on it.

David Greising is president and CEO of the Better Government Association.

Submit a letter, of no more than 400 words, to the editor here or email letters@chicagotribune.com.
The Blue Ridge Mountains rise behind the Buncombe County Courthouse, left, and the Arras Hotel, November 28, 2023, in Asheville.

ASHEVILLE  A federal judge signed an order denying class-action status for five white Asheville residents who filed a federal lawsuit against the city of Asheville alleging discriminatory policies on the basis of race.

The lawsuit, which was filed Sept. 5 and cites 14th Amendment rights, was brought after the plaintiffs were not appointed to the citys Human Relations Commission, a volunteer advisory board dedicated to advancing issues of equity and to carry out the citys human relations program.

On Oct. 6, plaintiffs John Miall, Robyn Hite, David Shaw, Danie Johnson and Willa Grant filed a motion through their attorneys that their lawsuit be certified as class action. Their proposed class would consist of all past, present, future and deterred nonminority Asheville or Buncombe County applicants to HRCA, their motion states.

The plaintiffs allege 46 applications from nonminority applicants were subjected to race-based preferences, 30 of which were not appointed, according to the judges order. They argue this creates a class of well above 40 members for a class-action lawsuit against the city.

Previous coverage: 5 white residents suing city of Asheville over allegations of racial bias

However, Chief U.S. District Judge Martin Reidinger ruled that its merely conjecture that the 30 would qualify for class membership because the plaintiffs have not presented evidence that all the applicants were rejected based only on their race.

The Plaintiffs have not presented any evidence indicating why the 30 of those 46 alleged applicants were rejected from membership on the HRCA, Reidinger wrote.

Given that the criteria included experience or interest in human relations and residence in Asheville or Buncombe County in addition to the demographic criteria, it is not clear whether these 30 applicants were rejected solely on the basis of their race.

The judge also noted that the city ordinance and policy regarding HRCA membership has been amended since many of the 30 individuals applied, citing a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that states a plaintiff cannot challenge the constitutionality of a statute that never applied to them.

Who is eligible for HRCA membership?

In 2019, HRCA adopted criteria for membership, the order said. Among other qualifications such as interest and experience in human relations, the city ordinance outlined a specific numerical breakdown of how many people on the commission should be members of different demographic groups, including:

Six African Americans.

Two Latino/a or Hispanic individuals.

Two members of the LGBTQ community.

Two youth members between the ages of 18 and 25.

Two to three individuals who live in public housing.

Two individuals with a disability.

Three individuals who are recognized as community leaders.

At least one member from North Asheville, South Asheville, West Asheville, East Asheville, and the downtown area.

DSS discrimination lawsuit: Federal judge dismisses 2 claims in Henderson County DSS racial discrimination lawsuit

However, in September 2022, the HRCA amended its policies to delete these numerical quotas on diversity and amended language in the city ordinance to say that membership appointment would provide equal access to serve on the HRCA to all historically disadvantaged groups, according to the judges order.

Previously, the HRCA was made up of 15 members, but was slimmed down to nine people, who should "reflect the groups of individuals that the human relations program is intended to protect," according to the commission's website. Those in the committee are eligible to serve two consecutive two-year terms.

This action was filed on September 5, 2023, almost a year after the HRCA membership policies were amended to remove the demographic quotas, Reidinger said in the order. Therefore, to the extent the Plaintiffs are challenging the constitutionality of the HRCA policy on its face, the only appropriate class members would be those who have applied since the policy was amended.

Based on records provided by the plaintiffs themselves, only 11 applicants have applied since the revised policy, of whom two have already been appointed and four of whom are already plaintiffs in the lawsuit, according to the order.

Surely, joinder of these members does not require class certification, nor does this Court find that a class of, at the most, only nine members can meet the requirements of Rule 23, Reidinger wrote, referencing Rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedures that requires the members of a class-action lawsuit be readily identifiable.

eCourts coming to the county: Digital eCourts system at center of a federal lawsuit is coming to Buncombe County

The city of Asheville is pleased with the Court's order denying class action certification in the case, City Attorney Brad Branham told the Citizen Times by email.

The city remains firm in our commitment to equity and inclusion on all city boards and commissions, and we continue to deny the allegations of the lawsuit suggesting discrimination of any type. The city shall continue to vigorously defend its position and believe the Plaintiff's claims will ultimately fail."

One of the attorneys for the plaintiffs, Andrew Quinio, told the Citizen Times that he believes the changes in policy shows that the city really hasnt changed much and the policy continues to apply racially discriminatory criteria.

Every version of Ashevilles Human Relations Commission ordinance plainly discriminates against applicants based on race and the discriminatory policy has a real impact on citizens in Asheville and Buncombe County that wish to serve their community, including discouraging them from even applying to begin with, Quinio said.

Unfortunately, the courts decision will not include those voices, so we are disappointed in the courts decision on that.

City's motion to dismiss

Now that the class action certification has been denied, both sides are waiting for a ruling on the citys second motion to dismiss the claims in their entirety, which was filed on Nov. 6. The defendants, which include the city of Asheville as well as City Manager Debra Campbell and Mayor Esther Manheimer, previously filed a motion to dismiss on Sept. 14.

We are hopeful that the court will deny that motion because there is a real injury here from the citys discriminatory ordinance, Quinio said.

Since the lawsuit began, one of the plaintiffs, John Miall, was appointed to the commission on Oct. 10, according to Quinio.

He is currently serving on the commission, but the other four applicants who are plaintiffs have not been appointed yet, Quino said. Even with Mr. Mialls appointment, the injury that he is filing suit for, which is being subject to the discriminatory criteria, still deserves to be addressed by the court.

At its June 13 meeting, the suit alleges Asheville City Council "rejected" their applications. Plaintiffs said they were not communicated with regarding their interest or asked to provide further information about their applications.

"Rather than appoint Plaintiffs to the HRCA, Defendants elected to leave the open positions vacant and re-advertise the openings in the hopes of obtaining applicants who met Defendants criteria," the lawsuit said.

But the city claims that all five of the plaintiffs applications for appointment to the Human Relations Commission of Asheville were still pending when they first filed the complaint, according to a motion to dismiss.

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: White Asheville residents denied class action in racial bias suit